In The Beginning.
We woke up to the sounds of wind and animals, granted she woke up first but only by a few days.”
“Wait if she’s only a few days older than you why is she so much bigger?”
“Celestia is in a form she chose herself I am in a form chosen for me by the Elements of Harmony. We were alone as the only intelligent beings on the planet but we kept each other company Celestia and I had all we needed just by being around each other, we made the first system of writing and used it to make storybooks that we would read to each other, we built a castle to live in which is now ruined, by my standards everything was perfect, my sister and I were in perfect harmony. This was long before we even knew of Discord’s existence or he even knew he had power.
“Celly!” Luna ran through the halls trying to win the game of obscure and retrieve she and her sister were playing; though now that she thought about it they did need to come up with a better name for it. “Celly!” Luna heard a quiet whimpering from a room to her right. “Oh no, not again.” Luna quickly opened the door to find her sister sniffling, staring out the window at the grassland where a group of creatures that looked almost like they did was grazing.
“Doesn’t it ever bother you that we’re so alone here.” Celestia choked out
“No.” Celestia stared at her with the same confusion as all the other times she had asked this question.
“Why?”
“Because I know I’ll always have my sister here with me.” Luna nuzzled up to Celestia making her calm down, despite technically being the little sister she was much more composed than Celestia was. “Why don’t we go and read that book you wrote, that always cheers you up.”
That Night
“Celestia!” Luna screamed from her room. “Celestia!” The door to the room flew open and Celestia was tackled by a very frightened alicorn.
“Oof! Luna what’s wrong?”
“I had a dream about us.” Luna sobbed into her sister’s fur. “We were on top of the castle… and I was wearing armor… and there were bright lights… and- and you were… attacking me.” She clung even harder to Celestia hoping she would never have to let go. Softly someone started singing, it was a simple tune carried without words but it was a lullaby none the less. Luna quieted down still shaking she looked up at Celestia, who had a very motherly gaze that could probably have calmed even one of the raging monsters of their youth, was singing to her driving away the fears of dreams and events yet to come.
“Luna.” Celestia spoke gently as not to startle the still shaky filly in her hooves. “I would never hurt you.” She spoke firmly to drive in the point both to Luna and herself; unbeknownst to Luna her sister had just had the same dream.
Time and Life progressed as expected with the sisters leaning on each other as both family and friend. Until a hundred years after the ponies had evolved into intelligence, their three races and Discord’s rule began. During this time things fell from the sky frequently but tonight they fell on the eve of battle. One made of an eager metal, the other a concentrated form of friendship.
“We cannot rush into battle so quickly sister, especially unarmed. Say what you will about Discord, he may be mad but he’s a genius and vastly more powerful than we are.”
“I can no longer stand idly by while that ‘thing’ continues using those poor creatures as his personal playthings.”
“That’s exactly what you plan to do with them. We cannot get ourselves killed for your pet project Celestia.” Celestia took a step back from her sister’s fury. Luna calmed herself “I’m sorry but you’re all I have, I can’t lose you to some folly; even if we won I couldn’t deal with it if I lost you. I am nowhere near as invested in the ponies as you are and I am sorry for that but even if I was I would still condemn this course of action.” Luna turned to look up at the moon she had recently lost control of. “If by tomorrow morning neither of us have come up with a solid strategy we will hang the issue until one of us has. Deal?” Celestia stood staring at Luna’s concerned face studying it for a gap in her resolve but apparently couldn’t find any because her ears drooped and she gave into the dark being’s will.
“Fine.” Celestia turned and left the castle courtyard. Luna was left to her thoughts which she turned to battle strategies hoping to help her sister at least survive the battle Luna knew she was going to be unable to talk Celestia out of once the clock struck eight. She looked up at the great sphere which she used to believe was looking back at her.
