Daughter of the Stars

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"