Eye of Harmony

By Penn & Paper

Her sister was going to hand it all back to her tomorrow... and Luna wasn't sure she could handle it. The moon shimmered brilliantly against the silky night, the stars and far planets hanging perfectly in her sights, beckoning her to return to them. Luna restlessly flexed her wings, keeping to her spot on the mountainside, the green grass a comfortable place to watch the stars. She had been up there for hours, ever since her sister had announced that she, Luna, would be taking over her half of the day cycle-and half the power over Equestria in turn... right before raising the moon.

She had been going over every aspect of it. Luna was partially terrified she'd screw up and go all monstrous again once her sister handed her the kingdom on a plate. She was also unsure if she could do it again-after all this reintroducing she and the world had done, after all the work she'd put into understanding the situation of the state and government, and after all the time she'd spent with the ponies of her kingdom...

She still wasn't sure.

Star gazing made her feel calmer, to name each of the stars she'd brought into the world, softly recalling when she'd made them and why she'd named them such... They were-

"Beautiful."

Luna's ears flattened, her wings springing out, and muscles going tense. She turned her head slowly to the left, expecting to see Celestia, or one of her personal guard come looking for her, but was met by the sight of a brown pony, his flank adorned with a hourglass, who was wearing odd red shoes, quite comfortably sitting next to her. His eyes were fixed on the stars, and he pointed towards one, a bold bright north star, "That one's Cladina. Bit of a strong beast, but she's never steered me wrong. Lovely thing-"

For this, she had to stare at him with more fright, wondering how he knew the north star's name. She had not... publicly, not that she could have in her thousand years gone (she'd meant to), published anything that even suggested at the stars' names. And Cladina's gravity was indeed, strong, as she was a big star brought to life in Luna's youngest years-the first star she brought into the sky without help. She opened her mouth, blinking at the pony, but was unable to bring herself to question him, "Yes. Yes, she is."

The pony went on, pointing out stars quite familiar to her, stars as ancient as she. He called them beautiful, every one of them, and pointed out their unique qualities, little pieces of information most enthralling to hear from a complete stranger. He seemed rather partial to her early pieces, but as he began to point out stars far out of their sight, that she began to assume that he was more than just a pony with a keen love of astronomy.

"And then, there's the Malinsna Belt, three hundred twenty eight stars, enough astroids to give anypony a fright, and far off from that there's that big black hole from when Elni went supernova and sort of tried to eat Clancy and Marr-such cute little stars," He paused mumbling excitedly, "Ooo, that rhymes!" With such enthusiasm, he went on to name each and every one of the stars in the belt, commenting on his favorite two-which were also considered planets, "Riem and Requiem-Reim's somehow managed to gain little interstellar beings made of compressed heat and air that have feelings, and rituals, and absolutely fabulous hot springs-"

She assumed that he could of out talked Celestia if he pleased, and Celestia was the queen of speaking, easily keeping Luna focused on her own specialty. The way he showed the depth of his knowledge on the stars and the sky Luna oversaw was intermingled with the impression that he'd seen every one of the sights he named himself, and that gave him an advantage over even Luna, as she'd been away for so long.

At the brink of the dawn, he came to a still.

After a long time, he spoke with a tone most serious.

"And there are so many more up there. I keep finding new ones, and I wondered how you were putting them up there-even on the moon. Because, I know it was you, not that rubbish nightmare lady." He said with a frankness she was not used to other ponies confronting her with, "And I wish I knew their names." He pointed into the distant sky with a soft whistle, "Just past the Malinsna Belt, all those new stars... What's the big, big, blue one with ice all around it called? Sort of whirly. Looks like it'll freeze if you get too close."

Luna stared off into the sky, shutting her eyes, before she blushed slightly. "Harmony." She felt so calm, absolutely refreshed to hear such appreciation of her sky, such a breadth of knowledge towards the endlessness of it, wistfully she said, "The astronomers haven't found that one yet. Too far for their telescopes, or magic..."

She stared at him, with a gaze that suggested both curiosity and gratitude.

He winked at her, and glanced towards the rising sun.

Softly, with an edge that reminded her of Celestia, or even herself, he said, "... we're all born of the same sky. And, even where I come from, we have you to thank for the stars." The rising sun and Celestia were high in the sky, and the pony stood from his spot. He stared for a long moment, before turning away from the sight, trotting off.

Something in her heart-it gave her this feeling... as if he was cut from a cloth the same shade as she, even if he didn't show it around his eyes, nor in his look. It made her feel hopeful that she could do the tasks she had once done, had still attempted to do when locked down on the moon... It was appreciated by one pony... and it always had been, she supposed.

Government was easy. Luna had invented it...

So the stars-they'd fall in turn with ease, she thought, more comfortable with the idea.

"Wait-" She called over her shoulder, and she heard his hooves pause. Luna searched in her heart for a moment, and he-seeming to sense this said, "Doctor."

"... Thank you. ...thank you, Doctor." She said, watching her sister with a warm heart, "I think you may have helped me, more than you realize."

Luna didn't see him shrug a jacket on, give her an exuberant smile, nor seemingly disappear.

She only heard the words, "Alright, Ditzy! Muffin-boy-I'm setting a course for the farthest reaches of Equestrian space... Oh, close your muzzle, it's not a fixed point. ..."

"Allonz-y!" And a loud whirling noise...

authors notes;; What. fixed points in time are things like the mare in the moon, luna's imprisonment, those wars with the griffons, and that incident with the daleks in manehattan wasn't as bad as everyone insists-The Doc can talk to goddesses anytime he thinks they need a pep talk...

oh, you know.

sure! why not-stop with your mouth hanging open muffin boy-

Something small before I start posting a big fic for the Crusaders.

Ijust.

this was kind of a silly idea.

but I thought it was really cute...

and it's apparently been done but- fffff, whatever. /angrytimelordfaic

thanks for reading, guys.

Reviews would make me the happiest rainicorn on this earth.