“What would you do?” As if in reply a red dot appeared in the sky quickly overtaking the moon in her center of vision, it was careening strait for her. She quickly calculated the exact landing point and took three steps back. The fireball made a surprisingly small impact as if it were made of balled up parchment, when what dust there was cleared away the object lay glowing red made of some kind of metal. It was about half her height and gleamed even when red hot, a state it was rid of much more quickly than should have been possible for an object of it’s size. What is this? Luna wondered circling it slowly studying every inch of the orb’s perfectly smooth surface, she tapped it only to be hit with the flash of an image that burst into her mind for only a second before it was gone. She recoiled from the invasion of her mind. This is unnatural. But it’s powerful. Luna blinked, The second thought felt strangely compelling as if it held some great plan that could solve all her problems. She walked back up to the orb and tapped it again, it was a solid piece. But that was impossible a solid ball of metal would have caused damage, it was as if it had hit the air before landing gently on the undisturbed cobblestones. She pushed on it rolling the mass with almost no effort. Anything this light would never have survived the atmospheric layers. Why not test it’s durability? Again that feeling of being directed by her own mind washed over her and she was even more sure that this orb had great power. She struck it with the most powerful arcane spell she knew melting the previously unharmed cobblestones but the orb didn’t even give a sign that anything had happened not even the initial metallic glow it had fallen with. Now Luna transitioned from curious to confused, she had just exposed this metal to heat and power several hundred times greater than that of a high speed atmospheric entry into the sun and it didn’t even glow. If the orb could grin she was sure it would be doing so as she stepped up to it touching her horn to the still cool surface. “Beforeskin” the word entered her mind as she used her magic to make it tell her it’s name. Beforeskin? She questioned it and the metal came alive enveloping her in a cold embrace it reformed itself into a helmet chest plate and horseshoes diminishing in volume and gaining weight until it was a comfortably weighted set of armor plates, power surged through her body drowning out any fear she had of this metal. The helmet had a length of metal that ran down her neck but it moved, she probed the helmet with her magic to find that it was one piece, that was impossible this was a metal but it moved like flesh “Beforeskin” I’ll go show Celestia. Again thoughts that were both hers and not hers seemed to guide her. She flew up into the air scanning the area for Celestia. She found her at the edge of a crater. Luna landed next to her sister. “Celestia what’s this?” Celestia was cradling six gems with her magic, a look of triumph on her face.
“They fell from the sky. They are the Elements of Harmony and they’ll defeat Discord. Where did you get that armor?”
“It fell from the sky. It’s called-” Something stopped her from saying it’s name so she quickly came up with a substitute. “Amplification armor.”
“Good; well sister I’d say that we have our weapons. Do you have a plan.” At that second a plan popped into Luna’s mind, a perfect plan that used Discord’s own power against him.
“Yes, yes I do.”
The next afternoon
“Well, well the Celestial Sisters. I was beginning to wonder if you liked me.” Discord cackled at them. They had chased him around the globe to the place where they had first met him “I will admit you two are quite a breathtaking sight all dolled up for battle. Especially you Luna I-” He froze staring at her chest plate with what looked like fear in his eyes before he started laughing, a long shrieking laugh that told her nothing less than.
“I know something you don’t.” He laughed longer than rationally possible
“All right, all right I’ll give you one free shot at me before we get down to business.” He carefully pronounced the i in business, probably to annoy them more than anything else. He stood strait and tall.
“So be it.” Celestia said grimly. “Luna now!” Luna ran her soul through the three elements that Celestia had given her Honesty, Loyalty, and Kindness. The gems glowed brightly as Celestia did the same with her gems, lifting them into the air; a great blast of rainbow light ripped through the town that had been Discord’s throne room. When it faded Discord was half covered by stone and still going further down the road; he was still laughing.
“You may have beaten me today but it was good and awful to see you again Celly, Luna, Big T. But fortunately.” He stared directly into Celestia’s eyes as he said this. “I have an appreciation for beauty.” He fell silent striking a final pose to be petrified in. Might as well look good if you’re going to be a statue. Luna should have felt what was showing on her sister’s face, triumph but instead she felt a bit irritated that they had been unable to use her plan.
Over the next few hundred years the sisters took control of Equestria establishing the day and night courts. Luna rarely removed the armor, it only came off when she was alone with Celestia and they would take their younger forms in order to better enjoy themselves as they read together or played hide and seek or tag and other childish things that calmed them after long weeks dealing with the bureaucrats. But through the years Celestia grew away from her sister investing herself more and more in the ponies affairs overseeing things as mundane as the opening of businesses. Luna started putting more work into her nights arranging stars into constellations, painting nebulas, moving comets, creating astronomical oddities like white dwarfs and black holes, and what she considered her masterpiece, supernova’s brilliant displays of color that signified the death of a star. Still night court was increasingly empty never a case never anything to deal with never a complement or a job well done except from her sister, unless somepony tried to rob them or some egotistical rich colt wanted a constellation named after him. Which was insufferable to say the least but it was bearable if her sister still played with her every now and again. But as Celestia’s visits and comforting words dwindled so did Luna’s happiness. She tried having holidays like Celestia did to get in better touch with the populace but no one ever came, no one ever celebrated with her. Loneliness started to crush her so she made some friends in her head to talk with in her empty throne room only one lasted longer than a week before she decided that their story was no good; his name was Teron he had appeared without her willing it at first planting one thought over and over again in her mind for hundreds of years. “It’s not your fault.” He spoke to her through the armor. He had a frightening voice that was slow, delibrate, hollow and growling but he spoke nicely to her, told her that none of it was her fault, told her that she didn’t deserve to be thrown away like an old toy, but it wasn’t Celestia’s fault either it was the ponies, they had stolen her sister from her. She decided to try one last time before she gave in to her fate to be left alone for the rest of time.
