Untold Stories of Equestria: Episode Four- Nightmare's Eclipse

Chapters

A Message From the Royal Guard
Nightmare's Origin
Hospitality With Discord
Nightmare's End

A Message From the Royal Guard

It was midday in Canterlot, as Princess Celestia sat on her throne, next to her sister, Luna. The two were looking over their usual everyday business, using their alicorn magic to sort through their documents. It had been over a year since Luna renewed herself after one-thousand years of being the Mare in the Moon. No fear of Nightmare Moon existed in Luna anymore, and not even the Tantabus from her nightmares haunted her dreams anymore, ever since she decided not to doubt herself anymore, and start anew.

Celestia was about finished with the documents when she heard the door to the throne room open, entering a member of the Royal Guard carrying a scroll in an aura of magic. Celestia recognized this as an important message, so she sat the remaining documents next to her throne, awaiting what ever important news the Royal Guard had for her.

"Your highness," said the Royal Guard. "I apologize for my intrusion, but a desperate situation has come up."

"Whatever it is, you may speak," said Celestia.

"Very well," replied the Royal Guard. "It considers Princess Luna. She could be in great danger."

Luna was intrigued, and looked up as a response. "What exactly considers me?" she asked.

"I don't mean to scare you, princess, but an old enemy you once faced, has returned once again," spoke the Royal Guard.

Luna's heart skipped a beat, immediately assuring it was either the Tantabus or worse, Nightmare Moon.

"How can that be?" asked Celestia. "My sister had ridden herself of anything to do with her past selves."

"It's not Nightmare Moon, nor the Tantabus, your highness," assured the Royal Guard. "It's something more sinister."

Luna stood up on all four hooves. "What could be more sinister than my greatest enemy, Nightmare Moon?!" shrieked Luna.

"Your first enemy, princess. A solar eclipse," concluded the Royal Guard.

Luna suddenly thought back to her first encounter with a solar eclipse; something that everypony dreaded, especially her. The moon blocking the sun had a very negative effect on Luna, which some believe is where Nightmare Moon originated. Celestia became powerless in the time of the eclipse, as if Luna were draining her of all her power. It seemed like the first manifestation of Nightmare Moon, only a more milder version, but no less dangerous.

Luna and Celestia looked at one another, fearing that this time, a solar eclipse might be enough to bring out Nightmare Moon again, and seeing the Elements of Harmony were not an option, the two sisters feared for the worst.

"We must get my sister out of harm's reach, before it's too late," said Celestia. "What regions of Equestria will the eclipse be affecting?"

"According to Astro Pony, it's going to cover a great amount of Equestria," said the Royal Guard. "It's hard to say, Princess."

"Then we must take great caution, and if it comes down to it, I'll have my sister stay with Discord while the eclipse passes," claimed Celestia.

"I must agree with my sister," said Luna. "I wish not to risk harming anypony ever again."

"I'll alert Canterlot," said the Royal Guard.

"And, I shall alert Ponyville," said Celestia, grabbing a scroll, and writing a quick warning message to Twilight.

"If all goes as planned, Equestria should be safe during the time of the eclipse," assured Luna. "I'm sorry that I must put you all through so much."

"You have no need to apologize, dear sister," said Celestia. "No matter what, I shall protect you from ever becoming Nightmare Moon ever again. Now, we have no time to waste, for if one thing goes wrong, I fear the worst outcome."

Luna panicked, because deep inside, she knew this would be no easy battle. This was only the beginning of what could become a living nightmare.

ENTER THEME

Nightmare's Origin

An hour after hearing the dreadful news, Luna prepared for her departure to Discord's dimension, where she'd be staying in the time of the solar eclipse approaching Equestria. Luna was silent the entire time, because once again she felt as if she were the cause of the chaos approaching Equestria. Celestia saw the depression in her sister's face, and did her best to convince her otherwise, but it was hard to do so, after all that had happened in the past.

Celestia looked at Luna, assisting her in any way she could.

"You have no need to feel guilty, dear sister," said Celestia.

Luna looked at Celestia, nearly shedding tears. "How can I not, sister?" said Luna. "I despise the day that Nightmare Moon ever came into existence, and I hurt you both physically and mentally. If you were in my position, you'd feel the same. It's a heavy burden to carry, sister. A burden that seems to never dissipate."

Celestia was speechless, as she remembered the day that Nightmare Moon ever came into existence.

