Light as a feather

The lights emanating from the castle disrupted the star shine barely visible from the Canterlot gardens. Amber again found himself standing before the odd draconequus statue, admiring the way it seemed to shift in the moonlight as if it were alive somehow. The hour was late, and he was beginning to feel the effects of his long day, not to mention the sleepless night previous. He wondered a moment what Vinyl was doing.

“An odd creature is it not?” A pleasantly soft voice said from behind him. The colt recovered quickly from his startled stupor turning to find Princess Celestia quietly watching him. Celestia’s eyes betrayed the affectionate smile she offered the nervous earth pony with the shaggy mane and feather cutie mark.

“I’ve never seen one before.” He said lamely.

“Be thankful for that.” She said her gaze drifting absently over the cold stone. There was something sad about her stare for a moment, but as fast as it had come the notion was gone, her attention once more on the colt in front of her. She suggested a walk and Amber obliged. The pony didn’t have to look to know that every other pony in the garden had turned their attention toward him as he walked with the princess.

“Lexis spoke well of you.” The sun princess said. “I can see her assurance in you was well placed.”

“I don’t…I’m not….” Amber stumbled, his words tripping over his tongue. The colt bit his lip his eyes flitting between the shimmering white alicorn pony and the ground beneath his hooves. He was abashed and uncomfortable being so near the solar princess, finding her even more intimidating than her younger sister, though he didn’t understand why.

“Your performance tonight was praiseworthy.” She interjected drawing the colt’s eyes for a moment up from the ground. “Do you not agree?”

“Not exactly…” The colt murmured rubbing a hoof along his mane as the Princess stopped to admire another statue. “I mean… I don’t deserve your praise. I didn’t do it because I wanted to…” The colt flushed a deep red, the color just visible beneath his rusty orange hue. He mentally kicked himself for speaking so blatantly. A small trickle of laughter reached his ears but he shared in none of the mirth his host displayed.

“You have made my sister happy.” Celestia said lifting the colt’s hung head with a wingtip. He stepped back reflexively, noticing a moment of uncertainty cross the princess’s face before he recoiled. “I only wish to thank you for it.”

For a long moment her stunning blue eyes held his gaze, drawing him in. The sounds of the garden and the murmurs of the other ponies fell away in those brief moments. He shook his head, pulling his eyes away and stepping back. “Y…You’re welcome.” He answered, fighting the urge to turn tail and run.

He lost.

His hoof beats echoed on the cobblestones, the screams of the ponies he upset in his flight falling on deaf ears, as he shoved past them. He ran blindly, jutting between statues and along hedge rows looking for seclusion he wasn’t sure he would find.

The garden may have been large but it wasn’t endless. Eventually he found himself slowed to a walk, breathing heavily, a clammy sweat coating his fur beneath the uncomfortable outfit he wore. Rarity was going to be upset with him but at that moment he couldn’t care less, if he ever cared at all. A trail of clothing marked his passage toward a lonesome looking gazebo as he shrugged out of them, the seams pulling apart as he did so.

A chill crept up his spine brought on not by the temperature but an eerie musical note flowing from within the structure where a pony, her colors muted by the shadows crawling across her fur, plucked on the strings of a curiously large instrument that easily dwarfed her petite frame. As he silently watched she pulled the bow across several more strings sending a series of notes floating into the darkness. The old wood creaked beneath his hooves as he ascended the rotting steps, alerting the pony to his presence.

She turned her head only slightly, to acknowledge his audience and nothing more, the somber notes she played breaking his heart little by little. When the song had finished, or when she simply decided to stop playing he wasn’t sure which, she turned and offered him a small smile.

“This is the second time you’ve noticed me.” The grey earth pony said as she observed him silently. The barest hint of an accent he couldn’t begin to identify trailed her words. In the absence of the grey ponies melancholy notes Amber could hear the crickets chirping, and the rustle of a faint breeze through the grass.

“Why are you out here?” He asked curiously. “Don’t you want the others to hear you play?”

“They had all evening to listen but they did not.” The mare scoffed, rolling her pretty violet eyes. “And I do not play to be heard by ponies that do not care.”

“So, you’d rather play for nopony?” Amber wondered.

“It wouldn’t be the first time.” The mare answered cryptically, pulling the bow across the strings again ending further conversation. Amber admired the sound, a smile coming to his face as he thought about how such a sound could only improve that rubbish Vinyl Scratch called music.

--

“Tia?” Luna murmured stepping up behind her sister. The white alicorn stood apart from the other ponies mingling nearer the castle walls, basking in the warm glow of artificial light. Celestia’s stars had lost their luster and thus their appeal, what little they had garnered, and for that reason they were not admired as they ought to be. “Are you alright?”

“I had hoped they would notice.” Celestia said aware of her sister’s presence. The smaller alicorn glanced up at the stars, shining dimly in the dark night, the faint moon hung among them.

“It is not that they do not notice.” Luna said. “But that they do not care…”

“Luna!” Celestia snapped whirling on her younger sibling. Her tone was harsh though she had not meant it to be so. Still the darker pony did not seem to mind, instead she smiled wryly as she directed her sisters gaze toward the night sky.

