“Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to do a bit of review. Y'know... to catch up?”
“Today is gonna be the day, eh, Twilight?”
“It's only night over here, Rainbow.”
“You know what I mean, egghead.”
“No, I don't—”
“Will you just friggin' begin with the lecture already?! Jeez!”
“Oh! Uh... right. Ahem... so—as you know—I spent... uhhhh... a good chunk of my foalhood and young adulthood inside the library.”
“Right.”
“But not just any library—but Princess Celestia's Royal Library! In Canterlot!”
“Right...”
“The largest archive of information—both historic and prehistoric—in all of Equestria! Why, even the Grand Records of the Zebrahara can't compare to—”
“The Luna and the sarosians, Twilight. If you wouldn't mind...”
“S-sorry. I just... really get in the zone when it comes to talking history.”
“I feel ya. So, you spent a lot of time in Celestia's library.”
“That's right.”
“I'm guessing... you had access to information that wasn't usually given to the public.”
“Mmmmm-yes. You could say that. Although lots that I read up on is... colloquially known among several communities in Equestria. Torontrot, Winnipeg, and Marentreal, most especially.”
“The Northern Trots, eh?”
“Ehhhhhhhh-yeah. Sure. But much of the hoofed-down oratory information is... obscure, to say the least. There was a veritable eon where ponies chose not to talk about anything related to Princess Luna or the Midnight Matriarchs. What—with the legacy of Nightmare Moon having... soured all positive connotation of Luna's legacy.”
“Is that why the 'Mare in the Moon' was always called an 'old mare's tale?'”
“That's correct! But I had access to officially documented information. In fact—I was reading up on a lot of the transcribed prophecies written by the surviving sarosian scholars during the Reconstruction Period. That's why I was—”
“—so obsessed with the 'stars aiding in Nightmare Moon's escape' right when you came to Ponyville.”
“Exactly.”
“See, Twilight? I remember stuff!”
“So do I. And the tale I remember the most about is Saros. The First Dream.”
“Well, out with it, egghead. Crack your yolk and stuff.”
“Don't mind if I do. Ahem...”
Starlight. Constellations. Nebulae.
Against a shimmering nightscape, an equine form took shape, darker than funeral silk and as beautiful as an obsidian sepulcher.
With wings spread, she glided over the sleeping countryside. Mountains, streams, valleys—all fell under her soft, silent vigil.
Calm eyes reflected households, stables, and villages full of sleeping ponies. She flew above them—aloof yet anchored, with nothing but the gentle hush of the night to herald her persistent, selfless patrol.
“Over a thousand years ago, the night had only one protector. It was a deeply intricate job, one fraught with darkness and impenetrable solitude. Legend has it that the younger of the two surviving Equestrian monarchs could just have easily have chosen to guard the day instead. But she opted for the lonelier task—the more somber road.
“It suited her, after all. She communed easily with the shadows, possessed a heart that could measure the dismal depths of everything we choose to forget and neglect upon the fall of evening. When the world shut down, she would rise from the unseen corners everywhere to monitor it.
“This was a noble task—a sacred task—and she elected to use the moon as her pale sentry. Nopony ever gave her enough credit. And—for an age—she never asked for any.”
Wings pierced the air.
Hooves emblazoned with lunar silver glinted with the kiss of stars.
Hovering, settling, falling...
...she perched on a cliffside overlooking a palace in the middle of an ever-expansive forest. A sea of wind-blown treetops hung heavy and glossy under a waxing gibbous.
She peered out at the horizon. At that subtly curved plane swimming in an endless sea of twinkling pinpricks.
Wordless and expressionless, she rested upon the brink of her vantage point. Gazing, digesting, contemplating.
“Princess Luna. The Matriarch of Shadows. Keeper of the Tides and Warden of Slumber.
“She has moved hearts with her melancholic complexion. Expanded minds with her enigmatic demeanor. While her older sister embraced councils, communities, kings and queens with speeches—Luna rendered everyone and everything with silence. Not of the rude kind—mind you—but ever accompanied by a piercing gaze and attentive ears.
“Despite what a dramatic turn of events might have you believe, Princess Luna was only ever the epitome of passive wisdom. She chose to observe from afar—to allow the complexities of the world to flesh themselves out like so many fragile subjects restoring themselves in sleep. Immortality was her ally, and she allowed the canvas of time to reveal the tasks that needed addressing.
“Needless to say—noble or not—the Princess of the Night was so very much alone.”
The alicorn hung her head with a heavy sigh.
Her wings spread, and she glided forward once again.
She soared over rivers and lakes. Beneath her, rippling waters cast a constant reflection of the moon. Her body formed a sacred silhouette against that pale glow—piercing, ever-present, and patient.
“And so Luna persisted, night after night, flying over continents and oceans and purple mountains and—”
“Uhm... do the sarosians show up at any point, Twilight???”
“I'm getting to them, Rainbow!!!”
“Well could you get to them faster? I swear, it feels like it's been twenty-five months...”
“Okay, look, just—listen. You know how both the sun and moon are artificial manifestations of Alicorn magic? Harmonious magic?”
“Uh huh...”
“Well, alicorn magic—from what Princess Celestia told me—is at its strongest when it imitates nature. No doubt the alicorns who came from the Harmonic Plains had witnessed the actual revolutions of heavenly bodies. Nature—in the universe at large—functions under a unique clockwork that abides by specific laws and principles. Under these rules, planets and stars and other spheroids rotate around each other. In order to cast light on this world and maintain harmony, the alicorns needed a system that would work as naturally as possible.”
“And so they chose the Sun and Moon.”
