eight
Over an hour later, Twilight emerged alone from Princess Celestia's throne room. She stood with her saddlebag as the large doors closed behind her. With a deep breath, she smiled upon the lengths of the castle interior looming beyond. All of the shadows had vanished; Twilight saw so much color and detail that she wondered why she was so blind to it when she first arrived.
Twilight felt like she was weightless. If she jumped off the ground, she was certain she'd touch the ceiling. A flighty sound escaped her lips, like a foalish giggle. She was in Canterlot; she might as well go visit her parents, or stop by her favorite doughnut stop, or maybe even pay a visit to Moondancer. Life was long and rich and full of opportunities.
What was more, she knew that this truth—this sudden, ecstatic contemplation—would stay with her for a long time, come rain or shine, come day or night, come good or bad.
It had been a harrowing couple of days. Her countenance had been stretched to the limit, and she had cried and laughed until there was nothing but dust left in her body. Still, she could only look on the past forty-eight hours and smile.
She had done the right thing; she had always done the right thing. Twilight wondered if there would ever come a day when she would catch herself worrying and learn her lesson ahead of time, but then she realized that such wasn't the point of learning.
So, with a spirited chuckle, she pivoted towards the far end of the castle and broke into a brisk trot. Her tongue toyed with the edges of her mouth. She imagined glazed cream and doughnut sprinkles...
Just at that moment, a lock of midnight blue hair twinkled in her peripheral vision. "You are leaving so soon, Twilight Sparkle?" uttered a deep, regal voice.
Twilight spun. Upon seeing the alicorn's holy visage, she swiftly bowed with a graceful smile. "My apologies, Your Highness. I was just passing through. I already spoke at length with Princess Celestia, and she gave me her blessing to leave and go about my business."
"I see," Princess Luna said, her cold eyes narrowing on the unicorn before her. She stood in place, her mane billowing in a magical wind. "Then your business in Canterlot is concluded?"
"I... w-wouldn't exactly call it business, Your Majesty," Twilight said with a nervous blush to her cheeks. "I... uhm... just needed to have a few things clarified with your sister—erm, I mean—with Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria..." Reeling slightly, Twilight rubbed her temple with a hoof and moaned, "Ugh. Listen to me trip over myself. I apologize, Your Highness. Eheh... I've missed a lot of sleep lately. I meant no direspect."
"By no means," Luna said. She leaned her head forward. "You are in good spirits, at least?"
Twilight nodded. "Absolutely!" She smiled wide. "As a matter of fact, I'm feeling the best I ever had in years!"
"That is good to know," Luna remarked unemotionally. "Then I suppose that you made the right decision." That said, she shuffled about on her hooves and trotted towards the balcony.
Twilight stared at her. Slowly, her eyebrow raised and her lips pursed. A few blinks later, she pivoted and broke into a soft canter immediately behind the Princess of the Moon. Trotting out onto the windswept marble platform, she saw the dark alicorn's body gazing into the misty vista of the Canterlot Mountains.
"Uhm... Princess Luna?" Twilight quietly entreated. "If... uhm... If I may be so bold, what did you mean by that?" Twilight gulped. "About me making the right decision?"
Luna stared coolly into the high mountain winds. She was still as a night's sky over the ocean tide. A sparkling blue mane framed her statuesque figure, untouched by Twilight's daring inquisition.
However, the unicorn persisted. "Luna...?"
Suddenly, the Princess' lips moved. "Trail Rain."
Twilight's eyes twitched. "Huh?"
"General Trail Rain," Luna murmured. "He was a high ranking pegasus military commander. One thousand years ago, I endeavored to bring perfection to this world. Equestria was plagued by death and chaos, and it needed salvation. I had found a solution, or so I had thought. However, to bring it into fruition, I needed more power than just what my magic alone could provide. I needed ponies to support my cause, and General Trail Rain of the Pegasus Airborne Division was fully devoted towards providing me the army I needed to make my plans come true."
