18: You and me we can light up the sky - Part One.
You and me we can light up the sky - Part One.
Chapter published 14th May 2013
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Deep within the walls of Canterlot Castle’s tallest tower, Princess Celestia slowly - almost reluctantly - made her way up the ornate spiral staircase that led to the very top of the lofty structure. Her destination: The Royal Observatory.
Not long beforehoof she had received word that her sister, Princess Luna, co-regent of the nation and ruler of the night, had asked to meet her there. While no set time for their rendezvous had been given, the formal nature of the request - an ornately hoof-crafted note on ancient parchment bearing the royal seal carried to her upon a silver platter by a single royal guard - had prompted Celestia to immediately dismiss what little had remained of the day court in order to head directly to her sister’s side.
The sisters had met at the Royal Observatory a great number of times in the years since Luna’s return, often making a point of being there together twice daily at what they jovially called their ‘shift change’, though today’s meeting was not something she was looking forward to.
Over the past few weeks her sister had been distant, troubled… depressed even. Some might say that she had not seemed so down for over a thousand years; but then no pony who knew her before her banishment was still alive to make the observance, no pony save for her sister and this recent development was a thought that the princess of the sun was doing her best to push back down into her own troubled heart.
But today Luna had called for her, and when called by her sibling, Celestia would be there. They were sisters after all and at the end of the day, each other was all they really had.
Finally reaching the top of the great spiral staircase, the solar princess found the grand double doors closed, though not locked. Hesitating for just a moment, she prepared to extend her magic to push open the doors so she could step inside. But for some reason she stopped, a small voice at the back of her mind asking her to wait. A recent memory - recent for somepony of her great age anyway - worked its way to the forefront of her consciousness; a memory of the very first time she had ever traversed these very stairs in order to find her sister.
Memories she would just as soon forget.
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Canterlot Palace - Royal Observatory
June 24th, 1212 Anno Celesti
Three days after the defeat of Nightmare Moon and return of Princess Luna.
Standing at the top of the stairs that lead to the royal observatory, Princess Celestia took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before gently extending her magic outwards to push open the grand double doors before her.
Taking a tentative step inside, Celestia felt her heart lift as she spotted her younger sister across the room, standing on the balcony on the outside of the observatory, the younger alicorn’s attention focused outwards towards the glorious evening sky. After spending a thousand years apart, Celestia now found herself becoming increasingly anxious these last few days whenever she did not know exactly where her sibling was but now that her sibling was back within her sight she could feel the knot in her stomach (that she hadn't even realised was there) relaxing.
Princess Luna still sported her smaller appearance just as she had when she was first released from Nightmare Moon’s corruption just days before, much as she had during her ‘teenage’ years all those millennia ago. Her light blue mane lay across her shoulders, her coat a just slightly darker shade of blue that was still much, much lighter than the midnight cerulean of her full adult form. Her mane and tail contained no stars, having yet to regain their beautiful ethereal forms, though they would surely return with time.
Making her way across the main room of what - until just recently - had been almost exclusively the domain of her latest student, Celestia was careful to move as silently as she could, something her subjects were always surprised that a pony of her size could pull off so shockingly well. There was no fooling her sister though.
“Hail thee well, sister of mine.” Luna said quietly, keeping her attention devoted to the sky as she spoke.
“Hello Luna.“ Celestia stopped just short of the door the balcony. “How are you tonight?”
Luna seemed to pause for thought before glancing over her shoulder at her sister.
“One is in fine fettle this eve. Though we are sure that this comes as no surprise.”
Luna turned her attention back to the stars, the edges of her mane and tail occasionally ruffled by the evening breeze..
“One has the most distinct impression that we are under almost constant observance, a situation that, were we to be blunt, is swiftly becoming most vexing.” Luna’s tone spoke of mild irritation, as one would grouse at an overprotective sibling, which in this case was not a hundred miles from the truth.
“Oh.” Celestia bowed her head at her sister’s comment. “Sorry.“
Celestia had instructed both her royal guard and castle staff to keep a surreptitious – and she had stressed the ‘surreptitious’ part quite strongly – watch on her sister during the first few weeks of her return. She had told them, and herself, that it was just a precaution (and there was nothing to worry about) as well as to make sure that anything and everything that could be done to help Luna reintegrate into modern society was being handled quickly and efficiently.
In reality it was more that Celestia just could not stand the thought of letting her sister out of her sight again after all these years.
“There is no need for apologies, my sister. One is essentially an unknown variable brought within your castle at this time. Your diligence is prudent and we would have done the same in your place.” Luna’s tone lightened. “We accept that we have been... gone for some time. There is much to learn about this brave new world now spread before us.”
Luna swept a hoof across the vista spread before them, taking in the panoramic view stretching from the Smokey Mountains, across the Everfree Forest and on over towards the distant city of Baltimare. Her hoof fell as she cast her mind back to some of the changes she had already discovered in the scant few days since her return.
“We were saddened to observe what has become of our old home. The years have not been kind to it, its majesty now much diminished, walls toppled by centuries of encroachment on the part of the Everfree forest. One almost did not recognise it at first observance.”
She turned in place on the balcony to take in the full glory of Canterlot Castle.
“But we are gladdened to see that this mighty new castle of yours has the finest of rooms solely devoted to my heavens.”
Celestia thought it might not be the best idea to admit to her sister right now that the royal observatory had been sealed off for the last few hundred years. It had taken a lot of convincing on the part of the most recent of Celestia’s faithful students for the solar monarch (now diarch, it would be hard to get used to the idea again after all this time) to restore and reopen it.
