As The World Burns

Once upon a time, in the dark and blessed land of Lunestria,
there was a terrible Skyfire.
It was a monstrous blaze, all-consuming and wrathful,
fancying itself more beautiful than the Moon,
a wicked spell, a black magic beyond pious reckoning.
And wielding this spell, a vile witch upon a vile throne,
was the Burning Queen.
She cackled and roared, standing tall above heaven,
with blazing eyes and spread wings.
Yet the Princess of the Moon, Her heart aching for us,
made Herself our sword and our shield,
and shed Her silver blood for us.
Taking up that most holy power, the Signs of Harmony, the Six and One,
She defeated the Burning Queen and cast away the Skyfire,
so we creatures of the night would not burn to ashes.
And by Her act of love, for all the rest of time, are we blessed in all things,
are we guided in life and love, from birth 'til death,
by the quiet grace of the Moon and her most faithful stars.

For as long as most of its residents could remember, the beautiful land of Lunestria was honored by the constant watch of the moon, softly glowing in the sky, an all-seeing mother whose attention to Her children never wavered.

Lunestria was a wild place, known for its wide plains and lush forests, its mountains populated with frightening shadows that always startled travelers, and the strong contrast between the humble burrows of its smaller villages and the sharp, towering cathedrals and spires of its larger cities.

In one such large city, the capital of Lunestria, built upon the tallest mountain in the center of the nation, walled in by ramparts of gleaming silver and surrounded by gaunt spires poised like lances to strike at the sky, was a majestic garden of deep emerald trees and bushes, dotted with flowers of every dark hue.

Here and there throughout the garden were paths, benches, little ponds, and statues. One statue depicted three foals of races Twilight could not identify, giddily leaping about without a care in the world. Another was a voluptuous doe lounging and looking very comfortable with herself. A third was some hideous creature, long and crooked, its limbs all in disagreement and one long tooth sticking out of its face, apparently in the middle of singing something.

And in this garden, hunkered down beneath a tree as if terrified to be seen even by her fellow creatures of the night, lay a mare with a book. She was not an ordinary sort of mare, even by the standards of this strange place.

While she enjoyed a rich purple coat and deep indigo mane, striped with magenta, trimmed sharply at the bangs almost mathematically, and with a matching tail, this much was quite normal. So too were the spiraling horn that graced her head in soft ridges and the colorful sigil of a six-pointed star that flattered the ample curves of her rump like some natural tattoo.

But the sharp pupils like those of a wild beast, the large and twitching ears, the little fangs that poked out from her pout when she was not paying attention, these were traits of note, rare even in Caliginot, that self-styled "City of Everything".

For this mare was a vampire - who, of all creatures of the night, had perhaps the strongest claim to that title. Where others relied quite strictly on the light of the moon, she was able to find herself in near-darkness. And this, perhaps, is why she was comfortable reading books in the shadows of shadows.

She shuddered and closed the tome with one forehoof. "... the Signs of Harmony..." she mumbled to herself. "The Princess refuses to say anything about them... Even though..." She stepped out from under the tree and looked all around, nodded, and then looked up.

Shortly after she had been born, astronomers noted that six new stars had suddenly appeared in the night sky, almost perfectly circled around the horizon. Over the twenty years since, five of them had risen to group up together directly overhead. These five were all different colors - blue, orange, red, yellow, and cyan. The sixth, a soft magenta, remained close to the ground, as if bashful to join them. Sages were aghast at this development, with most of them predicting the end of times coming. The High Priestess, speaking for the Moon Princess Herself, had repeatedly denied the possibility of the Skyfire ever returning.

Whatever their meaning was, the five grouped stars were awfully close to the moon. She was not quite overhead, tilted just a bit north, just over half of Her surface still bright. "Oh!! It's getting a bit late..!" the vampire fretted. "So close to middane already..!"

"Who ya talkin' to~?"

"Reeeee!" Twilight shrieked, jumping away like a startled cat, holding a hoof to her chest as she glared at the one who spoke. Her face automatically snarled, her fangs showing as a threat display.

