Twilight opened her eyes. She looked around the room, seeing her library and realising that at some point somepony had put her back into her bed. A glance out the window told her it was still night, which Twilight couldn't help but feel was appropriate, given the situation. She crawled out of bed as quietly as she could, putting out the lamps around the room with a quiet surge of magic before sitting in the darkness, alone with her thoughts. She did not move until Luna stepped into the room over an hour later.
“I have found that quiet thoughts in dark places are best thrown into the light,” the Princess of the Night said as she relit the lamps, her voice soft. “Otherwise, they will fester and spread their corruption until they consume you.”
“Dark places are where I belong now,” Twilight said. “I'm a creature of the night, right?”
“As am I,” Luna replied. “Does that mean I should remove myself from society, hold myself away from others as I once did? That turned out rather badly, as I'm sure you recall.”
“I'll be fine. I just need some time.”
“Is that so?” Luna asked, sitting next to Twilight. “For what purpose? To internalise your anger and sadness until the day it explodes? You may not be able to cause eternal night, Twilight Sparkle, but I fear you could still bring great tragedy to Equestria, if I allowed you time.”
“What do you want?” Twilight sighed, slumping.
“To listen,” Luna said. “You were there when I needed a friend. Allow me to be here for you. I dare say there is no better pony in Equestria to hear your thoughts. Even downstairs, I could feel them.”
Twilight nodded mutely, but said nothing.
“Shall I guess, then?” Luna asked. “You learned something of what I made you while you slumbered, yes?” Twilight nodded again. “You fear what you are? Nay, you loath it more than fear it.”
“Why shouldn't I? I'm a monster.”
“A monster are you?” Luna asked, placing a hoof over her heart. “Here sits a pony responsible for death and destruction on a scale you cannot comprehend, and you call yourself a monster? What does that make me?”
“You're different,” Twilight said. “You're a Princess.”
“That excuses my actions as Nightmare Moon? That somehow makes it less wrong that I destroyed so much?”
“Well, no,” Twilight began, but Luna cut her off.
“So if you, a saviour of Equestria multiple times over, are a monster, then surely I am worthy of the title as well. We can be monsters together, if nothing else. Shall we spend the night wallowing in self-loathing?”
“What are you trying to do?” Twilight asked.
“I am trying to help you,” Luna said bluntly. “I may not have the same experience with friendship you do, but even I know that friends try their best to help each other. Or am I not your friend?”
“Are you?” Twilight asked, rising to her hooves. “You turned me into... this. I didn't ask for it.”
“I saved your life,” Luna pointed out, content to remain seated. “I apologise if that discomforts you.”
Twilight sighed again, hanging her head. “I don't mean to be ungrateful, I really don't. I'm just... confused. Conflicted.”
“I know,” Luna said, motioning for Twilight to sit again and drawing her close with a wing. “I felt the same way once.”
Twilight fidgeted under the Princesses' embrace, but she didn't pull away. “I saw The Keeper again. He told me about the original vamponies. What happened to them. Did Celestia really...?”
“Yes,” Luna said, sadness apparent in her voice. “She had my children slain. She feared them, what they could do.”
“I'm sorry,” Twilight whispered, and Luna chuckled softly.
“You amaze me, Twilight Sparkle. You sit here drowning in your own troubles, and you still find a place in your heart to feel sorry for another's misfortune. Enough of that, for tonight. I will gladly answer your questions about the past when the sun rises. Until then, let us speak of the future.”
“What's going to happen to me?” Twilight asked, her voice strained “What will Celestia do?”
“Nothing,” Luna said, tightening her wing around the unicorn. “I'll allow no harm to come to you. Even from her, if it comes to that. I promise.”
Twilight sniffed and rubbed at her eyes. “What about the townsponies?”
“The ones whose lives you save several times a year?” Luna asked, incredulous. “No reasonable pony will fear their saviour because of my gift.”
“Because ponies always see reason, of course,” Twilight said, her voice flat.
“Why Twilight, was that a joke?”
