All in all, it was calm. But Philomena twitched.
Luna raised an eyebrow instinctively, her ears perking up. Sure enough, it wasn’t but a moment before her bedroom door flung open wide, the mahogany bearing a hairline fracture after its collision with solid stone. A cyan hue that had previously enveloped the gateway had now began to fade, much contrary to its source. Standing in the doorway was a steaming pink alicorn, her usually bouncy hair having fallen straight down with more than a couple loose ends attached.
“Aha,” Luna said, a small grin appearing across her features as she continued to stare out of the windows, unfazed by her sudden intruder. “No wonder Philly was so itchy. She can sense your negative aura, you know.”
Cadence let out a long sigh, slowly traipsing across the room in order to sit down next to Luna. Joining her in looking outside, Cadence allowed her head to fall between her hooves.
“Amoré,” Luna began, extending a hoof to gently stroke Cadence’s frazzled mane. “What has angered you so?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she replied flatly, drawing circles in the ground with one hoof.
“That is an untruth,” Luna replied, smirking. “For if you truly hadn’t the intentions of speaking to me, you would not have come. Unless of course, you only came so you could lose.”
“Lose?” Cadence asked, raising an eyebrow at Luna quizzically. Instead of her usual, darker regalia, Luna was wearing a silver necklace, crown, and horseshoes. To go along with that, a cloak of bright cobalt trimmed with white covered the princess’ back. Luna wore a gentle smile, bathing in the morning sunlight as if she was Princess Celestia herself. It was strangely out of character, not to mention the fact that she and Philomena had taken quite an interest in each other. The phoenix, a brilliant mix of gold and scarlet, stood perched atop one of Luna’s bookcases as she surveyed the scene below her. She seemed somewhat critical, taking in every aspect of the conversation going on between the two.
“Do you not play?” Luna asked, returning the raised eyebrow. “I would have taken you as someone who played.”
“Play what?” Cadence asked.
Luna did not respond, instead she got up and went to one of her closets. She pulled the door open, looking up and down as she browsed. Sparks of blue shot from her horn, illuminating the dark space while she continued to search. After a moment, her efforts died down, having found the object she was looking for: a brown, cardboard box with nothing written on it. The box in tow, Luna returned to Cadence’s side. Focusing inward once again, Luna closed her eyes as she began to manipulate the room around her. Her mane and cloak raised, waving to the pulsations of her magical excess. A round, mahogany table floated into the center of the bedroom from its previous settlement up against the wall. The table was then set with a silk mat of red and gold, upon which Luna placed her box.
“Go ahead,” Luna urged, taking her seat on one side of the table. “Open it.”
Cadence lightly prodded the box, a filly’s matched sense of caution and curiosity quickly returning to her. She even began sniffing it, only to realize seconds later how obscure the prospect of that was. Shrugging, she levitated the cover from the object, peering in to examine its contents.
“You want to play... chess?” she asked in confusion.
“Unless you wish not to?” Luna asked, her eyes fixated upon the checkered board.
“No, no,” Cadence reassured, taking the board and game pieces out of the box. “I’ll play.”
“Very well then,” Luna said, clicking her teeth together to call Philomena over to her. The phoenix obeyed, leaving a short trail of flames in her wake as she flew. She landed on Luna’s shoulder, illuminating her with a soft orange glow that was comparable only to a morning sunrise. “I will bestow upon you the decision: black or white?”
Cadence cocked her head sideways. “Black or white?” she asked, trying to consider whether she should be grateful or not for the option. “Does it really matter?”
“Does it matter?” Luna repeated, chuckling softly. “It makes all the difference.”
“How? It’s just a color,” Cadence said.
“It is everything but,” Luna argued, arranging the pieces to their set positions on the board. “It tells you how a pony thinks, and knowing how they play is what changes the game.”
“You can’t possibly tell what moves somepony will make by how they choose a color.”
“On the contrary,” Luna said. “Someone who chooses white... they are a fearless risk-taker, arrogant in their own right. But that arrogance is earned, for they assume that they can go first and still command the game. They take control, they seize the moment, and they pray for their cruel, unanticipated blitzkrieg to make such an impact on their opponent to a point where they haven’t a single hope of making a comeback. But someone who chooses black? They are the silent, dangerous threat. They are the scholars, the intellectuals of the game. They study you, learn from you, and patiently sit back until you make a seemingly insignificant mistake. Do you know what happens when you do make that mistake?”
