The Monster in the Twilight
Nocturne
Dawn approached. The time had come. There was no more delaying.
Princess Celestia got up from her desk, with the habits of a lifetime making her cap the inkwell to prevent it from drying out despite the ultimate futility of the action. Likewise, she slid the white dress off her thin shoulders like a snake shedding its skin, gently folding in her magic and placing it across the bedstand for a morning that would not happen.
Only for a moment did she pause with the thought of likewise shedding her crown and the rest of her regalia onto the floor. Naked she had come into this world, but naked she would not leave as long as there was breath in her body. There was meaning in everything she was to carry to her end.
Her golden shoes, the most comfortable she had in centuries, had been fitted to each hoof individually and enchanted to remain firmly in place no matter her physical condition. Since her first shoes, those gentle hooves had worn out uncounted pairs of the finest steel ever to pass an earth pony farrier’s hammer, but Celestia always remembered the reverence each of them had treated the humble task, and their insistence that the job be done as perfectly as possible.
The golden crown resting like lead on her brow was supposedly made from the gold Unicornia had salvaged during their ancient flight to Equestria, forged by Princess Platinum herself, or at least by unicorns in her employ, and reforged by the most talented unicorns every few centuries since. The weight varied by the reforging, and with the amount of gold poured into the task, she doubted more than a few bits of the original remained, although the pageantry with which the unicorns treated the task was a constant reminder of how they intermingled appearances and reality.
Only her peytral of office was still the original, made by the warriors of the pegasi from a single piece of metal taken from each clan leader’s helm to signify their obedience and presented by the famous Commander Hurricane. He had bent the knee before her where none of their kind had done before, and refused to make even the smallest of concessions to her authority. Although there was a slight edge to one of the pieces that scratched at her neck during more tense moments in diplomatic negotiations, she had left it unaltered and abrasive, much like the ponies he represented.
The weight of all of them dragged at her thin shoulders, weighing down her head and hooves with far more than simple gold and steel. It would be a burden she would gladly carry on this one last and final trip. Cadence would be better off making her own symbols of office without the shame and disgrace these carried.
As she turned to leave, Celestia hesitated before blowing out the light at her desk. It was a simple lamp, gifted to her by Trixie after one of her more spectacular failures had claimed its predecessor, but it filled the room with an intense light and banished the shadows while it burned. Ultimately, it was much like Trixie, and would soon exhaust the meager amount of fuel it would hold, allowing the darkness to return, as it always did. In defiance, she turned the flame down to conserve its fuel, but decided to let the lamp burn after she departed.
Let it die like a princess, one solitary light, burning to banish the darkness until it consumes itself and allows the world to go dark. Or until another comes to bring the light again.
“Princess of the Sun,” said a relatively quiet, familiar voice behind her. “Your subjects hereby request an audience with you about issues of the greatest importance.”
A cold chill went up her flanks at the sound of those formal words, delivered in a way she had not heard in centuries. Turning towards the shadowed window, she looked down at a charcoal-grey nocturne pegasus in the armor of the Night Guard within her room. His dragon-like wings were flattened to either side, and his golden eyes closed while lying prostrate before her. Only the slow movements of his sides showed he was alive.
“Begone,” she managed to say. “I command it.”
“By ties of blood and bone we are your subjects. The magic of your sister created us, and we live to serve her will. You are bone of her bone, flesh of her flesh, you speak with her voice, and we do as you command. A second time we call out to you, hear our plea.”
Behind the Night Guard, the darkness of the night swelled ever so slightly to reveal a host of nocturne laying upon their faces in the same exact posture as the first. There was no need to count them; she knew exactly how many there were. Forty-three. Male and female. The exact number of surviving nocturne foals who had been spared from Nightmare Moon’s spell almost exactly a thousand years ago.
Plus one.
On that dreadful night, there had been a single newly-created nocturne colt who had resisted the siren call of his creator. Instead, he had gathered the youngest and most vulnerable in order to flee the charnel pit that Celestia’s fight with Nightmare Moon had become. He succeeded, but at the cost of his own life. In respect for his sacrifice, over the centuries the nocturne had only granted three of their members the honor of bearing his name.