Even after its grand re-opening, Twilight Sparkle was one of the few that used the room, spending on-the-whole way too much of her youth cooped up in here alone, as the cramped kitchenette and small camping bed pressed up against one wall could attest to. Even the princess of the day rarely came up here, and then only when invited, instead content to let Twilight have her own private place somewhere in the castle that she could claim as her own.
Glancing around the large room, Celestia took note of the sheer number of pictures and diagrams pinned to its walls, the piles of books and star-charts spread all over every available surface. The room’s previous occupant had certainly left her mark all over the place.
Letting herself reflect in the happy memories the observatory held for a moment, the solar princess turned back to her sister.
“You wished to see me, dear Luna?” Celestia asked. “But why all the way up here particularly?”
Luna looked away, fidgeting nervously as she responded, uncharacteristically hesitant as she did so. Her natural nature around those ponies she was comfortable with could best be described as ‘bombastic’ but since her return she had been anything but.
“We find it brings back memories of the war room in the old castle. It makes one feel… calm.”
Casting her eyes back though the balcony doors and into the surprisingly large room, Luna’s gaze lifted towards the ornately painted ceiling, where for hundreds of years an artificial starscape had graced the elderly and time-worn plaster.
“And one likes the decor, we find it nostalgic.”
Celestia had to smile at Luna’s wistful expression. Her sister could be so adorable when she was embarrassed. By the creator, she’d missed moments like this.
Luna turned her attention back to the slowly setting sun, the flaming globe already beginning to dip below the horizon.
“The evening breeze is most enjoyable. It has been so long since we have felt its like against our face.”
Celestia felt a sudden sense of guilt seep over her. For a thousand years Luna had been without breeze, without company, without food or drink. While ‘true’ immortal alicorns needed none of these to survive, the toll of a thousand years alone without conversation or distraction would surely have done untold amounts of damage to her sister’s psyche.
Looking back over her shoulder to find her older sibling lost in her thoughts, Luna motioned with a single wing for her sister to come out onto the balcony.
“Would thou like to join us?” she asked, indicating a spot at the railing next to her.
When the balcony was originally constructed no living mortal pony remembered that the royal sisters weighed in at quite a bit more than that of the average pony, even more than the greatest (or most corpulent) of stallions had ever managed. Celestia had quietly had the balcony reinforced in the centuries since but she was still somewhat concerned about the detrimental effect the combined mass of two alicorns could have upon its supports. Engaging a small portion of her flight magic in order to negate at least some of her apparent weight she gingerly stepped out onto the deck.
“Are you ready for the moon’s rising?“ Celestia asked as she reached her sister’s side, noting as she did so that there had been a lot less creaking from the structural supports than she’d feared. “It is almost time. You mentioned that you wished to take control of moving her again tonight.”
Luna looked put out, a small pout making its way to her lips.
“One is ashamed to admit that this endeavour has not been going well for us thus far.” A scowl formed over her features as nodded her head toward the eastern horizon where the moon awaited its call to position. “It would appear that she is not speaking to me.”
Luna sighed deeply, the very end of her forelock lifting from her forehead as she did so.
“We were alone together for a millenia. For almost a thousand years she tried to talk us down, to sooth our mind, but we were so consumed by anger and hate that we would not listen to her pleas. Now that we are finally apart she is… one does not know. Perhaps she is angry with us?”
Celestia turned her attention from her sister and followed her gaze to the eastern horizon, where the moon was making absolutely no attempt to answer her sister’s call to come forth.
“I doubt it is anger.” The solar princess reached out her magic towards the moon, feeling the celestial body resist her touch for a brief second before it recognised which sister had come calling, at which point it let down its guard and returned the magical contact.
“She seems more… sad. Maybe a touch disappointed.“ Celestia relaxed, letting her brief connection with the moon fade back into the background.
“Thou may be correct.” Luna admitted, letting loose another sigh “But nether-the-less, our interaction is not progressing smoothly. One fears we may be in need of assistance this night. We are... saddened to say that there is just not enough power in this weakened body of mine to force her to acquiesce to one’s wishes.”
Celestia stepped forward and wrapped a wing over her sibling, pulling them closer as she did so.
“It has been a while, Luna, you don’t have the power you once had right now, but it will come back with time. Let’s rest here a moment. The moon can wait few minutes.”
“That is very true, my sister.” Luna pushed herself up against her sister’s barrel. “Thank you for your kind words.”
The two alicorns spent a few moments in quiet contemplation, both enjoying the simple pleasure of just being in each other’s company again after such a long time. The last time they had stood together like this they had been almost the same size, the princess of the night just a scant few horn-widths shorter than her older sibling.
Eventually Luna broke the silence.
“One noticed the whole time we were gone that thou barely made any attempt to move our stars. Whenever thou tried thou would always end up moving them back a few days later. May we ask why?”
The solar diarch’s spirits dipped, unbidden memories taking her back to the Battle of Moon’s Apex, the final deciding confrontation between Celestia and Nightmare Moon, and the last time the stars had been moved en-masse.
“I found could not bring myself to do it.” Celestia uttered, her words barely more than a whisper. “I just did not have the heart for it.”
Luna looked up at her, her eyes posing a question that her lips had no need to speak out loud.
Celestia looked away, she couldn’t bear to look at her sister as untold memories of their last battle forced their way back into her mind.
“When you were gone the stars were all I had left of you; the you from before the Nightmare I mean.”
