The Moon's Shadow

Chapter 18

The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon as Luna walked through the halls. With her head hung low and her wings even lower, she walked very slowly up to her room. Not only was she completely exhausted, but she felt utterly defeated at the same time. Adding insult to injury was the fact that she simply knew that Nightmare had entered the castle. Why? She didn’t know. Because by the time the guards had realized it, she had teleported right out of the building. While there had been a brief period between her arrival and departure, it hadn’t been long enough to actually pin her down completely.

On top of that, there had also been a report from one of the patrols about a mare carrying a basket--- she had teleported, of course. That was just the beginning though. All of last night had been such chaos that she swore that she had heard Discord laughing throughout most of it. The worst part of the whole night however, was the plain and simple fact that it would end up on a report. That Celestia would find out before the day was done. This discouraged her even more as she pushed the door to her room open.

Luna swayed slowly as she entered, she could feel the room spinning as a result of her exhaustion. She felt lightheaded, nauseous even as she let everything finally sink in. She had an abundance of questions running through her mind, but the first of which involved the mare that had once again slipped through her hooves and left her completely humiliated. Why had Nightmare shown up in the castle? What exactly was she trying to accomplish by teleporting in? Was she finally making her move? Had that just been a distraction? How could it have been a distraction? She has no followers! These thoughts kept piling up one after another as she reached her bed. Just letting herself fall very slowly onto the surface, face first.

‘Damn it...’ Luna cursed inwardly, ‘What if Tia finds out? I know a few guards saw her...I just know it!’ she argued, lifting her head very slowly. It was then an idea popped into her head before she turned slowly over to the pedestal on the other side of the room. Atop this pedestal sat a pearl-like orb that held a very faint glow. Upon seeing it, she sighed. ‘Like she could steal it anyhow...’ she considered, before returning her face into the pillow. Nightmare was a crafty mare, a very crafty mare indeed. How was it she was so cunning? ‘Even I’m not that cunning...’ she told herself, ‘Exactly how different are we?’

That was another question that came to mind, flipping onto her back as she reflected upon the time when they had been one. It was strange to think about it now too, but it was the only thing she really had left. She recalled the moon in particular, the battles in their subconscious. These battles were long and arduous, sometimes even spanning days as her body sat in silence. This wasn’t exactly a pleasant time either as she remembered just how much strain the constant fights put on her. Not just her mind either, while they did cause monumentally painful headaches, they also left her body in a tremendous amount of pain as well. Which made her wonder just how she had even survived these battles. Then again, Nightmare did need her body at the time.

The mare placed her hooves across her chest, pressing them against one another as she gazed up at the ceiling. What puzzled Luna even more than the fact that Nightmare had been in the castle, was the fact that she hadn’t even gone after either her or Celestia. It was very strange as she clearly had the opportunity and even the power to do as such. Yet she did nothing of the sort. Instead, she had only teleported in for a few minutes, caused a bit of chaos and then vanished just as quickly as she had appeared. What had she done? Had she stolen something? What if she had left something? There was absolutely no evidence to support either theory either as it seemed everything had been in place after she vanished. At least save for the pride of the entire Royal Guard as well as her own pride too.

“Ohhhh....Luuuuunnnnaaaa....” a voice sung out, instantly breaking the concentration and thoughts of the princess. The voice wasn’t quite one she was familiar with and to top that off it seemed to have a teasing tone to it. Almost as if it was mocking her. This made Luna lift her head instantly, shifting a glance all over the room. “I know you can hear me...” the voice cooed again, causing her ears to twitch just a tiny bit.

“Who are you?!” she cried out, “Where are you!?”

“Oh...don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the sound of my voice already,” the voice continued to tease, “Am I really not that memorable? I mean, we did share a body for a thousand years.” It clicked the moment that line was spoken. She didn’t even need another hint as to whom it was.

“Nightmare! Where are you?!” Luna bellowed as she continued to glance around the room. Befuddled as to where the source of the voice was coming from. How was it she was hearing Nightmare’s voice at this moment? Was she using a telepathy spell? It wasn’t until her eyes rested upon the pearl-like orb across the room did she realize what was going on. Around it, she could see a faint pulse and as she began to cross the room it started to become clear. In the vision of the orb she saw none other than Nightmare Moon. Something was off about her though from what she remembered of their last encounter.

