“Princess, why do you keep doing this?” Twilight Sparkle pleaded. “You did the right thing. We won.”

Luna peered up at her fellow princess from her seat on the other side of the great Map of Harmony. Twilight leaned forward in her chair—she hated calling it a throne—staring at her with those beautiful purple eyes. Eyes that had saved Luna and Equestria itself countless times.

Luna quickly looked back down at what was before her, unable to bear the shame of that gaze. Instead, she bore a far more familiar shame: one of failure.

“It has been nearly a month since the savage revenge of King Sombra upon us.” Luna’s hands played over the dozens upon dozens of newspapers. “Yet the events which transpired during the so-called ‘Crystal War’ is all anypony speaks of!”

“Sombra forced much of the Empire and Canterlot to live their darkest fears,” Twilight whispered, her voice little more than a shiver. “It stays with you, Princess.”

Luna looked back up, only to see Twilight looking back down. The young princess’s face bore a haunted expression. She wrapped her arms around herself, her long violet hair—interrupted only by a thin pink stripe—cascading around her face and casting it into shadow.

Luna mentally cursed herself a fool.

“I do not mean to diminish what you suffered,” Luna said in what she hoped was a soothing tone. “You have been subjected to his nightmares multiple times now…”

Twilight shivered again, her gentle lips whispering something Luna could not hear, nor did she wish to hear.

Despite her best effort, Luna’s gaze fell to one particular photograph on the front of an absurdist newspaper apparently called a ‘tabloid.’ It featured an old image of her own visage twisted into that of Nightmare Moon. The headline itself—Luna in League with Nightmare-Wielding Sombra?—was utter foolishness, of course.

Still, something about that image called to her, a distant memory of shadows in the earth.

Luna shook her head and focused on Twilight once more. It would not do to let her friend dwell on the monster’s nightmares.

“You fought the foul beast with your companions, banishing him back to the shadows whence he came,” Luna said. “We have nothing to fear from him. You yourself proved that.”

Twilight finally looked up and Luna felt her heart lift. A ghost of a smile played across her lips as her eyes glittered with thanks. Yet even that could not distract Luna fully.

“My trouble… is with this.”

Luna pointed at the centermost newspaper, showing an image of Starswirl, her sister and herself fighting against the Everfree Vines. Luna still did not know how anypony managed to get a picture of that event, but such knowledge would not help in this matter.

“Princesses Gardening as Canterlot Falls,” Luna read, her voice dull in the cavernous expanse of the map room.

“If you hadn’t stopped the Everfree, half of Equestria would have been consumed before we managed to even get to King Sombra!” Twilight protested.

“You are kind to say such a thing, dear Twilight.” Luna gave her a bittersweet smile. “And what you say is true… and also false.”

Luna causally worked her magic and sent the newspapers flying around the room. There were enough to encircle the entire map with Luna and Twilight included. She spun them around, creating an impromptu slideshow with Luna narrating.

“Tempest Shadow strikes down Cadance, my sister and myself within minutes of stepping upon on Equestrian soil,” Luna began. “The Everfree Vines surprise and abduct both my sister and I. Celestia felled by Chrysalis before the Court while I slept. Tirek conquers most of Equestria with little contest. Sombra’s first assault upon the Empire! Cozy Glow! The Pony of Shadows! Discord! More! Enemy after enemy! You were forced to endure it all!”

With a snarl she threw them all to the ground, huffing and gasping, her dress suddenly feeling too tight.

“My sister often held me back from other plans,” Luna growled. “All part of her great plan for your ascension or prepare you for taking up the mantle of guardians of the realm.”

“Other plans?” Twilight asked as she looked at the fallen newspapers. “What other plans?”

“I…” Luna hesitated.

Twilight’s head popped up and her eyes pierced Luna.

Luna couldn’t meet her gaze. In truth, she’d had trouble doing that for months now. But Twilight deserved to know some of the truth, at least.

“Celestia is an Elder Alicorn. You had never seen her in her full power, Twilight. She held herself back for your sake. Cadence is a Younger Alicorn—like yourself—and while her strength will continue to grow with time, she has not fully matured.”

Luna smiled to herself as she spied a paper with a photo of Twilight on her coronation day, looking resplendent and humble at the same time. Without thinking, she levitated the sole newspaper up and brushed the photo absently.

“You… your power comes from your friends and your innate ability to harness the most complex and powerful of magics.” Luna’s breath caught in her throat as she once again confronted the potential that made her shiver. “I daresay when you become an Elder Alicorn, you could remake the world as you saw fit with but a thought.”

“I… have no idea what to say to that,” Twilight squeaked, though Luna spied a brilliant blush running up her cheeks. It was a fetching color for her.

Luna chuckled. “And if I were in your shoes, nor would I. But it is the truth. Your future is a bright one, dear Twilight.”

“But… what about you?” Twilight asked, looking eager to change the topic. “Aren’t you an Elder Alicorn, too?”

Luna ran a hand through her star-filled mane, wishing those astral winds would let it lie dormant once in a while. She still didn’t meet Twilight’s eyes. Though, perhaps ‘couldn’t’ would be more accurate.

“I am indeed an Elder Alicorn, dear Twilight, though mostly in name. It will take centuries for me to be even half as strong as Celestia again.”

Luna slumped into her chair, the weight of that tiny part of her confession seeming to have drained her almost in full. She rubbed her forehead and sighed.

