Silverstar laid on her back, trapped in the castle of the sun princess, caught trespassing red-hoofed, staring up at the very countenance of Celestia herself. Celestia slowly trotted towards Silverstar, her guards stepping aside as she approached.
Midnight had been telling the truth when he said she wasn't made of fire, but she most certainly wasn't a normal pony either. She was big, larger than any stallion, but her build was tall and gangly, with incredibly long and thin legs, and a head too small for her body. Like her underlings, she was pure white and covered herself with excessive gold. Her mane and tail were the most bizarre part of the princess, however, an ethereal, endlessly flowing mess of colors that swirled around her.
Silverstar had not managed to get off her back by the time Celestia reached her, and now she found herself further paralyzed by the Princess's gaze. Celestia looked Silverstar over with a deep frown on her face, clearly upset. Silverstar wondered whether she could be thrown in the dungeon or killed on the spot.
“My,” said Celestia, her voice was smooth and feminine, “you're more injured than I thought.”
It was then Silverstar remembered that she was covered in bandages. She only dared to glance at them for a second before returning her gaze to Celestia; she doubted they would have their intended effect.
“Would you like to lie down somewhere more comfortable?” asked Celestia after another long pause.
Silverstar had no idea how to react to that, she half-expected Celestia to add “like the dungeon!” and have her guards drag Silverstar off while she laughed hysterically.
Celestia was smiling down at her, perhaps waiting to make her joke. After another minute of silence, Celestia's smile faltered slightly, then she spoke again.
“I believe you are Silverstar? We've been looking for you,” said Celestia. Silverstar didn't know what to say to that either. “You're friend Lyra has been very worried about you, we were beginning to think you were even worse off then you are now. Would you like me to take you back to Lyra?”
The answer to the question was obvious, at least, but Silverstar still found herself struggling to speak. She was certainly doing a good job of looking pathetic, like Midnight wanted.
“Y-yes,” she finally forced herself to say. Celestia seemed pleased with that and smiled more warmly.
“Good,” she said. “Do you think you can stand?”
Silverstar slowly rolled over and pushed herself up. Celestia nodded and told one of the guards to fetch Lyra.
“If you don't mind me asking, how exactly did you get here?” asked Celestia. “It appears something knocked the train car you were in off the tracks.”
“Yes,” said Silverstar. “There was this other thestral who did it. She chased me into the city and I only came in here to escape. I never meant to enter your lair, and I'm sorry! I'll leave immediately!”
“You don't need to apologize,” said Celestia. “I'd like for you to tell the whole story to a detective a little later, though.”
Silverstar nervously agreed to do so.
“It will take some time before Lyra returns,” Celestia said. “There's something I'd like to show you in the meantime, if you're feeling alright.”
Silverstar wasn't sure if she had the luxury to refuse. She had to admit that Celestia wasn't nearly as vicious as she had thought just a few days ago, and did seem genuinely concerned about her well-being, but Silverstar did not want to test her limits.
Silverstar agreed and Celestia told her to follow.
Celestia lead her down a few more shinning hallways, until they reached on that was much different.
There was no gold tacking or picture-windows here, only gray bricks and empty space, giving off the feeling that it saw far less use than the rest of the castle.
Stepping onto a spiraling staircase made it obvious that they were in another tower. Beyond that, Silverstar knew nothing. If Celestia wanted to harm her, then there was no reason to taker her off to the side like this, unless the princess wanted to kill Silverstar when nopony was looking, or if there was some sun-soaked alter at the top of this tower where Celestia would sacrifice Silverstar to... herself?
Silverstar wondered briefly if gods bothered to make sacrifices to themselves, only to conclude that the whole idea was silly.
Every room they passed on the way up was empty. Only when they reached the very top, just when Silverstar began to wonder if there was anything to be shown at all, did the scene change.
The floor was now covered in gold trimmed carpet, and the walls with tapestry, both the same deep blue color.
The patterns that were on the floor lead to a large door. Celestia pushed this open to reveal what appeared to be a bedroom. The tapestries, rugs and curtains around the large bed were all adorned with images of moons and stars.
On the far side of the room, atop a dresser, sat two of the most beautiful jewels Silverstar had ever seen. They were a crown and yolk, both made of some pitch-black metal that seemed to glow with darkness, the yolk bearing the same crescent moon that filled most of the room.