A pale cream mare - no, a doe, an indrik - with flowing pink swirls of hair stood smiling at her, tilting her head. She was considerably more slender than Twilight, with a curvaceous rear proudly displaying the mark of three pale blue stars, and her tail was long and thin, with only a pink tassel on the end. Her antlers curved towards one another and nearly touched, extending outward to close points like a stylized sword. Twilight glanced down at her hooves, cloven with dewclaws. Indriks did not disturb any foliage they walked through; they were fond of surprising one another and, more effectively, other creatures. Twilight was very much not fond of this behavior.

"Loons, Twinkleshine," Twilight hissed.

"S-sorry..." The doe's smile changed to a grimace. "We've been looking for you, is all!" She turned her head and waved a hoof in beckoning, then turned back.

"More like we've been looking all over for you!" chirped a blue vixen with a short navy, silver-striped bob as she trotted over like she had hooves and not paws. "Good wane, Twilight!" She beamed over her black button-nose, under the blue-grey, teardrop-shaped gemstone embedded in her head, her voluminous wavy tail wagging behind her. Twilight sighed. Twinkleshine was barely tolerable, but Minuette was so incredibly upbeat all the time it made her sick. Her and her stupid soft luxurious coat and her minty fresh breath. In general, Twilight found carbuncles to be frustrating to talk to. They were always so... sparkly. Moreso than the gal named Sparkle. And Minuette was probably the sparkliest out of all of them. But of course, that was just because she was a carbuncle. Her cutie mark was an hourglass, and her actual special talent was being infeasibly good at timekeeping. Twilight had never met anyone else who could count a perfect sixty seconds in their head without looking at a stopwatch before.

A fellow vampire, pale butter-yellow with teal curls, sauntered up with a brief smirk. "Fancy running into you here," she teased, then pouted and took a step back at the look on Twilight's face. Twilight wanted to get this over with as quick as possible without having to put up with Lemon Hearts's... coquettish nature. Vampires were disrespected enough without her giving everyone the wrong idea. A mare with a cutie mark of three wavy hearts and an inability to keep her eyes more open than half-lidded for ten seconds out of the night didn't have to say a word to cause a ruckus.

Twilight sighed. "I'm... sorry for my reaction. You startled me... again. What do you --" She paused with a frown and started her question over. "Can I help you?" Her face itched as she failed to keep the edge out of her voice.

"We're real sorry to bother you. Moon Dancer's birthday is coming up in five waxes," Twinkleshine smiled. "She'd like to let you know you're invited."

"Even though you just have to show up to know that," Lemon nodded with another smirk. This one faded when her companions looked at her in confusion. Lemon deadpanned back at them. "... do you girls still not get how that works?" She dropped her head low and pbpbpbpb'd out of her mouth, then turned her head and became distracted by the idealized dimensions of the aforementioned doe statue.

"Moon Dancer..? As in, High Priestess Moon Dancer?" Twilight blinked, shrinking down slightly and raising a limp-wristed foreleg.

Along with herself and Lemon Hearts, High Priestess Moon Dancer was one of about five vampires Twilight knew lived in Caliginot - the rest being mostly indriks with a rare few carbuncle families - and far and away the most popular out of the five. She was, after all, the speaker for the Princess of the Moon. She also, for some strange reason, seemed to think Twilight was her best buddy. Maybe because they were both vampires..? Whatever the case, Twilight found her a bit clingy and wasn't sure what to do. She could hardly snub such a prestigious public figure, and one so important to her dear Princess, no less.

"Of course, silly!" Minuette giggled. "How many Moon Dancers do you think there are?" She turned her head and blinked at her a few times as if trying to send her a secret code. But all Twilight thought was, Hopefully only one.

"I... I'm sorry, I might not be able to make it. I have a lot of studying to do. Please give her my apologies," Twilight bowed, and began to walk off, keenly aware that she was clearly hurrying away from them.

"Hey," Lemony Hearts cooed after her, "Don't run off..!"

But she had already vanished into the night.

Twinkleshine sighed, her brows furrowed. "I thought vampires were supposed to be charismatic," she complained gently.

