The Moon's Precious Little Star

Sitting on the balcony attached to her room, princess Luna looked out across the city and watched as her sister's sun slowly dipped below the horizon. From her vantage point, the lunar Aliconr could see many ponies throughout the city head inside for the night. With an annoyed click of her tongue, Luna lit her horn and pulled the moon over the horizon to replace the now ser sun. Even with her and her sister's increased attempts to get the kingdom's citizens to appreciate the beauty of the night, almost all of them continued to shun her night and moon in favour of Celestia's sun. Just as she did every night, Luna felt the murderous desires of Nightmare Moon surface for a few moments before fading back into her subconscious. Ever since that fateful day four years ago, Luns has felt Nightmare attempt to take over whenever she felt angry or upset at something or someone. It usually took a considerable amount of her willpower to keep her corrupted self from taking control; thankfully, though, the thought of Nightmare Moon hurting her son helped the Lunar monarch keep her at bay.

"Speaking of, Orion, I still have to wake him up," Luna spoke aloud to herself, and once she placed the moon in the correct spot, she stood up and headed back into her room. Stopping for a moment, Luna looked in the mirror to make sure she looked presentable before exiting her room. Given that Orion was five-years-old, both Celestia and Luna agreed that her no longer needed to sleep in the same bed as his adoptive mother and was given a room next to Luna's. Stopping in front of her son's bedroom, the princess of the night knocked on the door and waited for a response, and when she got none just as she expected, she sighed and entered his room. "Orion, it's time to ger up, I've already raised the moon so -" Luna cut herself off when she was that he wasn't in the room. Usually, she would see her son sprawled out on the bed with the covers thrown off, much like Celestia, and would have to fight to get him up; instead, it seemed he got up before her and took off somewhere.Now, where did he run off to?

Marching through the halls of the castle, Orion hummed and offbeat tune as he headed towards his destination. Suddenly feeling that something was off, the young prince stopped dead in his track and turned around.

'Will you hurry up and stop hiding!" Orion yelled down the hall. A few seconds later, the head of a thestral filly with white fur and a light pink mane popped out from around the corner. The filly was Dusk Walker, daughter of night guard captain, Dark lance, and for the past three years, she's been glued to Orion, constantly helping him with his schemes. The thing that always stood out to other ponies about Dusk was her mane and coat colour, which were the subject of many a rumour and misconceptions. The biggest one being that she was the secret love child of princess Celestia and Dark lance, conceived during a secret rendezvous between the monarch and soldier; there was even a novel written about it. Thankfully for all parties involved, the rumour was disproven rather quickly whenever Dusk stood next to her mother as they shared the same mane and fur colour.

"Orion, we shouldn't be doing this! What if we get caught, you know that the princesses won't be happy with us," the filly said, worry evident in her voice. Unconcerned Orion shook his head and chuckled,

"That's, only if we get caught, and we won't because I'm so good at sneaking around," Orion said with confidence, which the thestral filly didn't believe for a second.

'Except for the last time you dragged me around the castle, and my dad caught us, which resulted in getting scolded by the princesses!" The filly stated in a deadpan tone.

"You know what, Dusk? If your so worried about getting caught, then leave, I don't need you slowing me down!" Orion yelled as Dusk Walker, and almost immediately, she started to cry. The second the tears began to run down Dusk's face, Orion sighed and moved to her side to comfort his friend. For the past three years, it's been like this between the two, where Orion was fearless, blunt and rather rude at times, Dusk was kind, gentle and cried a little too easily, especially whenever someone was yelling. After about a minute or so passed, Dusk looked up at Orion with a pout.

"You big meanie!" Orion rolled his eyes at his friend's response and marched on, leaving her behind. Staying where she was for a few seconds, Dusk Walker thought about heading back to her room but ultimately decided that she had come this far and followed after Orion. Sudden;y the prince stopped dead in his tracks, which resulted in the pink and white thestral to bump into his back. She was about to ask him why he stopped when he covered her mouth and pulled her into an adjacent corridor.

The boy pressed himself and his friend as close to the wall as possible and listened as a group of ponies in clanking armour, which he assumed were night guards came closer. For the young prince, time came to a crawl, and the few seconds that it took for the group of thestrals to pass them felt like an eternity. Once the guards moved passed the two of them, Orion let our a breath that he didn't even realize he was holding. Looking to his left, he could see Dusk shaking like a leaf from the fear of getting caught. Sighing, Orion reached over and scratched behind his friend's ear; it was a gesture he learned could calm her down in an instant. The effect was immediate; Dusk stopped shaking and pressed her head into the palm of her hand.

