Prologue: The lonely Moon
Prologue:
The lonely Moon.
~~~ • ~~~
A royal castle looked even more beatiful during a sunset. It's majestic shapes gained a special grace as they were bathing in the orange lights reflected from the trees, which surrounded the entire place. The daytime was over as the last rays of the Sun started to fade into the darkness.
"It is done" - the soft, yet solemn voice spoke. It belonged to the beatiful alicorn mare, whose body was white as a pure light and mane pink and sparkling. She had a sun as her cutiemark, which only seemed to make her look even more graceful. "Alright, Luna... You may take it from here," - she said with a voice betraying her as the notes of tiredness started to ring through her usually calm tone stripped of any emotions.
The young and very excited alicorn filly appearead in the doorway of balcony, quickly trotting to the larger mare. Her coat was blue, with a few dark patches on it and a cutiemark of a quater moon on her flank. Her mane wasn't sparkling at all, yet had a soft cyan shade. She then stopped and proclaimed in a childish, yet solemn voice: "Fear not, sister of mine. Thou may rest as we shalt guard the night!" The alabaster alicorn was obviously tired as she gave the filly a weak smile and disappeared in a doorway. The younger one paid no mind as she had focused on something and it was obvious that she wasn't going to let her concentration fade. Soon, her horn lit with a soft light and she started to rise in the air, spreading her wings. At the very same moment her mane started to sparkle, just like her sister's one, and the Moon appeared in the sky, starting to rise higher, spreading it's soft light, the very same light the filly's horn was lit with, all over the tender surface of the beautiful land. The nighttime has begun.
The young filly landed on the balcony softly, she was panting a bit. Yet, she looked happy as she gazed into the night skies. Her horn produced the soft glow once again, and one by one, the stars started to appear in the sky, adding their tiny light to the moonlight. The more time filly spent on the balcony, focusing on her spell, the more stars appeared in the sky, forming the beautiful arrays and making the night something... more than just a night. It was now a work of art, the art of the little alicorn filly. Luna's art.
Suddenly, a spark flashed in her eyes and she gasped, as if she had just realized what a beauty she was creating. "'Tia hast to see this!" - and with those words, Luna has disappeared in a doorway.
Whenever Celestia looked tired, that meant she was actually exhaused. And that was one of those days. Visiting ten different cities to attend the meetings with their mayors, having to make sure sun spread just the right amount of heat over the soil for the current season and, of course, a lot of paperwork. She fell asleep as soon as her hooves touched her bed and her head felt the softness of a pillow beneath it. However, that peaceful slumber was not fated to last for a long time...
"'Tia! 'Tia!" - the high-pitched voice of an adorable young alicorn woke her up, - "Thou hast to see what I just did!" She was so excited that she had even forgotten about her usual formal "we". Celestia did her best to supress the groan. She didn't have time for that right now.
"What is it, Luna? I'm so tired... It's been such a long day an-" - she didn't manage to finish her sentence as the excited filly was already jumping on the chest of her big sister. "It's the sky! Oh, 'Tia, please, thou hast to see it! I worked so very hard to move the stars in such a beautiful array!" So, that was it? That was the reason she had to wake her exhausted sister up? Celestia gave the filly a confused look, she had to remain calm, to be a good example for her younger sibling. "Not tonight, Luna..." - she sighed and closed her eyes, slowly shaking her head from side to side - "You don't want to know what I passed through today and-"
"Oh... It... it's fine, sister," - Luna's voice was stripped of her excitement and started to shake ever so slightly, - "Sorry I woke thou up." She jumped off of the bed and walked towards doorway slowly. If Celestia wasn't so exhausted, she could have probably noticed that the filly's colors had gained a darker shade. Luna didn't turn her head as she spoke: "It... it's just that I'm feeling a bit longely again... hehe..." She gave a small, nervous laughter, and anypony who would hear it could tell how bitter that laughter sounded. Anypony, except Celestia: she was too exhausted to notice. As Luna had left the room, her older sister let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding.
