Daughter of the Stars

Chapters

Chapter 1 Aquila
Chapter 2 Welcome Home
Chapter 3 Making Headway
Chapter 4 (Celestia)
Chapter 5 The Duty Of A Princess
Chapter 6 A Bit Of Faith, A Bit Of Trust

Chapter 1 Aquila

Author's Note

This is my first story on FimFiction so i hope i don't entirely mess it up. I did take some inspiration from other stories, yes, but i noticed there was no story anywhere that showed Luna raising her OWN child, or maybe there is and i haven't found it --__('-')__--. But i have not and will not steal other peoples stories. Just putting that out now, but anyway, i hope you like my story!

(This Chapter has been redone. Ish........Expect maybe a few more edits here and there)

Chapter 1 Aquila

P.S most of my chapters/stories will have the first couple chapters setting the scene in narrator view

The day after Luna's return was active to say the least. The entire Palace and most of Canterlot was abuzz with the news of Princess Luna's return, or more accurately, Nightmare Moon's return.
The guards were placing bets on who would be placed in Luna's personal guard, the maids were busy cleaning out Luna's designated room in her portion of the castle that had been left alone since its construction, the Chefs were wildly running about in their kitchens cooking up a storm at Celestia's word, and nobles were trying as hard as their social rankings would allow them to try and sneak a glimpse of the new princess.

Rumors were spreading like wildfire throughout the upper city and castle, rumors that for the sake of mind, best not be repeated. While through all of this, the Princess of the Night, Nightmare Moon, the guardian of dreams, the star maker, the shadow mare, was nowhere to be found in the castle, or Canterlot for that matter.
No, she was far away in the Everfree forest, right on the grounds of the abandoned castle. Luna was searching the forest nearby for something she dearly longed for, something she had waited for centuries to finally embrace.

The dark vacuum of space would not allow for this precious thing to exist, not to breathe, to laugh, or to even grow, but to grow cold and wither into dust.
Truly, space was as unforgiving as it was beautiful.
Space would have sucked the air from the filly's lungs, oxygen that Luna herself did not need to have on the moon as she was its mistress. It would have destroyed this wondrous life before it could even take its first breath

So the Lunar Princess had sealed away this treasured life in a time capsule of sorts, a special magic that would keep it alive, but also unconscious and literally stuck in time, some called it a stasis pod, but for Luna, it was the saving grace that would allow the new life to stay alive, her new life.
So now back on the soil she so loved, she searched desperately for the life that would give hers meaning.

The sky was a dark violet with dim stars lighting the sky. The moon was bleak from the loss of its caretaker for so many years, it was not the shining light it was supposed to be, but rather as dim as the farthest star.The stars were near nonexistent, with only the most well known and needed stars being visible to the naked eye.
None of the usual galaxies that Luna had to painstakingly made were showing.
Only one, who a thousand years ago, was the brightest and most glorious galaxy in the sky with all its diverse blues, bright purples, and rich yellows and gold still showed itself off to the population.
Luna would see to all that soon enough, but she had much more important matters to take care of.

Luna muttered to herself as she searched every bush, every treetop, and every inch of tall grass "She must be here! Surely those blasted elements had not fired it this far away!?" Luna was grateful for the Elements, but that didn't mean she liked them right at this second.

The cool, comforting darkness surrounding her would have made it difficult for anypony to see anything, but Luna wasn't just anypony. She was the Princess of the night and that title came with the according powers, such as night vision, control over the moon, and a few others. One of her most prominent powers was the ability to see into dreams, but that was useless in this night.

It had taken Luna the whole day and some of the night to regain her strength to just be able sneak out of the castle as soon as Celestia raised her moon for her and fell asleep.
Her mane and coat hadn't even returned to their former beauty as it took more energy to convert that latent energy into a visible aspect.

Luna hadn't dared to tell Celestia her plan to go searching in the forest, for fear of her elder sister denying her for some reason or even worse, sending some of her guards to find it for her, which trust me, was MUCH worse.

Luna quietly started to panic quietly (quietly as in, if for some reason anyone was in the forest nearby and heard her panicking, it could lead to Celestia finding out about this, which was no a good thing) as she found nothing
"No, no no! she has to be here somewhere! She has to be!" Luna's clear turquoise eyes began to glisten with tears as her efforts began to prove useless.
She had hoped so desperately for this, Luna had never wanted anything more then how much she wanted this one thing. Had it been too much of her to ask to be like every day mares in this one aspect!? had it been too much to wish for this, to believe that she would have this?!

She searched for hours, never stopping once until finally her legs gave out underneath her thanks to centuries of disuse and exhaustion. Tears began to slowly slip from her now bloodshot eyes as her hope started to flicker out like a small flame underneath a strong wind. The lush green grass tickled her chin as she rested it on the ground, the gentle breeze that ruffled her short mane did nothing to sooth her troubled thoughts.
Had all her efforts all those years ago really been for nothing? was it all her fault that her one wish had been snuffed out? All she had wanted was to be loved and to love in return! and now she might never truly get that, sure her sister loved her, but Luna had that before and it clearly helped her not.

Luna was debating about sinking into the depths soft grass and never to getting up, when out of the furthest corner of her eye, so far in fact that to look at it without moving her head hurt her eyes, she saw the faintest blue dimly glowing.

Luna slowly raised her head and wearily turned it to the faint blue light. Her eyes widened as she recognized the soft glow of her own magic.
She tried to bolt up to her feet, but found herself tripping over her own hooves and face planting into the hard dirt. She quickly shook it off and, more slowly this time, got to her feet slower and cantered over to the source of the blue luminescence, surely this was a trick right?

