The Legend of Luna
Prologue
Load Full StoryNext ChapterNote: To see this story with all my little font nuances, here's he PDF:
More than likely I'll do this with all my chapters. I downloaded this cool Zelda font that I use for chapter names and breaks, and I want you to be able to enjoy it as much as I do :)
Also, this is the first fic I've ever posted anywhere, and for that matter is my first fic, well, ever! Everyone who gives constructive feedback is at least 20% cooler in my book!
Also, a disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony or Legend of Zelda. They are owned by Hasbro and Nintendo, respectively. There. You have your recognition. Now go away and don't sue me!
The Legend of Luna
Everypony knows the story of Nightmare Moon, the mare of darkness who threatened Equestria over a millenium ago, who returned and was defeated by the Elements of Harmony. Yet history is written by the victors, and the truth is often lost to the shadows. I am the last of the Sacred Scribes, an ancient guild of scholars entrusted with the task of safeguarding the secrets of the Equestrian Royal Family. On my deathbed, I put this account into writing, forever ensuring that the truth surrounding the imprisonment of the Exalted Lunar Princess and the Salvation of Our Celestial Mother shall be neither lost nor forgotten.
~Gilded Scroll XIV
Grand Scribe of the Sacred Order
Prologue
Somewhere in Canterlot, a colt without a cutie mark is having a restless sleep, plagued by nightmares he knows not the meaning of. The winds of fate are shifting, and soon the colt will realize his destiny…
*
A castle in the dead of night, a fierce battle raging, an alicorn mare with a coat of deep blue being lead through a torch-lit corridor by a grey pegasus stallion clad in silver armor, his cuirass adorned with a crescent moon: the air was thick with the smell of death, and the ever-present sense of fear hung over the pair in question.
“We are almost out of the castle, Your Majesty,” said the stallion. “You shall be safe soon.”
“None are safe, Titan, so long as my sister is afflicted. I must help her,” the alicorn replied.
Titan turned to look at the princess. “Luna, I assure you we will do everything in our power to free her from her curse. However, I would never jeopardize your life. You have too much to lose. We have too much to lose. If we are to stand any chance of saving Equestria from falling into the Sorceress’ wicked hooves, you must leave now!”
Luna let out a heavy sigh. “Thou art right, as always.” The princess gave Titan a concerned look. “Is he safe?”
Titan nodded. “He is in the care of a close friend of mine. He will lead a normal life. He will likely never know us, but our son will be happy.”
A single tear excaped the princess’ eye, and a warm smile appeared on her face. “Good,” is all she said before following Titan into a large courtyard.
They ran down the cobblestone path along which they had shared so many happy walks. The garden’s usual greenery had been engulfed in flames and bodies of fallen guardsmen littered the sidewalks. At the end of the path was a cobblestone archway which lead out of the castle grounds to a winding woodland trail that ended at the Canterlot market square. The soldier and the princess had nearly reached the opening, when suddenly a pair of black iron gates slammed shut, blocking the exit.
“Going somewhere?”
The pegasus and the alicorn turned to find the source of the voice. To their horror, a jet-black alicorn clad in crimson armor stood behind them. She had a flowing, blood-red mane and tail and the image of a reddened sun on her flank. Her eyes glowed a deep crimson.
Luna’s eyes were wide with terror. “C-C-C-Celestia? What hath becometh of thee? Hast thine curse changed thee so?”
“Dear sister,” Celestia spoke, sneering, “do you not like my new look?”
“Celly…”
“SILENCE!!!! DO NOT ADDRESS ME WITH SUCH FAMILIARITY!!!!! SOON I SHALL BE THE SOLE RULER OF THIS LAND, AND I SHALL NOT TOLERATE SUCH DISRESPECT!!!!” The sneer had gone, and had been replaced by a look of unholy rage.
“Sister please stop this,” Luna pleaded. She was fighting back tears as she stared down the abomination that was once her beloved Celly.
“Aww, is little Luna going to cry?” the warped Celestia mocked. “Fear not, I do not intend on letting you suffer – not for long, anyways.”
At this, Titan jumped between the alicorns, glaring daggers at the blackened sun goddess. “You will not touch her,” he threatened.
“Well, if it isn’t Luna’s little pet. Titan, was it? Captain of the Lunar Guard, rumored to be the finest swordspony in Equestria. I believe the time has come to put that rumor to the test.”
Celestia’s horn began to glow a deep red as a black sword, seemingly made from the shadows themselves, materialized in front of her. In response, Titan turned his head over his right shoulder and drew his own sword from it’s sheath: a blade as black as the night itself, engraved with three crescent moons arranged horizontally just above the pommel, two of which glowed white, the third as black as the blade.
“Ahh, the fabled Sword of the Night. An ancient blade forged from the essence of the night, enchanted by the Nocturnal Deity herself, and given to the one whom she personally deemed worthy to wield it. None but the blade’s true owner can achieve its full potenial. I have heard much of your sword, Captain, yet I never expected you to raise it against me,” Celestia said, ending with a bit of feigned offense.
Titan smirked and taunted, “indeed, I would never raise my sword against Equestrian royalty. However, the only princess around here is behind me.”
The dark Celestia’s expression turned angry. Clearly her fun was over. “You shall regret your mockery, Captain. Soon you shall beg for mercy!” With this, the black alicorn lunged at Titan, attacking with a fierce vertical slash. Titan’s warrior instincts kicked in, and he blocked the attack effortlessly. The alicorn continued her attack with unrelenting rage, hacking and slashing as hard as she could from every angle. Titan, however, proved the rumors of his skill to be true; he blocked every attack Celestia threw at him with ease.
