• Published 26th Dec 2017
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Little Choices - Skijarama



The timeline has changed. Now, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash and their new friends must face the unknown together...

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Luna's Penance

“Aunt Luna… why?”

Luna didn’t answer, shrinking away even more from Rainbow Dash and shivering horribly.

Rainbow reached out with her hooves and put them on Luna’s shoulders. “Luna, why did you make this thing? What’s the point?”

Luna tensed under Rainbow’s touch and almost cowered under her words. She managed to find something of her voice, though, the words spilling out in an almost silent whisper. “...It is my penance.”

“Your penance?” Rainbow echoed with her brow furrowing in confusion. The Tantabus outside howled again, reminding the two mares of its presence.

Luna looked up into Rainbow’s eyes, tears spilling freely out of her own. Her whole body started shaking more and more as she began to speak. “I created the T-Tantabus to punish myself. To give me the s-same nightmare every night… so that I could never forgive myself for what I did as Nightmare Moon.”

Rainbow fell to her haunches, unable to believe what she was hearing. Luna kept going, despite her niece’s apparent shock.

“I created it so that I would never forget the suffering I brought on everypony else. So that I would not repeat my mistakes... so that the ponies I love wouldn’t be hurt by me anymore…” she looked down, unable to stifle a sob that rattled her entire body. “But it seems I can’t do anything right… now my creation has infected your dreams… and it’s all my fault.”

Rainbow Dash blinked, dumbstruck as Luna reached her forelegs up to cradle her head, desperately trying to quiet her cries. Another howl reverberated in the air, closer this time. Cracks began to appear along the walls of the throne room, and thunder boomed outside.

“I am so sorry… I am so sorry…” Luna was repeating those words over and over, as if in a trance.

Rainbow Dash managed to get a hold of herself, then. She set her jaw, reached out to Luna and dragged her into the tightest hug she could, wrapping her wings around the whimpering alicorn like blankets. Luna gasped from the sudden embrace before looking up into Rainbow’s eyes with confusion.

“Luna, I’m gonna be blunt here…” Rainbow began before squeezing Luna even closer. “But that has got to be the stupidest thing I’ve heard all year.”

“H-huh?!” Luna’s expression shifted slightly with confusion at the look Rainbow was giving her.

“NOPONY is blaming you for what Nightmare Moon did, Luna! Nopony except for you!” Rainbow said forcefully, shifting so she could better look into Luna’s eyes, her own burning with an intensity Luna had not yet seen from her. “I’m no mage, or scientist. I’m not an alicorn either, not really.” as she said this, the horn she had sprouted earlier crumbled away into dust. “But what I am is absolutely certain that you are NOT NIGHTMARE MOON!”

“She existed because of me, though!” Luna shot back before looking away. “Because I was too stupid and weak-willed to keep my own jealousy in check!”

“Stop that!” Rainbow snapped, reaching a foreleg up to Luna’s face and tilting her head so they were eye-to-eye again. “Stop insulting yourself! Maybe Nightmare Moon came from you, but that doesn’t matter!”

“How can you say that?!” Luna demanded, closing her eyes and grinding her teeth together in an effort to hold in her tears. “Look at what my actions have done to you! How can you honestly believe any of what you’re saying?!”

“BECAUSE YOU’RE TRYING TO STOP IT!” Rainbow shouted, causing Luna to go silent and gaze back at her with wide eyes.

The cracks in the castle wall expanded even more before an entire section of said wall crumbled away, purple tendrils of magic beginning to snake inside once again.

Rainbow glanced in the direction of the tendrils and then pointed at them before looking at Luna. “Look at that. You see that? The Tantabus?” she then reached her hoof over and jabbed Luna in the chest rather hard. “What do you want to do about that?”

“I… I want to get it out of your dream, of course,” Luna answered in a shaking voice, earning a sharp nod from Rainbow Dash.

“Exactly. Do you know what Nightmare Moon would be wanting to do about it?” she furthered firmly, not breaking eye contact with Luna for even a moment.

