First Prologue: Fugue of the Elements
Jus' a little clarification here, every scene change will be numbered for yo' navigational comfort.
The Epic of the Wisterian Empress
Prologue, as transcribed by Allington Sinclair
First Prologue, The Fugue of the Elements.
~A.S.I~
Really? This is how it was going to be, I have not been free from my self for even an entire day and here I am staring down the six most powerful artifacts on this planet, five of which I was sure I just destroyed. This really isn't fair in the least. These six little mares are now wielding a power they could never hope to understand, a power that can topple queens, silence gods, and even manifest the very majicks that bind the races of this planet together; and they are planning to use it on me.
Me, the very Queen of the Night, The Mare of the moon, who's power can end all life on this miserable little ball, will not stand for this. I shall not, there has to be some where to escape, but why can't I run?
No, I am not going to spend the next millennium trapped in my own soul again, I would sooner drag these little fillies one by one into the very depths of Tartarus then watch that green and blue marble stare back at me mockingly for the next one thousand years. To think, I took pity on them and spared them all a quick death. I have to act and act fast. Move you miserable legs, you can still run!
Curses! Why Am I afraid? That purple one, the unicorn, the harlot my dearest sister sent to silence me; I need to think of some way to stop her. She is still prattling off the obvious, I need to act, I need to stop her! Why can't I chant? Why cant I cast? Is she suppressing my magic? How is this possible!? Can't they see I took pity on them?!
~A.S.II~
Nightmare Moon had played her first hand, it was simple enough abducting her sweetest sister and trapping her on her surface, but her second card wasn't as successful. She needed to get to her ancient castle and destroy the elements before somepony gets to them and uses them to destroy the Black Queen. She had little choice after she knocked out those guards back in the town hall.
As she raced through the dense growth of the Everfree forest, passing a vague familiar herd of fillies on the way. Wait, what? She stopped mid air and looked down at the six little ponies slowly tread their way through the forest, and there in the back was that purple little harlot her sister had sent after her. She had to stop them, and stop them fast.
The first thing that came to her mind was the rapids below her, the water was deep enough to somewhat safely catch them and float the merry little gaggle of girls back to that despicable little hamlet from whence they came. Sure, she would need to swell the water a little to catch them without killing them or at least not seriously maiming their little bodies. She just needed to get them all off that overhanging terrace.
The malevolent purple mist quickly flew towards the group and shattered the rockface, the two pagasi were quick to take flight, but the others began to slide. She hadn't counted on the pegasi to swoop down and catch the whinny unicorn and the annoying pink one, but smiled as the little orange serf and the harlot slid down the lorraine towards the cliff face. Quickly, the Nightmare mist had lost altitude and swelled the water surface, looking up at the dangling little harlot with a grin. If this didn't send her packing, then nothing will.
A sadistic smirk cracked her face as the lavender harlot lost her grip and began to plummet, but the smirk was short lived as she was caught by the two pegasi and slowly carried down to the rapid's bank.
“Drat!” she muttered to herself, if she could she would curse them all for this, but she didn't have the time. She had to get deeper and find another way to stop them.
~A.S.III~
At least she is done talking, but I still haven’t been able to move! Drat drat drat DRAT! If swearing was decorum then I would be making a sailor hide right now. She is stopping me, I'm sure of it. It is that crown, the Element of Magic. That is what is holding me in place. This isn't fair!
They are using it now, there has to be something I can do. Anything! Think, what happened when sister dearest used the five on me last time? I wasn't so immobilized then, Had I known she got the drop on me then I would have been able take her with me...
Yes! That's it! Teleporting, I can still do it can't I? If I can preempt the elements then I can take that little purple... thing with me. Ok, I need to focus. Focus on Tycho, I can take her with me- Wait! What?
Why is there no charging? It took Celestia a quarter of an hour to chant! Why is it working so fast, no! NO!
~A.S.IV~
Nightmare Moon could be cruel, but she isn't a big fan of wonton bloodlust. She had to admit that peace was nice, and after spending a majority of her lifespan with her sister leading the three pony nations to war to with the other sapient species on this land, and having watched as many ponies died in her name, including her dearest Duskbr-
No, she wouldn't sully her memory of her sacrifice by even putting it in this context. This wasn't about blood and war, this was about her rightful place as Queen of Equestria, and killing six little ponies who only look a few years past rearing age was not the best way to start her infinite rule of the world. She needed them to turn around and trot back home, now if she could only find a way to reverse their tracks.
As quickly as she had that thought, the solution had presented it's self. A young manticore, a whelpling at best, was sleeping near the trail. It would be a simple matter of enraging it and watching as it scared the little ponies back into the arms of their mommies. With an imaginary smirk, the purple mist condensed into a thorn and wedge herself firmly into the for paw of the young chimaera.
If the six ponies were fearless, then they could easily overwhelm the manticore, but she had no doubt that it would easily chase the little girls off...
The ponies in question almost fearlessly charged the manticore, even the whinny white one was fleet enough get a good buck in. She couldn't help but wonder when did girls, let alone serfs and peasants, were presented with any form of martial education beyond body shields for the knights? Regardless, if it kept up like this then they would defeat the mantico-
For the third time tonight, the ponies had superseded the expectations of Nightmare Moon as the reserved yellow one plucked her thorny avatar out of the manticore's forepaw. As simply as that, she was tossed aside and a rather retching scene played out with the manticore vivaciously licking the reserved yellow pony in gratitude.
The harlot's gaggle of cohorts were verily wearing down her patients, and she took this distraction to speed ahead and to attempt to find another road block to hinder their advance.
~A.S.V.~
It was in that minute that Nightmare Moon was surrounded by the rainbow colored magic that the composed elements emit that she learned that she had her voice and legs returned to her, and she had little time to act. With a mere thought she ensnared the lavender harlot and sent her to the moon, hoping it would be fast enough to sever the elements, but it was too late. Panicking, she hoped she could teleport out of range of the elements, and with a small variation of the spell she had just used on her sister's spy, she sent her self to the moon as well.
Only, it was too late for her, as en route to her other self, she felt her anger and lust of revenge dissipate into a feeling of loss and shame. The power her hatred and jealousy had given her was ripped from her heart and replaced with a feeling of guilt, something she hadn't felt in well over a millenia. As she came out of warp, and her hooves touched the all too familiar ashy surface of the moon, she looked back at the earth with a resurgence of anger. Not at her sister or her former subjects, but at herself. Sure, she knew in her heart that she hadn't been banished again, but her desire to return was no more.
As her gaze on the Earth locked, she fell to her knees and let out as shrill of a wail as she could. In the atmosphereless surface on the moon, only she could hear her scream ringing in her ears; despite the fact that she wasn't alone.
~A.S.VI.~
She was flying as fast as she could, so fast that she narrowly avoided cutting through the river serpent that was in her way; rather, she sheared off the vile drake's mustache. She quickly considered smiting the foul beast but a more dastardly idea presented its self. No doubt such a vain creature as a dragon would be driven to blind rage over such a fleck on it's appearance. Her theory was confirmed as the meander was quickly turned white with rapids, the beast letting out a loud... sob?
If Nightmare Moon was tangible at that moment, she would of never of looked so exasperated in her eras of existence. Not only did the aqueous drake have the voice of a palace castrato, it was crying like a filly deprived of her favorite toy. Quickly composing herself, she hoped that the lispy serpent would fall into a blind rage and blame the ponies for it's appearance.
As if this night existed only to spite her, the whinny white unicorn pacified the sexually ambiguous dragon by shearing off her tail and fusing it to his facial hair.