“Celestia?” Luna asked walking up to her after day court had ended, in her child form with her favorite book that Celestia had written. Celestia looked down at her sister with an almost astonished expression as if she had forgotten that she could do that.
“Hello Luna.” The motherly softness to her voice gone.
“Can we read together tonight?” Celestia looked down at her with empty eyes.
“Not tonight Luna.” Luna felt part of herself fall struggling not to die, she didn’t want to be left alone with Teron; he frightened her.
“But it’s been over a hundred years.”
“I said not tonight Luna!” Celestia barked at her. “I’m tired.”
“How about tomorrow morning? You could just move the start of day court to later in the day.”
“I can’t the ponies need me.” Luna’s anger flashed like lightning.
“More than your little sister needs you?!” Luna opened her Shadowsight and looked into Celestia’s soul. Celestia was chained down by her own words with faceless dozens asking even more of her. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She spoke in the comforting tone her sister had used when they were little. Celestia didn’t answer. Luna knew what she had to do; if it had just been her suffering she would have endured but if Celestia was in pain as well then she would not stand for it. She carefully took her sister up to their chambers and set her down in her bed. Before leaving the room she looked back grimly at her sleeping sister. “Don’t worry Celly.” She closed the door. “I’ll make those who hurt you like this pay dearly. All. Of. Them.” She walked back to the abandoned armory and donned the familiar shell; immediately Teron spoke up.
“I’m so sorry about your sister. But what if I said that I knew someone who could help?”
“How could you know someone?”
“I made her.”
“What?” Luna rolled her eyes
“Her name is Nightmare Moon and she is far more powerful than you are. She would be able to prevent the sun from rising starving all those little ponies out.”
“I’m listening.”
“It requires nothing more than you to take her name.”
“Her name?”
“Yes it’s absurdly easy. Just call yourself by her name.”
“Fine, I am Nightmare Moon.” A massive surge of power permeated her form staining her night blue coat black, her mane became a swirl of stars and magic and her eyes became slits that looked out malevolently at the rest of the world. “Ohhh Yeeeess!” She proclaimed, laughing loud and long. She set strait to work placing the wards that would keep the sun from rising. Her thoughts were her own her actions were her own but to anyone watching her soul would be able to see the evil being using her as a puppet. She burned villages and town turning the normally dark blue night into a red and yellow haze. The time for the morning came and went with no sign of her wards even leaning when Celestia strained against them, Celestia than asked those who had been attacked; they told her that Luna had gone insane. And then she came for her.
“Ah, Celestia my sister how good to see you up and about with me again.” Luna spoke calmly smiling, the malevolent glare and sarcastic voice reserved for those that had hurt them.
“Luna why are you doing this?”
“Because they took the only thing I truly considered mine and treated it the way an infant treats a bottle, they sucked it dry.”
“What could they have possibly done that is that bad; you’ve told me your whole life that the only thing that would always be there was…” Celestia stopped as what happened before she had gone to sleep came back to her shattering the bonds on her soul with a cruel realization that pierced her mind. “I’m sorry just don’t take my mistakes out on them.”
“Your mistakes, ha! The only mistake you made was coddling those creatures in the first place.”
“Then what is it? I- I don’t understand.”
“This has nothing to do with me, I looked into your soul and you know what I saw? A slave chained by the masses. And I refused to let it continue. You see giving me the element of loyalty was a quite apt choice, I was perfectly willing to be left to my fate but once I knew how badly they were already making you suffer I lashed back out at them. I’m going to destroy them, not all of them granted I will leave you your pet project but then we can go back to the way things were, when it was just you me and a small nation that we ruled together one that wouldn’t hurt you the way these did. You get your freedom back and I get my sister back.”
“Luna that’s insane!”
“How is it any different from the time you called meteors down to wipe out the great reptiles that threatened us when we were little.”
“These creatures are intelligent I cannot believe you would kill them off for such a selfish reason.”
“Selfish? I’m doing this for you! I’m not doing this for me; I would have readily accepted that masked exile we called the night court if I just knew that you would be okay. I’m doing this for you!”
“We are only two creatures we cannot place ourselves above them.”
“I endured exile for over one hundred years for them - for you! I will not sit back and watch as they tear my only joy in this cruel temporary world apart.”
“That‘s exactly what you‘re doing.”
“They stole you from me! They took my home from me!”
“Your home?”
“That little room where we used to play, you everything sister they’ve even had me craft and name constellations after them and you know what they did with my goodwill, they spat it back in my face by parading around like they owned you and me both but no more. The only thing I had left was the knowledge that you were happy with them that you were proud of what they had built even if you weren’t happy with or proud of me anymore; as long as you were happy I could survive.” Luna stared her sister strait in the face and saw the plan behind her eyes. “So that’s how it is.” She started crying “After everything they’ve done to me! That’s how… it is.”
