Twilight's P.O.V
Twilight was staring at the scene happening in front of her with mixed emotions. She was happy and relieved from defeating Nightmare Moon with her friends, a feat that would have made even Celestia extremely proud …..yet that was immediately followed by Celestia teleporting into the chamber with fear and worry and that terrified the young mare. What could have made Celestia the literal example of PERFECTION so afraid and worried? And then after clearing the dust she went and hugged some mare that emerged from the dust while crying!
Twilight could not even begin to understand what would cause Celestia to cry like this. To react like this, it just felt so….unreal, so wrong. it felt more like a dream- no no, it felt like a nightmare. Twilight couldn't help but feel pain and hurt in her chest as she saw her mentor and what is basically her second mother cry like this.
She quickly looked around to see the reactions of her new friends, unlike her, they don't have the same emotional attachment to the sun princess and so they were more confused and shocked rather than the Primal fear and pain that she felt. She was oddly grateful for that. She did not know if it was out of a selfish reason or because she didn't want to see her friends also hurt…she didn't exactly know but she was grateful nonetheless.
“P-Princess? Are you okay? W-Who is that?” As soon as the words left her mouth, Twilight felt regret for speaking. She did not gain the attention of the still-crying and shaking princess, instead she got the attention from her.
Twilight froze as she made eye contact with the black and dark blue mare. Nightmare Moon, or Luna (a name that she is sure she heard before but can't remember where or when at the moment) as Celestia called her, was absolutely terrified.
To be fair, Twilight herself was also afraid of that Luna and felt a sort of resentment towards her. Her resentment came from the fact that this pony showed up out of Nightmare Moon after her defeat and the first thing she caused was Twilight seeing her mentor so weak, vulnerable and afraid for the first time in her life. Princess Celestia held her like she was going to disappear at any second!
Her fear however… Twilight had no explanation for that. She didn't know if it was because of the calming Hum that she started feeling when Luna appeared, forcing her nerves to feel things that contradicted with her mind’s wakefulness and unrest. Or if it was because of her effect on Celestia, or if it was that unnatural feel that came from her. Princess Celestia’s presence is always calm and inviting, a true ease of the heart but this Luna? Just looking at her made Twilight feel like she was an inferior, as if she was staring at a sole presence in a sea of nothing, as if she was a speck of dust in a desert staring at a raging tsunami. It all felt so odd and surreal that it left the unicorn wishing she was still fighting Nightmare Moon! Honestly, even the reasons and feelings she got from the mare were contradictory in nature.
And then….there was the look in her eyes. She did not know why but the look in her eye…it was a window that displayed the Primal fear and terror that the mare was feeling. Twilight felt it herself getting lost in it for a moment, she felt overwhelmed and separated from the world around her. It was only for a second but it was more than enough to disturb Twilight…but it also made her wonder, what was this pony afraid of? Only option is Celestia but that made no sense!
Unfortunately, before Twilight could ask any more questions or tell the princess to stop because she was scaring the unicorn (as ridiculous as that notion was), she suddenly felt lightheaded and lost sense of the world around her once again. Her legs grew weaker and so did her magic and the power she felt from the elements of harmony. Something somehow touched the magic of friendship…she could feel it but it only took part of the magic's power. The warm and calming feeling of friendship didn't change, it's just the power of her magic that felt weaker, and with a quick worried glance to her sides, Twilight deduced that her new friends also felt it.
As soon as Twilight was able to focus back on the princess and the mare. She saw that her horn was glowing, and before she could warn the princess, the dark-coated mare disappeared in a white flash of light leaving everyone dumbfounded (and slightly dizzy with the exception of Celestia) and leading to the Princess falling into a panic….which didn't help at all with the current mood
“No, no, no! Where did she go? How did she go? She's too weak to be on her own!” She heard the princess talk to herself as if she was a mother looking for her foal while trying to focus and find the mare's magic signal if Twilight's guess was correct. Fearing that the princess would disappear without explaining anything or possibly do something rash in her panic, Twilight decided that now was the best time to gain the princess's attention and hopefully get her to calm down a bit… also she really wanted an explanation for what was happening.
