In the Shadow of the Sun
by Quillery
All she had was her memories, and they were anything but pleasant. She remembered everything, the light worst of all. The light was an offense to her being, and it was the greatest insult to be shackled under its power. She recalled the prism of colors that wrapped around her body, tightening around her and taking her away from her birthright, the land she was meant to rule. She remembered the light fading into darkness as it became her only companion for a thousand years.
Even after an eternity of waiting, she awakened again. She had succeeded in reclaiming her power over darkness, and once again she challenged the light for dominion over the land. She removed the one that would stand in her way, and could taste victory at last…
But the light returned. Those damnable colors returned, once again to threaten her power. They twisted around her, binding her, draining the life from her, and the darkness returned. She awoke again, but not where she expected. A darkened room, the only light a sliver of sun that peeked through a window. A room that was supposed to be hers, but was not. It was meant for somepony else, somepony she was, and was not at the same time. Nightmare Moon remembered many things, none of them pleasant.
Whispers clouded her thoughts. She tried to turn towards them, but her body was heavy with steel. The walls responded with echoes of metal as she tried to move, tormenting her. The echoes were not alone, as the whispers continued. She felt out her senses, listening.
“Can it really be her?”
“Why would the Princess bring her here?”
“I hope they get rid of her soon.”
Her mind seethed. If these chains were not the only thing binding her, she would exact her revenge on those fools that dare insult her. She glanced up, towards her horn, her useless appendage. It was nothing more than an ornament now. The powers of harmony—she mentally spat at the thought of them—had robbed her of her power over her beautiful night. But worst of all, it robbed her of even her most basic magic. She was as useless as a lowly earth pony, and the thought of being reduced to such a lowly stature brought bile to her lips.
A chill wind blew into the room, and once again her attention drifted. The whispers faded with a clatter of synchronized stomps. She twisted her head as far was it could, but could only make out the edge of a door. Light stretched across the floor. She looked down. A large, daunting silhouette stood in the light that poured from behind her. A silhouette that she her mind remembered, once, long ago against the silvery glow of the moon, before the darkness took her.
“Your Highness,” the voices continued. “We brought her here, as you commanded.”
There was a moment of silence, before a calm, soft spoken voice drifted past Nightmare Moon’s ears that filled her mind with disgust. “I can see that. You have done well… but I must ask, Sergeant…”
“Your Highness?”
“Why is she chained?”
The second voice stammered. “I-I… The Captain felt it would be appropriate, given the circumstances of your disappearance, to restrain her.”
“I see… Well, you may inform Captain Armor that his diligence is appreciated, but unnecessary.”
“B-but your Highness—”
“Thank you, Sergeant, and your men, for your time in keeping her guarded. You may leave us.”
The second voice stammered further, but eventually relented. “As you wish, your Highness.”
There was a shuffling of hooves on the floor, and the shutting of a door. The light vanished with it, but Nightmare moon knew she was not alone. The infuriating presence lingered, looming behind her.
Soft hoofsteps crossed the room. Nightmare Moon kept her head down as they walked past her resting place onward towards the window. A golden light emerged from the far side of the room, grasping the curtains and pulling them aside. The grace of the sun flooded into the room, casting reflections off the polished surfaces and cutting out the prevailing shadows.
Nightmare Moon hissed in anger and turned away. “How dare you cast your disgusting sunlight in my presence, Celestia.”
Celestia smiled. “Oh, I suppose being exposed to it so suddenly would be trying. My apologies, sister.”
Nightmare Moon twisted her head back, glaring at Celestia. “I am not your sister! Your precious Elements of Harmony failed, Celestia. I am still your greatest failure, in body and mind, here before you.”
Celestia’s smile held. She stepped away from the window towards the chains and kneeled before Nightmare Moon. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that.” Celestia reached out and brushed Nightmare Moon’s cheek. She tried to back away, but the chains held her still.
Celestia blinked. “Oh, dear. Let me get those.” Celestias horn glowed again, and in an instant, the chains holding Nightmare Moon to the floor vanished in a burst of gold.
Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened. She tested her new freedom by stretching her limbs. She rocked on her legs as she tried to stand, but gravity’s hold on her was greater.
“Careful now, Luna. You are still very weak.”
“I am not Luna!” Nightmare Moon shouted. “And why would you be so foalish as to release me from my shackles?”
Celestia let out a quiet laugh. “You cannot even stand, let alone bring any further harm to me. Not that you could in your current state.”
Nightmare Moon barked out a harsh laugh of her own. “Hah! Had I my powers, I would lock you away in the sun like you did to me a thousand years ago.” For the first time, Celestia’s smile crinkled. It was faint, but Nightmare Moon knew she had hit through her armor, and she allowed herself a grin of victory.
