Between Night and Day

by Mystic Mind

As the sun rises, so does the moon

Saturday, July Seventeenth, Celestial Era, One-Thousand-And-Ten.

Dear Diary,

The wind outside is howling, and the torrential rain refuses to relent. This old church isn’t what you’d call well-insulated, but honestly, it’s better than nothing. I don’t mind cold weather, but every pony has their limits, and this is mine!

Even so, I do like storms. They remind me of my childhood home, Cloudsdale. Back then, every pony was dedicated to not just weathering storms, but actively making them! No offence to the Unicorns, but Pegasus magic is amazing in that regard. How powerful must it feel to create something equally as life-giving as it is destructive?

Maybe one day I’ll return. I’d love to see how much the techniques have changed since then, though I doubt they’ll be letting Lunar Pegasi in anytime soon. Ah, well. A mare can dream. Still, I suppose I should count my blessings as I have them, ‘cause it’s not like life’s gonna get better any time soon.

Oh, my dear Mother Moon. I’ll never forgive Celestia for what she did to you. Even as I write this, the history books are being re-written, erasing your side of the story. I wish I could say the persecution ended the day you were banished, but I can’t. For all I know, I could be the last bat pony in existence, clinging to life against all odds. I’ve seen first-hoof what Celestia’s goons are doing to us. Either way, if this keeps up, there won’t be any Lunar Pegasi left to remember you. We’ll all be brainwashed by Celestia’s tyranny.

For now, I’m as safe as I can be. Rest assured, I’ll keep running for as long as I can, but I know I’ll have to fight eventually. When that day comes…

---

My diary entry trailed off, leaving several splodges of ink dripping from the edge of my quill. My mouthwriting has never been neat, but I try my best to make it legible – pause stains notwithstanding. How long have I been on the run now? I honestly don’t remember. I try to keep count of the holidays around me—Winter Wrap-up, Running of the Leaves, Hearth’s Warming Eve —but that’s a difficult task when even a single glance could lead to your death.

Living as a Lunar Pegasus these days is a constant balancing act: finding enough food to make it through the day, while also hiding from ‘regular’ ponies. And no, I don’t feast on the blood of virgin mares. That’s a myth from a time long before Equestria’s founding, though I suppose it’s a useful narrative. Celestia’s followers are like vultures, I tell you; bloody opportunistic stalkers, the lot of ‘em. They’ll take any excuse to bring us all down, but they’re never gonna catch me, that’s for sure.

I took a moment to glance over at the partially shattered grooming mirror beside my diary. Despite the storm clouds obscuring most of the moonlight, there was just enough brightness from the streetlights to make my distorted reflection visible. Mother Moon, building churches with large, stained-glass windows was a genius idea!

Anyway, about the mirror. Although my childhood ideals of obsessive beauty routines have long since passed, more by necessity than by choice, every now and again I still like to fiddle with my lop-sided blue mane. I’m not sure why I bother, really. It’s not like I have anypony to present to. Then again, I suppose old habits die hard. I doubt I’ll get the chance to groom it properly any time soon, but hey, a mare can dream.

My stone-grey coat hides the months of accumulated dust and grime well enough, though I wish the same could be said about my armour. It’s pretty rusty, having lost most of its midnight-blue glory from years of fighting. I’m surprised it holds up as well as it does. I like to think of it as Mother Moon’s final blessing, protecting me even from her off-world prison.

What I wouldn’t give for a hot bath right now.

The most I get from hygiene is an occasional dip in the river, and even then I never take my armour off. With Celestia’s cultists never more than a few steps behind, I can’t risk letting my guard down.

Looking back at my diary, I pondered for a moment how I might round out the entry. Well, as fate would have it, the topic was decided for me by a loud bang, snapping my attention to the grand double doors at the church’s opposite end. At first, I thought the noise was just a crack of thunder playing tricks on me, but the bangs kept coming, followed by the sound of splintering wood as my makeshift barricade faltered.

