The filly tossed and turned in her bed, trapped in a horrible nightmare. Moonlight glimmered through her window, and high above the stars twinkled with a certain kind of cultivated glory that had been absent for a thousand years. The little girl could not see the night's beauty, only the terror within her dreams. She whimpered in pain, her body reacting to the figments that tormented her unconscious mind. Nopony nearby could hear her, and so the little girl continued to convulse beneath her sheets.
Far away, a mare stood on the highest balcony of the tallest tower in all Equestria. She was not a damsel in distress. Her wings were spread wide, and her horn glowed with the eldritch magic that was her birthright. Below her was the mountainside capital where her sister had waited a thousand years for her return. The blue mare's hooves lifted from the ornate marble, and for an instant she did not truly exist, merely a figment of the Dreamtime expressed in physical form. Her essence twisted through the fundamental currents of the world, and her eyes saw not bodies but souls.
The princess felt pain, searing pain that coursed through her body and mind. She clenched her teeth as it pushed her out of that ethereal plane and back onto the mortal coil. Pain was weakness fleeing her body. She was not yet whole, not yet ready for this duty, but she would perform it. She was the Princess of the Night, it was her place to guard the dreams of her subjects. There were things that lurked in the Dreamtime, things conjured by dragons as they slept for strange aeons. Her purpose was to reveal the beauty of the night to her kind, just as her sister watched over them as they worked during the day. She was strong enough to wear her crown once more, and so the alicorn had taken it upon herself to resume her ancient duty.
Yes, she knew she was still... small. The Elements had changed her. Humbled her. Her mane was not as beautiful as her sister's anymore, nor was her tail. But that mattered not, for her soul was still the same. She was the Nightbringer, filled with righteous anger and burning purpose. She had marched with her sister against tyrants and maniacs, all of whom had fallen before them. All who saw her feared her wrath!
All, including those she was born to protect. A thousand years ago, she had watched how they knelt at Celestia's hooves, how they drank her sister's words, how they forged great things under her sunshine. When the Princess of the Sun raised up leaders from each town, taught each pony the value of her own soul, they listened. When she rallied them to rebellion against the tyranny of Discord, they marched. The Astral Creed, unalienable rights for every pony, gryphon, or even mules, was the fulfillment of their ancient philosophers' greatest hopes. Celestia spoke about things like equality of spirit, diversity of body, and liberty of the individual. She secured those rights, drawing her power from the consent of the governed. Ponies adored the Day.
When Luna spoke to them of the beauty of the Night, they cowered. When she told them of the dances of the stars and the might of true magic, they covered their ears and muttered that she was meddling with things that ponies were not meant to know. When she defeated unspeakable horrors and tore down their altars of alien geometries, they whispered that such things were better left alone; surely they would mind their own business if ponies but minded theirs. Not all harbored such foolish thoughts, but those who did were louder than the ones who understood the necessity of her adventures. Those who saw her in battle respected her zeal, but Luna wanted more than respect. When the battle was over, the enemy vanquished and the world safe once more, who remembered that the alicorn in purple and black battle armor had a heart too?
For years she had cried herself to sleep in her sister's embrace. Luna knew she was far from perfect. Nopony, not even her sister, could honestly claim to be all things to all creatures... but still she hungered for the adoration that the Princess of the Day earned. For years, Celestia had told her it was better to have a few who truly understood than many who mouthed wisdom and worked evil. She had explained how much of the fame that surrounded her was not admiration, but aspiration. Ponies fought for her favor, used her as a status symbol, hung on her words so they could twist them for gain. Luna had understood, but still she hungered. They had fought several times, but always made up afterward. Both sisters valued their friendship more than their own agendas, but they would not be family if they did not throw pillows at each other now and again.
The alicorn forced her jaws open as the pain passed. She rolled her shoulders, and began to whisper the proper procedure for paraligning herself. She knew it by heart, but it had been so very, very long that it was a comfort to say and hear. So many ponies thought that magic was easy, but Luna knew far better than even her sister's prized purple pupil that it was not. Everything good in life required effort. Magic had far more to do with mathematics than most ponies cared to think about. In her opinion, which was about as close to an expert's as one could get, the difference between magic and science was that science got the same results every time. When she turned the crank on her favorite music box, a sweet song filled the room. Her sister had kept it safe for a thousand years, and it still sounded just as beautiful. Magic had that little spark of whimsy flickering through all its algorithms and spells, a spark that depended on the caster's will and spirit. Magic was far more malleable than the physical world that scientists worked with, but it still took much study and practice for a mare to mold aether as though it were mere clay.
