Secrets of the Night

Moonflower stared around in wonder as she walked lightly through the castle, Princess Celestia walking a few steps behind her. The regal alicorn watched Moonflower in amusement, like a mother who watched her foal explore for the first time. With a light chuckle, Princess Celestia was reminded about how much Moonflower resembled Luna. They were both dark colored, Moonflower being a shade or two darker, yet her mane and tail glowed a bright pinkish purple hue as it waved calmly around her face. Their eyes were both a similar blue, but Moonflower's seemed to have a lighter shade, a more icy tone to hers.

"So this is the Hall of Hooves?" Moonflower asked as she looked down the long and narrow corridor of disembodied hooves. She walked by them, a smile on her lips as she took in each of the hooves on the walls.

The Princess smiled softly as she followed the young mare, gazing around slowly, "Yes. I for one wasn't far too thrilled of its construction, but your mother preferred it. She had a somewhat...dark...sense of humor." She chuckled softly, recalling fond memories. But as always for the Princess of the Sun, those memories were tainted with sorrow. With a heavy sigh and a slight shake of her elegant head, Princess Celestia turned to one of the hooves. "Your mother would come down here often and make sure the hooves were well taken care of. Many times, she polished them herself."

Moonflower paused and looked at her, "Why? Didn't you have servants that would clean them for you?" she asked, turning her head back to examine a particularly dusty hoof.

Princess Celestia chuckled and walked over, "They were easily spooked. They were often the poor victims of my sister's notorious pranks. It came to a point where they dreaded walking down this hall." She inhaled deeply before letting out a gentle breath, removing the dust from the hoof.

Moonflower watched the dust fade away, her expression thoughtful. She pursed her lips, her brows furrowing in concentration. "I don't remember Mother being the jocular type...She hardly ever smiled, or laughed, or do anything but scowl and yell out orders." She sighed and looked down in defeat.

"When your mother sent you away, she grieved for a very long time. After the Purge...we found the Elements of Harmony." Princess Celestia's voice was soft, her eyes distant as she gazed down the dark hallway, "The Elements responded to us, and they chose us as their vessels. But it just so happened that you mother wielded the elements Loyalty, Laughter, and Honesty." She went quiet, hoping to give the young mare time to process her words.

But Moonflower had already been thinking, and she sighed, "So those elements chose her specifically for what she had done?" Moonflower asked, her eyes downcast as she waited for her aunt's answer.

Celestia nodded, "Luna felt terrible grief for her crimes against her own kin, and as such, the Elements of Harmony gave her the things that would teach her what she needed to learn. To emphasize the already harsh lesson. Luna was angry at first, but she grew to accept her role. She began to find humor in small matters that would have originally infuriated her. She would more fiercely defend the weak when they were being hurt, and stand strong in the midst of peril for their safety. She would always tell the truth, no matter who was hurt, because yes the truth may be harsh, but in it is a lesson that must be learned to any who must learn it."

Moonflower looked up, her eyes turned toward the white alicorn. "What changed? When did Mother stop being the mare she was chosen to be? Why did she turn her back on the Elements? I know I played my part, but I never knew why Mother was angry. Not truly angry."

"I am afraid, that was my fault." Princess Celestia replied, squeezing her eyes shut to fight back tears, "I drove her over the edge. I was so ignorant. I didn't see her pain until it was too late."

Moonflower gaped at Princess Celestia, her eyes wide, "What do you mean? Why was Mother in pain?"

"Hush and let me finish child," Celestia choked out, sitting back on her haunches and hanging her head in shame. "Even to this day, the pain still hurts deeply. The wound never healed completely, and it never will. For I will forever hold the fear that I may cause her to change again, cause her to hate me and resent me.

"There was a time when I was blind. I didn't see what I was doing until I was faced with my hardest lesson. I... I was forced to banish my own sister!" Celestia sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks as she continued, "All she wanted was a little appreciation, a little consideration. Nopony ever revered her as they did me, and nopony adored her nights, her moons and stars, her works of art. It cut her deeply day after day, for a hundreds of years. She began to lash out, to snap more and more. Her temper grew shorter. I should have seen the signs...I should have...stopped it..."

