Three Years Later
Luna stood atop her balcony, overlooking the scene that lay before her. I was the evening; almost time to raise the moon. Everywhere Luna looked, she could see happy and content ponies going about their business. Luna looked at them with a neutral expression for a few minutes before she turned her gaze to her sister’s tower. She saw Celestia step onto her own balcony, making eye contact with her. Luna nodded in understanding, and then shut her eyes. She channeled magic into her horn, as did Celestia. Then, the sun started lowering in the horizon as the moon ascended into the sky.
Once this was done, Luna looked back to her sister. Celestia gave Luna a wave with a smile before returning to her room, most likely to begin getting ready for bed. When her sister was out of eyeshot, Luna turned to look back at the ponies in the town. A frown came to her face as she saw the various ponies retreat to the indoors. None of them seemed at all interested in the night she bestowed. They just retreated into their houses; ready to sleep through the thing she put so much effort into.
‘Look at how they ignore your hard work. Ungrateful foals.'
Luna shut her eyes, and retreated back into her room, trying to block out the voice.
‘The night sky is a piece of art that no pony has the mental fortitude to understand. We must educate them!’
“No,” replied Luna. “I will not force my work on anyone. If they do not appreciate it, it’s their loss.”
‘Thinking like that leads to stagnation. You have the power to make everyone notice your work! Why not make the effort?’
“What am I supposed to do? Refuse to lower the moon? Cast the nation in eternal darkness? That’s foolish!”
‘But isn’t that what you want? Think about it! It would be a paradise!’
“No! I…I don’t…want that.”
‘Yes you do! Your sister bathes in pony’s praise, while you hide in the dark! If other pony’s knew the dark like us, perhaps they’d grow to like it.’
“I can’t just refuse to lower the moon, it would cause panic, chaos! Ponies need the day, just like they need the night”
The voice didn’t say anything afterwards, instead muting itself in silence. That gave Luna some rest, and some time for her own thoughts. Gently, her thoughts drifted towards what she had been conversing with the voice about. She couldn’t listen to it, refusing to lower the moon would be a horrible decision!
But maybe…maybe she could keep the moon up a few extra hours. Just a few, so that ponies could wake up and begin their day looking up at the moon and the stars. Surely…surely that wouldn’t hurt, right? Celestia would understand, wouldn’t she?
A little feeling of warmth made its way into Luna’s heart. She felt a little…excited!
‘This could be exactly what I need! Perhaps this will allow ponies to enjoy the night that I make for them!’
The thought of this filled Luna with determination, and hope. A smile came to her face. Excited, Luna left her room, and started making her way towards the throne room.
Celestia was roused from her sleep by her internal alarm clock. Like every day since she became responsible for the day, it woke her from her sleep every morning at the same time.
Opening her eyes, Celestia threw her covers aside and rose from her bed. She then made her way to her bathroom. Using her magic, she levitated a brush to her mane, and started to comb it. After a few seconds, she recalled something.
“Wait…my hair is magic, I don’t need to comb it!” She removed the brush, and looked at it with a puzzled expression. “Why do I even still have this?” She set the brush down, and made her way to her dresser, where she kept her regalia. She adorned the golden jewelry, adjusting it to make sure it looked right. Satisfied with her appearance, Celestia went out to her balcony, ready to raise the sun.
Celestia stood there for several minutes, glancing over to her sister’s balcony, waiting for Luna to step out and lower the moon. When she didn’t, she figured Luna was just running a little late. But when the ten-minute mark passed, Celestia noticed ponies emerging from their homes, looking confused as to why the sky was still dark.
‘What’s keeping Luna, this isn’t like her,’ thought Celestia to herself. She decided to go and see where her sister was. Celestia left her balcony, and entered her room. She then made her way to her door, opened it and exited. She then made her way down the hall to her sister’s room. She stood in front of the door to Luna’s room and knocked. When no one answered, she knocked again.
“Luna?” called the Alicorn. When no one answered, she knocked one more time, before opening the door and entering. She looked about the darkened room, looking for her sister, but found no sign of her. Frowning, Celestia turned and left the room. She journeyed down the hall, looking for her sister. When she turned the corner, she was a guard standing ten feet away. She made her way up to him, and addressed him.
“Excuse me, guard?” questioned the diarch. The pony raised his hoof in a salute, addressing Celestia.
“Yes your highness?”
“Have you seen my sister?”
“Yes your grace, I saw Princess Luna head towards the throne room some time ago.”
