War of the Crowns

by Lerd_Gamer

Rating: mature
Tags: Tragedy, Profanity, Random, Violence, Death, Alternate Universe, Human, Nurse Redheart, Princess Luna, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Queen Chrysalis
Length: 6416

A some what different HiE story with 1812 Americans being in Equestria, fighting once more for Independence. They form an unbalanced trust with Equestria as a new enemy makes itself known.

In a time of peace in this Alternate Equestria, Luna has become Queen of Equestria through misfortune, and now runs Equestria through a booming age with a new, and reorganized government still in its infancy. Some time later, an incident at an exercise, and later the appearance of humans leave the foundations of her government shook. After the humans battle over misunderstandings with the Equestrian Empire, trust was not high, but had started to formulate and maybe a bit quicker than they all would like when a horrifying enemy makes its presence loudly to all. Can the humans and equestrians keep what little trust is between them, and can Luna manage her Empire with so many major issues to deal with? Find out as its written!

[ Story is still Under Construction ] 🔧👷

Published 2018-12-29 22:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-06-16 07:53:02 UTC

Prelude

Nightmare Moon had returned. It was spoken of in tales of her that when the stars align, she would be free. That day had arrived, and Celestia was NOT prepared. In fact, she was caught off guard when she had been informed about it, but feared not for her plan was still coming along and Twilight would have already found new element bearers to help her bring Luna back. Celestia expected it to not take long, and so flew to the Castle of the Two Sisters where she knew Luna, no longer controlled by the Nightmare, would be. She would be wrong on both accounts. While she sought to find her little sister, she was surprised to see Nightmare Moon AND Luna in Ponyville celebrating together. To say she was confused as to why or even how it was so was an understatement, and slowly her anger was building along with it.

Only later did Celestia find out that they did indeed go and use the Elements of Harmony in the Old Castle, but with the effects separating Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna as two separate entities. After some talking and heated debate, Nightmare, Luna, and the Element Bearers all agreed to calmly sort things out and convey the news as best as possible to the rest of Equestria beyond Ponyville. Celestia, however, went to silently vent all her emotions in privacy, and afterwards tried to focus solely on the fact she had her little sister back, as she reasoned she could tolerate Nightmare Moon until she had a way to rid her.

Three weeks pass by...

Princess Luna had many difficulties adjusting to society, as accounted for her absence.Moony, the nickname Luna gave to Nightmare Moon, did as well, but took it a bit harsher on herself. In their time gone, things had changed drastically not only socially, but also technologically. Advancements in medicine, science, education, economics, domestic and international affairs, and even military equipment and tactics. Social adjustment had been the hardest so far, with the language structure taking a drastic drop in literacy, and as such caused them to struggle to not use what Twilight deemed "Ye Olde Language". Within the last week, Nighty noticed that Celestia was not particularly in good standing with her as she expected, but it seemed more than it should have to her. Luna had taken notice only a few days ago and mentioned it over lunch with Celestia and her half sister present. Celestia, ultimately, would not have any of it, seeing the conversation as pointless and, ”A clear influence from Nightmare as she had done one thousand years ago.” She made that statement loud, and clear, afterwards dismissing herself early to go finish ‘urgent’ work. It did not look like a good future for the two left in the room, as the both exchanged worried or fearful expressions to each other.

More time passes, roughly a month...

"What do you mean you're leaving, Luna? I thought she was ‘no problem’ as you put it," Celestia shouted at Luna to almost Royal Canterlot voice level, attracting the eyes of many maids and guards outside the chambers. This had started when Celestia came by to talk with Luna about Nightmare Moon at the end of her day court. She had gone to Luna’s chambers, and was surprised to see her sister packing a small, leather case. When she asked why her little Lulu was packing clothing and other supplies, she turned an angry color of red when she told Celestia that Nightmare and her were leaving because Nightmare Moon felt unwelcome.

Luna swiftly returned a shout to her sister saying, "I simply mean that you see that Moony is unwanted here, so I am saying if that's the case then so am I, sister!" Luna practically hissed the last word out while pointing a hoof to Celestia’s chest.

