"Even the Sun can be snuffed out, and nothing will remain but utter darkness..."
Blaze felt as if he would vomit as the Princess' magic surged through his mind and body like a whirlwind, touching very fibre of his being as his spirit was whisked through the magical aether. A thousand different colours flashed past his eyes, making the poor unicorn dizzy and confused beyond belief. Stars, flames, trees, storms, mountains, and even entire nations raced into and beyond his field of vision. Cities and castles blew in some imaginary wind like leaves as Celestia transported herself and her companion through Time itself, into the foggy depths of memory...
He blinked. Once, twice. Everything soon began to come into focus, though the feeling of disorientation remained in Blaze's head. His horn ached painfully, although as he raised a forehoof to touch it, he had no idea as to why. His muscles felt sore and worn, and it was then that he noticed that his golden armour had completely disappeared. In fact, as the unicorn started to look around him, he realised that the entire Royal Library had disappeared. The mighty aisles of tomes and books were nowhere to be seen. The walls, the great line of windows, the painted dome and even the three arches were simply not present.
"Are you all right, good sir?" came a familiar voice from Blaze's left. Princess Celestia looked as perfect as ever. Her aurora hued mane and tail danced serenely of their own accord, and her royal regalia was still adorning her head, chest and hooves. "I haven't cast that spell for nearly four hundred years, not since the tenth anniversary of the Third Changeling War. I hope you're not too dizzy. You'll get used to that after a while."
"W-Wha...what by all that is holy was that spell?" Blaze spluttered.
"Something of my own creation", Celestia replied with a smile, "I call it the 'Incantation of the Immortale Regnum.' It allows myself and anypony I choose to journey into the timeways and witness any event of the caster's choosing in history. I'll admit, I never thought to go this far back... nor to this time at all..."
"Wh-where are we, Your Highness?" Blaze added as a formality. He was still in the presence of royalty, after all. It suddenly occurred to the unicorn that his coat was being touched by a very real breeze, howling and blowing around them.
"We haven't moved." the Princess said, "only gone back through a past memory. We are standing in the exact same places we were when in the Royal Library, only the Library won't be built for another eight hundred and sixty years."
Blaze's violet eyes widened in realisation as Celestia spoke. They had travelled back nearly a whole millennia, back to a time before Nightmare Moon. This, according to the unicorn's mental timeline, was the period in which Ponydom was at its height. Many history books called it the Noontide of Equestria, an age when the borders of Equestria extended far across the known world. The Griffin Kingdoms kept the peace for the sake of Celestia's phoenix, the Crystal Empire was gone, but with it the evil of King Sombra, and the dragonflights were held in check by the powers of the Princesses.
"We, we're in Canterlot?" he asked, knowing the answer already. As Blaze looked around him, the more his eyes grew accustomed to the surrounding area. He was standing on a sheet of clean grey rock, enshrouded in a light chilly fog which seem to cling to his coat like a cloak. A cold wind howled, its bite feeling like daggers of ice.
"Well, not exactly. Here, we're standing on the western plateau outside of the city. Canterlot didn't extend this far outwards, if you would care to follow me" Celestia said, nudging her head in a motion to follow. Blaze trotted behind his lady, his head still aching slightly from the spell's after-shakes. The fog began to thin the further the pair of ponies walked, finally melting into a thin mist, allowing both to see their location.
Before them rose a great white stone wall, reaching a good fifty feet up into the murky air above. The summit was crowned with gold plated battlements, behind which Blaze thought he could spy silver statues of pony sentries, only to gasp as they revealed themselves to be live guards like himself. Their dour faces watched resolutely across the fog, barely blinking as they marched back and forth upon the outer castle.
Celestia walked towards the borders of ancient Canterlot, her serene expression letting slip a sigh of, what...exhaustion? Blaze wasn't sure, but his thoughts were trusted elsewhere as his Princess spread her majestic wings outward, creating a phantom breeze which stroked his coat, yet did not disturb the mists around her glowing form. The white alicorn arced into the grey air, sailing over the walls effortlessly. Blaze was about to call to her before he felt his hooves leave the ground with her. He whirled around in confusion as his body was borne by the princess' magic over the high battlements.
