His Moonlight, Her Starshine

Moonshine adjusted the black dahlia in her mane for the fourth time in a row. It had to be absolutely perfect. She couldn’t afford to make a mistake today. After all, something very important was waiting for her today. She would be meeting the one who had made that painting back in Canterlot, the one with a close connection to North. She felt this sense of unease, like her mind wasn’t ready for what was to come.

Suddenly, her head was turned and North gently kissed her on the lips. “You look beautiful, dear. Everything will be okay, alright?”

She looked down at him and smiled back, leaning in and kissing him once more. “You’re right… You’re right. I think it’s mostly the fact that I don’t know this artist’s relationship with you at all.”

Blowing a tuft of hair out of his face, North looked up at his ceiling. “Neb and I… We went back a long while. Longer than we can remember. We spent years just doing our own stuff, and I don’t know why, but she was always wanting to be around me… I told her it was a bad idea, and she insisted on trying to try and come. Eventually…”

He paused and looked down. “I think she’ll be better resolved to tell you the rest. We should get moving.”

“Oh wait!” The disguised Luna grabbed a nearby coat with her magic. “You can’t forget this. Trust me, you’ll need it.”

North raised an eyebrow and chuckled. “I don’t think I need this jacket. It’s not cold out.”

“Well, you never know what will happen. There’s always rain…” She slowly put her hooves on his cheek. “Also promise me something. No matter what happens, keep a level head. Things may not play out how you want, but I know you can get past them if you think. Just like your fights.”

North blinked, more confused than ever. “Luna, is something going on? You’re normally not this paranoid, and you definitely weren’t this worried when you were around my uncle.”

“It’s just…” She looked down, pondering what to say. She sighed and kissed her forehead. “It’s different when it’s someone more nebulous. You’ll understand later. Come, we’re going to be late.”