Luna walked past ferns and flowers, she gently brushed branches out of her way with her weak magic as she saw the brilliant object in the center of a grassy clearing. There was a small impact zone to show that it had fallen from the sky, but Luna hardly noticed.

A overjoyed and relieved smile graced Luna's features as she reached out brushed her hoof over the source of the light. She then sat down before it and studied it closely to see if it was still in good condition. The source of the blue light was a translucent pod like object, it had a special magic to stop time inside it. In all honesty the Pod looked like a large, glowing, blue circle with faint white star patterns.
A flower could be placed in the pod and a million years later the flower would be as new as it was the day it was placed in the pod. But it was no flower in this pod, no, it was something much more imporant. Luna's horn sparked with blue aura as her magic slowly and carefully used the special magic patterns needed to open the pod (A security measure she had put in place)

The pod opened up on four separate pieces like a giant flower , revealing at its center a little filly with a white coat splattered with pitch black like a reverse night sky, she had a silky black mane and tail that curled slightly at the ends. Her fuzzy hooves had tiny tufts of fur that looked simply adorable. She had the most adorable little wings that were fairly large for her age, and did they ever promise to be strong later on! along with her squeal worthy wings, she had a tiny nub of a white horn just peeking out through her pitch black mane.

Luna tenderly picked up the filly with her hooves and held her close to her chest, wrapping her wings around her forelegs to keep her little darling warm. Luna smiled in wonder as for just a second, her daughter opened her eyes, revealing them to be a dark blue with tiny specks of gold lining the rim of her iris. Closing her eyes again,Luna nuzzled her daughter lovingly and whispered "Greetings little one, my little Aquila"

With a quick flash of her magic Luna disintegrated the pod into a fine dust and while still looking down at her lovely filly, she spread her large, graceful wings and with a few gentle beats on the air she silently rose into the sky and flew silently back to Canterlot.
Halfway to the palace, Aquila opened her mouth and let out a squeaky yawn, revealing tiny teeth already beginning to come in. A smile stuck on Luna's face as Aquila fell asleep with her little face pressed softly to Luna's chest and her tiny hooves curled up to her chest. Luna savored the warmth that came off Aquila and seemed to flow right into her heart.

Luna held Aquila tight as she closed her eyes for a few moments as the warm, soft feeling blossomed in her chest and spread all the way down to the tip of her hooves. Not even the cool wind could temper this incredible warmth that flowed from every part of the night Princess.

Luna opened her turquoise eyes to look up to her beautiful night sky. The stars seemed somewhat brighter and the moon seemed to be scrubbed clean of lingering filth and luminescent, this was of course caused by Luna's joy. It would then be reasonable to suggest that the stars and Moon reflected their mistresses emotions.

In this moment Luna did not care for the problems of tomorrow or the problems of the future in general. All that mattered to her in this moment was her little daughter sleeping soundly in her hooves and the night sky. In this moment Luna did not care to think about how Celestia or Canterlot would react, or how she would raise a filly on her own. All she cared about was this moment and how long she had waited for this. But in the back in her mind, in a quiet voice, a shadow whispered The moment that Celestia forced you to wait a thousand years for.

Chapter 2 Welcome Home

The sun was just starting to rise as Luna cautiously landed down on her balcony to her room, the sunrise was causing all of Canterlot to near glow with white light, which by all miracles, actually made the streets look clean! Celestia did always did take such pride on her sunrise and sunsets. The castle was still buzzing with activity, so no one really noticed Luna's absence and any who did (coughCelestiacough) dismissed it as tiredness and that Luna was sleeping. Luna was indeed tired to the point of fainting, but the adrenaline and pure joy running through her veins was enough to keep her up and going, although she had a very serious appointment with the coffee machine pretty quick

Luna silently walked from her balcony into her room with her daughter still in her arms. Her room was decorated with dark blues and purples, her bed was circular with a large crescent moon on the dark blue quilt. Her roof was painted to be an exact replica of the night sky, except with lines to better depict the many constellations, beside her bed she had a small nightstand on the left and on the right side of her bed, she had a large bookcase that was filled with books on law, nocturnal creatures, constellations and stars, and maybe a few fantasy novels in there as well. She knew all them of course, but she did enjoy a quiet read in bed before rest. Luna was surprised that Celestia had remembered every detail of her old room.

Luna gently set Aquila down on her bed and carefully set the covers over half of her little body, leaving her forelegs and head out of the blankets. Luna then set down on the bed beside her and gently stroked Aquila's white mane, savoring the gentle softness of her new coat, and as she did so, Luna thoughts wandered as she pondered the past and what would come next.

Nightmare Moon cackled viciously as Celestia was knocked from the sky by a powerful blast of dark blue magic. Nightmare Moon knew she had to wrap this up quickly, she did have a future heir to think about. She had been careful to hide her growing belly with a spell to keep it from Celestia's sight. No doubt that evil scum Celestia would try to take advantage of it. Why even that fool who's body she possessed had the sense to cover her growing child with a spell! no doubt Luna had thought about the scandals that would ensue and had the sense to hide.