Taking a deep breath, I dropped the pen, letting the remaining ink soak into the page. “Well, Mother Moon, looks like I’ll have to cut this short,” I said aloud, glancing out of the window as I stretched my legs. Peering out from my beam perch, I slipped on my battle claws and flicked out my wing blades, followed lastly by tapping the purple gem embedded in my breastplate’s core, shrouding myself in shadow magic.

I watched with bated breath as the intruder broke through, bucking open both doors and flooding the room with a light bright enough to hurt my eyes. I’m sure you can guess this was just the first sign of trouble.

As much as I wished them to be another homeless vagabond, I knew better. Even if I wasn’t a wanted criminal, no pony that desperate for shelter would leave the doors open behind them. Were they born in a barn? Already, the freezing gales sapped what little heat the abandoned church had retained.

Strangely, it wasn’t obvious at once how the figure’s light was created. It wasn’t emitting from a Unicorn’s horn, and they weren’t carrying a lantern, either. The light seemed to originate from a small point on their chest, almost too small to see at my distance.

The intruder walked with an uneven gait. It wasn’t quite a limp, but also not a normal trot. Combined with the heavy, gold-coloured armour, all signs pointed to them being yet another one of Celestia’s goons. So, y’know, same old, same old – or so I thought, at first.

As they scanned their light back and forth across the room, I managed to catch a brief glimpse of their face. The pony looked masculine, with a heavy-set square jaw, riddled with freshly shaven stubble. What stood out most, however, was their mane. Most of it had been cut short, but the pony still retained enough of it to tie into a bun.

The realisation of their identity hit me like a freight train. I clearly remember the heavy chill that shot down my spine. Please, not him. Anypony but him…

Against my better judgement, I abandoned my perch, throwing myself into the darkness with wings outstretched. I had to keep my flapping to a minimum. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from fighting Paladins, it’s that their hearing sensitivity is second only to us bat ponies. One mistimed wing beat or the clop of hooves on the stone floor, and I’d be as good as toast, no matter how good my stealth spells were.

That was if this pony was just a random crusader. Of all the ponies Celestia could have sent to capture me, I refused to believe it would be him, specifically.

“Dusk Blossom!” he bellowed my name, using a vocal technique you know as the ‘Royal Canterlot Voice’. It was loud enough to make me cringe mid-air. “I know you’re in here. You can’t outrun accountability forever.”

Accountability, ha! I thought, resisting the urge to spit on the self-righteous fool. That’s rich, coming from you.

“It doesn’t have to be this way, Dusk.” Though his tone softened, the church acoustics made his words echo, regardless. “The sooner you cooperate, the sooner we can put the past behind us and begin to heal our scars.”

“You really take me for a fool, don’t you, Storm Chaser?” I set myself down on the rims of an old chandelier and hung upside-down. “How many times do we have to play this ridiculous charade? You should bloody well know by now that Celestia won’t help me. She wants me dead!”

Storm snapped around, shining his light in my direction, though I’d already moved elsewhere. Keep your foe guessing, and you will always get the drop on them.

Sighing, Storm shook his head. “Sister, dear, you have been corrupted by Nightmare Moon’s magic. We don’t want to kill you; we want to cure you.”

“Don’t you dare talk about Princess Luna that way!” I snapped, re-appearing behind him and slamming the doors shut. I don’t know how, but I swear my brother has only gotten more preachy with age. “Do you have any idea how much she suffered because of Celestia’s selfishness?”

“I don’t know what falsity that monster has fed to you, Dusk, but you can’t ignore the truth. Repent!”

So, there I was, ready to slip back into the shadows and throw out another witty retort when boom! Storm was behind me. Before I knew it, he’d swung at me with his giant war hammer, hitting with a force to send me flying across the room! Believe me when I’m lucky the blow wasn’t a clean hit. That weapon of his can smash statues to pieces with one swing, but on a glancing blow, I managed to twist around in mid-air without much effort, righting myself in time to land gracefully on her hooves. Perfect ten!

What was puzzling, however, was how he got the drop on me. All ponies had magic, sure, but a teleporting Pegasus was supposed to be an oxymoron. Heck, I remember when it was used as a metaphor for the impossible!

