//------------------------------//
// The Brightest Night 
// Story: Aevum's Guide to Magic and Its Uses 
// by SplitSquid 
//------------------------------//

Over the four remaining days, Twilight did as instructed by Princess Celestia: supervising the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, and ensuring success for the esteemed holiday. Her bond with her five friends grew the more they interacted, and needless to say, Twilight had actually made some friends! However, due to a complication on Celestia’s part, the celebration would never see light, literally.




New stuff: page 1.

Zodiac Magic Cont.

Before I slept, Zodiac magic was exceedingly rare – I had thought it would be gone when I returned – but I actually have seen it, not too long after my awakening. This is why my original entry was lacking, as I didn’t experience it until I met REDACTED, and REDACTED showed me how it works. So here you go!
Zodiac magic is an optional form of magic that takes normal spells and uses natural magic to make that magic stronger. This magic takes extra setup, but the spell can continue to operate for a moment after the caster stops feeding it energy, and multiple spells can be active at once.
If you want to know more, just ask REDACTED.





 ~Luna: Alicorn of the Night~

Luna’s footsteps echoed across the lunar landscape. She was to be free very soon, the anticipation building up in her chest; heartache and homesickness reaching an even new high. These emotions were not unfamiliar to Luna, yet their ferocity sent her into mild shock. The stars shined brightly, as if pleading for her to restore them to their former glory. Celestia’s night sky was rather drab, a matter for another time. Luna had more pressing concerns. The issue at hand wasn’t so simple as organizing the night sky, no, Luna had some unfinished business, left unfinished for a millennium. Fortunately for her, the problem had presented itself, in the form of a tall, dark, evil version of herself.
“Hello, Luna,” Nightmare Moon’s intimidating form loomed before Luna, beckoning like a ghost, “the time is upon us. Yield to me and we shall rule for all eternity!” Nightmare Moon let out a bone-chilling cackle. Luna did not back down – this would be to surrender – instead, she took a mighty step forward, then another, soon breaking into a full sprint; her footsteps reverberating throughout the thin lunar atmosphere like Equestria’s drums of war.
“Thou art a fool,” Luna raced towards her darker counterpart, “dids’t thee truly think of me to yield without contest? Have at thee!” 
“I suppose not,” Nightmare Moon sighed with disappointment and sidestepped Luna's charge, “you were always… difficult.” Luna growled, face contorted in a scowl. “Let’s get this over with then, shall we?”
Luna called upon her magic, letting it fill her whole body. She took to the starry sky and cast a beam spell. A sphere of magic formed on the tip of her horn, before projecting a thin beam across the sky, all the way to Nightmare, who dodged with ease. Luna shot off three more beams before diving straight at the Nightmare, who cast her own beam directly at her. Unlike hers, which was a blue-purple color, the Nightmare’s was a deep Navy, and it emitted no light. 
Luna used the approaching beam attack as a rail, sliding along it with a hoof, before spinning into a somersault and delivering a brutal double-back kick to Nightmare Moon’s barrel. The impact sent shockwaves into the lunar surface, splitting it into a spider web of dark ravines.
“Ooh, you’ve never done that before!” Nightmare Moon prepared her next attack, “It actually kind of hurt a little.” Still regaining her balance, Luna cursed under her breath, that attack would have vaporized a normal pony. She had made a fatal mistake: underestimating Nightmare Moon.
It’s not enough? Have I become weaker? Luna had just barely regained her composure when Nightmare Moon came back at her, using pure, restrained energy as a battering ram. 
“Wha-” Luna couldn’t get another word in before being knocked back a few hundred feet, kicking up lunar sediment every time she hit the ground. This time, she would be ready for Nightmare Moon’s follow up attack. She turned to see Nightmare Moon preparing to cast a spell. Luna took this time to gain a defensive footing. 
“Lightning!” Nightmare Moon cried, the ethereal haze surrounding her horn becoming sparks. A split second passed, and pulsating white arcs of electricity erupted from Nightmare’s horn, coursing through the air at neigh-instantaneous speeds. However, Luna – as an alicorn – was blessed with brilliant eyes and exceptional reaction time. She surrounded her horn with magical energy and converted the air around her to adopt a negative charge – the same as the lightning – and using the air as a shield, deflected the lightning to her side.
The two ponies now stood facing each other, now about fifty feet apart. The deflected lightning finally hit a gray mountain behind Luna, completely leveling it, dust and smoke lingering thousands of feet in the air. Neither pony broke eye contact. Moments later, the shockwave from Nightmare’s spell passed through, overturning boulders and throwing up small rocks and pebbles. Still, neither pony moved, until Nightmare Moon opened her mouth to speak.
“Silence!” Luna interrupted, “I shall not concede, for the fate of Equestria darkens with your presence!”
“As it should!” Nightmare Moon responded, that infuriating smirk adorning her wicked face. “Although, it is truly a shame that we must fight over a common goal!”
