Shining Armor was uneasy. For the first time in thousands of years, there was a murder in Equestria, and with the worst consequences. The trial had gone swiftly with Shining Armor – and the rest of the Celestial Guard’s testimony – contributing his piece to the case. And so it happened that an alicorn now rested in the dungeons. Shining Armor left the case originally feeling pleased with himself, but as the moon now rested overhead and the Captain of the Celestial Guard sat on a balcony in the cool of the night, the white unicorn could no longer feel peaceful or confident with his decision.
A blue glow holding a white cup with gold trim came to a rest beside him. Shining Armor took the cup in his own aura and sipped the brown liquid inside: a bitter tea with honey and sugar to lighten the taste. As he did so, a young pink alicorn stepped up next to him and sat down next to Shining Armor on the balcony.
“What is it, dear?” the alicorn asked. “Is it about the trial earlier today?”
“Yes, Cadence,” Shining Armor replied.
“Don’t be so worried,” Princess Cadence said, bringing her head to his chin and nuzzling him. “You did what was right. You should be proud of yourself.”
“And yet I don’t feel that way,” the unicorn stallion replied, eyes downcast. “I feel like there’s some detail we missed. Some puzzle piece we don’t have, like how we managed to miss that one time where Celestia had gone off to Ponyville to check on my little sister’s progress and allowed Chrysalis to take your place. It was a small detail so far back we didn’t even see it and it nearly led to all of us being in great danger.”
“Well, what other options presented themselves?” Cadence asked. “I mean, I wish things could have turned out another way, but you’ve run into a dead end with the evidence presented.”
“I only wish the punishment were not so severe. Enough unicorn townspeople in Ponyville stepped in to prevent things from getting worse than they already were. Celestia could have given her some sort of pardon. I mean, she is royalty and could easily have done something differently. Instead, she just sidestepped the issue and didn’t want to deal with anything.”
“I’m sure she has many other things to do,” Cadence said reassuringly.
Shining Armor merely shook his head and finished his tea.
“You still don’t seem comforted,” Cadence said.
“It’s the first murder in thousands of years and Celestia sidesteps the issue? I don’t believe it.”
Cadence bit her lip. “I’m sorry, dear. I don’t know what else to say.”
Shining Armor couldn’t say anything.
“You could write a letter to Twilight Sparkle,” Cadence suggested. “I’m sure she could take the time to come here to Canterlot and be willing to listen. She and her friends were witnesses, right? Maybe they’d have another answer.”
“I don’t know if Princess Celestia would approve,” Shining Armor said hesitantly. “I mean, she and—”
“Oh, don’t worry about what Celestia would think,” Cadence interrupted. “If you need Twilight to come here to comfort you and get some brother and sister time, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind it a bit.”
Shining Armor sighed and nodded. “I suppose I should write a letter to her.”
“Good. And do remember to come into bed when you’re done,” Cadence said. “It gets cold at night up this far in the tower.” And she trotted off to bed again.
Shining Armor got up and went to his desk in another section of the tower and began to write.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I need you to come to Canterlot as swiftly as possible. I am uneasy regarding my decision in this last case and need to talk to you about it. Your friends can come along if you want them to.
Your brother, Shining Armor
- - - -
Twilight Sparkle looked at the hastily scrawled letter that had come in the mail that morning. At first she had been angry; the grey Pegasus mail-mare had been rattling her mailbox since before the sun even rose. Her anger quickly turned to happiness when she saw the letter was from her brother, but became concerned when she saw the jerky scrawl that was so unlike her brother’s usual handwriting. And the subject of the note wasn’t any better.
“The last case?” Twilight wondered aloud. “Does he mean…?”
Twilight didn’t think about it very long. She quickly went upstairs and started poking the bundle of blue blankets inside a small basket next to her bed.
“Spike!” Twilight called out.