A little pulse of energy burst from her body as she spread her small wings again. Carry the four and one tenth... She winced as a slight mistake set her spell back a moment. Magic like this took time and effort to master, or re-master in her case. There were those who offered quicker ways for a mare to have all that her heart desired. Long ago... she had listened. Her sister's words of warning were true, her own studies showed that no good end ever came to those who gave ear to dark whispers, but... she was strong, was she not? Fit to destroy the enemies of her little ponies, to protect their dreams, to reveal to them the beauty of the night! Why would they not listen? Why would they not love her like they did her sister? They relished and played in the day, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night. Why could they not at least fake affection for her, like she saw so many charlatans do for her sister? She felt a crackle of energy spark through her avatar as the flash of anger manifested in her magic, then grounded itself into the cold marble. Her Nightguard had sounded out traitors, those who claimed to be so very loyal but in truth sought only the destruction of all the Sisters Astral had accomplished. It was from them, as they raved and gibbered in the dungeons, that she learned of easier ways to have what she sought.
Finally, she could bear it no longer. If only a few could understand, then those few should rule over all who could not. It was for their own good. If her own sister could not see that the few were meant to reign absolutely, then... then she was not one of the few, was she? If some of her own Nightguard could not understand, then there were mangy dogs among her wolves. Only the fittest could survive, and those who were weak would serve those who were strong. So, one morning, she had said no. No, the weak would not have their precious sun today. No, said the mare they had rejected, who was about to be most highly exalted. Instead they would bear witness to the rise of the New Moon Monarchy.
The Elements of Harmony had humbled her a thousand years ago. Her sister had done the impossible, for the Elements were not meant for a single creature to wield. The battle had been beyond imagination, the magical fallout scourging the land and seeding what they now called the Everfree Forest. A good name, for the battle that had been fought on that night had been for the freedom of every sapient being on the face of the earth. So much had been lost that night, so many bright futures snuffed out. The castle that the two sisters had built with their allies lay in ruin, a monument to all her sins. As she floated, whispering and working through the third cotangent, she knew it was all her fault. There was no blame for her most wonderful sister, her memory would not allow it, even though the white mare had begged for her forgiveness upon her return. It was easier to take all the blame herself, for she was the one who had made those evil choices. She had been weak, and deluded herself until she believed that weakness was strength. It had cost her much, but it had cost her beloved ones, her few who gladly rejoiced at her triumphs, so much more.
That wretched night poured through her senses again as she wove herself into the Dreamtime's web. She saw the pain in her sister's eyes, heard her own cackling laughter. Outside the castle, her horde was slaughtering those who had come with the Princess of the Sun, and Nightmare Moon was gloating that it had been too easy a fight. Luna felt the moonlight flowing through her body, creating sparks of magical resonance she processed with barely a thought to find the orbsong of far-flung stars. Her small body was suspended a few meters above the balcony in a cocoon of indigo light. The mare's eyes, now disconnected from her physical form to allow input from the Dreamweave, marveled at how small she was.
Luna's memories were more real than the world around her now, for her mind was almost aligned with the aethral plane. Long ago, she could manifest herself both physically and psychically with a wink of her eye, but now it took what felt like an aeon of careful computations to achieve the simplest of dreamstates. The pain was still there, but a dull throb rather than a sharp stab. She heard the warbling tone of her mind connecting with the Dreamtime, just as strangely beautiful as it had been a thousand years ago...
A hundred times ten, with each one the Nightmare grew weaker, until when she returned she was nothing but smoke and mirrors. Then her sister, by proxy, had bested her. Six mares, six weak little ponies that she had not even considered a threat, had harnessed the Elements. Not a dragon, not an army, not even a team of mighty heroes. Nightmare Moon had been defeated by a librarian and her friends. It would have been less humiliating if Celestia had struck her down with a wet fish across the face, but no, that was not her way. Even worse, she had wanted nothing except her little sister back. No pledge of fealty, no chain of slavery, not even a public shaming. She was accepted once more as a fellow heir, a ruler of Equestria rather than one who had invited into her heart a monster. There had even been a party, and a wreath of flowers to wear around her neck. She had been adored.