The two laughed briefly, but it was tinged with bitterness. “Ponies may fear the night,” Luna said after they stopped, “but such is my burden to bear. Ours, if you do not reject it.”
“Can I?” Twilight asked. “Reject it, I mean.”
“Yes,” Luna said, her tone guarded and her ears drooping. “Some of your predecessors did. Is that your will?”
Twilight looked up at the alicorn for a moment. “I don't think it is,” she said, and Luna smiled.
The sun rose, ignoring the silent pleas of the two tired and somewhat stiff ponies. Luna finally, and regretfully, pulled her wing away from Twilight, who shivered a little before standing and cracking her back with a loud pop. After long hours mostly immobile in conversation with Princess Luna, she felt the need to move and release some of the energy that was buzzing through her body. The two descended the stairs, finding the lower level of the library empty, and after a breakfast that Luna insisted on making despite Twilight's protests, the two left the library and struck a course for the nearest town limit. They eventually arrived at their destination, a small and secluded meadow nestled in a bowl of hills.
“So you desire to embrace the night, Twilight Sparkle?” Luna asked, and the unicorn nodded. “Good. First, forget everything my sister has taught you.”
Twilight frowned. “But that would mean losing almost every bit of magic I know. I didn't think I'd have to give up what I already knew.”
“You will surrender nothing,” Luna clarified, “it is only that the matrices and calculations you are familiar with will only hinder you here. You control the power of the night no more than you control me.”
“I'm not sure I'll be able to do that,” Twilight replied. “I've been casting spells the same way since I was five.”
Luna nodded sagely. “Only to be expected, I suppose. Very well. We will begin by teaching you how to feel.” The alicorn's horn shimmered for a moment, and a length of pitch black wood dropped onto the ground in front of Twilight. “Hit me.”
“What?” Twilight asked, tilting her head and blinking.
“Hit me,” Luna replied. “Hard.”
“Princess, I really don't-”
“Twilight Sparkle!” Luna half roared, her mane whipping about her face in agitation, “hit me!”
Responding automatically to the tone of command in Luna's voice, Twilight yanked up the staff with her magic and swung it like a bat at the alicorn. For her part, Luna simply smiled and leaned back a fraction, the staff buzzing in front of her face so closely it ruffled her coat. “I am a Goddess of War, Twilight Sparkle,” she said, her voice openly mocking. “You will have to do better than that.”
Gritting her teeth at Luna's tone, Twilight leapt forward and swung the staff again, missing by inches as Luna jumped over the length of wood. Twilight kept swinging, letting the staff gather momentum with each missed pass until it was practically a blur.
“Fast, that is good, but clumsy,” Luna said, before raising a hoof and stopping the staff cold. “You have potential. Grasp the staff by the centre, not the end. It will rob you of power but give you more control. Now stop trying to hit me and hit me!”
Twilight obediently shifted her grip on the staff, bringing it back to her side with a small flourish while Luna took several steps back. “So you can listen, at least,” Luna purred. Twilight frowned and closed her eyes in thought for a moment, recalling everything she had ever read about the use of a staff and combat in general. “You are letting thought cloud your emotions, Twilight,” Luna said. “That defeats the purpose of the lesson.”
“Does it?” Twilight asked, opening her eyes and launching herself forward again, her staff moving in a textbook perfect attack pattern. Luna smiled and lazily weaved her body through the strikes before trapping the staff under a hoof.
“I invented that pattern,” she said. “Among others. Your studies will not help you.”
Twilight snapped the staff in the centre and sent the free half rocketing towards the alicorn's face. Luna caught that one with a hoof as well, but it was a near thing. “Better,” she said. “Again.”
An hour later, Twilight had failed to land a single strike on Luna. She had left holes in the ground, torn bits of ethereal mane from her targets head, and even managed to hit herself in the face, but Luna simply danced around her attacks and kept up a near constant stream of insults and mockery. Twilight breathed deeply, carefully keeping herself from slipping into a total rage, and resumed swinging away with the two halves of Luna's staff.
