Royal Vault of Magic Artifacts
May 1, 10:26 A.M.
All went quiet. Nothing moved. No sound was heard. Time itself stood still around the three ponies in the demolished chamber. Here, in the place where events of the past were memorialized, the very future of all Equestria hung in the balance.
The significance of the moment wasn’t lost on Sky. His heart was pounding in his chest. He was so thoroughly drenched in sweat that he felt as though he had just come in from a rainstorm. His legs trembled and his teeth chattered. He was overcome with a sudden welling of emotions.
Most of which, Sky realized, he didn’t understand.
A desperate sense of longing. The urge to ask a thousand questions, even though he could think of none. A resurgence of duty and honor that set his mind ablaze. An overwhelming surge of joy accompanying a crippling sense of shame. But one feeling cut through all the others, like a hot knife through butter.
Above all, it was a sense of finality. Of fulfillment. A realization that all the pieces had finally come together, and all the parts that had to be played had come full circle. And here and now, something (or perhaps many things) would come to an end.
Sky’s heart panged with pity. He knew that feeling. It was the call of destiny; the inescapable reality that all things come to an end. Sky had faced it twice before: once against the Chimera in the Painted Forest, and then again in the fields outside Foalumbus where he had finally defeated the monster. The call existed as the moment that one is confronted with the end of an appointed road. The climax of a journey. It did not necessarily signify death, but it often did. Fortunately for him, Sky had never had to face the call in regard to his own mortality.
But this time, it was different. This time, a life would end. At least one of the three ponies standing in this chamber would not be leaving alive.
Is this it? Sky wondered. Is this my ultimate fulfillment? Where my purpose for living comes to an end? Maybe that’s why everything’s been falling apart around me. Because the last thing to fall is me.
The stern voice of Princess Luna cut through his contemplations. “Ghost? Blitz? What in the name of the Founders is going on down here?”
“Princess Luna,” Sky stammered. “What…what are you doing here? Didn’t Nova tell you to seal off this chamber?”
“Nova?” Luna asked, regarding Sky with a look of confusion. “I never saw Nova.”
“But how—”
“Discord told me to come here,” Luna answered him before he could finish. “He said it was urgent, though he did not expound in any greater detail. It seems as though he was right, at least in some regards.”
Discord. His mind cleared with the heat of his anger. If Discord’s betrayed us and this all goes to rot, I swear I’ll deal with him before it’s all said and done. “Princess, you need to go,” Sky said, ignoring the warning in his head against giving orders to a monarch. “It’s dangero—”
But Ghost cut him off. “Princess Luna!” he shouted, and the joy in his voice was undeniable. “At last, you’ve come! I knew it!” He quickly reined in his enthusiasm and turned around, shuffling through a pile of debris before revealing the shards of Nightmare Moon. He bowed as he presented the armor fragments to the alicorn. “Princess, I am the descendant of Storm Emblem, your servant of old. Throughout all the years, my family has been eagerly awaiting the day when you would return and we could restore to you that which should have been yours.”
At first, Luna’s look was one of horror as she instantly recognized the shards of her former self. But she quickly mastered herself, though her discomfort was still apparent. “Ghost, what is this? What are you doing with those?”
“Princess, I have seen the decay of Equestria with my own eyes,” Ghost explained, never raising his head from its bowed position. “Your sister has allowed the greatness of this land to crumble. Our enemies plot against us and have nearly overthrown us on multiple occasions. I believe that a change is in order. And you are that change.”
Sky’s voice failed him. He could only listen in despair as Ghost gleefully recounted his plan to the startled princess. “Celestia’s path of peace and light will only end in ruin. A thousand years ago, you sought to rule Equestria by the strength of darkness. But instead of being willing to try a different way, she banished you for challenging her established rule, ineffective as it was.” He finally raised his eyes, and a vengeful light flickered from his pupils. “Now is the time for you to prove how wrong she was. Take what is yours, Princess Luna.” His voice grew soft, but its words rippled with power. “No…more than a princess. Queen Luna.”
And Sky watched in utter disbelief as his beloved princess’ eyes seemed to glaze over and she began to approach Ghost’s offering. “My rightful place,” she whispered, as though lost in a reverie. “Did Celestia fear me? Perhaps she was right to. Perhaps I should show her just how right she was.” Her hoof extended toward the Shards, which seemed to be stretching out a dark magic tendril in response.
Suddenly, a voice cried out desperately in Sky’s mind. “Help her! Say something! Don’t let this happen!”
Sky was too terrified to think of something eloquent, so he merely shouted the only three words that would come to mind. “Princess Luna, NO!”
Thankfully, they were enough.
Luna started, her eyes focusing on her outstretched hoof, which she quickly drew back in surprise. “Princess, don’t listen to him,” Sky pleaded. His leg had begun to throb again where the crystals had struck him, and a quick glance revealed that several of the crystals had indeed come dislodged, leaving small trickles of blood running from the open wounds. Of course, his body as a whole was in pain, but he had more pressing issues to deal with. “Princess Luna, I’ve seen what happened one thousand years ago. I have felt firsthoof exactly how Celestia suffered every day because of that one fateful tragedy. And I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that Celestia needs you. But what’s more,” Sky continued, and the familiar feeling of having words he couldn’t explain rose yet again, “is that I think you need Celestia, too. At the end of every day, the night comes. And at the end of every night, the day comes. And even in the day, there is shade. And in the night, the stars and moon shine their lights. Neither exists entirely separate from the other. I guess you could say that the day and the night…they’re sisters.”