Luna rubbed her muzzle against her sister’s chest, as if to reassure her elder sibling with her very presence.
“You always had such a way with the stars, a touch of art that I just couldn’t match.” Celestia continued. “If you remember, I never had your subtlety when it came to placing the stars. My constellations always looked like… well even I did not know what they were meant to be half of the time.“
The sisters shared a small but much appreciated laugh at Celestia’s admittance. It was true, she never had been very good at arranging constellations, or art, or baking, or even subtlety in general, though the centuries since had given her plenty of time to practice. Though by now she had become a master of subtlety, she was still terrible at anything remotely creative.
Together they lapsed into a soothing silence once more and, after a few moments, Luna was again the one to break it.
“Sister, thou have told us that as we regain our strength, so too will we regain our true and illustrious form of years long past.”
“This is true. In time you will again be as you were before.” Celestia stated with confidence, hoping to raise her sister’s flagging spirits.
Luna did not seem to find solace in her sister’s words. “One finds that while there is much to learn about how Equestria has fared in this last millennia, there are also parts of one’s life before our… departure that we are having trouble bringing to mind. Will these memories also return to us?”
“Yes, my sister.” Celestia rubbed her cheek against her sister’s mane. “Over time you will regain all of your memories. They are an intrinsic part of an alicorn’s essence and with one will return the other. “
Luna bowed her head. “Then one is most concerned. While recall of one’s last few years on Equestria is... foggy to say the least, it is painfully obvious that one was not always of sound mind. What if the recovery of our memories bring with them the return of the Nightmare that one so tragically became? What if one once again becomes a danger to our subjects?”
Obvious signs of distress made their way to the lunar diarch’s face as she raised a forehoof to her face.
“The details are lost to me now, but one knows that the blood of many will forever stain our hooves, that entire armies were laid to waste under our orders. This is a situation that must never be allowed to come to pass ever again.”
Celestia pulled her sister closer to her chest, resting her chin upon her younger sibling’s head as she wrapped her mighty white wings tighter around them both like a huge feathery blanket.
“Luna, please believe me, that will not happen.” Celestia held her sister tighter still. “I lost you once before, I will not lose you a second time. I was too self absorbed back then, I let the signs of your discontent slip me by, told myself all too often that it was nothing to worry about, but I promise you that will not happen again.”
“Thank you, my sister.” Luna reluctantly pulled herself away from Celestia’s embrace, pushing a forehoof across her eyes as she did so. “We know we can trust in thee to do what thou must in order to protect our subjects.”
As Luna steeled herself, Celestia pushed a smile to her face, hoping that it would lighten the mood.
“So, perhaps I can fill in some of your missing memories with good news.” She asked. “Are there any gaps in your recollections you would like me to fill in. Some moments of happier times that you can still recall?”
Luna thought for a moment, the gentle evening wind pushing at her mane. Unlike Celestia’s striped mane it currently did not move in the solar winds but instead was affected by much more earthly weather. As Luna regained her powers then her form, mane included, would transcend such mortal concerns and regain its former glory, a mane full of stars and all.
As Luna continued to search her somewhat spotty memory, Celestia was pleasantly surprised to see a solitary tiny star trying its very best to shine from behind her sister’s ear. As she continued to watch, the single star became just the slightest bit brighter.
“Snowdrop!” Luna cried, startling her sister from her ruminations. “Whatever happened to my old student? The last we can remember of her was the day she finally retired as the head of winter weather control. Pray tell, what happened to her after that?”
The solar princess was slightly taken aback. To be honest, this was one of the questions she’d hoped wouldn’t come up for quite a while yet.
“Well, she lived a very, very long and happy life and died surrounded by her family who loved her very much.” Celestia said which, though it was technically the truth, left a lot of details untouched, details that her sister really did not need to hear right now.
Snowdrop had lived a long a happy life, this much was true. As to dying surrounded by her family, this was also true. What Celestia did not want to mention quite yet was that, due to dealing with increasing tensions in the Crystal Empire, Luna had missed her chance to see her much beloved friend in her last few weeks. By the time the royal sisters had returned from the frozen north Snowdrop had long since been buried, earth pony style as she had requested, in the ground where her beloved snowflakes fell.
In some small way Celestia was glad these were moments that her sister was currently spared from being able to recall. But then, the knowledge that the fateful day these memories would eventually return to Luna’s battered and beleaguered mind would be the day she was forced to relive each and every moment, second by tortuous second filled the elder sister with a layer of dread that she dared not admit to a living soul.
But for the solar monar... diarch herself, the memory still loomed large in her mind. The image of her sister beating at the earth around her friend’s grave with her hooves, cursing the creator for making the lives of mortals so fleeting while she was forced to endure their passing generation after generation, was a sight that would stay with the solar princess for the rest of her very long life.
Looking back on it now, with over a thousand years of hindsight to assist her, Celestia often held the uncomfortable feeling that this may well have been the very moment that an embryonic Nightmare Moon first gained a hoof-hold on her sister’s heart. The day that untold years of grief and remorse bound tightly within her sister’s chest had slowly but surely begun its terrible transformation into a force of unimaginable hate and rage.
For centuries now Celestia had tortured herself with the thought that if she had just done something, indeed anything, differently then maybe the whole conflict could have been avoided. Luna wouldn’t have ended up on the moon, Celestia wouldn’t have been alone for all these centuries and Equestria wouldn’t have had to go through some of the darkest times that ponykind could even imagine.
