The Moon's Precious Little Star

Arriving back at the castle with her guard, Luna remembered that her sister was most likely holding court at this time of day. Turning, She ordered a guard to inform her of their arrival. After a few minutes, the castle doors opened, and one by one, commoner and noble alike came out through the doors. Each of them stopped and looked at the cultists for a moment before continuing on their way. Once the stream of ponies exiting the castle ended, Luna and her bat ponies marched the cultists into the main hall and throne room.

Sitting on her throne, Celestia had a good vantage point to watch as her sister marched a group of ponies into the room, each one of them led in by a guard and in chains. Furious that her sister ignored her warnings about detaining the cults, the solar princess practically leaped off her thone and stomped her way over to her sister. Seeing Celestia's angered strides, each thestral of the night guard back a few feet out of fear as she got closer, but luna barely paid her sister any mind.

"Luna, I thought we agreed not to arrest anypony. Didn't you listen to a single word I said!?" Celestia accused with an edge in her voice so hard it would have made a full-grown griffon wet himself. Feeling her ire rise, Luna swiftly spun around to face her sister.

"No, you said we shouldn't arrest them, nit I never agreed to that," Luna said as she poked her sister in the chest with a hoof. "And yes, I did listen to what you said, but do you know what they were about to do?" Luna asked her "all-knowing" sister but didn't give her time to answer. "They were going to attack the thestral village, and I was not about to stand around and do nothing while innocent ponies were in danger!" Celestia couldn't believe what she was hearing; she knew that the cultists had an issue with her sister and the night guard, but to slaughter innocent ponies for simply being what they were was something she couldn't wrap her head around. The only thing she knew for sure was that Luna would never lie about something of such severity.

"Lulu, I'm sorry for snapping at you like that, and if what you say is true, then maybe I was wrong, and I need to rethink my strategy for dealing with these cults," Celestia said, catching her sister off guard and leaving her the one to not believe what she was hearing. Not once in her long life did Luna ever hear her sister say she was wrong about something; she always played up the all-knowing Alicorn act, but now after long last, did she admit she was wrong about something.

"I accept your apology, Tia. Now, if you'll excuse, I need to get these cultists to the dungeon, and then I need to go back to bed," Luna said as she trotted around and away from her sister.

"Wait before you go; there's something of great importance that I need to talk to you about," Celestia shouted after her sister.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait a little bit," Luna yelled back.

"Lulu wai- and she's gone. The day monarch let out an aggravated sigh before walking back to her thone. "I guess we'll have to do this the hard way then."

Entering the castle dungeons, Luna marched her way past the cells containing the cultists, ignoring the sneers, insults and calls for her death until she reached the cell holding Celestial Ascendant.

"Did you come to gloat, demon?" Ascendant asked the night princess, the contempt in his voice clear as day. With a tired sigh, Luna shook her head.

"No, I have come to ask you to denounce all that you have done and to disband your group officially. If you do, I can guarantee you a lighter sentence," Luna offered the cult leader, who snorted with disdain.

"I may have surrendered, demon, but I will never stop fighting you, and if my sentence is to be death, then I will happily become a martyr for our cause!" The cult leader turned his back to the night princess and stared at the wall with nothing more to say.

"why?" Luna asked. Expecting more anger and vitriol, Ascendant turned back to face the night Alicorn and saw not a demon, nor a proud princess, but a pony that has been shunned and reviled for merely being who she was. "Why do you hate me so much? Whatever did I do to make you and the other ponies shun me and my night?" Luna asked as she fought back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. Ascendant couldn't believe what he was seeing; here was the demon he vowed to help defeat, looking so sad and vulnerable and looking as if the following words he spoke would shatter her into tiny pieces. For whatever reason, Ascendant couldn't bring himself to say what he wanted and turned his head away from the princess out of shame and didn't utter a single word. Seeing that the cult leader wasn't going to give her what she wanted, Luna turned away from the cell and stormed her way out of the dungeons, chastising herself for ever thinking she could reason with these ponies.

