When the Sun Sets (the Moon Follows Suit)

Chapters

Prologue
Ch. 1 | Elderberry
Ch. 2 | Strawberry
Ch. 3 | Four of a Kind

Prologue

Lumineer’s mother comes from a very conservative thestral tribe, hailing nightmare moon as their sole goddess with priests and churches that speak of dreams given to them by nightmare moon herself. Nightmare Moon had told one of the highest ranking priests, and just so happened to be the kindest, that Lumineer’s mother would give birth to Nightmare Moon’s chosen one, one that would assist in bringing eternal night and justice for their people, and that this pony would be a half blood. The priest went to Lumineer’s mother in private, telling her the prophecy verbatim, worried for her safety and aiding in her fleeing of the tribe, keeping the prophecy a tightly held secret until months after Lumineer’s mother had left.

Lumineer’s mother wandered the countryside surviving off of scavenging for berries and small fruits until eventually stumbling upon Lumineer’s father and his family’s farm.

...

Lumineer’s father and his family were, for generations, humble elderberry farmers. They sold all sorts of remedies and products made from the fruit, making a decent amount of money, enough to support a large family. Lumineer’s father was a young, hardworking, kind, and honest colt. He worked the fields one day, spotting a ragged worn down pony crawling out of the thicket on the edge of his property line. He abandoned his work and rushed to the ponies side. She practically begged him for food and water and he obliged, allowing her to eat all the elderberries she could stomach.

He noticed she had wings and asked her about them, thinking her to be a pegasi, having never seen one before.

She admitted that she was not, infact, a pegasi, and was a thestral. Lumineer’s father was slightly shocked, he’d heard of thestrals but… he was always told their akin to feral animals, that they couldn’t speak, were impossible to reason with… and yet here one sat in front of him, and a rather kind, soft spoken, and pretty one he thought. Lumineer’s father decided to keep her hidden in a barn on their property, providing her with food and water. She insisted that she help working as payment but Lumineer’s father refused, so in the night she would sneak out and begin working the fields as the rest of the family slept. This, although being a small effort, did not go unnoticed by Lumineer’s family. They were producing far more elderberries than they usually were able to grow and although they took it as good luck, they got suspicious. Eventually Lumineer broke under pressure, he was an awful liar, he admitted that he was harboring the thestral and the family responded as he expected, fear, hate, confusion, anger.

They demanded that Lumineer’s father remove the thestral or they would kill her, Lumineer’s father begged and pleaded that they take a chance on her but they refused, convinced that he was simply too empathetic for this creature, this pest, that he allowed to call one of their barns home. Lumineer’s father then tearfully declared he would not and could not work on the farm any longer if they removed her, stating that she needed someone to help her, she could not survive alone, scared and feared for no reason other than by prejudice. Lumineer’s family reluctantly decided to allow him to go to ponyville, asking him to sell their products there, they would allow him three quarters of the bits he made in turn, giving him enough money to live on and support a family if he needed to.

Lumineer’s father approached the thestral mare and told her the preposition, every detail. She actually seemed very happy, but that was understandable as she would be moving out of a barn into a proper home, with civilization. He promised to protect her from those who would dare do her harm, physically or verbally and from then on, they were inseparable.

Once they moved to ponyville word spread quick a thestral had moved in and many scoffed and groaned, but as she proved no trouble and Lumineer’s father made a living and name for himself, the fear began to dissipate, seeing her as just another pony, although fear and rumors still lurked under the surface.

About a year and a half after moving in, Lumineer was born. Silver hair, dark pale blue coat, icy blue eyes with slitted pupils and small fangs, although he lacked wings, the only thing missing that would make him fully thestral. Lumineer had been born with his cutie mark, a sunset halfway sunk into the horizon with an orange sun, fading into his pale blue coat. His father was absolutely floored at seeing this, Lumineer’s mother had told the father of who Nightmare Moon is, the prophecy that was told to her about two years ago now. Lumineer’s father initially seemed terrified of this prospect, eternal night… justice for the thestral by means he didn't entirely agree with. But he saw how the world treated his now wife, how shunned the night was, how ignorant other ponies were… how much they were unwilling to change and understand what they fear. Soon afterwards he began to worship Nightmare moon too, convinced by his wife. Lumineer was taught of his destiny, repeated and drilled into his head from a young age, as soon as he could read Lumineer’s mother had made scripture for him to read, making Celestia out to be a villain and Nightmare Moon as the true and rightful ruler of Equestria.

Although Lumineer’s mother had seen her son as more of a tool to assure their victory, Lumineer’s father still saw his son as what he was, his son. He took him out nearly every night to stargaze, encouraged him to play, have a childhood still, make memories, even if he was destined for something that could be very violent. Lumineer’s father loved Lumineer with all his heart, wanting to spend every second he wasn’t being taught to read exploring with him. He told Lumineer of the everfree forest, just how dangerous it was from hearing the locals talk. The father himself saw timberwolves and other creatures lurking just beyond the tree line. Lumineer agreed to never go near the forest, however, years later at age fourteen now, exploring the same places over and over got boring for Lumineer. He waltzed to the edge of the Everfree and heard something call out to him, something that sounded like it was everywhere, so far away yet right in front of him, calling him to go into the forest. Lumineer’s father noticed him walking towards the treeline and rushed to stop him, but timberwolves showed themselves. Lumineer was surrounded, terrified, and his father in the nick of time appeared and began fighting them, but his father was overwhelmed and wounded. Lumineer called out to his father and rushed to him, the timberwolves backing away from Lumineer as he held his father, growing angrier, his hooves began to glow furiously, the air around him crackling as a terribly bright flash that caused the timberwolves to be dispelled. Lumineer, not even processing what he had just done, checked his father over, and began crying hard as his father lay on the forest bleeding profusely. Lumineer had started to get up but his father grabbed him, stopping him. He told Lumineer help would not come fast enough, asking Luumineer to sit with him. Lumineer reluctantly abided his father’s wishes sitting with him, and hugging him tightly, his father hushed him softly and held him close, speaking fondly of all his memories he’d made, how similar Lumineer was to him as a child, how much Lumineer loved to explore… how smart he was… he spoke of how proud he was of the young man he’s turning out to be, how great he is destined to be. Telling him this was not Lumineer’s fault, and with his final breath… he told Lumineer to be great, if not for himself, than for his father, and that he loved him.

Author's Note

Note: the timberwolves mentioned are the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team, they got isekaied 🙁

Ch. 1 | Elderberry

As my father went limp in my arms I felt an indescribable amount of rage, sadness, disbelief, I laid with my father throughout the entire night, only returning when the sun rose the next day. I walked through the streets of ponyville as all ponies had their eyes fixed on him, mumbles and rumors began to spread, I was coated in dirt and blood, disheveled and puffy eyed. I walked back into my house to my mother. my mother knew something terrible had happened just seeing Lumineer in this state. Lumineer explained everything that had happened, everything my father had said and done, everything I myself did.

My mother began to cry softly, despite this, her expression was unreadable as she looked out the window, as if to see if my father would walk back from the forest. She broke down as I just sat and watched, completely emotionally spent, all my tears and rage had already fallen to the ground with me near the treeline of the forest. I walked slowly to my own room as my mother’s sobs grew louder. I sat on the floor and began looking through all the drawings I and my father had made together, my father was truly talented. Nearly every night they would go out and spend hours just drawing the moon and the stars.

I sat in my room for what felt like hours just looking over drawings, able to remember each night nearly perfectly. I smiled at some, laughed and cried at others, crinkled some in embarrassment. I made sure though none were torn or lost, setting them back where I found them gently and carefully. I was knocked out of my daydreaming and sucked back to reality as I heard a slam, the front door.

I walked into the dining room of my home and saw only the faded and darkened muddy and bloody hoofprints, no sign of my mother, I called out for her softly, my voice hoarse. Nothing. It was completely silent other than the birds chirping outside and the occasional hoofsteps of a pony passing by my home. I explored my home and found a note left by her, it read to me that she had left for her tribe, and not to follow her, to stay in ponyville, she wrote she could not stay because of the others fear of her, my father being the only thing protecting her from rumors and demonization now gone.

All I could do was sit in the middle of the room and stare out the window, able to see her faintly over the treeline as she faded into the horizon.

I didn’t know what to do now, I was alone, completely and utterly alone. I sat there for a good hour or so, hardly any thoughts able to register as I continued to simply watch the clouds roll by, coming and going.

Next week would be my birthday, or as the other ponies celebrated it, the “summer sun celebration”... at least I would have that to look forward to.

After about a day completely dazed not knowing what to do, completely confused and consumed by grief, I began getting hungry. I had always watched my mother and father cook but was never allowed to touch the stove, but my mother had left her cookbook. Thankfully, I had been taught to read and write at an early age by my parents. I had to use a stool to allow myself to reach the top of the stove, and for the first time I made pancakes on my own, topped them with strawberries and whipped cream. They were a little burnt and coarse, but otherwise… they were pretty good, at least I thought. As I ate alone at the table I couldn’t help myself from beginning to tremble and crying softly as I chewed on the pancake… how proud my father would say he is of me… a pain filled my chest and stretched to my joints as I lowered my head to rest on the table and let out a shaky sigh, my mother would’ve made the perfect fluffy pancake… why, why did she have to leave. I understood plenty that my kind was feared by other ponies but I still couldn’t shake the fact that she left me… she abandoned me, leaving me with only what was in the house. I came to the conclusion that she simply did not love me, did not care for me the way my father did, which only made me feel worse, the aches in my chest and joints growing stronger.

I couldn’t bring myself to move from the table, I was exhausted, mentally and physically, I hardly slept the night after my mother left. I smiled softly as a thought came to me, my birthday was only a week away, I knew exactly where my parents had hid gifts and knew they always got them early, just in case.

I approached the small hallway closet and stared at the doorknob for a moment… I was always told I’d be grounded if I opened this before my birthday. I reached out to the doorknob and hesitated before pulling my hoof back… maybe I should wait until my birthday, I don't know why but it just doesn’t feel right doing that, opening them early just because my parents are gone, they… they’d want me to wait.

The following week got easier and harder simultaneously as cooking and chores became easier but ponies got more and more suspicious and worried as word got out. One night, I finally decided to enter my parents bedroom to clean the room, needing something to distract myself after cleaning the rest of the house, leaving it spotless. I approached my fathers side of the bed and glanced into my dresser… deeds to the house… some other government papers… boring stuff… I continued shuffling through the papers and about ten checks worth 200 bits each in my own name… Lumineer Sundowner… but, I hadn’t done any work in my life, where was this all coming from? I shuffled through the papers more… partial ownership of the elder-dusk plantation. My father had talked about my family occasionally, the farm they owned, how his job connected to the farm. I read further into the contract, “... one third of the bits from profit shall go to one Lumineer Sundowner, one fourth to one Sambucus Elderberry, and the remainder to the elder-dusk plantation.” But all these checks, this has to be years worth of profit… five at least.

I looked through more, another paper… a will, only half filled out, but signed. The will states that in the event of my father’s death that the portion of his profits and all that in his possession go directly to Lumineer Sundowner… I owned the house and my family's portion of my fathers business. But why not my mother? No where in the will is my mother mentioned, hell you couldn’t even tell if my father was married if the will was all you read about the man.

I shook my head slightly in confusion and re-read the will over a few times again, it was obviously a draft but… it was on a ponyville issued document, and signed. I knew that food was in short supply, my parents would buy food weekly. By myself, I had only gone through about half of the food but… oh what the hell. my birthday was tomorrow, I might as well cash this in and submit the will as a witness to my fathers death. The thought of going out alone was daunting but I knew I would eventually have to cash in those checks whether I wanted to or not.

