Chapter 20: The Last Lesson
Luna
The arch before them was of a simple design. Smooth stones cemented together with the large keystone at the top holding the whole structure together. There were no runes, no glyphs, no ancient hieroglyphs that might reveal the true nature of it purpose. The only outstanding detail that could be found was the single word etched plainly into the keystone.
Cadenza peered up at the keystone and read it aloud. “Magister?”
“It means ‘teacher’ in the old language used by ponies in the time before Equestria.” Luna explained.
Cadenza looked down from the keystone and looked through the arch. “So we walk through it, and it takes us to somewhere or someone who knows where Twilight is?”
“Perhaps.” Luna semi-agreed. “But this is Magic we’re dealing with, so this is more than likely to be a trial to prove our worthiness. Magic has always been dramatic like that.”
Cadenza glanced at her with a question burning in her eyes. “You speak of Magic as if it had a mind of its own.”
Luna sighed a little, her memory turning towards old theories and arguments she had had with Celestia in ages past over the true nature of the elements. “It does and it does not. The Elements of Harmony are really a mystery inside a mystery inside a bottomless abyss. With every answer I give you, ten more questions will take its place. It was the same way when we first found the tree.”
“Tree?” Cadenza asked, clearly desiring a concrete answer.
Luna paused and glanced at her, considering how much to tell her reluctant ally. After all, their alliance had a definite end date.
In the end though, Luna concluded that informing Cadenza of the facts outweighed the risk of Cadenza using that knowledge against her later. Since Magic was both their adversary at the moment in their quest to heal Twilight, having an informed Cadenza versus an ignorant one would be better.
Besides that, Cadenza might have something worthwhile to contribute instead of being a constant source of questions.
“The tree of which I speak of is no ordinary tree.It is a tree of legendary power and not the only one of its kind. Throughout history and even beyond it, there have been many trees whose fruit surpasses all logical thought and defies the laws of science. This particular tree is the Tree of Harmony, and its fruit is the Elements of Harmony; Laughter, Kindness, Honesty, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic.”
Cadenza’s ears snapped forward in rapt attention. “Elements of Harmony. Twilight told me and Shining about how she and her five friends went into the Everfree forest to an old castle and found them.” Cadenza assessed Luna from the corner of her eye. “She told me how she believed these Elements could defeat you. Should have defeated you.”
Luna smiled and allowed some pride to enter her voice. “I have been bested by them once, when Celestia used them against me when she herself couldn’t defeat me. I refused to be beaten the same way twice. When Twilight attacked me with the Elements I found a way to deceive the them and escape their wrath.” Luna glanced up at the moon and the mare upon it and shuddered before looking away. “I will not be imprisoned again.”
“So Twilight has the Element of Magic.” Cadenza nodded. “And it’s…what? Defending her? Protecting her?”
“Being stubborn probably.” Luna dismissed. “Magic is the most prideful of the Elements. It does not like being denied or outsmarted.”
“Why is that?”
“Unlike the others, which are individual traits of Harmony, Magic is the combination of the other five and therefore the most powerful. In a sense, Magic is representation of the Tree of Harmony itself among the Elements. However, Magic has a great weakness. If it is separated from the other five, it will become almost powerless. To be fair, it would still be powerful, but not enough to impede us seriously. All it can do now is throw illusions at us.”
“But why is it in Twilight?” Cadenza inquired.
Luna tapped her own breastplate. “Magic has chosen Twilight as its host. The Elements, if separated from the Tree of Harmony, require a host to function and act upon the world around them. I know this because I too was once a host for the Elements before Celestia banished me.”
“Really?” Cadenza asked in disbelief. “That’s ironic. So you, Celestia, and four others were a host for the Elements a thousand years ago?”
“Not quite.” Luna chided. “Six hosts are not a requirement. At the time, it was just Celestia and I with three Elements apiece.”
“So which three did you host?” Cadenza asked. She then waved a hoof at Luna before she could respond. “Wait Don’t tell me!I want to see if I can figure this out.” Cadenza sat down and tapped her chin while Luna waited. “…generosity, honesty, and…loyalty?”
Luna blinked in surprise. She did not think Cadenza was so perceptive. “How did you know?”
“It’s obvious.” Cadenza said firmly. “Besides, I know Celestia better than I do you. I thought of the three that fit her best, then the rest must have been with you.”
Luna glared a little but decided to let it pass. They had more pressing matters to attend to.
The archway awaited.
“You are prepared? No more questions?” Luna asked.
Cadenza shifted her armor a little and shrugged. “As ready as I’ll ever be to be tested by some ancient artifact.”
Luna nodded and started forward Cadenza speeding up to walk abreast with her. Together, they walked through the arch. It shimmered, and they stepped into…
An office.
