The Forgotten Prince

Chapter I: A Song from a Weeping Heart

A sight for many ages considered to be of infinite inspiration for poets and songwriters to work on marvellous, elaborate grand masterpieces: the full moon shone radiantly on the horizon, far by the mountains and above the sleeping magical land of Equestria. Its pale, soothing light lulled all the diurnal critters as they slept during this so prized hour dedicated to rest, while the nocturnal ones went out hunting and playing under the astounding starry sky.

On the balcony of the highest tower of the castle of Canterlot sat lonely the princess of the night, attending to her millenary duty of looking after the safety of her subjects during the darkest hour of the day, which she had done flawlessly ever since her return from banishment in the moon, and to her former self with the help of the Elements of Harmony.

This night, however, she was finding herself rather overwhelmed by an unexplained sense of loneliness, which kept drawing her attention away from the guarding position, and to the white face of the moon she had raised hours ago. Although it did not look any different from what she had seen innumerable times before, let alone the fact that she had even lived there for one thousand years, its plain sight forced her into experiencing an inquiring, but bitter longing, like it held the key to unlock some memories of her past she had once praised for keeping at all costs.

“What is it?” she silently muttered to herself “What could I have possibly forgotten that is now calling back?”

Out of the absolute calmness of this peaceful night, a familiar voice sounded, in a gentle tone, coming from behind the blue princess, startling her a bit.

“It’s a lovely night, my dear sister.”

Luna turned her head around, immediately catching a glimpse of her elder sister, who was standing by the doorway to the balcony.

“Celestia! What are you doing awake this late? You should be resting, you’ll have to raise the sun in a few hours!”

“I’m sorry if I startled you, Luna.” She approached and sat beside her, staring up at the sky. “It’s just that I’ve always loved your nights. You have no idea how much I’ve missed the way you arranged the constellations while you were gone.”

Luna felt a bit at unease. That was not the first time Celestia came to the balcony to talk with her and compliment her nights, but she usually did so right after sundown, before she went inside to her room. Why would she unexpectedly decide to visit her in the middle of the night?

Since Luna got back to her former self, she vowed to do her best to show her sister that she could take on her old duties without complaining for the lack of attention she would receive from their subjects. However, Celestia seemed to insist that she would supervise her younger sister’s work, like she did not know what she was doing; like she was an irresponsible foal or... like she doubted that she had really forgotten about her previous attempt to bring ever-lasting night.

Luna shrugged her thoughts away. Surely her sister knew better than anypony that Nightmare Moon was no longer within her, that her heart was not consumed by envy anymore. That was not the reason she had come tonight. But then, what?

“You seem a bit distracted, Luna,” Celestia interrupted her thoughts “is everything alright?”

Luna faltered as soon as she noticed her sister’s concerned eyes focused on her.

“I-it’s nothing...” She could not hide her unrest, for she was now recalling the previous longing the very moon brought her. Unaware of her perceptible distraction, she was staring at its round, pale face again.

Celestia noticed her sister’s distant expression and felt preoccupied. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Upon opening them again, she glared at the moon with a modest smile on her face to hide her worry.

“Do you still remember them, Luna? Mother and father?”

Luna trembled at the sudden question. She had spent so much time lately trying to recall something that she had long forgotten that she had not yet realised just how much she missed her parents, and how rarely she thought about them. It made her feel miserable to think how she must have been a horrible daughter for not remembering her deceased parents more often.

“It’s all right if you can’t,” the elder sister pulled her out of her thoughts, once again “after all, you were just a little filly who had barely learned to fly.” She chuckled warmly.

“I... do remember that day, however...” Luna said with a gloomy expression on her face. Her words made Celestia share the same sadness.

Celestia was not much older than Luna, only enough to had understood better what had happened that fateful day, when the two young princesses lost both of their parents, along with a great number of their race. It was all very clear in the elder sister’s head, even today, more than a thousand years later, and she would sometimes find herself having nightmares about it.

They had awaken to the people of the three common races screaming in pure horror and agony in the city surrounding the old castle where they used to live. Reports of the same unknown threat arrived from throughout the land, as it was rapidly spreading all over the existing realms.

The royal families, made up by the blessed ancient race of the alicorns and only the most powerful unicorns, had vowed to protect their people, and prepared themselves for the imminent battle.

Celestia and Luna’s parents, prince Nebula and princess Galaxia, hid their two daughters in the safety of the castle, with guards in every corner, before they too took off to combat. That would have been the last time the royal couple was ever seen.

Celestia can only recall with great sorrow the painful memory that she considers to be the worst moment of her foalhood.

By the end of that day, when darkness utterly filled the skies, bringing no moon nor stars, but a mitigating atmosphere, and a bizarre calm after the battle, two guards opened the doors to the chamber where the two princesses had been bunkered.

A scared Luna was curled up on the floor, shaking against her sister’s body, who was also lying down, covering her younger sister with one wing. She had remained alert the whole time, hence she widened her eyes and her expression lit up a bit as the two sentinels trespassed the threshold into the room.