The blue bundle quivered a bit before a purple and green dragon head popped out from underneath. “What is it? Why are you up so early? Do you need me to add fire to something? If not, I’ll be going back to sleep until a normal waking hour.”
“Spike, I need to go to Canterlot for a few days,” Twilight said. “My brother wanted me to come over swiftly but he didn’t say when he wanted me to come. This is so confusing. Write a note telling him I’m on my way to the Ponyville train station and coming to Canterlot as fast as I can. And please add in that note about him not putting a specific time he needed me to get there; it’s making me so confused.”
Spike grumbled a little more, but got up out of the blankets and went over to the desk on the lower floor of the Ponyville library, taking a few minutes to make a cup of coffee before writing the letter. Once the letter was sent with his magical flame, Spike drank a cup of coffee and carried an extra cup up the stairs to where Twilight Sparkle was deciding what research reports went with her to Canterlot to show Princess Celestia and which could stay behind.
“Shouldn’t it be more important to see what your brother needs instead of pondering whether or not you’re going to take a research report on levels of friendship in fish?” Spike asked.
“I’ll be in Canterlot spending time with my brother!” Twilight said. “At some point, we’ll be seeing Princess Celestia and I’ll be able to tell her how my research report on friendship is going and about the studies I’ve found on friendship in other creatures.”
Spike picked up the note on the nightstand next to Twilight’s bed and read it over. “It doesn’t sound like you’ll be seeing Princess Celestia much if she’s preoccupied as she’s going to be.”
“Well, if she can’t read it, I’ll be able to share it with Princess Luna and maybe she’ll learn a thing or two from it as well.”
At the mention of Princess Luna, Spike dropped the cup of coffee over the floor, causing Twilight to drop her reports. “Spike, could you be a little less clumsy and help me decide?”
Spike blinked. “You really don’t know…”
Twilight went over to Spike, studying him. “Don’t know what?”
Spike shook his head and went back downstairs to make a new cup of coffee. “It’s nothing. I’m sure you’ll find out from Shining Armor.”
Twilight sighed and packed her friendship reports and a few books on animal behavior before heading downstairs. Spike presented her with a coffee and Twilight went to the station for the first express train to Canterlot, noting especially that the Captain of the Celestial Guard had called her there. The station manager immediately gave her a ticket to Canterlot and set her on the earliest and fastest train, and soon Twilight Sparkle was speeding along towards the royal city.
- - - -
Upon her arrival at the Canterlot station later that morning, Twilight Sparkle was greeted by two pure white Pegasus stallions in gleaming gold armor. Twilight bowed to them as she approached.
“You are Twilight Sparkle?” one asked.
“Yes,” Twilight responded.
“We were sent here by your brother and Captain of the Celestial Guard, Shining Armor, to pick you up and escort you to the castle. We have a special coach waiting for you just outside the station.”
“Oh,” Twilight said as one of the pegasi picked up her suitcase. “Thank you.”
The guards escorted Twilight over to the chariot and attached themselves to the front of the coach. Twilight and her bags were loaded into the fancy coach before the pegasi began dashing through the streets of Canterlot. Once they had gained a fair amount of speed, Twilight felt the coach lift off the ground and start sailing over the crowded city streets.
Twilight stuck her head outside of one of the windows. “Where exactly are we going?”
“Special entrance to the castle,” one of the guards responded back. “Shining Armor made it clear he wanted to keep this whole thing private.”
Twilight slipped back inside the coach to think. Spike not wanting to talk about Princess Luna? Shining Armor insisting that a simple conversation with his little sister was going to be private? And that same Shining Armor sent a letter to Ponyville by urgent mail asking Twilight to speak with him in Canterlot as quickly as possible? Something was strange, Twilight was sure, and it had to do with a lot more than just not setting a specific meeting time.
