Prologue: Craters and Shadows
Immediately after The Banishment.
Nightmare Moon's vision was blinded by a surge of color as she was thrust into the upper atmosphere. Her wings beat ineffectually against the magical force acting upon her, failing to stop or even slow her ascent. This only fueled the growing fury she felt inside.
"No! Celestia, thou two-bit fraud! Thou were on thy last legs, I would have destroyed thou had thee not resorted to the Elements like the cheat thou always were!" Nightmare Moon's Royal Canterlot voice would only carry so far, but she hoped it would reach Celestia’s ears nonetheless.
The Moon approached quickly ahead of her: it would seem bitter irony would find its place above Equestria. Looking over her shoulder at the land she was leaving, Nightmare Moon scowled fiercely. She spoke only for herself to hear.
"I hope you are happy now, you tyrant. Now you get to rule all by yourself, just like you always wanted, you hack. I hope your kingdom crumbles beneath your hooves and you get to witness your failures."
A tiny, insignificant little voice inside told her she should feel sorrow for that, but Nightmare Moon silenced it with little effort. That voice, and who it belonged to, would be no more. She was certain of that.
The Moon grew closer now. In a few moments, Nightmare Moon will have found her new resting place for the time being. Preparing for the impact, she closed her eyes and waited.
Several minutes after The Banishment.
A soreness overtook her body as her senses slowly returned to her. Lifting her head, Nightmare Moon found herself lying in a wide crater. High walls of stone sloped upward around her, ending against a black backdrop. Craning her neck to look high, up above her, she could see the land she just left. It dominated a fair portion of her new sky; at least a third of all she could see. It looked strange - distorted and desaturated, as though being seen through a stained-glass window. She shivered at the sight, her previous anger tempered by unease.
Standing, she made her way to the edge of the crater, her hooves not making a sound in the airless void. Once she reached an incline steep enough that she could not climb just by walking, she leapt. She flew high over the crater’s rim - no thanks to her wings - and landed just at the lip.
Taking a preliminary glance at her surroundings, she found herself somewhat disappointed by the sights. All around her was bare dust and rock of a dull-white coloration. Hills and craters dotted the landscape periodically. The narrow band of space between the horizon and the land above her was pitch-black, and devoid of stars. Why? The thin - or nonexistent - atmosphere should have created a brilliant glow of stars and constellations, yet none of that hung above her as it did in Equestria.
She didn’t pursue that thought any further; she found it unsettling.
With little-else to do, she chose a direction and started walking. Moon dust was kicked-up with each step she took as she pondered her situation.
She wouldn’t be able to simply fly back; there was no air here, no wind for her wings to push against - her leap from the crater proved that much.
And walked.
And yet, she could breathe just fine. It didn’t feel like breathing, however; she could not feel her lungs expand, nor could she feel a rush of air enter her nostrils. This should have been further unnerving, she knew she should feel uneasy at this; and yet, she felt oddly… calm about it.
… And walked.
Now that she thought about it, even that little voice in her head was strangely silent; not a forced silence like before, but a genuine quiet. A stillness. Nightmare Moon was thankful for that. It was pesky, and annoying. It had prodded at her mind and picked at her conscience, distracting her all throughout her fight with Celestia. Yet now it was calm; maybe it finally came to understand this was for the best. It was not strong enough to fight for what it deserved; Nightmare Moon was.
Coming to the top of a low hill, she stopped - Moon dust carrying forward from her hooves. She spotted something on the horizon that gave her pause. It was pointed, sharp, and a very deep black. She wouldn’t have been able to spot it amidst the field of black if it hadn’t been sunk into a crater of its own.
Curiosity compelled her to approach as she slowly began her descent into the crater. As the object grew closer, more and more details gradually became apparent. It was a pyramid, four sides arcing into a single point. It was roughly the size of a royal chariot, maybe a bit larger. It was surrounded by four empty, clear cylinders, one at each corner. Intricately-carved gold trim decorated the base it sat-upon. Had this been here the entire time? Had something found itself on her Moon that she had never known about?
Nightmare Moon stood only a few meters from it now. She could feel a deep cold emanating from the object; unlike the ambient, tolerable cold of the Moon, this object seemed to be creating a frigid cold all around it. Despite this, there was no fog or ice. Not even any dust rested on it. She would be concerned, but yet she continued to feel entirely at peace; strange, considering the ordeal she had gone through only a short time ago.
Experimentally, she attempted to ignite her horn, hoping to examine the object on a deeper level. However, try as she might, her horn just wouldn’t glow. In fact, she couldn’t seem to feel any of her magic here, either; another unfortunate consequence of whatever Celestia had done. She continued not to mind.
Resorting to the next-best-thing, she reached out a hoof to touch the object.
Instantly upon making contact, she felt a silent, powerful zap delivered into her hoof. Yelping silently, she recoiled as it seemed to travel up her leg, dissipating near the shoulder, leaving her leg feeling tingly all-throughout. Deciding not to risk repeating such an occurrence, she instead began to make her way around the corner to examine another side; limping as firmness slowly returned to her leg.
