Night Eternal

by Halloweddisease

In Her Absence

“My dear Celestia! Are you alright?”

Blinking, Celestia stared at the servant standing over her. Her head was pounding from overexertion, body feeling hollow, and cold sweat was pouring all over her skin. Yes…this is what generally happened when she used up all her magic…

She’d used up all her magic!

She stood, seeing the room from the height of an average pony. Her mane no longer floated on the breeze, but was limp, pink hair. At least her shoes, necklace, and tiara had been enchanted to fit whatever form she was in. She was deeply embarrassed that anypony had seen her in this state and had to limit it as few ponies as possible from here on out.

Attempting now to stand, Celestia found herself on wobbly legs, but she managed it. She felt so weak…how did anypony manage without magic? Realizing she still had yet to answer her stallionservant’s question, she put on her most delicate voice and said a mere, “I will be fine.”

He still looked puzzled. Stupid stallion. Couldn’t he see she had better things to do than listen to him? She had bodies to pick up, a castle to repair, and—

“Where’s Princess Luna?” he interrupted her thoughts.

Oh, because that wasn’t rude, interrupting my train of thought! Celestia thought to herself. Dumb stallion. Maybe he should be sent to the moon too.

“She’s been banished,” came the curt reply, tumbling out of Celestia’s mouth effortlessly.

“Oh dear!” he exclaimed. “Shall I send word of her banishment so no settlement will allow her to settle there?”

“There is no need for that,” Celestia assured him while criticisms of his every move flowed through her mind, but not reflecting themselves in her face or voice.

“Why is that, princess?”

“Because…,” and here she paused for dramatic effect, “she’s on the moon.”

Lying in her bed, Celestia’s heart began to ache for Luna. She was the only other alicorn, the only one who came close to understanding her, but even she didn’t. There was nopony like her, nopony to replace her, but what else was there to do but replace her? Even if she had to get a thousand ponies to replace one, she would. Yes! Who needed dumb ol’ rebellious Luna, when there would be plenty of ponies who offered her sympathy after this event and were bound to do as she said? She didn’t, that she was certain of.

But some of Luna’s words began nagging at Celestia’s heart. She’d been told that her subjects were unhappy, and Luna had heard that directly from her subjects. Something had to change if she was going to keep the throne forever as she had planned. Thinking for a moment, sending Luna away was probably more good than bad. The spotlight was solely hers, there was no more uprising, and Celestia now knew the cause, which would lead to finding out an answer. It was all too perfect to have been planned this way. Feeling overjoyed, Celestia almost pranced out of her room then and there, but something held her back.

Oh yeah, guilt.

She couldn’t explain it, but she felt some sort of guilt over sending her sister to the moon. Something about it didn’t sit right with her, like she hadn’t done what was best. It felt like she was causing misery everywhere she went, but all she wanted was things that went her way. She didn’t necessarily want anypony to suffer; she simply wanted things the way she wanted them. Was that really so bad? And really, Luna had stood in her way. Who could blame her for banishing her sister?

Celestia realized that if she was blaming herself for everything that happened, so would all her subjects. She would need a better story than the real one to keep the citizens of Equestria loyal to her. And she had just the one…

Sitting in her throne once more, Celestia found herself glad that she could tower over everypony once more and daunt them with her enormous, flowing mane of pastel colors. The citizens of Canterlot and beyond were before her, each one wanting to hear what had happened a few days ago in this very castle. She knew that, by now, nearly everypony in Equestria had heard that she and Luna had battled, which resulted in Luna’s being sent to the moon, but nopony but Celestia knew how it happened.

And that was exactly how it was going to stay.

The ponies before her seemed too scared to ask what happened, and the ones who looked more confident acted as if their minds were full of questions, but they didn’t know which ones to ask first. Finally, after a very long and awkward silence, a child approached the throne, kneeling properly before rising to ask her question.

“Princess Celestia,” the little filly addressed her, “why was Princess Luna attacking the castle?”

