Twilight Sparkle woke with that slow, comfortable feeling that comes from having slept just the right amount of time. She stretched, sprawling across the entire bed. This brought to her awareness the fact that she was said bed's only occupant. She opened her eyes to find that it was nearly pitch black. The moon was only just past new tonight, so the stars provided the only light.
It was a little bit ridiculous that she'd ended up waking after dark and going to sleep in the morning, but that tended to happen when Luna was visiting for long periods of time. In fact Luna usually woke her well before sundown, but apparently given they both had taken the night off, her special somepony had seen fit to let her sleep in.
Twilight the unicorn would have lit her horn in order to see on such a moonless night. Twilight the alicorn was learning new ways of seeing. She opened her senses to the way things were, the fundamental reality that underlay the world. It was an odd thing of forms and symbols, but it was quite precise in its own way, and there was something she liked about finding her way by it. She wasn't merely walking on carpet, but on the essence of that which was made to be underhoof, a symbolic construction that nevertheless occupied exactly the same space as the carpet itself did. Around her were walls that contained the essence of wall-ness, of containment and protection, as well as the essence of her home itself, a thing of crystallized harmony, friendship and magic. It radiated soft power that she could easily manipulate at need. It was very pleasant, and also invigorating. Much as she sometimes still missed her cozy library, this newer home had much to recommend it to her.
Not least the fact that there is room for a bed big enough for two, she thought to herself with a smile as she made her way down a hall, in search of her marefriend.
She found her, as expected, on a high, spacious balcony where a trio of telescopes rested. Twilight had only replaced three of her collection so far, though she'd made plans to purchase several more. High quality telescopes, however, could not be simply picked up at the market, they had to be ordered, and then created painstakingly before being sent to Ponyville. They also were quite expensive, so buying them one at a time was the only practical option.
Luna sat on the opposite end of the balcony from the little sky observation station. She was looking at the moon, which hung just touching the horizon. It was a tiny sliver of light, only a day past new. Luna herself was only just waxing too. Her coat was a dusty blue, her hair a light, silver-blue, hanging in gentle waves with no hint of the magic that caused it to flow on an invisible breeze of power when the moon was nearer to full. When Twilight came and sat beside her, Luna leaned against her with a tired sigh. A gust of chill wind blew, a reminder that autumn had begun, and Luna gave a little shiver. Twilight spread a wing and cupped it around her.
"Difficult raising?"
Luna hesitated a moment before replying. "Aye. It sometimes is, when the moon is near new. It weighs no less now than it does when full."
"I've wanted to ask about that," said Twilight. "I mean... your power waxes and wanes, and when I first learned about that it made sense to me, but the more I think about it, the less sense it makes. The moon is always there, and always as bright, it's just that sometimes we can't see it. Why should the angle of the light make so much difference?"
"Power, especially alicorn power, is a matter of symbol and seeming as much as a matter of truth," said Luna. "The moon appears to grow and shrink from our earthly point of view. It is set such in the minds of countless thinking beings across countless generations. Thus, the lunar magic waxes and wanes. Were I to leave the bounds of this world, my power would change profoundly." Her eyes grew distant and there was a long silence as she stared into the night. The stars were beginning to emerge as the last traces of sunset light faded from the sky. At length Luna heaved a soft sigh. "Elsewhere things are otherwise, but here my moon is defined as it is, as thing of cycles and tides, and after so long I am content with it."
"You say 'elsewhere things are otherwise' as if you know that for certain. Have you been beyond this world?" Twilight felt an immense curiosity. Luna and Celestia were both often very close-lipped about their pasts. She tried not to pry, because it was rude, but she always wanted to know more. Especially about Luna. She'd learned little bits and pieces over the months they'd courted, but there was still a vast ocean of things she didn't know.
"I have, aye."
There was another long silence. Luna's expression was pensive, almost worried. Twilight wasn't sure she should ask. She wasn't sure what to ask either. Finally she said, "Can you tell me about it?"
Luna continued to stare out into the deepening dark. At length she said, "The stars sing. Or they..." She trailed off, then shook her head. "It is not a song like you or I would sing. There are no words for it. It is beautiful." She turned and looked at Twilight, and it was still a little strange for Twilight to find their eyes level, Luna was usually so much taller. "You may hear it someday. There will come a time when you may choose to go beyond."
"I don't understand."
"I know." Luna smiled. "And for now that may be for the best. Someday you will. Someday I must..." she halted, shook her head again. "Someday I must take certain actions and give certain explanations, but that day is not today. So for today—or tonight, rather—let us enjoy the stars as you know them. There will be time enough to speak of the stars as they are beyond this world."
Twilight was burning with more questions, but she knew that pressing Luna wouldn't get her the answers she wanted. So she simply nodded and leaned against Luna again, enjoying her closeness. Together they stared out at a sky strewn with shimmering stars, but despite the peaceful closeness of that moment, Twilight couldn't stop a little fragment of her mind from wondering about their song.
Twilight looked left and right as she slipped out of the little Canterlot boutique. There was, of course, no sign of Luna. Checking had been rather silly. But she didn't want to spoil the surprise. She spread her wings and took to the sky, a small package clutched tightly in her magic as she set her course towards Ponyville.
She did a daring barrel roll as she went, and laughed. This was going to be absolutely perfect!
