Daedalus' New World

Jay recognized where they were. The last time he had seen this room it had been nothing but crumbling ruins, and the thrones he recognized were now whole instead of shattered remnants, but he knew he was in the ruins of the old castle. Only it was no longer a ruin. While not as opulent as the artfully built marble halls of Canterlot Castle, it was still beautiful in its own right. Carved stone brick was the most predominant building material, designed less like a palace and more like a fortress. The thrones were far less expensively made than the ones in Canterlot, one made of marble and one made of onyx with the simple emblems of the Day and Night on them. Jay glanced around the room as he took in the rows of tall pillars supporting the intact roof, then noticed the guards situated at the entrance.

The Evolved openly stared at the guards that looked nothing like any of the branches of the modern Royal Guard. The modern variant of shiny gold armor that looked pretty but provided next to nothing in the way of protection was gone. Instead, these Guards looked more like Hunters with their arms and armor. Heavy plate mail covered the most vital parts of the body as chainmail extended from underneath the plates and covered more. Weapons varied heavily as Jay spotted a maul, swords, spears, hammers, and more. Only the two guards at the door wielded the same weapons, two great bardiches that were slotted into special mechanisms in their armor. These were soldiers ready for war, not fancy law enforcement.

A large stone side door was swung open as a familiar face entered. Princess Celestia, Alicorn of the Sun, looked both the same and so very different than he remembered. Her great golden peytral was cherry red, appearing to be superheated just like her crown and horseshoes. An extra plate of golden metal also sat on her flank seeming more like armor than jewelry as it followed the curve of her admittedly shapely flanks. Her mane and tail that normally waved calmly in an ethereal wind instead billowed about wildly, small flares of light appearing deep within her hair and reminding Jay of supernovas. Even her aura was different. The calming effect was replaced by a sense of pride, and the feeling of belonging that inspired feelings of home was gone, instead filling him with a confidence that caught him off guard. If the diarch's aura really represented who they were on a personal level then the term 'hot headed' definitely fit this younger version of Celestia.

The alicorn took a seat on her marble throne as she quickly levitated a large stack of papers from her secretary, a young unicorn mare who quickly retreated into the shadow of the thrones after being released of her luggage. For what seemed to be an hour or two, Celestia leisurely perused the various files as the steady rasp of papers filled the throne room. Waiting was something familiar to Jay and he had no issue simply standing patiently as he watched. Eventually, she levitated the stack of papers out and around her in a field of files as she nodded to the door guards. When Celestia spoke, her usual motherly tone was far from present; instead, her voice was laced with boredom as she addressed the two ponies. "Let the day court commence, gentlestallions."

As the great stone doors swung open effortlessly under the shoves of the guards and aided by magic, a thousand year old session of day court began. Even though Jay had never sat in on Celestia's modern court, he knew within minutes that things had worked very differently in the past than they did today. Throughout his time in the castle and exploring Canterlot, he had overheard many conversations about the goddess of the sun. Whenever Celestia was brought up, it usually involved her patience, caring demeanor, or kind heart in some shape or form. Ponies spoke of her with reverence, of how her day court changed the shape of Equestrian history and how royalty the world over acted. Everypony whether they were a lowly traveler or a high born noble could petition her personally in her court and receive equal treatment. Despite already knowing all the details of every case that came before her, she allowed everypony the chance to state their case before giving her verdict. Everypony who was literally anypony could go to the Solar Court and gain the full focus of Celestia's attention, and her aura, for at least fifteen minutes.

This was not what Jay saw. While it seemed to remain true that anypony could petition Celestia, that was where the similarities ended. Celestia, in truth, didn't seem to be cruel or even angry with those around her. She just seemed to care about her ponies less personally than she did in the future. The ponies of the old city came in with nervous looks on their muzzles, avoiding her hard eyes as they shuffled slowly in escorted by guards. They would state their names and that would be it at times. Celestia would glance at one of the dozens of papers she was levitating, then state her verdict. The pony would be escorted out and a new one brought in. It continued this way for an hour as Celestia gave her verdicts in a quick and efficient manner, though with all but faintest traces of her future love and care gone.

Eventually, court ended. The last pony was calmly escorted out after having his request approved by the Princess, every last Guard in the room soon following him as they were dismissed. Celestia took a moment to organize her papers before passing them off to the secretary who had still been standing in the shadow of her throne, the young mare leaving soon after. Only Celestia remained. For a second, Daedalus wondered how Luna knew of this if she wasn't even present only for that question to be answered a second later as Celestia spoke. "Luna."

