Part VII
"An earth-shattering final blowout."
The aftermath of Midnight's death was devastating. Starry would leave for longer and longer stretches of time. I assume he was trying to avoid the reality of what happened. I never really asked what he was doing; I did not really care that much. He was an adult, and I was too depressed to bother.
Life probably would have kept going on like that if it weren't for an old mistake of mine coming back to haunt me.
“Luna!” shouted Celestia, smacking my door with her hoof.
“I’m coming sister!” I chimed.
“Hello!” I said as I swung open the door revealing a grimacing Celestia. “Oh no, what’s wrong, Tia?”
“Hopefully nothing,” replied Celestia as she trotted into the room without even a glance. “King Orion came out of his coma today.”
“That’s good, right?”.
“You would think so,” she said, briskly trotting over to my coffee table.
“Then what’s the problem here?” I snapped.
“The problem is what he said when he woke up,” Celestia sat down and made a brief gesture indicating that I should sit next to her.
“Now, what I am about to say is just what Orion is claiming. I’m not accusing you of anything.”
“Okay?” I said, easing myself into the chair.
“Apparently, those creatures that attacked Timbucktu are called changelings.” Celestia looked into my eyes and donned a more serious tone. “They posses a dark and mysterious kind of magic, one that we don’t quite understand yet. They have the power to take the appearance of any pony they encounter, and sometimes ponies that they have never met. From what I understand they were able to take down the city from the inside by imitating important ponies.”
“I do not understand. Why would they want to destroy Timbucktu? Are they just evil, or do they have motivation?” I asked, compulsively tapping my hooves against the table.
“They have to sustain themselves. They can’t eat food like we do. To power their bodies, they need to consume raw love. Any kind of love will do; romantic love, parental love, even patriotic love will work. And trust me; the pegasi of Timbucktu had patriotism to spare. Anyway, my point is, when Orion woke up, he made some startling accusations.”
“What did he say?”
“Remember that meeting you had with him long ago?”
“Vaguely,” I admitted, rubbing my chin.
“Well according to him, he came here to talk about intruders they had been noticing hanging around the city. He said that when he told you the story, you didn’t listen to him at all.”
“Oh yes that. I remember what happened very clearly now. It was the one you neglected to attend, so you could finish your project with Star Swirl!” I retorted with a snort.
“That's not the point,” growled Celestia. “The point is that you ignored him, Luna. You thought he was just being paranoid. Clearly, you were wrong.”
“I would not have been so short with him if you had been there!”
“I know, and for that I am deeply sorry. But that doesn't change the fact that he is blaming you for his city being destroyed and thousands of ponies dying.”
“That’s not fair; he cannot blame me for that! It’s not my fault!” I stammered.
“I don’t mean to take his side or anything,” muttered Celestia, “but it kind of is.”
“WHAT?” I screamed. “I thought you of all ponies would understand! You even said that no matter what happens, it is not my fault!’”
“That was before I found out that you did this! Besides, in all honesty, I was just trying to make you feel better.”
My heart sank; I could not believe what I was hearing. “But you were the one who ran out! You were the one who was not there for me!” I screamed, on the brink of hyperventilating.
“That’s not how the public is going to see it. It’s going to be all over the newspapers within the week. And do you know who is going to have to bail you out of this mess? Me.
“I’m going to have to make deals. I’m going to have to give speeches. I’m going to have to go out on a limb for you, all because you couldn’t chin up and be polite for one meeting!” fumed Celestia, standing up from her chair.
“Well I am sorry that I did not do a good enough job! You are lucky I even went to the meeting to begin with! And by the way, you do not have to do anything to help me out of this one. I can do this on my own!”
“Alright, it’s your funeral! But do not ask me to help you with anything ever again!”
“You know what?” I yelled. “GET OUT! I do not need this!”
Celestia looked at me for a moment and then stormed off. “You know Luna, I love you, but sometimes you’re a burden on my life,” she spat as she slipped out the door.
"I'm sorry... I did not mean to hurt anypony. "
I gazed out the door to watch Celestia leave, and as soon as I was sure she was gone I screamed at the top of my lungs. I do not know why I screamed. It was almost like I was not in control of my own body.
And with that, Celestia and I were right back to where we started. I was angry at her, and I let my pride cloud my judgment, but the truth is, she was right. I did need her help. And refusing that help was probably one of the worst decisions I ever made in my life.
The word did get out about me ignoring King Orion, and as Celestia predicted, it was a nightmare.
***
I sighed and sipped a cup of tea I had made for myself. It was getting harder and harder for me to get up from my naps, and sometimes I needed a bit of assistance in the form of caffeine.
I had just gotten done with a long shift of dream visiting. For the most part it went well, but for some reason the ponies of Equestria were having an large amount of nightmares that particular night. Most of them were the standard sort of monster-under-the-bed dreams, but some of them were much darker, and I had a harder time thinking of ways to solve their problems.
I try to stay out of ponies’ dreams, but when I feel like what they are dreaming about could be harmful to them, I tend to step in. It is probably nothing, I thought taking another sip of my piping hot tea. After I finished, I yawned and decided I should take a walk to wake me up further. However, right as I was about to push open the door, as if by magic, it swung open all by itself.
“Mom!” stammered Starry Night, pushing the door aside.
“What is wrong, my dear?” I said, taking a few steps toward my son.
“They’re coming for you!” cried Starry, his eyes darting around to find an escape. “We have to get you out of here!”