However, their immediate silence and mournful expressions took away Celestia’s hopeful smile, as she knew what it meant. Tears began to form under her innocent, rose eyes.

“Your highnesses...” one of the guards finally spoke up “I’m afraid to inform you that your parents have... perished, during the battle. They’ve fought bravely, but... the evil was too greater. No remains of either of them could be found. I’m terribly sorry, princesses.”

Celestia cried for many hours straight, as she felt the bitter end of her foalhood and innocence. Luna just sobbed inconsolably, pressing her muzzle further against Celestia’s coat.

Finally, the elder sister managed to make an effort and swallow her tears. She had to be strong, for she would responsible for her sister and their entire kingdom from now on. Even all alone, she had to behave like a true leader, if not for their parents, or for their people... at least for Luna.

It hurt to just think about it, but if there was anything positive from these memories, Celestia would point out definitely the fact that it had brought her and sister even closer. Their fraternal love had grown so wide that their combined powers had proven to surpass every single threat they would encounter, such as the frightful King Sombra or the mischievous spirit of chaos, Discord, bringing harmony wherever they went. With these accomplishments, the people would eventually proclaim the two alicorn sisters as the rulers of the entire land, recently named Equestria.

They all lived merrily and peacefully for years, until the princess of the night started to grow jealous of her elder sister, because of the attention she and the sun she raised were getting, while she was being almost completely ignored. As the envy finally took over her being, she transformed into a new entity: Nightmare Moon.

That would have been another painful moment for the princess of the sun, as she had promised herself to protect her younger sister, yet she had found herself forced to imprison her away from the people her malevolent counterpart sought to harm, keeping her captive in her own celestial body.

That was the very first time the two sister fought against each other, and, as a result, her fraternal bond broke, and the power of harmony would be no longer under the control of either of them, materialising itself in the form of six charmed amulets, which awaited to be found by their most suitable heirs.

Celestia became aware of Luna’s expression and understood that, through her bafflement, her sister also shared the same pain every time she tried to remember all that they had both been through. She unfolded a wing over Luna’s back, as the younger sister looked up at her.

“We’ve been through so much, Luna...” Celestia sighed “but the important thing is that we’re together now. I promise I’ll never let you down again, my dear sister.”

They remained sat on the balcony, contemplating the dark sky in deep silence for a few more minutes. The two sisters felt now more close to each other than ever. Luna was finding the warmth of Celestia’s body very comforting, for it ensured that she was there for real.

The elder sister folded back her wing, and stood up unhurriedly.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” she asked again.

“Yes, you don’t need to worry about me, sister. Now please go to sleep, it’ll be dawn soon.”

With that, they exchanged the “good nights”, and Celestia headed back inside.

Luna lied when she said she was fine, for her mind was continuously struggling in an attempt to remember something that, so far, only the sight of the full moon seemed to help recalling. It was not a memory of their parents, for those she remembered quite well, actually, despite not putting much effort in recalling them. Maybe it was something related to the night itself?

Her mind drifted back to the day she got her cutie mark, the day she discovered her power to control the moon and raise the night. Unlike her sister when she had discovered her ability to control the sun, Luna’s talent had passed nearly unnoticed to the people of their kingdom, as well as all of the land.

Their mother, queen Galaxia, used to say to her that, though everypony seemed to be inactive and lazy at night, not paying too much attention to it, the darkest hour of the day was still as much important as the day itself, for it was the time to rest and dream, and that she could visit anypony’s dreams to see all the marvellous wonders that awaited there.

One night, however, shortly after Luna had raised the moon, she decided to go fly around the boundaries of the castle for a while, when she came upon a flock of bats coming out of nowhere, startling her and knocking her down.

The young filly fell from such a great altitude, without being able to recover balance, since she had hardly learned to fly. For a moment, she actually thought she was going to die.

But she didn’t... something, or better yet, somepony, had saved her right before she hit the ground. A flying pony, about the same age as she. Much to her regret, any further details surrounding this mysterious pony failed to her memory.

Luna gasped, still wondering.

“Who was him?”

A single word came up spontaneously to her head: “friend”.

It was not until that exact moment that she realised she used to have a foalhood friend. Perhaps she had never told her sister or their parents about him.

Now that she was thinking about it, they actually had met more than once, in the same hill he had saved her from falling to certain death. Every night he would be there waiting for her, and they would talk, and play, and laugh together. And in the end, he would always promise to come back... until one night he failed to that promise.

But what still bothered her was that, as much as she tried, she could not remember any of his traits, nor even his name. She turned to the face of the moon again, hoping it would give her more answers.

A soft breeze ran through her mane, flipping it graciously and caressing her cheeks, as a voice from the heart sang a sentimental melody.

“These nights used to be so full of wonders

Under the sky, a filly princess would play

Alone with herself, with no friends

But the stars in the wide dark veil

One night, another soul she had found

Before a twisting moment of destiny

He would not let her go down

Such kindness should be remembered dearly

Somepony to talk to

Somepony to play with

They swam the same moonlit waters

They flew through the same dark sky

Somepony who, in the end,

She could call a friend

He would not let her fall

Would not abandon her at all

He wiped away her tears

And scared away her fears

For many nights they had met at the hill

Laughing and playing in their youth’s thrill

At dawn he’d part with a promise of returning

Till one night none of him was ever heard or seen

Somepony to talk to

Somepony to play with

They swam the same moonlight waters

They flew through the same dark sky

Somepony who, in the end,

She could call a friend

Somepony who, in the end,

She could call a friend...”

