Six Months Between Solstices
“Yes… Yes… Yes… Come on, just a few more inches… For Faust’s sake, just lower it already!” Luna shouted the last bit across the empty square at her sister’s balcony.
Celestia looked across the castle at her impatient sister, rolled her eyes, and dropped the sun out of the sky. It plummeted past the horizon, leaving the Equestrian sky a dark canvas for Luna’s night.
“Happy?” Celestia yelled back.
“Very!” Luna shouted over her shoulder as she dashed off her balcony, into the castle’s twisting hallways.
The lunar Alicorn galloped through the tricked out castle, occasionally ducking through hidden entrances and secret passageways. She sped through one last hallway lined with disembodied pony hooves before bursting into a room containing nothing but a pipe organ raised on a platform.
Luna rushed over to the seat and immediately began playing the organ. It's haunting melody filled the air and all around Everfree Castle, the effects were already settling in.
Small, buckball-sized orbs floated into the air, alighting with a silvery glow to mimic a full moon. Ornately carved planters, overflowing with lavender, rose up through concealed conduits to line the castle’s winding paths and hallways. Various food and game booths dropped out of ceilings, popped out of walls, or rolled into the main square, seemingly from out of nowhere.
Above all the clatter of objects spontaneously appearing from the floor, opening and shutting secret hatches, and the extremely loud organ music, a creaking noise rang out from the castle’s main entryway; the gates were opening.
Luna abruptly stopped playing (after casually adding a few notes to drop a makeshift stage into the middle of everything) and eagerly galloped out into the center of Everfree Square to welcome her guests. Celestia gracefully glided down from her balcony to join Luna on the stage and assist her sister with the night’s announcements.
What were they welcoming guests to? Well, every year, Equestria’s wealthiest would come to Everfree Castle to celebrate the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year and Luna’s favorite night of the year. The common ponies in the neighboring towns were welcome at the festival as well, seeing as Winter Solstice provided both social classes an excellent excuse to gorge themselves on sweet stuff and let their hyperactive children blow off some steam for a few hours.
When it seemed most ponies were within hearing range and relatively comfy, Luna began announcing in the Royal Canterlot Voice, “We welcome thy presence with open hooves on this night!” Her thoughts ran far more casually. Alright, first sentence, so far so good. Celie’s about to eat her words because I can totally do the Royal Canterlot Voice for the entire opening statements.
“This sunset has ushered in the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, which all of Equestria shall honor with a grand celebration,” Celestia continued the welcome speech.
“We wish to thank thou for thy attendance to the Winter Solstice Festival, hosted within Everfree Castle. Thy princesses art pleased with thou,” Luna said. Pff! And she thought I couldn’t do it. Only a little bit more to go and Celie has to hoof over those 10 bits!
“Prior to the celebration, thy Princess of the Moon shall detail the events which thou art sanctioned to partake in,” Celestia smiled cordially at her sister, but Luna saw the true message: Good luck trying to get through the rest of the speech on your own.
Sneaky Celie, of course she would dump her half of the opening statements on me, Luna thought in annoyance. Whatever, I can still do it. Probably. Maybe. Oh dear.
Luna gazed at all the ponies of Equestria gathered in the square. She gulped nervously and opened her mouth to speak.
“My favorite part was when you- you- ahahaha!” Celestia burst out laughing yet again.
“It wasn’t that bad, was it?” Luna muttered.
“You just gave up and said ‘Oh, forget it I can't do this anymore’ in front of all those ponies!” Celestia said between laughs.
“Just take your bits and go up to your tower to sleep. Tonight’s the longest night of the year and you are supposed to be somewhere that’s not here right now,” Luna said shoving a small pouch of bits in her sister’s face and readying a teleportation spell.
“Fine, fine. Goodnight Luna!” Celestia said before she was flashed away to her tower.
Luna stood next to the stage and tried not to fall asleep (which really should’ve been easy for somepony who’s nocturnal). Occasionally she would nod, rub her chin with her hoof in a philosophical manner, or ‘mhmm’ at the nobleponies she was pretending to listen to. Er, paying attention to in stunned fascination.
Hopefully she wasn’t agreeing to anything weird because she wasn’t listening to a single word they were saying. Probably stuff about fashion or treasure or boring fancy pony stuff.
“Yes, I really do enjoy a good blood sacrifice!” one of the nobleponies said cheerfully.
“Mhmm,” Luna said absentmindedly.
