Luna's Masquerade

by Someguy458

Rating: teen
Tags: Violence, Princess Celestia, Alternate Universe, Princess Luna, Drama, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Romance
Length: 5251

Luna discovers something she left on the Moon... or rather, someone.

For some reason, every time Luna looks up at the Moon, she can't help but feel like she's forgetting something.

Then, one night, a mysterious stranger crashes onto her porch, claiming to have known her while she was banished.

What, exactly, has she forgotten?

In the same continuity as Homeward Bow, and, by extension, Ruby and Friends, though reading those are not strictly necessary to understanding this story. This is a reboot of the "Cosmic Masquerade" arc of the story.

Violence tag for a moment in Chapter 3 — blood-substitute is mentioned, but the violence does not occur on-screen.

Published 2021-10-09 08:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2021-10-09 08:00:02 UTC

1 ~ The Sky Is Falling

Luna was many things: the regent of the night, a former villain, an avid gamer, and a hopeless romantic.

One thing she was not, however, was an evening pony.

Luna drowsily rose from bed, working out the kinks in her back. Her sister's sun was about an hour from setting, which gave her plenty of time to enjoy a hot bath and polish her accessories as she tried to wake up fully.

Eventually, the time came, and Luna stepped onto her balcony. She nodded to Celestia, who was stepping onto her own balcony about a hundred yards to Luna's left, and their horns lit. After a moment, the sun lowered and the moon rose, bringing forth the night.

Luna lingered on her balcony, staring forlornly at the moon. A thousand years, and she couldn't remember a thing about her time there. And yet, every time she looked at that rock in the sky, there was a faint nagging feeling, like she'd forgotten something important...

Just as she was about to head back inside, a small light caught her eye. It was coming from the direction of the moon, and headed this way fast. Luna jumped out of the way just as a glowing something whizzed by her and landed heavily onto the balcony. After a moment, the glow stopped, allowing Luna to get a look at whatever had just crashed.

It was a stallion — an Alicorn stallion at that. His fur was that shade of brown that good copper was; his (literally) flowing hair was a purple that deepened as it went down, splotched with yellow starbursts, and overall reminded her of the dusk sky; his chest was covered by a navy blue vest decorated with dark brown pockets and a moon emblem held in place with brown straps; his hooves were covered golden starburst-shaped shoes; on his face was a dark purple mask with two blue moons on the ends; his ears were adorned with crescent moon earrings; and his Cutie Mark was his mask seen from a side-view (showing the moon shapes prominently).

There was something about him that she found familiar, but she pushed that thought aside. She lit her horn, ready for anything he might try, and stepped forward. When her shoe clicked on the stone balcony, his eyes shot open. She tensed herself, but he got up, not even seeing her, and looked over the balcony.

"I did it..." he breathed, then pumped his hoof. "Woohoo! I did it! I finally got off that stupid rock!" He wound down his celebrations, and took a breath to calm himself. "Now all I need to do is find Luna."

"And what?" Luna interrupted, causing him to turn around in surprise.

"Luna!" he exclaimed, attempting to rush over to her. He stopped, however, when she pointed her lit horn towards him. "L-Luna?"

"Not another step closer, masked stranger," the Princess warned.

" 'Stranger'? Luna, it's me, Cosmic Masquerade!" He took off his mask, leaving his concerned silver eyes exposed.

That name did spark some odd feeling in her chest, but nothing concrete. "I do not know anypony by that name."

He reeled, as though struck by a blow. "Y-you don't remember me? We've known each other for 998 years!"

"I spent the last thousand on the Moon," Luna pointed out.

"I know that!"

She blinked. "So you're saying that I met you... on the Moon?"

"Yes!" Cosmic exclaimed, becoming a little exasperated and a little pleading.

She frowned. "Excuse me if I find it hard to believe that I met a pony on the Moon."

"But I'm not a pony," he said casually. "This is just the form I choose to use."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Wait... if you're not a pony, then what are you?"