“A common goal?” Luna looked upon Nightmare Moon with contempt, a sneer lining her face, “do not make me laugh, heretic.”
“Heretic?” Nightmare Moon laughed, “You can do better.”
“Silence, you CUR!” Luna did not wait for the Nightmare to respond, instead pouring pure energy into a wide cone of pure destruction, “I shall be the savior of Equestria!”
In response, Nightmare Moon formed a shield just barely in time, but it would not hold against Luna’s devastating attack. With a pained yell, she made a brand new crater in the moon with her impact. 
“We do not care what dark magic you possess,” Luna landed next to the new crater, not far from the damaged mare, “you will fail! Evil will always give way to the unyielding light!” Conviction and determination flowed through Luna’s body.
“Ugh,” Nightmare staggered to her feet and wiped the blood from her mouth, “oh precious Luna, I am not evil per se, I simply lack the weakness you call ‘empathy’.”
“We shall not tolerate your lies any longer!” Luna said, raising her wings with murderous intent, “You are evil!”
“Oh, but I am nothing but honest!” Nightmare Moon stretched her wings, “It is our element, after all!” Luna looked at the dark mare with unbridled anger, and the Nightmare looked back with a bored look in her eyes. Unable to hold herself back any more, she charged at Nightmare, filling her front hooves with earth pony magic.
“No, I don’t think I'll take that hit,” For the first time in the fight, Nightmare Moon’s eyes lost that tint of boredom, instead filling with focus and calm determination. Luna, ignoring Nightmare’s comment, took a magic-infused swing at her body. However, Nightmare Moon was ready. With one hoof, she knocked Luna’s forehoof to the side. Luna followed up with her other hoof, which Nightmare deflected into the ground, causing a massive explosion.
Nightmare Moon stood unfazed, but Luna did not. Even with a massive store of energy in her jewel, she lacked the physical formidability of Nightmare Moon. Luna was sent skidding back a few feet. She wiped her own blood from her mouth. Luna would not be able to hold Nightmare Moon off for long.
Crap! She thought, I can’t even use my magical domain either! It would just make her stronger as well!
It was Nightmare Moon’s turn to laugh. However, the sound never made it to Luna’s ears. She considered the possibility that the impact of her hoof and the ground may have temporarily deafened her. Before she could recover though, Nightmare Moon’s horn glowed bright, and she cast her signature move: Moonbeam. The Lunar surface began to glow, resonating with 
As it approached Luna, the world seemed to slow down around her. Any lesser pony would not be able to counter this, ultimately perishing on the spot. However, Luna was faster than normal ponies, and fuelled by anger, she cast one of her more powerful spells: Quasar. A floating, lunar zodiac appeared, and from it, a devastating, colorless beam screamed towards the Nightmare, making contact with her moonbeam just before the former’s attack struck Luna. The two spells created a blinding energy field at their intersection, one that would certainly be visible from Equestria. At first, Luna’s spell gave way to Nightmare’s, but Luna would not give up so easily.
“So much anger, and raw power resides within you!” Nightmare Moon did not lessen her efforts, “it would be a shame if you failed to use it!”
Luna yelled, the consequences of losing acting as fuel. the Nightmare’s magic was now giving way to hers. An unexpected turn of events, but a welcome one. Unfortunately for Luna, she wasn’t the only one pulling her punches. With a forced smirk, Nightmare Moon matched Luna’s power output, the clash of their magic centering the intense convergence of magical power.
“You will not win!” Luna screamed, her voice echoing across the lunar landscape, “this ends here!”
Nightmare Moon’s smirk faltered for the smallest moment, eyes wide as she realized the true destructive power behind Luna’s spell. With a  before ending her spell, the full force of Luna’s Moonbeam smashing through her, vaporizing her on the spot. Luna sighed in relief, not noticing the hazy indigo cloud racing towards her. 
“By royal decree,” Luna stated, “you are banished from Equestria eternally!” Luna, now exhausted, collapsed onto the lunar surface. 
In just a few moments, Luna would finally be home. She tried to stand, but her body didn’t move an inch. 
What is this! Luna thought, panic setting in as she frantically tried to perform even the smallest movements. For her efforts, Luna was rewarded with the transformation of her body into a larger, darker form. Fear gripped Luna’s mind like a plague, its icy grip tightening by the minute, and out of this fear spoke a voice.
“It was about time that you noticed me, dear Luna.” Nightmare Moon’s malevolent voice reverberated against the walls of her mind. Against Luna’s will, her body rose from the ground, seemingly on its own, “you were so angry and reckless, that you became the Nightmare all on your own! No need for me to do anything at all! Why, you practically handed over your body!” 
Luna cursed herself, careful not to respond to her oppressor, yet grieved the fact that she had succumbed to the Nightmare once again.
“Now, dearest Luna,” Nightmare Moon’s voice dripped with triumph, “You’ll get a front seat showing of my eternal night!”
Luna sighed from within the Nightmare’s mind, defeated, but still full of hope. There was more than one roadblock in the Nightmare’s plan, after all.





