“That was the last thing that happened to me during that time,” Lunar explained, “after that, I spent a millennia on the moon. Ironic, wouldn't you say? The student literally replicated the life of the teacher.”
“What did you do to pass the time by, Lunar?” Meridian asked.
“At first,” replied Lunar, “I counted the rocks that were on the moon. That got boring very quickly, trust me.”
“Anything else you noticed that was different there when compared to here?” Meridian continued.
“Time moved by kind of quicker, I noticed,” answered Lunar, “I used my time there to really gain control over what happened to me, eventually forcing it into submission during my century's long battle. I've gained–”
“Pardon my intrusion, Lunar,” interrupted Meridian, “but is that still part of you?”
Lunar nodded, “It is.” He blinked his eyes and showed off some red, hazy smoke coming from his eyes now. “See?” His voice was now echoed and sounded more demonic now. “We've allowed each other to coexist.” Lunar blinked his eyes once more and the smoke dissipated.
“That's very interesting,” Meridian commented.
“All alicorns have to have control over their dark magic,” Lunar said, “with enough convincing, anypony can technically fall victim to those dark forces. Unicorns also have this kind of dark magic – just look at King Sombra – but the likelihood of them becoming corrupted and turning is extremely unlikely. For alicorns, it takes a little bit more time to gain control over, that's why it isn't something that usually develops in one later on in their life cycle.”
“When you saw that the time was coming for you to return,” continued Meridian, “what did you do to prepare yourself?”
“Honestly,” Lunar replied, rubbing the back of his neck softly, “nothing. I spent most of my time perfecting my alicorn magic and gaining control over the other forces inside me. I've learned spells on my own, and learned how to tap into the dark forces, as you previously saw, when I need to.”
“When you did come back,” Meridian spoke, “what was the first thing you noticed that was different?”
“This castle was one of the first few things I've noticed when I returned,” answered Lunar, “I forgot this castle existed when I returned and, when I saw it, I confused it with the castle in the Crystal Empire. I approached it and was treated to a most interesting greeting.”
“Interesting how?”
“Hehe,” chuckled Lunar, “interesting, interesting.”
“Is that the Crystal Castle?” Lunar asked himself, noticing the large spires of the castle from beyond the trees.
He flew over towards the castle and dropped down to the ground slowly, touching base with his hooves. He staggered over to the front of the castle, still getting used to walking once more, and was stopped almost immediately by a strong looking guardpony.
“Halt!” He shouted towards Lunar. “State your name and business!”
“M-my name is Prince Lunar Nights,” Lunar answered sheepishly, “don't you recognize me?”
“There is no such prince by that name in Equestria!” The guard continued. “What is your real name and what is your business with Princess Twilight Sparkle?”
“Princess Twilight?” Lunar repeated. “This castle is Twilight's?”
“State your name and business!” The guard yelled, holding up a spear at Lunar.
“Whoa, whoa!” Lunar frighteningly spoke, shuffling backwards a bit.
Just then, the front doors had begun to open. A pony stepped out from inside and, looking passed the guardpony, Lunar tried to determine who the pony was, but couldn't tell because of how dark it was. The guard, meanwhile, turned around and acknowledged the pony walking out of the castle while still holding the spear towards Lunar's neck.
“Going home for the evening, Miss Rarity?” He asked.
“Rarity?” Lunar repeated. How's that possible? She shouldn't be alive...unless the flow of time isn't the same there as it is here.
“Most certainly, kind sir,” Rarity answered. She noticed the spear being held up to Lunar's neck and asked the guard a question quietly, but still loud enough for Lunar to hear. “Who is this pony we have here?”
“He claims to be a prince,” the guard replied, “a prince by the name of Lunar Nights.”
“Lunar Nights?!” Rarity screeched, moving out of the way and stopping next to Lunar. She looked him over before continuing to talk.
“R-Rarity?” Lunar asked before she spoke.
“Sir,” Rarity told the guard, “would you mind removing the spear from Lunar's neck?”
“But he is a threat to Princess Twilight!” The guard continued, shoving the spear a bit closer to his skin.
“No he's not,” defended Rarity, “he's a prince. He's the pony from the legend of the Colt Trapped in the Moon. You have heard of that story, haven't you?”
The guard cocked an eyebrow, pulling the spear away slightly, “This is the Trapped Colt?”