Twilight didn’t have long to think. The coach soon began to descend in the back of Canterlot castle along a makeshift runway manned by two more pegasi in golden armor. It wasn’t long before Twilight could see Shining Armor making his way out of the castle with two more guards and waiting alongside the runway as the pegasi in charge of the coach slowed down and gracefully landed on the runway. One of the guards opened the door and another helped Twilight Sparkle out before getting her suitcase.
“Put that one in the spare bedroom in my suite,” Shining Armor commanded before taking off his helmet and addressing Twilight Sparkle directly. “I’m sorry I called you here on such short notice, little sis.”
“Short notice?” Twilight said. “It’s less notice than when you invited me as best mare for the royal wedding to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Speaking of which, how is my favorite foalsitter?”
“Eager to see you,” Shining Armor replied, “but she is preoccupied until this evening. You will get a chance to talk to her about it eventually. For now, we’ll simply head up to my suite and have some breakfast. We have many things we need to talk about.”
“Is that why you called me here?” Twilight asked. “If you wanted to talk, you could have just talked to me through mail.”
“But there are things I want to show you that aren’t done justice through mail,” Shining Armor said. “It’s better that you came here.”
While her brother’s voice was much more serious than she had anticipated, Twilight otherwise assumed nothing much was wrong other than a simple conversation with her brother. However, Twilight’s fears from her flight to the castle were reaffirmed when she saw a door with a crescent moon on it soon after entering the castle with two of Celestia’s guards near it and a sign saying “Danger! Keep out!”
“Is it about Princess Luna?” Twilight asked.
“I’m afraid so,” Shining Armor said.
Twilight waited until they had arrived in Shining Armor’s and Princess Cadence’s wing of the castle and Shining Armor had commanded two of his guards to stand guard outside before setting themselves down to a large salad Shining Armor had ordered. Twilight served herself a plate and watched as Shining Armor had served himself before starting her barrage of questions.
“What was with the letter? Why did you want me to come so quickly? Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier? Why did you want me specifically to come? Why can’t you talk with anyone else about this? What is going on with Princess Luna?”
Shining Armor raised a hoof and waited for Twilight to become quiet again before responding. “I called you here because of a case that went on recently regarding the first murder in Equestria since Nightmare Moon was banished. The suspect, and as of right now confirmed murderer, is Princess Luna.”
Twilight gasped.
“Evidence suggested that Princess Luna was being verbally attacked by some ponies near Ponyville. Reports also say that Princess Luna temporarily transformed into Nightmare Moon and killed one of the mares harassing her. Two more remain hospitalized since the event. If the guard and some residents of Ponyville had not intervened, Luna likely would have killed more.”
“But… why…?” Twilight asked. “What… what is going on?”
“Because of the seriousness of the crime Luna has been charged with, she is going to undergo execution. The sentence was that Princess Luna is to be publicly rocketed to the sun and thrown into it tomorrow morning.”
“That’s not fair!” Twilight shouted, pounding the table and causing salad to spill all over the table and the floor.
If he had noticed the mess, Shining Armor didn’t say anything about it. “The reason I called you here is because I was part of the testimony against Luna because some of the guards under my command were called to stop her. I had to present their evidence in court on behalf of the members of the guard involved. But… I do not feel at ease with my decision.”
“Why don’t you plead with Princess Celestia, then?” Twilight asked. “I’m sure she could do something about it.”
“Believe me,” Shining Armor replied, “I want to. And Cadence suggested the same thing. But Celestia won’t hear anything else about it. She sadly told me the case was closed and she wouldn’t have Nightmare Moon taking control of her sister again.”
“So the best thing to do is sentence her to death?” Twilight sobbed. “That’s not fair! It’s just not fair!”
“I have persuaded Celestia to do one thing for me,” Shining Armor replied. “You are allowed to go down to the dungeons with an escort and talk with Princess Luna for a short while. You two have been close friends since Nightmare Night and we both realize you may need this.”
Twilight nodded and tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. “Thank you,” she said, but had a feeling it wouldn’t be enough. “If you don’t mind, I would like to see her right now.”