“Right. But with the Sun and Moon came naturally occurring systems that the alicorns sought to recreate—so that way the life on the lit-side of this plane could experience existence as 'naturally' as possible.”
“And this means... … …?”
“Eclipses, Rainbow Dash. Celestia and Luna were tasked with simulating eclipses.”
“Not of the Onyx variety—I hope.”
“Huh? Oh no. No no no no no—I speak of a two-princess job that took meticulous alteration of the artificial bodies to accomplish.”
“Meaning...?”
One night...
...when the whole sleepy plane was illuminated by the pale sheen of a full moon.
Princess Luna and Princess Celestia stood upon the peak of Mount Canterlot.
They gazed up at the lunar body hanging high overhead. After counting the hours... minutes...
...the two royal sisters exchanged glances. A mutual nod shook between them. In tandem, they summoned a bright stream of mana through their horns. They aimed their combined magic at the sky.
Layer by layer, the moon above was coated over with a blood-red tint. Soon, that curved color was followed by darkness. This lasted for approximately half-an-hour, and it took the combined labor of both alicorn mares to channel. At last, their work was done, and the brief darkening was replaced by the pale orb that all of Equestria had come to know.
“In a way, simulating eclipses became more of a ritual than a natural necessity. While a seldom occurrence, it allowed Luna and Celestia to come together—to combine their strengths and manifest the sum of their glorious abilities. It represented the precious union of their matriarchy, and their dual commitment to the mortals living under their brilliance.
“In the daytime, the royal subjects were forewarned of the phenomenon that would be made manifest. It became a tradition for Equestrians to observe the spectacle of a solar eclipse. If nothing else, it reinforced their respect for our alicorn rulers—for what was otherwise a fearsome sight was merely a symbol of the royal sisters' sacrament: their pledge to protect all living creatures within the matriarchy.
“In the nighttime—however—very few ponies paid heed to the lunar equivalent of this. No doubt it may have affected Princess Luna on some level, but she nevertheless performed her duty alongside Princess Celestia with absolutely zero complaints. But soon—she and Celestia would realize—the performance of the lunar eclipse would have a drastic effect on ponies everywhere...
“...and it would usher in a new labor that Luna would have to attend to nightly.”
A rustling at first.
Then a disturbance.
Then a full-blown tumult.
Princess Luna's eyes were the first to open. Twinkling with starlight and concern, they darted every which way—searching for the source of the impromptu bellowing. The younger alicorn's wings outstretched. She roused Celestia from her meditation.
The older sister remained seated. While she opened her eyes in response to both Luna and the noise, she could not move from that spot. At least one of them staying calm and focused was the only way to make sure that the entire eclipse transpired without incident—the harmonic magic was that delicate.
Nevertheless, both regal mares exchanged a long, worried look. All the while, the unmistakable chorus of screaming, yelling ponies built up into an eerie cacophony clamoring from all across the countryside.
Luna signaled for Celestia to remain still.
Celestia nodded in affirmation. She watched—anxious and anchored—as her sister took wing, gliding down the mountainside and past treetops.
Within a minute, Luna had descended upon the nearest village to where the two had been situated. She landed in the center of the town square. The whimpers and moans were all around her now. Hooves grinding against dirt and grass, she galloped towards the nearest building and burst effortlessly through the front door. She lit her horn, peering all across the small, humble interior.
At last—she found the source of the noise: royal subjects, peasants, farmers, traders. A family of ponies of multiple generations sat slumbering in their respective cots.
Only... they weren't even remotely tranquil. They shift and shook and writhed—all the while unconscious... or the closest thing to it. Many of them stammered, pronouncing horrors and making desperate pleas to their passed ancestors.
Luna's lips pursed as she gazed upon the scene in complete bafflement.
“It may indeed be supremely difficult for the likes of us to imagine a time before dreaming. But Luna and Celestia have both lived long enough to see the beginning of many things. Night visions was one such manifestation. Until the night of one fateful lunar eclipse, there was no record of dreaming among the equine populace. The same can be said of any other creature—at least those who also were capable of record-keeping.”
“Yeah. I can imagine that must have been pretty freaky.”
“Can you, Rainbow Dash? Can you imagine what it must have been? To have witnessed your mortal citizens going virtually insane in their slumber? Not able to make sense out of the senselessness? Not even being able to wake up?”
“I'm guessing Princess Luna caught on very quick.”
“A testament to her wisdom, no doubt. But what transpired shortly thereafter was no easy feat. It soon became obvious that something was affecting every pony in Equestria—and that it was somehow related to the lunar eclipse that Celestia and Luna had performed.”
From high above the village, Celestia remained where she was perched. She craned her neck, wincing under the pulsating energy of her pronounced horn. Her face wrestled with worry, and for a moment it looked as if she was going to end the eclipse prematurely to go check on her sister.
It was then that she saw a light strobing gently from down below. It was the color of Luna's magic—and the younger alicorn was signaling her elder to remain where she was. So Celestia abode.
And Princess Luna...
...she gathered all of the villagers into the center of the town. With expert telekinesis, she lifted them from their beds and levitated them until they formed a circle of writhing, sobbing, distressed bodies in the village square.
Princess Luna sat calmly in the middle of them all. Poised on folded limbs, she bowed her head and concentrated on their wails—on the scant spaces between their breaths. She found a subtle silence gluing the noise all together, and she hurled her consciousness straight through the hole of that infinitesimal needle...
In search of a spark. A hint. A solution.
An answer.
In due time it would come to her—shadowed and poised—behind the crimson penumbra of that eclipsed beacon that she had pledged to uphold her entire immortal life.
“Princess Luna—acquainted with shadows and lonesomeness—was no stranger to fear.