[Ⲁ] … Y̴q̷a̷c̴l̴b̴ …
Beyond the sky.
She stopped, turning-around in-place. She could have sworn she heard something, like a kind of faint murmur; it was hard not to pick-up among the silence. And yet… that’s impossible. There was nopony else here; even if there were, there was no air for their voice to travel through. Shaking her head, she continued toward the second side. Finding it identical to the first, she proceeded to the third side.
[Ⲁ] … M̵n̷c̵l̶ ̵r̵f̵c̸ ̷e̴y̸r̵c̴q̷ ̴z̷c̸j̴m̷u̵ …
Deeply inside.
Yet as she progressed, she heard that strange noise again; this time she was sure of it. She saw nothing but stone, dust, and void.
She could hear nothing; not her hoofsteps, nor her breath. Nothing but that faint murmuring growing louder.
[Ⲁ] … D̸g̷l̴b̸ ̵Y̸e̷y̶p̶r̴f̸y̵ …
And destroy paradise.
That murmuring was joined by more. It seemed to multiply, sounding-off all around her.
It sounded like voices. Several of them talking over each-other, all at once.
She tried to speak, but was obviously unable. She ignored the voices as she continued to-
[Ⲁ] … Tia …
“Stop!” … She tried to say, breathlessly.
The voices didn’t listen, if they were able to at all.
They continued to speak, now at a clear volume. They said things that she could and couldn’t make out.
Bits and pieces. Words she didn’t understand. Each ‘word’ prodded at her mind regardless.
The calm serenity she felt was abruptly replaced by anger. An anger far fiercer than what she had previously felt. Irrational, untargeted anger; pure, unfettered emotion welled-up inside her.
She felt implored to take it out on something, anything. She turned to the pyramid and kicked it - hard.
There was no sound. No dent, nor scrape. Not even dust from her hoof. It looked untouched.
She did it again. And again. And again. If she was receiving that same zap, she couldn’t tell. She was too inexplicably angry to notice.
That cacophony of voices maintained, driving her further into an angry descent. Hoping to unleash a powerful beam of pure, destructive energy, she tried to light her horn.
Suddenly, a great flash seized the lunar landscape, bathing it all in a bright blue light. The pyramid glowed with energy.
Nightmare Moon had no time to react as a beam of electricity surged from the pyramid’s tip straight into her horn, like a lightning rod. In a grand flash of light, she suddenly disappeared.
A moment passed as the light faded, before it gradually disappeared entirely. The pyramid dimmed, returning to inactivity.
The Moon’s surface was barren and lifeless once-again.
One hour after The Banishment.
Alone Celestia stood, surrounded by the ruins of the castle she and her sister had once shared. Her eyes welled with tears as she stared up toward the sky, despite her neck’s aching protests. There, high above the castle and visible through the wrecked ceiling, the Moon hung defiantly. Adorning its surface was something new: the rough pattern of a horned pony, composed of craters and shadows. It’s one eye seemed to stare judgmentally down at Celestia; she couldn’t bear to look away, feeling the gaze of her sister just beyond it.
“Sister… I will forever regret what I had to do…” It was difficult for Celestia to speak through the quiet sobbing, but she managed. She had to. “I… failed you, dear Luna…” Celestia nearly broke down there-and-then, she was only barely keeping herself together. She was thankful her subjects were not here to witness it.
She had dismissed her guards an hour ago; officially, this was so they may survey the damage to the castle. Unofficially, it was to spare them the sight of their leader, their guidance in these trying times, crying. Luna had already lost faith in her, Celestia didn’t need anypony else doing the same.
… It was supposed to be day. Celestia should have lowered the Moon by now, yet she hesitated. It almost felt wrong of her to push her sister back into obscurity so soon. Every time she prepared herself, her tears would renew, and her horn’s glow would dissipate. She was stuck in this cycle for many minutes.
when she finally managed to break her gaze away, she turned toward the Elements; each one spun gently in-place, having been returned to their respective plinths of the statue.
Celestia knew her sister would be unable to hear, but spoke anyway.
“I… don’t know why the Elements did this. They had- I thought… I was only trying to turn you to stone, only for a short time… I didn’t intend on this… this… banishment!” She stomped her hoof in frustration, turning her head to the ground and shutting her eyes. “I am sorry I acted as quickly as I did, sister… but it was for the safety of my-"
She looked toward her hooves, uncomfortably, "-Our, subjects. I hope that you will come to understand…”
… Their subjects were likely getting worried.
If she didn’t lower the Moon soon, they would grow concerned. Celestia knew it had to happen now. She began steeling herself for what needed to be done.
She… was just putting her sister to bed, that was all. Imagining this gave her some comfort. She finally turned back toward the sky. The sight she saw made her heart skip a beat. She stared upwards not with sorrow anymore, but with concern.
For high-above the castle, visible through the wrecked ceiling, the Moon’s surface was barren once-again.
[Ⲁ] 2 ->