The dark blue alicorn would earn her place in the hearts of her little ponies once more, and show them that she was no longer that monster. She had chosen to be Luna, Princess of the Night. A tear fell from her eye, dissolving into a thousand little sparks as it rolled down her cheek. The Elements had humbled her, but she had wanted to be humbled. It was the only way to stop the Nightmare she had invited from the dream world. Realizing the true nature of what she had become took one final, horrific act, but she had done many wretched things before that moment.
Yes, she had butchered Celestia's army. She had savaged those who marched against her, as had the Nightguard who followed her orders. When Celestia had finally given up on diplomacy, those with her had come for war, and they had been the finest soldiers in the land. The blood of both sides had fertilized that forest, and she knew the soil must be rich indeed. Nightmare Moon had been quite proud of her skill in battle, and had bragged about it to Celestia's puppet. The great dragon, that unstoppable force who led the Princess of the Sun's daring, highly-trained special missions force, had smashed through her defenses and confronted her. He had fought at her side against mighty foes, and that made the battle all the sweeter to Nightmare Moon. She had defeated him in the throne room he helped build, but she had known from the start that he would fall to her. He was old and weary, while the Nightbringer was charged with ruinous power.
Luna felt a crack run down the side of her avatar as she miscalculated, then reknit as she corrected a negative sign in the spell's synthetic division. It had been sorrow, not weakness, in the dragon's eyes. The memory was clearer than the world around her now. He was born for war, blessed by the molten vitae of the earth, but something had held him back from pushing her as she knew he could. She remembered how they had fought together, how his kind had taught hers the secrets of Galvanized Iron and Joe, a strong black beverage that gave a warrior the energy to fight for freedom wherever there was trouble. His kind had existed long before ponies, but their time had passed. It gave Nightmare Moon no end of pleasure to fight him.
The alicorn flicked a hoof forward and pushed the memory back, buying herself a moment of peace. As the furthest stars registered and the parallel lines began to intersect, she took a deep breath and faced her past. Cruel power filled her senses. No weapon could fell her, no blade could pierce her armor, no spell could muddle her mind. She had given herself to hatred, and the monstrosities she had long fought against were her tools. Nightmare Moon had subjugated them, and so they served her now as all things must, for she was mighty.
Harmony was a casualty of war, a silly and outdated idea that had no place in her Night. Likewise, the Elements of Harmony must never again be trusted, for they were tricky things that often as not did their own will rather than hers. The future would be won by cold steel and burning hatred, not misguided ideals or meddlesome relics. The Princess of the Night had wrapped them in shrouds of darkness and set as sentinel her most loyal Nightguard. The black-armored mare had charged him with ensuring that they never again be used, then marched away to continue her ascent. However, his loyalty was to Luna, not Nightmare Moon.
As she floated above the balcony, almost transcendent, the alicorn heard the soft coo of her moon. The memory of that long fight against the dragon drew close again, and she recalled the wicked joy in her corrupted heart as they had traded blows of magic and metal. He fought with quips as well, trying to channel her anger against her, while she raged back with terrible threats to everything he held dear. The noble warrior had never stopped moving, his lack of wings offset by the jetpack she had gifted him during the Great Crusade. It was the first from one of her foundries, a shining achievement of pony ingenuity and dragon archaeotech. The plans to those wonderful devices had disappeared in the turmoil of her rebellion, along with so many more valuable things.
Luna knew now that he had not fought her as an enemy, and quietly wondered if she would have survived if he had. Certainly he was skilled, and his great golden hammer crackled with the strength of Ormagöden just as the golden pistol in his other claw roared with the might of his race's science. Together, she and he had broken many foes and saved countless lives. Together, they battered the throne room into a ruin. She fell for his holographic illusions more than once, and he even managed to freeze her in ice for a half-instant before she broke free and sent him crashing through the ceiling. The dragon had not fought her with his rage, but with his cunning. Her cunning was greater, or so she had thought. When he finally lay defeated, her pride had demanded that she gloat. That was when she learned what a stupid name "explodo-molar" was for a false tooth containing a warhead. Well, Nightmare Moon thought it was stupid. Luna thought it was hilarious. When she had recovered from the explosion, she felt that Celestia was near.