“Really?” she thought to herself sardonically; “It doesn't even match it! Purple and Orange are a horrible colors together!” If she could be any more flummoxed she would be. Six little mares were making her look like a fool time and time again. She made a mental note to put each one of these mares in the nearest brig when she took control of Equestria, but for now she had to find another... something. At this point she was just running out of ideas, These little ponies surely existed just to spite her.
Ironically, she didn't know the validity of that statement.
~A.S.VII~
The first thing Twilight noticed was that it was cold, bitterly cold. It was so cold that the shock of it caused her to gasp, which lead to the second thing she noticed. Where ever she was, it certainly did not have any air to breath. Immediately panic seized her mind, she began to attempt to hyperventilate, but all her lungs could pull in was ash. She could taste the soot that her location mostly consisted off, and the dust in her frigid lungs only forced the organs to attempt to cough the particulate back up, but with no air, it only caused her body to spasm painfully.
She knew she only had a few moments before ether would take her mind and she would suffocate, but in her panic, there was no way she could focus on any solution long enough to attempt it. All she could do was stare at the royal blue pony only a few hoofs in front of her, who was screaming at something, she caught what she was looking at, her eyes tracing the other mare's line of site until a distant blue and green marble reached her sight. It was Earth, she knew that immediately, but her conclusion scared her.
She was on the moon.
There is no air on the moon.
She was the first mortal pony to traverse space, and she was going to die.
It was only then that the blue pony looked over at her, Twilight made eye contact with the strange pony; and tried to force the most pleading look she could to her.
Luna put two and two together and quickly figured that Twilight was suffocating. As loud as she could she screamed at the lavender unicorn, commanding that she breath, but by the lack of change of expression on the lilac unicorn, she remember that here no voice could work. With only a few moments left she did all she could think of to save the little purple mare; she didn't have time to teach her how to use her moon's magic to conjure air into her lungs, so she would have to use herself as a medium.
The princess of the night dashed towards the suffocating mare, placed both her hoofs on the little purple muzzle and leaned in...
~A.S.VIII.~
She stared flatly at the blue pegasus fixing the bridge before her, she hadn't really tried with the shadow bolts, she really only hoped the rainbow maned pony would be gullible enough to fall for it long enough to, she didn't know, fry them all with lightning? No, that was too much for her, she sighed with resignation. Her only option was to shatter the elements before the ponies could get to them. She hoped that her power would command the elements that were once hers and she could use them to control her dearest sister, so with that she returned to her old castle and hoped for one final chance to crush the six mares that were so making a fool out of her.
~A.S.IX~
.. and closed the space between her's and Twilight's lips, forcing a rescue breath into the suffocating lungs of the little mare. As humiliating as this was, she didn't have time to focus a spell to return her to the castle.
Twilight's first reaction was shock, a mare she didn't even know was kissing her right before she was about to die, but as soon as she felt the mare's forced breath enter her lungs, she recognized it as a weird form of resuscitation. She inhaled the welcomed warm air, no matter how awkward it was to have a stranger's lips against her own, and carefully exhaled it out of her nose. As soon as her lungs were emptied, a second breath was forced into her lungs. She had never breathed like this before in her life, but between the blistering cold and the lack of gravity making her queasy to the stomach, she had a little comfort.
It was some time before her breathing had slowed and she was able to focus her magic on warming herself again. As soon as she began, the blue mare leaned in a little and tapped her horn against Twilight's, it was through this intimate behavior that she learned that this whole time she had been blushing deeply.
“Is thou all right?” a feminine voice had rung in her mind after some time, and she quickly recognized it as telepathy and projected an affirmation into the mind of the blue... pegasus unicorn? Her eyes widened as she was staring into the lidded eyes of a blue pegasus unicorn, only a little taller then her and much shorter then Princess Celestia.
“Yes, We are a princess... We... We are Celestia's sister.” It took a second before she realized that the princess before her was much more adept at mind reading then she was. While she was only able to receive the thoughts projected at her, she knew that her own mind was layed bare before the royal blue winged unicorn before her. She slowly thought of Nightmare Moon, her eyes surveying the alabaster wastes surrounding her.
“Aye... We are named Nightmare Moon.” The voice rang sullenly in her mind. Twilight looked forward to Nightmare Moon with a million questions ringing through her mind, and for some reason her mind decided on lingering a little while longer on how she was kissing Celestia's little sister than it should of, and thusly, her cheeks burned even redder.
“We... are confused, why doest thou surge thy emotion at the thought of our kiss? Do not friends share kisses often? Let alone that the reason our lips are agaisnt thine ist so that we may preserve thy vitality?” The voice was clearly confused, and the fact that Nightmare Moon could so easily pick up the embarrassment in her mind only made her flush deeper. Before Twilight could formulate a response a third but not un-welcomed voice rang in her mind, it was Princess Celestia's!
“Not exactly anymore little sister, in this age touching horns and kissing are both signs of the intimacy of lovers, not the endearment of friendship.” Celestia touched done beside lip locked mares, here serene gaze resting upon both of them.
“Sister, We do not understand, surely these small endearments could not be comparable to wedlocke or lovemaking? We certainly do not wish to impart such things upon thy student! Make no false meaning of this, despite her endearing features we simply wished to save her life!” Nightmare Moon's tone was slightly agitated, she certainly didn't regret saving Twilight's life, but she really didn't mean to embarrass the poor unicorn.
Of course, the more Luna spoke the darker Twilight Sparkle's cheeks would flush. She was both fairly certain that she was just complimented on her looks, and that she did not entirely hate the sensation of being close to another mare. On top of this, she was aware that her own thoughts were betraying her, as Luna was entirely aware of every thought that crossed her mind, which made her really wish she wasn't in this situation right now.
“Luna before I am forced to be privy to anything else about what my dear pupil fancies, may we please be returned to our old castle, I am sure Twilight's friends are very worried right now.” Yep, Celestia was now aware that she was enjoying this. And with that Twilight was now aware that she was enjoying this herself too.
Luna stared at her rescuee flatly, and weighed her options. “We do not wish too, nor do we wish to be causal of your pupil's self-awareness, this whole situation is grating us greatly.”
“Well sister, if you could return us all to Earth perhaps you can stop pulling Twilight out of her closet. I was really hopeing she would have a change to have a normal friendship before she had to worry about finding companionship.” Yea... Twilight really did not want to be here anymore. As excited as she was to be on the moon, and the amount of knowledge she could glean from this, the whole angst behind why she could “never find herself holding conversation with any colt other then her brother” thing was a bit too overwhelming for her.
“We do not wis-”
“LUNA WE ARE RETURNING HOME TOGETHER OR SO HELP ME I AM MAKING YOU TAKE UP BALLET ONCE AGAIN!”
Before Twilight could be taken aback at her teacher's outburst, the resuscitation was broken and all three of the mares were returned to Earth. Falling back on her but her surprise was broken by the sound of her friends rushing her in relief. But as soon as the five ponies had rushed her, they immediately broke contact and bowed before Princess Celestia.
“Thank you Luna, now, listen, it is time we put our differences behind us, and return to your rightful place as co-ruler of Equestria.” The gentleness had returned to Celestia's voice, but Twilight was happy that she had never willingly disobeyed the Princess in her life, she really didn't like the concept of performing in a ballet.
~A.S.X~
Twilight laid in bed that night and sighed, she had been up for well over thirty-six hours and still sleep evaded her. She was exhausted, but the previous day's events were driving her mad. Before now she had really never gone into thought about who she was interested in, so the concept of her being interested in mares was one that she really didn't understand. It made sense, but she felt uneasy about how easily it clicked into place.