“Luna I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright; if you can harden your heart that far towards me, if that will make you happy than by all means do it.”
“You’ve killed foals Luna.”
“I said do it!” Nightmare Moon wailed tears streaming from her eyes. “Do it you heartless, hydra! But I swear to you either way, when I come back I will come back as the monster.”
“I’m sorry.” Celestia spoke softly the gem representing magic floated out from behind her ear.
“No you’re not.” Nightmare Moon spoke just as softly but her eyes reflected the hatred that had risen in her soul. “I will win.” Nightmare did not know she was saying this or that she was saying it in a slow, deliberate, hollow, growling voice. “I always win in the end.” The gems floated into a circle around Nightmare Moon and blasted her away to be trapped in the moon. “I just want to go home.” She spoke too softly for Celestia to hear just before she disappeared from that world. Luna wouldn’t know this until one thousand and two years later but when she disappeared Celestia sat in the ruined castle wailing for days.
Celestia’s ending.
Celestia went back to the endless days sitting on the throne listening to the bureaucrats whine on and on about how high the clouds were being kept or the repairs on a specific wealthy families house being done too slowly or the construction of the palace at Canterlot being underfunded or any manner of useless things. Every now and then some poor soul with a genuine problem would come into the room only to be cast out by the fat manticores that sat around her but she trooped through in a stupor for months not showing the grief that filled her mind and heart. Until during a lull day she heard from a place beside her.
“I’m actually glad she’s gone.”
“Yes Luna never really was a proper princess I found her honestly creepy.”
“I bet the little creature never even really liked Celestia.”
“Yes she tried to kill her that night you know. I‘m glad Celestia put the sock to her” There were murmurs of agreement from everywhere around her; That. Was. It.
“You!” Celestia stood tall letting her magic shade her in ominous angry light. “You heartless bastards!” She bellowed at the gathered monsters before her. “You sons of devils! Get out! Get out! Get out!”
“Your highness what is wrong.”
“My sister is no monster! She is a tortured soul pushed too far by all of your judgmental notions of proper and decent! How many of you know of the winter solstice festival?!” Most raised their hooves. “Then why were you never there!? I’ll tell you why because she wasn't a 'proper princess' but actually you were all just ventholes! Did any of you ask yourselves ‘what might we have done to cause this?’ No! Well guess what, that’s the question that the rest of Equestria is asking! Now get out of my courtroom you foul loathsome evil little cockroaches! Before I burn you all alive!” She let her magic blaze creating a ring of fire that rested directly above their heads. The bureaucrats ran out of there screaming as if they were already on fire. “And you!” She used a tendril of magic to grab the one who had accused Luna of attempting to kill her and brought his condescending face not two inches from her own. “You are going to have the honor of telling every one of those ‘things’ that just ran from the room that if I ever see them again it will be the last time they see anything! That includes you! Now get your disgusting self out of my sight!” she launched him through the door slamming it behind him. She extinguished the flames sat down on her throne and wept once more. As she wept she came up with an idea; it was true that the rest of Equestria wanted to know why Luna had attacked them, so she sat down and wrote the tale of Nightmare Moon. A dark tale of a neglected sister that was just close enough to the truth to avoid speculation but far enough from it to make sure that her sister would not be hated by the masses. Feared maybe but not hated.
First Goodbye. (Writer's cut.)
First Goodbye. (Writer's cut.)
In The Beginning.
We woke up to the sounds of wind and animals, granted she woke up first but only by a few days.”
“Wait, if she’s only a few days older than you why is she so much bigger?”
“Celestia is in a form she chose herself, I am in a form chosen for me by the Elements of Harmony. We were alone as the only intelligent beings on the planet but we kept each other company, Celestia and I had all we needed just by being around each other, we made the first system of writing and used it to make storybooks that we would read to each other, we built a castle to live in, which is now ruined; by my standards everything was perfect, my sister and I were in perfect harmony. This was long before we even knew of Discord’s existence or he even knew he had power.
“Celly?” Luna ran through the halls, trying to win the game of obscure and retrieve she and her sister were playing; though now that she thought about it they did need to come up with a better name for it. “Celly?” Luna heard a quiet whimpering from a room to her right. “Oh no, not again.” Luna quickly opened the door to find her sister sniffling, staring out the window at the grassland, where a group of creatures that looked almost like they did was grazing.
“Doesn’t it ever bother you that we’re so alone here?” Celestia choked out.
“No.” Luna stated flatly, sitting down next to her sister. Celestia stared at her with the same confusion as all the other times she had asked this question.
“Why?”
“Because I know I’ll always have my sister here with me.” Luna nuzzled up to Celestia, making her calm down, despite technically being the little sister she was much more composed than Celestia was. “Why don’t we go and read that book you wrote, that always cheers you up.”
