“You wanted to see me, sister?” Luna, the princess of the night and the lighthearted and fun-loving yin to Celestia’s calm and serene yang, nudged the sun goddess’s bedroom door open with a gentle magical push. The elder sister’s mind was closed-off to Luna, which was an unfamiliar and somewhat scary feeling to the younger sister; the last time that one of them had completely shut out the other was a little over a thousand years prior...

Celestia’s gigantic circular bedroom, despite belonging to the goddess-princess of the sun, was fairly simply decorated: a large circular bed with gossamer curtains with its headboard against the far wall took up most of the space in the room—Luna wasn’t entirely sure how wide it was, but she guessed it to be at least fifteen feet in diameter—and on either side of the bed hung an enchanted curtain that led to a balcony that connected on the outside. Luna knew for a fact that a hurricane could be raging right outside the room and the curtains would do nothing besides flutter as if a gentle summer breeze was wafting into the room: she put the enchantment in herself, and was confident that it had held over the three and a half millennia that had intervened.

A few bookcases, specially designed to fit along the curved walls, held a mixture of old, tattered leather books and a few newer-looking books with colorful cloth or vinyl covers. Luna didn’t know the contents of most of them, but she recognized a few upper-level spell books that she herself had helped to write.

Celestia looked up from the photo album that she was browsing through, snapping the old leather-bound book shut. She didn’t say anything to her little sister; not that she could have in the first place. Her mind was a cacophony of swirling emotions and thoughts and theories, and what little room was left unoccupied by the confusing thought processes was taken up by reminiscing on happy memories.

Luna closed the bedroom door behind herself and walked across the floor to the large circular bed where her big sister was laying. “I haven’t seen you this deep in thought since you played that game of chess against Star Swirl the Bearded,” she said with a small smirk. When Celestia didn’t smile back at her, she cocked her head and asked, “What’s on your mind, sister?”

Celestia was silent for a moment longer. “Night Rush,” she said simply.

Luna’s eyebrows shot up and her ears shot to full attention. “He—what—has it really been six thousand years already...?”

Celestia nodded slowly. “But that’s not what I'm worried about. His sister—I'll be talking with her about this tomorrow morning—says that Night Rush has disappeared, and he hasn’t returned for three days. I suppose it’s four days now—it was yesterday that we talked and made an... Appointment of sorts for tomorrow.”

“So... why is that worrying?” Luna raised an eyebrow and jumped lightly onto Celestia’s round bed, magicking the photo album over to herself and flipping through it, smiling back at the grinning ponies in the pictures.

Celestia sighed and moved off of the bed, where she sat on the floor and preened a few ruffled feathers back into place. “Because we tried to send him forward in time to exactly two days after Fate took him back in time, and that would have been yesterday morning.”

The photo album dropped out of Luna’s telekinetic grasp. “B-but... that means...” Her lip quivered slightly, and her ears drooped sadly.

Celestia nodded, unable to make eye contact with her sister. “Yes. Night Rush died stopping the schism.”

“You’ve killed him!”

“I did not! I simply knocked him unconscious.”

“Oh, what’re we going to do?! We can’t go back now! We’ll be on the run for the rest of eternity!”

“Luna, will you calm down? He’s still alive! Just look at—”

“Forever! We’ll have to change our names, start using illusion spells for disguises, and lie, cheat and steal just to get food!

“Luna, calm down or I’ll put you to sleep too!”

“See what we’re coming to?! First a random stranger, and now your own sister?! We’re going mad! We need to find someth—” There was a muffled thud as something hit the floor of the cave.

“I warned you, didn’t I?”

Night Rush awoke slowly to the sound of a dull roar. Rain? He thought blearily. His eyelids slowly slid apart and absorbed the bright, warm light that lit the interior of the cavern.

And then his head exploded.

Night Rush closed his eyes and put a hoof to either temple, trying to squeeze out the massive pangs of pain that were charging through his skull. A small, pained groan escaped his throat, alerting a white alicorn that had been resting beside the bed that he had been unceremoniously dropped on.

“Hey, you’re awake,” she said, stretching her alabaster wings.

“Duly noted,” groaned Night Rush, who had assumed the fetal position with his hooves pressed against his temples. “Where... where the hay is I?” He slurred, lifting up his head to look at the white alicorn. As his pain-befuddled mind registered that the white blur with a two streaks on either end of it was, indeed, the princess of the sun, he sighed. “The princess. I found you, finally...”