She had no idea what her parents would think. They weren’t bad ponies, in fact they were rather progressively minded, but still, a fear of rejection haunted her thoughts. Silently she sat up, and looked over to her baby dragon. She would hate to wake him at this hour, so silently she moved over to her desk and pulled out her stationary. With a sigh she wrote a letter to her Princess, after all, Her Princess hadn't seemed to be put off around her at all. Maybe she would have some advice?
Dear Princess Celestia,
Am I supposed to be so confused and worried about this?
She paused as she contemplated what to say next, before returning to the letter;
It makes sense, I think, but I don't think I wanted to find out about this; or at least not this way.
Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight rolled up the letter and applied the adhesive seal before sticking it next to Spike's basket, hoping he would send it in the morning.
~A.S.XI~
The royal sister's sat quietly together in a gazebo in the Canterlot Gardens, both sharing a pot of tea in the quiet.
“Sister, art thou sure we do not owe Lady Sparkle satisfaction? We are fairly certain we dishonored her in thy company and as such dealt a teen to her honour.” Luna looked at her sister pensively. She had slighted her savior’s honor, whether she meant to or not, so it was hard for her to grasp that Twilight Sparkle did not desire revenge.
Celestia sipped her tea calmly and thought about how long it would take Luna to adjust. “Yes sister, I am certain Twilight does not wish to challenge you to a duel. Even if she did think you wronged her, she would forgive you regardless. So do not worry.”
Celestia had placated Luna's fears, but she still felt as if she owed Twilight an apology of some sort. “If so sister, what would be a proper gift to give Lady Sparkle in truce? We fear, like with a kiss, that if we do not give a modern appropriation to her, then any gift we could offer could only make Lady Sparkle endear us. Not that we mind, she resembles Dus-... her... in both looks and bravery, but after being gone for long we are not sure if courting is proper.”
Celestia lowered her cup and quietly thought, she smiled as a solution presented its self, and gently spoke, “How about this then, dearest sister. Twilight has been tasked with reporting to me the things she learns about the magic of friendship. Maybe I will share her finding with you, and as you gain a feel for the modern age, you can figure out a gift to present?”
Luna's countenance slowly curled into a smile as her sister spoke, liking the idea greatly. “Sister, we would like that. If you are correct that Twilight does not wish ill of us, then we shall bid our time and wait for a proper gift!”
Celestia smiled quietly and looked at her sister's smile, hoping she was making a right choice. Both her sister and her student were greatly anti-social and could use a chance to adapt. She thought back at how surprised she was to hear her student ask to stay in Ponyville, and smiled. Maybe after Luna adapted a little she could also send her sister away to the little hamlet to also learn a thing or two about friendship.
It was then that a puff of green fire appeared before the Alabaster Princess. She smiled lightly and cooed, "Ah, speaking of Twilight Sparkle~"
And so is written, Prologue I, Fugue of the Elements
Second Prologue: Cantata of Serenity
Second Prologue, Cantata of Serenity
The Epic of the Wisterian Empress
As Transcribed by Allington Sinclair
~A.S.I~
As the beast levitated before her, wiping a tear from his left eye that had formed during his spat of maniacal laughter; he had looked down at the agitated lilac unicorn below him and croaked out mockingly, “Oh Twilight, you really must get into the spirit of things! After all, Equestria is mine now! You might as well enjoy it, your little friends sure have!”
Twilight Sparkle had turned her head back to the near useless trinkets scattered on the floor around her, they were six Elements of Harmony, an order of powerful magical artifacts designed to keep the world in check; now reduced to a set of gaudy chokers with a matching diadem. Without her “friends” help, they hardly held the power required to silence the abhorrent spectre before her. With a rarely felt emotion surging inside of her, mere agitation would be nothing short of an understatement as she her head slowly swiveled back to the chimaera before her.
“I swear, that look on your face! If only you were nearly as dangerous as your face would suggest, then I might actually be scared!” He burst again into laughter, unable to resist his urge to taunt the hornless unicorn a little longer. “Can you believe how easy it was to trick your friends? I don't get how someone as clever as you, who saw through my riddles without a second thought, could have such stupid friends! I barely had to convince them of anything, they did most of it for themselves!”
~A.S.II~
“After you and your friends recovered the Elements, Twilight; I had them stored in a room protected by a ward that only I could disspell.” Celestia had a weak smile on her face, The return of Discord was weighing heavily on her mind, but if anything can keep Discord at bay, it was the Elements of Harmony. Her smile grew in earnest as she removed the ward and opened the sturdy marbled doors that lead into Celestia's private vault. She then wheeled around in place and looked at the six ponies assembled behind her.
“Long ago, Discord plagued all of Equestria with chaos and strife, bringing nothing but agony to our subjects. We had decided that he had reigned for long enough, so Princess Luna and I used the Elements to imprison him in a stone statue, in hopes that he would be contained forever, but-”
“Dearest Sister, Usseems that the Elements hath been misplaced!”
Celestia whirled about again to look at Luna, and then too the pedestal where the elements were held, her eyes widening in shock. The six ponies gathered to Canterlot peered around the two taller princesses to stare in disbelief as well. Where normally the five chokers and the tiara were stored, there was nothing.
“Oh little Luna, I wouldn't say they were misplaced, I only borrowed them a for a teensy weensy little bit!” A masculine voice nearly sang from behind. Like a turntable, the present ponies careened about, making this Cesestia's third turn-about.
“Discord!” The princesses hissed out in unison, there faces no longer bore the looks of disbelief, as it was replaced by a pair of glares only filled with a malice that a duo of near immortal goddesses could muster.
~A.S.III~
Livid, no, livid isn't good enough. Is there anything to a greater magnitude than livid? Abhorrence? Loathing? The purple unicorn raced her seething hatred through her mind, trying to find a word that could accurately describe the sheer amounts of festering rage she felt for this beast that had ripped her world asunder. Her frigid glare alone probably could of sank a luxury liner or two at that point. This spirit had tricked each of her friends into being jerks and he was only taking merriment in his deception.
“Oh little Twilight, Ill leave you to simmer, your little friends want nothing to do with you, so you might as well go try to find some new ones!” With his last little jab at Twilight, he disappeared with a puff of smoke. If only she had her horn, she could of found some enchantment to hold his body in place so she could buck that grin off his muzzle so hard it would land somewhere in Las Pegasus.
She wheeled about to face Spike, and only mildly noted his look of queasiness before she barked her command. “Spike, grab the Elements, I am going to buck Tom so hard that the stupid rock atomizes!” It was only after she harkened her command that Spike began to cough up a letter, and then with quick succession the small lime and mauve dragon began to spew forth a mountain of scrolls.
Her hatred was dissipated slightly as soon as she realized that they were all being sent from Celestia. She grabbed the nearest scroll and opened it up, reading the ledger audibly.
“Dear Twilight Sparkle...”
~A.S.IV~
Without missing a beat Celestia began to prepare the most powerful magical attack she knew, something only the avatar of a celestial body could manage: a solar prominence. A white hot sphere of plasma began to originate at the tip of her horn, before it began to rip asunder, forming a mobius ring of continuous crimson flame. The solar flare would whip forth and strike at the beast with a fury that no mortal of her earth could imagine. She had no doubts that such a blast would level half her palace, but she desired to extirpate the spectre before her so greatly so that it could no longer harm her country and ponies.
