Nightmare Moon is a Fucking Bitch

"...And so I says to him, 'there's just a few things in this life that I don't like mixing, and this is one of them, so get that butterscotch shit AWAY from my cone!'" You say, embellishing the intimidation effect just a little in your favour. "And he's completely tripping over himself trying to fix it because he thinks I'm gonna have a hit put out on him or something if I get mad! Isn't that just hilarious?!"

Twilight does not seem to share your enthusiasm as she looks up to you, face devoid of emotion. "Anon, this wasn't even 10 whole minutes ago. I was standing right beside you." Maintaining her pace by your side, she gives another lick of her semi-devoured frozen dairy treat before she makes a slightly troubled look at you. "...Did you really have to add that awful comment about race-mixing, though?"

Your face becomes deadly serious and you give a small nod. "Sorry, Twiggy, but I really had to. That ice cream colt needed to understand what kind of customer he was dealing with, and I will not be pushed around on matters as important to me as this. Let it not be said that I am a man who lacks convictions!" You state firmly, finger pointing in the air for emphasis. God, you'd be perfect for speeches.

"But... aren't you dating Nightmare Moon? That sort of goes beyond races, and into species-mixing, don't you think?"

Fuck, she's not wrong. "...Let it also be said that I am a man of contradictions. Just eat the damn ice cream..." You retreat into your Supercolt-flavoured ice cream cone, now with a lot less confidence.

Despite the minor setback during your detour to the ice cream parlour, you had taken the chance to bond a little more with Twilight on your way back to the palace. You would have thought that she had been doing more than just researching ways to bring Celestia back, but no, that was actually all she's been doing. You kind of want to make fun of her for it, but the more you think about it, Twilight is basically to Celestia what you are to Luna, and you've already made a massive hypocrite of yourself at least once tonight, so you make it your goal for the rest of the night to cut back on that.

Taking another lick of your ice cream, your mind wanders back to a previous topic. "But anyway, like I was saying before, if you really want to liven up that blatant self-insert porn you're writing, you NEED to add some more horse tits. Seriously, some extra horse tit action could be the one thing that nets you that cult following that every smut-peddler craves."

"Why, though?" Twilight asks, utterly perplexed. "Why teats? Stallions keep going on and on about great pairs of teats they've seen, and it doesn't make any sense to me! They're really not all that great..."

"Look, sometimes it's best not to question these kinds of things, alright? Just capitalize on them. You wanna write the next big 'Fifty Shades of Hay', don't you?"

"No," she huffs in disdain. "Those books were pure trash, and not the kind we're talking about. I could write a better smutty romance novel than that..."

"So now's your chance! Let's face it, you haven't been doing much these days beside, y'know... making absolutely awful revenge schemes against Nightmare." Twilight gives you that irritated look again, but otherwise holds her tongue. "We could write some shitty sex novels together and make a killing! I'm willing to bet there's more than a few horny, lonely housewives out there that eat that kind of thing up. You and me should hang out more."

Though she gives a distasteful groan at the suggestion, you can see the gears turning in her head. She was thinking about it, even if she didn't want to admit it. You like to think that the two of you had some kind of dynamic going on, kind of like how you're the Kramer to her Jerry. You make a note to check to see if she's got anything good in her refrigerator the next time you're over.

Finishing the dessert on top and now nibbling on the cone, Twilight finally speaks again after a silence. "Anon, I know that I haven't known you for a long time, but you really don't seem like an... 'evil' kind of guy. Why side with Nightmare Moon? You could have helped us defeat her, but you sided with her, instead. Why?"

You give that one a little more thought before answering. It's a valid question. Why did you like Nightmare Moon the way you did? It certainly took some mental gymnastics to willingly choose the 'evil' option in a good versus evil situation, but was that all there was to it?

"Because... I think that no matter how clear-cut or black and white something seems, there's always another side to the story. Nightmare Moon didn't just appear out of a vacuum, did she?"

Twilight chews on this, but remains unsatisfied. "Well, the official story says that she became bitter and jealous when ponies worshiped Celestia and the day while shunning her and her night. The fact that she even vowed to make the night last forever lends credence to that theory."

You shrug. "Yeah, but is that alone a reason to go nuclear? The only story that exists about Nightmare Moon was that Mare in the Moon story you read, and that was written after she had been banished. Celestia was the winner of that fight, so maybe she... I dunno, altered or omitted some vital context? History is written by the victor, after all."

Twilight frowns at the idea of her beloved mentor being anything less than perfectly honest and pure. "I don't believe that," she huffs. "I've known Princess Celestia for all my life, and she would never do something like that, especially to her own sister."

"Wouldn't she?" You finish off the last of your cone, savoring its sweetness on your tongue. Yum. "Both her and her sister are thousands of years older than us. Maybe they were different ponies back then? Perhaps Celestia wasn't the paragon of righteousness back then." You mull the possibility in your head some more, genuinely wondering how different the situation a thousand years ago was compared to how it was written. "Like I said, I think there's a whole other layer to this blood feud that we're missing, and having seen what answers the other future brings, I think Nightmare Moon deserves a fair shot, too."

Twilight, likewise finishing her treat, still seems unsatisfied at this. "What could possibly have been left out that justifies what Nightmare Moon did? You would think an important detail like that wouldn't be left out of such a tragic moment in Equestria's history..."

"I wish I could tell you, Twaggy." Heading up the grand steps leading up to the palace, you already feel a cramp setting in as you take the stairs too quick. "Maybe that's something to ask her?"

She gulps nervously, hesitantly following you up. "Let's just hope that they won't be my last words..."

*~*~*~*

*~*~*~*

Upon entering Canterlot Palace, you couldn't help but notice a few of the guards give you some strange looks. They were probably unaware that the failed terrorist that threatened to vaporize them all would be back within the hour. The only thing keeping Twilight from being dog-piled and arrested by every guard on duty is most likely because she's walking so close beside you, wearing your presence like a protective shield. You were used to the guards respecting your authority, but now the looks they're giving you are just... weird. Maybe they resent you for going against Nightmare Moon's wishes.

