Luna continued to stand in a stunned silence as the robed and armored Luminescence took a few more steps towards her, then sat down on the floor.

"Sky did an amazing job tonight. I was watching him the whole time," Lumi began.

"Yes... So was I, and I agree. I'm... Hoping this will make a little more sense once you start explaining. I thought... I thought you would have gone on to live your life after my fall," Luna said, unable to hide the shock from her voice.

"Part of me wanted to. But then maybe there was another part of me that didn't want that. A part of me that was afraid that anything I went for after that would have paled in comparison to the love of a princess," Lumi said.

"What are you saying?" Luna asked.

It hadn't even been thirty seconds, and Lumi was already struggling to hold back tears.

"I mean what you did broke my heart," Lumi said, taking in a shuddering breath. "It told me that what we shared was no longer good enough, and that any other relationship I pursued wouldn't be good enough for me either. That's when I... That's when I gave up. I gave up, and I jumped. I was ready to throw it all away and bet that whatever on the other side was better."

Luna swallowed the lump in her throat as her former guardian poured her heart out.

"But you know the E.U.P., ever the attentive bunch, aren't they? A passing pegasus on patrol saw me, and caught me in time, broke his wing in the process. That's when Celestia came and made me the offer."

"The offer?"

"The offer to keep the one thing I had left; my oath. To continue to protect ponies in the dream realm for far longer than my mortal body would have allowed," Lumi told her.

"Lumi, I... I would never expect that of you," Luna told her.

Luminescence took a breath, then continued.

"I know you didn't. The choice you made threw a lot of expectations out the window for a lot of ponies. Celestia needed to keep the dream realm safe, even in your absence. She made me realize that just because your jealousy blinded you to the promise you made, that I didn't need to break mine. That I could still keep the slumbering side of Equestria safe, and honor the princess I loved, regardless of what she turned into."

Luna couldn't hold back her tears any longer, and she sat down on the carpeted floor of the tower.

"Lumi... You're right. I kept looking at what my sister had, and it blinded me to what you and I had in the darkness together. The punishment for my betrayal was swift and just, but you were the one that was left with nothing, and I am so very sorry."

Lumi took a deep breath, then smiled at her.

"I know. I know you are. But it feels good to hear it from your lips," Lumi told her, offering her a soft smile, before they both came in for a hug, and held each other silently for several moments.

"Is... Is there anything I can do, Lumi?" Luna asked.

"Yes there is. You can love him, like you loved me. Make the low points of his life visible only from the new heights he soars to with you," Lumi said, before breaking away from the embrace. She gave the princess one last smile, then turned back towards the window.

"Will I see you again?" Luna asked, wiping her eyes, and Lumi turned as she stood in front of the endless expanse of the dream realm.

"I'll be around, but it'll mostly be in the shadows, like it has been since you came back. It's time for you two now," her former guardian told her.

Luna gave her a solemn nod, and then Lumi turned, and jumped through the window, vanishing in a flash of light, and dissipating back out into the realm of dreams.

Author's Note