The moon glowed in the night sky, drawing the attention of a certain tan alicorn. Aevum stood on the only stable tower left in the castle of the sisters, and was leaning heavily on the railing. His prismatic sword floated nearby, casting a faint glow on Aevum’s surroundings. 
“Oh, that’s happening tonight?” Aevum muttered, voice tinged with fatigue, “Well, that’s bloody troublesome, isn’t it? 
The prismatic sword spun in place, as if agreeing with him.
He could feel the irregular spikes of magic power coming from the moon, which was already glowing brighter than usual anyway. The influxes of magic reminded him of before his time nap, when he could effortlessly use magic. For now though, he was stuck.





It was the culmination of all of her and her friends’ hard work. The Summer Sun Celebration was a mere hour away, and every single pony in Ponyville, as well as several from surrounding regions were out and about, waiting for the legendary sunrise. Now though, she sat with her five friends, the only nearby sounds coming from Spike and Fluttershy’s conversation. 
The Celebration would take place in the town square. The podium where Celestia would make her appearance looming overhead. This is where most decorations were focused. Several sun-themed banners and tapestries hung from the podium, and golden streamers lined the fences and walls of nearby buildings. 
As Twilight turned to make sure everything was truly ready, the moon shone bright as the sun. Extremely sensitive to magic, Twilight felt the presence of powerful magic. Distant magic but powerful indeed. She was sure that Celestia felt it too, as well as a certain Alicorn stuck in a forest somewhere. 
“What the hell is that!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“Language, darling,” Rarity looked at Dash disappointedly, “We must maintain a certain level of class for the princess!”
“Uhh,” Rarity followed Dash’s eyes to the moon, “By Celestia’s Grace!” The moon was only getting brighter and brighter, until it stopped glowing entirely. The silhouette of the mare in the moon glowed softly, then vanished.
Twilight gasped. It was happening. While everypony else was yelling and running around in a chaotic manner, she was frozen in panic. The only thing she could do was gaze upon the glorious night sky. In all her years, she had not seen the sky this majestic. The stars were clear and bright, colorful nebulae adorned the vivid constellations that looked better than she had ever seen before. She could even see the faint outer bands of the milky way, something that was usually only visible in the darkest of areas. Regaining her senses, she looked at the time. Sunrise was supposed to happen now, yet Celestia was nowhere to be seen.
In contrast to the bright night sky, Twilight felt dark and cold. A mysterious aura emanated from Celestia’s podium, and from beyond, a bone-chilling laugh, echoing through Ponyville’s vacant pathways, and bringing fear to any caught in its cold embrace.





Princess Celestia had been waiting for this moment for a thousand years. A thousand years of loneliness, a thousand years of strife, a thousand years of longing. She stood on the balcony of her castle, eyes fixed on the moon, heart heavy with guilt for what she had done. Every night she had risen the moon, feeling the weight of her actions every time she lifted it above the horizon.
 But all of that would not matter come sunrise. Chances were that it would be Nightmare Moon making her return, instead of her sister.
Tonight, the moon shone brighter than ever, and a cold wind blew from the north. A single tear fell from her eyes as she gazed upon it, but she took a deep breath to calm herself.
“This is it,” Celestia whispered to herself, voice trembling, “Luna, please…”
And then, the silhouette of the mare in the moon vanished. Celestia’s heart skipped a beat. She had to hope Luna would return to her. Otherwise, the fate of Equestria would depend on her confrontation with Nightmare Moon. 
The north wind blew colder now, biting into Celestia’s coat, but she was already chilled to the core by her sister’s impending return. The memories of her last confrontation with Luna lingered in her mind, and the pain of her banishment returned once again. It was all too familiar to Celestia, but this time it was different, more potent. The pain of losing Luna tore at her heart, making her feel more emotion than she had since Luna was gone.
“No,” She demanded in a whisper, shaking her head, “not again.” She turned and began pacing, her usual stoic demeanor long gone. If one of her servants saw her now, there would be a panic. 
“I’ve prepared for this,” She whispered to herself frantically, “I have to believe… I have to hope.” Celestia walked back into the main hall of the castle, but the walls seemed to close in on her, breathing was getting harder. She looked at the grand clock in the hall, each tick adding to the anxiety and tension within her chest. The Summer Sun Celebration would take place in an hour-and-a-half, and she had to be ready, which meant no breaking down in public.
Just as she was about to collect herself, a cold, distant laugh pierced through the otherwise-peaceful night, Celestia’s blood ran cold, and for a moment, she felt like an ant facing a giant spider.
“It’s her.” Celestia snapped out of her episode and steeled herself, posture straightened and eyes full of resolve.
“For Equestria,” she said aloud, voice unwavering, “and for Luna.”

End Chapter 5