The blinding light from the charging solar ejection had hid that Luna, sharing her sister's desperation; had forsaken her daintier pony forme in favor of Nightmare Moon's raw power. Similar to her sister, she had called forth a cosmic entity to strike the beast with: a comet. From the tip of her horn, dust, water vapour, and even gasses began to condense and coalesce, forming a dense and destructive projectile. She had then readied to to move with such inertia that it could crack the Terran crust below her with ease. However, having to mend a sudden fault line in the earth's surface seemed a small price to pay to silence the Erisian spirit before her.
As both sister's put the final touches on their respective displays of omnipotence, a simple puff of smoke neutralized the duo of destructive spells, leaving the princesses to only blink in confusion.
“Ah, ah, ah, little princesses! You know better than that! Even if you both used your power's to split Equestria in two, you would harm me none!” He smugly scoffed at the royalty present and looked over to the smaller ponies present, all of them holding a look of pure shock plastered across their faces.
Never had the princesses shown so much raw power before mortal eyes! Discord locked eyes with the pony he was looking for and grinned.
“Widdle bitty Celestia, I am only doing you a favor! I am not the one you should be scared of, really. You have already brought about the twilight of your existence without even knowing the power just under your snout.” He reverted his gaze to Celestia and continued, “Oh! But what fun is a challenge if I just win? A labyrinth is no fun if there is no way out! Oh, and Luna, neat trick!” His grin twisted into a haunting cackle that continued after he disappeared from the storage room.
The serpent's last words drew the attention from all present to Nightmare Moon, and the Black Queen could not help but feel a little self conscious. With a sudden shrill squeak from a familiar blob of pink gum arabic, all ponies present began in unison to scream out in fear.
“NIGHTMAR-”
Quick to the draw, Nightmare Moon silenced the ponies with her quick command “SILENCE FOALS, DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE SOLEMNITY OF WHAT HATH TRANSPIRED? YOU ALL MUST GO AND ANNEX YOUR POWERS LEST OUR FORME BE THE LESSER OF YOUR GRIEVANCES!”
The present ponies must of still been in shock, because they could only stare and stammer at the black pegasus unicorn, their reservations were only short lived, as she harkened command with a second “GO NOW! WE HAVE LITTLE TIME! GO!” With that the six ponies dashed off in fear. Not missing a beat she resumed her dainty form and spun around to her sister, whose conflicted expression was split between worry and fear.
“Sister, we have little time, the beast most foul hath prophesied thy end, we must deduce what he meant before it comes to be!” Luna met eyes with her sister's, holding them captive as her conflicted countenance convert to capitulation, the Solar Princess slumped and fell to her knees. “Sister? Are you still the Nightmare? I thought Twilight had you freed?”
Luna's felt both frustration and a realization, her eyes quickly loosing their worry as they took steel. “Sister, we shalt explain our strength on the morrow, but the fie beast's riddle held little subtlety! He hath held thy student's gaze as he prophesied thy teen! Even going as far to mention Twilight by name! It is as if it will be thy student will cause thee harm...” She trailed off as her metallic gaze softened, her sister was sobbing, something she had not seen her sister do in over a millenia.
“Sister, I...” Celestia looked up at her royal blue sister, before looking away again. “It was clear to me too. I have faith in her, she will stop Discord...”
“Aubade?...”
“Tomorrow... When you explain your power, I will explain Twilight's... power...” Celestia felt the gaze of her sister focus on her. A fear that the White Queen has repressed for far too long has been exposed, and she could only hope that this would not bring harm her most faithful student.
“Please have faith in her, and do not let this harm what you think of her...”
“Sister, how can we not? If she is a danger to thee, we must act!”
“No!” Celestia had barked, she regretted raising her voice at her sister. “Luna, I know you care for her too, regardless of what the future holds; we both owe her a lot. We will not let that beast tarnish our love for any of our subjects, be they common ponies or our champions.”
“... Thou words bare sooth, sister. Aye, the beast would not of prophesied if not to cause us harm.” Luna bowed her head in remorse. Her sister was right, Luna did bear fancy for the maiden in question, and the beast used truths and fears to fuel his deception.
“Ver the well, sister. We shall continue with our plans then, but...” Luna raised her head and smiled weakly “We would like to know the threat she proposes to thee before We becometh too attached to thy charge.”
~A.S.V~
Twilight had read through the mountain of friendship reports that had appeared before her, her resolve strengthening with each document, but one had caught her eye. It was similar to all the other scrolls before her, but this one was seal with a midnight blue wax seal, rather than the red adhesive seals Celestia used. She immediately recognized the letter and blushed faintly before reopening it.
Dear Lady Twilight Sparkle,
As regarding thy flummox upon thine fancies, Her Royal Sister Celestia has so forth deferred the the matter to Our wisdom. She would like to send her condolences on her action, given she could only give slight insight on the manner. She felt, with reason; that We, Her Royal Majesty Princess Luna could provide greater wisdom.
Our sister, since birth; hast always shown reservation when prospected by matters of fancy and companionship. If thy present that We had said the following about Our Royal Sister, We shall hold little reservation on returning thee to Our Moon, but we had assumed that Celestia would never bloom. As such, We find it appropriate to mention despite our blooming, since time immemorial, We had only shown fancy to the fairest of Maidens of the land, the most chivalrous of battle tempered Dames who have taken flight in Our name, and the most wizened of enchantresses, suffice to say; We have shown only interest in the fairer of sexes.
To give sooth to thy inquiry, Aye, thee will be at unease about thine fancies for some time, in Our case, We did not come to terms with it till long after Our dearest Mother and Father had moved on, as We were afraid of not coming with foal would sully their memory. Dearest sister assures us that in the time of the present, such fancies are looked less upon as a offense to heraldry than a mill ago. So thy should fear little against the disposition of others, for the truest of cohorts will give thou their acceptance, even if it comes on the morrow.
It will also be hard to stay thy own judgment upon thyself, but thou must remember that it is superior to have thy affections rejected as opposed to never presenting them upon the maiden thou desire. Sister tells Us thee fear failure, and as Princess of Equestria, harken Us this: presentation of thy heart is never a defeat, and even if the ax of rejection strikes true, it is a blunt edge at best, and recovery is always attainable.
So fear not, Lady Sparkle. If this were but two millinia ago, upon hearing of such a puissant yet young enchantress bearing thy fancies, thy family would be awarded a great stipend and nobility yet little choice for thee hoof in consortium at Our side. Sister assures Us such an act would be overstepping Our powers in this age, so thee have been given the award of powers of selection in finding a shieldsister that meets thy needs.
We sincerely hope that We had helped thee feel at sooth with thy self. If thou hath any more inquiries, We shalt be honored to set them with answer. We wish thee luck, Lady Sparkle.
With sincerity and anticipation for thee reciprocation,
Her Royal Majesty Princess Luna of the Moon, the Night, and Equestria.
Twilight stared flatly at the three page letter. It wasn't the first time she has read this letter, but she was surprised to see it in the stack of friendship reports that her baby Dragon had spewed forth. She had received this letter the day after Celestia and Luna had returned to Canterlot after the resurgence of Nightmare Moon. It did make her feel better to know that her Princess was a... lesbian, but it was in this letter she had learned that the Lunar Princess certainly did not receive her cutie mark in subterfuge.
But still...
Twilight set the letter down and covered her scarlet tinged cheeks, her exasperation warping into embarrassment. It was certainly humbling to have a Princess attempt to flirt with her, despite how awkward of an attempt. She returned her gaze to the scrolls surrounding herself and sighed. Her anger had dissipated from the surge of memories brought on from the friendship reports, being replaced with a regret of her actions towards her friends. She gathered up the letters and the Elements, she had to go break her friends out of their collective funks so she can return Harmony to the Kingdom.