Luna simply stared for a few seconds after Sky finished. He held his breath. That sounded good and all, but did it mean anything?
But at last, Luna’s expression softened. She bowed her head with a sigh. “Even after a thousand years, a war still wages. Will the past continue to haunt me? Is there no peace to be had even after a millennium?”
“Don’t run from the past,” Ghost cooed, and Sky saw his horn light up ever-so-subtly. “The past is the answer to the present. The only mistake from a thousand years ago was that the ponies of Equestria did not recognize that you were right.” He inched the shards closer to the princess. “Perhaps now they will understand what they did not then.”
“You’re right,” Sky answered quickly. “We shouldn’t run from the past. It happened, and nothing can change that. But it’s called the past for a reason. It’s behind us. We don’t get an opportunity to redo or undo it, but we have a responsibility to remember it and learn from it.” Sky’s legs unexpectedly carried him forward until he was right in front of the princess. He looked up into her sad eyes, and, feeling his own wave of grief, raised his hoof to her chin. “I’ve heard you talk about the Equestria of today; how it is a place of such harmony and love, where ponies get along and genuinely care about each other. And I’ve seen that look in your eyes that says just how much you truly believe that you belong here.”
Luna’s gaze locked with his. Behind him, Sky could hear Ghost seething with rage. “You once told me that, much like the great blue expanse above me, I’m far too special to be defined by one bad event. Well, Princess, I’m here to tell you the same thing. The night is too beautiful and wondrous to be defined by one bad event. Bad nights happen, but they also pass.” A lonely tear streamed down Luna’s cheek, and a sudden compulsion sent Sky’s hoof from her chin to her cheek, where he caught it. “Don’t rob the good ponies of Equestria of the night they’ve come to love and cherish.”
“Your mind has fallen victim to Celestia’s propaganda, Blitz,” Ghost muttered. “Only she could try to twist the tale of Nightmare Moon into a bad thing.”
Sky snapped his head around just enough to see Ghost out of the corner of his eye. “And when was the last time any nightmare was a good thing?” Sky countered angrily. He turned again to Luna. “Princess, tell me, which truly brought you more fulfillment: the chance to rule alone, or the chance to chance to help hundreds of ponies that look to you for guidance?”
He didn’t have time to react. Sky felt himself lift off the floor just as the pain from Ghost’s magic blast registered. He careened headfirst through the air until he crashed into a precariously-placed stack of debris, which collapsed onto him as he lay on the floor.
He slowly rose to his hooves. He was legitimately angry now, but he was managing to hold it in check. Sky knew what hatred and fury felt like, and this wasn’t it. Every word Ghost spoke was an insult to the intelligence and decency of every pony in Equestria, and Sky wasn’t about to stand for it. As he staggered forward, a thousand words of defiance raced to the tip of his tongue, just waiting for the chance to be the one to tell Ghost what Sky thought of him.
But, much to Sky’s surprise, his voice didn’t respond. It wasn’t that his mouth was dry, or his throat was sore, or his tongue was sticking to the roof of his mouth. It was just as if his voice was…gone.
“I think we’ve heard enough of Celestia’s nonsense,” Ghost said, and Sky saw the unicorn’s horn glowing menacingly. “We don’t need any more ridiculous statements than necessary.”
Sky’s face twisted into a furious scowl. Stealing away his voice…Ghost was playing dirty—even for him. But what could he do? To attack Ghost without being able to further justify his actions might drive Luna’s wavering spirit over to the darkness. But if Ghost was able to continue his dissertation unabated, then she would certainly fall. He hadn’t realized how important his voice was until it was gone.
“Celestia has always portrayed herself as the bearer of light within Equestria,” Ghost cooed to the princess, picking up where he had left off, “but even she casts a shadow…and she’s made sure that you’re always standing in it.” He began to pace, and Sky saw his eyes twinkle in genuine delight as they passed by Sky’s silent form. “How long will you allow that injustice to stand? As long as Celestia persists, you are doomed to play second fiddle to her, never permitted to rival her glory and her power. But I know the truth…and so do you. She cannot hold you back forever. The time has come, Princess. Become who you were born to be.” He once again lifted the Shards of Nightmare Moon before the eyes of Princess Luna.
Sky could only watch in horror and fight to break the spell on his voice. He dropped his head and shook it violently, trying to dislodge whatever Ghost had put in his throat. But while nothing came loose, as Sky ceased wagging his head, his eyes fell upon a patch of royal blue underneath a bit of wreckage. And suddenly, he knew what to do.
One last hope.
Luna’s eyes darted back and for the between the two stallions, struggling with her inner demons. But as she turned to Sky for the fifth or sixth time, her gaze halted and locked onto the young pegasus. He held one hoof in the air, and upon it rested a glimmering badge of jewels, shining, as it seemed, of its own accord. A crescent of diamonds stood in punctuated contrast to a single black opal. Anypony in Equestria would have recognized the symbol instantly, but to the Princess of the Night, it was more than just a familiar emblem: it was the sign of her very existence.
