Sky Scribbles slowly came to, not really remembering any dreams he had, if any. His eyes fluttered open, and he beheld an orange sky as a cool breeze blew past his face. He sat up on the cloud he had landed on hours ago, and began to recall his exit from Canterlot.

He hadn't made it very far into the air once he left the city limits before the adrenaline from his emotional outburst faded, and exhaustion set in once again. He found the nearest cloud and promptly passed out and, according to the sun steadily dipping below the western sky, that's where he stayed for the next ten hours. Canterlot, and by extension the mountain it was on, was considerably smaller.

Stretching his wings, he saw that the cloud he had passed out on had drifted southwest over Ponyville, and was now a few hundred feet over the Everfree Forest. With a yawn and another stretch, he was about to take off and fly towards Ponyville to get something to eat before the last restaurants closed for the night. Before his hooves left the cloud, he felt something vibrate in his left saddlebag. Digging into it, he came out with his moon seal, which was now glowing dimly and softly vibrating. He glanced over the edge of the cloud again, this time looking south, and saw that his cloud had drifted fairly close to the Castle of the Two Sisters, the ancient ruin that Celestia and Luna used to rule from. He felt the moon seal carefully on his hoof, and saw that the vibrations were moving in a direction; towards the ruins.

Taking a deep breath, he spread his wings, and dove off the cloud, catching an updraft and began to glide downwards towards the castle. He was high enough up that he was able to slowly circle the ruins, and confirm that the seal's ebbing vibrations were constantly directed at the ancient site. He descended further, and landed on the grass just outside the treeline.

A ravine separated the castle plateau from the rest of the forest, and it went down about one hundred feet, almost pitch black this time of night. The one path across was a rope bridge that didn't look the sturdiest, but then again, also didn't look as positively ancient as the rest of the ruins. After testing his weight on the first two rope-tied planks, the bit finally dropped.

"What am I doing?" he mumbled to himself, before simply flying over the ravine with a few flaps of his wings, landing on the stone walkway on the other side.

The castle looked dilapidated, but, considering how much time had passed since it had been in good condition, curiously untouched by the vegetation, possibly due to the ravine. Keeping the moon seal in his hoof, he made his way up the stone steps, and pushed open the right giant door to the main hall. Save for two of the supporting arches, the roof had collapsed entirely, leaving the hall open to the sky above. From the arches, hung two torn, tattered flags; a deep dark blue one depicting Princess Luna on the left, and a brilliant gold one depicting Princess Celestia on the right. Grass and daisies had started to grow around the outer pillars supporting the walls. Against the back wall was a grand staircase that split off in opposite directions up to the second floor. He once again consulted the vibrations of the moon seal, and as he slowly made his way down the main hall, they began to ebb to the left, guiding him towards the last arched hallway on the left, just before the main staircase.

The torches in the wall sconces were unlit, and the setting sun was making the ambient lighting quickly fade, as was the ceilings of these corridors didn't take heavy damage, so he quickly lost the dimming light of the sun. When it became almost too dark to continue, however, the moon seal began to glow, and provided the pegasus with enough ambient lighting to continue passing by long-abandoned bedrooms and barracks.

At the end of the corridor, was a tower, with the stone staircase twisting upwards on the wall. He slowly began to climb, keeping his wings spread, ready to take off at a moment's notice in case the cobblestone floor under his hooves gave way. He climbed to the second floor, and as he stepped into the corridor, the vibrations of the seal began to quicken. He came to the last doorway on the right, and stepped inside.

Whatever carpeting or wooden furniture that was once in here had long rotted away, leaving just a few empty wall sconces among the four stone walls, and another doorway to a second floor balcony. As he stepped further inside, the glow of the seal only intensified. As the dusk outside continued to get darker, he thought he saw something out against the railing of the balcony. Holding the seal out in front of him like a lantern, he stepped towards the far door, he let out a soft gasp as he started to see a transparent equine figure out on the balcony. He immediately recognized the dark purple mane with the white streaks as he walked across the room.

"Luminescence?" The pegasus asked. As he closed in, she didn't become anymore solid, but remained transparent, like a spirit or ghost. She wasn't in her maid's uniform, but was unclothed as he stepped out onto the balcony, finally glancing at him.

"I suppose even after all this time, I still have a connection with this place," she told him as she sat in front of the railing, looking out at the Everfree night.

Sky took a soft breath, coming up next to her, and set the glowing seal between them as he sat down.

"I'm sorry I yelled this morning," Sky apologized, not able to look her in the eyes.

"I should have told you. Keeping secrets doesn't do either of us any good," Lumi responded.

"What is, or, was this room?" the pegasus asked.

"Our nursery. This was where we played together," she answered.

"Luminescence, I... Celestia showed me what happened. I'm so sorry," Sky offered.

The mare softly snorted through her nostrils.

"She likely only showed you the end... The end of my rope, when I didn't have anything at all left. The collapse was a lot longer. Painful."

"The collapse?"