As the unicorn rose higher, he could make out the city behind in detail. Here, the fog of the valley abruptly ceased, revealing olden Canterlot in all it's muted glory. Through the twilight air, Blaze's violet eyes gazed upon the shimmering form of his monarch gliding above the golden rooftops of the pony capital.
"Whoa..." he breathed. Canterlot from above was a sight that he had only seen from the high towers of the Royal Palace, but never before had he dreamed of flying above them himself. The faded gold rays of the falling sun caught the summits of the needle thin towers from behind the western clouds, breaking them like glass to reveal a heart of fire. Beyond the low mists the sky was almost clear save for a single great tower of cloud to the far west, the lights of the city reflecting off it. Blaze's reverie was interrupted by Celestia's voice.
"Are you well? I should have told you before, here, in the world of memory, we are not bound to the laws of the world as you know them. You can fly of free will and walk through walls and mountains, such was my design in this spell. But for now, I will carry you to the place which I want you to see. The place which it all started."
"Where?"
"The Throne of the High Dawn..."
The pair of ponies wheeled around towards the imposing shadow of the then relatively new Royal Palace, the ghost breeze tickling Blaze's grey coat as he flew over the great pair of statues above the Court of the Sun and Moon, their brilliantly carved horns surrounded by scaffolding. Closer inspection showed that the golden and silver plating on the respected statues were only partially fitted on. Workponies of all races laboured upon the rickety wooden frames, crowning their masterpieces with the precious metals.
Celestia guided him over the courtyard through a wide archway built above the Gilded Foyer, the grand entrance hall to the Palace before floating down in a slowly spiralling circle until both ponies' hooves touched onto the marble floor below. The fog almost seemed to encompass the grand hall as well as the outside world, something which Blaze found very discomforting.
"Come" Celestia said suddenly, walking towards the carpeted staircase which lead into the Palace proper. For the most part it seemed identical to how it was in present, but Blaze noticed a few minor differences; ancient paintings were new here, and several statues and banners that Blaze did not recognise decorated the halls.
It didn't take long for the pair of dream ponies to make their way to the grand throne room of the royal sisters. The grand chamber was exactly as Blaze remembered it, but for the addition of a second throne. Beside Celestia's familiar yet still resplendent chair sat a great dark counterpart, carved from onyx and set with a series of diamonds in the shape of a crescent moon against the headrest. A pair of silver fountains sent equally silver water cascading into clear pool beside the throne, surrounded by beautiful night blooming flowers like moonroses and stardrops.
Despite the haunted dimness of the grand chamber, it was far from silent. A series of ponies dressed in regal attire of lush colours reminiscent of fire stood squabbling intently, their words unclear until Blaze stepped nearer. What he heard forced the young unicorn to halt and raise both eyebrows in surprise.
"What do you mean, she's locked herself away?"
"Exactly that. The Princess hasn't been seen for the past five nights. She raises the Moon as always but nopony has seen her since the visit from the hedge wizards from the North. Not even Celestia knows what she's doing."
"Are you referring to what Luna's doing or Celestia herself?"
"Rose Thorn! How can you say such a thing?"
"Don't pretend you haven't noticed it too! Celestia has been acting more frantic since Luna disappeared, although we all know she's in the Sanctum of the Moon. Why nopony simply drags her out, I have no idea. Equestria cannot continue to function with both its rulers losing their minds and going off on ridiculous tangents that help nopony! We Highlords can only do so much."
"I agree, but we can't j-"
"Shh!"
The chattering nobles ceased as a great white form strode gracefully into the chamber, her familiar, sparkling mane lightening even the dull spirit world. The spectre of Celestia's past walked towards the group of Highlords, her face composed and serene as ever. As she walked past him, Blaze could see that Celestia did indeed look younger here; the differences were almost invisible from her present day self, but the grey unicorn noted how her mane and tail danced more actively, her horn's spiral indents were more pronounced, and her eyes carried a look of confidence more than wisdom.