“She was also not afraid of it. She threw her consciousness head-first into that maddening spell, courageously and zealously, with no second thought given for herself. All that mattered was the safety of her subjects, and with great precision she pierced the torn fabrics of their mind, seeking to relieve them of the insurmountable terror that had preyed upon them through the doorway that the eclipse had inexplicably made.
“Little did she know that in so doing—in committing herself to such a noble pursuit—she would uncover a new host of subjects. Entities born—not out of physical consecration or social pacts—but out of a different substance altogether, belonging to nothing more than the night... and the invisible secrets sewn deeply within.”
Princess Luna's eyes darted about. A sheen of cold sweat rippled down her brow. Nevertheless, she did her best to remain calm.
She remained calm... despite venturing through an otherworldly starscape filled with howls and shrieks. She saw before her—or at least envisioned—an enormous rotating chamber of butchered cosmos and mutated galaxies, twirling both clockwise and counterclockwise down a hollow tunnel that was countless black constellations wide. There was no measurement that existed to calculate the depths of that dismal domain, and yet it was filled to the brink with screams.
Where the nebulous chamber led—Luna could not tell for certain. As best she squinted, she could make out a malevolent glow towards the very end of the channel, bespeckled with black holes that flashed with the consumption of hundreds of billions of impacting bodies. With each flicker, Luna heard the howls growing more and more pronounced, so that some long-buried reptilian sliver of her mind interpreted the blinks as the extinguishing of untold souls, drawn towards oblivion by the irreversible conveyance of time.
It all smelled of something crueler than death, of a bodiless predator so old that it predated the beating of hearts. Luna had only one pretense—to remove the consciousness of all Equestria from this everlasting plummet. But as she drew forward down the cosmic narrow, she saw shapes and colors of a different sort. Her mind tried to make sense of the kaleidoscopic deluge of information, but the tunnel only grew larger and more chaotic.
She was getting nowhere at that rate, and so she channeled her harmonic energy into the mix. Almost immediately, there was a change. The tunnel narrowed like an elastic tube being stretched at both ends. This brought the howls, screams, and clamoring closer to her on all sides. She peered into the swirling madness, and her harmonic mind transfixed on motifs of familiarity. In so doing, the Alicorn of the Night distilled her power into the surface layer of the madness... and it started to take form.
Many things became fewer things, and their howls relaxed into shrieks and chirps and hisses. She saw the flaps of leather wings manifesting in and out of the obsidian clouds. Midnight velvet fur bristled in the abominable starlight. Then—at last—as she came within a fetlock's brush of the wall of wails, she saw the bone-white flicker of fangs, fangs, fangs.
Princess Luna stared deep into this rotating abyss of anomalous fright, and she did what any mortal wouldn't. She thrust herself into the miasma and embraced it. A million mandibles bit into her from all angles, piercing flesh and hooves and organs. But she withstood it all, even as the tunnel imploded entirely, to the point of crushing strangulation. She held tight to the pulsating nub of madness, despair, and hysterical anger.
It was then that she curved her wings back, producing drag. The swirling clouds shredded to tiny fumes against the shoals of her almighty frame.
And just like that, the First Nightmare ended.
Princess Luna squatted in the center of the village—with the breathless ponies slowly waking one by one. They were exhausted, but thoroughly sane... cleansed of the madness.
They were also not alone.
All mortals watched with gaping expressions as Princess Luna unfolded her wings. They saw her clinging tightly to fresh new equine bodies... and those same equine bodies clinging to her. Like bats to a stalactite in a cave.
They were ponies—but no normal ponies—instead frightful specimens with slitted eyes, leafy ears, and fanged teeth. It started with a dozen of them, but between each blink—for the next few minutes and onward—more and more were birthed from the shadows, forming an onyx halo of trembling velvet that huddled immediately around the Princess of the Night.
By then, the eclipse had ceased. With a bright flicker of wings, Princess Celestia descended from up high. She stood among the awestruck villagers and gazed with abject confusion at the scene.
Luna stared back—graceful and emotionless—and she merely hugged members of the new nocturnal union to her frame. Like a suckling mother.
“A new race of ponies, not birthed or transformed or conjured. Merely drawn from a subconscious sea. They were the essence of nightmares, innocent and afraid—but above all loyal to the immortal who had conveyed them into the realm of the living.
“From that night forward, ponies and creatures alike would experience dreaming, as if the subconscious essence of equestrian life had been displaced into the carved pockets of the hellscape Luna had uncovered. However, the initial terror that assaulted the minds of all beings was fleeting. It was as though the new race of ponies that Luna had drawn from the mindstream was the key element to that horror, tantamount to a clogged section of pipework that had backed itself up with madness. Once they were free to exist in the mortal plane, the realm of dreaming became free, placid, unclaimed, and—above all—fertile.
“In time, Luna and her new subordinates would learn how to police that mindscape and aid the slumber of countless mortal minds. But the Princess of the Night was moreover concerned with her duty to a new lineage of equines. Later, she and Celestia would learn something significant about that one night's eclipse. It was the culmination of a full rotation of non-terrestrial elements—a saros—and several heavenly bodies in harmonic orchestration had aligned perfectly to form a solid shadow of opaqueness against the corporeal universe's collective energy. The sisters theorized that it was through this unwitting channel that some otherworldly thing far-removed from harmony found its way to Equestria and landed upon the consciousnesses of every soul that slept.
“It was this isthmus through time, mind, and space that allowed Luna to discover the poor spirits lost in their spiraling nightmare. Without a moment's hesitation, she salvaged those lost children from chaos. And to honor their new life, she gave them a name. The Foals of Saros, the First Dream. In time, they would colloquially be called 'sarosians'... and for many the 'children of nightmares.'”
In the Royal Court...
