The castle’s interior reminded Twilight of Canterlot. The architecture was almost an exact replica of Canterlot, now that she thought about it. It would make sense because of how Luna was able to maneuver the elite city without difficulty. The walls were draped with beautiful tapestries with many of the constellations Twilight found incredible. She was being led by the princess of the night, and behind Twilight was the Doctor and Derpy. The pair seemed to be conversing between themselves about random things. Twilight heard some of the words they were exchanging, yet she had to block them out of her mind. There is no way anypony could’ve had tea with Starswirl.
Twilight looked up towards the ceiling. Pegasi statues with spears stood on support beams. For a single moment, Twilight had to tell herself not to look away. Mainly because she was fascinated by the beauty that went into that work, and the material used to craft it.
“Solid gold,” Luna said.
Twilight looked back to the princess. “I’m sorry?”
“The statues are made from solid gold. I found a lot of useful things on this rock during my imprisonment, some of which went into the design of the building,” she said.
Twilight nodded and looked back at the Doctor. “How do you know him? You two seem to know each other well.”
“He was there when I needed him. It started when I was banished here…
1000 years earlier…
Luna was in disbelief. For one moment, she had lost control of the powers she learned from Sombra’s magical library and the next, she was on the Moon. Her shock turned to anger as she screamed toward the planet below, alas, space was unforgiving. Her voice was confined to her Moon alone. There was no way she was ever going to reach her betraying sister. Luna collapsed on the ground and sobbed.
“Tis not fair! Tis not fair!” she screamed. “Thy heartless wretch! We are deserving of the throne before thee!”
No response came from the planet. She didn’t expect it to happen. Luna sighed as she walked away from the planet. She remembered the day it all started. While Celestia and Sombra were fighting, she had stolen into the library and ‘checked out’ a few spell books and scientific writings. In the books, there spoke of a rare phenomenon where the Moon would cover the Sun, creating darkness across the land. Luna only stole a glimpse of the spell before she fled. Her jealously toward her sister blinded her from the truth.
Luna looked up from her memories. In front of her was a large cave. She sighed as she had found her new home. She approached the cave and sat there. Being a creature who knew great forms of magic, Luna kept herself entertained by carving into the walls of her shelter. She replenished herself daily with the right nutrients to keep her health up, seeing as food was impossible on the barren rock she called home. When she figured it was night, Luna positioned herself to sleep with Equus as her night light.
As weeks and later months passed, Luna found herself completely bored out of her mind. Her usual tactics for keeping herself occupied soon bore no fruit when it came to relieving herself. Her cave wall was soon home to two great alicorns, one tall and male while the other was female. Luna didn’t know why, but she cried whenever she found herself gazing upon her work. Something was completely wrong, but she could never find herself willing to destroy it.
One day, while Luna traveled the lunar surface, a shimmering metal had caught the princess’s attention. Upon further inspection, Luna discovered a mineral she had not known to exist: gold. Seeing a chance to work, Luna continued to dig up the metal, finding other minerals in the process. The young alicorn’s mind raced and imagines a beautiful castle. Luna was not going to let Celestia live the luxurious life alone.
Over the next few months, Luna was hard at work building her new home. If she wasn’t going to rule Equestria, she was going to rule space. She commanded the stars, so she was going to reign over her sister. With the minerals inside the Moon, Luna was able to construct a castle, mainly from gold and quartz. The body of the castle was complete, but if Luna were to reign, she would need a throne, servants, and a beautiful garden in the back. Summoning Shadow Ponies, Luna put them to work. Some had descended to the planet to steal more supplies. Today, ponies remember them of being supernatural monsters.
Luna loved her subjects back home, even though they hardly credited her for her beautiful nights. While her mission was to return and show Celestia just how powerful she can be, her duty would be to her subjects. Celestia had wronged her, not the innocent ponies themselves.