The weight of heroic expectations had been too much for two of them, who had both perished in tragic attempts to follow their ancestor’s honored hoofsteps. This last one was her youngest Night Guard, and his unswerving commitment to her service regardless of the consequences reminded her constantly of his long-dead namesake.
“Pumpernickel, please,” she whispered, unable to take her eyes off them. Unwelcome memories of that cursed night thought long buried danced in front of her eyes in ghoulish clarity. The nocturne revered their ancestors, naming each of their kind after a follower of Luna who had been slain in that terrible night when Nightmare Moon came into her power. Over the long years, she had never been able to speak with any of them without seeing their long-dead ancestor in her memory. The innocent pony who Celestia had killed by her hesitation.
Celestia backed up a step. “Don’t do this. I can’t do this. Please.”
The bulky nocturnal pegasus took a deep breath before speaking again. She could see the dry tracks of tears on his muzzle, although they did not affect his resonating tenor voice in the slightest. “Our lives are yours to command. We live or die at your word. A third time we call out to you, hear our plea.”
Absolute silence filled the room, holding Celestia and the guard in a frozen tableau until the clouds parted outside the window. The resulting shimmering beams of moonlight made shadows dance across the floor as if they were alive, the restless ghosts of uncounted generations of the nocturnal pegasi and all others consumed in the darkness of that terrible night.
“Rise, faithful servants.” Celestia lifted her head high with a strength she did not know she still possessed as the nocturne guards and servants silently rose to their hooves and stood with eyes downcast. “Speak.”
Although he rose to his hooves with the rest, the Night Guard in front of her remained with head downcast, scarcely moving a muscle except for his mouth. “As your faithful servants, we offer our lives to you, in this darkest of nights, as you go forth to set our Princess of the Night free. We beg of you, accept our service.”
“No. The Nightmare will consume you, as she did your ancestors. I cannot accept your offer. You must remain behind.” Memory of that night danced in the shadows behind Celestia, deaths beyond number doomed to happen again.
“We know.” The absolute certainty of his voice made Celestia tighten with nervous tension, only to relax when he continued. “When you battle our ancient foe, every nocturne in Equestria shall be locked away behind bars of steel, unable to respond to her summons. Our strength must not be used against you, who saved us all.”
“So you would offer me assistance you knew I would not accept.” Celestia’s eyes glittered in the dim lamplight and the ghost of a smile played on her aged face. “I would commend your loyalty.”
“There is yet one more service we would give unto you. Know that your sister still lives.”
All of the warmth Celestia had felt drained away into despair. “Luna is dead. I know that now.”
“As long as we live, we bear witness to her power,” Pumpernickel recited as if repeating a well-memorized text. “Our flesh and blood were shaped by Luna, we but reflect her glory as the moon doth reflect the sun. None would dare call you mother to our race, but it was by her actions we were born, and it was for her sins we shall serve the Crown in the hope of redemption until the last star goes out and the sun gutters into darkness.”
Still with head bowed, the Night Guard refused to meet her eyes. “Your sister made us, the three races of the Night, before the Nightmare consumed our brethren. We say this in memory of their loss too. You are only her sister, but we are more than her children. On the Night of Creation, Nightmare Moon’s power transformed our bodies, but Luna passed on a tiny spark of her soul to each of our ancestors. If she were dead, we would know it in our hearts. She lives.”
Words failed Celestia for the longest time. When she finally could speak, it was only with a raspy voice within a hairsbreadth of breaking into tears.
“You meant to bring peace to my soul, with the knowledge that my sister still lives. Instead you bring me ashes, as now I must kill Luna in order to save all of my beloved ponies. You meant well, as I did then, but please. Pray for my success, and mourn for the both of us. That is all I will ask of you. Do not hate me. Forgive me.”
Pumpernickel finally looked up to meet her immortal gaze. “No, My Princess. We shall not forgive you, for there is nothing to forgive. We know within our hearts that you will be victorious, and bring our Princess of the Night back to us once more.”