The two sisters had fought, with words more than weapons. She had taunted, asked what the Princess of the Sun would do now with her pet dragon dead and her army shattered. Her sister had pleaded, her arguments making so much sense now, but Nightmare Moon had not listened. The evil song she had welcomed from the Dreamtime ruled the Princess of the Night. Yet for all her hatred, cunning, not pride, had guided her.
Nightmare Moon had been humbled by the dragon's last defiant loogie, and did not wish to fight her sister outright. She had paused at the right times, shown the right cues of sorrow and distress, teased her with the possibility of redemption. She might actually consider reform, perhaps she really was not thinking clearly, this was only self-defense! Celestia had bought it, even as they battled over the cooling corpse of an old comrade. She wanted to believe that her sister was still that little girl who cried into her embrace, that all this was only the birth pain of a better world. Outside, their armies clashed, and scores more fell with each word the two sisters wasted. Their sacrifice would be the payment for Nightmare Moon's ascension to a far greater form, and once she had that power, she could pursue even more.
Slowly, carefully, she weakened her sister with platitudes and blows, until she was on her knees next to her dragon. Without a word, just a smile of pure contempt, Nightmare Moon rejoiced at how beautiful a night it truly was, a night that would last forever. As Luna's aura burned bright above the balcony, she was quietly thankful that she could not vomit at the moment. The memory was too real, with all the sights, sounds, and smells amplified through her transitioning senses. She shook her head, trying to clear it and focus on her spell, but found no respite.
That victory had been the beginning of the end of all things, for Celestia could not bring herself to destroy her little sister. She looked up with hope that somehow, Luna would see all of this and come to her senses. All Celestia needed to see was a smile, a little nod, a step back. They had fought so many times before, no, never quite like this, but... Everything could be forgiven. Luna felt another tear trickle down her cheek and blossom into sparks as she remembered the desperation that had flickered in her sister's eyes.
The Princess of the Day did not see the horror before her, but the illusion that the Princess of the Night had driven into her mind. Her little sister was a confused and terrified mare who truly did not understand what she was doing. All she wanted was to protect her little ponies, to guide and guard them. That was the lie Luna had fed herself at the beginning, and it was working on her sister as well. It was a sweet thing for Nightmare Moon to witness. The dragon had fallen because his duty was to stall her, to keep her distracted while Celestia stole back the Elements, but the destruction of her sister had been a triumph of deception. She raised her head and began to whisper the spell that would savage both those tasty souls, when suddenly he was there.
He was nothing, less than nothing, a little toy soldier with a little toy weapon. Somehow he had wandered into her castle, been ignored by her Nightguard, and made his way to her throne room. Luna reached out, deeper into her memories, and recalled him. He had been a Stormstallion, of the Equestrian Guard. Quiet, methodical, a veteran of countless battles. He had earned a place in the royal palace's detachment after the Great Crusade. She found a few fleeting images of him standing in the halls, ever vigilant even at the safest post. That was how he had known the layout. He had escaped when she had usurped Celestia, as had many others.
He had no augmentations, no magical enchantment, not even a powered exoskeleton or a jetpack. All he held was his issue weapon, and all he wore was his issue armor. She was clad in onyx plates that crackled with power stolen from those who had called themselves masters of the universe, and her spells were beyond imagination. Yet there he was, standing before her with his weapon raised, his body between her and his Princess. Nightmare Moon had blinked, and paused just long enough for him to speak a few words.
"You can cut us down in battle. You can betray us, deny us the light, and starve our children. You can lie until you are purple in the face, but you will not take her. Not while I still stand."
It had been too much. Outside, the army Celestia had brought had been reinforced by others who had rallied to her banner. The ruler of the New Moon Monarchy cared not, once she had ended this false princess she would scourge those deluded fools as well. "You're kidding." Nightmare Moon had chuckled, an eerie laugh that sent shivers through Luna's nearly-transitioned form. "You're kidding, right?"