Approaching a guard at random, you halt him. "Hey," you hail. "Where's Moony at?"

The guard hesitates, looking at the pony you're bringing as cargo, then back to you. "Queen Moon is in the palace library, Your Excellency. She requested that no one disturb her."

"Awesome," you smile wickedly. "Time to go bug Moon-butt!"

"Sir, I don't think-" The guard looks over to Twilight, his face hardening slightly in disdain.

"Yeahyeahyeah," you abruptly cut the Lunar soldier off, "she's all cranky and shit as usual, and will probably lose her shit since I'm bringing Twily, here..." Twilight's face goes red at the use of her pet name that only family called her. "But... I'm me, so you know I'm just gonna go see her anyway."

The guard pony remains stoic for a moment longer before breaking the silence. "...Yes, sir. I won't stop you, Your Excellency, but I would just advise caution. Guard strength on castle grounds is lower than usual right now, and we don't have the numbers to stop Her Royal Highness should she decide to... do something rash."

"Advisement noted, soldier." You nod towards Twilight, signalling her to follow you. "We're gonna be doing some serious friendship exercises, so tell your section to steer clear of the library for an hour or two, alright?" With purple pony scampering beside you as you leave the company of the guard, the two of you make off for the direction of the library.

Looking around, you can why Twilight wants to stick so close. After that scene in the throne room, the last place she wants to be is in this palace, far away from the one person keeping her protected. As you walked, more guards moved about the palace, regularly passing the two of you on their way to whatever their destination was. You didn't envy their job. They looked busier than you would like to be on a weekend.

Approaching the doors for the palace library, you don't bother knocking as you make your way inside. Your guest, who was previously looked unnerved and shaken, now appears to be at ease as she finds herself in her natural habitat. Tall bookcases packed with hundreds, if not thousands of books, surround you, just waiting to be opened up and unleash the knowledge they contain all over your face.

Casually strolling through the main aisle way, you continue on your path to where you know you'll find Luna. Sure enough, the black queen herself is sitting on her haunches at a desk facing away from you. Right in front of her is one of the largest windows in the castle, capturing the stunning view of what lies North of Canterlot. Though difficult to see at night, a faint outline of the mountain ranges on the horizon could be seen from here. The moon and stars are framed perfect for what must be one of the most breathtaking spots to study in the entire country. Really, who could concentrate on books with a view like THAT?

Luna certainly could. She remains fixated on what appears to be a scroll of some sort sprawled across her workspace. About a dozen other books lay at either side of her, presumably one pile was 'books that have been scoured' and the other was 'books that have yet to be scoured'. Your footsteps are silent on the luxurious red carpet, and she doesn't seem to be alerted to your presence. If Twilight hadn't crossed a point of no return yet, she definitely has now.

"Anonymous, what have We told thou about interrupting us during our investigation?" Nightmare does not even look up from the scroll she's reading.

"How'd you know it was me?"

"Because you are the only one with the testicular fortitude to dare defy Our explicit instruction." She says, with just a touch of annoyance in her tone.

You smirk a little. As cruel as it seemed, pushing her buttons was kinda fun. "What are you gonna do? Execute me?" You scoff. "You'd miss me."

"We never-" She finally looks back at you, and then immediately freezes as the sight of Twilight Sparkle hiding pathetically behind your legs enters her vision. You could swear that a lightning storm of fury had just formed, judging by the fire that seems to have taken the place of her eyes. "WHAT... IS SHE DOING HERE?!"

Behind you, the tiniest "eep." could be heard.

"Oh, her?" You smile obliviously, "this is my new friend, Twilight Sparkle! Say 'hello', Twilight!"

"I'm gonna die a virgin."

Luna doesn't seem interested in friendly greetings, however. "YOU BROUGHT THIS HEDGE-PROWLING PUTERELLE TO OUR PALACE AFTER WE BANISHED HER FROM THESE WALLS FOREVER?!" Her murderous glare falls squarely on the mare cowering pathetically behind you. "SO SOON AFTER WE SHOW YOU MERCY FOR A SECOND TIME, YOU SPIT IT BACK IN OUR FACE!"

Her's is not the only face being spat in as you give your cheek a quick wipe.

"ANONYMOUS, YOU ARE TO TEACH US THIS 'WATERBOARDING' TORTURE THAT YOU HAVE SPOKEN ABOUT! REMAIN HERE WHILE WE RETRIEVE THE BUCKET-"

"Moony, relax for just a second." You finally intervene, hoping that maybe the chance to yell a bit is enough for her to vent. "I invited her here, and as I just said, she's a friend now."

"A FRIEND?!" She recoils as if you just verbally slapped her across the muzzle. "Has't thou gone mad, Anonymous?! Did'st thou suffer a severe cranial injury in the short time you were away from Us?!"

Giving a quick glance behind you, Twilight is shaking like a leaf and looks like she's one more angry Moony shout away from pissing on the carpet. Who could blame her, though? She knows that the only thing standing between her and a gruesome, Nightmare-styled death would be you, which is where you literally find yourself at this very moment. Twilight is a friend, though, so shielding her from the love of your life is something you don't mind doing.

"Moony, let's take a step back, here..." You breathe, just a little bit nervous that her temper won't hold. "I went to go speak to Twilight after you sent her away to try to figure out why she did what she did. It turns out that she may have not been... completely unjustified in her anger at us, so I wanted to go and lay the groundwork for some mutual apologies to try to smooth things over between all of us."

Nightmare's visage of frothing rage morphs into something of bewilderment as she gives it a quick shake, as if to make sure she's not dreaming. "UNJUST-? APOL-?! Aha... You must be making a terrible jest if you think that We have any interest in 'smoothing things over' or apologizing to this mare!" Her gaze hardens at you, hinting at her own displeasure at you, specifically. "The fact that you are defending her is baffling, and frankly, We feel somewhat betrayed!"

