Broken Promises
The full moon rose high over Canterlot Castle, bathing the walls in a brilliant silver-white light that made the entire massive building seem to glow in the darkness. The gentle beams lanced through windows into the castle itself, falling in silver pools that lit the darkened halls in the midsummer night and allowed two ponies to walk slowly along with little fear of being lost. Of course, the larger of the two knew that she would never be lost in this castle, no matter if it was pitch black or not; after all, she had built it.
“It’s wonderful to have you back in the Castle, Twilight,” Princess Celestia said, smiling fondly down at her student, who positively beamed back at her. “This old place seems cold and empty without your youth and spirit here; even with Luna returned to me, I still miss you terribly.” She reached out with a wing and touched Twilight’s multi-colored mane affectionately, causing the smaller unicorn to sigh happily.
“It’s great to come back,” Twilight admitted, glancing up at the moonlight-filled hallway before them. “As much as I love Ponyville and my friends… I grew up here, and I think of the Castle as my home in more ways than most other places.” She smiled up at the Princess, and Celestia felt her heart swell with pride at the confidence in her student’s eyes. “But visiting here is enough,” Twilight said with a nod. “I’m not sure I could come back and live here again after being around my friends for this long.” She giggled. “I know things would never be the same without Pinkie Pie bouncing in from time to time.”
Celestia nodded, her rainbow-hued mane sparkling in the dim light. “Wise words, Twilight,” she said softly. “A young mare like you needs to be out in the world, experiencing things, meeting new ponies and having adventures, not cooped up in a castle all the time.” Her smile grew, but it took on a sad tone. “And though I miss you terribly sometimes, I am so very happy that you have found friends to share those adventures with.”
Twilight smiled, and hers was sad, as well. “I miss you a lot too, Princess… but at least you have Luna to keep you company, right?”
The two ponies turned from the hallway and entered a large room, with tall, imposing windows along the eastern walls to provide a beautiful view of the rising sun in the morning; this was the Hall of Celestia, a room dedicated to the Princess of the Sun and all her achievements. In the morning, the sunlight would stream in and cause the whole room to glow brightly, but right now the silver moonlight made everything look somber and cold. Celestia sighed and smiled at Twilight again, but it was clear that her heart wasn’t in it.
“Luna, yes… I am glad to have her back, Twilight… but I’m afraid she hasn’t been speaking to me much lately.”
Twilight stopped in her tracks and cocked her head to the side, her eyes widening slightly. “She hasn’t?” she asked, her voice full of concern. “But why not? When I saw her on Nightmare Night last year, she seemed to be doing great. What’s she been up to lately?”
Celestia sighed. “I’m honestly not sure, Twilight. I have been spending a great deal of time on official business, as well as spending time with you and your friends. I have asked Luna if she wished to join us, but she always gives me a strange look and declines. I’m not exactly sure what is wrong with her…”
“There is nothing wrong with us, sister.” The voice was calm, controlled, and as cool as a midnight breeze; it floated through the darkness and caused both Celestia and Twilight to turn sharply towards it.
The room seemed to grow colder and darker as the other Princess of Canterlot, Princess Luna, stepped into the room from the door on the other side, where Twilight and Celestia had been heading. The darkness ebbed and flowed around her smaller, dark blue frame, as if it knew she belonged there and was simply parting to allow her through. Her mane drifted about her, much as Celestia’s ethereal mane did, but instead of bright rainbow colors the Princess of the Night’s mane twinkled with countless stars, as if she had captured the night sky and tucked it safely away in her mane. Not for the first time Celestia found herself thinking about how much she now resembled Nightmare Moon... and how her heart squeezed with the tiniest tendrils of fear every time she saw Luna.
“Oh… it’s you, Luna,” Celestia said, trying to sound happy to see her. “I was wondering where you were tonight. It’s… so good to see you.” The white alicorn smiled and hoped that it didn’t look as false as it felt.
But Luna met her gaze evenly, and Celestia felt her heart chill at the cold, emotionless depths of her sister’s sea-green eyes. “Celestia, please, do not pretend that thou art glad to see us,” she said quietly. “There is no need for such charades any longer. We know thy true feelings, sister…” The emotionless façade cracked for just a moment, and Celestia was surprised to hear incredible, unfathomable sadness behind Luna’s voice… and it made the hair at the base of her mane stand on end.
“Luna… how I truly feel?” she coaxed, taking a step forward. “Luna… you know how I feel. I told you when you first came back how much I missed-,”
“Yes, how much thou missed us,” the blue alicorn said sharply. “We have not forgotten, sister.” Celestia blinked at the cold fury in her voice. Luna turned back and locked eyes with her, teal to violet, and the white alicorn’s blood ran cold. “We have not forgotten, Celestia, the warmth with which thou welcomed us back to Equestria… the promises thou made to us… promises that have been broken.”
“What?” Celestia blinked, and Luna took a step towards her.
“The promises thy made to us, sister; promises of companionship, of understanding and welcome- promises of love and joy and unity that thou filled us up with in those first days and weeks upon returning to Equestria.” Luna’s eyes narrowed slightly, the only outward sign of emotion that the younger alicorn conveyed. “Promises, sister… that thou hast failed to keep.” She took another step towards Celestia, her stance casual and calm… but Celestia found herself taking a step back from her younger sister.
“What are you talking about, Luna?” she insisted, her voice slightly strained with confusion. “I have broken no promises to you.”
“Lies,” Luna hissed, and suddenly there was dark fire in her beautiful eyes. “Of course thou would say that, Celestia,” she said, her voice hushed, causing it to echo harshly around the room. “In thy mind, thou hast undoubtedly done nothing wrong… but we assure thee, wrongs have been committed, and we shall no longer stand idly by and be victim of them.”
Luna drew herself up straight and tall. “Princess Celestia, my sister; is it not true that thou told us that thou wouldst spend more time with us? To… how did thou put it? ‘To mend the wounds of the past’, we believe were thy words.”
Celestia could feel Twilight’s eyes on her now, and she took a deep breath and swallowed before speaking. “Yes, I did say that,” she admitted. “And I have tried, Luna… I have asked if you wanted to join me on many, many occasions-,”
“Yes, thou hast. Asked us to join thee on diplomatic missions, outings to see thy protégé and her friends… never seeking to spend time with us alone; never asking what we would like to do, or taking the time to simply speak to us for any length.” Luna shook her head, tossing her ethereal mane about her face. “Thou hast ignored us since we came back, sister. Thou hast not re-introduced us to Equestria, explained that we are no longer the Nightmare that ponies have feared for a thousand years…” Her sister’s voice dropped to barely a whisper, and Celestia felt her heart break at the true depths of the sadness, the loneliness she heard there. “Thou hast abandoned us… again.”