"... What's that s'posed to mean?!" Lemon scowled after a moment. ""

Twilight's dark tower, wrought of black brick with silver plates like scales, was hardly a practical design. Its outer facade bore a concave curve, making it a bit dizzying to look up when standing next to it, and its spire was split into hostile spikes like the crown of a necromancer, not at all aided by the swirling black clouds and lightning seemingly held by its points. In addition to a ground floor entrance into her reading-room and kitchen, she needed to head back outside and walk up the spiral staircase for perhaps a full minute to get to or from her bedroom. She did not care to announce to everyone the banalities of her daily life in such a way.

Rushing from the garden district, Twilight cantered up, slowed to a stop, and paused with a hoof on the door.

Krooowwrrr! the thunder cracked overhead. She rolled her eyes, waited another second, and opened the door to head in.

The inside of her tower was perhaps even more dizzying to look up in, with her massive bookshelves on almost every possible space of wall reaching up twenty or thirty hands. What few strips of wall remained bare were narrow, stained glass windows depicting figures from long, long ago; one depicted a unicorn mare with seagreen and pink hair with her forehooves upon a large bell. Carefully enchanted cold torches ensured she did not burn her precious stock of tomes and grimoires no matter how careless she was, and divided off from the rest of the tower, a modest kitchen allowed her to prepare modest meals. Or, well... no, that was not completely honest.

"Oh, there you are, Twi!" came the cheerful greeting from the tubby creature sitting on the couch with a magazine. "It's about time for dinner, eh? I was thinking pasta tonight. Just got fresh tomatoes!"

Despite standing on two legs, he was short, his enormous head barely reaching her chest. He was covered in soft, smooth skin. Though his body was chiefly a bright cyan, he was near-white from his pudgy cheeks down his front and all along the underside of his tail, which ended in a spade. On that enormous big large head was a crest of navy fluff, which continued down the top of his tail after mysteriously vacating his back and rump, and two pearlescent fins, cyan or pink depending on the angle of the light, that might have been ears. On the ground next to him was a pale blue box wrapped in navy ribbon with a lovely bow. It looked just like him if he was a Hearth's Warming present. Or, Twilight suddenly remembered, a birthday present.

Twilight glanced at his magazine and scowled. Meta-Monsters was its title. She looked away, suddenly uncomfortable. "No time, Spike. I need to find information on the Signs of Harmony."

"The what?"

"Exactly." She nodded with a smirk. "You know those stars that've been moving together in the sky over the past couple decades?"

"Other than the one star that's all off on its own being purple and lonely like you?" Spike blinked.

Her mouth dropped open for a moment and she scowled, her chest stinging. "W-what?" She swallowed and blinked the water out of her eyes. "Many sages are suspicious something bad is about to happen. And I can't... I can't shake the feeling they might be right."

Spike frowned, furrowing his brows apologetically, and nodded. "You don't think the Skyfire is gonna come back, do you?" he continued in a more serious tone.

She shook her head, her nose wrinkled. "Of course not, Spike. The Princess cast it away. And if it returned, she'd do it again. But..." She sighed. "But... maybe... not without the Signs."

"If those are even real..."

"Spike," she scolded, stamping a hoof. "Are you questioning the Princess's honesty?"

"No, no, no," he stammered, dropping his magazine and wringing his hands. "It's just... well... it could be... you know... embellished."

She glared and opened her mouth to retort, then blinked, thought about it, and closed her mouth. "... she or someone else did, erm, embellish the tale of how she acquired the Culinary Clasp," she admitted. "Probably."

"Definitely. No one can eat that much pie and still look that good."

Twilight nodded absent-mindedly with a blush, then put a hoof to her temple and winced. "Uuugh, for Her sake, that's not the point, Spike!" She sighed again. "Can you find... I dunno... everything we've got on prophecies and doomsaying and stuff? I don't know where to start. Anything that might be related to any funny stars showing up."

He looked up, his scowl widening across his entire wide face. "You've got magic," Spike objected.

"Well, yes," Twilight stamped in place. "... but I can't read the spines from down here! I could pull out every book in this place but you're still gonna be the one puttin' 'em all back!"

Spike sighed and hopped off of the couch, carefully avoiding stepping on his magazine. "I'll get right on it," he conceded in a monotone. "Guess dinner's gonna be a little late."

"Dinner?! Now?! And risk staining my books?!"

Twilight sat in the only clear space surrounded by piles of books. She had thrown each carelessly over her shoulder only for her magic to catch them and carefully set them down in perfect order. Spike, his belly growling, dutifully picked them up one or two at a time and scurried back up the ladder to set them in their proper positions, then clambered back down.