"I'm a Moon Spirit." As soon as he said this, his body began to lose its form as it became more nebulous. It lost all of its color, becoming a dark night's sky with shimmering stars in it. The only thing that remained were his eyes (which were now entirely silver) and his mask.

Luna was struck by how similar this creature looked to the Tantabus. She reflexively shot out a spell, but his nebulous body parted to dodge. He regained form, turning back into the stallion...

Only this time, he was starting to cry silver tears. "Y-you really don't remember me, do you?"

She shook her head, and that tipped him over. He leaned over, sobbing quietly.

What the hay was going on? A stallion from the Moon crashes on her balcony, and starts crying when she doesn't recognize him? She'd seen some odd things in her day, but this took the cake.

Seeing him so sad sparked some sympathy in her, and she carefully stepped forward. When he didn't react, she continued cautiously until she was standing over him. She laid a hoof onto his shoulder and said, "I, um.... I am sorry if I've upset you."

He shook his head, drying his tears. "It's not your fault. You said this might happen, but I thought that, with all we've been through..."

Luna frowned. "Another thing I don't understand is how you seem to know me, when I was Nightmare Moon for the past millennium."

He pointed to his mask. "This mask allows me to see anypony for what they really are. Helps a lot when your species can shape-change."

Her eyes widened. Even while she was Nightmare Moon, he could see her for what she was? Even while she was Nightmare Moon, the magic of the mask still saw her as Luna? It was touching in a strange way.

She sat down onto her haunches next to him. "Cosmic, was it? Would you like to come in for breakfast while I think of what to do?"

He sniffled a little. "I've never really tried Earth food before... but I wouldn't want to impose...."

Luna shook her head. "Nonsense. The Royal Chefs already prepare more than we need to eat; we wouldn't want all that food to go to waste, would we?"

He smiled a little, looking up at her with what seemed to be admiration. "I guess not."

"Wonderful. Then let's show you to the dining hall." She helped him up, and led him into the hall.

2 ~ Dream of an Absolution

When they arrived in the dining hall, Celestia was already halfway done with her pancakes.

"Good evening, Lu—" she stopped when she saw Cosmic with her. "Who's this?"

"This is Cosmic Masquerade," Luna introduced.

He moved next to her seat and bowed deeply. "It's an honor to meet you, Celestia. Luna's told me much about you."

Celestia chuckled. "My goodness, he's such a gentle-colt. Luna, wherever did you two meet?"

"That's just it," she admitted. "It seems that we met while I was banished to the Moon, although I can't remember it."

The Princess of the Sun blinked, then turned to face Luna, her face suddenly serious. "Are you serious?"

"Like I said, I can't remember us having met before," she repeated. "But I can tell for certain that he is not of this world."

Celestia shook her head, "Well, I can see that."

Both Luna and Cosmic did a double-take. "You can?"

She nodded. "After the Changeling invasion a couple years back, I trained myself to read a pony's magical aura and see if they're pony or not. It's not flawless, but I can certainly tell that he reeks of lunar magic."

For some reason, he blushed a little. This didn't go unnoticed by Luna, but she refrained from commenting.

"Tell me," Celestia continued, "how did you find yourself here?"

"I used my magic to shoot myself here," he replied. "It took a while to build up enough energy, but since I wasn't being imprisoned there, I managed."

Celestia looked to Luna for confirmation, and Luna shrugged. "He came crashing into my balcony while glowing, so I'd guess he's telling the truth."

Celestia nodded. "And you say you have no recollection of meeting him?"

Luna shook her head. "Just vague feelings in my chest whenever I look at him."

Celestia raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. Instead, she used her magic to summon a scroll, an inkwell, and a quill. She wrote a quick message, then sent it on its way.

Cosmic watched confusedly. "What'd you write?"

