A cold wind blew through the valley, heralding the arrival of a trail of hooded figures. A race long lost to the snows of time was reemerging from the mountains. A soft golden glow shone through the evening gloom and lit the way for the newcomers.
When the trail of figures approached what used to be the gates of a magnificent kingdom, the leader stepped onto the frozen river in front of it cautiously. The ice was firm; it had been frozen centuries prior. The leader wavered but eventually continued across the slippery ice.
Across the river, the welcome gates lay in ruins. The drawbridge that had protected the kingdom within had rotted away to nothingness, giving the caravan easy access to the inside.
Beyond the gate, a large square opened up. Homes and market stalls crumbled along the outside, forming a wall of debris. It was along this wall that the procession came to a stop. The leader stepped forward and walked slowly to the center of the square. Then it turned to face the aligned figures.
“You know what to do. We’ll set up tomorrow morning, at dawn. For now, rest,” a female voice said from underneath the hood. The pony to which it belonged threw back the hood, revealing a flowing pink mane and a glittering white coat. A spiraled horn rose from the center of her forehead.
At the dismissal, the cloaked ponies visibly relaxed. They spread out into clumps and chatted amongst themselves, most discussing what was to come out of the next morning. A navy blue unicorn from the back of the line trotted towards the center to join the white one.
"Nopony's fallen behind. I think everypony's ready for tomorrow morning. I just hope everything goes well," the navy unicorn said as she approached.
"Don't worry. Star Swirl the Bearded's notes give many a reason to trust this spell."
The navy unicorn raised an eyebrow incredulously. She asked, "And are you just saying this because Star Swirl's your personal hero? Or are you honestly putting your full trust in this spell?"
"Errr... I, um," the white unicorn stuttered, shifting uncomfortably. "Uh, of course I trust the spell! Why wouldn't I trust the spell? The spell is great! The great spell that I trust only has the ability to make or break our entire lives! Why would I not trust it? Why would I be stressed? Why would I be panicked? I'm not panicked! Do I look panicked?" The mare's voice continued to rise until she was practically shouting the last sentence in the navy mare's face. As her voice rose, she also started hyperventilating, looking more and more panicked as she rapidly inhaled and exhaled.
"Forgive me, Celestia, but I'd say you look pretty panicked," the navy unicorn said bluntly. The stares the surrounding ponies were giving her supported the navy mare's statement.
"Do I?" Celestia shouted. She paused a moment and it finally dawned on her that she was making a huge scene in a large courtyard filled with staring ponies. "Err, hehehe. I guess I should take it down a few skoshes. Sorry, Luna."
Luna smiled softly at Celestia. "It's fine, big sister. I know how stressful it is. We are, after all, trying to restore an ancient, long-lost city we all thought was made up."
Celestia smiled back. "Yeah, I guess we are."
"So, do you wanna say hi to Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity? We can't really do anything else until tomorrow."
"No thanks. I should probably stay here in case anypony has any questions about the preparations. You go on ahead though. Oh! And ask Rarity and Twilight if they can help raise the sun tomorrow."
Luna nodded and trotted off to find her friends. Three months ago she and her sister had met them at Star Swirl Con back in Baltimare. On the other side of the mountain range, the weather had been sunny and warm. The convention was held in a large building that rented out it's space for parties and other events. Celestia had dragged Luna there and Twilight had dragged her friends there. Celestia had taken an immediate shine to Twilight Sparkle, who just so happened to be a direct descendant of Star Swirl's apprentice, Clover the Clever. The rest was history.
Oh, how Luna wished she could return to sunny Baltimare, even to that extremely boring convention, instead of being stuck here in this freezing wasteland. But she was here now and there was nothing she could do about it.
Through the haze of her nostalgia, Luna heard a raspy voice coming from her left. She snapped out of her mental haze and saw three of her friends gathered in the corner. She changed course and walked in on an interesting conversation.
"For the last time, Fluttershy, there're no more windigos!" Rainbow Dash said exasperatedly. "And if there were, couldn't our friendship, I dunno, zap 'em or something?"
"Our friendship would emit a fiery pink heart in the middle of the square from either Rarity's or my horn, to be exact, but yes. You have nothing to fear, Fluttershy," Twilight said confidently.
Luna chuckled and joined the conversation saying, "Looks like the egghead's been studying up on her history."
