Midnight Hour [Fall of Equestria ANTIDOTE story]

The particularly snarky or scientific members of the astrology club would point out that the moon does not cast its own light. It merely reflected the light of the moon, the amount of light being reflected changing depending on how much the moon was being shadowed by the very planet it danced around in front of the audience of the sun. While this may be true, in a world of magic and mysticism, it was still also true that the light of the moon had its own special properties.

And few ponies understood that more than Luna, the chosen pony with the power over one of the twin celestial bodies that ruled the day and night of the world.

This was so risky. She half-expected her guardians to ask her if she was sure, to talk her out of it ... indeed, as they stood on the silvery grass on a meadow outside Canterlot, the wind gently stirring the cloaks of the IlLUNAnati as they silently watched their princess, Luna awaited some hesitation or reluctance.
"... Are you not going to ask me if I am sure?" She looked over her shoulder at them. All three were stoic, their faces mostly hidden in shadow apart from their muzzles. None of them were smiling, almost ghoulish in their silence, until Whisper Blue spoke.
"What you decide is our will, my Princess" She stated as sure as saying the ocean was blue or the clouds were white. Luna half-smiled at this ... She had yes-ponies, all Royalty did, but she and Celestia were careful to make sure they had assistants who would question their choices if the need arose. Complete subservience was not good for any ruler, after all. Quite a lot of tyrants learned this one way or the other.

Luna turned back, looking up at the night sky as the Unicorns had set the sun. She could feel them pulling up the moon, she could feel the pull and strain as they had to work together as one. She and Celestia made it look so easy .... but they had a connection no-one else could understand with their respective heavenly object. Celestia would have been clumsy with the moon at first, when she raised it alone, and Luna had no doubt she would feel the same way about the sun.

Step aside, my subjects. Let a Master show thee how it is done!

The seams of her horn shone with a silvery light, closing her eyes as she called to the moon. It felt so affirming, so her to be able to do her eternal duty. With grace, she rose the moon over the horizon, the beautiful rays of lunar light shining down on all the members of the group. Without consciously willing it, Luna started to levitate off her hooves, her still-weak wings open but still behind her as her magic surged through her, re-enforced by energy of the moon. It was a full moon, when the magic was at its most potent, and the cloaks of the IlLUNAnati started to move and glitter much like Luna's own mane as it charged with the ability to become invisible in the daylight hours. All three ponies watched Luna with held breath, in awe of watching the moon rising at such a close quarters and in the personal company of their Princess.

Her eyes were closed, her arms open as she welcomed the moon high in the sky. Raising a full moon was the highlight of the month for her, and she felt refreshed in her battered body and soul in a way that no bath nor tender care could really give her.
I can feel your power ... Luna embraced the rush of spiritual energy. She wanted to raise the full moon personally, like this, like the days of old before castles and titles. Back when she and Celestia realised their duty to the sun and moon, before the Winter Moon and Summer Sun festivals, the morning and evening changes. When it was just two sisters doing what their Cutie Marks represented ...

There was another reason she wanted to raise the full moon in person and risk discovery. The full moon made her more powerful, and it would help when she entered the dream of the most important pony for her to wash away the stain of red submission ...

"Your sister is still missing. And now the moon is up, the Unicorns say someone else did it. Care to explain?"
"I don't know, Master" Celestia sat on her heels, her hands on her lap and her head bowed in submission, but her ears betrayed her fear of punishment and her knuckles were tense on her thighs. She waited for a blow, and was somewhat surprised when it didn't arrive.
"If you weren't such a good pet, I'd suspect you had something to do with this. No-one in this land does anything without my say-so. Understand? No-one. Especially not a pampered mare thinking above her place"
"Yes, Master" She agreed with a small nod.
"Still. I'm in no mood for you tonight. You will not get supper, nor a bath. I will reconsider your place after I find your cunt sister"
"Of course, Master" She said nothing about the disgusting words used to describe Luna. Her sweet little sister ... why wouldn't she take the Red and make it so much easier for herself? Just give in to pleasure and no worries? Just ...
She had no time to finish that thought, the silver loop on her red collar sharply pulled her off her knees and threw her sideways half-in the dog bed that served as her cot. Master was angry, but merciful, he did not hit her and he was gentle despite his foul mood. She awaited further instruction, but the caribou turned sharply on his hooves and stormed out, slamming the door to the Royal bedchamber hard enough to cause Celestia to wince, curling up in the bed properly and trying to sleep ...