~A.S.VI~
Twilight Sparkle beamed with pride as Celestia lowered the medallion around her neck. They had finally returned the chaotic serpent to his statuesque tomb, and were being given public decoration as heroines of Equestria. It had been hard to feel at such a loss, and if it hadn't been for the letters that were sent to her at her time of need she would of given up on ever being a unicorn, let alone being happy, ever again.
As the ceremony came to a close, the Ponyvillagers were afforded some time to recover in Canterlot before returning home, as well as a victory feast in the evening for family and friends to attend. It was early afternoon, and at Celestia's insistence, the girls were given the afternoon to go about at their fancy. Twilight was walking towards the courtroom door, sunken in thought as trotted, but only to be broken from her reverie by a familiar unicorns voice.
“Twilight, dear; you simply must come with me to hunt for a muse! Certainly there is a boutique in town brimming with new ideas to inspire and delight!”
Twilight turned to Rarity and smiled, “Actually visiting town doesn't sound too bad, I could visit my parents book store while we are out.”
“Ah, your family lives here? I would love to meet them and see their store. I have already asked the girls if they would like to accompany me, but only Fluttershy and Pinkie agreed to come, Applejack claimed to be in need of some well earned beauty rest and Rainbow Dash insisted she visit the guard barracks.”
Twilight nodded at her friend and prepared to leave to town, but before she could get moving, a serene voice called over the ballroom. Both of the mares had turned around to the owner of the voice, the tall alabaster mare that presided over the day.
“Twilight, before you go, My sister asked me to send for you, she is in the gardens. Rarity, why don't you and your friends go visit the bath house? I have already asked the attendants to prepare the spa, my treat to you for your hard work today.” Princess Celestia smiled at her little ponies and watched as Rarity's eyes lit up.
“Thank you oh so very much, Your Majesty! We simply would love to visit your spa!”
“Oh, thanking me is not necessary, you all have earned it! Go collect your friends, a guard will escort you when you are ready.” The princess smiled and turned her head to her apprentice and continued, “Twilight, I trust you remember the way to the gardens?”
Trying to think about what the Night Princess would want, she answered the princess with a simple “Yes, Princess Celestia, did Princess Luna mention what she wanted?”
“No, she simply mentioned it as she left the ceremonie for the garden.” The truth was, a small part of her fretted that Luna would mention Discord's seeing, but she trusted her sister and student fully, and knew they wouldn’t do anything they would disapprove of.
“Thank you Princess Celestia” was all she said before bidding her fashionable friend adieu. Rarity gleamed and cantered off to collect the other young ponies. Twilight, on the other hand, began to make her way to the Royal gardens lost in thought. She hadn't seen the princess in person since the return of Nightmare Moon, and despite the few letter's they have shared, there wasn't much information she had to select from. She continued her journey towards the Royal Gardens with her head filled with thought.
“Maybe she wants to talk about today? That makes sense, a lot has happened today. Maybe... about her transformation?” Twilight shuddered about that, she had just defeated Discord, she really did not want to face Nightmare Moon again. It was awe inspiring however, to see both Princess Celestia's and Nightmare Moon's power. Being a talented unicorn, she had sensed the sheer amounts of power that was consumed by the Princesses' penultimates, and it was min-boggling.
She remembered both of there attacks clearly. Celestia had summoned what looked like a bow of flame from her horn, the ribbon glowing larger and hotter with every passing second of it's charging. Nightmare Moon's attack was just as overwhelming. From what she could pick up from the blinding light of Celestia's incantation was dense, cold, and bright. What ever the Princesses were planing to do with their attacks, she had no doubts that very few could of taken such power without being des- “OOF!”
Twilight, having being lost in thought, had walked right into the Nightmare Moon's back. Guessing from the Black Queen's reaction, she wasn't expecting it either, both ponies tumbling to the masonry below them. By the time Twilight had reopened her eyes and pulled herself off the ground, Nightmare Moon was no longer, being replaced by the petite visage of Princess Luna.
“Ah, oops! I-I'm sorry Princess, I didn't mean to run into you!” She offered a hoof to help the princess off the floor, who in response gladly took Twilight's help in righting herself.
The princess and smiled at the unicorn and curtsied slightly. “Ah Lady Sparkle, please! No offense has been taken!” Rather than returning the hoof back to the lavender unicorn, she lifted the hoof and brought he head down to plant a gentle kiss upon the hoof, eliciting a wide-eyed blush from said unicorn. “We thank thee for coming to our summons!”
The scarlet cheeked unicorn gasped lightly and looked away, she really hadn't expected the kiss, but wasn't entirely unsure if it was unwelcome. Before she could stammer out a reply, the princess had set her hoof down and continued.
“We are thankful that our Royal Sister's faith was not misplaced. Thou hath done well on this day, saving Equestria from the chaos that the fie beast would hast wrought.” The princess then smiled up at the blushing unicorn and let out a slight giggle. “No many can say they have saved Equestria twice in their lives without spending decades in service to the crown, or being one of the crown such as Us and Our Royal Sister. Verily thou art a special mare to possess such power!”
“U-uh, th-thank you Princess, but It isn't anything too special, I wouldn't be able to do it without my friends.” The praise certainly was welcome to the purple mare, but the knowledge that the princess could very well “fancy” her made it a tad bit awkward.
“Ha, but even the greatest warriors are but mere colts without comrades at arms! If it were not for thou assembling thy friends both when thee fought Us and defeated Discord, then Our triumphs would have been secured. We do find it amusing however, that even if We had been successful in turning you all back to thy fair hamlet, our rule would of only lasted a few fortnights until Discord's return. So We are indebted to thee for showing Us to Our folly.” To punctuate her gratitude she flared her wings and took a deep bow before Twilight.
“B-but I saw you turn back! You were Nightmare Moon again today!” She did wish she had thought that out before blurting it out, but to her surprise it only turned the Princesses grin into a smirk, and then a giggle, as she rose from the bow.
“Ah, We were hoping that the glinter from Our Dearest Sister's prominence would mask Our show of force, but Alas We had only panic'd. Do not fret, Lady Sparkle; for the form before thee is only an illusion cast to put Our subjects at sooth. We understand that Our truest from would only strike fear into Our... less steel'd subject's hearts, so We take this form to give our subjects a semblance of ease. Has thee ever wondered why We do not resemble Our dearest sister, despite only being relatively younger than her?” With a smile she dropped her illusion and took the form of Nightmare Moon, only without her damascus helm.
Twilight watched as the navy blue pony began to glow and shift form, growing a few hooves taller and much sleeker. The glow faltered as Twilight found herself staring into the evergreen catseyes that Queen Moon bore. She was both curious and uneasy around this form, but she had to admit she was less frightened then before.
“I-I don't think it has ever crossed my mind... I suppose I had concluded you just were not as grown as she was” As Twilight spoke her words calmed, but her eyes betrayed her fear as they stayed locked with Moon's slitted pupils.
