//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Reconcilation // Story: Heir of the Nightmare // by Polaris501 //------------------------------// Canterlot Castle; Servant’s Quarters Eighteen Hours Into Eternal Night Twilight The warm cup of tea in front of her did nothing to settle her nerves, or soothe her discomfort. Twilight was sitting quietly at an old wooden table with a cracked cup sitting in front of her. The quality of the tea was poor at best, and sewage water mixed with crunched tea leaves at worst. The room itself was shabby and small, barely fitting two beds with rotten frames and their accompanying chest of clothes. There was a small burner designed for earth pony use in a corner along with a few kitchen utensils; old pots, a few pans, and a couple jars of scant food littered the corner as well. The walls were an undecorated solid black edifice of unfriendly stone, like the inside of a cave. On one of the beds, Spike’s prone form laid still as the baby dragon had yet to wake from his fainting. All of this irked Twilight immensely, as these were Shining and Cadance’s new living quarters. But none of that bothered her as much as what Cadance was wearing. “I’m sorry, but I have to ask. Why are you dressed as a maid?” True enough, the former Princess of Love was wearing a dainty maid costume that was several sizes too small. It was a black and white monstrosity that looked like it had been pulled out of a garbage chute with its several holes and ruined laces. Twilight suspected it had been for either an earth pony or a unicorn since Cadance had to rip some new holes in the side so her broken wings could poke through. Because Cadance had a larger frame than most mares, the maid outfit hugged her and looked uncomfortably tight around her barrel and legs. The skirt had several patches and Cadance had managed to extend it with her awkward sewing skills so that it adequately covered her rump. Shining was not in much better condition. He wore a tattered janitor’s blue overalls with several bright red patches. Unlike Cadance’s, Shining’s new outfit was actually several sizes too big. It looked like it had been made to fit a rather rotund and plump stallion, not the lean muscular frame of Shining Armor. It was severely baggy and Shining had been forced to use a belt that held it firmly to his waist, so that it did not slide off easily. A nametag scrawled with somepony else’s writing read ‘Shining Armor, Captain of the Bucket Brigade.’ The deep frown Cadance wore etched deeper into her once cheerful face as she eyed her outfit disdainfully. “It’s my new ‘official’ uniform that befits my position. I have been dubbed, ‘The Princess of Dust Bunnies’ by the new occupants of the guard barracks.” Shining snorted in frustration. “Cadance is being mild. We haven’t had a wink of sleep since your magic flare. They’ve made the two of us work on cleaning up the debris in the castle while the other servants were allowed to rest. It’s been difficult to keep up with their demands since we can’t use our magic. Once they decided there wasn’t anything more we could do for the moment, they led us here to our new ‘room.’ And calling this broom closet a room is giving it a compliment. We had to put all the old cleaning supplies that were in here in another location before scrounging up some furniture from the local dump. Everything we got in here is either broken, rotten, or deformed. Our so called ‘rations’ are no better. Most of what we’ve eaten are table scraps from the Legion’s meals.” Twilight scowled and put a hoof firmly on the wooden table. “That won’t happen again. I’ll make sure you’re both given better rooms and meals. And you can go ahead and take off those ridiculous outfits, I can’t stand seeing either of you in them.” Cadance shook her head in resignation. “Don’t bother Twilight, I don’t want you to get into any more trouble. Besides, they won’t listen to you.” “Oh yes they will.” Twilight asserted. She then pulled out the royal proclamation Noctis had given her a few moments ago announcing her status as Crown Princess of Equestria. “The Legion’s commander gave me this, they’ll have to listen to me.” She set it down on the table in front of them and let them read while she tried to bravely sip the muddy water they called tea. Both of their eyebrows lifted to the sky in disbelief as they read the proclamation. After a few moments, they both looked away to only gaze at her with deep concern. “Twilight, you must know that this is some prank by those soldiers poking fun at you or that this is some sick scheme of Nightmare Moon’s. You can’t be taking this seriously, are you feeling alright? Did you get enough rest?” Shining asked, his face the epitome of a concerned sibling. Twilight suppressed a frustrated groan. Ever since she had arrived the two of them had kept avoiding the elephant in the room; namely her new wings and the fiery magical flare. When she had first arrived, she had announced, rather meekly, that Nightmare Moon was truly her birth mother. But the two of them had dismissed her statement completely. It was obvious that both Shining and Cadance believed she was enchanted or hallucinating to some degree from the aftereffects of her magical flare. So far they had coddled her and avoided confronting the real issue, and it was getting on her nerves. But before she could make a proper retort, a groan from the nearby bed distracted her. Spike leaned up from the ragged bed and rubbed his eyes with his claws. “Ooohhhh…what happened? I had the craziest dream that Nightmare Moon was going to turn me into a rug and then Twilight grew wings.” Spike stretched a little before straightening up and becoming more aware of his surroundings. He looked in surprise at the occupants of the former broom closet. Twilight watched his eyes travel from