AUTHOR’S NOTE:
When I began writing this story, season one had not yet finished, so Luna did not have a canon personality at the time. As such, I came up with my own characterization for our favorite lunar princess, and although it may not exactly jive with her canon self as it is now, attempting to “correct” her personality at that late stage of writing to fit canon Luna would have destroyed much of the significance and plot of the story as I had planned it, and would almost certainly have demanded a complete rewrite from the very beginning. Rather, I hope that you can enjoy her role in this story as much as I have enjoyed writing for her for what it is.
In addition, it may be important to note that certain events of significance to Equestrian History, i.e. the introduction of Discord, had also not occurred until a very late stage in the writing, and are therefore not featured in this work for reasons similar to that stated above.
Rather than change the story to maintain a strict adherence to the canon of the show and thereby create a product that was messy, confusing, and unenjoyable to me as a writer, I thought it better to simply continue writing as I always have, and allow the story to stand on its own for what it is. Thank you for your readership, and I hope that you have as much fun reading this story as I did writing it!
-Viktor Lionheart
This is my first fanfic ever, so I would greatly appreciate any feedback you could give me to help me improve my writing. Thank you all for your time!
Skyfall
Concept and Writing by Viktor Lionheart
Chapter 2 : Shadows of the Past
On a balcony in the castle at the capital city of Canterlot, a lone pony sat watching the sunrise. Princess Luna yawned, not yet fully conscious after her recent slumber, and stretched her wings luxuriously. A gentle summer breeze tousled her hair and played across the soft purple feathers of her wings. It felt wonderful. The sunrise was her favorite part of each day, especially on mornings like this when the brilliant orange sphere of the sun rose though the wisps of deep purple clouds like a giant egg sitting warmly in its nest, casting a calming amber glow over everything it touched. It had become the first part of her morning ritual - she always made sure to awaken early enough to enjoy it in all its splendor, and to give her enough time to bask for a bit before she had to prepare for the day’s duties.
Granted, this may not have always been the case, but to feel the gentle caress of the newborn rays, the reassuring warmth of that ever-shining light – she had forgotten how beautiful it was after being away for so long, and even after the years that had passed since her return, it never ceased to fill her with a reassuring sense of home.
Just as she was blinking away the last vestiges of sleep, a knock came at the door to her bedroom, shortly followed by a voice.
“Luna, dear, are you awake?”
The voice carried the same comfort and warmth as that of a familiar hearth after a long day’s work, but also possessed an unmistakeable air of poise and authority. Luna turned in mid – yawn to welcome the owner of that familiar voice into her quarters.
“Good morning, sis!” Luna said brightly
In the now open doorway stood princess Celestia, as resplendent as ever, despite the obvious signs of fatigue that lined her face. Her horn was glowing, casting a dim light across a brightly colored box which bobbed lazily in the air beside her. Luna’s eyes opened wide the moment they found the package.
Celestia chuckled softly to herself and carefully set the object down before her little sister. As she did so, she settled somewhat heavily next to her sister and made a rather unsuccessful attempt at stifling a yawn of her own. With a weary, if happy sigh, she embraced Luna with a single ivory wing and rested her chin ever so gently on her head, inhaling the scent of her lavender mane.
She had been away for most of the night to Hoofington to deal with an Ursa Minor who had apparently decided that the city hall would make a fine chew toy, and the weight of her journey was just now making itself apparent as she found herself blinking away the persistent call of blissful sleep. This had been the latest in a long string of events that had required the Princess’s attention over the past few weeks – the parasprite infestation in Phillydelphia, the wendigo uprising near Stalliongrad, and the preparation for tomorrow’s Summer Sun Celebration in Manehatten, to name a few. Luna had lent a helping hoof whenever she could, but, young as she was, she still was not ready to assist in many of the weightier royal duties, and was often left to looking after Canterlot while her sister was away on business.
Celestia sighed heavily before she spoke.
“I trust you and Hussar had no trouble while I was away?"
Luna rolled her eyes.
“Aside from the usual, no. I swear, I can’t be alone for a moment without him and half the castle bursting in on me, armed and ready to attack my would – be kidnapper.”
Celestia gave a knowing smile. “It’s only because he cares for your safety. He’s a bit overzealous, yes, but his heart is in the right place.”
Luna pouted playfully, basking in the warmth of her sister’s wing. Suddenly, she remembered what had happened only a short time after Celestia had departed on the previous night.
“Oh, I almost forgot! A message from Ponyville arrived for you just after you left. It said that another of those earthshakes had toppled several buildings on the edge of the town. Nopony was hurt, but I sent a few of the guards to aid in the reconstruction.”