Celestia sighed. “I do not doubt that you would try. But we both know that it will be some time before you could do so again. The same power that has drained your magic has taken much from you. Even your ability to fly would be weakened.”
A twinge of panic struck Nightmare Moon’s heart. She looked to her sides and looked at her wings. Her fear grew as she realized that she could not move them.
“Do not be afraid,” Celestia continued. “It will not be permanent. In time, everything should return to normal.”
“Do not console me like some insignificant foal,” she spat. “Just get it over with.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Get what over with?”
Nightmare Moon scoffed. “Why else would you bring me here, to the prison tower, if not to execute me for all your people to see?”
Celestia lifted her head as a flicker of shock passed her face. Her lips curled upwards as she laughed again. “Why in the world would you think that?”
Nightmare Moon sneered. “What better way to show your absolute power than to remove your greatest threat? The tyrant of the sun,” she mocked, “in all her glory, exterminating the queen of the night.”
Celestia nodded. “Yes, that would certainly a dramatic way to end it. But this is not a place for such things. I did away with such brutal punishments long ago.”
Celestia’s magic danced across the room once more, flickering between the many sconces along the walls. Small embers sparked to life, bringing light to the corners that the sun had not touched.
Nightmare Moon cast her gaze around the room. The walls were blank, devoid of any decorations or color. Only bare walls of stone. The only fixture was a large, round mattress beside the door.
“I had intended them to bring more things for you to get settled,” Celestia continued, “but it seems they have been slow. I suppose I was going to wait until you were back, so we could decorate your new room together, Luna.”
Nightmare Moon’s body tensed, her glare sharpening on Celestia. “Why do you insist on calling me that? There is nothing left of your precious sister, only the nightmare that I have become.”
Celestia shook her head. “I am not convinced that is true. The Elements of Harmony may not have had the intended effect, but they have given me something equally as valuable.”
Nightmare moon chuckled, unimpressed. “I can’t wait to hear what.”
Celestia’s smile returned. “They gave me time.”
She frowned. “Time for what?”
“Time to apologise. Time to explain. Time…” she paused and glanced out the window. The sun was bearing low on the horizon, and the light it offered began to fade from gold into orange. She took a slow, deep breath and sighed. “Time to get through to you, Luna. And make you understand why I did what I did.”
Nightmare Moon grit her teeth. “Stop. Calling. Me. Luna!” She lifted a hoof and swung it across Celestia’s face. Her head twisted to the side, but her expression held. Nightmare Moon couldn’t believe that Celestia’s smile held.
“Still as excitable as ever, I see. You were always so easy to rile up.”
Nightmare Moon looked away. “You are delusional to think that anything left of her remains. What remained of Luna died when her jealousy of you corrupted her and turned her in what I am now.”
“And yet, you still have her mane, and even your eyes are the same color.”
“Bah! Her body is now mine. Such physical similarities are a trifling reason to think anything of her remains.”
Celestia shook her head. “It is enough proof for me.”
Nightmare Moon stared at Celestia, and shrugged her head away. “Then you are a fool.”
Celestia sat silently. After a while, she nodded and rose to her hooves. She trotted over to the window and stared out over the world outside. Nightmare Moon frowned as Celestia remained quiet, and simply continued staring. The light of the sun had burned into red, and darkness quickly traced across the specks of sky that she could see from her spot on the floor.
“Why do you think that you cannot possibly be Luna?” Celestia said suddenly.
Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes, and lifted her chin. “Because my mind is my own, as are my memories.” She glanced to Celestia. “They are all of you, and how much hatred I feel for you and the love everypony has for you and your precious sun…” Her head slumped. “With none left for me…”
Her body trembled as she scratched the edge of her hoof against the floor and cut a jagged gouge in the tile. “Everypony always spoke of how they loved you so much,” she said bitterly. “They existed in the glory of your day, and ignored my existence entirely.”
She looked up. Celestia had turned, and her eyes were downcast as she looked back. Nightmare Moon continued. “The hatred is what I remember the most, and all of it was for you. I doubt your beloved sister would feel such things.”
Celestia strode back to Nightmare Moon’s side. “Could you perhaps do me a favor, then?”
Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow.
Celestia gestured her head to the window. “Look at the sun, before it vanishes from sight. Just for a moment.”
Nightmare Moon couldn’t comprehend what Celestia meant. Her eyes betrayed nothing of her intentions, and her ever present infuriating smile was her only expression. She turned her attention to the window. The sun was shrinking against the mountainside. Its light was nearly completely gone, and what remained was being swallowed by the approaching night above.
She stared at the sun as it continued. Her attention wandered a moment as Celestia’s horn began to glow. For a moment, the sun seemed to slow in the sky. Just before the sun vanished from sight, there was a flash of light that blazed across the sky, and then the darkness of night consumed the rest. Nightmare Moon looked away and squeezed her eyes shut as they began to feel sore.
