Nova Republica Lunae

by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

The Return - Chapter 1

The return of the Goddess of the Moon carried with it very little fanfare. There was nopony around to notice the Moon shine just a little bit brighter as it reached its zenith, or the faint cerulean glow that began to emanate from the old, broken castle in the woods.

The glow increased in intensity, and began to form a faint shape that grew more defined each moment. After several seconds, the shape sharpened into a small, featureless pony. The pony quickly grew in size, a horn spiraling up from its head and wings emerging from its back. A mane and tail formed, and the cobalt glow that composed the pony resolved into darker purple fur, while the mane and tail turned a lighter shade of blue.

Its work done, the glow shattered into a number of glowing motes of light that flickered for a moment before winking out of existence, and the now fully formed, sleeping pony drifted down to rest on the cobblestones below.

At exactly midnight of the final day of the thousandth year since her banishment, Princess Luna had returned.

---

A sharp gasp could be heard as Luna breathed for the first time in just slightly over one thousand years. The spell that sealed her on the moon had kept her alive, but had provided no such luxuries as breathable air, or protection from that bitter cold. The only reason she remained sane at all was the deep comatose state she spent most of her imprisonment in. Her deep gasps petered out to slower, more controlled breaths, though she still remained pressed against the stones of the floor as her brain reacclimated to all of the pure sensation that was now so alien to her.

After what could have been seconds or hours, the rushing of her mind began to slow, and resolve into coherent thought. A single teal eye cracked open, wincing as the unfamiliar and surprisingly harsh sunlight drove itself into her head like a lance. She forced open the other eye, relaxing as they eventually adjusted to the bright light of the day.

A shaky leg reached out, and pushed against the cobblestones. Luna gritted her teeth as she fought against how heavy she felt compared to her time on the moon. Diminished as it was, her divine strength prevailed, and she fought her way to her hooves. Now standing, able to see and breathe and feel for the first time in one thousand years, the realization hit her like a speeding train. Luna was free! The sheer relief forced her back down to the ground, and she began to weep.

After several moments, the tears subsided, and Luna began to examine her surroundings, taking in the ruined state of the castle, from the gaping holes in the walls and roof, to the obviously neglected furniture and decorations. Such was the state of the decor that much was only recognizable because of her familiarity with the building.

"Our keep... but why would Tia allow it to remain in such disrepair?"

Millenia-old instinct controlled her as she wandered the barely recognizable castle, navigating it perfectly despite how different it looked. She started as she recognized one particularly large hole. An image of a beam as dark as night pushing away a white shape flashed through her mind. Tears threatened to spill again, but she steeled herself, and continued on.

Her hooves unconsciously guided her to an enormous set of doors, though their grandness was diminished by one door barely hanging off its hinges, threatening to fall at any moment. Luna carefully nudged open the more intact door, barely suppressing a gasp, despite having already known exactly what would be behind the door: The throne room of the castle. The room was huge, displaying a level of opulence that, though diminished, had not been lost to time completely.

A rotten red carpet ran the length of the room, between the three enormous pillars that lined each side of the hall. Though empty, the bronze sconces on the pillars remained pristine, aside from the dust they had collected. Along the walls of the room shone the stained glass windows that had depicted Luna and Celestia's history, as well as the acts of the great heroes of her time. Many were broken, but several remained intact, and the sun shone through them as beautifully as it always had, perhaps even brighter than Luna remembered. A long, wide scorch mark lined the middle of the room, with the greatest impression in the very center. Having taken in the room, Luna turned her attention to the part of the space she least wanted to remember, but couldn't bear not to see; the thrones.

Set upon a raised dais were the two thrones. The leftmost throne was gold and shone with a radiance that seemed like more than what the sun could reflect off of it. The spectacle was somewhat diminished by the large dent in the throne, as if something heavy had been dropped upon it. The rightmost throne was made of a dark metal, and appeared to suck the very light from the air. Luna's eyes widened as she took in the sight, and memories began to flood her mind.