After Luna exited the dungeon and made it back to the main hall, her sister once again attempted to engage her on the crucial matter she wanted to discuss. Luna was not in the mood to deal with anything and pushed past her sister and exited the hall. The princess of the night raced through the halls of the castle, ignoring every and all ponies she passed until she reached her room. Throwing open the doors, she stepped into her room and immediately moved the bookshelf out of the way so she could pull the chain behind it. The secret entrance started to open as Luna reached it, and being that she was in a hurry, she didn't wait for it to finish opening and squeezed her way inside.

"Have you been a good colt, Orion?" Luna asked as she entered her son's secret room. Walking up to the crib, she took hold of the blanket and pulled it away, expecting Orion to be there; instead, she saw that her son wasn't there at all. Instantly panicking, Luna's mind raced with many different possibilities on what happened to him, the worst of which was that her sister found him. As Luna continued to panic, she tore the room apart in vain, hoping that her son was playing a game with her and hiding. Once the princess had thoroughly destroyed the room, she began marching to confront her sister when a thought occurred to her. Wait a minute, I don't remember putting Orion back in his crib when I left. Smacking herself on the side of her head, Luna remembered that in her haste to assemble the night guard, she left Orion on her bed. The princess of the night let out a relieved sigh and slowly put the room back together before trotting out of the camber and back into her room.

When Luna exited the chamber, she eyed her bed and looked for the form of her son, but the way the blankets were bundled up made it impossible for her to spot him. Given that she also couldn't hear anything coming from the bed, Luna figured that she must still be asleep and slowly tip hoofed her way over to the bed. Creeping up on the piece of furniture, she ignited her horn and pulled the blankets away, and her heart nearly stopped when she saw that Orion wasn't there either. Just as she did with the secret chamber, the princess of the night began to panic and started tearing her room apart. Using her Alicorn strength that could rival that of a minotaur's, Luna threw the furniture out of her way in the desperate search for her son. After a scant few minutes, the night princess' room looked like a pegasus conjured a tornado into, and yes, she didn't find Orion; he just wasn't there. Thoughts of her son crawling his way through the halls of the castle filled the princess' mind. The image of Celestia coming across him and taking him away either to put him in an orphanage or to keep for herself played over and over in her head until she could no longer stand it and sprung into action.

Luna violently threw open the doors to her room, easily tearing one of them clean off of its hinges and leaving the other askew before flying down the halls of the castle. Racing through the halls, Luna looked in every nook and cranny for her son, hoping that she could find him before her sister did and take him away from her forever. As she searched, the princess would stop every pony she saw and ask them if anything small and strange was moving through the castle. Unfortunately, none of them would answer her as her frayed state of mind made her look like she was mad. Rapidly realizing that asking the castle staff for assistance was futile, Luna ignored all ponies in the halls and began to search the rooms, the first being the quarters of her twin maids as that was the most likely place he could be.

The twins jumped out of bed when Luna threw open the doors to the room. The princess didn't even wait for the two of them to respond before she began her search. Both mares looked at each other, confused and wondering what caused their princess to be in such a state.

"Princess Luna, what's going on? Why are you destroying our room?" Crimson Mist asked.

"Orion is missing," Luna told the maid without looking at her nor ceasing her search. Instantly understanding the gravity of the situation, both twins offered their services to help find their princess' son. Thanking the maids for their assistance, Luna directed Crimson Mist to search the east end of the castle while Silver Wind would comb through the west. As the two sisters started to gallop down the hall, Luna stopped them and ordered that they avoid the day guard and her sister as much as possible. Understanding completely, the twins nodded and once again began galloping away, and once they were out of sight, the night princess allowed herself to calm down and, with a clear head, began wondering where her son could have gone. While she was deep in thought, Luna failed to notice the pony approaching her from behind and only realized when he loudly cleared his throat. Startled by the sudden sound, Luna spun around and stared at the guardstallion standing before her, wondering what he wanted as he just stood there.

"Princess Luna, your sister princess Celesti has requested your presence," the guard said to her in an overly formal tone.

"Yes, well. I'm sorry to disappoint my sister, but I', currently in the middle of something important at the moment," Luna replied to the guard's message before turning away from him.