“They strike...” Cadence answered, more to herself than Luna as she took in the gravity of the older pony’s words. “I’ve made a decision. I know what I want to do.”
“And what would that be?”
“I have decided,” Cadence began, a smirk of her own forming quickly on her face. “To let you choose first.”
Luna broke out in hearty laughter, wiping a stray tear as it slid down her face. Philomena extended her wings, having lost balance due to Luna’s sudden, exaggerated movements. Once laughter turned to coughing, Luna began to calm down, turning the board so her desired suit was on her side. “For the sake of the game, I will choose white,” she said. “It is the color of my moon, after all. I must remain loyal to it.”
“But is black not the color of your nights?” Cadence asked, her gaze drifting to Philomena as the phoenix readjusted herself on Luna’s cloak. “Why are you loyal to one, but not the other?”
“Because my nights are everything except black,” Luna replied matter-of-factly. “They are every hue of blue, golden, orange, yellow, and green. They are purple, they are white, and they are pink. But the one color they are not is black.”
“That’s absurd,” Cadence retorted. “I’ve never seen anything but black and white in the night sky. How can you tell me that there is no black in the sky?”
“You are simply not looking at it from the right angle,” Luna said.
Cadence sat in silence, considering the implications as she did so. Luna took the quiet moment to begin her turn, looking down to view the board while she thought. Her horn came to life, electrified with the harmonic dance of blue and silver as she took hold of a knight. The figure began to rise, giving off flowing energy as it moved gracefully through the air. The aura brightened the faces of both ponies sitting at the table, its gentle magic making the hairs on their muzzles strand up in delight. As the knight landed on a new space, Luna’s magic faded, bringing an abrupt end to the journey of the knight.
“Moving a knight first?” Cadence asked as she pushed one of her middle pawns up with a hoof. “Nopony does that. Why?”
“The best laid plans aren’t laid at all,” Luna answered, smiling. “They are simply acted out by instinct.”
“Yeah... you could say I’ve done a lot of acting without thinking lately...” Cadence whispered, shying away from the board and covering her face with her golden mane.
“I will ask again: what has brought you here, Amoré?” Luna asked, moving up a pawn that had previously been blocking her rook.
“You keep calling me Amoré,” Cadence stated regardless of the current topic.
“It is your name,” Luna reasoned, studying her niece intently. “Do you find it unfitting?”
“Everyone else just calls me Cadence,” she replied. Just then, Philomena took flight from Luna’s shoulder, landing instead on Cadence after her brief trip. Cadence looked up and found herself staring into the divine beauty of the phoenix, captivated by the feathers intertwined. Philomena herself was not so intrigued by Cadence; she gave her wings a powerful flap before settling down and falling asleep to the rhythm of her host’s breathing.
“Philly likes you,” Luna said. “I don’t think she cares about your nickname all that much more than I do.”
“She’s amazing,” Cadence said, carefully petting the bird as if it was a newborn foal that could be broken with the slightest slip of the hoof. “But why is she here? Doesn’t Philomena belong to Aunt Celestia?”
“Philomena belongs to Philomena,” Luna corrected. “And she enjoys spending time with me, so she does.”
Cadence turned away from the phoenix, looking back down at the chess board. She moved up another pawn, slowly becoming more apathetic towards the game as they played on. Noticing her sullen expression, Luna brought her hoof to Cadence’s face, raising the young princess’ chin up to meet her at eye level.
“I screamed at Shining Armor today,” she admitted, looking away from Luna once again. “I just... let him have it. It wasn’t even his fault, and I was so angry and I can’t believe I could-”
“Why?” Luna asked, interrupting Cadence’s self-prosecuting rant.
“His guards,” she began, levitating one of her bishops across the plane of black and white. “They just won’t leave me alone. They think I can’t handle myself.”
“They are there to protect you,” Luna said. “Not to inflict upon you such turmoil.”
