The carriage stopped just before the limit of the town. For what reason, Luna did not know. She had believed that, after the celebrations for her return, they were about to leave the small city of 'Ponyville', but, beside her, Celestia nodded to Luna, so she stood up and went down first, acclaimed once again by the crowd. On her mouth there was a benevolent smile, her bearing was proud, her large alicorn wings were moderately spreaded. She could have been out of the loop for a thousand years, but she remembered well what was expected from her in a parade.
But, under the proud and reassuring guise, Luna was actually shocked. Those peasants that were tirelessly cheering, smiling, leaning to see her better, and throwing flowers at her, seemed really happy to see her!
How was it possible? Only few hours had passed since the spell of the Elements of Harmony had driven Nightmare Moon away, put an end to the endless night in which she had plunged Equestria, and allowed the return of her sister, Celestia.
Luna was supposed to be a monster for all of them!
But, instead of fear, repulsion, or even mockery, all that Luna was receiving, seemed to be sincere joy for her return.
Luna could not remember being so well liked by other people, besides her sister, at least from... well... she could not remember ever being so well liked. The smiles and cheers that she had received at the parades, until then, had rarely been more than circumstantial, or rather intended for her sister. Even when she had saved her subjects' life, defeating some monster, Luna had seen gratitude in their eyes, of course, but also the desire to not have her around for longer than necessary.
For them, to be so pleased to see her was nonsense. In what Celestia has succeeded to turn her subjects in the last thousand years?
On second thought, Luna was also wondering about where they were going. What was interesting in that small building, clean but modest, called 'station', that both of them had to visit?
The two Alicorns, escorted by the guards, who also held the civilians outside, entered into the building, that turned out to be some kind of small foyer furnished with seats for waiting, only to exit from the opposite side.
Out of the station, on that side, there was a wooden planking, and, at the end of that, the most impressive carriage that Luna had ever seen was waiting for them.
Luna stood, looking at the long line of big, closed wagons linked each other, while Celestia flanked her, walking toward the closer coach, whose door was already open. Back in the days when Luna ruled Equestria along with her sister, when they just didn’t want to fly, a simple chariot, like the one they had just left, or even a cart, was sufficient to carry the two of them. Celestia had to have developed delusions of grandeur to think to need something like that monstrosity to travel.
"How many stallions it takes to pull this thing?" Luna asked to her sister.
"Is not pushed by Pony's force or magic my dear," Celestia replied, turning to look at her, and smiling. "It's technology.
"Normally, trains like this, carry many ponies from town to town, but today I chose to reserve one only for us. As I thought you'd be very tired for all that has happened."
Luna followed Celestia aboard the 'first class' wagon, and found that, in fact, it was made to carry many ponies in several different, clean, but not luxurious compartments, each consisting of two padded benches and a small table between them. The two sat in one of them, facing each other, which was enough to make Luna figure out that the seats were meant for someone a bit shorter than she was.
Celestia guessed her thoughts, or rather noticed the small movements that Luna was doing to find find a comfortable position. Infact "One size fits all," she said giggling.
Luna stood, a little annoyed, looking at her sister. Obviously, despite being taller than her, Celestia was not having any problem in sitting gracefully. If there was one thing that had always irritated Luna, it was when her sister's words, or behaviors, remarked her imperfection, and nor a thousand years of exile, nor the fact that Luna knew well that she still had a lot to make amends for, nor the fact that Luna knew perfectly that her sister did not mean to mock her, and that she simply was oversensitive on that topic, could change that.
Nopony else stepped into their wagon, but the soft clatter of the armors informed Luna that the guards were taking place in the adjacent cars. Shortly after they ceased to make noise, there was a loud whistle, and then the 'train' began to move, so softly to give Luna, who was looking out the window, the strange impression that it was the landscape to move, and not her. Except for the novelty of it all anyway, the trip was uneventful. Luna sat, avoiding eye contact with her sister, shifting her gaze from the table in front of her to the rural landscape, nice and tidy in broad daylight, but far too bright for her to look at it for too long. Luna had never loved the sunny days, and a thousand years of exile on the moon had not improved her excessive photosensitivity.
