Chapter 1 – A New Star in the Sky
"Is it around here?"
A Pegasus with a coat of a light blue hue looked around a corner, his amber eyes giving a small shimmer in the afternoon sunlight.
"...Doesn't look like it..." he commented slowly, retracting his head and turning back down the street he just traversed.
It was just another day in the fair city of Canterlot. The early afternoon sun was basking the ponies below with a gentle warmth whilst the mild and caring wind gifted them with a refreshing breeze; the high-society citizens were going about their daily business -whether it be conversing with their equally sophisticated associates or turning their snobby noses up at anyone they thought was worth less bits than themselves; and, as usual, there was a light clamour rolling through the street as these wealthy aristocrats discussed the hottest topic around: Princess Luna's recent transformation into the infamous terror, Nightmare Moon. Though it had already been a week since the usually quiet and secluded co-ruler lost to both her inner demon and the Elements of Harmony, nopony seemed intent on stopping their slanderous descriptions of their Princess, forgetting the fact that they all played a part in her transformation.
This ostracism continued to spread like a wild fire until it reached the point where even the media wanted to throw in their two bits. Every printing agency of all nearby towns and cities had put up an exceedingly high price for all reporters able to catch a photo or quote from their 'local monster'. But all reporters giving their efforts to try and claim this prize were merely stopped by the royal guard outside the main gates to the virtuous and prestigious castle of Canterlot, the residence of their beloved Princess and object of repudiation. Truthfully, Equestria had never seen a darker time. Even when under the control of the chaotic and disharmonious fiend known as Discord, even when threatened by the growing forces of the nearby Dark King Sombra; the ponies of Equestria never once forgot how important their protectors were to them, and remained loyal and compassionate to the two sisters for many generations to come. But now, the one entity that made fighting against those evil, dominating forces possible for the kingdom's illustrious idol is being besmirched and exiled by the very ponies she fought to save. As it seems, no-one unaffiliated with this princess and her deep lament remembers the valiant effort given by her during the kingdom's greatest struggles, but instead shall only and always identify her by the demon lurking in her heart.
No-one, that is, but Bright Accord.
A young Pegasus pony from outside this 'great' capital, he's most well-known for his philanthropic nature and tendency to go far out of his way to assist others, even if they were complete strangers. It is because of this trait that he is known by ponies throughout his home town as "The Benevolent Prince", a nickname for which he is far too modest to ever accept. This kind pony is the protagonist of our story, and his accounts from this fateful day onward shall be forever recorded right here, in "Equestria's Lexicon of Great Ponies".
But diverting back to our 'hero', this is his first time in the 'fair' and 'sophisticated' society of Canterlot, and his sense of direction has seemed to be failing him for most of the day. For an hour or two he has been searching endlessly for the humble abode of his princesses, the castle of Canterlot.
"This way!" he exclaimed, jumping around another corner to find yet another residential district. "Dang it, wrong again..." He turned away, heading back along his tracks as his tireless searching had begun to take its toll on him.
Like many of the other foreign ponies gathered in this city, he had come solely to see Princess Luna. But unlike those filthy dogs of the media, his intentions weren't to exploit how emotionally fragile she had become for money or popularity. He came here with pure intentions, hoping to find what had been ailing her and offer her his assistance in combating them. That's the kind of pony he is, after all. And after spending yet another half hour scouring the city in search of her royal majesty, Bright finally happened across a ruckus that greatly exceeded that produced by the townsfolk he had passed so far. Following this commotion, he came to the presence of an overwhelmingly large crowd, with several guards and the front doors to the palace at its core.
A smile burst onto his face at the sight. "Finally, I made it!"
He briskly trotted his way to the crowd, looking on in awe as the beautiful and illustrious castle of Canterlot stood before him in all of its glory, housing the objective of his quest somewhere inside its thick marble walls. Upon nearing the crowd, however, the Pegasus slowed to a halt and looked on at the rambling intruders.
