Afraid of the Light

by BiniBean

Red Sun

Chapter Sixteen:

Luna reappeared in the dead silent lobby of Canterlot Castle. An uneasy feeling made her shiver as she began her slow journey up one of the major staircases in Canterlot Castle, leading to the throne room on the second level.

Luna didn't want to believe this was happening. She ignited her horn and tried to bring the moon back above the horizon again, but hissed in pain and was yanked away by an unseen fire burning against her wishes. She gritted her teeth and kept moving forward.

Luna had guilt over her actions when she was Nightmare Moon. She and Celestia had lengthy discussions over the incident and concluded that all was forgiven. At least...For Luna all was forgiving. Luna didn't blame Celestia for using the elements against her. After all, it's not like her sister had any other choice in what she did. Nightmare Moon was trying to kill her.

Luna was thankful she never had to make such a decision against Celestia. But, as she reflected on her sister's behaviour, and on the recent events, she was angry that she didn't see the complete signs. Her sister was crumbling into somepony Luna didn't know. Luna, in all her naive ways in wanting to believe her sister could only do good for the country, was blinded by the fact that her sister still had secrets.

She began to second-guess all of her interactions with her sister as she reached the second level of the castle, pausing to look through the nearby stained glass window beside the large throne room doors to the red-burning sky outside. She replayed how Celestia reacted to things. She flinched whenever somepony brought up how wonderful she was. She gritted her teeth and gave a huge fake smile each time a Noble tried to manipulate her into giving them what they wanted. Celestia gave everypony a fake smile. Not once had Luna actually seen a real smile but after a while she chalked it up to her sister being tired. Whenever Luna tried to have a deeper conversation with Celestia about how her sister was as a pony, she brushed it aside and quickly changed subjects.

If her sister had really...done the unthinkable, then Luna knew she only had two options. When Luna began Nightmare Moon, she was a different pony, but buried deep inside, far deep inside there was still a rational side of her that regretted every magic blast, laughter at the pain being caused and guilt over what horrible crimes she was committing. Nightmare Moon was far too mad to be reasoned with in the fury of battle but...Perhaps this time Luna could get through. Perhaps her sister hadn't completely fallen, learning from the mistake of Luna.

Either, Celestia and Luna talked...Or another banishment was about to take place.

Luna gave a long glance to the soldiers standing on either side of the door, now that she considered it, she was surprised how no guards had come to demand answers as to what was happening. She stared at the Solar Guards who held their spears on either side of the throne room doors. Their eyes glazed over with a red tint at the sign that all was not well with the Castle's guard.

She did a quick spell, pressing her horn against one of their helmets to try to break whatever was preventing them from free will. The spell, as she expected sputtered and died. The guard remained motionless, staring forward without a thought. Luna sighed and gave a long look at the large ancient doors.

She didn't want to hurt her sister.

She grabbed hold of the handles for the doors and swung them open to reveal the throne room of Equestria. She cringed as the heat wave slammed into her before she gagged on the muggy air. She steadied herself as she took a hesitant step inside the enormous hallway leading to the throne, looking up to see an Alicorn standing in front of the throne.

An Alicorn that was a twisted version of the sister she knew. Her sister's bright-coloured mane was turned into fire. Her royal jewelry twisted into battle armour and her eyes...Oh, her eyes were the worst of all. The colour of a Solar Eclipse as their glare burned into her own. Luna found herself unable to look away from the monster that used to be Celestia.

"Oh, Finally, the little moon decides to show her face." Her sister's voice rang across the throne room, echoing off the marble walls. Luna held her head high as she moved forward with more purpose.

"Sister, what have you done?" Luna demanded. The Alicorn sneered at the mention of who she was.

"I am not your sister, I am more than that. I am more than Celestia ever was. I am Daybreaker! A name that will be remembered throughout the centuries as I ensure your night remains under that horizon!"

"I have played this ridiculous game before, Monster!" Luna shouted back, flaring her wings as her rage grew at what was taking place. At the hopelessness that began to creep into her mind as she considered how she, herself was taken over to become Nightmare Moon. "Tell me why my sister would give in the likes of you!"

"She was sick of you. She was sick of all of you. Frankly, who can blame her?" Daybreaker snapped back as if the answer was obvious. Luna paused, trying to piece together what she meant. Daybreaker rolled her eyes as the confusion flashed plainly across Luna's face. "Fine, I will explain this in a way even a filly like you could understand. Your precious sister lived for centuries, living the same worthless nightmare. Ponies demanding this. Ponies demanding that. No matter what she did the cycle kept going. Ponies considered her perfect, expecting her to reach a godly standard that the weak-minded fool couldn't keep up forever, but oh she tried. When ponies considered her a worthless weak leader, she tried to appease them but of course, no pony would listen from whichever side they were on. They used her. They ignored her. She knew that the moment her usefulness was done, they would toss her aside. That sort of cycle would break anypony, don't you think?"

"But...My sister loves Equestria..." Luna stumbled out a response, struggling to come to terms with what Daybreaker was saying.

"LOVED." Daybreaker barked. "That love died the moment she saw their true nature, that idiot was in denial about it for far too long, I should have been in control centuries ago if she had just accepted fate! But..."

Daybreaker let out a hearty laugh, the same laugh Luna heard from the muffled sounds of Celestia's Nightmare as the fire Alicorn moved closer to the throne.