“I shall inform the guard you will want to see her,” Shining Armor nodded. “In the meantime, I have a few more thing to do until this evening, but you are allowed free reign of our wing of the castle; Celestia’s wing is available under special conditions at this time.”
Twilight nodded and followed her brother out of the room, where he spoke to the guards.
“Twilight Sparkle has requested an audience with Princess Luna, currently in the dungeons. Take her there and keep watch on her. Give her as much time as she needs. This is an order approved by Princess Celestia.”
“Yes sir,” the guards said, and began to lead Twilight through the halls of Canterlot castle.
- - - -
Twilight had never been to the dungeons. She never had reason to, and often Celestia hadn’t permitted her to even go near them. She had sometimes seen a few ponies go into the dungeons while walking and talking with Celestia, but she’d never seen anypony leave. A few did, but she never heard of them.
The dungeon had little light and low ceilings. One of the guards had to ask Twilight to carry a torch for them so they could see the darker corners of the dungeons. Twilight walked through with a guard in front and a guard in back as they descended a staircase into the dark depths. Twilight felt a shiver run through her back, never imagining someplace this cold and dark could be underneath the beauty and warmth of Canterlot Castle.
At the bottom of the set of stairs, one of the guards took a key and locked the door before taking another key and unlocking one of the doors into a much larger room. Twilight was guided inside and instructed to place the torch in a holder near the entrance. Twilight walked in and went over to a chair where she seated herself down as one of the guards went over to and opened another door.
Through the door the guard opened stepped a very weary-looking alicorn covered in deep-blue fur with a darker flank and a flowing mane looked like it was made from the stars. Her blue eyes rested on Twilight Sparkle and her wings extended happily as she ran over to the mare and took her in her hooves.
“Twilight Sparkle!” the alicorn said. “It had been too long since we last talked.”
“Yes, Luna,” Twilight said. “I believed the last time we talked was the royal wedding.”
“It is a pity we haven’t been able to see each other since then in more favorable circumstances,” Luna said. “I feared I wouldn’t be able to talk to you.”
“What happened, Luna?” Twilight said. “Please tell me it isn’t true…”
“I was flying around one night to stretch my wings when I noticed a few ponies talking amongst themselves. The arguments were between those who were having trouble with the royalty and me and my sister’s policies and those who didn’t mind them. A unicorn began firing off some magic, hurting one of the others. I stepped in and intended to use my magic to separate them. Before I knew it, a few random shots of magic were fired and the unicorn was dead and an earth pony hurt.” Luna looked at Twilight with pleading eyes. “You believe me… don’t you?”
Luna had said things so earnestly and straightforward with Twilight that the unicorn almost immediately knew that she wasn’t lying. “I believe you,” Twilight said. “I know you’ve gotten better since the Nightmare Moon incident. You may have had some problems blending in at first but it was still better than it had been. And you had made so much progress by the wedding. It… it couldn’t have been you.”
“I don’t know who it was,” Luna admitted. “But I do know I used no magic.”
“Why doesn’t Celestia listen to any of this?” Twilight asked.
“Because the families of the ponies hurt were disappointed and still believed the legends told of Nightmare Moon,” Luna said. “If one of them was for us before, they were all against us afterwards unless something was done to appease them. The family of the pony killed never came forward and we weren’t able to find them.”
“Oh, Princess,” Twilight said, now beginning to sob into Luna’s mane; it was soft and cool and soothing like a gentle night breeze, and Twilight didn’t want to let go. “I wish I had known. I wish I had been there to help you.”
“Don’t cry for me, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, though Twilight could tell she was beginning to cry herself. “If you are ever up studying at night, look up at the moon and remember me. Look at the stars and patterns I put in the sky and remember me. No one ever truly leaves us if we keep the memories of them alive.”
“But we’ve had so little time,” Twilight sobbed. “I wish we had more. We had only just become friends.”
