March
Luna had always disliked spring - not that there was anything wrong with spring itself, of course. She knew it was vital to have warmer weather, so that the ponies of Equestria could grow their crops once more. She merely disliked it because it meant the loss of the snow she enjoyed so much. To make matters worse, Canterlot had always been cleaned up thanks to the use of magic. What would normally take days or possibly weeks, simply took hours instead. The Princess had instead decided to occupy herself with her drawing - at the very least, the loss of winter and the beginning of spring had brought about some new subject material. There was only so much one could draw of winter before it all began to look the same.
She took a seat upon the grass of the training yard, sketching the landscape before her. Though it would likely look the same structurally, given that she had drawn this same exact landscape before, it would certainly be much more lively and colorful. The whites would be replaced with greens, and the gray skies replaced by blue ones. A few ponies, still in the midst of finishing off the winter clean-up, would sometimes stop and watch her work - Luna was certainly aware of them, but simply paid no attention to them.
"Princess Luna, are you taking notes on my men?"
She recognized the voice - it was the drill instructor. The Princess set the pencil down and looked him straight in the eye. "We've been over this already, sir. Unless I specifically tell you I'm running inspections, you are to assume that I'm not."
"With all due respect, your Majesty..." The grizzled old stallion eyed her in return. "I was asking if you were taking notes on my men, not if you were running inspections."
Luna was growing increasingly annoyed at this point. She had come out here because it gave her the perfect environment for her artistic work, not so she could 'take notes' on stallions. The Princess stood up and, despite being smaller than her elder sister, proved that she was certainly taller than the drill instructor. She scowled at him, and already he began to visibly shrink in her presence - she was so very tempted to bust out the Royal Canterlot Voice on him, but knew better than to do such a thing. "Did you take me to be some young mare, harboring secret crushes and taking notes about them in their very midst?"
"Well, n-no your Majesty, but-"
"Am I not allowed to go where I please within Canterlot? I seem to recall that myself and my sister both ruled it, but perhaps I'm wrong, drill instructor. Care to correct me?"
"I didn't mean to offend, y-your Majesty-" He was certainly beginning to regret raising the issue, but Luna wasn't done yet. She wanted to make sure he understood.
"Contrary to what you may believe, drill instructor, my activities within the training yard are not entirely dependent upon you and your men - that applies to other ponies as well, not just myself. You may think of this as 'your' training yard, but this is the closest Canterlot has to a park, and it belongs to every citizen of Equestria. If I so much as hear a peep that you've been harassing other ponies about interfering with 'your' training yard, I'll have you out of a job and out of Canterlot faster than you can blink. Do I make myself clear?"
The drill instructor nodded feebly and quietly left to run some more drills. A few of the guardsmen simply stood in awe at what had just happened - Celestia and Luna were both fairly laid-back, but to incur their wrath was often a tremendous mistake, and one rarely repeated afterwards. The young Princess, however, was quite pleased with herself, and returned to her drawing. After what had just happened, it was likely none of the other guardsmen would be willing to disturb her for the rest of the day.
Not surprisingly, they didn't.
-----
She was beginning to get very tired of this dream nonsense. Luna had the feeling she had managed to doze off in the middle of the training field, and she certainly couldn't force herself awake - the dream usually did that for her. She sighed and took a seat on... whatever it was the ground was made of in dreams. "Alright, let's get this over with."
As if on command, the six dream mares appeared before her. "Greetings, young Luna."
The Princess was surprised, at first - not from being called by name, they had done that before. She was surprised that the first thing they had said to her had nothing to do with the prophecy at all, nor did it involve any other part of the riddle. After all this time, now they decided to act like this? "What, no mention of the prophecy? No cryptic messages or riddles?"
The answer was simple enough: "No".
"Well... why? Why now?" Luna had an awful lot of questions to ask, but it was best to keep it simple.
"Because you have accepted things as they are, and you have shown you are willing to act, no matter how reluctant you may be."
"And... what is it I've even done? You say I've been 'willing to act', but I haven't done anything. I've just waited."
"Precisely."
Luna simply blinked, not sure what to make of it. The dream version of Twilight Sparkle, for the first time, stared at Luna rather than through her. "Your willingness to be patient has been the deciding factor. Tell us, Princess Luna - the being you know as Night Mare Moon, what was she like?"
She shuddered as she thought of that wretched creature. "Night Mare Moon was me, but at the same time... she wasn't."
"Explain."
"Explain?" Luna hesitated - it was a topic she was uncomfortable thinking about, let alone talking about, yet it felt necessary that she discuss it. "Well... over a thousand years ago, I grew jealous of my sister. I let my envy and anger get the better of me, and I did things I shouldn't have - forbidden magic is usually forbidden for a reason."
