Taming Nightmare Moon

by Leafdoggy

Rating: everyone
Tags: Romance, Princess Luna, Drama, Original Character, Princess Celestia, Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Nightmare Moon
Length: 50612

Luna still struggles with the frustrations that made her become Nightmare Moon in the first place. Applejack believes Nightmare Moon is the key to helping her.

Applejack and Luna have been dating for some time, and in that time Applejack has watched as Luna tore herself up inside over long held frustrations that never waned. Luna does her best to control those emotions, locking them away in the recesses of her mind, but that may be doing more harm than good.

Applejack wants Luna to air her frustrations before they air themselves, but after so long, Luna simply isn't able to. Every part of her that could, all assertiveness and confidence and anything else that made Nightmare Moon who she was, is locked away too deep to dig out. As she is, Luna has no choice but to bottle it all up.

So, it's time for Nightmare Moon to make a return.

This is set in the same universe as my short story anthology, but it'll stand entirely on its own. There's no need to read any of those other stories, but they are there if you're interested!

Published 2019-12-07 19:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-12-30 21:02:35 UTC

Prologue

Darkness embraced Princess Luna like an old friend as she touched down on the hard marble floors. She found herself in Canterlot Castle, her long time home, standing in the throne room, but something wasn’t right. There was a strange glow about the darkness surrounding her, not the nighttime she knew all too well, but a more sinister kind of darkness.

The darkness of an eclipse.

Behind her, the door to her bedroom stood unchanged. It made her think of the waking world, where she sat alone in quiet meditation. She knew that she wouldn’t find herself if she walked through that door, that the world of dreams had no concrete ties to the world of daylight, but she still felt a curious urge to check. She pushed it away, intent on doing the job she was here to do.

Ahead of her, the throne room was not the one she knew. There stood only one throne, tall and regal, which radiated power. The high back blocked her view of the pony it belonged to. The bright red carpets and glimmering gold accents were all absent, replaced with dark hues of purple and blue. The stained glass windows lining the hall, which were meant to be symbols of hope, were filled with strange shapes and smokey silhouettes. Candles lined the room, flickering with bright blue flames, but their light brought the room no warmth.

Kneeling before the throne, a pained look painted on his face, was Starswirl the Bearded. The sight of him made Luna bite her lip anxiously. He was Luna’s mentor and, in many ways, the pony who raised her. This wasn’t the kind of dream she wanted to see him in.

Starswirl was speaking in hushed, breathless tones. “I’ll never submit to the likes of you.”

“You act as though you have a choice,” boomed the pony sitting on the throne. Her voice was one Luna knew all too well.

“I did, once,” Starswirl muttered. “I suppose I must have chosen wrong.”

This nightmare wasn’t anything new to Luna. It was one she prepared herself for every night. It took different forms, but she had seen this nightmare from so many other ponies. Citizens. Friends. Twilight. Celestia. They all held these fears, somewhere inside of them.

This was the first time she had seen it from Starswirl, though, and the sight of her teacher burned a hole in her heart. She was frozen in place, completely unsure of what to do, of how to mend this wound.

The figure in the throne was speaking again. “What is it you presume to do here, old friend?”

“I presume to put an end to this,” Starswirl said. “I failed Equestria by putting you here, I shan't fail them again by allowing you to stay.”

“Hah!” The hidden pony swiped a hoof through the air, and a wall of blue flames erupted around Starswirl. “I look forward to seeing you try and stop me.”

Luna knew she had to do something. She willed herself forward, pushing step by step. Her hooves striking the cold floor below her seemed to echo endlessly through the world.

Step by step by step, she moved on.

Around the throne, between the two, until she was in a position to stop this twisted version of herself.

When the figure finally came into view, Luna froze. Her mouth dropped open, and her eyes went wide with shock and horror. She couldn’t have prepared herself for this.

There was no Nightmare Moon in the throne. That malevolent force inside of her was nowhere to be seen. Of course she wasn’t there; Starswirl had never seen Nightmare Moon.

Instead, when Luna looked upon the throne, her eyes fell onto a mirror image of herself.

She wasn’t a perfect mirror. She wore a jagged crown and the well polished, commanding outfit of a queen. Her mane flowed with a confidence Luna no longer held. Her eyes were cold and cruel as she stared down her nose at the weak unicorn.

Those weren’t Nightmare Moon’s eyes, though. Just as Luna locked away the parts of herself that made her Nightmare Moon, her dreaded counterpart did the same, blocking herself from the influence of Luna’s lighter side.

This Luna, the one on the throne, still had those bits of light in her eyes. The compassion, the kindness, the mercy. There were hints of them all in her icy gaze.

They just weren’t enough to stop her.

Starswirl caught sight of Luna and crouched down defensively. “Another? Bah! It doesn’t matter how many of you there are, Luna. I will correct my mistakes.”

Luna faltered. She stumbled back. What was she supposed to do? Her thoughts couldn’t even get that far. All she could see, all she could think of, was Starswirl’s hatred of what she had become.

It was too much for her. She couldn’t fix this, she couldn’t even think straight. All she could do was make it stop. So that’s what she did.

With a flash of her horn, the dream broke down into nothingness. Starswirl vanished with a pop, bound for the waking world once more. The windows cracked and shattered, the carpets burned away, the grand throne crumbled. The world around her was weathered away, reduced to less than dust, and then blown away by an invisible wind.

Just like that, Luna was left alone. Around her was the familiar nothingness of oblivion, a dream without dreaming. No light, no darkness. No heat, no cold. There was only Luna, standing stiff as a board as she struggled to fight back the tears welling in her eyes.

Her emotions started to swell. The feelings she had always felt. The inferiority, the loneliness, the frustration. Endless, bottomless frustration. It bubbled up inside her, around her, threatening to drown her.

She started to panic. These weren’t feelings she could allow herself to have. Desperate for anything to save her, she lit up her horn and fled into another dream.

She was too worked up for a smooth landing. She plummeted from the sky that appeared around her. She managed to land on her hooves, but it was far from graceful, and she was disoriented as the dream assembled itself around her.

A building formed, walls and a ceiling followed by lights, shelves, racks, registers. She was in a store, a massive one that stretched on to infinity, and surrounding her were rows upon rows of hats. More specifically, cowboy hats.

As soon as she got her bearings, Luna looked around frantically. “Applejack?” she called out, not seeing her. “Where are you?”

“Huh?” Applejack’s voice came from behind a tall shelf. She walked around the side of it, wearing a new hat that had a price tag dangling from it, and started to smile when she saw Luna.

The smile didn’t last, though, because she quickly saw the distress on Luna’s face. She ran over to her girlfriend, then reached up to grab her shoulders affirmingly. “Luna, what’s wrong? You look awful!”

“Oh, Applejack…” Luna collapsed to the ground, letting Applejack wrap her in a tight hug. “I just can’t do it anymore.”

Applejack gave her a light kiss on the cheek, then sat down and nuzzled her. “Tell me what happened, sugarcube.”

“Starswirl.” Luna stared blankly at the floor. “He had a nightmare about me.”

“A Nightmare Moon one?”

“No,” Luna said, “about me. He hates me for what I did.”

“A nightmare doesn’t always show somepony’s real feelings, you know that.”

“It shows part of them, though. Deep down, part of him hates me, just like everypony else.”

“We can’t control everything we feel,” Applejack told her.

“No, but do they even try?” Luna waved a hoof through the air dramatically. “The only reason any of them accept me at all is because my sister tells them to, and even she cannot forgive me.”

“Of course she forgives you.”

“Does she?” Luna looked sharply at Applejack, and a spark of blue flames flashed across her eyes. “Would she not be content to rule alone, were I to relinquish the throne? Would she—” Luna caught herself and winced. “No. I should not be thinking these things.”

“You can’t always help the things you think,” Applejack said. “I’m here for you to get it off your chest.”

“I just…” Luna ran a hoof through her mane in exasperation. “I’ve long since moved past the jealousy that drove me to the things I did, but the causes of that jealousy persist. If anything, they’ve gotten worse.”

Applejack rubbed Luna’s back, listening in silence.

“Equestria is content to see me spend my life alone, toiling under the stars while they frolic in the sunlight. What has my sister done to help? She claims the holiday meant to inspire fear of me is now in celebration of me, but that isn’t true. Equestria’s culture does not shift on her word alone, nor should it, but because she let that holiday take hold I’m feared and hated far and wide.”

Applejack nodded, not necessarily in agreement but as a signal of support.

“And she sits on her throne and does nothing.” Luna stamped her hoof on the ground, and for a brief moment it was swallowed by a swirling blue flame. “The ponies of Equestria would sooner throw me back into the moon and be done with me than give me their trust. All that holds them back is my sister’s good will, and I don’t know that I trust that to outlast their hatred.”

Applejack frowned. “Luna, something’s gotta change here. If you keep bottling all this up, somepony is gonna end up getting hurt.”

Luna sighed. “I must bottle it up, though. These thoughts, this anger, I know it isn’t reasonable. I cannot simply allow myself to succumb.”

“I mean, you’re right,” Applejack said. “It ain’t reasonable. It’s backwards thinkin, and you can’t go blockin out the sun cuz of it. But the feelings, those are real. Somewhere, under all the unreasonable thoughts, is the real reason you feel this way, and if you wanna find it you gotta talk. What you’re doin now, it’s just burying it deeper.”

“What would you have me do? I can’t confess to Celestia that I still feel these things, she would never trust me again.”

“You know what I think,” Applejack said.

“They would never allow it,” Luna replied.

“They will,” Applejack told her. “I can convince my friends. You just gotta get your sister to cooperate.”

“And what of the aftermath? My sister is not likely to simply overlook my tantrum.”

“Celestia ain’t a queen. You’re as much a princess as she is.”

Luna shook her head slowly. “They’ll simply banish us both.”

“For what?” Applejack asked. “Last time, you got banished cuz you blocked out the sun. She can’t banish you just for speakin up, even if you need Nightmare Moon to speak up for you.”

“You think she needs more? My sister won’t hesitate to banish me again for the same crime if she believes I’ll do it again.”

“Well, it’s a good thing she can’t, then,” Applejack said. “She ain’t strong enough to banish you on her own, and the elements don’t work without me. She could try for Starlight’s help, but she ain’t the kind of pony to hold somepony to their past. I hate to say it, but Celestia can’t win.”

Luna sighed and rested her head on her hooves. “I feel like such a failure. Even after everything that’s happened, I still can’t solve anything without her.”

“That’s cuz she’s a part of you,” Applejack said. “You can’t tie up your legs and then hate yourself cuz you can’t walk.”

“Can I hate myself for not being able to untie them?”

Applejack sighed and reached up to stroke Luna’s mane. “You’ll get there. Just try and trust her. Trust yourself.”

“Do you really believe it can work?”

“I do.”

“Then I’ll trust you,” Luna said. “Hopefully the rest will come in time.”

“I’m sure it will,” Applejack told her. “You’re the strongest pony I know. That’s why I love you so much.”

Luna smiled, weakly but warmly as well. “I love you too.”

Celestia yawned as she walked out onto her balcony that morning. It was darker than she expected; it seemed Luna was being rather punctual with her lowering of the moon today. Dawn wasn’t for a few more minutes, so Celestia decided to enjoy the moment and watch the setting of the moon.

The brilliant white ball drifted slowly down, obscured here and there by the silhouette of a passing cloud or a hungry bird. The castle was cast in a cool blue light as it passed behind, and on a far balcony stood her sister, proudly posed as she did her royal duties.

Something seemed off, though.

It took Celestia a while to piece it together. She wasn’t tipped off by the odd angle of the setting moon, or by the way Luna seemed taller than she should be. She didn’t notice the tall, sharp crown Luna was wearing, or her imposing royal regalia. She didn’t even realize when the moon was fully behind Luna, casting a spotlight on her grand form.

No, it wasn’t until her sister turned and locked eyes with her that Celestia realized she was looking not at Luna, but at Nightmare Moon.

Chapter 1

Nightmare Moon yawned as the sun slowly rose outside. She stretched lazily before leaning heavily on the arm of her throne. Around her, the throne room was mostly untouched. She had made her own throne more befitting a pony of her stature, and had taken the liberty of commandeering some of the unused windows to put up grand depictions of herself and her beloved night, but in the name of civility she refrained from touching any of her sister’s things.

Celestia was still outside, dutifully raising the sun, but Nightmare Moon wasn’t alone. At the base of the tall platform that held the royal thrones stood two guards, the same guards who spent every morning at that exact spot, standing bolt upright and staring ahead dutifully.

Normally, these ponies had a simple job. They spent half their shift with Luna, which usually meant spending it alone. After Luna went into her room for the night, which was always well before they took their stations, she almost never left it. They would talk idly, watch the sun rise, and wait for Celestia’s arrival.

Today, though, that had all been upended when Nightmare Moon trotted proudly into the throne room after lowering the moon.

Neither of them had any idea what to do, but they couldn’t just leave because Luna wasn’t herself. If they were the kind of ponies to shirk their duties so readily, they never would have gotten this position in the first place.

“Tell me,” Nightmare Moon said idly, “does my sister always raise the sun in such a pompous display of gratuity?”

One guard, a short blue stallion, spoke up. “U-Um, I suppose so, yes.”

“She thinks it’s important, Your Highness,” said the tall yellow mare on the other side of the thrones. “The sunrise helps raise the morale of ponies who are up before dawn.”

Nightmare Moon scoffed. “And yet she won’t allow an eclipse. I suppose that would contradict her grand show of beating back the night every morning, saving Equestria again and again from the horrible reign of Princess Luna.”

“Um,” the Stallion started, “I don’t think—”

“Don’t lie to me!” Nightmare Moon’s voice suddenly boomed through the hall, so thunderous and overpowering that it shook the windows.

The stallion swallowed hard. “O-Of course, Your Highness. My apologies.”

There was a moment of cold, tense silence.

Then Nightmare Moon relaxed again. “Good.” She sighed and traced a hoof through the air in boredom. “Say, if I were to petition to have Twilight join us here in Canterlot, do you think my sister would allow me to put my throne in the middle?”

“Probably not,” the mare said. “I think if there was a disagreement, Princess Celestia would probably suggest that Twilight should get the middle spot.”

“Yes, you’re probably correct,” Nightmare Moon said. “Never mind, then. I’ll just—”

Her thought was interrupted by the door to Celestia’s room bursting open. The guards did their best to stand up even straighter as an ominous breeze blew in, followed by an aura of immense power.

Princess Celestia stood motionless in the doorway with a deep frown etched on her face. Her nose was high in the air, and she was glaring at Luna’s throne. All she could see of Nightmare Moon was her legs dangling loosely over the side.

“Sister!” Nightmare Moon spoke into the air, not bothering to get up or even reorient herself to meet Celestia’s gaze. “How nice of you to finally join us, I was wondering if—”

“What is the meaning of this?” Celestia’s voice was sharp with fury. She swept into the room with long, weightless strides. Her door slammed shut behind her as she wheeled around and stood in front of Nightmare Moon, staring down at her.

“What? Can I not even stay up late if I want to?”

“You cannot do anything,” Celestia told her. “I demand you return my sister to me at once.”

A look of anger flashed across Nightmare Moon’s face. She stood up and stepped towards Celestia with a fire in her eyes. “I am your sister! You don’t get to disown me just for saying things that you don’t like.”

“If I’ve disowned you, it’s because you led a coup to further your own selfish desires.”

“Selfish? Hah!” Nightmare Moon laughed in her face. “How thoroughly you’ve convinced yourself that you can do no wrong. Nothing has changed since that night. Ponies fear and loathe me, and you are content to let it happen. Do you think I haven’t noticed that I’m always flanked by guards in your regalia? Am I to believe they’re truly there to protect me?”

“Enough of this,” Celestia said. “If Luna has these problems, she can speak to me about them. If you won’t relinquish your hold on her, I’ll have no choice but to assume the worst.”

“I am Luna!” Blue flames wrapped around Nightmare Moon’s hooves as her anger grew. “Assume what you will, but I’m here to stay until things change around here.”

“Well, then, I’m sorry about this.” As quickly as she could, Celestia fired a blast of blinding white magic towards Nightmare Moon.

Before the magic was even close to reaching her, though, Nightmare Moon swiped a hoof through the air and a massive wall of brilliant blue flames erupted between them, completely stopping the force of the beam.

To the guards, the room was suddenly in a torrent of conflicting energy. Celestia’s magic, bright and spotless, filled the air with a dry, incinerating heat. Just as quickly, the chill of Nightmare Moon’s flames sucked it away, leaving only the cold of space. Back and forth, the two forces fought in a dizzying spectacle.

A moment later Celestia gave up, and both her magic and the flames dissolved away into the air.

Nightmare Moon glared at her. “Your apologies are as empty as ever, sister.”

Panting, Celestia clenched her jaw. “This isn’t over,” she said. Then, in a flash of light, she disappeared.

For a moment, everything was completely still.

Then Nightmare Moon let out a hate filled scream, almost a roar. She stomped her hoof down on the bright red carpet, and instantly the flames latched onto it. They spread into an inferno that stretched the entirety of the carpet, out into the halls and through the entire castle, engulfing it in the frigid fires of her wrath. Then, as soon as it started, it burnt the carpet away to nothing and disappeared.

She stood there, hunched over in rage, for a long moment. Her icy fury sucked the warmth from the castle, leaving everypony inside it chilled to the bone. Her breath turned to fog in the cold air as she took fast, deep breaths, letting the anger wash over her.

The mare decided she should say something. “Um, Princess?”

Nightmare Moon’s attention snapped to her. “Speak.”

“I just wanted to let you know that we actually weren’t put here to keep an eye on you or to guard you,” she said. “We’re only supposed to make you comfortable.”

Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes at her. The mare was still looking straight ahead, afraid to make eye contact.

“What’s your name?” Nightmare Moon asked.

“Amber, Your Highness,” she said. “Amber Dusk.”

Nightmare Moon regarded her for a long time. Her coat was a dark yellow, almost orange, and her mane and tail were stark white. By the way she stood, her chin held high and her wings tucked neatly against her sides, it was clear she held this position with pride.

“I’m going to get you new armor, Amber. From now on, you report to me.”

Another flash of light brought Celestia to the door of Twilight’s Castle. She could have appeared inside, of course, but she needed a moment to compose herself. She had a nasty look on her face, and she didn’t want anypony else to see it.

The streets around her were empty. It was a damp, overcast morning, so even Ponyville’s early risers were likely staying home. The only signs of life were her own heavy breathing and a few intrepid insects.

Thankfully, she was very good at composing herself. It only took a few seconds, and a couple deep breaths, and she was back to normal. Mostly normal, at least; a fire still burned deep inside of her.

With one final, deep sigh, Celestia pushed open the tall doors and stepped inside.

To her surprise, she was immediately greeted by two ponies.

“Told ya,” Applejack said.

“I mean, I didn’t doubt you,” Starlight replied. She was standing next to a heavy looking suitcase. “I was just hoping you were wrong.”

“Um… Good morning, girls,” Celestia said. She did her best to sound as calm as possible.

“Mornin, Princess,” Applejack said. “I take it you’re here about Luna?”

“Yes,” Celestia said slowly. “Starlight, I’m afraid I need your assistance.”

“Yeah, Applejack caught me up,” Starlight said. “Sorry to disappoint, but the answer’s no.”

“Wh-” Celestia jolted in shock. “Excuse me?”

“I won’t do it,” Starlight said. “Unless she’s actually done something, I won’t help you banish Nightmare Moon.”

A frown flickered across Celestia’s face, but she quickly suppressed it. “And you, Applejack? What is your role in this?”

“Well, I’m the pony that told Luna to do this in the first place,” Applejack said, “so I ain’t likely to be in favor of kickin her to the curb.”

Celestia took a deep, pointed breath. “Okay. Would you care to explain why you’ve decided to urge my sister to become a villain?”

“I find it hard to believe she’s done anything to warrant bein called a villain,” Applejack said. “She’s in a bad way, Princess. This is the only way she can talk to you.”

“I’ve always been there to listen to my sister! Why would you jump straight to this?”

Applejack shook her head. “Look, I ain’t a psychologist. All I know is, she needs this. You’re gonna have to trust her.”

Celestia sighed, then looked at Starlight. “Could you at least come and stay in Canterlot in case she does do something?”

“Uhh…” Starlight looked at Celestia, then at her suitcase, then back to Celestia. “I actually have… Plans.”

“Plans that are more important than protecting Equestria?”

“From Luna?” Starlight chuckled. “Sorry, Princess Celestia, but yeah. I’m not cancelling a road trip I’ve been planning for months just because you’re fighting with your sister.”

“Last time I fought with Nightmare Moon, she tried to plunge Equestria into an eternal night!” Celestia put a hoof to her forehead in exasperation. “I am not the one being unreasonable here.”

Starlight shrugged. “I never claimed to be a reasonable pony.”

“Do you at least know when you’ll be back?” Celestia asked.

“No clue,” Starlight said. “Maybe, like, a year? It’s a long trip.”

Celestia shook her head and turned around to leave. “Very well,” she said. “I have other avenues to look toward.”

She flung open the castle doors and stepped outside, slamming them behind her.

“Nightmare Moon,” Celestia grumbled under her breath. “This isn’t over. You will not beat me.”

Up in the sky, unnoticed by Celestia, the clouds above Ponyville were being burned away by an intense ray of light.

It was certainly strange for the guards to be dismissed by Luna rather than Celestia, but really, they were just relieved to have been dismissed at all. With everything that was happening, Amber Dusk half expected to be told to stay all day.

Their hoofsteps echoed loudly as they walked through the now bare castle halls. Around them, the castle was in an uproar. Ponies ran around, trying to figure out what, if anything, to do, but none of them had answers. Other ponies rushed by with supplies, eager to do anything Nightmare Moon asked of them, and here and there a pony or two could be found speaking in hushed tones about escaping to find Twilight Sparkle.

Amber Dusk and the blue stallion hardly paid attention to any of it. After spending hours with Nightmare Moon, fielding all of the inane questions her boredom brought to mind, it was hard for them to be afraid of her, and they were too exhausted to entertain thoughts of running away. All they were interested in was food and sleep.

“So,” the stallion asked, “you gonna do it?”

“Do what?” Amber asked.

“You know, join up with her. The whole ‘new uniform’ thing.”

“Oh, that.” Amber shrugged. “Honestly? Probably, yeah.”

“Seriously?” He gave her a look that was halfway between disapproval and jealousy. “Celestia’s not gonna like that.”

“Celestia’s not our only princess. You heard Luna in there, she thought we were supposed to, like, take her out if she went rogue or something.”

“She did go rogue.”

“She’s just upset! She hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“Yet.”

“C’mon, Seabeam, don’t be ridiculous,” she said.

“How do you know she’s not just gonna use you to do something wrong and make you take the fall?”

“The heck am I gonna do?” Amber laughed. “Yeah, Twilight better look out, Luna’s got a pegasus on her side now.”

“She didn’t even know your name!”

“Dude, Luna uses our names every day. She was just making a point.”

“And you wanna answer to somepony who acts like that?”

“I don’t see why not.” Amber shrugged. “Plus, I bet that armor’s gonna look sweet.”

Seabeam laughed. “You got me there. Just don’t expect me to follow you.”

With that the two guards, who were probably the only smiling ponies in the castle, walked into the mess hall for a well earned meal.

Chapter 3

“Okay, Princess, I think we’ve just about gone through the whole thing.”

Vim was very carefully double and triple checking her checklists, making sure she hadn’t missed anything, and Nightmare Moon slumped into her throne with a deep sigh.

“Finally.” Nightmare Moon shook her head. “I’ve no idea why my sister would force herself to endure such exhausting ponies. I can manage the normal ponies, but when Celestia returns, do not schedule me to meet with any of these ‘nobles.’”

“Noted,” Vim said. She took out a little pad and scribbled something onto it. “Are there any other changes you’d like to make?”

“I’d just like to go do my actual job. It is getting rather late, after all.”

“You’re not going to sleep?”

Nightmare Moon scoffed. “I had a thousand years to get past such trivial things as sleep. At least, when I’m not wasting energy each day fighting against myself.”

“I see. Well, alright then, I suppose there’s nothing to keep you from it…” Vim hummed anxiously, unaware that she was doing so.

Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow at her. “Speak your mind.”

“Oh!” She was startled and jumped a bit. “Um, well, it’s just… The sun is still up.”

Nightmare Moon stared down at her for a long moment before speaking. “And?”

“Well, I’m not sure if Celestia is going to lower it. If something has kept her away this long, it might distract her.”

“I don’t see why this is my problem.”

“I just think that, maybe… Um, just this once… Maybe you could…” Vim trailed off and stared down at the floor.

“Did I not make myself clear?” Nightmare Moon stood up and looked down her nose at the little pony. “I’ll not cover up for my sister’s incompetence.”

Vim took a step away. “I-I know you said that,” she said, “but I just thought…”

Nightmare Moon walked slowly towards Vim, and soon towered above her. “Are you contradicting me?”

“Ponies need the night!” Vim crouched down nervously and started talking in rapidfire unfinished sentences. “Without it they can’t sleep and they won’t dream and you have to protect them and they’ll be tired and their crops will die and—”

“Stop,” Nightmare Moon ordered, and she did. “You’ve made your point. You truly believe me to be incorrect?”

Vim gave a shaky nod.

“Very well.” Without another word, Nightmare Moon turned and walked away. When she went into her bedroom, Vim braced herself for the door to slam, but it never did. Instead, it quietly latched behind the Princess.

Vim stood there, blinking, not entirely sure what just happened. Around her, the room started to turn a deep orange as the sun set.

Nightmare Moon didn’t dally. She moved the celestial bodies mechanically, no grandeur or showmanship. Before long the sun was set, the moon was high in the sky, and she turned in for the night. She made herself comfortable on her bed, not lying under the covers but sitting neatly on top of them, and closed her eyes as she allowed herself to drift off into the world of dreams.

The dreamscape was a fickle place, even for her. While normally the space between ponies’ dreams was dull and empty, it would at times shift itself as it saw fit. This time, when Nightmare Moon opened her eyes, she found herself back on the moon.

She wasn’t actually on the moon. She couldn’t see Equestria, or the sun, or even any stars in the inky blackness above. No, this was the moon as she knew at, as it was when she had been banished there. An endless plane of pits and craters, stretching so far that in a thousand years she could find no end to it. There was no curve, no real horizon. She could see the nothingness above, but there was no true point where rock met void. Her eye could follow either forever, never running out of more space to see.

Here in the dream world, she was truly alone. No other living pony could come to this place on their own, or at least not one that she had ever met. It was a gift, and a responsibility, that was hers alone, and at this point she regarded it like an old friend.

Here, she faltered. There was no reason to put up a front, no need to stoke the flames of her emotions. In the waking world, she knew that she had to give the impression that Nightmare Moon was there to stay. Otherwise, they might decide that the best course of action was to simply wait it out rather than listen to her. She had quickly found, though, that it wasn’t as easy to keep up as she’d expected.

So, with a sigh of relief, Nightmare Moon fell back into the calmness that was Luna.

She sat on the cold stone and rested. Before anything else, before she could think through the day or relax, she simply had to rest. All of the anger, the frustration, the righteousness she had kept going all day flowed out of her, bit by bit, until she finally felt like her normal self.

Once she could finally think straight, Luna decided that she needed to relax. Luckily, it seemed like a calm night, and she could feel no dreams approaching the precipice of a nightmare. As she concentrated and the world shifted around her, she silently prayed for that to stay the case.

The moon resisted the changes happening around Luna, but the sky succumbed. The darkness grew lighter, and then gained color, and clouds, and life. The new dream pushed onward, and under the sky’s might, the wind and rain, the moon could do nothing as it was weathered away, leaving the rich soil of Equestria in its place.

Then the world itself grew around her. First grass and shrubs, and far off, some buildings. Then trees, row upon row of tightly packed, carefully grown apple trees that quickly surrounded Luna. Then a breeze, and birdsong, and the rustling of leaves, and finally, the pony she had come to see.

Applejack hardly had time to process Luna’s appearance before the Princess fell against her, wrapping her in a tight, desperate hug. Applejack squeezed her back, and gave her girlfriend a soft kiss on the cheek.

“Well, howdy, Moonlight,” Applejack whispered into her ear. “I wasn’t expectin to see you as, well, you for a couple weeks.”

Luna leaned back, and she had a bright smile on her face. “Oh, Applejack,” she said dreamily. Then, suddenly, she grabbed Applejack and rolled over onto her back, pulling Applejack on top of her chest, and kissed her. “Oh, how I missed you.”

Applejack chuckled and nuzzled into Luna’s chest. “Can’t go one day without me, huh?” She grinned. “How’d it go?”

Luna sighed. “Honestly? I have no idea. My sister never even gave me a chance, she was just gone all day!”

“Really? Even after Starlight told her no?”

Luna shook her head. “I have no idea where she could have disappeared to, but it has me worried. What if we overlooked something?”

“I guess we’ll just have to find out,” Applejack said. “Remember, though, you’re not alone. A lot of ponies are here for you if you need help.”

“Of course.”

Luna sighed again and reached up to stroke Applejack’s mane. Applejack closed her eyes and leaned into it, and so Luna decided to stroke her cheek, which made Applejack purr comfortably.

Luna smiled and used her magic to take off her crown and Applejack’s hat, setting them on the ground nearby. Then she lifted her other hoof up and looped them both around the back of Applejack’s neck before pulling her down into a deep, passionate kiss.

The kiss lasted for a long, blissful moment. Around them insects chirped and trees groaned in the wind, a wind which lifted their manes and tangled them together. It was chilly, just barely cold enough for it to start to bite into them, and when the breeze hit Applejack it sent a shiver down her spine.

Then the kiss ended, and Applejack gently laid her head on Luna’s chest and closed her eyes. If not for the fact that they were in a dream, she would have looked like she had gone to sleep.

“Mmm…” Applejack hummed contentedly. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Luna said.

Neither of them talked for a long time after that. They relaxed in a blissful quiet, being lulled by the sounds of the orchard and of each other breathing. Applejack kept her ear pressed up against Luna’s chest so that she could hear her heartbeat. Leaves fell all around them, in their manes and even on top of them, but if they noticed they didn’t care. In that moment, the only thing in the world that mattered to either of them was the pony in front of them.

Time passed. Minutes, hours, neither of them cared enough to worry about it. They could have spent days like that, basking in the warmth of their lover.

At some point, though, Luna decided to stir.

With a sly smile, she floated Applejack’s hat over and put it on herself. When Applejack looked up and saw her, she couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Seriously, Luna, we can get you a hat,” she teased.

“Yes, but I don’t want to wear a hat,” Luna said, “I want to wear your hat.”

“Well, you’re lucky you look so good in it,” Applejack told her. “I just can’t bear to take it back.”

