The moon. Unrivaled in it's divine beauty, complimented only by the millions of shining white stars. Like a cosmic painting in the night sky, it brought absolute perfection to the universe. Celestia's sun was no comparison to this sight, at least, not for one young colt.

Epsilon stared out of his bedroom window, looking up at the display before him. It was the only comfort he could truly claim in the short life he had lived so far, for he was one with the night. His coat and horn were flawlessly white like the moon, and his mane and tail a royal blue with cyan highlights to match the sky.

The unicorn walked away from the window and levitated a scroll and quill from his desk. With expert precision, he sketched every last detail of the night sky which he had just seen. When he was finished, the colt took a final look at the paper and the window to compare the two. Pleased, he opened his drawer and placed the drawing among a stack of hundreds of other similar scrolls.

Slightly annoyed by the sudden noises, Aquarius woke from his sleep and made his way to Epsilon's room. Upon arriving, he kicked open the door to see his foal skillfully folding his bed sheets and preparing to go to sleep. Startled by the pegasus' violent appearance, Epsilon jumped back with a yelp and dropped the blankets.

"What could you possibly be doing up so late?" asked Aquarius.

Epsilon looked around the room nervously. "Oh! Uhm... I was... Drawing?"

The pegasus let out a long sigh and rolled his eyes. "Let me guess. The same exact picture you've drawn hundreds of times."

"No!" defended Epsilon. "It's different every night! It's even different every hour! The stars, they move. They move a lot. I need to draw for every hour of the night, for every day, of every year. Then I'll finally have records of what it looks like!"

"That's four thousand of the same boring thing." countered Aquarius, putting on his best 'I'm not amused' face.

"Nah, only like, thirty eight hundred and fifty two to go. Give or take ten." corrected the unicorn, with a beaming smile.

Aquarius brought a hoof to his forehead. "Can't you be like every other colt and play sports or something? Really, you're obsessed."

"Sports are boring. Anyways, with who? You don't let me go to school." argued Epsilon.

"Go to bed, foal. We have a meeting with Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence tomorrow. You know that." ordered Aquarius.

"Do I have to go? The palace is so booooring..." whined the unicorn, laughing to himself as he exaggerated.

"Yes you do." said Aquarius, turning off the lights in the room and leaving.

Defeated, the colt growled and climbed into bed.  Aquarius usually didn't mind him being up so late, but apparently the meeting tomorrow was going to be very important. Epsilon had to be on his best behavior, in no way was he going to disappoint his father. Not this  time. He slowly closed his eyes, drifting into a deep sleep...

----------

But sleep never came.

He wasn't sure why exactly. Maybe he was too nervous about the meeting. Maybe he had too much soda before bed. Maybe the moonlight shining in his window kept him up? Well, it didn't matter now. Sluggishly, the unicorn flopped out of bed and made his way to the bathroom to wash up for his later trip to the palace.

Epsilon flinched as the cold water hit his muzzle, sending a shock running through his entire body. After a few seconds, he looked up into the mirror to see his disheveled self. To his surprise, his mane did not look the same as it did only a few hours ago. Not only was it messy and unkempt, but it was... Longer? Much longer. His horn looked odd as well. It was slightly taller, and significantly sharper than he ever remembered.

Maybe I had a growth spurt?

He dismissed the thought as his upper back was hit with an excruciating twisting pain, knocking him onto the floor. Panting and twitching, he regained his composure and began his morning grooming to prepare for the meeting.

It wasn't long before Epsilon had cleaned himself up nicely and put on the nicest suit coat he owned, followed by his raised black steel shoes. For somepony who was only sixteen years old, he could sure play the part of a noble very well, despite how much he hated it. Pleased with his appearance, he made his way down to the kitchen and levitated himself a cup of coffee. Upon doing so, he noticed the most nervous pegasus he had ever seen standing by the door.

"Moning, father."

Aquarius wiped some sweat from his forehead. "We have to leave now, are you ready?"

Epsilon chuckled as he took a sip of his cocoa. "Of course. What's the hurry?"

