Moon Time

by flutterspin

Secrets and Lies

Luna and I went up the broken stairs around the mountain. Suddenly, Princess Luna grabbed hold of me and pulled me off the edge. She hovered just underneath the stairs with me in her arms. I tried to speak, but Luna shushed me. I looked up into the sky and saw Night Star flying away from the top of the stairs.

I whispered, "Night Star? What is he doing here?"

Luna replied, "He must know of the secret entrance. It is the only reason he would be here."

I looked up to Luna. "What should we do?"

"I'll follow him. See what you can find in my room." Luna pulled my body up a couple times. "By the way, have you lost weight?"

"Yeah, a little."

Luna placed me on the stairs and chased after Night Star. I went to the top of the stairs and pulled a picture frame. The wall slid open. Inside was a dark, damp room. There was only a small sliver of light shining through the ceiling. Half of the room was filled with debris. There was an old bookshelf still intact at the end of the room. Beside it was a wrecked fireplace and a dusty, old bed.

I walked over to the bookshelf and started taking out the books one at a time. Most of the books were either ripped, torned, or partially burned. I even pulled out a copy of Predictions and Prophecies.

As I placed the books back on the shelf, I was startled by a sound coming from the entrance. I jumped behind the bed. I looked at the entrance and saw nothing. Underneath me, I felt a small budge where I landed. I pulled out Starswirl's journal.

I heard another sound come from the entrance. This time, the encased wall slid open. My heart was pounding and sweat was pouring down my face. I was relieved. It was only Princess Luna.

"Moonlight, you must get out of here. He is coming back!"

I placed the book back down and got up from behind the bed. Luna grabbed hold of me and hid beneath the stairs. Night Star returned and went inside the room. He was only there for a few seconds and left with a book within his grasp.

Luna whispered, "What did you find?"

"There were certainly a lot of books, but I'm more concerned with the book Night Star left with. It's Starswirl's journal."

"We have to follow him."

"You should go. I don't exactly have wings."

"Maybe you don't have to."

Luna gazed down to the garden. She noticed the chariot that the pegasi used for me earlier. She glided down and placed me into the cart. Luna went under the reigns. She launched with the chariot and chased after Night Star.

* * *

We soon saw Night Star land at the entrance of a cave inside the Everfree Forest. Princess Luna placed the chariot down at the crossroads. We pushed the cart into the bushes and hid. Night Star flipped open the book he was carrying.

Luna asked, "What is he doing?"

Night Star read the book for a couple minutes and then walked into the cave.

I said, "I remember this place. This is where I left Ordain. There used to be a rockslide covering over the entrance."

Luna said, "Must be the timeline. We should be careful here on out."

We walked inside the cave. We slowly went through a tunnel and into a large room. The room turned pitch black. Then, we heard a voice.

"I figured you would have learned your lesson from last time."

We felt weak at the knees. Our horns glowed bright and lit the room. Energy was pouring out of us. The energy seeped over into a small book on the ground. The book's pages were flipping back and forth. Princess Luna slowly lost her disguise.

"That isn't Nightmare Moon," Night Star said.

The voice replied, "Princess Luna and Moonlight Sonata. The two I have been looking for."

Night Star said, "Wait, Ordain. This wasn't part of the deal."

"I never promised anything."

My legs buckled underneath me.

"You will never get away... with this... Ordain," Princess Luna said just before collapsing on the ground.

I wasn't able to stand anymore. My eyes blurred and I collapsed to the ground.

* * *

"Wake up!" Night Star shouted as he poured a bucket full of water over my head.

I saw Princess Luna open her eyes. She was laying down right beside me. I could see drips of water fall from the bottom of her chin. I was alert, but I still felt as if a giant rock hit me in the head.

Princess Luna moaned, "What do you want, Night Star?"

Night Star lowered his body to match our level. "I have a few questions for you."

I asked, "Why should we answer you?"

Night Star pointed over to the closed book on the ground. "Because Ordain is going to break free any moment, and I want to know who you really are."

"I'm Princess Luna."

Night asked, "Where is Nightmare Moon?"

I said, "Not here anymore."

"She couldn't have just vanished," Night objected.

Night Star rose and paced the floor. "I've been trying to find a way to stop Nightmare Moon for a year now, and you are telling me that she just disappeared? I worked hard to make a name for myself and gain her trust. I had a plan, but you just had to ruin it. I'm going to ask you again, where is Nightmare Moon?"

I said, "Tell me first, how do you know Ordain?"

Night Star was puzzled. "Why are you asking me that? You were there."

"Humor me."

"A couple months ago, I was researching into the history of Starswirl the Bearded in the behalf of Nightmare Moon. Inside his wing, I heard a strange voice calling out to me. I notified Nightmare Moon, and she sent me to investigate. The search was in vain. Nightmare Moon wasn't able to hear the voice.