"So you won't even give her a chance? You're just going to throw her away as a lost cause and not even try to understand why she did what she did? Maybe even try to find some common ground with her?"

"Absolutely not!" Nightmare seethes. "After what she did to Us, she is irredeemable in Our eyes. You witnessed her actions for yourself, and you were even a target of her treachery! We had banished her from this palace for eternity, and you bring her back, defend her, and call her your 'friend'?! Explain this madness, Anonymous!"

Deep down inside, you're a little disappointed that the irony is lost on Luna. Maybe it was the unpredictable burst of frustration and anger that a thousand years of not being able to vent on anyone causes. The kind of madness where you believe that a tragedy is custom-made for you, and can be experienced by no one else. Call it denial. Maybe the circumstances shared between the two of them right now were more in common than Luna cared to admit, particularly to herself.

"You know, back when we first started this thing, and I helped you conquer Equestria, they asked me that same thing, almost word-for-word."

The dark queen scoffs. "What in the unholy hells are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about all those ponies out there," you point in the general direction of Canterlot. "After it happened, after the sun didn't come up. They all saw me with you, and they talked to me when you weren't around. They asked me why I sided with you, why I defended you. They asked me why, when a wicked, evil mare from the moon came to Equestria to shroud the land in eternal night, why I chose to help her, stand by her, and defend her. An evil mare who nobody wanted had shown up and replaced their beloved sun princess, and the ponies wanted her gone. They didn't want to hear her side of things, they didn't even want to give her a chance. They wanted the Elements of Harmony to banish her back to the moon where she belonged."

Nightmare has no words for you, in fact, she looks like she had chosen to eat her own. Something of no importance seemed to draw her eyes off to the side, no longer able to meet yours, which was enough of a confirmation that you needed.

"They asked all asked me why in the ever-living fuck I chose to do the exact opposite thing that should have been done, and you know what I told them?" You continue with invigorated intent, "I told them that I did it because I had heard the story of what happened to her, and I thought that it was bullshit. I told them that I thought there was a reason she was angry, that there must have been a good reason for why she was doing what she was doing, and she deserved the chance for her grievances to be understood, instead of just being tossed into the trashcan of irrelevancy for another thousand years. I stood up for you because I believed that you deserved that chance. I believed that your side DESERVED to be heard, and that maybe you could defy everyone's expectations of you if given that chance."

Giving a cursory glance back, you can see that Twilight is somewhat more at ease as your argument sinks in with the dark mare opposite the both of you, a bit more convinced that she is no longer about to be viciously gored.

"Was I wrong?" You ask rhetorically, folding your arms. "Should you have just been banished back without a second thought? Was I right to step up to your defense? Here I am, standing up in Twilight's defense. Does she not deserve the same kind of chance that you got? If you can't see some parallels here, then... I don't know if I can look at you the same way I did back then."

Nightmare Moon remains silent as the words hit her. They must have at least some kind of effect on her, now that she looked less like a ready-to-pounce tiger aiming directly at a Twilight Sparkle-shaped lamb. You meant what you said, though, even if you did love her with all your heart, but it really needed to be said. If anything, her position so close to your heart is what made it all the more important. You sympathized with Luna, but it troubled you slightly to see her so quick to subject another to basically the same unjust treatment she had received. That shit's not gonna fly if you have anything to say about it.

With Twilight fully emerged from behind the barrier of safety that was your legs, you're satisfied that the figurative ball has started rolling in the quest to achieve peace between the two troubled souls in the room. The biggest obstacle had been addressed and bypassed, in your opinion, and now how their relationship would go would depend on them.

"Excellent!" You exclaim, bringing your hands together in a clap. "So with that in mind, I'll now leave you two alone to talk it out and become good friends! Lemme know later how it goes."

"W-what?!"

"WHAT?!"

Heading towards the same door you entered through, you nearly make it as your hand makes contact with the handle before two voices desperately call out and attempt to stop you cold.

"Y-you can't leave me alone with her! She'll KILL me!"

"Thou cannot seriously expect Us to make friends with her! Has't thou lost all sense?!"

"W-we can't be friends, she's a very angry mare and hates my guts!"

"We cannot become friends, for We art FURIOUS and We despise her entrails!"

"She's gonna KILL ME."

"We shall ERADICATE her!"

"ENOUGH!" You shout, sharply spinning from your position at the door. "E-FUCKING-NOUGH! You're both trying to make some very petty excuses to weasel out of this and it's really starting to piss me off!" You seethe, your temper finally reaching a boiling point after calm persuasion has apparently failed. "You don't have to become friends by the end of this, but you're sure as FUCK going to try, end of discussion. You both owe me in some way, you," your gaze points to Twilight, "because I saved your life, and you," then to Nightmare, "because I helped you conquer the country and because you beat the shit out of me with tennis balls earlier!"

One of the mares raises a hoof as if to protest further, but you shut her down hard with a firm stare. "No more excuses, no more bullshit, you two are going to sit in here and make an honest attempt to bond and become friends! Now, when I come back, I better see some hugging or... merry-making or some shit like that!"

Without even giving them a chance to get a word in edgewise, you open the door, slip out, then slam it behind you, leaving the two mares inside to begin their fantastic friendship bonding session. You lean back into it, expecting to hear shouting erupt from the other side at any moment, but it never comes. The fact that 12 seconds had just passed and you hadn't heard a loud boom or bloodcurdling scream was a good enough omen for you to give a sigh of relief. If you were being completely honest with yourself, you had not a clue if those two would actually be able to see past their differences to actually become anything other than mortal enemies, but at least now there was a small shot.

"Your Excellency?"

So preoccupied were you with burying your face into your hands, you didn't even notice the light grey unicorn stallion in Lunar Guard armour approach you. It was a pretty open hallway, too. What a sneaky bastard. The expression he wore seemed grim.

