Surprise Visit

The sun had just set over Equestria, and the landscape was painted by the luminescent light from the moon.The stars were beginning to appear, covering the night sky.

Princess Luna stepped out onto a balcony located on one of the many towers of Canterlot Castle. It had been almost a year since her return from her state as Nightmare Moon, and Luna was beginning to feel at home again in modern Equestria.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay in Canterlot for a little longer?"

Luna turned to face the direction in which it came from. It was her sister, Princess Celestia. She was standing near the balcony doorway, her wings folded and mane less shimmering due to the setting of the sun.

"Good evening dear, sister." responded Luna. "How has your day been treating you?"

Celestia chuckled. "Well I woke up this morning to find Twilight in the Star Swirled the Bearded Wing. She was sporting a rather interesting costume and a new haircut. She looked a bit off, but her friends were there to help her."

"It seems your pupil has been getting into a lot of weird situations lately." Luna said light heartily. She then remembered that her sister had asked her something earlier. "So what was it that you asked again?"

"Oh yes," Celestia replied, "I was just wondering what was the reason for you to return to the moon again? Not meaning to be rude, but I was thinking that you wouldn't want to go back since you're return to Equestria."

"Well I have some business I need to attend to in Ponyville, and I also need to check on Crater and Far Side. They will be expecting me, and it's best not to keep them waiting."

Celestia could sense her sister's mood shift at the mention of the two ponies names.

Far Side and Crater were Princess Luna's night guards, or Nightmare Moon's in a sense. They've been kidnapped by the Mare of the Moon during her banishment, and were forced to serve as her two soldiers to aid her in her return to Equestria. The whole matter was complicated, even more so than the screaming ponies of Nightmare Night. With Nightmare Moon gone, it was never established whether the two still had to serve Princess Luna.

"If they wish, they are more than welcome to move into Canterlot Caste." Celestia offered, "We have plenty of space, and It would be much better than living in that fort on the moon." She said this carefully, knowing that this topic always brought out the negative side of Luna.

"The only problem is that they seem to want to stay," Luna replied quietly. "Their time on the moon has slowed their aging somehow, and they're terrified to come back after being gone from Equestria for almost for two hundred years." Luna turned away from her sister and stared out over the balcony.

She could see Ponyville was in clear site, and the night sky made the town look beautiful, maybe even more so than the cliffs of Canterlot. Far Side and Crater dropped her off there on Nightmare Night, and returned to pick her up after she was done with her visit, and as soon as they returned Luna to Canterlot, they sped back off to the moon without a word.

"It may be difficult, but they can adjust to modern Equestria." reassured Celestia. "You were gone for a thousand years and you seem to be fitting back in fine yourself."

"That's true." acknowledged Luna. "But royal life is pretty much the same as it was now. All you had to do was catch me up on the recent matters and how politics work now." Luna bowed her head. "Those two ponies were living normal, happy lives until they were taken away. Their parents are probably deceased now, and any relatives would likely not remember them, let alone take them in their current form..." Luna's face was showered with guilt.

Princess Celestia trotted over, stretched out a wing and wrapped Luna into an embrace. "Sister, it was not you that kidnapped Far Side and Crater. It was Nightmare Moon, a very different pony from the princess of the night now."

"That maybe so, but they think otherwise," retorted Luna. "When I visited them for the first time since my return on Nightmare Night, the look on their faces..." Luna felt some tears building up, and cleared her throat so they wouldn't show. "shows that they still see me as a monster."

Celestia looked at her sister with sympathy. "Luna, I understand what you're going through. But those two are having a difficult time with this as well. Just give them time, and they will understand that they have no reason to fear you. And maybe they might become your friends."

Luna looked up at the smile beginning to form on Celestia's face. She couldn't help but let out a small smile herself. No matter what the situation was, her sister always found a way to insert the topic of the importance of friendship.

"Yes, and maybe we can find the elements of harmony and save Equestria." Luna said jokingly.

Celestia chuckled. "I wouldn't go that far. We all know that's Twilight's job."

Luna let out a laugh, her mood beginning to brighten again. As much as Luna enjoyed this moment with her sister, she stepped out of her sister's winged embrace. "It is getting late dear sister, and you need rest." The princess of the night took a few deep breaths, trying to regain her composure.

"I suppose so," Celestia said, stifling a yawn. "I shall see you again in the morning. Be safe out there tonight."

"Of course," responded Luna, flaring her wings. "I am the princess of the night by the way."

With that spoken, she flapped her wings and began to ascend towards the moon. Celestia watched as her sister flew up a distance before Luna seemed to disappear into the moon light.

"WATCH YOUR LEFT, WATCH YOUR LEFT!"

"I see him, I see-"

Far Side groaned in frustration as his character died once again. The two ponies were playing Pony Warfare 2, a new release that Crater had begging Princess Luna to acquire for them.

Far Side felt the familiar urge to pick up the computer monitor on the desk in front of him and fling it across the room. He showed restraint though, for his and Crater's sake. Princess Luna gave them this computer as a gift when she visited them on Nightmare Night, and the two were a bit dumbfounded when they first tried to use it. Crater had gotten in the hang of it quick, but Far Side was still having some troubles. He didn't want to be asking Luna for a new one.

Crater was humored by Far Side's flared temper. "Well, you didn't do as bad as last time. Who knows, maybe you'll improve enough so you can get as good as me."

