The Not-So-Lonely Moon

by Rainwalker12

Rating: everyone
Tags: Nightmare Moon, Princess Luna, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Slice of Life
Length: 5738

During Nightmare Moon's banishment, she discovers the moon may not be so barren after all...

When Nightmare Moon is banished away to the moon, she is furious. What she doesn't expect is to be warmly greeted by a lonely unicorn. How will she deal with her banishment and her time on the moon with only this odd unicorn as company?

Published 2019-03-20 16:50:02 UTC
Last updated 2019-03-20 16:50:02 UTC

The Not-So-Lonely Moon

“Nightmare Moon! You are banished to the moon for one thousand years to atone for your sins against Equestria and the world!” Celestia’s decree rang in Nightmare Moon’s ears, condemning her.

“NOOOOO!” She howled, as her vision was suddenly filled with darkness, and she re-appeared on a hard grey surface. She stomped her hooves in rage, and bolts of lightning surrounded her, seeking something, anything to destroy. But there was nothing, and her lightning fizzled out as it searched further from her. Nightmare Moon bucked and kicked at the air in fury, and she smashed invisible ponies for what seemed like an hour before she collapsed, exhausted. She simply lay there, hooves still feebly pawing at the air.

“Um… hello! Welcome to the moon! I didn’t expect anyone else to ever come up here. Mind if I ask how?” A voice startled Nightmare Moon, causing her to jump to her hooves and swivel into a defensive stance. Dark grey eyes stared at her curiously.

This pony who apparently was stuck here too was a light grey unicorn, with a dark blue mane spilling down his back and three stars adorning his flank. Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes, drawing magic into her horn.

“I’m Shining Star! What’s your- oof!” He was cut off by a blast of lightning, enough to stop the hearts of three fully grown stallions, beamed into his chest and launched him a good thirty feet away. He landed in the chalky ground of the moon, dust of moon rock puffing up from the ground. Nightmare Moon laughed darkly. Whoever this pony was, he wouldn’t be around to ask any more annoying questions.

“Wow, lady, that was a pretty strong spell!” Nightmare Moon stepped back in shock. The pony was climbing out of the crater he created as he fell, seemingly unharmed. As she watched, the scorched fur on his chest began to repair itself, and in seconds he looked good as new.

“Wha… how? No matter, I’ll simply do it again!” Nightmare Moon charged her horn again, and another arc of electricity leaped to the stranger’s chest, sending him sprawling yet again. But again, he simply stood up, good as new, and smiled at her.

“You’re a pretty good mage! Wait, you’re an alicorn! You’re Princess Luna! Wow, that’s pretty cool. I never thought I’d actually meet you. Hey, what are you doing up here?” His words confused Nightmare Moon. Why was he so… nonchalant about her being a princess? Shouldn’t he be cowering and begging for his life? And…

“Mine name is not Luna. I am Nightmare Moon, leader of the Lunar Republic! And who do thou think thee are, addressing me so casually?!” She retorted, towering over the other pony. He just blinked up at her.

“Oh, my bad. I haven’t been down there for like, sixty years I think, so stuff has probably changed. Anyway, like I said my name is Shining Star. Nice to meet you, Nightmare Moon! We’re going to be up here for, like, probably forever, so it’d be nice if we could be friends!” He leaped forward and grabbed her armored hoof, shaking it up and down feverishly.

She yanked her hoof back. Ponies like him didn’t even deserve to be near her! She huffed and stormed off, leaving Star behind in the cold dust. She quickly put distance between her and him but heard his last call before she flew off.

“I’ll be here for when you want to talk or do stuff!”

XXX

Star was happy. A new pony! A friend! He’d been oh so lonely the past… sixty? Sixty-ish years. He’d been forced to draw the alphabet and numbers in the dust to keep his mind sharp, and his illusions were fun to play with, but they could only keep him entertained for so long. But now? Now there was another! She would surely want to drive the boredom away. They could play games and talk about life and teach each other things! That would be fun. Sure, she was a princess (ex-princess?), but even royalty needed something to do. She was a bit scary, but he would get around that.

