Epilogue
Music of the Night: Epilogue
Princess Luna stood upon her balcony, and it didn’t take long for her to feel the immensity of her sister’s aura coming. Celestia exploded into existence, a sunburst of boundless magic. She landed daintily with a tap of four hooves, head veering back and forth. She saw her sister was alone, and now back to her normal self. “Sister?” she said cautiously.
Luna was draped mournfully over the railing of her balcony, crying quietly. She was looking out over the points of light that made up downtown Canterlot. Even at this hour there were hundreds of ponies moving about, going about their night lives. It was a small comfort for Luna, knowing that a few of them actually gazed up at the moon and stars when it struck them to do so. “Come to exile me to the moon, Tia?” she whispered vulnerably. “Again?” Luna could not bring herself to turn around and face Celestia. She leaned her head over the railing by gravity, as though she were being ill, and dangled there. There was a long silence.
“No.” Celestia said gently. “No, I think not.” She came up behind Luna, spreading her vast wings and slowly wrapping them about her sister. Enveloping her with a slow, quiet grace, she rested her chin atop Luna’s head.
“Why?” Luna said softly. “After all I’ve done— after all the ponies I manipulated and hurt and forced myself on— Why?” she couldn’t move, the heaviness in her heart had drained her of all strength. She shivered with cold, but Celestia’s warm body comforted her. Even at her full stature, Luna was not nearly as big as her sister. Spending a thousand years chained in the moon had set them apart, at least physically.
“Because despite everything you did, you made the right choice in the end.” Celestia said delicately. Luna shuddered in response. “You could’ve forced that stallion to stay with you forever. It’s not as though anypony could have stopped you. You’re a goddess, and your powers rival even mine.” She stroked Luna’s mane with her muzzle in a slow up and down motion. The princess of the night whimpered despite herself, new tears washing down her cheek.
“I’m sorry!” she suddenly wailed. “I’m so sorry!” she threw herself at last into her sister’s embrace, bawling like a filly. Though both were goddesses and ancient in their thoughts, something as simple as heartbreak could still rip one of them down. “Tia!”
“There now, just cry… it’s alright.” Celestia held her sister, tucking her under her chin. Luna wuzzled into Celestia’s breast as though she were mother, not sister, and wept bitter tears. It hurt, it just hurt so much. The solar goddess stayed quiet, stroking her over and over. “Shh-shh, it’s alright.” She crooned over her sister. Leaning down, she began a ritual that they’d not done in a millennia.
Luna squirmed a little when she felt Celestia’s teeth pressed into her wings. Then, she relaxed into her as she realized what was happening. The solar goddess’ mouth searched gingerly, and found a broken feather in Luna’s vast wings. Plucking it gently, she spat it to one side. It fluttered away into the night. It looked so strange, Celestia preening her sister like they were young lovers. Or perhaps birds. One after another, Luna lost more feathers from her span. They sprinkled out over the edge of the balcony and into Canterlot below. More than just a couple of ponies saw them drifting on the breeze, wondering where they were coming from. They could not see all the way into the highest towers of the palace. The stress, the transformations, everything that had happened seemed to melt away from Luna’s mind at the therapy. She’d been frazzled almost beyond recognition, and the wings were just the start. By the time Celestia was done, Luna’s wings were damp and it was decided to be bath time. The wee hours of the morning were approaching, but they could order hot water anytime they pleased.
It was so. Luna dozed heavily in the steamy room of their bath. Silent servant ponies worked with their Princesses. Luna felt her wings being pulled open so that ginger brushes and oils could be applied to her. Celestia sat in the hot waters, keeping careful watch. When they were left to soak, the princess of the night found herself mewling softly and drifting back to her elder sister’s embrace.
Celestia heaved a great, relaxing sigh. “So much music, my little sister. So much love and passion, it was beautiful.” She crooned quietly, stroking her sister’s aching back. “I’ve only tasted a bit of it for myself, though I’ve not the talent that you or your stallion had.” She said gently, a touch of pink on her face.
“You sing…?” Luna said vaguely, the steam of their hot bath making her head swim. Celestia nodded, and Luna rested her chin on the lip of their massive bath. She looked out the stained glass window, into the night sky. “Sing for me, Tia?” she begged in a whisper. “I want to hear.” The solar goddess nodded gently. The silent servants aiding their bath eyed them both out of the corner of their eyes. Such a thing would be something to tell their foals and grandfoals about. They could not help but listen. Celestia allowed them to stay, slowly drawing breath to soothe her ailing sister’s woes:
Foal of the night time, yes,
Born into to the dusk, yes,
You’ll learn to be lonely,
If darkness is your one companion.
