Epilogue
Ponyville was by all accounts a place where strange things happened. Some blamed the exuberant and infectious pioneering spirit of the town’s founding families, others blamed its proximity to the wilder places in Equestria. There was even some cheerful animosity towards the town’s librarian who along with her friends sometimes served as a lightning rod and a foil for the town’s strange happenings, and other times the cause.
Still all agreed that Ponyville was by far the most likely place in Equestria to see something truly strange happen. So much so that it had become routine for the town’s residents. Businesses set aside an afternoon a week to deal with whatever was happening in Ponyville this time.
And so in the late afternoon as the market square began closing down a group of filthy and roadsore ponies, two wearing the dark armor of the night guard and an alicorn swaying on her hooves with exhaustion, suddenly appearing hardly raised an eyebrow. In fact Pinkie Pie sparing them only a friendly wave and a cheerful “hello” as she passed by with her party cannon raised far more questions about the visitors than their sudden appearance.
Most onlookers counted it a better impression for their small town when they approached the Apple family’s market stand. Right up until Applejack punched one of them.
Big Mac checked over his teeth one by one with his tongue. After confirming that his molars would be in working order for the first home cooked meal he would have in weeks he looked back at his sister.
“Every time?” she asked accusingly. “Is it like that every time I go off? Applebloom’s scared eyes before bed and Granny waiting up on the porch every night. Does that happen every time I go somewhere?”
Without a word Mac wrapped his sister in a hug. She didn’t seem to notice the dirt caking his coat until he looked more brown than red, or the way he winced slightly at every breath, or even the loose and filthy bandages wrapped around his head.
Luna, who was being all but carried by Bon Bon and Morning Star gave a weak gesture to the other ponies, telling them to turn away from the sibling’s moment. The circle of ponies stared stiffly outward as the sniffling behind them slowly faded.
After collecting herself Applejack spoke to the rest of the group. “I reckon y’all are going to be needing some dinner and a place to sleep.”
Luna turned back to the pair with a tired smile, noticing that a patch of dirt seemed to have migrated from Macintosh’s chest to his sister’s face. “Any hospitality you could offer would be most appreciated.”
Within the particularly peculiar population of Ponyville was an elderly mare named Granny Smith. As anypony would expect she suffered any number of ailments and maladies from her extreme old age but one sickness Macintosh alone knew about. The symptoms appeared only at the most opportune times, such as the early mornings or late nights when just she and her grandson were up. Or when he had brought home not one but four mares.
Never mind that there were two stallions as well, never mind that one of those stallions and one of those mares seemed to have a claim on each other, never mind that another mare was so far above her grandson’s station that she was, in a very real sense, in orbit, or even that the other two mares seemed to be joined at the hip. Granny Smith wasted no time considering such trivial little problems as she set about preparing a generous spread for her future granddaughter-in-law and mother of her future great-grandbabies. Whichever one she happened to be.
With a proud smile and appraising eye she surveyed the dinner table. Everypony dived into the food with gusto.
Her two granddaughters sat immediately to her left. Past them the two ponies who had come in armor sat. Every minute or so the stallion would look up from his plate and correct his posture before looking around the room and deciding that manners had taken a back seat to hunger.
Directly across from Granny sat Luna. Granny resisted the urge to click her tongue disapprovingly. Those fancy meals they served in Canterlot must have been nothing but garnish the way she was scarfing down food. Everypony had hardly just sat down and she was already reaching out to fill her third plate.
Granny idly slapped Applejack's hoof away from the plate of apple fritters. "Save some for the guests."
Farthest away on her right was her grandson Macintosh. He still shivered slightly from his prolonged shower under the well spigot. At her insistence the bandage had been removed and his hair was glued into a handsome part with a half of a can of pomade. the bandages criss crossing his chest had been hidden by a dress shirt and vest.From time to time he would bring a hoof up to brush the dangling ends of his bolo tie away from his meal.
Next were the remaining two mares. The unicorn sat closest to Macintosh ravenously tearing into anything within reach that might be considered food. The earth pony ate at a relatively sedate pace and seemed more intent on sampling every dish than eating everything within reach.
Finally the scrawny unicorn sat to Granny Smith’s right. After one heaping plateful his eating seemed to have slowed to a near stop as he leaned back in his chair and nibbled on a biscuit slathered in apple butter.
Granny snatched the plate of apple fritters away from her granddaughter’s reaching hoof and piled a few onto his plate. “Get a few more of these in you sonny. You ain’t hardly had enough to feed a bird.”
The colt hemmed and hawed for a few moments before accepting the treat with a grateful smile and taking a large bite out of it.
Granny took a moment to smile proudly around the room. If it took two helpings or ten nopony ever left her table hungry.
Talk around the table was light at best. Applejack had skipped lunch and Applebloom didn’t seem to know who to start chatting with first. Everypony else’s mouths were too busy with chewing. Granny still beamed proudly at her crowded dinner table, the way these ponies were digging in was all the compliment to her cooking she would ever need. Not that a granddaughter-in-law who thought the world of her would be a bad thing, mind you.
A belch from her left caused her to turn. The unicorn, Morning something-or-other, was blushing red as a tomato.
“I beg your pardon Madame Smith.”
“Don’t you think anything of it. And it’s Granny Smith, I ain’t nopony’s madame.”
A smaller belch from Applebloom drew her ire.
