Taming Nightmare Moon

by Leafdoggy

Chapter 15

For the first time in what felt like ages, Celestia had a good night’s rest. She was back home, in her bed, and everything seemed to be on the upswing. Plus, much to her relief, her dreams were peaceful once again.

She dreamt of the past. Of herself, no older than Twilight was when Celestia first saw her potential. Her mane was flat, her flank was blank, and she couldn’t even imagine the idea of having wings.

She was standing in a dark field surrounded by ponies. By her side was her beloved sister, so small and meek. Looking at her, Celestia felt a familiar tinge of love and protectiveness. Around them was a crowd of unicorns, none of whom she recognized, but she knew the look of fear and apprehension they wore well.

A little ways ahead of her, Star Swirl was gazing thoughtfully up at the moon.

Celestia turned to whisper to Luna. “Come on, we can’t chicken out now! We have to do this!”

“I don’t know…” Luna dug her hoof into the dirt anxiously. “I mean, look at them all! These ponies are way stronger than we are.”

“Pfft, says who? You’ve heard Star Swirl, he thinks we’re even stronger than he is.”

“He thinks we could be,” Luna corrected.

“Yeah, and we’ve been practicing! We can already throw stuff over the tower no problem, it’s time to take the next step.”

“Look at it, though, Tia!” Luna pointed up at the moon. “It’s so big!”

“That doesn’t mean it’s heavy. It’s been in the sky for forever, it has to be light or it would’ve fallen.”

“I don’t know if it works that way…”

Celestia waved away the concerns. “Look, I’m doing it whether you want to or not. I’ll just move them both if I have to.”

“Oh, come on! You know you could never move both.”

“Well, then I guess you better help me.” Celestia grinned and stuck out her tongue at Luna, who huffed and pouted back.

“Fine.”

Celestia clapped excitedly, then started counting them down. She knew they had to be fast, otherwise the other ponies would do it and they’d miss their chance, so she gave them little time to prepare. She started at five, counted down quickly, and then the two sisters shut their eyes in concentration and lit up their horns.

At first, nothing happened. They panted with effort and sparks flew from their horns, but the celestial bodies remained firmly planted where they were. None of the adults paid them any mind, assuming they were playing some game like children do.

Then they pushed harder, and the sky gave way. Just a little, barely perceptible, the moon twitched and slid down. Nopony could have possibly noticed unless they were looking straight at the moon.

Star Swirl happened to still be looking straight at the moon.

He took a step back in shock, not entirely believing his eyes. Surely, he thought, his mind was just playing tricks on him. Then, it moved again, and his mouth fell open. He didn’t know how to respond. He’d never seen the moon move without his influence.

When it shifted a third time, he spun around to check on the rest of the unicorns who were meant to help him, and finally he saw the sisters. Their eyes were clenched tight, and sweat was forming on their faces as they strained against the might of the sky.

“No!” He panicked. He sprinted over so fast his hat flew off, and he practically slid across the ground as he crouched down to grab Luna’s shoulders. “You don’t know what you’re doing!”

Luna’s eyes shot open, her focus disrupted completely, but her horn didn’t settle down. Instead the shock sent it spiralling out of control, shooting sparks like fireworks as the glow grew brighter and brighter. Then, with a pop and a blinding flash, all at once the moon shot down below the horizon and the world was drowned in darkness.

With no sun and no moon, the only light in the entire world for any of them was Celestia’s horn, still sparking like mad. She shadows it cast on her face made her look tired and in pain.

The sudden darkness scared Luna, and she screamed out in fright. Loud and shrill, she folded in on herself and shouted “Tia!”

That was enough to break Celestia’s concentration, and just like Luna, her horn didn’t take it well. Heat started flowing off it as the magic flickered into a white hot flame that grew and grew. Just when it seemed like it would become unbearable, it puffed into the sky on a gust of wind and flew off into the darkness.

An instant later, the sun blasted into the sky. The unicorns were in an uproar. Some shouted in excitement, others in fear, but they all shouted. All except Star Swirl, that is, because he was glued in place, unable to speak as he stared at the scorch marks that sat where the sisters had just been.

Then the dream changed, and Celestia dreamt of the future.

The world around her was hazy, like a mirage on a hot day, and the world was dark. Not the darkness of the night, or even the deep darkness of having no light, but something in between. Colorful lights flickered in the corners of her vision, and if she focused she could just make out the shape of the massive crystals all around that lit her world.

Past the crystals stood vast walls of gray rock, and she realized she was underground. Looking up, she could see no ceiling, but she knew that the darkness above her was not the sky. The cave she was in was just too tall to see the ceiling.

And yet, she could feel grass under her hooves. A stream bubbled nearby. She turned around, and she saw that she was in front of a quaint little home. The bright, sunny decorations that covered it made it clear that it was hers.

She looked back out over the fields she seemed to live on. They were massive, swaths of flat grassy plains that were only interrupted by the jagged crystals that stood like spires around the cave.

She looked closer at a crystal, a massive purple tower that stood taller than her house, and noticed something odd. It had been carved into, holes gouged out to allow ponies to climb it, and those holds were in use. A filly, small and gray with a golden mane, scurried up and down the treacherously tall pillar of gemstone. The sight of her made Celestia’s heart melt, even though she didn’t immediately realize why.

“Wonderful, isn’t it?”

