The moon shone high in the sky, slender, though waxing. Luna, as she trotted through the castle gardens, did not feel the same way. It was one of those gatherings of the cream of the crop of Canterlot, which is to say, of Equestria (their own words). Supposedly it was some kind of party, though certain pink maned friends of Luna's would have objected to that description, considering it a gross misapplication of the word. Luna herself shared that opinion, but did not say it out loud. There was no point in saying it to Celestia, who she already knew agreed, and she could not say it to anypony else there. She reminisced about the days when she, naive filly, had thought that being a princess meant you could do whatever you wanted.

She looked up. Aside from her moon, the sky was adorned with a few bright stars. Otherwise, it was an empty black, tinged with the orange glow of the city lights. She sighed. At least they were awake and outside at this hour. She remembered all too well when activity like this so long after dark would have been an event in itself. And she remembered all too well when activity like this so long after dark would have been a dangerous thing.

[hr]

The moon shone high in the sky, full, though waning. Luna trotted through the castle grounds. The nobles were gathered for another inane "celebration." They called it a party, but Luna knew those, and this was not one. She did not say that to anypony, though. Celestia would just tell her to try to enjoy herself anyway, and she could not say it to anypony else. Once she had thought that being a princess meant you could do whatever you wanted. Quickly she had learned that if you wanted anypony to cooperate with you, that was not the case.

She looked up. Stars hung in her sky like a thousand silvery blossoms. She looked around, not one pony was paying the least attention. What was even the point of doing this at night, if nopony was going to appreciate it. She had spent all week traipsing around the Everfree to make sure the area around the castle was safe. Might as well have had it during the day—or, here's an idea: keep the sun up late, why not? Night's overrated anyway.

[hr]

Luna trotted off. She was good at disappearing. Celestia would miss her, but she was not counting on anypony else. But that was fine; she wasn't counting on it. She closed her eyes and let her hooves carry her among the rows of hedges away from everypony else. They were not afraid, she considered, remembering her earlier thought. At least there was that. Even if they did not appreciate the night as they should, even if they finally realized that the world kept on after sunset, only to blot out the sky with a lurid glare, even if they still flocked to Celestia first before coming to pay there respects to her, at least they were not afraid.

So there was that.

—Even if they had not changed in the last thousand years, these ponies.

And what would she do about it? She would tell Celestia of course. Complaining about ridiculous ponies—that hadn't changed either. And Celestia would laugh, and she would too because it would be funny then. And life would go on, just as it always had with them, just like old times.

Because how much had she herself changed? Didn't it sting? As much now as it had then. But no. No. It was okay. Wasn't that what Celestia, and everypony, always said. She could say it too. She had said it. Many, many times. She looked at the moon.

[hr]

But what if she didn't need ponies to cooperate with her? What if she could [i]make[/i] them appreciate everything she did?

[hr]

Hooves clattered on the garden path up to her. "Sorry I'm late," said Twilight Sparkle, smiling. "I got caught up in some paperwork—you know how it is."

Luna snorted and rolled her eyes, "Welcome to being a princess."

Twilight looked up. "It's a shame about all the light. You can hardly see anything up there. At least the moon is nice and clear. It's always so pretty when it's a thin crescent like that."

Luna joined her in looking at it. "Yes it is."

The moon shone on those two friends.