Ponyville wasn't far, so she was soon landing on the balcony of her castle. Inside her workroom she trotted up to a roll-top desk whose top was closed and which locked with a little key. The key she retrieved from a hiding nook on top of a tall shelf on the other side of the room. She unlocked the desk, and swiftly tucked the package she'd gotten in Canterlot into one of the pigeonholes there. Several others were occupied with rolled scrolls, and from one of these she retrieved a checklist. Her eyes shone with delight as she surveyed the row of ticked boxes. She grabbed a quill and put a check on the final one, then tucked the list back in its place.
A second checklist whose boxes indicated tasks to complete rather than objects to acquire was retrieved next and Twilight surveyed it with a little nod. Most of that was done as well, but she needed to check the weather and then give the final word to a few specific ponies. She tucked that back away also and carefully re-locked the desk.
Then she did a little dance of excitement, tapping her hooves against the crystal floor, which rang pleasingly. It was so close! Tomorrow the spring tide would be rising again. She'd feared she might have to miss this one and wait for the next when the object she'd picked up today had been delayed, but the artisan responsible had managed to complete it just in time. Everything was going to be perfect.
"Eeee." The squeal of excitement escaped her involuntarily, and she put a hoof over her mouth and tried to reclaim her dignity. She was a princess. She shouldn't be squealing like a schoolfilly. Also, she had things to do. Tomorrow would only be perfect if she checked everything else off of her check list. Time to get to work.
Twilight adjusted the rock holding the corner of the picnic blanket down. The breeze off the ocean was brisk and more than a little bit chilly, but being an alicorn had certain advantages; her pegasus magic kept her comfortable despite the chill. She danced in place on the sand, kicking up bits of the beach as she waited with excitement and impatience. Luna should be here any-ah! A distant speck dipped down out of the afternoon sky. Soon Luna had landed beside the blanket. She looked over it and the picnic basket sitting on it with a smile.
"So this is your mysterious surprise? A picnic on the beach?"
"A picnic on the beach near where we first said we loved each other." Twilight smiled warmly at Luna, and felt a happy little tingle when Luna smiled back. "Though that's just part one. There's more, later."
"I see." Luna sat down on the blanket, next to the picnic basket. She lifted the lid and peered into it. "Ooo, truffles!"
Twilight laughed. "Those are for after dinner, not before."
Luna stuck out her tongue impudently. "A princess can have chocolate for dinner if she likes."
"If she likes being a complete and utter barbarian," said Twilight, still grinning. She sat down beside Luna and started to unpack the basket. As she thought about the evening to come, her heart started to race faster. She was excited, but also a little nervous. It was very important that the whole occasion be just perfect. She kept pulling things out of the basket, though, and when Luna greeted the revelation of its contents with repeated delight some of Twilight's nervousness faded.
A half glass of the wine she'd also brought, which Luna immediately opened and poured for them both, helped a great deal with the rest of it. Finding the perfect wine had been just one of several challenges in her quest for perfection. Twilight tended to like sweeter wines, a syrupy dessert wine was one of her guilty pleasures. But Luna preferred robust wines that were bone dry. Rare indeed was the wine they both enjoyed. But over a spaghetti dinner at a tiny little restaurant in Manehattan last year they'd both enjoyed the house red, and Twilight had made arrangements to get her hooves on a bottle for tonight.
The rest of the food was similar, in that it represented things they both loved. The most decadent of such things that Twilight could find, in fact, to make a lover's feast of rich little morsels.
They fed them to each other, laughing at times and at others just savoring in silence, as they watched the tide roll out. It would be turning soon, Twilight knew, and every time she thought about that her stomach started tying itself in knots again. But she only took another sip of her wine and set her nervousness aside. Everything was going according to plan. She hadn't made all those checklists for nothing. She had this under control.
And it was easy to forget to worry when she was around Luna. Spending time with the alicorn of the night never grew old. Twilight was a little bit of an introvert by nature. She'd learned how to be comfortable around friends, and over the last few years she'd been learning how to be comfortable at public events as well. But socializing was always a little bit draining. She needed time alone with a good book to recover from spending a day out with somepony, even when it was just somepony like Fluttershy. But spending time with Luna wasn't like that at all. Time with her flew by, and Twilight never felt like she needed a break, or like she needed to recover.
She still enjoyed time alone, of course, she couldn't spend every second of every day with Luna. Yet sometimes she felt like she wouldn't mind if she could.
This afternoon flew by as well, and soon the last bites had been nibbled and the last of the wine had been drunk. The sun was about to sink behind the hills to the west and Luna rose as it touched the horizon. Twilight waited, still always just a little bit in awe of this moment no matter how often she saw it repeated.
The sun disappeared, and Luna's horn glowed. Her head was bowed, but suddenly she lifted it in a dramatic gesture, and her wings flared out around her. The moon peeked up above the sea in the east, spilling its pale light along the waters, which were still tinted red with the last glow of the sun.
"It is done," said Luna softly.
"It's always beautiful," said Twilight, getting to her hooves. She looked out at where the moon still kissed the sea. If Twilight's tide charts were correct, the tide had just turned and should be coming in. It was impossible to tell just by looking at the sea, but she thought the next wave foamed a little bit higher than the ones before it had.
A metaphorical butterfly flitted through her stomach. It was time for phase two of her plan for this evening. She lit her horn and cast the light-walking spell Luna had taught her all those months ago. "Shall we take a walk?" she said, gesturing with one hoof out to sea.
Luna looked at her for a long moment, unasked questions in her eyes, then she nodded and her own horn glowed with soft blue light. "Let us," she said.
