Luna clicked her phone to check the time again. It was four thirty-six now. The time was up. She sighed, dropping the phone to the park bench beside her.
She shivered as a strong wind blasted by her. She was glad for her leather jacket, though the silk blue and purple scarf didn’t protect her cheeks much. She regretted cutting her hair so short.
As if the day wasn’t already going to make her cry, the wind blasting her face would at least make her tear up. She absentmindedly wiped her eye, frowning when her violet eyeshadow came away.
“Excuse me, are you alright?” a voice asked.
“Don’t you know to mind your own business?” Luna snapped.
“I-I’m sorry,” the voice stammered.
Luna looked up at the person who had talked. It was a girl, half off a pink bike. She couldn’t have been more than thirteen, but she had a Crystal Prep uniform and black glasses. Her skin was lavender, and her hair was dark blue, with purple and pink streaks.
“No, I’m sorry,” Luna sighed. “I shouldn’t be taking my anger out on you.”
“Do-do you want to talk about it?” she asked. “I-It’s okay if you don’t but Dad says it can help.”
Luna sighed again, but she didn’t say no. The girl got off her bike and kicked the stand in place. She dropped her backpack to the ground and waited.
“I had a fight with my sister,” Luna began.
“What happened?” she asked.
“A lot of things,” she said. “Mostly it was just that she was better than me at everything.”
“I’m sure that’s not true,” she said.
“It feels like it,” she said. “She was so perfect, a shining sun of perfection. Top grades in class, sports captain, prom queen, etcetera. I wasn’t into sports or good at being social. I’d rather stay with a book, or video games. I matched her in grades, but it wasn’t enough. She already was valedictorian of her graduating class, so it wasn’t as impressive when I followed. Stars, they even picked her stupid sundial-“
She stopped to take a breath. The girl waited.
“My anger built up,” she continued. “And a year ago today, it exploded. I shouldn’t have blamed her, I know that. It wasn’t her fault people liked her better. We both said some things we shouldn’t have, me more than her. It got physical eventually, but I walked out after a few hits. I haven’t talked to her since.”
“I’m sorry,” the girl said. “I can’t imagine that happening. My brother and I never fight. At least not over anything more than who gets to play as what character in a game.”
“My sister and I were like that too,” she said. “I hope if you ever do have a fight like we did, you handle it better. Or at least talk to someone before it blows up in your face.”
They stayed in silence for a few minutes. Luna took off her scarf and jacket, placing them beside her. For some reason, it no longer felt as cold.
“You should talk to her,” the girl suggested.
“You really think that’ll work?” she scoffed.
“Maybe, maybe not,” she shrugged. “But if I did get in a fight with my brother, I’d try. He’s my brother. We’ve been through a lot, and I’d still want him around. I’m not much for opening up to people either, but I’d want to at least try and get him back, even if he doesn’t want me back.”
Luna thought on that. She and her sister had been through much together. Their family had grown so much smaller over the years. Chrys and Dissi were the only two they could keep track of, even if they weren’t around anymore. Everyone else had disappeared. And then she did too.
She should try, shouldn’t she?
“I think your dad’s right,” Luna said. “Talking helps.”
“Do you think you’ll talk to your sister soon?” the girl asked.
“Better sooner, before I lose courage,” she said. “Knowing her, she’ll probably still be at work.”
“You’re welcome!” she said. “I’m glad I could help!”
Luna watched the girl pick up her things and climb back on the bike. She looked at her own belongings beside her, thinking of her sister. She picked up the scarf and jacket.
“Here,” Luna said, handing them to the girl. “The jacket’s probably too big for you, but you’ll grow into it.”
“What? But I can’t accept-“ she began.
“It’s alright,” she said. “You gave me a better gift, the spark I needed to talk to my sister.”
“I-thank you!”
The girl slipped the jacket on. She looked a bit silly, being so small in a jacket for a tall woman. Luna waved as the girl biked off. She then headed back to her motorcycle.
Luna had forgotten about the Freshman Fair.
Every year at Canterlot High, the student clubs put together a fair. It was for the freshman to socialize, make friends, and learn about various clubs to join. However, stars help the freshmen who had chosen their clubs early. They usually got the jobs like ‘baseball team dunk tank’.