Waiting for her to return was a task in itself, but he passed the time by staring down at Equus. Oh, how he missed it. The plants, the other ponies, the happiness, but most of all, the warmth. The moon was a cold, cold place, and he hadn’t felt truly warm since his own banishment here. Sure, the lightning he was struck with temporarily fried him, but his curse quickly rid him of even that pleasure.

Star always felt so small and alone staring down at his homeworld. It seemed so small from up here, and his entire race, and many more, all lived on that tiny orb of green and blue. It was just… weird to him.

His musings were interrupted by the clip-clop of hooves on hard rock. He turned to see Nightmare Moon approaching him, seemingly calmer than before.

“Oh, hi. Welcome back! I’m here if you ever need anything. Oh, this will be nice! Well, nicer than before, at least.” He smiled at her, and she huffed and looked away. She plopped down next to him, staring at Equus with traces of both awe and sadness in her gaze. “I’m guessing it’s still kinda shocking for you. When I first got here, I was so scared and confused. I cried for, like, two days straight. Well, I’m gonna make it better for you. At least you have me, for what that’s worth.” She glanced over at him, and their eyes met, a moment of mutual understanding and tentative agreement passing over the two. She ducked her head briefly, and he nodded his head in response.

“Let me start. I’m Shining Star, and I was an astronomer back on Equus. Some powerful mage guy didn’t like what I was doing; he said ‘the stars were too mystical to be understood’, and I disagreed. We had an argument, and… well, he cursed me. He wanted me to be able to understand the stars but not be able to share that information with anyone, and the spell took that and put me here. I guess it kinda made me immortal too? Thinking back on it, the magical backlash of his wish probably killed him. I don’t really know, I wasn’t that good at magic. I’ve been here ever since. It’s been, like, sixty-ish years I think. So yeah, that’s me. What about you. What made the all-famous Pr-, uh, Nightmare Moon get banished up here?” Nightmare Moon sighed.

“My story is not a happy one. My sister Celestia and I began fighting a few years ago. To start, all of the ponies loved and praised my sister for her glorious day, but feared and slept through my beautiful night. I just wanted my night to be appreciated, but everyone saw me as shady and evil. To top it all off, Celestia believed in total equality and friendship, but I saw that it would never work. I wanted to have an empire, where the decisions would fall solely upon me. Under the previous regime, we had executive power, yes, but a council regulated our decisions and controlled us partly. I wanted to skip the confusion and councils and have one pony in charge of many, so I split away from her rule. Other liked my ideas and joined me, and so the War of Sun and Moon began. We vied for control, and eventually, she saw fit to banish me to here using the Elements of Harmony to stop the fighting. I’ll be here for a thousand years, and then I’ll finally get my revenge!” Nightmare Moon sat up, envisioning the glorious day. After a moment her shoulders slumped. “It’s… a thousand years, though. I-I don’t know how I’ll make it…” Her head lowered. Star reached out a hoof and rested it on her shoulder. “Are you sure that there’s nobody to rule over? No secret hidden moon kingdoms?” Star chuckled.

“Nope. Just me. You can rule over me if you like. I’ll be here forever so some change might be nice.” Her ears perked up and she sat up in thought.

“What is there to do, though…”

“I have some ideas that might work!”

XXX

“So you just imagine your magic as hot and fiery?” Star questioned. He was attempting to learn elemental magic, starting with fire.

“It is a bit more complex than that, but in essence, yes. For the simplest fire spell, all that is required is to change thine ambient magic into fire magic, and expel it from thine horn.” Everything had ambient magic, and unicorns could change it to their will to be able to cast spells of different schools of magic. Pegasi could naturally change it to weather magic, and earth ponies channeled it throughout their bodies to enhance their strength.

