Like Sister, Like Student

by Bronyxy

3 Secrets Shared

Dinner was a grand affair, with all the pomp and splendour of a formal occasion, which unbeknown to the two guests, it was.

Nyx bubbled away happily about her having raised the moon, something that was of particularly special importance to her as it epitomised the acknowledged culmination of alicorn magic. It was of all the more significance to her since she had worked hard to develop her magical skills following the judgement passed down to her when Luna had drained her of the magic that had been bestowed to her from the shreds of Nightmare Moon.

It would be true to say that since that time, she had worked hard at developing her own magic under the tutelage of both Twilight and Luna. These lessons had been counterpointed by flying tuition, which she had taken to more readily, as she had retained the flying abilities of Nightmare Moon and so she was significantly more advanced in this discipline than any other filly of her age. In fact, even Rainbow Dash took time out from the Wonderbolts to teach her tricks when the time allowed.

Nyx excused herself from the table and once out of earshot Twilight asked, “Luna, how much did you help her raise the moon tonight?”
“Very little” came the reply, “She has an innate ability, probably due to our combined past. I believe it will only be a matter of a few more days, possibly even by the end of this weekend, before she can do it all by herself. How did you do with the sun?”
“Oh, I think I’m going to need a little more help yet. What do you think Celestia?”
“I only watched this evening” said the Sun Princess in her soothing voice, “You did it all by yourself.”
“What?” exclaimed Twilight.
“Your touch is different from mine, but I sense the sun is happy to respond to your control.”

Twilight sat open-mouthed for a moment, trying to take in what she had just been told.
“Why do you appear so surprised?” asked Luna, ”You are the bearer of the Element of Magic, are you not?”
“Yes, but …” she stammered.
“But nothing” said Celestia, “A time is coming shortly when you will be called upon to exercise this ability, and I believe you will be ready.”
“What about Nyx?” asked Twilight hesitantly.
“She too will be expected to play her part” said Luna solemnly.

Nyx approached her place at table with the proper deportment and rejoined the company.
“With your permission Twilight” said Luna, “I should like to give Nyx the opportunity to stay up late and accompany me in my duties tonight.”
Nyx’s eyes grew wide with anticipation.
“Can I? Oh, please can I Mom?” she begged.
“Um, I don’t know” she replied, “You’re going to be very tired if you stay up all night.”
“I can cast a spell that will help, should you agree” said Luna.
Nyx continued to stare imploringly at Twilight, who still had Celestia’s words running round in her head. Perhaps they really did need Nyx to understand Luna’s role? Perhaps this was the reason they had both been invited up this weekend? Perhaps the Royal sisters believed that Nyx and her were the only ones who had any chance of being able to deputise with sun and moon duties? Perhaps …?
“Of course” she replied, cutting off her own rambling thought process.
Celestia and Luna nodded in silent agreement while Nyx treated Twilight to an excited “Thank you!”

Following a selection of the most exquisite desserts that the Royal kitchens could muster, the diners rose from the table and split into pairs, Celestia taking Twilight into one of the castle’s drawing rooms while Luna led Nyx to a special adjunct of her personal apartments protected by two Bat Ponies of the Night Guard. The guards snapped smartly to attention when Luna approached. As she unlocked the door, the more senior of the two guards spoke up.
“Carpe noctem, your Majesty” he said.
“Carpe vitam” she replied, “Everything is in order, thank you.”
“Yes, your Majesty” he acknowledged, returning to attention “Thank you, your Majesty.”

Luna opened the door and went in, sparks of blue flitting from her horn and alighting atop wall sconces where ethereal flames sprang up, illuminating the room within. She held the door for her awestruck guest and then closed it promptly behind them.
“Wow!” gasped Nyx, “What is this place?”
“This is where I study and where I perform my most demanding work. I have all manner of very special magical items that I use in my work, items that must never be allowed to leave this room. Consequently, nopony except me comes in here. Ever.”

“Thank you for inviting me in Princess” said the awestruck filly, “But what did you say to the guard?”
“Because what is in this room is so powerful, there is a chance that somepony could try and force their way in by using me as a shield. We have a planned secret dialogue in a long dead language to confirm that I was happy to have you come in with me. It means literally ‘seize the night, seize life’; if I had said it wrong or not at all, you would have had a spear in your back by now.”
Nyx blanched visibly.
“It’s that serious, then?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yes” replied Luna, “It is.”

Nyx looked around at the bookshelves stacked with ancient looking tomes interspersed with weird looking artefacts on display in alcoves. On a central table sat a scrying ball upon a three-legged wooden stand and an open book next to it.