"Where I fall ten more shall take my place! And one-hundred each of them!" The little Guardspony had replied, voice growing firmer with each syllable. He knew he was facing death, and faced it on his own terms. "So strike me down! I am the harbinger!"
It should have been enough to make her pause, to consider the difference between a battle and a murder. It was not. She flayed him alive with a glance, the energy used not even enough to interrupt her spell. She was so very close to grasping all she had ever desired, and power overwhelming flowed through her. Luna saw each instant preserved within her mind spiral through her astrally extruded vision. His flesh flaked away along with his armor, revealing his skeleton. The bleached-white bones hung there, still standing, then before gravity could begin to pull them down they too were gone. Not even dust remained of the stallion, and though there were none present, any mortal witnesses would have found their memories of him surprisingly vaporous.
Nightmare Moon's eyes paused for a moment, staring at the empty spot on the floor. Inside her, for one shake of a lamb's tail, Luna had gasped. Just a little, just enough to realize what she had done. She had chosen this path because it was her right to rule, to dominate, to keep the world from sliding into horror and discord again. She was able to see this more clearly than others, she was one of the few who could lead the world. Hatred was what drove her to fight, to survive. He had thrown his life away, so he was less than her. What had driven him? Why had he not turned to her way, for she was the victor? He was not deranged, she knew the signs of madness, she had seen it in the dungeons.
The look in his eyes, that fierce determination, haunted her even though she had banished his memory from lesser minds. She had seen it before, and it was something only Luna could understand, not Nightmare Moon. Love, a love so great that one would give his life for it. No greater good that justified the alicorn's cruelty could ever be worthy of that love, nor could it have a place in a heart as saturated with hatred as Nightmare Moon's. It was something that only one who knew the value of his own life, of his own labor, could have. Only one who had such love could choose to lay down his life for a righteous cause.
Luna felt more tears shattering into sparks of magic as they rolled down her half-real cheeks. The memory was almost over, for when her eyes had finally looked up from that blank spot on the floor, she found her sister's glaring down. The dragon's last act had burned brighter than a thousand suns, but the tongues of fire that danced in Celestia's eyes were colder than the void between stars. Around her floated the five Elements, silently judging all things. Her sister had always been a majestic creature. Her anger was patient, unrelenting, and not easily roused.
Nightmare Moon had not been worried. Celestia was a mare of thoughts and plans, not a mighty warrior like her hostess. Even with the Elements, she could probably still win. After all, Celestia only had five elements, and no other bearers. It had always taken the two of them together to wield them. Who did she expect to aid her? Her dragon was dead, and Nightmare Moon doubted that one such as him would even be found worthy by the Elements. He was an old relic from a time long forgotten, and that little worm of a Guardspony was not even a memory. The Night would reign, forever!
Then, Luna had moved. She realized what it meant to have a few who understood. There would always be evil in the world, but it was the job of the few to remove what they could. Not out of hatred, though zeal had its place, but love. Love for their children, love for their families, love for themselves and their own liberty. She would not truly be able to comprehend it for a thousand years, at that moment all she understood was how much wrong filled her and that she could not spit it out. Within her impenetrable armor, which had become her inescapable prison, she screamed while Nightmare Moon laughed. Above them had flickered an orb of purple light, and though Nightmare Moon continued to laugh, Luna rejoiced. Magic, true magic, flickered around the two sisters, filling the room with pure, blinding light.
White and black were not opposites. Within the additive color spectrum, white was the presence of all colors. Within the subtractive color spectrum, black was the presence of all colors. They were the same just as she and Celestia were the same, just as the two mares were different souls for different purposes. Magic bound them together, the spark of magic within the hearts of those who understood love. For one harmonious flash, she felt the sorrow of her sister before her, the agony of those dying all around them, and the hatred within her own heart.
Nightmare Moon roared, pouring out all her anger and calling upon the powers bound to her service. Her tools should protect her, should deliver her from this false Princess! This white mare was not of the chosen few! Her tools turned away, laughing as thirsting powers are wont to do, for she had always been the tool. They would find another now that she was of no more use, for there was no peace that pleased them, only war. Their tool had served its purpose well enough, splitting the two Sisters Astral, turning the moon against the sun, and providing a great sacrifice for their amusement. Such was their way. In rage, Nightmare Moon cursed them all and turned her wrath on the elder sister, already feeling the might of the Elements crushing down upon her. If she went, she would not go alone!