The red-maned villain finally halted her attack and began to stare down her target. After a moment, she came to a realization.
“You parried all of my attacks effortlessly. Truly you have great skill and quick reflexes,” she stated calmly, yet with a sinister undertone. Titan simply returned her stone-cold gaze. “Since you clearly are so skilled with your blade, tell me – why did you not once attempt a riposte?”
Titan’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected the alicorn to catch on to him.
Celestia flashed him a wicked smirk. ‘Just as I thought,’ she said to herself. “Why, Titan, are you afraid to attack me? Do you actually fear harming me?”
Titan silently looked over his shoulder at Luna, who wore the same look of shock and horror that he did. Celestia noticed.
“So that’s it, then. You won’t hurt me because of her; because I am her sister. Or, at least, Celestia was her sister. As I am sure you are aware, I am not Celestia. I merely control her mind and body. Since I am not her, why do you hesitate to strike?”
Luna spoke before Titan could answer. “It is because my sister is still in there somewhere. To kill you while you are in her body would mean killing her, too.”
Titan nodded. “I will fight you, but I will not strike.”
The corrupted Celestia laughed wickedly. “You are a fool.” Her eyes filled with malice as the darkest act she could fathom worked its way into her head. “If you will not attack one whom you despise, what would you do if you were confronted by one you love?”
‘Something about the way she said that made my skin crawl,’ thought Titan. “What do you mean by that?”
Celestia’s horn glowed once more. She flashed an evil grin. “Turn and see.”
Titan turned. Nothing – none of his training, none of his travels, not even his fight with a corrupted Celestia – could have prepared him for what he saw. Luna was encircled by a black miasma. The swirling mist engulfed the lunar princess as she vanished from Titan’s view behind the black cloud.
“LUNA!!!!!”
A piercing scream echoed from within the cloud. As it died away, the mist began to disperse. A dark figure began to approach Titan. He stared in disbelief as a second black alicorn stepped forth. Unlike the first, however, this one wore midnight-blue armor, had green, reptilian eyes, and bore an all-too-familiar cutie mark.
“Luna…what happened to you?”
Titan dropped to his knees. He could feel the will to fight leaving him. Without saying anything, the corrupted Luna materialized a shadowblade identical to the one Celestia had wielded. Titan could do nothing but look at his sword, now lying useless where he had dropped it. To Celestia’s surprise, a calm smile came over Titan’s face as an interesting point dawned on him.
“Why do you look so peaceful? You are about to be destroyed by the one you love!”
“No, you are wrong,” he replied. “That’s what you wanted me to believe. You wanted me to die like a coward, lamenting over my lost love and begging for mercy. But just like you said, you are not really Celestia, and by that logic, she is not really Luna. My Luna is still in there, somewhere, and she will be freed.”
Celestia sneered. “How do you expect to free her when you are about to die?”
Titan let out a victorious laugh. “I never said I would do it.” With that, Titan closed his eyes and began to chant in an ancient, forgotten language. The two white crescents on his sword began to resonate, glowing brighter with each syllable. Finally, Titan opened his eyes and shouted the final syllable. As he did so, the entire sword became engulfed in a blinding white light, and with a loud *POP*
it vanished without a trace.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WILL NOT DO IT? WHAT DID YOU JUST DO? WHAT WAS THAT CHANT?” Celestia was furious, but it was more than that; she was frightened.
“That is for me to know,” Titan answered, “and for you to die from.”
By now, the warped Luna was upon him. As she raised the blade to strike, Titan lowered his head and closed his eyes, his peaceful smile once again appearing. ‘Her reaction confirmed my suspicions; she doesn’t know about him. She doesn’t know about our son. There is still hope. So long as he lives, there will always be hope.’
The blade fell.
The corrupted Celestia, still confused and unnerved by Titan’s final words and act, turned her attention to the other alicorn. Shaking off her worries, she grinned wickedly. “You have done well, Sister.”
The former Luna looked towards Celestia and said, “I am no sister of yours. Luna is no more. There is only me. I am the new moon goddess. I am Nightmare Moon.”
“Nightmare Moon, eh? I like it. My real name is Solar Flare, though I suppose I shall continue to be 'Celestia' for the sake of the public. I have more important things to do than deal with riots.”
“It matters not what you wish to be called,” Nightmare Moon snapped. “I am going to kill you, just like I did that pathetic excuse of a warrior, and then I will rule Equestria in eternal darkness!”
‘What a shame,’ thought Eclipse. ‘I had really hoped to keep her around. She would have made an excellent puppet.’ “While I admire your ambition,” Eclipse spoke, “I cannot allow you to kill me. You do not possess the ability to do so, or have you not noticed that I possess far more power than you? And even if you could kill me, Equestria will be ruled by me alone. I will not allow you to interfere.”
Eclipse’s horn began to glow. Before she could react, Nightmare Moon found herself immobilized, trapped in the center of a glowing circle summoned by Eclipse’s magic. A second aura appeared around Eclipse’s horn and arcane symbols – resembling the moon it its various phases – appeared in the circle. Finally, with the appearance of a third aura, the circle glowed a bright red, filling the entire courtyard with a blinding light.
When the light finally dissipated, Eclipse glanced upwards. A full moon hung overhead, but its surface was now adorned with the silhouette of the alicorn who had not two minutes ago threatened to kill her and claim her kingdom for herself.
She smiled a genuinely contented smile. Equestria was finally hers, and nopony remained who could defeat her. Or so she thought…
Next Chapter