That Night
“Celestia!” Luna screamed from her room. “Celestia!” The door to the room flew open and Celestia was tackled by a very frightened alicorn.
“Oof! Luna what’s wrong?”
“I had a dream about us.” Luna sobbed into her sister’s fur. “We were on top of the castle… and I was wearing metal… and there were bright lights… and- and you were… attacking me.” She clung even harder to Celestia, hoping she would never have to let go.
Softly, someone started singing, it was a simple tune, carried without words but it was a lullaby none the less. Luna quieted down, still shaking, she looked up at Celestia, who had a very motherly gaze that could probably have calmed even one of the raging monsters of their youth, she was singing to her, driving away the fears of dreams and events yet to come.
“Luna.” Celestia spoke gently, as not to startle the still shaky filly in her hooves. “I would never hurt you.” She spoke firmly to drive in the point both to Luna and herself; unbeknownst to Luna her sister had just had the same dream.
Time and Life progressed as expected, with the sisters leaning on each other as both family and friend. Until a hundred years after Discord’s rule began. During this time things fell from the sky frequently but tonight they fell on the eve of battle. One made of an eager metal, the other a concentrated form of harmony.
“We cannot rush into battle so quickly sister, especially unarmed. Say what you will about Discord, he may be mad but he’s a genius, and vastly more powerful than we are.” Luna held firm against her sister, they would lose this fight if she didn’t.
“I can no longer stand idly by while that ‘thing’ continues using those poor creatures as his personal playthings.” Celestia raged, this was personal for her.
“That’s exactly what you plan to do with them. We cannot get ourselves killed for your pet project Celestia!” Celestia took a step back from her sister’s fury. Luna calmed herself “I’m sorry but you’re all I have, I can’t lose you to some folly; even if we won I couldn’t deal with it if I lost you. I am nowhere near as invested in the ponies as you are, I am sorry for that, but even if I was I would still condemn this course of action.” Luna turned to look up at the moon she had so recently lost control of. “If by tomorrow morning neither of us have come up with a solid strategy we will hang the issue until one of us has. Deal?” Celestia stood, staring at Luna’s concerned face, studying it for a gap in her resolve but apparently couldn’t find any because her ears drooped and she gave into the dark being’s will.
“Fine.” Celestia turned and left the castle courtyard. Luna was left to her thoughts, which she turned to battle strategies, hoping to help her sister at least survive the battle Luna knew she was going to be unable to talk Celestia out of once the clock struck eight. She looked up at the great sphere which she used to believe was looking back at her.
“What would you do?”
As if in reply a red dot appeared in the sky, quickly overtaking the moon in her center of vision, it was careening strait for her. She quickly calculated the exact landing point and took three steps back. The fireball made a surprisingly small impact, as if it were made of balled up parchment, when what dust there was cleared away the object lay glowing red, made of some kind of metal. It was about half her height and gleamed even when red hot, a state it was rid of much more quickly than should have been possible for an object of it’s size. What is this? Luna wondered, circling it slowly, studying every inch of the orb’s perfectly smooth surface. She tapped it, only to be hit with the flash of an image that burst into her mind for only a second before it was gone.
She recoiled from the invasion of her mind. This is unnatural. But it’s powerful. Luna blinked, The second thought felt strangely compelling, as if it held some great plan that could solve all her problems. She walked back up to the orb and tapped it again, it was a solid piece. But that was impossible, a solid ball of metal would have caused damage, it was as if it had hit the air before landing gently on the undisturbed cobblestones. She pushed on it, rolling the mass with almost no effort. Anything this light would never have survived the atmospheric layers. Why not test it’s durability? Again that feeling of being directed by vaguely foreign thoughts washed over her and she was even more sure that this orb had great power. She struck it with the most powerful arcane spell she knew, melting the previously unharmed cobblestones, but the orb didn’t even give a sign that anything had happened, not even the initial metallic glow it had fallen with.
Luna transitioned from curious to confused, she had just exposed this metal to heat and power several hundred times greater than that of a high speed atmospheric entry into the sun and it didn’t even glow. If the orb could grin she was sure it would be doing so as she stepped up to it, touching her horn to the still cool surface. “What are you?”
“Beforeskin” the word entered her mind as she used her magic to make it tell her it’s name. Beforeskin? She questioned it and the metal came alive, enveloping her in a cold embrace, it reformed itself into a helmet, chest plate and horseshoes, diminishing in volume and gaining weight until it was a comfortably weighted set of armor plates, power surged through her body, drowning out any fear she had of this metal. The helmet had a length of metal that ran down her neck but it moved, she probed the helmet with her magic to find that it was one piece, that was impossible, this was a metal but it moved like flesh.