Still, it was open to the public, as most of the students are too busy running the fair to be customers. Luna just hoped she could find her sister in the crowd. She had barely walked in when she was stopped by someone.
The girl had to be a freshman, from her size. She was pink, with wild hair in a darker shade. She was also too energetic to be anything but a freshman.
“Hi!” she greeted. “You look like you’re looking for something! Are you looking for something? I know where everything at the fair is, so I can lead you wherever you need to go!”
“Hello,” Luna replied. “I’m looking for someone, actually. I need to talk to Celestia.”
“The principal?” the girl asked. “I just saw her by the apple stand! I can take you there! My name’s Pinkie Pie, by the way!”
“I’m Luna,” she said.
“That’s a pretty name!” she said. “But I bet you want to find Principal Celestia, so let’s get going! I can’t wait to see the smile on your face when we get there!”
Pinkie Pie took Luna’s hand and practically dragged her into the crowd, talking her ear off the whole way. She was surprisingly strong for a kid.
They eventually arrived at a stand decorated with painted apples. Unfortunately, the only customer was a girl with red and yellow hair, who left with her drink as soon as they got to the counter.
“I could’ve sworn she was just here!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“Who was here?”
The one talking was a blonde girl behind the counter. She looked a bit too old to be a freshman, but according to her orange ‘hi I’m a freshman, my name is: Applejack’ nametag, she had to be.
“Luna and I are looking for Principal Celestia!” Pinkie replied.
“Y’all just missed her,” Applejack replied. “She said she was heading to check out the sports teams’ stands.”
“Aw man!” Pinkie whined. “That’s on the other side of the fair!”
“Well,” she thought for a moment before turning to the young man next to her. “Hey Mac, can you take over?”
The man only nodded.
“Alright then!” Applejack exclaimed, beginning to untie her apron.
“Alright what?” Luna asked.
“I’m gonna help you find Principal Celestia,” she said, hopping over the counter.
“You don’t have to,” she said.
“I know,” she replied. “But I know that the Freshman Fair is a great place for pranking, and there are many a person who’d love to send y’all around in circles.”
“Thank you!” Pinkie shouted.
After buying drinks for both girls as a thank you, Luna was once more being dragged along by Pinkie. This time, Applejack was in the lead. The two girls began talking after Pinkie had asked about the recipe for the applejuice. By the time they reached the games tents, the two had moved from cake recipes to siblings to tv shows.
As they neared the dunk tank, Luna’s vision was suddenly obscured by juice. Rubbing the offending liquid out of her eyes, she looked around for what had happened. On the ground was Pinkie’s cup, and a few feet away was a ball. She looked up when she heard a loud swear.
“I am so sorry!” a new girl shouted.
A rainbow-haired freshman was the unlucky soul who had been the one in the dunk tank. She hopped down from her perch and approached them.
“Seriously,” she said. “There’s a reason these guys didn’t make the team. Can’t hit the broad side of a barn. Jerk ran off before she could even apologize. Can I buy you a new drink? I don’t think anywhere around here sells adult-sized shirts though.”
“That’s alright,” Luna said, looking down at the damage done to her shirt. “Thank you, uh, two?”
The rainbow haired girl looked over her shoulder. Hanging onto her shirt was another girl, this one yellow with pink hair that she was trying to hide behind. The rainbow-haired girl grabbed the other by the hand and moved to have her beside her. It didn’t work, as the pink-haired girl tried to hide again.
“I’m Rainbow Dash!” she introduced herself. “And this is Fluttershy!”
“Nice to meet you!” Pinkie said, practically bouncing to meet them. “I’m Pinkie Pie! I like your hair! And Fluttershy is really pretty! And this is Applejack and Luna! We’re trying to find Principal Celestia!”
“I think I saw her heading to the tent where they sell school shirts,” she said. “I’d lead you over, but I’m not going to leave Flutters alone.”
“Th-that’s okay,” Fluttershy barely whispered. “I-I can come with you. I want to help them.”
Surprised by the number of sentences she managed, Fluttershy tried once more to hide in her hair.
“Eh,” Rainbow shrugged. “Thunderlane can take my place in the tank.”
“You know,” Applejack began, “If the person running the shirt stand is who I think it is, we can get two birds with one stone!”
“Perfect!” Pinkie exclaimed.