"You are not leaving with that monster and that is FINAL Luna," Celestia finally broke down, letting a torrent of tears flow from her. She sobbed, walking to her slowly backpedalling sister. “Please, I can’t lose you to her again, Lulu. If I must, I will rid of her with more conventional means. Even if you hate me, you’ll understand why i did so sooner or later.’ Celestia kept moving towards Luna, a sad smile on her face. Luna wasn’t listening, as she turned to run for the doorway. She was about to call for her Lunar guards when Celestia suddenly tackled her.

“Sister, release thou grip! You are hurting me,” Luna cried out to Celestia, but Celestia wasn’t listening rationally anymore. Still keeping a sad smile on her face, she lit her horn. Luna didn’t need to know what she was casting, sending a blast from her horn quicker than her sister, and pushing her off a little harder than expected. Celestia stood up, but now she had a furious expression now.

“I see she has corrupted your mind too far in darkness. Don’t worry, dear sister,”the temperature had increased rapidly to where Luna was now sweating,”I’ll rid her with Holy Flame from you.” Celestia finished with wisps of steam building into roaring flames that replaced her flowing mane. Her eyes turned a deathly crimson, and her white coat turned a rich creamy color. Fangs extended from her snarl that adorn her features, along with her height gaining a foot, now towering over the slowly dread filled Luna. “And now I have the perfect means to do so, fiend.”

Nightmare's Perspective *Sometime after Luna and Solar Flare’s battle*

"Sister, I know it is difficult to have to do the reciprocal to our sister, but you mustn’t grieve on it. Tis’ not healthy to do so," I finished, placing a hoof upon my half-sister’s shoulder. She threw it off with her own hoof, glaring back at me.

"Do NOT talk to me of GRIEF, of all things Nightmare Moon!" I was taken aback by her sudden change in demeanor. I started backing away from Luna as she came closer, rage and hurt, so much hurt, filling her eyes. "You know as I do that YOU and I are separated, even then we were. Don't even THINK you can say that you understand grief when all you had was a phantom of a feeling as you laid dormant in my mind so many years ago," Luna spat as she only continued to close the distance between us. I began to tear up as she was too, but she quickly lost them and took on a darker look to her eyes. Just like she had when I took over a thousand years ago.

"Luna, please! We can talk about this, I know, truly do know, how much pain you are going through. I’ve seen those eyes before. Please...p-please, don’t hurt me,” I pleaded, no begged, her. It might not have meant anything, but-

I was cut off from thought as she struck a solid mass of magic through my Royal Chestplate I wore in place of my old armor. It was a much thinner alloy, so it was no surprise when the magic went through. What did...was she actually struck me, and I can’t recover from a wound like this. I looked down, then up and wheezed,“S-sister? Why…?”

"You have done enough damage. I should have listened to my sister when she told me you were a problem in the first place, along with when I claimed her immortality. But now,” she twisted the magic, making me clutch it and gasped,” that won’t be an issue any longer. Rest, dear sister, and join Celestia in the ever after.” That was the last words I took from her as tears streamed down her face, and my vision quickly blackened till there was no more. Then…

“No, not here again. Please not here!” I screamed, for I was in a most familiar place once more. I was back in Luna’s mind, but now with the addition of a small, confined office with straight, white walls, and no escape. “LUNAAAA!!!”

12 years after The Crack in Royalty Era

Queen Luna had had just about enough of this arrogant prick before her. Gold Stain was a rather snobbish landlord who had been going on about how a, "Peasant farmer had dared to buy my esteemed land for some meager crops with low yield." She sat, bored and leaning her chin on one hoof, and was waiting for him to finish his tirade. “And THAT is why we must stop him before he spreads his diseases among us with higher standards,” he finished while straightening his coat, closing his eyes and lifting his nose to the air. That only made her eye twitch in annoyance.

“So,” she started slowly,” are you finished being a child, and having a temper tantrum over what typically happens? A farmer buys land, supports the community and gets paid for it. I put you in place as a landlord for the sole purpose to make sure the land is cared for, and grows. That includes, and not limited to, farmers, citizens not peasants, and yes even the hard laborers that make the backbone of our factory workers. If this is an issue, I can simply have you removed. Do you wish for this?” Luna finished with her chastisement of him.

He snapped his eyes open and had a moment of anger before he answered. “Yes! I would like to have a much better title such as a noble! Thank you so kindly for-” Gold Stain stopped, seeing Luna fume at him. His ears went flat and he started to coward close to the ground. Her horn lit a dangerous Dark Blue, Black, and Magenta.