“I know, I know. I just don’t know. I mean, I do, but I don’t. Why do I not want this?” Cadence asked herself, twisting the knife she had already plunged inside. “All I could ever think about when I was a little girl was growing up to be this strong princess. A role model to my country, my ponies, and even Twilight Sparkle. Now she’s out there saving the world over and over again while I just sit here on my flank. What in Equestria’s name would she think of me? I’m a failure, and I can’t even walk across the hall without a regiment tailing me because they know it too.”
“Do they think that?” Luna quipped, stealing Cadence’s bishop with one of her own. “Or do you?”
“I guess I do,” she said, crestfallen.
“Cadence, you are a young alicorn,” Luna began, ignoring the board as she spoke. “You cannot hope to yet understand your place. You have an eternity to find your way here. Now isn’t the time to do that, child. Now is the time to enjoy what you have.”
“Enjoy what I have?” she asked, her expression darkening as Luna’s tone took a turn for the worse.
Luna sighed, grimacing. She breathed in as she closed her eyes, her face pointed down at the floor. “While your health will remain, your husband’s will not. He will endure, but eventually, his age will get the better of him. You will appear more of a daughter than his wife, until... the end. It is not an exciting concept, but you are young, and both Celestia and I have learned this lesson the hard way more than once in our lives. We are very old, and one day, time shall have spanned on for so long that you seem to be just as old as us. Then, and only then will you truly understand what you were meant to do. You have a purpose, but right now, it is unclear. Be happy for that. Be happy that it doesn’t come sooner than it’s supposed to.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Cadence asked.
“I am a very old pony, Amoré,” Luna started, meeting Cadence at eye level. “But I am not the oldest. Nor am I the wisest, not by a long shot. There are many elder beings, more powerful and more knowing than me. There are things in this world that Celestia and I may never understand. I just try to make the best of them. I am not perfect.”
“You seem it,” she argued. “Have you ever been as stupid as me?”
“Even more so,” Luna admitted, noticing then that the game had halted. She took her turn before returning her attention to Cadence. “But the circumstances were different. It wasn’t like it is now.”
“How so?” Cadence asked.
“It was when I ruled the world.”
~L~
“It’s over,” Luna said, looking up at the statue. “It’s finally over.”
“As it should be,” Celestia added. Her silky pink mane flowed in tune with the breeze, dancing a seemingly ethereal dance. Unfortunately, this made it impossible to hide the deep, red scar on her neck. She looked outwards at the barren, dead plane of tree stumps and burnt grass. Disgusted, she growled angrily, spitting at the earth and stomping her hooves. “This... this could have been avoided...”
“No, it could not,” Luna argued, walking over to join her sister. “Nothing could have stopped this once we got involved. I just don’t know where we’re going to live now,” she said, her gaze drifting up at their broken home where the Everfree Forest used to be. It was charred, entire rooms burned and smashed to rubble. What was once nearly a castle looked more like an abandoned building on the outskirts of a long-dead city.
“Our primary objective should be returning to Astron,” Celestia decided, beginning to walk as she turned away from the scene. “I do not wish to be here anymore.”
Luna sighed. “What about him?” she asked, pointing to the side. There lay a menacing, horrid outline of a sick-looking creature. The otherworldly being sat frozen in stone, its claws extending from its body as to dig deep into the animate life around it. But these claws were not normal, no. The beast wore the claws of both an eagle and a lion, the tail of a serpent, wings of a dragon and pegasus, the legs of a goat and lizard, and most unfitting horns ever conceivable. But this was not the worst of it all. This wasn’t even close. The truly stomach-churning, body-wrenching part of it all were its eyes. Its dastardly, beady eyes. They matched its arrogant, knowing grin. They dug deep into Luna, and judging by her discomfort, Celestia as well.
“Burn him,” she said, closing her eyes. “Smash him to pieces... then burn the remains. When you’re done, soak the ashes, soak them in the blood of the innocent from which he drew it!”
“And once their blood has seeped into his unrecognizable remains,” Celestia uttered, gagging as she swallowed a lump in her throat. “Burn him again.”
“Celestia...” Luna started, taking a few steps closer to her sister so she could rest her hoof on the young alicorn’s neck. “Just calm down, it’s okay...”
