Taming Nightmare Moon

by Leafdoggy

Chapter 8

Applejack sat on a massive golden throne, adorned on the top with a stylized version of her cutie mark. All around her were guards, servants, reporters, nobles, and anypony else who could possibly show up. They bombarded her with attention, so many questions being lobbed at her at once that she couldn’t hear a single one, and all she was able to do was sit up straight and force a smile.

The other Princesses were nowhere to be seen. Their thrones stood empty on either side of her, though they looked positively miniscule next to her grand seat. Celestia was still on the sun, and Luna was there with her, so Applejack was left alone to deal with the raucous masses.

Her smile faltered.

Applejack shook her head, reached up and took the ornate crown off of her head. She looked at it for a moment, a sharp, flashy thing that seemed like it would fit better on a pony like Sombra than on her. Largely this was because, as Applejack had learned, if you try to make the color orange elegant and regal, you just end up with gold. It didn’t help, though, that she had the largest crown of all the Princesses, and the bright red gemstone apple affixed to it made it absolutely clear who it belonged to.

“Nope,” she said, “I can’t do this.”

She stood up and threw the crown straight into the crowd of ponies, and as it passed through them they dissolved into the echoes of a thought. The hunk of metal clattered loudly as it bounced across the now empty throne room floor. Applejack watched it until it came to a stop near the huge double doors leading into the hallway.

Applejack had become quite a lucid dreamer after getting together with Luna. At first, she was completely oblivious, and every nighttime visit came as a surprise when she learned she wasn’t in the waking world. Over time, though, she grew used to it, and eventually she started to see her dreams in a whole new light. No longer were they unplanned trips her subconscious sent her own. Now, when Luna wasn’t visiting her, her dreams served as a kind of sanctuary where she could think and reflect on things.

Applejack picked up her hat from beside the throne and put it back on. “Sorry Luna,” she said to herself. “Canterlot just ain’t the place for me.”

She stared at the far wall of the throne room and tapped her hoof in thought. The one problem with Applejack’s newfound control over her dreams was that she didn’t always have things to think about. When that happened, and Luna was busy, she didn’t quite know what to do. Applejack had never been the most imaginative pony. Her subconscious could have kept her interest, but consciously conjuring up something to fill the time was something she struggled with. A lot of the time, she wound up just as she was now, staring at a wall as nothing came to her mind.

Eventually, she sighed in defeat. “It must be close to morning,” she muttered to herself, and so she decided she’d dreamt enough for the night.

Waking herself up was easier than she had expected it to be at first. Had she been asked before, she would have said she didn’t see how somepony could wake themselves up. After all, you’re in the dream. How can you do things in the real world?

As it turns out, all she had to do was open her eyes.

What greeted her was a dark, empty bedroom, and at first she was confused. Something wasn’t right. The bed was in the wrong place, the floor was too clean, the walls were too bare. Even the blankets felt too… Soft.

Then she woke up more, and remembered where she was. Luna’s bed, in Luna’s room. She looked to her side, but she was alone in the bed. She had expected as much, but still, it made her a little sad.

Maybe Applejack had gotten too used to having company every night, but she found herself craving company. So, despite the darkness outside the window and the silence of the night, she got out of bed and crept out of the room.

The throne room was similarly dark. The stained glass let in some light, sure, but it wasn’t entirely intact. Combined with how soft the light of the moon was, the room was cast in a kind of half-shadow, not quite bright enough to call light but still able to get darker, and the thrones still had long shadows stretching across the room away from them.

Applejack walked around to the front of the thrones and found Luna there, curled up and breathing softly as she slept. Applejack smiled at the sight, even though she was concerned for how much Luna had run herself ragged, and she walked up and gently stroked the Princess’ mane.

Gentle wasn’t a trait many ponies would use to describe Applejack, though, and Luna stirred at the touch. Applejack pulled her hoof back, but it was too late. The Princess yawned and cracked her eyes open, and a tiny smile graced her face when she saw who had woken her.

“Mm… Hey there,” Luna mumbled.

“Hey, Moonlight,” Applejack whispered. “Sorry I woke you up.”

“Don’t be,” Luna said. She slid back to make room on the seat and patted it, and Applejack eagerly hopped up and nuzzled into her. Luckily, these thrones were far larger than they had any need to be, so there was plenty of room for them both. Luna kissed Applejack’s forehead and wrapped a leg around her. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Applejack leaned into Luna’s embrace and closed her eyes in comfort. “Me too.”

“Have you slept well?”

“Well enough.” Applejack took a deep breath and let the air out slowly. “Thought on some stuff, but that can wait for morning.”

“Alright.” Luna started petting Applejack’s mane.

“I thought you weren’t gonna get tired anymore,” Applejack said.

“Mm, yeah… Eventually.” Luna paused. “Once I can let go.”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought I would just naturally become Nightmare Moon through all of this,” Luna explained, “but now I’m just holding back the Luna side instead.”