Luna laughed, and started gently petting Applejack. “You know,” she said, changing the subject, “I had to do all of my sister’s work today.”

“Oof,” Applejack replied. “As Nightmare Moon? They let you?”

“Well, they weren’t going to stop me,” Luna said. “Somepony had to do it.”

“So, what, you put on a smile and sucked up to rich jerks all day?”

“Oh, no, I made several of them fear for their lives.”

Applejack started to laugh, but quickly stifled it with a cough. “That can’t be good for your image.”

“Amongst nobles, maybe,” Luna said, “but I don’t have much interest in pleasing the elite. It may work for my sister, but I find the methods distasteful.”

“I can understand that. What about the rest? The non-noble parts of the day?”

“Actually, I quite enjoyed the rest. Watching over dreams is important, but it’s very specialized. I only ever help one pony at a time. Today it felt like the littlest thing could affect hundreds of lives. It felt like I was taking steps forward, rather than just doing what I’m expected to do.”

“Well, ain’t that a peach,” Applejack said. “Keep it up, then. I’m proud of ya.”

Luna grinned and nodded. “Thank you, Applejack. Oh!” Her face lit up. “I also stole a guard from Celestia! Now that was exciting.”

“Stole?”

“Well, I didn’t really ‘steal’ her,” Luna said. “Really, it’s just a new set of equipment, but it’s a good first step. Eventually, I’d like half of the guards to be under me, and half under Celestia.”

“Makes sense,” Applejack said. “Sounds like you’ve got this all figured out. All you gotta do is talk to Celestia.”

Luna sighed. “Yes, well, that’s still the hardest part of it all.”

Applejack hummed sympathetically. “Don’t worry, you can do it. You shouldn’t dwell on it, though. Tell ya what.” She grinned wide. “How about we find us a new dream?”

Luna smiled back. “Take me away, my dear dreamer.”

The world started to melt around them, shifting into something new, and as it did they both closed their eyes and kissed.

Hours later, it came time for the sun to rise, and Nightmare Moon awoke from her trance. She felt renewed, both physically and spiritually, and was ready to take on a new day.

Then her eyes adjusted to the light, and she realized she was surrounded by bars.

Chapter 5

The courtyard of Canterlot Castle was abuzz with ponies, young and old, rich and poor, waiting anxiously for what was to come. None of them knew what to expect. All they knew was that the Princess had called out, saying an announcement was imminent, and that the castle had been closed to everypony since dawn. No civilians, no guards, not even Princess Twilight had been allowed inside. That was enough to leave all of Canterlot on edge.

It wasn’t helped by the fact that nopony seemed to be able to leave the castle, either. All day, the massive, imposing doors leading inside had only opened twice. Once to let a single pony outside, and once more to let her back in.

That pony was a guard, tall, commanding, and suited in armor most ponies in Equestria had never actually seen in use. In stark contrast to the glittering gold of most guards, her armor was dark, so dark that you had to focus to even see the hint of blue that gave it color. Even then that blue was nebulous, like it was only blue where your eyes weren’t, and any spot you were looking at was just a dark void of nothing. The metal was polished to perfection, and every piece of armor had jagged, irregular edges, making it sharp and sleek. Finally, to finish the ensemble, her wings had been enchanted to make them thin and wiry, losing their feathers in favor of an unsettling batlike appearance that the pegasus wore with pride.

The pony, who some recognized to be Amber Dusk, only came outside for a few moments. She passed her orders along to the nearest trustworthy guard, then ducked back inside as quietly as she could. That wasn’t enough to keep her from being seen, though, and as soon as one pony knew there was no stopping the news. They told others, and those ponies told more, and soon all of Canterlot knew that Nightmare Moon was recruiting guards again.

Ponies easily feared the worst, and nervous chatter quickly spread those fears throughout the crowd. Was there an attack? Had somepony died? Anything was possible, and everything was assumed.

At the front of the crowd, Twilight stared up at the balcony where the Princess would soon appear. She was sitting on the ground, less for comfort and more to keep her legs from shaking, and she was gnawing on the end of a pencil that she seemed to have brought just for that.

Beside her stood Applejack, straightfaced and stoic. She had told Twilight all she knew, of course, but that wasn’t enough to actually know what was going on. If anything, it was only enough to worry more.

The crowd fell silent as two figures walked onto the balcony. Not Nightmare Moon, although the dark armor made it seem that way at first, but rather her guards. Amber Dusk walked out, plain for all to see, by the side of Seabeam, her fellow guard still dressed in the traditional garb. Neither of them regarded the crowd; they simply walked to either side of the balcony and stood at attention, looking straight ahead.

All around the crowd, cameras flashed as reporters fought for pictures. Around them, ponies grew less tense, and gossip and chatter started to rise throughout the courtyard. Soon it was louder than ever before, with ponies openly speculating about what any of this could mean.

The crowd grew so rowdy, in fact, that even when Nightmare Moon did make her appearance, not all of them quieted down.

The Princess stood in silence for a moment, waiting for the crowd to silence themselves. They didn’t. Cameras kept snapping pictures, talkative ponies hardly noticed her, and here and there some ponies even yelled out in support or protest.

She quickly grew frustrated with the noise. Frowning, she rose her leg into the air, then stomped as hard as she could on the floor of the balcony. The sound was tremendous, like being mere feet from a thunderclap, and it snuffed out any thought of noisiness amongst the crowd. All the ponies in attendance snapped their heads toward her, and soon she had their full attention.

Nightmare Moon cleared her throat, then spoke in her booming royal voice. “Ponies of Canterlot and beyond, the news I bring you today is quite distressing. I am going to ask, first and foremost, that you approach the coming days calmly. Do not allow your fears to run rampant.”

She paused for a moment. Around the courtyard, ponies looked at each other nervously. Twilight glanced at Applejack, but Applejack could only shrug.

“I believe it necessary to also reiterate that I am, and always will be, invested in the betterment of my subjects’ lives. You all believe many things about me, some warranted, some not, but I can assure you that the events of a thousand years past are not a sign of things to come. In the interest of that assurance…”

Nightmare Moon closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and relaxed as she dropped the mask of anger she wore and became Luna once again.

“I will be giving the remainder of this speech as Princess Luna.”

A murmur spread through the crowd. Applejack jumped with a start, and Twilight looked over to her. “What’s wrong?”

“She is not supposed to do that,” Applejack whispered back.

“Please, settle down,” Luna said, her voice still booming. Gradually, everypony stopped talking again. “Thank you. Now, I can get right to the announcement. I will tell you all this plainly; Princess Celestia has been banished.”

The crowd erupted. Ponies talked frantically, reporters shot photos nonstop, and several more ponies yelled out against Princess Luna.

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Please tell me she didn’t just say what I think she said,” she whispered to Applejack.

“‘Fraid I can’t do that,” Applejack replied.

“Please, everypony, let me finish,” Luna called out.

The crowd stayed in an uproar.

Anger flashed across Luna’s face. “Silence!” she yelled, and that was enough. It still took a moment, but soon the courtyard was once more focused on her.

She cleared her throat. “I apologize for that,” she said, “but I need to finish. I’ve no intention of keeping my sister away for a thousand years. I promise you all, I will work to fix this. However, I shall not release her until I deem it safe to do so. She has acted against me, and made it clear that she would keep us both from ruling rather than allow me to step out from under her shadow.”

Luna paused for a moment to take another slow, deep breath.

“I am no longer content hiding in the shadows. From this day forward, my sister and I are equals. I hope you can all come to see me as such.” Voices started rising in the crowd again. “That is all,” Luna said quickly, and she turned and walked back into the castle.

As soon as she was gone, the uproar returned. Ponies started running around, finding others they wanted to talk to.

Before she could get swarmed by reporters, Twilight lit up her horn and sent herself and Applejack up onto the balcony.

Immediately, the guards closed in, blocking the way inside.

“Oh, come on,” Twilight groaned. “Just let us in.”

The guards looked at each other, and Seabeam shrugged awkwardly. Then, they stepped aside, and Twilight and Applejack dashed in after Luna.

They found her in the throne room, making her way to the thrones. They ran up until they were right behind her, then slowed to match her speed.

“Luna!” Twilight said. “What in the world is going on?”

Luna stopped walking, but didn’t turn to face them. “Exactly what I said, Twilight.”

“You banished Celestia? That’s…” Twilight paused. “That’s insane!”

“I did what I had to.”

“Luna, are you sure about this?” Applejack asked. While Twilight sounded anxious and afraid, Applejack’s voice was full of concern. “This ain’t anything we talked about happening.”

Luna sighed and looked down at the ground. “I tried, Applejack. She won’t even acknowledge me as her sister if I’m not cowering in fear and drowning in regret.”

“You can’t just banish somepony because things get rough,” Twilight said.

“Why not?” Luna looked over her shoulder at Twilight and narrowed her eyes. “It’s precisely what she did to me!”

“So, what?” Twilight asked. “You want to just make her feel all the pain you’ve ever felt?”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Luna spun around to face them, and by the time she was done she was back to Nightmare Moon. “She didn’t get these lectures! She got to spend a thousand years as the hero who saved Equestria, and all that time she made me out to be a villain. What mercy is she owed from me?”

“Woah, hey,” Applejack said. “Listen to yourself, Moonlight. This ain’t you!”

“And what if it is? What if this is how I truly feel? Would you then despise me, like all the others?”

“It ain’t,” Applejack repeated. “I mean, think about what you just asked me. Do you really think that after spendin so much time with you, with Nightmare Moon, that I’d suddenly believe you’re bad enough to hate?”

“I-” Nightmare Moon turned away from them. “No. You wouldn’t.”

Applejack stepped closer and put a hoof on her shoulder. “You’re all out of sorts. Let’s talk, get you outta your head.”

“...If you insist.”

Twilight walked up beside Applejack. “Hey, uh, it looks like you’ve got this,” she said. “I think I’m gonna leave you two alone and go have a talk with Celestia.”

“Alright, Twilight,” Applejack said.

“Have fun,” Nightmare Moon said dryly. She flicked a hoof through the air, and Twilight was engulfed in flames. A second later, she was gone.

“Uh, I think she coulda gone there without being banished,” Applejack said.

“Any proper ruler needs one or two banishments in their time,” Nightmare Moon said.

The two of them decided to go into Luna’s bedroom to talk. They kept the lights off and closed the curtains, so only faint slivers of light lit the room around them. Together, they sat on the bed, and Applejack leaned up against Nightmare Moon.

“You gonna stay like that, then?” Applejack asked.

“Do you think I should not?”

Applejack thought for a moment. “Nah, stay like that. I think it’ll help.”

“Alright,” Nightmare Moon said. “Where would you like to begin, then?”

“Good question,” Applejack replied. “Do you really think you had to banish her?”

“Perhaps not, but I do not regret it. I may not be entirely in the right, but I don’t believe it was wrong of me to be upset that she turned our teacher against me and sent me back to the moon.”

“Wait, you mean Star Swirl?”

Nightmare Moon nodded. “She must have convinced him I could not be reasoned with.”

“D-Did you banish him too?”

“What? No!” Nightmare Moon looked at Applejack incredulously. “I simply told him to leave.”

Applejack sighed. “Alright. Well, I ain’t gonna tell you to feel bad. That’s your prerogative.”

There was a pause before Nightmare Moon asked “are you angry with me?”

Applejack pursed her lips and thought. “Mmm… Nah. I mean, I can’t help but feel like there must’ve been a better way, but feelings are feelings, y’know?”

“Alright.”

There was another pause.

“So, now what?” Applejack asked.

“I talk to her until she listens, I suppose.”

“What about?”

Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean? The same thing as always, about how many ponies despise me.”

“You’ve been at this a couple days now, though,” Applejack said. “It ain’t like there’s been a revolution. You still think they despise you?”

“What are you getting at?”

“I just started thinkin about it after I saw that guard all done up in your colors,” Applejack told her. “She ain’t wearin those out of hate, so either you forced her to, or you made an impression.”

“Alright, so now, including you, there are two ponies who don’t despise me.”

“Ponies don’t quit hatin somepony that fast,” Applejack said. “I think she already liked you, you just couldn’t see it cuz all you ever see is nightmares ponies have.”

Nightmare Moon thought for a moment. “I suppose that makes sense.”

“So, maybe you don’t need to make ponies like you more, you just gotta be able to see that they like you now. Heck, even as Nightmare Moon they like you.”

“So…”

“Well, the plan you said before still works.” Applejack chuckled. “Just start workin in the daytime and get Celestia off your back.”

“Ah. Well, that was a long talk just to say ‘keep it up.’”

“The talk was just to make you feel better,” Applejack said. “Like I said, get you outta your head. It’s a lot harder to believe all that awful stuff you tell yourself if you gotta say it to another pony.”

Nightmare Moon smiled at her. “Thank you, my Princess.”

Applejack nuzzled her affectionately. “Any time, Moonlight.”

“There is one change I’d like to make to the plan, though.”

“What’s that?”

Nightmare Moon wrapped a leg around Applejack. “I want my Princess by my side.”

“Mm…” Applejack thought hard. “I mean, we’re way past the big harvests, so… Yeah, okay. I think I can take some time off from the farm.”

“Excellent.” Nightmare Moon kissed Applejack’s forehead. “I’ll get started right away on making you an official Princess.”

“Wait, what?”

Chapter 6

“Aah!”

Twilight flinched as she was engulfed in flames. First, the icy tendrils of Nightmare Moon’s magic wrapped around her. An instant later, they were burned away by an unbearable heat, and Twilight found herself in the midst of a roaring inferno. Even the ground itself seemed to be made of fire, and was so hot she had to take to the sky to escape it.

Even high in the air, the flames licked at her hooves as she looked around. It was all the same, a world of endless, boiling flames. Even the sky itself was a bright orange, as if somewhere, too far to ever see, reality itself was burning away.

In all the flickering flames, only one thing stood out. A hunched white shape off in the distance, the form of a pony with her head hung low.

Twilight flew as fast as she could to Celestia. The Princess looked absolutely terrible. Her mane had lost all its volume and fallen to her side, her horn rippled with the flames that now passed all throughout it, and sweat dripped from her face. Or, at least, Twilight chose to believe it was sweat.

“Princess?” Twilight tried to stay calm, but could hardly keep her voice from trembling. “What did she do to you.”

Celestia looked up in shock. “Twilight? What are you doing here, what has she done? That wicked beast, I knew it would only be a matter of time before she went after you and Cadance.”

Twilight winced. “Princess, please, slow down. I’m not in trouble, I came here on my own.”

“You what? Twilight, why? You need to stop her!”

“Applejack is talking to her.” Twilight got tired of flying and conjured herself up a large pillow to sit on, so that she had at least some protection from the flames. “So, I came to talk to you.”

“Applejack probably had a part in this to begin with! Surely you don’t trust her to deal with that monster.”

“Princess, I-” Twilight cut herself off and shook her head. “Look, let’s get you out of those.” Twilight zapped the shackles binding Celestia’s legs and made them disappear. Immediately, Celestia sat on the ground to rest, seemingly oblivious to the heat. “Okay, and then…”

Twilight tried to give the ring binding Celestia’s horn the same treatment, but the flames had run too deep. When she fired on the ring, Celestia’s horn lit up on its own and blocked the blast, making it impossible for Twilight to restore Celestia’s magic.

Twilight frowned. “Okay, well… At least you can walk.”

Celestia sighed deeply. “Thank you, Twilight, but you need to leave. You’re the only pony who can stop her!”

“It’s just Luna,” Twilight said.

“That creature is not Luna.”

Twilight frowned. “I mean, even if you believe that, she stopped being Nightmare Moon earlier today. Luna isn’t dangerous.”

“Twilight, you’ve always listened to me before. Why, now, do you choose to ignore my warnings?”

“Because…” Twilight looked away from her. “Because you’re wrong, Princess.”

“Wh-” Celestia’s mouth hung open. “She shackled me to the sun!”

“Yeah, and that was wrong too. But that doesn’t make you right.” Twilight still couldn’t bring herself to look at Celestia.

“So, what? I should have just let her waltz in and claim all the power she wanted?”

“She didn’t claim anything,” Twilight said. “Luna was already a Princess.”

“Nightmare Moon is not Luna.”

“She is!” Twilight shut her eyes tight and shook her head. “She’s Luna, and I don’t understand how you can say such horrible things about her.”

“You can’t seriously believe I would speak of Luna in such a way.”

“Nightmare Moon didn’t come from nowhere,” Twilight said. “She came from things you played a part in, and saying she’s not Luna is just a way to say you never did those things.”

“Oh, so now Nightmare Moon was my fault? She’s a monster born of hatred and rage, a parasite that drove my sister against me.”

Twilight stood up and took a few steps away from Celestia, ignoring the heat under her hooves. “I’ve only seen hatred from one of you,” Twilight said, “and it isn’t her.”

Celestia stood up as well. “Twilight, I am only trying to protect Equestria. What am I supposed to do? Nightmare Moon has filled my sister’s head so full of lies that she may never feel like she can speak to me again. How am I meant to address problems I don’t know exist?”

“Have you ever tried to talk to her about it?”

“I can’t,” Celestia said. “Were I to try, I would risk provoking Nightmare Moon.”

“And when Nightmare Moon showed up anyway, and actually tried to talk to you, you didn’t let her.”

“I have nothing to say to her. I’ve no reason to trust that a single thing she says reflects how my sister feels.”

“She is-” Twilight cut herself off and shook her head. “Princess, if you aren’t willing to question yourself, there’s nothing else I can say to you.”

Celestia frowned. “Twilight. Please. Just trust me this once, and stop Nightmare Moon. Please, trust your Princess.”

Twilight’s brow furrowed. “I am trusting the Princess, Celesia. I’m trusting myself. I think you may have gotten too used to ruling alone.”

“Twilight—” Celestia started to talk, but before she could say anything, Twilight lit up her horn and disappeared. Once more, Celestia was on her own.

After so long in the inferno, returning to Canterlot felt like walking into a freezer, and Twilight couldn’t have been more relieved. A moment ago, she had been angry and distraught, on the verge of tears, but the relief was so intense that all of that melted away. All that was left was her, standing with her eyes closed and her head low in the middle of the Canterlot throne room.

“See? I told you she could make it back.”

Twilight looked up to see Nightmare Moon lounging in her throne, surrounded by ponies. The guards from the balcony were there, as was the pony Twilight recognized as Celestia’s assistant, and between the two thrones stood Applejack. An anxious look was plastered on her face, but it lightened up a bit on seeing Twilight come back.

“How’d it go?” Applejack asked.

Twilight sighed and walked up to them. “Bad.”

“Tsk.” Nightmare Moon shook her head. “I had hoped your intervention might help to smooth things out.”

“How’d it go here?” Twilight asked.

“Good, I think,” Applejack replied. “Mostly good. A little terrifying.”

“The important part is, I am fully prepared to speak with my sister and get past this… Misstep,” Nightmare Moon added.

Beside them, Vim cleared her throat. “Um, Princess Luna, I’m just going to go get those books for you, alright?” Nightmare Moon nodded, and Vim scurried off as quickly as she could while remaining professional.

“Books?” Twilight asked.

“History books,” Nightmare Moon told her, “on past Princesses. Apparently, you can’t just declare somepony a Princess. The magical transformation is actually a requirement, and Applejack is being stubborn.”

“I’m an earth pony,” Applejack said, “and I ain’t gonna throw that away for some fancy title, no matter how cute you think it’d be.”

“Okaaay,” Twilight said awkwardly, “well, getting back to important stuff… I think you should bring Celestia back as soon as possible.”

“And why is that?” Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow.

“Because it’s something,” Twilight said. “It’s a first step, and Celestia isn’t going to make the first step. Or the second, or the third. You’re going to have to make her have a civil conversation with you, like you should have done before you banished her.”

Nightmare Moon regarded her for a moment as she thought. “I see your point,” she eventually said. “Thank you for trying, Twilight. What do you plan to do from here?”

“Me?” Twilight scoffed. “I’m gonna go home, lie down with my girlfriend, and wait until all of this is over.”

Applejack laughed. “Wish I had that option. See ya, Twilight.”

Twilight nodded. “See you later.”

Twilight walked away and out of the throne room, and as she did Vim slipped back inside carrying a huge stack of books. Twilight offered to help her, but she didn’t need it; despite the tower looking so tall and unwieldy that even Spike would struggle with it, she carried it around on her back without a second through, never breaking stride or slowing down as she carried them up to Nightmare Moon.

She dropped the stack beside the throne and huffed. “Alright, I believe this is every book we have regarding past Princesses, alicorn magic, and transformative spells.”

“Excellent,” Nightmare Moon said. “Did any in particular seem noteworthy?”

Vim nodded. “Yeah, I put the best bets at the top.”

“Wonderful.” Nightmare Moon floated the first book down, a copy of a textbook titled Theoretical Magic: Innate Spells. Apparently, it covered magic that was a part of reality itself. “Mm… Vim, are you particularly busy? I’m not eager to read through dense scientific literature.”

“Um, actually, I have a lot of scheduling to do,” Vim said. “You have some meetings today, and I have to find time for them later.”

“Later? No, send them in now,” Nightmare Moon told her.

“While you’re researching?” Vim pursed her lips. “They may see that as a slight against them.”

“Do you think I care?”

“Not really, no,” Vim said. “I just thought I should mention it. I’ll get started on that right away.”

Vim dashed off again, and Nightmare Moon floated the textbook over to Seabeam. “Here, you look like you could read this without falling asleep. Look through it for me.”

“Oh, um, y-yes, Your Highness,” Seabeam said, nervously grabbing the book and flipping it open.

Nightmare Moon thought for a moment, then decided to grab the stack of books and split it into four parts, giving a pile to both guards, one to herself, and the final, smallest pile to Applejack.

“There,” she said. “Hop to it.”

So they did, all of them cracking open books and scanning through them at their own pace. Amber Dusk sped through hers, fast enough that at first Nightmare Moon feared she may miss something, but in the end she decided she should trust her guards. For her part, Nightmare Moon wasn’t slow, but she was being so overly diligent that she was going at about the same rate as Applejack. Seabeam was going the slowest, reading every page thoroughly, and he was still on the textbook when Vim brought the first ponies into the throne room.

The first pony to walk in was a familiar stallion in a very pricey, very ugly suit, flanked by two other stallions, both very stoic and professional. At first Nightmare Moon didn’t even notice him, but after a moment Vim cleared her throat and Nightmare Moon looked up.

She narrowed her eyes at the stallion. “Vim, what is he doing here?”

“He was very insistent,” Vim said. “He said that—”

“I can speak for myself, thank you,” the stallion said. “Princess, do you know who I am?”

“No,” Nightmare Moon said, “and at this point if you try to tell me I’ll throw you out a window.” She turned her head back to the book she was working through.

He grimaced. “Well, suffice it to say, I am a very important pony. These,” he gestured to the ponies to his side, “are ponies from Manehattan who run a very successful business, and they’re very interested in my land.”

“Mm,” Nightmare Moon hummed. “What business?”

“Well, it’s a bit hard to explain,” the stallion said, “but in a way their business is helping other businesses to—”

“How does this replace what the parks bring to the ponies of Canterlot?”

“Well, they’d bring in a lot of opportunities, letting the ponies in the city—”

“No.”

The stallion flinched. “What?”

“I said no,” Nightmare Moon repeated. “Sell them your land if you wish, but they’ll not receive permits for this business. If they wish to own the parks, though, I imagine that would be perfectly acceptable for everypony.”

“At least hear me out, Princess.”

“Do not test me.” Nightmare Moon’s voice was still calm and quiet, and she continued to flip through her book. “You have your answer. Vim, if this pony insists on seeing me again, and does not have a very good reason, I want you to bring him directly to me so that I may show him what happens when I run out of patience.”

The stallion’s face was starting to get red. “This is just preposterous, you can’t threaten me! I’m not going to leave this room until—”

Nightmare Moon grabbed the trio with her magic, slid them out into the hallway, and slammed the door behind them.

“I’m startin to see why you can’t do this as Luna,” Applejack said.

“It’s unbelievable!” Nightmare Moon groaned. “How do ponies like this even exist in Equestria?”

Applejack shrugged. “I’ve wondered that ever since I met Flim and Flam.”

Nightmare Moon sighed. “Vim, is there another?”

“Oh, yes, Princess! I’ll go get him,” she said as she slipped out the door. She was careful not to open it too wide, lest the stallion try to get back in.

“So,” Applejack said, “you gonna talk to Celestia?”

“I suppose I have to,” Nightmare Moon said, “I’m just not sure how I should do it. Is it truly wise to bring her back, when doing so may make her feel like she has the option of escape? She’ll never listen if she thinks she can get away.”

“What, then?” Applejack asked. “Are you gonna go to the sun?”

Nightmare Moon shook her head. “I’ve too much work here for that. I think I may have to visit her dreams to accomplish my goals.”

“You don’t sound real excited for that.”

“The moon affected my dreams in strange ways,” Nightmare Moon said. “Conversation will prove difficult.”

“Well, I think you’ve got it in you to get through to her,” Applejack told her.

“Thank you,” she replied.

The doors opened again, this time revealing a tall, colorful creature. It wasn’t a pony at all this time, much to Nightmare Moon’s surprise, and she found herself standing respectfully as the king of the changelings entered the room.

Applejack leaned over to whisper to her. “Uhh, I know it ain’t the plan, but I don’t know if Nightmare Moon is the best for meeting Thorax.”

“I’ll be fine,” Nightmare Moon replied. “Greetings, Thorax.”

They bowed to each other, and Nightmare Moon returned to her lounging.

“Um, greetings, Princess… Luna?” Thorax tilted his head. “Are you Luna?”

“In a sense.”

“Okay… Well, anyway.” He shifted awkwardly where he stood. “I know this meeting wasn’t, like, planned or anything, so it’s kind of unorthodox, but it just seemed like I should—”

“Get to the point,” Nightmare Moon told him.

“Right, right. Well, Changelings get news pretty fast, what with the hivemind and all, so we heard about what happened with Celestia, and some of them are getting really worried. They were already anxious about Chrysalis, and now you’re back and Celestia’s gone so, uh, you know…”

“Do you consider me a threat?” Nightmare Moon asked.

Thorax blinked. “Um… I don’t know, I guess. Are you?”

Nightmare Moon looked hard at him, then laughed. “No, Thorax, I am not. Even if I were intending to conquer Equestria, your hive would be far from my first target. Your subjects are safe.”

“Alright… Well, I guess I trust you,” Thorax said. “Is there anything you can give me to tell them about Chrysalis?”

“Have you tried ‘get over it?’”

“Ah, well, no, but I don’t think… Well, thank you anyway.” Thorax bowed politely. “That’s all I came for. Honestly, just my coming here was probably enough to calm them down.”

“Mm.” Nightmare Moon nodded. “Well, goodbye, then.”

“Wait!” Seabeam suddenly spoke up, and all the faces in the room snapped to him, which immediately made him far more nervous. “Uh, sorry, Your Highnesses, but I think I found something, and it mentions changelings.”

Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow. “Let me see that,” she said as she floated the book over to herself.

“Something I can help with?” Thorax asked.

“Well, I’d like to make Applejack a Princess,” Nightmare Moon explained, “but she insists on staying an Earth Pony, so I’m seeking a compromise.”

“Oh, interesting,” Thorax said. “You know, we actually had a few changelings who didn’t want to transform just because they liked how they looked already.”

Nightmare Moon looked up at him. “Oh?”

Thorax nodded. “Yeah. I mean, I didn’t get it, but I guess I’m kinda biased because I have bad memories about looking like that.”

“So?”

“Huh? Oh! Yeah, so we got this unicorn, I think his name was Starblast or something, who said that if we did a spell to change how they looked during the transformation, the spell would be permanent, and it worked! Real nifty.”

“Excellent!” Nightmare Moon grinned wide. “We didn’t even need-” she checked the cover of the book to see the title, then snapped it shut and glared at Seabeam. “Is this the first book I gave you?”

“I read slow!” Seabeam said defensively.

Nightmare Moon growled and threw the book over his head. Beside her, Applejack covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.

Chapter 7

Nightmare Moon sat on her throne in the dark, tapping a hoof as she thought. The sun had set already, and all around Equestria ponies were starting to dream. She could feel them as they crowded together into the back of her mind, calm and subdued but still an undeniable presence. Always there for her to reach out to should turmoil grow. She could only hope that this night would be a peaceful one.

She had ordered the guards to leave her. Applejack was sound asleep in Luna’s bed. Nightmare Moon was alone, and she intended for it to stay that way. She wanted nothing to interrupt what was to come.

All that remained was to decide how to do it, and she was having more difficulty with the decision than she had expected. Twilight was right when she suggested that bringing her back would be a strong first move. What guarantee did she have that Celestia would stay and listen, though? The guards would not stop her, and if Nightmare Moon herself moved to keep her in place it would only raise tensions more. The last thing she wanted was for this discussion to turn into a fight, because while she knew she would win, it was not a victory she sought.

The alternative was to meet in her dreams, but that option wasn’t ideal either. She would be sacrificing that powerful first move, and while keeping things how they stood lowered the risk of things turning ugly, it hardly made it impossible. Combined with the power she would have in her own dreams, and Nightmare Moon’s memories of her own dreams on the moon, it was difficult to commit to that course of action.

There was, also, a third option. She could go to the sun herself, and confront Celestia there. She had no idea what to expect there, though, and thinking back on how horrid the moon had been… No. She would never return to such a place again.

Somewhere in the castle, a clock rang out. Another hour gone. She needed to make a decision.

So, she cursed herself under her breath for deciding to do something so asinine, and then closed her eyes and reached out to the world of dreams.

The dreamscape welcomed her like an old friend. The vast, inky blackness, no floor or ceiling, no earth or sky. Just darkness in all directions, speckled with pinpricks of light left by dreams. Her own personal stars.

This wasn’t where she needed to be, though. No matter how far she looked, she would never find Celestia dreaming here. If she were that close, then Nightmare Moon would have been able to reach back into the world of dreams from the moon. No, dreaming in these places sent you somewhere else, someplace she rarely dared to tread.

She took a deep breath, then another. Even as Nightmare Moon, this trip was difficult for her. Eventually, when she felt ready, she slowly raised a hoof high into the air. Then she moved it forward, just a little, and felt it tug at the essence of reality itself. Finally, in one brisk movement, she sliced down through it to tear a deep gash into the world of dreams.

The tear was felt in every dream being dreamt, no matter how far. There was a sound unlike sound, as though the noise itself had been torn and distorted, and reality faltered. It was like a record skipping a beat that wasn’t there in the first place; wrong, altered, yet entirely the same. Completely unnoticeable, and at the same time digging into the deepest parts of who you are.