“Beforeskin”, I’ll go show Celestia. Again, thoughts that were both hers and not hers seemed to guide her. She flew up into the air, scanning the area for Celestia. She found her at the edge of a crater. Luna landed next to her sister. “Celestia, what’s this?” Celestia was cradling six gems with her magic, a look of triumph on her face.
“They fell from the sky. They are the Elements of Harmony, and they will defeat Discord. I‘m sure of it.” Celestia looked up at Luna, shock passing over her face for a second. “Where did you get that armor?”
“It fell from the sky. It’s called-” Something stopped her from saying it’s name so she quickly came up with a substitute. “Amplification armor.”
“Good; well sister I’d say that we have our weapons. Do you have a plan.” At that second a plan popped into Luna’s mind, a perfect plan that used Discord’s own power against him.
“Yes, yes I do.”
The next afternoon
“Well, well the Daughters of Sky. I was beginning to wonder if you liked me.” Discord cackled at them. They had chased him around the globe to the place where they had first met him “I will admit, you two are quite a breathtaking sight, all dolled up for battle. Especially you Luna, whe-” He froze, staring at her chest plate with what looked like astonishment in his eyes before he started laughing, a long shrieking laugh that told her nothing less than.
“I know something you don’t.” He laughed longer than rationally possible
“All right, all right I’ll give you one free shot at me before we get down to business.” He carefully pronounced the i in business, probably to annoy them more than anything else. He stood strait and tall, straightening an absent tie.
“So be it.” Celestia said grimly. “Luna now!”
Luna ran her soul through the three elements that Celestia had given her Honesty, Loyalty, and Kindness. The gems glowed brightly as Celestia did the same with her gems, lifting them into the air; a great blast of rainbow light ripped through the town that had been Discord’s throne room. When it faded Discord was half covered by stone and still going further down the road; he was still laughing.
“You may have beaten me today but it was good and awful to see you again Celly, Luna, Little D. But fortunately,” He stared directly into Celestia’s eyes as he said this, “I have an appreciation for beauty.” He fell silent, striking a final pose to be petrified in. Might as well look good if you’re going to be a statue. Luna should have felt what was showing on her sister’s face, triumph, but instead she felt a bit irritated that they had been unable to use her plan, yet the irritation wasn‘t quite hers.
Over the next few hundred years the sisters took control of Equestria, establishing the day and night courts. Luna rarely removed the armor, it only came off when she was alone with Celestia and they would take their younger forms in order to better enjoy themselves as they read together or played hide and seek or tag and other childish things that calmed them after long weeks dealing with the bureaucrats. But through the years Celestia grew away from her sister, investing herself more and more in the ponies affairs, overseeing things as mundane as the opening of businesses and the demolition of unstable structures.
Luna started putting more work into her nights, arranging stars into constellations, painting nebulas, moving comets, creating astronomical oddities like white dwarfs and black holes, and what she considered her masterpiece, supernovas, brilliant displays of color and light that signified the death of a star. Still night court was increasingly empty, never a case, never anything to deal with, never a complement or a job well done except from her sister, unless somepony tried to rob them or some egotistical rich colt wanted a constellation named after him. Which was insufferable to say the least, but it was bearable if her sister still played with her every now and again.
As Celestia’s visits and comforting words dwindled so did Luna’s happiness. She tried having holidays like Celestia did to get in better touch with the populace, but no one ever came, no one ever celebrated with her. Loneliness started to crush her, so she made some friends in her head to talk with in her empty throne room, only one lasted longer than a week before she decided that their story was no good. His name was Teron, he had appeared without her willing it. At first planting one thought over and over again in her mind for hundreds of years. “It’s not your fault.” He spoke to her through the armor. He had a frightening voice that was slow, hollow and growling but he spoke nicely to her, told her that none of it was her fault, told her that she didn’t deserve to be thrown away like an old toy, but it wasn’t Celestia’s fault either, it was the ponies, they had stolen her sister from her. She decided to try one last time before she gave in to her fate to be left alone for the rest of time.
“Celestia?” Luna asked, walking up to her after day court had ended, in her child form with her favorite book that Celestia had written. Celestia looked down at her sister with an almost astonished expression, as if she had forgotten that she could do that.
“Hello Luna.” The motherly softness to her voice gone.
“Can we read together tonight?” Luna asked, all sweetness. Celestia looked down at her with empty eyes.
“Not tonight Luna.” Luna felt part of herself fall struggling not to die, she didn’t want to be left alone with Teron; he frightened her.
“But it’s been over a hundred years.” Desperation creeping into her voice.
“I said not tonight Luna!” Celestia barked at her. “I’m tired.”
“How about tomorrow morning? You could just move the start of day court to later in the day.” Luna was almost begging.
“I can’t, the ponies need me.” Celestia’s voice lacked any acknowledgement of her sister‘s pleading, Luna’s anger flashed like lightning.
