The Master of Shadows

by pjabrony

Chapter 5

“Twilight Sparkle, We were trained long ago in the art of storytelling, and We hope we are showing you some of that art, but We must admit failure in being able to describe Our feelings at that moment. Celestia is the most precious thing in all of Equestria—in all of existence--to Us. It is likely that Our first word was her name. When We discovered Our cutie mark, it was to Celestia that We ran first. Even when she banished Us to the moon, not for one thousand years did we ever wish ill upon her specifically. To have her yield to Us, certainly, but never to see her suffer. And now she was mortally wounded while We were next to her.

“What happened next was decided in the moment when the black horn entered the white chest. A second before, We would have considered what We were about to do impossible. A second later, We considered it inevitable.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Celestia was still breathing. We leaned her head against Us. Our first duty was to comfort her in her last moments. She struggled to speak.

“Luna. . . beloved Luna. .. tell me. . . at the last. . .”

“Anything, dearest Celestia.”

“Were you ever jealous. . . that I was the ruler of Equestria. . . and not you? I always felt your love for me. . . but I could never be sure. . . that I wasn’t holding you back. . . You would have been a great ruler. . . and you will be now. . . in the last hours of Equestria.”

“Celestia, doubt not Our love for you, and fear not for the future of Equestria. The land will bloom many years hence. It is our bond as sisters, and your grace as a ruler, that will save us all. I am the dark Princess, and there is forbidden magic in the night that is not for a ruler to know, but which can be kept by a vice-regent. This thing of evil that even now thinks himself master of all is soon to learn that he is alone and powerless, while We have victory in Our hooves. Now lay your head down and rest without worry, for We will make you a promise on Our love for you.”

And We leaned in close, and spoke softly but with determination into Celestia’s ear.

“We swear to you, you shall raise the sun again.”

And in her eyes We saw peace and acceptance, as her breathing stopped and her life extinguished. We laid the white head on the ground with all care. Then We faced the black bull, and began to climb on Our feet.

Taur had climbed onto the fallen tower of Canterlot Castle and was addressing the ponies.

“Your Princess, your goddess, lies dead in the city. I am the master now. Nopony now shall abide in this land who is not either my creation or my slave! Choose now whether to live in servitude, or to line up to be slaughtered as your former ruler was!”

We rose to Our full height. Though Our legs cried out in pain, they would support Us. And very soon, it would all be over.

“Hold your tongue, Taur!” We said. “You do not give orders to the subjects of Celestia! She has given you an ultimatum to leave or be struck down. You have defied her. Now you shall take the consequences.” Our horn glowed, and We wreaked Our ultimate.

There is a color that is darker than black, a color that shall not be seen unless grave misfortune ever reaches this land again. It is a black that consumes even the black of night, leaves no trace of anything behind. This color flowed from Our horn. It fell from the sky. It sprang from the ground. From all directions it came over the horizon. And it burst forth from every particle in the world. Everything was wiped out except for Us, and Taur. There were no more sights or sounds to be seen or heard.

“What devilry is this, pony-witch?” he cried out, “Where are we?”

“We are in a Moment of Darkness, and this moment is to be your prison for all eternity.”

“What have you done?”

“We have cast a forbidden spell, a spell of great Un-happening. We have torn apart the very logic that holds existence together. We have rent asunder the chains of cause and effect. Everything you have done from the moment you entered Equestria has had no purchase, and your evil deeds have slipped from the world. You shall not even be a memory.”

“You lie!”

“We do not have to. You struck Us down, yet Our limbs are whole and intact. Canterlot Castle stands proud above the city. The town of Saddlebrook thrives, and the mighty dam still holds back the lake. You have killed nopony, you have destroyed no property, you have inspired no fear that shall last beyond this moment. And at a guard-post on the border of Equestria a young colt called River Path is being comforted by his brother.”

“I don’t believe you! I destroyed Equestria! I own Equestria!”

“We are not responsible for your beliefs or for anything you do anymore. You shall walk in darkness forever, impotent as you have been, seeking to cause ill to others, but finding it all undone before you complete it. You shall live in endless frustration.”

And as he surveyed the blackness, seeking vainly for a means of escape, the truth of Our words struck him through his flailing disbelief. In desperation, he grasped at a last hope.

“But you are trapped here too! If this darkness is endless then you have no way out!”

We looked him square in the eyes, and We leaned in very close.

“You have understood nothing. This is a Moment of Darkness, and such moments precede only the Dawn. Right now Celestia, who breathes and whose heart still beats, is preparing to raise the sun. In the depths of your ignorance, if you learn nothing else for all time, know this:

“There is no place we could go that we would not feel Our sister’s horn casting that spell. We felt it at Our birth. We have felt it every day of Our life. It is a beacon that will carry Us home to the one We love above all, and will seal you, who have no love for anyone, here alone.