The white alicorn took a step forward. “Luna… Luna no, I have not-,”
But as quickly as the sadness came, it vanished again behind Luna’s cold teal eyes as she once again met Celestia’s gaze straight on. “Thou HAST,” she said, her voice again calm and composed. “Thou hast done nothing but allow us to flounder in the new society, never bothering to lift one of thy precious hooves to help acclimate us to modern times.”
“I… I offered to get you a tutor, Luna…”
“When what we wanted was thee, sister… we just wanted thy time.” Luna took a deep breath before continuing. “Thy promises upon our return were simple, sister… and we believed that thou meant them. We want to help, to be part of this new society, but we cannot do so without guidance, which thou hast denied us. Thou hast locked us away in thy castle, a relic of the old days to be visited and viewed as a valuable painting- beautiful, expensive, and useless.” Her eyes were emotionless now as she stared at Celestia. “And we shall be these things no longer.”
Celestia felt her heart squeeze in horror, and she could not keep the anger from her voice. “So… is this what it’s going to come to, Luna? Are you going to sink into Nightmare Moon again? Allow her to fill you up with the promises that I have failed to keep?”
Luna’s eyes narrowed again, but her voice was level and calm. “We became Nightmare Moon out of bitterness and anger at all and sundry, Celestia, not just at thee. And we shall never become her again; that is not what we want.”
The white alicorn felt a bitter, sour taste rise in her mouth. “Then what do you want… little sister?”
“A chance, big sister; a chance to prove to Equestria that we can rule as well as thee- a chance to prove to every pony in the world that Nightmare Moon is gone, and that we are just as worthy of their love as thou art.” Her eyes narrowed again. “And to teach thee, dear sister… to keep thy promises.” She turned and walked a few paces around Celestia, those cold, teal eyes never leaving her. “One thousand years on the moon changed us, sister, and changed us for the better. Perhaps… it will do the same for thee.”
Cold fear rose in Celestia’s heart, and she heard herself gasp, mirroring the sound that Twilight made next to her. “You… you can’t be serious, Luna… how could you ever even think of doing that?!”
Luna’s eyes were frozen jade. “We are alicorns, Celestia. We have to look at what thou would call the ‘big picture’. We will live for thousands and thousands of years, and just as thou could not let our bitterness stand… so can we not let thy selfishness pass. We must do what we must to ensure that our future, the future of this nation and the pony race, is secured and well-governed; and we cannot ensure that if thou art thinking of only thyself.” Her wings rustled softly. “And so, Princess Celestia, appointed sovereign and Ruling Princess of the land of Equestria… we hereby challenge thee for the throne.”
Celestia felt a horrible squeeze in her chest as she stared at her sister, scarcely daring to breathe. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing! “Luna… this is madness! I… I won’t fight you… I can’t…” Instinctively she extended a wing to protect Twilight from whatever might happen next. Horrible memories of a thousand years previous swelled into her mind; memories of fire and lightning and the incredible power of an alicorn unleashed breaking against her own magic in seemingly endless tidal waves of death rattled her already shaking nerves, but to her relief and horror, Luna shook her head slightly.
“Celestia… if it was our desire to fight, would we have spoken to thee in this manner?” She glanced at the moon, high outside the walls. “It is the night of the full moon, and the height of our power.” She turned back to Celestia, and the Sun Princess felt her skin crawl at the power she saw in her sister’s eyes. “Dost thou truly believe that we would attack thee after alerting thee of our plans?” Luna shook her head again, causing the stars in her mane to dance. “No, sister; we would have attacked thee before thee knew, and simply ended things thusly.”
The white alicorn felt a touch of respect for Luna at that; indeed, on the nights of the full moon, Luna was at her full strength, and after the sun left the sky she would be much more than a match for Celestia. But to have Luna consider everything so carefully… to have her attack not in a rage, but in a cold, calculating manner truly disturbed Celestia. She felt bile rise in her throat as she straightened, withdrawing her wing from a shocked Twilight.
“Then what would you have us do, sister?” she asked, hoping that her voice didn’t shake too much. “You must know that I won’t be going to the moon willingly.”
Luna locked eyes with her, and Celestia felt as though a cold wind touched her between the shoulders. “We would have it done the old way,” Luna said simply. “Thou shall choose thy Champion, and we shall choose ours. Their duel shall be ours, and whosoever wins their battle, so will their Mistress take the throne.”
Celestia’s eyes widened, and she was about to spat her refusal at her sister as hard as she could when, to her absolute horror, a voice rang out into the chamber from her left.
“I’ll do it, Princess!”
Princess Celestia felt her stomach drop into her hooves as Twilight leaped forward and positioned herself between Celestia and Luna, her hooves spread apart, her eyes ablaze. “Twilight Sparkle, you will do no such thing,” Celestia said firmly, trying to step in front of her. “You are a strong unicorn, but you have no chance against an alicorn like Luna, and you KNOW that!”
Twilight moved around the wings that tried to scoop her back, keeping her eyes on Luna the whole time. “No, Princess! I can’t let this happen!” She heard more than saw her student grit her teeth. “I’m the Element of Magic, Your Highness; if anypony should be your Champion, it should be me!”
Luna cracked a wintry smile from across the room. “Sister, it would appear that thy Champion has been chosen.” She paced back towards the door, keeping a good distance between herself and Celestia. “But thou hast forgotten that we are no longer Nightmare Moon, Celestia… a fact that thou seems to have overlooked for some time now. We will not be fighting thy student.” Luna took several steps towards the door. “For the better part of this year, we have had our own student, sister. A unicorn whom we found lost and alone in our night, broken and forgotten…” For the briefest moment, Luna’s voice softened. “…just like us,” she whispered; then the moment was gone, and her voice was firm once more. “We took this unicorn under our wing, and taught her everything that could be taught. While not as talented as thy student, sister, what our student lacked in talent she made up for in sheer tenacity.”
She reached the door and turned to face Celestia once more. “We present to thee our Champion,” she said, stepping aside.
Into the room strode another unicorn, matching Twilight in stature, and it was clear from the purple unicorn’s strangled gasp that she knew Luna’s Champion. Celestia stared at the newcomer, taking in her flawless powder-blue coat and well-kept platinum mane- but it was the eyes that caught her attention; bright violet eyes that stared hatred at Twilight and her alike.
Finally, Twilight managed to start breathing again, and with a loud gasp put a name to the instrument of her sister’s rebellion. “T-Trixie?!”
