The Mare in the Moon
Night had started to fall when Twilight finally took a break. The grounding structure had been fully repaired and the prototypes in the room had been scrapped and repurposed for the new piece of arcanotech. Extensive testing had concluded that yes, it did indeed shut down when you flipped the off switch. She even perfected the insulation glyph array so that the energy held within the mass of gemstone didn’t bleed any off while the machine wasn’t running.
She took a deep breath and turned the lights off in the Workshop as she made her way back to the living section of the Wandering Workshop.
“Philomena, thank you for your hard work today! Go ahead and take a nap, you deserve it!” She called down one of the vents. She thought she heard a soft squawk in response, but the fact that the rumbling of the boilers faded into the ambient hiss to keep the place comfortably warm told her that the bird had indeed heard her. She smiled as she yawned wide and looked around the room. Spike had gone back to the palace to sleep and she ...was debating doing the same.
Just as the decision was made to head upstairs for the night her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. She made a curious noise and pulled it open with her magic. She half expected the rainbow hued pegasus from before to be standing there, and she wasn’t wrong, however she wasn’t expecting the rainbow hued pegasus to stand there looking like they had just seen death.
“Rainbow? What’s wrong?” She asked, heavily concerned. The pegasus kinda shook her head, as if clearing it, and looked up.
“Oh, sorry… I uh… I was having some pretty bad nightmares and I couldn’t sleep. I saw the workshop still pumping smoke so I thought I’d come and say hello.” The pegasus explained. Twilight was a little uneasy about the whole thing. What happened to the playful and powerful trickster from this morning?
“Do you want to come inside? We can talk about it over tea or something if you’d like, I’m pretty sure that’s supposed to help problems like that…” Twilight suggested, rubbing the back of her head. Dash nodded slowly and moved to enter, though before Twilight could step aside the pegasus pulled her into a weak embrace.
“Thank you, Twi… I don’t think I would have made it all the way to Ponyville like this… and everyone else would be asleep…” The pegasus said softly. Twilight, unsure of exactly how to react, just pat the mare’s back a few times and she stepped back on her own.
“Of course. While I’m not exactly a social butterfly by even a rock’s standards, I think we’re friends? That’s what friends do right? Help each other when they need it?” Twilight replied. Dash smiled and nodded, sniffing slightly. Twilight smiled and nodded back and did a few things with her magic.
First, she levitated the mattresses and blankets from two of the bedrooms upstairs down in front of the fireplace. Then she started the coffee grinder, though rather than Zebrican coffee beans she put cocoa beans and some other spices in it. She then dimmed most of the lights so the only sources were the softly burning fireplace, fed directly from the furnace below, and a few oil lanterns hanging around- which she proceeded to light.
“Whoa there, girl, you getting romantic on me?” The pegasus asked in a teasing voice. Twilight scrunched up her face in confusion.
“Romantic?! What?! No! I’m conserving energy while still having enough light to see, and this is supposed to be like a sleepover right? I thought this is the kind of thing you do…” Twilight started, but started grumbling and her protesting tapered off as she noticed Dash’s face and registered her teasing tone.
“I mean it would be kinda romantic if that’s what this was, but it is kinda nice in a friendly sort of way. Besides, your face was priceless!” Dash snorted. Twilight replied by shoving a cup of spiced hot cocoa in her face and plopping the pegasus down on the appropriated mattress.
“So, do you want to talk about it or do you just want the company?” Twilight asked as they both settled down. Dash shifted around a little bit and took a sip of her drink, which she gave an appraising look afterwards, and gave a heavy sigh.
“It’s not like I can’t usually handle nightmares, because I can’t remember the last time I had a dream that wasn’t one. Psychiatrist said it was something like PTSD from my time on the front… Kinda adds up, but the nightmares are almost never about griffons. This one, though, hit home a little too hard and it just really freaked me out.” The pegasus started. She seemed to hesitate though, so Twilight shifted a little closer in an attempt to comfort her new friend. The weak smile she got in response showed at least some success.
