Princess Celestia stood at a window in her throne room, letting her gaze wander across the rapidly darkening sky. Behind her, the sun was dipping below the horizon. A stained glass window cast dark, bold colors across her back. She looked at the scene projected on the floor around her, and twitched her ear in displeasure.
She stepped away, and gravely turned to face the glowing window. No, it hadn’t changed. Tonight, just like every night for the last four months, the last rays of the setting sun lit up “The Banishment of Nightmare Moon.” Princess Celestia, bathed in radiance, magically repelled her sister from Canterlot, casting her into space, and exiling her to the moon for a thousand years.
Princess Celestia sighed deeply. Princess Luna – rather, Nightmare Moon – had endangered all of the ponies of Equestria with her coup attempt. She needed to be punished, and kept away, for the safety of all. And still, Celestia wondered, is Nightmare Moon – my sister Luna – lonely? As lonely as I? Even lonelier, no doubt.
Behind her, a light gray unicorn with a purple-mane quietly entered the throne room, floating a scroll beside her. Naturally, the instant she entered, the princess knew she was there, but as she stepped ever-so-softly across the long room, Celestia pretended not to notice, and stared at the stained glass.
She came to a stop next to Princess Celestia, politely stomping a forehoof on the carpet.
“Oh, Aurora.” said Celestia. “My, you’re quiet. What is it?” Her gaze lazily swept away from the stained glass, past Aurora’s rising sun cutie mark, and would have met her eyes, if not for the scroll floating in front of her face.
“Just a reminder, Your Majesty,” she said. “You’re scheduled to raise a full moon tonight –“
“One hour after sunset,” finished Celestia. “I know about the scheduled time, and the scheduled fullness of the moon. It’s been over four months since I took over Luna’s old duties. You don’t need to remind me of such things anymore.” Her eyes darted to the left, catching a glimpse of the stained glass Nightmare Moon, then back to Aurora.
“Yes, but this is the first night of the full moon,” replied Aurora, “and I was wondering if you were going to head out to Nightmare Hill …”
Aurora’s voice trailed off as a frown spread across Celestia’s face.
Celestia walked to another window and stared into the distance at Nightmare Hill. It overlooked the Everfree Forest, the dark, forbidding woods containing Nightmare Moon’s castle. Four months ago, Luna had stood on the top and declared herself the true ruler of Equestria. Now, several ponies milled nervously about the foot of the hill.
For the past four months, Princess Celestia had travelled to the hill on the first night of the full moon. There was no actual need to publically raise the moon, but she had done so anyway. She hoped the show of strength would reassure her subjects that she was still in control, and that the moon would continue to rise and set, even though Princess Luna had been banished.
She didn’t like it at all. The ponies waited for her arrival sharing frightened whispers, gasped with shock when the moon came up, and when Celestia left, they went home still sharing frightened whispers, casting nervous glances at the full moon.
“No,” said Princess Celestia, “not this month. Last month’s Harvest Moon Ceremony shall be the last public raising for a long time.”
“So, no Sanguine Moon Ceremony, then?” inquired Aurora. “I think –“
“Sanguine?” said Celestia, her eyes widening in shock. She stole a glance at Aurora’s scroll. “I understand my sister wanting to name these things, but did she honestly have to call it the blood moon?”
“Your Majesty,” continued Aurora, “the ponies of Equestria are still frightened by your sis… I mean Princess … I mean –“
“Nightmare Moon will do,” suggested Celestia.
“By Nightmare Moon’s coup attempt,” said Aurora. “I know they still seem scared afterwards, but your presence comforts them.”
“And what about me?” said Princess Celestia. “Every time I raise the moon, I mourn the long-term absence of my beloved sister. I wonder what I did wrong, and what I could have done to help her before she lashed out at me. It’s hard enough having to face my own grief. I can’t continue to bare my soul in front of all of my subjects; it’s too painful.”
Princess Celestia strode across the throne room toward the main entrance of the castle. Royal Guards stood at attention and saluted as she passed. Aurora hurried to keep up.
“But Your Majesty,” insisted Aurora, “what will you do about the ponies waiting for you at Nightmare Hill?”
“I don’t plan on doing anything,” she replied curtly. “I’m heading to Luna’s old tower. I can raise the moon from there, with a little peace and quiet. If you insist on doing something, you can go and tell them that the moon raising ceremonies are cancelled from now on.”
“But,“ protested Aurora.
