A Story Passed Down for A Thousand Years
“Children, please!” a frazzled stallion scolded wearily.
Scattered across the library’s brightly colored kids’ section, fillies and colts dashed between bookshelves and weaved through tables in an impromptu game of tag. Ponies in other sections of the library tried to ignore the scene, pulling their books closer. However, their actions did little to block out the cacophony of squeals and giggles. All around the large open area, mares and stallions gave sidelong glares to the unfortunate soul tasked with bringing order and education to the group of rambunctious children.
“I know this may be your first time visiting the library,” the stallion said loudly, hoping that the other ponies could hear him, “but I expect better out of students from Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted—”
“YOU’RE IT!” said a colt as he galloped past his teacher, oblivious to the frustrated sigh that escaped the stallion’s snout.
“That’s it. Enough! Children, this is a library, and I will not tolerate this kind of—Whoa!”
A filly burst from underneath his legs, knocking him off balance, and nearly bowling him over when a colt quickly followed behind her. Stumbling forward, the teacher tripped over a book lying carelessly on the ground, and he could feel himself falling face-first into a hard, wooden table before something suddenly yanked him back on his hooves.
“Don’t worry, Quill, it’s okay.” The deep, warm voice came from an older stallion as he pulled the teacher upright. “It’s still your first week here; you’ll get the hang of it.” In a much louder voice, the older stallion continued, “As for the kids, I guess they’re just not interested in hearing about Celestia’s sister.”
Over a dozen small heads turned to see the graying stallion’s sly, knowing smile.
After a long, confused moment of silence, one brave—or defiant—blue unicorn filly replied, “The Princess doesn’t have a sister.”
“Oh ho, but she does!” the wizened stallion shot back. “How else do you think the ‘Castle of the Two Sisters’ out in the Everfree Forest got its name?”
“Then why don’t we ever see her?” a colt asked.
“And how come no one ever talks about her?” the filly chimed in again.
“Well, that’s what I was going to tell you about today.” Turning away from the children, the stallion took a few steps away. “Since no one’s interested though…”
“Was she pretty?”
“Hmm?” The stallion cast his head towards the voice coming from behind him.
A small colt scuffed his hooves against the floor shyly. “Was she pretty?”
Without shifting the rest of his body, he replied, “Very. Some say she was prettier than Princess Celestia herself.”
“Was she an Alicorn too?” This time, the voice came from a green filly.
The stallion glanced over to the curious filly and said, “Yes. An incredibly powerful one at that.”
“Did… Did she and the Princess… did they get along?” a purple filly with pink streaks in her hair asked timidly.
Finally turning back towards the inquisitive children, he walked slowly towards the filly and lowered his head. “And why would you like to know that, Little One?”
She looked at down the ground, hesitant to respond, and twiddled a hoof on the floor.
“The others want to know about where she is and what she looks like, but you want to know about how she got along with her sister. Is there a reason you’d like to know?”
“Sometimes me and my brother don’t get along. Sometimes we fight,” she whispered. “Today he got angry at me when I spilled milk on his comic book.”
“Mmm, I see.” The stallion nodded his head sagely. “Then I believe I have a story for you. Would you like to hear it, Little One?”
With a bashful grin, she slowly nodded.
Raising himself back up to his full height, the stallion smiled at the children. “All right, it looks like you are interested in hearing more about Celestia’s sister.”
A cheer rose from the fillies and colts, much to the chagrin of their embarrassed teacher, who smiled apologetically as ponies around the library glared at him.
“Gather ’round everypony,” the older stallion said as he gently lowered himself onto a pillow at the edge of a large carpet circle. “It’s time for you to hear The Tale of the Two Sisters.”
Peeking over a bookshelf at the far corner of the children’s section, a tall white mare smiled delicately while the fillies and colts plopped down onto pillows and listened as the storyteller began.
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Long ago, before we mortals walked Equus, perhaps even before Equus itself, there were two sisters. Celestia, the elder, and Luna, the younger. One born of Day, and one born of Night. Greater than all other beings—immortal siblings imbued with magic of unicorns, wings of pegasi, and strength of earth ponies—they were Alicorns.
Together, through their strength and wisdom, they united the three pony tribes and justly ruled over them with a gentle hoof. Celestia, the mighty Alicorn Princess of the Day, guided the sun across the sky as it shone down on the ponies below. And once the sun set, Luna, the majestic Alicorn Princess of the Night, painted the skies with light and color for the creatures underneath her moon. Equestria flourished.
But not all was well.
While her sister ruled the day, Luna lay awake quietly, alone in her bed. Every day, rulers came from all across Equus, even as far as the Dragonlands, to offer gifts and their love to Celestia. The Princess’ younger sister, however, was often ignored.
Ponies came to the castle and sang songs of praise to the Princess of the Day for keeping the sun aloft, for making their crops grow, for blessing them with warm days and beautiful sunsets. And at the end of each day, ponies returned to their cozy beds, and slept through Luna’s glorious night. Nopony came to visit her courts, let alone offer her presents or their affections.
At times, ponies struggled to remember her name.
Luna loved her sister, and she loved the ponies of Equestria, but she felt lonely, unloved, forgotten. One evening, Princess Luna went to her sister with these feelings, but Celestia couldn’t understand what vexed her sister so. Princess Celestia’s days were filled with ponies hungry for her attention; she would have gladly traded places with Luna for a moment of peace. Little did she know what truly filled Luna’s days.
Locked away in the sisters’ castle or roaming the forests alone, the Princess of the Night would often draw beautiful pictures with the stars—constellations, she called them—hoping ponies would see them. But they could barely make them out.
She shot streaks of blazing light through the sky—shooting stars, as they came to be known—praying that ponies would notice. But they hardly bothered to look up.
She breathed vibrant, living colors into the sky—named “aurora,” because it was the only name that could match their beauty—desperate for ponies to watch her labors. But they never watched them.
No, Luna’s days were filled with loneliness, not peace. Luna tried to tell her sister this, but Celestia would not hear it. The Princess of the Day was still too immature, too foalish.
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An audible gasp rose from the carpet circle.
“B-bu-but Celestia is the smartest pony there is!”
“And-and-and she’s so mature,” a red colt chimed in, “I bet she can read the weird magazines my dad hides underneath his toolbox in the shed!”