“It’s not okay!” she declared, growing more angry by the second. “It will never be okay! How could we have let this go on for so long? How could we have never known?”
“We are barely adults,” Luna said, trying her best to console the enraged Celestia. “We weren’t supposed to understand. We did what we could when we could do it. You need to calm down, sister, and look in front of you.”
Celestia opened her eyes. The remaining forest that had been left untouched during the fight had been set on fire without her even knowing it. She sighed, collapsing to the ground below her. Luna took the initiative, lying down next to her sister as she continued to stroke her mane. Celestia welcomed the touch, as affection from anypony was desperately needed by her right about then. Her chest rose and fell with the world as she played idly with a leaf of dead, brown grass.
“I did that,” she concluded, the fire dying down as her anger faded. “I did that.”
“It’s okay,” Luna assured, shushing the other pony. “We all have our emotions.”
“Emotions don’t do that,” Celestia said. “We do that. We’re freaks, Luna. I want to leave here. I want to go to Astron. We don’t have a home anymore, so there’s no point in staying.”
Luna opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, a large streak of orange and yellow entranced her. Her voice trailed off, watching the light above move about gracefully throughout the red sky of the twilight. Transfixed upon the trail of ember, she had only then come to realize its source: a brilliantly-colored bird, spiraling in the air without a care in the world.
Celestia took note of her sister’s silence, following Luna’s upward gaze. “Is that a...”
“Phoenix,” Luna confirmed, her eyes moving in perfect harmony with the fire hawk’s movements.
“The immortal bird,” Celestia said absent-mindedly. “It’s so majestic...”
Somehow tuning into their conversation, the phoenix gently descended in front of the two alicorns, landing softly upon the ground in front of them. It watched as they breathed, and they did the same to it.
“Did you...” Luna began, staring straight into the eyes of the magnificent animal. “Did you do that? Did you burn the trees?”
The bird didn’t confirm nor deny anything. But Luna knew. Luna knew.
“I wonder what it would be like,” Celestia mused, yawning and stretching her achy legs out. “To be deathless. To have an eternity to understand the world. Understand why it’s so horrible. Maybe make it bette-”
Celestia was cut off suddenly as her breaths became more rapid and dysrhythmic, her eyes widening fully as a sharp pain shot through her chest. Her strength faded immediately, leaving no energy to even writhe in agony or cry out to her oblivious sister, who was still hypnotized by the phoenix. She began gasping for air that never came, twisting up inside as a strange sense of serenity came to her.
Then there was only silence.
Luna collapsed from her efforts.
“Come on,” she said, struggling back to her hooves. She forcefully pushed Celestia’s limp body back and forth again, crushing the dried grass beneath it. “Come on! Celestia!”
Unfortunately, Luna’s screams fell upon deaf ears. The only sounds in the air were the soft whispers of the wind, adding a sort of harmonic rhythm to the rattle of Celestia’s shallow breathing. It was only after ten minutes of trying to wake Celestia that Luna finally gave up. She lay down next to her sister and sighed, resting her neck upon Celestia’s warm, rugged coat.
The phoenix, who had been sitting quietly on the ground for a good while now, slowly rose from its position and walked over to Celestia. Luna watched as the bird carefully examined its entire situation, it even going as far as to peck at Celestia experimentally.
“It’s no use, friend,” Luna said, crestfallen. “She’s not coming back anytime soon.”
Luna’s own words suddenly hit her: Celestia wasn’t coming back anytime soon. If that wasn’t enough of a problem, they were laying in a blazed field in the middle of nowhere and night was soon to be approaching. While one of the things Luna admired about herself was her strength and perseverance, there was absolutely no way she could carry a body that weighed as much as—if not more than—herself for Discord knows how many miles.
Suddenly the phoenix jumped into the air, rising above the treetops with a powerful flap of its wings, emitting a trail of smoke as it rose. Intrigued with the bird, and having few other options, Luna braced herself to follow it into the sky. Shakily rising to her legs, Luna stretched and gave her wings a test flap. Satisfied enough, she pushed off of the ground with all of the energy she could muster...
… and immediately fell flat on her face.
Spitting out a considerably bad-tasting mouthful of dirt, Luna rolled on her back, every muscle in her body utterly exhausted and burning with effort just to stay awake. The phoenix, who for a moment had been looking back down at Luna’s unfortunate attempt, glided back down towards its original spot.