“Thou art partially correct, as the illusion bares resemblance to Us when We were but fillies. We omit our onyx fur and draconian visage, as we attempt to be a little more endear-able.” The princess' voice lost it's gentle edge, almost sounding like a dragon's purr as she spoke. She flared her wings and ethereal locks, and Twilight could not help but noticed both how the Black Queen puffed her chest, and took an even further elevated diction; “We take it in combat as the illusion spell takes a toll on Our majicks, and to fight Our best against those whom wish teen dealt upon Our Queendom, We need to be best prepared. Verily Our visage can only strike fear into the very soul of Our enemies most foul!” and with out a second lost she doubled over in a fit off giggles, her wings folding back against her body. “But alas,We tally too long!”she almost squeaked out, the mirth apparent in her voice. Nightmare Moon then glowed once more and took her younger form, a smile now gracing her equine lips.
“The reason we asked you to join us this eve is a rather simple one, We would wish that thou would take to dine with us at nightfall, it will be after supper is given to thy and Our Royal Sister, and We have no intents of depriving you of thy victory feast with thy cohorts.” Princess Luna bowed gracefully before Twilight, and still holding her bow she continued. “However, it would honour Us greatly if you were accept Our invitation to dine with privacy.”
Twilight was far from oblivious to what was happening. In her mind, every action the Princess has made was analyzed, scrutinized, and all drawn to a single conclusion. In times like these she would look to her accrued wealth of knowledge to find data that she needed for her next action, and normally a book would come to mind; helping her come to terms with the situation. This time it was no different.
The Culture of Pre-Canterlot Equestria was an encyclopaedic work that sought to catalog and explain as much as possible of what is known of Medieval Equestria. It covered a vast array of topics such as Manorial structure, the origin's of many of Equestria's still floating Houses, martial arts and tactics, construction methods, and the rules of Knighthood.
Knighthood was very different then it was back then. To be knighted, you were selected as a member of a fighting force by a member of Nobility to serve as a personal avatar in combat. In return, you were given an estate on the Noble's land, as well as a claim of the noble's role should there be a crisis. It was one of the two lowest forms of Nobility recognized by the Equestrian Crown, the other being an Baronet, who was a civilian who was ascended to nobility by marriage of a family member, or appointed by Nobility to be as such.
The Culture of Pre-Canterlot Equestria goes on about all roles of Nobility, but the section on Knights covers a topic called “Courtly Love.” Being of such low rank, yet often times being considered as both Chivalrous and Heroic, Knights would often win the hearts of the progeny of a Noblepony. However, Marriages were almost exclusively planned back then, so members of lesser nobility could only share love with the children of higher nobility “from afar.” This was done through “courting,” in which the lovers in question will engage in a light romance via gestures and brief meetings.
The gestures were often boasting, or displays of might. There would always be compliments payed to the higher caste, and always gentle kisses placed on the hoof as a show of respect. It is akin to flirting, only where as flirting could lead to a romantic relationship, courting was primarily a short term process usually meant to end when the Higher Caste member was wed, or the lower caste member was “removed” from the situation.
Princess Luna was undoubtedly Pre-Canterlot, as Canterlot did not become the Capital of Equestria until around nine-hundred years ago. It was with little doubt in Twilight's mind, that she was being courted by the Princess.
Which is about as far as her mental facilities could carry her before her cheeks burnt clear off her face and fell to the floor below her, the sheer amounts of heat radiated from her cheeks melted through the granite pathway. She was able to deduce that her cheeks had to of far exceed two-thousand degrees of kelvin to be able to so quickly melt through the igneous silicate paving stones that the walk way was composed of. She briefly considered how long it would take before her cheeks would reach the mantle, probably about-
“Lady Twilight, art thou well? We understand being humbled by Our request but We assure you it isn't worth poaching thy mind.” The Princess smiled genuinely at the purple unicorn, before the urge to tease the little pony took over. With a nearly sing-song voice, she gently eased out her jab, a coy smile gracing her lips. “Natheless, We admit that We find this rather endearing, that thee worked thyself into such a tizzy to where the cat hath stayed your tongue.”
Yep, they were well onto the way to the core by now.
Twilight began to stammer, trying to get both her mind and maw to work in unison to eak out some form of intelligible reply, but was silenced by the princess' demascus slipper. The princess then leaned in, her maw only mere centimeters from Twilight's ear, and with as a feminine voice as she could muster, poured the following into the lavender unicorn's ear. “Ah, but it is clear to us that this is a first to thee. Do not fret then, Dearest Twilight; I shall take thee embarrassment as a confirmation. We shalt rendezvous at yonder gazebo...,” Luna pointed with her right wing towards the small patio on the far side of the garden; “...at moonrise, try not to feast to heavily at supper, We do wish to share a meal with thee, but if you do, please do think of a lovely dessert of us to share.”
The Princess then leaned even further into Twilight, causing the unicorn to sit up to support the added weight of the Princess. Her face pressed against the side of Twilight's head, and delicately whispered into her ears, her words barely audible; “Ah, and Dearest Twilight, one day we do wish to see how flustered thee can be, for it seems the more we speak to thee, the cuter thou becomes.”
As quickly as she said that, she pulled away and began to trot past Twilight, purposely dragging her astral tail across the younger mare's side. “Please do not disappoint us, Lady Twilight. We assure thee, if thou thinks we have teased thee harshly now, then wethinks you would loathe to see how heavily we can make thou regret it if thee stand Us up!” and as soon as she finished her sentence, she disappeared into the castle. Leaving Twilight to collapse on the granite pathway to stew in embarrassment.
“Oh hey... It looks like the core of the Earth is made of liquid steel and cobalt...”
~A.S.VII~
Luna happily trotted down the hallway leading to the staircase that would take her to her chambers. Her last consort had never nearly been as endearing as Lady Twilight had just been, and it tickled her immensely to see how visibly written it was on the unicorn's face as to what was on her mind. What Twilight lacks in Duskbriar's wisdom and chivalry, she makes up in both power and adorability.
“Duskbriar...” Luna's canter came to a halt as she remembered her last love. A battle hardened Unicorn who had served at her side through several wars, who she rewarded with her heart and a place at her side. A small smile cracked in the corner's of her mouth. Dusk was never attracted to maidens, and only accepted her place as consort out of loyalty and a need for companionship, and while it meant everything to have her beau at her side, She knew that she had never loved Luna as greatly as Luna loved her. Maybe Twilight could retu-
“Sister, I am fairly certain you just killed my apprentice. She hasn't moved from were you left her in the garden, the guards even poked her a few times to see if she would respond”
Luna smiled at her sister's voice and looked up at her, whom she could tell had noted the tears in the night princess' eyes. “Ah, 'tis a shame then, verily. If she has departed then she would be unable to return Our invitation!”
Princess Celestia sighed and shook her head. From a vantage point above the garden, she had watched the whole thing unfurl, straight down to the merciless teasing that the poor unicorn had to endure. “Well, mostly killed, anyways. Did she accept?”
“Verily sister, Our displays were most effective of wooing the fair maiden! She was left speechless, and We took that as acceptance of our offer. No doubt resides in my heart that she will turn it down!” She mock grinned before understanding her sister's countenance and lessened to a smile.
“I am sure Our secret was ousted by thy eavesdropping...”
“Why... did you never tell me that you were Nightmare Moon the whole time?”
Luna visibly flinched at the tone in her sister's voice. Celestia's voice rang in her mind to form the countlessly repeated phrase, so much so that it was the last words Celestia spoke before banishing her to the moon. “I am not angry, I'm just... dissapointed.”
“Sister, we are sorry, but thee is correct, seventeen millenia is a long time to keep a secret...”
“Sister... I had thought it was the corruption, I... didn't know the sister I cherished was a lie, I would of accepted you as your truest self no matter what.”