"Princess Luna! Can you hear us? Please come out for an interview!"
"Come on, let us pass! The story of the century's just past these doors!"
"Nightmare Moon! Please could you allow us some photos! I've even brought some actors to look terrified!"
These were some of the cries given by these callous individuals to the guards and the absent princess, all of which fell - pathetically - in vain. But after witnessing these pointless efforts, Bright placed a hoof to his chin and started thinking.
Looks like the guards are doing a good job at holding the media in place. But that means I won't be able to get in myself...
Figuring that the front entrance won't be opening for him any time soon, the pony started glancing around in hopes of finding an alternative route to the castle's interior. After spending no more than a few seconds looking about, his eyes had fallen upon the entranceway to the famed Canterlot Gardens just mere metres away from the front door. But a certain little detail about it seemed a bit... off. Though the quaint little archway into the nature wonderland seemed normal at first glance, the presence of the guard at its entryway was a little conspicuous, to say the least.
Strange... From what I've heard, the Gardens are supposed to be open for all members of the public to enter and admire, but a royal guard is keeping it off limits. Maybe...
Deciding to examine this a bit further, Bright turned around and pretended to be making his leave, walking toward the smooth stone wall coating the enclosure's circumference on his journey 'out'. Once at the wall's side, he glanced back to the guard to make sure he wasn't looking and - with a quick flap of his wings - made a jump over the 6 ft barrier and landed softly in the Garden grounds. He gave a quick glance about the exotic display of flora and fauna, finding the popular exhibit completely devoid of visitors.
"Everything here seems to be fine, so why is it off limits?" he whispered, making sure not to alert the guard as he started exploring the garden. Upon delving further into it, he noticed that the attraction itself seemed to adhere pretty well to the descriptions he had heard of it. "This looks like how the brochure had shown it, so it'd be safe to assume that they're not preparing for a big event here. So would access be prohibited because it leads to the castle's interior?"
He continued to wander until coming across one of the castle's walls, stopping before it and looking up at its full height. After taking in the features of the wall, he followed its form down the garden until it cut around a corner.
"If the Gardens go around almost the entirety of the Castle, then I suppose that there must be some entrance somewhere around here." His lips grew into a small smile. "Guess I can just get in from there then!"
He happily trotted off to the corner of the castle, slowing down and carefully peeking around it to make sure no guards were ahead.
"Hey! Who're you!?" an alarming voice shouted.
Startled, Bright quickly turned around and saw a member of the royal guard running at him.
"Ah! I've been found!" he cried, quickly turning tail and dashing around the corner.
"Get back here! You're trespassing on royal property!" the guard yelled, still giving chase. Groaning, his horn shone with a blue light. "Hello? I need back-up! We have a trespasser in the southern sector of the Gardens! I repeat, back-up for the apprehension of the trespasser in the southern sector of the Gardens!"
"Roger that. We're moving in now," a voice resounding from his horn replied.
The unicorn guard reverted his horn to its normal state and continued around the corner. At this time Bright quickly glanced back, seeing the guard come around the bend he had just passed.
"Dang, he's catching up with me!" he said with a hint of worry in his voice.
Trying his best to evade capture, the Pegasus looked forward again and made for a break in the castle wall, seeing a set of doors leading into the palace.
"Haha, yes! My escape!" Excited, Bright ran with all of his might to the door. Suddenly, two more guards ran out of the palace through the doorway and directly into his path, causing him to jump back in surprise.
"Crap!" he cursed, instinctively unfurling his wings and beating them quickly to take off from the ground before they could grab him. After barely avoiding their hooves, he found a steady position in the air and stared down at the guards.
"Phew, that was clo-,"
A burst of blue light passing him cut him off. He turned his head to see the first guard slowing to a halt with his horn glowing. "Aw, you gotta be kidding me," Bright whimpered, turning from the castle and fleeing from the projectile-firing guard.
