That Dashing Little Rogue
This Nightmare Night had been incredible, so Luna thought as she watched the citizens of Ponyville engage in their gradually quieting festivities. All her worries, fears, and insecurities about the celebration's grisly origins were dissolved, for a little while, when the ponies looked upon her with their wide and loving eyes. Their hearts were light even as they screamed with terror; she found herself leaning into the role of the Nightmare Moon that had arisen from Equestria's culture over the last millennium.
This Nightmare Moon was so very different from the one she had truly been. This dark shadow delighted in such petty things as the fear of schoolfoals and simple townsfolk, in appeasement through offerings, in the laughter that lay beneath every shout and shriek. She was a far cry from the would-have-been conqueror who declared the reign of eternal moonlight from the depths of chilling wrath. Luna liked this Nightmare Moon, even if she knew she was nothing more than an idea in the heads of a populace that had forgotten the truth.
Nay, that was not the best way to put it. The proper way to say it would be that she liked pretending to be this Nightmare Moon. She adored the little colts and fillies who crept up to her towering form, and her heart leapt for joy when she heard their unbridled laughter as she flashed her fake fangs or the hint of a nictitating membrane over an eye. The thestrals who stood by her side, ready to bear her back to the palace in Canterlot, remained as stoic as their training had instilled, but the children derived a similar joy from their futile attempts to crack beaming smiles across the guards' faces.
Luna's eyes wandered across the happy crowd as they grew weary of the night. This, too, was a far cry from how things once were. Though they needed sleep and soon, the night was not shunned; they reveled in the starlight, in the creeping shadows around them, and more than once a little filly dressed as a wolf even tipped her head back to howl at the moon. When she saw and heard this, Luna's breath caught in her throat, and a lone tear welled in her eye with regal dignity as the reality of her situation began to sink in at last. She was returned; she was adored; her moon was dearly beloved by all the subjects before her.
She had waited a thousand years and more for the merest hint of this, and here she was witnessing it first-hoof, and the very thought of it sent more tears to join the first. As she took in a deep and shuddering breath, her guards turned their heads to look at her.
"My lady, are you well?" the one on her right asked her, his voice rich and quiet. Midnight Moon was his name, and he was Luna's most faithful follower, the Captain of the Night Guard. His companion Evening Light was silent, but their faces both carried looks of soft, dignified concern and courtly love for their mistress of the moon.
She mulled over her answer for a time, but at length she did respond. "We -- ...I believe so, my noble servant," she said to him, keeping in mind young Twilight Sparkle's lesson in modern conduct. "It is simply a novel sight to me, to see my night held so -- so dear."
"Always dear have I held the night," Evening Light said, "but even that boundless beauty is tenfold increased in the time of your return, my lady."
He looked up at the moon, shining and full, unmarred by the stain of the monster that once resided there. Under the reign of the Princess of the Night, its light was strong and steady enough to see clearly by, though it was softer and gentler than the light of its blazing sister. The phases of the moon had been an invention of Celestia's, a compromise to keep its light stable without Luna's affinity for its operation, and though Luna intended to incorporate the idea, Celestia had begged her for two years at least of lunar fullness. It was a staggering beauty to behold, Luna had to admit.
"They love me," she said after a pause, and that was the first time those words had left her lips. "I... I cannot grasp it. Truly do they love me..."
Her eyes flicked across the crowd to one tiny colt, who clambered once more onto the edge of the apple-bobbing tub. The garb of a marauding mariner, sewn with a skill that far surpassed the quality of the material, allowed him to stand out despite his diminutive size. His spindly legs wobbled beneath him, yet somehow he remained steady.
"And none more than he," she said quietly as she watched him. The guards followed her gaze and nodded slowly. They had seen the little foal overcome his fears to approach the Princess of the Night, and they had never seen anypony dare to tug the mane of Equestrian royalty the way the child had.
A shadow of concern passed over Luna's face and those of her guards alike as they watched him. All Luna knew of him was his name -- Pipsqueak -- and his brave little heart. She did not know his age or where he came from, beyond that he was probably from the Canterbury district as judged by his accent. He spoke and walked with the tweens as though he were their peer, but he was only half their size, and he appeared weak and very, very tired, no matter how much he enjoyed himself.
Luna narrowed her eyes. The little colt's knees were knobbly, and she recalled how his body felt when he embraced her hooves: as thin as a rail and as light as a feather, and his ribs could be individually noted. The way he wobbled on his hooves, the way his head seemed much too large, the way his eyes were widened and sunken...
Equestria prospered. Equestria was a place of kindness and magic. How, then, did this come to be?