The effect of aphrodisiacs and other drugs could be unpredictable when it came to pony dreams. Some ponies found their dreams interrupted or nonsensical with the chemical interruption to their mind's normal housekeeping, while others had no dreams at all but a good few were unaffected. Celestia was one of those ponies; she still dreamed, but rarely remembered the dreams when she woke up.
This dream seemed quite nice. She was in an unknown building, something like a town hall or other official office, as she noted the Royal flag on the walls and a couple of smart portraits of various ponies with names and titles underneath. The air smelled of a curious mix of dust, cinnamon and lemon drops. interested, she tried to open doors along the corridor, only to find they did not have doorknobs or pushbars. Confused, she continued along the corridor, finding herself entering what looked like a courtyard ... one with banquet tables stacked high with cakes and sweets. Pastries, profiteroles, tarts, tortes, cheesecakes, pies, crêpes, flans ... it was a venerable patisserie of delicacies, and Celestia squeaked with delight at so many delicious treats on display. She didn't see any ponies around, and was hesitant to try any without guidance as to what the occasion was or who was in charge of serving.

Perhaps just one little éclair ... Celestia thought to herself, her mouth watering as she approached a rather cute little log cabin made of the pastries. Delicately, she took one from the top, examining the thick layer of chocolate and fresh cream puffed out at the sides, and took a bite. A rush of sugar and joy filled her as she finally tasted a sweet after so, so long ...
"It's been a while since you've had a cake" A voice noted. Celestia almost dropped her treat on the sudden voice, acting like a filly who had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She turned sharply, putting the bitten éclair back on the display without thinking as she went to apologise to the poor pony who had to tell the Princess she was eating what might have been a display piece ...
Instead, she was confronted with the sight of her sister. Celestia stared, her mouth slightly open, a small piece of chocolate still on her chin as Luna approached.
"Been a while since you had your horn. Or clothes" Luna looked her up and down, noting that Celestia had on her typical white silk dress while she had on her traditional dark blue satin one. Both had their full horns, but their wings differed; Luna's wings were true to their real-world state, being quite bare and covered with fluffy newly-grown underfeathers, whereas Celestia had her full wings out and on display, instead of being imprisoned in ghastly red covers as they were in the waking world.
"Luna, what are you doing here?!" Celestia gasped, unsure if this was a trick, "Master is looking for you!"
"... Who?" Luna raised a brow at her sister, who only seemed more aghast at Luna's response.
"Master! You've been gone for a while, Master is looking for you?"
"Is he?" Luna tilted her head, "That's odd. For someone so concerned about that brute, you don't look like you are under his spell here"
"... What do you mean" Celestia furrowed her brow. Luna would laugh if this was not a serious matter. At least with Twilight's dream, she had regressed to her preferred time period, and it was interesting to watch her memories of her who she was wobble between Alicorn and Unicorn as he mind and body had a discussion over which it preferred to represent. With Celestia, her body seemed to firmly exist in the past, but her mind was more in the present.
"So, you still think about him in here. But you don't have a collar, wing caps, you're not nude and you have your horns and wings. I wonder why"
"Our place is with Master" Celestia stated firmly, her chin held up, "You won't trick me, little sister. I know this is all an illusion. You're using dreams to trick me"
"Your dream was your own before I came in" Luna pointed out, "The cakes? The building? This courtyard? None of that is me. I'm a guest, this is your house. Your mind built it. I just walked in a side door. I wanted to talk to you, because I know Celestia is still in there. MY Celestia. The big sister who wouldn't put up with this caribou nonsense"
"It's not nonsense!" Celestia snapped, causing Luna to raise her brow further, "It's our place. Luna, didn't you just tire of all the dangers and the crisis' all the time? Didn't you long for time away? For pleasure? To just let someone else take care of things?"
"No" Luna stated firmly, "And neither did you. I know you Celestia. You took on the burden of TWO Princesses when you sent me away. If you wanted to be free, you wouldn't have done that. I know you're grooming Twilight for power, but you know she won't be the same as us. It was the same with Princess Amore, with Cadance. No-one is like us. We took on the stewardship of the world, and no-one was a bigger stickler for duty than you. You tried to talk me down out of Nightmare Moon by saying lowering the moon was Luna's duty. Simply giving up is not you"
"This is trickery, Master warned me" Celestia narrowed her eyes, "He said you might try to come into dreams and get to me. I won't let you turn me away from Master. I am a good girl, and I do as Master commands".