And We turned Our back on him, and never looked upon the likeness of Taur, the master of shadows, again.

*****************************

Out of the rising sun We flew, and alit on the balcony of the castle where Celestia greeted Us.

“How now, Luna? Out for a flight at morning? Stretching your wings before you turn in?”

“Something like that. We confess to being tired. It has been a long night for Us,” We said as We trotted in toward Our bedchamber.

“For me also. I was troubled by visions as I slept. Before you lie down, can I ask you something?”

We paused at that. If We had cast the spell right, then nopony, not even Celestia, should have any memory of anything that had been undone. Only We would know what hadn’t happened. But we looked back and said, “Anything, dearest Celestia.”

"Do you find raising and lowering the moon a tedious job?"

We were relieved that she did not ask Us the same question as before. "Not at all. The only thing We would have be different is to extend the time when the sun and the moon in are the sky at the same time, so that We could spend more time with you. But We know that cannot be, and consider it a worthy sacrifice for our land."

We went off to lower the moon, and Celestia came to Us and gave Us a kiss goodnight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“And there the tale ends, Twilight Sparkle, very much as it began, with the rising of the sun. We heard rumors of other ponies who had vague recollections of the terrible events, but all could plainly see that Equestria was untouched by such evil. Eventually other horrifying events would seem to occur while ponies slept, but always they would be undone by morning. The ponies, not entirely inaccurately, began to credit Us with watching over them in the night, and to wake after witnessing some terror only to find it undone was called, ‘the blessing of the night mare.’ But over the years other ponies took a different tack and blamed Us for the terrors themselves, and nightmare became the name for them.

“It was partially this which drove Us to submit to evil Ourselves and become Nightmare Moon, but that is another story. And since it was you who redeemed Us, we felt it was right for you to know where it began.

“I have one question,” said Twilight. “Why was the spell forbidden? If you could undo all the ills of the world, why didn’t you do it sooner?”

“Don’t you understand, Twilight Sparkle? None of the events I told you happened. Everypony discounted them as mere dreams, if indeed they remembered any of it.

“That means that Forest Path never found out that his younger brother was willing to lay down his life out of love. The residents of Saddlebrook never got to show their courage. Captain Storm lived out his life as a humble guard, never knowing that he could plan out a brilliant defense of a town against an invasion. The mares that fled Saddlebrook never knew that their colts, sires, and husbands could face down a wall of water for a split second that might mean their lives, before they themselves led a charge into battle. The outlaws of Canterlot Castle never received their freedom, nor did they win back their honor by showing that they could care for others.

“And those are only the deeds We know of! How many in the other towns that fell never found out that they had heroes inside them, but forever thought that they might be cowards in a pinch? How many ponies, fearing the end, took that time to fall in love, who never confessed their feelings in the world that did survive? How would the ponies of Equestria, had we won by might, have rebuilt the land, and would it not be greater than it is now?

“We must carry the burden of that knowledge and those questions alone. And we have one more to carry. For We know that no matter what love we show Our sister, Celestia always has her doubts that We do not desire her power.”

“Will you never be able to tell her?” asked Twilight.

“When can We make her believe it? When she is dying again? But if that were the case We think We would probably use the Un-happening spell again. Carrying the burden is nothing compared to that of losing her.”

“I think I know what you mean. I don’t want to lose any of the friends I’ve made, including you, Princess. Even though we first met by fighting, I’ve come to love you as much as anypony.”

“And We-“ Luna cut herself off. “And I love you too, Twilight. And so does Celestia. I’ve learned from her how to love somepony who cared for me, and I’ve learned from you how to love somepony who needs me to abandon my selfishness and care for them.”

Then Luna went to Twilight and gave her a kiss goodnight

Comments

[pjabrony]

418133

Well, I was trying to write in a very old-fashioned style, and those words didn't have the dirty context then that they do now. I guess I should focus on my real talent: comedy! (why no Apple Bloom smiley?)

[RandomPerson]

Changelings........before they were cannon haha.

[Al_of_Obia]

7:54
Wow again. Ending the is good. I always thought Luna was well awsome, never stopped loving Celestia, ect. but for her too have that knowledge and not use it almost never well this is a concept that can be seen happening I believe at least.

[pjabrony]

3917177

Thanks. I really feel this is my most underappreciated story. I wish more people would read it.

[Al_of_Obia]

3917494
If any asks for a good, probably never, I will shove this down their throat

[Lemma Prism]

I loved this story! Why is it not more popular? It was great and I really like how it was written!

It was heartwarming to read about the brave acts that so many ponies performed, even while in the midst of tragedy, and I kept thinking to myself, "this is what we are fighting for!" And then the ending, making me struggle to decide between sacrificing lives or sacrificing strength... even if you did it with a deus ex machina, haha! It would be best to have the best of both worlds, though.

[pjabrony]

7861137 Thanks. This was one of my early stories, but I still think it's pretty good for what it is.