Chapters Chapter 1. The Price for Peace.
The war was getting worse each day, Celestia’s troops forced back inch by inch due to Sombra’s army. Things weren’t looking up, and with a small moment of peace both royal sisters paced around their base tent, trying to come up with a new strategy that would earn them more time to keep the strength of their soldiers. Both knew there had to be a way to defeat Sombra, they had done it once in the past, but it had been with the help of the Elements of the Harmony.
Everypony was relying on them to work out a solution that would end the war once and for all, as it was tearing Equestria apart from the inside out. Ponies wouldn’t last much longer with the lives they currently had, giving all their energy into the efforts for helping anyway they could to win the war. The only solution involved brute force, and could defeat Sombra, but at the cost of losing a big part of, if not all, the lives of those ponies he had put the helmets on and forced them to fight for him.
“This is not going to help sister! We must think of something, we can’t let him win!” Luna had finally gotten tired of pacing, stopping and looking at her sister as if hoping that out of nowhere the elder one would get a bright idea and save them all. Even if she knew she had been forgiven for her deeds of a thousand years ago, her self-esteem was still low and looked up to her sister in times like this; almost as if she was afraid she would mess up if the decision was made by herself.
“I know Luna, I know. But we must come across this carefully, the last I want is to end up hurting more ponies than it’s needed to stop Sombra” Celestia calmly replied to her sister, never stopping her pacing or looking up to Luna. She had been trying to find any loophole around Sombra’s attacks that she hadn’t seen before. But she kept coming up empty, and knew that if Luna, who had a better eye for military things, hadn’t found a loophole yet then it was almost impossible for one to even exist.
Both sisters suddenly looked towards the entrance of the tent when the guards allowed a flustered pony to come inside, shaking and out of breath but still bowing to the royals before him. Celestia was quick to react “You may rise. Do you bring any news?”. This pony was the messenger, the only one who had been allowed to go back and forth in the battlefield to relieve messages towards the princesses and those in charge of each division in their army.
“Yes, your highness. The… the ‘captain’ of Sombra’s army keeps saying that their leader wishes to meet with the princesses… but he didn’t state the reason why. Our captain said they dismissed those words multiple times, thinking it was a trap, but now that they have grown in tone they sent me to relay those words to you.” The poor pony was obviously scared, no one knew what was to be expected if Sombra claimed to want to meet with the princesses.
Both Luna and Celestia shared looks, trying to silently agree on how to proceed with this situation. Chances of things going wrong were very high, Sombra was not one to be trusted, but a meeting could finally give the sisters an idea on how to defeat him. On the other hand, it could lead to a trap, and leave the sisters to fight their way out before things got worse. Finally, both reach a silent agreement, and it’s Luna who speaks up towards the messenger pony. “Go back and tell the captain to agree to the meeting. You shall give them this parchment, so they hand it to Sombra directly. It contains all the details we need to have for the meeting to take place” She handed him the parchment, which Celestia had quickly written and levitated over to her sister.
The requirements were very specific, it would be a dome in the middle of the territory, held up by the sisters’ magic and covered so no magic from Sombra could affect it. Only the 3 of them could be there, each army was to stay behind on each side by at least 50 feet. At any sign of threat, the dome would go down and teleport the sisters back to the base tent and incapacitate Sombra’s magic for a couple seconds to avoid him following them.
“Are you sure this is the best decision sister? We know Sombra is capable of lying and turning this ‘meeting’ into something much worse” Luna was nervous, even if her face remained neutral, and glanced towards the battlefield, eyes following the messenger pony until he disappeared in the distance.
“I don’t know Luna, but it’s the best chance we have at ending this war. All we can do is be prepared for the worst and put some faith in Sombra, hoping he doesn’t try anything else.” Celestia went and nuzzled her little sister, hoping to offer some reassurance while also praying to anyone above them that this meeting would help them end this war before it turned into a real bloodbath.
Soon, the answer came back: Sombra accepted their rules and would meet them in the magical dome 15 minutes after sunset. It was of little relief to the sisters, who were still on high alert for anything that seemed off before the meeting was to take place. Once they lowered and raised their respective duties (the sun and the moon), they quickly teleported to the meeting point and began setting up the barrier. Each checked every spell at least twice before they were confident that if things went down, the spells would do as needed.