"What's the hurry!?" exclaimed Aquarius. "We are the guests of the rulers of not one, but two major countries! I will not tolerate being tardy!"

"Well I have some advice." the unicorn teased. "You should probably try to look more like a pegasus, and less like a sea pony in front of the Princesses."

"Watch your mouth." snapped Aquarius.

Without any further incident, the two left their Canterlot estate only to be unexpectedly greeted by a guard-drawn chariot waiting for them at their doorstep. Despite how excited Epsilon was to finally fly again, he kept his calm expression and walked slowly towards the guards, allowing Aquarius to enter the chariot first.

"I didn't know Celestia organized all this. Are we early?" asked the pegasus.

One of the guards simply shook his head in response as they prepared to take off. Epsilon stared down in amazement at the glistening city below him twinkling to life as ponies began their daily routines. It wasn't every day that a unicorn gets to fly, and he knew that he was going to make the most of it...

... However they arrived at the palace just after he finished that thought.

Epsilon got off the chariot followed by Aquarius, and they made their way into the ornate doors of the palace throne room. It wasn't very decorated, but there were a few noble colts and ladies sharing small conversations with each other.  Happy to see her General arrive, Celestia motioned for him and his follower to come sit next to her. When they made it to the throne, both Aquarius and Epsilon respectfully bowed, receiving two rolled alicorn eyes in response.

"Aqua, you know you don't need to be so formal around me. These parties are boring enough as it is, the only thing worse than a diplomatic party is the Grand Galloping Gala." said Celestia.

"I know, your majesty. What does Cadence think of everything so far?" asked the stallion.

Celestia let out a very non-regal laugh, getting a stunned look from everypony in the room before continuing in a whisper. "Last time I saw her she was in the kitchen, harassing poor Chef Le Me to make her some donuts."

"She always had a sweet tooth." added Aquarius.

Epsilon didn't contribute to the conversation, he was far too busy looking at the design of the throne room. To his surprise, it wasn't entirely made to match Princess Celestia. Half of the room was of course yellow and white, to match the sun. However, the other half was dark blue and black, with many paintings of stars and the moon.

Deep in contemplation, the unicorn didn't catch the smell of Celestia's breath as she stared at him from the side where she was sitting. "Do you like it?" she asked.

Epsilon jumped in sudden astonishment and recomposed himself. "Uh, Miss Celestia! I'm so sorry I didn't mean to be rude I-"

The alicorn giggled and put on an amused smile. "Oh, don't worry. Now really, do you like it?"

"I don't quite get it." the colt admitted. In the background, Aquarius brought a hoof to his forehead.

"Oh? Mind explaining?" asked Celestia.

It's official, I'm going to be thrown in a dungeon. "Why does only half the room look like you?"

The opportunity to give a history lesson instead of sit at a boring old party made the Princess' eyes light up like a colt in a candy store. Epsilon backed away slightly as she beamed at him, leaning in ever so closely. Noticing the look she was getting from Aquarius, she cleared her throat and put on the same elysian smile as usual. "That is a very good question."

Both Epsilon and Aquarius spoke in unison. "It is?"

"Why yes of course." assured Celestia. "Mister Epsilon, would you like to take a walk with me? I would love to tell you the story of the castle's design."

"You... You would?" he asked. It's a trap! She's bringing me to the basement with the dragons and the...

"I want nothing more than that right now. Aqua, do you mind greeting the guests for me while we're away?" she asked, giving a quick wink to the confused pegasus.

"Yes your majesty." he agreed.

With that, Celestia and Epsilon were on their way into the empty hallways of the palace. He was trying his best, and failing, to keep his good posture as he walked next to the divine sun goddess, the current center of her attention. Eventually he found the courage to look up at her, only to be met with a similar gaze.

"Is there anything wrong, my little pony?" she asked.

He stumbled as he took his next step, then looked back up at the alicorn. "No! Nothing at all your majesty. It's just... You're a lot... Different. Different then I expected you would be." he said. "Not that it's a bad thing! I mean, it's a good thing. You're nicer then I thought."

I wonder what dungeon food tastes like. It's probably made of rocks.