Nightmare moon landed down on the ground beside Celestia with a snarl, her reptilian eyes full of rage and jealousy. Nightmare knew she should not gloat but rather get it over with, but she just couldn't help rubbing it in. Nightmare Moon then cooed with all the sweetness of the dove but laced with all the poison of a cobra "how does it feel, dear sister? To know that the last thing you will ever see if my beautiful night in the sky forever? It was you who drove me to this you know, with all love and admiration you received but yet we received none of it! Luna had such a hard time with that, it was what opened the door for me" Nightmare then chuckled nastily "Poor Luna, she really had no chance you know. She was always pathetic, it was a breeze possessing her. A shame though that you will never get to mee--"

Celestia had gotten up and glared at Nightmare Moon with all the rage the sun behind her, her hair nearly aflame. Nightmare Moon then took a cautious step back at this, he knew Celestia was not to be trifled with, but not as powerful, surely, as Nightmare Moon! Celestia then spoke angrily, tears in her eyes "how dare you. HOW DARE YOU! YOU DARE TO TAKE MY SISTER AWAY FROM ME! I SHALL SHOW YOU NO MERCY NIGHTMARE!" Nightmare Moon's eyes narrowed as she took another step back.

Nightmare's eyes then widened in fear and panic as she saw Celestia bring to her side the Elements of harmony. Nightmare Moon watched stunned in horror as Celestia used her magic to activate the Elements and fire a rainbow at Nightmare, Nightmare screamed as the elements ripped her away to the moon. The last thing Nightmare Moon heard from Celestia was "Luna, forgive me"

Luna shook her pale blue mane, it had been on the moon short after the fight that she had given birth to Aquila. But since Aquila was a newborn, she did not have the magic to sustain her without air. Nightmare Moon had been disintegrated by the Elements on the way up, so it gave Luna the chance to use the remains of her magic to create a time pod for her child to stop her from dying. And it was for a thousand years that Luna had to wait before she could hold her child, because even though the physical form of Nightmare Moon had perished in the first few moments, the mental shouts and words still lingered for all those years.

Luna watched her daughters chest rise and fall from the steady breathing. Luna's thoughts then wandered to the present, how would Celestia react to Aquila? would she be angry? sad? guilty? Luna could only guess, so much had changed, who was to say that Celestia hadn't changed as well? This thought frightened Luna, surely her sister would not harm Aquila, but what about everypony else? the nobles would have a screaming fit of course, maybe some would try to harm her daughter for power?

As Luna looked down at her daughter, she promised quietly "We do promise our daughter, that no harm shall befall thee when we stand watch" Luna then nuzzled Aquila gently as not to wake her.

Luna then went around her room to check over what was in there. Celestia had apparently brought everything from her old room in the abandoned castle here, even her old collections were here! Egg shells of long forgotten species, books from before her and her sister had become princesses, rare gems. And though, to Luna's disappointment, some of her precious things were not here, many of them were. But even so, it intrigued Luna that someone had been reading said books, as not enough dust had gathered to be proof that these books had been untouched

Luna did jump however when a soft knocking came from the door, she then heard Celestia say "Luna? are you awake?"

Luna's eyes darted to Aquila's sleeping form before running to the door and opening it just so Luna was the only thing Celestia could see. Luna didn't have to act about being tired so it was a bit easier to lie to her sister "Our gratitude for waking us up, we really do appreciate it" Luna commented with a bit of soft sarcasm, she said it jokingly to make it sound lighthearted and not aggressive.

Celestia gave Luna a delighted smile, although it was a bit cautious "well, I'm glad your back at your humor" Celestia then gave Luna the weirdest look before quickly clearing her face back to a small smile "I came to tell you that the chefs have made you some food in case you would like something to eat" Celestia then gave a small giggle "you should have seen them rushing around when I announced your return! i know its rude, but in all honesty it was a bit funny"

Luna smiled at her big sister and replied "yes, dear sister. Thy can picture it quite splendidly. If you will excuse us for a moment sister, we will get ready to approach our subjects" Celestia looked at if she wanted to say something about Luna's speech, but thought better of it and gave Luna a nuzzle "I am truly glad that you are home Luna"

Luna then nodded and replied, trying not to sound hasty "yes, indeed sister. We are glad to have returned from our exile" Celestia winced at the word exile, but only small enough to be a slight twitch in her eyes. Celestia then smiled at Luna one more time before turning to walk away. Luna didn't know what mad force had caused her to say that, but it was just probably exhaustion causing her to be less careful with her words.

Luna shut the door at a normal pace before hearing it click and shut completely, she quickly locked it just in case. Luna sighed and leaned her head against the door. "I should have told her, I should have, I should have!" But Luna couldn't bear to place such guilt on her sister. She could tell that Celestia was already guilty about sending her away, so how could she possibly say to her beloved elder sister "hey, I know your already feeling guilty about exiling me on my own moon, but that's okay cause I'm home now! but anyway, meet your niece Aquila! I had to place her in a stasis pod so she didn't die on the moon, but its okay cause she is here now, right?"

The quiet thought from before whispered She deserves to feel guilty. Sending us away was bad enough, but to send our precious Aquila with us is unforgivable! and Celestia calls herself a so called protector of the innocent. Why, Aquila was and is innocent! Celestia deserve to feel our pain Luna shook her head hard and whispered to herself "begone treacherous thoughts! torture us no longer"

Luna banged her head on the door in frustration and worry. She couldn't do that to Celestia, that would crush her heart! Luna would wait for Celestia to not feel so bad about sending her away then introduce her to Aquila.....maybe. Luna couldn't help but think to those words, she knew they were from Nightmare moons lingering presence, but they also held some truth. But Luna could never do that again, not to Celestia and not to Aquila. And she would be damned before she was sent to the moon and Aquila was left without her mother. This thought steeled Luna.