“I bet she could,” the storyteller said, smirking at the colt’s furiously blushing teacher. “Even in her younger years, Princess Celestia was a wise ruler, but sisterhood didn’t come as easily to her.”
Turning towards the purple filly once more, the old stallion continued, “Celestia loves her sister—just like your brother loves you, Little One—but sometimes siblings don’t get along. Sometimes, they say things they wish they hadn’t, and sometimes, they make mistakes.”
“Like spilling milk on comic books?” the filly asked, her voice tinged with shame.
“Yes, like spilling milk on comic books,” the storyteller replied, “but you’re not the first sister to make a mistake, you know. Oh no, Luna once made a terrible mistake, one that nearly destroyed all of Equestria, but Princess Celestia still forgave her.”
“She did?” a colt sitting beside the purple filly asked.
“Yes.” As the stallion’s vision drifted outside the children’s section of the library, a hint of sadness had crept into his throat. “She did.”
The library finally fell quiet. Neither the foals nor their teacher could find enough strength to break the silence that weighed so heavily upon the stallion. One or two of the foals began to fidget as the air grew uncomfortable, and the stallion let out a gruff chuckle as he saw them from the corner of his eye.
“That’s all near the end of the story, though,” the storyteller continued, offering the children a tender smile, “and I’m not going to spoil it for you. Now, as I was saying...”
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Princess Celestia could not understand what troubled her sister so, and she was not interested in understanding. When Luna wasn’t locked away in her bedroom, she moped around the castle as like a pouting foal. Even when Celestia invited her to the many parties and dances that their castle hosted, Princess Luna remained quiet and withdrawn. Her sister frustrated Celestia to no end.
Eventually, the Princess of the Night stopped coming altogether, not that anypony really noticed.
In truth, it pleased Princess Celestia that she no longer had to watch over her sister. Without Luna, Celestia could enjoy the food, dancing, and excitement that every celebration brought—without the burden of nagging her sister to enjoy the party.
Perhaps the only one pony who felt sad about the Princess of the Night’s absence was Luna herself.
Luna rarely spoke to anypony at the celebrations her sister organized, although she wished she could. A few brave ponies tried to speak with her over the years, but when they did, Luna’s tongue tied itself in knots. Tongue-tied or not, however, Luna would have gladly accepted a noble’s attention or danced with a stallion.
Princess Celestia was gifted with a dazzling personality and warm smile, and ponies loved her for it, but ponies were not as kind to Equestria’s other Princess. At times, Luna doubted they even knew who she was. And in those moments, she hated seeing their happy faces sipping wine and laughing at jokes spoken in hushed whispers. They were mocking her, she knew it.
Insults directed at her poor fashion sense, jabs at her awkward behavior, barbs about her lesser place in politics—what else could they be speaking of?
Though truthfully, ponies didn’t even know enough about Luna to mock her, let alone make a joke about her. Luna was as mysterious as the night itself, and distant as the moon. Years passed by, and as each one came and went, the Princess of the Night became more withdrawn.
That is, until one day, when something magical happened.
Late in the night—far too late for ponies to be awake, let alone colts and fillies—Princess Luna and Star Swirl the Bearded studied magic in the castle library, as they often did. Candles lit the room just enough to read, leaving the corners steeped in shadows. Darkness stretched to the ceiling, but the desk they shared was surrounded by the flame’s orange glow, where the grouchy old wizard read aloud from a particularly boring, dusty book.
A book which has thankfully been lost to time.
Eventually, Luna’s eyelids began to droop from the dreary text, but not before Star Swirl’s tired sighs turned into exhausted yawns, and soon after, loud snores. Without even finishing the chapter, the stallion had fallen fast asleep. Princess Luna poked and prodded the graying sorcerer, but he refused to wake.
As Clover the Clever once wrote, Star Swirl was “as unmovable and stubborn as a Dragonlord—and even worse in his slumber.”
Luna rested her head on the desk and began idly flicking Star Swirl with a hoof. His body slumped onto the desk with a gentle thud, but his snores only grew louder. All around the desk, papers shuffled about with each noisy breath as Star Swirl’s beard swayed in time with his rhythmic snorts. Flickering candlelight illuminated his gaping mouth, along with the glistening drool that dribbled out of it.
With a defeated sigh, Luna glared at her mentor. A frown weighed heavily on her face, and Luna’s eyelids threatened to shut for the night, if not for the snoring stallion sitting across from her. Using her last bit of energy, Luna forcefully shoved a hoof at Star Swirl’s muzzle, straight into his mouth—finally silencing the old codger—and returned to her studies.
Luna looked over the papers scattered around her, pulling them closer with her other hoof. Essays and magical theories from unicorn scholars littered the desk. Not very interesting to read—as you kids may learn for yourselves one day—but full of experimental spells and groundbreaking research. In those days, little was known about how magic truly worked, and each week brought a wealth of new knowledge about the nature of magic.
Being a master sorceress herself, Luna delighted in the discovery of new spells and theories, but she enjoyed testing them even more. Few of them were useful, though she greatly appreciated the mare who discovered how to instantly toast a slice of bread. However, on occasion, Luna would find a spell that was truly amazing.
And on that night, Luna found the most amazing spell she had ever seen.
One by one, she slid the papers across her desk without finding much of interest—until she came to a hastily scribbled note from one of Star Swirl’s younger students, a stallion by the name of Moonlit Silver. The paper was crinkled and stained, with smudges in some spots and ink blots in others, but the hoofwriting could still be read, if only barely. Levitating a candle closer to the scribblings, Luna stared curiously at the page in front of her.
It was a theory, or at least, that was the polite term for it. In truth, it was a wild and outrageous idea—an unbelievable claim about the nature of dreams. Scrawled across the page, an incomplete spell formula explained that the waking world hides another world from us, a place where thoughts become real and magic is without limit—the Dreamscape. The spell, when finished, would allow ponies to enter the land of dreams freely, without even resting their head on a pillow.
It was a strange and fantastical idea, and as she looked over the page, Luna realized she wasn’t the only one who thought so. His teachers didn’t have much faith in the theory, as their comments in the blank spaces along the paper’s edges demonstrated. Not only would it require too much magic, they claimed, but it could never be cast by a unicorn.
The Princess of the Night, however, was not a unicorn.
