The Warden: Part 3, Dream of the Warden

As Luna stepped into the celestial plane of the dream realm, she tapped her hoof on the starry pathway beneath her.

Immediately, Casemate’s metal door was whisked away into the void, carried off into the endless horizon.

Luna tried not to look back. It was done. Over. There was nothing more she could do. Casemate had made his choice.

But as his door was taken away, she couldn’t help herself. She looked back over her shoulder, knowing that her last chance of forgiving herself was being taken away along with his door.

She stood there for a minute or more, her sparkling mane and tail shimmering much like the arrangement of stars, planets, and galaxies around her. Her turquoise eyes shimmered with helpless yearning as her heart fought to grasp at any hope of being forgiven.

But her mind already knew that now there was none.

She also knew who was awaiting her as soon as she stepped back into the material realm.

Nightmare Moon’s promise to see her again after Luna’s endeavor was said and done echoed ominously in her head.

Luna wanted anything but that.

Instead of defeating Nightmare, Luna found herself defeated. How would she work up the willpower to tell her darker self off?

She wouldn’t. At least, not like before.

In her mind’s eye, Luna could already see the smug grin, the haughty look in Nightmare’s chilling gaze…

The princess shuddered, feeling a lump beginning to arise in her throat.

She was afraid. She didn’t want to be reminded that Nightmare was right about certain things. She didn’t want Nightmare to have the fuel she needed to make a comeback.

Within her soul, Luna felt a primal urge to just curl up and hide away forever. She would much rather spend another thousand years on the moon than face her demon.

…

But she couldn’t hide, could she?

Nightmare was a part of her. To try and run from her would be utterly futile. On top of that, Luna still had responsibilities to fulfill, a duty to uphold as the alicorn princess of the night and of dreams.

And she was no coward.

If there was nothing else to do but accept the consequences of her own mistake, then so be it.

Luna inhaled slowly, and her horn began to glow. As the pale aura enveloped her, she closed her eyes, and thought of her balcony overlooking Canterlot.

For better or for worse, the only way to go was forward.

Within a moment, an icy gust of wind stirred her mane and tail, and her fur ruffled as the chill penetrated into her undercoat.

She shivered, and opened her eyes.

It was a beautiful sight.

The flickering lights of the royal, mountainside city gave an aura of warmth and activity, despite the presence of a layer of sparkling ice and snow.

Up above, the moon hung high in a cloudless sky, accompanied by an endless host of glimmering stars, an intricate tapestry of Luna’s own making.

The world was just the way she had left it; Happily existing underneath her watch, peaceful and calm.

A direct contrast to her own feelings.

Inside, she felt no comfort in the stillness of the world around her. Only guilt at what she had allowed to happen, and fear of who was about to speak.

“Well… That went about as well as I predicted.”

Luna felt her fur bristle and her ears pin at the sound of Nightmare’s mockery. The last thing she wanted was to have to put up with her.

The princess forced her mouth to remain shut, closing her eyes in refusal to even acknowledge Nightmare.

It would have been more effective if she wasn’t already privy to Luna’s thoughts.

“Nothing to say, Luna?” Nightmare asked in mock surprise.

“Not to you.”

Luna’s cold response seemed to catch Nightmare off guard for a second.

“...So you’re going to be angry with me?” Nightmare asked with a scoff. “All I ever did was warn you of what would happen. I hate to say ‘I told you so’, but-”

Luna groaned. That remark was simply too much for her to ignore. She felt a flash of anger, and she opened her eyes, looking down onto the polished stone floor of the balcony. There was Nightmare, in the reflection, looking right back up at Luna with the slightest hint of a smirk.

“No. No you don’t.” Luna corrected harshly, cutting her off. “You liked it, didn’t you?”

Nightmare blinked, then bared her teeth in a smile.

“Fine. I did. But only because it helps us both in the long term.”

“You mean it helps you.” Luna replied sharply.

Nightmare frowned and shook her head, immediately firing back.

“No, I mean what I say.” The dark mare retorted. “It would have been so much easier on us both if you had simply accepted that you were to remain unforgiven from the very beginning. Surely you can see that now…”

Luna’s ears twitched as she reluctantly processed her dark side’s words. Indeed, with how things turned out, Nightmare Moon did seem to be correct.

She did say that Casemate wasn’t going to forgive her, after all.

“You could have saved us so much trouble, Luna…” Nightmare continued, shaking her head. “But you just had to hold on to that…fantasy of forgiveness, like the wayward child that you are.”

This spurred some deep, uncomfortable thoughts in Luna’s mind.

Was she really so childlike in chasing her remaining hopes?

She wanted to believe otherwise, but… With how Nightmare Moon’s words were striking closer and closer to her flaws, Luna was having trouble differentiating the lies from the truth.

The princess knew just how flawed she was. Her journey through Casemate’s past saw to that, much to her despair.

In the recesses of her mind, Luna pondered whether or not things would have been less gut wrenching if she hadn’t faced him.

“Ah… Now you question it…” Nightmare said, her voice dripping with condescension. “About time, too. All it took was for you to see what I tried to spare you from: The full consequences of your decision to relinquish control to me. Tell me, Luna… What made you think for a single moment that he would be so foolish as to forgive a failure such as yourself?”

Once again, Luna felt the soul crushing weight of what she had witnessed earlier. The image of Casemate being torn away from his wife and daughter in a single, tragic moment replayed in her mind, and she began to seriously wonder…

After such a monstrous and heartless act, was she ever forgivable?

The reflection shook her head, and bared her teeth in a slight sneer of disgust.