“You mind your manners at the dinner table missy!”
“How come he can burp and I can’t?” Applebloom pouted.
*Braaaaaaaap*
Luna triumphantly slammed an empty mug down on the table. She gave a challenging smirk to Morning Star before realizing herself. A quick scan of the table made her realize that her side was notably absent of food except for the crumbs spilled over her plate.
“Our—er my apologies. Our travels have left me hungry but I did not mean to abuse your hospitality with my gluttony.”
“Oh fiddle faddle,” Granny said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “Any mare that can work up an appetite like that is always going to be welcome in the Apple family,” she added with a not-at-all subtle wink to Big Mac.
“You are indeed gracious, Matron Smith.”
“I ain’t no matron neither! Ain’t nopony gets to call me anything but Granny from my own dinner table.”
Luna opened her mouth as if to protest for a moment. “I…yes Granny.”
“Now you get used to calling me that. I have a feeling this won’t be the last time Macintosh brings you around to dinner.”
At the mention of his name everypony tuned to look at the big red stallion. He had done an impressive job of hiding the majority of his large frame beneath the table despite his broken rib, with only the upper part of his neck and head showing. His cheeks glowed a vivid red that seemed to leave objects around him tinted red.
“You’ll ruin your back sitting crooked like that.” Granny chided.
“Granny,” Applejack struggled to say while holding back laughter, “I think he’s had enough.”
“Good thinking AJ, I reckon it’s time we gave these ponies dessert!” Granny said before disappearing into the kitchen.
The whole table held their breath for a few moments before letting it out in a burst of uproarious laughter. Luckily for Big Mac’s sake Granny seemed to think she had done enough for the time being. It was an opinion helped somewhat by Lyra and Luna insisting on feeding Mac fork-fulls of their pie with no small amount of teasing giggles.
As dinner was finally winding down Big Mac was the first to excuse himself, gathering up the scant leftovers and storing them in the icebox. his clothes were quickly returned back to his closet and the dishes found their way to soaking in the sink. He would take care of them later, for the moment he had something more important to tend to.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his sister for the task. Granny had taught them both how it was done and she just lacked a few years’ experience on him. Granny, if she could get around better, would be able to do it in her sleep.
It wasn’t that Mac thought the ponies around him couldn’t, or even that he thought they didn’t while he was gone. It was his place. Somepony might get the idea that he was being the protector of the farm looking out for any blight or pest that may be setting in. He didn’t rightly know why he walked around the farm every night, it had always just seemed right to him.
All day every day was spent trying to get more if what he wanted from the land around him. More fruit, tastier apples, a better harvest. It only seemed polite to take some time to listen to the land.
The east fields seemed to rub up against him like a cat waiting to get it’s back scratched. Mac made a mental note to plow the field soon to kill the weeds present and turn the soil in anticipation of planting winter wheat. His rib would keep him out for a while yet but he could already breathe deeper and more easily.
The south fields were a might anxious like always. It wasn’t any bad kind of nervous. They sat between the Acres and Ponyville and always wondered which would take to using them first. For now the green little meadow was a nice enough place for anypony who just wanted somewhere quiet to be. The west fields were thirsty again. Corn was a thirsty crop. He made a note to talk to the weather team soon.
He circled around to the north orchard. These trees were always a bit bratty. They spent all day looking down their trunks at the trees in whitetail who didn’t have a pony to look after them. They always wanted more rain but not too much more rain. Enough to give their leaves that nice sheen but not enough to get them muddy.
Finally he turned to the center orchard. These were the trees his grandad had planted. They were the forbearers of all of Ponyville. Like a patient old dog they had gotten used to letting foals clamber all over them, give them funny names, even dress them up. They had a quiet strength that never needed much. The rain had been good, some fertilizer wouldn’t hurt but they didn’t think they needed it.
Mac paused and let out a trembling sigh. He was home. He stayed there for a minute with his eyes closed just listening to everything around him. He let the soft whisper of the leaves and the singing of the crickets wash over him as he committed every aspect of it to memory, from the gentle breeze softly swaying the trees to the soft songs of crickets. Even Leaferton’s soft asking of why there was a mare hiding in his branches.
“Miss Shadow,” Mac said aloud.
There was a quiet gasp. “Farmer,” Moon Shadow replied as she stepped out of hiding.
“Anything I can help you with?”
“Where is the bunkhouse?”
“The what now?” Mac asked.
“The bunkhouse, or does your hired help live in Ponyville?”
Mac chuckled softly. “Don’t have any hired help.”
Moon glared suspiciously at him. “That’s impossible.”
“It’s a bit much during harvest but nothing me and AJ can’t handle.”
“Is this some sort of joke, farmer? It would take at least twenty ponies to harvest everything that is grown here. Do you mean to tell me that you and your sister can do all of that work?”
“Eeyup.”
“That is impossible,” Moon seethed. “You can’t fly up to the higher fruit, you would spend more time moving ladders than you would picking fruit.”
Mac couldn’t help a small grin as he eyed the trees around him. Applebuck season was still at least a month away but a nearby Gala tree was already ripe.
“Come here,” he said as he led her beneath it. “See that apple at the top?”
She nodded, curious to see what he was doing.
“Catch.”
With a quick flick of his leg the apple fell from the tree. In her surprise Moon shadow nearly missed the falling fruit.