"Twilight," he finally complained, leaning forward with his hands on his knees and panting, "My legs really hurt. How about I get on that pasta..."

"You do you, Spike," Twilight replied absent-mindedly as Spike hobbled stiffly to the kitchen like a far older creature and she placed another book on the ramparts surrounding her.

She quietly flipped through the pages for several minutes, pausing only to cast a rude look when Spike started whistling or singing to himself.

And however long later, as Spike carefully carried a large plate to the table next to the couch, she let out an excited squeak, her butt wriggling as she finally found what she was looking for, and as Spike performed an elaborate series of shakes and sleights of hand to avoid dropping a mountain of very hot fresh pasta and tomato sauce onto the floor and/or himself. He set the plate onto the table and stepped back with a slow sigh.

"Aaah," Twilight batted her eyes at the book, "I love you so much, Magicks, MacGuffins, and Mumbo Jumbo, mmuh mmuh mmuh." She kissed her book several times before blinking and frowning, then slowly, quietly putting her book down and meeting Spike's disgusted stare with a bashful pout.

"If that's how you feel about that dirty old book I'm gonna hate watching you eat this pasta," he jabbed. "C'mon, have a bite before you get all excited over one of those books and run off to the Princess about something. Fresh tomatoes."

As she began mumbling to herself, he sighed and began shoving pasta into his mouth as fast as possible.

The Signs of Harmony

Legend says that the Moon Princess Herself wielded These mysterious Signs,
to seal away the Burning Queen and her dreaded Skyfire.
Yet it is said that even Her immaculate use of Them was imperfect,
for no one mare can evoke Their full potential.
For They are not One,
but Six and One.
The Guiding Star, the Gracious Diamond, the Trusty Spade,
the Jubilant Clover, the Gentle Heart, the Unerring Path.
Only when Six and One stand together,
an unbreakable circle of lights in Her sky,
shall Their true nature & full power be revealed,
and all things be put right.
Without this, Truth and Harmony may only be delayed.

She paused and blinked at the book. "... d-delayed?"

"As in set back for a time."

"I-know-what-it-means," she rasped. "Spike, do you understand what this means?"

He blinked back at her. "That's a really redundant question. Do you remember your name? What year is it?"

"The stars, Spike!" She reared up and flailed her front hooves and began trotting in place. "The stars! It's actually happening!! I have to see the Princess right away! Take a letter!"

"Ready," Spike resigned himself in a monotone, already holding a quill and parchment. A bottle of ink and a stamp set were on the table, the remaining pasta carefully moved aside.

Twilight stopped trotting, inhaled, placed a hoof to her heart, and flicked that hoof away with a slow exhale.

To our most gracious and beloved Princess,

I must humbly request to speak with Your Grace at the earliest convenience pertaining to the convergence of the mysterious stars that first appeared a few decades ago. I cannot explain myself in writing. I apologize for my audacity and beg Your Grace's forgiveness.

Always faithful,
~ Twilight Sparkle

She waited for Spike to finish scritching and roll up the parchment.

"Send-it-send-it-send-it," she rasped as Spike scowled at her, carefully wrapped the parchment, and stamped it.

"Hold your horseshoes," he scolded. He inhaled slowly as if exhausted, held up the scroll as if about to blow out a torch, and seemingly exhaled a vortex of wind and water, larger than himself, which consumed the scroll and spun it about like a cow in a hurricane. Yet no wind or water disturbed or stained anything else in the library - and rather than being utterly ruined as one might expect of such conditions, the scroll spiraled, pristine and intact, into the center of the vortex with the distinct sound of a toilet flushing, and vanished from sight. The tempest itself quickly melted into nothing as if it had never been there.

"Twilight," Spike began uncertainly. "You're not gonna try the pasta, are you."

"I-can't-stop-to-eat," Twilight huffed. "I don't think a bit of tomato sauce would do much for me, anyway."

Spike nodded. "Well you should eat something." He held out his arm, turning his palm up.