“Do you like my new armour, dear sister?” Storm said with mock whimsy like I was no smarter than a toddler. “It contains a portion of Celestia’s magic, not dissimilar to your own. She made it specifically for her most devoted Paladins. Even now, she is finding new ways to improve the lives of all ponies under her benevolent kingdom. Please, if you would just come quietly, it would be her pleasure to show you the wonders of her light.”

“You still don’t get it, do you?” I made a show of cracking her neck, pretending the nasty bruise on my back didn’t exist. “How’s it that Celestia’s magic is a blessing, while Luna’s a curse?”

Storm’s eye twitched. “Dusk, do you have any idea how lucky you are?”

“What’s that supposed to—”

“Don’t you think I’m aware how desperate Celestia is to scrub all traces of Nightmare Moon from existence? Have you even once considered how much I’ve had to beg and grovel at Celestia’s hooves, just to allow me, specifically, to capture you? Look me in the eye and tell me how any other Paladin wouldn’t simply kill you on sight!”

To that, I laughed. “As if that’s not what you came here to do. Listen, bro, you can preach all you like, but all it makes you is just another one of Celestia’s diamond dogs, swallowing whatever bullshit she spoon-feeds you. Y’know everything you just claimed about mercy? It’s as paper-thin as your tyrant’s grasp on Equestria.”

Storm’s magic gem flashed again, just as I’d hoped he’d do. By the time he’d swung again, I was already gone, vanishing back into the shadows. For the moment, I’d lost him, but my brother is a persistent git. Already he’d reverted his gem’s light to a projection, methodically scanning the room for any clue toward my whereabouts.

This was my perfect chance to escape. This church may not be the biggest Equestria has to offer, but it’s plenty big enough to keep any searcher occupied for a good while. By the time he’d realise I was gone, it’d be too late!

But I didn’t run. See, here’s the thing. What would I do if I did run? Continue to hide and hope that Celestia would give up the chase? She’d set Storm upon me, for Luna’s sake! He’s the one pony who’d break all laws of magic and perform a sonic rainboom if Celestia told him to.

Even if my physical scars heal with ease, the pain in my heart will continue to grow. I guess I can’t deny it any longer; I’m sick of running. The war is over. Nightmare Moon lost, and all her former forces have scattered. How many of us are even left? For all I know, I could be the last bat pony in all Equestria.

Frankly, I’ve had enough. No more pulling punches: it’s time for me to roll the dice and make my shot, changing the fate of all bat ponies. I will set an example for all Equestria to see! Tonight, Celestia’s tyranny will be unopposed no longer.

Still cloaked in shadow, I took flight once more. This would have to be quick. One swift slash to the back of Storm’s neck would do the trick. It wouldn’t kill him, but he would become paralysed, forgoing the need for further bloodshed. After that, I was certain Celestia’s propaganda would crumble under the weight of my truth.

All I needed was an opening.

Then, I saw it. As Storm turned back toward the door, he revealed a small gap between his helmet and his breastplate. Pitching myself forward, I dove into a low swoop, levelling off right as I entered striking distance. Banking hard left, I slashed in an outward arc, ready to feel the snap of his spinal cord breaking in two.

I wish I could say that was the end of it. Alas, my strike was off. Instead of carving open flesh, my claw just scraped loudly across the back of Storm’s chest armour. I pushed my wings level and flapped hard to ascend too late. My brother quickly turned the tables, pirouetting on his back hoof, warping upwards and swinging his hammer, smashing into my hind leg with an audible crack.

Yelping in pain, I jerked my leg back reflexively, an action that I tried and failed to offset. All the magic in the world isn’t going to keep you flying straight if your weight is off balance. I tried my best to recover, micro-flexing my wing this way and that, but Storm wasn’t finished. Another flash and he was above me, his next brutal strike sending me into a spiral dive.

With no room to recover, I curled myself into a ball and braced for impact. I hit the concrete floor, hard, bouncing once, twice, then skidding to a stop a metre shy of the crypt doors.