Luna's head tilted ever so slightly. Her eyes just barely reflected the image of Twilight.
"Trail Rain's absolute faith and devotion gave me the edge I needed to make my first move towards transforming this world into a paradise of my own conception. As a consequence of his unwavering allegiance, entire legions of ponies sided with my regime. They followed me as I attempted to pave the way towards a promising future. What they got instead was a maddened despot, Nightmare Moon, a demonic creature corrupted by envy and malice. My delusions became their delusions, and because of this, Celestia could not stop me without hurting them. She had only one option left: to use the Elements of Harmony and banish me from Equestria."
Twilight stared, her jaw agape, her face wrought with confusion. A cold shadow loomed over her as Luna trotted up, standing tall and resolute with a frigid stare.
"For one thousand years, imprisoned on the moon, starved of almost all self-awareness beneath the plaguing spirit of Nightmare Moon, I blamed myself and myself alone for my fate. But, now that I have had time to reflect, time to look at history from an objective point of view, I realize that I wasn't the only one at fault." Luna took a deep breath before adding, "General Trail Rain shared the blame. The pegasus commander helped me acquire the forces I needed to make an impact on the fragile world. He was loyal to my cause, and yet his devotion forced him to overlook the pain Nightmare Moon was causing to the very landscape around her. He was faithful, and yet he was blind. His trust was a poison that nearly killed off all hope in Equestria. To this day, there is only one pegasus to every five unicorns or earth ponies; his culture never entirely recovered from the consequences of Trail Rain's shame, not even after a thousand years."
Icy silence followed the culmination of Luna's speech, during which Twilight found herself breathless. Eventually, she found the courage to respond. "I know a great deal about pegasus military history, Your Majesty," she said. "But... but why are you telling me this?"
"I only hope that you of all ponies understand the importance of what has just happened," Luna said, her face as tranquil as it was deadpan. "I would like to know that you are a creature of wisdom, Twilight Sparkle, whose intuition is a shining beacon that casts off any and all blindness."
"Blindness? What are you talking about—?" Twilight froze. Her eyes widened as her ears drooped. "It was you."
Luna stared at her.
Twilight began trembling. "You... you posed as Princess Celestia..." She gulped dryly. "You asked me to murder my very own friends..."
"I asked you to make a sacrifice for an indeterminate cause," Luna said in an arid tone. "You tackled this quite exceptionally, did you not?"
"This... this was some kind of cruel experiment?!" Twilight snarled, the very tip of her horn sparkling with lavender fury. She was seconds away from grinding her hooves across the marble balcony. "Does Celestia even know?!"
"She does not, though she likely will soon," Luna said, unfazed. "Either way, it matters little what consequences I have to face. The results of your actions are what factor the most."
"How can you s-say that?!" Twilight shrieked, almost hyperventilating. "You deceived me and your sister! You posed as Celestia and commanded me to kill in cold blood! What if I had actually done it?! What if I had gone through with the act of murdering my friends in the end?!"
"I had no true way of knowing the outcome of the test," Luna said. "Nor the fate of your friends."
"Then why did you even send me those letters?!"
Luna's eyes narrowed on Twilight. "Because mortals aren't the only creatures whose faith needs to be tested, Twilight Sparkle."
To that, the unicorn's eyes twitched. She leaned back, exhaling in confusion. "Wh-what...?"
Luna's nostrils flared. She paced slowly before Twilight, speaking, "My sister has invested a great deal of confidence and hope in you, Twilight. Have you ever once thought that there may be a reason for this beyond simple admiration? You are a pony of great talents, yes. But there is more to it than that, more than my sister is willing to tell you."
Twilight gulped. With a quivering lip, she murmured, "Like what?"
"Celestia and I are powerful beings, Twilight, but our magical gifts are hardly divine. We may live for an indefinite number of years, however that does not change the fact that our essence is very much bound to the foundation of this world. The truth is quite simple." She trotted to a stop and turned to stare coldly at Twilight. "We are the past. But you, Twilight Sparkle: you are the future."