With two more added to their group, Luna was no longer being physically dragged along. Rainbow was animatedly talking with Pinkie about a prank to get revenge on the guy that hit her with a ball. Applejack disapproved, which quickly turned into her and Rainbow agreeing to have a challenge contest over the weekend. Fluttershy, despite still looking how she wanted to hide, was doing her best to talk, with only a little pushing from her friend.
Luna was starting to get used to showing up to booths without Celestia in sight. They even passed the girl with red and yellow hair again, though she now sported a headband with pony ears.
“Hello! Welcome to-“ the girl behind the shirt counter began. “Oh my stars! What happened to you?”
“Uh, applejuice mishap?” Luna offered, staring down at her own shirt.
The girl looked absolutely horrified. Her blue eyes wide, while a hand ran through purple hair.
“Not to worry, we can fix this!” the girl said.
She mentally counted out everyone in Luna’s group, before pulling out her own purse. She stuffed a wad of money into the counter’s moneybox while telling the blue-haired girl in the back to run the counter. She then grabbed a large shirt and several headband sets.
One more, Luna was being dragged. This time, the girl led her inside the school. They went into a bathroom and Luna was handed a shirt and shoved into a stall.
“Hand me your ruined shirt over the door and put that one on,” the girl instructed.
Luna sighed, realizing she wouldn’t get out of this. She began tugging the top over her head and dropping it over the side. Then she heard the sink start up.
“Forgive me if this is intrusive,” the girl began, “but did your bra get splashed as well?”
“A little,” Luna replied. “Just hand me a wet paper towel.”
Soon enough, a white hand was holding a few paper towels over the door. She cleaned off the spots of juice, leaving her bra still damp but not in danger of stickiness. She used the remaining towels to wipe of the ruined eyeshadow.
Once Luna had the Canterlot Wondercolt shirt on, she stepped out of the stall. The girl was still washing her shirt in the sink.
“Told y’all she’d do something,” Applejack said, leaning against the wall with the other four.
“Honestly, Applejack,” the girl said. “You brought me a woman covered in applejuice, what did you expect me to do, not get her a new shirt?”
“I was kinda expecting you to make one on the spot,” she replied.
“You do realize there is more to making a shirt than anything I have here?” she demanded, putting the shirt down.
“Come on, Rarity, you know I was joking,” she rolled her eyes.
“Yes, well, you did get very nice headbands out of the deal,” she said, going back to the shirt.
Luna looked at them. All five girls were wearing Canterlot High headbands and their matching tails. They looked adorable. Rarity wrung out the shirt before handing it to Luna.
“I wish I could dry this properly,” Rarity said, “but the hand driers are broken from some back to school prank, and there aren’t enough paper towels.”
“That’s alright,” Luna said, tossing the damp shirt over her shoulder. “Let me pay you back for the shirt.”
“Nonsense, darling!” she said, waving her hand dismissively at Luna’s wallet. “You were in need of help, and I gladly gave it to you. You may also have these.”
Rartiy held out a headband set. Giving a small smile, she took the pieces and slipped them on.
“Thank you,” Luna said.
“Not a problem!” Rarity said. “Now, what are you looking for?”
“How did you know we were looking for something?” Rainbow asked.
“Applejack came up dragging some unknown woman,” she shrugged. “Knowing her, I can only imagine the four of you all volunteered to help her find something in the fair.”
“Someone!” Pinkie corrected.
“We’re looking for Principal Celestia,” Applejack said.
“Well,” Rarity said. “She was at my counter right before you girls showed up. She bought a headband set, and then I believe she went to the stage to give the usual ‘Welcome to the Fair and let’s have a Wonderful School Year!’ speech.
“Considering how long Celestia’s speeches can be,” Luna began, “we might be able to catch her!”
Luna once again ran behind a group of girls. She smiled at Fluttershy, who found the nerve to speak up and compliment the stitching on Rarity’s skirt, which easily got her talking about her dreams of owning a boutique. Pinkie got excited about the idea, animatedly suggesting decorations and themes for this hypothetical building. One of the wilder ideas included a full on carousel. Rainbow begrudgingly admitted that while fashion wasn’t her thing, it was still cool to see someone who makes their own clothes.