But this kind of thinking could drive a pony crazy. Now that she cast her mind back on the early days of Nightmare Moon, she could see that it certainly was this kind of thinking that had driven her little sister over the edge.
Quickly, Celestia pushed these thoughts away, locking them in a part of her mind where they could remain untouched… for now at least.
A happier thought suddenly popped into Celestia’s head and she blessed the creator for the assistance. Not that she could guarantee that it was her hoofywork, but it was the kind of thing she liked to do from time to time.
“We still have a small stock of her hoof-crafted snowflakes stored in the weather tower.” Celestia motioned to a large spire located on the other side of the castle. “There’s not many left after all this time but she made sure we had as many as she could manage before she passed on.”
Luna turned her head so she could see the tower Celestia was indicating. She felt her heart lift as her eyes took in a stained glass window set into the side of the tower, her old friend’s cutie mark proudly displayed there for the world to see as the day’s last rays of sunlight passed through the glass, projecting its ghostly echo-y image across the nearby buildings.
“When the time comes…” Celestia moved closer to her sister. “Would you like to be the one to use them to signal the beginning of the winter snow fall as I have these past years?”
As Luna pushed herself back against Celestia’s chest, gently nodding her agreement as she moved, the solar diarch could see a second star faintly pulsing in her sister’s mane, this time in the very front of her forelock. Though much weaker than the first, it gave her hope that for her sister’s long road to recovery. Though it would be a long journey, it had now begun. And at this moment she swore to their heavens, her sister would not walk this road alone.
Resting her chin against Luna’s head, Celestia let the moment flow, not wanting to disturb their time together. But time and tide waits for no pony as they say (which, though she’d never tell any pony lest it spoil their worldview, wasn’t actually true) the sun was making it quite plain that its job was done for the day and, as it’s presence was no longer required, it required safely putting away for the night.
“I have a proposition for you, my sister.“ A smile made its way to Celestia’s lips. “If you help me put away the sun, I’ll help you bring out the moon, just for tonight. How does that sound?”
Luna huffed slightly, her breath (which she didn’t actually need to breathe to survive) tickled against her sister’s chest.
“While one sincerely doubts that, after a thousand years of solo operations thou would really require our assistance to set away the sun and bring forth the moon, we find your offer to be… acceptable.”
The princess of the night bowed her head slightly, giving that wonderfully adorkable look that Celestia loved so much, as she nervously added. “And we thank thee.“
Pushing her consciousness forth, Celestia could feel her solar magic meeting and then intertwining with her sister’s lunar magic before reaching out to make contact with the sun. The sun’s own essence twitched slightly at the unfamiliar aura mixed in with that of its mistress but quickly settled as it soon recognised the lunar monarch.
Celestia had been a little concerned that there may have been some lingering animosity felt towards her sister, who admittedly had threatened to permanently banish the sun not so long ago – in celestial terms anyway – but the sun, as a reflection of her mistress, had forgiven Luna long, long ago.
Almost effortlessly the sun responded to their combined call and slid the last little way below the horizon before moving off to its resting place for the night, bringing twilight to the entire planet as it went.
With the sun settled, Celestia refocused her attention towards the moon, letting her sister’s aura move to the forefront of their entwined power as she did so. As their magic came into contact with the moon, Celestia was dismayed to feel the moon buck against them, their call for movement going unheeded.
For a thousand years, Celestia had never had trouble from either the sun or the moon. Well, OK, maybe the moon had given her some small grief for a few months after Luna had first been banished... and maybe there’d been that period following her self imposed exile when neither of them had held the princess in their good books for a few… years.
Plus, if she were to be completely honest, several of the stars had never truly accepted the solar princess as their new mistress and had done everything they could to aid their former ruler in her escape, no matter what form she took.
But either way, this wasn’t the response that Celestia had been hoping for from the moon and she wasn’t going to let it mar her sister’s long awaited return.
As Luna, a sense of dejection flowing freely from her, began to pull her aura back towards herself, Celestia grabbed it within her own and dragged it back towards the moon. Fixing the huge rock with the magical equivalent of a stern and uncompromising stare, Celestia pushed her power around the moon, wrapping it firmly in their combined magic before allowing her own aura to retreat ever so slightly.
Nervousness evident on her sister’s face as well as in her magic, Celestia could feel the moon struggle for a few scant seconds more before it finally gave in and relaxed into Luna’s embrace. As the moon began to move, the solar diarch slowly drew back her aura completely, leaving her sister to guide her previously reticent ward into position all on her own.
Waiting until the glow had fully faded from Luna’s horn, Celestia let a single wing rest across her sister’s back. In this way they stood together in silence for a few moments, the stars gracing the night sky seeming to twinkle extra hard this night to welcome back their one true mistress.
Celestia turned her head to take in western sky, looking for the point of light that corresponded with the star shining quite boldly now from from behind her sister’s ear. Once located, she could see that it was indeed pulsing brightly in the sky, a little stronger, a touch more confident and proud it would seem, than it had for any night in the last millennia.
“Welcome back, Princess Luna, guardian of the night.“ Celestia whispered, confident her sister could hear her.
With her composure cracking, tears made their way down Luna’s face as she buried herself under her big sister’s wing.
“We’re sorry. “ She cried. “We’re so, so sorry.“
Though Luna had spent much time these last few days apologising over and over again, Celestia knew this time was not for her. Instead these heartfelt words were for the moon that the princess of the night felt she had abandoned, the stars she had not shepherded, the night sky she had not governed and the dreams she had not guarded. All this blame she placed squarely on her own shoulders and would undoubtedly do so for a long time yet to come.
