Luca - 2

>Dusk of the Second Day.
>Hollow Shades was just as quiet as it was yesterday.
>All of its residents sat atop the trees, waiting for the moon to rise.
>Waiting to see it shine so brightly and cleanly.
>The forest grew loud with chattering, screeching, and upset.
>As the sun fell over the horizon, no moon rose to take its place.
>Not even a sliver of its pearlescent body shone in the sky.
>Hollow Shades and the rest of Equestria, for a second night, would be without their moon.
>Luca clambered down from the highest branches of her library and rushed inside.
>Maybe her books had something to say about this.
>She knew they wouldn't.
>She had read them all countless times.
>Maybe the new book would have something to say.
>Hopping behind her desk, she grabbed Our Moon and flipped it open.
>Page after page flipped as she returned to the spot she left off on.
>The story detailed more of the young mare's life, up to where she first tried to move the moon on her own.
"The young princess of the moon, having matured to a point where she and her magic could handle her duty of moving the moon alone, stood tall and proud atop a small hill. With her horn aglow, and the determination to be great, she concentrated on the moon. She concentrated on its image, on its weight, on its form. And it rose with her magic and her strength."
>Luca set the book down, as the next pages were blank.
"So this... this is about Princess Luna. But I've re-read all of the fairy tails and folk-lore! There's... there's nothing more being written."
>She stared at the book, her mind racking with thought at any possible solution.
>With a sigh, her face fell into her hooves, but she soon perked up as the bell above her door rang.
>She turned to find a hooded pony standing in the doorway.
>A book was held in her mouth by the spine, and on it was Princess Luna's signet.

>The mare, with no wings nor horn, trotted to the desk and placed the book upon its surface.
>Without a word, she turned and left.
>Just like the stallion from the day prior, Luca found she had vanished as soon as the door shut, as there was no sign of her from the window.
"Whatever is happening... I am immensely afraid."
>She swallowed and trotted back to her desk.
>The book, as it turned out, was one she already owned.
>It was a retelling of Princess Luna's battle against Nightmare Moon, during her banishment.
"For a thousand years, on the cold, windless surface of the night sky's pearl, a war was fought. A war between a young mare, scared, cold, and alone, and her fears, her anger, and her hate. It took six friends, after a thousand years, to come to her aid after she fell once more to Nightmare Moon and escaped her prison."
>But, everyone in Equestria knows that.
>Luca flipped through the pages of the book, finding nothing different from her own copy, save a small scrap of paper.
>It was tucked beneath the binding of the book.
>Pulling it from its home, she laid it out on the desk.
>One side read, "One step closer."
>The other, "Keep reading."
"Keep reading what? The book is finished!"
>She held the book between her hooves and stared at it.
"But... if I've finished the fairy tails, and they're all about Princess Luna..."
>Luca perked up and leaped over to a shelf containing books about the princesses and Equestria in general.
>Wings flared as she jumped up and hovered by the top shelf.
>Most of her rarer books about Princess Luna and early Equestria were kept there.
>Pulling them all down and stacking them on the desk, she found a small notebook hidden on the shelf.
>A nostalgic feeling swept over her as she opened it up.
>It was a notebook she had as a child, filled with notes and little details in her fairy tail books.
>Little doodles of Princess Luna, the moon, and stars littered the margins of the notebook.

>Luca read through it, laughing to herself as she remembered all of the silly things she thought as a child.
>All of the silly things she still thinks of.
>With a sigh, she set the notebook down and looked around the room.
>Would her younger self be happy with where she is and how far she's come?
>Maybe not with her accepting weird books from cryptic strangers, but alas, her curiosity got the better of her!
>She did find it rather odd that they only visited during the new moon, and on the night that the moon didn't return.
>What if there's something tying these books and the moon together?
>What if she'll be the one to figure out what happened?
>Gasping with excitement, she picked the wood-bound book back up and flipped to where she left off.
>Unfortunately, as soon as she started to read, she yawned.
"Hmm... Is it already dawn?"
>Looking out the window, she confirmed her assumption.
"I suppose this can wait until tomorrow, then. Amazing how time seems nonexistent when lost in a book."
>Tucking Our Moon under the desk, she began tidying up her workspace.
>After locking the door, she headed upstairs to commence her evening routine.
>What wonders would the book bring her tomorrow?
>Maybe a new guest would visit and give her more information about it.
>She snuggled into her bed and smiled as she ventured off into a world of peace and slumber.
>Maybe the moon would return tomorrow night.