"Oh Tia... where are you?" she whispered into the silence of the castle.

The ruins had no answer for her, and the remembrance of that night one thousand years ago swept her away.

---

It was raining. Blasts of lightning split the sky, roaring peals of thunder following soon after. One such blast illuminated a pair of alicorns, high in the sky. One with dark, black fur and a mane like the infinite expanse of space. The other had shining, white fur and a multi-colored mane that shimmered with radiance. The whiteness of her fur made the blood that stained it all the more apparent. They were locked in a desperate grapple, each trying to subdue the other. One pony had a face that was locked in an expression of perfect rage. Her eyes were cold, and her mouth was set in a snarl that would have sent any lesser being running in fear. The other had an expression of desperation and sadness. Her eyes were filled with tears, and her mouth issued constant but ignored pleas for peace. She was losing. With a mighty kick, the darker pony tossed her opponent several meters back, and without even a moment of hesitation, unleashed a torrent of energy from her horn. The terrible darkness hurtled towards the white alicorn, only to be halted by a shining, golden shield. Unphased, the dark alicorn simply poured more energy into her attack, and the shield began to wither, then crack.

Seconds before it would have shattered, the white alicorn allowed the spell to collapse, and dove downwards, out of the way of the devastating beam. Radiant bolts of energy flew towards the dark alicorn, though their desperate aim was far from the mark. They served a purpose, however, as the dark alicorn ceased her attack to dodge the counter.

Capitalizing on the distraction, the white alicorn flew in close to her opponent with a desperate plea. "LUNA, PLEASE! STOP!"

The dark alicorn, somehow, snarled even deeper, and coolly replied, "Luna is dead."

With yet another kick, the white alicorn was thrown downwards into a freefall. Stunned, she was unable to react as a roiling ball of energy, black as midnight, flew towards her. Raw agony flowed through her as the attack hit, the hostile magic dancing over her nerves. It was almost a relief when she connected with a stone roof, blowing right through it, but stopping the attack. She briefly wondered if her landing had hurt anypony, but that line of thought was interrupted as shards of ice began to fall through the hole in the ceiling, more than a few slicing into her flesh and staining her coat with crimson.

With a flap of her powerful wings, she flew further into the castle, out of the rain of ice. Now granted a moment of respite, she cast a spell to seal the worst of her wounds while she mentally flipped through dozens of plans, outcomes, and consequences. After a moment, for she only had a few to spare, she settled on a course of action. Tears continued to flow down her face, but her mouth was now set in a thin line of determination. She opened her massive wings once again, and flew off into the castle.

Above, the dark alicorn cackled triumphantly. Her mane and tail, which should have been soaked by the downpour, billowed around her like dark clouds filled with stars. Malice flowed off of her in waves, and her presence was such that gales of pure darkness blew around her. Her opponent was weak, and she was stronger than ever. No longer bothering with magical energy, she simply began ripping chunks from the castle in search of her prey.

"Where are you...?" The words were quietly cooed, but could somehow be heard perfectly above the storm.

A roof here, a wall there, and the occasional cry cut short as she collapsed a room where somepony was hiding from the Nightmare that was raging outside. Right as she tore the roof off the hall before the throne room, she caught a flash of celestine tail slipping in between the massive doors.

"FOUND YOU!"

With a gleeful cackle, she dropped into the hole she had created... only to be caught by surprise as a white blur tackled her from behind. She instinctually grappled her attacker and used her own powerful wings to throw the white alicorn into the throne room, directly into the shining golden throne. Above the resounding clang, a sharp crack could be heard, and the white alicorn slumped as something important inside of her broke. As she struggled to her hooves, her opponent roared out a taunt.

"ILLUSIONS, SISTER? I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN YOU WERE A COWARD."