“I saw this scary monster of a pony… I think it was a mare. Her coat was jet black, like the kind of black that’s so black it kinda hurts to look at. Her mane and tail were kinda like Princess Celestia’s, except for instead of a rainbow it looked like the sky at night but with no stars or moon. Her eyes were slits like a dragon, and even her teeth were sharp like one. We were fighting her, and be we I mean my friends and you and me… I don’t know why it was us… Anyways, we were fighting her and we really couldn’t do much… She was playing with us. After awhile though you did some cool magic thing and we thought you blasted her, but she just looked pissed. I don’t really want to tell you how the rest of it went, but let’s just say it was messy… my nightmares are pretty bad sometimes. I just thought about my friends dying, even you, and I just… I needed to not be alone.” Dash continued. Twilight put a hoof on Dash’s shoulder and the pegasus leaned into her slightly. She was shaking.
“Oh Rainbow Dash, it’s alright. We don’t have to keep talking about it if you don’t want to. Was there anything else about it that wasn’t just bad? All dreams are usually representative of something, even nightmares, so we might be able to figure out what’s causing them.” Twilight asked. Dash looked like she was thinking for a moment.
“There was something, actually. ‘The stars will aid in her escape’... but it wasn’t just that. Underneath that voice that said it, the monster’s voice, another voice said it too. I don’t know, I was already kinda freaking out at that point. It sounded like, before I woke up, it said ‘help me’...” Dash replied. She was looking at her mug, otherwise she would have noticed Twilight’s dumbfounded expression. She did notice the strange book floating over to them from the table.
“Hey, that’s what she said!” Dash exclaimed, pointing as Twilight opened the first page to where the words she had read before were. “Who’s the mare in the moon?” She asked. Twilight shook her head and flipped through a few pages. She was surprised when they actually had words on them. Different words.
“Rainbow Dash, I think we just made progress on my research… I’m sorry, you should probably get some sleep… I’ll look through this for awhile. If there’s something like what you mentioned I’ll let you know in the morning, ok?” Twilight said. Dash looked a little skeptical but downed her drink anyways.
“I guess, but I warn you I snore.” Dash said with a smirk. Twilight was already in her own world of reading, though. Dash just smiled and nuzzled into her provided blankets. She leaned against Twilight, the warmth of her new friend letting her fall back to sleep quickly. Twilight, meanwhile, lost herself in the tome. This must have been what Celestia thought was going to be in the book, or rather what SHOULD have been in the book, instead of blank pages or random words.
It told the story of the princesses, Celestia and Luna, who were sisters. This of course shocked Twilight, she had no idea the old princess was Celestia’s sister. She read of their younger years, after they had become alicorns- implying that they were not originally alicorns in the first place- and taken the dual throne. Together they fought great evils and made a home for their little ponies as warrior princesses. The last major foe was Discord, who was currently residing in the palace gardens trapped eternally in stone.
After that, however, it started explaining the Elements of Harmony. Loyalty was first, it explained how True loyalty is a conduit for harmony. Not Loyalty to one’s ruler, or even one’s nation. Loyalty to oneself most of all, but also Loyalty to what you hold dear. If you could remain loyal to yourself and those you care for then there is no chance for disharmony to take its place and cause pain.
Frustratingly, the next dozen or so pages were blank, Loyalty was the only element explained. As she was about to put the book away, she found more writing. The name of the chapter was ‘The Mare in the Moon’, so it was safe to say her interest was stoked again.
‘Princess Luna, Princess of the Night and the Matron of Dreams, found herself in the shadow of her elder sister. For centuries she lived there, the ponies of their now strong nation slowly favoring the day and its princess over the night. For centuries more she grew to resent her elder sister and her day until one day it was too much for the younger princess to bear. She could not stand the loneliness, the shadows, how her subjects could not even properly be called hers anymore. One day, she succumbed to disharmony and let the shadows within herself take over. The Matron of Dreams because the Queen of Nightmares that day, and that day was the last day Equestria saw for nearly a week.