Kicking up a small cloud of dust as it landed back on the ground, the phoenix walked over to where Luna was lying and looked her over. Luna did the same to the phoenix, quickly becoming awestruck with the beauty of its glistening golden feathers. They seemed almost ethereal; like they were there, but not there. It was as if its wings were actually...
“Made of fire...” Luna said aloud, barely above a whisper. Her eyes were glowing as she watched the flaming bird stand next to her, only fidgeting when the small patches of dirt on her usually blue coat made themselves consciously irritating.
The phoenix, who had so far not been paying attention to Luna’s staring, took one step closer and raised a wing above Luna’s body. Luna watched in anticipation as the phoenix closed its eyes, gently resting its crisp, warm limb on her abdomen. Although its touch was only comforting, a shiver ran through every inch of Luna’s skin, making her hair stand up slightly. The phoenix’s touch was electrifying, and that experience was only redoubled when it opened its eyes again. Its eyes that were now burning white.
Luna began to sweat, her mind blocking out every emotion save intimidation and a little excitement. Her heated blood now ran cold, and soon following was an instant, overwhelming sense of fatigue. Helplessness and weakness overtook Luna, her entire body becoming numb as her heartbeat slowed to a dangerously low level. Luna took one last ragged breath, the energy for life having finally left her.
Then she became engulfed in flames.
Luna’s heart began to race uncontrollably, her body spiraling into a panic as fire crackled atop her flesh. It was only a few terrifying, traumatic seconds later that Luna started to realize that she wasn’t feeling any pain. The pyre danced all around her, even going to far as to lightly graze her coat. But it didn’t burn; no, in fact, it actually felt... nice. Relaxing, even.
Luna lay back down where she had been, having jumped in astonishment not a moment ago. She watched silently as the world around her became obscured, tinted with orange. However, as soon as the fire had come, the phoenix raised its wing from Luna’s body, and it was gone. Its eyes calmed, returning to their original state.
“W-what was that?” Luna asked, running a hoof down her body to make sure she hadn’t just been in some elaborate dreamscape.
The phoenix didn’t answer, instead pushing off with its wings to return to the air, beckoning for Luna to follow. She obeyed, and this time her body gave her no trouble at all. She felt absolutely rejuvenated, like her veins were pumping liquid gold throughout her system, allowing her to run on empty. It was the most unbelievable feeling in the world: every physical burden from her had just been lifted.
Except for one.
Luna glanced downwards, once again taking in the sight of her sister lying within an inch of death on the ground. For once in her life she felt utterly powerless; none of the very few healing spells she knew did anything to rouse Celestia from her unexplainable slumber, or as it might even be called, her state of comatose. If only it was possible for a pony to walk into the dreaming mind of another. Too bad that was absurd. Luna looked back at the phoenix, whose left wing was now pointed towards a small pillar of smoke on the horizon. She squinted, attempting to follow the gray trail back to its source.
“Is that...” she began, craning her neck outwards. “A town?”
In the far distance sat four, wooden-looking buildings in no particular order. Luna wouldn’t have been able to see them at all hadn’t there been many a light turned on in the largest building: a large, one story structure. If she had been perfectly honest, it wasn’t much of a town compared to any other; however, she wasn’t getting to the capitol city anytime soon if Celestia was dead weight.
“Uhm, Mister or Miss Phoenix,” Luna addressed, looking back down at her sister. “How are we supposed to fly that distance if my sister there is lying flat on the ground?”
The phoenix stared at Celestia. It looked to Luna like it was mulling over her words, even though she wasn’t quite sure it understood how to talk. But any question she had on that matter was answered when the phoenix flew down to Celestia’s side, soon followed by Luna.
Luna touched down on the ground, relishing in the cool earth as her hooves pushed against the ground. Draft from her descent pushed down on her back, flushing her with a wave of fluid, frigid air. It was noticeable to her because normally this would cause her to shiver in discomfort; instead, she felt quite calmed by the rapidly declining temperature, feeling somehow warmed as the amber twilight sky made its transition into deep violet.