“More than I need you?!” Luna opened her Shadowsight and looked into Celestia’s soul. Celestia was chained down by her own words, faceless dozens asking even more of her. Luna shuddered, mouth agape as she took a horrified step back, casting away her shadowsight. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She spoke in the comforting tone her sister had used when they were little. Celestia didn’t answer, simply cocking her head, those dead eyes seemed to gaze off into space. Luna knew what she had to do; if it had just been her suffering she would have endured but if Celestia was in pain as well, she would not stand for it to say the least. She carefully took her sister up to their chambers and set her down in her bed. Before leaving the room she looked back grimly at her sleeping sister. “Don’t worry Celly.” She closed the door. “I’ll make those who hurt you like this pay dearly. All of them.”
She walked back to the abandoned armory and donned the familiar shell; immediately Teron spoke up.
“I’m so sorry about your sister. But, what if I said that I knew someone who could help?”
“How could you know someone?” Luna glared at nothing in particular as she tried to think up a way to strike back at her sister’s tormentors.
“I made her.”
“What?” Luna rolled her eyes
“Her name is Nightmare Moon and she is far more powerful than you are. She would be able to prevent the sun from rising, starving all those little ponies out.”
“I’m listening.” Luna’s gaze twitched.
“It requires nothing more than for you to take her name.”
“Her name?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Yes it’s absurdly easy. Just call yourself by her name.”
“Fine, I am Nightmare Moon.”
Luna caught a flash of familiar laughter before a massive surge of power permeated her form, staining her night blue coat black, her mane became a swirl of stars and magic and her eyes became slits that looked out malevolently at the rest of the world. “Ohhh Yeeeess!” She proclaimed, laughing loud and long. She set strait to work, placing the wards that would keep the sun from rising. Her thoughts were her own, her actions were her own but anyone watching her soul would be able to see the evil being using her as a puppet.
Luna burned villages and towns alike, turning the normally dark blue night into a red and yellow haze. The time for the morning came and went with no sign of her wards even leaning when Celestia strained against them, Celestia then asked those who had been attacked; they told her that Luna had gone insane. And then, she came for her.
“Ah, Celestia my sister, how good to see you up and about with me again.” Luna spoke calmly, smiling at Celestia, the malevolent glare and sarcastic voice reserved for those that had hurt them.
“Luna, why are you doing this?”
“Because they took the only thing I truly considered mine and treated it the way an infant treats a bottle, they sucked it dry.”
“What could they have possibly done that is that bad? You’ve told me your whole life that the only thing that would always be there was…” Celestia stopped as what happened before she had gone to sleep came back to her, shattering the bonds on her soul with a cruel realization that pierced her mind. “I’m sorry, just don’t take my mistakes out on them.”
“Your mistakes, ha! The only mistake you made was coddling those creatures in the first place.” Luna paced slowly, every step accentuated by the clink of her horseshoes.
“Than what is it? I- I don’t understand.” Celestia pleaded.
“This has nothing to do with me, I looked into your soul and you know what I saw? A slave chained by the masses. And I refused to let it continue!” Luna yelled for a moment before calming herself. “You see, giving me the element of loyalty was a quite apt choice, I was perfectly willing to be left to my fate but once I knew how badly they were already making you suffer I lashed back out at them.” A malevolent grin split her face, her slit eyes glowing with anticipation. “I’m going to destroy them, not all of them granted, I will leave you your pet project but then we can go back to the way things were, when it was just you, me and a small nation that we ruled together, one that wouldn’t hurt you the way these ’creatures’,” she spat, “did. You get your freedom back and I get my sister back.”
“Luna that’s insane!” Celestia yelled, fear in her eyes. Luna shrugged.
“How is it any different from the time you called meteors down to wipe out the great reptiles that threatened us when we were little?”
“These creatures are intelligent; I cannot believe you would kill them off for such a selfish reason.” Celestia pawed the stone beneath her hooves.
“Selfish? I’m doing this for you!” Luna yelled, stomping a metal clad hoof. “I’m not doing this for me; I would have readily accepted that masked exile we called the night court if I just knew that you would be okay. I’m doing this for you!” Luna lowered her horn, glaring at Celestia.
“We are only two creatures, we cannot place ourselves above them.” Celestia lowered her horn, obviously expecting a blow, Luna snorted and brought her head back up.
“I endured exile for over one hundred years for them, for you! I will not sit back and watch as they tear my only joy in this temporary world apart.” Luna turned back to view the land she had ravaged.
“That‘s exactly what you‘re doing.” Celestia’s voice had calmed.
“They stole you from me! They took my home from me!” Luna lowered her head again, sending a bolt of lightning down onto a particularly resilient building. “So I’m taking theirs.” She growled.
“Your home?”