There was nothing to see where Luna had torn the world open. Really, she hadn’t torn open a place at all. It was more like she had put the idea of an opening into the world, and then made the idea true. It was always there, and no matter where she was, or how far she went, she could step through it at any time.

She didn’t have anywhere else to go, though. She just stepped through.

The gash mended itself behind her after she crossed, and just like that she was lost, stranded in a world that was not her own. Like hers, this dreamscape was an endless void, but it wasn’t the bottomless darkness she knew. It was something brighter, warmer, that she couldn’t quite grasp. It was as if all of it, the color, the shape, the idea, could find no hold in her mind, and she lost it as soon as she saw it.

That was everything.

There were no landmarks, no stars to light her way. This was not a place where dreams should exist, and so, for the most part, they did not. With her passage in gone, Nightmare Moon was stranded, lost to float aimlessly with no sense of where she was.

Except that wasn’t entirely true. She knew Celestia was here. With her consciousness shifted into this new place, her connection to the ponies of Equestria was gone, and so she could feel only one. A single dream, far away, that she knew to be her sister’s. All she had to do was find it.

It wasn’t easy. She truly had no frame of reference, no up or down or left or right. She knew she’d see Celestia’s dream somewhere, but she didn’t know where she had already looked. She could look too far up, only to have flipped around and started looking behind herself without realizing. Combined with the strain of meticulously scanning the distant something that made up this world, finding a single point of light was no easy feat.

She looked, and she looked. She looked for far longer than she had any way to keep track of, and then she looked some more. For all she knew, she could have been looking her entire life by the time she found Celestia, but eventually, she did find Celestia.

Once she found her, that was it. Her dream was unfathomably far away, yes, but distance meant little in this place. So far as she knew where it was, Luna could enter the dream in an instant.

She hesitated, though. This dreamscape was bad enough; the dreams were something altogether different. She had to work herself up to it, grit her teeth and brace herself, and then she jumped into the dream.

It hit her immediately. The rules were different here, existence shifted with the tides of the dream, and diving into it was an extreme shock to her system. The world around her was nothing but flickering reds and oranges, licks of flame that had no source and had no end, and they ran deep. The flames dug into space, they dug into time, they dug into being, and at the very core of herself Nightmare Moon could feel them burning away at her.

They may have burnt her away into nothing if she hadn’t heard a sob somewhere far away. Somewhere in this world of fire, Celestia was dreaming, and remembering that focused Nightmare Moon once more. She knew what she had to do; She opened herself up, let the flames in, let herself fall into the flames. She let the reality of this place wash over it, and as it did the world started to clear.

The flames around her didn’t disappear. If they had, there would be nothing left, because the flames were this place, and Nightmare Moon was starting to see that. Fires wrapped together into shapes, into ground and sky, into trees and grass. Into Canterlot. High above her, the castle warped and swayed with the flames, and that was right.

Then she saw Celestia, shackled to the ground and staring up at the castle.

Nightmare Moon paused. She had to decide how to do this. Her sister needed to listen, she needed to come home, and there was only one way to guarantee that.

So, with a deep breath, Nightmare Moon calmed herself and drew back into Princess Luna.

She walked confidently up to Celestia. “Sister,” was all she said.

Celestia jumped with a start, and her brow furrowed. Her eyes were damp with recent tears. “Of course,” she grumbled. “I should have expected this place to torture me with you as well.”

Luna shook her head. “I am really here, sister. I’ve come to talk.”

Celestia narrowed her eyes. “Why should I believe that?”

With a swipe of her hoof, Luna made the shackles binding Celestia disappear. “I can’t make you believe anything,” she said. “I can only hope you do.”

Celestia studied her for a moment, and then her expression relaxed and she slumped down onto the ground. “Sister, is this really you?”

Luna sat down as well. “I am always me.”

“You know what I mean.”

Luna shook her head. “Nightmare Moon and I are one and the same. I do not exist without her.”

“That’s not true,” Celestia argued. “Whatever she’s made you believe, it’s a lie.”

“I remember everything she does. I know all her thoughts. Even when we were at odds, even when she begged me to take action, I could feel everything she felt. I am Nightmare Moon.”

“I’m not willing to accept that,” Celestia said. “We can do something, we can get you help. Surely Twilight can—”

A hint of anger flashed across Luna’s face. “I do not need ‘help.’ Just because you cannot accept who I am does not mean you can decide I need to be ‘fixed.’”

“Luna, I just want you to be happy.”

“If you want me to be happy, you must allow her to be happy. Who I am is not up for debate!”

Celestia frowned. “Luna, be reasonable. It’s Nightmare Moon, she’s evil! You can’t just let her run your life for you.”

“So I should let you run it instead?” Luna suddenly stood up, and fire flashed through her eyes. “I made one mistake, and you’ve used that ever since to justify your complete unwillingness to treat me as an equal.”

Celestia stood up to match her. “That is completely unfair, you can’t expect me to just never speak up when I think you might be making a mistake. I’m just looking out for you.”

“Why can’t I make mistakes?” Luna swiped a hoof through the end, and bright blue flames erupted from it. “I’m not going to snap and take over the world every time I mess up! I don’t need your protection, I need your respect!” With the last word, she stomped on the ground, and the fire burned up and over her entire body, and when it was gone she was Nightmare Moon again.

Celestia took a step back and grimaced. “How can you say that when Nightmare Moon is standing right in front of me just because you got mad?”

Nightmare Moon took a step forward, and mid-stride changed effortlessly back into Luna. “Because I am not evil! Nightmare Moon helps me to say the things I cannot, the things you have made me too afraid to say. Did you even listen to me before you banished me? I know all the stories about your brilliant heroics say it, so you must have heard. You had a thousand years to improve things, and what did you do? You made me a monster.”

“Luna, that’s—”

Luna swiped her hoof again, and flames wrapped around Celestia’s mouth, snapping it shut.

“Let me speak! You let things grow even worse. Ponies lauded you as their savior, and despised me as the one who would take everything from them. Holidays were made to celebrate my defeat, legends told to inspire fear of me. I became the martyr that lost myself so that you may rise.”

She took another step forward, glaring intensely.

“You could have stopped it! You could have stepped forward at any time and told Equestria about me, not about my singular misstep. And now you treat me like a child, afraid to allow me any freedom and yet so terrified of Nightmare Moon that you elect not to speak to me at all. Equestria sees that! They see your fear of me, your disgust, the way you still blame me for what I did a thousand years later, and they think it’s right! If the hero who saved them thinks I’m still the villain she so bravely vanquished, what are they to believe?”

Luna looked away and shut her eyes tight. Her legs were starting to tremble as she fought to keep the anger in check.

“I’m done,” she decided. “I’ll return tomorrow. I do not intend to abandon you for a thousand years.” Celestia tried to stop her, but the flames around her mouth made her powerless to do anything as Luna turned away, walked a few steps, and then vanished.”

Back in Canterlot Castle, Nightmare Moon had already turned back into Luna before her eyes were even fully open. Distraught, exhausted, and not feeling capable of walking to her bed, she buried her head in her hooves and started to cry.

Chapter 8

Applejack sat on a massive golden throne, adorned on the top with a stylized version of her cutie mark. All around her were guards, servants, reporters, nobles, and anypony else who could possibly show up. They bombarded her with attention, so many questions being lobbed at her at once that she couldn’t hear a single one, and all she was able to do was sit up straight and force a smile.

The other Princesses were nowhere to be seen. Their thrones stood empty on either side of her, though they looked positively miniscule next to her grand seat. Celestia was still on the sun, and Luna was there with her, so Applejack was left alone to deal with the raucous masses.

Her smile faltered.

Applejack shook her head, reached up and took the ornate crown off of her head. She looked at it for a moment, a sharp, flashy thing that seemed like it would fit better on a pony like Sombra than on her. Largely this was because, as Applejack had learned, if you try to make the color orange elegant and regal, you just end up with gold. It didn’t help, though, that she had the largest crown of all the Princesses, and the bright red gemstone apple affixed to it made it absolutely clear who it belonged to.

“Nope,” she said, “I can’t do this.”

She stood up and threw the crown straight into the crowd of ponies, and as it passed through them they dissolved into the echoes of a thought. The hunk of metal clattered loudly as it bounced across the now empty throne room floor. Applejack watched it until it came to a stop near the huge double doors leading into the hallway.

Applejack had become quite a lucid dreamer after getting together with Luna. At first, she was completely oblivious, and every nighttime visit came as a surprise when she learned she wasn’t in the waking world. Over time, though, she grew used to it, and eventually she started to see her dreams in a whole new light. No longer were they unplanned trips her subconscious sent her own. Now, when Luna wasn’t visiting her, her dreams served as a kind of sanctuary where she could think and reflect on things.

Applejack picked up her hat from beside the throne and put it back on. “Sorry Luna,” she said to herself. “Canterlot just ain’t the place for me.”

She stared at the far wall of the throne room and tapped her hoof in thought. The one problem with Applejack’s newfound control over her dreams was that she didn’t always have things to think about. When that happened, and Luna was busy, she didn’t quite know what to do. Applejack had never been the most imaginative pony. Her subconscious could have kept her interest, but consciously conjuring up something to fill the time was something she struggled with. A lot of the time, she wound up just as she was now, staring at a wall as nothing came to her mind.

Eventually, she sighed in defeat. “It must be close to morning,” she muttered to herself, and so she decided she’d dreamt enough for the night.

Waking herself up was easier than she had expected it to be at first. Had she been asked before, she would have said she didn’t see how somepony could wake themselves up. After all, you’re in the dream. How can you do things in the real world?

As it turns out, all she had to do was open her eyes.

What greeted her was a dark, empty bedroom, and at first she was confused. Something wasn’t right. The bed was in the wrong place, the floor was too clean, the walls were too bare. Even the blankets felt too… Soft.

Then she woke up more, and remembered where she was. Luna’s bed, in Luna’s room. She looked to her side, but she was alone in the bed. She had expected as much, but still, it made her a little sad.

Maybe Applejack had gotten too used to having company every night, but she found herself craving company. So, despite the darkness outside the window and the silence of the night, she got out of bed and crept out of the room.

The throne room was similarly dark. The stained glass let in some light, sure, but it wasn’t entirely intact. Combined with how soft the light of the moon was, the room was cast in a kind of half-shadow, not quite bright enough to call light but still able to get darker, and the thrones still had long shadows stretching across the room away from them.

Applejack walked around to the front of the thrones and found Luna there, curled up and breathing softly as she slept. Applejack smiled at the sight, even though she was concerned for how much Luna had run herself ragged, and she walked up and gently stroked the Princess’ mane.

Gentle wasn’t a trait many ponies would use to describe Applejack, though, and Luna stirred at the touch. Applejack pulled her hoof back, but it was too late. The Princess yawned and cracked her eyes open, and a tiny smile graced her face when she saw who had woken her.

“Mm… Hey there,” Luna mumbled.

“Hey, Moonlight,” Applejack whispered. “Sorry I woke you up.”

“Don’t be,” Luna said. She slid back to make room on the seat and patted it, and Applejack eagerly hopped up and nuzzled into her. Luckily, these thrones were far larger than they had any need to be, so there was plenty of room for them both. Luna kissed Applejack’s forehead and wrapped a leg around her. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Applejack leaned into Luna’s embrace and closed her eyes in comfort. “Me too.”

“Have you slept well?”

“Well enough.” Applejack took a deep breath and let the air out slowly. “Thought on some stuff, but that can wait for morning.”

“Alright.” Luna started petting Applejack’s mane.

“I thought you weren’t gonna get tired anymore,” Applejack said.

“Mm, yeah… Eventually.” Luna paused. “Once I can let go.”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought I would just naturally become Nightmare Moon through all of this,” Luna explained, “but now I’m just holding back the Luna side instead.”

“Has that part of you not fought like that before?”

“I’m just me,” Luna said. “On the moon, I was so angry… It just never stopped. I never had to put thought into staying angry. Nightmare Moon is just a name, she’s not a different pony. She wants all the things I want, because she’s me. If I want to keep her hidden, then most of the time, she wants that too.”

“Most ponies don’t grow three feet and change their name when they get mad, though.”

“Getting hurt can make ponies do strange things,” Luna said. “Like put a face to all the parts of herself she thinks make others hate her, so that she can proclaim those parts to be ‘evil’ and stow them in the recesses of her mind.”

“But now you know it’s okay to feel those things,” Applejack said.

“Of course,” Luna agreed, “but Nightmare Moon already exists. Perhaps with years of effort I could undo that, but why? She doesn’t harm me, she’s just a part of who I am.”

“And you’re happy with that?”

“I am.” Luna stopped and thought for a moment. “Perhaps this will help you understand. Think about why you came to never lie. It was probably a bad experience, right? And, with years of effort, you could probably undo the effects of that experience, but I can’t imagine you would want to.”

“‘Course not.”

“Well, I view Nightmare Moon in much the same manner.”

“Alright… I think I get it.”

“I’m glad.” Luna leaned forward and gave Applejack a kiss on the cheek. “That means a lot to me. I think, perhaps, that this idea is at the heart of my conflicts with my sister.”

“How so?”

“She believes she knows better than me. That I cannot be trusted to determine the state of my mental health.” Without realizing it, Luna held Applejack a bit tighter as she talked.

“How do you figure you can fix that?”

“I’ll just have to go back every night and speak to her. Eventually, she will understand.”

“And you’ll just rule Equestria alone the whole time?”

“What other options do I have?” Luna sighed.

“You could always bring her back,” Applejack suggested. “As Luna. I mean, you don’t need her permission to quit holding back Nightmare Moon, and if you keep up the stuff you’ve been doing here and she sees how much Nightmare Moon helps you, then… I don’t know, maybe she’ll see that she can trust you.”

“Hmm…” Luna rubbed Applejack’s side for a bit as she thought. “You think that could work?”

“I think it’s at least as likely to work as keeping her banished is.”

“I suppose…” Luna tapped a hoof on the throne and hummed in thought. Then, suddenly, she stood up and hopped out of the throne. “Okay! Let’s do it.”

“Wh- Now?” Applejack scrambled to get up as well.

“If not now, I may never do it,” Luna said. “I’d rather not give myself the chance to second guess.”

Applejack sighed and shrugged. “Alright, well… Have at it.”

Luna nodded and started to focus. Slowly, her horn began to glow with a bright blue light. Then, a spot on the floor nearby started glowing as well, a wide circle filled with light. As she concentrated more, the light trickled upwards, swirling into a grand pillar of moonlight. Then, with one final flash, all the light shot up at once and disappeared.

Where it had been, sleeping on the floor, was Princess Celestia. Her horn sparked with blue flames, but aside from that she looked completely normal.

She wasn’t sleeping well, though, and the magic easily woke her up. She lifted her head and glanced around quickly, and when she spotted Luna she shot to her hooves and instinctively took a defensive stance.

Then she realized it was, in fact, Luna, and not Nightmare Moon, and her muscles relaxed. “Luna?”

“Welcome back,” Luna said. With a flick of her hoof, the flames engulfing Celestia’s horn vanished. Celestia sighed with an intense relief. “Applejack has convinced me that keeping you on the sun would not be the wisest course of action.”

Celestia narrowed her weary eyes. “Sending me up there in the first place was unwise.”

“Oh? So you admit that it was me who banished you?”

Celestia winced. “I’m… Not thinking straight.”

“Get some rest, sister,” Luna said. “We can speak when you wake up.”

“Do you not mean when you wake up? Surely you’ll be asleep.”

Luna shook her head. “This time, things will change in the wake of our turmoil.”

Celestia eyed her suspiciously. “Well, is she at least gone?”

“I am standing right here,” Luna replied.

Celestia sighed. “Fine. Be difficult. I’m going to sleep.” Then she turned and trudged into her bedroom.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Luna let out a held breath and slumped down. “Applejack, please tell me I haven’t just made a terrible mistake.”

“I can’t know any more than you can,” Applejack said, “but I think you did good. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

“Yes, alright,” Luna said. “For now… Dawn isn’t for a few hours yet. Would you like to get some sleep ourselves?”

Applejack grinned and nodded, then kissed Luna lovingly before they trotted off together into her bedroom.

Chapter 9

After the longest few days of their lives, Celestia and Luna finally returned to dutifully moving the sun and moon, just as they were meant to.

Celestia had needed to push herself out of bed, so exhausted from the past few days that her body was refusing to move, but she had made it in time for dawn. Out on her balcony, she spotted Luna lowering the moon and gazing off into the distance. While she was looking, Luna happened to turn her head, and their eyes met. Luna quickly turned away.

Celestia raised the sun mindlessly after that, and walked back inside before it had even crawled to a stop. It wasn’t necessarily reckless of her, her connection to the sun let her feel where it was even when it was out of sight, but Celestia normally made it a point to watch it as it rose, just in case.

Today, though, she was too tired. She made her way quickly through her bedroom, adorning her crown as quickly as she could, and stepped out into the throne room.

She let out a quiet sigh of relief when she saw that Luna was still in her room. She walked over to her throne and slumped down into it, hoping to get at least a few minutes to recoup. It did take her a bit of effort to get comfortable, but she did, and then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Good morning, Princess Celestia!” Celestia’s eyes shot back open. She had forgotten about the guards. She couldn’t be particularly displeased though, not with Seabeam looking so giddy as he greeted her. “It’s good to have you back.”

“Thank you,” Celestia said. “It’s nice to be back. I do hope she didn’t treat you too poorly. Or you, Du—”

Her words caught in her mouth when she caught sight of Amber Dusk.

“What are you wearing?”

“Oh, right.” Dusk looked down at the dark armor that covered her. “Well, I’m not entirely sure of the specifics, but Princess Luna said she wanted me as part of her, uh… ‘Lunar Guard.’”

Celestia grimaced. “Well, don’t worry, we’ll get it all sorted out. I won’t let any of you be beholden to the ridiculous things Nightmare Moon forced upon you.”

“Um, actually-” Dusk started, but then decided against it. “No, never mind.”

“So what else did she mess up in my absence?”

The guards looked at each other, then back at her. “Uhh, I think that question might be better for Vim,” Seabreeze said.

“Oh, yes, you’re probably right,” Celestia agreed. “Where is she, anyway?”

“Hiding, probably,” Seabeam said. Dusk shot him a look.

There was a click, and the hall fell silent as Luna’s door opened. All eyes fell on the Princess when she walked in. She set her jaw and took a moment to steel herself, then walked up to her throne and took a seat.

“Good morning, sister,” Luna said. Her voice was cold.

“Good morning,” Celestia repeated. “What’s this I’m hearing about a Lunar Guard?”

“Jumping right into this, are we?” Luna asked.

Celestia sighed. “Luna, please, is this hostility really necessary?”

“That depends,” Luna replied. “Are you going to show me any respect?”

“You know I respect you.”

“I don’t know that,” Luna snapped. “You won’t even listen to my word on who I am, why should I believe you respect me?”

“Luna…” Celestia shook her head. “We’re getting off track. Please, let’s go one step at a time. Tell me about the guards.”

Luna pursed her lips and turned away, leaning hard on the arm of her throne. “Can I not have guards? Must we really have every guard under your banner, wearing your colors, protecting you? Am I too much of a threat to have ponies that are loyal to me?”

“I’ve never said any of that,” Celestia argued. “You want guards? Fine, we’ll split the ranks in half, and—”

“No,” Luna interrupted. “I don’t want half. I only want a select few. I’ve already told Vim to start arranging times for me to interview them and select my guard.”

Celestia sighed again. “Okay, sure. However many it takes for you to no longer feel like I’m keeping them from you.”

“That’s not why I want this.”

“What?” Celestia raised an eyebrow at Luna.

“I’m not just jealous.”

“What difference does it make?”

“It makes every difference!” Luna glared at her sister. “The difference is your assumption that I cannot possible have a rational reason for my actions.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Celestia said.

“You are not infallible just because you mean well.”

“I don’t think I am!” Celestia put a hoof to her head in frustration. “Luna, I’m trying. I don’t get what you want from me!”

“I want you to listen to anything I say,” Luna told her. “I want you to hear my words, and to actually consider for one second that maybe you made mistakes.”

“I know I’ve made mistakes, Luna.”

“Do you? Because all I’ve heard today is indignance and rebuttals. What mistakes do you truly believe you made?”

“I’ve regretted banishing you every day since it happened. Every night I go to bed wondering if things would be different if I’d only paid more attention, if I had seen what was happening to you before it was too late.”

“Listen to yourself! ‘What was happening to me?’ You were happening to me! You’ve so thoroughly convinced yourself that you can do no wrong that you’d rather believe your own sister spontaneously became evil when you weren’t looking.”

“I never once saw you as evil,” Celestia said.

“No, of course not.” Luna rolled her eyes. “You simply believe Nightmare Moon, the all powerful being who controls my mind, is evil. That’s what I want you to do. I want you to admit to yourself that I am Nightmare Moon.”

“I can’t do that, Luna.” Celestia put her hooves out in a pleading gesture. “You’re asking me to accept that you can’t be helped, and I just can’t do that!”

“It’s not up to you!” Luna growled and suddenly stood up. “Nightmare Moon is here to stay. You have no say in that, and if you won’t accept me for who I am I have nothing more to say to you.”

Luna stormed off, headed for the hallway. When she neared the door, it opened and Vim pushed an overloaded cart full of scrolls and books into the throne room.

“Oh, good morning, Princess,” she said to Luna. “Um, I have that information you wanted, if you’d like to take a look at it.”

“Later,” Luna said tersely. “Thank you.” Then she stepped out, the doors closing with a heavy thud behind her.

Vim winced at the tense energy in the air and pushed the cart as quietly as possible up to the thrones. “Um, welcome back, Princess Celestia,” she said. “I have quite a bit to discuss with you.”

“Thank you,” Celestia said idly. She stared off into the distance, not focused at all.

Vim coughed quietly. “If you’re busy, I could go see if Applejack is awake so I can take her measurements.”

Celestia nodded, and so Vim scurried over and knocked on Luna’s door. A moment later, she walked in and shut the door behind herself.

The throne room was eerily silent. Celestia was completely still, and the guards wouldn’t dream of speaking up at a time like this. All they could do was wait. Occasionally they stole nervous glances back towards the Princess, checking on her only to find out she still hadn’t moved.

Then Celestia blinked and sat up straight. “Wait. Measurements?”

Seabeam sucked in air through his teeth, and Amber Dusk sighed, knowing she would have to be the one to break the news. “Yeah, uh, probably for a crown,” was how she chose to do so.

Celestia stared at her for a moment, then just said “What?”

Dusk spoke slowly as she carefully chose her words. “Yes, well, Princess Luna made the decision that she would like Applejack to become a Princess.”

Celestia put her head in her hooves. “Oh, she’s going to be the death of me. Doesn’t she realize that-” She stopped and sighed, then shouted “Vim!”

Vim stepped out right away, still holding a measuring tape in her teeth. “Yes, Princess?” she mumbled.

“Could you have Applejack come speak to me?”

“Of course, Princess.” Vim shut the door, and a moment later it opened again to show Applejack, yawning as she put her hat on. She walked over slowly and hopped into Luna’s throne to sit down. Vim walked out a moment later and stood out of the way.

“Mornin, Princess,” Applejack said. “Hope you’re holdin up alright.”

“I’m managing,” Celestia said. “I’d like to speak to you, though. I’m told you’re looking to become a Princess?”

Applejack groaned. “Look, it ain’t me that’s gunning for it. Nightmare Moon wanted it to happen, and then Luna, well… Didn’t change her mind.”

“You realize that Princess is more than just a title, right?”

“So I’ve heard,” Applejack said dryly. “Supposedly there’s some kinda magic somethin or other that can keep me an earth pony.”

“We can’t just make all of Twilight’s friends into Princesses,” Celestia said. “It would look like nepotism. It would be nepotism.”

“Well, I can’t see Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash wantin to be Princesses.”

“It- It’s not even something you can just choose to become. I don’t even think it’s possible.”

Applejack shrugged. “Yeah, I’m lost there too.”

Celestia sighed and shook her head. “What would a Princess of Honesty even do?”

“Well, my current plan is to keep farming.”

“You’re not even going to be an acting Princess?”

“Not unless I gotta be,” Applejack said, “and Equestria’s in a pretty good spot.”

Celestia threw her hooves up in defeat. “Fine! Who am I to get in the way? You, Rarity, heck let’s make Trixie a Princess!” She groaned and slumped against the back of her chair.

Applejack chuckled. “I feel like we’re not talkin about Princesses anymore.”

“Sorry.” Celestia took a deep breath. “I just…” She turned and looked hard at Applejack. “Can’t you talk some sense into her?”

“How so?”

“She needs to let go of Nightmare Moon,” Celestia said. “What she’s doing, it can’t be healthy.”

“Hey, I like Nightmare Moon,” Applejack said. “I think she’s good for Luna.”

“How in the world can you think that?”

“I mean, you were gone a while, and she was doin your job that whole time. And that’s on top of her own job, plus makin changes around here to try and fix things, and dealin with you! She couldn’t have done half of that without Nightmare Moon.”

“I would hardly call ordering new uniforms ‘doing my job.’”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Hey Vim, you’ve probly got like, numbers or something to show how she was doing, yeah?”

“Oh, absolutely.” Vim pulled a notepad out of somewhere in the middle of her cluttered cart and flipped through it. “Let’s see, um… We have seventeen nobles who agreed to the offers they had when you left, fifty royal guard applicants, her public appearances were all very crowded, although that would probably just be because it was something new, um, she resolved a strike, she—”

“Okay, I get it,” Celestia said. “She could do all that stuff on her own though if she just got help!”

“Or she could just do it now,” Applejack said, “and not spend years having her sister try to ‘fix’ her.”

“And what if it gets worse?”

“Well, then we deal with it then,” Applejack told her. “When it’s actually hurting her. You can’t keep her away from everything that you think has a chance to hurt her down the line.”

Celestia closed her eyes and leaned hard on the arm of her throne.

“Look,” Applejack continued, “ask any one of the ponies in here, and they’ll tell you the same thing. Nightmare Moon helped.”

Celestia raised her head back up and looked around. Amber Dusk nodded eagerly, and after some hesitation Seabeam nodded as well. Finally, when Celestia looked at Vim, she stared down at her hooves and hummed awkwardly.

“Please, Vim,” Celestia said. “Tell me the truth.”

“Well…” Vim took a deep breath to prepare herself. “Um, Nightmare Moon is definitely an unorthodox Princess, but I can’t deny that she did things I’ve never seen Princess Luna or you be able to do. I don’t think she could do things on her own, but I think that if you worked together it would really be good for Equestria.”

Celestia was silent for a long time. Her eyes were closed, and she was deep in thought.

A few minutes later, she looked at Vim. “Do I… Have room in my schedule for a few more hours of rest?”

“Of course, Princess,” Vim said.

So, without another word, Celestia got up and walked back into her bedroom.

Chapter 11

Applejack already didn’t like dresses. It wasn’t that she didn’t care about her appearance. If that were true, she wouldn’t own twenty copies of the same hat. It was just that dresses were clunky and uncomfortable and way too showy, and besides, as far as Applejack was concerned, she already looked good. There just wasn’t enough to gain from dresses to make them worth the hassle.

Even still, she had never been so apprehensive to go into one of Rarity’s shops.

She stood there, grimacing as she looked up at the sign of the Canterlot Boutique. Beside her, Vim had a small, professional smile on her face.

“Please tell me we’re here to see Sassy Saddles,” Applejack said through gritted teeth.

Vim chuckled. “Oh, no no no. I mean, nothing against Miss Saddles, she does excellent work, but there’s only one pony who I trust to design outfits for the Princesses.”

Applejack groaned. “Great.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Applejack. She’s perfectly capable of making a more… Subdued design.” Vim walked up and opened the door, waving for Applejack to follow her.

Applejack fought to move her legs and walked into the store. It was filled with ponies scanning the rows of dresses, and none of them paid her any mind, which she was grateful for. At least she didn’t have to deal with a gaggle of curious ponies. At least, not yet.

“Hi, welcome to the Canterlot Boutique!” A voice came from nearby. They turned to see Sassy Saddles trotting over to them. “Oh! Hello, Vim. I was wondering why Rarity had come in today.”

“Yeah, I’ve got some top priority work for her,” Vim said. “Although, with her here, I expected you to have the day off.”

“Oh, you know how she gets,” Sassy Saddles said. “She’s hardly said a word to anypony today, just locked up in her workshop.”

“Well, hopefully she hasn’t already burnt herself out,” Vim said. “Is it alright if we just go right in?”

“Yes, of course. Oh, and hello, Applejack! It’s strange to see you here, and on some kind of royal errand no less! You’re really branching out.”

“Yeah…” Applejack sighed. “You have no idea.”

Vim lead Applejack through the store and into a back room. There, they found Rarity hunched over a drawing table and muttering under her breath.

“No, that’s not right,” Rarity grumbled, and she balled up a piece of paper and threw it into an overflowing wastebasket.

Vim cleared her throat. “Um, Miss Rarity? I hope I’m not interrupting.”

“Oh! No, not at all dear, I was just—Applejack?” Rarity looked like she was liable to fall over at the shock of seeing Applejack here with Vim.

Applejack laughed awkwardly. “Uhh, howdy?”

Rarity shook her head quickly to blow off the shock and steadied herself. “Yes, um, ‘howdy,’” she repeated. “I apologize, I just—” She turned to Vim. “Well, when you said you were bringing a pony to be measured, I had assumed it would be one of the Princesses! I already have Applejack’s measurements, and I’m not even sure they’ll be useful. I can’t really see you convincing her to wear a dress, even for Luna.”

“Oh, it’s not for Luna,” Vim said. “It’s for her!” She smiled politely.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“She needs a coronation dress. Applejack here is in line to be Equestria’s next Princess!”

Rarity’s mouth fell open as she turned her gaze to Applejack in a painstakingly slow movement.”

“Now, I know how this looks,” Applejack started nervously, “but I promise I ain’t tryin to one-up you or nothing. Please, just, don’t be mad, I don’t—”

She was cut off by Rarity leaping out of her seat and grabbing Applejack’s shoulders. Applejack flinched, trying to lean her head away, but Rarity kept their faces inches apart.

Then, Rarity started to smile.

“Oh, Applejack, this is so exciting! You simply must tell me everything that happened. I mean, a second Princess from our little group? Can you imagine? Oh, I’m so happy I could just—” Running out of words, Rarity wrapped her legs around Applejack and pulled her into a tight hug.

“Uh… Thanks?” Applejack was completely stunned. Nearby, Vim was covering her mouth with a hoof, trying to stifle laughter. “I kinda figured you were gonna be ticked off at me.”

Rarity pulled away, still smiling wide. “Oh, I’m furious,” she said. She still had a giddy tone in her voice. “I’m just too thrilled for it to matter! Don’t you worry though, my little royal.” She raised up a hoof and playfully pressed down on Applejack’s nose. “I’ll just funnel all that wrathful energy straight into your fabulous dress.”