Ignoring the goad, the white alicorn unleashed a blaze of golden energy, catching her dark counterpart by surprise. The cascade of radiant power struck true, and the dark alicorn was shunted backwards. Her surprise was quickly replaced by cruel humor as she realized that, though the stream of energy was pushing her back, she felt no pain from it.

"EVEN NOW, YOU REFUSE TO TRULY FIGHT!"

The dark alicorn built her power for a moment, then unleashed a deluge of her own energy, dark as night, and filled with countless tiny stars, each twinkling with malice. The pillars of magic met with a crackle of power, their clash surging with boundless energy. With the flow of gold no longer obscuring her vision, she once again beheld the white alicorn, who had tears streaming down her face as she shouted words that went unheard. The dark alicorn let loose another cackle, and pushed harder. "YES! YES!", she screeched, "CRY, BEG, GROVEL, IT WILL NOT SAVE YOU!" The dark lance of energy pushed the golden torrent back further and further. Then, she noticed something. Five tiny gems, floating in a circle around her enemy's attack.

One erupted with light, and a stream of yellow energy connected with the golden beam. The dark alicorn raised an eyebrow as the attack grew a fraction stronger. Two more burst, and a blue and orange stream join the first. The dark alicorn's grin wavered as the point where the pillars of energy met stopped moving towards the white alicorn. Two more streams, a deep purple and a bright pink, added themselves to the mix. The white alicorn's river of magic, now a veritable rainbow, began to push the meeting point of the struggle closer and closer to the dark alicorn, whose face morphed once again into a deep snarl as she realized she was beginning to lose this battle. With a grunt, she pushed everything she had into her attack.

The sheer scale of magical energies in the room would have been devastating to any other living thing. The area around the throne room shone bright as day, banishing the dark rainclouds in the area. Gales of wind picked up loose bricks, hurling them into whatever was unfortunate enough to be in the way. Several of the windows had shattered, the shards flying away like so many knives. Sparks of raw, unfiltered magical energy flew like shooting stars into the forest around the castle, infusing themselves into the trees and the ground. A tiny mote of the darkest energy struck the back of an unlucky servant as he tried to quietly flee the castle. The unfortunate pony was dead before he hit the ground, fur and skin scorched away where the spark had struck him.

Inside the throne room, the battle raged on. The two alicorns appeared to be at an impasse, the deadly, crackling blaze of magical energy having stopped in the middle of the room. The dark alicorn had once again adopted her cruel grin, for she could see her opponent beginning to tire, while she herself could keep this up for several more minutes at least. Though, something nagged at the back of her mind. Her opponent continued to make unheard pleas, but her expression... it wasn't one of fear.

With all five gems shining brightly, a sixth gem appeared above the rest. A magenta, six point star. Slowly, it floated down to join the rest, and like them, exploded with light. As it did, the rainbow grew immeasurably more powerful. The dark alicorn's eyes shrunk to pinpricks as the rainbow quickly advanced through her ray of night, brushing it aside like tissue paper. The rainbow reached her, and she felt herself become undone. As her very essence unraveled, the throne room was eerily silent in comparison to the tumultuous raging of the energies that had been there moments before, with only the soft chiming of the rainbow to fill the silence.

At last, something clicked. Her sister's expression had never been one of fear. It had been an expression of deep sadness and loss.

And now, with nothing but the chimes of the rainbow to fill the room, she could finally hear what Celestia had been saying, more tears than ever falling from her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Luna..."

And a mere moment later, the only thing Nightmare Moon could see was a vast, gray expanse, and she could hear nothing at all.

Author's Note:

First real attempt writing fanfiction.

What I really wanted was to write out how Luna's banishment went down (clearly, since it's most of the chapter), but I kinda want to fit it into something bigger.

More to come. Hopefully.

Big thanks to Drago_dagger for ideas and proofreads.

Comments

[Thaumaturgy]

Well this is an interesting premise I can not wait to see where you go with this.

[Wooden Wheel]

So, in this universe Luna returned free of the nightmare... only to see her sister consumed by her own. Interesting.