North watched Moonshine leave and soon followed afterward, but he couldn’t help but feel like something was off. Did he miss something? Did somepony from last night do something behind his back?

~~~

His mind never fully settled when he got to the Manehatten Art Museum & Gallery. The thoughts just swirled in his head, hoping that whatever fears he had about his past were behind him. Fortunately, the sight of Moonshine tipping the guard at the door with two bits was enough to snap him out of his funk and have a laugh.

He walked alongside her through the white walls of the gallery, taking stops to admire the many artists. Being a frequenter of the gallery in the past, he couldn’t help but see how many new paintings from artists he once knew presented on the walls.

“Jeez, I can't believe Brush Beater still gets work…” North chuckled as he inspected the action painting before him. “His art is always a mess.”

“Yes, but if you look beyond it and focus on the motions, you can see some level of cohesion…”

“What I’m seeing is that I really need to make sure that pony is going outside enough. He’s always such a hermit…” He sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Then again, it’s been forever…”

“I’m sure he’d love to see an old friend again…” Moonshine smiled at him, making him smile back.

“Fine… Another time, I promise.”

As the pair studied any piece of art that caught their mind, North’s body suddenly flinched and froze. His gaze moved downward and his breath picked up speed.

Seeing her lover panic, she put a hoof on his back and gently rubbed it. “Starshine, it’s okay. It’s alright. What’s wrong?”

He gulped nervously, nodding as he took slow, deep breaths. Finally, he spoke. “Yeah… It’s her. West wing, down the hall. She’s talking with some other mares.”

Nodding, Moonshine looked in the direction of the West Wing, then back at him. “Would you like me to break the ice first?”

“You… You don’t have to-”

Before he could finish, Moonshine was already standing and heading down the halls.

~

“I’m telling you Nebby, this guy I know, he’s got an eye for talent, and he’d LOVE your work displayed in his private gallery!”

“Oh, I know just who you’re talking about! He’s been eyeing you for ages! You have to have a meeting with him!”

“Mhm…”

Nebula Feathers sighed as she stared at another one of her pieces. Another success, worthy of the gallery. The praise was heaped upon her, and the offers to buy it were enormous, something that any artist would love. To her, it was all just noise and paper.

Her friends, colleagues from art school, were the ones mediating these deals and meetups. They were more than willing to help her with the hassle for only a fraction of what normal art brokers would charge. They called it a win-win scenario. Nebula called it a hassle. She just wanted to be alone.

“Excuse me, miss?”

Her ears picked up on a soft voice that was oddly soothing and turned to face it. She came across a tall, slender mare with rounded glasses and a silky indigo mane, who smiled and bowed her head. She blushed slightly and returned the gesture.

“I just wanted to say, I love your work. I got to see it in Canterlot, and it was truly magnificent.”

“Canterlot…” She spoke softly before nodding. “Y-Yes, I know that piece. One of my oldest works.”

“Yes, I was there when one of Princess Luna’s personal escorts was talking about it. He said that he knew you.”

Nebula went quiet, then shook her head. “That’s impossible. I don’t know anypony who became a member of the Night Guard.”

“Really?” She turned to one of the paintings. “It’s funny. He spoke quite highly of you. Said you always wanted to be around him…”

Nebula froze and looked down at the floor. She seemed to be frozen in shock, a consequence of a realization. Her friends quickly intervened.

“Hey, she said she doesn’t know anypony in the Guard!”

“Yeah, why don’t you buzz off? That guard was probably lying for credibility or to climb the social ladder or something.”

This sparked something in Luna, who had to hold back her Royal Canterlot voice and keep her facade as Moonshine. Even still, she stepped forward with murder in her eyes as her horn glowed. “Are you implying my special somepony some sort of simple-minded socialite??”

That one show of force was enough to cause the two to back off, leaving Nebula to face the mare alone. Regaining her composure, Moonshine lifted the mare’s chin and looked her in the eyes.

“North Star. Am I correct?”

Nebula’s eyes widened, filled with tears. “Y-Yes…”

“Your relationship with him was…”

“B-Brother…”

Moonshine nodded. “He has been worried about you. Truly. This may be one of the last chances you may get to confront your brother with the contents of your heart once and for all. Do not squander the opportunity. Do not let the pain of siblings fester, lest you end up as miserable as I had.”

Nebula stared into the glistening eyes of this mare, her heart beating fast. She tried her best to regain her composure, then moved her head down. “Where… Where is he?”

~

North’s mind was moving a mile a minute as he sat on the bench. What could he say that would ensure that things ended well between them? What if she didn’t even want to talk to him? How could he explain everything that happened?

No matter how hard he tried, all his mind could think about was the inevitable outcome of failure. He could feel his mind sinking back into that abyss of doubt, but the memories of Luna and her reassuring words held firm in his heart that everything would be okay. All of a sudden, he felt somepony sit behind him, their backs inches from each other. He started to turn in order to see if it was Nebula.

“Don’t turn around. Please.”

North obeyed. Even if he didn’t see who it was, the voice was far too familiar. Even if she was older than their last time seeing each other, he couldn’t mistake her for anypony else. He looked down as he struggled with what to say. Nebula decided to take the first step.

“How are you?”

“... Fine. You?”

“Fine.”

“You… Seem to be doing well for yourself.”

“I suppose. You’re obviously doing better.”

“Ah… I don’t know about that…” He sighed and looked down at the floor. “I’m making do.”