2000 Years Ago

Young Luna stood outside the Castle of the Two Sisters, attempting to accel her magic to a new level. She strained herself to the point of collapsing from exhaustion, with her older sister next to her.

"Sister, if you strain yourself too far, you won't be able to raise the moon later," said Celestia.

Luna paused, thinking of her sister's words. "I-I just want to become as good as you and not have you look at me as a failure, sister," replied Luna.

"What ever made you think that you needed to accel in your magic to impress me?" asked Celestia. "You are my sister. You have no need to worry about impressing me, Luna, because no matter what, I will never look at you as a failure."

"I just want to impress you as much as I can, Celestia."

"You already have, dear sister," assured Celestia. "You don't have to strain yourself for no reason, because I know that one day you will become a great alicorn princess. However, you are still young, and have much to discover, so why don't you start by coming with me back to the observatory. I hear there's supposed to be a rare occasion with the sun and moon later."

Luna decided that Celestia was right, and did as Celestia said; she returned to the castle, to prepare for this "strange occasion" that Celestia had mentioned.

Luna and Celestia gathered in their small observatory, where Celestia had a telescope set up near one of the open windows for the occasion that interested both Luna and Celestia both.

"So, what kind of occasion is this?" asked Luna.

"Nopony knows, because it's never happened before," replied Celestia.

"This should be interesting," said Luna.

"Indeed, sister."

The room suddenly started to darken, with only a small amount of sunshine.

"What happened to the sun?" asked Luna in a worried tone.

"I'm unsure," replied Celestia.

The two sisters continued to worry, until they looked at the sun, noticing that it was blocked by a black circular object. Celestia and Luna were confused at what was happening, until they noticed their cutie marks glowing, causing them to wonder if this had to do with whatever was happening with the sun. It didn't take long for that to be answered, as Celestia noticed Luna start to act strange.

Luna was holding her head, yelling for something to get out of her head, as if she were being possessed.

"Sister, are you alright?!" shrieked Celestia.

Suddenly, Luna stopped struggling, and let out a sinister laugh. "Oh, I'm better than 'alright'. I'M OVERWHELMED!" exclaimed Luna, firing a beam of dark magic at Celestia.

Celestia dodged the beam, immediately noticing that the alicorn before her was not her sister, but something more sinister. She didn't want to harm her sister, knowing she was still inside of whoever this imposter was possessing her sister, so she did her best to dodge every beam fired at her. As she continued to dodge, she started to feel more weak, wondering if the cause of her sudden weakness was the moon blocking the sun.

Celestia managed to remain on all four hooves, as she stared her sister in the face, noticing that her teeth were jagged, and her eyes were different as well.

"Who are you?!" commanded Celestia.

"Hahaha! I'm your sister, you fool!" replied the sinister Luna.

"You are not my sister! My sister wouldn't attempt to harm me in any way!" Celestia snapped.

"Would she now?" claimed the sinister Luna. "You have no idea what your sister would do, and would not do."

"You lie!" snapped Celestia.

"No. I only speak the truth, for I am everything that your sister hides from you. I am her dark side! Her darkest thoughts! I am, NIGHTMARE MOON!"

Celestia was growing with anger, but also losing her strength at the same time.

"That's right!" shouted Nightmare Moon. "Keep feeding me your anger, for it only MAKES ME STRONGER!"

Nightmare Moon fired a beam at Celestia, managing to hit her and injure her. Celestia collapsed to the floor, struggling to do anything. She stared at the sun being blocked by the moon, and thought of a way to free her sister, but she'd have to fire right, or she'd be finished.

Nightmare Moon approached Celestia, as she struggled to charge up a spell strong enough to end the madness.

"Please, let this be enough," pleaded Celestia, as she fired one last beam into the sky, hoping she would hit her target.

Celestia was too weak to do anything anymore, and just sat on the floor awaiting her fate, as Nightmare Moon approached her, firing up a final beam of magic for the final blow.

"Farewell, pheasant!" exclaimed Nightmare Moon, preparing for the final blow.

Celestia closed her eyes, awaiting the blow, but was surprised, noticing Nightmare Moon start to struggle. Celestia opened her eyes and glanced at the sun, which was becoming more visible. The moon was retracting from the sun, while Luna was returning to herself.

"NOOOOOO!" exclaimed Nightmare Moon, as Luna returned to normal, collapsing to the floor.

