Embracing the Night

by NightInk


Hope Lives... And I Do Too

I woke up in the same bed as the last time I had passed out, when I first arrived here. It felt like such a long time ago. I didn’t know how long I was out, but when I woke it was daylight outside. That was good to see. It meant things were back in order.
I was still a human, and all my clothes and belongings were either propped up or sitting on the bedside table to my left. The shield was leaning up, shining softly, hardly the worse for wear despite what it had been through. My old clothes, the ones that had come through the first portal with me, were as folded as they could be, but they were clearly shredded up pretty well. A new set was there too. I guess I had been out long enough for Rarity to make them based off of my old ones. The knife was back to its original size, and the amulet was lying on top, its cord wrapped around the handle. At the bottom of it all was my cloak. It looked as if it were brand new. I guess it was enchanted too, probably to keep it safe from damage or just regular wear and tear.
I turned my head to look at the right side of the room, and I could see Princess Luna sleeping on the couch and Princess Celestia standing at the window, gazing out into the sky. She was lost in thought, just looking into the clear blue. I could see the sky past her, a clear, bright blue only spotted here and there with a cloud, sleepily wandering through its territory.
She only turned when I went to stand up, then turned right back around when she realized I wasn’t wearing anything. I guess they didn’t have human-sized hospital gowns. “You know, you really must rest. You have been through an incredible ordeal. You deserve a years’ worth of sleep, and could probably use it too.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll go visit the Crossroads later. That’s a nice, relaxing place,” I said, trying on the pants Rarity made. They were a bit loose, but luckily my belt was still intact. Rarity must have left some room for error. They were nice, made of a soft fabric I had never seen on Earth. They felt durable, too, like they were sewn to take damage. That pony knows her work, I will give her that.
“Yes, well, I do apologize for that,” she replied, her head falling in her shame. “I should have been able to defeat Nightmare Moon. This is my kingdom to protect. If I cannot protect it, then what use am I to it?”
I sighed as I finished getting dressed. I couldn’t really stand, it hurt to try. There were probably stress fractures or something that they just didn’t know what to do about. Luckily my wings had lasted through the ordeal relatively unscathed, and Rarity had been thoughtful enough to add slots in the back where I could just get them through. It was strange thinking that I was stuck with wings and magic no matter what form I took. But it could have its advantages. I gave them a test flap and I was lightly lifted from the bed. I made a silver wheelchair from most of the magic I could muster from my human body, and then used my wings to propel me over to the window. Oh, yeah. This was going to be sweet.
I looked at the mare standing above me. She was scared, which I imagine was unusual for her. I placed my bone hand on her shoulder and felt her tense. Apparently she wasn’t over it like her sister was yet. Or she still just didn’t like me. “You know, you don’t have to be any kind of all-powerful warrior or super-powered hero to be a great ruler. You were doing wonderfully before Nightmare Moon came back this time, and you will do wonderfully now that she is gone again. And remember, neither Luna or myself could take her on by ourselves either. Or the Elements of Harmony for that matter. She was much more powerful and had a lot more tricks up her sleeves this time around. And she probably will next time too.”
Without looking at me, Celestia said, “But there won’t be a next time, remember? You finally killed her. She’s gone.”
Shrugging a bit I responded, “True, and you may be right, but remember that a thousand years ago she was created out of Luna’s jealousy and feelings of inadequacy when compared to the day. She wasn’t alive and didn’t exist before then. A wise old woman once told me, ‘True evil can never be destroyed’.”
Looking down with a doubtful smile, Celestia chuckled, “Really? A wise old woman? And just who would have that been?”
I knew I was busted, and blushing a bit I said, “Ok, maybe it was a middle aged voodoo lady from a Monkey Island (Copyright LucasArts) game, but it’s a solid theory. We can just enjoy the peace we get between each crazy villain, and when they come around we just have to defeat them and make sure the world, the sun, and the moon keep spinning.”
Celestia thought about this for a second, looking back outside. “Huh,” she said. “You are very wise for someone so young and inexperienced. It has taken me ages of deep thought to understand that which you already seem to know.”
“And that’s the problem,” I pointed out. “You’re thinking too hard. I don’t think enlightenment comes from a lifetime of deep inner searching; it comes from a lifetime of living, for lack of a better phrase. If you sit in a room with incense and your legs crossed all by yourself for your whole life, you don’t receive a special vision. You receive agoraphobia. At least that’s how I’ve always seen it. Of course what do I know? I ran headlong into a battle with a magical being with the power of a goddess.”
“Yes, and it was incredibly attractive,” a voice came from the couch. I turned in my chair to see that Luna was awake and had silently stood while we were talking. “What was the phrase you used two weeks ago? ‘Wow, that was hot?’”
I laughed and wheeled myself over. “Yeah, those were my words. How long have you been awake?”
She took a step forward, making a triangle out of the three of us. “Since you started talking. I heard all of you wise words, and I agree with them,” she said, pointedly looking at her sister. “You have done a masterful job of watching over the kingdom, even when you did it alone. Now that you are no longer alone, you must realize that you can come to others for help when you need it. And as for you, mister,” she said turning to me, putting on a false expression of steely-eyed anger. “You are never allowed to get yourself killed by anyone besides me again, even for a little while. Understand me?”
Responding to her false anger with poorly acted shame, I just muttered “Yes, Princess.” I lost the ability to keep a straight face after that though, and soon the three of us were all laughing. The two of them looked like they were out of practice, but that could be worked on. “By the way, how long have you been on that couch? You should have been sleeping in a real bed, at least using my old room. I don’t think it got ruined in the fight.”