Time passed, seconds into minutes (but what does time really matter to the immortal?) as Celestia just held her sister, letting the warmth of their bodies move between their regal forms.
After a time, Luna’s tears - and apologies - ceased and finally a quiet question came from under the pure white alicorn’s wing.
“What ever happened to Snowdrop’s family? Did they fare well under your rule?” Luna asked.
Celestia inwardly grimaced. As always she wanted to tell the truth but, as before, it might need just a touch of prudent tweaking.
“Unfortunately I‘m not sure what became of them. With all that occurred after your… departure, I lost track of them after a decade or so.” Celestia hoped that alone would be enough of an answer.
“How so?” Luna peeked out from under Celestia’s wing, her bloodshot eyes still glimmering with tears.
With her sister looking up at her from under her wing, Celestia couldn’t help but be transported back through the mists of time to the day a young pegasus had first been turned; when she had been so small and gangly, so unaccustomed to the huge horn suddenly attached to her head as well as the overabundance of alicorn power now running through her small body.
Celestia had only been turned for a (relatively) few years herself when it happened and while going from unicorn to alicorn had been enough of a transition - even after all this time flying gracefully still did not come naturally to her - to suddenly find herself as the big sister was, to her eyes at least, an even more daunting change.
The sudden onslaught of memory was so overwhelming that in the few moments it took for her brain to recover, Celestia found she had unwittingly blurted out the absolute, unadulterated truth.
“I’m ashamed to admit that a few years after you were banished I… I lost the plot somewhat.”
The solar princess’s cheeks flushed suddenly as she realised the enormity of what she had just let slip. Luna pushed her way out from under her sister’s wing, turning to face her sibling as she moved..
“Come again?” She asked, her previous state of sorrow suddenly forgotten as an incredulous look gracing her face. If there was ever a royal sister who would have been odds-on favourite to ‘lose the plot’ as it were, never in a million years would it have been Celestia who was the bookies’ favourite.
“I… erm, abdicatedthethroneandspentmostofthenextcenturywanderingtheglobe.“ Celestia admitted, unable to look her sister in the eye as the words tumbled swiftly from her mouth.
“Thou. Didst. WHAT?” Luna pranced around her sister’s body, putting herself soundly back into the taller alicorn’s field of vision as as the Royal Canterlot Voice made a surprise reappearance.
Celestia cringed at the verbal onslaught she knew was to come. If there was one thing Luna had always taken very seriously it was the stance that royalty was absolute, both in the privilege it bestowed as well as the responsibilities and demands it placed on its wielder.
“Thou would abandon our subjects and... leave?”
Verily Luna spat out the words with distaste, making sure she remained directly in her sister’s field of vision as she worked up a rage.
“It took years of corruption from the darkest of magics before we became a threat to our subjects! Had we been in our right mind we would never have forsaken those we are sworn to protect!”
Luna’s ranting was well into mid-to-high-range ‘Royal Canterlot Voice’ levels by this point and the volume showed no signs of coming back down anytime soon.
“Pray tell what exactly caused thou to abandon our throne to only the creator knows what could have swept in and attacked our little ponies?”
Finding herself backed against a wall, Celestia’s ears flattened against her head and even her ethereal mane deflated under her sister’s verbal attack.
“Yes, I’ll admit.” The solar princess found herself shouting back as she quickly cast a sound-deadening spell around the area surrounding the observatory. “In the years following your banishment I did some things I’m not proud of, things that made me a bad queen. I just couldn’t stand the enormity of my actions, the constant reminders of everything I had done, the guilt made me lash out at times.”
Celestia looked up to catch her sister’s eye but all she saw there was an anger she’d not seen since the days of Nightmare Moon, an anger that chilled her to the bone. Ducking her head again she pressed on.
“But, like you, I wasn’t in my right mind. In less than three hundred years we’d taken control of Equestria, we’d barely survived our conflicts with the likes of Discord and King Sombra, we’d lost the Crystal Empire and to top it all I’d lost both of my sisters. I was all that was left... me, me alone. I felt that the time of alicorns was over, that it would be best if we just faded away. So, I left, I gave it all up and I walked away.”
A look of great distaste spread across Luna’s face. Even before her banishment, they had not spoken of their elder sibling in centuries and had honestly expected never to speak of her again.
Withering under her sister’s gaze, Celestia felt her legs give way. Letting her flank slide down the wall, her dock hit the balcony floor hard, the woodwork creaking and complaining in protest.
“I was so scared… so alone.” She cried, tears flowing freely from her eyes. “One sister walked out on me and then I had to banish the other one to the moon, probably forever. How do you think I felt? In the years directly after you were gone I did some things I’m not proud of, I made a lot of mistakes… I wasn’t a very good ruler. After a few years I abandoned my ponies, left them so I could wallow in my grief, hoping to forget. All I wanted was to return to the source, to be reabsorbed as our sister had before me.”
Celestia wiped at her face with a forehoof while Luna just stood incredulous, stunned, flabbergasted even. In the untold years together before her banishment, she’d never seen her sister like this. Even after Terra had abandoned them, Celestia had always been the strong one; so confident, so self-assured. Little had Luna known that much of Celestia’s bravado was just that; a brave face put on just for show, to keep the youngest alicorn from realising just how dire some of the situations they’d found themselves in actually were.