The blue unicorn walked forward and took her place before Luna, her purple eyes never leaving her opponent. “Yes, Twilight Sparkle! We meet again at last!” She touched her mane with a hoof. “Trixie supposes that you never expected to see Trixie again- the look on your face says that much!”
Celestia arched an eyebrow at Twilight, and her student cast a disbelieving glance back at her. “She… she chose Trixie as her Champion?!” Twilight said incredulously before turning back to Trixie. “She can’t cast her way out of a paper bag! How does she expect-,”
Suddenly, a blaze of light and a loud crack filled the dark room, and Twilight’s head snapped sharply to the right, almost spinning her on her hooves. Celestia’s eyes widened as her student’s mouth dropped open in surprise; ever so slowly, Twilight raised a hoof to her left cheek, and Celestia’s stomach clenched as it came away with a long, thin bloodstain on it. Twilight turned again to face Trixie, whose horn glowed with a soft magenta light.
~*~*~*~
“Do NOT take us lightly, Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie warned, her voice suddenly soft and dangerous. “Princess Luna has been an excellent teacher, and Trixie is not the ridiculous showmare she used to be.” Her horn flared, and a brilliantly glowing whip of purple magic appeared before her just long enough to snap loudly in the silence of the room, its report echoing like thunder as it faded back to nothing. Trixie allowed herself a small smile. “Trixie is honored to be chosen as Princess Luna’s Champion.”
Twilight’s jaw clenched and she felt the magic welling up inside her, begging to be let go. Behind her, she heard Princess Celestia shift on her hooves, but Twilight was not about to back down now. “As I am honored to be chosen by Princess Celestia,” she said, her eyes narrowing. She took that moment to throw a glance at the white alicorn behind her, and was surprised by the hesitation she saw in her teacher’s face. “…Princess?” she asked.
Celestia’s eyes were haunted as she met Twilight’s gaze, gripped by a sadness that the unicorn had never seen in her mentor; as if everything that Celestia had ever believed had suddenly come crashing down around her. Twilight felt her resolve waver slightly, but just as quickly the uncertainty faded from Celestia’s face, and she gave Twilight a firm nod before turning back to her sister. “Princess Luna, Princess-Regent of Equestria: we accept your challenge.”
Twilight whipped her eyes back to Trixie, and not a moment too soon; the blue unicorn’s horn flared brightly again as she leaped forward, the blazing amethyst whip appearing before her again. With a flick of her horn she lashed out with the magical weapon, the tip barely missing Twilight’s ear as she dodged to the side, her own horn lighting up with the deep violet of her magic. Trixie snarled aloud at her and stepped forward, whipping her head back and letting fly with the magical whip yet again; Twilight dodged to the other side, the whip flashing harmlessly past her on her left. She lowered her horn and sent a blast of purple magic lancing towards Trixie, but to her great surprise the former showmare didn’t move; instead, her whip flashed sharply downwards, and the bolt of magic sliced neatly in half before faltering and exploding with a huge concussive force that kicked a fine sheen of dust off of the surrounding room. Twilight blinked, but instinct told her to keep moving despite the cover that the dust had provided; Trixie’s whip would find her if she stood still.
The purple unicorn suddenly felt her skin crawl, and without thinking she threw herself to the left as hard as she could, her hooves leaving the ground as she launched through the air. As she hit the ground and rolled, a wave of bright fire washed over where she had stood mere moments before, and as she came to her hooves another wave blasted towards her. The tiniest flick of her horn raised a brilliant lavender shield before her and the fire washed around it like water around a boulder. Twilight gritted her teeth and focused; her horn flared, and the shield around her expanded outwards, becoming first a wide curve, then a focused cone that was capturing the fire. With a shout Twilight reared back and thrust her horn forward, forcing the violet cone to snap shut and blast the fire back towards Trixie.
A gasp and a yelp followed by the sound of a body hitting the stone floor were the only indications that Twilight had succeeded. She exhaled sharply, but she held tightly to her magic. “This is stupid, Trixie!” she called out into the dust and darkness. “There’s no reason for us to be fighting like this!”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Sparkle!” A ball of transparent magic flew from the blackness at Twilight, and with a bright lavender flare she caught it at the tip of her horn; a simple spell on Twilight’s part, and the attack diffused into nothingness. “Perhaps you do not see the point of it all, but Trixie does, and Trixie will not fail her Princess!”
From the far corner of the room Trixie’s magic flared, lighting up that section of the building with brilliant magenta light, painting the blue unicorn’s platinum mane with pink highlights and giving her eyes an almost ethereal look. Twilight turned to face her as again Trixie’s magical whip lashed out, slicing through the dark room and landing a stinging blow to Twilight’s shoulder. The lavender unicorn cried out in pain as a thin trickle of blood began to seep down her leg, but she was forced to leap aside as yet again the whip sought her flesh, darting to and fro in the air as Trixie advanced on her.
But Twilight would not be kept on the defensive. Trixie let out a grunt of exertion as she pulled the whip back yet again and took an extra firm swipe with it, targeting Twilight’s neck; but the lavender unicorn did not move this time. Her horn flared, and her eyes suddenly filled with bright white magic as she caught the whip in mid-stroke, sending a wash of air outwards and stirring the dust up around her. With a shout Twilight jerked the whip straight upwards, and as she had predicted, Trixie went with it; the other mare had not dissolved the spell when Twilight caught it, and now Trixie was in for a ride.
The blue unicorn yelped in terror as Twilight whirled her around the room several times before raising her head and jerking the whip straight towards the floor with all her strength, magical and physical. Trixie screamed as she rose high into the air and slammed back to the ground with a horrifying crunch… and lay still.
Twilight released the whip and watched as it slowly dissipated into nothingness before turning her eyes to Princess Celestia. The white alicorn looked horrified at what she was watching, but when she met Twilight’s eyes she nodded firmly, and the unicorn couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride, despite the biting pain from her shoulder and cheek. She began to walk towards where Trixie lay, and in spite of herself she cast a glance at Luna. Surely something as horrible as this will change her mind… But as her eyes found the Moon Princess she felt her stomach clench; Luna’s cold teal eyes watched her and Celestia with the same measured, calculating gaze that they had before- as if what had just happened was of little or no consequence.
Twilight closed in on Trixie, and felt her jaw drop open again; the blue unicorn moaned and shifted where she lay, desperately trying to get her right hoof beneath her shoulders to lever her body upright. She tried to use her left leg, but as soon as she put weight on it something snapped, and Trixie screamed loudly, the anguish of her cry echoing in the silent room. She gasped and sobbed, but she forced herself to her hooves.
