Night fell over Canterlot. Activity within Equestria’s capital calmed down a little, though not entirely. Tonight was a special night; the night immediately preceding the summer solstice—the longest day of the year. In commemoration of this annual event, there was often a celebration throughout the kingdom.
The festivities were pleasant and widespread, but they were at their peak in what were usually two places: Canterlot and another city which, by royal decree, would be graced by the presence of the ruler of Equestria as she raised the sun. This year it was to be Ponyville, a small town south of the capital.
Admittedly, Ponyville seemed like an odd choice to host the Summer Sun Celebration. It was small, out of the way and somewhat unknown. The event certainly could have been hosted in more prestigious cities like Manehattan, Fillydelphia or even Canterlot. However, all citizens in Equestria deserved to have a chance to witness the event, no matter where they lived. Besides, who would say “no” to the princess?
Speaking of whom, there was one pony who was not joining the festivities; Princess Celestia herself. Instead, she sat alone on her balcony which overlooked the royal city and the landscape beyond. She was a magnificent sight: being at least twice the height of most ponies, white like the light of the sun and had both a unicorn horn and pegasus wings. Yet the most striking feature of her that everypony remembered above all else was her mane and tail. It was not like the hair in most pony’s manes or tails, but something of pure magic. It was filled with pastel streaks of blue, green, indigo and pink. It also flowed much like a flag in a gentle breeze, except there was no breeze that moved her mane so.
Celestia also had a mark on her flank: a radiant sun. As an alicorn, she had immense magical power, enough to manipulate the celestial bodies in the sky—particularly the sun. Long ago, before Equestria was even founded, this task was performed by unicorns; but it required dozens, if not hundreds, to do what Celestia could do singlehoofedly. Nowadays, Princess Celestia brought the changes of day and night by controlling the sun, moon and stars to appear in the sky in their cycle—all by herself. This wasn’t always the case though.
Over a millennium ago there was another alicorn that stood by Celestia’s side; one who controlled the night. She was gone now, absent for nearly a thousand years, yet her presence is still evidenced by the image on the moon—a silhouette of a mare’s head with a unicorn horn. This image brought a variety of feelings to those who gazed upon it. For some it was awe, for others it was slight fear. Many had grown indifferent to it either way, simply accepting it as a fact of life that would never change. For Celestia, however, it brought only sadness.
That image wasn’t always there (although for most ponies it might as well have been). Scholars often attributed it as a sign of Celestia’s grandest triumph over a villain known as Nightmare Moon, who had sought to bring eternal night over Equestria. Celestia, on the other hoof, considered it her greatest failure. Although she had been successful over Nightmare Moon and locked her away in the moon, she had locked away the pony who once stood by her side and loved deeply; her sister Luna.
Tears crept into Celestia’s eyes as she gazed upon the moon. She could still vividly remember that fateful day when her whole world was turned upside-down. She could still see Luna standing at the throne room of their old castle when she refused to lower the moon and end the night.
***
“Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all basked in your precious light?” Luna had said. “There can only be one princess in Equestria; and that princess will be ME!!!”
Destroying the banister before her, Luna then used her magic to block out the sun with the moon. Suddenly, some form of dark energy that Celestia had neither seen before nor since enveloped her sister and changed her appearance. The once shorter mare was now tall and slender, her indigo coat turned black, her eyes dagger-shaped and turquoise, teeth sharp and her body armored. Luna’s starry mane flowed around the room as she cackled. Suddenly, she fell silent, glared at Celestia, then proceeded to destroy the throne room.
“Luna, I will not fight you. You must lower the moon,” Celestia pleaded as she stone debris fell around her. “It is your duty!”
“Luna?” The dark mare responded. “I am, Nightmare Moon! I have but one royal duty now—to destroy you!”
Nightmare Moon proceeded to blast magical energy at Celestia, which she evaded by flying away and out through a hole in the ceiling.
“And where do you think you’re going?” Nightmare Moon gleefully demanded, like a predator on the hunt.
Nightmare Moon spread her wings and flew after Celestia. She chased her around the now abandoned castle. Nightmare Moon continued to shoot magic at her sister; not caring for the destruction she was causing as she blasted apart a tower, a bridge and several walls whenever she missed her target. Finally, she managed to hit Celestia squarely in the barrel, who screamed as she dropped out of the sky. Nightmare Moon laughed maniacally in triumph.