“Hrnghhhh. I… think… I’m… getting it!” Sparks of fire began to spurt out of Star’s horn, and in a sudden burst, a small cluster of flame was suddenly aloft in the air. It quickly fizzled out, but the awe on Star’s face remained. “Wow! That’s super cool! Thanks, Moon!” He turned and shakily performed the spell again, this time the flame lasting for longer. He huddled close to the flame. “Seriously, Moon, thank you.” Star had taken to calling her “Moon”, something that even a third lightning bolt wasn’t able to fix. “I haven’t been truly warm for the past sixty years. This… this is much better. I don’t know how to thank you for this.” Tears were starting to form in the corners of Star’s eyes. Nightmare Moon sighed, covered her face with her wing, and slowly edged closer, stiffly drawing Star into a small embrace. The stallion nuzzled into her wing, pressing into her for the warmth within her fur, and she cringed back, pushing him away.

“It may be that the moon’s distance from Equus amplifies magic powers, so that may be why thou learned so fast. Now, I believe thou had a few illusion spells to teach me?” She watched as Star righted himself, drying his tears and giving the flame one last longing glance before extinguishing it.

“Right. So, with illusion spells, you basically just try to use your magic to interfere with the ambient magic around you and shape it into something it’s not. For example…” Star turned and concentrated, his horn lighting up with grey magic. A copy of himself rose up out of the ground, and the two turned and stared at Nightmare Moon. In a flash, there were perhaps a hundred of them, and they scattered and spun, giving Nightmare Moon a headache. They all suddenly skidded to a stop, and all but one poofed away. The real Star trotted happily to Nightmare Moon and plopped down in front of her. “Now you try!”

Nightmare Moon concentrated, and as her horn glowed with dark energy a bead of sweat appeared on her brow. The air before her began to waver, and the outline of a copy of herself began to form. It slowly filled out, and before a minute had passed a smaller clone of Nightmare Moon sat before her. It didn’t move but simply stood in place, staring out into literal space.

“Wow, that’s really good! For me, it took a full month for me to even be able to make a single copy of myself, and even then it kinda flickered when it moved. But for you to make a full clone on your first try! That’s really awesome, Moon!” Despite her obvious superiority to this puny unicorn, Nightmare Moon couldn’t help but feel a tiny spark of pride blossom in her chest.

“That’s to be expected of an alicorn. We are, obviously, superior to the other races. It’s only natural that I would learn fast.” Star ignored the hints of racism and simply grinned at her, a testament to his joy at his new “friend”.

XXX

The two ponies faced each other, staring daggers at their opponent. They stomped their hooves, surging backward as spires of moon rock began to twist and spiral towards the sky, lashing together and forming two large citadels out of the ground. Armies of stone ponies formed and glowed with an inner light, as they drew various weapons. They fell into lines, marching in place as they faced the enemy. Archers stepped forward onto elevated balconies and created hills, drawing stone bows and nocking arrows. All was quiet for a second until two voices reverberated out into the flat ground where the two armies faced one another.

“CHAAARGE!” With that, the animated constructs leaped into actions, stone swords and halberds sinking through rock heads and flanks with ease. Arrows cracked the spots where they hit, and the hit golems soon crumbled away. Both sides fought for a few minutes, but neither seemed to be gaining any significant ground.

All of a sudden, out of the left castle flew an armor-clad avenger of death, shining with a terrible dark light. With a flash of her horn, legions of the enemy troops were swept to the side by crackling lightning, and craters formed as her magic laid waste to the army attacking her own. Wherever her horn pointed, the unfortunate golems in her path were simply obliterated.

In response, a pillar of earth shot out from the opposing tower carrying Star who charged his horn, causing fire to spring out of the ground and lash into the darker troops, either causing them to stagger and fall, or simply melt due to the intense heat. Beams of fire wrapped around the weapons of his armies, causing them to melt through the bodies of the enemy like a knife to butter. Invigorating starlight sped up the arrows of his archers, and the rapid-fire pace began to wear down Nightmare Moon’s forces.

The commanders roared, charging each other as a bridge of stone formed between their fortresses. They tossed bolts of fire and chains of lightning across it before they each drew their weapons. Star hefted a stone spear glowing with searing fire at the tip, and Nightmare moon held aloft a scythe with a blade like the night sky. They leaped forward, Star’s spear jabbing into the armor of the opposing commander as Nightmare Moon’s scythe cleaved through the bridge where he had been standing a moment before, barely brushing his flank as he jumped aside. The bridge shivered for a second, then regenerated where it had been cut. The two continued with hoof-to-hoof combat for a few moments, before a beam of electricity sent Star flying backward, crashing through his castle and landing in his planning chambers.