"She says it's urgent," The guardstallion insisted. "The princess also says it has to do with your little secret." The way the guard emphasized the words little secret told Luna all she needed to know, and she spun back around to ask him to clarify, but he was already walking away from her and ignored her calls for him to stop. Alright, let's go and see what my sister has to say. Luna thought to herself as she began walking towards the throne room.

Standing in front of the throne room doors, Luna looked around and noticed that there wasn't a single pony around: not even the guards. It was clear to Luna that her sister was expecting something to happen between them and had ordered every pony from the castle. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Luna pushed all negative thoughts to the back of her mind and pushed open the massive double doors. The princess of the night stepped into the throne room and immediately spotted her sister sitting on her throne, which wasn't all that unusual for this time of day, but what she was holding turned her blood ice cold. While it wasn't easy to see from the far end of the room, Luna could see the unmistakable form of her son nestled in her sister's wing.

"Ah, Lulu, I'm so glad that you could join us," Celestia said with a smile when she noticed her sister approach. "There is an important matter we need to discuss."

"yes, we do, and I think it should be about respecting others' personal space," Luna stated with barely contained anger evident in her voice.

"Are you talking about when I took this little one from your room?" The day princess asked with a knowing smile, to which Luna curtly nodded, not trusting herself to speak for fear she would say something she regretted. "After you and the night guard went to go and confront the disciples of the sun, I paused court to go for a walk to clear my head as I was furious at your actions. When I got close to your room, I could her crying; poking my head inside, I saw this strange and unusual foal tangled in the blankets of your bed. Freeing it from its predicament, I took it and placed it in a basket behind my throne and waited for you to return so we could discuss your actions regarding it," Celestia explained to her sister, utterly oblivious to her continually rising anger.

"Orion," Luna muttered under her breath.

"What was that, sister?" Celestia asked, hearing her sister speak but not quite making out what she said.

"His name is Orion!" Luna snapped and yelled at her sister, stretching the use of the royal voice. The entire room shook with how loud the night princess was, and out of the corner of her eye, Celestia could see the windows vibrating as if they would break at any moment. When the room stopped shaking, the princess of the sun looked down at her younger sister and frowned. So I was right in my assumptions, she thought to herself as she stood up and walked down to Luna.

"Now that your little temper tantrum is over, do you have anything to say for yourself?" Celestia asked with a disappointed tone in her voice.

"Yes, give me back my son!" Luna demanded of her sister, not even taking note of her disappointed tone.

"I'm sorry, Lulu, but I can't do that," Celestia said with a shake of her head.

"Why the buck not?" Luna asked, her anger rising once again.

"Because he's not your don, Lulu, he belongs to his real parents; you had no right in taking him from them!" The princess of the night couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her sister thought that she had taken Orion from his birth parents like some villain from a foals book.

"Do you have such a low opinion of me that you would think me capable of foalnapping a child from their parents, Tia?"

"I don't know, Lulu," Celestia said with a certainty that to Luna felt like her sister just stabbed her in the heart. "All I know is that you have been keeping a strange foal locked away in your room and that you have been keeping him a secret," Celestia said with a frustrated sigh. "If you didn't steal him, then you will have no trouble telling me how you came across him?" Letting out an irritated groan, Luna reluctantly nodded and told her sister how she found Orion — telling her about when she went to their garden and encountered him in the rose bush. She recounted, trying to inform her of his existence and what she should do with him, but her heavy sleeping prevented that. Luna then explained that the way Orion would laugh and giggle at almost anything she said without a hint of fear made her happier than she had ever been and helped convince her to keep him and raise him as the prince of the night.

When were you going to tell me about him?" Celestia asked, interrupting Luna's story. The night princess knew this question would come up at some point, and dreading her sister's reaction to the answer; she nervously kicked the floor.