The group of nobleponies bowed courteously as their monarch walked past, taking her place at the grand golden throne before smiling at her courtiers.
"My friends, how fare you this fine evening?" she asked, almost automatically nodding as the ponies answered positively, betraying nothing of their true feelings. Blaze wondered what the Princess must now think of such nobles, long dead and lost to Time. Did she she feel anger? Disappointment? Remorse?
Blaze's musings were interrupted by a brazen fanfare, the golden armoured guards at the head of the grand hall proclaiming the arrival of the rest of the court, and Blaze was surprised to find that fashion amongst the nobility had changed drastically over the course of a millennium. Mares parades into wearing silken gowns of a rainbow of colours, artfully set with gems and precious stones that were rare even for Equestria. Beside them strode stallions in double breasted long coats and cravats, many wearing tall plumed or tricorn hats laced with glittering stones and draped with scarves and sashes of high military or social rank. The ponies fanned themselves out across the hall, filing in orderly whilst chatting amongst themselves. As the double doors were shut, the young Celestia clopped her hooves together excitedly.
"Welcome everypony once again to the yearly Twilight Council. You'll of course have to forgive me for the absence of my sister, but she's recovering from a particularly strong case of pox. The doctors say that she'll be well again soon enough. But now to business!"
As the spectres of the past talked and discussed topics that Blaze knew nothing of, the unicorn turned to his real Princess, who seemed to be watching the scene unfold with a silent, unreadable expression.
"How can you look back on these events, Your Highness? Do you remember them as clearly as yesterday?"
She shook her head slowly and smiled. "Even the memories of immortals are fleeting in times like these. That's why I created this spell, so I could view the past like looking through a mirror, to see the reflections of events and ponies gone by." She sighed deeply. "I can look upon all these ponies who are now lost to Time. I see their faces and hear their voices, but good guard, I don't remember them. It's a difficult thing to see, those you you once ruled and cared for... and as you will see, those I failed."
Blaze was struck silent, and pondered the weight of such words before his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the great gilded doors slamming open violently. All in the chamber turned quickly, the guards readying their weapons. However, all let out a deep sigh of shock as Princess Luna strode into the room, her regal mane glittering in the candlelight. A ripple of hushed voices spread through the crowd of nobleponies as the Princess of the Night marched towards her throne, her face stern yet unreadable, like a slab of dauntless marble set with sapphires for eyes.
"L-Luna, how wonderful for you to be here! I thought that the doctors said it would be at least another week bef-"
"Clearly not."
The entire hall fell silent as Luna took up her place beside her sister. After blinking a few times, Celestia cleared her throat and continued on, resuming the council as if nothing had happened. As the meeting progressed, Blaze kept a firm eye on the dark alicorn beside his monarch. Her gaze was like cold steel, yet the rest of her demeanour was as elegant as ever. Her mane of stars flowed serenely behind her, she nodded as point were discussed, and even the edge in her voice had dulled. Yet her eyes...
"You can feel it, can you not?" asked Celestia. "The shadow behind the night. The seeds of the nightmare."
"Did you know then? Could you see that same?"
"I regret many things. But this triumphs above everything else. I saw nothing until it was far too late."
As the ponies filed out of the great throne room, Blaze watched as the Princesses both exited through another corridor that led off into the inner chambers of the Palace.
"Are we following them...you, no, them?" Blaze asked, waving a hoof aimlessly at the two shade like alicorns. Celestia chuckled at his confusion and nodded.
"But we don't need to wait for the next part of the story. Hold on, good guard."
her long horn began to glow again with a familiar golden glow, and Blaze braced himself for another lurch through the timeways. He was confident that this time, he would vomit. Yet no such feeling came. Instead, the grey unicorn gasped as his surroundings melted away like liquid fog, disappearing into a cloud of formless mist before reforming itself. From the clouds came rose a series of six tall pillars, as black as the night sky and veined with white. he widened his eyes as his hooves found themselves on as unfamiliar stone floor, paved with spirals and a series of large discs portraying the phases of the moon.
