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...