New Reign

by Dream Seeker

The Moon:Arc 2, Chapter 4

Nightmare Ether impacted the moon gently. She would be alone for the next thousand years, and she knew it. She would survive, but only because of her Alicorn nature. Two minutes into her exile, and she was already bored. Nothing to do. She kicked out violently at a stone. It rocketed across the desert-like moon, bouncing. She counted forty-two bounces. She drew a picture of Luna in the dust, and kicked rocks into it, boring small craters in the ground. Three minutes later, that got boring. Great. Five minutes down, 999 years, 364 days, 23 hours, and 55 minutes to go. she sighed mentally. Oh, wait, I forgot a thousand years' worth of leap years. Better tack 250 days onto that. 999 years, 614 days, 23 hours, and 53 minutes now.

Just three minutes later, Nightmare Ether resorted to singing a song to alleviate the boredom for some time...

"Ninenty-nine bottles of beer on the wall, Ninety-nine bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall!"

----------1287 Seconds Later----------

"Take one down, pass it around, zero bottles of beer on the wall! And to think, I still have 999 years, 614 days, 23 hours, and 33 minutes left... Might as well get some sleep. Maybe then I'll be able to better think of how to occupy my time!"

At Canterlot, Luna was having a much different time. While Ether was singing for 20 minutes, Luna spent her time making it clear that Twilight had fallen to a Nightmare much like her own. Many were disbelieving, and Luna knew that it would take a few years for them to get used to the idea of her being their only ruler, but it was all she could do for now. Luna frowned, and remembered her time on the moon. It had taken a measly ten minutes to resort to that song for passing time, what was it called... oh, yes! Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall! Undoubtedly, Ether wouldn't last very long either. She knew that dealing with the Nobles of Canterlot was nothing compared to the sheer boredom that Ether would have to face. She lowered the moon and raised the sun, exhausted both physically and emotionally. She would have to cancel Night Court indefinately, in order to get sleep for Day Court and the rest of her ever-important day. With a frown, she thought about how few ponies ever came to Night Court. It's not like anypony will miss it. The few who came only visited because there wasn't time to fit them into the Day Court! with her parting thought, she drifted off to sleep, ready to help her subjects who had nightmares and bad dreams.

Ether woke up, the time spell she had set at the start of her exile still counting how much time she had left to spend on this accursed rock. To her dismay, only eight hours had passed. She decided to go on a quick gallop around the moon, testing her speed and endurance along the way. She completed her lap in about eight hours as well, quickly calculating in her head the average speed of 200 km/hr, with a sprint of 400 and a few short pauses to regain breath. She decided to do a few more endurance, speed, and strength tests to conclude the day before resting. After measuring her flight speed, the maximum weight she could carry, and how many Maguns she had it was time to sleep.

Luna sighed as she woke up. Time to change the moon for the sun, go to day court, and help as many ponies as possible. Generally a normal day. Unfortunately, her new "normal day" was completely packed. After checking a few schedules, a shocked Luna found herself with no free time for the next month... and then one day of rest before having to conquer the next month's work. If she knew one thing for sure, she'd be spending that day working out how to optimize the schedule to have more free time.

Ether was not happy. She had just spent an entire month training her various attributes, but boredom was already beginning to creep back in to her life. It seemed like there was nothing that could be done, when she heard a voice. Wanna play 20 Questions? Twilight asked mentally. If it will alleviate the boredom, even for a moment! What is this 20 Questions? asked Ether back in her mind. Basically, one pony chooses an object, and the other one can ask 20 Questions about the characteristics of the object. By the time all 20 Questions have been answered, the pony guessing should know what the object in question was! I'll go first. I know what I'm thinking of! responded Twilight. What sort of questions should I ask? asked Ether. It has to be a question that can be answered by a simple yes or no. It should pertain to the object, and most ask questions like is it alive, or is it red, or is it visible from here.

All right, let's see... Is it visible from this location?
Question 1, answer: Sometimes.
That's not yes or no!
Sometimes it is visible from this location, and sometimes it is not.
Fine. Is it visible from this location at this moment?
Question 2, answer: Nope.
Did that question really count?
Question 3, answer: Yep.
That's not fair! When did you tell me that all questions I asked would be counted?
Question 4, answer: I just said that it should pertain to the object, not it has to pertain to the object.
Why should I play with you if you're just going to cheat?
Question 5, answer: You have literally nothing better to do.
Cheater! When do I get to pick an object?
Question 6, answer: When this game is over, whether you win or lose.
Gah! How am I supposed to be able to win when you stole five questions from me?!
Question 7, answer: You probably won't.
Am I allowed to just give up so I can have my turn now?
Question 8, answer: Nope.
Fine! I'll start asking questions now. Is it alive?
Question 9, answer: Sort of.
What kind of an answer is that?!
Question 10, answer: My answer. I suggest you pick up the pace, you're losing badly.
Is it red?
Question 11, answer: Partly.
Are any of your answers clear?!
Question 12, answer: Some of them.
What is it?
I'm not allowed to answer that one, but good job thinking of that!
Is it bigger than Celestia's flank?
I disapprove of the comparison, but Question 13, answer: Yes.
Is that statement influenced by the love of your former mentor?
Question 14, answer: No.
Do I even have a chance anymore?
Question 15, answer: Probably not.
Is it bigger than your house?
Question 16, answer: Yes.
Is it bigger than Canterlot?!
Question 17, answer: Yes.
Is it bigger than Equs?
Question 18, answer: No.
Is it bigger than the moon?
Question 19, answer: Yes.
What if I have no idea what it could possibly be by the 20th question?
Question 20, answer: You lose. By the way, the answer was Equs.
There are sooooo many problems with that! You said it was sort of alive!
Well, if you count the ecosystems as part of Equs, it most certainly is.
Well I don't count the ecosystems!
The official Equestrian dictionary says otherwise. Now think of your object, so I can guess it.
Fine! I have my object. You'll never guess it.
Is it the moon?
......Just leave. I'm never listening to you again. Goodbye. I hate you.
You do know that means you just said you hated yourself, right?
SHUT UP!!!