“She… she’d…”

“She would probably be spreading it,” Rainbow said simply before resting her forehooves on Luna’s shoulders and squeezing firmly. “Or she would have made it expressly for the purpose of hurting others. But not you,” Rainbow jabbed Luna in the chest again. “Because you are not Nightmare Moon.”

Luna wilted before looking away again, her eyes shifting wildly and her body shaking, her mind racing with a million and one thoughts and emotions. “I… I c-can’t…”

“Luna,” Rainbow continued, her voice much more gentle this time. She placed a hoof on Luna’s chin and drew her eyes back to look at her own one last time. “...That’s who you are, right? Princess Luna, the awesome alicorn who goes into the Dream Realm to vanquish nightmares and keep her subjects happy. That is you, isn’t it?”

Luna gazed past Rainbow then, at the Tantabus as it once more flowed fully into her line of sight. It was larger now than it had been before. Slowly, Luna removed herself from her embrace with Rainbow Dash and forced herself to stand tall. The Tantabus drifted forwards, quivering with curiosity and anticipation. Luna bit her lower lip for a moment before taking a deep breath. “I may not agree with everything you have said, my niece…” she began, her horn lighting up with bright blue magic. “But if there is one thing you are right about, it is this…”

The Tantabus pulsed and shot towards her, howling hungrily.

“I am the princess of the night, matron of dreams!” Luna declared, the light from her horn flaring to an intense degree. The Tantabus stopped in its advance and began to tremble away from her as if afraid. “I am the one who vanquishes nightmares, the one who walks among the sleep!”

Mom…Luna… why?” The Tantabus asked in Rainbow Dash’s voice.

“I am not Nightmare Moon! I am Princess Luna!” Luna’s horn flared with a light so bright that Rainbow had to look away and shield her eyes. She could hear the howls of the Tantabus. Countless voices that it drew from memories began to ask for mercy and forgiveness, the words being drawn out and distorted before, at last, everything went quiet.

Rainbow opened her eyes and looked around. The castle they had been in was gone, replaced with that beautiful plateau she had started this dream on. It was all just as it had been before Luna showed up. The only different was that the sun had set, and in its place was a full, bright moon casting gorgeous silver light across the world. Rainbow then turned around to look at Luna, who stood with her shoulders hunched, her wings flared open and her head hanging low. She was breathing heavily, as if she had just run a marathon. “Woah… what did you do?” Rainbow asked gingerly while stepping up to Luna.

“I… I managed to pull it back into my own mind and sealed it there. It will trouble you no more.” Luna explained between her gasps before falling to her haunches.

Rainbow smiled slightly before reaching out with a foreleg and pulling Luna into a side hug. She nuzzled into her aunt’s shoulder affectionately before her eyes opened, now looking despondent. “Aunt Luna… why didn’t you say anything about how bad you felt?”

Luna tensed slightly and shook her head. “I… I did not want to burden you or anypony else. You’ve had to deal with enough because of me.”

Rainbow sighed softly and pulled Luna closer. “I’m no therapist, but I would have rather you told me straight away about all of this rather than leaving me in the dark… I would have helped you.”

Luna didn’t answer, but gradually lowered herself to lay on the grass.

“Does mom know, at least?”

“...No. My sister is not aware of this.” Luna replied regretfully, her ears drooping again.

Rainbow bit her lip. After a minute or so of silence, she looked at Luna a bit more directly and spoke up. “Hey, can I offer you some advice?”

Luna’s ears swiveled to Rainbow and she nodded.

“From what I’ve seen of them, you are fortunate to have such a wonderful niece and big sister. Do not be afraid to lean on them for support,” Rainbow said, doing a very poor impression of Luna. Said princess looked at Rainbow incredulously.

“Was.. was that supposed to be me?

Rainbow snorted. “Hey, it’s good advice. I took it when you gave it to me. Now it’s your turn.”

Luna looked away, unsure. “I don’t know… I don’t want to burden Tia anymore than I already have. She suffered the worst because of what happened with me.”

“Doesn’t the fact that she suffered without you say alot about just how much she cares about you?” Rainbow asked softly, leaning back a bit. “Besides, she felt really guilty about what happened with you, too.”