It took mere seconds for the other two guards to join the anti-air assault on the Pegasus, with their shots missing by the same margin the initiating one did. Once noticing how sour the situation was turning, the blue pony started climbing the air at a quickening rate in an attempt to break out of the unicorns' range of fire. But despite his efforts, their accuracy didn't falter in the slightest. Each shot only missed due to the swift aerial manoeuvres he performed at the last second. In fact, if not for his adept flying, Bright would have definitely been hit by at least one of these paralysing blasts by now. But growing tired and terrified of this seemingly endless hunt, the Pegasus quickly flew over the palace's walls and hovered low above the roof, looking around desperately for a hiding place. From this far above the glorious and alluring Gardens, Bright noticed a couple of decorative - and supposedly multi-floored - towers erected near the stone walls encapsulating them.
"The guards are on the other side of the palace, so they shouldn't be able to see them," he mumbled, analysing the towers further. "They also have a balcony each, which means they probably also have a door that leads to their interiors. And since those guards wouldn't suspect an intruder presumably here to see Princess Luna to go anywhere but the main palace, they're the perfect hiding places!"
Wanting to grasp this opportunity before it slipped away from him, the blue Pegasus made to the tower closest to him as swiftly as his wings would allow him. Once within landing range he quickly dropped down and folded his wings, landing with a small thud and making for the large glass doors. Due to the lack of a horn, the incredibly complex task of opening these doors proved to be a challenge much greater than he had imagined. But with time, Bright's strong perseverance allowed him to get the glass slates to open up for him before subtly sliding into the great aperture created from their altered positions. Upon entering this room, he turned around and closed the doors again - a task much easier than opening them - and made his way through the deep blue curtains protecting the room from the light of the outside world. Of course, it was strange for curtains to be drawn at this time of day, but the reason why lay in the stellar-designed king-sized bed by the room's wall. In this room comprised of a desk covered in papers; a small stand accompanied by a blank parchment; three large, dark cushions placed neatly on the floor; a telescope; the aforementioned bed and a couple of lovely dark cerulean banners bearing a crescent moon, lay Princess Luna, the very pony our protagonist had travelled here to see.
"Wait... is this really...?" Shocked at his discovery, the pony moved closer to Luna's sleeping form.
She looked peaceful. Serene. Her delicate eyelids were gently shut, and soft, tranquil breaths escaped her partially open mouth. She hadn't her crown nor her necklace on, instead they rested on the paper-filled desk, much like their bearer in her bed. Furthermore, the quilt with astral designs embedded on it had been moved down to her hind hooves, most likely due to some fidgeting in her sleep. Because of this misplaced duvet, her sleek and slender form glowed very slightly from the minuscule amount of sunlight breaching her domain. Her open wings - for this was the most comfortable form for winged equines to sleep in when on their sides - also had this wondrous and regal look about them, emphasised more greatly by the dark blue light settling on their elegant feathers. Her entire being lightly radiated with this intoxicating allure, almost as if she became a succubus once she lost her consciousness and will to sleep's wispy claws.
But that allure quickly vanished as the princess gave a brief thrash in her sleep, her face changing from the embodiment of tranquillity into a scared and suffering visage. She firmly closed her eyes and rolled to her other side, mumbling a series of unintelligible noises until finally uttering the word 'sister'. Once her one understandable word had been pronounced, she went back to being silent and motionless. Feeling concern take a hold of him, Bright briskly walked to the other side of the bed and faced the troubled Alicorn, only to find that she had re-assumed her previous demeanour. To make for good measure the Pegasus placed a hoof on Luna's forehead, confirming that her temperature was at a safe and normal level and removing his hoof.
"Well, I suppose I've nothing to do for now," he sighed, clearly lost on what to do for the meantime. "Waking Princess Luna up will just be rude, and she may call the guards in to try and arrest me if she's in a foul mood with me." He slowly walked over to her previously unappreciated grand curtains, sitting himself down in front of them. "Guess there's nothing to do now but wait for her to wake up." He released another sigh, but one could tell from the sound produced that it had been born from aggravation rather than bewilderment. "I really should have thought about what time I should have arrived..."