They walked together out across the wet sand where the sea had been retreating. A wave foamed over Twilight's hooves, shockingly cold, but then she managed a step on top of the water, the light-walking spell letting her stand on the shattered path the moon laid over the waves. It was the sort of thing that shouldn't have worked, yet somehow it did. Like alicorn magic. Like Luna's tie with the moon and with the tide.
The tide that was rising now was a spring tide. It was autumn, but that wasn't what a spring tide meant. It meant a special tide, higher than a normal tide. And on this special night, when the moon was full and the tide was beginning to rise, as Twilight looked over at Luna she could see that her coat was an even darker shade of midnight blue than usual. Her hair was darker too, and yet the stars sparkling in it seemed even brighter, even more real than usual.
They walked on, scrambling a little at times over the crashing surf, getting wet, but neither really minding. They could have flown, but they did not. The walk itself was important.
Eventually they passed the surging surf and reached the gentle swells of the deep ocean. The water was nearly still, the moonlight path no latter shattered but mirror smooth, marred only by the occasional ripple.
At length Twilight stopped, and Luna did as well. They looked at each other, though Twilight had to look up now. Luna was nearly as tall as Celestia, her coat a blue so dark it was almost black. Her her horn was long and elegant and her mane was the night sky itself. She was in the full flower of her power, and she was the most beautiful thing that Twilight had ever seen.
"I am glad you invited me here tonight, Twilight," said Luna, smiling. "I am yet gladder still that I invited you to walk with me on the moon-path, those many months ago."
"It's been eighteen months," said Twilight, giving a smile in return. The metaphorical butterfly had come back, along with a few dozen friends and family. Her heart felt like it would pound out of her chest. "Almost exactly. Not quite, the spring tide didn't fall on the right day, but I thought that mattered, somehow. Uhm." Twilight blushed. She was sounding like an idiot. But Luna only smiled more.
"Yes. I see why you chose today to celebrate. It was a good choice."
"That's good. I mean, I'm glad you agree. I mean... ah..." Twilight resisted the urge to put a hoof over her face. She took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "Sorry."
Luna let out a tinkling peal of laughter and leaned down to plant a kiss on Twilight's nose. "You have naught to be sorry for."
Twilight gave a little shrug. Her heart was still racing, but she plunged on to what she'd really come here to say. "Tonight is not just a celebration. It is, but not just that. I invited you here to ask you something. Something really important. Something I hope you... well..." She paused one more time, took a deep breath, and the pulled the little box she'd gotten in Canterlot out from under her wing and opened it, revealing the horn ring within. "Luna, will you marry me?"
Luna let out a tiny gasp as she stared at the box. The ring was silver, set with a single, simple round moonstone, with the setting worked in a pattern of swirls that echoed the shape of the crescent moon. It was a stunning piece, easily one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen. Then she looked past it at Twilight, who was looking up at her with her heart shining in her eyes. Seeing that, a sight far more beautiful than any ring could ever be, she gave the only reply she possibly could.
"With all my heart, I will."
"If I had known how much work this was going to be, I might not have proposed," said Twilight, from behind a stack of books.
"You had best be jesting, Twilight my love. Else you shall be in a great deal of trouble!" Luna had her own stack, as well as a pile of scrolls as the two sat together in Luna's Canterlot study.
Twilight grinned. "Of course I am. But here I thought a lot of work went into Shining's wedding to Cadance. This..." She prodded the stack of books with her hoof. They were historical books and etiquette books, for the most part, and quite a few were in languages other than Equestrian. Equestria had never had a situation quite like the one she and her fiancee now found themselves in.
"Aye. Cadance is a princess, but was not at the time a head of state. Her guest list was not determined by the needs of diplomacy."
"Yeah. Also my friends were able to step up and devote themselves to helping in a major way. I still may get a hoof from them, Pinkie Pie has already said something about throwing a bachelorette party, but they're all a lot busier now than they were just a few years ago. I mean, just keeping up with the party needs of Ponyville has turned into a full time job for Pinkie with how the town has grown. Rarity is running three boutiques, and she can never keep herself from trying to personally oversee everything. Sweet Apple Acres is half again as big as it used to be and Applejack is still planting more trees to meet demand, Rainbow Dash is getting called up by the Wonderbolts more and more often, and Fluttershy has the animal sanctuary to look after now. Spike is the only one who's not way busier these days. There's also Starlight, of course, but she has her own work, I can't just expect her to take care of this stuff for me."
"Indeed." Luna unrolled another scroll. Most of the scrolls in her pile contained lists of various diplomats. They were assembling a guest list, and while Luna's "side" would contain a few personal friends, it mostly consisted of people who had to be invited for state reasons. Twilight's "side" would be much smaller, even though her circle of friends was fairly large these days and she had a fair number of relatives as well. The whole affair was constantly threatening to spiral completely out of control, and they had barely begun planning. They hadn't even chosen a date, but both were already in agreement that it would be at least a year away, given everything that needed to be done.
Twilight jotted down another note on her own list, which was actually several lists noting events that needed to happen, supplies that needed to be procured, and ponies who needed to be hired. She was taking notes from accounts of the state weddings of other countries, as well as from the more standard wedding etiquette books, just to make certain that nothing important got forgotten.
"I'm just glad that Celestia said that the state would help fund it, since it's a state occasion, otherwise I think we'd bankrupt ourselves."
"Hah. Yes. I am not exactly a pauper, nor are you, but 'twould be a much smaller event were our own coffers our only resource. As 'tis I am quite pleased that we shall only fund the honeymoon. And for that I have many plans, but far fewer checklists." She gave Twilight a wink, which made her blush and giggle.