“What exactly do you hope to achieve, again, dear?” Storm called with a mocking sneer. “You’re only making this harder for yourself! All this violence, for what? Some foolish sense of loyalty to the fallen Princess? Look around you! Nightmare Moon failed. You and all your kind alike have failed! The longer you cling to her wretched ideas of supremacy, the harsher your punishment will be!”

“What do you know?! You rejected her love!” I spat out a mouthful of blood, forcing myself to my hooves despite the searing muscle pain. “She could’ve been happy, leading a prosperous land of ponies who preferred the quiet of night to the hectic lives of day-dwellers. But Celestia was selfish, getting goons like you to enforce night-time curfews. She drove Luna into isolation, no, into insanity! Nightmare Moon is her fault!”

“T-that’s…” Storm stuttered, trailing off. For the briefest of seconds, I swear I saw his hard exterior falter – only to shake his head, grit his teeth and narrow his eyes at me. “That’s heresy! To think that division could ever create anything but strife… that’s the insane notion, here!”

“Much like Mother Moon, I’d rather be insane than gullible, dear brother.” I grinned, baring my fangs. We bat ponies are a hardy lot, but we’re not invincible. What little time I’d bought did me good, allowing Mother Moon’s magic to replenish my body from the smaller scrapes.

Already, I’d formed a new plan. If I could stall for a few more seconds, I’d be back in the game, ready to press the offensive and gain the edge in the war of words.

“You have always been like this,” I said, flicking my mane back as I mimicked Storm’s thick condescension. “Celestia tells you to jump, you ask, ‘how high?’. She could feed you poison mushrooms, and you, spineless coward that you are, would eat a whole banquet.”

“I follow Celestia because she is the master of light. Without her blessings, her structure, there would be neither productivity nor prosperity. Luna had it easy, by comparison, and still she demanded more.” Storm closed his eyes for a moment, bowing his head as if in prayer. “So many ponies were slaughtered by your kind. All because they refused to be indoctrinated into your separatist cult.”

To that, I just shook my head and smiled. “Alright, then. Since I clearly need to spell this out for you, here’s my point in plain Equish: You are a wimp. More than that, you’re a bully, praying on the weak and helpless instead of standing up for yourself. The curfew oppressed us, hurt us, all thanks to the likes of you – sucking up to whatever damned authority will pat you on the head and call you a good boy. I know I called you a diamond dog, but even those mongrels know real danger when they see it.”

Storm clenched his jaw, pursing his lips as he bit back a retort. You have no idea how much I wanted to cackle, loudly declaring that ‘resistance is futile’! Though, let’s be honest; that would’ve been way too on the nose, even for me.

“What’s the matter, brother? Don’t tell me the heathen bat pony touched a raw nerve? Surely your faith in Celestia isn’t misplaced… or is it? It would be such a shame if you had to concede a point that maybe, just maybe, your holy Princess of the Sun isn’t as pure as she claims to be?”

“Shut up!” At last, Storm had taken the bait. Just as he launched himself into a flying swing, I rolled my shoulders under the attack, popping up and stabbing a wing blade into his exposed shoulder joint.

Storm recoiled, letting out a sharp yelp of pain as blood seeped out of the wound. Gritting his teeth, he threw himself into another attack, holding his hammer high and slamming it downwards over my back. I dodged again, this time slicing several of Storm’s flight feathers.

The game was set. All I had to do was dance around his attacks, retaliating with small, token attacks in response. My strikes would never be as devastating as his, purposefully so. I scored no more than a flesh wound or two here and there, all of which, aimed away from the vital organs, were healed a moment later.

The longer our dance went on, the deeper Storm’s scowl grew, his defiant battle cries reverberating into a single wall of incoherent bellowing. At this rate, it wouldn’t take long for the red mist to consume him, throwing about his hammer with wild abandon. By then, his magic would run out, leaving me to take advantage of his critical blunders and score the final, decisive move to seal my victory.