"A couple days later, you visited the city and shared the same experience I did. We went into the Canterlot Archives together and fell right into Ordain's trap. He drained your magic and weakened the both of you. He used that power to break the seal and escape out of his prison. I tried to keep Ordain from leaving the room, but he froze my legs with his powers. He tried attacking Nightmare Moon, but she managed to deflect every one of his blows. That was when you used your magic and had him pulled back into the book. Ever since, you became Nightmare Moon's new favorite pony.

"Nightmare Moon quickly regained her strength and commissioned me to burn the book. Before I had the chance, I heard Ordain's voice. He persuaded me to spare his life in exchange for putting an end to Nightmare Moon's reign once and for all. Ordain told me about his place in the Everfree Forest. This is where I hid his book."

Princess Luna said, "You shouldn't have put your trust in Ordain like that."

Night Star shouted, "Quiet, whoever you are!"

The air started to encircle around the book. The book flipped open and black smoke rose out of the book. The smoke disappeared and Ordain appeared.

Ordain said, "Much better. Now where were we? Aw yes, Princess Luna and Moonlight Sonata. So glad you could join us."

I asked, "What did you do this time?"

Ordain chuckled and said, "I think you mean, what did I do out of this time."

Ordain prepared for another one of his long monologues.

"It was no fun being imprisoned inside a book, so I came up with a plan. Instead of waiting around for an opportunity to break free like last time, I figured I would simply change the past. I just had to carefully pick out the right time period. Being a master of time, I would be immune to any aftershocks of the new timeline. All I had to do was grab the closest pony and send them back in time.

"Things proved a bit more difficult than I first anticipated. I tried stopping that pony that ensnared me inside the book in the first place. That didn't work. I tried to change Princess Luna's past. That didn't work. A couple more tries later and I finally came up with a plan that couldn't fail. Do you remember when Twilight Sparkle wouldn't cooperate with me in restoring my memory? It was because she was confident in her abilities! What if I could change it so that she wasn't as confident?"

I sturnly said, "You changed it so she never became Princess Celestia's protege."

"Why must you interrupt me? Yes, I changed it so she never became Princess Celestia's protege. She was only able to pass that test because the magical principles of the sonic rainboom triggered her prowess. I just had to make sure that didn't happen. What a mess that stirred up. I wasn't sure if I should keep the new timeline as is or revert it back. I decided to keep it when Night Star here greeted me. I figured I would just play it by ear and see how things turned out. It couldn't turn out more perfect. Now I'm out and I'm going to get rid of both of you."

Ordain clapped his paws together once. Energy started to pour in.

I shouted, "Luna!"

Princess Luna was able to muster enough strength to stand up. Her horn glowed and small black squares started to appear in front of her. As they pieced together, they formed a giant invisible barrier. Ordain clapped his paws twice and directed an constant beam of energy towards Luna. The beam was so powerful that it was slowly chipping the barrier away.

I shouted, "Hold on, Luna!"

Ordain chuckled. "You still have some fight left in you. I wonder how much more that barrier will hold."

Princess Luna shouted, "As long as I can stand!"

Ordain said, "By the looks of it, that won't be too much longer."

The energy beam grew in intensity and ripped the outer corners of the barrier. I used all my effort in standing up and using my magic to reinforce the barrier.

Luna said, "Moonlight, see if you can send him back inside the book."

"I don't see it."

Night Star grinded his teeth. His emotions were getting to him. He looked at us and back at Ordain.

I shouted, "Night Star!"

Night Star bucked the air and flew away from the battle. He came back with the book. Ordain caught sight of Night Star as he descended over him.

Ordain asked, "Where do you think you're going?"

While keeping the energy beam flowing with one paw, Ordain shot out freezing water from his other paw at Night Star. The water caught on Night Star's wings and instantly froze them. Night Star fell to the ground, dropping the book. Ordain continued shooting ice as he pulled his paw towards Night Star. Night Star rolled forward, grabbed the book, and threw it. Ordain finally reached Night Star and completely engulfed him with ice. The book slid just short from my reach.

I pulled my magic away from Luna's barrier and focused it on the book. Ordain used both his paws to accentuate his beam. Princess Luna jumped to the side just before the beam broke through the barrier. I activated the trap spell. Gusts of wind began pulling Ordain towards the book.

Ordain said, "Not this time!"

He shot an energy ball in front of him. The ball exploded and tore a hole in space. Lightning contemporaneously poured in all directions. At the last second, he jumped through the hole.

"No!" I shouted.

I tumbled my way over, but it was too late. The hole collapsed before I could reach it.

I looked over to Princess Luna and asked, "What are we going to do now?"