And The Stars Shine Forth

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. – Buddha

The sun had set, the moon had yet to rise...

Luna paced the broad space of her sister's private chambers, impatience already building in her chest at the thought of another round of argument with her dear sister Celestia. Luna loved her sister, loved her more dearly than anything else in the world. She was cautious, steady; determined and constant. Yet there were times when her ability to stand rock-like in the path of anything she perceived as dangerous or generally bad transformed constance and cautiousness into a ridiculous stubbornness that nearly always ended in their fighting.

In the past their fights had usually ended with a few days of quiet strife between them, generally resolved when both sisters realised they were at loggerheads of trivialities. Occasionally they had been prominent enough to affect the court.

Once...

Luna huffed and pushed the unwanted memory away. Here and now, that was where she must dwell. Slowing her pace, she turned her head to watch Celestia. Yes there she was, still holding that faintly annoying smile, a cup of tea hovering at her side as she waited for Luna's response. Luna turned on the spot and continued to pace, never taking her eyes from her sister even as Celestia raised her head to speak.

"Luna, you've been wearing a hole in my rug for the last ten minutes without even a word."

The Princess of the Night stopped walking and lowered her head. "You said it was not a good idea."

"I don't believe it is a good idea. You've been back for two years; you're barely re-integrated into the court. Many ponies still view you with more than a little mistrust. Now is hardly the time to go off on another of your adventures."

"It is not some adventure, Celestia. I have explained this."

"I suppose not," Celestia replied, a little too primly. She turned back to her tea and her papers and read for a moment, a frown creasing her all-too-perfect features. "But I still don't believe it's a good idea."

"Celestia, since our return we have not been outside of this palace on anything but official visits. We cannot go for a walk or visit friends, which we do not have anyway, and even the palace gardens are a constant mob of flunkies, lackeys and favour-seeking lickspittles who leave us no peace! We have only the stars." Luna looked up and gave Celestia the toothiest grin she could manage, letting just the hint of illusory fangs glimmer in her mouth. "You remember what happened last time we befriended the stars?"

To her credit Celestia managed to see the joke. She let her tea settle on a low table by her couch and eased herself to a more comfortable position.

"Very well. Convince me."

As if they hadn't had this conversation a thousand times before. Perhaps Celestia had simply forgotten in the meantime, though Luna doubted it. Luna inclined her head and made her way to a smaller couch – really more a pile of throw-cushions with pretensions – and settled herself. A slight hint of a familiar scent rose from the cushions, a musty and attenuated remnant of Twilight Sparkle, which left Luna first wondering how often the young student had sat here and then how often Celestia had her chambers cleaned. She decided not to think about it.

"As we once did, so we wish again to travel outside the palace to spend time amongst our subjects without being mobbed, treated as some fragile statue or considered 'scary' by anypony. We wish to... to make friends."

Celestia frowned and retrieved her tea. "I was led to believe you quite enjoyed your, ah, first visit to Ponyville."

"Celestia—sister, you know we enjoyed that Nightmare Night. It was greatly cathartic, though we found it difficult to slip the habits of those centuries before our banishment. Yet—yet it was not satisfying. It was not life! We played the harlequin, I entertained and it was fun, but it was not any life I wish to live. Am I to remain but a nightmarish mummer for the whole of eternity?"

Celestia's laughter wasn't meant to be a put-down. Luna knew that. She knew it was just her sister reacting to a desire that she probably hadn't needed to consider for a long time. It still hurt. It was also blessedly short-lived as Celestia noticed Luna's discomfort, though she had tried to hide it. Celestia once again considered her tea, then placed it on the table before giving Luna her full attention.

"Luna. I know you used to do this sort of thing a lot, but those were very different times, when the court was not so isolated from the common pony."

"Isolation is why I must do this, sister. I cannot let that happen again."

Celestia's eyes narrowed and she turned away from her sister. Silence descend over the room, the sort of silence normally accompanying a thick fall of snow, frosty and bright, filled with ancient regrets.

"Do you remember the Spring Day fire dances?"

"The equinox," Luna said, memories of chilled bodies and bonfires on night-frosted ground whispering through her mind. "I remember. We would dance for a whole day and night with our ponies. You would often drink too much."