Yet the fight progressed, the blunders didn’t come. No matter what I did, the berserker I expected never materialised. If anything, his stances tightened, emotion draining from his face to instead leave him as a blank, indifferent fighting machine. At that rate, I would barely put a dent in his magic reserves, much less deplete them!

With weapons as small as mine, there was only so much time I could spend locked in combat. My fighting style has always been the same, even before I became a lunar Pegasus: Dodge, rush, strike, retreat, wearing down the enemy’s resistance until they either gave up or revealed an opening.

By this point, you and I both know the former wasn’t going to happen. As much as I hate to admit it, I can be just as stubborn as my brother sometimes. It’s easy to construct a false reality if it means avoiding an inconvenient truth. To Storm, I was no longer his sister. I was just another extremely dangerous fugitive who had killed countless ponies in Nightmare Moon’s name.

So, what was I supposed to think? Why did Storm insist on chasing me down, specifically? Had Celestia seriously erased all sense of logic within him? Why couldn’t he just let me fucking live?

Maybe Celestia is right about me after all…

I disengaged, flying over my brother to the church’s crypt doors. “Well, Storm, it’s been fun,” I said with a disgruntled sigh. “But I think it’s time we go our separate ways. Don’t bother following me.”

“Not so fast!” Storm launched into another attack, but I made no effort to move. Instead, I blinked, then pushed my eyes wide open and glared. Remember what I said before about common bat pony myths? Well, even if the drinking blood part is false, there’s one skill that is based on fact.

Storm skidded to a halt, nearly dropping his hammer as his body went slack.

“Enjoy your dreams, brother,” I grumbled. “Maybe then Celestia will reward your efforts instead of pestering me.”

“No!”

His shout froze me mid-turn, and my ears pricked up. Had my hypnotism failed?

“Please, don’t do this, Dusk! I can’t lose you to the curse… not like the others.”

Others? I tilted my head. What was he blathering about? He should’ve been neck-deep into his fight with imaginary skeletons by now.

“Riptide, Storm Surge, Hazy Dawn, Wander Star; I’m sorry. Celestia forgive me for what I must do.”

Slumping to his haunches, Storm gripped his hammer in both hooves, then reversed it.

My eyes went wide. “Wait!”

Too late. The gem shattered, then exploded with a burst of magic, blowing the crypt door off its hinge and shattering the stone archway that held it in place. I managed to leap clear in time, but the threat of further structural collapse wasn’t my only problem. Blinking rapidly to clear my spotty vision, I glanced back over to my brother.

He was panting heavily, sweat trickling down the side of his face, but he held strong, retaining enough of the enchantment to shroud himself in shimmering, golden light. In particular, the aura settled around his wings, channelling through a pair of armoured winglets slipped over the edge of his flight feathers. To the casual observer, it would have looked like his wingspan had doubled in size!

This could mean only one thing; it was time for me to get out of there.

I flapped my wings hard to escape, but if Storm’s teleportation was fast before, somehow his next move was quicker than that. In the time it took for me to turn my head, he was above me, slamming his hammer into my belly with a force to smash me straight through the ceiling!

I landed on the outside roof with a heavy thump, wheezing as I tried to get my breath back. The heavy rain quickly soaked me to the bone, my shivering muscles exacerbating the tremendous stabbing pain of my broken ribs.

“You disappoint me, Dusk.”

Storm landed in front of me, setting down so gracefully his hooves barely made a sound. His vocal pitch had dropped an octave, and though his tone was dark, I could still hear the odd crack in his voice. Whether his eyes were wet with tears or rain, I couldn’t tell.

“I had hoped beyond all reason that you would be different from Nightmare Moon. Perhaps I was deluding myself, as I had before Moonrise. Once, we served as two sides of the same coin for the good of all. But now? Now you’ve shown your true colours. The moment you defiled the dead through necromancy, you crossed a terrible threshold from which there is no return.”

I forced out a laugh, though it came out as hacking cough instead. “By Luna’s shimmering mane, you are so bloody gullible, aren’t you?” I tried to stand, but couldn’t, nearly losing my tenuous grip on the slippery roof. “I was hoping you’d fall for that stupid trick, but to break your own gem over it and waste all that magic? Suppose I couldn’t convince you to jump off the roof and become an earth pony, eh?”