Much to both of their surprise, Celestia let a small blush escape her. "Why thank you. Everypony seems to think I'm just going to throw them in a dungeon or something if they don't act ever so perfectly around me." she said, giving the unicorn a knowing smile.

Can she...

"Yes." answered Celestia.

Epsilon chuckled. "I have to admit, that's pretty cool. And creepy. Very creepy."

Celestia smiled. "I don't usually do that, but you were thinking very loudly. I couldn't help it."

"Thinking... Loudly?" asked Epsilon.

"Mhm. When you're nervous, or... How do I put this... Thinking about, erm... Private moments shared between two ponies..."

A blush took over the unicorn's facial expression, and he chuckled nervously.

"... Uhh, yes. When either of those are occuring, you think very loudly and anypony who knows what to listen to can hear you. You can also have conversations with thought, if you think towards someone, and address them in your mind, they can hear you speaking." finished Celestia.

Epsilon contemplated the concept of mental communication. "So, theoretically, if somepony was a good enough spellcaster, and they knew enough about their target, could they enter somepony's mind?"

"I'm sure it's possible, but I've never tried, and I've certainly never heard of anypony actually doing it before." she said.

"I see. Now, where were we?" asked Epsilon. He was growing increasingly calm and casual as the conversation went on.

Celestia laughed a bit. "Ah, yes. The story of the throne room decorations. Well, the palace itself was never originally designed for just me."

Epsilon cringed as he put two and two together. "You have my most sincere condolences for General Stardust, Princess. I'm sure he was a great stallion."

Celestia stopped in her tracks and blinked in disbelief at the unicorn for a moment. "How did you?..."

"Father told me." admitted Epsilon.

Her four thousand year old facade fell as Celestia's jaw hung down. "What?! But we deci- Oh. You meant Aquarius."

"Who did you think I meant?" he asked, intrigued.

"Never mind. Thank you, Epsilon. Your empathy for the situation is very much appreciated, and it feels good having somepony else know about it before the press finds out. He's going to go down in history for being a hero... When he was just a fool who didn't wait a few moments to ask for my help." she said.

She's going to kill me I'm going to die I'm going to die I'm going to die...

Against his better judgment, Epsilon put a hoof around the goddess' neck and brought her in for a hug. "It's okay. He's in a better place now. Now, you have a story to finish don't you?" He grinned.

Celestia had no response whatsoever to the impossible act of kindness shown by one of her subjects. They would never approach her like that, everypony was so afraid of the Princess. For the first time in a long time, Celestia put on a small, genuine, joyful smile. She raised herself to her usual regal position and laid one wing over the white colt. "Yes I do. Firstly, it wasn't my husband who I was supposed to be sharing the palace with, it was my sister."

Epsilon raised a brow. "Your sister? You mean Princess Cadence? But she lives all the way in Esterayella."

"No, no. Not Princess Cadence, Princess Luna." corrected Celestia.

Epsilon's eyes widened. "Princess... Luna? Who is Princess Luna?"

As they walked through the castle, Epsilon having no idea where either of them were going, Princess Celestia told the colt many stories of history. Those including Discord, Nightmare Moon, and most importantly, the elements of harmony and chaos. As the alicorn spoke, Epsilon listened carefully and took mental notes on all of the various subjects.

"So you and Luna were really close?"

Celestia almost shed a tear. "That's one way to put it."

"What happened to her?" he asked.

"I did some very, very bad things in my past, Epsilon." admitted Celestia. "My sister only wanted my love and affection, but I put royal duties before her. I drove us apart, and I drove her insane. The history books will tell you that Nightmare Moon's rebellion was a quest for power and control of Equestria. While that may be true, her real motives lie deep within her soul. A broken, betrayed child who had to grow up on her own because of my own selfish desires."

"How long?"

Celestia was taken back by the question. "What?"

"How long until she comes home?" asked Epsilon.

"Just about nineteen years. Why?"

Epsilon brought his muzzle as close as he could to the Princess'. Dismissing all thoughts about his imminent trip to the moon, he spoke in a commanding tone. "Because the minute she gets back, you're going to apologize to her. For everything. You're going to make it up to her. You're going to love her, and you're going to be the sister you never were. The friend you never were. The friend she so desperately needs."

