Luna opened her eyes. Afternoon sunshine streamed through her windows, the golden rays making luminous patterns on the floor. Uninterested in watching the light dancing on her floor, Luna got up and began to stretch. She felt a bit tired, but it didn't matter, all she did these days was raise the moon and fly around Equestria at night. She had no duties.
She had no say in much of anything to do with Equestria's safety and direction. Celestia took care of all that, despite the countless paperwork it gave her. As a matter of fact, Luna paused and thought as she tilted her head and furrowed her delicate brows, Celestia took care of anything that was even related to the word 'leadership'.
It's been over half a year since the whole Nightmare Moon incident and Luna never had an issue since. Did her sister still not trust her? After all they'd been through?
Luna pushed away the thought and kept it for later questioning. There was no point in jumping to conclusions, her dear sister hadn't even been given a chance to speak yet. Her sister probably had a plausible reason. Assumptions will only lead to more problems and all that, especially delicate situations like these.
She flexed her wings and felt the lightweight bones pop wonderfully, then looked out her window. It was time to raise the moon. As she stepped out onto the balcony that lead to her room (As it was, the Canterlot Palace needed a balcony or large window in every room, being as it was the home of two airborne princesses once of which who needed a way to get from room to room constantly) she could already see her sister slowly lowering the sun. Much, much slower than usual.
Luna saved it as a concern for later and raised her wings, pushing off from the balcony with her back hooves, her muscles instantly adjusting to lessen the pressure on her wings from months of practice. She began to channel her element, willing the moon to follow her movememts through the sky and rise from its cosmic bed.
As she finished and slowly landed softly next to Celestia, the celestial pony lowered her head and gave her a transient smile. Luna couldn't think of a way to respond.
The two stood there quietly. Luna wanted to ask her sister the questions that constantly bothered her but had no idea how to voice them without sounding accusing.
"You're better at it you've ever been before."Celestia started awkwardly, as if she was only talking for the sake of talking.
Luna raised her head and took a good look of Celestia after the long, hard work day. She looked completely exhausted, and the bags under her violet eyes were new. It was obvious that now was not the time to bring up trust issues. So Luna tried a different tact.
"You're pushing yourself too hard sister, eventually you'll collapse."Luna said with mild concern.
Luna could see Celestia's mouth twitch but she didn't respond. It was hard to tell what she was thinking but at least the twitch was a reaction, even if subtle. Luna took it as a sign to continue.
"Why do you insist on carrying the burden of an entire country on your shoulders? I can assist you and ameliorate the work load that tires you out like this. You aren't alone anymore."Luna anxiously watched Celestia's face for a reaction.
Celestia put on an inscrutable look on her face and left the scene in a flurry of pristine white, leaving a bemused Luna. Some things were better left unsaid.
Celestia flew into her room half dead. The events of the day completely exhausted her, and the recent one-sided conversation with her sister only exacerbated things.
Luna had implied that she wanted to have some authority over Equestria and suspected that she wasn't trusted by her sister. Celestia just couldn't find her position in the matter.
She did trust Luna. Right after the Nightmare Moon incident, Celestia took a leap of faith, letting her sister continue in the palace as normal instead of taking her to a specialist to see if Luna held any long stored ill intent towards her sister or country. She gave Luna free reign in Equestria and privileges that normal citizens wouldn't be allowed to have. Of course Luna wasn't citizen but that was besides the point.
Celestia glanced at her nightstand and saw a scroll that arrived earlier that day. She cringed and began to cradle her head with her hooves in hopes of alleviating the minor headache the news it contained gave her.
It was from Crystal Empire, and was a plea for help and safety from an attack that was planned against the Crystal Empire by a surrounding small kingdom. The Crystal Empire was still in the process of training an army after the panic caused by King Sombra. While both Cadence and Shining Armor could utilize the rare and difficult barrier spell, it would be idiotic to incapacitate both monarchs by constantly keeping up the spell 24/7.
There were many ways she could solve this problem, she could send some soldiers and be done with it. Or, she could take some time and effort to try to figure out the motive of the enemy kingdom. Just what would they gain by attacking the Crystal Empire?
They could be doing it to gain land? Fertile land was extremely valuable in the barren wastelands and crystalline caverns that surrounded the Crystal Empire. But if it was supplies the other unknown kingdom needed, then wouldn't they try to trade with the Crystal Empire instead of waste more by fighting a war they can't fund? It seemed extremely stupid, there had be something else. Maybe it was a bloodthirsty or barbarian kingdom? Celestia shook her head and dismissed the thought, if it was a bloodthirsty kingdom, she would've heard of it from other countries. Massacres don't go unknown.
Celestia began to close her eyes, there was something she was missing. She'd look more on it tommorow, she assured herself. But for now she would sleep.
Twilight Sparkle narrowed her eyes in concentration. Her teleportation spell needed refinement. She had to find a way to teleport instantaneously by reducing the time necessary to charge the magic energy used.