“PRINCESS!” Twilight yelled to get her mentor's attention, and much to the lavender pony's delight (and slight terror as realized what she did) it worked. “Yes, Twilight? As you can see I'm kind of busy at the moment,” she said in a tone that can be easily misinterpreted as dismissive (she refuses to believe that it is) as she turned her head and looked at Twilight with a raised eyebrow
“Princess just what is happening? Who is that mare? Did you feel the magic getting weaker? Why is she terrified of you? Or at least I assume that to be the case. I'm so sorry if it's not and please don't toss me into the dungeons! Also What happened to Nightmare Moon? Is she Nightmare Moon?” The lavender unicorn wanted answers as soon as possible, her curiosity and worry did tend to cloud her vision and judgment, she even missed the hurt look on Celestia’s face in the moment that it appeared.
“Yeah! Just who is she and where did she go?” she heard Rainbow Dash's voice say. Twilight almost forgot that her friends were also here with her and wanted to Facehoof because of that. Before anyone else could ask any questions though, a voice spoke up above the rest, not too loud, just the right amount of volume needed at the moment
“Sorry princess but what Ah believe mah friends and Ah want to say is that we want an explanation,” said Applejack "We're plum confused 'bout all this hullabaloo is all. If you don't mind, that is.” ‘Faust bless that mare’ is all that went through Twilight's brain as Applejack more or less became the voice of reason or the equivalent of it in this situation.
She watched as the princess smiled apologetically at them and started speaking in a tired tone that made Twilight feel like a horrible monster for pressing any matter onto the tired mare. “I apologize my little ponies, I'm just busy at the moment. I'll explain it all afterwards.”
“Princess please explain it to us, we want to help you! Right?” Twilight's gut wrenched in guilt for pressing the matter more but convinced herself that it was too important for guilt to stop her, she also turned to her friends with hope that they agreed with her, and much to her relief they did. It made her heart warm up as she saw all of them nod with smiles on their faces…except Rainbow and Pinkie. Those two just screamed “Yeah!” instead of being calm as the situation called for.
She watched as Celestia’s smile turned into a happy/proud one as she stared at Twilight and her new friends. Twilight couldn't help but feel giddy happiness inside. Unfortunately though it did not last long as the princess’s attention returned to the matter at hoof. “I suppose that this is the least I can do for you, my little ponies. You all heard of the tale of the mare on the moon, right? Well, there is more to it than you know. This is what actually happened….”
Luna's P.O.V
Luna appeared with a flash in front of the nearest lake that she could sense and she hurried and almost fell and hit the ground as her hoof tripped on some root of a nearby tree. She groaned before walking again and looking to see her reflection on the lake. With each step, she felt dread rise within her. It was quiet…too quiet in her head. She can not hear her voice. It felt wrong, she felt light, she was smaller, and it was quiet inside. It's not supposed to be quiet, not when she was there, why was she in control!?? Why is she alone?! What did the elements do!?
That and a million more questions rose in her head before she saw her reflection on the lake, the moon princess became as stiff as a corpse and her eyes shrunk into pinpoints as she stared at her reflection…she was her old self, a bit younger than usual and her coat was….different, but she was still her old self, her old teenager and pathetic self… and she did not like that one bit.
The moon princess started shaking and hyperventilating and then sobs escaped and soon the sobs turned into crying. She was not thinking, she did not want to think, not when it is empty within….damn her sister for not fighting, damn HER for being merciful and allowing those ponies to get the elements, damn their arrogance and pride for not letting them escape. Now she is alone again, she can not be alone…not again, not now not ever. She has to fix this. She has to get rid of the quiet, she has to get HER back somehow, but how? She cannot feel her mind within….oh Faust she could not feel her mind within! Oh Faust, Oh Faust, OH FAUST! Just where was she? She can't be gone. Luna refused to even consider that idea!