Celestia looked deep into Epsilon's dark blue eyes. She frowned sadly and got up to look down onto Epsilon. As she breathed in, the unicorn cowered beneath her.

"I'll try."

What?

"I said I'll try." joked Celestia.

Epsilon got up off the ground. "Right. Mind reading. Forgot."

"We're here." the alicorn announced.

"Huh?" Epsilon looked in front of him to see a large, impressive looking door with a magical seal on it, with odd looking hieroglyphs. He hadn't been paying attention to the walk for awhile now, but after a quick look at his surroundings he appeared to be in some kind of chapel. There were stained glass windows, all depicting different historical events. One that caught his eye specifically was of a white pegasus with a blue mane, standing next to Princess Celestia and an unidentified lavender alicorn. Above the three figures was what appeared to be Princess Luna, sitting peacefully on top of a cloud.

"Where are we?" asked Epsilon.

"This is where the elements of harmony are kept, Epsilon." answered Celestia.

The unicorn gasped. "Why did you bring me here?"

"How else was I to show you them if you weren't here?" asked Celestia, jokingly.

Epsilon went slack jawed. "You trust me with the most powerful forces in the world?"

Celestia didn't answer, instead she walked slowly towards the door and gracefully placed her horn inside a key hole. With a quick burst of magic, the door's locking mechanism ground open and revealed a small gilded chest. Celestia levitated the chest in front of Epsilon and opened it, revealing five multicoloured gemstones.

Epsilon looked inside the chest in awe. "They're beau-"

Before he could finish that statement, all five elements flew out of their container and began violently spinning around the white colt at ridiculous speeds, all somehow managing to maintain a perfectly round orbit. Losing control of his body, Epsilon gracefully floated upwards and closed his eyes. After what seemed like hours to him, and in reality was only a few seconds, his eyes tore open. He could feel how scorching white they were, and what he saw took away his breath. The entire room was lined with gold particles which enveloped everything, dancing around in place. It was almost if... He was looking at magic.

Celestia looked up at the floating unicorn in thought. "Interesting..." she whispered to herself.

Soon after, the rainbow blurs that were the elements slowed down and stopped altogether, dropping the unicorn on the ground with an audible thump. Now thoroughly exhausted, Epsilon massaged his forehead with his hoof and moaned slightly in dull agony.

"Need help getting up?" asked Celestia.

With that, he slowly and weakly rose to his hooves. "I think I'm okay. Do they do that to everypony?"

His question was followed by an unexpected, indescribable grin which appeared on the Princess' face. "You're very special, Epsilon."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Celestia sat down to get a better look at the unicorn. "When an Element of Harmony chooses a bearer, you will see quite a similar display to what just happened to you. It means that whoever controls an element represents that trait almost perfectly. For example, if you were chosen by the Element of Loyalty, you would always remain loyal to your loved ones, friends, and family."

Epsilon gave her a quizzical look. "So what happened? Did an element choose me?"

"You are very, very, very special,  Epsilon." she said, her grin only widening.

"I don't get it..."

"To answer your question, no. One element didn't choose you." assured Celestia.

Epsilon felt a wave of relief wash over him. "Oh, good. Sounds like a new responsibility I don't nee-"

"They all did."

An audible silence followed as Epsilon sat down, his mouth hanging wide open. Celestia could only giggle, she was absolutely giddy, and failing to hide it. The colt didn't know it, but the last pony to ever be chosen by all five Elements of Harmony was Celestia, and it happened four thousand years ago. Looking out of the window, the regal alicorn stood up and motioned for Epsilon to follow.

"It's passed noon now I believe, oh, where has the day gone?" asked Celestia, rhetorically.

"You sort of spent it teaching me history."

She smiled. "Hehe. Right. Well, I have a party to attend to at the moment. You should go enjoy yourself as well, mingle with the other colts. Or even fillies..." she joked.

Epsilon raised a brow. "Uh..."