All six dream mares were staring at her at this point. It wasn't nearly as unnerving as when they had stared through her, but she still didn't feel too comfortable around them. "Continue."
The Princess sighed and reluctantly finished her tale. "After I used the magic, Night Mare Moon sorta... took over. The real me got buried underneath it all."
"Good." One of the figures, a yellow mare, approached her and began to speak, though she sounded exactly like the dream version of Twilight. "Now you know the full meaning of the prophecy."
"I... no, you don't understand. The prophecy is about Night Mare Moon's return."
"Is it, young Princess? Ponder it well, for this shall be the last you see of us."
Luna woke up with a gasp, though she wasn't sweating or shaking at all. She had fallen asleep on the training field after all, and it was already the middle of the night. The Princess looked over at her drawing and sighed - the paper had become a soggy mess from all the dew. Slowly, she gathered up her pencils and crayons and disposed of the drawing.
"I'll try again another time."
-----
The drawing had been postponed for several days at this point. With her this close to finally solving everything having to do with her dreams, Luna wasn't about to let her hobbies get in the way. She already had a quill and parchment on her desk, and was in the midst of compiling a list of what they had figured out already.
1. The mares within the dream are the Elements of Harmony.
2. The constellation from the other dream is Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark.
3. The prophecy has significant importance, and apparently has a deeper meaning than originally thought.
The Princess idly tapped the quill against her chin as she thought over it all. "I've still gotta look inwards for the answer, but that could mean any number of things." Luna gazed out the window of her room briefly before closing her eyes and concentrating upon her thoughts. She thought back to her latest dream, and slowly but surely, the wheels in her head began to turn. Time and time again, the same line became more and more prominent: "Night Mare Moon was me, but at the same time... she wasn't". It was just like with the dreams - she knew it was important for some reason, but she didn't know why.
"C'mon, Luna. Think. Think!"
She wrote it down, hoping it would help her out. Night Mare Moon was me, but at the same time, she wasn't. Something about it seemed... wrong, however, and she wrote it again. Night Mare Moon was me. Luna stared at it a bit longer, and finally, it 'clicked'. This was it - this was the key to it all. Her discovery had set something off within her. Frantically, with her eyes wide and her hooves shaking, she grabbed another piece of paper and began to quickly write on it.
Night Mare Moon was me.
Night Mare Moon was me.
Night Mare Moon was me.
She laughed, unable to believe that the answer had been in front of her all along. Quickly, she tossed it aside and grabbed another sheet, easing the shaking as best she could while she wrote. She was still reeling from her revelation - she simply had to share it now.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I did it. I figured it out. The answer was in front of us the whole time! 'The stars will aid in her escape' - it's not about Night Mare Moon. It's about me. I know it's hard to believe, and even I'm having trouble believing it, but all of it just feels so right. It has to be right!
Think of it like this. The line about 'the stars' doesn't refer to actual stars. It's about you and your friends. Your own cutie mark was the clue, as well as the presence of the Elements of Harmony within the dream. The line about 'her escape' isn't about Night Mare Moon escaping from the moon. It's about me escaping from Night Mare Moon.
'The stars will aid in her escape' - there's two meanings, one literal and the other buried much deeper below that. While the stars, quite literally, aided in Night Mare Moon's escape, you and your friends aided in mine. One meaning foretold of Night Mare Moon's return, the other foretold of my redemption.
I need to stop writing now. I'm shaking too badly from all this, that's how excited I am over it. I'm just glad we finally solved it.
Reply when you can.
Sincerely,
Princess Luna
Luna carefully set the quill aside and folded the letter up as best she could - the shaking was even managing to interfere with her magic. She succeeded however, and stumbled off towards the bathroom, desperate for a splash of cold water to calm herself down. Even after turning on the water and splashing her face numerous times, she simply couldn't help but laugh - all these months, and the answer had been in front of her the entire time! The shaking had already subsided, yet Luna simply sat there, still giggling over the turn of events. She was positively giddy, and found herself talking to her toys again, explaining her discovery to Philomena and Selene in great detail.
Slowly, Luna felt herself come back down, and she sighed and rubbed her face as she contemplated the turn of events. She certainly hadn't expected the prophecy to be about herself, that's for certain. If anything, the Princess suddenly felt a need for normalcy. She slowly made her way back to her desk and shoved the folded letter into an envelope, sealing it shut - it was to be a secret between her and Twilight Sparkle, and no other pony would ever hear of it. Luna pulled out a blank sheet of paper and spread her pencil and crayons out in front of herself. She looked at her window, gazing upon the green grass of the training field, and yet this wouldn't be her subject. Working carefully, she sketched out the bodies of six ponies, leaving them relatively nondescript - for the time being, anyways. For now, though?