Then She looked up to try and see the moon in hopes of finding the image of a mare on it… and yet, her silver treasure and prison for the last 1000 years was a clean slate of silver that was as clean as can be….she couldn't help but loathe it at the moment, she felt her rage rise and hatred sorrow almost hit like a flood. She extended her will to it with as much restraint as she could without ordering it to break, and then she felt the moon, felt it gleam with joy as their connection returned, a feeling that was all but mutual at the moment. The moon was happy for the return of its master and representative on Equis, but soon that happiness turned into confusion and hurt as she forced it to go down with hatred seeping into her magic as she bellowed out her command. She does not want to see this monstrosity now or anytime soon! Yet as ever faithful as it was, the moon obeyed without any resistance, seemingly feeling the sorrow and emotions that affected its master.
“Oh great, I'm throwing temper tantrums like a filly now! How bad can this get?” for a moment she was thankful that she was actually alone at this moment…well not really thankful. It sucked to be alone, she doesn't want to be alone. Why did the elements have to take away her only solace and source of happiness for the past millennia? And most importantly, how will she get her back? With no answers and no one to ask and share her thoughts to, Luna was forced to dwell on her thoughts.
Slowly the realization of her loneliness started sinking in and without even her own symbol in the sky to keep her company thanks to her tantrum, the Alicorn mare couldn't help but chuckle to herself as her home was gone from sight and the night lost its faint, and calm illumination. Now with only the stars to look at from the darkness and the only thing to look at in the sky and keep herself distracted, she couldn't help but let out a small yet somber smile as stared at the darkness. The ponies of this land have shunned her moon and their night for the longest time, if she was not here to enjoy the moon with her then she will give them what they deserved. Loneliness and fear, confusion and darkness, the silver hope and ease provided by the gentle moon gone. A truly dark night. It is what the ponies of this world hoped for and it is what they deserve. They deserve to feel the despair and fear that she was feeling right now.
She knew her actions are petty and uncalled for, especially now with night and day muddled and tracking time becoming that much harder without the moon as a tell tale sign, but it wasn't for petty reasons that she did this. She could not stand the sight of the moon at the moment. It was painful to look at her lovely moon, not without her companion….not on her lonesome again. No… No, No, NO, NO. With ample time to dwell on her circumstances, She let out a sigh (a thing that she started doing a lot since her return, but can you blame a mare for missing air and wanting to feel it move through her body again?) and tried to wrap her head around what happened.
Okay, so they returned to the earth and found a pathetic Celestia who seemed to accept that Luna and Nightmare are actually the same person (or so she assumes, even then Celestia is only half correct). That Celestia was too weak to fight and so they wanted to get her ire by causing a ruckus somewhere else. Some ponies went to the forest after her introduction and in her curiosity she followed them. They went to the old castle where she and her sister used to live…and then it was too late for her as she was stupid enough to allow them to use the elements…
She does not want to think about this anymore. She relaxed her muscles as much as she could and sighed before eyeing her surroundings in the new darkness that enveloped it. She needed to move, who knows when Celestia would raise the moon again or maybe even the sun to bring forth light. She doesn't want to be in the open when that happens so she decided that it was time to leave.
With a groan of frustration, she finally stood up with shaky hooves and wobbly legs and tried to get used to the new length of her limbs so she could move normally again without the risk of tripping with each step. After getting the hang of it, she started heading towards the forest again. 15 minutes or so of complete silence passed before she heard a couple of loud and croaky howls. She couldn't help but lick her lips, maybe she could get a meal out of this? She shook her head before she continued walking and thinking. Trying to hold back whatever excitement she had for a fight.
…..who was she kidding? She was only looking for distractions at the moment. She knew that and was so angry because of it….why did they have to take her? She did not need fixing! The elements could have just killed her and got this over with! Why did those stupid gems like to torture her so much? Why could they not just turn her to stone like what they did with Discord or just kill her or banish her again and get this over with! Ugh, at least they didn't do their job right anyway. She doesn't feel consciousness but feels a bit of the nature and power left of her inner counterpart ... .which honestly hurt that much more so her previous statement was in a place of doubt now. Would she be ok? Will she come back? Nonsense, of course she will! Why wouldn’t she? Right?