“Our demon-summoning cult hosts one every third Thursday of the month. You and Princess Celestia should drop by one of our ceremonies sometime. Alicorn blood would sure give a kick to our summoning circles,” remarked a second noblepony.
Luna rubbed her chin with her hoof, pretending to mentally debate something. After a moment, she nodded.
“Alright, Alicorn blood! Say, princess, would you mind also donating some of the funds from the royal treasury to help pay for more unicorn blood? We’re starting to run out. And we only need about… Well, twenty-five barrels should cover our next few ceremonies so we only need about 37,500 bits,” a third aristocrat proposed.
“Mhmm,” Luna hummed, staring off somewhere just beyond the trio of ponies.
“Gosh! Thank you so much, princess! Why don’t we go over some of the details of our next ceremony?” the first noblepony said excitedly.
A light tap on the shoulder snapped Luna out of her stupor. When she turned to find the source of the tapping, Luna found three fillies smiling up at her.
A magenta-maned, pink coated earth pony held up three bits in her hoof while an off-white unicorn with a blonde mane and a lilac pegasus smiled hopefully up at the Alicorn.
“Princess Luna, can you do the sparkle stars? Pleeeaase?” the fillies pleaded. The three bits glittered promisingly at the princess.
“Ah, one second, fillies,” Luna said. She turned back to the nobleponies. “We’ll continue this conversation later. For the rest of tonight, though, let’s put off business and enjoy ourselves!”
The nobleponies nodded in agreement and wandered off to find some festival food.
Turning back to the fillies, Luna smiled and gently pushed the earth pony’s hoof back. “No bits are required, children. Come, up here!”
Luna leaped up onto the stage and helped up the three fillies. As soon as all of them were settled on the stage, Luna began shooting small fountains of sparks into the air. The fillies cheered and ran through the harmless sparks, imagining they were actually running amongst the stars in the night sky above.
Soon enough, several more fillies and colts came and joined the original three. For about half an hour, Luna happily shot off small fountains of fireworks, lovingly dubbed ‘sparkle stars’ by her young fans. But after warming up, Luna was prepared to put on a bit of a show. After all, it wasn’t really the Winter Solstice Festival without the unofficial, yet annual, Luna Show.
Lavender blossoms from the nearby planters flew up and danced through the crowds of fillies and colts, rewarding anypony who could get a firm grasp on them with a free bouquet.
A purple mist seeped through the cracks in the stonework of the floor and drifted through the crowd, giving the stage an eerie yet beautiful and enchanting glow.
Sparks arranged themselves into animals, as if they were constellations wandering down from the heavens to celebrate. They meandered through the crowds of children and soared through the night sky.
Some of the star pigeons got a little too excited and flapped clumsily off the stage to terrorize the onlookers into surrendering their popcorn bits. A giant star butterfly soared gracefully over the heads of the ponies, swooping low over a nervous-looking stallion who promptly ducked and ripped his evening suit.
Giggles and cheers filled the air. Hours passed and Luna kept the sparks flying, fueled by the children’s delight. After all, laughter was what she lived for.
Later that night, it was discovered that even Alicorns get tired and after entertaining the fillies and colts of Everfree for three hours straight, Luna certainly was. After bidding the children farewell and a good Winter Solstice Festival, the lunar princess found herself munching on a delicious cookie shaped like her face on a bench. She was perfectly content to eat herself and watch her subjects enjoying themselves at her festival as they conversed cheerfully and enjoyed more face cookies.
Of course something bad happened.
Luna sighed and rolled her eyes. She shoved the remainder of her cookie face into her face face, grabbed her crown from where it had previously rested on the bench beside her, and trotted towards the disturbance.
It happened every year, at 1:33 A.M. sharp, almost like clockwork. Princess Platinum and Chancellor Puddinghead would argue over who stole whose rock pouch. They’d snarl and hiss at each other like alley cats until Luna broke up the fight and decided who was the true thief.
A current scoresheet of the thievery:
-Princess Platinum x2
-Chancellor Puddinghead x4
-Pebble x1
One might be tempted to ask about Pebble. For anypony curious enough to care, Pebble happened to be Chancellor Puddinghead’s sister’s pet. He also happened to be a rock and a rather large one at that.
Ironically, Pebble was Boulder’s much larger ancestor. He was the size of a legitimate boulder and it was an unsolved yet constantly theorized mystery how Puddinghead and her sister were able to carry him without much notice or trouble.
But enough about rocks. The pouch is the important thing.