The phoenix, who was now standing next to Celestia in a similar way that it had done to Luna moments ago, opened up both of its wings to full span and pointed its head to the sky. Luna’s eyes widened as a light golden aura began to form around the phoenix, slowly extending to Celestia as the phoenix’s power emanated throughout the entire forest. Luna could feel waves of pure energy flowing in and out of her body like a rock falling into a pond. Immobilized by this display, Luna could do nothing but stop and stare at what happened next.
Celestia’s body started to fade as small, hot sparks of fire and electricity shot from her into the phoenix. For a moment, it seemed that Luna could even feel the sun leaning down on them. The heat became overwhelming, forcing Luna to the ground as she shielded her eyes from the nonexistent rays of sunlight. It proved no use, the invisible streaks burning into her bones, igniting her very being from the inside out.
Then everything stopped, and Luna looked up again. Her sister was no more, the only remnant of her being a silver feather lying on a patch of ash that had been imprinted upon the already burnt grass. She leaned down and inspected the sight before her, carefully focusing her energy upon the feather, levitating it to behind her ear with a cyan aura.
“Phoenix, what did you do?” she asked, grimacing as she considered the bird. “Where is Celestia?”
The phoenix flapped its wings in response, emitting a bright golden aura with every thrust. It leapt into the air, and instead of its usual smoke, was followed by a brilliant trail of golden sparks. It landed back down next to Luna and smiled.
“Did...” Luna began, still somewhat confused by the phoenix’s attempted explanation. “Did you eat her?”
The phoenix shook its head and flew over to Luna so it was at eye level with her. It pointed to the charred spot where Celestia had been, then placed the same wing on Luna’s chest. Luna felt her heart start to race again as its mild flames collided with her sensitive coat, the warmth spreading to every inch of her body. The feeling left her immediately as the phoenix removed its wing from her and placed it back on its own chest. It cocked its head as if to wait for Luna’s response.
“I think I get it now.” she confirmed, turning back to look at the pillar of smoke left by the active building. “I guess we should start flying?”
The phoenix nodded.
“I can tell this is going to be a long day’s night...” Luna said monotonously.
~L~
“Last call!” shouted a brawny, stone-coloured earth pony stallion from behind the bar.
“Oh come on!” protested a female voice in the crowd, strongly accompanied by the grunts and cheers of her fellow ponies. “It’s not even... erm... oh for pete’s sake what does the time matter? I need my liquor, you be hearin’ that well enough laddy?”
“Doubt it highly,” an indiscernible stallion contradicted. “Boy’s so full his eyes are brown. Aye, that’s what ye gets for drinkin’ yer own product.”
Luna raised an eyebrow at the brewing chaos as she walked into the pub. It was a smoky, dimly lit joint that had way too many ponies in it for this size of a building. To her surprise, everyone in the entire bar was an earth pony, save for her. Prior to coming in, she had performed one of Celestia’s signature concealment spells that her sister created due to her own insecurities about alicornhood. Never did Luna share any of these insecurities, but in this case, she thought it would be better if she appeared to be a simple pegasus instead of a rare, mystical-looking creature that would only attract attention.
Voices escalated into screams that threatened to overtake the bar’s establishment before a lone glass was slammed down on a table in the back, silencing the mob and drawing their attention elsewhere. In the corner sat a slender, brown earth pony with a green vest and spiky black hair. An unfeathered black cavalier was draped over his eyes. His legs were crossed, propped up on the table in front of him. It was a position that perfectly displayed his cutie mark, a jet-black treble clef accompanied by four waving lines.
“Discord’s sake you blasted alcoholics,” he cursed, spitting on the floor. “Will ye all shut yer yaps for a second? The next... eh, five rounds are on me.”
“Good man!” the original female said. The rest of the bar cheered in agreement.
Letting out an exaggerated groan, the brown stallion kicked the round table away from him, nearly knocking off the oil lantern that had been resting peacefully on top of it up until then. Pushing chairs over as he trudged through the untidied pub, the stallion made his way to the bar, pulling out a small bag of coins from his vest. He slammed it down on the counter, blowing air out of his nose as he did so.
“Five fer everybody. Get these lads so pissed they can’t speak to complain no more, hear me?” he instructed, pushing the bag of coins over to the gray stallion who nodded in compliance. “Be that the longest last call ever served, I’d rest my grave on it.”
