The Night Lasts Forever

Chapters

Luna's Surprise
A Drunken Confession
Wake-up Call
The Talk
The Apple of Her Eye
A Friend in Need
A Friend Indeed
The Doctor Returns
The New Equestria
The Bright Side
A New Start
Lonely Luna
What the Future Holds

Luna's Surprise

“Your moon seems brighter tonight,” my sister complimented as I was finishing up my duty of raising the moon up into the sky. I had to concentrate a little more to get it up above the tree line so everypony could see it. “Are you feeling any better?”

“You already know the answer to that,” I said glancing back at her with a small grin on my face. We were outside the castle, and the night was brighter than it had been in a while. For once since my time back in Equestria, I was happy.

“I assume that last night went well,” she responded, walking up next to me. “I thought Twilight could help you out.”

“Thank you big sister, I don’t know if I could have gone much longer as I was. At least now, I have somepony I can confide in. Somepony I can tell secrets too. Somepony I can talk to… Somepony I can talk to after those thousand years stuck up there…”

Twilight and I had spent the entire night and most of the next day together. We easily finished up with her books, as all the rest were just other poem books filled with short entries. When we ran out of books to read, we just sat and talked. We talked about the stars, about the moon, and about the wonders of the sky above us. All too quickly, my night had ended, and Twilight offered for me to stay with her at Ponyville Central Library. I, unfortunately, declined, because, although I am the controller of the night, even I need to rest after a long night’s work. After I declined, we made a deal to meet again at the library a few minutes past moonrise. I was excited, and I couldn’t wait for us to get back together and talk about everything we could.

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to be somewhere,” I told my sister unfurling my wings.

“Do you have a hot date tonight?” my sister jokingly asked, chuckling a little.

“Oh stop,” I said, blushing a little bit, but smiling all the same. “I’ll see you tomorrow big sis. Goodnight.”

Celestia bade me a good evening as well, and so I thrust my wings quickly downward for a quick takeoff into the night sky. Ever since last night, the sky has changed for me. No longer is it that barren void that haunts my life, but an open highway to my friend. I was almost giddy at the thought of meeting up with Twilight and doing anything. This was my first friend in a thousand years, and anything I could do to be with her, I would do.

Flying over the vast forests, I glanced up at the stars, watching them endlessly pass by. Looking back at the ground, I saw that I was now over the famous Sweet Apple Acres, home to one of Twilights friends, Applejack. It would only be a few minutes now until I reached Twilight’s Library. I thought about what we would be doing, getting excited whenever I came up with plan after plan on how to spend our time. I was like a little filly again, glad to just be with somepony again; somepony who would actually listen

I flew over the town’s buildings, finally spotting my destination in the middle of the small structures. Landing quietly, I pulled my wings in and walked past a few more buildings before reaching Twilight’s tree. Knocking on the door, I waited patiently for somepony to answer. After a few seconds of silence, I knocked on the door again; a little worried that maybe she had forgotten our plans.

After a few brutal seconds of nothing, I reached my hoof up to knock a third time, but I noticed that a hoofwritten note was laying on the doorstep, partially jammed in the bottom of the door. Quickly levitating it up to an easily readable position, I looked over the few lines that were written very neatly on the small scrap of paper:

There’s been a change in plans. Meet me at Sugarcube Corner –TS

The note confused me a bit. I didn’t know why she had changed the place from her home to a local bakery. Even if she planned on having some sort of midnight snack with me, I didn’t know of any place that was open this late at night. But nonetheless, I trotted onward towards the shop, ready for anything. I was open to any new ideas Twilight might have. She wouldn’t let me down.

I didn’t pass anypony on my way over to the confectionary, but that was usual for this time of night. Arriving at Sugarcube Corner, I noticed that not a single window was lit in the shop. No indication of any of the residents being awake was present, which only fueled my curiosity even more. My mind tried to give me an explanation, but all it could come up with was some sort of scavenger hunt Twilight had set up for me. Twilight wouldn’t send me to a place for no reason.

I went up to politely knock on the door, but before my hoof made contact, the door opened on its own. The inside looked to be closed, and all the lights were off. Having no clue what was going on, I stepped inside far enough that the door swung shut behind me. For a split second I panicked. Even though I’m accustomed to the darkness of the night, being locked in a dark room was not one of my favorite situations.

Suddenly, all the lights flickered on and six different ponies yelled, “surprise!” as my fear melted away into happiness. Twilight had brought her friends together for some reason, but their smiles made the environment seem friendly enough.

“What am I supposed to be surprised about?” I asked Twilight and her friends.

“Haven’t you ever had a surprise party before?” The pink pony with the cotton-candy-like mane asked me. Before I could respond, she answered her own question. “Oh, you must have never been to a surprise party before, what with you being trapped on the moon over a thousand years because Nightmare Moon—”

“Pinkie,” Twilight stopped the rambling pony, “I think that’s good enough.”

“So… you arranged a surprise party for me?” I asked, trying to make sense of the speech I just heard.

“Yes, Princess,” Twilight told me. “I asked Pinkie to throw you one of her special parties, since you never got one yourself after we defeated Nightmare Moon. The rest of my friends helped her out.”

She then walked over to the hyper pink pony, who was now bouncing rapidly, and said, “You’ve already met Pinkie Pie, but my other friends are here,” She said, walking over to the remaining four.

“This is Rainbow Dash,” Twilight started as she pointed to the first pony, a cyan pegasus with a rainbow- colored mane.

“THE fastest flier in Equestria!” the pegasus added, snapping her wings upright while making a power pose.

“This is Rarity,” Twilight said standing next to a white mare with a beautifully groomed purple mane.

“I’m very pleased to meet you Princess,” she said with a little bow.

“And finally, this is Applejack,” she said as the orange pony tipped her Stetson at me, “and Fluttershy,” she finished, next to a yellow pony who was half-hiding behind Applejack, looking at me through a slit in her pink mane.

“I’m very pleased to meet you all,” I stated, giving them all a big smile.

“Now then,” Pinkie Pie jumped over to an old record player and put a record on.

"LETS PARTY!"

A Drunken Confession

"Thank you all for throwing this party for me," I told the small crowd in front of me.

"Um... Princess, Pinkie and I are the only ones here," said three of the figures simultaneously. They all looked exactly like Twilight and I was amazed that they all spoke at the same time.

"Whoa...Twilight, how did you copy yourself three times?" I asked, vaguely pointing my hoof toward one of the three Twilights. " Heh...now Celestia could have one, I could have one, and we could share the third one. Unless... hey, Pinkie, do you want your own little Twilight? You could have her read books to you and have fun during the night. I like the night…so…night-y."

"Princess are you sure you can make it home alright?" Twilight asked me. "You seem a little… woozy..."

"I'll be fine, Twillie," I said, waving a hoof at her. The motion threw me off balance, and I stumbled a bit before landing on my rump a few feet away from the door. "I meant to do that," I giggled, looking up at the stars. “Look at all the lights…Disappear!” I said, covering my eyes. “Off, on, off, on… weeeee!”

Twilight sighed and turned into Sugarcube Corner, saying "Next time, Pinkie, avoid the spiked punch." She came over to me and helped me back to my hooves. "Come on, Princess, you can come stay the night with me at the Library."

"I'll make it quick and just fly there!" I triumphantly said, spreading out my wings. I took off, ignoring Twilight's pleads not to and started flying right down the street. Suddenly, the street jumped up and attacked me, hitting my wing first. I hit the ground pretty hard, and Twilight came galloping over to me.

"Oh my gosh!" She yelled, helping me back to my hooves again. "Princess, are you all right?!"

I giggled and simply said, "That's going to hurt tomorrow." She breathed out a sigh of relief, and I saw that now there were almost six of her. She just kept multiplying. "Twilight, you have to teach me how you makes copies of yourself... I could make another Celestia, and we could do…hehehe… Dirty girl, Luna."

Ignoring my statement, she just told me, "Let's go, and don't try to fly again."

"I swear the ground attacked me," I said starting to stumble along. "It doesn't like me like the moon does. Moonie, you're my best friend in the whole universe. Nopony could ever love me like you did."

"Ok, Princess, just keep following me," Twilight said, taking my gaze off the moon. "We only have one more block to go,"

"You know who else I love Twilight?" I asked, still stumbling along while the ground kept spinning around in front of me. "You know who else makes me really happy?"

"Um," Twilight nervously mumbled, "I haven't the slightest clue, Princess."

"Come on," I said, giving her a friendly bump on the shoulder, which almost made me loose my balance again, "Take a wild guess."

"How about..." she started trying to think of a name, "Your sister, Celestia?"

"Nope try again," I smiled, levitating a rock and throwing it down the street, only to levitate it back to throw it again. “Fly, Rocky, fly!”

We had finally arrived at the library, and she stopped briefly to guess another name. "Prince Blueblood?" she guessed with a nervous smile on her face.

"Of course not! That guy is such a prick! He wanted to take Moonie away from me, but I wouldn’t let him. I hid her under my bed, and then we played some hopscotch afterwards."

"Then who do you love, Princess?" Twilight asked exasperated, obviously done trying to guess who the answer was.

"Why you of course, Spilight Twarkle" I said happily, pulling her into a wet kiss. She instantly pulled away, horrified.

"I like you, Princess, but..." she started. I waited for her to finish with a confused look on her face. I thought she loved me. "I think you should get to bed. You've had a long night. A long, LONG night."

"Ok then, Twikle," I said with a smile. I just couldn't stop smiling. Everything was just so great. "I think I'm going to have fun at your place. We can read together, and stay up late and- Uh oh!" My mood instantly took a ninety degree turn towards the bad side as I felt my stomach flip. Turning away from Twilight, I emptied my stomach into the bushes next to her doorstep. "Sorry," I sheepishly said, groaning a little as my stomach growled at me.

Twilight only chuckled and opened the door. "Come on, Princess," she said, pointing to the inside of the tree. "Let's get you to a bed before anything else slips out of that mouth of yours."

Wake-up Call

“Ugh,” I moaned, opening my eyes to a bright window. I shut them again, unable to take the light. “Tia, not so bright,” I mumbled only half-aware at what I was even saying. My head was pounding from the night before. I could barely remember what had happened. All I could recall was going with Twilight to her library, and I was fairly certain I had made a fool of myself during the trip.

Opening my eyes slowly to let them get used to the light-flooded room, I saw that I was lying in a bed in what looked to be the upper-story of her library. At least I had somehow made it to a bed during my drunken trip. “Good Morning, Princess,” A quiet voice said next to me. Turning my head slowly to the left, I saw the familiar purple unicorn standing next to me with a grin on her face. “Really, I should be saying ‘good afternoon.’” She chuckled a little, giving me another cute smile. I would have returned the gesture, had my head not felt as if it had just been hit with a boulder. “How are you feeling?” she asked, levitating a tray with some breakfast food onto the stand next to my head.