"You okay?" He asked his friend, and she nodded her head slightly. "We can go back if you really want to," Orion said; though he would prefer to push on, he didn't want to go any further if it upset Dusk this much. While Dusk Walker wanted to go back to the safety of her room, she also knew how much Orion wanted to keep going. She also wanted to show her friend that she wasn't big foal, and so, in the end, she shook her head and pushed past the prince to take the lead. Stunned by Dusk's sudden bravery, Orion just stood where he was for a moment, trying to figure out what happened. By the time the prince came to his senses, Dusk was far down the hall, and he had to run to catch up with her.

Walking through the halls of the castle, Luna tried to look as calm as she could while heading towards her sister's room, all the while she kept an eye out for her son. She looked all over the lunar wing of the castle but didn't find a trace of him, the princess of the night even learned that Dusk Walker was missing as well. Luna hoped that the two of them were visiting Celestia in her room before she went to bed because if they weren't, it meant that Orion roped the filly into exploring the castle by themselves, even though that were forbidden from doing so. If the lunar monarch was being honest, she had no pony to blame but herself for her son's overindulgence when it came to exploration as she filled his head grand tales of explorers going off to remote and exotic locations. Normally Luna would be ecstatic that her son shared her love of adventure and exploration. However, the fact that her eas her adoptive son was still a secret to the rest of the kingdom, and she wasn't ready to reveal that fact yet for fear of him being rejected and ostracized by her subjects. The night princess cut off her train of thought as she stopped in front of her sister's room. Without even knocking, she pushed open the doors and stepped into the room. Startled by the sudden arrival, Celestia looked up from the mess of papers scattered across the table and was about to reprimand her uninvited guest when she noticed it was Luna.

"Lulu, to what do I owe this-"

"Is Orion here?" Luna asked, cutting her sister off, but not caring one bit that she did so. The lunar monarch did her best to hide it, but Celestia easily picked up on the hint of worry in her younger sister's voice.

"He's missing again, isn't he?" Celestia asked, and Luna reluctantly nodded her head. With a sigh, the solar monarch put down the report she held aloft in her magic and stood up. "Alright, let's go look for him."

" You need not concern yourself with this, sister; I have already dispatched the night guard to look out for Orion. Besides, it's already past the time you should be in bed; if you stay up any longer, you won't be able to wake up and raise the sun on time," Luna factually stated, and Celestia let out a little chuckle in response.

"Come now, Lulu, this won't be the first time I've stayed up past my bedtime chasing down rambunctious foals," She said with a knowing smile that made the lunar monarch blush fiercely. Knowing that there was nothing she could do to change her sister's mind, Luna reluctantly agreed to let her help and followed her sister out of the room.

Peeking his head out from around the corner, Orion looked up and down the hall to make sure it was clear, and once he was sure it was, he signalled for Dusk Walker to follow. Like her friend, she poked her head out from around the corner and looked around for a moment before following him. The two of them cautiously crept through the hallway, all the while straining their ears to listen for the slightest sound of trouble. After about a minute of listening, and not hearing anything, they figured that no pony was around and started to relax when a loud predatory screech broke the silence. On instinct, Dusk panicked and hid behind Orion for safety, while the prince followed the direction of the cry and saw a young griffoness coming their way. Immediately recognizing the female griffon, since she was the only one in the castle, Orion let out an annoyed groan and watched with trepidation as she landed in front of him.

"What are you doing here, Galatea?" The prince asked the griffoness once she was firmly on the ground. Galatea was the grandaughter of doctor Gabriel, who came to live in the castle a few months after the doctor settled in. After the doctor got everything sorted and became accustomed to life in the palace, Celestia pulled him aside and asked him if he had any family in the kingdom. After a brief silence, he told her that his son, his son's wife and their daughter lived in a town on the border near the griffon empire. Without missing a beat, the solar Alicorn turned to one of the castle staff and told them to bring her a quill and some paper so she could invite them to the castle, much to the doctor's protest. Once the letter was sent, Celestia asked Gabriel why he was so reluctant to see his family, and after some prodding from the nosey monarch, he relented and told her the reason. The last time Gabriel saw his family, they didn't part on the best of terms, and he was afraid that they might hate him. With some encouragement from the princess, the doctor agreed to meet with his son and his family, and much to his surprise, it went exceptionally well. He and his son made up, and the three of them were given a place to stay in the castle, much like Gabriel. Shortly after, Orion was introduced to Galatea, and the became fast friends and rivals.