“I’m a bit more partial to honeycrisp than I am to gala apples but there still ain’t nothing like an apple right off the tree. Especially if it’s from sweet apple acres.”
Moon Shadow gaped at the apple in her hooves. “How did you do that?” she finally demanded.
“It’s called applebucking, It’s sort of a family trick.”
“Can you do more than one?” she asked, gesturing up to the apples.
“Eeyup.”
“Can you show me how?”
Mac gave her a questioning look.
Moon Shadow suddenly found that she couldn’t meet his gaze. “Wh-when I was a filly I would act up. My father would send me to work in the fields. He wanted to show me how it was for those who couldn’t fight. He wanted to show that even the general’s daughter would get out of field work if she didn’t obey.
“It was…pitiful compared to what you have here. We only just grew enough to survive. I don’t know what you do here but if I can bring it back home it could change the way night ponies live forever.”
“Can’t.”
“Don’t worry about my leg, it’ll be fine. Just show me please Macintosh.”
“I can’t.”
“Please this is bigger than some family thing. It could help a lot of ponies.”
“It ain’t that. You ain’t an earth pony. I could show you a few tricks to maybe help things along but it sounds like what you need more than anything is a few earth pony farms to loosen your belts up a might.”
“So that’s it. I’m not the right race so I can’t do anything. How can you expect me to accept that?”
With a weary sigh Mac laid down beneath the tree. “Y’all are all fighters you know that? I saw a unicorn help with the harvest once. She must’ve pulled every apple from twenty trees all at once. She piled them all into baskets, already halfway organized for Granny at the cider press.
“She could’ve done fifty trees if she just gave them a little pull off the branches towards the basket and let Granny do her job. She had to control everything and make sure it was just how she wanted. She just ended up fighting what the world wanted to do anyways.”
Moon opened her mouth to speak but Mac held up a hoof to silence her. “I’ve got a big family, cousins everywhere you can think to look and it’s getting bigger every year. Braeburn, stubborn fool that he is, moved out to the desert and started a whole new town just so he could grow apples for it.
“You don’t need to be the one to teach your kin how to farm. I’ll put the word out that Princess Luna might have some land that needs tending that’s by a town already built and watch Braeburn eat his hat.
“I got a big family. It’s full of the kind of crazy stubborn fool that builds a whole town in the middle of the desert just so they can have a new place to farm, and it’s always getting bigger. It’s the way the world’s wanting to work anyways. You don’t need to fight it, just give it a bit of a nudge in the right direction.”
“Do you really think that will draw your family in?” Moon asked. “You saw how I acted towards you, it will only be worse for them.”
Mac gave an amused snort. “Like I said. The families full of crazy stubborn fools, and ponies that know how to deal with them. Now c’mon let’s get back to the house before Granny starts making assumptions.”
Mac gave an aggravated groan as soon as he stepped hoof onto the porch. Granny stood in the doorway grinning like the cat that ate the canary.
“You’re sleeping in the barn Mac,” she said. “I reckon you’ll need to get some after all the excitement you’ve had today. Now come her little missy,” Granny said as she led Moon Shadow into the house. “Why don’t you tell Granny how you take care of them wings. I’ve got a feeling I might need to know here pretty soon.”
Luna looked around the bedroom. Simple seemed to be the right word for it. An uncrowded bookshelf in one corner and a bed with a nightstand in the other. One door opened to a modestly stocked closet and the other went into the upstairs hallway.
Granny Smith had all but forced her to take her grandson’s room and Luna idly wondered if the mare had ‘forgotten’ to let her grandson know.
A light knock drew her attention to Lyra standing at the doorway. Her magic held Starswirl’s journal beside her head.
“Please come in,” Luna smiled.
Lyra’s frown deepened. “I want you to take this from me,” she said as she gestured with the journal. “I don’t want to ever have to think about it ever again.”
“Lyra, what is the matter?”
“Read the letter that’s in there. I don’t know who this Starswirl guy is or why this journal’s so important but… but it wasn’t worth it if that is the kind of pony that wrote it,” Lyra said turning to leave.
“Lyra wait,” Luna said. She pulled out the letter in question. She had hoped that being trapped in a hopeless situation might bring out the best in her old friend but that seemed to be far from true.
The letter crumpled up and turned to ash in her magic’s grasp.
“Starswirl was a bigoted old fool who died alone and friendless among ponies he thought himself better than. I wish I could say that he was the exception but he was merely a more outspoken voice of the hatred that ruled that day. He was a brilliant spellcrafter who demanded the same from everypony around him. Despite all of this he was still a friend to me, even if I am the only pony who will remember him as a friend.”
“What are you trying to say? That he was some big softie beneath all of that hate?”
“No,” Luna said. “He was thoroughly unpleasant. Even worse he felt that his talents justified his behavior. I was his friend because I was one of the few who could stand his presence and because I thought that he needed one. He was still a pony, like you or I. For that reason alone I ask you to remember him kindly.”
“Why are you trying to defend him?” Lyra demanded.
Luna looked away. “Because if he deserves to be despised, how much more so do I?”
Lyra could hear the soft clatter of dishes being put away and the silent murmur of ponies talking throughout the house as she tried to think of something to say.
“Luna,” Lyra finally said, “we went with you…I went with you because I thought you were somepony worth giving a second chance. Nopony is holding what you did against you half as much as you are.”