He shot bolt upright in the bed, stubbornly ignoring the screaming protests of his headache. “Princess! I found you! Finally!” Night Rush folded over slightly as his headache gave a particularly nasty throb and seemed to quadruple in weight. He squinted and his vision focused enough so that he could see clearly. He recognized the room that he was in—though how he recognized it, he had no idea; he had never been in it before.

The princess herself was a sight to behold. Her coat, wrapped around her form like a silk cloth, was a pure, untouched white, while her pink, flowing mane offered a startling but serene contrast with the white sheet of her coat. Night Rush had never seen the princess in real life up close before, but now that he had the chance, he wished that he never had to look away. A warm, fuzzy feeling welled up in Night Rush’s stomach, blossoming out and warming him from his wingtips to his hooves.

Celestia raised her eyebrows. “Indeed you have. Now go find somepony else,” she said, motioning with a wing.

The fuzzy feeling left rather quickly after the princess’s response.

“But... You have to help me get home!” He protested.

“Ha,” Celestia snorted. “You’re a big colt; I think you can find your own way home.”

“It’s not that simple,” Night Rush said, with a little more anger than he meant.

“Oh, it’s always that simple with you commoners. You have a problem that can be fixed with a simple conversation, and yet you come to me about it. Communication with you ponies, I swear...” She gave a dismissive toss of her pink mane.

“Well, if you can find me a way to talk my way six thousand years into the future—back where I came from—then please, be my guest. Otherwise, stop patronizing me and speak to me like I'm a pony and not some sort of insect.”

“You insolent colt—do you know who I am?!” Celestia shouted, flaring her wings and standing up.

Night Rush jumped to his hooves on top of the bed, his headache completely forgotten in the surge of adrenaline. “Well, I sure as hay hope you’re not the princess, because if the princess of all Equestria is a complete flankhole, then we’ve got a real problem!”

“You will watch your mouth when you’re addressing your princess, you little whelp!”

Night Rush raised an eyebrow, his voice rising an octave and a half. “Yes, mommy, I’ll be sure to keep it clean. Just don’t wash out my mouth with soap, please!” He swayed back and forth and held a hoof in front of him as if to defend himself for dramatic effect.

Celestia stood in shocked silence for a split second. Recovering quickly, her horn lit and Night Rush felt a cold, hard something strike his cheek, sending him flying at least two pony-lengths off of the bed. He flared his wings and twisted around in the air, turning himself right side up before he hit the stone floor of the cave. He landed hard enough to make his still-weak knees buckle, and he rolled once or twice against the stone floor, coming to rest against a large indigo pillow that was resting in the middle of the room for some reason.

“Wha... Huh?” The indigo pillow grunted, flinching slightly. Night Rush did a double-take, to find that he had rolled onto a dark blue unicorn, who looked fairly familiar for some reason. A pair of blue, feathery wings slapped him in the face as they snapped open.

“What the buck is going on?!” Night Rush screamed at the ceiling after finally getting his balance. “Where am I, how did I get here, and why are you here?” He glared back and forth between the princess and the dark blue pony—, who, he realized, was rather alarmed-looking princess Luna.

“You tell us, you imbecile!” Celestia replied testily, her voice starting to rise. “You’re the one who collapsed on our doorstep!”

“What are you talking about? The last thing I remember, I was in Haysburg, and then I woke up here with a Celestia-awful headache and a really rude princess,” scoffed Night Rush. “I was looking for you two, yes, but it’s not like I wanted to be here.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” chuckled the sun princess. “Besides, you wouldn’t even—”

“That’s enough, Tia!” Luna said suddenly, apparently snapping out of her stunned reverie. “I’ll not allow you to talk to my patients that way, much less knock him around like you did.”

Celestia scoffed haughtily. “You actually care for this commoner? Don’t make me laugh, little sister.”

“This commoner,” Luna spat the word, “nearly died because of your inaction! You might think them unworthy of anything but a few words, but that’s no excuse to neglect them!”

“So he might’ve had a few broken bones,” Celestia said, waving a hoof dismissively. “Big deal! They heal. Life goes on.”

