Sun and Moon

by Graymane Shadow

Eclipse

It was odd, Celestia reflected, that no animal life had seen fit to move into the Castle of the Two Sisters over the long years.

Spiders, certainly, as well as the ever-present bats, but both had been here prior to the castle's abandonment, and it was hardly a surprise they remained. But there was nothing else.

That knowledge only made the heartbeat she could hear even more disturbing. There was something alive in this place, something unfriendly.

No, not unfriendly. Something that hated her.

"Why are we here, Luna?" she asked, trying to force her voice to remain calm. It shouldn't have taken any effort on her part, and yet despite her efforts, some of the unease slipped through anyway.

Ahead of her, Luna looked back, the light from her horn casting her face in half light, half shadow. Her eyes shined with a mix of hope and something else. Other ponies might have mistaken it for bravery, but Celestia knew her sister.

It was fear. Fear that clawed and gnawed at the hope within.

"I will explain everything soon," she replied. "I promise."

As they moved into what had been the Lunar Wing of the castle, Celestia angled her head down, hornlight allowing her to note the narrow track worn into the dust, the thin strip crossing clean stone and the remnants of enchanted rugs long since faded to a pale mockery of their former finery.

Clearly, this wasn't Luna's first time here, nor her second.

Celestia couldn't help it. She wanted to trust her sister, and yet...part of her doubted. Luna had insisted they come alone, not telling anypony where they were going.

It would have been one thing if the place had been, say, Ponyville. But to return here...

And the heartbeat, growing in intensity, did not help matters.

"We're here," Luna said, having stopped just outside the door to her former chambers. Celestia noted with interest that the door appeared to have been recently mended, Luna's spellwork evident in the wood.

Luna let her neck and head slump, and her voice was tired as she said, "You do not have to stay, if you do not wish to."

Celestia blinked. "You asked me to come, did you not?"

The reply was a whisper. "The night is not your responsibility."

"I'm not afraid of the dark, Luna."

Luna looked at her then, eyes boring into her own.

"I am."

She touched the door with her horn, releasing the enchantments, then pushed her way inside.

Ice filling her veins, Celestia followed.

---

An hour ago, the decision had seemed so clear. Celestia had confided in her that she too was receiving counseling. Had been willing to reveal that she was less-than-perfect, had been willing to trust her sister with potentially damaging information.

It was the most trust Luna had felt since...well, ever.

Now? Luna just hoped she hadn't made a terrible mistake. And yet, what other choice did she have, but to reciprocate the same trust Celestia had showed her?

"When I first came here weeks ago, I found her here, trapped in the mirror," Luna began, walking up to stand next to the mirror, which was once again whole. Inside the mirror, a dark figure lay on the floor, reedy breathing blending with the thready heartbeat emanating from the figure.

"We argued, and I shattered the mirror, hoping that would destroy the echo that remained."

"But it didn't," Celestia guessed.

Luna nodded. "When I returned a week later, the mirror was restored, though she was different. I hadn't seen it that first night, but it was all too clear the second time. She is dying."

A soft chuckle. "All that power, all that braggadocio, and yet she is nothing without her other half. The half she despises for being weak."

"You," Celestia said.

Another nod. "She is part of me, the physical manifestation of my hate and resentment, combined with the bulk of my power. But without the other half, she is little more than an echo, a...reflection. And reflections only appear when there is something to reflect."

Several seconds passed. For a wonder, Luna saw pity in Celestia's eyes as her sister looked at the emaciated figure that was once the terrifying Nightmare Moon.

"You want to release her." Celestia's tone betrayed no hint of her feelings on the matter.

"I see no alternative," Luna replied, biting her lip. "I have been back for months now, and yet despite our guesswork, I have seen no change to my physical appearance, no restoration of my former power. I cannot even move my moon, something that used to be as natural as breathing to me." She looked at the Nightmare. "She has that power, along with so many others that were once mine. Unless I bring her back into myself, I will never be as I once was. As I should be."

And now came the question Luna knew had to be asked. The one she wasn't sure she had an answer for.

"What if she takes control of you again?"

Now, the quiver of fear in Celestia's tone was very clear.

Taking a deep breath, Luna answered. "That is why I asked you here tonight. If that starts to happen, if my will proves to be less than that of the Nightmare...I need you to stop me."

There was no need to elaborate. Celestia knew better than anypony what would be required to stop the return of Nightmare Moon, especially with the Elements out of play.

"No." Celestia started to shake her head. "It's too risky, Luna. We need more time to study this, more time to prepare."