Luna’s eyes travelled across the formula once more. Although such a spell would require an immense amount of magic, that was hardly an issue for Luna. It needed a few changes, this much was true, but despite what the scholars had to say, the spell could work. With her hoof still planted firmly in Star Swirl’s mouth, Luna raised a quill, dipped it in the inkwell, and began writing. Less than twenty minutes later, she set her quill back on the desk and took a deep breath. She had finished; the spell was complete.
And once she cast it, Equestria would never be the same.
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“Now hold on a second,” a mare who had wandered over to the carpet circle interjected. “You’re telling us that this ‘Princesss Luna’ created a spell to some kind of alternate dimension in our dreams?”
“Co-created, actually,” the storyteller replied.
“Uh-huh, sure. Whatever. And you expect me to believe that she discovered a place where thoughts become real? All while she had one of her hooves stuck inside Star Swirl’s mouth? Princess Luna my flank! This story is just an old mares’ tale.”
“Well,” the stallion chuckled, “I’ve lived long enough to know that those old mares know a thing or two about magic. But I suppose we should end the story here if this is just some made-up tale about a pony no one remembers.”
“What?”
“No!”
“Why?”
“Come on, please!”
A cacophony of begging rang out from the foals inside the carpet circle—and a few ponies outside the circle even joined in—as the storyteller shook his head in defeat.
“I have no desire to misinform the youth about Equestria’s history, and certainly not about Celestia’s family relations. You say that this story is a lie. A tall tale told by a foolish old stallion, and who am I to argue? These foals should be getting their history from textbooks, not make-believe bedtime stories.”
For a moment, the mare felt a hint of smugness coming on—though it didn’t last long.
Beneath her, colts and fillies glared up at the mare quietly. She quickly turned her head to avoid their angry leers, only to be met with disapproving frowns and annoyed sighs from ponies around her.
“N-n-n-now, I never said that this story wasn’t true! Many tales have a basis in reality, but were exaggerated over time,” the mare frantically explained. “I’m sure this is one of those cases. And-and-and even if it’s not, there’s an entire field of study surrounding folktales. This is—you see, this is an excellent learning opportunity, one that I’m sure Princess Celestia herself would approve of. So, uh, I see no reason to... umm...”
As the mare glanced around at the many irritated faces still staring at her, she could feel the words getting caught in her throat, choking her. Taking a breath, she lowered her head and started again, “My apologies for interrupting. Please, sir. Continue.”
“Are you sure?” the storyteller asked.
“Yes,” the mare replied quietly.
“Okay then. Now, where were we? Oh yes, I recall—see, this is where the story gets interesting...”
Slowly, each filly, colt, mare, and stallion turned toward the storyteller as he continued his tale.
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Princess Luna could feel the magic surging through her body as she charged the spell. It travelled from the center of her chest to the tip of her horn, lighting up the room with its magical aura. This spell was unlike anything Luna had cast before; she could feel its power, but it was different than the spells she used to control the heavens. Her moon and stars are, in a sense, alive. Even with the gentlest touch of her magic, they would obey her command and move into position with a delicate grace.
But what Luna experienced in that moment was neither gentle nor graceful. As the magical energy slowly took shape inside her horn, she could almost feel herself being pulled out of her own body.
Suddenly, it was as if she was in a room of crowded voices, each one whispering directly into her mind. Strange and bizarre illusions filled her vision as the candles’ flames grew harsher and brighter. Even with her eyelids closed, Luna could see light filling the room, threatening to blind her with its radiance. The room grew brighter and brighter, until suddenly—there was darkness.
From somewhere past the blackness, metal squeaked loudly over the groan of creaking wood. Far away, muffled laughter mixed with muted screams—from where they both came, Princess Luna did not know.
She opened her eyes.
Thousands upon thousands of doors lined up before her, each one branching off from the ethereal hallway where Princess Luna now stood. All around her, doorways gave way to sweeping landscapes filled with wonderous and terrifying creatures, as well as crowded villages bustling with merchants and tradesponies.
Perplexed, Luna peeked through one door after another and saw things that could not exist, and yet they did. Each room, if they could even be called that, held a world of fantasy. Some were astounding, others were ghastly, and yet many more were ordinary. Monsters attacking in the dark of night, stallions swimming across lakes of golden bits, pegasi soaring through the sky.
Luna did not know where she was, or how she had come to this place, but something deep within her knew the truth. These were the dreams of Equestria.
Pleasant dreams of loved ones long gone, as well as nightmares of monsters that could come. For every unicorn’s dream of soaring through the sky on imaginary wings, another pony dreamt of drowning in a sea of apple cider or coming face-to-face with a cockatrice. The night visions of every stallion, mare, colt, and filly stretched out before Princess Luna in an endless hallway of doors, but not every door was the same. One was unlike all the rest.
Not far away from her, an entrance beckoned to Luna. It was familiar, and at the same time, imposing—as if she’d known of its existence all her life, yet only now could she see it in all its majesty.
The Princess of the Night ran her hoof along the door’s dark wood as her eyes studied the onyx gemstones dotted extravagantly across its surface, each one framed by silver. Lines stretched from one gem to another, clustering them into small groups that Luna recognized. Ursa Minor, Orion, Canis Major—they were Luna’s constellations.
Something behind the door called out to her silently, tempting her to open it even as a chill ran down her spine. Behind the darkened wood, something awaited her—something far grander than she could imagine, and even more bewitching than she could believe.
With a loud groan, the door swung inward as Luna’s hoof hesitantly pushed it open. Beyond the doorway, she saw something that stole her breath.
An Alicorn mare, black as midnight and gilded in light blue armor, sat upon the throne of Equestria. Her razorlike teeth glistened like polished metal, and dark magic flowed from her mane like smoke. Above her, the moon beamed through stained glass windows, illuminating the banners that adorned the walls. They bore a crescent moon cutie mark.
Princess Luna’s cutie mark.
The mare cackled with a laugh that could make Tartarus freeze over, and Princess Luna turned around to see a line of ponies enter the room. One by one, they bowed low before the Alicorn, showering her with gifts and praise, before being escorted away by guards bearing the symbol of this new empire.
Never before had Luna imagined that she could rule Equestria without her sister, but in that moment, the Princess of the Night saw the truth. She could be—perhaps deserved to be—the true ruler of Equestria.
Luna looked to the mare upon Equestria’s throne, and the other Alicorn met her gaze. A sinister presence lurked behind her eyes, one that demanded respect and almost seemed to burn through Luna, all the way down into her very soul.