I sighed and put a hoof on his shoulder. “Who is coming for me, Starry Night?”
“Ponies from Cloudsdale! They heard about what King Orion said and went on a riot!”
“That is fine; I am sure they will calm. They always do.”
“No you don’t get it; they want you dead!” Starry stammered. “The King of Cloudsdale is blaming you for the attack on Timbucktu. He’s saying you let them die on purpose.”
“Why would I do that?”
“He’s saying that you have a secret anti-pegasi agenda,” Starry admitted.
"That is ridiculous!" I fumed.
“I know, but that doesn't stop them from believing it. Now come on; if we hide in the Everfree Forest, they shouldn’t be able to find us.” Starry grabbed my front leg and tried to pull me toward the window.
“What about everypony else? We cannot just leave without telling them.” I said, anchoring my free hooves to the tile floor.
“It will be fine. I stationed all the guards we have outside the front gate. Chances are that everypony will turn around once they see how many ponies we have. Besides, my main job is to protect you and auntie Celestia.”
I looked around and yanked my hoof from Starry. “Where is Celestia? Is she coming with us?”
“No, she’s hiding in the basement,” dismissed Starry.
“We have a basement?” I mused, rubbing my chin with my hoof. Just then, I began to hear the low rumble of many voices chanting in unison.
“That’s not important right now! Right now, we need to get out of here!” said Starry, creaking open the window.
“Okay, okay, I am coming,” I replied as I cantered over to the window.
***
I watched as the cool mist of my breath left my mouth and rose up through the Everfree forest. Starry and I had moved to a thick undergrowth deep in one of the darkest corners of the forest. There was a large cave behind us that we had decided to hide in if we heard the protesters coming.
It was a very cold night, and lighting a fire was not an option. We did not want anypony seeing our smoke. So I sat on an old log and watched as a few drips fell from the tree tops and onto the muddy ground.
Starry was trying to keep himself warm by doing wingups. Every once in awhile a sound would startle him, and he would get up to make sure everything was alright. However, as time marched on, Starry settled down, and the two of us began to talk.
“So tough guy, how does it feel to be in charge?” I asked as I have him a playful hit.
“Stressful, to say the least. Organising security for the castle functions is definitely the worst part,” said Starry with a hearty laugh. He always reminded me of Midnight when he laughed like that. “There are fun parts of it, too. Teaching the new recruits what I know is great. All of the young stallions are so nice and respectful even though I’m only a few years older than they are.”
Starry leaned up against one of the gnarled black trees that were scattered around us and looked up at the tree tops. “The other day they were even thoughtful enough to throw me a surprise party for my nineteenth birthday.”
“I completely forgot about your birthday,” I cried. “I am so sorry! Why did you not come and remind me?”
“To be honest, I forgot too. The only reason the recruits knew about it is one of them went rooting around in the archives and found my file. I guess they were looking for a way to embarrass me, a middle name or something.” Starry sighed and flopped to the ground. “I mean I thought about telling you after the party, but I figured it just wouldn’t be the same without Midnight. Nothing really is, you know?”
“I know.”
"He was there for me almost my entire life, so it's kind of hard to imagine going on without him."
Starry took off his helmet and scratched his head. His hair was once again growing long and shaggy. "Now that I think about it, it's almost like the opposite for you. You only knew him for a tiny fraction of your life. Is that how it always is in your life?"
"Yes, but it is not like I remember it all," I admitted. "There is only so much room in one's head for memories."
"That must be hard,"
I shrugged. "You get used to it.” There was another long silence, and the two of us did not speak. "When do you think it will be safe to go back to the castle?"
"I don't know. It should be safe by morning," replied Starry. However, as soon as he had finished his sentence, a loud shouting sound came from the distance. "What was that?" Starry scrambled to his hooves and jammed his helmet back onto his head.
"I hope it is not what I think it is," I moaned.
The sounds continued for about an hour, slowly changing from muffled shouts to loud crashes and clangs. The whole time Starry prowled the perimeter of our clearing as if he was looking for an unseen foe. The noise did begin to die down and eventually it disappeared.
I asked Starry if we should go back, but he said it would be best to to wait a while longer. Only after the first light of day, did we decide to go back to the castle.
***
"What happened!?" I screamed as I looked at the mess spread around the castle's front courtyard.
"Exactly what I said would happen," Celestia said. She then gestured around us at the decimated enclosure. "Do you see all this? This is your fault!"
"Hey! You can't blame Luna for this! She didn't know anypony was going to get hurt."
"It is okay Starry. You do not have to protect me," I said, bending down to examine a large red stain on the ground.
"But—" I glared at Starry. "Okay."
"How many did we lose?" I implored.
"Not many," admitted Celesta, picking up one of the discarded protest signs that lay about the makeshift battlefield. "Unfortunately, they weren't as lucky."
"We killed them?" I wailed.
"Not everypony. Some of them got out of control, and one of the guards tried to subdue them..." Celestia took a deep breath, trying to fight back tears. "Then it all went downhill from there."
"Where are you going?" I asked, feeling the sharp pain of guilt washing over my mind.
"Inside. There's nothing else for me out here," replied Celestia, still trying to hide the sadness in her voice.
I sighed and lowered my head.
"It's alright Mom; just ignore her," reassured Starry.
"It is not alright!" I shouted. "Ponies DIED because of my incompetence. Look around, this carnage is MY fault." Out of pure frustration, I kicked a piece of leftover armor as hard as I could.
"But this isn't your fault! This is all because of that horrible King of Cloudsdale!"