Luna stubbornly looked away. “I had hoped that this adventure would help me to forget. It reminded me of the pony I once was, young, naïve, and innocent. It reminded me how strong and brave and loyal and…and good ponies could be. It reminded me of how guilty I am for killing so many for nothing more than my own petty desires. If you had seen all the wrong I have done you would not be so quick to offer forgiveness.”
“Maybe not. Maybe I would hate the thought of your name just like Starswirl. But I don’t know everything you’ve done wrong. I just know that I still believe you are a good pony and you are worth forgiving.”
Luna excused herself and brushed past the green mare, barely hearing her ask that Luna “think about it”. She had to restrain herself from slamming the door as she rushed into the cool night. Her moon hung bright and full in the sky, even drowning out some of the stars nearest to it.
She looked back at the farmhouse. It was colored blue in the half-light with a merry golden glow coming from the windows. It was a picture of laughter and family and simple pleasures that she had no part in.
“You’re wrong,” she whispered before plunging into the dark orchard.
She didn’t know where she was going. She simply ran, barely dodging low-hanging branches as she went. Gradually she slowed. Nopony was chasing her and she didn’t know where she was heading to. She stopped in a clearing, a pile of turned earth at its center told of a tree that had once been there.
She collapsed onto her stomach with reluctant tears still in her eyes. She took in one quaking breath after another as slowly her emotions righted themselves.
The Moon’s soft glow drew her gaze upwards. For a moment she almost wished she were back on it. The howling voice of her madness would drown out all others and leave no room for guilt. She could do no harm and damage no lives from the celestial prison. She could be like the moon itself. Aloof and unmarked by the world below, seen and not felt. She shook her head violently as if to dislodge the thought.
“Princess,” Morning Star’s voice behind her spoke.
She stiffened, giving off a false aura of regal aloofness from behind. “Morning Star.”
She heard the slight rustle of his weight shifting. Luna took one last shuddering breath. “You wish to speak?”
“I want to ask you something but it’s sort of…personal I guess.”
Despite herself Luna smiled. “If you want to ask for Moon Shadow’s hoof I think you already know my answer.”
“I- What?”
“Did you not take a ring while we were under the mountain?”
“I did but that’s not—It’s—It would be too soon. I mean I do she’s –uh-“
Luna brightened inwardly. it was only a lucky guess but she still enjoyed appearing enigmatic. “-At ease,” she finally said, cutting off his rambling. “There are some who view a lengthy courting as a sign of respect and commitment. You need not worry yourself so.”
“Thank you princess.”
Luna ran a hood through the grass idly. It was calming to feel the well-tended land rise up to meet her. Almost like a pet enjoying its owner’s touch.
“Come,” she said as she pat the ground beside her with a wing.
Hesitantly he took his place beside her.
Luna waited patiently for him to speak. His mouth moved as if to form words but he never gave them voice.
“Out with it,” Luna commanded. “The question will not grow easier with time.”
“Did you find it, princess?” Morning Star blurted.
“The journal is secure. Lyra gave it to me when we last spoke.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“The crown is just a summoning spell away.”
“I wasn’t talking about that either. You could have just teleported there and gotten both those things by yourself. You took us for a reason. You took us so you could find something. Did you?”
Luna found that the grass no longer offered the same comfort. “I don’t know,” she finally admitted. “The kindness and loyalty you all have shown me has meant more than words could say. Yet I am reminded that I do not deserve it. Perhaps I have done some good since my return but I am still evil. There is enough blood on my hooves to fill an ocean. Lyra tells me that I am a good pony worth forgiving but how can I believe her when I cannot even forgive myself? She acts like I can stand tall and declare my past behind me but I cannot even stand.”
After a pause Morning Star spoke. “You would have liked my old drill sergeant. He was the meanest son of a bitch alive but you would have liked him. He was excellent at breaking ponies down and building guards from the pieces.
“The first day of training he made us run laps. We were up an hour before dawn to be in uniform and saluting Princess Celestia as she raised the sun. Then we ran. We ran all day until none of us could move any more. If we ever slowed down he was on us. You might have even heard him yelling from the moon. We were never slowed down for long.
“I was the first one to collapse. I tried to get up but I couldn’t. He made me crawl until I was stallion enough to get up. It was barely noon before I couldn’t crawl anymore either. I’ll never forget what he told me: When you can't run, you crawl, and when you can't crawl - when you can't do that...”
“You find somepony to carry you,” Luna finished. “It is good to see that some traditions lived on. Though I fail to see where you are going with this.”
“No matter what we kept moving forward. Forgiving yourself isn’t some easy way out. It’s never easy for anypony. It’s a way forward. No matter what you keep moving forward. Maybe you can’t run right now but you crawl Faustdammit, and when you can’t do that I’ll carry you myself!”
The clearing rang with his last outburst. Even the crickets had paused their constant singing.
“Forgive me princess. I did not mean to shout.”
Luna studied the grass in front of her, willing it to offer some form comfort.
“I know you still feel guilty about what you’ve done, I mean I still remember some of the stupid little things I did as a colt and I feel bad about them still, but you can’t let yourself get buried by it. You’ve become so much more than what that guilt lets you see.”
Luna glared at the patch of green between her forelegs, silently demanding that it provide some release or outlet for her emotions, that it provide her with some answer to give the stallion beside her.