"See you later then! I hope you and Aquarius will be staying for dinner tonight, most of the party will be leaving except for my family and Princess Cadence's. Six sharp in the banquet hall. Don't be late." ordered Celestia, teleporting away after she finished her speech.

"Erm..."

Epsilon looked around him to see a messy room, an open door, an open chest, and five multicoloured gemstones lying on the ground. He sighed and levitated the elements into their container, then put the chest back on it's pedestal. With that, he carefully closed the large doors and put his horn inside the locking mechanism. With a small fit of magic, he sealed the door shut once again. However, the outside encryption looked different this time then they had when he first looked at the hieroglyphs.

Hmm. I guess the door is locked with my code this time instead of Celestia's. Should I tell her immediately? Nah, I guess it could wait till dinner. I mean really, what could possibly go wrong? Some ancient mismatched monster breaks into the palace without being noticed by anypony and steals the elements so the bearers can't stop him? Ha! Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen.

Satisfied with his rationalization, Epsilon started off towards the main room of the palace. His bout with the elements had made him far too tired to simply teleport, and anyways, he had missed most of the scenery while talking to Celestia. It was a perfect opportunity to do some sight seeing.

I'm sure the Princess won't mind if I look around in some of the rooms that guests aren't occupying right now. I mean, we're practically friends now I think?

With that logic, he started off towards the palace observatory. Though it was still broad daylight, he wanted to look at the various equipment and notes. Maybe he could find something relevant to his astronomical drawing quest? That would be great.

----------

He had walked pretty far now, and was just passing the palace kitchen, when...

"... AND HOW DARE THOU DENY THINE PLEASANT PASTRIES TO THINE PRINCESS! WE DEMAND THAT THOU IMMEDIATELY HOOF OVER ALL OF THINE DONUTS, OR THOU SHALL EMBRACE THE BURNING WRATH OF A THOUSAND STORMS! NEVER AGAIN SHALL THOU SPEAKEST AGAINST US AND OUR WISHES!" boomed a feminine voice in a manner that was alien to Epsilon.

Curiosity overpowering him, he walked closer towards the kitchen door, examining the scene before him. A mid sized pink alicorn with a multicoloured mane, not as large as Celestia, was standing angrily above a cowering unicorn in a chef's coat and hat. The alicorn had an odd looking cutie mark, the top half of the sun shining and the bottom half covered by a cloud.

"Uhm... Princess Cadence, is it?" asked Epsilon from the doorway.

Everypony's attention turned to the white unicorn as Cadence spoke. "Who art thou?"

The colt cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to disturb... Whatever you're doing... But if you were looking for donuts, I know a bar in town that serves the best of the best. Chef Le Me is probably busy here anyways, if you wanted, I could show you to it?"

The pink alicorn's eyes lit up as she flew over to hug Epsilon. "We would be very, very grateful if thou could escort us to this pastry vendor!"

"We?" he asked.

Cadence coughed and laughed nervously. "Right. Canterlot voice. Celestia doesn't use it anymore, does she?"

"I... Don't think so. To be honest, Celestia doesn't really act like a royal figure at all except when everypony is watching her." said Epsilon.

Cadence smiled. "Ha! So you do know my sister. And who might I be the pleasure?"

"Epsilon Arcane, ma'am."

"Arcane!? I'm so sorry! I didn't kn- OH! OH OH OH! Never mind. Heh. So you're Aquarius' colt?" she asked.

Epsilon didn't quite understand her tone or what she meant, but he shrugged it off. "Yes."

"Oh, how I've been waiting to meet you! Celestia has said so many things about you over the years, the last time we met you were but a newborn foal."

Epsilon did a double take. "Celestia talks about me? We've only just met."

"You are the son of her highest ranking military officer. Obviously she has paid attention to your growth." argued Cadence.

"Hmm. Makes sense." he said. No it doesn't. But really, what HAS made sense today?

Cadence flew out of the kitchen eagerly. "So, where is this donut bar? It is unwise to break a promise to a princess."

"Oh, right. Pony Joe's. You don't mind leaving the castle to get there, do you? It's not a far walk." reassured Epsilon.

"Not at all. I have diplomatic immunity! Celestia can't coop me up in here!"

