Solstice

Epilogue: A New Night

Celestia sighed, locked in the Canterlot Tower. 1,000 years had passed, almost too quickly for her. Being a ruler came with benefits, it seemed. But not everything was cheery.

It was too soon after Discord’s fall that Luna had changed. It had happened slowly, for sure. Small changes every day. It was a month before she realized that Luna had been affected by Discord’s touch. One week after she realized this, she changed completely, into a mare of darkness, Nightmare Moon. The old Luna wasn’t even there anymore.

So here she was, locked in the tower, a prisoner of her own sister. But she knew, she just knew, somewhere in there, Luna still fought. Subtly, surely, she fought.

She knew just as surely that her pupil, Twilight Sparkle was the new Element of Magic. She knew that the same forces of fate that had guided her and Luna in the maze would guide Twilight and her friends now. They would not just be handed the Elements, they would have to earn them, just as she and Luna did.

Luna would help them. Buried inside Nightmare Moon, Celestia knew Luna would be able to influence Nightmare Moon to put perfect trials in the way of Twilight and her friends, trials that would earn them the Elements. Luna had not finished fighting yet.

Outside the throne room, in the gardens, Discord stood, a monument of history to all. And Celestia prayed, no matter what, that they would never have to face him.

Inside the stone, Discord waited.