No, she would not. Luna held her tongue from the words of magic, held her mind from the calculations of power, and held her fetlocks from wrapping around Celestia's neck. Her heart had allowed the sixth element to appear, her rejection of what she had become like a single star in a sea of blackness. The other five tore their power from Celestia's soul, for the Elements were not meant to be wielded by only one mare, and would not consent to be so frankly used without great cost. All actions had consequences, but for her country, her sister, and her little ponies, Celestia was willing to give anything. On the floor next to her was the body of one who had sold his life dearly so she could try to save her sister. Burned into her mind forevermore was the image of one of her little ponies, who had given his last full measure of devotion to open her eyes. She realized that she did not even know who he was, only his silhouette remained in the Princess of the Day's mind. This world belonged to Harmony, not heartless Order, and never again Chaos. If the price of freedom was her own life, then she would pay it. For her kind, for her dream of a better world, and for Equestria.
Luna floated above Canterlot, and felt her thoughts pulled along a million times a million threads, each neuron a separate glimmer of light in the night sky. She was a tiny galaxy, comprised of infinitely complex patterns moving along perfect alignments gently tweaked by the whims of gravity. Now was the time that the moon was in alignment with the unknown patterns, the unremembered signs. Now she was in the Dreamtime, the land cats and dragons had voyaged through for strange aeons.
Somewhere in its night, a single candle burned atop a pile of rocks on a beach. Nearby, hungry animals fought over a clutch of blue oysters. All things were nonsense as she stepped forward, emerging as an indigo mist from the flame of the candle on that faraway coastline. She walked slowly, watching as the wisplike animals scattered in fear, then looked out over the ocean. The mare sat down in the sand, weary from her transition, and picked up one of the oysters. They whispered softly, as they always had, that it was her duty to guide the world, to shape it and lead it. Those ponies could not be trusted with their own minds, their own ideas. They must learn to worship her, to rely on her, to need her. She was their hero.
The mare chucked the blue oyster over her shoulder, and heard the animals descend on it. The sounds of their teeth were sweet to her ears, and she lay back on the sand to stare up at her moon. This was not the real life, nor was it a fantasy. It was a world beyond worlds, a realm filled with portals to where she needed to go. This was the sea of dreams. Once, she had frolicked in the surf, soothing the horrors of Discord's dominion from the minds of ponies. Many had needed her strength to face their fears. A few had become her Nightguard after she had shown them the true beauty of the night. Luna bit her lip, feeling pain here even though her real body was preserved within a glowing oblong of starstuff.
Her Nightguard. The last memory. In a way, the Elements had given her a kindness. It had always been Luna's dream to stand on her moon and lead her ponies to the stars. Nightmare Moon did not share that dream. The light of the stars gave her just enough strength to survive. Nightmare Moon's first act had been to shred that little weak foal inside her, to vent all her rage at the foolishness that had caused her to hesitate. After that was a thousand years of pain and suffering as she wandered across the surface of her moon, weeping and gnashing her teeth. That was a holiday compared to what her Nightguard had endured. The Elements had swept her away in a column of light, and ushered in the dawn. Those who were sworn to her had been hunted down without mercy. Celestia had struggled to even stand after the battle, and had been carried back to Canterlot by her most loyal soldier... if the old legends were to be believed. Her words of peace had been ignored, the masses had sought to purge themselves of what they deemed wicked, and the thirsting powers had laughed.
So much had been lost, both in knowledge and unity. The lot of those who had been loyal to Nightmare Moon was wretched, but worse still was the fate of those loyal to Luna. There was no quarter for them among the ranks of evil or good, for they were branded traitors to both. She was the one who had betrayed them, yet she spent a thousand years in solitude while they endured on earth.
Luna rolled to her hooves and trotted further down the beach, trying to run from her past, but it was all around her. Memories sprung up from the sand wherever her eyes turned. She turned and galloped into the ocean, trying to drown the horrors in the sea of dreams. She could help others face their fears, but as the old saying went, the tailor could not mend her own tear. The sea was cold, deep, and far bigger than she remembered. The undertow pulled at her hooves and carried her away. Her wings were useless underwater and her muscles ached, but this was her duty!