They tensed up when the tyrant calmly walked forward, entering the magical dome and daring to smirk at them. He seemed to enjoy watching the effect he had on them, almost as if it was an inner joke only he understood and laughed internally at them both. “Let’s get this started, shall we? We agreed to your meeting Sombra, now speak about what you wanted” The first to talk was Luna, obviously not able to keep her patience any longer and going straight to the point.
“Oh, but of course dearest Luna- “. His mocking tone was quickly interrupted by a growl from the younger princess, who didn’t seem pleased he was using such a tone or word to refer to her. He completely ignored her and kept on speaking. “I have come up with 3 possibly treaties that you both would be fools if you did not accept. Unless, of course, you wish the war to continue. My own army can go on for as long as needed, using every prisoner to become a new soldier in my lines. They are quite simple you see: 1) You step down and give me the victory so I’m free to take all Equestria for myself as it should be, 2) You leave, and I stay as the rightful ruler of the Crystal Empire, with things continuing as they were before the war for the ponies living here”
His smirk was evident, and it took Celestia’s magical grip to avoid Luna from jumping on him and trying to kill him right there and then. How her sister stayed so calm after these two options was a mystery for Luna, but reluctantly she calmed down and stayed put, though she didn’t stop glaring at Sombra. Once she was sure her sister wouldn’t yell or try attack the tyrant, Celestia spoke up. “You said 3 options Sombra, but you have only told us 2 of them. What is the third?”
“The last is quite simple actually, nothing you can’t afford not doing. But now that I consider it…” He trailed off, obviously playing with both the sister’s patience and almost causing Luna to lose her control once more “Just say it already Sombra! We won’t take any longer of your foolish games!
“Well if you so kindly insist… What better way to end the war and make peace than by allying with the enemy? Another ruler for the Crystal Empire, simple as that. And who better than one of the all mighty alicorn sisters?” His smirk only grew as he dropped the bomb, making both princesses freeze in their place, unable to say anything “I shall wait for your answer. You have until the next sunset. I shall take my leave now, ladies” Quickly he stepped out of the magical dome and teleported back to his castle.
Author's Note
EDIT: omg it's been tooo long really. But college killed all my free time and any ideas my muse might have. This semester wasn't kind on me. I have an unofficial editor, my best friend Faithy who doesn't have an account here but is kind enough to proof-read the word document. She's also my first "victim" as I turned her into a brony within a week or so hahaha. Love you wifeeyyy
I re-made some parts of the summary in order to fit more what we see of the Mane 6 in the episode, that way I can use it better as a guide when writing the actual chapters. I won't upload it as a chapter -as it previously was- but will post it on my blog for anyone that is curious.
With enough inspiration, this winter I will upload another 2 chapters before my classes start up again. Again, any comments or mistakes Faithy and I missed are more than welcome
Chapter 2. A Decision is Made
Author's Note
If you got here and haven't re-read the first chapter just yet (I replaced it with an actual chapter, instead of the general summary that it was), then go check it out! I'd love some new feedback over how I did it.
Soo chapter 2 is finally here, very very late but it's here. Authors block sucks, and it's irritating that when I finally want to sit down and write the chapter something happens and my muse takes a trip. The other main reason is that, apparently, my muse is connected to my editors one, so unless one of us gets down to write the others muse won't work xD
I sent her the first draft for this chapter almost 2 weeks ago but she forgot to check it over
Chapter 2. A Decision is Made
Silence hung heavy between both sisters as they slowly stepped out of the magical dome, teleporting to the base tent. Once there, a new set of magical barriers were set up, this time soundproof ones to ensure no one outside would hear what they needed to discuss. Two cups of tea were quickly made by Celestia, who handed one to Luna as they sat down in front of each other. Both alicorns were lost in their thoughts, each wondering different things and occasionally sipping the tea from their cups, not daring to look at the other in case the thoughts were plainly read in their faces.
Finally, Celestia stood up and walked towards the table that had a map open with the positions of each part of their army and marked what territory they still had control over and what was currently in Sombra’s control. She began moving figures around while murmuring under her breath, as if trying to find the best place to put the figures back.