Cadance in a maid outfit to Shining’s janitor uniform and finally to Twilight with her wings. He then promptly slapped himself and let out a loud groan. “Oh great, it wasn’t a dream.” Twilight could only shake her head. She pulled up an old crate as Spike waddled over to join them. “Do you want some tea Spike?” Twilight politely asked. When he nodded his assent, she promptly used her magic to pour out some of the insufferable concoction into another cracked tea cup. Spike reached out with a claw and drank some of it before violently spitting it out. “You call that tea?!” He screeched. “It tastes like sewer water!” Shining frowned a little, indignant of Spike’s response to his tea brewing skills. “Hey, it’s the best we could do under the circumstances. And how would you know what the sewer tastes like anyway?” Spike shuddered. “Twilight once wanted to do research on the ancient plumbing system beneath Canterlot, to compare it with today’s system.” He rocked back and forth in his chair while his eyes shrunk to pinpoints. “Happy thoughts Spike, there are no sewer gators here…” Twilight rolled her eyes but hugged Spike anyway, waiting patiently for the drake’s shudders to pass. “Honestly Spike, it wasn’t that bad. We only ran into two gators, and they weren’t even that big.” “They were larger than Princess Celestia!” “You’re exaggerating!” “I still have nightmares!” And just like that, the conversation died abruptly; silence reigning supreme over the four occupants. It was like the new empress was hovering over them at that very moment, casting a shadow of fear over the conversation. Cadance tried to break the sudden tension in the room and spoke encouragingly. “So…Spike, why did you come to the castle?” She asked him, smiling at the baby dragon. Spike shifted uncomfortably and spoke reluctantly. “A few hours after Nightmare Moon attacked Ponyville’s courthouse, I woke up and started looking for Twilight. A few of the locals told me they had seen her go into the Everfree Forest with a few other ponies. I was about to go in there after her when those soldiers arrived with a royal proclamation.” Shining perked up, interested. “What did they say, we haven’t exactly gotten much news here.” “They said that Princess Celestia had been replaced by Empress Nightmare Moon, and that the Royal Guard had disbanded. One of the officers talked to Mayor Mare and produced some kind of legal document. The mayor read it to the town, it said something about the nobles recognizing Nightmare’s claim to the throne along with the recognition of a new princess.” Twilight winced Spike’s unintended mention of her, but pushed the parchment Noctis had given her over to Spike. “Did it sound something like this?” Spike picked up the paper and read over it quickly, his eyes darting back and forth across the page. His eyes widened and he mouthed the words ‘crown princess’ and ‘Twilight Sparkle.’ He then looked over at Twilight and stared at her wings. “I don’t understand. Why would Nightmare Moon make you a princess?” Twilight wilted in her seat, her new wings highlighting her discovered heritage. Though she had accepted the fact that Nightmare Moon was indeed her mother, she was not about to go crowing it from the castle rooftops. “Because I’m her daughter Spike.” She said quietly, making a point of avoiding Spike’s stare. Shining slammed his hoof onto the table. “Twilight we’ve already told you that’s impossible! Our parents adopted you when you were a few months old seventeen years ago. I don’t know what she’s done to you, but I promise we’ll fix you.” “There is nothing to ‘fix,’ Shining Armor.” Twilight retorted, scowling across the table. “Tell me, did they ever tell you where they adopted me from?” “Well…yeah. They said your real parents were some nobles or guards that were killed in an accident in the Stalliongrad area. There wasn’t much more they ever found out.” “That’s not what I meant. I wanted to know where our parents actually found me, before adopting me. Not what they were told.” Twilight corrected. She had done some deep thinking a little earlier, and she had come to the conclusion that her adoption didn’t change anything between her and Shining. He was still her brother, and Velvet and Night Light were still her parents and she still loved them. Twilight…loved…Nightmare too, but she wasn’t trading one family for another, she was expanding it. Shining tapped his hoof thoughtfully. “Hmmm, Mom and Dad told me you were in the Royal Orphanage, here in the castle. Princess Celestia actually oversaw the adoption herself.” Another bit of information clicked into place. Twilight had suspected that Celestia had a hoof in her adoption, but she had collected no evidence so far to prove her theory. She wanted to know how she had gotten from point A, daughter of Nightmare Moon a thousand years ago, to point B, faithful student to Princess Celestia. Convincing Cadance, Shining, and Spike that Nightmare Moon had not enchanted her in any form or fashion was going to take some effort. Part of the reason was that neither Shining nor Cadance could use any spells because of the magic inhibitors on their horns that restricted their magic. Because of that they couldn’t scan her for any enchantments she might be under and so anything she said was suspect to Nightmare’s meddling. While she appreciated their protective hovering over her, Twilight was growing frustrated with their continual denial of her words. It was going to be hard to get anything accomplished towards ending the Eternal Night when two of her most useful allies were stuck disbelieving her. She did have a few aces up her sleeve though. Twilight started by fluttering her wings so that they would notice them. She hadn’t gotten use to the new appendages yet, but she had established some control over them. “Look at these. This