Upon closer inspection, Luna took notice that Nightmare seemed a bit more exhausted and it hadn’t just been what had recently occurred either. It was even visible in her cyan eyes that she had been through quite a bit recently. Even her mane showed it clearly. Perhaps even more so than just the feeling that came off of her eyes. Not only that, but something else seemed different about her. Like something had changed. It was unclear exactly what had changed though, even if it left her scratching her head even more.

“I came to chat,” she finally said after a moment of silence.

“I don’t want anything to do with you!” Luna snapped, “After all you’ve done...why should I?” Nightmare didn’t say anything in response at first. Instead she just met her other half’s gaze. Something was different about it though, unlike before where Nightmare had just been a manipulative mass of magic, feeding off of fear. This time, the mare could see there was something truly genuine in her eyes. Actual emotion, her eyes seemed almost pleading and heartbroken.

“I...I can understand why you wouldn’t want to speak with me...” Nightmare muttered, any shred of confidence she had vanishing in an instant. Even through the orb Luna could feel the sorrow as if it was flowing from the orb itself. At first, she simply thought this was some kind of ploy. A trick to get all the magic and even the orb from her. However, as the sorrow continued to seep from the orb she could see that something had indeed changed. She even saw a particular look that she was all too familiar with, as she had seen it on her own face quite frequently in the past year.

‘Remorse...?’ she inquired to herself, ‘I...I thought Nightmares didn’t feel emotion?’ This only added more to the previous mystery as to why Nightmare had even been in the castle. Why did she feel remorse and sorrow? Exactly what was her reason to? Was having her own body finally getting to her? Was there more to this than Luna was seeing? She didn’t know any of this, instead she was just left sitting in a state of shock.

“But...please...can you hear me out?” she inquired, only to make Luna’s jaw drop even more. Had she really just said that word? Had she really just tried to be polite and civilized? It didn’t take her very long to come to the decision, no matter how much she hated Nightmare at this point. No matter how much she wanted to kick the everliving daylights out of the mare that had caused her so much anguish over the course of the past thousand years.

“Fine...” Luna conceded, “Against my better judgement, I’ll listen.” She was hesitant, that much was obvious. What Luna didn’t say though spoke volumes to Nightmare. She could tell it pained her better half to make that decision quite a bit and that she was already on thin ice. Which meant to Nightmare that she needed to take it very, very carefully.

“Thank you,” Nightmare smiled, the first actual smile Luna had ever seen from the mare too. It was quite disturbing to see such a thing considering the fact she actually had fangs instead of regular teeth. It made her quite the intimidating pony. “Now...I believe I should say this first...” she began, “Due to recent events, I have actually given up on my desire for an eternal night. My reasoning is personal, so I won’t be sharing it.” Luna’s eyes grew rather wide when she heard this. Giving up the idea of an eternal night? Was she really considering doing such a thing? What could possibly have caused her to change her ideals so drastically in just a year’s time? “And....I’m also more than willing to hand myself over to you and your guards now.”

“Wait....WHAT?!” Luna inquired, astonished that Nightmare Moon of all mares seemed to be so willing to hand herself over, even when she might have the power to overthrow both the sisters. “Explain yourself!” she ordered, “What brought you to these conclusions!?”

“My main reason, I am keeping to myself,” Nightmare noted, “I already told you of that....but, my other reason is, its just simply illogical.” She cleared her throat as if to take a moment to organize her thoughts. “If there was an eternal night, it would kill everything. The temperature would drop so drastically, that eventually the whole country would turn into a gigantic icicle. And I don’t think anypony can really handle that...winter is bad enough.”

‘Got that right...’ Luna remarked inwardly, ‘Although...I had Emerald keeping me warm throughout the winter...’ That thought resulted in a very small smile spreading across her face.

“And...as for surrendering...” Nightmare paused, closing her eyes for a few moments. “I...just think its in yours and Equestria’s best interests that you just deal with me as soon as possible. I can’t survive in this world...” she trailed off for a moment, rethinking her own words. “...Correction, I can survive in this world...but its not ideal for somepony like me. Its a constant struggle to survive and I have to steal from so many others.” As she spoke, the tone of her voice seemed to hold quite a bit of honesty in it. She seemed truly genuine as she continued to speak. “You wouldn’t believe some of the things I’ve had to do this past year...I regret many of them.” It was at this point she smiled a tiny bit. “And some, I don’t regret.”