I collected all the bills and put on my saddle bags, placing the papers and the will into my bags. I looked over at myself in the large mirror in my parents room and fixed my hair slightly, trying to flash a small smile, trying to look presentable, though a small discoloration of fur around the bottom of my eyes made me look perpetually tired. I shook my head slightly and began making my way to the bank first.

To my surprise, hardly anypony paid me mind. To be fair, I looked much different now than I did a week ago. Less disheveled, less bloody, less muddy, less guilty looking. I made my way into the bank and lowered my head slightly as I walked up to the teller, “Uhm, hello… I’ve come to cash in some checks,” I tried to smile warmly.

The bank teller glanced up from her book at Lumineer, “May I have the checks and your name please?”

I nodded as I grasped the checks with my teeth and gently placed them on the counter, “My name is Lumineer, Lumineer Sundowner.”

The teller paused as she shuffled through the checks and glanced up at me again, “Lumineer… are you Sambucus’ kid?”

I nodded softly, smiling a little as the teller continued, her expression changing to a soft caring smile, “I’m sorry for your loss, hun… no colt deserves to go through what you had to.” She examined me for a few moments, “Gosh you look just like him too, just a lighter mane, don't know how that's possible seeing his reflected light like a mirror.”

Lumineer’s smile faltered slightly as I spoke softer “ah, it‘s okay… thank you” but I knew it wasn’t, I hadn’t been able to share my grief with anypony, I’d been alone for days. Has anypony known of my mother leaving too? I decided not to ask her as I sighed softly, watching her file the checks.

She continued, “your father opened up a bank account for you quite a bit ago, seems he was prepared,” she glanced between the checks and a paper she was writing on.

Lumineer peeked over at the paper, not able to make out a word on it, “If I may ask, how much did I put on my balance?”

The teller finished with the checks and moved back to Lumineer, “in total, you have…” She glances back at the paper briefly before looking back at Lumineer, “... 4,284 bits''

My eyes widened softly, that can't be right, at most 2000 bits were on those checks… “but only 2000 bits were on those checks, where’d the extra money come from…?”

She continued, smiling softly “Your father has been depositing money weekly since you were born, the amount varied each time but, every week on a friday evening he would deposit money into your account. He’d make smalltalk, he was a pretty good friend of mine. Again I’m… sorry for your loss, Lumineer. Do you need anything else?”

Lumineer nodded softly, “uhm, yes, could I withdraw 200 bits please?”

The teller nodded softly, “mhm, one moment,” She made her way to the back and took out two bags, “two bags, 100 bits each. Anything else I can do?”

I shook my head slightly, placing the pouches in my bags, “no, thank you again,” I turned to walk out and paused before glancing over my shoulder, “what’s your name if I may ask?”

She smiled softly, “Magic Marigold, but you can just call me Marigold… I’ll see you around, okay? Stay safe Lumineer.”

I nodded softly as I flashed her a smile, “thank you, Marigold, see you around, and I will.” I exited the bank and sighed, that went a lot better than I expected. I thought maybe he’d need to show some ID but got lucky the teller was my father’s friend.

He trotted back home and searched through more papers to prove that Lumineer was who I would be saying I am, I was sure the government building wouldn’t be as hassle free as the bank. I went through the papers again searching for anything… no… not that either… What is this? I pulled out a drawing… looks like a bad quality drawing of mom, it’s laughable, no way dad would make this straight faced. I checked the corner my hoof was covering and a highly detailed self portrait was in the corner with my signature, Lumineer shook my head and giggled as I worked through the stack of more papers and finally, something. A birth certificate from ponyville hospital, perfect. I stuffed it in my side pouch and took out the bits, placing them on my own nightstand. I made my way back out of the door to my house and to the town hall, my father’s will and birth certificate in my pouch.

I walked up to the town hall and opened the door peeking inside before walking in slowly looking around, infront I saw a gathering area for ponies empty… well except for one, a very hard to miss pink pony hard at work setting up party favors and balloons, I knew this pony well, Pinkie Pie, it was hard NOT to know her. I looked around semi panic filled in hopes that Pinkie wouldn’t notice me and saw Mayor Mare and shuffled towards her, speaking softly as Ms. Mare seemed… asleep? “Ms. Mare?”

She shot up in her seat causing Lumineer to recoil slightly, “... oh, my apologies, yes that’s me, how can I help you?”

Lumineer began to pull out the will and placed it on her desk along with my birth certificate, “I’m here to submit a will, although I’m not entirely sure how this works, and that is all I have to identify myself currently…”

Mayor Mare put on her glasses and read over the will and glanced up at Lumineer sadly, “Oh my… you’re Lumineer, yes I recognize you now. I knew your father well… I am incredibly sorry for your loss”

I nodded softly, “thank you, Ms. Mare…” how many ponies did my father know as friends? “So uhm… how does a will work?”

She sighed and began reading over it again, “Well, seeing as he left you everything and I don’t have any other papers to sign at the moment… I can get this taken care of tonight, and everything should be transferred to be in your name starting tomorrow, which means the house your father owns, his stand in the farmer’s market, and all other items he purchased will be yours officially tomorrow.”

I nodded softly again, “is there anything I need to pay…? Taxes, bills, fees?”

Mayor Mare sighed shortly and shook her head, “Not really, there's property tax but that’s yearly and has already been taken care of for this year, the soonest you’d have to pay is April 1st. Even then it’s not that much, I could pull up old tax records if you give me a couple weeks, I’ll have them mailed to your house”

I nodded softly and smiled, “That would be great, thank you Ms. Mare,” I thought for a moment, “uhm… do I need to hold a funeral for my father? And if so, how would I do that?”

She nods softly, “I’d recommend having one, there's not a single mare or stallion in ponyville who wasn’t at least semi close to your father. And I could help you organize one right now if you’d like,” she smiled sadly but warmly at him.

He took a seat in front of her desk, “you’re not too busy? With the summer sun celebration and all?”

She shakes her head, “Nah, Celestia has sent some younger mare to check on preparations, I have the day off technically but that doesn’t stop me from working.”

I nodded again and we began going over the funeral expenses, how big it was going to be, if music should be played, how many were allowed to come, where it should be. I decided to have the official ceremony be at a local funeral home, the outside section was large enough for everypony to attend if they wanted to, I decided on the music and that was all. The funeral would be a few weeks from now, or about a month.

I and Ms. Mare said our goodbyes and I began to make my way out. I stared at the floor as I walked thinking about the conversation I’d just had, how casually it was spoken about, I felt guilty for not feeling more, although every night he’d weep for them I felt being content for even a second was… not right. I nearly bumped into a pony as I glanced up to see Pinkie Pie, but she didn’t immediately overwhelm me verbally.

Instead she offered a soft, sympathetic smile and spoke just as soft, “I’m sorry for your loss,” she hugged me gently.

It took everything I had to not just collapse in her arms into a puddle of tears and hug her back as tight as I could, but I held back, sniffling softly fighting tears and speaking shakily, “thank you.”

She pulled back from the hug and wore the same sympathetic smile as she spoke again, “if you need anything let me know okay, Lumi? I’m here for you.”

I smiled softly, nodding, “thank you, Pinkie,” I had hardly spoken to anypony outside my own family, even barely to Pinkie. But Pinkie was the only pony I talked to on a semi-regular basis, she was the only other pony to show up to my birthdays after the summer sun celebration.

She spoke up again, “If you’re not busy with anything, we’d love to celebrate your birthday tonight as well, have everypony here to sing and dance, eat cake, drink punch…”

I thought about it for a moment and nodded slightly, “sure… I’ll show up, you’re the only pony I’ll talk to though probably.”

Pinkie smiled slightly wider before beginning to walk out with me out of the town hall, “That’s fine… see you tonight then, Lumi.”

As they exited and parted ways I said goodbye as she bounced happily down the road. A sudden gasp escaping her after I took a few steps caused me to snap my head around to what she was surprised about but… she was already gone when I turned, the only pony in the road a purple unicorn with a magenta streak in her hair standing next to… some small creature? A dragon? I just shrugged and made my way back to my house to relax.

I spent the rest of the day making a list of my needs, some books I’d wanted to check out, and a list of food I’d need to make some of the recipes he’d be planning to cook, and doing more chores.

The evening quickly came, it was still before sunset and I thought I should leave a bit early, but I felt a nervous pit in my stomach begin to grow, I sighed softly glancing out of the window as the sun began to set and I began paced around my house a little. I didn’t know if Pinkie was serious about celebrating my birthday with everypony… but I thought more about this, this is Pinkie we’re talking about. I shook my head a little, overthinking more, on one hoof if no pony showed up I’d be disappointed, on the other hoof if everypony showed up I’d probably be overwhelmed, and on another hoof if I didn’t show up at all Pinkie would’ve been telling everypony about my birthday for nothing…

I bit my lip slightly and thought about everything again, shaking my head slightly and sighed. I might as well go, Pinkie seemed pretty genuine about this. I packed up some essentials, some bits just in case, some small snacks, and I was out, I opened the door and… I was stopped by Pinkie who spoke a bit too quickly to be entirely understood, “LUMI! Change of plans!” She seems a little out of breath, her hoof was up, looks like she was about to knock on my door anyway. She lowers her hoof as she speaks, “I met this pony! Huff I’ve never seen her before! Huff and-and when I realized I was all like GASP and I ran to go start telling everypony that we are throwing a surprise welcome party for her! Y'know to make her feel welcomed?”

I take a moment to process the information and my eyes dart around before going back towards her, “oh uhm, okay… do you know her name?”

She nods quickly, “Mhm! Her little…” she taps her chin a little, “I’m not entirely sure what the little guy was but she said her name was Twilight!”

I nodded slightly, “okay… so, I assume you’d know where I should go…?”

She nods again quickly, “Yes! Just this way, follow me!” She begins bouncing down the road, humming a song.

I followed behind her to a tree… house? Library? I don't know… and stopped just before the door, “are you sure we’re allowed to be in here? You did say it was a surprise part-”

I’m cut off by Pinkie practically pushing me in, “Yeah yeah, we're allowed, if not it’s my fault so don’t worry about it, just hang out in there for a little bit and I’ll be back to let everypony know she's coming. For now just enjoy punch and some oat crackers and cupcakes!”

I smiled softly and rolled my eyes as I stumbled slightly into the house, given another nudge by Pinkie, everypony glancing at me for a moment before going back to their conversations. I spotted the table where the goodies are and shuffled my way over to it and picked up a couple oat crackers to snack on, sitting on the ground next to the table, people watching and occasionally glancing out the window to look at… the clouds? They’re gone… not one in the sky… but I thought… whatever, I shrug and take a bite out of an oat cracker, now watching the stars as they twinkle. The oat crackers must be made by pinkie, they’re very sweet, overly so, tastes like there should be frosting on top of it but there is none.

I sigh softly, free food is free food I guess. I continue chowing on oat crackers and occasionally sipping the fruit punch until Pinkie bursts through the door, everypony’s eyes collectively widening at the noise as their focus shifts towards Pinkie. “SHE’S COMING EVERYPONY, LIGHTS OFF AND BE QUIET!”

Everypony mumbles and stands towards the center of the room and I follow suit, brushing off some crumbs from my coat and standing with the crowd. The lights go out and I hear a muffled voice from behind the front door, the door swings open and hears what I assume to be the friend that Twilight had with her, “Rude much?”

Twilight takes a few more steps into her home, the only sound audible being her hooves taking soft steps on the wooden floor and soft creaks before she continues, “Sorry Spike, but I have to convince the princess that Nightmare Moon is coming and we’re running out of time! I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time. Now, where's the light?”

The light flicks on, everypony yelling simultaneously, “SURPRISE!” … What did she say? She knows about Nightmare Moon? And she’s coming…? But when… I began to think to myself, shaking my head slightly. I knew one of my birthdays would be the day she returned but, it was tonight!?