isn’t some illusion or spell, these wings are real. They didn’t just spontaneously sprout from my back.” Cadance cocked an eyebrow at her. “My horn did.” Twilight tried to suppress her mounting frustration. One of the weaknesses in the argument using her wings was that Cadance had ascended to being an alicorn, not naturally born like her; Cadance had originally been a pegasus. It still wasn’t clear how Cadance had managed to do ascend, and so from their point of view Twilight had probably done same thing, which to them may have been why Nightmare wanted to manipulate Twilight. “This is different, Nightmare told me I was born with these while under the influence of a powerful magical artifact that forces ponies to tell the truth.” Shining snorted dismissively. “Our point exactly Twilight. SHE told you.” “That does seem rather obvious Twilight.” Spike agreed. “How do you know she hasn’t invaded your mind or something?” “Because I used an age spell on myself, and it said I was a thousand years old Spike!” Spike chuckled. “Yeah right, and I’m Santa Hooves. On the bright side, you look good for a thousand year old mare!” “This isn’t a time for jokes Spike.” Twilight reproached. “You guys have to listen to me! Nightmare Moon is really my mother! And she is actually Princess Celestia’s sister from over a thousand years ago!” “There, there.” Cadance cooed. She reached out with a hoof and tried to soothe Twilight like she was a mental patient. “There’s no need to get upset. Don’t worry, we’ll find some way to help you.” Twilight brushed her off and got to her hooves. “Alright fine, if you won’t listen to me, then I’ll just have to prove it.” “How?” Spike asked, startled by her sudden movement. “I’ll bet you that anything that the Princess left behind something that says I’m Nightmare’s daughter. We’re going to her chambers to go look.” Shining remained sitting, unperturbed by Twilight’s determination. “Twilight, everything in the princess’s chambers was fried to a crisp from your magical flare. I know. Cadance and I had to clean up the smoking piles you left behind.” “There might still be something. Come on, let’s go look.” Twilight turned to leave and she heard Cadance and Shining reluctantly get up from their stools. She then pushed open the door and stepped back out into the hallway. Flanking the door were two soldiers of the 501st Imperial Legion in their sleek silver armor. Though Twilight was a little surprised, she realized that Commander Noctis had probably sent replacements to guard her about the castle. “Are you my escort?” She asked them, seeking to verify her suspicions. Much to her surprise, instead of the traditional salute or nod that Twilight had grown accustomed to with the Royal Guard, the Lunar Pegasi soldiers snapped to attention and immediately prostrated themselves before her, saying, “At your service, your highness.” The two guards straightened back up with military precision and eyed Cadance and Shining suspiciously as they stepped out of the broom closet. Shining glared at them from the corner of his eyes but didn’t say anything, Cadance shuffled around with distinct discomfort under their scrutinizing gazes, but Spike just ignored them. Before either guard said anything, Twilight preempted their inevitable question. “They’re with me, and we’re going to Princess Celestia’s old chambers.” Taking the initiative, Twilight started trotting briskly towards her destination, leaving the two soldiers to snap forward in order to catch up with their charge. Shining and Cadance, not wanting to walk behind them, quickly caught up and walked abreast with her. Spike was content to just waddle behind them and look at the castle’s new lunar furnishings. After a few minutes, the clean fresh air of the castle started taking on a burnt, acrid scent that made Twilight scrunch her nose. She was about to ask Shining or the soldiers what the source of the horrible smell was when they rounded the corner. Twilight’s jaw dropped, and her walk came to a screeching halt. All along the walls, the ceiling, and even the floor were black burn marks and craters from lightning strikes. Broken stone littered the floor along with what looked like hardened puddles of silver and gold that had melted from the ceiling. Ash from wooden tables, chairs, and portrait frames were scattered all along the way. At the end of the hallway, there was a large hole in the wall where Twilight could see out onto the mountain side, the stars twinkling in the night. There were even some small fixtures still slightly smoking, the gray smog curling up to the ceiling before crawling along the ruined hallway. “Did—Did I do this?” Twilight gasped, her eyes wide at the destruction of the once beautiful castle. She had known her flare had done some serious damage, but this was far beyond what she had expected. “Whoa…” Spike mumbled. “If Nightmare Moon is your mom…then your father must be a dragon.” Cadance giggled while Twilight groaned, though now that Twilight thought about it, she had no idea who her father was. Shining put a hoof around Twilight reassuringly. “Don’t worry about it, nopony was hurt, and that’s what matters. Though I dislike them, the soldiers did manage to escort the servants out safely.” The soldiers, looking conflicted between proud and insulted, said nothing. “I…I can’t believe it. This…I don’t—“ Cadance joined Shining in comforting her. “It’s alright. Stone can be repaired and tapestries replaced. What is important is that you are alright.” Twilight took a deep breath and tried to release her anxiety. She mourned for the castle, she really did. It was the place where she was practically raised. She had spent her childhood running through these same halls. To think that she had defiled it in this manner disturbed her to no end, but she realized Cadance and Shining