“No,” she started with her horn growing a little brighter,” I think I have a more permanent solution for you.” Her horn finally let forth a blast and blasted the noble. In an instant, his yelp turned to a howling laugh as he was turned to a grey fox. He froze and eyed himself with a dreadful expression. Queen Luna turned to her royal scribe and asked,”Say, Silver Tongue. Isn’t it fox season down at the hunting reserve? For the next two weeks or so if I’m correct?” Silver Tongue continued to record as she spoke to her employer.

“Yes ma’am, and actually will be closing in a few days. He might last long enough to try and survive the other creatures on the reserve,” she spoke as she held an expressionless face.

“Hmm, well then Mr. Stain, consider yourself lucky if you do survive our hunters out in the White Tail Woods. I heard we have an excellent hunter out there by the name of “Teddy’ Rough Rider. Have fun!” Luna finished with a teleportation spell on Gold Stain to send him off on his new life. “Now then, we have a few more minutes of court?”

Silver was quick to reply, ”Yes, your Highness.” Luna smiled at that thought. Only a few more nobles or, hopefully, citizens to address and she would be done. She always found talking to some of the citizens was very calming, and was a nice change of pace to the normal noble who thought they were hotstuff and could scandal or even at times extort her. She called forth the next in line, and was surprised, but not upset, to see the head of the Medical institution in Ponyville, Doctor Redheart, alongside the Head of the Lunar Guard, General Sonar.

“Ah Redheart and General Sonar Ear, to what do I have the pleasure to meet both of you at the same time?” Queen Luna addressed wearing a warm smile. They returned it with a quick, low bow and a smile of their own, but not so wholeheartedly with what they had to bring.

Sonar was the first to speak, saying, “Queen Luna, it is an honor to be before you. I have a report that is most urgent. I came as quickly as I could when I had the report myself from the good Doctor here.” She pointed a hoof to Redheart, letting her speak up.

“Your Highness, it is with so trouble that I inform you of an incident of sorts-minor, but still something to take account of. During a military exercise not far from my office, there was an explosion that shook the entire facility. When I went to investigate, I saw an odd glow emanating from the forest where the exercise was taking place. Not long after, we had some victims with severe magical burns enter into the hospital, but it had signatures that I didn’t recognize. We ran them through and picked up a large amount of dark magic.”

Redheart looked up from the folder she brought along and saw a worried face from Queen Luna. She gestured for her to continue, so she searched for where she left off. “Uhm, well, we also discovered that not all of the signatures were dark. There was a trace of potential changeling magic as well. We couldn’t quite be sure since a lot of it had come back as corrupted data when we ran it through our machines, but we have some consistency that tells us that it is true.”

She stopped, so the General took the opportunity to speak up. “Queen Luna, we have not known changelings to be this far north of our borders, let alone have any magical interference within our lands. I suspect maybe it was a small border skirmish, but that leads to the conclusion that they are the aggressors in this case, and we need to take action. What are your thoughts, your Highness,” Sonar questioned, looking to Luna and awaiting an answer.

Luna hummed, sitting up taller now and looking back at the two. “The patients, how many and how long had they been burned before they got there?” Doctor Redheart handed the report and showed the parts that Queen Luna had asked about. 26 stallions and 24 mares, a decent sized platoon. How did such an incident happen where an entire platoon had been wiped out,” Luna thought to herself. “Is this everyone who was at the exercise? If so, how did an entire platoon get knocked out? Surely someone would have taken notice, yes?”

General Sonar gestured for her to flip the page. What she didn’t tell Luna was the burn marks of the victims would be on that page. As she continued to flip, a few wounds looked more severe than the rest, and then she came to the end with a more detailed aftermath report. ‘4 confirmed dead, 46 wounded/being treated, 7 missing.’ She looked again, over and over, at the underlined section. Seven. Seven missing mares and stallions. Luna looked relatively pissed now. “General Sonar, how did seven soldiers go missing on a training exercise incident? If you do not get me answers soon, then I’ll be personally seeing to this myself, and i will make sure this is thoroughly sorted out. Am I clear?”

Sonar held a stoic face, but behind it she was feeling herself begin to panic a little. “Yes, your Highness! I’ll see that we get this fixed right away,” she quickly said, swiftly dismissing herself from the throne room to carry out her orders. Queen Luna turned to Redheart.

