The Hidden Story

by Cryogenii

A Voice in the Darkness

Familiar as the well worn rituals of a loving family, the stars and planets danced their eternal journeys in front of Luna’s eyes. The lines they traced had long since burned themselves into her memory, as their coming and going were the only companions she had known for many centuries and unable to move she couldn't direct her gaze anywhere else.

Each point of light had a voice and a personality that had come to her over the long years of her banishment. These were the only companions she knew and now their imagined conversations kept her company in the eternal night. Over the long, lonely years she had come to know their quirks and mannerisms, the voices that her lonely mind had assigned to each.

Now however there seemed to be something else. Something new, which was tugging away at her consciousness. How long had it been there? She couldn’t tell, but slowly the interruption had become clearer and more compelling. A new, yet familiar voice. One that once had been enraged and vengeful but now seems transformed into something else.

“Can you hear me sister? Oh please speak to me, let me know that your mind isn’t truly lost”, came a melodious voice which held warmth and compassion within it.

“Thou… thou art real?” stammered Princess Luna, barely knowing how to bring forth the words in her mind.

“Yes Sister. I have been calling to you, pleading for you to hear my voice. I feared you were lost.”

“Lost? Where else could We be?” came the weak reply, "Our imprisonment is eternal."

“You had not answered in such a long time, Sister.” the speaker seemed to be overwhelmed. "We could not reach you."

“Thy voice was hidden in the voices of the cosmos. Alone here there are so many speaking to Us. The stars and planets. The screams of comets. The Tantabus.”

Celestia paused, uncertain of whether her sister’s mind was irretrievably broken. “You are alone Sister, and have been for neigh on a millenia.”

“Sister? We had a sister… but art Thou the dictator of Equestria?”

“Oh Luna, so much time has passed and I’m so tired. I've grown and see the mistakes I made, and that you've paid the price for the folly of my youth. This path that I chose has placed such a heavy burden upon me."

Luna almost scoffed at the thought that her sister could even contemplate comparing the toll of ruling Equestria for a thousand years to that of her banishment to the moon, a literal vacuum devoid of any freedoms. Could she still be angered by that act of rebellion, so long past?

"So what doth thou desire of Us?" Luna asked, trying not to offend and lose this unprecedented spark of company.

“We wish to share our burden”, Celestia replied. “If you will accept that My rule is absolute and serve me, then I wish for you to once again be the custodian of the night.”

Luna expressed her surprise, “Thou wish that We proclaim Our fealty to Thou and kneel at Thine throne? In exchange for this Thou will release Us from our chains?”

“Yes, Sister”, said Celestia. There was a long pause, as Luna seemed to be overcome by the prospect of freedom. Her mind was ripped by two thoughts; that she might live with the shame of her own weakness if she submitted to be able to return home or otherwise forever curse her pride if she condemned herself to eternal imprisonment because of it.

Celestia unconsciously held her breath. Could her sister ever acquiesce to her wishes? It had been so long, if the bitterness and resentment that led to Luna's rebellion had continued to burn for all these years it seemed impossible that there could be reconciliation. Would Luna accept what Celestia was offering, on her terms?

Finally Luna spoke again, “We will do as Thou wish, Sister. To be free to move and draw breath will make the bondage of serving Thou seem like nothing.”

“Oh Sister, you will see I have been a kind and just monarch. I’ve not become the monster you feared all those centuries ago."

“Release Us then, that I may be amongst Thy loving subjects.”

“If only it was so simple as a remorseful sister, forgiven and returned from banishment”, said Celestia sadly, “the story of your banishment has changed with so many tellings. You are the monster of my subject's imagination.

“What was the nightmare on the moon has become a tale of a monster known as Nightmare Moon. The cult of personality that has grown around me has painted you as a tyrannical force, defeated by My righteousness.”

“Nay Sister, 'tis not true! We quarrelled over Thine own desire for tyranny.”

Celestia paused, she still felt that sting of her sister's betrayal keenly. However she also needed to accept that her own desires, a millennia ago, to be the supreme monarch of all Equestria had hurt Luna far worse. It was the princess of the night who had suffered a torture that would've destroyed a lesser being than an alicorn, but whose very immortality had perpetuated that suffering.

“Yes Sister, but history is written by the victorious. And so, you became the monster.” sighed Celestia regretfully. She conjured an image of Nightmare Moon into her sister's mind.

"How doth thou let this falsehood stand Sister!" Luna cried out, "Slitted eyes and fangs? We are a demon in Equestria's eyes!"

"Every hero needs their nemesis, and you were to be mine. The endless retelling of the tale has twisted your image, and I've done nothing to correct it for it served my purpose." Celestia paused before continuing with a regretful tone, "I see now that my lie of omission has turned from a convenience to a trap. I'm sorry, Sister."

“Then there is no hope for Us, Sister. How dost a monster return?”

“Have hope, Sister, for I have a plan for such an event,” came Celestia's reassuring reply, "for there was a prophecy written long ago, by an old friend, that serves exactly this purpose.

Author's Note:

How did Luna return? This was a mystery...

Comments

[Pete100]

Why would luna accept that deal?