"No Starry, I have to take responsibility for this one." I insisted.
"Then what are you going to do with the king? You can't just let him get away scot-free," insisted Starry.
"Oh, do not worry about him." I said, an unfamiliar deviousness in my voice. "I have a plan for him."
After that day, my thoughts began to grow darker and more evil. I experienced feelings that I never had before. Sometimes it was like something else was taking over my mind.
In my madness I decided that it was time I got rid of The King of Cloudsdale. I considered public execution, but I knew that would be too conspicuous. It would have made him a martyr. So instead I made him disappear.
Two of my finest guards snuck in his room during the night and took him away. They then locked him up in Tartarus and threw away the key. Celestia was furious when she found out, but she let it go quickly. She knew as well as I did that it was beneficial to Equestria that he was gone. I did not care anymore. The world was hurting me, and I wanted to hurt it back. In my opinion, I was doing everypony a favor.
All of Cloudsdale went into a panic when they found out about the king's disappearance, and many ponies blamed me. But because there was no real evidence, all ponies could do was speculate. The good news was the new king was surprisingly kind and helpful. He was the son of the old king, but he was nothing like him. He actually did try to keep a good relationship with Celestia and me.
For the most part I was able to hide what I had done from Starry, and everything was working out. But things did catch up to me eventually, about two years later, soon after Starry had turned twenty-one.
***
"To being an adult!" I cried, knocking my glass of wine against Starry's.
"Yeah!" replied Starry staring at his full glass. "I honestly never thought I'd be doing this." Starry fidgeted and clacked his hooves against the bar.
"I guess I did not talk to you about alcohol all that often." I took a small sip of my drink and inhaled it's fruity taste. "I am not really much of a drinker. I prefer tea, personally."
"Well I guess I'm going to have to try it to see," said Starry as he slowly raised his glass to his lips. "Wow!" he said recoiling a bit at the alcoholic taste.
"Do you not like it?"
"Well, it's weird..." admitted Starry. "But I wouldn't say I don't like it." Starry lifted the glass back to his lips and took a slightly bigger sip.
I smiled. I knew that Celestia's private bar would come in handy some day. She was always much more into alcohol than I was. I guess it made her less uptight.
"So, should I mark this down as a success?"
"I guess; I think I'll like it if I get used to it," said Starry, shrugging his shoulders. There was a long pause as the two of us just sat and sipped for a moment.
"So..." I said, trying to break the awkwardness. "How have you been? It has been a long time since we talked like this."
"I've been okay, I guess. Just the daily grind." Starry sighed and looked down at the bar. "I've been thinking a lot about the old days lately. Sometimes I wish I could just go back to when I was little. It was a simpler time. No responsibility, you know?"
"Yes, I know exactly what you mean." I said morosely. "What is wrong? What changed?"
"I don't know. I guess I'm tired of all these stupid political games."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, honestly confused.
Starry sighed and shifted in his seat. “All of the riots and the rude newspapers. Dealing with all of that starts to wear you down after awhile."
"Yeah I know. What matters is that we are together now! And there's nothing I would rather be doing then something with you," I said, trying to change the subject.
"Thanks Mom," said Starry with a weak smile. "Do you remember when I was a colt and we would play board games together?" asked Starry, drinking another mouthful of wine.
"Of course, how could I forget? You would kick my flank every time we would play."
Starry laughed and set his now empty glass onto the bar. "Can we do that again someday?"
"Sure."
"Really?" chimed Starry, pirking up in his seat.
"Why not? I promise I will try to find the time."
"Awesome! I look forward to it." Starry sighed again and went back to slouching. "Mom, there’s something else I need to talk to you about."
"Okay, shoot."
"The other day a few of the older guards were retiring, and when guards retire it's customary to share some of the things you did during your career. Funny stories, things you thing you did well, and even the things you are most ashamed that of. Stuff like that." Starry began to fidget again, so I put a hoof on his shoulder tenderly. "I'm sorry. I think what I'm trying to say is, one of them admitted to doing something he wished he had never done, and what he said has been messing with my head."
"What did he say?" I asked, my heart beating a bit faster than before.
"Well, first of all, I don't know if this is true. It could just be more slander for all I know..."
"Yes, go ahead," I snapped, my mind racing.
"Remember when The King of Cloudsdale disappeared and everypony blamed you?"
Oh no! Here we go! I thought, my heart sinking out of my chest.
"The guard said that you ordered him to do it... He said that he and one of the other guards foalnapped him and locked him up on Tartarus." Starry looked right at me, tears in his eyes. "Is that true?"
"I... I—" I stammered avoiding Starry's gaze.
"Tell me the truth!"
"I did it for a good reason!" I blurted out.
"So it was you?" mused Starry, his ears drooping.
“Starry, you must believe me! I was just trying to do what's best for Equestria!"
"Was that it? You ruin someone's life forever and you claim it’s for the best?"
"Hey, he ruined MY life first!" I shouted, feeling the anger boiling inside me.
"You know that's not a good excuse!" lectured Starry. "Remember when I got into fights back in training? You said that there was no excuse for what I did."
"That is not the same thing at all! You were just mad! I am trying to protect ponies!"
"You were trying to get revenge, and you know it!" spat Starry.
"So what? He deserved it!"
"Since when has it been your job to tell other ponies what they deserve?!"
"Since I became a princess!" I screamed. Just then I began to feel light headed and my vision started to blur. "I am Princess of The Night! I can say and do WHATEVER I want! And I do not need anypony telling me what is right and wrong, ESPECIALLY not you, my own son!"
