Canterlot

Day 1

Luna, Terra and Celestia were in the dining room. It was a rare occasion to have all three rulers in one place. All the more reason for them to enjoy each others' company. Lighthearted conversations and laughter filled the room, the problems of leading a country and being responsible for the heavens and the earth momentarily forgotten.

Of course it was just then, that one of the royal messengers decided to burst into the room and ruin the mood. The three rulers didn't even so much as flinch, already being used to having their private time cut short. Terra was the one who decided to speak up.

"Pray tell, what is important enough to disturb us while enjoying our meal?" he asked, patiently waiting for an answer.

"Your highness, I'm here to inform you that your presence is required in the infirmary wing! It's about your wife. It appears that she is close to giving birth!" the messenger blurted out, eager to deliver the good news.

Terra, usually calm and reserved, perked up at this. A huge smile plastered across his face, so completely un-Terra like, Luna and Celestia briefly considered checking if he was a changeling.

"Lead the way!" He shouted and immediately took off after the messenger, leaving two confused princesses behind.

As they both rushed through the palace, eager to reach their destination, several ponies tried to start a conversation with their ruler, only to be completely ignored, not even so much as getting a greeting. As they reached the infirmary, the messenger lead his ruler to the room his wife was in. He immediately entered, leaving an exhausted messenger behind, while he himself hadn't even broken a sweat.

He laid eyes upon his wife, who was in his opinion, the most beautiful mare in the world. An azure coat more beautiful than the sky, a navy-blue mane, rivalling even the most beautiful of seas, and a beautiful cutie mark of a crystal heart, decorated with gold, displayed for everypony to see. She had wings and a horn, making her an alicorn. Her mane didn't flow, like Terra's, but was nonetheless beautiful. Her name was Astrum Cadenza.

But she was not alone, in her hooves laid a tightly-wrapped, newborn foal.

With a happy but slightly disappointed face, Terra said "AWWW! I missed it?!? Why didn't you call for me earlier?"

Amused at her husband's childish reaction, Astrum just smiled at him "I couldn't possibly distract the ruler from his oh so important work, just so he could watch me scream. It wouldn't be fitting for someone of my status to be seen like that!" she replied, still grinning at him.

"You know I always have time for you. The fate of the world can wait for me, besides, Celestia and Luna are here too." He said with a serious expression. “Now lemme see, lemme see! Is it a girl? A boy? Is it cute? Ugly? Pegasus? Unicorn? Earth pony? Alicorn? Lemme see! Pleeeaaaaassse?" Dropping the royal act, he started bombarding Astrum with questions, while constantly trying to sneak a peek at the bundle that was his son... or daughter.

Giving in to him, Astrum showed what was previously hidden by her, just to bring out his childish side. It always amused her, how a being that had lived for several millennia was still able to behave like that.

"It's a she, and an alicorn for that matter. Isn't she beautiful?" She asked with a proud smile on her face.

Terra, now seeing his daughter for the first time, took in every little detail. She had a green fur and a yellow mane, sleeping like a rock in the hooves of her mother. "Have you decided on a name for her yet?" He asked, anxious with anticipation what the answer may be.

"Lumen Cadenza. Cadenza, like every mare in my lineage is called, and Lumen, the Latin word for Light."

"It's a beautiful name. Wait just a moment." He said as he turned around and opened the door. "I wish to not be disturbed by anyone for the rest of the day. Postpone all my duties to tomorrow, or when something really important comes up, go to Celestia or Luna." The Royal Guard that was waiting outside only lifted a hoof to his face in confirmation and took off, fulfilling his new duty.

Terra closed the door and returned to the side of his wife and daughter. And there he stayed until the late evening, talking to his wife, enjoying life like nothing else mattered. Celestia and Luna both dropped by during the course of the day, congratulating the happy couple and taking a look at their newborn niece. As Night time approached, Terra finally said his good nights and trotted out of the room, tired after the day.

But as he closed the door, Luna was waiting for him next to the room's entryway. Surprised at the princess just waiting there, he gave her a questioning look.

"I need to talk to you, Terra. I know, it maybe not the best time for this, but it's important. Not here though, please follow me."

Noticing the seriousness in her voice, Terra didn't question any further and followed her. Luna led him to the closest balcony there was, sitting down under the clear Night sky.

"Do you remember what we spoke about, approximately a week ago?"

Terra only nodded at her question. The uneasy feeling was still there; normally it would already be clear what had rustled the animals' jimmies. But still nothing happened, and the feeling was still there.

"I did as you told me and watched my night sky. And today there was something off. Look over there." She said, while pointing at a seemingly random location in the sky. "Can you see Grandia IV?"

Terra looked for the little light in the sky that was Grandia IV, but after a while he gave up, noticing the absence of the planet. "No, no I cannot. What happened to it?" He asked curiously.

"It's still there; I can still feel my connection to it. But still we are not able to see it. I did some researching and found out that something is blocking our view. I don't know what it is; it's not a planet or a black hole. It's just like a patch of darkness hanging in the sky." Luna said with a slightly confused look on her face. "It just came out of nowhere too, it wasn't there yesterday, and I can feel nothing from it."

"That certainly is strange... I guess we have found what I was looking for. Do you think you could maybe put a little more research into this?"

"Of course I will put more research into this. This "thing" is blocking a part of my beautiful night sky! I will find out what it is and the get rid of it!" Luna declared with an annoyed, almost angry voice.

"Well I'm glad you take this seriously, though I think you may be a little overreacting... It's probably only some new space phenomenon that we don't know as of yet. You will find out what it is eventually" Terra said, more to convince himself than Luna. If it would be so easy, the animals wouldn't act this way.

"But I'm tired, please excuse me if I retire for the night, it was an eventful day. I trust you will find a solution soon."

And with that, Terra withdrew himself from the balcony, leaving Luna to her own thoughts. Until he fell asleep, one question lingered on the back of his mind.

"What is going to happen to us?"