“I know,” Luna said. “If only Celestia had the sense to listen and didn’t cave in under the pressure.”
Twilight remained there for a little while longer, closing her eyes and sobbing into Luna’s mane as the alicorn took her hoof and gently held her close, all the while trying not to cry herself. Twilight wanted to stay in the cool of the alicorn’s mane forever and wished she had more time to speak with Luna in person; she had grown fond of the mare in her letters to her and was pretty sure Luna had been herself, yet now she was already being torn away from her.
After a while, Twilight had calmed down enough to release Luna. “I should probably go,” she said. “Maybe… maybe I could try talking to Celestia since I am her favorite student. She would listen to me.”
“I would hope so, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said. “And please, tell your brother I forgive him. It wasn’t his fault I’m here.”
Twilight hugged Luna one more time before the guards placed Luna back into her room and locked her away. Twilight took the torch again and the guards led Twilight back up the staircase and out of the dungeon. The walk up took less time than the walk down, and Twilight soon found themselves entering the castle, now already in evening.
“Have we really spent that long down there?” Twilight said as she placed the torch near the dungeon entrance.
“I think you fell asleep for a while,” one of the guards responded. “But you kept crying so neither of us could really tell. There was also the fact that Celestia and Shining Armor approved you to stay as long as you needed so long as you attended dinner. We were going to tell you, but you finished conveniently enough we didn’t say anything.”
Twilight nodded.
“It is time to escort you to the dining hall. Princess Celestia, Princes Mi Amore Cadenza, and Shining Armor are awaiting your arrival before starting.”
Twilight nodded again. “Lead the way.”
- - - -
At the dining hall, Princess Celestia was sitting in her usual seat at the head of the table, with Princess Cadence on her right and an empty chair on her left. Shining Armor sat on Cadence’s opposite side and a servant was holding a chair out for Twilight Sparkle next to Princess Celestia herself. Twilight entered and walked over to where the servant was waiting.
“Welcome, my faithful student,” Princess Celestia said, her voice echoing across the chamber towards Twilight. “Shining Armor told me you were spending time with Princess Luna in the dungeons.”
Twilight didn’t say anything. She remained quiet as the servant pushed her chair in and brought a plate of salad to her.
Shining Armor nervously poked his salad. Cadence smiled at Twilight, but the purple unicorn didn’t return it, so she nervously poked her salad out of a lack of anything else to do.
“Why didn’t you do anything?” Twilight said suddenly.
Celestia frowned. “I did what I could. Alas, the evidence was too much.”
“But you could have pardoned your own sister!” Twilight said. “She didn’t do anything! Why didn’t you?”
“You must understand I did what I did because otherwise we’d have an even larger problem on our hands.”
“But you have power! You could have used your power!”
“Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia said as calmly as she could. “One thing you must learn is that neither I, nor Princess Cadence, nor Princess Luna abuse our power. I believe Luna’s story, but to abuse my power to diffuse any conflict would not be an appropriate use for it.”
“But flinging your sister into the sun is?”
Celestia placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder and rested her head on top of Twilight’s, but the unicorn pulled away from the gesture.
“I agree with Twilight,” Cadence said. “Perhaps there is something else that could be done so that this could all be avoided. I do not think our powers were meant for crushing dissenters, but I also don’t believe that our powers were meant to fling one of our own into the sun as execution.”
“And Luna’s powers were not meant to bring out Nightmare Moon,” Celestia said, “but that same pony tried to plunge the land into eternal night. I am afraid that, should this get out of hand, she will try to do so again.”
“I could stay here!” Twilight pleaded, feeling a rage build within her. “I could work with her! You have the power to pardon her and I am close enough friends with her that I could stay here or she could come back to Ponyville with me! Can’t you do something?”
Princess Celestia’s face was downcast. “Hush, my student. Calm down. I am not your enemy.” Twilight felt the angry feelings leave her before Celestia continued. “There’s nothing I can do now. Aside from running the risk of Nightmare Moon’s reappearance, I also risk those who would overthrow me if they saw me become a coward.”