I let a small groan escape my lips, as I wasn’t yet ready to face the day, no matter how late it may already be; I just wanted to go back to sleep. I rolled over shutting my eyes, and Twilight must have taken notice. “Still pretty bad I assume?” she asked, laying her hoof on my side. Picking it back off, she resumed in her cheery tone. “Well I can help you out there. I found a hangover spell while you were…resting. It took me a bit to find a book with the right spell, but Spike helped me out. Anyway, this book that we found showed me a spell, although it warned me about a few side effects that…”

I wasn’t paying attention to what she was saying. I was just praying that she would be quiet soon, because her talking wasn’t helping my throbbing head. I pushed my hooves against my eyes, willing the headache to stop. Twilight, meanwhile, kept rambling on, and for once, I wished that I was back on the moon. At least there all my friends would listen to me and keep quiet, even if they were all rocks. I remember one year though, a metal ball floated past rambling about space. I only saw it for a bit before it moved on, but I knew if it had stayed long, it would have driven me crazy. The annoying thing just would not shut up about all the stars.

“By the beard of Starswirl!” I jolted awake as my brain exploded into a swarm of thoughts while it simultaneously felt as if somepony back-hooved my face. I kicked the tray that Twilight had set next to the bed, sending the contents flying. My eyes were wide open, and, apart from a slight headache, my body felt fully awake. “What in the hay did you just do?” I asked, picking myself up from the floor I had fallen to when whatever hit me had hit me.

“I said that the hangover spell would be a bit of a jolt at the start,” Twilight responded with a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry if I hurt you. Are you ok?”

“Yes,” I said, panting a little from the shock that had just overcome my body. “I guess I just wasn’t ready for that yet…”

“Well you’re awake now,” Twilight started replacing a few books I knocked off the shelves during my leap out of what must have been her bed. Blushing a bit, I cleaned up the remains of the breakfast that Twilight had made for me. Using magic caused a slight pain to go through my head, but it wasn’t that bad, and I felt bad for making a mess of Twilights guest bedroom. I didn’t remember even making it to this bedroom, much less a bed last night. The entire night was just a jumbled mess of scenes, too blurry to make out at the moment.

“How much of last night do you remember?” Twilight asked, shelving the last book and picking up a glass that I had missed on my jump out of bed. “You had quite a few drinks while we were having the party.”

“Well,” I started, blushing a little more, ashamed at my behavior, “I think I may have tried to fly a little.” My wing felt a little sore as if I had crashed into something, and I recalled hitting the ground pretty hard once. I only hoped that I wasn’t doing anything stupid to cause the soreness.

Twilight chuckled a little before telling me, “Yes I remember you thought you would be able to get to my house quickly by flying to it. You jumped up, but only one wing responded, and you fell quicker than a rock.”

“Right,” I giggled nervously, “I also remember playing with a rock… I may have called the moon my friend…” I was straining my mind to remember what had happened after my incident with the flying, “I remember standing outside your front door and we…we…”

We had kissed. I finally remembered what I had done last night as my mind slipped in and out of consciousness last night. I blushed violently. I wouldn’t have been surprised if my entire face had changed from its normal dark blue hue to a bright red. I wished that I could just shrink away, and I considered teleporting back to the castle. I closed my eyes and envisioned my room, about to cast the spell when Twilight interrupted me.

“Princess did you mean it?” Twilight asked, as I opened my eyes back up to her quizzical look. “Did you mean what you had said, and what you had done?” She didn’t seem angry, though, which surprised me. I was considering what I should say, because ever since she and her friends had saved me from that monster, Nightmare Moon, I had had my eye on her. “Princess?” she asked again, seeing that I wasn’t responding.

“Well,…I just… you…” I was stuttering, trying to come up with a good reason why I had pulled her in for a huge smooch on her own doorstep last night. My headache was back again, and I could barely think straight. I couldn’t avoid the matter any longer, and I didn’t want to lie to her.

“What Princess? What is it?”

“Well…” I started again. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I had to tell her the truth. “Yes, Twilight. I meant it, all of it. You’re my first real friend, and… I just thought that you would be ok with it…But I was drunk. I shouldn’t have done that… I can understand if you’re mad at me…”

“Princess,” Twilight interrupted me, “I’m not mad at you, but as for…well…having a relationship…” she blushed a bit, turning away from me. The air was tense and I already knew what she wanted to tell me. “I have my eyes on somepony else is all…I hope that’s ok with you…”

Inside my heart crumpled a little, but I tried not to show any emotion. “That’s quite alright Twilight Sparkle,” I said, trying to blink away a small tear as well as keeping my voice from wavering. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get going. I have some work to do.” I lit up my horn focusing on my bedroom in Canterlot Castle once more.

“Princess wait-” Twilight managed to get out before a loud pop sent me on my way. I opened my eyes to see my own bed. I laid down on it and put a pillow over my eyes. Whatever Twilight was going to say wouldn’t change anything. I was her second choice, and it hurt to be that. I was so caught up in meeting the love of my life that I failed to see she was just trying to be friendly. I was being selfish, and I knew it, but that didn’t make the pain any better…

The Talk

There was a knock on my door, but I didn’t respond, hoping that whoever it was would assume I wasn’t home. I wasn’t ready to talk to anyone just yet; I just needed some time to cool off after my silent fit in Twilight’s Library. My silence had no effect on whoever wanted in my room, as the knocking continued, gradually increasing until it sounded like whoever wanted in was trying to break down the door. Suddenly it stopped, and I heard a distinct voice call through the door.

“I know you’re in there sis,” said Celestia’s voice, a little louder than I was used to. “Can I please come in? I’m worried about you.” I didn’t respond, hoping that she would just leave and let me be alone, but no such luck as she called out again, “Luna, Twilight sent me a letter, and I know what happened. Will you please let me in?”

I pulled the pillow off my face and slid down off my bed as I tried to wipe away some tears still streaming down my face. If I was going to face my sister, I was going to at least try to be dignified about it. I walked over to the door with heavy footsteps, partially to let Celestia know I was up and doing something, but mostly because I was still heartbroken. I opened the door with my horn and stared at the ground refusing to make eye contact with her.

“How much do you know?” I said blandly, not wanting to talk any more than I had to.

“Enough,” Tia responded, evading the question. “Why did you just run out on her? She told me that she didn’t know why you just left all of a sudden.”

“She knows perfectly well why I ran off,” I replied bitterly, turning back towards my bed. Walking slowly over to my bedside nightstand, I picked up my abacus lying there. Idly, I flicked the beads back and forth pretending that I was doing something while trying to calm myself down. I didn’t need to explode on my own sister.

“She thought that it may have something to do with the ‘I’ve got my eyes on somepony else’ comment,” Tia told me walking slowly over next to me. I kept flicking the beads as she walked up right next to me, gradually putting more and more force behind each flick. “She didn’t mean to insult you when she said that. You know that.”

“She was my first and only friend that I’ve had since we were children, Tia,” I said, not looking away from my abacus. I was flicking the beads faster, trying to vent a bit of frustration. “I don’t want another relationship that’s going to end up like when I was a young foal…”

“You know that wasn’t your fault, Luna,” Celestia consoled as she laid a wing over me. “That colt had his mind set on the wrong thing. All he cared about was being the next Prince of Equestria. He hurt you, and I will never forgive him for that, but you need to let that go.”

I pulled away, clicking my abacus beads even faster. “That still doesn’t help me now. I still loved him, but he made sure I would never love a colt or stallion again. I don’t want Twilight to do the same thing for the mares. I don’t want my soul crushed again.” I dropped the abacus and fell to a sitting position, no longer able to contain myself. Tears came streaming from my eyes again as I relived the heartbreak from so many years ago, again and again.

Celestia came over and silently sat down next to me, once again laying a wing over my back. This time though, I didn’t try to pull away; I just buried my head into her side, letting the tears run their course. She sat in silence waiting until I could speak, all the while draping her wing around me. After a few minutes of quiet sobbing, I pulled my head out and looked Tia right in the eye. “I just don’t want to be hurt again big sis…”

“And you won’t be Luna,” she almost whispered into my ear. “You just need to give her a chance. You won’t know if she likes you until you open your heart to her.”

“She told me that she had somepony else in mind though,” I told her turning my head away from her looking blindly out the window. “She doesn’t even have an interest in me.”

“Then get her to be interested I you!” Celestia encouraged me, standing up and walking over to the window I was looking at. “Just because her mind is on somepony now, doesn’t mean that you can’t change her mind,” she said with a sincere smile.

I got up and walked over next to her, looking out the window as Celestia prepared to lower her sun, “I guess you’re right, sis…I just didn’t want another incident like Nightmare Moon…”

“You and I both know that she was bound to come out again,” she said, horn glowing as the sun started to lower behind the trees. “I’m just glad Twilight could remove her influence over you the last time she broke out from your mind. The first time nearly destroyed you when you came back.”

I closed my eyes, channeling my energy to my horn as I focused on my moon. I focused on the moon, lifting it up from the distance until the tip reached the tree line. I opened my eyes to see how close Tia’s sun was to being completely lowered so I could time my moon rise to be perfectly in synch with her sunset. I did this every night to challenge myself, like a little game. Her sun passed the trees as I perfect raised my moon above the horizon.

“Another successful moonrise, eh sis?” Celestia said, turning to me.

“Thanks, Tia,” I told her, “I needed that talk. You always know how to cheer me up when I’m down.”

“I knew you would come around. By the way, I think Twilight sent me a message about wanting to see you again. I remember it saying about meeting her at Sugarcube Corner tonight.”

“Really? I need to go make it up to her. Thanks again Tia!”

The Apple of Her Eye

Once again I was soaring over Ponyville, this time headed to Sugarcube Corner. The sky, unlike last night was filled with clouds. I flew below them so I could see where I headed and hoped that the weather team stationed here wasn’t planning on having any rainstorms tonight. The town was quiet with a few ponies walking quickly down the street as if in a hurry. I ignored the fast-paced townsfolk and landed right outside the small bakery Twilight had invited me to. Stepping up to the door, I pushed it open with my front hoof, not in the mood to concentrate any more magic on opening it than I already have.

I stepped inside to see twilight sitting at one of the tables near the counter, sipping what must have been some tea. Her back was to me, so she didn’t notice my entrance. Mrs. Cake, who was standing behind the counter, did notice me walk in and greeted me with a smile, “Well, welcome to Sugarcube Corner, Princess Luna. Is there anything I can get for you?”

