Moonrise: The Birth Of The New Lunar Empire

by Drunk Luna

Chapter Five

The sun nearly blinded Circe when she stepped outside the next morning. As she blinked to adjust to the intense light, the eggplant-colored pony bumped straight into another alicorn, who boasted a lavender coat, a straight, pink, purple and navy mane and tail, dark purple eyes, a cutie mark of a pink star surrounded by smaller white stars, and a genuine smile that was almost as bright as the sun that still threatened to rob Circe of her sight.

"You must be Luna's daughter," the alicorn said cheerfully. "Hi, I'm Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, bearer of the Element of Magic, and former student of Princess Celestia. You're Circe, right?" Circe couldn't help but smile back at Twilight as she nodded.

"That's me. Nice to meet you, Twilight. I am glad you have decided to come hither to converse with me. I have not made a lot of friends here yet; I am still trying to get used to the trees, grass, sunlight, weather, and everything else. We only had nighttime on the moon."

"Oh, all of this must be so exciting for you, then!" Twilight enthused. "How do you like Celestia? She must be such a cool aunt. I'm jealous!"

"She seems kind," Circe lied, forcing a megawatt smile. "I am looking forward to getting to know her better. What was she like as a teacher?" Twilight's eyes nearly closed as her smile widened. The lavender alicorn was practically bursting with admiration.

"She's like a second mom to me," Twilight said. "Celestia has taught me so much about the magic of friendship. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be a princess. She's the one who insisted on sending me to Ponyville to make friends, and if she hadn't done that, I never would have met the best friends I could have asked for. Wanna come to Ponyville with me? I can show you around and introduce you to everypony; I am the Princess of Friendship, after all." Despite her irritation with Twilight's excessive admiration of Celestia, Circe began to relax as she nodded excitedly. Twilight was the first pony to speak to her as an equal. Even Luna's servants eyed Circe with suspicion, as if Nightmare Moon had somehow corrupted her.

Before either of them could say another word, a gigantic shadow covered the two alicorns. Circe slowly lifted her head and glared at the impossibly tall purple and green figure that now loomed over them, which she instantly recognized as a dragon. With a growl, Circe planted her hooves firmly and illuminated her horn.

"Leave at once, foul beast, or you shall be vanquished!" she bellowed, her Royal Canterlot Voice shaking the ground. Twilight's eyes widened.

"Oh, no, Circe, it's okay!" Twilight assured the younger princess. "Spike is harmless; in fact, he's one of my best friends. I raised him, so he's pretty much my son." Circe relaxed as the dragon sat down, causing a small earthquake as he did so.

"Hi, Circe. Welcome to Equestria," Spike said cheerfully. "It's nice to meet you. What did you do while you were on the moon?" Circe blinked, and her face began to flush at the bluntness of the purple dragon's sudden question. Twilight gave Spike a forceful nudge in the ribs, shutting him up as she gave Circe an apologetic look.

"He's fine," Circe chuckled, smiling warmly as she turned to the dragon. "Actually, the moon was quite nice. My mom built a castle for us there, and she taught me all about Equestria. Even so, this place is still quite shocking to the senses. What is there to do here?" Twilight's eyes grew large with excitement.

"Come on," she said, "I'm going to introduce you to all of my friends, and we'll show you a great time. Follow me!" She spread her wings and took off, motioning for Circe to follow. The aubergine alicorn joined Twilight in the sky, inhaling the fresh, warm breeze.

Around half an hour later, the two princesses and the dragon landed in a green field filled with beautiful apple trees. A red and white barn stood a little ways down the hill, and two Earth ponies stood in front of it. The larger pony, a palomino in a cowboy hat, waved to the two alicorns. Her thick golden mane hung in a short braid over her shoulder, and her flanks boasted a cutie mark of three red apples. The palomino waved and galloped up the hill, followed closely by a smaller pony, who had a pale yellow coat. The filly's pinkish red mane was pulled back with a large pink bow.

"Howdy, Twilight!" the palomino called in a strong Southern accent. Her smile grew, making her green eyes sparkle as she looked over at Circe. "Howdy, there. You must be Princess Circe. Nice ta meet ya. I'm Applejack, and this young'un behind me is Applebloom." The pale yellow filly waved and bounded up to Circe.

"Yer mama's Princess Luna, right?" Applebloom asked. "That must be fun. Do y'all wanna try some of our apples? They're real good. Granny Smith just made a fresh apple pie if y'all wanna come in fer a slice. That pie's so good, it'll make ya wanna slap yer mama!"

"No, thanks," Twilight said with a smile. "We would, but I want to make sure Circe gets to meet everypony before the end of the day." Applejack wrapped up some slices of pie for Circe to take home for herself and Luna, then Twilight took Circe to a boutique in the center of Ponyville. As they entered the store, Circe saw a pretty white unicorn with a glossy purple mane and tail. As soon as she saw Twilight, the unicorn trotted elegantly up to the ponies and Spike, the latter of whom was blushing madly.

"Why, Twilight, what a pleasant surprise, darling," the unicorn cooed in a clipped transatlantic accent. "Hello, Spikey Wikey." She gave the dragon a small peck on the cheek, making him fall over like a piece of paper in a hurricane.