“You’ve shown so much strength since I met you. The amount of courage it must take just to get out of bed and face the world again every day, I can’t say how much I admire you, how proud I am of you, Luna. Just keep moving forward and don’t be embarrassed to ask for help, you’ve already done more than any of us could.” Morning Star quietly excused himself and turned to leave Luna to her thoughts.
“Wait,” she softly called.
“Yes, Princess?” he answered.
“Find Macintosh and ask him where the farm’s forge is.”
“what do you need a forge for?” Morning Star asked.
Luna stood and turned to face her guard. With a flick of magic her father’s crown appeared beside her. “A way forward,” she answered.
Bon Bon grumbled to herself as she made her way out of the farmhouse. “Just got done with an adventure and now we just have to do a pick up campaign because somepony didn’t get to see a slime and it just can’t wait until tomorrow for whatever hoofing reason.”
As she distanced herself from the farm Bon Bon looked back over her shoulder. She was already far out of earshot but not everypony was accounted for. sighing she decided to continue with a low wordless grumble as she made her way to Ponyville.
She made her way through the sleepy village until she came to the modest apartment she shared with Lyra. She made her way to the basement. Beneath a box of miniatures that hadn’t been touched in years and behind an even older box of...she didn’t really remember anymore. There was a stack of plain looking boxes. Some of her stuff that had never gotten unpacked. At least that was the official story.
The wooden bottom screeched as it slid against the concrete floor. The wall behind bore a raised panel. Once she had pressed a hoof to the panel a beam of light shot into her eye. She resisted the urge to blink and in a second it was gone. Officially her organization had been disbanded after the Tartarus incident. Unofficially… well unofficially Celestia had demanded complete deniability.
A synthetic chime signalled an open audio line. “This is agent Sweetie Drops reporting in. Mission There and Back Again was a success - zero casualties, cover remains uncompromised. Will await further instruction.”
Celestia shifted on the throne, sighing inwardly at herself as she attempted to tune into her subject’s words. Luna had been gone for far longer before. After waiting a thousand years for her sister to return Celestia had learned to be patient but as with everything else Luna was the exception. The month of cold silence Luna had given her two winters ago had been torture. Every day she had to stop herself from breaking down her door just to be with her again.
Celestia still didn’t know if what she did was right. Even after it was said and done she was plagued with uncertainty. Luna needed to find a way to process what she was going through and ‘big sister’s’ help would surely have made Luna feel even more like she was just a shadow. Luna had needed to come to terms without her and so Celestia had given her some space. Celestia couldn’t help a familiar twinge of guilt. She was supposed to protect and guide her sister, not give her an inferiority complex and then leave her alone to deal with it.
Celestia shifted uncomfortably. Uncertainty was an uncommon sensation for her and one reserved strictly for her sister. Cadence was the only pony to be nearly as much of a blind spot for her but even now it was Luna that worried her. Nevermind that Cadence was in the frozen north guarding a newly-returned empire from one of Luna’s and her former-friends-turned-enemies.
Luna simply being away was enough to give her pause and reexamine actions years past. Celestia chided herself, she was only worried about the past because Luna had proven time and time again that she was in no present danger. Even if a dragon did decide to get in her way it would learn very quickly that “Dreamslayer” was far from the insult their king had meant it to be.
Celestia visibly winced. “Dawnfire” was equally far from the compliment it was intended to convey.
Still the fact that Luna hadn’t just flown over, grabbed the old book, and flown back in the same night put Celestia on edge. Her normally brutally pragmatic and driven sister seemed almost lost as she left.
The doors at the end of the hall burst open and Luna was nearly a quarter of the way to her before Celestia had looked up. Luna certainly knew how to make an entrance. She was perpetually the general on her way to the command tent. She maintained a brisk pace wherever she went and rarely slowed for any reason. Celestia couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. Her sister was back.
Luna worked her mouth nervously as the supplicant before her sister’s throne scrambled to make way. She did not remember the last time her mouth had felt this dry before.
All too quickly she found herself before her sister’s throne all the grand speeches and gestures she had thought up on the flight to Canterlot fled her.
“Luna I’m so happy to see you back and safe,” Celestia beamed as she descended her throne.
“Sister,” Luna simply said as she moved to embrace her sibling.
Celestia paused stiffly in her sister’s embrace a moment before returning it.
“I brought something for you,” Luna said once they had separated.
“Luna, you don’t need to bring me a gift every time you go somewhere.”
with a quick spell Luna summoned a golden crown to her side. The weighty piece of jewellry had a thin band at the bottom that would rest against the head. Reaching up from the band high golden peaks reached up. Each peak overlapped those on either side of it forming a truss with small purple stones decorating the top of each peak.
“Gifts do not carry this much weight,” Luna said solemnly.
“Luna, what is this?” Celestia asked.
Luna took a steadying breath before she began. “There was dragon in old Canterlot. He had raided all the crypts and treasuries in the mountain to fill his hoard. He filled the throne room with all the gold he could find. He put the stolen crowns of pony kings on his head and claimed to be the greatest among them. Gravestealer is his name now. I took father’s crown from among them and reforged it into this, your new crown.”
“Luna, no,” Celestia gasped.
“Celestia please,” Luna said. “We both know that you have earned this crown a thousand times over. I may be able to lead campaigns and battles but only you can truly rule Equestria. You remained a bastion of strength for our subjects even as I became little more than a bogeymare to them. You alone rule in their hearts, you alone are worthy to rule.”