A hauntingly familiar office.
Luna stopped suddenly, frozen. Cadenza likewise halted and her jaw dropped in shock.
“It’s about time.” The teacher behind the desk said. He snapped his pocket watch closed.
Neither alicorn had a response ready. Cadenza was flabbergasted and Luna was caught unprepared. She did not think that this was what they would encounter.
“Well?” asked the teacher. “Are you going to say hello or are you going to stand there like statues?”
Cadenza tugged on Luna’s foreleg. “Luna…is that-“
“No.” Luna said firmly, though she couldn’t look away. “It’s an illusion. A forgery. A figment Magic put here to torment me. I must have given Twilight some of my memories of him for Magic to do this.”
“A figment?” said Starswirl the Bearded. He smiled and shook his head. “A logical conclusion. In this case, however, you are wrong my faithful student.” His smile dropped and he frowned. “Being wrong seems to have become a bad habit of yours Luna.”
He looked just as Luna remembered the wizard. Old, grey haired, with a beard reaching down to the floor. He had his star-studded cloak and hat with those dreadfully annoying bells hemmed to the edges. His eyes, which were as blue as the sea, looked back at her with depths beyond measure.
Her mentor, teacher, adviser, and the closest thing she had to a father.
Cadenza picked her jaw off the floor and moved toward him cautiously while Luna remained still. “Well…uh…hello. I…uh…”
“You are Mi Amore Cadenza.” Finished Starswirl for her. “Alicorn of Love and Heir to the Crystal Throne.” His face broke out into a wide smile again and his eyes twinkled merrily. "I am Starswirl, Court Wizard of the Royal Sisters." His beard twitched in amusement as if his title were a joke. “But I think you prefer to go by Cadance, yes?”
“Definitely.” Cadenza wilted in relief and was immediately more comfortable. “I’m so tired of being called ‘Cadenza’ constantly.” She gave the wizard a second appraisal before smiling at him. “However, my friends just call me Cadance.”
“My apologies then.” Said Starswirl. He walked over to them and waved a hoof at Luna. “I raised her to be more polite than that. Of course, of the two of the Royal Sisters, Luna was the rudest."
Luna snapped out of her frozen state and glared at the ghost. “I will not be insulted by an illusion of someone dear to me.”
Starswirl looked up at her with a wry smile. Although Luna fumed at him, he was not intimidated by her anger. In fact, it only seemed to amuse him more. “Would you like to pull my beard and test your theory? I seem to recall that is exactly what you did when I first found you and your sister. You walked right up to me and nearly yanked my beard off my face, thinking that it wasn’t real.”
Cadenza had the temerity to giggle.
Luna however, was unfazed. “You are a clever illusion, to be sure, but the real Starswirl the Bearded-“ And here she hesitated slightly, a small pang of regret hammering her heart “-died shortly after I was banished.”
The illusion of Starswirl the Bearded nodded in acceptance. “That is true, I did die. Celestia saw me off on my deathbed.” But he stroked his beard and smiled enigmatically. “And yet, here I am, alive and well.”
Luna snorted in dismissal while Cadenza wilted in disappointment. The young mare should have heeded Luna’s warning about dealing with Magic’s illusions.
“You think I am one of Magic’s puppets, here to impede you in your journey to save Twilight, your daughter.” Clearly, he was made to be just as perceptive as the real wizard. Starswirl’s wrinkles deepened as his sadness became apparent. “No, my faithful student. I have returned briefly from the Golden Fields at Magic’s invitation to give you one last lesson.”
Luna tossed her head back and shook her head in denial of the illusion’s claim. “Not even the Tree of Harmony can bring back the dead.”
“That is true.” Starswirl conceded. “However, we are not in the land of the living, are we?”
Luna frowned in thought, trying to figure out what he was hinting at.
Starswirl chuckled gently. “Luna, only you could make a monumental discovery in the midst of an enormous mistake. In your quest to restore Twilight to her former self, you have thrown caution to the wind and almost destroyed yourself. However, luck, it seems, is on your side for the moment.”
Cadenza piped in. “Destroyed herself?”
“Indeed.” Said Starswirl. “You too, young princess. You are both fortunate to be alicorns, otherwise the ritual you had attempted would have killed you immediately.”
Luna, though she was loath to admit it, was curious. “What do you mean? Explain your thoughts more fully.”
Starswirl raised an eyebrow at her, but then gestured to the office around him. “Allow me to answer your question with a question. Where are we?”
“Twilight’s mind.” Luna answered immediately.
Cadenza looked sharply at her. “No. This is Twilight’s soul.”