Luna, on the other hand, turned her attention towards a small window in the tent, silently watching the snowflakes fall as the snow storm outside calmed down and gave way to a soft flurry of snow. Her thoughts were all over the place, but seemed to always come back to one point: Sombra’s last option for a treaty. Compared to the other two, the last one was by far the best, but the price to pay for it was quite big and the consequences for it at a near future were unknown.
“Luna? Do you think you can come and look at this? I think maybe by placing some extra soldiers we can stop for some time the advance and maybe use the snow to our advantage” Celestia called out, focused on the map and waiting for an answer from her sister. When she receives none, she turns around, looking towards her little sister “Luna? Did you hear me?” Again, no answer. Shaking her head, Celestia walks over and nudges her sister gently, effectively catching her attention. “Lulu? Are you alright?” Her tone showed her concern clearly, it wasn’t normal in her sister to be so quiet or distracted.
Luna allows a small smile to grace her lips in apology, trying to push her thoughts to the back of her mind, trying to keep them in order. “Yes, sorry Tia. I was just... lost in thought. What did you want me to see?” She just wanted to reassure her sister she was fine, and hopefully move the topic away from her, or else her mind might ally with her mouth, and make her say just what she had been thinking
“Luna, something is clearly bothering you. Please, tell me what it is.” Celestia leaned down to nuzzle her sister “I lost you for a thousand years for not listening to what you had to say, or even noticing how you felt. I refuse to make those mistakes again.” This was enough to crack Luna’s shield as she leaned forward into the nuzzle, returning it with a sigh, knowing she was right. “I was thinking about the options Sombra gave for a treaty, the third one won’t leave my mind. It would at least bring peace sister but…”
“No, Luna. We sadly can’t do much with those options as we would be giving in to what Sombra wants, stepping right into his game. We will find another way, maybe a new strategy or new spells, but we will make it out of this war for our citizens sake” Her mind had turned down all the options by now, believing none could make things better and their next best choice was to think up a new strategy to fight. “Come look at this, maybe together we will finally come up with a winning movement”
With one last nuzzle, Celestia stood up and walked back towards the strategy map, soon after joined by her sister. Luna had stayed silent, but her mind kept wandering back to her decision. Her sister clearly wouldn’t support it, and she would most likely earn her anger for some time. But if it meant their citizens and those in the Crystal Empire were safe, then she would do it.
They both went over new movements during the day, briefly updating their generals on how the meeting had gone, but they kept the details of the treaty to themselves. There was no need to worry them even more than they were already, their job was to keep order in the army and make sure spirits stayed as high as possible. When it was time for them to lower the sun and raise the moon, Luna’s belly felt in knots, knowing soon enough they would have to meet up with Sombra and she would have to face her sister with the decision she had made.
Once the time arrived, they both teleported to the meeting place, quickly setting up the needed magical barriers for the meeting. Just in time, Sombra walked closer and entered the dome, greeting them with his signature smirk and eerie calm. “Ladies, it’s nice to see you again. Tell me then, which option will you agree to?”
Celestia was the first to speak up, standing tall and proud while looking down neutrally at Sombra. She wouldn’t walk into his games and put at risk the safety of all their citizens. “We won’t- “ but she was quickly interrupted by Luna, who saw this as her only chance “we won’t delay this any longer… I… I will accept your third condition and stay here in the Crystal Empire in exchange for the end of the war.” Luna said this while keeping her head down, hoping to avoid eye contact with her sister, she couldn’t help but wince when hearing her sister shout.
“WHAT?! Luna, you can’t do this!” Celestia was in shock, had she heard right? Her little sister was giving in to this tyrant? No, it couldn’t be, this had to be some sick type of joke from her, she used to be tied to the element of Laughter after all. Sombra, meanwhile, just watched the scene with an amused smirk, seeming to be enjoying this too much. “See Celestia? It was this easy to stop the war. You will like it here dearest Luna, and I’ll keep my end of the treaty.”
Luna sighed, knowing beforehand that something like this would happen, yet also knowing it was their best chance at avoiding a massive bloodbath without the Elements of Harmony (They were no longer tied to her and Celestia, so they couldn’t use them to stop Sombra, nor had they found the new bearers.). “You will free Mi Amore Cadenza and Shinning Armor first, next all the ponies in your army. I will come stay here after tying up some affairs in Canterlot.”