“Thank you,” said Celestia with a nod and a smile, before she started heading towards the throne room.
‘I wonder why she’d go there before lowering the moon?’ questioned Celestia to herself. Whatever it was, she hoped her sister was okay.
Luna stood in the throne room, looking through a window at the ponies in the town that surrounded the castle. She watched with a puzzled expression as ponies stood timidly outside, not really going about their day.
“They don’t seem to be happy,” said Luna to herself.
‘Oh, they will be. Just give them some time to adjust.’
Luna was roused from her thoughts by the sound of the doors to the throne room opening, and hooves hitting the floor. Luna turned to see none other than her sister entering the throne room.
“Oh, hello sister!” greeted Luna. Luna noticed that her sister looked relieved, but also a bit irritated when she saw her.
“Luna, where have you been?” questioned Celestia.
“I have been here, “ replied the darker Alicorn. “Why, did you need something?”
“The moon Luna, you didn’t lower the moon!”
“Oh, yes, that. Well Tia, I thought that maybe we could leave the moon up for a few extra hours.”
“Luna, we can’t do that,” replied Celestia.
“It’s just a few extra hours sister.”
“Luna, we keep the day and night on a schedule for a reason! A disruption in the cycle of night and day could cause panic! Ponies won’t know what time it is. It would only serve to disrupt our harmony!”
“But...but it’s not fair! You get so much appreciation for the sun and the day! Everyone loves you, but no one cares about the night that I put so much effort in to! Just a few extra hours Celestia, that’s all I ask…”
“I’m sorry Luna, but we can’t do that,” replied Celestia.
“But…but…” muttered Luna, somberly. The excitement she felt when she had her idea to keep the moon up was now gone, replaced by a depressing gap in her heart.
“Please sister, I need this!”
“I’m sorry, but the answer is no.”
‘See? Not even your own sister cares about your art! She won’t even give you two precious hours! She doesn’t care about your happiness!’
Luna didn’t respond as tears started to form in her eyes.
‘If you want ANYTHING in this world, you have to take it!’
“I could never do that,” whispered Luna.
‘No…but I can.’
‘No, I will not…I won’t…’
‘Just close your eyes. I’ll take care of the rest.’
Luna suddenly felt her eyes growing heavy. Her thoughts started to become cloudy, as did her vision.
‘Relax partner. I’ll take care of everything.’
The last thing Luna could hear before she descended into darkness was a maniacal cackling. Then, there was nothing.
I was jolted out of my sleep by a loud booming that vibrated through the foundation of the castle.
“Run for your lives, it’s Shia Labeouf!” I screamed as I woke from the dream I was having. I quickly looked around my room, searching for my worst fear before I realized where I was.
“Oh, right,” I said to myself. I looked to my window, expecting to see the morning sun, but instead, I was greeted with the moon and the stars.
“Huh?” I got up from my bed, and made my way to my window, where I leaned down on the windowsill with my hands.
“I don’t usually wake up this early. What’s going on?” Just as I asked myself that question, the castle rumbled again, vibrating everything.
“Whoa!” I yelped, stumbling backwards.
‘What’s going on,’ I thought. ‘It sounds like the castle is being demolished! I better go see what’s going on!’ I quickly threw my coat on and dashed out of my room, heading down the halls. As I ran, I saw servants and guards rushing towards me. They maneuvered around me, trying to get away from wherever they were coming from with urgency.
I stopped one of the guards who was attempting to get around me, and questioned him.
“What’s going on soldier?”
“Something’s happened to Princess Luna!” replied the pony. My blood ran cold. “She’s gone mad, she attacked Princess Celestia! We have to get out of here, before the whole castle collapses on us!”
My eyes were wide as I told him to keep running, and he did so without hesitation. I started sprinting down the halls, evading the ponies who were flooding towards me.
‘This can’t be happening,’ I thought as I leapt over a fleeing maid.
‘I thought I prevented this, I talked to Luna! I thought I fixed things!’
I was naïve. I was here in the land of Equestria, with knowledge of the future, but nothing I did mattered! Everything’s the same as it was. I thought I could prevent the bad things from happening, but I was wrong. It was then that I remembered something from a long time ago.
‘You will change history. But nothing will change.’
I stopped running, and the river of ponies died down.
‘Nothing will change.’
“Nothing will change,” I said to myself.
‘Is that it? That voice that I heard when I first came to Equestria. It told me that I’d change things, yet not change them at the same time…it knew all this would happen, that I’d come here, and that I’d try to make things better, but fail!
