The hours passed, and the sun was slowly lowering toward the horizon.
Luna stepped out onto her balcony and watched the sun as it gradually disappeared down the horizon. It wouldn’t be long now. She warily eyed the light as it faded, dreading what she was about to do. The low, nauseating terror that antagonized her for so long whenever the sun went down. But, there was nothing for it. If the sun never faded, the night could never come. And the little ponies would all feel as terrible as herself.
The minutes passed, and the sun had gone. Above, the clouds that had gathered lost their pinks, golds and reds as the sunset dimmed to its last. Finally, the first star had come. Luna sighed and illuminated her horn with its brilliant blue magic. Soon, the moon eased its way into the sky, until it hung high overhead.
As easy as everypony thought it was, Luna began to sweat by the time she was finished raising the moon. Tonight the moon seemed particularly obstinate to rise, as if refusing to allow its mistress to subject herself to the terrors that came with its coming. Like a beacon for the dark creatures of the night, heralding the arrival of all the terrible things to come.
From her lofty perch, Luna watched over the landscape. Whatever was out there, she would see it. And she would protect the ponies from it. Most of all, she would make everypony see that it was real. That she was not overburdened or breaking down. In every dark shadow, she swore she could see them. They moved in a way that she almost thought they wanted to be seen, tormenting her with their secret existence.
Luna watched the dark land, feeling her knees shake ever so slightly beneath her. Then, from the corner of her eye, she saw it. High above, a dark silhouette moved through the sky, blotting out the stars as it undulated its long, slender figure like a fish through water. She watched it, growing more apprehensive with every passing second, until the shape flew directly over Canterlot Palace.
Without a thought, Luna ran out to the hall beyond her bedroom. And she continued to run down its length into the adjoining halls. She looked out every window that she passed by, hoping to catch a sight of the mysterious night flier. By the time she arrived in the castle foyer, the moon was positioned to shine directly overhead, filling the room with a crossed web of shadows from the massive skylight above.
Luna stopped in the center of the light, entangling herself in the shadowy webs that passed over her. In another moment, she was overtaken by another shadow that drifted over herself, making a sudden chill shiver through her body. Looking up, she saw it again. There was that shadow drifting across the skylight, filling its length with its shadowy form. She stared transfixed on it, unable to identify what any of it could have been. It just continued to drift, as though pulled along by an invisible thread, drawn to some unknown destination.
“Lulu?”
Luna jumped when she heard her sister’s voice and turned to see her standing at the top of the nearby stairs.
“What are you doing down here? The observatory deck must be a better place to stargaze,” Celestia said as she descended the stairs.
“Come here. Quickly!,” Luna bade her sister.
“Luna?”
“Come! Now!” Luna almost yelled, frantically waving Celestia over.
Celestia trotted over and stood by her sister’s side.
“What is this ab–” she asked.
“There! Look!” Luna said, pointing upward.
Celestia did as she was told and looked up.
“Do you see it?” Luna asked.
“Only the skylight and the sky past it.”
“No! That…thing! It’s right there! It’s–” Luna stopped herself from talking when she saw that the phantom shadow she had been chasing was now gone from view. “It was there. I swear, I saw it just now!”
“Lulu, have you taken your pills tonight?” Celestia delicately asked.
“I don’t need my pills! I need to– I need– I need to go for a flight. I’ll be back in time to lower the moon.”
Luna ran off, leaving her sister behind, knowing that she would likely tell the royal shrink about this incident if the chance ever came. In time, she threw open the doors to the back patio and looked up into the sky. At the back of the castle was a thick layer of clouds, which were slowly lowering down to the ground. In a moment, she noticed the dark shape just as it disappeared into the fog.
She always hated fog. Ever since she was a filly, there was something about it that always made the small hairs on the back of her neck quiver. But, she had to know what it was. And so, she flapped her wings and took off after the shadow. Moments later, she was approaching the fog, and she was swallowed up by it.
Thankfully, the fog wasn’t as dense as it looked. She was able to see far enough in front of herself to be able to make out all of the landmarks to know right where she was. To her surprise, she saw the jagged archway of the old Canterlot cemetery pass beneath her. After it, the many stones that marked the resting place of the departed dotted the ground beneath her. Something told her that this was exactly where that thing had gone. And this was where she would find her answer.
Luna landed on the ground, surrounded by headstones. With a quick flare of her magic, she was able to clear the fog before herself, and saw her way to the proper path among the graves.
