Light of the moon

Moon Light was dragged in, still tied up and handcuffed. Princess Luna sighed. This was going to be very difficult now.

“Guards. Release him, then… You know what, I don’t even care what you do, just get out of my sight.”

The guards’ eyes widened when Luna dropped the royal “we” and they bolted for the door the second Moon was free. Moon rolled over and tried to stand, but four hours tied up made his legs buckle. Luna smiled down at the stallion as he used his wings to hover slightly above the ground, with a decidedly undignified look on his face.

“Greetings, citizen. We are Princess Luna. Regardless of what certain… excitable… guardsmen may have said you are not under arrest nor are you under any compulsion to stay. We wish to speak to you about certain things that have happened recently, or more specifically, last night. We did not mean to frighten you inside your dream, we merely wished to help. However, we noticed something strange. You seem completely immune to our effects in the dream state. While others have dreams that are malleable to us, we could not control your nightmare’s apparitions. That perplexes us. So, we wish to offer you a deal.” Princess Luna took a deep breath. This was the most important part. “Will you be our student?”

Moon Light looked like his jaw was suddenly made of lead. Shaking his head slightly, he glared at the Princess.

“I’m kidnapped from my classroom. I’m told I caused you injury. I couldn't get my books. I couldn't say goodbye to my friends. They didn't tell me where I was going. All of that led to here. And what happens? You ask me to be your student. Why? What possible reason would you have to take on any student, let alone a Pegasus... Let alone me. What’s in this for you?”

Princess Luna was aghast. Nopony could speak to her this way, she was their leader! “You will hold your tongue, you impudent whelp! We brought you here so that we may improve your life! You should bow down and be grateful that we even—“

Princess Celestia reached over and kicked her sister in the side. Bending close to Luna, Celestia whispered something in her ear. Moon strained, but could not make out exactly what was spoken. Something about “terror” and “intimidating”

Luna breathed in slowly, and seemed to relax. “Our apologies. We understand how terrifying it can be to be taken from one’s family and friends by means of force. That was never our intention. We will pay for your books to be sent to you, and your friends may visit, if your studies permit. Truth be told, we do have an ulterior motive for you to become our student. We are curious. We have been gone for such a long time, and still have issues fitting in. We wish for you to tell us things that will help us fit in with a new group. Specifically, you would be fitting in with the ponies of Ponyville. Even a town as far away as Barn’s Ville should have heard of that place. The point is, the mentorship will be a two way relationship. You will teach us about fitting in, and we will teach you about how to control your dreams. Please accept our apology again for how the brutes treated you.”

Moon thought for a moment. It seemed too good to be true, a nobody like him being a protégée of the Princess of the Night! For a second, he wondered if this was just an elaborate joke that they had made to taunt him. Mentally shrugging, he figured that he didn’t really have anything to lose anyways.

“I’ll do it. But first,” he yawned, “I think I want to take a nap.”

Luna looked out at the setting sun. “Understandable. We wish you to stay at the castle tonight. We will show you to your room.”

The moon loomed close over the unnamed forest, still glaring down at the clearing Luna found herself in. The sun had set, but the area was still lit with the glow of the moon. The clouds in the sky created a dim atmosphere, but it did not seem to be a full nightmare.

“Moon Light, student, I wish to speak to you in private. Please come here.”

Moon popped his head out of one of the clouds and looked down at her. The cloud floated lower until he was at eye level with the Princess.

“Student, this is how I will speak to you while you are in your new home. This area is your own creation, and as you teach me more about fitting in, I will teach you more about editing your dreamscape to your own design. Each night, I will look in to see how you are doing. If you have any issues or need someone to talk to, I will be here. If the dream is one unsuitable for conversation or otherwise… occupied…” Moon blushed and started to pull his head back into the clouds. “I will wait until the next day. The dreams are the best place to speak, because they can not be read or intercepted. While I do not expect they will be, this means that anything you tell me will be in complete confidence. I will not tell anyone, my sister included, about the dreams, because there are things for you to learn that others can not find out about. If you are willing, we will begin with your first lesson about the control of the dreams. First, we shall discuss how to make an item appear out of thin air. We shall start small. Now, let’s begin with a ball…”

Dearest Twilight Sparkle,

A new pony will be arriving in Ponyville tomorrow afternoon. He is a personal student of my sister, and I expect you to show him every courtesy that you would extend to me. So that you may inform the relevant parties (Pun intended, in Pinkie Pie’s case), I have some light information for you. Moon Light was born in Canterlot, but was moved away after witnessing a crime and speaking to the authorities. He moved to a town even smaller than Ponyville, and worked hard forgetting the things he had seen. He does have an interest in astronomy, but will most likely not mention it first, as in his town it was considered to be evil magic. Also, he has not seen a unicorn (with the exception of the Royal Guards, more on that soon) in about ten years, so he may stare a bit. While I am writing this, negotiations are still underway to ended being finalized Things don’t seem to be going well at the moment going fine. Moon Light was taken from the friends he had by rather forceful means, due to the ignorance and stupidity of a sergeant, who has already been harshly disciplined. The major thing to remember is not to crowd him, as it seems he is shy in large groups.

Thank you,

Princess Celestia

P.S., See if anyone in Ponyville will be willing to rent out a room for about fifty bits a day. That is the going rate of a room in Ponyville, is it not? I honestly don’t know right now. It’s a bit hectic right now.

Twilight Sparkle looked over the letter again. She hadn’t heard of Luna’s apprentice before! Why hadn’t she heard? This was strange. However, this pony loved astronomy! Finally, she had someone to stargaze with without them getting bored, throwing a party, or interpreting it as a romantic date. At the thought of her last date, Twilight shuddered. To say it had been a disaster would be putting it lightly.

She had to tell her friends the news. Oh, but who to tell first? Pinkie pie would somehow warp time until the new boy was already here, and then nobody else would know what was going on! Fluttershy was probably busy feeding her animal friends, and probably wouldn’t really care that there was a new pony in town. Rarity would immediately pester him with questions about the princess, and from the letter’s description, that would immediately drive him crazy! Rainbow Dash would probably just sleep through the entire explanation anyways, so that seemed pointless. Applejack it is then.

Twilight ran outside, and headed down towards Sweet Apple Acres. Time to set up a welcome this new pony would never forget!