Nebula glanced to the side, her voice displacing slight irritation. “I wouldn’t call a member of the Royal Guard with a beautiful marefriend ‘making do’. I call that ‘rubbing it in’.”

North grimaced a little. “Yeah, like having something you’ve done being in some of the best museums in Equestria isn’t doing well.”

Nebula’s wings flared up as she became more agitated. “Like you’d get it! I have to paint to live!”

“And I have to fight to live!!”

“So what, you love fighting!”

“And you love panting!!”

Nebula turned to face him, her aqua face becoming red in rage. “Well I used to before you left me behind!!!”

Nebula turned around, his face equally as red. “Yeah, and I used to as well before fighting ruined my life!!!”

The two siblings were left panting, glaring at each other as they slowly came down from their shouting. Their eyes met, looks of rage and betrayal in their eyes. Eventually, they turned away from each other and resumed their conversation.

“Your special somepony… She’s a good mare.”

“Yeah…” North looked up and smiled. “I owe a lot of myself to her.”

“It’s hard to believe… That you’d change from that other mare…”

North flinched, but stayed calm as his eyes slowly closed. “What do you mean, ‘it’s hard to believe’?”

“Well… Last time we saw each other… You and her…” She chuckled slightly, tracing a hoof on the ground. “You were conjoined at the hip. You talked about her all the time about how much you loved her and wanted to spend every minute with her.”

North shut his eyes tight, trying to fight back the memories. He wanted to forget her, to forget the name of the mare who broke his heart and left him fumbling in the dark for purpose. Nebula noticed how he hunched over and gripped his head in his hooves, realizing she might’ve just hit a sore spot.

“N-North? What happened?”

He hesitated. “Nothing… It’s… It’s nothing.”

Nebula shot his lies down quickly and turned halfway. “No. You tell me right now. You’re always hiding things!”

“I’m not! It just… It didn’t work out for us, okay??”

“North.”

His eyes darted to the side, spotting Moonshine who was at a distance with a solemn expression. He knew what she wanted him to do, but he was still afraid of revealing anything. Shutting his eyes tight, he braced himself for humiliation.

“She… She broke up with me.”

Nebula covered her mouth with her hoof. “... What?”

“She broke up with me, okay?” He snapped, only to take a breath to try and calm down. “S-Sorry. She… She told me that she didn’t want to be involved with somepony like me. That she had a career to look forward to, and that I was weighing her down.”

“Sweet Celestia…” Nebula muttered as she looked down.

“It was right before my last fight, the fight where I promised to leave the gang for good. I couldn’t go back on my word, it would’ve made me look weak. So I… I fell apart. Didn’t have anything to my name until I became one of the Night Guard…”

Nebula looked back a bit further. “Why didn’t you just stay with me? My dorm could’ve housed somepony else.”

Again, North went quiet. He pressed his hooves together, praying to anyone for any good fortune. Nebula sighed, then turned fully. Her hoof touched his back. “North… Be honest with me, please… We’re family.”

“I know…” North looked back with a sad expression plastered on his face. “And it’s family that’s making it so hard to be honest…”

“What?”

Taking a deep breath, North spoke. “Mom and Dad… Mostly dad… He told me I wasn’t supposed to be around you or interact with you. Said if I did… He’d cut you off. And I knew how much you wanted to go to art school, so…”

Nebula moved back. On one hand, she didn’t know if she could trust her brother, especially with him keeping so many secrets. Then again, she recalled little things. Frequent visits from her parents, always asking if anypony visited, always looking around her room, and the doll… She remembered a doll she was given as a Hearth’s Warming Eve present, and the small lens hidden inside. She assumed all of it was because of her family being overprotective. Now, she had doubts…

Still, she turned back around, this time leaning back into him. “I… I don’t know if what you said is true…”

“That’s reasonable…” North muttered. “I’ve been doing nothing but hiding things, it’s easy to label me a liar.”

“But…” She turned her head. “I won’t know until I find out for myself.”

“No!” North turned back, a worried expression on her face. “You’ll be-!”

“North, I don’t have to worry about being cut off. At this point, it’s a matter of paying my own bills, which I can already do. Dad just insists on doing it for some reason…” She turned to face him. “That being said, I think you need to confront him yourself.”

“... Yeah,” He looked down and rubbed his neck. “I was… Planning on it. Haven’t gotten around to sending an invitation for dinner. Don’t even know where we’d go.”

Nebula placed a hoof on her brother’s chest. “I know a place a friend of mine works at. She can get us a table.”

“Us?”

“I’m confronting him with you.” Nebula looked at her brother, and for the first time in quite a while, a slight smile had grown on her face. “I want to know the truth.”

North smiled back and nodded. He held out a hoof and Nebula took it without hesitation. As they shook, Moonshine smiled. She could feel their bond repairing. It was a good start. Perhaps by the end of their trip, they’ll be in better communication. A slim hope, but one she’d hope to see.

North slowly picked himself up and walked with Nebula to Drop, speaking with a persistent smile. “Moony, I thought I should introduce you properly. This is my little sister Nebula Feathers. Nebby, this is my marefriend, Moonshine Drop. A Lunar Scholar. We uhhh…” He blushed slightly. “We met during one of my rounds.”

Nebula could see the blushing between the two and smiled wide. “Oh, this is something I have to hear.”

“Moony, you can talk about it with her. I need to…” He motioned off down a hall where a sign for the restrooms hung.

Moonshine giggled and kissed his cheek. “Just don’t take too long, okay? I can only entertain so much…”

