You thought about it for a quick minute and decided to give them your answer. “I’d like to go to Princess Luna’s room, please.” You said. The two Guards in front of you nodded their head and signaled for you to follow them.
You followed the guards patiently and quietly up to Luna’s private chambers. You looked around you, and admired the beautiful architecture that made the palace as beautiful as it is. The grand arches and the massive stained glass windows all made it an impressive looking vista. Luna’s tower seemed to be no exception.
As you begin the walk across the bridge that leads to Luna's room, you got a small glimpse of it from the outside through the many windows. It’s the second tallest tower in the castle, so it almost easily catches your eye. The massive buttresses give it a Gothic look, and it is truly a fitting tower for the Goddess of the Moon. You pass by several other guards, all staring at you, looking for any signs of trouble.
Upon reaching the door to her room you gave it a quick knock and waited for her to answer. “You may enter.” The voice said coming from the other side of the door.
You opened up the door to see Luna emerge with a book she had just pulled from her bookshelf. Her face lit up upon seeing that it was you instead of her other guards. You returned her enthusiasm by giving her a warm smile. “Hello, Princess. How are you doing?” You asked while slowly closing the door to her room.
Luna placed the book down on her bed and motioned you to walk with her outside to the balcony. The room appeared to be neat and well taken care of, not a single thing looked out of place within the room. It was full of books and other artifacts that seemed to be almost ancient. “I’m doing fine. I’m just getting ready for the night court.” She said while leaning on the balconies railing staring up at the sun.
“Night Court?” You asked.
“Yeah, Celestia rules the kingdom during the day, while I rule the kingdom during the night. The day court and the night court.” Luna said while letting out a small childish smile. Despite it being two thousand years since you've last seen them, it feels like you just saw them a day ago.
“I see… So what’s this kingdom called? What did you name it?”
“It’s called Equestria, Celestia had named it after we took control and unified it under one rule.” Luna said already knowing what your question was going to be. “Before you ask, yes. We took control of a smaller kingdom and began to wage against all the neighboring kingdoms who didn’t want to join and those who didn't...well let's just say that they're not here today.” Luna said with a small sigh.
You tilted your head in confusion. The one law that Gods had to obey was to never rule over the mortals. Celestia and Luna seemed to have broken the rule. “But the rule-”
“The rule was broken after you turned to stone. Everything went to shit after you turned to left.” Luna said as if she was starting to be reminded of something. “The remaining gods split up and began to fight for power. With you out of the picture, Endless recovering from his injuries and Forever…in Tartarus, there was no one left to keep us in check. Celestia tried to keep everyone in line but that could only work for so long. The only gods that are still on our side are Typhoon and Delirium. The two of them help us out whenever there’s a threat from the other gods. I’m sorry, brother, but the world's not the same as you once knew it.” Luna said closing her eyes and turning her face from you as if she was expecting to experience your wrath, but she soon opened her eyes upon hearing you sigh.
“I expected as much. The universe needs Death to remind them who’s in charge, which brings me to my next question. Who’s been reaping the souls since I’ve been gone?" You asked fearing that some incompetent fool has been doing your job for you since you couldn’t do it yourself or even worse, no one was doing it at all. “Also you don’t have to shy away from me, Luna. I’m not angry…just disappointed.”
“Oh, uh. I’m sorry. Look you’re going to find this funny but the person, who took over your job, was Ladius.” Luna said with a small giggle upon seeing your reaction, which was mixed with pure dread and amazement.
Ladius was Persephone’s immortal son, which she had with a mortal, making him your grandson. While he wasn’t born with ‘godly’ powers he was born with immortality. You used to think about giving him the powers of a god, along with the responsibilities that go with them, but the bad part about Ladius, is that he’s a grade A slacker. He wasted five hundred years of his life doing pretty much nothing. Whenever you appeared before him asking him to do better he would always refuse you, telling you that it was his immortal life and he could spend it anyway he wanted.
While he was right, and that he could spend his years doing whatever he wanted, you had plans for him, plans that he didn't seemed to want to be apart of. What most gods fail to realize is that gods can die, but they just don’t stay dead.
Resurrective Immortality, gods can regenerate when their body dies. They retain all their memories but are given a new appearance and personality to better suit their next incarnation. You wanted Ladius to be your next incarnation when and if you ever died, but of course when you presented him with this option he refused, saying that being the boss of who lives and who dies is too much of a pain and that he didn't want to do it. So this was kind of a shock to you upon hearing that he was the one who took up the mantle of the Grim Reaper.
"Wow...out of all the other beings out in the universe, the most laziest, underachiever too ever be born had taken up one of the most brutal and taxing jobs ever. Excuse me for not believing until I see it." You said letting out a small laugh which was accompanied by another one of Luna's giggles.