"H... huh?" Twilight blinked, staring uncomprehending. Then she gasped, her fur standing on end, and shook her head. "No!!" She covered her mouth, then set her hoof back down and spoke more softly. "No way! I'm not gonna--"

"It'll only take a few seconds," Spike insisted, staring her down firmly. "You'll get a huge pick-me-up. You might need it. C'mon. I've got ten pounds of pasta, I'll be fine."

She grimaced and trembled. "B-but I..."

"There's no time! She'll send Her reply any minute. Just do it!"

She wilted, breathed unsteadily with a nod, and approached.

He raised his arm further, closed his eyes, and clenched his fist.

She bit into his wrist as gently as she could. He didn't flinch.

Her stresses vanished as the warmth and heavenly taste of life flooded into her. She stood there entranced and relaxed for a short time.

Everyone's blood was a little different, not just by the species but by the individual. An indrik's was grassy, tasted the way a fresh lawn smells, not very palatable but quite suitable for a vampire's health and made her a little sneakier to boot. A carbuncle's varied based on which gemstone they represented - the ruby ones were a bit spicy, the sapphires almost tasted like ice cream. As a dragondine, Spike's blood was mild and very smooth, and she not only began to feel much hardier but also sort of fresh, clean. Her mouth crackled a little bit as all the nasty germs in there disintegrated. She imagined this was what Minuette's blood must taste like. But Spike himself added something more. There was a sweetness she had never tasted in anyone else's blood. And... what was that... guilt?

Guilt!!

She suddenly felt alarmed and pulled away with wide eyes, careful not to tear a wound. "A-ah!" She licked her teeth and lips without thinking about it. She dimly recognized that Spike was normally very fond of garlic, onions, and such but did not have the slightest hint of either - she would definitely have noticed. "O-oh loons, was that too much? I'm so sorry." She looked down and shook, her eyes watering. "H-how deep did I bite?"

Spike blinked and leaned back, looking a bit winded and rubbing at his wrist with his other hand. "Not that deep. I was gonna stop you in another couple seconds..." he sighed. "I'll be alright. And um... I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

"For what I said about the whole being alone thing." He sniffled. "I didn't mean it like that."

She approached again and hugged him with a smile, turning her head to keep her fangs away. "Don't worry about it, Spike." She waited a second. "Th... this means an awful lot to me."

A swirl of moonlight grew in the air over their table and Twilight turned her attention to it, magically seizing the scroll that appeared before it could fall onto any of the various items that would not be enriched by essence du scroll, pulling it closer for them both to read.

To the Night's most faithful, Twilight Sparkle,

Hurry thee to Our quarters at once.

They both blinked. Twilight may have blushed slightly.

Twilight squeezed Spike, let go of him, and rushed out the door.

"Maybe I should try my blood out one of these days," Spike jested to himself. He stretched with a groan, leaned forward, pulled the plate closer, and shoveled some more pasta into his mouth. "Mm, loons, I outdid myself tonight."

The city of Caliginot was, of course, populated largely with indriks, those quiet and elegant (if only on the surface) creatures who held themselves tall and dared the sky to fall onto their heads. And true to that character, Caliginot Castle was tall and gaunt, as if trying to hide itself behind a very large but skinny tree, and populated with many towers, all pointy and vicious like some sort of stonework hedgehog.

Of course, two indriks - a green doe and a blue buck - stood at the front doors, covered in silver plates, shouldering glaives, looking sleepy. They jumped up and looked around as the doors flew open and a purple blur ran past. They looked at each other.

"Twilight," said the one.

"Probably," said the other.

They nodded a few times and fell back asleep as the doors slowly closed.

Twilight all but flew through its dark stone floors, her hooves barely touching the dark velvet carpet, as if afraid of touching any more blood.

She paused at the corner with the sealed door. Well, "sealed" as in "a plank or three were nailed to it reading KEEPETH OUT ON DIRE PENALTIES". The Forbidden Tower was, of course, off-limits to everyone but the Princess. No one knew what it was for, but it was the highest tower of the castle. Perhaps it was meant as a decoy, in case some enemy of the state mistook it for the Princess's personal quarters..? Which were, of course, the second-highest tower.

Twilight slowed down to a brief stop as she approached the spiral steps of the proper tower and, perhaps, smiled slightly. "Wow," she mumbled to herself, wriggling her body around and finding no soreness. "I wish I had a whole stable of dragondines so I could always feel this chipper..." She adjusted herself, breathed slowly to calm herself down, and headed up the stairs.