He kept the mood upbeat, knowing how video gaming usually made Far Side's mood go sour. Far Side didn't like playing video games, but with the lack of scenery and places to visit on the moon, video games were the only thing to keep a pony from dying of boredom.

"Yes, maybe one day I can become as skilled as the great and powerful Crater." said Far Side, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Maybe I'm not good because I don't play this all day like a certain somepony. How in Equestria are you not getting fat from sitting on your flank all day?"

"Beats counting the same stars we've been counting for the past two hundred years." replied Crater with a smirk. He decided to change the subject. "How about we take a break? We better get ready for Princess Luna's visit."

Far Side's ears perked up in surprise upon hearing this. "What, Princess Luna is coming tonight?! How come you didn't tell me about this earlier?"

"She sent a letter up a few days ago," replied Crater. He knew how the simple mention of the princess caused Far Side to panic. "I think you were having another one of your migraines at the time."

"Yeah, that might explain it." Far Side rubbed the right side of his head, feeling the familiar outline of the long scar across his temple. He was pretty certain that Crater could have told him after his migraine went away, but he didn't want to interrogate him about it.

"But why would she visit tonight? Shouldn't she be taking care of old business back in Canterlot Castle?"

"She said she just wanted to check on us." Crater began to trot to the door. "Nothing special I would think, but maybe she'll bring us some more awesome tech stuff from Canterlot." Crater let out a whiny in excitement and galloped to his room.

"Nice to see at least somepony's happy about this." muttered Far Side under his breath. New tech stuff, another wonderful thing they missed during their imprisonment by Nightmare Moon.

Far Side sighed and trotted over to his bedroom. The room was simple, with no door, a small bed, and a hole in the wall to gaze out onto the dull cratered landscape.

Dull... his room, his home, his life. Life on the moon was nothing short of boring, the atmosphere unchanging. When he first arrived on the moon, he would gaze out in wonder at the distant planets and stars, or admire the shining radiance of the sun. Those pleasures were far gone now, and he had become sick of seeing the same sights over and over again. He was pretty sure things would be more lively down in Equestria. All the ponies going about their daily lives, barely noticing how beautiful their settings were, while he was up here counting moon rocks.

Why shouldn't he go back down to Equestria? He was sure that Crater would go too, without any questions. And their home didn't seem to have changed that much when they visited during Nightmare Night. He could simply leave this boring existence, Nightmare Moon wasn't here to stop him.

His brain seemed to have throbbed at the thought and Far Side shook his head to clear it away. It was best not to dwell on it, or he would be needing an ice pack for his aching head.

He went over to the small mirror in the corner and took a long look at himself. His eyes were the first thing to grab his attention. They were bright yellow, and the cat like appearance was becoming more dominant. His eyes weren't like this for the most part, usually taking a darker blue color, and having regular pupils like any other pony. The cat eyes came out in low light conditions, allowing him to see the dark environment as if it were bright as day. But sometimes they would manifest at random times when he would least expect it.

His gaze wandered from his eyes, to the large scar above it. The scar was a light gray, and it spread from his temple, stopping just above his eye. The bendy lines made the scar almost resemble a lightning bolt, but an ugly lightning bolt at that. His ear was even showing some scarring, with parts not having any fur and his hearing from that particular ear not being as keen as the other. He had no doubt that this head injury was the cause of all his migraines he would get at random points in the day, some being so bad that he could barely function.

He stepped away from the mirror, having seen enough of his changed form. He didn't even remember how he use to look like before his transformation, before Nightmare Moon took kidnapped them...

Crater had been the first to be taken. It was a quiet night in the city of Fillydelphia, and Crater had been sleeping in his bedroom when he woke up to find himself on the moon. Crater stated that the whole thing was more shocking than scary, thinking all of this was a dream since the story of Nightmare Moon was just an old mare's tale. But the banished Princess of the Night proved to be very real, and Crater could recall her almost being giddy at her success of taking a pony from Earth. She then used her mysterious dark magic on the poor colt, giving him a monstrous appearance with frightening eyes, a grey coat, and most striking of all, two large bat wings.

Far Side didn't have the luxury of being asleep when he was taken. He was very awake, gazing at the night sky from his bedroom window right before he was pulled into it.

He couldn't really remember the whole experience, but he could recall the feeling of helplessness as he was pulled farther and farther away from his home, not knowing where he was going, or how he was even being transported. It felt as if it was a tentacle wrapped around his hoof, but he later found out that it was also the work of Nightmare Moon's dark magic, which she then used to give him the same transformation she had given to Crater. How she had managed to get it all the way from the moon to Earth was still a question that bothered him, but he wouldn't dare ask Princess Luna that.

Thinking about it, Princess Luna hasn't really been giving them much answers at all. Far Side knew he shouldn't be mad, since the Princess did apologize when they dropped her off at Canterlot Castle, but it wasn't very satisfying for him. This whole transition from a forced soldier serving under the terrifying Nightmare Night for almost two hundred years, to being a guard for Princess Luna, was so quick that it didn't even seem real.

Could he and Crater go home? Can they even go home after being gone for so long?

He wouldn't have to ask all these questions if it wasn't for the Princess of the Night. And now she's coming for a visit.

Author's Note

Feedback would be well appreciated.