For Alex_
Once upon a time, the princess of the night loved Hearth’s Warming eve, partaking in the many festivities and pastries. It was the holiday where she shone, where events went on long past midnight, and her subjects for once stayed up with her, laughing and dancing and celebrating.
Then she became Nightmare Moon.
Then Equestria was told for a thousand years that she was a dastardly, evil pony bent on bringing night-everlasting (which, granted, she was, but still).
Then she came back, but ponies no longer knew Princess Luna. They just knew Nightmare Moon, and well…
“So, do tell, what’s it like to want to take over the world?” asked a particularly drunk noble, who she didn’t have thrown into the dungeons only because she was really trying to be on her best behavior.
“Are you still evil?” asked a curious foal, nearly spilling his drink as his terribly embarrassed mother dragged him away.
“Hello,” did not say the several ponies who changed their minds on getting a drink the moment they saw her near the refreshments.
It went on and on, so much so the princess wondered if she’d ever have a pleasant Hearth’s Warming Eve ever again.
Perhaps we should have stayed in our observatory, she thought bitterly, staring down into the red-tinted fruit drink. The stars still remember us for who we are.
“Excuse me?”
The princess looked up from her drink and found an elegantly cloaked mare standing by, her gray mane tied up in a bun, and a pair of red glasses perched on her nose. The princess blinked at her and then looked around, trying to determine who this mare was trying to address.
Clearly it wasn’t Luna because she didn’t seem terrified of her, or drunk enough to want to ask insolent questions. Maybe she was like Tia and just enjoyed talking to herself?
Strange mare, she thought, taking a sip of her punch.
“...Excuse me?” the mare said yet again, a little louder now, staring straight at Luna and undoubtedly addressing her. “Princess Luna?”
“Ah… Greetings...” Luna said, clearing her throat. “Uh… How may we be of assistance, Miss…?”
“Yearling!” she exclaimed, stretching out her hoof and offering a reserved smile. “A. K. Yearling. I’m an author, and a history and archaeology professor at the local university. It’s…” She cleared her throat, dispelling the hint of a grin. “It’s an honor to meet you.”
Though Luna shook her hoof, she couldn’t help but be immediately wary. A history professor? Here to ask about Nightmare Moon, wasn’t she? Wasn’t she?
We cannot always assume the worst of ponies, Luna, she then thought, chastising herself. How can we expect them to see us in a kind light if we do not do the same?
“History is a most fascinating subject,” she said politely, “but a broad one. What kind of history do you teach?”
“Oh, all kinds, really. My, er, research takes me all over the place. My current curriculum focuses on ancient tribes of Equestria, but… well, my real passion is ancient Equestrian history.” She grinned. “Particularly yours, Princess.”
“Really.” She peered into her drink. “And we assume you have inquiries about us, don’t you.”
“If you are willing to share, yes. It’s not everyday I can talk with someone who, well, lived Equestria’s past.”
“Mmmm.” She looked back to Yearling. “What is your—” The sight of a small notebook in Yearling’s hoof gave her pause. “...Your question.”
“Is it true you and your guards discovered the abandoned lost ruins of the Arimaspi Tribe near the Western Sea?”
The princess blinked, confused. “That has nothing to do with us being Nightmare Moon.”
Yearling blinked back. “...I know?”
“...And your research is incorrect, Professor,” the princess continued. “It is not the Arimaspi Tribe that live near the Western Sea, but their sister tribe, the Mysoles. The ruins of the Nomai are near the Glacial Savannah, and they were neither ruins nor abandoned.” She stopped, her tone softening. “Though, we suppose they would be considered ruins now.”
“Wait, wait!” Yearling exclaimed. “So my suspicions were right! There was a second tribe!” She quickly flipped through her notebook. “What about the Nomai? Did you—”
“We are confused,” the princess interrupted. “This has nothing to do with Nightmare Moon.”
And again, Yearling blinked. “...Yes? Why do you keep asking that?”
“Well! We simply… We are surprised,” she confessed, hope flickering inside her. “You are interested in our history before we became Nightmare Moon?”
“All your history is before Nightmare Moon!” Yearling exclaimed. “The only artifacts there are regarding Nightmare Moon are in an abandoned castle in the Everfree Forest, but the history of Princess Luna is all over Equestria! For example, history says it was Princess Celestia that helped the Nomai Tribe become one of ancient Equus’ most scientifically advanced species, but all their ruins and abandoned artefacts have astrological and lunar designs! Which logically suggests it was you who helped them, and not Princess Celestia!... Didn’t you?”
“That is almost entirely correct,” said the princess, pride coating her words. It was her that helped them! Not Celestia! Not all her deeds were forgotten!
Yearling’s eyes widened. “Almost entirely correct?”
“They were not from Equus,” she corrected, matter-of-factly. “They came from beyond the stars.”
