Alone in Space

by PinkieIsMahWaifu

Chapters

Waking Up
Stars
Century

Waking Up

She laid there, on the dusty floor, in the darkness. A princess, no, more than that. A goddess, an alicorn, a pony with the power of moving planets, fighting the elements. Luna, broken, hardly moving, struggling for breath. The eerie silent aura of the moon was shattered when she woke, gasping, back into reality. Her head ached, she placed a hoof to it.

What had happened? She could hardly remember now. Then everything came flooding back to her, faster than she could cope with. The truth of what she'd done hit her harder than anything had before. She was cold and alone, and emotionally breaking down. A tear rolled down the princess's cheek, and hit the powdered white carpet of her new home. She remembered back on earth, she watched them. Earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns alike, colts and fillies, playing and laughing in the light of her sister's sun. Her night was never treated with such gratitude, such joy. Instead it was shunned and rejected. Foals cried in fear of the monsters the night brought, the shadows on the walls and the darkness under the bed.

It burned her up, the praise her sister, Celestia, the perfect leader, the charismatic one of the two, received. Was she complimented? Ever? No, and why would she be... She was the bringer of blackness, the one that made the children cry. And it killed her inside. Why could no-one see the night like she did? Did no-one understand? She only wanted to show them.... she only wanted them to know how hard she worked to create the sky at night, to make it so beautiful. But they didn't listen; she had to make them.

And that's where Nightmare Moon came in.

Nightmare Moon was not a real pony. She was a spiritual embodiment; a incantation gone wrong. You see, Luna tried to make people look up at the stars, she would visit them and ask them just to look up, and see a side to the night they'd never seen before. But they were too in awe to be confronted by an alicorn, a royal sister, than to hear her out. They were too busy worshiping her and trying to accommodate her every need to just listen.

Luna decided that to get people to listen, she needed to take on a different form, become a regular pony. She studied hard, creating a spell that only another alicorn would have the power to do (alicorns have a larger capacity for magic than other ponies). When her spell was finally ready, she marveled at her work. She had created the perfect personality and form that she would take on. The pony she would create would be charming, charismatic, and bold. She would be heard, and people would want to listen. It was the perfect plan.

She locked the door of her bed chambers and began to gather her thoughts in one corner of her mind. Luna lit her horn, and the spell formed a wispy purple fabric that curled around her, enveloping her in possibly the most powerful magic ever witnessed by pony eyes. The spell was working perfectly. The alicorn was changing into a simpler form. Her horn shrunk down to half the size, and her wings tucked away and disappeared. Her dark blue mane changed to yellow curly locks, and her coat lightened until it became cream. Her cutie mark faded and was replaced by a a trio of stars. It was going great, until something happened. Her horn had changed, and because it was the size of a regular unicorn's, she couldn't keep up. She pushed herself so hard, but the magic was too much for just a normal unicorn to handle.

The spell was failing, and she knew it was. She shifted between the two forms; her dark, shy image, and the new pony, the pale unicorn with the personality she wish she had. The two sides of her were merging. She was visibly changing. She became and alicorn again, but an adult alicorn. Her coat darkened until it was a few shades darker than her natural coat. Her cutie mark returned, but became more sharp and defined than before. Luna could feel herself slipping away, being taken over by a new presence, the personality of the pony she created, but much, much more. She was overwhelmed by forcefulness, the stubborn feeling she suddenly felt. Luna was overpowered by the new strength, and became unconscious inside herself, or what she had made of herself. The next thing she knew, she was waking up on the moon, with memories she didn't remember making. Memories of what Nightmare Moon had made her do.

She could remember holding the moon up, not allowing the sun to rise. She could remember using Nightmare Moon's heightened magical powers to try and stop her sister. She could remember attacking anyone who tried to get in her way. She could remember Celestia stopping her, with something called 'the elements of harmony'. She could feel every emotion, every experience, every wrong-doing. She could remember betraying her sister, and her sister doing what she had to. But it would be okay. Now she was back as herself, Tia would surely bring her back. Wouldn't she?

