The Moon and the Caterpiller

by Dreyaz Laartii


Chapter 2

Day Two
waning

The rain was falling harder now. The blood had mixed thoroughly with the water that had begun to pool in the broken crater and rubble beneath her, and she shuddered as she saw a small doll floating down towards her. The smell of broken bones and marrow greeted her nose, and she would have retched if her chest and limbs were not pinned down with the spears her sister had planted to immobilize her. It hurt immensely, but it was nothing compared to her heart.
He’s dead. You saw him die. Mother is dead. Our little Cadance…she is probably dead too after what happened. They’re all dead and broken.
The stench of gore was overpowering. Her sister was staring at her with a mix of dispair, rage, pity…the list could go on. “End it now sister. It’s the only way after what happened. Please, put us out of our misery.” Celestia stood tall, and look around to survey the destruction. Steaming tears rolled down from her eyes. “They’re really gone. Mother…” she went silent as she choked up and began sobbing. “I…can’t lose you after this. Even after what you did…I just can’t be that cruel to you and myself. Please understand.” Luna was about to speak when the vile thing inside her reared its ugly head and pushed her aside. “You’re pathetic.”
Celestia looked up from her hooves, and stopped sobbing. “I killed them all, you stupid, STUPID filly! THEY’RE DEAD! Take your wretched revenge on your WRETCHED, MAD SISTER! Avenge your mother, your ni-” Luna gained a small foothold of temporary control. She/it/they looked at the water and saw their reflection. The right half of her face was dark red, covered in blood. The slitted eye of the Nightmare peered from that side, while Luna’s eye stared back from the left, eyes puffy from crying and exhaustion. A familiar blackness was stretching towards her. Celestia sighed.



Luna jolted awake, her heart beating madly from the vivid memory. She groaned, and groggily rolled over in her bed. It was around dinnertime, and she cautiously eyed the strange time-telling machine Twilight Sparkle had given her for Hearth’s Warming Eve over a year ago. The strange device displayed numbers that actually changed before her eyes as the time passed, and its glowing in the dark without the benefit of fire or magic disturbed her greatly. Magic, she could understand, but technology that emulated magic? That was truly distressing. She cautiously poked at the clock that indicated that the time was but a single minute before her usual time of rising for dinner to greet her sister.
Upon poking the device, it elicited a vile shrieking sound that caused the midnight blue alicorn to yell and fall off her bed. Growling, she crushed the foul machine with her mind into a small metal ball no bigger than the head of a pin, and threw it out the window. She heard a yell as the small yet extraordinarily dense ball impacted something loudly.

She sighed. This was exactly what her sister had been lecturing her about. Part of the problem she had in assimilating herself into life with her subjects and family stemmed simply from the sleep schedule she was bound to. Very few ponies, with the exception of the Night Guard, ever really spent much of the time she was awake with her. She smiled as she walked over to the window and watched the setting sun.
While Celestia had that odd wizard Dragolis to rely on for company throughout the years, she had relied on the captain of her night guard, Sagittarius, who had been one of the few ponies prior to her banishment that she still knew.
A son of her estranged aunt Chrysalis, who had very nearly staged a successful coupe during her daughter’s wedding, had always been overlooked by many of her sister’s subjects for so long simply for lack of his horn.
When their mother died and Chrysalis went into exile, Sagittarius had dueled Celestia for right of succession, and lost.
Back in the old days before her sister banished her, Celestia had been known far and wide as a fierce warrior-princess, and had been victorious in many wars against Equestria’s enemies with Luna; the last being with Discord, who sowed the seeds of her...unhinging…and subsequent banishment that was escalated by the battle against Sombra.
Sagittarius had fought for almost a full day in an effort to wear Celestia out, as he was renowned for his almost limitless stamina and patience. Celestia, having neither of these, scorched the forest that had covered what is now ponyville into a barren, ashen quagmire. He had then been forced to engage her sister in open combat, which resulted in her ripping his horn right out of his skull.

Though he had thankfully survived the ordeal, Luna had never forgiven her sister for that act, despite Sagittarius doing so in the intermittent years of her imprisonment. While he would never be able to perform magic again, he had raised taking advantage of her sister’s guilt towards him to an art form, and had been able to live quite comfortably during her banishment; keeping the Night Guard alive and under his command during the hours of Celestia’s sleep while many generations of mortal unicorns commanded the Day Guard.
She noticed him readying the Night Guard out of their barracks, and folded her front legs on the balcony, watching him. Despite the fact that he was her cousin, she did feel an uncomfortable attraction towards him, which troubled her less than it should have. Such familial barriers as incest had never existed in the royal court, as the alicorn bloodline was not only held utterly pure through magic, but through the ability to breed with anypony they really desired, as evidenced by her daughter’s choice.
Despite this, Luna had always deeply respected what her cousin did for her, especially now with her return from banishment. More so than would have allowed her to…ask him about such things. Sagittarius was exceptionally tall like his mother, and would have been taller still if he still had his magnificent horn. He had his mother’s mesmerizing eyes, and her methodical thinking (thankfully without the megalomania). His armor was forged from what looked like the same ebony as her crown, darker than midnight and not reflecting a single ray of light.