Above all, Celestia was right, and Luna made a mental note to have to thank her for the idea to use the train, Luna was tired. She was tired mentally, physically, and especially magically. That was not only an impression. She had not seen her coat that pale, and the strands of her mane, that partially covered her eyes, of a so light tone of blue, since she was a filly, and her nocturnal powers had not yet began to overflow, darkening her aspect. Nightmare Moon had been a thirsty and demanding monster. Every spark, every little bit of magic she could generate, she had to use it only to satisfy her unquenchable thirst, draining her own powers only to maintain a semblance of lucidity in her thoughts. Luna knew that her weakness was not permanent. After having checked her physical conditions during and after so many battles She knew to be physically intact, and in full control of her powers, but it would have taken days, maybe weeks, to completely restore them.
"If you are too tired to rise the moon tonight," Celestia started out of the blue. "I can still do it for you. But I think it's better if you begin to take care of it as soon as possible."
"Thou want me to resume my work?" Luna asked incredulously.
"It's your work after all," Celestia answered chuckling. Then, with a distant expression that Luna had very rarely seen on her sister "For a thousand years It seemed to me as to have stolen it."
Celestia regained her usual sympathetic expression. "But, as I was saying, I think it would be of great symbolic significance if you can resume it as soon as possible. Equestria's citizens would be happy to know that there is a Princess in full charge of the night."
Luna was too well educated to stare at her sister agape, but found it hard to believe to what she was hearing. That's true. That was her place once, long time ago. But for the last thousand years Celestia had more or less ruled Equestria alone. Now, with two words, she was practically giving her an half of her reign.
"I think I can lower the moon tomorrow morning, if it's good for thee" Luna said, slowly and expressionless.
"It would be perfect!" Celestia smiled.
Yeah. It would have been perfect. Her setting the moon would have shown that she was no longer Nightmare Moon, and perhaps, the night after, she could have made the moon rise without people being terrified that the sun would rise no more. Celestia was right. As long as Luna was in Equestria, everypony had to know that she was part of the natural order, not some sort of power without assignment, left alone at mulling thoughts of revenge, and ready to play some dirty trick. They had to believe that Nightmare Moon was an alien and evil force who had been definitively banished. Someone other than Luna was.
It would have been nice for her to be able to believe it as well.
But Luna reminded very well to have made every of Nightmare Moon's actions, to have thought every thought of her, to have given her her motivations, to have felt her anger as her own. It had been her that had fallen, that had so miserably failed in the simple task of remaining sane. And now, she ought only to the Elements of Harmony, which she had so many times used to drive out some foe before, proud to be merciless with those who had fallen to evil, if she was given a so undeserved second chance.
When had she realized how much ridiculous the whole thing to plunge forever the world into darkness was? When had she understood that nopony deserved the fate that she was preparing for them? For how much time she went forward, knowing to be wrong, only for not being able to admit it, and choking reason with more anger only to not hear her voice?
"Maybe you can take a nap," Celestia said, rousing Luna from her thoughts. "It will still take at least an hour to Canterlot"
No! Never! As tired as she could be, Luna would have burned the train to ashes rather than let some of the guards or servants to see her sleeping on a bench!
Luna stared at her sister, allowing herself to be a little envy. For Celestia to be graceful was a gift. For Luna, it was a duty. People could believe her being a princess due to sheer power, And Luna could have not denied it, but Luna had always taken it as a 24/7 job. To be a princess gave many advantages, and Luna had always intended to earn every bit of them. Part of the deal was to never appear frightened, hungry, anxious, nervous, or just tired. To be calm, reassuring, comprehensive, and yet determined. To have no defects. To be an example of such unattainable perfection, that anypony would have preferred a thousand times to serve a princess, rather than envy her position. Her subjects put their lives in her hooves when they obeyed her, and that, at least, was due to them.
She could let herself go only when she was alone, or at most with her sister, but on that train it was not that they were alone at all. On the contrary, during the trip, several guards passed along the corridor, apparently focused on their task, as if they had something really important to do on the other side of the train, and several hoofmaiden peeked, to know if the two princesses needed something.
The frequency of these appearances was suspicious enough to convince Luna that the real purpose of them was to snoop on the newcomer.
"It rather seems it would be more appropriate to improvise a little show." Luna replied drily.
Celestia chuckled. "let them be curious," she said. "It not happens every day to see a new Princess after all."