“That little room where we used to play, you, everything sister!” Luna whirled back around, her eyes and horn blazing with anger, her ethereal mane lashing out into jagged shapes. “They’ve even had me craft and name constellations after them and you know what they did with my goodwill, they spat it back in my face by parading around like they owned you and me both, but no more. The only thing I had left was the knowledge that you were happy with them, that you were proud of what they had built,” she looked at Celestia then cast her eyes down for a moment, “even if you weren’t happy with or proud of me anymore; as long as you were happy I could survive.” Luna lifted her head, staring her sister strait in the face and saw the plan behind her eyes. “So that’s how it is.” Tears started streaming down her face. “After everything they’ve done to me!” Her breath hitched as she backed away from her sister. “That’s how… it is.” She hung her head, fighting against sobs.
“Luna I’m sorry.” Celestia took a step forward
.
“It’s alright; if you can harden your heart that far towards me,” Luna’s gaze hardened, “if that will make you happy than by all means do it.” She lifted her head again, her eyes, now like sapphire gems, were still dressed in tears, but reflecting a rage to level mountains.
“You’ve killed foals Luna.” Celestia almost couldn’t keep herself from crying, she had to be resolute.
“That’s not my name anymore, and I said do it!” Nightmare Moon wailed, tears streaming from her eyes and onto the stones at her feet. “Do it you heartless, hydra! But I swear to you either way, when I come back, I will return as the monster.”
“I’m sorry.” Celestia spoke softly, the gem representing magic floated out from behind her ear.
“No you’re not.” Nightmare Moon spoke just as softly but her eyes reflected the hatred that had risen in her soul. “I will win.” Nightmare did not know she was saying this, or that she was saying it in a slow, hollow, growling voice. “I always win in the end.” The gems floated into a circle around Nightmare Moon and blasted her away to be trapped in the moon. It was pain, pure pain, the elements were sending her one piece at a time. She screamed, slamming herself against the edges of the energy field that had formed around her. Her legs were sent and she fell, she lifted her head to glare at Celestia, expecting to see the same calm face that had called the elements, or the triumph of Discord’s defeat. Instead Celestia’s face was contorted as she fought not to openly sob, a single tear fell from her eye. Nightmare’s glare melted to a look of despair, she turned away from her sister. “I just want to go home.” She spoke too softly for Celestia to hear. Before she disappeared from that world. Luna wouldn’t know this until one thousand and two years later but when she disappeared Celestia sat in the ruined castle, wailing for days.
Celestia’s ending.
Celestia went back to the endless days sitting on the throne, listening to the bureaucrats whine on and on about how high the clouds were being kept, or the repairs on a specific wealthy family’s house being done too slowly, or the construction of the palace at Canterlot being underfunded, and any other manner of useless things. Every now and then some poor soul with a genuine problem would come into the room, only to be cast out by the fat manticores that sat around her, but she trooped through in a stupor for months, not showing the grief that filled her mind and heart. Until during a lull day she heard from a place beside her.
“I’m actually glad she’s gone.”
“Yes, Luna never really was a proper princess, I found her honestly creepy.”
“I bet the little creature never even really liked Celestia.”
“Yes she tried to kill her that night you know. I‘m glad Celestia put the sock to her” There were murmurs of agreement from everywhere around her; That. Was. It.
“You!” Celestia stood tall, letting her magic shade her in ominous angry light as she glared at the assembly. “You heartless bastards!” She bellowed at the gathered monsters before her. “You sons of devils! Get out! Get out! Get out!”
“Your highness what is wrong?”
“My sister is no monster! She was abandoned by all of you! How many of you know of the winter solstice festival?!” Most shakily raised their hooves. “Then why were you never there!? I’ll tell you why, because you were afraid of a monster that you told everypony was real, but actually, you were all just ventholes! Have any of you asked yourselves ‘what might we have done to cause this?’ No! Well guess what, that’s the question that the rest of Equestria is asking! Now get out of my courtroom you foul, loathsome, evil little cockroaches! Before I burn you all alive!”
She let her magic blaze, creating a ring of fire that rested directly above their heads. The bureaucrats ran out of there, screaming as if they were already ablaze. “And you!” She used a tendril of magic to grab the one who had accused Luna of attempting to kill her and brought his condescending face not two inches from her own. “You are going to have the honor of telling every one of those ‘things’ that just ran from the room that if I ever see them again it will be the last time they see anything! That includes you! Now get your disgusting self out of my sight!” She launched him through the door, slamming it behind him. There was a satisfying crunching sound from beyond it.
She extinguished the flames, sat down on her throne and wept once more. As she wept she came up with an idea; it was true that the rest of Equestria wanted to know why Luna had attacked them, so she sat down and wrote the tale of Nightmare Moon. A dark tale of a neglected sister that was just close enough to the truth to avoid speculation, but far enough from it to make sure that her sister would not be hated by the masses. Feared maybe but not hated.