And thus he waited, staying almost entirely stationary as the long, remaining hours of the afternoon dragged on for what felt like forever.
The princess slowly stirred in her bed, opening her still sleepy eyes to be greeted by the darkening territory of her room. She blinked drowsily a couple of times before taking a steep breath and sitting up, giving a light groan as she worked her waking body. Rubbing her eyes and yawning, she slowly approached the edge of her bed and clambered off, slipping her hooves into their crystalline shelters as she touched down onto her floor. She started toward her desk for her crown and necklace when a sudden breeze combed her figure with its icy finger, sending a chill to run through her body. She shivered and looked to the source of the draught, seeing her curtains blowing gently in the evening breeze.
"What? Is the door open?" she mumbled slowly, a trace of confusion lining her voice. "We could have sworn we closed it this morning..."
She made her way to the balcony while still rubbing one of her eyes in tiredness, pushing past her curtains once within their proximity. But on the other side an unfamiliar pony sat on her balcony, looking out to the late afternoon sky and setting sun. Startled to see the presence of an intruder on her premises, Luna flinched before shambling back a step.
"W-who art thou!?" she angrily stuttered, earning a shocked reaction from the blue Pegasus. "Thou are intruding on royal property! Make yourself scarce before we call the guard!"
Upon hearing the threat, our amber-eyed friend quickly turned to the princess and stood up. "W-wait, it's not what you think!" he quickly sputtered. "I'm here to help you, Princess Luna!" He held out a hoof to her as he started explaining his intentions, wanting to calm her suspicions before he got into dire trouble again.
At this the princess just frowned, not willing to believe Bright Accord's declaration. After all, for all she knew he was just another reporter from that hate-filled media that wanted to cause her nothing but grief and problems. "We don't need your 'help'," she scoffed. "All of you 'help' enough with your incessant rambling about the 'terrible' and 'horrific' princess you're all forced to live under." She sent him a bitter glare before holding out her hoof. "Now begone before thou endst up in our royal dungeon!"
"Wait, I'm not lying! Honest!" he quickly replied, starting to panic a bit. It's no secret that he hadn't quite planned out what he'd do or how he'd do it - since he had to improvise to both enter the castle grounds and hide from the guards - but he honestly hadn't thought of a circumstance where Princess Luna didn't believe the first thing that came out of his mouth. So, yet again, he was forced to improvise - truthfully - to attempt to deter himself from trouble and complete his quest. "I came here because I wanted to help you! There must be a reason as to why you transformed back into Nightmare Moon an-"
"We don't want to hear it," Luna snapped, giving the pony an unpleasant look. "The only reason one such as yourself would bother taking the risk of breaking into the royal palace and greeting us in our own chambers would be for self gain. And since there are no benefits for you in 'solving our problems', you must be here hoping to get a nice little raise in your pay-cheque for the 'story of the century'," she said in a horridly belittling tone, her disapproving glare changing into a scowl of enmity.
Bright just stood there, looking at the princess of the night. Astonishment tinted with sympathy running through his being as her biting anger sank into his mind.
She must've heard them... all of those ponies that were gathered outside this morning calling her out.
That feeling of sympathy welling up inside of him overpowered his initial astonishment, leaving him to wonder more about just how much of this Princess Luna had been suffering as of late.
How many times have they gathered out there, and how many times has she heard them passively insult her? Actually, how much has she heard altogether? Most of the newspapers across Equestria are talking exclusively about her in really degrading ways, so has she seen those as well? Has she been braving this all week?
He opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it as no words came out. He had so many things he wanted to say to comfort her, but they all seemed to converge and trap each other in his throat.
"If you've nothing to say for yourself, then leave. Now." she asserted.
Bright opened his mouth to say something again, but still nothing could push past the lump in his throat. He closed his mouth and looked to the floor, a sense of pity and submission emanating from him.
