Ghosts
Torches flared to life along the otherwise dark hallway as Nightmare Moon and her minions entered. The walls on either side of the door were covered with two ancient tapestries depicting Celestia’s yellow sun against a white background. The princess scowled as she tore one down with her magic and tried to set it ablaze with one of the torches, but the tapestry proved impervious to flame, much to her disappointment. “We will dispose of these later,” she told her servants, who merely nodded in acknowledgement. “Let us proceed. I’m sure Celestia hid more than a few fireproof banners here.”
The passage led deep into the castle, much to the dark mare’s bemusement. “Surely I would have noticed this before,” she muttered as she ventured farther down the hall. Torches continued to light themselves every dozen paces or so, illuminating more tapestries. Some bore Celestia’s sun, while others were emblazoned with a silver moon set in black.
The passage eventually opened into a large, domed chamber lit by a glowing orb floating near the ceiling. She stared at it for a moment, considering the complexity of such a spell, before turning her attention to the room’s contents.
In the center of the room stood a stone pedestal bearing a glowing crystal and engraved with the image of a scroll. Four more stood near the walls, one in each corner, each crowned with slightly smaller crystals. She carefully examined the pedestals and found that each bore an image as well—a spear, a paintbrush, a weaver’s loom, and a broom. “I know these marks,” the princess muttered as distant memories stirred in her mind, “but from where?”
She examined the rest of the room carefully but found nothing of interest. She turned her attention to the center pedestal—or more accurately, the crystal it bore. After a moment’s hesitation, she hit the crystal with a dark blue beam of magic. The crystal let out a flash of light, and a moment later, an old orange stallion with a long, gray mane and a scroll-shaped cutie mark appeared in the air.
“Hello, Princess Luna.”
Nightmare Moon gasped as the pegasus’ bright blue eyes stared into her own. “No… it can’t be!”
“By the time you see this, I will undoubtedly have been dead for close to a thousand years,” the pegasus continued. His voice was weaker than she remembered, but there was no mistaking the wisdom behind it. “My name, as you may recall, is Scrollkeeper. It was my honor to stand beside you and your sister and wield the Element of Honesty when Discord threatened our land. Alas, it was also my burden to turn that same power against you after your… unfortunate transformation, and I hope you bear me no ill will. We only did what we thought was best, not only for Everfree and Equestria, but for you as well.”
A part of her wanted to blast the crystal to pieces, but she found herself unable to move, much less attack. “Princess Celestia was kind enough to allow me the use of this crystal, since I will not be around to greet you when you return. I hope, your majesty, that you can forgive us for what we had to do, and I dearly hope that all of Equestria can learn to love your night as we did. More importantly, I hope you will be able to see it.”
The old pegasus bowed, and the image vanished, leaving Nightmare Moon to blink at the space it had occupied. She slowly turned her gaze to the other four crystals. A part of her wanted to destroy them all, along with this room, but another part, a part she hadn’t felt in ages, begged her to watch them all. Reluctantly, she located the pedestal marked with a paint brush and activated the crystal.
“Hey there, princess,” said the purple earth pony that appeared. Her mane had more white than she remembered, but she still had several blue strands of hair left to match her eyes. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”
“Too long,” Nightmare Moon muttered.
As if sensing her response, the mare’s gaze fell to the ground. “It’s me, Color Wheel. The one who bandaged your wing when you first came to Everfree.” She let out a chuckle. “I feel silly saying that, but your sister says your memory might be a little rattled when you get back, so I thought I’d give you a friendly reminder.”
“Friendly. Ha.” The princess couldn’t help but roll her eyes as her memories returned. “After you used the Element of Kindness against me? Pah.”
“Anyways, you’ll be happy to know that Grainthresh and I are doing well. We moved back to Trottingham after… well, you know. Times were tough for a while, but we managed to pull through.” The mare looked up at her, a look of sadness in her eyes. “I’m sorry about what happened, and we all wish there had been some other way, but… well, I just hope you can forgive me. I wish you the best.”
The image faded, and Nightmare Moon moved on to the next crystal. A gray stallion dressed in an old guard uniform appeared, his spear-shaped cutie mark barely visible beneath his armor. “Hello, princess,” he said with a bow. “I… well, I’m not really sure where to start.”
“Shieldwall,” muttered the dark mare. The name felt like acid on her tongue. “You traitor.”
