1000 years ago Princess Luna descended into darkness. She watched for years as ponies shunned her and her beautiful night in favor of the sun. There was nobody there to stop her descent into madness. Or was there?
So often we take for granted those who love us the most. It's been a 1,000 years since last Luna stepped foot in Equestria, and all her loyal subjects are long dead. All but one.
Cloud Twist is a pegasus pony and the most loyal subject of Her Majesty, Princess Luna. On that fateful night when his Princess descended into darkness, and Nightmare Moon was released, there was nopony who mourned more than he. So it was that he sought out an aging unicorn of immense power, for only this unicorn could grant Cloud Twist with his one true wish, to see his Princess once more.
Notice: I am looking for cover art and while I have not described Cloud Twist in these chapters I would like to see how the readers imagine him as I am writing it so if anybody would like to create cover art for the story please let me know :) I am also looking for an editor to help me proofread the story and get some of the more minute details correctly displayed.
MadameDragonFlower, along with editing the first few chapters of this original version of the story, has also written her own take on the idea and it can be found here. The first two chapters are almost identical but after that they take completely different directions. Currently it appears to be on hiatus.
I opened my eyes and had no idea where I was or what year it was. I looked around and I seemed to be in a basement or underground cavern of some sort. My mind was fuzzy, I couldn't remember anything, I couldn't even remember who I was.
Welcome back Cloud Twist. The year is 2010 and it is 7:00 a.m. After your long hibernation you will need food. There is freeze dried food in the pantry to the right of my console and a sink to the left. There is a bathroom through the door in the left wall where you may wash up.
The electronic voice startled me. I looked around and saw a screen light up next to a console. The voice had called me Cloud Twist, that sounded right. The year however surprised me. I vaguely recalled the year being 1010. Suddenly it all came back. My name is Cloud Twist and I was put into hibernation by Starswirl the Bearded. A hibernation that would only end when hers ended. Then it hit me! I was awake! That meant she was back! Princess Luna had returned.
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
30 minutes later, washed and well fed, I looked around my chamber. I found stairs to the back of the room and they led me up to a house. The house was clean and well-kept. I knew Starswirl was never this clean and after a thousand years he was probably dead. That meant somebody else had to have been watching over the house, and freeze dried food only lasts about 20 years so somebody had to have been watching over me as well, waiting for me to wake up.
Suddenly a voice came from behind me. "So, you're awake now? I was starting to wonder if Starswirl had messed up the spell and you would never wake up."
My wings snapped open and I jumped 10 feet in the air. Turning to the voice I found a young earth pony mare looking at me with a bright smile on her face. "My name is Heart Charmer, I am descended from Starswirl the Bearded. Do you remember who you are and why you are here?"
"You startled me Heart Charmer. I do remember now. My name is Cloud Twist. I am twenty-three years old. I am in Fillydelphia and according to the device in the basement it has been a 1,000 years since I asked Starswirl to place me into hibernation. By the fact that I am awake I assume all went well and that Princess Luna has returned from her banishment?"
"Well you certainly have a one-track mind don't you Cloud Twist, you only just woke up and already you're asking about Princess Luna? Yes, Nightmare Moon escaped from the moon almost 3 weeks ago on the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration. She was defeated by the personal student of Princess Celestia and now all is forgiven and Princess Luna is settling back into the palace, resuming her rightful place as the Princess of the Night." Heart Charmer smiled. "Would you like some breakfast? I just put on some coffee and was going to make some eggs."
"Thank you, I would like something to eat. A thousand years of hibernation leaves an empty pit in the stomach." I followed Heart Charmer into the kitchen where she set an extra place for me and filled my plate. "So tell me Ms. Charmer, what information has been passed down about me?"
"Just that you were to be protected, the machinery to be kept working and when you woke up you would likely return to the Princess' side as fast as possible. I was the one who figured out why you wanted to be put into hibernation, you love her don't you? Do you want to tell me about it?"
"What makes you think I am anything more than a loyal servant? Princess Luna is the true ruler of Equestria, and she was never given any credit for it." I looked at the ground to hide the pain in my eyes. "I am her loyal servant, I am the only one who was willing to await her return, I alone shall be rewarded for my faithful service." I looked back up and saw a knowing smile on her face. What was with this mare? "I have to go, I must to return to the palace."
"Do you even know where the royal court is residing now? They are no longer in the palace of the Royal Pony Sisters. They moved to Canterlot after Princess Luna's banishment and reside there now with her return. I will take you there."
We rode together to the castle at the heart of Canterlot. The world had changed a lot in 1,000 years, I wondered how hard it would be to adjust to this new era. Heart Charmer kept up a steady stream of conversation during the journey and I noticed the weird way in which she talked. Even speech had changed dramatically. I discovered that she was a doctor, one of the best in all of Equestria.
I was astounded when we entered the gate to Canterlot. My how the city had grown! 1,000 years ago Canterlot was just barely getting started, now it had become a major metropolis.