Aquila woke up when she heard a banging sound on the door (Luna's head), her bright blue eyes widened and started to fill up with tears. Aquila then started to cry, Luna looked up and as soon as she saw Aquila kicking at the covers and crying, she rushed over and quickly scooped up Aquila from the bed and started to rock her, trying to sooth her "sshh! sshh! Thee has to be a quiet baby!" . However, Aquila had very different thoughts as the crying didn't stop, but only grew louder. Luna started to panic "what is it Aquila? is thee hungry? Indeed, thee is hungry!" Luna quickly created a bottle and milk out of thin air for Aquila with, which she eagerly took with her delicate hooves. Creating things out of thin air was draining and for inexperienced magic users could be dangerous, but Luna had the expertise to do so, but she couldn't do this all the time, it would tire her too quickly.

Luna gently rocked her daughter as she drank the milk with gusto, careful not to jostle her to much as Luna had no want to clean up if Aquila could not hold the milk down. This would be difficult, no doubt, but when Luna looked into Aquila's beautiful, bright blue eyes, she knew she would do it gladly. Luna also knew that she would need help raising Aquila, and obviously that would have to be Celestia or someone trusted to a fault. But for the moment there was not anyone, though Luna was willing to wait a while for things to settle down a bit.

Chapter 3 Making Headway

A few minutes after Aquila had finished her food, Luna had placed her snugly in her bed with pillows on every side of Aquila to stop her from rolling off the side. Luna had laid down the softest blankets she could find in the room and had placed Aquila on them. The blankets were a soft violet color that made Aquila look like a small black blob. An adorable black blob. Luna had cast a soundproof spell on the walls and door of her bedroom so if by some chance Aquila started to cry while she was gone, no one would hear her. Luna becoming an overprotective mother, she had cast an added spell so that if Aquila did indeed begin to cry, she would instantly know of it and would be able to rush off to her daughters side.

The day was at this point just getting to the afternoon, so if Luna wanted that Coffee, she would have to go now.

After one more glance at Aquila's sleeping form and one more adjustment to the blankets, Luna left her room and went off in search of Celestia or the dining hall.

The Castle was much bigger then the one in Everfree, so it was hard for Luna to get her bearings. Eventually Luna asked a wary maid were Celestia was. "at the Dining hall, your majesty" Luna then asked in her royal Canterlot voice where that was. The Maid visibly winced and rubbed her temples before giving her the directions and then hurriedly rushing off.

Luna wondered why the maid had rubbed her temples as she entered the dining room. The dining room itself was large and fairly plain, though, for the palace and Celestia's taste, plain was decorated with at least 20 items on the walls. Luna noticed with a raised eyebrow that half of the seats of the table were colored dark blue and other side was colored bright gold, Celestia did always have a fair for colors.

And Celestia herself was sat at the head of the table, reading a newspaper and quietly sipping some tea. Luna stood in the doorway for a couple seconds before slowly and regally (or as regally as her tired body would allow) going to sit down beside Celestia. The cushions were soft and plush, a large change from the hard moon rocks Luna was used to sitting on.

Celestia looked up from her newspaper and smiled at Luna with sisterly affection "Are you hungry?" Luna nodded and replied "Indeed sister. We are hungry, it has been too long since we have tasted" The smile on Celestias faded a bit, Luna quickly pounced on this "Celestia, we understand your actions all those years ago. And we wholeheartedly forgive thee" the small voice whispered Liar

Celestia looked sadly at her sister for a few moments before then clearing her throat and taking on a graceful air and saying to Luna "The chefs have a done an amazing job, and I do believe lunch should be ready now" and just as Celestia finished speaking, as if on some cue, the waiters came out with silver platters.

A few minutes later, a delicious feast was laid before Luna and Celestia. Following Celestia's lead, Luna took a few small tidbits from each platter and placed it on her plate. Each dish was very tasty in its own regards, but Luna's favorite was the lettuce topped with strawberry's, blueberry's and pineapple.

Luna's plate was soon clean and her belly was full. Luna smiled contentedly and looked to Celestia "the cuisine was quite delicious, give the chefs our compliments" Celesta nodded.

Celestia took another sip of her tea before saying "Luna, I do believe we should get your personal staff in order." Luna looked at Celestia "Sister, by what manners doth thou mean?" Celestia smiled slightly at her sisters dialect before responding "guards, maids, servants. All can be chosen by you, if you so wish"

Luna pondered this for a few moments before replying "We think that this is an acceptable plan, when shall we continue with this?" Celestia's face had taken a serious look "I had been thinking now, as all the staff except active guards will be taking break"

Luna's brow furrowed as she thought about this "We do not see any problems with this" the words were carefully covered with ease, but underneath them were the sounds of strain and concern. Celestia was quick to hear this and asked "is everything alright Luna?" Luna hastily nodded and took on a sheepish look "Its is just that everything is moving quite fast. We have only just returned, and have not been energetic as of late"

Celestia nodded "of course" Celestia then draped a wing over a stiff Luna "I'm sorry for rushing Luna. I have been looking forward to this for so long that I didn't take into account your own feelings. I just want to make sure your okay" Luna nodded and nuzzle her sister "it is alright sister. We understand your concern."

Luna then got up, gently brushing away Celestia's wing "excuse us. But we would like to retire for the day" Celestia nodded and watched as Luna went through the doors and started off for her bedroom.

Luna had not heard Aquila cry, but Luna didn't want to be away from her any longer then she had to. Luna entered her room to find Aquila awake but silent, just looking around with her bright blue eyes.

Luna slowly climbed onto the bed, past the pillows and cleared out some space for her to lay down beside Aquila. Luna tickled Aquila's side lightly, earning the most adorable giggle from her. Aquila's little wings spread out from under her as her giggles caused a spurt of magic come from her tiny nub of a horn. Aquila cooed happily as Luna made funny faces at her, Luna then laughed softly and whispered "if only your father could be here to see you"

Luna thought of Aquila's father. A Thestral with a black coat and mane, he was a soldier in Luna's personal guard and her royal consort. His name was Noctus, he was witty and kind and would have loved Aquila to ,well, the moon and back. Luna knew he was long gone, Aquila was all she had left of him and Luna was okay with that.

