Silver Crescent Lullaby
Original comic by: Somepony on DeviantArt
"Ready sister?" Princess Celestia asked Luna.
Luna snapped back into consciousness from her absent-minded stare. "Yes Celestia." she replied.
Luna focused on the relic before her, used for raising the moon. She noticed the crowd of ponies waiting drowsily for the moon to rise, so they could get to sleep. There was a few groans and moans from the crowd, whining at Luna to hurry up and raise the moon, but Celestia silenced them all with a glare. And so with the sickening repetitiveness of doing it every night, Luna flew in front of the relic and outstretched her wings, reluctantly raising the moon. Once the full moon was suspended in the night sky, Luna stepped back onto the pedestal behind the relic, and watched the crowd slowly dissipate. No applause, no crowd silenced in awe, no cheering, for Celestia's sake, nopony even said thank you! All they cared about was sleep. And it happened every night. But it wasn't like this for Celestia, oh no! When she raised the sun, there was a dazzling array of light, and the crowd always went wild with applause.
Every morning, a colossal mass of ponies would watch Celestia raise the sun as though they never got tired of it. Every time, it was Luna who was the one that was ignored. Just another name to forget in class.
"Is something the matter sister?" Celestia asked, noticing the tears welling up in Luna's eyes.
"You know what the problem is..." Luna said through clenched teeth in an attempt to replace the sadness she felt with anger. She failed miserably.
"Luna..." Celestia said with concern. "This is our burden, what we have to bear for the good of Equestria, whether or not we suffer for it is irrelevant."
Luna turned away. "It's so easy to call it a burden when you're constantly being celebrated!" Luna said, and whirled back around to face her sister. "This is OUR kingdom, that WE rule together! Why are you the only one anypony cares about?!" Luna asked.
With that, she flew away into the night. Celestia didn't bother giving chase. These are problems she has to face for herself thought Celestia. I can't keep bathing her with shallow promises and empty love... I'm doing the right thing...
* * *
Luna rested atop the chapel overlooking the Everfree forest. It was her favorite spot to clear her head when she felt depressed. As a result, it became somewhat of a second home to her. The thoughts in Luna's head were driving her mad, and she felt like she had to bellow her agony to the night sky. Her beautiful night... Looking at the beautiful night sky, Luna managed to calm down. "No Luna, you come here to relax, not to reflect on what you suffer nightly." she said to herself. "Just allow yourself to recover..."
Her eyes closed while she nested atop the chapel. Shortly after she did so, a hollow Thunk! was heard below.
"I haven't the time for these distractions!" Luna spat in rage. In an ill-tempered manner, she flew down to the soft forest ground below to investigate the source of the noise. Being the mistress of the night provided some great benefits, one of those was being able to see very well at night; almost as well as when the sun was up. This allowed Luna to scan the surrounding forest for any potential threat. However, her sharp night-vision detected nothing out of the ordinary. What was the creature that caused me to lose concentration? It will face my wrath for generations to co-
"Ow..." A small voice complained, breaking Luna's thoughts once more.
Luna closed her eyes, and concentrated on the direction the noise was coming from.
"I don't remember a tree being there..." the voice complained again.
Gotcha. Luna zipped around a dead tree trunk a few feet away with one flap of her wings.
"Who's there?" squealed a little filly, who retreated backwards at the sound of Luna's wings.
This one's clearly terrified beyond belief thought Luna. But why wouldn't she be? Everything in the night is scary. She thought bitterly, recalling how nopony loved her night.
"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Luna asked the terrified filly, somehow managing to control her anger, as everypony only thought her nights were good for sleeping.
The black furred, silver maned filly shook her head. "I have isom... insnom... isnomi-"
"Insomnia." Luna assisted in the filly's struggle. "You have trouble sleeping."
"Uh-huh!" the filly answered, nodding her head.
"Then why did you come to the Everfree forest?" queried Luna. "This is no place for a filly as young as yourself."
"I know, but..." The filly cleared her throat. "I... I come here every night that I feel... depressed." Answered the filly.
"You don't say..." muttered Luna, kneeling down.
"I... I'm sorry stranger, I'll leave." the filly spluttered.
The word 'stranger' hacked at Luna's pride. She was a stranger to her people. "Why are you depressed?" Luna asked the filly, wanting to have a conversation with somepony.
