An Ending.
Celestia stretched as she let out a powerful yawn. Her eyes still closed she took a quiet moment for herself. She wished she could sleep just a little longer but the sun wouldn't raise itself and maybe more importantly she still had to release Luna and her friends from the time out she placed them the previous night. After such a glorious prank Luna would have to surrender back the title of best princess as she admited defeat in their short little prank war. She opened her eyes only to be met with pitch blackness. She blinked a few times her mind was playing tricks because she was still tired. Still darkness.
"So you finally wake princess." A sinister voice spoke from the unrelenting darkness.
"Who goes there," Celestia said her voice stern but calm. She readied her magic to defend herself from the brazen intruder. The glow of her horn illuminated the room briefly before suddenly fading out. "No this can't be," Celestia said weakly having caught sight of the intruder in the brief moment of light.
"Oh, but it can and it is dear sister." The sinister voice taunted a special emphasis placed on the last word a further taunt. "Did you think your actions would have no consequences?" The hidden figure asked stepping closer. When she was side by side with the bedded princess she used her own magic to ignite only the space imediately around them. Nightmare Moon stood triumphantly over Celestia grinning in the darkness.
"But how?" Celestia asked. Her voice was shaky but she held onto a hidden resolve. While she couldn't use her magic against Nightmare Moon if she could get a message to Twilight the elements could once again be used to save her sister from the shadow fiends control.
"Why your little prank of course." Nightmare Moon said with a laugh. "Waking up thinking she was on the moon again your sister was consumed with fear anger and every other negative emotion. It was easy for me to regain control of her. I of course wasn't fooled by your silly trick. I knew right away I was in some weak illusion on Equestria but it was too late for your poor sister." Nightmare Moon smiled a wicked grin. "Since we both know you're powerless against me and to be honest I'm not much in the mood to fight any way I came straight here to simply ask your surrender. Nopony has to get hurt. Unless you wish to do this the hard way."
"You already have me as your prisoner it seems," Celestia said having regained some of her composure. It would be hard to send a message to Twilight after all but her student was smart when the sun never rose she would gather the elements and they would come to Canterlot in search of her. "But I will not give you the satisfaction of surrendering." She said with a sharpness in her voice.
"Firey as ever I see." Nightmare Moon chuckled. "I bet you think your precious student and those friends of hers will brandish their elements and defeat me once. You believe me some fool who would make the same mistake twice."
"I have faith in my student and her friends, yes," Celestia said a hint of doubt lingered in her voice taking some weight from the words.
"I'm afraid that won't be happening this time and you only have yourself to blame," Nightmare Moon let out a devilish cackle before continuing. "For you see in your rash decision to punish your sister and all her cohorts your gifted me one of your precious elements along with her." At this revelation Nightmare Moon extended the light emitting from her horn to illuminate the rest of the room in an eerie blue revealing four more figures.
She watched the fire fade from Celestia's eyes as she recognized the figures as Luna's friends, the element of laughter among them. While certain distinguishing features like mane and coat color were replaced with black and purples the group was still identifiable.
"Meet my Shadow Mare slaves. My magic controls them and nothing short of all six elements together could break my hold on them. I for one don't see myself allowing one of my thralls to wield her element against me. So now you see the power I truely hold. Surender to me and I will let your precious subjects live peacefully in my kingdom of eternal night. Continue to resist and this fate awaits all the ponies of Equestria. The choice is yours."
Celestia's heart sank further with every word the villain before her spoke. It was true without the full power of the elements victory couldn't be assured. While the remaining elements might be able to put up some sort of fight there was too great a risk somepony might get hurt. Celestia knew what she had to do.
"You win." The princess said solemnly. "Promise not to hurt or enslave my subjects and I will surrender."
"But of course Celestia. I believe I already stated I would leave them be. What kind of ruler would I be if I went back on my word. I will need you to do something first though." Nightmare Moon used her magic to open a drawer from a nearby desk and retrieved a quill, an ink bottle, and a scroll of parchment with the official royal seal on it. "For a truly peaceful transition, you must write an official decree. Ponies will still be required to follow the law or face standard punishments so this will make my rule law and prevent the citizens from causing an uprising."