The two shared a laugh, then began towards the nearest exit. Cadence made it clear early on that it would have been stupid to leave using the front door, all of the guests would be trying to get her attention, fans, press, and what not. Eventually they found a back door near the banquet hall and made their way to Pony Joe's, which as Epsilon promised, wasn't a far walk at all. He had been walking next to Cadence for awhile now. It was weird, but he was getting used to the divine attention her and her sister had been giving him today. They sat down at a table in the corner, and despite their best efforts, managed to catch the eye of every single patron in the bar.

Pony Joe himself approached the two, with his notebook. "A pleasure to have you here again, Mister Arcane. Who might this young lady be?"

"This is Princess Cadence of Esterayella." said Epsilon.

Cadence laughed. "Young? I'm three thousand years old. You're quite the Charmer, Pony Joe."

Joe chuckled heartily. "Well, what can I get you both?"

Cadence reviewed the menu, choosing her prey carefully. "Double chocolate glazed, no sprinkles. With a coffee, black."

Joe scribbled down on his note pad and turned to Epsilon. "And you?"

"Just the usual, one glaz-"

Epsilon's order was cut short as he collapsed onto the table, earning the gasps of everypony in the room who had been staring at the alicorn up until now. He had tried his best to put on a bright face, but thirty four hours without sleep had finally caught up with the young colt. Cadence sighed and reached out her hoof to check his pulse, which was healthy and normal as expected.

"Can you make that to go?" she asked.

----------

"Wake up sleepy head." said a quiet voice from in front of Epsilon's face.

The unicorn grumbled and fidgeted as he fought to open his impossibly heavy eyelids. Slowly but surely, he slipped back into consciousness and became more and more aware of his surroundings. Finally, he opened up both of his eyes, to see a giant Celestia head smiling childishly and staring at him.

"AGH!" shouted Epsilon as he jumped upwards. Almost immediately he felt a splitting pain in his head, but he ignored it.

"Someone was tired." joked Celestia.

Epsilon snorted. "Ugh. What happened?"

"You went out cold in the middle of the donut shop. I had to carry you all the way here." said Cadence from behind, momentarily startling the colt.

"I'm sorry, I hope I wasn't too heavy..." he said.

Cadence laughed. "Magic."

"Right. Forgot." said Epsilon as he looked out of the window. To his relief, it was still mostly daylight. "What time is it?"

"Ten minutes to dinner. Well, breakfast in your case. Clean yourself up, messy." ordered Celestia as she threw a brush at him playfully.

He was too groggy to argue with either alicorn right now. Reluctantly, he levitated up the provided hair brush and began grooming his coat and mane. Once he was pleased with his appearance yet again, he made his way out to the banquet hall and greeted the ensemble of royal guests.

One which effortlessly caught his eye was a small, maybe seven or eight year old unicorn colt with a straw coloured mane, and blueish white coat. Upon seeing the teenage colt enter the room, the foal in question approached him eagerly.

"Hi! I'm Blueblood! What's your name? Are you a prince? I'm a prince. You look like a prince. Do you like board games? I love them! And hoofball, that's fun too. But my mom doesn't let me play it. Does your mom let you play-"

"Hi there, little one." greeted Epsilon, laughing softly as he knelt down to get on Blueblood's level. "My name is Epsilon."

The energetic colt lit up. "Wow that's such a cool name! My name's cool too, but it's weird you know? I have red blood, I know because I was outside and I got stuck in this one thorn bush and then I got hurt and I bled and it was red blood not blue blood and I wondered why I was named Blueblood and I went to go talk to my mom and-"

Blueblood was interrupted as Cadence levitated him back into his seat. "Sorry about my foal. You know how they are at that age." she said.

Epsilon chucked as he took his seat next to Aquarius. "It's not a problem at all."

He was met with a harsh glare from the annoyed pegasus. "Where have you been all day? Do you know how many stuck up nobles I had to talk to, alone? And it was always the same question! 'Where's Celestia?' ... When we get home, I swear..."

"Oops?" joked Epsilon, giving his guardian a sheepish smile.

