Luna made her way through the palace. As she passed the guards, they would always salute her. She never really cared for the saluting, but it was just part of being a princess. She made her way to the throne room and trotted up as her sister finished business with her assistant.
“Celestia, for what have you called me for?”
Celestia sighed, “Luna… though it is a painful memory, I must ask; what do you remember about Dark Magic and its hold on you as Nightmare Moon?”
Luna recoiled a bit, but held herself as high as possible. “What has brought this to your mind, my sister?”
Celestia moved toward the nearby window. “I told you not long ago about the wielder of Dark Magic now under Twilight’s watch…”
“You speak of Grimoire Maleficarum… Yes, I remember.”
“Well… I admit that I am worried about this pony. According to the report from Twilight about this pony; he is incredibly capable in magic, he is a practiced manipulator, able to misdirect almost any pony, and can seemingly become an alicorn at will… And yet he orchestrates a meeting with me to turn himself over to a constant watch? I fear this may be a ploy… Something to distract us from his true intentions… So I ask you again, what do you remember?”
Luna trotted up next her sister. She took a moment before replying. “I prefer not to revisit it… but I remember it well. Before I found the power, I always felt angry and jealous but also filled with sorrow. As if, no matter what I did, it wouldn’t help. However, when I became Nightmare Moon, I do admit to finding it intoxicating. It fueled me for so long. I wanted that power. I lived for the power. I felt like it would give me everything I wanted. Only later did I realize it was a hollow lie… I was blind to the truth and could only see what I wanted to. I ignored the suffering I would cause; the fear of the ponies that I wanted to love me…” Luna looked to the side, unable to look toward her sister. She had forgiven herself for her actions, but she couldn’t bring herself to think about it without shame. “I can still remember that awful day…”
Celestia placed her wing on Luna’s shoulder, “Luna, it is okay. It’s in the past. You don’t need to worry about it anymore.”
Luna smiled with a lone tear falling down her face. “Thank you, sister.” Luna shook her head and perked back up before continuing, “Now then, if that’s all I’d like to suggest a visit to the royal baker. I’m feeling like something fluffy with a nice dark chocolate icing.”
“Luna…” Celestia’s tone remained serious, “though I would love that, I fear there’s something else I must ask of you…”
Luna could tell that this truly troubled her sister. She turned toward Celestia, “What do you need? I shall help in whatever way I can!”
“Tonight, I need you to enter this pony’s dreamscape. Find out what he’s planning. And, if possible, ensure that he does not succumb to the Darkness.”
Luna felt a little uncomfortable with this. She was used to diving deep within a pony’s mind, but never did so to spy. She just helped ponies deal with unsubstantiated fears. But Celestia wouldn’t ask this if she had other options… “I’ll do what I can, my sister.”
\/
Midnight… This was it. Luna traversed the dream world. She looked from doorway to doorway to find the mind of Grimoire. Eventually, she found a strange door she did not recognize. It was split down the middle, the left side was white and the right was black. “This is it.” Luna took a deep breath and steeled her will. “Here goes nothing.”
She opened the door and was greeted by a bright flash. When she was able to see again, she found herself in a small mirrored room. Every direction was just her reflection. However, rather concerning was the fact that there was only one reflection each, rather than the near-infinite continual reflections that should have resulted.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
Luna spun around to find that one of her reflections had become a younger version of herself. “What?! What is this?”
“We remember what Dark Magic had done to us. We know what it can do…”
“No! This is a trick! It’s just a product of the dream.”
“Is it?”
Luna spun to this new voice. Before her, beyond this mirror, was another Luna. This one had a beaming smile and was adorned in gold. “What is this?!”
“Can’t you tell? Can’t you see what is before you?”
“Of course not.” This voice was one Luna knew too well. It was a voice she feared. A voice she hated. Nightmare Moon. “I see what I want to see. Anything else is irrelevant.”
“Stop it! This isn’t real! This is a dream!”
“Then whose dream is it that you can see us?”
“What?”
“We are visible to you… If this is the mind of Grimoire, then why are we here?”
“Because… because… because this is a trick! He’s trying to get in my head! Be gone!” She struck the mirrors and all but one shattered. The only mirror remaining was the surface that featured Nightmare Moon. “Why… why are you still here?”
The reflection laughed at this. She looked directly into Luna’s eyes. “Because you will never be rid of me.”
“I am done with you! You have no hold on me anymore!”
“How foolish. Are you truly so blind?"
“What are you talking about?”
“I am not something you can just sweep under the rug of your mind.” When Luna next took in the sight before her, she was horrified to see her own reflection speaking as the Nightmare, “I am you!”
