//------------------------------// // Chapter 32: Welcome Home, Luna // Story: When Snow Falls // by Prophet Of Doom //------------------------------// Princess Luna swooped in low over the battlements of Canterlot castle. They were empty, none of her guards were to be seen. Luna then flew up to Celestia’s bedchamber, stationed her up above Canterlot. Finding her sister absent, Luna glided back down and made her way to the throne room, all the while calling for her. Using her magic to swing open doors, Luna flew through the connecting corridors and into the throne room. Like Celestia’s bedchamber and the castle battlements, they were empty and dark. All the torches in the castle had been snuffed out. Landing in the centre of the room, Luna took stock of the situation. The princess was doing her usual night patrol when she grew uneasy. It was a feeling she had been getting on and off for several moons. A sense foreboding and a presence of something elusive, and yet very familiar. Luna turned her gaze to her night sky, and it was then she saw it. Ancient runes etched onto her moon, followed by a silhouette of a mare. Luna was stunned. Somepony had just been banished to the moon, almost certainly by her sister. But who, and why? This question caused her to return to Canterlot. Luna called out to Celestia again and gained no reply. Making her way out of the throne room, she made her way cautiously into the main bailey. Here, at last, she saw a guard, standing alone in the open with its head down. “Guard!” Luna spoke in a stern regal voice, “What is going on? Where is Celestia?” The guard did not respond, just shifted from hoof to hoof. Luna walked impatiently out to the pony, “Guard! Answer me!!” As she got closer, Luna struggled to identify the guard. The mare was wearing her guards uniform but she could not recall any unicorns who were this tall. “Guard!!!” “Yes, your Highness.” Luna stopped dead a pace from the guard. “That voice.” The guard lifted her head and flashed her menacing indigo eyes at the princess, “Welcome home, Luna.” Luna took a step back, slowly shaking her head, “Impossible. The Elements of Harmony destroyed you!!” “And yet, here I am,” Nightmare Moon replied in a patronising tone. “But, how?” She replied, steadying herself. “How are you here? Standing by yourself. You are a part of me..” “Do not flatter yourself, Luna!” Nightmare Moon snapped. “I am a goddess of the night, and choose you to be my host.” “H..host?” Luna stuttered. “You chose me?” “Yes, dear Luna,” Nightmare Moon changed her tone to a seductive one. She started circling Luna, who shifted around to keep the mare in front of her. Luna then noticed her cutie mark, a red full moon. A blood moon. “I remember. You came to me in a whisper.” “Indeed, Princess. Remember the dream we had, Luna?” She continued. “The dream of an eternal night, where its beauty can be admired by all. A dream that you abandoned.” The mare’s glared at each other, as Luna responded, “I do, Nightmare Moon. I was But I also remember the endless darkness and hatred that you brought to my heart. You twisted my mind and made me turn on my sister.” “Oh, come now Luna,” She tutted, having completed a full circle around her, “It was you that implemented the eternal night, and it was your anger that made you attack your own sister.” “Anger, you fuelled. I remember your whispers and promised,” Luna snapped. “I weak and foolish. And the day the Elements of Harmony removed you from me, was the greatest thing that has happened to me.” Luna took in a deep breath, “Now then. Why have you returned, and where is my sister?” Nightmare Moon let out an unnerving grin, “Well, I came here to claim Equestria as my own. And as for your sister, Celestia. Well, do you really need to ask,” She gestured with head in the direction of the moon. Luna unfolded her wings and took to the sky. In a flash of rage, she fired a beam of magic at Nightmare Moon. She barely lifted an eyebrow, as a shield spell enveloped her and absorbed the attack. As the spell dissipated, Luna came under attack from multiple directions. Various attack spells from separate sources, which Luna dogged with swift grace. Landing back on the ground, Luna watched as members of the royal guard emerge from the shadows of the dimly lit castle. They were everywhere. Pegasi circled overhead, unicorns appeared on the battlements, and spear brandishing earth ponies approached Luna on all sides. Guards from several units, including Luna’s. She was surrounded. “Guards, what are you doing?” Two unicorn shield bearers also moved up to Nightmare Moon’s side and bowed to her. Luna could now see it clearly. Their eyes were those of Nightmare Moon’s. “What have you done?” Luna spoke in low dark tone. “Simple minds are easily shown who their true queen is,” She replied, releasing in her approaching victory. “Especially if given the right influences.” Luna practically growled at Nightmare Moon. She wanted nothing more than to blast the grin off Nightmare Moonlit but that was not an option open to her. Their guard's minds were clearly ensnared in a spell, making them innocents in this, and there was no question