“But our memories are part of our power and our power part of our memories.” Celestia continued through her tears. “As I wandered aimlessly I let my memories slip away, let myself forget and all the while the sun grew ever dimmer while one by one the stars refused to shine. With no alicorns left to bring them forth, the unicorns had to take back guiding the sun and the moon. They tried to keep the government and judicial systems and all the other things that prop up a society working but over time the pegasi lost interest and started to break away and the earth ponies followed not long after.”
Celestia’s words hurried forth, her sister making no move to stop her. Centuries of guilt weighing heavily on both the solar princess’s heart and mind pushed her confession swiftly from her lips.
“Things didn’t go well for Equestria during the years I was gone. The dragons and griffins took advantage of my absence to start raiding the outlying villages, creatures started roaming forth from the wild forests, treaties with other species were left neglected. Without alicorns to remind them that the races could co-exist the pony tribes started to fragment; sister fought against sister, stallions found themselves oppressed, treated as property, hoarded and coveted by desperate herds.“
Celestia again wiped at her face, both her tears and her memories flowing free now like an ancient dam had finally collapsed and the previously restrained torrent was now flowing free.
“All the while I just faded further and further into the background, living out the rest of a mortal life, just another perfectly ordinary unicorn amongst many, having no recollection that plain old Sunny Skies was once one of the great alicorn sisters that the elders still sometimes spoke of in hushed tones when they thought nopony was listening.
“But it came to head almost a hundred years after you had been banished. The dragons launched a lengthy assault on the Everfree castle and destroyed what little was left of the old rule. The unicorns panicked but one young mage claimed she had heard the words of Starswirl the Bearded come to her in a dream, telling her take the unicorns to the safety of the old crystal mines of Canterlot Mountain.
“Once there she claimed he had spoken to her again, telling her to build this castle on top of the mines. She said he had told her that if they built it together then peace would return to Equestria and she spent many years convincing the others to help her. The unicorns started work and soon enlisted the earth ponies, together they convinced the pegasi to help. I was living in what is now the city of Baltimare and by chance I heard what was going on so I travelled over to help.”
Celestia gave a sad laugh. Glancing upwards she found her sister staring at her with an unreadable expression.
“Not that I’d have been able to do much.” The solar princess carried on. “By this time I was quite elderly, my strength faltering, my time left for this world was drawing short. By the time the first few towers were finally finished and the throne room complete I was on my last legs. That’s when She came to me, showed herself to me in our sister’s form, she likes doing that you know. Even now she sometimes comes to me in my dreams. Such bittersweet encounters.”
Trailing off, Celestia just sat and stared at her forehooves for a moment, Luna standing silently next to her, making neither movement nor sound.
“So I thought that my time was up, that the creator had come for me, to carry me off into her embrace. I was right, but not in the way that I thought. Seems I had a choice, I could join her, as our sister had done centuries before, or I could retake my place on the throne. Then she pulled me out of my body and dragged me all over the city to show me everything the ponies were doing to try and bring me back, how much effort and expense and love they were pouring onto the project, the hopes and prayers they were pinning on my return, the dreams they had for the future. I realised then not only who I really was, but everything I’d done, every single way I’d let them down.”
Confidence slowly returned to Celestia’s voice.
“I swore there and then never to abandon my little ponies ever again. I would be the best ruler possible, the ruler that they wanted, that they needed, that they deserved. I would be just and I would be fair and most importantly I would not fail them again.”
Celestia made a move to stand, but soon abandoned the action. She hadn’t found herself sat bare-rumped on the floor for a great many years and seeing as she was down here she might as well stay for a while. There was still more to get off her chest and the floor was as good a place for it as any.
“I’m not saying it was easy. My dereliction of duty had long reaching repercussions. But once the dragons realised I could do them some serious amount damage should I so wish they took the long view and left our subjects alone. The griffins however took a much longer time to come around to peacefully co-existing… to a fashion at least.
“But unfortunately the changelings have completely vanished, though that was to be expected. If we could find them that easily then they wouldn’t be particularly good changelings. Both the flutter ponies and the sea ponies have hardly been seen since my return to power. If it were not for the efforts of a few particularly tenacious hippolologists then they’d have disappeared into the mists of legend completely by now.”
An expression briefly passed over Celestia features that anypony - anypony except her sister that was - would find completely unreadable, the look having not graced the royal features in a very long time. The Lunar princess however recognised it for what it really was, which was mild annoyance.
“There’s one particular scholar who just won’t give it up no matter how much I have tried to derail her work. Eventually I found that occasionally distracting her with some ‘serendipitous discovery’ in far-flung lands or the odd well-turned pegasus tail or two was far more effective.”
For the first time in what had seemed to Celestia like a century, Luna finally spoke. Thankfully the hard edge that had tinged her voice before had mostly gone, to be replaced by more of a quiet resignation. While the lunar princess may be quick to anger, that anger was equally quick to pass, unlike Celestia who could (and indeed did) hold grudges for millennia.
“So you let them disappear into the footnotes of history, as you let us, your own sister, do the same?“ She asked.
The solar princess hung her head. The look on her sister’s face was no longer of anger, but of disappointment, something Celestia found wounded her heart even more than her sister’s angry words.
“Yes, like you did.” She said with heartfelt shame in her words. “And it was as much my doing as it was that of the public at large. I thought it was better for you to fade away. Maybe I had also hoped that even a sliver of my own shame would pass with time. Over the centuries Nightmare Moon became nothing more than old mare’s tale. The word ‘nightmare’ itself came to be primarily associated with bad dreams and naughty young foals were told that if they didn’t behave then Nightmare Moon herself would come down from the night sky to gobble them up in their sleep. I had hoped public recollection of what had really happened to you, to us, would fade away with time.