“No!” Luna returned to the waking world with a jolt. Her breathing was heavy and she woke in a cold sweat. This couldn’t have been true. It was just some construct of his dream. That’s all it could be. She took a deep breath and reentered the realm of dreams. Once again finding the door of Grimoire’s mind, she entered the passage prepared for what was about to happen.
Within, she found that mirrors strangely absent. She instead found herself before a visage of her old castle. No… not just her own. It is the castle of the Two Sisters. What am I thinking…? I know this isn’t my castle alone… She made her way inside. The castle was pristine. Almost as if it was never damaged.
“What’s going on?”
“Princess!”
Luna jumped a bit as a lunar guard saluted her. Once she calmed, she addressed the guard. “Guard… How long has the castle been repaired?”
The guard remained at attention, “For a few months now ma’am.”
“On whose orders?”
The guard seemed to be a little uncomfortable. “Yours ma’am.”
Luna looked down to the guard. “Is something wrong, soldier?”
Now the guard was scared. “Nothing, ma’am! Nothing at all!”
Luna raised an eyebrow but moved toward the throne room. When she arrived, she found the throne room had been rearranged. There was only one throne. This is the castle of the Two Sisters… Why is there only one throne? She got closer and found a number of small objects on display. One was a piece of white stone labeled Foundation of the broken capital. There were a number of various items each with a different, and often unnerving, label: The Bug Queen’s veil, Chain of Tartarus, and the Crystal King’s robe. However, there was one that hurt her. One that she couldn’t believe. The Crown of the Fallen Princess. Sitting behind the glass case was Celestia’s golden crown.
Luna recoiled. “What’s going on?”
“You mean you don’t remember?” Luna spun around to find a dark grey unicorn stallion with a dark red mane. His cutie mark was an open book below a bright blue fireball.
“You must be Grimoire…”
“Now you hurt my feelings. So quick to forget even the pony who reminded you of who you are.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Perhaps age has begun to catch up to you, my dear. Or maybe… it could be a relapse.”
“A relapse?”
“It’s not out of the realm of possibility. Though the mighty Princess of all of Equestria can’t relapse now. Not after what you have accomplished.”
“What? What do you mean ‘all of Equestria’?”
“It seems you have lost your determination after all… Allow me to remind you who you are, my princess.” He pulls over a nearby mirror.
Luna looked into the reflection and found the visage of Nightmare Moon once more. “What?” He breathing was accelerating. She was panicking. “What is this?”
“The face of the ruler of Equestria who overthrew her sister. The visage of the defender of the night and those who follow her reign. You are Nightmare Moon!”
“No! No I am not! This is just a nightmare!”
“But aren’t you in my mind? Why would my nightmare be you as Nightmare Moon?”
“I… I… uh…” Luna’s fears were getting worse. She was losing grasp on the world before her. “No! This isn’t real! Whatever spell you’ve cast has no hold on me! I am the Princess of the Night! I will not be fooled by this anymore!” She slammed her hooves into the ground the world around her shattered like glass.
She found herself in a white void. The only thing standing out was a grey door with a blue flame. She opened this door slowly. She didn’t want a repeat of the last two times she tried this. Now she found herself in a large library. This must be his real dreamscape.
She trotted inside and looked at the various shelves. It was less structured than the libraries of Twilight’s mind, but still seemed to follow some kind of system. Whatever this pony was really like, he seems to follow his own beat while adhering to something important to him. She moved through the library and found it to be extremely expansive. She would occasionally find herself trotting in circles. Everything looked so similar it was difficult to get her bearings.
Until she heard something in the air of the library. A song. A haunting melody…
Now the hour has come at last. The soft and fading light…
Luna made her way toward the sound of the song. It had to be Grimoire’s dream self.
…has crossed the west horizon and bidden us good night.
As she got closer, the shelves became more cluttered with various objects. She could tell the area was different than the outer shelves she saw before.
And what a lovely night it is to walk a moonlit field.
She was almost there. The shelves were now becoming emptier. They became sparse. Every so often, a candle sat on the shelves, lighting the area up.
To see the softer shades that are by starlight now revealed.
She took the next turn and found the Dark Magic wielding unicorn. She walked up and tapped his shoulder.
This caused him to jump some 30 feet in the air, sprouting his wings and staying airborne to avoid what scared him on impulse. When he calmed himself after a moment, he looked back down. “Luna!? What the heck?” He floated back down to the ground, his wings disappearing and returning him to his unicorn form. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
Luna glared at him the whole time.
“Why the angry eyes? If anything, I should be the one glaring. Marching into my dreams without permission. You know, in some societies that’s considered quite rude.”
“Enough!” After what Luna saw, she was not going to let this pony joke his way through this. “You likely know why I am here… don’t you?”