Celestia answered for her. “She has not left your side for the week you have been here,” she said with a smile at her younger sister. “You should be proud of her. And very good to her,” she added, her face growing very serious.
“Tia!” Luna chastised her, blushing just a little bit.
“Oh, he knows I won’t shoot at him. To kill.” The Princess of the Day seemed to finally be warming up to me. “But you really should be proud,” she continued. “Both of her and yourself. Of yourself for having the ability to inspire such loyalty, and of her for obvious reasons.”
I smiled at my princess. “I couldn’t be prouder of her. She handled herself beautifully in a difficult situation following a traumatic event. For all of us. And then had the forethought to grab two shields from caves full of magic reflecting rocks.” Her blush grew even darker and she shyly turned her head away a little bit. “The only thought I have left, and sorry if this kills the happy mood we have going here, but did you bury my body already?”
Celestia’s face grew a bit dark again. “We put it into stasis to prevent any sort of decay and have held it for you to decide what to do with it. We were unsure ourselves what to do since this is such a strange situation.”
I slowly began lowering myself out of the chair, kneeling on the floor. “Sounds good, just give me a minute and we’ll go to it.” I began to concentrate and soon I was a tall, healthy alicorn again. Celestia looked amazed. I had forgotten she hadn’t seen me like this before, and may have thought I couldn’t transform due my body being in my alicorn form.
As I stood and shook my mane out, though, I noticed a soft light coming from my flanks. I turned and saw that where my cutie mark should have been there was a spot that was shimmering with a golden light. Right before my eyes, I saw my Cutie Mark form. It looked just like the amulet Ben had given me, except it was colored. The moon was a soft yellow, the sword’s blade was a normal silver, and the hilt was a midnight blue. It looked like it would have been considered a complicated cutie mark, but it was nice. It felt good not to be a blank flank, even though I hadn’t been one for long.
Celestia recovered and began to smile. “It is a fitting Cutie Mark, from what my sister has told me. You are a very deserving pony. You may not be royalty, but you are certainly a hero. You died in protecting a place you never truly knew before that week, and very nearly did again after passing out. The doctors were unsure of how to treat you.”
Nodding a little, I mentioned, “Not to be a stickler or boaster, but there was technically that time where I was hit with the Elements of Harmony too.”
“You were what?” she asked, glaring at Luna.
Looking embarrassed, Luna said, “Oh, did we not tell you about that before? That was how he acquired enough magic to transform fully.”
“No, you left that part out and told me he acquired the power through being so closely interactive with Twilight and the others!”
Stepping between them, I could hardly talk for laughing so hard. “Yes, Celestia, I got hit with the Elements when I allowed the Nightmare Moon Spawn to try and take me over so that they would have a clear shot and a solid target. That’s not important though. I believe we were going to see what I look like dead? Everything will be explained in full, but later.”
As we began to walk to my old room, where it was apparently being stored, Luna whispered to me, “We weren’t going to tell her about that. We thought it better she didn’t know that particular detail. She gets sensitive about innocents being involved in the use of the Elements.”
“Well, she would have found out later by talking to Twilight,” I reminded her. “And besides, did you see the look on her face? That was priceless! I wish I had a camera for that! Please tell me there was a security camera in that room.”
While Luna rolled her eyes, Celestia cleared her throat as if to say ‘I can still hear you.’ I apologized quickly, and then changed the subject. “So, I was really out for a week?”
Luna looked at me worriedly and said, “Yes, and we were beginning to think that something was far more wrong than we had thought.”
Laughing triumphantly, I looked back to Celestia. “See? I had plenty of sleep!”
Laughing a little herself, she said, “Yes, and you were still unable to stand.”
“Yeah, well, that was probably due to stress induced micro-fractures from being knocked around so much. They fix themselves whenever I go through the change.”
It was then that we got to the door. Upon entering, I saw that Celestia had been telling the truth. It looked like it was just frozen in dark blue ice. It had been positioned to look like it had been standing when I died, but the illusion was ruined by the sight of my right front leg. Looking at it, when I came back to life my deformity was just that I didn’t heal much, except for the burn marks. My leg was just a skeletal limb, and a large part of my chest was blown open as well. That was the only heavily damaged portion that had healed. I circled the ‘statue’, not knowing what to make of it. I already knew what I wanted to do with it though.
“Where is Nightmare Moon’s body?” I asked.
Celestia looked at me like it was a stupid question. “It was buried a good distance from here. She wasn’t going to be buried in the royal cemetery, and we wouldn’t defile it at all, so we chose a distant point and buried her there.”
“Then I’m going to be buried there too,” I declared.
What?” Luna cried. “After everything she did to you? To us?! Why on Equestria would you want to have your body be buried with her?!”
“Because, Princess,” I said calmly, wrapping a wing around her. “Think about her and who she is? She originally developed within you because you felt alone and unloved, right?” Luna only nodded sadly. “Then she should have a friend in death, since she never did in life. If I could, I would ask that she be moved here and be re-buried, but I don’t think that Tia would want that. Someplace on a hill, where she can see the meadows during both the day and the night. To help her understand.”
I could hear sniffling on both sides of me, and I saw both princesses were trying not to cry. Celestia spoke almost in a whimper. “That’s… what we will do then. We will find an area you like, and we can raise a hill there. The two of you will be laid to rest on top of the hill, and with luck she, wherever she may be, will recognize the beauty that comes with the day and the night, and of having a friend.”
Luna buried her face into my mane, still sobbing quietly. “It’s so much more than she deserves.”
“Yes, but if we got what we deserved, I would never have met you, my princess,” I said, smiling down at her. “Now come on. Let’s all go get ice cream. Will that make you feel better? A little ice cream?” Both princesses nodded. “All right then. Let’s go get some ice cream.”
We all left the room quietly, leaving our fears encased in the crystal that stood there.