Twilight's brow furrowed at that.
"My sister has told you time and time again that you are destined for great things. She is right to imply such a truth, to prepare your spirit for what is to come. However, in time, Equestria will face a trial by fire. There is no telling when or where, but forces far more powerful than Discord, far more elusive than Chrysalis, and far more malevolent than Sombra will assail this beautiful landscape. When the time comes, it will be the harmonic spirit of mortals that shall ward off chaotic evil. Though Celestia desires to cultivate a power in you strong enough to combat these sorts of antagonists, her method is not without its faults."
"What..." Twilight blinked. "What kind of faults?"
"I love my sister, but there are things she does not understand, simply because it is not her place to." Luna exhaled softly, and her features drooped with the first sign of emotion since Twilight saw her that day. The Princess gazed into the misty sunlight as she said, "She is a spirit of light, the Goddess of the Sun. It is her innate gift to uphold life, to think only of prosperity and hope. She is more powerful than me, yes, but she is also built out of a strength that is separate from me, as opposed to superior." Luna turned to look at Twilight as she said, "She does not understand the darkness that comes with my nightly tasks. She cannot fathom the vacuum of warmth that I must embrace in order to become one with the moon. What this means, Twilight, is that she has been and shall always be capable of cultivating the strengths in you, but I fear that she is unable to properly address your weaknesses."
"But... but she has only ever taught me the skills and the lessons I needed to grow," Twilight murmured.
"But has she ever truly tested you, Twilight?" Luna asked with a cold glint to her eyes, like starlight off of pond water. "Has she ever given you a baptism by fire, an experiment that puts more than your patience and anxiety to the test, but one that makes you question yourself, your mentor, and your morals?" Luna took a deep breath and added, "Has she ever asked you to rebuke her, for the sake of protecting yourself—or more importantly, something holier than yourself?"
Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but hesitated. She stared down at the floor, at the random specks of dust that the wind blew across her hooves. "She's never given me a reason to doubt her in all my days as her pupil..."
"And in all of that time, you trusted her unwaveringly..."
"Until now," Twilight breathed. She swallowed and ran a hoof through her mane, shuddering. "But it wasn't her test! It was still you pretending to be her! I..."
"Tell me, Twilight Sparkle..." Luna spoke firmly. "Regardless of what you now know, did you fail that test?"
Twilight shivered. "I-I failed... I failed her. I refused to do what I thought Celestia had asked me to. I directly disobeyed her. But... the test?" She seethed through her teeth, then looked up with wounded eyes. "I spared my friends' lives. They could be dead now, but... but they're not. I couldn't go through with it. There was just no way I could vaporize them into steam. I was weak, doubtful, hesitant and cowardly..."
Luna watched calmly, patiently.
Just then, Twilight felt a faint smile coming to her lips. "And yet, in that moment, when I held the crystal in my magic and was prepared to make the killing blow, I... I knew that I was doing the right thing by d-doing nothing." Twilight shuddered. "I... I felt right because I was right. I had to fail; there was just no other option. There was..." She choked on her breath, her face scrunching in brief pain before uttering, "There was so much joy in knowing how wrong the letters were." She closed her eyes and exhaled a huge weight out her lungs. She fell on her haunches and whispered, "I just can't believe that I almost thought twice about it. I knew from the start that I had to fail her. My friends depended on it."
Luna slowly nodded. She trotted over and extended a hoof.
Nervously, Twilight took it—only to feel herself being hoisted strongly onto her four limbs.