"...What they're saying isn't true." he finally said, slowly and softly.
In response, the scowl that had formed on Luna's lips started to fade.
He slowly looked up to her, his warm, shimmering eyes casting off the orange light of the setting sun as he stared into her own deep pools of blue. "You're not a monster, and you're certainly not someone to be feared. Your transformation into Nightmare Moon wasn't your fault, it was something that you couldn't avoid."
The princess' lips started to part and her eyes began reflecting bemusement. This look that he was giving her... she had seen it before.
"I know you don't believe that I want to help you," he continued. "But please at least allow me some way of proving to you that I don't want to hurt you. Please?" he begged, his eyes still presenting her with that soft glow of amiability, the same glow that she had seen many times before.
She realised it now, where she had seen that same endearing look of concern and empathy. Her sister, Princess Celestia, often gave her the same look when she was worried about her or her welfare. And now this random pony whom was intruding upon her personal domain gave her that same stare, expressing the same feelings of consideration that her dear sister would.
Her lips came together and quivered very slightly for a bit before she regained control of them, setting them to rest and holding her figure up high.
Is this pony really so concerned for my welfare? Why? Why would he care so much about a stranger ostracised daily? Surely that would deter most ponies from ever wanting to meet me, yet alone urge them to help me...
She thought for several moments of what to say. She was curious about this pony's incentives of helping her, but his eyes told her that he was genuinely concerned about her and wanted to help, and that is a fact she couldn't deny. But it still felt wrong to her. Having somepony she had never met before become so emotionally attached to her upon their first assembly felt so... fake; fabricated. No-one could possibly care for another they knew so little about, yet here he stood, that look that defied all reasoning being the prominent beacon of care on his determined face. But no matter how much she wanted to confirm this, to explore his reasoning, Luna had to first attend to his request. She eyed him once more, making sure she had taken every last detail about him that could leak information about his intentions, to see if her suspicions about him would change. They did not.
She let loose a small sigh, closing her eyes momentarily before staring back to the young pony before her. "Go on, prove to us that you shall bid us no harm." She was already convinced - no. She already knew that he would not hurt her, but she wanted to see a physical representation of his determination for herself.
A small smile wormed its way onto his face at the order and he nodded his head. "You look really peaceful when you're sleeping. Well, most of the time, at least."
A sudden perturbed shock ran through Luna's mind and her cheeks started to redden, but thanks to the dimming light of the sun, her charge hadn't noticed. "W-what do you mean we look peaceful in our sleep? Were thou watching us during our slumber!?" she demanded apprehensively. Though it had very briefly crossed her mind that this pony may be here because of some form of admiration he held for her, she hadn't thought that it would be quite as strong as this.
"Yeah. Well, partially," he admitted, causing another wave of shock to run through his princess. "I snuck into the Gardens to try and find another way into the palace, since the guards out front were keeping the entrance under heavy protection. But whilst there I got caught and chased by some of the guards patrolling it, and so I came here to hide from them." Bright rubbed the back of his head. "But it turns out that this was actually your room and that I never needed to try to enter the palace in the first place," he chuckled, lowering his leg again and reducing his laughter to a smile. "But when I got here you were fast asleep. And since it would be rude and unthoughtful of me to wake you up, I just sat here for five or six hours waiting for you to wake up naturally."
That last little fact also hit Luna as a bit of a shock, more-so for the fact that, if he were telling the truth, then he would have been waiting for most of the day entirely on her behalf so he could help her.