It told Princess Luna that her moon was not the lesser light, nor was the night subject to the dominion of the day. Luna did not have to be overshadowed by her sister. The Princess of the Night could step out of the shadows and into the moonlight.
She could be the Queen of the Night; she could be… Nightmare Moon.
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“This scary alicorn sounds—”
“Ah, ah,” Quill interrupted the young colt. “If you have something to say when sompony else is talking, what do you do?”
Puzzled, the colt searched his teacher’s face for some sort of hint. With a sigh, Quill raised his hoof off the ground and waved it beside his head as he gave the colt a half-hearted smile.
“Oh!” The colt’s hoof darted up as he whipped his head back towards the storyteller.
Ever bemused by his audience’s curiosity, the storyteller nodded for the colt to continue.
“This scary alicorn sounds like a monster—like a cockatrice or something. Why didn’t Luna fight it?”
The storyteller considered the colt’s question as he stroked his beard. “Not all monsters can be slain. The greatest, most powerful monsters in Equestria are the ones we give life to. Jealousy, anger, pride—these can be more monstrous than any bugbear or hydra. They creep into ponies’ hearts day by day, until nothing but hatred and disharmony remains.”
“Is that what happened to Princess Luna?” This time, the question came from a small pink filly.
“Not exactly, but you’ll see soon enough,” the storyteller replied, ruffling the filly’s mane gently. “We’re getting closer to the end of the story. What you need to know right now is that Celestia loves her sister very much, just like I’m sure your families all love you.”
The storyteller paused as he looked around the room at all the colts, fillies, stallions, and mares gathered around. The group had grown considerably since beginning his story, and he couldn’t help but smile as he saw university students sitting beside pre-school foals and elderly unicorns.
“Sometimes, grownups don’t know how to show our love, or we forget how much our loved ones mean to us. We do things we shouldn’t do, and then we hurt the ponies we care about. Even the ponies closest to us…”
The storyteller trailed off as the fillies and colts sat quietly, waiting for him to continue—all except one larger pegasus colt.
“What do we do when that happens?”
“When what happens?” the storyteller replied.
“When we—when we hurt somepony else…” the colt answered reluctantly.
“…When we’re not sure if they’ll ever forgive us,” the storyteller continued, earning an ashamed nod from the colt. “When that happens, we do the only thing we can do: we say we’re sorry and try to make things right. That’s what Celestia did when she found out what she had done to her sister, and I tend to think she’s a pretty smart mare.”
“But I don’t get it,” the purple filly with pink streaks in her hair piped in. “What did Celestia do to Luna?”
“Well now, if you let me finish my story, you may just find out!” the stallion said, holding back a chuckle. “You see, what happened next is that…”
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Princess Luna woke up frantic and gasping for breath. Startled, Star Swirl jolted awake, now very much aware that something unpleasant was in his mouth. Coughing and sputtering, he spat out the Princess of the Night’s hoof before scraping his tongue with one of his own hooves. The waning fire of a few candles dimly lit the library around him, but he couldn’t see Luna—she had left the room before he could say a word.
As his hooves fumbled around the table searching for another candle, his left hoof slid across a piece of paper wet with ink. With a bit of magic, he illuminated his horn and glanced down at his now-blackened hoof. Ink dribbled slowly down onto the desk, and as Star Swirl’s eyes followed one of the drops downward, he noticed a smudged paper beneath his hooves—the spell formula Luna had completed, though he did not know it was Luna’s work.
Amazed by the complexity of what he saw, Star Swirl brought the spell before the Mages’ Guild in Canterlot—the very same guild that would one day found Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns—and showed them the spell. They recognized the formula as Moonlit Silver’s, but the spell was incomplete when Silver had submitted it. This spell formula was complete, and somepony else had finished it: Princess Luna.
She had no fondness for the Mages’ Guild, but with Star Swirl’s insistence, Luna demonstrated the spell to the guild and attempted to explained how she believed the spell worked. A few of the more daring unicorns tried the spell themselves with her instruction, but none of them could replicate the spell, not even Star Swirl himself.
The land of dreams was a mystery that only the Princess of the Night could reveal, and the intrigue only grew deeper after her first experience in the library.
Princess Celestia and Star Swirl saw a change in Luna after her discovery of the Dreamscape. She had always been a fierce warrior and a powerful sorceress, but princesshood did not come so easily to her. Luna was capable of so much more than crafting spells and fighting battles, yet she was a reluctant princess in every regard. Whether at a gala or in the royal court, Luna hesitated to play her part. By birthright, she was a ruler of Equestria, but whether asked to speak with a foreign ruler or issue a decree, Princess Luna was slow to take action.
Yet during the Griffonstone Incursions, her soldiers saw a side of Luna that was bold and inspiring—both in battle and around the campfire. Equestrian soldiers still spoke of the stories Luna told on those nights. Her conquests were legendary, and to have a family member who served with her in battle was considered a great honor. To prove that they had stood by her side in battle, ponies would craft amulets from the weapons and armor of their fallen enemies, which the Princess of the Night would bless with an enchantment.
Those close to her knew she was born for greatness, yet she spent most of her days wandering the castle alone. However, a change took place in Luna once she saw the dark vision of herself in the Dreamscape.
It was Star Swirl who first saw the beginning of Luna’s transformation. After their unusual night together in the library, she developed a more serious demeanor—colder and more distant than before. Something seemed to weigh heavily on her mind, but in many ways, Star Swirl was as awkward as Luna when it came to matters of the heart and soul. Star Swirl the Bearded was the greatest sorcerer in history, but friendship is a different kind of magic, one that not even he could master.
Neither Princess Celestia nor Star Swirl knew exactly what Luna saw in the dream realm, but whatever it was, it changed her. Luna quickly became more involved in her role as princess, often weighing in on matters of law and issuing decrees. When it came time for the Summer Solstice Gala, Princess Luna even made an appearance to raise the moon as ponies danced through the night.
Celestia was thankful for Luna’s presence in Equestrian politics, and her opinion was not unwelcome. However, Celestia quickly began to worry about the hardness she saw in Luna’s heart. Princess Luna was quick to pass judgment, and the harshness of her decrees and laws was shocking. Celestia and Luna ruled together, and they made decisions together, but the compromises they made often left them both unhappy.
But when Celestia spoke with her sister about her actions, Luna had little to say to her. Really, Luna had little to say to anypony.