"Well, you see..." the filly began "not everypony... likes me. I'm at home in the daytime, in my room, with the door shut, and the blinds closed."
"Why do you lock yourself in your room?" Luna asked.
The filly sighed. "I rarely go out in the daylight. I guess somepony started a rumor that I was a witch or something, and that I hated everypony in Canterlot and had no friends..." she stopped to catch her breath. The filly was trying to suppress her tears, but was unsuccessful.
Luna stood up and wiped a tear with a gentle hoof from the filly's eye that wasn't blocked by her mane. "There there..." Luna comforted the filly with newfound compassion for another living thing.
The small filly continued to sob more, now clinging to Luna's leg. "Okay, the last one isn't really a rumor; I really don't have any friends. Everypony picks on me, and calls me a creature of the night! It's not my fault! It's my mothers'!" The filly cried furiously.
Usually, it would be a great offense to come into contact with the royal body, such as the filly was doing now. The filly could have been locked up in one of the castle's deepest dungeons for years. If somepony had caught the filly and reported it, she would be in deep trouble. But Luna didn't want that. She felt a sort of bond with the little earth pony. "What was your mothers' fault?" Luna asked.
The filly got very quiet. "You... you mean you can't tell?" she asked.
"You seem perfectly fine to me." Luna remarked.
The filly stood still for a moment with her nose to the ground. "Shortly after I was born, my mother fell ill. Her dying wish was..." the filly swept her mane off of the eye that was previously covered by it.
Luna looked into the fillies' eyes. They were the most beautiful eyes Luna had ever seen, but something was wrong.
The filly continued to speak "...was that before she died, she wanted to witness me watching Celestia raise the sun. But I... I was too young."
Luna gasped. "So it blinded you." she finished, taking pity on the filly.
The filly nodded. "My father swore to never let me near the royal family again. But that's why I close my curtains, and never let any light in. I'm sensitive to it. That explains why I'm picked on. I can't even attend school!" the filly screamed with rage. "Father just makes me run errands. So when the other ponies call me stupid... they're right..." The filly began to sob again.
Luna, on the other hoof, was thoroughly outraged. "This is what the PONYVILLE ponies amount to?! Mocking the crippled for their amusement?! I will send note to Celestia at once to-"
"No... please don't" the filly insisted with a sightless gaze. "It would only make things worse. Everypony will know it was about me, or accuse me of it, since they think I'm a witch."
Not for the first time in her life, Luna felt helpless. But she wanted to help the filly in some way!
"How about I become your teacher?" Luna offered ti the young filly.
The filly's eyes lit up. "Really?!" she asked. "You'd really do that?"
Luna smiled and nodded.
The filly was silent.
Oh, right! Duh! "Yes." Luna answered.
"Yay!" the filly exclaimed, celebrating by hopping around the area, happy as could be. Then she zoomed back to Luna's feet. "My name's Silver Crescent Lullaby, but father just calls me Crescent. What's your name?" Crescent asked.
Luna smiled and gave Crescent a whole-hearted embrace. "Just call me Ms. Moon."
* * *
...And so, Luna taught Crescent everything she needed to know to survive in the world. The fact that Crescent was blind took some getting used to for Luna, but she quickly developed some hooves-on techniques for Crescent to adapt to. After each session, Luna would fly with Crescent to the top of the chapel, where they would share thoughts until Celestia raised the sun.
Luna was careful not to reveal her status as Princess of the Night, especially since she discovered Crescent's hatred of the royal family. She blame her blindness on Celestia, and since Luna was Celestia's sister, it was natural that Luna was bad too.
"That no good father of mine..." began Crescent one night atop the chapel, several weeks after they had first met. "...making me do everything! Ever since mother died, all he does is stay cooped up in that house all day long, staring blankly at the wall, as if he's... petrified! What he does do is strictly for survival; like cooking and toiletries, but he refuses to HEAL!"
"What happens when you try and talk to him?" Luna asked.
"Either he doesn't respond, or he mumbles something like '...Sunny Day... I miss you' or 'curse the royal family.' He's been mourning over my mother ever since she died! Now I feel like I've never known my father..." Crescent sighed, deflating. Then the fire of rage flickered back to life in her eyes. "But I DO know that's not what a father is supposed to be like!" Crescent yelled.