“How...do I know this isn’t just part of your evil plan?” Luna asked in a rather cliche manner. It was only after she had asked that question did she realize just how silly it was to ask. It resulted in her actually facehoofing at her own question before Nightmare broke out into a fit of laughter at her reaction.

“Did you really just...?” Nightmare cackled, trying to cover her mouth with her hoof. “I see a year in modern society still haven’t curbed some of your cliche habits.”

“S-shut up!” Luna ordered, feeling her cheeks burning with the humiliation. She still couldn’t believe what she had just done.

“In all seriousness though,” Nightmare replied, stifling a small chuckle. “The thing is, you do not. I know you will not trust me at all, which is why I will say...bring what reinforcements you desire to the old castle in three days.” she paused, her eyes narrowing just a tiny bit. “I don’t care whom you bring...but, you must be among them. Because if you do not come, I will not hesitate to take down your precious guards.” There seemed to be an air of seriousness about her words by that time. Luna could clearly see it now and it made her a tiny bit nervous. Should she risk the lives of ponies to deal with this matter? Or should she just go herself? It could be part of a very clever plan set up by the mare. One that could cost her everything she had just been rebuilding. “Oh...and if you don’t show up...I’ll come to you instead. Your choice. See you in three days Luna!” Nightmare’s image vanished entirely from the orb, leaving the princess once again alone with her thoughts.

‘What am I going to do?’ she asked herself, ‘If I go...I put my own life at risk...as well as the lives of anypony that comes with...’ she considered, just letting her eyes gaze into the now empty orb. ‘But...if I don’t...Tia will find out for sure! And certainly the lives of all the ponies here would be at risk too...’ she groaned, glancing up at the ceiling again. She didn’t know what to do, that was...until she felt a hoof on her shoulder.

“Luna...?” Emerald murmured, Luna slowly turned her head to meet his gaze. It was a rather comforting gaze too. One that seemed to bring her a great deal of ease in a moment where she needed it the most. Even his smile brought her some comfort, even though it didn’t answer her questions.

“How...much did you hear?”

“The part about the eternal night and on,” he answered, “So...she wants to surrender herself?”

“It has to be a trick!” Luna argued instantly, stomping her hoof onto the ground. “I just know it! There’s no way she would just give up!”

“But...what if she isn’t lying?” Emerald inquired, “Do we really want to risk everypony in the castle and Canterlot? Do we want to risk your sister finding out too?”

“N-No...but....”

“Then...why don’t we just take a few guards with us?” he offered, “You and I, along with a small squad should be enough.” Luna wanted to argue this, but it wasn’t such a bad idea now that she actually thought about it. “I mean, an alicorn, a three unicorns and a batpony might be enough. You know full well too just how strong Batponies really are.”

“Fighting five on one....would be very difficult even for her,” Luna stated, feeling her confidence beginning to return as she found herself actually agreeing to it. She was just surprised that Emerald had thought of it before she had. It only made a smile move across her face. “Go gather the three of your choosing!” she ordered, receiving a nod in understanding before trotting to the door again. “Oh and Emerald...” she interrupted, causing him to turn back. “I don’t know what I would do without you...I love you...”

“I love you too, Luna...”

A ray of warmth beat down on his face, forcing him to take one of his pillows and sandwich his head between them. He was met with a rush of coolness over all of his face which helped him fall back into slumber before he even woke up completely. If it wasn’t clear by then, he was tired, no, exhausted was a better word for it. His entire body felt sore and weak as he lied on his bed. As he lied there though, it became rather apparent that sleep wouldn’t come for him. At least not as he could hear a very faint sound through the pillow. To him, it almost sounded like a laugh. A giggle in fact. The type of giggle that felt rather familiar to him, yet at the same time he found he couldn’t pin down what the cause was. This in turn made him toss the pillow aside and glance around his room for the source of the sound. It was when Silver tossed the pillow aside that he squinted. Met with a large blast of light right into his face.

‘Gah! I should consider rearranging my room...’ he thought as his eyes began to adjust to the light. Thankfully this happened relatively quick, better allowing him to glance around the room. The first motion he made was for the nearby clock, taking a moment to actually figure out what time it was before he thought of anything else. His immediate response however was to slam the clock right against the nightstand as hard as he possibly could without causing too much damage. “Only seven?!” he cried, which proved to be his biggest mistake. As his voice echoed through the room it was met with a rather loud scream or cry of something else entirely.