“Shut up!” Storm snapped, gritting his teeth and kicking me in the ribs. “For Celestia’s sake, why don’t you ever shut up? This could have been over a long time ago. Instead, you continue to run your mouth off and make things worse for yourself.”

“Get on with it.”

Storm paused, narrowing his eyes at me.

“What choice do you have? I’m an evil bat pony, terrorising Equestria by my existence alone. Maybe you should stop talking and get it over with?”

You may think it’s a suicidal move to taunt an over-zealous Paladin, and you aren’t wrong. But there was one last thing I could do to maybe make it out alive. When you’re lying broken and cold in the middle of a rainstorm, sometimes, the only thing left to do is gamble.

The short swing of Storm’s hammer came down in time to a crash of thunder. At the last second, I puffed out my chest, lining the hammer’s head to strike me square on the collar bone, shattering my gem.

If I were to describe the magic of Princess Luna, it would be similar, but also significantly different to Celestia’s. If the light magic of Celestia fell upon him like an aura, then the so-called ‘nightmare magic’ was a direct transformation.

Words can’t describe how much it hurt, nearly making me black out. My muscles bulked up, my bones snapped and reformed over and over. My features were already bat-like, but now they were enhanced to an even greater degree. My wing span doubled and my fangs elongated. Letting out a loud, feral hiss, I vanished into the darkness, re-appearing above Storm a second later. I struck with an outward crossing slash, aimed straight at my brother’s neck.

He blocked the attack, but no sooner had my claws made contact, I was gone again. If he was surprised, he didn’t show it. He snapped around just as fast as I could re-appear, blocking my attack with the side of his hammer, glaring at me with a deep scowl. Rotating his hammer up and around, he pushed me back, reversed his grip, then slammed it back down.

I dodged it, the flat of Storm’s hammer smashing clean through the roof. Once again, I dropped from sight, this time flying higher to get a better vantage point. My brother followed suit, streaks of light flowing in his wake. He was upon me the moment I left the shadows, twirling his hammer from his left hoof, catching it with his right, then using the momentum to rocket upward into a spiral climb.

I can’t tell you how long this went on for. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours. We went back and forth, with me blinking in and out of reality, while he reacted just as fast, magic light bursting from each attack. Yet neither of us would let up. I can only begin to imagine what it must have looked like from the village beyond the church, watching as two Pegasi clawed, kicked and smacked each other around high above.

Somehow, we both made it to dawn alive. By then, our magic had run its course. Panting heavily, our transformations reverted and we collapsed onto the church roof. We had done quite the number on it, too. By the amount of holes we’d punched into it, the insides must have been flooded from the unending torrential rain.

My whole body felt like I’d been hit by a rockslide, and from the way Storm leant on his hammer, he felt the same. We looked as bad as we felt, too. My whole body was covered in an assortment of cuts and bruises, and I’m pretty sure my ribs were cracked twice over by this point.

“So,” I said, forcing myself to swallow the acidic mix of blood and bile rising in my throat. “Here we are. Still alive.”

“And not through lack of trying, either,” Storm replied.

“Indeed. But you’re not giving up, are you?”

“You know I can’t.” Storm cast his eyes down, letting out an exasperated sigh. “From the moment Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon, our destiny was set. You devoted yourself to a monster, and thus became a monster yourself.”

I slumped to my haunches. If his words had stung before, now they stabbed me through my heart, each proclamation twisting the knife further. Perhaps, it seemed, that I was doomed to die after all. “Do you want to kill me?”

“I told you, I don’t have a choice—”

“That’s not what I asked, Storm,” I snapped through quivering lips. “Please, I’m begging you, look me in the eye and tell me straight; do you want to kill me?”

“I… I…” Storm opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, fidgeting with his hooves. “I can’t do it.”

