Prologue
“You have been expecting me for a while now, Celestia, I can tell. So why do you look so shocked?”
The Princess of the Sun whipped her head around in alarm, only to find no one. The palace throne room was as lonely as it had been for a thousand years. But Celestia could instantly tell that there was a sinister presence afoot; the usual pastel colours had become dulled, the sunlight streaming through the large open windows becoming much less illuminating. Her reflection looked back to her from the gold of the throne as she took a moment to observe it. She looked a mess, her white coat becoming grey with stress as bags collected under her eyes and her ethereal mane seeming somehow stiff, like it was struggling to maintain its usual flow. In this reflection, no intruder could be seen, certainly not the one she feared she had heard. But then, there was a flicker. Her pupil, like a dark bead with her eye, seemed to shudder unnaturally for the smallest fraction of a second. She almost didn’t notice it, but as she peered closer, she imagined that…
“Of course you imagined seeing me,” the low rumble of a voice oozed into her ears, making Celestia bite her lip in unease. Her pupils within the reflection morphed at the mere thought of them doing so, a familiar form emerging. Coat black as night, azure eyes gleaming with malevolent intent, Nightmare Moon grinned at Celestia. “Imagination was always in my sphere of influence, not yours.”
“You are not my sister, Nightmare Moon,” Celestia spat, shooting a glare as fiery as Nightmare Moon’s gaze was cool. “Do not pretend to be!” To this, Nightmare Moon’s face twisted in mock sorrow.
“My heart bleeds at how coldly you reject me,” the black alicorn said, the corners of her lips twisting upwards cruelly. She began to pace within Celestia’s reflection with practised grace. “Don’t delude yourself; Luna is as much a part of me as my wings. She’s been thinking of you a lot, by the way. Let me tell you, she has a very active imagination.”
“Your attempts to threaten me will not work. Nor will your invasion.”
“You were lucky last time and you know it, Celie.”
Very suddenly, Celestia’s wings flared, her horn crackling dangerously. “YOU DARE SAY THAT NAME AS IF YOU WERE MY SISTER?!” she screamed, her Royal Canterlot voice causing the very walls of the palace to shake.
Nightmare Moon let out a little casual titter. “Hmmph! Celie, how long has it been since you’ve used the Royal Canterlot voice?” she asked, punctuating it with a chuckle. “You must have regained some ponyhood because you’re sounding a little hoarse.”
“YOUR ATTEMPTS OF HUMOUR WILL NOT ENDEAR ME TO YOU, YOU ARE NOT MY SISTER, AND YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO USE THAT NAME!”
“And you have a right to rule? Oh, of course, it’s Princess Celestia, Miss ‘might makes right’,” Nightmare Moon said, her tone suddenly becoming bitter, with cold indignation dripping off every word. “I alone am fit to rule Equestria. You merely tricked yourself into thinking otherwise. How long did it take for the yaks to disappear after I was gone? How many monsters walk across Equestria freely now? Do the Elements even work anymore?”
Princess Celestia's speech faltered, though her glower did not. Her horn's magic died, the fierce crackling becoming dimmer as she sat straight. “Don’t claim Luna’s victories as your own, monster.”
“Cute. Ad hominem in place of a response." Nightmare Moon straightened herself to match Celestia, a smile coming back to her in a proud sneer. "Face it, Celestia, without the Elements I was always stronger. Even with your books, I was wiser. And what great documents are there of your mercy? Oh, wait, we both know what your mercy feels like. So, what exactly do you have in mind when I return? Brute force? Begging? A futile attempt to get the Elements to work again?”
Celestia said nothing, now looking above her. A burst of green flame had materialised in midair, and as it dissipated a scroll dropped to the floor. The Princess raised an eyebrow. “A letter from Twilight Sparkle?” she asked herself, levitating it over to her. Eager to distract herself from the monster pestering her, she began to read.
My dearest teacher,
My continuing studies of pony magic have led me to discover that we are on the preci thre br that something really bad is going to happen. For you see, the mythical mare in the moon is in fact Nightmare Moon, and she’s about to return to Equestria, and bring with her eternal night. Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy doesn’t come true. I await your quick response.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.
Princess Celestia had to roll her eyes a little at Spike’s difficulty at spelling a word like “precipice”. Still, he was young, and Celestia already knew the response that she would have for Twilight. Her quill springing up like a loyal servant, she wrote neatly onto a blank scroll.
My dearest, most faithful student Twilight,
You know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely. But you simply must stop reading those dusty old books. My dear Twilight, there is more to a young pony’s life than studying. So I’m sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year’s location: Ponyville. And I have an even more essential task for you to complete.
Make some friends.
Signed,
Princess Celestia.
The very instant the quill parted with it for the last time, the parchment burst into a bout of green flame, a wry smile coming to Celestia’s face. “Actually, Nightmare Moon, it won’t be so futile,” she whispered to herself.
