Vivat Regina

“A Castle in the Sky”

The weak light crystal illuminated the whole of the desk and nothing else. The curtains had been drawn, faint wisps of the outside finding their way in through small gaps. The room itself had been gouged of any possible light aside from the crystal, leaving everything as if it was a stormy night. All of this was done intentionally, of course.

Night felt far more at peace in the embrace of shadows than anything else.

Her eyes flicked to the foal lying bundled in her forelegs, playing with a strand of her mane that strayed into the filly’s grasp. Her daughter surpassed so many expectations, something that was to be and at the same time, not to be anticipated. There was a layer of pride and shame running through her as she considered things.

The foal was barely two weeks old and a mountain of expectation had been tossed onto her head.

But that made sense, didn't it? Her daughter shared her blood—her alicorn heritage, blessed with the peak of equine perfection. It only made sense that holding a pedigree of this magnitude would leave a pony with a burden. And, it would be wise not to forget that she already held massive amounts of magic power and potential, some of which would only grow as she discovered her aspect as an alicorn. So it came to no surprise when Lodestar had woken up shortly after her birth, already gazing into her world with foal-like wonder. Or at the very least, she was not surprised.

That had been thirteen nights ago.

Now, her daughter looked absolutely ready to burst out of her fuzzy confines and explore.

It was strange to see her growing up so quickly. Was she like this back when she was no taller than her own daughter? A flash of a familiar face worked its way into her mind. She hissed.

Lodestar backed off, clearly frightened by her sudden change in attitude. She quickly remedied that and softened her features. “Oh, no, no, no! You're fine, my star. It was just... something else,” she cooed. Her foal cooed back once she realized nothing was wrong and snuggled closer. Nothing felt more fulfilling than holding her foal close to her being. Night relished in the warmth she held and brought. She floated in this rapture for a scant few minutes until the world called her back.

Her eyes refocused to the low light of the room.

She rolled the shoulder carrying Lodestar and took a deep breath, staring blankly at the small stack of papers laid on top of the desk. It seemed no matter where she went, her work still managed to follow her in some form or another. Running an empire had its positives and negatives, mountains of paperwork being one of them.

She mumbled as the desk inadequately held it all. Maybe she should've requested to have one of her tables transported here. Or perhaps transfer to the castle already.

She had elected to remain within the hospital so the doctors could check for any outstanding problems or defects. While the medical staff at the castle were masters of their craft, they were not trained specifically with foals in mind. It also happened to give her the opportunity of spending much more time with her daughter. Which she greatly appreciated. The alicorn truly wanted to imprint that no matter what happened, she could turn to her and know she had someone who loved her.

Unlike… I…

She sighed and grabbed another lock of her hair and jiggled it in front of her. The foal giggled and tried to catch that as well. Aside from Lodestar’s speedy development of her muscles and size for a foal her age, everything turned out fine.

Mostly fine.

It was her eyes. Those ever so familiar eyes. Now that she was thinking about it again…

She couldn’t help but stare at the irises that haunted her so.

The same shade of magenta…

Night snarled. Her face contorted into one of fury and repressed emotion. Even in her state of death, her sister had the gall to rob something so precious from her. She had stained her beautiful daughter with her mark, forever leaving a permanent reminder.

Oh, how she hated it so.

But she couldn’t even consider harming her child just because her sister’s taint was scrawled across her. That… that would be giving in. It would be the same as letting her sister win. Allowing her to have the last laugh. That…

Night could not let that ever happen.

She would persevere.

No matter how much those eyes—

The alicorn caught a silhouette move from beyond the door, the shadow bobbing behind the glass. Without much to announce their presence, the figure quietly slipped into the room—their magically silenced armor did little to add any noise. Slitted eyes and glowing yellow irises met with her’s as the pony gave a silent salute.

“Captain Nightshade,” she stated calmly.

The guard took off their helmet and tucked it into the crook of their foreleg. “Your Highness,” they replied, taking a brief curtsy. “I come with… unsatisfactory news.”

Years of leading her country had taught her that her forces were not infallible, nor were they always capable of performing at peak efficiency at all times. Her left eye twitched, betraying the irritation hiding underneath her regal gaze. However, that didn’t mean she could feel moderately upset at most setbacks, especially if one of her captains had to come to her specifically. That insinuated that an order she directly made had encountered a problem. A small sneer appeared on Night’s face. “I see. What is it exactly that went wrong?”

She could tell from underneath her captain’s mask of stoicism, the mare was nervous. She clearly did not want to be the one relaying the message. “A messenger reported that one of the event planners organizing part of the parade for your daughter had unfortunately met with an accident. He will be unavailable for an undetermined period of time. His assistant has taken up the duty, however, their efficiency is not up to par. Or, supposedly, it looks to be that way.”