She could use another spell to store the magic, letting her use it the instant she wanted to. But then it would mean she would only be able to use it once, which would make sense if the range was to the far corners of Equestria. That idea was out, her range only stretched from a mile radius of her position. So she would have to learn how to charge her magic quickly. It wasn't a bad idea, it would actually improve the performance of her other spells and overall mastery. Learning to charge her magic instantly would be extremely time consuming, at the least, 5 months.
Maybe she shou-
"Twilight! Come on! You have to !" Exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she flew in through the open window to Twilight's left.
Twilight stilled for a moment, "What are you talking about?"
Rainbow's face was panicked,"Hurry! There's not much time! A mob is in front of the town hall!"
Twilight's face grew pale and she gallloped after Rainbow. What exactly would be happening at 10:00 at night?
She froze at the sight of the large crowd. They were burning.. pictures of Princess Luna?
"She's still the same as before. She won't stop!"
"She'll always be Nightmare Moon! She's simply a ticking time bomb!"
" Look at the sky, It's pitch black! She's cursed it!"
Twilight looked up, like the panicked pony suggested, and she was right, there was no sign of the moon nor the stars. There was something very, very wrong here. It just wasn't comprehensible. What exactly happened?
"Twilight, do you know what's going on here dear? Even the littlest bit of information would help calm the crowd."spoke Rarity as she sauntered over with panache, trying to look refined instead of panicked.
Twilight shook her head. "I don't get it. There isn't a cloud in the sky and there's nothing else large enough to block the moon, nevermind the stars. I need to consult a few books."she whipped around and headed for home. Luna's already tenuous respect from Ponyville was diminishing and images of her desecrated, from only a pitch black night. Twilight would need to find a solution before things escalate.
Mayor Mare glanced at the large mob underneath her window. She was nervous and her hooves were shaking, never before in her career did she face a mob of frightened ponies. Granted, she never had to but it was the lack of preparation that made the whole situation feel worse.
She was never good at impromptu speeches and valued preparation over strength. So how, pray tell, would she be able to pull something like that off now? She'd gone soft over the years, her job became extremely easy when she discovered she could just dump all the work on Twilight Sparkle and her friends.
She sighed and placed a hoof to her head. That was disgraceful of her, she was an adult for crying out loud, it was time she acted like one and started resolving her own problems. She could try to speak to the mob, but her authority never held much weight before, so no doubt the crowd would ignore her. Her eyes glinted. Things would definitely have to change around here. It was about time she pulled her head out of her ass and there was no better time then now.
She stood up and trotted towards her normally abandoned desk, and started formulating a plan. She would have to prepare for any scenario, she held no doubts that some douche bag of a pyromaniac would start committing arson wherever they pleased after the banners and images of Princess Luna were just piles of ashes in the street.
As much as it pained her, she would need Twilight Sparkle and her fellows. They were revered by the entire town for defeating Nightmare Moon before, so their presence would be invaluable when breaking up the mob and reassuring the citizens.
She sat down on her cushion and a stern expression crossed her face. She would need to find Twilight Sparkle, the well read pony no doubt would have found what the problem was, and what the solution would be by now.
Mayor Mare let her head hit the desk in an unprofessional way. Her one solution to this sad mess was way on the west corner of ponyville, out of her reach. She figured there was only one thing left to do. She slid open her desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of quality beer from Manehattan. It was so much easier to just drink unwanted problems away.
Twilight Sparkle was about to pull out her mane in frustration. Not a single book in her library mentioned any past events of the sky being completely empty of the moon and stars. Much less about Nightmare Moon causing it.
A worried look crossed her features, if this was, in a hypothetical situation, Nightmare Moon's doing, wouldn't she have been messaged by either Princess Celestia or her parents about it? Something like the Princess being defeated by her sister so the latter can bring about eternal night did not go unheard. So that couldn't be it.
"Umm... Twilight?"
Said pony turned her head to see Spike with more books in his hand on astronomical records. Twilight nodded and lifted the books with her magic, flipping through the pages with practiced ease. She scanned each page with unrivaled concentration. None. Nothing. Zip. Zero. She got absolutely nothing useful from either of those books.
"Did you find anything?"asked Spike anxiously.
Twilight turned and began pacing, a usual habit she did when she was nervous and stuck. "No Spike, I didn't find anything."she proceeded to fling up her hooves in exasperation,"apparently, this has never happened before."she said mockingly.
"You'll find something."said Spike as he bit into a raw ruby,"you always do."
"Not this time Spike,"Twilight twitched at the irritating crunching of Spike biting into the ruby that only grated at her already fried nerves,"how can you even eat at a time like this?"
He shrugged and put the ruby down, unable to think of anything to say that wouldn't set Twilight into Bitch Mode.
Twilight sat down onto the floor and covered her face with her hooves."I just wish I knew what was going on."
A loud crack interrupted Twilight's thoughts as AppleJack barged in through the door. "Twilight we need you."
Twilight continued moping as Spike spoke up."What's going on over there?"
AppleJack frowned,"It's a sad mess, Pinkie's been trying her best to calm them down."she turned to Twilight's slumped form,"that's why I came to Twilight. If anything, one of her books has got the answer."
Twilight let out a groan.