“It’s kind of obvious. Celestia doesn’t trust me and wanted you to spy on me in my mind to make sure I’m not to anything nefarious… It’s too bad, really. We were making so much progress.”
“What progress?”
“Twilight’s little weekly reports and study sessions. I was actually starting to enjoy myself.” He spoke the entire time with a smug smile on his face. “And yet, here we are. I’m so untrusted that Celestia would send her own sister to make sure I’m not up to anything despite her pupil’s constant observations and reports. Really, it’s a bit insulting to both myself and Twilight.”
Luna growled for a moment. “Your inane dribble is wearing thin, Dark Mage.”
“Ooh! I like that. Dark Mage! It sounds archaic and powerful. But I see where you’re going with this. I take it you’re mad at me about the antechamber.”
“So that was your doing…”
“Guilty as charged. It’s one of my best works, if I do say so myself. Designed it to prevent any pony from entering my mind without express permission and grant myself a certain immunity from mental attacks. It was designed to force intruders into a nightmare state, jolting them out of my mind in shock. But you’ve already experienced that. And, if I’m not wrong, you experienced it twice. Now, you must tell me what you’ve seen as a result.”
“What?”
“I insist. You are the first pony to actually break through the spell. I’ll send you a bill for that, by the way…”
Luna’s face showed she didn’t appreciate his joke.
Grimoire cleared his throat as a way to move on from his failed humor. “Anyway, I do want to hear about it. After all, you experienced your nightmares twice. That can’t be good for you. And, hey, maybe I can help with whatever has you on edge.”
“Why do I have the feeling you could find out even if I didn’t tell you?”
“I can find out on my own, but I find this to be a better option.”
Luna gave a defeated sighed. “Fine. My first attempt found myself in a room of mirrors. I was soon surrounded by reflections that were not my own and yet still were. One was a version of myself from my younger years. Another seemed like me, but with a brighter personality and adorned in gold. The last… was Nightmare Moon…” She continued telling the story of the reflections coming to life and conversing with her and her shattering of all but the Nightmare reflection.
“Hmm…” Grimoire thought a moment before replying. “And that’s everything?”
“Quite sure.”
“Now… you have extensive experience with the dreams of ponies… and you can’t figure this out?”
“What do you mean?”
“Now that I think about it, it actually does make some sense… we often find it difficult to look within ourselves and see the hard truths of the mind…”
“Get to the point!”
“Fine. These three images were representations of how you see yourself.”
Luna’s unamused face returned, “What?”
“It’s true. The younger version of yourself is the way you see your inexperience in the world. You’ve been gone so long, the world has changed and you’re previous experiences no longer matter as much. It’s as if you were still a foal. The beaming version of yourself is your comparing yourself to your sister. You look up to her, but you also see her as a goal. You use her as a bar of what it means to be royal. You grew up in her shadow, so you see her as a way to become the light instead. As for Nightmare Moon, that’s rather self-explanatory.”
“I don’t see how I see myself as Nightmare Moon? I have long since cast away that monster. I am not Nightmare Moon.”
Grimoire rolled his eyes. “Anyway, what of your second attempt?”
Luna took a deep breath before telling him. “I was walking to the Castle of the Two Sisters. Somewhere in my mind, I thought that it my castle and mine alone… Regardless, as I entered, I found a number of things that seemed like trophies. One was my sister’s crown… I had become Nightmare Moon. My subjects feared me. And you were the catalyst of that return.”
“Really?” Grimoire sighed. “I guess that makes sense. So tell me, can you figure that one out?”
“I believe I can… I see you as the trigger to Nightmare Moon’s return. Your use of Dark Magic concerns me.”
“So… you’re afraid that I will manipulate you into becoming Nightmare Moon again… Can I just say I find that insulting?”
“You already know my sister doesn’t trust you, why should you believe that I would?”
“Not that. I can’t turn you into Nightmare Moon. Only you can do that because you are Nightmare Moon.”
Now Luna was angry. “You would dare to attack me in such a way?! You love your evidence, so prove it! How am I Nightmare Moon?”
Grimoire grinned at hearing that. “Gladly. First, we have to ask, when and why did you first become Nightmare Moon? We know that. You became Nightmare Moon because your sister overshadowed you for so long and your subjects seemingly didn’t care about your contributions. You decided to fight back against this. You created Nightmare Moon as a way to do what you couldn’t, to challenge your sister.”
“I’ve made my mistakes and I have grown passed them. I have been forgiven and I have moved beyond it…”
“You’ve forgotten something important there, however. You cannot just become something more than you are. Even my use of higher efficiency magic takes time to actually achieve. You could stand hoof to hoof with your sister as Nightmare Moon and could only be defeated by the Elements of Harmony? Not quite. You see, my dear princess, you cannot change your magical prowess without extensive study, or at least some kind of McGuffin. You created Nightmare Moon because, at the time, you held back your true potential out of reverence to your sister. This new form allowed you to distance yourself and do what you wanted to for so long.”
“Then explain how you can become an alicorn?!”
“Oh, that. I’m not actually any more powerful in that form, it just gives me wings and lets me stand on clouds. Other than that, it’s nothing special.”
“Wait… I…”
“Stop. Before you question it, think about it. Have you ever met a magical being that became stronger for no real reason? No training. No McGuffin. No transference of magic from one source to another. Name one time and I’ll accept that you and Nightmare Moon really have nothing to do with one another.”
Luna thought about it. She had to know one. Right? After a few minutes, she still had no answer. “I…”
“Can’t think of one… can you?”
“No. No. I can. I just… I…”
“Dishonesty is a terrible suit, Luna.”
Luna sighed and bowed her head in defeat. “Alright… So now what?”
Grimoire raised his eyebrow. “Hmm?”
“What’s the point of all this?”
“Does everything have to have a point, Luna?”
“Isn’t that what you believe? Why you experiment all the time?”
“If everything has a point, I could explain Pinkie Pie…”
“Now wait a minute, Twilight already…”
“Not the Pinkie-sense, but the pony herself.”
Luna had to admit, her argument just crumbled with that one, “True.”
“Now, if memory serves, you’re here to spy on my mind. Well, these shelves are representations of my thought processes. Go ahead and read. I won’t stop you.” With that, he went back to what he was doing.
“So… you’re okay with me just looking around through your mind?”
“I’d really prefer if you didn’t; but, the way I see it, this is the quickest way to convey to Celestia that I am not a threat. You’re her sister and she trusts you. If you find nothing that shows I want to take over Equestria or something like that, she’ll realize that she’s just paranoid. And, in the best case scenario, she’ll realize that my use of Dark Magic isn’t a reason to be guarded in my presence. This will lead to the roots of the ideal that Dark Magic isn’t actually bad. At least, that’s my hope.”
As he worked, Luna was about to walk away but stopped herself. “I didn’t use Dark Magic… did I?”
“No… you were able to use rudimentary Dark Magic. You still can. It’s just part of being an alicorn. But, you did not use Dark Magic to create Nightmare Moon.”
“Then what of the Elements of Harmony? If I created Nightmare Moon and was fully conscious, why is it that they were needed to bring me back?”
“Simple. Your jealousy and anger toward your sister overcame your common sense. It blinded you. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, as it goes. You blinded yourself and it tore you apart inside. The Elements calmed the torment in your mind. They forced you back to your old persona by patching up your mind again. Feeling the power of friendship, you saw that there was another way and banished Nightmare Moon from your mind. If you so choose, you could become the Nightmare again at any time. Actually, your current form is a sort of combination of your younger self and the Nightmare.”
Luna had never made the comparison before. But another question popped into her mind. “You’re letting me stay in your mind, aren’t you?”
“Oh? What makes you say that?”
“You could create a barrier that could keep me from your dreams. You clearly possess a high mental ability. And you said so yourself, it would only let me in if you allowed it.”
“Why does it matter?”
“Because it would mean that you planned all of this. You knew I was going to enter your mind because my sister didn’t trust you.”
“True. Where are you going with this?”
“Did you create those nightmares?”
“No. My spell scans the intruder’s mind and acts accordingly.”
“But you knew about my fears of becoming Nightmare Moon… why?”
He stopped his work and turned to her again. “Because you used to be my rebuttal.”
“Pardon?”
“Whenever a pony would condemn me and my work as the actions of an evil monster, I would use you and your power-mad struggle to show them that Light is just as dangerous as Dark. I’ve found better rebuttals since and I apologize for using your plight to further my arguments… But that’s how life works when ponies are quick to condemn you for no faults of your own; rather for your belief that Dark Magic can be good…”
“You truly believe that… don’t you?”
Grimoire smiled, “You think I could be right, don’t you?”
Luna was caught off guard by that. She took a deep breath and looked up into the void of his mind. “I must admit, you impress me Grimoire Maleficarum.”
“I try.”
\/
The next morning, Luna trotted up to her sister as she raised the sun. Celestia looked over to Luna and smiled. “Welcome back, my sister. What did you find?”
“Sister… I have found nothing nefarious within Grimoire’s mind.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “What did you find?”
“Something I wasn’t expecting… I found a new sense of self and outlook. And… I have to apologize for my actions again as Nightmare Moon…”
“Luna, I have already forgiven you.”
“I know.” Luna walked off and returned to usual day.
Author's Note
King: Well, I hope you all enjoyed this one. As with the previous piece, this was up on fanfiction.net first. I plan to try to get these out simultaneously in the future.