“Do you think it false?” Luna asked. “You of all ponies know it to be true, whether your night or mine, none among them care.”

“Do not say such things!” Celestia warned. “They have yet to see the wonder of your night.”

“Do you honestly think they are here for me?” Luna went on. Her somber tone was betrayed by the smile on her face. “Had I not included prizes how many of them do you think would have come, how many of them would have participated?” She asked heatedly. “I understand your intent but they do not care for me as you do. They never will.”

“Luna…” Celestia said noticing the hurt in her sister’s eyes even as she tried to hide it.

“Please, do not worry yourself over me.” Luna said smiling reassuringly at her sister. “That you alone wish for my nights to be admired is more than enough.”

Luna’s eyes brightened a bit as she caught sight of Twilight Sparkle, watching from the shadows. The purple unicorn flinched and made to turn and leave, unsure if she had been wrong for eavesdropping but Luna’s voice pulled her back. “Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said softly a pleading glimmer in her teal eyes. “…Would it be forward of me to ask a favor of you?”

“I understand you are my sisters favored pupil.” Luna continued and Twilight nodded her concurrence. “Am I right to presume you and Celestia are also friends?”

Twilight nodded again.

“Might I implore you to…speak with her? I fear her mood of late is worrisome and my attempts of console have gone unrewarded. I thought perhaps you might have more luck than I have had.”

“Of course.” Twilight Sparkle answered. She waited a moment more, until Princess Luna was out of sight and earshot, before stepping nearer to the white alicorn. Watching the siblings encounter the purple unicorn’s earlier suspicion was all but confirmed. “Princess, are you feeling alright?”

The princess gave Twilight a welcoming smile her eyes lighting up at the presence of her favorite student. “It is kind of you to worry Twilight Sparkle but I assure you I am fine.”

Twilight bit her lip eager to contest but she didn’t know if it would be appropriate. She had gotten in trouble before with the princess and she was in no way looking for a repeat of the disappointment she had felt that time. Before she came to a conclusion about what to do next however the princess spoke again. “How did you and your friends enjoy the event?”

“It was…interesting.” Twilight admitted. She hadn’t thought she could enjoy it as much as she had, not that she had enjoyed it immensely. It took a certain kind of pony to enjoy something as ordinary as a dining expose with any sort of enthusiasm. She immediately corrected herself remembering how much Luna had seemed to enjoy it.

The princess chuckled slightly at the faint flush that rose to Twilight’s cheeks. Her laughter was a welcome sound, something the unicorn hadn’t realized she’d been missing. The pair began to walk, touring the garden as Celestia observed the ponies that had and had not been in the contest taking pleasure in each others company. Twilight recognized none of them.

“The pony that waited on Princess Luna is a recent friend.” She began noticing the antics of her Ponyville companions, as they mingled among the other ponies.

Rarity was surrounded by a group who seemed rather infatuated with whatever she was discussing. Elsewhere Applejack and Rainbow Dash where challenging a pair of wait staff stallions to feats of endurance using various platters and heaping mounds of leftover food. Fluttershy was catching up with Philomena, who was looking rather regal in her shimmering red and yellow feathers. Twilight didn’t even want to know where Pinkie Pie was or what she was doing while there.

“Is that so?” Celestia wondered her words laced with a genuine curiosity. That surprised Twilight, who would have said the Princess’s conversation up until that point had felt rather obligatory, or forced even. “I’m afraid I scared him off not long ago. He was rather flighty.”

Twilight gave an ironic smile as she recalled Amber’s brief stay in Ponyville. Before she could utter a response the already weak conversation was stalled as Prism Shine called for everypony’s attention. Her dark coat and jeweled garment shimmered in the light from the castle, that alone seeming enough to keep all eyes on her. “I would like to congratulate each of you on a wonderful first day and inform you that the next round will begin the evening after next. Instructions, as well as directions are available on your scrolls.”

“I have also been told to inform you that any altercations outside of the events themselves will be treated as acts of negligence and susceptible to proper protocol. Consider yourselves warned.” A few murmured groans went up from the crowd, which were quickly silenced by Prism Shine’s menacing glare.

Princess Luna stepped forward as Prism Shine retreated to the back next to Lexis. Twilight sensed a visible change in Celestia, a slight tenseness, as she watched her sister speak. It made the purple unicorn a bit uncomfortable to say the least but she did her best to focus on Luna.

Several cheers went up as small menial awards were given and accepted. The brief ceremony happened rather quickly and Twilight hardly noticed it at all. She was too focused on her inner thoughts to really notice what had gone on. Rainbow Dash breathing into her ear snapped her out of her trance with a squeal.

“Welcome back space cadet!” The rainbow maned pegasus said with a laugh. Twilight glared daggers at her, realizing the princess was no longer by her side, and had not been for some time, nor was she in the garden as far as the purple pony saw. For a moment Twilight fell into her thoughts again but was quickly brought back to the present as her friends included her in their revelry. With a smile she let her worries about the princess slip to the back of her mind…