"There's the castle," remarked Heart Charmer. "Princess Luna has her quarters in the North Tower and holds court in the Hall beneath her quarters. I took the liberty of looking into her daily schedule to plan for your awakening, she should be waking up in about an hour."
"You are efficient, and it seems we have timed this perfectly. We need only wait one hour before seeking audience with the Princess of the Night," I replied. "I would like to thank you Heart Charmer, you have been kind and helpful."
"We should go see Princess Celestia and give her our greetings before she lowers the sun. Watching her lowering the sun will always be one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen."
I snapped to attention at the sound of the tyrants name. "DO NOT SPEAK THAT NAME IN FRONT OF ME!" I screamed. The donkey pulling our carriage came to a sudden halt and looked back at us. I was breathing deeply, trying to cool the fire that had sparked in my chest. "I thank you driver, but I shall carry on alone here."
I took off into the streets with Heart Charmer calling out after me. I could not see Celestia. Even if Princess Luna had forgiven her sister for her banisment, I could not. As I began to cool down and my heart beat slowed I started making my way towards the castle. I would contact Charmer in the morning and apologize, my reaction was out of line and I feared I may have hurt her feelings. The most important thing right now, however, was to get back into the service of mine Princess. As I approached the castle I saw the two sisters rise into the sky as they performed their duty, Celestia lowering the sun and Princess Luna bringing out the beautiful moon and the stars. Her banishment had not tarnished her appearance at all, Princess Luna was just as striking as she had always been. How would she react when I appeared? Would she even remember me after 1,000 years? The thought gave me pause. What if she didn't remember? What would I do? Well that question was easy at least, I would continue as ever, serving my Princess in any way possible.
I approached the gate and noticed the suns guards were still in place. I waited for the night shift to take up their post before approaching the gate. "My name is Sir Cloud Twist," I announced upon being prompted, "and I seek audience with Her Royal Majesty, Princess Luna, Ruler of the Night and the Moon and the Stars."
"What business have you with the Princess?" asked one of the guards. "I am the Princess' most loyal servant, wishing to return to her service. Will you please inform her that I wish to speak with her."
"Follow me," said the guard. I followed him through the gates and into the castle. I was careful to memorize the layout of the castle as we passed through, would not want to get lost later. We stopped outside a set of large double doors. "Wait here," said the guard, and he passed through the doors into what could only be the Reception Hall. I heard silence from behind the doors and then a sudden commotion. The guard quickly returned and ushered me inside the great hall. At the other end stood she, Princess Luna, the ruler of the night.
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
I stood in awe of her beauty and her majesty for but a moment before remembering my manners and kneeling before the Princess. "Her Royal Majesty, Princess Luna, Ruler of the Night and the Moon and the Stars. I, thine loyal servant, Sir Cloud Twist, have sought an audience with you in the hopes that you would reinstate my position as Captain of the Night Guard."
"You may rise, Sir Cloud Twist. After 1,000 years apart, for you to return to me..." Princess Luna began. I looked up and saw that her eyes were filled with emotion, tears were running down her cheek. Suddenly, abandoning all pretense, the princess rushed in to embrace me. My own eyes began to tear up. She remembered me, even after 1,000 years she remembered me. "How is this possible?" she asked, looking into my eyes. "It truly is you, is it not? But how can you be alive after 1,000 years?"
"Do you remember my promise? I promised I would always be there to protect you. When you were banished to the moon, I imposed my own exile. I paid Starswirl the Bearded to induce a sleep that would end only when the Princess of the Night returned from her exile. And behold, here you are and here I am." I bowed once more to my Princess. "Would you reinstate my position as Captain of the Night Guard? Or perhaps another position if that one is already filled. I would be happy however I might help Her Royal Majesty."
"I have a more important position than any for you to fill. I would like you to be my companion. I would hope that I shall never become Nightmare Moon again, it shall be thine duty to protect me from myself. Tis a duty I would entrust only to you, Sir Cloud Twist."
That first night passed by way too quick and before I knew it Princess Luna had to lower the moon. I watched as she lowered it before being escorted to a room that had been prepared for me. I could not sleep however. I had slept for 1000 years, I assumed getting back into my sleeping patterns would be difficult. I laid down and closed my eyes but my mind would not shut off. I kept seeing her, watching her lower the moon and remembering the time when she would not.
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
"We must not allow the Day Guard inside! Keep them outside the castle at all costs!" I shouted to the ponies under my command. I heard a crash as three Day Guard warriors burst through the windows a ways down the hall. I looked behind me and saw my troops distracted by an attempt to break through the front gate.
I pulled my hoof blades from their holster under my wings and latched them into the hooks on my hooves before lurching after the invaders. I used my pegasus magic to propel myself towards the soldiers and thrust a blade into the first ones head, an earth pony, before they could react. I quickly dodged under the first blow from the second, another earth pony, and moved to ensure he didn't get a second chance, slicing him open with my second blade as I extracted my first blade from the head of the first target. I was forced to land before launching at the third, a unicorn of some renown, even amongst the Night Guard. I missed him with my first shot however as his unicorns blade, an enchanted blade consisting of 9 shards of steel, parried my own blade and scratched my stomach as I passed.