"We lived amongst them, worked with them and cared for them. They were our ponies. Our family. We were so very close to so many." Celestia stared into the distance whilst her tea hovered just out of the way. It almost seemed hesitant to approach, as if waiting for the mood to improve. "It hurts when they leave, Luna. How is it you can stand to expose yourself to that over and over?"

I am the moon, Luna wanted to say. It was so simple, but her sister had never truly understood the fundamental difference between them. Now Celestia was watching her expectantly, waiting for an explanation that both knew from bitter experience could never be given. All Luna could do was lower her head and wait for the inevitable denial. Even immortal eyes could be blind to some things.

"Go then," Celestia said, as if sensing Luna's fading mood. "Take some time away if that's what you think you need."

Luna's heart thudded heavily in her chest. She looked up. "Thou art allowing—"

"Allowing." Again the laughter, bright as the sunrise; Celestia could not stay dimmed for long. "Luna, dearest Luna, could I have stopped you? Though I do appreciate the courtesy of your asking."

The tea was hovering by her again. Celestia took a delicate sip and closed her eyes, savouring the aroma. Like everything about her it was a constant, never-changing part of Celestia's life. The servants might change their faces but their tea was ever the same.

Luna glanced to the darkened windows. She would have to play her part in maintaining Celestia's constancy soon. "There was more than mere courtesy, sister."

"I can take care of the moon for a few days if that's what you want. I realise you're still not at your full potential—but Luna, you can't just drop in on some random town and expect to be welcomed." Celestia frowned again, but then another bright smile graced her features. "Of course you weren't going to do that were you?"

Luna returned the smile and shook her head. "I have my plans. They will be much easier if I am released of my responsibilities for a short while."

"I remember a time when I realised there had been an extra guard in my chambers for almost an entire day. That was the most impressive glamour you ever pulled off."

"Nay sister, the most impressive was—"

The words died in her throat. In the excitement Luna had forgotten herself. Celestia's ears dropped flat against her head and Luna felt her own moving in sympathy.

"I shall retire to my duties. I feel I shall have a long night and day ahead of me."

The smile Celestia offered was as warm as it could ever be. She levitated a till-now hidden pair of wire-rimmed spectacles onto her muzzle and turned her attention to whatever affairs of state had been keeping her up at this hour. Luna hadn't realised Celestia's eyesight was troubled at all. Perhaps it had simply always been the case and she just hadn't noticed.

Celestia cleared her throat and rolled her eyes toward Luna, peering over the top of those silvery rims.

"You know, you never said where you were going."

"I believed I should pay a visit to Twilight Sparkle. She was the pony who gave us so much help and she has shown great friendship, much as can be shown to the Princess of the Moon."

"Twilight, yes." Celestia nodded, already lost in her papers. Luna rolled her eyes and quietly left the room, already drafting her letter to the young mage in the back of her mind. This was going to be fun!

The sun was still riding the horizon when Luna rose from her truncated sleep. She had a slight headache. Nothing unbearable, a temporary side-effect of sharing her control of the moon with Celestia. Her sister had wisely suggested that she maintain some form of link with the lesser light even if she wasn't going to use it. Ever the diplomat, Luna mused. Ever trying to appease her own fears for Luna's sanity. Perhaps this trip would help calm her.

Twilight's response to her letter had been surprisingly muted though perhaps she'd not been able to fully understand what Luna wanted to do. The young mage had discussed the possibility of some astronomical study and then seemed to just break off. It was perplexing. On the other hand she knew that Twilight had enjoyed her company previously and Luna did quite enjoy the thought of a little stargazing with another pony for company. It would allow her some perspective on her work after all and there were a few details she wanted to share with a pony of like mind.

Her bags were packed and already on their way to the station. Luna regretted not having the chance to ride the train herself for it seemed to be a marvellous new piece of technology and something she could have spent days studying, but to do so would have left her with no time at all to prepare for the actual journey.

Luna stepped out onto the balcony of her bedchamber and watched the sun's last inches crawl beneath the horizon. She looked across to her sister's rather more substantial platform (wondering not for the first time if there wasn't just a tiny bit of overcompensation in play) and watched for Celestia's return. She didn't have long to wait; the sun princess stepped out onto the balcony in all her regal glory, head held high as she turned to the east and the moon. Luna felt at a short remove the power Celestia exercised and was fascinated at the differences of technique.

