The Prince of the Night

by Moonlight Wave

Rating: everyone
Tags: Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Original Character, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Main 6
Length: 1474

Something happened on the night before Luna confronted her sister, but knowledge of the event died with her banishment. Now that Luna has returned, so has the result of the event.

Luna's loneliness caused her to take drastic measures to try and cure it. Her plan was to try and create a friend. When her plan failed, her disappointment threw her over the edge and she became the dark figure known as Nightmare Moon. During the thousand years that Luna was banished, her creation was left to wander the land of Equestria on his own.

This story takes place between Season 2 and Season 3. An idea in this story has already been done in Season 3 (you'll know it when you read it), but I had the idea to make this story during the summer of 2012.

Published 2012-07-24 16:34:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-01-18 08:32:53 UTC

Prologue

Prologue

"Luna, it is time for you to raise the moon dear sister." Celestia called out from outside Luna’s room, but there was no answer. Knowing that this was very unlike her sister to ignore her, she pried the door open slightly to peer inside. She then asked, "Luna? Are you there?"

"Yes", was the quiet and unpleasantly spoken reply from Luna.

"What is the matter?" Celestia asked as she then slowly began entering the room where she saw her sister just laying on her bed, staring down at the bed seeming lost in sorrowful thoughts.

"I don’t want to raise the moon. I just want to stay here. It’s not like any pony would notice anyway."

"Of course they would. Where in Equestria did you get such a thought dear sister?" Celestia asked as she moved to Luna’s bed side and knelt to be at head height with her sister.

"Well, everypony always comes out to play while your sun is up, but they go back inside as your sun begins to set. They are already inside before I raise my moon, and they don’t come out again until you raise your sun again. It is like they are avoiding my moon. Why do they not like my moon?"

"Oh Luna, my dear sister, they do not dislike your moon. However, every living creature must rest eventually." Celestia said as she got up and moved onto the bed to lay next to her sister.

"Then why can’t they rest during your day for a bit so that they can be up for my night, or does nopony like my night?" Luna asked, now looking up at her elder sister.

"My dear sister you must understand. Of course they love your night, for it is easiest to rest during the night. As well, most activities are easiest to do during the day. That is why ponies are up during the day, and go to rest during the night."

"Alright, I understand. I’ll go and raise the moon."

"Thank you dear sister and good night, I’ll see you in the morning."

"Yes, see you in the morning sister."

Luna only said those last words so that her sister would let her be. "She doesn’t understand" Luna thought to herself, "and she never will. Ponies are up during my night, but they never come out. They don't need to rest for the duration of my night, that is no excuse. She doesn't see what I see, so she can never understand." These same thoughts of sorrow, anger, and loneliness kept circling through her mind just as they had been doing for the past little while as she made her way through the castle from her bedroom to the watch tower, continuing the same routine over and over again, night after night. However, she had a special plan for tonight. Tonight is going to be different. After tonight, things will never be the same.

Recently, Luna had discovered a special book during her boredom of watching over the night. A book of forbidden spells by the one and only Star Swirl the Bearded. A certain spell in that book had caught Luna's eye, it was a spell that creates life. She had been debating on whether or not she was going to try it for a while, but tonight she had made up her mind. Tonight was the night. Luna had been waiting long enough, and it didn't look like any pony was going to come around.

There is a very high risk with this spell. This spell requires an immense amount of magical power. In fact, it is in the highest level of classification of spells by power. The reason this spell is forbidden is because of what the spell does to the castor if he or she does not have the power to complete it. To complete the spell you need a soul and a body to house the soul. Creating the body is the easy part, the more difficult and risky part is putting a soul into the body. There is a lot of power binding a soul to its body. That is why when a unicorn or any living thing with magical abilities merges its life force with its power in a sacrifice as an act of final desperation, its power becomes so great that it can rival even the powers of the princesses themselves. The spell selects a soul randomly from the universe, past, living, or new. But if you don't possess the magical ability to bind that soul to the body you created, then the spell uses the power binding your soul to your body to complete the spell. A life for a life.

Luna wasn't too worried about the high risk of this spell though, she is no mere unicorn. Luna is an alicorn, a goddess, princess of the night. If all it takes to complete this spell is a well gifted unicorn, how hard could the spell be for a god? With the spell book in front of her at the top of the watchtower, she began casting the spell. An orb of magical light formed in front of her as a body was being made inside, and a soul from the universe was randomly being selected and fetched by the spell. Then the spell reached the third and final step, the binding of the soul to the body, when Luna suddenly started feeling weak. That was expected though right? This spell is no easy task. "Still, a goddess should be able to execute such a spell", Luna thought to reassure herself. But as the spell continued, Luna's condition got worse. She felt her energy being completely drained away. Her vision started getting blurry, and then her vision darkened as she began passing out.

"Waaaaaah! Waaaaaah!"

"Is that... a baby crying?" Luna thought to herself as she started to regain consciousness. Her hearing was the first sense to engage. Then she could feel and move her body, so she began to open her eyes. Her vision was a bit blurry, but she could make out the book of forbidden spells and what looked like a foal about a metre or so past the book. As her vision clarified, she could see that it was a little pegasus pony with a pure white coat and a dark blue mane and tail with lighter blue highlights. Luna stoop up in confusion, frustration, disappointment, and so many other not so positive emotions. "A foal!? This isn't right. This isn't what I wanted! I wanted a friend, not some child that needs to be taken care of! What do I even do with this foal? I can't keep it, ponies would start asking questions." Luna began pacing the room as she tried to think of what to do with the current situation. "I can't destroy it, can I? After all, I did create it. No pony would know, and it's not like it would care. Its mind is hardly developed, barely a sentient being." Luna thought long and hard about that idea. She wasn't wrong. However, starting a life is one thing, ending one is something else entirely. Even with all the darkness stirring in Luna's heart, such a task still felt wrong. That was something that she could just never do. Instead, she began searching with the telescope on the balcony of the watchtower for a place in Equestria to leave the foal.

After many hours of searching and the night coming to an end, Luna finally found the perfect place. An orphanage that stood alone in a clearing just outside of a forest. Though a town was nearby, the town and orphanage were still kilometres away from any civilization. Luna immediately gathered a basket and blanket to put the foal in and was soon on her way. She had to hurry for she had already began lowering the moon because it was soon time for her sister to raise the sun. When Luna got to the orphanage, her moon was just crossing the horizon. She immediately set the basket down on the doorstep and rang the doorbell. She then put a piece of paper in the basket and took off in a hurry back to the castle.

After all that had happened that night, one thing was certain. Luna was right about everything being different afterward. That failure with the spell was the last straw. The last drop of negativity to set her off. Not too long after her sister rose the sun, Luna confronted her and eclipsed her sister's sun with her moon. After that, Equestria was never the same. The confrontation would lead to Luna being banished to her very own moon. A sentence out of Celestia's control. A sentence that would last a thousand years.