“But… why…?” Twilight asked from the other side of the table.

“Can you not think of why, dear Twilight?” Luna chuckled.

“I’d… rather not say…” Twilight hedged.

“I would know your thoughts, Princess of Friendship.” Luna kept her voice teasing. “Come now, do not leave me in the dark, so to speak.”

Twilight winced. “The Elements.”

Luna nodded slowly, curling up her legs beneath her. It wasn’t a dignified position for a princess, but she didn’t feel especially dignified at the moment.

“The Elements did this to you,” Twilight continued. “You once said yourself they ‘stripped you of your dark power’.”

“Ah yes,” Luna said ruefully. “I particularly fine moment as I declared that in the Royal Canterlot Voice. I believe I even summoned weather effects.”

Twilight giggled, a sound that soothed a bit of the turmoil in Luna’s soul. But only a bit.

“Go on, dear Twilight. You have one of the brightest minds of your generation. I enjoy watching it at work.”

While Luna didn’t catch her eye, she did glance up to see Twilight’s next blush. It was a fetching color on her, working well with that lavender coat of hers.

“It took over a year before you could appear in public after your restoration,” Twilight mumbled, almost to herself. “The Elements stripped you of more than your ‘dark power,’ didn’t they? They stripped you of nearly all of it!”

Luna nodded at her to continue. She had meant it when she had called Twilight one of the brightest minds of her generation. There were few who would doubt such a claim, but it was never in poor taste to affirm one’s strengths for one such as Twilight.

“You eventually took over control of the Moon, I know that. And you began to Dreamwalk once more. Beyond that…” she hesitated, “I don’t know.”

“Beyond that, I am perhaps a few hundred years more advanced in magical power than Cadance,” Luna finished with a sigh and a brittle smile. “The reason we attacked the ‘Everfree Front’ was due to me. During the first Crystal War, Celestia and I defeated Sombra in a long and brutal contest of weaponry and will. Despite the claims of a few surviving stories, it was not an easy task. As for today, Celestia could be overwhelmed if she were alone—as you have seen—and with my power still suffering… Sombra could have used me against her. We fled to prevent me from being used as a pawn.”

Luna let out a great groan and lay her head on the table.

“It is little wonder that these papers venerate you while ignoring or decrying us,” she muttered. “We have become all but useless, me more than any other.”

Soft footsteps echoed in the large crystalline chamber. Luna remained staring at the table. When the footsteps stopped, a hand fell upon her shoulder, squeezing tightly.

Luna looked up once more.

There had been a day when she had seen the mare beside her as an enemy to be enslaved or destroyed, a catspaw of Celestia’s machinations. After that, she had become a rival for her sister’s platonic affections. But after all Twilight Sparkle had done for her in these long years, any such resentment had faded. In the grip of her fellow princess, Luna felt a strength and wisdom that would one day allow Twilight Sparkle to walk among the stars.

It made her heart race to just be here in this moment, seeing a Goddess in her infancy.

The being comforting her would one day become a divine force that would dwarf both Celestia and Luna in power. Creation itself would be hers and every world would be blessed by the simple brush of a delicate lavender fingertip.

Luna envied her for that.

“I must apologize,” Luna coughed as she straightened herself an adjusted the bodice of her dress. “I find myself becoming maudlin and you deserve better companionship than that.”

“I asked you to come down for tea, Princess,” Twilight smiled at her. That only made things that much harder. “I’ve seen how you’ve been down since the attack. I wanted to see if I could help. I’m glad you shared this with me. Honored even.”

Luna leaned back to take in this kind soul reaching out to her. She was, of course, beautiful as only an alicorn could be. Her large breasts were neatly confined within her white professional button-down blouse. She wore her traditional black skirt that reached all the way down to just above the knee. Most important, her smiling face and gentle eyes held no judgment or recrimination.

“You guide Equestria in ways I could never dream of, Luna,” Twilight whispered with a gentle, friendly smile. “You guard our dreams and you deal with the night-to-night care of an entire nation. That’s no small feat. And you are respected for it.”

Luna swallowed, allowing herself to believe the confidence in Twilight’s eyes. “You are correct, of course. These are not the days before Nightmare Moon.”

“No, they definitely are not,” Twilight agreed wholeheartedly.

“Forgive me, Twilight,” Luna said as she put her own hand on Twilight’s, enjoying the warmth. “I fear the newspapers have gotten to me as of late.”

“It happens,” Twilight smirked a little. “Trust me, I know.”

“I suppose you do at that,” Luna chuckled as she summoned her newspapers to her. She stacked them carefully in order… with Nightmare Moon on the top. The image didn’t shame her nearly as much as it once had. Then, she shunted them all into the small pocket dimension she kept nearby. “There, we need not speak of such things any longer. Tell me, Twilight, what new feats of magic have you wrought? I hope your school has not taken every free moment of your time?”

Instantly, Luna saw the giddy twinkle in Twilight’s eye.

“Oh, I have a thing or two that might impress even you,” Twilight said in her best attempt at being sly. She wasn’t very good at it.

In fact, it tended to make her friend rather endearing.

“I can’t wait to see it.”

Author's Note

Ooof, Luna's got it rough. Totes! Tia's got her reasons (good or bad), but Luna~? She WAS one of those baddies that had to get blasted by the cutest bookworm in Equestria~! Totes rough!

Lemme know about any mistakes by PM so I can fix 'em~!