Return of the Crystal Archive
“Luna?” Celestia asked through the door of her sisters room. She knocked on the door and asked again. “Luna, you awake?”
There was no answer so she let herself into the bedroom, now illuminated by the open door. The room was decorated with dark colors and the night sky theme that her sister is so fond of. Celestia found a set of thick curtains covering the only window in the room and used her magic to spread them apart, flooding the room with the morning sun. She found her sister sleeping on an elaborate bed and walked up right next to her. “Wake up. I need you to do something for me.”
Luna responded with a sleepy moan and used her own magic to close the curtains returning the bedroom to near darkness. “Go away Tia.”
Celestia strongly opened the curtains again. “I’m sorry to wake you but this is important.” Her normally sweet voice had hardened into a serious tone and she looked down at her sister. Luna opened an eye to meet Celestia’s piercing gaze. She had an impatient look to her and her carefree demeanor was replaced with that of worry. It was clear that something serious was happening and this was no time to play around.
In a single breath Luna raised herself and stood at attention. Her usual getup appeared in a flash of magic. “What’s wong? Is there trouble?” She asked, instantly awake and fully aware.
“No, no trouble. At least... not yet.”
Luna had visibly relaxed upon hearing this. “That is reassuring, yet still troubling. What’s the problem?”
Celestia turned towards the door and took a step forward. “Come, walk with me; we don’t have much time.” Luna joined her sister and they walked side by side towards the main castle entrance. ”The problem is the Crystal Empire.
Luna raised an eyebrow. “The Empire? King Sombra was defeated was he not?”
Celestia nodded. “Yes but this is an indirect result of its return. The Crystal Empire was frozen in time for a thousand years, including the Crystal Archive. Now that it’s back the Archive, filled with ancient and dangerous knowledge, is open to all. Our subjects don’t understand that some things are forgotten for a reason. The struggle against King Somber prevented me from censoring it properly.”
Luna was surprised with herself not even considering this. She had been away from the world for nearly as long as the Crystal Empire has. She still often forgets that many things that were once well known are now long forgotten and Equestria had been made much safer for it.
“How could I have forgotten?” Luna angrily glared at her sister. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? We must take the proper action right away."
"It's too late for that. Equestria's intellectual community has already flocked to the Archive. They now know the nature of the secrets within. If we try to keep them from it they'll label us as tyrants trying to keep the world in ignorance."
"Then let us be called tyrants! We must protect them from themselves."
"That would only hasten their demise. Equestria doesn't need us like they used to Luna. We could easily lose our right to rule and they'll just unlock the Archive anyways."
The two finally reached the main entrance where a chariot was waiting to take them away. “There’s perfection in simplicity. I’ve spent the last thousand years holding the world back. I kept it simple, kept it safe. But nothing lasts forever. The best we can do for equestria is to be here to catch it when it falls.We have our work cut out for us sister.”
Celestia made her way towards her ride. "There’s a situation in Hoofington that requires my attention. It seems they recovered an ancient power that I suspect isn’t being handled with the care and respect it deserves. Take care of things in Canterlot while I’m away.”
“What power?” She ignored the question, intending to fly off without answering it. Luna would have none of it and flew over to face her sister and looked her right in the eyes.
She expected to see all manner of things reflected in those eyes. The one thing she didn’t expect to see was fear. True fear, the kind that you get when you think you’re gonna die. The kind that comes from experiencing things so vile and twisted it would break lesser beings. There was only one time either of them experienced that kind of fear and Luna eyes widened with the realization.
“No, thats impossible. We killed them. Burned their bodies! We made sure they were all dead and gone forever!” All sound cut out in an instant. The wind fell silent, the trees froze as if afraid to sway, all the sound of Canterlot vanished - a moment frozen in time. Luna only dared to speak in a whisper, “Dead is dead.”
Time resumed when Celestia gave her sister a gentle smile. “The world’s only truth, nothing can change that. The remains of two have survived, hidden away this whole time - only bones remain. I’ll get closure for both of us.”
Celestia signaled the pegasi to take her away to the intellectual capital that is Hoofington. Luna stood and watched her sister shrink into the distant sky.
Return of the Crystal Archive
Luna was conflicted. She and her sister were meant to rule together. Ruling together meant making important decisions together. That meant weighing options, considering every possibility, understanding the fragile nature of of the world at large, and coming to a consensus they could both agree with. What Celestia said had made sense then but Luna wondered if it would have been the same if she recognized the problem of the Crystal Archive right away.