"I was bored and decided to go and explore the castle a bit, and I figured that I would run into you on the way," Galatea explained with a shrug.

"You mean your parents just let you go out on your own?" Dusk asked as she peeked her head out from behind Orion.

'Of course not!" Galatea snapped, causing the filly to let out a terrified squeak and slip beck behind her friend. " I'm a griffon; I don't listen to anybody but myself!" While the prince was friends with the griffoness, the same could bot be said about Dusk Walker. For reasons that Orion couldn't fathom, Galatea seemed to hate the filly currently hiding behind his back. "Why do you hang out with this lame filly all the time? Am I not good enough for you, or do you like her more than me?" Galatea asked with an accusatory tone and then started going off on a tangent about his and Dusk's friendship. Becoming more and more worried that her shouting would attract attention, Orion flicked the griffoness on the beak. Nine times out of ten doing this would stop her rants long enough for him to get a few words in to calm her down. The other one out of ten would make her angrier, and they would get into a fight that would have to be broken up by an adult.

'Will you stop jumping to conclusions! I aksed Dusk to come with me because she was closer, besides, the last time I tried to wake you early in the evening, you nearly took my head off," Orion explained, and when she heard what she had done, the griffoness blushed a little. A silence descended upon the group for a moment or two before the prince patted Galatea on the head and invited her along, as long as she kept her fighting with Dusk Walker to a minimum.

"So, where do you think he could have gone, Lulu?" Celestia asked her younger sister, to which the lunar monarch shook her head.

"I have absolutely no idea," Luna said with a sigh. "In all honesty, he could be anywhere in the castle at this point, plus he's pretty good at not getting caught." Celestia listened to her sister's explanation and couldn't help but think that Orion was just like his mother when she was a filly. Feeling her sister's gaze upon her, Luna looked out of the corner of her eye and noticed the knowing smirk on Celestia's lips. "What are you smiling about, sister?" Luna asked the older Alicorn.

"Oh nothing, I'm just happy that even though he's adopted, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree," the solar monarch explained, and Luna let out a groan at being reminded of her filly days.

"Please don't remind me of those da, I-" Luna cut herself off when she noticed one of her night guards coming towards them at full gallop.

"Your highnesses, we have word that one of the maids saw the prince and his friends head towards the observation tower," the guards said to the both of them. The two sisters looked at each other with worried faces, and without saying a word, took off down the hall as fast as they could.

Carefully and cautiously, Orion opened the door to the observation tower and looked around to make sure no pony was around. When he saw no sign of movement, he let out a sigh of relief and gestured for his friends to enter. One by one, they stepped into the circular room, and two out of three looked around in disappointment.

"Well, this sucks," Galatea said as she stepped into the middle of the room, seeing no walls, the roof only being held up by a few support pillars, not to mention the fact that it was empty. "What are we even doing here, there's nothing in this room?" While the griffoness wasn't looking at him, Orion smiled to himself and moved across the room to pull a lever. The sound of gears coming to life and grinding against one another caught the attention of the prince's friends. In the center of the room, right where Galatea was standing, as section of the floor parted, causing the griffoness to let out a surprised squawk as she jumped away. Slowly a marble pedestal with a crystal ball rose from beneath the floor. Once it stopped rising, the filly and griffoness began circling the marble pedestal, nearly bumping into each other several times in an attempt to spot anything that would tell them what it was they were looking at.

"W-what is it?" Dusk walker asked as she backed away from the pedestal to stand next to Orion. Smiling to himself, the prince walked up to the pillar and patted the side of it.

"This is the observation sphere, or at least that's what I call it. Mommy and auntie Celestia just call it the crystal ball," Orion explained toe the two of them before he reached up and picked up the glass ball. "Auntie Celestia says that she and mommy use it to chuck up on the ponies around the kingdom, though it does have a limited range when only one of them uses it." Both Dusk and Galatea looked at the observation sphere with wide-eyed excitement as Orion finally managed to remove it from the pedestal. Pushing Dusk out of the way, Galatea pressed her face to the orb in hopes of seeing some far off town, but when nothing happened, she stepped back and looked at the prince with a mixture of annoyance and confusion.

"Why isn't it doing anything?" She asked, and all Orion could do was shrug his shoulders in response.

"Truth be told, I have no idea how this thing works," Orion said with a sheepish smile. "I think magic is needed to turn it on, and none of us can use magic."

"Then why did you bring us here in the first place?" Galatea asked the prince, clearly annoyed that her time was wasted on something as lame as a crystal ball that couldn't be used.