“She… she did?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Duh. She had to banish her only sister to the moon for a thousand years, an event that came about because, in her mind, she was neglecting her sister.”

Luna’s eyes widened a bit and she looked away again. “I… I didn’t know.”

Rainbow nodded slowly and pat Luna on the back. “Look, like I said, I’m no therapist. But when we’re done here, just… talk to mom, okay? Let her know how you feel.” she then got a small frown on her face and lightly smacked Luna in the back of the head.

“Ow!” Luna yelped before rubbing the spot that had just been struck and glaring at Rainbow.

“And get rid of the Tantabus, would ya? Like, destroy it. It won’t do you or anypony else any good.” Rainbow finished before smiling warmly.

Luna snorted and lowered her hoof back to the grass beneath her. “...I cannot promise anything, Rainbow.”

“You can promise to try,” Rainbow countered a bit more firmly. “And really, that’s all I want here.”

A small fragment of a smile appeared on Luna’s lips before she nodded. “Very well. I promise to try if nothing else.”

Rainbow grinned before looking out at the horizon again. For a good long while, the two were silent. Luna’s expression turned thoughtful before long. Rainbow glanced at her from the side. “Thinking ‘bout something?” she asked casually.

“I think I know how the Tantabus was able to jump from my mind to yours when I got here,” Luna said, shifting slightly to look up at the moon.

“Oh? Well, spill it then!” Rainbow asked with a deliberately pushy edge to her voice, trying to keep the atmosphere light.

“Do you remember when you came to visit me while you and Twilight were in Canterlot?” Luna asked, thinking back to the day in question.

“Yeah. What about it?”

“I was finalizing the restraints on the Tantabus when you came in. I stopped channeling the spell to avoid suspicion. It seems that such a sudden end to the stream of magic created a malfunction in the spell, permitting the Tantabus to slip into any dream I had entered. It must have taken a while for the Tantabus to notice this hole in its restraints, else it would have slipped into your dream the first time.”

Rainbow nodded slowly. “Well, I guess that makes sense. I’m not really magically literate, so…”

Luna chuckled good-naturedly before looking sideways at Rainbow Dash. “Before I go, Rainbow, might I ask you one question?”

“Sure.” Rainbow nodded along, crossing one foreleg over the other as she, too, lay down on her belly in the grass.

“...Why is your mane so purple? I have been meaning to ask for a while.”

Rainbow groaned and thumped her face into the grass. “I forgot about that!” she whined into the earth with embarrassment, her words muffled by the dirt in her face.

Luna giggled and leaned forward a bit, an expectant grin on her face. “I’m not going anywhere until I hear the story.”

Rainbow frowned up at Luna before sitting upright. “You wanna know why? It’s because Rarity dyed my mane before we left Ponyville. I asked her to.”

Luna blinked, then pouted. “Why?”

Rainbow wiggled her eyebrows tauntingly. “You’ll have to wait for me to get back to hear that story.”

Luna groaned in disappointment before standing up. “So disappointing…”

“Yeah, yeah. Go talk to mom, okay? The girls and I should be home tomorrow or the day after.” Rainbow called as Luna started lifting into the air on her wings.

“...Of course, my niece.”

“Right. Thanks, Luna!” Rainbow waved in farewell.

“No. Thank you, Rainbow.” Luna called back.

The dream ended.


Rainbow smiled pleasantly as she gradually woke up. She hadn’t felt this rested in a long time. She lazily fluttered her eyes open and discovered that Twilight’s own peacefully slumbering face was only a few inches in front of her own. Rainbow smiled softly and snuggled closer towards Twilight, enjoying the body heat. She briefly glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Seven in the morning.

She closed her eyes again and just enjoyed being close to Twilight right now. Of course, she remembered her dream. She remembered it quite clearly. She’d have to write Luna later, just to make sure that she talked to Celestia like Rainbow had asked. But for now, she had another hour or two before she had to get up, and she planned to take full advantage of the time.

Author's Note:

And thus ends the Tantabus Arc. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming. Back to the Actions of Foreknowledge Arc, eh?

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