Celestia, it seemed, had kept the peace in Luna’s ensuing absence not through her own reputation, but through his. Apparently the removal of his horn had forced the vast amounts of magic normally on tap for an alicorn or unicorn to exert its influence through his body. The armor, if anything, was more than likely just an extension of his will, a physical use for his excess of power. Though he had lost the ability to pick up the simplest of objects with his mind, he had gained an unnatural strength and stamina compounded upon his already remarkable fortitude, as well as being seemingly impervious to harm, especially with his armor on.

Luna leaned closer to look at him. In the past four centuries, she had read, Sagittarius had single-handedly reformed physical combat and self-defense through his own prowess and ingenuity. Pegasus royal guards who had once relied on dropping bombs or even stones now could wield swords with deadly efficiency, and even use their wings themselves as a weapon, utilizing the natural magicks that allowed them to fly and control the weather to be wielded in the form of sharp wind that could crack even the hardest of stone, or rend the toughest of hides.
For all the time that she had known him, though, he had never taken on a mate, or even seen out in public with a mare. While he was obviously hardworking, she had often suspected him of-
“Well, there you are, mother. Don’t you need to get ready for the raising of the moon?” Cadence’s voice jolted Luna out of her reverie, and back into reality. “Yes, certainly. I was just looking at…your dyn-uncle down there. Did you know-” Luna stopped as she noticed Cadence’s face. She was utterly confused.
“My…what-uncle?”
“Your dyn-uncle. He is my aunt’s son; didn’t you ever learn geneology? It certainly figures into your occupation, you know.”
She looked mortified “Oh. By aunt, do you mean?..”
“Yes, although he’s nothing at all like her. Didn’t Tia ever tell you about him? Bring him to dinner with you ever?”
“…No. This is the first time…I’ve heard of him. Where is he?”
Luna shifted uncomfortably, realizing her mistake.
“That tall one down there.”
“…You’re kidding. He doesn’t even have a horn. How-”
Cadence stopped in mid-sentence as realization dawned over her. “He’s…disabled?”
Luna laughed loudly at the unbecoming description. “Oh, certainly not. Neither was he born that way. Come, we’ll talk about it on the way; it’s the story about how Tia got her crown, although probably not the one she told you…”


The Last Prince of the Earth looked up at the balcony. His cousin and sa-niece had been looking down at him from on high, contemplating the Azj’li; the sordid past, as her forlorn and sad soul tended to do. He had been worried for her return for so long, it seemed difficult to reconcile that she was actually back, presiding over the night once again. The breaking of her prison and her forceful exorcism were something he had not witnessed, as he had shepherded Celestia to Ashaa’de, the realm of eternal fires.
The realm trekked across the sky itself, as another world bound to the influence of the Sun. Closer than this temperate world to the raging inferno She commanded, She was the only one aside from himself able to breathe the poison air, and feel the scorched winds without burning alive. She chose to leave through Faith, not Fear as many have suspected Her of.
He continued his walk away from the barracks, towards the well. Staring down upon the water, he saw reflected from the veil the beginnings of a star-strewn sky, and his thoughts turned back to his pariah Princess of the Moon. She had not faced his mother in open combat, as she had slept through the ordeal. It was not her failing. His mother had grown powerful in her sickness, and had gathered a vast multitude of followers with flesh twisted by malign earth magicks such as she had done to herself. They would have overrun the whole of the kingdom if it had not been for the irony of his sa-niece’s power, and the failing of the elements.
He pitied his wayward mother. He hated the madness that had taken root in her mind over the countless millennia. He was much older than his cousins, and his mother was ancient and mighty through her uncounted years. The younger cousin still held true to the old traditions, though yearned for acceptance to the point of abandoning them in favor for the affections of her subjects.
The water darkened as more stars came to light across the sky. Daj-iir Valsis; what beauty is made for all. He looked to the sky and marveled at the infinity that his niece held within her grasp. Her power was beyond understanding, and if the abilities of her daughter were any indication, the dark princess had barely tapped a drop from the ocean of her magic. The Demon within her could not wield it, though it poured forth from her more powerful than his mother could ever hope to achieve. Croisis, their father was a loss to them all! Ascension beyond the physical realm was infinite selfishness, as he had left without preparing for his absence. The all suffered from his vacancy of the throne even to this day.
Aven-Sol was magic incarnate; he created the very practice of spells and brought it to the unicorns, poor in their wisdom of the world. He cared nothing for anypony but his aunt, Vivale, and shunned his sister; his mother, when her greed turned to madness. Her exile had occurred after her murdering his father for attempting to force her mind to change. In her megalomania she could not accept betrayal, so she sapped his magic and ate his soul, turning his body to ash.
She had convinced herself that her husband did not die, but lived in her soul. Her madness and guilt clear, the king had ordered him to exile his own mother, which he did willingly after witnessing the madness that had enveloped her. Though he was still young at the time, he still had far more power than his mother or father ever had at their command, even with her adding his power to her own.

