>"Anonymous?"
>Luna's cheerful voice echoes off the hard concrete floor of the garage.
"Under here, Lulu."
>Her hooves rapidly make their way toward you.
>As you look up, her bright eyes peek through what little space there is between the engine and radiator of the Superbird.
>"What are you doing down there?"
>You knock on the oil pan of the motor, making a hollow sound as it is nearly empty.
"Changing the oil in the old girl. General tune up stuff while I have it parked for the winter."
>Too impatient to wait, you put the drain plug back in, tightening it before you slide yourself and the nearly full drain pan out from underneath the car.
>"I still find it odd you insist on parking it until spring. Tia hates winter, Canterlot hardly even gets below freezing."
>You shrug as you pull yourself up off the hold floor, wiping your hands on an old rag.
"I didn't do much for maintenance during the summer and fall, because I'm so used to doing it in the winter. Old habits die hard."
>Luna sighs, sitting down in front of you.
>"I was hoping for some excitement this afternoon. Today has just been so.... dull."
>You look at her, frowning.
"Well, if you want excitement, you just managed to sit in a puddle of oil."
>She stands up quickly, turning to look.
>"What? I do not see anything."
"That's because it's all right here."
>You goose her on the black markings of her rear, making the mare jump and squeal.
>She turns back around and playfully tackles you back to the floor, grinning.
>"Gah! You're terrible!"
>You just laugh at her in response as she lays down on top of you.
"I can't help it you fall for that every time."
>Her smile grows mischievous at this point.
>"Well I'm not letting you back up now."
>You kiss her on the nose.
"I'm not complaining. Might look a little awkward if someone were to walk by, though."
>She mulls over the thought, before standing up and helping you to your feet.
>Ruffling her mane with your hand, you bend over and pick up your tools.
"So, what do you want to do this afternoon for 'excitement?' I got the rear end torn apart on this thing, so this is out of the question."
>She peers over to your side at the car, then back to you, completely lost.
>"It looks in one piece to me, Anon."
"No, the differential, the axle in the back. I have that tore apart, I wheel hopped it really bad earlier this year, I want to make sure I didn't hurt any of the rear gears."
>She continues to just stare.
"Long story short, we can't go flying through the countryside in this thing."
>You hear her gasp, and as you look up, her eyes are lit up.
>"That's it, Anon! We should go flying together!"
>You shake your head, playing dumb.
"I can't fly, Luna."
>She prances around you, ignoring your obvious tactics.
>"Oh come on, Anon. It will be fun!"
"Luna, I'm too big for you."
>She stops, rolling her eyes as you continue to stall.
>"Anon, I've told you many times now. You aren't too big to ride on my back. But if it will make you feel better, I can always shift myself to a larger size, like I have in the past."
>Out of options, you have no choice but to tell her the real reason you don't like the idea.
"Luna, I'm afraid of heights. I don't think it's a good idea."
>Her expression of minor frustration turns to one of sympathy.
>"You've never mentioned that before. You're serious, aren't you?"
>Nodding, her face suddenly lights up again.
>"Then we just have to help you get over your fears this afternoon."
>Dammit.
"No. I am perfectly fine with my reasonable fear of high places and flying, thank you very much."
>She sticks her lower lip out, pouting.
>"Please?"
>You cross your arms.
"No."
>[Please?]
"Why do you think asking me telepathically is going to make a difference?"
>[Pleeeaase?]
"You aren't going to stop until I say yes, are you?"
>She shakes her head.
"Luna, I love you, but you are such a brat."