“And my decision on the matter is final,” said Princess Celestia. “Your work is done for the evening. Just go and get some rest.”
She stepped out of the castle door and flew to the top of Luna’s old tower. She landed on a balcony containing a telescope. She buried her face in a chart beside it and carefully adjusted the telescope, brusquely ignoring all the ponies below her.
Aurora sighed and looked down on Nightmare Hill. There were now nearly a hundred ponies crowded around its lower slopes. “There’s no way I can face them and say that the princess isn’t coming,” she said to herself. “She’s probably right. They already know Nightmare Moon isn’t coming back.” She cast one last uncertain glance at the throng of ponies before turning and leaving.
“She’s not coming, I just know it!” fretted Liliana, staring up at the starry sky above Nightmare Hill.
“Calm down,” snapped Aster, “just because the sun’s set doesn’t mean the moon has to be up yet. She’ll come and raise the moon. Just you wait.”
“Oh, what will we do if Princess Celestia isn’t here next time Nightmare Moon tries to take over,” squealed Rosa. “She’ll kill us all, for sure!”
“Look!” shouted Liliana as she pointed a hoof to the east.
The full moon crept above the horizon. The ponies gathered at the bottom of the hill looked back and forth between the moon and the hilltop.
A low murmur broke out through the crowd. Does the moon seem to have a reddish cast? Princess Celestia isn’t taking her place on Nightmare Moon’s hilltop? What happened to her? Look at the moon; is that a frowning face I see? I bet Nightmare Moon is raising the blood moon herself!
“Oh, no! I remained a true loyal subject of Princess Celestia when Nightmare Moon rebelled,” Aster shrieked, piercing the murmur of the crowd. “Surely she’ll kill me first when she returns!”
“She’ll kill me and eat me alive!” squealed Liliana. “How will I ever survive? Maybe she won’t recognize me if I put on a disguise that covers up my face and cutie mark!”
“A disguise, yes!” said Rosa. “But that will never be enough! Surely Nightmare Moon will just kill us all! The horror! The horror!”
“Wait,” said Liliana. “If we can prepare some tribute for Nightmare Moon before moonrise tomorrow, maybe she will spare our lives.”
“Great idea!” gasped Rosa. “Let’s get our disguises ready before we go door to door collecting tribute. Just in case she comes early.”
“While you’re collecting tribute, I’ll make an effigy in her honor, so we’ll have a place to leave the offerings,” offered Aster.
News of the impending return of Nightmare Moon spread like wildfire among the ponies at the foot of the hill, as did the plan concocted by Aster, Liliana and Rosa. Soon, the ponies returned to their homes, bringing the news to all corners of Equestria.
Princess Celestia proudly regarded the bright full moon, now shining high over Canterlot. “Every night, I get better and better at it,” she said to herself. “I’m getting accustomed to not needing her …”
She glanced into the dark, empty tower behind her with a pained expression on her face.
“No,” she said, “there’s no need to lie to myself. I’m not accustomed to her absence at all.”
She pointed the telescope at Nightmare Hill, and peered at the ponies gathered around it. “And there we go,” she said, “everypony’s going home. No uprising. No crisis. No need to panic. Aurora didn’t need to worry. My subjects are facing the loss of our dear Princess Luna with grace and dignity, just like me.”
Princess Celestia turned around to face her sister’s tower. She swallowed hard and entered for the first time in over four months.
The small room was sparsely furnished. A single dresser, single bookshelf, and a small bed cast deep shadows across the room in the moonlight. The walls were covered with maps of Equestria and star charts. Each of them was marked with the sun-and-moon emblem of Equestria. In each of them, the sun was scratched out, scribbled out, or taped over, and replaced by a second crudely-drawn moon.
Celestia sighed deeply as she sat down on Luna’s bed. She rested her head on a purple velvety pillow. “I made you this pillow, remember, Luna?” she asked quietly, looking at the full moon. “It’s a two-sided pillow. This side is purple and has your moon symbol. And the other side is white…”
She flicked her gaze around at the defaced maps and charts on the wall. She shook gently as she picked up the pillow in her mouth to turn it over.
The sun symbol on the white side was intact. It was slightly worn from countless years of use; from many restless days of sleep, but the golden color was just as warm as the day Celestia made it.
“Oh, Luna,” she whispered.
Celestia lay down on the bed and hugged the pillow close to her, squeezing her eyes shut. The cold and distant moon shone down brightly onto her through the windows of Luna’s tower, as she quietly cried herself to sleep.