Oh, by Starswirl's withered ballsack, this was getting annoying. Luna grabbed Celestia's hand, and started to pull her away.
"Let go of me!" Celestia tried to pull back, but was shocked at Luna's strength. In the real world, she was taller than Luna and had a slight advantage in terms of size. Here, it was almost like she was trying to pull against an elephant as Luna brought her out of the courtyard and through a gate that lead to outside the entire building itself. Soon, they were standing in a wildflower meadow, one that went on until the horizon, the world bathed in a golden light from the high, lazy summer sun. Crickets chirped around them, butterflies dancing between poppies and bluebells, and the slight cooling breeze brushed across the tall grass.
"... What are we doing here" Celestia had to ask as Luna let go of her wrist, watching her sister's reaction.
"You don't remember this place?"
"... Remember? It looks like every other wild meadow in Equestria"
"Does it?"
"Luna, please, just tell me why we're here"
"You're Celestia. You're the Princess of the Sun. The Daylight Ruler of Equestia"
"Master is-"
"Don't interrupt me" Luna raised a finger at her, much to Celestia's anger.
"Don't you dare take that tone with me!"
"That's more like it. Now, do this" Luna stretched open her arms, opening them horizontally before raising them up slowly, bringing herself up on hoofpoint as she did so. Her wings spread out with the action, distracting Celestia slightly at their poor condition as she brought her wings even tighter against her back.
"What are you doing"
"Do what I just did"
"Luna, I'm not in the mood for yoga"
"Do I look like I'm in the mood for yoga?" Luna retorted drily. While she'd prefer not to snap at Celestia at all, it seemed that provoking her temper was the only way to see some semblance of Celestia's old personality under the meek shell that encased her in a red collar, "Just do it. Turn, face the sun, and salute it"
"... " Celestia looked up at the sun. She was one of the very few ponies who could do this and not be immediately blinded; after all, a pony who raised the sun but could not look at it was going to be rather inaccurate with their gift. Though the sun was merely in a dream, Luna drew on Celestia's memories of the many suns she had raised, the moonlight enhancing her power at drawing out potent feelings and thoughts, and deep memories ...

Slowly, Celestia did as she was shown. She opened her arms at the sun, closing her eyes on reflex and drawing in the warm summer air as she raised herself on golden hoofpoint, drinking in the radiant heat of the sun and feeling the light enter her soul. It was a dream. It was a dream ... but it felt so real ...
"You haven't welcomed the sun in many cycles" Luna's voice was soft as Celestia performed the stance she would normally do to raise the sun in the morning, "You're not allowed to. They took your horn, but they can't take your connection from the sun. No-one can. It's who you are. The sun misses you, YOU miss the sun. We're shut away, we cannot see even the nature we are tied to"
"I ... I miss the sun ..." Celestia admitted, her voice cracking as the two parts of her fought over wither or not to voice this. She wouldn't dare say this in the real world. She couldn't ...
"The longest day of the sun is coming soon. Will you see it? Will you see the sun in the sky for a long time? It used to be your favourite day, you always glowed with the light"
"I ..."
"You are the Princess of the Sun. You are entitled to see it. It's not something anyone can take away. No-one. No Masters, no-one in the world ..."

Celestia's dream dissolved in darkness, the warmth of her dreamland sun faded away, and she was left in a cold void with her real-life form whimpering quietly in her disturbing slumber ...