Any time Luna spent outside of the royal court or dining hall was spent flying across the countryside of Equestria. She watched stallions harvesting fields of grain, mares weaving fabric or dying cloth, and foals playing in the streams that meandered their way through her kingdom—all underneath Celestia’s sun.
At night, the land was quiet and barren of life. Her only company on those lonely nights were owls, bats, crickets, opossums, and any royal guards with the misfortune of being scheduled for the night shift.
The Princess of the Night had never been an angry pony, but as the weeks passed, Luna’s face wore a scowl more often than not as her disagreements with Celestia grew more intense. As always, Luna seemed to stand in the shadow of her sister, and the ponies still looked to Celestia to lead them.
Even in the Dreamscape, Luna could not escape her sister’s presence looming over her. Fillies and colts from across Equestria dreamed of meeting the magnificent Princess of the Day. Stallions had visions of receiving the Medal of Harmony from her for their bravery. Mares wished they could attend one of her grand balls.
Only in her own dreams could Princess Luna see herself, but the mare in those dreams was so unlike her. That mare was respected. Honored. Feared. She was Nightmare Moon, the empress of the New Lunar Republic—a kingdom where night would last forever, and the sun would never outshine the moon.
A place where Princess Luna and her starry skies would be beloved by all—it could only be a fantasy, as was Nightmare Moon. She was a mirage of desire, nothing more. Luna was not an empress, the New Lunar Republic would cease to exist when she woke up, and Luna could never be the powerful, beautiful mare she saw in her dreams. After all, it was just a dream.
But the problem with dreams is that, sometimes, they come true.
Night after night, Luna went to see the Alicorn mare who sat on the lunar throne. She comforted the Princess of the Night with her words; she told her that greatness was within her grasp. Luna only had to take what was rightfully hers and her dreams could come true. The Princess could be the beloved ruler of Equestria, the queen of the eternal night, but she had to step out of Celestia’s shadow. The moon must refuse to bow to the sun, then her dreams would come true.
And all too late, she would discover that her dreams were a nightmare all along.
It was on that day—Equestria’s darkest night—that Celestia would learn the burden of sisterhood. Her sun hung high in sky, bathing her little ponies below in its warm rays and shining embrace. Midday had just arrived, and the day was long from over, but the sky grew dim as ponies went about making deliveries and tending to their fields.
A black circle had risen from beyond the horizon and shrouded the sun, casting Equestria into darkness. One by one, stars came into view over the land where ponies worked and played. And one by one, everypony looked up to see the moon loom high overhead, blotting out Celestia’s sun.
They couldn’t hear it, but deep within the castle of the two Sisters, a baleful cackle echoed through the throne room and down the halls. The awful noise travelled and twisted into each room as it spread across the castle, until it reached the ears of Princess Celestia.
Thoughts and fears filled her mind as she galloped to the throne room she shared with her sister, but Celestia was not prepared for what she saw. There, upon the dais that held both thrones of Equestria, stood Luna.
The Princess of the Night’s eyes shone brightly in the darkened throne room, but her fur nearly matched the blackness that surrounded the two sisters. Luna’s regalia lay discarded in the center of the room, tossed carelessly on the floor. Instead, she wore midnight blue armor bearing a crescent moon, and dark magic flowed from her ethereal mane like an untamed storm cloud. Princess Luna’s razorlike teeth gleamed in the moonlight as she sneered down at her sister.
With a voice that could have made Death shudder, she slammed her hooves down on the stone dais below and told Celestia that there could only be one Princess of Equestria—the reign of the Two Sisters had ended. From that day forward, the moon would never again bow to the sun.
As her sister threatened to plunge Equestria into eternal darkness, Princess Celestia begged Luna to lower the moon, but it was no use. Celestia knew, deep in her heart, that her words came too late; Equestria’s fate had already been determined. There would be no turning back for either of them, and as Celestia stared into the eyes of her usurper, she saw the horrible truth.
Her sister, Luna, was no more. Now, she was Nightmare Moon.
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A short burst of laughter interrupted the storyteller.
“A mare with black fur and scary fangs that tried to take over Equestria, and she’s Princess Celestia’s sister? This sounds like a tall tale, mister.”
The comment came from an older filly who had wandered into the group midway through the story.
A few of the foals shrugged in ambivalent agreement, but most ponies didn’t seem too concerned about the truthfulness of the story, including the filly who had called it into question. She smiled warmly at the storyteller, but the incredulous laugh that came before her comment said that she wasn’t taking this tale too seriously.
The stallion telling the tale, however, took this story very seriously.
“Hey now,” the stallion shot back. “My Grandpappy-pa himself told me this story when I wasn’t much older than you all are now, and he never told a lie. Are you calling my Grandpappy-pa a liar?”
The filly’s eyes could have been mistaken for saucepans.
“I can assure you, this story is one-hundred-percent true. Why, I’m sure Celestia herself would tell you the same.” Casting a glance across the library, the storyteller smirked at the tall white mare who had been eavesdropping since his story began. She casually hid her face behind a book as the storyteller observed the stunned faces of the foals surrounding him.
“Some details were lost over the years, yes, so a few spots may be… embellished.”
A few ponies rolled their eyes as the graying stallion tried not to draw any attention to the less plausible parts of his story. Even still, they couldn’t help but grin as he raised a hoof and placed the other on his heart—like he was being sworn in at a court of law—before continuing.
“However! I’ll tell you this: my story is much more accurate than anything you’ll find in those history books teachers pass out these days.”
At this point, the storyteller jokingly pointed an accusatory hoof at Quill. The smirk that was plastered on the older stallion’s snout as Quill sighed told him that this stallion knew far too much about the topic.
“You’re… well… n-n-not entirely wrong. The debates between scholars about early Equestrian history can get kinda… heated. It’s normally left out of textbooks.”
“Whoa.”
“That’s so cool.”
“So wicked cool.”
A variety of amazed and surprised reactions broke out among the foals at the revelation that this story was the secret history of Princess Celestia. A tale so intense, grownups won’t even talk about it. Forbidden knowledge. Or something like that.
Whatever gets them to sit quietly for more than five minutes, Quill told himself.
“Tall tale or not,” the storyteller continued, “this is way better than the watered-down cider that writers and educators these days call early Equestrian history.”
