Silence. Darkness. Cold. Emptiness.
Beauty. Raw, unadulterated beauty. The night sky was particularly clear this evening. It was a sight to behold, though no one did. And though it pained Luna that nopony liked her night enough to gaze upon it for even a few moments, she knew she couldn't let it faze her again. After all, though her moon was beautiful from afar, it was no place for a pony to live.
Luna sat down upon a marble bench on her balcony. She focused on the canvas upon which she was painting the night. She sighed with discontent.
I have tried to reintegrate with everypony, and yet I'm still shunned like my night... I wish to see just one pony gazing at the stars tonight...the alicorn mentally sighed. She fought the choking feeling of crying back, and simply stared at the ground below. A frown formed upon her face, her distressed thoughts buzzing like angry wasps in her mind.
The navy-coated alicorn cast a small spell, relatively speaking. She laid down in a dream-like state, her mind freeing itself from the confines of her head. It wandered the night sky as quickly as magic itself could. Her mind gazed upon everypony, as though the heavens themselves were her eyes. Town by town, she was emotionally shaved down, seeing entire towns asleep. Cloudsdale, Manehatten, Vanhoover, Fillydelphia, all entirely asleep. Not a light shone, and upon closer inspection, not a pony stirred. She gazed upon Ponyville, her hopes for the small town already dissipating like fog in the summer sun.
A tiny, lonesome candle shone in the dark of the small rural town. The warm glow of its flickering flame filled the lunar princess with hope. She peered in on the candle, watching to see if anypony was home. A lavender unicorn mare trotted towards the candle, a few scrolls and such in her magical grasp. The mare was smiling to herself, and though Luna could not hear her, she assumed that the mare was softly humming. The mare went outside to her balcony, where a rather expensive looking telescope was propped up. A smile formed on Luna's face. A stargazer. I should thank her...
Luna's mind returned to her body, stepping into it as one would climb into bed. She opened her eyes, the sight of a white hoof before her not quite processing in her mind. She looked up, seeing her sister peering down at her with a look of mild concern.
"Dear sister. Why stain thy face with tears?" Celestia asked softly.
Luna cocked her head to the side, not understanding what her sister meant. She hadn't be--
Oh. That's what that feeling was... Tears. Luna thought to herself. And though the tears were there, she felt happy for the first time in a long time.
"For it is a beautiful stain of cheer that my tears bring," Luna replied in the same poetic manner her sister had adopted.
"Oh? And pray tell," Celestia gasped in surprise. "What hath been so amazing as to draw tears from thee?"
"A stargazer," Luna sighed contentedly. "One who admires my hard worked upon art. One who does not shun me as all others do."
Celestia's smile faltered at the bitterness behind the last sentence. She had long since believed that Luna had at least healed a little since her return. Her gaze shifted to the ground in shame.
"I actually would like to ask you something... I hath been pondering it for a long while now," Luna breathed, her voice nearly as quiet as Fluttershy's. "And It would be more effective to have it planned before the equinox."
"What sort of idea?" Celestia asked, her mood now much less bright and sun-shiny as it was before.
"The Winter Moon Festival," Luna blurted. She looked away, avoiding her sister's eyes.
"Winter Moon Festival?" Celestia perked up, curiosity getting the better of her.
"My idea of a direct inverse to your Summer Sun Celebration," Luna answered. "It would essentially be exactly as your Celebration, though dedicated to the raising of the moon."
Celestia's face hardened, her mind attempting to process this new information. The gears in the sun Princess' mind turned, digesting the idea. It seemed almost as though she had previously asked for something similar before.
Realization hit the princess like a brick. She's begged for this before! One thousand years ago, she begged and pleaded for some sort of holiday on the winter solstice. This was the error I should never have made... And shall never repeat.
"I know the perfect pony to help organize it," Celestia whispered, a weak smile making its way back to her face.
Luna stared at her sister, her jaw nearly hitting the floor. Her pupils dilated, and nearly burst forth from her skull. She lunged forward, wrapping her forehooves around her sister, a smile as wide as the moon suddenly appearing on the younger sister's lips. Celestia's smile grew as she wrapped her wings around the dark blue alicorn. She savored the small display of affection.
*
"Twilight! Letter from the princess!" called a slightly raspy young male voice. The owner of the voice, known commonly as Spike, bolted into the room. He looked quickly around the spacious loft, before sprinting forwards towards the balcony. He skidded to a halt on the balcony, nearly crashing into a rather expensive looking telescope mounted on a sleek metal tripod. The unicorn in question lay on her side on the balcony, completely unconscious. Spike sighed and walked over to her. He bent over, his jaws just inches from her ear.
"TWILIGHT!" he hollered at the top of his lungs.
Twilight shot awake, clambering to her hooves in less than a second. Her eyes remained dead with sleep, yet were wide awake. Her heart pounded in her chest and her lungs worked double-time to account for the sudden shot of adrenaline to her system. She glared at the young drake, twitching her assaulted ear.
"Letter from the princess," he explained, holding up the scroll in his claws. "Priority one."
Author's Note
Well. I've been working towards this one for a while now. I finally get to share my general dislike for Celestia the Sun Troll. Luna deserves a lot more attention, so I'm writing this to give her more of the attention she deserves.
As aforementioned in the description, I have multiple open projects, including my rough ideas for Ever Free's sequel. I will probably favor this story over The Night Mare's Knight, seeing as I tend towards the Adventure genre. But no promises.
<3 DarqFox
