//------------------------------// // Chapter Four: The Lunar Princess // Story: The Fall of an Empire // by adfghjkl //------------------------------// Luna cried out, but quickly stopped herself. If there was anything Luna learned in her life, it was not to sob at her problems. But this… this was… intolerable. It… it made Luna feel dead inside. Her head instantly raced with piercing pain as memories of being on the moon flooded Luna’s mind. She saw the glowing being standing tall in front of her, a light in the blackness of never-ending space. Luna reached out, asking for help, having no idea of where she was or what she had done, but her wonder and curiosity ended as she felt a tearing sensation deep inside of her body. Luna wanted to cry out as she saw the blackness, the evil being ripped out of her soul, only to be consumed by the heavenly being. Luna tried to scream in pain, but any sound that escaped her mouth was no more than a pathetic croak of a dying animal. Her body contorted and thrashed under the harsh treatment of whatever stood above her. As Luna lay there, limp and lifeless on the cold, alien rock, ready to face the new hours of the day of agony and suffering, she saw the glowing shape of a planet, the world that Equestria shared with all other walks of life. A thousand years, supposedly meaningfully eternal torture of this, all done at the hooves of her beloved sister. Patience had to face. “Hey, Luna. Are… are you okay?” Celestia walked in silently, keeping safe distance from her tense sister. She walked beside Luna and placed her hoof on her shoulder as Luna choked down another cry of sadness. The sun princess ran her hoof through the light blue mane of her sister, which was filled with tears. “ Look, I know this is hard, but we can make it through this, I understand –“ “You understand nothing. Get away from me.” Luna pushed her sister’s hoof off of her, she sulked to the other end of the room. Celestia relentlessly followed after her. “I know how you feel, Luna. But you need to trust me when I say-“ “And just WHY should I trust you? And saying that you know even CLOSE to how I feel is yet another example of why you, dear sister, are a cruel hypocrite.” Luna then pushed forward, edging her sister towards the other end of the room. Each of Luna’s words cut Celestia like a blade. Luna continued to pace forward; her tears began welling in her eyes as she released all of her pent-up fury. “You know NOTHING about how I feel, you know NOTHING about what you did…what you HAVE DONE TO ME! Imagine being ripped apart and put back together, every single hour of every single day of your life, clinging on to an ever-dwindling hope that you sister LOVES you enough to save you from this TORTURE! A thousand years, Tia. And I barely escaped. Imagine returning home, saved from all of the pain and suffering that blinded you for what seemed like eternity, only to find out that the one you thought loved you most has BETRAYED you, turned you into some kind of monster and shredded any ounce of reputation that YOU EVER HAD!” Luna’s mane flickered as it dissolved into a river of deep blue, stars appearing like crystals in the shadowy appearance of her new mane and tail. Like Celestia’s it moved, but what set Luna’s mane apart was the transparent border of it, constantly moving. Luna’s eyes had gone full nightmare, the blackness filling her entire iris, with nothing but the glare of her glowing horn and Celestia’s horrified face reflecting off of the glassy surface. “Luna… I… I can’t say I put myself in your hooves, but please, I can fix this, everything can be back to normal, I promise. I just…” Celestia’s tears rolled slowly down her face as Luna’s expressionless eyes stared back into her. “I just want things to be back to the way they were, before Discord, before our parents left. I admit, I screwed up, bad, but you need to trust that I can fix this.” The smaller alicorn stepped back, her eyes remaining black and glossy as she walked slowly towards the window of Canterlot Tower. As she scanned across the lands of Equestria, chaos erupted like fire. The angry screams of ponies could be heard clearly from high up in the castle, and Luna knew what was coming. She remained silent as Nightmare Moon smiled in delight. You know this was bound to happen. What was? This horrid disharmony, yes, quite disappointing. Don’t pretend you don’t enjoy it, Luna, this is why I was created, this is why we were made to work together. Take advantage of this chaos, strike while the iron’s hot. You can show these ponies that they need not ridicule you. Ridicule? Yes, Luna. They don’t believe the lies your sister wrote about you. The other ponies think you’re pathetic and weak. We’re going to prove them wrong. They’re going to FEAR you. Luna then turned back to her sister, who was trying to hold back tears. Luna walked past her as she stepped out into the hall. “I can help you fix this,” Celestia called as Luna was about to walk out of the room. “I don’t need your help anymore, I know now why I came back.” Luna crossed over to the open book, seeing the image of Celestia imprisoning her in the moon. “Never again…” Luna then let her last tear drop to the ground. “Luna, please.” Celestia begged as she forced her hoof on to her sister’s shoulder. Luna immediately shook her sister off of her. The night princess used her tail to knock over an urn on a shelf, sending it crashing atop the open pages. Luna said softly with a smile, “This is war, dear sister.”