Luna’s Wrath
By inherit0r
Silence
Unthinking, unmoving, lifeless silence
Such is the burden of a life on the moon.
No wind to rustle leaves, no distant trickle of a friendly stream, no birds to play their chorus of chirps, no critters scurrying about in the underbrush.
And worst of all, no ponies.
It was a barren lunar landscape, populated only by lifeless rocks and desolate craters; oblivious to the ages that passed. The ancient grey dust blanketed and crusted over various boulders that littered the terrain blending to the uniformly bleak landscape. The battered ground strayed uneventfully forward, expanding into the curvature of the horizon; casting itself forever into the endless void.
Somewhere, on this frigid, airless and unforgiving rock, was a single pony.
And not just anypony.
Her long blue mane cascaded gently to the base of a slender neck, giving way to a perfectly matching midnight blue coat. She sat in a typical equine manner: with her fore hooves crossed beneath and her hind legs bent under. The quiet figure rubbed her hooves together, momentarily toying with the elegant glass slippers that tipped them. She leaned backwards and gracefully lowered herself onto her back, with her head facing towards the heavens. Her flank, now visible, was emblazoned with an inky black splotch and softened by the mark of a crescent moon.
Princess Luna gazed skyward at the stars that were once her own; their brilliance dotting the serene emptiness of the night sky as they wept softly for their former mistress. Her soft blue eyes filled with twinkling light as she studied her children. Once long ago the mare shaped them into subtle patterns for the ponies to find, each little light joining with others; becoming a facsimile of an animal or a famed pony. Those arrangements she liked most were kept, reaming for eons. Only when moving the constellations around the sky, little by little, would she interfere with her artwork. But now the stars were beyond her reach, and she gained little comfort from them.
“How long has it been Abby?” she said into the darkness.
When nopony gave her an answer she turned over to her side.
“How long?!?!” she gasped
Getting to her hooves, she trotted to a nearby rock, the moon dust drifting off in the weak gravity with each step. She stopped, gazing at a small wooden abacus resting in the dirt near the boulder. The little apparatus aged well in the years since Luna teleported it here; the only signs of wear were small cracks creeping around the edges of the beads. Luna sat and began to shift the little colored spheres around. Her expression remained focused and calculating for a few moments, her eyes shifting along with the layers of beads. With a satisfied grin she announced her result.
“Four hundred thirty seven years, seven months, and sixteen days” Luna said with a smile before the weight of her words crushed the pony like an anvil, followed by a piano and a wagon cart full of hay. With a sadness in her voice she spoke to herself “Have… have I really been here that long?”
Slumping to her side, her eyes stared into the dirt. Her long mane fell into her face before being brushed away. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked toward the heavens again, her gaze shifting from the stars to the land that she once called her home.
Equestria hung before her in all its beauty.
The vast expanses of woods were shaded a golden orange color, indicating that autumn was arriving on the land below. Luna let herself imagine taking part in the annual running of the leaves, pondering if anypony still stuck to the old earth pony traditions. Canterlot had always used unicorn magic to change the seasons, so the entire town didn’t have to stop its business; but Luna always thought there was something quaint with the old ways.
Luna sighed; she missed Canterlot and she wondered how it changed with the hundreds of years spent in exile. Was it still called Canterlot or had Celestia changed it on my banishment? Did she change the castle? And what about my cozy little tower that sat nestled between the great walls, had Celestia destroyed that too?
She had a great view of the beautiful night sky from that little tower and always loved to gaze out at the stars after a long night’s reading. Celestia caught the midnight alicorn reading under the covers with her little abacus more than once. Sometimes, she had even read aloud to Abby when he was feeling lonesome. The little abacus was always a good listener.
But beyond all this, her heart truly felt the deepest longing for the comfort of her sister.
“You said we’d always protect each other, didn’t you Celly?”
She and Celestia had always been together. For thousands of years they watched over the land together as sisters, always as equals. At least for a while, until ponies turned to Celestia for guidance seemingly overlooking the younger sister. Luna never fully understood why ponies never seemed to appreciate her night like they appreciated her sister’s day. Celestia would never let that get to her though. She always had a kind hoof to lend Luna whenever she was too tired to raise the moon on her own. And she had always tried to spare some of her busy day to listen to whatever Luna had to say. The Sun princess always treated her kindly, even if the rest of the kingdom had not.
Luna began to weep softly, tears silently rolling down a heartbroken face. Why had her sister, the only pony she had known her entire life, the pony who had always been so warm and kind to her, the pony that she had loved unconditionally, banish her from Equestria to this forsaken place?
“Thinking about our sister are we?” A cold but regal voice came from the shadows.
Luna jumped at the sound of the other. She quickly attempted to wipe the embarrassing dribble from her eyes, succeeding only in smearing the moisture about her fur.
“Go away Nightmare, I… I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
Luna turned away as a shadow advanced from behind and flowed around her. The deep blue mist shimmered with terrifying power as they swirled around Luna, enveloping the tiny alicorn. The voice seemed to come from the very heart of the cloud itself.
“Why do you miss our sister so?”
Luna paused for a second to wipe the tears from her eyes again.
