Blue Moon

Canterlot

May, 1998

Fourteen Years Prior

The angry buzz of the alarm sounded as the door opened, and the buzz immediately ceased once the door had shut behind the pair. Luna hated that sound, but she was forced to hear it whenever any door in this god forsaken prison opened. The officer behind her gently nudged her forward, and Luna complied. Walking down the hall, Luna felt like she was being escorted to the electric chair, rather than visitation. But to her, it might as well have been. She hadn’t spoken to anyone in her family since the incident in November. Not that she didn’t have the chance. Granted, she hadn’t been allowed visitors for the first two months, but even once she gained visitation rights, she hadn’t accepted any visitors. I didn’t deserve them, she told herself. But after being told that a person had been requesting to visit her every day for a month, she finally relented. She had no idea who would be wanting to visit her that badly, but she decided that if they had gone through that much trouble, she’d meet with them just once to humor them.

Another buzz as the door to the visitation room opened. Luna stepped inside, glancing around the room. Her heart froze as she saw a head of pastel pink, green, and blue hair sitting at an empty table. Celestia smiled at her, and Luna bowed her head, hiding her face. The officer behind her kept moving her forward until she sat at the table.

“You have ten minutes. Keep your hands where we can see them. Both of you. Got it?”

Celestia smiled and Luna nodded weakly. Satisfied, the officer left the two to their own devices. Silence fell over the table like a blanket of snow. After several long and uncomfortable moments of stillness, Celestia hesitantly smiled and spoke softly and kindly.

“Hey Luna.” She said. “How have you been?”

Luna raised her head slightly, her eyes tinted with both confusion and fear not quite meeting Celestia’s. She shook her head, shrugging half-heartedly.

“I’ve been better. I guess.” She let her head fall again. She squeezed her eyes shut, deciding to cut right to the chase. “Why are you here?”

Celestia’s smiled faded.

“I wanted to see my sister.”

“Why?”

“Because there’s something that’s been bothering me for a long time, and I need to get it out.” Celestia’s lighthearted facade was gone. She felt like she was all but pleading to her sister to accept that she wanted to be here on her own volition. “Can I just say what I need to? If you still don’t want to talk, then I can leave.”

Luna finally nodded slowly.

“Go ahead.” She said, still not meeting her gaze. Celestia felt her body relax in relief, but not for long. Now, she had to actually get the words out.

“I’m sorry.” Celestia said softly. Luna looked up. Celestia felt her heart lighten as she finally saw her sister’s beautiful blue eyes after so long.

“W-What?” Luna asked, showing more energy in that one word than she had in the entire conversation so far.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I was never there when you needed me. I’m sorry I pushed you out of my life.” There was so much more Celestia wanted to say, but she couldn’t get the words out as moisture clouded her vision.

“W-what?” Luna whispered through her tears. Celestia shook her head, tears openly falling now.

“I’m so sorry that I wasn’t the sister you should’ve had. I’m sorry I left you in middle school. I’m sorry that I didn’t see when you were getting bullied. I’m just…” She trailed off. She couldn’t speak anymore as her crying grew harder.

The young sister leaned forward, embracing her sister as the elder sister’s sobs filled the otherwise silent room. Luna looked over at the officer standing by, silently making sure they weren’t going to be thrown out. He nodded to her, his face betraying no emotions he might’ve been feeling. Luna nodded back at him. Luna held her sister. And once her sobs had slowed, Luna spoke softly.

“You have no reason to apologize, Celestia. It was because of my terrible decisions that got me here, not anything you did.”

“I could’ve been there… I could’ve…” Celestia was overtaken once gain by her tears.

“Celestia, it was never your fault. You shouldn’t be the one apologizing. I’m the one who’s sorry, not you.” Luna shook her head. “I’m sorry for putting all of you through the consequences of my terrible decisions.

“Thank you for showing me that what I was doing was wrong. I had a lot of time to reflect, after I was home alone with Dad. I thought of how... I’m sorry to say it, but how awful your friends were. I did a lot of thing and I realized my friends were pretty awful people too. I also realize that I wasn’t happy at all with where I was.” Celestia smiled. “So I decided to change some things in my life. For me. First off, and most important: I’ve decided to change my major.”