When he was old enough that separating us would have been cruel," Luna nervously replied. Silence quickly descended on the throne room, and to the younger Alicorn, it was worse than if her sister started to scold her. Taking a chance, Luna raised her head to look up at her sister, and as soon as she did, she regretted it. One of the most significant powers her sister had did not pertain to her magical prowess but her ability to make any creature feel guilty. With just a simple look of disappointment, she could get a battle-hardened veteran who resisted torture to confess everything, even the time they stole a cookie when he was a colt. Hell Luna also saw her reduce a full-grown male griffon to tears with that look: now it was being turned on her. Thankfully for the night princess, she had seen her sister use that same look on several ponies and so had partial immunity to its effects.

"Alright, I get it, sister being deceitful is wrong. Can I have my son back so we can go to sleep?" Luna begged.

"No," Celestia curtly responded.

"No, what do you mean, no?" Luna asked.

"Lulu, he's bot yours to keep or take at a whim, he has a family out there, and we need to return him to them," Celestia stated plainly.

"Tia, I found him abandoned in our garden in the middle of the Everfree. I highly doubt they are still alive."

"Be that as it may, we are the immortal rulers of Equestria, and we have sworn to put the needs of our ponies above our happiness, we can not allow ourselves to put our selfishness above their needs, I'm sorry, Lulu, but if I can't find his parents I will put him in a foster home, be assured that I'll make sure that Orion is well taken care of." For that second time in a short while, Luna couldn't believe what she was hearing. Orion made her happier than she had ever been in a long time, and now her sister was trying to take him away. Igniting her horn, the princess of the night took hold of the moon and moved the celestial body across the sky until it blocked out the sun. Noticing the shadows descending on the throne room, Celestia looked up and saw the moon eclipsing her sun. Spinning around to face her sister, she saw her hirn lit and the look of pure and ger and hatred on her face. Luna, what are you doing? Stop this foalishness at once!" Celestia ordered, to which the nigh princess scoffed and vigorously shook her head.

"You will return Orion to me, or I will make sure this eclipse lasts forever!" The longer Luna defied her sister, the more she could feel the dark presence in her mind push forward. As it got closer to the forefront of her consciousness, the princess' round pony eyes became daggers, looking like that of a dragon's.

"Please, Lulu, stop this; you can't do this! You can't allow your emotions to control you!" Celestia begged, but it was already too late. Her sister was long past listening to her and wouldn't stop until she got what she wanted. Letting out a long, drawn-out sigh, Celestia levitated Orion out of her wing and placed him into the basked she had behind her throne. She ensured he was tucked in properly before casting a protective barrier around him, knowing that he would be in harm's way in a few seconds. Turning to face her sister, the day princess could see the expectant look on her sister's face as she waited for her to return Orion to her. "You can stop looking at me like that, Lulu; I will not compromise my morals for any pony, not even you." Luna could no longer take her sister's stubborn refusal to give up Orion and launched herself towards Celestia.

Bearing her teeth which had now formed into fangs, Luna went straight for her sister's throat. Seeing her sister's attack coming, Celestia stepped to the side and watched as she flew past her and slammed headfirst into her throne. Quickly Recovering from her lunge, Luna sprung back up and tried again; this time, her sister didn't dodge the attack but conjured a shield that the night princess bounced off of and into the other throne. Feeling her anger reaching its boiling point, Luna fired off a beam of magic at her sister so large that it engulfed the barrier surrounding her. The shield protecting Celestia flickered as if it would fail at any moment; thankfully for her, it just barely managed to hold. When the blinding beam of magic finally stopped, Celestia rubbed her eyes with a hoof, and what she saw when her sight returned shocked her beyond belief. Standing right where her sister was, was a strange mare that was as tall as she was with a dark black coat. Het mane was much lighter and moved as if it had a mind of its own.