Celestia's strength returned to normal, but seeing she was still injured from Nightmare Moon, she couldn't move much. Luna opened her eyes, rubbing her head and confused on what had just happened.

"What happened?" she said to herself, just noticing Celestia injured on the floor. "Sister! Are you alright!" she shrieked as she trotted to Celestia's side.

"No. I'm injured pretty bad," replied Celestia.

"Who did this to you?!" exclaimed Luna in an angry tone.

Celestia had already passed out, before she could answer.

Luna came out of her flashback, shedding small tears.

"That's a day I shall regret my whole life, because I hurt someone I care for, and that is something that I would never do," claimed Luna.

"It wasn't you, Luna," said Celestia. "It was Nightmare Moon's doing, because I know that you would never hurt anypony. You must stop living in the past, and focus on the future."

"For me to forget such an unforgivable act is nearly impossible, my sister," said Luna. "It's impossible to forget."

Celestia decided to change the subject, in an attempt to cheer her sister up. "Just know this. Despite all that has happened in our past, I will always care for you, because you are my sister. The day I had to banish you to the moon for a thousand years was the hardest day of my life, and is a day I wish to never relive for as long as I exist."

Celestia had started to shed some tears, but Luna wiped them away, following a hug.

"Thank you, sister," said Luna. "I never realized how much of a burden you had to carry as well. Now I know that you and I have something in common."

Celestia looked at Luna with a smile. "As long as you stay with Discord, until the eclipse passes, we won't have to worry about any past events repeating themselves."

Luna nodded her head, then hugged Celestia one last time, before preparing to travel to Discord's dimensional home.

Celestia led Luna to the throne room, where they met up with Twilight who had been called to Canterlot to assist, just in case anything did go wrong.

"Greetings, Princess Twilight," said Luna. "I'm sorry that you had to be called away from Ponyville, because of me once more."

"Don't blame yourself, Princess Luna," replied Twilight. "I'm willing to help in any way possible."

Luna smiled, as Celestia spoke up.

"It's almost time for Luna to depart, so I need the Royal Guard to be on alert for the eclipse," said Celestia. "Twilight and I will be ready, just in case anything strange happens."

Celestia looked at Luna. "Whatever happens, sister, you must remain with Discord, and do not come back until the eclipse is over," commanded Celestia.

"Understood," agreed Luna.

"Very well," concluded Celestia. "Twilight, would you transport Discord here?"

"Yes, Princess Celestia," replied Twilight, charging up a spell to transport Discord to their position.

Within seconds, Discord appeared before everypony in a sitting position, wearing reading glasses.

"What the?" said Discord. "Oh. It's just my dearest friends, Princess Twilight, Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia. To what do I owe the honour of being summoned to Canterlot at such a chaotic hour?"

"A solar eclipse is on it's way, Discord," spoke Celestia. "I need you to tend to Princess Luna, until the eclipse passes."

"Hmm... This sounds challenging," claimed Discord. "What do I get as a reward, once this is over? Hmmmm?"

"For your efforts, I'll throw you a celebration of any type, Discord."

"Oh my. That sounds like fun," said Discord. "As long as all of my very best friends are invited too."

"Consider it done," agreed Celestia.

"YIPPIE!" yelled Discord, catching himself in the act. "I-I mean, I accept your task, Celestia."

"Good, now proceed with your task," commanded Celestia.

Discord agreed, approaching Luna. "Come along, Luna. We have much to discuss in this time of chaos," said Discord, as he transported Luna to his home in another dimension.

Celestia exhaled a sigh of relief. "Everypony to your positions. We must be ready at all times," commanded Celestia, as the Royal Guard rushed to their positions. Twilight remained with Celestia, awaiting what ever was to come in this dark hour.

Hospitality With Discord

While everypony else prepared for the eclipse, Luna travelled with Discord to his dimensional home, which to Luna seemed like a nightmare dimension. Luna stared around at the surroundings, as Discord escorted her to his home, which was just a small house on a narrow support beam constructed out of fragile stone. Luna was a little afraid, but she had seen worse in her lifetime, so she brushed aside her fears and continued onward.

At Discord's doorstep, Luna wiped her hooves, despite them being clean, while Discord held the door open for her.

"After you, dear princess," said Discord.

Luna stepped into Discord's home which seemed like any other ordinary home. She was surprised how clean it was, which she figured was thanks to Fluttershy managing to tidy up Discord's hygiene.