"Rarity, meet Princess Circe. She's Luna's daughter," Twilight said. Circe smiled as Rarity greeted her with an elegant curtsy.

'It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Royal Highness," the unicorn said. "If you ever need a dress for any sort of royal event, I am always at your service. Your dear mother and aunt always wear my gowns to the Grand Galloping Gala. Just say the word, darling, and one of my dresses will be yours." Circe's mouth curved upward in a soft smile.

"Wow, thank you, Rarity," Circe replied, touched by the offer. "I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I need a gown for any occasion."

"Of course, darling!" Rarity chirped. "I'm always so honored to dress a princess. You would look absolutely stunning in black, Your Royal Highness." Smiling, Circe thanked Rarity once more.

As they exited the shop, Circe's ears perked. A flock of birds sat in a nearby tree, singing a beautiful song. A yellow pegasus with a long pink mane and tail stood in front of the tree, directing them. After the song had ended, Twilight spoke up.

"Fluttershy," she called, "meet Princess Circe." The pegasus blushed as her birds flew away.

"Hi, Fluttershy," Circe said. "Your song was lovely."

"Th-thank you," Fluttershy whispered. "We've been practicing for a few weeks now. The p-princess' birthday is coming up, and she asked my birds and me to perform at her party."

"The princess?" Circe raised an eyebrow. "You are aware that Equestria once again has two princesses at its helm, are you not? To which princess are you referring?" The pegasus' eyes widened.

"Oh, no, Princess," Fluttershy said quickly. "I didn't mean to offend you. I beg your pardon."

"There's no need to apologize," Circe replied with a smile. "I'm still getting used to living in a country with two rulers. I imagine it must be even harder for you, as an Equestrian citizen, to adjust to having an additional pony in charge. Thank you for your role in returning my mother to her rightful place as..." she sucked in a breath and gritted her teeth, hoping her face wasn't showing the utter contempt she harbored for Luna's title, "...as co-ruler of Equestria." If Twilight noticed Circe's discomfort, she didn't react.

"Princess Celestia is such an amazing ruler," the princess of friendship gushed. "She's just so smart, kind, wise, powerful. I was so lucky to have her as a mentor. She told me that she considers me to be the daughter she never had, so I guess that makes you and I kind of like cousins!" she giggled. "Luna is great, too, though I'm not as close with her as I am with Celestia. Celestia's job is incredibly difficult. Luna is so lucky; she gets to fight off things that can't actually hurt ponies, and when she's not doing that, she only has to create beautiful nights for us." Twilight's last statement sent Circe over the edge. Her entire body trembled with rage as she stopped dead in her tracks.

"How dare you," Circe growled in a voice that sounded as low and ominous as an approaching thunderstorm. "How dare you undermine my mother's role. You have no idea about the duties required of her. The tasks she must perform every night are very much needed. How can the bearer of the Element of Magic be so astoundingly ignorant?" she spat. "Celestia actually neglected my mother's duties, other than raising and lowering the moon, for a millennium. Your 'mentor' is so emotionally weak and unkind that she not only banished her own sister to the moon after she pushed Luna to her breaking point and refused to take any responsibility for her actions when Luna felt neglected and finally decided she'd had enough, but she also couldn't be bothered to grant a peaceful end to billions of dying ponies--a job that her sister treasured--during my mother's absence. Celestia shirked my mother's most sacred duty: the task of escorting ponies to the afterlife so that nopony would ever die alone. Celestia has never even apologized to Luna for her substantial role in Nightmare Moon's creation, yet she expected Luna to not only apologize for lashing out at her because she only wanted to be loved, but also to accept her absolutely warped idea of 'friendship.' Celestia is a narcissist, a failure, and a disgrace, and the fact that you took friendship lessons from a pony who has done such reprehensible things to her own sister is absolutely laughable. I would take a good, long look at myself if I were you." With a snort, Circe turned and ran off to Luna's wing of the castle, her nostrils flaring with rage.

Comments

[GhostCreator]

another story where a pony is born on the moon.
Well time to read!

[GhostCreator]

If I can ask what inspired you to write this story?

[Drunk Luna]

11549956
Resentment toward Celestia, if I'm being honest. She is a complete narcissist in my opinion.

[GhostCreator]

11549960
A little manipulative with a strike of ego and thousand years of worshiping.
It is quite an explosive mixture.
...
And I hoped that you were inspired by Family From the Moon.

[GhostCreator]

Twilight will see the errors of Celestia or will be eternally blind/servant to Celestia?

[The Sound of Loneliness]

Ummm... Although I am mostly excited for Luna, I must say that Circle is in desperate need of more characterisation. She may be as brilliant as Twilight is or more, but unearthing something that not even Twilight could find in her years of studying everything she could find in Canterlot libraries would be too much of a stretch. I am reserving cautious doubt that those documents were genuine, although that means that Luna is so blind that she could not spot a forgery by her own daughter.

[Max Stroberger]

I like this story yeah Luna had some valid points when she wanted to take over Equestria I like to think Celestia wasn't running it right and was always pushing Luna away.

[Yubella]

She lasted longer than I would've.

[Yubella]

11549960
Hatred and rivalry against Celestia. And a bit more.