"I'm not your son," mumbled Starry.
"WHAT?" I cried, my voice filled with fury.
"I am not your son! You just found me in the forest and locked me in your prison tower."
"I did it because I loved you!"
"You loved me because I made you feel better. You were depressed, and I made you feel like your life meant something!"
"HOW DARE YOU!" I boomed, a sharp pain going through my mind.
"But it’s okay. I understand why."
"What?" I said, my mind clearing.
"You were given a bad lot in life. It wasn't your fault you became a princess. But it's okay, you did your best with me," said Starry, standing up suddenly. "And after today you won't ever have to worry about me again." Starry Night, my son, then trotted out.
Later that night, after I had come to my senses, I made my way back to my room and crashed onto the bed. My head hurt like it never had before in my life. I did not know what was wrong with me, but it felt like my mind was being torn apart at the seams.
I could not sleep because every time I closed my eyes I heard the disturbing whispers of unfamiliar voices calling in my head. I did not know whose they were or what they were saying, but it was just loud enough and just persistent enough to drive me crazy.
I got up knowing that there was no chance of actual sleep that night, and I trotted to my window. I do not know why, but whenever I felt bad I would instinctively go to the window. I guess the sight of the night sky was always calming to me. However, there was not much solace to take from the stars that night, for there were none out; they were all made invisible by the big black clouds that hung over the land.
I did not know what to do, so just like a lost foal in danger of being consumed by fire, I cried. I do not know if I was crying for Starry, myself, or just because I had nothing else to do, but that is what I did. I cried, I banged my head against the glass of the window in front of me, and even broke a few of my possessions.
I suppose it was all sort of an effort to release the pent-up tension that I felt in my heart. I felt guilty for the ponies I had hurt. I felt shame for embarrassing my country. I felt jealousy over the love that everypony else had for my sister and not me. I felt sadness for those who died for me. I felt betrayed by my sister for not defending me. I felt lost, with no place to go. And worst of all, I felt unloved.
Everypony who was ever supposed to care about me in my entire life had left me somehow. My subjects, Midnight, my sister, and now even my son. They were all gone. I was alone, left to march on in an undying existence of loneliness. What is the point of eternal life if nopony wants you?
I could no longer sleep. I was never happy. I did not want to talk to anypony. It felt like time was crawling on and on and on and on and on. Minutes felt like hours. Days felt like years. And years felt like centuries.
I did not get to see Starry anymore, but from what I heard, he was not faring too well either. After about a year, I heard rumors that he was turning into an alcoholic. I would have blamed myself for that too, but I already had enough on my shoulders at the time, so I just pretended that it never happened. Even when I found out that he got fired for being drunk on the job, I did not go looking for him. I was so morbidly depressed that the only thing I could think about was how much longer the torment would last. I probably would have stayed like that forever. However, one day, my sister thought it would be a good idea to pay me a visit.
In every story there comes a time when the main character reaches a breaking point, and for better or worse that character changes forever. This is known as the climax of the story; it can be a small confrontation or an earth shattering final blowout that changes the world forever. This was my breaking point. And it was not a small confrontation.
***
My heart was pounding like a drum, and my mind was on fire. Dark thoughts flashed through my head at lightning speed. All the things that I wanted to do but I knew were wrong, I couldn't hold them back. They did not even feel like my thoughts. Every second it felt more and more like I was becoming somepony else. Or someTHING else.
However just as I considered ending at all, I heard a heavy pounding at the door. At that point, my headache was so bad that even a noise as small as that was enough to make me scream in pain.
"WHAT?!" I screeched at the top of my lungs.
"Are you okay?" cried Celestia, throwing open the door.
"Go away!" I slammed my hoof against the floor of my bedroom, cracking it.
"No, Luna, I must talk with you. This is important."
"What is so important that you needed to bother me now?!" I moaned, clutching my head.
"Your student, Starry," stammered Celestia, a worried look plastered across her face. "He has disappeared."
"And?" I growled. "He's an adult, he can do as he pleases. I am not responsible for where he disappears to anymore!"
"Nopony has been able to find him in weeks! None of his friends have seen him around. He hasn't shown up to the bar in a long time. Are you saying you don't care about that at all?!"
I sighed and covered my head with my pillow. "I do care, but I cannot do it," I moaned.
"Cannot do what?"
"ANYTHING!" I screamed. "I cannot do anything right! Everything in my entire life has been one big mistake, and Starry Night has been no exception! I cannot bring myself to look at him again because it will only remind me of my own failure!"
"Oh, come on! What are you even talking about!?" snapped Celestia, rolling her eyes. "You're just being melodramatic!"
"There you go again! You never listen to me! You never trust me! All you ever do is stab me in the back and then try to make it better later. Well, a few nice words and the occasional 'I love you' is not going to be enough to fix things this time!"
"Do you know why I came up here!? I came up here because I care about you, and I thought that you might want to know about what happened to your precious student! I had no ulterior motives, no intention of getting mad at you, and I certainly did not come here to stab you in the back!
“You’re so irrationally paranoid I can't even talk to you sometimes! The two of us were supposed to rule Equestria together, but how are we supposed to do that if you can't even come out of your own room? You're a disgrace to this country and a disappointment to everypony who believed in you!" screamed Celestia, venom in her voice.
"SHUT UP! SHUT! UP! I do not ever want to hear your voice again! GO! Leave my life! I do not want to talk to you! I do not want to rule this country! And I do not want to be your sister!"