Luna got up out of her throne after her daily work was done. Boring, monotonous, just nobles complaining. Did Tia really have to deal with this, alone, for a thousand years? How did she do it? How can I do it? she asked herself. As she reached her bedroom, her thoughts turned to Twilight and Ether. I wonder what she's doing? How will she occupy her time? Luna chuckled as she remembered what she had done. I wonder if she'll find my 'surprises'...

Ether woke up and checked her magic spell-clock. 999 years, 578 days, 17 hours, 35 minutes, and 43 seconds left before the boredom was complete. With nothing better to do, she began mapping the moon onto a topographic map she created out of frozen moon-dust. It took her a few days per square kilometer to make it accurate to the centimeter, and she found mapping the recursive part of the map quite annoying. Mapping where the map was inside the map inside the map inside the map... Let's just say it took a while.

----------A Few Months Later----------

Ether sighed as she continued mapping the moon. She was in the double digits in kilometers of distance from her impact crater, and the work was becoming monotonous and tedious. Suddenly, she saw a... message, written in the dust?

To Whoever Finds This Message:

Hello. I am Princess Luna Nightmare Moon. I have grown tired of the boredom, and decided to write a message to whoever reads this. I... am not sure how you got to the moon. It could have been by the means I got here, or another, stranger method. This is my token, marking me as the FIRST. Ha, I got here before you! There's nothing you can do about it. I have been here are hundreds of years, and will remain here for hundreds more. I will have been here for a thousand years by the time I get back! I believe that also makes me the one with the largest amount of time spent on the moon. No records for you, spaceponies!

Ether giggled for a moment at the message, then burst out laughing. "Oh yeah? Well, Leap Year didn't exist yet, so I beat your record by TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DAYS. I beat your record! Now, I need to leave my mark next to yours..."

To Whoever Finds This Message:

Hello. I am PrincessTwilight Sparkle Nightmare Ether. I, too, have grown tired of boredom, and wrote my own message for the first true traveler to the moon. My token marks me as the second to visit the moon. You're late, and the third pony to visit the moon! In addition, I beat Nightmare Moon's record by a whole two hundred and fifty days, due to the invention of leap year. Still no records for you, unless you got here by another method than us Nightmares. We were sent by the Elements of Harmony, whereas you probably found your own way up here. Congrats, anyways. Below this is a map to my scale replica of the entire moon, it could be useful. By the time I finish it, I will have been working on it for years, so use it well!

Ether smiled as she finished her day's work, not quite mapping all of the kilometer she was working on due to the message in the dust. She realized that Nightmare Moon probably left more things on the moon, that might be fun and unpredictable. She made note of that specific area of the moon, so it would be closely examined later on, after she finished her scale map.

----------A Few Years Later----------

Ether smiled. She had finally completed her model of the Moon! A great feeling of accomplishment surged over her. This was a master creation! Her smile slipped when she finally realized: That meant she had nothing to do now. Then, she remembered that she had spotted Nightmare Moon's impact crater, and there were probably things she left behind. Ether trotted off into the distance. She had committed the map to memory, so she knew exactly where to go. It only took her a few minutes, seeing as she could move very quickly if she wanted to, and she reached the impact crater. Ether gazed around, looking for signs that her predecessor had left behind. A moment later, she found a patch of ground that seemed slightly different than the others. She walked on it, curious. Ether began probing it with her magic, to find out what it was made of, but at the touch of her magic it collapsed. As she fell, her only worry was, Argh! Now I have to fix my map to match this all over again. Then she realized she had just fallen into Nightmare Moon's trap, and barely put a shield up in time to block the rocks and boulders that were flung at her. With a rumble, the ground above her began collapsing, so she ran the only way she could: Down a tunnel leading from the pit to... a castle?

Author's Note:

I calculated the time she spent singing 99 bottles of beer based on 13 (the amount of seconds it took me to sing one verse) times 99 (the number of bottles of beer on the mental wall).

Credits:
20 Questions: thedarkshark24

That is all for suggestions about life on the moon. I was quite literally given a single idea, meaning all the rest I had to come up with on my own. I would have accepted practically any ideas you had. It's still open, as there is so much to write that I am making the next chapter more about the moon. Exploring the castle won't occupy all her time on the moon, after all, and I still need suggestions. Post any and all ideas you have here.

Anyway, I'm back from my vacation. See you next chapter!