Hanging next to the jewelry was an ancient painting, faded to the point it was hard to make out. As she studied the painting, she began to realize that it was of a pony, one she recognized very well.
“Princess Luna?” she whispered.
“Yes,” said Celestia. “This is the bedroom of my dear sister Luna.”
Silverstar immediately saw the flaw in Celestia's claim. “Princess Luna's castle is in the Everfree forest.”
“It is true that we used to live in the castle you're referring to,” said Celestia, “and that this castle was built after I banished Luna to the moon. Our old castle was abandoned long ago, however. I've kept this room, exactly like her old room. I saved as many of her old possessions as I could, and made exact replicas of those that could not survive the ages. You can no longer see me in it, but that painting was the last one made of us together. I regret losing this more than any of her other possessions”
Celestia gave the portrait a long, wistful look. When she finished, she turned back to Silverstar with a sad smile and watery eyes.
“Would it surprise you if I told you that I long for my sister's return as you do?” Celestia asked her. “That I miss her just as much as you?”
It would, considering Celestia was the one who banished Princess Luna to the moon in the first place. It was Celestia's jealousy of her sister that started everything. Celestia deserved whatever pain and regret she felt, for it would only ever be a fraction of the pain that she had caused Princess Luna and her children. She had no right to miss Princess Luna!
Of course, Silverstar didn't say any of that. She needed the help of Equestrian, and didn't dare risk insulting their leader so flippantly.
“That's... That's nice,” said Silverstar.
“You don't need to worry about insulting me,” said Celestia, a comment that made Silverstar briefly wonder if she could read her mind. “What help I give your clan has nothing to do with my opinion of you. Besides, I understand why you would hate me. The damage my sister and I caused you is unforgivable. I intend to undo as much of it as I can, but I won't ask you to forgive either of us.”
Silverstar might have appreciated the sentiment more were it not for the part about Princess Luna. Princess Luna had never done anything wrong, especially not to the thestrals; in fact, it was she who blessed them with their beautiful forms and powers over dreams and darkness.
Celestia seemed to notice this thought as well and asked her to speak her mind.
“Well, what would Princess Luna have to be sorry about?” asked Silverstar.
“I am conflicted about this,” said Celestia. “You already have enough stress to deal with right now, but you also have the right to know the truth. I know that you share my sister's ability to enter dreams and search through the memories of a sleeping mind. If you wish to know the answer to that question, then come into my dreams when you are ready. I will show you my memories of those days.”
Before Silverstar could answer, Celestia stated that Lyra should be in the castle by now and lead Silverstar back out of the tower.
Eventually, they reached Celestia's throne room, a wide, open space that was as gold and white as the rest of the castle. There were several ponies waiting in the room, among them Lyra and Midnight.
Lyra's reaction was swift and predictable- she charged at Silverstar and hugged her tightly.
“Oh thank Celestia! I was so worried about you,” said Lyra. “At first I thought you had spontaneously combusted because of all the juice I gave you, and that the fire from that was so hot it threw the train off the tracks, but then I remembered that that didn't make any sense at all.”
“I'd like for you to tell me exactly what did happen,” said a pony Silverstar had never seen before. She was informed that this was the “detective”. The detective wasn't wearing armor as she had thought he would be, but instead a brown coat and hat.
Silverstar told everypony everything that had happened with Whisper. The detective was inquisitive, and asked her for many details. After some time, she managed to finish the story.
“Well if this Whisper character is the only other... one of you in the city then she shouldn't be hard to find,” said the detective. “We'll begin searching for her immediately. If anything comes up, I'll let you know.”
The detective tipped their hat at Silverstar and left.
Lyra took the news well. “This is so great! I can't believe there's another thestral here!”
“One that wants to murder me, yes,” said Silverstar.
“Oh. Oh, right,” said Lyra, her smile deflated. “That probably is a bad thing.”
“And she's after me as well you said?” asked Midnight.
“Yes. She said we have two days to get out of Canterlot or we're dead.”
“I think it would be best if you all stayed in the castle for the time being,” said Celestia. “You should be safe here.”
“I was hoping to get back to my mansion,” said Lyra, “but I guess if there's going to be assassins running all over the place, then we'd be safer here.”
“I'll arrange you'll usual guest room, Lady Lyra,” said Celestia. “For now I have other business to attend to. I'll speak with the three of you again later.”
