It was hard to see without a body. It had always been worse during the day, though—Celestia's cursed sun bounced off the snow and ice and made what little I could perceive little more than a wall of white light. It burned even with no eyes to suffer the pain.
The moon though? The moon was beautiful as it ever was. As she ever was...
Soft, silver light danced on the snow, and if I focused, I could see the four primary stars slowly winding towards my Selene.
Slowly, slowly, slowly. I could hardly wait. I would see her again.
I was once a king of a mighty, glorious empire. But more importantly, I was a poet. An artisan, an admirer of the world in which we lived. And even before I knew her, I admired her beauty. Crystal spires shine brightly in the sun and refract rainbows brilliantly, yes; but have you ever seen the moonlight refract on a diamond fountain which in sunlight would only blind you? Or have you ever witnessed the miracle that is a Lunar Rainbow—caught only at night, the softest shades of silver shimmering in a graceful arc?
Most ponies value the sun; for its sheer power and awe. Too few like myself found the grace and subtlety of the moonshine preferable. Any fool can amass power, but it takes skill to dance—set a fire alight without burning. Such delicacy, skill, grace, and beauty were the ultimate inspiration to someone as humble and lowly as I.
And such were the talents of Luna.
The sun was burning the horizon already—the northern summer cutting the night unfortunately short. I could barely see even the strongest of her stars spinning towards her prison against such ugly, brute force. But when they flashed and suddenly her visage vanished I laughed. I felt it echo across the snow and felt my buried empire tremble with it. I had no lungs to laugh nor tears to weep, yet within my soul I did both as my frozen empire cowered. Such a pity they had to suffer for this...though they were at least spared the millennium of consciousness watching a frozen waste day in and out. Without a mind steeled to their cause and unable to enjoy the night as I did it was a mercy to them to be spared what was only now a blessing to me.
But she was free. Free. It would not be long before she came for me.
I couldn't wait.
Despite possessing effective Emperor status, I was as nervous as a filly when the Royal Sisters invited me to their court. Under my gentle guidance the Crystal Empire had thrived and prospered as never before; and relations with Equestria had done so as well. I was merely here to discuss trade laws, routes, and agreements, but even so I couldn't help fussing and worrying about what I would say. What I would say to her.
What can you say to the Goddess who has inspired your greatest works? What is there to say to one who moves the stars in the heavens; what words are there for She who sets the moonlight to dance on the water?
I, Sombra Silvertongue—known among my Empire for my eloquence and prose—was at a loss for words.
And then she entered the room.
Alongside her sister she stood as a shadow. I barely heard the cordiality Celestia prattled off, for I was lost in the whorls of stars in an ethereal mane, the initial overpowering aroma of roses was cleanly washed away by gentle petrichor. She was a cool, clean breeze at dusk, abating the heat of the sun who stood in front of me.
Who was looking rather expectantly at me.
Awaiting a response.
I cleared my throat and blushed.
Though I was embarrassed, Celestia was easy enough to talk to. She gave and expected the easiest and most rigid formalities, in which I as as a member of the esteemed Metalmane families had been well versed. Almost too well, some of my advisors would say—sometimes I had half a mind to agree with them.
"Ah. Yes. My apologies, Princess Celestia. Princess Luna." I bowed deeply. Luna, standing beside and behind her sister, started at the mention of her name—I suppose her thoughts had been elsewhere. "I have come at your behest to discuss formation of a proper trade route to and from my Empire to Equestria. I am more than ready to negotiate with the two of you—it would be my pleasure to set up a line that would benefit both our nations."
Looking up, I was surprised to see Celestia casting her sister a sidelong glance, the Mare of the Moon giving the architecture a thorough looking over. Was she blushing? I couldn't tell, her complexion was so dark.
What had I missed?
She of the Sun cleared her throat noisily and drew my attention back to her. "Yes. Very well then. I shall begin discussions with you shortly in the Great Hall. Luna will be your escort. If you will excuse me, I must see to it that the servants have the proper documents ready." She turned and left abruptly. I nodded slowly.
I was elated to near the point of fainting. But something was wrong.