Her hooves clopped silently along the cobblestones as her eyes swiveled side to side. Whatever it was, wherever it was, she was going to find it. For the most part, the trek through the graveyard was uneventful. Yet, through the fog Luna could see the shapes of the things that plagued her, taking form and slowly whirling back into nothingness. Hollow eyes and crooked fangs leered at her from afar, making themselves known for just a moment, telling her to turn back and never return. But, her resolve would not be broken.
Something caught the hoof of the princess, making her stumble forward slightly. Looking down, she found it only to be the first step on a flight up stairs that went up a hill to the upper levels of the cemetery. Unable to find anything where she was, Luna walked up the steps, a small part of her hoping not to find anything.
At the top of the steps, there was a shadow in the distance. A long, slender shadow that hunched over one of the headstones. To her relief, it was a shadow that she knew very well. Although, she did wonder why he was there. There was nopony she could think of that he knew was buried there. But, she had already followed him so far. It would only be cathartic for her to approach.
She took a breath and walked behind the shadow, which didn’t move even when she was only six feet behind him.
“Discord?” she quietly asked.
The shadow remained still, then sat up straight.
“Funny meeting you here, Princess,” he said.
“You say that as if you were expecting me.”
Without turning to face her, Discord shook his head. “No. But, who else would be out here this late at night? Anyway, what brings you here? It’s not like these sleepers have any dreams to watch over.”
“I could ask you the same thing,” Luna replied.
“You could. Except that I asked you first. So, do you want to keep playing ‘inquisition,’ because the moon has to be lowered tonight eventually.”
Even when it was something so small, Luna hated it when Discord was right. She decided simply to tell the truth.
“I saw you flying overhead at the castle. I wasn’t sure what it was at the time, so I followed you here,” she said.
Luna silently waited for Discord’s answer, and grew annoyed when he didn’t say anything for what felt like a minute.
“Curiosity kills more than cats, you know,” Discord said.
“What do you mean?” Luna asked with a touch of apprehension.
“I mean, what if it wasn’t me? It could have been any other freak, or monster, or boogeyman. You do believe in the boogeyman, don’t you?”
A feeling like a static shock crackled in Luna’s brain. Discord’s power knew almost no limits, but even he couldn’t know anything about the terrors that Luna experienced. Or did he know more about them than he was letting on?
“No. Of course you don’t. You’re a big filly. Nightmares like that are your specialty,” Discord provocatively said.
“What about you? I told you why I’m here. What brings you to this place?” Luna demanded.
Discord innocently clasped his mismatched hands behind his back and twiddled his thumbs. “It’s not important. But, I have my reasons. Reasons of my own. Reasons that–”
“We’ll have none of that, Discord. I was perfectly honest and straightforward with you. I would expect the same from you,” Luna said.
“You would?” Discord said, for the first time glancing over his shoulder. “You sound like you’re forgetting the very nature of chaos.”
“Would it not be the nature of chaos to go against its own nature?”
Luna saw the way that Discord’s hands clenched around one another, before he turned his gaze away from her.
“Besides,” Luna continued, “If it’s so unimportant, there would be no harm in telling me.”
“You don’t understand. It’s not important to anypony but me,” Discord said. “You know what? Just forget I said anything. I have to get going now.”
He raised a claw and snapped his fingers. Yet, there he stood. He snapped his fingers again, and still remained there.
“Is this more of your chaos? Perhaps you’ll just walk home? That would be unexpected,” Luna said.
“Me? I thought it was you doing it. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m getting out of here,” Discord said, before walking forth into the mist.
“Discord, wait. It’s nighttime. And it’s dangerous to–,” Luna said.
“Then, I bid you goodnight, dear Princess.”
And Discord continued his way through the fog.
Luna rolled her eyes and tried to light her horn up to clear the fog in front of Discord. Only, her horn didn’t light up with its usual magical glow. Panic began to creep up on her, and she trotted after Discord.
“Wait! You don’t know where you’re–” she called.
The ground suddenly disappeared beneath her frontmost hoof, making Luna lurch forward. There she was, staring down the sheer face of the far end of the cemetery hill. Worse still was that there was no trace of where Discord had landed at the foggy bottom.
Things were looking grim. There was Luna, alone and without her magic. All around her, the night grew darker and the fog grew thicker, pulling her ever more into its terrors.