Metallic hoofsteps clopped against the stone floors as Luna walked out from behind the raised dais, coming to stand at the base of her elder sister's throne. Jay was surprised when he saw her, looking almost as she did in the present. In fact, the only real difference that Jay could see was that she appeared smaller and that he could not feel her aura, as overbearing as Celestia's was. Celestia glanced down at her younger sister, the ever present love that Jay was familiar with absent. "Have thee learned anything from watching mine court?"

With a mildly annoyed snort, Luna stamped her hoof. Her onyx peytral shifted on her barrel as it seemed a bit too large for her as she addressed her elder sister. "We art aware of how to hold court, dearest sister. We have been doing so for nigh on two hundred years now and have had plenty of experience. We still do not understand why thou have asked us here to watch thine court."

"We simply believe that thou would appreciate mine advice. Thy court does not serve the number of petitioners our own does, and we feared that thee were making a simple mistake that was driving away thy ponies. We believe that viewing how we hold our court would benefit thee." Celestia stated with an easy smile on her face that was neither malicious nor mocking, but Luna bristled anyway. Jay couldn't blame her, that would have pissed him off too.

"Driving away- Sister! Thy ponies shun our night and choose not to attend mine court. We hath even compromised, changing the time to bring it an entire four hours earlier to ensure ponies would not have to miss vital sleep to attend. Even still, the only ponies who show are those who could not attend yours." Luna huffed and shook her head, her nebulous mane flinging wildly as her fur bristled. A second later, she stomped out of the throne room as her wings fluttered at her sides betraying her aggravation. Celestia stared at the retreated princess with a conflicted look before her eyes hardened, a condescending scoff echoing through the empty room as the dream began to blur and change.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

The dream reformed around him as the world rapidly snapped into focus as sharply as putting on a pair of glasses. Although he wasn't sure how he knew, Jay recognized this scene as taking place several decades after the previous one- perhaps the information was ingrained into the dream itself, or Luna was feeding him the knowledge. Either way, a significant change took place in the previous years. The two sisters were sharing a meal, though it was far from the friendly and familiar events he shared with them often enough in the modern day. Examining them quickly, both alicorns appeared differently than they did in the last dream. Celestia was closer to what she was now, as her mane and tail now flowed far more calmly than the wild whipping in the past, and her regalia was no longer treading the line of molten. He also noticed he could no longer feel her aura, though he most certainly felt Luna's. When his eyes drifted over her down-turned face, an intense conflict of emotions hit him like a sledgehammer. Guilt and shame warred with righteous anger and indignation, with pride driving everything to new heights. Her coat was darker now, a very dark blue bordering on purple. Her mane and tail seemed unstable, almost as if the clearly defined and visible edges were at risk of falling apart and letting the whole mane go up in smoke. A nearly perpetual frown sat on her muzzle as she ate her stew, clearly refusing to look up and meet Celestia's eyes who was doing her best to do the opposite.

For a time, the two ate in complete silence with the exception of the sound of metal meeting porcelain or the occasional slurp. With each glance Celestia shot toward her younger sister, a painful pang of sorrow filled Jay's heart so powerful that he wanted to reach out and hold her close, despite knowing that these events had happened over a millennium ago. It didn't make the sadness and regret in her eyes any easier to bear. Eventually, Celestia pushed the remaining half of her stew away and set aside her utensils as she fully turned to her sister. "Luna...?"

If it weren't for knowing that both mares were so, so very different in this day and age, Jay would have been flabbergasted on Luna's reaction to just her name being said. The midnight alicorn sighed in a deep seated aggravation as if Celestia's very presence annoyed the hell out of her. The magic around her horn faded as she set aside her meal as well and turned to meet her sister in gaze. "We do not wish to hear it, Celestia. Thou have done enough."

The elder sister stared at the younger, tears welling in her eyes as her breath caught in her throat. After a moment, she spoke slowly with a choked up voice. "We hath apologized so many times, dearest Luna. We were a fool, hurting you as we have done. Thou showed me what I was doing and I improved myself, I changed for the better as you requested. We doth not know how to fix the rift between us when thou refuses to talk to us or offer the chance to accept our apologies."