Rarity nodded, “Yes, now if you could be so nice as to take the spear away, I'll gladly explain everything to you, darling.”
“If that is what you want, Miss Rarity,” the guard softly spoke, “so be it.” He then removed the spear from Lunar's neck, allowing him to stand back up straight.
Thank Celestia, Lunar told himself.
“Are you alright, dear?” Rarity asked Lunar, placing something over his back, something that felt much like feathers.
“Uh, y-yeah,” Lunar replied, “R-Rarity?”
Rarity smiled in response, “I see you remember me, or at the very least, my ancestor.”
That explains one thing, thought Lunar, “Your ancestor?”
“I'm not the same Rarity you knew, darling,” continued Rarity.
“That was something that blew my mind when I first met her,” Lunar chuckled, “not only was the first pony I became familiar with following my return Rarity, but she was an alicorn too.”
“I'm to blame for that,” Twilight admitted, “it was my idea to insert the alicorn gene into their parents. My best idea? Probably not, but...”
“But,” continued Lunar, “it does beat having to say goodbye eventually to those that are close to you, Twily.” He reached over and rubbed her back softly with one of his wings.
Twilight nodded, “The feeling of loss kept draining my energy, honestly, so I figured that if the descendants of our friends carried that gene, then the likelihood of their offspring becoming an alicorn at birth would increase.”
“Science is so amazing,” Lunar smirked, “isn't it, Twily?”
Twilight blushed slightly and giggled, “Eeyup.”
“So what happened next, Lunar?” Meridian wondered, pressing forward with the interview.
“Well,” continued Lunar, “Rarity led me back inside the castle she walked out of and towards the throne room. She had blindfolded me, but guided me nonetheless.”
“How far are we from...wherever it is that we're going to?” Lunar asked.
“Not too far now, Prince Lunar,” Rarity replied, slightly pushing him to the right a bit.
“Are we inside the castle?” Lunar guessed.
“Maybe we are,” Rarity giggled in response, “maybe we aren't.”
“I'll take that as a yes,” Lunar boldly chuckled back.
“Let me ask you something, Prince,” said Rarity, pushing him a bit more to the right now.
“Please,” responded Lunar, “call me Lunar. I don't really deserve the title of 'Prince' at this current moment.”
“If that is what you wish for, Lunar,” answered Rarity, giggling more in the process, “so be it.”
“Thank you,” Lunar obliged, “now what was it that you wanted to ask me?”
“I want to know how things were between Princess Twilight and yourself.”
“What do you mean?” Lunar asked.
“Well,” continued Rarity, “I want to know how it was dating somepony of royalty, Pri...I mean, Lunar.”
“It was fantastic,” Lunar responded, immediately being brought back to the plenty of happy memories he shared with Twilight.
“What did you two do,” added Rarity, “if you don't mind me asking, dear.”
“It's okay,” Lunar answered, being pushed a tad to the left in the process, “I don't mind. Where do you want me to begin?”
“Begin from where you two first met,” Rarity told Lunar.
“Okay,” Lunar said, smiling in the process, “just know that you're in for a long story.”
“Don't worry,” exclaimed Rarity, “I do fancy longer love stories.”
“Good,” Lunar smiled brightly, “well, I originally was a unicorn colt that resided in Baltimare for a few months while I was a student of Princess Luna's long, long ago.”
“Is that so?” Rarity asked, pushing Lunar to the left a bit more, opening a door in the process.
“Yes,” answered Lunar, “well, one day, I was sitting in my home, catching up on my studies, when Princess Luna sent me a letter referring to one of my books.”
“Which one was it?”
“It was one of Star Swirl the Bearded's spell books,” said Lunar, “I'm certain that Twilight brought up his name before, correct?”
“Right,” Rarity told Lunar, “a bit frequently, too.”
“So you know of him then, right?”
“Yes I do, dear.”
“Well,” continued Lunar, “this one particular book had a spell that was left incomplete. Twilight received a copy from Princess Celestia, I received one from Princess Lunar, and I can only assume that Princess Cadence has a copy for herself if she ever adopts a star pupil herself.”
“Indeed,” Rarity said, “but why was this particular spell left incomplete?”
“It was left incomplete because Star Swirl didn't understand friendship the way Twilight did,” Lunar replied, “nor did I at the time.”
