Luminous Atonement

by Metool Bard

Involuntary Relapse

Luminous Atonement Chapter 2:
Involuntary Relapse

Princess Luna watched the starry night sky through her telescope as she eagerly awaited her sister's return from Appleoosa. She had seen the city in the dreams of other ponies, but had never been there herself. Her belly growled and grumbled in anticipation of the goodies Celestia promised her upon her return.

"Patience," she told herself. "Celie will be here any minute now."

And sure enough, the Princess's sky chariot passed in front of her vision. Luna quickly spread her wings and flew down to greet her elder sister.

"Welcome back, Tia," she said happily as the sky chariot touched down.

"It's nice to see you as well, Luna," Celestia said warmly. "Here, just I promised."

Using her magic, she produced a most delicious-looking apple pie. Luna licked her lips as she took the pie with her own magic.

"Thank you, Sis," said she. "How was the summit?"

"Oh, you know," said Celestia with a shrug as she and her sister walked back to the castle. "There wasn't much to talk about. The buffalo are living in peaceful coexistence with the ponies of Appleoosa. I feel that there may be other cities that can learn from their example. The buffalo seemed to agree."

"Sounds like it was a rousing success then," said Luna.

"I suppose," said Celestia modestly. "How were things here?"

"Not bad, not bad," said Luna, helping herself to a bit of the apple pie. "There were quite a few interesting dreams tonight."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Now, Tia. It's not nice to gossip," said Luna coyly.

"Ah, right," said Celestia with a smirk of her own. "Silly me."

The two alicorn princesses continued to chat as they made their way through the castle halls. As they polished off the last of the pie, Luna yawned and stretched.

"Looks like it's almost dawn," said Celestia.

"Indeed," said Luna, finishing her stretch. "It has been quite a..."

Before she could finish, she heard a sinister-sounding howl. Her ears perked up. Something about the howl sounded, familiar.

"Sis, did you hear that?" she inquired.

Celestia gave the younger alicorn a puzzled look. "Hear what?"

"That howl just now."

"I didn't hear anything. It must've been the wind."

Luna dwelled on the sound for a moment before shrugging it off. "I suppose you're right," she said. "Now, let me just..."

She focused her magical energy into a simple spell. It was a spell she casted every night to lower the moon, so that the sun may rise. Such was the routine of the princesses of Equestria.

But this time, something went wrong.

Before she could fully cast the spell, a jolt of pain racked Luna's body. It felt like a sharp electric shock traveling through her horn and right down her spine. When she recovered, she found that the moon still remained in the sky. Utterly befuddled, she tried again, only to get the same result.

"Luna, what's wrong?" Celestia asked.

"I-I can't," Luna whimpered, fighting against the pain as she tried again and again. "M-my spell. I-I can't cast it! I-I can't lower the moon!"

Celestia's brow furrowed. "Now this is strange," she mused. "You've always had complete control over the moon. Hang on, let me try something."

Celestia closed her eyes, and light green energy radiated from her horn. Slowly, the moon began to set and the sun peeked out over the horizon. Celestia's concentration was broken when Luna screamed. When the older mare opened her eyes, she saw her sister recoiling in pain, her own horn sparkling with dark blue energy. Outside, the moon rose back to its original spot, and the sun disappeared altogether.

"Luna, what's going on?" Celestia inquired.

"I-I don't know," said Luna earnestly, tears in her eyes. "I really don't..."

Celestia pondered and puzzled for a moment. "We might have to take a trip to the Canterlot Archives," she said. "In the meantime, this has to be fixed. Discord!"

In a burst of light, the Master of Chaos appeared.

"You rang?" he asked.

"Luna cannot lower the moon. We're not sure why yet," Celestia explained.

"And?"

"And I feel that it's time your magic was put to proper use."

"Oh, is that all?" said Discord. "Well, that's a relief. I thought you were going to blame me."

"Believe me, Discord. I know better than to jump to conclusions," said Celestia sternly. "Now, if you don't mind..."

"Alright, alright," said Discord. "No need to be so pushy."

He snapped his fingers, and the moon and sun exchanged places as quick as a wink. But before anypony could bask in the sun's rays, Luna howled in pain once more, and the day became night once again. Raising an eyebrow, Discord tried again, only for the same events to play out as before. With a growl of annoyance, he tried again. This time, he also built an enormous tower that stretched all the way to the heavens in order to hold the sun in place. He didn't have long to admire his handiwork, however, as the tower collapsed from the strain and the moon still managed to return. His jaw dropped.

"Okay, usually I like it when things don't make sense, but this is just ridiculous!" he groused. "When I want something to happen, I *snap* expect *snap* it *snap* to *snap* happen!"

With each snap of his fingers, he tried to raise the sun again. And each time, a piercing pain shot through Luna's body, and the moon kept coming back.

"IN THE NAME OF ALL OF EQUESTRIA, WE COMMAND THEE TO CEASE!" Luna cried out in her Canterlot voice. "THOU ART HURTING US!"

"Yes, and screaming in my face when I'm trying to solve the problem is really going to help, right Lunatic?" said Discord sardonically, clearing out his ear with his snake tail. "Oh, and do you think you can speak up just a bit? I don't think they heard you all the way in the Crystal Empire."

"Instead of arguing with my sister, maybe you can try to find out what's wrong," Celestia suggested.

Discord sighed. "Honestly, Princess. If I had any idea what was wrong, would I be this frustrated? Keep in mind, nothing has been able to counter my magic before. Well, except for the Elements of Harmony, but even then..."

He trailed off as a realization hit him. "Oh no."

"Oh no?" parroted Celestia.

"Stay here with Lunatic, Princess. There's something I need to check on."

Before Celestia could ask for further details, Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared.

***

When Discord reappeared at the Gates of Tartarus, he was not greeted with a warm reception. Cerberus, who was still on high alert, snarled at him while Angel gave him a glare of his own.

"Hey, hey. Easy," said Discord, raising his hands. "I'm not here to cause trouble."

Angel folded his arms, clearly not believing him.

"I'm serious," Discord insisted. "Fluttershy, back me up here."

But Fluttershy did not respond. She was still fast asleep.

"Oh, for the love of Pete," Discord groaned. He then summoned an alarm clock and placed it next to the sleeping pegasus. The clock went off, and Fluttershy stirred.

"Hmm? Huh?" she said in a dazed tone, tapping the clock with her hoof and yawning. "Whattime izzit?"

"Well see, that's a bit of a moot point right now," said Discord.

"Mmm? Discord?" Fluttershy said, stretching out her forelegs. "What are you doing here? The last thing I remember was this sad sound coming from Tartarus, and..."

"Um, just a minute, dearie. What's this about Tartarus?" Discord inquired.

"Hmm? Oh, there was this sound from Tartarus. Some animal sounded like it was in pain," Fluttershy explained. "And then... Hmm, what happened then? I-I can't remember. It's all, blurry for some reason."

Discord stroked his chin with his lion paw. "Huh. Most curious indeed," he mused. "Any of you know what happened?"

Angel quickly pantomimed the whole affair while Fluttershy and Discord looked on. When he finished, Fluttershy's eyes snapped open.

"I did what?!" she exclaimed in disbelief. "Why would I...? How could I...? Oh, my head..."

With that, the timid pegasus pony fainted. Angel quickly rushed to her side, trying to prod her awake.

"Oh dear. This might be worse than I thought," Discord pondered aloud. "I really hope that I'm wrong about this. Or at least I hope that Lunatic doesn't faint as well."

Philomena squawked a question.

"It's best if I explain back at the castle," said Discord. "For now, let's just say that things are not all that rosy here in Equestria..."