"WHOA- What- What is it? Who the hell are you and what do you want?" You sputter, gathering yourself for this new interaction. Further behind the stallion, you could see another guard who appeared to be napping on the job. Lazy piece of shit! "Why the hell is that guard behind you asleep?!"

The unicorn glances back before quickly returning to face you. "Master Corporal Sterling Silver, Sir, and he's not asleep, Sir, I killed him. Is Queen Moon in the library?" He signals his body forward as if he intends to move past you to check, as if he didn't just casually admit to fratricide.

"Whoa, WHOA, what the fuck?! You killed him?!"

"Yes, Sir, I did. I really must speak with Queen Nightmare Moon, we have... an emergency on our hooves." He seems completely nonchalant as he simply states that he had just slaughtered a fellow brother-in-arms as though it were a chore like taking out the trash. Looking back over to the deceased, you're a little surprised that you failed to notice the pool of blood that he is currently laying in, as well as the multiple crossbow bolts protruding from his head and neck area.

"Emerg-? What?! What the hell's going on?! A-alright, look, Nightmare Moon is very busy with an important task right now, and is not to be disturbed! I'm her 2nd in Command, so whatever tomfuckery is going on, you can tell me, and I can handle it!" You all but shout as things seemed to be getting more fucked every time this pony opens his mouth. "First, tell me why in the hell you killed that guard over there!" You spout, baffled, while pointing a finger towards the dearly departed.

The pony remains silent for a moment, eyes never straying from yours, but his face goes stoic, betraying no kind of emotion or motive.

"About that, Sir... There's an enemy force that has infiltrated the palace and is conducting a sabotage and/or assault operation with Lunar and Royal Guard uniforms. Casualties are high, palace security has been compromised, and we're currently under attack."

"Oh." You respond casually, giving several firm nods in understanding. "Coolio."

That's a lot of stuff to happen behind your back during the 15 minutes you've been occupied in the library after walking into a perfectly-fine, not-being-raided palace. Physically, you suck in a breath in and casually brush your hair back as it's time for you to do your job.

Mentally, you shit yourself on the spot.

*~*~*~*

*~*~*~*

In your long life, you've been subject to many temptations. More so than the average mare, you would think. With your great age has come great discipline and skill at delaying gratification in the interest in more long-term goals.

Right now, however, temptation was a hungry beast, ready to utterly consume you in the desire to pick up the mare in front of you, hurl her out the window at terminal velocity, and wait patiently for her to send you a postcard from the Crystal Empire... if it's even been found yet. The hunger panged firmly, but you would yet hold strong in the desperate struggle to not brutally murder this unicorn. Boyfriend dearest had requested that she not be slain, so you'll do little more than stare figurative daggers into her as opposed to filling her with actual ones.

Your beloved in question has trapped you in the room with this... wretch. Though she does not appear to be any happier about it than you are, she is right to have that look of terror on her face, as if she has just been thrown into a locked cage with a hungry wolf.

The purple whore looks awkwardly around, possibly scanning for an escape route, before stupidly opening her oxygen-thieving maw. "S-so, uhh... how's... stuff?"

"Oh, for the love of-, if THAT is your introductory offering for this exchange of platonic bonding, then We are in for a long, fruitless session, indeed." If your eyes rolled any harder, you would scraping them out of the inside of your helmet.

"Well, at least I'm trying!" She spouts, growing something of a spine. "What have you got to offer, then?"

Your face crumples as you formulate a response in your head. You've sat through many a forced conversations, diplomatic negotiations, and insufferable dinners, so creating dialogue was something of an art for you. You'll show this whelp how a real mare starts a conversation...

...Before you realize that you have nothing. Hundreds upon hundreds of years length of conversation just up and vanishes from you at this critical moment, leaving you with more than just metaphorical egg on your face, but your pride caught up in your throat, as well.

"Hmph. That's what I thought." The little tramp huffs with some kind of undeserved sense of smugness. "If this really means so much to Anonymous, then we owe it to him to actually try, like he said."

The way she talks about your lover as if she knows him, as if she did, in fact, care whether he lived or died just mere hours ago when she pulled him into her hypothetical suicide strike, sends a paralyzing wave of fury through you. At this point, you had thought that nothing more that this mare said could get to you, but you had lied to yourself. At best, you were temporarily dead, with the lightning bolt of her newfound 'friendship' with Anonymous reanimating you. A rude awakening was an understatement of what you were going through, now.

"And, why, pray tell, do you feel as though you owe anything at all to Anonymous?" The venom drips from your voice like the droplets of an ice-cold contempt being melted by a white-hot rage.

"Because, like he said," she casually replies, either oblivious or emboldened against your furious glare. "He's my friend. He helped me out of that... 'unpleasant' situation earlier, so now I feel like I owe him. Now, I'm no expert when it comes to friendship, but I believe that a good part of it means repaying the favour when a friend does something kind for you."

"I see," you huff. It was extremely hard to tell if this mare truly felt any kind of comradery with Anonymous or if she was just simply using her life debt to him to justify her being here. Then again, she was just as displeased as you were at the task that your lover had assigned to the both of you, so that spoke to some small degree to her own motives.

Twilight paws at the floor awkwardly, looking around, anxious about making direct eye contact. "I know we sort of... got off on the wrong hoof, to put it lightly, but do you think maybe we could set that aside and start fresh? You're not the kind to hold grudges, are you?"

"You are asking if We, a mare who has reaped vengeance and conquered these lands after a thousand years of imprisonment, hold onto our grievances?"

"Alright, I get it! But how about just this once?! For Anon!" She pleads, her face looking unexpectedly... genuine.

Once again, she uses your beloved's intentions against you. You hated it. You hated her. You hated that she was right. Anonymous wanted you to do this, and she knew that you could not turn down a request from him. Damn her, and damn Anonymous for making you do this.