“I—you—” Luna sputtered, and then let out a very unprincesslike scream. “You’re so... ignorant!” With a flash of blue light centered on her horn, Night Rush felt himself be whipped away in a flurry of swirling colors and lights, not much unlike his time travelling experience with Fate. Night Rush let out a strangled scream at the unexpected, if brief, sensation of being crushed and pulled apart at the same time.

“Sorry about that,” Luna apologized. “I might’ve overdone it a little. Preparation is important for spells like that, particularly teleportation spells.”

Night Rush let out the breath that he hadn’t realized that he was holding, and opened his eyes. Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he realized very quickly that he wasn’t in the cavern anymore; instead, he was on top of what looked to be a mountain, looking out over what he guessed were the plains that surrounded Appleoosa; after apparently forgetting nearly a week of heavy flying, he could be nearly anywhere. He turned his gaze upwards and gaped in amazement at the stars, splattered against the veil of night sky like paint against a canvas. The moon was absent; he guessed that it was either a new moon, or it just hadn’t risen yet.

Night Rush let out a small, unstallion-ly squeak from both the sudden change in landscape and the feeling of teleportation, and subconsciously reached up to adjust his fedora. His stomach dropped to his hooves when he found that it wasn’t there. He turned a few frantic circles in a hopeless search for his lost hat. “My hat!” He said in despair. “I must’ve dropped it somewhere. Did we leave it in the cave?”

“You did not have a hat with you when we found you,” she said, though the apology in her eyes was all the answer he needed. “I'm very sorry. Did it mean a lot to you...?”

Night Rush shrugged. “I... well, not really. I mean... it’s just a hat... But, y’know, it’s just the only thing that I’ve got left of...” He paused for a moment. “It’s the only thing I’ve got left of home.”

Luna looked at her hooves awkwardly. A long silence stretched between them, which Night Rush tried to pass away by staring at the stars, trying to find a familiar constellation. Finding none, he squinted and tried to find the North Star, but again to no avail.

“Well,” the moon princess said, breaking the awkward silence, “I need to find out if my sister gave you a concussion...” she trailed off, giving a half-hearted chuckle. “With your permission, of course.”

Night Rush nodded his assent, and the moon princess’s horn lit up with a soft indigo glow. “If you feel pain of any kind, let me know and I’ll pull out immediately.”

Without waiting for the blue pegasus to respond, Luna pushed a thin tendril of magic into Night Rush’s forehead, working its way around inside his head. It wasn’t an unpleasant sensation, but it felt strange and alien nonetheless, as if some other vast consciousness was invading his. He shivered slightly.

“You appear to be fine,” Luna said after about thirty seconds, withdrawing her probe from Night Rush’s head. “Though, your head might hurt for a while longer, I'm afraid.”

“Oh, joy,” muttered Night Rush. He glanced up at her somewhat hurt expression, and added, “But thanks for taking care of me. And for getting me away from your sister; who knows how much further I’d have whipped her into a froth.” He chuckled slightly.

Luna pursed her lips. “Indeed. Though, may I ask, do you derive pleasure from angering others, or being hit by them?”

Night Rush raised an eyebrow. “I'm not a sadist or a masochist, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Then why, pray tell, do you try to infuriate my sister so much?”

He shrugged. “It just comes naturally, I suppose. It’s not like I want to make an ass out of myself, I just... do. It’s a blessing and a curse, sometimes.”

Luna gave a wry smile. “How could that possibly be a blessing? It seems rather painful, if you ask me.”

Night Rush grinned cockily at her, unconsciously sticking out his chest. “’Cause it’s funny,” he quipped.

Luna simply rolled her eyes at him.

“I get the feeling that you’re going to be doing that quite a bit at me,” Night Rush smirked, eliciting a restrained and dignified laugh from the moon princess.

“Yes, I suppose I am,” she admitted after the small wave of mirth had passed. A few more moments passed by and their smiles faded from their faces.

“I’ve never seen the night sky before like this,” Night Rush whispered, as if afraid to break some sort of spell that had been cast over the pair of ponies. “There’s too many lights in Po—my hometown. It blocks out all the stars...” He mentally cursed himself; he was supposed to be gaining the princess’ trust, and yet he was keeping them in the dark.

“Indeed.” The princess of the night nodded, turning her gaze upwards to the cacophony of colors that adorned the sky. “Most ponies take the night sky for granted; without it, sleep would be nigh impossible, and my sister’s sun would, for lack of a better word, roast them all.”