"I don't blame you. I was a little shocked when I heard it from Persephone, but I think she might have had a factor in him taking over. I mean it's good that someone had finally taken the job, but let's face it...he's not you." Luna said meeting your gaze.
"I see...glad to know that I'm the best at killing people." You said sounding as if she had hurt your feelings.
"Yeah...w-wait! T-t-that's not what I meant. What I mean to say was...was...ohh, you were just joking." Luna said letting out a large sigh while you gave her a loud laugh.
"Relax, I was just joking. You need to learn how to lighten up." You said while shaking your head.
"Sorry, spending a thousand years on the moon alone and conscious the entire time doesn't exactly do wonders on a persons social abilities." Luna said sticking her tongue out at you.
"Oh, that's right I've been meaning to ask you, what's the deal with that? I'm gone for two thousands years and you've spent half of it on the moon in solitary confinement, mind explaining?" You asked looking up at the sun watching as it slowly ducked beneath a nearby mountain.
"Hold that thought brother. I have to put up the moon." With a flourish she opens her wings, and takes a small leap over the railing and she’s aloft. Her flowing mane contrasts sharply with the sky, and you see it shift patterns as the light hits it. She stops, and hovers just a short distance from the tower. A magical aura surrounds her, and you see the sun finally settle and fade from view. The night sky grows across the sky in great splotches of change. With a small pulse of magic the brightest that is the sun has finally faded away from view, leaving only an empty sky since the stars were not out yet. The magical aura around Luna changes shade, and soon the stars begin popping into existence, one by one almost as if she hand picked the most beautiful stars in the galaxy to show tonight. Having finished her work of art she turns, and comes back to her balcony. You take a step back and give her a large smile, but she averts her gaze from you, which prompts you to ask her what was wrong.
"Tell me, brother. Do you enjoy our sister's day?" Luna asked.
You weren't really sure if this was a really question or not so you just gave her a half hearted answer. "Sure I guess, I'm not really a daytime god, but my job requires me to reap the souls of mortals and guide them in the daylight sometimes, so I've grown to enjoy it, when the time comes." You said while shrugging your shoulders. "But to tell you the truth, I much rather enjoy the night. I'm not really sure why but I just like to see it. I enjoy a good sunset from time to time but I usually just like to see the night sky that comes afterwards."
"R-really? You don't know how much it means to me to hear you say that." She said as her face began to lit up with joy, but the joy quickly subsided for some reason. "I just wish my subjects felt the same way as you do. You see in the stories, our subjects, the ponies, play and work in the day but "shunned" the night and slept through it, which made the younger Alicorn god...which is me grow bitter, eventually I began refusing to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. My bitterness "transformed me into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon." Luna chuckled as she began recalling a few bad memories, you were going to tell her to stop, but she kept talking.
"This was actually the partial truth. While yes I was bitter by the fact that everyone loves Celestia's Sun, and I did refuse to lower the moon, I actually threatened and attacked Celestia in a fit of anger and jealousy, because I believed that Celestia was the one receiving all of the love and worship of our subjects while I received nothing at all. I believe for a long time that this was true and at the time it probably was and still is, but believe me when I say that I'm not as brave or bold as you or Celestia. I would never challenge yours or Celestia's authority unless I knew that I was justified. Until one day while I slept, I had a dream. It felt like someone had been whispering to me, telling me that Celestia was holding me back and if she was out of the way there would be nothing to stop me from receiving the same love and admiration as Celestia did. So I listened to the voice and stood up against Celestia and waged war against everything that didn't bow before me. The war against Celestia lasted for three long years, and many lives were lost, but eventually Celestia realized that there was no hope in making me back down so she forcefully made me realized how outclassed I really was." Luna said stopping for a few seconds a tear slowly dripped from her eye.
"I don't think I've never seen her so calm and serious, it was truly frightening. Even as Nightmare Moon I couldn't help but fear her. She crushed my entire army and then proceeded to beat me senseless before banishing me to the moon with the use of the Elements of Harmony. Where I stayed for a thousand years before coming back again. I came back exactly with the same plan in mind which was total domination, but luckily the new wielders of the elements of harmony was able to defeat Nightmare Moon and free me from my jealousy." She said while giving you a reassuring smile.
You knew she was lying about her envy. The elements primary function is to cast off evil or to defend it's wields from negative outside forces. Anger and envy are negative emotions from within, the elements have no known power over emotions, Luna was only trying to fool herself into believing that all of her anger and jealousy was now gone, while in truth she was only repressing her feelings. You thought about bringing it up, but you were never had a way with words. So your blunt way of speaking your feelings on matters wasn't needed for this situation. "I see..." You said nodding your head. "It's a horrible story, but sometimes shit happens. I'm glad you finally decided to take charge for the first time." Upon hearing you say that Luna's face lit up once again, this time with a certain glow you hadn't seen from her, ever. "I just wish it was under better circumstances." Her face quickly toned down to a more sadden look as she lost the 'certain glow'. "Thanks for telling me, you know you didn't really have to tell me if you didn't want too."