They were lead out of the throne room, but after that, they no longer needed an escort, Lyra seemed familiar enough with the castle to show them to their room herself.
“You'll like the room we're getting,” said Lyra. “It's not as nice as the one I was going to give you, but...”
Lyra growled. “I can't believe that psycho is actually threatening to kill you two! Here we are trying to save her race and she's gotta do this to us as if we don't have enough problems to deal with already!”
“Actually this may not be such a bad turn of events,” said Midnight.
“You heard the part about her wanting to kill us, right?” asked Silverstar.
“Yes,” said Midnight, “but I also heard your description of her. The colors you described don't match those of a pony from the northern or eastern clans.”
“And if the north is white and the east is gray,” Lyra picked up the train of thought, “then that means fur color gets darker the further south you get, and this Whisper character must be from the southern clans!”
“I'm not too crazy about your logic,” said Midnight, “but if the western clans really did die off, then I think that must be the case.”
“That's nice I guess, but it doesn't change the part about the killing,” said Silverstar.
“But it does make her a valuable source of information,” said Midnight. “If we capture her, we could use her to find the location of some of the remaining clans. She could also tell us about their culture and problems, which would make it easier to convince them to move to your land when the time comes.”
Midnight became quite after that, occasionally stopping to rub his chin. He seemed more and more like a schemer as time went by.
“By the way, Midnight,” Silverstar interrupted his thoughts. “Did Celestia tell you anything weird about her history with Princess Luna?”
“You could say that,” said Midnight. “Her story is very different from the one recorded by our ancestors.”
“Yeah, Celestia told us the whole story about Nightmare Moon, and how the thestrals were made, and the moonflowers and stuff,” said Lyra. “It was all very dramatic.”
“Why didn't you tell me about this?” asked Silverstar.
“If I had gone to your clan with a history story that was less favorably of Luna, what do you think you're reaction would have been?” asked Midnight.
“We would have run you out of our caves,” said Silverstar. She frowned because she knew it was true.
“Exactly,” said Midnight. “It would likely be better for you to hear Celestia's version of the story from Celestia herself.”
Silverstar conceded that he might be correct. It wasn't much longer after that before they were in the guest room. Silverstar didn't take much stock of the room. It had a bed. That was all she cared about. The stress was getting to her once again, her body felt so heavy.
Lyra tried to ask her about her opinion of Celestia, but quickly realized how tired Silverstar was.
“You look so stressed,” said Lyra. “Why don't you take tomorrow off? I'm sure Midnight and me will be able to do without you till you're better.”
That sounded tempting. Silverstar needed rest, and her new companions seemed capable enough, but she still didn't feel right with doing nothing, even for a day. Fortunately, there was something useful she could do in her sleep.
_________________________________________
Silverstar slept for the rest of the day, and into the next night. It was only after sunset that she bothered to enter the dreamscape, knowing Celestia wouldn't be asleep until then.
One could tell the race of a dreamer by the color of their light. A thestral's dream was always silver, which painted the dreamscape near Silverstar's home as a sea of silver lights in the darkness. The dreamscape in Canterlot was filled with far more colors. Three colors made up the majority of the light- those of earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns, but there were a surprising number of other colors as well.
Through the rainbow of lights, Silverstar looked for two things- a silver light, one that may belong to Whisper, or one that was unique.
The latter was the best she could do in her search for Celestia's sleeping mind. Silverstar had forgotten to ask how, exactly, she was supposed to find Celestia here, but Celestia was the only alicorn goddess in the city, so she should have her own unique color.
Looking through the area that should be the castle, Silverstar found a light that shown a bright, golden yellow. Silverstar had never seen a dream this color before, and there were no other like it, it was as good enough guess.
Silverstar didn't dare try to spy on Celestia when she was unconscious, and went straight to awakening the conscious mind of the dreamer. Thankfully, it was indeed the mind of Celestia.
“Ah, I see you made up your mind quickly,” said the image of Celestia. “You are certain that you wish to see these memories, though? I will warn you once more that they are not what you believe, and that you won't like the truth I present to you.”
Silverstar confirmed that she wanted to see the memories. She was still uncertain if Celestia would show her the truth, while she had never heard of a pony being able to fake their own memories, she wasn't going to assume that a goddess, like Celestia, couldn't do it. However, she also recalled what Nightshade had said to her what felt like years ago, that even lies could teach you something. It would be worth seeing either way.
