Of Doubts and Demons

The dark, jeweled sky stretched out endlessly, its splendor shining for all ponies to behold; however, only one pony was up to witness it.

I lay upside down on a tower’s balcony, my chin pointed to the sky. I took a deep breath to steel myself, and then focused on a star. My horn began to glow cyan and my eyes narrowed in concentration. I blocked out everything from my mind beyond the star moving slightly. I saw the image clearly in my mind’s eye and my head lifted as I strained to make the image a reality. The star seemed to wobble slightly, although I wasn’t sure if that was from my magical prowess or if I was just shaking from the effort. My tongue stuck out without my notice to minimize interruptions, and I felt a bead of sweat rolling down my check. My attention shifted away from the star at the sensation.

All at once, the magic broke, leaving me heaving and exhausted, like I had been physically pulling the star rather than only mentally pushing it. My eyes closed and I waited a few moments for my strength to return, ignoring the red stars that danced behind my lids. When I looked again, the star, Hamal of the constellation Aries, hadn’t budged a bit. My face soured and I snorted in distaste. Sure, I could move the moon on my first try, but a hundred years of practice and lesson and I still couldn’t move the stars?I curled my lips to sneer at the sky, but in my odd position, it struck me as just looking goofy. A smile tugged at me and I exhaled, my eyes following the vastness of space as though it was the ground and the earth was the sky. I’ll get the spell eventually, I told myself. There’s no rush. Star Swirl had faith in me. I can bring out the stars for the night, right? Moving them will come eventually.

I rolled over and stood up, shaking out my crumpled sapphire mane. Right side up, the night still enchanted me with its beauty and I breathed it all in. The small hours just before dawn had always been my favorite, the quietest hours known to ponydom, and it was a display for me alone. The softer shades of gray, purple, blue, and green were allowed to shine through, colors a pony wouldn’t be able to see by the light of day. A silky breeze tugged at my mane and tail, bringing with it the faint smell of evergreens. The Everfree Forest stood before me, and, beyond it, the various villages and tribes of my subjects. No pony stirred this late, even the most night owlish of ponies having drifted off hours ago. Even if somepony was up, they didn’t dare intrude on the silence of slumber. It was peaceful. Calm. Tranquil. Beautiful. After the chaos of Discord, my subjects deserved to enjoy this hour of the night safe and sound asleep, without worry or nightmares.

I took back up scanning the forest for danger, too strained to attempt to move the stars again. It was my only duty of the night, aside from rising and lowering the moon and keeping it straight on its path across the sky—protect the ponies. Before, my sister and I would smooth over issues the tribes had with each other or prevent wars between Equestria and neighboring countries. Once we split up our duties, the day dealt with the dignitary ponies and paperwork, while the night protected against dangers that could not be reasoned with.

In my opinion, the night shift was indefinitely more interesting.

At least it had been until as of late, when the monsters knew I would be there to stand up against them and had given up trying to defeat me in combat. Tonight had been even more painfully dull than usual, the only highlight a sleepwalking pony that I had to lead back to his home without him waking up, and that happened ages ago. My wings felt antsy at my sides; my legs ached from idleness. But there was nothing to be seen except branches bathed in starlight.

And then, something darted beneath the shadows, its figure obscured by the trees.

I froze instantly; my eyes narrowed as I searched for the creature. I considered; Celestia would be taking over the day shift soon, and I was planning on waking her up in a few minutes to let her get ready for the day ahead. Whatever moved, it looked small, so I could rule out manticore and chimera as to what the creature was. I translated that to mean “probably not dangerous”. But it still could be, and the night had been far too quiet to ignore a “could be”. Chases usually did not come so willingly to me. My wings snapped open and I crouched, readying myself for the flight. I launched myself into the air and soared to the forest.

The creature had a head start and I hadn’t exactly seen where it went, but that’s what made this game fun. I dove into the trees, bobbing and weaving through the branches, my instincts guiding me while my eyes scanned the ground and my ears strained for a telltale scuffling.

I landed suddenly in a tree and listened, my dark coat blending into the night and hiding me. I waited a few moments for any unintentional noises that I had made to be forgotten and kept my horn unlit. In the silence, I soon heard a rustling deep in the forest, approximately a furlong away.

I noiselessly glided to the ground and stalked closer to the noise, my movements mimicking the undergrowth, my heart thudding inside. When the scurrying was directly in front of me, I stopped.

Without warning, I leaped into the air and down in front of the creature.

And realized that I had just completely freaked out a small family of raccoons.

“Oh my, I’m so sorry!” I abandoned my Royal Canterlot Voice to save them from being further spooked. I crouched down so I was eye level with them. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I thought you were something else.”

