Forgotten Dawn

Luna flopped down angrily onto her bed. Her horn lit up and she telepathically slammed the double doors behind her. She wanted to be alone for a while. If her sister let her.

Ugh. Celestia was trying to take over her life! Always telling her when she could go out, when to come back in, what she should eat.... She was a complete control freak! Ever since her parents had left the scene Celestia had slowly become more and more overbearing. It's as if she thought she was a delicate glass ornament, one that would break if the light fell onto it wrongly.

She got up and looked at her reflection. Short, light blue, unwavering hair filled her eyes. Maybe if she tilted her head, just like this, it would start to roll and wave like her sisters... Nope. Celestia said that her hair gained its ethereal form after she had lived close to a thousand years, and after she spent some time understanding her Elements. Well Luna was almost five hundred, and had helped her older sister defeat both Discord and King Sombra. Shouldn't that be enough? Luna was shorter and younger than Celestia. Never quite up to the same tasks, not a regal, not as strong...

She didn't want to think about her sister right now.

Besides, she was always giving her these important jobs, which were awfully dreary, and Celestia always ended up doing them anyway. She keeps saying that she can do them better, so why not let her? Filling in her role as Princess of the Night took up too much of her time, and she needed to get out of the palace once in a while. She just wanted to spend some more time with the nice nobles that listened to what she said and wanted to hang around. Was that too much to ask? In fact, she might do that right now, and be back in time to raise the moon. Celestia would never know she'd been gone.

-*-*-***-*-*-

The ponies exited the bar, laughing so hard they had to lean on each other for support. Luna stumbled along the path, heading back to the palace. She was a bit groggy, but she knew she could make it back. She waved goodbye to the nobleponies and headed through the city. Canterlot was a big city, the biggest in Equestria, and it contained over a thousand ponies from all walks of life. With that many ponies, seeing a princess wandering around tipsy would cause quite a commotion, so she was wearing a cloak to hide her wings. No one would treat you like an equal if you're an Alicorn, so when she hit the bars she went as a normal unicorn.

She started ascending the first hill and felt her joints creak. Woah, she must have been sitting there in the bar for longer than she thought. It was starting to get dark, she really needed to get home soon to raise the moon.

Wait. This wasn't the way back. Luna turned around and saw that she was not where she thought she was. The road had diverged into three, and she couldn't tell which one she came from. They all looked exactly the same! She was lost.

It was starting to get close to full night, with the last of the sunset fading away, and the few ponies that had been out and about were gone into their homes to rest. If she was lucky, she could just fly up and see the palace somewhere in the distance. First she'd raise the moon and then she could head on home, and hopefully her sister would not be there waiting for her, watching her with a disapproving eye. Luna lit her horn and tapped into the magical Flow. Unicorns channeled magic from the Flow of All Things, the horn was just their way of sensing it. A unicorns magical ability was based on how wide they could open a channel. Luna's channel was as wide as a lake, and she had no problem guiding the moon out from under the horizon. Luna turned and prepared to open her wings to flyaway but stopped when she saw the three ponies watching her.

It was no problem, she would simply find a quiet alley somewhere away from the tipsy looking stallions...

"Woah woah woah, where'd you think you're going, little unicorn? Too young to do a teleport spell home? We saw some o' that magic there before but it mustn't have worked, or you wouldn't still be here. Does a nice lady like yourself need help getting home?"

The two earth ponies and the unicorn started to walk closer to her, stepping confidently, spreading out to cut off potential escape routes. They looked to be shady, dishonest ponies and Luna had no intentions of going anywhere with them. She turned quickly and headed off down a side street.

"Oh come now little pony! Maybe your parents will give us a nice reward for finding you! We'll take you back somewhere safe. Don't try any funny magic or some little pony might have to get hurt."

The stallion's breath smelled heavily like alcohol, and his friends guffawed at his slurred words. They stepped closer, and Luna realized that the alley she'd gone into ended with the rocky sloped of the mountain. Houses cluttered the sides and their awnings blocked out the sky above. She couldn't fly away and the three ponies were drawing closer. One was a unicorn and he pulled out a knife with dark green magic. Luna started to panic.

