Chapter 1
The Mare in the Moon
All ponies know the old mare's tale about the Mare in the Moon, once the sister of beloved Princess Celestia who let envy cloud her heart and turn her evil, causing her to create an endless night over all of Equestria. Her cruel act led to Princess Celestia having to banish her sister to imprisoned in the moon for one thousand years, so that she could attone for what she had done.
"But granpa, that isn't fair!"
The tiny voice interrupted the old stallion's story. He looked around in confusion for a moment until he located which of his grandfoals had spoken. Nimbus Vanguard, the youngest, was looking back at him with a fierce expression. The old pony hid a smile and leaned forward curiously.
"And just what is it that isn't fair to you?" he asked. Nimbus snorted.
"The other princess didn't mean to do it! She was just sad! Nopony was awake to play with her at night, and she was lonely, so she got upset when everypony liked her sister more. I'd be upset too, if I were in her place."
"Ugh, c'mon Cloudy, just let us hear the story already," one of the older foals groaned. But the old stallion chuckled.
"Your defending her is very sweet. And very you, little Nimbus. But what of all the ponies she hurt by making it stay night? It was dark, and things wouldn't grow."
The little pony frowned at that, and looked down while he thought it over. After a long pause, he looked up again. "She probably wasn't thinking. She wanted everypony to like her night, but they were sleeping through it. So she made it always be night so that even when ponies were awake, they would see her hard work. Like when Stratus pushes everypony else's drawings off the fridge to put up his."
"What?!" Several of the foals shouted, jumping on their brother to attack him. He went down beneath them with a yelp, leaving the conversation between Nimbus and their grandfather practically private. The two stared at each other while they ignored the shouting, both looking the other over in a very serious manner, as if sizing each other up. Finally, the old stallion broke the staring with a laugh.
"Nimbus, you have the right way of looking at life."
"Huh?" the colt asked, eyebrow raised.
His grandfather got down from his chair and crouched in front of Nimbus, putting a hoof on his shoulder. "You realized that Princess Luna had her own side to this story too. What she did was wrong, but you trying to figure out why shows compassion. Hold on to that. Always try to find out why a pony did what they did. That's the fastest way to solve a problem, and prevent future problems from happening. I know you can do it." He then stood up as straight as he could and moved to help his daughter break up the fight between his grandfoals. Nimbus watched as he explained to them why Stratus did that, and explained to Stratus why that upset them so much. It was mere minutes before all six of his siblings were apologizing to each other and making promises to be kinder to each other. Eyes wide, Nimbus decided he would always try to do the same thing for others.
He spent the rest of the day wandering around Ponyville, looking for oppurtunities to help mediate arguments between ponies so that he could practice his skills. There were actually very few instances in which he was needed, but he enjoyed feeling helpful all the same. He as out all day long, and didn't return home until after dinner time. He was so late, Celestia had already begun to raise the moon. He paused to watch its silvery surface rise into view, his eyes fixed on the spotted surface that was shaped like a mare's head. He waved up to it, then went inside to be greeted by a scolding from his mother.
After eating dinner, the little pegasus went upstairs to his room. Cumulus was already inside, flopped across his bed with a book. Nimbus knew better than to bother him, so he went to the window instead to stare at the sky.
"You know... The night sky really is beautiful," he smiled to himself after a bit. He kept his eyes on the sky, especially the moon, until he was too exhausted to any longer. He stayed there, resting on the window sill until morning, when Cumulus woke him up. This slowly became a nightly routine with him, falling asleep at the window as he stared into the stars. He eventually saw reason and only stayed up an extra hour each night, but it was enough for him. He was fascinated with the still beauty, and he wanted the moon princess to know that after all this time, at least one pony loved her night time.
Nimbus was in training at the Royal Guard Academy the night that the moon rose without the image of the mare on it, along with the news of Celestia's disappearance. The news of Nightmare Moon came as no surprise to him either when seven hours later, the sun still had not risen. He was desperate to try to talk to her, to try and help her see reason. But he had been ordered to stay in Canterlot to ensure that no mass panic broke out and to protect from anything harmful that might arise, and he could not abandon his post. He stayed there all throughout the prolonged night, undaunted by the darkness or cold that came with it. He was used to it, after all.
Finally, the sun rose. Celestia was seen in the sky, flying back to the palace. And there, at her side, was a younger alicorn, her coat a dark blue and her expression a mixture of fear and shame. Nimbus watched them as they passed over him in awe. It wasn't much later that the return of Princess Luna was announced to all of Equestria.
Nimbus celebrated just like everypony else. But then, when night began to fall and everypony else was heading for bed, he went to the window to celebrate in his own way: watching the moon rise. From a certain window on the second floor of the Academy, he could see the balcony from which the Princess raised the moon.