"UuuuARGgHH...!! VERY WELL!" You bellow, eyes drilling into the skull of this mare with the fury of all of your stars. The muscles on your face are telling you that there's supposedly a mad grin adorning it, though you very much doubt the sincerity of it. "Let us... merry-make." You fight back a torrent of bile that threatens to eject from you.

"Excellent!" Twilight happily exclaims. Her enthusiasm for this both disgusts and perplexes you, but mostly just disgusts. "Well, uh... Where should we begin?" She pauses for a moment, bringing a hoof to her chin as she ponders a subject for the two of you to bond over.

You would rather be back within the moon right now.

"Oh, I know! I like to read, mostly books on history and learning about magic. In fact, it's even my special talent! What do you like to do?"

You pause, formulating a response that spoke with the utmost sincerity from your cold, bitter heart. "Our special talent is raising the moon and governing the stars that cascade the night sky. Our most favoured pastimes include decorating the starscape, leading soldiers into battle, hunting vicious creatures such manticores and dragons, and executing criminals." You took pride in what you did, but judging by the blank stare on Twilight's face, your hobbies are not shared. "We also enjoy miniature golf."

"Oh." She states flatly. You mentally pat yourself on the withers for your expertly delivered save. "Well, uh... I'm no athlete or tough soldier, I sort of struggled with Physical Education during school..."

"Mmm, yes. Upon Our first meeting, you did appear fatter than We expected..."

"HOWEVER... I have dabbled a bit in astronomy throughout the years, so I think that's at least something we can share common ground with. I've had a lot of study sessions go long into the night, and star gazing just kind of became a hobby that I didn't even notice I was taking interest in."

You blink suddenly in astonishment. Astronomy had been a very niche practice at the time of your exile. Had it really become more wide-spread during your absence? You had to admit, you've fallen out of practice after such a long time, and some of your more obscure constellations have since slipped through your memory. You barely had a chance to properly decorate your night sky since your return. A total coup of Equestria's head of state had resulted in a seemingly never-ending accumulation of paperwork, leaving you too exhausted to do little more than the necessary motions of moon set before collapsing into your sun-themed bed.

"Truly?" You inquire, raising an eyebrow. With that simple comment, this mare had graduated from your fury to your curiosity. "Do you... have a favourite constellation, by any chance?"

"Yup! Taurus." She smiles. "My mom told me that my birth date falls under it, so I sort of latched onto that one as my favourite. I also like to keep an eye out for Pegasus and the Star Swirl, though it's kind of hard to see from Canterlot with all the light pollution."

Your mind jolts, like you just been slapped upside the head. For the first time in nearly twelve hundred years, one of your subjects was talking with you about your dearest stars. Memories of you placing each light in the sky so precisely, with no expense for the most minute of detail, it comes flooding back to you. It took you back to simpler times, happier ones. It seemed too surreal, for this to be coming out of the pony you currently despise most in this world, but there was no hint of insincerity in her voice. It wasn't enough to make you like this mare, not nearly enough.

But it was a start.

"We... are rather fond Taurus, Ourselves. We believe it to be one of Our finer works of art." Not finest, though. That honour belonged to a different set of stars. "You are leagues more privy to Our work than Our subjects were a thousand years ago. We must admit, had circumstances been different, you would be most welcome in Our company had you been alive back then."

Twilight's face suddenly turns downtrodden, she bites her lower lip, looking off to the side. "Is that why you... you know?"

The mare puzzles you. "Why We what? Speak clearly, child."

"Why you rebelled against Celestia? Because ponies weren't enjoying your night like they did her day?" She appears to be visibly holding her breath after asking such a forward, pointed question. She was right to do so.

The mare had some nerve, bringing up your sister. It angered you, knowing ponies were still thinking of Celestia. You wished for them to forget about her as quickly as they had forgotten about you. It wasn't a fair expectation, but the heart is rarely concerned with what could be considered reasonable and rational.

Showing personal restraint, you refrain from viciously biting back at her. "No, it is not. Our reasons for Our feud with Celestia ran deeper than a petty jealousy over whose sky Our subjects liked more." The burning feeling in your chest begins to flare with the thoughts of your sister creeping in your mind. "Celestia has done enough against Us to earn Our hatred and disownment, notwithstanding the fact that she was willing to banish Us for all of eternity. She was a self-centered, manipulative mare and a HORRID sister to Us. May she rot as We did for all We care!"

Your words cut Twilight like shards of glass. "She wouldn't- She's not like that. I've known-..." She was hurt by how you talked of your sister. More than it hurt you, most likely.

"You've known Celestia for how long, child? Two decades? We have known her for Our entire life. How did you know her to be, then? Gentle? Motherly? All-caring? You would be a fool to believe that she was always the mare you knew her as."

She wants to fight you on that claim, but she knows she doesn't have a leg to stand on. It was hard to question the only other living being who's been around her for as long as she's been alive. Celestia was a touchy subject for you, but it was bound to come up, especially when dealing with her former student of all ponies. Celestia has this girl wrapped around her hoof, so you honestly couldn't expect to shatter the perfect, idealistic image of her former mentor with just a few venomous words and jaded comments. In the end, Twilight would just be another subject among the hundreds of thousands who would continue to worship the ground that Celestia once walked on. Time passes, and nothing changes.

"No, that's not true!" She blurts, still in denial. "She wouldn't banish her sister forever, the spell only lasted a thousand years! She must have known that. She's not cruel!"

You scoff a little in derision. "We are surprised at you, young Sparkle. For someone as well-researched and sharp-eyed such as yourself, We are shocked that a subtle detail managed to slip past you."

"Wha-? What detail? What are you talking about? I read the legend of The Mare in the Moon over and over at least a dozen times looking for clues!" She twitches, annoyed.

This entire friend-making endeavor was going about poorly as to be expected. With a heavy sigh, you turn your body in the opposite direction and gesture with your head for your unwelcome guest to follow. Wordlessly, Twilight Sparkle falls in behind you as the two of you wander back over to the corner of the library you had inhabited before being disturbed.