Celestia fell into an opening of the castle ruins. She lay on the floor of the throne room, momentarily unconscious, but she opened her eyes and slowly got on her hooves. She stood up straight; in the midst of making a difficult choice.
Even in her nightmarish form, Luna was still her sister; Celestia couldn’t just fight her or put an end to her life. However, Luna had brought eternal night over Equestria and it would only lead to more problems. The land would freeze without the warmth of the sun and plant life would die without its light. Soon after that, the animals that depended on those plants for food and shelter would also die. Then the predators would have no source of food. The entire cycle would be disrupted and leave Equestria a barren, frozen wasteland.
A similar thing would happen if it was eternal day, except that it would wither and burn everything; turning Equestria into a desert. The simple and horrific fact of the matter was that Luna’s “Eternal Night” could only result in death.
Also, Nightmare Moon had made it perfectly clear that she would destroy everyone who opposed her. It was only due to Celestia’s magical strength and endurance that she hadn’t died already. While it was possible that Nightmare Moon could find some compassion on Equestria’s inhabitants and bring back the sun in its normal cycle, there was no guarantee that she would. Countless ponies would probably die before Nightmare Moon had a change of heart. Celestia had to end this now, before any more damage could be done.
“Oh dear sister,” she said with deep regret. “I am sorry, but you have given me no choice but to use these.”
Using her magic, Celestia unlocked a secret compartment in the floor. Up rose a contraption that looked like a mobile model of the solar system, but instead of planets, the arms held peculiar gems; the Elements of Harmony.
Celestia grabbed each of the five different colored gemstones on the arms and phased a pink, star-shaped gem out of a stone sphere in the center. She called upon the Elements of harmony and unlocked their power, emitting a multi-colored light from her countenance. Magic flowed through her as she only had one thought; to get rid of the threat of Nightmare Moon.
With her newfound strength and resolve, Celestia flew back outside to face the monstrosity that had overcome her sister. She quickly found Nightmare Moon and they faced off, each charging their own magic. Nightmare Moon shot first using solely her own magic. Tearfully, Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to unleash a rainbow of energy that overcame the blast from her sister.
“NO!!!” Nightmare Moon shouted as the light enveloped her and shot her all the way to the moon, somehow locking her very magical and physical essence inside of it; leaving behind dark marks in the shape of an alicorn’s head on the moon’s already cratered surface.
Slowly, Celestia descended back to the ground, horror-stricken by what she had done. She dropped the Elements and looked at the face staring back at her from the moon. She lowered her head and started crying.
“Luna,” Celestia sobbed. She looked back up and gave out a loud cry that could be heard for miles around, “LUNA!!!”
***
To be honest, Celestia had never stopped crying, though she hid her pain from everypony around her. Yes, she had defeated Nightmare Moon—her own sister, Luna—for the greater good. However, that didn’t mean that it wasn’t painful, or that the sting of betrayal from either of the two sisters hurt any less.
When she had taken the Elements of Harmony with the thought to end the threat of Nightmare Moon, Celestia hoped that they would simply strip that monstrosity away and leave behind Luna unscathed. Unfortunately, Nightmare Moon was Luna; or rather Luna’s bitterness and rage made manifest to her physical form. It was a choice Luna had made, and Celestia couldn’t force her away from it any more than she could have forced her to lower the moon that fateful night.
Celestia had hoped that the whole thing was just some horrible nightmare, and that when she woke up, Luna would be by her side; still loving and compassionate. But that was never the case; every time she looked out the window, the proof was always there—mocking her.
Ever since that day, Celestia tried countless times to free her sister from her cosmic prison. Unfortunately, her connection to the Elements of Harmony seemed to have been severed. Try as she might, she couldn’t harness their power. Instead, they encased themselves in stone, refusing to budge.
Celestia’s own magic also couldn’t bring her sister back. She tried doing spells and using the encased Elements at different times of the day: midnight, midday, dawn, dusk, tea time and so forth. She also tried various days of the year including: the summer solstice, the winter solstice, both equinoxes, Luna’s birthday, Celestia’s birthday, Hearts and Hooves Day, Hearthswarming Eve, Hearthswarming Day, and New Years. On one desperate attempt, Celestia tried freeing her sister on Nightmare Night—a new holiday that seemed to both simultaneously remember and forget Nightmare Moon and what she did.
