One Thousand Years Ago
Castle of the Two Sisters

Wrought Vulcan's face held a somber expression and his light yellow eyes shone with concern. He stared into the intense teal eyes of the Princess of the Night. "Luna, do you trust me?" he questioned cautiously.

Princess Luna's hard face softened into confusion; she did not expect him to say that, not after telling him her plans to overthrow her sister. "Of course, We doth trust thou. We hath known one another since thou were but a foal. What brings about thine questioning?"

"Luna," he sighed and shook his head, "your plan is short sighted and selfish." She was about to retort, but he held up a crimson hoof and stopped her, "Your. . . Coup d'etat would lead to the deaths of thousands. An eternal night would kill off plants and the other survivors. You will make Equestria the number one enemy to the other kingdoms."

He stepped closer to her with a warm smile and placed a hoof on her shoulder, "Luna, you do not need to prove to anypony that you are better than your sister. I know you are stronger than her and I am willing to bet she knows it, too. She controls one star while you control millions!" He waved his free hoof into the air for effect, "Luna, you are still young and trust me, politics are a hassle. Let Celestia take care of the paperwork; Mother knows she has the flank to support her."

Luna brought up a hoof to stifle her giggle.

"As a friend, I am completely honest with you; you still have years to mature, and that is not a bad thing. You are practically immortal; you do not need to rush things. Learn from Celestia. Right now, with the war against the Griffins, you need to support her, not fight her and start a civil war."

Luna watched her aging unicorn friend before her. She hated to admit that he was right, that her sister was right, but perhaps that was the immaturity in her speaking? Deep down she did not want to hurt her sister; she did not want to see other ponies hurt. Luna waged war inside her head.

"Luna, it is not good to keep your feelings bottled up. If Celestia is too busy and you can't talk to me or anypony else, you know what you can do?"

"What can We do?" Luna wondered.

"Go deep into the forest and release all your feelings into the trees," he smiled, "That's what I used to do. I would spend hours shouting at the top of my lungs, being angry about this, that, or the other, and sometimes I would sit in the stillness and cry."

"Truly?"

"Verily. Trees are good listeners." Wrought Vulcan saw his dear friend's troubles shed away and a weight lift off her shoulders. Her icy gems returned to their steadfast nature and reflected shame. She unexpectantly leaned in and wrapped her hooves around him in a hug, which took him by surprise; not only the act but also because she was almost twice his size.

"Oh, Vulcan! Such a fool We are!" she confessed.

"As long as you understand now, that is all that matters," he replied strained, with a gentle tap on her side, his three limbs wanting to buckle under her weight.

She ended their embrace and smiled gratefully at the crimson stallion before her, "We will go to our sister and apologize at once!"

"Good," he replied followed by a yawn he had been holding down the entire conversation. "I guess I should get some shut eye while I can. We are making the final push tomorrow. Soon, the Griffins will be out of our home."

"Yes," she affirmed.

They walked out of her quarters, and the guards went to attention. Wrought Vulcan accompanied the Princess down the dimly lit hallway until the last intersection. Luna swallowed the lump in her throat and with a gentle nudge from her friend, continued forward. The stallion took the right hallway back to his smithy.

Princess Luna lowered the moon, and Princess Celestia raised the sun, bringing with it the dawn of battle. Wrought Vulcan was no soldier, nor was he a pushover. He stood in the front line with his black armor shining in the light, his spear leveled and ready to impale any Griffin in his way. From the right of his peripheral, he saw Princess Luna in her midnight armor, her lustrous mane floating in some unforeseen breeze. She stood with her head high and her eyes ready for the fight at hand. Princess Celestia stepped forward from behind Luna. Her bright gold armor was glinting in her light. With a gilded hoof, she set forth her forces upon the Griffin invaders.

After two days of battle. Neither sister was pausing their fighting to lower and raise their respectful celestial bodies, the Griffin King finally surrendered, when he saw that his army of two hundred thousand was reduced to only a thousand. Princess Celestia and her top Generals went back to the Castle of the Two Sisters to write up a treaty and acceptance of defeat. Princess Luna stayed on the battlefield and looked sadly upon the grizzly scene. Ponies and Griffins alike laid strewn about the bloody landscape with limbs missing and their organs spilled out for all to see. More than a few Griffins were still burning to ash. The stench of death nearly choked the princess.

When one of her Commanders walked by she stopped her to ask her a question, "Doth thou know where Captain Wrought Vulcan be?" She instantly recognized the displeasure in the Commander's dark green eyes and noticed her shift her gaze away.

"He is not looking too good, Princess. . ." the Commander replied reluctantly. She pointed a silver hoof to the east, "Healers are working on him in the critical condition tent." A gust of wind and dirt splashed up into the Commander's face as Princess Luna rocketed away.

Luna landed as softly as possible, not wanting the dirt to infect the open wounds of the injured soldiers nearby. She rushed over to a Lieutenant in silver armor, "Where is Captain Wrought Vulcan?" She followed the stallion's muzzle to the group of four healers and hurried over there. "What can We do to aid him?" she asked a pink coated mare.

"We found him too late," she replied solemnly, "He was buried under two Griffins. He has multiple bones broken; a rib punctured his lungs, and he has lost so much blood."

Princess Luna flung the four healers away. Her horn lit up with her blue magic which enveloped her single friend. She could feel his life slipping away slowly. "No. . ." she whispered as tears welled in her eyes.

"Luna," Wrought Vulcan croaked weakly.

"Captain, We order you not to die!" Luna commanded hopelessly.

Vulcan coughed up blood, "Sorry. . ."

"Shhh," Luna went to his side and petted his silvery mane, "Save thy strength."

"Luna," he spoke weakly, "Please, take care. . . of my son. . ."

"Your 'son'?" she reiterated in shock. "Thou has never told usmeyou had a 'son', let alone a wife. . ."

"He was. . . A product of a one night fling," he admitted hoarsely, "I wanted to take full responsibility. His mother did not hate that," he labored and continued, "She died. Four months ago." He reached up and placed a broken right hoof on her shoulder, "Luna, he is such a good boy. You are my only friend. Please."

Hot tears streamed down her cheeks, "I 'still have years to mature,' remember? I can not take care of a child. You have to live, if not for me, than for him!"

"He is," tears rolled down Wrought Vulcan's cheeks, "such. . . a good. . ."

Luna stared into his open eyes for an eternity, waiting for him to finish his sentence. Finally, grief and reality took hold of her, and Luna slumped over his body, ignoring the blood and the mud and sobbed loudly. The soldiers watched with sorrow and in silence. A cold autumn breeze blew through the tents and carried Wrought Vulcan away.

Author's Note

Decided to go the pony route. This kind of explains why there is no Nightmare Moon and other things down the line.