Celestia backpedaled shaking her head as she tripped up the raised dais. “No,” she said, “I won’t take it, I can’t!”
Luna bit her lip and turned away. “‘Tis only a symbol,” she said. “It is long past time we acknowledge the truth that everypony already sees. You are Equestria’s paragon of virtue and nobility, the bright shining symbol of our peace. Pax Celestia.”
“Luna, NO! Listen to me when I say it is a lie. How could I ever claim to be your greater when my student… I trained her to KILL you Luna.”
Luna gave a derisive snort. “I hardly believe that of Twilight.”
There were tears in Celestia’s eyes. “Not Twilight, Sunset. She was so powerful but never enough. I pushed her, stars forgive me how I pushed her but she never could have matched you. Your skill, your experience. No lone unicorn could have been good enough. So I taught her dark twisted things. If the elements ever had awakened for her - but how could they, she never knew friends or laughter, only that she was never powerful enough.
“I finally saw it that dawn, after they had rejected her. I had broken her. I had taken a wonderful talented little filly and destroyed her for no better reason than I was afraid. I did not even have the decency to kill her. I sent her away to suffer the awful life I had given her. Just like you.”
Luna’s hoof slammed into Celestia’s cheek, turning her head with the force of the blow. Celestia turned her head back ready to endure her sister’s fury. The dark hoof slammed into her again, driving her head down and pinning it against the plush carpet. Luna’s head lowered as she leaned into Celestia’s. A hot and angry breath ran against the solar mare’s ear.
“Nightmare Moon,” Luna began in an angry whisper, “was the greatest mistake of my life. It will haunt me for generations to come and it has irreversibly changed the way the world sees me and the way I see myself. I will spend decades trying to atone for what I became but it is what I became. The consequences and the responsibility are mine. The choice was MINE! THE FAULT IS MINE!”
A flick of magic cast the tiara from Celestia’s head before a cold ring seemed to clamp onto her skull as the crown Luna held was forced onto her head. Luna’s hoof lifted off of her sister’s head only to come crashing down before her eyes. “It will not do for Equestria’s queen to belittle those around her. Her subjects are much more than excuses for her to blame herself or products for whatever contrived negligence she may dredge up. You would do well to learn to see ponies as they are, not as you wish to make them.”
Luna turned on her heels and began striding out of the throne room just as briskly as she had entered.
Celestia raised herself onto an elbow. The unfamiliar weight of a new crown seemed ponderous on her head. She shook it slowly to clear her thoughts. Luna was already halfway across the room and moving fast.
“Luna wait,” she called out but Luna ignored her.
“Please, Luna,” Celestia called again. If anything Luna sped up as she barreled her way towards the door.
Celestia grit her teeth as she rose, reminding herself that the symbolic gesture meant nothing. With a single flap she stood imperiously atop the throne.
“I said stop.” The command rang throughout the throne room.
Luna turned back with a triumphant smile on her lips. “As you command, my queen.”
please just come back to me. “Approach.”
Luna somberly marched back across the room. Once she had reached the foot of the throne she bowed low.
Celestia descended the dais until she stood before her sister. please get up. “Rise,” she said.
Luna rose to her hooves but her head was still bowed in deference. Celestia knew she was just doing it to drive home a point but it still stung. please look at me, Celestia silently begged. “Equestria still needs you.”
“I can no longer be her sword.”
“Damn it all Luna!” Celestia shouted as she stomped, “I didn’t say Equestria needed its sword or the Demon of Bloodridge Aerie or the Ripper of Kill Everything or whatever the fucking hell you call yourself now. It needs you. I need you. I need my sister.”
Celestia threw the crown at Luna’s hooves.
“After a thousand years I finally remember what it is like to have somepony that doesn’t live and die every time I take a breath, that doesn’t fall over themselves to serve me. And you want to run away again.”
“I want to find a way forward!”Luna shouted, finally breaking her silence. “Tia the place I’m in is pain and guilt and suffering. It’s a demon staring back at me from the mirror telling me I’m going to be her again one day. How long was I on that path? How many decades, how many centuries?”
Celestia blinked. “Luna,” she began hesitantly, “Oh my Luna. I’m so sorry. You wrote in that book of yours that there was no such thing as an unspoken word between us, That should have been true so long ago. Your soundproofing was never -never as good as you thought it was. I guess I was never as bad at getting through it as you thought.
“I heard you, that night after the griffon wars. I heard you cry to the moon and the stars for forgiveness. I heard you name off every egg, every cub. Luna I heard you cry yourself to sleep for years after that night. You studied war like -like a mare possessed. You always did what you needed to but you needed less and less to take settlements after that didn’t you?”
“What is your point?”
“I was there Luna. I saw the first breath Nightmare Moon took and I did nothing. How can you call me a queen? I’m not even a good sister.” Celestia was quickly becoming familiar with the underside of her sister’s hoof.
“What did I just tell you?” Luna hissed between clenched teeth.
This time Celestia struck back. “How can you pretend me doing nothing never made a difference. I could have done something, anything other than hiding behind my “respect for your decisions” because I was afraid you would be angry with me. I could have helped and I didn’t, how can you say I’m not to blame for that? How can you say that that my biggest regret is nothing?!”