I watched Pinkie and Twilight talk but nothing more of Nightmare moon was brought up and I kept to the side of the table, I snacked on the cupcakes that remained as I eavesdropped. Twilight went silent and I glanced over at her, her face was red as she shot upstairs to her bedroom.

I snuck up to the door after Spike had left and returned to the party and pressed my ear against the door, hearing Twilight speak to herself, “... here I thought I’d have time to learn more about the elements of harmony…” Elements of harmony…? “... but, silly me, all this ridiculous friend making has kept me from it!” I smile slightly at her comment and almost let out a short giggle but I stifle it. She continues, “Legend has it that on the longest night of the thousandth year the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about everlasting night… I hope the princess was right, I hope it really is just an old ponytail…” This… this is what I was born for, this moment, I… I need to know more. Spike runs up the stairs and bursts through the door not noticing me as I casually sip on punch, trying not to seem out of place.

“Come on Twilight, it’s time to watch the sunrise!” he and her leave the room and I glance back to the downstairs area… I hadn’t even noticed it’s almost entirely cleared out, they must be at the townhall. I follow behind them, making my way out as well, as we make our way to the town hall as a small nervous pit begins to form in my stomach… something feels off.

I make my way closer to the front of the crowd as ponies pour into the town hall and spot Mayor Mare. As soon as everypony is settled, a spotlight comes down on her as she speaks, “fillies and gentle-colts! As mayor of ponyville it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!” Everypony begins to cheer as I stand anxiously waiting for something to happen. “In just a few moments our town will witness the magic of the sunrise and celebrate this: the longest day of the year, and now,” something catches my eye as I glance upwards at the moon… I watch as the mare in the moon disappears… this is really it, it’s time, “it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day,” I roll my eyes slightly, Nightmare Moon gives you the moon, have they forgotten…? “the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria,” I nearly scoff… harmony for everypony but my people… “Princess Celestia!” The curtains draw.

But the princess is not there, an empty podium illuminated by a spotlight. There is mumbling upon the crowd as Mayor Mare begins to speak again, “Remain calm everypony. There must be a reasonable explanation…”

A white, purple maned pony speaks over the balcony, appearing from behind the curtain, “She’s gone!” Everypony gasps and I simply glance up between the balcony and the moon.

An ethereal purple haze with a void like core takes over the balcony as more mumbles consume the crowd. The purple glow quickly coagulates into… my eyes widen as I feel something begin to tug at my brain through my skull, it's… it's really her… Nightmare Moon… and just as my legs had started to tremble they stop, a calm adrenaline washing over me, I suddenly feel as though I could easily lift three mantacores.

Nightmare Moon begins to speak, “Oh my beloved subjects, it’s been so long since I’ve seen your precious little… sun loving faces.”

A rainbow maned pegassi mare speaks up harshly, “What did you do with our princess?!” She nearly rushes towards Nightmare Moon but a farmer earth pony mare keeps her from flying. How dare she… do they not know of her promise? A beautiful everlasting night for a thousand years… how could they not want to gaze upon the moon and the stars that dotted and shone in her night sky like diamonds and sapphires… were they not bored by the monotony of the one sun that shone in the constant bright blue sky, too bright to even behold?!

Nightmare Moon laughs at this, “Why? Am I not royal enough for you? Don’t you know who I am?”

Pinkie Pie speaks up, “Oh! Oh! More guessing games, umm, Hokey Smokes! How about… Queen Meanie? No… Black Snooty! Black Sn-!” She’s cut off by the same farmer mare who stuffed an apple in her mouth.

Nightmare moon examines another pony as she continues speaking, a bit more impatiently “does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs!?”

Twilight speaks up, “I did! And I know who you are! You’re the mare in the moon! Nightmare Moon!” Everypony gasps at this revelation but… what is there to be surprised about, have they not heard the story? No, they have based on their reactions… have they all only casted it off as nonsense? As fiction? I begin to feel an anger, of likes the which I only felt when my father passed, a faint purple glow starting in my hooves. I hear something, a voice, the same one that beckoned me to the forest, one that is now beckoning me to take action, assisting in my goddesses return. But, that would require hurting Pinkie Pie… she… she does not deserve that. She… no… I cannot let emotion overtake me now, I must assist in aiding my goddess now, aid in the justice for my people, I begin backing away towards the door, watching over the crowd.

Nightmare Moon speaks up again, “Well, well, well… somepony that remembers me, then you also know why I’m here.”

Twilight speaks again, “you’re here to… “ she lowers her head, wincing softly as she cuts herself off.

Nightmare Moon bellows with laughter and starts again, “Remember this day little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!” She throws her head back, maniacally laughing now, growing louder with each second.

“Seize her! Only she knows where the princess is!” Mayor Mare orders as three royal guards approach Nightmare Moon.

“Stand back, you foals!” They are defeated easily, near effortlessly, struck down with lightning seemingly casted from thin air. Just as the guards hit the ground, Nightmare Moon rushes out of the front door returning to her hazy ethereal form, making her way to the everfree forest.

I watch as ponies begin to panic and I try to make my way through the crowd, eventually slipping out the front, nearly getting knocked to my feet a few times in the chaos. I need to find her, now. I focus on the voice in my head as it directs me towards where she went off to, making my way to the edge of the everfree forest.

I glance behind me and see six ponies, including Twilight and Pinkie making their way to… somewhere, doesn’t matter… I’ve got a bad feeling about them though, Twilight seemed earlier she was prepared to stop this. I cannot let this happen, this is the only chance that I have to ensure my goddess prevails.

As I trot closer to the edge of the forest I feel the voice grow louder, my legs moving faster involuntarily as I don't even stop at the tree line, this doesn’t feel right. I feel sick to my stomach as I turn through trees and rocks covered by moss, there's no path yet I’m being guided down one. I rush into the forest jumping spiked roots less and less as the path seems to clear for me, I glance behind me as the roots reappear behind me, re-sealing the path as if I hadn’t traveled it at all, the feeling leads me to a decrepit temple, holes in the stone and marble ceiling. I rush in and feel myself finally able to move freely, panting heavily. I glance up and see… her… Nightmare Moon. She’s faced away looking at a statue that holds 5 stone orbs as she speaks, softer than she did at the town hall, “Ah… at last, Lumineer,” I feel my knees buckle as I’m forced into a deep bow, “I have been watching you for quite some time, seeing the world from your eyes…” she turns to face me directly walking slowly to me, she is smiling softly, “Well? Have you nothing to say to me?”

I’m trembling, scared… Although she is supposed to be my savior I can’t help but feel this… abhorrent energy seep from her, an awful power, I shakily open my mouth to speak, “... h-hello… my goddess…”

She smiles softly still, the urge to bow leaving my body as she speaks softly, “rise, my child, we have much to discuss and little time,” she trots a bit closer, her hooves clacking rhythmically against the marble flooring of the temple.

I rise from my bow as she continues, “I have imbued part of myself within you, think of it as a gift… I have been with you since you were in the womb, Lumineer. You have proven yourself a worthy vessel, but I must say that was very recently… cutting it close, and you hardly noticed it, didn’t you, the moment you were worthy?”

I glance up at her slightly confused as she laughs softly at my expression, “worthy, your majesty?”

She lets out a small huff, amused, “your expression is humorous… when your father was injured, the timberwolves around you, what happened to them, hm? They did not simply run off into the forest, Lumineer.”

I try to think about what happened immediately after I came to my fathers side. Yes, I remember now, but… “I do not know what I did… I- was angry… and a-a flash happened… and they were nothing more than piles of sticks afterwards,” Nightmare moon smiles wider at this, her fangs bearing.

“Very good, Lumineer, what you did was cast magic. A dispelling sort, and without focus words either. For your first time casting, it is rather impressive,” She sits in front of me, “though I must gloat… it was partially my doing, that was my magic you casted, my power, and you did excellent, my child…”

I smile softly, my nerves fading slightly as I feel the same calm from the town hall flow over me like cool water on a mid-summer’s day. She's being very gentle and patient… kind… just as my mother said she would be, “you call me your child, why? I am only half thestral… I am not pure as your true descendants,” I glance up at her confused and mirroring her sat posture.

Her smile lessens, still soft and warm, “ah, a wonderful question, Lumineer,” she raises a hoof to where my heart is, “because I chose you, I made you, that cutie mark was not merely a miracle, I gave that to you, you are my product, my child, and I have raised you alongside your mother and father without you even knowing… I called you to the edge of the forest, do you remember? The voice you heard-”

I cut her off, “That was you…?” I look to the ground thinking a bit before speaking, “Then- then that means… you… my father died because of… you,” I look back up to her tears in my eyes, continuing softer, my voice cracking slightly, “why, my goddess? Why bring such… such sorrow and grief… I do not understand,” I search her eyes as she still looks down at me, still smiling slightly.

She continues softly, her voice soothing and stopping any of my tears before they fall, she places a hoof gently beneath my chin, “I did what was required, my child… there was not a single thing in this world that would have drawn out that initial spark of power I had gifted to you than losing the one closest to you… I do apologize, but it was a much needed loss for me to prevail, to ensure justice.”

I fight back the voices in my head that are trying to take hold of me, telling me what she was doing was right and a deep hatred begins to boil in my gut, working its way through my veins as my expression shifts into one of disbelief as I take a step back from her raising my voice slightly, “Much needed!?” I take another step back, my voice softening this time, “No… no loss is ‘much needed’… you… you a-are an evi-” before I can finish my sentence, I feel a tight vice around my neck, I’m not able to open my mouth. I am forced into a low bow again, my snout less than a millimeter from the floor.

Her smile is gone as she approaches me, “How… unfortunate, I thought giving you free will would better your chances in helping me effectively, but now I see that was a mistake. I thought you would see my reasoning,” she walks slightly past me, thinking before continuing, “no matter, I will teach you to distinguish what is truly right from wrong in this world. This does pose a minor issue as I intended for you to assist with me defeating this… ‘Twilight Sparkle’ who seeks to unite the elements of harmony. Though, I’m sure she will not prove an issue,” She speaks her name as though it is something revolting. She glances over her shoulder towards me, “I still feel sympathy for you my child… I am sorry for your loss, however something as silly as grief should not even be registered right now.” She turns back to the entrance to the room before I feel something tug at my legs again, they begin moving involuntarily as I’m forced behind a pillar, unseen and untouched by the moonlight. She continues, “They will be here soon, my distractions did not tempt any of them unfortunately, although it did allow this conversation. For now, my child, hide and stay put, you will act as a witness to my glory. My first victory as Nightmare Moon, the true power of my night,” she glances back at me and her eyes glow softly, I feel my limbs seize up, I can’t move, can’t speak, can’t make any noise, I can only breath and watch. “And do not worry… I promise, I will keep you safe, no matter what.”

Nightmare Moon seems to disappear into thin air as I’m left behind a pillar, the 6 enter the temple and approach the central statue, they all gaze upon it as I lose myself slightly in thought… Nimare Moon… she’s supposed to be our goddess, benevolent, all powerful… and yet she gave a portion of her power to me? It just seems too risky to me, willingly making yourself weaker in the hopes of more allies… and did she do this with more ponies? I glance up again seeing the ponies begin to walk out, the farmer mare from before speaking to them all as Twilight lays in the middle of the temple in front of the orbs, now on the ground, “come on now y’all, she needs to concentrate,” she’s the first out of temple as the others follow.

As Twilight’s horn glows a brighter purple the hazy lilac vapor, black to the core, begins to envelope the 5 orbs in a vortex, the same glow enveloping me. Twilight jumps into the vortex as the three of us are teleported into a slightly more enclosed room, Nightmare Moon on a raised part of the room as Twilight lay in the middle. I still can’t move, although I feel like I want to vomit from the teleportation. I'm hidden, teleported behind another pillar… convenient.