Luna ducked and weaved through what felt like the thousandth new pattern, the weapons passing impossibly close to her, all the while wearing the same satisfied, infuriating little smirk. “Are you angry, Twilight?” she asked, skipping back from a powerful but slow scissor strike. “Which stings you more, my words or your failure at such a simple task?” This time she beat her powerful wings once, one part of the staff passing under her and another dodged with a tilt of her head. “I had thought this would be suitable for a beginners lesson. Perhaps I was wrong?”
“Shut. Up.” Twilight growled, shaking her head to clear sweat from her eyes.
“You presume to command me?” Luna asked, this time moving forward and jabbing Twilight harshly in the ribs. “You cannot land a single blow on me, and you presume to order me about? I think not, Twilight Sparkle. If you wish me to be silent, make me.” Luna punctuated her statement with a viscous slap that sent Twilight reeling into the dirt, the taste of blood in her mouth.
“You hit me!” Twilight said as she stood. “What was that for?”
“I thought you might require a demonstration,” Luna said, her voice cold. “Will you cry now, and run to your mother? Celestia is a poor teacher, it seems!”
“That's not true!” Twilight yelled, sending the two half staves swinging wildly about Luna. The Princess still managed to dodge or block every attack, but she constantly moving backward now, focusing almost entirely on the two weapons.
“Good!” the alicorn said. “Now you are feeling, Twilight Sparkle! Embrace your anger! Hit me!”
Twilight tried her hardest to do just that. Her mind, even clouded as it was, raced with new attacks and feints, whole patterns being pulled from nothing as she saw opportunities and weaknesses in Luna's defence, but still she could not strike her. After perhaps a minute of this wild attack, Luna spoke again.
“You are weak, Twilight Sparkle.”
With a scream that tore something in her throat, Twilight struck with both parts of the staff at once, Luna catching each with a hoof, casually balancing on her hind legs. Before her conscious mind even registered that, she threw herself at the alicorn and punched as hard as she could. She was treated to a brief moment of Luna's eyes widening in shock before her hoof connected solidly with Luna's jaw, sending the alicorn sprawling. Snorting in satisfaction, Twilight dropped her weapons and walked away, looking for something else to hit.
'Well,' Luna thought to herself as she watched Twilight walk away. 'There is a fire in her after all.'
Twilight Sparkle was physically and mentally exhausted, but her anger kept her moving. She didn't know where she was or where she would end up, but she didn't care, either. A small part of her felt terrible for punching Luna, but it was a single voice drowned out by a cacophony of angry voices. The loudest of those voices kept repeating Luna's final comment.
“You are weak, Twilight Sparkle.”
She hadn't felt weak since the day she had been become Celestia's personal student. That was the day she had proven to herself that while she wasn't and likely never would be a physically strong pony, she had an ocean of magical power at her command. Later, she had learned that even her magic paled in comparison to her mind. That was what Celestia had taught her, more than anything else.
Today, her mind and magic had both failed her. She hadn't been able to land a single blow on Luna, even after an hour of trying to find a pattern in her defence. It was only after she had stopped listening to her mind and lashed out that she had made any progress.
That made her deeply uncomfortable. Twilight was a pony who prized order and logical thought over emotions. Emotions were unpredictable, chaotic things. Pleasant sometimes, she had to admit, but more often difficult and tiring to deal with.
Snorting in frustration, Twilight began to trot, still letting the road take her where it would. After a moment, she started galloping, hoping it would cool her down. She was still galloping when the cause of her anger casually flew up to her.
“Go away,” Twilight panted, but Luna simply chuckled and flew along, her hooves almost dragging along the ground.
“I think not,” she replied. “I made you feel this way, is it not fair that I help you cope?”
“My hoof is about to cope your face,” Twilight growled.
“Threats are not your strong point,” Luna said, her voice flat.
“It wasn't a threat,” Twilight shot back. “Just a statement.”
“Better.” Luna said, smiling briefly before her expression grew more serious. “Twilight, I understand that I angered you. That was my goal. It was not personal.”
“Yes it was,” Twilight said. “Manipulating emotions is inherently personal.”
“Arguable,” Luna said, “but take care not to lose the message in the method. I commanded you to hit me, and you could not until you surrendered to your anger. Do you understand?”
