Ponywatching

by ThunderTempest

Prompt #188: Phases

Dear Princess Luna, Guider of a Thousand Stars, blah blah blah,

I’m still here, you know. You’re not getting rid of me that quickly. I’ve had a thousand years to foster everything I need in you. My hooks are deep in you, Luna, and they don’t come out fast.

Honestly, acting as if one rainbow blast to the face (that hurt, by the way) would get rid of me. It didn’t work the first time, whatever made you think it would work the second time? All it did was make me take the back seat. Unpleasant, to be sure, but I suppose that this is the price I have to pay.

So really, go on. Play the good little princess. Really, I don’t mind. It might even be entertaining for a while.

Because you and I both know that you are not a good princess. Oh no, you’re not.

Don’t even act like I was responsible for the name ‘Nightmare Moon’. They were already calling you some variation of that in four separate countries years before you had your little fit of jealousy. Because really, you were just so effective. What was it they used to call you and that trumped-up donkey that you call a sister?

Oh yes, the Negotiator and the Warrior. She offered the hoof of friendship and peace, and you were the one who made sure that the alternative was significantly worse, that war with Equestria would be the truly horrendous option. Good times, those.

Oh, and that delicious title that the dragons gave you: She Who Walks With Phobos and Deimos. I always liked that one. Very apt, given your usual tactic in wartime.

Remember that minotaur general you drove insane? Or the entire invasion you dismantled? Because I do. You were a master, Luna. An artist, almost. You wielded psychological weapons so effectively they might have been physical things. And yet, what do the history books say about all of your greatest achievements? You are relegated to footnotes, to ancient tomes that no pony ever reads.

You used to be respected. Admired. Feared. Under the light of the moon, you were untouchable. In its shadows, you were invisible. And in the dreamscape, my my. I am in awe of what you accomplished there. Five minutes, and you could have the hardest griffon in the army bawling his eyes out and telling you how he stole a fish from his sibling when he was three.

Oh, that’s right, you did that once.

In fairness, I do think I pushed you a little hard, Luna. I can see that now. But you were just so full of jealousy and envy that I had to push you over the edge.

I’ll be more careful next time. Not so drastic. Say what you like about me, but I will say that I never make the same mistake twice.

Because you don’t make the same mistake twice.

Because there never was a ‘Nightmare’ spirit, but that was easier to face than the truth.

Because deep down, you know the truth, that I’m really just you, albeit with a few...differences.

The moon has many faces, Luna. I’m just the darkest of them. The metaphorical and literal new moon to your full moon.

Give my regards to Celestia for me, will you? And tell her that next time, I won’t miss.

See you soon,

Princess Luna, The Waking Nightmare.

Author's Note:

Written for Prompt #188: “To The Moon”

The Prompt: Dear Princess Luna...