“Sir! Nightmare Moon is wrecking our troops! They’ve managed to push past the second barrier!” A clone of himself trotted forward, attempting to help him up, only to have its hoof pass through his own.

“Aw, poop. I was hoping to last longer this time. But have no fear! I’ve rigged fire runes in the halls that will go off if they get far enough. Let me go see how we’re doing.” With that, Star bolted off for the hole he had fallen through, stairs forming as he ran.

Things were not going well for the Star Dynasty. Only four battalions remained in fighting shape, while the enemy had seven. The cause of the decline was currently flying above his troops, blasting through the meager defenses they had managed to compile against the aerial attacks. He retaliated with an enormous ball of fire that crashed into her side, sending her spiraling down to the ground as she furiously pumped her wings, trying to regain her flight. She managed to right herself right before she hit the ground, hovering less than a foot above the moon rock. She blasted up at Star, who paled and jumped off to the side. He leaped behind a statue of himself, but Nightmare Moon blasted the statue with a bolt of lightning. When the rubble cleared, he wasn’t there! She scanned the terrain for any signs of him, but to no avail.

“WHERE AAAARE YOOUUUU?!” She called out, blasts of dark energy spinning around her and eradicating parts of Star’s stronghold. She searched for a minute or two, but the grey unicorn had simply vanished. All of a sudden, shrapnels of rock blew past her as she turned in midair to see Star standing amongst what had once been her largest legion, now reduced to melting and bubbling rock. She roared in fury, speeding through the air until she crashed into him, tackling the smaller pony and sending the two of them tumbling into Star’s castle, breaking through walls and barriers until they skidded to a halt in a large cathedral. Nightmare Moon cackled with glee.

“I have thou now, Captain Star! Thine kingdom is mine! Thou loses!” She smirked down at him, her scythe now dangerously close to his neck. Despite the odds against him, Star grinned up at her.

“Not quite, Princess.” His horn glowed with powerful grey light, and orange circles of runes hidden on the walls began to glow.

BOOM! With a concussive blast, the entire castle exploded with the power of thirty-odd fire runes, sending shards of moon rock into the other stronghold as well, caving in most of it and sending the few remaining battalions to a gritty death as they were crushed by the falling hunks of stone.

When the rubble cleared, all that was left was a crater. Star and Nightmare Moon lay motionless, a smile on Star’s face and a look of fury on Nightmare Moon’s. The latter managed to struggle to her hooves after a moment, dragging her scythe behind her with a limp hoof. She nearly collapsed on top of Star, but just barely kept her balance.

“Hff… Now I…Win…i think i need to sit down…” She shakily helped Star to his hooves, and together they stumbled to an undesecrated piece of the moon. Once they met even ground, they collapsed back onto the ground and simply lay there, breathing heavily to steady their racing hearts. After a couple of minutes, Star turned his lopsided head to face Nightmare Moon.

“Urgh…you beat me again… ah, well. I got you in that trap, at least!” He panted, letting his head thump back down to the soothingly cold rock beneath him.

“Yes… was that a new spell? I don’t recall thou ever using that before. And besides, if thou weren’t immortal my first few lightning bolts would’ve fried thou.”

“And my fire would’ve melted you, but oh well. Anyway, yeah, it was pretty new. It’s like stored fire that’ll explode out when someone gets near it.” Star huffed, raising his head in pride. “Pretty cool, right?” Nightmare Moon nodded, actually slightly surprised by Star’s progress in elemental magic. Well, a bit less when she remembered that the moon amplified magical powers. It was the main reason they could do stuff like this, but going overkill wasn’t ever bad. She needed to practice for when she would destroy Celestia… she lost herself in fantasies until she realized she hadn’t responded. She quickly shook her head, facing Star, who had a slightly hurt look in his eyes.