Nightmare Moon begins to cackle loudly and Twilight… rears at the ground, seemingly about to charge, is she serious? Nightmare Moon speaks up at the sight, “You’re kidding. You’re kidding right?” I watch as Twilight begins to rush towards her, her horn glowing furiously as Nightmare Moon matches her, rushing towards her as well. Just before they hit, Twilight teleports behind her, although a little dazed she attempts to cast… something on the orbs, “just one spark, cmon… cmon… “

Nightmare Moon turns and rushes to where she is in her ethereal form, appearing in front of her faster than I could process, blasting her backwards onto the temple floor. The orbs begin to spark and glow, an electricity surrounding them as Nightmare Moon speaks, her voice panicked, “No… No!” and just as quickly as they began glowing, they suddenly stopped, losing the electricity they had around them. Nightmare Moon begins cackling as Twilight looks on in slight disbelief, mumbling something too far from me to hear. Nightmare Moon raises herself up on her hindlegs before slamming into the ground, shattering the orbs, leaving only shards.

Twilight's expression is one of horror now as her ears fold back, Nightmare Moon continuing, “You little foal! Thinking you could defeat me!” Her mane juts upwards, looking as a purple raging flame as Twilight recoils, lowering herself more to the floor, “Now you will never see your princess or your sun! The night will last forever!” she bellows again, victorious.

Just then I can hear faint mumblind and glance towards the stairs leading up to the room, just then Twilight seems to have a revelation, her eyes widening and her hope and confidence returning, she glances back at Nightmare Moon, “you think you can destroy the elements of harmony just like that? Well you're wrong! Because the spirits of the elements of harmony are right here!” I glance slightly behind her, the other 5 ponies in the room. Just as she finishes speaking the shards begin to glow, as I look on in awe. Twilight begins to speak of her friends and their specialties, how they correlate with the elements… but she's missing the 6th still.

Nightmare Moon notices this as well and speaks slightly panicked, “You still don’t have the 6th element! The spark didn’t work!” She backs up slightly.

Twilight continues, “But it did… a different kind of spark!” she turns to face her friends “I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you how much I cared about you, the spark ignited in me, when I realized you all… are my friends!” the 6th orb appears in a flash of light above them, I don’t pay attention to the rest of what twilight says as my attention is drawn to the orb as it glows impossibly bright, and suddenly as she finishes speaking the shards begin glowing, and I continue watching, completely blotting out what Twilight is saying. The shards change to necklaces, except for Twilight, the orb melding into a crown. They all float together in the air as a rainbow shoots out of all of them, my eyes widen as it envelopes Nightmare Moon, I can’t turn myself away from the increasingly blinding light as it envelopes the room, all I can do is shut my eyes tight. As I open them I feel looser, like I can move, but I stay, too scared to move a muscle. Scared of what the 6 may do to me, how they may punish me, I cannot believe it… I cannot believe my goddess was… defeated, and so easily. I slump down into a lying position, my expression matching that of Twilight’s when the orb was shattered. As I watch the others gain consciousness. They all talk amongst themselves as I keep my head down, thinking to myself over the events that had just occurred.

Suddenly I hear a voice in my head that is not my own, “Damn! I… this… this is your fault you worthless yaldson! If you had just helped me instead of prattling over your father I wouldn’t have failed, I would be in power, I would have won, you worthless whelp! I lied, I feel no sympathy for your father or mother! In fact, it serves you right that they’re gone, they would not want to see the failure you are!”

I wince slightly at her words and lower my head to the ground, tears welling up in my eyes… “Your words are none a goddess would speak, you are a tyrannical evil beast, a demon. Were you even going to help my kind?”

Nightmare Moon continues sounding offended, “your kind? You are not one of my children, you are a disgusting half blood! I chose you only because ponies other than thestrals would look upon you fondly as a diplomat… but other than that, you are a disgusting cretin, I should’ve let you fester in the womb as a stillborn.” I wince again at her harsh words, tears flowing down my face.

Just as she stops speaking I glance up, another tear falling from my face as the sun begins to rise and I can hear… no, see princess Celestia appear from a window in front of the 6 as they bow. Celestia speaks to Twilight as I hear something shuffle and glance over to the noise… it's where Nightmare Moon was, her spot taken by a younger looking mare, her cutie mark similar to Nightmare Moon’s. I hear Celestia speak her name “... Princess Luna,” Princess…? She awakens with a gasp as Celestiia approaches, she speaks softly to her, too soft for me to hear, but she speaks up towards the end of her sentence, “... we were meant to rule together, little sister, will you accept my friendship?” Luna thinks about this for a moment and begins to tear up before rushing to her sister's forelegs and apologizing as Celestia forgives her, shedding tears of her own.

I watch as they continue talking and eventually make their way out of the room, watching Luna in particular. She’s the last one out and she looks to where I was hiding, making eye contact with me as I’m still slumped in a shadow. I hear a voice, not of Nightmare Moon, as her horn glows very softly, “Stay put, I will be back later tonight to greet thee my child,” She tries to flash a warm smile before walking out of view completely.

I sigh and glance down at my hooves as I hear Nightmare Moon butt in, “pathetic… crocodile tears… she is erroneous and weak, they will see, they will never accept her as a co-ruler of Equestria. Again, now for an eternity the night will be shunned and disrespected…” She sighs, “and for what will feel like an eternity for me, I’m stuck with you, and you are more pathetic than her! I should have given your portion of my power to somepony who deserves it, who would’ve helped me… perhaps Spades would’ve performed better than you, but now I will never know.” She appears in front of me vaguely as a dark misty unicorn head, her eyes, or what I can make out of them, narrowing, “I’m bound to you as you are the main vessel of my power, truly an unfortunate thing for me,” she rolls her eyes… I think?

I speak up softly, “so you… the rest of your power has been sealed away?” My eyes narrow as well as I raise myself to be eye level speaking slightly louder, “and stuck with me? I think you have that backwards, I’m stuck with you, you’re the one that planted yourself in my brain!” I sat back down, sighing and speaking softer, “This is all your fault…”

She laughs softly in slight disbelief as she speaks, “oh really? You believe this to be my fault? Tell me then, really, what else could I have done, hm? Aside from not being able to account for your… stubbornness and woe is me attitude .”

I scoff, “The idea to split your power is something you shouldn’t have even considered until after you had secured your victory is one thing I can think of immediately…”

She’s silent for a moment, I can’t read her expression, “well… it was necessary… I am one mare after all, more brains helping me is a fundamentally good idea, anypony would think that,”

I raise an eyebrow, “one mare? You are… no… were a goddess, if you were at your full power you could have easily won, hell, you could have rivaled Celestia and the entire royal guard… maybe having brains to help after with diplomacy was a good idea, but splitting your power before you even see your opponent is stupid! Even a foal would know that given context…”

She rolls her eyes again, not wanting to admit she's wrong, “... half blood freakish child trying to lecture me…” Her form dissipates into thin air as she retreats from the argument.

I let out a long mixture of a sigh and a groan as I lower myself, sprawling out on the marble floor… Hopefully Luna is nicer than Nightmare Blowhard… Nightmare Moon’s eyes narrow again at the insult, I already forgot she's in my head now, she can hear my thoughts... It’s gonna be a long day today. I close my eyes and begin to drift off to sleep as I hear a loud screeching sound, my eyes flinging open as I flinch, looking around as I hear Nightmare Moon chuckle softly. Okay… this day is gonna be REALLY long…

Author's Note

Note: While writing, Nightmare Moon slapped my Jersey Mike's sub out of my hands, and then did a money spread, and then said "you fat, you stank, and you ugly, and you broke MONKEY."

Ch. 2 | Strawberry

As Nightmare Moon gives up with tormenting me, seemingly bored, and keeping me awake well into the day, I’m finally able to rest. I sigh as my eyes flutter shut as I hear soft hoof steps coming up the stairs. I sigh again as I open my eyes tiredly, slinking further into the shadow of the pillar. It has to be Luna but I need to be cautious… God’s, I can’t even imagine what Celestia would make of me if I were found out, would she deem me akin to Nightmare Moon? Would I be banished as well? I tremble slightly at the thought as the hoof steps get closer.

The hoof steps stop and I hear a soft voice call out, “... Lumineer? We are here now, thee may come out.” We? Did she bring others with her? I hesitantly glance from around the corner and there she’s sat looking directly at where I’m hidden, she’s smiling softly, “it is safe, my child… no harm will come upon thee.” I glance around more, it's just her sitting alone.

I hesitantly come out from behind the pillar, my ears flicking slightly to see if I can hear any other hoof steps. I come to a stop a decent distance away from her and sit on the ground, I speak softly, feeling no urge to bow or praise her, “... your name is Luna, yes?”

She nods softly, smiling warmly, “yes, my child, I am princess Luna,” she beckons for me to come closer, “I promise thee, I am of no danger,” She lowers her hoof as she waits patiently for me to approach her.

I hesitantly come closer, only about an arms distance away as she speaks again, “would thee like me to get rid of thy burden of mine that thee bears?”

I raise an eyebrow, and I can practically feel Nightmare Moon roll her eyes at the comment of her being a burden, “you mean, Nightmare Moon? You know she resides in me?”

She nods, “Well of course, she was me for a millennia, and she is quite rude isn’t she?,” she pauses, her smile fading slightly, “I do truly apologize, Lumineer, had it not been for her… for me… thou would be living a normal life, perhaps as a full blood. The prophecy we delivered to the priest was the one that caused thy mother to flee… I’m sure the story is fresh in thine mind, yes?”

I nod softly, “yes, but you could hear us? Me and Nightmare Moon?”

She continues still smiling warmly, “well, no, she is rid of my being almost entirely now, I had just assumed she must have been very upset when talking to thee… although if she wishes to show herself I can still hear and see her. Would thee like me to rid her from thy mind permanently?”

I think about this for a moment as I see Nightmare Moon’s head begin to form behind Luna, I glance at her as she shakes her head no, her eyes narrowed, Nightmare Moon begins to speak, “Luna is a fool, I provide you with the magical energy to simply be mobile, without it you would be bound to a bed. You do not even understand the extent, the length I had to go to ensure you survive and are able to function normally. If you get rid of me, you will be unable to lift a foreleg…”

I recoil slightly at this as Luna glances over her shoulder, glaring at Nightmare Moon, “What she says is… unfortunately truth,” she returns her gaze to me sighing softly, “to ensure thy birth and success, and to negate the birth defects that came along with thou being a half blood… we had to tamper with how magic flows through thine body,” She glances away, as if ashamed and continues, “the magic, that of which thee possess from Nightmare Moon, acts as the necessary muscles for you to be as mobile as any other pony. Banishing Nightmare Moon from thine being would mean thee would be bound to a bed for the rest of thine existence,” as she finishes speaking she looks at me expectantly.

My eyes are wide in slight disbelief at the information I’m hearing, Nightmare Moon hates my guts… but she’s keeping me mobile? Well I suppose that also explains why I was able to be controlled like a puppet when she appeared, I begin to speak softly, “were you going to warn me of that if Nightmare Moon hadn’t?”

Luna opens her mouth to speak but shuts it as Nightmare Moon butts in, “No, she wasn’t.” Nightmare Moon looks towards Luna, speaking to her now, “She is too ashamed of my existence and wishes me dead too much to want any possibility you would have said no to her, but it seems I spoiled that for her,” Nightmare Moon's foggy expression shifts to that of a sort of smirk, victorious.

Luna sighs harshly, speaking hesitantly, choosing her words carefully, “thee… well… we created thee for the sole purpose of defeating Celestia, thine existence is essentially as a weapon, and though there was no battle, there never needed to be one. Now, your purpose is served, although it was never needed… I apologize, my child.”

Nightmare Moon butts in again, “She is saying you are useless and defective,” She begins laughing maniacally.