Had Celestia gone behind her back? It certainly seemed that way to. Celestia had decided on her own on how best to deal with the problem and chose to withhold the discussion until her plan was the only viable one. Though can her sister really be to blame for her own lack of foresight? Luna reasoned that yes she could. Celestia must have seen that Luna was blind to the threat and could have said something.
Luna let out a disappointed sigh. “Tia, don’t you trust me anymore?”
“Pardon me?” a nearby voice asked. Luna looked down on the well groomed noble that she forgot was still talking.
“Nothing, please continue.”
“Well as I was saying...”
Could she blame her sister for not trusting her with everything? Maybe her thousand year hiatus had made her incompetent. She failed to see the long term danger of the Crystal Empire’s return after all. Maybe that failing alone proved that Luna was no longer fit to rule.
Her ear twitched when she heard a voice she recognized. She focused on the entrance to the throne room that was open a crack and could barely make out two ponies arguing.
“You’re new here, I get that. So I’ll cut you some slack if you’ll just let me in.”
“I’m sorry sir, I can’t do that. You’re not on today’s list.” The second voice, likely the door guard, said.
“Of course I’m not on the list! I make the list. I need to see the Princess right away. She could be doing irreparable damage as we speak.”
Luna got up out of the throne and walked towards the distance voices much to the confusion of the still-talking noblepony. “Y-your highness? Where are you going?”
“Taking a break.”
“But we’re not finished.”
“Then speak to the empty throne if it so pleases you.”
“Why, I never!”
Luna ignored the disgruntled noble and went on to meet the other pony. She opened the door and greeted the two with an amused smirk. “Hey you.”
“Greetings your highness,” The pony said with a quick bow. “Had I known my services were needed I would have never chosen today for my long overdue vacation.” He put extra emphasis on the ‘long overdue’ part.
“Give him free reign.” Luna said to the new guard. “This is Archer, my sisters steward.” Archer peeled passed Luna and at the waiting noble with a worried look.
“Your highness, I would prefer it if you refrained from using my common name around nobility.”
“Sure. Since you’re here, think maybe you could, you know.” Luna nudged her head in the direction of the empty throne.
“It would be my pleasure,” Archer said with a quick bow and met with the unhappy noble. Luna heard him apologizing for any rudeness she may have caused him. Rudeness? She thought she was being plenty polite. After all, she at least pretended to listen to him.
Now, what to do? By now it was too late in the day to try going back to bed, at this point she’d be better off just skipping a day of sleep. But this presented a problem. Normally Luna would spend her nights stargazing and more or less keeping watch over the night. She normally slept during the days so now she found herself struggling for ideas. She settled on just wandering the castle.
She felt restless for the first time in literally ages. It used to be back in the day she could never get a moment to herself. Now the opposite seemed to be true. In fact even when she watches over the night she doesn’t actually do anything. Her sister had asked her to run things in Canterlot and instead she just confirmed the fact that she can’t stand the nobility. She just ignored everything that pony was saying even though it was probably pretty important.
“It’s really true. I’m not fit to rule anymore. I’m not even needed for raising the moon. Celestia’s done everything on her own for a thousand years... Celestia” Her sister’s name now felt sour on her tongue. She’s the one who gets to do everything.
“She thinks she’s perfect, doesn't even ask what I think like she always knows best. Most ponies are still afraid of me, but her. No, everyone loves her like she’s just the best thing ever. They don’t know how cold she really is. It should be me everypony loves...”
Luna felt a familiar jealousy welling up inside her. The more she thought about her sister the angrier she got. “She doesn’t deserve any of it. It should all be mine!”
Luna then realized her heart was pounding faster than she ever felt and she was breathing hard enough to need an occasional gasp for air. Her eyes began to glow as she surged with more magic she thought possible, to the point of choking her body. She heard a guard scream as he fell and noticed several other guards that were slowly backing away from her with spears drawn. She tried to compose herself, to calm her rage, but she just felt her own magic getting tighter and tighter around her body, threatening to crush her.
“Tia!” She called out for her sister. She needed her sister now more than ever. She kept calling out for her but she was nowhere to be seen. She began breathing even harder, lungs burning, eyes tearing up from the pain. “Please! I need you!”
She then felt something snap around her whole body and she felt a moment of bliss as the bone-breaking force surrounding her vanished in an instant. The spell had somehow failed, expelling all the energy which manifested itself into a blast of wind in all directions powerful enough to send every guard flying. She thought that was the end of it but already she felt that choking feeling returning.