“BECAUSE IT IS FORGIVEN!!” Luna’s shout rang through the castle, Causing tapestries to shift on their hooks and windows to rattle in their sills. It was only because the stained glass windows within the throne room had been magically reinforced that they didn’t shatter.
“Do you respect my decisions so little that you cannot accept this? You are forgiven, Celestia. You are forgiven of every action and inaction. You are forgiven of everything and the moment you accept this you will be forgiven of being a mule about this as well.”
Celestia shook her head, dislodging tears in the process. “No,” She insisted. “No, it cannot be that easy. You cannot simply say my guilt is gone, there must be more. You always insisted that justice be a balance, that each crime have a punishment and a penance.”
“I put a spell on you that gave you nightmares for a thousand years, and you did not even fight it. You built Equestria up to be greater than it ever was alone. But if these are not great enough for you I have another penance for you: Give me an example. Show me what it is to forgive myself, Dawnfire.”
Celestia felt her stomach turn at the word. She had endured negotiations over the dragons’ migration path that lasted weeks, and even when the king of dragons, who stood taller than mountains, had put his massive claw to her chest and burned the name onto her soul she didn’t feel nearly as sick as she did when hearing Luna say it.
Luna’s features softened. “Tia, it has been thousands of years. It was past time to let this go long before I fell.”
“Luna I cannot. They were my guards, they wore my armor and I failed them. I killed those who had sworn themselves to my protection. I killed those I set out to save.”
“You made a mistake, you had a lapse in judgement and you lost control. You have held it against yourself for so long, it is not healthy. You need to let it go.”
“How can I let it go? The saddle Arabians still count the glass crater as one of their wonders. The crater I made when I turned a dragon to ash along with everypony around for miles. How can I let it go when I still see the look of horror on the hostages’ face when they saw the fire coming. I killed them Luna, how can I ever forget that?”
“Never,” Luna said breathlessly. “Never forget them. We owe them more than to forget. We owe them more than to pretend nothing has changed. We owe them more than to run away from the reasons we killed them. We took their lives and so we owe them ours. Every second, every breath is no longer our own. We must live better because we owe them nothing less.”
“So what, are to live well and pretend that we are not murderers? It still sounds as if mortal lives do not matter.”
“Not live well, live better. We are royalty surrounded by power and opulence any who claim we do not live well are fools, but we must live better. We must overcome the weaknesses that killed them. We must be better.”
“Luna I will not believe that learning to fight will make me better.”
“I do not expect you to,” Luna said as she looked away, “and perhaps even you are...correct. What you need to learn is control so that if you are left with no choice but to fight you will not fear for those around you.”
“And what will you do?” Celestia asked.
Luna gave a sardonic laugh. “I will learn just the opposite. I spent so long casting off and hiding every impulse that did not fit the warrior I sought to be. I will learn to be my uncensored self again.”
“What does your uncensored self think of all of this?”
Luna’s tear filled eyes finally met her sister’s. “I am so afraid,” she said as she buried herself in her sister’s embrace, not even noticing as her tiara slid off her head. “Every step I take I do not know if it is right or wrong. I do not know who it will hurt, who it will anger. I feel like the consequences for some unknown wrong are hanging over me and for each passing second they will only fall harder.”
Celestia held Luna closer and shushed her reassuringly. Celestia was taken aback as Luna trembled in her arms. She could not remember the last time she had held her sister like this. Celestia stroked a hoof through her sister’s mane as she began to tremble sympathetically.
“You will not face them alone,” Celestia whispered into Luna’s ear. “Never alone, never again.”
For what seemed like hours the two sisters held each other. trembles seemed to race down one limb after another and just when one sister seemed to still the other would begin to quake. Neither knew when they had started crying, nor could they give a particular reason to the tears that stained one another’s coats. They only tightened their grip on one another in response to the warm dampness.
Slowly the two began to stir. The endless quaking between them began to subside. The tears were reduced to the occasional wet sniffle. And slowly, ever so slowly, their grip on one another began to loosen.
There was a mutual giggle as they finally saw one another’s face. what makeup they wore had been loosened by tears and rubbed into the other’s coat. Without crowns or makeup they were exposed and intimate as only family could be.
Luna bent down. To one side was the crown she had forced on her sister and to the other was the tiara she had always worn. Luna took the tiara in her hooves and brought it up.
“I went too far to name you queen,” Luna said as she placed the tiara on her sister’s head. “We were always to be his little princesses. But you will always have rights and authority that I do not. You alone can make another a ruler. It is by your magic that Cadenza received her alicornhood, and by your authority that her crown and mine hold meaning.”
Luna brought the crown up from the floor and into her sister’s hooves. “This is the crown of Equestria’s first and greatest king, reforged for your head because in mine eyes you are the greater ruler. Place that crown on your head and you will be queen in all but name. I will count anypony you name as a prince or princess and I will obey your every word.”
Celestia’s magic pulled Luna’s tiara up from the floor and switched her own for the crown. The familiar black obsidian found it’s way onto Luna’s head.
“I name you Princess Luna of Equestria,” Celestia spoke grandly despite the empty hall. “I give you all the rights and authorities of this station. I give you all the responsibilities and duties of this station. Equestria shall dream freely, knowing that you will ever be our guide. Equestria shall feel secure knowing that you are our shield and it shall sleep easy knowing that you shall always guard the night.”
