Old Canterlot, long ago
"Sister, you don't have to do this. Surely we can talk."
"WE ARE DONE TALKING!" The dark alicorn screamed, her voice shattered the castle windows and sent guards flying. Then she lunged, dragging the diarch of the sun through the throne and the wall behind her. The two wrestled in mid-air, Celestia eventually managing to shove whatever her younger sister had become away from her.
"Is this because of what befell the Crystal Empire? We said we did not blame you for that, sister." There was an animal-like snarl from above her. Celestia looked up to see Lu- Nightmare Moon, hovering above her, smiling and incidentally revealing sharp fangs.
"And we do not blame thou for that, either" the dark mare whispered. A blast of cold ice hit Celestia. It stung, it burnt even. She quickly flapped her wings, in a vain attempt to dispell the pain. And then Nightmare Moon rammed into her again. The two smashed through the ceiling of the castle, right into the main chamber. Celestia quickly pulled herself to her hooves, only to find whatever Luna had become smiling still, her eyes changed and slitted like those of a cat.
"Perhaps, dear sister, if you were to... surrender, we would be more willing to see past your prior actions." The hideous mockery of her sister said. Celestia looked at the creature, straight in the eyes. She could see a tear.
"Forgive me" She whispered, before taking flight and racing through the castle, the twisted entity following after her, screaming at her. For all the raw power this 'Nightmare Moon' wielded, she was sorely lacking in control. Perhaps there was something she could do. Her path led her to the Eye of Harmony, as so many ponies kept calling it. An overly dramatic name, since it was what lay inside that mattered. On the pedastal sat the six Elements of Harmony themselves. Most ponies claimed they could feel the raw power radiating from them, which was just blatant lies. She landed in front of the elements, and tried to focus, tried to think of how it had been fighting Discord so long ago, how that had felt. There was a dramatic crash as whatever had taken Luna smashed through the door. It still had her sense of dramatics. That thought gave some small measure of solace to Celestia. There was something of her sister in there. As Nightmare Moon approached her, Celestia became aware that there was a low hum building in pitch.
"What are you doing?" It hissed. The hum grew. The gemstones began to float, and glow with an unearthly power.
"What are you doing?" It demanded. The Elements began to float around Celestia.
"No."
She stared down this creature, this shade in Luna-form.
"Forgive me, Luna."
"NO!" The light poured forth from the Elements, heading towards her.
"I HATE YOU!" It screamed as the light spread across her, binding her and then growing with intensity
.
"I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! IHATEYOUIHATEYOU!" There was a flash as bright as the sun's light, and then the dull thump of stone on stone. Celestia opened her eyes to find... nothing. No Luna, no creature in her skin, no scorch marks, no bits of feather or fur or hair, no trace of her sister. She looked at the Elements, utterly dead. She wasn't sure what to do now. She nudged one, it wobbled slightly and did nothing. The magic was gone. And so was her sister.
*****
Luna jerked away from her sleep, falling off the sofa she'd been sleeping on.
"Hellfire." She muttered darkly. It had all been a dream. And a highly inaccurate dream at that. She certainly didn't recall all that screaming about hate, or the fight itself being that short, from what little she could remember of it.
She looked around the small observatory. It wasn't even evening yet. Slowly she got to her feet. She shook herself, hoping to try and feel more like she was awake. She stood straight, letting the lazy evening light wash over her.
She sagged.
"Need caffeine" she muttered. She looked over at the small kitchenette. She opened the many, many cupboards, finding only a small and completely empty bag that once contained coffee beans. She sighed.
"Why is the coffee always gone?" She started yawning, and sloped towards the front door.
"Oh, yes. That would be why" she said, trying not to walk into anything.
It took her several precious minutes to work her way up to being half-way awake, as she walked across the small bridge to the palace she noted the sun going down. Coffee would have to wait, it seemed. Work came first.
*****
"So, Luna, what are you going to get up to this evening?"
"The same as I do every evening, sister. Why?"
"I was hoping you might attend Twilight Sparkle's birthday party, actually."
Luna stared at her sister.
"Is she not in Ponyville?"
"No, she decided to have her party here in Canterlot."
Luna froze.
"I have other things to do." She said instantly. She resisted the urge to slam her one of her hooves into her face. Clearly the absence of coffee was beginning to dull her mind.