"She isn't here anymore to stop me. I can do whatever I want now. Which starts with rewriting Equestria!"

"What are you planning to do?" Luna snapped, quickly realizing that Daybreaker was just as insane as Nightmare Moon. The dread in her chest grew as the feeling hit her in waves that she could not simply talk her sister out of this one. That the worst option might soon become the only option.

"OH, just some tweaking, Luna." Daybreaker replied in a mocking voice of Celestia, for letting out another roar of laughter. She gracefully sat on the throne before igniting her red magic, causing pillars of flames to sprout from their side of the throne. Making Luna jump back in alarm.

"Equestria is no longer a kingdom focused on the worthless pursuit of 'friendship and love." Daybreaker seemed to gag for a moment even reciting the words as if they were poison. "Countries around us fear power, we are viewed as worthless, pathetic. I will not sit by and allow others to try to invade this...Empire. From now on, this government is run by the Goddess of the Sun. The Solar Empire is now in effect!"

"This is wrong! This is wrong and you know this!" Luna fought back, slamming her hoof against the marble ground causing the sound of a crack to echo. Daybreaker snarled at her, showing her fangs. "The mortals that built this country are the only reason I am standing here today! The Elements built upon friendship and trust have protected this country and will protect it today, and long after we are gone."

"Who cares about wrong? Everypony has a different idea of what wrong and right is!" Daybreaker snapped back before pointing an accusing hoof to the throne room doors, to the outside city. "Do you honestly believe that any of the government officials, that any of the Nobles care about what's good or bad at the end of the day? They don't. You cling to the hope, you and the rest of the mindless fools who believed Celestia could do no wrong, clung to the hope that one day everything would be perfect. Everypony would be happy. That is a lie. That will always be a lie. My reigning Empire is not built on a lie. It is built on the truth that 'friendship and love' get you nothing but denial. Power is what you need to get ahead."

"T-That's ridiculous."

Luna knew this wasn't getting anywhere, she clearly wasn't going to be listened to by Daybreaker. Celestia, if only she could speak to her sister. Her ears perked up with hope, a spark reignited in her eyes. She could. She could speak to Celestia.

In ancient Equestria, back during the Crystal War, they had prisoners of War. Luna often was sent to gather information since her knowledge of complex magic and the dream realm allowed her to go into the mind of a soldier, to speak to their soul to gather information that they refused to give.

It was the sort of spell that took a lot of energy, she hadn't done it for quite a long time, even before Nightmare Moon. She hated using it but desperate times called for desperate measures. She didn't want to have her sister banished, and turned into a filly's nighttime story for centuries to come.

If her sister was still buried deep within, she would find a way to drag her out kicking and screaming if she had to. She was not going to lose her sister today. Luna readied her stance. Daybreaker now had the look of confusion before rising from the throne, seeing the battle-ready Luna glaring at her.

"Unlike you, Luna, I do not wish to kill you. Run like a coward for you know you can't defeat the sun."

"I am talking to my sister whether or not you want me to."

Luna broke into a full gallop, sprinting down the throne room. Daybreaker roared at the challenge as she rose on her hind legs and shot a blast at Luna. Luna flew into the air, narrowly dodging the ball of fire before she jumped off one of the pillars and moved closer to the elder Alicorn.

Daybreaker shot multiple smaller blasts, Luna cringed as one of them narrowly hit her leg, causing her to stumble momentarily in the air as she charged the spell, growing brighter and larger as the moments passed. She knew Celestia had seen her use the spell multiple times during the war so in some part of Daybreaker's mind she knew what was about to happen.

"NO, NO!" Daybreaker screamed as she threw up a defensive shield. Luna dived from the air, slamming into the shield full force before it shattered, sending Luna tackling Daybreaker to the ground. Daybreaker tried to recover, tried to reorient herself as Luna rose up on her own hind legs before slamming down on her wings, causing Daybreaker to shriek in momentary pain.

"NO! SHE WON'T LISTEN TO YOU! I AM ALL THERE IS LEFT! I AM THE SUN! CELESTIA IS DEAD!"

Luna ignored the pitiful fury as she pressed her horn against Daybreaker's head before Daybreaker could blast her back with another spell, any spell. The sounds of the struggle soon faded away, the world around them faded away, and even Daybreaker's struggles ceased as they both lost consciousness.

Comments

[ALittleUnwell]

Heh, Dawnbreaker's grip isn't nearly as strong as she projects if she's that resistant to letting Luna probe Celestia's mind.

[skyway920]

While this is a good read, I feel as though a slower burn would benefit the story (longer chapters and more points of narrative, the parasprit and flutters taking care of Philomena Episodes for example.)

If you are open to ideas. A headcannon I've had bouncing around for a while is that Alicorns can willfully become normal Ponies at the cost of a mind death, (total destruction of their memory's, personality, and all that makes them, them) and reverting to a foal physically. I can see this Celestia trying something like that, at some point in the story.

[BiniBean]

11751704
It is a good idea :) Unfortunately I am the type of writer that's gets burnt out easily and unable to write very long chapters because of it, so as of rn in my writing I am unable to do those sorts of stories although in the future maybe I might be able to.

[skyway920]

11752639
its fine. Go at the pace that feels right to you, and who knows, this fic might be the crucible of a new trope with Celestia