The drinks came flowing out to all of the pub’s now happy customers, leaving Luna to watch silently as the pony returned to his spot. He would never admit it, but if asked, Luna could swear to it she almost saw him crack a smile. Almost.
The bar was quiet for a good while, leaving Luna to rest with her thoughts. She estimated that they were a good three hour flight from Mount Astron at full speed from here, assuming the phoenix—who had obviously decided to tag along—could keep pace. The one problem that kept surfacing in her mind was the fact that she didn’t know what exactly to do once she got there. Storm the castle and announce that she, a magical pegasus, and her sister, a magical pegasus that had been eaten by a mythical creature, just placed their lord and king in eternal imprisonment? It simply wasn’t going to work. Not to mention that now she had bigger problems than dealing with a government she had little care for: her sister was in some sort of coma and the only creature that seemed to know anything about it is a bird. Birds can’t talk.
In short, Luna concluded that today wasn’t her best day.
Her thoughts were interrupted as a bright orange, yellow-maned pegasus burst through the door. She was panting hard, stumbling as she tried to catch her breath. A few of the colts at the bar moved quickly to help prop her up, and were soon accompanied by the brown stallion from earlier.
“Calm yerself Ember,” he said, gently placing a hoof on the pegasus’ forehead. “Never’ve I seen ye this out of it, child. What’s the news so important at this hour?”
Ember took in a few deep breaths before speaking. “Was just in the great city,” she began, making some obscure motions with her foreleg. “The great cloud over Astron—it just vanished! Into thin air I tell you!”
“Say what?” the stallion said, removing his hoof from Ember and placing it firmly on the ground. “What be the meaning of all this? Have ye gone mad lass?”
“No! That ain’t even it either,” she said, now with the full attention of the pub. “The platinum crown has risen! The flag of Canterlot flies once again!”
The whole building was immediately ablaze with whispers and gasps, Ember’s implications quickly spreading through the pub. Luna stared with wide eyes at the scene playing out before her. The brown stallion shook his head, sitting down in front of Ember and looking into her eyes.
“You mean to tell me...”
“Yes.” Ember confirmed.
For a moment, the bar was completely quiet.
Then the bartender spoke up. “Maybe this news will make Ol’ McDreary start singin’ again, aye?”
Silence reigned over once again as the ponies waited for the stallion to respond. He slowly took off his hat, clutching it to his chest. His breathing was slow and ragged, but that ragged breathing quickly turned to soft chuckling. His chuckles became hearty laughter as he pushed his cavalier back down onto his scalp and jumped up onto the counter with gusto, breaking a couple unlucky bottles in his wake.
“Is it a song ye all want?” he asked loudly, pacing from one side of the bar to the other as he surveyed the crowd. They cheered, throwing their drinks up. “Well then, who would I be to deny all of ye fine fillies to the great music ye’ve been patiently waitin’ fer!”
The stallion raised a hoof to his chest, taking in a large gasp as he began to sing.
In the merry month of June
From me home I started
Left the girls of home
Nearly broken hearted
Saluted father dear
Kissed me darlin’ mother
Drank a pint of beer
My grief and tears to smother
Then off to reap the corn
Leave where I was born
Cut a stout blackthorn
To banish ghosts and goblins
A brand new pair of brogues
Rattlin’ o’er the bogs
Frightnin’ all the dogs
On the rocky road to Canterlot-
-one two three four five!
Hunt the hare and turn her
Down the rocky road
All the way to Canterlot
Whack fol lol le rah!
The song continued on for a couple minutes more, eventually leaving Luna with a small smile on her face. The stallion’s song was mostly appreciated, save for one colt who had remarked that nobody should get him started lest they want him to sing something called Finnecolt’s wake. Luna wasn’t quite sure what that was, but if it was half as good as the first song, she hadn’t the intent to protest it.
The reason behind the song however brought a thoughtful frown to Luna’s features. While the platinum crown already knowing about Discord’s situation definitely simplified her job, it still brought up two important questions. How did they find out almost instantly after it happened? Also, if they knew about it so soon, what else do they know?
