The Princess and The Moon

by LittleWood

Rating: everyone
Tags: Princess Celestia, Sad, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 1379

Nightmare Moon was banished yet the Moon still hung high in the sky. Despite her grief, Princess Celestia must lower the Moon.

In the aftermath of Nightmare Moon's banishment, Celestia was left with grief. She lost Luna to the Nightmare's corruption, the Castle of the Two Sisters lay in ruin, and the Everfree was scarred by the battle. Despite everything, ponies call on her to lower the moon. So, the Princess is left with the Moon and her grief.

Featured November 17-18, 2022!
Companion piece to Interstellar
Part I in the Royal Pains AU

Published 2022-11-16 19:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2022-11-16 19:00:00 UTC

The Moon Will Sing a Song For Me

Celestia is many things. The Princess of Equestria, Hero to the Crystal Empire, Bearer of the Elements, and the Solar Alicorn. She just hoped she could still be called a sister. These were some of the many thoughts that bombarded Celestia, however, one thought triumphed over all. How would she raise the moon tonight?

Ponies from the surrounding villages had already sent their messengers panicking. Why was the day cut short? Why was there a sonic rainboom? And why was the moon still hanging in the sky? Celestia did her best to address the fears of her subjects and other leaders. There were meetings, quick revisions to Equestrian law to make her the sole princess, and messages sent to the other lands informing them that Princess Celestia would be the only ruler of Equestria and the Celestial bodies. Once the politics were in order, Princess Celestia finally sent away her guard to evacuate the castle while making her way to the towers to lower the Moon.

Celestia figured it was time for the Moon to be lowered now anyways, having only missed a day to the perpetual night. Nightmare Moon fought with Celestia for the entire day whereas the nobles occupied Celestia's time during the night. Both ordeals left Celestia exhausted and the last thing she wanted to do was to lower the Moon. It was bitterly ironic and left a sour taste in her mouth. Yet, she pushed the feelings down as she climbed the stairs until she reached one of the mahogany doors.

When she finally made it up the stairs, she crumbled against the door. With ponies gone, her mask slipped away in kind, and the weight of the world was once again bearing its might against her heart. First, Princess Platinum passed of old age. Then, Starswirl and the Pillars disappeared. And now her best friend, her little sister, was sent away by her own hooves. Celestia was truly alone.

Tears forced their way from her magenta eyes as she sobbed loudly. Nopony was there to hear her scream. She cursed time ripping away everypony close to her, she cursed Starswirl for leaving her, and she cursed the Elements for banishing Luna with the Nightmare. Celestia knew in her heart that it was unfair to blame such trivial things on her isolation, but life was unfair to her. So she screamed and pounded her golden hooves against the floor.

As her lungs finally caught up for air, her vocal cords now strained and burning, Celestia cracked open her tired eyes and took in the room. Pale moonlight touched everything in its silver illuminance, but it wrapped its own light in a soothing embrace against Celestia's frame. It was Luna's room. Celestia could feel her heart pound in her ears. Despite the Nightmare warping Luna, her room remained untouched by the darkness and destruction it brought.

The room was modest for royalty but bled Luna's essence in every little thing. Paintings of ponies and places of old dotted the blue walls inlaid with silver, each lovingly signed with a whispy signature. Her canopy bed was abundant with plush pillows and blankets that still carried Luna's scent. And books were strewn about the room recounting stories of the stars or revealing poetic accounts of history past. It was welcoming, calming, and so Luna it hurt Celestia.

Luna complemented Celestia with her very being. Luna was artistic, ruminant, and candid to her scholarly, perfunctory, and conciliating self. Luna was the Patron of the Arts, a beacon of hope in the darkest of times, and everything Celestia couldn't dare try to replicate. It hurt that all that remained of Luna was her room, soon to be abandoned with the castle of memories.

A wet sigh came from Celestia as she stood to her full height, forcing her way to the open balcony. Before her, the damage was laid bare with scars marring the castle and forest alike. It broke Celestia's heart that the castle was being abandoned for Canterlot's in the North, but it was for the best. She pulled her eyes towards the sky where the Moon greeted her.

Celestia bowed her head as she reached out with her golden magic. It stretched across the Moon, encompassing it in her warmth, and she flinched at the foreign contact. The Sun was overtly passionate with lavish excitement to start a new day, ready to enforce its might in the azure sky as the bringer of warmth and light, always willing to work on behalf of Celestia. The Moon, in contrast, was uncompromising and pulled away from her touch. Thankfully, the Nightmare didn't touch it as well despite the ugly silhouette, but it didn't bend to Celestia's will either.

"Please, please work with me here," Celestia muttered.

The Moon whispered back to her, almost in riddles, of secrets and questions alike. She relinquished tugging on the rocky surface but maintained the blanket of magic covering it. Celestia couldn't understand what it was saying, but it was as if it sang a melancholic song overcome with worry. Celestia dipped her head further as tears pricked her eyes once again. The Moon still sang, this time urging her, begging her to answer as it gripped her magic in kind.

"Luna is gone."

At this, the Moon reached out to Celestia, something the Sun never did. She looked up, her magic dissipating. As the stars danced and the Moon remained unflinching, it still whispered its somber notes. Its notes quavered with pain and hurt but unlike Celestia, it forgave her. Celestia cried freely with the Moon as they shared their pain to the stars above, both no longer in solitude but in solidarity.

When the Moon reached the end of its tragic melody and Celestia had no more tears to cry, she reached out, meeting it halfway. The Moon began humming once again as the magic between the Lunar body and the Solar mare weaved against each other's energy. The Moon lowered itself below the horizon, imparting its goodbyes and condolences to Celestia with its last stanzas.

It was time for a new day in Equestria, but at least she had the Moon.

Author's Note

Hey! Hope you enjoy my debut story after my return to FimFic :pinkiehappy:

I wrote this in a manic haze after watching animatics on Youtube and thinking about Celestia and Luna's relationship. I was always curious about how Celestia dealt with raising the moon as regular ponies can't raise the sun OR the moon without severe fatigue/losing their magic. And even though she is an Alicorn, it's not her special talent to raise both the sun and the moon. So maybe she struggled just a bit?

A few other things to kinda note (These are headcanons of mine I indulged myself in here lolol!)

The Sun and the Moon have their own personalities! I did touch on that in here but because of that, I'd like to think there are stories from the Unicorns that used to raise it that became folklore. This is also why the moon is capitalized as Moon, sorta to be like reverence for it.

Luna and Celestia are both Patrons of Art and Science/Magic respectively. Basically, Luna funds the arts, and Celestia funds magic/science. This is why Celestia has Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns :trollestia:

This is a common trope I see in Celestia fics that I ABSOLUTELY adore: she has a "mask" so that common ponyfolk don't see the imperfections or unprincess-like behavior. We do see in the comics that she was kinda immature, definitely brash, etc etc, but at this point in her life, she's trying to get better at masking all that.

Originally, I was gonna have the moon talk to Celestia directly, kinda to add more dialogue, but I didn't see the fun in that! :twilightsmile: Instead, I came up with the idea that it communicates more mystically, in songs/riddles/rhymes and the likes. Meanwhile, the Sun probably is just like Bulk Biceps lolol but who knows...

Anyways I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing this! Have a nice day and stay sweet! :heart:

EDIT: Changed the Chapter Title