Rainbow Dash laughed with Luna, as Twilight rolled her eyes sarcastically at their immature humor.
"If you actually wanted to know, yes I have been studying my ancestor's life and history, "Twilight said. "Starlight has, too."
Hearing this, Luna stopped laughing and looked questioningly at Twilight. "Um, who's Starlight? Is she a descendant of Clover the Clever, too?"
"Um, I'm not related to Twilight or Clover or anything," an unfamiliar voice spoke up. Luna jumped a little, startled by a pony she hadn't noticed standing behind Twilight. "I'm Starlight Glimmer, descendant of..."
Luna waited for Starlight to continue and simultaneously scanned her from top to bottom. Starlight appeared to be a unicorn mare about her and her friend's age with a purple coat, just a shade lighter than Twilight's. Her mane and tail were a more intense, slightly darker purple with a turquoise stripe down the center. She wore her mane just above her horn, curled to one side of her face. Luna was disappointed in her appraisal when she couldn't see Starlight's cutie mark underneath her cloak. She shivered and wrapped her own cloak tightly in a vain attempt to block out the cold.
When Luna had finished her analysis and Starlight still didn't say anything, Luna hesitantly asked, "Um, descendant of who?"
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash shifted awkwardly. Starlight still didn't reply, just stared at the ground morosely. Twilight shuffled around avoiding everypony's gaze as she realized how much pressure she'd accidentally put on her friend.
Before Luna could ask why everypony was acting so off, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie trotted up. Luna heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of her other friends, hoping they'd diffuse the tension or maybe even give her some answers.
"Hey! Um, what's wrong everypony? Cold get to ya?" Applejack asked with a puzzled tone of voice.
"Applejack! Rarity! Pinkie!" Twilight said, desperately latching onto the opportunity to escape eternal awkwardness. "We were just talking. About. Things. And such."
"Heh heh, yeah. Things," Rainbow chuckled awkwardly. Fluttershy just nodded in agreement, too afraid to speak.
"Cool! What kind of things? Are you talking about how awesome it is here? Because you'd be totally right! This place has suuuper fluffy snow that's just perfect for making snow angels and snowponies and snow forts and snow cones and snowballs. Ooh! Ooh! I just had the most greatest, most bestest, most wonderful idea in all of Canterlot Ruins! We. Should have. A SNOWBALL FIGHT!!!" Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing up and down the entire time.
Luna felt as if the world's weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. The tension relieved by Pinkie Pie, the ponies eagerly leapt into a conversation about the ancient ruins and the surrounding snowy valley.
Luna stretched her legs and arched her back, listening for the satisfying cracks. For the past hour the nine ponies had been exploring the Canterlot Ruins. They hadn't made it to the palace, but the twisting streets and elegant buildings intrigued the ponies.
A couple minutes ago, Celestia had led a team of ten ponies in completely lowering the sun and raising the moon. This signaled to all ponies outside the square to return and set up their tents for the night.
Having done this, Luna relaxed on and under several blankets from Manehatten. She, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were laying down in a circle/square. Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Starlight were all bunking with Celestia.
Just as Luna had gotten into the perfect sleeping position, though, a cold draft gusted in, blowing back the tent flap. Everypony shivered simultaneously and Pinkie's teeth chattered like a jackhammer. Luna recast the heating spell and resealed the tent flap before snow started blowing through. Everypony sighed as the soothing warmth returned.
"I swear, Luna, if we didn't have your magic to keep us warm, we'd all have frost bite right about now!" Applejack exclaimed.
Rainbow and Pinkie both nodded their heads and mumbled, "Mhm."
Luna blushed at the praise. "Oh, it's nothing special. I've known this since magic kindergarten."
"You've gotta be kidding me. That's such an awesome spell! 'Sides aren't weather and temperature spells supposed to be real high level stuff?" Rainbow asked.
"Ooh! What if Luna's talent is magic like Twilight's!" Pinkie exclaimed. Rainbow and Applejack glanced over at Luna to see how she'd react. The fact that both Luna and her sister, fully grown ponies, still didn't have cutie marks was a bit of a touchy subject.
Luna just laughed it off. After years of ponies speculating and theorizing about what her mark would be, she had gotten used to it. She simply replied, "Oh, Pinkie. That would be absolutely wonderful but I'm afraid my talent just isn't magic. Trust me, it's not something I haven't already considered but I just can't cast 'em like Twilight does."