were right, nopony had gotten hurt. Except of course, the one pony that had braved the magical firestorm and saved her. Her mother, who was still recovering from rescuing Twilight. The realization that this is what Nightmare Moon had endured to save her from herself humbled her, and strengthened Twilight’s resolve to find a way to turn her mother away from her self-destructive path. Twilight took another deep breath and trudged through the ash and dust, her hooves crunching loudly as she made her way towards what was once Princess Celestia’s pristine bed chamber. The tall wooden doors were completely gone, and the copper hinges had been reduced to molten slag. The frame was warped to resemble a furnace’s opening more than royal chamber. The smell only seemed to worsen and grow thicker as they approached the epicenter of the destruction. Once there, Twilight addressed the two watchful soldiers. “Please wait outside, we’re going to be looking through the wreckage for anything useful.” It wasn’t a complete lie, they were indeed searching for something useful, just probably not what they expected. She watched them hesitate, but in the end they relented and flanked the ruined doorway, expressions of neutrality carved on their features. Together, the four of them walked calmly inside. Once Spike had finished crossing the threshold, Twilight silently erected a sound barrier between the soldier and them. It was invisible, and wouldn’t put up any resistance beyond blocking sound waves that came from their voices. The soldiers would be able to hear them move around, but their conversation would remain private. Finished casting the enchantment, Twilight sadly gazed around the room with the others. Everything that had been wooden was completely gone, and the white walls were black and warped. The bed had disappeared, probably incinerated within the first few minutes of the inferno, and most of the pictures that had lined the walls were also gone. The few metal instruments Celestia had kept in her chambers were twisted beyond recognition, their once shiny frames now lacking all luster. A few tears welled up in Twilight’s eyes, though they did not fall. She far more missed the mare that had belonged here, more than what she had kept. “Alright.” Twilight said, wiping her eyes. “I know it looks bad, but maybe there’s something here that might be of use.” Spike looked doubtful. “I don’t know Twilight, pretty much everything is toast.” “Nevertheless, there might be something. Please, just help me look.” Shining and Cadance shared glances that only couples could understand. Shining looked back at her and grimaced a little. “Cadance and I have already been here. We had to clean up most of the wreckage that we could move away without magic. If Princess Celestia had anything in here, it’s probably gone now Twilight. I’m sorry.” Why was it that her closest friends and family kept trying to dissuade her? Twilight was about to angrily retort when something caught the corner of her vision, something that stood out amongst the wreckage. Curious, she cantered over to what had intrigued her only to be disappointed. It had once been Celestia’s favorite portrait of herself and Starswirl the Bearded, something Twilight had taken interest in with her studies of the old wizard. The portrait was completely gone, leaving the metal frame and the back of the portrait…which shouldn’t have been there. Most portrait’s backs were made of wood, while this one was made of metal. Reaching out with a hoof, Twilight tapped the ruined portrait. It let out a sound like a cheap metal drum. What really surprised her however, was that there was no solid contact on the other side. I was as if the wall behind it didn’t exist. The others crowded behind her to see what she was looking at. Growing excited, Twilight reached out with her magic and lifted the frame up from its spot on the wall. The metal moaned as it was removed, leaving a faint outline of where it had been. Twilight dumped it unceremoniously to the side, where it clanged loudly. Leaving a gaping hole in the wall, with stairs leading down into a dark tunnel. “That…shouldn’t be there.” Shining said into the silence. “Princess Celestia never told the Guard about a secret tunnel in her chambers.” “Me neither.” Cadance whispered. “Maybe the princess was secretly Batmare.” Spike said reverently. The others stared at him. “What?! It could happen!” Twilight climbed into the portrait hole and started walking down, her horn lighting up to beat back the darkness. “Follow me, this must be important if the princess kept it hidden.” As the four explorers descended into the darkness, Twilight noticed that the scorch marks became less and less prominent until they disappeared completely, leaving the white stone unblemished and intact. Twilight suspected that a powerful enchantment had guarded the secret stairwell and would only let the princess through. She theorized that her flare had destroyed the enchantment but not before it had taken the brunt of her chaotic magic, leaving whatever was down here undamaged and whole. After a couple minutes of walking, Twilight and the others finally exited the staircase into a large chamber deep beneath the castle. At first she could see nothing, as the large chamber seemed to swallow the feeble purple light from her horn like a black hole. But after a while her eyes adjusted, and Twilight spotted a large hearth and several crystal lamps along the walls. Sending out small bursts of light, Twilight lit everything that could help light the chamber. Once the lamps and chandeliers ignited, yellow light danced along the walls and revealed the chamber’s secrets. Twilight almost stumbled back as she stared with wide eyes at the vast array of treasures before them. The walls were covered in books Twilight had never