Celestia replied stoically, "A letter to my student, Twilight Sparkle. She once told me that she knew how to cast memory spells, so I asked her to come as soon as possible and see if she can't help. Now, come and sit."

He nodded, quietly sitting on Luna's end of the table. Luna sat down at her spot, and Celestia rang a little bell. Soon enough, the servers came out and placed several plates of breakfast food in front of Luna, who gave some of those plates to Cosmic. They both watched as he hesitantly touched the food with a hoof, then used his magic to break off a piece of pancake and levitate it into his mouth.

Almost as soon as he tasted it, he stuffed his face into the pile and began muching away eagerly, all manners forgotten.

Luna chuckled. "I see you like the pancakes."

He grinned around his full mouth, before swallowing. "You bet! Back on the Moon, all we really had were frigoris berries, and they don't have much taste other than 'cold'."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Isn't Frigoris the name of one of the seas on the moon?"

"Yeah," he also laughed. "You actually gave the berries that name when you bit into one and your tongue nearly froze."

She blinked. "I thought my tongue felt a little numb when I returned..." Cosmic laughed, and Luna managed a chuckle.

Celestia cleared her throat. "Cosmic, was it? How can there be berries on the Moon when I've never been able to observe plants there?"

He waved a hoof, "The bushes are the same color as the ground."

"Ah."

Luna then got his attention again. "What kind of infrastructure is there on the Moon?"

He frowned. "Not a lot, actually. There's a few underground houses for the other Moon Spirits, and a few berry farms, but that's about it."

He then gestured around with his hooves. "Not like this place! From what I saw on the balcony, this place is so much more than I'd ever imagined! It's so green here! And this castle is so magnificent!"

"I know, right?" Luna agreed. "I was a little sad to see that the Castle had moved while I was gone, but this place has warmed up to me."

"Why thank you," Celestia smiled. "I was actually good friends with the architects, so I—"

"What's it like living here every day?" Cosmic asked Luna, neither of them paying attention to Celestia.

Celestia huffed a little.

So they spent the rest of the meal talking, discussing the in's and out's of both life on Equus and the Moon. Occasionally, they'd let Celestia in on the conversation, but that became rarer the longer they talked.

Meanwhile, little glimpses of Luna's memories would occasionally show themselves in the form of knowing the names of certain things before Cosmic could say them — such as the 'Moon Demons', the Moon Spirits' natural predators. As they talked, Luna felt more and more like she knew him, and she began warming up to him incredibly quickly.

Eventually, the sound of doors opening down the hallway, accompanied by the hurried clopping of hooves and feet, alerted them that Twilight had arrived. Celestia moved to the door, opening it and sticking her head out to get Twilight's attention. After a moment, she moved back, and in rushed the purple princess, followed by her trusty companion Spike.

Cosmic began to stare at the latter. "Woah, what are you?"

He caught his breath and replied, "I'm Spike. I'm a dragon."

Cosmic turned back to Luna. "You never told me there were more than just ponies in Equestria!"

Luna raised an eyebrow, "I didn't? Well, I suppose we've only recently begun seriously building good relations with the other nations. It must've slipped my mind."

Cosmic took a moment to study Spike, then he did something unexpected: he momentarily shifted back into his normal form, before shifting into that of a dragon.

Twilight and Spike both jumped, Twilight lighting her horn in defense and Spike hiding behind her back. "It's the Tantabus! Get down!"

But before she could fire, Celestia stepped in the way. "Twilight, stop!"

The younger Princess froze, giving Luna time to explain: "He's not the Tantabus, he's from the Moon. I think he must've subconsciously been my inspiration for the Tantabus's form."

At that, Twilight calmed down, letting the spell she was charging dissipate.

"What's the Tantabus?" Cosmic asked, turning back to his pony form.

"Yes, Luna, what is this 'Tantabus'?" Celestia concurred, eyebrow raised.

Luna sighed. "A creature I once made to punish myself for what I did as Nightmare Moon. It used to create nightmares for me so I wouldn't forget what happened."

