Chapters Remembering
"Luna," Princess Celestia said as she knocked on her sister's bedroom door. "Are you in there? I have to talk to you."
"Come in, Celestia," Luna answered. The princess slowly opened the door. Luna was sitting at her desk reading a book.
"The Crystal Empire," Celestia began grimly. "Has returned."
"W- What?" Luna asked as she closed her book.
"The Empire is back. I sent the guards to send Cadance and Shining Armor, and I just sent a letter to Twilight."
"Do you want me to-"
"No. Stay here for now. I don't want anything to happen." Celestia cut off her sister's sentence. "I will be in the main hall. I do not want you leaving Canterlot until this gets resolved." She opened her mouth as if she wanted to add something, but instead left the room and slammed the door behind her.
Luna got up from her desk and walked over to her bed. She pulled a key out from in between the two mattresses and used it to unlock a drawer on her nightstand. A tear rolled down her cheek as she pulled a book from it. She opened the book to the first page, and was greeted by a heart shaped piece of paper that was delicately taped there. Scrawled in black ink on the heart were four words. Four words that had started it all. Four words that kept Luna alive on the moon. Four words that made her hope, and four words that made her cry.
I love you, Luna.
Luna remembered the day King Sombra had given her that paper heart.
...
She was at a fair. She was riding rides, and playing games, and eating cotton candy. Then, she saw him. A dark blue unicorn stallion. Luna stared at him for a moment. He was talking with a tan pegasus and eating a pretzel. Then, he looked at Luna. Her heart leaped inside her chest and she slowly, inadvertently began walking towards him. The pegasus punched him on the shoulder with a smug look on his face and trotted off.
"H- Hello," Luna stuttered. "I'm Pr- Pri-"
"Princess Luna?" he asked. Luna nodded. "I didn't think I'd meet a Princess. Especially not you, your highness," the stallion said as he bowed his head. "I'm Sombra,"
"Pleasure to meet you," Luna said as she regained her courage. This is the one, Luna thought. This is the stallion I'm going to marry someday.
...
Luna flipped through the book as she recalled the glorious memories of her very special somepony. Then, about half way through the book, the memories stopped. The rest of the pages were blank. Luna knew what happened, why the memories stopped. Celestia had discovered her sister's love for Sombra, but she had seen darkness in his heart. She forbade Luna from ever seeing him again.
...
"No! You can't do this!" Luna screamed at her sister.
"Luna, I told you. There is darkness inside of him. He will turn on you," Celestia said angrily.
"I don't care! I love him! You can't make me stop seeing him!"
"This is the last time I'm going to tell you this, Luna. You need to listen to me! I forbid you to-"
"No! I won't listen! I love him! I- And I hate you!" Luna screeched at her sister. Celestia was obviously hurt, but she tried to hide it.
"Fine! I can live with that! But I swear, if I ever hear of you being with Sombra again, I will banish him!" she yelled as a tear streaked down her face and landed on her throne.
"You can't do that!"
"Yes I can. I am in control of the land."
"Then- Then I'm talking control! I will not lower the moon in the morning! Night will be eternal and I will have total control over Equestria at last!" A cloud of black smoke surrounded Luna, and when it cleared, a wicked creature of the night remained.
"L- Luna?" Celestia asked.
"Don't call me Luna. I am Nightmare Moon!"
...
Princess Luna cringed at the memory as her own harsh words echoed through her brain. The terrible memory continued through her thoughts as she was reminded of her thousand years on the moon, and of how she had many times slipped through the black fingers of depression on the hope that someday she would get to see her beloved Sombra once again.
Then, the princess's eyes filled with tears as she remembered when she came home.
...
"Where is Sombra?" Luna asked her sister about a week after she returned from the moon. Princess Celestia cringed before answering.
"He... he was angry. He nearly killed all the ponies in..." Celestia trailed off as she started to cry. "I'm sorry, sister! I knew you would be so sad, but I had to! I just- I- he-"
"Celestia!" Luna cut her sister off from her ramblings and put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "Take a deep breath, and tell me what happened." Celestia took a few deep breaths before she told her sister the entire story.
"He came to Canterlot looking for you. I told him what had happened, and he got angry. In his rage, he overtook the Crystal Empire and declared himself king. And... he... changed." Celestia levitated a book from a secret shelf and flipped to a page near the back. The page showed a drawing of a black unicorn with purple smoke coming from his eyes and a red curved horn. He was wearing armor and a red royal cape.
"Sombra," Luna whispered.
"He nearly killed all the ponies there. I did what had to be done. I transformed him to shadow and banished him to the arctic north. But he cursed the Crystal Empire to vanish for one thousand years."
"When?" Luna whispered.
"What was that, sister?" Celestia asked.
"When did this happen?" Luna yelled.