Applejack winced. “Great…”

Vim spoke up. “Now remember, Rarity, she should preferably be happy during the coronation.”

Rarity pouted. “Well, surely she can act. Wouldn’t you prefer for me to really flex my creative muscles and show Equestria just how grand the Princesses can be?”

“I would prefer for her to actually wear the dress you make.”

Rarity sighed. “Fine. I’ll restrain myself. A bit.”

“Do I get a say in this?” Applejack asked.

Rarity scoffed. “Please, Applejack, you’re a Princess. Act like it and just accept it when I’m forcing you to do something you don’t like.”

Applejack sighed. Vim laughed again. “Rarity, are you going to need anything else from us? I hadn’t realized you already have Applejack’s measurements.”

“Mmm… Not at the moment, no,” Rarity said. “I have to make some preliminary sketches first. I’ll swing by the castle in a few hours and let you see them, alright?”

“That sounds perfect,” Vim said. “Are you ready to head out, Applejack?”

“Please,” Applejack said.

So, they left, but they didn’t get far. As soon as they stepped through the door and back into the main room of the boutique, every pony in the store turned to look at Applejack.

Applejack frowned. “Hey Vim, how soundproof is that room?”

“My guess would be ‘not at all,’” Vim replied.

Applejack nodded. “I figured.”

Sassy Saddles decided then to walk up to the two of them, and the rest of the store seemed to take that as permission to do the same. Suddenly, Applejack was surrounded by a crowd of ponies bombarding her with questions.

“Are you really becoming a Princess?”

“Is this because you know Twilight?”

“Are you all going to become Princesses?”

The questions just kept coming, one after the next, not giving her enough time to even process what had been said before the next pony was talking.

After a couple minutes of that, Applejack couldn’t take it anymore. “Simmer down!” she told them. Her voice was just barely below shouting, and more than loud enough for all the ponies to hear her and shut their mouths at once. Applejack sighed. “Thank you. Now, please, one at a time.”

All the ponies spoke up again, wanting to be the first to ask a question. Applejack slapped her forehead.

Vim stood in front of Applejack and raised a hoof up to call for quiet, and the crowd slowly gave it to her. “Thank you,” she said. “Now, you first.” She pointed to a random stallion in the middle of the crowd.

Everypony looked at him, and he gulped. “Oh, me? Well, uh, see, I just wanted to know if, um…”

“Spit it out,” Applejack said.

The stallion jumped. “Right! Um, are you going to be given a place to look after? Like how Cadance runs the Crystal Kingdom, and Twilight helps Ponyville?”

“Probably not?” Applejack shrugged. “I ain’t plannin on bein any kind of ruler.”

Another pony spoke up. “Then, what are you going to do?”

Vim stood aside at this point, now that the crowd seemed settled down.

“Farm, I guess,” Applejack said. “Like I already do.”

A few ponies in the crowd whispered to each other. A pony near the front asked “Are you going to, like, help run all the farms around Equestria?”

“Can’t say I really considered it,” Applejack said. “I don’t really wanna be responsible for more than just my orchard, though.”

“So you’re just going to do exactly what you did as a non-Princess?”

“Pretty much.” Applejack shrugged.

More whispers ran through the crowd.

A mare pushed through to the front of the crowd. “Why are you becoming a Princess, then?”

“Luna wants me to,” Applejack said. “That’s pretty much it.”

“Is Luna going to just hand out power to anypony she wants, then?” The mare continued.

Vim was watching Applejack curiously.

“Well, I don’t think that’s—”

“She’s just barely started even doing anything, why should she be able to do that?”

“Now hang on, she’s—”

“Why’s she even ruling if she’s gonna care more about making her friends special than about if they can actually help Equestria?”

“Enough!” Applejack shouted, then winced and lowered her voice. “Look, if y’all don’t like the way I’m plannin to do things that’s fine, but that was my decision. Luna ain’t got nothin to do with it. You got a problem, you point at me, not her.”

There was a pause as the crowd worked through what she had said.

Then the mare who had pushed her way to the front spoke up again. “Alright, fine. Why are you becoming a Princess if you don’t plan to do anything for us?”

“I mean, it’s just a title,” Applejack replied.

Another pony spoke up. “How can you say that? Don’t you know how important the Princesses are to Equestria?”

“Most of y’all ain’t even touched by the stuff they do,” Applejack said.

“That’s not the point. Even if we never even see them face to face, we know they’re there. We know we can count on them if we really need to. Maybe you haven’t ever had to worry about where Equestria’s going, but we do, and the Princesses are the ponies who are supposed to be keeping us going forward!”

“That’ll still be true even if I become a Princess.”

“Yeah,” another pony said, “but if we have one Princess who does nothing, that means we could get more. What happens when the current Princesses retire and all that’s left is ponies like you who just want a fancy title?”

“Hey, I care about Equestria just as much as any of the Princesses,” Applejack argued. “They just don’t need my help right now! That don’t mean I wouldn’t step up if I had to.”

“What, we’re just supposed to trust you? You could just be lying!”

“I don’t lie,” Applejack said.

“You can’t just say that. I don’t know you, I’ve never seen any proof that you don’t lie.”

“I’m the literal embodiment of the Element of Honesty!”

“I don’t even know what that means.”

Applejack growled quietly, then fought to keep her frustration down. “What can I do to make you trust me?”

“Doing anything would be a good start.”

Applejack sighed. “Okay, look…” She shook her head and furrowed her brow. “I can’t make any promises right now, okay? I at least gotta cool down first, but I hear ya. You don’t want a Princess who ain’t gonna do nothin. I’ll mull it over, alright?”

The crowd murmured for a bit. Ponies looked at each other, then at Applejack, then back at each other. Eventually, most of them decided that was enough for them and wandered off, but a few stayed behind.

One of them was the mare who had lead part of the discussion. “I know something you can do,” she said.

“What’s that?” Applejack asked wearily.

“Just talk to more ponies. Maybe outside Canterlot. You should see what the rest of Equestria actually thinks about the Princesses before you become one.”

Applejack thought for a moment. “Yeah,” she eventually said, “I reckon I can do that. Thanks for tellin me what you think.”

“Yeah,” the mare said, and then she walked away. The rest of the crowd slowly filed away after her, until eventually only Vim and Applejack were left standing there.

Vim walked up beside Applejack. “That was unexpected,” she said.

Applejack looked at her. “What, you didn’t plan that part?”

Vim laughed. “Come on, I’m not that good at planning things.”

“Eh, don’t sell yourself short,” Applejack told her.

“So what do you think?”

“About all that?” Applejack shrugged. “I think I really do need to cool down before I can work through it. They gave me somethin to think on, though.”

Vim smiled. “Glad to hear it. We’ve finished our chores quite early, would you like to go find Princess Luna?”

“Yeah, sure,” Applejack said. “Any clue where she got off to?”

Vim looked over at a clock on the wall. “Hmm, let’s see… Ah, yes, right now she’s doing a tour of Canterlot’s ‘back alley’ shops.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Any particular reason why?”

“Well, you’re not going to become a Princess just by wanting it really badly,” Vim told her.

Chapter 12

“How can an entire street be so well hidden?” Applejack asked.

She and Vim were walking down a dimly lit road tucked away in some forgotten part of Canterlot. It wasn’t at the outskirts, in fact it was actually quite close to the castle, but somehow further development had just skipped it. It was lined with old brick buildings housing various niche shops, very few of which actually had names. Some of them didn’t even have doors, instead just sporting curtains or making the shop so dark you just couldn’t see inside from the street. The taller, more modern buildings on the adjacent streets had a tendency to block out the sun, so the street was left in a perpetual shade that made it feel like they’d stepped into an entirely different city.

The street wasn’t crowded by any means, but it also wasn’t anywhere near empty. Ponies bustled along just as they would in any other market, hardly seeming to even notice the oddity of where they were. A few ponies hid their faces, wearing dark hoods or intricate masks, but for the most part ponies just treated it like a normal stop on their list of chores. Some even smiled and waved as they passed by, although Applejack didn’t recognize any of them.

“That’s a tougher question to answer than you’d think,” Vim said. “Everypony seems to have their own theories. Some kind of enchantment, or a quirk of the street layout, or a royal conspiracy. The only think anypony knows for sure is that you can only find this place if you’re looking for it.”

“Well, what’s your theory?”

“Oh, I just think it’s a normal road,” Vim said. “Sure, it’s in the middle of town, but it’s a dead end. If you don’t already know what’s here, then walking by it’ll just look like a run down road that you have no use for, and you’ll forget about it.”

“Makes sense.”

“Although,” Vim continued, “there have been times that I’ve walked past and, looking back, I could swear the street wasn’t there.”

Applejack laughed. “I can’t tell if you’re doubting yourself or just trying to creep me out.”

Vim just smiled and shrugged.

“So, you come here a lot?” Applejack asked.

“Well, not that much. I come by once a month or so to see for myself if anything’s changed, like if there’s any new shops or anything, but past that I don’t usually have all that much use for the place. You can get some powerful stuff here, but there’s not a whole lot of need for it when you’ve got alicorn magic.”

“Tell that to Twilight.”

Vim chuckled. “Oh, I’m under strict orders to never tell Princess Twilight about this street. Celestia said the results could be ‘disastrous.’”

“That’s one way of puttin it.”

“I do come here for my own purposes from time to time, though,” Vim went on. “Mostly for services. Fortune tellers, scrying mirrors, my barber.”

“Your barber?”

“Best in Equestria. He just doesn’t like the light.”

“Weird.” Applejack shrugged. “Seems like a neat place, though. I can definitely see why ponies would—”

“Ooh, Applejack!” She was cut off by a voice behind them, and they turned to see Luna trotting over to them. She was grinning wide and carrying a bag that looked like it had a few too many things in it. “What wonderful timing, I was just about to come find you.”

“Well hey there,” Applejack said with a smile. She hugged Luna tight when she got up close. “You’re lookin cheery.”

Luna nodded and kissed Applejack’s forehead. “It’s a wonder what some fresh air can do. It really feels like I’m stepping into a new part of my life.”

“Glad to hear it,” Applejack told her.

“You said you were going to come find us?” Vim asked.

“Oh, right!” Luna opened her bag of goodies and started looking through it. “Applejack, how confident would you be in your ability to stop Rainbow Dash if she, say, got twice as fast and went on a frenzy?”

“Uhhh…” Applejack gave her a nervous look.

“No, you’re right, that’s an awful plan.” Luna shook her head and kept digging. “Umm, what about if we summoned all the timberwolves in Equestria to Canterlot, how would you fare then?”

“Luna, I’m not sure if you’ve got the right idea here,” Applejack told her apprehensively.

“Of course, of course. What about this book I found? It’s called, um… The Necronomicolt. I’m told its influence is very corrupting, perhaps if you can resist it that’ll do the trick?”

Applejack raised an eyebrow at her.

“No? Oh, alright then. It’ll still make a good birthday present for Twilight, at least.”

“Luna, I really don’t think you can just make a problem for me to solve,” Applejack said.

“Well, it worked for Twilight,” Luna said. “That whole thing was just a test Celestia made!”

“Luna, there ain’t no way I’m gonna believe Celestia planned for Twilight to muck around with our destinies and then become a Princess.”

“Well, no… She still gave her the test, though!”

“C’mon, Luna, it’s magic. Not just magic, it’s weird destiny magic! I don’t think you can just game it like you’re thinkin.”

Luna pouted. “Well, what should I do, then? I’ve gotten myself far too excited about you being a Princess to go back now.”

“Um, may I make a suggestion?” Vim asked.

“Of course,” Luna said.

“Well, we’re already in the back streets. Why not visit a fortune teller?”

“Aren’t they fake, though?” Applejack asked. “Just like, acts they put on?”

“Most are, yes,” Vim said. “However, there is one who I know for a fact is genuine. Come, I’ll take you to her!”

Vim waved them along and walked down the street. Applejack and Luna shared a quick glance, then started to follow.

The building she brought them to was old, one of the oldest on the street, but well cared for. The bricks were freshly washed, bright purple curtains hung in the windows, and there was a cute welcome mat outside the door with a picture of a crystal ball on it. It wasn’t all old, either. Many parts, like the door and the windows, had clearly been kept new over the years, and it gave the building a strange, uncanny look, like a place out of time.

The door was tall, wide, and heavy. It was a dark wood with bright, shiny metal inlaid into it in intricate patterns, and Vim had to press her shoulder against it just to push it open. She managed it, though, and held it open as Luna and Applejack walked inside.

Applejack felt like she was walking into her own home. They were in a front hallway, and through the first doorway she could see a quaint little living room. Comfy chairs and a deep sofa were laid out carefully, and all were draped with some manner of decorative blanket. A table sat in front of the window, stacked with bowls and cards and a few crystal balls that glittered in the faint light filtering in. Further down the hall, doors led into the kitchen and a little bedroom.

“You sure this place is, uh… A business?” Applejack asked.

“Oh, no, not at all,” Vim replied. “Miss Showers retired years ago, but she’s always thrilled to see her old regulars.”

“Miss… Showers?” Applejack asked.

As if on cue, an ancient mare wandered out of the kitchen and up to the group. She was gray all around, gray coat, gray mane, even her eyes were gray. Her legs were shaky, her ears drooped, and a shawl was loosely draped over her neck. Most surprising to Applejack, though, was that she wasn’t a unicorn as one would expect. It turned out that the one legitimate fortune teller Vim knew of just happened to be a pegasus.

The old woman smiled politely at the three of them. “Yes, that’s May Showers to be precise.” She spoke slowly, and each sound she made was so breathy it sounded like it may be her last. “Violet, dearest, it’s so wonderful to see you. How have you been?”

“I’ve been great, Miss Showers,” Vim told her. “Um, these are Princess Luna and Applejack. They’re looking for… Guidance? I guess that’s what I’d call it.”

The old mare looked them over with her cold gray eyes for a long time. She took them both in, first their eyes, then their faces, working her way along methodically until she knew everything about them. Then, she turned and walked into the living to.

“Well, come on, then,” she said. “You can call me May.”

May sat at once side of the table, and so Luna and Applejack took a seat opposite her. Vim, meanwhile, hopped up onto the sofa and got comfortable so easily it was like she’d always lived there.

“So,” May said, “what divination do you seek?”

“Well,” Luna started, “we want to find out—”

“Shh!” May put up a hoof to quiet her, then pointed to her stacks of trinkets and baubles. “First, you choose the method.”

“Oh.” Luna looked them over cautiously. “Well, I suppose just the crystal ball, then.”

May was already digging out the tiny, clear orb before Luna had even finished her sentence. It was far smaller than either of them expected a crystal ball to be, but it still looked very sturdy. May didn’t seem to need to be delicate with it at all.

May nodded. “Now, your question.” She was hunched over the ball, hardly even looking at Luna and Applejack.

“We’d like to know how to make Applejack a Princess,” Luna said.

May raised an eyebrow. “You realize I cannot change the future, yes? I cannot will a Princess into being.”

“I know,” Luna said, “but I have no doubt that she’ll become one eventually. I’d just like to know how.”

“Hmph.” May leaned closer to the ball, so close she was almost touching it as she stared deep within. The others could see nothing, but at times the sun seemed to strike the orb in just the right way as to blind them with a sudden burst of light. May never seemed to be affected by this, though.

“Yes, I see,” she said eventually. “I can sense the future that you seek.”

Applejack’s eyes widened. “Really?”

May scoffed. “Doubt all you want, this future shall still reign true. I see you, Applejack, undone by a rising tide. The waves shall grow and drag you down into their icy depths, and your world will go black. Only once the light above you has been snuffed out and you’ve been torn asunder will you be born anew.”

Applejack winced. “Do you gotta say it so… Ominously?”

“Hey, you guys chose the crystal ball, not me,” May said.

“Is that all you can tell us?” Luna asked. “I’d really rather not have to, I don’t know, drown Applejack.”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” May told her. “It’s a piece of glass, you can’t expect me to get perfect visions of the entirety of time and space with it. It’s a metaphor.”

“A metaphor for what?” Luna asked.

May shrugged.

Vim got up and walked over to them. “Don’t worry, the crystal ball is always like that. You tend to figure it out when you need to.”

“Oh, alright,” Luna said. “Well, thank you for this, May, even if I don’t quite understand it.”

They said their goodbyes and, after Vim spent a long while trying to end a conversation with May, they left. It was darker outside, and they decided it was probably time to head back to the castle.

As they walked, Luna pulled Vim aside and trailed behind Applejack so she couldn’t hear. “Hey, I need your help,” she said.

“Yes?”

“I think I know what part of the fortune means, but doing it right now is… Risky. Can you help me come up with a plan?”

“Sure,” Vim said, “but why are we whispering?”

“If Applejack knows, she might not do what she has to do. She needs to think it’s real.”

“She won’t like being lied to.”

Luna pursed her lips. “Okay, then it needs to be real.”

Vim sighed. “I’ll help, but you better be sure about whatever you’re planning.”

“I will be,” Luna said. “I’ll make sure of it.”

Chapter 13

About an hour or so after heading back to bed, Celestia was still awake.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t tired. She was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. She certainly hadn’t slept well on the sun, and she wasn’t even entirely sure the sleep she did manage to get actually did anything for her. It hadn’t made her feel better, that’s for sure.

She felt like she could sleep for a week straight, but her mind just wouldn’t keep still. She kept replaying the events of the past few days in her head, trying to piece together where she had gone wrong.

Obviously, her first misstep was her initial… Overreaction. She saw that now, even though the memory of being helpless before Nightmare Moon still burned with righteousness in the back of her mind. She chose to ignore that, pushing it away and accepting that she had only made things worse by being so rash.

What about after that, though? Luna was still so angry with her. It seemed like she, and even Nightmare Moon, had been getting along with the guards and the staff perfectly well, but her sister would hardly spare her a glance. Having Luna so uniquely angry at her, for reasons she could hardly seem to wrap her mind around, made Celestia feel… Bad. She wasn’t sure what kind of bad, but it felt bad.

All Celestia wanted was to make things better for her sister. Things were so good before Nightmare Moon. They got along, they could talk to each other, neither one of them was scared of the other. Then that wretched mare came along and snatched her sister away, and now, seeing Luna defend her hurt Celestia more than she could have ever imagined.

Celestia wasn’t naive. She knew, or at least she tried to know, that she had played a part in what happened. Nightmare Moon may have spurred things along, but it was Celestia’s comfort and ignorance that laid the groundwork, and in the end it was Celestia who dealt the final blow. She would never let herself forget that.

But, then, how could she allow Nightmare Moon to do just that? To bury away her role in Luna’s unbecoming and paint herself as a martyr? It was she who raised the moon to block the sun, she who claimed rulership over Equestria, she who—

No. Celestia pushed those thoughts away, as far away as she could. This wasn’t about punishing Nightmare Moon, or making her atone for her wrongdoing. She already did that. Her thousand years of imprisonment and the subsequent entrapment in Luna’s psyche were penance enough for the crimes of her past.

This was about helping Luna. She wanted to trust Luna. She wished so badly that she could just take Luna’s word and accept that Nightmare Moon posed no threat, but how could she do that? Nopony knew Nightmare Moon like she did. Nopony else had seen the darkness in her eyes when she chained Celestia to the sun. At the very least, Nightmare Moon’s coarse nature would cost Luna friends, and at the worst…

Celestia just didn’t know how to accept that.

It was quickly dawning on her, though, that she had no choice in the matter. She could do nothing on her own, and everypony else had accepted Nightmare Moon. Even if she did have the power to act, what right did Celestia have to do so? She was a Princess, but that didn’t mean that she was always right. Faced with such an overwhelming majority, she would just have to make herself believe they may be right.

So, that’s what she decided to do.

She knew she could never quash her hatred of Nightmare Moon. It ran too deep, rooted by a thousand years of growth, and its branches spread too far and wide. Anger, righteousness, pride, stems of her hatred tainted every part of her. It was far too late to stop it now.

All she could do was cut it off. She had to make the conscious decision, there and now, to never allow that part of herself to impact the rest. She had to accept wholeheartedly that her hatred had nothing for her, that it could provide no insight or perspective, and then she had to hold herself to that. Never again would her hatred fuel her actions or color her view of the world. She could simply no longer allow it.

It was by no means an easy task to accomplish. The mind is not so malleable as to bend to its owner’s whims. She couldn’t let that stop her, though. This was the only way she saw to fix things. It was the only thing that could stabilize the fraught stature of her relationship with her sister. Letting these feelings run rampant led only to a gulf between the two of them.

She planned it all out. She would have to be constantly vigilant. Every decision she made, every thought she had, she would have to deliberately second guess. She would need to comb her psyche for the tendrils of hatred so vigilantly that it would become second nature to her. She would have to make a conscious effort until it ran so deep she did it subconsciously.

And she would. For Luna, she would.

Still, she could not sleep. Her thoughts weighed too heavily for that. Instead, she pushed herself out of bed, made herself presentable, and straightened her posture as she strode out into the throne room.

“Good morning again, Princess,” Seabeam said as she walked in. “Vim said your schedule was in her cart.”

“Thank you,” Celestia said. She turned to the cart and eyed it cautiously. It was so overpacked, and so shoddily organized, that it felt like just looking at it too hard would make papers spill out everywhere.

“Did she happen to say where?” Celestia asked.

“Nope,” Seabeam said. “Want me to look for you?”

Celestia pursed her lips and hesitantly nodded. “Yes, that would be very kind of you.” Seabeam made his way quickly up to the cart and started digging through it. Celestia winced as scrolls and pencils and notebooks toppled to the floor, but she chose to trust in her guard and let him handle it.

She walked past her throne, instead heading down the long ramp until she reached Amber Dusk. There she stopped and studied the new armor Nightmare Moon had designed.

“Do ponies actually like this armor?” She asked.

Dusk shrugged. “It’s kind of mixed. Some ponies think it’s cool, others think it makes me stand out too much.”

“And you?”

“Oh, I love it,” Dusk said. She stretched out a wing to show Celestia the sleek, leathery cover. “Part of me wants to start wearing these things even when I’m off the clock. They make me look intimidating, you know?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Do they, now? I’m not sure that’s entirely appropriate for the guard of—” She stopped herself and shook her head. “Do you think having a well-known group of guards look intimidating is a good idea?”

“I mean… We’re guards,” Dusk said. “Having a bunch of ponies walking around in golden armor is already pretty intimidating. That’s kind of the whole point.”

“Found it!” Seabeam suddenly shouted. He ran over and gave Celestia a small scroll. “Geez, that was really in there.”

“I appreciate the help,” Celestia said. She looked over his shoulder at the cart, which had most of its contents lying on the floor around it. “Could you please try to fix Vim’s cart, now?”

Seabeam’s eyes went wide. “Oh, right! Of course, of course.” He bowed politely, then turned and ran back over to the cart.

Celestia watched him for a moment, then opened the scroll. “Oh, well this is… Short,” she commented.

Normally, Celestia’s schedules would have twenty or thirty items for her to do every day. Between important meetings, public appearances, filing paperwork and everything else she had to do, it wasn’t uncommon for lists to be so long she couldn’t finish them in a single day. So she was quite shocked to see this list, with only a few simple tasks to do.

“Shouldn’t there be more?” Celestia flipped the paper over to check the back, but it was blank. “This is all dignitary work, where’s everything with the guards and the castle staff? Or checking on the artifacts, or… Or anything!”

“She probably gave the rest to Princess Luna,” Dusk suggested.

“To—” Celestia blinked. “Oh, right. Luna’s working days now.” She looked back at the page and read it more carefully. “Surely this can’t be even half of everything, though.”

“You did just get back from the sun,” Dusk said. “She probably wanted to give you time to recover.”

“I see…” Celestia rolled the paper back up and tucked it away. “Well, I suppose if I get through it all I’ll track down Luna and help her.” She nodded politely to Dusk. “You two have a good day, now.”

“Will do, Princess,” Dusk said with a smile.

“Thanks,” Seabeam shouted distractedly. At this point he was sitting on the floor trying to sort through papers, and he didn’t even look up as Celestia walked away.

Celestia trotted calmly across the room and out the huge double doors. When they opened, the sound of the bustling castle filled the air, and when they shut behind her again the world was quiet once more.

Then, from in the hallway, they heard Princess Celestia yell. “What in Equestria happened to my window?”

Chapter 14

It was almost sunset, and Luna and Applejack were finally making their way back to the castle. Vim had gone on ahead since she had other work to do, but Applejack had decided to spend the day with Luna as she did her royal duties. There hadn’t been as much time to talk as she hoped, but that wasn’t so bad. Just being together was enough for both of them.

Still, it left them with plenty to say, and they were catching up as they walked leisurely through the streets.

“It just ain’t gettin any easier to commit to this,” Applejack was saying.

“I know,” Luna replied, “but I’ll be there for you every step of the way.”

“It’s not becoming a Princess that’s got me worried, though,” Applejack said. “It’s what comes after.”

“Nopony is going to force you to give up the farm.”

Applejack frowned. “That’s just the thing, though. Nopony can force me, and if there’s nothin with the option to stop me, how do I know what I’m doin is right?”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“Well, maybe it’s the wrong thing to do, but anypony who would stop me cuz of that won’t be able to.”

“Well, Celestia and I could stop you,” Luna said, “but we don’t plan to.”

“No offense, Luna, but you two don’t exactly tend to make the soundest decisions when it comes to somepony you’re close to.”

“I… Suppose I cannot argue. Do you not want to become a Princess, then?”

“I dunno…” Applejack sighed. “I mean, it kinda feels like the same choice. Either I can step up for Equestria, or I can go back to my normal, quiet life. Does it really matter if I’m already a Princess if I know I have the option?”

A cold breeze ran through Canterlot and made Applejack shiver, so Luna wrapped a wing around her to keep her warm. The castle loomed over them as they reached the grand staircase leading up to it.

“It’s not like ponies are makin this choice every day,” Applejack continued. “Heck, I don’t know if anypony’s ever been able to make this choice. I mean, Twilight didn’t exactly choose to become a Princess. Did you?”

Luna shook her head quietly. Ahead of them, the doors into the castle creaked as two guards scrambled to open them for the Princess, then creaked again as the guards shut them behind the couple. The halls were mostly empty at this hour, and most of the ponies who were there were busy installing new carpets throughout the castle.

“So yeah,” Applejack went on, “I just… I’m not sure I really have a choice anymore.”

“You always have a choice,” Luna said. “Sometimes you have to prioritize yourself over your responsibilities. You wouldn’t exactly make a great ruler if you were miserable.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Applejack said. “Still, it changes things. It’s not really about if I want to anymore. It’s if I think I can. If I can make Equestria a better place without sacrificing my own happiness, I can’t rightly say no. At least, I don’t think I can.”

They walked into the hallway leading up to the throne room to find it packed with ponies. Several of them were attending to the broken window, preparing to put in a replacement, but there were also ponies at other windows, the ones without portraits, taking measurements and sketching designs. It seemed that Celestia had made herself busy while they were out.

“Just do what you think is right,” Luna told Applejack as they walked past the working ponies and into the throne room.

Celestia was in her throne, looking thoughtfully through a sketchpad filled with designs. Aside from her, the room was empty, whatever guards were stationed there having been dismissed for the evening. She looked up as they walked up and did her best to put on a soft smile.

“Welcome back,” Celestia said.

Luna’s expression hardened. “Sister.”

Applejack elected to stay quiet.

Celestia sighed, set the sketchpad down, and got up to walk down and stand before her sister. “Luna,” she said, “can we just… Talk?”

Luna’s posture was tense. “Of course.”

“Look, Luna…” Celestia rubbed her eyes, and suddenly they could see just how weary she was. “I’m sorry, okay? I-I keep hurting you, and I’m sorry.”

Luna’s face softened. “I…”

Celestia shook her head. “I wanted so badly to have you be the sister you were before Nightmare Moon that I couldn’t see how much you’ve grown. I’m sorry for that, and I promise from now on I’ll see you, and not the pony I want you to be.”

Luna looked down at the floor and was quiet for a long moment. Then, she looked back up and locked eyes with her sister. “Thank you, Tia.”

Celestia smiled and held her leg out to offer a hug, and Luna fell into her and squeezed her tight. Celestia wrapped her leg around Luna and rubbed her back as her eyes watered up.

They stayed like that for a long time. Luna had her eyes clenched tight, and they were both smiling with relief.

Eventually, Luna stepped away and wiped her eyes. Then she looked back up at her sister. “I’m sorry, too. I probably could have been less… Dramatic.”

Celestia chuckled weakly. “Where would the fun be in that?” Then she took a deep breath, and her expression took on a more serious tone as she placed a hoof on Luna’s shoulder. “I’m not going to be able to change overnight. This is probably going to be hard on us both.”

Luna nodded. “I understand.”

“Especially if…” Celestia paused nervously. “If you’re going to need to use Nightmare Moon.”

“She’s not just a tool,” Luna said, “she’s me. I’m not going to keep her locked up anymore.”

“I get that,” Celestia said. “At least, I’m trying to understand, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get along with Nightmare Moon. I just can’t forgive her for everything she did.”

Luna frowned. “Sister, I did all those things. It’s not her you should be forgiving.”

“You say that, but you act completely different when you’re Nightmare Moon. Even if you are her, you did those things as her. You wouldn’t have done any of it without her.”

“Yes, I would have,” Luna said. “If Nightmare Moon didn’t exist, everything that is Nightmare Moon would still be inside me. All the things that made me make every decision I made as Nightmare Moon would still be there.”

“At least then I would have the context of the rest of you to forgive those parts, though,” Celestia said. “As it stands, she’s just every bad part of you concentrated together, and I just can’t be happy to see that part of you come out.”

Luna sighed. “Well, she’s going to show up whether you like it or not.”

“I understand that,” Celestia told her. “I won’t try to stop that. I just want you to know ahead of time why…” She paused, thinking through her words, and then frowned. “You should know why I’m treating you differently.”

“Will you at least try to get past your feelings towards her?”

“Of course,” Celestia said. “I don’t think I’ll be able to get rid of those feelings, but I will fight against them.”

“Thank you.”

Celestia nodded and sighed in relief. Then she looked up at Luna and put on a smile. “Would you like to see the designs for Nightmare Moon’s window?”

Luna smiled back. “I’d love to.”

They walked back up and sat in their thrones, and Applejack followed close behind. When she caught up, Luna made room for her and she hopped up into the throne.

“Do I get a window?” Applejack asked.

Celestia chuckled. “Once you’re a Princess.”

Celestia floated the sketchbook over and started showing Luna the various designs, pointing out the ones she especially liked, and soon enough they were talking and laughing like nothing had ever happened. Every so often the conversation would steer somewhere that would make their smiles flicker, but they pushed past it, and the time started flying by. They talked about anything that came to mind, they joked about nobles, Luna stole Applejack’s hat, and eventually they had forgotten all about their fight, at least for the rest of the night.