Twilight sighed. “I’m going to go to bed,” she said weakly as she excused herself from the table.
“Aren’t you going to eat anything?” Cadence called after her.
“I’m not hungry anymore!” Twilight called back as she ran out of the room and back to her room in Shining Armor’s wing of the castle before throwing herself on the bed. A heavy weight rested on her back and on her eyes as Twilight collapsed into the bed, sobbing. She couldn’t even use her magic to cover herself with how little she focused on her.
A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. Twilight didn’t respond, so the knock came again.
“Twilight?” Princess Celestia called. “I want to talk to you.”
“Leave me alone, you coward!” Twilight said. “I don’t want to talk with a princess who won’t save her own sister from an unjust sentence! You were my idol, Celestia, but now you’re nothing but an alicorn who wants to save her own popularity. I don’t want to talk with you anymore!”
For a long while, not another word came from the other side of the door. Finally, Celestia spoke, but her words did not reassure Twilight. “The execution will be at eight in the morning tomorrow. Shining Armor and Cadence will be in attendance and you are welcome to come along with. I hope you can forgive me. For now, sleep.”
Celestia’s hoofsteps started up, then quickly faded away. Twilight felt her energy leave her as she finally closed her eyes and fell asleep.
- - - -
A few hours later, Twilight awoke to a knocking at her door.
“Who is it?” Twilight called groggily.
“It’s me, Cadence,” Cadence responded. “It’s nearly time for the execution.”
Twilight got up and turned around to the window to find that she could still see the stars and the full moon outside. “But it’s not even dawn!” she said.
“I know,” Cadence said. “Even with all of her magical strength, Celestia has been unable to raise the sun this morning and Luna has been unable to lower her moon. However, the execution is still underway at eight.”
Twilight grabbed a black cloak from the room and put it on before walking outside to meet Cadence, dressed in a larger but fairly similar black cloak. The two walked together to find Shining Armor and Celestia in the entry hall with Luna carried in Celestia’s yellow aura, the dark blue alicorn’s eyes closed though Twilight noticed she was not asleep; a few tears were coming from her eyes.
Twilight followed Cadence out into the growing crowd as Princess Celestia walked out onto a balcony and set Luna down between herself and Shining Armor. Twilight and Cadence stood in the front of the crowd as Shining Armor erected a barrier in front of the crowd so they could not approach the royal family. Some of the ponies present were questioning the reason for the execution, but an ever-growing number were complaining about the royals and how they knew Princess Luna was a threat to their safety and well-being and heralded a return of Nightmare Moon. Twilight wished they wouldn’t talk that way, but she had nothing she could say to defend her.
Princess Celestia stepped forward and began to address the mob. “Citizens of Equestria. Today, we gather here to witness the execution of Princess Luna for the murder of a pony and the serious assault against two other ponies. Today, we rid ourselves of the hiding place of Nightmare Moon and prevent her from coming back to cause harm to us again.”
The crowds cheered and chanted for Luna’s execution.
Celestia turned to Luna. “Princess Luna, do you have any last words?”
“I do,” Princess Luna said. “You may notice that the sun has not risen today, and the moon will not lower itself to make way for the dawn. I am afraid to let you know that both of these events are out of mine or my sister’s power. Neither of us have been able to do our duties because even the sun and the moon realize the damage you have all done by condemning me. The sun shall not rise and light shall not return until you realize what you have done wrong.”
Princess Luna turned to Celestia. “As for you, my sister… my cowardly sister! Do not blame these ponies for what you yourself have turned to in order to keep your own fame up. You have thought you could keep the corruption of the commoners out of the castle, but you yourself have turned to petty reasoning in order to keep yourself and your people satiated. As though that could have put your mind at ease! This could have been solved easier if you hadn’t have allowed me to undergo this!”