Thanks to... well, anypony at that point would have thought 'thanks to Celestia', but Luna did not really know who to thank, as certainly Celestia could have been less useful to her on that matter only by starting to sing lullabies, Luna managed to stay awake for the rest of the trip. Canterlot's station was way bigger than Ponyville's, but the guards equally managed to keep the crowd out of it, and the two princesses could easily reach the rich carriage that had to lead them to the Castle.
The crowd that cheered them outside the station and through the streets of Canterlot seemed to Luna less enthusiastic than the peasants of Ponyville, they were more accustomed than the rurals to see royalness after all, but equally inexplicably sincere in their admiration of herself. Luna was starting to suspect that Celestia had managed to keep secret her relation with Nightmare Moon at all, by leading them to believe that Luna was committed to fight her and keep her away from Equestria all that time maybe, but really she was losing interest in the topic, growing instead more and more interested in reaching a bed as soon as possible. Luckily Celestia's Castle (Luna had to think to it that way, as the Castle of Canterlot, airy and bright as it was, so different from the unadorned fortress that was then rotting in the Everfree Forest, was obviously built to Celestia's taste) was a little far from the city, and, in the gardens of the palace, only the servants and the guards were lined up, waiting for them.
None of them followed the two princesses in the entrance hall, as Celestia preferred to lead Luna in the castle alone. Luna followed her sister, hall after hall and staircase after staircase, all of them bright and beautiful, painted in the shades of white and gold, only occasionally encountering some pair of guards that were watching the entrance to the different wings of the castle. Celestia sometimes explained the function of the halls and corridors that the two were crossing, but Luna was not paying much attention. She could not put the blame on her sister if she had modeled the Castle after her image. But she was starting to feel a little out of place there.
"A...and this is your wing of the castle..." Luna was roused from her thoughts, not so much by the meaning of her sister's words, that she had not immediately understood, but by the impression that her voice had been slightly, almost imperceptibly, uncertain and high pitched. Only then she realized that, In the hallway in which they were entering, the white and gold colors were replaced by much more relaxing blue and dark purple. "It's not big, you see, but it's sufficient to receive, and host. Your rooms are at the end of this corridor."
So Celestia had kept a wing of her castle for a sister she had not seen for a thousand years. "And where are thine?" Asked Luna
"On the other side of the castle" Responded Celestia, without looking back at her.
"Once our rooms were close each other." It was not an accusation. It was the nostalgia to talk for Luna.
"It would have been too much." Celestia replied with a distant tone.
At the end of the long hallway there was a closed door, richly decorated in black, blue and silver, flanked by Luna's standards, and watched by two unicorn guards, one young, more older, and bearded, the other. At the arrival of the two Princesses they stood at attention, and the young one opened the door with his magic. It was his duty, but Luna nodded, to recognise his kindness, hoping that her smile had not seemed too tired. It would have been the first time in a thousand years that somepony would have watched over her sleep. Once, she had taken it for granted, but now, in a certain sense, Luna felt a bit of gratitude for them.
Luna followed Celestia through the door, entering in a dressing room that was placed before the real bedroom. The room was elegantly furnished, decorated with her favorite colors, and adorned with several vases of fresh flowers. Luna recognized some of the ornaments, which came directly from her bedroom in the old castle, but almost all the furniture had no more than a few years. Luna also had the impression that it was not the first time that those vases had seen water and flowers. Celestia must have kept those rooms as to be always ready for Luna's return, renewing them at the same rate of her own.
At that point however Luna was really impatient to see her bedroom, and especially her bed, and not only to see it, so she proceeded in the next room. It was decorated with the same style of the previous one, but in the bedroom there weren't flowers, as Luna had never wanted them in her bedroom, having ever found their smell to be too strong for her to rest well.
To realize the attention that Celestia had put in remember even the details of her tastes and preferences, for Luna, was almost painful. She would have hugged her sister, and apologized again, if she had not been so tired. She realized however that Celestia had followed her into the room and, more worryingly, while it was the guard that opened the first door for them, was Celestia that had closed both behind them.
Her sister was looking at her, smiling, and Luna knew that the time had come. Apologies were useless. Celestia was going to hurt her. Without even meaning to, indeed, absolutely not wanting it. With all the sympathy and kindness of which the most compassionate of the ponies could be capable, she was about to say to her supposed co-ruler, and actual younger sister, something that would have remarked how immense the distance between them still was, what a pathetic excuse of a Princess she was, how much Luna had disappointed her, and what was expected from her in the future. Well, Luna knew she deserved this, and much worse. She was only hoping that at least her sister could do it quickly.