"Of my relationship with Luna. We were close. Very close. She found me in the dream realm, much like she did you, I'm assuming. I got the invitation, her guards escorted me through the forest, and I began to live here, with her, assisting her in the dream realm. For several years, it was everything I could have ever wanted, and I thought, mistakenly, that it was for her too."

"I'm all ears if you want to talk about it, but if you don't, that's alright. I'm not going to pry," Sky said.

"You might as well. It sounds like you've already had some prying done, and likely more to come. We were happy... For years we were happy playing with each other, taking each other into a world of carefree youth, it was so blissful, and the power of our imaginations aided us in keeping the dreamscape safe. But... Over time, slowly, it wasn't enough for her."

The unicorn mare paused, looking over to the pegasus with tears in her eyes.

"It broke my heart... Not being able to get through the shell of bitterness she had surrounded herself with as jealousy of her sister began to take hold. It wasn't a sudden, instant change either... It was slow, and maybe that's why I couldn't do anything about it. Then, that fateful night, when she refused to lower the moon... I was so scared... Of what had happened to the princess I loved, of what her sister would do in retaliation. I ran. I ran as fast and as far as my hooves would take me, and I didn't stop until I saw the first rays of the sunrise. By that time, I was halfway up the mountain to Canterlot, and I could see her silhouette in the moon, as well as the smoke rising from the Everfree Forest."

Sky continued to sit and listen silently as Lumi took a moment to wipe her tear-filled eyes.

"It didn't take Celestia long to find me, or the other members of Luna's court that had wisely retreated from the castle before their battle. She determined that Luna had acted entirely alone in her rebellion; no member of her guard or staff had helped her, nor had any inkling of what she had planned to do. Afterward, Celestia commanded that this castle was to sit as it was, and she moved to rule from Canterlot. She knew that I had come from almost nothing, that I didn't have any family or home to return to, and so offered me lodging in Canterlot until I figured out what I wanted to do."

"You couldn't figure it out," Sky guessed.

Lumi shook her head.

"I didn't want to. I felt dead inside. Everything I had loved about my life had been ripped away. I felt that if I couldn't keep a princess happy, then it wasn't worth going on."

Sky wasn't sure how to respond to that. He had seen Celestia's memory, he knew what happened.

"When was the last time you were happy, Sky Scribbles?" Lumi asked, turning to the pegasus. "Really, truly happy?"

Sky wasn't expecting a question like that, but he let it sink in as he tried to think back. Cobalt leaving without as much as a goodbye had created such a dense fog that he hadn't really been willing to mentally walk through lately.

"It's alright, you don't need to rack your brain trying to give me an honest answer. I'm just wondering if you've given up the search for happiness again, just like I did. Because perhaps just like me, you can't remember what it feels like. Do you... Blame me for what I did? For trying to end my life on my own terms?"

Sky took a breath.

"I for one believe there's a difference between wanting to kill yourself and just passively waiting for death. The other side has to be better than this, right? I mean, that's why we get those thoughts in the first place; because we believe that whatever comes after this is better than staying here and dealing with the pain. I never got beyond thinking about it, thankfully. When he left without saying goodbye... I couldn't touch a cloud for six months without it going black and thunderous. Dash had me help Derpy deliver her mail around Ponyville."

Sky looked over to the mare.

"No matter how hard I try... I can't let go. I don't know how to let go of what he did to me. But you did. Her jealousy blinded herself to her duties, and to you. But you escaped. You could have done anything, even after the hospital, but you didn't. You hung on; to your oath, to her," Sky told her.

"Letting go can be the hardest thing sometimes. You wish you could just forget about something or somepony... But for whatever reason, your mind clings on, no matter how badly you don't want it to," Lumi offered.

"If he wasn't happy with me, fine. If he wanted to chase fringe politics, fine. He should have said something. Because he didn't, all he will ever be to me is a coward."

"Then don't let what he did change you, Sky. Don't let that coward win. Just like I didn't let Nightmare Moon win."

Sky took another deep breath, thinking back to what Celestia had told him that morning.

"Is Luna aware of what you've done? That you've kept your oath all this time?" He asked.

Lumi shook her head.

"Celestia told me my time with her was done, and I believed her. I don't know if I could face her again. I don't... I don't want to make her remember her fall, how she pushed me away," the mare told him.

"So you just want to leave it like that? Unfinished?" Sky asked.

"I made my decision a millennium ago, Sky, and I don't regret it. Celestia's spell was permanent."

"Yeah, so you and her are done romantically, fine. But that doesn't mean neither of you don't need closure. You deserve that, Luminescence. Luna does too."

Lumi thought silently for a few moments, then glanced over at the pegasus again.

"If you go back and pass her test, and become her Guardian, I'll talk with her. Deal?" The unicorn asked.

Sky nodded.

"Deal."

"I hope you put your heart into it. You'll need it to overcome the challenges; and I hope you succeed. Luna doesn't deserve to be alone, and neither do you."

Author's Note

Art: 'Night Reflections by novaintellus