None would be there for you,
To comfort and care for you,
If you are lonely,
Learn to reach and find companions.
You’ve never dreamed out the world,
There are hooves to hold you!
You’ve always thought you’ve known,
Your heart was on its own!
And laughed in your loneliness,
A foal deep in the darkness.
You’d learned to be lonely,
Life isn’t lived
Life isn’t loved,
Alone—
Luna came to tears anew, and her heart was aflutter with the blush of a newlywed mare. “Want to hear a secret, sister?” Celestia leaned conspiratorially. Luna blink-blinked, then leaned with some interest. “The stallion whom I was with when I lost my virginity-- left me for a mortal mare.” She whispered. Luna’s brow rose with a hot gasp. How scandalous! “You know what I did when he left?” Celestia whispered, careful of their nearby servants. It had taken ages to erase all the evidence of what had happened.
“You picked yourself up and moved on?” Luna said helpfully.
“No. I moved the stars in the sky to spell ‘Rockshoulder has red warts on his stallionhood’, and left them that way for a week. That was his name, Rockshoulder.” Celestia said with a rather coy smile. Luna stared in dumbfounded awe. There was a long silence. Then she burst into high-pitched, scandalous laughter. This startled all of the servants into a frenzy of work, whatever they happened to be doing in the room at the time. Celestia smiled at the genuine laughter, nodding confirmation that it was absolutely true. “I was an angry goddess, for a long time.” She chuckled, then steadied herself back into her normal serene stance.
Luna smiled gently. “I do not think I should do that to Cleff, but… having a stallion around seemed like such a dream come true.” She swooned a little, already starting to feel better now that she was talking about it.
Celestia nodded with a wry smile, then glanced to one side. “Well, the dawn is coming, Luna. I must go for now.” She rose and, with a flick of magic, superheated her body until it was dry. Every hair in her coat laid down perfectly, and she looked divine. “Why don’t you stay and enjoy your bath a little while longer? I’m sure you’re exhausted from your long night.” She kissed her sister on the forehead, and then was away. She flicked her eyes upward, then smirked as she headed out the door. The servants followed, and Luna was left alone.
Princess Luna studied her reflection in the waters of the bath, sinking in with a content moan. Sure, her reputation would be ruined. And Equestria would be abuzz about Nightmare Moon for another few decades. And she would certainly be out of the public eye for awhile while Celestia smoothed things over. But, for now, she had this lovely bath. She could certainly enjoy that. She heaved a new sigh, pushing her mane out of her face. How did Celestia always know exactly what to do to cheer her up?
It would be a long time before she was over Cleff, but for now she was nicely distracted. And by distracted, one meant that she’d spotted the twins hanging from the ceiling staring down at her. “It’s impolite to watch a mare bathe.” She said mildly, closing her eyes and lowering her brow with a dark chuckle. On the ceiling, upside down like bats, her twin guards gave a start. They were usually so discreet! How had she spotted— well she was a goddess, she could do that. One stallion smiled guiltily at the other, and they glided down to her. Their hooves clopped noisily on the bathroom tile as they landed in unison, bowing deeply. “I’m afraid that’s not good enough.” She chided them for their spying. They looked at each other, then humbly sank to their knees to bow even deeper. “Sorry boys, still not good enough.” They looked up at her with questions in their silent eyes, but a rather evil glint had grown into Luna’s eyes by then. They had just enough time to look afraid before Luna’s magic seized them and yanked them bodily into the bath with her! They flailed about, splashing, while their armor vanished from existence. Luna’s tinkling laugh stilled them, and they smiled bashfully at her. “Aegis Shield. Stalwart Hide.” She smiled at them both. “Sit, relax with me.” She commanded playfully. They obeyed, and only one of the two flinched when the servants reappeared to scrub them. Luna found grand amusement in watching them be fussed over and lathered. “Perhaps a look but don’t touch policy would be better for me. For now.” Luna leaned back, watching the naked stallions get furiously brushed, scrubbed and polished up. They’d not bathed in ages, always following their princess around. She smirked a little, very much enjoying the view. Cleff remained in the back of Luna’s mind for decades to come, but for now she could certainly enjoy the strained smiles of her two personal guards, and giggle when mares came to brush their bellies.