Celestia's expression shifted to one of the faintest disappointment.
"Really? This isn't because of Pinkie Pie, is it?"
"Certainly not." She said, all too quickly. The corner of her sister's mouth curled slightly.
"If I banished her and threw her into a dungeon, would you try and show up at Twilight's party then?" Celestia smirked.
Luna pretended to contemplate this.
"I have heard good things of Shetland lately," she mused.
Celestia shook her head.
"And besides, me, at a birthday party?" Luna said. Celestia raised an eyebrow.
"Don't eyebrow me, sister."
"I was just impressed at how you're coming along. A few weeks ago you were still yelling every other sentence and sounded like a first year Griffon exchange student."
"Well, Cadance has been quite the help in that regard."
Her sister's grin began to grow.
"Although I hear you are having trouble with 'fun'" she said. It was Luna's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"I know how this goes" she said, looking about the corridor, which was completely empty of ponies, save the two princesses.
"I'll say something to the effect of it being falsehood on my part, at which point our niece shall appear and declare 'Ah-ha! We knew it, you were decieving us!' At which point we'll have to hide from her wrath, which will no doubt involve frilly dresses of some kind."
Celestia stared at her younger sister.
"You really think Cadance would do that?"
"YES!"
Luna coughed.
"Sorry. I just woke up and haven't been able to acquire any coffee yet."
"I think there's some in one of the kitchens."
"Thank you."
*****
There was. Which led to one poor kitchen scullion walking in on Luna singing an ode to coffee, which would have only been a bit embarrassing if Luna could've sung in something other than the Traditional Canterlot Voice. After a few muttered apologies she returned to her observatory, keeping her lyrical musings on the wonders of caffeine to herself. Then on the way there she tragically and mysteriously ran out of coffee. So she stopped at a nearby (and conveniently placed) coffee vendor, purchasing several gallons worth. The salespony sitting at the cash register briefly considered asking if such a large intake of caffeine was safe until visions of being banished and thrown into a dungeon came to mind, and decided to just smile and nod.
Of course since as an alicorn Luna was less susceptible to scalding hot water than the average pony, that caffeine vanished quickly. So she simply decided to just restock on some from the local store, thus confusing the Canterlot press when the Princess of the Night was seen purchasing coffee like an everyday pony. An everyday pony who spoke loud enough to make shelves fall over and was significantly taller than the national average, but an everyday pony nonetheless.
*****
After several agonising minutes, Luna's coffee was finally prepared. She looked around the cramped quarters she tended to reside in, hoping to see a useful mug. There was none.
She then uttered a colourful metaphor, and began the Mug Quest.
Half an hour later, and the quest ended as she found one lurking at the back of one of the many cupboards. Thus began the serving of Her Royal Highness's coffee, which took all of a few seconds.
Luna sighed and carefully sipped the coffee she had made. Made, she said to herself. She was quiet proud of that. A whole year since she'd been de-nightmared and she knew how to make coffee, a feat worthy of song and legend. She looked around the observatory, all the careful notes and charts and the occasional book on grammar left by the well-meaning Cadance. She sat in the small throne of cushions she'd made for herself and relaxed.
Then she felt something. A strange tingling in the back of her mind.
"Who's there?" She said.
"Show yourself!" There was a flittering noise.
"Okay, okay. Calm down, your highness." She looked for the source of the voice, which belonged to a royal blue unicorn with a dark blue mane accented with two orange stripes sitting on the steps leading to her largest telescope.
"Hello, Luna."
She paused for a moment.
"Who are you?" The royal blue mare frowned.
"I'm fairly certain you know, considering you've been rummaging around inside my dreams lately. But, if you need a reminder in your caffeine-addled state, I am Midday Eclipse."
Luna frowned. She did recognise the name, now that the caffeine had restored her mind to optimum functioning capacity.
"What is your real name?" she asked. The mare smiled at that.
"Twilight Twinkle."
Luna did not react.
"You are the one who claimed to be the time-lost daughter of Twilight Sparkle?" she asked calmly. The mare nodded.
"That's me."
Luna took another sip.
"Intriguing."
The mare's expression didn't change.
"You don't believe me."
"It is quite the improbable thing. How could I deny it? How would I go about disproving it?"
