The Stars and the Moon

Starlight felt as though the world has stopped functioning completely. Shivering the unicorn slowly opened her eyes and found herself in a beautiful pale blue area. It seemed to stretch on for miles and miles and it was dotted with many star-like lights. She looked down and noticed with a lurch that she seemed to be standing upon nothing.

            “Starlight Glimmer”, a voice called out. The unicorn jumped and whirled around, she gasped at who she saw. “Nightmare Moon?!” the unicorn cried, scrambling backwards. The other pony did not respond and simply studied her with completely neutral sea green eyes.

            The pink mare met her gaze with a stare, taking in the alicorn's appearance. After a split second she noticed that there was something…. Not right about her. For one thing she didn’t have fangs and the regalia she wore was not armour but rather a black and silver set molded not unlike Celestia’s.

            “My little pony” the other finally spoke, her voice rich and calm. “I will give you the benefit of the doubt for it is my understanding you have been isolated for quite some time. I assure you, I am no Nightmare Moon, nor do I plan on being her ever again”.

            The beautiful dark blue mare approached Starlight who was still cowering some hoof steps away. She walked right up to the unicorn and stopped, her gaze still very neutral. “You carry a lot of pain inside of you” she continued. “This, I can understand from personal experience. But recent events have caused you to doubt your chosen path and your philosophies.”

            She paused for a moment, as if to see if Starlight wanted to speak. The pink unicorn however hadn’t moved from her defensive position though she did feel a bit calmer. She looked upon the regal alicorn with awe.

            As the new pony opened her mouth to continue Starlight finally found her voice. “Um, who exactly are you?” the pony asked and finally straightened her posture to a slightly guarded sitting position.

            To her surprised the other pony gave her a small smile. “I am the princess of the night, guardian of dreams” the alicorn explained pointing a hoof at herself. “It is my duty as such to protect my little ponies from chronic nightmares, to help guide them when they are plagued by fears that they cannot banish on their own”

            She swept a hoof slowly and gracefully out towards the area around them. “This is the celestial realm, it is how I can access the dreams of others. When I sense a pony in continued distress I try and see if I can help them”.

            Her eyes settled upon Starlight, her smile disappearing. “You have had troubles for quite a few nights, but because of your location and guarded mental state I could not reach you before now. I know of what you have done Starlight”.

            The pink pony gulped and for once felt all of her resolve fade away. A thousand arguments popped up in her mind but suddenly they all seemed worthless in the presence of this pony. Instead she feebly tried to continue on the subject of the other pony.

            “So uhm… Are you a princess?” she asked. The dark blue pony sighed “I suppose I did forget to tell you my name, but after this I’m afraid I cannot let you delay this discussion any further. I am Princess Luna of the night skies but for now you may call me Luna.”

            Starlight’s heart skipped a beat at the notion of calling a princess by her first name, even though she did it for Twilight this regal pony seemed far different. Her ethereal mane seemed to hold the galaxy and for once Starlight felt there was nothing more for her to say.

            “Now, the first thing I want you to know is that what you did can indeed be considered quite the crime” Luna spoke. “It is one thing to perform such magic upon a pony who is willing, but to brutally strip not only a princess but five national heroes of their cutie-marks and imprison them is high treason”.

            Starlight shrank back down again a surge of guilt taking her by surprise. ‘No’ she thought to herself ‘This cannot be!’. But a more logical voice in her mind spoke up. ‘Are you seriously surprised? That’s why you ran in the first place, to avoid punishment!’

            The rose unicorn sighed. “I… I just wanted to make life better for everypony” she finally spoke. The mare before her raised an eyebrow. “No, really! Think about it, your cutie-mark is a part of who you are yes? But, don’t ponies grow and change? Doesn’t the world grow and change? Your cutie-mark binds you to the pony you were when you got it! By getting rid of your cutie-mark you are free to be whatever pony you desire!”

            She didn’t realize until she saw the stern look on Luna’s face that her voice had rose above speaking. She moved to cover her muzzle with her wings and froze, realizing for the first time that she no longer had them. Twisting around she saw with a sinking heart that she did indeed have her cutie-mark and her non-wingless body back.

            “Starlight Glimmer” the princess spoke. The mare in question turned back to the other. “I believe there is more here that you are not telling me, do you wish to deny this?”. Starlight paused, anxiety creeping its way into her body once more. What would happen if she did lie? Was she even lying in the first place?

            “I… I don’t know princess” she said, figuring it was her best response. Luna’s eyes narrowed slightly. Starlight could no longer face her princess and looked to the ground. “I just… I just wanted to be good, like Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle” she finally said, letting the truth deep inside her break out.

            “I always thought if I tried hard enough I could become Celestia’s student. I knew I was powerful enough, I was the most powerful mare in the entire school until Twilight came along. I was even more powerful than Sunset Shimmer… But…”

            Starlight turned away from Princess Luna completely, seeking comfort in the star riddled abyss. “But I just couldn’t focus my magic like either of them”, tears started to form in the unicorns eyes. “I just wasn’t good enough! It wasn’t fair! Why did I have to be born with so much power and not be able to use it?!”.

            Her voice rose up again and tears flowed down her face. “My cutie-mark clearly says I’m talented in magic! But if that’s the case then why didn’t it give me the destiny I was clearly meant to have?!” she shouted. The unicorn burst out into sobs and slumped over.