“You are both right.” Said Starswirl. “And both wrong. This is Twilight’s mind and her soul, or at least, a piece of it. There cannot be a mind without the soul, and the soul needs the mind to store and process memory. They coexist, balancing each other out. The soul by itself is full of emotion and passion that the mind tempers with logic and reason. The soul, in return, lends power and purpose to the mind’s musings.”
Cadenza nodded along, accepting the illusion’s theory while Luna remained skeptical.
“That still does not answer my query.” Luna reminded him.
“Ah! Patience! I’m getting there.” Said Starswirl impishly. “The soul is eternal, and therefore outlasts the physical body that walks in the Realm of the Life. But because the soul is eternal, a part of it is always connected to the Realm of Eternity, otherwise known as Paradise or the Golden Fields. What is curious, is that at one time, the Realms of Eternity and Life were one and the same place.”
Cadenza tilted her head to the side in curiosity. “What separated them?”
Starswirl became a bit more serious. “Evil, young alicorn, evil separated them. Not an evil being or an evil deed, but the concept and presence of evil itself. Evil, you see, is not natural. It is in fact, unnatural. Evil is the rejection of the natural world. You could say evil is an attempt to manipulate or warp something into something it is not.”
“I don’t understand.” Cadenza admitted. Luna was glad she had spoken, because although she would never admit this to an illusion of her old mentor, she also did not understand. “If evil is not natural, then how does it exist?”
Starswirl nodded, encouraging Cadenza’s questions. “Evil is the byproduct of choice. With free will comes the option of choice .A soul can choose to do what is right, or choose to do what is wrong. Somewhere in the history of the world, somebody chose to do what is wrong. They chose to do evil.”
“Do you know who or what?” Luna asked in spite of herself.
“I do.” Starswirl admitted. “The Realm of Eternity has all knowledge. But who did what and the exact event does not matter.”
“Doesn’t matter?!” Screeched Cadenza, incredulous.
Starswirl shrugged, unapologetic. “I cannot account for what others do, only for what I myself have done.” He closed his eyes and mumbled a moment before continuing. “What does matter, is that it happened. Somebody chose to do wrong, and evil was introduced to the world. The Realm of Eternity, which is the realm of all that is good and true, could not tolerate something that was anathema to itself, but neither could it destroy it without removing free will. So, the solution was to separate the Realm of Eternity from the world and create the Realm of Life.”
“You still have not answered my-“
“I am answering!” Thundered Starswirl. “Do not be so impudent because the answer is not easy or simple!”
Luna and Starswirl glared at one another, neither willing to cede the invisible battle.
“As I was saying…” Starswirl continued finally with a huff. “…the souls that choose to be good and do good unto others move onto the Realm of Eternity after their brief stint in the Realm of Life…”
“…and those that choose to do evil do not.” Luna finished for him.
A silence descended on them, each contemplating the idea of worlds and life itself.
Cadenza was the one to break the silence, shaking her head in rejection. “But that cannot be right, at some point, everyone chooses to do something wrong. I…I am guilty of lying…of…of doing wrong.” Cadenza glanced shortly at Luna before looking back at Starswirl. “Sometimes, I’ve even taken out my anger on others when they didn’t deserve it.”
Starswirl sighed heavily and sat down. To Luna, the illusion suddenly looked much older than when Luna had ever seen Starswirl. “That is the great question isn’t it? What is good? What is evil? Who is good? Who is evil? I’m afraid the world has lived with evil so long it has forgotten which is which. It’s not like we would like it to be. The knight in shining armor who goes to slay the dragon cannot be wholly good, just as the dragon who defends his home cannot be wholly evil. It’s not black and white. Personally, I think what makes something good or something evil is the intention behind the choice. But even one’s intent cannot absolve the worst of crimes; of murder and malevolence. The best we can do is recognize what is evil and strive to be better, to feel remorse and repent of your own evil actions.”
Luna said nothing.
“I admit,” Starswirl chuckled. “that I may have strayed from my point a little. Because the soul is eternal and a part of the Realm of Eternity, those that are still a part of the Realm of Life cannot enter another’s soul without first leaving the Realm of Life. Once you leave, you cannot return.”
Both Luna and Cadenza stiffened immediately at Starswirl’s insinuation.
Starswirl raised both his hooves in a gesture to remain calm. “However, alicorns are the exception. Because they are immortal, and are connected to a part of the natural world, your brief stint into another alicorn on the edge of eternity means that you can return to the Realm of Life.” Then Starswirl scowled heavily at the both of them. “So I cannot stress how serious I mean it when I say to not attempt this again with anyone else. Or even to repeat at all for that matter. This venture was extremely dangerous all on its own. I guarantee that a second attempt will result in your permanent death. Try this again, and you will never return to the Realm of Life.”