"Nah, It's okay. You deserved to know. Thanks for asking, I don't really have that many people to talk to anymore so I get quite lonely, from time to time." She said while taking a step forward and giving you a small, but gentle hug. She gave a small blush before taking a step back. "I should...um, probably get going. The night court is going to begin. You can come if you'd like." Luna said while walking a few steps away.
"I'd loved too." You said while following her as she walked out of the room and into the hallway but before you could even get two feet from the door a guard approached you.
"Pardon my intrusion, but Princess Celestia has called to see you in her bedchambers. She expects to have a visit before she retires for the night." The guard said giving you the same emotionless look that every other guard has on their face. You looked at Luna who had nodded her head and told you to meet her in the throne room. She turned around and took two of her guards with her, while the guard that was with you told you to follow him to Celestia's Room.
When you finally arrived there, you found Celestia reading what looked like a scroll. Upon opening up the door she quickly turned around saw that it was you. "You should have knocked." She said in her naturally calm voice.
"Hm? Oh, my bad. I'll try to remember that next time. So what's up? You called me here for a reason right?" You said while walking closer to her, so it wouldn't seem like you were avoiding her.
"Oh, yeah. I called you here because I wanted to ask you something." She walks towards you as well which made you tense up a bit. "Are you feeling alright?" She said while placing her hand on your check and then placing the back of her hand onto your forehead, much like that of what a mother would do to her child.
You gently grabbed her wrist to stop her from feeling you. "I'm doing alright. I could be bet-"
"That's not what I meant." She said quickly changing to a more serious look which caused you to the same.
"I see...then you've already noticed." You said giving her a small sigh, while walking over to her bookshelves and leaning on it. She nodded her head and motioned for you to explain your condition.
Celestia took you by the arm and pulled you closer. “Are you…”
“Am I mortal? No. Am I immortal? No. I think I’m somewhere in the middle.”
Celestia let go of your arm and gave you a confused look. “What do you mean?” She asked while folding her arms.
“I don’t know, I think I’m somewhere in the middle. I can't really explain it. I mean I feel mortal, but I'm not.” You said shrugging your shoulders. “I don’t think it’s permanent I’m slowly recovering my lost strength, I just don’t know how long it’s going to take for me to fully recover. It can take weeks, months or a few years.”
“If you had to guessed, how much strength do you have?”
“I’m a little over demigod level. I've lost majority of my powers and strength, but I should be fine if given the right amount of time.” You said to her while shaking your head. While your body was in the process of renewing itself, Discords attack was enough to interrupt the healing process leaving you with only enough power to be considered as a demigod.
“I’m fine with it. Whenever you decide to leave, I’ll arrange a few bodyguards to travel with you.”
“Umm, I think I can take care of myself, Celestia.”
“I know you can, but you’re not exactly at a hundred percent right now. That’s why I’m sending someone to travel with you.” Celestia groaned as she began to walk back and forth. "Do you...know how this has happened?"
"I have a hunch, it was back during the final stages of the war, when I heroically sacrificed myself for you. I was already weak and injured, so my physical body at the time was in the middle of changing to my next incarnation. When I saw Discord try to attack you, I reacted on instinct and took the full force of the attack so it wouldn't harm you, but the amount of force he put behind the attack had interrupted the sequence cutting me off from changing to my next incarnation, which practically killed me and turned me into stone." You said with heavy weight behind your voice. Celestia looked at you and let out a sigh.
"I'm sorry, brother...that you're...you know." You stopped her by lifting up your finger.
"Relax. I don't think it's permanent. I'm not as powerful as before, but I'm still strong enough."
"Oh, believe me. I know you are. It's just that I can't help but feel like it was my fault, you're like this." She said while rubbing her forehead.
"It is your fault." She looked up at you with an astonished look on her face. "You hesitated when we needed you the most and the result of your hesitation caused me to lose my immortality, along with most of my powers." Upon hearing this from you she began to look a little downhearted. "I'm not angry, we all hesitated once or twice during the war and before the war even started I said I wanted to see how it felt to be a mortal, so It looks like I got my wish. Even if it wasn't by my terms." You said while letting out a quick laugh.
"So what are you going to do now?" Celestia asked you.
"Like I said I'm probably just going to travel around and try to experience as much as the mortal life that I can." You said with a certain enthusiasm behind your voice, that you haven't heard since you came up with the idea.
"I see...well can I recommend you somewhere to visit? I'm sure you'll experience the most of it there." She said to you waiting for your reply.
"Sure thing. Any place with help."
"It’s a small town, but I’m sure you’re going to love it. The town is called Ponyville."