revenance_comms | Third Night: The Longest Night

[Luna peers critically into the camera as it comes on. For once, it isn't wrapped in the pale blue shimmer of her magic; she reaches out a hoof to straighten it slightly.]

Excellent. Hold steady, Noctis.

[She turns and paces slowly away, to the edge of what turns out to be the belltower.] Tonight is the night of the Winter Moon Festival. My festival. 'Twas to be our first in...in some time. We had meant to gift our subjects with a grand and glorious sky, to show them all that -

[She stops, sounding near tears, and tosses her mane in frustration. Then, visibly composing herself, she takes a deep breath and lowers her head, her horn glowing first blue and then a bright silver as she takes flight. The silver light coalesces around and in front of her as she rises, until she is silhouetted against what seems to be a huge, brilliantly shining full moon, hanging high in the sky above Traverse Town.

Luna lands again, her horn still glowing faintly as she maintains the illusion. She's a little out of breath, but smiling triumphantly and somewhat defiantly.]

Tonight, there shall be a moon!

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[Ven peers through the comm unit, trying to decide if that's real or not. With Luna, it could probably be either.]

Do you need any help?

Neigh, neigh. We art quite well. [Just rather melancholy-sounding, apparently.]

[There's no verbal response to that, but if Luna looks she can probably see a look of consideration on Ven's face. After a couple of moments, he shuts the comm unit down and heads out, spirits at his side.]

[Luna doesn't look, only glancing down at the comm after rather a long period of silence. Oh. He's turned it off. He's probably going back to bed then...

...no, no, she's being silly. Ven wouldn't do that. In fact, she wouldn't be terribly surprised if he were coming this way.]

[Well if he were tired enough, he would, but he's not right now. Despite being mostly an early-to-bed early-to-rise type, when he gets a good rest in he loves to stay up late watching the stars. He can stay up a little tonight, especially since it's so important to Luna.]

[So, after a few minutes, Ven's climbing up the belltower. Actually the first thing Luna sees is Linka, bobbing up above the lip of the tower and then disappearing again, squeaking. Soon after comes Ven himself, Wheeler following closely behind. He smiles as his head appears, pulling himself the rest of the way up.]

Feel like some company?

[Luna returns the smile, spreading a wing to indicate the empty spot on her left; she's by now pressed her other side up against Ursa's reassuring if slightly oblivious bulk.]

I would appreciate that.

Okay. [He climbs the rest of the way up, Linka bobbing above him and Wheeler scrambling behind, and settles himself into the space Luna left free for him. It takes him no time at all to lift his face to the sky above them.]

It's really beautiful, isn't it? The night sky, all lit up like this...

I have always thought so. Whoever placed these stars had a talent for it.

[Complimenting their work makes her feel a little bit better about insinuating her pride over her own. Ponies become strange around her when she talks like that, though she supposes she cannot truly blame them.]

No one placed them - most of them are other worlds. We're seeing the light of their hearts, shining to let the other worlds know they're not alone.

[It's always been a comforting thought to him. And yes, not all of them are worlds, but a great many are - even with some sort of barrier preventing him from traveling between them as he has in the past, the sight itself is still comforting.]

Is that so?

[Her ears prick, and she looks at them with a newfound interest.] We arranged the stars in Equestria's sky. They are just stars.

Hast thou been to many different worlds?

Not all of them, but some, yeah. [Unfortunately, at this distance he can't tell which world is which, or even which are worlds and which are stars. But still, it's a nice thought that the friends he made throughout his journey are out there somewhere, maybe looking down on this world, too.] Let's see - I've been to the Dwarf Woodlands, the Castle of Dreams, Enchanted Dominion, Radiant Garden, Disney Town, 626's spaceship, the Coliseum, Neverland, and the Graveyard. And there was one world I was on briefly, a bunch of islands, but I never learned that one's name.

...And Land of Departure. [Home.]

'Tis still a great many more than we hath seen. We do not believe such places are generally accessible from Equestria. Were they hospitable to thee?

Most of them were. There's a thing, though, one of the precepts - the worlds aren't supposed to know other worlds exist. So whenever we go somewhere, we have to try and be quiet about it, and try to fit in. I didn't do so well at it sometimes, but since a lot of worlds don't even know the other worlds exist, most people just assume you're from a part of their world that they've never seen.

But I made a lot of friends out there - I hope I get to see them again someday.

Perhaps thou shalt! Traverse Town seems to respect worldly boundaries little.

[He nods at that, because boy is it true.] Yeah - there's some people here that I saw in Radiant Garden, but it looks like they're from a lot later, time-wise, than I am.

Yes, we had heard that was occurring. 'Tis somewhat troubling...

Yeah, I... [This really is just weird to think about.] I met Ienzo when he was... maybe seven? Eight? And now look at him, he's older than me. And he talks.

[It's just a really weird feeling.]

[Luna smiles, withholding an amused chuckle. Yeah, she knows that feeling. Mortals grow up so fast.]

We only hope the timelines are not damaged.

I hope so, too, but I don't know how to tell if they are...

[And he casts a glance her way.] Do you?

Neigh, we care not for time spells. But we knew the great spellcrafter Star Swirl, some centuries past. He believed that time could not be altered by mere mortal hooves, and his time travel spell seemed to bear it out. No matter what he did, what happened in the past would not be changed.

Still, magic is strange. We hesitate to say what is impossible, here.

Yeah. [And he leans back with a sigh, lying back all the way with his arms under his head.] I've given up trying to figure out what's possible and what's not. Even with living here, I can't figure that out.

We suppose we must, in some part, trust to fate. [She stretches out, leaning her chin against a foreleg, and her aura pulses a little as she idly sends a few illusory meteors past the moon's face.] It is not something I am used to...

Third Night: The Longest Night

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