Anonicorn: The Night

>”He’s just a normal foal.”
>You look over at your sovereign, Celestia.
“I do not understand.”
>”Look, Raven,” Celestia says, then tosses her head towards her son Anonymous.
>Named for his impossible lack of a father, of course.
>He floated in midair before her, held aloft by her magic, as she wound a string of light around him like a yarn ball, surrounding him with a glow that grew brighter as she worked.
>”None of the distance some try to ascribe to him. No impairment. In these moments I see unbounded curiosity, and a special attentiveness. He has this sense of endless wonder with the world. Sometimes he has trouble showing and telling the world what he discovers about it, is all. He’s just a normal foal.”
>The young prince watched his mother’s work with a soundless smile, tracking the string of light as it left Celestia’s horn to clump around him in a big ball.
>You run through it all in your head:
>Infrequent vocalization
>Acquires mannerisms by study rather than mimicry
>Doesn’t ‘play’ with magic as unicorn foals might
>Actively avoids attention
>Apparent difficulties interacting with other foals
>You sympathize with Celestia, you really do.
>A thousand childless years, and she suddenly conceives without a mate. An actual miracle.
>But in such circumstances, one can forgive the suspicious. What’s the drawback?
>It’s a fertile breeding ground, pardon the pun, for rumors with seemingly no end of evidence.
>But was the evident the whole picture?
>You only now realize Celestia’s looking at you, her smile fading.
>So too is the prince, and you know it’s with meaning. He never copied ponies pointlessly.
>Behind his eyes lies something not quite hard, but too firm for his few years.
>Looking back to the Princess is no better, for hers are far too soft for how you know her to be.
>She wants your support.
>And the Prince, damn him, is judging you for withholding it.
>He’s only six!
“What I see...”
>You walk close to him, placing your head right in front of his.
“I see a colt far older than his age. I would not try to persuade those who think him somehow different, Your Majesty. I believe they have the right of it. Perhaps, though, not in the way they suspect.”
>”Then what do you think?”
>You look back to Celestia, who’s returned to her work, but without her earlier cheer.
“I do not know, nor can I presume to guess.”
>Her smile’s entirely gone now, one of those moments of naked honesty.
>Damn your own; you’ve wounded her.
>You’ve been walking a fine line, the past couple years.
>You really do think the other members of court are too judgmental about whatever the Prince’s condition is.
>At the same time, you have to admit there is some sort of condition.
>You’ve tried to be a voice of reason to both parties, but you never had any answers at all in the first place, let alone one that would satisfy either.
“For now, though…”
>She looks back at you, as you look back at her son, now entirely encased within a bright glowing ball.
“Tonight, he wears two costumes, for he does look like any other foal. At the risk of torturing the metaphor, Your Majesty, he just needs some time to grow into that one.”
>A ghost of her earlier smile returns. “I think I see your meaning, Raven. Come then, lets show the court both of his costumes.”
>She stands, and with a flash of light, her misty mane turns into a starfield, dense and bright, shot through with blue and purple and pink nebulae.
>The brightly glowing ball containing the Prince floats behind her, a compliment to the much larger ball enclosing Celestia’s own body, decorated with an admirably accurate map of the globe.
>Another celestial body is notably absent, particularly considering its central focus on Nightmare Night.
>Frankly, you’re relieved that the Prince has taken Celestia’s mind off her sister’s terrible fate, since his birth.
>You follow her out when she exits the room, adjusting the cardboard wings on your back.
>Your thoughts draw your attention to the moon as you pass the windows lining one side of the hall.
>What will happen when that particular prophecy is fulfilled?
>”Mummy, look, I fly!”
>Your attention is brought back to the present as the Prince graces the world with his rare voice.
>Celestia smiles back at him, and magically tugs him closer to her side. “You most certainly are, dear.”
>When the two of you enter the grand hall, there is no announcement or interruption. The usual herald, by tradition, calls no names on Nightmare Night.
>Celestia’s presence is commanding as always, however, and the two of you don’t go unnoticed for long.