Luna glares at Nightmare Moon, “That is not at all what I am saying! I am merely saying, thy purpose, thy destiny was altered by us and at least I am apologizing for that,” she lets out an agitated huff as she looks back to me, “what I am insisting is there is no need for that magical power, it was and is too much for me to hold alone as well, and I apologize again that I burdened thee with it but now it must be vanquished completely and utterly, down to the smallest piece.”

My ears fold slightly, “... you are, going to just… get rid of me?” I can't help but tear up slightly, not only from this but this adding onto everything that's been happening, “is that all I’m seen as? A weapon? Am I not another pony worthy of living life normally?”

Luna shakes her head softly, her sorrowful expression matching mine, “Lumineer… my child, thee were never living life normally, again I apologize profusely, but thou must understand this is for the best, removing Nightmare Moon from you, although immobilizing you, ensures thine survival,” tears begin flowing down her cheeks, “Please my child, I… see thee as that, as my child, my son, please… as thy mother, take this offer. I do not know what Celestia would do if she found out of thine existence, she was forgiving of me, but thou are not me, thou are not related by blood to her. I doubt she would have sympathy for thee if given the context of your existence, she would see thou as a danger… a threat to her rule and my stability.”

I glance behind Luna at Nightmare Moon who shakes her head slowly, I feel a deep pit in my stomach. I feel sick, on one hoof, if I allow her… I wont get to live at all, stuck indoors for the rest of my life. On the other hoof, I get to live, but in constant fear of being found out and possibly killed by Celestia… damn.

I think about this for a moment before shaking my head slightly and mumbling, “... no… I refuse.”

Luna looks a bit taken aback by this, “... what? No… Lumineer, thee must not understan-”

I cut her off raising my voice slightly, “I understand full well, princess… I’d rather live in fear and be able to experience life fully, possibly dying young, than live comfortably in a bed and be stuck there until I grow old and wither away.” I shake my head more, my voice lowering to normal levels, “I do not consent to you rendering me a cripple…”

Luna opens her mouth to speak, her lips quivering, this clearly didn’t go to plan, her mouth closes as her expression shrivels as if she just ate a lemon, “fine… I… will respect thine wishes, but under two conditions.”

I sigh, relieved, “and that may be…?”

She looks very serious, speaking firmly, “thou will be under my guidance, under my wing if thee will, and thee will assist in dealing with the other ‘gifted’ that exist throughout Equestria. If thou refuse this… I do not want this but, I will have no choice but to deem thee a danger to my sister and Equestria and do everything in my power to stop thee from leaving this temple.”

I glance at Nightmare Moon again who simply watches in her ethereal form, she seems indifferent, I believe if she needed she could evacuate me from this place if I were in danger… but dealing with the other gifted? I didn’t even know there were other gifted… and dealing with them… does she mean killing them? I glance at Nightmare Moon who nods slightly, confirming my thought. I take a deep breath and nod, not entirely sure what I’m getting into but look back into Luna’s eyes, “I’ll do it… I’ll learn under you and assist with dealing the other gifted,”

Luna sighs, smiling softly, relieved, “good… then, we will set up residence for thee in the palace,” she nods her head towards the entrance before getting up as she leads me out.

I trail behind her, “... in the palace? In the middle of Canterlot? But… I… wouldn’t that be too obvious?”

Luna shakes her head, “there is an entire wing of the palace that was dedicated to us that remained untouched and can stay that way per our request, any of those dusty spare rooms should do, no guard will bother checking them,” She glances back at me, “I will maintain my promise, I promise to keep you safe.”

I bite my lip softly, and speak hesitantly, afraid of what Luna might say, “I… want to go home… I want to stay in Ponyville.”

Luna stops in her tracks, thinking for a moment before speaking, “thou may keep your residence as a secondary home, but thine main residence will be in the palace, thou will take what is essential and unpack in a room that I deem fit and safe for thee to live in, understood?” She glances back as she starts walking slowly again, “I understand this is a lot, and I apologize this has all been dumped on thee in such a short amount of time, but to get thy being safe and to get to beginning thine training is of the utmost importance right now. The other gifted will surely hear of our… er… Nightmare Moon’s defeat soon and they will surely come looking for their ‘goddess’,” She pauses and sighs as she realizes what she said carries no real weight and only makes more questions than answering, “I will discuss all of this later, but for now let us walk through the forest peacefully and in silence… it may be the last moment of such we get for a long time.”

Though her tone was firm and authoritative, her expression was incredibly soft and caring, if I wasn’t able to see her face I’d think she was angry at me. I nod softly and continue following her as we exit the temple, my eyes narrowing at the sudden increase of light before softening again as the canopy of the forest dampens the mid-day sun. Luna seems to admire the fauna and flora of the forest, the animals that are usually hostile to everypony seem frightened, hiding in the darker shadows where the canopy grows thicker, their unnatural glowing eyes and slight shuffles in the brush the only detail I’m able to make out of most of the animals. Luna glances back at me and smiles softly, noticing I’m also admiring the animals, “They will not attack as long as I am around you… they still recognize me as Nightmare Moon, they fear me,” she sighs softly, “which… Although I am happy we are safe, it goes to show the extent Nightmare Moon’s fear was driven into other creatures, other than ponies, hearts.”

I can’t help but giggle softly at the thought, to think everypony worshiped Nightmare Moon, even my parents, and anyone who didn’t feared her, even striking fear into creatures that strike fear themselves… reduced to a black mist that lives in my head and hurls foal like insults and scares ponies for fun. I feel a slap on the back of my head, I forget she can still hear my thoughts. I roll my eyes as the smirk is wiped off my face as we continue to walk, simply admiring the foliage, and occasionally experiencing the casual fright from Nightmare Moon… the prick. I feel another slap on the back of my head.

Eventually the forest begins to thin out and the treeline is visible as we step out. I sigh softly, it’s nice to be out of that cursed forest… even the air in there feels off, heavier, like it's draped in some thick smog making it harder to breathe.

Luna turns to me as she takes a deep breath as well, “I will allow thee to bring what you can carry to the palace, I will have a ticket bought for thee at this…” she pauses trying to remember the word, “‘train station’, if that is what it is called, this train… thing… leaves at dusk. Say your farewells to anypony thou knows, thee will not be seeing them for a long time most likely, and do not speak of thine interaction with me or of Nightmare Moon, it is imperative that we are to keep this a secret, word of mouth spreads fast… it was that way a thousand years ago and I am sure it is the same way now. If anypony asks where thee was during my return, simply tell them you were resting, they will believe thee, I promise.“ She teleports away, leaving me alone, though in the distance I can see her carriage taking off… guess Ponyville to Canterlot is too far to teleport.

I begin making my way into town as it's pretty quiet… no pony is out today, though I suppose that’s fair considering they were partying all night and into, well, a couple hours ago. I glance around the streets as I make my way home, and see really only one pony, a slumped turquoise mare on a bench… sitting…? I think she’s sitting… It's a really weird way to sit, she's definitely asleep though. I shake my head as I refocus, continuing to make my way to my house. I sigh trying to run through what happened over the past day, hell the past week; this all feels like a bad dream that I’ll wake up from any second.

Nightmare Moon speaks up, appearing floating in front of me, “perhaps one would call it a nightmare…”

I wave a hoof through the mist but she doesn’t disappear, I groan, “... you’re not funny, stop, go back to resting or whatever you were doing in my head…”

She rolls her eyes as she begins to dissipate, “I’d at least think I’d draw out a giggle… can I not try at humor?”

I stop walking and begin feeling angry, “No… you killed my father, are you serious? I can’t even believe you are trying to be casual now after not only what you caused me but also what you said to me afterwards… the only thing I can thank you for is warning me about Luna putting me in a bed for the rest of my life.” I continue walking, shaking my head slightly.

I hear Nightmare Moon once more even after she dissipates, “... tough crowd,” I hear a soft chuckle following her words and I feel even more angry.

I ignore her and approach the stoop leading to my house and walk through my door, taking in the scent of my home. I try to smile softly, at least I’ll still be able to visit here again once Luna has me settled and safe. I don’t even know who to trust more, my mind tells me Luna but she just wants to rid herself of her past mistakes… and as I see it, Nightmare Moon just cares about existing as she does now or stronger, and that relies on me living.

Not even two steps into my house I hear a knock and I groan and whine, who could that be… I turn around and walk to my door, cracking it slightly, “yes…?”

It’s Pinkie Pie, she’s smiling softly… but when is she not smiling? I opened my door a little more, “Oh… hey Pinkie, what's up?”

She smiles a bit wider, “You didn’t think I’d forget, would you? About your birthday?”

I crack a small smile, “I wouldn’t think you’d forget anypony’s birthday,” I glance around, “uhm, do you wanna come inside or are you bringing me somewhere?”

“Well, may I come in?” She tilts her head slightly, looking at me expectantly.

I nod and open my door more, stepping to the side to give her room to enter. She trots in happily, carrying a couple boxes wrapped with beautifully patterned paper on her back, a couple of balloons tied around the bow that tops the box. She takes in the interior of the house, glancing around “Woah Lumi, you keep this place sparkling huh?”

I nod again, “anything to keep me distracted… I’ve never been that into doing chores but, I’ve needed something recently to take my mind off of things, cleanings been doing a great job at that. I’ve been pretty well actually.”

Pinkie’s smile doesn’t dissipate, but she speaks a bit softer, “I’m glad you’re doing well…” she glances around more, “where should I place my stuff?”

I nod over to the coffee table in my living room and waltz over to the couch sitting on it, smiling, “what did you bring?”

She giggles, “that's a surprise… First,” she takes a blue box off her back and places it on the table, unwrapping it. It's a chocolate cake with white frosting, topped with a whole strawberry. “And one more thing,” she pulls out four red and blue candles and places them into the cake gently, she fiddles around in her side pouch looking for something to light the candles, “... hmm, I think… I forgot matches,” she looks a bit disappointed, “... sorry Lumi, it’s been a busy day, can’t believe I forgot…”

I shake my head slightly still smiling, happy she even got me a cake in the first place, “it’s okay…” a thought pops in my head, “wait, let me try something.”

She looks a bit confused as she slides the cake over to me, “got some secret matches I don’t know about?”

I giggle softly, “no, but…” I gently raise my fore-hoves to surround one of the small candles. I take a deep breath and close my eyes… trying to focus on one thing… fire… cmon, fire… spark… fire… I must look so weird to Pinkie.

Pinkie gasps softly, “woah, Lumi, your hooves… they’re glowing?”

I don’t even hear what she says as I concentrate and mumble the same words, fire… spark… flame… cmon… I feel my hooves getting warmer, a bit warmer… hot, too hot, I open my eyes, they’re on fire. I flail my hoof frantically and blow on my hooves, putting the fire out… I glance at the candle… it's lit! I smile widely, maybe Nightmare Moon’s magic isn't so bad after all… though, I quickly push that thought out of my head as I feel her begin to smirk proudly.

I look up at Pinkie, she looks bewildered, “woah… you just… did you just use unicorn magic? But- but how! That's… you’re an earth pony, you shouldn’t be able to cast magic like that, anypony knows that! Even me!”

My smile grows a bit wider and I simply shrug and feign surprise, even though I’m pretty impressed myself, “I-I don’t know… I… just thought about it really hard and I did it!” I gently take the lit candle out of the cake and light the others, “is it cheating if I light my own cake?”

Pinkie smiles and shakes her head, “not if you don’t think so… no… and now,” she rummages through her side pouch again and takes out a couple party hats, putting one on herself and putting one on me, not pushing the magic question further. She giggles, “okay… now the most important part,” she takes a deep breath and begins singing softly, “happy birthday to you… happy birthday to you, happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to…” she scoops up a small piece of frosting and puts a bit on my snout, “you!”

she giggles as I roll my eyes, smiling softly, wiping off the icing, “thank you, Pinkie… and I’m kinda glad you didn’t invite every other pony in ponyville,” I sigh softly, “I’m a bit worn out, don’t think I could handle that.” I lean in a little, closing my eyes for a moment before blowing out the candles.