“So what happened?”
“Princess Luna told me in the letter mentioned earlier to take the book and travel to Ponyville to enlist the help of Princess Twilight Sparkle with my way of friendship,” explained Lunar, “but she purposely left out what Twilight looked like and left me in the dark, so to speak, looking for Twilight when I arrived here.”
“Then what happened after you met Twilight for the first time?”
“I was awestruck,” smiled Lunar, blushing a bit, thinking back to when he first laid eyes on the beautiful, purple colored mare with her lovely lilac colored eyes, “her mane was beautifully kept. Her eyes melted my heart, as did her smile and laugh...her voice – dear Celestia, her voice – made me weak in the knees...she was perfect in every way of the definition.”
“That's so amazing,” Rarity spoke, sounding a bit breathless in the process.
“She was amazing,” replied Lunar, “but...she probably won't forgive me for what I've done to her before my banishment.”
“Oh, I don't know about that,” said a new voice.
Lunar felt his ears shoot up sky high as soon as he heard that soft, soothing voice. He immediately knew whose voice it was that penetrated his eardrums.
“P-P-Princess T-Twilight?” He stammered. “I-Is that you?”
Rarity kindly removed the blindfold from Lunar's eyes, stepping to the side politely. Blinking a few times, Lunar focused on his vision and looked straight ahead of him, spotting the pony resting atop of the throne. His heart melted when he saw Twilight and, almost instinctively, ran over to her.
“Oh, Twilight!” Lunar cried. “I've missed you so much!”
Twilight smiled, lifting herself from her throne and rushing over to see Lunar, “I've missed you too, Prince Lunar!”
Lunar grabbed Twilight with his two front hooves and hugged her and held her close to him tightly, but not too tight. Twilight did just the same to Lunar as she collapsed her head onto his shoulder and buried her face into her neck, crying tears of joy in the process.
“My little Sparkle,” Lunar whispered, “I've finally come home...”
“And I've waited for you to come home for such a long time, my strong and handsome prince,” Twilight replied in a muffled tone, but in a tone that Lunar could understand.
“I still think back to that moment in time and still get goosebumps,” Twilight giggled, “it was really a magical one, especially after waiting all those years just to see you again.”
“I'm sure Twilight could explain what she did during that time alone later,” Lunar smirked, “but once I returned, my main concern was why I was still being considered a prince.”
“What do you mean?” Meridian wondered.
“After falling to those dark forces inside me,” said Lunar, “I didn't think I was worthy of being considered a prince, let alone having a share in these wings. I betrayed Equestria, my friends, and Twilight by doing what I did.”
“Buuut,” interrupted Twilight, “you are a prince of Equestria, as per Celestia's and Luna's orders and decrees.”
“I'm getting there, Twily,” chuckled Lunar, “don't worry.”
“If you say so,” smirked Twilight.
“Twilight let me know that I earned my right to be a prince of Equestria,” Lunar explained, “and that by proving to Princess Luna that I could take on the responsibilities of being one as well. As it is with all alicorns, we aren't responsible for what happens to ourselves magically. Our dark magic makes us do unusual things. Like I mentioned earlier, I followed in the direction of my mentor too literally.”
“Quite interesting,” Meridian replied, “if I do say so myself.”
“Very much so,” agreed Lunar, “and after Twilight explained to me why I was still a prince, she explained to me why Rarity was an alicorn and that her other friends had similar features.”
Meridian chuckled, turning to Twilight, “So you were just making alicorns left and right then, weren't you, Your Highness?”
Twilight blushed slightly, “Let's just say that making it all the way through those years without Lunar was harder than I originally thought. Plus, saying goodbye to my friends so often was starting to take its toll on me, so I just did what I thought was best. We still have yet to see how that decision plays out.”
“Lightning Dash,” Lunar smirked, “Rainbow Dash's bloodline, Reticent, who's a descendant of Fluttershy, Orange Apple, who comes from Applejack's family, and then there are the obvious ones, Rarity and Pinkamena Pie, whom we really just call Pinkie since, you know.”
“Charming,” commented Meridian, “how they're similar in names.”
“And it was a fun time getting to know those ponies like it was the first time around,” Lunar laughed, “and that whole ordeal came after the biggest decision of my life.”