Her pupils were dilated and her lower jaw sagged so that her mouth hung open. Sky could see his own reflection in her widening eyes. But Sky’s attention was too devoted elsewhere to really take notice. He filled his entire magical presence with a sense of faith and belief in his beloved princess. His magic was his voice. And without a word or a sound, as the emblem of Luna’s cutie mark rested on his outstretched hoof, it relayed the most important message of his life.
This is who you are.
A quiet, almost hesitant voice spoke within his mind. “Leave the past behind, I suppose?”
No, Sky replied. Don’t return to the past, but don’t forget about it. Carry it with you.
It was a hard lesson to learn. Sky knew it perhaps better than most. So often, he had been ashamed of his own failure to defeat the Chimera at the Painted Forest, where he had given in to his hatred. It had nearly cost him his life. And again, when facing Nighthawk in the Everfree Forest, he had come within a hair’s breadth of killing a pony whose only fault was that he was a pawn; merely a victim of the selfsame nemesis that stood before him now. Sky’s passion and intensity had pushed him to the brink on several occasions. And only by the virtue of a series of miracles had he survived the encounters with his integrity intact.
Even so, Sky thought as he stared into the eyes of Princess Luna, in my darkest moments, I can see the good that came out of them. They are moments I am not proud of, but that is the reason I need to keep them with me. They show me my weakness. They let me know of my own shortcomings. They make me aware of those ways in which I am most susceptible to failure, so that I can strengthen myself against them in the future.
He smiled, heedless of the stinging sensation it caused in his nose. Now I know why Celestia told me what she did when I joined the Alicorn Guard. Moving forward doesn’t mean that we leave the past behind. It means that we move into the future on the foundation set by the past. We don’t live by going backwards; we just build upon what’s behind us.
The voice of his unseen companion hesitated for a moment. “Build upon what’s behind us…”
Suddenly, Sky’s brooch flared up with a piercing light. He instantly moved to shield his eyes, which had grown accustomed to the dimness of the vault, only to find that the brooch did not remain on his hoof, or even fall to the floor, but hung in the air on its own. The light seemed to shine right through him so that neither his eyelids nor legs would keep out the invasion of radiance.
The light dimmed mere moments later, though it did not cease altogether. The chamber was well-lit now by a singular light source in the center of the room, casting long shadows along the floor and against the walls. His pendant of Luna’s mark was still glowing, but it no longer hung in the air, suspended through magic.
It was now upon the uplifted hoof of Princess Luna.
The entire world suddenly shifted as the whole of reality began to revolve around the alicorn princess. This is it, Sky thought, though it was more than that: he knew it. It was in this moment that everything would be decided. Luna was the key. She had always been the key. What would the future hold? It had always been up to her. And this was it. The very thing he had foreseen a year earlier, the moment when the past would be reconciled with the future, had come at last.
Of course, Luna’s decision was not going to sit well with one of the stallions in the room. Sky wasn’t about to let the future of Equestria collapse without a fight, and Ghost wasn’t likely to let any decision against him pass unopposed. One last battle surely awaited.
And, as his thoughts came together, he realized the truth: he was about to die.
He was going to protect the future to his final breath. He thought of his parents and his sister, and how they would cry and mourn together Sky’s passing. He thought of his friends and how difficult it would be for them. He thought of Twilight and how at their last meeting, he had refused to come in and be with her and her friends, and what he would have given right now to be able to go back and change that. He thought of Celestia and the rest of the Alicorn Guard. Regardless of the outcome here, would they be able to continue to protect Equestria?
And then he thought of Lily. He hadn’t seen her in days, and he did not doubt that her own time was nearly over. He wondered if, just maybe, beyond the end of this life, there was an existence where they could share together that which they had so little of in this life.
But as Sky refocused on Princess Luna, the most peculiar thing of all happened. Right before his eyes, the form of the Princess of the Night seemed to transform, shrinking slightly and taking a more…youthful appearance. Her mane and tail were shorter and kept closer to her body. Her wings were smaller, yet still proportionate to her body, and her posture was somewhat humorously lax: it lacked the regality Sky had become accustomed to. But nothing struck him like her eyes. They were quite unlike what he was used to. These eyes…they were pure. Innocent. They were free from the look of regret and dark memories. They were bright and hopeful, shining like the moon whose name she bore.
And in that moment, the pieces finally fell into place. The strange visions. The feelings he couldn’t explain. The mysterious voice in the back of his head. And the uncanny connection they all seemed to have with Princess Luna. At long last, the answer to the mystery within himself had revealed itself.
No… Sky thought, trembling in shock. That’s…that’s beyond impossible…
“Is it?” the voice asked. “I would think that you of all ponies would know just how perfectly possible it is.”
He had no time to contemplate the revelation. Luna’s head rose, looking once again like the princess that he was familiar with. Her eyes met Sky’s, and he was overwhelmed by the weight of pain they bore. They were filled with sorrow, as if trying to offer a multitude of apologies when words would not suffice. But beyond the grief, Sky could see a solid determination: a firm belief in what she was about to do. There would be no dissuading her beyond this point.