"My my," said Luna. "Fluttershy has certainly impacted your cleanliness, Discord."

"Why, thank you, my dear," replied Discord. "I've been trying, thanks to Fluttershy's advice during her visits."

"Well, you've done a marvelous job at it," complimented Luna.

Discord smiled, as he shut the door to his home. "Please. Have a seat, while I fetch us a spot of tea," said Discord.

Luna accepted Discord's offer and took a seat on the longest couch, already feeling relieved. Discord snapped his fingers, producing a tray with tea cups, a tea pot, and some sugar cubes, setting it on the living room table. Luna attempted to use her magic to pour her own tea, but was stopped by Discord.

"Allow me," offered Discord. "You are the guest of honor, therefore you shall not have to use magic for anything."

"It's no big deal, Discord," replied Luna. "Using my magic barely phases me."

"Oh, but I insist," claimed Discord.

"Very well. Two sugar cubes, if you may."

"Certainly," replied Discord, pouring Luna's tea, along with two sugar cubes.

Discord stirred the tea, and handed it to Luna, grasping it with her magic and taking a small sip. As Luna sat the small cup on the table, Discord took a seat on the far side of the room, taking of a sip of his own tea.

"So, tell me, my dear," said Discord. "How are your days in Canterlot, ever since you were saved by Twilight and the others?"

Luna wondered how she should answer, and just decided to tell the truth.

"Hard," replied Luna. "Very hard. Despite me freeing myself of my fears of ever becoming Nightmare Moon ever again, it seems that whenever I feel free, the past seems to return and haunt me. It's like an eternal mass of darkness that never seems to vanish."

"Sounds like the Tantabus," claimed Discord. "Your sister was wise to send you here for the time being, for I once was the being that represented chaos. Therefore, I know all about eclipses, and just how dangerous they are to somepony such as you, Luna."

Luna was intrigued. "Explain," she pleaded.

"If you insist," agreed Discord. "In our world, there are two different kinds of eclipses, both very dangerous. There is solar and lunar eclipses, but you are most familiar with the solar eclipse. A solar eclipse is an occasion that represents a symbol of ill omen, and seeing you represent the moon, it would most likely cause a negative effect on your soul being. Manifesting the darkness that lies within your heart."

"Could that be why I became Nightmare Moon during my first encounter 2000 years ago?!" shrieked Luna.

"That's exactly why," confirmed Discord. "During a solar eclipse, all darkness in a pony's heart is revealed in the form of which that pony sees themselves."

"Wait! Does that mean that the same thing can happen to everypony?! Even my sister?!" she shrieked.

"Only those with no darkness in their hearts can withstand the effects of a solar eclipse," said Discord. "If even the slightest amount of darkness remains, it shall be revealed."

"How can that be?! During my first encounter, I had no darkness in my heart!"

"Are you sure about that?" asked Discord.

Luna thought back to the day of the first solar eclipse, and remembered that only a few hours before the eclipse, she had become jealous of Celestia, due to her accomplishing a spell that she had been working on for months. It was the main reason why she was straining herself so much, before the eclipse struck.

"I had become jealous of my sister, and grew greedy trying to become better than her, so I did have darkness inside of me!" exclaimed Luna. "That means Nightmare Moon came into existence over my desires to accel her in magic!"

At that moment, Luna wished that she could banish herself to the moon for the rest of her life, knowing that selfishness is what created her greatest enemy.

"Now, do you see, Luna?" asked Discord. "You might have forgiven yourself, but no matter what, Nightmare Moon will always exist inside the darkest places of yourself."

"I do understand, but I've grown tired of living in fear of Nightmare Moon!" exclaimed Luna. There must be a way to rid myself of this dreaded nightmare once and for all! THERE MUST!"

"If you wish to rid yourself of all darkness, you must confront and eliminate it from you soul, Luna. Only then, will you truly be free," claimed Discord.

Luna thought of Discord's words, and immediately, sparked an idea of how to rid herself of her darkness once and for all.

"I must thank you, Discord," she compimented. "I know what I need to do, and even though it may cost me my life, at least everypony will be safe from me ever becoming Nightmare Moon again."

"Hold on!" exclaimed Discord. "What are you planning?!"

"Something I should've done a long time ago," replied Luna.

"But, your sister told me to tend for you, and she told you to stay, until the eclipse ends!" he snapped.

"Why bother!" snapped Luna. "To hide from my darkness once more, and await the same events to repeat themselves?! I'm tired of living in fear! I must end it! No matter the cost!"