“No!” Luna screamed, she knew what was happening to her but she couldn’t stop it no more than she could stop her own heart. She couldn’t fight it so she ran, didn’t matter where, she just had to run away. Before she knew it she felt her body crashing into something solid, breaking it instantly.
She then felt something cool land on her and somehow her magic began to slowly die down. After a moment she was able to open her eyes. She was in her sisters room and when she saw the thing that landed on her she held it close and her breathing began to slow.
“No, no,” She whispered as a tear ran down her cheek, “Never again. Never again will jealousy overwhelm my heart.” She spent a long while looking down, fidgeting with her trinket in her hooves. This tiny thing may have been the only thing that saved her from herself. She began to understand what Celestia meant about being there to catch Equestria not if, but when it eventually falls.
Luna breathed a slow, deep breath and closed her eyes to meditate. She focused on only listening to her heartbeat, clearing her mind of thought and relaxing her muscles. The next few minutes was spent mentally dancing to the rhythms of her body. Once completely relaxed she picked up her trinket and held it close to her eyes and they began to tear up.
“I can’t believe you kept this for me all these years.” She summoned the tiniest mote of energy needed to pick up the little thing and placed a small metal ring into the little box it belonged in.
Luna felt a second wind as she rose on four wobbly legs and made her way toward the door, which took an embarrassingly long time for her to get to. Thankfully the door had been left open, otherwise she would have crashed through it and who knows how bad off she’d be then. She closed the door and slowly made her way towards her sister’s bed. She heard some ponies running by shouting something and sounding panicky.
“I sure did make a scene,” Luna weakly chuckled to herself. Though she didn’t really care about that right now, she could explain herself once she had a chance to rest. Exhausted didn’t even come close to describing how she felt; right now she had more in common with an empty battery...that’s on fire. She collapsed onto the bed and let herself drift into dreamland.
Luna’s ear twitched as a loud booming sound shook the room and shaked her awake. Her eyes shot open and the room was brushed over with a soft multispectrum glow. After a few seconds the glow disappeared and the room fell into near darkness. There was the tiniest smudge of light coming from the windows. Luna managed to get out of her sister’s bed easily enough. She didn’t burn anymore but her body was still sore all over. She trotted to the window, satisfied that she could move at a respectable pace again. Luna tried using her magic to open the window but a sharp pain in her horn suggested opening it the normal way.
Her vision was naturally drawn downward where what could only be described as a mob was gathering outside. A solid wall of guards blocked off every entrance into the Canterlot Castle barring the canterlot crowd that moved about restlessly. She saw most of the ponies carried lanterns, making the group twinkle like the night sky.
The night sky... Luna tilted her head back saw absolute nothingness. Not a single star could be seen and the moon was nowhere in sight. There was a slightly louder boom and everything shook again as wave of multi spectrum light streaked across the horizon, illuminating Equestria as it passed over it like a prolonged lightning flash.
Luna chuckled to herself from the trouble she caused. She knew that the world covered in absolute darkness is nothing to laugh about but at that point she was still tired enough to be beyond caring. Luna groaned and strained, ignoring the spike of pain in her horn, as she focused what little magic she had recovered into a spell. One by one dots of stars painted the black canvas and the moon took its proper place in the sky blanketing Equestria in its soft glow.
“There we go, nothing to worry about.”
Luna yawned as she began stretching every muscle she could from head to tail in an attempt to relieve her fatigue. She glanced over a nearby clock for a time check and it read around 8:30 AM. “Moonrise was only about an hour late, not too bad.”
Something suddenly didn’t feel right about that clock. An important detail that went unnoticed at first glance. She snapped her head back at the clock and she looked at the two letters in the center- AM.
“What?
She whacked it on the side hoping the clock would fix itself but it most definitely said AM.
“What?!”
She heard a set of familiar voices coming from outside and she jumped to the open window. Down below she saw Twilight and her friends wearing their elements and wading through the mob.
“Twilight!” Luna called down to them but it looked like she couldn’t be heard over the rumbling crowd. She saw them meet up with the front guards, looked like they exchanged some some words and they let the gang into the castle.
Luna turned away from the window and ran down as fast as her body would let her to meet them in the main hall. She was exhausted, her magic was spent, and she legitimately feared for her sister’s life. It’s times like this that made Luna glad she had Twilight and her friends to fallback on.