In a castle overlooking a night-drenched forest...
...dozens upon dozens of leather-winged ponies congregated along the balconies, ramparts, and gardens.
Princess Luna stood before them—tranquil and majestic in the moonlight—and she spread her wings majestically as she imparted wisdom and knowledge and encouragement.
The sarosians gave her their full attention. Slitted eyes and bright fangs glinted beneath the stars. They nodded as they absorbed themselves into her motherly words.
“Princess Luna's new flock consisted of souls possessing a bevy of skills. Chiefest among them was the capacity to learn. The Princess of the Night taught them personally, bestowing gifts of meditation, surveillance, and her personally-ingrained proficiency in all things stalwart and patient.
“From the start, the sarosians were completely captivated with their benefactor. It took very little urging on her part for them to take her instructions to heart. Soon, there was an entire race of nocturnal ponies whose personalities and rituals matched hers to a T.
“Nevertheless, Luna encouraged them to seek out their own identity. Having independence within their grasp, the sarosians opted for adopting a matriarchal society—most likely in imitation of the royal sisters who helped bring them into being. The chief matriarchs of that time came together and wrote that which would become the sacred texts of their culture: The Book of Saros. In it, the sarosians imparted their personal tenets of morality, duty, and honor.
“Despite the insistence of Luna, the most supreme task of a sarosian became swearing unwavering loyalty to the Princess of the Night. She had no choice but to respect this. At the very same time, Luna recognized within the sarosians an unshakably fearsome quality. Unlike the preexisting races of ponies, sarosians—drawn as they were from nightmares—had a predilection for blood. This included the consumption of blood, the shedding of blood, and the invigoration of blood. They innately thrived on carnivorousness, conflict, and intimidation.
“In an effort to safely compartmentalize their passions, Luna established a new branch of the royal guard. Thus began the most traditional role of sarosian kind: enlistment in the Nocturnal Vigil. As Celestia possessed her guards who operated by the day, Luna would have her own army at night. At the time, it would make complete sense to have two separate factions to monitor both halves of the rotating cycle.
“Nopony knew—much less suspected—that these separate factions would one day become opposing sides in a holocaustal war.”
The sun was setting. A final crimson gleam of light crossed the palatial surfaces of the Royal Sisters' castle.
Princess Celestia sat on a balcony's edge, poised and meditative as her horn glowed. Guards stood vigilantly on either side of her as she orchestrated the setting of the sun beyond the distant horizon. When her labors were complete, she stood up with a serene expression.
She sensed her guards shifting with slight unease. Calmly, she turned around and greeted her sister upon approach.
Luna—however—was not alone. A quartet of guards trotted alongside her towards the midnight balcony. They were clad in midnight-black suits of armor, laced with jagged-wing bat motifs that lined the edges of the helms and the outer pauldrons. From beneath their visors, slitted eyes and fanged teeth shone like miniature beacons against the interminable darkness.
Luna and Celestia crossed paths without a word. The sarosians were likely silent. The only shudder to be had was among the day guards—who kept their distance from the nocturnal sentries.
“It didn't take long for the servants of the Royal House—and the equine public at large—to harbor suspicions and reservations about Luna's nocturnal familiars.”
“Pffft. Yeah, I bet.”
“Magic was a great deal less understood in that age, Rainbow. While there were unicorns living then as there are now, the school of sorcery was still in its infancy. Starswirl the Bearded's Age of Enlightenment wouldn't transpire for another few centuries. The general populace had no way of truly understanding exactly how Luna summoned these new entities from a realm of nightmares.”
“To tell you the truth, Twilight, I'm having a hard time wrapping my awesome head around it myself.”
“Luna—already a mysterious soul in the subjects' eyes—was rumored to have adopted her own personal race of ponies. Initially, some went as far as to assume she was abdicating: going off to form her own nation with these 'Nocturnal Vigilantes.' In short, nopony truly understood the role they were meant to play. Even the sarosians were struggling with an identity crisis themselves.”
“Was this the beginning of the prejudice that sarosians suffered?”
“To say the least. Luna instantly rushed to their defense. She had always been neutral and dispassionate about the role she played in maintaining harmony over Equestria. But with the sarosians—things were different. She felt personally responsible for them... for protecting them.”
“She was like their Mommy.”
“Indeed. And like any good mother, she immediately saw the distress that they were experiencing at the hooves of their ignorant kin. So she established for them—and for herself—a sanctuary. A place where they could flock to and feel secure, protected, and safe to pursue any and all aspirations worthy of a race rescued from pure nightmares.”
“Are you gonna say 'Ponymonium?' Please say 'Ponymonium,' Twi.”
“That's right, Rainbow Dash. Ponymonium.”
In droves, families of velvet-coated equines trotted through a fluctuating blue portal situated within the heart of the Royal Sisters' castle. A ring of glowing jewels surrounded the summoned doorway, consisting of six distinctly-colored slices of harmonic metal. The air of the room brimmed with Elemental power and might.
Princess Celestia stood with her royal guards, smiling comfortingly at every sarosian who approached the portal. She took time to speak with more than a few of them, easing their anxieties and guiding those with purpose towards the gateway.
As the subjects—who chose to—proceeded to trot through the portal, they found themselves emerging upon a pale interior, grand and spacious. Ivory pillars and massive courtyards had been individually hoof-carved into the heart of an incalculably huge bastion of bone-white splendor. There were elevated niches along the ceiling—perfectly flavored for nocturnal equines hanging in repose. Corridors led to adjacent chambers with libraries, armories, commissaries, universities, and countless habitats.
In the center of it all—embracing an ever-increasing crowd of enthused denizens—stood Princess Luna. She spread her wings and brandished something she had never afforded for generations spent policing the terrestrial surface.