What hurt him though, was not banishing his mother.

It was her praise.

After failing miserably against the power of his binding spell, she lavished love and praise as she always had for his abilities. It was only at that point in time that he realized that she never loved him; she loved his power. She praised him for defeating her, and weaved terrible visions of a world she had made in her twisted mind.

Eternal eclipse. All flesh of the world buried in the ground, and the souls of the dead bound to her will. An endless fungal forest, turning the rot of the world into life eternal. All magic of the earth funneled into her, making her almighty form infinite and a fact of reality itself.

After leaving her in the forest he had almost been rendered deaf at her screams of rage, and naught but a week after her exile, over half of Equestria was struck with a terrifying plague, which caused the body to hemorrhage massively. His mind had been scarred by the sight of the streets running red with blood of the dead and dying. The disease was so prevalent that it had killed off much of the royal court, including Celestia’s children, who had been the last parting gift of her father’s will; a miracle that had defeated her infertility.
Celestia scorched the forest to the ground, and killed tens of thousands of creatures and millions of plants in the effort of annihilating his mother. It did not work, and in under a year the mad forest had grown back exactly as it had before. Celestia, for the first time in history, gave up against one of Equestria’s enemies.

Recently, a renegade Zebra high priestess had taken refuge in the forest. While much of her power lay in the study of alchemy, she was possessed of mighty and alien magicks that his mother could not combat, as well as her own physical prowess. He did not know why such a high-profile foreigner had taken refuge in their borders, but since she tended to help more than harm, he turned a blind eye to the Zjaver’hin; the Striped One. The sun had begun to set, and he decided to begin his rounds.


Celestia was uncomfortable. While nothing was out of place now, her sister’s traumatic morning had been a surprise to everyone, especially her. She had made it clear time and time again that Luna was her co-ruler and beloved sister, despite her past sins. The staff still viewed her with suspicion. At first, she believed that they had only her own well-being in mind, but after the incident this morning, she had taken a slightly more…pessimistic view. They just didn’t like her.
Her smile brightened as her acute hearing noticed her niece walking down the halls with Luna, laughing about something. Things would be well again, certainly. Give it time, she told herself. All problems fade with enough time.

Cadence wasn’t sure whether to be fascinated at this new information or afraid. While Chrysalis was certainly the most terrifying individual she had ever encountered, the older history of her aunt, and of the family in general was…disturbing, to say the least. Madness, ascension beyond understanding, death and desertion…it was depressing. Her mother prattled on about something regarding ancient talismans as they rounded the corner towards the dining hall. I had no idea this was so complicated, she thought to herself. As glad as I am to have Mother back…she brings the strange and…unnatural truths of our collective past to bear more readily than many of us are comfortable with. Luna was smiling at her, after asking about Shining Armor.
“His sister is certainly amazing, as you probably know. Did you know that she is the only mortal in history to be the bearer of the Element of Magic? Such potential she wields for-” Luna stopped short. They were just about to turn into the main hallway in the kitchen, and Cadence had stopped; her legs were shaking. “What troubles you, daughter?” She said lightly. Cadence had a withdrawn look, and Luna could see that it was with great effort that she was maintaining her composure.
“Mortality.” She spat vehemently. “Love and happiness, children, raising a family, grandfoals. Then death. But not for me. Why did you have me, knowing that you’d lose him?” Luna was taken aback at the question. Cadence was staring at her with a face halfway between a glare and a pleading for answers and comfort. Luna cleared her throat as she spoke. “He…didn’t exactly have a choice, your father,” Cadence looked off to the side, embarrassed. “I…he passed away very shortly before my banishment. It…was my request to be sealed away because of what happened to him and all the others…” Luna choked as she felt her daughter nuzzle up against her.
“I forgive you.”