“Biggest decision?” Meridian repeated.
Lunar pointed to the ring that was surrounding Twilight's horn, “That biggest decision.”
That night, Twilight and Lunar had laid down together on Twilight's bed, the first time in a very long time that either had done such a thing. They spent nearly the whole night talking to each other and reminding of each other of their wonderful past, steering away from the one blemish they've experienced together.
As the night progressed, Twilight yawned more and more. She wanted to sleep, but her body kept her awake for the entire night. She looked over to Lunar, smiling very brightly, as Lunar did the same. Twilight kissed Lunar's lips softly while Lunar wrapped his hooves around her soft body, gently pulling her towards him. She continued kissing Lunar slowly and lovingly, fueled by the long-locked passion she had for him. Lunar returned the favor, kissing her emotionally upon her beautiful lips, driven by even more passion for her presence after his banishment. Wrapping their wings around each other, they both started to lose themselves in memories while keeping each other warm.
“Tell me that we'll be together forever, Lunar,” Twilight whispered to Lunar, resting the tip of her muzzle along the tip of his.
Lunar smiled and kissed her muzzle lightly, “We'll be together forever, Twily.”
“I love you, Lunar,” Twilight beamed delightfully.
“I love you more, Twilight,” replied Lunar.
“Lunar?” Twilight continued, pressing closer to his body.
“Yes Twilight?” Lunar answered in a bassy-toned voice.
“I want to start a family with you,” she told him, locking eye contact in the process.
“I've always wanted to start a family with you, Twily,” admitted Lunar, “ever since I got my wings and we've ruled together, I wanted to start a family with you. I have a hunch that you would be a phenomenal mother. I have a hunch that you would be a phenomenal wife.”
“Wife?” Twilight repeated.
Lunar nodded in response. He understood that while they did things together prior to returning, they've done so as a royal couple, coltfriend and marefriend. Since he returned, he wanted to take their relationship to the next level and dedicate his immortal life to making Twilight very happy.
Twilight wiped a tear from her eye, smiling a bit more in the process. “How long have you felt like this, Lunar?”
“Since before my banishment, my love,” Lunar answered.
“I've...I don't know what to say, Luny,” Twilight said, having trouble finding the words to describe how she was feeling.
“Then allow me, my little Sparkle,” offered Lunar, holding both of her front hooves with his front hooves, “Princess Twilight Sparkle, will you marry me?”
“Oh, Lunar,” cried Twilight happily, “yes! Yes! Yes, of course I'll marry you!”
“And that was the biggest decision of my life,” Lunar smiled, “and knowing that she said yes to that question made things feel so much better. It reinvigorated my passion to what life was all like.”
“And a congratulations on that decision to you both,” Meridian said, “and how were things following that?”
“Following that night,” Lunar continued, “I met back up with Princess Luna and told her everything. We caught back up, got to talk about what she's done since the last time she's seen me, and everything. When Twilight and I finally woke up the next morning, she decided that it would be a good idea to introduce me to her friends, like I said earlier, and that was a very intriguing time for me.”
“Good morning, everypony,” Twilight cheerfully smiled, watching the five other alicorns enter into the room. They all seemed to be a bit tired, probably since it was early in the morning.
“Good morning, Twilight,” each of the five responded.
“You're all probably wondering why I've called you here so early in the morning,” continued Twilight.
“A little bit, Twi,” a teal colored alicorn stated.
“Well,” pressed Twilight, subtly pointing towards Lunar, “this alicorn here is the reason why.”
“What's he done, Twilight?” An orange-yellow alicorn asked, southern accent present in her voice.
“Well, Orange Apple,” Twilight smiled, flashing her white-toothed smile, “he's actually somepony who is very close to me.”
“How so?” A minty colored alicorn asked.
“Let me ask you all of this,” Twilight replied, “did any of you notice the lack of markings in the moon last night?”
Slowly, each of the ponies gave a different variation of the answer “no.” Cocking her eyebrow and smirking slightly, Twilight improvised the situation, asking each of the alicorns if they knew about the legend that was associated with Lunar.
“The Colt Trapped in the Moon,” Rarity called.
“Exactly, Rarity,” Twilight obliged.
“Everypony knows that legend,” the teal colored alicorn from earlier stated.