Celestia began to move towards her sister, but Cosmic beat her to it. He didn't say anything at first; he just hugged her tightly. Even Luna was taken aback by this, but she soon closed her eyes and relaxed into the hug.

When he broke off the hug, he held her hoof. "You only did those things because you felt unappreciated. And I already forgave you centuries ago; after all, if you hadn't been sent to the Moon, I never would've met you."

For some reason that she wasn't fully aware of yet, that sentiment really touched Luna's heart.

However, that reasoning soon became clear, as he continued: "Before I met you, I was in a really rough spot. My mother had just died, and I was struggling to find a reason to go on with my life. Then you arrived, and, although it took a few years to gather the courage to come out and talk to you, you gave me a reason. That's why I spent the last few years trying to get here; because without you, I don't have a purpose."

He capped off his little speech by hugging her closer than ever, as everyone stared at him in shock and sympathy.

Then, as he pulled away, he gave a light peck of his lips on her cheek. Luna's eyes widened in shock, and everyone else froze.

The room was silent as he returned to his chair. "So, Twilight Sparkle, was it?"

She seemed to realize that she was being talked to, for she snapped out of her state of shock and turned to face him. "Er— yes, that's me."

"Celestia told us that you know some memory spells, right?"

Twilight nodded. "I learned them back when I was still a Unicorn."

Luna managed to come out of her frozen state, but was still blushing furiously. "I seem to have forgotten... *ahem* a LOT of things from my time on the Moon. If, um... if you would be so kind?"

She nodded, "Oh, of course!"

Twilight walked around the table and lit her horn, beginning to weave her spell. It only took a few moments, but that was all it took for Luna to grow nervous. What was she about to find out?

Twilight touched her horn to Luna's forehead, and everything became clear.

3 ~ Memory of a Moon Spirit

January 4th, 2 After Banishment

Nightmare Moon stared up at the blue-green ball above her, as she'd done every day for the past two years. It burned her soul to know that Celestia was still up there, moving her Moon and taking all the credit.

And all the ponies, who'd probably forgotten she existed already. Unless she could escape her imprisonment, she'd never be able to see another pony again; never hold a conversation with anypony; never—

A rock clattered to the ground behind her, catching her attention. She turned and was surprised to see an amorphous cloud of stars with two silver eyes and a plain purple mask staring at her from behind a rise. As soon as it realized she saw it, it zipped out of sight.

"W-wait!" she called out, desperate for anything to fill the loneliness.

After a moment of nothing, she cursed under her breath. "Whatever; We don't need anyone," she lied to herself, trying to push down her emotions. "We are Nightmare Moon, the most powerful pony in the world! We don't need friends!

"And yet..." she trailed off, turning back towards Equus.

January 12th, 2 A.B.

Nightmare Moon woke up like any other day: to the feeling of the Moon being lowered from Equestria's skies. She sat up, stretching, then paused when she opened her eyes.

The blob was back, and it was sitting about twenty paces in front of her.

"Uhh... Hello?" she didn't know what to say; after all, it's not every day that you meet an alien.

The blob tilted its... the area around where its eyes were. "H....heh...hehloh?" it sounded out.

She smiled. "That's it! My name is Nightmare Moon."

The creature tilted its head area again.

She pointed a hoof at herself. "Nightmare Moon," she emphasized.

The creature blinked. "N.. nyt... Nytmair Muun?"

Nightmare nodded.

Then something surprising happened: the creature shape-changed into something that looked vaguely pony-ish, but still made out of the star field. It pointed one of its 'hooves' at itself, in the same gesture as she'd done, and said something in its foreign tongue: "Çøßmîç".

Nightmare Moon blinked. "Cosmic?"

The creature repeated itself, and she tried to copy, but it was clear that she just couldn't make the sounds necessary. So they settled on her calling him (it sounded like a him) Cosmic.