With her temper and worry rising again and no important sound other than her own thoughts, she stopped paying attention to the area around her and did not hear the 2 tree-like creatures with glowing eyes jumping from tree to tree. She only stopped when she felt their magic essence rising and then she waited for them to show themselves.
“No doubt animals are in a panic now. Beasts will also run amuck. Ponies might have magic and lamps to have light but the animals have nothing of the sort….dealing with them should keep me busy at least.” She thought with somber amusement while giving in to the idea of a distraction despite her previous protest. Her eyes moved to the location of the magic signals she was sensing.
After what felt like forever the princess decided that she had waited for long enough, she sent a weak (by her standards at least) yet focused magic blast near one of the Timberwolves and smiled as it tumbled and fell out of surprise. She quickly turned behind for the other Timberwolf before he attacked, her horn glowed and so did the new dark lines on her coat, casting a slight violet glow that would have otherwise gone unnoticed if they were not in complete darkness. The Timberwolf hesitated and stopped so it could growl at her and the glow she emitted. She knew it was considering using her as a tool of sorts or mayhaps as a chew toy at the moment yet she was not afraid.
She simply took a step closer to it and watched it back away slowly as if surprised by her actions. It’s an animal, it’ll respond in animalistic ways. Just challenge their nature and they’ll panic because their instincts aren’t used to being challenged by something smaller than them. She felt its body tense and heard the low growl it made as a warning to the other timberwolf once it got its bearings. Luna did not care though and returned to work. Finally putting her mind into it, she focused on siphoning the magic out of it. It's not an ability that Luna likes to use a lot, she doesn't usually lack the magic or face a threat powerful enough to justify using it (plus it felt wrong to use it at times) but she lacked magic and needed an outlet for her frustrations and those wolves just happened to be her outlets.
It was only a matter of seconds before almost all the magic was drained from both beasts. She felt their bodies slowly deconstruct and revert back into logs and vines as the magic that kept them alive and formed their body was being drained out of them. Luna is not going to lie to herself and she fully admits of knowing how horrible what she is doing is. But it didn't really matter for the princess right now, she just stopped when she felt like she had enough. The wolves were already just piles of timber at this point. She did feel enough sympathy for the wolves to keep just the tiniest bits of magic so they might be able to reform one day though.
Although she couldn't help but smile at her accomplishment. She felt refreshed and slightly energized…and the feeling of being the one in power again did feel great if she was honest to herself “At least I can still do that ...now, where to go and hide? It will be only a matter of time before Celestia finds me.'' She almost spat when saying her sister’s and consequently felt a bit of sadness when she realized that. It was a bit sad. How she can not say her sister’s name without the rage and contempt that she was feeling at the moment seeping through. It didn't feel right to hate her sister like that when she tried to accept her. Although she is still enraged at her inaction and banishing her and all. Who would banish their flesh and blood? And then just after that turned into a pathetic mess. ThE GrEaT SuN PrInCeSs. What a joke.
Still, she couldn't believe that Celestia of all people would give up on fighting and decided to accept Nightmare as Luna (still only half correct but it meant a lot to the younger Alicorn). It felt comforting yet also sad because it was obvious that her sister was guilt-ridden. She will not forgive her though, not yet. Accepting her and feeling guilty does nothing to what she did and fixes nothing. Still a nice thing to know though. Less of a kick to the hide.
After walking around for 5 more minutes or so (again it was hard to keep track of time without any Celestial object in the sky) she saw that the sun was starting to rise, she then immediately cursed under her breath for wasting so much time getting distracted, in her desperation (and slight panic) she found the best decision is that any place would work regardless of quality. She Decided to hide inside one of the many caves that filled the area. She just hoped she did not have to fight anything inside which fortunately, she didn't. After going into the deeper parts of the cave with no trouble, she found a comfortable enough spot to lay down on and rest. Exhaustion was finally catching up with the princess and before long, the Princess of Night fell into deep slumber on the spot before even casting any spell to hide herself or for protection. Hm.