Starswirl took a deep breath and relaxed before continuing to talk. Luna was glad for the brief respite, as it gave a moment for her own heart to stop beating so hard in her chest.
“Now, the reason I am here is that Magic, an immortal part of the world itself, invited me here so that I may give you one last lesson Luna. This is allowed because Twilight’s soul is a part of the Realm of Eternity, the place where I usually reside anyway. It also helps that I was close to you in life Luna.”
“So.” Luna growled, her eyes dark and stormy. “You still claim to be Starswirl the Bearded?”
“I do.”
Luna lowered herself until she was directly at eye level with the stallion. “How am I to take any of this as true? The Realm of Eternity, the Realm of Life, right, wrong, good, evil, even your identity; how am I to believe this is the truth? You could be an illusion, a lie, a trap, a torment sent to haunt me and make me doubt my purpose. If you are who you say you are, prove it.”
Starswirl shook his head. “I cannot.”
“Why not?”
“I could sit here and provide my thoughts and explain logically how I am who I say I am but at the end of the day, you must believe that I tell the truth.” Starswirl said calmly. “It’s ironic really, that the greatest truth in the entire world is hard to believe in precisely because it is so great. It’s the curse of choice, you see. You cannot choose what is true and what is not, but you can choose to not believe in the truth.” His beard twitched in amusement. “Even when it’s sitting right in front of you, staring you in the face. Some things can only be taken on by faith.”
Luna stared, considered, assessed, and decided.
“This has gone on far enough.” Her frustration was mounting towards the limits of her patience. “You have a lesson for me; say what you have to say and let us be on our way.”
“You cannot pass.” Starswirl stated simply, his voice dripping with sadness at Luna’s rejection. “Not until you actually listen, and not just hear the words I speak.”
Wizard and student stared at one another, neither one speaking any further while Cadenza observed, content to let them hash it out.
Starswirl sighed and bowed his head. “You always did have trouble believing in something you could not prove. Facts, numbers, and evidence was your way of seeing the world and understanding it. Celestia was the opposite, she never had trouble believing in something. Sometimes though, she would misplace that belief and ignore the evidence.” Starswirl, glanced back up at Luna sharply with narrowed eyes. “You know of whom I speak. You know who Celestia believed to be true despite evidence of the opposite.”
Luna nodded and her lips curled back in a silent snarl.
The Knights of Ra.
“But I am not here to speak of ponies who are more dead than I am.” Starswirl sighed and took his hat off, setting it on the desk. “But the fault of this tragedy does not lie with just your sister, Luna.” He looked back at her with a deep sadness. “You should have believed that change was possible.Is possible.”
“I did want change.” Luna admitted. “I did believe it was possible. I held onto that hope for centuries. But I am not naïve like I was then. I don’t have that luxury, not since I became Twilight's mother. It wasn’t just me anymore that I had to worry about.”
“You speak wisely.” Starswirl said. “That does not mean what you speak is wisdom.”
“Wisdom.” Luna stated coldly. “What good is wisdom in the face of death and destruction? Hate must be answered with a strong hoof, it will not go away if you just speak wisdom at it.”
“You are right.” Starswirl agreed, surprising both Luna and Cadenza. “Hate must be answered strongly, but wisdom is not just for the villain, it is also for the hero.”
Luna turned away from Starswirl, uncomfortable. “Hero, villain, it does not matter. Those are just words. Empty titles for empty dreams. They only exist in stories, a fantasy too romantic to be real.”
“Do you say that because others consider you a villain, or because you no longer believe in heroes?” Starswirl asked smartly. He turned to Cadenza, who listened attentively. “Life is a story, and we need another opinion, young Cadance. Do you think Luna is a fiend, an invader, a villain to Twilight’s hero?”
Cadenza did not answer immediately, which surprised Luna a little. She had expected that Cadenza would immediately decry Luna on the spot, considering all that Luna had done to her in the recent past.
“If you had asked me a month ago, I would have said yes.” Cadenza said finally. Luna did not grow angry at the statement, it was what she expected from her adversary. “But now…now I don’t know. What she did wasn’t good, it was evil. Tormenting me, blinding that pegasus, Fluttershy, abusing Twilight, and so much else. She’s done a lot of harm, I won’t deny or excuse that, but…but Luna herself isn’t evil. She isn’t a hero, but…”
Cadenza trailed off, apparently out of words to detail her thoughts with.
Starswirl nodded, and he looked out the window to sky outside studded with angry red stars. “I faced many villains in my time. Sirens who used their power to make others unhappy for their pleasure, a centaur warlock who desired power and conquest through deception and lies, and a tyrant in the north who coveted wealth stolen from the subjects he enslaved.” He never looked away from the window, but still he addressed Cadenza. “Tell me, do you think I am a hero?”