And, turning her gaze back to Ghost, she spoke.
“Who I was, who I am, and who I will be,” she began in a whisper. “I have struggled for so long to understand why I have been so different throughout my life. I loved my sister in the beginning.” She smiled softly, remembering those happy days, but her countenance quickly fell. “But then, I grew jealous of her. Jealous of her glory and the love she received from all our subjects, while I was shunned into the shadows.”
“You were right to be upset, Princess,” Ghost said as he approached, seemingly ready to seize his opportunity.
“Was I?” Luna asked, staring at the floor. “Or was I too blind to understand that the ponies of Equestria did love me in their own way?” She shook her head. “I spent one thousand years feeding my anger and envy so that when I returned, I would throw down my sister and complete the task I had begun. But to my unending surprise, that never totally happened. Twilight and her friends freed me from my form as Nightmare Moon, and I became Princess Luna once again. Ever since then,” she continued, “I have done my best to serve these ponies as a good leader would: with grace and humility. But I could not help but wonder if I was truly free of my past. Did Celestia watch me to see if I would rebel again? Did I deserve mercy? And so, I lived in the background, not daring to live as visibly as before. I did not want to make my sister think that I was still trying to steal the throne.”
She shook her mane, and it sparkled in the light of the brooch she held. “So I began to wonder: what would the future me be like? Would she be doomed to live in the shadows of others forever, unable to live to the fullest because of others’ suspicions of her?”
Sky’s heart felt like it would shatter. He had known about Luna’s struggle with her past, but he had no idea it had been so severe.
“But then I realized something,” she said, lifting her head and revealing a glow in her eyes. “Here in Equestria, we place such a focus upon harmony and working together that we often overlook the fact that such a thing is only possible because we are united. If we were all different with no single focus, wouldn’t that just be…chaos?”
“Chaos indeed,” Ghost snorted. “I think we’ve had enough of that in recent days.”
“Then it is the same with myself,” Luna concluded. “My past, present, and future are not three different ponies, but one. They are me, each serving a different purpose with one singular goal: making me into who I should be. If I try to shun my past, then I subtract a part of myself and become less of an individual.”
Sky gasped; his worst fears sprang to life as he listened. He raised a hoof and began to shake his head violently, but Luna merely raised her own hoof in a gesture of trying to suppress Sky’s antics. “But at the same time, if I embrace the past at the expense of who I have become, then I am no better off. I need both my past and my present selves…as well as my future self.”
Ghost looked genuinely intrigued. “And just who is your future self, Princess?”
“She is the me that is yet to be,” Luna replied simply. “But in my mind, she is the promise of a better me than I was today. She is the dream of a complete me; a me that can cast aside her worries and fears and live boldly for the greater good of all Equestria.” She again caught Sky’s gaze, and as she did so, he could feel his worry and anxiety melt away. “My past and present push me on towards the future, but in the here and now, I must cling to the future while carrying the lessons of the past. I am a pony in constant motion, caught between where I was and where I am going.”
It was Ghost’s turn to look worried. “Princess?” he asked.
She turned to him. “Do you still not see, Ghost? I allowed my own pride and jealousy to fester within the darkness of my heart until my thoughts were consumed with little but revenge. I thought that my vengeance was justified. I thought I merely sought to take back what had wrongfully been stolen from me. But what I truly wanted was to take something that was never mine to take in the first place: the right of everypony to choose. I was obsessed with the past, and as a result, I sought to dictate everypony’s future.”
Her eyes glistened with resolve. “Others form opinions of you based upon how they remember you. And after a thousand years, I have re-learned a lesson I should never have forgotten: it is better to be loved than feared.
“My past is behind me. Nightmare Moon will fade into the dark. I am, and always will be, Luna, Princess of the Night.”
Ghost’s mouth hung open like a door to a birdcage. He sank to his knees, looking stunned beyond his wildest imagination. The light from his horn extinguished like a candle in the wind. Sky sighed in relief, but even so, he actually found himself feeling sorry for the unicorn. His family had been planning to establish Luna as the sole ruler of Equestria for hundreds of years, and now, he had just been told by Luna herself that she would not usurp authority from Celestia. His whole life purpose had just gone up in smoke.
Even so, as Sky expected, he was unwilling to cede defeat. “B-but…but Storm Emblem…he was humiliated by—”
“No, Ghost,” Sky blurted, surprised to find that his voice had returned. Luna’s flat refusal of his offer had apparently shocked him so much that it broke his focus. “That was a lie propagated by early members of your family to try and justify their hatred of Celestia. Storm Emblem was allowed to live out his life in peace. If Celestia had wanted to make an example of him, she would have. But she didn’t. She forgave him. Can’t you show her the same courtesy?”
Ghost shot Sky a look of such hatred that he could have sworn it burned his skin. “Did you just call my family a bunch of liars?”
Sky cringed. Note to self: need to choose words more carefully.