The desk in front of the large window facing North made up the entirety of your personal research station. Dozens upon dozens of books lay on top of it, some piled high on the floor beside it. You had ordered the librarians who worked here not to clean off the desk, nor reshelve any of the books you had procured for your research. An order which they followed with the utmost obedience. The desktop was crowded with so many books that it was a constant struggle make enough room to fully open one and set it down, but you made due. The particular research you were doing was too important for ridiculous accommodations or compromises such as desk space.

Next to the desk was a podium, a book that you had recently retrieved lay upon it, its pages open to where you had left off, the information you had sought from it now extracted and dissected. Stepping up to the tome, you flip back the pages before landing on the specific one that you had felt highlighted your sister's treachery. Looking back to the perplexed unicorn, you step back from the stand.

Twilight gives you a look mired in doubt as she approaches the book. She regards the images on the page momentarily before reading aloud.

"Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony. Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both the sun and moon, and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since."

Hearing it once again for the umpteenth time only annoys you slightly less at this point. Knowing that this was all that your subjects knew of you and your struggle for the past millennia drove a new sense of annoyance into you, like a pebble that's been in your shoe for years.

"Now tell Us, does anything within that text contradict what you've just claimed about Celestia? A particular word, perhaps?"

She continues to stare at the text, eyes searching for that magic word. Her mind racing to decipher the passage in front of her, looking for something she may have missed, before it finally hits her.

You were meant to be banished permanently within the moon. You were never meant to come back.

She blinks, as if doubting what she sees, before she swallows. "O-oh. I-... I don't think..." Her eyes stay glued to the text in front of her, locked on that one particular word. Hiding in plain sight, giving a whole new level context to your imprisonment, and your hatred for Celestia.

"You do not think what?" You say, taking only little joy in casting doubt on Celestia's pristine image. "You do not think Celestia would be so cruel as to lock up her own sister and throw away the key?"

Twilight has no words for you.

One of the first things you had done upon your return was scour the royal archives for any information on you that may have survived over the centuries, to find out how much the common pony knew about Equestria's former princess. What you had found had sent a flurry of emotions through you. Anger. Disgust. Shock. Disbelief.

Hurt. Agony. Betrayal.

There was nothing. No longer were you even mentioned in the history books, but now the only memory of you that remained was an old mare's tale called The Mare in the Moon, which told of how your sister had imprisoned you within the moon forever, to the population's rejoice. Celestia knew of this book, there was no way she couldn't. She knew how the events were written here to a gross oversimplification in her favour, and she approved of it.

Celestia had sanctioned your removal from history and had reduced you to a boogeymare for scared foals to sacrifice sweets to on a yearly basis.

For the last millennia, it had been your burning anger that had kept you going, driving you towards your goal. For the last few weeks, you had worried that you had begun losing your focus, your will beginning to deteriorate as you doubted whether you truly wanted Celestia gone. All it had taken was a stark reminder of what she and her cronies had done to you for your rage to be renewed. You felt the rise of that old, familiar feeling. You hated it.

You welcomed it.

"It was the stars that had aided in Our escape." You seethe. "Our stars. Not Celestia's design."

With a swift thud, Twilight slams the book closed, no longer wanting to look at the story of her mentor's triumph, and what it implied. Seeing this, you decide to stay your tongue. Nothing more needed to be said on the matter, your point had been made. What Twilight would do with this new perspective gained from her revelation remained to be seen.

She's strangely silent, a thousand questions undoubtedly racing through her head. She fidgets uncomfortably, looking around the room, looking for an escape from the earthquake that had just shaken the largest foundation in her life.

She finds one.

"What's that?"

Your eyes follow hers and land squarely upon the mural on the wall that you have spent the past few weeks constructing. Spanning nearly half of the library's wall, it was a bit surprising she hadn't asked about it sooner. The librarians almost certainly did not appreciate you decorating the way you have, but they wisely held their tongues.

A web of pictures, names, and symbols covered the library wall, red lines connecting them all in some way. From the top, a neat row of names and images became a little more scattered as they branched downwards into new ones. Some of the chains ended fairly shortly, while others managed to continue all the way to the floor.

"This," you speak calmly, "is... a mystery of Our own undertaking."

"It kind of looks like a family tree." Squinting further at the grand chart, Twilight's eyes widen a bit. "I know some of these names. Starlit Path was an explorer fifteen hundred years ago, she was one of the first ponies to navigate The Badlands and make it back! Homebrew was one of, if not the father of modern alchemy... There's even Silver Tongue, the legendary playwright and actor! These are all famous, historical ponies on here!"

"Almost. Not all, however," you say, smiling sadly as you, yourself regard each of the faces adorning the wall. "You are correct in that some of these ponies left their mark on history. Others, however, lived more mundane lives."

Twilight continues scanning, searching for more names. She seems somewhat breathtaken by the vastness of it all, scouring for what could possibly connect all of these historic figures.

She suddenly freezes, her face scrunching up. "Is this... actually a family tree?" She asks quizzically.

"Indeed." You say, plainly. "It is Ours."

Twilight's eyes threaten to bulge from her head at this as she does a double-take. "Y-yours?!" She blurts. "B-but- but how?!"

"These ponies here, at the top?" You point up to the top row for emphasis. "Their parentage is mysteriously absent. If the records hadn't been erased, edited, or fabricated, you would be able to trace the lineage of all of these ponies back to Us. We have been alive for a long time, young Sparkle, and We have birthed many foals. They were the brightest stars in Our life. Some of which strove to shine brighter, and went on to accomplish many great things, leaving their mark for history to remember them forever by." After moment, your own words catch up to you, causing a small laugh. "How ironic," you mutter under your breath.

You could tell that Twilight is fit to burst with the questions she now holds by the way she frantically scans back and forth, unable to decide who to even begin with. She then slows down, noticing something out of place for more than a few of the spots on the tree. She frowns.