“Trixie,” Twilight said, stopping perhaps two pony lengths away from her blue opponent. “There is no reason to fight anymore. Just stop this, and all will be forgiven. I… I don’t know what Luna has promised you to help her, but I assure you that it-,”
“What… what she promised Trixie?!” Trixie spat, raising her eyes to Twilight again. The left side of her face was battered and bruised, and it was clear to Twilight that when she had impacted, her left shoulder had taken the brunt of it- that would explain the crunch Twilight had heard.
“Yes, Trixie, what she promised you!” Twilight continued. “I… I can’t imagine what kinds of temptations she must have dangled in front of you to get your help, but please, stop this craziness before somepony really gets hurt.”
Trixie’s purple eyes burned with inner fire as she stared at Twilight. “Princess Luna… Princess Luna promised Trixie nothing,” she whispered harshly. “Princess Luna took Trixie in when she was broken… when Trixie was starving and cold, Princess Luna fed her and gave her a home.” Suddenly, there were tears in Trixie’s eyes, and her mouth twisted in bitter hatred. “It must be so hard for a pony like you to understand, Twilight Sparkle. Everypony loves you… but…” Trixie squeezed her eyes shut, at tears flowed down her cheeks. “But only one pony has ever loved me, Twilight… Only one pony has ever cared that much about me…” She raised her eyes again, and this time they blazed with determination. “That pony is Princess Luna, and I will NEVER let her down!!!”
Suddenly Trixie lunged forward, her face a mask of rage, and before Twilight could hope to move, the blue unicorn was upon her. Trixie slammed into her with every ounce of force she could muster, and the two unicorns rolled across the floor, tracing their brightly colored bodies through the dust. When the rolling stopped, Twilight found herself looking up at the dusty, bruised, bloodied face of fury sitting atop her. Her eyes widened, and she just barely had time to utter one word:
“Trixie…”
And then Trixie hit her.
She used her good right leg to smash her hoof into Twilight’s face as hard as she could, sending the purple unicorn’s head snapping back and rebounding off the cold marble floor. Trixie snarled as she hit Twilight again and again until blood began to smear her hoof from multiple cuts that she had inflicted. Twilight screamed in pain and confusion as Trixie pummeled her, struggling to free herself from her attacker’s grip. Every strike from Trixie’s sharp hoof sent a new wave of agony through her; she could feel the edge bite into her delicate flesh, the warm blood beginning to run down her neck and into her mane as the blue unicorn savaged her.
“I will NOT fail my Princess!!” Trixie snarled as she struck out at her. “She’s all I have!! EVERYTHING!” She raised her hoof to hit Twilight again, and through the ringing in her ears and the pain-induced haze the purple unicorn made her move; she bucked her hips upward, sending Trixie toppling forwards, over Twilight’s head and onto the marble.
Twilight struggled to her feet, her left eye swollen shut, bleeding from her mouth and half a dozen long, jagged cuts from Trixie’s hoof. She staggered backwards towards Princess Celestia, towards safety… but she stumbled, and that was long enough for Trixie to react.
There was another flare of magic, and the whip returned, wrapping firmly around Twilight’s right foreleg; Trixie gave a yank and pulled the dazed Twilight towards her. Twilight struggled against it, but she felt the floor begin to slide beneath her hooves… and then incredible, excruciating pain in her chest. Her eyes widened… and ever so slowly she lowered her eyes. “Tr…Trixie…” She could see only the other mare’s dust-stained platinum mane touch her chest, leading to her forehead and horn… a horn that was now imbedded six inches into Twilight’s body.
With a horrible, wet noise, Trixie slid her horn from Twilight and stepped back, allowing the purple unicorn to fall to the floor as a single trickle of crimson made its way down between Trixie’s eyes… and as the world faded into blackness around her, the last things that Twilight Sparkle saw were Trixie’s blazing purple orbs staring down at her triumphantly.
I’m sorry, Princess… so sorry…
~*~*~*~
“TWILIGHT!!!” Celestia’s scream filled the room, a scream filled with anguish and heartbreak that seemed to shake the very foundations of the castle itself. She fell to her knees and wept openly as a blood-stained Trixie limped backwards, away from the lifeless body of Twilight Sparkle. “No… Twilight, no…” she sobbed. She had come to love Twilight more than a student… she had become like a daughter to the Princess, and now… she was gone. All because of Luna… The thought surfaced and seemed to ignite all of Celestia’s anger and sorrow and rage; this was all because of LUNA.
At that moment, there was nothing that Celestia wanted more than to leap to her hooves, snatch every last ounce of magic from the world and use it to hammer her younger sister into space dust… but even as she tried to rise, she felt her legs refuse her… and suddenly, she realized why Luna had insisted on settling this the way she did. The Old Way… it wasn’t just a metaphor. Such contests dated back to the days of the First Alicorns, the Ascended Ones… and the rules of such contests ran deep in alicorn blood, so deep that to deny victory in such a battle was literally impossible for an alicorn. “The blackness of space take you, Luna,” she sobbed, burying her face between her hooves. “She was barely more than a foal… and you KILLED her..!” Every last beautiful, wonderful thing in Celestia’s life seemed to wink out around her as she cried, lamenting the loss of the pony she valued most in the entire world.
After several minutes, Celestia heard light hoofsteps to her side, and after a moment a scroll, adorned with Celestia’s own seal, settled next to her front hooves in an aura of dark blue magic. And then, her sister spoke… but her words were hushed and soft, and for the first time that night, not her own.
“Dear Princess Celestia... Having a sister is just about the bestest thing in the world, but it sure isn’t the easiest.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “Being sisters is a wonderful thing… but it takes teamwork. Sometimes it’s about compromising, sometimes it’s about accepting each other’s differences, but mostly, it’s about having fun together, even if it means getting your hooves a little bit dirty.” Luna’s sparkling hoof nudged the scroll closer to Celestia’s tear-soaked snout. “A letter from one of Twilight Sparkle’s friends, to thee, about the value of sisterhood… a letter that we know thou opened and read, sister.” Celestia raised her eyes to Luna’s again, and she was taken aback by the sorrow she saw there. “When we first came back to Equestria, thou told us something. We are meant to rule together, little sister… those words were truer than thou realized, Celestia… but thy mind was used to ruling by thyself, and could not adapt to our return.” She knelt next to the white alicorn, bringing her face as close to Celestia’s as she could. “We are not doing this out of anger, Celestia… we are doing this because we truly believe it needs to be so… for we two to rule as one, as it is intended.”
Celestia’s eyes were hard as she glared at her sister. “I will never, never forgive you for Twilight’s death, Luna… not in a thousand years, or ten thousand, or-!”