"Oh, I'm sure you can have 'em down by the time we're done with this place," Applejack dismissed, waving a hoof in the air. "Honestly! You're one of the most talented unicorns I've ever met!"
Luna blushed and, embarrassed, smiled down at her hooves waiting for somepony to change the subject. However, instead of Rainbow, Applejack, or Pinkie Pie changing the subject, Starlight suddenly burst in. As a cold draft blew through the tent, Luna perked her ears in alarm as she realized Starlight wasn't wearing her cloak. She quickly levitated a red blanket in the corner and wrapped it around her shivering body. Starlight sealed the tent flap and renewed the heating spell, herself.
"Brrr, did they kick ya out already?" Rainbow Dash joked.
"Ha ha ha, Rainbow Jack," Starlight said sarcastically.
"Um, it's Rainbow Dash."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Starlight shrugged in indifference to show just how much she didn't care. "I'm just here because Twilight's coming. I don't know why such a powerful unicorn is hanging out with a bunch of earth ponies and pegasi. She should be back in the Capital, not some boring old city like Baltimare and definitely not poking around in dumps like this."
"Hey! You're not Twilight's only friend ya'know. And we happen to like our 'boring old city' and other pony species. What makes you unicorns so high and mighty?" Rainbow Dash demanded.
Starlight arched an eyebrow. "You mean you really haven't figured it out yet? Unicorns are obviously the best and Unicornia should've prospered on its own."
"What do ya mean exactly by 'obviously the best'?" Applejack questioned.
"I'm just saying that unicorns can cast spells. That means we can levitate stuff, teleport, transfigure objects, and shoot lasers out of our freaking faces! What other evidence do you need!"
"Hey! That stuff doesn't make you better than us! We can do cool stuff too!" snapped Pinkie Pie. "How would Unicornia farm or change the weather without the pegasi and earth ponies? Ever think of that?!"
Cheers of "Yeah!" and "You tell 'em Pinkie" rose from the side of the tent Applejack and Rainbow Dash were sitting on.
Starlight rolled her eyes. "This is foal's play! Any unicorn can farm, Purple Pie. Besides, when have you ever farmed a day in your life? And-"
Pinkie cut her short, taking in an enormous breath to yell at Starlight. She, however, was cut short by Starlight, who had wrapped her turquoise magic around Pinkie's muzzle, sealing it shut. Pinkie struggled but only managed to mumble something that sounded like 'rock farm.'
"The weather problem can be easily fixed. Any high enough level unicorn can practice weather spells and we can use a spell to give ourselves wings or levitate ourselves. We don't need pegasi!" Starlight paused her argument to freeze Rainbow with her magic as well. Rainbow hung surprised in midair, her attack foiled. Starlight continued, "And we raise the sun and moon. You guys should all be bowing down to me! I'm a unicorn and that means I'm practically royalty!"
Luna had watched on in silence so far, allowing her friends to make their own arguments for their races. She wasn't ready to intervene yet, but she would soon. Things were almost out of hoof.
"Well what about Luna?" Applejack asked, being the only one of her friends who had yet to be frozen by Starlight's magic. "She's a unicorn!"
"Pfff! She's a blank flank! She's a fully grown mare and she doesn't even have a cutie mark? Nopony so useless should be allowed in our society."
"I beg to differ-"
"Enough!" Luna thundered. She was standing now, deciding things had gone too far. "Are you saying that because I have no cutie mark that you're better than me?"
"Absolutely," Starlight said with a cocky grin. Luna finally noticed two things. One was that Starlight's mane had fallen down from its formerly curled state and into bangs. Two was that Luna could see Starlight's cutie mark now since she no longer had her cloak with her. It depicted a purple four-pointed star and a few turquoise waves. Her talent was probably something to do with magic which would make this argument that much more difficult.
"Humph! Just because you have a lot of magical potential doesn't mean you can go around commanding other ponies to do your bidding. I am your equal, as are Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Twilight can make her own decisions and if you were really her friend, you'd respect those decisions. And if you aren't her friend and you won't respect her or our decisions, viewpoints, race, abilities, and talents, then I suggest you get out of our tent," Luna finished coldly.
"Oh yeah? Make me!"
Luna's eyes blazed with fury. They seemed to glow with white hot anger and her blue mane seemed to shimmer with an unnatural light. It could've easily been mistaken for a trick of the light, for it was gone before but a moment passed.