She smiles still, “Well I tried to invite at least somepony but, it seems I’m the only one awake in Ponyville.” She gently removes the candles and places them on my plate.

I let out a short huff matching her smile, “that doesn’t surprise me all that much… you’re much calmer than usual, I thought you’d be bouncing off the walls,” I get up and grab a knife, couple plates, and forks from my kitchen and move back to the living room as I speak, setting down a plate for her and myself, starting to cut the cake.

She smiles a bit wider as I cut her a larger piece of cake than myself, “well yeah, I’ve been awake for almost two days straight…” and as soon as her slice hits the plate she digs in. I glance down at my own slice and start taking small bites out of it, it's really good… Pinkie’s baking was and still is better than mom’s was, never would tell her that to her face though.

I speak through chews, looking slightly bewildered, “you’ve been awake for two days straight? What the hay, Pinkie…”

She rolls her eyes, “yeah, I had to stay up baking and decorating a couple nights ago… and last night, well, you know what happened, you were there. I’ll rest as soon as I’m done with my schedule, don’t worry about me,” she doesn’t even look like she's been awake for that long, she just looks… normal.

I nod as I take another bite of my cake, “so… what's the other box?”

She finishes her slice as I’m halfway through mine, “oh! I got you a present, just something I thought you’d like, I thought it looked nice,” she slides the other box over to me, her tail swishing slightly as she looks at me expectantly. I cut the ribbon with a knife and begin to lift the lid.

I pull a smaller box out of the wrapped up one, it’s some sort of dark wood jewelry box I think, it has a small bronze handle on the side, Pinkie nods at it as if giving me permission to turn it. I smile as I turn the handle and a soft melody plays. As the melody goes on and I continue twisting the handle it seems that it also acts as a method to open it, slowly revealing a sort of small medallion. It’s a smooth black marble amulet with a crescent moon painted in the middle. I pick it up after the song finishes and smile softly examining it, “it’s beautiful, Pinkie, thank you very much,” I glance up at her smiling wider, “I’ll bring it everywhere, promise.”

She seems like she's about to explode out of her seat as I finish talking, she begins spouting out words like a faucet, “I’m glad you liked it, because I would see you and your dad out almost every night to look at the sky and stargaze so I just assumed you liked the moon and stars and stuff and then I walked into a little general shop just for some groceries and-” she takes a breath, “and I saw that in a little basket with other amulets and that was the only one that looked like that! And- and then I was like wow! Lumi would love this for his birthday! … well, yknow, if I assumed right and you liked the moon and stuff, which I did! So yay! I’m happy that you’re happy that I got that for you,” she flashes a toothy grin.

I smile and chuckle softly at her sudden burst of energy. I glance down at the amulet again and get an idea, getting up and grabbing some thin white ribbon, putting it through the lace already looped through the top of the amulet, turning it into a necklace, “... how's this look?”

She nods, “It looks great!” She glances around, spotting a grandfather clock and reading the time, she gasps softly, “Oh! I’ve gotta go! I didn’t realize just how long I was here… I gotta go talk to Twilight more, I want to learn more about her, y'know, you should meet her some time. She’s cool!” she smiles and gets up, “I’ll talk to you later ‘kay? And happy birthday again, Lumi,”

She trots out as I raise a hoof to wave softly, “Goodbye, Pinkie…” she waves back hearing me as she closes the door behind her. I lower my hoof and the soft smile slowly fades from my face as the quiet sinks in.

I sigh and shake my head and try to think of something to distract myself… oh yeah, I move down my hallway to the storage closet and hesitantly opening it, spotting unwrapped gifts. I smiled softly at them, I could clearly tell which ones were from dad and which were from mom. I pull one of the gifts out, more art supplies, oh woah, these are some rich blue hued paints… and some purples? Since when were we royalty?

I can’t help but tear up slightly at the thought I won’t be able to draw with dad again... I shake my head and I glance up again and take a couple books from the same shelf the hat was on… “Stargazers Almanac: eyes on the sky, 1000th year collectors edition,” one of them reads… I pull another off the shelf. “the Mare in the Moon: the Forgotten Ponytail and it’s Origins” and the last one reads “Daring do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone” I let out a small amused huff and put them all back, there is one more present leaning against the wall, this ones wrapped, I pick up the box and push it to the living room, placing it on the coffee table and sitting in front of it. I unwrap it gently, smiling expectantly as the wrapped item reveals itself.

It’s a medium sized flying toy, a bird with flapping wings, it’s tension powered. Twist a part of it and it winds up the wings… “flies up to 200 paces, guaranteed or your bits back! Some assembly required,” … huh, impressive, it’s pretty light too for being so detailed. I walk out to my backyard and wind it up about half way, letting it go. Sure enough, it flies, just like a bird, dipping in height before rising with each mechanical wing flap… pretty cool. I could play with this until sunset… I huff softly smiling as the bird slowly turns back in my direction… and it comes back? This things great… I never even knew this toy existed before today, I catch it as it glides down, running out of power. Guess my dad knew me better than I knew myself… I didn’t even really want anything this time around, didn’t see any toys or gadgets that caught my eye. I brought the toy back inside and set it in my room on my dresser… I sigh softly looking over my room, I guess I should start packing my side bags, trains supposed to leave in a few hours.

I pull my side bags onto my bed and begin packing… I shuffle through my nightstand, some art supplies, a hundred bits, my mothers cookbook, my fathers personal journal and some of my own personal identification. I glance around looking for anything else essential to pack… most recent drawing of the moon with my father, I waltz into my parents room and look at their nightstands, spotting a framed picture of me with mom and dad on his nightstand, it's a couple years old. I remember this day, the first and only time mom went hiking with us… she liked it, nothing went wrong either, shame she never went again. She just didn’t like going outside ever, period. I put the picture in my side pouch and buckled both sides shut.

I move back to the closet and take out the books, placing them in my side pouches as well. I'll probably need these to entertain myself while I get settled... I glance around my house again and shake my head softly, nah, nothing else I can think of… I look at the cake as I walk past my living room… I guess I could take this with me. I’d feel bad throwing this away after just having a slice. I sigh and box the cake back up and tie it to my back, trotting to the door. I take one last look over my house and I smile softly as I begin walking out. I'm gonna have a lot of cleaning to do when I get home, sure this place will be dusty.

I begin making my way to the train station seeing the setting sun. I've still got a couple hours but I should get there early I guess. It will take about half an hour to get there and getting to pick a seat towards the front would be nice.

…

About half an hour later I arrive at the train station, the engine softly billowing steam as it sits idle. I approach the teller and tell him my name to get my ticket, his eyes widen slightly as he looks in a folder as he does a double take, he bows slightly, sputtering over his words, “r-right this way, sir,” he begins walking me to the front car of the train… huh… what's that about, and sir? I don’t look that old, do I? Maybe I just look tired… I heard that fatigue makes people look aged… I think.

I shake my head as I walk alongside him as he escorts me, “uhm, excuse me? What does that ticket say exactly…?” I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tell him where I got it, “I was handed that ticket from Princess Luna… is it a special ticket?”

He nods softly, “the most special! That ticket deems you on par with some of the top royalty and richest of Equestria,” he turns and pokes it with one of his free hoof before handing the ticket to Lumineer, “this... is a Celestial pass ticket, and not just any, but a lifetime Celestial pass… I have never seen one in person before, so it is an honor to escort you personally to your train car,” he smiles as I take the ticket softly as we approach the cart, the inside looks like a miniature mansion, chandeliers line the ceiling, the seats themselves were a red velvet, and the sides of them plated gold… I think I can already see bottles of champagne and berry punch through the windows, the teller speaks again as he also admires the cart, “I should also suggest that you hold onto that ticket like it's your second heart… that, is priceless,” I nod softly and step into the cart and glance over the handful of ponies that dot the isles. They are all incredibly well groomed, well dressed, dazzled with sparkly jewelry. I feel a little embarrassed, I must seem homeless compared to them.

I wave softly to the teller as he bows and turns to leave and I search for a good seat to take, I take a seat towards the back, passing by diplomats and aristocrats alike, getting equal looks of confusion and mild disgust as I take my seat out of line of sight of anypony, setting the cake down beside me and laying on the seat. I sigh as I close my eyes… I’m so worn out… I’m honestly surprised Pinkie didn’t say anything, I must have bags under my eyes stretching to my neck from everything, being up for over a full day and having to walk a near marathon. I drift in and out of sleep, the velvet seats too comfortable to not rest on, losing track of time as I’m hardly even bothered by the eventual departing whistle, eventually falling to sleep fully.

Author's Note

Note: I wish Pinkie would bake me a cake for my birthday...

Ch. 3 | Four of a Kind

I feel myself poked as the stagecoach bumps over a rock in the dirt road, “Clubs… wake up, we’re here I think. I see lights,”

I wave my hoof slightly, still half asleep, “bug off…” I try to readjust myself but it's impossible against this hard wood. Another bump in the road makes me bite my tongue and I swear under my breath as I wake up fully, sighing as I rise, “fine… Hearts, what do you want,” I glance over at my younger sister who looks nervous sitting close to Diamonds.

Hearts fidgets with her hooves, lowering her head slightly, “I… just wanted someone to be awake besides me when we get there…”

I roll my eyes seeing Diamonds’ ears flick slightly, “whatever, pansy…” I scoff and look out the side of the stagecoach, squinting my eyes as I look down the road, seeing a large wooden wall in the distance. This has to be it. “... besides, Dia seems to be awake, why don’t you bother her.”

Diamonds raises her head slightly, “Stop being such a blowhard for once… she's your sister, we're family… stop acting like we're strangers to you.”

My face scrunches up slightly, “you’re all pathetic… maybe except Spades, he actually has some steel in him, but you both have mother’s genes,” I pause for a moment, “you’ll probably die just like her, by disappointing your husband,” glances at Diamonds and smirks, “speaking of which, how is it that you haven’t found a stallion yet?” I don’t even wait for a response seeing Diamonds roll her eyes, “I know why… because you’re brash and-”

I’m cut off by Spades, “Shut up, all of you,” Spades is sat looking out the side of the stage coach facing away from us, “Dia is right… we’re family… even if-”

I cut him off, “even if dad sold us to some damn freaks?”

He turns to face me, “no… even if you want to keep being like this, we are still related, we’re supposed to be there for each other, just act cordial…”

Diamonds scoffs, “that’s an impossible task for him, he can't go three seconds without hurling an insult just because he gets some sick pleasure out of watching our faces grow sour,” she stares dead into my eyes.

I open my mouth to speak but Spades starts before I can in an attempt to save me the scolding, “I’m sure he’s just upset… it’s not fair he’s taking it out on you, but I’m plenty angry too, even if I may not be showing it right now. I’m still trying to wrap my head around why dad would even think of selling us off, let alone actually just going through with it without hesitation.”

“Because he doesn’t love us, he never has…” Diamonds lowers her head again, “mom was always the one to actually feed and clothe us, dad just saw us as a burden… and apparently he saw mom as such too,” Diamonds expression softens as she seems to space out in thought.

I let out a soft barely audible sigh as I slump back into a sitting position again, damn… spades got it right on the money. Can’t believe it, and the more I do the more angry I feel… the more I want to just break down where I sit and cry into my forearms calling for my mom. I shake my head slightly as my face scrunches up again about to say something to rile up Diamonds more but I stop myself, pinching myself gently with magic… Spades is right, in the end we’re still family and going through this all the same, just different ways of coping. I can’t help but feel like a hypocrite, calling them pansies when I feel this way… I just… miss my mom. I rest my head against the back of the stage coach looking up at the ceiling of it before rolling my head to the right to look out of the wagon as we pass the gates of this village, spotting armored guards whose eyes glow faintly.