Any issue could wait until the morning. The sleep was more important at the moment.
Celestia awoke to the rays of the morning sun entering her room and laying on her face tenderly. She smiled and let out a yawn, still refusing to open her eyes. The rays of that precious light felt so nice against her skin, she never felt such a huge desire to sleep in. Because never before she woke up to the warm sunlight. Celestia froze. The sun was spreading it's rays all over the room. HER sun. Her eyes shot open instantly and she was out of her bed before she knew it.
She galloped to the balcony with the speed that could rival actually teleporting there. What she found there was her little sister, sitting on the floor and panting hard. She turned her head to the sound of Celestia's hoofsteps, and an elder alicorn didn't need to look twice to realise that Luna was utterly exhaused. But, despite he tiredness, her eyes were shining with glee and happiness.
"G... Good morrow, 'Tia..." - the filly said between panting. Celestia was speechless. Had Luna really just raised the sun? "I... I saw how tired thou were yesterday... So... So I thought..."
"Luna!" - Celestia's voice interrupted the speech of the exhausted filly, - "What did I tell you about rising the Sun?"
The spark of glee disappeared from Luna's eyes and she lowered her gaze as she spoke: "Thou... Thou told me not to try and move it..." Her voice was barely a whisper by the end of the sentence.
"And I told you that for a reason, Luna," - Celestia's voice was far from happy, - "Look at yourself now! You could have exhausted yourself so much your life would be in danger!"
"But-" - Luna's voice started to shake again, and panting had nothing to do with it.
"No, Luna, I don't want to hear it."
"But I-"
"Go to your room and rest, Luna. Now!"
The young alicorn filly stood up and slowly followed her sister's orders. She knew she had no choice.
When Luna disappeared in a doorway, Celestia let out a sigh and looked at the sky. Luna barely managed to lift the Sun slightly above the horizon, so Celestia still had work to do. She focused on her spell and her horn gained the golden glow.
She never heard the quiet sobs coming from behind her.
Yet another sleepless night. During her rule, Celestia got used to them. It wasn't the first one and, of course, it sure wasn't the last. Paperwork, lots and lots of paperwork... Who would ever think the foundation of just one new city could result in tons of paperwork? And that paperwork was Celestia's job for the night. Because she had to spend the entire day attending yet another "ribbon-cutting ceremony", and then the "high-society" party to celebrate the foundation of the city of Fillydelphia. No need to say, by the end of the day she was exhausted.
Celestia never liked a paperwork. It always seemed like no matter how many papers she filled, she would simply never reach the end of the stack. She sighed, putting yet another paper down and levitated the next one towards herself as she-
"'Tia! 'Tia!" - the voice coming from behind had nearly made her accidentally push the entire stack of papers onto the floor.
"I did it! I finally did it! Come, thou hast to see it!" - with those words the very excited alicorn filly took her sister's hoof in her own and pulled. Celestia didn't even know her younger sibling had so much strength. Being pulled from her work in such a rough manner annoyed her greatly, but she had to remain her composure.
"What is it, Luna?" - she said, trying her best to keep her voice calm and solemn, so her emotions would not be revealed. Luna just kept pulling her sister towards the doorway, she was more excited than ever before.
"A starrain! I hast finally managed to create the rain of stars! Thou hast to see it, it's so gorgeous!"
"You mean the shooting stars?" - a small smile found it's way on Celestia's face, the smile of pride and happiness - "Oh, Luna, that... that is impressive!"
"Come on, sister! Let us share the glee of my beautiful night! Thou need'st to forget about thine work sometimes." Luna was right, Celestia still had work to do. And if she left it for tomorrow, she might as well forget about sleep for yet another night.
"Sorry, Luna... Not tonight," - it pained Celestia to refuse her sister's offer, but she really had no choice, - "I have too much work, I don't even think I'll have time to sleep this night." The work had to be done.
"B... But sister, I-"
"I'm sorry, Luna." Everything else could wait until the next time.
"B-But I worked so hard-"
"I can't go with you." There will always be next time for the things like that.