Luna returned to her scroll, her quill poised. Twilight, still smiling, did the same. There was a great deal of work to be done.
Twilight trotted briskly through the streets of Canterlot. Autumn had turned to winter and the streets were lightly dusted with snow. Hearth's Warming ornaments had begun to appear here and there and the lamp-posts were decorated with wreaths or draped with garlands. She came out into a stately square where the evergreen trees had been hung with decorations, and halted.
Her glace at the sun was purely a matter of habit. Lately she had been using her alicorn senses more and more, and she found that when she did, she always knew exactly where the sun and moon were. They stood out to her senses, bright beacons of magic. The sun was louder, shedding its magic freely. The moon was more subtle, keeping its power within, but despite that, and also despite being on the other side of the world, Twilight could still sense it clearly, a softly glowing presence somewhere under her hooves.
She had a few minutes left until she was supposed to meet Luna for their appointment, so she strolled around the square, looking in shop windows and considering the posted menus of little cafes. She gave a particularly fond smile to a bakery—widely considered the best in Canterlot—but passed it without peeking at the display cases within. She would be inside soon enough.
A sense—like the moon itself—of a clear, warm power behind her made her turn, and her eyes lit up as she saw Princess Luna walked towards her. "Luna!"
"Good morrow." Luna gave a yawn, which she stifled with one hoof. "Forgive me, it is quite early for me yet."
"I'm sure they would have made an evening appointment if we'd asked for one. I mean, we are both princesses."
Luna made a brushing aside gesture. "Nay. There are times when I take full advantage of my position, but such petty matters are not counted among them. But come! I am eager to taste cake."
Twilight laughed. "So am I!" She turned towards the bakery with Luna at her side.
Luna grasped the door in her magic first, and held it for Twilight, so she went inside. Luna followed behind her, but tripped on the lintel as she was walking in. Several ponies gasped, and Twilight spun around, shocked. She herself might be clumsy, but Luna was always surefooted and graceful.
Even more concerning, as Luna picked herself up, Twilight noticed that her mane had faded to almost the color it should be at new moon, and her coat was lighter too. She didn't seem to be shorter, but still, that was odd. "Luna? Are you alright?"
Luna gave Twilight a reassuring smile. "Forgive me. Perhaps I should have asked for that evening appointment after all. I am merely a bit tired."
"But your mane..."
Luna glanced down at it, and for a moment her face froze, her eyes widening in surprise. Then she composed her face and gave a casual shrug. "It is nothing. Merely, as I said, that I am tired. Adding wedding preparations to my normal duties has admittedly been a bit of a strain." She lifted her head a bit, and Twilight sensed a subtle magic, something using the flow of lunar power beneath their hooves, that barely flickered on Luna's horn. Her normal mid-moon coat and mane colors returned and she smiled. "There. All is well. Come, let us proceed with the tasting."
"Of course." Twilight looked back to the shop, and saw the owner already hurrying towards them.
"Princesses! It is an honor. Come, we've prepared samples of all our flavors for you. And a few other delicacies as well, we thought you might want petit fours perhaps, or cupcakes."
"Well, Sweet Apple Acres is doing most of the catering, and they've already included a few of their signature apple based deserts. We don't want to overwhelm the guests with too many choices." Twilight looked over at Luna, who nodded.
"Of course." Sweet Spot, the pink dappled white mare who owned the bakery flashed Twilight a warm smile. "But the samples are already made, so you might as well try them. And you do definitely have to taste all the cake flavors."
Luna chuckled. "I am nearly certain that my own vote shall be cast for chocolate. But I will never say no to tasting cake. I share at least some of my sister's rather legendary fondness for it."
"Celestia has been one of our best customers since we opened," said Sweet Spot as she trotted into the back room where the tastings were held. The bakery specialized in wedding cakes, which was why Twilight had chosen them, though Celestia's recommendation had helped. They regularly catered the kinds of affairs that the Canterlot elite loved putting on, so they would be up to the task of dealing with Twilight and Luna's mammoth wedding if anyone was. She'd considered having Applejack do the cake too, but putting that on top of the work of catering such a large and lavish event had seemed like it might be a little bit too much.
Also this way she got to taste cake.
She and Luna sat down in the tasting room and surveyed the little tray of samples laid out before them. "So many choices," said Twilight, looking over the flavors. "I have no idea how we'll decide."
"You've mentioned a five-tier cake," said Sweet Spot with a smile, "so you can pick your five favorites if you like, we can do each tier a different flavor."
"Ooo." Twilight clapped her hooves together. "That makes it easier!"
"Shall we begin, then?" said Luna. "I believe I shall start with the chocolate. Just to confirm that it will be my pick."
"I'm curious about the other desserts, even if we probably won't use them. Are those cream puffs? Can I start there?"
Sweet Spot chuckled and pushed the sample trays toward the two alicorns. "Start in whatever order you like, your highnesses."
"Delightful!" said Luna, and picked up a little cube of chocolate cake.
Twilight grinned and picked up a cream puff. She bit into it and the sweet filling exploded into her mouth. Her eyes half-closed in bliss. The filling was just the right creamy sweetness, the shell was the perfect balance of soft and elastic, and the dark chocolate drizzled over it added a bitter-sweet complexity. It was possibly the best cream puff she'd ever had. "You have to try this," she said to Luna, and floated the second little ball of confectionery perfection over to her.
Luna shook her head, still chewing the chocolate cake sample, and Twilight playfully bonked the cream puff against her muzzle until she finished chewing and opened her mouth, letting Twilight pop the treat into it.