I feel the coach come to a stop and shift in what looks to be the center of the town as my father drops the reins used to pull the coach along and moves to the side glaring at all of us, “out,” he speaks firmly.

I see Spades horn glow a violent orange and I pinch him with my own magic, his attention shifts to me and I shake my head softly. If he tries to kill him here we won't be leaving this town alive. He sighs as he realizes this too and his horn stops glowing and he's the first out. Diamonds smiles softly at Hearts and the two stumble out together and I follow behind them, not even looking in the direction of my father. The village residents look at us in awe, children hiding behind their mothers, a single male thestral in the center of the crowd of ponies, wearing a sort of cloak and a wooden head band.

He calls out to my father, “are these the unicorns you promised?”

My father grabs hearts and throws her to the ground in front of the stallion, “Yes. Hand over the bits,” his voice is rough and deep and he speaks with as few words as possible. I feel my horn beginning to glow in rage but Spades puts a hoof on my shoulder. He shakes his head and I have to agree, taking a deep breath and remembering how he felt the same way not even 5 minutes ago. I nod softly and he moves his hoof off of me.

The thestral looks a bit worried for Hearts as she sits up and sniffles, “two hundred per unicorn, as promised,” two thestrals walk up with a small chest and place it in his cart.

My father checks the bags and nods softly, not saying a word as he puts the reins back on and begins to walk out of the town, the cart squeaking as he gets further and further away. The wooden gates of the town dragged closed behind him, pushed by a good deal of thestral guards. I scoff and spit at the ground that he had just walked on. I turn to face the stallion in the middle of the crowd and approach hearts, kneeling down next to her speaking softly, “you okay?”

She gives a weak nod, not making eye contact with anypony, staring at the ground. I glance back at Spades as he moves next to me, followed by Diamonds.

The cloaked stallion thestral gives us a sympathetic smile, “Greetings… I am Prince Mid-Day… My mother will meet with you shortly. For now I will guide you to your quarters and where you can find food, please follow me,” he gives a short bow and turns beginning to walk away, a path in the crowd clearing.

I glance at Spades, suspicious of this “Prince”, he hardly looks the part, a worn cloak and a wooden crown… he glances at me as well, a neutral unreadable expression as he looks back and starts following the prince. I pick up Hearts to her feet and dust her off gently glancing over her once more to make sure father hadn’t caused her any scrapes, Diamonds doing the same before we follow Spades. The prince is silent as we walk through the town, I glance around noticing glowing eyes peeping at us from the balconies of their homes tall… perhaps these ponies have never seen anything like us, unicorns. I thought over this for a moment… we must look incredibly strange to them, a fancy bone spike sticking out of our head. The thought is amusing to me but I’m too tired and angry and hungry to even crack a smile.

I sigh as we all pull to a halt in front of a rather well put together log cabin… how quaint. Mid-Day opens the door for us and bows slightly, “please make yourselves at home, do you have anything to ask of me?”

I glance at my siblings before speaking first, “yeah, when’s dinner… me and my siblings haven’t eaten in two days,” I can hear hearts mumbling something to Dia behind me as Spades enters the cabin.

Mid-Day nods softly, “well, it would be breakfast for us. Us thestrals are usually awake through the night and sleep in the day,”

I let out a short agitated huff, “right… when’s breakfast.”

He glances up at the moon, “uhm…” it seems he's counting to himself, “5 minutes… and now that you are all here my mother will be holding a speech in the town square. We would be rather grateful if you all could attend with my mother.”

I glance back at Spades who is further into the house but he gives a short nod to the question. I followed suit, “yeah, we can attend.”

Mid-Day smiles brightly, his fangs making themselves more known, “great! I’ll let her know you will be joining us… I will have a guard escort you to the gathering. Breakfast will be held immediately following the speech.”

Diamonds speaks up, “uhm, would you happen to have carrots that you could spare right now? My little sister here, Hearts…” Dia smiles softly “She would like some.”

“I can have a guard bring a basket of them to your quarters,” Mid-Day turns and hesitates before speaking softly, “... we are truly thankful you have arrived. We have been waiting for this night for a long… long time. Your role is that of akin to angels,” Mid-Day smiles, “I hope Nightmare Moon was correct about you four,” he begins walking away.

Huh? I mumble to myself, “Nightmare Moon… that name is familiar…” I turn to Spades, “who was he talking about?”

Spades is levitating books, looking at the titles of each before glancing at me, “Old pony-tale… mother used to read us the story of the Two Sisters, remember?”

I nod softly, walking further into the cabin, “yes, I remember, but he just said he hoped she was right about us..”

Spades continues looking through the books as Hearts and Dia make their way further into the cabin, “I am not deaf, I heard, that is why I am looking through their literature, although I’ve never seen these books before, none of the authors are familiar.” He looks at one book in particular and begins flipping through it. He stops and steps outside to look up at the moon. “I believe I know what he was talking about, supposedly tonight is going to be the night Nightmare Moon returns,” He closes the book looking up at the moon before going back inside and putting it back where it was, along with the other books. He glances over them all to make sure they’re all in the right place before continuing further into the cabin, entering the first room on the left with no hesitation, “I’m taking this room,” I hear him unclasp and take off his side bags. I walk further down the hallway… four rooms, I can’t tell if this place is specifically made for guests or was made for us. I enter the first room on the right and take off my own side bags, levitating a framed picture of our mom, father, and all three of us as foals. The picture itself is worn and stained, I’ve had to save it multiple times from being used as a coaster by my father… I believe this is the only time I’ve seen him smile, and I wasn’t even conscious enough to remember the photo being taken. I gently levitated the frame onto the nightstand and sigh, that was the only thing I packed of importance besides official documents proving who I am.

I look over the rest of the room, opening another door, a personal restroom… and running water… this place doesn’t seem the type to have such. I gently close the door and look over the bed, laying on the bed… very soft, this isn't hay. I slide off and pull up the sheet… a bag? My horn glows a soft orange as I make a small hole in the bag, pulling out what's in it. Feathers… interesting. I repair the hole and go back to laying on the bag, it's strangely firm for being a bunch of feathers… I close my eyes. Just before I drift off there's a loud knock at the front door. I groan and get up.

I walk into the hallway behind Hearts and Dia and gently push past them, standing next to Spades speaking bluntly without looking back to see me, only his ear flicking being the sign he knows I’m there, “... we will follow you.”

The guard turns and begins walking to where I would assume the gathering is, Spades following close behind him. I glance up to the balconies where glowing eyes had peeked at us from before to see them empty. No whispers or mumblings, no sounds of hoof-steps, just ours… I feel something off, I can’t quite put my finger on it but… something is about to happen, it’s a gut feeling.

As the moon hung high and highlighted the trees just outside of the village walls we drew closer, the occasional flap of wings overhead going towards a now growing sound of hundreds of voices talking over each other. A sudden wall of bodies turned to face us as we approached the outskirts of the crows, the familiar glowing eyes close enough to put a face to them, the crowd parted without a word from the guard. A path formed where there had not been one, the voices of conversation snuffed out, only scattered soft whispers occasionally making themselves known as we got closer to the stage.

Sat in the center of the stage was what I had assumed to be the queen, a tired neutral expression on her face, and next to her the prince who smiled softly at us. The guard stepped to the side, allowing us onto the stage without his assistance. We each stepped up one after another and stood next to the prince, the queen glancing over each of us as we passed her, our hooves against the wood of the stage the only audible noise to us.
As we each stood on the stage there were easily a thousand eyes on us, hardly blinking, they all looked on in awe as the tall torches barely illuminated the stage. I glanced over at Spades who simply was scanning over the crowd.

Her eyes scanned over us more before speaking, “Lovely, we are all very glad you could join us,” the queen said loudly with the same neutral face, her eyes returned to the crowd as she continued “I present to you, my ponies, our key to victory!”

The ponies in the crowd erupted in cheer, some jumping and flying into the air in excitement. The queen raised a hoof and the crowd fell silent and calm in a near instant, their quickness to quiet showing just how strong the queens grip over these ponies hearts are, “These… as many of you have never seen before, are unicorns. They can use magic from the horns on their head. This magic can lift objects off the ground without touching it, throw fire, freeze water, and spit lightning much like that of which comes from the clouds. These are very powerful beings, and we are grateful for them being bestowed upon us.”

The ponies in the crowd are now mumbling amongst each other as one calls out, “Prove it! Let them levitate something,” more excited mumbling came from the crowd at the prospect.

The queen glances at us speaking softly, “Would you mind levitating something for the crowd…?”

I open my mouth to speak smiling, ready to show off but Spades speaks first, his voice cold and blunt, “We are not your show ponies, we are here because we were sold into your care. We will abide by your wishes and fight at your order, but we are not some form of entertainment…”

I roll my eyes and my smile fades as the queen nods, “Fair enough,” she faces the crowd again clearing her throat, “these unicorns are not a form of entertainment, we bought them for a reason, they are dangerous and powerful and should be treated as such, as a weapon.” I scoff at this under my breath, feeling a bit annoyed, we aren’t just weapons… we’re ponies too.

I turn to spades and whisper to him as the queen continues talking to the crowd, “C’mon, lighten up, I was more than willing to show off by levitating a chair or something… nothing huge.”

Spades glanced at me, his head still facing the crowd, “Our power is beyond mere show tricks. Dad made that very clear when we were younger. We were born to be strong and sold. We cannot give these ponies the wrong idea, our goal is to protect and fight for them now provided they take care of us… and so far their care has been much better than anything I or you have ever received, you know that very well.”

I open my mouth to protest but I just go back to looking over the crowd, sighing softly again, “Fine… I guess you’re right.”

Spades doesn’t respond, just looking forward as the queen keeps speaking, “... thank you all for attending, and now, something incredibly important is about to occur. Something we have been waiting for our whole lives.”

She continues proudly, “If you all would, look up to the sky. Tonight is the night our empress, our goddess, Nightmare Moon, comes back from the moon and to our side to give what our people have been lacking for a millennia, and what might that be, my ponies!?”

The crowd yells in unison, “justice!”

She speaks louder, “and with justice?!”

The crowd yells louder, “FREEDOM!”

The queen stands, yelling, “and what must we do for both?!”

The crowd yells again, “SKEWER THE SUN!”

The queen flies off stage, above the crowd, “again! My ponies! What must we do for our justice and freedom?!”

The crowd screams as they flap their wings, “SKEWER THE SUN!”

My siblings and I watch as they fly around in the air, yelling excitedly, chanting over and over again, some racing in the air, low to the ground… I think I know what they mean. I glance towards Spades, my voice low, “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

Spades watches them fly about as the chanting gets jumbled and less in unison, some thestrals dancing together in the air. Mares and stallions and their foals spinning and grinning in the air together as he speaks, “... I believe they want us to kill Celestia.”

Dia and Hearts’ eyes widen at this prospect, surprised and dumbfounded. These thestrals hold so much hope in us that they believe we can kill Celestia? As flattered as I am that they think that… I don't even think all of us combined could so much as scratch the princess. I watch as the moon begins to glow slightly brighter.

All the thestrals fall silent and lower themselves to the ground, all their eyes on the moon, the queen back to her seat as the shape that once made up the mare in the moon and the stars surrounding it flashes bright, illuminating the forest for a few moments. I have to shield my eyes, but just as I uncover them… its gone, the shape is gone. All the thestrals cheer loudly and I feel my head begin to spin slightly… I feel stronger, more agile, and less groggy.

I glance at Spades whose eyes are wide, its the first time I’ve seen him like this in a long time, “did you just feel that too..?”