“Very well, you can come and free those two. I expect you come back within a week, wouldn’t want to use the army again to force you to keep that promise, would we?” Sombra hadn’t even changed his expression, his smirk was still ever present while turning around and beginning to walk back towards the castle “I will show you where they are, come”. Luna risked one last look at Celestia, who was still in shock before following Sombra out of the magical dome and through the thick snow path that would lead them towards the limits of the crystal Empire and into the castle itself.
Once they reached the castle, Sombra opened the door with his magic for her, he leads her towards the dungeon. To his credit, he kept silent throughout the small journey, which she appreciated as her mind had enough to deal with right now to even try being civil with him. Silently, he lit the torch that would illuminate the cell that held Cadenza and Shining armor. A second after the light filled the room and they were able to see, he motioned for her to go to them.
Carefully, she approached the door, still on alert for if this was any sort of trap for him to capture her also, but nothing happened. “Cadenza? Captain Armor? Are you alright?”. She heard quick movement, followed by a pink figure standing up shakily and running over to the cell door. “Aunt Luna! Oh, thank Faust you’re here. Can you get us out? What happened?”. Luna briefly looked back at Sombra, who nodded and waved his hoof as if to tell her to go ahead and open the cell if she wanted. Then, he turned around and went back upstairs, leaving the door to the dungeons open for when Luna was done talking to the two ponies.
“It’s alright Cadenza, the war is over. I’m going to get you out and we’ll return to Canterlot, so you are looked over by the doctors. Celestia will be happy to see you for sure.“ The moment she opened the door, she was enveloped in a brief hug by her niece before she went back inside and helped Shinning Armor come out. “The war is over? But how? Sombra couldn’t be defeated without the Crystal Heart or the Elements of Harmony. Aunt Luna what happened?” She could feel something was off, as Luna instead of looking happy or relieved when telling her about the war, looked sad, almost guilty. As though she was keeping something from her. “Cadence, I don’t think it’s the right time to ask. Let’s trust Princess Luna and get out of here.” Shining Armor was barely able to stand up on his own, and it was obvious the time in the dungeons hadn’t treated him very well unlike Cadence, who looked slightly better. Luna was glad for his intervention, as she didn’t want to tell Cadence that she had agreed to marry Sombra and stay here in exchange for everyone’s freedom. “He’s right, we must have a doctor look over you two as soon as possible. Come on, lets head out before a snowstorm decides to fall on us”
And with this, she turned and began leading them out of the dungeons and through the castle. Doing her best to keep her head held high with the little pride she had left. Leading them out into the snow, they found Celestia waiting for them outside of the magical dome. Celestia hugged Cadence upon seeing her telling her and Shining Armor how happy she was to see they were alright. With Luna’s help, they teleported back towards the base camp, quickly sending for a doctor and Twilight Sparkle. Who was sure to have missed her brother more than anyone else. During all of this, no words were exchanged between the sisters. They both had too much on their mind to process.
Chapter 3. (Name to be decided)
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Chapter 4. (Name to be decided)
Silence was thick for the next moments, tensions running high as Cadence tried to come to terms with the information she had just been given. Surely, she had misheard her aunt Luna? It couldn’t be possible that something like this had happened to stop the war so suddenly. “It must be the delayed effects of the shock, some remaining minor problem derived from staying in that dungeon without magic. Yeah, must be that.” But the more her brain tried to come up with a logical answer to build an excuse for her hearing being wrong, the more it brought up the fact that her aunt had been very clear.
“No… No, please… Please Aunt Luna, tell me you are joking or something... this, this can’t be right! You shouldn’t have to be faced with that kind of decision and accept it just for our sake! Maybe there was another way? Some other tactic inside the army or a new magic spell, something!” Cadence broke down crying, hugging her aunt when hearing soft sobs coming from her also, it was obvious both were hurting. It made sense though… If Luna had decided this without telling Celestia and forcing her to spend even more of her life without her sister after the Thousand-Year banishment… Then Celestia would have every right to be upset.
But sooner or later they would have to talk to each other about it, go over the details and face what was going to be the new future. Ignoring each other would only end with tension building high and then exploding in both their faces, probably in the form of a yelling match. Hopefully they would get over their fears and sit down to talk, as they had limited time before Luna had to return to the Crystal Empire to keep her end of the treaty. And no one needed to be on constant worry over how the relationship of the royal sisters would take a turn for the worst again.