The alicorn swam up, toward the light of her moon. The mare's head broke the water and she gasped for air. Her eyes turned back to the beach. The memories were gone. Perhaps she was not yet whole again, but she could still do her duty. The mare closed her eyes and felt faraway ripples moving nearer. In the distance, she could see a flickering light on a little raft that had taken on too much water. The Princess of the Night flared her wings and kicked, turning herself in the sea of dreams. Nopony could hear that cry for help, nopony but the Princess of the Night.
Something brushed past her. At first she thought it was another soul in distress, another ripple from another dream, but then something landed on her head. Luna glanced back. The shore had risen up, the sand carving toward the sky like a tidal wave, and grainy chunks were falling down all around her. She tried to swim, tried to escape, but she was too small and it too large. The shore began to laugh, a cruel cackle she knew came only from her own throat, and every speck of sand behind her became a memory for which she still bore guilt. The sand smacked down into the sea, and she fell up toward the sky.
Her ribs hurt, as did her spine. She tasted that metallic flavor her mind automatically associated with ancient battles. Pain means you are alive, and weakness is fleeing your body... Luna whimpered softly and pried her eyes open, dislodging little sandy flecks of sleep from the corners. Something warm and black was wrapped around her, and her head was slumped against another pony's shoulder. She let her upper body go slack against his grey fur and kicked at the marble floor in anger.
"If you break the balcony, Your Majesty, just remember that only one of us has wings." The guard wrapped his black trenchcoat tighter around her shivering form. Ice crystals formed when the Princess huffed in anger, that aura of magic still clinging about her.
"W-We can feel one." She managed in a hoarse whisper, then swallowed hard. Her throat hurt too much to speak as a royal, and he was certainly not a mere subject. He was her most loyal Nightguard. "I need to help her, to fulfill my duty!"
The old warhorse sighed. "I felt the same thing, for the first hundred years. I felt like I had to earn redemption with good deeds."
"How else does one earn it?" She turned to look up at him. He was bigger than her, for the present at least. The Elements had given her a rebirth, a second chance, but they had taken away so much. "Carnival acts?" The mare blushed in shame, some of her Nightguard had been exploited by freak shows over the centuries. It was only because of their innate tenacity and her sister's efforts that any had survived.
"By letting go of the past, your Majesty." The stallion replied, as calm and collected as ever. He was legendary for making wise decisions in the heat of combat. "By letting go of those horrible things, because you can't overcome them. You have to let them go, or they'll overcome you. There's not enough of you to do enough good deeds to earn redemption, just like there wasn't enough of you to save the whole world on your own. That's why you needed us."
The Princess considered for a long moment. Her mind flickered again to the stories she had been told by her Nightguard upon her return. She looked up into his eyes, one catlike and beautiful, one glowing red and technomagical. Atop them was his peaked black hat with the red band about it, and a silver crescent moon fixed neatly to the front. "Commissar..." She felt less like a royal now than ever before. He had always been loyal to her, even when she had betrayed him with weakness. "I am sorry."
"As am I, Your Majesty." He smiled sadly. "But we have wasted long enough in mourning for one another."
Long ago, Nightmare Moon had ordered him to guard the Elements of Harmony. He had guarded them well, until the Princess of the Sun drew near. Then he had gathered them, found her, and fallen to his knees. He was a Commissar, a pony charged with being first in every desperate attack and last in every desperate retreat. He owed his loyalty to Luna, for after Discord had taken his daughter for amusement, she had healed his mind and given him a new purpose. Commissars were renown for inspiring heroism and camaraderie, but this one was looked to as a father by those under his command. All he was, he owed to the little princess.
When he had knelt before Celestia, he begged her to restore the mare he had sworn allegiance to. When the dawn broke, he gathered as many as had ears to hear and led them into the frozen wastes of the north. For a thousand years they had wandered as exiles, cursed to die only in the heat of combat as every Nightguard should. In theory, at least. Many had learned that even the most well-built engine needed fuel and maintenance. When they had returned after her restoration, for they knew the stars far better than any mortal, she thought they would carry only hatred in their hearts. Instead, the Commissar and his Loyalist Legion had knelt again, and welcomed back their Princess of the Night.