“Then…” I muttered through grit teeth, clenching my fists. “Then what was the point!” I yelled as I slammed my fist into the stone wall of the hall, cracking the masonry.
‘Was I just sent here to watch these horrible things happen without being able to change them just some sort of joke? Was it just to screw with me?’
Anger started to flood through me.
‘I tried so hard to make everybody happy. But every time something bad happened, it completely took me by surprise! But I thought…I thought that with Luna, I had a chance to make things right. I thought if I just talked to her, I could convince her that she WAS valued.’
“That was three years ago,” I said to myself. “Has she been festering this negativity for three years? Why…why didn’t she talk to me?”
Another shockwave roused me from my thoughts. I shook my head, and resumed my sprint, heading for the throne room. I was there in no time. I threw open the doors, and charged inside.
Luna or Nightmare Moon, and Celestia were flying in the air, exchanging magical blasts. The attacks were tearing the throne room apart, with stone exploding, and shattering into thousands of pieces.
I ran as close to the two as I could, and cupped my hands around my mouth.
“LUNA! STOP, YOU HAVE TO STOP!” I yelled.
Celestia turned her head to look at me.
“Roxas?” she questioned just loud enough for me to hear.
“Uh, STAY OUT OF THIS YOU FOAL!” yelled Nightmare Moon, as she shot a blast of magic my way. I jumped into the air, avoiding the attack.
“DON’Y YOU DARE HURT HIM!” cried Celestia, as she charged back into the fight. Meanwhile, I hovered in the air, and summoned my Keyblade.
‘I have to stop this,’ I thought to myself. ‘Otherwise, Luna will be banished to the moon for a thousand years!’
As the battle continued, I shot forward. I got as close to the dueling siblings as I could.
“LUNA, IF YOU DO THIS, YOU’RE NOT GOING TO LIKE THE OUTCOME! PLEASE, STOP!”
“BE QUIET!” yelled Nightmare as she shot another blast towards me. I knocked it aside with my blade. Celestia then sent a volley of magical orbs towards Nightmare, who weaved through them.
“NIETHER ONE OF YOU IS GOING TO STOP ME! I WILL HAVE ETERNAL NIGHT!” cackled Nightmare Moon.
“LUNA, YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS! REMEMBER WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT!”
“OH, I REMEMBER! YOU SHOWED LUNA HOW POWERFUL SHE WAS, THAT SHE COULD DESTROY CELESTIA EFFORTLESSLY! AND WE SHALL!”
Nightmare Moon created a set of deadly energy spears, which she shot at Celestia. Celestia raised a magical barrier to block them, which was successful until the last one, which broke the shield. Taking advantage of this, Nightmare used another powerful blast of magic, one far bigger and hotter than the previous ones.
‘She doesn’t have time to defend against it!’ I thought. Celestia was still reeling from her barrier being broken. So, I teleported in front of her, and raised my Keyblade to block. The blast hit the blade, as I supported the upper half with my hand. I pushed against the attack with all my strength, but it was too powerful. Inch by inch, I started to give way. Nightmare put a bit more effort into the blast, and I wasn’t able to keep resisting. I was blasted back, right into the wall behind me.
I yelled out in in pain as I hit the wall, cracking the bricks. The wind was knocked out of me, and I heard Celestia call out my name. But, as I started to fall, I felt a warm tingling sensation surround my body. I felt myself being levitated in the air. I thought it was Celestia, come to my rescue. But when I opened my eyes, I saw the manic grin of Nightmare Moon staring back at me. She chuckled as she held me in her grasp.
“Luna…please…”
“Luna can’t hear you anymore. There is only Nightmare Moon! Now, be a good pet, and go to sleep!” Nightmare threw me down. Celestia cried out, as she dove down to try to catch me. But before she could, I slammed into the ground. I cried out in pain as I landed. Celestia landed beside me. She then carefully supported my head with her foreleg.
“Roxas, are you alright?” she questioned. I moaned for a few seconds, before replying.
“I’ll…I’ll be o-ok.” Celestia looked me in the eyes with concern, the sound of Nightmare Moon’s laughter echoing throughout the throne room. Celestia closed her eyes, and lit her horn, and a magical glow enveloped my body. My pain lessoned, but was still present to a degree. Celestia then lowered my head back to a resting position.
“Whatever you do Roxas, don’t go to sleep. You may have a concussion.” I nodded, and she turned to face Nightmare Moon with rage in her eyes.
“Now I know you’re not Luna. Luna would never do such a thing to her loved ones!”
