Creating A Hive

I Dance On Your Bridge

Luna left the dream of Sweetie Belle. Her night was filled with troubles, inside and out. Luna hoped that with her advice, the rift between Rarity and Sweetie Belle would be smoothed over.

Her only regret was she missed meeting with Raspberry. It wasn't often that the ponies of Equestria struggled under something during their appointed meeting time. Celestia did well to maintain peace enough in her daylight to

Luna tried to visit the dreams of her friend, only to find them over. Luna recalled that Raspberry was able to keep Luna from her dreams, that the Reality Walker could manage that for as long as Raspberry wished.

Luna remembered the last time Raspberry did this. The grief that followed her friend, chased away restful sleep. The lack of life in her eyes, in her words. It softened Luna to Raspberry's plight, a night of shared feelings and deep conversation. Luna resolved to keep up the weekly visits. That she missed one- without warning- upset her on Raspberry's behalf, as the Reality Traveler would no doubt be upset.

The feelings of Raspberry were often mysterious, and yet so easy to predict.

==CAH==

By afternoon, Luna was still working out a way to repay the slight against her friend. She originally thought to send a letter via Lilac, only to remember that Lilac lived in a different city now. Her second option was through Spike. The idea of using a proxy to deliver the message felt cheap. Months and months of uninterrupted meetings, and Luna didn't even apologize to Raspberry's face? The offense would surely double!

So...Luna was a terrible friend who couldn't manage to complete a simple apology.

She was still fretting over this when Raspberry greeted her.

"Hey there, friend-o!" Raspberry greeted.

Luna blanched. Why was she here? No, that was a foolish question. Raspberry showed time and time again that her knowledge of the palace was immense, that sneaking inside was no challenge to her. According to the former head of the guard, Raspberry knew many of the ponies by name. Entering the palace unannounced was her modus operandi.

Was her offense so grave that Raspberry had to see her face, to yell at Luna's face rather than stay silent? Luna was an even worse friend than she thought. Raspberry was often so aloof about her feelings, to admit them was such a toll on her. For Raspberry to come to Luna herself to express her feelings meant Luna could possibly be killed in the next five minutes.

Not that she blamed Raspberry for that. Luna would welcome any punishment that Raspberry thought necessary. This act was unforgivable between friends, but Luna was desperate to know that their friendship was intact.

Raspberry winced. "Yeah, I don't know why I said that. The kids are rubbing off on me." Raspberry rubbed her neck, grimacing. "Anyway. How're things? You wanna go-"

Luna knelt down. Raspberry's eyebrows and nose scrunched up. She focused her eyes on Luna.

"Friend Raspberry, I beg for quarter." Luna pleaded. "I know I hath left thee bereft during our weekly engagement. Please, though I do not deserve it, find it in your heart to forgive me!"

Raspberry blinked at Luna. Raspberry leaned down, taking Luna's hoof in her own. "What? No, it's fine!" She helped Luna to her feet. Once upright, Raspberry guided Luna through the halls of the palace. Again, Luna didn't begrudge Raspberry for knowing her home so well. "I knew the whole Sweetie Belle thing was gonna happen. No sweat off my back. I didn't sleep anyway, so it's fine."

Together they walked into Raspberry's usual guest quarters. Luna saw a tray of tea ready for them on the table- chamomile, by the smell. Raspberry must have been here a long while to set this up. She often premeditated her attacks. Many a dream night were spent with Raspberry explaining murders far off into her future.