Luna turned to her sister to find an intense frown upon her face. Alarmed at her inexplicable change in demeanor, she began to fidget.
“Oh no! D-did I do something wrong?” she stammered uncertainly, searching her sister’s face for some evidence as to what had upset her.
"I'm sorry I didn't say anything right away, I thought you would already be too busy with what you were doing..."
Celestia’s eyes seemed to slide back into focus. When she spoke, it was as though she had temporarily forgotten that Luna was there. She shook her head, looking down at her little sister in surprise.
“What?…Oh, no, no, not at all. That was the right thing to do...” Her voice trailed off absently.
Celestia sighed again, her frown giving way to a gentle smile. She took a moment to gather her thoughts before speaking.
“I’m simply worried about the citizens of Ponyville. The royal researchers have been working day and night, but we still haven’t determined the cause of the earthshakes, only that they seen to be coming from the Everfree Forest.”
Somehow, Luna wasn’t convinced that that was all that was bothering her big sister. Perhaps it was simply a side – effect of her apparent fatigue, but there was something strange in Celestia’s eyes that Luna had never seen before. Just for a moment she had looked completely and utterly exhausted, much more so than she had a moment before, as if Luna could see the weight of every one of Celestia’s long years of rulership on her shoulders. But, more than that, her sister’s eyes shone with…Luna wasn’t sure what, but it sent a niggling sense of worry crawling up her spine. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could ask, her sister spoke once more, all traces of her former mood gone as quickly as they had come.
“Oh, well. I’m sure it’s nothing too serious.” Celestia smiled, nudging the temporarily forgotten gift toward Luna. “Besides, there is something far more important to think about at the moment. I think you’re really going to like this.”
Her train of thought suddenly derailed by the proximity of the brightly colored box before her, Luna excitedly tore into the package. Inside, carefully wrapped in a blanket of deep blue silk, was a small but rather thick book, its pages tattered and yellowed with age. Its dark, blank cover stared back at an intrigued but confused Princess Luna as she blinked slowly, eagerly examining the entire area of the tome. As she carefully opened the book to its first page, she read aloud the simple inscription it bore.
“For my daughters, that they may dance forever in the light”
The moment that the words had left her lips, her eyes came to rest on the elegantly slanting signature below, and immediately went wide with shock as her head jerked up toward Celestia’s smiling face.
“This…” Luna stammered “This was…”
Celestia nodded. “Yes, Luna, it belonged to mother. And now, I want you to have it.”
Luna was speechless. She ran one hoof across the smooth surface of the spine, inhaling the heavy, faintly nostalgic scent of the aged paper. She remembered nothing of their parents – All she knew was that they had died when she was very young and the tiny amount that she had learned on the rare occasion that Celestia spoke of them. Instead, her big sister had always been like a mother to her. Now, as she gazed into the dark, heavy cover of her mother’s book, she felt as though she were touching a part of her past that she had always felt, but never truly known.
For several seconds, she remained lost in thought until she was dragged back into reality at the sound of her sister’s voice.
“I’ve kept this book with me since I was a filly, and it has helped me throughout the years more times than I can count. It was mother’s journal. In it she kept all of her teachings on the ways in which we, as the future rulers of Equestria could maintain peace and harmony amongst our people. Many, many years ago, when you were just a foal, she gave this to me and instructed me to pass it on to you when the time was right.”
Luna remained silent for a few moments as she processed the significance of what her sister had said. She was overjoyed, but also a bit stunned at the suddenness of the gift.
“But…but why now?”
“You’re old enough now to be able to learn quite a lot from her lessons. Besides…” Celestia winked. “I’m going to need your help over the coming months, if things continue with the way they’ve been go-“
Celestia’s breath caught in her throat as her sister lunged forward to hug her.
“Oh thank you, sis! I can’t wait to read it! I promise I’ll make you proud!” Luna squeaked. In that moment, there was nothing in the world that could have made her happier than what her sister had just said.
Celestia chuckled at her sister’s sudden affection, returning the embrace. They remained that way until the moment was broken by a loud yawn.
“Oh my, excuse me. I think perhaps its time I went to bed. If you need anything, Luna, Hussar is just outside. Good -*yawn* goodnight.”
But Luna was already too engrossed in the book to utter more than an idle “G’nigh…”
Celestia lingered for a moment, happily watching her little sister as she read. Even now, her excitement was clearly evident in her eyes as they began darting across the first few lines of slanting text, her hoof hanging in anticipation to flip to the next page. Without another word, Celestia nodded to herself, heading toward the door to Luna’s bedroom.
Hussar, the captain of the castle guard, snapped to attention as Celestia passed him on her way out and did not relax until long after she was out of sight.