"Shortly after you-" Celestia was cut off by a loud sob from her sister as Luna grabbed the book and ran to her bedroom.
Luna did not come out from her room for a long time. She cried most of the time. She was terribly depressed. She didn't know how she would live without Sombra. She never even got to say goodbye. The last words she had ever said to him were "I'll see you tomorrow," but that was a thousand years ago.
"I miss you, Sombra," Luna whispered as a tear fell onto the picture of the dark unicorn king. "I love you."
...
Princess Luna put the book back into the drawer on her nightstand and locked it. She didn't care what Celestia said. She was going to the crystal empire to see the one and only pony she ever loved. She began walking to her bedroom door when she remembered what Celestia had said.
"As if I'm going to listen to you, Celestia. May I remind you that it's your fault he took over the empire anyway. You kept us from each other, but no longer! I will see him, no matter what!" she mumbled heroically to herself. Slowly she bent down and looked through her keyhole.
Celestia, of course, had stationed two guards on either side of the door frame.
"You think you can keep me here that easily, Celestia? You are mistaken!"
Luna pushed open her shutters and stuck her head out of the window into the warm, afternoon breeze. She climbed up onto the thick windowsill. Soon, she was going to see the stallion who she had loved so dearly all these years. She couldn't wait to escape from her sister's iron grasp and see her forbidden special somepony.
Slowly, the princess of the night leaned forward and jumped off the windowsill, spreading her wings and smiling.
Sombra's Awakening
King Sombra opened his eyes. He didn't know where he was, but wherever it is, it was dark. King Sombra loved the dark. It reminded him of his precious Luna. Well, at least until that cursed Celestia took her from him.
King Sombra tried to get up, but to no avail. He realized he was trapped. Then, after a few minutes, he realized he was cold. Freezing, is more like it. He wanted to get out of wherever he was. He wanted to sweep Princess Luna off her hooves, and crush Princess Celestia. Then, with a great yell, he broke free.
Sombra had been trapped in snow and ice which was now flying in every direction. He looked himself over and saw that he was just a shadow.
Sombra didn't care that he didn't have a body anymore; he just wanted to see the mare he loved.
"Luna!" he screamed. He began moving across the snow as fast as she could, searching for civilization. He knew what he had done to the Crystal Empire was wrong, but he had to find somepony; anypony. He wanted to find his princess. "I love you, Luna."
Promises That Can't Be Kept
Luna flew over Equestria. She flew over Fillydelphia, and Saddlearabia, and Manehatten. She continued flying until she reached the arctic north. She slowly set her hooves down in the cold snow.
"Sombra!" she yelled. She used her wings to shield her face from the blizzard that was raging at her. Freezing snow slammed into her from what felt like every direction. It felt as if she were being stabbed by a thousand icy knives. "Sombra!" she screamed again, but it was no use. She could barely hear the word coming from her own mouth.
Then suddenly, she felt a warm sensation all over. She opened her eyes to see that she had been encased by a black smoke. Then she looked up and saw that it was looking back at her. She was startled for a moment before she recognized them. They were Sombra's eyes, and they were warm and inviting.
Sombra quickly led the princess to a cave where they rested. Luna started a fire with her magic and the light shown upon her long lost love. It was warm and quiet inside the cave as the light from the fire danced along the cave walls.
"Sombra," Luna said, holding back tears. "I missed you so much. While I was on the moon, the hope of seeing you again was the only thing keeping me alive. I- I love you."
Slowly the shadow disappeared; revealing the black unicorn. His armor glinted in the light of the fire and his cape was draped over his shoulders and all around him.
"I love you, too, Luna," he said as he levitated the cape from his back and draped it around his princess.
The two ponies talked for a long time, and told each other about all the things that had happened. Sombra told Luna about how he had overtaken the empire and why he did.
"After Celestia put you on the moon," he said. "I felt alone. I felt more alone than I ever had in my entire life. Then I became greedy. I wanted love, and the Crystal Empire had more love than any other place in Equestria. I wanted to rule over it. I wanted to have subjects and I wanted them all to love me. But they feared me instead.
"I didn't want them to fear me. I was angry at myself, and at my subjects. In my anger I took the crystal heart and hid it away inside my castle. I thought it would make me happy, but it did not. Eventually, I was overtaken by sadness and I suppose I went mad. I captured all of the crystal ponies and made them my slaves. Then, I was banished.
"I thought you were going to be on the moon forever, but I found you. You have brought a ray of moonlight into my life. For that I thank you, Princess Luna." King Sombra finished his story and nuzzled Luna, who then told her story.
"I was angry and my sister. She took all the glory because she ruled the day instead of the night. I could live with that, except she pushed me over the edge one day. She forbade me from seeing you again. I think that it was because she was jealous that I had love and she did not. It was strange. I had been jealous of her my entire life because she had been born with a greater destiny. Then, she was jealous of me because I had you. She always did want to have the best of everything, and I got what was left over.