The realization hit Luna like a ton of bricks. Her sister didn't know what had happened, she didn't know it was just a spell gone wrong. For all poor Celly knew, Luna had gone mental and tried to destroy all life in Equestria. She had therefore banished her PERMANENTLY in the moon. She was stuck there. Forever. Luna tried to pull herself together, but she couldn't stifle the sobs that convulsed through her. She burst into tears at the thought of never seeing her sister again, knowing that Celestia probably hated her. Deep in her heart she felt a pang of emptiness. She would never see anyone she loved every again.

Luna fought for a reason that her sister would bring her back, but she couldn't find any. Wouldn't her royal subjects miss her? They needed her, without her how would the night go on? Ponies need sleep to go on, how would Equestria survive without night?

All the questions she had burned into her mind, but one confused her more than any other. How was she still alive? She was on the MOON. She was breathing fine, how could this be? What happened after she was weakened by the elements?

Celestia looked down a the pony she used to call her sister. She was passed out on the floor of the palace, surrounded by shattered stained glass, from the window that showed the two ruling together. The sun princess was happy that she had defeated whatever evil was possessing Luna, but knew that it was too dangerous to keep her here. Not just for the sake of Equestria, who wouldn't survive another attack from Nightmare Moon, but also for her sister's safety. She knew that soon there would be crowds of people coming after her, trying to... she didn't even want to think about what would happen to Luna if she was captured. So she made a decision; whether her decision was right was a whole other story.

Her horn lit up with a pure white light, flooding the room. She touched her horn to Luna's chest, and the energy seemed to vanish into her dark coat and soak up into her skin. 'So you can breathe when you're there..' Celestia spoke to herself. She knew this was all she needed to do to her sister to prepare her; Luna was the second most magically gifted pony in existence, and was perfectly capable of providing herself with food. 'Goodbye little sister....' She whispered. 'I'll miss you...'

Celestia's horn once again ignited, filling all dark corners and reaching out into every crevasse. The room was blinding. The sparks flying out of the glow landed on Luna, covering her with a glittery layer. Luna suddenly became the brightest thing in the already impossibly bright room. Her coat glowed and crackled with a magical energy. Celestia shielded her eyes with a foreleg, and when she took her hoof away her sister was gone; the room seemed so dark now. Dragging her feet along the ground, knowing she would probably never see Luna again, she left the room. Everything became silent and still.

Luna's head ached furiously. Her stomached rumbled, and she realized she hadn't eaten in a day. She quickly whipped up a daisy and daffodil sandwich (her secret favorite, although she was told by her snobby relative Prince Blueblood that it was common peasant feed). She wolfed it down, and promptly made another one. She'd had a long trip... and it was going to be a long stay...

Luna was just about to settle down for the night, or day, (she couldn't really tell from where she was), when she heard noise behind her. She turn around in shock, only to be blinded. There, where she stood, she was confronted by an unknown glowing entity. The shape of a pony floating weightlessly in space, 20 feet in the air, shining forth with an outstanding beauty. Luna was so dazzled, she was unsure whether she was terrified or filled with joy.

She managed to let out a whisper. 'Who.... who are you?'

Stars

'I'm Equuleus,' the glowing figure echoed, 'You might know me as the little horse,'.

'You're.... you're a star?' Luna rasped, not quite believing what she was seeing. The pony, which Luna could now see was a unicorn, lowered herself to the ground. She had a bright white coat, and a blonde mane that consisted of spiraling locks. Her eyes shone like gold, and her tail was long and flowing. Her cutie mark was a constellation.

'Yes...' She answered. Her voice was like molten rock, it flowed smoothly, melting and pouring from her mouth. The pony seemed so small now she was on the ground, next to an alicorn twice her size.