Just another thing Dear Celestia STOLE from us. We could have handled being banished for years, but for a thousand? Celestia must have known that we would never see Noctus again! That ,oh, so precious princess of the sun robbed us of him. Imagine how he must have felt, knowing that his wife and unborn daughter were trapped on the moon!
Luna hissed through her teeth " Stop nightmare! this is a new start. Do not make us lose Aquila!"

Luna sighed, she knew she would eventually have to tell Celestia everything. And Luna had done good today, or at least she thought she did.

Chapter 4 (Celestia)

A thousand years ago, Celestia had banished her younger sister to the moon. Now Luna was home. She had thought that once Luna had returned, the burning feel of shame and guilt would leave. But to Celestia's dismay, those feelings and thoughts didn't vanish like she had naively hoped. But rather on that sun kissed morning, Tia felt worse then she had in a very long time.

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, Canterlot was buzzing, and yet Celestia did not enjoy any of the normal pleasures of the day.

Celestia sat at her mahogany desk that was placed inside her own personal chambers. She was supposed to be responding to the many nobles who had sent letters demanding one thing or another from her, but she found herself incapable of doing so.

Celestia sighed as she put her quill back into the inkwell. She knew her limits and when she had to put down her work and now she felt like she desperately needed one. After setting aside the papers in an orderly fashion, she took off her regalia and set it on a stand. After putting away her regalia, Celestia went down on her bed with none of her usual grace.
She then just lay there, her heard resting lightly on a pillow and her wings spread out beside her. As she lay there she pondered lunch earlier that day.

FLASHBACK

Celestia had pretended not to notice Luna at the door so that Luna could approach her in her own time. But in the few moments that Luna stood in the doorway, her heart had pounded What if Luna doesn't want to speak with me? Is Luna still angry? I wouldn't blame her if she was, I sent her away for thousand years! It was necessary to protect Equestria but.....I should have tried harder to reason with her! It was my own ignorance and blindness that drove her away and she paid for my mistakes.

Her thoughts were quickly put to rest as Luna came to sit beside her. Celestia looked up from the newspaper that she hadn't really been reading, and pretended to just notice Luna, but in a calm manner. When she asked Luna if she would like something to eat, and was relieved when Luna nodded. She felt a sharp pang of guilt when Luna spoke of how she had forgotten the taste of food, even centuries of practiced and perfected emotional calm could not stop guilt showing on her face

Celestia had tried to take on a graceful air and announce food was ready, and though she had a modicum of success, she was sure Luna could tell. After lunch was finished she took a sip of tea to steady herself pressing on and asking Luna to come with her to choose Luna's personal staff. The thought of Luna unprotected or needing anyone, but unable to ask or be noticed worried her. And it was not so much as being noticed, but rather staff not knowing what to do and being at a loss, Celestia didn't want Luna feeling unloved again, even in the small way of staff. She was so absorbed in these thoughts that it took Luna near actively dismissing the idea for later. Celestia draped a wing over Luna, more needing the physical reassurance that Luna was actually there then for comfort.

Celestia was trying so hard to not appear too concerned and yet not too distant. It was an uneasy balance that Celestia didn't want to tip in either direction to much in fear of alienating her beloved sister. Too soon though, Luna left for her room, leaving her alone in the massive dining hall. She felt like Luna was hiding something from her, but who could blame her? Once Luna was gone and all the staff was out of the room, Celestia let her head fall on the table, her rainbow mane flowing around her.

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Celestia was trying so hard to keep up the facade of being overjoyed but distant. From the first time Luna got to the Palace, Celestia wanted nothing more then to just hold her sister close, but she couldn't. She wanted so badly to apologize over and over until she heard and until this awful pain of shame washed away.

Her actions all those years ago were truly shameful, and so Celestia had devoted herself to improving Equestria for her sisters return. But now she was back and Celestia had no idea on how to reconnect with Luna or how Luna was even holding up. Was she having nightmares? could she still hear Nightmare Moon? did Luna need to talk about her time on the Moon? was it all of those things? was it none of them? She had never felt more helpless then trying to help her sister recently.

Celestia knew that anypony would say "just go talk to her. Say something, anything, just keep a conversation" easier said than done! She knew that she couldn't leave things like this with Luna for long, she would have to try to start and hold a conversation without it either angering Luna or either of them crying. Again, easier said then done. Luna always did have a short fuse.

Celestia got up from her bed and quickly put her regalia back on. She adjusted it, took a deep breath and went back to the letters. As trivial as they would seem compared to everything else going on, it was part of the responsibilities of being princess.

Chapter 5 The Duty Of A Princess

A full week after the lunch, Celestia had decided that it was time for Luna to no longer hide out in her room and generally in Celestia's opinion become a recluse, and become more involved in Palace life. Unfortunately, thanks to her elder sister's ignorance of Aquila, she had assumed that Luna would, yes grumble a bit, but be okay with more activity in the palace.. Which was in all counts, was extremely wrong.

Dark bags lined Luna's eyes, her normally tidy pale blue mane was ragged and wild. Luna's usual clear, teal eyes were bloodshot and brimming with anxiety, they were dulled over by lack of rest. Her wings desperately needed preening as the feathers were sticking out all over the place and not as they should be to ensure silent flight. All in all, Luna looked as haggard and unkempt as they day she returned. The only good was that at the tips of her mane, was that starting to lengthen and turn into a deep blue. It had not started to flow as if the wind was carrying it, nor did the stars reflect themselves in her mane, but it was a sign that her power was returning.