>Between insisting on washing up and getting something to eat, you do your best to stall for time.
>Unfortunately, it only adds up to a total of an hour.
>"Are you ready, Anon?"
>Luna smiles as she heads towards the balcony of her room.
>You continue to slouch on her bed, not budging an inch.
"No."
>She turns back round, disappointed.
>"Come on, what is there to fear?"
"I dunno, maybe falling off, dropping thousands of feet to my death could be the issue."
>"Anon, we've already found out you share my gift of the phoenix. You can't die."
"Well, I might smack the ground and NOT die."
>She rolls her eyes, growing impatient with you.
>"I promise to be careful and take it slow. I want to help you overcome your fears. But to do that, you must face them head-on."
>Sighing, you pull yourself to your feet.
"Fine, fine. Let's get this over with so I have time to get through the trauma before dinner."
>Luna focuses, her body glowing as her form twists and grows larger, until reaching roughly the same size as her sister.
>"Just to make sure you are comfortable, and not worrying about me."
>She kneels, and you begrudgingly hop onto her back.
"Just take it easy, please?"
>"Of course, Anon."
>She stand and walks over to the balcony.
>You take this pause to hold on tight to her neck, as you feel her muscles tense.
>Without warning, she leaps up and over the balcony, putting both of you into a swan dive.
"Luna, I said take it easy!"
>You can't hear her with the onrush of wind past your ears, but you can feel her giggling.
>After a few moments of freefall, her massive wings open, the deceleration pressing you into her body.
>Leveling out in a glide, Luna begins to flap her majestic wings, rapidly gaining altitude.
>Tightening your stronghold on her neck, you don't dare to look down to see how high up you are, as you catch your breath.
"You call this easy?!"
>"Mmm, no. But in order for you to overcome your fears, we must face the worst case scenario of your fear, the root of it all."
"You couldn't just tell me that was your plan?!"
>She turns her head, smiling.
>"If you knew what my plan was, it wouldn't be that scary, would it?"
"Luna, when we land, I'm going to kill you."
>She erupts in laughter, abruptly pulling up and over, until you are both flying upside down.
>Instead of feeling gravity shift to pulling you away from her body, you feel no change.
>The blue alicorn seems to sense your confusion.
>"Anon, as long as I have the ability to fly and my magic, you cannot fall off."
"So basically, I'm super-glued to you?"
>"An interesting way to look at it, but yes. In a sense."
>Allowing yourself to relax a bit, you loosen up your deathgrip on Luna's neck, sitting more upright.
>The two of you roll back over, moving along at a leisurely pace at this point.
>"I take it you aren't quite as terrified as you were?"
>You reach up and scratch her behind the ear.
"No, this isn't too bad."
>As if on cue, she tucks in her wings, throwing the two of you into a deep dive.
"Well it wasn't bad!"
>"You seem comfortable in the air in a calm flight now, so I figured it's time to put the rest of your fears to bed."
>You growl.
"What happened to taking it slow, Moonbutt?"
>"I seem to recall somepony not taking it slow in my first ridealong in his vehicle."
>She turns her head again, giving you a sly wink.
"So this is about returning a favor?"
>"Not at all."
>Luna's wings stretch out again, acting as a massive airbrake to slow you to a stop.
>"I am merely showing you how much control I have, to assure you nothing will happen to you up here when you are with me."
>"I thought I heard yelling coming from up here."
>You and Luna continue to hover, turning around to the direction of the voice.
"Hi, Celly."
>"Sister? Aren't you supposed to be in the throne room?"
>Celestia's graceful wings flap slowly, as she just chuckles.
>"Well, yes. It's been a very quiet day once again, so I decided to go for a stroll. Until hearing the two of you causing a commotion, that is. What are you doing?"
>Luna speaks up, her voice filled with excitement.
>"We're working on Anon's fear of heights and flying!"
>Tia seems surprised.
>"Anon, I didn't know you had a fear of heights."
>You shrug.
"It never came up in conversation, I guess. I have to say though, I'm a little bit more comfortable with it, with Luna."
>You stop yourself.
"At least, when she's not showing off."
>Celestia's eyes dart to her sister, smirking.
>"Luna would never do that, I'm sure."
>Jutting her chest out, Luna shakes her head.
>"I would never do such a thing."
>With a giggle, Celestia turns away.
>"I thought so. Now, race you back to the castle!"
>With that, Celestia pins her wings back, diving toward Canterlot.
>You have just enough time to wrap your arms around Luna's neck before the two of you plunge into a dive after her.
>But rather than fear, your heart beats with excitement.
>You lean into Luna's body, trying to streamline yourself as much as possible.
>"Now you're getting into the spirit of it, Anon!"
"Don't let her win, Luna."
>As if fueled by your words, Luna pushes herself to go faster, her wings flapping in a fury.
>Celestia doesn't stand a chance, and as the two of you whoosh by, you take a moment to wave at her.
"See you at the castle!"

>"After all these years, you still don't have the speed to match me, sister."
>Celestia lands not long after you've hopped off Luna's back.
>"I thought I had a chance with you having some extra weight with you. Clearly I was mistaken."
>Luna nuzzles you as you ruffle her mane, her breathing subsiding to calmer levels.
>"I take it your fear has subsided somewhat?"
>Smiling, you nod.
"Definitely more comfortable, though I won't say I won't still be nervous for next time. But that was pretty cool."
>The three of you head for the castle, the two sisters no doubt looking for something to drink.
>As you pass by the garage, you remember something you found earlier when cleaning up the Superbird.
"Hey Luna, I was cleaning out the inside of the car earlier, and I found an old book under the seat. I don't recognize the writing at all, I assume it's yours?"
>Luna steps awkwardly, nearly falling flat on her face.
>"I... probably, yes."
>That's certainly an odd answer.
"What is it?"
>She clears her throat, as all three of you have stopped walking at this point.
>"Your loss was.... extremely difficult, as you can imagine, Anonymous. I regret to say I was willing to turn to rather.... forbidden methods to bring you back. It is likely fortunately the idea did not work."
>She looks around to avoid eye contact, clearly embarrassed.
"You mean like necromancy?"
>Celestia's eyes go wide, as Luna gasps.
>"You have heard of such a thing?"
>You shrug.
"Well, yeah. I mean, it doesn't technically exist where I'm from, but it exists in legend."
>The two exchange glances, before Celestia speaks up.
>"We definitely need to discuss more of your world at some point in time. You seem to know a fair bit about magic, despite its lack of existence."
"Sure. Trust me, this is all just as odd to me as it is to you."
>Your small group resumes your stroll back into the castle.
"Speaking of me being gone, what did I miss as far as the interrogation? Did we learn anything?"
>"You really don't remember anything from that day?"
>Luna turns her head to you with intense curiosity.
"No, I really don't. Is that bad?"
>"I do not think it is an issue, Anon. It is just different. You see, whenever Luna or I rise again, we can remember what happened. Not to mention remembering the pain of the flames of rebirth."
>Luna shudders.
>"Consider it a blessing, Anonymous. Perhaps your mind has blocked it out."
"Okay. Anyways, back to the original question?"
>"Right. It seems the prisoner we have is somewhat important. While nopony really knows the internal workings of the changeling's social structure, the one we have is among the first born to Chrysalis. Unfortunately, the only other information we got before your... incident, is something we had already heard. Chrysalis does not want you dead."
"Sooo, what does she want?"
>"Your power. Or perhaps more specific, Nightmare Moon's power contained in you. She doesn't know what it is as far as we can tell, but you certainly made an impression on her when the two of you met."
"That sounds just as bad as wanting me dead. Of course, the death scenario would be a lot better now with what we know."
>Luna playfully bops you with a wing.
"Just saying. "




[Originally posted 21 November 2015]