Celestia turned to the side, following the voice, and saw Luna standing beside her. She seemed smaller, hunched over, and streaks of gray swirled like galaxies through her mane. Luna turned her head to Celestia and smiled brightly.

“It is,” Celestia agreed.

“Have you dreamt of this before?”

Celestia thought for a moment. “I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve just always been so busy,” Celestia said. She bit her lip nervously as, out in the field, her daughter leapt from the top of one massive crystal to another. “I’ve never really seen this kind of thing as possible.”

“And yet you dream of it.”

Celestia nodded. “It seems that way.”

“If it was an option, would you take this life?”

Celestia thought for a long moment. Eventually she gave up, realizing she had no answer.

They stood there for a while, watching in silence as the filly ran and jumped all over the vast cave.

“Should I go to her?” Celestia asked after a while.

“It’s your dream.”

Celestia nodded and started to walk forward.

With every step, the world around her melted, fading away into nothing but a memory, and once again her dreams shifted.

Celestia dreamt of the present.

She was in the throne room, staring up at the pedestal where only one throne sat. It was grand and bright and golden. Slowly, she walked up to it. It loomed over her head as she approached. When she reached it, she found an ornate crown in the seat, and she knew she had to put it on.

So, she adorned her crown and took a seat in her throne.

The room was bright and empty. Every surface seemed to shine with blinding light. The portraits in the windows were all of her, standing tall and proud before the sun. The room was hot.

Her sister appeared at the base of the ramp. Celestia scowled as she looked down on the face of Nightmare Moon.

“You are not welcome in my dreams,” Celestia said.

Nightmare Moon flashed a toothy grin. “This is my world, sister. I go where I please.”

“Don’t test my patience,” Celestia told her. “What do you want?”

“Can’t I just visit my favorite sister?” She waited a moment, then shrugged when she got no response. “I came to talk. I hear you’ve decided to tolerate me.”

“I’ve decided to try,” Celestia corrected. “We both know you could easily make that impossible for me.”

“So I could,” Nightmare Moon mused. “I have no plans to, though. Believe it or not, I actually want this to work.”

Celestia sneered. “Why? Do you think you can become well liked enough to overthrow me without a fuss?”

“Because I want to be happy. I know Luna’s happiness is a foreign concept to you, but you could at least try to imagine it.”

Anger flashed across Celestia’s face. “I want nothing more than my sister’s happiness. You’re the one that’ll bring her ruin.”

Nightmare Moon scoffed. “Is this as far as your valiant attempt at meeting me halfway is able to go? Can you not even bring yourself to pretend, for Luna’s sake, that you’re willing to trust my word on what is good for me?”

“This is me trusting your word. I don’t intend to act on the disgust you cause me, but that doesn’t mean I’ll suffer it in silence.”

“Listen to yourself! You know, I came here to see just how badly you were going to treat me, and I suppose I got my answer.”

“You did,” Celestia agreed. “Hopefully it’ll help you see how much easier this will be on us both if you just leave me alone.”

“Fat chance. I’ll not hide from my own sister.”

Celestia stood from her throne, and a fire burned in her eyes. “Oh, you’ll know if you need to hide.”

Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, one more thing. I’m probably going to do something you won’t be happy with in the next few days. Just thought I’d give you a fair warning.” She grinned snidely.

Celestia narrowed her eyes. “What does that mean?”

“Well, I’d hate to spoil the surprise. I mean, then you might actually manage to stop me.”

Celestia took a step forward. “I demand you tell me what you intend to do.”

“You don’t get to make demands of me.”

“Tell me!” Celestia stomped a hoof on the floor, and without warning all the windows in the room exploded as rays of light shattered them.

Nightmare Moon took a step back instinctually. She looked at the shards of glass scattered on the floor, then back up at Celestia, and her eyes went wide. Licks of orange and white flames were creeping into Celestia’s mane, and her eyes burned with a righteous anger.

Unsure of what to do, Nightmare Moon disappeared.

Celestia jolted upright in her bed. She was breathing heavily, and her sheets were drenched with sweat. With a groan, she peeled her covers away and pushed herself out of bed. Then she made her way out into the throne room, trying very hard to ignore the smell of melted glass coming from the window by her bed.

Comments

[Hooper_Canson]

“Well, I’d hate to spoil the surprise. I mean, then you might actually manage to stop me.”

Yes NMM, that is exactly what you should say to someone who doesn't trust you.

[Cross Lament]

Well this certainly couldn't go bad in any way whatsoever...

[Adam Jensen]

I believe there is a much darker reason Celestia refuses to accept that Nightmare Moon is Luna. If she, even for a moment, accepts that Nightmare Moon and Luna are one in the same, she would be forced to accept the reality that her own demons are part of her too. Despite everything she has done in the past thousand years to purge the "Evil" from herself, in the end, all she has done is bury it.

Licks of orange and white flames were creeping into Celestia’s mane, and her eyes burned with a righteous anger.

Luna may still struggle with the frustrations that made her become Nightmare Moon in the first place, but for Celestia, the transformation into Dawnbreaker has only just begun.

[Vaguely Demented]

It occurs I have no idea what melted glass would smell like.

[joeyjumper94]

to make matters worse, night mare moon, you may have just catalyzed the formation of daybreaker.

[Stahlseele]

9999700
It is not really a smell per se. .
Glass has basically nothing in it that can produce a smell.
Wellmade pure glass at least.