"Thou treated us as a foolish filly for centuries despite barely being my senior. Thou refused to allow us to take on more responsibility, limiting our connection to our little ponies to the occasional official appearance. Our night court is cancelled in all but paperwork as nopony shows up anymore. Our ponies ignore the stars that we pour our heart and soul into and even shun us directly. Thou ignored our attempts to make amends for years, and now there is little that can fix the rift thou created. Even if you are a better pony than you once were, there is no undoing what you have done." Her cold, empty voice that belied neither the flames of anger nor the sting of regret seemed to hit Celestia harder than if Luna had been screaming, and the tears that were building began to fall as she made one last desperate attempt to reconcile.

"W-what of our love? You promised w-when I was no longer arrogant..."

"You are still our family, sister, and always will be. In that regard, I will forever love you no matter how it pains me. However, the bond we had and the love we shared for each other is extinguished. Truly, I do not believe I could ever love you the same way again." Luna simply said, as if explaining a particularly unpleasant detail. Just after she finished speaking, she rose to her hooves and left. As Celestia's tears began to splash on the table, she sagged as all energy seemed to leave her and left behind the image of a broken, sobbing mare. As the dream began to twist and fade again, Jay couldn't help the thought that ran through his mind.The love we shared for each other?

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

Jay could tell this would be the final scene he saw, one that was taking place a century after the last, and twice that since the first. Tension was thick in the air as all around the large room, small groups of lower ranking officers held quiet conversations. Celestia herself stood in front of her throne as she held a hushed conversation with several high ranking guards, each one armed to the teeth and heavily armored. Her magenta eyes glanced toward the window where moonlight streamed in, the worry in her eyes growing each time as her eyes swiveled around and wings twitched nervously. Her horn adjusted a sword strapped to her flank, clearly nervous of the possibility of using it. Eventually, the doors to the throne room were shoved open none too gently as Luna walked in, though looking completely different than he had ever seen her before.

Her blue coat was now so dark it appeared as black as her destabilized mane and tail, each of which were now nearly as large as her whole body. They billowed wildly around her body as stars flared deep within, and her once black peytral was now replaced by dark blue armor that, truthfully, did little to protect her. They even capped her hooves and extended up her legs, a snug fit on her new form. Her slitted, teal eyes stared at Celestia with such an ingrained hate that Jay had a flashback to one of his many meetings with Mercer. As the lunar alicorn approached the throne with a measured gait, she passed where he was 'standing' and he realized she was also much taller than previously, easily matching Celestia in height. And when she smiled, razor sharp fangs flashed in her muzzle.

A small part of Jay couldn't help but admit that she was damn attractive.

When the Guards surrounding the throne drew weapons, Luna's horn flashed once as they all vanished with a violent crack of displaced air. Celestia, her eyes widening as her fears came true, stood up quickly as she spoke. "What did you do to them, Luna!"

"They are home safe. Even with hate in our heart, we will not harm our ponies so directly." She snarled, baring her fangs at her sister. "And our name is not Luna. We art Nightmare Moon, and you will call us such."

"Why have you not set the moon, sister? Sunrise is well over an hour late." Celestia demanded as she avoided the name 'Luna' chose, her eyes narrowing.

"Our ponies shun the night and worship the day. We are neglected, left to become naught but dust by our citizens. We art feared, and so we set to fix this grievous error. The sun will not rise until our night is admired as greatly as thy day." Nightmare Moon said simply. Celestia's eyes widened in horror as she shook her head.

"Luna, y-"

"NIGHTMARE! MOON!" Nightmare screamed as her composure broke, her eyes growing wild with madness as she stomped her hoof hard enough to crack the floor. "You have no claim to that name!"

"Nightmare, the world will die without the sun! Both are needed to keep the world alive!" Celestia begged as she tried to reason with the shadow of her sister.

For a moment, Jay thought the pretty accurate reason would work as Nightmare fell silent, taking a moment to get her breathing under control and straightening her bristled feathers with a pass of her magic. That hope was dashed when she spoke. "Then our ponies should see to correcting themselves rather quickly. If not, I can simply rebuild from what is left."

Celestia's eyes, once full of desperate hope and fear, immediately hardened at Nightmare Moon's words. Though she loved her sister with all her heart and wanted nothing more to right her past wrongs, there was a line that all royal families had; a line that separated issues that affected family from issues that affected the world. Luna had crossed that line and the solar diarch knew what she needed to do, as much as she feared it at the same time. "I can't let this happen. So be it, sister."