Windows, furniture, curtains, and finally a great domed ceiling made from glass rose around the two ponies. And as Celestia's horn faded and the new room cemented itself before them, Blaze realised by the sound of voices that they were once again, not alone. They turned to the open doors behind them to be greeted by the sight of the two younger Princesses.
"This is where it truly went wrong" said Celestia solemnly. "It's here that Luna truly fell from grace."
"Where are we?"
"This is the Sanctum of the Moon, where Luna officially raised the moon and forged the stars in ancient days."
The younger, shadowy form of Luna strode into her chamber, oblivious to the two onlookers as she marched towards the end of the great oval shaped room. Blaze's ears twitched as her sister followed her inside.
"Luna, what's going on? I had to cover for you today because nopony expected you to turn up?"
"Is that so?"
"Yes! What have you even been doing up here for all this time? It's been weeks since anypony other than myself has seen you. Everypony is missing your company an-"
Luna laughed, but laughed with an edge that bore no humour. It was venomous, sarcastic and so...angry. The dark alicorn spun her head and locked her steely gaze with that of her counterpart. Blaze didn't want to look at his true monarch. He couldn't bare to imagine what she may be thinking now.
"Do they? Do they miss me, my good tempered jokes, my lovable, kind demeanour, my warm, radiant sunlight? No. For it is you, sweet sister, that possesses all that they love. Your light, your voice, your precious, precious Sun!" She stood up and flared her horn. The heavy velvet curtains beside the tall windows suddenly parted, revealing a stunning night sky. "Do you see this?" Luna asked violently, her voice dripping with frustration. This is my work, my art. Is it not beautiful sister?" Celestia, who had remained silent, gave a weak not. "No! I want to hear you say it. Say that it's beautiful!"
"It's um...it's very beautiful, Luna"
"Then why don't they love me!?"
The sudden cry of anger stunned the young white alicorn and Blaze with equal measure. Luna's eyes suddenly glistened with tears that wasted no time in falling. She wept and she cried out, begging without words for an answer to anypony who would listen. But it was then that Blaze saw what his Princess had meant. She couldn't see the depth of her sorrow, and maybe she never could have in the first place. Some questions are doomed to go unanswered.
"Luna, sweet sister, don't cry. Oh please don't cry. They do love you, I love you. They wouldn't want this, and I don't want to see you so sad. Why didn't you tell me about this before?" But as Celestia reached out to her weeping counterpart, Luna fought back the sorrow with a wave of fury. She snatched her hooves away from her sister and her eyes once again hardened, only this time Blaze could feel something else in the air. His unicorn senses, even viewing a memory from the past, could detect the imbalance of sorcery. His tongue tasted metal in the air, and his fur around his neck stood on edge.
"No. Get away from me." The ice in her tone caused Celestia to back away. The Sun Princess' face wore a mask of confusion as her sister continued. "I have tried to tell you of this. Every day over the past months. But you never listened. It was always 'later' or 'in an hour.' Those hours passed and you never came. You only basked in their adoration and their love, as if their voices of praised gave you power. But i see you for what you are. You're a parasite."
"L-Luna..." Celestia now began to cry tears of her own. The white alicorn began to back away towards the door, but Luna used her magic to slam it shut. As the latch descended and the keys turned, Blaze suddenly found himself leaning against his Princess' side.
"Hush now, my little pony. Nothing can harm you here" she chimed musically, but with a sense of authority that a mother would use.
"This is more than I could have ever imagined, Princess" Blaze whispered. He didn't want to admit it to himself, being a member of the Royal Guard, but a tiny voice in his mind told him to let the tears that had begun to pool in the corners of his eyes fall. But the grey unicorn persevered through, and no tears fell from his pained, violet eyes.