“Really?” Luna smiled. “To what?”

“Education and administration. I want to be a teacher. And maybe someday even a principle. Who knows.” Celestia shrugged. “But I’ve got a lot more options now.”

“Oh thank god.” Luna sighed. Celestia smiled and tilted her head in confusion, and Luna laughed. “You didn’t seriously think you’d have successful career with a Hospitality degree, did you?” Luna shook her head. “Come on, you were getting a glorified certificate in working as a desk receptionist at a hotel.”

Celestia joined in her laughing.

“Yeah, I guess that was a pretty bad idea.” Celestia shook her head. “God, what was I thinking?”

“Quote of the year.” Luna sighed. “I can see it printed on the front of some big magazine thing.”

Celestia nodded, and her smile faded once again.

“Yeah.” Celestia sighed distractedly. The air around the elder girl shifted, an uneasiness taking over her face as she seemingly internally struggled to speak. Luna picked up on this.

“What’s wrong?”

Celestia steeled herself and looked her sister in the eyes, a determination that Luna was definitely not expecting. The sudden shift caught her off officer, but Celestia spoke anyway.

“Before I say anything, just know that I’ve not faked anything so far. This visit really was to be reunited with you.”

And shred of Luna’s joy from the meeting faded and was quickly replaced with a skeptical worry.

“Okay… What are you trying to say?”

Well.. there’s one last thing I need to talk to you about.” Celestia said. Luna nodded.

“What is it?”

“Luna… you remember Jake was in the reserves, right?” Luna nodded again.

“Of course. That was kinda how most of this,” She gestured around the room. “Started.”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Celestia shook her head. “Well... his reserves unit got activated.”

Luna’s heart sank.

“O-Oh.” Luna said. She was shaken by the news. “W-When?”

“The day you were arrested.”

“Five months ago?!” Luna exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I tried, Luna. You wouldn’t talk to us. I couldn’t call, I couldn’t meet, there was nothing I could do to tell you.”

Guilt overtook her Luna. Her anger ground to a halt as she sunk into her seat.

“O-Oh. Well… did he send any way to contact him?”

Celestia shook her head sadly.

“He didn’t give us anything.”

Celestia mentally berated herself for not trying hard enough, and Luna held her head in her hands as she leaned her elbows on the table. Celestia sighed as she tried to reason with her sister.

“I’m sorry, Luna. He was really... torn up after everything and he left in a hurry before I could really get anything from him. Then he was gone by the next morning. I tried talking to some of the people at the police station, but all I got out of them was just what he told me.”

“There has to be some way to find him.” Luna shook her head. “There’s always a way. A directory or someone we can talk to.”

“Luna, I’m sorry to be the crusher of dreams, but... He’s gone. If he wants to contact us, it’ll be on his terms. Even if there is a directory, we wouldn’t even know how to find him.”

Luna shook her head, giving up on hiding her tears.

“I’ve watched the news, Celestia. I know what’s going on in Saddle Arabia. He’s in combat, getting shot at. And it’s my fault he’s there.”

“No, it’s not. He’s gone because of politics, and other things. Not you.”

Luna wasn’t listening, and Celestia leaned forward, but stopped and glanced at the officer. He nodded stoically before embracing her sister, whispering softly to her.

“It’s okay, Luna. He’s gonna be alright. He’s gonna be fine.” Celestia sighed wearily. “Look, I’ll see what I can find. But… don’t get your hopes up.”

Luna shook her head, and tried to speak through her tears.

“The only friend I ever made, and I drove him away because I’m a horrible person.”

“No, Luna, that’s not true.” Celestia tried to tell her, but Luna wasn’t listening. “Hey, look at me.” Celestia lifted Luna’s head to meet her eyes, her face set in grim determination. “You’re not a horrible person. You’re gonna finish your time here, you’re gonna go back to school, and you’re gonna prove it to the world that you are not that person. Okay?”