Luna directed her fury at Starlight, but she didn't resort to violence. Instead, she simply levitated Starlight into the air, interrupting the spells cast on Rainbow and Pinkie, and plopped her right into a snowdrift outside the tent flap.
Luna and her friends started settling back in, glad to have finally dealt with the pesky unicorn.
"Jeez, who stuck a stick up her plot," Rainbow commented.
"Awww, she had a stick up her horsey butt? Who did that to her? That is cruel! If I'd known that I wouldn't have been so hard on her. Maybe we can have an I Hope You Get The Stick Out Of Your Butt Party when we get back home!" Pinkie exclaimed already pulling out several pink notepads to jot down notes in.
"No Pinkie, it's just an expression. It means- just nevermind," Applejack said. "I wonder why she even came in here in the first place if all she was gonna do was yell at us."
"Maybe she just felt like venting to somepony. Acting nice around Twilight's probably preetty tough," Luna said.
Just then Starlight burst back into the tent. Before anypony could react, Luna was surrounded by a bright turquoise glow and dragged out of the warmth. She was then abruptly hurled several meters away into a snowdrift similar to the one she'd dropped Starlight in.
"If you wanna go on rambling about 'harmony' and 'friendship' then be my guest! But nopony, I repeat nopony! Makes a fool of Starlight Glimmer," she shouted.
Luna scrambled to her hooves and got into a defensive position, horn sparking at the tip.
"Oh please, as if you could get a blow on me blank flank! Why don't you try something a bit easier, raising the moon by yourself for instance."
An audible gasp was heard all throughout the nearly empty square. "Raise the moon on my own! But that normally takes a team of 10 ponies!"
"Yeah, so what? If you can raise that moon tomorrow night, then I'll back off. I'll never bother you or your friends again, even Twilight. Deal?" Starlight raised her hoof for a shake.
Luna eyed it suspiciously. Starlight seemed pretty confident she'd fail at raising the moon. Luna wasn't so sure about it herself. Nopony had even heard of a single unicorn capable of lifting the celestial orb alone before. But it was worth a shot.
"Deal."
"Well no, I've never been on the moon-raising patrol, I usually help raise the sun, but that's not going to stop me. I won't let some arrogant jerk waltz in and insult my friends."
Rarity nodded. "Of course, Luna. It's just so hard to believe Starlight's suggested something like this, especially after the blizzard cancelled the procedure this morning. She seemed so level-headed earlier."
"That's just because you and Twilight were in her tent. She burst into ours spouting off ideas about how unicorns are the best race and blank flanks at my age shouldn't be allowed in our society."
"Well she did mention the old kingdom Unicornia, if that's what you mean. And I admit a city filled with only talented unicorns would be promising. It would definitely speed up the progress of Equestria for the better."
"No, she was talking about an entire nation of unicorns! With no pegasi or earth ponies!"
Rarity gasped in shock. Just then, Celestia cantered over to them. Her sister looked alarmed, as if she had only just found out she was raising the moon. Wait, Luna thought. Did I ever tell Tia what I was doing tonight?
"Sister!" Celestia exclaimed, sounding desperate. Rarity silently edged away from the two sisters. "How could you have agreed to something like this? Raising the moon on your own is very dangerous! This could drain you of all your magic! You need to be at full strength for the journey home, Luna."
"I know but you cannot expect me to just forget about all of this. I'm not just worried about our friends here, Tia. This pony has some dangerous ideals. I can't let her spread them any further."
"I see. Well I suppose I never really thought you'd change your mind. I just really want you to be careful."
"I will," Luna said gently, nuzzling Celestia's cheek. "It's time for me to get ready now. See you soon, Tia."
A few minutes of warm-up later and Luna stood in the middle of the square. Everypony was waiting for the event to start. Most ponies were excited for a bit of action since the disappointment the morning blizzard brought. They had been so eager to perform the ceremony, restore the valley, and go back home. Now they were stuck in a freezing cold stone courtyard with only a foolish unicorn to entertain them. The only question was which unicorn was the foolish one.
"Well, are you going to raise the moon or what?" Starlight called out from the edge of the circle. Her mane was still in the same bangs as the night before.