That was a sound he hadn’t heard in many years, but it was one that had been ingrained very deeply on his memory. He knew it from having to raise his brothers for several years. It was a sound he hated very dearly and very much so even if he had become accustomed to it. Were his memories coming back to haunt him? Was it just his imagination? He didn’t think so as he could feel a headache already beginning to form from the loud wailing. “What in Tartarus?!” he exclaimed, one eye shut from the sheer volume of the wailing.

Pinpointing the sound was easy from the get-go. As there was only one thing in the room that was out of place. That was the basket right near the slightly ajar door. But how had it gotten there? That didn’t matter though, what mattered now as he knew what was in it. Not only could he see it squirming, but he could even hear it. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that a foal was in that basket and he was in for a very long morning.

Silver scrambled very quickly from his bed, tripping over the blankets as he made his way over to the basket. What his eyes met however was an entirely different story, he could feel his heart stopping as he laid his eyes on the foal in the basket. He was filled immediately with a sense of dread and fear along with a bit of panic to boot. The purple mane was enough to tip him off, but couple that with the dark blue of her coat and the filly’s golden eyes, he actually had to struggle to stay on his feet as he met the purely innocent gaze of the filly who seemed absolutely overjoyed that she was finally getting some attention. Even in his confusion, his initial instinct was to reach out and lift her from the basket as she reached back at him. He could hear the giggles coming from the filly, yet none of them seemed to register as he gazed at her.

While Silver wanted to deny it, deep down he knew just from looking at the filly once. He knew whom this filly belonged to, he didn’t even need a note to confirm the suspicions as just his first glance was enough. If her golden eyes weren’t the tipping point, it was her dark blue coat. His sense of dread and fear was soon overpowered though by something else. Something far worse that he was familiar with.

“OH SWEET CELESTIA!” he cried, having to clutch his nose with his own magic like a clothespin. ‘Is this my greeting?’ He didn’t need much indicator beyond that point as she clearly needed a diaper change and upon closer inspection a bath too. While he wasn’t really prepared for any of this, he was certain he could make due for the time being. At least until he could get everything squared away. He was never more thankful to have magic than at this particular moment too as it allowed him to not only care for the filly, but go through the basket at the same time. As he made his way to the bathroom to care for her.

He was left in an even greater dismay as from the basket a necklace fell along with a piece of paper. He took notice of this instantly, levitating both of them up to get a better look. If it wasn’t clear enough who the filly belonged to, the necklace itself seemed to tip him off even more as attached to a silver chain was a silver crescent moon.

‘Guess I DID forget to use a safety spell with her...’ he admitted to himself as he set the filly down to begin cleaning her up. Starting by removing the diaper she had been wearing. That made matters about twice as bad for him as he was met with an even more awful oder than he could handle. Enough to make his eyes water as he continued to clean her up.

It didn’t take the stallion very long to clean the filly up, having past experiences in foal care with his brothers. Even though he did lack the necessary supplies, he still found himself rather capable to clean her up completely of everything, while still being as gentle as possible with her. As he finished up though, he lifted the paper and unfolded it.
Dear Silver,

I’m certain by now you know who’s filly this is...and whom has written this letter. I know deep down you probably hate me for this, I know that you hated me before this. But...don’t focus any hatred upon your daughter, she is just an innocent filly who just happened to be caught in the middle of this. I now leave her with you though...knowing you could provide a better life for her. A happy life. It is the least I can do for her.

While I could’ve given her up to an orphanage...I decided against it and so you know...I did risk everything to get her into the castle and to you. So I ask...please...please...don’t abandon her. And while it may not mean anything coming from me...please...just please...give her a good life. That is all I want to ask of you...oh and make sure she gets that necklace...I made sure it was special for her. Tell her...that its a gift from her mother when she’s older.

One final thing too...don’t tell her who her mother is...ever. I’d rather have her go through life not knowing her mother was a monster. But...please...assure her that...her mother loves her.

With Love and Lust,

The mare you fear most.

P.S. Her name is Eclipse, and she was born on May 31st, at three forty-five in the morning. Just for your information.

P.P.S. If you do anything against my wishes in this letter...you will have nightmares for the rest of your life.

Silver felt all the life drain from his body as he read through the entire letter before very gently setting it aside. “What...have I gotten myself into?”