seen; tomes with spines of gold and silver lined the shelves. Large statures of historical figures like Starswirl the Bearded, Clover the Clever, and Chancellor Puddinghead were but the beginning of a long line of old sculptures. Artifacts and nick-nacks of all sorts littered the chamber like the tomb of King Trotankhamun. Spike gaped at the assortment of treasures. “Whoa…the princess is like the ultimate hoarder…” Cadance stepped forward quickly and started to peruse the bookshelves. “This…This is incredible. There are books here I’ve never seen before! And look! The oldest date back to the founding of Canterlot!” Shining explored the statuary, sizing up the statue of a past Royal Guard Captain. “There’s no way the princess could have smuggled all this down here. She must have made all these statues herself.” Twilight said nothing, she was too busy staring at the item in the center of the room. Her frame was stock still and if were not for her lavender coat, she could have been mistaken for a statue herself. In the center of the room, next to what Twilight recognized as a Celestia-sized pillow, was a large golden cradle. With her name on it. Almost tripping over herself as she quickly scampered over to the cradle, Twilight wasted no time in examining it. The cradle looked like it hadn’t been used in some time, as it was barren of any sheets or cushions that would have normally signaled that it was in use. But besides that, it was very comfortable looking with its gentle curves and flowing nature. On a small golden plaque were the words; My niece, Twilight Sparkle. Twilight recognized the note as Celestia’s writing. Is…Is this were she kept me? Only then did it fully hit Twilight that Celestia, the hero of her childhood and her mentor was family. Of course, Celestia had been family before all this, like Spike. But this brought their relationship to a whole new level. That the tall white mare she had practically grown up under was indeed her aunt was hard to immediately come to terms with. The realization brought a smile to Twilight’s face, and warm fuzzy feelings bubbled up inside her as she remembered their fond times together during her apprenticeship. But then, like a bubble bursting, Twilight had a startling thought pop up in her head. If…If Twilight was truly Celestia’s niece, then why had she kept Twilight hidden for over a thousand years? And why did Celestia never want to have Twilight recognize her as her aunt? Why, was it her? Was there something wrong with Twilight? Sudden dread and doubt chilled her as a theory sprang up from her worrying. Maybe…just maybe…Celestia had hidden Twilight because she was ashamed of who her mother was, and Celestia didn’t want the daughter of Nightmare Moon to roam freely. Twilight crushed that thought and buried it deep in the recesses of her mind. Celestia loved her, she was sure of it. All those years of learning and love couldn’t have been faked, there must have been a legitimate reason for Twilight’s missing millennia. And it must be in this room. While the others continued to explore the room, Twilight quickly perused the books in the shelves, looking for something specific. A large amount of the tomes were from a great many ponies Celestia had known personally. Others were written by Celestia herself, but those were either fictional epics, historical narratives, scientific pilot studies, or poetry (Twilight made a note to herself to come back later). It wasn’t until she came across a large stand with a thick gilded book on top that Twilight found what she had hoped might be in here. Celestia’s journal! Jackpot! Squealing like a filly on Hearthswarming Day, Twilight picked up the book and started perusing through it. She turned to the first page which was dated near the time of the founding of Canterlot, close to a year or two after Nightmare Moon’s banishment. I’m so tired, not a day goes by that I do not miss Luna, it’s been so difficult to care about running our kingdom without her by my side. I don’t know how many times I have been tempted to just run away and never return. If I did not have Twilight to take care of, I fear that I would flee like the coward I truly am. My hopes have dimmed over the past couple years, for my dear little niece still shows no signs of waking up from her coma. I dread that my meddling with her pegasus and earth pony magic has damaged her too much. Shame still haunts my soul every time I remember what I did to her. I will never forgive myself for reducing the beautiful little foal to a unicorn, even though it saved her life. If only I had known of another way! I still don’t know what happened to Twilight, only that dark magic was draining her life away when I found her after banishing poor Luna. I still shudder when I think about what I would have done to myself if I had found Twilight dead in that small room beneath our old castle. There is some good news however, I have finally managed to finish that secret chamber that will keep Twilight safe until she awakes. I’ve made it so that it will be directly beneath where the mason workers are constructing my personal chambers in the new castle on the site of the old unicorn mining town of Cantersbury, though I think I will rename it as Canterlot. If I were sure that Twilight would be safe, I would not hide her like I am doing. But unfortunately, despite my Day Guard’s purges, some of those fiendish, black-hearted Knights of Ra are still lurking about. I never did find their leader, Moloch. The scoundrel disappeared the day after Luna’s banishment, and I fear that he may be at large, still planning something. How I curse the day I ever met that deranged stallion! I should have listened to Starswirl and have had their little so-called club disbanded in the first place. Speaking of Starswirl, the old wizard has not been