The red numbers on the alarm clock said 3:57 AM.
After the first week back at school, Luna was ready to go back to summer vacation. The work itself was nothing more or less than it had ever been. No, the real issue was this Sunset Shimmer problem. Though to be fair, it was more of a Celestia problem than Sunset Shimmer. Luna had to assume that the girl would rather not see magic again in the near future, considering how many times it had put her life on its head.
No, the current unrest was all because of her sister. Luna knew that Celestia meant well when she had brought up her own past, but the rest of the week was spent in a downward spiral of emotions.
It was no use, Luna was wide awake, and alone with her thoughts. Again. Still. Whatever.
One of the nice things about living on her own was that she could deal with her emotions and the related issues in her own way. The other side to that though was that when the darkness was overwhelming inside of her own head, she was left with that as well. And because of the continued comments from her sister, Luna spent most of this week in her Dark Place. It wasn’t anything overt, but when Celestia would ask her how she was doing, and then check again in an hour, it got to be overwhelming.
4:06 AM. Luna was awake. There was no changing that fact by now. Tossing the blanket off of her, she grabbed her robe and went to make coffee. Once the steaming mug of goodness was in her hands, she made her way out to the balcony.
The chill early morning air was crisp and felt clean against her face. Holding her coffee close, Luna curled herself up on her chair to enjoy the remainder of the night.
Perhaps the coffee, the moonlight, and the cool air would clear her head before she went to see Sunset Shimmer later this morning.
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Sunset Shimmer was sitting in her library looking at a stack of books relating to Equestrian magic. She had also pulled everything that she had on teleportation, and unicorn biology. The stack was woefully small, but it was a direction to look into at least.
Her coffee cup sat on the table with a pad and pen, as well as pages of notes and thoughts. Anything that she could do to get ahead of the game, and possibly end this little project quicker.
The fact that she had been awake for hours already might have also played a role. Once the clock hit 6:00 AM, Sunset was wide awake and unable to go back to sleep.
Looking at the half-empty mug she smiled - her coffee maker had certainly earned its keep today already, and Luna wasn’t due to arrive for another 30 minutes. Sunset debated putting on something more than sweatpants and a tee shirt, but the thought of doing anything more than her shower this morning didn’t appeal enough to her sensibilities. She had showered, her clothes were clean, the house was clean - if Luna really cared that she wasn’t all dressed up, that was her problem.
At 10:00 AM precisely the doorbell rang. At least the administrator was punctual. Opening the door, Sunset was greeted by a shockingly less formal Luna. Who also happened to have a box of doughnuts from Joe’s down the street.
“Good morning Sunset. I assumed that doughnuts would be acceptable?” Luna smiled over top of the box.
“You know the way to my heart apparently. I could never resist a good doughnut! Please come in. I just put a fresh pot of coffee on.”
Luna walked into the entryway and looked around as they made their way to the kitchen.
“You have a very nice home Sunset. It is very welcoming.”
“Thanks. I got lucky after I got here from Equestria, and the price was well worth it. The seller even came down significantly when I offered to buy it outright with cash.” Sunset took the box of doughnuts and set them on the counter.
Luna raised her eyebrows at that.
“If you don’t mind me asking, Sunset, how is a teenager able to afford that?”
Sunset chuckled. If they were going to be digging into equestrian magic, these details might have to come out sooner or later.
“To be honest, I’m not a teenager at all. I’m 25. When I came through the portal into this world, I found the difference between pony maturity and human maturity, physically speaking, are quite large. It makes things much easier for me to explain if people assume that I am a teenager. As for the money, when I left Equestria, I brought everything that I could carry with me - including my life savings. While gold is fairly commonplace in Equestria, when the money was converted by the portal, it was not exactly an insubstantial amount. With some good investments and a little bit of frugality, I can live comfortably as long as I keep things modest.”
As the girl was speaking, Luna looked around the kitchen. Everything was well maintained, and of good quality. But some things showed signs of being secondhand if one looked closely enough.
“You seem to do quite well for yourself.” Luna accepted the coffee mug that Sunset passed to her.