"Oh my, that is heavenly," said Luna when she had swallowed the cream puff.
"It is! It tempts me to add them to the menu even though we don't really need them."
"Well, let us finish our tasting before we make any decisions," said Luna, and she picked up another bite of cake—this one vanilla—in her magic, and bonked it against Twilight's muzzle in return. Twilight laughed, and Luna used that as an opening, pushing the cake into Twilight's mouth.
As they continued with the sampling, feeding each other bites, laughing, and swapping commentary on the merits of the different flavors, Twilight found herself thinking, for perhaps the thousandth time, that there was nowhere in the world she'd rather be than with Luna. The samples were all delicious, but Luna's company was the sweetest treat of the day.
"I was thinking silver, and maybe using our cutie marks? I don't know, is that gauche?" Twilight sat on a couch at the stationary and print shop that was doing their wedding invitations. A thick sample book was open in front of her, and she was leafing through it as she spoke.
"No, cutie marks are quite traditional. Though if you're being very traditional, the parents' cutie marks would be featured, with the couple's possibly smaller, further down the invitation." The stallion sitting opposite Twilight smiled warmly at her. He had good reason to smile, given the number of invitations they would be ordering.
Twilight and Luna exchanged a glance. "That's not terribly practical for us," said Twilight. Luna nodded, then yawned, covering it with her hoof politely. Her eyes were half-lidded and she looked very worn. Twilight was starting to worry a little bit about her. She was performing all her usual duties, working on the diplomatic arrangements involved in their wedding, and insisting on being involved in the normal wedding planning as well. Twilight had offered to take over that work, but Luna said that she wanted to give some input on things like flowers and cake, and Twilight admitted that it would hardly be fair for her to make all those decisions alone. Still, perhaps it was time to pull Celestia aside and see if something could be done to lighten the burden on Luna.
"Did you want your cutie marks in color, or in silver as well?"
"I prefer silver, I think. Keep it simple. And maybe put them in the lower corner, not right at the top? In some kind of border." Twilight tapped a sample invitation. "Something a little like this, except not gold, of course."
"That would look very good. Why don't we look at paper, then? Rag vellum is a common choice, though you may want to consider a bleached paper for a cooler white to coordinate with the silver. Here, like this." The stallion flipped the sample book and tapped a square of heavy white paper.
"Yes, I can imagine that with silver." Twilight nodded. "Although we'll want something that's suitable for rolling into scrolls for about half of the invitations. They're being sent out by the Office of Foreign Affairs, and scrolls are what they've always used for formal correspondence."
"I see. Well, this particular paper isn't suitable, but there's a good bleached rag stock that rolls quite nicely here. It's not as stiff, as you can see, but still quite sturdy. It's the same tone as the one you were looking at, so we could do half of them traditionally on the first paper and the other half prepared for scrolls on the second. We do have wax seals available as well."
"Well, the official scrolls will have the official Equestrian seal on them."
"Of course. But if you wanted to use a personal seal on the other invitations, so they match more closely, that is an option."
"Ah, I see. That sounds good to me." Realizing that Luna hadn't said anything in some time, Twilight looked over at her. "Luna, what do you..." Then she gasped. Luna had gone pale again, her mane and tail hanging limply, with no sign of sparkle to them. Her eyes were closed and even as Twilight turned to her she toppled off the couch and fell to the floor.
Twilight was beside her in an instant. Some of her fear eased as she saw that Luna was breathing. She hadn't just somehow dropped dead. But something was obviously very wrong. The moon was almost full, yet she looked as devoid of power as she did when it was new.
"What's wrong, is the princess okay?" asked the stationer.
Twilight shook her head. "I'm not sure." She looked up at the stallion. "Go get a guardspony, and have them tell Celestia what happened. I'll stay here and watch her." The stallion, looking fearful and nervous, nodded and galloped off. Twilight sat down beside Luna and tried to arrange her to be a little bit more comfortable, though she was obviously very much out cold and probably aware of nothing. She stroked Luna's mane, which lacked even the slightest hint of sparkle, and tried to think about anything other than all the horrible ways in which Luna could be deathly ill. She tried also to not think about how this was probably all her fault. She should have insisted that Luna rest more, and not work so hard trying to plan their wedding on top of all her other duties.
Fortunately, a response to her frantic message came swiftly. She had expected an ambulance and a guard escort to take Luna to the hospital. What she got was Celestia herself.
"Celestia!" said Twilight, leaping to her hooves. She felt some of the weight on her heart lift. It was irrational, for Twilight knew perfectly well that Celestia could fail. She'd helped fix several of Celestia's failures, even. Yet still some part of her just knew that now that Celestia was here, everything would be fine.
"Twilight. I came as quickly as I could." She looked at Luna and shook her head. "And it is exactly as I thought." She reached down and stroked Luna's mane, her expression sorrowful and compassionate. "Oh sister. How could you be so foolish? And how could I not have realized?"
"What is it? Will Luna be okay?"
Celestia turned back to Twilight, and her smile was reassuring. "She will be, yes. This situation is...less than ideal, shall we say, but it can be fixed. Though it should never have come to this in the first place." She shook her head. Then she lifted Luna gently in her magic. "Come, meet me in her chambers. We will do what we can for her here and now." A moment later she vanished in a flash of magic.
Twilight, still tense and worried despite Celestia saying Luna would be okay, followed her, winking to Luna's chambers with a double pop of vanishment and apparition. Celestia was laying Luna in her bed. She tucked the blankets over her and then sat back with a shake of her head. "Oh Luna. I always knew you were stubborn."