feeling well lately. I think he’s caught some kind of cold or flu. These past few days he’s been bedridden with horrible aches and thunderous sneezes. I think I’ll take him some flowers and try to cheer him up. He loves to eat daffodils, they’re his favorite. Twilight re-read the page to make sure she had read everything correctly. So she had been in a coma? If she understood Celestia’s writings correctly, she had found Twilight under the influence of dark magic that was killing her after she banished Nightmare Moon. It appeared that in order to do so, she had to take away the pegasus and earth pony magics from her alicorn whole, leaving her with only unicorn magic. This made sense, since Nightmare had told her earlier that Celestia had taken away her other pony magic. However, it appears that while her mother had been correct in her assumption that Celestia had indeed taken away her magic, Nightmare had assumed it had been for a malevolent purpose. Other parts of the journal entry didn’t make much sense. For one, Twilight had never heard of any of these ‘purges’ the Day Guard had carried out, or the existence of this group called, the ‘Knights of Ra.’ But something stuck out to her that bothered her. A name. Luna. Celestia wrote about banishing a pony named Luna, and that she was very upset over this. This didn’t make sense to Twilight. This journal entry had been written a few years after Nightmare Moon’s banishment, but Celestia had wrote that she had found Twilight after banishing Luna. Twilight flipped forward a few pages, coming to the conclusion that more research would be necessary. The next few pages detailed the construction of Canterlot and Celestia’s musings over the still sleeping Twilight. Then, she came across a page that was severely wrinkled and was littered with what Twilight recognized as tear stains. I…I can’t believe its h—happened, after so many years. Starswirl, my mentor, my friend, and the closest thing I had to a father p-passed away today. I should have seen it coming, he was over seven hundred and seventy years old. I knew, subconsciously, that he would leave me eventually, but I deluded myself for too long, and now he’s gone. He passed peacefully earlier this evening, after I set the sun and brought out the moon. Starswirl had been sick with a severe bought of flu for some time, but I made sure his last moments were peaceful. He was awake and lucid the whole time, even up to his final moments. How he could chuckle in the face of death I might never understand. Starswirl had one last piece of advice for me that he gave me on his deathbed. I have known for some time the old wizard’s dabbling with time travel, what with our experiments with the magic mirrors. I know he hasn’t been able to travel directly into the future, just able to view it. It is from one of these visions that Starswirl gave me new hope, and new dread. He said that on the thousandth anniversary of my banishment of Nightmare Moon, she would return. He said that there were many possible futures that could happen, but he was utterly sure that she would return with a fierce and burning vengeance. And that Nightmare would come for me, and that I would fall. But he said there was hope. Starswirl spoke of a pony that I would take as my apprentice close to a thousand years’ time from now and prepare her for what she would need in order to defeat Nightmare Moon and restore Luna. Starswirl said that the Elements would be key, but he was vague on how they would be implemented. And so, here is what Starswirl the Bearded prophesied: “On the longest day of the thousandth year, the Stars will aid in her escape, and She will bring about nighttime eternal.” He said this will come to pass, and that there was only one pony that could heal Luna, and stop fear from ruling the world. And then, with his dying breath he whispered: “Do not mourn for me, my child, for death is but the next and greatest adventure…” Twilight could only stare at the page. Not only was this Celestia’s first-hoof account of Starswirl the Bearded’s death, but probably the first record of the prophecy of Nightmare Moon. Twilight frantically re-read over the lines detailing the only pony Starswirl predicted that could defeat Nightmare Moon and save this ‘Luna.’ She especially read the lines where Starswirl said that it would be Celestia’s ‘apprentice.’ It struck Twilight that Celestia never guessed that her niece was the apprentice that Starwirl spoke of, at least not until later. ‘the Stars will aid in her escape,’ Twilight hesitantly turned back to stare at her own flank, where a large pink star surrounded by five smaller ones stared back at her. Prophecies were infamous with their double meanings, and it was possible that the Stars Starswirl had referred to could have been Twilight herself, or the literal stars in the sky. Only time would tell for certain. Twilight returned her attention to the journal and paid particular interest to whenever Celestia wrote the name ‘Luna.’ Could…Could ‘Luna’ actually be— And then a voice Twilight knew all too well spoke from behind her. “So this is where my sister keeps her toys.” Twilight dimly heard the other three in the room silently stop whatever they had been doing, and an almost impenetrable gloom of silence descended upon them. Slowly, as if her hoof had been caught in the cookie jar, Twilight turned around to face her mother. Nightmare Moon stood in all her dark glory, her black coat standing out significantly in the yellow light against the backdrop of the white walls. Her draconic eyes shimmered dangerously as she sneered at Celestia’s collection. Twilight could see her mother’s sharp teeth as her lips curled back to show off her fangs. Twilight…wasn’t sure what to do. Or even how to address her. ‘Mom’ just didn’t fit right for the immortal bringer of Eternal Night. Baby steps, Twilight, baby steps. “Um…good evening…mother.” Twilight said meekly. Against all odds, Nightmare lost some of her intimidation and genuinely smiled at Twilight. Apparently she liked being called that. The smile might have been more pleasant if it weren’t with razor sharp teeth. The smile didn’t last long however, and Nightmare’s sneer quickly returned as she glared at the other two ponies and the baby dragon. “Leave us.” Without protest they quickly ascended back up the staircase into the ruined bed chamber above, leaving mother and daughter to hash things out. As soon as they left, Nightmare began perusing the objects of her sister’s collection herself, scowling at most of it. But despite Nightmare’s obvious predisposition towards her sister’s belongings, she did seem genuinely curious, to a certain degree. Nightmare spoke calmly, breaking the silence. “How did you find this room? I did not discover it with my initial sweep.” “Oh, well I imagine Princess Celestia had set up some wards to prevent its detection. I…I guess my flare destroyed them.” Though Twilight accepted that Celestia was her aunt, she wasn’t quite ready to call her ‘aunty.’ “Um…how did you know we were down here?” “Your servant’s inhibitors alerted me when they went with you into an unguarded part of the castle. It’s part of the enchantment I placed on them.” Nightmare picked up a globe of the world and gave it a critical stare. “It doesn’t look like this you know.” Twilight was thrown off by the statement. “What? I don’t understand.” Nightmare spoke slowly, still staring at the globe. “The world, it doesn’t actually look like this. This model is inaccurate. There are several errors with the placement of the continents and the islands, and some of the oceans are larger than they should be.” Twilight stared, she recognized the globe as the most modern and up to date representation of the known parts of the world. “How would you know that?” “It was one of the only things I could look at that wasn’t moon dust during my banishment.” Nightmare then gave the globe a contemptuous snort before dropping it unceremoniously to the floor, where the fragile orb shattered into a hundred pieces. Nightmare moved on to the next piece of sculpture, which depicted the famous explorer Henry Hoofson. Twilight watched her mother as she scrutinized Celestia’s collection. She didn’t know how to reply to that, or even if she should. Twilight just couldn’t imagine what banishment on the moon was like, and she was afraid to ask the only mare that had ever experienced it. She quickly decided to change the subject. “I…I want to thank you for--for saving me.” Nightmare paused and turned back around. “Twilight, I love you, and I would do anything for you.” Her teal eyes flickered back to the shattered globe. “Anything.” Twilight felt like she should do something more, as a meager thank you just didn’t feel adequate. So she walked up as calmly as possible to Nightmare, who turned back to her with an appraised eyebrow. Twilight stopped in front of her and hesitantly held out her hooves. She promptly buried her muzzle in nightmare’s obsidian fur as she gave her mother a tentative hug. Twilight felt Nightmare relax and lean back into the hug, enfolding Twilight in her large wings and nuzzling her. Much to Twilight’s surprise, she felt small droplets land on her head. Was Nightmare Moon…crying? “Y—You don’t know how l-long I’ve wanted to do this.” Nightmare sniffled, trying to maintain her regal voice. “It’s--It’s been so long since I last h--held you, and I was afraid I would never be able to do it again.” Twilight’s heart broke at those words, and she held her mother closer, feeling her mother’s heart beat in her chest. But as the two mares held each other, Twilight spotted something over Nightmare’s shoulder. It was a statue, or rather it was a three-piece sculpture. It was a curious life-size piece of three alicorns of different size and age. The tallest and the largest was obviously Celestia, as the sun cutie-mark was a dead giveaway. Next to her was a familiar-looking alicorn that was much shorter with a recognizable cutie-mark. This shorter mare was slightly smaller than Celestia, but taller than Cadance. She had a smile on her gentle face and her wings were shaped like…like Twilight’s. On the mare’s back was a small alicorn foal without a cutie-mark but with Twilight’s mane cut. The small plaque at the base of the sculpture read: My sister, my niece, and I; as it should be. Nightmare leaned back and turned to where Twilight was staring. “What are you looking at?” She then caught sight of the statue and her gaze hardened again, glaring knives at the sculpture. Twilight had a sudden flash of insight, and since she was still in Nightmare’s embrace, Twilight looked up at her. Her purple eyes searching her mother’s face. “Luna is your real name, isn’t it?” Nightmare’s neck whipped back around and she stared wide-eyed at Twilight, clearly taken off guard. Slowly, reluctantly, she folded her black wings back to her sides. “Where did you hear that name?” Again Twilight hesitated. She wasn’t sure what Nightmare?