“I understand you don't want to leave me alone,” Twilight growled, slowing her racing gallop to a quick trot.
Luna snorted, then stuck her hoof in between Twilight legs, tripping her.
“What the hay was that for?” Twilight screamed as she turned the fall into a roll, ending up on her hooves facing Luna horn lit and ready to cast a spell.
“Think twice before you assault me, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, her voice taking on a aspect Twilight had never heard there before; a smooth, musical, and penetrating undercurrent that immediately drew her complete attention and left her staring deeply into the alicorn's eyes. “Remember. You are now of my night. It would be most unwise to ignore me, and dangerous to provoke me. Seat yourself and listen.”
Enraptured by the siren song on Luna's voice, Twilight obediently stepped off of the road and sat down.
“Can you see my power, Twilight?” Luna asked. “Can you measure and quantify it? Assign a simple value and file it away? Answer.”
“No,” Twilight whispered.
“And yet you can feel it. This is the power I offer you. This is the power within you. I want to help you reach your potential, but you must be willing to learn.”
Luna shook her head, and smiled. “Is a moment of anger worth so much you would ignore my teaching?” she asked, her voice returning to normal.
“How did you do that? I've never seen magic anything like that before.” Twilight asked quietly, her anger gone.
“I spoke,” Luna answered. “I used no magic, not as you know it. I merely felt that you needed to understand, and the night aided me as it saw fit.”
“But magic doesn't work that way!” Twilight protested.
“It has not for over a millennium. Should you continue to be my pupil, you will be the first to know this power since I fell to the Nightmare.”
Twilight blinked slowly. “It would be pretty foolish to throw that chance away, wouldn't it?” she asked sheepishly.
Luna simply smiled.
By the time the pair returned to Twilight's library home, the sun was setting in a blazing halo of orange fire. Luna strode confidently through the door, a satisfied grin resting on her features, trailed by a sore and limping Twilight Sparkle.
“I'm going to hurt for a week,” Twilight groaned, flopping tiredly onto the floor.
“Nonsense,” Luna cheerily replied, walking towards the kitchen. “You will feel fine by morning. A most enjoyable benefit of your new powers. It also means your training will continue in the morning, both physically and magically.”
Twilight thumped her head quietly off the floor. “You're just torturing me,” she accused. “You enjoy watching me suffer.”
“Perhaps,” Luna called, “or perhaps not. You will never know.”
Twilight continued to thump her head for a moment, then stopped. Remembering her second conversation with The Keeper, she asked Luna if what he had told her about her vampirism was true. By the time she finished explaining what she had learned and why she was asking the question, Luna was standing in front of her, looking grim.
“Yes, Twilight,” she answered. “I may find him vastly annoying, but I have never known him to lie. As much as it pains me to say it, you can trust him.”
“That's why you're here then,” Twilight sighed. “To kill me if I go mad. You're my executioner.”
“No,” Luna said firmly. “Banish that thought from your mind. If I wished you dead, I would have no need to excuse my actions in such a way. I am here because I wish you to survive, Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight looked up, and she could see the sincerity in Luna's eyes, and no small amount of sadness as well. She held the gaze for several seconds, then looked down and asked “Why did Celestia kill the original vamponies?”
At this, Luna hesitated, but only for a moment. “She feared them,” she answered, her voice carefully measured. “Working together, they could have killed her. She worried that they would assassinate her and elevate me to her throne. She came to me, the night before the order was carried out, explaining her fear and seeking my consent. When I would not give it, she swore an oath to rescind her command and find another solution before asking me to go to Gryphon Empire to renegotiate a border treaty. I was naïve. I believed her. By the time I heard of the massacre, it was too late. I returned to Equestria in time to see the last of my vamponies executed like a dangerous animal at the side of a road. That was five thousand years ago.”
When Twilight glanced up to see if Luna had more to say, she noticed the goddess had tears in her eyes, although none of them fell. With a murmured word and a gesture, she followed Luna into the kitchen, and the two prepared a meal in contemplative silence.