Cadenza hesitated, out of confusion more than anything else. “Yes…of course I do. The stories of your life are legendary.”
Starswirl nodded, eyes still looking out the window, as if a theory had just been confirmed. “I do not seem to sound as if I am bragging, but I did do many great things. I explored magic as it had never been before, I befriended the brother of a monster, and-“ He smiled and glanced back at Luna briefly before returning to looking out the window. “-and I raised and taught two young fillies who would go on to found a great nation.”
His face turned sad and remorseful. “But I am not guiltless. I have had my own mistakes to account for, just as anybody else does. I accused a friend of theft and isolated him, and I turned a blind eye to the atrocities of others. I…accepted it and did nothing.”
Luna looked away from the illusion of Starswirl, her heart hardening as she was reminded of her one disagreement with her mentor that had strained their relationship in last years of his life before her banishment.
“Do you want to tell her?” Starswirl asked Luna, turning away from the window to look back at her. “Or shall I?”
“Tell me what?” Cadenza asked with hesitation, looking both alarmed and confused.
“Starswirl…” Luna began. “…he hated the Lunar Pegasi. Like many others of his time, he considered them to be monsters born from Dark Magic. He didn’t hunt them down or kill them himself, but neither did he try to stop the leaders of old Pegasopolis from killing them as infants. To him, it was acceptable for the ancient pegasi to do this.”
“What?” Cadenza gasped, staring at Starswirl aghast. “They did that! I mean…I don’t like the legions who invaded Equestria, but…to kill ponies because of who they are…that’s…that’s…”
“Wrong.” Finished Starswirl. “It was evil.”
Cadenza stared at him, some disgust swelling up in her eyes.
“I offer no excuse.” Starswirl told her simply. “When I walked the land of the living, I was indifferent to their plight and saw it as a pegasi problem. It was how I was raised and it was the norm in the society I lived in. Whenever I came across them in my travels, I would give them to the nearest pegasi cloud city. Then they would be exterminated. The ancient pegasi believed that the birth of a Lunar Pegasi was a evil omen. If one was born, the leaders of the city would take the foal from the mother and throw it to the earth.”
“That stopped.” Luna began angrily. “When I created a royal decree protecting them and declaring them citizens of Equestria. I also protected the few that had escaped that madness. It made a lot of ponies angry with me, and they handed down that hatred from generation to generation. Starswirl, when he heard what I had done, demanded that I rescind my decree, as I was stomping on the tradition and belief of the ancient pegasi.” Luna turned and didn’t try to suppress the glare she sent at Starswirl. “He berated me in my own court and called me a fool.”
Starswirl nodded sadly. “I did. I didn’t regret it then, I do now.”
The disgust that was building in Cadenza’s eyes stopped, and she looked at him warily. “Why do you regret it now?”
Starswirl turned to Luna and let out a heavy sigh. “After…after you were banished, I found the corpse of a young Lunar Pegasi who had been killed. A child. I was struck with a terrible curiosity, one that had been troubling me since the banishment of Nightmare Moon. I wanted to know what Luna had seen in them that I hadn’t.I thought that perhaps the body had the reason for why Luna had gone mad as she had and attacked Celestia. I didn’t think anything of it then, treating it like I would a manticore or a hydra. I dissected it.”
Cadenza turned to the side and vomited.
“Afterwards…I realized that it had been I who had been wrong, and I gave the foal a proper buriel. They were just like anybody else. They had a heart, four legs, and wings. I was…distraught with my discovery, believing that I had contributed to Luna’s grief. I wanted to do something to help them, but I had grown old. I was too late. A few days later I caught a sickness. I died a week later.”
He turned to Cadenza again, who had recovered from her brief bout of vomiting. “Do you condemn me? Am I evil for doing what I did? I was wrong, and I cannot take back what I did. I can never right the scales. All I can do is say that I am sorry, and seek forgiveness.”
Cadenza shook her head violently. “Don’t ask me! I don’t know!”
“There are thousands like me.” Said Starswirl, not heeding her plea. “Millions. Untold amounts of beings who are exactly like me. I am not special or unique. Do you condemn the beings of the past for their ignorance simply because the present knows better?”
Luna’s patience had ended.
“Enough.” She growled.
Starswirl ignored her, and continued relentlessly.
“There is nothing new under the Sun.” He said. “There was evil yesterday, there is evil today, and there will be evil tomorrow. The only difference will be in what form it takes. You, Princess Cadance, yelled and rebuked Twilight for not conspiring to attack her own mother.”
Cadenza started sobbing, tears falling like rain down her cheeks.