“So you figured it out hug? Well it’s too late, because your time has run out! Now die!”
Nightmare Moon raised her horn and started charging her magic. Celestia stepped away from me, and looked up at her sister defiantly.
“I am sorry sister…but you have left me no other choice.” Celestia lit her horn. Two panels in the floor opened and slid apart, allowing a large statue to rise from the ground. The pedestal rotated, revealing all six jewels of the Elements of Harmony. Celestia levitated the gems, and activated them. They started to swirl around her in a brilliant white light.
‘No…’ I thought. I didn’t want this to happen, but there was nothing I could do.
Nightmare let loose her magical blast, and as she did this, Celestia fired the elements. The two blasts hit each other, battling for dominance. But as we all know, the elements proved to be more powerful. The light of the elements overpowered Nightmares magic. It slammed into her, and shot her strait into the sky, towards her moon. When Nightmare hit it, there was an eruption like a sonic rain boom. And the image of the Mare in the Moon became engraved on the satellite. It was over.
I had failed.
Celestia stood, staring up at the moon, with tears in her eyes.
“Luna…I’m sorry,” she said as she lowered her head and closed her eyes. She stood there for several moments, before she heard the sound of footsteps. She quickly turned her head to see her friend, Roxas, limping away from the scene.
“Roxas?” she questioned. When he didn’t answer, she galloped towards him.
“Roxas, where are you going?”
“I’m leaving.”
“W-hat do you mean?”
“I don’t deserve to be in the same space as you,” he said somberly as he stopped traveling.”
“What do you mean? You did your best, it’s not your fault that Luna overpowered-“
“No!” he interrupted, throwing his arm down.
“No, it’s not that. It’s…it’s my fault Luna had to be banished. I knew this was going to happen, but I thought I could change things. But I failed.”
“R-Roxas, how could you know?”
“I saw the signs, but I thought I could just talk to Luna, and help her. But I was wrong. I was so wrong. Luna’s going to be banished to the moon for a long time, so…so I’m banishing myself.” Roxas started limping forward again, snapping his fingers to create a darkness portal.
“Wait, Roxas, please don’t go! I-I don’t blame you! Please…. just…don’t leave me…”
“I’m sorry, but…I just…I just can’t stay. I don’t deserve to be your friend. I don’t deserve to be anyone’s friend…goodbye, Celestia.” he said again, his voice cracking. Then he stepped into the portal. The last thing Celestia heard before he disappeared into the darkness was; “Now I know I have a heart. Because it’s breaking.” And he was gone.
Hours later, Celestia stood in her room. Part of the ceiling had collapsed. The room was dirty, and many of her things were broken. Celestia sniffled, and wiped a tear from her eye. The castle was destroyed. Luckily, no one else was hurt during the fight, but…Celestia had decided that she wasn’t going to rebuild her castle. She wasn’t even going to stay in the same village. She was going to move the capital of Equestria to someplace…someplace without the tainted memories.
In a single day, Celestia had lost her sister and a dear friend. And she had no idea how long she would be without them, or if she would ever see them again at all. She was alone now. And it filled her with sadness.
Celestia looked around her room, looking for anything that was salvageable. Not much was. As she stepped into the room, she looked about. Something did catch her eye. There was a scroll lying on her dresser. Curiously, Celestia walked over to it, and lifted it up with her magic. She removed the seal, and unfurled the letter. She read the calligraphy out loud to herself.
“On the longest day of the thousandth year the stars will aid in her escape and she will bring about everlasting night.” Celestia stared at the scroll, processing what she had read.
‘A thousand years…Luna will return in a thousand years?’ she thought. ‘Nightmare Moon will return. Not Luna.’ A bad feeling came to Celestia’s heart, before she noticed more writing.
“In a thousand years, have six new bearers for the elements. They will purify your sister, and you two will be reunited. Have faith in yourself and your decisions. And stay strong.”
Celestia analyzed the writing.
‘Who wrote this?’ She looked at the bottom of the page, and saw the letter ‘R’ scrawled.
“Roxas…” A small smile came to her face. Celestia closed her eyes, lowering her head, and hugged the note to her chest.
“A thousand years is a long time to wait. I miss the two of you already. But if it takes a thousand years to have even one of you beside me, then a thousand years I will wait.”
Celestia kept the note in her grasp as she turned and exited her room.
“And someday, I hope to have both of you with me again.”
Celestia left the castle, with sadness, but a hint of hope within her. She hoped that the future would be bright.