Discord realized that there was no room for argument, seeing Luna had made up her mind.

"Well then, I see your mind is made up, but are you going to finish your tea?" asked Discord.

Luna grabbed the small cup with her magic, and gulped down the rest of the tea in the cup.

"I appreciate the hospitality, and this might be farewell, if I shall not succeed in my plan," assured Luna.

"Good luck in whatever plan you have, Luna," said Discord. "I hope you succeed, so I can see your wonderous face once more."

Luna smiled, as she rose from the couch, and transported herself back to Canterlot, unaware of whatever the outcome may be. "Farewell, my friend," she said, before departing.

Back In Canterlot

Celestia and Twilight stood in the courtyard outside of the castle, watching the moon slowly make its way over the sun. The Royal Guard was on full guard, watching for anything suspicious, seeing that Canterlot was shy of one princess, making them a little vulnerable to any threats. So far, nothing suspicious had occured, but the Royal Guard wasn't letting their guards' down, because anything can strike at any moment if they were unprepared.

"I've never seen anything so evil," said Twilight.

"That's because it is evil, Twilight," replied Celestia. "It's the reason that Nightmare Moon ever came to be, and why my sister must hide in fear."

"It is?!" exclaimed Twilight.

"Yes, and I'll never forget that day as long as I live, nor the look on my sister's face as Nightmare Moon. It's a petrifying sight that will be forever burned in my mind," concluded Celestia.

Twilight felt bad for Celestia, and only stood in fear, as the eclipse took full formation, noticing Celestia starting to make groaning sounds.

"Princess Celestia, are you alright?" asked Twilight.

"This is a normal effect," replied Celestia. "It happened the last time a solar eclipse struck Equestria, two-thousand years ago."

"Just be glad that this time, you won't have to see Luna corrupted," conforted Twilight.

Just after Twilight spoke, Luna appeared in the sky, standing before the ill omen.

"Sister!? What are you doing?!" exclaimed Celestia.

Luna couldn't answer as she started struggling, manifesting into Nightmare Moon. Before she could take full form, she shouted something from afar. "NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, DON'T FOLLOW ME!" yelled Luna, as she transported herself away from Canterlot.

Celestia stared at the sky, fearing for her sister.

"Why did she come back?!" yelled Celestia, shedding tears.

Twilight didn't speak, noticing that something strange was happening to the moon. Part of the moon's surface showed a familiar impression from the past; the Mare In the Moon.

Nightmare's End

Luna stood on the base the shadowy moon, looking around at the place she once was banished to, one-thousand years ago. Nothing had changed, except the lighting of the vicinity, due to the sun extinguishing most of the light given off by the moon. She stood on all four hooves, looking around for what she had come here to face for the last time ever; her greatest adversary, Nightmare Moon.

"Show yourself!" shouted Luna. "I know you are here! You always have been, and now it's time to face you for the last time, Nightmare Moon!"

The area was silent for a second, until a large mass of darkness appeared out of one of the darkest areas of the moon, taking the form of Nightmare Moon. Luna stood as brave as she could, as Nightmare Moon appeared before her, staring her in the face with her cold eyes and sinister smile.

"So, you finally have figured it out," spoke Nightmare Moon. "Hahaha! It's about time!"

"You've been haunting me for too long, Nightmare Moon!" exclaimed Luna."It's time that we settled this for good, and I don't care what it takes! I'm ready to pay for the mistake I made two thousand years ago!"

Nightmare Moon responded with a sinister laugh. "How are you possibly going to defeat something that is a part of you, fool!? You cannot destroy a part of you, without destroying yourself!"

"I'm aware!" exclaimed Luna. "And, I'm willing to take that risk!"

"So be it! If you are willing to destroy yourself to save weaklings that you call your "friends," you are more weak than I thought!"

After speaking, Nightmare Moon fired a beam at Luna, which Luna managed to dodge by inches, following Nightmare Moon lunging at Luna, hitting her, and knocking her into a pile of moon rocks. Luna stood up with all her might, and fired back at Nightmare Moon, causing a mere distraction. Nightmare Moon dodged the beam, as Luna locked her horn with Nightmare Moon's, thrusting with all her strength against Nightmare Moon.

Both of them were equal in strength, so to avoid their horns breaking, they broke their lock, and stepped back looking each other in the eyes. Luna was gasping for breath, while Nightmare Moon was unaffected by Luna's attempts of weakening her.