“I said ENOUGH!” Luna screamed ferociously, stomping an armored hoof onto the marble floor, cracking the surface. “Your quarrel is with me, not with her! Cease your mind games!”
“Very well.” Starswirl turned towards her ominously, the bells on his cloak scratching against the floor. “You have destroyed Twilight.”
Luna froze, eyes widening in shock.
“She does not know herself.” Starswirl told them. “She has the mind of a young mare not even into her second decade but she has your centuries of memories of hate and pain pounding into her at every moment. You wanted a simple lesson and a simple answer, well here it is.”
Starswirl summoned a frying pan with his magic and then proceeded to club Luna over the head with it.
CLANG
CLANG
CLANG
CLANG
CLANG
Luna snatched the frying pan from the wizard and blasted it out the window.
“That is what it is like. If you beat someone enough with something, that something becomes normal. That is what you have done to Twilight. You have given her all your hate and pain and now she does not know any better.” Starswirl stated without a trace of emotion. “What she has done as Nova is evil. Hundreds have died. So whose fault is it? Yours, or Twilight’s?”
“I am done here!” Luna shouted, ignoring Starswirl. She turned to leave through the doorway they had come through but Starswirl slammed them shut with his magic.
“You cannot save Twilight, not as you are.” Starswirl stated plainly. “I know you Luna, and I know that you are better than this, better than Nightmare Moon. I am not alone in my belief, Twilight knew that too.”
Luna turned slowly away from the slammed doors, a single eye turning to pin Starswirl where he stood. “If she believed that, then why would she have turned on me?”
“She gave you a choice, Luna.” Starswirl’s eyes glimmered with sympathy. “And you chose to continue as Nightmare Moon. You chose to continue this path of fear and destruction.”
“It works.” Luna growled through gritted teeth.
“Does it?” Starswirl said sarcastically, glancing out the window again. “Your daughter’s mind collapsing in on itself is what you define as working?”
Luna let out a huff of air, her argument easily crushed. “What would you have me do? Step down? They’d turn on Twilight and I like a snake. Send the Legions back home after a millennium of planning? No, they’ve been in exile as long as I have and deserve a chance to come home to Equestria. Make amends with Celestia? My sister burned that bridge long ago. She would not listen to me, she has not in a long time.”
Starswirl walked up to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. Luna wanted to shrug it off, but she allowed this small comfort. Illusion of not, it was good to see the old stallion again in spite of their old disagreement.
“Listen to Twilight.” Starswirl told her. “She is the bridge between you and the Equestria of today. You cannot blame the present for the wrongs of the past. Do not punish the Equestria of today for the actions of their ancestors. It would be like them blaming Twilight for your own deeds. Is that what you want?”
“No.” Luna said quietly. “But how can I listen to Twilight? Nova is what she is now. I did that. I ruined her.” Luna slammed her eyes shut in an effort to hold back her tears, but it was a futile affair. “I…I was so lonely…for so long…and I thought she was dead. Then I had her! I had her in my grasp! Twilight was with me, after I had given up all hope of ever seeing her again. So much had been stolen from me though…her first words…her childhood…all taken by Celestia so that she could throw Twilight against me when the opportunity presented itself.”
Starswirl remained silent for a moment, and then softly spoke to her. “If there is anyone to be blamed for that. Blame me. I gave Celestia the prophecy of your return, and what it would take to stop you.”
Luna recoiled away from the wizard, the moment of brief comfort evaporating immediately. She turned to face him fully and rose to her full height, dwarfing the old stallion significantly.
“What…prophecy?”
“On the longest day of the thousandth year, the Stars will aid in her escape, and She will bring out nighttime eternal.”
Luna walked away from Starswirl and past Cadenza to stand before the open window. Outside, she could see the blood-red stars and the defiled moon hanging in the sky. Thoughts and curses jumbled together in her head as she tried to make sense of this new information.
“How did you come by this prophecy?” She finally asked.
Starswirl’s voice spoke quietly, but it was no less powerful. “The Stars told me, the night before I died.”
Luna’s ears twitched while she stared up at the sky at the silent stars. “Did they tell you anything else?”
“They did.” Starswirl confirmed. “There were many possible futures. The Stars told me that in many of them, no matter what Celestia did, you would always defeat her. They told me that the best chance for peace to return to the world was for an apprentice of Celestia to gather the Elements of Harmony and face you. I told Celestia all this as I lay dying. I told her this was the best chance to heal you.”
“Heal me?” Luna said dismissively. “I am not broken.”
Starswirl did not dare to correct her, though it was plain that he thought otherwise.
“You sold out Twilight.” Luna said, bile rising in her throat. “You sold out my daughter. You set Celestia on the path that would bring Twilight to me the night of my return.”