Luna had been up most nights taking care of Aquila. Aquila was crying or spewing coughs that seemed to come from the depths of Tartarus itself. The coughs were just as ragged as Luna felt, but any worse and Luna would swear Aquila's lungs would come out of her chest. Aquila was running a temperature, but her temperature was too low for such a serious illness , as Aquila was only slightly warmer then usual. It baffled Luna, Aquila was coughing and crying profusely, but only had a small temperature, that and Aquila was could not keep her food down and could only handle a little bit of water and soft food every few hours. Perhaps Luna was not skilled enough in medicine to know what was going on, or maybe she was and it was something entirely unknown? Maybe it was from being held in stasis for too long, or even just being on the moon for a length of time without the protecting magic that Luna alone possessed , but none the less, Luna was going mad with worry.

Luna had been much neglecting her duty as a princess of Equestria by staying by Aquila's side at all times and leaving no time for anything else, Luna was heavily suffering due to this. Luna had been leaving her room for brief periods only to eat, have a quick conversation with her elder sister and then get back to Aquila. Luna had no doubt in her mind that she needed help, maybe even a doctor, but when she had the chance to tell Celestia, she just couldn't work up the nerve to tell her sister.

Luna held Aquila in her hooves, her soft -but messy wings-, blue wings hanging limply at her sides due to not having the energy nor inclination to keep them up. Luna quietly whispered "Its okay little one, its okay, your okay" over and over again, trying to convince herself that Aquila truly would be alright and that this illness would pass soon enough. Luna sighed, why was Aquila ill? was it lack of sunlight or moonlight? did she need to go outside for fresh air? Luna was unequal to her task, she was not sure how to care for a filly, much less a Alicorn filly. All that talk of being a good mother was great in theory, but it was much harder then she had thought. From what Luna gathered, Foals were enough work as is, but in the rare times there was Alicorn foals, they were nearly 4 times the trouble.

Aquila started a bout of harsh coughing and just couldn't seem to stop, Luna cast her eyes down to Aquila and gently patted her back as she had seen other mares do when she looked out from her balconey. Luna felt despair start to creep in as Aquila didn't stop coughing, Luna then heard nightmare whisper Its Celestia's fault you know......She didn't give us the chance to learn about how to take care of Aquila.
She should receive her due for this! Why does Aquila have to suffer in literal silence!? tell us, oh Keeper of dreams, why should Aquila suffer while our dear sister goes on like nothing is wrong? Luna shivered and whispered angrily "begone Nightmare. Take your conniving words away from us"

But Luna knew that with each whispering of Nightmare Moon, there was fragments of truth. Why should Aquila suffer in Celestia's ignorance? If Luna didn't know better she would think that Nightmare even cared for Aquila, but Luna did know better, Nightmare was just trying to get in her head again and make her hate her beloved older sister, but as much as she hated it, the evil shadow of night had a point as usual. It was kinda Celestia's fault that they couldn't learn how to take care of Aquila, if only her sister had let her keep the moon up for one more hour all those years ago! that's all Luna had wanted, to be noticed. And if Celestia had allowed but a little, Nightmare moon would not have been able to corrupt her thoughts as she would have known that her sister had let her try.
Luna tried hard to banish these thoughts, it was no good to dwell in the past now. What was done was done and even if Luna tried again to take over, which she would never in the first place, she would simply leave Aquila to the mercy of a sad or possibly angry Celestia.

Luna's eyes widened as she heard a knock at her door. She quickly place Aquila down on the bed and carefully covered most of her little body with soft blankets. Luna hoped to the heavens that Aquila would keep her coughs down and try to sleep. Luna felt the desire to call out ' go away! i'm not well! come back later!' but she knew that would cause more suspicion and reluctantly gathered energy from her powers and went towards the door, making sure to keep her wings folded neatly to her sides.

Luna took a deep breath, cast a spell to hide her ragged appearance, the wings were hard as she had to make every feather look neat but managed to do so quite well. After looking at her appearance quickly and making sure everything was in order she opened the door slightly to see her elder sister standing there with a guard at her side. Luna looked suspiciously at Celestia "sister?" Celestia smiled softly at Luna "I thought it was time for you to pick out your staff, I don't mean to rush you into this, but I thought it might be nice for us to do something together! " It was clear to her that Celestia was hinting at something, and Luna appreciated the concern, but not now of all times!

Luna kept her face from frowning at this proposal with a bit of effort and looked Celestia directly in the eye "Surely thou would be capable of handling such matters? We are still recuperating" Celetia shook her head firmly "Luna, I would rather you do it alone. But its been a week now, and excuse the rudeness sister, but you have done very little since you have returned"

Luna replied with all the calmness she could manage "Sister, we promise that soon we shall become more involved in everyday life, but we ask that you would let us regain more energy before undertaking such matters" Luna had to get rid of Celestia quickly before Aquila started coughing, it would be a very poor way for Celestia to meet her niece after all.

Celestia took on a slightly concerned look, she cast her eyes to the guard before saying softly to Luna "Luna, there are a few in Equestria who are strongly against your return. While I have increased the guards in the Palace, it would simply kill me to know that you would have been murdered and there was no one even there with you to even try" Celestia's eyes became sorrowful and worried.

