Princess Celestia’s POV

As I take a sip from a nice warm mug of tea and look out at the beautiful scenery of Los Pegasus, a Lunar Guard sprints into the room carrying a newspaper with his magic. “Princess, I wouldn’t interrupt your breakfast if it wasn’t important,” he says. His battle-scarred ears twitch a little and he bites his lower lip, his fangs covered by his bushy moustache.

“It’s fine, just show me what it is, Cobalt.”

He places the newspaper on the table, and I look at the front page, furrowing my brow as I read.

Equestrian Times

Monday 20th June 2019

“Daughter of the Night” explains her actions to Equestria

The newly crowned Queen of the Crystal Empire, the “Daughter of the Night” Moonlight Shade, has finally broken the awful silence surrounding her actions, both in the distant past and recent times. Over the weekend, she wrote to the Equestrian Times to say that she wanted us to tell her story “exactly as I’ve told it.” Turn to Page 6-7 for the article and Page 9 for the letter addressed to the editors.“I-” I’m lost for words.

“Princess?”

“Give me a moment.” I turn to Page 6 and heave a sigh.

At long last, the Queen has spoken!

After months of silence, Moonlight addresses all of Equestria - and the burning questions that have troubled us for months: on Celestia, Luna, Sombra - and life in the Crystal Empire under his rule

Hello, everypony. My name is Moonlight, although you all probably know me by different names. The Daughter of the Night is a common one. Lover of King Sombra. Then there’s the nastier names. Liar. Traitor. Vampire.

I won’t lie: I’m not perfect, and I’ve made plenty of mistakes. But I can explain if you’re willing to listen to my story.

I guess I should start with my closest living relatives: Celestia and Luna. There’s been a lot of rumours about me over the years, and it’s true that I am Luna’s daughter. The part about me being created using a dark magic ritual… Er, not so much. She fell in love with a Night Guard, who was later forced to leave because somepony wasn’t too happy about Luna having an heir to the throne. Yes, I’m talking about Celestia. She forced my father to leave and raise me with another mare, who I believed was my mother until very recently when I discovered the truth.

I can only imagine how painful it must have been for both of my parents and my stepmother. Painful enough that over the years Luna’s anger grew into something she couldn’t control, and caused her transformation into Nightmare Moon. Though I will admit, somepony else helped her with it: not me, but King Sombra.

His story is well-known to ponykind as well: how he fell into a pit of extreme anger and allowed dark magic to turn him into a monster. He had his reasons, though. I haven’t written them all here in case he’s not happy with it, but he lost his home and his closest friends in rapid succession through no fault of his own. Sometimes, so much happens all at once that a pony can only focus on one thing at a time, and at that time all he could focus on was his anger. Of course, he’s changed since then, but I’ll talk about that later.

When news of what he was doing to the Crystal Empire reached Canterlot, Luna went there to confront him. I don’t know the whole story, and I’ve already forgiven Sombra because I wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t happened, but they fought, and in the process Luna was affected by his dark magic, which later caused Nightmare Moon to appear. By pure chance I’d managed to get a job in the Lunar Guard and was stationed at Everfree Castle on the twenty first of June in the year 1018, the day that Celestia had to use the Elements of Harmony on Luna, her sister, and me, her niece.

Do I think Celestia was upset about it? Not really, because I was, and still am, a thorn in her flank. She’s lied to me and gone out of her way to try to hurt me on numerous occasions. She’s tried to ruin my life so many times I can’t say one nice thing about her. The most recent example of this was on Saturday, when Sombra and I were sent a parcel containing a cursed necklace that could have stopped our hearts if we touched it. And she says we’re ruthless.

Naturally, most of you who are reading this will be thinking something along the lines of, well, Celestia has good reasons not to like you as well. To be fair, she has a couple of good reasons. The first being that I’m Luna’s daughter, and she doesn’t have an heir to the throne herself, unless we’re including Princess Mi Amore Cadenza or Twilight Sparkle, neither of which are actually related to her. (Oh, Cadence, Twilight, if you’re reading this, I’m not mad at either of you or your friends and family. You’d probably make good rulers, actually, it’s just that you need a better mentor from my perspective.)