"If I wanted to hurt you in any way," he continued. "Then I would have done so during that five or six hour period where you were completely defenceless. Yet here you are, completely untouched." his smile quickly vanished as he remembered another fact, however. "Although..." He rubbed his foreleg nervously, averting his gaze from the Alicorn. "There was that maid and some of the guards that came in a few hours ago, and they scared the living wit out of me. I mean, I was just sat there waiting for you to wake up, when suddenly there's someone at the door knocking to come in, giving me a few seconds to hide. I managed, somehow, to hide behind those curtains without being seen," he said, pointing a hoof at the curtains as he returned his gaze to Luna. "I think the maid was just here to tidy up a little, but the guards were definitely here looking for me. I suppose that would mean that there was a time frame of 15 or so minutes where you couldn't have been touched without somepony else knowing, so what I said wasn't completely true."
Nevertheless, the princess could hardly believe what she had been hearing. There would ordinarily be some doubt in her mind as to whether he was being entirely truthful, but he had been there whilst Amethyst Shine (Luna's personal room-keeper) was cleaning, so he must have been in her quarters several hours ago and possibly ever since.
"What compelled you to stay here for so long?" she asked. "Why would you go so far out of your way for us, somepony you've never met before?"
A warm beam blossomed on his lips again, his glowing amber eyes lulling the princess into a sense of security. "Because I wanted to help you, as I said before," he stated. "And like I was saying before, I don't believe you would have transformed into Nightmare Moon over some small, inconsequential matter. Therefore, there must have been something of an abyssal magnitude troubling you to the point where you couldn't hold yourself together anymore. That form of yours, the Mare of Darkness, has only arose three times so far, hasn't it?"
Luna gave a vacant nod, unable to fully fathom what Bright was saying. For the past week everypony outside of the royal palace had had her ghastly transformation on their mind, and it seemed that he was no exception. But unlike everyone else, he understood at least a little bit of her torment, a fraction of her agony that no-one else had even considered. And he came all the way here, risking imprisonment, just to show his support for the antagonised princess that no-one else cared to sympathise with.
"Granted one was before a thousand year imprisonment and the second immediately after, but I'd imagine that you and Princess Celestia had lived together and ruled over Equestria for quite some time, yet there's no record anywhere of you having transformed into Nightmare Moon before the Summer Sun Celebration's birth. Which means for you to have turned back into that figure, something of an unimaginable scale must have been ailing you, and I couldn't just sit back and watch while I knew someone was suffering so much." The look to his eyes grew stronger, sheer determination shining through in a brilliant radiance. "It's not right for someone to suffer like that, let alone have the media on their backs about it too, antagonising them in front of the world. And it's because I knew you were suffering so much that I wanted to help you so badly. That's why I went through all the trouble of coming to Canterlot, breaking into royal property and risking a high-level punishment."
Now it was Luna's turn to suffer from a plethora of words and emotions clogging her windpipe. Never in all her life did she think she'd encounter a pony as caring as this, someone who could even match her sister in benevolence.
So there is such a pony... He's so concerned for myself because he understands how deep my troubles lie, and because he wants to combat them.
A small smile cracked on her lips. It was the first smile to ever further the grace of her features since her problems began.
This is honestly like talking to my sister in a different body, and I feel much better after talking to him.
She attempted once more at manifesting her gratitude past the figurative blockage in her throat. "Thank you." It came out quite a bit shakier than she had hoped, but she finally got it out of her.
Bright gave a half-confused, half-appreciative smile in response. "Uh, you're welcome but, I really haven't done anything yet. I still intend on doing whatever I can for you."
Luna's smile grew a little larger as she walked past the pony, looking out to the sky where the sun had just vanished, giving her horn a beautifully royal blaze of deep azure. "There's no need," she replied, a subtle undertone of happiness to her voice. "Just knowing that I have your support makes me feel infinitely better. Now I know that I'm not alone anymore..."
The waxing moon slowly drifted up through the twilight, casting a soft, silver light across the many homes and agricultural wonders of Canterlot. Luna and Bright, too, fell under the orb's argent glow, their coats gaining an illustrious shimmer.
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Bright asked, taking a step closer to the princess.
As the moon climbed closer to its celestial throne, several tiny white dots started decorating the sky. Soon constellations were becoming recognisable as the expansive space above Equestria began to fill with these jewels of the night.