Princess Luna then turned and walked towards the balcony. Her eyes quickly found Twilight Sparkle at the head of the crowd with Cadence. “As for you, Twilight Sparkle,” she said calmly and gracefully. “You are a great magician and full of knowledge. Do not let the same corruption that has tainted my sister fall onto you and let it spoil what I saw in you.”
Twilight’s lip quivered.
Princess Celestia stepped up to Luna. “Do you have anything else to say?”
Luna shook her head.
Celestia nodded, then let her horn glow brightly with her aura. Luna was surrounded in the aura and lifted a short way off the ground.
“Goodbye, Equestrians!” Luna called out. “Enjoy your cowardly tyrant!”
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light and a fireball rapidly receding away from the streets of Canterlot. The crowd watched in awe as the flame burst into existence then began to climb at an ever increasing pace until the fireball had disappeared into the darkening sky. At the same time, Celestia shot upwards, spreading her wings as the sun finally appeared in the sky. A large solar flare erupted from the surface – so large it could be seen in the streets of Canterlot – and returned into the sun as the crowd cheered.
It was then that everything came crashing down. The sun began to lower and would not raise no matter how much magic Celestia used to bring it back again. The stress began to take its toll on the alicorn princess as she collapsed onto the floor of the balcony. The lights in the streets of Canterlot turned on in succession as Equestria collapsed into darkness.
Twilight and Cadence shot up the staircase towards the fallen alicorn. “Princess Celestia!” Twilight called. “What happened? Are you okay?”
Celestia weakly opened up one eye and looked around at Twilight, Cadence, Shining Armor, and the guards standing around her before looking up at the black sky. “What have I done?” she said, then closed her eyes.
“Guards!” Shining Armor shouted. “Get her to the hospital wing, now!” A few pegasi guards came and surrounded Princess Celestia in their aura before opening the doors to the castle and rushing the alicorn inside.
“What’s going on?” came a shout from the crowd.
“What’s happened to the princess?” came another shout.
“Why hasn’t the sun risen? Where is the moon?” somepony else shouted.
Twilight Sparkle went up to the balcony and jumped onto it. “Listen up!” she shouted.
Shocked by the power and command in Twilight’s voice, the crowds fell quiet.
Twilight gulped. “In case you haven’t realized it, this is all your fault!”
A collective gasp rose up.
“How dare you accuse us like that! What did we do?” said one pony.
“You heard Princess Luna!” Twilight said. “This is all your fault! You refused to listen to reason and instead wanted whatever you wanted. You didn’t listen to what your princess of the night had to say. Instead, you only cared about whatever you wanted!”
A few pegasi started flying around from all different directions.
One of the pegasi landed on the balcony next to Twilight and began to address the crowd. “Listen to me, citizens of Canterlot!” said the first Pegasus said to the crowd. “The darkness is not just here! The darkness has also eclipsed Ponyville!”
The crowd gasped, including Twilight and Cadence. “That’s where the murder was committed!”
“Listen to me, citizens of Canterlot!” a second Pegasus said. “The darkness is not just here! The darkness has also eclipsed Trottingham!”
Another gasp. “That’s where that one politician was attacked!”
A third Pegasus landed next to Twilight on the balcony. “Listen to me, citizens of Canterlot!” he said to the crowd. “The darkness is not just here! The darkness has also eclipsed the whole of the Griffin kingdom!”
The crowd was silent.
“But, why?” a voice finally asked.
“The darkness has eclipsed places where harmony has failed to solve problems,” Cadence said, looking up into the night sky. “Wherever harmony has tried – and failed – but has not been the answer, then darkness shall eclipse it. Our society seems idyllic, but because not even us alicorns are perfect, then even we must face the consequences. Perhaps Princess Luna is the one who has the last laugh, for she no longer must suffer the hatred and lack of harmony that now has covered our dear Equestria. I suppose the promise that Nightmare Moon made not but two years ago shall come true: the night shall last… forever.”