“I guess to a degree it did, many came to see Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon as separate entities, they believed that the Nightmare had possessed your body and locked you away in your own mind. Others said that she had killed you outright and usurped your throne. I just couldn’t bring myself to tell them that the evil tyrant that scared them so was one and the same mare as the Princess of the Night that they still loved so much.”
A sad little chuckle made its way to Celestia lips as a memory, no, many memories of young foal after young foal came to her mind, each tucked into their respective beds, all waiting patiently for a tall tale of action and adventure to help send them on their way to the land of sweet dreams.
“There’s a lovely little bedtime story for the children that’s all about you, I’ve told it so many times over the years, to so many little colts and fillies, who in turn told it to their own little colts and fillies. It’s about a brave young lunar princess trapped on the moon, where she makes friends with bat-ponies and sea-ponies and changelings and together they defeat the evil filly Nightmare Moon.”
Leaving time for her sister to speak, Celestia was saddened when the silence was met by only more silence. After taking a moment to gather her thoughts she soldiered on.
“Many of the earth ponies still celebrated your traditional feasts long after your banishment and, though I may have gone a little bit overboard stamping them out whilst I was not, erm, in my best frame of mind, elements of the festivities have remained. They still hold a number of sporting festivals in your honour and Nightmare Night is terribly popular with the foals.
“For the longest time after my return I knew all about their secret festivals and the celebrations and what-not but I just didn’t know what to do about them. I was so conflicted, on the one hoof they were such bitter reminder of the wrong that I had done, but on the other there were some small way of keeping the spirit of the Princess of the Night alive in our pony’s hearts. So in the end I just turned a blind eye and left them to it. For centuries now I’ve pretended I don’t know what they’re up to and in turn they pretend that I don’t know what they’re doing. It’s gone quite well for us all so far”
Luna had still not spoken a word and, as her sister's words floated away on the night breeze, she found herself drawn back towards the balcony. Turning her back on her sister she let her chin rest on the railing, her eyes taking in the myriad of stars filling the night sky, all competing for her attention. As she stood silently, lost in her thoughts, a scant few strands of her mane lifted from her neck to gently float around in the ethereal winds.
As she let out a deep sigh, Luna’s mane once again fell against her coat, the few previously errant strands settling back in against their many brothers and sisters. Looking back over her shoulder at her seemingly deflated sibling she spoke softly, her words uncharacteristically soft and gentle.
“We believe it is said that ‘ponies who reside in domiciles constructed of glass would be ill-advised to cast the first projectile’. We were not there for you over the last one thousand years, so it would be churlish of us to tell thee that what thou did in our absence was either right or wrong.”
As a small glimmer of hope spread through her heart, Celestia dared to lift her head to glance towards her sister, only to find the lunar princess was glaring back at her, an expression of great reproach across her face.
“Though we believe thou now know our opinion on the matter.” The scowl fell from Luna’s face, to be replaced with a much more reconciliatory expression. “But we should speak of this no more this night. Our separation has been both long and hard for each of us and we would be ill-advised to squander this precious time so soon after our reunion.”
Making her way back across the balcony, Luna lowered herself to the floor and gently settled herself against her sister's barrel, their sides pressed against each other to share warmth in the rapidly cooling evening air. Lifting a single small wing, the lunar princess let it lay across the much larger alicorn’s back in a light but meaningful embrace.
Letting her primary feathers stroke against Celestia’s spine in a soothing motion - something that between lovers would have been seen as a piece of particularly intimate contact but between these two ancient sisters was more of a familial gesture - Luna turned the conversation to other matters.
“So, tell me.“ She asked, keeping her tone deliberately light. ”Whatever became of this wise unicorn of which you spoke? The one that saved the unicorns from the dragon's attack.”
Shifting her position ever so slightly so the smaller alicorn’s wing could reach further across her back, Celestia closed her eyes and relaxed into her sister’s touch.
“You mean Moonbeam?” She asked, closing her eyes as she let her body relax. “She became my student, my first in this new post-classical era as it is now called. This whole tower was her domain. Many a night she would spend on this balcony just staring at the stars like a pony possessed, which many thought was actually the case. ‘Moonbeam the Messenger’ they called her. She would have many more visions until the day she died, all meticulously written down in sealed journals that she hid all around the castle and its grounds. So many she left us, and so well she hid them, that we’re still finding them even now. After she died I closed the observatory as she requested, just waiting for the right pony to come along.
“She prophesied your return many times throughout her life as well as a large number of other happenings that have all come to fruition. She also spoke of the return of Discord, the crystal empire and many, many other events that have yet to pass, some of which I pray we will never see. She also spoke of the next generation of alicorns who are to follow us.”
Celestia could feel her sister stiffen beside her. The night alicorn had always been somewhat disappointed with the prospect that she would spend the rest of forever as the eternal youngest of the alicorn race.
“Really?” Luna asked, both surprise and excitement tinging her words.
“Yes, one has been turned already, a young pegasus like yourself, by the name of Cadance.” Celestia cracked open a single eye to take in her sister’s face. “It seems the creator has much in store for her in the next few years. But there may well be yet another soon to join us and her you have already met.”
“Who, sister?” Luna asked, unbridled eagerness causing her to push her face closer and closer to that of her sister.