They spent the next hour or so getting Cosmic to understand her. By the time he had to leave, he knew a few words such as 'Moon' and 'Rock'.

And even though they hadn't really had a proper conversation, Nightmare Moon still felt like they'd made a connection.

February 24th, 2 A.B.

"Why Nightmare Moon here?" Cosmic asked one day while they were practicing talking.

She sighed. "Because I did some bad things. I tried to keep the moon up, because I felt unap— not liked," she caught herself before she used a word he didn't understand.

He nodded his new head. He'd gotten better at turning into a pony in the past month; now, he actually had some distinguishing features, like a solid purple mane and amber-brown fur. "Cosmic like you."

She smiled sincerely. "Thanks."

March 9th, 2 A.B.

Cosmic led Nightmare Moon across the pocked surface of the Moon, in the direction he'd always come from. He finally trusted her enough to show her where he lived, and Nightmare Moon was thankful for that — it signalled a new level in their relationship.

Not to mention that there were more Moon Spirits (that was what Cosmic called himself) there. And there would be food — even though she hadn't needed to eat since her arrival, she was definitely missing it.

Finally, they came over a ridge to find a few rows of bushes that matched the coloration of the rocks, along with a hole into the ground that Nightmare assumed was the entrance to his home. Cosmic resumed his natural form and floated down the ridge, followed closely by Nightmare.

As they approached, another Moon Spirit exited the hole and headed towards the bushes.

"D@d!" Cosmic called out in his native tongue, catching the creature's attention. He took one look at Nightmare Moon and immediately tried bolting for the hole, but Cosmic was quick enough to intercept him. "D@d, thîß īß Nightmare Moon. ẞhë'ß frøm thãt pl@ñēt, åñd ßhè'ß â frîëñd." Cosmic then turned to Nightmare Moon. "Nightmare Moon, this is Çrætër, Çrætër is father of I."

" 'Crater'? Námástë." It was lucky that their greeting was one of the few things she could actually pronounce in their language.

Crater seemed to calm down at that, and stuttered back a greeting as well. He moved closer to the bushes, picked one off with a tendril, and held it out. "Øffërîñg?"

Nightmare looked at the berry curiously; it was the same dark color as the Moon's 'seas'. She nodded, and got Cosmic to tell him that she thanked him. She took the berry in her magic, and, after just a moment of hesitation, popped it into her mouth.

The taste was like nothing she'd ever experienced before; it was the complete opposite of spicy, being so cold that her tongue went numb almost immediately. Other than that, though, it wasn't half bad.

She shivered. "Sweet Mother, that's cold! My tongue almost froze off!"

Cosmic made a noise that resembled a chuckle. "Yes, is cold. But we is used to it." Crater also seemed to be put more at ease after seeing that.

She looked at the other bushes. "Do you have a name for these berries?" Cosmic shook his head.

Nightmare Moon remembered naming one of the 'seas' on the Moon 'Mare Frigoris', which meant 'sea of cold'. "Well then, 'Frigoris berries' it is."

Cosmic nodded. "Now, inside, before lüñ@ dæmønêß come."

With that, they led her inside.

June 6th, 2 A.B.

"I've been wondering," Nightmare Moon began during what would be one of their last language sessions. "You said Crater is your father, right?"

"Yes," Cosmic replied, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"What about your mother?"

He seemed to go cold. "Mother... She is gone."

Nightmare wilted, picking up on his tone. "Oh... I'm sorry to hear that. How did she...?"

"Lüñ@ dæmønêß," he replied somberly. "Come when we are not prepared, take her away."

Nightmare Moon responded by placing a hoof around his shoulder. "My mother is gone, too. Disappeared when my sister and I were still young."

"Sister?" Cosmic asked.

If this had been a few months prior, Nightmare would've clammed up at that. But now, after all they'd talked about, she felt like she was ready to talk about this. She used her magic to pick up a rock, and sketched out a rough illustration of the Princess of the Sun. "My sister, Celestia. She's like me, except she controls the Sun."