I buried myself and my foe on a sunny day. Morbid as it is, I insisted that I help. I was the one to thaw my body, and I dug the graves. It was strange, seeing myself put into a grave and covered, but it was ok. I knew that because of what I learned in that body, I could more fully appreciate what I had in this body. I went through the ceremony as an alicorn; why, I don’t know. After we were done, I did one last thing for us. I planted a chokecherry seed I had bought from Daisy in Ponyville in between the parallel graves and gave it a boost with a growing spell I learned from Twilight. Staying strong with the symbolism theme, it was like redemption for her. Now instead of working against everyone, she worked with a friend to support a life, rather than take one.
Everyone was there, pretty much. The Elements of Harmony were there, all cleaned up from the journey. Most just came as they were, AJ wearing her battered old hat, Fluttershy trying to make herself as small as possible, etcetera. Rarity wore a hoof made black veil and mourner’s clothes. Shining Armor was there too, wearing his ceremonial armor. No one left dry-eyed, including me. I was more shaken over burying myself than I was willing to admit. Luna and I went back to the castle right away, Celestia taking over some of the details for us. We ate a quiet dinner in the privacy of my room, still intact from the battle, and talked about everything that had happened. The most exciting part was when I realized I could disconnect my skeletal arm and continue to use it, but Luna made me put it back on before I could do anything fun, like make it walk down the hall past the guards.
As the evening grew to a close, we were a little depressed. With everything that had happened, it was understandable. After dinner, we sat around for a little while, just resting. After a while, I looked over and grinned like a goofball.

“Wanna play ‘Smash Ponies’?”