To the Princess’s tired limbs, the journey back to her own bedroom felt miles longer than it actually was, and as the heavy wooden doors to her chambers came into view, she could feel her exhaustion creeping upon her with pronounced enthusiasm. Wearily, she magicked them open, plodding stiffly across the velveteen carpeting as she made her way to the balcony at the far end of the room.
Nudging the opulently painted glass doors aside, she turned to face the distant, vast green expanse that was the Everfree Forest. There, as she gazed into the heart of the forest amongst the sea of trees, she could just make out the ruined form of her ancient home. The feeling that poked at her thoughts as she looked upon the jagged silhouette of crumbling walls and ancient towers was something not altogether unpleasant, though it tasted of the faintest bitter pangs of regret, mingled with a longing sense of loss, as though it were a part of a dream that she could never quite remember. The life she had known within those walls, so many years ago, was another life entirely, and some distant part of herself wondered briefly at how much she had changed since the days of her youth, or indeed, whether she had changed at all.
She shook her head, silently admonishing herself for thinking such silly, depressing thoughts as she took a deep, greedy draught of the dewy morning air.
Her thoughts turned to her mother, to the days of her youth, and to the memory of times long ago, forgotten perhaps by the world around her, but never by herself. The wind blew gently through her shimmering mane as she closed her eyes, and, ever so softly, began to sing, just as she did every year on the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration.
“Oh fair, oh green, oh vast land of mine
No more shall you shiver in darkness and fear
For the tyrant king is gone to his sleep
And at last, at last, the smoke has cleared
Oh fair, oh green, oh vast land of mine
No more shall your children be bound in gloom
The Queen and her daughters our victory assured
It shines in the arc of the sun and the moon
Gone are the days of fire and blood
Silent the voice that shattered the sky
Broken the shadow that haunted our dreams
Blind are the eyes that burned on high
Oh fair, oh green, oh vast land of mine
Forever in Harmony together we shine.”
As if to punctuate the last notes of her song, the wind gusted across the distant forest toward the castle, carrying with it the invigorating scent of pine. Celestia enjoyed the sensation for a moment before turning sleepily back to her bedroom, already savoring the thought of wrapping herself in a mountain of blankets and settling in to a long-awaited sleep.
She left the balcony and doused the lamps around her room, leaving the glass doors open wide to allow the damp, earthy scent of early Summer to permeate the chamber. Unbeknownst to the Princess as she made her way to bed, past the trees, atop the crumbling walls of the ruined palace, a lone figure gazed silently toward the her retreating form before disappearing among the treetops an elegant wispy trail of silver light shining silently in his wake.
Celestia removed her crown and slid beneath the blankets of her luxurious bed, sighing exhaustively as she tucked her wings around her body in a makeshift cocoon. In the same moment that her head touched the easily yielding bulge of cloth, her eyelids fell shut as though they had suddenly turned to lead, and the rhythm of her breathing slowed as her mind almost instantly began to drift blissfully off to oblivion.
In the next instant, her blissful repose was shattered as every trace of fatigue, every thought of rest, every source of comfort was ripped cruelly asunder by the sound of a familiar voice.
It took several seconds for Celestia’s brain to properly register why her heart was suddenly pounding in her chest, and why every instinct suddenly screamed for her to jump to her feet. The voice was definitely, paralyzingly familiar, and not in any way that would have pleased her in any capacity. The familiarity the accompanied the cold, regal drawl of that voice was something entirely dreadful and altogether perverse, and as it broke the clammy silence of her bedroom, it cut through her body with all the fury of a winter gale.
“You still haven’t told her, have you?”
The words hung in the air like a fog, choking any response that she struggled to offer. Her thoughts tumbled feebly over one another in a panicked mess, a single coherent word jumping over and over again to the fore front of her mind.
Impossible…this was impossible…
The voice continued, speaking more quickly and this time with a deliberate edge of mock innocence.
“What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy to see me again after making such a fuss while I was away? It’s not as though you have a right to complain after what you did.” The last three words were accented with a tone of biting accusation.
“You…no…not again.”
Celestia could barely speak as she came to terms with what she was hearing. She had hoped, she had prayed, that she would never hear that voice again, that she would never be haunted by the memory of its words, even through all that she had experienced in her long years of life, she had wanted only to forget the sound of that terrible, horrible voice.
The voice laughed, and the sound tore into Celestia’s heart. It made her want to die.
“Please…” Celestia pleaded, aqueezing her eyes shut, willing the voice to disappear and knowing full well that it was utterly in vain.
“Please, no… I’m sorry…I’m so, so sorry…”
As she turned her gaze toward the source of that familiar voice, she was met with two burning green eyes…The eyes of Nightmare Moon.