The dreamscape moved. A single flower blossomed between Celestia and Silverstar, giving off a faint, blue glow.
“Do you know what this is?” asked Celestia.
“Of course,” Silverstar answered. “It’s a moonflower.”
Celestia nodded. “And do you know where these flowers originally came from?”
“Our princess made them for us,” said Silverstar. “They give off just enough light for a thestral to see in, but not enough to be of use to the less- er, the other races. We use them to light our homes, and I use them in my potions. They are very beautiful as well, like all the species Princess Luna created.”
Silverstar smiled. She knew a lot about moonflowers.
“Yes, they are very beautiful,” said Celestia. “But I must correct you on one thing- the moonflowers were created before thestrals. My sister created many new species by altering existing ones. The moonflowers were the first.”
The moonflower vanished and the memories changed. The scene that appeared was one of a garden, atop a castle, at sunset. All around them were hundred of gray, wilted buds. They might not look it, but Silverstar easily recognized them as moonflowers.
Next, figures began to emerge. The first was that of Celestia and next to her appeared an elderly unicorn wearing a cape and hat, both adorned with stars. Finally, on the other end of the garden, appeared the image of Princess Luna herself.
Princess Luna appeared much as she did in the statues that the Crescent clan had made of her, but this vision of her was far clearer than any Silverstar had seen before, and it was amazingly beautiful.
She had both a horn and wing, both far larger and more powerful looking than a pegasi or unicorn would have. She was larger than a normal pony, with a tall, slender build. Her mane and tail were such that they made it appear as if the night sky itself was ebbing and flowing gracefully behind her. She wore the same black jewels Silverstar had seen the day before, and they served to accent her amazing form wonderfully.
Silverstar couldn't help but smile at the image. She felt the urge to bow before Princess Luna, but quickly remembered that it was a mere memory. If only this Luna weren't a dream, then Silverstar's nightmare would be over.
“I'm not sure I'd call killing all of the flowers 'amazing',” said the elderly unicorn, “especially when you consider that you've been working on this nonstop for weeks.”
His tone wasn't mocking or stern, but joking, as if he were very familiar with Princess Luna. He also didn't seem to know much about moonflowers.
“Yes, most comical,” said Princess Luna. “But you have yet to see the fruits of our labor. There was a reason we asked Celestia to hold on setting the sun. If you would.”
Princess Luna nodded to Celestia. Celestia's horn glowed, and the sun began to set. Nothing happened until the very last light of the sun vanished, and then the moonflowers came to life. All at once, they blossomed and filled the garden with their faint, blue light. Princess Luna turned to the other two with an excited grin.
“These flowers bloom only in the dark,” said Luna. “Is it not 'amazing' as we have said?”
“I must admit that turning the roses into these is a bit more impressive than simply killing them,” said the elderly pony.
“They are very beautiful, sister,” said Celestia. “Thank you for showing them to us.”
“Though I am a bit concerned,” said the unicorn, “You've been so isolated lately, and you constantly complain how your subjects do not appreciate your work. These flowers that bloom only at night- they don't have anything to do with that, do they?”
“I think it is a great thing,” said Celestia. “I haven't seen you this happy in weeks. You know how lonely Luna has felt lately, I think this botany will be therapeutic for her.”
“Yes, think of the therapy,” said Princess Luna. “These flowers grant us such happiness! Though if they make ponies appreciate the night more, then I would consider that a second victory.”
“You don't need flowers for that, Princess,” said the elderly pony. “What you need is to stop locking yourself in your room all day. The reason your subjects don't acknowledge you is because they never see you anymore.”
“He does have a point, Luna,” said Celestia. “If you want I could-”
“We do not need your help,” Princess Luna shot. “I can take care of this myself.”
“I hope you are right,” said Celestia, just before the memory faded out.
“I wanted to believe that Starswirl, the other pony in that memory, was reading too much into things at the time,” said Celestia. “I should have seen the same warning signs that he did, but at the time all I saw was Luna's happiness. She continued to make more flowers and other plants like this, and they made her so happy. I saw no harm in it.”
“I have a question,” said Silverstar. “You remember Princess Luna as being lonely and unappreciated, but that couldn't have been true. Before you banished her, she was worshiped by everypony.”