“Oh!” Luna perked up at one point as she thought of something. “I saw that you’re replacing the carpets.”

“Oh, what a nightmare,” Celestia groaned. “Do you have any idea how many hallways are in this castle? What in the world happened that made you get rid of every carpet?”

“Y’know, I knew somethin seemed weird when I got here,” Applejack said. “I didn’t even realize they were gone.”

Luna laughed. “Oh, well, you know how fire is. You can never quite predict how far it’ll spread.”

“That doesn’t explain it at all,” Celestia told her. “Why did—”

She was cut off as the sound of a clock rang out through the throne room, signalling the turn of the hour.

Celestia’s eyes went wide, and she bolted out of her throne. “Sunset!”

Luna coughed in shock and scrambled to get up, and both Princesses sprinted into their bedrooms.

Applejack, left alone, just laughed and got more comfortable in the throne. Then she noticed Luna’s crown on the arm of the chair, having been taken off so she could wear Applejack’s hat, and Applejack decided on a whim to put it on. She sat up straight, gazed out into the empty throne room, and imagined what it might be like to be speaking to a room of ponies. She was shocked to find that the idea didn’t seem all that bad.

Luna had been in such a hurry that she didn’t even realize her balcony wasn’t empty when she burst out onto it. It wasn’t until the moon had been raised and a voice behind her said “Nice hat” that she spun around to see Vim standing by the door.

“Vim? What are you doing here?”

Vim raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you want my help coming up with a plan?”

“Oh!” Luna hit her forehead. “Right, of course. I completely forgot.”

“So, what part do you think you figured out?”

“Well, part of the fortune was about her world going dark, right? Well…” Luna pointed up at the moon.

Vim flinched. “Please tell me you’re not thinking of doing it again.”

“I said it would be risky! I mean, what else could it be about when she’s so mired in my conflict with my sister? Plus, she’ll have to solve some big problem to become a Princess, right? Well, an eternal eclipse is a pretty big problem!”

“I can’t even begin to describe how terrible that idea is,” Vim said. “I mean, for one it wouldn’t even work, because you could just undo it at any time! It’s not a real problem.”

“That’s why I needed your help,” Luna told her. “I need a way to make it a real problem.”

“And how exactly am I supposed to help with that?”

“I don’t know, find me a spell to make the eclipse permanent or a way to make me not want to undo the eclipse or something.”

Vim shook her head and leaned on the balcony’s railing, looking out over Canterlot. “I shouldn’t even be entertaining this idea. I should just go straight to Princess Celestia and tell her about it.”

“You heard the fortune teller,” Luna said. “What else could that part possibly mean?”

Vim couldn’t think of a response. She tapped her hoof on the railing anxiously.

“At least if we do it instead of waiting for something else to happen, we’ll have some level of control.”

Vim buried her head in her hooves.

“Can you at least just look? If you think anything you find is too risky, you can just not tell me about it.”

Vim let out a long, exasperated sigh. “Fine. I’ll look. I’m going to be very picky about what I bring you, though! So don’t expect anything, it’s not very likely I’ll find anything I deem acceptable.”

“That’s all I can ask,” Luna said. “Thank you.”

“Uh-huh,” Vim grumbled, and she slowly pushed herself off the rail and trudged back into the castle.

Chapter 15

For the first time in what felt like ages, Celestia had a good night’s rest. She was back home, in her bed, and everything seemed to be on the upswing. Plus, much to her relief, her dreams were peaceful once again.

She dreamt of the past. Of herself, no older than Twilight was when Celestia first saw her potential. Her mane was flat, her flank was blank, and she couldn’t even imagine the idea of having wings.

She was standing in a dark field surrounded by ponies. By her side was her beloved sister, so small and meek. Looking at her, Celestia felt a familiar tinge of love and protectiveness. Around them was a crowd of unicorns, none of whom she recognized, but she knew the look of fear and apprehension they wore well.

A little ways ahead of her, Star Swirl was gazing thoughtfully up at the moon.

Celestia turned to whisper to Luna. “Come on, we can’t chicken out now! We have to do this!”

“I don’t know…” Luna dug her hoof into the dirt anxiously. “I mean, look at them all! These ponies are way stronger than we are.”

“Pfft, says who? You’ve heard Star Swirl, he thinks we’re even stronger than he is.”

“He thinks we could be,” Luna corrected.

“Yeah, and we’ve been practicing! We can already throw stuff over the tower no problem, it’s time to take the next step.”

“Look at it, though, Tia!” Luna pointed up at the moon. “It’s so big!”

“That doesn’t mean it’s heavy. It’s been in the sky for forever, it has to be light or it would’ve fallen.”

“I don’t know if it works that way…”

Celestia waved away the concerns. “Look, I’m doing it whether you want to or not. I’ll just move them both if I have to.”

“Oh, come on! You know you could never move both.”

“Well, then I guess you better help me.” Celestia grinned and stuck out her tongue at Luna, who huffed and pouted back.

“Fine.”

Celestia clapped excitedly, then started counting them down. She knew they had to be fast, otherwise the other ponies would do it and they’d miss their chance, so she gave them little time to prepare. She started at five, counted down quickly, and then the two sisters shut their eyes in concentration and lit up their horns.

At first, nothing happened. They panted with effort and sparks flew from their horns, but the celestial bodies remained firmly planted where they were. None of the adults paid them any mind, assuming they were playing some game like children do.

Then they pushed harder, and the sky gave way. Just a little, barely perceptible, the moon twitched and slid down. Nopony could have possibly noticed unless they were looking straight at the moon.

Star Swirl happened to still be looking straight at the moon.

He took a step back in shock, not entirely believing his eyes. Surely, he thought, his mind was just playing tricks on him. Then, it moved again, and his mouth fell open. He didn’t know how to respond. He’d never seen the moon move without his influence.

When it shifted a third time, he spun around to check on the rest of the unicorns who were meant to help him, and finally he saw the sisters. Their eyes were clenched tight, and sweat was forming on their faces as they strained against the might of the sky.

“No!” He panicked. He sprinted over so fast his hat flew off, and he practically slid across the ground as he crouched down to grab Luna’s shoulders. “You don’t know what you’re doing!”

Luna’s eyes shot open, her focus disrupted completely, but her horn didn’t settle down. Instead the shock sent it spiralling out of control, shooting sparks like fireworks as the glow grew brighter and brighter. Then, with a pop and a blinding flash, all at once the moon shot down below the horizon and the world was drowned in darkness.

With no sun and no moon, the only light in the entire world for any of them was Celestia’s horn, still sparking like mad. She shadows it cast on her face made her look tired and in pain.

The sudden darkness scared Luna, and she screamed out in fright. Loud and shrill, she folded in on herself and shouted “Tia!”

That was enough to break Celestia’s concentration, and just like Luna, her horn didn’t take it well. Heat started flowing off it as the magic flickered into a white hot flame that grew and grew. Just when it seemed like it would become unbearable, it puffed into the sky on a gust of wind and flew off into the darkness.

An instant later, the sun blasted into the sky. The unicorns were in an uproar. Some shouted in excitement, others in fear, but they all shouted. All except Star Swirl, that is, because he was glued in place, unable to speak as he stared at the scorch marks that sat where the sisters had just been.

Then the dream changed, and Celestia dreamt of the future.

The world around her was hazy, like a mirage on a hot day, and the world was dark. Not the darkness of the night, or even the deep darkness of having no light, but something in between. Colorful lights flickered in the corners of her vision, and if she focused she could just make out the shape of the massive crystals all around that lit her world.

Past the crystals stood vast walls of gray rock, and she realized she was underground. Looking up, she could see no ceiling, but she knew that the darkness above her was not the sky. The cave she was in was just too tall to see the ceiling.

And yet, she could feel grass under her hooves. A stream bubbled nearby. She turned around, and she saw that she was in front of a quaint little home. The bright, sunny decorations that covered it made it clear that it was hers.

She looked back out over the fields she seemed to live on. They were massive, swaths of flat grassy plains that were only interrupted by the jagged crystals that stood like spires around the cave.

She looked closer at a crystal, a massive purple tower that stood taller than her house, and noticed something odd. It had been carved into, holes gouged out to allow ponies to climb it, and those holds were in use. A filly, small and gray with a golden mane, scurried up and down the treacherously tall pillar of gemstone. The sight of her made Celestia’s heart melt, even though she didn’t immediately realize why.

“Wonderful, isn’t it?”

Celestia turned to the side, following the voice, and saw Luna standing beside her. She seemed smaller, hunched over, and streaks of gray swirled like galaxies through her mane. Luna turned her head to Celestia and smiled brightly.

“It is,” Celestia agreed.

“Have you dreamt of this before?”

Celestia thought for a moment. “I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve just always been so busy,” Celestia said. She bit her lip nervously as, out in the field, her daughter leapt from the top of one massive crystal to another. “I’ve never really seen this kind of thing as possible.”

“And yet you dream of it.”

Celestia nodded. “It seems that way.”

“If it was an option, would you take this life?”

Celestia thought for a long moment. Eventually she gave up, realizing she had no answer.

They stood there for a while, watching in silence as the filly ran and jumped all over the vast cave.

“Should I go to her?” Celestia asked after a while.

“It’s your dream.”

Celestia nodded and started to walk forward.

With every step, the world around her melted, fading away into nothing but a memory, and once again her dreams shifted.

Celestia dreamt of the present.

She was in the throne room, staring up at the pedestal where only one throne sat. It was grand and bright and golden. Slowly, she walked up to it. It loomed over her head as she approached. When she reached it, she found an ornate crown in the seat, and she knew she had to put it on.

So, she adorned her crown and took a seat in her throne.

The room was bright and empty. Every surface seemed to shine with blinding light. The portraits in the windows were all of her, standing tall and proud before the sun. The room was hot.

Her sister appeared at the base of the ramp. Celestia scowled as she looked down on the face of Nightmare Moon.

“You are not welcome in my dreams,” Celestia said.

Nightmare Moon flashed a toothy grin. “This is my world, sister. I go where I please.”

“Don’t test my patience,” Celestia told her. “What do you want?”

“Can’t I just visit my favorite sister?” She waited a moment, then shrugged when she got no response. “I came to talk. I hear you’ve decided to tolerate me.”

“I’ve decided to try,” Celestia corrected. “We both know you could easily make that impossible for me.”

“So I could,” Nightmare Moon mused. “I have no plans to, though. Believe it or not, I actually want this to work.”

Celestia sneered. “Why? Do you think you can become well liked enough to overthrow me without a fuss?”

“Because I want to be happy. I know Luna’s happiness is a foreign concept to you, but you could at least try to imagine it.”

Anger flashed across Celestia’s face. “I want nothing more than my sister’s happiness. You’re the one that’ll bring her ruin.”

Nightmare Moon scoffed. “Is this as far as your valiant attempt at meeting me halfway is able to go? Can you not even bring yourself to pretend, for Luna’s sake, that you’re willing to trust my word on what is good for me?”

“This is me trusting your word. I don’t intend to act on the disgust you cause me, but that doesn’t mean I’ll suffer it in silence.”

“Listen to yourself! You know, I came here to see just how badly you were going to treat me, and I suppose I got my answer.”

“You did,” Celestia agreed. “Hopefully it’ll help you see how much easier this will be on us both if you just leave me alone.”

“Fat chance. I’ll not hide from my own sister.”

Celestia stood from her throne, and a fire burned in her eyes. “Oh, you’ll know if you need to hide.”

Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, one more thing. I’m probably going to do something you won’t be happy with in the next few days. Just thought I’d give you a fair warning.” She grinned snidely.

Celestia narrowed her eyes. “What does that mean?”

“Well, I’d hate to spoil the surprise. I mean, then you might actually manage to stop me.”

Celestia took a step forward. “I demand you tell me what you intend to do.”

“You don’t get to make demands of me.”

“Tell me!” Celestia stomped a hoof on the floor, and without warning all the windows in the room exploded as rays of light shattered them.

Nightmare Moon took a step back instinctually. She looked at the shards of glass scattered on the floor, then back up at Celestia, and her eyes went wide. Licks of orange and white flames were creeping into Celestia’s mane, and her eyes burned with a righteous anger.

Unsure of what to do, Nightmare Moon disappeared.

Celestia jolted upright in her bed. She was breathing heavily, and her sheets were drenched with sweat. With a groan, she peeled her covers away and pushed herself out of bed. Then she made her way out into the throne room, trying very hard to ignore the smell of melted glass coming from the window by her bed.

Chapter 16

The instant the sun was raised in the morning, Luna was out out of her room and knocking impatiently on Celestia’s door.

Inside, Celestia yawned. “I’ll be out in a moment,” she called out sleepily as she absentmindedly brushed her mane. She had slept well, yes, but that didn’t mean she was particularly eager to get the day started.

Luna grumbled. “Sister, we need to talk.”

“And we’ll do so in a moment,” Celestia replied. She made no effort to hurry herself as she prepared for the day to come.

Eventually, Luna stopped knocking and sat grumpily in her throne. As she sat there, tapping a hoof on the arm of the chair, Vim trotted up to her with a brush and started trying to manage her mane.

“Princess, you really must get yourself ready in the morning,” Vim scolded. “It shows Equestria that you care.”

Luna sighed and took the brush from Vim so she could do it herself. “Yes, alright, I understand. I was just in a hurry today because I have something very important to discuss with my sister.”

“Is it about the research you have me doing?”

“Not directly.”

“That’s not very reassuring.”

Luna frowned. “I know you’re worried, but please, just look for me. It’s still entirely up to your discretion what you show me.”

“Yes, I know... “ Vim sighed. “Okay, here I have your schedules for the day.” She gave a scroll to Luna, then placed a similar one in Celestia’s throne. “I’ll be in the library for most of the day if you need my assistance, but I can’t imagine you will. Most of your duties today are your own projects.”

Luna opened the scroll and skimmed through it. “You’ve left quite a bit of space in here.”

“I don’t really know how long it’ll take you to interview the guards,” Vim explained. “If you finish early, come find me and I can give you some of tomorrow’s work.”

“No promises.”

Vim smiled. “Alright, well I’m off, then.”

Luna nodded, then addressed the guards. “Dusk, Seabeam, could you keep watch from the hallway for a bit? I’d like some privacy with my sister.”

“Of course, Princess,” Dusk said. Seabeam nodded, and they left with Vim.

The air grew still after the door shut behind them, and Luna leaned back lazily in her throne. “Ugh,” she groaned. With nothing else to do, she stared up at the ceiling and waited.

It took Celestia another ten minutes to get ready, although to Luna it felt like an hour. Finally, though, her door creaked open and she stepped out in all her royal glory. She took a deep breath, basking in the fresh air, and trotted over to her throne to take a seat.

Once she was settled, Celestia smiled warmly at Luna. “I’m sorry for the wait,” she said. “I didn’t want to be grumpy when I came out to talk.”

Luna sighed. “It’s alright. I’m just worried about your dream last night.”

“So that was the real you. I was holding out hope that she had been a spectre of my own mind.”

“I’m afraid not,” Luna said, “and what I said was true. I was there to gauge your reaction in a place I thought would be free from danger.”

Celestia’s smile faded. “Luna, I told you I wouldn’t be able to put aside my feelings about Nightmare Moon. If I could, I would do so in a heartbeat. The last thing I want is for you to feel hated.”

“I understand that, but what happened in your dream was above and beyond anything I could have expected.”

“It was a dream. You know emotions run high in the subconscious.”

“Not that high,” Luna said.

“Nightmare Moon has always been just as severe in dreams,” Celestia argued.

“Yes, because she’s Nightmare Moon. She doesn’t just feel emotions, she is emotions, and she flourishes in dreams. That isn’t a bar you should even be capable of meeting.”

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you.” Celestia sighed. “I can’t exactly control how she makes me feel.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Luna told her.

“I can’t imagine I’ll ever come near that point outside of my dreams, though.”

“But what if you do?”

“What are you scared of? That ridiculous vision from Starlight’s dream?”

“Yes!” Luna stuck her hooves out in a pleading gesture. “Nightmare Moon visited my dreams long before you ever knew her, and seeing the same signs in your dreams is terrifying.”

“Luna, I’m trying to control my feelings surrounding Nightmare Moon. I have no intention of letting them control me.”

“I just…” Luna shook her head and looked down at the floor. “I just worry.”

Celestia frowned, then got up and walked over to put a hoof on Luna’s shoulder. “I promise, it’ll be alright. After all, I have something you didn’t have to help against Nightmare Moon.”

“What’s that?”

“I have my sister’s help.”

Luna looked up and locked eyes with Celestia, who smiled kindly down on her, and she smiled in kind.

Celestia patted Luna’s shoulder. “It would help to know what you’re planning on doing, though.”

Luna pursed her lips. “I swear, I know what I’m doing. It’ll be fine. I’m just hesitant to tell you because…”

“Because it has to do with Nightmare Moon?”

Luna nodded apprehensively. “Sort of.”

“I understand.” Celestia tried to give her a reassuring smile. “I told you I’d trust you over my feelings when it comes to Nightmare Moon, and if that means not knowing some things, then I’ll deal with it.”

“Thank you, Tia.”

“Of course.” Celestia playfully ruffled her sister’s mane, then grabbed her schedule with her magic and started walking towards the hallway as she read it. “Now, I should start my day. As should you!”

“I know, I know.”

Luna left the throne room with a smile on her face, and nodded to the guards. “Good morning,” she said, and they greeted her back.

“Should we go back inside?” Seabeam asked.

“Probably,” Celestia said, “although it doesn’t look like I’ll be around much. In fact, go ask Luna if she’ll be in her throne room this morning. If not, you two can take the rest of the day off.”

The guards thanked her and trotted back into the throne room, and Celestia hummed cheerily to herself as she headed off into the day ahead.

Most of her day was fairly standard. She opened a school, she awarded some medals, she had lunch with the mayor. Everywhere she went, ponies greeted her ecstatically, thrilled to have her back. She made an effort to remind them how Luna had stepped up, but it was nice to know she had been missed.

After lunch she held a town hall so that she could catch up on the feelings of the ponies living in Canterlot. She held it in a theater, as they were the only places in the city with enough seating, and even then the building was filled to the brim. Every seat held at least one pony, and after that they had filled the aisles and lined up against the back wall. It got so crowded that they had to stop letting ponies in just because it would become a fire hazard.

The only space that wasn’t crowded was around the front row. There, much to Celestia’s surprise, sat a large number of Canterlot’s elite, and their influence had clearly been used to afford them some privacy. Even then, the row was filled, and a couple stallions were in a huff at being forced to stand off to the side.

It surprised Celestia because normally, ponies of that stature would never attend such a meeting. After all, if they had something to say to the Princess, they could just do so directly. There was no need to visit such a crowded, boorish place.

Of course, Princess Celestia would never say no to any pony that wanted to speak to her directly. It was just that most ponies didn’t consider themselves highly enough to even think of doing so.

A guard walked up to Celestia and informed her that the theater was full, and so she nodded and cleared her throat. The meeting wasn’t scheduled to start for a while, but she saw no reason to wait if nopony else could join. She walked up to the humble podium set up on stage with a microphone, and as she did so the crowd erupted into applause.

She let them continue for a minute, refreshed by the reminder of how beloved she was. It’s hard not to feel good when ponies are that happy to see you. She wasn’t vain, though, so soon enough she held up a hoof and called for quiet. A minute later, once she was confident she would be heard, she started to speak.

“Ponies, it is my great pleasure to return to you all. It is my greater pleasure, however, to see how phenomenally my sister ruled in my absence. There’s no need for a grand speech or preamble. I’m just happy to see that you’re happy.”

“That said,” she continued, “I know that my perspective can be skewed from atop my perch, and so I’m here to take questions and comments. Anything you may have to relay to me regarding my time away, or questions about the future. Raise your hooves if you’d like to speak, please.”

All over the audience, hooves shot up. Most of the nobles stayed put, though, which surprised Celestia once more.

“Alright, well, let’s begin with the front row. Madame Showstopper, would you like to lead us off?”

The owner of the theatre, a ritzy mare in an extravagant red dress and matching hat, stood up in the front row. A black veil hung from her hat, covering her face. “Yes, thank you Princess. Would you happen to know if Nightmare Moon is going to continue working with the nobility?”

“Ah, no, there’s no need to worry about that. I’ll resume my full responsibilities with regards to public relations.”

“Actually,” Showstopper said, “I quite liked having her as a liaison. I found her to be quite expedient.”

“Oh.” Celestia’s eyes went wide. “Well, I suppose if you actually desire an audience with her, you can try to set one up. I can’t guarantee she’ll say yes, but she will still be around.”

“Thank you.” She sat back down, and the rest of the nobles dropped their hooves. Apparently, they had all wanted the same information.

So, Celestia started to work her way back. She pointed to the next closest pony, a burly stallion. “You, um… Tunnel Bore, I believe it was?”

He grinned and stood up. “That’d be me, Princess. I, uh, just wanted to ask you to come get me or one of my crew if you’re gonna stop some of the construction Nightmare Moon started up, cuz some of it’s actually real good, y’know?”

“Of course,” Celestia said with a smile. “I’ll be sure to look those over as soon as possible for you.”

“Much appreciated,” he said as he sat back down.

“Alright, next, um… Oh!” She pointed to a sour looking stallion wearing a cheap suit. “Is that you, Mr. Evergreen? I would have expected to see you up front.”

He stood up and scoffed. “Yeah, well, they aren’t exactly playing nice after your sister dragged my name through the mud.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Care to explain what happened?”

“Yeah, I’ll tell you what happened,” he said. “She ruined me is what happened! The whole city thinks I hate sunshine or whatever lie it was that she fed to them.”

Celestia took a deep breath. “I’m assuming this is about the parks? I was told the matter had been closed.”

“Hah! Only if by ‘closed’ you mean ‘blackmailed away by Princess Luna.’”

Celestia narrowed her eyes. “Now hang on, I’m sure Nightmare Moon wasn’t pleasant, but—”

She cut herself off, realizing she shouldn’t have said that. She didn’t know Nightmare Moon had been rude. She needed to keep better control, she couldn’t slip up every time somepony said something she thought was wrong.

Celestia took another deep breath. “Sir, whatever happened, I’m sure we can sort it out without resorting to rudeness.”

“Fine then, sort it out,” he said. “Tell everypony that your sister lied about me.”

“I don’t even know what she said,” Celestia told him. “How could I possibly know if she lied?”

“‘Cuz I’m telling you she did! What, are you putting your sister above your citizens now?”

Celestia rubbed her forehead. “Mr. Evergreen, I cannot wholeheartedly believe every outlandish thing said about my sister just because there may be a conflict of interest. There are still ponies with a grudge against her, after all.”

He huffed defiantly. “Fine, then you say good things about my business to balance it out. And give me the permits to build on my land, while you’re at it!”

“As I have told you many times,” Celestia said, slowly and carefully enunciating every syllable, “I have no intention of providing you permits unless I am assured you will replace the value they bring to the community.”

“Well, then I guess I’ll just have to take my business elsewhere,” he told her, “and I’ll be sure to tell the ponies there all about how Princess Celestia is putting Nightmare Moon above ponies like me.”

Celestia sighed and closed her eyes. She leaned forward, her head in her hooves, and massaged her temples. She breathed slowly and deeply, in and out over and over for several seconds.

Then she snapped her eyes back open and stared straight down at the stallion. A few ponies around the audience let out quiet gasps when they saw her, because her pupils had turned a stark, burning white.

“Mr. Evergreen,” she said, “I do not appreciate being threatened. You should choose your next words very carefully.”

“Yeah, right.” He waved a hoof dismissively. “Like I’d be scared of Celestia. I’m out of here.”

He turned to start working his way out of the building, but just as he did a blinding flash of light filled the room for just an instant, and when it cleared both he and Celestia were gone.

Far away, in a secluded field few ponies had ever set foot in, another light flashed. A flock of birds took off into flight and fled as Celestia and Evergreen appeared out of thin air.

Evergreen spun around in shock, then paled when he locked eyes with Princess Celestia. Up close the white hot fire in her eyes was far clearer, and he could see the flames of her pupils starting to creep further out in branches of white. He took a step back, unsure of what to do, and couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of hers.

“You know, Mr. Evergreen, threatening the Princesses could very well make you seem like a danger to Equestria.”

He swallowed hard and stepped back again.

“I imagine you’re well aware of what’s happened to others who were a danger to Equestria.”

He tried to step away again, but tripped and fell onto the ground.

Celestia held a hoof in front of her face, and a ball of light formed in it, morphing and shifting endlessly. She never took her eyes off of his, but eventually her horn flashed and the light solidified into a little stone figure of a stallion. She dropped it on the ground in front of him.

Then, without another word she teleported away, leaving him alone in the middle of the field.

She had meant to head back to the theater, but somehow she missed. Instead, when the light cleared, Celestia was in a dark alley behind the building, and she was breathing hard. In and out, quicker and quicker, and a second later her world spun as she started to hyperventilate.

“Wh-” She stumbled and almost fell, but just barely managed to catch herself on a wall. She stood there for a long time, just breathing with no perception of the world around her, until eventually her breathing started to slow down. As it did her vision cleared and, steadily, her eyes returned to normal.

Finally, she was just standing in the alleyway, panting in exhaustion. “What did I just do?”

Chapter 17

“I just didn’t know who else to turn to.” Celestia was pacing back and forth frantically as she spoke. The words were coming out fast and nervous, with very little effort devoted to screen what she was saying. She looked weary, and her mane was a disaster because she kept stopping to anxiously run a hoof through it. “Anypony at the castle would have told Luna, and anypony who wouldn’t tell her, I don’t know well enough to trust! And I know, trust me, I know I should just go to Luna, but…” She stopped and rubbed her forehead. “I don’t know! I just can’t.”

“So you came to me?”

Pinkie Pie sat on the floor in the Sugarcube Corner, watching the Princess curiously. She was clearly concerned, but hints of apprehension could be seen on her face.

“You’re the only pony I could think of! I’ve heard about your… Episodes, so I thought you might have some advice.”

“What, like when I get sad?” Pinkie tilted her head in confusion. “You look more scared than sad. That’s more Fluttershy’s thing.”

“No, I—” Celestia sighed and stopped pacing to look at Pinkie. “I need to explain. Okay, so…” She paused, still not sure about what she was doing. “You know Nightmare Moon, right?”

“Big scary Princess that Applejack thinks is hot?” Pinkie nodded. “Yeah, why?”

“I… I think the same thing might be happening to me.”

“Ohhh.” Pinkie drew out the word far longer than was necessary. “That’s not good.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“You should talk to Luna,” Pinkie told her. “Or Nightmare Moon, I guess.”

“I know.” Celestia ran her hoof through her mane again. “I know! I need to just go right up to her and lay it all out.”

“...Yes?”

“So why can’t I?”

“Hmm…” Pinkie hummed in thought. “Well, do you want to?”

Celestia blinked and stared at her. “What?”

“I know there’s plenty of stuff I should do that I don’t cuz I just don’t wanna. Cleaning my room, eating vegetables, not eating garlic before I visit Fluttershy. Whatever.”

“Of course I want to,” Celestia said quietly. “Why wouldn’t I want to?”

Pinkie shrugged. “Iunno.”

“Not telling her is just going to make things worse. I just want us to be close again.”

“I mean, when I’m sad all I ever do is make things worse. When I lock myself in my room all day, I know it’s gonna get the others worried about me, but when I’m sad like that, well… That’s what I want.”

“Okay, but I’m not… I’m myself right now, right?”

“I get sad way before I get sad,” Pinkie told her. “Maybe you’re still… Whatever it is you were feeling that got you so freaked out.”

“How I felt?” Celestia thought for a moment. “I don’t know, I didn’t feel all that different. Just kind of… Angry? Except I wasn’t actually angry, once it got going I was pretty calm. I just wanted to teach him a lesson.”

“Uh-huh… Well, did you?”

“Teach him a lesson?” Celestia let out a dry chuckle. “Yes, I’m pretty sure I got the point across.”

Pinkie raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Celestia looked at her for a moment, then her eyes went wide. “Oh. Oh, it’s still there. Oh, no, that isn’t good.”

“Yeahhh…” Pinkie gritted her teeth.

“And…” Celestia looked down at her hooves. “If I tell Luna, she’ll make it impossible for me to do it again if I think I have to… I don’t want to feel that way, though! Thinking about what I actually did is horrifying, and thinking about how I felt when I did it is even worse. Surely that’s reason enough to get me to go to Luna.”

“Well, are you gonna?”

“I…” Celestia closed her eyes, willing herself to take action, but she couldn’t do it. “Pinkie, I don’t understand. There’s no way I want this to happen!”

“I mean, I don’t want things to get worse when I start to feel bad.” Pinkie looked away and started rubbing her leg anxiously. “But… Part of me does. When I start to feel bad, there’s a part of me that tells me ‘Let it happen. You’re already sad, and they haven’t noticed. See how long it takes them. Make them face how blind they are to how you feel and feel terrible for it.’” Pinkie paused and rubbed her eyes. “They’re awful thoughts. I hate them. I hate myself the whole time I listen, but once they’re loud enough to hear… It’s usually too late to stop them”

Celestia frowned. She wasn’t sure how to respond. She decided on just walking up to Pinkie, leaning down and rubbing her shoulder. “Thank you for the help, Pinkie Pie. Is there anything I can do in return?”

Pinkie sniffed and shook her head. “It’s okay, Princess Celestia. I’m happy to help. Let me know if you need any more advice later.”

Celestia nodded. “I will. Right now, though, I should be getting back home. Should I tell Applejack that you could use some company?”

“No, I can go to Fluttershy’s. Good luck with everything.” Pinkie got up and started walking slowly to the door. “Bye…”

Celestia pursed her lips. “Hopefully next time we’ll meet under better circumstances.”

“Mm-hm.”

With that, Pinkie walked out the door, and Celestia was left alone. A moment after that, in a flash of light, she was gone too.

Back in the castle, Applejack had woken up alone. She didn’t sleep in too late, she just wasn’t that kind of pony, but getting up at dawn was just a bit too much for her. So, the lack of Princesses in the throne room didn’t shock her.

What did shock her was the absence of anypony else. There was no Vim, no guards, not even any carpenters working on windows or rugs. It was just her.

Her thoughts drifted immediately to mischief. Applejack wasn’t much of a trickster, but some opportunities are just too good to ignore, and being unsupervised in the throne room of Canterlot Castle was definitely one of those opportunities. It was enough to tempt anypony.

Disappointingly, there just wasn’t anything for her to do. The throne room was dreadfully bare, just two massive chairs and some curtains. It didn’t even have a carpet anymore. Maybe Rainbow Dash could have thought of something, but Applejack didn’t have the creative spark or the experience she needed for this.