She soon found herself facing a hallway leading to a tall door carved of dark oak, covered in intricate carvings. Two indriks stood on either side, pretending to ignore her presence; she knew they would react at once if she did anything stupid. Twilight approached cautiously, as if trespassing on sacred ground, even though she knew she was quite welcome here.

Most nightchildren who had the opportunity looked at this door only briefly, recoiled as if they had just eaten a lemon, and dismissed it as eldritch. Twilight had noticed that its lines guided the viewer from each ideogram on it to the next and seemed to tell some sort of story. She wasn't quite sure what the story was, but at the very top of the door was the image of a mare whose wings spread out over the rest of the engravings, and she seemed to be crying.

Twilight kneeled before the door with her head low. Its many intricate runes lit up in a wave of light, running up its grooves from bottom to top. Then it hissed open, splitting down the middle, a wave of mist spreading out and billowing down the spiral stairs. With her head still low, Twilight noted the scent of rain and a sense of coolness, rather minty.

"The Night's most faithful," came the low drawl. "Punctual as always. You may enter."

Twilight held her bow for a second before rising and walking in with an unconscious gulp.

The door shut heavily behind her like the lid of a casket.

The Princess's personal quarters were surprisingly cozy, barely a study, compared to the majestic spaces She prepared to hold audience or otherwise face the public.

Twilight had been permitted in this most precious place only a few times in her life. It almost always meant a rather personal visit. Once, the Princess had been sick - a nearly unheard of event - and wished to assure Twilight it was not contagious and She would be alright. Another time, the Princess had apologized to her for unwittingly embarrassing her in front of the Academy. Twilight was always humbled and honored to be here and treated even the most mundane contents of the room with more care and reverence than even her own belongings. And it also smelled nice in here.

On the right-hoof side were the Princess's various personal amenities; Twilight did not dare to linger her gaze on these, though she could not possibly miss the luxurious size and softness of the canopy bed, gently curved into the frame of a crescent moon.

On the left were trinkets of various intellectual pursuits. The skulls of known and obscure creatures. Scrolls that allegedly detailed black magics so vile and dangerous that even Twilight was not allowed to view them and merely opening them may be catastrophic. She furrowed her brows at the stone mask made in the likeness of a vampire, uncertain of its significance.

All about the room, dark violet curtains hung, shaped in waves with sharp elven points and pale silver trim like the standard of a necromancer.

And across the room, the sliding doors opened fully, standing on the balcony looking up at the sky, stood the Princess - the last of Her kind.

She was a couple hands taller than Twilight, with a petite and curvaceous build like that of an indrik. She presented a dark indigo coat, a spiraling horn, beautiful fluffy wings like those of a bird, and a long, deep blue mane and tail obscuring the right side of her face, fringed with a translucent violet and speckled with stars, flowing and swaying as if the air were water. Her tiara, choker, and slippers were all of silver. Her hips bore the stamp of black splotches like ink, with a crescent moon nestled within. Twilight followed the blackness back until it disappeared under the Princess's tail, then blushed and tore her gaze away.

Twilight bowed again, forcing her eyes down. "Princess Luna," she greeted.

"Bid thee rise, Twilight Sparkle. Gaze upon the stars with Us for a moment."

Twilight swallowed, rose, and slowly walked to the Princess's left.

"Consider the five."

Twilight nodded, looking up at them.

They were arranged in a circle. Cyan, orange, red, yellow, and blue. They had been dim when first discovered, but grown steadily brighter with time. They were now the brightest objects in the sky except for the Moon Herself. But there was something off about them...

"... The circle isn't complete," she pointed out. "There's a gap on one side."

Twilight glanced back at the Princess, lowering her head modestly with a grimace. She shrunk as her gaze was returned. The Princess's eyes were large, a bright cyan, and despite her regal pout and mature eyeshadow, she had a supremely youthful beauty. Twilight had always thought there was a bit of pain in her gaze, and now - the closest they had ever stood looking at one another - she was alarmed to see the Princess looked almost agonized. And, though less alarmed, that the five stars currently neighboring the moon were also represented in the Princess's mane.