Twilight had turned around at the mention of my name and saw that it was indeed me before turning to Mrs. Cake,

“She’s here with me Mrs. Cake. Why don’t you get her a Lemon Cupcake, on me.” She levitated two bits over to the counter, and Mrs. Cake swiped them into the pocket of her apron before crouching down behind the counter.

She came back up with a cupcake glazed in yellow icing, with a small candied lemon wedge sitting in top. Twilight even knew my favorite flavor of cupcake. “Thank you Mrs. Cake,” I told her picking it up with my horn and levitating it over to the seat next to Twilight.

I walked over and sat down behind it as Mrs. Cake replied, “Anytime, Princess. I’m going to go in the back and clean up Pinkie’s mess in the kitchen. Just holler if you two need anything.”

“We will Mrs. Cake,” Twilight said as Mrs. Cake disappeared behind the door leading to the kitchen, before turning to me. “Princess, I invited you here because I wanted to tell you something; something I didn’t get time to tell you before you disappeared on me.”

I took a bite out of the lemon cupcake, letting the delicious lemon flavor warm my spirit before telling Twilight, “Go ahead. I’m sorry I ran off yesterday. I was feeling a bit down then.”

“I understand Princess,” she said taking a sip of tea, “I just wanted to tell you that I have no problem with us being friends. It’s just that…well…I’m not really into mares. Do you know what I mean?”

I winced a little bit when she said that she wasn’t into mares. I shouldn’t have been surprised though. Not too many ponies preferred to get together with members of the same gender. I took another bite out of the scrumptious cupcake to try and keep my feelings down. It helped a little bit as I momentarily escaped life for a bit.

“Princess, is that ok with you?” Twilight asked again as her expression changed to one of worry. She noticed that I was avoiding the answer.

Sighing, I replied, “Of course Twilight Sparkle. I hope that whoever you have your eye on will feel the same way about you.”

I took the gummy lemon out from the cupcake and popped it into my mouth, enjoying the chewy treat as twilight spoke again. “That’s the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. I invited him over and I wanted to introduce him to—”

Before she could finish her sentence an all too familiar pony walked in the door. I knew that Twilight had been into stallions, but I never thought it would be this Stallion. With a look of acute disapproval I spoke to the Stallion, “Doctor…”

“Luna!” He said with a huge grin plastered on his face. “I haven’t seen you in ages. How’s my favorite Princess?”

“You know Dr. Whooves?” Twilight asked me after the awkward exchange of greetings, looking back and forth between me and him.

“We’ve met before,” the Doctor said, walking casually over to our table and sitting next to me.

“You abandoned me, all those months ago,” I growled at him through gritted teeth. “You could have saved me, but you didn’t.”

“Well, it wasn’t really my fault, He started out with a half-sincere grin on his face. "Well, I may have had a little bit to do with it; well, I may have had all to do it. If I said sorry now is that ok?”

“You left me in the middle of nowhere!” I shouted, resisting every urge to use my magic to strangle him. He had left me somewhere in the Everfree Forest, and it took me nearly a day’s flight to find Canterlot again.

“I really think that that was more or less a mistake,” he responded as I jumped up from my chair, ready to attack him.

“Ok!” Twilight shouted trying to stop us from hurting each other. “I can see that you two aren’t exactly the best of friends. So, I think we should leave, ok Whooves?”

“Right!” he stated, running over to the door and holding it open, “After you m’lady.”

“Goodbye, Princess,” Twilight said before walking out with Dr. Whooves following right behind her.

I sat down and closed my eyes, trying to calm myself down. Opening them again, I levitated the final piece of my cupcake and put it into my mouth, savoring the lemony taste it gave me. My spirits were instantly lowered again after the lemon taste faded away and my mind came back into reality.

Mrs. Cake then appeared from the kitchen door, “Is everything all right in here? I thought I heard shouting.” She saw that I was now sitting at the table alone and asked me, “Where did Twilight run off to?”

“She left with a friend,” I said quietly, not turning my head to her. A few tears were sliding out of my eyes, but I didn’t want Mrs. Cake to see them.

“Oh ok then. Well, I’m sorry to say this, Princess, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave. I need to close up the shop and make sure Pinkie isn’t bothering the twins.”

“That’s quite all right, Mrs. Cake,” I told her, getting up and walking over to the door. “I was just about to leave anyway…”

“Have a good night Princess!” Mrs. Cake cheerily mentioned as I walked out the door.

It was a little too late for that. I looked up and saw that the clouds were thicker than when I had come in, and looked ready to burst. Before I could take three steps, a drop hit me on the head, and slowly the clouds started to release their juices on top of me.

At least the rain will hide my tears…

A Friend in Need

In seconds my mane was sopping wet, no longer flowing as if a breeze were catching it. I stood there in grief as the rain splattered around me, despite the protests from my body. I had no clue where to I wanted to go next. The meeting was supposed to be a time for me to redeem myself and make ease with Twilight, but instead, I stood out in the rain, my heart torn once again by a pony I thought at one time to love me. I didn’t think it would end this way when I had rushed out here to meet her, with me in the rain and her going out with my worst enemy.

Not so very long ago, the Doctor arrived in his funny little blue box, taking me away from that horrible prison I had been banished to. He lifted my spirits as we traveled across time and space, exploring the unknown and amazing. He had me overjoyed throughout our travels, and he had almost gotten me past my internal hate for stallions. I had fallen deeply in love with him, even more so than the stallion who broke my heart as a filly.

But as we went on and on, he eventually brought me back home again, and he dropped me off inside the Everfree Forest. I thought that he brought me back just to visit, but I had taken not two steps out before realizing that I was nowhere near home. When I turned around to tell him of his mistake, he had vanished along with his mysterious box. He abandoned me in the Everfree Forest, alone, with nothing to help me find home again. That night, I flew for hours and hours, my aggravation at him turning into anger, and that anger to hatred. No stallion was ever going to fool me again, and that day I vowed to show that to the world.

Nightmare moon returned on that day, and I couldn’t do anything to stop her.

Taking a deep breath in, I started forward very slowly, as I had no place to go to. I wasn’t ready to head back to the Castle and talk with my sister yet. I needed somepony else to share my grief with, because I didn’t want Celestia to worry any more than she already had to. She deserves her rest for the amount that she does every day, and I didn’t need to interrupt it with my petty stories of broken love.

“Hey!” A voice cried out from above me, stopping me in my tracks. I looked up into the clouds to see if anypony was there, and my imagination wasn’t getting the best of me. “Princess Luna, is that you?” The high pitched voice yelled out again.

Looking up, I could make out somepony looking through a gap in the clouds. I recognized the voice, but I couldn’t put a face on it. “Yes, faithful subject. I am Luna, but who am I speaking with?”

“You should really get out from the rain Princess. Fly up here and I’ll introduce myself. I don’t think I ever met you personally.”

The why did that voice remind me of somepony? I flew up and through the gap, landing softly next to the pony. “I believe I’ve seen you before,” I said looking at the familiar rainbow maned pony sitting next to me.

“You probably have, Princess. My name’s Rainbow Dash. I’m a good friend of Twilight’s.”

“You were the one I hit with a lightning bolt during last year’s Nightmare Night weren’t you?” I asked a small smile creeping up on my face.

Her face turned a deep shade of red as she darted her eyes from side to side, obviously remembering that night very well. “Yeah,” she said nervously scratching the back of her head with her hoof, “that would be me.”

While unsuccessfully trying to hold back my smile, I told her, “I really am sorry about that. Twilight had said that it was all in good fun.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she started. “I kinda had it coming to me. Anyway, what are you doing around Ponyville, and for that matter, why were you standing in the rain? Didn’t you know we had a heavy shower scheduled tonight?”

“No I wasn’t aware of the shower, and I was only here to give Twilight a visit.”

“In the rain?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at me. “That’s an odd place to meet.”

“No it’s not that,” I said, sitting down on the cloud. What was left of my smile from remembering my Nightmare Night hi-jinks disappeared as my mind came back to the present. “We met in Sugarcube Corner, but the place is closed for the night. I just didn’t want to go back to the palace yet…”

“Well, hey!” Rainbow enthusiastically started. “Since we have showers scheduled throughout the night do you want to come over and hang out at my place? I’m supposed to keep an eye on the clouds, so I was going to read the new Daring Doo book that Twilight lent me.”

“Well…” I pondered her suggestion a few seconds before finishing, “I suppose it’s better than returning home alone again.”

“Race ya to my house?” she asked with a little smirk spreading across her face.

“And where pray tell is that Miss Dash?” I asked as I hadn’t the slightest clue where her house was.

“It’s right on the edge of Ponyville,” she said pointing a hoof off to the west. “Right over in that direction. It’s a giant cloud house, and its kinda hard to miss.”

“Well if you really want to…” I trailed off, thinking about it. At least it’ll take my mind off Twilight for a little bit.

Before I could react, Dash shouted out, “threetwoone GO!” She was out of view within a millisecond. I was knocked back a little by the back draft she created upon her takeoff, and the cloud I was on was pushed a few feet back. Staring with my mouth agape, I thought about how Celestia had said she was the fastest flier in all of Equestria. She wasn’t kidding, because Rainbow had taken off like a bullet. Knowing I had already lost, I took off and made my way towards where she had pointed out seconds ago.

Flapping my wings, I thought about my current situation, and how I was going to convince Twilight that she couldn’t trust Dr. Whooves. He had let me down easily, and around here I was considered royalty. I could only imagine how easily he would let Twilight go. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to have spoken with Twilight just a little longer at Sugarcube Corner.

I was snapped out of my trance when I heard Rainbow call out, “Down here, Luna!”

Looking down, I saw a typical cloud house with a rainbow arch extending out the top into the sky. There was a little rainbow pond next to the front archway that Dash was sitting next to, looking really winded. She must have been out of breath from her sprint to the house.

Landing on the cloud next to her, she said, still breathing heavily, “So…am I quick or what?”

“My sister told me you had won the Best Young Flyer competition, but I had no idea you were that quick!”

“Of course I am,” she said, standing up again. She had finally caught her breath. “Nopony can beat me! Anyway, come on in.”

We both hopped over to the main archway and stepped inside. The first thing I saw confused me. As soon as we entered all I could see was a wall filled with various Wonderbolts posters and a Wonderbolts calendar. There was a second landing that contained her unkempt bed, which was strewn with a few Daring Doo books.

“It isn’t much but it’s home,” Dash stated flying up to her bed to pick up the two books lying on top of it. “All I’ve got is one giant bedroom though. Pinkie lets me eat for free at Sugarcube corner, and I’m usually out of the house all day, so I don’t really need much else.”

Walking up the Wonderbolts poster, I replied to Dash, “It’s quite alright. I usually don’t venture farther than my bedroom in the castle if I can help it. I take it you’re a fan of the Wonderbolts?”