"You... You don't un-"
"Luna, please, listen to m-" - Celestia never finished that sentence as the loud resonating scream interrupted her. The next second Luna ran through the doorway, not caring to hold her tears back any longer. Celestia let out a long sigh.
"I'll have to talk to her in the morning," - and with that, she returned to her work.
Luna curled up in her bed, the tears running down her cheeks. The very same tears she cried every night. The tears of despair, the tears of frustration, but mostly... the tears of loneliness. She couldn't even remember the last time she didn't feel lonely. It was like she felt lonely from the very day she was born.
Sometimes, she stopped and asked herself: who is she? The answer was obvious: she was Luna, the Princess of the Night. But... what did it mean to the others? What did it mean to her sister? What did it mean to herself? Did it... really mean anything? Anything except the eternal loneliness, that is. She hoped so. Desperatelly, whole-heartedly she hoped it meant something. Something that would make her special, important to the other ponies. But all she saw them doing during her night was sleeping. Nopony was out there, enjoying the peace and beauty of a resting land, a tender moonlight or a soft night breeze. And it didn't matter how creative Luna became with her sky: nether the amount of stars, nor the way she organized them could change that. She was all by herself. And even her sister wasn't there for her. Even her sister...
With her eyes covered in tears, Luna didn't notice her colors getting darker as the new feeling had appeared in her heart: the feeling of rejection.
The years flew by, both Celestia and Luna became wiser, stronger and even more beautiful. Day by day, they ruled Equestria together, keeping everything in perfect harmony.
But some things never change. Some pain doesn't get easier with time. Through all those years, Luna hadn't managed to get used to her loneliness. It kept eating her heart from inside, it kept bringing tears to hear eyes. Indeed, some pain only gets worse with time. The younger alicorn didn't even notice when she started to take offence in the fact that the other ponies spent so much time with her sister, showering her with praise and adoration when Luna got nothing of that. What started as a simple feeling of injustice then grew through jealousy and bloomed into the pure hatred. The hatred towards her own sister. The aweful feeling Luna couldn't stand, but it only kept getting worse. Day by day, she kept watching her sister getting complimented wherever she went, everypony bowed their heads to her and only dared to use the words "Your Majesty" while addressing to her. But worse of all was the Summer Sun Celebration. It was like a direct insult to Luna's heart. It was a celebration of the Sun. The celebration where everypony praised Celestia and her precious sun, thanking her for providing them such a nice daytime.
And nopony, absolutely nopony had ever thanked Luna for her night. For the rest she provided the land tired from the day's heat, for the beautiful piece of art she turned the skies into, for the stars that were believed to grant the most sacred of wishes... No, Luna was never praised. Luna was lonely, sad and... forsaken.
"Not another step!" - Luna's voice resonated through almost empty throne room. She walked from her throne and looked down on Celestia. Her eyes were shining with pain and hatred she's been collecting in her heart through all of those years. "Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all bath in your precious light?!" - she let the venom in her voice envelop the word "precious" as she kept talking, her voice rising, - "There can only be one princess in Equestria! And that princess SHALL BE ME!!!"
And with that, the Princess of the Night let her forehooves stomp and shake the floor of the royal castle. That was it. The shadow started to crawl up the wall behind her back, along with the large crack, until the wall couldn't take it anymore and broke, letting the sunlight into the throne room. Luna let her horn glow with the light of her magic and the Moon has appeared in the sky, starting to rise towards the sun, until the source of the daylight was completely eclipsed. At that very moment the shadows surrounded the Lunar Princess and sealed her in their darkness, forming a large dark orb.
When the darkness had faded, the mare that was standing before Celestia could no longer be called Luna. She was something else, something much... darker. Her coat was completely black, the pupils of her eyes were serpentine and she was almost twice as big as Luna. She laughed loudly and evilly, her voice not sounding like Luna's one at all.