Within the first decade, Celestia had tried every single day of the year at least once, and still nothing. The Mare in the Moon remained thus and Celestia was still left alone.
The years continued to pass, and ponies began to forget Luna. Historical education was not as well developed back then, so Luna and her transformation into Nightmare Moon fell into myth; often considered an old pony’s tale.
The only thing keeping the knowledge alive outside of scholars was that new holiday, Nightmare Night. However, it focused more on Nightmare Moon—and even then the story was warped into a tale of cannibalism and tribute. This angered Celestia, but she never could bring it upon herself to put an end to it. It helped ponies forget the real horrors of that day so long ago; and in truth, Celestia wished to forget it too.
Celestia never could forget, though. She was reminded every time she raised or lowered the moon. Ending the night was actually very hard for her since it meant that what was left of her sister’s presence would be leaving her for some time. But the cycle needed to continue and the world kept in balance.
Celestia would often retreat and spend countless hours in seclusion. She would often enter a mysterious void that she was taught about in her youth. While there, she would meditate and look back on her life. Images and scenes of her life would play before her. She studied these, trying to comprehend why and how Luna became Nightmare Moon.
She never could figure out how Luna became Nightmare Moon, or where she got the dark magic to do so, but she came to understand why. Celestia knew that the fact that ponies sleeping through the night her sister created bothered her; Luna had told her about it many times. Celestia often told her that the little ponies needed their sleep and they really couldn’t work in the night. Unfortunately, that particular reason could only go so far.
Horrified, Celestia learned of all the times where Luna seemed to be shunned. It wasn’t because she was hated or anything, but rather ignored by everypony—including Celestia. There were many times where Luna wanted to share the joy of her bringing about the night with her older sister, but Celestia often thought that she was too busy with other duties. Had she known these feelings inside of Luna, Celestia would have dropped everything just to spend that one moment with her sister every night. Sadly, things always seemed to be much clearer in hindsight.
Celestia had just about given up all hope of ever seeing her sister again when a strange pony came and demanded an audience with her. Celestia couldn’t get a good look at this pony, or even tell if it was a mare or stallion since he (or she) was cloaked in some tattered robe—masking the stranger in shadow—and spoke with a voice like a soft wind. This visitor claimed to be a prestigious and powerful predictor of the future and had grave news about the Mare in the Moon.
Celestia was more than skeptical, but decided to hear the pony out. The so-called predictor proceeded to tell her about the legend of Nightmare Moon and how she was originally banished (something that Celestia already knew since she was there). Then the pony told her about how Nightmare Moon would escape.
“On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aide in her escape and she will bring about nighttime eternal.”
When the mysterious pony was done, Celestia thanked him (or her) and said that she would consider those words. Then the pony left and was never seen nor heard from again. The “prophesy” however, had given Celestia an idea; "the stars will aide in her escape."
Reinvigorated, Celestia began to study the stars and try to free her sister once again. Perhaps certain celestial phenomena would be the key to unlock and use the Elements of Harmony. She tried using them during events like a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse, whenever certain constellations or stars appeared in the night sky, planetary alignments and shooting stars. Some of them were certainly a stretch on the term “star”, but Celestia tried everything. Like her previous attempts on various days of the year, however, Celestia was met with the exact same results.
Defeated, Celestia looked back at the time when she was told the “prophesy”; her heart sank. If it was true, then she would have to wait for centuries before she could ever see her sister again. Even though it was likely that Celestia could survive until then, it was still a thousand years—a long time to be alone
However, it was a small glimmer of hope—more than she had to begin with—so Celestia went about making plans to prepare for this event. She started by hiding the now powerless Elements of Harmony in the ruins of her old castle in the midst of the Everfree Forest. The wild and untamable magic there would certainly keep them safe from potential robbers, but also posed the problem that nopony would be around to enter the forest and retrieve the Elements in order to unlock their power—once it was needed.