Ghost rose to his hooves, and his magical aura suddenly changed. It was dark and ugly, sinister and…well, there was really no other word for it than evil. Sky’s stomach turned and he was forced to suppress a gag. “Celestia dishonored my family, and she needs to pay for that,” he growled in a voice that no longer resembled the voice of a unicorn. It had grown deeper and more…beastly. “And if Princess Luna is unwilling to accept the task,” he said, casting a cruel look in Luna’s direction, “then I suppose I shall have to do it myself.”
And, as Sky and Luna watched in horror, Ghost lifted the Shards of Nightmare Moon into the air and fired a beam of magic into them. Instantly, the fragments reacted by extending a dozen ribbons of the purest black imaginable that encased Ghost until they coalesced into a new layer of skin. His white mane and tail grew and flapped behind him like shredded banners caught in a windstorm. His teeth grew into rows of razor-sharp fangs. Deep violet hoof guards covered in spikes protruded from his legs.
But more distressing than anything else, Sky’s mind filled with a thousand unwelcome memories as he stared into the pupil-less red chasms of Ghost’s eyes, glowing like twin furnaces that burned not with fire, but with pure hatred.
It was a dreadful sight, but Sky found it impossible to look away. “By the Founders…”
“Better to be loved than feared, is it?” the monster shrieked in a piercing voice, causing Sky to cover his ears. “Tell me: DO YOU FEAR ME?”
Sky dropped to his knees and began to cower. He cried out in terror and pain as the voice of the Nightmare shook the entire chamber. The ceiling began to rain down small pieces of debris, and Sky could sense little more than the awe-inspiring power of this new menace Ghost had transformed into.
“Enough!” Sky heard the voice of Princess Luna cut through the din. He opened his eyes and saw the Princess standing opposite the Nightmare, magic coursing along her horn aimed to the fore. “I shall not permit another Nightmare to threaten this land! Begone, and leave this stallion!”
But the Nightmare merely laughed; a cold, heartless chuckle that made Sky’s stomach rise into his throat. “Ah, Princess Luna. Come to reclaim what you once had? We’ve certainly missed you.”
Somewhere amidst the panic of Sky’s own mind, a sense of confusion rose. Nightmare Ghost seemed to be less Ghost and more another entity that hadn’t been present until right now. It was as though it was simply using Ghost’s body as a vessel…just like the Chimera had done to its victims.
Luna fired a blast of magic into the heart of the monster. “Spare me your words and leave this place!” she commanded.
But Nightmare Ghost merely smiled, his knife-like teeth flashing in contrast with the darkness of his face. “Oh, Princess Luna, you cannot deceive yourself forever.” He took a step forward, and Sky noticed that Luna’s blast had left no mark where it had struck. “You surround yourself with darkness. You willingly subject yourself to it every night when you raise the moon. You crave it. How would you survive without it?”
“Do not presume to understand me,” Luna growled, readying another magic attack. “I walk the darkness to bring light to those who are lost.”
“Is that so?” Nightmare Ghost asked mockingly. “Then I have news for you.” He stretched out a hoof, and a dozen tendrils of darkness stretched out and attached themselves to the princess, whose scream, for a moment, broke through Sky’s terror enough for him to realize the danger of the situation.
“Princess Luna!” Sky shouted, leaping to his hooves and dashing towards her with reckless abandon. However, one look into Ghost’s crimson eyes was enough to stop him dead in his tracks.
“This does not concern you, pegasus,” Ghost hissed. “But do not worry: I shall deal with you soon enough.”
A feeling of total helplessness washed over him. His legs locked up, his wings went limp, and once again, his voice vanished. He could only stare in disbelief as the tortured form of Princess Luna began to grow dark as the streams of darkness wrapped around her. Her form became hazy and seemed to shift between the Princess he was accustomed to, and another: a dark visage from the past he had faced once before, in the Castle of the Two Sisters.
Sky could do nothing. Even if he had the willpower to move, Ghost was miles beyond him in power on a normal day, and with the might of Nightmare Moon, he was virtually unstoppable. Even the agonized cries of Princess Luna were powerless to motivate him. He had finally met his match.
His head dropped in resignation. He stared at the floor in defeat.
And watched as his legs began to move forward.
He blinked in disbelief, and even being able to blink came as a surprise. What the—
“Ghost!” he heard himself shout, and there was a fire in his voice that he had never heard before. “Stop this now, or I will see to it that you never cast a magic spell again!”
You again.
The voice was unapologetic. “I will not stand by and let this happen again, Sky Streak. This is why I am here. Today, I will do everything I can to prevent this disaster, even if I must forcibly use your body.”
But a familiar stubbornness grew in his thoughts, and Sky knew that wouldn’t be necessary. What do you need me to do?
“Stand with her,” the voice said. “Go stand beside her, so that I may also stand with her…one last time.”
He didn’t have the courage on his own. The Chimera had been nothing compared to this. He would have stood up to a hundred chimeras at once to protect Equestria. But even seeing Princess Luna in mortal danger had been unable to get him to move against this foe that was, quite literally, a Nightmare.
And yet, this voice had somehow managed to touch Sky’s heart precisely where he had needed it. It urged him on, against this enemy that scared him more than he thought possible. Somehow, Sky knew the secret of the stowaway in his brain.