“Yeah!” she yelled in delight, flying down in front of the poster I was looking at. “They are only the best ponies in existence! Some day I’m going to join them and show off my acrobatic skills to the world!” She smiled and jumped up and down after her outburst. She was really confident in her dream. If only I could have that much drive in winning Twilight back.

“Is something up, Princess?” Rainbow asked, probably noticing my glum expression. “Are you not a fan of the Wonderbolts?”

“No Rainbow, it’s just that…I just lost a…good friend of mine. I loved her and I thought she loved me back…”

“Her?” Rainbow asked inquisitively. “Princess are you into…into mares?

I blushed as I realized my mistake. “Yes Rainbow, I’m into mares; Twilight to be exact. I’m sorry if that offends you and I hope that doesn’t make you think less of me.”

“Well Princess if you want to know the truth, I’m kinda…well…,” she trailed off avoiding eye contact with me.

“What is it Rainbow Dash?” I asked tilting my head slightly to the side as I was trying to decipher what she wanted to say.

Before I knew what was going on, she walked straight up to me and wrapped her hooves around my neck, planting a big kiss right on my lips.

A Friend Indeed

The movement was so sudden, and for a second my brain reeled trying to take in what had just happened. Instinctively, my wings snapped out, and, for a few seconds, I just stood there and let my thoughts seep away into nothing as a wave of ecstasy overcame me. My brain started coming back to me as I crashed back into reality, and I realized that while I did love the feeling of it all, this was not what I wanted. I wanted to be with Twilight, and I didn’t want to give her any false hope.

By this point, she was trying to force her tongue into my mouth, but I clamped my lips tight and made sure she couldn’t get it in. I pushed her away with my front hooves and I stumbled backwards a few steps. “That’s one way of responding…” I said, wiping her spittle off my lips with my front hoof.

"I thought you wanted that,” she replied with a sad look on her face, “since you were heartbroken and such. I thought you needed a little love…and I might sorta like you…” She trailed off, and I stood there for a second thinking that over. This was a different way of “giving a little love” than I had seen anypony do before, and I had never expected her of all ponies to “like” me. I thought everypony hated me.

“You like me?” I asked, not certain of how far she meant that “like” to go. I had a nagging feeling that Rainbow wanted to use another word, but was to shy to.

“You know…I thought you were a pretty cool pony, and I always wanted to get to know you,” she said scratching the back of her head. “I thought it was awesome how you spoke in that funny accent that voice during Nightmare Night.”

“You’re not exactly helping your case…” I mumbled inaudibly, “…funny accent…”

“What was that Princess?” she asked, hearing a bit of my personal ramblings.

“I’m glad you want to be friends Rainbow, but I hope you realize I don’t want to be any more than that,” I responded, avoiding her question. “My heart belongs to Twilight, and that isn’t going to change anytime soon.”

“I guess I may have come on a little strong,” she blushed, avoiding eye contact with me.

“Just a bit,” I said turning back towards the door. “Well, this night has been…interesting to say the least, but I really must be going. The flight back to Canterlot takes a bit, and I don’t to miss my moonset.”

“I’m glad you stopped by, Luna,” Dash said, before turning slightly and almost mumbling, “and feel free to come back…”

She had something for me; that much I could tell. I gave her a genuine smile and said with a wink, “I just might have to.” I saw her perk up a bit before taking off, and it made me feel a little better about the night. I’ve been around long enough to know that that was no accident that she kissed me. I just hope she knows that it could never work out.

*****

I could have easily teleported myself into my room again like I did when I was at Twilights house, but it felt better to soar across the skies with the wind blowing in my face. I needed time to think, and a midnight flight always helped to get my brain pumping. Right now there were questions going through my mind, from “Is Twilight with the Doctor now?” to “What can I do to show that Twilight’s relationship will only end in heartbreak?”

After coming up with thousands of unanswerable questions, I felt no more satisfied than when Twilight had left me at Sugarcube Corner. Seeing the castle come into view, I pushed those questions out of my head as I landed onto my bedroom balcony. I needed to clear my mind to get ready for moonset and sunrise. The flight between Canterlot and Ponyville took a few hours, and I imagined that it was about time to start the new day. I walked into room, and went over to my abacus and picked it up with the intention of doing some simple math problems. Before I could start anything, though, I noticed a message lying on my bed. Putting my abacus back on its shelf, I picked up the note and started reading it.

Luna. Meet me in the main hall directly after sunrise. The Wonderbolts are meeting us to discuss their routine for next month’s Grand Galloping Gala. You need to attend this. These are royal matters and it is required for you to be there, whether you want to or not. And don’t pull the Cutie Pox disease excuse again. I’m well aware that it died out hundreds of years ago.

-Celestia

“Why does it have to always be sunrise and sunset?” I asked the empty room. “Did moonrise and moonset never catch on? And how was I supposed to know the cutie pox died out years ago? Still, that was an interesting financial meeting…”

“Luna,” I heard my sister’s voice come from the other side of my door once again, “are you in there?”

“Yes sister,” I replied, putting the letter back down on my bed as Celestia walked into my room. “Are you ready to raise the sun for another day?”

“I’m always ready for that little sis,” she calmly replied. “I can’t tell you how much I missed doing this with you when you were gone from me.”

I smiled as I remembered our mother teaching us how to help all the other unicorns raise and lower the sun and moon. Those days in the fields were some of the best in my life. It was just me, Tia, and Mom showing us how to imagine the sun and moon as giant balls that we would pick up and hold with our magic. I had never imagined that someday I would be the one raising the moon alone.

I lowered my moon so it barley peaked the horizon, and in perfect synch, Celestia raised the sun to mark the start of another beautiful day. The glowing in my horn stopped as I let Tia take her sun and wake up all the creatures and ponies for another day. Usually, this would be when I retired off to bed, but Celestia’s note said that there was an important meeting that I needed to attend before I was allowed to rest.

I stood for a few more seconds while Celestia aligned her sun in the sky. Then she opened her eyes and turned around, starting to walk back into my room. I followed after her and she spoke up, turning her head so she could see my properly, “I take it you got my note? We need to get to this meeting.”

“Of course sister,” I replied, and before she could say anything else I added, “and I don’t have anything planned for today.”

“Good,” she chuckled, turning left into the hallway that led to the main hall. “I think those two apple cider venders aren’t going to return any time soon after last month’s debacle.”

I blushed and didn’t say anything as I followed her through the giant double doors into the meeting hall. She sat in one of the four chairs at the round table set up near the doors, and I sat down beside her as the Wonderbolts introduced themselves.

“Hello there Princesses Celestia and Luna,” an orange-maned pegasus said as another white-maned pegasus sat down in a seat opposite us. “I’m Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts, and this is Fleetfoot. She was in charge of organizing the show this year.” The white-maned pegasus gave a wave as Spitfire continued, “I’ll get right down to business. This year we’re planning on starting out the show with a grand aerial dive from our top six…”

I lost interest quickly and didn’t bother to listen any longer. I knew that the only reason I was here was to help represent the royal family. I watched as Spitfire’s mouth moved and as Fleetfoot got up to demonstrate a few of their moves in the open hall. I was getting bored of waiting and I could feel my eyes starting to droop. It was as if I was taking classes in magic high school again.

My eyes sprung open as a voice came in through my thoughts of sleep. “So, how did it go last night?” the voice in my head asked. It took me a few seconds to realize that Celestia was talking to me via telepathy. It was an old trick we learned as fillies so we could talk after Mom had put us to bed.

“Shouldn’t you be paying attention to this presentation, Tia?” I harshly transmitted back, not believing that she of all ponies would be talking during a presentation.

“They do the same thing every year, except for a few moves that they usually add here and there,” she responded quickly. “Besides, they’re experts at this type of thing. I’m just here to make sure they don’t try anything too dangerous. Spitfire’s been pretty good about keeping their dangerous stunts to a minimum, so I trust she’ll make the right decisions.”

“Alright,” I hesitantly thought about how I would describe last night. “Last night went…subpar to say the least.”

“What happened this time?” Tia asked in a worried tone.

“Twilight ran off with somepony last night. She just left me at that restaurant….”

“Who would do that to you? Who would be a better lover than you?”

She had asked that last question sarcastically, but for some reason the thought of that “Doctor” made my blood boil, and before I realized that I wasn’t communicating telepathically I said rather audibly, “I can think of somepony!”

“Really?” Spitfire said, catching me by surprise. I didn’t mean to say that out loud, but I must have said it at the right time, because Spitfire continued on, “You know somepony we could get to replace Soarin’ and his broken wing?”

I had no idea who I could get to be a replacement, so my mind reeled for a few seconds trying to remember some pegasus to step in. Rainbow Dash’s name popped in my head and I thought that maybe I owed her one for that kiss. “Rainbow Dash could probably replace him,” I finally said after a few seconds of silence. “She won that Best Young Fliers Competition last year right?”

“Oh yeah!” Spitfire exclaimed. “She’s the one that saved my life while we were trying to rescue that unicorn. I think she deserves a go at Equestria’s best. Thanks Princess.”

“Not a problem Ms. Spitfire,” I said, glad to have averted a very awkward situation.

“Nice save,” Celestia telepathically congratulated me.

“Oh, be quiet,” I replied shortly, giving her a smirk.

“Well that should about cover it Princesses,” Spitfire said looking through her notes. “Unless you have any questions, we’ll be on our way.”

“Thank you for coming Spitfire,” Celestia thanked the orange pony. “I’m sure your show will go flawlessly at the Gala once again, and I can’t wait to see it. Have a safe trip home.”

As Celestia escorted the two pegasi outside, I got up and headed for my room, ready to get a good days rest. I opened my door and closed it behind me with my horn befor sloppily falling onto my bed. Lifting the sheets over myself I closed my eyes and snuggled into the soft material of the bed. Before I could get to sleep though I thought I heard a familiar sound. Opening my eyes, I listened as the strange sound started to get louder. It was an indescribable sound, but I had heard it all too often in my lifetime. I sat up in my bed trying to determine where the source of the sound was coming from.

Then at the foot of my bed, a small blue box I knew from years ago started to materialize.

The Doctor Returns

“Well then, this doesn’t look like the planet of Midnight…” Doctor Hooves started, poking his head out the door of his little blue box. Within seconds his eyes snapped to my own and I gave him the meanest glare I could.

“This would be my room, Doctor,” I said through gritted teeth, putting a lot of emphasis on the final word. I couldn’t believe that he would show his face to me again after last night. That stallion made my blood boil, and he had some nerve dropping in on me in my own room, especially after what happened last time. I was ready to take him out, but Twilight was there to stop me. He just better be careful this time.

“Luna!” he overenthusiastically greeted me. “It’s been ages!”

