Once in a New Moon

by MagnetBolt

Waxing Poetic

“Is something wrong, Lord Noblesse?” Celestia asked. “You’ve barely even touched your tea.”

She hadn’t been dating the stallion. Not exactly. He’d courted her, of course, but she only wanted him as a friend. And so they shared tea nearly every day, and he’d try to convince her they could be more. She politely declined his invitations to anything more romantic than biscuits and chamomile in the garden, and he kept trying to find something tempting enough to test her resolve.

Both of them enjoyed the game between them more than they would admit to anypony.

The stallion smiled weakly. “Of course not, Princess. I confess it’s merely fatigue. I didn’t sleep terribly well last night.”

“No?” Celestia tilted her head. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing to concern yourself with,” he said, too quickly. “Just a small matter.”

“Lord Noblesse, please. It’s the small matters that really, well, matter.” She smiled, trying to put him a little at ease. “I like to think that we’re friends, and if something worries you I want to help in any way I can.”

The unicorn looked down at his hooves, his face drawn, cheeks sunken in as if he’d been battling an illness. “It’s embarrassing to speak of as a grown stallion. For some time now, I have been having… night terrors. Terrible dreams.”

Celestia put her tea down.

“I know it sounds foalish,” Noblesse whispered. “But they’re far worse than anything I can remember. Do you… do you remember when you were a foal?” He looked up, meeting Celestia’s gaze with desperate eyes, needing to hear the right answer.

Celestia smiled slightly, nodding. “It may have been a few centuries ago, but I like to think I’m not so old that I’ve forgotten that.”

Lord Noblesse swallowed. “When you’re an adult, your bad dreams are about adult things. Losing your job, something happening to those you care about, that sort of thing. Foals, though…” He had to pause, a wave of fear making his coat stand on end. “Foals have these nameless, shapeless, primal fears. When I was a colt, I was afraid of the darkness under my bed and in my closet and especially the hallway outside my room. It was a fear that didn’t have a name. Not of the dark but…”

“I remember being afraid like that,” Celestia said. “It was... a different time, but the same fear. You feel paralyzed, because you’re afraid of what you’ll find if you do go look.”

“Exactly,” Noblesse said, deflating in his seat. “That’s what my dreams have been like.”

“I know exactly what to do,” Celestia said. “My sister can-”

“No!” Noblesse jumped to his hooves, backing away from the table. One of the guards moved to intercept him until Celestia held up a wing, motioning for him to stop.

“What’s wrong?” Celestia asked.

“You don’t understand,” Noblesse said. “The night terrors… the dreams… they’re all about you, and this. I’m sorry, your highness. I can’t meet with you anymore.”

“Luna can help you,” Celestia assured him. “She can walk through dreams.”

“She can’t help with this,” the stallion whispered.

Celestia stood up, moving to hug him. “Calm down, Noblesse. Everything will be fine.”

His eyes widened, his pupils contracting to pinpricks as she started to envelop him in her wings. The unicorn lost all semblance of composure, rearing up and falling on his back like she was the same nameless horror he’d confronted in his sleep.

“I’m sorry!” He bolted as soon as his hooves found the ground.

---

Celestia was sleeping off the exhaustion of a long, lonely day when the door to her room burst open. She hadn’t even opened her eyes before a hoof cracked against her cheek.

“How dare you!” Luna screamed.

Celestia was too stunned to defend herself as her sister grabbed her, shouting into her face.

“You can’t hide your dreams from me!” Luna yelled, tears dripping onto Celestia’s neck and chest. “How could you?!”

“Dreaming?” She could just barely remember something. A ghost of a sensation, nothing more solid than a vague feeling of warmth, maybe a flash of color - but even that was fading now, leaving her with little more than the impression of lavender and heliotrope.

“Yes, dreaming! I go to try and surprise you and what do I see? You’re with another mare!” Luna sniffled and shoved Celestia, turning away from the bed. “I thought I mattered to you.”

“Luna…” Celestia groaned and sat up, her cheek throbbing where she’d been slapped. “It was just a dream! I can’t control them.”

“Dreams reveal the heart. Who was she?!” Luna turned back on Celestia, the tide of anger waxing full again. “A secret suitor?! Have you been seeing somepony behind my back?!”

“I swear on my magic that I haven’t been seeing anypony, Luna,” Celestia sighed.

Luna’s anger ebbed, and she fell into Celestia’s chest, sobbing into the soft warmth.

Celestia rubbed Luna’s back and just held her.

It was going to be another one of those days.

“It’s my fault,” Luna said, once she’d cried herself out and managed to recover something resembling composure. “I have been under more stress than I knew, and I was going to give you a special dream, and…”

Celestia pulled her little sister closer, holding her tight.

“I think maybe it’s time I took your advice on learning how to dream lucidly,” Celestia offered. “If you’re still willing to teach me.”

Luna’s ears perked up. “Of course! The most important thing is preparing yourself before you go to bed with a daily routine…”

Celestia nodded along and listened, just glad Luna was smiling again.

---

A few hours later, Celestia watched Luna go, standing in her doorway with the odd sense that the darkened pre-dawn halls didn’t really belong to her, and leaving her room was an intrusion into what was really Luna’s space.