“I didn’t know it was Twilight. I didn’t even know she existed, not until after I died.”
Luna continued looking out towards the stars. “I almost killed her.” She said with a whisper. “I wanted to. I desired her death. I wanted to run my blade straight through the heart of Celestia’s protégé. I almost succeeded, several times. I was so close that I could feel her heart beating against her ribs in fear. She eluded me every time, and then we would do the dance of death again and again.”
Both Cadenza and Starswirl stayed silent, captivated yet horrified by her words.
“I wonder what I would have done if I had succeeded, and killed her, and then had realized the truth. I thought that must have been Celestia’s plan; I kill Twilight, and then I kill myself after finding out I had murdered my own daughter.”
The very thought of it twisted Luna’s heart. What was left of it anyway.
Starswirl spoke reluctantly. “I cannot answer for Celestia’s actions, only my own.”
…
…
…
“Are we finished here? Have I listened enough?” Luna said bitterly.
Starswirl nodded and another pair of doors appeared on the other side of the office, behind his desk.
Luna stood up and walked away from the wizard. “Come Cadenza, we are leaving.”
Cadenza stood up and trotted quickly in order to catch up to her. But then she stopped briefly and gave Starswirl a hug. “It was nice meeting you.”
“Of course young Cadance.” Starswirl said warmly, his beard twisting into a smile. “You take care now, I don’t want to see you again for many, many millennia.”
Cadenza gave him a small smile and walked away, joining Luna at her side.
“Are you finished?” Luna asked pointedly.
Cadenza glared at her for a moment in annoyance. “No, I’m not.”
“Oh?”
“As I said before,” Cadenza tapped Luna’s side with an armored hoof of her own. “My friends call me Cadance.”
Luna turned her head slowly to look at Cadenza…Cadance in a new light. It was hard not to admire her bravery. “Cadance then.”
Luna opened the doors, and on the other side was a pitch blackness that her eyes could not penetrate, she took a step forward, but then the old ghost spoke one last time.
“I love you Luna.” The old wizard said fondly. “You and Celestia have always been my daughters, though I was reluctant to say so in life. It broke my heart to see you two fight.”
Luna hesitated, but could not stop the lone tear that trailed down her face. Her lips trembled a little before she reigned in her emotions and accepted Starswirls statement with a single nod.
Perhaps…she could believe in the old wizard one last time.
“That is the lesson Luna.” Starswirl said with great care. “Don’t make the mistake I made, don’t wait until it’s too late. You have an opportunity that few ever have.”
“Don’t waste it.”
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Some excellent worldbuilding you got there
i have feels but now i'm also pondering the meaning of life now
A new chapter comes out just before I have to start a 2 hour tutorial on literacy. Why must life be so cruel?
Wowo, this chapter actually made me think. And that's a good thing. Take a step out of reality and think about this stuff really makes you feel different.
I say I'm numbed.
A wonderful explanation on the afterlife. With a concept I've never seen before. Couple that with a deep backstory and you have perfection!
Starswirl summoned a frying pan with his magic and then proceeded to club Luna over the head with it.
CLANG
CLANG
CLANG
CLANG
CLANG
Luna snatched the frying pan from the wizard and blasted it out the window.
I never expected that lol...
Nice chapter, as always
Interesting turn that has taken. It's neat to see someone else who ponders on what the soul is, too.
I don't like the idea of the enter-the-mindscape thing being a fluke, though. It seems like it should be both easier and reproducible, partially because I feel that this has to be something that has been done before and it's too darn useful for helping repair psychotic breaks.
Rant mostly at canon MLP:
I'm really not a fan of the whole magical artifact / one-off spell thing. The vast majority of it all acts like the Sufficiently Analyzed version, and then there are a set of weird artifacts that only have one extant copy that require weird-ass conditions to work properly. Like the Dimensional Mirror that Starswirl made. Or the time-travel scroll. Or the Tree. Or...
Sure, it's magic, but that gets used too often as an excuse for deus ex machina far too often. There still needs to be a reason for it doing that! Even if it does break all known laws of Physics, there is still a rule behind its own function. (and depending on how fancy we get with really tiny needles (read Discworld's Thief of Time (or maybe Monstrous Regiment; it was one of the ones with Igors in it, anyway)), perhaps Physics can be made to act that way despite its rules...)
And if it has ever been built, someone can make another! (Exception: Elements, since those are magico-organic, but otherwise...)
Very well written teacher. Even though he wasn’t brought up in previous flashbacks he fits the tone and story perfectly.
It feels so good that Luna finally gets bashed over the head that almost everything that's happened was entirely her fault. Let's hope they can get on with fixing Twilight before things can take a turn for the worse
Jesus.... I'm... I'm speechless.... This was so heartbreaking & tragic to read... What's Luna to do?