A week later…
Celestia sat upon her throne, looking over at her sister. She tended to doze sometimes during the royal court. Ponies referred to the solar princess, not the lunar one, during the day. But there was a small smile on her face. She sent questions to her sister with her eyes, and Luna turned over a newspaper that was in front of them both, pressed between their sitting pillows. The headline read, ‘Royalty Throws Best Opera of All Time: Princess Luna Casts Self As Nightmare Moon’, which made Celestia raise her brow. She scanned the article briefly. All of Canterlot had assumed it had all been part of the play: Cleff’s kidnapping, the real Nightmare Moon’s appearance, and even the stage-leaping of the mane six. She stared, unable to believe the pure, dumb luck. Night Mare, Triumphant had been praised as a triumph of romantic lust and dark passion, an opera that Canterlot had never seen the likes of before (nor would it again). the bad guy had gotten away at the end, what a new and inventive concept! Not to mention the virginal stallion, who's character hadn't had a name in the opera, had been whisked away into the night. How romantic! Both royal sisters gave a chuckle.
“I should write another opera, sister.” said Luna, grinning. Celestia was good sport enough to roll her eyes and smile.
THE END
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
A/N: Well, I hope you guys enjoyed! Its been fun and this took ages to write so please leave an honest comment or a thumbs-up if you have the time. I love to hear from my readers when they're not pointing out every other typo I just happened to have missed. This is probably the longest work I will EVER do that is pony, haha. All my other stuff is much shorter, one-shots and the like. If you've come this far I thank you deeply, dear Brony, for reading everything I've churned out. You've got my profound thanks and respect. :)
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Aegis Shield · 5.9k words · 197 8 · 4.3k views
- ChappyHooves · 4.4k words · 146 7 · 7.6k views
- Blank Slate · 18k words · 55 2 · 2.7k views
- Onyxfire408 · 13k words · 113 12 · 3.1k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.163 seconds
Total duration
794 users online
1,141,144 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Well, this was a very nice story. I love well written music fics.
I'm not sure if anypony besides Celestia forgave Luna, but I hope they did; she was not herself. I would have liked that Cleff and Luna could stay as friends because that's how it started, that was the true nature of their relationship imo.
Anyway, it was fun, thanks for the enjoyable read.
@Twilight_Crow I dunno about friendzoning Luna XD, but yeah, it be awkward trying to mend that relationship.
The Night Guard has such devotion, it always pains me to see them unappreciated. Thus, I liked the bit at the end where she finally gives them her notice. Luna is rarely written enjoying the company of her guards.
Besides that, well written. I liked the operatic feel of it, I wish I could put a melody to your lyrics. In fact, it kind of makes me want to finally see the Phantom of the Opera. And, boy, did the passion run high. I was uncomfortably flustered too often... Though at the start I was hoping to see a possible Luna ship, because happy Luna is best Luna, I guess the story was more impressionable and heartbreaking because it didn't work out.
322223 I would recommend Gerard Butler's movie version of Phantom, its the most modern and accessable version of the opera. I did of course change and move some things about, as well as leave some things out entirely to keep OC's to a minimum. It is ponies, after all, and it was Luna's story, not Cleff's. Who better to play a lonely, virginal character who merely wants passionate love in her life? I'd go see it as soon as I could if I were you. The real phantom is nine different kinds of erotic despite nothing ever "happening" between him and anyone else, and the music of the night is just beautiful. Good luck!
Well. That's it, I guess. Well done. Very well done.
Now I must fight my every instinct not to perform a critique, which, in this case, would prove rather unnecessary anyway. You seem to have taken most of my advice to heart, because there's nothing off that I noticed in this chapter. My ego is happy.
You've done a great job with this story. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Hell, if it held the attention of someone who can't focus for more than ten seconds at a time...
I've seen the Gerard butler one, I think it's good. I'd like to see the original CFO
The 30's though.
326369 Micheal Crawford is quite popular as well. He's been called the "current living phantom" by many because he's so popular and really very talented. Rather than focusing on the raw sex appeal that Gerard Butler has, he really does portray more toward the "original" concept of the phantom character. Try Youtubing "Micheal Crawford Music of the Night", he really is quite beautiful to watch.
322223 By the way, I've been thinking of doing a fic with Luna's two guards. Would you be interested in reading that?
Also, what got you flustered? I'd love to know so I can refine such things in my later writings!
326443
You know, I probably would read that.
As for the other question, I get flustered easily. I dunno what to pinpoint really, you've just described the passion and desire rather well. And the barely restrained nature of it, which I guess really brings out the emotions in each action.
338180 That's the version this is based off of, so that's a good fit to watch, haha.
338354
awesomesauce :D im waiting for it to buffer right now so i was browsing around. and saw the notification.