Cause she was really falling asleep on her hooves.
___________________________________________
Northern Light realized to have a silly smile depicted on his face, and so composed himself, not too worried, however, that the old Diamond Dust had probably seen him. If it would have been possible to chat during the guard duty, he would have told him without problems what his thoughts were.
The guard duty in front of the rooms of Princess Luna had always been the most boring of the duties at Canterlot Castle. To have to do it, meant to have the guarantee of spending hours without seeing anyone (apart for the occasional hoofmaiden entering in the rooms to put in order), and the certainty of being there without reason. And those were the good times, as the other possibility were the rare occasions when Princess Celestia would came down there, with an expression that, to anypony outside the castle, would have seemed absolutely neutral, but that, those who saw her more often, knew to be the saddest that they would have ever seen on her face.
But now things had changed. A real Princess had come to live there! And how cute she was! She had also smiled at him! And now they would have had the honor to watch over her sleep, the only time of the day when even a mighty alicorn was vulnerable to threats more mundane than those that were described in the tales told to frighten the foals. In that moment, he and Diamond were probably the most important guards in all Equestria!
Obviously, Northern Light knew that Princess Luna was precisely one of the threats described in those tales, no other than the terrible Nightmare Moon, but, for that very reason, he was not afraid at all. For Northern, Nightmare Moon had always being that, a tale told to frighten the foals. She had finally returned, and all that had come out of it, were few hours of darkness more than usual. If the coming of a new Princess had not caused even that little turmoil, Northern would have doubted that her horn and wings were for real.
Northern Light almost felt sorry that his turn would probably have ended before the awakening of the new Princess. When the two Princesses entered in the room, Princess Celestia was radiant, while Princess Luna seemed a little tired, and even a bit shabby maybe, but that was understandable, with all that had happened to her. She had seemed like the humble type to him, but it could be that her real nature would come out after a good sleep. It could be she was much more active, reckless, even spoiled maybe. Northern would not have cared to have to deal even with a spoiled Princess. Celestia could be even too polite. The favorite topic of conversation of Northern's father, longtime guard of the Bluebloods, and the funnier one, were all the impossible tasks that the spoiled foals of the family used to give to him. Northern would have liked to have some tale like those to tell to his foals one da...
"No! Please! Sto...Hahahahahahaha!"
Northern jumped on his hooves, trying to figure out from where had come that thundering laugh, so loud to make the stained glass windows of the corridor tremble. Only a moment later he realized that it was actually... Princess Luna's voice?
"Stop it! Stop it! Hahahahahahaha!”
Northern turned to Diamond, questioning him with the eyes
"Oh! The 'Royal Canterlot Voice'," said the old guard, his voice barely audible beneath the laughs. "I had only read about it in books before. I did not think I'd ever heard it used to laugh."
"But..."
"Poor Princess Luna," Diamond went on slowly shaking his head. "Every foal in Canterlot know Celestia is a devil at tickling".
"Hahaha! Please! I'm sor...Hahahahaha!”
Northern was sure of having heard the voice of Princess Celestia, much lower than that of the Princess Luna, but still audible, shouting: "No mercy!"
"Hahaha... Stop it! Now! Hahaha... Thou will pay for t...hahahahahah!
Northern heard a soft bump the other side of the door, followed by the dull thud of a body falling on the floor, the same moment the laughter ended, then after a brief pause, a series of similar soft hits started. He turned to diamond again.
"Ho ho... Things are getting serious now," Diamond said nodding. "it seems they have resorted to pillows."
Northern had not the slightest idea of what to do. On the one hand, it did not seem that the princesses were in danger, on the other, he was afraid that they might exaggerate, but, in any case, by what authority could he stop them?
"A... are we ok with that?" He asked to Diamond
"Ummmh..." Diamond stroked his beard thoughtful. "We’ll enter if one of them screams: 'Guards!'".
"Thou, coward!" Luna said gasping "Next time I will show thee!"
