As Luna stood atop the castle tower, she gazed downwards at the scenery below. The world seemed vast, yet so empty. All of the lights in Canterlot had been dimmed, and there was nary a pony in sight. Among the vibrant stars was a pattern of constellations arranged to form a giant Ursa Major attacking a village. To ease her boredom, Luna had created a movie out of the stars.

She chuckled, wondering if anypony had been watching. If there had been at least one pony paying attention to her performance, then it would have been worth it. Realization struck her as she sighed. She was alone.

Concentrating at a spot in the sky, she flexed her magic around various stars and pulled them into a circle, making a Merry-Go-Round. She released, and sat back to admire her work. It was magnificent enough, but she still wished that she had somepony to share it with. Her sister was usually asleep during the night and they alternated their sleeping schedules so they usually never met. Even the servants would avoid her, leaving her with her own thoughts most of the time. Ever since she returned, it wasn’t the same.

“Are you feeling lonely, Luna?” asked a voice from inside her head.

“No,” she replied curtly.

“Oh, come now. Don’t be ashamed to admit the truth. I can see your true feelings, after all.” A swirling cloud of black magic appeared from within Luna’s mane and formed a pony-like creature next to her. It was another alicorn, quite similar to Luna.

“Be gone, vile apparition. I wish to be left alone.”

“Tsk tsk. I’m only trying to help,” said the spirit. It paused for a few seconds as it watched Luna.

Luna let out a sigh and looked towards the streets of Canterlot. A few scattered torches could be seen, dimly lit. There was a steady hum of crickets chirping, but no movement otherwise.

The spirit tilted its head at her. “It’s too stuffy in here. Wouldn’t you prefer to go for a walk? Get some fresh air? Stretch your wings a bit? If you stay here, the boredom might kill you.” It cackled at its own bad joke.

Luna pondered for a moment. “Very well. I’ve nothing better to do.”

---

Luna soared through the night air, taking in the sights as she flapped her massive wings. All throughout Equestria, it was the same sight. It was dark and nopony was awake. Despite this, the magical cloud with a face kept following Luna.

“You know, it might be better if you didn’t dwell about it so much,” it said.

Luna remained quiet. Because she was immortal, she found it hard to get attached to any pony. Not that it mattered, since she rarely ever even saw one. All she had was her sister, but sometimes it felt like Celestia actively avoided her. Loneliness gripped her heart, and no matter what she seemed to do, the feeling never went away.

The spirit floated in circles around Luna’s head. “Must you really be so dreary all the time? At least you have your freedom. I, on the other hand, only exist in your head.”

Luna batted her hooves at the creature. “Yes, and you’re quite persistent too. Why won’t you go away?”

It shrugged. “You know, for somepony that’s lonely, you seem rather eager for me to go away.” It leaned close to Luna’s ear. “If you want, I could even be your friend. All you have to do is ask...” A maniacal laughter filled the air as it levitated in front of her face.

Luna paused. “Perhaps.”

“All you have to do is let me be your friend and I’ll make sure you’ll never be lonely ever again. Won’t that be fun?” It stopped in mid-air. “Well? Do you accept?”

Luna reluctantly said, “If you must.”

“Here we go!” Like a bolt of lightning, it darted into Luna’s mouth, surrounding her from the insides. Dark blue tendrils spread out from within the magical mane of Luna, flapping around in the wind. Luna felt a burning sensation fill her body. An echo of a voice continued in her head, “See? Just like that. Now we’re bonded forever!”

Luna wasn’t sure what to think, so she just shook her head. “I’m not sure if this was a good idea.”

“Nonsense!” the spirit reassured her. “Now let’s go have some fun!”