“Darling, I can assure you that I wouldn't want to steal that filthy thing you carry around. This is my pouch and it's used to carry gemstones not rocks!” Princess Platinum claimed indignantly, lifting the object of conflict with her magic.
“They look the same!” Puddinghead snapped. “But I know that this is my rock pouch! I can feel it with my Pudding Sense.”
“Pudding Sense? That’s what you’re going on?” Platinum raised an eyebrow. Pudding Sense was infamously unreliable. Ever since the windigo incident, Pudding Sense was unspecific at best.
“Uh, yeah! Pudding Sense is never wrong.”
“Except for the past four years when you stole my jewel pouch?”
“Yeah, well-”
“Enough!” Princess Luna cut off the earth pony before the argument could escalate further. The last thing anypony needed was two of Equestria’s regions to go to war with each other over a glorified bag. “We shall decide whom the thief is and end this trivial argument once and for all.”
The region leaders looked at each other, shrugged, and handed the rock pouch over to the Alicorn.
Luna inspected the object from every possible angle and noticed three things:
1. Sight. Shimmery, but not showy. A simple, pink and purple pouch with a drawstring, adorned with both ruler’s favorite gemstones - sapphires.
2. Touch. Stretchy, but not clingy. Very soft and well-cushioned, lined with a silky fabric.
3. Smell. The giveaway. Jasmine perfume.
Princess Luna cleared her throat to get the attention of the unicorn princess and the earth pony chancellor. She held up the rock pouch and announced, “We have found the true culprit of this crime! Before we uncover the thy identity, dost thou wish to say anything to defend or reveal thy identity?”
“No! I stand by my statement, I am no thief!” Princess Platinum cried with her head held high.
“Double no! I wouldn’t steal a jar of dirt from Princess Persnickety!” Chancellor Puddinghead shouted, also with her head held high.
“Art thou sure of thy decision? Lies shall only bring more suffering,” Princess Luna cautioned.
One of the mares turned to look at the other, visibly sweating. She nervously chewed her lip before blurting out, “Fine! I did it!”
“Aha! This is my jewel pouch!” Platinum crowed triumphantly. She took the aforementioned pouch from Luna’s magic and tucked it into a hidden pocket of her robe.
“Oh, no! What’re you going to do to me? Throw me in the dungeon? Banish me from Equestria? Take away all my whipped cream?!” Puddinghead wailed, throwing herself on the ground in front of Princess Luna.
“Nay, thy whipped cream is secure,” Luna declared, somehow managing to keep a straight face. “No punishment shall come to thou, for thou speaketh the truth.”
“What?! No punishment?!” Princess Platinum shrieked. “She stole my gem pouch!”
“This may be true, but heed these words. Honesty shall always be rewarded in Equestria.”
The sun peeked up over the trees of the Everfree Forest. Organ music filled the empty corridors of the castle once more, but this time, nopony was playing.
A come to life spell had quickly been cast on the instrument before Luna trudged up to her room in the Lunar Wing.
Downstairs, the castle shifted to hide or discard the Winter Solstice’s decorations and booths. The gates slammed shut behind the last stragglers and the festival was officially ended.
As soon as she reached her bedroom, Luna flopped onto her crescent-moon-shaped bed and yawned hugely. She carefully removed her regalia and chucked it across the room in the general direction of her nightstand. Most of the pieces made it, except for a single horseshoe.
After such an exhilaratingly exhausting night outside the dreamscape, Luna didn’t care and she was about to slip into the sweet embrace of sleep when a small clink sounded near her. Turning her head slightly, Luna saw the fallen horseshoe atop the small stand, waiting patiently to be adorned by the lunar princess.
Raising an eyebrow, Luna levitated the shoe towards her. It appeared perfectly normal and not like it had been enchanted to haunt her and murder her in her sleep (it happened once, with her hairbrush).
Luna gave it an experimental toss across the room. The shoe bounced off the far wall and landed upside down on her rug. She spent a good fifteen minutes staring at the shoe before shrugging and closing her eyes to sleep.
Clink!
Luna’s eyes snapped open again to find the shoe resting on her nightstand again.
“How strange…” Luna mused.
She continued her experiment, throwing the shoe and closing her eyes. Soon, she realized the shoe was returning faster than she could blink. Again and again and again she threw it and blinked. The shoe kept returning.
After doing this for several more minutes, Luna decided to further test the boundaries of this phenomenon and tossed the shoe off her balcony, into the Everfree Forest. A blink and a clink later and the horseshoe was sitting on the stand once more.