            For a minute there was no sound but her crying. Then she felt a firm but gentle metal clad hoof upon her back. Instinctively she flinched away and turned to meet the pony who had touched her. To her shock there was nothing but sympathy and warmth in the dark blue mare’s eyes.

            “I understand how you feel, to an extent” the pony said. She moved over and sat beside Starlight. The latter felt awed yet again by the power the other radiated, but it didn’t feel like she thought it would. It was a controlled power, a comforting power. This power was almost the very same she felt from the silver rays of the moon.

            “When I got my cutie-mark at first I was amazed and delighted. My sister and I found our destinies in places no non-alicorn pony could have ever hoped. For we could control heavenly bodies that took teams of unicorns to lift. Twas truly a remarkable day indeed”

            “But as time went on I saw that ponies seemed to shun my beautiful night. I grew envious of my fair sister. I couldn’t understand why they could not see my talents for what they were. I could not understand what made her so much more special than I. I even grew to envy her cutie-mark, thinking that perhaps if fate had been different I could have been blessed with the sun and her cursed with the moon”.

            The dark alicorn paused and closed her eyes. Starlight watched her with intense curiosity, never in a million years would have guessed that ponies like Celestia and Luna could feel these kinds of things. She always thought that being an alicorn meant that you were blessed and perfect.

            “That is why I turned into Nightmare Moon” the older mare quietly finished. “I let the shadows that fed off of my rage and envy turn me into a monster. It wasn’t until Twilight and her friends reformed me did I realized I was wrong the whole time. It was not my destiny that I needed to curse nor was it my sister. It was simply the fact that I let my emotions over shadow the good things that I had and blind me to the love my subjects and my sister felt for me”

                    She turned to Starlight who was surprised to see the fire in the other’s eyes. “I would never wish you to turn down the same path” she said firmly. “I beg of you to please consider what I have told you tonight. You are indeed an extraordinary unicorn. Not becoming my sister's pupil does not mean you are worth nothing”.

            The alicorn stood and turned to face Starlight fully. “Thus, I will give you this one chance and one chance only. If you wish to redeem yourself and use your abilities for the betterment of Equestria I ask you to come to Canterlot Castle within a months time. I will inform all guards as to who you are and what you look like. You will then be granted a private audience with myself and my sister so we can discuss what will happen to you.”

            Starlight could not believe what she was hearing. Her mouth was wide open in shock as she stared at Luna. Before she could recover Luna continued.

            “I cannot promise you will not be punished, but I can promise you this: You most certainly will not be executed nor banished to the moon. Trust me I know from first hoof experience what it takes to earn that sentence”.

            Starlight realized after a moment that Luna was joking. Despite all the different emotions inside of her she found herself smiling along with the princess. “Th-Thank you Luna… This means a lot to me” she managed to say.

            Luna’s expression turned serious and she raised a hoof. “Tis no problem my little pony. Though I must warn you, should you try anything tricky whilst meeting with us, or should you decline my offer I will unfortunately have to press far more serious charges against you. Do I make myself clear?”

            Starlight nodded, despite the scary implications of Luna’s words she felt determination build inside of her. The mare in front of her closed her eyes and the world started to warp and disappear around her.

            “Remember Starlight Glimmer! There is always a second chance!” called the princess of the night. That was the last thing Starlight heard before she opened her eyes.

            The first thing Starlight smelled upon returning to consciousness was apples. Groaning in confusion she struggled to remember where she as. Her dream…. That had been so real! But if she wasn’t in Ponyville then…

            With a jolt the unicorn realized she was at a small inn in Appleoosa just a few miles outside of Ponyville. She ran to the window and sure enough, there was the dusty town right in front of her eyes.

            She then looked around her room, there were her enchanted saddlebags containing the rope and jar. On the chair was her cloak to help hide her identity… Everything was just as it were before. But despite still having everything she needed the pony turned to the window with a frown.

            She had indeed heard of Princess Luna, but she had never paid attention to what she heard. She had assumed it was empty gossip and rumours. But after that dream she wasn’t certain at all what to believe.

            She still felt hatred towards Twilight and her friends but now… After seeing yet again how horribly her plan could go wrong she was starting to feel doubtful about it. That combined with Princess Luna’s visit… If that was indeed what happened… Made Starlight want to scrap the plan entirely.

            But then what? Princess Luna had said to come to Canterlot Castle within a months time and that she would be able to speak to her and Celestia face to face. But could she honestly trust a dream? Her eyes followed the various ponies in the street as they plodded along.

            Suddenly a knock startled her out of her thoughts. Heart racing she trotted over to her cloak and swiftly put it on. “Come in!” she called once she was snuggled in her outfit.

            A light gray pegasus mare opened the door and in a sweet voice she said, “Delivery from Canterlot for Starlight Glimmer!”

            Starlight felt shocked, immediately she picked up the envelope with her magic and looked at it with wide eyes. The seal on the envelope was unmistakable for it matched the very cutie-mark Princess Luna had.

            The dream was true… This was her chance to redeem herself and perhaps even... Become something truly amazing.

    With a grin the pony tipped the wall eyed Pegasus pony and ripped open the letter. In due time she will fulfill her destiny. Her true destiny.