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Stargazing Together

by Slateblu1

Chapter 1: Luna's Return

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Luna's Return

Luna’s Return

Twilight sat at her desk, the afternoon sunlight streaming in through her window, lighting up her room. Her room in the library was still neat, the pony not having had enough time to get books strewn about. There were a few though, resting open around her desk, strewn haphazardly across her room. A closer glance of the books would reveal them to all relate to the same topic, friendship. From the psychology of friendship to novels of friends overcoming great obstacles, everything Twilight could find was there. The little pony hadn't had many friends in Canterlot, having spent all her time studying. As her mentor, Princess Celestia, had given her a new assignment, to learn about the magic of friendship, she needed a place to start.

She sat there wondering how she was going to learn lessons on friendship to report to her mentor, Princess Celestia. She knew that somehow she would learn about friendship, and would just have to wait until it happened. Perhaps those ponies that had helped her defeat Nightmare Moon would help her to learn the lessons. If anyone, they were the closest she had to friends. Relaxing back onto her flank, she continued pondering how everything would work out.

While flipping through a textbook on pony psychology, Twilight heard a loud burping sound, one very familiar to her. Though Spike had been her closest friend for many years, and they shared a close bond, he was still a baby. Every now and then she needed to remind him of his manners, doing her best to raise him well. Shaking her head, Twilight was about to call out to Spike to remind him of those easily forgotten manners when the little purple dragon burst into the room, carrying a scroll. “Letter from the Princess, Twilight!” he shouted, running straight up to her. Twilight took the letter away from her friend, her annoyance changing immediately to curiosity, levitating the scroll with her magic over to her. She unfurled it and began to read.

My faithful student Twilight Sparkle,

I would like to thank you for your willingness to take on this task I have set you. I must confess that I had ulterior motives for asking this of you. You see, I worry that my sister Luna won’t be able to easily adjust back into the world. She has been gone for a thousand years after all. I was hoping to use your reports on friendship to help her learn, and hopefully reintegrate back in a smoother fashion. While it may not be much, I feel it can help, and wanted to ask your permission first, as they are letters from you to me.

Your mentor,

Princess Celestia

Twilight sped through the letter, taking in every word. Sitting back, Twilight thought for only a moment before deciding that she would love to help Princess Luna readjust. She quickly dictated a reply to Spike, letting the princess know of her agreement to the plan, and then had the little dragon send off her letter with his usual puff of green fire.

Celestia stood alone in the throne room of the place, next to her white marble throne, shifting nervously. Her sun shone through the stained glass windows, blanketing the room in its warm, multicolored, glow. The light glistened off her stone throne, making it sparkle in the evening light. It had been just over a day since her sister had returned, and her student, Twilight, and her friends had used the Elements of Harmony to do away with Nightmare Moon. Though the black alicorn that had tried to overthrow her was gone, Celestia still worried about her sister, and how she would return to the world. She began pacing, hoping to hear back as soon as possible from her student, wanting to help her sister in any way she could.

Turning around to continue pacing, she noticed a puff of green fire float into the throne room, curling and shifting as it drifted over to her. As soon as the flames reached her they turned into a scroll with a small pop, hovering for just a moment. Before it could begin to fall the Princess took it with her magic, unrolled it, and sat down to read Twilight’s reply.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I would love to help your sister in any way I can. I understand that you did not want to draw attention to any issues Princess Luna may be having, and so did not ask me directly when you gave me this assignment. Please, if there is anything else I can do to help, I would love to.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

Celestia smiled, knowing how much it would mean to Twilight to help the princess with anything. She rolled up to letter, and sent it to her study, to rest with all the other letters she had received from her protégé. Rising from the floor, the princess of the sun trotted out of the throne room to talk with her sister.

Princess Luna had taken residence in her old room, having missed it over the last thousand years. Though she had spent most of her exile as Nightmare Moon, she had still missed such simple things as a soft bed to sleep on, and meals to enjoy. Luna had decided to make sure that even if her beautiful night sky was ignored by the ponies, she would not allow her jealousy to bring back the Nightmare.  As she climbed onto her bed, resting happily and looking forward to the future, a gentle knock sounded from her door. Knowing that only her sister could be on the other side of the door, as so few outside of the royal guards knew of whom she truly was, the princess sighed to herself. Wondering why her sister wanted to talk with her, the princess of the night climbed back out of her bed, walked over to her door, and opened it wide. “Why hello sister, what brings you to my chambers this time of day?” She asked pleasantly, yet very confused.