Twilight's P.O.V
Twilight and the others waited for the sun to rise so they could start their search, Celestia almost had a heart attack when they walked out of the castle to find a night without a moon and in turn Twilight herself almost had a heart attack because of her mentor almost having one.
It was stressful if she was being honest. They needed a moment to prevent Celestia from going Catatonic out of shock and after that she looked like she was about to have a heart attack while Twilight looked like she was dealing with both while also becoming so pale that she was as white as Rarity and Celestia.
After that whole… ordeal or so to say, they decided that splitting up was the best idea, sure the forest was dangerous but that was the only way to cover as much ground as possible, and Celestia casted a minor protection spell on all of them and even if it broke she would know and teleport to help.
Then they all set out to search and Twilight couldn't help but think about her mentor. Before this, she was thinking about staying in Ponyville with her new friends but she wasn't so sure now. Sure the princess would be busy with her sister when they found her eventually, but it won't be fair to have the princess deal with that alone, especially with all the apparent stress that she was having at the moment. There was also the fact that she could learn so much from the other princess as well and Twilight was a sucker for knowledge.
Who knew what a pony like the new princess might know? What stories or knowledge about the night she could tell or even tell her what it was like to look at the planet from the moon! She surely could see everything all on her own! With nopony to bother her… or keep her company or having anyone to talk to… OOOHH. Twilight hastily made a mental note to NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES mention her exile on the moon. Honestly she was feeling horrible for thinking about that or even about resenting the princess earlier (okay she was not fully over that but she likes to think that she is)
It was already noticeable enough that the dark blue Alicorn was afraid and she would definitely have a hard time dealing with the modern world. Having her think back upon her times of exile will not do the princess any favors and frankly Twilight didn't want to be the reason for the Moon Princess to have a mental breakdown.
Twilight sighed as she continued walking around and looking for any noticeable magical presence nearby. During her walk, she came upon a tumble of woods and vines with some residue of magic on them. It was odd…of course, this was the everfree forest but still, it made no sense for logs and vines piled together to have magic remnants of their own. Did something put them there? Possibly a nesting technique for a creature in the woods. Yes yes, that makes sense. Twilight did not notice the small hole that burned through a couple of the trees above.
Twilight made another mental note to ask either princess about this later (that is if she gets on speaking terms with Luna or a chance to talk to Celestia afterwards) as she continued her search for the lunar princess.
After 40 minutes of walking around almost aimlessly, Twilight suddenly broke into a gallop as soon as she felt a strong magical signal, the young unicorn didn't think much or even consider that it might be a danger and instead went with the blind hope of it being the princess.
Soon she came to a halt as she neared a cave system and recast the spell to confirm her suspicion. She gulped as she felt the results and felt a great amount of magic from within the caves, it was nothing compared to Celestia’s own magic but it was still well above what an elite unicorn would have and that's without mentioning that the princess barely rested since her ‘cleansing’ by the elements….now that she's thinking about it, she felt kinda stupid for thinking that the princess was a unicorn but hey, she was not able to see her wings with Celestia hugging her like she was in the castle so she's not to blame for that! Just a slight miss in observation.
After taking a deep breath to think of what to do, Twilight decided that it was best if she ventured alone. After all, Luna was apparently afraid of Celestia (as ridiculous as that is) and coming with her friends will surely not be the best idea after earlier today..or was it yesterday now? Eh it doesn't matter. Find the princess, make sure she’s ok, coax her back, and reunite the sisters! Easy as rereading her favorite book.
After pacing around and gathering her courage the young lavender unicorn puffed out her chest as an act of reassurance before heading inside the caves. It being a cave of course meant that it wasn't easy to see, nothing that a light spell couldn't fix but it still made her that much more noticeable to whatever laid within. With a final prayer to Faust, Twilight hoped for the best and ventured deeper into the caves as she looked for the missing princess.