“Well Ms. Redheart,” she began,” see to it you keep a close telegrapher to you, i want to know if anything changes in an instant. Oh, and if something else is to happen outside of this situation that needs my personal attention as well.” Luna dismissed the Doctor, and she hastily retreated in a similar fashion as Sonar did.

The whistle on both sides of the throne room door signalled the end of the day shift and of day court. “Oh, thank the moon! Well Silver Tongue, I hope you have a wonderful evening. Today has been quite eventful! Oh, and don’t forget to stow away the court recordings before you leave,” Luna called out to her scribe as she was heading out the private door behind the dias. She hurried out and was making her way down the narrow hallway leading to the Lunar section of the castle.

Luna had left the Day and Night sections of the castles as she knew that not everypony would be open to entirely 180-ing their sleep schedule. After the ‘Crack in Royalty Era’, as most news headlines put it, she established a new system to help her manage the ever growing nation. She made a 4-way party system. Executive, Monastery, Judicial, and Representative branches. The Executive, Queen Luna herself, was the head of it all. Any and all decisions made by other branches was up to her to accept, deny, or call a revote on. It also allowed her to take command fully of the armed forces to make sure she could keep a tight grip on the army to protect the nation in times of need.

Next was the Monastery. After the fall of Celestia, religious uproar had swept the nation, and she needed to act fast. She put forth the construction of a Monastery to bring together the heads of the major ideologies and religions of the nation. It was made up of Celestians, Lunar Seekers, Peace Keepers, and the Grunts. Celestians made up those in favor of Celestia as a deity, Lunar Seekers Luna, Peace Keepers those of an old Goddess believed dead named Tyr, and the Grunts of a mad God named Discord. She built the building and had made a very complex, yet understandable agreement with all sides that a monthly meeting with all four were to talk of any conflicting issues, and every once a year with Luna herself present.

Then came the Judicial. The only purpose was to make sure the actions of all branches, themselves included, were upholding the law. The other purpose was to rid of ridiculous or outdated laws and to permanently remove them, or replace them. It was then viewed by the Representative branch, then finally to Luna herself. If she voted no, then it went back to the Judicial and then the Representative again. If they all vote yes again, then it was removed/replaced anyways, but if one of the branches should vote no then it was then disapproved. The Representative branch was composed of multiple leaders that the area voted 75% or higher for to represent them. Each area contained an Agriculture, Landlord, Financial, Labor, and Education representative, with an occasional 6th member for the Aristocrats. Most laws thought up and proposed either came from here, or the Judicial with a rare one coming from Queen Luna herself.

As convoluted as it was, it kept balance to things and let some stress roll off her shoulders. She didn’t expect to run the country by herself and knew she’d need help, and so these branches and different agencies along with advisers allowed her to run things smoother. The last thing she needed was a full out rebellion on her hands. With that pesky thought now settling in and not going away, she kept going till she reached the other hidden door leading to the Lunar Quarter with her chambers just around the corner to the right.

She made her way down the hall and around the corner, seeing the shift of guards from a warm gold to cool blue on her short journey. She finally made, and started to feel a slight buzz from the back of her mind. She knew what that meant. A damn headache, one that persisted every now and then. That was, till it spoke and she realized it was a different type of headache. “Hello, Nightmare Moon. decided to be a bother today?”

She could hear her yawn in her mind, “Mmmmmm, yes and the term is tonight. Don’t worry, i won’t be too much an issue if your daily friend Mr. Brandy has anything to say. Usually, and he won’t tell you this, he is the usual reason that when I speak up you have these damned headaches,” Nightmare Moon finished with a hiss to her tone, and Luna knew why. Ever since Moony decided to speak up, she has taken up drinking to drown her out, which leaves a hangover that both of them feel, but at least it shuts her up Luna always thought.

“Uuuuuugh, pleeeeease just leave me be for one night? I can’t rest with you back there and these drunken nights are starting to become more noticeable by staff, so I’d very much appreciate a silent night for once, please,” Luna groaned out, heading towards her bed of Pegasus Clouds.