So, instead, she opted to wander the halls of the castle. Thankfully, there were ponies in the rest of the castle; she wasn’t ashamed to admit that the empty throne room had given her the hint of a scare. She wasn’t actually scared, of course, but if the entire castle had been empty it would have been a different story.

The castle was as busy as ever, though. More so, even, with the ponies who were scattered around working on renovations. She didn’t recognize any of them, but it seemed like they were starting to recognize her, as several ponies stopped to say hello or waved as they passed by her in the halls.

The warmest welcomes came from the few ponies she found scattered about who were clad in the new Lunar Guard outfit. They were mostly pegasi, who all wore their leathery wings with pride, but there were earth ponies and unicorns mixed in, too. The one common thread between them all seemed to be a great respect for either Luna or Nightmare Moon, and it seemed that, for most of them, that respect carried over to Applejack as well.

It was all a bit surreal for her. Sure, a lot of ponies in Ponyville respected her for her hard work and honesty, but she wasn’t generally respected just for being Applejack. It was uncomfortable, to say the least. She hadn’t earned that respect, she just happened to be dating the Princess. It seemed like taking something that wasn’t rightfully hers, and it gave her the same tight feeling in her gut that lying did.

Eventually all the attention got to be too much, and Applejack ducked into the nearest room.

She found herself in the library, and when the doors shut behind her it became eerily silent. Here and there were the sound of pages turning or ponies moving around, but just being able to hear those things was bizarre. It was like the library existed in its own little bubble of existence.

As she walked in, the librarian looked up from the book she was reading and smiled brightly. He was a stout yellow pegasus, and despite the genuine warmth of his smile, he looked scarily serious as soon as it faded. “Ah, Applejack. Wonderful to see you. I presume you’re looking for Vim?”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Vim’s here?”

The librarian chuckled. “I guess you’re not. Well, yes, she’s back looking through our books of magic. Is there something I can help you with, though?”

“Err, I was actually just lookin to escape the hootenanny out in the halls.” She scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. “Sorry.”

“Oh, it’s not a problem,” he told her. “No matter the reason, you’ve found your way here. Feel free to have a look around, and let me know if you need help at all.”

“Will do,” Applejack said with a smile.

She walked off into the endless rows of books. Applejack was used to big libraries, as were all of Twilight’s friends, but the scale of this one still threw her off. It wasn’t deep, in fact the first floor only held as many books as the front room of Twilight’s old library in the tree, but so did the second floor, and the third, the fourth, and it didn’t take long for Applejack to realize that the library must take up an entire tower of the castle. She couldn’t believe Twilight had ever managed to pry herself away from this place.

The benefit of the layout, though, was that every floor was like its own little world. The noises of one floor hardly travelled to the others, which meant that Applejack didn’t need to feel self conscious when she found Vim on the seventh floor and walked up to greet her.

“Howdy.”

Vim had been sitting on the floor with her nose buried in a thick tome, and she jumped up in shock at Applejack’s voice. Then she paused, took a breath, and calmed down from the scare.

“Hi, Applejack,” she said once she had caught her breath. “What brings you here?”

“Just wanderin,” Applejack told her. “You?”

“Oh, I’m working on—” She remembered who she was talking to and stopped herself. “Um, I’m working on a personal project.”

“Yeah? Anything I can help with?”

“I’m afraid not,” Vim said. She shook her head solemnly. “Thank you for the offer, though.”

“Well, tell me about it. I might surprise ya.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to take up too much of your time,” Vim said with a nervous chuckle.

“My… Wandering time?” Applejack gave her a curious look.

“Well, you’re on vacation is all, I don’t want to bog you down with work, you know?”

“Ain’t like I’m doin much else,” Applejack said, “and I’m kinda itchin for some work to be honest.”

“Oh, I really don’t think you’d be able to help…” Vim chewed on her lip anxiously.

“C’mon, don’t count me out so quick. I’ve hung out with Twilight enough to pick up a thing or two about just about everything.”

“Oh, I’m not trying to say you wouldn’t know anything, I just…” Vim grimaced. “You know, I’ve already checked so many books, and—”

“Vim.” Applejack stared down at her. “Just tell me what the dang thing you’re lookin into is.”

“It’s, um… Eclipses.”

Applejack’s eyes widened. “What in Equestria could you wanna know about eclipses that you can’t get from Luna?”

“Um… How to… Cause them?” Vim winced.

Applejack took a shocked step back. “What? Girl, what do you think Luna would say if she heard you talkin about making an eclipse?”

“Well, actually, um…” Vim made a nervous sound and looked away.

Applejack narrowed her eyes. “What is she up to?”

“Up to? Why would she be up to anything?”

“Vim.”

Vim sighed. “Okay, fine. She wants to test you, and thought that if you stopped an eclipse you might become a Princess.”

Applejack’s jaw fell open. “Has everypony around her lost their dang minds?”

“That’s entirely possible.”

Applejack groaned and started stomping away. “That girl is gonna hear some words.”

“Okay, well, I’ll uh…” Vim looked around. “I’ll be here, I guess… Researching.”

Chapter 18

Celestia’s thoughts raced as the stalked the halls of Canterlot Castle, going about her remaining chores without paying them much attention. They were all things she’d done countless times before, like looking over reports from the royal guard or approving budgets, and she couldn’t pry her thoughts away from what she had done for such menial things.

The more Pinkie’s words bounced around in her head, the more anxious she became. Was it really possible that on some level she wanted things to go further? Was there a voice in the back of her mind telling her that letting things boil over was the best solution, that she should stop holding back and show Equestria what she was really capable of? She wouldn’t be violent, of course, she wasn’t a tyrant, but she’d never gotten anywhere with Evergreen by playing nice. Besides, Twilight hadn’t always been around to protect Equestria, and Celestia’s strength had been more than enough to keep evil at bay. Surely that strength would be enough to ward off the more insidious evils in Equestria, the rotten ponies in every town and city who would take advantage of others, who would—

Celestia stopped and blinked. This was getting worse. She needed to put a stop to it, to find herself again, but could she? Her head was spinning, and with the slightest lapse in focus her thoughts slipped away from her.

Her body felt hot. It was an intense heat, like nothing she’d ever felt before, but at the same time it was remarkably refreshing. It felt like home, and for a brief moment she wanted nothing more than to let it wash over her.

She bit her lip and stumbled as the world came crashing back down around her. Ponies around her stopped whatever they were doing to ask if she was okay, but she didn’t hear them. She just walked away and went back to roaming the halls, searching for something, anything to occupy her mind.

As she turned a corner, she saw Applejack step out of the library. Celestia put a hoof up and almost called out to her, but stopped when she saw the look on Applejack’s face. She was mad about something, and Celestia had the feeling that it was something she should know about.

Luckily, Applejack didn’t notice Celestia peeking around the corner. She didn’t seem to notice anything, in fact. She must have been just as laser focused as Celestia, which was good, because it made her easy to follow.

Celestia made sure to act as casual as possible as she followed along. She nodded and smiled at ponies she passed by, and only glanced at Applejack at turns to see where she was headed. Not that it was difficult; it became clear after a couple turns that she was headed to the throne room, and the castle wasn’t so big that they were walking for an especially long time. Nopony even had the chance to question what she was doing.

Celestia waited outside the throne room at first, straining her ears to listen. It seemed to take Applejack ages to cross the grand hall, her hoofsteps echoing out and filling the room. Celestia kept waiting for her to stop and start talking, but it never happened. Instead, after what felt like an hour of agonizing waiting, Celestia heard a door creak open, and then a moment later it clicked shut.

Celestia pursed her lips and moved into the throne room. This was a problem. She didn’t know how she’d be able to listen with the guards in the room, and telling them to leave would reveal that she was there. Even walking in the room was likely to end in them greeting her loudly enough for Applejack to hear.

She let out a deep breath of relief when she saw that the guards weren’t there. Of course they weren’t. Celestia had told them to take the day off. Silently, she thanked herself for the act of kindness.

When she reached Luna’s door and pressed her ear against it, the conversation had already begun.

“—and I ain’t happy about what I heard.”

Luna’s voice came next. “Whatever she told you, I’m sure I can explain.”

“She told me everything. Your whole cockamamie plan.”

Celestia’s brow furrowed. She didn’t like the sound of this.

“Did she tell you why I want to do this?”

“Yeah. Luna, I don’t wanna be a Princess if I gotta put all of Equestria at risk to do it!”

Celestia could feel that heat welling up inside her. Quietly, she pleaded with Luna to not have done anything stupid.

“It won’t! I promise, Vim is being very careful, and she won’t let me do this if there’s any chance of it hurting Equestria.”

“Look, I like Vim and all, but I can’t stake that much on the judgement of a single pony who I barely know.”

“I’m not sure if it’s even dangerous in the first place. It’s more theatrics than anything.”

“Not dangerous? If it ain’t dangerous, then why’d you get sent to the moon last time you did it?”

Celestia’s eyes went wide. Her bright, burning eyes with blindingly white pupils.

She couldn’t believe it. She refused to believe it. After all this time, after all the effort from both of them, there was no way she could let herself believe that Luna was going to wind up right back where she was a thousand years ago. So long as even one tiny bit of Luna was still fighting back against Nightmare Moon, there was no way it could ever happen.

Unless… Unless it didn’t work like that. What if they had found a way to coexist? What if all of Luna and all of Nightmare Moon could be there? What if…

What if Luna really was Nightmare Moon?

Would it still be impossible? Nightmare Moon was wicked and uncontrollable, she could easily do it all again. If Luna wasn’t wholly against it, then together they might actually do it.

There was no way, though. Luna would never side with that-that monster. She would never even listen to Nightmare Moon, much less actually let her in. Luna could never actually embrace that thing.

Unless she could.

The heat buzzed in Celestia’s mind, and she could hardly think. Flames trickled into her mane, and she stumbled back as she tried, as she fought to hold on to what she thought she knew of her sister. She knew Luna could never put Equestria at risk again. She knew this was all a misunderstanding.

Unless…

Celestia’s eyes shot wide open and she gasped sharply as the heat within exploded outwards. It burned her away from the inside out, lighting a flame that could never go out. It lit her mane and tail ablaze, and it seared her eyes until they were a burnt orange, still with a white fire crackling within. It burned up through her horn, forging it into a fearsome weapon that sparked with a raging, uncontrollable inferno of magic. Then it burned away at Celestia herself, melting away the very core of who she was until there was room for something new to rise.

Celestia was ashes.

Daybreaker was born.

The first thing Daybreaker felt was fury. Rage. Hatred. It all dawned on her at once, the injustice, the evil, the rot in Equestria that worked to take her sister back. She had to do something, to put an end to it all, but… But it was too much. With every moment she remembered more of the darkness that surged through the world, and with that memory came more and more anger. Too much anger. She couldn’t risk burning away this entire castle.

She concentrated, and flames blasted out in all directions. Soon a huge bubble of fire surrounded her, and then it came back. The flames crashed in on her, surging through every part of her and burning her away until she was no more.

The talking in the other room came to a sudden stop. The whoosh of air that came with the fire’s disappearance was not quiet, and in an instant Applejack and Luna were rushing to find out what was happening. They barged out of the door and looked around frantically, scanning for danger.

There was nothing to see, though, but wide scorch marks on the floor and wall, and a small pile of ashes in the center of it all.

Far away, in a field of rocks at the edge of Equestria, the air shimmered. The heat grew, and grew, and just when it seemed like it could grow no more, the air lit on fire. It spread in an instant, and was gone just as quick, and where the air had been now stood Daybreaker.

Then she screamed in rage.

With the sound came heat, more and more and more as she forced out all her anger. The heat turned to flames, wrapped around her and spiralling into the sky, and still they grew. The flames outgrew trees, they passed higher than buildings, they went so high they burnt a hole through the clouds, and only then did they stop growing.

All around Equestria, from Ponyville to the Crystal Kingdom, ponies stared up in wonder, confusion and horror as far, far away the sky was pierced by flames.

Chapter 19

“Then why’d you get sent to the moon last time you did it?”

Applejack wasn’t angry, but she was far from happy. More than anything, she was just worried. Worried about Luna, worried about becoming a Princess, worried about failing as a Princess. It was all just so… Worrying.

“I got banished because I did it for the wrong reasons,” Luna said. She sighed and slumped down onto her bed. “I know it’s risky, Applejack, but so is waiting for whatever else the fortune might have been referring to. At least this way, we would have some modicum of control over the situation.”

“Couldn’t you have at least told me about it? If you hadn’t kept it a secret I wouldn’t feel so blindsided by all this.” Applejack huffed. “Frankly, I feel like I was lied to.”

“I—” Luna paused and looked up at Applejack’s hurt and concerned expression. “I’m sorry. I should have thought things through some more.”

Applejack’s expression softened. “Thank you, Luna. And yeah, you should’ve, so let’s do that.” Applejack walked over to Luna and ran a hoof through her mane. “Fill me in. Why’d you wanna—”

There was an explosion in the throne room. The smell of smoke filled the air.

Applejack and Luna exchanged a glance, then shot up and ran for the door. Just as they reached it, another sound shot out, a whoosh like a sudden gust of wind.

Applejack was to the door first, and she blasted it open and ran through, but by then it was too late. The throne room was empty. All that was left to see was the pile of ashes that sat in the middle of a huge black stain on the ground. Even the smoke had vanished, and only the faintest hints of the smell lingered.

Luna rushed out behind Applejack, and her mouth fell open when she saw it all. She and Applejack stood there in silence for a long moment, unsure of what they could possibly make of it.

“Well,” Applejack eventually said, “that ain’t good.”

“No, I can’t imagine it is.”

Luna walked forward into the blast zone, her hooves getting covered in soot with every step, and knelt down to examine the ashes. She ran her hoof through them, but there was nothing left. She pursed her lips.

“There’s a lot of ashes,” Luna commented.

“Guess whatever it was that got burned up was pretty big,” Applejack replied.

Luna nodded. “And yet not a single bit survived. I don’t know if even Nightmare Moon could burn something so… Efficiently.”

“So what’s that mean?”

Luna walked back over to Applejack and did her best to dust off her hooves. “It means we’re in danger. We may want to call Twilight.”

“It’s that bad?”

“It could be,” Luna said. “Then again, it’s possible we’re in just the right amount of danger to make you a Princess if you save us.”

Applejack made a sour face. “I really don’t think we should stake Equestria on that.”

“No, I suppose not,” Luna agreed. “Let’s not dally, then. We should go to—”

Luna’s eyes went wide and she cut herself short. “We have to go,” she said as she stared at something over Applejack’s shoulder.

“What?” Applejack turned around, and immediately she saw it. Outside the window, from somewhere past the horizon, a spire of flames had erupted into the sky, and it was growing fast. It was too far to have any sense of scale, but it was only seconds before it started to pierce through clouds, and hardly a moment after that it stretched higher than she could even see through the window.

Applejack gasped and took a step back. “We need Twilight.”

“Somepony in Ponyville will see that and tell her,” Luna said. “We need to be there.”

“You sure it’s safe?”

“Not in the least.”

Applejack sighed. “Well, let’s go anyway I guess.” Luna nodded, and with a flash of her horn the two of them blinked out of existence.

Twilight sipped her tea with a smile on her face as she trotted through the halls of her castle. She was nice and cozy, fresh out a shower with slippers and a bathrobe on, and she could only see her day getting better.

She was carrying with her a massive stack of paperwork. It was all long and dense, filled with confusing legal jargon and unnecessary tangents. To anypony else, it would have been a daunting pile of work, but to Twilight it was one of the best parts of the week.

She checked to make sure she was alone before she slipped into the library, and then checked again to make sure the library was empty. She grinned and soaked in the beautiful silence that greeted her. The smell of books filled the air, the lights were just bright enough to read by, and she was home.

She meandered far into the recesses of the library, into a section that almost nopony ever visited. It turned out there wasn’t a whole lot of need for Theoretical Ornithology, but that was fine by her. It suited her needs just fine.

She pulled out one of the books, and there was a soft click.

The entire bookshelf started to slide down into the floor. It wasn’t fast by any means, but Twilight wasn’t in a hurry. Bit by bit, it revealed the tiny office space concealed within. It had dark wooden walls, a soft carpeted floor, and a desk that took up almost the entire room. There was a single lamp to read by, and any space that wasn’t taken up already was filled with piles of books that Twilight was in the middle of. It was her own little sanctuary, a place nopony knew about but her.

She stepped inside and took a deep breath, letting the familiarity wash over her as she plopped the paperwork down onto the desk. Then she flicked a switch, and the bookshelf started to rise back up. Soon enough the little alcove was sealed off again, and as far as anypony else knew, Twilight Sparkle had vanished from the world.

The air was almost unbearably hot at the rock farm. The world shimmered in the heat, dancing around Daybreaker as her flames died down. She looked up at the sky, closed her eyes and let out a deep breath as the final bits of the column of fire disappeared.

Then she grinned wickedly. When she opened her eyes again, they were sharp with focus.

She was just about to leave when light flickered in the corner of her vision. She turned and saw Luna and Applejack, staring at her with stunned expressions, and she shot them a toothy smile. Her razor sharp teeth glinted in the harsh sunlight.

“And here I thought I would have to come to you.”

“S-Sister?” Luna took a cautious step back. “Tia?”

Daybreaker tsked. “Close, but not quite.”

“Did you do something to her?” Luna’s eyes narrowed.

“Ooh, you’re getting warmer.”

“Luna, what’s goin on?” Applejack asked. “What’s wrong with Celestia?”

Luna swallowed hard. “I think… I think she’s like Nightmare Moon.”

Daybreaker laughed. “Oh, sister, you always were so clever. Although I must say, I’m hurt that you never thought to tell me how wonderful this feels!”

Luna frowned. “Celestia, you don’t have to do this. You can fight her, I know you can! You were always stronger than me.”

“I’m sorry, I’m afraid Celestia can’t hear you right now,” Daybreaker said.

“I know that’s not true,” Luna said. “Don’t forget how long I’ve lived with Nightmare Moon.”

Daybreaker scoffed. “Oh, I know your experience with Nightmare Moon perfectly well. Do you really think that after watching you fight for so long, I’d still let that weakling listen in? Celestia’s gone. She’s a heap on the floor of the throne room.”

Luna scowled. “You’re lying.”

“Am I?” Daybreaker laughed. “I suppose we’ll find out. Or not! I don’t plan on giving up control any time soon.”

“If you’re not Celestia,” Applejack spoke up, “who are you?”

“Why, how kind of you to ask!” She started to stride slowly closer to them. Luna couldn’t help but back away, but Applejack stayed put. “I’m the upgrade. I’m the only pony with enough of a spine to lead Equestria. “I’m Daybreaker, and I’m your new Queen.”

“Yeah, right,” Applejack said. “You ain’t the only Princess, they won’t let you just declare yourself the ruler.”

“It’s simply adorable that you see my sister so highly that you still have the delusion she can stand up to me. She said herself, I was always the stronger one.”

“You go on thinkin that,” Applejack said. “We’ll see how it all shakes out.”

Daybreaker made it to Applejack and stopped, looming over her like a predator gazing down at its prey. “Oh, I can’t wait.”

“Applejack, she’s right,” Luna said. “We need to leave.”

“Oh no you don’t!” Daybreaker shot a hoof into the air, and a long, winding tendril of flames burst out of the ground and wrapped itself around Luna, tight enough that she couldn’t move her wings. “Careful, now,” she said. “I can’t stop an inferno once it’s burning. If you blink away, who knows who that thing could go after?”

Luna growled. “You would threaten innocent ponies?

“Absolutely!” Daybreaker laughed sharply. “If it means protecting Equestria, I have no qualms about harming a single pony.”

“Listen to yourself,” Applejack said. “You ain’t protecting Equestria, you’re the one puttin it in danger!”

“You stay out of this!” She waved a hoof and another fiery whip lashed out and wrapped around Applejack. With another gesture, the ground at Applejack’s hooves erupted into little flames, just barely hot enough to feel. “This is between me and her, and you’ll keep your mouth shut if you don’t want to get burned.”

Applejack growled, but she restrained herself from speaking up.

“Let her go, Daybreaker!” Luna shouted.

Daybreaker shifted her attention back to Luna. “I’m afraid you’re in no position to make demands, dear sister.”

“Well then tell me what you want so I can give it to you!”

“Oh, what I want is quite simple,” Daybreaker said. “Bring out the beast.”

Luna leaned back in shock. “What?”

“Nightmare Moon! We have unfinished business.”

Luna grimaced. “Fine. You asked for it.” She shut her eyes, took a deep breath, and then exhaled. As she did, she grew into the menacing form of Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare Moon glared up at Daybreaker with an intense fury. “Release us,” she demanded, “and I will consider putting you back on the sun instead of someplace worse.”

Daybreaker snarled at her. “Oh, get over yourself, you cretin. You have no sway over me.”

“At least release her,” Nightmare Moon said. “I did as you asked.”

“What, you think that was it?” Daybreaker laughed. “Not in the least. Prepare yourself, Nightmare Moon, because this is the day you cease to exist.”

Chapter 20

Author's Note

Heads up, there's a bit more violence in this chapter than the story's had before. There's no blood or anything, but it might go a touch past what you might see in the show, so I thought I should give a warning.

Chapter 20

“I find your lack of charm insulting,” Nightmare Moon said. Her words cut through the air like a knife. “If you’re going to copy me, the least you could do is be fun.”

“Oh, this is going to be a lot of fun,” Daybreaker said. “Just not for you.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Nightmare Moon’s chilling blue flames sprouted from the ground and engulfed her, and she vanished. The tendril of fire that had held her still fell limp on the ground and shrivelled up until it vanished completely.

When Nightmare Moon reappeared, she was behind Daybreaker and poised to strike. The magic was flowing before she had even fully rejoined the world, and faster than thought she fired an ear-shattering beam of energy at her sister.

Daybreaker didn’t even turn around. A huge spike of flames swirled up between them and pierced through the stream of magic long before it could ever reach her.

“Pathetic.” Daybreaker glanced over her shoulder with a look of pure disdain. “I do you the courtesy of letting you keep your magic, and that is the best you can muster?”

Nightmare Moon smirked. There was another flash of fire in the corner of Daybreaker’s vision, and by the time she spun around towards it, Applejack was already gone, and all that stood in her place were cold blue wisps.

When the flames brought her back, Applejack was in midair. Far below her stood Daybreaker, seemingly unaware of where she was, and so she prepared herself, somersaulting through the air as she fell and pulling in her legs to get ready to kick.

Daybreaker was still one step ahead. More fiery ropes emerged from the ground and wrapped themselves around one of her hooves, and without warning she flung that hoof up and launched them into the air.

Applejack was still falling. She had no way to move, no way to stop the fire hurtling towards her, and it slammed into her with full force. It set her spinning, the world flashing by in a blur as, moment by moment, more flames coiled themselves around her. They tied knots around her legs, her chest, her gut, and then they squeezed and Applejack sputtered as the air was forced out of her.

Nightmare Moon leapt into action, catching Applejack in midair with her magic, but at the same moment Daybreaker spun towards her.

“I’m not through with you!” Daybreaker concentrated and dug a hoof into the ground, then kicked forward like she meant to launch dirt out. Instead of dirt, though, a shower of sparks flew towards Nightmare Moon.

The sparks exploded all around her. They flashed light into her eyes, blasted noise into her ears, and peppered her all over with tiny pinpricks of pain. It wasn’t much, but it was just enough to break her concentration.

Daybreaker stepped towards Nightmare Moon. Behind her, Applejack plummeted from the sky and slammed into the ground.

Nightmare Moon roared in anger and spread out her wings, then shot towards Daybreaker at lightning speed as she focused her magic into her horn.

“Enough of this!” Daybreaker growled and flashed her horn, and a bonfire erupted underneath Nightmare Moon. Thousands of strands of flame, so tightly tied together that they were indistinguishable, flew up and stopped her in her tracks. When Nightmare Moon loosed the magic she was holding, the flames easily flicked up and stopped that too.

Daybreaker walked slowly forward, having given up any pretense of weakness. Flames lingered anywhere her hooves had touched earth, and embers launched themselves from her mane.

“You’re too weak!” Daybreaker came up to within inches of Nightmare Moon’s face. “What’s the point in searing you down to ash if you can’t even put up a decent fight?”

“So sorry to disappoint.” Nightmare Moon’s voice dripped with anger and disgust. “I guess you’ll just have to let me go.”

“You’re not getting off that easy. I’m just going to have to make you into the threat I know you are.”

“And how do you suppose to do that?”

Daybreaker pointed straight into the sky. “It was your plan from the start, right? Making an eclipse so you can leverage it against me? Do it.”

“I had no intention of using it against you! And I’ve no intention now of playing into whatever fantasy you’ve concocted to justify your hate.”

Daybreaker scowled and took a step back. She raised her hoof into the sky again and concentrated, then snapped it down and pointed straight at Nightmare Moon.

At first nothing happened. The world was silent, and the air burned. They waited.

Then a hole was burned through the clouds above.

The sunlight hit Nightmare Moon like a stampede, rolling over her and giving her no chance to recover. It burned at her skin, singed her fur. She just barely shut her eyes in time, but even through her eyelids it felt blinding. She tried to turn her head away, but the flames were still holding fast, and she couldn’t even do so much as to raise a leg to shield herself.

Daybreaker stomped forcefully on the ground. “Do it!”

Nightmare Moon gritted her teeth. She clenched her eyes ever tighter, and forced all her energy into her magic. Slowly, the moon started to rise.

It was slow, though. In her weakened state, it took Nightmare Moon several agonizing minutes to raise it into the sky. All that time, the sun glared down at her. It burned away at her willpower, and she was about to give up when the shadow started to creep across the world.

Daybreaker grinned as darkness fell on Equestria. She released Nightmare Moon from her flames and watched with a grisly glee as her sister stood there, panting and wincing in pain. She could tell it was working. The fact that Nightmare Moon could even stand was proof enough of that.

They stood there and glared at each other for what felt like hours. Daybreaker started to slowly circle her prey, sizing up the coming feast. Nightmare Moon focused on getting her energy back, but she wouldn’t let Daybreaker out of her sight.

Applejack still laid unmoving where she had fallen, wrapped in fire that bit into her wherever it touched.

Eventually Nightmare Moon started to feel it. She was back to her full strength, but it wasn’t stopping. The moonlight was pouring into her, feeding her like it never had before. Her desperation made her ravenous for it, opened her up to avenues of power she had never even considered.

She kept panting. She couldn’t let on that she had recovered.

Daybreaker kept pacing until, at one point, she stood over Applejack. She looked down in pity and shook her head. “Really, you couldn’t even protect one pony. What a sorry display. I do hope she’s alright, though. Her friends would be absolutely heartbroken if I had to tell them what you did to her.”

Nightmare Moon bared her fangs. “How can you still believe I’m the danger to Equestria?”

“You made me do this!” Daybreaker snapped at Nightmare Moon. “You had every opportunity to keep her safe, and you dropped her on my head! You’ve nopony to blame but yourself.”

“What a joke.”

“Complain all you want, sister. We’ll see who’s right when—”

Nightmare Moon was ready. She launched herself at Daybreaker again, her wings cutting through the air like knives.

Flames bubbled below her, and she swerved. She was easily out of reach before the licks of flame even crawled from the ground, and she did the same for the next, and the one after that.

When she was close enough, she fired. Her magic blasted out with so much force it nearly stopped her in her tracks.

Again, a spire of flames sprouted from the ground and sliced the magic in two, rendering it powerless.

Nightmare Moon pressed on, though. She pushed harder, flew faster, and just as she reached the column of fire it exploded and smoldered down to nothing, and there was nothing in her way anymore.

Daybreaker scowled. Nightmare Moon was mere feet away, and there was no time left to stop her. In a last ditch effort, she lit up her flames and burned herself away just as the magic reached her.

Nightmare Moon landed hard and dug grooves into the dirt as she skidded to a stop. She spun around just in time to see Daybreaker reform again, once more safely out of reach.

“That’s more like it,” Daybreaker said. “That’s the kind of strength I knew was in there, and that’s why I can’t let you stay.”

“You’ve outplayed yourself, Daybreaker!” Nightmare Moon swiped a hoof through the air, bombarding Daybreaker with a wave of fire that she easily deflected with her own. “You can’t win anymore. Just give up now.”

“In your dreams!” Daybreaker shot forward this time, her eyes laser focused on Nightmare Moon. She left rolling flames in her wake, huge swaths of fire that spread out in either direction and showed no sign of stopping.

“If you say so.” Nightmare Moon placed a hoof on the ground, then slowly, carefully tore through the air in front of her.

Daybreaker could see nothing, so she plowed on and ran straight into Nightmare Moon.

Then she crashed into the ground behind Nightmare Moon, having gone right through her.

“What have you done?” Daybreaker demanded.

“Just as you suggested,” Nightmare Moon said. “We’re in my dreams.”

Nightmare Moon waved a hoof, and a deep, black pit opened below Daybreaker and swallowed her up. It closed back up again before she even had a chance to escape.

Nightmare Moon was alone.

She stepped back out into the waking world and took a look around. It took only a quick gesture to put out all the lingering flames, and soon the air began to cool. She looked up at the moon, still blocking the sun. Then she looked down at Applejack, still unconscious, and started to walk towards her.

Daybreaker was falling.

All around her was darkness. Darkness above, darkness below. There was nothing for her to see.

She shot flames out, testing every direction, but they blinked out of view long before they stopped burning. Nothing could cut through this dark.

Daybreaker couldn’t accept that. Nothing could stop her light.

She blasted more flames out, and more, and she kept going until it was clear fire just wasn’t enough. She tried light, just pure light with no flames, but it was put out just as easily.

She roared in frustration.

She held out her hooves and concentrated. With all her strength, all her will, she focused on the raw might of the sun.

As Nightmare Moon neared Applejack, a light appeared in the corner of her vision. She stopped dead in her tracks and snapped around, immediately on the defensive.

In the distance, a beam of intense light appeared out of nowhere. Then it grew, both in size and intensity. It burned a hole through reality itself, boring away at the walls between worlds, and it wasn’t long before it had grown more than large enough.

Daybreaker stepped back out into the waking world.

Nightmare Moon snarled. “Enough! I can just put you back, over and over until you have no strength left. Give up!”

Daybreaker’s head was low, and she was breathing hard. The flames of her mane were growing unfocused, shooting out in every direction. Still, though, the fire in her eyes burned as bright as ever.

“I’ll never be beaten by you.” Daybreaker glared at Nightmare Moon and lit up her horn. Nightmare Moon crouched, ready to defend herself.

Daybreaker didn’t fire at Nightmare Moon, though. Instead, she wrapped her magic around Applejack and pulled her into the air between the two of them.