“Don’t give me that ‘ages,’ Doctor,” I yelled back at him. “It’s been less than a day since you and I last talked to each other.”

“Has it really been that short of a time period? Fancy that, then! The TARDIS must really like you Luna, because I think this is probably the fifth time I’ve talked to you recently, and I really have been enjoying these chats. They were always happy and energetic and full of life, except last time. I think I met you at some sort of restaru—Oh…” He faltered as something seemed to cross his mind.

“This is the day after that last meeting isn’t it?” he asked in a deadpan voice. He seemed to already know the answer by the look of his face. I nodded and he continued on, “And that was when Twilight joined me, wasn’t it?” Another nod from me and he asked one last question with a grimace on his face, “And you’re probably still really mad at me aren’t you?”

I picked up my abacus with my horn and threw it at him as hard as I could in response. He quickly ducked back into his TARDIS to avoid being hit by the flying math tool. When the abacus hit the blue box, it exploded and all the beads flew off, scattering randomly about the room. Were we somewhere else, I might have considered trying to strike him with a bolt of lightning. We were in the Canterlot Castle, though, and that would have been too dangerous. I may have damaged something of my own in the process.

Poking his head cautiously out of the box, so he wouldn’t get hit by some other flying anomaly, the Doctor spoke up again. “Now let’s not get hasty here,” he started. “I do have company with me this time around.”

“Luna?” A voice I hadn’t heard since last night came from inside of the small blue box. My hopes rose up when I heard the sound of it. “What’s going on out there?” Twilight stepped out of the TARDIS next to the Doctor, and looked around curiously, obviously noticing the beads scattered throughout the room from my sudden outburst seconds ago. She had never seen the inside of my own personal bedroom. Not many ponies had. She quickly finished and her eyes locked onto mine, motionless and almost daunting. She stood there for a few seconds, staring directly at me, as if trying to read my mind before she burst out, “What in the hay happened between you two?!”

“He and I don’t exactly see eye to eye, Twilight,” I said, staring at the Doctor once more, “ever since that day all those years ago when he abandoned me in that damn forest.”

“Princess!” Twilight interjected, obviously not used to hearing royalty use any sort of vulgar language. “Wait, Doctor…is this true?”

“I told you that was an accident, Luna,” the Doctor said to me, ignoring Twilight’s question and keeping his eyes locked with mine. “As soon as I dropped you off in the forest, I went back into the TARDIS to recalibrate the engine after that run-in with that Ood uprising. When I tried to do a systems check, she took off with me inside. I realized my mistake too late and tried to go back to get you again, but when I got back you were gone. I searched for you for days, Luna. I didn’t abandon you by any means.”

“I don’t care anymore Doctor, because being with you caused the rage of Nightmare Moon to overcome me again after nearly a thousand years of peace. I just don’t want to risk heartbreak again and another death…”

“But Luna,” he started.

“Just leave me alone Doctor,” I interjected, turning my head towards the ground while slowly reassembling my shattered abacus. “Can’t you see that you’ve already done enough damage?” I turned my head back to Twilight, and with a serious tone, I started “As for you Twilight… I guess pleading for you to stay probably won’t change your stance, but I want you to know that if you go with him, then Equestria will be missing one of the six Elements of Harmony.” Finally I quietly added,

“Celestia help us all when that happens…”

“What would happen if one of the elements was missing?” Twilight asked me, curiously.

“I can’t say exactly, but nothing good I can assure you.” I replied, looking reflectively out my window. “Without the Elements of Harmony, Discord would still be in power, and I would still be that…that beast… Instead of guessing at unplanned events, why don’t we just have the Doctor show you?”

“What do you mean by that?” she asked me. When I gave no response past looking at Doctor Whooves, she turned to him and asked, “What does she mean, Doctor? Can you show me a future without me in it?”

“Theoretically, I could set up coordinates in the temporal flux of the central engine of the TARDIS, making one seemingly harmless event, one that you would not believe could change the world, change or differ from the accepted timeline, but if I get that to work, I wouldn’t be able to hold us in the alternate universe it creates for longer than a few lightseconds.”

“Usually, I know what you’re talking about Doctor,” Twilight responded after his speech, “but this time, could you simplify it a little bit?”

“I could do it, but we won’t be able to stay long.”

“Well then what are we waiting for?” Twilight asked, hopping back into the TARDIS. “I want to know what the possible future holds!”

“Luna,” the Doctor turned to me, “I know you and I aren’t on the best of terms,” he said as I thought about how I had just thrown an abacus at him, which I was still fixing, “But if you want to come…”

“I need to be there,” I said staring at the abacus, putting the final few beads back in place. “Twilight needs me to be there, because I can figure what a few years without the Elements of Harmony will do. I know the chaos it can cause.”

I put down the newly-repaired abacus and headed for his blue box. “Don’t think that this makes us ‘friends’ again Doctor. I will never forgive you for the damage you caused, regardless whether it was intentional or not.”

I stepped inside to see that the TARDIS was still the same as I remembered it. I felt emotions of love and heartbreak as I remembered all the events that this room held, from the travels to this planet called Earth to meeting a slave race called the Ood. Also memories of the night he abandoned me fluttered through my head and anger started to well up inside me again.

Twilight’s voice calmed me down as she proclaimed carefree, “Isn’t it wonderful, Luna? We can travel across the stars and through time itself!” She hopped around the ship exclaiming, “It makes me so happy to be traveling and to learn so much! I don’t ever want to leave this ship!”

The Doctor stepped on, but nothing changed in Twilight’s giddy emotions. The fact that her love of the Doctor was probably directly related to this ship made me feel a little bit better. If I could somehow convince her that this ship brought nothing but trouble, then maybe I could get her to break her bonds with him. At the very least, I need her to stay in Equestria.

Before the Doctor arrived, she was going to be the next Princess…

The New Equestria

“I can’t believe she’s…” Twilight started before she burst into tears once again on my shoulder. Although I was sad for her, the fact that she chose me over the doctor to lean to in this time of need gave me some hope.

“We need to move on,” the Doctor regretfully mumbled to us, “I’m not sure how much longer we can stay.”

“Then follow me,” My future self said, heading back out the door we came in. I was glad to leave the room and its tortured messages. I couldn’t believe that Pinkie, out of all those I’ve known would take her life. “We’re going to take a visit to Fluttershy’s cottage. I just hope she’s well enough to see us.

Future me led us out from Sugarcube Corner and down Main Street Ponyville towards Fluttershy’s cottage. As we passed stores and houses, I noticed that the ponies around us were different from back in our time. Everypony was walking quickly to and fro, but the odd thing was the fact that nopony was talking to each other. The streets were silent, save the noise of hoof steps on the pavement. Usually everypony was talking amongst themselves whenever I walked down the street on a normal day. Everypony here was solemn and silent.

“Why is everypony so quiet?” Twilight asked the Future Luna, obviously noticing the silence around us.

“They’re afraid to talk,” future Luna told her. “Ever since you left Twilight, Queen Celestia has ruled with an iron fist, and slanderous speech against the queen is now punishable by law.”

“Queen Celestia?” Twilight asked, slowing down a little, caught in some sort of trance.

“She dubbed herself Queen of Equestria, and now, so many things can get you thrown in a dungeon or banished to the moon that everypony stays quiet on the streets. They don’t want somepony snitching them out.”

The other Luna walked over to a house and picked up a poster stuck to the wall. Levitating it over to us, she stopped us and explained, “This is one of her new campaign posters.” The flyer had a tyrannical and omnipotent Celestia looking down upon the viewer, with the simple word “obey” printed at the bottom. Even after thousands of years, the look of an angry Tia always sent chills down my spine.

Twilight, obviously shaken up a little at that sudden revelation, just simply said, “Please… Let’s just go see Fluttershy.”

“Hey!” a voice I recognized fairly well shouted from behind us. “Twilight!”

I turned around to see a familiar orange-brown pony stumble towards us. Applejack had seen better day than this. Her Stetson was on sideways, and she looked like she had been drinking heavily. She could barely walk straight, and her eyes were droopy. Twilight responded with a happy, “Applejack. Thank Celestia you’re alright!”

Before I knew what was going on, Applejack spun around and bucked Twilight square in the jaw. She looked like she wasn’t keeping fit with her bucking legs, but there was a definite crack as hoof met jawbone. Twilight fell backwards, letting out a yelp and clutching her jaw. Applejack immediately shouted, “That’s for abandoning us you downtrodden, worthless piece of—”

“Applejack, that’s quite enough!” the future me shouted as she immobilized Applejack’s mouth with her magic. “You’re under arrest for domestic violence, again. You know what happens now.” Without the ability to speak, Applejack just squinted her eyes at Twilight threateningly.

Luna teleported her out of there quickly before turning back to Twilight, “Are you alright, Twilight? Did she break anything?”

Twilight groaned as she held a hoof to her jaw before responding, “I think I’m fine.” She moved her jaw a little bit before proceeding on. “She didn’t break anything, but what happened to her? That isn’t the Applejack I know. She’s usually so sweet…”

“That’s what a life of drinking can do to a pony,” the future me said, starting towards Fluttershy’s cabin once again.

“She started drinking after you left us, Twilight. Right after your disappearance, Granny Smith broke a leg during the apple bucking season. I came to try and consolidate Applejack, but without Granny Smith’s guidance, the harvest was lower than usual. Granny Smith finally passed away due to natural causes a few weeks later. Applejack started drinking, and ever since she’s been addicted to the sauce. I’ve tried helping her, but she’s all but given up on life. Here’s Fluttershy’s cottage.”

I stopped to look back at Twilight, who now had a look of pure horror on her face. I felt sorry for putting her through all of this, but she needed to know what would have happened, and what will happen if she doesn’t change her ways. I went up to her and draped a wing delicately over her, trying to soothe her, saying, “You know you can say if you don’t want to do this. We don’t have to keep going if you don’t want us to.” When she didn’t respond, I just pulled her in tightly. “Just remember that I’m here for you, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Twilight sighed, wiping away a few tears and spitting out a bit of blood, “but I need to. I’m already head over hooves into this mess, so I may as well see what else has changed.”

I simply nodded at my future self and she walked up to the door, knocking on it a few times. It took a while, but eventually the door creaked open a bit. A very feeble voice asked, “Who’s there?” Fluttershy’s voice sounded even weaker and fainter than when I had met her during Nightmare Night last year. She sounded close to death by what I could tell.

“It’s Luna, sweetheart,” the future me kindly and quietly responded. “I’ve brought you a friend who would like to see you. May we please come in?”

After a few quiet seconds the weak voice replied, “Come in, but be careful to not tread on any of my animal friends.” The door opened further, and instantly the stench of rotting corpses met my nose. I involuntarily gagged before I could stop myself. Looking inside, I saw skeletons and dead animals littered around the room.