Nearly everypony nodded in agreement, but the university students nodded with unmatched vigor as they thought back to Professor Parchment’s lectures. His many, many lectures. Mostly about ancient bureaucrats and aristocrats who spent their lives eating a healthy mix of pastry, cake, and pudding before dying of (somewhat) unrelated causes. Normally poison.
The storyteller gave a stern look to the foals circled around him as he went on. “So you can believe what you will, children, but just remember this: some of the best stories are the ones that really happened.
“Princess Celestia really does have a sister, one she loves very much, and over nine hundred years ago, Equestria was nearly plunged into eternal darkness, but if you want to hear why the sun rose this morning instead of the moon, then you’ll have to let me finish my story…”
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Dark magic exploded out from Nightmare Moon’s sharpened horn, shattering windows and crashing through the throne room’s ceiling, exposing the darkened sky above Celestia and her sister. Moonlight streamed into the castle through cracks in the walls, and the moon stood proudly where the roof had once rested. Rubble surrounded the two sisters, and while the Princess of the Sun watched the crumbling pieces of their castle falling around her, she prayed that the Divine Mother above would forgive her for what she was about to do.
Embers flaked and flitted from Celestia’s mane as magical energy flowed into the throne room like lava from a volcano. Unrelenting, blinding light burned through the dark magic that filled the room as Celestia’s horn called forth the sun’s fury.
Nightmare Moon descended the stairs from where the thrones sat, her own horn glowing with dark energy, and came to face her sister. This was to be the last time they ever met eye-to-eye. She would make certain of it.
Both sisters’ horns sparked and crackled with magic as they waited for the first spell to be cast—and for the battle to begin.
Outside the castle, ponies watched in awestruck horror while a tornado of magical energy swirled around the Castle of the Two Sisters, darkness and light each fighting for control. Surges of magic shot out like lighting from the swirling vortex, forcing even the bravest souls to keep their distance. They could hear the clang of steel and iron from inside the castle, but the din of a thousand swords clashing couldn’t overpower the screams that came from inside.
Within the castle walls, the Lunar soldiers had joined their princess in her rebellion, turning against their brothers and sisters in the Celestial army. Blood splattered against tapestries, dripped from paintings, and soaked into rugs as the fighting raged through the halls. Both sides fought valiantly, but there could be no victor in this war. Friends struggled against each other in the name of loyalty—loyalty to both the oath they took as a soldier, and the Princess they swore to serve.
But not everypony in the castle was a soldier.
Most of the poor souls trapped inside took cover inside broom closets and underneath beds in empty guest rooms. Even there, surrounded by hundreds of shouting voices and bloodied soldiers, they could sense that some unseen terror was growing. To the ponies hidden in the dark, the air tasted bitter and lifeless—the magic had been drawn out of it completely, like a well that’d gone dry. Nopony knew exactly what had happened, but while they waited in silent dread for the end to come, they knew that something horrible was about to happen.
Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon both knew what came next.
Magic bolts erupted from their horns as they vied for the first strike, meeting in the middle with a thunderous crack. The shockwave shook stones loose from the ceiling of the throne room, raining down rocks both large and small on the two sisters below.
Nightmare Moon darted away and took to the air as a boulder hurtled down from above her, while Celestia sidestepped to the left and unleashed a fireball at the flying Nightmare. The flames scorched Nightmare Moon’s nostrils as it flew by, missing her by only inches, but Celestia’s assault was just beginning.
The Queen of the Night soared upward toward the ceiling, distancing herself from Celestia’s barrage of fiery magic. Still, she could barely dodge her sister’s fireballs as they rushed past and exploded against the castle’s roof. Chunks of ashen wood fell with each explosion, and as smoke filled the room, it was then that Nightmare Moon found a chance to strike.
With a ferocious cry, the Dark Queen let loose an enormous bolt of lightning upon her sister below. The Princess of the Day was fast, but not nearly fast enough—pain surged through her body as the bolt struck her leg. But this fight would not be decided with one blow.
Princess Celestia quickly took to the air and met Nightmare Moon with a violent mid-air tackle. Together, they crashed through the roof, shattering wood and stone with their brawl, and took their battle outside to the skies of Equestria.
It took a great deal of effort to escape Celestia’s grip, but Nightmare Moon managed to break free with a small blast of dark magic followed by a firm buck to the ribs. Alicorns are hardy creatures, though, and it wasn’t long before Celestia began firing off spells again. The Queen of the Night countered with a hail of her own spells, but neither one could gain the upper hoof.
For hours, the two sisters traded blows while the ponies of Equestria below watched, terrified. Above them, flashes of magic lit up the skies with unnatural shades of yellow, blue, purple, and red. Deafening cracks followed each burst of color, shaking the ground nearly enough to wake the dead.
Sometimes, ponies could catch a glimpse of the two Alicorns dueling before one of them would dash behind a cloud or disappear into the endless sky above.
However, for as long as the battle raged on, neither the sun nor the moon moved through across the sky. An eerie twilight reigned over Equestria, casting the land in shadows. Day turned to evening, and evening to night—yet the two sisters still fought for the throne of Equestria.
Exhausted and losing her strength, Celestia begged her sister Luna to end this madness, but Nightmare Moon would never surrender. With a powerful blast of dark magic, Celestia was slammed through the roof of the castle and into the throne room, smashing the stone floor as she landed.
Bits of pointed rubble jabbed into her side, causing her to wince as she slowly rose from the ground. While she brushed her coat with a weary hoof, Celestia could hear the Dark Queen mocking her outside. The fate of Equestria was about to be decided, but Celestia would not allow it to be decided by Nightmare Moon.
Casting a hesitant glance over to the dais where the thrones of Equestria stood, Celestia knew that she could not allow darkness to take over her kingdom, no matter the cost.
Outside, Nightmare Moon gazed down at the kingdom below—her kingdom—and laughed while ponies looked up in fear at their new ruler. Some screamed, others pleaded for mercy, still more hid themselves, but nopony could hide themselves from the majesty of her starry skies. Never again would they see their beloved sun, for this glorious night would last forever.
Or so she believed.
A deep, rumbling hum tickled Nightmare Moon’s ear as she basked in her victory, a sound that she knew too well. It was a sound that had struck fear into the hearts of all who threatened Equestria. When she last heard that familiar droning roar of magic charging, she had stood beside Princess Celestia as they turned the Lord of Chaos himself, Discord, to solid stone.