A smile.
With this, she welcomed her children. With this, she blessed them. With this, she would lead them.
“Sooooo... Princess Luna carved Ponymonium out of the lunar crust herself?”
“That's what written history says. Unlike the alicorns you've met in your travels, Rainbow Dash, Luna and Celestia once held the power to move mountains. This strength is magnified when dwelling within the boundaries of the very heavenly bodies they control.”
“Yeah, sure, I'll buy that. Wait. Does that mean that... that Princess Celestia could actually go inside the sun—?”
“Anyways, back to the topic at hoof: Luna had desired—from the get-go—to establish a sanctuary on board the moon so that her most loyal subjects could enjoy life and engage in a healthy society without fear of persecution from the mortals who predated them in Equestria proper. Ponymonium not only served this goal, but it became a paragon for splendor, civility, and order. It was became a unique center of art, literature, and philosophy. The place expanded and expanded—at no time losing its glamorous qualities or detracting from the purpose of the lunar satellite itself. By all respects, Ponymonium was—and remains today—one of the Great Wonders of the Equine World.”
Families and friends flew from tunnel to tunnel and alcove to alcove, delivering goods and bounties.
In broad open courtyards, translucent ceilings allowed sunlight to pour through the lunar surface, bathing interior farmlands with the energy needed to sustain rows upon rows of mango orchards and wheat crops.
Farmers tilled the supplemental “land” while others drew wagons full of harvested goods into the lower chambers of Ponymonium, winding their way inward to markets and bazaars—some situated in broad hallways and others affixed elegantly to walls and ceilings. Ponies conducted their business—many of them hanging upside down and squeakily chatting muzzle-to-muzzle in echoing moonwhinny.
By the hour, school flocks flew from chamber to chamber, with teachers orating to their leather-winged youths via musical rhymes. Guards perched vigilantly along the upper platforms while in courtyards below cadets trained and exercised in tight formations, preparing to become future members of Princess Luna's nocturnal elite.
As the pale corridors drew cyclonically towards a labyrinthine center, libraries were set up, with countless scrolls and tomes lining steep walls embellished with silver-shined moonrock. There was no entrance or exit; the archives simply existed in winding circles, acting as a buffer of intellectual aesthetics that cocooned the inner sanctum of the Princess of the Night.
There, in the centermost core of Ponymonium, large alabaster pillars formed a ring around a rising dais, upon which stood a throne made to rotate in all directions. Princess Luna designed her location of assembly so that she could be approached at all angles. There were no enemies or need for confrontation in her court, and that same fearlessness spread like wildfire through her subjects. Elder architects decorated the fringes of the mana-lit sanctuary with lengthy banners of regal velvet, emblazoned with the crest of the Mare in the Moon—their matriarch for ever and always.
“All in all, sounds like a pretty happenin' place.”
“I know, right?”
“Although you spent a bit longer than necessary on describing the 'labyrinthine library' bit—”
“Ahem. Anyways, Rainbow, Ponymonium was a true wonder to behold. Almost a bit too 'wondrous', all things considered.”
“Oh yeah...?”
“The sanctuary was meant to shelter the sarosians. To give them a place to repose and discover themselves and—in time—express themselves. It was also a place where they could congregate and not feel pressured by the scrutiny of the other ponies of Equestria.”
“But... the problem with being whisked away to an alien place—”
“—is that you end up getting alienated, regardless.”
“Right...”
Dim light.
Dense shadows.
A haze of moondust, never rising or settling.
Through this malaise, Princess Luna drifted. Calm. Quiet. Meditative.
She strode silently past rows upon rows of seated sarosians. Their slitted eyes rested shut. Their leafy ears hung flat. They blanketed themselves with their own wings wrapped around their bowed figures. A quiet mantra hummed between them—of the same dull chord—as they persisted through a trancelike state.
With motherly affection, Luna brushed a few of her “children” with the feathertips of her wings, all the while proceeding with her quiet march through the semi-conscious crowd.
“With the arrival of the sarosians came a new task—a burden, many would come to label it. While the first nightmare had an awakening, it would be followed up—repetitively and naturally—by chaotic dream states on a regular basis.
“At first, it was seen as an affliction. After a few centuries, the populace of Equestria got used to it—at least well enough to pretend to call it 'natural.' Ultimately, the birth of sarosians heralded the permanent occurrence of visions among all sentient creatures who slept.
“Luna—no doubt—felt an innate responsibility in policing this new subconscious landscape. As such, she pressed it upon herself to become a living sentry—piercing the minds of those under her rule and working to keep such souls from losing them. The first dreamwalk led to the rescue of the sarosians from nightmare. Every venture thereafter was a quest to preserve the sanity of everypony else.
“And in those early days of tackling her new task, Luna did not act alone. What better an ally to have in this cerebral crusade than the beings whom she dredged from the subconscious fabric themselves? The true nature of sarosians' origin was never quite understood—and even today it is up to much intense debate. Regardless, their proclivity towards traversing the subconscious realm was priceless, and Luna enlisted these dreamwalkers in her nocturnal defense of Equestria... at least until she had gathered enough strength, wisdom, and experience to embody the Princess of Dreams all on her lonesome.”
A midnight blue hoof landed into a powdery bone-white surface.
Flakes of dust lifted up, lingered, and gradually fell back into place.
Another hoof landed, and the molasses-slow rise and fall of ash repeated.
Slowly, Luna strode across the outer surface of the moon.
Clad in velvet regalia, she braved the luminescent glow of the satellite all around her—from horizon to horizon.
Breathing calmly, she gazed directly upwards.