"Sun!" Cosmic eagerly pointed it out in the sky, just on the opposite side of Equus from them.

Nightmare chuckled. "Yes, that Sun."

Then she frowned. "Celestia is one of the kindest ponies you'd ever meet. She's smart, powerful, benevolent, beloved by all — everything I'm not." To punctuate the sentence, she kicked at the illustration, burying it in moon dust.

"Not true," Cosmic replied, catching her attention. "Nightmare Moon is smart, powerful, bene... binevv...."

"Benevolent?"

"Benevolent. And most of all, Nightmare Moon is loved."

She blew a raspberry. "Yeah, right. By whom?"

"By Cosmic."

She blinked, then turned to face him. He was looking at her through that mask of his, smiling shyly and blushing a little (he'd picked that up from her when she tripped over a rock last month).

"I..." Nightmare Moon stuttered.

He pointed to his mask. "This m@ßqūërædé lets Cosmic see true self. I see Nightmare Moon is scared, lost, and confused. Cosmic scared, lost, and confused also, when mother gone. But Cosmic met Nightmare Moon, and Cosmic not feel scared any more."

He leaned in closer, but Nightmare scooted away. He blinked. "Nightmare Moon?"

"I..." she stuttered, "I need to think about this."

With that, she got up and walked away, leaving a confused Cosmic behind.

June 15th, 2 A.B.

Nightmare Moon sat alone, staring at Equus above her. Without much else to do, she was constantly thinking back to Cosmic's confession.

Was she really worthy of love, after all she'd done?

Suddenly, a scream rang out across the plains. She still didn't know how sound travelled on the airless Moon, but that wasn't her main concern at the moment. She got up and rushed over to the source, and gasped.

Cosmic was being attacked by a horrifying monster. It stood about 2½ meters tall, and vaguely resembled a wingless pteranodon, but was white all over and held dozens of razor-sharp teeth in its mouth.

And it looked like Cosmic was losing the fight. Somehow, a chunk of his amorphous body had been ripped clean off, and the wound was now leaking purple wisps of what Nightmare assumed acted as his blood. "Bäçk, dæmøñê, bäçk!" he screamed, but the beast didn't back off.

There was no time to waste; Nightmare rushed down the ridge (her wings didn't work in the airless vacuum of the moon) and lit her horn. "Stay away from him!" She screamed as she shot a blast of magic at the creature.

It recoiled at the blast, then turned to face her. As it rushed her, Nightmare charged another spell. Just as the beast was about to strike her, she teleported behind it and gave it a swift buck, knocking it face-first into the ground.

The creature turned to give one last look at her, then decided it wasn't worth it, and fled the scene. Nightmare caught her breath, then rushed to Cosmic's side. "Cosmic, are you okay?!"

"I... I am okay...." he stated weakly as he lay on the ground, now that the adrenaline (or his equivalent) was leaving his system. "Thank you, Nightmare Moon."

"Please," she smiled, "call me Luna."

Luna lit her horn and cast a spell, sealing the wounds on his side, before hugging him. He sighed in relief, before closing his eyes to rest.

They both just sat there for a while, before Luna began to pull away.

But as she did, she stole a quick kiss on his cheek area. And she got the feeling that, although he had no mouth in this form, he was still smiling.

June 1st, 1000 A.B.

Luna and Cosmic enjoyed 998 years of closeness. They would talk about various things, enjoy frigoris berries together, explore the Moon whenever the lüñ@ dæmønêß were asleep, and overall just enjoy each other's company. She even gave him the surname 'Masquerade', after his word for 'mask'. He also changed his pony form to better resemble Luna's, with stars in his mane and moon motifs on his brand new clothes.

They would've likely gone further at some point, but Luna didn't like the prospect of cursing a potential child to life on the Moon.

