From Her Nightmare

by Damination

An Escape

Canterlot was in a deep lull, but a storm brooded far on the horizon, ravenous in it's faint roaring. It steadily consumed the stars, charging toward its destination. The high city, filled with its high and mighty ponies, hadn’t witnessed such wicked weather in over a thousand years, protected by legions of pegasi in every direction as it was.

A white alicorn stood tall upon a commanding tower, watching the weather.

Celestia knew this was no coincidence--how could it be? She recognized it, a faded memory from a time that she only ever wished forgotten. There was no question as to what had brought this on either, or what it could mean... the only real question was what the princess, the protector of Equestria, was going to do about it.

A blue alicorn, not far away but out of sight, leisurely turned pages in a secluded study.

Luna knew her sister would have noticed by now, but how could she stop her? The plans had been made a long time ago for this night--one so much like that ‘endless’ night so long ago, that only succeeded in endlessly stealing her mind. The strange rumbling of rain striking stone brought a bittersweet smile to the princess. She would finally end her torment.

The ponies of Canterlot lay asleep, but with the rising rain, they rose... for a time.

A visit to the royal library revealed a missing volume, a third incisor pulled from the mouth of knowledge. But the study housed not a third, but a primary incisor, and oh how the mouth would bleed for it. Luna finally reached the end of her preparation. As her horn glowed all the brighter, the distant orchestra of water hardly masked the thuds of ponies in adjoining rooms collapsing.

The bloodbath was short lived; though no shorter than the indiscriminate deaths of hundreds.

The sisters were united soon enough, each standing far apart. The lifeblood flowed luxuriously, and the night’s spell was held ready, but the majesty of the moment would not let them be parted quite yet. Words had to be spoken, words that they both wished never to hear again on a night such as this. However, even undying beings can feel the fetters of destiny.

“Sister, you cannot stop us, surely you know thy hoof hath trod far too late for that.”

“Don’t do this. An unstable time loop, and an entire world would be gone--you know as well as I do.”

“A world that we never knew, and never can know after what we have done this night.”

“No! Don’t leave me, sister... not again. Please, don’t leave me.”

"We are saving us. The nightmare will haunt us no more; it never will... for we shall not fail.”

Tears wandered down two lonely faces, alone in the home they built together. No words could hope to describe the emotions of the ancient monuments, facing each-other across a stygian ocean threatening to consume them at any moment. So no more words were shared--only looks of sadness, desperation... triumph; and the waters rose in a great wave.

And with an impossible light, the night princess left, taking the universe with her.

---

The castle was in a deep lull, but a storm brooded far on the horizon, hiding the setting sun. The shadow of this cloud already fell upon our setting, but a young Princess Luna knew nothing of this, so wrapped was she in marvel at her creation, deep within her secluded subterranean study--admiring her construction, a suit of armor of such a strange metal.

Wondrous metal, formed of a confusing dream; what that took away her malcontent.

Tonight she would wear it, and let it absorb her malicious thoughts, and in its encapsulation she would be free. Free to finally open her heart without pain. But wait... a light, bright as any of her stars, had invaded the room, dispelling her shadows. A silhouette emerged, that of her sister, and instinctively the lunar princess hid her construct as best she might.

But as the light cleared, it was not Celestia who stood; or who then sat weeping, expressing a strange torment.

Luna was at a loss, for in the decimated pony before her she saw her own image, and her mind jumped to the young changeling race; but this was her, no illusion--and she could feel her own pain, see it in those desperate eyes. It was the insidious hurt of being alone, a feeling both knew all too well, and her heart went out to this suffering reflection. She ran -in a not entirely unselfish act- to console the newcomer, offering her chest.

“Th-thank you, we are most grateful.”

“Of course... you looked so lonely. Who are you?”
“We are you a millenium from now. Or we suppose not anymore. We are truly sorry...”

“What? H-how... Sorry for what?”

“Sorry for the pain; though, this is infinitely less than that which our heart had to endure.”

Before the younger Luna could react to the sudden, uneasing tone the time traveler’s voice had taken, a sharp pain erupted from her chest. A piercing wail permeated the air, before dying with its creator. Regardless, nopony could hear her, trapped by own accord below so many layers of rock and wood--appropriate for a crypt. Luna pulled her horn from her victim’s heart.

The new princess set about dissolving the body in mephitic fumes. She was done by sunrise.

---

The storm passed in the night, leaving all the land covered in moisture. The heavens had cried deeply that night, but a warming sun was rising, brightening the thoughts of everypony it touched. Luna was happily heading toward the dining hall, eager to speak to her sister, to prove this was no cruel dream. The princess check herself in a mirror before continuing in.

“Good morning, sister! We are most pleased to see you, and our compliments on thy day.”

“You’re in a good mood... we hardly recognize you! You've been so gloomy lately...”

“It is nothing, and it is passed."

“Pray tell, where have you been? We were worried.”

“Worry not, my dear sister, for we were but lost in a nightmare; it is all over now.”

Comments

[minimanFX]

[Bold Promise]

[CanterlotGuardian]

dear god... this was awesome.

[Wisher]

This was an excellent work of florid prose. Honestly I'm not sure I fully understood what happened, but I suppose it's basically Luna getting rid of NM. In any case the writing style was excellent. I'm writing a similar story right now, and I'm glad I fell on this one to inspire me. For this, sir, you've earned a spike

[Stranger]

Time paradox - Luna killed herself in the past and still alive? Impossible, imo.

[Thorax]

1270008
Why though? There is in fact a version of Luna that no longer existences ready to take her place.
The very fact that Luna changed the entire universe should have erased that version of her from time with it and yet she still moved freely back.

Why then couldn't that Luna, with no place in existence not take the place of the dead Luna and allow the universe to continue.

[Damination]

1269785

Thanks!

1269853
Thank you for the compliment. This was mostly experimental for me -in the 'florid prose' regard- and I'm really excited to know it came off 'excellently'
Also, that this story was an inspiration... lets just say my felicity is, in any practical sense, ineffable

[Corporal Fluttershy]

There's about eleventy billion different "theories" on time travel, and how altering the events of the past might affect the future. Literally, there's one for every conceivable way time travel could be depicted not just in stories, but in anything else you care to imagine.

The one that makes most sense here is the one used by Back to the Future. Events altered in the past, with/by knowledge/people (ponies!) from the future, create a new tangent that splits off from the original timeline. Events from before the original incursion remain the same in both the original "universe" and the new spin-off but, henceforth from the changed past events, have now become two distinct timelines.

overthinkingit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/timeline-300x248.jpg

Job done.

Oh, great story by the way. Like'd and Fav'd. :)

[enamis]

i. dont. get it....

[Chaodiurn]

I bet Celestia sends Luna to the moon due to murdering herself and using dangerous magics..

..and yea. I like it. It was a bit harsh at some points, e.g. "[...], taking with her the universe." should be "taking the universe with her." But overall I like it.

[Damination]

1794010
Glad you liked it^^
And thanks for the comment!