Luna's Adventures Through the Looking Glass

by Bronyxy

2 Help From a Friend

Luna had lost everything but an overwhelming desire to hunt down Nightmare Moon and make her pay for what she had done.

She recited a few words in her mind, focusing her mind on a spell as her horn glowed gently and then her form faded as she disappeared from view. Nightmare Moon would be able to see her, of course, but no other pony would, and that was just fine with her. She would be ready.

As there may have been guards outside in the corridor, Luna opened the doors to the balcony, gasping at the feel of the chill night air. She spread her majestic alicorn wings and launched herself into the air, headed for Ponyville. The cold was unrelenting and even the forest seemed to look pale and wan in the moonlight, like it was sick. Before long, the familiar outline of the town appeared beneath her and she descended, making a low circuit before coming in to land effortlessly in the Town Square.

Although it was night, there was nothing to hint of preparation for the next day. She had expected to see tables and chairs outside the restaurants or toys left outside the school, but there was nothing, all contributing to making the place look deserted rather than the vibrant town she knew. With nothing to see, she took off and flew to Sweet Apple Acres where she saw something that caught her up short; all the trees had withered. It was clear now; this wasn’t night time, this was eternal night!

She didn’t bother to land but kept going back towards the Everfree where there was somepony, or rather some zebra she could count on to tell her what was happening. She touched down gracefully and furled her wings, trotting the last few feet to the door and knocking.
The door opened and a blaze of light spread out before her, making her shield her eyes.

“Is this a raid from the Night Guard,
Rummaging round in my back yard?”

Luna strained her eyes to see if the zebra had been alone, but was heartened by her obvious tone of resistance.

“It’s OK Zecora, I’m a friend” she said “Allow me to make myself known.”
With this, she faded back into view and appeared a little bit off from where the zebra was looking, startling her briefly.

“You’re an alicorn like Nightmare Moon;
Do you expect me to dance to your tune?”

“No Zecora” Luna re-assured, suddenly realising that if in this world Nightmare Moon had taken over Equestria at the Summer Sun Celebration, then Luna would never have been released and was therefore unknown in this realm.
“I am not from round these parts, but please believe me when I say that I mean you no harm. May I come in and talk with you please?”

“You have manners sweet enough;
How do I know it’s not a bluff?”

“My story’s going to take some explaining” replied Luna “And a lot more believing, but if I meant you harm, would I not have done so whilst I was invisible?”

“That’s a fair comment, and makes sense;
My apologies for seeming tense.”

Zecora showed Luna into her hut and closed the door behind them, trying to rebuild some of the heat that had been lost. Luna explained who she was and how she had arrived in Nightmare Moon’s realm of eternal night. At some points, Zecora raised an eyebrow but remained otherwise impassive throughout, listening intently to the fantastical blue alicorn.

“The land is dying for want of sun,
But I fear the worst is yet to come.

The tyrant Queen must step down or fall
By persuasion or murder; your call.”

So there it was. She knew dialogue and discussion wouldn’t crack it, but if Nightmare Moon were to die, then what would become of the Luna in this dimension? It was clear that Luna was the only one who could bring about change, but could the sacrifice be justified? She knew that if she pursued the path of murder, then her decision must be absolute or her doubt would weaken her resolve and she would definitely be beaten. As she agonised, Zecora continued:

“There is no plant, herb or flower
That eternal darkness can endure.

What stocks I have remaining are few,
But there is one potion I’ll give to you;

It slows reactions and makes her weak
And will give the advantage that you seek.”

Luna knew that Nightmare Moon did not fight fair, so this potion may give her the edge she needed to defeat her. She accepted the bottle with thanks and started working on a plan which required her to ask one more favour from the herbalist; four quilted oven gloves, one of which she requested be securely fastened to each of her hooves.

With this unusual request provided, she thanked the zebra and rendered herself invisible once more, taking off into the eternally dark sky. As she approached the imposing silhouette of the castle she headed straight for the courtyard by the kitchens and dropped delicately out of the sky, the sound of her landing on the cobbled stones muffled by the soft quilted material under her hooves.

