Shuffle

Luna was ready for a good day's sleep.

It was six-thirty in the morning, and she had just brought down the moon to make way for her elder sister's sun. As Luna stood on the balcony outside her room on top of one of the tallest towers in Canterlot Castle, she couldn't help but admire her sister's skill with her respective celestial body. Under the rule of Celestia, the sun always look so beautiful whenever it rose or set, and this time was no exception.

Secretly, Luna was sort of envious of her sister's power. Granted, it wasn't the same animalistic envy that transformed her into that monster one-thousand years prior, but the more natural, typical sibling rivalry a little sister would feel. In her mind, she never would, or never could, do the same with the moon, no matter how many times she repeated the process, day in and day out.

The princess of the night cast out those vial thoughts that, at one time seemed harmless, eventually grew into a full-blown hatred of the sun and daytime. Luna would never let herself become...that, ever again.

Instead, she looked down upon the land, to Canterlot, and, by extension, the landscape leading up to Ponyville on the horizon. The dark blue alicorn thought about how she was saved by the lavender unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, and her friends on that faithful night years ago. Her thoughts shifted to a more recent event, on Nightmare Night. The very same unicorn had helped her feel loved by the ponies of the land. Luna was eternally grateful to Twilight, for saving her and reuniting her with her big sister, and for making her feel welcome at home again. Luna smiled fondly at the memory as she turned to go to bed in order to rest up for the next night she would have to keep watch over.

The night princess' room, in comparison to Celestia's, was still impressive and majestic. Sculpted on the ceiling were miniature versions of all the constellations in the night sky. The walls were appropriately decorated with dark-blue and indigo drapes that hung from the very edge of the ceiling to just a foot above the floor, correspondingly-sized windows placed in intervals in-between the drapes, allowing her a three-sixty degree view of her kingdom. Her bed was quite large, far too large for the slightly-above-average-height pony, but she didn't bother getting it exchanged. Valances were hung from the bed-frame on every side of the bed in order to protect the alicorn princess from the harsh sun as she rested through the day. Her sheets were, obviously, a matching dark-blue to her fur color.

Luna let a yawn escape her mouth, and she started to remove all of her regalia and shoes in preparation for sleep. She was just about to climb into her cool, puffy bed when a knock rang on her bedroom door. The alicorn turned her head and raised an eyebrow. No one visited her this early in the morning, not when she just brought the moon down for the day. Curious, she trotted to the door and opened up a generous distance. When she saw no one there, she was about to slam the door shut in annoyance when she spotted a little brown box at her hooves. Not seeing anything particularly dangerous or otherwise interesting about it, she levitated it up in a dark blue aura of magic and went back inside her room.

As she went back to her inviting bed, Luna shook the cardboard box and heard several items bounce inside in response. Climbing into bed and taking a moment to relish in the softness of the fabrics that rubbed against her being and her long, indigo wings spreading outward, she hovered the box above her. The indigo mare started spinning it in place until all of the contents had been launched out of one side of the container. The unknown objects shot everywhere, but Luna saw there were three in total. Using her magic to bring the three things she had accidentally sent flying all across her room, she studied all three of them.

One was a white cord that had three ends to it. Two of the three were plump, white buds that had either an "L" or an "R" letter on them. The third end appeared to be a metal plug. The second object was a dark-blue rectangular prism with a white ring on one side with multiple symbols all around it. It was small and thin, yet mysterious in a cute way. The final object was a white card with what looked like instructions on it. Luna, her curiosity growing with each passing second, read it.

Plug the pole end of the white cord into the hole on your iPod Shuffle. Then insert the corresponding ear-buds into your ears to listen to the music. In order to play and pause the music, lightly press the center of the white ring. Press the "+" and "-" symbols to increase and decrease the volume, respectively. If you would like to skip a song, then gently press the double arrow symbol pointing to the right. But if you would like to replay a previous song, then simply press the pair of arrows pointing in the opposite direction.

Enjoy!

Luna couldn't quite place it, but for some reason, this had "Celestia" written all over it.

Deciding to humor whatever game the solar princess has in store, she followed the cards instructions to the letter. When she was prepared, she sat back against the plethora of pillows behind her, and, levitating the dark-blue device above her with the ear-buds placed snugly where they should be, pressed the center of the white ring with a hoof.

The first sound to hit her sense of hearing was a piano. It was a slow, yet, somewhat sad tone. It was a tune that was already affecting Luna internally. She gazed up at the constellations on her ceiling when the lyrics began.