“Hmmm, no. No, I don’t I will. Hee hee, it’s fun to watch and it gets soooo lonely in here from time to time. You should let me have a little con-” Nightmare stopped as Luna’s horn glowed and Luna heard her scream in the back of her mind. She smirked, knowing Nightmare wouldn’t try to talk for a while after that shock. Finally, she collapsed on her bed and was out cold. Her only fleeting thoughts went back to the report. She wonders if she’d have to take a trip to the Badlands to have a ‘sit down’ with the Queen of the Changelings.

The only conclusion she came to before she finally fell to unconsciousness was this. “That’s future Luna’s problems for now.”

Author's Note

~~~Ok first time, I know, but that's ok. We're here to have fun...some of us. This Prelude is mainly a BRIEF history starting from Nightmares return to the end of the War of Independence as so you can have a GENERAL idea as to wtf is happening. Without further delay, Let's begin!~~~

[EDIT] Good gracious, that was some Prelude, huh? Oh well, hope it's better than before now!

Chapter 1 ~ Rough Night?

It was another ending to Luna’s Sunday Day Court, as now it was time for her to turn it over to the Court Counsel of Advisors (CCA for short), one branch formed under the Representatives after the Crack in Royalty to assist with ruling and aiding Equestria, for the Night Court. She made the branch under the belief that if elected officials from the ponies were to have a say in major political issues, it would not only set their minds at ease after what had happened a decade or so ago, but also allow her to know how most if not all her ponies were feeling of how the nation should sway with only minor hiccups in the system. Those hiccups are why she wanted to stay in power. To make sure she had the final say if there ever came a problem within the system, and it was this that allowed her time to rest in short periods.

She and the CCA would run either the Day Court or the Night Court, swapping cycles when they agreed to, and that being after today’s Night Court. She had only two more subjects appear before her before the Chief Counselor, Silhouette, had let her know it was time to swap. She gave him a warm smile, always taking pleasure in talking to him as a friend in between shifts. “Ah, it is good to see you again, Sil,” Luna spoke with energy in her voice, yet still holding a somewhat Regal tone as according to Royals.

“Same can be said here, your Highness. I always enjoy this part of Court, it allows you, the Counselors, and myself to have a spare moment of happiness. That is, unless we are serving justice to some arrogant noble pushing his luck,” he finished with a light chuckle. His show of age had become more apparent to Luna nowadays. Even as he laughed, she could hear it in him, his soft and charismatic voice, now with a distant wheeze to it. His wrinkles, though not many, cracking and showing that his skin has been worn for quite some time, but still with plenty of life left. She quite liked it, it added a feeling of comfort to see him in a joyous mood. It almost felt like having a grandparent over for Thanksgiving while they sat in front of a fire on their rocking chair and told you a heroic, adventurous tale.

“Well, we must be going. Night Court isn’t going to run itself, nor would we want it to!”

“Yes, well it has been a long day. I shall be attending to my duties. Good night to you all,” Luna said with a hesitation in her steps as she whirled around to Silhouette again. “Oh, and please try not to have any…intimate Court sessions with mares again. You might be charming to others, but that doesn’t mean you should take all the fun,” Luna said with a smirk and a wink before quickly trotting out.

As she left, Silhouette let out a comment under his breath. “Sheesh, I swear that mare can be a tease at one moment, then a merciless monarch the next.”

Luna’s Quarters

Luna arrived back to her room, and felt absolutely exhausted. Doing Day Court usually left her day’s end like this, but today seemed to particularly wear her out. Not that she was complaining, or had anyone to complain to. Anytime she could find to rest, she would graciously take it. She always liked to wander amongst her ponies in their dreams, and even those who were daydreaming at the time as well. Her ponies always loved seeing her when she would greet them in her dream realm, especially when she came to their aid during nightmares.

After that day, they had taken to being more open when she appeared. Some only knew that she had defeated her corrupted sisters, but some believed that she only destroyed Nightmare after believing to have killed Celestia. No matter the reason, they would often want to know how the dreamscape worked and why they dreamt more than anything now, and looked fondly to her. She had become very close to them all, and cherished it dearly every waking and dreaming moment. Yes, while many of her ponies did still fear her, they also respected her rule and had become more open to her because she was not one to heavily sugarcoat things, nor one to be too bashful, less she felt it was right. While some don’t fully understand or are misled with rumors of her with the end of Celestia, many do still look to her as a Big Sister type, and have on many occasions in dreams comforted them as such.