There was nothing she could say in return. The nocturne slid away from her path when she stepped to the balcony. Across Canterlot, in every shadow of every tower and building, she could see the glow of trusting golden eyes. Waiting. Watching. Believing.
Princess Celestia spread her wings and slowly flew off into the darkness to kill her sister.
... Poor Celes...
Holy shit.
Yeah, I knew the Night Guard hadn't suddenly turned evil. Tell it like it is, Pumpernickel!
*fistpump*
... A work of art in literature, you could almost feel tears at the last sentence.
NNNNNOOOOO!!! Wait!! Princess Celestia!!!! Twilight is coming!!! You don't have to kill Luna!! WWWAAAIIITT- *pants* Don't... do... it... *collapses*
the feelings man.....the hit me hard.....
Lovely chapter, too short.
2300622 Celestia's going to show up, and NMM's just gonna be a smear on the landscape.
Celestia: "What-what happened?!"
Guard: "It seems she trod upon a book."
Somehow I can see this getting sadder.
Not as sad as some things I've read here.
But very sad.
Well, this can't end well.
Also to agree with everyone else here (and being a celestia fanboy) I have to say Celestia is probably having the toughest time.
One long chain of "oops" moments. That's the reality of the situation.
I know that feel, bro. Manly tears were shed, manly tears.
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That was not the sort of name I was expecting xD
Why can't I hold all these feels?
Nice little chapter. Really enjoyed the world building it did.
One question. It's obvious we are getting to the tipping point when everything is going to happen. Are you planning on keeping the chapters short like they are now, or creating just one or two long ones for the climax?
Reason I ask is that even now the action seems a little too broken up for my taste and it's kind of bothering me. It's nothing real bad, just an itch I can't scratch sort of thing. Of course, the delays between chapter being posted doesn't help (not your fault of course, just the nature of fanfiction. I'm the kind of person that has to read a book in only a few sittings otherwise it drives me crazy )
I have bitten my nails all down to the quick reading this, you know.
Reaaallly good chapter, even though it was Celestia-centric. Man, way to ratchet up the pressure.
Sad chapter is sad indeed. Please don't keep us waiting for more.
The Night Guards are actually dependable alleys instead of minions of villains?
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Kudos on originality!
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But you still gotta feel bad for Celestia who still believes she has to go on a Kamikaze mission on her own.
I really wish somone could hug Celly.
Everyone evacuate ponyville immediately, Twilight has arrived, I repeat Evacuate ponyville now.
The monster in the night will be destroyed with the day's blight without the time of Twilight to join them into a glorious sight
I feel bad for Celestia. I feel bad for Luna. Hell, I feel bad for Trixie. She knew it was coming and her short-comings damned them all
Please do not kill everpony!
That was a little twisted and a lot heart wrenching. I'm going to go make myself feel better by reading philosophy concerning the futility of human existence.
Damn, I had high hopes for this story. Needless to say I have not felt a moment of disappointment. The premise hooked me, the plot kept me reading, the characters engaged me, and have caused more than a few instances of soggy cheeks. Your portrayal of Celestia in particular has had me rooted to my chair, poring over every word. A life of immortality is a heavy burden, no matter how many seem to want it. Nobody looks at it and thinks 'imagine all the regrets I have in my short life. Now imagine a hundred times that, only growing as I continue on through the eons.' Immortality wouldn't really work out very well for most people in a situation where they were the only ones that had it, either. Every person you ever meet is going to die, and you just go on. And then there's Celestia. Walking the lonely road of immortality with her sister, only to have her, the only thing she could count on to never leave her, taken away. The only small comfort available to her being that in A THOUSAND YEARS, she might be able to save her. A thousand years of watching all her friends die, with no one to turn to for comfort but a memory. No one there that understands and shares the pain she feels. Not anymore, and perhaps never again. And after making it through that ordeal, when she's so close to her goal, all her plans start falling apart. A child succeeds at a test too well, and is cast into the wilderness so Canterlot doesn't burn. An ill suited replacement never measures up. The sheer desperation she must have felt as she saw her chances slip through her fingers one by one. It's terrible even to think about.