Without dignifying her with a response, Luna concentrated on the task at hoof. She knew the spells to raise sun by heart and she assumed the spells to raise the moon were very similar. Though raising the sun as a team was very draining, it was still very possible and Luna had confidence she could at least move the moon a few feet across the sky on her own. Her horn flaring to life, Luna cast the first spell. The rest came naturally. Then everything faded to black.
"Wha- Where am I?" Luna asked the empty space around her. She was floating in some kind of space-like emptiness. Star-like orbs of light drifted throughout the space. It was dark, yet light at the same time. It was hard for Luna to explain, but she felt the significance of this place. It also felt familiar, like in another lifetime, Luna had been here many times.
"You are here because it is your destiny," a booming voice said. Luna listened intently for its return. It sounded very familiar from somewhere but she just couldn't put her hoof on it.
"You should've been here a long time ago. None of this should've happened. Starlight Glimmer's ancestor was supposed to change her ways and withhold her spell. Equestria was supposed to bloom and flourish on the west side of the Canterlot Mountains. A forest called Everfree was to be your home, not some cramped city. Celestia was to be your mortal enemy for one thousand years as you lay trapped in the moon. Your friends were to be the Elements of Harmony. And your sister was to be a guardian of the day while you lay forgotten in her shadow. Yet you were also supposed to be something greater than you are now. You were born to lead. You were born to paint the night sky. You were born to guide the moon. You were born to be something amazing," the familiar voice said. Luna still couldn't place her hoof on where she'd heard it before.
"And what would this something amazing be?" inquired Luna.
A flurry of stars swirled, coalescing into the shape of a pony. Its face was covered in shadow, hidden by a large cloak similar to Luna's own travelling cloak. Black spots spattered the top of the hood, neck, and back and the clasp was in the shape of a crescent moon. The newly formed figure pushed its hood back and revealed a very familiar face.
Luna stared at... herself. She was completely awestruck at this strange mare's sudden appearance. Her mane billowed out in the current of an invisible breeze. She was taller than Luna was and her horn was longer and sharper. Her muzzle was more defined as well.
"But, how? And why?" Luna asked. There was no way a normal unicorn like her could grow a mane like that. And no spell could mask that much of a pony's physical appearance. There must be something important, an ancient spell or tome, that would help her look like the other her.
"This is not all, Luna." And with that, the figure's cloak was melted away by the stars. As the brilliant light faded, Luna's jaw dropped at the sight that greeted her.
A fully-fledged alicorn stood in front of her. A pair of wings and a cutie mark presented themselves to Luna. She gazed in wonder at the crescent on her flank and the beautifully groomed wings. Could I really be an alicorn?, she thought in wonder.
She smiled down at herself. Or herself smiled down at her. Or something like that. Then herself/she started to sing.
You've come such a long, long way, and
I've watched you from that very first day.
"Stalker," Luna commented.
To see how you might grow, to see what you might do.
"Am I really that exciting?"
To see what you've been through, and
All the ways you've made me proud of you.
"You must be very proud of my Ponymon card collection, then."
It's time now for a new change to come.
You've grown up and your new life has begun.
To go where you will go, to see what you will see.
To find what you will be. For it's time for you...
...to fulfill your destiny!
A ball of magic separated itself from Luna and surrounded her, blinding her with blue magic.
That stupid blank flank was so easy to trick. I should give myself a mental pat on the back for ridding this world of another useless sucker like her, Starlight thought. Pat pat. There we go.
Suddenly a bright flash of light came from the sky. Starlight glanced upwards only to see a bright ball of light descending from the heavens. To her dismay, the moon was glowing brightly from its position high in the sky. But how?! she wondered. Maybe now would be a good time to get out of there.
Luna blinked the spots out of her eyes. Something felt off about herself. Before she could figure it out, a swarm of ponies rushed to her side. Tears and exclamations of congratulations filled Luna's ears. Dazed and confused, she looked to the sky for help and was surprised to see the moon shining down on her.
"I did it," she said out loud. "I really did it!"
"You did a bit more than that, sugar cube," Applejack said cheerfully.
Instantly, Luna whipped her head around to check her flank for a cutie mark only to have her view obstructed by a strange feathered object. She gasped, her wings spreading wide. Several ponies were knocked back by them, but at the moment nopony particularly cared. To her great relief, Luna's cutie mark was also there, situated on the patch of black splatters on her flank.
And of course no alicorn is complete without the crown that comes with the wings. And of course she would be the first to address Luna as true royalty.
"Your highness," Celestia said.