He speaks abruptly, “shut up,” he stares off into space, his eyes wide.

I raise an eyebrow, “what?”

He speaks again, quicker, “I said shut up, Nightmare Moon is talking to me,” he is trembling slightly.

I take a moment to let that sentence sink in… what… Spades isn't the type to joke or just make stuff up… but I cant believe him, “... did those thestrals slip something into your water or something?”

He glares at me, angrily and worried, “no… she’s talking to me, we're negotiating… please be quiet,” he fixes his gaze forward again.

I lower my head slightly and sigh, “fine…” I look up as the thestrals dance happily, some of them with mugs in their hooves, singing songs in some sort of old language.

Just then I hear a crash behind me. My eyes widen as I get up and turn, Spades’ horn glowing a bright red with the queen motionless in the wood stage, unconscious, a faint red glow around her dissipating. Oh… oh my, Dia and I speak up at the same time, “SPADES?!” Dia’s mouth hangs open as I continue, “What was that for! Now all these ponies are gonna be up in hooves!”

The prince watches in horror, not able to move a muscle. Spades speaks up, “Nightmare Moon wants us to overthrow the queen and assume control, in exchange she's giving us rooms and duties in the Canterlot palace,” he smiles softly as he approaches the queen, “she said we were allowed to kill her if she resisted, so I made sure she couldn’t,” he leans down to listen to her breathing and his smile never fading

“the only thing we are not allowed to do is touch the prince… he will be the de jure leader while we are the de facto,” he glances up to see the prince gone, his eyebrows raising slightly, “ah… well… she didn’t say anything about him running, guess she didn’t expect him to be frightened from his mother being slammed into some wood planks. It isn’t a big deal.”

He sighs as the ponies don't even realize their queen is unconscious below them, still celebrating, “guess that just means we’re the de jure rulers for now, by order of Nightmare Moon,” he levitates the queen out of sight behind the stage, “guard!”

One of the guards flaps down to the stand and bows slightly, “take your pitiful excuse of a queen elsewhere… somewhere she cannot be seen, by order of Nightmare Moon we are now your leaders,”

The guard's face scrunches up slightly before his eyes widen as if something clicked in his head and he nods, dragging the queen away elsewhere, Spades glances up at the ponies and shouts, “ORDER!” they immediately fall silent, the only sound the gentle flapping of their wings, Spades smiles at this, “as of now we are your new leaders, the queen has given up power willingly to us, she believes we will be able to lead you all to victory much more effectively than she can by herself,” Spades sits on the velvet cushion the queen sat on before, “you may go back to your celebrating for now,”

The ponies all mumble, one shouting, “Where is the queen?” another, “When did she say this?” “Is she okay?!” “Why did she give you leadership?”

Spades’ horn glows red as he sighs, ready to quell any resistance, “Nightmare Moon has spoken to both of us personally. Nightmare Moon has decided it best that we rule for now until the sun is ‘skewered’, I assure you all she is safe. She will be taking a vacation for a couple weeks, you will see her again. For now, go back to your celebration, please.”

They mumble more, another speaking up, “Nightmare Moon told you this…?”

Spades nods slowly, “She did, she communicated to me in my head,”

I glance at him like he's crazy but the other thestrals gasp, “he is holy!” “like our priests!” “He has been chosen?!”

I look up at them like they're crazy before glancing back towards spades, “how’d that convince them?”

Spades shrugs, “She told me to tell them that, they would believe it, and they did,” he glances over at me to meet my gaze, “apparently things aren't going well.”

I look at him even more confused, “With what? Nightmare Moon?”

He nods, “Yeah, she’s about to be defeated any moment,” he gazes off into space, “there are six ponies using something called the elements of harmony right now, they are going to seal her away,” he squints his eyes, “... Lumineer Sundowner…”

I raise an eyebrow, “Who?”

He glances at me and scoffs, “A traitor apparently, he wouldn’t help Nightmare Moon, he's hiding behind a pillar right now, she wants us to hunt him down and kill him. He’s the most dangerous to our plot currently… she’s gone… she lost.”

I look more confused, “Nightmare Moon lost?”

He nods, “yeah, I can’t hear her anymore, the view from her perspective is fading, I can still hear bits and pieces of the conversation that's happening,” he glances over at me, “guess we’ve got us a sun to skewer,” he smiles, seemingly very sure we could win this.

I speak a bit softer, “you think we can really win against Celestia?”

He nods again, returning his gaze to the buzzing crowd of thestrals that are singing and dancing in the air still, “oh yes. Nightmare Moon has gifted us with a decent portion of her power, she didn’t say exactly how much but she apparently split a decent amount among all of us,” he smiles wider, “I already have a plan brewing in my head for how we can win,”

he laughs softly as he gets up and faces a guard, “make sure all these ponies get home safe, we’re turning in for the night,” the guard nods as we all walk past him. I glance over Hearts and Dia, their expressions matching my state of mind, confused and disoriented. Spades’ stature was much different; he looked proud, excited, happy for once. The crowds excited cheers and dancing faded as we walked back to our cabin, Dia and Hearts talking to each other as I kept to myself, following behind Spades.

Spades opens the door to the cabin allowing us to file in before he closes it behind us, “now, we have something very important to discuss before we rest. I’m sure you all can stay awake for a few more minutes while we talk,” he walks past all of us and takes a seat on the couch in the main room, gesturing for all of us to sit down.

I take my seat across from him, shooting him a slightly agitated look, “alright… What's your plan? Just how do you think we can take down Celestia and the entire royal guard on our own along with this ‘Lumineer Sundowner’.”

Spades leans back in his seat, the same smile he wore when tearing the queen out of the sky never leaving his face, “we don’t need to fight them head on, we are few, so we play dirty. We aren’t just fighting against Celestia and her guard and that Lumineer, we’re also fighting against the general population, maybe less as actual combatants and more as an angry mob that can be convinced,” he sighs as he leans up in his seat, “first of all, we need intel, where this Lumineer is, where princess Luna and Celestia is-”

I cut him off, “Princess Luna?”

He nods, “When Nightmare Moon was defeated, I could still hear bits and pieces of her left behind in what was defeated, it left behind Luna, an Alicorn, Celestia’s sister… she will also be a hurdle we will jump when we get to. There's a catch though, we have to leave her alive, so we will have to capture her somehow,” he glances over all of us as he continues, “anyway, we need to fight dirty, yes? Convince the population we are a bigger force than we are, get them to plead to their princess’ to back down to this boogie man, we must scare them into submission,”

Dia speaks up, “What exactly are you suggesting?”

Spades looks into her eyes, “I am suggesting exactly what I mean, we must win by any means necessary. We are going to make a scene, crack a few eggs to make an omelet…”

Dia looks horrified at this prospect, “You’re suggesting killing ponies? Innocent ponies?”

Spades continues, “What other option do we have at victory?”

Dia opens her mouth to speak, she tries to think of something… silent for a few moments before speaking, “There must be another way… some way to avoid that outcome. We don’t need to kill ponies.”

I think about this for a moment, I don’t entirely mind trying to fight a guerilla war mostly by myself, sounds fun honestly, but at the same time, “Why do we even need to go out and fight? We got everything we need here. We’re warm, fed, comfortable, and ponies love us. We went from a situation that ponies would dread and have nightmares of to what ponies would dream of,” I glance at Hearts and Dia and back to Spades before continuing, “we’re safe… no one will come after us and hurt us if we just keep our heads low.”

Spades’ smile fades, “For the first time in my life I have a purpose, I can change something meaningful, we can make a name for ourselves… and why not give these ponies a cause to fight for, let out their pent up anger and pride, let them fight for their ‘freedom’ and ‘acceptance’ when they’re already plenty free and happy in their little ethnostate,” he gets up and starts pacing around.

I speak up again, somehow sounding like the reasonable one for once, “I’m thinking what Dia is saying, ponies don’t have to die… we can be happy and stay here and make life better for them, and if anybody were to come here for them we could protect them, we have that strength that Nightmare Moon gave us.”

Spades shakes his head as he walks, “Fine… I’ll be going alone to Canterlot tomorrow with a few guards to gather information. Diamonds and Hearts can stay here until further notice, and you can stay here too if you want to be a pansy and never make a name for yourself…”

I raise an eyebrow, “Why do you want this so bad? Why do you insist on killing ponies?”

He continues pacing, raising his voice, “I already said why! For once we… all of us, have the opportunity to not be at the bottom of the barrel anymore! We could be in history books… songs could be sung about us… we would be remembered.”

I shake my head, speaking softer, “Is that all you care about? To make a name for ourselves?”

He sighs, “It isn’t just that, if we win this we get rooms in the Canterlot palace, we live like kings and queens, it’s-”

I cut him off, “It’s a gamble, and we’re gambling our lives and other ponies like chips in a game of poker…”

He stops pacing and turns to me, as if having an ‘ah ha’ moment, “Exactly… that’s exactly right, we either stay mundane and safe and wait for something to happen to us, giving them plenty of time to gather up a force to track us down and kill every single one of us for sympathizing with an enemy of the state.”

I think about what he said for a moment… damn… Well, now he’s got an actual point. If that Lumineer really is a threat and manages to work with Luna and if Luna manages to work with Celestia… that’s the entire royal guard, two alicorns, and a pony we know nothing about that houses a decent amount of Nightmare Moon’s power. I sigh and shake my head, the real safest option to secure our future is to strike first, convince the population we are nothing to mess with… and get them to convince the princess to step down… it’s starting to sink in, that plan actually does seem like it would work… but it’s a gamble like I said. We either fortify and wait for them to come or cut them off and leave them dazed and confused before they can even organize.

I shake my head softly, “Fine… I guess… your plan is sound, smart… you’re right, we should strike first, what should I do?”

He smiles victoriously, “Perfect, good, I’m going to look around and see if there's a thestral that understands healing magic to send with you to a small town called Ponyville. You and that partner are going to learn about how Nightmare Moon got beat and if we can unseal her, and I’ll be doing the same. You personally are going to gather as much info about the elements of harmony as you can and find its weaknesses… write down everything you can, I’ll gather everything you need for the trip. We leave in a few days,” he turns to Hearts and Dia, “as for you two, you will train those ponies to fight and defend themselves, if worst comes to worst this is our last front line. We need every able pony to be a trained soldier… please…”

Dia and Hearts collectively sigh and nod, Dia speaking up, “We’re not going to train them to be cold blooded killers… I mean look at them, they’re innocent. They’re just as innocent as any other citizen of Equestria.”

Spades’ brow furrows, “I never said anything about making them ‘cold blooded killers’. You want the least amount of casualties, right? Ponies are going to get hurt or die anyway, make sure it’s not ours… that’s all.”

Dia opens her mouth to speak but hesitates for a few moments, “Fine,” she decided not to protest, “how do we contact you when you’re millions of paces away?”

Spades smiles softly, “Well just write to me like how we all learned when we were kids… it has been a few years since you’ve all used it, I’d suggest practicing,” he walks past us slowly to his quarters, “If you can’t figure it out, which I absolutely doubt, you can simply send a thestral to my location. I at least know how to use the spell so you will be getting real time updates of where I am. In the meantime, rest up, get food and feast like kings, whatever… we have a couple more days to plan this out before me and Clubs depart,” he gently closes his door, his handle glowing a faint red that fades as the door clicks shut.

I glance at Dia, trying to offer a soft smile, “Guess life’s turning out to be a lot more exciting, right? At least we’ll be busy…” Dia tries to offer the same smile as I rise slowly from where I was sitting and saunter down the hall and into my room, closing the door behind me and flopping onto the bed, getting under the blankets, and shutting off the light, trying to drift off to sleep.

Author's Note

Do you guys think I could play Dia as a valid card in poker, like if I had one ace in my hand and she was like sitting next to me I could have pocket aces then?