“Because… Because she’s my sister, I just miss… being with her. She always used to make me feel better when I was sad…”
Luna looked up at Equestria again and then down at her hooves, a blue mane hiding her disheartened face.
“Before…”
“Before she banished us.” The voice calmly finished.
The blue alicorn glared at the mass of magical cloud circling her, a righteous fury beginning to burn in her eyes.
“NO.” Luna boomed “She banished YOU! After you fought to cover Equestria in eternal darkness! After you started hurting innocent ponies! You were the threat, it was your fault!”
The cloud stopped circling; it seemed to regard Luna for the first time.
“Are you not here as well, little one? How could I be the only one she saw as a threat, didn’t she banish you too?” the cloud mused.
“Because… because…she…” stammered the princess. The fire present only moments before was smothered by the smoke’s tenacity.
The dark cloud resumed its circling, a mocking chuckle emanating from the swirling mass.
Luna bit her lip in frustration; unable to believe the cloud had been bested her so quickly this time. Nightmare and Luna lived alongside each other for several centuries now, with verbal battles nearly becoming part of a routine.
Initially Luna avoided Nightmare's presence, choosing to hide on the barren surface to cry her heart out. But slowly, she began approaching the demon from time to time, if only if only out of loneliness. After all, they were a part of the same person. The two halves couldn’t avoid each other forever. Nightmare never resisted their encounters and over time Luna became aware that the swirling mass almost seemed pleased as the little alicorn slowly trotted up from the distance. Luna could almost glimpse a form within the mist, but it would vanish as soon as she drew near.
Conversation was idle at first; Luna did most of the talking. Nightmare remained silent and observant, almost calculating as Luna droned on about her worries and fears. Through the shade’s quite demeanor, Luna began to notice that it favored certain subjects, emanating an eerie intensity when she approached topics of her sister and their confrontation. As centuries passed, the conversations morphed from one sided monologues to friendly debates and eventually to heated battles of wit.
The change of tone initially frightened Luna, wanting nothing to do with the demon’s slander of Celestia; but her love and devotion drove the alicorn to fight its accusations. She loved and defended her sister’s honor valiantly, but as time dragged on, the darkness and anger that Nightmare Moon represented whittled at her resolve. Slowly as the years of solitude took their toll, eroding her strength, Luna began to doubt her sister's choice.
“I made you out of my anger and jealously. That’s why she was forced to banish both of us.” Luna stated flatly in opposition, despite the storm of emotions raging inside. She was intent on continuing the debate.
"You ought to know better than that." Nightmare returned with a hint of dismissal. “The Elements of Harmony she wielded were perfectly capable of separating two ponies. It would appear she chose something different, something that would get you out of her way.”
The slightly quivering pony took half a step back.
“Y-you’re not saying that-“
“Your sister wasn’t forced to banish you anywhere!”
“But Celestia-“
“Wanted.”
“You.”
“Gone.”
The churning cloud tightened its swirl. Eddies and waves formed as the mists began to collect themselves before the still shaking princess. Luna soon found herself staring into a miniature tornado. She turned her head away and covered her eyes to protect them from the dust that the twister was stirring up. After the violent storm in front of her reached a roaring crescendo, it exploded outwards, revealing a towering figure within.
Nightmare Moon stood over the princess, her teal green eyes aflame, fixated on the tiny alicorn who shrank in fear. The dagger shaped pupils thrust themselves into Luna’s eyes, boring themselves into her broken heart.
“Your sister’s greed knows no bounds, she would simply relish in the opportunity be the single, all powerful ruler, a god unchallenged by the heavens themselves! Did you honestly believe that she wouldn’t leap if the opportunity presented itself? Pah. That traitorous horse always wanted the throne only for herself, always threw you to the sidelines, always wanted you out of the way.”
Nightmare began to slowly trot around Luna.
“Celestia couldn’t stand sharing her power with another. Especially one as great as you.”
She leaned over and whispered into Luna’s ear.
“I was never a threat to Equestria; Luna, you were the threat, not to Equestria, but to her.”
Luna’s pupils became pinpricks as her eyes expanded to luminous orbs; her heart hardening at the biting words. She choked out what little defiance she could.
“You, you’re w-wrong, if she only wanted to… remove me… why would she love me? Why would she go out of her way to help me, to raise me?”
“Did you honestly expect her to be cruel to your face? No, she may have masked her true intentions with a charade of love and compassion, paroling you before her subjects to enforce the lie of how nice and caring a ruler she could be. But her ultimate goal was revealed time and time again, and finally realized when she banished you here.”
“Celestia would never send me here just to get r-rid of me. I’m her sister, s-she loves me. She always loved me.”
“You little foal. How can you still cling to that nonsense she has fed you? After all this time have you still learned NOTHING about your sister from her actions? Have you not thought about this cruel and unusual punishment she has condemned you to? If you can’t see this then you don’t deserve to be called an alicorn.”
Luna stared at the dirt in front of her, unable to speak.
“You‘re so blinded by your affections that you won’t live your own life, you won’t take what is rightfully yours. The memories of that hollow love she gave you have weakened you. You remain in her shadow just as much here as you did back in Equestria. ”
The alicorn sunk to the ground, the barrage of words battered her to the core.