His magical senses tingled once more as Luna strode to the end of the Sanctum, her mane of stars billowing in an invisible wind. As she approached her largest desk, the Night Princess opened a great silver tome, revealing dozens of celestial patterns and runes that Blaze could never hope to comprehend.
"I want you to see this, Celestia. I want you to see what your ignorance and arrogance has wrought!" Flipping through the great pages of the book, Luna began to read the ancient glyphs and symbols aloud in a language that Blaze could not understand, but he could feel that every syllable contained a spark of raw power. A fell breeze began to blow through the chamber, and the tall, high windows were flung open.
"Luna, stop this!" Celestia begged whilst desperately trying to undo the many locks and wards placed upon the exit, yet Luna's enchantments repelled her magical touch with every attempt. "You're using powers that you don't understand!"
Luna spun round, and Blaze sank to his knees. Her eyes were on fire, a bright silver flame and pierced his heart with ice and drove his resolve away. Celestia raised her wings in a protective stance to reassure him of her presence. Nothing could harm them in the dream world. The dark alicorn continued to chant and mutter words that warped and twisted the air around them.
"I am the Moon" came a voice from both everywhere and nowhere. Luna's lips continued to cast her great incantation, thus Blaze could only conclude that the voice came from her mind as a spoken thought. "I am the watcher in the sky, I am the Queen of Stars. It is I who wills the Moon to flight and I who brightens the heavens. Your light can only blind and burn. You grow things ranks and gross in nature with your precious Sun, but the Moon grows nothing. The Moon is kind, she is beautiful and she is merciful." A great pillar of blue flame suddenly ignited the length of Luna's horn, and her spell stopped as she doubled over in intense pain. Yet as the cries of the Moon Princess filled the room, the disembodied voice continued to speak. And Blaze realised that it was not Luna who spoke.
"Yet the Moon's mercy does not extend to those who would claim lordship over the earth and sky. Not to the Sun. Such arrogance must be humbled, such pride must be blunted. Do you even know to whom you speak?" Celestia screamed as Luna's body collapsed onto the cold stone floor, writhing as whatever dark magic she had tried to harness instead turned on her. The screams echoed across the tower, and Blaze could hear the hoofsteps of nearby guards as they drew towards the sounds of panic.
The voice continued. "I am the Heart of the Night, the Herald of the Darkness. I am Equestria's End and her salvation from your tyranny. I will take this body of the one you love most. She let me in, she allowed me to come into this world and to bring Harmony. I am all you fear, all you flee from in the dark shadows of your chambers. I am the reason that you must turn night to day with candlelight. For in true darkness, I am free. I am the Nightmare."
A great flash of light exploded across the room, or rather, an un-light, shadow as deep as the depths of the sea yet as bright and sharp as the firmament of heaven. The fell darkness shattered all the windows, raining glass down upon the ruined Sanctum of the Moon. Blaze shielded his eyes from the sight of such unnatural magic, yet he forced himself to watch the beginning of the direst time in Equestria's history.
Luna's body continued to flail wildly on the floor, her blue fur marked with cuts from the glass and scrapes from the stone. All the candles in the room had long been snuffed out, making the piercing light of the full moon as the only source of light. It was then that the deep shadow that had invaded the chamber settled upon Luna's writhing, screaming body, seeping black tendrils of mist into her heart and mind. It was then that all movement in her body stopped, and Blaze at first believed her to be dead. A heavy silence descended upon the assembled ponies, broken by the anguished cry of Celestia.
"Luna! Luna, my sister. Oh sweet heavens, no!" The white alicorn abandoned her efforts to unlock the door and raced over to the unmoving body of her little sister, her mane of stars still and cold. The vague muffled sounds of the guards beating on the door rang through Blaze's head, but the grey unicorn ignored them.
"This is how it happened? This is how she became Nightmare Moon?"
"Not what you were expecting?" said Celestia softly.
Blaze shook his head and wiped his eyes. "Not at all."