>Celestia’s adopted nephew, Prince Blueblood, comes bounding up to where Anon hovers, looking up excitedly.
>The green prince pitches downward, comically slow, until he can meet his stepcousin’s gaze.
>One of the few foals the introverted prince got along with, the other being the daughter of a minor noble family whose name currently escapes you.
>”Ms. Inkwell, you’re looking… dark. Might I ask what your disguise is? It is too cunning by half, for me.”
>You turn to Lord Lavish, currently serving as Blueblood’s minder.
>His outfit confuses you as well, until you notice Blueblood himself is dressed differently than usual too.
>Ah, they came as each other.
“Surely you can think of it, my lord.”
>You wave a hoof across the opposite foreleg’s black sleeve, the same color as the rest of your bodysuit and beaked mask.
>Lavish squints at you. “Ah… a hippogryph? You have a keen interest in history, after all.”
>Can you believe this stallion? What a poor role model for Blueblood.
“I have come as a raven, m’lord.”
>He looks genuinely astonished. “Oh! How clever, I should have known.”
>You smile and bow your head, not daring to voice your thoughts of ‘yes, you should have.’
>”Fortunately, the Princess is far more direct,” Lavish says, turning to Celestia. “Stunning as ever, Your Majesty. I especially like your mane.” He squints at Anon’s luminous bulk “And the Prince as the sun. Very direct indeed.”
>”He’s the light of my life, Lord Lavish,” Celestia says. She brings her head low, to where Blueblood is trying to bat at Anon’s ball like a cat, while Anon has continued his slow downward pitch and is now hanging more or less upside-down. “It’s not too much to say that these two are important parts of Equestria’s future.”
>Blueblood beams. Anon’s face is currently hidden from your view.
>”Well said, Princess,” Lavish says, but you see the glance he throws at Anon. “Once again, wonderful costumes.”
>He bows and departs, Blueblood only noticing his absence after several moments and bounding off to catch up.
“I believe your adopted nephew deserves a better influence.”
>”Oh?” Celestia looks at you with an innocently inquisitive glance, but you can see by the look in her eyes that she shares your assessment. “An issue for another time, maybe. Let’s see some more creative costumes.”
>As if on cue, Anon, finally returned to upright, is looking around the room.
>More than just that endless wonder Celestia sees, in his face. Discerning.
>Oh, give it a rest, Raven.
>Just enjoy the night.

* * *

>Something about the stars.
>You sit in the dark, staring out the glass doors to the balcony off your bedroom, next to your mother’s.
>Tonight was Nightmare Night.
>That meant it was Aunt Luna’s night, right?
>Mom talked about her, a few times, how tonight was dedicated to her, and how she was lost, and had to be put away.
>How can you put away something you lost?
>[spoiler]No, not like that.[/spoiler]
>Lost-and-putting-away was a Big Thought. One of those thoughts you could think, or had thought once, but your head is now too small for it.
>Just like Big Facts, things you knew before, but now could only recall a tiny piece at a time.
>Your head used to be bigger, you were sure of it. It used to be able to fit all the Big Thoughts and Big Facts. How else would you know they were Big?
>It just made you feel stupid when you couldn’t fit them inside your head now, especially the important ones.
>Everypony wanted you to say stuff but what did it matter when you couldn’t fit the stuff you wanted to say in your head, let alone your mouth, which was even smaller and oftentimes couldn’t say even things that did fit in your head.
>It felt like your tongue took up too much mouth-space. If it worked [spoiler]the way you remembered it[/spoiler] maybe there’d be enough room.
>This particular Big Thought might explain why Mom was so sad, when she talked about Aunt Luna.
>The stars were important somehow, but you can’t remember.
>You stare up at the ones surrounding the moon.
>Four bright ones there, with a host of smaller ones flickering around them.
>Something doesn’t look right about them.
>But what?
>Is that another Big Thought? Were you trying to do Big Thinking right now?
>You could definitely see it was off, but the question was how? If you could, how would you move that further one [spoiler]to complete the obvious pattern the other three make against the regular array of fainter surrounding stars[/spoiler] so everything looks pretty?