Celestia, standing up and trying to compose herself, looked at the exhausted mare that was lying on what was left of her bed, gasping for air, and giggled. Poor thing. Given her present conditions, it had been a cruel and inequine punishment that she had inflicted to her sister, although, recalling the magic propelled pillow blow that had thrown her right to the ground, stopping her tickling attack, Celestia had to admit that, all things considered, Luna had fought back pretty well, and the huge mess of pillows, blankets, curtains and upholstery that once was Luna's bedroom was there to prove. But Celestia was a fair ruler, an hers was just the right punishment for Luna, for making her wait for a thousand years. An entire millenniun without being able to let herself go even once, was something that cried out for vengeance. Moreover, Celestia had more than enough of the regretful and apologetic version of her sister that had been staged all that day. She wanted back the cocky and competitive one, and, if she had to make her angry to have it, all the better. But, above all, it was her sister's filly coat, that Celestia had not seen in a so long time, and that perhaps she could no longer see again, that was irresistible in triggering her will to torment her.
Little she cared for the room. That shrine erected to the memory of her sister, mute witness of all the lonely tears that she could not have let anypony see, had no more reasons to exist now that her sister had returned. Celestia would have rather liked to destroy it even more. It was a pity that Luna was not in condition to last a couple of rounds more, to get rid of all that was still left intact. Celestia wanted Luna to get a bedroom to her taste, not having to sleep in what had been, for a thousand years, the tomb of Celestia's feelings.
Cause Celestia was so proud of her sister that she felt like her heart was about to explode.
No one had seen it coming. No one knew who she was. Not even the old Starswirl had been able to predict it. Nightmare Moon had been a bolt from the blue. But later, after being forced to fight the monster in which her sister had turned, and after having had to exile her to the Moon, Celestia, not believing that the reasons of that creature could be those of her sister, not believing that she could be her, had searched for decades the cause of of what had happened. And finally she understood them.
Everypony had magic. Not only unicorns. Unicorns are the ones who own the device to project their magic outside their bodies, but is magic that gives earth ponies strength and resilience, and that gives lift to the pegasi wings, as their weather abilities.
But a normal pony has not a real magic core. He has like a thin magic field, charged at a low energy level, as the pony has nor the power, nor the need to boost it to the higher ones. That way his magic is stable and harmonic.
An alicorn is different. An alicorn, as a base, owns all three the basic forms of magic. But different kinds of magic cannot occupy the same space at the same energy level. So, to contain them, an alicorn has to store different magic fields at different energetic states, as shells one over the other. That way a magic core appears, even without the alicorn noticing it. Then, as the alicorn grows up and gains experience, she incorporates others, more advanced forms of magic, and store them at increasingly higher energy levels. The radiance produced by the highest magic energy levels can hardly be hidden. It shapes the very external aspect of the alicorn, as it was so evident in Celestia's case, but, on the other hand, in the depths of the magic core, at the lower energy levels, things are far less lovely. There, the base of the magic of the alicorn struggles to avoid being crushed by the pressure of the higher levels. What seems to the alicorn the increase of her magical powers, is actually the increased consumption of them, required to maintain the balance between the energy states of her own magic, to fuel the lower levels to resist to the pressure, and the higher ones, to not increase it, losing energy.
Alicorns do it instinctively, but they are far from perfect.
The Nightmare is the result of the fall of an alicorn. Her degenerate state. Only an alicorn can become a Nightmare, as only the magic core of an alicorn is dense enough to risk to collapse on itself. For an Alicorn, to fall, is a physical phenomenon.
For an alicorn of the level Luna had reached a millennium before, it actually needs very little.
It could be a broken heart, it could be a temporary depression, it could be a burst of anger. But something can break the balance, the ability of the alicorn to maintain stable the energy levels of her magic core. Much more easily, since she does not even consciously know the need to maintain them.
The last ingredient, which makes the fall more or less easy, is the very same kind of magic that the alicorn owns. Her unique ability. Celestia's powers were radiant, warm and expansive. Naturally more resistant to the fall. Luna's powers were gravitational, cold and attracting. Naturally more prone to the collapse. Luna had walked all her life on a thin wire, until it has broken.