It had to be said though, Celestia's imagination when it came to the stars themselves was severely lacking; a night like this, so warm and clear, deserved at least a little decoration between the ever-present constellations. But that was hardly her problem now was it?

Luna grinned, suddenly feeling free for the first time in months. In centuries. A leap and a beat of her wings took her high over the castle and on an arcing trajectory for Celestia's wide-open arch. She alighted just shy of the light and walked slowly to her sister's side.

"An especially beautiful night, Celestia."

"You're a terrible liar, Luna," Celestia said, smirking. She turned back to her chambers. "All set?"

"All except the glamour. I regret not preparing it earlier, I suspect you may have found it most interesting." She paused, looking over the moonlit city. Few were awake at this hour. Once she had resented that fact, but now it gave her an odd sort of peace. "Celestia, this is but for a short time you understand. It is... practice. When the time comes—"

"I am not going to pretend I suddenly understand why you do it Luna, but I won't try to stop you then either." Celestia shook her head and smiled once again. She turned back, framed and silhouetted in the light from her chambers. "Have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't."

"Of course sister," Luna said. She turned and leaped from the balcony, a long glide taking her far out over the city until she was lost in the darkness. Celestia watched the empty sky for a short while longer, then returned to her chambers.

To say that Twilight Sparkle was stressed would have been a gross understatement. Stress was a mode of existence she had left behind several hours ago, replaced with the cold, numbing certainty that nothing she was doing would be remotely good enough for the royal visitor she was expecting at any moment. Not for the first time that evening she cursed the lack of her assistants, but she'd had no choice in the matter, not wanting any news of her visitor to leak before she was prepared. Both were sleeping heavily, Spike tucked up in his little bed, Owlowiscious on his perch downstairs. The sleep spell Twilight had cast on them would probably last until just before dawn, though she was sure Spike would have overslept anyway. He always did.

Unfortunately that left her with a distinct lack of help to prepare for Luna's arrival. Twilight felt slightly giddy just thinking about it, though that might also be her fourteenth coffee finally kicking in. She wasn't sure if all that caffeine would affect her magic, but so far she hadn't noticed anything unusual: surely the world had always had that slight glow around the edges?

She wandered the library in a daze, checking rooms, shelving a final book and wondering just what she'd forgotten. Her checklist had almost fallen apart from checking and rechecking its contents over the last few hours but it all seemed to be in order. Telescope, extra telescope, spare bed, astronomy reference guides...

Nothing left to do.

"Huh."

Twilight was about to check the list again just to be sure when she heard a loud thump at the front door followed by a loud pounding of hooves. Scroll forgotten, Twilight rushed to the door and flung it open.

"Princ—er..."

A youngish, black-coated unicorn mare stood in the door with a goofy grin plastered to her face. She stepped forward and peeked around the library. "It is nice to see how tidy you have kept your home, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight, backside pressed against the wall, held out a foreleg to keep her new visitor from coming any further. "I—do—do I know you?" She shook her head. "I, uh, I mean the library's closed. Opening hours are nine to five thirty if you want to come back in the morning."

She punctuated the statement with a very slight press of magic against the dark-coated mare, just enough to give her the hint. The unicorn didn't seem inclined to leave and instead turned to stare at Twilight, evidently shocked at her reaction. Realisation twitched at her brow.

"Twilight, it is I!" She leaned closer to Twilight and winked whilst lowering her voice to a ridiculous stage whisper. "Luna!"

"You're kidding." Twilight backed up to get a better view of the mare. She did look a lot like Luna, though smaller and a little pudgy, truth be told. "You're kidding, right?"

The unicorn smiled again and made her way into the library, inspecting the books under Twilight's watchful gaze. Twilight took in the mare's mane, pale blue with a dark streak, and her cutie mark – a crescent moon resting between two bright stars.

"Luna?"

"Of course, Twilight Sparkle! Would we lie to our sister's most loyal and trusted student?" She took a step towards Twilight, still smiling. "Or to our friend who showed so much kindness when we were so alone?"

Luna, for it obviously was her, continued her slow tour of the reading room as if she were looking for something. Twilight couldn't help but stare; it wasn't every day you had the Princess of the Moon come into your library, especially in disguise. Speaking of which...