>That one star.
>It’d have to go to the left, just a little, right?
>Then down, maybe a third as much.
>Something tickled your horn. You wiped a hoof across it to alleviate the sensation of [spoiler]sweat on the bare skin of your brow from[/spoiler] exertion.
>Wait, how are you exerting yourself?
>Don’t know.
>Maybe that’s a Big Thought too.
>That star is definitely out of place though.
>Maybe Mom was sad because the stars aren’t right around Aunt Luna’s house?
>Yeah, you’re sure you know how to fix it.
>Left, then a little down.
>If it would just move.
>If it would just make mom happy.
>You blinked a couple times, to clear the sleep away.
>It’s way past your bedtime, after all.
>Weird how the tiredness came on so suddenly.
>And your horn still feels tingly.
>Stop it, horn, you’re trying to focus on the star.
>Move, star!
>Make Mom happy again!
>Left, then-
>And then it moves.
>The star jumps to the left, quivers a bit, then slowly drops into its correct position.
>The moon flashes.
>You did it! Maybe Aunt Luna will be happy with the stars now, maybe Mom will be-
>Another flash, this one from right in front of you, on your balcony.
>A dark shape looms, blacker than the night beyond.
>A single eye opens, then narrows, razor-thin.
>”CELESTIA.”
>The booming voice is alien, but in some distant way familiar. Like hearing a familiar note in a different chord.
>”I BELIEVE WE HAVE A FEUD TO SETTLE.”
>Oh, it sounds like Mom’s voice! It’s different, but those same undertones are there.
>And look, she’s an alicorn right? The only alicorns you know are Mom and yourself.
>”I’ll give you… two… no, three! THREE minutes to rise to my challenge. I know you’ll need it!”
>This must be Aunt Luna! Maybe she’s here to thank you for fixing the stars!
“Hi, Aunt Woona!”
>No, stupid tongue. This wasn’t even a Medium Thought, come on.
>You wave a hoof at her instead. Maybe that’ll make up for it.
>The alicorn looks down at you in shock, as if only noticing you now.
>Then she… deflates.
>All her sharp edges disappear, and color fades into her coat, lightening her against the background.
>She gets smaller as well as softer, she was as big as Mom at first but now she’s somewhere between that and a normal pony
>”M-Me? A...Aunt?”
>You vigorously nod your head.
“Mhm!”
>She looks down at you, then at the latch to your room.
>You can’t let her in, [spoiler]she’s dangerous as hell, you’ve heard the whole tale before, she could hurt you or Mom and[/spoiler] you can’t feel even that little bit of magic you normally could try to use, in a most clumsy fashion.
>Instead you jump at the latch, uselessly flapping your tiny wings as you do.
>The third leap knocks the latch loose, and the door swings open.
>Luna raises a hoof to enter, but hesitates, looking down at her limb as if it was a foreign object.
>She stays there for a long time.
>Aunt Luna’s so silly!
>With great effort, you nudge the door out of the way with your head, squeezing your small body through the resultant gap.
>Only with you standing before her does she tear her attention away from her own leg, looking down at you with equal wonderment.
>Then she slowly lowers her head, until its resting on the balcony’s stone in front of you.
>You waste no time clambering onto her head, turning and dropping yourself to your belly on her mane just behind her horn.
>Aunt Luna should have a crown too! You can sit here until she gets one.
>Mom always called you her jewel, after all.
>She lifts her head just as slowly as she lowered it, tilting it so you’re always centered and perfectly balanced.
>You look at the reflection of the two of you in the glass of the doors, and you can tell she is too, from where her eyes are trained.
>So much you can tell from a pony’s eyes.
>You’re almost falling asleep by the time Luna looks away, turning slowly.
>Eventually the two of you are looking out across Canterlot.
>Her head’s tilted upwards now, taking in the moon and the stars she so recently left, with you now half-upright to stay perched there.
>You catch a glimpse of Mom inside, looking at you.
>She looks as tired as you do. You wont bug her. She needs her rest.
>Just going to enjoy your first night with Aunt Luna.