“Oh, yes, a very ingenious spell. My apologies, I was lost in thoughts.” All trace of discontent in Star’s face vanished, and he grinned at her. Nightmare Moon was slightly taken aback by her words. She had apologized? She was superior to this puny unicorn! She didn’t need to justify herself to those of his level.

“Hey, wanna go again?”

XXX

“I’ve just been feeling…odd. Like I’ve had weird spurts of emotion, and I don’t feel as prideful or superior anymore. I don’t know what it is. Am I going crazy?” Nightmare Moon confided in Star. They’d been on the moon for somewhere from 500-600 years now, and Nightmare Moon was definitely feeling off.

“Hrmm. That’s a bit weird. Hey, I have an idea. When did you, you know, become Nightmare Moon?” The ex-princess furrowed her brow at this, startled.

“Well…I suppose it was when I had a dream about Discord, a being of chaos, showing me the truth about how the ponies felt about me. He revealed to me what the world was really like, and then I just…decided to do something. It was just a dream, though..”

“Well, maybe there was magic there or something, and it convinced you to go make your own empire, but now it’s fading because the moon is so far! That makes sense, right?” Nightmare Moon thought for a second.

“Surely he couldn’t have put a spell on me, because he’s been trapped in stone ever since we sealed him away. It’s a possibility, I guess…” With that, the two lapsed into silence. They sat there peacefully, simply admiring the stars. Star had always loved the night for how it had seemingly infinite patterns, and from the moon, everything seemed both so close and so far. After about half an hour of relaxing stargazing, Nightmare Moon spoke.

“Star…” The unicorn shifted his head to face her.

“Hm?”

“I was wondering…what doest thou miss most about Equus?” Star turned his gaze to the green and blue sphere in question.

“Hmm…since I have fire now, and I deeply thank you for that, I’d have to say…my family. I had a little brother, his name was Dusty Geode. He always wanted to be a geologist, and he go so excited when he found a new rock near home...oh, sorry for my ramblings.”

“No, it’s fine. Please tell me more about thine family. If thou wishes to, that is.” For once, Nightmare Moon was slightly apprehensive. She’d always thought of Star as constantly happy and excited, but now he just seemed… sad. It made sense that the eternity of life on the moon would take its toll on him, too, though.

“Well…my mom’s name was Nightbright. She was a Lunar Guard. You might’ve met her once or twice. She was a battlemage, but her talents weren’t used often.” Star turned to see Nightmare Moon deep in thought.

“Nightbright…oh yes, she was a blue unicorn with a white mane? A star wand for a cutie mark?”

“Yes, that’s her! Did you meet her?” Star looked at Nightmare Moon with excitement.

“Oh yes, we discussed battle magic and the merits of different elements a few times. She was nice. I believe she passed away of old age in her sleep if my memory is correct.” Star’s shoulders sagged in relief.

“That’s nice. I was always scared she was going to get caught in a battle and not come home… oh, yeah, my dad. His name was Snowy Slopes. He ran a ski resort in the mountains near Canterlot. The sky was super clear up there, I would always go out and watch the stars every night when we stayed up there.” He finished, staring wistfully at Equus.

“Well I can’t say I knew thine father too, but he sounds like a good pony to me.”

“Yeah, he was the best…” A pause. “Wanna go play tag?”

XXX

“So you want to plunge the world into eternal darkness? Moon, isn’t that, like, kinda bad?” Star stared at Nightmare Moon, perplexed.

“The ponies will learn to love and cherish my beautiful night. It is necessary for my empire to reign supreme. I cannot be swayed from this path by thee. It is the only way for me to be accepted, after all.”

“Hmm…won’t all the plants die? I’m no biologist, but I’m pretty sure plants need sunlight to survive.” Nightmare Moon prepared a retort, but paused with her mouth open, then facehoofed.

“Thou is actually right. No matter, I will find a way around it! My night shall last forever!” She cackled, and Star thought for a moment.

“We’ve got about twelve years left, we can think of something! Let’s get to work!”