She tiptoed carefully in through the open door into the kitchen, making sure that she was never in any danger of being cornered or walked into as that would certainly blow her cover. She listened carefully to all the discussions, biding her time, catching up on castle gossip and determining the hierarchy among the staff. Once she had singled out the Head Chef, she listened intently to everything that he heard and said.

After about an hour of biding her time, her patience was rewarded when a dinner order came in from Queen Nightmare Moon herself. She watched as he sprang into action, preparing an elaborate meal that put all others from the kitchen to shame. Yes – this had to be hers. Although the order for the Queen caused much increased activity in the confined area, Luna found an opportunity to sneak unobserved across the kitchen and when the meal was nearing completion, laced the main dish with Zecora’s potion.

Standing back as far as she could, the invisible Princess watched as the different courses were loaded onto a monogrammed silver tray, each under its own dome shaped cover and waited for the delivery pony to arrive. When the smartly dressed delivery pony turned up, he picked up the fully laden tray and barged through the door into the castle, closely followed by Luna before the door swung shut again.

She shadowed him noiselessly thanks to her hoofsteps being muffled, with each turn narrowing down where he was headed until finally he arrived at the Throne Room. Luna knew she would be seen if she entered because Nightmare Moon could see through her invisibility spell, so set off down one of the corridors looking for the back way into the room. She found her foalhood knowledge of the castle from years ago had been so well etched on her memory that she had no difficulty finding her way through the labyrinth of corridors and getting to the back door to the Throne Room without difficulty. She waited and caught her breath, listening intently to any sounds coming from the other side.

Knowing that the sound of this door latch echoed in the corridor on the other side and she couldn’t teleport whilst invisible, she faded back into sight only to quickly cast a spell to teleport to the other side of the door. Once again she veiled herself with invisibility as quickly as she could; not to hide from Nightmare Moon, but in case she had company. Now she was in the same room as the evil alicorn she started to feel nervous. Had she eaten the food? Had the potion worked? Was she alone? She would only know if she went to investigate. She reminded herself what Nightmare Moon had done to this land and to her, and felt pumped, ready for action. She moved forward up the passageway for what could only be a confrontation. Perhaps she could find a way to get Nightmare Moon to relinquish her hold on the good alicorn that lay imprisoned inside her, but she would have to be prepared for events to take a turn for the worst. In this case, she would defend herself to the death.

She tiptoed down the corridor and paused where it entered the back of the Throne Room to look around. Nothing. From her perspective, she could see the back of the throne and the silver tray to one side, one of the plates spilled onto the floor, but it was quiet as far as she could see, so she edged out cautiously.

As she drew closer she became aware of a muffled sound coming from the throne itself and arced round to get a better view. She could make out some jerky movements, and finally moved forward to confront her incapacitated alter-ego in a showdown that would see the evil Queen deposed. Her anger converged into the moment and she lit her horn, spell at the ready, rounding on the struggling character sat on the throne.

As the figure came into her view she stopped still and gasped, her eyes opening wide. It was the delivery pony, struggling in mild spasm on the throne. Completely disorientated she stepped back and the light on her horn sputtered out. She had been tricked!

Wild cackling laughter echoed around the ceiling coming from everywhere and nowhere at once.
“You ignorant foal” it glowered contemptuously “Your attempt to poison me failed. Instead you have killed the waiter! How does that rest on your conscience, Luna?”
Luna stood dumbfounded. Nightmare Moon knew how much she was plagued by her guilty conscience and twisted the knife into her shame.
“Look at him writhe in the agony you clearly meant for me! Did you not consider that I may have a food taster? I have always found it to be a good motivator among the kitchen staff, and now it has helped me to catch you!”
“You will not prevail, Nightmare Moon!” shouted Luna, her head turning in different directions, chasing the source of the voice as it flitted around the ceiling, desperate to see where it was coming from.

Luna trotted quickly over to the delivery pony, bending down to run a hoof gently down his mane and whisper a brief apology, before hearing a clatter of hooves landing so close to her that she felt the rush of air.
“How touching” dripped Nightmare Moon with heavily laden sarcasm “Such a shame you killed him!”
Just as she could see Luna winding up her magic for a fearsome assault, the black alicorn stood back in a pose of defeat, completely deflating Luna’s wrath.
“I have something to tell you” said the evil Queen quietly “I’ve got you a present.”
“See these two swords” she continued, drawing them both slowly from their scabbards “I had them specially made for your sister. In fact I summoned you here to watch them in action.”