A unique opportunity presented itself when some earth-pony pilgrims came to her about a century before the prophesied date of Nightmare Moon’s release. They were looking for a land to settle and call home. Celestia decided to direct them south, to an area near the Everfree Forest. It would certainly be dangerous being that close to the wild area, but for some reason Celestia was certain that they could make it work. She was more then pleased when she heard that they were not only successful, but also thriving thanks to the discovery of a new and delicious apple that kept them alive. Celestia eagerly watched the settlement grow over the years.
As the date approached, however, Celestia needed to take a few steps back. What would happen when the stars supposedly helped her sister escape? The best-case scenario would be that Luna would come back as her normal self, much like a misbehaving foal after a timeout—having realized what she did wrong. Unfortunately, Celestia highly doubted that would be the case.
The prophesy stated that Nightmare Moon would be the one to return, and she was likely to return with a vengeance. It was certainly possible that Nightmare Moon would seek to kill Celestia, like she did before. Celestia, however, had the sinking suspicion that Nightmare Moon would take a different course of action.
Luna could never take a practical joke, even when they were young fillies. Instead, she would always strike back the same way—often claiming it to be ten times worse. Celestia suspected that Nightmare Moon would do the same thing and try to banish her to the moon, or maybe the sun. Celestia had no idea how she was going to do that since she wouldn’t have access to the Elements of Harmony and was likely cut off as well. However, alicorn magic was powerful, especially when combined with whatever dark magic Luna had obtained.
Nightmare Moon’s revenge would be swift. If she couldn’t banish Celestia in a similar matter, then Nightmare Moon wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. Either way, Celestia would likely be deposed and Equestria left at the mercy of a madmare desiring to cover the land in eternal night. Try as she might, Celestia couldn’t find it in her heart to fight her sister again, but she needed to protect her subjects. Celestia needed to come up with a plan or two; luckily, she had already started.
Not long after Celestia banished Nightmare Moon, the EUP Guard was formed; comprised of all types of ponies in Equestria: earth-pony, unicorn and pegasus. There were many branches of the EUP Guard, including the day and night shifts of the Royal Guard and the Wonderbolts. They dedicated themselves to the protection of Princess Celestia and all the inhabitants of Equestria. Even though Equestria was a peaceful place for many years, the EUP Guard was well-trained and always on the alert for danger.
Celestia didn’t doubt their valor or their loyalty, but she feared that they wouldn’t be enough to overcome Nightmare Moon. It had taken the Elements of Harmony to overpower Nightmare Moon. At most, the EUP Guard would probably be little more than a nuisance to her. Still, it was comforting to have at least a little protection for her little ponies should Celestia be taken out of the picture.
Her next plan came some time after the founding of Ponyville; when Celestia came across a most intriguing pegasus filly by the name of Cadence. Cadence had the remarkable ability to spread love to ponies around her. Those who may have lost that spark in their life suddenly found the flames burning again within their hearts. Celestia took this filly in to teach her and watched her grow.
One day, Cadence found herself in the mysterious realm. There, Celestia showed Cadence the qualities she had displayed could become something even greater. She was ready for ascension. Then the transformation process occurred and Cadence was now an alicorn. It was a lot for the filly to take in, but she soon accepted her calling. Being able to access alicorn magic with a unicorn horn also enhanced Cadence’s ability to spread love and joy to others.
Through this, Celestia hoped that Cadence would be able to help Nightmare Moon have compassion on the inhabitants of Equestria and spare them not only her wrath, but also eternal night. The only problem was that it is extremely difficult to love ponies who you do not know. Nearly everypony that Luna had ever known were now dead after a thousand years. The one pony that she did know was the same mare who had banished her in the first place. Nightmare Moon was not likely to have compassion towards Celestia, especially if she had already deposed her.
Celestia’s final plan—and largest gamble—was her faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. Celestia had been impressed with Twilight ever since she came across her as a young filly trying to enter Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. She had never seen anypony posses such raw magical talent since her old friend, Starswirl the Bearded. Despite the fiasco that was Twilight’s entrance exam, Celestia felt compelled to take Twilight in as her own private pupil.
Twilight didn’t disappoint as she was certainly a prodigy. She would learn and master spells faster than Celestia could teach her. If anypony could somehow rekindle and harness the magic of the Elements of Harmony, it would be Twilight. However, there were so many variables and potential problems with this plan that Celestia could hardly count them all.
