Four tears flew among the stars, ancient promises lost as they glinted in the night's sky.

They swirled and danced, and shone brighter than any stars around them, as the light of the sun shone through them even behind the world itself.

In a brief moment, they shone an even brighter, beautiful gold with the rising sun. Gently nudged in routine as they swirled around the moon. Always bound, never to fly too far away from their source.

A sorrow infused in them, as an ancient spell was nipped and tugged at, as if they were a prism to undo a light shone where it shouldn't have, so long ago. Finally freeing light trapped within the grasp of a crushing force...

A gentle love filling them; a thousand winters of loss and regret echoing with a soft vibration.

As the sun rose over the horizon, a beautiful show of colours swirled through them. From the very extreme ends of the spectrum, infusing them with a great power familiar to most.

A rejection came to it- beautiful gems turned to stone again, after one simple use. A rejection thrown back at its user, as if spitting at one who turned their back on the choice they made. But it was a price well worth paying.

And then, despite defying gravity for so long, the world and them stuck in a stagnation being so far apart...

They fell. Four, beautiful stars, falling to aid her in a way she never had been on the earth.

And with it, a promise things would be different. Or at least, they would try, if she was allowed.

Her own regrets, her own pain, the keys to her own freedom. As was the love she held, reflected in another who dared to hope.

Even as the inky black painted along its surface coalesced back to its origin, and with a crack, the mare on the moon... was gone. Along with her hate, carried as strong as her regrets.

A nightmare ended, with the hope a distant love had reached them, all those years apart.

What happened from here, was not the choice of the one who freed her. Only of the heart of the one freed.

But as always, the kingdom would come first... And a new dawn would rise the next morn', with forgiveness or not.

But one dared to hope; one dared to love; one dared to dream.

That things could be different, if only they tried.

The one regret, that would hang heavier than them all.

Author's Note

I am genuinely surprised I have not seen more stories explore the banishment, what it might entail, what it might mean. At least, as a main theme.

Or who knows, there might be many... but I'm writing my own, without any of those as a basis. Blind writing...

I think the horror that could be found in refusing to hand-wave it away as magic or stasis is a very interesting concept. Not enough that I went full horror, but...
Especially as no force on this planet can make me believe 'Nightmare Moon' is a separate entity from Luna until/unless the elements blast her after her return.

Discord had it lucky, he had a world around him to observe. Some didn't have the luxury.

No wonder she seemed a little fruity... I mean pompous. Kind of like my pretentious writing style!

Also, a small shout-out to 6-D who inspired me to write this in the first place, after reading a horror fic of theirs! It went in a vastly different direction than initially intended, but I think I prefer it this way.

I intentionally stayed my hand from writing too much/too long. I wanted this to be short, and to express a few thoughts and feelings I had behind Luna's motivations. I didn't want to linger and make this a fic about tormenting her. I just wanted to... express these thoughts. I don't expect this to do as well as my usual fare, but hey, I wanted to write it, so I did!

If I'm ever going to make this more graphic, it's going to be in a longer fic. Not a standalone. Lunabros, always know where their hearts lie... even if I'm a simp for everything with a horn and wings...

Anyways, 6am, I didn't sleep, time to post! Point out any mistakes, please! STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS WRITING AND HALF ASLEEP EDITING LET'S GOO-

Featured on release, and topped the box. Thank you all