The second reason is probably because of the ponies I’ve surrounded myself with over the years: Nightmare Moon, Sombra and the likes. The thing is, I wouldn’t have spent any time with Nightmare Moon if I hadn’t been banished with her, and as for Sombra, he came looking for ponies to help him based on their past experiences with Celestia, and he found me.

You know, he and I formed a bond very early on, partially because of the similarities between our paths in life and also because I somehow had the ability to stand up to him. He scared me half to death, but I told him what I thought was and wasn't acceptable, and we came to a compromise. I would help him as long as he was nice to me and didn’t use dark magic on me. I would be his friend providing he made an effort to be mine.

And it worked. I kept to my word, and he kept to his. He told me about his past and I explained about mine. We both have a silly sense of humour, but can also be very serious when we need to be. We fell for each other far too quickly.

Of course, there was a lot more going on at the time. Nopony believed me and everypony wanted to get rid of him. Nopony wanted to give him a second chance, even though my mother was after the Nightmare Moon inciden My friends became enemies; the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony more of a threat than they had been when I was with Nightmare Moon; and the Crystal Heart - the main protection the Crystal Empire had against dark magic - was the deadliest weapon I’d ever seen or heard of.

This all led to the scene that condemned me as a traitor in the eyes of Celestia and her aides: me, hovering in the air, the Heart shattering in my hooves. The fight I had with the Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard, Shining Armour. Me stood in the centre of the dais, below the main structure of the Crystal Castle, channeling dark magic into it and the streets of the Crystal Empire, all the time by Sombra’s side.

But few ponies remember the good things I did. I saved two lives that day: Sombra’s, and the life of the dragon Spike, the companion of Twilight Sparkle. Sombra would have had a painful demise if the Crystal Heart was used on him, and I caught Spike as he was falling from one of the towers of the castle. It’s not much, I know. I’ve hurt far more ponies than I’ve saved. But it’s something.

Some of the things we’ve done since taking the role of ruling the Crystal Empire include banning the mind control spell and the most serious dark magic spells except in extreme circumstances, so the laws are exactly the same here as they are in Equestria. We kickstarted the economy after a thousand years of nothing happening. We've also improved education - and no, the foals of the Crystal Empire aren't being taught to worship us. They're allowed their own opinions. Everypony should be allowed to make their own opinions.

Recently I've read some of the newspaper articles published about myself, Sombra and life in the country I now call home. Hats off to Aunt Celestia and those journalists for painting such a grim picture of life in the Crystal Empire. Sure, the Crystal Empire isn't a utopia, but neither is Equestria. Celestia kills any ponies or creatures she thinks are a threat to her, or else banishes them for thousands of years. When I was growing up, the rural communities had very few ways to access the facilities most ponies take advantage of from day to day, and not a thing has changed in the thousand years I spent on the moon.

Oh, and as I write this I can hear Queen Chrysalis laughing about the Royal Guards. Maybe sort out a few more anti-changeling measures? Or, even better, maybe talk to them and ask why they are so desperate, and then allow them to absorb the emotions they need to survive, but set down a few rules, for example that they have to stay in their true forms. That’s all Sombra and I did.

Sure, Sombra isn’t exactly a saint, but he’s a good pony all the same. He’s funny, kind, caring, hard-working, protective, somepony you can rely on all the time. If he wasn’t the King of the Crystal Empire, he’d just be an ordinary stallion, dark magic or no dark magic. I honestly don’t see how everypony can hate him enough not to give him a chance to prove himself.

I’m not perfect either, but did I ever say I was? And why do I have to be? I tried to save as many ponies as possible, by helping Sombra and then improving the lives of everypony in the Crystal Empire. Yet I’m still called a liar, a traitor, a vampire, a monster, and a villain. Maybe I’m looking at things from the wrong perspective, but when I see myself in the mirror I don’t see any of those things. I just see a mare trying to make the world a better place and getting on with her life as she should.

