Under a Glass Moon

by Broseph_Stalin

Second

Second

Padding along the soft carpet, Luna struggled to catch up to her sister, who was marching along now at a rapid pace. “Tia! We doth request you slow down, please!” she gasped as she drew up the frills of her gown in her mouth to canter up to her sister’s side.

“We apologize, sister. We must make haste; the sun will not wait for the moon, so we must not tarry,” Celestia said, as she picked her helmet up in magic’s grip and slid it over her head.

As they stopped at the entrance to the balcony, Celestia held fast and adorned her helmet. Her sunrise pink mane slipped through the reave in the back, and spilled about her neck in a grand fashion. Celestia glanced over her sister, and, finally content, allowed herself a tiny smile.

“Are you ready, my dear sister?”

Luna just shuffled a hoof nervously. “We…” But she was cut off as the fanfare from outside blared away with gusto and the pair jumped slightly—it was time!

“Come now, sister, the ceremony awaits!” Celestia said quickly, and parted the long, velvet curtain that laid across the entryway. As Luna slipped her way past the gateway, she felt her eyes widen in shock at what she saw before her: hundreds of ponies had gathered, big and small, fat and thin, old and young alike. They were all here to see her raise the moon!

The sensation of giddiness tickled away inside Luna now, though the ever-present sensation of dread and doubt crept about in the back of her mind. Stuffing the nagging thought away with a small effort, she joined her sister by her side and waved a hoof slowly and in a court-like manner, the way she had been taught. Soon, the cheering slowed down to a trickle of hoofbeats and then simply tapered right off to stillness. That shook Luna just a bit- certainly they were much more eager and energetic at Celestia's Summer Solstice Celebrations? This thought she abandoned as well, and looking back out over the expansive crowd, she cracked a somewhat forced smile.

"Our fair and ever-courteous subjects," Celestia addressed the ponies below, "It is the extreme pleasure of our own that We may present unto thee my sister- Luna, the Princess of the Night, Champion of the Moon, come to raise the stars upon on this beautiful winter's eve!" The crowd rumbled and cheered to Celestia's powerful (if not somewhat melodramatic) speech. With an expected silence at the lift of her armored hoof, Celestia carried on her speech to the populace before her.

"As many of you know, tonight is a very special eve- the night of the Winter Solstice Celebration, marking the longest night of the year!" Another chorus of cheers rose up from the crowd, though these were definitely more forced than the previous ones had been. Luna was glad at that moment that the late evening twilight had stolen most of the light of day away- her cheeks flushed hot in intense embarrassment.

Who art We kidding, Luna thought, eyes slowly widening in terror, We art not here for these ponies' joy. They live by the rise of the sun, and depend on it for food and sight. All We are doing here is bringing them an immense disservice. Luna felt a sharp snap of nausea in her stomach as the startling thought stumbled its way around in her head. Was she really that much of a bother to these ponies? That they merely attended a celebration in her honor out of respect, or worse, fear of punishment?

Her stomach sank into a bed of hot needles. The world was spinning, voices were harsh on her ears, and her gut felt as though it was collapsing in on itself. It was only when she realized that Celestia had turned to her that everypony had been waiting for her to do something. Her sister's voice melted back into conscious collective, slowly but steadily.

"...Art thou ready now, my dear sister? It is time to raise the moon. We must not wait, time is of the essence." The usual, calming smile lay on Celestia's face behind the swirling boughs of armor plating her helmet. "Luna?" she asked once more, a bit of concern riding on her voice.

"We... Yes, sister, We are ready now," Luna replied, taking a quick, shallow breath to try and chase away the damnable scarlet that had been painted on her face through her entire personal dilemma. Steadying her breathing as much as possible, Luna took a step forward and recited the incantation that Starswirl had first taught her years before.

Through slightly parted lips came the whisper of ancient power. And with an oddly ethereal sensation, Luna felt her body click in with some other being, far greater than her, but even more humbling. A shimmering beam of light rained down upon her; weightlessness overtook her form. She spread her fledgling wings wide as the invisible hand lifted her up, straight into the air.

Upon the caress of the Moon's power, she felt invincible. Waves of pure, immaterial and incredible energy seeped into every tiny fiber of her being, and she felt happy- happier than she had ever felt in her entire life. Ecstasy, she decided, would be a word ill-fit in describing this unconceivable feeling.

And as soon as it had begun, the shifting sensation, the invincible feeling of incredible power, had ended. The hand that had lifted her placed her gently down, and she blinked back tears that had risen in the corners of her eyes from the effort. Luna set her ears back, her smile widening as she expected the roaring, crashing waves of applause that she would get, that she had to get. Her sister’s sun celebrations had cemented that ideal in her head.

As she approached the banister, her smile fell fast. All the ponies were just standing there, still as intently as before, but again, still unmoving. Had they not seen what she had done? Certainly they must have felt the power, the sheer, raw, and incredible power that had grabbed her body not moments ago.

Right?

Silence merely held over the assortment of ponies. It was heavy, stifling, like a blanket thrown over Luna’s head; she wanted to shake it off, throw it off in any way she could. Beside her, Celestia stirred, and spoke out to address the crowd.

“The Moon hath been raised. Hail your Princess of the Night!” she proclaimed, shattering the suffocating stillness. As the ponies recovered from the shock they had just endured from the Sun Princess’s shout, a few began beating their hooves on the ground in blind fear, while others looked about, stunned, wondering what had even happened. Others sat around, listless and vapidly bored-looking.

Eventually, the closing ceremonies proceeded, and the crowd disbanded, filing away into city streets and back to sleepy little towns on the border of Canterlot. And before she had even realized what had happened, Luna was standing alone on the platform, overlooking a completely deserted arena. As tears flowed up and the snow-white moon reflected itself in her glassy eyes, she looked up to the stars and stifled a sob.

“I did good… right?”

Comments

[William A Grey]

... What did just happen? D:

Anyway, nice chapter, even if a bit short. It's interesting to read what happened all those years ago, when Luna turned into Nightmare Moon, from the Night Princess' point of view. And it's kinda funny to imagine Celestia speaking like that xD

Looking forward to the next chapter

And sorry for not leaving a comment earlier, I had a VERY busy month D:

PS: Oh, and also... FIRST!
Don't kill me D: (?)

I really wonder WHY there haven't been any comments on this, even though it came exactly a month ago....