“I'm afraid you're wrong about that,” said Celestia. “My sister and I were never worshiped as goddesses, at least not until your kind deified Luna.”
“But my ancestors wrote that all once worshiped Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon as we do,” said Silverstar. “Are you saying that they were lying?”
“I'll understand if you don't believe me, but that is how I remember things,” said Celestia. “I have a question for you, now. Do you know how my sister created the moonflowers? How she created the first thestrals?”
Silverstar didn't know. When Princess Luna bestowed her blessing on a pony, they became a thestral. That was the most she knew about the actual creation of her race.
“Princess Luna is a goddess. She can do whatever she wants,” said Silverstar, not wanting to admit her own ignorance. “It was goddess magic.”
“I suppose if you define a god as merely a pony who is immortal or has some control over nature, then you could call us goddesses, but know that neither of us are all-powerful,” said Celestia. “I have personally seen Luna transform a pony into a thestral. If you want, I could show you that memory.”
Silverstar was beginning to think that Celestia may be trying to trick her, but she still wanted to see more. Silverstar nodded at Celestia, and Celestia nodded back.
“I think it would be unkind to my sister to skip from that last scene to your ancestors' creations,” said Celestia. “I would like to show you another memory between those two points first, so you might why Luna did what she did.”
That was a curious thing to say. Silverstar had been expecting Celestia to paint Princess Luna in the most negative light and herself in the most glorious. It would have made more sense for Celestia to skip straight to the part where Princess Luna committed whatever crime she was supposedly guilty of.
“Starswirl died a few months after that last event,” said Celestia. “He was the last mortal friend Luna had kept contact with, and she did not take his passing well. She stayed locked in her room for days on end, only opening the door to take the meals that were brought to her. As she began shirking her duties, public opinion of her began to wane even further. I tried many times to reach out to her, but it was never enough. The next time I saw my sister face to face she was a very different pony.”
A new memory appeared, one of a throne room. Unlike the one in Canterlot, however, this room had two thrones in it, one clearly meant for Celestia and another for Princess Luna.
In this memory, only Celestia's throne was occupied. Before her stood a single pony in armor, Celestia regarded him with a very grim look.
“We've taken to calling them 'owlbears',” said the guard. “It's exactly what the name makes you think. Like all the other new monsters, it is violent during the day and peaceful at night. We rounded up as many as we could before daybreak, but we don't know how many more are out there.”
The guard hesitated or a moment, then addressed Celestia again.
“Princess, if I may. There are rumors that-”
“I am aware of the rumors,” said Celestia, “and I intend to look into them immediately. You are dismissed.”
Silverstar didn't have to watch Celestia walking to Princess Luna's room, the scene simply morphed into Luna's tower, just outside her room.
“I have nothing to say to you!” came Luna's voice from behind the door.
“I know you're having a hard time, Luna,” said Celestia, “but if you have any connection to the appearance of these monsters, I need to know.”
The door opened and Princess Luna peeked her head out to look Celestia over with a stern look. Silverstar had seen Princess Luna many times in paintings and statues, but the princess had always been portrayed as regal, happy and loving. Even though she knew it was just a memory, seeing Princess Luna with such a serious and angry frown made Silverstar very uncomfortable for some reason. She lowered her head and shrunk back.
“And what if I do?” Luna growled. “What if I created these 'monsters' like everypony thinks?”
“What are you saying Luna? Did you really do this?”
“My ability to alter the forms of living things has increased greatly,” said Luna proudly. “I can perfect the forms of animals as well as plants now. Think of all the good that I will be able to do once I've fully developed this art. Far more than you, surely!”
“And what good do you think unleashing such dangerous creatures into the wild will do?” asked Celestia. “These 'owlbears' alone have injured dozens already!”
“Oh? Do you not like it when ponies have cause to fear the day?” asked Luna. “Perhaps you should get over it, move on with your life, find ponies who have not been mauled by bears!”
“I'm willing to overlook this because I care about you and I know you've been going through hard times,” said Celestia, “but I forbid you from doing anything of this sort again!”
“Forbid me?” Luna scoffed. “You have no right to forbid me from anything! We are supposed to be equals! Though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you forgot that, everypony else has!”