She took her regalia off, putting it on the Mannepony in the corner of the room, before she walked close to the edge of her bed. She smiled, then in a foal like manner, flopped with her hooves wide and let herself bounce for a moment. She took this time to realize how very soft the silk sheets were. The maids have certainly outdone themselves lately, I’ll be sure to give them a small incentive pay this week for a job well done. She rolled onto her back, careful of her wings which had two tender spots from stress between them near the base. Getting comfortable, she put on her moon themed sleep mask, and fell into a calm sleep and into the dream realm.

She opened her eyes to see all of her subjects’ doors line a nightly themed hall. It was very atmospheric, with the dark abyss beyond the hall’s fathomed path, accompanied by dimly lit stars. Upon seeing them dimmed she flashed her horn, showing its deep navy blue aura, and the stars brightened enough to allow her to safely traverse the dream realm. She walked to each door, looking to see if she could find one that had any signs of nightmares. None had caught her eye or gave her the usual gut feeling, but she noticed something different once she got to the end of the hall. Usually, it took her what would normally feel like 30 minutes to walk to the end, however tonight, she came across a new part of the hall. It was a door that was a simple oak door. It had a square window at the top half and it was split into four panes. She looked through said window and noticed a house-no, a mansion of sorts inside. She turned the bronze knob and was greeted with a warm, humid flow of air as she stepped in. It had the temperatures of North Appleloosa, but the humidity made it feel like the Amaponian Jungles. She was starting to build up a sweat, so she quickly cast a spell to ward off the heat from her while focusing on the condition of the mansion she was in.

She was very impressed with whoever's mind this was, for she could take in many minute details without it becoming hazy from concentration. Sharp minded to details, interesting pony indeed. She saw that the manor was mainly made of polished wood materials, brass, tiny bits of silver lining on door knobs emblazoned with an SP upon the upper part of the knob frame. It seemed to her that this was Scaredy Pants’ dream, but she swore his door was two down from this one. This only brought the same question back to her mind. Whose dream is this, and why the fancy decor?

Luna did not have the will to search up the grand, polished wood stairs. Her decision led her to walk to what she assumed was a back room leading to the backyard area. As she passed the stairs going left of it to a white and thin wooden swing door, she pushed it open to see it was the kitchen with one inhabitant. She could not distinguish what it was, just that it stood on hind legs and was attending the sink with some dirty dishes inside. The form was a blur, meaning it must not have been of much importance to whomever was dreaming. Seems this person may be one to neglect others, or they might be a captive. That shall not due if they reside within our borders.

The thought of slavery within her subjects' minds had shown its ugly head only once to her hooves three years ago. She had put a stop to it then, but was paranoid that some still took practice in it where she wasn’t able to spy on. Faust be with her if this is one such individual, for she will have no mercy upon their minds till they are brought to her dungeon for imprisonment. She held a deep grudge, and zero tolerance towards anypony on the subject, having experienced being a Prisoner of War a few times and sadly, once upon a time, slavery.

She spotted a door similar to the one she entered the dream from in the back. As she walked to it and went to exit through it to the outside, she was forced out of the dream, and the door slammed in her face. Luna blinked, and blinked again. She had not expected to be forced from a dream like that, but it does happen sometimes when the pony is either killed or awakens suddenly so it wasn’t without reason. She was hoping it was not the first, but bad things do happen she supposed. She had noticed that the door was now a heavier looking iron door with a slidable slit hatch that was eye level with her. Luna gave the door a stern look, and saw that the individual in there did not want to be disturbed again. She gave it one last look, turned around and promptly restarted her sentry-like pattern down the hall in search of ponies to help in their slumber. For the rest of the night, she never saw the door again, and it only fueled her frustration and curiosity.

Luna awoke with a small yawn. She had a somewhat bad case of bed head and was feeling as though she should be remembering something. It didn’t seem to dawn on her nor was it of great importance if she couldn’t think of it at the moment, so she arose from her very comfortable bed with a groan. She despised mornings. Every. One. Of. Them. She begrudgingly got up, putting on her fuzzy shark styled slippers and fixed up her bed, making it neat and tight that anyone could flip a republic coin on it. She took pride in doing so every time she woke as it would serve a purpose later, and also presently. That being that now she had one task complete at the minimum, and she would later have a readied bed for her to sleep in when she returned to her quarters. After this act, she smiled and went towards the bathroom to do the essentials. Brush teeth, get a good wash in, brush hair, preen her feathers, and do any makeup if needed, which wasn’t often.

