Twilight Sparkle had done it! She’d restored Princess Luna and given her the greatest gift she’d been aching for for a millennium! She had her baby sister back! Of course, they hadn’t been able to spend much, if any, time together. The castle staff was hard at work getting the castle ready for Princess Luna.
Then, one night, as Celestia was getting ready for a bath before bed, she caught sight of Luna in her vanity mirror. Luna was sitting on the floor, her eyes darting back and forth between 3 books, A History of Equestria, The Rise and Fall of Nightmare Moon, and A Study of Dark Magic.
“Isn’t this wonderful, Lulu?” Celestia asked her sister, as she ran a brush through her mane, “At long last, we’re together once more!” Luna looked to her older sister.
“But… my return… I was met with nothing but fear… I remember so little of what happened… What if that beast is all they see of me?” Hearing her sister’s fears, she sighed and put the brush down. “Come with me, Luna.”
Luna followed her sister to the bathroom. Celestia thanked her hoofmaidens for drawing it for the sisters and thanked the guards outside the door. Celestia then lowered herself into the sudsy water and beckoned Luna to join her. Once Luna was in, Celestia sighed.
“I have a story to tell, Luna…”
“Tia, I’m not a foal any- ” the night princess started.
“Please.” Celestia’s voice was on the verge of shattering, “I NEED to tell you this…
One thousand years ago, there were two sisters who loved each other very much. The elder rose the sun for the ponies to play and explore in. The younger raised the moon so that the ponies could sleep and rest. The younger sister grew jealous that nopony was in awe of her night’s beauty.
But the older sister showed her that the ponies did in fact enjoy the night. They laughed, played, explored, and enjoyed each others’ company during the night.
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“Wait… if that’s true, then how did I become Nightmare Moon?” Luna interrupted, the thought escaping her mouth before Celestia finished her story, as she applied the conditioner.
“Patience, sweet.” Celestia cooed, washing away the shampoo, “I’m getting there.”
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Then, one day, the older sister lower the sun to make way for the moon.
“Do you need help?” Celestia asked Luna.
“Tia, I’ve done this before!” Luna whined.
Celestia smiled. “Alright, but just don’t be afraid to yell for me if you need help. I love you, Luna.”
“I love you too, Tia!” Luna smiled, watching her sister go inside. Luna had flown up a good hundred feet to raise the moon. As she was in the process of doing so, a blast of dark energy had hit her dead on! “CELESTIA!!!” Luna cried out for her sister.
Like a bolt of lightning, Celestia soared back outside, her mind fraught with worry. As she arrived, she saw her sister transform into… something else…
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Celestia stopped telling the story for a moment and looked away. Luna thought she had heard sniffling and rested a hoof on her sister’s shoulder. “… Tia…?” Suddenly, Luna was pulled into a massive hug, Celestia sobbing onto Luna’s shoulder. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” she cried.
“It’s ok, Tia. You don’t have to-”
“No…” Celestia sniffled, wiping her eyes, “Time heals all wounds, right?” she smiled. Luna’s return had been the catalyst to releasing one thousand years worth of regret and sorrow. She’s felt like a weight had been removed from her heart.
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Celestia had flown to attempt to save Luna, only to be stopped by a pair of alicorns! The stallion was sky blue, had a long mane that looked to be made of cloud overtop of his thunder yellow eyes, his crown was made of crystallized storm clouds and bore a cutie mark of the sun. His name was King Solaris.
The mare had a midnight blue coat, her curly mane and tail were jetblack and looks like the night sky, her crown had been crafted from shooting stars and her cutie mark was a galaxy. This was Queen Leila!
“Mother, Father! Luna!” Celestia squirmed helplessly against her parents’ grip, “We must save Lulu!”
“We can’t, yet, Celestia!” Solaris’s deep baritone voice boomed.
“But we will, my darling daughter! I promise!” Leila’s soothing soprano chimed in.
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“Mother and Father were there?” Luna gasped, washing away the suds from her coat.
“Yes, Lulu. I tried everything to get them to turn around. I begged, pleaded and screamed my lungs out at them.” Celestia replied, drying herself off. “I called them very abhorrent things as I cried my eyes out. At long last, they had told me their plan. But it would mean killing myself inside to do so…”
“What was that force? I remember pain beyond anything I’d ever felt…” Luna recalled.
“I conducted my own investigation after the fact. It turns out that Starswirl the Bearded took on an apprentice. However, like Sunset Shimmer before Twilight Sparkle, he was not happy with how slow his teachings were going. Starswirl’s apprentice broke off from him, adopted the name Starkiller and dabbled in dark magic. He is the very reason we have the Alicorn Amulet.
“When he made the Alicorn Amulet, the energy source he used which was earlier part of the reason the Crystal Empire vanished, had released an energy of hatred. THAT was what turned you into Nightmare Moon.” Celestia explained.