Slightly annoyed by the persistence of the shoe, Luna threw the shoe off the balcony again, turned to the nightstand, and waited. When nothing happened, Luna trotted over to the balcony and peered over the edge. The shiny horseshoe glittered at her from a nearby tree.
Luna blinked. There was a clink. The horseshoe was gone.
Turning back to her room to look for her shoe, Luna instead found something far more interesting. Herself.
Or at least, it looked like herself. There were a few small differences, the other her was taller and had a darker coat, but it was still Luna. She was looking down at the shoe in her hooves, as if contemplating why she was still holding it.
“Luna, this game of fetch is fun and all but I’d rather just talk,” the other her said.
“Who are you?” Luna asked, both extremely amazed and extremely worried.
“Well, I’m you! Or at least, a version of you,” the darker Alicorn explained.
“Do you have your own name or are we both Luna?”
“Oh, I suppose that would get confusing. I guess I’ve always liked the name Moon.”
“Very well, Moon. What are you doing here and why do you have my shoe?”
“I came here to warn you, Luna. Danger lies ahead of you and I want to help you prepare,” Moon said. Her tone had suddenly changed and there was a grave seriousness in her voice.
“Danger? What do I need to prepare for?” Luna asked, now even more worried than before.
“The throne, it must be yours and yours alone. Your sister is planning to destroy you in six months on the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, when she is strongest. We must eliminate her first!”
“Celie? No! She would never attack me!”
“Please, Luna! We must act now to save Equestria from the wrath of your sister. The ponies will be much happier when the threat has ended and you rule Equestria as its sole leader. Wouldn’t your subjects be happier in the safety of darkness? Why not have an eternal night to protect them?” Moon suggested.
“No, my sister would never turn on her own subjects and she would never attack me. Equestria is wonderful the way it is and I will stand for its values, even against myself,” Luna said, horn crackling with energy. “Actually, you can’t be me. I would never turn against a mare of my own blood. You’re nothing but a shadow. You’re just a nightmare, Moon.”
“Hm, nightmare… Yes, I suppose Nightmare Moon is a fine name. Don’t worry, Luna. You’ll see soon enough and when you do, I’ll be waiting here to help you. Just be warned…”
Nightmare Moon’s eyes were serpentine and her muzzle was twisted in a malevolent grin. Her form bent into an unnatural shape and she dissolved into a misty shadow. The puff of smoke that used to be Moon swirled into Luna’s shoe like a miniature tornado.
“Your loyalty will be your downfall.”
The shoe wasn’t worn again. Not for another three months.
Six Months Between Solstices
Oh, being alive is a splendid feeling.
Ponies often take this gift for granted and waste it on things like friends and jobs and families and such. Such a disgraceful waste of precious time.
Thank goodness they have me to guide them now.
Sometimes all a species needs is somebody with thousands upon thousands of years of experience dealing with such things. They almost never recognize this knowledge as the true wisdom it is, but nonetheless, I’m here. I’m always here.
I was here during the ancient days of cats and jackals. When a wise jackal realized my brilliance and lent me his body. If only that infuriating little furball Baast and that ridiculous draconequus hadn’t formed their little rebellion. Time travellers are always messing things up for me.
I was here during the days of a queen’s conquering spree. She didn’t trust me as completely as the jackal, but she did listen to my advice from time to time. Oh, Timbucktu and Trot were so fun to conquer. Chrysalis really is a joy to work with. Less of a downer than being Anubis, at least.
I was here when the umbrum were born. Smoky little beasts, they were. Honestly, they were terrifying. Thank goodness they worked for me instead of against me like most creatures do. I was King Sombra’s chief advisor: fear.
Fear. Yes, I remember now. What fear is.
I’ve never experienced it, myself, but I have felt it. It’s what makes me sure I’m alive, when the fear floods my senses. The fear of my subjects, washing over me like a tidal wave. It feels great.
It’s present, even now.
A sizeable crowd was gathered at Everfree Castle, six months after the events of the Winter Solstice Festival. The castle was prepared for another celebration, this time in appreciation of the sun and the one who raised and lowered it every day.
The sun would’ve loved to see the crowd it had drawn, but the sun was currently being stifled by a dark sky set with many shimmering stars. They gleamed with a cold and distant light today.
Yes, today. It was noon.