"I am Nightmare Moon, and the night shall last forever!" The mare bellowed before she threw her head back and started cackling. As soon as Nightmare Moon finished her cackle, she fired off another beam of magic at the sun, Alicorn. Though it wasn't as large as the one Luna fired off, it was much more potent and effortlessly shattered Celestia's barrier. Caught utterly off guard, Celestia started to panic and began haphazardly evading the follow-up attacks from her corrupted sister. Taking a glance over her shoulder, the sun princess could see the beams of magic blast apart and slice through the stone walls of the castle. I have a feeling that whichever of us wins this battle, we still lose our home, Celestia thought to herself with a sigh. With her momentary lapse in focus, Celestia failed to notice how close one of Nightmare Moon's attacks was too striking her in the chest and barely managed to evade. While she may have avoided taking her sister's attack directly, The beam still managed to graze Celestia's shoulder, burning it badly. The day monarch let out a pained yelp as she felt the intense burning of the attack as it passed her, burning away her coat and leaving an angry red burn as well as leaving the fur surrounding it blackened. The beam continued its trajectory until it impacted the ceiling and blasted a massive hole in the roof, which Celestia quickly flew through to give herself more breathing room.

When she was out of the castle, Celestia immediately spun around and fired off her own magical attack as her corrupted sister. Uncaring of her pain, Nightmare Moon powered through the assault and sped towards Celestia with the intent of impaling her on her horn. The sun princess threw out a shield a few feet in front of her and expected her sister to bounce off of it like last time, but once Nightmare Moon impacted the shield, she stayed where she was. Flapping her wings as hard as she could, the corrupted Alicorn continued to put pressure on her sister's defences until cracks started to appear and began to fail against her determination. With the sound of glass, the shield protecting the princess of the sun shattered, and the dark Alicorn continued her momentum. Thankfully for Celestia, Nightmare Moo's trajectory was redirected a little, and for the second time in a few seconds, she was saved from being hit dead center; Unfortunately, she couldn't say the same for her shoulder as her sister's horn impaled it. Screaming out in pain, the sun princess reacted out of instinct and smacked her corrupted sister as hard as she could in the muzzle, ripping her horn from her shoulder and sending her flying a few feet away. Looking down at the hole that now existed in her, Celestia could see her blood pour freely from the wound, staining her white coat red. Turning her head away from the now red-stained leg, the princess of the sun eyed the dark Alicorn that was her sister and watched as she gleefully lapped at the crimson liquid that ran down her horn.

"Ah, the blood of the sun is as tasty as I imagined," Nightmare Moon said with a dark chuckle and a smile that made Celestia's blood ice cold. "I can't wait to try more!" The corrupted Alicorn erected a wall of magic around herself, but unlike her sister, she had no intention of using it for simple defence as large menacing spikes sprouted from its surface. Knowing full well what her corrupted sister intended, Celestia mirrored her sand conjured her own offensive barrier and charged Nightmare MoonThe two powerful beings clashed, and the force of the collision combined with their raw magical power produced a shockwave strong enough that it shook the ground beneath them and created an earthquake that could be felt all across Equestria. Again and again, the two Alicorns collided, each creating a shockwave that rattled the damaged castle below, which helped to destroy it further. The longer the two princesses battled, the more haggard and wounded they became as the spikes on their barriers easily pierced the other, repeatedly cutting and impaling the two Alicorns. Staring each other down, the princesses braced themselves for one final attack as neither of them could afford to drag this out any longer. I had hoped Luna would be able to get a hold of herself by this point, but it seems I have no choice; I have to use the elements. I'm so sorry, Lulu, but I can't allow you to plunge the world into darkness. As Celestia finalized her plan, Nightmare Moon began her charge, and rather than start her own, Celestia stood her ground, waiting for her sister to get close before making her move. The corrupted Alicorn was about halfway to the sun monarch when she suddenly stopped and snapped her head towards the castle. Surprised at her sister's sudden hesitance, Celestia turned to their destroyed home herself and attempted to figure out what made Nightmare Moon stop. After only a few seconds, the princess of the day heard the sounds of a crying foal, and immediately she knew what had stopped her sister, who when she turned back to her was gone. Having no idea what her sister would do to Orion in her twisted state, Celestia dispelled her barrier and raced after Nightmare Moon.

Landing back in the throne room, the sun princess watched as her corrupted sister effortlessly smashed the barrier she created to keep Orion safe. As the dark Alicorn reached for him, Celestia crouched down and prepared herself to stop her, but she stopped when she way the look of motherly concern on Nightmare Moon's face. Celestia relaxed and watched as her sister's coat began to lighten and as she started to shrink back down to her original size. Just as quickly as the corrupted Alicorn arrived, Nightmare Moon was gone, and princess Luna was left cradling her son in her wing. Seeing the look of utter happiness her sister had as she held the foal, Celestia let out a tired sigh and wiled up to the two of them. Noticing her sister's approach, Luna pulled Orion to the other side to keep him out of Celestia's sight.