'But... stars are just rocks, they're not living!' Luna tried to reason. Equuleus just looked back up at her. She was obviously very real. 'This doesn't make sense! How are you alive? How am I alive?!' Luna frantically questioned.

'All stars are alive, Princess....' Equuleus soothed, 'We make ourselves so bright at night, people assume we are just burning matter floating through space... We're ponies, every one of us... I'm surprised Celestia never mentioned it,' Luna tried to mumble a response, but her jaw had just hit the ground and she was having trouble coordinating it. 'You're alive because your sister cast a spell on you before she sent you here. It allows you to breathe in a place with no atmosphere, no oxygen.'

Luna understood a little better now, but was still shocked from finding out there are millions of ponies floating about in space. When she finally pulled herself together, she asked the question that was burning away inside her.

'Can you help me get back home?' She asked. Her voice cracked as the words came out, in case the answer was what she feared.

'Not yet..' Equuleus sighed. 'There is too much heat now in Equestria.... and people won't forget about what happened for a long, long time....'

'So.... I'm stuck here forever?' Luna's voice was broken and jagged.

'No, but you'll be here for quite a while..... one thousand years you must stay here, until what happened last night becomes nothing more than a myth....' Equuleus' tone became sombre and serious. 'Only then will we be able to liberate you from this place....' Luna was shocked by the amount of time she would be stuck on the moon, but at least she would have some-one to stay with. She had a question she had to ask first.

'We?'

'Yes, myself and the other stars. We will gather our brightest and best unicorns, and altogether cast a warp spell... that will take you back to Equestria.'

'Are you all unicorns?' Luna questioned.

'Yes. We light the night sky using magic...' Equuleus explained. 'All unicorns are descendants of stars. They came to earth when the night sky was becoming too crowded.'

'I see...' Luna replied. 'So, shouldn't you be in place? Won't some-pony notice you're gone?'

'There are far too many stars to notice my brief absence,' Equuleus pointed out. 'Anyway, it's still daytime in Equestria, but it won't be soon. I have to get back to my place.'

'Wait! I have so many questions for you,'

'I can't stay, Princess.'

'Then answer me this. When will I see you again?'

'I will come back here after you have stayed a tenth of your time,'

'A HUNDRED YEARS?' Luna's voice ricocheted through the air, bouncing about off peaks and in craters.

'It's not much, in perspective.'

'Are you kidding me? I'm going to be ALONE here, for a HUNDRED YEARS.' Luna was pawing the ground, kicking up clouds of dust in fury. She threw herself on the floor in a tantrum.

'LISTEN! I need to alert the rest of the stars of your arrival. I will return with others. Until then, I'm afraid you will have to stay here. However, you will not be alone. I will assign two ponies to live here with you for the time you spend here.'

Four figures stepped out of the shadows. They were all unicorns, but didn't look much like Equuleus. Equuleus was what you might've described a star as, if it was a pony (like anyone would do that anyway). She was white and gold, and glowed even when her horn was not lit. The other unicorns just looked like regular ponies. First, there was a pony with a swirled purple and white mane. She had a white coat, with a very slight grey tint. She had pretty blue eyes. Her flank depicted three purple stars. The other unicorn was blue, with a darker blue mane. His cutie mark was a crescent moon, resting inside another crescent moon. His eyes were an orangey-yellow color.

The girl was first to speak. 'I'm Vulpecula, or 'the little fox'. But you can call me Vixen. I mean, if you want. You can call me anything, you're Luna, princess of Equestria, ruler of the night.... you can call me peasant, or featherbrain, or derpface. I mean, I....' her voice faded out when she realized she was rambling. The stallion standing next to her cut in, saving her from any more embarrassment.

'And I'm Lupus, the, um, wolf.'

Luna looked up at the two new stars. She got to her feet. 'Thank you, Lupus and... Vixen?'

Vixen smiled back at the Princess and nodded.

Luna continued, 'But I really can't ask you to do that. Your place is in the sky.'

