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Organised by
RogerDodger
Word limit
400–750
Under The Moonlight
The mare shuffled around in the darkened hall, carefully lifting her slipper-clad hooves as she passed her sister’s study. A nearly musical snoring came from within; her sister’s day had been full, as had every day since the two started living under the same roof, and she didn’t want to wake her.
Under the same roof, like in old times… it should feel like home. Her sister had done everything she could; they ate the same foods, dressed in the same way. She even made an allowance for the mare’s old styled speaking. But too much changed in a thousand years.
And now she had done it again, thought about how much time had passed; it still made her feel like a relic from another time, a fossil that stubbornly refused to lie down and stop moving. She was over the fact that her sister banished her; it was needed at the time, and deserved. But…
She risked a glance into the study; inside, her head resting on a bed of parchment, slept her sister, the last bastion of familiarity, of home, in a strange land. But above her, inside a bird cage, a decrepit and nearly featherless bird stood as a beacon of change; though the bird was the same, that was not the magnificent flame bird she remembered from home, the tireless hunter that would help keep the monsters at bay.
Silent as a shadow the mare returned to the hall, ears perked for any noise. The guards knew her, of course, but for her they were still faceless ghosts moving in her new castle. One more thing lost; she knew the guards of her home by name, laughed and joked with them, but they were now long gone. Even the castle itself, the physical shell she back then thought as eternal, with its myriad secret passages and all the small details she had labored over in planning or execution, was just some abandoned ruin that lay in a distant forest.
She went up, to the small observation deck atop her and her sister’s tower. Moonlight; besides her unchanging sister, it was the only thing in the new castle that could make her feel at home. With the gentle light of the moon caressing her body, the princess of the night curled on the floor and fell asleep.
The mare woke, finding herself in a padded, gently swaying surface; some kind of stretcher, kept aloft by magic. She didn’t have to look to figure who was carrying her; only one pony in the kingdom had the ability, and the courage, to carry a princess this way.
“Sister! Where art thou — are you taking me?”
Her alicorn sister smiled, tiredly, but with far more than just her lips. “It’s a little surprise. I know how much you lost, little sister, though I can’t claim to understand your pain; what I lost across a millennium, you lost in but a moment. But I can guide you to some of what remains. They can help you find your lost joy again.”
“They? A-are you telling me that there are others from our time?”
“I already said too much. They wanted it to be a surprise; wait and see.”
Eager as she was to know more, the princess chose to humor her sister, and whoever was waiting for them. Leisurely, she closed her eyes, enjoying the moonlight and her sister’s silent company.
“We arrived.”
The princess opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a statue of her, at the height of her power; that was nice, but not something she cared for. Such demonstrations had become commonplace long ago. Her eyes drifted to the building behind…
It was just as she remembered. The size, the shape, the color… even the crayon drawings in the walls, while different, felt the same. And just inside the door the same eager eyes, hopeful, thankful, caring…
Warm tears came to the princess’ eyes. “How did you…”
“I always knew. You were always known as a warrior, little sister, but that was by need; your heart lies elsewhere. The building had to be reconstructed, of course, but I kept the orphanage going in your name, in your honor. And the little ones are dying to know who was the princess that started it.”
Luna knelt, waiting for her little ponies. As the little ones piled over her, she started to entertain the idea of finding home in this strange land, this strange time.
Under the same roof, like in old times… it should feel like home. Her sister had done everything she could; they ate the same foods, dressed in the same way. She even made an allowance for the mare’s old styled speaking. But too much changed in a thousand years.
And now she had done it again, thought about how much time had passed; it still made her feel like a relic from another time, a fossil that stubbornly refused to lie down and stop moving. She was over the fact that her sister banished her; it was needed at the time, and deserved. But…
She risked a glance into the study; inside, her head resting on a bed of parchment, slept her sister, the last bastion of familiarity, of home, in a strange land. But above her, inside a bird cage, a decrepit and nearly featherless bird stood as a beacon of change; though the bird was the same, that was not the magnificent flame bird she remembered from home, the tireless hunter that would help keep the monsters at bay.
Silent as a shadow the mare returned to the hall, ears perked for any noise. The guards knew her, of course, but for her they were still faceless ghosts moving in her new castle. One more thing lost; she knew the guards of her home by name, laughed and joked with them, but they were now long gone. Even the castle itself, the physical shell she back then thought as eternal, with its myriad secret passages and all the small details she had labored over in planning or execution, was just some abandoned ruin that lay in a distant forest.
She went up, to the small observation deck atop her and her sister’s tower. Moonlight; besides her unchanging sister, it was the only thing in the new castle that could make her feel at home. With the gentle light of the moon caressing her body, the princess of the night curled on the floor and fell asleep.
The mare woke, finding herself in a padded, gently swaying surface; some kind of stretcher, kept aloft by magic. She didn’t have to look to figure who was carrying her; only one pony in the kingdom had the ability, and the courage, to carry a princess this way.
“Sister! Where art thou — are you taking me?”
Her alicorn sister smiled, tiredly, but with far more than just her lips. “It’s a little surprise. I know how much you lost, little sister, though I can’t claim to understand your pain; what I lost across a millennium, you lost in but a moment. But I can guide you to some of what remains. They can help you find your lost joy again.”
“They? A-are you telling me that there are others from our time?”
“I already said too much. They wanted it to be a surprise; wait and see.”
Eager as she was to know more, the princess chose to humor her sister, and whoever was waiting for them. Leisurely, she closed her eyes, enjoying the moonlight and her sister’s silent company.
“We arrived.”
The princess opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a statue of her, at the height of her power; that was nice, but not something she cared for. Such demonstrations had become commonplace long ago. Her eyes drifted to the building behind…
It was just as she remembered. The size, the shape, the color… even the crayon drawings in the walls, while different, felt the same. And just inside the door the same eager eyes, hopeful, thankful, caring…
Warm tears came to the princess’ eyes. “How did you…”
“I always knew. You were always known as a warrior, little sister, but that was by need; your heart lies elsewhere. The building had to be reconstructed, of course, but I kept the orphanage going in your name, in your honor. And the little ones are dying to know who was the princess that started it.”
Luna knelt, waiting for her little ponies. As the little ones piled over her, she started to entertain the idea of finding home in this strange land, this strange time.