"I wish to speak with him and his parents," she said at last. "He is small, so small. How could a child in my beautiful nation grow so lean and starved? I will get to the bottom of this, my faithful servants, and posthaste."
Midnight Moon and Evening Light bowed low as she departed their side, striding forth to the throng of ponies, her eyes affixed on the dear little colt. He had successfully bobbed an apple from the tub, and was now happily munching on its lustrous red bulk as if it was the first meal he'd ever had. His mane was disheveled and dark circles were beneath his eyes, far moreso than among his peers. He was very tired, she could tell.
"Little one!" she cried, putting on a smile for him. "I see you have drawn from the seas a treasure that befits your swashbuckling ways! O, how it shines and glimmers in the light!"
The foal hopped up to his shaking legs, a triumphant, rogueish grin on his face. "Avast, your Majesty, I have indeed! For I am Pipsqueak, pirate of the Celestial Sea, and I make all treasures found!"
The little colt drew his toy sword and swung it about before him with a laugh, nearly knocking himself off-balance with the vigorous motion. Luna sprang forward, catching him before he could fall.
"All treasures indeed?" she said to him. "We shall see! Come, pray tell, O pirate of the Celestial Sea, for whom do you gather them? Have you a hearty crew?"
"Nay, fair Princess, but I have a family for whom I sail!" Pipsqueak squeaked, still putting on his best swashbuckling vagabond voice.
"Do you truly? Prithee, young rogue, tell me who raised such a charming pirate," she said to him, glancing behind her to ensure the guards were listening. They were halfway melded into the shadows that only she could pick them out with nary a glimpse, and they watched with rapt attention. They nodded to her.
Pipsqueak let out a giggle that melted Luna's heart. "My sire is Orange Dawn, and my dam is the fair lady Flower Crown," he told her, beaming from ear to ear. She caught a weight in her heart when he continued to wobble.
"And where, O Pipsqueak, might your noble progenitors live?"
He pranced in place with glee. "We live in the house across the street from Sugarcube Corner!" he cried, so excited he dropped his act. "It's so wonderful, Princess Luna! There's more sweets there than I thought the whole world could hold!"
Oh, this poor dear, thought Luna. A simple bakery has impressed him so...
She glanced behind her; Moon and Light were already gone on their way. She knew she could trust them to be kindly and gentle, no matter how fearsome they might appear, and -- as bitter fate would have it -- she hoped with all her heart that Pipsqueak's parents would be just as thin as he. Better that than fat parents with a starving child.
"Truly a place of wonders it must be," she told him with a smile. "Come, I wish to see it! Show me to the Sugarcube Corner!"
Pipsqueak squealed with delight to be chosen by his new favourite Princess for such an errand. She had to implore him to slow down a few times, lest he trip over his own hooves in his haste and his weakness. At last, however, they reached the bakery -- a charming place, decorated to resemble the pastries it sold. Luna felt her heart well with pride for the ponies who took such joy in their businesses. Pipsqueak stood beside her, panting and holding a hoof to his chest.
"You are weary, young one," Luna said with concern. "Come, I will carry you."
"Aw, Princess, you don't have to!" Pipsqueak humbly protested, but he had no say in the matter; the azure glow of her horn surrounded him, and he was taken up onto the shoulder of her wing. It nearly seemed to Luna that he weighed no more than a bundle of twigs, and she caught a sob in her throat.
Thusly arranged, she stepped into the shop, looking behind her for her guards and Pipsqueak's parents. There they stood across the street, speaking with the thestrals -- and though it felt wrong to do so, Luna breathed a sigh of relief. If they had been in perfect health and haughty of Pipsqueak's condition, she would have let loose her rage, but indeed they too were thin and weary, with bags of stress beneath their eyes and silver strands throughout their manes and tails.
Luna beckoned them with a wave of her wing and the gentlest smile she could muster. It seemed to the parents that untempered starlight shone in her eyes, and all their worries were slightly eased. The gentle words of the thestrals were true; the Princess of the Night was fearsome but never again unkind. They followed her and Pipsqueak in, and the guards followed after, and soon they were all sat around a table in a dim corner of the shop.
"P-Princess Luna!" cried the shopkeeper, a tall carrot-orange stallion. He bowed low to the ground with reverence.
"Arise, my faithful citizen," she said awkwardly. "I need only a place to speak with these kind ponies... and perhaps a pie from your storerooms? The finest you have, if you please," she added as she set Pipsqueak, squirming, down next to his parents. She could not abide by the hungry look on his face; a growing colt needed far more than candies and apples.