It wasn’t until this ultimatum did the Princess of Day notice what her sister had lived through, and to this day she claims it is her greatest regret. They did battle for weeks, never tiring, living and fighting with the power of the day and the night themselves until the sun no longer pushed against the night, and the moon did not rise. A stalemate had formed, but only for a small while. The sun’s warmth could not reach its princess, and the moon’s cool could not reach the other. However, the Queen of Nightmares had just that on her side, Nightmares. Foul energy formed from the terror of her ponies, this was the night that Nightmare Moon was truly born, and it was the day the Elements of Harmony manifested to defeat the Queen of Nightmares.
Unable to truly strike down her own sister, the Princess of the Day pleaded with the elements to save the Princess of the Night instead. Her plea did not go unheard, and rather than being struck down the Queen of Nightmares was banished to her seat of power. It was foretold on the dawn of the new day, only the stars could aid in her escape. But on this day, it is clear that it is the stars that shall aid in her escape.’
Twilight blinked, this bold writing seemed to be more recent. The ink was fresh, but it was not wet. For the first time, she decided to scan the book with an advanced scanning spell and nearly dropped it. It was just like when she tried to trace the magic before, it felt… familiar. Something she only felt from Princess Celestia.
Celestia had used the Elements of Harmony, even now its energy clung to her and she’s been able to sense it. This book was about the Elements of Harmony, and it retained some of their energy as well!
“By my previous forays into your dreamscape, I never thought I’d expect to find you in such a position. I believed Spike to be your only companion.” She heard, startling her, from one of the couches nearby. She looked over and it was that same blue alicorn from before. It was…
“Princess Luna…” She breathed. The alicorn smiled and politely inclined her head from her position lounging on the couch.
“At your service, my dear.” She replied elegantly. Twilight giggled a little bit before shifting, finally noticing Rainbow snuggled up against her side. Her first instinct was to reel back in surprise, and the way her fur stood on end betrayed that to the princess in the room, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it.
“Friendship is important, I am glad that you are no longer alone in that regard.” The princess said, melancholy strong in her tone. Twilight’s expression of ‘what am I even doing?’ fell to a soft smile as she looked at Dash, and then at Luna. So she was asleep then, figures she’d dream of her research again when she fell asleep doing it. The smile turned into a line of recognition as she looked back at the pegasus and at the princess again.
“Princess? I have no idea why you’re here, but could I ask you a favor?” The unicorn asked, a bit of hesitation in her voice. Only her familiarity with royalty let her even say the words if she were honest.
“If it is within my ability then I would be happy to.” The alicorn replied. Twilight looked back at Rainbow and noticed her expression and general demeanor. Her face was scrunched up, as if she was in pain, and she was just short of clinging onto Twilight for dear life.
“You used to be the Matron of Dreams right? I mean, you’re in mine right now… could you help hers? Nightmares are a good night for her, she’s here because she was awoken by full blown night terrors and didn’t want to be alone… She has such a good heart, I couldn’t send her away… Do you think you could at least help with the night terrors?” She explained slowly. Her hopeful expression fell when Luna’s expression turned grave.
“I wish I could, my dear… It used to be one of the things I took the most pride in… but for a thousand years, every dream I entered I would be followed by her.” The princess replied, the last word practically spat with venom in the tone. It only took Twilight a moment to remember what she could be talking about.
“Nightmare Moon, the Queen of Nightmares… Well, I haven’t seen her yet… and this is the second time you’ve entered mine… Do you think you could try at least? I can’t imagine what terrible things a queen of nightmares could do when she’s already plagued with them…” Twilight insisted. Luna hummed softly.
“For you, my dear, I will try… I hope for her sake you are correct…” The princess answered after a few moments of thought and stood. She neared the two of them and Twilight couldn’t help but stare at the ancient mare. She was stunningly beautiful, more so than even Celestia was- dare she say. The alicorn seemed to notice as she laid a hoof upon Dash’s head and looked over.
“If you keep giving me those eyes your dreamscape may shift into something you may find terribly uncomfortable.” She said with the softest of smirks. Twilight blinked a few times and flushed up, ducking her head. This earned a snort and a little chitter from the other as she turned back to the pegasus and closed her eyes. When Twilight finally looked back up, she found herself nearly lost in the other again. Especially when the princess started humming a soft tune. It was like a lullabye, it certainly would have put Twilight to sleep if this wasn’t already a dream.
