Aftermath of a Nightmare

by marisajmorris

Rating: teen
Tags: Profanity, Princess Celestia, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Princess Luna
Length: 1272

After the defeat of the Tantabus, Celestia finds out what it was and why it was created...and it devastates her to no end.

After Luna and the citizens of Ponyville defeat the Tantabus, Twilight writes a letter to Celestia regarding the events, including an explanation of why the Tantabus came to be. Celestia is devastated at this news, and decides to confront her sister. Little does Luna know that she's not the only one facing so much guilt.
Based on Season 5, Episode 13. Told from Celestia's point of view.
(Also, rated Teen because I put, like, 3 cuss words in it.)

Published 2020-01-13 06:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-01-13 06:20:01 UTC

Forgiveness

Dear Princess Celestia,
I learned a very important friendship lesson overnight: If those closest to you can forgive you, that's a sign that it's time to forgive yourself.
We were recently in the dream realm, assisting your sister in defeating the Tantabus, creature of all nightmares. Princess Luna created this monster to give herself the same nightmare every night, for she wanted to punish herself for what she did as Nightmare Moon, and refused to forgive herself for it until we finally convinced her to. When she finally did so, the Tantabus was no more. To sum it all up, it can be very hard to forgive yourself, but not doing so can have a horrible effect on yourself and others. And if your friends and loved ones have already forgiven you, it's your turn.
We learn something new every day, don't we?
Sincerely,
Princess Twilight Sparkle

I read this letter about 10 more times, because I still couldn't bring myself to believe what I'd just read. My sister was still wallowing in guilt over something that happened over a thousand years ago, just when I thought she had bypassed it before.

However, to be completely honest, I wasn't over mine, either.

A millennial before this time, I was forced to banish my only sister, my closest friend. It was by far the worst thing I'd ever had to do in all my years as Equestria's ruler. I remembered staying up that whole night, crying uncontrollably as I looked out my window and up at the blinding moonlight. Even after her return, I still wasn't able to get through all the pain I felt for so, so long. When I finally decided to put the scroll down, I couldn't help but blame myself for what had happened.

What the hell, Celestia? I thought to myself. How could you be so stupid? You could've prevented this a long time ago, and you didn't...

My thoughts were cut off as I felt a single tear roll down my cheek, followed by a catch in my throat. "What have I done?" I whispered, choking back my tears as best I could. "What the hell have I done?"

I let my eyes get wet for a few seconds, but soon after, my sadness was replaced with anger. Anger towards myself at first, for not preventing this, but then, anger towards my sister, for not thinking to tell me how she felt. I decided it was time to confront her, so I stormed out to the balcony as she was waiting for me to lower the sun so she could raise the moon.

Following my lowering of the sun, I gave her a stare of pure rage and betrayal as she raised the moon and the night began. She looked at me with a look of pure confusion.

"What is it, sister? What...what troubles you?"

My fury could no longer contain itself as I slammed a hoof to the balcony floor. "Why?!" I shouted. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

Luna was taken aback, clearly unaware of what I was talking about. "W-what?" she stuttered.

I caught my breath for a minute, then replied, the rage in my voice still there, but less severe. "Twilight wrote to me about the Tantabus...why didn't you tell me you were still feeling that way?! Why did you instead torture yourself for so fucking long?!"

Luna staggered forward, attempting to speak, but I cut her off with a loud, anguished cry. I finally gave in to my own pain and guilt, this time letting all my tears flow as I sank to the balcony floor, crying harder than I'd ever cried before, as my dear sister watched in remorse. After a short while, when I finally had the strength to sit up, I noticed a few teardrops hitting the floor, and they weren't my own.

"I...I'm so sorry," I muttered. "I...didn't mean any of that..."

Luna sat down in front of me, giving me an affectionate nuzzle. When we finally made direct eye contact, only then did I finally notice her flooded eyes. "No...you have no reason to apologize, sister. This was my fault. I should have told you, but instead I created a monster that tormented me for years, and eventually almost turned Equestria into a living nightmare. I-I'm the failure, not you..."

Her sentence trailed off as she began to weep just as I did. Devastation hit me like a lightning bolt. My little sister was in pain for so long, and my outburst only made it worse. I felt absolutely terrible, and with no hesitation whatsoever, I moved closer to her, tightly enveloping her in my wings. My tears came again as she sobbed onto my shoulder. "You are no failure," I told her, my warm, calming tone returning despite the tears running down my face. "It was my fault you became Nightmare Moon, because I did nothing to stop the great pain you were going through. I understand what you did to punish yourself. I felt just as guilty as you did, and to this day I still do." My calm tone faded as I choked up yet again.

"Please, don't blame yourself."

Luna was a complete wreck by this point, but gathered enough strength to tightly wrap her front hooves around my neck. "It's not...your fault," she sobbed, choking on her own tears in the midst of her sentence. Rather than denying that it wasn't my fault, like I usually would, I just sat there in silence, still holding her tightly in the warmth of my wings. Her muffled cries were the only noise breaking the silence of the night.

As the last of my tears hit the ground, I leaned towards her ear. "I love you," I whispered.

She finally let go of me, wiping her tears and giving me a sad smile, before replying in kind. I still had my wings wrapped around her, for I wanted to assure her that I was still there. After another quick moment of silence, I released her from my wings, and she gave me a quick, reassuring nuzzle. Both of our eyes were bloodshot, not to mention the dampened fur underneath. However, the tears were gone, for we had none left to cry.

I turned around just in time for the both of us to see a lucky star soar through the night sky. We admired the stars for a moment, before I broke the silence.

"I'd better turn in. I'll have to raise the sun before I know it."

Luna didn't reply; all she did was smile, pulling me into one last embrace. "Goodnight, sister," she called as I turned to go inside.

I stopped in my tracks just to turn around and smile back at her. "Goodnight," I replied.

I shut the door behind me, briefly glancing out the window. And I thought to myself, My goodness, how does she forgive me so easily?

I'll never know the answer to that question. But nonetheless, I'm so thankful that she does so, just because of how much she means to me.

Nightmare Moon or not, I love her, and that will never change.

Fin.

Author's Note

I present to you...Poorly Written One-Shot #2.

I'm not great at these, but I did what I could.

"Another Sun, Another Moon" was more of a success than I thought it'd be, as that was Poorly Written One-Shot #1. So, I figured, why not write a second one? Of course it had to be depressing, too - that's what I'm best at.

Thanks for reading 📖

~Marisa