Nox Invictus

by Darkwing Dash

Wrath and Tears

A couple hours had passed since Luna had faced down the wolves, and something was seriously bothering her. She gazed up at the night sky confused and worried. When she had returned to Equestria, she had noticed that the sky had looked as though it were on the brink of dawn. It had been a light shade of purplish-blue and was only about a half-hour away from sunrise. But now, it had been about a good five hours since that point, and if anything, the sky looked darker than ever. She kept recalling her encounter with Nightmare Moon. She and her threat of eternal night must have something to do with this. She had to put a stop to Nightmare’s evil plans.

But she had no strength in her current state. She had little power as a mere ghost. Even her magic, once one of the strongest forces in Equestria, was now little stronger than the average unicorn’s. What use was she to anypony in this state? She looked up at the night sky. Her thoughts turned bitter. What use was she to anypony at all? As she stared at the sky, she wondered. She had stopped keeping track of the years that she had spent in the Shadow World, but it had been at least over half a millennia. Did anypony even remember who she was? Had her name faded away into mere legend and fairy tale? Her sister must have taken responsibility for the night while she was gone. Few people would remember the Princess of the Night. Equestria didn’t need her anymore. She was just a relic of a bygone age.

She walked along, her head downcast, wondering if it was even worth it to continue. What use was there in rejoining the world if she was just going to be shunned and rejected? As she slowly walked down the path, she came to a river. She stared at it. She saw no reflection, for she was not part of the visible world. Instead she saw the night sky reflected above her, with its millions of glittering stars. She stared up at them. Back when she had been Princess of the Night, she had orchestrated each night with great care, placing each star in the sky as carefully as if they had been notes on the sheet music of a master composition. Each star had been placed to lead the eye through the sky, in a vast kaleidoscope of swirling silver-and-azure landscape. The night that she looked at now night though, there was no creativity behind it, no beauty. It was as if somepony had filled a bucket full of stars and dumped it on the canvas that was the night. She supposed that it was because now Celestia was in charge of both the day and the night. There was no time for creativity, only for the bare minimum. The night had become a shadow of its former self.

She knew that no pony even remembered how the nights used to be, no one remembered what they had been like. As she stared at the sky, something in her resolve changed. “I will make the nights memorable again,” she said to herself. “It is my duty to Equestria, to make up for the wrong I've done. If there is no place for me in this world, then I shall carve one with my own two hooves. As long as I can appreciate my work and call what I've done a success, then a success it shall be. I do not need anypony to pat me on the back and say I've done a good job. My life will no longer decide for me, I will decide for it. But right now, Equestria is in need, and I shall not fail it. Not like last time...

Luna soared through the starry blue skies, her heart flying with her in triumph. Her moment had come at last, her time in the sun, figuratively speaking of course. The night she flew through was the most beautiful one that she had ever created. The stars swirled above her in a pattern that was inspired. They blended with one another, their designs creating rivers of pure starlight that focused and accentuated the moon, set in the sky like a perfectly round, blazing white opal. It nearly moved her to tears just looking at it. She thought of the adulation of the other ponies once they saw her work, finally recognized her as a master craftsman like themselves. Once they knew her name, then she would really be worth something.

She flew onward, seeing the castle come into view just ahead, the forest surrounding it like a green cape draped across the battlements. She grew closer, the castle slowly growing in her view. As she flew nearer to the castle, she saw a large dark shape amassing near the gates. Eventually she recognized it as a crowd gathered at the base of the castle, milling about as if in confusion. At first, Luna was startled, but then she realized that her actions, however benevolent they were, were still out of the blue. Ponies would have no idea what was going on. It turns out Celestia was right about one thing. An explanation was in order, that was all.

She flew over the crowd, circling to land at the palace. As her shadow passed over the group, its movement seemed to become more agitated. She descended gradually and landed on the steps at the front of the crowd. A rush of confused and irritated voices erupted from it, all blending together indistinguishably. Luna had to calm them down.

“CITIZENS!” she cried, using her Royal Canterlot Voice. “THOU HAST NO CAUSE FOR ALARM. PLEASE, REMAIN CALM AND SOON WE SHALL BE ABLE TO ANSWER ALL OF THY QUESTIONS.” The crowd settled down to a murmur. “Now,” Luna said, in a quieter, but still authoritative voice, “what seems to be the problem?”

A frantic mare near the front stepped forward quickly. “Has Discord returned?!” She demanded. “Is he back!?”

“Of course not. He still remains encased in his stone prison.” Luna said.