Luna's smile shrank a little as she watched her moon. "You're the first pony outside of those bound to me by duty to actually understand that I wouldn't undertake such a change over a trivial matter or through my own will. As you said, everyone else considers me a monster..."
"Even your own sister...?" he asked timidly. He found it hard to believe that their kind and completely selfless ruler would think so ill of her own sister, but there may be a matter between the two that he's unaware of that's caused some bad-blood to form.
Luna shook her head. "No, of course not. She's too kind to ever think of anypony so badly."
"O-of course. How could I think that?" He felt a mix of alleviation and awkwardness wash over him. Sure it was a good thing that the two princesses didn't have any animosity brewing between them, but to admit to Celestia's sister that he had doubts about her tolerance made him feel pretty... guilty. "But what about your friends? Surely they understand that you're still the same old princess?" he asked, trying to deter attention from his unintentional passive insult.
The moon finished its ascension and sat firmly in the sky, emphasised awe inspiringly by the countless stars spread over far and wide.
Luna gazed up at her work, the great sphere's image reflecting in her eyes. "I don't have any friends, royal duty prevents me from having any." She looked down and sighed, her voice slowly edging toward a mumble. "And now this ostracism everyone's given me has made making companions all the harder."
"Well what about the royal guard? They must not think that you're a monster," he responded, trying to console her somewhat.
She turned her head toward him, looking at him from the corner of her eye. "As I've said before, they're bound to me by duty. I wouldn't be surprised if many among their ranks were afraid of me. We've already had a few guards resign since last week, in fact." She reverted her gaze to the moon, finding solace in its cold isolation from the stars glittering around the sky. "My sister's the only one in the palace who still talks to me as if nothing's changed, but even communications with her have begun to falter. She's always been a bit too busy for proper conversation, but the recent attention I've been getting has her completely tied up with work. Now I'd be lucky to see her outside of her study."
The Pegasus couldn't believe what he was hearing. Not only had Princess Luna been going through a horridly tough time, but no-one has been there to help her.
She's not just been enduring this, but she hasn't had any friends to help comfort her or keep her company at all? Why hasn't she said anything to anyone? If Princess Celestia knew that her sister was this troubled, I'm sure that she'd do anything she could to help her. In fact, if Princess Luna's been going this long without any friends, then its no surprise that she transformed back into Nightmare Moon. She's sat in the dark, all alone, and there's not the slightest bit of light to keep her company. Like the moon without the Sun's light, she's just become enshrouded in darkness...
Slowly, Bright made his way to Luna's side, his hooves making a pronounced sound upon the marble surface of the balcony. He turned to her, catching her attention and causing her to look back at him.
A small smile lined his lips. "Then how about I be your friend?" He held his hoof out to her in offering.
The Alicorn was stricken with surprise. She had been alone for so long, but now a mysterious pony from who knows where appeared before her whom not only understands her point of view, but even offered to be her friend. "Uh-, you mean... you want to-?"
The pony nodded, his smile remaining untainted.
A nervous chuckle escaped the princess, so she held a hoof over her mouth to stop it. "It's quite alright, you needn't worry yourself with my welfare. I wouldn't want to impose such a task on you." Though she rejected the offer, Luna honestly couldn't be any happier. She finally found someone who was willing to take her out of that dark pit of loneliness and despair, but she didn't want to be selfish in taking him out of his comfort zone just to feel less lonely.
"You wouldn't be imposing," he replied. "I would be honoured and incredibly happy to be your friend."
Luna's lips lightly parted, but soon came together in a heart-warming beam. "If that's the case," she started, her voice almost buzzing from sheer happiness. "Then I gladly accept your offer, er-"
"Bright Accord, your Highness," he finished.
"Right." Luna, too, held her hoof out, meeting Bright's for an informal hoof-shake. "And you can just call me Luna, Bright."