"That's quite an impressive glamour, your high... Lunaness." Twilight quailed, expecting some sort of rebuke, but Luna just continued to smile and inspect books. She didn't even look at Twilight when she spoke again.

"Call us—call me Sable. Sable Moonshine. It is the name by which I shall be known for this visit," she said, finally returning to Twilight. Luna's face screwed up in thought as she looked up at Twilight's. "We are shorter than we expected. Interesting."

"I don't quite—I thought you were just coming to town for a few days to, I don't know, look at stars? Why would you need to be in disguise?"

Luna tilted her head in confusion. To Twilight it seemed as if she had expected a slightly different reaction.

"Perhaps I didn't read your letter correctly, You—Lu—Sable." That was going to be difficult to remember. Practice! "I think we'd both benefit from an explanation. And some coffee."

"I believe I shall benefit from coffee, Twilight Sparkle, however you appear to have had enough caffeine for one night. The way you are beginning to blur at the edges is extremely amusing!"

Twilight would have argued the point, if only the burning sensation in her stomach had gone away. She turned, then turned again after spinning too far and made her way to the kitchen. Coffee was a simple affair; she had some left from her previous binge and it was still warm which saved time. For herself Twilight poured a glass of milk. She tried to warm it a little with a quick flare of magic from her horn. It turned green.

"Perhaps I did overdo it," Twilight murmured as she poured the green ooze down the sink. She quickly poured a fresh glass and hoisted the tray before her into the reading room.

A book floated past Twilight as she entered, an astronomy text by its cover. She followed the tome to Luna, who was now seated at the far end of the room with her snout buried in another book. The astronomy text flopped down on a table by her seat. Twilight followed shortly with the coffee tray before settling down on a cushion near Luna.

"So... S-sable Moonshine?"

Luna's magic sought out her coffee and lifted it to her lips. She turned a page. "We thought it a fitting name."

The book flopped against its partner and Luna turned to face Twilight with another goofy grin. It seemed even sitting undisturbed in Twilight's library was an extreme joy for her. Much as Twilight liked the idea of her Princess enjoying her library, the reaction was a little odd, and she rather suspected the books were not the reason behind her smile.

Luna could see the puzzlement on her face too, for the grin faded and she tilted her head. "You appear troubled, Twilight Sparkle."

"Yeah, well, there's a lot to take in. What happened to your cutie mark?" The question poured itself out before Twilight could stop it. She cringed at her lack of tact, but Luna seemed unfazed.

Hah, see, because she's the moon and—shut up Twilight!

"As you said, it is a very effective glamour, Twilight Sparkle." Luna dipped her head to the coffee and breathed in its aromatic steam with a sensuous smile. "As my letter was evidently too cryptic, I shall explain. We... I felt a need to spend time amongst our subjects as I once did, without being seen as an object of veneration or fear. Or 'fun'."

"I—I guess it makes sense. I know nopony in Ponyville is scared of—scared of the Princesses these days, but I guess they would be very nervous if one was walking around town every day."

"You understand, Twilight Sparkle," Luna replied.

"Just Twilight. Please."

"Of course. And I am Sable," Luna repeated. She took another sip of her drink; more like a gulp really. In fact everything Luna did at the moment seemed to be powered by great enthusiasm. "I dearly regret not properly informing you of my plans, Twilight. I wished you to know of my intentions, yet I was aware that our communications would not be completely private even with my personal seal."

"A fair precaution," Twilight murmured. She was feeling giddy herself. Even in disguise this was still Princess Luna, the mistress of the night skies herself! In Twilight's living room! Twilight already had her favourite telescope cleaned and packed for any stargazing trips they would make together. Watching the stars with the Night Princess. She felt like a little filly on Hearthswarming Eve.

"So. You used to do this sort of thing before?"

Luna closed her eyes and nodded. When she opened them again they had a distant look, two dark tunnels leading to another time and place. "Once, at the start of everything we lived as normal ponies, though we knew we were different. Over the centuries I spent many lifetimes apart from Celestia... I loved and lived and experienced such joy and such heartache as my loves were taken from me, and grieved as only those who love can grieve."

"That sounds awful!"

"Nay, to do so was still greater joy, for it bonded me to the world. I am not my sister, undimmed and constant. I am the moon, Twilight. I am ever-changing. To be whole I must be broken."