Moonflower sat down next to the weeping Princess, listening as she vented all of her sorrows on her. Extending one wing, Moonflower wrapped it around the slender Princess' body and rested her cheek on her shoulder, "Well, Mother was wrong to think her work was unappreciated. As her daughter, I had always loved the darkness of the night. The serenity and peace of which it brought. And when night fell upon the castle, I would always watch as the fireflies came out and danced like little stars under the much bigger ones above."

Princess Celestia raised her gaze to look at Moonflower, "I know. I would often watch you when Luna would raise the moon." she giggled softly and smiled, wiping a tear from her eye, "You would have the biggest eyes as you watched it rise, sometimes, I thought they were as big as the moon itself."

Moonflower blushed and smiled, shuffling her hooves shyly, "You have all these memories of me...Yet I can't seem to recall ever hearing once of how Mother would interact with me."

"That is because Luna was busy with her royal duties and obligations to tend to you. She couldn't be around often enough to bond with you. I think, now, that she had wanted it that way. So that when the time came for her to send you away, she believed it wouldn't hurt as much. She was so terribly wrong. Because deep down, she always loved you, a mother's love for her foals." Celestia smiled and touched Moonflower's cheek with a gentle hoof, "I may have basically raised you, but you had always yearned for your mother. Cried for her every morning and night. Yet she never came." Celestia sighed and moved a strand of Moonflower's mane away from her eyes.

Moonflower was speechless. Her own Mother...had chosen ruling over her. The truth cut deeply and Moonflower grit her teeth in anger. She shook her head and looked down, fighting back her tears of pain, No... She scolded herself, I won't let this change anything. I will not let this change my decisions.

"Thank you," Moonflower sighed, her voice soft as she leaned into the Princess' side, "Thank you for sharing this with me."

"Do you want to know why your mother named you Moonflower?" Princess Celestia asked, her eyes glimmering with amusement as she gazed at Moonflower.

Moonflower raised a brow at her before turning her head to think, "I think...it was because it was...night-related?"

"There is a flower that only blooms under the fullest moon of the darkest night. Your Mother discovered it on one of her midnight flights. She came across a small field of them, and she was so awed by their beauty, she took several and tried to replant them for study. When it failed, she instead carefully researched them, finding many uses for them. Among them, was the power to grant wishes." Princess Celestia replied.

"Grant wishes? That's absolutely preposterous!" Moonflower snorted and flicked her ear, "even I do not believe in such fictional things."

"Luna had come across it by mistake. She had been tired, and had gotten frustrated with her studies of the flower. She told me she had wished for a glass of water, and the flower glowed just as a glass of water appeared. One of the petals had fallen off and wilted, but the rest remained vibrant and healthy." Celestia smiled at Moonflower.

"So it granted three wishes?" Moonflower frowned, her eyes narrowed skeptically. She just couldn't bring herself to believe such nonsense.

"The flower itself only had four glowing periwinkle petals. The center, well, the center was quite the remarkable part. On the night it blooms, its center is a bright silvery white circle, like the moon, but as the moon makes its cycle, so too does the flower. On the next full moon, the flower wilts completely." Princess Celestia murmured, her eyes blank as she recalled her long ago memories of the flower.

Moonflower pursed her lips, "Why does this have to do with me? Why did Mother name me after some stupid flower?"

Princess Celestia looked at Moonflower, "Because one of the wishes that your mother asked for...was somepony who would understand her. I never knew what she had meant until you came, but you were so little, and so much was happening that Luna was oblivious to your gifts."

Moonflower flinched and looked away, "So I was her wish? If I was what she really wanted...why did she get rid of me? Even if it was to protect me? I could have stopped her from becoming Nightmare Moon. I wouldn't have made the parasite...Mother wouldn't have felt so alone...Everything could have been prevented. And we could have lived as a family..." Moonflower looked down, her tears falling at her hooves.

Wrapping one wing around the young mare, Celestia sighed, "Hush now my dear niece....that is the past. Let us try and forgive each other of our mistakes..." She stood and helped Moonflower up as well, "Come along. Let us see what else we can find here."

Wiping her tears, Moonflower nodded, "Yes, let's go. I don't think I like this hallway much anymore..."

The white alicorn smiled and began walking, and Moonflower followed closely, her eyes scanning around her as she walked slowly beside her aunt. Behind her, Moonflower was oblivious to the shadow following her, as it crept closer with each step she took, before disappearing entirely in her own shadow. A chill passed through her, but she ignored it, and kept walking, now humming a gentle tune as she explored what remained of her old home.