“Oh dear Celestia,” Twilight mumbled, scrunching up her nose at the stench.

“You caught us in the middle of lunch,” The yellow pony said from behind the door. “Come in. I just finished getting Angel her food, so I’m done getting all their foods.”

I reluctantly stepped inside followed by my future self, the Doctor, and finally Twilight. As soon as Twilight entered, Fluttershy shouted as best as her feeble self could, “Oh Twilight! It’s nice to see you again after all these years.” Fluttershy had changed quite a bit since she gave me those first lessons on speaking quietly. Her hair wasn’t perfectly curled as it usually was, but instead was sticking up all over the place. Her body looked so bony, as if she hadn’t eaten in weeks. It was almost as if she was starving herself. “Ever since you left, I’ve had more time to take care of all my little woodland creatures. See?”

Fluttershy pointed to the various rotting corpses lying around the room. Every single one had a bowl of food sitting in front of it. There were various stages of decaying corpses around the room, with some looking like they had just recently passed away and were still bloated and others already piles of bones sitting in front of a food bowl.

Twilight looked around with a very confused face before starting to respond,“Um, Fluttershy, no offense but, your animals are—”

“Very well fed!” Future Luna interrupted. “Did you remember to feed your birds today?”

“Oh my goodness, no!” Fluttershy gasped as she turned around, headed for the door. “Thank you Luna,” she said before she disappeared in the kitchen.

“Doesn’t she realize that all these animals are dead?” Twilight asked as soon as Fluttershy was out of earshot. “And that they smell terrible?

“No, I don’t think she does,” Future Luna said, levitating the feed in all of the bowls back into the sacks they came from.

“One day I came to see how she was dealing with your disappearance, and she was feeding a dead squirrel. When I tried to convince her that the squirrel passed away, she broke down and started mumbling about how she was never going to lose a friend ever again. She always is feeding these dead animals before feeding herself. If I didn’t check up on her every day as I usually do, I think she may starve herself to death.”

Fluttershy returned just as the future Luna was finishing putting the feed bags back. “I see feeding time is over,” Fluttershy said, her twitching ever so slightly. “It was nice seeing you again Luna, Twilight. Oh, hello, Doctor Whooves, I didn’t notice you there.” She made no mention that she noticed that there were two Luna’s standing in her house. Instead, she feebly said, “It’s been nice see you all again, but I need to go feed the bears and such. Bye!”

“Goodbye, Fluttershy,” Future Luna said in unison with us before adding herself, “I’ll see you tomorrow sweetheart.”

We left her cottage, and as soon as the door shut behind us, we all inhaled deeply, getting fresh air into our lungs. Even Future Luna looked like she was glad to be out of there. “Poor thing,” the future version of me said. “She hasn’t got long, judging by her current state. I hate to say this, but she probably won’t be missed much. I think I’m about the only one that knows she still exists. She never leaves her house, except to go buy more food.”

That was when Twilight finally couldn’t take it anymore. She broke down in the middle of the street, bawling her eyes out. “Stop!” she yelped. “That’s it; I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to see anymore heartbreak.”

“Just take me home…”

The Bright Side

“Just take me home,” Twilight sobbed again, falling to the ground with her hooves covering her eyes. This future had finally broken her, and suddenly, I felt a pang of regret even bringing up the idea of showing her what the future held. I was the reason se had seen any of this, and I felt terrible for suggesting it now. “Please, let me go home,” she whimpered once more, shuddering uncontrollably.

I sat down next to her, and put my wing gently over her small trembling body, trying to calm her down from the breakdown. “It’s ok Twilight, you don’t have to see anymore,” I consoled her, pulling her into a tight hug. “We’re going to take you home as soon as we can.” I looked up at the Doctor and plainly said, “Doctor, You and the other Luna go back and fetch the TARDIS. I’m going to stay here and try to calm down Twilight.”

The Doctor simply nodded and then both of them were gone with a pop as the Future Luna teleported both of them back to her room. I sat resolute next to Twilight, who by now had her head buried deep into my side. She was still sobbing a good bit, and I just let her cry, getting to despair out of her system. I knew that right now, nothing I could say or do would help her to stop.

The ponies around us just glanced oddly at us as they walked past, not bothering to stop to see what had this pony bent so out of shape. Even though I felt terrible at causing all of this, their cold looks reminded me of why I had done it: Twilight needed to know the consequences, no matter how terrible.

“I don’t want Pinkie Pie gone,” Twilight managed to sputter in between sobs,, “and I don’t want Fluttershy to go insane, and I don’t want Applejack to be a Drunk, and I don’t want Celestia to be a Tyrant. I don’t want any of this. Not now. Not ever.”

“It won’t be Twilight,” I softly replied, noticing she had calmed down a bit. “I promise you it won’t, but you need to do your parts when time calls you.”

“Cross your heart?” She asked, taking her head out from my side and looking directly at me.

“Hope to fly,” I continued on the phrase I had heard Pinkie use now and again. She finished the phrase together with me, “Stick a cupcake in my eye.” We both smiled at each other, as she realized I had made a Pinkie Promise to help her in any way I could, and I realized that she made a Pinkie Promise to stay in Equestria with me.

“I think it’s been years since I heard that phrase uttered by anyone, Princess,” a voice said from behind us. “Ever since Rainbow Dash moved away with those Wonderbolts, I didn’t think anypony knew what that meant.” Turning my head towards the stranger, I instantly recognized who the voice had belonged to.

“Rarity?” Twilight asked, not believing that it was the same fashion-obsessed pony she knew under the tattered straw hat that this Rarity was wearing.

“Twilight!” Rarity gasped, finally recognizing who the other voice I was talking with. “Oh dear Celestia how I’ve missed you so, Twilight.” Twilight jumped up with renewed energy, and the two ran at each other, running straight into a big bear hug. I smiled, happy to see that Twilight had something to look forward to right now.

“Oh, Rarity,” Twilight started again, obviously glad to see a sane friend after all the disturbing futures, “I’m so glad you didn’t end up like the others.” Her spirits took a sudden but only slight downturn as she continued on. The layer of grime tells me that the fashionista I once knew doesn’t exist anymore. How have things gone for you in the Twenty years I’ve been missing?”

“Well, Twilight,” Rarity started with a sigh, “Things have been tough. I’ve been trying to deal with Pinkie’s Death, Celestia bless her soul, and Fluttershy’s and Applejack’s conditions, along with trying to stay sane and off the sauce myself. The Carrousel Boutique hasn’t made many huge sales lately, but I manage to keep the place more or less presentable.

“I’ve also been trying to help Sweetie Belle along, because Apple Bloom has had to take over nearly all of the duties of the farm due to Applejack’s new destructive habit. Scootaloo and she are always trying to help out whenever they can, but sometimes even they need a little help. The Boutique is still open for business, but I spend most of my days over at the Apple Family Orchards, helping Apple Bloom and her brother out the best I can.”

“I guess that explains the dirt,” Twilight said solemnly, looking down at her hooves. “I need to go back and change this.”

“If only that were possible, Twilight,” Rarity responded and, before Twilight could explain that she was serious, continued, “I would love nothing more than to stay and chat, but Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom are expecting me in the fields. Come over to the Boutique and well catch up, Twilight.”

“Of course Rarity,” Twilight responded half-sincerely, “I’ll see you tonight.”

Rarity left with a broad smile plastered on her face, and Twilight waved to her as she vanished back into the silent crowd bustling through the streets. “Luna,” Twilight started, still staring off into the place where Rarity disappeared in the moving bodies, “I’m glad you show me this. I wanted to travel through space and time itself with the Doctor and his magical box, all to see how I fit in with the rest of the universe. Now though, I realize that my place is right here in Equestria.

“I didn’t think I mattered that much to my friends, much less the entirety of Equestria . I thought it wouldn’t matter if I left never to return. I thought my friends were strong enough to go it alone, but I see now that is far from the truth. I need to go home. I need to tell my friends that I love them, and I would never leave them. Thank you so much, Luna. Thank you.”

She grabbed me with her two front hooves and pulled me in for a hug. I was surprised by the sudden movement, but I relaxed and returned the favor when I saw that she was finally smiling since we came here. It was as if time itself stood still at that moment. The hug stretched out into minutes, then hours as it seemed to go on forever.

Finally after what had to have been over a decade or two, she loosened her grip but didn’t let go completely. Leaning in close, she whispered in my ear, “You know, ever since I saw you in that field, I think I may have had something special for you in my heart. I was confused then, because…well…I had always been told that a mare and a stallion would get together, not two mares. I went with the Doctor because he had the TARDIS, and he wasn’t a mare… What I think I’m trying to say is, Luna, I—”

The last few words were drowned out by a noise that I knew all too well. This wouldn’t be the first time it interrupted something. Without even knowing what Twilight had said, I pulled her in and suddenly gave her a huge kiss, just like the night when she let me stay in the Library. I wasn’t drunk this time, though. I did this in an effort to mostly spite the Doctor, but I regretted it as soon as I started. I knew that any second, she would push away and my love would have been forever ruined by a stupid impulse over trying to win her heart.

She didn’t pull away, though.

After a few seconds into the kiss, Twilight wrapped her hooves around me and kissed me back. I was so surprised by this when I opened my mouth a little in surprise. Twilight took this opportunity to stick her tongue deeply into my mouth, sending a wave of ecstasy over me. I couldn’t believe this was finally happening after all that she had been through. I didn’t want it to end, and I closed my eyes as I wrestled Twilights tongue with my own. I was in heaven, and I didn’t want to ever leave.

“Are you two lovebirds quite done yet?” The Doctors voice asked, pulling me out from my trance-like state. Twilight instantly stopped kissing me and blushed, suddenly alert knowing that we were being watched. The Doctor, however, seemed unmoved by this act and simply said, “We need to get out of here before this world collapses above our heads. This is a projection of the TARDIS and I’m not sure how much longer she can take it!”

“Lets get a move on! Allons-y!”

A New Start

“Home!” Twilight shouted, jumping out of the TARDIS and spinning around before falling on her back near her own Library’s doorstep. “I’m back home.”

Looking out the doors of the TARDIS, I watched as she started to roll back in forth in front of the door with a huge grin on her face. She looked elated to be free of that terrible world we had just visited, and I couldn’t help but smile as she laughed and closed her eyes, lying there in the sun.