The Solar Goddess didn't have time to shake off her shock as the dark mare made her move, blasting the ray of her energy at the ceiling, making a large hole in it and letting the moonlight fill almost entire throne room. Celestia tried to use her chance and escape through that hole, so she could think of something and figure out how to stop that villain her own sister had become, but she didn't have such a chance as the mare fired another beam, now directly at her. She barely managed to dodge it.
"Luna! I will not fight you. You must lower the moon! It is your duty!" - in her desperate situation, Celestia tried to reason her sister, but that was to no avail.
"Luna? I am Nightmare Moon. I have but one royal duty now: TO DESTROY YOU!" - Nightmare yelled at her ex-sister, firing yet another beam. That was Celestia's chance to escape and she took it, quickly flying up and disappearing in the hole in the ceiling.
"And where do you think you're going?" - the wicked smile spread across the dark alicorn's face as she took off as well and started to chase Celestia. Both mares were soaring in the sky and a few more beams were fired, until one of them had finally hit it's target: Celestia released a screech and fell all the way back down to the throne room. Nightmare froze in the air. That was it, she had reached her goal. She had destroyed her so-called sister, which had made her life a misery! The justice had finally been served! She let herself bath in her own evil laughter again.
But that moment didn't last long as Celestia rose to her hooves.
"Oh, dear sister, I am sorry! But you have given me no choice but to use these!" - with those words, Celestia lit her horn, revealing the secret cache hidden in the throne room's floor. That cache contained the six powerful objects known as the Elements of Harmony. A long while ago, Celestia and Luna took them from the sacred Treee of Harmony and used them together to stop Discord's tyranny. Now, she had to use them alone.
The elements surrounded Celestia's body, forming a coil as they started to twist around her, gaining the speed. Soon, the Solar Princess was glowing with the rainbow light as she took off and flew to meet Nightmare once again.
Nightmare Moon didn't flinch. She knew what Celestia was going to do, but there was no going back for her at the moment. She had sacrificed everything to gain such power and she was going to give it all to that fight. So, she focused all of her energy, charging her horn and preparing to fire the last crushing beam.
Celestia could see that her sister was not going to retreat, the Princess of the Day knew what she was about to do. She had finally realised that it was entirely her fault. If only she took a better care about her sister... If only she was there when her sister needed her... If only...
The tears ran down her face as she fired the rainbow beam. The two beams collided and just for a moment it looked like their powers were equal. But then the rainbow beam started to overpower the dark one quickly. Nightmare Moon knew it was the end. She could see the light approaching her fast. But at least... at least that would finally be the end of her suffering, her loneliness.
The light had enveloped her.
The whole world looked different from the Moon. The planet, the lands of Equestria... it all was so beautiful. Yet now, it was beyond her reach. She was banished from Equestria, stripped of her title and, to add the insult to injury, her own sister, that made her life so miserable, did that to her. But there was no need to worry about it, or even get angry. She was defeated and sealed on the Moon.
And the best part was that she didn't even need to get used to her new fate: her entire life wasn't really different from her current situation. The main part of her punishment was the loneliness, and she already felt lonely her entire life. Instead, it would be wiser to make an escape plan, the plan which would allow her to get back at Celestia, to make her feel her righteous wrath! Even if it would take a thousand years, Nightmare Moon didn't care about such a minor detail as time. Result was the only thing that counted to her.
"At last, I am free!" - the loud voice resonated through the entire Canterlot castle, busrting into the wicked laughter.
Celestia new what was coming for her, yet she didn't move a muscle. She kept sitting by her fireplace, waiting for her fate. And she didn't have to wait much longer as the shadow threw the doors of her room open and walked in.
"Remember me, Celestia?" - Nightmare's voice was dripping with venom and hatred, - "It's been a while... Indeed, how long was it? A thousand years, perhaps? Oh, my, that's such a long while... But no amount of time can possibly make me forget my beloved sister!" She highlighted the word "beloved" with as much hatred as she could. Celestia didn't flinch.