A gentle cough from the far end of the room cut her tirade short, and she raised her head in disbelief. Ever so slowly, next to a somber Trixie, Twilight Sparkle rose to her hooves, still battered and bloody, but alive, with only the barest scar on her chest to show from the wound that should have taken her life. The purple unicorn still seemed only half cognizant of what was happening and leaned on Trixie heavily, something that the blue unicorn seemed to be taking with incredible poise, considering her left leg was still shattered.
“Twilight…” Celestia choked, and she turned her eyes back to Luna. “Luna… why..?”
The Moon Princess smiled ever so slightly, a sad, quavering smile, and when she spoke every hint of old Equestria was gone from her voice. “To show you that I do not hate you, sister, or those you care dearly for… and so that in your time away, you will have the comfort of knowing that Twilight lived a good and full life, and did not die for our selfish alicorn games.”
Trixie led Twilight out of the room, casting one last glance to her teacher before disappearing into the gloom on the other side. Celestia felt a swirl of relief flood her chest, but along with it was a horrible, bitter taste in her mouth… because she realized that she had just taken the last look of Twilight that she would ever get. Tears sprang afresh to her eyes. “Luna… I…”
“Princess Celestia,” Luna said, her voice once again calm, cold and formal. “Thy Champion has been defeated, and thy throne is forfeit. As was stated before the battle of our Champions, thy punishment for losing shall be one thousand years, imprisoned in the moon.”
The white alicorn rose to her hooves, tears streaming down her alabaster cheeks. She knew that there was nothing to be done now… nothing she could do. The magic involved in such a contest was more powerful than either she or Luna could alter, and it would hold them to their words. “I… understand and accept my punishment,” she said with as much dignity as she could muster.
From the floor rose the scroll that held the letter from Rarity and Sweetie Belle and tucked itself beneath Celestia’s wing. Celestia’s violet eyes met Luna’s one last time as the younger alicorn’s horn began to glow brightly.
“Luna… I promise that when I return… we will start over again… and I’ll make you proud,” she whispered, her tears still flowing freely.
The blue alicorn nodded, and for the first time that night a gentle smile touched her lips. “I know you will, big sister,” she said softly, and when Celestia looked at Luna again the sadness and sorrow faded away and became the one thing that she had longed to see in her sister’s sea-green eyes: love.
The light from Luna's horn engulfed the room, and an incredible roar filled Celestia’s ears, tossing her mane about her face and surrounding her with power beyond anything she had felt before…
…and then darkness.
~*~*~*~*~
As Princess Luna told it, Princess Celestia had taken a voluntary sentence, deciding that she could no longer live in Equestria knowing that she had stolen a thousand years of time from her younger sister. She chose a voluntary exile so that she and Luna could be closer again, and truly rule as they had always wanted: together, truly and honestly together.
It took a while, but the ponies of Equestria accepted what Luna told them, and soon things were running as smoothly as they ever had. Luna became a well-loved figure, easily as beloved as Celestia, and proved herself to be an amazingly talented diplomat, something that nopony had ever thought her capable of. Trixie, a unicorn whom Luna had taken as her personal protégé, became her right-hoof mare, and proved herself a competent mind in military matters. Her brash personality quickly faded in the face of the duties she accepted, and within the course of a few years she was somepony that served Equestria and the Princess faithfully.
Not long after Luna took power, the Moon began to leave a sparkling trail behind it as it moved across the sky, as if some mighty celestial brush were painting more stars in behind it. Most ponies believed that it was simply the Moon reacting to its mistress taking power- a beautiful display that their new ruling Princess was making for them.
But one unicorn knew the truth. A lavender-coated unicorn with a small circular scar on her chest knew that the sparkles behind the moon were the tears of Princess Celestia- tears of lament for the sister she so foolishly abandoned… and tears shed in the hope of forgiveness when she returned.
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More of a Tragedy tag then sad i would say.
Just makes me think bad of Luna, Celestia (probably) had no other choice but to Banish NMM while Luna is just throwing a long lasting temper tantrum because Celestia cant dedicate her time to her and only could try to include her in her schedule. (what shows that she at least tried)
No mention of Luna trying to lighten Celestias load as ruler(now that's a challenge and if would have worked if the people so easily accepted Luna's rule alone, and her declaring that Celestia went away instead of Celestia doing it herself before the banishment), just her avoiding Celestia and planning to banish her for being busy ruling a country.
And just forcing Twilight out of the blue to fight without letting her prepare (Luna obviously knew and waited for the moment that Twilight was there to do it), while Trixie was being prepared for a year. No amount of power will help you there like we saw.
Overall, dislike Luna's sneak attack tactics and pity Celestia.
this is wrong
so very wrong
so very very wrong
I can not believe how heartless monster is Luna in this story
I can not also believe that she just like that hurt Twilight
and separating her from Celestia is just that is hurting her
I can not believe also that Twilight did not protest, did not try to speak to her in no way to reason
Luna really separate them punished not only her sister but also Twi
she punished and hurt two ponies
how?
How can she be so heartless, I am not able to understand this
Gahh so much woobieisum!javascript:smilie('
'); Trixie and Luna are not poor woobies the world has be cruel too.
I'm sorry self righteous Trixie is the kind of Trixie who SOOO needs her ass kicked double time. And flying into rage helps Trixie win? if anything it should have made her lose, Twilight is a magic prodigy and I don't think a year of training combined with misplaced rage would give her the edge needed to win.
And Luna training Trixie specifically to defeat Twilight and Banish her sister? Feels more like Nightmare Moon than Luna. Your depiction of Luna comes off as aloof and vengeance obsessed having learned NOTHING from being freed from Nightmare Moon and encouraging Trixie to embrace rage and revenge against Twilight. Also Luna makes no indication that she did anything to let Celestia know what she wanted until she had already decided Celestia couldn't provide it. Meaning Luna had a hoof in her own alienation.
The structure and the grammar of the story seemed fine, but the content I just feel wasn't true to the characters or the message of the source material.
Now i have a idea in my head so, would you mind if i write a fanfic dedicated to this fanfic (fanficception?), specifically after the 1000 years are over?
Knowing me it wont even be published (
) but i can always try 
It would Involved time travel, Twilight with a vengeance, Celestia realizing that Luna deceived her ( cue word: "teamwork" ) , NNM version of Celestia and the following is bouncing around in my head:
"After some 200 years I had no more tears to shed, so i used my mane and tail. This fire represents my hatred, when i left it was but a flicker but now its grown into something much bigger" (NMM version of Celestia is usually described/drawn with a mane/tail looking like a flame so ill go with it.)