"Wait, this... doesn't make sense." Her eyes now point towards the bottom of the tree, noticing an abrupt stop. "Why does it end so suddenly down here? There's a lot missing..."

Throughout the tree, several pictures hang with a large red 'X' crossed over their visage. Every red 'X' you looked at haunted you. Taunted you. Begged you to find the answer behind it. It was the mystery that had taken you, and ripped you apart a thousand years ago, making you into the mare you are today. As the tree flows downwards, more and more red crosses marking your deceased children appear. Finally, you come to the very bottom. A line of X-es forms along the wall, staining it with their blood.

Your blood.

"Our children did not live forever," you croak, a horrible lump caught up in your throat. "Nearly all of them lived long enough to start their own families. However, where those families ended, you can clearly see."

Gesturing to the red marks, Twilight now notices that they indicate the death of the final member or members of a generation, before they had beared any foals. From the top, there were relatively few of them. Clearly, these families had prospered and lived to have foals of their own, then grandfoals, and great-grandfoals. Suddenly, however, it become clear that every single one of the chains eventually ends the same way: with a grim, red X. The bottom-most part of the tree contains the most of these deathly markers, the last, most recent members of your bloodline had all evidently met untimely ends before ushering forth the next generation.

Twilight does not appear to be convinced. "This doesn't seem right. If this family tree is accurate, then... none of these families have any living descendants today? No, That can't be right... That can't be possible, there's too many for all of these bloodlines to just go extinct!"

It brings you some small amount of comfort knowing that you are not the only one who notices something is amiss when tracing the fate of your children's children. So long ago, it had just seemed like coincidence after coincidence. Horrible, freak tragedy after tragedy had taken your precious stars from you. You began to sense that something was not right behind the long string of deaths, a play most foul, you suspected. You nearly drove yourself insane trying to figure it out. You did drive yourself insane.

You left no stone unturned in your search for the truth, your suspicions constantly clawing at your mind, shouting at you the obvious answer. You couldn't find anything conclusive, though. Reopening these old wounds had driven you back to the insanity you had succumb to a thousand years ago. You didn't want to go through it all again. You couldn't go through it all again. You would just have to live with the knowledge that those most dear to you had been murdered right under your muzzle, and the culprit had gotten away with it. Nothing left of you but your battered, broken body and mind had survived to the present day. Everyone and everything else had been washed away into the river of time.

You had tried to move past it, forget about it, edit it out. You couldn't escape it, though. The more you had tried to run from it, the angrier, more terrible it grew within your mind, Its edges yawned at your hooves. Knowing that you would never be content to simply let it go, your only chance was to turn around and face it. Your wounds would never heal if you couldn't find the answers, but uncovering them was like looking down into the grave of your loves.

Or kissing the mouth of a crossbow, a bolt trembling in its spring-loaded perch, ready to blow your head off.

And so, a thousand years later, your search had begun again. For weeks you've spent tracing family records, building trees, and discovering where they ended. Some of them were cut short inexplicably, some due to natural causes, and others under more... dubious circumstances.

You see Twilight still completely glued to the chart before you. She mutters to herself, pointing a hoof at a particular section that she seems to be enchanted with.

"Wait," she perks up suddenly, "what's this? Right here at the bottom? Everyone else is crossed out, but why isn't this one?" She gestures to the far end of the red divide, to the one picture in the far corner that has not been defaced with red ink. An Earth pony stallion by the name of Emerald Spotter.

"This, is where We had left off in Our research into this matter," you explain. "He is Our final lead. As of three hundred years ago, he the last remaining descendant to carry Our blood. We have yet to delve into his family records to discover his fate, but if the others are anything to go by, then We believe him to be the final link of Our bloodline."

"That's a little pessimistic," Twilight quips. "Who knows? What if he lived long enough to have a family? What if they lived, too? That could mean..."

"That somewhere, somepony with a very distant relation to Us still lives. Who could it be, We wonder?" Tapping your chin, you draw an inquisitive look to the purple unicorn next to you. "Why, it very well could be you, young Sparkle, who turns out to be Our long-lost descendant!"

Her eyes go wide as the implication hits her. "W-what?! Well, I mean- I guess, maybe there's an EXTREMELY small possibil- That's-..." She trails off before giving a shudder at the thought of being related to you. The little harlot should be in awe at the possibility of being a part of your legacy.

"Hmph. Calm your nerves, you little foal. As you say, it is very unlikely that is the case. Even still, it is a complete mystery if this pony even lived long enough to sire foals before whoever claimed the rest of Our descendants snuffed him from existence, as well." Your heart told you that there was a very real chance, that if his family had gone on for so much longer than the longest surviving line before them, that he could have very well sired the next generation to continue on. Logic told you to take a look at end of every road you see before you to know exactly how he had most likely ended up.

The heart was such a liar.

"Who, though?" Twilight questions, sounding strangely concerned about what she's just seen. "How could something like this even be managed? This is... a systematic extermination of entire families! This is stopping a bloodline dead in its tracks we're talking about, here!" Her concern touches you. For the first time in a long time, someone cared. "Who could have done this? Why would they do this?"

You look over to Twilight, and for the first time, you don't see a brainwashed mare completely and happily subjugated to the will of your sister. You see a mare who has noticed a horrific crime that has been covered up with a thousand years of smoke and mirrors, and wants to find the truth behind it. Almost as badly as you do. Perhaps there was some common ground to be had with this mare, after all.

Twilight notices your stare, and then frowns. "And DON'T you say that Celestia was behind all this, because even after what I just read, I absolutely refuse to believe that she would murder her sister's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. That it COMPLETELY outside the realm of possibility." The stamps her hoof to make her point on this, her faith in Celestia would likely never be completely broken.