"I will not fight you, Luna-"
"LUNA IS DEAD!" - the mare of the Moon lost her temper quickly. In fact, she never planned to keep calm, - "You killed the being known as Luna! You took away what was her by right! You weren't there when she needed a sister! You had made her life a misery!" If she wasn't blinded by her rage, Nightmare Moon would notice a tear appearing in Celestia's eye, a tear that was instantly blinked away. The Sun Goddess let out a sigh.
"Do as you wish. I am no longer in possession of the Elements of Harmony, therefore I cannot stop you."
That was a surprise, that was unexpected. Nightmare Moon imagined a long fight with her sister, she had dreamed about defeating her in the battle, but what did she receive instead? Celestia was willingly giving up to her supremacy and accepting her defeat without even fighting back. After a moment of shock, the wicked smile crossed the dark alicorn's face.
"Well, well, well... It seems many things have changed during my absence. That makes me eager to go explore my kingdom. And yes, you heard correctly, MY kingdom. You're done, Celestia. Now, begone!" - and with those words the mare of the Moon shot the beam, banishing her ex-sister to only she knew where.
"You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth Element: the Element of Magic!" - Twilight Sparkle finished her speech inspired by the magic of friendship she had just discovered. Nightmare Moon could only stand there in shock as the pieces of the destroyed elements lit and attached them to each one of the six ponies standing before her.
No...
Five elements transformed and formed the necklaces.
No.
The sixth element formed a tiara and rested on Twilight's head.
No!
The elements began to resonate with one another, causing the six ponies to be enveloped in the bright light.
NO!
Soon, the rainbow beam appeared and unleashed the power of Harmony upon Nightmare Moon.
"NOOOO!!!!!!!!" - she could only scream in despair, she knew it was over. She helplessly watched the rainbow beam surrounding her. She saw the the bright colors, the blinding light and then... nothing. The void, the darkness... There are many words to describe the place where the mare of the Moon found herself after being defeated. And, to add the insult to her injury, one of those words was...
...loneliness.
It was a sunny day and the weather was just fine for a nice long walk. And that's exactly what I was doing as I walked home from the place I work at. I won't hide it: I do not own any car. But I never felt bad about it. You see, I just really enjoy walking, especially while listening to some nice music. I never listened to a specific genre, or a band. I only listened to the songs. It works like this: I hear a song somewhere, I like it, I download and listen to it. Though, I must admit, my late choice of music consisted from the songs created by "My Little Pony" fans and also some original "Littlest Pet Shop" soundtrack. I love both of those shows, as you can guess.
Wait a moment, why do you give me that look? Ah, I see... This is supposed to be the part where I introduce myself, isn't it? But, you know, I don't think my actual name really matters... Hold on! You'll see why it doesn't matter if you just seat back, relax and let me tell you my story.
Well, I'm just a regular guy, nothing more, nothing less. I live in Russia, I'm 23 years old, I'm a programmer and also a piano player. And I'm a fan of the shows I've mentioned earlier. The story I'm going to tell you is releated to one of those shows: "My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic". I could spend hours telling you about why the show is so awesome and stuff, but if you're reading this story, you must already know all that. As much as you must know there is more to that show than just the actual episodes. Sure, there is a lot of fan-made artwork, animations, videos, songs... But the thing that makes it all so special to me is the fact that each and every character mentioned or even just shown in the episodes is an individual with a unique personality, be that by the will of show's creators or fans. And that's why even without giving a character much screen time, the show makes it possible for any person to guess the character's backstory. And if the secondary characters are so well-developed, I can't even start on how great the main ones are! Be they heroes... or villains.
I'm sure every fan of the show loves a lot of characters, but can certainly name one character they love most. In my case, it's Princess Luna. And not only because a night is my favourite time of day. I love Luna for her personality: she's wise, she has her own personal style, she's understanding and kind. But that's not all. The thing is that she saved all of those qualities in her heart even when she gave in to despair and became Nightmare Moon. Of course, you can say that the Elements of Harmony have made her good, but the truth is they only dispelled her dark powers, the powers that made her Nightmare Moon. But all of her feelings remained her own. And she gave everypony the second chance only because she was willing to do so, even after a way her own sister betrayed her.