Luna shook her head.

“I don’t think I can. Not after what I did to all of those people.”

“I know you can. You fell, and hit the ground pretty hard. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get back up. It may take a little longer, but if that’s what it takes, then so be it. They’ll forgive you if you’re willing to put forth the effort.”

Luna laughed softly through her tears.

“God you sound like mom.”

“I know. I can’t stand it.” Celestia chuckled tiredly. “Promise me you’ll at least try?”

“I will.” Luna nodded meekly. “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

The two let go at last, and Luna wiped the tears from her eyes. Celestia smiled at her little sister and Luna looked up, smiling back.

“Times up.” The officer interrupted. He wasn’t nearly as forceful as he was when they came in, but he was still firm. One had to hold appearances after all. Celestia nodded, and Luna’s smile faded.

“Will you visit me again?”

“Of course, Luna. I’ll see if I can get Dad in here one of these days, too.”

“Thank you.” Luna smiled to Celestia as she stood to face the officer.

Celestia watched as she was escorted through a metal detector in front of the door and out of the room. She stood at last and walked out of the room, grabbing her purse from the officer’s station on the way out.

Meanwhile, Luna was being escorted down the halls. This time, she kept her head up, and a small smile adorned her face. She was thinking about what Celestia had said, about becoming a teacher. If you’d asked Luna less than a year ago if she’d wanted to be a teacher, she’d all but scream no. But now… the idea didn’t seem too unreasonable. It had been thanks to teachers that she ended up in this mess, due to their ineptitude. Maybe if she was a teacher, things could be different. Even if it was just one kid…

Canterlot

June, 1998

One Month Later

Luna had served out the last month of her sentence with ease. Celestia met her everyday she could during school, and once colleges let out for the year, she was able to visit even more. The two sisters grew closer than ever, and at last the day came for Luna to leave the Canterlot Juvenile Detention Hall. After a series of extensive protocol procedures, she finally stood in front of the desk in the Property Room, where everything she had with her when she was arrested was locked away. The officer brought out a box with her name and inmate number on it.

“Luna Solaire, inmate number 322354.”

The officer set the box down on the desk, pulling the lid open. He pulled out a piece of paper and set it on the desk next to the box, checking off each item as he pulled it out of the box.

“One pair of blue Converse All Stars shoes; one pair of black socks, no name brand print on them; one pair of blue Old Navy slim fit jeans; one set of undergarments; one light grey shirt with the logo for the band ‘Rush’ printed on the front; one black hoodie jacket; one blue Nokia phone; one purple and black checkered wallet with a student ID for Canterlot High, Canterlot Library Card, and twelve dollars cash.” The officer turned the page around to Luna and set a pen on top of it. “Sign this.”

Luna scrawled her signature quickly, and the officer pulled the sheet back and set it aside. He threw the items back in the box and handed them to Luna.

“There’s a changing room over there. Make sure we get all of our stuff back.”

Luna nodded and walked into the nearby changing room. The two officers took post on either side of the door, waiting for her to finish. When she was done, she came back out and set the box on the table, with all of the issued clothing she had on before folded and placed in the box neatly. The officer gave her an odd look, but nodded his thanks.

“Let’s go.” One of the officers said.

Luna turned around, officer on either side of her, and followed as they started off down the hall. She smiled softly to herself as she realized this would be the last time she had to see these disgusting cinder block walls. One of the officers, noticed her smile.

“What are you smiling about?”

“Just happy to be leaving, that’s all.”

The officer nodded slowly. The trio kept silent as they marched forward through the halls, eventually reaching yet another gate. This one, however, had the door to the complex just on the other side. Luna’s smile widened as she heard the last angry buzz of the prison door swinging open. Stepping through, Luna was very nearly thrown off her feet.

“Luna!” Celestia shouted as she embraced her little sister.

The two officers stepped aside as the two embraced. One of them walked over to the other side of the room, where the two siblings’ father stood.

“Jericho Solaire?”