…Luna?...planned to do with all of Celestia’s collection yet, and didn’t want it destroyed as the journal and things around them might still prove useful. She didn’t want Nightmare to grow angry at the collection and destroy them like she had done the globe. So she dodged the question. Twilight pointed at the statue. “That’s you isn’t it. The real you, before you were banished.” Nightmare twitched at the word ‘real,’ but otherwise didn’t react. “This,” She gestured to her tall black form. “is the real me now. And my name, is Nightmare Moon.” Twilight didn’t know how her mother had transformed from cute and cuddly to tall and prickly, but that didn’t change anything, so she pressed on. “Why? Luna is a beautiful name, and you looked just fine the way you were. Why did you change Mother?” Nightmare growled and glared back at the statue, as if all this were its fault before turning back to Twilight. “Because when ponies didn’t respect me as Luna, I made them fear me instead as Nightmare Moon.” “But why?!” Twilight pleaded. “Why would you want to be feared? Wouldn’t you rather be loved?” “Because love wouldn’t save you!” Nightmare screamed. “I tried everything! I broke my back and twisted my wings in order for ponies to love and respect me, like Celestia!” She practically spat out the name. “And what did I get in return?! Hate! They hated me, and they hated you!” Twilight gaped at her, stunned by the revelation. “What do you mean they hated me? I thought ponies didn’t know I existed?” Nightmare was breathing heavily, but she quickly calmed herself and regained her stiff composure. “It doesn’t matter.” She replied sternly. Twilight couldn’t tell if Nightmare was talking to her or talking to herself. “Not anymore anyway. It’s over, and I’ve won. They’ll never touch you again, never, and I’ll always protect you.” Twilight wasn’t done. “But things have changed now! I don’t know how bad things were a thousand years ago but Equestria has changed!” “Has it?!” Nightmare laughed sarcastically. “It doesn’t look that way to me.” She turned Twilight around so that she faced the crib. “Look! And tell me that Equestria and Celestia have changed!” Twilight did look, but she couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary, it was just your average underground lair filled with ancient books, magnificent sculptures, and a foal crib. “I don’t understand, I don’t see anything.” “Do you know what I see?” Nightmare whispered in her ear. “I see that you were the prize of Celestia’s trophy room, the centerpiece of her collection, and the edifice of her triumph. Nothing more.” “That’s not true!” Twilight sputtered. “Princess Celestia loved—“ Twilight turned pale as she realized what she had said, and to whom she had said it. “Love?!?!” Nightmare shrieked, her voice rising several pitches. “My sister knows nothing of love! If she had loved you, then why did she leave you to rot in a chamber for almost a thousand years? If your aunt loved you, then why did she release you only to point you like a spear at me? If my sister loved you, why did she take your magic and cripple you? If Celestia loved you, then why did she ever, not even once, tell you that you were her family?! She used you Twilight for her own personal gain. You were nothing but a trophy these past thousand years and then a tool to use against me." From the ways her ears hurt, Twilight knew that Celestia raising Twilight while Nightmare was on the moon was a very, very, sore spot for her mother. And Twilight realized that although what Nightmare was saying was not true, it was somewhat logical. But she had to try and give some type of justification for Celestia’s actions. For Twilight could at least answer why Celestia had taken her magic. Twilight reached out with her magic and took Celestia’s journal from its stand and quickly returned to the proper entry. “You’re wrong, look here! Celestia wrote down that she had to take my magic in order to heal me, or I would have died! The journal says that I was dying because I was infected with some sort of dark magic. Celestia had no choice! And the healing effort put me in a coma for almost the entire paste millennia! That’s why she kept me down here, she was trying to protect me!” Nightmare leaned down and her eyes quickly scanned the page, her sneer becoming more prominent with each passing moment. Then with a flash of her horn, Nightmare took the journal from Twilight and slammed it back down onto its stand. “That book is nothing but lies!” Nightmare growled. “The last time I saw you Twilight you were happy, healthy, and safe! What Celestia wrote is a myth, for it was naught but ten minutes after I left you that she chained me to the moon!” Then Nightmare dropped her anger and her face twisted with pain and sorrow, her eyes filling to the brim with tears. “Why do you defend her? Do you not care what she did to me? To us? Please, I love you. Come back to me!” And then she held out her hooves in hopes of an embrace and waited desperately for Twilight’s response. Twilight couldn’t refuse her. If she had any lingering doubts that there wasn’t any good in her, they were gone now. She still believed in Celestia, but she couldn’t refuse her mother. In that moment, with her mother’s face filled with pain and fear, Nightmare wasn’t a demonic despot returned from myth and legend, but a mother that wanted nothing more than to be loved by her child. Feeling tears of her own start to run freely down her face, Twilight practically leapt into the offered embrace gave her mother the most heartfelt hug she could produce. Nightmare’s limbs enclosed around her, making her feel safe, making her feel loved. “I—I love you too!” Twilight wept. “I don’t want you to go away again!” And she meant it. And so for the next few minutes, the two alicorns only held each other and poured out their hearts deep inside the mountain. Then once they had both calmed down, they reluctantly let go of each other and wiped what tears they had shed. Twilight smiled at her mother and Nightmare smiled back. The lunar alicorn turned her back on Celestia’s collection and made her way towards the staircase, with Twilight at her side. “Let’s put this place behind us, we’ve been down here for far too long already. They’re expecting us.” “Who is?” Twilight asked, curious by her mother's sudden change in mood. Nightmare smiled down at her and Twilight caught a mischievous glint in her draconic eyes. “Why all of Canterlot of course! It’s almost time for our coronation!”