A narrow plane stretched epically, bookended by dual infinities—charcoal black yet full of stars. Within the narrow boundaries, she saw oceans, continents, mountains, ravines, plains, fields, and kingdoms—all sleeping under the dim haze left in the wake of an artificial day having passed. A round sheen of pale energy reflected off every body of water, glazing slowly across the convex surface bowing and bowing.
Luna slowly closed her eyes to it all.
“Soooooooooo... … ...what went wrong?”
“Difficult to say, Rainbow Dash. Scholars have wracked their brains about it for generations upon generations. Princess Celestia herself—after an extended period of lonesome grieving—had her own postulations to impart. In the end, the best possible source for understanding Princess Luna is Princess Luna herself. But—even then—could she really tell us how or why she became Nightmare Moon? I mean—did she tell you?”
“No. She really didn't.”
“A long-standing assumption among Equestrians—fueled mostly by xenophobic distrust of sarosians as a whole—was that the hellish dreamscape that Luna saved her nocturnal vigil from was also responsible for influencing her.”
“You mean that place Luna ventured to during the saros? During the lunar eclipse?”
“Right. With the heavenly bodies aligned, a veritable tunnel was formed straight through the alicorn sisters' concentration of harmonic energy.”
“A tunnel to what?”
“You see, that's the rub. It's a stretched theory at best, but some ponies have theorized that—paradoxically—such a focused allotment of harmony made for an accessible lack of harmony.”
“Uhhhhhh—”
“By forming an eclipse in an attempt to mimic natural occurrences on normal bodies of mass in space, Celestia and Luna inadvertently crafted an opaque channel. Harmony became a barricade to itself, and something malignant passed through the gap.”
“Something malignant?”
“At least, that's how Equestrian scholars have worded it. Suffice to say, none of them knew Princess Luna like you did, Rainbow. None of them even came close.”
“Right. But—if we could keep our minds open for a bit, Twilight—is it really that crazy of a stretch to say that Princess Luna really did expose herself to something crazy-wicked and out of this subconscious world?”
“Rainbow—”
“I-I'm not saying that the sarosians are inherently evil. But... let's face it... they came from a pretty unpretty place. I think it's a totally awesome thing that Luna did for them: rescuing the sarosians and giving them a home in our reality'n'stuff. But what if while all of that happened... something really nasty got to Luna? Perhaps... something horrible that she had rescued the sarosians from? In a way, it's like she took a bullet for them.”
“That could very well be possible. After all, Rainbow, Nightmare Moon didn't form overnight.”
“You don't say? Care to elaborate?”
“Don't mind if I do...”
Royal ambassadors from Saddle Arabia ascended the stairs in the Royal Sisters' Castle Atrium. They bowed/curtsied in one accord.
Princess Celestia bowed likewise, dressed elegantly in flowing silken attire. Royal pleasantries were briefly exchanged. Afterwards, with the assistance of her guards, she directed the representatives down the hall towards where the majority of visitors had congregated for that year's Grand Galloping Gala.
As representatives from the Zebrahara marched up the stairs in the previous delegates' place, Princess Celestia glanced out the corner of her vision.
A solemn figure stood—darkly—several paces away, her head bowed in melancholic repose. Luna's gown and tiara were exquisite, but her expression was anything but. The edges of her somber visage were laced with the subtlest of frowns, increasing by the hour along with the shadows that clung to her icy frame.
Celestia did her best to maintain an air of amicability. Even as she greeted the Zebraharan ambassadors and those to follow thereafter, she kept a wary eye trained on her younger sister. A pale sheen of worry clung to the elder's features.
“It was Celestia who first took notice. It was only natural. Something—some sort of shroud had been cast over her beloved sister.
“At first, she just assumed it was simply fatigue. After all, it was no small task to guard over the heart of Equestria—the jewel of the harmony-blessed plane. With the exception of a few estranged acquaintances and distant relations of mixed blood, Celestia and Luna were the only remaining alicorns in the entirety of the world. Mortuana was long-considered departed—along with Onyxus and Mesmer. Whitemane and Mi Amore Cadenza weren't even born yet—but their lives would be far removed from the legacy of the dual monarchs of Equestria.
“No, as fate would have it, Celestia and Luna were all that remained of the alicorn migration that chanced upon this world. While their forbearers were beings of pure harmony who took on alicorn form, Celestia and Luna were foaled into it. This plane was their world, and as they continued to exist—immortal and unique—it also became their sole responsibility.
“Controlling the heavenly bodies—the sun and the moon and then some—was a monumental task all on its own. That being said, neither of them ever purposefully volunteered for the task of monitoring the dreams of their subjects. That was a labor thrust upon Luna. As the younger of the two—and the lesser powerful—she chose the night to oversee because it was considered more suited to her quality. In time, her burden doubled that of Princess Celestia's. And despite Celestia's insistence that she help her sibling with the labors, Luna assumed complete control of the extenuating duties placed upon her by fate.
“Contrary to popular belief, Luna was never truly a grim pony from the start. Quiet, contemplative, reserved? Most definitely.
“But it was following that infamous saros that her role in Equestria's security only grew darker and darker—both literally and metaphorically. Who knows just how much interminable substance her mind absorbed in those formulaic years of assuming the Sentry of Dreams. All of Equestria's fears, anxieties, hopes, fantasies, and whimsies—all channeled relentlessly into her comprehension. The stress had to have been unbearable at times. It's only natural that she employed the assistance of her sarosian familiars as dreamwalkers. But in time—sadly—even that would not be enough.
“When the change happened, it didn't show in cracks. Luna's frame of mind wasn't a fragile thing that could crumble apart so easily. No, much like the eclipses that she and her sister forged time and time again, Luna became the vessel for something. And by the time it filled her inner being...