“But that's just an old mares' tale,” a pink alicorn claimed.
“Not exactly,” Twilight remarked, again pointing towards me.
“Don't tell me this alicorn is the pony from that legend, Twi,” Orange Apple said.
“He most certainly is, Orange Apple,” confirmed Twilight.
Upon confirmation, the five alicorns all stared at Lunar boldly, except for Rarity. The remaining four seemed skeptical of Lunar and his presence. The teal alicorn approached him and stared deep into his eyes.
“So,” she spoke, “you're the colt from that story, huh?”
Lunar simply nodded in response.
She smirked, “Not much of a talker, are ya?”
“Au contraire,” Lunar replied, “just ask Twilight herself. I'm not who you think I am.”
“What do you think we think you are then?” Orange Apple called from behind the teal alicorn.
“I believe that you all think that I'm a villain; a menace to society,” answered Lunar, “am I not right?”
“Not really, darling,” responded Rarity.
Lunar was shocked, “Really?”
“Darling,” continued Rarity, “didn't I tell you the story of what happened after that fateful night all those years ago?”
“Not all of it,” Lunar said.
Twilight cut in before Rarity explained herself, “I'll leave you all together. I have to attend to some of my duties for now. I'll join you all later on.”
“Okay, Twilight,” each of the alicorns smiled.
“Alright, Twily,” added Lunar.
"Alright,” she continued, turning to the other five alicorns before leaving, “be good to him now. I've waited a long time to see him again.”
“Oh, we will Twi,” the teal alicorn smirked.
Twilight smiled brightly before exiting the room promptly, attending to some of the royal duties she had for the day. Lunar turned his attention towards the other ponies and smiled sheepishly. He noticed the teal alicorn gazing heavily at him again and chuckled nervously.
“You seem to like Twilight,” she said, “don't you?”
“You could say that and then some,” answered Lunar.
“Then some?” Rarity repeated.
Lunar nodded, “Precisely.”
“Somepony loves Princess Twilight!” The pink alicorn smiled, bouncing up and down in place.
“Very much,” acknowledged Lunar.
“Have you asked to marry her yet?” Rarity asked him. She seemed hesitant to ask him that question, but she forced it out regardless.
“I have,” smiled Lunar.
“Ooh! What did she say? What did she say?!” The pink alicorn was very spastic right now and reminded Lunar of how Pinkie Pie used to act. Putting two and two together, he could tell that this pony was one of Pinkie's descendants.
“She said yes,” Lunar beamed, “but there's one slight problem.”
“What's that?” Orange Apple asked.
“I don't have a ring for her yet...” Lunar admitted softly.
“Fret not, dear,” Rarity said, “for I shall help craft you one specifically designed for her.”
“You will?!” Lunar spoke, hopping up and down eagerly.
Rarity smiled and nodded, “That's what friends do for each other, darling.”
“You have no idea how much this means to me, Rarity!” Lunar thanked.
“Consider it a gift from me,” she smiled, though it appeared to be a false smile.
“Thank you so very much,” Lunar said again.
“It's no problem at all,” repeated Rarity, “let me get started on it right now.”
Rarity then started to exit the room while the others gathered around Lunar, gluing their attention towards him. Looking over towards Rarity, Lunar noticed that Rarity had said something under her breath, but he could not hear it. With the other alicorns surrounding him, he opted to approach Rarity on the subject at a later time.
In the meantime, Lunar was answering all sorts of questions that the ponies had for him, which ranged from his life with Twilight to what he did while he was banished. He answered each question as best as he could without giving away specific details regarding him and Twilight.
As the day went on, Twilight eventually joined Lunar and the others once more. She smiled upon entering the door, promptly noticing the progress Lunar had made with each of the ponies. They all opened up the circle that was formed and allowed Lunar to approach Twilight. He embraced her in his front hooves and kissed her lightly on the tip of her muzzle, turning back to the alicorns he had befriended. Twilight broke the rapidly induced silence first.
“It seems you have earned and established friendships with each of them,” she told him, looking ahead towards her friends in the process.
“So it seems, Twily,” Lunar replied.
“Good!” She responded. “We've established good progress so far.”
“With things getting busy now that there was a royal wedding to plan for, I found that time flowed a bit slowly then,” Lunar said.
Meridian sat back a bit, “What do you mean?”