“Because,” Celestia responded, “she was jealous. She knew that everypony worked and played in the glorious day that I create, and was envious that no one was awake during her…her beautiful night that I know we’ll all miss. She felt as if no one paid her any attention anymore, and she grew distant. Sure, she put on a brave face in the eyes of the public, but let’s face it, she was hurting inside. She gave way to a darker spirit within, a spirit that goes by the name of Nightmare Moon, attacked the castle, and planned to throw the world into eternal night. I had to banish her to the moon; it was the only way to keep Equestria safe.” She had even managed to shed a few tears during this monologue. If this didn’t win over her subjects, she didn’t know what would.

Just as she had expected, the expressions of the ponies before her were pure sorrow and pity. They really bought it! She hid her joy, knowing that would foil the entire scheme.

“Excuse me, but I must be retiring to my bedroom,” she explained to them. “My power is still weak from the battle.” This part wasn’t a lie. If she stayed out too much longer, she would revert back to my normal pony state.

“One last question, princess,” the filly said.

She couldn’t turn her down. She remembered when she was a filly, so full of questions, just like her. “What is it, my dear?”

She looked down at her hooves, as if embarrassed or afraid to voice her question. “I-if Princess Luna isn’t here, who’s going to raise the moon?”

Some idiot stallion in the back called out, “Yeah, it’s been constant sunlight for three days now! Nopony can get any sleep!” After his little outburst was done, murmurs of agreement swept through the crowd.

Though nopony other than Celestia and Luna knew of this, when one was ill, the other would perform their duties for them. Raising the moon was easy. The other ponies made it out like it was a big ordeal, the whole sun-and-moon thing, but Celestia knew from experience that it wasn’t. At least, not as long as you had enough magic. Celestia figured that if she kept her magic usage low, she could do it.

“I will raise the moon,” Celestia announced. And with that, the crowd erupted into applause. She knew that she should be heading to her room, but…Celestia couldn’t help but stand and bask in her own glory. So this is what it is like to be adored, she thought to herself, and it’s the best feeling in the world.

Entering her room, Celestia checked the box with the Elements of Harmony in it that she kept next to her bed. It seemed silly to do this, but she figured that, if anyone came looking for the elements, they would go to the holding chamber, which was empty. No one would guess the princess would keep it in a stupid place like her room.

The box’s lid came undone with a soft “click” when Celestia put her horn into the keyhole and turned. She pulled the lid open, but wasn’t expecting what she felt.

The Elements of Harmony no longer obeyed her, for she was no longer in harmony with her sister. So that was why she had been able to lie so easily before! Normally, the Element of Honesty would bind her to her word, but not now. Despite whatever upsides this ordeal may have had, it was far more a bad thing than a good thing. If she could no longer wield the elements, things that invaded Equestria actually stood a chance of being victorious.

Shocked enough to revert back to her normal state, Celestia merely stood in awe. This was…this was not happening! Suddenly, she began to rethink sending Luna to the moon, wondering if maybe the uprising would have been worth it as long as Equestria was safe. That was immediately dismissed as an irrational thought. There had to be another way to handle things…

Suddenly, Celestia remembered that Equestria was the most populated country on the planet. Only a foal would attack, and even if that did happen, there were plenty of citizens she could draft into war.

Still, a nagging feeling ate away at her.

It was then that she decided. She would spend her time looking for ponies who possessed the qualities needed to wield the Elements of Harmony, but after she went outside and brought the moon into the sky, as promised.

She did her sister’s job once again, though this time, it felt harder than it had before. Celestia wondered if maybe this was the weight in her heart, her lack of magic, or something else entirely.

That was when she saw it.

It was a shooting star, leaving a brilliant trail of stardust behind as it streaked across the sky. An alicorn was moving through space. Celestia spent a moment doing math in her head, then galloped off to warn everyone to record for future generations that Nightmare Moon would return in a thousand years to get her revenge.