460742
sounds dreadful.
461746
Just the reaction i wanted
but realized i wrote NMM version of Twilight instead of Celestia, derp 
461767
Lol I'm such a dick, amarite?
461834
Not really
the R&R in (if i ever post it) the story would be Read and Rage instead of Read and Review
I just want to make something showing that good or evil can easily be twisted depending on who looks at it,that things dont turn out how you thought they would and that you have to deal with the consequences of your actions.
I believe that Luna though she had a good reason to banish Celestia, doesnt mean i believe it to be a good reason.
The only thing i cant dig is Celestias "oh woe is me, i should have dropped all my responsibilities and give all my time to Luna" behavior on the end, Luna read Rarities report but she didnt understand it, she just took part she liked and ignored the rest ( mainly the "but it takes teamwork" part of the letter)
It would be the same as Celestia abandoning her ponies and letting NMM impose eternal night on all (and let them slowly die without sunlight).
Since Celestia only has the letter with her on the moon, she would eventually have to realize how flawed Luna's way of thinking is.
465803
I agree, and 1000 years is a long time to think about what happened, during which time I reckon Celestia would grow to hate her sister.
465880
Just my thought, Celestia didnt deserve to be banished, so in my head its her turning into a NMM version of herself from realizing that she probably lost her sister when NMM took her body, even if the elements took her powers and hate they didn't release luna from NMM just merge them into one,leaving a confused Luna who wants to love her sister but at the same time stays away from her and plans to betray her. (the tragedy being Luna not realizing it herself)
I don't see what you people are so bend out of shape for. Try and see it from Luna's perspective: she's not being a heartless witch, she's just doing it to.. teach Celestia a lesson in a way.
Regardless, I loved this. Nice break frommost of the stories I've been reading.
466705
troll?
Anyway, the point we're getting at is Luna is a psychopath, her logic isn't sane by any stretch of the imagination. We understand her motives and reasoning, but we think there wrong and we are simply hypothesizing over how this insanity will affect Celestia.
466705
Thank you so much for your comment, Twye. ^^ I'm glad you enjoyed it; it was an idea that popped into my head and wouldn't stop bugging me til I wrote it.
468481 I fail to see how liking something you don't is trolling. We all have different opinions.
And I see where you're coming from.
469494 You're very welcome. I'm glad you wrote it. It's interesting the way you wrotethe conflict and how the two went about it.
Trixie was pretty badass too. :3
470675
Oh no it's not that, it's just that you came across as intentionally stupid in that you failed to grasp our thinking, even though it was displayed for all to see. Therefore trolling us when I inevitably replied with wtf.
I apologize, I meant no offense by calling you a troll, I was being overly paranoid.
466705>>469494
Dont get me wrong , i really like this story, love it. Like how the antagonist wins in the end, but you cant say Luna isn't one and didn't act like a heartless witch (she isnt that one im sure, but she did act like one towards Celestia)
Its just like AhopelessEndevor said, i love to think about how it could go wrong. Luna read the letter to Celestia, i really wonder why because she mentioned stuff like putting differences behind and teamwork. If that wasn't there and she just said she wanted her to feel the "same" pain she went through (can't really be the same since Celestia's banishment would be without a real reason unlike Luna's) it would have been different.
How is plotting behind someones back anything that the letter mentions, the only part it would apply to is "getting your hooves dirty" and that in a totally different sense then the letter meant.
Even if Celestia acted like it was only her fault in this story, would she not sooner or later realize that Luna totally missed the point of the letter? and maybe even feel angry and betrayed? Why would she not see the ambush Luna did as what is it, an ambush/sneak attack?
And how is taking everything from Celestia teaching her a lesson? What lesson? That she should not trust even her kin and that using underhoof (heh) methods is alright if you want to get your point across? (where is the honor and dignity in preparing an attack on your opponent and forcing them to act unprepared?) Using guilt and ambush to catch her unprepared is just low.
She did not just punish Celestia, she punished anyone who cared about her (mainly Twilight, but she would tell her friends at least what really happened, and Spike who was raised by Celestia).
tl;dr version of all i said (not just this post):
When you try to teach someone a lesson using an excessive punishment, it will backfire on you. Especially when your reasons are invalid and reasoning wrong.
And banishing Celestia was just that, excessive punishment with wrong reasons. An eye for an eye isn't a good solution and especially not for "putting differences behind".
I would not bother writing any of this if i didnt like this story that much, why would i?
I'd love to hear some arguments as to how Luna's actions were justified and in accordance with her motives (to bring her closer to her sister).
Not to hate or argue over them, but to try to understand Luna, because i just cant with all i said so far in Celestias defense. And this is also what commenting is for, not just saying "love it,thumbs up"
471914
I debated for a while before writing this; I really didn't know if I wanted to get into the morality behind this story, because there's a lot of it.
Ok, first off: I wrote this with an express point of view- that Celestia WAS ignoring Luna, that she DID shove her to the back because she just didn't know what to do with her. Instead, Celestia poured herself into interest in Twilight and her friends; I took this from the fact that we've seen Luna all of ONCE since she's come back, and not even at the Grand Galloping Gala, which took place DURING the night, when she should have been around. This was just a play on it, but I tried to think of what Luna could do about this if it WAS happening.
Then I started wondering what could have possibly happened to Trixie in the intervening time between Boast Busters and current time in Season 2. The point here was not that Luna found Trixie specifically to mold her into a weapon, but that she legitimately found Trixie, lost and alone, and looked on her as a kindred spirit- a pony who, regardless of why, is alone and friendless in the world. Luna takes her in and begins training her long before she decides to challenge Celestia. Trixie's rage doesn't stem from a hatred for Twilight, but rather a deep love for Luna, the only pony she's ever had who cared about her; she sees Luna's distress and only wants to help her Princess. Very similar to Twilight in that respect, but as Trixie states, Luna is ALL SHE HAS. That will motivate a pony to do crazy things, hence the beating.
As to the challenge itself, in the story Luna talks about the "big picture". She isn't trying to "punish" Celestia, but re-focus her; they are immortal, they will live FOREVER, they have to work together if they're going to make Equestria last and Celestia has become too involved in the fleeting, ephemeral lives of Twilight and her friends, enough that she is ignoring the only other alicorn in the world, the one she is meant to rule side-by-side with. Yes, a thousand years is a long time to put her on the moon; I considered making it less time, but I decided that making it uniform would be more interesting. The challenging her to choose a Champion is just part of the deeper magic behind it that I mentioned- sorta like the "deep magic" that the Chronicles of Narnia mentioned, a magic that goes beyond spells and becomes part of the very fabric of their beings. Alicorns are magic, much more magic than unicorns or any other pony, so I thought that having such a magical connection with a process might not be too far-fetched. That is also why I don't have Twilight throwing a huge fit about Celestia being banished to the Moon; I thought that of all the ponies in the world, SHE would understand the implications of trying to go against a spell as deep as that. She may not like it, but the moment Celestia accepted Luna's challenge, they were both bound, no matter the end.