Why had she forgone the Royal "We?" Everything I had heard about Celestia indicated she was formal to the greatest extent. Furthermore, why had she addressed me as though we were to speak alone?
"Is...Is Celestia the only one who I will be talking to?" I voiced my thoughts before I could check them. I made to cover my mouth out of embarrassment, but Lady Luna's laugh beat me to it. It was soft and gentle, but scorn tainted it like tarnish on a silver coin.
"Yes. Our sister does not entertain the thought of Us being capable of such...complicated discourse. If We are very lucky she may let Us watch and listen to the political rabble." She snorted. I snorted. I blushed.
"I was under the impression that you ruled together, your Grace. Not that your sister treated you like some hapless foal."
She sighed and looked at the floor. Her eyes shone, but it was difficult to tell if that was her beauty or sadness that beset them.
"Many are under that impression, Silvertongue. But so few care about the details of their governance. They are simply happy enough that we—she puts the sun away at night so they can stop staring at it long enough to do such again the next day."
I snorted. "That's ludicrous. The stars are much easier on the eyes—the sun burns if you look directly at it for hardly the span of a breath. I can stare at the stars for hours, and even longer at the Moon. They're quite beautiful, you know—If I watch long enough, I can see them moving through the sky. My goodness, you should see the way the moonlight gets caught in the fountain in my courtyard, it is just—"
I stopped, unsure of where I was going any longer. Luna was no longer at my side, and I wondered briefly how lost I had gotten myself. I turned around, searching, and saw her a few paces back.
She was shaking, ever so slightly, staring intently at her hooves.
Plop.
Was that...a puddle?
Oh no.
Oh no oh no oh no no no no no no. Please, no. Not that.
I ran back to her in a panic, terrified that I could have offended her so badly. I should have known better, I should have kept my mouth shut.
"Princess Luna! are you alright? I am so sorry. What did I say?"
She sniffed, and looked up. Her eyes were wet and slightly red, but she was smiling and the happiness in them caught me off guard and flooded me with relief. She reached out and put a hoof on my shoulder.
I cannot ever possibly convey to another the beauty in her smile, nor what it did to my heart. No words are made for such things.
"Nothing, Sombra Silvertongue. Nothing that We—I have not needed to hear for far too long."
I was worried. Something was wrong—She was supposed to hold the night long enough for me to activate my crystals, free myself, and raise my Empire all at once. I would reclaim my position and rally my Crystal Knights to be her Shining Stars...but the night had barely run out the day before the sun rose once more.
Had...No. Celestia couldn't have beaten her entirely for the moon was neither stained red with anger nor damaged by fire, and I had not seen her face imprinted on her heavenly prison once more.
That worried me.
I had only started the initial releases for the curse they had lain upon me together—my magics would work slowly if I didn't get another chance that long beneath the moonlight to release them myself, but...the rune that would give me a true form. That one took the longest to activate, and I had been cut off in the middle of it. It was only partially activated, and being interrupted by the sun so frequently will cause the full activation to take months. Even years.
I'll come back with my Empire; but I'll reform very slowly and with great pain.
Even then I will be little more than a tangible shadow—a living Shade.
Luna...
Luna, help me.
The plans were set, the trap was laid. I forced myself to turn a deaf ear to the cries of my subjects as they turned the wheel to my machinations. Their suffering would not be in vain. I would refuse to let it be. But for now suffer they must, and I must not explain to them why. It hurt me to leave them as such—ignorant to the noble cause which they were key in—but I had no other choice. Too many nights had I spent consoling her gentle, tender, broken heart. Too many nights had I found her solemn and sad beneath her mask of serenity. Too many nights her sorrows only masked by formalities and her unshakable sense of duty.
The night I had dared to share some of my poetry with her, in an attempt to show her the beauty of her own night, she wept openly.
I couldn't let them do this to her anymore. They had to see, at the very least, what they were missing.
Together we had run through the plan countless times, polishing it like the finest armor or smoothest gemstone. It required only a small sacrifice on my part. I had to let myself fall.
But for Luna, the light in my night sky, I would do it. I would be the falling star upon which she cast her wish. And heavens help me I would grant it.