The thought of what might or might not be was too troubling to bother with, so Luna ultimately decided that she would just let everything play out. Although Celestia claimed to have experienced it first-hoof, she hadn’t been alive long enough to have actually seen Unicornia or either of the other two nations. Apparently the unicorns were the more oppressive of the three, but after twenty-five years of draconequus-shaped autocracy, Luna doubted that the platinum crown would have any reason to rule with an iron hoof.
But as usual, she wasn’t given much time to think on the matter as the most popular pony of the night approached her.
“Well hello there lass,” he began, smiling warmly as he took a seat next to Luna. “Ye’ve been mighty quiet all night. What troubles such a pretty filly as yerself?”
Luna laughed quietly, turning away from the stallion. “What makes you think I’m troubled?”
“Not a drop’o the pure in ye fer one,” he said flatly. “When a pony’s got their share of strains, they’ll down’em like no tomorra. But when ye’ve got thinkin’ to do, ye keep it dry as a mare lookin’ over a short ugly feller.”
Luna snorted and slammed her hoof on the table as the stallion threw down his last line. “Are you always this crude?” she asked, smiling.
“Some would suggest so,” he admitted, shrugging his shoulders. “What’s yer name anyways?”
“It’s Lu-” Luna started before catching herself. “Uhm, Silver. My name is Silver.”
“Now isn’t that a beautiful name if I’ve ever heard one,” he said with all the charm he could put forth, scooting ever closer to Luna. “If we weren’t in a public outin’ right now...”
Every ounce of blood in Luna’s body rushed to her face. She stood up abruptly, her chair crashing up against the window. “Unfortunately, I must be going,” she said cordially, hiding her face from other pony. “I need to look for the nearest inn, and I’m losing darkness out there.”
Luna gave her wings a swift flap to stifle her nerves as she walked briskly out of the pub, ignoring the confused stares from everypony else inside. She gasped as the cold air hit her, the feeling of relaxation it brought her earlier was nowhere present without the phoenix by her side. But as if on cue, the bird in question flew down from its perch atop the pub’s structure, which was actually nothing more than logs stacked up on one another and covered with a mostly-hay rooftop.
“Wait, Silver!” cried a voice from behind Luna. “I didn’t mean to offend ye lass, I was just making conversation.”
“Conversation?” Luna chuckled, turning to face the stallion. His eyes were gleaming with sincere remorse, causing Luna to sigh. “While that isn’t the content of most conversations I’ve partaken in, you didn’t offend me in the slightest. To be honest, your advances were quite flattering, but I’m much too busy to stay here and form a response to them.”
The stallion seemed to calm down after that. He removed his hat, shaking his head to let the cool air flow through his mane. “Aye, yer quite the girl, but I hadn’t the true intentions of letting you know that in more ways than one,” he said, looking into Luna’s eyes. “I can tell when that isn’t what ye need. Was only tryin’ to brighten yer spirits, if it helps.”
“It does,” Luna said, giving him a soft smile. “Thank you.”
“You said you were looking for an inn?” The stallion asked with a nod from Luna. “Ye could stay with me for the night. I’ve only one bed, but If ye wanted, I would sleep on the floor for ye. Not a bother at all, quite comfy should I say so myself.”
“Are you sure that would be the best of ideas?” Luna asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Oh come on now, ye know I wouldn’t try to-” the stallion started to argue, only to have his train of thought derailed by a particularly breathtaking sight. “I-is that a phoenix?”
The phoenix, who had been hovering over Luna for length of the conversation, perched itself on her back and opened its wings as to show off its existence. Luna giggled. “Well, I’d hope so, because if not it would be a very funny looking parrot.”
“What do you call her?” he asked.
Luna thought for a moment. “Sunray,” she finally said.
The stallion watched in awe as flames danced about Sunray’s body, sending the pony into a hypnotic trance. Unaware if Sunray had or did not have the ability to put him in an actual unresponsive state, Luna decided to intervene before it got to that point. “So, what’s your name?” she asked, waving a hoof in front of his eyes to snap him out of his ogling. The stallion shook his head and looked backed towards Luna as she continued. “You asked for mine, but I never got yours.”
“The name’s Philomena,” he said. “Philomena McBride.”