After Luna’s routine was done, she walked out of her bathroom and back into her room towards the mirror that stood a foot taller than her. She looked over herself to make sure she was presentable to the public eye, and stopped in astonishment when she took in how her appearance looked for once. She had grown another hoof or so, and her starry night hair she once had after her return now had a Dark Nebula in it with a splash of amaranth color. Her eyes gleamed a wonderful and round turquoise, and her feathers had grown a darker shade on the underside. “Why did we question our beauty all those years ago,” Luna mused to herself. What happened next is something she usually forgets about. The thoughts.

“My my, Lulu. Taking to actually complimenting yourself today, or just as a way to hide what everypony sees in you. The monster was you all along,” Tiny black, green, and purple wisp say in unison tauntingly behind Luna. She laughs a little at herself. “Finally, after all these years you hear me out?” The green one says slowly hovering closer to Luna. Luna did nothing more but give a thousand yard stare. Not wanting to acknowledge them anymore, she flicks the mirror with a hoof and lets it spin. The wisp laugh and say,”Oh, darling. You of all people should know you can’t run or walk away from situations such as this,” with that, the mirror slowly spun back to her, and a mangled form of Celestia jumped out of the mirror. It hobbles over to Luna’s side as Luna tries to leave the room. She stops and looks at it. “There, much better now that I’m not just a thought, or picture in your head, right? Well do go on, not like I won’t still be trapped inside your memory for you to try and escape from.”

“No…STOP! I wish not to deal with this right now. Your little spiel can wait till other matters are dealt with,” Luna ended with a bit of a harsh tone. The abomination looked at her with anger.

“Like you ever gave me a chance when you killed me that night. Have a pleasant day, Queen Luna,” and with the hissed end the ‘Celestia’ was gone.

Their words still hurt Luna. She took a moment, and composed herself. She had other issues to be bothered with than skeletons in her closet, and so continued out of the doors leading to the halls of the Royal Wing. The four batponies outside greeted her pleasantly and tailed after her with two moving ahead to complete the formation around her. Her thoughts were a drift while she walked, trying to come back to her time within the dreamscape. Darn those thoughts earlier! They’re making my train of thought on the dreamscape just that much more difficult! If only I could remember what I saw that has my mind all wound up. Her thoughts had left her daydreaming to where she bumped into someone in front of her.

“Oh, excuse me. I am terribly sorry,” she quickly apologized. When she looked at who was in front of her, she saw it was simply the door. One of her guards was trying not to laugh, and was almost failing to at least hold back a snicker. She glared at him, and huffed. ”Anything to say, Pipsqueak? Or shall I have you tickled in the dungeon till you pass out? I wonder which seems more amusing,” she finished, internally chuckling as Pipsqueak shuffled nervously at the comment.

“N-no, your Majesty, nothing else,” he said in a quick manner that reminded her of his younger days. Oh, what a foal he was growing up. Always so enthusiastic in those dark times, and it made her wish that most ponies held that kind of enthusiasm. Quick to do with initiative, and happy to help others.

“Good, then you don’t mind getting the door for a mare, do you, or have you also lost manners over the years?”

Luna ‘attempted’ to hold back a smile at his adorably flustered expression. He jumped a little, and all but snapped over to the door. “Ye-yes, my Queen. Terribly sorry.” Luna thanked him and continued on into another hall that led to the Galley. Hopefully some breakfast would allow her to still some of her thoughts. Maybe it would leave her in a better mood for a walk in the Canterlot Garden, or tour around the castle grounds. Hmm, that does sound good. I wonder how Court is going.

Silhouette’s Perspective

Faust, why hath thou forsaken me? This was the only thought that ran through Silhouette's mind as a boastful griffin tried to quite literally buy the ground from under them. Also not to mention he was refusing to leave, saying,"There will be consequences!" It didn't help that he smelled of something far worse than the trash pile of a waste center. Why today?

Back to Luna

It's probably going well for the Counsel, not many subjects come in on this day.

Author's Note

Looks like I'm back! Anyways, hopefully you all are doing well, and enjoy the chapter!

Also, made this rather quickly, if there are typos/mistakes in my spelling or grammar, please feel free to point them out! Have nice day/night to all! More to come when possible!