“I know not whether it is by chance or some miracle, but she sleeps soundly now. This first true dream in her memory will be sacred to her, I dare not intrude upon it. She experienced much hardships in the war for her country, and her mind had been poisoned by her own perception of herself due to her injuries… She did not follow me and I unwound the knots and wove them into harmony once more… I… I never thought I’d be able to do that again... “ The princess explained, by the end she was nearly in tears and it showed in her voice.
Twilight didn’t know why she did it, or what part of her brain told her to actually do it, but she put a hoof on Luna’s shoulder where she had knelt down. The princess smiled and blinked away the tears that hadn’t yet fallen.
“You’re giving me those eyes again.” She said after they had been staring at each other for more than just a moment or two. This time Twilight giggled.
“Maybe I am. This is a dream afterall, is it not?” The unicorn replied somewhat playfully. This earned a larger snort from the princess, who was trying to hold back laughter. Before she could reply, though, Twilight’s playful smirk fell into a line that betrayed a deep thought. Luna held back her playful retort upon seeing this.
“Princess… Why did you start coming to me in my dreams?” Twilight finally asked. Luna’s expression became unreadable for far too long to be comfortable, but Twilight would be patient. This was a dream, she had all the time in the world.
“I… sensed the largest spike of magical and harmonic energy since the defeat of Nightmare Moon… so I traced it through the dreamscape. I found you, working on your arcanotech in a dream. Last night, and even this night, you didn’t seem to notice you had even fallen asleep. Not until I manifested and spoke. I admit I risked a lot on your end manifesting like I did, or even entering your dreamscape in the first place, but the Nightmare dared not follow for a reason I still cannot fathom… And you even explained your contraption and allowed me to analyze it. I’ve been causing nightmares all around the scientific community trying to learn more about it on the off chance I could contribute, or at least understand it in full…” The princess started explaining. It was slow at first, though as she went on her tone got more excited.
“...See, you were the first pony I’d ever talked to, or even interacted with in any way or observed, in almost a millenia. And you didn’t just wave me off as some facet of your dream, you gave me a chance. And you’re even researching me and my past...It makes me truly wish that I could meet you face to face…” The princess continued. It dawned on Twilight how much the fact that they were conversing here meant to the Princess. She had meant to ask what Luna meant by ‘for you’ earlier, but that could only be the reason.
“Well, haven’t you spent a thousand years at the source of your power? Couldn’t you come back if you wanted to at this point?” Twilight asked, just a little hopeful. Luna’s excited grin fell to a sad smile.
“I could have returned mere days after my banishment… but I was no longer the Queen of Nightmares… she is an entity that clings to me. There’s nothing to gain by taking over again while we are trapped, and so she is biding her time until the day I finally crack and succumb to her again, or succumb to my loneliness and damn Equestria for the chance to speak to one pony…” She met Twilight’s gaze then, and Twilight felt her heart tighten a bit at it. She was seriously considering it right now. The princess shook her head and took a breath.
“Well… what about the Elements of Harmony? Could they help you now that you aren’t corrupted by Disharmony?” Twilight asked. Luna shook her head.
“My sister and I used to wield them together, I could never command all of them. She never truly could either, for true Harmony lies in the cooperation of others… In doing so, she forfeited her right to them as I did when I became the Queen of Nightmares.” The alicorn replied. They stayed silent for a little while longer before Twilight spoke up again.
“Well, this book suddenly appeared to me for a reason. It has residual harmonic energy on it even now, something I mistook as Celestia’s magic before… maybe I’ll learn something to help you. Perhaps what it means by ‘the stars’.” Twilight said, more to herself than to Luna really. Luna nodded.
“‘On the longest day of the thousandth year, only the stars could aid in her escape. To bring eternal night.’... The Prophecy of the Mare in the Moon, yes… The best guess to be made is that it means that only the stars could aid in my escape, and not even I command the stars any longer…” Luna recited. Twilight’s eyes widened.