“Ah heh heh heh…”
The sun princess looked to Twilight’s first letter, the various letters now taking the form of Nightmare Moon, who had a wicked grin made of H’s and T’s. “That’s the plan? A mere foal? I take it all back, I surrender! If only I had a baby of my own to throw, or a really cute dog, then maybe I'd stand a chance.”
“You will wish you took the time to do so,” Celestia pointed out. Her expression was tempered by discipline. “That ‘mere foal’ will reactivate the Elements of Harmony, and Luna will be released from your prison.”
“My prison?” Nightmare Moon asked, the letters across her face twisted as she let out a forced laugh. Celestia looked back to the letter; two narrowed I's glared back to Celestia's own, and the princess gave a small smile. With the way the speech marks of her coat bristled, Celestia could tell there was a loss of cool from Nightmare Moon. The letter floated, still in its golden shroud, but now the way Celestia moved it was with a sweeping, dismissive motion.
“You have warped my sister’s mind and trapped her in bitterness and hatred, but your hold is not permanent,” she said. Then her smile shrank, in direct correlation to Nightmare Moon's own growing grin. Around her, the room got that much colder, and she took a deep breath.
“I assure you, my ‘hold’ on your sister is all her choice, and it will last forever,” Nightmare Moon pointed out. Then the letters on the page began to shift again as the creature on the scroll faded away, becoming a swirling jumble of disjointed characters. “Actually,” she said with an amused tone. “I think you can hear it directly from my ‘prisoner’.”
Celestia attempted not to show it, but her eyes lit up the moment she saw the letters take on a second shape. A much friendlier shape than Nightmare Moon’s, and one that Celestia gasped upon seeing. She knew it was a trick. Of course it was; Nightmare Moon would never allow this to happen if all the outcomes didn’t in some way benefit her. But she couldn’t stop herself saying it.
“Luna!”
The alicorn on the scroll looked up immediately, her face holding myriad emotions. “Sister? I-is that really you?” she asked nervously. Just hearing the voice brought tears to Celestia’s eyes; she had to hold herself back from tackling the parchment.
“Luna, it’s been so long!” she shouted, her voice cracking as her wings extended outward. “A thousand years! A thousand years of loneliness and misery! I couldn’t stand it! Luna, you couldn’t imagine how happy it makes me to see you ok!”
Celestia had to pause for a second, and took the time to gauge Luna’s reaction. The Princess of the Night was still staring back with a sadness that was torture to behold. Tears in the shape of little commas began to fall down her paper cheek. Celestia wanted nothing more than to pull her sister to her breast and tell her it was all going to be okay. The parchment hung limply in the air, Celestia forcing herself to be more careful with her magic. As the silence became unbearable, she opened her mouth once more, though it took a second to finally splutter out what few words she could muster. “Please… just come back to me." This only seemed to prompt Luna’s tears to come in greater number and with greater force. Her teeth were gritted as she looked to her feet, and Celestia awkwardly found herself copying her sister. Then Luna's muzzle rose and her brow furrowed. A fierce scowl started to form across her face, with more vehement anger than even Nightmare Moon had. Celestia’s gut fell through her the moment she saw the frown emerge, knowing that she had said something wrong. She brought the page towards her cautiously.
"Luna?"
“Thy words betray ignorance and selfishness, Sister.”
Those words could not have sounded more ominous to Celestia were they each a shot from a cannon. Each word was barbed with a miserable steel that cut deep into her. “Next to the suffering we have gone through, thine pain is a grain of sand against a mountain. We wished…” the letters that formed Luna almost dispersed as she dipped her head in sorrow. Celestia made no attempt to interrupt, despite not wanting to do anything more. “We wished that we were wrong about thee. Nothing in this world can make us happier than the idea that thou were truly in the right.” Celestia felt cracks run across her heart as the pony in the letter began to disperse into a mass of jumbled characters.
“Sister, wait!”
Celestia’s response was far too late; the voice had gone, as had her form. Instead, she merely held Twilight’s letter, the same text as before. Her shoulders dropped like weights had been tethered to them, and she cast the parchment aside. “Oh, Twilight… I hope that you can save her.”
As if in response, another letter emerged with more green fire. The white alicorn cocked an eyebrow to it, and gingerly began to read. Before she had even gotten halfway through it, it had been crumbled up and flung across the throne room, though it immediately began to uncurl, the text upon the paper unknowingly mocking the Princess as she stared at it.
My dearest teacher,
I’m afraid I’ve already got an appointment this evening. My friend Moondancer has a party that Spike has kind of forced me into going to. I’ll try to spend as little time as possible there and get to the Summer Sun Celebration right after. Besides, if I am right, I have to prioritise the future of Equestria over ‘making friends’ and if there’s anyone smart enough to work out what’s going on, it’s Moondancer.
I’m sure you have a Plan B in mind, though, and I’ll do my best to actually get to the Summer Sun Celebration. I know Lyra Heartstrings, one of my classmates, is going. Maybe she could help with the preparations?
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.