“Luna-”
“No matter how hard I work or what I do there will never be any appreciation! You will always-”
“Be silent!” said Celestia. “You're being completely irrational! IF you want me to treat you as an equal then you shouldn't so selfishly! You will do what I say and stop this foolishness at once. I'm leaving you with a chaperon from now on, one who will ensure you do not carry out any more of these atrocities. Be glad I'm willing to leave it at that.”
Luna looked at Celestia with a stunned gaze, then one of utter loathing. “They were right about you,” she muttered.
“'They'?”
“Never mind. I will do as you say,” said Luna.
“You'll thank me for this one day, Luna.”
The memory ended there. Unlike the last time, Silverstar was a bit happy to see Luna vanish. Seeing her angry had a strange effect on her, it left her trembling. Celestia seemed to notice this as well. She looked disheartened by it.
“Would you like to continue this on another night?”
“No, I'm fine.”
“Very well,” said Celestia. “Tell me, did you notice anything strange about Luna in that last memory?”
“Yes! Princess Luna would never create horrible monsters and unleash them on the public like that!”
“Yes. I don't think she would either.”
That comment was enough to stun Silverstar. “What? But you just showed me her doing that. Are you admitting that you're lying?”
“No, that was exactly what happened,” said Celestia. “However, Luna was not acting entirely on her own accord. I did not notice it at that time either, it was a long time before I knew what had actually happened. I believe you will be able to guess the truth as soon as I show you the next memory.”
The scene was now the outside of a city. Rows or armored ponies were assembled outside the walls. From inside the walls came the blazing glow of fire, and occasionally a flying figure whirling by. There was a fight going on inside the wall.
Celestia trotted next to a mare more ornately armed than the other soldiers were.
“I know we couldn't trust your sister! We should have stopped it before it came to this,” said the mare.
“I will deal with Luna myself, general,” said Celestia. “How is the quarantine of the city going?”
“Badly! Many of these things have already gotten out, and it won't be long until there are enough of them to break through our lines,” said the general. “We've captured several, however. Here.”
The general threw open the entrance to a tent. Behind it was a thestral in chains, hissing and screaming furiously as it tried to free itself. What made it unique, however, was the purple and black mist that constantly swirled around its hooves and wings. Though she had never seen a thestral in this state before, Silverstar knew exactly what the mist was.
“That pony is covered in the nightmare forces,” said Silverstar. “I've never seen so much of it before. Wait, are you saying Princess Luna used the nightmare forces to create us?”
“I'm afraid so,” said Celestia, “though it took me centuries longer to figure that out than you did. At the time, all I knew was that Luna had used some sort of dark magic to twist the minds and bodies of my ponies. The first thestrals were vicious creatures that would attack anything that was not their own kind on sight. Even worse, the nightmare forces that surrounded them could easily bleed out onto other ponies, transforming them as well. I'm not sure how many Luna personally transformed, but by the end of that day there were thousands of thestrals.”
“But we aren't like that,” Silverstar protested. “We're not vicious monsters and we don't turn other ponies into thestrals!”
“I believe that is because you are not consumed by the nightmare forces like your most distant ancestors were,” said Celestia.
That made some sense. It was true that if the nightmare forces built up too greatly, they could make you act violently. Maybe if it got intense enough it could have such extreme effects.
The scene changed again, back to the throne room of Celestia and Luna. Luna stood near the back, next to the throne room. At the entrance were Celestia and her general, both visibly wounded.
“You'll pay for this, Luna! I always hated you! I've been waiting for an excuse to do this for years,” shouted the general.
The general charged at Princess Luna, her horn glowing brightly. Before she could unleash whatever spell she had intended to use, Princess Luna released a wave of the nightmare forces that quickly wrapped around the general, until she was vanished in a sphere of darkness. The black orb tightened, then exploded outward and vanished.
The general lay on the floor, her colors were changed, her horn gone, replaced by a pair of bat wings. She had become a thestral, surrounded by the same purple mist as the one Silverstar had seen earlier.
Princess Luna glanced down at the new thestral and laughed. “Now you belong to me,” she said.
The general seemed ecstatic to hear this, and rushed to Princess Luna's side to nuzzle her leg.
“Thank you, Princess!” she exclaimed. “I love you so much!”
The memory of Celestia looked at this with utter horror. Silverstar couldn't help but share the feeling. To see a mare's behavior changed so quickly and so radically, just to know that such a thing could happen, was terrifying.