As to Luna being a "cold-hearted witch"- there are several breaks in her demeanor that point to the opposite. What else do you do? I tried to hint that she HAD been trying to talk to Celestia, trying to help again, but that Celestia just locked her away "like an expensive painting", a relic of the old world. Luna isn't ANGRY, doesn't HATE Celestia; two of the very things that made Nightmare Moon what she was. She's hurt and horrified that she's going to have to do this to her sister... but Luna sees it as necessary to ensure the continuity of Equestria. She loves her sister, but feels that Celestia doesn't give two shakes about her- which is why when Celestia promises that she'll make Luna proud at the end, Luna's shell breaks and she gives Celestia a warm smile.
*whew* OK, TL;DR time-
When you read this, assume that:
Celestia DID ignore Luna and deny all of her requests to help.
Luna had NO OTHER CHOICE but to do this.
Trixie wins because she is beyond determined to help Luna, because Luna is ALL TRIXIE HAS.
Luna waited for Twilight to be in the castle because that way she could make the challenge and be DONE with it, not to get the drop on them.
That's the mindset I was in when I wrote this. I hope that this makes a little more sense to you; I was really hoping to NOT have to do this, because honestly I don't see the point in "arguing" about it- I figure you either like it or you don't.
473065
Thanks for replying and dont mind me, just going to go through your points , no need to reply to them and i acknowledge your points, just doesnt mean i have to agree with them because i can only go with what you wrote in the story itself, not what you had in your head as a story but did not include in the story. (also why sometimes "arguing" about a story is needed i would say, some want to understand each side not just like or not like the story)
Ok, first off: I wrote this with an express point of view- that Celestia WAS ignoring Luna, that she DID shove her to the back because she just didn't know what to do with her... (to save space i wont copy all lol)
From the story:
Yes, thou hast. Asked us to join thee on diplomatic missions, outings to see thy protégé and her friends…
Just because Luna did not like the WAY Celestia wanted to spend time with her does not mean Celestia was ignoring her, Luna was the one ignoring Celestia by your own words, i would try to give someone some space first if they constantly refuse me. But if your always alone i would try to get you to hang out with others.
Like you said (and Luna knows) Twilight and her friends will die while she has all the time of the world.They are a important asset to Equestra as the Elements of Harmony and nobody knows how long will pass until the new bearers of the elements are found.
Just like Luna is everything Trixie has in this story Twilight is "everything" Celestia has(in general so i guess in this story too?), the others treat her just as a princess (except for Pinkie maybe lol ) while Twilight also treats her as a pony of flesh and with feelings (when not panicking about her visiting or something heh), something that Celestia would certainly value. Twilight's life would pass for Luna like a blink of an eye then, but she couldn't take it after a year. And there was no reason to not give Twilight a day at least to prepare,killing of the "surprise attack" feeling, no reason at all. (again a day would mean nothing to Luna would it?)
Spent a good hour thinking/writing about all so ill stop ranting here and just say that everything would make sense if the end did, but the punishment/refocusing method you used killed it for me.
With that it all just clicked in my head and screamed revenge to me, why use the same thing Celestia did to save the world from NMM/Luna, and on celestia of all ponies, that is the purest symbol of revenge you could pick.
What could she learn about being a better sister being alone on a rock for 1000 years? (if she did already learn her lesson why did Luna still banish her if she just wanted her to see her error and learn from her mistake? her casting the spell instead of it being automatic makes it her choice, and would there not be a safeguard or something for the challenger to retract the challenge just in case it went overboard or the point made without the punishment)
From the letter she could learn nothing since its how Mortal sisters would deal with the problem, not how Luna did and thinks they had to. (the letter just doesnt fit there even if its about sistership)
"Forcing" Celestia to hide for 100/1000/whatever years as a earth pony/unicorn/pegasus among mortals to learn from them how to be a better sister would be a fitting method to teach her her mistakes and would go better along with the rest of the story.
And just because Twilight accepted that there is no going back from the chalenge does not mean she wasn't hurt by the loss of Celestia, all in all still makes Lunas methods wrong for me, sorry.
474304
Thank you for reading it, in any case; it's good to see how everything is coming across. ^^
Well, I won't argue if that's how it came off to you; I can't change your opinion, after all!
Interesting. You don't see too many stories where the antagonist wins and that is portrayed to be a good thing. To be honest, I was expecting Luna to relent and give Celestia one more chance; it would have made everyone a bit more sympathetic. Also, to be honest, I don't care much for the 'we gave our word and that's binding to a ridiculous degree' thing, as it feels like a cop out. And there is no way Celestia would agree to a magically binding contract that might put her sister on the moon for another thousand years. This should really end with Celestia saying, "You know what? No. I refuse your challenge. I see that you are dissatisfied, but before we get all mythical why don't you give me another year during which you can call the shots in our relationship. I'll stop trying to include you in my life, and you tell me what you want instead of saying no and shunning me. If you're unhappy then, we can revisit this."
But all of that aside, I'd have to say that my biggest problem with this is that Luna is looking too hard at the big picture and doesn't care about the short term results of her actions. Realistically, the only ponies left in Equestria who know what really happened are the former Nightmare Moon, a half-crazed former showmare who is obsessed with her, and Celestia's personal student. Twilight is not going to be on Luna's side after this whole thing; best case scenario, she's going to completely shut down and be of no use to anyone. Worst case scenario, she's going to try to use the Elements against Luna or to return Celestia to her rightful place. In the meantime, no member of the government or military is going to believe that a pony who has shunned company and duty for a year is suddenly going to be left in charge willingly by Celestia. They're going to think she's gone evil again and banished their beloved ruler, and it will be chaos no matter what she does.
I know that you say, "It took a while, but the ponies of Equestria accepted what Luna told them, and soon things were running as smoothly as they ever had," but be serious. Luna is out of touch and it sounds like she's uninterested in the daily lives of her subjects. Between the suspicion and the fact that they are accustomed to Celestia's style, all Luna will bring to the table is resentment. And Trixie is a "competent mind in military matters?" Why would she need to be? Sounds like the griffons and dragons aren't going to care for Luna either. I really started out liking this, but by the end it was extremely unpalatable.