The words sent a shock through her body. A thousand years of loneliness and despair rushed through her, and in a single instant of clarity, she realized at last that she truly was home. After everything that had happened, after all the sins she could never atone for…her daughter had forgiven her, barely knowing the whole of the story. Luna buried her face deep in her daughter’s hair, sobbing gently. She had been forgiven out of the pure, unconditional love her Cadance held for her, and in an instant the demon that had shifted in the depths of her mind and heart screamed for its life, and its voice was extinguished. A small ribbon of darkness wound its way out of her ear, and fluttered into the dark of the night. It would return when the time was right.

Celestia looked up from her book. Luna came walking in with Cadence, and both were smiling warmly, and laughing over some anecdote. The princess of the Sun raised her eyebrow as she saw her sister take a seat with sublime grin of contentment on her face, and saw her take a long look at her daughter, Cadence. Cadence was talking with the chef over orders, and was busy explaining something in particular detail. Luna closed her eyes, blissfully, and hummed an old song to herself. “Sister…you’re in a good mood.” Celestia’s voice opened Luna’s eyes. Luna paused. “It’s strange. I haven’t felt this good since I got back. I was always worried about what you’d say to me, what Cadance would do, how I would explain things. I’m not worried about that any more. I’m just happy the way things are and will be with us three.”
Cadance had finished the order, and had her eyes closed as she slowly ate a stuffed pretzel appetizer, in silent delight. “Luna…I’m not quite sure what to say. I can certainly sense something…lighter around you, certainly. Cadance, what-” Celestia was stopped short by the sight of her niece blissfully unaware of the world around her, savoring the taste of the rather large stuffed pretzel she was consuming. Needless to say, she was busy.
Celestia smiled, and looked at Luna, who stifled her laughter at the sight.

The dinner was delicious. Alicorns, particularly princess Celestia, actually enjoyed meat quite a bit, and it was only on rare occasions that they knew their dinner would not be interrupted that they could enjoy roast duck, pork pot stickers, and all manner of meaty delicacies that would be abhorrent to their subjects should they witness it. Celestia herself always had a severe appetite for dark meat and bacon, the latter of which caused more of a problem in maintaining her figure, as she tended to gorge herself on it during bouts of depression.
Cadance, however, had always remained a vegetarian. Surprisingly, this was not done out of health concerns or noble ideals, but the mere fact that because of her abilities, every time she took a bite of meat, she was assaulted with the collective memories of the animal from which the meat, eggs or dairy came from, going back many generations until she passed out from being overwhelmed.
The royal doctor had told her that this was due to unlocking something called “mitochondrial DNA”, and her magic inadvertently peering into the past by consuming the billions of cells in the food product. The ordeal was so traumatic for her that the first time it happened, she was in a coma for a week. Celestia was utterly bewildered by the concept as it was explained to her, as such an aberration had never occurred in her living memory. Clearly, this was the trade-off she had to face for the mantle of her power.

Luna’s ear twitched. She dropped the chicken drumstick she had been eating, and felt a prickling on the back of her neck. She looked behind her, towards the window. A small sliver of midnight blackness was coiled behind a window, waiting. Shuddering, she turned back to her meal, and immediately forgot what she had just seen. Better to enjoy the now.

Cadance was very happy. She had helped her mother put aside some of her personal demons, and had the first dinner with her immediate family for the first time…ever. Her mother shone with joy as she almost skipped down the hallway before her, the moonlight catching her mane. “Cadance?” Luna was staring back at her from the end of the hallway, smiling at her. “Yes, mother?” Luna turned around all the way to face her. “Would you like to see something wonderful?”
Her mother smiled at her, with a knowing twinkle in her eye. “Of course,” Cadance answered. “What is it?” Luna smiled and hopped up on the edge of the balcony. “Follow me, daughter.”
Luna led her daughter up into the night sky, through the cloud layer. Cadance had always wondered why her mother worked to design the night sky even during overcast nights such as this. What she saw took her breath away.

The moon shone down upon the mountains of clouds as clearly as the daylight sun, and mighty precipices and rolling ridges of clouds stood massive around the two, dwarfing them.

Above, Luna saw her daughter gasp at the night sky.

The aurora flowed across the backdrop of night, ribbons of greens and reds and all manner of wonderful colors stretched into the heavens, colors reflected onto the glorious valley of clouds they had emerged in.
“Mother, this is…” Cadance stood upon the cloud with her mouth open in awe, struggling for words. There was nothing the little alicorn could say to describe the majesty she was witness to. “I had been working on this idea for several weeks since the wedding. I thought it would be a good present, what do you think?” Cadance’s eyes welled up in tears. Her mother had organized all of this…for her? “I can’t…this…this is AMAZING!” Luna smiled as she felt her daughter’s embrace, and looked to the magnificent scene around them. She whispered lightly into her Cadance’s ear.

“Nothing, my daughter, is as amazing as you.”

They held each other and watched the sky until the dawn came.