"Great! Because honestly, I don't think anypony would want to be related to you!" retorted Celestia.
"YOU THINK I DO NOT KNOW THAT? I KNOW that nopony wants me!" I began to sniffle, and as I hung my head toward the ground, I saw a few tears slip from my eyes. "I do not belong in this world. If it were up to me I would never lower the moon."
"Well good thing it isn't up to you then." Celestia then turned to walk out the door. "I wish I knew how to fix you Luna, but I think it's time I admit you're hopeless."
"GET OUT!" I boomed, using my magic to fling Celestia through the door.
"How dare you!" I could hear her say as she flew out the room. I then slammed the door as hard as I could, causing it to nearly split in half.
As soon as I was alone, I was overcome by another a flurry of voices passing through my head. this time I could hear them all around me laughing, and saying words like ‘nopony loves you’ and ‘just give up’. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I screamed. I screamed so loud that it hurt my voice.
I had to get away, so I threw myself through my window, smashing the glass. I fell for a few seconds looking up at the empty night sky. I wanted to dive face first into the ground and kill myself, but I knew that I could not. I was not strong enough. I knew that somehow I would fail that. So, just like that very first night I met Starry, I flew away. I flew away because I was scared. I did not ever want to hurt anypony anymore, not the way they hurt me.
I was SO sorry for everything.
***
I did not know where to go, so I went to the only place that seemed natural to me. Right back to where this mess started. It was just like that fateful night I saw the burning the house, but this time it was even colder out. It had just rained only a few hours ago, so the ground was still muddy when I touched down.
Even then, after more than twenty years, I still remembered every minute detail that led up to me finding what would become my greatest joy in life, and my greatest regret
After all that flying, I was quite tired, so I decided to curl up on the wet ground, right where the small wooden house used to stand. It was a silent night. The only thing that I could hear was was the sound of my own breathing. In a way, it was soothing hearing that I was still alive, but it was also intimidating knowing that I still had many thousands of years to live.
What would I do? Who would I talk to? How would I keep myself sane? So many questions ran through my head, and I did not have an answer to any of them. It frustrated me. I used to feel like I was the pony with answers; I felt like I was reliable. But I was only a nervous wreck, collapsed upon the forest floor.
Once again I began to cry. Whenever I was backed into a corner and did not know what to do, I would cry. I would never stand up for myself; I would just lay down and cry.
I rolled over and looked at the sky. It was a big black sheet of nothingness. The only thing in my view that told me I was still alive were the large treetops that surrounded my little clearing. Slowly I could feel the loneliness eat away at me, and the voices came back, this time in full force.
They said everything I did not want to hear. They kept pushing me and pushing me until I could feel them start to take me over. Just when I thought they had taken my mind from me, I heard another voice. This one however, was real.
"So, we've finally cracked, have we?" it called out, its voice frighteningly similar to my own.
"Who is it!?" I said, jolting to my hooves. I whirled around, trying to find who was speaking, but the only thing I saw were the gnarled trees that surrounded me on all sides.
"Who I am is of no concern to you. It's what I am that you should be worried about," came the voice, this time sounding like my sister.
"All right, I am warning you! I am not in a good mood, and if you do not stop messing with me this instant, I might do something we will both regret!" I threatened.
"Oh yeah? And what are you going to do to me?" came back the voice, changing to the deep manly growl of Midnight Legacy. "Look at yourself. You're a mess, a disgusting excuse for a princess!"
"How dare you!? Who do you think you are, telling me what kind of princess I am!?" I interrogated. "I don't even know you!"
There was a moment of silence and then a loud cackle resembling that of The King of Cloudsdale. "Oh, but I know you."
"Just leave me alone!" I screamed, covering my ears with my hooves.
"But if I did that, you might never get the chance to see your precious son again," cooed the voice, now sounding like Starry himself.
"What are you talking about!?" I growled.
"I'm talking about my plan, of course," teased the voice.
"What pla—" I started to speak, but I was Interrupted by a rustling in the trees.
"Go ahead; don't be afraid, my dear," said the voice in a quieter tone, as if it was talking to somepony else.
"What's going on?" I asked as the rustling grew louder. However, just as I began to look for where it was coming from, out of the corner of my eye, I a saw a figure emerge from the bushes.
"Mom?" I heard it call in a raspy whisper. I whirled around, and to my utter shock, standing in front of me, I saw my son Starry Night. His body looked thin, and his mane was dirty and disheveled.
"Starry!" I cried out. "What have you done to him!?"
"It's not what I did to him, princess. It's what you did to him."
"Mom! You have to get out of here! That thing, it's going to kill you!" stammered Starry.
"My son, what do you mean? What thing?"
"Just RUN!" he screamed, trying to push me away.
"Oh, running will do you no good." The clearing where we stood suddenly became surrounded by a large green dome.
"Are you sure about that?" I asked as I prepared a spell to break the force field. I did my best to muster all of my strength, but for some reason, instead of glowing bright blue like it was supposed to, it just blinked for a second and then fizzled out.
"What's going on? Why can't I use my magic?" I questioned.
The voice did not reply; it only burst out into another fit of twisted laughter.
"It's too late," whispered Starry.
"What's too late?" I screamed. "WOULD SOMEPONY TELL US WHAT IS GOING ON?"
"Oh Luna, no need to get so worked up. You don't have to use he Royal Canterlot Voice on me," mocked the mystery creature.