Luna stared deeply into her eyes. She said, "Life is not a perfect garden to be cultivated entirely in the light. There is darkness too, Twilight Sparkle. There is fear, there is trembling, and there is doubt. All of these elements only serve to make a mare like you stronger, and yet weaker. You are that which neither my sister nor I can afford to be. Where she is light and I am shadow, you are the balance in between, the quintessential example of the Equestrian spirit. If you are to make an impact on this landscape and shape the future with your magical arts, then you must be equipped with the power of distinction, to know that there is something far more sacred to trust than the supposed intellect of a pair of timeless goddesses. That something is your faith in yourself, Twilight. There will come a time when you'll find yourself alone—as we all are—and the only guiding compass will be the one deep within you. Such a beacon isn't defined by the light my sister gives to illuminate it, nor the darkness I provide to distinguish it, but your own power and commitment to maintain it. Stay true to yourself, and all will remain harmonious in your life. Consequently, all will stay harmonious in this land of yours."
Twilight's mouth quivered. "Do you really, truly have that much faith in me?"
"I do now," Luna said, her lips forming the slightest hint of a curve. "I am convinced that neither of us are creatures of blindness. You have given me the assurance that the likes of Nightmare Moon shall never plague this world again, so long as faith continues to be tempered by righteousness."
After several seconds, Twilight produced an exhausted smile. She shook her head in awe and said, "I hope that someday I'll have wisdom like yours, Princess Luna."
"Do not covet it too much," Luna said. "After so many long eons, wisdom has become a poor substitute for joy." She reached a hoof forward and caressed Twilight's shoulder. "You have my hope, Twilight, but you also have my envy. Go home and live. Allow your love to become your legacy."
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...
I'm not entirely sure how to respond to that.
There is, of course, a deep, abiding _hate_ for Luna. What she just did is completely unforgivable.
That said, her reasons for doing as she did are perfectly understandable.
I am, however, slightly worried by her current reasoning. It is easy to blame the long dead - they no longer have the power to defend themselves, and likely have none willing to defend them. Yes, Trail Rain was foolish to fail to note Luna's corruption, however, so too is such loyalty to one's ruler admirable. Regardless, whilst it may be strictly true that others played a part in the event, it could not, would not have happened had Luna not willed it to. She chose to start on that path, as a free agent, and she was perfectly capable of seeing the possible fallout from her decision - no other can be blamed for the results of her decision.
As I say, her reasons are understandable - without her faithful general, her insurrection would have been far less devastating than it was. By proving Twilight to not be blind in her faith, she has assured herself, at least, that a similar thing cannot happen with Celestia. And she clearly expects severe penalties for having done this, but proceeded anyway to guarantee the safety of her nation. I can respect this.
>>>She is right to imply such a truth, to prepare your spirit for what is to come. However, in time, Equestria will face a trial by fire. There is no telling when or where, but forces far more powerful than Discord, far more elusive than Chrysalis, and far more malevolent than Sombra will assail this beautiful landscape.>>>
Anyway, more powerful than Discord. Wow... just, that's Marvel comics level of absurd god-moding there. It was when Marvel starting carting out super-gods in the 90's that I totally lost interest in it. It was like the Buu Saga of DBZ without any comic relief to relax the completely ludicrous power levels. Inevitably, they had to retcon virtually everything and reset the entire multiverse because they'd written themselves completely into a corner.
At some point the escalation just jumps the shark. I have felt from the start of Season 2 that Discord must be the most powerful being in the Ponyverse. Anything beyond that just becomes completely unreasonable. Think about what Discord could accomplish if he SERIOUSLY used his powers. Yeah, pretty much ANYTHING. He'd be unstoppable. To make him onipotent, you only have to remove his vulnerability to the Elements and you have an enemy that cannot possibly lose. How do you win against something that can tear a solar system apart with a snap of his fingers and has no vulnerabilities to anything? You can't win, end of story. Unless you then pull out some crazy deux ex weapon or inexplicably over-powered hero (Franklin Richards) from the Nexus of all Realities and blah blah blah...
There's no justification for anything more powerful than Discord. Equally as powerful but more clever, perhaps. But as far as power goes, he's already at the very edge of plausibility. Anything more and it raises the unanswerable question of why the devil/entity hasn't already kicked the crap out of the multiverse.