Hesitantly, she inched forward into this repository of magic, not doubting for a moment the power that Luna had told her lay within these walls. She was aware that the Princess of the Night was observing her closely, gauging her reactions and assessing her suitability for the task ahead.
“You understand the trust I am placing in you by showing you my study, Nyx?” the Princess said in a quiet yet powerful voice, “Had you but known of this repository when you were Nightmare Moon, the outcome of your reign would most certainly have been different; I should still be held prisoner in the moon and my Sister in the sun. The fact that I am even sharing its existence with you is a measure of the responsibility with which I choose to invest in you. Do you believe you can live up to my expectations, or do you doubt your own ability?”
“What if I say no?” came a small voice.
“Then I will erase your short term memory and none of this will have ever happened” replied Luna.
“I’m ready” Nyx heard herself say, although inside she was terrified, but had to know more.

“Follow me” said Luna as she crossed the room towards a staircase in the far corner and began to ascend its spiralling steps.
Nyx knew not what strange sights awaited her and although she felt reluctance, her hooves followed Lunas’ while her mind freewheeled in anticipation.

The stairs opened into a large, unfurnished circular room, but what really demanded her attention was that the walls and ceiling were a single transparent dome, commanding an unspoiled view of the night sky.
“I never even knew this place existed” gasped Nyx, “And I’ve flown over this castle hundreds of times.”
“You would not have” said Luna, “It is protected by an illusion spell and appears as a small tower to the untrained eye.”
“You mean, you’ve fooled everypony, since forever?” asked Nyx in astonishment.
“The illusion has held its secret successfully since the construction of the castle” confirmed Luna with the merest hint of pride, “But now we must prepare ourselves for what we will do tonight.”

Luna walked to what Nyx recognised as the cardinal points of the room and muttered indecipherable incantations at each of four equally spaced locations, summoning burning incense. Once she had concluded her preparations, she returned to the wide eyed filly and passed her a black livery collar just like her own, but emblazoned instead with her own shield cutie mark.
“Put this on” she commanded.
Nyx did as she was bidden, her pulse quickening with rising expectation.
“Now lay down, like so” instructed Luna, tucking her legs beneath her, “First I will cast a spell shifting your natural biorhythms by half a day. You will need this to be able to concentrate on the task ahead, but it will take a few days to recover once the counterspell is cast. Do you agree to this?”
Nyx nodded, feeling herself beginning to tremble.
She looked into the face of Princess Luna and briefly saw her eyes turn moonstone white as a blue aura sparked from her horn and she felt a crackle of electricity course through her, leaving her feeling completely alert.

“How do you feel?”
“Keen and ready to go” she replied.
“Good. Now I will take you to somewhere you go regularly, but have not ever truly seen in its entirety – the dream realm. Just enter a meditative state as I have shown you before, and my ethereal form will enter your consciousness and take you there. Do not be afraid.”
With Luna’s last words providing her the reassurance she needed, Nyx closed her eyes and inhaled the soothing scent of the incense, cleared her thoughts and began to let her mind drift.

After a few minutes, Nyx had allowed the scenery of her special inner place to replace that of the room in which her body lay and was unsurprised to see Luna walking towards her, but taken aback by the unexpected radiance of her mane.
“Princess, your mane looks even more glittery than usual” she said.
Luna giggled, “That is because the mane you see in the waking world is but a projection of how it truly is in the ethereal plane. You are now getting to see it in its true form for the first time.”
“I wish mine could be as pretty” said Nyx.
“One day, perhaps” comforted Luna, “Now you must follow me.”
With this, Luna led Nyx into the dream realm.

Comments

[Little-L-Lunatic]

Awesome! I wish Nyx had a glittery mane too

[Bronyxy]

So does she, but I'm sure it will come in time!

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

I'm sorry but the secret room makes no sense. Before banishment the sisters ruled from Two Sisters Castle.

Also I doubt MMM would forget such a place.

This lost me.

[Bronyxy]

9214289
Great questions that both deserve good answers; please bear with me:

As we saw in S1 E02, the Castle of the Two Sisters had been abandoned some time following the confrontation between NMM and Celestia, presumably because of the structural damage it had suffered in the flashback from S4 E02.

It is not unreasonable to assume that Celestia would then have moved her seat of power to somewhere where she could continue to govern in as seamless a manner as possible. The fact that she chose Canterlot Castle suggests that it was already built, meaning that Luna would have had a chance to be party to its design and construction. I would suggest that if it wasn’t already built, then it would have been easier to have repaired the Castle of the Two Sisters or moved to another castle in the kingdom rather than embarking on such a major construction project from scratch.

In chapter 3, Luna says to Nyx “Had you but known of this repository when you were Nightmare Moon, the outcome of your reign would most certainly have been different …” This was to reinforce that Nyx was unaware of the secret room and/or the extent of magical items that it currently contained.

To expand on the second of these two points; when Luna was released from NMM, nothing was seen of her until Nightmare Night in S2 E04. My assumption in developing this storyline was that she had been collecting artefacts and texts for more than a year to catch up on how Equestria had changed in her absence. This then provided her this much bigger repository of magical knowledge than had ever been available to her when she had been NMM.

Thank you for such a good question, and I hope I have provided a comprehensive (if rather long!) answer that fits both series canon and the “Past Sins” storyline. I'm sorry of any of my assumptions spoiled your enjoyment of the story.