//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 
// Story: A Warm Welcome for Nightmare Moon 
// by Green121 
//------------------------------//

The door of the Dusk Ward closed as the last of the armored guards entered. The room was large enough to accommodate all of them, with plenty of space to spare. In an orderly fashion, they saluted the princess simultaneously, their level of discipline made clear.

"I assume there's something to report on behalf of the captain?" The Solar diarch asked them, and the guard at the front spoke up.

"We were ordered by Captain Armor to deliver this scroll to you in person, Your Highness. After that, we were told to remain by your side as an additional security detail." The guard opened a cylindrical container tied to his side and pulled a scroll out of it before passing it over to her.

Celestia grabbed the letter with her magic and looked at the guards. "To send a message in this manner... It's unlike him. Is the Captain faring well? Can anyone tell me what the situation in Canterlot is?" The guard at the front opened his mouth as if he were about to speak, but closed it right back and decided to remain silent for fear of speaking out of line.

"Please, speak freely. I want to hear what you have to say."

At her persuasion, the guard decided to speak his mind after casting a cautious glance at Nightmare Moon. "There's... an air of uncertainty in Canterlot right now, Your Highness. The citizens are confused, and the nobles are starting to get fearful. The Captain is doing his best to maintain order, but he's starting to consider other options."

The white alicorn slightly tilted her head in confusion. "I don't understand. We have the situation under control here. Just what's going on out there?"

"Princess, do you not know?"

"I've been inside this facility ever since I brought my sister back here. What is it that you are referring to?"

At her response, the pegasi guard's expression turned into one of disbelief, his eyes widening slightly. "The sun, Your Highness! It was supposed to rise nearly an hour and a half ago! We have full faith in your decisions, but now everyone outside worries about your safety, and Captain Armor is concerned about whether you've been compromised or incapacitated. He's already contacted the Grand Magus, in case they need to carry out the contingency plan."

Now it was Celestia who wore a shocked expression as she realized what had slipped from her mind. The sun was supposed to rise at the beginning of the summer sun celebration, hopefully right after reconciling with her sister, with the two moving their respective celestial bodies under the welcoming cheer of the crowd. But that plan has gone wildly off track, as she failed to anticipate just how much mistrust and sorrow her sister had been harboring inside her. With Nightmare Moon becoming injured, she remained inside the windowless rooms of the medical wing, her concern and fear for the safety of her sister consuming every part of her mind. With things going out of the plan and her mind in turmoil, she had made a huge lapse of judgment by forgetting one of her most important duties. Therefore, not only did the opening ceremony of the Summer Sun Celebration come to an abrupt halt, but she also left her subjects in the dark, figuratively and literally. Still, her little ponies remained faithful even now. They looked up to her with respect and trusted her vision and actions. Celestia was certainly grateful for their loyalty, but perhaps they were putting her on too high of a pedestal. At times like this, she certainly felt like too many of her subjects treated her as infallible, or at least too afraid to point out her failings. Putting that particular thought behind her, she opened the scroll and began reading.

The letter from Shining Armor described the situation unfolding in the capital, matching the guard's testimony. When her sister had been taken in and admitted to the medical wing, the entire observatory went into lockdown for maximum security. With both information and personnel barely leaving in and out of the building and creating a huge communications delay, her failure to raise the sun had made things worse. While a lot of ponies shrugged off the unprecedented occurrence as a part of an event to celebrate Princess Luna's return, the lack of information certainly led to some nationwide confusion, and the worst case was happening at none other than Canterlot.

Canterlot historically had a high concentration of ponies belonging to noble clans within its city borders. This was partly the reason why the city had the most skeptics and deniers of the prophecy compared to everywhere else. Such fringe opinions could be found among Canterlonians, who argued that the prophecy was baseless and the Mare of the Moon's return was unlikely. In some of the city's newspapers owned by affluent noble families, editorial pieces that shared the same sentiment would sometimes pop up during Summer Sun Celebrations and Nightmare Nights. Certain conspiracy theories were also shared in hushed tones from word of mouth. Some of the more outlandish ones argued that there was no chance the Lunar Diarch would ever return. Arguing how the chosen bearer of the Elements being stuck down by the very same artifacts she previously wielded was suspicious, the theory claimed that a simple and more likely explanation existed: she was killed in the final battle against her sister, and Princess Celestia, horrified and ashamed of what she had done, had fabricated a lie.