'Actually,' Vixen cut in, 'We're not going to be up here much longer. We're moving to Equestria, to start a new life there. We've been there before, and it really is such a beautiful place.'

'Ohh,' Luna giggled to herself, 'You two are... together?'

The unicorns looked at the alicorn and smiled nervously.

'But I can't ask you to stay here with me. You're unicorns, you'll die waiting!' Luna said with a grim tone.

Lupus spoke up. 'Actually... when you're in space, you don't, um, age.' Luna scrunched up her face, not able to tell if the star was joking with her. He wasn't.

'How.... how is that possible?'

'Well, no-one really knows, but, um, it is understood that Earth is full of life. Something about that place, it just causes everything to burst into action. Up here, um, nothing grows.' Lupus answered.

'Ughhh' Luna rubbed her head with a foreleg. 'This is too much information for one day.... I've been banished to the moon, my sister hates me, and stars are ponies, who just so happen to breathe in space but don't age, and some want to move to Equestria and start a new life.'

Equuleus, who had been quiet until now, piped up. 'Your sister doesn't hate you. She sent you here for your own good.'

Luna felt a little better about her plight now, but still had more questions. She turned to Vixen. 'If ponies don't age in space, then how come you aren't all newborn?'

'Oh, yeah, that,' Vixen stuttered 'Um, this might be another shock to you,'

'Just tell me,' Luna coaxed.

'Well, when we are born, we get sent to earth until we reach maturity. Then we return to our place in the sky,'

'Oh, that makes sense. Baby unicorns on Earth are actually meant to be floating about in space. Yeah, I get it now.' Luna's face was contorted in shock and confusion. She was nearing maximum derp.

'Not all of them,' Lupus said, 'Some are destined to stay on Earth,'

'Okay, okay,' Luna's face was slowly returning to normal, 'I still can't ask you to stay here, you would have to wait a thousand years you didn't need to wait,'

'ACTUALLY,' Equuleus butted in, 'They have to. So let's leave it as it is, and not argue any more. I have to go, I am needed in the sky,' And with that she bid them farewell and warped her flank outta there.

'Wow, she was a bit of fussy-filly.' Luna laughed.

'She was right though... we have to stay here for a while, maybe a thousand years, give-or-take a few,' Lupus said nervously.

'Why?' Luna inquired, curious as to why they didn't just go.

'Because if two stars disappear from the sky, and then two ponies with star and moon cutie marks just appear in Equestria, then every-pony will get suspicious.'

'I guess you're right.' Luna sighed. It would be a long time until she was back where she belonged.

'Hey, don't be upset,' Vixen placed a hoof on the moon princess's shoulder. 'Everything's gonna be okay.'

Luna look up at the friendly pony's face, and she could tell it would be.

Century

The moon. As old as forever, a dusty rock, insignificantly rotating its way through existence. Perhaps, even more insignificant than the moon, was the smaller dot on humanity that took shape as a small cottage, built from the same stone that it stood on. From a distance, it almost wasn't there. It blended in perfectly.

A small unicorn trotted out into the morning, or what morning would be on earth. The dawn was breaking on Equestria, and the moon was slowly sliding out of view. The surface glowed with an iridescent purple light as it made way for the sun. The purple and white pony watched in awe at the spectacular display of colors and magic that was happening before her. She'd witnessed it hundreds of times before, but it never failed to amaze her. A dark blue stallion walked up behind her and nuzzled her neck. The moment would have been beautiful, had it not been broken by the screaming of a pony in the distance.

'VIXEN?! LUPUS?! WHEREEEE AREEE YOUUUUUUU???'

This particular voice was coming from another pony, who just so happened to be the goddess they'd spent around a century with now. Luna, catching sight of the two, galloped towards them at a speed that might have caused a sonic rainboom, if she was flying and within the Earth's atmosphere. Unfortunately, this meant she was unable to slow down, and crashed into the two unicorns at lightning speeds.

The dark alicorn stood up and dusted herself off. The two stars, however, remained in a daze on the floor.