The two alicorns circled round each other while Nightmare Moon continued her monologue.
“You see, they have been enchanted with arcane magic to relieve immortals from their burden of eternal life. I was going to call back Celestia from her place in the sun and slit her throat with one, just so you could watch her die.”
“You’re mad Nightmare Moon” growled her blue adversary.
“Why should you care Luna?” asked the evil Queen “She doesn’t care about the night sky. She keeps tabs on you because she doesn’t trust you …”
“Enough!” shouted Luna “My sister loves me!”
“Really?” goaded the black alicorn “Just like this morning, when thou hadst a spat at her?”
She emphasised the form of outmoded speech that Luna had used to needle her sister; she must have been watching.
“Bring back my sister!” demanded Luna.
“Well, technically she’s not your sister, not in this dimension” said Nightmare Moon “Once you watch me kill this one, I shall find a way to get back into your dimension and kill the one you know; but you won’t be able to stop me because you’ll be dead too!”

Luna had heard enough and fired a bolt of magic at the evil Queen who was now stood by her throne, only to have it countered by a stream of evil magic as the two locked in contest of magical power. Nightmare Moon had counted on her goading having caused Luna’s self-doubt and guilt to undermine her strength, but as the magical charge drove towards her, she knew she had miscalculated and at the last second broke lock and sprang away, dropping one of her swords with a clatter onto the stone floor. She reacted fast before Luna could make a grab for it and fired another volley of magic, taking to the air cackling insanely.

Then she broke off the attack again and dived straight down toward Luna with her remaining sword pointed at the blue alicorn with murderous intent. Luna dodged at the last second and Nightmare Moon crashed onto the floor coming to rest near the throne and fought to regain her balance, keeping Luna firmly fixed with her stare while reaching round to pick up the other sword; but it wasn’t there. She padded around with her forehoof, fumbling around trying to trace where it had got to, but didn’t dare break eye contact with Luna and give her an advantage.

As she cast around for her blade she taunted Luna some more:
“I’ve changed my mind” she sneered “I’m going to kill your double too. Won’t it be simply delicious to watch yourself die?”
Luna froze. “Where is she?” she gasped.
Nightmare Moon tensed ready to strike, but couldn’t resist one more jibe “I banished her to the moon a long time ago. Do you remember how lonely it was there? Can you even begin to imagine how long I intend to keep her there this time?”
“So you’re pure evil?” gaped Luna.
“Of course; that’s why I am invincible. She was too weak with her conscience and her guilt, so I rid myself of her and now I have none of her weakness to hold me back!”

Nightmare Moon made ready to pounce, but before she could, she felt the sting of missing sword’s tip as it penetrated her flank. She looked round to see the delivery pony staring at her with sword in hoof, continuing a slow-motion thrust towards her.

“NO!” she screamed, dropping her other sword in shock and backing away.
Luna stepped forward and grabbed the fallen sword, forcing the terrified Nightmare Moon down onto the stone floor, pushing its tip into the flesh covering her heart. Knowing this dimension’s Luna to be safe, she now had no reason to hold back.

“You wouldn’t dare!” screamed the black alicorn, her eyes wide in horror.
Luna did not waste words but thrust forward, burying the length of the sword into her chest and watching as blood started to pulse around the entry wound, then she pulled it out and blood spurted from the hole as she tried to pull herself to her hooves, but failed and crashed onto the floor, her legs weakening already.
With her life’s blood leaking away from her she turned venomously like an injured snake writhing on the floor and shot a magic bolt at Luna, who countered it more easily than before, her adversary’s power waning.

“I am part of you Luna!” gasped Nightmare Moon “I am your darker side; you will never be free of me!”
Her breathing was growing ragged as the stone floor bore witness to the amount of blood she had lost and the pulsing spurts from her chest grew weaker.
“You will see me again” she gasped “You will never be free …”
The last few rivulets of blood dripping from her chest slowed and her breathing stopped, her eyes glazing over as she focused on a point in the distance.