“Silence our sister,” Princess Luna commanded her convert. “We are tired of hearing her voice.”
“Gladly, Princess,” the general said with such glee.
The general hissed at Celestia and charged at her with the same ferocity she had shown towards Princess Luna a second ago. Celestia blasted her to the ground with a burst of light, knocking her out cold.
“I promise I'll save you,” Celestia said to the unconscious mare before lifting her up and moving her out of the room. “How could you do this, Luna?”
“Did you think I would sit idly by as they all basked in your precious light?” Luna called. “There can only be one princess in Equestria, and that princess shall be me!”
Luna smashed the podium in front of her with her hooves, behind her the wall crumble to reveal the sun, which Luna quickly eclipsed with her moon. She called the nightmare forces to her. Luna flew into the air as the darkness swirled around her in a ball until Princess Luna had vanished completely. Soon the darkness cleared, however, and Princess Luna emerged from the darkness as Nightmare Moon.
The memory ended there.
“So what? You want me to believe that Princess Luna is some sort of monster?” asked Silverstar. “That the only reason we care about her is because we're under her mind control?”
“That isn't it at all,” said Celestia. “I believe Luna was just as much a victim as those thestrals you saw, for she was consumed by the same darkness as them. The nightmare forces have some level of consciousness. It may have been them, feeding off and increasing her loneliness, that urged her down this path, slowly gaining sway over her mind until they could take over completely and transform her into Nightmare Moon. Or at least, I hope that is the case.”
That was more believable than the alternative, at least. The amount of nightmare forces that had surrounded Princess Luna near the end of that vision were immense, more than Silverstar would have thought existed in the entire world, perhaps even enough to drive even a goddess mad.
“I used the elements of harmony to banish my sister to the moon in hopes of stopping her, but that was a mistake,” Celestia continued. “Had I known about the nightmare forces, I could have simply destroyed them, I could have saved my sister instead of causing her more harm. Now, because I used the elements of harmony against my sister, they will no longer obey me. I no longer have the power to rescue her.”
“I could have saved your ancestors from their fate as well, but with both Luna and the elements of harmony gone, there was no way for me to dispel the dark magic that was controlling them, though I did try for many years. They were left in an uncontrollably violent state and appeared to have almost no memory of their old lives. If left to their own accord they wouldn't have stopped until they had killed or transformed everypony. I believed that I had no other choice but to drive them out into the Everfree forest, and to set up watched to keep them there. I know little of your history after that point.”
Silverstar thought the story over in her mind, hoping for some small detail that would reveal it was all a lie. She found nothing.
“I still can't believe you,” said Silverstar, “If you were right, that means we aren't...”
Celestia was able to notice Silverstar's growing saddens and spoke quickly to stop it.
“Before you leave, let me tell you one more thing,” said Celestia. “My sister did place you all under mind control, but it was also her who freed you from it.”
Silverstar looked at Celestia, confused.
“She gave you the ability to see into dreams,” Celestia explained, “so that you could see the nightmare forces building inside you. She gave you the power to destroy dark magic like the nightmare forces, even making your bodies destabilize such magic passively. If she merely wished to enslave you, she would not have given you the ability to free yourselves so easily. Some part of Luna's true self must have done this, and that is why you are not like the thestrals you saw in my memories.”
Silverstar had been taught that Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna were the same pony- that Nightmare Moon brought justice and Luna brought peace. Celestia would have her believe that Nightmare Moon was the evil half and Princess Luna was the good. Maybe... maybe that was possible.
“I need to think about this,” said Silverstar.
“I understand,” said Celestia. “I know this will weigh heavily on you, but know that this was not my intention. If there is anything else you wish to know, you are welcome to return to my dreams.”
Silverstar thanked Celestia and departed back to her own mind. She searched it for the nightmare forces and found that they had grown surprisingly strong in just a week, to the highest they had been in Silverstar's own mind. She destroyed them immediately.
Silverstar remembered how good she had felt when she saw Princess Luna happy and how seeing Luna angry had made her sick. She had been too afraid to ask the question, but wondered if the nightmare forces were what compelled her to feel that way.
She made a vow to destroy the nightmare forces every day instead of every week from now on. After another moment of reflection, she made a second vow- that she would no longer pray to Nightmare Moon, but to only Luna alone.