Since the day the two sisters found the Tree of Harmony, none could escape the judgment of the six forces that bound Equestria, though many evildoers tried. Nightmare Moon knew them well: Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic—the Elements of Harmony. A set of six artifacts that, when combined, could channel pure magic into an unstoppable force.
But they were not weapons, for they had a mind of their own. Their wrath sprang eternal for those who would seek to destroy harmony or wrongly use their power. Though the sisters had wielded the Elements against Discord, the mad shadow King Sombra, and many others, the Elements of Harmony did as they pleased.
Both Celestia and Luna knew that they were too powerful for any one pony to wield. Two or more must come together in unity to use them, or the results would be disastrous. Even in all her arrogance, Nightmare Moon knew better than to trifle with them.
But for the first time in history, Celestia alone wielded them.
As the Princess of the Sun few back up towards her sister, the Elements of Harmony spinning furiously around her, Nightmare Moon’s breath caught in her throat. Surely Celestia knew the consequences of using the Elements against her own sister.
And indeed, Celestia did know.
The Elements were a harsh judge, but Princess Celestia prayed that they would not rule against her. Equestria was in danger; certainly they would come to Celestia’s aid. She had ignored the danger until it was too late, and her sister Luna was lost, but the Elements of Harmony could right the wrongs she had committed and save their kingdom.
It was with this prayer that Celestia poured all her magic into the Elements of Harmony. One by one, each Element started glowing brightly, crackling with energy. A stream of mystical power connected the six artifacts into a ring that surrounded the Princess, and before she could blink, a blazing rainbow fired directly at Nightmare Moon.
A bloodcurdling scream echoed into the night.
Only one Alicorn remained in the sky.
Dawn came, and darkness still covered the sky, blocking out the sun. Nightmare Moon was gone, but her presence still lingered. Celestia looked to the moon above, and what she saw made her weep.
She cried out her sister’s name, as if the moon could hear her pleas, but she was left in silence. There, far away—farther than she could ever hope to reach—she could see her sister’s face, trapped on the moon.
Nightmare Moon was gone, but not forever. The Elements of Harmony had sent the Dark Queen, Luna included, to the moon. Equestria was saved, but the judgment of the Elements did not fall solely upon Nightmare Moon. For the wrongs Celestia committed against Luna—neglecting her, allowing resentment to take root in her own heart, using the Elements against her sibling—Celestia was punished with what she had once taken for granted.
For a thousand years, Celestia would know the burden of ruling without her sister, who would remain a world away. For the first time, she would experience the sadness that had troubled Luna so. Her work would be doubled, as she would now have to raise the sun and the moon, and there would be nopony who could stand as her equal.
Celestia, the mighty Alicorn Princess of the Day, would be alone.
That was the judgment of the Elements of Harmony, and through her tears, Celestia begged them to bring her sister back. She didn’t mean for this to happen, but no matter how she tried, the Elements wouldn’t return Luna to her. Princess Celestia had brought disharmony into Equestria, and the Elements of Harmony would not respond to her magic. Until Celestia could learn the true depth of her wrongs against Luna, her punishment would continue.
Even now, Celestia awaits her sister’s return, so she can apologize and make things right. Until that day comes, Princess Celestia brings night to Equestia each evening and looks up with love at the Mare in the Moon, hoping that her sister will forgive her. The two will meet again one day—once a thousand years pass, Princess Luna will return.
And Equestria will be whole again.
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“The end,” the storyteller finished.
His audience—foals, university students, and adults of all ages alike—sat quietly, still lost in a world of horrid monsters, epic battles, and beautiful princesses. But as many good things do, the ancient land of Equestria faded from view as life caught up with them. Slowly, they found themselves back inside the quiet Canterlot library, staring at a graying stallion as he concluded his story.
“Kiddos, we all fight sometimes, but it’s never too late to apologize and try to make things right. Maybe they’ll forgive us,” the stallion said, nodding at the purple filly with pink streaks in her hair. “Like if you offer to buy your brother a new comic book. Or when Princess Luna returns to Equestria, and Celestia can finally make amends.
“No matter what happens,” the storyteller continued, his voice quieting as he leaned down to speak with the foals at his hooves, “the important thing is letting the ponies we care about know how much they mean to us. We all make mistakes, things we wish we could undo, but we can’t turn back time. Apologizing isn’t about asking somepony to forget we did a bad thing. It’s about doing the right thing out of love, not guilt. Love makes the world much kinder place, and it can fix a whole lot more than you might realize.”
Each colt and filly nodded soberly, as if they had just heard the secret of the universe, bringing a broad smile to the stallion’s muzzle while he leaned back up and chuckled.
“Now, I suppose it’s time for you to—” The storyteller cut himself off when he saw a tiny hoof shoot up. “Oh, do you have a question about my story, Little One?”
“Um, sort of…” the orange filly replied. “Uh… I guess Luna is still up there, right, but isn’t the moon made out of stinky cheese? How does she live in a place made of smelly cheese?”
“When did I say the moon isn’t made out of cheese?” the stallion answered, perplexed. “Of course it’s made out of cheese!”
“You think the moon is…” Quill considered going on, but he had second thoughts about entering a debate with the (possibly senile) stallion about the moon’s composition.
“How else do you think the Mare in the Moon has survived up there for so long? Provolone, cheddar, swiss, parmesan—she eats it all.” the storyteller explained.
“Oooohhh!”
This seemed like a reasonable conclusion to the foals, and in fairness, no one there could disprove his theory. It was unlikely that any university students would be penning their thesis on the assertion that the moon is primarily composed of cheese, but that suited the storyteller just fine. His time had run out, it seemed, and there wouldn’t be any more questions today.
Seeing a recognizable tall, white mare walk toward him, the stallion said, “Now, I believe it really is time for you to run along to class.”
“Yes,” Princess Celestia said from behind them, “I love old mares’ tales as much as anypony, but you’re all twenty minutes late and you know how much I hate tardiness.”
There have been riots that were quieter than what followed.
Each foal had a dozen different questions, and if their mouths weren’t so uncooperative, they would have asked them all at once. Unfortunately, they could only ask one question at a time, so Celestia only received twenty or so simultaneous questions.
What did Princess Luna look like? Which sister is stronger? What happened to the Elements of Harmony? When would Luna return? Who is prettier, Celestia or her sister? How did Celestia learn to raise the moon?