“You too… No, that’s wrong… Look!” She said, flipping to he first page. She couldn’t help but ‘hah!’ triumphantly as the words were indeed what they were supposed to be. Luna took a moment to read it and she looked confused.
“That’s… wrong? No, you are far too meticulous to misremember something like that… The prophecy changed? I… have never heard of such a thing.” The bewildered princess said.
“Maybe that’s why the book came to me, maybe I’m supposed to figure out what can aid in your escape!” Twilight exclaimed. She was about to start rambling off theories when two hooves on her shoulders stopped her dead and she looked back up to see Luna gazing into her eyes again.
“Twilight, do not come to such conclusions so fast. From what I have gleaned, my sister is not very forgiving when it comes to bringing our past up… She has become much harder in her ways than I remember… I know she cares for you, but do not push this to the limit of her patience… She may not mean to harm you, but she may… The flames of the sun were always volatile even when she was in perfect control…” Luna explained slowly. Twilight sighed but nodded.
“She did almost execute me because I had the book in the first place, but she trusted me enough to let me explain myself. Princess, she dedicated an entire day to mourning your loss… I never knew what the day of Mourning was actually for until now… but even the week prior we call Black Week because the days wane and the nights last longer, and she wears black like a mourning widow. I think she would jump at the chance to have you back, I’ve been with her on that day before… She just… sits on her balcony. Staring at the moon… crying.” Twilight explained, and only barely noticed the room change into that very scene as most of her conscious thought focused on the memory. Luna gasped at the state of her sister.
“For the past three years, since I graduated from her school to become her personal Arcanotechnician and student in full, I’ve been keeping her company during the day of mourning- if not the entire week of Black Week…” Twilight continued softly as she walked over to Celestia on the balcony like she had the past three years. She said nothing, did nothing, merely sat there next to her princess as she silently cried the night away. After what felt like seconds, though what Twilight knew to be hours, Celestia finally unfurled a wing and pulled Twilight closer to gently hold her and stroke her mane.
“It’s… strange… to see my sister in such a state… She was always the stronger of us… In more ways than physically.” Luna said softly. Twilight nodded as the dream-Celestia wiped her tears and moved into the adjacent bathroom to clean herself up.
“She told me once, that she had to restrain herself from striking me the first time I dared knock on her door during this day… but when I told her I just wanted to keep her company she told me all of her fury melted away. Since then, I’ve started keeping the entire day open so I can make sure she doesn’t have to cry alone… It hurts me so much to see her like that…” Twilight continued, looking towards the closed bathroom door. She was a little surprised by Luna pulling her into an embrace, wings and all, and sniffling a bit.
“Thank you, Twilight Sparkle… It pains me as well to see her like that… but knowing you grant her such comfort at this time… I… I can only thank you and admire your kindness even in the face of such potential danger to yourself…” Luna nearly squeaked out. Twilight didn’t really know how to respond to that, and by the time the thought came to her that she should probably return the embrace or say something the princess had let go and pulled away a step. Before Twilight could even think of something to say after that, however, Luna sharply looked in one direction and deflated somewhat.
“It would appear it is morning… Someone is knocking on your door. I hope to see you again next you dream, my dear…” Luna said. Twilight was startled out of her response as Luna bowed to her. Before she could recover she heard the faintest of knocks and opened her eyes. She groaned softly at that, staring into the softly glowing embers of the fireplace. She heard what she thought was a voice coming from the door, but it was far too soft to make out what was being said.
She slowly slid away from Rainbow Dash’s sleeping form and couldn’t help but smile as the grimace from before was now replaced by an almost giddy smirk, accentuated periodically by an almost cute snore. She heard the knock again and sighed, turning towards it. She failed to notice that the book read something different this time, as it lay open just beside where her head had been resting.
‘Kindness’
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Hmmm... I wonder why Luna is able to act without the Nightmare Forces following along. Is it because Twi is one of the Elements, or is it because the Nightmare isn't truly hers, like in the story this was inspired by?
8950431
I think it is for the same reason Celestia couldn't take the book from her. Fear of her power.