Bright Nights Ahead

Yes, I have them, they will not escape me now! All I have to do now is defeat that mare Twilight Sparkle and night will be everlasting...

"You little foal! Thinking you could defeat me? Now you will never see your princess, or your sun! The night will last forever!"

The Elements of Harmony, what a joke. Doesn’t she know who I am? Trying to stop me with some rocks?! Hah! Once her little friends get here, I will crush them as easily as those rocks, then I will truly be unstoppable. Oh Celestia, now you will know true grief...

“You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here.”

“What?”

Great, now she’s spouting nonsense about how her friends all had life changing epiphanies on the way here. This will be easier than I thought. As if they would become best friends over the span of mere hours.
Fillies...

“You still don't have the sixth Element! The spark didn't work!”

“But it did! A different kind of spark. I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all are my friends. You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element: the element of... magic.”

Wait, what?No, this is impossible! No. NO. NOOOOO —

“NOOO! Nooo!”

Luna woke with a start and a cold sweat on her brow, as she did most noons, the ordeal taking place some months ago still plagued her concious, both waking and not. It wasn't quite the time she normally awoke but she knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep after that, well... Nightmare. Wiping the sweat from her brow with a hoof, Luna drew her gaze across her room, which until recently didn't exist. At the request of Celestia in anticipation of her sister's return, the builders of Canterlot constructed a tower opposite to the one that Celestia occupied. Unlike her sister's tower, with it's cone top, Luna's tower was a glass dome in which she could look out at the stars at night. The night... virtually the only thing that has not changed over the ages, her only solitude in the heart of a thriving capital, of constantly changing nation, in a world she doesn't know. As far as she was concerned she might as well still be locked inside the moon, at least it's serene and unchanging...

Ugh. It’s not like it matters that I'm here, or if I'm tired during the night. I'm never requested for council and my subjects don’t love me. They still consider me a villain, and who am I to blame them? I deserve it. I don’t deserve their love, or my sisters...

“Yes you do little sister.”

“Tia! Oh, I didn’t know that you were so close, I would have guarded my thoughts more closely...” Mental note, lock the door next time.

“And that’s just what I am afraid of Lu, you’ve been awfully quiet recently, more so than usual and I love you with all my heart, our mental link isn't needed for you to know that. I will never stop loving you; even whilst you were Nightmare Moon, I loved you. Seeing you like this weighs on my heart dear sister, you will never be alone again, and I intend to show you that.”

Celestia calmly walked over to Luna’s bed where she was her sister was now pushing her face softly into her pillow; laid a soft alabaster wing over her still filly sized sister with care, nuzzling her cheek as she did so.

Comforted by her sisters closeness, Luna looked up softly to meet her sisters caring gaze, “Oh I’m sorry Tia, I know you love me, but my mind is still raw, even though your words and our constant mental link comfort and assure me, I still doubt... I know I shouldn’t, but every time I do I fear that I’ll fail you and my subjects again, that I’ll loose the love from everyone I care about...”

Celestia let out a small empathetic sigh, raising her hoof to hers sisters face in an attempt to combat the tears that threatened to flow, “I know, I know. It must be so hard coming back to a kingdom you know little about, trepidation is only natural. But I have confidence that you will succeed, and I think that you do as well...” Celestia then put a hoof under her sister’s chin and moved her gaze up to meet her own, and with a stern but wholly loving and understanding look, Celestia said all that Luna needed to know.

With her doubt defeated for the moment Luna let out a small sigh, “Heh. You’re right dearest sister, I think that the more I learn about Equestria in the present, the easier it will be to deal with my past.”

“Yes, and the first thing we need to do is for you to get out more—“

“But—“

“No buts missy, I’ve got an idea and I won’t take no for an answer.” Celestia brought her mouth down quietly to her sisters ear and spoke her plan, despite them being the only two in the room the closeness and the mischievous ‘sisterlyness’ fanned a re-kindled bond between the two.

Truly, it’s been too long. Thought Celestia with a smirk on her face.

Luna giggled sweetly at the idea “Oh my, sister, but I don’t think we should...”

“Yes you do, and you know it.”

Luna’s only reply was to roll her eyes playfully, feigning a look of annoyance.

“Was that teleport really necessary Tia? Our subjects might miss our presence.”

“Pfft, you worry too much Lu... and for the record, yes it was. We’re here to cut loose, not get tied down. Have you decided what you want to be called yet?

“Well since I’m going to be playing the part of your daughter, I thought that Autumn Glow would be more appropriate. Are you still going with the same old boring Summers Day?

“I-It’s not boring! It’s just well used...”

“Yes and thanks to denial you’re right dearest sister.” Luna said, poking her tongue out playfully, before turning around quickly and walking to the edge of the nearby pond before her sister could come up with a retort.

Celestia had set them down in one of the many mazes in Canterlot; this particular one had a small pond in which a couple of ducks had taken up residence. Around them the walls of the maze surrounded them to a height nearly twice as high as Celestia, ideal then for a start to mission 'stop Luna from being such a grumpy pants by spoiling her with a shopping trip'.

Scrunching her eyes in concentration Luna focused her magical will into changing her appearance, it had been a while since she had done anything like this and even longer since she actively changed her colours to anything outside of light blue, and a darker shade of blue.

The grass around her swayed calmly as the wind picked up in a spiralling motion around Luna, a mystical blue glow surrounded her as her once flowing straight mane transformed into a slightly curlier deep rust mane with red highlights, a pattern which was matched identically by her tail. Her coat also took on a different colour; it was now similar but a slightly less dazzling white than her sisters. However her eyes still remained the same.

Putting the finishing touches to her cutie mark, now a golden oak leaf with the sun setting behind it, Autumn Glow hid her horn with invisibility and turned to her mother.