in Luna’s mind that Nightmare Moon would use them as cannon fodder. Luna’s position was untenable. She had only one viable option, retreat. Luna took to the night sky. Her attempt to flee made Nightmare Moon giggle, as she wielded her magic into life. Capture runes hidden around the bailey lit up and shot out magical chains at Luna. The night princess, however, shielded herself in magic, which swirled around her like a powerful storm. The chains impaled themselves into the shield but were immediately shredded by its fierce rotation. Nightmare Moon’s eyes widen at this sight, her trap had failed and Luna was now ascending, “Seize Her!!! The guards on the battlements acted at once and fired upon Luna, who dodged and weaved like before. This time, however, she had a new threat to contend with, pegasi. They swooped down on, attempting to grab and pin her. Luna dodged them as well but their distraction allowed a unicorn to land a hit, grazing her right wing. Luna began to fall. Her fall was a faint, pulling up at the last second. Keeping low, she re-entered the keep. Flying and galloping through the maze of corridors and staircases, Luna launched herself out a north facing window, sending shards of stained glass to the ground below. She managed to get over the battlements before any of the guards could respond. The air was alive with magic, as the guards tried to down Luna. Like before, she dodged all but one of the attacks, scorching her chest. Luna grimaced but bared it and kept flying. She chanced a glance over her shoulder to see several pegasi giving chase. She couldn’t outrun them, so she turned towards the nearby mountains. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Racing through the mountains, the lead she had made on them had all but evaporated and her original plan wasn’t working. Luna had been racing towards the peaks of the mountains, before pulling away at the last moment. At first, it was catching them out, buying Luna distance on them. But they quickly wised up to her trick and begun reducing the gap between them. As she headed for another peak, a moment of genius flashed through her mind. Charging up her magic, she lowered the moon in an instant. The entire area went pitch black. Luna dropped down low into a valley and doubled back. The guards, however, took longer to adjust to the sudden darkness. They scattered, some collided with each other. A couple even crashed into the soft snow of the peak. Either way, by the time that they had adjusted, The princess was out of sight and gone. Luna, however, was in a bad way. Her wing and chest were in severe pain, and it wouldn’t be long before she would have to stop flying. She wanted to get to Ponyville and link up with Twilight Sparkle but that wasn’t going to happen. Nightmare Moon and her guards lay between them, and the pain was getting unbearable. Scanning the valley below, Luna saw a light. Moving at speed. Flying lower, she made out the headlamp of a locomotive that was steaming north. Another wave of pain flowed through her, causing her to lose height. She needed to land and glided towards the train. Getting closer, she made out the wagons of a goods train. Landing on top of a full coal wagon towards the front of the train, she stumbled on the loose surface and bumped into something soft, that responded with an “Oomph”. She instinctively apologised before activating a mild illumination spell. She had landed into Stonie, the old griffon. “Princess Luna!!” He said surprised, bowing his head. “You’re injured, your highness!” Luna looked down at herself. Her chest and right wing where she had been hit were red and scorched. “It's nothing,” She tried to wave it off, but the pain that laced her voice gave away their severity. “I’ll live” Luna tried to give a smile which knew no-pony would believe. Stonie for one didn’t, and beckoned over a mare brandishing a medical bag to from the next wagon. Her name was Healing Touch, Hoofly’s local doctor, who set about patching up Luna’s wounds. “Did you stop Foxtrot?” Came a voice from behind her. Luna turned to see the train behind her. The wagons were packed with ponies now lit up by her magic. All bearing faces of fear and desperation. “Foxtrot?” Luna repeated. “Yes. She’s the Nightmare Moon is manipulating,” Stonie stated calmly, as Healing Touch ordered her to keep still. “Did you stop her?” His question was more hope than expectation. Luna to in a deep breath, “No. She has ensnared the minds of the castle guard, turning them into her shield. To fight them would be to kill them.” She could hear murmurs of disbelief from behind, as well as a couple of ponies sobbing. “Sweet heavens,” -Stone rubbed his brow- “She’s defeated three alicorns in one night.” “Three?” Stonie shifted over to one side and looked over at the wagon that Healing touch had come from. Luna followed his gaze and her heart sank further. Under a blanket was the still unconscious Midnight Snow. “He is not gonna have a good day when he wakes up,” Stonie remarked. Luna slumped her head, leading a choir of silence from the other ponies. The only sound to be heard was of the locomotive, steaming its way north.