XXX

Mathematical and arcane equations scribbled in the dusty surface of the moon littered a good portion of the unblemished half of its surface, and the source, an excited Star and an unkempt Nightmare Moon, stood in the center of them all. Furiously scrawling more in the hard rock with one hoof, Star paused for a moment, recalculating, then moved on to another area and continued his work. Nightmare Moon seemed to be checking over his work, tweaking numbers and words here and there.

“YESSSS!” A cry tore free from Star’s throat, and he jumped in the air with happiness. “I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID ITTTT!!!” Nightmare Moon leaped into the air, surveying the complete works of the spell. It…actually seemed correct! The spell was designed to allow plant-based life to absorb starlight as well as sunlight for photosynthesis. It combined transmutation magic with restoration and required an insane amount of magic that only an alicorn could provide. Star bounced around, nearly disturbing some of the writings, and halted just in time to avoid a vital section.

“Moon! We did it! And just in time for you to go! Only a week left…” Star said with a tinge of sadness. Nightmare Moon landed next to him, studying him carefully.

“Star? What is troubling thee?” She nudged him with a large wing, nearly sending him sprawling.

“Well, it’s just…I’m gonna miss you up here!” Star shouted, glomping Nightmare Moon and hugging her close. She sighed and let it continue for a moment, then shook him off.

“Thou does realize that I will try to break the curse on thee, correct?” Star nodded.

“I know, but it’s a super powerful spell. It might take months, maybe even years…well, probably less time for an alicorn, but still. Plus, if I do manage to get back, the immortality spell will wear off and I’ll probably start to actually age for once…it’ll take a while, because I’m like 25 physically, but still. I-I don’t want our fun times to end…” Nightmare Moon drew him close, one of her only voluntary hugs since her arrival.

“I admit, it will take a while to adjust to the lack of thou and thine games, but I promise that I will do my best to bring thee back to Equus. Alright?” Star sniffled, shaking free the tears creating dark tracks in the hairs near his eyes.

“O-Okay. I think I’ll actually be happy to age for once. It gets a bit weird when you’re in your mid-twenties forever, anyway.” A pause stretched for another few moments. “Ooh, let’s go test the spell out on that weird plant thing you summoned!”

XXX

Not soon enough and too soon, the day arrived. It had been exactly one thousand years since Nightmare Moon’s banishment, and it was the longest day of the year. She was practically vibrating with excitement; Star had helped her don her armor a full three hours before she was slated to leave. To pass the time…

“TAKE THAT, SISTER OF MINE!” A bolt of lightning split the cold moon air as it connected with the face of the solar diarch, sending her flying a good forty feet and skidding into the ground. A second blast created a crater beneath her, and a third encased her in a ball of dark lightning, smashing her into the ground over and over again.

“Whoah, nice combo move!” The illusion faded as Star stood up from his crater. “Wanna get one last round in?” The avenger of the night shook her head.

“My time is almost up here. The timer in my head is counting down to the last two minutes. I…I am glad that thou was here to help me through this. I will ensure that the curse binding thee to this accursed place is broken as soon as possible.” Tears began to form in the eyes of the unicorn she had slowly begun to call “friend”, and engulfed her in a warm hug.

“I’m gonna miss you, Moon. Remember, they’re just civilians. They deserve to be able to keep living their lives as normal even with your new empire, so don’t forget to reach out to them too.” Already strands of bright light had begun to wrap around Nightmare Moon, drawing her in the direction of Equus. She had only one last phrase to say before it completely engulfed her.

“See you soon, Star!”

XXX

Ah yes, the utter destruction of Celestia. That was what Nightmare Moon had strived for the entire time on the moon. Her hold on the host had been weakened from the distance between the crypt she was held in and the host, but now the connection was secure. That puny unicorn had done his best to sway the host from her path, but Nightmare Moon’s grip was too strong. And now… Equestria would pay for its sins, and the stallion on the moon would never be free!

XXX

One Week Later

“So, Princess Luna, how did you manage to keep all the plants alive during the endless night?” A lavender unicorn asked the rejuvenated lunar princess, curiosity sparking in her gaze. Luna tilted her head, confused.

“A spell? What kind of spell did thou see me cast?”