Another injury was dealt to the moon princess's heart, yet she felt she deserved it. “Sister, thou were only three when we were born, Father and Mother were both pleased to give thee a sister and friend...” She paused and looked down, sighing quietly “... but thou never would accept me like thee had just said. Mother said it that we frightened you, and they both tried their hardest to show we meant you no harm ever.”
Celestia closed here eyes and tried to remember, seventeen thousand years is a long time to look back on, and the paltry eighteen years the composed her fillyhood and early marehood were but a blur to her.
“It was then that Father gifted me with the knowledge of change. He taught me to take a form that thou could love as a sister, to which We eagerly took. It wasn't until the first banishment of Discord that I saw the chance to be honest...”
“Sister, but you told me it was just a new height in your power, you never told me you could willingly change!”
“Sister, We wished to lie to you no further. We had wished to take our true form so we could feel content. After thirteen thousand years we wished nothing more then to be honest with thee, a small lie was a price worth paying to Us to undo a much grander one”
Celestia looked down at her sister and sighed, before pulling her sister into a hug, she had just brought herself to forgive her sister yet again, but now she had to apologize...
“Serenade... I am sorry placed aesthetics over my love for you. That makes me no different then the ponies who shunned you. I am sorry...”
“Sister, we had forgiven you when you first accepted us as your sister, so many eons ago. We had always been jealous of thy radiance, and as so we were at least deserving of a small time out, even if it makes Us an anachronism to our subjects. We are glad that thee sent thy steward to show us our folly.”
Celestia drew her sister into a tighter hug, smiling as her sister returned it. Together they held the embrace for a short while before Luna pushed away and smiled. “I love you too sister, but wethinks we have tallied for too long. Mayhaps we may learn of why Lady Twilight is more then just a regular unicorn?”
The warmth of the situation drained away as Celestia's eyes focused on the ground. She took a deep breath and nodded quietly. “Luna, I do not wish to discuss this here, follow me to the top of the North Tower and we shall talk about Twilight there.”
The duo of Pegasus Unicorns took flight, the evening sun slowly making it's way to the horizon lighting the pair as they climbed altitude.
~A.S.VIII~
The real reason Celestia had stalled the girls in Canterlot was a simple one, she needed time to collect their dearest friends and family. To each of the girls, she had asked who they wished to attend, and then sent couriers and carriages to collect the summoned individuals.
From Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash's and Fluttershy's drill instructor was to be flown in, being the closest thing either pegasus has ever had to an attentive parent. Upon hearing that two of her most “problematic” students were being toasted as heroines of all of ponydom, Silver Lining was quick to accept the invitation to the victory feast, half of her overwhelmingly proud of the duo and the other half overwhelmingly incredulous. Rainbow Dash had also hoped to get the Wonderbolts to come, but they were in Las Pegasus for a tournament, and would not be able to attend.
Several Carriages were sent to Ponyville, as Pinkie had invited both her mother and father, as well as her sisters, and the Cakes to come. All parties in question were honored to come to the feast, but Pinkie's dad had expressed concern that, being simple rock farmers, they did not have proper attire; but the courier assured gruff stallion that his clothing was not of importance, his presence was. On top of Pinkie's invitees, Rarity had invited both her mother and her younger sister to the feast, and both happily accepted it.
Applejack was incredulous at first, but she simply told Celestia that she doubted any of the Apples sans her little sister would want to come. Her knowledge of her family held true, as only Apple Bloom wanted to come. The rest of the Apples stating that they would have a “hootenanny” for Applejack and her friends when they got back to Sweet Apple Acres. Rarity's mother, upon hearing that Sweetie Belle wanted her friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to come, offered to escort the fillies to the feast. Scootaloo was especially excited to come, as her idol Rainbow Dash was being honored.
Twilight was surprised to see everyone she wanted to ask to attend had already been assembled at the castle before the feast. Both her parents had come, as well as her older brother Shining Armor and her first friend and foal-sitter Princess Cadence, both of whom were usually always on castle grounds regardless.
All part and parcel, almost fifty ponies would be present at the feast, and the royal dining hall was built to accommodate two-hundred. As the ponies shuffled into the halls and took their assigned seating, a murmur held over the small crowd as they splintered into small groups of conversation.
Twilight spent the time talking with her family about all that had happened in the past few months. A new school year was starting and her family was getting ready to break even this year after they had stocked the required readings for several of Canterlot's learning facilities. Shining broke the conversation and a sheepish grin.
“Twily, I heard from my men what you did today. You did awesome little sis!”
“I am not really sure what happened though. Everything went screwy then turned back to normal. What happened dear?” Twilight's mother looked confused, and she was concerned that her daughter may of gotten hurt.
Twilight recanted the tale of the Princesses first victory, and how over time the enchantment that kept the the beast of chaos at bay had worn out. She then told her parents how she and her friends had used the magic of friendship to overcome Discord and return him to stone.
By the end of the tale, Twilight's family was beaming with pride, they had understood why their daughter was so being haled by the Princesses as a heroine. Before they could continue their conversation, however, a gentle voice rang over the gathered crowd.
“My little ponies, please take your seats, today we are gathered to honor the victory of Pinkimena Diane Pie, Ranbowdash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight Sparkle over a very force of nature. If it hadn't been for their courage, I shudder to think of where we would be right now. Now please, enjoy!” and with her blessing, the feast had commenced.
~A.S.IX~
The feast had gone off without a hitch, and as the ponies excused themselves to their rooms, Twilight sleeked off back to the garden. Upon reaching the Gazebo, she wasn't too surprised to see it was candlelit and attended by a waiter standing solemnly.
“Her Majesty will be present shortly, may I offer a beverage, Lady Sparkle?”
The unicorn took her seat on the smaller cushion that lined the round oak table and smiled at the waiter. “A dinner tea, please. Something not too sweet.”
He bowed and trotted towards the castle, leaving Twilight alone to her thoughts. During the feast, she sat diagonally from the night princess and more then once they shared a brief glance. If anything it reminded her to only eat lightly as per her request. She silently thought about why the princess wanted to “date” her of all ponies, but her answer came in the form of the first letter the princess had sent to her.
It only caused her to sigh a little. Twilight doubted that had it not been for the Princess' teleportation to to moon, and the subsequent kiss- she meant resuscitation, she probably would of never figured out why she had preferred the company of mares over colts. She supposed it didn't really matter, after all; it was probably a good thing that she had someone to awkwardly flaunt over so she didn't do anything she would regret with her friends.
“Ah, Lady Twilight! We hope we did not keep thee waiting!”
Twilight came out of thought too see the the smiling form of Princess Luna, taking seat on the cushion across from her. “Oh! Princess Luna, n-no, I was just thinking, that is all!”
The princess giggled at the startled unicorn just in time for the waiter to return with a pot of tea, pouring a glass of tea for Twilight before setting the pot on the table. “Your Majesty, would you like a beverage?” He was bowing before her while he awaited a response.
“A bottle of a decent vintage, please. Nothing too fancy, but We wish to enjoy it natheless. Also, please bring a salad from the kitchens, the Lady and I will take dinner soon.”
And with a “Yes, Your Majesty” he turned tail and returned to the kitchen.
There was a short silence before the Princess began conversation. “Lady Twilight, Sister tells Us that there are new schools of astrology in this age? Perhaps thou may enlighten Us of them?”
Twilight's eyes brightened at the inquiry to lecture, and prepared her response. “Yes, Princess. My understanding is that there is two new schools of thought. The first are called Astronomers, they don't focus on divining meaning from the night sky as much as the want to find new things in it. The other school is called Cosmology. They are like Astronomers but they focus less on discovery and more on explaining it.”