"I decided it was my turn to rule Equestria, so I refused to lower the moon, and Celestia banished me there. When I was on the moon, the thought of seeing you again was all that was keeping me alive. But when I came back, you were gone, and it was her fault."
Luna looked at Sombra when she finished and he looked back at her. They smiled at each other.
"I promise I will never love anyone but you, Sombra," Luna said.
"I promise too," Sombra replied. Then, he slowly leaned forward and kissed Luna, and she kissed back.
"Princess Luna!" a pegasus guard said as he galloped into the cave. "You must come with us, now. " Princess Celestia walked into the cave behind the guard followed by two others who proceeded to put a chain around one of Luna's hooves.
"I told you to stay in Canterlot, Luna. How dare you come here! How dare you disobey me!" Celestia screamed as she got up close in her sister's face.
"Leave her alone!" Sombra yelled as he jumped up from where he had been sitting. He backed away from Celestia and looked at her as if he was going to charge.
"Get back!" the guards yelled as they hurried to form a barrier between Sombra and Celestia. They were too late. Sombra charged right passed them and hooked Celestia's chin with his horn. She wasn't hurt but it bled a little. The guards pulled Sombra away from her and chained his hooves.
"Flee, my love!" Luna screamed as she used her magic to break Sombra's chains. She hoped that if she let the guards take her, it would give him time to escape. Sombra turned back into shadow and swarmed over the guards and Celestia.
"We have to get out of here!" one of the guards yelled. Celestia and the three pegasus guards galloped out of the cave, dragging Luna behind them.
Sombra looked down at the cave floor and began to cry. Princess Celestia, once again, had stolen away his love. He saw his cape laying on the ground where Luna used to be. Anger rose up inside of him. He took the cape and left the cave, headed for the Crystal Empire. Sombra was going to overtake it again, and release it only when Princess Luna was returned to him.
"I'm coming for you, Luna. This time, I will win."
Epilogue: Love Never Dies
Months after the Crystal Empire returned, Luna was still crushed. She walked through Canterlot Castle Garden and looked at the trees and flowers, but none of them seemed to cheer her up. Then, finally, she looked up at a tree that was flooded with beautiful bright green leaves. Among the green, there was a small patch of red.
Luna used her magic to move aside the leaves and remove the red. She held it in front of her and examined it. It was a torn up piece of soft, red cloth. Then she recognized it.
"Sombra's cape," she whispered. She turned it over to look at the inside and saw black ink. It was hard to make out, but eventually Luna figured out what it said. She smiled at it as a tear dropped on the ground. She flung the cape over her back and continued on her way.
Dearest Luna,
Princess Celestia was sitting in her throne room with her assistant, Raven, and two of her pegasus guards. Raven was levitating a stack of forms before Princess Celestia as she filled them out with a red quill. Suddenly, the doors to the throne room burst open and another pegasus guard was behind them.
"News from Northern Equestria!" he yelled as he galloped towards the princess. "Uh, your highness." The guard stopped in front of the throne and bowed. Princess Celestia signaled for Raven to move the stack of papers away.
"Yes?" she asked as her assistant jumped off the steps and left the room.
"I am simply to tell you that," the pegasus guard paused as he looked nervously around the room. "It has returned." Princess Celestia gasped and turned to look at one of the other guards.
"Find Princess Cadance and Shining Armor," she commanded.
"Yes your majesty," the guard replied before galloping out of the room with the other two.
Princess Celestia, now completely alone in the throne room, levitated a blank scroll and her quill and began writing a letter to Twilight Sparkle.
Luna was taken back to the castle. Guards were posted at every corner and all around the castle exterior to make extra sure she didn't escape again. She stood at the window and looked out over Equestria. She knew that somewhere out there, there was the stallion of her dreams. A stallion she hoped she would get to see again. Soon, Princess Celestia joined her at the window.
"I'm sorry it had to go that way, Luna," she said.
"What does it matter to you? It's not like you're the one who separated us in the first place," Luna said gently. Celestia rolled her eyes.
A few minutes later, there was a loud burst heard all through out Equestria, then several streams of color spread across the land. The sight of this made the two sisters smile.
...
Hours later, Luna was walking through the hall past the throne room. She stopped walking however when she heard one of the guards speak to her sister.
"Princess Celestia, I have received news from Princess Cadance," he said.
"What is it, Feather Beam?" Celestia asked the guard.
"Sombra... is dead."
Princess Luna gasped and a flood of tears flowed from her eyes as she galloped towards her bedroom. She threw herself onto her bed where she continued to cry. She didn't come out of her bedroom for a very long time, and the dark grasp of depression had finally caught hold of Princess Luna.
"I'm so sorry, Sombra," she whispered. "I love you, and I will never love anyone else. I will keep my promise."