"Yes..." Luna whispered. "Now look to the south."

Twilight leaned onto the banister and looked at the remaining star, the one Spike had compared to her. Friendless and alone. It was slightly higher in the sky than she recalled seeing earlier tonight. And it was far dimmer than the five above.

"Princess..." Twilight whispered anxiously, drawing back from the banister. "That star will soon join the others, won't it? And become as bright as them?"

"It must," Luna announced, inhaling unsteadily and sighing out of her nose. Twilight gasped as the Princess suddenly turned and put Her hooves on her shoulders, looking her in the eyes again. "Twilight Sparkle, you have been a faithful student and a dear friend, and tonight you must listen to Our instructions and obey them without fault. Their purpose will not be clear to you until you have completed them. Possibly long after you have completed them. Can you do this?"

Twilight nodded, suddenly terrified. "O-of course, Your Grace, but, but I don't understand--" She gasped as Luna pulled her close and embraced her, wings wrapped around her, and suddenly felt very relaxed. She took a moment to linger, her cheeks pink and her heart full, breathing in the scent of pine and minty chill, before pulling away; Luna released her at once.

"Forgive me," Twilight spoke with more resolve than before. "I am ready to serve, Princess."

"We have prepared a carriage to take you to the village of Monster Town." Luna said, looking down as She spoke. "You shall be leaving at once. We advise you sleep en route, as it will be wax when you arrive."

Twilight's heart froze. "M... Monster Town?"

Luna nodded, her gaze soft as She returned it to her. "We have tried to subtly suggest changing the name many a time, but they wear it with pride. The ride there will take several hours; We advise that you sleep en route."

Twilight paused. Pride? She found that hard to believe... but she drew her thoughts back to this sudden change of her plans. Moon Dancer would be furious. But she couldn't refuse the Moon's decree. "And... when I get there..?"

"Two things." Luna magically pulled over a rolled-up scroll from a table close to the door; Twilight hadn't noticed it before. She unrolled it into a map of what must have been Monster Town. "First, you must check on the preparations for the Golden Moon Festival."

Twilight blinked, her mouth falling open. "The wax after next? I... I hoped to celebrate it here with You..." Her chest tensed a bit when she realized she had just addressed Her familiarly.

Luna closed her eyes and nodded. "We know..." She blinked them back open without objection. "But the main celebration shall be there this year and We worry they might have... difficulties, as they have in years past."

Twilight pressed her lips together, her little teefs sticking out. Yes, she'd heard there was a bit of a disaster nine or ten years back the last time Monster Town was trusted with it. Illegal fireworks, she seemed to recall.

"There should be five parties involved in these preparations," Luna continued. "Their areas of operations are marked." She gestured to a few points on the map. "This sixth point - the Silver Willow, it is called - is where you will be staying next wane. Please meet with all of them and speak with them indepth. And..." She grimaced. "Please be decent when attending the Festival."

Twilight blushed and shrunk. "I-I will do my best, Your Grace... But... What is the second thing?"

"Before you return to Caliginot..." Luna now raised her nose to look down at her. "... We want you to try and make at least one friend."

Twilight stared up at her with her eyes wide. "... a... a friend?" Her eyes darted side to side in thought. "D-during all this??"

"We said you would not understand the purpose," Luna pointed out. "And We do not blame you. Nor can We command you to succeed. But please try."

Twilight grimaced, lowering her head. "... I... I will, Princess... Will Spike be accompanying me?"

Luna gasped. "Ah, of course. We knew We had forgotten something important. Yes, Spike will accompany you. We will send for him. We should have asked him to come with you..." She sighed, closing Her eyes in frustration with Herself. "Go to the royal coach at once. You are dismissed."

As Twilight started to bow, Luna gently placed a wing on her shoulder and froze her as sure as if she'd cast a spell.

"Twilight," Luna pleaded. "I am counting on you." She returned her wing to her side.

Twilight blanched at the familiar parting. "I... I will not fail, Your Grace." She bowed, walked backward all the way out of Luna's door, and vanished as it closed.

Luna looked down again. Then she walked back to her balcony and looked to the south with an anxious frown. "If all I have done is for nothing..." she bemoaned to no one.

The magenta star was slowly rising.