It pained Luna deeply that she wasn't able to say something like: Come stay with me in the castle, or, Here's a million bits, so you can buy whatever you want! Life just didn't work that way. Two years had passed since Crescent was in mid-childhood.
"Has your father recovered at all lately?" Luna asked Crescent at the end of one of their nightly sessions.
By now, Crescent was as educated as the top scholars' of Canterlot, even though Crescent didn't know it.
"Sort of." replied Crescent. "His psyche had stopped deteriorating after you taught me about repetitive psychology, and is in the process of recovery, thanks to you." Crescent responded.
"Oh, come now, you did it all alone, you should thank yourself. You'll be a great scholar." Luna told Crescent.
"Nonsense! All of the credit goes to my teacher; my best, and only friend." Crescent said cheerfully, brushing against Luna's side.
Crescent's statement made Luna's eyes water, but she managed to hold back her tears.
Crescent continued, "And if I never make another friend until I die... that'll be fine by me." she finished.
This did it for Luna. She couldn't keep the floodgates closed any longer. Luna was dropping tears on Crescent's mane before she knew it. Crescent began to cry too. After they had stopped, they just sat there and stared peacefully into the Everfree forest.
"Hey Crescent." Luna asked out of the blue.
"Yes Ms. Moon?" Crescent asked.
"Have you ever tried using your horn?" Luna asked.
Crescent gasped. "No." she responded, thinking she had managed to hide her horn the entire time.
"Why not?" Luna asked.
"I'm never going to use it... ever. I'm accused of being a witch already. Never, that's why I hide it in my hair." Crescent responded to Luna's question.
"Oh, okay..." Luna said.
"I only use it to analyze some of the surroundings around me. It kind of helps me see. That's ALL I use it for." Crescent told Luna.
"Oh." Luna said.
"Yeah. If I were a pegasus like you, or an earth pony, I'd be completely blind." Crescent said.
Luna allowed Crescent to believe that she was a pegasus, because if Crescent found out her teacher was an alicorn, her cover would obviously be blown.
"Hey, why don't you stop by my house during the day? We could have lots of fun and-"
"Uh... I'm sorry, but I am very busy during the day." Luna lied to Crescent.
Crescent's expression darkened, then went back to normal. "Ya know what?" she asked Luna.
"What?"
"Sometimes, I wish it could be nighttime forever!" Crescent's expression brightened even more, and Luna smiled. Finally, she had met another pony who appreciated the night as much as she did. But she knew it wasn't possible.
"Oh, that'd be just plain silly!" Luna told Crescent.
"But we could hang out forever! And nopony would pick on me, and-"
"That's true, but the balance of the world is slightly more important." Luna put in, cutting off Crescent.
Luna set her head on top of Crescent's neck. She felt like this was her filly. She smiled. She couldn't remember being happier. Mother and daughter rested atop the chapel, enjoying the cool night breeze, and listening to the forest sounds. Eventually the sun would rise, and they would repeat the next night...
* * *
Like usual, Princess Luna had raised the moon, and without a word, departed to the Everfree forest. However, this time, Celestia took notice. Luna's been going to that forest for years! Celestia thought. However, over the past five years or so, Luna had no complaints about the whiny ponies who wanted the moon raised. Celestia was going to find out why. She left the castle in the hooves of the highest ranking prince, and followed close behind Luna without being seen.
When Celestia arrived at the Everfree forest, she wondered how Luna kept it so tame. Celestia listened closely for voices as she remembered her mission. That's when she heard something. Found her!
Luna was giving Crescent a math problem. "So if I give you sixty four bits of interest-"
"Luna!" Celestia's voice interrupted.
"There you are! You've been away from the castle every night for this?!" Celestia pointed at a broken wall with her hoof, where Crescent was trying to hide herself.
Crescent burst out of her hiding spot. "Luna?!" squealed Crescent in disbelief. "You were Luna all along?!"
"It's not... I didn't..." Luna struggled to explain.
"What's going on here?!" Celestia questioned, confused.
Luna took a few steps back, and glared at Celestia through a hateful vision blurred with tears. Then she flew away.
"What's going on?! I demand to know!" Celestia bellowed.
"It's you..." Crescent hissed through her clenched teeth. "You're the... witch who blinded me!"
Celestia froze, and her eyes widened. There was a moment of silence.
"My word! You're Sunny Day and Hollow Moon's foal! I've been waiting for this moment for years..." Celestia finished, awestruck.