"What's wrong with her?"
Celestia sat down and pulled her crown from her head, setting it on the floor and then rubbing her forehead tiredly. "It's difficult to explain. I had rather hoped Luna herself might have told you about it, when you got engaged. I told Cadance, when Shining Armor proposed to her. But she's said nothing about the Well of Song that lies beyond the stars, has she?"
Twilight shook her head. "No. She mentioned something once, about how the stars sing. But I don't see how that can explain this." Twilight gestured at the bed, and its small, still occupant, the sight of which wrung her heart. She looked away from the bed, over to Celestia.
"I'll do my best to explain." Celestia's eyes lost their focus, looking into space, at some other place, some other time. "The Well of Song lies, as I said, beyond the stars. It is infinitely far, yet nearer than it should be, as distances are measured in the everyday world."
She paused for a long moment, and Twilight dared to interject. "It's an alicorn thing, isn't it?"
Celestia smiled. "You put the pieces together so swiftly, as always. Yes, it is an alicorn thing. Like the way I 'move' the sun even though the planet circles it. Like the way Luna waxes and wanes. It is a thing of symbols rather than science, shaped by dreams and thoughts and the Song itself. Once you have heard the Song, you can never be what you were before." She stopped again, her expression wistful, but soon continued. "The first alicorn came from the Well, eons ago. All alicorns come from the Well. All alicorns that are..." She trailed off and shook her head. "There are alicorns and there are alicorns."
"There are ones like me and Cadance, you mean, and there are ones like you and Luna."
Celestia nodded. "Yes. Luna and I were born from the Well."
Twilight frowned. "But... Luna has told me a little bit about her foalhood. She was born here, not beyond the stars."
"Yes. Luna the pony was born here. As was Celestia the pony. Luna the alicorn was born from the Well."
"I see. Sort of." Every answer Celestia gave spawned a dozen questions in Twilight's mind, but she didn't ask them. There would be time for that later. For now she simply waited while Celestia continued to explain.
"All alicorns have a domain. Mine is the sun, of course. Yours is magic. Cadance's is love. For an alicorn like you it is something akin to an amplification of your cutie mark. You have a special skill and a special understanding, but you do not have a special magic. That magic, that conduit to our domains, is forged in the Well of Song."
"Ah." And old puzzle, often worried over in her mind, was suddenly made clear. Celestia and Luna could both do things that she could not, in ways she could not. She remembered the buzzing sense of the connection to the sun and moon that had filled her when they had given her their powers before facing Tirek. It had been so utterly unlike any magic she'd ever known. Cadance had given Twilight her power too, but it hadn't been like that.
"It must be renewed there from time to time. That is why Luna looks as she does now. She has lost that conduit to the moon completely." Celestia gave a wry little shake of her head. "She always did try to put the trip off, husbanding her power, using the least possible amount to deal with any given situation. I used to burn through my conduit much more quickly, in the old days. I learned more restraint while she was gone. She wasn't here to keep watch while I made the journey beyond the stars."
"We have to take her there, then?"
"Perhaps. I may be able to restore her enough to make the journey on her own. I hope I can. If I must take her, the rulership of all of Equestria will fall on you alone while we are gone." She smiled then. "I think you may well prove equal to the challenge, but I would prefer to not place such a burden on you."
Twilight quailed at the thought of taking responsibility for the entire principality, but she put on a determined expression and said, "I'll do whatever I need to do, if it makes her well again."
"Of course you will." Celestia rose and gave Twilight an affectionate nuzzle. "You're a good pony, a good friend, and a good partner to Luna. But hopefully that won't be necessary. Let me see what I can do." Celestia's horn began to glow with a faint flicker of gold. Twilight had an odd sense of something vast moving in that flicker, and on impulse she opened her inner eyes to that second, more symbolic layer of reality. The sun itself was suddenly beside her, occupying the equine shape of Princess Celestia, but clearly not equine at all.
By this sight Luna's essence was trinary—earth pony, unicorn, and pegasus—but otherwise as ordinarily equine as any pony. She was not the moon, but its silvery orb nevertheless hovered over her, tied to her by the thinnest possible sketch of a black thread. It was present and not-present the way the sun was, simultaneously here in the room and uncountable millions of miles away.
The sun—Celestia—bent over the bed and touched her fiery horn to Luna's—delicately, tip to tip. Slowly a hair-fine line of fire began creeping up the black thread that bound Luna to the moon. It crept up inches that were also countless miles, and Twilight could sense a hint of the immense amount of power that Celesta was pouring into returning life to the burnt-out tracery of Luna's alicorn channel. When at last the fiery gold touched the moon itself, silver flames suddenly burned backwards, racing down the thread to Luna, who was abruptly the moon itself, its image no longer hovering over her, but one with her in an inexplicable way.
Luna's eyes fluttered open, and Twilight shifted her awareness back to the ordinary realm, letting the tangible presence of moon and sun fall away. "Luna!" she cried, and put her hooves on the bed, daring to bend and kiss Luna's cheek.
Luna smiled at her, tiredly. "Twilight. My sweet Twilight. I am so sorry."
"I'm just glad you're alright." Twilight felt tears suddenly gather in her eyes. She hadn't wanted to admit how much she'd worried about somehow losing Luna.
A soft sigh drew Twilight's attention the Celestia, who looked worn and weary. Reforging Luna's connection to the moon had obviously taxed her immensely. "Celestia? Are you alright? Will Luna be alright?"