"I... I cannot." Luna let out another weary sigh. Her breath was turning to ice less quickly than before. The magical residue was fading. "You were right. Sister was right. I am not strong enough. Not yet."
"And you never will be. Equestria is vast, and it is not held together by the toil of its leaders but by the strength of the common pony. This is the only way such an empire of liberty could last."
The little pony bit her lip and looked up at him. "But... what is left for me?"
"Anything you wish, Your Majesty." He waved a hoof out across the landscape. "There is always a need for heroes, but no hero ever won a war alone. Not even you, not even the Great Crusade against all Equestria's enemies. It was the many who rose up with fire in their hearts and iron in their spines." His bionic eye glimmered as its optics refreshed. "You earned your place long ago, Your Majesty. Your sins, as my own, have been forgiven. We are free from their burden, free to once more do what only we can."
Luna wobbled to the bannister and looked out over the kingdom. "I felt one. One little light touched by fear." She glanced over her shoulder and pulled his coat tighter around her body. "I cannot help her. What right have I to be a princess if I cannot help one filly?"
"Have you done all you are able?"
She nodded. "Yes, but it gives me no peace, nor does it help her." The princess looked out over Equestria. "I heard her cry, but I cannot reach her." She raised a hoof and pointed. "You felt it, did you not? Her cry channeled through me?" A guilty expression crossed her muzzle. "I hope I did not wake sister... she looked so very tired this evening."
"You have done your duty." He stepped closer and set a hoof on her shoulder. "And now it is time for me to do mine." His augmetic eye glowed a soft red as she looked up.
"What is that, Commissar?"
"The same as it has always been. To carry your will where you cannot, and to hold fast the Astral Creed." He slipped his coat off her shoulders and wrapped it again about his form. Then, with a touch of his hat, he vaulted over the bannister and vanished into the shadows beneath the balcony. Luna closed her eyes and reached out with her mind, hearing the clop of his hooves as he danced through the shadows, just as she had taught him so long ago. Pegasi could fly, and unicorns had their teleportation magic, but an earth pony who gave himself to the Night could flicker between shadows as though they were an unbroken road. She heard him running through the night, though he was already far from the capital. He knew how to deal with Nightmares. He would punish them in the name of the moon. Luna spread her small wings and smiled up at the pale orb in the night sky.
"Where I fall, ten more shall take my place." The Princess of the Night whispered. Finally, after a thousand years, she truly understood. From that knowledge came strength. She would rise again, one little step at a time, and take her rightful place. Not as a sovereign, but as a sentinel. Not above her sister, but at her side. A little smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, and a few sparks of aether flickered down her azure mane. Not alone, but with those she cherished. There was a special kind of magic only they could help her conjure, and Luna wished to experience it just as much as her sister's prized purple pupil.
Author's Note
Waxing Moon began as a short story I penned in February 2013. I did not have the time to edit it then, though I do owe Grey Symphony a debit of gratitude for convincing me that the original idea was worth keeping.
I do not feel that this is a great story, but it was fun to tell. I wanted to write and edit it since I felt it would be a worthy challenge. I published it because I hoped others might enjoy reading it as well. One of the major draws for me was that the main battle scene is designed as something from a child's toybox. It's a tale of GI Joe fighting to stall Nightmare Moon, but ah! He is not strong enough to hold her at bay. Rather than flee, he fights to the end and makes a noble sacrifice to buy the true heroine enough time to get there with the Elements. Fortunately, toys can always be brought back to play another day, especially when the Elements of Harmony are meddling about!
Although GI Joe is a Hasbro property, I felt the need to slip in a few references to the "toys for big kids", Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40k. There are so many parallels already written into the lore of FiM that it was too easy to imagine Luna's fall sharing similarities with Horus'. However, Luna realized what a monster she had become when Nightmare Moon struck down somepony who was no threat to her, while Horus did not give it a second thought. That seemed a fitting tribute to a certain legendary member of the Imperial Guard, Ollanius Pius!
I hope you enjoyed reading this little tale, for it has taken rather more doing that I ever imagined to make it fit for publishing. The cover art in particular was a pain to dream up and hacksaw together from stillshots lifted out of The Show. If you bothered to read this story, thank you. If you bothered to read this little note, thank you again! I'd love to hear what you thought of the story!