He returned a smile matching hers in magnitude. "Will do," he chimed happily, retracting his hoof. "Now, what do you want to do first? Go for a quick flight around Canterlot? Play a few games? I'm open for pretty much anything."
Luna chuckled a little, something else she felt she hadn't done legitimately for a long, long time. "I'm afraid I can't, I've got far too much work to do. It would probably be best if you headed home for the remainder of the night. If you give me or some of the guards your address, I could send for you whenever I become available."
Bright's smile vanished and a sheepish grin grew in its place. "A-actually, that won't be possible. I came here from Cloudsdale..." He rubbed the back of his head again, a habit he seemed to invoke whenever he was nervous or embarrassed.
"Cloudsdale!?" the princess repeated. "That's over-"
"Don't worry, I'm a pretty fast flyer," he interrupted. "It only took me six hours to fly here."
Luna was, yet again, left speechless. The extents to which this pony had gone and was going for her were just unreal. "Well..." She pondered a moment, trying to think of a solution for her friend's lack of a home. "How about you stay here for the moment? We have plenty of spare beds in the guest chambers," she offered.
The Pegasus nodded, giving a prolonged yawn shortly after. "Auu... I didn't realise I was so tired," he chuckled, his eyelids falling halfway over his eyes from the tiredness sneaking up on him. "Guess all of the flying and running about earlier took more out of me than I thought."
Luna gave an amused smile at his fatigue as he turned around, making for the door out of her personal chambers. He opened the door and walked out, quickly stopping and peeking his head back into the room.
"And if you ever need any help, don't be afraid to ask. I'd be more than happy to help you with anything you need, okay?"
He received a nod from the Alicorn as he left, slipping from view as the door closed.
A small tear splashed into the floor by Luna's hooves, leaving traces of its existence on the marble surface. Another tear joined it soon after, landing a few inches away from the first. Yet a third dripped from her chin, two small streams connecting it to her eyes. She snuffled, urging one more to escape the flooding in her eyes.
"I have a friend..." she said softly, her voice cracking up from her crying. She had been holding it in whilst Bright was present, but now that he's gone she feels comfortable letting the tears flow.
She wiped one tear as it moved down her cheek, moving her hoof up to her eyes to clear them of some of the joy seeping through them. Looking at her wet limb, she noticed the droplets had a silvery shimmer to them. She looked back to the moon, seeing it shining in solitude, segregated from any and all nearby stars. Still smiling and crying, she turned around to face the orb fully, surrounding her horn in the same bold and beautiful aura from before. Soon - and with a lot of effort from her part - a dazzling star was born right next to the illustrious sphere, lending some of its abundant light to better illuminate its neighbour.
One more tear rolled down her cheek before shattering against the cold surface beneath her. "I'll call you... the 'Light of Accordance'..." she whispered happily, looking up to the two brightest objects the night had to offer.
Author's Note:
So here we are, the first chapter of my second fic is finally out!
In all honesty, I think I'm gonna enjoy this one much more than TWOIK. Writing in third person just feels so much more... liberating. With first
person, what you write depends entirely on how perceptive the character is and how they react to certain physical, mental and emotional stimuli. It's almost as if the character you created is controlling how the story goes. Not necessarily a bad feeling, but it pales in comparison to this.
Right, random rant(?) over, important note:
As I said on TWOIK's last A/N, I shan't be updating for a while due to lots and lots of English and Media coursework. You can expect another chapter
around [insert time here]-ish. All depends on how much free time I get, when I get it, and how I spend it :/
Also, please join me in wishing DarkLordK ( - u/3271295/ ) a happy birthday! ^_^
To wrap up I'd like to give a huge 'Thank You!' to TheDeadlyVirus (my beta-reader and an absolutely incredible friend - u/4750365/ (he has no stories as of yet, but this link will serve you well in the future)) and Rebecka-chan (an amazingly awesome artist whom's the genius behind the picture used as the cover image for this story - rebecka-chan . deviantart (Seriously check her stuff out, you won't regret it))!
Arrivederci!