The first was that Twilight was just one unicorn; albeit a very powerful one. Celestia usually bore the Elements together with her sister, and struggled to use all of them by herself. Twilight may be talented, but it seemed unlikely that she could bear all of the Elements of Harmony.
Secondly, Twilight didn’t possess all of the qualities needed to use the elements; and the ones she did have were probably insufficient. Twilight was certainly honest and loyal to the princess. She could be generous with knowledge if ponies actually put forth the effort required to gain it. Unfortunately, Twilight was often more neglectful to others than she was kind or considerate; and she certainly didn’t laugh or even try to have the wisdom needed to make friends.
However, Twilight was intelligent and could make connections with obscure information—although she often needed to be pointed in the right direction. Celestia was relieved when she received a letter from Twilight the other day about how she discovered that Nightmare Moon’s return was nigh. Of course, Celestia was already aware of this since she knew the number of years that had past, and she could see the stars that seemed oddly close to the moon for the past several days. All of Canterlot’s most renowned astrologists couldn’t explain this phenomenon, but Celestia knew their purpose and it only confirmed the words of that mysterious pony all those years ago.
Celestia supposed that she should consider herself lucky that Twilight came to conclusion when she did. However, she knew that even on break, Twilight unfortunately never stopped studying. So Celestia gave some suggestions of books talking about ancient magical artifacts. She knew that Twilight would find a reference to the Elements of Harmony in at least one of them, particularly in the Tale of the Two Sisters. Twilight then made the connection to the legend of The Mare in the Moon—one of the first things that Celestia had the unicorn read when she became her private pupil.
Twilight was now in Ponyville to supervise preparations for the Summer Sun Festival; although, Celestia also wanted her to make some friends. Twilight needed to get out of her comfort zone and socialize. Celestia even knew that the preparations would be headed by ponies she only knew by reputation to be very friendly in various ways. With that, Twilight could actually unlock the mystery she faced and utilize the Elements of Harmony should Nightmare Moon really return.
Granted, this was most certainly the worst plan ever. It was hard to even consider it a plan since Celestia gave Twilight no briefing on it—other than what she had read in her books—and the only instructions the princess gave were for Twilight to “make some friends.” In fact, a lot of Celestia’s plans could work out better had she informed those involved about Nightmare Moon. Celestia didn’t do this because she feared that they wouldn’t do what was necessary if Luna was too far gone and truly beyond saving; despite how repulsed she was by the thought of this.
Yet—despite all the variables and everything that could possibly go wrong—Celestia felt confident about this. She trusted her student to accomplish what would be considered by many to be impossible given the circumstances. Twilight was capable of many things and would certainly be put to the test, starting tonight.
Knock knock knock
Without warning, Celestia’s thoughts were interrupted. Normally, she would have wondered who’d disturb her at this hour. However, tonight was not like other nights.
“Enter,” Celestia commanded in a soft and loving voice.
Sure enough, one of her royal servants entered her chambers. It was Time Frame, the royal scheduler, whose skills were matched only by Twilight herself. The stallion was a mess, his collar was undone and his mane obscured his horn completely.
“What is it?” Celestia asked.
“Forgive me, Your Highness,” Time Frame said, standing back up. “But if I may be so bold, if you do not leave within the next few minutes, you will not make it to Ponyville in time to raise the sun.”
Celestia sighed, “Very well, I’ll head to my chariot immediately. There’ll be no need to warn the guards since I’ll be there before you do.”
“I don’t understand,” Time Frame commented, frowning a little.
Celestia simply motioned her head behind her, and Time Frame got the message. He took his leave, and Celestia was alone again. She placed her crown on her head, Spread her wings, and flew off from the balcony to the courtyard below.
If the guards were surprised by Celestia’s method of arrival, they didn’t show it. Their faces were as blank as stone as Celestia took her seat. She gave the word and they took off.
The trip itself was rather uneventful. The darkness of the night covered most of the land bellow. The guards also weren’t much in terms of conversation either. Still, it was a pleasant journey and soon, their destination was in sight.
Celestia could tell that the sun was eager to rise. A little light shined at the bottom of the eastern horizon—enough to make out various landmarks, but still not enough to be considered daytime.
As they approached Ponyville, Celestia took one last look at the moon. Just as she turned her head, her sister’s silhouette vanished—leaving a blank, white surface in comparison.
Celestia smiled, “So it begins.”