Ponies whispered to each other, passing around rumors and suspicions as to why Celestia had not raised the sun yet. They’d been waiting in the square for somepony to arrive since what was supposed to be the break of dawn. They feared the pony who came.
Fleeing from the imposing Alicorn who now stood on the stage, ponies trampled each other in their haste to escape. But none of them could.
Spells wove their way across the gates and locked themselves in place throughout the sky. Everfree Castle was under siege by its own princess.
“Citizens of Equestria!” Nightmare Moon roared over the increasing panic of the ponies. “There is only room for one princess in this kingdom. I am your ruler now. You may address me as Queen Nightmare Moon.”
Whispers and shudders rippled through Nightmare Moon’s new subjects, a satisfying wave of fear following shortly after.
“Come now, the night is to be enjoyed by all. Remember only six months prior to this day how you celebrated my work? Do your children not recall my magic tricks? My sparkle stars?” Queen Nightmare Moon prompted.
In case they had forgotten, the moon queen stalked towards a small group of fillies. She shot off a few fireworks to jog their memory.
Screams.
Agony.
Fear.
Emptiness.
How strange, Moon thought. The fillies used to love my sparkle stars.
She stepped over the pink earth pony, blonde unicorn, and lilac pegasus. She sighed. Why must the children always sleep through my night?
“Lies! All lies!” Queen Nightmare Moon roared across the courtyard. “Swear your allegiance to me!”
The elderly pony stood her ground. “You’re no royalty to me! Celestia and Luna will stop you and save us all.”
The bowing ponies surrounding her looked up at the brave soul. They almost stood up. Almost.
“Luna... is dead. And no help will come from Celestia. She’s too much of a coward to stand against me,” Queen Nightmare Moon said coldly.
“And you claim that my words are lies? You’re nothing but a shadow compared to the princesses. They are still alive and they will fight. They are not the cowards you claim them to be.” The ponies were encouraged by her words. Two others now stood with her. More were on the way.
Time to end this.
“What is your name?” Queen Nightmare Moon inquired, narrowing her eyes at this rebellious old fool.
She looked the nightmare in the eyes and said her name proudly, “Truth Speaker, proud citizen of Equestria and the two sisters who rule it.”
Queen Nightmare Moon thought for a second. And then she spoke. “Ponies, look to Truth Speaker. She’s a shining example of everything a follower of Celestia and Luna should aspire to.”
More sparkle stars.
More bowing.
More fear.
“So you finally found the courage to fight me?”
The sun princess hovered across from the moon queen, emitting anger and rage and sadness. And fear. Fear rolled off her pearly wings and flowed from her ever-shifting mane. It dripped from her horn and saturated her crown. Fear shone bright in her eyes and fogged up the air around her.
Nightmare Moon relished in it as they clashed.
“Luna, please don’t do this. You can come back, I know you can! You can beat this demon back into its hole in Tartarus. Please!” Celestia called out to her sister. She parried with a non-lethal spell.
Celestia…
“Ah, perhaps I was right the first time. You didn’t really come here to fight, you’re here to grovel and beg like a coward,” Queen Nightmare Moon remarked. She shot with the intention to kill.
No, my sister is strong... Stronger than you give her credit for…
“Luna, I know you’re in there. You always were braver than me. Please stop this!” Celestia pleaded. Her wing was struck and down she went.
And so am I.
“What?” Queen Nightmare Moon asked the air as she paused her assault. “Who are you?”
Somepony who made a mistake.
“Where are you?” The black Alicorn whirled around, only to find thin air staring back at her.
I need to fix this.
“Where. Are. You?!” Nightmare Moon’s serpentine eyes darted around the room, searching for a sign. Anything to tell her where this voice was coming from.
I need to fix this.
“What’re you doing?” Nightmare Moon snarled at the voice in her head as her wings snapped shut and she fell.
I need to fix this.
“What’re you doing?!” Nightmare Moon roared as she plummeted to the forest below.
I need to fix this.
“Stop it!” A parting shot at the solar Alicorn was stopped by some force. Some will that was not Nightmare Moon’s own.
I need to fix this.
The nightmare was now a prisoner inside its own host. Unable to move a hoof, it lay in Princess Luna’s body on the floor of Everfree Forest, slowly being devoured by the tangle of roots.
A white leg trotted into view, just barely in Nightmare Moon’s line of sight. Tears splashed the ground. They were only a few drops, but Nightmare Moon felt like she was drowning.
Then everything was rainbows.
Then everything was pain.
Then everything was fear.