Captain Oak Warden, her personal guard, was standing at attention next to the door, looking somewhat the worse for wear, much like somepony who'd gone through the now-broken window in the hallway and had to walk all the way back to Celestia's chambers.

Celestia suspected from the scratches that he'd been unfortunate enough to break his fall using the rose bushes near the castle walls.

“I apologize for not stopping her,” Oak Warden said, saluting and not quite meeting her gaze.

“I'm very curious about how you would have gone about it," Celestia replied. "I have a duty to you as well. If something like this happens again, just get out of the way."

"If you say so, Ma'am."

"Can you imagine how much trouble it would be replacing you? You've been my guard for so long you've managed to get used to all of my bad habits."

"I'm sure it would only take a decade or two, Ma'am."

Celestia covered her mouth, trying to muffle a laugh that was too loud for the darkened hallways.

"I should probably try to get a little more sleep," Celestia said, once she was sure she wouldn't start giggling again.

"I'll make sure you're awake in time for dawn, ma'am," the guard said.

"Thank you," Celestia said, yawning. A stray thought struck her, she she stopped with the door half-closed. "I realized I never asked. When do you sleep, Captain?"

"I was in the infantry, Ma'am. I can sleep standing up with my eyes open." He smiled slightly, his stone face cracking just a bit. "But more seriously, ma'am, I'm usually asleep myself at this hour and I get a few more while you're in court. This part of the castle is secure enough that I feel comfortable leaving you with a few replacements while you sleep, and at Court most of the guard is turned out for presentation's sake."

"Why aren't you sleeping now, then?"

Oak Warden hesitated. "Bad feeling, Ma'am. Hard to explain. Just me being a worry-wart. Better to stay here on my hooves and feel tired and silly than lay in bed and not get any real rest anyway Everypony’s been having bad dreams."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

He thought for a moment. "I don't suppose you could apologize to the gardeners for me? I made a bit of a mess getting myself free."

Celestia smiled. "I'll take care of it."

"Thank you, Ma'am. Sleep well."

"I will, as long as I don't dream of any strange mares."

---

Celestia finally managed to broach the topic a few nights later, when their schedules were free enough that they could eat alone in their quarters with no diplomats, nobles, or foreign royalty interrupting them.

“Night terrors?” Luna had barely touched her food. Given how much attention she was lavishing on Celestia’s wings, it wasn’t surprising. They were obviously much more interesting.

“I just thought you might look into it,” Celestia said. “Lord Noblesse, especially, seemed particularly disturbed. I know you’ve been working hard, but…”

“There are always a few minor details that get missed. I will pay him a visit,” Luna promised. “Not that you need him.”

“Hm?”

“You don’t need him when you have me,” Luna said. She pressed her body against Celestia’s as she straightened her sister’s feathers.

Celestia shivered at the sensation. Luna nuzzled her neck from behind.

“You should let me tell the court,” Luna whispered. “You could tell all those annoying suitors to go away. Nopony knows you like I do.”

“They’d never accept it,” Celestia whispered.

“Why not? Half of the noble families have a long history of marrying their cousins. They’re practically proud of the way they keep their bloodlines pure.” She nipped Celestia’s ear. “Think of how wonderful it would be if we could do this out in the open instead of having to send everypony away!”

“It would be nice,” Celestia agreed. “I just wish they could understand how I care for you.”

“They could never understand,” Luna said. “They haven’t been through what we have. We’ve spent centuries together. We’ve fought gods. That’s why you’re the only one I want. You’re the only one who understands me.”

Luna pulled her into a kiss, and talk of night terrors were soon forgotten.

---

“The Black Moon Howls,” Celestia whispered to herself.

When she woke up, they were the words on her lips, the last gasp of a dream already slipping from memory.

It was important. But she couldn’t remember why, and she struggled to remember what she’d seen in her sleep even as she sat on her throne.

The Court was made up of what one might generously call the most worthy ponies of each of the great Houses. Unfortunately, most of them equated worth with wealth and age rather than actual ability to lead or even get along with other ponies.

Celestia could see where Lord Noblesse should have been. It was a painful gap, like a missing tooth.

The little cliques and temporary alliances among the mares and gentlestallions of the Houses were discussing his sudden departure hotly, though nopony seemed willing to actually bring the discussion all the way to the throne.

From the way they looked at her, until they'd realized she’d noticed them, they’d already decided amongst themselves whom was at fault.

A wave of quiet argument washed across the room, hooves touching noses and ponies making quiet but firm refusals and pointedly stepping back from the throne.

Celestia cleared her throat. “I take it somepony has an issue they wish to bring forward?”

Lady Coterie shoved Marquis Mucho ahead of her, out into the open.

He glared back at her and resigned himself to actually speaking.

“We have concerns about the Elements of Harmony,” he said.

“What concerns?” Celestia asked. “I assure you that if a threat like Discord should appear, my sister and I stand ready to use the Elements to defend Equestria.”

Mucho and Coterie looked at each other. She nodded for him to continue.

“That’s what worries us,” the Marquis admitted.

