Luna slowly walked through the Canterlot Gardens, a few owls hooting as she made her way through the twisting stone paths. It was the middle of the night, a time in which Luna spent walking and gazing upon her creations and pondering the past.
Taking a deep breath of the cold, crisp night air, she looked up to the sky, the little balls of white she had named stars beaming down upon her. They shone with an alluring light, just they way she had wanted them to so many years ago. She then turned her head over to the Moon, which was glowing brighter than all of the stars combined in her sky.
It looked powerful, like a large stone god hovering in the sky, looking down upon its subjects.
Kinda like her own little sun, shining in the night sky as ponies went to bed.
It was a full moon tonight, allowing her and all of her subjects that dared to stay awake at this time to see all of the effort and work she had put into it over the years.
Yes, it held bad memories from the past, but tose were put behind her years ago when she vowed to never make the same mistakes again. Her Moon would only be good from now on, its one duty being to shine down upon Equestria and not be prison for her to loathe for years to come.
Luan's attention soon shifted to a nebula, its colorful gasses seemingly dancing to her eyes as she observed them. Fiery reds would flicker like flames on one side while a cool, wave like blue would flow on the other.
She had been sure to design it that way when creating the nighttime sky, forcing the pony eye to make such connections as it gazed upon them with wonder and curiosity.
Luna put on a small smile as she remembered somepony's dream, the fiery reds she was looking at dancing around within their imagination as they slept.
At least she was appreciated by the few who cared to take a moment of their time and observe their surroundings a bit closer than usual.
Luna then let out a deep sigh she had been holding back, turning her attention back to the things she could physically interact with. There was an owl's golden shining eyes, full of wisdom as it sat in an oak tree. She then looked up to see a few silhouettes of bats fly across the night sky, screeching as the hunted for insects unfortunate enough to be flying in their path.
These few creatures depended on her night, making her smile come right back. Even if many ponies ignored her goregous night, these animals depended on her. They would die without her moon, her stars, her nebulas, and many other things she had included but forgotten years ago.
As she walked, her hooves making a small clop noise, a red fox then darted by her hooves, nimble and quick as its paws thudded against the cobblestone path laid down generations ago. Then, just like that, it disappeared into the night, probably never to be seen by her again as it hunted for scraps of meat and morsels of food.
Luna then let out a light chuckle, pondering about herself. Normal ponies never thought about things like that, while these concepts were simply part of her natural thought process.
Like when they see a bee buzz by, their mind never makes the connection that the bee will probably never do that again. It'll return to its hive, work and do what a bee does, then fly off to another flower. And that flower could be in the same field. And the same pony could see that bee again, but will it buzz by them again? No. It will fly around that pony instead, returning to its hive.
And just like the fox, it may run by her again. But will it run on the same grass it had before? Will it run behind or in front of her? Will it even tread on the same path again? Will it even run, or do a simple crawl and slink by her?
Luna shook her head and sighed again, seeing her destination was right in front of her. All signs of emotion slipped away as she approached it, her heart beat beginning to speed up a bit.
It was a rose, just a single rose upon a hill by the edge of the Everfree forest. And it was a simple red rose, a green stem supporting it and thorns to protect it. Just a rose, nothing special about it.
Now, when the night guards walk by it, all they see is a red rose upon a hill in the Royal Canterlot Gardens. But Luna sees something else.
She see's the rose that helped her further connect with her sister when they chatted about it. She sees a rose that allowed her to confess to her teenage crush, for it helped her avoid any embarrassing eye contact. She sees the rose in which she would stare at, thinking about her sister overshadowing her as its red color sparked the rage that would later be her downfall.
It was rose full of memories and emotion that was both good, bad, and awkward. It was more than just a rose, but something important to her. Something that helped Luna do good, and forced Luna to do bad throughout her millennium long lifetime.
Luna stared blankly at the rose, its presence bringing up some more memories. A few made her cringe on instinct, while others forced a chuckle out of her. But enough was enough. It was time to let go.
Luna's magic then began to slowly wrap around the stem, and with a quick thrust, snapped it in half. She then plucked a petal off, gently lying it on top of the hill while she tossed the rest of it away with an angry growl.
It was time she stopped being so nostalgic, and began embracing the present. It was time she forgot about all of her mistakes of the past, and focused on preventing future ones.
Satisfied with her work, Luna turned around to head back to the castle, her eyes gleaming with determination. She still had one more thing to do before she was ready to move on, to finally begin reconnecting with her sister. Before she was ready to become Luna again, and not be a pitiful shadow.
Luna opened the closet door, the dusty black chest being the only thing in there. It was ridded with many spells to keep intruders out, for what was in there was of utmost importance and if she lost it, well, things wouldn't be pretty.
She took a deep breath, something she did so often these days, and began to un-cast each one, the strong feeling of magic in the room beginning to decrease as she did so.
Once done, Luna walked back to her nightstand, opening the secret compartment she had put inside it years ago to hide candy from her sister. It made her smile a little as the memory of an enraged filly Celestia wanting candy filled her mind. Inside the compartment was a silver key, just as dusty as the chest.
She coughed a little as she picked up the key with her magic, dust flying off of it and into her nostrils. Luna quickly shut the compartment when done, walking back over to the chest with a look of dread.
She took a deep breath yet again, bracing herself for flashbacks to invade her mind and take over as she put the key into the lock, twisting it.
Luna's ears pricked up as they heard a small click noise as she did so, the chest swinging open. And then, she saw it, pain beginning to fill her chest as the memories, indeed, invaded her head.
The helmet. The helmet she had worn as Nightmare Moon, the monster who was willing to kill ponies for attention.
A few tears went down her her cheek as the memory of the hatred she had felt to her sister swirled around in her mind. How could she have been so... so demonic? Her eyes went back to the helmet.
At first, she had kept it as a reminder to never let evil come so close to her heart again. But as the years went flying by, it only became a depressing, memory-holding artifact.
Luna, starting push all the memories back, managed to lift it up slowly in her magic, examining it closely.
Surprisingly, she knew how each dent and bump had happened. Each painful detail that was marked upon it. Like a large, gnarled scratch that was going from one side to another. That had happened when she was slammed against the wall.
She then scowled, shaking her head in anger. It was time she got rid of it, so she could truly be herself again and not have the foul memories invade her nightmares every night.
Luna set down the helmet on her floor, her horn beginning to spark as she casted a spell off memory. It was spell meant to destroy anything it came in contact with, erasing it from the world, the universe itself. It was the only spell she could use to truly feel fine again.
It was a spell from ancient times that only powerful unicorns like Starswirl and alicorns can cast, but even then it was hard and difficult to muster enough magic.
Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead as she whispered the words, allowing herself to close her eyes, letting her subconscious mind do the work.
And then, it happened.
A beam of blue left her horn as she uttered the last word of the spell, it speedily finding its way to the helmet. The moment it made contact, the two disappeared, not leaving a trace. Not even sparks flew up as it did so.
It was over, done. The painful memory holders had both been destroyed. So why did she feel like she still had things to do?
Luna just sighed, turning back around.
"I'm ready."
She climbed up onto her bead, not bothering to climb under the blankets as she rested her head on a pillow, closing her eyes.
And for the first time in years, she didn't have the Rose and Helmet make their way into her dreams.