"I am well, merely tired. Luna, however," Celestia fixed a stern gaze on her sister, "will only be well if she travels beyond the stars as she should have done some time since."
Luna's cheeks turned slightly pink. "Forgive me sister. And Twilight, also. I wished..." She flattened her ears and sighed softly. "I wished to see our wedding through, and our bonds strengthened, before leaving. I have shored up my lunar ties and pushed back my departure before. I had hoped to eke out this coming year. I know it was folly. Yet it seems," her eyes went to Twilight, "that love makes fools of all, even I."
"It was foolish, Luna. I understand why," said Celestia, "yet you can delay no longer, you must rest. I will take the moon from you again-"
"You should not, so soon. You bore that burden so long..." Luna looked pained.
"And I can bear it again."
"It is an unfair burden. I am sorry to place it on you again. If there were any other way..."
"Uhm, maybe I could take it?" said Twilight, and then instantly regretted it, but the words were said, and hung there in the air as the other two alicorns turned and looked at her.
"That is actually an excellent idea," said Celestia, beaming at Twilight.
Luna seemed less certain. Her ears went back, then came forward, then went back again. Finally she said, "It probably is the best solution. Yet I hesitate to lay such a burden on you, my love. I feel enough guilt that I must leave you behind and be gone for such a length of time. To make you bear the moon while I am gone..."
"How long will it take?" said Twilight, feeling a sinking sort of sensation. Everything she knew about the science of going to the stars suggested that it might take centuries. Surely Luna and Celestia couldn't be regularly away from Equestria for hundreds of years...could they? But then it had been at least a thousand years since Luna's last trip. It was easy to forget the sheer scale of time that the elder alicorns' lives had played out across.
"Seven years," said Luna softly.
Twilight felt dismay and relief together. Not centuries. But not a quick trip either. Seven years was only a little less than the total time she'd known Luna. That was a long time for her to be gone. And a long time for Twilight to be responsible for the moon.
"I'm so sorry," said Luna, and she looked like she was about to cry. Twilight instantly put her hooves around her and hugged her close.
"It'll be okay, Luna. I'll take care of your moon, and you can go renew your conduit, and everything will be okay."
Luna clung to her tightly, and her voice was tearful as she replied, "Thank you. You are so wonderful, Twilight. I love you so very much."
"Okay, here goes."
It was twilight, the moment between sunset and moonrise, and Celestia had just finished easing the sun below the horizon. Twilight stood now, facing east, and took a deep breath.
"You can do it, love." Luna, standing at her side, smiled reassuringly. "You've done it before, after all." Celestia, standing on her other side, nodded her agreement.
"When I had the power of four alicorns," muttered Twilight under her breath as she gathered her magic and reached for the moon. It was far, unimaginably far. Her magic thinned and thinned the more she projected it, requiring her to pour more and more energy into her reaching. When she finally touched it, the moon seemed to recoil from her. She tried grasping it tighter, and lost it entirely.
"Bother." It had already been several minutes. If she took much longer, moonrise would be late, and that would be terrible!
"You must coax it," said Luna softly. "Woo her as a lover. As you've wooed me." She smiled at Twilight. "You can do it."
Twilight blushed faintly. "Ah, right, okay." She reached out to the moon again. It was still distant and cold, but she brushed her magic against it in a caress and something about it warmed. She urged it slowly up, strengthening her power, not to pull the moon up but to lure it, to wrap around it in a soft caress and encourage it with a gentle nudge.
It responded, smoothly rising above the horizon, and Twilight grinned in delight. She'd done it!
Luna nearly tackled her with an enthusiastic hug. "Huzzah!"
"I knew you could do it," said Celestia warmly, and Twilight felt a flush of the warm glow that always came from her former mentor's praise. She hugged Luna back, feeling a strange mix of emotions. She was proud of what she'd done, a little bit worried about having to do this every single day for the next several years, and still deeply sad at being parted from Luna for so long.
"I will leave you two to say your goodbyes," said Celestia gently. "There can be no further delays, Luna must be on her way. Every hour's delay weakens her further. It requires great energy to begin this flight, so it must be very soon."
"I know," said Luna softly, and her hooves around Twilight tightened slightly.
"Go soon, and return sooner," said Celestia with a smile. She bent and touched her horn against Luna's once, lightly, then turned and vanished in a flare of sunlight.
For a long time Luna simply hugged Twilight, clinging to her almost desperately. Then she finally let go and dropped back to all fours. "Would that I could stay," she said, and Twilight was startled to see tears in her eyes.
"Oh Luna. I'll miss you too. But it will be alright. It's not as if I'll be going anywhere while you're gone, I'll be here when you get back."
Luna's voice was very tiny and her eyes wouldn't meet Twilight's as she replied, "Will you?"
Twilight blinked at her, feeling suddenly very confused. "Uhm. Yes? I mean, I suppose it's always possible that some horrible accident might happen or that I'll finally lose to one of these villains trying to take over Equestria that I keep having to deal with, but that really doesn't seem terribly likely."
"Oh, Twilight." Luna was suddenly smiling, though unshed tears still stood in her eyes. "That's not what I meant at all. It's only that, well... Seven years is a very long time. Seven years ago we had barely even met. Seven years ago you were a different pony than you are today. It has been a joy to watch you grow and change. Yet it seems quite likely that you will change a great deal over the next seven years as well. You may have grown beyond me by the time I return."