The raccoons still huddled against the tree trunk, shaking from fear, and it slowly dawned on me: they were not looking at me. They were looking at something behind me.

Slowly, I rose to look.

I only saw a shadow, tall as me. I could have mistaken it for my own, had its legs been attached to the soles of my hooves and not supporting its own weight. Fear prickled inside me at the sight of it and I dipped my head, my ears pinning back. My horn ignited in light. “Stand down,” I warned.

The shadow vanished deeper into the forest, further into the shadows, where I knew it could only grow stronger. Without hesitation, I magicked a ball of moonlight and shot it directly where it disappeared to trap the shadow. The miniature moon rose into the forest canopy, shining out moonbeams, forcing the shadow to cower before me.

“We do not take kindly to your kindred here.” My head rose as I approached the shadow, keeping myself surrounded in light to prevent it from harming me. When King Sombra was defeated, most ponies knew that he had cast a spell to cause the Crystal Empire to disappear with him. What most ponies didn’t know was that his dark magic gave birth to sentient shadows, who hid during the day and grew in the darkness of night, hidden away from the moon’s light. Dangerous in numbers, powerless against light, they preyed on a pony’s fears, delighted in the secret truths ponies buried deep within themselves to hide from others. Ruling over the night, I had been tasked with destroying every last one before they attempted hurt somepony.

The shadow hissed as it inched away from my light, becoming formless in the remaining darkness.

I took no chances with it; although it could not physically touch me while I was bathed in light, it could dig with words and find the chinks in your heart’s armor. My horn charged and I blasted a beam of light at the darkness, engulfing the area in white. The shadow seemed to vanish, but that meant nothing. Wary, I kept myself surrounded in light as I went to investigate.

“Princess Luna...” The darkness whispered, dragging out the words as though it could discover my fears from only my name. It edged as close as it dared, stalking around me. I prepared another light spell and fired it, but the shadow evaded my attack once more. “We see inside of your heart, Princess of the Night, see your true face hidden beneath your own darkness…there is fear in you, Princess Luna.”

My ears pinned back. I watched over my shoulder and slowly revolved on the spot, trying to pinpoint where it would reappear. I snorted in agitation. My foreleg pawed the ground, daring it to come closer. “Do not feel bad…every pony has their fears…hiding them does not make them go away.” I heard it lift its muzzle and sniff.

“You are jealous of something…perhaps you feel that your nights have become lonesome while the days’ importance has increased. It makes you frustrated, does it not, how there’s nothing you can do to change it.”

“Enough!” The force of my words caused my horn to grow brighter still. “You’re lying,” I said, my voice low. I pawed still, wanting to destroy it quickly before it could keep digging at me with words, planting seeds of doubt that could take root. But I couldn’t keep silent—impulsively, I responded. “I am the reason they sleep soundly in their beds, that they are safe when they wake for the day and are able to laugh and play. I protect my subjects against the likes of you, against those who sow malice and disdain, who poison love with whispering doubts. My subjects appreciate my work, they love my night and the peace it brings, and it’s only through me that they can!” I mentally admonished myself for speaking, for giving in so easily to its bait. Don’t give it power over you, Luna…

“Do your subjects care about you, or do they only care about the night and sleep you bring?” The shadow quickly responds. “Do they parade around, thankful that you are there to safeguard the night? Or do they ignore the beauty you have brought forth for them and sleep through your creation without a second thought?”

“Silence!” I aimed a shot of light at the shadow, but it easily retreated further into the darkness.

“You know our words are true. You have told us yourself, after all.”

I turned and spotted it once more. It was no longer the tiny shadow from before. It now towered over the trees, its head stretched to the clouds. My light waned slightly as fear began to set in. Block out its words, don’t let it get to you, I reminded myself. It can’t hurt you unless you drop your light…

As it spoke again, it seemed to grow even more, until it could reach out its arms and they would encompass the entire world, until all that remained was my lone light against a suffocating darkness. “You tell yourself so many lies that you can do nothing but believe them. How beautiful the quiet is, how peaceful their slumber is, how thrilling it is to vanquish Equestria’s enemies. But nopony truly understands what you do each and every night, all that they care about is you sister. It is inferior to the day. You’re only the lone princess of the night, loyalty protecting her subjects, never appreciated when everypony only cares about your sister.”

“We said SILENCE!” My horn blazed like the midday sun, anger replacing my fear at its words, and my Royal Canterlot Voice broke through. “How dare thee! We will be missed when we art gone, and thou shall pass away as quietly as the snuffing of a candle!” I tilted my head back and let the spell enwrap the woods with light. When the magic faded, the shadow was nowhere to be seen, and never would be seen again.