Celestia put a hoof to her nose—something she had taught the children to signal the need for silence. As she had learned after first starting the School for Gifted Unicorns, it was much needed.
As the students mimicked her and managed (with some difficulty) to hold back their questions, Princess Celestia spoke up again. “If we finish our lesson early today, then you may ask me any questions you have about today’s story. Until then, please run along to class with Mr. Quill and I’ll meet you there shortly.”
Curiosity, particularly the curiosity of a foal, is a powerful thing. As the children galloped to their classroom—practically carrying their teacher along with them—the other ponies saw that it was time to leave for them as well. The children’s section of the library returned to its original state: quiet, organized, and nearly empty, save for the two ponies still on the carpet circle.
“So, did I remember the details correctly this time?” the stallion asked.
“Crescent Shine, after twenty years of telling that story,” Celestia giggled gently, “I don’t know why you still ask that question. It’s almost as if Nightmare Moon was right there in front of me.”
“If the gossip around here is to be believed, Your Highness, she might very well be soon enough,” Crescent Shine replied.
Celestia’s smile dipped, if only ever so slightly.
“You know, I saw a student paper the other day that calculated the next perigee of the moon will occur within fifteen years. If her calculations are correct, it hasn’t been that close for nearly a thousand years.” Crescent Shine barely raised his voice above a whisper, but Celestia could see the twinkle in the stallion’s eyes as he went on. “If you can believe this, I’ve even heard that one of the engineering professors is seeking funding for a rocket to the moon.”
“How interesting, though I can’t imagine what they expect to find up there.”
“Some of the advanced spellcasting professors also took interest,” Crescent continued. “They’re looking into creating a runic teleportation system between there and Equus. Of course, there might not be much to see by the time they get there.”
“No, I don’t imagine there will be,” Celestia answered, trying to suppress a sigh. There weren’t nearly enough days left, or perhaps, there were too many. It was hard to tell anymore.
Silence hung in the air.
“Do you think Equestria will be ready for that day?” Celestia finally asked, in a voice much quieter than before.
“Ready for her?” the storyteller replied.
Celestia nodded absentmindedly. She was in a distant place, a different time.
“I don’t know, will those kids be ready?” Crescent Shine asked, motioning over his shoulder.
Celestia looked at the library’s exit. The foals were already long gone, but their laughter could still be heard echoing down the halls. She considered the question before answering, “They’re good students—smart, kind, passionate—everything a teacher could hope for.”
“Then why are you asking if Equestria will be ready, if it’s not Equestria you’re worried about?”
Celestia allowed a morose grin to tug at her lips.
“Kids these days—” Crescent Shine tried not to chuckle “—are more afraid of bad grades than a mythical mare from the moon. It’s up to ponies like me to…”
Crescent paused to pull out a piece of jewelry from his saddlebags—a hoofmade amulet crafted from bits of shattered armor and a small gemstone. An otherworldly aura surrounded the amulet, giving it a faint glow as he held it in his hoof, almost as if he was holding a piece of the moon.
“…Tell them about Equestria’s other Princess. Otherwise, she’ll be awful mad when she comes back, and nopony knows who she is. So, I’d like to think that she’d appreciate my stories.”
“Yes,” the Princess of the Day agreed. “I think she would.”
Celestia rubbed her eye, leaving her hoof a bit wet.
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Epilogue
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“Sister, I agree this library is very impressive, but perhaps we could return when it is not so… busy.”
“I know, I know, Luna,” Celestia replied, “but there’s somepony I want you to meet, and he should be here today. Now if only I could figure out how to get there.”
“We’re lost?!” Princess Luna whispered harshly. “Celestia, you know how I feel about being out among our subjects. I am… awkward.”
“The world is a different place than it was a thousand years ago, Sister, but you still belong in it,” Celestia said reassuringly. “And also, we’re not lost, just uncertain of our location in relation to our destination.”
Luna rolled her eyes while the two Alicorn sisters trotted side by side, trying not to attract attention as they made their way through the library.
“Why did I approve those renovations?” Celestia huffed as she stopped to get her bearings. “They didn’t have to rearrange the whole library just to create a new section for post-modern Yakyakistanian literature.”
“Ah, perhaps I can offer some assistance, Your Highness—oh, excuse me, I mean Your Highnesses,” the middle-aged stallion corrected himself. “Forgive me, Princess Luna, I didn’t see you there. What brings you both to the library today?”
A warm smile spread across Princess Celestia’s muzzle as she recognized the pony in front of her. “Professor Quill, I’m so pleased to see you here.”
“It’s just Quill now, Your Majesty,” he chuckled. “I haven’t been a Professor since you roped me into becoming the assistant headmaster at the School for Gifted Unicorns.”
“Roped you into it?” Celestia asked with a grin that gave her away far too easily. “I simply told the headmaster to offer you something to do, since your role at the university didn’t seem to suit you. I had no idea he would offer you such a wonderful position.”
“Of course not, Princess,” Quill said, stifling a bout of laughter. “Now, may I assume that you’re here for the reason that I believe you are?”
“We are,” Celestia replied. “Can you lead us there? We’re having some trouble finding—”
“We’re having some trouble, Sister?” Luna interjected.
Celestia sighed.
“Not used to the new layout, Your Highness?” Quill asked.
“Yes,” Celestia replied, hanging her head in defeat. “If I may be honest, I’m a little bit… lost.”
Quill tried very, very hard not to laugh. He didn’t succeed, and even Luna let a giggle escape her lips, but at least there weren’t many other ponies around to hear.
“Well, let’s get you un-lost then,” Quill said as he led the two Princesses through rows of bookcases to a brightly colored corner of the library.
There, an older stallion sat on a large pillow, surrounded by a gaggle of foals standing around a carpet circle. Not a single eye was wandering, and some foals dared not even breathe as the stallion addressed the children with big hoof gestures and a face of mock disbelief.
“What’s that, you don’t know about the Mare in the Moon? Don’t you know how Princess Luna returned from the moon?” the stallion said.
The children shook their heads, utterly dumbstruck.
“Well then, today’s story will be one of my very best: The Tale of the Two Sisters. Now, come, sit. You can’t listen to a good story standing up. Come on, grab a pillow and get comfortable.”
Peeking over a bookshelf at the edge of the children’s section, two tall mares smiled delicately while the fillies and colts plopped down onto pillows and listened as the storyteller began.
