//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Princess Luna // Story: My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Stallion Edition // by SuperPinkBrony12 //------------------------------// As the flash faded Shining Armor and his friends slowly rose to their hooves. Nightmare Moon was no more. "We did it, we won." Shining Armor said. He would normally be much more excited, but so much had happened in the blink of an eye, and he was exhausted. So were his friends, but they soon found new energy in their excitement. "Wooh! That was sweet!" Soarin cheered "Feels almost like one of Spitfire's exercises." "Why Fancy Pants, I don't believe it!" Thunderlane cried. "I know." Fancy Pants said "I know they say tails don't just magically grow back, but I think that rainbow beam decided this was an exception. Good thing too, I don't know how I'd explain to my darling Fluer that I cut off my tail." "Actually I was refering to your necklace. It's really fitting for you element." Thunderlane said "You have a gem." Fancy Pants gasped as he observed said necklace. A small purple gem hung in the center of it. "You're right." he said "And look at yours. You've got a butterfly." Fancy Pants was right, Thunderlane had a pink butterfly in the center of his necklace. "A lightning bolt huh? Matches my suit," Soarin said as he observed his necklace. It had a red lightning bolt in the center. "Hey look at mine!" Braeburn cheered "Now I truly AM the life of the party!". His hecklace had a blue balloon hanging in the center of it. Big Macintosh quickly noticed that his necklace had an orange apple in the center. Shining Armor's was a little different however, instead of a necklace there was a twinkling tiara with a violet star resting on the top. "Heh, I'll admit when I first met you Shining Armor you seemed like a nice guy." Big Macintosh said "But when you ran off to face Nightmare Moon on your own I thought you were crazy. Perhaps you still are in a way, but I suppose you're crazy in a good way. And I reckon that you're right. We really do represent those elements." "Indeed you do my faithful subjects." a calm and majestic voice called out. "Who said that?" Braeburn asked. "Do not be afraid. I mean you no harm." the voice said, then suddenly in the distance there appeared a shining white ball of light. It drew closer and closer, finally bursting through the window and revealing itself in a flash of light. There stood a white alicorn with a flowing pink, green, and blue mane and tail, as well as purple eyes. Atop her head rested a golden crown with small purple gems carved into it. Shining Armor recognized the figure at once. "Princess Celestia! I'm so happy to see you!" he said happily, racing forward and embracing the alicorn in a hug. "It's good to see you as well Shining Armor." Princess Celestia said. "You don't know how glad I am to see you Princess." Shining Armor said "I thought something awful had happened to you." "As you can see that is not the case." Princess Celestia said "Nightmare Moon couldn't have hurt me if she tried. I am much stronger now then I was 1,000 years ago." "So the legends were true." Shining Armor said "But I don't understand. You said you had everything under control. You said there was nothing to worry about." "Indeed I did." Princess Celestia said "But I never said I didn't believe you. I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return the same as you did. And I knew that I would not be able to stop her this time. But I also knew that you could not defeat her unless you allowed true friendship into your heart. For friendship is what gives the Elements of Harmony their power." "You mean, this was all set up from the beginning?" Shining Armor asked. "Not exactly." Princess Celestia explained "I knew Nightmare Moon would return, and I knew that you would discover true friendship when I sent you to Ponyville. I did not know how you would discover said friendship, or how Nightmare Moon would attempt to stop you." "I guess that makes sense." Shining Armor said "But don't ever do something like that again. You had me worried." "I shall try my best not to make you worry so much about nothing in the future." Princess Celestia said "And I am grateful to you and your friends for what you have done. But for now there is someone who is in need of my help, and if I'm not mistaken she is still in this very room." Over in the corner were pieces of what appeared to be Nightmare Moon's armor, nestled among their decaying vapor lay a small light blue alicorn, with an even lighter blue mane and tail, and blue eyes. The alicorn gasped as Princess Celestia approached her. "Princess Luna." she said somberly "It has been over 1,000 years since I have seen you like this little sister. The evil that corrupted you is gone, but I can see that your banishment and defeat have left you in this weakened state. Know that you are not alone, I am here for you and always will be." Everyone was speechless. "But," Princess Celestia continued "the time has come for us to finally put aside our differences. These 1,000 years have brought me much sorrow, and I have come to learn that I am nothing without you. We were meant to rule Equestria together Lulu. So what do you say? I have already forgiven you, but can you ever forgive me for being so blind?" There was a very dramatic silence. No one dared to move or say a word. At last Princess Luna stood up and with tears in her eyes said "Of course I forgive you Tia. And I'm sorry. I missed you so much big sister." "I've missed you too." Princess Celestia, sheding tears as she hugged her little sister. "A lot has changed, but together we can usher in a new era." Then she turned to Shining Armor and his friends. "I'm thankful to all of you. Without your help this reunion would not be possible." "It was nothing your majesty." Thunderlane said. "Yes, We just happened to be in the right place at the right time." Big Macintosh said. "If you're going to thank anyone you should thank Shining Armor." Soarin chimed in. "Indeed, without him none of this would've happened." Fancy Pants said. "Aw shucks, I'm sure anyone in my situation would've done the same." Shining Armor said with a shrug. Braeburn said nothing. He simply started to shed tears. "What's got you acting all mushy?" Soarin asked. "It's just so happy." Braeburn said "These tears are tears of joy." He promptly wiped them away with a hoofkerchief. "Hey! You know what this calls for?!" he asked. "What?" everyone else asked.