“My dear sister, I wanted to talk to you about certain things,” Celestia smiled, giving her sister a hug. “First though, I want to apologize.” At this Celestia closed the door, wanting to have their privacy “I feel horrible about what I did to you, my own sister. Can you ever forgive me for what I did?” Tears had begun to form in the alicorn’s eyes as she openly admitted to her feelings. It had taken her time to build the courage she needed to admit to her wrongs to her sister. She had worried endlessly over the last few decades over how her sister would treat her when she returned.

Luna smiled, knowing that her sister was sincere, and understanding the pain it must have caused her. “I am willing to forgive you sister. I must ask you some things first though. Why? What lead you to deciding to exile me for so long? Why didn’t you act sooner, before I was corrupted by the Nightmare?”

Celestia sighed, having fully expected these questions. “I didn’t act sooner because I was ignorant and arrogant. I didn’t know how badly you were hurting until it was too late, and I never considered it a problem. You seemed happy on the outside, so I assumed you were on the inside. And for all of that I am truly sorry.” Luna nodded, understanding her sister a bit more. Celestia’s eyes turned toward the floor as she continued. “When you finally did change, I was scared. I realized then how unhappy you were, and I was scared of you. I banished you out of fear, scared of what you would do to me. I exiled you for so long because I didn’t want to have to worry about you. I knew that your imprisonment would not last forever, but I hoped that by the time you returned you would have calmed down. Only later did I realize that banishing you would only serve to make you angrier.” The words rolled out of her mouth, the princess finally having the courage to face her sister over the choices she made a millennium ago.

Celestia hung her head, ashamed, truly ashamed of what she had done. Luna walked up and gave her a small nuzzle, whispering “I forgive you sister. I understand how hard it must have been. I am glad to have returned, and I do not wish for that to ever happen again. I do however have one last question.” Celestia looked up, not having expected a third. “Why did you change to calendar? I have noticed that it now reads the year as one thousand, exactly as long as I have been gone.”

Celestia was stunned. Nopony had ever asked about the calendar. But she knew the answer, and knew that somepony someday would ask. “To remind me. I had to put on a brave face for the country, they needed me to lead. When they asked after I changed it, I said it was to mark the war that had cost so many ponies their lives. So that we may never forget what happened. But it was my own punishment.” The princess’ voice began to waver as she spoke, the few tears remaining beginning to roll down her muzzle. “I did it to remind me, every day, of what I had done to you. So that I would never be able to forget what I did.”

It was Luna’s turn to be shocked. To her, Celestia had done no wrong, had done what was needed to protect Equestria. Placing her head under her sister with a small nuzzle she whispered “You did no wrong sister. You did what was needed to keep Equestria together.” Celestia gave a small whimper, though returned the light caress. “I was at fault.” Again Luna gave her sister a small nuzzle. Celestia smiled, returning the light nuzzle. “Now Tia, what is it you wished to talk to me about?”

“The world has changed in the thousand years you’ve been gone.” Celestia’s head shot up as she fell into her lecture mode. It was more of a defense mechanism for her than anything else. Knowing that it was a part of her sister, Luna simply accepted the change in pace and sat to listen. “It may be hard for you to readjust, as much is different.” Luna nodded, having believed as much. In her short time in Ponyville she noticed how differently the ponies spoke, and the changes in how they acted toward her sister. “As you know I have given my student Twilight Sparkle the task of writing reports on the magic of friendship to me. I would like to share these with you, as they may be a start for you to get back into the flow of society. Though they may be specifically on friendship, I feel that they are a good place for you to start.”

“I do not wish to intrude upon your student’s privacy my sister. I will gladly accept this generous offer, but I wish to make sure that Twilight is okay with it.” Luna knew how important the privacy of a pony was, and she did not want one of her first recorded acts to be that of invasion of privacy.

Celestia nodded, having expected as much. “Do not worry Luna. I have asked her already, and I am happy to say she has agreed.”

Luna sighed happily, nodding her agreement. “Then I shall gladly accept these reports. I wish to make friends, and rule alongside you.” She hardly had any friends before her banishment, and would have to make all new ones now. She smiled and relaxed, thinking about her future. Celestia took her leave, closing the door behind her, leaving her sister to ponder on her own.