"You don't stand a chance against me, pheasant!" exclaimed Nightmare Moon. "Look at you. You are already struggling to breathe, while I stand unharmed by you pitiful attempts to harm me! Face it, you cannot defeat darkness, for darkness is what you are, and always will be!"

Using her magic, Nightmare Moon spawned two pairs of Shadowbolts.

"Destroy her!" commanded Nightmare Moon.

The Shadowbolts rushed toward Luna, but failed to land a scratch on Luna. Luna responded to the attack by firing beams at the Shadowbolts, and managed to hit them and transport them to somewhere else.

"Who's the coward now?!" questioned Luna. "You are using others to do your dirty work for you. How typical."

"I was prolonging your end, but if you wish to go in severe pain, I shall fulfil your wishes!" shouted Nightmare Moon, as she rushed forward with her horn pointed at Luna.

As a response, Luna managed to lunge toward Nightmare Moon, and clash her horn with Nightmare Moon's. The collision caused both of them to fly backwards, and hit the ground, hard. Both of them quickly recovered, firing beams from their horns, hitting head-on. The beams were both equal in power, but it didn't take long for Nightmare Moon to overpower the blasts, causing Luna to struggle.

"Farewell, weakling!" yelled Nightmare Moon. "Once again, I have defeated you, despite your efforts!"

Just as the blast was about to overpower Luna's and finish Luna, Luna suddenly gained a great amount of confidence in her final moments. She decided that in order to prevent Nightmare Moon from winning this battle, she would have to put all of her might into it, even though it would cost her her life.

"I promised to protect my subjects, and I WILL NOT LOSE!" exclaimed Luna, as she thrusted all of her strength into the blast, immediately overpowering Nightmare Moon's blast. "EVEN IF IT COSTS ME EVERYTHING, I WILL DEFEAT YOU!"

"What?! NO! IMPOSSIBLE!" exclaimed Nightmare Moon, as she was engulfed in the blast, finishing her once and for all.

Luna inhaled and exhaled deep breaths, muttering her last words. "I...have.. done it. Now... everypony...will be...safe."

Luna smiled, as she collapsed to the ground, and closed her eyes, letting out one single tear from her eye.

The area was quiet, as Luna's final breaths dissipated into the blank air. The alicorn's body had faded to a blank color, her hair had stopped waving, and even her crown didn't glow anymore. Luna had fought a great battle to keep everypony safe from Nightmare Moon, and this time Nightmare Moon was gone for good, never to return.

Back In Canterlot

Every pony stood in suspense, awaiting for Princess Luna to return. Twilight stood next to Celestia, as she noticed that the Mare in the Moon had disappeared from the surface of the moon.

"What could this mean, Princess Celestia?" asked Twilight.

Celestia turned to answer, but was stopped as she felt a great impact on her heart, as if she had just lost half of her strength. Celestia put her right hoof over her heart, and immediately started shedding tears.

"Celestia, what's wrong?" asked Twilight.

"That feeling I just felt," replied Celestia. "It can only mean one thing!"

"What is it, Celestia?"

"My sister is-is gone!" exclaimed Celestia.

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Twilight. "She can't be!"

"I feel as if half of my power was ripped from me, meaning that the other half of myself has just passed away!" exclaimed Celestia, immediately breaking down into tears.

"Isn't there anything we can do?!" asked Twilight, in a worried tone.

Celestia tried to think through her tears over her sister's demise, and remembered the spell she had learned two-thousand years ago. "The Harmonic Passive Spell!" she exclaimed. "It's a spell that only alicorns can do, and it's a great spell that can do many things, even revive those with great intention in their hearts."

"I've read about that spell, and to revive somepony, they must have great amounts of courage and non-selfishness to be revived," claimed Twilight. "I believe that Luna has proven herself to have those qualifications ten-fold."

"As do I," replied Celestia. "However, I have not done that spell for centuries, but I must try to save my sister. She has done to much for us, now we must return the favor."

Celestia prepared the spell, struggling to gain enough strength, due to the eclipse still in progress and it wasting her strength. Despite the impact on Celestia, she managed to fire up the spell, motivated by her sister's courage. Celestia fired the spell toward the moon, creating a massive aura of magic, as the spell made it's direction toward the moon.

"Come on!" pleaded Celestia. "Please be enough!"