“I didn’t think I was ever going to say this again, Doctor,” I started, turning towards the Doctor, who was pushing buttons and flipping switches on the console of the TARDIS while giving a few places a good hard buck, “but thank you so much. I would have never been able to convince Twilight to stay. I’m also sorry for all the yelling I did when you came to my room. I was just jealous that Twilight chose you over me…”

“Well,” he stopped messing with his controls and trotted over to me, watching Twilight hug spike as he came out to see what was going on, “I can’t say that that hasn’t happened to me before. I’ve been told I have that effect on some ponies and other creatures of the universe. It did get pretty ugly back on Earth all those years ago… Nevertheless, I’ll accept your apology, and tell you I’m sorry too, Luna. I’m really sorry, terribly sorry in fact, for leaving you in the Everfree Forest all those months ago. I knew I had made a mistake all too late, but know that I didn’t forget about you. I just misjudged the trajectory of the TARDIS’s time fluctuations and—”

“You know I never understood all that technical jargon, Doctor,” I stopped him before he could start listing a bunch of terms I didn’t know. I noticed that while he was talking, spike retreated back into Twilight’s house, and she had now spotted Rarity and Fluttershy walking and chatting. I finished my sentence while she ran off to give them a round of small hugs, “I guess we’re even then, Doctor. But before you ask, I think I’d rather stay in Equestria than go on another series of adventures through time and space. I got something better here: Twilight.”

“Alright’y then, Princess, but who said I was going just yet?” the doctor asked, waving to Twilight, who was pointing us out to Rarity and Fluttershy, who both had looks of surprise on their faces. “That last trip was really hard on the TARDIS, and I need to give her a couple of hours to fix herself up and refresh before I take her for another spin. That’s the most stress I think I’ve put on the old girl for a good while now.”

“I guess you don’t have to leave just now,” I smiled and saw that Twilight was waving goodbye to Rarity and Fluttershy who both still looked a little confused. “I have a feeling you’re going to want to tag along with us. Am I right?”

“Would I want to 'tag along' with two of my former assistants, one of which, until recently, wanted to personally rip my head off while the other took almost infinite joy in learning new things?” He asked me before answering it himself. “I think it’d be fantastic to ‘tag along’ with two brilliant ponies! But of course, if you were to ask me to leave, I would have no trouble parting ways with you.”

The look on his face told me that he wasn’t about to leave us alone, though. “Oh, come on, let’s go then,” I told him, walking out to where Twilight was still smiling and staring at the sky. I snuck a glance backward to see if he had followed me out, which indeed, he had done. Turning back to Twilight I opened my mouth to ask her how she was doing, but before I could say anything she interrupted me.

“Even the sky looks brighter than it did in that future world,” she said, looking up into the few clouds that lingered from yesterday’s rain shower. “I have to ask though, Doctor,” she started, noticing that he had joined my side looking at the clouds too, “was that really the future of an Equestria without me?”

“One of them,” he simply said, before adding randomly after seeing Rainbow Dash fly by, “I wonder how that Pegasus wing structure holds up. I wonder if I can rig the TARDIS to give me some of those. Then I could…”

“Doctor,” Twilight broke him out of his train of thought before asking, “What do you mean by one of them? Were there other possibilities that I could have seen?”

“Of course!” he responded, finally looking directly at her instead of the clouds above. “Haven’t you ever heard of how stepping on a bug in the past could change the future forever? Of course, at this point, going into the past and changing something wouldn’t be much of a problem because it would already have happened even though it hasn’t occurred in your timeline yet. Am I making any sense?”

“I think so,” she replied, closing her eyes and scrunching her face while mouthing a few words. “So what your implying is that was only one of thousands of possibilities I could have seen. What caused the TARDIS to pick that particular one then?”

“I programmed her to!” the Doctor triumphantly responded, “I just set the scenario to the most normal circumstances that she could produce. In other words, I told her to go and take the average, most likely future and send us there. Out of the couple quadrillion choices she could have made, the TARDIS calculated what you saw to be the most likely outcome, were you to disappear off the face of Equestria one day. Pretty brilliant if I do say so myself, but I can’t be one to judge.”

“Ugh,” Twilight grunted, trying to process all that information, “I think right now, I’d rather just forget about all of this with a treat at Sugarcube Corner. Anypony willing to join me?”

“Only if you promise to get me another one of those lemon cupcakes again,” I jokingly said. “What about you, Doctor? I’ll get you something to make up for my behavior last time we were there. What do you say?”

“Do you think they’d have any custard tarts?” he asked me, putting a hoof to his chin. “I’ve been hooked on those things since King Henry IV served those things at his banquet, and I didn’t get much time to see what they offered there.”

“I’m not sure who King Henry is, but I’m sure Pinkie’s made quite a few custards in her time at Sugarcube,” Twilight told him, starting to head towards Sugarcube Corner, which was only a block away from here. “We could probably find something for you to enjoy.”

I followed closely behind Twilight with the Doctor beside me. She was happily waving at nearly everypony who happened to pass by. I could tell she was still so glad to be out of that other world. I have to admit that even though I knew an Equestria without the Element of Magic wouldn’t be a bright one, I never would have foreseen that much despair from one missing pony. I think I was as glad as she was when we left that horrible place.

“How long was Twilight with you before you guys landed in my room anyway, Doctor?” I asked while Twilight kept waving to every passerby, regardless whether she knew them or not. She even was saying “hello” and “good evening” to nearly everypony within earshot. It made me smile to see her so happy once again.

“You know, she was with me quite a while,” he started, looking up into the sky where I could only guess he was recalling all their adventures. “It had to have been a couple of weeks, because I took her to Great Britain first, and she kept insisting we stay so she could study everything about the humans there.”

“Oh, Earth,” I reminisced my time there with the Doctor. It was so similar and yet so different from Equestria. “How did she deal with being a human?” I remembered the first time he took me there, he said he needed to disguise me so that I wouldn’t cause any alarm, because on Earth, at least according to him, there were no colorful ponies. It took me nearly a day to adapt to having no magical ability and standing on two legs.

“She took a bit longer to get used to being a bipedal creature than you did,” he said chuckling. “I guess it’s just as awkward as my first time too, though.”

We had finally arrived at Sugarcube Corner, and I was glad to be back at the place. Taking a quick glance up, I saw that I still had a few more hours until I needed to worry about raising the moon for another night. “Look out!” I heard Twilight shout very suddenly, and I instinctively jumped to the side to avoid whatever was coming.

The Doctor was not as lucky though, because the object headed toward him was a pony I knew very well. Her grey fur passed right by me as the blonde pegasus barreled into the Doctor, knocking both of them to the ground in a heap. “Oh dear,” I mumbled. “Derpy? Doctor? Are you two alright?”

"I’m ok,” the grey pegasus called out. “I’m really sorry mister!” She got up and lent him a hoof, pulling him back to a standing position.

Brushing himself off, he turned to the wall-eyed pegasus saying, “Not a problem, my dear. Accidents happen…” He trailed off at the last few words, staring intensely into Derpy’s eyes.

“Is something wrong Mr. Doctor?” Derpy asked, looking uncomfortable in the Doctor’s gaze.

“You are the first pony I know to have Strabismus,” he told Derpy, with a serious look on his face. A few seconds later, that face turned into a wide grin as he continued on, “That’s brilliant that is! Would you like to come inside with me and have a pastry or two?”

“I don’t have any bits…”

“I’ll cover for you,” he grinned, “Let’s go get some scrumptious home-crafted pastries! Allons-y!”

Derpy giggled as the Doctor led her into the pastry shop. “You say some funny words Doctor,” She said as they passed through the door. “I like you.”

“I think the Doctor may have just found his new companion,” Twilight said, now levitating a pound cake and a lemon cupcake in front of her using her magic. “Come on in, and we can enjoy these. Here’s your lemon cupcake that you always loved, Luna.”

She levitated the delectable treat in front of me and I grabbed it with my own magic. I took a bite out of it and let the sweet and tart taste of lemon fill my mouth before proceeding into the door. When I sat down at a table with Twilight, she started, “Now about that kiss,” I almost spat out the cupcake in my mouth when she said that, and I instantly froze, waiting for some unbearable news to come out from her mouth.

“I think that needs to happen more often…”

Lonely Luna

Space is such an oddity to behold. It is serene to go out and gaze upon the infinite field of stars; to go and try to understand the mysteries of something even the most powerful mind can only begin to comprehend. The infinite space between us and whatever lies beyond the sky, something only few truly realize. Most everypony sees this wonder as such, but me... I gaze differently. My thoughts differ from those of awe and enchantment. I have been corrupted by the passage of time, and my mind is fixated on the past. Whatever I do, wherever I go, my thoughts revert back to the dark times of yesteryear. I try and try, again and again, but to no prevail, as my brain is stuck on those thoughts of hatred and heartbreak.

The sky is something different to me. Nopony will ever look at it the same way I do. Where they see open sky with freedom and endless ambitions, I see only the vast emptiness between the stars and my former prison. The stars themselves only remind me of how far away I am from everypony, and the moon is nothing more than a memory of loneliness. The darkness itself seems to wrap around me, shrouding my true face to the world. Past actions are weaved into the night air and every time a breeze comes along, those faded songs of hatred and despair are whispered into my ears.

I have control over it, but what's the use when all I receive in return is pain and suffering as the scars of my past are constantly ripped open. Trying to take comfort in this time is as easy for me as a baby pegasus learning to fly for the first time. The moon is almost a burden for me, as I have to remember all those hours spent gazing upon the Earth waiting for my return. All my memories are wrapped around my soul, shrouding my mind and haunting every waking moment I have on this planet. Simply glancing upward sends a shiver down my coat, regardless of the surrounding weather.

A thousand years worth of my past is devoted to those painful memories. A thousand years is nearly unfathomable to most minds. Only the stone of the earth has been around for so long. Nothing is the same as before when my sister and I ruled together in harmony. But now even she, the only remaining link I have in this life, is different from before. She's grown up, and moved on along with the rest of the bustling world, whereas I have been left behind, like a discarded, dusty old book, thrown out to keep up with the times. This book is filled with stories to tell and things to say, but nopony ever wants to hear them. They all know of my past self. They all know of the darkness inside.

Speaking with others is a rarity, because most ponies who I address either run away or melt into a puddle before my hooves. Nothing more than a simple hello can even be muttered before the panic sets in. Nightmare Moon may be finished with, but her memories are still infused into the eyes of the public. They don't know of my accomplishments, only of that horrid beast that came to be. Nothing I do or say can erase the memories of the past, nor will they just simply fade away. The most known point in my life is also the one point I am truly ashamed of.

The only comfort I've ever received is from my own dear sister, Celestia. But her empty words of encouragement do nothing to help me. They only remind me of my state in the world. She'll keep trying to boost my spirits, but I am on the breaking point. I feel nopony can help me now. They all know me as the "Queen of Darkness," not as the simple mare I can be. Tonight I'm destined to repeat the actions of every night before, every night that has gone past my eyes like a blur. The shadow of my past haunting my spirit as I repeat my daily trudge.