When the balance between the energy levels of the magic layers is broken, they collapse one onto the other in a chain reaction. The pressure arise on the basic levels, trying to overcome the exclusion principle, until they merge, decaying in their most basic form, neutral, undifferentiated magic. When this happens, the chain reaction can not be stopped, as can’t be stopped the collapse of a building that has lost the pillars of the first floor. In the meantime, the layers of magic, collapsing on lower energy levels, release their potential energy, giving the Alicorn a power beyond her possibilities to manage it, overcoming her already broken conscious mind, and fuelling her fears, her obsessions, her nightmares, forcing the Alicon to become the worst of them. That way the negation of all the alicorn had previously been, a Nightmare, is born.
Celestia had been devastated by the discovery. For decades she had hoped to find that her beloved sister had not betrayed her. And, when this hope was fulfilled, it was only to reveal that, for decades, Luna's mind had been constantly tortured, living her worst nightmares, and, each passing moment, she was continuing to live them.
Celestia also had been on the verge of collapse at that point. Only the hope to find a cure had sustained her, but, as he had feared since she had used the Elements of Harmony against Nightmare Moon, there was not any cure. The Elements of Harmony had been useless in giving back Luna to Celestia. They had only been able to exile her. All the magic power of the universe, injected inside the magic core of a nightmare, cannot save her. The increased magic energy can only accelerate the fall. And the outcome was fixed. The collapse would have continued, fuelling the Nightmare, until the last magic field had not fallen and merged in the undifferentiated field. Then, with nothing to distinguish her, the bearer of the power herself would have dissolved. Only the timing was in doubt. Time has little significance for an immortal being. Maybe it would have taken a day, maybe a millennium, but Luna was condemned to live the nightmare until her last day.
Only a tiny, tiny hope remained. Celestia was not even sure it was possible, but maybe there was a reason if the Elements exiled the Nightmare on the Moon for a fixed time of a thousand years. Not giving the Nightmare the possibility to use her magic energy and her twisted will to conquer the earth.
All the magic power of the universe could not stop the fall of a Nightmare. But maybe Luna could do it. Using not an external source of magic power, but a millennium of magic generation of one of the most powerful magicians of the universe, herself, to put back together the pieces of her shattered mind, to not fuel the collapse, to not give in to fear and madness, to regain sanity, to reconstruct her magic core, to find a new balance between her magic levels.
For a thousand years Celestia raised the Moon every night, and, at every sunset, at the moment to raise her, she felt guilty, guilty of her horrible, selfish hope. The hope to see once again the Mare on the Moon. The proof that Luna's torture was still continuing. But the proof that her sister had not dissolved yet. That she was still fighting. That Celestia was not yet totally alone.
And she succeeded.
What Celestia had exiled on the Moon was a sadic slayer. Something she couldn't recognize or understand. Something completely alien to her. Something that could not have place in Equestria. What had returned after a thousand years was her sister, with a bucket on her head, and a gigantic grudge against her. Desperately calling for someone to defeat her, to revert back to her old self without losing her face. Barely more serious than a Nightmare Night disguise. Something the Elements of Harmony would not have had problems to manage. Celestia knew that she would not become Nightmare Moon again. For one who had climbed from hell with her own strenght, to fall was no longer possible. Luna had won.
Luna turned to Celestia, and made a questioning expression, realizing that her sister was still staring at her.
Celestia could not stop to look proudly at her sister. So righteous to fight for a thousand years the most impossible of the battles without even realizing it, and so stubborn to hold a grudge for a millennium. So strong to defeat the most cruel of the enemies, and so insecure to need someone to ring the bell to know that the fight was over.
And of all that, Celestia could not speak to her. She know her words would have been meaningless for her sister. Worse, she would have mistaken them for commiseration. Celestia had to give her time to figure it out alone.
Celestia turned her back to Luna. "Now I'll let you rest, if you think you can still do it in this mess. I'll wake you up for setting the Moon, if you'll be still in bed by then."
"Whew!" Luna sighted, looking at the entrance of the room. "I thought I laughed so hard to shatter the doors. Hope I have not scared anyone."
"Don't worry sister," Celestia said without looking at her, "they are accustomed. The Royal Canterlot Voice is still used on official occasions. And it's better you make sure to dust off your Royal We. Subjects love the Princesses to put them at a little distance."
"Good to know," Luna said, yawning behind her. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," Celestia replied, smiling.
Luna’s head was already sunk in the pillow "And thanks, for the train too."