You might probably want to stop me here and tell me that Celestia didn't actually betray Luna. But that's where I disagree. It doesn't take a second look to see that Nightmare Moon is... a certain state Luna was brought into. And, given her personality, I can tell it would take a lot to bring somepony with such a pure heart into that state. However, Celestia had managed to do so, and that is nothing less than a betrayal in my eyes.
And even after all that happened to her, Luna was willing to give the second chance even to her sister, after how Celestia ignored her despair and loneliness back a thousand years ago, she still gave her the second chance, she was willing to trust Celestia once more. And in my opinion, only the person of the highest morality and purest heart can do such a thing.
But, I digress... As I mentioned before, it was a good sunny day, but nothing out of ordinary. Well... maybe the temperature was higher than normal, but aside from that I can't say something made that day special. Oh, I've forgotten to mention... I hate the heat. And to me, the temperatures of 28°C and 35°C don't make a big difference: I hate both. As I walked down the street, I looked at the sky, only to see not a single cloud up there. Damn it. I cursed the sun for frying me alive and kept walking, hoping that I might manage to lose myself in the music in my ears, so I reach home before I know it.
And I was right about one thing: the song that started to play next had completely distracted me from the heat of the day. That was a beautiful fan-made song, written by a very talented person known under the nickname of Ponyphonic and sung by a beautiful and just as talented girl Eileen Montgomery going by the nickname of EileMonty. The title of the song was "The Moon Rises", and, as you can guess, it was about the pain Princess Luna went through, resulting in her becoming Nightmare Moon.
My mind quickly wandered to my favourite character and I could almost feel the waves of sorrow washing over me as the song reached the words: "And am I so wrong to think that they might love me too?" Whenever I thought about Luna and her pain, I always wished I was there, to be by her side, to calm her down, to reassure her, to make her loneliness disappear. Hell, I even wished I was Celestia, because I sure wouldn't mind taking all of her responsibilities on my shoulders, just so I would have an opportunity to spend time with Luna and make sure she bloomed into the best pony she could possibly be.
The drop of sweat ran down my face, reminding me of the hot weather. Ugh... Why can't the night last longer than the daytime? Oh, did I mention that my favourite season is winter? Well, I did now. And not just because I hate the heat. Or because I'm Russian. But also because the night is always longer than the daytime during winter. And the way the snow sparkles under the moonlight is beyond beautiful.
But, once again, I digress. You see, I would describe my entire evening, but I'm pretty sure you'd be bored out of your mind by the time I finish. And it's not the evening of that day that is worthy of mentioning.
It is the night.
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media.tumblr.com/4d9854eef42b78d41681cb67def3089a/tumblr_inline_n8xpi4qWVz1r9l96j.jpg
4775527 That kind of a reaction means a lot to me, thank you.
...
more?
more please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please
give me mora
It's
So
BEAUTIFUL
4776274
4777817 egzactly
4775914
4777971
Sure thing, there shall be more. Or did you really think the story would only consist of prologue?
4778150 *in caboses voise from halo red vs blue* yes
4778150
Sometimes it happens
4778265 I assure you, this is not one of those times.
It would feel like a sin to me if I would dare to abandon this story, which is sacred to me.
4778279
I can't wait for more!
4778286 And I can't wait to write some more!
4777610
Thank you ever so much for enjoying the prologue of my story.
Tovarishch beautiful beggining. Nada more ASAP.
Btw as lithuanian i hate summer to, so freakin hot...imposible to sleep or eat... but winter is comming thats why im happy
4779744
It would be "nado", not "nada". But thank you for enjoying the prologue of my story.
4779819
Never been good at writing in russian, especially in latinazed version Извини
I know some writers like to describe their character to match another character, but you you made it sound like he has borderline obsession with the night.
4781393 Does it really sound so impossible that someone somewhere loves the night or even obsessed with it? I personally don't think it sounds forced.
What do you call a Russian rapist?
Gedin Mavanyabitch
D'aww, shit. I'm in trouble ain't I?
>>PotatoGabe
You cracked me up with that one