With the castle complete, Luna sat proud at her new throne. Her victory was short-lived, however, as reality settled in. She was sent to prison, and she built the world’s largest and most luxurious prison cell. She wasn’t royalty, she was the Most Valuable Prisoner. She skulked around her castle, hoping something could happen. She looked down to the planet and wished to return. She tried screaming to her sister, begging her to reconsider.
300 years passed before Luna accepted her situation. She awoke from her sleep every day and explored her Moon. The mine shaft she found on her first day provided more than she expected. She found more jewels, magical artifacts, and even an underwater basin. She spent more of her time swimming and building from the jewels. The magical artifacts gave her the freedom to experiment just as Starswirl used to do. She was her own wizard.
One day, as Luna sat in her empty throne room reading an old poem she wrote, she heard a sound echoing through the halls of the castle. A whirrrrrr’ing sound it was. Luna was confused, and with confusion followed curiosity. She explored her castle once more, occasionally running through her servants. She threw up the doors leading to her balcony, and was at a loss of words. On the edge of the balcony was a blue box. A simple blue box with a light on the top. The box appeared to have doors, and before she could get close to it, they opened. Inside was a brown stallion and a pegasus. They both looked at her with curiosity. The pegasus approached her slowly.
“Doctor, is that—?”
“I believe so Derpy. It’s her.”
Luna was in shock. These ponies knew her name? She approached the two. “Um, welcome to our Moon. I be Princess Luna, and who art thou?”
The stallion was the first to speak. “I’m the Doctor, and this is Derpy Hooves. I am sorry, but we were just passing through.”
The pegasus, Derpy, looked back at the stallion. “Doctor! We just met Princess Luna during her banishment, and you want to leave already?”
“Being here is bad enough. We could very well have given Nightmare Moon a way to escape,” he said.
Luna was heartbroken. “Please, while the legends of Nightmare are true, that is not who I am today. If it pleases thee, would’st thou like a cuppa tea?”
The Doctor’s ears perked up. “Tea sounds nice. Thank you.”
The Doctor closed the door behind him and locked the door. He noticed Luna looking at him. “It’s a habit of mine. I always have to lock the door before I leave.”
Luna nodded and showed the two to her dinning room.
As it turns out, the Doctor and Derpy were there a good 5 days. The three of them shared laughs and tears as time went on without the Time Lord. Derpy was playing ‘Keepaway’ with the Shadow Ponies while the Doctor and Luna talked. When the time was up for them, Luna was beginning to feel heartbroken, but her luck changed for the better.
“Would you like to come with us?” the Doctor asked.
Princess Luna was overthrilled. She agreed and entered the Doctor’s mysterious blue box. Since Luna’s imprisonment was never recorded in the present, she was free to go anywhere but back to Equestria. As long as Nightmare Moon’s shadow stayed on the Moon, nopony would notice when the Princess of the Night disappeared.
“—and when we returned, the stars were forcing me to turn back to Nightmare Moon. The Doctor and Derpy had already left when they knew the time. They told me to hang on and never let anger consume me like last time. The next thing I know, Celestia was standing in front of me. That was the night you used the Elements.”
Twilight smiled back at the Doctor. “He was your hero.”
“Oh yes. We traveled everywhere and anywhere. Since I had no timeline on the Moon, I could return at any date in history. He brought me back on the 1000th year, and that’s when my timeline continued. We did a lot during our travels, but there are some things I would not like to remember.”
“Like what?”
The Doctor stepped in. “We were on the planet Raxcarlificus in the year 4,690, and there are strict rules when it comes to companions. See, there are no ‘friends’ on the planet, just, um, lovers.”
“Derpy and I faked marriage with the Doctor to avoid prosecution,” Luna said, hiding her face behind her hoof.
Twilight resisted laughing. “We managed to fool the government, but I discovered that I’ve never kissed a stallion before, and I ended up kissing his mane. It was humiliating.”
“You three get a fake divorce afterwards?”
The Doctor sighed. “Very funny.”
Twilight smiled and they all continued walking through the halls.