Though Luna was grateful for her sister’s suggestion, she had other reasons for accepting. “Twilight Sparkle,” she thought to herself. “The pony who freed me from the Nightmare I had become. I wonder what kind of pony she is.” The princess of the night sighed, and climbed back into her bed, determined to get sleep to be ready for her first night back as a true princess of Equestria, and all the responsibilities that came with it.

Twilight’s first letter arrived, barely a week after Luna’s conversation with her sister. Though the princess of the sun read the letter first, to make sure her student was on keeping up with her studies, and to send her student six tickets to the Gala, with an extra after for spike, she quickly passed it to the princess of the night.

Having raised the moon for the first time that night, Luna sat back, admiring her night sky. Sitting there happily, she noticed a scroll floating outside her window. Opening the window, the scroll floated in. Luna took the scroll with her magic, walked back to her bed to sit and relax, and opened it to find Twilight’s first letter.

She read the letter, about sharing your blessings with your friends, and how she was returning the tickets her sister had sent her. She found it odd that anypony would turn down tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala, the most formal occasion of the year. “Though,” she mused to herself, “perhaps that is one of the things about friends. They become more important to you than anything else.” Luna decided to take this lesson to heart, knowing it would help her make friends down the road.

Trotting back over to her window, she levitated the letter out the window and back up to her sister. Once she was sure it was safe, she took to gazing once more at her night sky.  She found all the constellations she had formed over her many years, remembering the stories to go along with each. Out of curiosity, Luna began wondering how many ponies were enjoying her night, wondering if anything had changed. Not expecting to find any, she cast a spell out, slowly blanketing Equestria with her gaze, looking for anypony still awake and enjoying the stars. Just as she was about to give up hope, she found a small light, a single pony gazing upon the heavens, just enjoying the sight.

Luna focused more and found that it was none other than Twilight. She sat there gazing upon the heavens, lost in wonder at their beauty. As Luna realized that the small lavender pony was truly enjoying the starts, her heart warmed to the small pony. Ending her spell, she joined Twilight in gazing upon the night sky.

The rest of the night passed without incident, Luna spending it deciding how to best alter the heavens now that she had returned. They were her domain, and she needed to make sure the night sky changed, as it was supposed to. As morning came she joined her sister for a meal, the two of them conversing lightly over the events of the night. When the time came Luna lowered the moon as Celestia raised the sun. Before Celestia could walk away to be swept up in the duties of the day, Luna called out to her. “Sister! If we may, we have some questions for you.”

The pure white alicorn turned and smiled, asking “Yes little sister?”

“Has Twilight always enjoyed the night sky?”

The older of the sisters nodded with a smile. “Yes, she has. Even before becoming my pupil, she loved the night sky. She would often stay up late, gazing into the sky, just enjoying the sight. Some of her favorite assignments were related to astronomy.”

“Thank you sister. We hope that one day we can be friends with her.” Luna smiled to herself and began walking away.

“Luna!” Celestia called out before she could walk away. “There is little need for the royal ‘we’ now days. You needn’t use it if you don’t wish to, and I must say, the ponies will take to you better if you don’t use it. It seems to intimidate them.”

Luna turned her head around and nodded “Thank you sister, we, I mean I, will do my best.” She continued walking back to her room, tired from her night. She reached her room, climbed into her bed, and fell asleep, her thoughts turning back to her plans for the stars.

As she awoke the next night, she found her thoughts on Twilight Sparkle. Wondering what would have caused her thoughts to take this turn, she went to her breakfast. Still tired she ate quietly, thinking over her thoughts as she had awoken. “Why was Twilight upon my mind this evening?” the princess thought to herself. “True, she is a wonderful pony, and I hope to be her friend, is it not strange to wake to thoughts of somepony?” She finished her oats happily, deciding that the matters of the mind were not ones worth worrying about. Raising the moon as Celestia lowered the sun, Luna bid her sister a good night, and allowed her thoughts to return to how best to change to stars.

A thought suddenly occurred to her as she began to slowly work upon the night. Why not check to see if Twilight was watching the sky again? She cast her spell, looking for Twilight, and quickly found her, this time looking through her telescope. Following the pony’s gaze, Luna found that she was inspecting the moon, scanning its surface. Luna gazed happily at the pony, enjoying the night as much as she. As Twilight went to bed, the princess silently thanked her for her enjoyment of the night. Luna turned her thoughts back to her plans for the night, once again beginning to move the stars, and slowly shift the cosmos, as the night passed before her.

Next Chapter: Night of the Gala Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 31 Minutes

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