The aura of magic was halfway into the sky, when it suddenly stopped, because Celestia continued to lose strength. Twilight noticed the struggle, trying to help Celestia.

"What's going on?!" asked Twilight.

"My power is not enough!" replied Celestia. "I need more power, but the eclipse is draining my strength!"

"Princess, I'm an alicorn now, so maybe I can create enough power to progress the spell," claimed Twilight.

"That just might work," replied Celestia.

Twilight didn't waste any time, and charged up a second Harmonic Passive Spell, and fired it into the sky, already noticing it progress toward its target.

"It's working!" exclaimed Twilight.

Celestia noticed otherwise. "It's still not enough!" exclaimed Celestia.

Just as the two alicorns were about to give up, a huge amount of struggle was lifted from Celestia, noticing that there was something going on with the eclipse; above the moon was Luna's cutie mark glowing with radiance.

"What is that?" asked Twilight.

"I'm not sure," replied Celestia, as she overheard something in her mind.

"Sister, I don't have much time, but I'm weakening the eclipse just enough for you to put all your strength into one final attempt to save me."

Celestia was unsure if she had just heard her sister, or if it was only her mind playing tricks on her. Either way, she didn't want to risk losing Luna, so she prepared for one last ditch effort to save Luna.

"Twilight, listen to me," said Celestia. "I need you to push all you have into one last effort, because I think Luna is weakening the eclipse long enough for us to push one last ditch effort."

Twilight didn't argue, knowing Celestia was serious. "I'll try my hardest," replied Twilight.

"This is it," said Celestia. "For Luna!" she exclaimed, as both her and Twilight pushed their strength into their last effort.

The spell aura didn't retract the slightest, and blew into the sky, toward the moon. The moon immediately retracted from the sun, revealing the sun in full form. Celestia's power returned to normal, but one thing still worried her; why wasn't Luna there, alive and well? Only time would tell the answer to that.

Three hours had passed since the eclipse, and Celestia sat in her throne room, pacing back and forth in desperation. The spell should've saved Luna, so why wasn't she back in Canterlot safe and sound? Twilight, along with the rest of the Mane Six stood in suspense as well, doing their best to keep Celestia calm, but it was useless to even try.

Twilight had already explained to the others what had happened, and all five of their reactions were the same; tears. The room was quiet, as Celestia stopped pacing, and stood in devastation. She sighed, as she gave her final order.

"Twilight, I want you to deliver this to the Royal Guard," said Celestia, as she wrote a message using her magic.

"What is it?" asked Twilight.

"It's an arrangement for a funeral," said Celestia, breaking into tears.

"Yes, princess," replied Twilight, breaking into tears herself, along with the other Mane Six. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Twilight grabbed the message in an aura of magic, and proceeded out of the room with her head held down. Just as Twilight put her hoof on the door to leave, a portal manifested in the middle of the throne room, immediately causing everypony's moods to change from sad to happy. Out of the portal, stepped Luna, alive and well.

Celestia, along with the Mane Six wasted no time, and immediately ran to Luna for a hug, knocking her to the floor. Luna was surprised, yet happy at the same time.

"I'm sorry I was gone so long, everypony, but I had to regain my strength in order to have enough power to get back to Canterlot," confessed Luna.

"As long as you are here with us, I couldn't be any happier," replied Celestia.

"Me too," said Luna. "And, I plan on being here for a long time, never to fear darkness again."

Celestia and the Mane Six all smiled, happy that Luna was back, and that at long last, she was free of her greatest fears, forever.

"Not to interrupt your happiness, princess, but what's up with yur cutie mark?" asked Applejack.

Luna was confused, so she turned to look at her cutie mark, which indeed had changed. Her cutie mark had changed from a quarter moon to a full moon.

"What do you think it means?" asked Fluttershy.

"I have no idea," replied Luna. "To me, I believe it represents a new beginning. Just as all of you have done, I have many things to discover, and defeating the darkness inside of me was only the first step into an adventure that will last for the rest of my days."

All of them smiled, agreeing that this was a new start for Luna, now that she had conquered what she had feared for centuries, and now was open to many new adventures.

Author's Note

This episode's ending is to be continued into possibly next season or maybe later this season. I hope nobody hates me for what I did to Luna, seeing it was crucial to the plot. Plz leave a like, and comment. It really helps :twilightsmile: Episode five is in progress, and will be up soon, so keep an eye out. Until next time, take care everypony :rainbowdetermined2: