An odd little song, for an odd little story
Shaking her head to keep the sleepiness at bay, Luna stumbled to her room. A long night serving as the sentinel of the night had exacted yet another tole on her body. Stumbling down the high-arched hallways of the palace, Luna couldn't help but smile as the sun slowly rose. Contrary to popular belief, the sun would sit at the edge of the world as it waited for the golden Sun princess to raise it into the sky. Already she saw the faint light against the deep indigo night, turning the darkness a somehow indescribably lighter shade of itself.
She proceeded down the hallway just as the tendrils of light peered through the veil of darkness like a child peering through a curtain. Ready to take center stage.
Yet even as she walked to her bedroom, sinking into her dark velvet sheets, she couldn't help but feel the night was under appreciated. Even after these thousand or so years she couldn't help but feel ponies still shunned her. And truth be told, if one were to compare Luna to her sister, she'd be a pale little Forget-me-not in the shadow of a gorgeous Rose. It irked her, and ate at her, a little part of her that simple wouldn't quiet down. A part unable to make peace with the future that still clung to the reverence of Yesteryear. Sadly enough however, that little feeling had a name, sentiency, and a voice: Nightmare Moon.
And sadly enough, Nightmare Moon held knight's dominion in Luna's realm of queenship: The Realm of Dreams. Letting the murky waters of sleep finally pull her conscious down into the abyss of nothingness, she set off on her way to dreamland.
--
For most ponies, it's a sudden experience, one minute they'd shut their eyes, the next they'd be in a lollypop kingdom, or in a chair floating through space. To put it simply; they would enter their dream world akin to how one hits the water after cannon-balling. For Luna however, it was much different.
Always it started out as the same, she would be a floating in a sea of quintessential nothingness. Darkness stretched out as far as the eye, or rather, the mind could feel. And then?
She would breathe
The queen of night would take a deep breath through the folds of unreality and send out a wispy breeze, and like a lottery ticket scratched to reveal its secret, the darkness would peel back revealing a world of its own. Sometimes she wouldn't dream at all. Rather, she would transcend the veils of life and death, wandering through Canterlot as a ghost or even being transported to a different dimension entirely where she would watch strange creatures go about their daily businesses.
But above all, she possessed the powers to vividly remember a dream, and to access the world of dreams from the plain of reality.
Oddly enough, however, she found herself on a street corner in Canterlot. It seemed that tonight wasn't going to be a journey to distant stars. Even worse was the foreboding sense that tickled her spine. If she was still on Equestria, odds were she was eventually going to run into her slightly-juxtaposed counterpart. Shrugging off the dread, she crossed the street and kept walking, admiring how the faint lamplight illuminated the cobbled roadwork and stone-masonry, mixed in now with new age buildings popping up here and there like skyscrapers. Smiling in satisfaction, she drew her gaze upon the twinkling stars in the sky.
"And to think, I go through all the trouble of making the stars shine and they choose sleep. Now why can't most ponies see this? Isn't it awe-inspiring?" She muttered to herself, disheartened that even after all these years ponies obeyed the strict mandate of mother nature: wake in the morning, rest in the evening. "Tis a shame, the night is almost as beautiful as the day, yet spurned by all." She bemoaned.
"And it isn't?" Replied another voice directly to her left. Taking a deep breath, Luna languidly sighed.
"Hello to you too Nightmare." She droned, not even bothering to hide her intense displeasure. Nightmare chuckled deeply at her counter-parts childlike protests.
"Now is that anyway to greet a friend?" She cooed, obviously seeking her alter-ego's agitation. Luna however, wouldn't, or rather couldn't rise to the bait. Not tonight at least.
"Lay off Nightmare. Not tonight." Sighed Luna. Needless to say, this piqued Nightmare's interests.
"Oh? And pray tell, why?" She asked, still keeping a raised eyebrow as the two Alicorns cantered through the deathly silent town, the only sound coming from the fluorescent bulbs of the lamps and the sound of hooves on stone as the two walked.
"Oh, you know, the usual." Stated Luna, doing her best to avoid the proverbial elephant in the room between the two.
Nightmare moon chided. "Girl I haven't seen you in months and this is how you greet me?" Replied the darker Alicorn, prompting an eye roll from Luna.
Nightmare grimaced for a moment before a sudden realization hit her.
"Trouble at work?"
"No."
"Love?"
"WHAT?! NO!"
"'Tia messsin' with you again?"
"No, and I spent a month getting super-glue out of my mane because of that so don't remind me."
A slow smile spread across Nightmare's face.
"Ah, so THAT is still bothering you hmm?" Luna stopped walking and stared straight ahead, not willing to meet her companion's eyes.
This time it was Nightmare's turn to roll her eyes. "Luna I thought we went over this already."
"I know! But it's so unfair! I hate how everyone always praises Tia's day but doesn't even bother to acknowledge my night! Do you have any idea how hard it is to line up the constellations every night? To make them glisten like that? Do you have any clue how uncooperative Sagittarius and Leo are? And most of all, do you realize how ENORMOUS the Milky Way is?!" Luna complained, finally releasing all her pent up anxieties.
Nightmare Moon grunted. "Honey, I AM you." She replied. Luna stiffened and gave her an incredulous glare.
"Says the mare who took over my body!" She shouted.
"Pa-lease. Girl I am your Id, and let's not get our facts messed up here. YOU took my power and MY form and wrecked havoc. Not the other way around." Retorted Moon.
A silence so thick you could slice it with a spork descended upon the two as they kept walking.
"And besides, who said your night isn't appreciated?" Asked Nightmare after a bit of time, Luna turned to her to find her counterpart giving her a knowing smile.
"It is?" She asked, raising a cautious eyebrow. Nightmare seemed to mull over the information, her eyes rolling around in her head.
"Weeell. Not in the sense that you think. Here come with me." She said, taking a right as the two came up at another intersection.
Switchin' up our style here
For a little while, the two trod once again in silence, Luna staring at her alter-ego in hopes of catching any glimpse of what Nightmare was planning. And after a little while, Nightmare spoke.
"Luna, let's get something out of the way. Both the night and day are two completely different things in both physical, and mental senses." She started, Luna kept staring at her, now listening in rapt attention.
"In the day, most ponies get up in the morning and go about their business. All ponies work. Earth ponies taking care of their businesses, kids, et cetera et cetera." She continued. "Unicorns either take care of governmental offices, apothecaries using alchemy, or are into higher end cultural things like fashion and modern-day architecture. And for Pegasi, they're usually on weather detail and courier services. All in all, ponies have a set code of sorts to go about their daily lives." She stopped and grinned, whole-heartedly at Luna.
"..So where does the night come in?" Asked the younger Alicorn. Nightmare Moon didn't reply, she merely stepped aside.
To reveal Canterlot's bustling streets, filled with loud music, neon shop and club lights, restaurants, bars, grills. All around her were the sounds of life, raucous laughter and idle banter, gossip and chatter. Luna's eyes widened as ponies danced in epileptic seizure inducing raves, drank and slurred in bars. Some were nuzzling openly as they dined on exquisite bamboo shoots, flower imported from Zebrica, South Amareica, Stalliongrad, and other exotic locations.
The vibrancy, the laughter, the lights, sounds, and smells overwhelmed the poor princess as she stared wide-eyedly at the scene before her.
"I...I don't understand...wh-what?" She asked, drawing heartily laughter from Nightmare.
"Luna, Luna Luna! All work and no play make ponies dull and drab!" She chirped.
"Remember when I said all ponies worked during the day? Well guess what they do at night hmm?" She prompted. And as soon as she did so, a slow realization crept up on Luna. But before she could speak, Nightmare continued.
"Ponies lie in the daylight. They're all boring and samey samey. Friendly, amiable, and kind hearted yes, but boring. They do a surprisingly good job of hiding who they are in the daytime as they go about. But at night, that all changes." If Nightmare's grin could have stretched across her face any further, the corners of her mouth would've gone up to her ears. "At Night my dear girl, they become free. No longer are they seen by the scrutinizing eyes of the sun. No, they're guided by the benevolent eye of the moon my girl. They let all that stress out and they par-tay. They drink, dance, sing. They have fun. At night.
Luna gazed wonderingly at the skyline above her, and then back at the grinning visage of Nightmare Moon.
"So then, let's have some fun." She smirked.
"Oh it is SO on sister! I still need some pay-back for taking my power without my permission." Giggled Nightmare Moon as she proceeded to the nearest bar. Followed by a happy Luna.
=======
Luna woke up the next morning instead of evening. Her mane was a complete mess and her head was pounding like it was nobody's business. Standing at the foot of her bed, Celestia grinned impishly.
"So, did you have any good dreams?" Asked Celestia, still grinning madly.
"Umm...a very pleasant one actually." She replied, horribly offset by the fact that Celestia was so close, and grinning so...evilly.
"Um sis, why are you smiling?" She finally asked. Celestia winked once and began sauntering off.
"Oh nothing, I'm just glad that my little sister is finally having some fun after all these years." She chimed in a sing-song sort of voice.
"What makes you say that?" Asked Luna, Celestia turned once and pointed at Luna's bed. Following her hoof, Luna saw another lump underneath the sheets.
"Finally embracing your role in the grand scheme of things huh?" Asked Celestia once more. What the sun princess didn't see however, was the head of Nightmare Moon poking up through the sheets.
Returning Celestia's mad grin, Luna replied. "Like you wouldn't believe sis. Like you wouldn't believe."