“Well, I don’t know how you managed to do it, but you someone allowed plants to absorb the light from stars because of the lack of sunlight. Quite ingenious, actually; I don’t think I’d be able to replicate it without months, or even years, of focus on that subject alone. Do you remember how you did it?” She sat forward in her cafe chair with anticipation.

Hm. How did I do it? Let’s sift through the memories on my time up there…I’ve been too afraid to look up until now…. With that, Luna began to focus on the scattered memories of the entity possessing her. What she came across surprised her.

An entire section of memory, dedicated just to the time banished, lay almost perfectly preserved. It seemed that there was some foreign emotion binding it together… was that joy? Friendship? It seemed appalling to Luna that Nightmare Moon had found a friend. What kind of evil had this unknown pony harbored inside of it? She slowly unbound the memory and was plunged into a series of echoes.

What started as tinges of strange feelings evolved into times of full-blown joy, romping around the moon and creating mock battles. In each of them, a grey unicorn smiled up at her, unbridled happiness shining in his eyes. She absorbed the memories in what felt like years but was actually closer to seconds, and closed her eyes as she returned to reality. Tears threatened to spill out of her forever-dry eyes, and she turned her head away from Twilight.

“Princess? What happened? Was it something I said?” Her tone was so chock-full of worry, but Luna couldn’t focus on that right now. She had…she had enjoyed herself up there on the moon. All because of a single pony…a single friend….

“To a-answer your question,” her voice threatened to break multiple times, “i-it was a friend. He f- We figured out a way to do it. It took us m-many years, but…” Twilight looked taken aback as Luna opened her eyes and blinked away the tears.

“W-What kind of pony could do something like that? You were Nightmare Moon for a thousand years. How did you manage to learn that? Was it beforehand? What was his name?”

“H-His name was Shining Star, he was an astronomer. He was the best pony I could ever have asked for…”

XXX

Three weeks. Three weeks she had to suffer through knowing that he was up there, all alone, and waiting for her to break the curse. Of course, she had to gather the proper materials, and do a bit of research on the topic, but still. Three weeks!

Twilight and Celestia stood by her at each side, sending each other cautious glances. They didn’t quite believe her when she said he was harmless, especially when she described the battles they had, but that didn’t matter now. All that mattered was that he was coming back.

“Let us begin.” With her curt command, the two beside her nodded and the trio charged their horns. They maneuvered into a triangle formation, focused on a large silver mirror in the center. Twilight’s lavender magic caused the surface of the mirror to ripple as if it were liquid, Celestia’s golden light gave the mirror depth, creating a small pocket extending past the original surface, and finally, Luna’s pitch-black magic opened the gateway and finalized the spell. A hoofservant applied the necessary stability items, a sack of arcanium gem dust and the hair of the magic-resistant Oni, to the portal where small rifts formed, and the entire castle shuddered.

Celestia and Twilight looked at the room around them with fear, but Luna simply pushed harder. The portal stabilized, and the runes on the sides of the mirror began to glow, holding the enchantment. With a grateful sigh, the two alicorns and the unicorn dropped the spell, as the portal began to swirl. Celestia turned to Luna.

“Are you sure this is worth it? This nearly destroyed all of Canterlot!” Luna turned to face her sister, and Celestia took a step back, startled at the sight of Luna’s eyes burning with determination and passion.

“This pony means the world to me. So help me Celestia, do not interfere.” The solar diarch bowed her head and moved off to the side of the room, followed closely by Twilight. A crackling sound drew Luna’s attention back to the portal.

Time seemed to slow as a single grey hoof passed through the swirling blackness that was the portal, waving around as if to see if it were real, then followed by a grey horn then the head, dark blue mane, withers, back hoofs, and finally the star-adorned flank and blue tail. The portal shut off just as he cleared the distance, and the unicorn collapsed onto the carpeted floor beneath him, staring down at it as if it weren’t real. His stunned gaze slowly moved upwards to meet Luna’s, whose gaze was starting to blur with tears of joy. He only had one thing to say before he leaped at her and embraced her deeply.
“Hey, Moon. Hmph, you were late!”