//------------------------------// // There Will Be A Day (VashTheStampede) // Story: Tales from the Justiceverse // by VashTheStampede //------------------------------// “Oh sister,” Luna said as she strode into the hospital wing of the castle, where Celestia lay in a bed. Bandages were wrapped around the white Alicorn, and one of her rear legs was held up in a sling. “Sister, I am so sorry, I was unable to-” “Luna, my dear, sweet, younger sister,” Celestia began, wincing as the bandages on her face rubbed across her burns, “This was not your fault. I did this to myself. Well, Sombra did this to me,” she managed a light laugh, “Really it was mostly Sombra.” “I could not protect you,” Luna cried, “Sombra should not have had the chance to do any of this, I should have been able to-” “Luna,” Celestia winced again, but let a certain firmness creep into her voice, “Neither of us could have predicted how strong he would be, nor his proficiency with dark magic. What happened has happened, and the important part is that we are both alive and well. Well, perhaps not well, but alive,” Celestia managed a bit more of a laugh this time. “Sister…” “The real tragedy is that we could not save the Crystal Empire,” Celestia said quietly, looking away, “All those ponies…” “The seal will be worn down eventually. We can only hope that when it does, Sombra will have passed or have gone insane from the solitude,” the younger Alicorn said, hoping to cheer her sister up. “It has already happened, though. For now, please, focus on your own recovery. Perhaps when you have healed, together we can find a solution.” “Lulu, please,” Celestia smiled when her sister blushed at the pet name, “I will make a full recovery. It may take some time, but you and I are resilient creatures. I will be fine, in time. Now, if you will excuse me, I am rather tired. I think I’ll lower the sun a bit early this evening. Is that alright with you?” “Of course, sister,” Luna nodded solemnly, “I will raise the moon.” “You don’t have to call me sister all the time, Lulu,” Celestia jokingly admonished her sister, before her horn glowed yellow for just a moment and it suddenly became rather dark outside. --- It had been several months since the battle with the tyrant king, Sombra, and true to her word, Celestia had made a full recovery. Luna, however, had not. Celestia had long held the belief that emotional wounds took far longer to heal than physical ones, and once again Luna was proving her point for her. While Luna had escaped the battle with nary a scratch on her, she had only fallen deeper and deeper into depression, blaming herself for the far more serious wounds her sister had sustained. Celestia tried her best to bring her around, but it seemed nothing she tried could bring the darker mare out of her funk. Early one afternoon, Celestia had found herself with some free time. Busy mare as she was, Celestia relished her moments of freedom, and decided to use this moment’s respite for a nap. Settling down in her bed, the white Alicorn princess closed her eyes. After mere moments, her breathing slowed and steadied, sleep taking the princess. A short time later, the door to her room opened slowly, carefully, and Princess Luna stepped in quietly, and gently stepped over to stand beside her sister’s bed. “Sister, I will make sure you are never in harms way again,” Luna bent down and kissed the elder Alicorn’s forehead gently, and turned out to the balcony. She spread her wings, and with one graceful beat, took to the sky. “Luna?” Celestia questioned to nopony in particular as she sleepily sat up. She caught a glance of a telltale blue starcluster of a tail disappeared beyond the threshold of the door “Luna, are you there?” “There will be a day,” Luna’s horn began to glow, “When neither star nor sun shall waken.” “Luna, what are you doing?” Celestia’s voice was unsteady as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and rolled out of her bed. “Luna?” “Nor any change of light,” Luna continued, eyes closed, as in a trance, “Nor sound of waters shaken, nor any sound or sight.” “Luna,” Celestia gasped, now aware of what her sister was doing, “Luna, stop this!” “Nor wintry leaves nor vernal, nor days nor things diurnal,” Luna continued, unhearing. “Luna!” Celestia was screaming now, all royal dignity forsaken, tears streaming down her face, “Luna! Stop! Please!” “Only sleep eternal,” Luna opened her eyes, glowing white, the aura on her horn increasing to great volume, “in eternal night.” “Luna, I love you, please, pleas sto-” The aura around Luna’s horn exploded, a great flash of blackness taking the scene. For several moments, she could see nothing, darkness swallowing her sense of sight. The world began to fade back into view, and where her sister had been floating hovered an Alicorn she had never seen before – a deep, deep blue, nearly black coat accented by a galactic blue mane and tail, fangs protruding from her mouth, resting on her lower lip. Her wings, where they had once been feathery and beautiful, were now leathery, irregular, some parts almost draconic. The mare was taller, leaner, and fiercer looking than the one who had been there before her. Smooth, unadorned, slate blue