And there it was, Celestia's guilt trip. Luna knew she couldn't deny those eyes and tone that so she sighed softly "as you wish, sister" Celestia nodded gratefully and pulled Luna out of the doorway into a brief, but soft hug "thank you, Luna. I will give you a few moments to ready, then shall we go?" Luna nodded and quickly went into her room and did not close the door behind her all the way.

Luna quickly put in the regalia she had been given and started to head back to the large double doors of her bedroom when Aquila started coughing harshly. Luna whipped hear head around to Aquila and had placed a hoof down to go to her when Celestia called "Luna? are you sick?" Luna paled when she heard Celestia. Luna turned her head back around to Celestia and then back to Aquila. Luna was racked with indecision, go and sooth Aquila or go to Celestia? Thankfully Aquila's coughs stopped and Luna watched as Aquila's eyes close as she fell asleep. Luna shut her eyes tightly for a few moments before opening them and turning to the door.

After a few seconds Luna called out "just a cough, sister. No need to worry". Luna then quickly trotted over to her door and slowed down to a walk as she opened the door and walked out, making sure to close the door securely behind her. Luna raised her head to see Celestia looking concerned. Luna put on a slightly forced sheepish smile "truly sister. We are fine"

Celestia looked at Luna with concern and just a bit of suspicion before starting to walk down to servant quarters. Luna followed beside her and asked "sister, you told us that we are to choose staff. How are we to go about this?" Celestia then explained with patience "I have already asked the Palace staff and a few newly hired staff to gather in the servant quarters and prepare to be possibly moved to your personal staff instead of mine. Of course all that are there are willing to be moved, so no worry about that,"

Celestia then continued "So all you really have to do is pick a couple guards and maids, and you should be good for now. Of course you can pick more then that, but its up to you. Just go up to anyone you wish and pick them out" Luna nearly furrowed her brow at her elder sisters attempt to include Luna in such matters, and normally Luna would be pleased with this, but Luna was still consumed with worry for Aquila and that her daughter might need her.

If one was to declare Luna's fear, one could say this; Imagine getting the thing you wanted most in the world, and it was so amazing it surpassed all of your expectations. Then it was taken away where you could never even look at it without permanently destroying it. Then after years of waiting, you had it again, and you were able to treasure and love it. Then imagine it was being taken away again, but this time, you know that if it was stolen you would never get it back, not even after more years of waiting, and this was AFTER you had time to become attached to it. This was Luna's fear.

Luna and Celestia walked into the servant Quarters. It was a spacious room that looked like a cafeteria with a kitchen, and there was a kitchen. But not the kind that the chefs would be in. The kitchen was mainly made of wood, and was more casual then the royal kitchens. The room had many doors that led to smallish bedrooms for the full time servants to live. But right now, all the off duty guards and all the maids were in the main area (also known as the cafeteria), waiting for Celestia and Luna.

Everyone stood to attention when they saw the two celestial Princesses enter the room. They all seemed to stand in the own groups, guards with the guards, maids with the maids (that includes male servants), chefs with the chefs and so on. Celestia then motioned for Luna to go ahead and pick her staff.

Luna tried her best not to sigh, and started to walk around, taking a look at everyone. She was mainly trying to figure out the trustworthy ones. She started first with the guards. Luna couldn't help but gravitate more towards the Bat pony guards, so she picked several Bat pony's for guards. After all, her personal guard all those years ago consisted of Thestrals, and she knew she could trust them, but maybe they had changed as well.

Luna then moved on to maids/servants. Now this was important, she wanted to try and get someone who she could trust, someone who she could trust enough to tell about Aquila and get help. It should be Celestia, but the thought of the pain that would cause to her beloved sister was enough to drive her off that idea.

Luna asked the maids after thinking up a story to hide her true reasons "I hear that there is some who do not wish our return. So for safety reasons, who among thou would the most trustworthy?" the maids/servants talked for a while before one responded "that would be Heart Seal, Your highness"

Luna was then directed to a mare with a short, cherry red mane and tail and a light pink coat. Heart Seal had bright green eyes the color of fresh grass, and her cutie mark was a letter with a wax seal the shape of a heart on it. Heart Seal seemed to be a quiet, yet strong mare who seemed trustworthy enough.

Luna then picked Heart Seal to be the head of the personal staff. She then told Heart Seal "We are entrusting you to pick out the rest of our personal staff. Since we do not have adequate knowledge of who is trustworthy, we shall let thou decide" Luna then walked back to her sister side and only half listened as Celestia told the chosen staff that new uniforms will be ordered that are suited to their new stations.

After all was said and done, Luna was eager to return to Aquila. On the way back to her quarters Celestia commented in a obnoxiously pleased tone "I am very glad that we got that done" Celestia then looked at Luna with a friendly if a bit mischievous smile "so, Lulu, want a tour of the palace?"

Luna knew that look, the tour would most likely turn into something much more exciting, and a time ago Luna would have jumped at the chance for some fun, she couldn't keep away from Aquila and frankly Celestia was already draining Luna emotionally. Luna hesitantly replied "Sister..... we....sigh.... we can't, i'm very sorry, but we are exhausted already. We have not yet gathered enough energy" disappointment flashed severely on Celestia's face before concern took over, Celestia then asked "Are you okay Luna?"

Luna, starting to lose her temper replied in a cold tone "No, Celestia" Her elder sister flinched at the tone. Guilt blossomed in Luna's chest but continued "Sister, we have only been back for a week or so, can you truly expect us to be fully healed physically after a thousand years?" Luna knew this was harsh, but she couldn't help it, So much stress was building up and Luna was already not having a good day. Aquila was ill, Luna had hardly slept in days, Celestia had guilt tripped her into picking staff, Celestia was also making Luna feel crippled in the way of being treated like a child, then celestia had tried to take her on a tour, it was getting to be a bit much.