Here, in this moment, they were in perfect harmony. Desire. Will. Belief. They shared it all seamlessly. Two beings, one body, one singular purpose.
And it was just enough to get Sky moving.
He surged forward, thrusting his hoof against Ghost’s, countering the dark threads with magic of his own. Immediately, the darkness retreated from Princess Luna and fell back to the hoof of its caster. Behind him, Sky heard the princess slump to the floor with an exhausted moan.
“Do you so desire to die now, Sky Streak?” Nightmare Ghost roared. “How dare you stand between Luna and myself! We have a score to settle!”
Sky’s leg was throbbing again, but he gritted his teeth and pushed past it. “It’s where I’m supposed to be,” he countered. “It’s my promise to Equestria: that I will stand between it and anything that threatens it!”
“Pah!” the Nightmare scoffed, and a burst of magic sent Sky sprawling backwards. He managed to twist into a somersault and skid to a stop beside Princess Luna, who had risen back to her hooves but still looked woozy. “I’ve grown tired of your pitiful attempts to oppose me. You can’t frighten a Nightmare!”
Sky’s eyes glinted. A whispered word ran through his head for only a moment, and he knew the time had come. As his body began to glow, a pair of voices spoke in tandem from his mouth.
“You sure about that?”
A sudden flash of light bleached the room in a dazzling shade of white, leaving Sky blinded. But as his senses returned, he became aware of a distinct…emptiness. His emotions felt muted. Deadened. The sensation of the voice in his head residing in his thoughts was gone. Confused, Sky, called out whispered to his thoughts. Hey, you in here?
“You know what scares a nightmare? The truth.”
Sky’s head snapped up in a flash. That voice…it was the voice. But it hadn’t been in his head. No, he had literally heard that. His eyes were drawn to the figure of a pony just in front of him, facing the Nightmare. He was a bold navy color with a pale golden mane and tail. A silver shield emblazoned with a yellow lightning bolt graced his flank as his cutie mark. However, despite being fully visible, Sky couldn’t help but notice a peculiar trait of this pony: he was also see-through.
Impossible? Perhaps. But the voice had been right: if there was one pony in all of Equestria that knew just how possible the impossible was, it was Sky Streak. He had beaten a monster. He had survived an encounter that should have left him dead. He had drifted across Equestria as a lonely spirit in search of his body. And he had come back after being lost.
He had sought the truth of this pony for so long. He had basically summoned him with all the times he had invoked his name. So perhaps it was only fitting that when he finally found him, he was what Sky had been: a wandering spirit.
“Storm Emblem,” Sky stammered. Across the room, he could make out the stunned face of Nightmare Ghost, looking as if he had seen a…well, an actual ghost.
“Sky Streak,” Storm Emblem returned. “Thank you for helping me. You are a true friend to Equestria.”
“No!” the Nightmare screamed, flailing in a panic as he struggled to back away from the apparition. “No! It’s an illusion! An illusion! You can’t be real! You’re dead! Dead hundreds of years! You’re not real!”
“You’re right, I’m dead,” Storm Emblem answered coldly, taking a step towards the unicorn. “But I’m also quite real. I have waited a thousand years in this form, wondering why I was not permitted to have rest. And now, I have my answer. I am still here because even in death, I have a purpose to fulfill.”
“Storm Emblem? What dream is this?”
The ghostly pegasus spun on the spot upon hearing his name, and Sky stared into the stern face of the pegasus who had been shrouded in mystery for so long. However, his features went slack and his jaw dropped as his eyes beheld, on their own, the princess for whom he had sacrificed everything a thousand years ago.
“Princess…” He took a few unsteady steps forward, and Sky found it strangely humorous that a bodiless spirit could stumble around on legs that…well, didn’t actually exist. And in spite of the fact that Storm Emblem was no longer sharing his own feelings with him, Sky could feel the surge of emotions between the two ancient friends. “Princess…it’s really you. After all this time, you really did come back…”
Luna looked even more stunned than Storm Emblem did. Her lip was quivering uncontrollably, and her eyes were glossy with tears. This one pony, this friend—or perhaps more than just a friend—she had undoubtedly never expected to see him again or find any closure as to his fate. And yet here, in the most unlikely of places and circumstances, here he was, standing before her. A thousand years had passed…and it might have taken a thousand more to find all the right words to say.
“Princess Luna,” Storm Emblem repeated. He extended a hoof and gently caressed it against her cheek. He chuckled softly. “I’ve waited a thousand years to see you again, and now that you’re here, I don’t know what to say.”
Luna reached her hoof up to his, only to recoil in surprise when her hoof went right through his. She sighed sadly. “Of course. Only in a dream could this be possible.”
“Not a dream, Princess,” Storm Emblem replied. “In another life, it would have been possible. But our lives did not coincide as we would have wished. So fate has granted me a bit of an afterlife to fulfill that wish.”
She stared wistfully into his eyes. “I suppose that will have to do,” she said at last, smiling.
A familiar feeling washed over Sky. As he watched the bittersweet reunion between Princess Luna and her former retainer, he again felt like a third wheel. Yet again, he was an intruder upon a private conversation that he was never meant to see or hear. But just as his discomfort grew to the point that he could hardly stand it, Storm Emblem turned to him.