Celestia came forward as usual. But this time, her sister was at her side. They seemed to be having a conversation with each other, and he almost felt as if he was intruding even though he couldn't hear. He watched as Celestia lowered the sun with almost no visible effort, and then his eyes moved to Luna. She seemed nervous, shuffling from hoof to hoof and looking down. Her horn lit up as she tried to raise the moon, showing clear signs of strain. She even flapped her wings as she strained.
"C'mon... You can do it..." he found himself whispering, his breath fogging the glass. She gave it one final effort, raising her head; and the moon with it.
She relaxed then, though her chest still heaved up and down. Nimbus clapped his hooves together softly, the only way he could hold back a cheer. He then watched as the sky grew darker and the stars came out. He did not, however, stay for a full hour. He had an exam in the morning. Besides, he didn't need to look at the Mare in the Moon any more. She was already here on the ground with her ponies.
He graduated from the Academy after two more years, and was accepted into the ranks of the Royal Guard. Unfortunately, he was put on the day shift, and had to wake up early every morning. This made it harder and harder to stay awake at night, until finally he had to give it up all together. He just couldn't do it. He was too tired from his duties, patrols, and sentry work to stay awake. Some nights, he still tried. But it was getting harder and harder to explain what he was doing when the next patrol found him asleep at the window.
One such night, the soothing smell of lavendar had lured him off to sleep a bit faster than usual, and he was asleep at the window when Luna was changing the flowers around. She noticed him instantly, and levitated him off to his bed in the barracks. His captain apologized for the inconvenience, but she simply waved it off.
"It was no trouble. Sleeping ponies are the ones I am most accustomed to," she explained. She then went to oversee everypony's dreams for the night. Her job was to keep nightmares at bay, after all.
But her mind kept drifting curiously back to that guard. What was he doing, sleeping in the window? Was he so tired that he hadn't made it to his bed? As her thoughts wandered, a bubble floated up in front of her face. Inside was the guard, sitting on a bed in a foal's room and looking out of his window at the moon. He seemed peaceful.
Curiosity got the better of her. After looking around to make sure no pony was having a nightmare, she entered his dream. As she looked around, she noticed a pony sleeping in the other bed. He looked like they might be related, with a similar-colored mane and the same nose shape. There was also a bookshelf between their beds, posters on the wall, an old toy chest, and a closet. It seemd very comfortable a place to be, in Luna's opinion.
She approached the guard from behind and gave a small "Ahem" to alert him to her pressence. He jumped just a little bit, then looked around to see who it was. Upon seeing Luna, however, he jumped much more and quickly bowed his head respectfully.
"Princess Luna! It is an honor to meet you," he said.
She gave him a soft smile. "Arise, young stallion. I have come to ask some... Questions of you, if that is alright?" She was doing her best not to ruin the cozy atmosphere of his dream by being too stiff and formal. In her opinion, it wasn't working, but he didn't seem to mind. In fact, when he lifted his head, he had a huge grin.
"Of course! I'm happy to help any way that I can, even answering questions."
Luna nodded, a little confused by his eagerness but willing to accept it. "Why is it that you had fallen asleep at the window instead of in your bed?" she began. He blushed and looked away from her, his smile shrinking. But he still answered her.
"Well, you see Princess... I really really admire your sky. The moon and stars are just so beautiful, and I like the stillness. I was trying to stay awake so that I could watch you raise the moon, but... Well, clearly that didn't work."
He was blushing as he finished, and Luna was surprised to feel herself turning red as well. "You... Like the night?" she asked.
He nodded. "Ever since I was little, I've loved the night time. My grandfather told us all about how you... Well, how you were banished-" she flinched, her expression growing more serious. "-B-but I always thought it was unfair how you were punished just for wanting pnies to like you. So I had this silly idea to fall in love with the night, so that if you came back, you could know that at least one pony liked it. But now I can't even stay awake... I'm sorry."
He ended his explanation with a sigh. Luna listened closely, and she was unable to keep her grim look. It slowly melted into one of thanks, and she lifted his face to look him in the eye.
"I thank you for this caring that you have shown for my feelings. It means very much to me that somepony has made such efforts to accomodate me and acknowledge the hard work that I do."
She let her hoof drop then, and turned to leave his dream. She then paused, suddenly thinking of something, and looked back over her shoulder to say, "You know, if you carry such affection for the night, perhaps you could request a change to the night shift? There are much fewer openings, but also much fewers ponies who are willing to fill them. It would mean that you may become nocturnal, but if you love the night as much as you say, then perhaps that would suit you just fine."
With that, she left him to his dream, but both of them felt that their spirits were much lighter after the encounter.