Celestia became silent at this and continued walking down the corridor to Luna's chambers. Their hooves clicked on the stone tiles, the sound echoing in the dead silence. Light streamed down from the many, stained glass windows, but with the current atmosphere in the room, the light felt cold.

When they got to the large double doors of Luna's room, they both stopped and just stood there for a couple moments. Luna looked up to her sisters face to see it pinched as if Celestia was in pain. Luna then put a wing on Celestia's back "We apologize for our words, it has been stressful as of late" Celestia, noticing her sisters gaze, quickly cleared her face and plastered on a soft smile "that's fine Luna. I was hasty, maybe some other time then?"
Luna nodded "that would be pleasant sister"

Luna then walked into her room and closed the door behind her. The room was dark but comfortably warm, thin streams of the suns light was filtering through the curtains, but that didn't bother Luna. It was to her great relief to find Aquila sleeping soundly, although the breathing was a bit raspy. Luna let her spell fall and the illusion around her dissipated, revealing her ragged state.

Luna sat down gently by Aquila, being careful not to disturb her. Luna felt a painful stab go through her as she remembered the Thestrals from earlier. Luna remembered Noctus, Aquila's father and her love, his wonderfully black, glossy mane and tail, his beautiful deep green eyes and the way he could always brighten the room with just his presence.

Luna buried her muzzle in her hooves as she lay down close to Aquila. Luna tried to keep tears from leaking from her eyes as she remembered the day she had met Noctus

FLASHBACK

Luna's moon was high in the sky, the stars were shining brilliantly and the galaxies were bright and colorful. not that anyone noticed anyway.

Luna flew down from her balcony to spy the new guard that Celestia had assigned to her guard. Luna was slightly very annoyed that Celestia would pick Luna's guard for her. When Luna flew down to the wall where the new guard was keeping watch, she was somewhat mollified by the new guard being a Thestral and not one of the ponies who would much rather be asleep through her glorious night. Luna landed beside the guard, causing him to jump slightly. His fangs were bared and his pupils reptilian like, but once he saw it was Luna he quickly took on a surprised and slightly bashful face and bowed quickly to Luna.

Luna let him stay bowed as she studied him for a few moments. He was a normal Thestral, fangs, pointed fluffy ears, bat wings, reptile like eyes. She did admire his pitch black appearance however. She then ordered in a normal tone as the royal Canterlot voice was only used with subjects "We approve of your readiness to protect. Thou may arise" the BatPony then rose to his hooves with an unguarded smile.

Luna ignored this and asked "What makes thou worthy of being in thy royal guard of the night? Tell us your name" the Thestrel nodded at this and replied in a serious tone, his smile a little dimmed but still present "My name is Noctus your highness. I am worthy of being in your guard because I am strong, fast, and...well.... I have always had a deep appreciation for the artwork that goes into your night sky, more then most, or so I am told"

Luna raised an eyebrow at this "oh? then thou is unlike nay most of Equestria. Do explain soldier" Noctus smiled and pointed out "my name is Noctus" He then looked up to the sky while saying "As a colt, I would stay up for hours stargazing and trying to count all the stars in the sky, sadly as I grew older, I may have not realized that it was impossible. My parents were always at work in the distant parts of Equestria, so when I went to school I was teased and bullied for being what I am an for my parents not being around. So I devoted myself to the night, I studied all the nocturnal animals I knew of, I personally named most of the stars, I memorized all of the constellations. So when the day came that I discovered that nearly no one else in the area I lived in didn't care half a wit about your night, I was completely baffled to say the least. So you could say that's were it started" Noctus looked back at his princess to see her eyes wide in surprise.

Luna was surprised to say the least. Most guards, even the thestrals didn't show that much attention to her skies. And the way he had immediately opened up to her held her aghast. Most would just offer a short and brief explanation to have an excuse not to even talk to her. This was new and Luna wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

When she focused again she found Noctus looking at her with a curious expression, he then asked "Bit for thoughts? your majesty?" Luna gaped slightly, no one except celestia had ever talked to her in such a casual way, but she was determined to not show it. Luna responded with all the grace of her position "We were pondering the likelihood of your tale"

Noctus shrugged, his dark armor clinking gently "Doubt it if you like, but you know, I bet no one else has proof to back it up" Noctus then looked up again and started pointing at random stars "I called that one Speaker, then that one Greatness, and I may or may not have been drunk when I named this one Poof" Luna held back a giggle and asked "Poof? what made you think of that?"

Noctus grinned "well at the time it looked bigger then the others, and the mead may have made it look poofy, like fur. And it just kinda stuck" at this Luna did let out a light laugh, which got a delighted reaction from Noctus. Luna then looked at the BatPony, a smile lingering on her lips "Well, Noctus, I expect to see a good report about you later on" Noctus then saluted her "absolutely, your highness"

Luna then took off into the cool night air, her large wings causing a light breeze. She flew into her dark skiy and wondered what that warm feeling in her heart meant

FLASHBACK OVER

Luna raised her head to look at Aquila, she did have some features from Noctus, her ears were slightly pointed and fluffy at the tips. Her wings were feather bit just underneath the feathers, Luna could see a bat like membrane underneath, proving that when she was older, the tips of her wings may not be feathers at all but membrane while loser to the bone and center was feathers.

Luna let a few tears slip down her snout as she whispered "Thy does promise Noctus. We shall take care of our daughter with all the strength and determination you would have, we will have her grow knowing of you. My dearest, you shall not be forgotten"

Chapter 6 A Bit Of Faith, A Bit Of Trust

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