That was all Nightmare needed to hear. She didn't say anything, she didn't make any threats or promises, or even make a snarl of anger. She wrapped Celestia in her telekinetic grip and launched her through the roof, shattering the ceiling completely as pulverized stone began to fall from the sky. With a magically empowered flap of her wings, she took off after her sister as the battle began to rage overhead. In the few glimpses he could see through the windows and broken roof, violent spells began to pummel the city as quickly as hail while matching beams speared toward the sky like a reversed meteor shower.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

One last time, the memory- for that is what it clearly was, not a dream- collapsed around him and left him floating in a void. Only moments later, he now sat on the hilltop again. Luna leaned against him as she buried her muzzle in the crook of his neck, tears wetting his skin as she sobbed quietly. Jay reacted without thinking, immediately wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his lap as he held her close. It was clearly the right thing to do as she latched onto him, squeezing him like he was her lifeline as she found the crook of his neck again. Jay didn't mind. Her cool fur felt nice against his body as he ran his fingers through her coat. She needed him and he wasn't going to disappoint. Slowly, he began to hum the same, soft melody she had hummed to him just a short time ago.

Eventually, her light sobs turned to quiet cries, which faded into sniffles. In time, she pulled her muzzle away from him as her ashamed eyes met his understanding ones before she glanced away in embarrassment. In response, Jay just reached out and cupped her muzzle as he gently wiped away her tears with a thumb. That earned him a more honest smile before she sighed. "Just as you relived your memory, I did mine as well. I did not wish to experience the final fight with Celestia again, nor my banishment to the moon and subsequent hopelessness I felt as I realized I would spend an eternity on the moon. I cut it short."

"Why did you put yourself through that, little Luna?" Jay asked, using the nickname to try to cheer her up some.

It worked, albeit slightly. A small smile made its way onto her muzzle as she looked at him. She reached out with a wing that soon wrapped around him before she leaned in, resting her cheek against his. She whispered quietly as she softly nuzzled him, speaking through small sniffles. "So you know that you aren't alone. You aren't the only one who has been in a bad place, and you will always have somepony to confide in should you ever doubt yourself."

Jay leaned into her as well as the short, smooth fur of her muzzle brushed against his cheek and he felt the same warmth he felt with Starfall fill his chest. A small smile came to his face as he thought that maybe it wouldn't be so hard to adjust to this world and it's strange cultures before he put that thought out of his mind. Instead, he gently grasped one of her hooves and spoke just as softly as she did, though much more collected. "The same goes for you, Luna. No matter where I come to live in this world, or what place I carve out for myself, you'll always be welcome with me."

Luna's small smile widened as she nuzzled him more firmly before he shifted and pulled away slightly. A spark of longing shot through her as she almost snapped out and grabbed him again, but that spark faded when he squeezed her hoof gently. Her cyan eyes met his icy ones as he gave a curious hum followed by a sly smirk that made Luna shiver, though whether in concern or something else, she wasn't sure. "So, something that was said during one of those memories made me a little curious."

Dread. Yeah, it was definitely dread. She was pretty confident she knew what he meant, and that was proven right a moment later as he quoted her. "'The love we shared for each other?' What did you mean by that, little Luna?"

Luna swallowed nervously as the previously warm heat of his body became sweltering, and her mouth was too dry to speak. She opened it only for a dry croak came from her as she stopped and swallowed reflexively. "Well, uh, t-the thing about that i-"

Jay snapped awake as something pushed into his side, old instincts lashing out as he grabbed the offending hoof. Fortunately, his conscious mind took over before the viral claw followed his first hand. His eyes followed the chainmail-coated hoof up to meet the grim look on Beam's face, the thestral fully donned in her silver chainmail. "Get up, Jay. We've been called on a hunt. We leave in ten."

The dark mare had to step away as he rolled out of bed, immediately ready as he needed no real preparation aside from getting the extra swords from another hunter. His thoughts strayed to Luna for a moment and what she had nearly said just before he had been woken up, but he pushed those aside for the moment. He needed to focus. "Let's go."

Beam gave him an approving look as she noticed the complete lack of grogginess as well as how quickly he was up and ready to go. "Right."