armor covered her head and neck. A twisted mockery of Luna’s regalia hung around her neck and over her shoulders, more vicious in appearance than any Luna would have ever known. “L-luna?” Celestia offered, voice unsteady, “Luna? Is- is that you?” “Princess Luna is no more!” the great dark Alicorn shrieked, “We are Nightmare Moon! We are the Spirit of Night incarnate! We shall cover this land in eternal night and darkness, and you will never have to lift a hoof or stray from safety ever again! We will protect you and rule for you, Celestia.” “Luna! You can’t do this, please, come back to me!” “Luna is gone!” the mare cried again, anger cracking into her voice, “Luna was weak, Luna was helpless! Luna could not protect that which mattered most to her! We can do that! We will protect this realm! I will protect you!” “Luna… I can still hear you, you are in there!” Celestia screamed back at this so-called Nightmare Moon. “We told you, Luna is gone! No more will that weak-willed foal squander the magical power she has been given!” “Lulu! Lulu, I know you are still in there!” “Stop calling us that! Begone, Celestia, and I will watch you from afar. I will always be watching over you, dearest sister,” Nightmare Moon cried as she began to fly away and the sun plunged below the horizon. --- For an entire week, Celestia remained inconsolable. The sun did not rise, the moon did not set. She remained in her room, crying for days as her sister had been torn from her, and she had failed to do anything to stop it. While the court mages were capable of raising the sun in the case of an unexpected absence, they lacked the magical prowess to overpower this new demigod holding it down. Citizens were beginning to grow concerned, and as much as she hated it, she had to agree with her advisors. She had to do something to stop Nightmare Moon, be it purification, imprisonment, or… The white princess sat up suddenly. Memories of a story, of her sister – her sisters. Their gifts – the Elements of Harmony. If anything could bring Luna back to her, it would be them. Wordlessly, she stumbled from her bed and leapt from her balcony. None of her duties, what few of them remained in eternal night, couldn’t be handled by her court or her mages, so informing them was hardly necessary. Months passed as Celestia searched far and wide across the world, slowly gathering the lost Elements. Honesty, Laughter, Magic, Generosity, Loyalty – all save her own, the Element of Kindness. Time passed, night eternal reigned in Equestria. Ponies were beginning to wonder when or even if Celestia would save them from this terror, their glorious leader having been absent from Canterlot for so long now. With time came progress, however, and finally, Celestia had assembled the lost Elements, and returned to her home to confront what had once been her sister. Standing out on her balcony and staring out into the night sky, Celestia called out. “Luna? I know you’re out there. Please, come to me, I would like to speak with you,” Alicorn cried for Alicorn, her white head and ethereal mane twisting and spinning as they searched the horizon. “I told you I would be watching you, Celestia,” the high, reverberant voice met the diarch’s ears before her form met her eyes, “Do you think five little stones can stop me?” “No, sister, I do not,” Celestia replied, frowning up at Nightmare Moon. “I told you, I am not your sister. You spent all this time collecting them, though, so what, pray tell, are they for?” “It’s not the stones that can save you, sister. It’s what they stand for. Generosity!” One of the stones flared with bright blue light, “Laughter!” Pink light shone forth, “Honesty! Loyalty! Magic!” A pillar of orange light erupted, then blue, then purple, “and Kindness.” Celestia’s entire body was bathed in a pale yellow glow. Six lights flew skyward and twisted, spun, merged into one solid pillar of rainbow light, arcing down towards Nightmare Moon. “You think,” Nightmare Moon began with a laugh, “You honestly think this can defeat me?” “No,” Celestia replied, her eyes ice, “I think this can save you.” The light crashed around Nightmare Moon, churning, swirling in violent, turbulent patterns. Somewhere within, Celestia heard a scream erupt from the light, between the edges of the rainbow of power, she saw Nightmare Moon’s face. Fear was etched across it. “Luna? Luna!” Celestia screamed, “Luna, please, let me help you! Let this help you! Don’t fight it, please!” “I- We will never accept the help of you,” the dark mare shrieked, “You who we swore to protect, you who could not help yourself? We do not need your help, I-” The light vanished, and so did Nightmare Moon. Celestia blinked a few times as the light faded from her vision. “Lulu?” she asked weakly, searching in the night, “Lulu… Lulu please come back to me…” “Look, the moon!” Celestia looked down, having been unaware of the gathered crowd beneath her. An earth pony had a hoof raised to the sky in awe, somewhere beyond where Celestia floated. She followed the crowd’s collective stare, up into the sky behind her. There, on the moon, previously featureless and serene, was the silhouette of an Alicorn. If she squinted, she could almost see it move.