Suddenly, the past Celestia gasped. Blaze spun round to see Luna's eyes wide open. "You're alive!" cried the Sun Princess. "Oh my sweet sister, I'm so sorry. I never me-" Her voice fell in her throat as Luna blinked, and revealed her pupils to be long, sharp slits like those of a dragon. The light in her sapphire eyes was as sharp as a knife blade, and the magic that coursed through them was something new, something darker than before. Wordlessly Luna rose to her feet, and Blaze noted of how much taller she suddenly was. She stood at the same height as her sister if not taller, and her long horn began to flicker. From that spark, a trail of blackness fell down the length of the spiralled horn, staining it the colour of the blackest night as it spread to her head, her neck, her wings. It seeped like a poison across her fur, as if burning the blue coat into a dark and unforgiving black. As it reached her flank, Blaze recoiled as Luna's iconic crescent moon cutie mark flashed, turning from dark navy blue to an enchanting purple.
As Luna spread her wings, the stars that once lay in her mane and tail flickered with a new and revitalised life. They glimmered fiercely with a new fire, a flame that burned from deep within the bewitched heart of the Night Princess. As they once again began to flow in an invisible wind, Luna smiled. Blaze, and even the present day Celestia gasped at the sight of her new fangs, as white as the palest moonlight and as sharp as a silver lance. Another silence descended upon the tower.
"Behold..." Luna whispered, no not Luna. Something new. "Behold the beauty of the night sky manifested. Gaze upon the future."
"W-What are you!? What have you done with my sister!?" wailed the young Celestia, tears flowing freely from her eyes. The new alicorn laughed, a sound that caused a ringing in Blaze's ears.
"I am your sister. Or at least, she as she should be. I am the Moon's Anger, and I will bring about the judgement that has been so long delayed."
"You cannot! What you intend to do, it's impossible. You'll kill everypony in Equestria. They need the sunlight!"
"Ha! Watch me. They suffer from an addiction, the plague that is your Sun. Harken to me, the dawn will never rise again!"
With an almighty flash of purple light, the pony that had once been Princess Luna disappeared from the Sanctum of the Moon, leaving behind a shaking and broken Celestia. It was at that moment at the magical wards locking the door faded, and a tide of silver clad guards poured into the chamber, running to their stricken Princess.
As the shades of the past slowly began to melt away, Blaze turned to his Princess, her face still a mask of composure even upon seeing her most painful memories again. "Your Highness, why didn't you stop her here?" He immediately bowed in deference upon hearing his own words. "F-Forgive me Princess, it's just... you didn't try to stop her at all. I, I would have thought that after seeing Princess Luna being transformed like that, that you would try and undo the magic, break the spell."
Celestia smiled softly and closed her eyes. "Could you, fair Corporal? Could you strike the one you love most in this world after seeing them like this. When Luna was taken by the Nightmare, my heart broke. I could not summon the will to battle against this Nightmare Moon, and even if I did, today I doubt that it would have been enough to stop her. Luna had fallen so far into her depression that she had summoned forces beyond even my full understanding. There are forces in this world that command an ancient power to rival that of alicorns. The Deer Realm's rulers, the Perytons, are such creatures. But this was something else." She sighed deeply and looked at the fading scene around her as if melted away into grey mist. "This was my sister. I could never harm her, you understand? Even as Nightmare Moon, I still loved her with all my heart."
Blaze simply nodded and lowered his head. "I'm, I'm so sorry, Your Highness. I never realised how much this truly meant to you."
"There is no need to apologise. Some things cannot be explained with logical reasoning. Anypony with any sense would ask the same question. If I had known the events that followed, I would have tried my best despite my feelings. Yet Love is an unusual thing. It defies all logic and empirical thought. It transcends all other emotions and even Death itself. As powerful as I was, I could never have hoped to struggle against the most powerful force in the universe."
Blaze suddenly frowned. "As powerful as you were? What do you mean?"
But Celestia simply shook her head. "That, my little pony, is something I will tell you much later. Now is not the time."