“Pray tell, how dost... Is cosmologists what you would call them?” Twilight nodded in affirmation. “Aye, how dost cosmologists differ from Astrologists? They both seek to explain Our heavens, do they not?”
“Not exactly princess, Astrologists focus on the magic of the stars for practical means like predictions. Cosmologists try to theorize physical properties about heavenly bodies, like mass, and speed, orbit, distance from us, brightness. Practically the information has little use until we can explore the heavens, but knowledge in it's self is worth learning.”
“Explore? Our heavens? Like the exploration of a new continent?” Luna's eyes had widened in surprise, she had no idea such a thought line had existed among ponies.
“That is right, princess! The ultimate goal of Cosmology is to leave Earth and visit other planets. We would like to visit the moon, and maybe the other planets some day. Right now many of the brightest minds are working on a long range portal emitter. They plan on one day firing a portal to the moon and being able to set hoof on it... Princess... are you ok?”
“... Ponies... want to... go to my moon? They... love it so much the wish to set foot upon it?” The princess was staring at the little unicorn with scrutiny, trying to determine if the unicorn was lying or not.
“I mean, well now you are back, it probably seems a little overzealous. If you don't want them to go I am sure you could explain-”
“Twilight, please tell Us the sooth, do they really wish to explore Our heavens?”
“Uh... Y-yea... It has been a major goal of cosmologists and astronomers for the last three decades.”
“That... that is splendid!”
Twilight looked up at the ecstatic princess before her, her eyes easily gave away there glee. “You think so Princess?”
“Aye! We do! This must only be a recent foray, is it not?”
“Well, mostly, space travel has only been researched for the last hundred years or so, since it was discovered that the surface of Mars is solid.”
“Lady Twilight We beseech thee, tell Us more of the pony scholars who wish to traverse Our plane! Surely they must love my night to yearn to travel amongst Our stars!”
Twilight smiled and nodded, beginning her tale with the meteoric impact from an hundred and twenty years ago that proved that the surface of Mars had solid land...
…and had ended on the first successful space walk, where a pony had spent almost five minutes in low orbit before being teleported back down to Terra-firma. The whole time, the princess was raptured by the unicorns words. It was here that Twilight had learned that the Princess's knowledge on arithmetic and physics had surpassed her own, and that she was endeared to these ponies who so bravely traversed her realm.
“Lady Twilight, We are most humbled by these scholars. We shall look forward to offering Our wisdom on the matter.” A smile formed on the Princess' lips before she continued. “If ponies wish to visit Our Moon, then We shall be honored to make it more hospitable for them. Verily We shall have to add both atmosphere and tillable soil to our moon.”
“Really?!” Twilight looked at the princess with admiration, surprised to see the princess offer her moon to the Ponies she ruled.
“It shall be a shame to see Our pearl change it's colours, but the greens of vegetation and the blues of the seas shall be more than worth it...” The princess smiled and turned to Twilight. “Lady Twilight, thou hast far exceeded Our expectations for this eve, as well as this day. Thou hast brought peace to Our lands, hopes for a Queendom upon Our moon, taught Us that there are ponies willing to risk their own lives to swim amongst Our stars. We thank thee.”
“P-princess, I mean, I didn't invent space travel or anything, you could of learned it from anypony.” Twilight blushed and looked down, rubbing the back of her head.
“Aye, we could have, but we expected but a night of Us talking while thou hid behind thy endearing fluster. To have thee talk about a subject so dear to Our hearts as Our night sky means ten-fold than the simple lecture thou believes thou spoke.”
Twilight blushed even harder at the compliment, but was able to speak a little clearly this time. “Its really nothing Princess, just that the stars and space really interest me; I have been looking at them with my telescopes my whole life.”
“Ah, and the Lady doth say she loves Our visage and beauty, surely We believed We would be the only one paying compliment tonight!” Luna stood from her table and stepped over to the blushing unicorn, smiling warmly before taking a bow. “Lady Twilight, thou doth thyself a disservice in doubting thy words and works. Now please, lessen thy nerve, perhaps a walk? Ah, but the witching hour draws near, does the Lady wish Us to walk her to her tower instead?”
Twilight hadn't noticed the time realized it was getting late, before shaking head and and sheepishly smiling at the navy blue pony before her. “No, Princess, That's fine, I am normally awake now either reading or... um... stargazing heh...”
“Ah! But does that not sound splendid! The night is clear, perhaps we can catch the Mizar sisters and Alcor.” The princess stepped out of the gazebo and began to look up in the sky.
Twilight tilted her head. “Mizar sisters?”
“Aye Twilight, the star thee call Mizar is five stars in ballet, with Alcor in flight around them. Ah yes! Hark, for it is Ursa Major, and there, in his tail, Mizar and Alcor!”
Twilight could make out both Mizar and Alcor, but without a powerful telescope she would be incapable of making out Mizar's “sisters.” It was with an “eep” that she found herself pulled against the princess' side with an embrace from her powerful wing.
Twilight tried to stammer out something but was silenced by the princess' silver slipper, a smile gracing her cheeks. “Twilight... we plead thee, say nothing, and bask in Our light...”
With a deep blush she nodded and obeyed the princess' request. She had noted the thousands of stars that were visible tonight, but she soon found herself lost in thought. About the royal blue princess. The night that surrounded them. Her victory of the day. Unconsciously, she pressed herself against the princess' side and smiled gently, it was afterwords that she noted the warmth of Princess Luna's feathers and fur. They sat together in the quiet, before the silence was broken with a stifled yawn from the smaller unicorn.
“Come, Milady, We shalt escort thee to thy quarters.” The Princess sat up and smiled at Twilight so to catch her nod of approval. Silently the pair walked through the darkened halls of the castle towards Twilight's tower.
“Lady Twilight, thou can expect us to see thee off tomorrow, is that well?” The princess whispered as they walked in pace.
“Y-yea, I would like that a lot.” The blush had never really left her cheek, but she didn't really mind anymore.
“Aye, as would we, Twilight.” The princess stopped at Twilight's door and turned to smile at her. “We do wish thee pleasant dreams, Milady.” She gave a small bow before turning to walk to her own bedchambers on the other side of the castle.
“Th-thank you Princess... w-wait Princess?” She didn't know why she was going to do what she was about too, but she was sure it is what she wanted to do.
“Ah, yes Lady Twilight?” Luna turned around to look at her little friend with a smile.
“I-I think we're supposed to end a good date with a kiss... r-right?”
“Ah, then thou admit thee enjoyed thyself? Aye, We would very much like to share a kiss with thee. A real one, this time.” Luna began to approach the smaller unicorn until she looked down at her. “Would thee?”
Twilight's cheeks heated up again, but she managed a nod, her eyes locked with the Princess' green eyes, lost in the glowing green orbs. She felt the princess lift her muzzle to face Luna, and watched as she closed the gaps between their lips, sweet contact only coming a few brief seconds later.
Quietly they sat there and shared the moment, twilight had watched the princess blush during the kiss before she closed her eyes and smiled into it, leaning forward to return the kiss in earnest. Suppressing the urge to giggle as the breath from Luna's nose tickled her snout, before the kiss was quietly broken by Luna. She smiled at Twilight, still wearing her blush. “Goodnight, Lady Twilight.”
Twilight smiled and returned the sentiment “Good Night Princess Luna.”
With their date concluded, the two mares returned to their bedchambers, with one feeling a little more confident about herself and the other feeling a little less alone.
And so ends Second Prologue, Cantata of Serenity.