"There's no need for that, Lulu. I know see how much you care for him, and I now realize that I may have been rash in my decision to separate the two of you," Celestia said, much to you night princess' shock.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Luna asked, needing to hear the exact words from her sister to believe her.

"Yes, Luna, you can raise him as your son without any interference from me." Hearing Celestia's words, Luna jumped up and hugged her older sister, thanking her over and over as she cried tears of joy.

Destruction, death, madness, these were the things Luna saw every day since her battle with her sister when she was Nightmare Moon. The second she closed her eyes, she would see the same nightmare each and every time. Unable to move, she was forced to watch as her dark persona would strike down her sister with ease and drink her blood as if she were a vampony. Next, her doppelganger would go into the castle and shatter the barrier protecting her son; showing cleat signs of disdain for the foal, she lifted her leg as if to squash a bug. With an animalistic snarl, the dark Alicorn brought her hoof down on Orion as hard as she could; thankfully, for Luna, she woke up just before the impact.

Sitting up in bed, Luna let out a frustrated groan and wiped the sweat from her face that formed as she tossed and turned while she suffered from her nightmare. Needing to calm herself, the princess of the night turned to the crib that her son slept in, and when she saw that he wasn't there, she muttered a curse under her breath. Luna lazily slid out of bed, quickly brushed her mane before exiting her room and slowly shuffled her way through the hall to the stairs that led into the living room. Steadily descending the stairs, luna entered the living room and saw a sight that warmed her heart even though she was annoyed. Laying in the middle of the room on her stomach and stretched out was her sister with Orion safely in-between her front legs. For a few minutes, Luna just stood in the doorway and watched as the over a thousand years old Alicorn who moved the sun spoke incomprehensible gibberish to her son while tickling him with her wingtips.

"You know, sister, if you keep stealing him from his crib, he's never going to have a normal sleeping cycle," Luna finally spoke up, startling the other Alicorn. Standing up as regally as she could, Celestia dusted herself off and faced her sister.

"Well, what can I do? We have entirely different schedules, the only time I can see my nephew is just before the sunrise, and he's usually asleep by then."

"And to think that just a month ago you were so insistent that I couldn't keep him, now I can't seem to wake without finding my son missing from his crib," Luna said as she crossed the room to pick up her son. "Seeing that I'm awake now, why don't we do and check on the progress of the castle?" The night princess asked, and Celestia nodded her head in agreement.

After the battle between Celestia and the corrupted form of Luna, the two princesses were left without a home. Word of what transpired rapidly spread across the kingdom, and many ponies came to see if their princesses were alright. Once the two Alicorns assured the nation's citizens, they informed them of their plan to move the capital to the Canterhorn. Immediately the two of them were met with praise and the cries of ponies willing to volunteer to help in any way they could. Celestia and Luna tried to dissuade them, saying they had contracted several construction companies. The last thing they wanted was for their little ponies to inconvenience themselves for no reason, especially over their own mistakes, but they were having none of it and vowed to build them a temporary home until the construction ponies finished the new castle.

The two Alicorns stepped out of their temporary home and looked up to see that half of the new palace was done thanks to the construction team's dedication to seeing it done as quickly as possible. It would still take a few years until it became a capital worthy of the name, but the two princesses were confident that it would be grand no matter how long it took.

"Look, Oron, that will be our new home once it's finished, and this time you won't need to be locked away and kept secret," Luna said to her son. "I just hope that our little ponies can accept you as fast as my sister did." The princess of the night felt Celestia drape her wing over her withers.

"I'm sure they will, Lulu, I'm sure they will," Celestia reassured her sister. Whether she believed her or not, Luna pushed her negative thoughts to the back of her mind and decided that they would cross that bridge when they got there. For now, she just wanted to enjoy the happiness she felt with her family.