The stallion coughed a couple times as he collected his thoughts. “To this day, your highness, I’m not sure why the Element of Loyalty chose me to replace you. I mean, Scrollkeeper said it was because I was loyal to the true you, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder if that’s really why.” The stallion removed his helmet, revealing a cropped, dark yellow mane. “I keep thinking of how many things I could have done differently, all the things I could have done to stop you from… from…”
The stallion bowed his head for a moment as he took several deep breaths. “I’m not the only one, you know. We’ve all thought about it, even your sister. You should have seen her the morning after you left us. I’ve never seen a pony as brokenhearted as she was… not even me.”
The image faded faster than Nightmare Moon could scoff at his words. “You promised to always stand by my side,” she hissed, “yet even you turned me away for your precious princess of the sun.” She turned to face the last two pedestals, both of which sat opposite the entrance. She selected the one on the left, the one decorated with the image of a broom. “Let’s see what you have to say.”
The princess was greeted not by the energetic colt she remembered, but a full-grown stallion with an orange coat and a rust-red mane. “Greetings, your majesty,” he said. “I’m Cleansweep, by the way. I’ve grown a lot since you saw me last, so I thought I should mention it.”
“As if I could forget,” the dark mare replied, forgetting for a moment that she was talking to a mirage.
“Everypony else has left you a message, so I thought I would, too, seeing as I won’t be able to tell you this myself,” he continued. “It’s been a long time since you were banished. Lots of ponies are telling stories about you to their children, how you helped defeated Discord and all that. Thought you’d like to know that we all still remember you fondly.”
Nightmare Moon couldn’t help but laugh. “Was that before or after they created a holiday dedicated to slandering my name?” she demanded. “Had the legends of Nightmare Moon already begun to spread, too?”
Cleansweep, of course, was incapable of answering. “I don’t have a lot of time, so I’ll just say it was an honor to bear the Element of Laughter by your side, and I hope everything turns out well for you.”
The image vanished, and the princess couldn’t help but wonder if dear Celestia had cut him off on purpose. She turned to the last crystal and wondered for a moment whether she should watch its message. “Might as well,” she muttered as she used her magic to activate the crystal. A teal unicorn mare with a well-kept brown mane appeared. “Well, what do you want?”
“Hello, Luna,” the mare said. Nightmare Moon flinched. “Oh, I mean, Princess Luna. I’m Shuttleweave, in case you don’t remember. I… well, I don’t really have much to say, except that I’m sorry things turned out the way they did. I never thought I’d have to use the Element of Generosity after we defeated Discord, much less against you, but… I guess that didn’t turn out so well.”
Nightmare Moon snorted. “No, not well at all.”
“I… well, I know the party was kind of a disaster, but I hoped you would still accept our gift,” Shuttleweave continued. “Cele—I mean, Princess Celestia said she’d take care of it for me and make sure you got it when the time was right. I know you’ll make a great ruler one day, and I hope you can accept my apology.”
A whooshing sound to her left made Nightmare Moon jump. She turned in time to see a large tapestry unfurl, and for a moment, her breath caught in her throat. “Best of luck, your majesty,” Shuttleweave’s voice said before her image disappeared, leaving Nightmare Moon alone with… well, herself.
The dark mare stared at the tapestry, unable to believe it had survived all this time. It was by far Shuttleweave’s best work. A dark blue alicorn sat in a cobblestone square with her horn aglow, looking intently at the night sky above. The stars gleamed like diamonds—they were, in fact, real diamonds—and the alicorn’s crescent moon cutie mark had been woven with silver thread. “She made this for me,” she murmured, and for a moment, she felt a sense of warmth and peace spread through her chest and fill her body.
The dark mare shook her head and turned away. “It’s a trick,” she told herself. “Just another of Celestia’s tricks.” She walked briskly toward the door, where her Shadowbolts stood waiting at attention. “Destroy it,” she ordered as she stepped into the hall.
“Everything, your majesty?”
Nightmare Moon paused and turned her gaze to the tapestry, which hung against the far wall. “Everything,” she said. The sound of shattering crystal echoed down the hallway after her as she tore every solar banner from the wall. “Nice try, Celestia. But not good enough.” She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice a lone griffon slip across the Zebrican border, nor did she notice that same griffon cross the northern border several hours later.