"Stay back!" Crescent screeched. "I know how to... hit stuff!"
Celestia stepped forward, unfazed, and lowered her horn onto Crescent's nose. There was a bright flash. Then Celestia spoke. "My dear, Luna raised the sun that day."
* * *
Meanwhile... Luna shot through the sky. "I hate her, I hate her, I HATE HER!" she screamed, while the wind dried any escaped tears.
After a few minutes of searching, Luna picked a cloud to rest on while she let loose with all her sorrows. "How could she have just stolen my sunshine away like that?!" The cloud began to fill up with Luna's tears. One minute later, with fresh tears still on her face, Luna's head shot up. She had an idea.
"I know how I'll make it up to her! How to make up for deceiving her..."
Luna took to the skies once more, and flew straight for the castle courtyard.
* * *
"This can't be true... How do I know you're not lying?" questioned Crescent to Celestia.
"I have nothing to gain from lying to the residents of my kingdom." Celestia responded with an icy calm.
Crescent took a step back. "Ever since I met you two, I've been tricked and deceived, and... all of this is a bit overwhelming to hear all at once... please let me..." Crescent stuttered.
Celestia watched the small unicorn depart towards the chapel with her head down, and her tail dragging through the dirt.
"Is there anything else I can... help you with?" the sun princess asked, trying to be helpful.
"No. You've helped me enough already, thank you." Crescent replied dejectedly.
Celestia was awash in pity. She felt for the young mare. She had just explained the true story of how Crescent went blind. Celestia had also healed her of it.
* * *
"I'm going to stop the sun from rising!" cackled Luna wildly in the empty courtyard. "It can be nighttime forever! I can... still make it up to her!" Luna's mane had a wild, untamed edge to it. Her overall appearance was all but royal.
"It will be nighttime forever!" She exclaimed before the artifact used to raise the moon.
Not so fast... echoed a voice in her head. In order to stop the sun completely, you will need to tap into a deeper, darker power... said the voice that seemed to emanate from the relic. Luna didn't even take the time to think this over.
"Whatever will make Crescent happy..." Luna thought, and her body was gripped by a tremendous power, as she undertook a dramatic transformation.
* * *
Crescent stood up and wiped the tears away from the hair draped across her eyes. She turned to the entrance of the chapel, and saw Luna in her new form.
"Luna? Is that you?" Crescent asked.
"Crescent..." Luna said with motherly longing in her voice. "Remember how you wished the night could last forever? Well I'm taking care of that right now! WAHAHAHAHAHA!" cackled the princess of the night.
"Luna-" began Crescent.
"My NAME is NIGHTMARE MOON now!" Nightmare Moon screeched at Crescent.
"Luna, I have something to tell you! I can see now!" Crescent said. "I... I want to see the daylight! Everything was all one big misunderstanding!"
"NO!" Nightmare Moon bellowed in a loud, otherworldly voice. "The desire of NIGHTMARE MOON comes FIRST!" Nightmare Moon bellowed in a voice so loud, that it nearly toppled Crescent over.
"CLEARLY MY SISTER HAS CORRUPTED YOU AS WELL! PITY, FOR NONE SHALL SEE DAYLIGHT EVER AGAIN! Nightmare Moon cascaded in a voice so thunderous, that it blasted all of the chapel windows out. The roof started to collapse.
"No! Please stop!" pleaded Crescent. "Darkness is all I've ever known! And I embraced it! But... not like this! All I wanted was to spend time with you... You gave me the reason to live. Not the night!"
"It is too late!" Nightmare Moon yelled. She then began to levitate with her wings outstretched, and an aura of light around her. The entire forest began to quake intensely.
* * *
In Canterlot castle, Princess Celestia was gathering the Elements of Harmony. It's already supposed to be daylight, and apparently Luna has no intention of lowering the moon... I only have five Elements of Harmony, but that will have to make due. Celestia thought, as she zoomed out of her window, and back to the chapel in the Everfree forest as fast as her wings would allow her. When the chapel was in her sights, she dropped in from a hole in the roof.
"Nightmare Moon! Stop this at once! Please!" pleaded Celestia.
"YOU HAVE NO SAY IN THIS, BEGONE!" thundered the night princess firmly.
Crescent dipped her head in shame. "Nothing's working..."