"And if ponies do rebel?" Celestia asked firmly taking the writing utensils with her magic.
"They will be subdued with minimal force and imprisoned based on the severity of their actions. If their actions lead to anypony being harmed their sentence may become indefinite but the same is surely true under your rule I assume."
"True." Celestia admitted she could find fault in the other mare's logic as much as she wanted to. If the villain kept her word things wouldn't be so bad, a little bleak without sunlight but her terms were fair everything else considered. "And what of those four?" Celestia asked pointing at the Shadow Mare who stood carefully observing the situation. "They are my subjects as well."
"If you wish me to free them from my hold that I can not do. For one that would release the final element bearer. My terms apply to the other bearers as long as they accept my rule peacefully they face no fear of punishment from me. Beyond that, I need to know there are some ponies I can trust without fail. I'm no fool Celestia there will be rebellions and I intend to resolve them peacefully but for that will need a special task force I know will answer to me with unquestionable loyalty. Finally as your sister's closest friends if i were to free them they would be the most adamant resistance and they would be most likely to cause an inccident where somepony got hurt. For my safety and everypony elses it makes the most sense to leave them in this state. They are in no pain or danger, nor will they be under my leadership, but I can not return them to their unaltered state."
Celestia hated to admit it but everything Nightmare Moon said made sense. She hated the mare for taking her sister and enslaving her friends but there was no noticeable cruelty or malice just calm unrelenting logic.
"And what happens to me?" Celestia asked it was her final question.
"I suppose that's up to you. You will be treated like every other citizen of Equestria under my rule. Break my laws and you will be subject to imprisonment but give me no reason to and I will leave you to live in peace." Night Mare moon replied with the same calmness she had spoken with since surrender was taken seriously
"What should write exactly then?" Celestia asked, there was nothing left to discuss Nightmare Moon would dictate the decree and Celestia would concede her throne.
"Finally your endless questioning has ceased. Simply write down what I am about to dictate." Nightmare Moon said a hint of excitement now coating her words. "I princess Celestia surrender the title..." She trailed off allowing the princess to write.
Celestia scribbled the words and looked toward the mare silent asking her to continue.
"The title..." Nightmare Moon repeated her voice breaking a little. "The title best princess to my sister Luna Goddes of the Night and Misstress of Pranks." Luna concluded before breaking int a fit of joyous laughter.
"WHAT MADNESS IS THIS!!!!" Celestia boomed opting for the royal Canterlot for the first time in she didn't know how long.
"We fooled you, we fooled you, we absolutely fooled you." Pinkie Pie cheered from the end of the room. As she bounced up down her color changed from pink to the shadowy form depending on when she was in the air or not.
"Finish signing the decree Tia." Luna said sternly removing her Nightmare Moon disguise appearing in her now more familiar younger state.
"I DEMAND ANSWERS" Celestia boomed again.
"Tia you already surrendered. Don't be a sore loser." Luna said half pouting.
"This whole thing was another prank?" Celestia her tone commanded authority but she had at least calmed enough to abandon the royal Canterlot voice. "Someone explain now."
"Last night I awoke to a rather blinding flash and suddenly appeared to be on the moon," Vinyl began as she spoke the Shadow Mare disguises faded and the room grew less dark. "I kinda thought it was a weird dream so I thought I'd make the most of it..." She was cut off before she could continue.
"That caused me to wake up." Octavia interrupted. "Slapping Vinyl convinced us both we were very much awake and then we noticed we weren't alone. Cutting to the point we woke everyone else up and poor Luna broke into a panic attack." The other mares nodded as if confirming before she continued. "It took us a little while to calm her down and when she did we saught away home. We eventually figured out we had been pranked and after seeing poor Luna so distraught we all wanted to be a part of the next prank."
"Since Luna was so scared from your prank we staged this rouse to make your worst nightmare come true. We knew your biggest fear was losing Luna to Nightmare Moon again so we brought her back. Vinyl is great at lighting effect spells so she made it super dark in here and we worked together for the Shadow Mare disguises. Luna did her disguise we kept her magic use to a minimum so it was easier for her to maintain character." Lyra stated.
