Forgotten Dawn

Luna realized several things at once.

The first was that she wasn't dead, but that was an obvious one. She could see some glorious stars around the edges of her vision and they looked marvelous.

The second thing was that whatever evil had consumed her sister had completely taken over and turned her into a murderous, psychopathic deity. It was something she didn't have the capacity, and didn't want to, think about right now.

The third thing was that if she wanted to continue thinking the first thing, she'd have to come up for air because they weren't stars she was seeing but bubbles, and a very painful band of fire was gripping her chest. Alicorns were not invincible, but they could survive a hundred foot drop off a cliff into a pool of water.

As she had just learned.

She broke the surface of the water with a large gasp for air, and quickly flew towards the shore. Canterlot was quite high off the ground and was therefore subject to high winds, making it impossible for her to fly back up there in her current condition. On the plus side, it blocked out all of the noise and the only way she could tell Canterlot was there at all was a faint red glow.

Luna was shivering, her hair ran in thick strands across her face, and it felt like she had just been repeatedly smacked in the face for fifteen minutes. She sat down heavily on the shoreline and took deep, definitely not panicking breaths. She was cold, hungry, possibly injured, and really felt like falling asleep. She wasn't a grown up pony yet, despite what she had been telling everyone. It was all too hard. Ponies were probably expecting her to take back the city, fight Phaedra to the death and reclaim the throne. She couldn't do any of those thing! Her talent was raising the moon, that was it! There was nothing really special about her, apart from the fact that if you wanted to defeat her all you'd have to do was sit on her. A large majority of ponies had never really seen the Princess of the Night before, and probably assumed she was just like Celestia.

Head down, defeated, Luna turned away from the small red glimmer and headed away from the only home she had ever known. The sun, which had only just set about an hour ago, started to rise again.

It was going to be a different kind of day.

Luna danced among the stars with Celestia, just like they did hundreds of years ago when they looked mostly the same. Celestia looked more care free laughing and jumping among the stars than Luna had seen her in a long time. Celestia faded away from view, and was replaced with three gemstones of which Luna was very familiar.

"My elements..."

The three gemstones shone brightly at the words, as a sort of confirmation. Luna felt a presence in her mind.

"It is we. I am Honesty..."

"Laughter..."

"And Magic..."

Wish each announcement Luna felt different kinds of raw energy flow across the dreamscape. One felt like the most joyous experience in existence. Another felt so real and raw Luna thought she could see forever. The last kind coated the other two and yet remained mostly in the background. It filled her with understanding and passion. There were also glimmers of other Flows, different streams that made Luna want to share the whole world, help every single creature and die for the noblest of causes. They were all tied to each other in a large mesmerizing knot of Magic. Luna could not help but feel dwarfed by the experience. The six Flows spoke as one.

"You have more strength than you will ever believe. We are the Essence of Harmony, the Ones Who were There, and the Predecessors of Time. Remember what you represent, and why you were Chosen to bear some of Us. Your life is not without difficulty and heart is not yet set, but in Time all things are Known. We will always be here to Guide you."

With those powerful words Luna was lifted into the Flows and cast high above the clouds of the dreamscape, up out of the world, and circled the globe of the Earth. She was washed and cleansed with the pure energy of all the Elements, and she narrowed her eyes. There was no room in her new form for selfishness and she felt she could take down all evil and Disharmony. She rapidly shot downwards towards the unforgiving landscape.

She managed a grin.

Luna's head shot up from where it had been resting on her foreleg, which she then shook to get the blood flowing again. Resolved, she stood up with a determined look on her face, face appearing out of the undergrowth. Right into the view of the Celestial Guard patrol. All of her resolve left her and her injuries came rushing back to meet her. She sagged. Phaedra had probably sent them after her to be captured and imprisoned, or worse executed. It helped if she thought Phaedra and Celestia were different ponies. She couldn't fight off an entire patrol. She waited for them to grab her, eyes tightly shut-

And no attack came.

Luna opened her eyes and looked at the Celestial Guard a bit more closely. They were the traditional white and brown unicorns and pegasus, and wore the same armor. What made her mouth open in shock was their eyes. They emitted a light so strong that to look directly into them would risk blindness. She was also quite certain that they were blind, otherwise she would be bound up in a cart headed straight to the palace in Canterlot.

Canterlot...

That was where she was headed next. While feeling she was not up to the task, Luna had a duty to fulfill to the Canterlotians and all Equestirans, to keep them safe and protect them. Phaedra was probably doing horrible things to them, killing their families and forcing the survivors to work on more of her horrible projects. If she was willing to transform her royal guard into blind drones then what limits did she have? There was also something there that she needed. Something locked away in the deepest crystal caves...

Luna quietly melded into the brush and scampered away from the guards. She had a country to save.