“Of course not.” She said disapprovingly. “You let me do that. You. That beautiful, tender hearted mare and her eager, promising filly are long gone thanks to you.”

Luna’s lips began to quiver as she felt a lump arise in her throat. Her will to resist her darker self was crumbling.

“S-Stop.” She murmured, her heart feeling like it was going to shatter all over again.

But Nightmare continued.

“In your failure, you gutted the soul of the stallion who had only found his true calling because of your own intervention. You built him up, just to allow him to be cut down…”

Deep down, Luna felt an intense sense of self loathing and shame being summoned by Nightmare’s words.

“That…That was you, n-not me!”

“Ah, ah, ah…” Nightmare said in a chiding manner. “You let me out. We may share the blame, but you enabled me. Without that, that sweet little family would have lived happily ever after…”

A shuddering sob escaped Luna’s mouth, tears beginning to fall as her guilt and shame increased exponentially.

“I… I…” She quavered softly, trying hard to find words. But the only words that came to mind were ones of self condemnation and acceptance. Her will to stand up to Nightmare was eroding fast, under the weight of her shame.

“Just give it up, Luna.” Nightmare sighed. “I told you, one way or another, I will end up feeding off of the anger and resentment you have towards yourself.”

A sly, rueful smile played across the reflection’s muzzle.

“Ironically, in trying to find forgiveness, you may have only expedited my return to power.” She mused. “Since you decided to uncover the full tragedy of that night and chase that mirage of forgiveness like an absolute child, you have only increased your own condemnation…”

Luna couldn’t bring herself to argue. Instead, she just kept crying and trying to speak. But as flashes of Casemate, Edelweiss, and Barbette kept appearing in her mind, her self-deprecating emotions kept growing more potent.

Nightmare was right. Luna did feel much worse than she did before.

Did she actually only make things worse? Did she make yet another idiotic mistake, one that could potentially see the return of Nightmare, and the terror she would sow?!

Nightmare’s wretched grin only widened as she heard Luna’s thoughts.

“You are better off just letting things happen without struggling any more.” She hissed. “So just face the music and let me out. There’s nothing else you can do…”

When she heard this, Luna’s mind swirled. Bleakness swallowed her soul, causing her whole body to go numb.

If what Nightmare was saying was true, then there was only one outcome. The only thing that Luna could affect was only how long before the inevitable happened, and how long she would suffer this misery before her other self took hold again.

Nightmare Moon would return, and exact her terrible vengeance upon all who defeated her before. Celestia, Twilight, her friends, Casemate… All of Equestria would be plunged into eternal night-

“Because you’re not strong enough, Luna…” Nightmare said harshly, finishing her thoughts. “You were always destined to fail, but I will take what we deserve…”

Luna’s breaths became sharper as fear gripped her soul, making her heart beat faster.

How could she allow this bleak outcome to be? Everypony she loved would be in danger, if not subjected to a terrible tyranny!

Luna closed her eyes, the panic causing her mind to rush at an unnatural speed.

Was there truly nothing she could do?!

…

An idea.

Luna suddenly opened her eyes, as a new, albeit sullen hope arose.

She had remembered her backup plan. In her severe distress, she had almost forgotten!

Luna’s heartbeat slowed, as did her breathing.

Nightmare visibly paused, maintaining her smile despite a slight change in her expression that indicated confusion. Luna’s sudden reclamation of control had not been expected.

The princess shuddered, exhaling through her nostrils, sending a cloud of condensation out into the air.

Then, with a quiet, defiant tone, she spoke to her reflection.

“There are two things I can do.”

Luna looked down over the railing, and the hundred foot drop to the courtyard below.

Nightmare instantly lost her smile, replaced by a look of muted fear.

“L-Luna…? Don’t do it…”

…

After a few tense moments, this was met with a slight scoff from Luna. At least she could scare Nightmare with the prospect of suicide.

“That is merely a last resort, calm yourself. I won’t destroy us if it can be avoided.” The princess replied, turning around and striding towards the doors leading into her chambers. “I still have ponies to live for, after all.”

Luna looked at the glass panes on the doors, and into the now indignant glare of Nightmare.

“Our destruction is not a laughing matter!”

“I never said I was joking.” Luna replied, shutting Nightmare up as she opened the sliding doors, walking into her luxurious bedroom.

As grim and saddening that prospect was, she was indeed not joking. If the idea in her mind didn’t work out, then a permanent end would be the last thing she could do to stop Nightmare.

For the sake of her friends and her sister, she hoped that her new, desperate plan would work.

Luna strode past her moon shaped bed and the velvet furnishings, making her way towards a bookshelf stocked with ancient tomes and books of all sorts.

Nightmare watched on from a full length mirror standing nearby, seeing Luna shuffling around for something in particular.

“Oh, you’re going to try that idea.” She said dryly. “It will never work, Luna. It will only delay my return and amplify your suffering.”

This did evoke a momentary pause as Luna questioned her idea.

It was a long shot, sure. Punishing herself every night would be painful, and it would perhaps amplify her guilt. But maybe seeing the full, unfiltered consequences of letting Nightmare have control again night after night would give her the motivation to keep her at bay.

It was either that, or end herself. And Luna was not about to send her sister and her friends into grieving.

“Perhaps it shall.” Luna finally replied, pulling out an old scroll and opening it to reveal a drawing of a cloud of darkness in the form of a pony.

She felt her heart tremble at the sight of it, knowing what it would do to her.

But after what she did, after taking Casemate’s family and leaving him a husk of his former self, she knew it was no less than she deserved.

The princess sighed, resigning herself to executing her plan, no matter the consequences.

“But I have no other option. Whatever may come of it, I shall manifest the Tantabus.”