Tonight, I sit alone in the deafening silence.

******

All she does is sit and gaze up at the heavens above. I've watched her night after night, and all she ever seems to do is wait in silence until my sun peaks the horizon. I know my sister, and she seems to be sinking further and further with every passing night. There must be something I can do to help her out. I've tried reasoning with her, and she hears me out. I don't think anything I say is helping her though. She just soaks the words in only to squeeze them back out aain when I’m not around. I need somepony else to get involved. I've tried again and again to get ponies to talk to her, but they can never gain enough courage to finish a conversation with her. I have one last hope left. If this fails, I don't think I will be able to save her in time. Taking out a scroll, I started writing my letter.

"Dear Twilight Sparkle..."

******

The moon was darker than its usual self tonight. My magic wasn't keeping it as bright as I normally do, but what was the point in lighting something that nopony even takes notice in. Everypony is bound to be in bed waiting for my sisters glorious day to come as my dark night passes unnoticed.

"What's this then?" I mumbled, seeing a shape start to form in front of me. As the silhouette got closer, I saw that it was a pony carrying some sort of saddlebags. When the anonymous pony got closer to me, I could make out a light purple coat and a dark mane on this particular visitor. Only when she got very close could I make out the horn atop her head, and the books in her bags.

"Princess?" the purple pony asked politely. The name caught me off guard, as I had been used to being called Nightmare Moon by everypony I met, granted they actually managed to get a word out before fainting or running in terror. I recognized the voice instantly, as I heard it before at the last Nightmare Night celebration I had attended.

"You're Twilight Sparkle, prized student of my sister, Celestia, are you not?" I asked the purple unicorn.

Before answering me she shrugged off her saddlebags and laid down beside me in the grass. "Yes, Princess, I am," Twilight replied nervously, giving me a forced smile. "Your sister sent me here to talk to you about..." she trailed off.

"Is there something wrong back at the castle?" I asked, raising my wings and preparing to take off, would there be any serious problem.

"No, its nothing like that, Princess..." She trailed off again as I folded my wings back to my sides.

"Then what business do you have being out here so late? Why has my Sister sent you?"

"Well," she hesitated, trying her best to avoid eye contact with me, "She's...She's worried about you, about your ability with friendship."

My sister had known I had trouble since last year when I had returned. She's been telling me that she cares, but never before had she sent someone else to give me any words of encouragement. Her own personal student was studying up on that very subject, so maybe she was sent to help me. "Well, I would love the help," I started, "but I don't think anypony wants to relate with the former 'Queen of Darkness.'"

"I would like to princess," she said, finally gaining the courage to look me directly in the eyes, "be your friend that is."

It took a few seconds for that comment to set in, and at first I was overjoyed, but then I realized that this probably was only so she could finish another one of her reports. "My sister sent you here to say that, didn't she," I said, looking away from the unicorn next to me. I was just another assignment to her; I was another project that she was undertaking.

"No, Princess," She said standing up and walking over to her saddlebags. "Please hear me out. I really do want to be your friend. I thought you and I could read together, or you could help me with my studies."

Shuffling through her bag using her horn, she must have found what she was looking for, as a book with a faint purple aura levitated out from the bag. She put the book in front of me and I read the title. Poems For the Pony of Flight it said. "Why have you brought me this?" I asked the unicorn as she sat back down next to me, close enough so she could see the book too.

"I thought maybe we could read one of these together," She told me levitating it to the first page. "I've always felt a good poem can aid me even in the darkest times. Here I'll read the first one..."

The moon, the sun, the stars and the sky;

All things seen by all pegasi.

Everything beautiful, serene, but yet;

How I wish I wasn't alone at every sunset.

"That...that was beautiful," I complimented her, a tear forming in my eye. The poem wasn't great, but being with somepony else made it all that much better.

Going to wipe away the tear, Twilight looked up and asked, "Is something wrong Princess?"

"No, nothings..." I trailed off, my emotions welling up inside me. She really cared; not only that, but she really wanted to be my friend. Before I knew what I was doing, I pulled twilight into a tight hug. After a few seconds I came back to reality and let go of her. "I'm very sorry," I apologized, blushing slightly.

"I enjoyed that Princess," she reassured me, "I really did."

"Oh thank you Twilight," I said, pulling her into another hug and tearing up a bit.

"You're welcome Princess...er...Luna."

Releasing her once again, I lifted the book with my own horn and asked, "Shall we read another one, friend?"

"I would love nothing more," Twilight replied as I draped my wing over her body. We turned the page and began reading together as friends...

******

"Thank you, Twilight Sparkle," I said aloud, writing up another letter to send her. I was overjoyed that my sister had made a new friend. I saw them reading together, and Luna had a smile on her face once more. I haven't seen her that happy since before the banishment. I chuckled to myself thinking about what Twilight would inevitably send me. She was always writing up friendship reports, and, although I already knew the outcome, I was eager to read it. Sending the letter out, I saw that Luna's moon was about to set, and I needed to raise the sun before it got too late.

"Time for a new beginning..."

What the Future Holds

“Alright, Twilight I need you to spin that wheel there,” Doctor Hooves pointed out, pounding on a couple of buttons himself while running around the main console.

Without asking how much to spin it, Twilight gripped the handle with her teeth and spun the contraption freely. When the wheel started to slow down, Doctor Hooves picked up a hammer with his teeth and smashed it into a piece of metal near the only monitor in the TARDIS. The wheel instantly stopped and the entire ship started to rumble as we traveled through the fabric of time itself.

We stumbled around a bit, Twilight completely falling over herself, until the ship sat still. Having what must have been months of practice, I managed to keep my balance, but It still amazed me that the ship was in perfect condition despite the abuse that the doctor did to it before every trip. He loved the ship like it was his wife though, something I refused to accept until it was too late. I was just trying to save Twilight from the same pain I went through. She may be harder to defeat than Nightmare Moon, though as her studies on magic extend far beyond the reaches of mine.

“And here we are!” Doctor Whooves proclaimed picking up his sonic screwdriver and turning the monitor towards us.

“We’re now twenty years into the projected future without Twilight. Same spot that we left from actually.”

“Doctor, wouldn’t that mean that we’re still in my room?” I asked, as a thought crossed my mind.

“Doctor!” I heard my voice proclaim from outside the TARDIS.

“Ah,” the Doctor started, realizing the reasoning behind my question, “That may be a bit of a hindrance in our mission.”

“I think we might be able to make this situation a little better if I went out first,” I told the Doctor as I heard myself screaming to leave from outside. "I would know how to calm myself down better than you or Twilight.”

“Then go right ahead Luna,” the Doctor said, before turning to Twilight adding “and before you ask Twilight, no, the whole meeting yourself won’t break time and space, granted you only meet your future self.”

Twilight shut her open mouth and stood there with a look of shock on her face, as if the Doctor had read her mind. I shook my head as I remembered how many times he had done that to me before I walked up to the wooden doors of the TARDIS. Lifting up a hoof, I pushed the door open and stuck my head out.

“Hello Luna, I’m an old friend of yours,” I said, stepping out to see myself twenty years older. I looked exactly the same as I did now, except I could see a sadness in my future self’s eyes, despite her look of surprise. “I’m you, from the past, and the Doctor here has brought a friend along.”

My future self just laid on her bed with a shocked expression as I walked back into the TARDIS to motion for the Doctor and Twilight to come out with me. I stepped out first to see my future self still was staring at me open-jawed. That look of surprise quickly changed into a scowl when the Doctor stepped out behind me. I shared her anger, but I knew that he was my only chance at showing Twilight how much Equestria needed her.

Then Twilight stepped out of the TARDIS, and my future self jumped out of the bed and ran up to Twilight, nearly engulfing her in a bear hug. The Doctor and I looked at each other with surprised faces before my future self started sobbing, “Oh Celestia, Twilight! I haven’t seen you in Twenty years! I’ve missed you so much!”

Twilight looked over at me and with a smile said to both of us, “I didn’t realize you cared for me that much.” I blushed and turned my head away, realizing that my future self had just revealed my true feelings for her.

After a few awkward seconds, my future self let go of Twilight, and I spoke up, “We’ve come here to show Twilight what a future without the Element of Magic is like.”

“Yes,” my future self replied solemnly, “Equestria hasn’t fared well since your disappearance twenty years ago. If you want, I can show you around the place.”

I could tell that Twilight had noticed the gave tone in her voice, and so I spoke up for her, “That would probably be for the best. Why don’t we visit her friends?”

“Or what remains of them…” future me mumbled. “Meet me at Sugarcube Corner,” future Luna told us as she teleported herself away.

“This may sting a little bit, Doctor,” Twilight said as she charged up her horn. As soon as I heard the distinct pop of teleportation, I channeled energy into my horn and zapped myself to in front of Sugarcube Corner.

As I opened my eyes to see the familiar restaurant that I had just recently visited, I saw my future self knock on the door. After a few seconds of nothing, she pushed the door open and went into the restaurant, motioning for us to follow. I immediately went inside after her, and Twilight followed me after checking to see that the Doctor was ok. Twilight shut the door, and future me provided a faint light with her glowing horn. I did the same, followed by Twilight, as all the doors and windows were boarded up.

The place looked as if it had been abandoned for years. A layer of dust had gathered on the floor from disuse. Twilight scraped a hoof along the ground, noticing the dust formation and asking, “How long has this been like this?”

“Three years ago, the Cakes left with their Twins,” my future self replied. “They left after the incident.”

“What incident?” Twilight worriedly asked her eyes darting around the room for clues.

“Follow me, and I’ll show you,” Future Luna told her, “Her room hasn’t been touched since then. She climbed up a flight of stairs and turned to one of the three doors. She opened it up and revealed all the terrible glory that used to be Pinkie Pie’s room.

I had never visited this room before, but the wall screamed out the pain and torture that poor soul had to have gone through. The walls and ceiling were covered with messages and words like “Die, Twilight” and “No more friends. No more parties.” There were items scattered around the room. Pictures of Twilight were covering the walls with words scrawled in marker. Vulgar swear words were written across Twilight’s face in many of the pictures. A few of the pictures were shattered and there was a pile of ash in a metal basket where something was burned.

While Twilight gaped at the scene in front of her, my future self started explaining, “They found her body hanging outside on a noose. The theory is that she drove herself insane after all her friends split apart. I don’t think you realize how much you affect you friends, Twilight.” Twilight just shook her head, taking in all of it while the Doctor stared stone-faced into space. He had seen this so many times, but I don’t think he ever got used to it. Twilight started crying, and buried her head into my shoulder.

After all, she had just been told that she was the reason Pinkie had committed suicide.