And now she's given up, and for the sake of Her Little Ponies, she goes to implement her Final Solution. Seriously, life has not treated Celestia very well, and you know what's really messed up? You take away the last fifteen years or so of this story, and that's still Celestias life. In canon. I imagine that's probably one of the things this story was meant to illustrate. You've done an amazing job of making her a relatable character, even though the things she's been through aren't really on a scope that a human being could understand.
Ok, Celestia tangent went way over the top. Let me just say you've done so many things right with this story, and I can't begin to tell you how much I'm enjoying it. If I tried to write down all my thoughts on it, someone would start making comments about ShortSkirtsAndExplosions. Wait, that might be too obscure a reference. Just in case, he's an author here that tends to write really long (30000 word plus) chapters. Dammit tangents, back I say! Yah!
Where was I? Ah, right. This story is awesome and you should feel awesome. Sorry if I was all over the place here, it's almost 5 am here, I've been awake for 55 hours or so, and the menu of the hobbit DVD keeps repeating. Every time I hear those two lines of the Dwarves song about Smaugs attack, I get put in a weirder mood. It's been repeating for an hour and a half.
I don't think I can say much on this chapter. I felt like it was too short, but it wasn't. The shortness was very poignant. It would have made Celestia's exchange with the Nocturne less thoughtful if there was another scene in here afterwards.
And then The Elements of Monstrosity come along and save Luna. Also, all hail the future Princess Monster.
Celestia arrives at the castle to find Luna laying asleep and no sign to how she broke free of Nightmare Moon along with the Mane 6 - Twilight and Trixie in a corner with the EoH near their hooves.
What happened here? Did you successfully defeat Nightmare Moon?
Yes, well...... no Princess. That purple unicorn you told me was dead, just not only saved our lives, pointing at the rest of the Mane 6, but took down Nightmare Moon with mere fillies and a zebra.
Trixie, it is not wise to lie to your teacher.
I'm not Princess, the purple pony came in here, held her own against Nightmare Moon, and then zapped her with the EoH. Then she handed them to me, and fled.
In order to solve this mess, I recommend napalm, lots of napalm...
You know what they need? Limbo Seals.
You just HAD to post a teaser chapter...
Hmm. So. A thousand years on the moon and Nightmare is an over-dramatic cliche too confident to really try.
A thousand and four years and she's a credible threat that Celestia is absolutely convinced will destroy them all. How 'bout that?
Okay, as cruel as this may sound, I don't think anything is going to change Celestia's mind at this point. Despite everyone telling her otherwise, she honestly thinks Luna is too far gone... and she's going to attempt to kill Nightmare Moon no matter what.
And as tragic and downvote seeking as this may sound, I'm actually looking forward to seeing this happen.
Before you click the downvote, hear me out why I think this option would fit in this scenario. I know that none of those theme tags on the story are set to either "dark" or "tragedy", but it's still a sad story, so we know this isn't going to have a true everybody is happy ending. Also, this story has gone too far from canon to even ATTEMPT to go about the whole "Luna gets redeemed" scenario in the canon. If it could, Celestia would not have spent two years longer than the normal timeline keeping the stars at bay because Trixie was a lost cause to her and Twilight in this universe was a wild card at best, loose cannon at WORST if the fact that she had to be talked out of committing complete genocide of the Changeling race by innocent minors doesn't say how dangerous Twilight is if left unaccounted for. As far as Celestia is concerned, things have become so disastrous with training Trixie that she believes that even killing Nightmare Moon at the cost of her own life (despite numerous pleas not to do, the fact that the Nocturnes here even say that they will not forgive her if she chooses this path, and this act leaves a colossal power vaccuum with Celestia's death that will create complete anarchy) is actually a better solution than the Elements of Harmony in canon.