“This is delicious! What sort of coffee is this?” the older woman asked, taking a second drink of the heavenly brew.
“It is from a local roaster down next to Sugarcube Corner. They just opened last month, and I am a sucker for the freshness. Would you like the tour before we dig into the books?”
Luna nodded as they walked out of the kitchen. The tour was brief, as the house only had a few rooms. Every room was tastefully appointed and decorated with the unique style that could only be described as Sunset Shimmer. The wood floors were all warmed by plush rugs, the walls all painted using warm colors. The last stop was the library, and that stopped Luna in her tracks.
“This is an amazing collection, Sunset. I have never met a young woman with such an extensive collection outside of my own.” The library was lined with shelves, and a large table dominated the center of the room. There were several stacks of books on the table, each with numerous bookmarks in them, as well as a sheet of handwritten notes tucked in the inside cover.
“I have been trying to find some of the most relatable books that I could think of. Trying to get a bit of a head start on this, so that we can get to the bottom of it. But before we get started, I wanted to talk with you about something that I found that concerns you very directly.”
Sunset gestured Luna to one of the comfortable looking chairs at the side of the room. With more than a little anxiety, the older woman sat expectantly.
“What do you know about Equestria?” Sunset asked.
“Very little I’m afraid. I know that for every person, it seems that there is a like being on the other side of the portal in your world. I know that magic is a common tool there, and that somehow when you came to this world, magic came with you.” Luna was on solid ground when discussing facts. So far, this was a safe conversation.
“Almost all true. Where this world is concerned, there is very likely another Sunset Shimmer somewhere, and that so far as we know, every being here is also accounted for in Equestria. Including you. Magic, on the other hand, may not have come through the portal with me. If you recall at the Battle of the Bands, Adagio and her sisters had been here and using magic for hundreds of years. I suspect that it may have intensified with my coming through, but we can only speculate.
“Knowing all of that, I want to let you know about your counterpart in Equestria, because some of these texts mention her very specifically.”
The pit fell out of Luna’s stomach. “Please, Sunset, just tell me.”
“In Equestria, you are a princess. One of the most powerful beings that is known about, second only to your sister. Your other self is co-ruler of the land, and you hold full domain over all things in the night.”
“That’s… unbelieveable…” Luna could barely grasp the information, let alone assimilate it.
“Unfortunately, that is only a part of it. Over a thousand years ago, the Equestrian Luna let her dark desires overtake her, and she attempted to overthrow Equestria and bring about eternal night. Her sister, Princess Celestia, was able to banish Princess Luna to the moon for a thousand years. She has only recently returned from her exile and is becoming a much better pony. At least, that’s what Twilight Sparkle tells me.”
Sunset Shimmer looked at the older woman with apprehension. As someone who had grown up with stories of Princess Luna, seeing Vice-Principal Luna was only a minor shock. But the Luna from this world had no idea about her other self, or the power and status that she held in Equestria. Saying that it was likely a lot to digest was an understatement.
“That is certainly… I… Please, give me just a moment to collect myself. May I get you some more coffee?”
Luna stood and took the empty mug from Sunset, making her way to the kitchen.
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A princess. Her other self was a princess. Not only that, but a princess that had gone power mad, was exiled, reformed, and was now working through her own redemption. The parallels to her own life were uncanny, and more than that, they were unsettling.
As she poured the dark coffee into the two mugs, Luna noticed her hand shaking. The only conclusions that she could draw from this were surely undeniable. She knew her past. She knew her own Darkness. Setting the coffee pot back into the machine, she reached her hand up to feel the inside of her right arm. Right at the elbow, she could feel the small, hard knot of scar tissue. Reminding her of her own madness.
Luna shut her eyes, trying to block out the memory. The rage, the fear, and the overwhelming sense of being nothing. The blackness of her closed eyes only allowed the blackness of her Darkness to come up and swallow her.
As Luna crumpled to the floor, her arm swept one of the mugs off of the counter, shattering on the hardwood next to her unconscious form.