>>>"She does not understand the darkness that comes with my nightly tasks. She cannot fathom the vacuum of warmth that I must embrace in order to become one with the moon.>>>
But... Celestia raised the moon for a thousand years... I think in all that time she's gained rather an intimate understanding of it. And with the Crystal Empire, it was Celestia who showed Twilight the powers of darkness. Hell, Celestia USED those powers! Seems to me she knows far more about everything than she's letting on, and THAT is canon.
Anyway, Luna... damn... at least God had the sense to send an angel to watch Abraham when he commanded him to slay Isaac and stop him before he actually did it. Luna, you've got those shadowy powers and stuff, you kinda coulda followed and kept her from killing the others if Twilight wasn't smart enough to stop herself.
You fail at all levels of intellect, Luna. ALL LEVELS. You are unworthy. I, as one who clearly would have carried out this test in a far more reasonable manner, am clearly completely worthy of power, for my wisdom and intellect exceed yours by... about 20%.
A little drastic there Luna, but you always did have a penchant for the dramatic.
Tsk. Luna, you may have a very justefiable reason for doing that, but you still do not see how badly you hurt Twi. I hope you don't sleep too well.
Twilight began trembling. "You... You posed as Princess Celestia..." She gulped dryly. "You asked me to murder my very own friends..."
"I asked you to make a sacrifice for an indeterminate cause," Luna said in an arid tone. "You tackled this quite exceptionally, did you not?"
BANG!!!!
Cue theme to Different Strokes
(Nostalgia Critic Joke)
Huh, guess I was wrong. That's good.
Also, Luna is such a flank-hole here. Oh my gosh, how dark and cold can you be?
1741039
As dark and cold as space, I guess.
2.7 degrees Kelvin and varying degrees of optical brightness depending on position and/or proximity to a source of light energy.
overall,the story was pretty good
the only part I don't like would be the nearly-evil portrayal of Luna. I love Luna, and prefer her not to be portrayed as a dark, cold, careless pony with no consideration for the lives of Twilight's friends. 
Oh, first I m annoyed how Celestia is risking Twilight and her friends life to do all dirty work without giving tham any support, and now in this fanfic Luna is doing it but even worse, come on, she could at last watch over Twilight to stop her if she decide to kill her friends, sorry, but Luna character is far to screwed up.
ANd Twilight is acting out of her character two, there is no way she would simply start to admire Luna for bying wise in the end, the real Twilight would never forgive Luna for what she could do.
Is it not enoght that mane 6 are alwais wtihout support, and if one of tham die, Equestria may be in grave danger, is it not enoght that Celesita not let mane 6 take elements of charmony and let Luna join the action, now in this fanfic Luna is practicaly asking Twilight to kill her friends, breaking trust between her and Celestia and do not even care to make sure that failing a test would not result in the end of elements and one broken mare who will never speak with anypony ever again or even commit suicude in the end, because I m so tired of tests where heroes not only risk they lives, but also hundreds if not entire world is at stage only for a test to gain some expereicne.
Should have let her rot on the moon.
Luna is so full of crap. What she did was horrible and completely unjustifiable.
So much Luna hate... You guys don't realise the destiny of Twilight Sparkle... It was going to happen sooner or later... Just be glad that Twilight passed the test..
1738897
While it is appropriate to draw comparison to the story of Abraham and Isaac, I think you have it a bit mixed up. The "correct" outcomes of the two tests are in direct opposition. Abraham PASSED the test by having enough blind faith to try to kill his son. Twilight passed the test here by being smart enough to not follow an immoral order, regardless of who gives it.
1738803
Regarding the story of Trail Rain, it's already been established that Luna bears the majority of responsibility, but that does not make Trail Rain blameless. If your commanding officer gives you an order that is immoral or violates the laws of war, you do not follow it. Period. Even Call of Duty, the poster child for pro-American, pro-military games espouses this message. Call of Duty.