"What is the point of this? Do you just want to torment me?" I moaned.
"No. What I want is your life." There were a couple seconds of silence, and then I heard another rustling in the bushes. Soon, a small hole in the force field opened, and through it I could see a pair of sickly green eyes glowing in the darkness. I expected some sort of disgusting beast to walk through, but to my surprise that is not what I saw. What I saw was an exact copy of myself.
"What trickery is this?" I shouted, staggering back in surprise.
"It's a changeling!" said Starry, jumping in front of me. "She's using her magic to make herself look like you!"
"Pretty good, isn't it?" asked the changeling, creeping closer to us in a very un-pony-like way. "I think I look absolutely fabulous." She then flipped her—or in this case my—mane.
"What is the point of all this?" I demanded, still standing in an offensive pose.
"She's trying to steal your crown! She wants to be Princess!" accused Starry.
"it certainly would make taking over Equestria significantly easier," said the changeling, strutting around us proudly.
"But why me? Why not my sister? She's the one with all the real power!"
"Because you were an easy target. You were only one step away from a mental breakdown to begin with. All I had to do was introduce a little incentive."
"Incentive? What do you mean?" I asked, even though I did not want to know the answer.
"Sometimes it only takes one small action to set off a massive chain of events," said the changeling, pushing her face into mine.
It truly is a strange feeling looking into one's own eyes. You see things that you never would have otherwise.
"For example, send a few changeling reporters to write up a few bad papers about you, and, bingo, instant public hatred."
"That was your doing?" I screamed, inches away from the imposter's face.
The changeling laughed again and made a wicked grin I never thought I would see on my own face. "Clever, wasn't it?"
"You are disgusting!" shouted Starry, pushing between us. "You're a monster! It makes me sick just seeing you take that form!" In a fit of anger, Starry Night pushed his forehead against the changeling copy. "You don't deserve to look like that!"
"What a horrible thing to say! Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to insult ponies like that?" cried the changeling, teasingly sarcastic.
“You are no pony!”
The changeling rolled its eyes and smacked Starry with my tail. "Princess, have you been noticing your magic hasn't as powerful lately as it used to be?" asked the creature, changing the subject just as smoothly as could change its appearance.
I hadn't really thought about my magic lately, but now that she mentioned it, I was having some trouble. I thought it was just the stress getting to me, but for years it had been getting harder and harder to do normal magic tasks. It had gotten to the point where it was a struggle just to raise the moon every night.
"And what if I have?" I inquired.
"How do you think that happened?" cooed the changeling, creeping back and forth between the two of us like a cat on the prowl.
"I do not know. I've been under a great deal of stress as of late."
"It could be. Or maybe it's something more," whispered the changeling as she slipped by my ear.
I lept back, alarmed by the feeling of her breath.
"Tell me, Princess Luna, do you know what we changelings do?"
"You're monsters!" I spat. "You pick a target and disguise yourselves as somepony they love. Then you use your magic to feed off of their love for you."
"Exactly. Once we take a hold of somepony, we don't stop until we suck them of every positive emotion they have," boasted the beast. "When we're done we slip away, leaving them a depressed, emotionless husk. Most ponies only have enough love to keep us alive, but every once in awhile a very special, very magical pony comes around with power enough for a feast. The honor of taking the magic of that pony typically goes to the queen changeling. This special pony could be a wizard like Starswirl the Bearded, a king like the lovely Orion, or even just an extraordinarily loving pony. Sometimes, when the pony is especially hard to access, we have to take an unorthodox approach. Sometimes we can't imitate somepony our target loves, so we have to make up our own."
"Where is this going?" I asked, trying to sound confident. The truth is, I was shaking in fear.
"If you haven't figured it out yet, I myself am the queen of the changelings, and one day I was sitting in our hive, laying eggs, when I got the idea to take over Equestria,” the changeling queen said, taking a quite casual tone. "’It can't be that hard,’ I said to myself. 'All I have to do is find a way inside that castle.' Sadly, I came to find it was much more complicated than I had originally thought.
“So, after plenty of observation, I decided that my best bet was to take out one of the princesses. Like I said before, you were the obvious choice: more emotional, less stable, and most of all, much more gullible."
"Hey!" began Starry, crouching down, ready to attack. “Don't you dare insu—"
"Shut your mouth, foal, the adults are talking," interrupted the queen, using her magic to close Starry's mouth.
"Back to what I was saying. I tried my best to get into that castle; I really did, but even I was unable to work my way inside. After wallowing in my own defeat for a while, I was struck with an idea. What if I found a way to get you to bring one of us inside by your own choice?"
The queen smiled another wicked smile and laughed another evil laugh. "I've always found it sort of ironic what we changelings do. We can become the one thing in a pony's life that makes them feel happy, while simultaneously being the one thing that sucks that happiness away. We seem like we love you, but really we're incapable of love ourselves."
"Where are you saying? I get that you want to take my life, but what is all this about getting me to take the changeling into the palace?" I asked, shaking like a leaf.
There was a very long pause, and the queen just stared at me, her wide grin growing even wider with every passing moment.
"That, my dear, is where this one comes in," said the queen, gesturing towards Starry Night, who was still struggling to open his mouth.
"W-what? You cannot mean—" I stammered, hyperventilating. I understood what she meant; I just did not want to believe it.
"Did you ever wonder why you could never find any information on Starry's parents, any at all? And why the house you found him in seemed to magically disappear when you came back for it?” The changeling smiled a contorted grin.