"Just stay still little pony, and you can go home as soon as we're done with you..."

Luna screamed and the whole world went to hell.

She ducked under the knife on the first swing, but missed it on the return. Dark blood spurted out from her shoulder. She bucked the fast approaching earth pony into the ground. She heard a crunch and he cried out. The second earth pony ran into her and she fell to the ground. He put all his weight onto her form, and she cried out as he started to stomp on her.

"You..."

"Will..."

"Be..."

"Quiet!"

Each word was punctuated with a stomp, and Luna felt her ribs crack and one of her wings dislocate. Her vision swam with red, and she coughed blood onto her attackers face. She managed to bite down onto his mane after the next blow. He cried out as she pulled, and didn't let go. After a few seconds there was a terrible ripping sound, and the splatter of chunks of flesh, as Luna tore off the earth pony's hair and a chunk of his scalp. His cry turned into a scream and he fell off her, blood coursing down his neck. Luna stumbled up just as the unicorn reached to slash her again with his knife. Luna lit her horn and struggled to take the knife out of the green glow. She was injured and weak, and he was determined and angry. He quickly opened his channel wider to the Flow, and cut a shallow line across her cheek. He grinned like a maniac and she backed up, cringing. The unicorn and the first earth pony closed in on her, reeking of blood and sweat, and the earth pony grabbed her horn in his mouth and pulled her to the ground. Luna screamed again and fought weakly against his hold, trying desperately to escape what she knew was coming next. The unicorn licked his lips and-

-Was sent flying backwards by a blast of magical light. A figure made of fire descended and the earth pony was caught up in a golden glow. He screamed as the figure snapped his neck. The groaning earth pony on the ground tried to stand up but was obliterated by another beam of fire. The unicorn dragged his broken body away from the terrible figure, and galloped away as fast as he could.

The figure gently let go of the flames and reached out towards the young Alicorn. Celestia picked up her sister gently, trying not damage her further. Luna whimpered and tried to look at her sister before the darkness filled her eyes. She managed to make out a look of kindness.

"Oh Luna... No pony is ever going to hurt you again, I promise."

Luna fell asleep in her sister's arms as she spread her wings and tore a path of light through the dark skies of Canterlot.

-*-*-***-*-*-

She woke up with a gasp, and cringed at the feeling of something sharp digging into something soft inside. She looked around and saw she was in the palace infirmary. Bandages were wrapped around her whole torso but they looked white, so the bleeding had stopped at least. The art of healing had not changed much since the first ponies had gotten injured or sick, so any injury could be fatal. Luna was lucky she was an Alicorn and could heal much faster than the standard pony. Didn't mean it wasn't going to hurt though.

A few minutes later Celestia herself walked through the door, and she brought with her a look of extreme anger.

"Luna."

Luna burst into tears.

"I'm so sorry sister! I didn't mean for anything to happen! It was a mistake! I-"

"Thou hast made a terrible mistake indeed. For this I am stripping you of all your titles, all your lands and your family name. You will spend this time in the dungeon after you have sufficiently healed. There you shall stay for one week until you have learned your lesson. A pony as young as you should not sneak out of the palace, go drinking and then wander around the city. My word is law."

Luna could only stare at her sister in shock. Imprisonment? For sneaking out of the palace? What had happened to her sister?

"Sister! Hast thou no kindness?"

Celestia walked out of the room and did not look back.

-*-*-***-*-*-

Deep within the bowels of the crystal caverns, in a room sealed by the strongest of magics, stood six gemstones, each gleaming of a different color. One started to shake, and dark seams spread out across its surface. Dark crystal growths stood out on its gleaming surface, and then the room was still once more.

-*-*-***-*-*-

Far above in the highest tower of Canterlot palace, Celestia felt the touch of an ancient magic leave her. Consumed with anger, she paid it no mind. She could not get distracted. She had a country to run.