"...And they all lived happily ever after." Celestia said with a smile as she finished reading the storybook to her beloved daughter who lay tucked underneath the covers with a smile on her face. The little girl then unleashed a weak yawn and pulled herself even further into the comfort of the sheets and blankets on her bed.
"That was a nice story mom." Scootaloo, Celestia's adopted daughter, said with a sleepy tone to her voice as she gave out a second even weaker yawn and her eyes started to fall into the realm of sleep. Celestia smiled at her little daughter as she leaned over and gave her a small kiss on the forehead.
"Goodnight Scootaloo." Celestia said with a smile as she walked out of the room, almost missing the very faint 'Goodnight mommy' from her now-sleeping six-year-old daughter. With the same smile still painted on her face she continued walking to the room nearly six floors upstairs in the castle which contained the only creature which she could say that she loved more than her beloved daughter. Smiling as the thought of her sister came to mind she subconsciously sped up her pace as she continued walking.
"She really should know better." Celestia started humming as she continued her trek up the remaining two staircases.
"She's just like me." She continued humming the song with a smile as she continued walking up the remaining staircase before reaching the end and starting down the hallway. A thought briefly entered her mind about hiring the band that wrote the song to perform at her wedding day, but this was quickly replaced by a realistic thought that told her that she and her lover would probably never have a wedding. With a sigh that slightly dampened her spirit she stopped at the door to her sister's room and gently turned the knob to let her inside. Before she could take a step inside however she was knocked to the floor by a fast-moving blur of blue.
"Thank goodness you're here, I was worried that something had happened to you." Luna frantically said in a tone that clearly showed her angst over the simple problem that Celestia was late for their secret nightly meeting. Celestia only smiled at the display of affection and worry that was commonly displayed by her sister, this was considered normal behavior for the moon goddess who was currently going through puberty and would most likely continue to go though it for at least a couple hundred more years. As such the youthful princess was prone to moodswings and was very overemotional at times, this was unfortunately one of those times.
"I was merely reading Scootaloo a bedtime story and it took a little long than usual. She seems to be choosing longer stories for me to read to her and I . . . "
"That's no excuse!" Luna barked at her sister, who didn't seem to be surprised by her outburst as she was mentally conditioned for her sister's mannerisms regarding a trivial matter of arriving at a destination a few minutes later than was previously agreed upon. Situations similar to these had been occurring ever since Celestia had found Scootaloo inside the castle garden and secretly adopted her. Her sister had convinced her that it would be in her best interest to keep Scootaloo a secret from the rest of the ponies in Equestria, and after a minor debate Celestia decided to take her advice. Unfortunately keeping an almost infant-age daughter a secret while you're one of the only two deities in an entire kingdom living inside a large castle containing hundreds of servants is not an easy task, and to Luna's chagrin, it took up most of Celestia's time which she believed should be devoted to her and her alone. Celestia sighed before giving her sister a small kiss on her cheek that seemed to calm her done slightly from her previous hysterical outburst.
"I'm sorry dear sister, but you must understand that Scootaloo needs at least as much attention as you do, and sometimes I may need to sacrifice some of your time for her." Celestia explained as she un wedged herself from underneath Luna and proceeded to make her way toward the bed in the far end of the room. Luna gave a growl that went unnoticed by her sister as she likewise started to walk toward the bed.
"But I'm your sister, she's just a lowly peasant child whom you found in a basket outside the palace. I'm pretty sure I should be a little higher on your list of priorities." Luna said with a slightly bratty tone to her voice as Celestia sighed once more before crawling under the covers of her sister's bed, to which the owner of the luxurious bed followed soon afterwards with eyes that betrayed her own anticipation as to the event that would happen quite shortly.
"The way I see it little sister it all balances out. I spend a little time with young Scootaloo by reading her a story and entertaining her in her innocent curiosity, and then I come upstairs and . . . "
"I've heard enough talk for today." Luna said with a smile as she moved a little closer to her sister, who similarly smiled at the display and moved closer as well, bridging the small gap between them as she pulled her younger sister into a deep passionate kiss.
Scootaloo lay in her bed within a peaceful slumber as dreams of her adopted mothers played inside her youthful mind. She loved both of her mothers very deeply for the compassion they had shown her by taking her inside their home and raising her as their own. Though she had originally been upset that she would be confined to the dungeon of the castle and unable to socialize with any other children until she reached school-age, but she quickly recovered as soon as the experience of having a kind, caring mother started to affect her. She sighed in her sleep as the nostalgic dream of walking through a flower garden beside her adopted mother regulated her heartbeat and allowed her a calming night's sleep. The peaceful display of the sleeping child seemed destined to be disturbed however, as the door to her secret bedroom opened to allow a shadowed form to step inside. The small unseen body silently moved closer to the sleeping form and appeared to succeed in it's task of not waking the little girl from her slumber. A small light that reflected from the intruder's teeth as a small smile appeared on it's face was perhaps the only thing that the form did which could have woken up the sleeping child. Alas the primary focus of the form seemed to shift as it finally reached it's destination beside the little pony's bed.
"Wake up little girl." The form whispered in Scootaloo's ear, the little girl reacted in a slow tired manner as her eyes attempted to open in spite of the natural layer of liquid that seemed to have gathered and hardened at the end of her eyelids. She then moved her small hooves to her eyes and attempted to rub the liquid out of her eyes with the hard tips of her forelegs. The unseen form appeared to be fighting back a small smile as it watched the admittedly cute display unfold in front of her. Once the minor ritual was finished Scootaloo immediately scanned the room as if to discover who had woken her up so early in the night, she seemed to forget this mission however as tears started to form in her eyes and her body started to shake.
"I don't like the dark." Scootaloo silently sobbed as she continued to shake, indicating that the young child was indeed terrified of the darkness that currently surrounded her. The currently unseen form beside her gave a slight smile of amusement at the display, before deciding to make itself known to the terrified young child.
"You shouldn't be afraid young one, mommy's here." The form spoke in as kind a voice as it could manage. This facade seemed to work on the child as Scootaloo opened her eyes almost immediately to stare at the form. After catching a glimpse of the unknown form beside her bed she started backing away in fear.
"But you're not . . . " Scootaloo started to say before a hoof came out from the darkness and defied the laws of physics by grabbing her by her throat and holding the child who currently seemed to be in danger of petrification. The form growled at the child in it's grasp as it quickly turned from it's position to slam the child against the stone wall of the dungeon in which she slept. Scootaloo gave a low whimper of pain as a result of the impact that didn't seem to have any consequence to the intruder who leaned a little closer to the terrified child.
"Now let me tell you something little girl." The form growled as it leaned closer to the scared little girl, who continued to whimper in pain and fear of what torment would befall her.
"If you ever take any more of Celestia's time from me again . . . " The form said as the horn on it's head started to glow and illuminate it's face in the dark dungeon.
"I'll make sure you never feel the comforting light of the sun ever again." The form, now revealed as princess Luna said with a small growl as the light from her horn faded as she let the scared little girl return to her usual level of altitude. The girl continued to shake as even more tears continued to form in her eyes.
"I want my mommy." The girl said with a small sniffle that caused princess Luna to chuckle as she leaned in toward the little girl's now sobbing face.
"I am your mommy." Luna said with a sneer as she turned around and started walking through the doorway and exited the dungeon, leaving a still sobbing Scootaloo in a dark corner of the dungeon.