“That's because he's not a real pony! I left him there for you! I started the fire! I made sure that when everything was said and done, there would be no trace of this house or anything that happened here!"
"No! It cannot be!" I denied. "He cannot be one of you! He is my son!"
"OPEN YOUR EYES!" screamed the queen, her voice echoing off the walls of the force field. "You're a deluded fool, and you just can't accept the fact that your precious little pegasus is a monster like me!"
A green ring of fire began to form around the changeling queen, and soon it exploded into a giant pillar of green light. She was soon engulfed in the tube of fiery magic for several seconds, and loud zapping sounds could be heard.
When she finally emerged from her magical cocoon, she looked completely different. What used to be an exact clone of me was now a horrifying creature. Her body was black and bug-like, and her legs were filled with large holes. Her wings were no longer wide and feathered but instead were blue, translucent insect wings that sported the same strange holes as her legs. Her dull teal mane hung flat in her face, covering her bright green eyes. On top of her head was a strange organic looking crown that seemed more like it sprouted directly from her skull than it did a head covering. In front of her crown was a twisted and gnarled horn that looked almost as if it was rotten.
"How do you like my real form?" she said, speaking in a distorted, reverberating voice. "This is what we look like! This is who we are!"
"She looks just like my nightmare!" said Starry, his mouth finally released from the queens grip.
"What nightmares?" I asked.
"Remember when I was a colt, and I used to have nightmares all the time? Well there was this one night where I had a really bad one, and she was in it! I know it!"
"Interesting," said the queen rubbing her chin. "We made you so you would have no memory of your birth. I guess the process needs a little more work."
"Starry… I do not know what to say. Is what she is saying true? Are you—"
"No! I'm not one of them! They're disgusting! they're awful! They do horrible things! I'm not like that!"
"Oh, trust me. You are one of us," said the queen as she crept close to Starry. " I know so because I gave birth to you myself! The only reason you're so sweet and nice is because we made you that way. We made you the perfect son."
"YOU'RE LYING!" screamed Starry, his voice scorched with fury.
"Why would I lie to my own son?" teased the queen. "Here, If you really don't believe me, I can prove it to you." The changeling queen then lifted one of her hooves and touched it against Starry's forehead. Her horn then began to glow the same sickly green as her eyes.
"Wait what are you doing?!" protested Starry as a familiar ring of fire began to form around his body.
In only a few seconds, right before my eyes I saw Starry Night go from the son I knew and loved to an unfamiliar monster. Just like the queen, he too had an insect-like form, the only difference being he was smaller and had no mane or crown.
"Look at yourself!" shouted the queen. "Now do you believe me? Now that you can see what you really are?
“All you ever were was a tool! Your only point in life was to drain the Princess' magic so it would be easy to take her out!"
"But I love her! She was my mother!" stammered Starry in disbelief, his voice now strange and distorted just like the queen's. Starry looked down at his hooves frozen in place.
"She is not your mother! I AM! You outlived your usefulness long ago! The only reason I foalnapped you was so I could drain the last of Luna's magic from you! And with her power coursing through me, I don't need either of you anymore!"
The queen stepped back and gritted her sharp teeth wickedly. She then flew up into the air and began charging her magic. Sparks flew from her horn, and thunderus cracking sounds rang out into the darkness. "I HAVE BEEN WAITING TWENTY YEARS FOR THIS MOMENT, AND NOW IT IS FINALLY HERE! PRINCESS LUNA, PREPARE TO DIE!"
I sighed and took a deep breath. "I am ready," I said, lowering my head.
"What?" cried the queen, stopping for a moment.
"I'm ready. We all have our time. I suppose this is mine," I admitted. It's not like I have much to live for to begin with.
It was silent for a while, and the queen looked at me wide-eyed and confused.
Eventually she regained her composure and once again spoke. "Very well then. As you wish." The queen once again charged up her magic, and this time, I held my breath and closed my eyes, awaiting the end.
"WAIT!" Starry interrupted.
"What do you want?" growled the changeling queen, stopping her magic once again.
"You... You can't kill her... I still love her."
I opened my eyes and turned towards Starry. Tears were pouring from his eyes.
"We've already been over this! You're not even capable of real love! You only know what we programmed you to know!" barked the queen.
"You may be my 'real' mother, but you know nothing about me!" yelled Starry defiantly. "I may be a changeling, but I am not a monster! Don't you dare tell me what I can and can't do because I know that I love Luna! She is my mom! She has loved me, taken care of me, supported me, and done every single thing that a real mother should do. The only thing you've ever done to me is mooch off me! You're a filthy parasite, not my mother! If you expect me to just stand here and watch you murder her, you're even more disgusting than I thought! if you truly don't think that I'm capable of real love, then let me prove you wrong!"
Starry then moved in front of me, using his body to block the queen. "If you want to kill her, you're going to have to kill me first!"
"Starry, stop!" I cried, putting a hoof on his back.
"It's okay Mom, I need to do this. I have to know that I'm good inside." Starry smiled and then turned back toward the queen. "I told myself that I was going to dedicate my life to protecting Luna, my mother, and I am not going to break that promise now! Do. Your. Worst."
"Very well," grunted the queen "I was going to kill you anyway; all you're doing is reversing the order." The queen then clenched her teeth and charged up her magic one final time. After a few moments, a large green ball of light began to form at the end of the Queen’s horn. The Queen then made an ear-splitting shriek and shot a laser directly at Starry Night. In a moment that felt like an eternity, it struck him right in the chest. Starry screamed and then hit the ground.