In short, Celestia believes her failure to figure out a way to save Luna earlier has killed Luna's soul despite everyone telling her that Luna is still alive (albeit barely) and has predictably green-lit this universe's Godzilla Threshold. And as everyone knows, once started, you can't stop it very well. Not to mention Celestia is already on her way to Ponyville where she knows Nightmare Moon is going to be heading to first to announce her return. I'm sorry to say it, but nothing short of some divine miracle stronger than Celestia is going to stop Celestia's attempt.
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Did I comment on the wrong chapter again? D: This website confuses me sometimes... xD It was intended to be a comment in the chapter where she explains (through a twisted puppet show) that she was stalking Big Mac with something of a crush (well, that's the... eh... family friendly way of putting it anyway xDD)
2301402
Thousand and Two years actually. OTL Celestia had a plan built around Twilight Sparkle. ATL Celestia's backup with Trixie wasn't working out, and she's out of strength to delay things another year in hopes of things coming together.
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Dun Dun Duunnnnnnnnnn!
A wonderful tearjerking chapter. I have got to admit I like the way the Night guard are being portrayed here. I admit I haven't run across them too often in the fics I've read but still this dedicated and loyal portrayle of them is great and I can't wait to see how they react once the horse apples have finished hitting the fan.
That said Blade Squall has a good point Celestia is likely to still try and take Nightmare down with herself and it isn't a sure thing that Twilight will be able to stop them. While her head is slowly clearing up she still seems to be mentaly very young. Seeing things in the black and white morality of a very young child. Is she likely to be merciful to Nightmare Moon should she see her as a threat on the same level if not greater then Chrysalis? What about how she'd react to Celestia? Who she has some VERY good reasons to be afraid of. Playing tag with eldritch monstrositcys and sending Scropio's into a Low Earth Orbit Collision course with Team Rocket is one thing. But deal with seeing Someone who she likely fears above all else? That's quite another.
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But I thought it was already demonstrated that Twilight was stronger than Celestia. She overpowered Celestia's innate connection to the sun and all the magic associated. Divine is simply an unnecessary requirement when it comes to Twilight Sparkle.
Cool beans. I'm really digging the Night Guard, they know what's going on.
Pumpernickel and the Night Guard appear in some of Georg's other stories.
Which you should read.
Because they are awesome.
And this is where the story truly becomes dark. Somehow, I don't fully expect Twilight to pull through and completely save the day- there will be suffering.
2301895 2301428
Twilight Sparkle is the story's "There is no Kill like Overkill". I mean, turning tons of wood into nitrocellulose (awesome), then igniting it (awesomer), causing tons of collateral damage (I may have a certain lack of morality) was definitely uncalled for (or maybe it was). There were probably simpler ways to escape, but that one eliminated all possible threats in the future from the hive. Nightmare Moon also showed an interest in her, something along the lines of just plain skipping over Celestia for Twilight; though, she does seem to be gleefully expecting to feed on Celestia's dark emotions.
Is that a tropes page I see?
Awesome.
Chapter was great as well.
Perfect. This scene truly deserved its own chapter. A note of melancholy, of tragedy, and of faint, glimmering hope. No others to intrude upon this moment between a goddess and her spiritual nieces and nephews.
I look forward to more. I can only hope it will be half as good as this perfect moment.
2301428 What do you mean they won't forgive her? The nocturnes said they won't forgive her because there's nothing to forgive, most likely meaning that they believe this is the best course of action. Also, Twilight may not be completely mentally stable, but I wouldn't say she still has the mind of a child, as the changeling goo healed both her scars (I think) and her brain damage. If anything she's more emotionally or morally unstable as she was going to commit genocide because she rightfully saw the changeling race as evil, but cried as she ran away most likely because she realized just what she was about to do.
You can really feel Celestia's age at this point.
2308685 Yes, but the old girl can still sing (next chapter)
2307426 Thank you, I'll try.
2302054 That would be To Sleep, Two Unicorns, and Genealogy . Soon to add "Diplomacy By Other Means"
2301895 Twilight only was stronger than Celestia in one particular aspect, for a minute or so, and it destroyed her body, and almost killed her.
2301428 Three words will change Celestia's mind. I have permission to use this picture from russiankolz
See you all next week with another chapter.