“I’m not sure I follow you.”

“The Elements are the most powerful magical weapons in the world,” Lady Coterie said, stepping in when Marquis Mucho faltered. “We believe they should be under the control of the Council.”

“That’s impossible,” Celestia said. She held up a hoof to forestall an argument. “I understand your concerns, but Luna and I are the only ones who can use the Elements.”

“Do you really understand?” Lady Coterie frowned. “You already control day and night. You could destroy the nation single-hoovedly! We need a way to ensure that ponies have at least some measure of control.”

Celestia narrowed her eyes. “Are you suggesting you want to use them against us?”

“No,” Coterie said, quickly. “But if something happened--”

“If something happened, even if you had the Elements in your hooves you wouldn’t be able to do anything,” Celestia said. “They choose their bearers. Worthy ponies. Do you think you’re worthy?”

“I- I wouldn’t know.” the Lady lowered her head, backing away.

“Is there some threat to Equestria we need to be made aware of?” Celestia pressed. “If there is something that has you so concerned, tell me. I will do everything in my power to put you at ease.”

“I’m not sure you can be objective about this threat.” The crowd parted to reveal the speaker. Duke Monde stood near the back of the room. “We have serious concerns regarding Princess Luna.”

Celestia didn’t react. He foolishly took this as permission to continue.

“Monster attacks in settled areas have been steadily increasing. Ponies have been seen gathering at night for mysterious purposes. Entire towns like Hollow Shades have stopped paying tribute--”

“These issues should be brought up in Night Court,” Celestia said.

“We feel uncomfortable discussing them with Princess Luna.”

“I see. And how do you expect these problems to be solved without speaking to her?” Celestia asked. “The Night Guard has traditionally hunted monsters.”

“And what of ponies gathering at night? Or the refusal of tribute to the Crown?”

“It is hardly a crime to enjoy the night. My sister has always ensured it is beautiful and safe for all of us.”

“This is more serious than you realize! Please, don’t just ignore this-”

“If you have any other issues about myself or my sister, you will bring them forward in the open, and not behind her back or mine,” Celestia declared. “This discussion is over until the next Court, and we will resume it then, with my sister here to defend herself. If you are too much of a coward to face her alone and air your grievances you will be made to do so in my presence.”

“Your Highness--”

“And it will be resumed. I will not allow you to back down from your words just because you might have to deal with the consequences.”

Celestia turned, flaring her wings like a wall between her and the dispersing nobility.

---

Celestia tapped her quill against a scroll, the events of the drama in the court weighing heavily on her. She still hadn’t told Luna. What was the most polite way to tell somepony that she was being slandered in public?

More to the point, what would keep Luna from getting dangerously upset?

“Your Highness?”

“Hm?” Celestia looked up, realizing too late that she’d been so absorbed in her own meditations that she hadn’t been paying any attention to what General Firefly had been saying. “I’m sorry, Firefly. My mind was a million miles away.”

The pegasus sighed. “It’s fine, your highness. I was just asking about your neck.”

“My neck?” Celestia turned her head as if she could see it.

“You have some kind of bite or sore…”

Celestia’s mind’s eye turned to when Luna had visited her the night before, the way she’d pulled her tight. The feeling of teeth against skin...

“It’s nothing,” Celestia said. She moved papers around her desk, scanning them to try and jog her memory about what Firefly had been saying. “I apologize. Where were we?”

“I’ve had a few ponies I trust looking into some odd events independently of the Guard,” Firefly said. “They’re all very discreet, and they’ve been putting together a theory.”

“What sort of theory?”

“We think there’s a large-scale conspiracy inside the Guard.” Firefly looked around the room, continuing in a low tone that wouldn’t carry. “Your Highness, you may be in danger. We aren’t sure of everypony involved, but this could end in a rebellion.”

“We’ll need to tell Luna right away,” Celestia said, standing. “She’ll be in danger. She’s already out of favor with the nobility, and if they’re going to target anypony-”

“Wait, Ma'am,” Firefly said.”Before you take any action, let me look into this further.”

“I’m confused, General. Do you have information about a danger, or not?”

Firefly hesitated. “I’ve studied military theory for a long time, your highness. One thing I learned is not to rush into battle unprepared. I don’t think this is the right time to strike. We’d just be swinging a sword at shadows.”

“So what do you suggest we do?”

“Be wary. Keep an eye out for anypony acting unusual. I know Captain Warden can be trusted, so rely on him until this danger has passed.”

“And there are no clues to the identity of the conspirators?” She paused. “Is Duke Monde involved? His attacks on my sister have been uncharacteristic.”

“I’m not sure,” Firefly replied. “I can have him vetted, if you think it’s worth pursuing. He doesn’t have many ties to the guard so he hasn’t been on my list.”

Celestia nodded.”Please do. I appreciate you’re worried about the military but if something is really going on, there will be a leader. I can’t imagine ponies as dedicated as our guards being led astray without a figurehead.”

“You’re likely right,” Firefly agreed. “I didn’t want to bring this up without more information, but there was a name. Or a title. I’m not sure which.”

“And that name was?”

“Nightmare Moon.”