Once both mares stopped crying they finally pulled apart enough to look at each other, Cadence’s eyes betraying worry and concern, while Luna’s showed how scared she truly was and the settling anxiety over the unknown future that was looming over their heads. They stayed silent, and finally ended the hug when hearing Twilight softly calling out for Cadence, probably finished fussing over her brother and hopefully letting him sleep peacefully.
After a couple seconds of gathering themselves and trying to act calm, Cadence called out for Twilight to come in. Soon, the purple unicorn came in and after briefly bowing to Princess Luna, ran to carefully wrap Cadence in a hug. “Are you okay Cadence? I was worried when one of the guards came to get me and told me you and my brother were being treated by a doctor back in here.”
“I’m fine Twilight, don’t worry. Like your brother, I’ll need a good amount of rest and allow my magic to come back little by little before thinking on using it again for any spell more complex than telekinesis. Can I count on you to help me keep your brother still? We both know how stubborn he can be, and I’d hate for him to get more hurt by trying to push his limits too hard.” Cadence knew that if someone was able to force Shinning Armor to stay still and do as the doctor told them, it would be Twilight, and hopefully help him get around without using his magic.
Using Twilight’s help, she carefully stands up and gently excuses herself to go get some rest, suggesting that maybe Twilight could keep Princess Luna company while she was sleeping. “Thanks Twilight, we’ll talk more when I wake up, I promise, and you can ask me anything when we’re finally on the train.” She pulls the curtains closed and curls up next to Shining Armor. Gently nuzzling him before drifting off into a dreamless sleep.
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Twilight watched as Cadence walked out, looking up to Princess Luna once the curtain was closed. She hadn’t gotten around to spending much time around the new Princess since her return, as she had continued with her studies under Princess Celestia and hun around Cadence or Moondancer. Sure, she had helped her settle down in the castle and answer any questions about the new technology, but there wasn’t a bond there. Not like she had with Celestia.
She held both Princess in high regards but saw them in much different lights. While Celestia came off as kind and calm, open for ponies to talk to and even motherly, Luna came off as mysterious, strong, patient. In all honesty, Luna better fit the profile of a masked superhero from one of Shining’s comic-books that he liked to force her to read.
It seemed she had gone off in deep thought as it took a small nudge from Princess Luna for her to come back to reality, blushing sheepishly. She was met with an amused smile formed on the princess’ face, a huge contrast to the saddened face that had been there when she came inside looking for Cadence. “A bit for your thoughts Twilight? I called your name a couple times, but you were so deep in thought you didn’t answer”
“S-sorry Princess Luna!” Twilight hesitated for a couple seconds before deciding to tell honestly what she had been thinking instead of trying to make up something in the spot. “I had just begun to compare you to Princess Celestia, I can’t help but notice the differences in personality and how… you could almost pass as one of the ‘mysterious’ superheros in one of my brothers’ comic-books.”
Luna blinked, taking in what Twilight had just said, probably debating if she was going to snap her with her magic in that instant or tell her off to Princess Celestia so her mentor would scold her. Just as Twilight was already preparing to apologize and beg to keep this between them, Princess Luna began laughing. “While I don’t think I do enough things to actually be like those superheroes I appreciate that comparison Twilight. And I needed that laugh, honestly. Thank you”
Twilight sighed in relief, glad that she hadn’t messed up one of the closest interactions she’d had with Princess Luna and wouldn’t disappoint her mentor. She ached to ask her if the rumor of the war being over was real, and the details over it, but for once she listened to her conscience and decided against it. Maybe Cadence would know more about it and would be willing to talk to her, or even Princess Celestia, but until then she could use the time better by asking Princess Luna other things.
“Princess Luna, could I ask you a couple questions related to the night sky or about customs back before your banishment? I found a couple books while researching and I felt that you would be a better source of information”
Author's Note
Nothing more to say that hasn't been said in the previous author's note. Just remind you that I'd love suggestions for the chapter names.
Here's a small peek into the POV's for the next chapters
Comments and constructive critics are appreciated!
Oh! and I also found a way to try update faster. I have one class on Tuesdays that is a bore to me, and doesn't require me to put 100% of my attention, so I'll use it most likely to write down drafts of the story.
-Moonlight