“Sky Streak, you incredible pegasus,” he said, looking proudly at him. “I wish I had some way to express just how thankful I am for you. You have done what nopony else has done during the last thousand years.”
“Uh…” Sky stammered. “Er…um…what exactly is that?”
The phantom pegasus turned his head and cast a dark glance at Nightmare Ghost, who, in spite of his frightful appearance, looked more uncomfortable than Sky felt. “History has a way of repeating itself, Sky,” he explained. “Today is proof. Today nearly gave rise to Nightmare Moon, just as it did a thousand years ago. And, just as before, my line attempted to aid her in that, to our shame.
“However,” he continued, turning again to Sky, “something else happened. History did more than repeat itself: it gave itself a chance to be corrected.”
“Huh?”
“It was you, Sky,” Storm Emblem said. “Just as before, a bold (and often brash) pegasus grew near to Princess Luna, offering to serve her and help her in anything she wished. But where I failed to honor my promise by doing what I wanted instead of what was best for everypony, you put the good of others ahead of your own interests. You did not succumb to the temptation of your own desires. You took the high road, knowing full well that it was not the easy road.”
A quick flash of the vision from the Everfree Lily sprinted through Sky’s mind, and he shivered involuntarily. “But, wait,” he interrupted, shaking off his unease, “I don’t get it. How is that something that nopony has done for a thousand years?”
“Perhaps your sense of honor and integrity are nothing new, but something else was. Certainly somepony has at some point told you that you remind them very much of myself?”
Sky glanced over at Luna, who was still staring raptly at Storm Emblem, but a soft smile spread across her face as he explained. “History can repeat itself,” Storm Emblem said again. “And that is why I came to you. Because, Sky Streak, you are my repeat.”
Sky blinked in confusion. “Say what now?”
“You are my repeat,” Storm Emblem echoed. “A kindred spirit, if you will. Luna’s past could not be allowed to repeat itself, but I had already failed once to prevent a tragedy, and my time had passed. I was merely a wandering spirit, incapable of affecting the world around me. If it was going to be avoided this time, it would need to be stopped by another. However, my blood line was trying to cause a catastrophe, not prevent it! I could not go to them. So my only hope was to believe that somepony else would rise to the occasion: not a relative by blood, but a relative by spirit.”
Behind Storm Emblem, Sky saw Nightmare Ghost twitch at the mention of “bloodline,” but made little other movement. The pegasus continued. “And that is when you came along. I first came to you that morning when you met with Princess Luna, before your fight with Nighthawk. Perhaps you remember seeing the Princess a bit…differently?”
Sky nodded, still keeping a close eye on the Nightmare. “I do.”
“I’m afraid that was my fault,” Storm admitted. “And a lot of what you’ve seen since then has been my doing, as well. However, when I encountered you, I was instantly drawn to you. Even I knew that you were special. I felt your pain of loss and turmoil in the days that followed. I understood your struggle with your own emotions. And did what I could to dissuade you from killing your comrade Nighthawk.”
“You. That was you.”
“Yes,” he answered. His eyes twinkled for a second, and Sky wondered if he also knew what he had seen after defeating Nighthawk in the Everfree Forest. But if he did, he made no mention of it. “But where I failed, you succeeded: you overcame your selfish desires. I wanted to serve Princess Luna more than anything, and you wanted justice for the one you loved. But only you managed to do the right thing. And it was in that moment I knew that you were the pony that could end the tale of Nightmare Moon. You see, Princess Luna said that she is a ‘pony in motion’: pressing on from her past, clinging to the hope of the future. And if I was her past, pushing her forward, then you are her future, pulling her from the darkness into the light.”
He let his head drop, and Sky suddenly noticed that Storm appeared to have become a bit more transparent than he had been just a minute ago. “Phantom Star talks a great deal about being my ‘heir.’ But I can see no resemblance between he and I. No, my heir is not one who can merely trace his lineage back to me, but it is the one who honors the spirit I sought to uphold and represent: a desire to protect this land and see all its citizens dwell in perfect harmony with each other. And I have found one who not only reflects this, but surpasses me in it.”
He lifted his head, and the smile upon his face glowed like the sun. “Sky Streak, you are my true heir.”
“WHAT?!?!”
Nightmare Ghost’s scream was so piercing that it drowned out the sound of the explosion of magic. A wave of jet-black flooded the chamber, casting it in darkness so complete that Sky lost sight of even the floor beneath his hooves. For all he knew, he had been sucked into a lightless void, bereft of any features save himself and his sensations.
“You ungrateful snake!” Sky heard Ghost’s furious voice echo all around him. “You would turn your back on your own family, who has earnestly sought to restore your good name for hundreds of years, for this pathetic fool?!” The sound of somepony spitting reached Sky’s ears. “Him!? After all we’ve done?! He is nothing! Is this what you wanted? To make him your ‘true heir’?”
If the Nightmare was expecting an answer, it received none. “Then we shall end him and your line! We shall begin our own! One that will recognize the true makings of greatness!”