Twilight opened her mouth, wanting to say that there was no way she could change while Luna was gone, then she closed it again. That kind of reassurance would be silly. She was still the same essential pony, but she really had changed a lot over the past seven years. She might well change a lot more over the next, yes. But to change so much that she no longer loved Luna? No, that part was definitely impossible. "I may change while you're gone. I probably will, in fact. But I love you, Luna. I don't think that will change."
"I... I hope it won't."
"Will you still love me when you return?" said Twilight gently.
Luna blinked at her, then shook her head with a smile. "Of course I will. But the stars are unchanging. There's nothing out there for me to encounter. Here in Equestria, there are many things, many ponies. You may meet someone..."
Twilight smiled and shook her head. "Have faith in our love, Luna. Have faith in us. I probably will change while you're gone, but your night will always be part of me. There are stars right here, in my cutie mark." She gave her own rump a nod, flicking her tail. "That's not going to change, and neither will my love for you. I won't pretend that waiting so long will be easy, but there won't be anyone else. The stars will always be special to me, and so will you."
"You are beyond special," said Luna, and there were tears in her eyes as she stepped in close and kissed Twilight with an almost fierce passion.
Twilight kissed back with equal fervor, and the thought of waiting seven long years to do this again nearly made her want to cry. She clung to Luna for a long time, but finally she stepped back. "You should go," she said softly, sadly.
"Aye." Luna heaved a deep sigh. "I do trust you, Twilight, and I love you dearly. I will pray that you are right, and that all will be well when I return."
"I'll do my best to make certain that it is, I promise," said Twilight. "Now go, and come back as soon as you can."
"I love you," said Luna, spreading her wings.
"I love you too," was Twilight's reply, the words seeming inadequate, but they were all she had to offer.
Luna gave her one final swift kiss, then she leaped skyward and was aloft, silver moonlight gathering around her. She moved faster as the glow increased, leaving a silver trail behind, and an instant later she was gone into the night, the trail too fading, until no sign of her presence remained.
Luna sang with the song of the stars as she moved among them. They streaked by her, their music a greeting, a familiar embrace of melody as she passed countless old friends. Her body felt hale, despite seven years living on naught but starlight and song, and her magic was refreshed and renewed, growing ever stronger the closer she came to her precious moon. The moon was not where her thoughts fixed as she prepared to leave the otherworldly realm of the symbolic stars and return to something like reality, though.
She soared down out of the starry realm and into the sky over Equestria, and though she knew on one level she should be headed to Canterlot, to return officially, and to let her sister know she was back, that wasn't where she turned her course. Instead she angled her wings and turned towards Ponyville, towards Twilight's crystalline tower there. The landscaping around it that had been only a few years old was established now, the trees still young, but well past being saplings. The tower itself seemed unchanged, though, and the familiar balcony was just where it had always been. Half a dozen telescopes stood on it, including one particularly fine one that matched a design she'd seen Twilight working on for a custom one.
Luna hovered above the balcony for a moment, her heart pounding. Seven years. Twilight would have changed. Twilight could not have passed such a span of time exactly as she'd been. Yet whatever changes had come, Luna must face them. She finally let her hooves touch the balcony and folded her wings.
"Hello?" said a familiar voice. "Is somepony out..." Twilight halted in the doorway, her eyes going wide.
Luna took in the sight of her, and she felt her stomach instantly clench into a horrible knot. Twilight had indeed changed. She was easily a head taller than she'd been, as tall as Luna herself was, or nearly. Her hair was longer, though still straight, and worn in a totally different style. She wore a set of golden regalia too, though the crown sat slightly askew and there was a quill tucked behind her ear, that had gotten ink on both crown and shimmering mane. Something in that sight lifted Luna's heart a little. Twilight had grown and changed, yet she was still Twilight Sparkle.
"Luna!" Twilight flung herself at Luna, forelegs and wings both going around her in an embrace so tight Luna could barely draw breath. Yet she hugged Twilight back just as hard. Twilight pulled back slightly, but only so that she could kiss Luna, as intensely as she had hugged her, as if trying to pour out seven years worth of pent-up passion into that one single kiss. Luna kissed back, melting into it, feeling her heart soaring. Twilight still loved her. Twilight still loved her!
After a very, very long time Twilight finally stepped back entirely and looked Luna up and down. The moon was gibbous now, so Luna's coat was dark and her hair alive with magic. Her wings were sleek and glossy and she was in fine fettle all around. And knowing that Twilight still loved her, she felt like caroling with joy.
"That wasn't seven years, that was six years, two hundred and twenty-eight days," said Twilight, her tone almost accusing.
Luna couldn't help it, she laughed. Here was her Twilight, and if changed, then not so changed as that. "I sped my way as much as I could. I was eager to return to you, my love."
"I'm glad," said Twilight. "I've missed you."
"I missed you every second. The glory of the stars was nothing without you to hear their song with me."
"I would like to hear it someday," said Twilight softly, putting a wing over Luna. "I would like to go visit the Well of Song with you."
Luna looked over at her. "You understand what the Well of Song is, and how it would change things if you went? Giving up mortality sounds all well and good to most ponies, but it is not a thing to be undertaken lightly."
"I understand. Celestia and I have talked about it a lot. But what I understand most is that it would let me be with you. That's all I want. I love you, Luna."
"My sweet, wonderful, amazing Twilight. I love you too, now and forever, here and beyond the stars, whatever may befall."
And then they kissed again, with loving passion, and it was sweeter than cake and more beautiful than starsong.
Author's Note
Thanks, all, for reading! (And thanks as always to my wonderful patrons over on my Patreon, who support me in writing these.)