"Sister! You leave me no choice..." Celestia announced, using her magic to levitate all of the elements up into the air. Celestia too, began to levitate and glow.
Celestia's horn became charged with light, and the elements around her lit up. "Nightmare Moon! You will pay for corrupting my sister! I hereby banish you to the moon!" With that, a powerful rainbow began to arc in a beam at Nightmare Moon. However, Nightmare Moon shot a black beam out of her horn, and the two beams clashed, tearing at the ground, and creating one hay of a firework show! Unfortunately, it was apparent that Celestia was being overpowered by the black beam.
Crescent examined the situation, and knew what had to be done. Taking a stand beside Celestia, Crescent channeled all of her magical energy into the rainbow beam. From the second she assisted, she felt completely drained. But it worked. Together, her and Celestia pushed Nightmare Moon's beam back. When the beams hit Nightmare Moon's horn, Crescent blacked out.
"Crescent?! Crescent?! Are you all right?" Celestia asked, prodding Crescent with her hoof. Crescent summoned every scrap of strength she had to get up.
"Crescent, we did it! Nightmare Moon is gone! You're a hero! And look, the sun!" Celestia said cheerily.
Crescent blinked open her eyes, and saw nothing but darkness.
"It's beautiful." she lied.
Epilogue
And that's how I was banished to the moon for one thousand years. I heard every thought Crescent sent out to me, even though I couldn't return them. I was on a dusty, lifeless rock, a thousand miles away, but I still felt happy for her, She became a celebrity throughout Equestria, became a scholar, lived on, and, eventually, forgot about me.
And one thousand years later, I STILL ponder this: was it worth it? She became everything she could've been, and more since I left. One thousand years of living on a dusty, white rock with none but my evil counter-part for company. For my only friend to live the best life possible? Was it worth getting banished because of my counter-part, and being stuck with her still? Torture. I hate her for what she did to me, even though I blame myself for making the mistake of asking for her help.
And to top it all off, later, I needed her assistance again, in order to escape. I feel like I should've learned a lesson back then, but I don't care. I must see Crescent one more time.
* * *
Just as I had expected, Nightmare Moon took control of my body again, went on a rampage, and got vanquished by the Elements of Harmony. Again. But this time, I was separated from Nightmare Moon. My sister was very happy to see me back (After a thousand years on the moon) and we had a very mushy moment, filled with lots of tears.
There was a celebration for my return. I put on a false smile as I scanned the crowd multiple times. I could not find Crescent anywhere. Then again, this wasn't Canterlot. That was probably why. Wrong I was. When the celebration was over, I requested to see her. Celestia's celebratory smile dropped off her face, and was replaced by a very sorrowful looking frown. I already knew what was coming.
She left the castle in charge of a new prince named 'Blueblood' and we flew back to the old chapel in the Everfree forest. Before I knew it, I was standing in front of a grave that read:
Here Lies:
Silver Crescent Lullaby
Departed at age 112
Renowned scholar, mother, and hero.
Saved Equestria from Eternal Darkness
The words engraved on the tombstone were faded, and barely legible, but still held as much meaning. It seemed like just yesterday I was dropping tears onto her silver mane, and now they were falling onto her grave.
My sister tapped my shoulder with something flimsy.
"I believe this is for you." she said.
After wiping my tears away, I grabbed the letter gently with both hooves.
"I'll leave you be now." stated Celestia, and she departed.
The letter was yellowed with a thousand-years age. I opened it with my magic, and took the letter out. And in writing that was undoubtedly Crescent's, it read:
Dear Luna,
If you ever get to read this, I want you to know that I forgive you for everything that happened.
I thought it mattered that you were royal blood, but in the end, it really didn't.
Whether or not you attempted to raise the sun, my mother would have died on the spot.
I like to think that's what caused my blindness; trauma that spread into my retinas, and just blinded me.
I'm kind of glad I was blind. It gave me the opportunity to bump into that tree in the Everfree forest.
I met the best friend anypony could ever imagine.
Even though vanquishing Nightmare Moon brought back my blindness to an un-recoverable state,
I still live a healthy, educated life.
My father fully recovered, everypony in Equestria respects me, and I'm living in the castle with Celestia.
The only thing missing is you.
As I sit on the balcony, scratching this down in my adulthood, I believe, and always will believe;
the years I spent with you were the best ones of my life.
Your faithful student, Silver Crescent Lullaby