“That’s me. Good morning.” Their dad greeted the officer.

The guard nodded.

“Good morning, Mr. Solaire. We have a few papers for you to sign and then we’ll allow you to take your daughter home.”

Jericho nodded and followed the man over to a nearby desk. The two sisters silently held each other, smiles spread across their faces.

“It’s over.” Celestia said softly.

“Finally.” Luna laughed.

The two finally pulled apart after what still to the two felt like too soon.

“What do you want to do first, now that you have your freedom?”

“I wanna go eat.” Luna grinned.

“Really?” Celestia laughed. “Of all the things, that’s what you want to do?”

“You wouldn’t be laughing if you’d been forced to eat the food I have.”

“Alright, well let’s go get some food. Do you have any ideas on where you want to go?”

Luna grinned.

“Anywhere but here.”

“Sergeant McNab?” The logistics officer called.

Jake raised his hand from where he stood in the corner.

“That’s me, sir.”

The man nodded.

“Grab your stuff, plane leaves in thirty.”

“Yes, sir.”

The officer walked out of the low ceilinged office and onto the sidewalks outside. Jake grabbed his duffle bag and followed him outside. They were at an airbase, not too far from the FOB where he’d had been stationed. This was a serviceman’s only way in and out of Saddle Arabia, as it was the only base.

“Alright, so I’ve gotta give you fair warning here. This is a cargo plane, so it won’t be the most comfortable ride back.” The officer said.

Jaked looked over to the hangar, and nodded as spotted the large plane.

“Whatever it is, it’ll be better than a convoy through the desert.”

“Yeah… well it’s less the ride than the cargo.”

“What do you mean?”

Jake stopped as they walked up to the rear cargo ramp of the plane. His heart fell as he spotted the cargo being loaded into the plane. Wooden caskets with the Equestrian flag draped over them were being wheeled up and secured into the plane. Peering into the plane, he was devastated to see that they’d already loaded at least half a dozen, with just as many waiting to be loaded behind them. That was the base’s other job. To help servicemen get home when they get their ticket the other way.

“We’re transporting fourteen servicemen home to their families. I’m sorry, but your captain said it was urgent, and this was the first plane set to leave for another week.”

Jake nodded grimly.

“I’d be honored to fly alongside these heroes, sir. It’s no problem.”

The officer watched Jake, obviously he knew that this was hard for any serviceman, and the sergeant was taking it well. He nodded reluctantly.

“Alright. When we get them all loaded, you can strap yourself into the benches on the side of the hold.”

Jake nodded, and saluted the officer as he went off to attend to the rest of his duties. Turning away from the officer, he watched the airmen load the caskets into the plane. They all sported the same look of grim determination. It was a hard job, but it had to be done. And they all knew that. His eyes fell on an airman watching the rest of the men carry the casket up, waiting for one to come help him with the next one. Jake nodded to himself, and set his bag down on the ground. Silently, he walked over and stood on the other side of the casket. The airman nodded his thanks, and the two silently started loading the casket.

No words were said, they didn’t need to be. The airmen were professionals. And as much as it pained Jake to think of, he knew they’d probably had to do this a lot. But they performed with all the dignity and pride the men they were moving deserved.

One by one, they fit all the caskets into the hold, strapping them down. Jake walked to the ramp to grab his stuff, but was stopped as an airman came up the ramp.

“Here you go, sergeant.” One of the airman held his bag out for him. Jake recognized him as the one who had been standing alone earlier. Jake took the bag from the young man.

“Thank you.”

The airman nodded, and walked off to perform the rest of his duties. Silently, Jake pulled down the seat on the side of the hold and strapped himself in. His eyes fell on the array of fallen servicemen before him.

“Are you ready to go, sergeant?” A voice to his left called.

He looked up to see one of the crewman shouting through the hold. Jake gave him a thumbs up, and the crewman nodded before disappearing back into the depths of the plane. Jake felt the rumble of the engines starting, but paid no mind. Silently, he raised a hand in salute of the men before him.

Goodnight, gentlemen.