She could see the stage, but her heart sank to see no one on it. She slowed, whipping her head around for the one she was looking for. Pinkie Pie was bouncing, trying to look over heads. Rainbow Dash climbed atop Applejack’s shoulders, letting her see above the crowd.
“There she is!” Rainbow shouted.
Luna followed her gaze. She saw a flash of pastel hair. Running as if their lives depended on it, they followed. She didn’t dare let that hair out of her sight.
Everything was a blur of colors and sounds. She felt like running smoke, flying through the crowd as if she could pass through their bodies. She could see lights. Magenta, blue, orange, red, pink, and purple lights flashed around in her vision.
There she was, standing on the edge of the fair. The crowd thinned out here, almost no one around. Her herd of freshman were shouting out, trying to get their principal’s attention before she could disappear again.
Luna stopped a few short. Violet eyes stared at her. Stars, how those eyes always could stare into her soul. As she stood, she felt the need to run. In the back of her mind, she heard the voice of the girl from the park. She could feel the five girls standing to her side, or hiding behind her in Fluttershy’s case. Trembling, she swallowed her fear.
“I know you probably don’t want to see me,” Luna began, taking a tentative step forward. “But I wanted to apologize. I shouldn’t have blamed you for my problems. I shouldn’t have done any of the things I did. I was a nightmare to deal with. But I don’t want to be without you. I’m so sorry, for everything.”
Within a second, all she could see was pastel green and pink. She felt arms around her, and wetness against her cheek. Which one of them was crying, she didn’t know.
“It’s not your fault,” Celestia said.
“I blamed you for what others felt about me,” Luna cried. “I hurt you because of that. I-I abandoned you, even though I swore we’d stay together.”
“I ignored you!” she insisted. “I saw how unfairly you were treated, but I didn’t do anything about it. I probably made it worse.”
“You couldn’t help being amazing,” she half-chuckled.
“But I could have made sure others knew you were just as amazing,” she said. “How about we label it as ‘poor communication’?”
“As long as we communicate better in the future,” she said.
She stopped, freezing up. Looking into those violet eyes, she wondered.
“There is a future, right?” Luna asked.
“Luna, you’re my sister,” Celestia smiled. “As long as you want to, you are welcome in my family.”
Luna hugged her sister close as the group behind her let out a cheer. Celestia broke the hug to look back at the group. Luna laughed, stepping back to look at them.
“These students helped me find you,” Luna said. “I’ve been literally dragged all over the place.”
“it’s good to see a group of friends helping someone out,” Celestia said. “Thank you for helping my sister.”
“Friends?” all five girls looked between one another, before descending into laughter.
“I never guess dragging someone around can start a friendship,” Applejack snickered.
“A bit unconventional,” Rarity said. “But effective, nonetheless.”
“I-I’d like to hang out more often,” Fluttershy barely said. “It you girls want to, that is!”
“Of course!” Rainbow shouted. “I was already planning challenges for me and Applejack, and pranks for Pinkie!”
“I have a great idea!” Pinkie exclaimed.
Pinkie pulled out her phone and looked around. She bounced over to a passing girl, one with red and yellow hair, and talked to her for a minute. Shrugging, the other girl agreed to something and took Pinkie’s phone.
“Group Picture!” Pinkie shouted, tugging everyone into place.
They all laughed with joy as the girl took their pictures. After a few shots, the girl gave Pinkie her phone back and walked off. The rest of the girls started complaining about the bad lighting.
“Fine,” Pinkie pouted. “We can all go to the park on Saturday and I’ll bring Maud and she can take a new group picture!”
The rest agreed, said their goodbyes to Luna and their Principal before walking off to enjoy the rest of the fair.
“I remember that kind of friendship,” Luna sighed. “Think we’ll get the rest of the family back together one day?”
“Perhaps,” Celestia said. “But for now, Canterlot High does have an open position as Vice Principal.”
“You’re not suggesting-“ she began.
“You don’t have to take it,” she said. “But I’d love to have my sister around.”
Luna didn’t hesitate to takeup the offer.
Author's Note
I'd been thinking about what the EQG counterpart of Nightmare Moon was, and I wanted something a bit less depressing than other interpretations. We also get to see the Mane 5 becoming friends!
(Side note: I know the comics made an interpretation of the Freshman Fair, but tbh the comics are not canon to me so whatever)