When she opened them again, she looked at Celestia, who was still smiling. “The sun is beautiful, yes, but it is so very dangerous as well. One cannot stare too long at its beauty, or else they would be harmed by it.” Celestia turned her head from the mountain to the opposite side of the sky. Her horn continued glowing, and its golden hue shifted into silver. “The moon, however, is so much more.”
Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened as the silver glow of the moon, her moon, drifted into view. Celestia continued. “The moon reflects the light of the sun, so that the lands are never completely darkened by its absence. It has its own beauty that I admire so much. And you can stare at it for as long as you like, and never tire of it.”
Nightmare Moon grunted. “I fail to see the point. Yes, my night is beautiful, but it is a solitary enjoyment. Nopony bothers to bask in its beauty. They prefer the light of day to the darkness of night.”
Celestia’s smile shrunk to a playful smirk. “Ah, but your vision is far too narrow, my dear sister.”
“Will you stop—”
Nightmare Moon felt a warm glow wash over her body. New life entered her limbs as she felt the weight of centuries of torpor drain away. She let out a sharp breath, and begun to pant. Confusion and wonder gripped her chest as she struggled to breathe.
Celestia was standing. “That should be enough to at least get you to stand. Please, come to the window.” She walked over to the window, and waited.
Nightmare Moon looked down at her hooves. It was a slow battle, but this time, the pulls of gravity were far more forgiving, and she succeeded in getting to her hooves. She tried to walk, but only managed a limping gait as she moved to the window. Celestia nodded as she arrived, and pointed a hoof out the window, towards the mountain.
Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow. As the night began to unravel, the moon became accompanied by the stars. One by one the thousands of flickering lights emerged from the darkness as the sun’s light released them from obscurity. However, at the same time, many more lights emerged from the darkness from below, on the earth of the mountain.
Down in the valleys, across the plains surrounding the city and even further than that, hundreds of twinkling lights spanned as far as she could see. They flowed from the villages and towns, massing in wide open spaces.
“You see, Luna. You were right,” Celestia said sombrely. Nightmare Moon turned to see, for once, pain, in Celestia’s eyes. “You were right that nopony loved your nights as much as the day. After I—” she faltered. Celestia shuddered. A single tear rolled down her cheek. “After I did what had to be done, I knew you were right. So I made a change.”
Celestia nodded her head towards the grouping lights. “Today may be the summer solstice, but the Summer Sun Celebration was only one of two events I enacted that day. After the excitement of the celebration wanes, a second quieter, but no less special event takes place. The ponies have taken to calling it the Summer Festival of Lights, where they take advantage of the clear summer skies to watch the stars.”
Nightmare Moon held her breath. Her body tensed as she stared out at the world outside, a world she had missed for a millenium. For that time, all she felt was anger. So much of it that consumed her thoughts until it became the very essence of her being. Everything she was, and knew had changed in so much time. She stumbled forward as her legs could take no more.
“Easy now,” Celestia cautioned. Nightmare Moon felt a hoof on the back of her neck as she felt herself guided down to the ground. “I knew that you would not be able to stand for long, my apologies, Luna.”
“You…” Nightmare Moon breathed. Her voice was struggling to find its strength. “You did this for her?”
Celestia shook her head. “I did this for you, Luna. I am so sorry for not doing it sooner.”
“I am not—” Nightmare Moon dropped her head. She no longer so the reason to protest the fact to Celestia. “This changes nothing. You are a thousand years too late, Celestia.”
Celestia nodded. “I know what is between us will not be solved overnight, but I hope this can be seen as a good start. It will be a long time before you will feel like your old self again. What you will want to do at that time will be your choice. I only hope you make the right one.”
A breath escaped Nightmare Moon’s mouth as Celestia leaned towards her and placed a leg around her neck, and pulled her close. She wanted to fight it, but she had no more strength let to draw from.
“I will always be here for you, if you wish to talk.” Celestia released her grip and rose from the floor. “I have requested the guard bring anything you need to my attention.” She smiled. “It might be best, in the long run, if I bring you anything you need.”
Celestia walked away. Nightmare Moon kept her gaze forward, listening to the hoofsteps fading behind her and the door creaking open. “I will see you in the morning, then. Please get some rest.”
The door shut, leaving Nightmare Moon alone. The solitude brought little to her, only more thoughts in her mind. As she sat, watching the lights outside her window, conflicts arose within her, and would not be silenced. She brought a hoof to her cheek and brushed away the sadness, but it did not help. Her anger was failing her, the very thing that bound her, was fading away. Without it, what else could she be, if not a nightmare? Nightmare Moon remembered many things, not all of them pleasant.