Dinner began as Celestia sat down, and Epsilon carried on multiple conversations with various members of the royal family. Never had he felt more important than he had today, and he wasn't going to lie. It felt great. For some reason, it was like he had some kind of special connection with all of the alicorns.  Not to mention all that he had learned today, about history and mind magic.

As the meal wore on, Epsilon completely forgot to tell Celestia about the lock on the elemental door. It didn't really matter though, it's not like anything would happen. Dinner eventually ended and noble ponies left the banquet, though Celestia stayed and waited for everypony to finish. Epsilon and Aquarius did the same.

"It's getting late now. Don't you have a sun to lower, sister?" asked Cadence.

Celestia coughed up the wine she had just been sipping. "Oh my, I almost forgot. I don't want a repeat of what happened last time the sun and moon were off schedule."

Aquarius chuckled nervously, oblivious to Epsilon's widening eyes. "Uhm... Celestia..." the colt began.

"Yes, Epsilon?"

"Could I... Come watch? I mean, I've never actually seen you raise the sun or the moon before."

Celestia smiled. "Of course you can. There isn't a large crowd like there is in the morning, but you can come out on the balcony with me. That is, if it is okay with Aqua."

"I don't care." said the Pegasus, more focused on his salad than anything else.

"Well, it's settled then. Follow me, Epsilon." ordered Celestia.

The giddy unicorn almost jumped out of his chair to meet the alicorn. After a quick ascent to the balcony, Epsilon looked at Celestia in utter amazement. "So what do you have to do?"

"Watch."

Celestia crouched down, then with a powerful leap, jumped into the air about twenty feet up. As she hit her highest point, she opened her scorching white eyes and stretched out her wings. Her horn began to glow white at the tip, and ever so slowly she began lowering back down onto the balcony. As she descended, the sun followed suit, and was eventually under the horizon and beyond vision.

"Wow." said Epsilon.

"That wasn't even the fun part." teased Celestia.

"Huh?"

Celestia laughed. "Now it's time to raise the moon."

The very thought of his cosmic friend brought a wide smile onto Epsilon's face. He imagined the orbit it went through every night, and finally, he was actually going to get to see it happen! Buck the elements, buck history, this was the true highlight of his day. No. This was the highlight of his life. Celestia opened her wings and began humming softly, a different tactic then last time.

For some reason, an overpowering instinct told Epsilon to stand up and close his eyes. He did so, without knowing why or fighting it. The moment he did so, he could no longer feel his body whatsoever. He was just an essence. From the blackness which had taken over his vision with his eyes closed, somehow became a golden pool. Inside the pool, there were three balls. They were organized perfectly from left to right. Small, bigger, biggest.

Something told him to stick his hoof in the water, so he did, despite the fact that in this universe he wasn't sure that he even had a hoof. He began treading water around the smallest ball, moving it upwards near the center. It resisted. It resisted a lot. It was so small, yet it felt so insanely heavy. Knowing he couldn't do anything more with his hoof, he focused on the gold particles bouncing around the small orb, and reached out to it with his magic.

He got it. This was so much easier now, the ball did everything he commanded it to. Slowly, he moved it from it's position on the left, to directly above the medium sized ball. As it reached it's final destination, the colt could once again feel his mortal body straining on him. Whatever he had just done, it was the most powerful feat of magic he had ever tried.

"Epsilon!" cried Celestia.

He was ripped from his dream world as the alicorn's voice rung through his head. He ripped open his eyes and looked down at the white alicorn under him...

Wait.

How am I above Celestia?

With that, his magic ran out, and he fell onto the balcony the same exact way he did when the elements took control of him. This time, however, his body was too numb to feel any of the pain from doing so. Celestia sat down next to him with worried eyes, and behind her, he could see a few noble ponies along with Cadence staring at him with their mouths wide open.

"You never cease to impress me." said Celestia.

"Wha... What?"

Cadence walked over and took her seat next to her sister. "Epsilon, do you know what you just did?"

"I told you. He's very special." interrupted the white alicorn.

Epsilon chuckled weakly. "I guess I'm going to find out."