A melancholic silence filled the library as Twilight considered what she had heard. It was incomprehensible, it almost seemed as if Luna purposely sought out the pains and trials of life. She was immortal, she could do anything yet she chose this?

"And you think these lives you lived are s-some way to be 'broken'?"

"It is who I must be, Twilight. To deny this of myself leads to dark places." Luna shook her head and smiled at Twilight's questioning frown. "I cannot teach this to you. Perhaps one day you will understand."

"Well you're here now, I suppose that's something." Twilight sipped at her milk. The chill drink seemed to calm her nerves a little. "What about your cover story?"

"A cover story! How wonderful!" Luna clopped her forehooves together and grinned in a mood change so jarring that Twilight was worried it might have given her whiplash. "We feel as if we are in a plot of intrigue!"

Twilight suppressed a giggle at Luna's behaviour. Evidently she wasn't the only one feeling like a filly, though she could never imagine Luna as anything other than an adult now. Yet she seemed at turns so wise and so naïve.

"We could... say you're a family friend who's come to visit?"

"Yes! We are a student at Celestia's School for gifted unicorns, here to perform research on your studies!"

"And the stars," Twilight quickly added. Luna raised an eyebrow and playfully peered across her coffee at Twilight. "What?"

"I am honoured at your interest in my night, Twilight. You are a good friend and I would be more than happy to show you everything I can. After all," she said, turning to look at the cutie mark overlaying her own. "I am now an astronomer, and I am taken with the idea."

Twilight knew her grin was as goofy as Luna's by now but she didn't care. She finished her milk and triumphantly slammed the glass on the table. "We can get started—"

"Tomorrow, Twilight Sparkle. We can get started tomorrow." Luna finished her coffee and placed the cup rather more gently next to Twilight's glass. She stood. "I have a few items of equipment that shall arrive in the morning. For now I would like to see my accommodations."

Twilight's excitement froze in her heart. The beds! How would Luna react to something so rustic and common? Only two pillows? No gigantic roaring fire? A tiny room? A wooden floor?! Oh Twilight what have you done, expecting a princess to have a sleepover on your silly little spare bed?

"Of—of course." Twilight bowed her head to her chest as if that would stem the spreading chill of dread she felt there. "This way."

She led Luna up to her room, pushed the door open and stepped inside. Luna's smile broadened when she saw the neat little bedroom. She leaped onto the spare bed with a joyful giggle and bounced a few times to test the mattress. "It is wonderful!"

"W-wonderful?"

"Yes! Twilight, we spend our entire life on a mass of pillows and silk and squirming—well, it is different," she said, settling into a more demure pose on the bed. "I shall enjoy the differences, Twilight Sparkle. They are why I am here."

"But you're a princess," Twilight replied. She knew she was whining now, she didn't care. The whole night had been one long series of emotional mountains and valleys that had left her just a little nauseous. Unless that was caused by all the coffee.

"I am not a princess, Twilight. I am a unicorn of a mid-ranking Canterlot family who has come to spend a week or two with her friend and she shall behave as if this were true."

Luna cleared her throat. She hadn't quite slipped into the Royal Canterlot Voice. Not quite. Twilight forced her ears upright and tried not to think about raising Luna's ire again.

"Forgive me, Twilight. I am tired." As if to make the point Luna was struck by a very large yawn. She settled down on the bed a little more and gave out a contented sigh. "We shall talk more of this on the morrow. First, I shall experience a good night's sleep."

And within moments she was fast asleep, like blowing out a candle. Twilight watched Luna for a few moments longer, trying to understand what she was supposed to do or think. Perhaps... perhaps she should stop worrying. Luna knew what she was doing; after all, she was a millennia-old immortal. The thought calmed Twilight a little and she realised that she too was rather more tired than she had thought. Twilight tip-toed over to her bed and crawled beneath the covers, suddenly very weary as all the excitement (and caffeine no doubt) drained away. She lay back and began to drift off to sleep.

And then woke suddenly as a loud, hurking snore filled the room. Twilight stuffed her head under her pillow to try and muffle the sound but another ripsaw demonstrated the futility of her acts. She sat up and glared at Luna. Immortal royal she might be, but nobody snored like that and got away with it.

So she wanted to be treated normally? Twilight waited for Luna's mouth to open again and expertly tossed her pillow at it.