“So, how do I look?”

Celestia was in a trance, her eyes and smile betraying her mirth for her sister’s transformation. “Oh wow, you look so pretty! You know, now I’ve got a lot to live up to...”

Celestia gave Autumn a wink, knowing she could never truly match her sisters creativity, however she was determined to try. Now standing beside her daughter in front of the pond Summer matched the process, the grass began to sway in the mist of an orange aurora, her mane no longer ethereal in substance was now monochromatic and the colour the vivid orange of the dawn. Celestia's coat still remained the same but her cutie mark was now a bright sun dawning above a grassy hill, although unlike Luna’s transformation Celestia had to shrink her size considerably to even be halfway convincing, something that did not go unnoticed by her body's tolerances, which were stretched beyond there normal limits through the aid of magic.

The newly transformed Celestia now stood about a hoofs length above her sister, who despite her still being a filly by alicorn standards was now the size of a juvenile pegasus.

Before long they both took off into the sky, circling around the maze once to get their bearings they flew off towards Canterlot Square. To say it was a simple ‘square’ would be an wrong, it was more of a semicircle, the flat face laid against one of the mountains that surrounded Canterlot; the face of the mountain up to about fifty hoof-lengths tall was carved flat, polished to a sheen it bathed the square in reflective sunlight which counteracted the shade of the buildings lining the curved edge of the square. Into the flat surface of the mountain was carved representation of a battle, a very special battle, the battle of Nightmares Fall.

However, in the middle of the square stood a newly carved blue and white statue of both Luna and Celestia, they stood next to another lengthways but with their breast slightly facing outwards from one another. The necks of the two were curved down much like a heart to meet each other in the middle in a warm nuzzle. The entire square was presented in a such way to as to be a testament to the benevolent rule of Celestia and her newly returned sister Luna, and the harmony that has bloomed during their reign.

Not having heard of anything like this, it was a shock to Luna who gazed up at both the statue and carving in mild amazement and admiration, albeit with a clear hint of annoyance. “W-what’s the purpose of this?” She said in a slightly hushed tone.

Celestia, now sensing the worry in her sisters expression decided that quick lesson would not sate her sister's curiosity, before taking in her breath she let the remaining air in her lungs out in the form of a small sigh at her ability to overlook things that may be important to her sister, “Well, the carving whilst looking as good as it no doubt did new, is very old. It took the famous stone mason Clear Cut and his team over forty years to finish when Canterlot was founded some two decades after Nightmare Moon’s banishment. In fact if I remember correctly, Clear Cut insisted that he carved this mural to depict the triumph of harmony, although I’m sure it was in no small part to the entire face being miraculously being made out of marble and alabaster hybrid rock, something never seen before. Because the carving symbolises what it does, and it’s excellent crafting skill, Canterlot kind of ‘sprung up’ around here.

Luna cast her eyes down with a slightly sullen look, using the mental link only the twins shared Celestia said, “Oh dearest sister, don’t be sad. What’s on your mind?”

“In all honesty I’m not so sure myself Tia, I mean the entire square is dedicated to well... harmony, but I feel that maybe because I was absent for so long, that ponies will think it’s a dedication to my fall and your triumph, I’m afraid that maybe ponies will still think of me badly because of it...”

Celestia bent her neck down slightly to nuzzle her sister on the cheek, “Isn’t that why we are here, to prove to that this isn’t the case? I would never bring you here to try and get you down Lu, you know that... What this square represents, more than our rule is like you said, harmony. Your spirit was poisoned by Nightmare Moon dearest sister, the Elements of Harmony chose to drive her away when I wielded them, while purging her from you the second time. Just because the mural depicts me wielding them, doesn’t mean that I wielded them with malicious intent.”

When Celestia had finished her mental explanation Luna looked up at her disguised sister and returned the earlier nuzzle with a smile on her lips. “Thank you Tia, I needed that... I-I love you”

“I know Lu, you don’t need to tell me that for me to know it. I love you too.” Celestia returned with slightly amused smile at Luna’s sudden affectionate behaviour.

After the silent exchange they simply looked up at the sculptures and admired them for a while, before Luna took the initiative.

“Muuuuuum, can we go shooppping? This is boring! I’m bored!” Autumn have her mother a sly wink.

“Oh-Oh but of course dearie, where to you want to go?”

“Well first of all I want ice-cream!”

“Ice-cream!? I don’t even know where to go for that, are you sure you don’t want a daisy burger?”

“No. I want Ice-cream.” Autumn fluttered her eyelashes at her mother.

“Ugh, fine. But I don’t want a peep out of you afterwards. Okay?”

“Yay.”

It took the two a little over half an hour before they found an ice-cream stand, much to Luna’s annoyance. Once there, Celestia ordered chocolate and Luna ordered butter-pecan. Afterwards there was a short argument where Luna insisted that ‘butter-pecan is far superior to chocolate’, and that if anyone disagreed that they should ‘prepare for destruction’.

Luna, now with her insatiable ice-cream lust sated turned her attention to a nearby store which she found most curious.

Turning to her sister she said “Mum, why are there funny noises coming from that shop, do you think it’s a robbery?!”

“Oh I doubt it Autumn, that there is an arcade. Ponies go there when they want to play video games, slot machines and even go bowling sometimes.”

“Sounds like fun, I would like to try these video games...”

And what would this be without a disclaimer? Less annoying. But I a need a cover, so shh.

MLP:FiM is property of Hasbro and the respective owners of its intellectual property, I claim no ownership other than any original story lines and ideas that are discussed within this story. Any overlap or infringement is unintentional, however this fandom being what it is I cannot guarantee that no overlap or infringement will occur, and for that I apologise.

Now that that's out of the way, hopefully you will enjoy this and much as it was a pleasure to write.