Night wordlessly stared at her subordinate. The captain subtly shifted the weight of their body around, clearly uncomfortable. “I… see.”

The light gulp they made almost went unheard. “What would you like to do, your Majesty?”

“What would I like to do?” she asked cryptically. All was quiet as Night drifted into her thoughts, weighing options. Eventually, she turned her full attention to Nightshade. “I suppose my daughter’s official introduction can wait. It would not hurt her to acclimate to a larger group of ponies, either.” She paused. “Very well. Ready my carriage, we leave for the palace in two hours.”

Something big is happening, although I’m not sure what.

There’s been a surge of ponies moving, much more than I’m used to regularly observing. Some of them happen to be reoccurring faces, such as this well-dressed pony, a distinctive-looking thestral knight (of course Nightmare Mom’s going to have those guys!), some nurses, and a pony in a lab coat—which is probably just a doctor. It’s sorta kinda exciting to try and guess what might happen based on that mixed-bag of characters.

Because if it equates to a change in scenery, I’m all for it.

I mean, it’s still amazing to think about being a pony, but to be honest, being wrapped up in a blanket and coddled day-to-night can get… fairly boring. Quick thing to note; haven’t seen any actual sun, sunsets, or sunrises. For all the times I’ve woken up, it’s been to the nighttime sky. Although I don’t really complain. It’s actually quite beautiful. Tapping a hoof on my chin, I wondered about my biology. Maybe it’s because I just end up sleeping through the day? Kinda like a nocturnal animal. That would make some sense.

I sighed and pawed at a flowing piece of my mother’s mane. Sometimes I could catch her working while I’m awake, filling out stacks of papers while reading. She’s got some crazy multi-tasking abilities. However, when she does realize I’m awake, she finishes whatever she’s doing and plays with me. On the topic of my parent, Momma Night does try her hardest to entertain whenever I do happen to be awake, offering me games one would perform for a budding child. To which, I must admit, totally had me interested and hooked for the first few times. Damn you baby brain! How can peek-a-boo be so awesome!? But, with enough repetition, that becomes old as well.

So now here I was, flicking my hoof back and forth on the bundle of stars wafting in front of me, bored out of my mind, waiting until the Sandman would gracefully take me.

Wait, human folklore, not pony. I pursed my lips.

I twisted my head to face Nightmare Mom, who was intently writing something on a chart. Does that make you the Sandpony? She caught me staring and paused. She turned her head around to face mine and smiled as non-threateningly as she could. I giggled for some reason and attempted to bop her on the nose. Her response instead brought me closer and we locked horns for a moment, before ending with a kiss on my forehead. That was… not what I was going for, but, alright.

She returned me back to my original position. That, however, upset the balance that was my new hair, flopping it directly into my line of sight. I pouted and batted it away to make sure it wouldn’t bother me. Content, I began retreating into the fluffy cocoon. I really wanted to know when the excitement would come along.

My ears flicked to the sound of a knob being twisted, with my head following suit not long after.

Speak of the devil.

Standing in the doorway at a respectful distance was the thestral knight from before, flanked by two generic looking guards. Mom glanced at them once before returning on her work, keen on finishing whatever she had in front of her. Either that or she doesn't really care enough to make eye contact.

The ponies at the door patiently waited, standing ramrod stiff. I cocked my head to the side to try and get a better view, much to my avail, does not work in the slightest. I settled with being able to sort of see them through a starry-blue filter.

My ears flicked—which was a weird sensation—as I picked up sounds. It sounds like… singing.

Oh.

They’re talking between each other now—speaking in the lyrical horse language. I’m still far too inexperienced in both senses to try and even begin deciphering what they have to say. Even then, I’m still all too unsure how baby horses in this reality learn how to speak. I just hope the previous knowledge stuffed in my head doesn’t interfere with anything. That would be disastrous.

I mean, transitioning from fluently speaking a completely different language and bipedalism could either be the easiest thing in my life or the hardest.

I can only hope it’s the former. I’m also banking that being a newborn would help me absorb things easier. If not, then I’m going to have to put all I can into adaptation. Don’t want to be the one sticking out like a sore thumb.

I could feel everything around me shifting—Mom was getting up. I retreated further into the blanket-wrap, a part of me terrified that I was moving so much.

The doors were pushed open and held in the crook of my mother’s foreleg, we stepped out into the public space. But why was I so scared? Why was I frightened by a change of scenery? Hadn’t this been what I wished for? Something new… I whispered in my mind as I looked down the hospital corridor. This was my chance to see the pony world with my own eyes. Experience it in the flesh!