Luna bowed her head, feeling the true weight of the crown. If war called she would fight, not as a monster but as a princess. If it came to it she would kill, not because it was the easy way, not because it made her enemies afraid, but because it was necessary. Because it was her duty to her sister and her nation. She would walk the dreamscape once more and banish whatever nightmares she found. She would face her greatest sin and she would atone.
The night princess would not be known for the howling madness of Nightmare Moon or the brutality of Equestria’s sword or the Demon of Bloodridge Aerie or the Ripper of Kill Everything or - or whatever the fucking hell she had called herself then. Instead she would be known for the gentle serenity she brought, the cooling and unobtrusive light of the moon and stars, the soft stillness of a foal’s unharried sleep.
Luna smiled to herself. It would not be easy, but it was at very last a version of herself that she wanted to be, that she could be.
“Thank you,” Luna whispered.
Luna felt the soft pressure of her sister’s muzzle pulling her’s up. “Come,” Celestia said with a soft smile. “I think it is time we had supper.”
Luna settled heavily onto the silk covered cloud that served as her bed. With a tremendous yawn she turned to her belly and brought her head up. She was tired beyond reason. The flight from Ponyville had been draining and the conversation with her sister had been even more so. She had nearly fallen asleep into the lavished dinner she shared with her sister before excusing herself.
She had made an attempt at giving the guards outside her chamber a friendly greeting but she doubted they had been able to make out the mumbled words. The moon had risen listlessly at her call and the stars twinkled softly like a pair of overtired eyes blinking to stave off sleep.
She caught herself yawning again. She clenched her teeth against the temptation to sleep as she pulled out her diary. The book was worn and battered beyond it’s time. the deep blue cover was faded nearly grey and still smelled faintly of cotton candy and chocolate milk.
She idly flipped through the first few pages. They were nothing more than passive-aggressive notes to her sister, expressing thoughts she didn’t want to say aloud but knew Celestia would read. She winced at the trustless bickering. These last few years had at very least healed her relationship with her sister and for that she was thankful.
She flipped through, wincing at her temptation to let Equestria fall to war with the Night Ponies and giving a dry chuckle at the grumpy ramblings after her celebration of their return. It wasn’t everypony that could say the sun shone into their hungover eyes because their sister was being a brat.
Luna chuckled to herself as she renewed her commitment to get her sister drunk. If only to see her rise the sun with a cloth wrapped around her eyes like some blind sage.
Luna flipped through the book watching the blue of her favored ink change shape with each passage. Every once in a while a different color would flash for a page or two. From the yellow of Celestia to Pinkie Pie’s shockingly pink writings and even Discord’s impossibly mismatched letters.
She frowned as she continued to flip through page after page. As far as she went she always found herself somewhere in the middle of the tome thanks to Discord’s spell. Finally she came to the last entry.
It was hesitant and unsure, full of questions and uncertainty. Hindsight was an easy thing. Looking back her problems seemed so much smaller yet she knew she would say the same thing about today’s problems tomorrow. Looking back on herself she could see how wounded and broken she had become.
Perhaps in a few year’s time she would look back and find herself a pitiable sight even now. Luna shook off the thought, she was better than she was, she had true friends now where she didn’t before. She was making progress and for the moment it was enough.
Luna turned to the next page and brought a quill to hover above it. The page waited patiently to be filled with whatever thoughts she needed expressed but she found there were none.
Luna hovered the quill for minutes trying to force anything into the page but nothing came to mind. With a sigh she set the book aside and readjusted herself on the bed.
Her mind reached out, beyond the walls of her chamber, beyond the happy dreams of her two guards. Her mind reached out and out until it encompassed all of Equestria and slowly the nation’s dreams began to assemble before her. They each took the shape of doors before her. Rach door telling about the dream and dreamer alike.
It was a language only she had ever truly known and now she found that she had fallen out of practice. Once a glance was all it took her to know if her intervention was required now she found herself pausing before each door for minutes trying to decypher what it was telling her.
Her body’s tiredness pressed in on her, calling her to her own sleep and her own dreams. She paused before one door, obviously twisted with pain and jealousy that was all too familiar. She concentrated on the familiar weight of her crown, bringing it into focus. She had been given this responsibility and she would fulfill it.
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Well, that was a fantastic journey and possibly one of the most unique interpretations of not only Luna but also of Celestia and all the deep and barely scarred-over wounds that make them the ponies that they are today. However, it was also fundamentally a story about hope, healing and the power of friendship and harmony to let you transcend your past.
I did like how you portrayed Big Mac and I also liked your little wink to Slice of Life there too.
A superior work! Thank you!
The best part is BOTH sisters have gilt and think better of their sibling than themselves and both are right and wrong. So often these stories are written rather one sided (pretty much all examples I've read cast Celestia as the "bad guy") it's refreshing to see both sisters needing to work on their relationship and acknowledging that it's a continuous process but they have each other for support.
Fan-freaking-tastic! I can't wait to see where you go with the sequel! Thanks for an awesome ride!
Excellent story, I am curious about sunset shimmer though, is it a reference to another story of your's or has it been mentioned in this story because I don't think canterlot high counts as an awful life.
Were they really interludes if they signaled the end of the story?
Well, that was one hell of a ride and I loved every second. So long and thanks for the memories.
I would like
too see this continue in episodic fashion.
I love this scene.