504628
Thank you for your interpretation; again, as I stated before, it's interesting to see how people are taking this story.
Question:
How exactly do Twilight and the rest of the girls react in the immediate aftermath of Luna's antics? Twilight jumped in with little real combat training simply because she wanted to aid her mentor. I suspect Luna knew this and it doesn't take a genius to figure out Twilight would figure it out. I can't imagine she took the matter well and I can't imagine the rest of the mane cast did either. For that matter, I can't see her being OK with Trixie after this. After all, Trixie just forced the pony that Twilight regarded as both a mentor and possibly a second mother out of her life. Assuming she didn't immediately try to beat the crap out of the former showmare, I can't imagine she ever forgave Luna or Trixie for what they did. In short, this demands a sequel. Hell, if you were okay with it, I'd probably write one myself.
506682
I certainly don't imagine that Twilight was all "sunshine and rainbows" towards Trixie or Luna afterwards, but I intentionally left that part out; after all, this was just a one-shot, and not part of a larger story.
fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/243/f/9/profile_picture_by_twilightshrugplz-d48h6p7.png
It was never my intention to write a sequel, but I certainly can't stop you if you want to!
If you do write it, make sure you link me; I'd like to read it! ^_^
I just might.
Oh, and feel free to check out my current fic. I hope to update it a little later today, come to think of it. Working on the newest chapter as we speak. 
That reminds me, was this set during season one or two?
509358
I was rather nonspecific, but I consider it to be, like, mid-season 2? Ish?
509895 Cool. Just checking.
Very nice! It's a good thing this story isn't a changeling, because it definitely isn't getting enough love, dohohohoh.
I must say I'm disappointed in the ponies, though. "What's that, Usurper of the Throne? You say our deposed ruler was A-Okay with this arrangement and your only witnesses are your personal student and your sister's student (who has obvious marks of violence upon her)? Sure, I'll buy that for a dollar!"
Of course if you didn't speed through that then this would probably be a horrifying tale of of brutal and bloody civil war rather than a sad and well-written oneshot, so YMMV.
558921
LOL... Changeling... XD Nicely said.
Thank you very much for the comment, and you're right; honestly, I was playing a little on the general populace's assumed desire to maintain peace to kinda influence them to just let it pass, even if they did grumble about it. And moreover, I WANTED this to be a sad one-shot, not a saga of bloody civil war. ^^;
Thank you again for the comment, and I'm very glad you liked it!
I really enjoyed this story. We get some good action, an official challenge for the throne, kind of a tough love thing going with Luna and Celestia too. Trixie being Luna's student was a nice touch, even if it has been done before, I still enjoyed its execution here in this story. You do get a feeling of sorrow from Luna so that she doesn't come off as the needy Princess who wants the throne and more attention, but actively wants to be a better sister. Admittedly, putting Celestia on the moon might've been taking it a bit far, but as Luna said, they're Alicorns, they live forever, they have eternity to get it right
.
Oh Luna dear, would you come here a second? Closer...Closer...Closer....BANISHING YOUR SISTER TO THE F--KING MOON FOR 1000 YEARS IS IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM A REASONABLE REACTION TO A BIT OF 'NEGLECT' WHICH AMOUNTS TO NOT SPENDING EVERY WAKING SECOND WITH YOU YOU GODDA-N IDIOTIC BRAT OF A MOON BUTT! YOU WERE BANISHED TO THE MOON FOR TRYING TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD AND KILLING EVERYPONY WITH ETERNAL NIGHT! HOW DOES SHE DESERVE THE SAME PUNISHMENT FOR NOT BEING A GOOD SISTER IN YOUR EYES YOU SPOILED WASTE OF LIVING FLESH?!
5978008 she's blinded by hate pain fear all these things blind someone and bring them over to the dark side love is a powerful force and when a person has no love they are free to be as cruel as they want to be because they do not understand what love is
7575848 Amorality doesn't justify horrible actions, it's the measure by which you're more likely to perform them. Besides, no matter how you slice it, their 'crimes' are not equal. So 'forgive me' if I'm a little ticked at her idiocy.
7576166 it is an alternate universe maybe certain things happened differently maybe the people just started hating luna again and maybe celestria failed to get them to stop hating her as much maybe Celestia even failed to stop them for all intents and purposes maybe the citizens even attacked Luna I mean we've already seen what Ponyville does two new creatures why not plus the author didn't go into details on how much they hated her and to be fair a thousand year banishment by celestria I believe that had to be paid back
7576191 As long as Nightmare Moon/Eternal Night was on the table banishment was justified. Unless Celestia was doing something that actually endangered the nation/world banishment generally isn't justified.
7576567 sadly I think this had to happen was a set point in time in the story
7576571 Well, it's been 70 weeks since I read it so I neither remember nor care.
Eternal Night + Banishment = Justified
Negligent Sibling + Banishment = Not Justified.
7576648 both are Justified in a sense both were extreme punishments for both sides for what they did was wrong Justice in its most extreme form
7576655 Yeah no, Nightmare Moon was going to KILL EVERYONE ON THE PLANET BY STARVING OFF ALL PLANT LIFE. At that point she HAD to be gotten rid of either permanently or until they could actually deal with it. Thing is? At no point are we shown the elements being guided to do anything other than blast rainbows and hope for the best. Even if the banishment was intentional, which it could be argued it wasn't, it was to save the lives of every other living being on the planet. At what point DOES it become justifiable in your eyes to banish NMM? It was justifiable to banish Tirek for stealing magic. It was justifiable to freeze Discord in stone for spreading chaotic madness. But Nightmare Moon gonna kill everyone? Fuck no, give her an icecream and let her do what she wants.
7576682 Justice in its most extreme Nightmare Moon gets banished Justice and most extreme for sibling neglect sadly the same The Elements of Harmony don't care about who's good who's evil they only care about dishing out Justice even at its most extreme they punish the villain equally to what they have done also on a side note do you see celestria ever going evil if the roles were reversed
7576688 Depends on what the writer wants to happen. Regardless though, let's stop talking. This conversation is just running in place at this point. I think Celestia was wholly in the right whereas Luna not so much, you seem to want to equate them to be roughly the same despite the extreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeme difference in severity of the crime. Nothing's going to be accomplished, clearly no opinions are going to change, and holy mother of fucking god I. DO. NOT. CARE. Seriously, you think I even remembered this fic after 70 weeks? Hell, the only reason we're having this conversation is you had to play comment necromancer and talk to me about it.
7576709 alright it dies
Damn, 6 years later and i stil remember this story as the first thing when i see your profile and go "**** that **** Luna!"
Congrats on making a memorable story. Well memorable to me at least.