“Why not?” I pressed through a cracked, sobbing voice. “You spend so much time proclaiming your holy devotion to Celestia. But through all this talk of duty, all this talk of doing what’s right, why can’t you answer even the simplest question. What do you want out of all this?”

“Dusk, I need to show you something.”

With his free hoof, Storm unclasped his breast plate on one side and pulled out a small, soggy piece of paper. Silently, he gave it to me. The words written on it were barely legible, as most of the ink had smeared by the rain. But the words written at the top of the page jumped out at me immediately.

‘Execution Mission: Dusk Chaser. Gender: Stallion Mare’’

“These are my orders,” Storm explained. “Whether through magical purging or through death, this is my duty. But I refuse to let them misgender you. You are my sister, nothing will change that.”

In that moment, I was left speechless, staring dumbfounded as I re-read the same words over and over. From all the details he could have objected to, he put his hoof down about my status as a transgender mare. Then, I heard a loud clatter of roof something hitting the roof tiles. I looked up to find Storm had dropped his hammer.

“I don’t want to kill you,” he said, his expression crumpled with sorrow as tears streamed down his face. “I never have. How am I supposed to feel about killing my own sister? Only as a Paladin could I justify it. What Nightmare Moon did… she took so much from me. My comrades, my home, all of Ponyville, gone. How else am I supposed to keep Equestria safe if not by eliminating potential evil?”

“Believe it or not, I understand.”

Storm looked up at me, blinking away the tears but choosing not to reply. Instead, he just titled his head.

“The citizens of Ponyville weren’t part of the war. Just because they weren’t one of us, we Children of the Night, didn’t mean they oppressed us. They weren’t the ones forcing bat ponies to work long hours in the blinding sunlight, burning our skin. I have blood on my hooves, and I stand by that. But not once did I ever consider taking out my anger on innocent civilians.

“Instead, I just watched, standing idle as my comrades in arms slaughtered their way through every pony in their way, no matter their age, no matter their gender. I allowed it to happen, and for that…” I trailed off, the words caught in my mouth. No words of apology could ever be enough to atone for my sins. What Storm said was true: I couldn’t outrun accountability forever.

So, there we were. Two broken, sniffling ponies, facing against each other. It would have been a pitiful sight. For several long minutes, we remained frozen in a silent stalemate.

“Nuts to this,” I said, at last. “Storm, aren’t you sick of this damned time loop?”

Storm blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Princess Luna… I mean, she became Nightmare moon because she was angry. She was hurting on a deep, visceral level. Now Celestia is the angry one. See where I’m going with this?”

Storm took a deep breath and looked up at me. “The sun and moon, day and night, we need one as much as the other. Dusk Blossom, swear a new oath with me. Will you stand with me and finally bring this bloody crusade to an end?”

“Under one condition,” I replied, flexing the end of my wing similar to how Storm may hold up a feather. “No more cleansing. We will deal with the renegades, but eradicating bat ponies from existence has to stop.”

Retrieving his hammer, Storm knelt before me and held it aloft with his wings. “Cross your weapons with mine, and our oath shall be set.”

---

Dear Diary

After the fight between me and my brother, I’m pleased to say we’ve both turned over a new leaf. The church was in bad shape, but my hope is that, with time, we can repair the damage. Maybe then it can be returned to its original purpose: a tribute to both our Princesses.

Mother Moon, I haven’t forgotten you. Neither I nor any pony could ever forget you. You will always have a special place in our hearts, we Children of the Night. But Celestia was right about one thing. We do need unity, not division. That means no more hiding. It’s time to stop treating the Sun as the antithesis of the Moon.

I hope that, one day, you can see the error of your ways and return to us – not as Nightmare Moon, but as Princess Luna. For now, I’ve managed to salvage the last page of my old diary from the flooded church. I’ll be keeping it close to my chest, but it will be separate from this new diary I’ve started today.

Storm and I have a long road ahead of us. It won’t be easy, turning Celestia from her dark path. I don’t know if we’ll succeed. But, I guess, it’s better to try and fail than to have never tried at all.

