//------------------------------// // Chapter One // Story: Fall of the Sun, Rise of the Moon // by superpony55 //------------------------------// Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Ruler of Equestria, sat at a table with her trusted bodyguards and knights - Rainbow Dash, Shining Armor, and Mare Moon. The others were discussing the Fall of Celestia, but Moon was bored. He'd heard everything possible about the Fall, heck, he'd been there. Plus, it was a kind of embarrassing thing to think about when you were named after the cause of it all. Luna. Nightmare Moon. Same pony, didn't make much of a difference. It didn't matter what she was called, what mattered was what she'd done. Moon sighed a bit to himself. Not only was he named after the Sun Breaker (which meant there was a huge uproar when his Princess had chosen him as a bodyguard), but he was named Mare to top it off. How would a mare like to be named Stallion? Princess Twilight, Princess of Magic and the Night, was bored as well. Why did Rainbow and Shining find it necessary to discuss the Fall? They all knew the story - Princess Luna turned into Nightmare Moon; Celestia tried to banish her to the moon but it backfired and killed Luna; Celestia held herself together as long as possible but on the eve of the 1000th year she fled, leaving their new Princess to rule Equestria; Equestria was pretty much destroyed during the month-long day that Twilight spent trying to fix everything. Twilight sighed, wishing she could pull out a book. But that would have been impolite. She caught Moon's eye and smiled sympathetically. "The night needs more color." Twilight's head shot up, and she and Moon glanced at each other in confusion. "Huh?" "The night," said Rainbow again. "It needs more color." Twilight blinked and cocked her head. "Erm... why?" "Because," said Rainbow, "ponies are scared of the night because it's too dark to see anything. They don't know what's in there. But if it was colorful..." Twilight rolled her eyes. "Actually, ponies are scared of the night because of Princess Luna, the Sun Breaker. They are afraid of her and what she represents. She is what started the Fall in the first place." Shining Armor shook his head. "They're afraid of the night because they got used to the day during the Longest Day. Since it lasted what would have been a month, the night now seems strange to them." Moon seemed to be lost in thought. Finally, he spoke up. "It's because ponies need something to fear," he said quietly. Twilight gave him a small smile, but Rainbow rolled her eyes. "I still think the night needs more color." Twilight sighed. "I'll see what I can do." "So... how are you going to make the night more colorful?" Knight Mare Moon asked Princess Twilight Sparkle, eyebrow raised. She giggled. "I'm not." "No?" "Yes." They grinned at each other. "Good job keeping you composure during that meeting, by the way," said Moon conversationally. "You too. I could tell how much you wanted to hit Rainbow Dash when you got in that argument," Twilight replied. "I would never hurt a girl! As long as she was on my side." "Rainbow sure wasn't on your side in that argument," Twilight pointed out. Moon shrugged. "Well, she's not evil." "Good thing, too. I don't want to think about how horrible it would be to have a Rainboom against us." "Well, it would probably-" "I said I didn't want to think about it!" Twilight protested. Moon grinned. "...be pretty bad." Twilight flicked him with magic, and he thudded into the wall. "Moon!" Meanwhile outside, Shining and Rainbow were listening in. "Those two and their games," Shining commented. "I can't believe she won't do anything about the night!" Rainbow complained. Thud. "We... should probably go in there, shouldn't we." "Yeah." Twilight was pacing nervously, waiting for Moon to wake up. Finally, after a few hours, Moon's eyes opened, and he stared at the ceiling. "What happened?" Twilight rushed over to him. "Moon! You hit your head when I accidently flicked you into a wall. I am so so so so sorry!" "...Mom?" Twilight paused. "Yes, Mare Moon." The words felt uncomfortable on her lips. "Mom, I had a horrible dream. Celly took my doll and then I turned into a monster. I turned into a monster." Moon was shivering. Twilight paused for a moment. Who was Celly? "It was just a dream, don't worry." "I am a monster, Mommy. I'm sorry. Tell Celly I'm sorry. Tell her I was just jealous. It wasn't her fault." "I... I'll tell her." Twilight took a shaky breath. Was Moon reliving his past? As far as she knew, he never knew his mother, and knew nopony named Celly. "Tell Celly I'm alive. Tell Celly Luna is still in here. Tell Celestia the Nightmare has not taken over completely." Twilight stood there in shock. Her eyes widened, and her breath became quicker. "Mommy?" Moon whispered. "Will you sing me a lullaby?" Twilight looked over at Moon with sorrow in her eyes, and sang what Celestia had told her was Luna's favorite lullaby. "The darkness falls, The moonlight calls, Leaving us alone together. Feel the strength, Don't hesitate, You won't be alone forever. The night calls out to you As the day calls out to me. Fly through the cool night air, To you, the nighttime is key. Don't worry, a nightmare is merely a dream, Relax and drink in the moonbeam. The nightmare is only inside your head. You mean so much to me my moon, You can spend time with others soon. Even if you would like to be alone instead. The night calls out to you As the day calls out to me. Fly through the cool night air, To you, the nighttime is key." Moon relaxed, and fell asleep with a smile on his face. Twilight left the room with dread settling into her stomach. What just happened? Twilight came out of Moon's room looking stressed. "What's the matter, Twily?" Shining Armor asked concernedly. "Nothing," she said breezily. She held up for about two seconds before giving in. "It's Moon." "What about him?" Rainbow flapped her wings, not appearing worried at all. "He didn't hit his head too heard, did he?" Shining wondered. "No... well, yes, but that's not it. He started talking about some sort of 'Celly', calling himself 'Luna'. Said he..." she choked. "Said he was a monster." "Celly... Princess Celestia?" Shining Armor's head shot up. "That's what I was thinking," Twilight replied. "But that's impossible." The two siblings looked at each other worriedly. "Maybe it's from a book he read," Rainbow suggested. "It sounded more like... more like he was reliving his own past. And I sang him Luna's favorite lullaby. He seemed to like it." "I like it," Shining pointed out. "Yeah, but... well, the feeling is hard to explain. I know it's impossible, but..." She took a deep breath. "I think he's Luna." Rainbow proceeded to fall backwards, caught up in laughter.