The sudden movement jostled Applejack awake, and she pried her eyes open and groaned, struggling to piece together the scene around her.

“I’m the one with the power here!” Daybreaker never broke eye contact with Nightmare Moon. “I make the demands, and it’s time for this to end. Either you disappear, or she does.”

“You wouldn’t,” Nightmare Moon said. “You can’t!”

“Do you really want to try me?” Daybreaker stomped on the ground and shook Applejack to taunt her.

“I—” For once, Nightmare Moon was at a loss for words. “I don’t…”

Applejack coughed and looked over at Nightmare Moon. “You do it,” she muttered.

“What?” Nightmare Moon stepped back in shock.

“Banish me,” Applejack said. “If you send me somewhere, you’ll know where to go to find me.”

“Don’t even try it!” Daybreaker pulled Applejack closer to herself. “If I see one hint of magic out of you, she’s gone.”

Nightmare Moon frowned deeply. “Applejack, I—”

Applejack smiled weakly at her and nodded. “You can do it, Moonlight.”

Nightmare Moon flinched at the words, but she made up her mind. With all the energy she could muster, she blasted her magic towards Applejack.

Daybreaker growled and, without hesitation, did the same.

She was weak, though. Her magic was a lot slower, and there was no way to fix that now. Nightmare Moon’s was going to hit her first.

In a final bid, Daybreaker yanked Applejack further towards herself, hoping to make up the distance.

Both beams hit her at once.

It was like nothing Applejack had ever felt before. The magic seemed to fight inside her, and both sides were chipping away at her, trying to send her away. It was slow, the spells keeping each other largely at bay, and the entire time it felt like she was being torn in two.

It took only a few seconds, but that was enough time for Applejack to let out the most excruciating scream any of them had ever heard.

Then the magic faded, and Applejack was gone.

Nightmare Moon was horrified. She stumbled and fell onto her knees, staring blankly at where Applejack had just been.

Daybreaker roared in anger. “Do you see? Can you understand now? So long as you exist, this won’t stop! You can bring nothing but conflict, and if I let you stay, more ponies will be caught in the crossfire! It has to—”

She stopped. Before her, Nightmare Moon started to glow. Slowly, methodically, as if she was taking off a coat, she started to shrink down, and just like that Nightmare Moon was gone.

Luna started to cry.

Chapter 21

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Chapter 22

Luna was crumpled on the ground, her head in her hooves as she quietly sobbed. Her thoughts were fuzzy, and her mind was begging for some kind of relief, be it sleep or whatever else. It was all just too much.

Nightmare Moon was silent in her thoughts.

Luna tried to tell herself that everything was alright. That Applejack must be okay, that this fit what the fortune said, but that scream. Applejack’s howls of pain echoed endlessly through her head, corrupting any hopeful thoughts she may have found.

A single thought stuck out above all others, though.

The fortune had never said that Applejack would survive to see her crowning.

Daybreaker stared down at the broken heap that was her sister. She looked first with apprehension. Something deep inside of her still made her waver upon seeing Luna in such a state. Perhaps, the distant thought mused, Daybreaker had gone too far.

She burned that thought away. There was no room for self doubt. Not when a single moment of weakness could bring ruin to the world.

Still, she was hesitant. Luna looked to be in so much pain. Nightmare Moon was nowhere to be seen. Maybe it was time to stop, at the very least to spare her sister any more heartbreak.

It took some effort, but that thought, too, became nothing but ash. Nothing was going to stop her. Not when she was this close.

With her hesitation washed away, the anger crept back in, and her frown deepened into a scowl. She walked over to her sister and loomed over her, and the flames raged in her eyes.

“What are you doing?” Daybreaker asked. “Bring her back out.”

Luna didn’t respond. She barely even heard the words.

Daybreaker snarled. “Listen to me, Luna! I wasn’t done with her.”

Luna sniffed and looked up with cold, unfocused eyes. “She’s gone.”

“You’re lying,” Daybreaker said. “I know she’s in there, bring her back!”

“She’s gone.” Luna tried to push herself back up onto her hooves, but stumbled and fell back to the ground.

“You’re not equipped to handle this, Luna! You’re not thinking straight. You’re wrong. She’s there.”

Luna tried again, and this time managed to stay on her hooves. She wobbled, but still she managed it. “Maybe I’m not enough to deal with this,” she said. Her voice was quiet and icy. “That matters little. This won’t be the first time I’ve stood before a monster I’ve no hope of stopping.”

“I’m not the monster here! I’m trying to stop the monster!”

“Oh, just shut up already”

Luna mustered up all the concentration she could to focus her magic into her horn. She stood there for what felt like an eternity, the power flowing through her and steadily growing, and then she loosed it at her sister.

It was nothing. The tiny beam of magic was hardly enough to even reach Daybreaker, and she batted it away with ease.

“Luna, don’t be stupid,” Daybreaker told her.

Luna ignored her and tossed another pathetic bolt of energy at her. Once again, it was knocked into the ground.

Daybreaker growled. “Stop!” With a flick of her wrist, a lick of fire shot out from the ground and wrapped itself around Luna’s horn. Then it tightened like a vice and dug into her, cutting off her magic and making Luna stumble in pain.

Luna refused to fall, though. She caught herself and started walking towards her sister.

“Now what? Luna, you’ve lost! Stop this insanity!”

Luna didn’t listen. She kept moving forward, one step at a time, slow and steady until she stood nose to nose with her sister. She glared up at Daybreaker with hazy, hateful eyes for a moment, then reared back and took a swing at her.

Daybreaker sidestepped it easily. “Really? What’s your plan here?”

Luna flung her hoof out again, and again was dodged without effort.

“Enough!” Daybreaker swiped her hoof through the air, and tendrils of flame sprung out and wrapped around each of Luna’s hooves, rooting them to the ground. “No more of this, just bring me Nightmare Moon!”

“She’s gone!” Luna fought against her bindings, trying in vain to pull herself free.

“How am I meant to believe that? She had me beaten, she can’t just be gone.”

“I don’t care!” Luna roared in effort as she tugged at the flames. “Just let me go so I can hit you!”

Daybreaker grimaced. “Luna, if she’s gone this can end. We can put this behind us!”

“No!” Luna tugged harder, and winced as she felt a sudden pain in one of her hind legs, but still she fought to get free. “You think I’ll ever let you forget about this? That I’ll ever stop? There’s only one way you can make me stop!”

“Luna, don’t make me do something we’ll both regret. Do you really want to spend another thousand years on the moon?”

“You think I’ll stay there?” She struggled again, and one of her hooves broke through the flames holding it in place. “I’ll never let you know peace again! I’ll keep coming back, over and over and over, and one of those times Nightmare Moon will come back. Then I’ll give you a real reason to fear her!”

Daybreaker took a step back and frowned. “Luna, do not make me do this.”

“Why not?” Luna managed to pull another hoof free. “What’s one pony against the whole of Equestria? If you really wanted Nightmare Moon gone that bad, why didn’t you just get rid of me?”

“I wanted to help you, Luna! I couldn’t do that to you, not when there were so many other options.”

“And yet Applejack is fine to be sacrificed?” Luna clenched her eyes shut and focused as hard as she could. It took an unbelievable amount of effort, but she fought, and the ring of flames around her horn shattered. Then she opened her eyes again and glared at Daybreaker, panting with exhaustion. “What puts me above her? Why do I have to live?”

“Because you’re my sister!”

Luna got a third hoof free. “Well, I have no such feelings, and I will never stop.”

“I can destroy those feelings at any moment, Luna! One snap, and that last little bit of Celestia is gone, and there’ll be nothing left to stop me from incinerating you. So stop, before it’s too late!”

“It was too late when you killed her.” With a final tug, and another sharp pain, Luna pulled her last hoof free and started walking forward.

“Fine!” Daybreaker reared back and stuck a hoof in the air. A huge, winding whip of fire flowed out from it and coiled on the ground below. Then she slammed back down, pulling her hoof in a wide arc that sent the whip soaring out at incredible speed.

Luna flinched. She shut her eyes tight, bracing for the blow, but it never came. She never even felt the heat of the flames get near her.

Hesitantly, she opened her eyes, and what she saw made her drop to the ground. Standing between her and Daybreaker, with the massive whip curled around her outstretched leg, stood Applejack, tall and proud.

“It’s time for this to end,” Applejack said.

Daybreaker narrowed her eyes. “Can it? Will she rest now, knowing you’re alive?”

“I don’t think you understand,” Applejack replied. “I’m bringing Celestia back.”

Daybreaker scoffed. “Go ahead and try.” She shot a leg out, and a stream of fire shot towards Applejack.

Long before the fire, though, Applejack could feel her magic. Hot and malicious, it wrapped itself around her, and on instinct she reached out and grabbed at it. It felt solid, so she tore it off of herself and threw it into the ground beside her.

The flames veered. Daybreaker didn’t understand why, but the fire slammed harmlessly into the earth beside Applejack.

Applejack started walking forward. “I’m givin you a chance to give up now, before I get ornery about you tryin to kill me a second time.”

“I already beat you into submission without a second thought! Why should I listen to your demands?”

Daybreaker clapped her hooves together, and on either side of Applejack massive waves of flame rolled out of the ground and started speeding towards her.

Once again, Applejack felt the molten tendrils of Daybreaker’s magic right away. It was much stronger this time, and far heavier, but Applejack was no weak pony. She ripped them off of herself and threw them at Daybreaker, and Applejack smirked when they latched on.

Daybreaker didn’t notice. She stood there, watching the flames roll, until at the last second they swerved straight towards her. She just barely managed to launch into the sky before they bowled her over.

“How are you doing that?” Daybreaker demanded. She stayed in the air, her wings leaving embers in their wake as they flapped.

“What, ain’t you ever seen a Princess before?”

When Applejack got underneath Daybreaker, she felt a sudden gust of magic blowing upwards. It wasn’t unbearable, but it was definitely strong enough to keep a pony of that size aloft.

Applejack swiped a hoof through the stream of energy, and Daybreaker came plummeting to the ground.

She landed with a heavy slam right in front of Applejack and narrowed her eyes. “I’m warning you, little girl, I’m not to be trifled with.”

“No?” Applejack grinned at her. “Cuz it sure is easy.”

Daybreaker snarled. If magic wasn’t going to work, she’d just have to resort to her other tools. As quickly as she could, trying to catch Applejack off guard, she lifted a hoof and took a swing at her.

Applejack caught the blow without even glancing towards it. “Really? I’m pretty sure I was stronger than you before I became a Princess.”

Daybreaker growled and took a step back. “This isn’t over,” she sneered, and a flame shot out and burned her away in an instant, leaving Applejack standing alone.

Applejack laughed. In front of her, where Daybreaker had stood, was a wisp of magic. Applejack grabbed it and pulled as hard as she could.

Daybreaker was sucked back to where she had been, and found herself still staring down at Applejack’s smug grin.

“Got any more tricks?” Applejack asked.

Daybreaker grimaced. “This means nothing. Celestia is gone. You’ve already lost.”

“You wanna bet?” Applejack reached forward and gently placed a hoof on Daybreaker’s chest. Daybreaker flinched, but she didn’t bother trying to run. It was clear that wasn’t going to work.

Applejack shut her eyes and reached out to Daybreaker’s magic. She could feel it all, boiling through her like magma, filling every inch of her, but Applejack started digging. Somewhere, she knew, had to be a bit of Celestia. Anything she could hold onto to bring back.

Then she found it. Barely there, fighting back against the flames, was a stunningly bright light.

Applejack grabbed it and held on. Then, with her other hoof, she punched Daybreaker in the chest.

With that single hit, all the malignant, hateful magic of Daybreaker went flying out of her body, leaving only the shred of Celestia that Applejack was clinging to.

Luna watched as Applejack slammed a hoof into Daybreaker, only to cause huge bursts of flame to blast out in every direction. The relentless inferno burned away at Daybreaker, changing and reshaping her into something else. It burned for a long time, longer than she would have expected, like Daybreaker was fighting her way back in with every passing second. Eventually, though, the flames subsided, and Daybreaker was gone.

Celestia was already unconscious by the time the transformation ended, and Applejack caught her as she crumpled to the ground. She laid her down as gently as she could, then waved Luna over.

“What do we do now?” Luna asked as she slowly walked over, still shaky on her legs.

Applejack shrugged. “Hospital?”

Luna chuckled and winced again from her injured leg. “Yeah, that sounds right.” She looked down at Applejack with teary eyes, and Applejack met her gaze with a warm smile.

Somehow, they both felt like things were going to be just fine.

Chapter 23 - The End

“Wh—” Celestia groaned as she woke up to blurry eyes and a pounding headache. “Where…”

She felt a hoof gently touch her side. “Tia? Are you back?”

“Unh…” Celestia blinked a few times, and the smiling face of Luna graced her vision. She tried to push herself upright, but the splitting pain in her head quickly put a stop to that. “Luna?”

“It’s me, sister.”

“Luna, don’t…” Celestia took a deep, exhausted breath. “Don’t make an eclipse, Luna.”

Luna stared at her blankly for a moment. Then, she started to chuckle. “Tia, do you know where you are?”

Celestia moaned and struggled to take a look around. She was in a bed, that much was certain. It wasn’t her bed, though. Luna was there, but they were alone together. The lights were bright and fluorescent, and the room around her was small. Only room for a couple chairs, and only one of the chairs was actually usable, because the rest of the room was filled to the brim with flowers, cards, balloons—lots of balloons—and anything else ponies might’ve thought to send telling her to get well soon. There were even boxes of chocolates, although based on the similar boxes sitting empty in the trash, there was no telling how many might actually be left.

Slowly, Celestia was getting her bearings again. “What happened?”

“Quite a bit,” Luna said. “How much do you remember?”

“Mm…” Celestia went quiet for a moment, searching her mind. “Not much… It’s all fuzzy. I remember being mad, and… Scared. A fight? Luna, were we attacked?”

Luna pursed her lips. “In a way, yes.”

Celestia focused back on Luna. “What does that mean?”

Luna took a deep breath to prepare herself, then locked eyes with her sister. “Celestia, we were attacked by… By you.”

Celestia gasped, and her eyes went wide. “What? But… But how? I don’t understand.”

“It’ll come back to you in time,” Luna said. “Suffice it to say, it seems that whatever brought about Nightmare Moon must run in the family.”

“What do you—” Celestia stopped short as snippets of memory started to come back to her. “Daybreaker…”

Luna nodded in silence.

“I’m… Luna, I’m so sorry.” Celestia reached out a hoof, and Luna took hold of it. “After all the awful things I said, for me to be the one who… Did I hurt anypony?”

“Aside from me and Applejack?” Luna shook her head. “Nopony even saw you. The pies were a bit upset about their field at first, but I guess the obsidian is selling better than whatever quartz they had out there, so they’ve settled down.”

“Applejack?” Celestia’s face got dark. “Is she…”

“She’s fine,” Luna said. “She would be here too, but she’s incredibly busy learning the ins and outs of leadership.”

Celestia looked down, then slowly shook her head. “I don’t understand,” she said. “How could so much have happened overnight?”

“Over—” Luna was giving her a curious look, but it shifted to a bemused understanding. “Tia, you’ve been in here for a week.”

“What?” Celestia tried to push herself up again, only to once more be hit by the shooting pain. “What about my job? My responsibilities?”

“Everything’s fine, Tia.” Luna gently ran her hoof down Celestia’s side. “Applejack and I have been more than enough to cover it.”

“Oh…” Celestia sighed and relaxed again. “Well, thank you. For that, and for… Stopping me.”

“Well, I can hardly take credit for that,” Luna said. “Almost everything I did was done by Nightmare Moon, and even then most of the work was actually done by—”

She was cut off by the opening of the door. They both turned to find Applejack sauntering casually in, looking exhausted but happy.

“Howdy, Moonlight,” Applejack said quietly as she shut the door behind her and walked over. “How’s she doin to—”

Applejack’s eyes went wide when she finally noticed that Celestia was awake, and looking her over with a strange look of amusement.

“Well, I’ll be,” Applejack said. “About time you came back to us. Although, I suppose this means I ain’t gonna be able to nab any more of your candy.” She looked down at Celestia with a wide, friendly smile.

Celestia laughed weakly. “And here I thought Pinkie Pie had been coming to see me.”

“Oh, no, a lot of it was her,” Applejack said. “I just figured I earned myself a few of em. You know, what with you killin me and all.”

Celestia’s face sank. “Wh-What?”

“She doesn’t remember what happened,” Luna explained.

“Whoops. Guess that was a lot to drop on ya, then.” Applejack rubbed her neck sheepishly.

“I don’t understand,” Celestia muttered.

“Well, it ain’t all that complicated. Nightmare Moon was winning, so you decided to threaten me, and then you killed me.” Applejack shrugged. “For what it’s worth, it seems to have worked.”

“What worked?”

Luna frowned. “I, um… I can’t find her. I think Nightmare Moon might be gone.”

There as a beat of silence. None of them seemed to be able to meet each others’ eyes. The air around them grew stiff and cold.

Celestia broke the standstill. “How? How can she just be gone?”

“She thought it was the only way to stop you,” Luna said.

“But she was you,” Celestia replied. “How can she be gone if you’re still here? She held so many parts of who you are, are they all just gone?”

Luna shook her head. “I don’t think that you or anypony else could have actually forced her away, but… She just let go of it all.” Luna stared blankly at the cold tile floor. “None of those things are part of Nightmare Moon anymore. They’re all just… Luna.”

“Sister, I’m so…” Celestia reached out to hold Luna’s hoof, but Luna pulled it away.

Applejack rubbed Luna’s back, and turned to look at Celestia. “Uh, that does bring up kinda an important point, though. Is Daybreaker still there?”

“What? I don’t know,” Celestia said, suddenly nervous. “I hadn’t even considered that she might be. I don’t think I feel her, at least.”

“Well, if you start to, will you actually go to Luna instead of flyin around yellin at nobles?”

“I… Of course,” Celestia said with a slow nod. “I don’t know how I’ll ever make up for any of this, but… I am so, so sorry to you both.”

Luna sighed. “You already said that.” Applejack patted Luna’s back reassuringly.

“I know,” Celestia said, “and I’m going to do better. I promise.”

Luna nodded.

“Thank you, Celestia,” Applejack said.

“I think… We should head home,” Luna mumbled. “I’m not feeling well.”

Applejack nodded and helped her up, and they started moving towards the door together.

“Oh, um, one last thing,” Celestia called out. “When’s the coronation?”

“Tonight,” Luna replied.

“I’ll be there,” Celestia said. “And I love you, Luna.”

Luna took a deep breath. “I love you, too, Tia.”

“Honestly, not even I knew there were that many of us,” Applejack mused as she glanced out a window overlooking the courtyard. It was an incredible sight, to stand high above a sea of cheering ponies, at least a third of whom she was related to. The whole place was covered in frilly decorations, warm oranges and reds all sporting Rarity’s delicate touch. Cameras flashed all over, pegasi flitted around through the air, and the entire crowd was bursting with energy.

The VIP area was nestled in the back, out of the way and propped up to give the best possible view of the balcony the Princesses would be on. Most of her friends were there, barring those in the castle with her, scattered around a huge table alongside ten or so of Applejack’s closest family members. Applejack desperately wished she could be down there with them, but it was far too late for that.

Rarity pulled tight on a knot on Applejack’s dress and knocked the wind out of her. “Do focus, dear,” she said softly. “You must be absolutely ready for this.”

“Rarity, I’ve been in front of crowds before,” Applejack wheezed out. Somehow, despite being one of the puffiest dresses she had ever seen, it was still so tight on her she could hardly breathe. It was all wavy orange and white, and accented with wisps of an autumn pink that made it look like she was wearing a sunset. All in all, Applejack had to admit that it did look good, even if she’d much rather it look good on a different pony.

“Not like this, you haven’t,” Rarity told her. “You may have been up on stage with Coloratura, but those ponies were there for her. This crowd is here for you, and you’re going to know it.”

“I think I can handle myself.”

Rarity huffed and gave the dress one final tug. “Fine, then. Ignore my expertise. We’ll see who has the better coronation in the end.”

“It ain’t a competition,” Applejack said dryly.

“Oh, it is absolutely a competition! One that I am going to win!” Rarity stormed off dramatically without waiting for a response. Applejack sighed as she walked away.

“What was that about?” Twilight walked up to Applejack with a puzzled look on her face.

“Just Rarity bein Rarity,” Applejack told her. She looked Twilight over, taking in her sleek green and black gown that looked far more comfortable than Applejack’s. “Can’t believe she let you wear green.”

“Right?” Twilight laughed. “I think at this point she’s given up on having the Princesses actually match.”

“Wish she’d give up on me,” Applejack muttered. “Would make all of this—”

She was interrupted by Vim, who rushed up and started jumping anxiously in place in front of them. “Balcony! Balcony time, go, go!”

“Already? Hoo boy, that was quicker than—”

Vim started pushing her along. “No time!”

Then, before she knew it, Applejack was standing over a roaring mass of ponies. For now, at least, she was still standing behind Celestia and Luna as they addressed the crowd, so she had time to prepare herself, but it suddenly struck her that Rarity may have had a point. Even with the other Princesses talking, so many eyes from the crowd snapped to her when she walked out that she instantly felt hot.

In front of her, Celestia put her hoof on Luna’s shoulder. “I do have one final thing to say,” Celestia said to the crowd. Luna looked at her quizzically. Back inside, Vim almost fainted at the sight of Celestia going off script.

Celestia nodded to Luna, and Luna nodded back and stood tall beside her.

“I had considered leaving this until after the coronation, but I’d like for that to be the last focus of the night,” Celestia continued. “As you all have no doubt noticed, my rule as of late has been… Turbulent. My sister, Princess Luna, has been forced into hard situations trying to pick up what I dropped, and while she did a fantastic job, she never should have been put in that position to begin with.”

Celestia took a deep, slow breath. “However… You do not know the entire picture, and I’m afraid that what you know puts me in a better light than I deserve. I shan't go into detail, as I’d like to keep much of what happened private, but suffice it to say…”

Celestia looked down and closed her eyes for a moment, preparing herself. When she looked back up, her gaze was steely and determined.

“I am no longer fit to rule Equestria.”

The crowd went into an uproar. Camera flashes filled the air. The Princesses all looked at her in shock, and Twilight’s jaw fell open. Back in the castle, Vim actually did faint.

Through it all, Celestia stood there, stone-faced and composed, until the crowd settled down enough for her to speak again.

She cleared her throat. “As of today, I am stepping down from my seat on the throne. I know this may be distressing, but please, remember how excellently Luna ruled in my stead. Plus…” Celestia moved aside and waved Applejack up. “While we may lose a Princess today, we gain one as well, and I have the utmost faith in Princess Applejack to surpass me in every way.”

The crowd was quiet as Applejack moved up to stand between Celestia and Luna. She looked out to her friends, who waved to her and cheered, and smiled. Then, she looked over the rest of the crowd, and her smile only grew.

Seeing this, the crowd erupted into cheering. The Apples were by far the loudest, hooting and hollering and stomping their hooves, but even with all of their fervor they didn’t drown out the rest of the crowd. The pegasi zipped around in excited circles, the unicorns showered the sky with sparks, and everypony cheered as loudly as they could.

All of Equestria, in that moment, stood with Applejack.

It felt like ages before the crowd settled down enough for Applejack to talk, but eventually it did. She cleared her throat and raised her voice as loudly as she could. “Thank you, every—”

Far too loudly, it turned out. Apparently, as Applejack was now learning, becoming a Princess had improved every part of her, and that included her voice. It boomed out at a deafening volume, making ponies in the crowd clutch their ears, and several of the windows in the castle shattered.

She quickly lowered her voice back to a reasonable level. “Uhh, sorry ‘bout that,” she said. “New body and all. Anyhow, thank you all. This is more amazing than I ever would’ve thought.”

There was another wave of cheers. This time, knowing she could, Applejack simply spoke over them. “I’m, uh, as shocked as you all to hear about Princess Celestia steppin down, and I don’t know if I can really live up to all that she said about me, but uh… I’ll try. You can believe that.”

She paused for a moment as the crowd grew ever louder.

“I dunno what all I’m really supposed to say here,” Applejack said, rubbing the back of her neck. “I guess somethin about what I’m actually gonna do? Which is tough to say, really. I mean, Canterlot’s got a Princess, and Ponyville’s got a Princess, so I ain’t really sure where that leaves me.”

Applejack shrugged. “I wasn’t all that keen on the whole castle thing anyway. For now I figure I’ll wander around a bit, see how Equestria is, and maybe find a place that could use the Princess of, uh… Honesty? Apples?”

Luna laughed and put a leg around Applejack’s shoulders. “Thank you, everypony,” she announced, “and please, join us in welcoming Applejack, the Princess of The Land!”

The crowd erupted into cheers so loud they shook the balcony. The Princesses stood there for a moment, smiling and waving, and eventually they took their leave and went back into the castle.

Twilight rushed up to Applejack and gave her a hug as soon as they were inside. “You did so good! They really loved you.”

“You think?” Applejack grinned. “Thanks.”

Luna nodded. “You did fantastically. I couldn’t imagine a better sendoff for my sister than to have Equestria that excited for a new Princess.”

“Oh, right, Celestia!” Twilight spun around, looking for her, and saw her sitting in the corner of the room with an ice pack on her forehead. She ran over to her frantically. “Princess, what’s going on?”

Applejack and Luna followed close behind. Celestia shook her head. “Just Celestia, now.”

“Tia, why didn’t you say something?” Luna asked. “You didn’t have to step down, you just made a mistake.”

“I made a lot of mistakes,” Celestia said. “I ignored you, I ignored Twilight, and I ignored the ponies of Equestria. I think I really did get too used to ruling alone.”

“I didn’t really mean that,” Twilight said, “I was just upset. Equestria needs you, you’re our Princess!”

“I haven’t been your Princess in quite a while, Twilight,” Celestia said. “That’s precisely the problem. It put myself above everypony else, convinced myself that I knew best no matter what, and after this… I just can’t trust myself not to fall right back into that.”

“Are you absolutely sure about this, Tia?” Luna asked.

Celestia nodded. “Completely. I hope you can all understand.”

“We understand,” Twilight said, “it’s just… It’s a lot. I mean, what now?”

“Now,” Applejack butted in, “I’m gonna go get outta this dress. I’ll see y’all lat—”

“Oh, no, you don’t!” Rarity rushed forward, seemingly out of nowhere, and grabbed Applejack. “It’s your coronation, Applejack! You have to go mingle, and you certainly can’t do that without your dress.” She started pulling Applejack towards the door. “Come along, now, I’ll make sure you don’t get lost on the way.”

Twilight laughed as Applejack disappeared down the hallway. “Hopefully Rarity gets it all outta her system today. But, yeah,” she turned back to Celestia, “what are you gonna do now, Pr—Celestia?”

Celestia shrugged. “I’m sure there’ll be a lot of work before I can actually leave, but after that… I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just go live quietly in Ponyville. Or, well, Ponyville-adjacent.”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” Luna said. She smiled warmly. “You’ve earned it.”

“Come on, Moonlight, focus. You’ve got this.”

Applejack and Luna stood in a white room, a white floor and white walls and white ceiling. There were no doors, no windows, just the two of them. Luna was on one side of the room with her eyes clenched tight, fighting with everything she had. Applejack, meanwhile, was in the middle of the room, watching over her with worry and cautious optimism.

Luna nodded and looked up. “Alright,” she said. “Give me another one.”

Applejack dug into the recesses of her mind to shape the dream around them, and a tiny flame lit across the room from Luna. It grew, slowly and steadily, until it had the shape of a pony, and then just like that, with no change at all, Daybreaker was standing before them.

“How many times do you plan to lose to me?” Daybreaker yelled. She swiped her hoof, and a wave of fire knocked Luna off her hooves.

“As many as it takes,” Luna growled as she pushed herself back up. She concentrated, then lobbed a ball of blue flames through the air.

It petered out into nothing long before it reached Daybreaker. “Ha! Pathetic. You’ll never be able to—”

With a thought, Applejack turned Daybreaker back into nothing, and turned to Luna. “Anything?”

Luna shook her head. “No.” Then she spun around and slammed a hoof against the wall. “Come on! Where is she?” A tear fell and splashed onto the floor. “I miss her so much.”

“I know, Moonlight,” Applejack said. “We’ll find a way to bring her back out.”

Luna wiped her eyes and turned back around. “Again.”

Applejack nodded and conjured up another Daybreaker.

“Impetuous woman, at least let me finish my sentences!” Daybreaker glared at Applejack. She kicked up a hoof and sent a spray of flames in her direction.

Luna gasped and launched herself at Daybreaker. She crossed the room in an instant, then swiped a hoof through the air, and a wall of flames erupted out. They burned straight through Daybreaker, then further, burning through the wall and the air and the dream itself, and when it finally sizzled out all that remained was the inky blackness of Luna’s dreamscape.

Applejack blinked. “Uh… So, did that…?”

Luna stood silent for a moment, panting as she caught her breath.

Then she shook her head and started walking out into the dreamscape. “Nothing.”

Celestia splashed water on her face and shook her head. She could still feel the headache, even weeks later, but that was hardly a surprise anymore. At this point, it would be more of a surprise for it to go away.

She lifted her head back up and stared into the mirror. She glared at her reflection, at the hateful eyes that stared back at her.

“Get out of my head,” Celestia growled.

“Make me,” Daybreaker sneered.

Author's Note

Well, there you have it. Thank you all for reading! It's absolutely stunning that this story has been so well received.

If you're interested in more of my writing, and think you would enjoy some light, fluffy stories set in the same universe as this, check out my anthology story! It'll be picking back up now that I'm not writing this every day.

If you're interested in more serious things, I have a few older stories, but you should also keep an eye out for my next standalone story. I don't wanna give away too much, but it's a doozy, so keep your ears peeled and your eyes to the ground.

Chapter 2

Nightmare Moon tapped a hoof on the edge of her throne. She traced shapes in the air with lingering flames, imagining how she might redecorate the castle. She filled the throne room with a dense fog, then blew it away with a burst of fire. She made Celestia’s throne just a little bit smaller, to see if she would notice.

Nightmare Moon was bored.

She had been sitting there dutifully, waiting for her sister to return, for several hours. She thought for sure Celestia would have come back in a matter of minutes, grovelling in defeat, and when that didn’t happen, she had no idea what to do. How was she supposed to solve her problems with Celestia if she wasn’t there?

She groaned. “Guard!” she snapped.

The stallion standing at the base of the thrones wheeled around to face her. “Yes, Your Highness?” Nightmare Moon didn’t bother to regard him in much detail. It was clear from how he carried himself that he was no more than an errand boy in shiny golden armor, and she was content to keep it that way.