“Has that part of you not fought like that before?”

“I’m just me,” Luna said. “On the moon, I was so angry… It just never stopped. I never had to put thought into staying angry. Nightmare Moon is just a name, she’s not a different pony. She wants all the things I want, because she’s me. If I want to keep her hidden, then most of the time, she wants that too.”

“Most ponies don’t grow three feet and change their name when they get mad, though.”

“Getting hurt can make ponies do strange things,” Luna said. “Like put a face to all the parts of herself she thinks make others hate her, so that she can proclaim those parts to be ‘evil’ and stow them in the recesses of her mind.”

“But now you know it’s okay to feel those things,” Applejack said.

“Of course,” Luna agreed, “but Nightmare Moon already exists. Perhaps with years of effort I could undo that, but why? She doesn’t harm me, she’s just a part of who I am.”

“And you’re happy with that?”

“I am.” Luna stopped and thought for a moment. “Perhaps this will help you understand. Think about why you came to never lie. It was probably a bad experience, right? And, with years of effort, you could probably undo the effects of that experience, but I can’t imagine you would want to.”

“‘Course not.”

“Well, I view Nightmare Moon in much the same manner.”

“Alright… I think I get it.”

“I’m glad.” Luna leaned forward and gave Applejack a kiss on the cheek. “That means a lot to me. I think, perhaps, that this idea is at the heart of my conflicts with my sister.”

“How so?”

“She believes she knows better than me. That I cannot be trusted to determine the state of my mental health.” Without realizing it, Luna held Applejack a bit tighter as she talked.

“How do you figure you can fix that?”

“I’ll just have to go back every night and speak to her. Eventually, she will understand.”

“And you’ll just rule Equestria alone the whole time?”

“What other options do I have?” Luna sighed.

“You could always bring her back,” Applejack suggested. “As Luna. I mean, you don’t need her permission to quit holding back Nightmare Moon, and if you keep up the stuff you’ve been doing here and she sees how much Nightmare Moon helps you, then… I don’t know, maybe she’ll see that she can trust you.”

“Hmm…” Luna rubbed Applejack’s side for a bit as she thought. “You think that could work?”

“I think it’s at least as likely to work as keeping her banished is.”

“I suppose…” Luna tapped a hoof on the throne and hummed in thought. Then, suddenly, she stood up and hopped out of the throne. “Okay! Let’s do it.”

“Wh- Now?” Applejack scrambled to get up as well.

“If not now, I may never do it,” Luna said. “I’d rather not give myself the chance to second guess.”

Applejack sighed and shrugged. “Alright, well… Have at it.”

Luna nodded and started to focus. Slowly, her horn began to glow with a bright blue light. Then, a spot on the floor nearby started glowing as well, a wide circle filled with light. As she concentrated more, the light trickled upwards, swirling into a grand pillar of moonlight. Then, with one final flash, all the light shot up at once and disappeared.

Where it had been, sleeping on the floor, was Princess Celestia. Her horn sparked with blue flames, but aside from that she looked completely normal.

She wasn’t sleeping well, though, and the magic easily woke her up. She lifted her head and glanced around quickly, and when she spotted Luna she shot to her hooves and instinctively took a defensive stance.

Then she realized it was, in fact, Luna, and not Nightmare Moon, and her muscles relaxed. “Luna?”

“Welcome back,” Luna said. With a flick of her hoof, the flames engulfing Celestia’s horn vanished. Celestia sighed with an intense relief. “Applejack has convinced me that keeping you on the sun would not be the wisest course of action.”

Celestia narrowed her weary eyes. “Sending me up there in the first place was unwise.”

“Oh? So you admit that it was me who banished you?”

Celestia winced. “I’m… Not thinking straight.”

“Get some rest, sister,” Luna said. “We can speak when you wake up.”

“Do you not mean when you wake up? Surely you’ll be asleep.”

Luna shook her head. “This time, things will change in the wake of our turmoil.”

Celestia eyed her suspiciously. “Well, is she at least gone?”

“I am standing right here,” Luna replied.

Celestia sighed. “Fine. Be difficult. I’m going to sleep.” Then she turned and trudged into her bedroom.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Luna let out a held breath and slumped down. “Applejack, please tell me I haven’t just made a terrible mistake.”

“I can’t know any more than you can,” Applejack said, “but I think you did good. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

“Yes, alright,” Luna said. “For now… Dawn isn’t for a few hours yet. Would you like to get some sleep ourselves?”

Applejack grinned and nodded, then kissed Luna lovingly before they trotted off together into her bedroom.

Comments

[Ninjadeadbeard]

Golly... Celestia is salty when she hasn't slept.

[Vaguely Demented]

Could always bring out Celestia’s inner rage thus forming Daybreaker. Sympathy is more common than empathy.