Yearling’s eyes bulged. “From beyond the stars? They came from space?”
The princess nodded. “Yes, and it was they who were teaching us how to travel to the stars. As the moon princess, it was we who worked with them, not our sister. The Nomai were prepared to show us their technology for space-traveling, but…”
“But?!” Yearling gasped, before clearing her throat and lowering her tone. “...But?”
Princess Luna looked back to her cup, guilt plaguing her. “Nightmare Moon happened.”
“Nightmare Moon…” Yearling flipped a few more pages in her notebook. “And they disappeared over a thousand years ago? Maybe… Maybe they left to find you!”
The princess laughed bitterly. “That would have been most pleasant, but…” She smiled thinly. “Though we saw many strange things on the moon, a kind friend was not among them.”
“A space-faring species?” Yearling whispered, serving herself a glass of punch and drinking it, as if it would somehow steady her. “I can’t believe it.” She looked back to Luna. “What about your research? Do you think it is still here in Equestria? Or would they have taken it?”
“If it is here, it should be in our research station inside what you now call Foal Mountain. The entrance is near the base of the mountain.”
Yearling nodded. “Interesting.” She took a sip of her punch, a second passed, and she then nearly spat it out. “Wait, you mean the sealed door at the bottom of Foal Mountain?!”
“...You know of it?”
“Yes! And it’s impossible to break in! I’ve tried dozens of times with dozens of different methods, but there’s a magical barrier that stops me every time!”
Luna’s eyebrow raised. “Mm. Are all your peers at the university equally criminal, or is it only you that attempts to break into my sealed-off research stations?”
Yearling nearly spat her punch again, but managed to compose herself long enough to reply. “...Well. Your Highness. I didn’t know it was yours. You were gone for a thousand years and all.”
And for the first time, the princess smiled. “That is a fair point,” she conceded. “You are a strange scholar, Miss Yearling. Regardless, we are not surprised the barrier stopped you. We did design it to be impenetrable without the magic key.”
Yearling's eyes sparkled with interest. "The key? There's a key?"
"There is, though we assume it is lost. The last time we saw it was at our… previous ancestral castle, and when we returned there recently, we could not find it."
"Ancestral castle? You mean the one in the Everfree forest? I didn't see any keys there when I explor—" At Luna's curious stare, she cleared her throat. "...When I studied it… for my research."
"It would be foolish of us to make it look like a key," the princess said, amused. "It was a blue crystal orb made to look like a decoration."
She noticed, after a moment, that Yearling had gone quite still.
"Is everything all right?"
"Princess…" Yearling said, delicately. "Would you mind coming with me to my room in the castle?"
"Pardon us?"
"This key you're mentioning..." Yearling cleared her throat again, looking somewhat embarrassed. "So! So, the reason I came here to speak with you is because of some artefacts I wanted your insight on, and—"
"Artefacts?" the princess interrupted. "And we assume you collected these artefacts during your apparently multiple 'research'-focused breaking-and-enterings that you do as a scho—"
"Hypothetically speaking!" Yearling interrupted. "If I had seen this object before, would I be correct to say it has a yellow star inside?"
Luna's ears perked up. "...That would be hypothetically correct."
Yearling quite casually took a sip of her drink. "Ah." She took another sip, though to call it a sip would be quite generous, as she really actually drank the whole thing in one gulp before slamming it down on the nearby table. "We should go open it up, then."
"Go? Now?" the princess asked. "We are in the middle of an event, Miss Yearling."
"Yes, and?" Yearling asked, and when the princess faltered with her reply, she continued. "Look, Your Highness. I'm gonna be honest here. Before I came over, it didn't exactly look like you were having the time of your life."
"We—! That is a lie! We are simply naturally reserved!"
Yearling snorted. "Really? That's the best you can do?" She grinned. "Your Highness, you can come with me, or..." She glanced towards several ponies in the distance, all glancing at Luna with varying degrees of fear and concern. "...Or you can deal with that for the rest of the night."
"...Fair point." Just as Yearling had earlier done, Luna downed her punch in one gulp, putting it down on the table and regarding the other mare with a certain excitement. Perhaps this wouldn’t be an irredeemably dreadful Hearth’s Warming Eve after all. "As we said, you are a strange scholar, Miss Yearling."
"Oh, I'm more than that, Your Highness," the mare replied, taking off her glasses. "Do you know who Daring Do is?"
Princess Luna frowned. "The name is not familiar to us, no. Why do you ask?"
"Because," Yearling said, leading Luna towards the exit, "you're about to find out."
FIN
Author's Note
Breaking hiatus to post my last 2019 story, and also my yearly non-raritwi offering to the writing gods.
Last year I got Daring for Jinglemas, and this year I got Daring again for both my jinglemas/secret santa events. I'm calling this "The Curse of Christmas Do".