“Where is my sister? Should she not be doing her duties as Princess?”

The guard pursed his lips. “I don’t know, Your Highness. I’m not privy to her schedule, and we never know if she’ll even come in here on any given day.”

“Well, then go and fetch me somepony who does know her schedule,” Nightmare Moon said.

“Um,” the guard responded, “I’m really not supposed to leave my—”

“Now!” Nightmare Moon stood up from her throne and stomped her hoof on the ground. The guard, who until then had held his composure well, immediately panicked and sprinted out of the room.

She scoffed and started pacing around the room, looking absently at the stained glass windows. “Mindless cronies,” she muttered. “How my sister can stomach employing ponies with no will of their own, I will never know.”

She passed in front of the window depicting herself, not as Nightmare Moon but as Luna, and stopped to take it in. The bold, striking blues and purples did a fantastic job of drawing the eye from the Princess up to her beloved moon, high and glorious as it deserved to be. It was clear the artist was one of the few ponies who understood the beauty of the night.

Walking more, she came to Celestia’s window. Bright and brilliant, it was a symbol of hope for Equestria’s future. It told any who viewed it that no matter what happened, they need only turn and look, and they’ll find the path to a better tomorrow. It was everything she felt the day should be. Not a means to forestall the night, but another step forward.

Eventually, she reached her window. There was no mural in dedication to Nightmare Moon, of course, only in dedication to her defeat. She stopped and stared up at it, remembering days long past. That pivotal clash against the ponies she now called friends. She lingered on their cheerful faces as they revelled in locking her away.

There was an awkward cough beside her, and a pony who she hadn’t noticed spoke up. “Um, Princess Luna? You called for me?”

Nightmare Moon looked down, then looked down even further to take in the tiny mare standing beside her. A light cyan earth pony with a carefully brushed purple mane, she barely looked old enough to be working in the castle, and certainly didn’t look big enough to be able to carry around the wide array of scrolls and notebooks she had strapped to her sides. She was putting on a smile, but it was clear it was at least a little forced.

“And you are?” Nightmare Moon asked.

“Oh, sorry,” the mare said. She shuffled in place nervously. “I’m Princess Celestia’s personal assistant? I make her schedules and take messages and everything. My name is Violet Meadow, but my friends call me Vim! Um, but you can call me whatever you want, of course.”

“Mm.” Nightmare Moon turned her attention back to the stained glass. “Tell me, what do you think of this one?”

Vim looked up at the window and immediately got more nervous. “Oh, well, I um…” She was having trouble thinking of an answer.

“Be honest,” Nightmare Moon told her. Then, after a pause, she hesitantly added “please.”

That seemed to calm her nerves somewhat. “Well,” she said, speaking incredibly slowly and carefully, “I don’t really think I’ve thought much about it at all. It’s just a piece of history, you know? It was the day you came back, and, well… They stopped you from hurting anypony.”

Neither of them talked for a long moment. The only noise was the sound of frantic hooves running through the halls outside, but despite the turmoil just a few feet away, the air in the hall was completely still.

“Do you believe that is a day worth commemorating in this hall?” Nightmare Moon asked after some time.

“Well, I’m no historian or, I don’t know, sociologist, so…”

“You’re the pony I asked.”

“I guess there’s probably better uses for the space?” Vim hummed anxiously. “Unless you really are planning to be evil again, but if you’re not it’s a bit pessimistic.”

Nightmare Moon thought for a moment, then nodded. “I agree.” With no warning or hesitation, she lit up her horn, and the window exploded outward. The great crashing sound was tremendous, and seemed to chime strangely in the air as the shards of glass dissolved away into nothing in the air.

Vim was so surprised she jumped back several feet. “W-W-What? Why did you—”

“Come.” Nightmare Moon turned and walked back towards her throne. “We’ve things to discuss.”

Vim scurried down the hall, nearly tripping over herself as she climbed the ramp to stand on the small ledge below the thrones. She found her balance right as Nightmare Moon took her seat, and managed to hold steady when the steely gaze of the Princess threatened to knock her over again.

“So,” Nightmare Moon began, “you are my sister’s keeper.”

Vim nodded slowly. “In a way, I guess.”

“Well then, my little bookkeeper, would you kindly inform me of where she is?”

Vim swallowed hard and shook her head. “I-I’m sorry, Princess, but I don’t have any clue. She’s been missing all day.”

Nightmare Moon grimaced. “If Celestia is missing, why did you not inform the other Princess?”

“I, um, didn’t want to disturb you. I know you don’t really like your sister, so I was worried that you’d see it as a waste of your time.”

“Just because I am angry with my sister doesn’t mean I dislike her. She may be eager to toss me aside, but I still intend to see things through. I did not return in order to stage a coup.”

“Um, forgive me for saying this,” Vim said, “but… Well, with Celestia gone and you just… Being here, it kind of feels like a coup.”

“Well, it’s not my fault Celestia has decided to run off and shirk her duties.”

“I know, but with your reputation… May I make a suggestion, Princess?”

“Go ahead,” Nightmare Moon told her.

“I think if ponies saw you step up and fill in while Celestia is gone, they’d see that you actually care about them.”

“And how would I do that?”

Vim coughed quietly and pulled out a scroll. “Well, she has a whole schedule she hasn’t been doing…”

Icy winds whipped past Celestia, and frigid snow crept up her hooves. Her mane and tail flapped wildly in the gale as she made her way quickly through the empty streets. She could handle the cold, but she hadn’t prepared for it. The Crystal Empire rarely ever got actual snowfall, at least not while the crystal heart was intact, so weather that managed to break through that barrier had a tendency to keep ponies in their homes.

The ponies guarding the castle entrance were shocked beyond belief to see Celestia, but they wasted no time in prying open the heavy insulated doors to allow her inside. She thanked them as she passed, but was in too much of a hurry to actually stop. She was already around the next corner when the doors slammed shut behind her.

Ponies clambered to clear the way as she made her way to the throne room. She was well past the point of anger, and now her face was painted with sheer determination. There wasn’t a pony in Equestria that would stand in her way after seeing, and feeling, the intensity she carried within her.

She blew into the throne room like a storm. Princess Cadance was the only member of the royal family present, and she rose to greet Celestia.

“Princess?” Cadance was immediately worried. “Did something happen?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Celestia told her. “I apologize for being so terse, but Nightmare Moon has returned, and I cannot stop her myself.”

Cadance’s eyes went wide. “But what about Twilight and her friends? Have they already failed?”

Celestia winced. “I’m afraid they’re not an option this time.”

“Okay… Well, I’m prepared to help in any way you need.”

Celestia shook her head. “I’m sorry, but it isn’t actually you whose help I came for.”

“Ah.” Cadance nodded solemnly. “I understand. He should be studying the crystal heart.”

Celestia was already halfway out the door when she remembered to say “thank you.”

In the chamber that held the crystal heart, an old bearded unicorn was patiently tapping away at the artifact. He would lightly hit it with a mallet or a pick, careful not to damage it, and then record its reaction. Sometimes he tried making the tools icy cold, other times he made them red hot. He had been at this for days now, and was already on his third notebook.

When the door blew open with all the force of a raging typhoon, he leapt back so fast he nearly lost his hat. He didn’t of course, he was far too old to embarrass himself in such a manner, but he came close.

Celestia wasted no time at all. “Star Swirl,” she said, walking straight up to him, “we have a problem.”

“This is inane!”

Nightmare Moon sat on her throne with an annoyed grimace, reading through Celestia’s schedule. Vim darted back and forth around her, adjusting her regalia and her mane and making sure nothing was out of place.

“I know it seems like a lot, Princess, but we’re far too pressed on time to allow everypony a private audience.” Vim took a step back to look her over, then stepped forward again to polish a spot on her chestpiece. “Besides, a town hall will be good press for you!”

“Not that,” Nightmare Moon said. “What I mean is, if I am happy with how I look, why do I need you to do all this preparation?”

“Nobles can be… Picky.” She stepped away again, then nodded, more to herself than to the Princess. “If they don’t think you’ve gone to the proper lengths for them, they’ll see it as disrespect.”

Nightmare Moon scoffed. “So? Why should I care if these so called ‘nobles’ think I respect them?”

“Well, we need their support for more important things,” Vim explained. “They can provide the resources for things like schools and parks and libraries.”

“I see.” Nightmare Moon thought for a moment. “Well, let them in, then.”

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to touch up your mane?”

“It’s made of fog!” Nightmare Moon groaned. “Just send in the rabble.”

Vim nodded rapidly, then ran over to the throne room doors and opened them wide. Throngs of ponies poured inside, the vast majority of them reporters, and Vim ushered a select few towards the front so that they could properly speak to the Princess. Those few stood out in stark contrast from the rest, wearing posh suits and puffing out their chests to seem more imposing.

Nightmare Moon fought to hold back a look of disgust as cameras started flashing all around the room. She didn’t bother to stand and greet them. She didn’t even feel inclined to sit up straight, instead lounging as she looked down her nose at them.

Vim snuck up beside her, close enough to whisper into her ear if need be.

“Well?” Her voice was loud and booming, easily cutting through the din of the reporters and the clicking of their cameras. “Begin.”

An old gray stallion cleared his throat and spoke up. “Yes, well, I suppose I shall ask the question on all of our minds. Where is Princess Celestia?”

“As far as I can surmise, she’s off searching for a way to banish me.” She paused as the chatter in the room rose for a moment. “So, it has fallen to me to do my sister’s work for her.”

A mare with a massive, elaborate hat that hid her face spoke up. “Does that mean you will be able to provide everything she could?”

“We shall see,” Nightmare Moon said.

“Yes, well,” the mare continued, “I was intending to speak to Princess Celestia about the possibility of her attending the grand reopening of my theatre.”

Nightmare Moon turned to Vim. “What does this one give us?” She didn’t bother to keep her voice down.

Vim, however, did whisper. “Um, she works with the school board to help organize field trips so students from smaller towns can come see the plays.”

“Ah.” Nightmare Moon nodded towards the mare. “I’ll be there. Give my assistant here the details after the meeting.”

The mare tilted her head up suspiciously. “How can I be sure you’ll bring in the same kind of publicity Princess Celestia would?”

“You can’t,” Nightmare Moon told her. “Do not misunderstand me. This meeting is not so that you may haggle for more than you are owed. We are here so that I can determine the value you bring to my citizens, and then decide how gracious I wish to be with my thanks. You have no bargaining chips here.”

There was another uproar amongst the press, and some of the nobles started rapidly whispering to each other.

Another noble, a young stallion in a suit worth far less than he paid for it, decided to take his turn. “I’m sorry, Princess, but that simply isn’t true,” he said. He sounded far more aggravated than sorry. “Our goodwill has limits, you can’t just demand things from us.”

Nightmare Moon turned her head, looking pointedly away from him and at Vim. “Who is this whelp.”

Vim gulped. “Uh, he owns a bunch of the land the city parks are on. Inherited them from his grandfather, I think. Celestia’s been fighting to stop him from tearing the parks down and building something else there.”

Nightmare Moon turned her gaze back to the stallion. “So, what have you been demanding of my sister?”

“I am negotiating for a position in the royal court.” He stuck his nose in the air proudly. “I rather think I would be an excellent treasurer.”

“Well,” Nightmare Moon said, “here are my terms. You will get nothing. You will—”

“Now hang on, I—”

“Do not interrupt me!” Nightmare Moon shot out of her throne, and the room went silent. Her voice rattled the windows and shook the floor, and a fire raged in her eyes.

The whole room stared at her, unwilling to so much as move.

“As I was saying.” She didn’t sit back down, instead towering over the stallion from the edge of the platform. “You will get nothing. You will do as you please with the land, and should your decision harm my subjects, I will ensure that they are fully aware of who tore down their parks. It’s up to you to decide if such a hit to your reputation is still a profitable choice. Do I make myself clear?”

The stallion nodded slowly.

“Good. Now get out of my sight.”

He looked around in confusion. “W-What?”

“Leave!” Nightmare Moon pointed sharply towards the door, her hoof leaving a trail of fire through the air.

The reporters parted as the stallion turned tail and fled, cameras flashing the entire time.

“Now.” Nightmare Moon looked down at the nobles. “Have any of you not given your request to Princess Celestia already?”

They all shook their heads.

“Wonderful. This meeting is over, then. I’ll speak with my assistant, and you will be notified of my decisions.”

Several reporters rushed forward, wanting to ask questions, but with a swipe of her hoof Nightmare Moon made a massive wall of flames erupt between them, completely cutting herself off from the crowd.

Then she turned and walked back to her throne, slumping down into it heavily. “Exhausting,” she muttered.

“Um, for what it’s worth,” Vim said, “while it was very unorthodox, I think you made a good first impression.”

Nightmare Moon sighed. “I appreciate it, Meadow.”

“Oh and, um, about the ‘my assistant’ thing…”

Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you turning down the offer?”

“No!” Vim shook her head vigorously. “I just wanted to say that I don’t want to stop being Princess Celestia’s assistant. I-I can handle both, though!”

“Ah. Yes, that’s fine. Just don’t expect me to lighten your workload, I expect the best from the ponies under me.”

“Of course not, Princess!” Vim smiled, and this time, it didn’t look forced. “Um, are you ready for the next item on the schedule?”

“There’s more?”

“Oh, yes, that was only the first meeting! There’s at least five more today, plus some public appearances, a talk at a school, a da—Oh, no, you can’t do that one. Don’t worry, it’s a fairly light day.”

“Great.” Nightmare Moon sighed. “She better come try to banish me soon. I am not lowering the sun for her.”

Chapter 4

“Well, this is an unexpected development.”

Nightmare Moon looked around her room, expecting to find her sister looking down on her with a smug grin, but it seemed she was alone. The lights were off, the room was tidy, and the door was shut. There was no indication that anypony had even entered the room while she was distracted. It was as though a heavy iron cage had simply materialized around her bed.

Somehow, the cage looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite place where she had seen something similar.

Slowly, calmly, she got up from the bed. It was a massive cage, such that even with the bed she had ample space to walk around. The bars were thick, old metal, and when she pressed against them with a hoof they gave no signs of weakness. Nor could she move vertically; the floor and ceiling of the cage were made of the same material.

She contemplated the bars for a moment, considering playing along, but quickly decided against it. No, she had no intention of ceding any ground to her sister.

She stepped back from the bars and lowered her head. Digging deep inside, she tugged at the well of anger inside of her, and focused all that energy into her horn. She braced herself, grimaced, and let loose.

Nothing happened.

Not even a spark of magic flew from her horn. She tried again, and again she failed. She wasn’t able to conjure up even the hint of a glow. She could find no light, no energy, no fire. Her magic had been completely cut off.

She bared her teeth and narrowed her eyes in rage. This was over the line, and she was quickly growing weary of playing along.

“Sister!” Her booming voice echoed through the entire castle. Birds flew from the ramparts, and in nearby houses ponies rose from their slumbers. Even the bars of the cage vibrated long after the noise had stopped.

Celestia didn’t waste time. Immediately the door swung open, and the lights flicked on as she entered the room. She had a solemn frown on her face, but at seeing Nightmare Moon the expression flickered with disgust.

“Release me,” Nightmare Moon demanded.

“Oh, I shall,” Celestia said, “once you release my sister.”

“I. Am. Your. Sister!” Nightmare Moon slammed a hoof against the bars with the final word.

“You’re a parasite! You may have fooled all the others, but I am the pony who faced you a thousand years ago. I know what you really are.”

Nightmare Moon scoffed. “Of course. Arrogant as always! Not a single pony in Equestria believes you to be in the right, and yet you ignore them.”

“It’s my job to protect Equestria, no matter the cost.” Celestia marched forward and came face to face with Nightmare Moon. “If sacrificing my reputation is what it takes, then that’s what I’ll do.”

“So what? You lock me in a box until I play nice?”

“Oh, that’s far more than a box,” Celestia said. “We went through a lot of trouble for this prison.”

“We?”

“Why don’t you come say hello?” Celestia said to somepony in the other room. “Let her know just how beloved she really is.”

There was a long, agonizing pause. Nothing happened, and neither of them spoke as they stared at the doorway.

Then, with a deep sigh, Star Swirl walked into the room. “I’m sorry for this, Luna,” he said.

Nightmare Moon took a step back in shock. For a second, she had no response at all. Then, her face broke into a grin. “Hah! Why are you sorry? This is a dream come true for you!”

“Do you think I enjoyed taking a trip to Tartarus with the intention of locking up one of my students?”

“Did you not?” Nightmare Moon walked to the corner of the cage, where she was closest to him. “You know, Star Swirl, with how hurt I was to find out you saw me as a monster, I would have expected this to sting more. Perhaps I have truly accepted that I will never be trusted.”

“I did trust you, Luna,” Star Swirl said. “I trusted you not to do this.”

“To do what? What have I done?” Nightmare Moon took a step back and gestured around herself. “To not rule in my sister’s stead? To not look to better my standing in the eyes of my subjects? To not do the one thing she’s meant to do, the thing I was banished for, and lower the sun when she would not? For which of these crimes am I being condemned?”

Star Swirl turned away and closed his eyes, unable to answer.

“Enough of this,” Celestia ordered. “Nightmare Moon, this is your final chance. Relinquish your hold over my sister, or return to the moon.”

“As I have repeatedly said,” Nightmare Moon responded, “I am your—”

Before she could finish the sentence, Celestia fired a blast of magic at Nightmare Moon, and just like that the cage was empty.

Star Swirl sighed and shook his head. “This is not how things should have gone.” Slowly, he approached the cage and placed his hoof on a bar. He closed his eyes, concentrated, and with a puff of smoke the cage disappeared, sent back to Tartarus.

“She never should have returned,” Celestia said.

“I suppose not,” Star Swirl admitted. “Tomorrow, I shall go to the moon and speak to her. Perhaps I can dissuade her from this foolish path. Now, though, I need my rest.”

Star Swirl started walking for the door, but just as he reached it a wall of icy blue flames erupted in front of him, trapping both him and Celestia in the room.

“What?” Star Swirl jumped away from the fire in shock.

Celestia’s cheeks flushed red with anger. “Impossible!”

In the middle of the room, right where the cage had been, a massive pillar of smoke and flames erupted from the ground. It swirled viciously, strong enough to engulf the entire room.

Then, the flames vanished, and left standing in the wisps of smoke was a very angry Nightmare Moon.

She took a step forward, and that hoof erupted into flames. “Did you think my first return was a fluke?”

She took another step, and another hoof combusted. “Perhaps you thought me weakened?”

Another step, and the remaining hooves lit up. “Or did you just believe you were that strong?”

Star Swirl acted quickly, firing a beam of light at Nightmare Moon, but she batted it away with a hoof, not bothering to even look in his direction.

Celestia was standing tall and proud, defiant against the incursion as Nightmare Moon continued her advance.

“I have been merciful, dear sister.” Nightmare Moon swiped a hoof through the air, and rings of fire erupted around Celestia’s legs. Wicked tendrils lashed out from them and chained her to the floor.

Celestia stayed silent, her head held high.

“I’m only going to do as you did to me.” With another swipe, flames looped around Celestia’s horn and tightened down on it. Pulsing veins of fire crept their way into the horn, cutting off her magic from the inside.

Just before her magic left her completely, Celestia lit up her horn one last time and vanished from the room.

With another swipe of her hoof, Nightmare Moon sprouted a spire of flames from the floor, and when they dissipated Celestia was back.

“Were I as cruel as you believe, I’d simply break your horn off and be done with it.” Nightmare Moon took the final steps, and was nose to nose with her sister.

Celestia snarled. “You’re only proving me right.”

“Am I?” Nightmare Moon grinned wickedly.

Then, very slowly, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. In, and out, and in, and out, focusing on her rage and letting it flow away. She felt the adrenaline release the stranglehold on her mind, and as it did she changed, shrinking from the imposing form of Nightmare Moon into the kind, docile Princess Luna.

“What?” Celestia muttered.

Luna opened her eyes, and they burned with more intensity than ever before. “Don’t worry,” she said, “a thousand years isn’t that much longer than it sounds. Do tell me how the sun was when you return, won’t you, dear sister?”

Then, before anything else could happen, Princess Luna focused her magic and fired it at her sister, banishing her to the sun.

Star Swirl staggered back away from her. “Luna, how could you…”

Luna took another deep breath, and when she let it out she let her anger go and gave way to Nightmare Moon again. “It’s no worse than she’s done to me,” she said calmly.

“Blind revenge is not the way to move forward!”

Nightmare Moon glared at him. “I tried talking. I gave her every chance to be reasonable, far more than she deserved, and every time she spat in my face. Why are you not lecturing her about the value of rational discussion?”

“I was not silent on our journey to Tartarus,” Star Swirl told her. “You are both out of your minds, but I believed I could actually reach you! I thought I could make you see that giving up this stubborn ‘Nightmare Moon’ act is the only way she will listen to you.”

“I’m finished making sacrifices to appease my sister. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a sun to raise.” Nightmare Moon moved past Star Swirl and left without giving him a chance to respond.

In another world, chained down amidst endless fields of fire, Princess Celestia screamed in rage and despair.

Chapter 10

“So, uh… Now what?”

Applejack was still sitting in Luna’s throne, and it was starting to dawn on her how awkward it was to do so when neither Princess was around. It wasn’t bad enough to make her actually get up, but the realization that she was on a throne in Canterlot surrounded by ponies she had only a passing acquaintance with had her eager to move on with her day.

“Would you like me to find Princess Luna for you?” Vim asked.

“Nah,” Applejack said. “I’m sure she’s busy with Princess stuff. I wouldn’t wanna get in the way.”

“I see… Um, miss Applejack, may I ask you a question?” Vim walked up beside the throne and looked up at Applejack.

“You don’t gotta get permission,” Applejack said. “I’m just a pony.”

“Well, that’s just the thing. Umm…” She thought for a moment, deciding how to word what she had to say. “Are you sure you’re actually prepared to become a Princess?”

“Pretty sure,” Applejack replied. “I can’t imagine whatever trial I gotta do to prove my worth will be something I can’t do. I ain’t afraid of a challenge.”

Vim shook her head. “I mean after that.”

“Well, like I told Celestia, I don’t figure it’ll be that big of a change once it’s all said and done.”

Vim pursed her lips. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that, Applejack. There’s nothing saying you’ll have to take an active role in leading Equestria, but you’ll still be a Princess. You’ll have a lot of responsibilities.”

“How do ya figure?”

“You’ll be a public figure. Everpony is going to know you’re a Princess, and they’re not going to forget that just because you’d like to live a quiet life. Equestria expects things from its Princesses.”

“I’m sure it can’t be all that dire.”

“Well, look at Princess Twilight, for example,” Vim continued. “She didn’t take an active role right away, but she still had to do things. Galas, public appearances, community service. I’m sure you saw it in Ponyville. When ponies had a problem, they probably started turning to Princess Twilight far more than before.”

Applejack winced. “You’re not wrong…”

“I’m not trying to make you change your mind or anything, I just want to make sure you know all of this ahead of time.”

“Nah, I get it,” Applejack said. “I dunno… I mean, you saw how excited she was. I don’t wanna say no just cuz I’m scared, y’know?”

Vim nodded. “If I may make a suggestion, it might help you decide if you were to spend some time now acting like a Princess.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“If you’d like, I could take you around Canterlot and try to give you an idea of what it’s like! I was going to have to find you later anyway to do some more preparation.”

“You sure you got the time to do all that?”

“Mm-hm!” Vim grinned wide. She had a goofy, toothy smile that broke through the mask of professionalism she always tried to keep up.

“Well, I can’t hardly say no to that, can I?” Applejack hopped out of the throne. “Lead on.”

Vim nodded, and they started walking away. As she passed the guards, she spoke up to Seabeam, saying “Could you please tell Princess Celestia where I went when she wakes up? Her schedule is in my cart, by her bedroom door. She should be able to find it.” Seabeam nodded to her, and she and Applejack went quickly on their way.

It was still morning when they stepped out into Canterlot. The sun was soft, the patches of grass around the city were damp with dew, and ponies all around were just beginning to fill the streets.

Vim wasted no time in taking Applejack deep into the city. With the way she moved, confidently turning down back roads and cutting through alleyways, it was clear just how well she knew Canterlot.

“So, where we headed?” Applejack asked when she felt thoroughly lost.

“Well, as Princess you’re going to be asked to settle a lot of disputes.” Suddenly, Vim walked up behind a building and opened a back door, ushering Applejack inside. “It just so happens that there has been quite the dispute happening here, and I believe you may be just the pony to solve it.”

“Where is ‘here?’” Applejack asked as she walked into a wide, dark room. Various props and lights were scattered around, and she could hear a crowd of ponies from the other side of a curtain hanging in the middle of one wall.

“Oh, it’s just a meeting hall,” Vim said. “It’s used for all sorts of things. Debates, town halls, school plays. Today, it’s… Well, you’ll see. Wait here.”

Vim slipped past the curtain, and the voices on the other side hushed. A few moments passed, and then Applejack heard Vim addressing the crowd.

“Ponies, I understand an interruption like this is unorthodox, and I apologize. If you don’t recognize me, I’m the personal assistant to the Princesses, and lately there has been discussion of a new Princess.” She paused as a murmur spread through the crowd. “Now, this pony is not yet a Princess, but I’ve been tasked with seeing if she is prepared for the title, and I thought that having her join the judges panel would be a suitable way to do that. As long as everypony involved is alright with it, of course.” She paused again. “Wonderful,” she said a moment later. “Could you come out now, please?”

At first Applejack didn’t respond, thinking she was still talking to the crowd. Then, she realized Vim was calling for her, and quickly trotted through the curtain and onto the stage.

The first thing she saw was, well, nothing, because the stage lights had been pointed straight at her and she made the mistake of looking back at them. She shook her head to clear the daze, and then looked out at the crowd. It wasn’t much of a crowd at all. They were several days into this ordeal, after all, and most ponies had stopped showing up. Only a select few were scattered around the seats.

Then she looked around the stage. To her left, there was a short brown stallion that she didn’t recognize. To her right—

She frowned intensely.

To her right was Flam, the smug scam artist who more or less served as her arch enemy, looking at her with a sly grin.

He was alone though, which was curious. Applejack had never seen him without his brother, not even when they were at odds with each other.

Then, Vim pointed her further back, and Applejack spotted the judges’ table situated at the back of the stage. There she saw a mare she couldn’t quite put a name to, sitting with an aggravated look on her face, and next to her, greatly disappointing Applejack, was the other half of the dastardly duo of brothers.

“Really?” Applejack asked dryly. “Whose idea was it to let Flim judge his own brother?”

Vim smiled apologetically. “I really have no clue how it happened, but they’ve kept this at a standstill for days.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Well, alright, I’d say it’s pretty dang clear that whatever y’all are fightin about, Flam’s in the wrong. There, case closed.”

Flam gave an exaggerated gasp. “Why, you didn’t even hear my case!” He turned to the audience. “Do you all want a Princess who won’t even let her subjects speak?”

There was a murmur in the crowd, and Applejack hit her forehead. “Fine.” She stomped over to the judges’ table and sat between the two ponies. “Howdy,” she said quietly to the mare. “I’m Applejack.”

“Um… Yeah, I know.” The mare gave her an odd look. “I’m Minuette? Twilight’s friend? We’ve totally met before.”

Applejack groaned. “Sorry, sorry. I ain’t great with faces.”

“Oh, it’s alright,” Minuette said. “It just means I gotta hang out with you more!” She smiled, which brightened Applejack’s mood a bit.

Then it fell right back down when Flim turned to her, asking “Don’t I get a hello?”

“No,” Applejack said.

Flim scoffed. “Well. Some Princess you are.”

Applejack grumbled something under her breath and slapped her hat down on the table. “Now you two listen here,” she said, loud enough for the audience to hear. “I don’t know what kinda game y’all are playin, but you ain’t gonna use my reputation against me. Princess or not, I’m not stooge. Now tell me why I’m here!”

Minuette groaned and dropped her head on the table. Across the stage, the other stallion cleared his throat and puffed out his chest. “Yes, well, he did not give me proper change on a drink I bought. He owes me two bits!”

Applejack’s mouth fell open. “Y’all have been here for days over two bits?”

“Well, I’m not just going to let him slander my good name,” Flam said.

Applejack turned to Minuette. “Why have you not just sided with Flam so you can get out of here?”

“I tried!” Minuette threw her hooves in the air. “Every time I change my mind, he does too!”

Applejack furrowed her brow, then turned to Flim. “Care to explain?”

“Well, it’s a very nuanced case,” he said.

“Okay…” Applejack shook her head and stood up. “There ain’t a case here,” she told the audience. “They’ve hired patsies before, this guy’s probably one too. I don’t know why, but they’re just tryin to keep you here.”

“They’re selling concessions in the lobby,” Minuette grumbled.

“Wow.” Applejack sighed. “Fine, here’s my ruling. I say that all three of you,” she pointed at the three stallions, “each gotta give two bits to Minuette here for puttin up with you.”

“Hang on, you can’t just do that!” Flim argued.

“Minuette, do you agree with me?” Applejack asked. Minuette nodded. “There ya have it. Two to one. So, bye. I think I’m having an allergic reaction from being in the same room as you two.”

Applejack walked back through the curtain before any of them could respond, and as she did the crowd grew into an uproar. She found Vim next to the door they had come in.

“Well, that was… Expedient,” Vim said.

“Thanks?” Applejack shrugged and walked out the door with Vim close behind. “I don’t suppose you knew about my history with those two?”

“I may have,” Vim said with a chuckle. “There’s no such thing as being too prepared.”

“So, how’d I do?” Applejack asked as Vim started leading her along again.

“Better than Princess Twilight did at first.”

Applejack laughed. “Y’know, it’s funny hearin you say that stuff about the Princesses. I guess I expected everypony workin for them to be like Twilight, with the undying respect and all.”

“Oh, I respect them all a great deal. It’s just that it’s my job to help keep them on the right tracks, so I got used to looking out for faults and pointing them out.”

“You didn’t seem too keen to tell Celestia she was wrong earlier.”

“That’s family matters, though. They’re different. I can’t hurt her feelings by telling her that I think she should change a deal with some noble.”

“I guess that makes sense. How do ya plan to work all that with Nightmare Moon?”

“Ehhh, I’ll figure that out when I get there.” She gave another goofy smile. “I’m not that worried.”

“Good on ya,” Applejack said. “So, uh, where exactly are you draggin me off to now?”

“Oh, just some chores,” Vim said. “We have to order you a dress for the coronation, and I like to give her as much time as possible to design them.”

Applejack frowned. “Do I really have to wear a dress?”

“I’m afraid so. Don’t worry, though, the pony I go to is very good at her job. I’m sure she’ll have no trouble working with you.” For a second, Applejack thought she saw Vim’s smile take on a mischievous glint.