"(It starts with one)

One thing I don't know why, it doesn’t even matter how hard you try.

Keep that in mind, I designed this rhyme to explain in due time.

All I know,

Time is a valuable thing.

Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings.

Watch it count down to the end of the day

The clock ticks life away

It’s so unreal.

Didn’t look out below

Watch the time go right out the window

Trying to hold on, but didn’t even know

Wasted it all just to watch you go.

I kept everything inside and even though I tried, it all fell apart

What it meant to me will eventually be a memory of a time when I tried so hard

And got so far

But in the end

It doesn't even matter!

I had to fall

To lose it all

But in the end

It doesn't even matter!"

Luna could tell this song definitely came from someone who had gone through a tough relationship with someone else, perhaps a close friend, or an old flame. Not to mention, the aggressive nature to the song itself only made it that much more emotional, the guitar in the chorus seemed to be crying. It wasn't until the last few verses of the song finally got to her.

"I've put my trust in you,

Pushed as far as I can go

For all this, there’s only one thing you should know;

I've put my trust in you!

Pushed as far as I can go!

For all this, there’s only one thing you should know!

I tried so hard

And got so far

But in the end

It doesn’t even matter!

I had to fall

To lose it all

But in the end

It doesn’t even matter!"

It ended with a final, weeping piano riff. Luna's heartstrings were tugged as a result of that song, but she could only smile at the raw emotional component the song possessed. She didn't bother moving, allowing the next tune to play.

This one had only the mixture of several electrical noises, and Luna knew this because they were sounds that no other modern instrument could make. Several seconds in, the pace picked up greatly, and another guitar was heard making its repeated, yet energetic strum.

"Memories consume

Like opening the wound

I'm picking me apart again.

You all assume I'm safe here in my room

Unless I try to start again.

I don't want to be the one

The battles always choose,

'Cause inside I realize

That I'm the one confused.

I don't know what's worth fighting for

Or why I have to scream.

I don't know why I instigate

And say what I don't mean.

I don't know how I got this way

I know it's not alright.

So I'm breaking the habit,

I'm breaking the habit

Tonight!"

Luna listend to the lyrics, and she couldn't help but let a tear escape the corner of her turquoise eye. These words held much more depth to them than the previous tune.

"I'll paint it on the walls

'Cause I'm the one that falls!

I'll never fight again

And this is how it ends!

I don't know what's worth fighting for

Or why I have to scream!

But now I have some clarity

to show you what I mean!

I don't know how I got this way

I'll never be alright,

So, I'm breaking the habit

I'm breaking the habit

I’m breaking the habit

Tonight!"

The song ended with fading electrical muses, along with what sounded like string instruments, but Luna couldn't, or rather, didn't, distinguish because she had released several streams of tears as the song came to its inevitable end. These song were purely amazing so far. She settled to listen to one or two more before turning in to sleep.

The next one featured a much slower piano. Soon after, the lyrics began,

"You were standing in the wake of devastation

And you were waiting on the edge of the unknown.

And with the cataclysm raining down

Insides crying "Save me now"

You were there, impossibly alone.

Do you feel cold and lost in desperation?

You build up hope, but failure’s all you’ve known.

Remember all the sadness and frustration,

And let it go. Let it go~o~o~o~o."

Luna liked this much more than the others. It sounded more positive, upbeat, regardless if the first few lyrics sounded dark. There was still a positive message in them, she could tell: don't give up. Have hope, even in hard times. This was a philosophy she could live by.

Towards the end, she heard a chorus of voices sing this first part.

"Do you feel cold and lost in desperation?

You build up hope, but failure’s all you’ve known.

Remember all the sadness and frustration,

And let it go. Let it GO!

LET IT GO!

LET IT GO!

LET IT GO!

Do you feel cold and lost in desperation?

You build up hope, but failure’s all you’ve known.

Remember all the sadness and frustration,

And let it go. Let it go~o~o~o~o~o."

Luna felt satisfied with that. She removed the buds from her ears and placed the connected musical wonder on the nightstand beside the bed. Smiling and thinking about the message of that last song, Luna's thoughts drifted to what it must've been like for Celestia after she banished her. To what Twilight must've felt like right before she used the Elements of Harmony to rid the princess of the night of the darkness that seeded itself into her heart.

After a while, thinking became more difficult for the star-maned alicorn, and her brain soon forced sleep upon her.