“Tell me little one. If your kind and wise sister loves you so very much, then why are you here?”
The poor little filly couldn’t answer, a cascade of conflicting emotions drowned out her thoughts.
“Face it Luna, you sister doesn’t love you. She never loved you. Why would she banish somepony she loves to this Equestria forsaken rock?”
Nightmare turned away from Luna with a scoff.
“Your sister never intended on letting you come back.”
The soul shattered alicorn’s legs gave way, crushed by the weight Nightmare’s words; they still reverberated inside her mind, etching into her very being. Centuries of pain and hopelessness eroded her will to continue defending Celestia, to continue believing in her sister, and to continue loving her.
Every minute in the lunar dust was agony. The sadness and loneliness overwhelmed her to the point of physical nausea. There was nothing here to help her. Her only friends were the bitterness and anger that had grown inside her. And… Nightmare. So far the pure black mare seemed to be the only pony that had ever looked out for her.
“I’m the only one who ever loved you.”
Luna had once been a princess. A kind and just ruler, loved by her people. Now she was but a shade of what she once was. A broken, hopeless and lost filly crying in the cold and unforgiving expanse of the void. And it was all Celestia’s fault.
With that thought Luna’s psyche shattered. A crack split the wall separating her from Nightmare.
Luna’s eyes shut. She squeezed them impossibly tight hoping the pressure would dampen her raging mind. Storms of emotion besieged the failing barrier as angry thoughts began to break through. How dare her sister do this to her! How could she have been so heartless? Could Celestia even comprehend what she had done? Her head swarmed with red hot wasps that whispered horrible thoughts. Celestia is a traitor you must see that. She didn’t want you, she never did. Why can’t you see that she didn’t love you? Are you so blind? You were always her slave. Can’t you see that only I love you?
She raised her hooves to her head and tried to shake away the voices. The wasps only grew agitated and their whispers turned to shouts of rage. How could you have been so weak? The truth was right in front of you all this time. Why did it take a trip to the moon to see it? You are so pathetic. Maybe you deserve to be left up here.
“No.” Luna shook with fear, terrified at the thought of an eternity here.
“No?” the voices said “Then prove it. Prove yourself worthy to be princess of Equestria. Look at you, weepy eyes, rough coat, and filthy mane. You let yourself die out here. Where is the royal princess? Where is the Regent of the Moon!”
“Stand up.”
Luna didn’t move
“I said stand up.”
Luna reluctantly rose to her hooves; her eyes pointed down at the dirt.
“Now what is your name?”
“L-Luna”
“Wrong!” Luna’s mind flashed with pain like the crack of a whip, searing the last shreds of her resolve.
“Try again. What is your name?”
“Lu-Luna?”
“No!” the wasps returned and Luna shut her eyes as the pain burned within her skull.
“Remember who you are, remember what you are destined to be. Now what is your name?”
Luna managed to tear her eyes away from the dirt and confidently look straight ahead, as if to address somepony directly.
“My name is Princess Luna”
The voices let out a satisfied chuckle, as if a student finally learned a difficult lesson.
“Correct”
The sadness washed away from her face as she glowed from the praise. Maybe she didn’t have to drown in self-pity.
“Now, why are you here?”
Luna’s thoughts churned. Why was she here? She couldn’t remember. Something about what she had done? The wasps stung again, burning the thought out of her mind. It withered away leaving only a charred useless stump. Luna tried again. She was here because… something she didn’t do? She waited for the pain, it didn’t come. Something someone else did? Still no wasps… Her mother…? Her father…? Her sister?
Something stirred when she remembered her sister. “Celestia… Celestia did something. Something to me… Something bad. Something she shouldn’t have done.”
Luna struggled as the last of her former emotion bubbled away. “Celestia… Celestia is why I’m here. Celestia imprisoned me here! I am here because Celestia sent me!” Luna shouted. “I am here because my sister betrayed me!” For the first time in four hundred and thirty seven years the princess stood with confidence, with vengeance. She was finally liberated from her sadness, now only anger drove the alicorn. Anger against her sister, anger against Equestria for not appreciating her, and anger towards herself for being so weak.
She flexed her hooves, feeling Nightmare’s power coursing through her veins. With this power she could finally come out of her sister’s shadow and become her own mare. Was this the power that she always had inside? Was she only holding herself back? Had her sister’s influence kept her from realizing her true potential?
The voices remained silent through the exchange. She could feel their invisible presence watching her every move, listening to every thought. She reached out to them, searching for a glimpse of their company. She was rewarded with a sense of warmth inside as the voices responded to her.
“You have done well. Now the final question. What will you do?”
Luna looked up from her tensed hooves. Her grand wings flared out and her expression changed as her eyes shone with empowering resolution. She mustered every regal fiber as she rose to her full height and addressed the cold but regal voices.
“I’ll try-” She stopped herself, a new resolve coming into her mind. Her eyes flash green and hardened as she speaks.
“I WILL take back what is mine, I WILL take back the throne to Equestria, and my sister WILL pay!”
Nightmare laughed silently. She had won.