“...it was too late to stop the shifting tide.”
Two cold blue eyes opened. Full of stars.
Entranced in thought, Princess Luna stood up from her throne.
Encircled by pillars that supported a wide open temple of polished moonstone, she trotted slowly forward across a narrow strip of purple velvet. She passed flickering torches of violet manalight—their dim glow casting a hazy sheen off her silver hoof guards.
She reached the edge of the temple, staring out across smoky maria that marked the edges of enormous craters in the lunar surface.
Beyond the pale expanse—a miniature horizon—the sunlit curve of the world rose into view.
Within moments, daytime would end for the convex world and all its continents.
Luna would have twelve hours to sanctify that same world in her protective shadow.
Twelve hours too few.
Her wings coiled tightly as her jaw muscles clenched in subdued frustration.
“The public consensus of Luna's actions has always been that she committed the Grand Betrayal out of jealousy. 'She was jealous of Celestia's sun-loving subjects' or 'she was jealous of the mirth and warmth of the daytime' is what's gone around and around for centuries.
“But the actions she committed—since night one—suggest a soul not inspired by envy. But rather fear. Concern. Worry.
“Deep down, Princess Luna was convinced on every conceivable level that creating eternal night would be beneficial for the whole of Equestria. For the whole world. This wasn't mere jealousy.
“Insanity? Perhaps. That's not to say that Luna should be completely sympathized for the actions she committed. But—it must be understood—something in her muddled contemplation convinced her that a coup was necessary. What exactly was responsible for that frame of mind may never be fully understood. Both the initial banishment and the eventual exorcising of the spirit of Nightmare Moon veritably stripped her of the persona that exacted the Betrayal to begin with.
“So... perhaps something did possess her. A spirit? A consciousness? If so, where did it come from? And—if it went away after banishment and exorcising, is there a chance it might come back?
“In any case, nearly a thousand years ago, Luna was consumed entirely. And her chosen subjects—the sarosians—saw her only as a matriarch with a brilliant new plan. The spirit of Nightmare Moon had consumed her, but in so doing it had consumed them as well. This has always been a tragedy on a massive scale—the dimensions of which are largely forgotten by those dwelling in modern Equestria today.”
Deep within Ponymonium...
Inside a massive cavern—stretching further than mortal eyes could conceive—illuminated predominantly by bioluminescent algae farmed along the pallid floors, ceilings, walls...
...rows upon rows of Sarosians stood perfectly equadistant from one another. They faced in one direction, their slitted eyes focused on one figure and one figure only.
Princess Luna—clad in full moonstone regalia—trotted out upon a raised dais. She spoke in a booming voice, using an epic slant of the traditional Royal Canterlot Volume to address her subjects. With each word, strobes of harmonic energy issued from her crown—the alicornia of her horn glimmering from top to bottom.
She spread her wings—casting a majestic shadow over the penitent crowd—and they all bowed in reverence.
As one.
“And the sarosians...? They were in on it?”
“What do you mean by 'in on it,' Rainbow Dash?”
“Did Luna... like... tell them that she was undergoing this... uhhhh... change? Did they notice it? Were they alarmed at all...?”
“What each individual sarosian felt at the time—I couldn't pretend to tell you, Rainbow. Nopony can. The only historians with that sort of insight were the sarosians themselves, and they were almost all entirely expelled from Equestria. Most by their own choosing. The ones who stayed behind were... those interned as prisoners of the Solar Civil War. Princess Celestia made several... multiple attempts to reach out to them. Y'know—for answers, during their prolonged reformation. But they would not communicate. Nor would they abide by the elder Princess' attempt to adjust them back into Equestrian society. Several of them died without producing offspring. That is how dedicated they were to Nightmare Moon. They refused to exist in a nation without her.”
“I see. So—long story short—all of the sarosians were on board with Luna's transformation into Nightmare Moon.”
“That's the practical way of explaining it. I mean—after all—the Lunar Empire had to get its army from somewhere.”
The halls and corridors of Ponymonium rang with clanging metal and hissing steam. Chambers that once housed libraries and schools had been transformed into forges. Hefty stallions pounded hammers against burning strips of stone and metal. Sparks showered and embers sizzled.
Moonstone swords, blades, and runes were fashioned at an alarming rate. The mass-produced weapons were firmly examined and tested by elderly sarosians, all squatting in tight lines with nary a break to be had, much less requested.
Elsewhere, able-bodied equines—from teenagers to young adults to middle-aged specimens—lined up to be suited with silver sets of armor. The pale plates and helms were transformed to a burnt-black shadow by unicorn/sarosian half-breeds who marched down the lines of those assembled, casting spell after spell to ready the troops for nocturnal battlefield superiority.
In the deeper, darker pockets of Ponymonium, leafy-eared alchemists hovered in the darkness, their fanged features briefly illuminated in snapshot flashes of lunar enchantment. Beneath them—reflected in the dark-lensed goggles affixed to their velvet faces—were streams upon streams of freshly-etched runes. Moon dust was poured over these sigils, and one by one the spellbinders leaned down, breathing hot breath against the arcane formations.
The runes steamed, and a faint glow traced the sharpest points of their otherworldly articulation. Once in a while, an able-bodied officer in immaculate armor would stroll down the alchemic tables. He or she could grab a random rune, load it into a cylindrical tube, and aim at a pockmarked wall of ashen debris. A monosyllabic phrase would be shrieked—high-pitched and murderous—and the thunder that rolled in response was enough to send cracks forming in the walls. As the dust settled, bigger and bigger craters formed in the off-quarried cave surfaces. Fanged smiles curved in satisfaction.