Backstory yay! Very good chapter. The situation seems to be bit bad though. I hope Luna will handle it right
I don't think so. You may regret Twilight becoming a cold-blooded killer, but you can't look yourself in the mirror and realize that you are responsible for everything that lead up to that.
Because, you didn't listen to a daughter who wanted to help you. You only sought vengeance and wrath on ponies who had nothing to do with your actions.
You didn't...listen.
Oof, right in the feels. I feel like if I got emotional over fictional characters I might've cried. But alas, I do not. Though, I must say Starswirl was also not my expectation when they walked through the gateway. Quite the good chapter, thanks for the read.
Gahhhhh, always happy to see a new chapter but it ends too soon for my liking!!!! Can’t wait for more. Loved the appearance of StarSwirl.
It was so nice to see Luna finally get confronted with her actions. I figured it would take something like this to beat the notion into her head.
I just didn't expect it to be so literal!
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Good. I'm glad Luna got smacked upside the head with a frying pan a couple times. However, I still don't feel like she's faced quite the amount of retribution required for true justice to be served for Twilight. I don't know what comes next, but I hope Twilight or Nova will confront Luna on what she did and dish out a little bit more of that sweet vigilante justice.
Very well done!
So, Starswirl, you're saying you recognize what a bad idea it is to get in the habit of believing in the face of contrary evidence ... but believing in the face of the lack of evidence is very desirable? I mean, I'm not even saying that there wasn't good evidence, necessarily—but that was the argument.
But that was a pretty interesting interpretation of Fall From Grace. Not devoid of twaddle, but well camouflaged. And the frying pan was nice.
This story just gets more intriguing as each new chapter appears. I love it!
“What do you seek, truly? Light? Dark? Or something else entirely?”
How history can still affect the present. What will Luna do with this knowledge?
So at this point we are going for a Luna redemption arc it seems. I had hoped it wasn't going to go this way but I seriously hope things aren't going to go the route of "Easy Forgiveness for all that you did"
She's only shown that she cares about Twilight, and.. Yeah, that's it. Cadence.. Please tell me your not that ignorant, I mean your future husbands life is on the line here because of her still.. Evil can have loved ones! That's still known, but she doesn't care about anyone and hasn't shown an inch of redemption.
Dang Nice chapter! I'm so glad you returned to finnish this. I had been afraid that is was a dead story. Keep up the amazing work I am excited for more!
Wait... If choices are evil, and it takes thoughts to their actions to make choices, does that make thoughts inherently evil? Is it a bit presumptuous to think humans are born inherently good when they have no choice in the matter? An animal can be considered evil yet has no choice in the matter, what about natural disasters?
Had to get a new account
Sun and moon
Day and night
One with light
Another with fright
Safe for none
Better by one
A mother suppressed
A daughter detest
A thousand moons
So very few
But as legend foretold
As two do know
A shadow of might
Shall turn the light
A glorious sight
To Nightmare’s delight
~Raidz~
Not perfect, but good enough.
I have been skipping over this story for months, thinking it couldn't be good because of the summary. Twilight is Lunas 1000 year old daughter? Nah, will never work.
Then i decided to read it on a whim cause i was bored and saw the title again while searching for something to read. I only slept 2 hours between 2 days because i couldn't stop reading. Came home after a nightshift and read instead of sleeping
This is a wonderfull story that is well-written to match. Few stories can draw a tear from my eyes and yours has succeeded repeatedley. Fewer still make me feel inclined to post a review.
If others have read the summary of this story and moved on thinking it too cliched or some other nonsense, like I regretably did. I strongly suggest you give it a taste. I'm confident it will make its way to your watchlist.
Sincerely, -Dridius
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I think he's saying that no matter what He tells Luna, she won't believe him, and that sometimes, she just has to have faith in what people are saying.
124k words, this may actually take a while NO MOAR SLEEP
I've finally caught up with this amazing story and I desperately want this story to have a happy ending.
Also you can't possibly need that many onions.
Is it being continued?
Please do more
Can't wait for the next update
Ok, I hope this story is still being continued, because the uploading schedule is a bit scattered.
Keep up the great work!!!
Keep up the great story!
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After everything that has happened I don't think a happy ending is in the cards for this AU unless some deus ex machina type stuff happens and somehow undoes all of the damage that's been caused.
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I'll be honest with you, I stopped caring about that argument, this tv series, and this fandom in general a long time ago.
Just reread this story again, still can't wait for the next chapter.
I remember that line of macbeth I read it last year in english
Not Starswirl being racist!
Aaaaaaaa one last chapter ;-; This is what I get for reading dead fics, but it's SO GOOD