"R-right away!" he said, dashing into the kitchen and preparing the order.
Luna turned her starry gaze to Orange Dawn and Flower Crown. They looked terribly haggard in the lowlight; Luna's heart was moved with pity. It occurred to her that she didn't quite know how she wanted to begin, but this thought was driven from her mind when Orange Dawn took a breath, ready to speak.
"If I may, your Highness," he began. Luna gave him a solemn nod.
"If I may, you look worried," he said. "And I can't say I know you too well yet, but I imagine I know why."
He glanced nervously to Pipsqueak. The colt was holding his half-eaten apple, but he was shrewd and attentive; he stared at Luna with wide eyes now, picking up on his parents' anxiety.
"Aye, perhaps ye do," she said, looking from one to the next sadly. "Fear not yet, my subjects. I wish to learn thy story."
"Wh-what would you like to know? Your Highness?" Flower Crown asked, her voice betraying her fear.
Luna sighed. Her heart was heavy. After a long moment of silence, she spoke. "I do not understand how this bountiful land has borne ponies so hungry as the three that sit before me," she admitted. "I perceive that you starve -- or have starved -- in a land of plenty for all. How come this?"
Pipsqueak was immediately distraught. Without a word, he clung to his mother, gazing at Luna with an altogether different expression than what she had come to recognise as 'fun fear'. She knew it too well -- true fear had taken hold of his gaunt face. It stung her bitterly to see the colt who had come to so enjoy her company fear her once more. She did not understand.
She allowed them another silence for a time as they parsed their words for speech. At last, Flower Crown spoke up. "We... we come from Trottingham," she said with halted speech. "And -- and you know how that can be, of course..."
A shadow of fear was present in her face too. Whether it was fear from a left-behind past or from a continuing present, Luna could not tell. Orange Dawn nodded along to the words of his wife.
"Trottingham?" Luna echoed. "But that is the largest Equestrian colony there is! Surely there is food and coin aplenty? I have heard it is a prosperous area!"
The parents were aghast, and even the guards looked surprised. It took them all a moment to recall Luna's lengthy banishment, and how little time there had been since her return to learn the states of affairs in her nation.
Orange Dawn sighed and bowed his head. "It is... difficult to find employment there," he said. "At least, difficult for an -- an ex-con." Flower Crown began to protest, but he held up a hoof. "I must be honest, your Highness. I served a lengthy sentence for fraud and embezzlement. It was a very difficult period of my life, a very desperate one, but I do not attempt to excuse my actions. But I served my time faithfully."
"I do not see the problem, then," said Luna. "If your time was served, you ought be known whither you go as a free stallion with a lesson learned."
"Alas," said Midnight Moon, noticing Orange Dawn's crestfallen expression. "Often it is not so."
"Prithee, my subjects, explain this bitter chance to me," she pleaded with Orange Dawn and Flower Crown, dread filling her heart at Midnight Moon's words. Was it not so? She had threatened the balance of the very world itself, and she had served her own time, and now she was forgiven! Was it not so for one who stole mere money rather than daylight forever-and-ever?
"Well... that's where it began," he went on. "Ever since then, I haven't been able to find an honest job. Nopony in Trottingham wants to hire an ex-con. I'd find odd jobs here and there, get paid too little and under the table in shady deals... nothing I could fill out a tax form for, y'know? I met Flower Crown while I was in between jobs, barely scraping by."
"We married quick," Flower Crown chimed in. "I am disabled - hollow horn syndrome. I can't use magic. I'm on government welfare, but even between that and his jobs, we could hardly make ends meet..."
Tears welled in Flower's eyes, and her hoof squeezed Pipsqueak's bony shoulder softly. Luna felt the same in her own eyes, but she felt something else too - a growing thing in her heart, like a tiny burning ember that has found a patch of dry grass.
"We had Pip a few years after that," Orange Dawn said. "It was... very difficult, your Highness. If it weren't for the hospital's financial aid system, we'd be knee-deep in debt for the rest of our days. But at last, he was born, and he brought light into our lives." He looked with a nervous but beautiful smile at his tiny son.
Luna was incredulous. Hospital debt? Government welfare that would not support its subject? Underhanded job deals?
What was becoming of the Equestria she had known?
"But... we couldn't afford to give him the life he deserves," Flower Crown continued, choking up slightly. "We couldn't send him to school because the books and pencils and bags cost more than we made in a month. It was all we could to do feed him..."
Her lip trembled and she began to sob. Pipsqueak clung to her harder still, and she scooped him up in her forelegs, holding him as only a mother could.