The mare smiled.
"You're right. I'd need some evidence, something only somepony from the future would know, or something nopony of this time knows."
She put a chin to her hoof, and hummed.
"Something like, say, the fate of the Defiler."
Luna stared at her for a few seconds.
"By which, of course, I mean Sombra." She then span around three times and did a strange jig.
"Sorry" she said sheepishly, "Apparently that helps keep him at bay, and since I don't want to risk his making an appearance..."
"He was defeated." Luna said, slowly. "Rest assured, I happened to be there when it happened."
"No, you kicked the everloving crap out of him and dropped a huge chunk of ice on him. Not the same as defeating the Despised."
She leaned in and looked at Luna.
"You know, when I was a kid I found testimony from a witness of that battle. Quite amazing, considering" her expression suddenly shifted to that of nervousness. The mare began staring at her hooves, "I always wanted to ask you about that."
"Pardon?"
"I just always though it was cool, you charging Sombra's Witch-King Parliment head-on, while Celestia fought the Shadowed One. Although I don't think a Princess should have know the words you apparently uttered."
Luna's eyes went wide. She did recall, through the haze of other memories that day making some choice utterances that her sister, had she known Luna had known of them, would have asked some serious questions about how she'd learnt of them. Those memories were quickly discarded, however.
"The Crystal Empire survived?" She said, unmistakable glee in her voice. Her wings flapped, sending several notes flying about the room.
"What happened with that anyhow? How come you two didn't notice what Sombra" she span and jigged, "Was up to?"
Luna looked embarrassed. Midday's eyes went wide, as she seemed to deduce what Luna was not saying.
"Oh" she said quietly. "That... yeah, that would probably explain your anger. And a couple other things" Midday said. Luna stared ahead into the distance. When she spoke, her voice was quiet, and distant.
"I didn't think it was true. It didn't sound true, and 'Tia believed me. And I kept thinking I destroyed them. One of them managed to escape his grasp and reach us and We did not believe him because it sounded so untrue. And 'Tia agreed with me." There was a slight sob. The small unicorn gently put a blanket around Luna.
"And then the depths of Sombra's crimes came to light, and I could only curse myself, and raged in my shame."
"And I'm guessing that destroyed your self-esteem."
"Yes."
"And probably helped fuel your guilt and anger, making you go all... Nightmare-y."
"Yes."
"I know a bit of what that feels like" the mare said. Luna's eyes narrowed.
"Do you? Do you really know what it is like? What being Nightmare Moon was like? Wanting to kill our only sister out of misplaced guilt?" she hissed. The mare just stared at her.
"Yes. You've been in here." She said, tapping the side of her head. She looked at Luna for a second, and then a puzzled expression overcame her face. "Haven't you seen what I did?"
"No." Now it was Luna's turn to look confused.
"Then I'll give you a sneak preview." She closed her eyes, and her horn glowed, and she seemed to grow, and shrink at the same time. Her legs became taller, and thin. Her horn became longer,and sharper, her ears more pronounced and her tail looked almost like a fillament, her coat darkened, the orange stripes in her mane turned bronze. Her eyelids opened, revealing cat-like eyes that glowed a wicked dark orange.
"Behold. Nightmare Eclipse" she declared, her voice sounded older and lower and somewhat huskier. She was about the same size as Luna now, at least in height.
"No wings though, as you may have noticed" she added. Luna's jaw dropped.
"How... how did..." The mare's horn glowed, and instantly the illusion vanished.
"History doesn't repeat, but it has been known to rhyme. My anger was focused solely on one pony, rather than many." She sighed.
"It is not something I would like to speak about."
"My sister told me of what you told her, you did not mention this." Luna whispered, still horrified.
"No. I didn't" the mare said quietly.
"You lied to her." Luna said, now firmly back in the there-and-now, and feeling incensed. Then the mare looked hesitant.
"I omitted."
"A lie of omission is still a lie."
"She didn't need to know."
There was a pause.
"It didn't last anywhere near as long with me as it did with you. I was only halfway done when..."
"When what?"
"I was fueled by grief and guilt, and some madness, rather than envy born of isolation. Mostly because it was all my fault to begin with. And I almost accomplished what I'd been trying to do. The shock managed to break me out of it. And the massive blast of concentrated love. That helped." Midday said, her voice leaden.