One small, simple tear formed in her eye and streamed slowly down her cheek. She was suddenly feeling alone in a way she had never felt before, and it devastated her just to think that she had such a dear friend and now she was not able to even remember his name. Or perhaps... he had abandoned her, for some reason. But why?

“Oh, what am I going to do?” she asked herself quietly, as the tear dropped lonely on the cold stone floor.

In Ponyville, every house had its lights out for hours while its inhabitants slept, except for one. The tree house library in the centre of town had still some activity going on inside, in the room of the top floor, particularly.

Twilight Sparkle had decided to do some late night lecture, without realising just how late it was, and that all the lights on were bothering Spike’s sleep, as he got up clearly annoyed and exhausted.

“Twilight! When are you going to give those books a rest and come to bed?”

“In a minute, Spike!” she answered promptly, not even looking away from the page she was on.

“Ugh... you said that one hour ago. And one hour before that! This is going through all night! Please, pleeease would you just come to bed and turn off the lights at once?”

“Hmm... alright! I think I’ve had a good advance in my reading, anyway.”

Spike sighed in relief and dropped his head heavily on the pillow. She turned off the lights and whispered “good night” to the young dragon’s ear, who was already snoring and utterly unresponsive.

She then laid down on her bed between the comfortable sheets and looked through the window, admiring how Princess Luna’s moon looked so beautiful and full that night.

Only then had she realised just how tired she was, as she took a big, wide yawn, and felt her eyelids weighty. She closed them and thought about the big party she had promised Pinkie to attend to in the next morning, where all their friends would be as well. Before she could even notice, she had already fallen asleep profoundly.

She had the strangest dream, that night; one that could very well be described as an actual nightmare, if not a omen of events yet to happen, that is, if Twilight were a superstitious pony.

At first, she found herself swirling uncontrollably inside of what seemed to be a massive interdimensional vortex. Intense lights and deafening indistinctive noises disorientated her, until it all finally stopped, all of a sudden, and she felt solid land beneath her hooves.

Upon a first glimpse, she recognised herself in the middle of a sinister, deserted street, where it rained torrentially. However, she could not help but to find her surroundings quite familiar... and right she was: it was the Crystal Empire, only it was severely different from how she remembered it, ever lively and bright, now so awfully quiet and dark.

As she turned around, she immediately spotted a faint shimmer, reflected by a rather peculiar object, laying on the paved floor in the centre of the street she was on, where the rain water had quickly rose a scarce centimetres from the ground. She walked over to it and carefully picked it up with both her hooves, inspecting the large metallic piece, dripping water from its edges.

What she held before her eyes appeared to be an odd-looking black mask, without a single orifice for eyes, nostrils or mouth, carved with some strange symbols, perhaps some ancient runes, she thought.

The metal it was made of did not feel like any Twilight could remember by the touch, though it was quite hard, but also very light. But most intriguing of all were its dimensions: an incredibly wide maxillary edge, apparently meant to attach to some proper neck piece, added to such a spacious inside it would still feel loose to anypony she could think of, even Big Mac or Princess Celestia.

Beyond the bizarre and somewhat frightening faceless appearance of this mask, she could have sworn it was staring at her, trying to communicate through silent whispers. A thought that was starting to break through her over-rational mind and sent an unpleasant chill down her spine.

Twilight awoke in the next morning as normally as she could pretend. She got up from bed and stretched a little, before going to the bathroom to wash her face and arrange herself for the day. When she finished combing her hair and exited the bathroom, Spike was still asleep, but she could not bring herself to wake him up, since he was still a baby and she knew very well he needed his due time to rest in order to grow up healthy. Soon, she had already put behind her back all about her previous dream.

She did, however, notice something rather unusual: it was still dark in her room, which she thought it was strange, since, by that time, the sun should have been already raised, and its rays shining through the chinks in the curtains. She walked over to the window and opened it gently. What she saw then made her agape in absolute mystification, as she could not believe what was right before her eyes. She was not even able to explain it to herself.

A thick, grey fog utterly covered Ponyville, making it difficult to see the most nearby houses sharply, which were nothing but big, dark silhouettes from where she was looking, and it was freezing outside, as she felt a chilly gust of wind unpleasantly hitting her face the moment she put her nose outside the window frames.

But most strange of all was that it was impossible to discern if it was already day or still night. The bright solar sphere was nowhere to be seen, yet the sky seemed scarcely illuminated, so it was nothing like night time at all, neither.

Twilight knew better than anypony that only princess Celestia and princess Luna could control the daytime and the night time, respectively, and that the two of them were supposedly the most powerful ponies alive. So why, then, would such a sudden bizarre phenomenon occur? She began to worry badly.

“Wha... what’s going on here?”