//------------------------------// // Menace of The Years // Story: Nox Invictus // by Darkwing Dash //------------------------------// Luna trotted on, making her way through the forest. Overhead, the canopy of trees was thinning, letting in the blue light of night. Up ahead, she saw the trees give way to a clear path, which ran along the edge of a cliff. Something was off. She knew this area, but it was all wrong. The cliff was messing with her attempts to remember. It had been a long time, so it made sense for a cliff to be here, and there was even something familiar about it, but she couldn’t place it. She approached the cliff face, looking over the ravine at the other side. There were four small pillars of stone, with a broken bridge tenuously tied to two of them. The bridge tickled something at the back of Luna’s mind, but she couldn’t figure out what. She turned and looked past the bridge, off into the distance and gasped as everything came into focus. She stood just across the ravine from a castle. The Castle of Sun and Moon. Her home. Or, more accurately, the ruins of her home. The old castle stood decrepit and abandoned, the roof completely gone, the walls teeming with ivy. Many of its wall had crumbled and every window was devoid of glass. Luna stared in decimated disbelief. Her home. Gone. Ruined. She’d known she’d been gone for a while, but she never imagined her sister would leave the castle. She’d always expected to came back and find the castle, maybe changed, maybe with new staff, but never ruined. Why was it like this? It had obviously been abandoned for centuries at the very least. She stared at the castle, the truth coming to her in one terrible blow. Her sister had given up. She had left the only spot in the new world that Luna would ever know. She probably wasn’t even aware that Luna was back. She probably wouldn’t even care if she did. And why should she? thought Luna despondently. Why should she care or want me as a sister any more after all the things I said to her? She turned away from the castle, staring off into the night sky. Where should she go now? Her home was gone, her sister was nowhere to be found and didn’t want her anyway. Should she... give up? Luna took a deep breath and hardened her resolve. No. She wouldn’t give up. She would earn her sister’s forgiveness even if it meant a thousand years of work. Even if Celestia had left her, it was only out of pain and bitterness for Luna’s own betrayal. Her sister had to be hurting just as much she was. Celestia needed her right now and she would not let her down. Not like last time. Luna stood at the top of the stairs in the main hall of the castle, staring out of a large glass window at the cloudy sky, angry tears streaming down her face. She heard the panic of the ponies outside, heard the confusion as they milled about, unsure where to go or what to do, or what was even going on. All her subjects, her loyal ponies had rejected her. They had been turned against her by Celestia. Tenebris was right. Celestia was nothing more than a tyrant. Amid the cries of the other ponies, she heard hooves coming up the stairs behind her. She knew who it was without turning around. “Luna!” Celestia called. “What’s going on? Why haven’t you lowered the moon?” “Oh, hello sister,” Luna replied coldly. “I didn’t lower the moon because I didn’t feel like it. I told you, I wanted to give the ponies a holiday, ungrateful as they are.” “What’s gotten into you Luna? I thought we agreed we weren’t going to do this.” said Celestia. “No, you, as co-ruler of Equestria, presented your input on my plan and I, as other co-ruler of Equestria, took your input into account and adjusted my plan accordingly,” Luna replied. “And look how well that’s turned out,” snapped Celestia. “The country’s in total panic. The ponies are going crazy. They think it’s Discord all over again.” Luna sniffed. “They’re just a bunch of spoiled, ungrateful snobs.” “Ungrateful?” asked Celestia, confused. “Ungrateful for what?” “I give them a beautiful sky to look at each and every night for free and what do they give me in return? Only contempt and scorn.” A bolt of lightning flashed across the window, thunder following an instant later. Celestia shook her head firmly. “That’s not how it works, Luna. They made you their princess. They’ve given you this castle, the power to run the kingdom. In return we provide for the country and try and promise to be the best rulers. To be better than this mess you’ve gotten us into.” Anger flared up hot within Luna. “Is that what you’ve been doing then? Going around and promising everypony that you can be the best ruler? That once I’m gone and you have the power that things will be better?!” The wind outside howled and whipped against the windows. Celestia stood, stunned. “No, not at all,” she breathed. “I’ve been going around trying to calm everypony down, to tell them that things are alright and that they’ll be put back to normal.” “Oh, so I’m the villian and you’re the hero in this little play of yours, is that it?!” yelled Luna. “I’m the problem that needs to be fixed and you’re the brave hero who’s going to fix it, hurrahs all around.” “Luna, what’s going on?” asked Celestia, bewildered by her sister’s behavior. “You’re not making any sense.” “Well everything’s all starting to make sense to me!” Luna cried, her voice high. “Poor Princess Luna’s fallen into public disfavor and now you’re going to make your move. You’ll stuff me away to some corner of the castle and finally be sole ruler of Equestria, just like you always wanted.” Pain filled Celestia’s face and tears streamed down her face. “Luna,” she whispered. “That’s not true... I...” “You never care!” Luna cried. “You just sit all day, surrounded by your adoring public, while I fade into the background! Ponies will see that the night is important, even if I have to make them. I’m not listening to you anymore. You’re just an angry, twisted TYRANT!” The window behind Luna shattered, shards of glass flying everywhere. She cast them aside with her magic and flew out the empty frame, soaring into the night. Celestia at the spot where her sister had been for a moment before unfurling her own wings and flying after Luna. Her fight with her sister playing in her mind, Luna jumped and quickly soared over the ravine, landing on the other side of the broken bridge. She climbed the stairs and entered into the castle. The entranceway was nothing as she remembered. The tapestries were gone, long since faded away. The stone walls were dingy and gray. The room was dark, the torch sockets having long ago rusted away. In the middle of the room stood a massive pedestal. Five massive arms, each holding a large stone ball, surrounded a pillar on top of which rested a sixth massive stone orb. She turned away from the object, drawn by the mysterious sense that guided her here to the tallest tower, the west wing. There, she knew she would find the way back to her body. She flew in through an empty window and landed in the spacious chamber. But for one pony, the room was deserted. The pony stood by several torches that shimmered with a ghostly light that only those on her plane could see. The light shone through his robe, signifying him as a ghost as well. He turned his black head towards her, green eyes blazing with fiery malice. “”Good evening, Princess of the Night,” King Sombra said coolly. “It has certainly been a while.