"A-and... and then they stopped her welfare payments," Orange Dawn said, his voice quiet and bleak.
Luna blinked. It took a moment for the words to process.
The ember caught in the dry grass it had found, and in a matter of seconds her heart was ablaze with pity and fury. She let out a silent breath through her nose, imploring herself not to show them just yet the rage those injustices dealt.
"On what grounds?" she asked, her voice low and level. By some miracle of the Empress Above, her self-control was such that the family noticed nothing of her anger, but Moon and Light snapped their gazes to hers with a shudder.
"They said I could get by just fine with my hooves," Flower Crown replied. "N-never mind that I don't have magic in those like an earth pony, and neither do I have pegasus wings. They sent me a pamphlet about mouthwriting and hoof-tools and that was that..."
"A-after that," Orange Dawn said shakily, "it was all downhill. We scrimped and saved for every half-bit we could, but no matter how thrifty we got, one meal a day was all we could afford after our rent."
"But it was a good meal!" Pipsqueak said, hoping to lighten his parents' hearts. Then he looked to Luna. "And they always shared it with me! Why, sometimes they would tell me to have even more than they got! I never liked that, but I wanted to be a good colt for them."
Luna looked from him to his parents, and the misery in their eyes told her all she needed to know. Some lies needed to be told. She understood that. Could it ever truly be a good idea for a parent to admit to her child that she would starve in a heartbeat before she would see him thin? Nay, Pipsqueak had more than he realised, and Luna could see just from his parents' faces that oftentimes they would go entirely without for the sake of their bundle of joy.
Her composure cracked just the tiniest bit. A tear rolled down her cheek, catching a moonbeam and glinting like a diamond. Orange Dawn saw it and drew his hoof over his eyes, sniffling. Flower Crown buried her face in Pipsqueak's coarse mane.
"How came ye to live hither in Ponyville?" Luna asked. The anger in her heart was burning like a wildfire now, and still she wrested her will across it.
"It was a miracle," Orange Dawn said with a quiet, grateful sob. "That is all I can call it. We - we got free lottery tickets from the manager at the corner store... he's such a sweetheart, Princess," he said. "A-and Flower's turned out to be a winner. Oh, sweet Empress Above... it was a winner..."
He was crying too now, the tears dripping into his moustache and hanging there like dew on grass.
"We spent it all right away," Flower Crown said. "We bought our house here and passage to the mainland, and train tickets... I'm glad we didn't have much to take. We traveled very light."
Pipsqueak was quiet. He looked uncertain. He looked scared.
"That... well, that's our story, your Highness," Orange Dawn said when he had composed himself. "And... and that's why poor Pipsqueak's so famished. Oh, Empress bless them, the ponies here are so kind...! Mister and Mrs. Cake here send us food when they have it to spare, and Pinkie's always baking for us..."
He began to weep again, and Flower Crown stroked his back, her own tears falling silently. She looked at Luna and told her of Twilight Sparkle, that she had given them enough school supplies to last Pip a lifetime. Pipsqueak was staring up at Luna now, looking for all the world like a puppy that thinks it's about to be kicked.
"Princess Luna, you're not going to take me away from my parents, are you?" he asked, his voice so tiny, so fragile, so frail.
That was it. That was all it took to break what remained of Luna's composure. She burst into silent and regal tears, and she stood to walk around the table and put her wings of blessed darkness around the three. She took Pipsqueak up in her hooves and held him close.
"Of course I shan't, little one," she said with shaky breath. "You now are here, you three pilgrims of so many tears..."
She let the little family cry against her chest, heedless of the stains her silver breast collar sustained. Her wings, as soft as down and cool as an evening breeze, held them close and tight.
It seemed hours before the tears began to slow, though in truth it was only minutes. At last, when they could speak again, Luna lowered her voice, and for the first time she let through the blazing rage inside her.
"Mark my words, O noble subjects," she said to Dawn and Crown, "ye and your son shall greatly prosper. We will hold Our words as true as the stars We paint in the sky above."
Mister Cake emerged from the kitchen with a freshly baked apple pie, steaming beautifully in its tin. He presented it to Luna with a bow, accepting the unusual scene before him with a beaming smile of purest gratitude. Luna urged the family to eat, and as they enjoyed their midnight dinner, she conferred with her guards.
"We return to Canterlot ere dawn," she told them. "But make ready the carriage once more ere dusk. On the morrow we ride."
"Whither do we ride, my lady?" Midnight Moon asked, but he felt he already knew the answer, seeing the fury in Luna's eyes.
"To Trottingham," she said. "There will be a reckoning."