Aquarius walked out on the balcony and sighed. "Look up."

Epsilon did as he was told and looked up into the night sky. It all looked the same, until he moved his gaze, and came across the moon. It wasn't shining white like it usually did. It was shining brightly blue, illuminating most of Equestria and bathing it in the most beautiful light anypony had ever laid eyes on.

"I... I did that? I changed the colour of the moon?"

"That isn't all." began Celestia. "You raised the moon. Look at your flank, Epsilon."

He did just that. Permanently etched onto him, a cutie mark depicting a blue crescent moon, surrounded by four blue stars. He was utterly amazed. He had found his special talent, and it was that of the gods.

Nopony could tell if it was his overwhelming exhaustion, some magical enigma, or sheer disbelief that caused it, but Epsilon immediately fainted as the words left Celestia's mouth.

----------

He woke up later that night in his usual bed at Aquarius' house.

I'm actually getting used to this whole fainting thing.

His body and instincts fighting him all the way, Epsilon sluggishly got out of bed and left his room. He was horribly thirsty and the only water he could get was from downstairs. Painfully, he walked over to and opened the door with his hooves. He couldn't seem to work any magic at the moment. As the door creaked open, he was startled by what he saw.

Aquarius was sitting on the other side. The brutal, angry expression he had on his face could have killed a weaker pony.

"I've been waiting for you to get up." he said.

Epsilon tried to walk around him. "What's this about, father?"

"Don't call me that." ordered Aquarius.

"What?..."

Aquarius huffed out violently and with a swift kick, bucked the railings off of the second story indoor balcony. "Do you know what I have to deal with now?"

"I..."

"The press are going to be at me for life! Ponies just don't go around raising the moon! That's something for the Princess, and the Princess only to do! What in Equestria were you thinking?" demanded the pegasus.

Epsilon slipped away from Aquarius and made his way closer to the stairs. "I couldn't control it! It just happened! I didn't even know what was going on!"

Aquarius spit at the ground. "I'm supposed to believe you? You go around, acting all important and mingling with alicorns all day while I'm stuck doing work. Then you put on this huge show, and Celestia says to me that she wants you to go live with her! As if I'm not good enough a parent!"

Epsilon considered it for a moment before responding. "It's not my fault!"

In a fit of rage, the pegasus flew over to the defiant colt and without thinking, powerfully bucked him in the head, sending him flying down the stairs. He thrashed about on the steps, gaining speed as he neared the stone floor. He landed head first on the cold rock, and then he felt the most indescribable, blinding pain he had ever imagined possible.

His horn had shattered.

The pain took over everything else. He could feel nothing. He could see nothing. Then, after what felt like an eternity, everything went peacefully black...

----------

Beep.

Epsilon groaned as he rolled around on his small hospital bed. He had slept for what felt like an eternity, and he hadn't woken up since the incident with his father.

Beep.

He couldn't feel any pain in his head anymore. The doctors probably gave him some really good medicine. However, he couldn't quite describe how weird his back felt. He couldn't ignore it, and continued shifting around in position.

Beep.

I swear if somepony doesn't shut that thing off...

Beep.

My heart rate is fine! Seriously, what the-

Beep.

"FOR BUCKS SAKE!" shouted Epsilon as he tore his eyes open and unplugged the heart monitor.

His outraged earned him a nervous laugh from the most exhausted, worried looking alicorn he had ever seen in his life. Celestia sighed as she looked at him. "They're magnificent, you know."

Epsilon looked at her in confusion. "What? I don't-"

He was interrupted as the alicorn levitated a mirror in front of Epsilon. What he saw made him wonder why he didn't faint yet again. Wings. Feathery, white wings. Feeling around his new, alien muscles and bones, he gave them an audible flap.

"They usually wouldn't grow in until you're older, but the whole moon fiasco sort of sped up that process." explained Celestia.

"How..."

"I think you know."

She was right. All of the recent events made sense now. Everything did. Well, not everything. There was still one, tiny detail...

"Celestia?"

Celestia wrapped her huge wing around the white colt, and kissed his cheek.

"Sit down. This will take awhile."