But despite all that, deep down, Equestrians could guess why Canterlonians harbored such views. They knew Princess Luna was especially hawkish when it came to dealing with nobles, and upon her return, they assumed that Canterlot, the city well-populated with old noble clans that sided with the Solarites thousands of years ago, would become a likely target of her retribution. Princess Celestia had assured them multiple times in the past that there was nothing to be afraid of. She promised the transfer to a diarchy would be peaceful, but it was not enough to quell their concerns. The ponies belonging to long-established noble clans still feared, or at least were nervous. A small number of them genuinely feared being under more scrutiny, fearing they would be brought to justice for things they'd been hiding. Even the others, the majority of ponies who had done no wrongdoing themselves, had some apprehensions. Would the vengeful alicorn come for them, punishing them for the sins of their forefathers, eager to see their entire clan crumble? Considering all this, it was inevitable that, at the time of dawn, they had gone into panic as the sun was nowhere to be seen.

The Crown's representatives had already carried out a statement that the princesses were safe, and everything was under control. Guards patrolled the streets, urging their citizens to remain calm and stay within their homes if possible. Unfortunately, that didn't stop some of them from panicking regardless. They knew what Princess Luna wrote in her journal and what she wished to do if her sister weren't there to stop her. The lasting night was only the first part of her plan, and with that already becoming reality, who was to say that Nightmare Moon wouldn't descend upon Canterlot at any moment and begin a second purge of the nobility? Crowds of nobles gathered in front of Canterlot Castle and other royal guard garrisons, demanding answers and a guarantee of their safety. Those who sought to flee rushed to the train station, only to find the place in utter chaos, ponies desperate to find any ticket to get them and their families as far away from the city as possible.

Celestia groaned as she finished reading the Captain's report; the amount of unrest among the public was greater than she had anticipated. Without hesitation, she did the first thing she had on her mind to fix this situation. Raising her head high up and concentrating, her horn began to glow as she felt her connection to the sun and moon. With centuries worth of experience behind her, she aptly pushed and pulled the two celestial bodies along their respective trajectories with her magic. Within a minute, she dimmed her horn as she finished her deed.

"It is done. The sun should be back up right now. As for all of you, return to Canterlot and report back to Captain Armor that the situation has been resolved."

"Princess, are you sure you do not need us to stay here?"

Celestia smiled gently to reassure them. "Although I understand the Captain's apprehensions, I have more than enough guards here to keep things secure. Give me a moment, I need you to deliver a message for me."

Spotting a blank stack of papers alongside an inkwell and a quill sitting atop a table at the center of the room, she picked them up in her magic and began to swiftly write up a letter. It was addressed to Shining Armor, explaining and apologizing for her error of not keeping track of sunset and also reassuring him of the safety of her and her sister. Finishing off the letter by clarifying her decision to send the guards back, she passed the paper to them, which was quickly rolled up and stored in the scroll container of one of the guards.

"That should address the Captain's concerns. Return to Canterlot and deliver it to him in haste. That is my order."

Heeding Her Majesty's command, the guards gave her another round of coordinated salutes before leaving the room. Watching them exit through the doorway one by one, Celestia let out a sigh. Yes, her little ponies would stop panicking now that the sun was up, but it was still too late. She just hoped the damage caused by all the chaos wouldn't be too big. Watching the last of the soldiers leave the room and close the door behind them, the princess thought for several more seconds. Perhaps she needed to address the general public. An announcement from herself to explain the proceedings and the events to not leave them in the dark. More transparency would do good to prevent further confusion and misconceptions, she reasoned as she floated another piece of paper in front of her. She turned her head around and glanced at Nightmare Moon, still lying motionless in her bed. Looks like it's going to take some time before she wakes up.

Sitting down at the table with her back turned against the comatose alicorn, Celestia began to write up a draft, which she would use as the basis for her speech. Fixated on choosing the right tone and the right choice of words for the task, she wrote down sentence after sentence, finishing up a paragraph only to scrap the entire thing and repeat the process. A thousand years of ruling may have honed her many different skills, but writing still proved fairly challenging without the help of her speechwriters, which she lacked now. With her attention completely devoted to it, she had no way of knowing that her sister's right eye was open and was now staring at her from the bed with a penetrating gaze.