'Get up, get up, getupgetupgetupgetup!!!!' Luna bounced up and down, waiting for them to respond. Lupus pulled himself onto his feet before helping his partner up. He rubbed his head with a forelock.

'Owwwwww, Luna....' He moaned, before placing his hoof back onto the ground. Vixen shook her head vigorously to try and rid herself of the spinning sensation.

'What are you so excited for?' Vixen asked when she could see straight again.

'TONIGHT!!' Luna yelled, seemingly unaware of how loud she was being.

'TONIGHTISAHUNDREDYEARSSINCEIGOTHEREYESATENTHOFMYTIMEISUPTHATUNICORNISCO-' Luna took a deep breath of cold moon air, before continuing.

'-MINGBACKTOTELLMEABOUTHOWI'MGETTINGOUTOFHEREI'MSOOEXCITEDITHINKI'MGONNAPEE'

Lupus and Vixen exchange glances, before asking again.

'Ummm, slower and quieter, Princess.' Vixen laughed.

'That pony! Eq....eqwa..... equu... EQUULEUS! She's coming back here today, remember!' Luna garbled excitedly.

'What? No way, It hasn't been long enough yet... She's not coming back for ages.' Vixen sighed.

'Oh dear, my girl, you've had your head in the stars for too long!' Luna laughed. Vixen cringed at this expression. It may have been a while since she found out that stars were ponies, but it still didn't hit Luna how dirty her words sounded to the two. Luna, oblivious to the rose color flooding across the cheeks of the wolf and the little fox, continued talking.

'Look, it's true, she coming TONIGHT, and I've got proof. Follow me.' Luna trotted off into the dark, and they quickly followed behind. She led them to an enormous crater, and flew down to the center, waiting for the two to climb down. When they got to the bottom, they looked around to see something that one does not see everyday. Thousand and thousands of tiny ponies, carved into the walls of the crater. All different kinds, not just earth ponies but unicorns and pegasi, decorated the walls, each no more than seven millimeters tall.

'Wow...' Lupus gasped. 'Where did these all come from?'

'I carved them!' Luna chirped, 'All of them. I came here and carved one every day. When I reached three-hundred and sixty five, I put one on that wall over there.' She gestured to the east side of the crater, where there were a hundred or so alicorns carved. Lupus and Vixen were dumbstruck.

'Wow..... there must be ten thousand ponies here....' Vixen mused.

'Actually, there are exactly thirty six thousand, four hundred and ninety-nine. But soon there won't be.' Luna giggled. Her horn lit up with a faint glow, and she touched it to the tiny blank space left on the wall. A small pegasus became engraved into the stone. She promptly trotted over to the east wall of the crater, where she carved another alicorn. A smile stretched across her face. 'ONE HUNDRED YEARS!' She cried out in joy.

Lupus and Vixen couldn't quite understand why the time had gone so fast.

'But how is that possible?' Vixen asked. When she thought about everything that had happened during her time spent on the moon, it did work out as about a hundred years. How could everything have gone so quick?

'Think back to what I said to you the first time we really talked, Vixen.' Luna echoed. Vixen's mind ticked back a century to the fourth day she was on the moon.

Vixen creeped out of the little tent her and Lupus had created using their magic. The tent was what they were staying in until they created some real accommodation. Lupus was still asleep. Vixen tried to stay out of sight of the princess to avoid any more awkward situations where she blurted out something stupid. She started off with Luna all wrong, she was so patronizing and kept trying to honor her and stuff. She didn't realize she was just a normal pony, and wouldn't until later on that day.

She tiptoed past the royal tent of the lunar pony, making as little noise as possible. She would go and sit in a crater for a while, just by herself, keeping out of the way of the Princess. She found a nice large crater and began to climb down. She reached the bottom, and was just about to magic up some breakfast, when she caught sight of some-one else in the crater. Luna. The alicorn was by herself, facing the wall. Vixen didn't know then, but Luna had just carved her fourth pony into the wall, which had been a six-millimeter unicorn. It was a bit wonky, but she hadn't go the hang of it yet.