"I had the hardest job thought. I had to stand perfectly still so you didn't call on the elements of harmony and ruin the prank." Pinkie Pie giggled.
"And you did very well Pinkie," Luna said appreciatively acknowledging how hard such a task was for her. "Beyond disguising my appearance to that of Nightmare Moon I had to act the part enough to not arouse suspicion. Octavia helped me plan what I should say since I had to navigate the conversation carefully so that you wouldn't try anything that would give us away. She was confident as long as I was calm direct and adamant about a peaceful resolution that you were more likely to accept the situation. You were so paralyzed with fear from the moment you saw Nightmare Moon even as a shadowy figure standing above you never fired a single spell. You never tried to run or anything you almost made it too easy for us Tia. Now I must ask again you sign the degree."
"Fine, I admit defeat. You all put a lot of effort into this my little ponies and it would be a lie to say I wasn't fooled and was just playing along." Celestia took her scroll and quill from where they fell on the floor in her earlier outburst. She hastily scribbled something that seemed longer than what Luna had dictated. "Now if you'll all excuse I'm late with raising the Sun how no one has burst in questioning that is beyond me."
"Oh we asked the guards to make an announcement that night would last a few extra hours as a test for a proposed Moonlight Savings Time where for part of the year night would be longer to the benefit of nocturnal animals." Pinkie stated.
"Was it at least Luna who ordered the guards to do this?" Celestia asked moving towards the balcony just off her room from where she could shift the positions of the moon and sun.
"Nopony ordered the guards to do anything me and Lyra just asked them nicely." Pinkie said bubbly as ever.
Celestia just facehooved and went about raising the sun.
***
Luna carefully adjusted the framed decree so that it hung properly above her bed.
"You ready?" Lyra called from across the apartment. She stood by the door with her lyre case, Mr. Twitch in his cage and her saddlebag packed for a weekend trip.
"I was just looking over the latest decree. I'll grab my bag and meet you downstairs." Luna called back.
Lyra nodded and began her trip down the stairs taking it slow to not drop anything.
Luna placed her saddlebag on and gave the decree one more read before heading out. Each of her friends had received a copy as well.
I Princess Celestia surrender the title Best Princess to my sister Luna Goddes of the Night and Misstress of Pranks, and to her friends Lyra Heartstrings, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia Melody, and Pinkamina Diane Pie I grant each the title of Royal Prankster for their great victory in the Royal Prank Wars. These titles come with no special perks or benefits outside of official use of the title itself.
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What is Luna trying to say in the picture?
11206010
From a scene in the first chapter
“Sister we do not know what this, how did you say it, ark-aid is, but what if we were to open the shop again and take care of these treasures until a time when they are ready to be reclaimed?
But pretending to have sent her to the moon again over a harmless prank was definitely mean. Celestia got what she deserved.
11206023
In war you sometimes don't notice your own atrocities.
Messing with cake like that is probably a sin
But yeah
11206026
Maybe but in a prank war you have try not to hurt anyone. It is the most important rule. If Luna hadn't had her friends there to help her feel better then she could have been traumatized.
11206031
Realistically if Luna didn't have her friends there to wake her up she probably would have slept through it
Huh. An update after 8 years. Would you look at that. Thats pretty crazy, remembering and coming back to finish it? Kudos my man
11206108
I always regretted it had been left on a cliffhanger but could never bring myself to add the next part until i stopped coming her all together. I just started thinking about this place again recently can't say why but it led me to stopping back and wanting to read my old stories so I did. With this one the ending felt like this was what I had always set up for but could never managed to do and maybe that's because back then I just didn't really want it to end. What ever my reasons I'm happy i finally got a chance to finish it.
I came back to browse for a bit and saw this.
Cool to see a writer come back and finish an old story.
11206147
Yeah odd set of circumstance nothing you can hope for or expect but fascinating to know it can happen
11206084
Maybe but sometimes people do get up in the night for the bathroom.
11206140
Whatever the case, thank you.