Research had shown us how to manipulate vast sources of magical power to one's own benefit, provided you had a strong enough link. It was her idea, though, to use the Elements. I hadn't known they were still accessible, believing they had been turned to stone with the imprisonment of the Spirit of Chaos. She explained that they took many forms, and that she and her sister still had a strong connection with them. If the two of them were to use them they'd have the strongest possible link to the strongest known reservoir of raw magical energy known to ponykind.
The only catch was getting her sister to use them.
The Elements have always required multiple bearers, from two to six, to maintain the channeling strength and they were...picky. At the moment, they had chosen the Alicorns of Day and Night to wield them—who knew who they may have chosen before or would later?—and as such they would not function without them both in a state of unified will. But if the channel was opened, Luna could quietly absorb and store away the raw energies from her share, and use them later to block the rising of the sun. When the ponies awoke they would see the night she worked so hard on—they would finally see her artistry. There was nothing wrong with liking the sun more, we had agreed—but so few even gave her night a chance. It was simply wrong for the beauty of her work to go unnoticed, let alone so unappreciated.
So we had decided.
I would turn myself to darkness and etch myself in shadow magics and treachery; she and her sister would come answer the cries of my suffering citizenry and bind me and my empire into the snow, allowing her to access the reservoir. When she had strengthened herself on the raw and unfettered magic of the Elements she would stave off the rising of the sun, and I would use the cover of night to unlock the seals on my imprisonment and together we would guid the ponies of the world into an appreciation of the night. We would fuel the Crystal Heart—now malfunctioning as a result of me feeding it corrupted magics, another unfortunate but necessary sacrifice—the wellspring of my Empire's health, and show them that the night was nothing to fear. Our reasons would be explained and I would accept whatever punishment they decided I deserved; I would even lay down my crown should my people demand it.
All of these sacrifices were worthwhile if our cause were to be met.
I had told her at our last parting how I felt. To my relief and joy she had reciprocated, and we both cried till the sun stole our privacy away from us.
From my balcony I watched the moon set as the sun rose behind me, and watched two winged shadows approaching from the south prepare a strong binding magic.
A single tear rolled down my cheek.
No, no, no! It couldn't be. She hadn't been trapped in the moon a thousand years, only to be...turned away for all that we had done this for? A thousand years of waiting and she had...no.
No, she couldn't have forgotten me.
She...she wouldn't. Not my Luna. Not Selene.
But I could see the borders of Equestria.
I could see the sun and moon rise.
Days passed. Nights passed.
Was it months? Years? How long had it been since she had been freed? Too long. She couldn't be dead or imprisoned, the moon was too bright and the stars too lively.
No...
His form barely returning, he watched as his empire slowly surged into form out of the snow frost shedding off the spires.
It had been long enough for his scarcely touched wards to reactivate fully, restoring his empire.
But only begging to restore his form.
He wept. Scarcely more than a shadow, he wept. He cried out her name, over and over. All he had done, all they had done, forgotten, lost. Her imprisonment had been unexpected, but he had been prepared to wait for her. Was...was she unwilling to do the same for him?
He roared, the sounds of her name being lost in his raw anger. He had been betrayed and forgotten. After all he had done she treated him as so many had treated her and her craft—unworthy of notice or remembrance.
She would remember, she had to. Maybe he...maybe he just hadn't tried hard enough. He hadn't played his part well enough, he had fallen too fast, too easily. That must be it. He just had to start over, do it better, remind her...remind her what he had sacrificed. That would work.
He muttered madly to himself as he slid across the snow and into the sky, ripping violently through the moonlight he had once adored. He prepared what he'd need to give himself form again, trying to trigger the Dark Crystals he had planted so long ago as he spread his shadowy flesh. Even if she no longer needed him to make the ponies recognize her night, he would make her remember him. She would come back, if he played the scene again. She had to.
She...She said she loved him.
And somewhere over the horizon, a Pegasus scout flew to his mistress, with news of the Crystal Spires...
Author's Note
Inspired in part by EuroBeatBrony's "Luna", Sonata Arctica's "My Selene" and my own personal headcannon.