Vixen was too busy panicking to notice the little ponies, desperately searching for a place to hide. She eventually settled for the nearest little crater and dived into it.

WHOMP

Luna jumped, and turned around to see a cloud of dust rising from a small dip in the ground. When the dust cleared, she could see from where she stood a small white peak extending out of the crater. It was a unicorn horn. The moon princess sighed, and slowly trotted over to Vixen, pulling her out of the hole by her purple and white striped tail. The little fox cowered beneath her.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you.... please don't hurt me...'

'Listen, Vulpecula-' Luna was cut off by a whispering voice.

'You can call me Vixen.....'

'Vixen. Why are you acting like this?' Luna was genuinely puzzled, not having much experience with her subjects, let alone ponies from outer space.

'I'm so sorry! I was completely out of line, I tried to keep my distance, but I... I wandered this way and ... and.... I'M SO SORRY FOR INTRUDING, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!' Vixen bawled. As you could tell, she was pretty much the epitome of a dork.

'What?' Luna was a bit taken back by this sudden outburst.

'I.....I'll go.... I'm sorry, I'll just leave now, and go back to being part of a constellation....'

'No, wait.... Vixen, come back.' Luna coaxed. 'Why do you want to leave?'

'So-you-won't-kill-me-wahhh!' Vixen said between sobs.

'What are you talking about? I'm not gonna hurt you,'

'You're -*sniff*- not?'

'Of course not! Why would I?' Luna reasoned.

'I don't know.... I've never met royalty before, I.... I thought maybe you didn't want me going near you or anything....'

'Well that's it then. I don't want you to think of me as royalty anymore, just think of me as an ordinary pony.'

'Okay.... I guess I can do that. I just don't want you to think I'm getting under your feet, I mean, a thousand years is a long time to be spent together and you might start getting annoyed at me, I'm a bit of a klutz....' Vixen trailed off.

'Well, maybe it won't seem as long as you think. In fact, I'm sure it will pass a lot quicker with me than you'll expect....' Luna's voice was shrouded in mystery.

'What do you mean by that?'

'You've never heard that about alicorns?' Luna chuckled.

'Heard what?' Vixen was genuinely interested.

'How do you think myself and my sister have lived so long, yet appear so young?'

Vixen stopped for a moment to think.

'I don't know.... because you're super-magical?' Vixen gritted her teeth together in a big cheesy smile. Luna decided to ignore Vixen's brown-nosing and go on with the explanation.

'No....' Luna sighed. 'Alicorns are naturally surrounded by a..... well, an aura of sorts. The aura inhibits aging by making time pass faster to the person in envelops. When ponies are in the presence of an alicorn, time can seem to pass faster for the ponies, for example, two STARS that spend one thousand years with a pony on the moon might feel only a short time pass.'

'Umm... what?' Vixen derped.

'While I'm here, time will appear to pass faster.'

'Okay... so, we may only feel like a few years go by?'

Luna nodded.

'Oh. Well that's handy! But.... we'll still be staying here for a thousand years?' Vixen asked.

'Yes, but by the time they have gone, a unicorn like you won't have thought more than three or four years have gone by,' Luna smiled, visibly seeing relief on the unicorn's face.

'Oh yeah, of course, that talk we had a couple of months back...' Vixen laughed.

'It was A HUNDRED YEARS AGO!' Luna screamed, her feet stomping.

Vixen's ears flattened against her head to block out the terrible sound.

'I know, sorry, it just doesn't feel like it was very long ago,' Vixen winced.

'Um.... is there something I'm missing out here?' Lupus butted in, blissfully unaware as to what they were talking about. Unfortunately, he didn't get his answer, as a certain familiar voice yelled out:

'SILENCE. WE HAVE BUSINESS TO DISCUSS!'

Equuleus was back.

-------Author's Note-------