“The previous mistress of this observatory.“ Celestia replied, her heart lifted by the sight of the honest smile making its way across her sister’s face. She hadn’t seen the younger alicorn sibling this excited since... well, it had been a very long time. “I speak of my latest and most favourite student; Twilight Sparkle.”
If it had been possible for Luna’s ears to have stood any more upright at this point they would have done so.
“Twilight Sparkle?” She gasped, the surprise obvious in her voice. “The lavender unicorn that stripped from us our dark corruption? The bearer of the element of magic?”
Celestia nodded. “Yes, she is young and has much to learn but I do believe she is destined to be the next fine pony gifted with alicornhood.”
At this point Luna’s flabber was still well and truly gasted.
“Art thou sure?” She asked. “By the maker, she is but a child. Did you not send her to Ponyville because you were concerned about her lack of maturity?”
The white alicorn nodded again, rubbing her chin against her sister’s head as she did so.
“I agree, my sister. Twilight Sparkle still has much to learn, but then, were we any different when we were first turned? But in this case she has us to guide and advise her and more importantly it will be her choice to make, the choice we were never given. Whether to take this blessing, and this curse, will be something she will have to decide upon for herself.”
“Well then.“ Luna pondered out loud as once more she pushed herself yet closer against her sister’s side. “This time we’ll both be there for her. As thou were there for me.”
The princess of the night tapped her hoof against her chin, momentarily lost in her thoughts before a devious smile began to sneak its way across her features.
“Mayhaps it is finally our turn to be the big sister. We shall have to make plans.” The grin gracing the dark alicorn’s face transformed into something that make mortal mares quiver in their horseshoes, a look that would be all the more fear-inducing if it was taken into account that the rest of Luna’s appearance was still that of an adolescent alicorn. “Yes, yes, there is much to do. Plans, oh yes, plans. Hahahaouch.”
“Now now, Lulu.” Celestia lifted her hoof from her sister’s head, the younger alicorn rubbing at the spot where her elder sibling had given her a playful ‘bop’. “We shall have to wait and see what the fates have in store for my young student.”
Leaning forward, Celestia gently nuzzled against her sister’s (not at all) bruised head.
“But you are right." The princess of the day stated with confidence. " We will be there for her, both of us, together. And I believe that with the two of us by her side, everything is going to be just fine.”
End of part one.
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Arrgh, real life... what a biatch, eh?
This is part one of a two parter, hopefully part two will come along a bit quicker than this one did.
In my mind I often give particular ponies their own theme tunes - or image songs as they tend to be called in anime - and for me, this is Luna's.
I REALLY like your take here on the history of these two. And all your other hints as to the future of thise fanon universe. . . Argh, I am getting more and more in love with said fanverse with every chapter I read of every story in it.
You took bits and pieces of fanwork to come up with this background stuff. It adds some nice depth though it feels like I'm reading an epilogue.
Double space 'tween 'the' and 'distant.'
Spacing not consistent in ellipses. Here it has one space, before it had none. Most others following had one after, so I suppose this is right and teh other one was wrong. EDIT: I freakin' hate the 'th' sound because my fingers never type it right!
That's the wrong end-quote.
Space-quote
Period-space-period
Teh!
Capitalized It.
Capital 'I' in Nightmare.
Flipped quotes.
Plenty of places where I (personally) would have used either dashes or splits off a new sentence rather than use a comma but, eh, I'm not going to stress about it. Also, Celestia is going to visit Luna and then stops to have this massive memory ... and then it ends in-memory. What about the 'future' meeting with Luna? Did I miss a break somewhere?
That *sniff* was beautiful.
Sooo many references!
Awesome, just awesomely written. Though there's a few grammar errors, but nothing big. Still though AWESOME!
Good stuff, but Luna's pronoun inconsistency really bothered me. Please, just pick one and stick with it.
Aside from that, a great recap off the first century after Nightmare Moon's banishment. I look forward to further installments of this tale.
i always get really excited when this story updates i am a major fan of the leroverse
exitpursuedbyabear.net/wp-content/uploads/DavidTennantCryingintheRain.gif
Loved this chapter and loved the image song you had for Luna. Kept thinking of epic moments and such during the song.
Keep up the great work. Really love how fast you keep coming out with these. High quality and quick production. Best combination ever!!!!
2577563
> Also, Celestia is going to visit Luna and then stops to have this massive memory ... and then it ends in-memory. What about the 'future' meeting with Luna?
Tarantino-style )
> Did I miss a break somewhere?
Well, there is a page break after «Memories she would just as soon forget.»
I was wondering what does that have to do with Lero but then I found it when Celestia explained it. Also, I like the shout out to Moonstuck.
Redeeming the Season 3 finale with Xenophilia universe? Yay!
I like how this fic had not only Alicorn Twilight before it was confirmed, but also Immortal Mane 6 before it was hinted at(Twitter: "Twilight will not outlive her firends.").
2585976
hm i think when they wrote that theres a chance that ya twi is an alicorn but she'll retain her normal life span.
These words seem to lead into a flashback, but the story never returns to the present. It is all set 3 days after NNM's return and Celestia going to meet Luna in the observatory. Is the next chapter supposed to mark the return to the present or where the first couple paragraphs also set 3 days after Luna's reform?
Loved the Moonstuck reference, and big-sister Luna is plotting many things...many....luna-tic things! *Evil laughter*
This is the second time I have seen mention of Snowdrop's name and profession.....this makes me most curious since this is the SECOND source I have seen this in. The last being so highly unrelated that it begs questions...many questions.
4259986
Here let me help you with that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do6RDSwaWek <== Snowdrop