“Then this night is because of you princesses! You’re the ones causing this?!” The mare blurted, nearly cutting Luna off.

“Yes.” replied Luna, affronted.

“WHY!?” demanded several voices.

“For entertainment, of course.” said Luna. “What other purpose could there be. We did it to relieve the monotony of day-to-day life in the kingdom, so that other ponies could have a different view of things, so to speak.”

“But what about our work?” said an Earth pony off to the left. “How are we supposed to do our jobs?”

“Surely thy tasks can be performed by the light of the moon as well as by the light of day?” said Luna soothingly.

The Earth Pony would not be soothed. “Are you kidding me?!” she said incredulously. “Do you even know how sensitive corn is?! It’s going to take weeks of intensive care for them to recover from this!”

“Yeah, and what about the market?” asked a business pony near the back. “My wagons can’t find roads in the dark you know.”

“And the builders can’t repair Discord’s devastation either,” said a noblepony. “My bathtub spout keeps pouring flour at random, and it needs to stop.” The crowd broke into an uproar again, each pony clamoring to be heard over the others. Luna had to shout to be heard over them.

“CITIZENS, CITIZENS, PLEASE! LET US REMAIN CALM! Surely your daily duties can be put on hold until tomorrow? Are they so important that you can not enjoy a holiday generously given to you?” Instead of calming the mob like she expected, her words sent them into an even louder uproar.

“What, we’re supposed to put our lives on hold just so you can play Peek-a-boo with the sun?” yelled the noblepony. “ This isn't about generosity, this is about some vanity project that you princesses are putting on in order to display your power! Are our lives so meaningless that they have become your playthings?! We have work to do, unlike you princesses. Some of us have lives to attend to,” he scoffed.

Luna’s eyes widened in anger. Such insolence could not be tolerated. “We will not condone such speech! My sister and I were chosen to rule over this land and one would think that We can rule it better than thou canst! We know what we are doing and We have organized this holiday!”

The noblepony was not convinced. He narrowed his eyes. “When you say We, are you meaning you and Princess Celestia, or are you using the royal We meaning yourself?”

Luna, for once, could not meet his eyes. “Aha!” he said. “I knew it! You did this on your own. This is some stunt you're pulling just to show off! I wish to speak to Princess Celestia. She needs to deal with this catastrophe.”

Luna’s anger, already blazing, now burned white hot. “Anything that thou hast to say to my sister, can be said to me as well.” she said through gritted teeth.

The noblepony scoffed. “I should think not. You were the one who started this entire mess. You are beyond reasoning with.” At his words the entire mob burst into speech. “Yeah, where’s Princess Celestia?!” “Did she authorize this!?” “She should be in charge of this, she does raise the sun, after all.” “How did Luna get put in charge of this?” “Is she even allowed to do things like this?” “Can’t Princess Celestia even control her own sister!?”

As the voices of the mob grew louder and louder, Luna became more and more enraged. Her anger felt like lava that had lain dormant, but had been growing hotter and hotter over the past weeks. Finally, it erupted, surging and rushing to the surface “ENOUGH!” she roared. Magic swirled around her. She stood on her back hooves and slammed her front ones down on the steps. A colossal shock wave spread from around her and hit the crowd, blowing everypony completely off their hooves. The marble beneath her crumbled, the stairs in front of her disintegrating. Cracks spider-webbed behind her, reducing the stairs to rubble. Dust and rock fragments swirled around her, held in the air unconsciously through sheer force of her magic But Luna did not pay this any attention. She strode toward the dazed and scattered mob, her voice thundering unconsciously.

“I HAVE PUT UP WITH INSOLENCE FROM YOU PONIES FOR FAR TOO LONG! I HAVE PROVIDED A WONDERFUL AND GLORIOUS NIGHT FOR YOU TIME AND TIME AGAIN. AND WHAT DO I GET IN RETURN? NOTHING BUT CONTEMPT AND DISRESPECT! I AM TIRED OF USING MY POWERS FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT APPRECIATE THEM! THIS NIGHT SHALL LAST UNTIL THIS PEOPLE LEARNS TO APPRECIATE IT, EVEN IF IT BE THROUGH FORCE!” And with these words, she turned to the castle, threw the doors open with her magic, stalked in and slammed the doors behind her.

Comments

[Lunae Lumen]

'Nox' is a feminine word (both grammatically and, in this case, metaphorically), therefore it is 'Nox Invicta'.

[Darkwing Dash]

Thanks, but I do prefer to stay with the original title though. It has a deeper meaning than just the Latin translation.