Now she was going to color.
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♫♥I look forward to reading what happens next in your story♥♪
March is now up. A small disclaimer: I take no credit at all for the second meaning of the prophecy. It was a comment I saw on the PMV "The Stars Will Aid In Her Escape (Cosmic Love)", and was a pretty big mind=blown moment for myself as well. I simply had to fit it in somewhere.
Definitely check that PMV out, by the way. Amazing stuff.
Made it into the featured box! Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, and commented thus far. Couldn't have done it without you all!
Congratulations on being featured! You've definitely earned it. I've enjoyed everything up till now and can't wait to see how the last two months go.
Good chapter, better than the last!
Anyway, I guess it is over now, atleast the main "arc" of the story. Unless you have something up your sleeve...
I am waiting and hoping for more.
35678
This lack of an edit button is killing me. The meaning behind the dreams was a big part, but by no means was it the entirety of the story. This is about what Luna does during her recovery period, not about what her dreams mean. Still have three chapters (and the epilogue) to go!
I'm not trying to go "OMG YOU'RE WRONG", I'm simply saying there's more to the story than just that. Rest assured, I have some things planned.
35785
Went back and read over chapter 5 again. As much as I love the WOOL video, I never intended for there to be any references to it. I can see why you might think that, though.
35930
♫ I always feel like, somepony's watchin' meeeeeee. And I have no privacy, whooooaaa oh-oh! ♪
Apologies, I had to.
An incredibly well written piece. And I do recognise the picture, but I can't seem to find it. Could you link, please?
35939
Certainly.
"By Luna's Might", drawn by John Joseco - http://johnjoseco.deviantart.com/art/By-Luna-s-Might-207755868
The playroom scene in the November chapter is inspired by that same image.
35998
Knowing Pinkie Pie and how random she can be? No idea.
It shall be the world's greatest mystery.
MOAR!!!
36006
TOMORROW AFTERNOON!
There's just something about checking your email and having over 50 notifications that your story is being tracked.
Yeah, I know I can turn it off, but why would I want to?
36288
Magic. *snort snort*
I'll fix it. Thanks for the comment.
MOARRRR MOAR please TwT!!!
Hmm, no offense, but that revelation seemed kind of weak. Okay, so she realized she escaped from Night Mare Moon, so what? It feels like there should be something where she explores what it means for her. It seems lacking. Why would she get so excited when all she's done is realize what is meant by this prophecy that by now has already happened?
36345
Hm. I can kinda see what you're saying, but think of it like this - you have a rubik's cube, and for the longest time, you simply can't solve it. No matter how you try to make sense of it, you never make any real progress towards solving it. One day, everything sorta falls into place, and you manage to figure it out. It took you months to figure it out, but you finally did.
I see it more like Luna being excited simply because she figured it out, not because of the revelation itself.
April is done, by the way, and will be published later this afternoon.
LongshotLink - I went back and looked over the March chapter again, and everything I had written after the revelation definitely leans more towards Luna being excited from simply figuring out the meaning of her dreams, rather than the second meaning of the prophecy. Keep in mind, they had been bothering her for quite some time - since July. She was more or less excited and relieved to have finally figured it out.
If my analogy from the previous post still confuses you, let me know.
*Loves Luna and NM*
:
:
WHY ISN'T THERE A LUNA EMOTICON?
36356
Because muffins.
Great story ill be watching this one closely
also 36356 it really needs to be made wonder how they'd go about doing that?
Oh shit. I just got it.
Wow. Very nicely done.
You take the second meaning of the prophecy from a comment on the start will aid in her escape. By chance I was listening it the whole time during thise story xD
Wow... I never looked at the prophecy like that before. That sounds like a professional interpretation, even if it wasn't too hard to figure out(maybe I shouldn't be saying that, considering I didn't get it until dream- Twilight said "Is it?").
The rest will be read soon- just had to make a comment on that.
Interesting twist on the prophecy there. Cleverly done.
Also, it's nice to see somepony who shares my idea about Luna's jealousy being the trigger of her transformation into Nightmare Moon, but that she was taken over by Nightmare Moon instead of doing these things willingly. So far as I can tell, and from what I have read and heard, that guess is probably the closest to canon.
Holy crap, a Luna and Celestia story where Celestia's not acting like a b*tch. I knew they were real.