Chapter 1
The mattress that she lays across feels like a magnetic grip and she is the metal, its comforting feeling and softness pressing into her tired body like a soothing embrace. Princess Luna sighs from such a sensation she has been experiencing for thirty minutes now, the moment she had first reached her bed being a moment of relief, her duties now complete and finally having been granted a chance to rest within her night-themed room after a draining day.
Slowly shifting she spreads her wings and legs over the silky fabric, the tingling of having her skin rub against it pleasant, before she rolls onto her side to look towards the opened balcony doors and beyond them.
A gentle breeze blows from the outside world, swaying the curtains as it passes them and blowing up Luna’s body to further comfort her. The sky is a morphing spectrum of light, pitch blackness nearest overhead and gradually lighting towards pale day at the horizon straight ahead where the sunset is occurring at this time, Celestia lowering the Sun from elsewhere in the Canterlot Castle in anticipation for Luna to raise the Moon in its place.
Watching the final moments of day begin to fade, Luna once more sighs but this time in subtle disappointment, realising she would have to get up from such a lovely spot to raise the Moon. Taking a moment to motivate herself, she eventually mobilises and sits up. Stretching her wings and forehooves, she rises off the bed and begins to walk towards the balcony, the bright orb at the horizon sinking beneath it just as she reaches her destination.
“Tis time.” Taking a deep inhale of the clean night air, Luna turns her gaze upwards to the heavens, witnessing the sparkle of countless stars in various constellations and clusters make their presences known to the world beneath them, a surreal canvas of dazzling lights amongst the darkness. Smiling at the beauty of it all, Luna soon begins her final task; commanding her horn’s magic to life, it glows a bright light-blue field of energy, its results becoming apparent as a mighty silver hue begins to rise from the eastern horizon - the Moon.
With each passing moment the celestial body approaches the sky’s centre, rays of moonlight showering the now quiet world in tranquil streaks of white. Soon the Moon reaches its position, its radiate glow directly overhead and with it Luna’s task is complete.
Resting against the balcony, the Princess of the Night stares in silent appreciation up at the Moon for a prolonged time, the soothing sight of it enough to resurface her tiredness not long after as she yawns and rubs her eyes. Turning back to the bedroom, the Alicorn proceeds to take a few steps towards it before stopping, the sight of the Equestrian night landscape in the corner of her vision making Luna pause to once again face it.
Peaceful stillness. Everywhere. From horizon to horizon the shadowy aesthetics of the world combined with moonlight falling on it appears almost supernatural. Far beneath the Canterlot Castle and the mountain it rests on, the valley floor dips into a deeper shade of dark, broken up by the magical dotted lines of orange flaming torch lights that light roads within it, and all of it arranged in patterns akin to constellations of stars. Near the valley’s edges are a series of patches in different shades of black, identifying forests mixed with fields with their own unique shadow designs to them, all the while a single different black shaded sizable streak that was a river carves through them. Beyond this and even further off rises a shifting spectrum of shadows at the horizon, towering mountains that add their own special part to this night time canvas of nature.
For several minutes Luna observes it all, her gaze trailing across the entirety of this Equestria that she sees, all of it being what she had brought about. A proudness swells in the Princess with the beating of her happy heart. The gentle night breeze continues to pass onto and around the Alicorn, her ethereal mane dancing like the curtains at the balcony’s door. Moment after moment of continuous appreciation of it all eventually gives way to a longing more potent than her need to rest on the bed.
“Beautiful,” whispers Luna, holding her head high and spreading her wings, “I must see more of it.” And with that, the Princess of the Night takes flight, soaring to the sky with powerful wing flaps one after the other as quiet as an angelic spectre, her spirit rising even higher than her body, the night beckoning as she flies away into it...
A welcoming warmth resonates through Luna’s wing joints with each flap she performs, the muscles feeling alive once more after being idle for so long these past few days. Navigating amongst several clouds and flying through others, the Princess of the Night allows herself this period of playfulness, performing barrel rolls and loop-de-loops. The feeling of being within open skies is freedom, the ability to be alone for all of this without regal expectations to uphold is liberating. Through a series of manoeuvres Luna comes out at the end of them smiling wide and chuckling happily, her need for this crucial.
A total of twenty minutes would occur between Luna‘s flight from the Canterlot Castle and eventually landing atop a large cloud near Ponyville, but by that time her need for leisure has been satisfied. Gently steadying her speed, the Alicorn lands on said cloud without trouble, the gaseous texture of it on her hooves welcoming Taking a deep inhale, she walks to the cloud’s centre and collapses onto it like she had collapsed on her mattress.
The plush-ness of the cloud feels like an even more loving embrace than her bed, the therapeutic way it conforms to her body is indescribable, the higher exposure of the cool night’s air better than her room. She lies there, on her stomach, enjoying it all until curiosity sinks in; cupping the cloud’s floor, she peels it away to open a gap, now viewing the distant world far below.
Twinkling groups of lights identifying various Equestrian towns’ can be made out across the night land, their shapes and sizes each unique from one another and all meaningful as being the homes of the Princess’ faithful subjects. Each second a dot or two of those lights in unison with various towns switches off, marking the moment a Pony is falling asleep.
Luna cannot resist a warm smile at the pretty sight of it all, and the even more wholesome thought of those faithful subjects resting now, soon to enter the Dream Realm where she will be there to watch over them before long. “Goodnight, Equestria,” she whispers, closing up the cloud’s gap and rolling onto her back.
By now the tiredness is too powerful to resist, the recent flight having exhausted the last drops of energy. With a final glance Luna looks up at the overhanging Moon above with contentment and gratitude burning brighter inside her than it or Celestia’s Sun. “Goodnight, my little Ponies.” And with that the darkness of sleep fills her closing vision, soon preceding within moments by her consciousness - the Princess of the Night now resting after a peaceful night flight.