"There might also have been a bit of envys" she whispered.
"Of whom?" The mare looked straigh at Luna.
"I am from the future, Luna. And I know of what your sister has buried in a safe in another safe in a bunker inside another bunker guarded by giant sword wielding golems." Luna was startled, though another part of her noted that the mare hadn't actually answered her question at all.
"I see." she said, trying to sound calm. Then Midday looked alarmed.
"Gosh, I didn't think I was right. I was just being flippant."
Luna frowned. She connected the dots from the mare's constantly shifting dialogue.
"You are just a unicorn?"
"Yeah. And you think that means your sister's brilliant plan to give unlimited power to a mare who still hasn't learnt to control her inner monologue won't work." She made a derisive 'tut' noise.
"Trust me, it worked."
The two sat there for a moment, a nearby clock slowly ticking.
"So, your envy and guilt..."
"Yeah, same as you. I got a front-row seat to watch my entire being get used to kill somepony I cared about. Using my voice, my magic, my thoughts to try and kill my family."
"Yes. That was how it was for me." Luna's voice was quiet. "I tried, I tried to fight it and I couldn't. It used me to hurt and to kill and destroy." Tears were beginning to form in her eyes.
"I tried! I tried so hard! And I wasn't strong enough! Wasn't good enough! I should have been able to stop myself. I should!"
The mare moved over to her, and tried to embrace Luna, no easy feat considering the difference in size.
"And 'Tia forgave me in a heartbeat and I don't deserve it. I don't."
Tears began to fall from Luna's eyes.
"And I spent a thousand years not asleep or awake or feeling, just the blink of an eye and everything I knew had changed and what few friends I had were gone, and all I could do was find out how they had died." She sobbed.
"And I keep telling myself that 'Tia would not have fallen. She would have been strong and fought back and won where I could not." Midday bit her lip.
"And the only ponies I talk to on any regular basis are my sister, my niece, and Twilight Sparkle, and with her only through correspondence."
"I thought I saw some letters bearing your seal lying around the library. She's asking about Equestria back then, isn't she?"
Luna nodded. "Yes."
"And that's making you feel worse. Or at the very least not helping with the memories."
"Yes."
"I'm sorry" Midday said.
"Why exactly are we telling you this anyway?" Luna said, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"I've just got that sort of face. Ponies never stop blurting things out to me."
"Star-Swirl used to say things like that."
"Bet he did."
The two mares sat there in the quiet, and dark. After a few seconds, Luna found herself smiling faintly.
"I do actually feel a bit better for telling somepony this. And, if you are right, that the Crystal Empire will return, that is something."
"Don't you ever do anything to cheer yourself up?" Midday asked.
"Well, sometimes I drink coffee. Move the stars around. Go for flights in the countryside. Pretend my grasp of modern Equestrian isn't as good as one might assume to bothe-" She paused and glanced about the room for anything that looked remotely like it could hide a bright pink alicorn.
"No, we shan't finish that sentence. Just in case."
"Do you sing?" Luna looked at Midday, who was now giving her an inquisitive look again.
"I... could sing. If I so desired" she shuffled slightly.
"But?" the mare asked. Luna coughed.
"I have not yet got the hang of singing in more... modern ways."
"You still sing in the TCV?" Midday smiled.
"Perhaps."
"Let's hear it then."
Luna shuffled. She was not used to anypony asking her to do anything, especially not with any enthusiasm, and definitely not the enthusiasm the mare in front of her was showing.
"Really?"
"Yeah, go on. What's Celestia gonna do, banish you and throw you into a dungeon in the place she's banished you to?"
Luna suddenly frowned. "Where in the world did that phrase come from? We have heard the castle staff speak of it often over the last few months, but where did it come from?"
"Fluttershy, I think. Or Twilight. And from there it probably spread via word-of-mouth like wildfire. Sounds like something Ms Overthinker would come up with."
"Yes, I have heard of her inclination towards overreaction." The unicorn jabbed her with a hoof.
"Hey! Stop distracting me by changing the subject and sing."
"Very well then. As you modern ponies say, 'you asked for it'."
She began to hum, and soon began to speak lyrics.