"It has to be tonight," Luna replied, willing her sister to understand. "My own fear and weakness has caused me to wait until the final hours. If we delay, even for a single day...she will die, and all will be lost. I will remain a shell of my former self. Something to be pitied, something less than I should be."

Celestia looked back at the mirror.

"Do you trust me?"

Luna knew the question was manipulative, knew it was unfair to ask. But it was the final card she had to play.

Tears were welling in Celestia's eyes as she looked back now. "I just got you back, Luna. I don't want to lose you again."

Luna felt her own eyes moisten. "And I want nothing more than to spend what is left of my life at your side, as I should always have been. We were meant to rule together, were we not?"

A heartbeat. Two. Luna found she was holding her breath, and yet she couldn't breathe, not until her sister spoke.

"What do I need to do?" the elder Alicorn finally asked, sounding unhappy but committed.

Luna swallowed. "Be ready to act if this does not go as I hope," she replied.

Celestia nodded, stepping off to the side, allowing Luna full view of the mirror.

Walking up to the glass, Luna looked down at the wraith inside, which was now swirling and moving as she often had. Her sneering visage appeared then, radiating hate and malice.

"Come...come back for my help, as I always knew you would," Nightmare hissed, her bloodshot eyes sunken into her head.

"No," Luna replied. "I have come to save you."

"Save me?!" Nightmare spat. "Save me!? Little scared Luna can't save anypony. She's just a foal, scared of her own shadow, too fearful to seize what should be rightfully hers. Even now you're relying on your sister, the sister that holds you down and controls you. She stole all the glory from you once, and she's going to do it again, Luna!"

They were old lies, and their sting, while present, did not have the power they once had. "No," she said. "My sister is here tonight because she trusts me. Supports me." Now her eyes narrowed. "All you ever did was tear me down, feed my hatred, and fill me with lies that weakened my very soul until you could find enough of a hoof-hold to take control!"

Her voice was rising now, a thousand years of regret and frustration spilling from her heart. "You robbed me of my future, broke my sister's heart, and all so you could be a petty tyrant that no pony would ever have loved!" Luna pumped more power into her horn now, building the spell she'd constructed for this purpose.

"Foal! What use is love when you can have fear?!" Nightmare shrieked.

Luna blinked, the anger that had been stirring in her turning to ash.

"Anypony can have fear," she whispered. "But they can also have friendship, and love, if they are only willing to work for it."

She brought her horn down to touch the glass. "And I choose friendship. I choose love."

The spell discharged, and the world flashed white as the mirror exploded outward, shards spraying everywhere as the Nightmare surged forward, her smokey horn aimed directly at Luna's breast.

Pain. Unspeakable pain and agony filled her body, her very bones and blood feeling as though they were on fire. She felt a darkness pour into her mind, Nightmare's poison seeking a place of refuge, desperately looking for that critical hoof-hold that would allow her to persist on until she could take control again. Luna fought, screamed, threw everything she had at the hate burning her soul...but it wasn't enough. She could feel the darkness growing, feel the blackness overtaking her. She'd miscalculated, and now her sister was going to pay the price.

And then there was light. Pure radiant sunlight poured into her, burning the blackness back, giving Luna a chance to get back to her own hooves. She wasn't sure where she was, but she knew Celestia was there, giving her the backstop she needed, giving her the love she'd always desperately craved. She took that love, combined it with her own, letting the energies build in her horn...and let it loose.

Screaming, screaming like she'd never heard before as the Nightmare was struck with the one power against which she had no defense. Luna felt the burning intensify, felt her heart beat harder and harder, her mind fuzzing as the pain grew too great to bear.

And then it was done. The roaring that had been in her ears ceased, the light and darkness vanished, and Luna was once more simply Luna, in the wreckage of her former chambers, clutched tightly in the embrace of a crying sister.

But this time, the tears were from joy.

Author's Note:

Sorry this chapter took a bit longer than promised - I ended up throwing out pretty much everything I'd had written for it, and started from scratch. Seeing as this is more or less the sum of the piece, I wanted to get it right.

I've always thought Luna's final handling of the Tantabus was a little too practiced and casual, as though she'd had prior experience rejoining with negative energies. So I decided to write her first experience with such a thing.

There's one more epilogue chapter to follow, which shouldn't take long.

Comments

[Stet709]

Aww!
Wait, in absorbing Nightmare Moon, does Luna go from her Season 1 appearance to her season 2 (and onwards) appearance, since she has all her power now?

[Graymane Shadow]

11236486

Correct - I'll make that fully clear in the epilogue.

[Heavyhauler75622]

"The Enemy Within"...

This chapter didn't require a phaser or a Vulcan neck pinch, but it had the same impact all the same...