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Celestia had her saddlebag and her parents’ plan enclosed with in. She prayed to Mother Faust that she didn’t need them as she entered Everfree Castle. The entity calling herself Nightmare Moon had spotted Celestia.
“Not another step…” Nightmare Moon stepped into focus.
“Nightmare Moon.” Celestia snarled.
“Did you really expect me to sit idly by as they all basked in your PRECIOUS LIGHT!” Nightmare Moon growled.
“You’ve gone insane! Raising the moon in permanent night? You’ll kill my little ponies! Release my sister or suffer!” Celestia promised, dropping her saddlebag.
“There can only be one princess in Equestria…” Nightmare Moon cackled, “And that princess… SHALL BE ME!!!” She screamed, lunging after Celestia, who took flight. Celestia had flew around Everfree Castle in an attempt to tire the beast but a lucky shot caught Celestia square in the chest, causing her to faint and fall to the ground. She crashed and blacked out for a moment.
She thought she had heard crying. She thought that all of Equestria was crying, over the fact that the two princesses were fighting, but the sound appeared directly in front of her. She shook it off and stood.
Celestia had looked to her saddlebag and felt a tear fall. “Luna… I am sorry… I must do this…” Using her magic, she summoned the Elements of Harmony from her bag and flew at Nightmare Moon, her parents appearing by her side. In a blast of rainbow that hit Nightmare Moon head on, Solaris and Leila flew into the blast, carrying Nightmare Moon with them.
“Celestia…” Luna’s voice cried in her mind, “I’m sorry… Please forgive me!” Celestia stopped dead.
“Lulu…?” Tears formed as she heard her younger sister.
“Celestia, we are so proud of you.” Leila smiled in Celestia’s mind.
“Your mother and I love both of you so very much, dear Tia.” Solaris beamed with pride. As the alabaster alicorn reached Equestria’s atmosphere, she saw the silhouette of Luna grace the moon. She lost control of her emotions and sobbed, screaming for her sister to return… but no one replied.
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“But I remember feeling you’re embrace these long thousand years. Yours and out parents…?” Luna asked, drying off.
“That was our plan, Lulu. Use the Elements to weaken the beast, and have Mother and Father stay with you until the day you were destined to escape. Father would dance around the moon to weaken the beast further whilst Mother would cuddle you, keeping your ember of light alive. What the energy we’ve come to call Nightmare Energy failed to comprehend was how loved you were. By our parents. By me.” The sisters had made way for the door.
“You run along, Luna. I’ll be in shortly.”
“Ok, Tia!” Luna replied, running back to their room. Once Luna was out of earshot, she addressed her guard.
“Shining Armor.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“In the event that anypony heard that story, and I know they did, I want it spread out across Equestria as much as possible.”
“Ma’am?” Shining asked, tilting his head in confusion.
“What happened that night all those years ago, what I recounted is fact. Spread it as much as possible. Newspapers, radio, television, anything. Just make sure my ponies know the truth about their night princess.”
“Yes ma’am. I’ll send my best scouts and myself as well to do so in the morning, ma’am.” Shining Armor saluted.
“Thank you, Shining.” Celestia smiled and headed back to her bedroom.
She’d entered to find Luna snuggled up in bed. “Luna…?” Celestia asked. Luna looked up from her book once she heard her name. “Do you think… maybe… we could…”
“Could what, Tia?”
“Could I… perhaps… sleep with you, tonight?”
“My bed isn’t big enough for us both, Tia.” Luna replied.
“Oh…” Celestia looked crestfallen.
“But yours is!” With that, Luna teleported into Celestia’s bed. Holding back her tears, Celestia snuggled her baby sister the way one would snuggle a teddy bear. “Thank you, Luna.
Once she had assumed Luna was asleep, Celestia quietly sang to her sister, stroking her mane.
Lullay moon princess
Good night, sister mine
Rest now, in sunlight’s embrace
Bring down my lullaby
Winds of the earth
Thought cloud and through sky
And through space
Carry the peace and the coolness
Of night
And carry my sorrow in kind
Luna, you’re loved than you know
May troubles be far from your mind
And forgive me for being so blind
To her surprise, Luna sang back.
Lullay dear Tia
Goodnight, sister mine
Rest now in moonlight’s embrace
May this cool lullaby reach you in dreams
And ease you your passage of days
May my apologies find you this night
And may my sorrow in kind
Tia, you loved me much more than I knew
Forgive me for being so blind
“I love you, Tia.” Luna sniffled, a tear falling onto her sister’s chest.
“I love you too, Woona.” Celestia cried as well, cuddling her sister as tight as she could as the two sisters fell asleep in each others’ embrace.