And the terror washed away, instead replaced by droves of newborn curiosity.

Marveling at the simple things and wowed by the slightly-less simple, I eagerly took what was offered.

As I babbled away, we marched down the hall. Ponies quickly moved out of the way as we passed, bowing their heads in what was probably respect or staring in shock at something. Was it me? I wondered if it was.

I tilted my head and looked up to mom, who stared straight ahead, stern look wrapping her face. She looked so different. It was strange, really, to see the change in personality. I squeaked at her, accidentally conveying my confusion.

And for a second, under the empress visage of her’s, Mom cracked the tiniest of smiles.

The roof above us vanished, replaced by the endless canvas of stars.

There was chatter and gusts of wind gently buffeting my fur. I could hear the commotion of the city. There were so many new smells and sensations. For the first time in my new life, I tasted the outside.

It was all so fleeting, however, as I found myself in a fancy interior alongside Mom. “I’m sure you can see it all, my little star. Do take it in! When you’re older, we shall rule this kingdom together, as mother and daughter!”she said, most likely directed at me. In response, I only stared blankly at her.

“Oh, look at me, talking to my newborn as if I expect them to completely understand me,”she giggled? “I wonder how early you may begin talking? You’ve been babbling already, much faster than the doctors could’ve expected!” She raised me up to eye level and squished her cheeks. “Who’s my little expectation-breaker? You are! You are!” She barked what I assumed was in happy laughter and nuzzled me.

I cooed in excitement from her words, waving my stubby hooves up at her.

After that, we continued the ride in relative silence. The staccato fall of hooves, clacking of the carriage wheels, and the lack of anything keeping my attention meant… meant that… my mouth opened up in a yawn and my eyelids drooped. It was really good… at making me want to… sleep.

Maybe… maybe I could sleep right now…

Yeah…

That sounds really good...

I suddenly jerked awake when my body started shifting around. Unlike a regular child who would’ve ended up bawling, I was only confused and the slightest bit annoyed that I had been unfairly ripped away from rest. I looked at the source of my confusion, who was smiling and the tiniest bit oblivious to what she had done.

“Oh, Lodestar, here,” she said, twisting me around and lowering the blinds of our transport. She moved to the edge and together, we stuck our heads out. “This is one of my favorite views.”

I bet this must be something important.

There was nothing but the same dark-gray stone buildings that went by, accompanied by the occasional greenery as I looked outside. Sure, it was cool to look at the architecture, but that truly wasn’t my kind of thing. Did she want to show me the pedestrians? They looked just like the Canterlot nobles I remembered from the show. Horses wearing clothing was pretty funny and cool.

I eeped as the carriage tilted up. I looked to the sides and saw a fancy bridge support frame lining the ends of the road. Was I supposed to be impressed by…

The…

No way. No fucking way!

My eyes grew wide as I to process what exactly I was seeing—because I could barely believe it was true, everything I knew simply couldn’t accept it! As all the background fell away, there was a sea of a white, pockmarked by craters running to the horizon. It had an almost angelic glow to its surface. That itself was beautiful to gaze longingly into.

But that wasn’t what stole my breath.

Beyond that horizon, lay a simple, azure circle, dominating the expanse in all its grandeur. However, describing it as an orb would be doing it true justice, if that was what I thought it was. Clouds were swirled on the surface. Beneath those twisting vapors, layered in uneven veins and shades of white, sprawled what looked to be continents. Holding it all together were oceans of blue, massive in size as they claimed their stake on the orb. Altogether, it glowed against the black of space while stars danced around it.

This was a planet. No! Wait, that would be the wrong word.

Rather, it was the pony planet, laid bare before me, open for me to gaze longingly. I propped myself on the window frame as I inched out as far as I could. I stared into it for as fleeting the moments were, savoring each millisecond I was mercifully allowed. Regretfully I watched it vanish behind a cluster of buildings as the bridge came back to the earth.

As mother tucked a hoof under me and dragged me back in, I still had yet to run it all out of my system. I had done something that so many of those who looked to the stars could only hope and vicariously watch through a medium. A dream of mine, or perhaps, the dream of many, had been fulfilled.

She was talking and saying something to me. But even as I understood nothing, I still had the option to listen. This time I didn’t. I still had to think about what this all meant. A thought bubbled to the forefront of my mind. If it was possible for my eyes to go any further than they already had, it certainly felt like they did.

If this wasn’t all fake.

If this wasn’t simply an illusion.

There was only one place you could see something like this.

I was looking at a planet from the perspective of the moon.

We’re on the moon.