1738879
You break his fingers. Naturally.
This doesn't work. I can buy Luna being willing to administer such an awful test, but not Twilight forgiving her unless the spell wouldn't actually have killed her friends.
Yeah, okay. I like this story a lot. This chapter earned its Favorite from me.
I'm hoping for some twi revenge next chapter. She's way to forgiving here.
Lol, I like to think the crystal Luna gave Twilight wouldn't have killed the others but rather give them all new hair styles and then sent a signal to Luna letting her know that Twilight failed and that she needs to have a talk with Celestia.
...So...was she planning to hide what she did from her sister if Twilight did kill her friends on "Celestia's" orders? Or was she perfectly willing to share most of the blame for murdering most of the Elements?
Either way...this is kind of stupid, this whole situation. From Luna's side of things I mean. It would have been found out, Twilight would have mentioned the letters once she was arrested for murder, and when it was found to have been Luna...yeah. Good luck having anypony trust you for the next couple thousand years, killer of the Elements, destroyer of that which your society thrives on. And that's assuming that wouldn't lead to her being banished, again.
So let me get this straight, she's pushing some of the blame for Nightmare Moon onto someone who was fiercely loyal to her and only did what she wanted, who has been dead for nearly a millennium, and decided to test Twilight's commitment to Celestia by ordering her to kill her friends using Celestia's name...Seriously, how the fuck did she expect to get away with it again? Or was Celestia going to be completely cool with her sister being a cold-blooded murderer, manipulating her precious, innocent student into killing their allies?
Alright. I read the first eight this morning. Now I'm gonna read the last paragraph of Chapter 8 (to remember what happened) and Chapter 9.
Alright, I had suspected Luna from the beginning, but for different reasons
though I had started to suspect the test thing with the Abraham and Isaac thing you had going on
Luna, if your wisdom does not beget joy I would hardly call it wisdom!
I get what Luna was doing, but she's still a bit of a dick. Honestly, if Twilight had gone through with it and killed five of the elements, the world would be kinda screwed anyway, wouldn't it? It would mean Twilight was a bit messed up too, of course, but still. That's an awful big gamble just to put Luna's mind at ease, even if it did serve other pragmatic purposes. Wouldn't it have been sufficient to have the crystal actually mute any of Twilight's abilities, so her friends wouldn't die even if she tried to kill them? Then Luna would know what Twilight was willing to do for Celestia while avoiding the whole upsetting the balance of the world thing.
I have to say, though, I like how both Luna and Celestia are presented as fallible, even if they are Godess princess ponies. And do all of your fics include some sort of cataclysm, past present or future? Ooh, maybe they all connect somehow? With the End of Ponies obviously being endgame, that seems kinda depressing, actually. Eh, I'll stop rambling. One chapter to go!
1738879 Discord is like Q, only another Q can take on a Q.
1792053
I dunno, I saw a comic that was pretty similar to this.. Started with Luna And Celestia talking, and Luna Telling Celestia that Twilight needed to be tested, and Celestia unrelentingly saying that she wasn't ready, and it ended with Luna bringing back King Sombra. while too dark for an epsisode, it seems feasible. This story lays out the differences in Luna and celestia the best I've seen, and it just makes sense.
Luna, you could have killed the Elements of Harmony! I can see where you're coming from, but this is not the way to do it!!
Okay.
I completely understand why Lulu did what she did.
Just.
ALJFKSJDKSJDK.
You could've TRIED to not shatter Twilight's soul a thousand times by making her think she had to kill her friends!
Well well....Luna I gotta say. XD That was a pretty intense..."test". XD
Oh fuck no. Luna you didn't.
... damn, this might be the darkest portrayal I've ever seen for non-nightmare moonhorse.
Got to say, though, I'm liking this take on it a lot more than the Biblical one.