I don’t see myself as a queen either, not yet anyway. But the ponies of the Crystal Empire gave their blessings for us to tie the knot and rule the kingdom, so I’m sure I’ll get used to it. If Celestia became comfortable enough with the crown that she could rule for a thousand years without Luna, I’m sure I can handle ruling the Crystal Empire with Sombra.

So, that’s a little about myself and why I am the pony I am today. My hope is that this article helps ponies to see Sombra and I in a slightly different light to the picture that Celestia has painted. I’m probably going to write more of these, and explain a bit more about life in the Crystal Empire, but it depends on how busy I am over the coming weeks.

Regardless of what happens, though, I want to take a moment to salute the ponies who have already had their lives snatched from them, most notably the Royal Guards on both sides of the battlefield. I didn’t want a war. I didn’t want anypony to get killed. So now, I ask you, why have they died? Why has Celestia told those sent to the Crystal Empire to be so brutal, when I asked for my own Royal Guards not to use lethal force? Does it have to be this way?

Thank you for reading this, and I hope you are safe and well.
Yours sincerely,

• Moonlight Amethyst Shade

Sparks fly from my horn as I try to control my emotions. “Excuse my bad language, but if anypony deserves to be called a vampire, it’s her. Oh my goodness, she makes it sound like I don’t even care about anypony. And on the day before the first Summer Sun Celebration since Luna’s return…”

“Princess, is - is it true, about the necklace?”

“Yes,” I sigh, “but only to end suffering for those ponies in the Crystal Empire. She doesn’t realise how much pain she’s causing for others.”

“Is there a chance she is under the mind control spell herself?”

“I hadn’t considered that, but you’re right. She could be. King Sombra was one of two ponies that Amoré wanted as heirs to her throne, so she probably taught him to write persuasively, which would explain everything written in this article. Then again, it sounds like her as I read it. It sounds exactly like what she would say. It's… disgusting. I’ve only tried to protect Equestria, protect her, and this is the way I’m rewarded.” I bow my head.

From the moment I read the first prophecy about her, I knew that I had to do something to protect ponies from the dark future predicted. I thought if I sent her somewhere that she wouldn’t be in a position of power, she wouldn’t be able to hurt anypony, but she still ended up where she is now.

I didn’t want a war. I didn’t want anypony to get killed. So now, I ask you, why have they died? Why has Celestia told those sent to the Crystal Empire to be so brutal, when I asked for my own Royal Guards not to use lethal force? Does it have to be this way?

I didn’t want a war either. I don’t believe that she really told her guards to be so kind, and I never told mine to be cruel. I left them to make what they felt were the right decisions, depending on the circumstances. Nothing is simple. Nothing is black and white. From where I am standing, however, she is most undoubtedly a liar, a traitor and a monster.

“How has everypony reacted?” I ask coolly.

“It’s divided a lot of ponies already. Some are firmly on your side, others are… wavering, and beginning to believe her. I’m going to try to do some damage control, Princess. Even if it’s just to make sure nothing happens tomorrow at the ceremony.”

“Thank you. Do all you can. I’m counting on you.”

“Yes, Princess.” He bows and begins to walk towards the door, and I briefly wonder how much trust I can place in him before shaking my head. Just because he too is a vampire it doesn’t mean that he is going to betray me on the turn of a bit. I have more important worries, such as promoting harmony in Equestria and the Crystal Empire.

“Cobalt?”

He stops.

“Could you find Luna for me?”

“Yes, Princess.” He leaves properly this time, and I silently wonder how to tackle this new problem. I need to talk to the press and calm things down, but hit back harder and show the Umbrum and the vampire what is and isn't acceptable.

I've been trying not to do this, but I have no choice. Even the vampire recognises that Twilight is strong enough to rule, and she and her friends together are a formidable force. I've been trying not to send them there, but they alone control the Elements of Harmony, so they alone are the only ones who can fix this mess.

Sticks and stones can indeed break bones, but the right words cause just as much pain, little vampire.

Author's Note

That herring is redder than Rudolph's nose! And I thought you said it was supposed to be orange.