Eventually, Luna sensed something in the stars. It felt like they were telling her that, some day soon, they would be aligned to help her escape her imprisonment. She soon became determined to take this opportunity, and prepared for several years for the day she could return.

But there was a problem: by the time she realized she'd be able to escape, there wasn't enough time to charge the energy required to bring both of them to Equus.

So she taught Cosmic how to harness the same magic that she could, so that he could eventually escape on his own (he wasn't skilled enough to charge it as quickly as her). She warned him that the trip might have some side effects, like memory loss or magical exhaustion, but he insisted he'd make the trip as soon as he could.

Eventually, the day came. With one last kiss from Cosmic, Nightmare Moon summoned the stored energy and, with the aide of the stars, escaped.

4 ~ New Love, Old Luna

Luna gasped as the spell finished, experiencing vertigo from the sudden return to reality.

Twilight panted. "Oof, that was a long one. You okay, Princess?"

Luna didn't respond.

"Princess?"

Suddenly, Luna stood up and bolted around the table, lunging into a hug with Cosmic.

Said stallion blinked. "Does... Does this mean you remember me?"

She looked him in the eye and grinned. "Does this answer your question?" Without any further warning, she pulled him closer and gave him a long kiss on the lips, to everyone's surprise.

When she drew back, he grinned. "I suppose it does."

Celestia made an obvious throat-clearing sound, drawing their attention away from each other. They both blushed.

"Ahem", Luna actually cleared her throat, "Twilight, Spike, the Crown thanks you for your services."

Spike tried to object, "But I didn't do—"

"Now, if you will excuse us, Cosmic and I have some 'catching up' to do." With that, she teleported the two of them out of the room.

Celestia frowned. 'The Crown'? That was Old Equestrian, and Luna had long since abandoned the use of that.

Something was going on, and Cosmic was at the center of it.

The next day, things began to change around the Castle. Luna assigned the Royal Carpenter to remodel her room so that it could fit two; meanwhile, Cosmic was given a temporary guest room. Even so, they visited each other every night, since there was still plenty catching up to do.

But not all was well; Luna began to become increasingly agitated whenever the servants messed something up. She often reverted to Old Equestrian, and once even used her Royal Canterlot voice to scold a maid that walked in on them while they were together. She also began shirking her duties somewhat, eager to get the day over with as quickly as possible so she could see him again.

Celestia watched all this play out for three nights, then decided that enough was enough.

Cosmic exited Luna's room, looking the happiest he'd ever been. Luna poked her head out and smiled, "By dusk, our chambers shall be ready for two. We bid you a good day, luv."

"Good day to you, as well," Cosmic smiled, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. But Luna wasn't satisfied with that, and gave him a kiss on his lips before she retreated back into her room.

Cosmic's smile grew wider, even as the guards watched in confusion.

"Hello, Cosmic."

The stallion in question turned to find Celestia looking down at him with a neutral expression. "Good morning, Celestia. Is there something on your mind?"

Celestia scrutinized him with every ounce of effort she could muster, tried to find out what his master plan was just by staring into his silver eyes. But no matter how hard she looked, she just couldn't find any malice in him. She contemplated what this might mean, then came to a startling realization:

He was innocent, and she was biased.

She tried to deny it; tried to convince herself that he was, in fact, doing this on purpose. But in the end, it only made her frown at herself for trying to throw someone else under the wagon for what Luna was doing.

But still, there was the reality that Luna was, in fact, beginning to change, and Cosmic was at the center of it. If something wasn't done about it, and soon, she might lose her sister again.

So Celestia sighed, "Take care of Luna, Cosmic."

He raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

She shook her head. "Just an old mare being concerned for her sister, that's all. You're clearly a good stallion, but you seem to bring out old tendencies in Luna. Please... just don't let her do something she'll regret, okay?"

He nodded. "As long as I'm able, no harm will ever come to Luna."

Celestia smiled wearily. "That's all I ask."

With that, she left to raise the sun, leaving a contemplative Cosmic behind.