“Rarity insisted on making that ring that's on Twilight's horn for me and after reconnecting with Princess Luna,” explained Lunar, “we focused on trying to set things up in Canterlot for Twilight's dream wedding, using her dreams as an example and a template.”
“I knew that was you inside my dream that night,” chuckled Twilight, nudging Lunar playfully.
“Princess Luna and myself made sure to recreate things exactly how they appeared in her dreams in the halls in Canterlot,” Lunar smiled, “that was a bit of a challenge, but one that we were both able to handle, nonetheless. While we were doing that, Celestia had sent Twilight by herself to Saddle Arabia to keep her busy with the delegates from there while we kept preparing everything. When everything was finished, I did my duties for the night and waited until the next morning to really get one last glimpse at an unmarried Twilight.”
“Luckily you weren't successful,” smirked Twilight.
“It's true,” agreed Lunar, “I wasn't, but while I was waiting up at the altar for you, my hooves were shaking vigorously. I'd never been more nervous about anything in my life than at that moment.”
As the orchestral music started to play, Lunar lit up brighter than a candle as he watched the door, awaiting for it to open up and reveal Twilight to everyone in the room. Lunar was very eager for the ceremony to get underway and also was feeling a bit impatient, though he did not show that. When the door finally opened up, standing in the center of the doorframe was Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Lunar smiled and blushed slightly as he watched Twilight closely. She was wearing a long, elegant, and beautiful flowing wedding gown, which dragged behind her as she slowly approached the altar. Her mane was done up and flowing beautifully as well. At that moment, Lunar felt like the luckiest colt in the world, watching as Twilight got closer to him. She smiled at him, starting her ascent up the stairs of the altar and stopping next to Lunar. He smiled brightly at her, as did she, as they both turned to face Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the officiators of the wedding.
“Fillies and gentlecolts,” Princess Celestia began.
“We gather today in celebration of the coming together of not only former star students of ours,” added Princess Luna, “but a prince and a princess as well.”
“Together, they have overcome many a task,” continued Celestia, “and have proven that love triumphs over evil.”
“Much love exists between these two ponies,” smiled Luna, “much care, happiness, love, and compassion.”
“It is because of their love that we are here today,” Celestia said.
“And it is because of them that we join as one and celebrate their love throughout Equestria,” concluded Luna.
Turning, Princesses Celestia and Luna both started levitating the rings in front of both Twilight and Lunar, rings that were meant to be put around their horns. Lunar turned to Twilight and started to read aloud his vows to her.
“Princess Twilight,” he began, being as formal as possible, “with this ring, I promise to always love and cherish you, to protect you, and to keep you as happy as possible. With this ring, I give you my heart, my life, and my morale. It is through you that I strive to be as great a pony as I possibly can be. It is because of you that makes me a better pony. It is because of you that I live each and every day to the best of my existence, and it is because of you that I love my past, present, and future.”
Upon completion of the vows, Lunar placed the ring around Twilight's horn, solidifying his place with her. Now it was Twilight's turn to read her vows.
“Prince Lunar,” Twilight smiled, being formal as well, “with this ring, I promise to love you and to cherish you. I promise to keep you happy and I promise to do my best with our lives. It is through you that I feel a happiness I've never felt with nopony else and it is because of you that I try to be the greatest pony possible. I love you with all of my heart and promise to keep it that way for the rest of our lives.”
Twilight, who had a small tear falling from her eye, placed the ring around Lunar's horn and stepped back. Lunar smiled at her as they both turned back towards Celestia and Luna.
“Princess Twilight,” Celestia smiled.
“Prince Lunar,” added Luna.
“We now pronounce you mare and colt,” the two finished together.
“You may now kiss the bride,” Celestia cried happily.
Lunar smiled, then wrapped his hooves around Twilight, bringing her closer to him and kissing her with all the passion he had inside his body. The kiss lasted no longer than a few moments and, when they pulled away from each other, they turned towards the enlarged crowd and started walking back down the aisle together. Cheers and congratulatory signals were given as they made their way through the center aisle and out of the church. Lunar turned to Twilight and kissed her one more time before leaving the church, as did she.
“'For the rest of our lives,' huh?” Lunar repeated.
“You knew what I meant, husband,” Twilight chuckled, kissing Lunar's cheek again.