“What historians can attest to is that there was virtually no resistance to Princess Luna's insistence that her flock arm themselves for war. If sarosians resisted the formation of the Dark Vigil, it's lost to time and collective consciousness. No doubt a few brave souls realized something was amiss and spoke out against it. But I shudder to think what their fate was.
“No, Rainbow Dash, the sarosians were more than well-prepared to follow Princess Luna to the ends of the world. You and I have seen first-hoof that this is exactly what happened... even long after Nightmare Moon's defeat.
“You have to understand—Luna was more than just a ruling monarch of Equestria. She essentially gave birth to the entire sarosian race. She dove deep into the miasma within which their essences—their souls were flailing amok. She drew them back with her into the realm of the living. Luna is—by all accounts—the mother of every sarosian who has ever existed.
“That's a thing Celestia could never claim herself: being a mother—a matriarch in the literal sense. When war broke out, Celestia had the majority of Equestria by her side. But she didn't have an army of foals willing to die for her at the slightest command.
“Luna and the sarosians: they were family. And—no doubt about it—Princess Luna was ill. The assimilation of her being into Nightmare Moon was nothing short of a mental affliction. And the hardest thing about families living with sickness is knowing when to stop and seek help. Historians write up and down that the sarosians accomplished what they did—dedicated and unwavering—out of pure evil. While I won't pretend to make some sympathetic moral stance on their motivations, one thing is for certain...
“They did what they did out of love. They followed Nightmare Moon beyond the brink based on total adoration.
“And that's the true tragedy, really.”
Sarosian craftsponies huddled together inside a cylindrical chamber lined with luminescent rune-stones. The projected arrays of countless sigils swept across the velvet bodies of those within the center of the room. Sweating and toiling, they applied the finishing touches to a suit of armor, breathing incantations and enchanted vapors over the blackened metals.
An alicorn-shaped shadow blotted out the rune-lights within that lunar auditorium. With stifled squeaks, the sea of sarosian servants parted ways. They bowed in reverence as their monarch marched firmly through them.
She approached the suit of armor. With silver-plated fetlocks, she reached out and lifted the helm. A pair of dimly-glowing eyeslits reflected off the priceless headpiece. To her, it looked as if a hollow golem was staring back, its skull-esque chamber gaping towards her. Inviting her into the void contained therein.
The vessel that once housed Princess Luna smiled, and it too had fangs.
“The Betrayal was something that took an insidious amount of time preparing. For all intents and purposes, Princess Luna had planned for any eventuality. You and I and the rest of Equestria know that this ultimately wasn't true. To respond to the unthinkable, Celestia had to do the unthinkable herself, and only in banishing her sister to her own harmonic satellite did she end the war altogether.
“But—in going in—Luna was prepared for one thing and one thing only: complete and total domination of the Harmonic power that the remaining alicorns possessed. Luna had every intention to seize the Sun, seize the Elements, and—perhaps if the first venture was as successful as she planned—she would no doubt have pursued the Harmonic Prism within the Midnight Armory.
“As you and I well-know, Nightmare Moon had one chief goal: to cover Equestria in everlasting night. Many scholars believe—myself included—that this was only the first step of a grand plan. What had Luna envisioned thereafter? It is difficult to say. But one thing is for certain: she wanted to share that nebulously dark future with her children—the sarosians.
“And together, they embarked upon the most savage and ruthless campaign that has ever transpired on Equestrian soil. Even to this day.”
Princess Celestia stood calmly on her balcony. She gazed out—squinting—at a western horizon burning with red-tinged light. One by one, the treetops, farmlands, and villages of Equestria darkened—becoming one with the shadow that stretched from Everfree to the valley and beyond.
Her horn glowed as she pushed the sun into its furthest reach. Soon, it would settle upon the fringes of her alicorn might. The harmonic magic stretched to its limit, kissing the curved plane with the last vestiges of light. Soon—another powerful being would arrive as scheduled to grasp that same fabric of energy and re-form it into the moon. Thus—with the younger sister's blessing—night would begin and the moon would pass over in the day's place.
The sky above darkened—but the stars didn't twinkle into existence as usual. This struck Celestia strangely, and she peered up into the heavens with a confused expression.
Just then, the armor of the day guards positioned around her rattled. She heard the drawing of swords and spears and poleaxes.
Curious, she slowly stood up and turned around. A pale sheen washed over her royal features.
Before her—emerging menacingly from the Palace of the Royal Sisters—was a solid phalanx of sarosian soldiers armed with black armor and glowing runes. Their slitted eyes formed an eerie line, dimly reflecting the harnessed moonstones still-steaming from enchantment. A dark aura hung about their leathery wings and girded fetlocks. Suddenly, the shadow beneath them shifted—coming alive.
The day guards jolted forward, erecting a line of defense before Celestia.
The Princess merely stood tall, craning her neck so as to better ascertain what was transpiring.
More and more shadows coalesced, flowing forward from the forest of sarosian warmongerers. Within seconds, the miasma took shape, rising upwards with a flap of frightful wings—then settling back down with the unpeeling of silver-plated armor that brimmed with obsidian vapors. This armor housed a form—blacker than death—and deep within the silhouette there manifested fangs, giving a mouth to an unprecedented void. It wasn't until a pair of slitted eyes manifested that a gasp was summoned from the core of Celestia.
The elder princess mouthed one word—a name—breathed in both shock and sorrow.
Nightmare Moon replied with a serrated smile, and as tens of thousands of winged shadows descended from the dark clouds gathering above, she pointed at the dim horizon with the full purpose of extinguishing it.
The sun guard—and Celestia—were all engulfed in shadow.
“The Lunar Empire had manifested. The Solar Civil War had begun.”