Sky wanted to run and hide. In truth, he was scared out of his mind. But hearing Storm Emblem name him his ‘true heir’ had made a profound impact on him. Perhaps nothing tangible, but deep down, in his heart, he felt different. More responsible. Resilient. Defiant. And he knew he couldn’t run.
It wasn’t just that he had nowhere to run. It was a promise he had made. He had promised to protect Equestria. And Ghost was certainly a threat to its well-being. But even beyond that, Storm Emblem’s declaration had added a new layer to that promise. It wasn’t just his own honor that was at stake; but Storm Emblem’s. And even beyond that: Princess Luna. Princess Celestia. Twilight. Lily. They had all placed their trust in him. He owed it to each of them to stand and prove he deserved the trust they placed in him.
It’s just another side of love and friendship, he surmised. My friends go with me wherever I carry my love for them. Oaths and promises are just another way to do that. These vows bind my friends to me so that when I feel weak or scared, I remember the bond I have and the promises I’ve made, and they give me the strength to stand.
And if dying is the price I pay for keeping those promises, then so be it. He clenched his teeth and prepared to call out into the darkness, but stopped upon hearing another voice that had beat him to it.
“My son, if it was about power, you would have my full approval,” Storm Emblem’s soft voice wafted through the darkness. “But it isn’t about power, or might, or magic. It’s about what’s right. Look at yourself. You have allowed yourself to become a monster; a nightmare to haunt the dreams of foals in their sleep. What good is there in that?”
“What good is being right if you are too weak to defend your position?” Ghost bellowed back. “What Equestria needs is a return to power! We can worry about being right or wrong once we are strong again!”
Sky sighed. “No, Ghost,” he said. “If you compromise on the issue of right and wrong, you’ve already lost. That’s why you can’t understand just how great Celestia’s rule has been. She managed to build an empire based not on power, but on doing right and helping others. And what’s more, she unified everypony together! The division of the past is no more…except for you. You are the only one clinging to ancient history like it’s our only option.”
“For all your power, Ghost,” Storm Emblem chimed in, “you are Equestria’s greatest weakness.” Sky could hear the Nightmare fuming in rage, but it said nothing in response. Storm Emblem continued. “Nothing will destroy an empire as completely as dissent. That is why Celestia did what she had to do…and why she forgave me.” The sudden sound of crying broke through the darkness, and the form of Princess Luna appeared before Sky. As he raced to her, Storm Emblem’s ethereal form became visible just in front of her; their eyes closed and their heads pressed up against each other’s. “She saw that I still wanted what was best for Equestria in spite of my mistakes. But Luna was too deeply changed to have been saved at that time. But even in that, when the right time did come, she found forgiveness.”
Sky knelt beside Princess Luna and the barely-visible Storm Emblem. As he dropped to his knees, he became powerfully aware of how exhausted he was. His muscles just seemed to completely give up, relying on his skeletal structure to hold him up.
Storm Emblem turned to him. “Sky Streak, promise me…promise me you’ll save him. I couldn’t bear to have my line end like this. Beyond today, he will need someone to guide him. Promise me you will save him from his own darkness.”
Sky wasn’t sure what to say—wasn’t he about to die himself? But in the end, all he could say was, “Of course I will. I promise.”
He again pressed his head against Luna’s. “Princess—”
“Storm Emblem,” Luna cut in. “I’m so sorry…just look at what I’ve put you through. I’m…”
“Princess, don’t say that,” Storm broke in again. “Neither of us was ready for the consequences of our actions back then. We knew that we would eventually have to say goodbye to each other. I’m just glad that after a thousand years, I finally get that chance.”
“No! Not after I’ve found you again!” Luna sobbed.
“Princess, I am just a spirit. Our destinies must take us apart. But today, I will redeem myself and fulfill my purpose by defending you from your Nightmare!” He stood up and turned again to Sky. “I must ask one last favor of you,” he said simply.
Sky gulped. “What’s that?”
With a move as quick as a flash, Storm’s hoof extended right into Sky’s chest. Instantly, Sky felt his magic began to drain out of him, while the faded form of Storm Emblem began to glow with a radiant light. “I am the past, Sky Streak. And the past must remain in the past. You are the future. Our paths deviate from here. All I ask is that you remember me and do as you have always done: for the good of Equestria.”
Sky’s magic depletion was the last straw his body could handle, and he finally collapsed beside the weeping Princess Luna. He fought to remain conscious, even though every ounce of his body begged him to close his eyes. “Storm…Emblem…” he whispered.
“You dare to call me weak?!” Nightmare Ghost roared. “Me?! I’ll show you who’s weak! I will crush all of you and begin a new age for Equestria with my power!”
Storm Emblem snorted. “I think not. Nightmare Moon belongs in the past, just like me. And that’s where she’s going to stay!” He spread his wings, and a golden light burst from him as he launched forward towards his foe.
The Nightmare roared, firing a barrage of magic missiles at the approaching pegasus. But Ghost fell silent when the attack slipped right through the advancing pegasus. “You can’t threaten me. I’m already dead.”
He collided with the Nightmare, and a shockwave rocked the chamber. A light brighter than the dawn filled the chamber, and as Sky’s consciousness finally faded, the last sight he saw was the dissolving form of Storm Emblem, leg raised to the heavens in a gesture of farewell…