“Oh, you’re plenty of entertainment, dear. A light show in the night…” North winked at his marefriend before walking off, but not before Nebula called out.

“You’re still not slick, bro!!!”

As North slipped into the bathroom to wash his face, he couldn’t help but be grateful. He was making progress on his final trip to Manehatten. It had only been a few days, and he connected back with his sister and had his uncle’s blessing on his future career path. Not much progress was made, but it was something. He dried his face off and stepped outside, clenching his hoof. “Alright, North… Let’s take care of this. You got it!”

“North?”

The Night Guardspony froze in place. His blood ran cold. Suddenly, a number of painful memories came flooding back all at once. It couldn’t have been. Not here. Not now. He turned around and sure enough. The light orchid coat, the cutie mark of three buttons, the blue crossed scarf wrapped around her neck, and that unmistakable violet mane. It was his ex-marefriend, a look of shock on her face.

“Suri…”

~

Back near Nebula’s paintings, she and Moonshine were chatting up with some lightly edited versions of their dates. The whole time, Moonshine couldn’t help but gush about his attitude, which made Nebula giggle.

“Are you positive we’re talking about the same stallion? That doesn’t sound like teenage North.”

“Well, a pony can grow quite a bit after so long. Believe me, I should know…” She looked down at the ground and sighed with a slightly melancholic smile.

Nebula leaned back against the seat, kicking her hind legs. “Trust me, back in the days when he was a circuit fighter, he was powerful. He treated fighting like art. Seeing him move around like that just… It inspired me.”

“That was what brought you into painting?”

She nodded, pointing to her cutie mark, a brush dripping paint resembling the night sky. “It’s how I got my cutie mark. He told me that if I liked how he fought, I should take pictures. I did, and when I was looking at some of them, I had this… Idea in my head, which led to me painting that first picture, the one in Canterlot. The first painting I did… Well, it got me my cutie mark.”

“So, he saw the inherent creativity and guided you?” Moonshine leaned in, genuinely curious.

“Yeah, I guess that’s a way to put it… And I guess that’s why I was so… I don’t know, hurt… When he left. I owe my talent, my life, to him…” Nebula looked down as she realized how unfounded the grudge she had over her brother was, her expression turning to one of regret. Then she felt her head be moved to meet Moonshine’s gaze.

“What’s done is done. You cannot change the past, but the future is still unwritten. You can make amends, and take steps forward.”

Nebula quickly turned her head away, blushing furiously at the sensation. Dammit, bro… You just HAD to take this mare!

Suddenly, both of their attentions were pulled towards the distant sounds of shouting and the sudden rush of ponies headed towards one of the halls. Moonshine stayed quiet, but Nebula quickly stopped one of the guards. “E-Excuse me, sir! What’s going on?”

The guard looked over at the artist. “Two ponies causing a disturbance. A lot of shouting. It might escalate, so we need to try and calm them down or kick them out.”

As the guard ran off, Nebula felt a sinking sense of dread. Moonshine quickly tapped her on the shoulder. “Go. Only you can fix the situation. I’ll be here.”

“R-Right!” Nebula nodded back and quickly darted toward the crowd, flying up to try and not get smashed. As she did, Moonshine took a breath and closed her eyes as she felt a pair of eyes focusing on the back of her head.

As Nebula touched down, her fears were both confirmed and exasperated. North was in the middle of a shouting match with none other than Suri Polomare, his ex-marefriend. The two looked ready to tear each other apart as they exchanged nothing but venom.

“Big stallion you are, threatening to beat me to a pulp, m’kay???”

“Says the mare who ruined my life and thinks she can act like nothing happened!!”

“Oh yeah, like I need validation from some washed-up fighter!!!”

“Then why’d you try to get into my pants?? Looking for money or something, you half-baked fashionista?!?”

“STOP IT!!”

Both ponies stopped as soon as Nebula landed, using her wings to keep them apart. Both were panting, still burnt out from screaming. Nebula turned to her brother. “North, don’t do this!! I just got you back, and you’re doing so well! You don’t need to waste your time fighting somepony like this!!”

“But she-!”

“Who cares??” She held his face in her hooves. “Please… Please just let it go… Come on, Moonshine Drop is waiting for us…”

North looked at her sister, then back at Suri. His instincts were screaming at him to finish the job she started. However, another look into Nebula’s eyes reminded him that he wasn’t the same stallion as before. He had a lot to lose.

“Yeah… Alright…” Nodding, he turned and began to walk away, Nebula following right behind him.

“Oh sure, walk away! Like you walk away from everypony! You really are weak!”

North froze for a second, but this time, it was Nebula who turned and started moving toward Suri. Her expression displayed her absolute contempt for the mare, but as she got close, she simply leaned in and whispered in her ear.

“My brother might’ve failed, but he picked himself up and reached success. He works in Canterlot under Princess Luna and has an amazing marefriend. He’s too good for you…” She stepped back, looking Suri in the eyes. “But I think you already knew that.”

Suri, shocked and unsure what to say, simply stared at Nebula who enjoyed a moment of smug satisfaction.

“MOONY!!!”

And then, North’s cry of anguish broke all of that. Nebula turned around and ran back to find her brother gone. She ran off, never noticing Suri running behind her as they went back and found that Moonshine Drop was no longer in the spot she was previously. In her place was a note on the wall held by a short blade, and North collapsed on the floor in absolute agony. The note was written in perfect penmanship and had three simple lines.

“We have your marefriend.”

“Tell your uncle, ‘Release her’.”

“We shall do the same.”