The corners of Night Rush’s mouth twisted upwards. “I don’t mean to sound like a brown nose, princess, but given that your night is my namesake, it’s rather hard for me to take the night for granted.”

“True,” smiled Luna. She sighed, her head hanging slightly. “I simply wish that other ponies would say that.”

“Commoner!” Shouted a voice from the sands down below.

“Crap,” Night Rush whimpered.

“So, my little pony, what’s your name?” Celestia smiled as warmly as possible down at the small blue pegasus filly that looked up at her with large, surprisingly intelligent eyes.

Celestia had invited Night Rush’s sister to breakfast with her after the meeting that she had with the entire school. After a rather large breakfast of exotic foods that made the little blue pegasus filly’s eyes bulge out, they had moved out to a large balcony that overlooked the valley beneath the castle of Canterlot. After making a little bit of small talk with the captain of the Royal Guard as they passed by him in the humongous halls of the castle, Celestia had treated the small filly to the spectacle of watching her raise morning sun.

“I-I’m... I’m Morning Glory, princess,” the little filly stammered. The reds and yellows of the early morning sun shone on her blue coat, making her seem to glow softly. “Where’s my brother?”

Celestia sighed; she had hoped to put off the subject of Night Rush as long as possible. “Well, can you tell me a little bit about him?” She asked, a fake smile spread warmly across her face. Surely, there’s more than one Night Rush. Who is blue. And a pegasus... Oh, Gods, I hope I’m wrong...

“Well...” The filly put a hoof to her chin, scrunching up her face in thought. “He’s a blue pegasus, he wears a gold bracelet-thingy around his hind leg, he doesn’t have a cutie mark, and he’s got two earrings in his right ear.”

Luna’s beard, the sun princess cursed mentally, swallowing back a sigh of frustration. “Well, that’s the Night Rush that I kne--know. You see, little one,” she started, berating herself mentally for what she was about to do. “Your brother was sent on a very, very important mission. He was sent a long way away--further than most ponies dare to go. That’s one of the reasons he was chosen for this mission, you know; he’s not afraid to push the limits, and he doesn’t play by anypony’s rules.” She let out a soft chuckle. “Even mine, sometimes.”

As planned, the moderate praise garnered a small smile from the young filly. “So... when’s he coming back?” She asked, cocking her head.

Celestia fought a wince. “I... I’m not sure, my little pony. After all, he’s a very long way away, and it takes a very long time to get back--”

“So he’s not coming back,” Morning Glory interrupted suddenly. “That’s what the royal guard said whenever they told us about my uncle that was in the part of the Royal Guard that tried to get that dragon to move out of Zebrica. He’s not coming back. Ever.” The little blue filly seemed to collapse in on herself, and she wiped her nose with a small sniffle.

“Oh, Morning Glory, that’s--” the sun goddess stopped herself whenever the small filly glared up at her. “... That’s quite possibly true,” she sighed. “I’m not sure how well you’re going to understand this, but... Four days, ago, your brother, Night Rush, was sent a long way into the past. A very, very long way into the past. When he was there, he met my sister and myself.” She allowed herself a small, sentimental smile. “I was much different then than I am now, and I must say, we didn’t make a very good first impression on each other.”

“But... Where’s he at, then?” Morning Glory’s face scrunched up as her eyes welled up with tears.

He could either be somewhere in this time period and shredded to bits by being exposed to the time vortex, lost in the fabric of reality, or dead and disintegrated six thousand years ago. Since she realized that she couldn’t say any of those things, she went with the simplest and easiest to take in: “He’s stuck back in time, my little pony,” she lied in as soft of a voice as she could muster. “And he’s going to be staying there.”

“So... he’s alive?” The little filly said hopefully, wiping away a large tear that had collected on her cheek.

Even if what I said was true, he’d be long dead right now anyways. “Yes, my dear. He’s living quite happily in the past. My past self made sure of it.”

“Oh, yeah?! How’s about you go BUCK YOURSELF, prin--urk!”
“Take that back, you ruffian! I’ll have you show me respect yet!”
“Sister, put him down! Please!”
“Not until he’s learned his lesson!”
“Uhhngk...”
“Sister, he can’t even speak; you’re holding him too tightly!”
“That’s the whole point!”