"I simply wanted to show Dusk something cool; it's not like I asked you yo come along," Orion said bluntly to the griffoness. Without warning, the young griffon lunged forward and tackled the prince, knocking the crystal ball out of his hands. Thankfully, Dusk Walker was on the ball and caught the glass orb before it hit the floor and shattered into pieces.

The prince and griffoness rolled around the floor as they tried to get the upper hand on one another. While this was going on, Dusk was forced to watch the two of them fight, unsure as to whether they were play fighting or if they truly meant to hurt each other. Typically one would assume that the griffoness would have the upper hand in the fight thanks to her status as one of the planets apex predators, but Orion managed to hold his own against the griffon rather well. His long arms, and the fact that he stood a couple of feet taller than Galataea gave him the advantage in a fight. For about two minutes, the two of them tumbled about the room, neither one of them managing to get the upper hand until they got a little to close to the edge of the room. With no walls to stop a pony from falling, it was pure luck that through the two minutes of play fighting, the two of them didn't fall off; unfortunately, it seemed that their luck finally ran out. With a terrified scream from Dusk, both Orion and Galatea rolled off of the edge.

While she and her sister made their way to the observation tower, Luna grew more and more worried by the second as she felt like something terrible was about to happen to Orion.

"Lulu, you need to relax, nothing is going to happen to-" Celestia was cut off by the sound of a filly screaming her head off. The solar and lunar monarchs looked away from each other and saw a thestral filly galloping down the hall towards their position. Immediately recognizing Dusk Walker, Luna rushed forward and stopped her.

"Dusk Walker, where is Orion?" Luna asked the panicked filly, who began to explain what happened; the only problem was that due to her panicked state, her explanation came out as incoherent babble. Catching up to her sister, Celestia knelt in front of Dusk Walker and told her to take a few deep breaths and that she needed to calm down. Doing as she was told, the thestral filly took a few calming breaths, and once she was calm enough, she told the princesses what happened, from Orion waking her to the observation tower and the crystal ball.

"And then, Galatea tackled Orion, and the two of them rolled off of the edge!" Though her coat was already a pristine whiter, Celestia visibly paled when she heard that her nephew fell off of one of the castle towers.

"Hurry, Lulu, we must..." Celestia trailed off when she noticed that her sister was no longer next to her. The solar monarch looked around for her sister, but all she found was some broken glass on the floor and a shattered window.

Luna flapped her wings as hard as she could, speeding through the air in a desperate attempt to reach her son before he hit the ground. The second Dusk Walker mentioned that Galatea had joined them, she lept out the nearest window, not caring that shards of glass might end up embedded in her flesh. While Luna had nothing against the griffoness personally, the monarch knew that she, like most of her kind, had a temper, and on more than one occasion, got in trouble because of it. Though she was worried, and very near to having a heart attack, the princess of the night knew that Galatea was strong enough of a flier to stay aloft long enough for her to reach them, even while holding up her son. Rounding one last tower, Luna spotted the two children, and thankfully her assumption was correct, and Orion was holding onto his friend for dear life.

Shortly after the prince and griffoness came into view, Orion slipped from Galatea's grip and began plummeting towards the ground. Feeling her heart catch in her throat, Luna yelled out her son's name, inadvertently using the royal Canterlot voice banked into a dive. With adrenaline coursing through her body, she flapped her wings harder than she had ever done before, her muscles burning as she pushed them past their limit. Little by little, the lunar Alicorn closed the gap between herself and her son, but so was the gap between Orion and the ground. As Luna panicked, she suddenly had a moment of clarity and remembered that she had access to magic; lighting her horn, Luna took hold of her son with telekinesis and began to slow his descent. Once she had her front legs wrapped around Orion and he was safely secure, the princess of the night flared out her wings and slowed the rate of her descent, so she didn't slam into the ground at terminal velocity.

Once she was firmly on the ground, Princess Luna put Orion down, who was balling his eyes out now that he was no longer in danger and could do so. Looking over her son, Luna checked to see if there were and sort of injuries, and upon confirming that he wasn't physically injured, she wrapped her hooves around him in a hug, which he returned without delay. The two of them stayed like this for several minutes, neither of them willing to let the other go nor did they notice the growing crowd of nobles surrounding them.

"Princess Luna, what happened, and what is that thing?" One of the noble ponies asked, startling the princess and her son. Looking up, Luna finally noticed that she and Orion were surrounded and that her fear of Orion being discovered before they were ready was becoming a reality.