I want to live bathed in Moonlight, standing guard over the sleeping day dwellers. Storm wants that future, too. Even if we can’t achieve that in my lifetime, I hope that my story will live on, inspiring future generations to take up our mantle. Who knows? Maybe one day, Ponyville can be rebuilt. It could become a hub for all ponykind to come together for the common good! A lofty dream, but what’s wrong with dreaming a little, eh?

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. For now, rest easy, Princess Luna.

Yours in love, until the stars stop shining, Dusk Blossom.

Author's Note:

Phew, this story is finally done! The one-two punch of seasonal depression and trying to "upgrade" an old story with more nuance has proven to make writing this to be a slog. Even so, I hope I managed to capture the ideas of morally grey characters and having, well, any subtext what so ever, lol.

This story marks 10 years of me taking writing as a regular hobby, rather than a one-off experiment or two. In that time, I have grown and evolved my writing skills, partly in thanks to all of you, my audience, It's through your comments and your enthusiasm for my work that motivates me to keep learning and honing my craft.

I want to make 2022 a big year for my writing, both in terms of fanfiction and original fantasy stories. If you like what I do and want to help support my upcoming projects, then feel free to contribute to my Patreon page. Any amount helps!

Until next time, stay excellent to each other =3.

Comments

[OP Omni God-Emperor Doom]

Twilight and her friends will be disgusted with Celestia.

[Falkenlied]

Story-wise, this is supposed to be an action drama with a political and philosophical argument in the backdrop and I have to say that it...kinda does its job...alternating in which one of the four it does best throughout the story. I mean, in all honesty, all Dusk managed to do was convince her brother to become a renegade like her after purposefully trying to leave him as a cripple

This

Even if my physical scars heal with ease, the pain in my heart will continue to grow. I guess I can’t deny it any longer; I’m sick of running. The war is over. Nightmare Moon lost, and all her former forces have scattered. How many of us are even left? For all I know, I could be the last bat pony in all Equestria.

Followed by this

Still cloaked in shadow, I took flight once more. This would have to be quick. One swift slash to the back of Storm’s neck would do the trick. It wouldn’t kill him, but he would become paralysed, forgoing the need for further bloodshed. After that, I was certain Celestia’s propaganda would crumble under the weight of my truth.

Just tells me that these are two fanatics going at each other's throats. I feel as if their direct blood relation had absolutely nothing to do with the story, it weighed very little to Storm and seemingly nothing to Dusk. Here's another example:

“These are my orders,” Storm explained. “Whether through magical purging or through death, this is my duty. But I refuse to let them misgender you. You are my sister, nothing will change that.”

"They might brainwash you, they might purge you, they might kill you, but your wanted posted/grave will have your correct gender"
I mean. I'm sorry, but this is some lackluster brotherly love on display. Nvm that Storm comes off as the more concerned one, Dusk outright tried to cripple him in order to "Show Celestia the truth"

And then we get golden nuggets like this:

“I don’t want to kill you,” he said, his expression crumpled with sorrow as tears streamed down his face. “I never have. How am I supposed to feel about killing my own sister? Only as a Paladin could I justify it. What Nightmare Moon did… she took so much from me. My comrades, my home, all of Ponyville, gone. How else am I supposed to keep Equestria safe if not by eliminating potential evil?”

Where through-out the combat, the actual relationship suddenly matters. It's what I mean by "It succeeds in an alternating fashion". Character-wise, I didn't really care much for either Storm or Dusk at the end since I didn't buy much of their familial relationship or love. I do understand that Storm's POV is that he's trying to capture Dusk so she has a better survival chance but I really didn't "get" much of anything from Dusk.

Grammar wise it's pretty good, I did spot some minor errors here and there, but nothing major to make it unreadable. Pacing is good, which is important for the fight scenes. I did understand most of them, and really liked the end part transformations and the summoning of each particular's magic.

Thanks for writing this and keep improving!

[Mystic Mind]

11150448
Thank you for the feedback! This kind of character balance was difficult to write, as while I can write interesting villains, writing morally grey characters is much harder. This was an experiment, and I know I'll get better with time.