"In Our experience, nothing is ever outside the realm of possibility, young Sparkle." Even if it's for the wrong mare, a part of you can appreciate her devout loyalty. You turn your head back towards the tree. "Tell us, does the name 'Sun's Soldiers' mean anything to you?"

She tilts her head, contemplating this. "I... think so? I may have seen that name once or twice in some forgotten history texts. There's not a whole lot about them, though. They used to be some kind of secret society, I think, thousands of years ago. They were some of Celestia's elite personal bodyguards before disbanding and being absorbed into the Royal Guard about eight hundred years ago. Apparently they carried out high-risk missions for the princess, but other than that, there's not a whole lot that I could find about them."

You nod. "You are correct. The Sun's Soldiers was the colloquial term for the Solar Zealots, or Celestia's Inner Circle of her most fanatical followers. They operated with the utmost secrecy, with the purpose of undermining anyone who posed a threat to her complete and total authority." You look back to Twilight, who is engrossed at learning something new.

She raises an eyebrow at you. "They served Celestia... but Celestia served Equestria, along with you. Doesn't that make you all on the same side?"

You give a small chortle. "As you just said, they served Celestia. Their fanatical devotion was to her only. You must first understand that the Inner Circles did not typically attack in a traditional sense, mind you. They sought to undermine Celestia's opposition by weakening them in any way that they could. This could be through providing misinformation, psychological warfare, false-flag attacks, assassinations... Anything to put anyone who was not her into a lower position of power."

Twilight's face hardens, still unsure. "That still doesn't explain why she would send them after you, though. The two of you ruled together. How could the two of you rule Equestria with one of you constantly subjected to that kind of subversion?"

"That brings Us to the other aspect of the Zealots. Not every act they committed was carried out with Celestia's blessing, or even her knowledge. Their primary directive was to ensure the supremacy of her rule, which they accomplished through subversion of all that posed a threat to it, her own sister's authority included. They carried out many of her orders in the interest of protecting Equestria," you admit, with some chagrin. "Though, they also acted many a times without her sanction, in the interest of growing and preserving her influence, and her influence alone."

Finally, Twilight managed to put the pieces together. "And you think... they were behind this?"

"We believe it to be almost certain. They are the only group who could coordinate such an act against Us, with their position so close to Celestia granting them all of the information of Our children that they needed." You had never felt more betrayed when you realized that the most faithful servants of your sister were the likely culprits of your childrens' murders. "Who gained from the demise of Our children? Our legacy? With Our reaction that followed, Celestia certainly did."

The implication hits Twilight square in the face, even harder than before. "N-no! Surely, you don't think that she-?!"

You want to say 'yes.' You would give anything for the answer to be as simple as that. No longer would it just be a fury that filled your entire being, but it would be a righteous one. An immediate justification for everything you've done leading up to this point, a pointed 'TOLD YOU!' to all of your subjects who doubted you with fear, contempt, or just plain indifference.

You want to so badly... but you can't.

"On that, We are uncertain," you say, simply. "The truth in the matter is... Celestia constantly hid the truth from Us, and We constantly lied to Celestia. Tensions grew, and We hurt each other. There was a significant... animosity between Us at the time. If We had asked her, she would have most certainly denied relaying such a heinous order to her Inner Circle, however..." You sigh, still just as unsure about it now as you were back then. "We would not be certain if she were telling the truth or not."

Twilight shakes her head, not wanting to believe this. "No... there's no way she would order them to do something like that. Not a chance! There's got to be some other explanation to this..."

"Perhaps, perhaps not. She may not have commanded it, per se... though she may have implicitly allowed it." Anger bubbles within you, threatening to boil over just as it occurs to you how many of the tragedies in your life that Celestia must have 'allowed', the plausible deniability giving her free reign to bring your entire life around you with little more than a feigned shocked expression and deceptive, two-faced 'who, me?' The prime testament to this now rests on a podium not three feet from you.

"Just as she allowed this wretched filth to be written and all that remains of Us!" You spit, using your telekinesis to take hold of last remaining written work in Equestria that references you before hurling it away with a considerable force. The hardcover book collides with a loud BANG, leaving a rather sizable hole in the drywall.

Twilight recoils in fear at the sudden outburst, reflexively shielding her face with her hoof. The hurt is evident from the expression she wears, seeing a book being mistreated in such a way, even if it was blatant propaganda. Realizing the assault was not directed at her, she lowers her guard before glancing at the impact site, then quickly over to you. She sees a slumped mare, defeated by an invisible enemy.

"Are you... any closer, at least? Has anything you've found helped you figure out how involved they and Celestia were with all this?"

"Nay," you sigh. "The Zealots have not existed for nearly a thousand years. To trace back what they may or may not have been involved in has proved extremely difficult, to say the least." You didn't want to face the reality that locating evidence of the movements and actions of a secret society that existed hundreds of years ago would be next to impossible. You couldn't accept that reality, however. Nopony was perfect, they had to have slipped up at some point, made a mistake for you to uncover. You would find it.

For several moments, silence reigns throughout the library. Twilight still appears to be coming to terms with all that she's learned in this short time, a whole new layer of history that had previously been hidden away was now exposed to her, and with this discovery came questions. Questions that would be next to impossible to find the answers to. Your had your own, and they hung right in front of you, decorated in red.

They shined above you, cascading in the night sky, each one the prized jewel of each new constellation you created, where they would live forever.

"This has been... enlightening." She finally whispers. "I thought I knew all there was to know about Equestria's history. Now, it turns out that there's so much more for me to know. I can honestly say that I wasn't expecting anything quite like this when I came here to get to know you."

You give her a sideways glance and half-way smile. "These 'stains' on history... Perhaps there are more to them than meets the eye? We believe a new perspective sheds new light on them, you question them, and you begin to wonder if they are the remaining marks of what was once a much greater picture."

"Yeah," she replies, matching your smile. The look she gives you now seems different than the one she gave you back when you first met, or during your conflict in the throne room. It's warmer.

"I think I can see it, now."

*~*~*~*