Nightmare remained still even after things had quieted down. She furtively examined the room, planning her next course of action. Her lone eye was now trained on her sister, distracted with her task, and her back turned against her. The observation went on for several more minutes, and eventually, the Night Princess made up her mind. She'd already heard enough to guess what was going on, and seeing an opening, she knew what she had to do. With no signs of guards barging into the room any time soon, she slowly and carefully shifted her body, cautious not to make a sound. You'll regret your decision very soon Celestia, she thought as she stealthily got out of her bed, her hooves making no sound as they made contact with the hard floor. It was excruciatingly slow, but she was patient, like a timberwolf eyeing its victim. Remaining calm and collected, her eye was trained on the white alicorn the whole time as she managed to get up and stand on her legs without rousing any attention.

Nightmare scowled at her sister, unhappy with the situation she'd been put into. She would have preferred to do this while she was in a more favorable position, but circumstances had forced her hoof. She knew that the longer she remained captured, the less likely she was to succeed with any of her plans. Slowly taking a deep breath, she prepared herself. Celestia may have blindsided her, but it was now her turn to catch her off guard while she was lulled into a false sense of security. Steadying her gait, Nightmare Moon began to quietly inch closer to her target, but she faltered only after taking her first two steps. She felt something pulling at her right foreleg, only to be reminded of the lines connected to her limb.

Nightmare still didn't know what to make of them as she looked at the wires. Hesitantly, she gently pulled them with her teeth, feeling the wires tugging against her skin. Was this strapped onto her to tie her in place, or was it something else? What she was certain of, however, was the fact that they had to be removed sooner or later. Eyeing her sister again, she could see her ears still facing forward and oblivious to what was happening behind her. But she wouldn't stay distracted forever; there was no time to waste. Hoping for the best, Nightmare Moon held her breath as she yanked the wires with her teeth, pulling them out one by one with each pull. She felt a prick as a trickle of blood flowed out from where one of the wires was embedded into her skin, but other than that, she was none the worse for wear. She initially feared that there was something more than met the eye, but it seemed like that was not the case. Relieved, the black alicorn finished by pulling the last remaining flimsy binding off her.

Well that wasn't so bad.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP-.

Nightmare's mind filled with dread as the infernal machine let out an alarm as soon as she pulled the last tether off her foreleg. The high-pitched hum rang out continuously, its abrupt shriek breaking the calm of the room that she hoped to maintain. Of course Celestia would have more of her tricks ready. The Princess of the Night scowled, noticing her target quickly standing up from her seat and turning around to face her with a worried expression.

"Sister, wait! I don't think you should be walking so soon, stay still-"

As a response, Nightmare Moon squared up and bucked the machinery behind her as hard as she could. Her hind legs collided with the pesky thing, destroying it completely with a loud crash and silencing both the device and her sister simultaneously.

"Your Highness, Is everything alright?" On the other side of the door, the guard knocked after hearing sounds of disturbance. But Celestia failed to respond, her attention solely focused on the other alicorn in the room.

"Nightmare, I know it may be confusing, but I assure you, there's nothing to worry about. You're safe here." Not willing to take any chances, she began to slowly backpedal, trying to avoid agitating the mare further. "Please, give me a moment, I-I'll go get the doctors." Ignoring the feeling of unease rising in her mind, Celestia tried her best to calm her down with her disarming voice, but that only seemed to agitate the mare further.

"How kind of you, Celestia. But I don't think you'll be leaving so soon."

Before Celestia could ask what she meant by that, she saw her sister's horn glow. From sheer magical strength alone channeled through her horn, the inhibitor ring on her horn shattered like it was nothing, its shards flying out across the room. Shielding her face with her wing in reflex, Celestia tried to calm her down, but the sound of a loud metallic clank from behind her caught her attention. Turning her head around, she saw the door's large sliding lock had now been slammed into its locked position, the metallic lock soon beginning to creak and bend under the pressure of her sister's magical grip until it was warped beyond repair. Celestia's eyes widened, for she realized what her sister was trying to do.

"After all..." The dark alicorn began to take several steps forward, her approach menacing despite her limp. "...I believe we have some unfinished business to settle."