"Well, I'm glad that annoyance is out of the way. I guess that makes it your turn, then.”
I did not respond, for I could not hear her. The only thing I could hear were the voices in my head swarming through my thoughts. Out of all the things that had happened to me lately, this was the last straw. No matter how much I wanted to, I could not hold them back any longer. I could feel them flowing in and taking over every part of my body.
"Wait what's going on!?" cried the changeling queen as the demons took me over. The voices took over my body causing my fur to darken, and my mane began to turn into a thin purple mist. Before long, I had completely turned into what would soon be called Nightmare Moon.
After that, everything turned hazy. I remember the queen tried to blast Nightmare Moon with her magic, but Nightmare Moon turned into mist and escaped the blast. Unlike me, Nightmare Moon had immense power. She was so powerful, in fact, that with only one spell she shattered the queen's force field. Magical green sparks showered from the sky, and Nightmare Moon went on the attack. She laughed and used her power to cast spell after devastating spell at the queen. The queen tried to fight back, but she was powerless against the sheer force of Nightmare Moon's magic.
"No!" screeched the queen. "This is impossible!"
But it was possible. In only a few minutes, Nightmare Moon handily defeated the queen of the changelings. Wounded, the queen decided her best course of action was to escape. So she used the last of her magic power to shoot off a blinding array of light distracting Nightmare Moon. The queen then slipped away under the cover of darkness.
I was afraid of what I saw. I sensed a deep evil in Nightmare Moon, and I knew that if I did not do something soon, she would be in control forever. I mustered up all of the willpower I possibly could, and I used it to force my way back inside. Nightmare Moon's hold on my brain stayed strong, but I just kept pushing. I pushed and pushed until I finally cut back through and regained control of myself.
However, Nightmare Moon did not go down that easily. After a few fleeting moments of being in charge, the voices that were Nightmare Moon’s attacked, back in full force. The inside of my body was in turmoil. Multiple consciences wrestled with each other, desperately trying to come out on top. Never in my life have I felt such a strange feeling. For a few moments it was almost like we were both in charge at once, two souls controlling one body.
I knew I couldn't give up. I had to try. I was not going to let that kind of evil run loose in Equestria, so I made one final push with all my might and took back my body. I collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. I was drained. My normally dark blue flowing mane had turned lighter blue and lay flat on my body. I stood up shakily and looked around. Starry was still lying where he had gotten hit. Except now, a pool of fluorescent green blood surrounded his body.
"Starry!" I cried out, running over to his body.
"Mom?" replied Starry in an almost inaudible whisper.
"You're still alive!" I chimed, leaning over him.
"Yeah, I'm still around. For now."
"I–I am sorry... I AM SO SORRY!" I wailed, a river of tears flowing from my eyes. "This is all MY fault!"
"I don't think it's your fault."
"What? You do not?" I said, wiping snot from my muzzle.
"Of course I don't. It was her that did all of this, not you. All you did was fall for her trap.”
"Even now you're still making me feel better. Thank you. Thank you for all the years that you made my life bearable," I said, bawling up a storm.
"You're welcome. I did it because I love you. I AM your son, no matter what I say when I'm angry and stupid. I want you to forget I ever said dumb stuff like that."
I nodded. "I knew in my heart you did not mean it."
Starry smiled, revealing his jagged teeth. "Honestly, I should be the one thanking you. You gave me a good life, one worth living. You gave me a whole twenty-four years where I got to pretend to be normal. I don't know about you, but I have no regrets."
"Really?"
"Well maybe not being able to play that board game you promised," joked Starry.
"Sorry about that," I mumbled, rubbing the back of my head with a hoof.
"No problem." Starry turned his head a bit and looked up at the sky. "It's a shame that the moon isn't out tonight. I remember the night you first showed me how you raise the moon. That was one of the best times of my life."
"Do you want me to raise it now?" I asked, cracking a melancholy smile.
"But you don't have any magic left.”
"I'm sure that you have enough of my magic in you to do the job, if you're willing to share it."
"Of course I am!" beamed Starry.
"All right here goes nothing," I said as I touched my horn to his. Slowly, I could feel his magic flowing between us. Once my mane had regained its normal color and shape and my muscles no longer felt shaky, I was ready to do the deed. I backed away from Starry to give myself a little bit of room, and then I began. "Alright make sure you're watching, because I can only do this once!" I grunted.
Just then, a strange purple aura began to flow around me in elegant shimmering strands, and a small sliver of white light began to appear above the horizon. Starry watched in wonder as the silver moon flew up into the darkness glowing bright in the clear sky.
"I never get tired of that!" wheezed Starry gleefully.
"Here comes your favorite part!" I called as I got ready to form the stars.
Starry looked right at the sky waiting for more. After that, my horn made a loud cracking noise, and the stars began to burst into existence like popcorn on a hot stove. The stars then danced across the sky, forming complex shapes and designs, finally settling in their appropriate constellations.
"Just as beautiful as the first time you showed me," said Starry, a single tear coming from his eye.
“Was I a good pony?"
I trotted over to Starry and lightly lay myself next to him.
“Of course you were. You were the best pony I have ever known."
"Good,” replied Stary a blissful look on his face.
"Was I a good mother?"
"Are you kidding me? You were perfect," said Starry, his voice nothing more than a tiny whisper. I looked into his eyes one last time, and he looked into mine. We stayed like that for the last few moments we had together, and then finally, Starry Night, my son, was gone.
The End.