This was flat out amazing. I finished this right at this moment and am regretting having finished it so quickly. I also watched Phantom of The Opera as I noted before, and found that quite enjoyable in itself. Even though I doubt I'll see something like this again. this will be one of my favorites. This really was a treat and I enjoyed it immensely. I can't even think about how to find something bad in of this. thumbs up all the way.
344855 It brings me much joy to know that someone enjoyed the story, thanks so much for voicing it.
Well I finally finished reading this after you told me to when I commented on piano mare. FUCKING BRILLIANT! Hilarious and a beautiful ending, I'd say there are no words to describe this, but I already have XD
I think she should have had her guards tickled while they were in the bath >:D
358997 It was really, very tempting to write some clop at the end there, with Luna and the two guards. But I didn't want to marr the story with something gratuitous like that, haha...
Thanks for the comments, though! I'm working on "Seeing the Pattern" right now, even though I despise Pinkie Pie. 
359011 THEN I SHALL BEGIN TO READ THAT! I need any distraction to stop me from writing my own fics.... XD
391105 We eagerly await your review at the end of it all!
391748 There's a couple more parts to go, perhaps all shall be resolved...
Our friend. We can honestly say that this is without a doubt the best story we have ever read on here, or maybe the best we have ever read in the entire fanfiction genre. yes, it is the best fanfiction we have ever read! We were so into the story, we could not stop reading. The ending was not how we wanted it to be, but how many stories honestly end the way one wishes them to?
787495 It's been implied by many that guards are much like servants, ornamental and signs of status. It keeps from lifting a hoof when they shouldn't have to.
Whew. I was thinkin: Celestia's gonna ban her sister's ass.
824397
LOL, I hear that.
I find that authors note amusing, considering everything else he has wrote since this
and WHY OH WHY do we have this
and this 
and this 
and this 
and no LUNA it is not okay
And i may be going against the consensus but even though at first I was pissed at rarity when she and Cleff got together I think that the right mare got him
827183 Poor, ignorant me
The hilarity of you saying this would be your longest fic, while certainly lengthy, it's not the longest by far. Typically I would leave a lengthy review of how good or bad a fic of this size is. But today is a lonely day, and this just makes me feel all the more lonely. I will at the least say, it was decent, but it dragged ever so hard. I had to restrain myself from wanting to skip forward in boredom. The emotion is grand, the build up was good and I certainly could feel the hopelessness of it all. There were errors riddled here and there, and great references to be had, but as usual your writing has left me with mixed feelings. It was grand in design and it sort of flowed. My guess is this is one of your earlier fics. Given some time, I shall return for a proper review. Until then.
Signing off,
Shining Glory
9/10
This was great. I've seen maybe all of 8 minutes of Phantom of the Opera, but this drew me in and I might just go grab that dvd to watch...
So excited for a Luna romance, even if it didn't pan out for her. So many are just her and one of the mane six.
The emotion was excellently displayed, truly. And oddly enough, there was more passion and romance than in some of the, what are they called, shipping fics? It was fantastic.
I'm gonna go read some more of your work.
A new story to add to my read later list.
Maaaan. It was a good read, but I was hoping that Luna would get her stallion in the end. Guess I should have known better, since it was based off of The Phantom of the Opera.
Such an amazing rendition of PotO in ponies. It's even more amazing if you listen to the actual tracks where called for. Wonderful work.
Beautiful!
This story sure was entertaining, did not go the way i thought (or hoped), but still it was a great story. So thanks for this great piece of work.
I wanted to like this. I really did. Well written, good events in the place of the real movie, and awesome characters. It was funny to me to realize when the event happened here, when it would happen in the movie. And making Cleff Vinyl's sister? Genius! Cleff seemed like an interesting guy, and you had Luna's personality down.
But I can't. Because then came Rarity.
I REALLY liked this story. It is one of those you could actually feel the characters' emotions
This was remarkably concepted and written.
Instead of simply being a rip off of "The Phantom of the Opera," this story managed to weave a similar but different tale that is captivating and unique. A majority of the songs are the same, but the lyrics are cleverly altered and used!
I do, however, have two very minor issues with the later part of the story:
1. How exactly did Rarity, a unicorn mare with a talent in seamstressing but limited knowledge of magic, manage to locate Luna/Nightmare Moon and Cleff in a matter of minutes?
I mean, not even Celestia could find or was even aware of that underground chamber. Unless this happened out-of-story in a different scene, there certainly is no Madame Giry-esque character.
2. Did Cleff break the fourth wall?
He sang the words, "Faust give me the courage to show you, you are not alone." Certainly he was speaking of Lauren Faust, not the character from the German legend who sold his soul to the Devil.