"Louder." Midday smiled, taking a step back.
She got louder.
"Louder!" She did, the dishes began to rattle.
"LOUDER!" She got louder. The whole room shook.
"BETTER!" Midday said. Unfortunately Luna misheard that and started singing louder still. After a few moments Midday joined in.
*****
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" Shining Armor yelled, falling out of his bed, before rushing half-dressed out into the street, a barely conscious Twilight Sparkle soon following behind.
*****
Six ponies and one dragon spilled out into the hallway of Canterlot Castle, all looking confused (and in some cases, alarmed).
"What's going on?"
"What'n the wide world of apples?!"
"Is Canterlot under attack?"
"Is it the end of the world? Couldn't it come back later?"
"Sacre bleu, que c'est?!"
"Is it an earthquake? Or demons? Or earthquake demons?"
"No. Listen, girls" Rarity said, holding up a hoof, "That's... somepony singing!"
"What?! You call that 'singing'?"
"I admit it's a lot louder than I'd prefer, but yes. Certainly someone singing."
"Kids these days" Applejack muttered.
*****
After what felt like a few seconds, Luna stopped singing. As she did, she saw Midday staring at her, smiling broadly.
"There?" Midday said, utterly grateful to whoever it was that had made that sound-proofing charm. "Doesn't that feel better?"
"Yes. Although I believe I might need to get somepony to fix the door." Midday turned to look at the apparently stil-intact door and frowned.
"Looks fine to m-" Suddenly the door shattered inwards, and a large purple and green shape walked through what remained, a bleary-eyed Shining Armor following behind, with Twilight Sparkle behind him. The green and purple shape, which was in fact a large-build pegasus, came to a halt in front of Princess Luna and saluted.
"APOLOGIES, OH GRAND AND GLORIOUS LUNA, BUT WE ASSUMED YOU WERE IN DISTRESS!"
"Indoor voice, Big Lug. Please" Shining Armor said, in the manner of the long-suffering.
"Sorry" The guard rumbled.
"Why don't you go stand guard outside?" Shining Armor suggested. With a nod, the guard turned and lumbered back out of the doorway, as Shining Armor turned to look at Princess Luna.
"Your Highness" the guard captain bowed, "What exactly just happened?"
"I was singing" she said, with an amazingly straight face. Twilight Sparkle looked impressed.
"Was that singing in Old Equestrian?" she asked in awe.
"Yes, yes it was. Though it isn't usually that loud, I assure you."
"It sounded like somepony being knifed to death." The guard captain muttered, before suddenly realising he'd said that out loud.
"Well, singing was different back then." Twilight said, defensively, before he could say anything.
"You sang loud, proud, often, and with generous helpings of mead." Midday added. Luna place a hoof on the mare's shoulder and shook her head.
"Nay, child. Not helpings, nor your modern 'units'. We drank by the barrel."
"And here I was wondering why Celestia was considered the goody four-shoes" the royal blue unicorn smirked.
"You have stopped now, right?" Shining Armor asked, not insignificant amounts of hope in his voice. He'd been dreaming about a small house in the countryside with Cadance, and several foals, and felt quite sure he was never going to see that dream again.
"For now" Luna said.
"Well then" Shining Armor sighed, dreading how he was going to write up the report in the morning, "That's that then." At which point he turned and headed back to his bed, and dreams of marital bliss and no paperwork ever again.
Twilight spared a second to glance at Midday and Luna, before walking out of the door herself. Midday suddenly found herself feeling very weary.
"Well, this was... not how I was expecting today to go. And I should probably go get some rest. It's Spike's birthday next week, and if today," she looked at a clock, "Yesterday was any indication, it's gonna be hectic."
"Of course."
She turned back to Luna. "You still don't believe I'm her daughter?"
"We... might have changed our opinion. We were just wondering as to your alias." Midday suddenly felt cold, which in no way was helped by the draught caused by the shattered door.
"You are aware of the etymology of the word 'eclipse', I take it?" Luna said, a look of concern on her face.
"Painfully." She said, quietly. "Good night, Princess Luna."
"Good night, Twilight Twinkle" Luna said, gently.
At this, the mare's face suddenly turned a different shade of purple. Then she quickly ran out into the night, leaving the lunar diarch alone with her thoughts.