"She hasn't found anything in her books and she has no clue what's going on."Spike spoke up.
"Twilight, please tell me he's joking." AppleJack looked towards Twilight again with a pleasing look of worry.
Said pony looked up and started talking, removing her hooves from her face to give a short, testy answer,"He's not, so just leave me be!"
All amusement died in AppleJack and Spike looked down at his scaled feet. Twilight stared straight ahead, then her eyes began looking blank and unfocused.
...
...
Spike waddled over and waved a claw in front of Twilight's unblinking eyes with no reaction on her part.
"AppleJack I think you broke her."he said with concern.
AppleJack froze when a wave of contrition flooded her. Did she?
...
...
"Twilight?"she ventured.
...
...
...
"I got it!" Twilight's eyes shone and she immediately sat back up then proceeded to run out of her home as if running from some imaginary heathen.
AppleJack flinched in surprise while Spike let out an unmanly sqeak and fell over.
Twilight felt so stupid for not figuring out what to do earlier, research needed time, how silly of her to think she could rush it. All she needed to do was buy time, then go to Canterlot and ask for access to the mass archives in their library. It was in that very same library she found the book on Night Mare Moon and other legends, after all.
She could hear AppleJack behind her, catching up quickly, inch by inch with Spike on her back. It made sense, Twilight never was an athletic pony and AppleJack worked hard all day at Sweet Apple Acres.
Twilight tried to run faster, hoping that she would make it to the mob in time.
PinkiePie furrowed her brows in concentration, what else, besides cakes and hugs would make people happy? More hugs? she shook her head. No, silly she had already tried that. Cupcakes? No, that was the same as cake, just smaller. And cake, with its delectable goodness did nothing. Impossible!
Rarity looked over to Pinkie Pie and gave a worried look,"Cake isn't going to calm them down nor are cupcakes and hugs."she said tiredly.
Pinkie Pie sat down and kept looking at the crowd they were watching from a rooftop, so there was a lesser chance they would be caught up in the mess."I know."
Rarity looked at the defeated look on her friend's face and sighed. "You look like you need a hug."
Pinkie Pie looked down and shook her head. She had been trying for hours to do the same to the ponies below them, and she couldn't stand to give another or receive another.
"I don't want one."Pinkie Pie's head sunk further down almost touching the tiles they stood on.
Rarity twitched, was this really her friend Pinkie Pie? Well yes, the little pile of depressant was her friend Pinkie Pie. She'd been watching said pony try to hug and please the crowd for the past thirty minutes.
Pinkie Pie's back stiffened and Rarity flinched.
"I've got it! Come on Rarity!"Pinkie Pie's hair never looked fluffier. And her eyes glinted with mischief, however Rarity found herself unable to say no and followed her down the risky stairs of loose barrels.
The mob hadn't died down. And a young pony approached them.
"You'll stop her right? Bring back the stars?"said the little pony weak hope in her pleading eyes.
Rarity was surprised by the little filly's srong, heart felt emotion, yes she had been observing the mob for half an hour but with contempt, they were overreacting in her opinion. Who's to say the moon and stars wouldn't be back tomorrow? The stars didn't disappear until 40 minutes ago, and they had no powers over celestial bodies to be able to do anything about it. The only pony who could was resting from dealing with the bullshit they complain about all day. Rarity, for the record did not give a single fuck if the stars disappeared, she was losing precious hours of sleep that she used to maintain her beauty.
"Don't worry about it darling, we'll take care of it."Rarity said with false concern. It wouldn't do to upset the little filly. She wasn't one to yell at children when she could help it.
Rarity began looking for a way to get back to the roof top. Pinkie Pie however, had other ideas. The happy-go-lucky fluff ball was trying to get on the stage her eyes only staring at microphone. Rarity sighed. 'What is she going to do now?'she thought as Pinkie made her way to the mic.
Screeching feedback was heard as she tapped it with her hoof, getting the attention of the entire mob in one swift action. Rarity was impressed.
The last of the smoke dissipated into the air as Pinkie opened her mouth,"I took the moon! And the the stars! They're mine! All mine, and you're not getting them back!"she laughed.
Rarity resisted the urge to face palm at Pinkie's words, instead worried about her friend's bout of insanity.
"Pinkie get down from there! I have a solution fellow ponies!"Twilight's statement was heard through the confusion of the crowd.
The crowd began to stop what they were doing and confused tones where heard from them. Murmurs of uncertainty echoed through the plaza.
"What the fuck is going on?"Mayor Mare declared as she stepped out onto the balcony above the stage looking a bit stoned.
Rarity looked up at the Mayor and away from the chaos. She found herself agreeing.
'The million bit question, what I wouldn't give to know.'
Thank you for reading this chapter. The plot will start moving on much faster after this chapter, as I have a lot planned for this story. It won't be ending anytime soon nor will the conflict be as shallow as it appears.
Edit Nov. 27, 2014
Hmm, how should I put this? I combined chapter one and two and am working on future chapters. For anyone really interested in this, I can only tell you that I have a lot on my plate right now with high school and whatnot so don't expect frequent updates.