I landed on the other side of the unicorn and quickly spun around. "You should leave now Sun Dancer, I would rather not kill you. Tell your Princess that her reign is over, the reign of the moon is begun."
"I will never surrender to a traitor! You will die tonight and your Princess shall fall! It shall all be for naught!" came the quick response. I hated that it had come to this. My Princess of the Night had put up with insolence for far too long. The ponies of Equestria took her for granted, she protected them in the night yet they worshiped their sun goddess. Only I truly understood her majesty and if she had to become Nightmare Moon to make the others understand then so be it. No matter what I would stand by her side, her ever faithful servant. And if I had any say in the matter, the sun would never rise again.
"Then die and rest assured that your sun shall never rise again!" I launched myself at the unicorn with a flap of my wings. The unicorn raised his sword to parry my blade once more and I used my pegasus magic to increase the air flow over my head and collapsed my wings, dropping under his guard as my hoof blade penetrated his chest. The unicorn glared at me as his sword fell to pieces and as the air left him through the hole in his lungs, he exclaimed "The sun shall t-t-triumph." before collapsing on top of me. I pushed him off, pulling my blade free and returned to my guards who were struggling to hold their position as Celestia's Day Guard attempted to push through the barricade.
"Pegasi! Grab up your bows and take to the skies! We must stem the flow of troops before they overwhelm us!" I shouted to my troops. I led the Pegasi under my command into the sky but my troops quickly scattered when we saw what was approaching. It was Celestia. She was coming towards us and I knew that our entire force would not be enough to stop her.
"Will you fight me Cloud Twist?! Surely you know you can not defeat me in combat!" shouted the tyrant.
"Whether I can defeat you or not has yet to be seen Tyrant," I stated with more confidence than I felt. "I will, however, fight until my last breath for the rightful ruler of this land! The ponies of Equestria have taken mine Princess of the Night for granted for way too long, and you are no better! You, who abandoned your own sister to take the spot in the light, you shall reap what you sow."
I then ceased talking and used every ounce of pegasus magic at my disposal to launch myself at her. I then feinted to the right, lashing out at her with both of my blades but she was too quick. She dodged away from my blades and launched a ray of sunfire at me that melted my blades. I detached the remnants of metal from my hooves. There was nothing else for it, i would have to fight hoof-to-hoof.
"Leave now and your treason will be forgiven, continue to fight and I will have to put you down Cloud Twist," reasoned Celestia. I would not hear it. I could not abandon my Princess, I would follow her to Tartarus and back if I had to. I launched another attack, ready to strangle the life out of this tyrant. "Die!" I shouted in anger. But I was no match. I was never a match for her. She twisted in the air and bucked me in the chest, knocking the air out of my lungs, then she threw a series of punches at my face and the last thing I knew I was falling and Celestia was heading for the castle.
I don't know how long I laid on the castle grounds passed out but when I awoke it was to see Princess Luna fighting her sister in the skies above. I took a quick evaluation of myself. A few broken ribs, definitely a broken wing which meant no flying. I looked up in the sky at the battle raging above. Then I saw a sudden glint of gold! Celestia had the Elements of Harmony! A sudden rainbow appeared from Celestia's crown and it was over. Princess Luna disappeared in a brilliant flash and her visage showed in the moon above.
I knew I had to get out of there. The punishment for treason was death and I could not die in peace until I had avenged my Princess. I stood up carefully, ignoring the pain from my ribs. The rest of the Night Guard had already taken off, the cowards. I would never see them again, with Princess Luna gone they would not risk exposing themselves. I reached the forest at the edge of the grounds just as the sun came up over the horizon.
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
All these painful memories surfaced. I remembered bandaging my wing and ribs, I hid out in the woods for a couple weeks while my wounds healed. Every night I looked up to the sky and wished that I could share her banishment, and fearing I would never see her again. The sun came up in the morning and went down at night as though nothing had changed, but everything had changed. Princess Luna was banished to the moon and there was no one to stop the Tyrant. She would rule unopposed for all eternity. I remember telling myself that I could not allow this to happen.
I shake my head and climb out of bed. There is not much point in pondering on what has already happened. Perhaps I should go seek out Heart Charmer and apologize for my actions yesterday. So I set out into modern Canterlot.
After asking around I finally found somepony who had seen Heart Charmer checking into a local hotel. He gave me directions and I shortly found myself outside. I wasn't sure what I would say to her. How should I explain my outburst to her? That I could never forgive Celestia for what she had done?
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
The time I spent in the forest healing was a blur. I remembered foraging for food, a huge difference from the hoof-service I got as Captain of the Night Guard. Once I was healed I snuck back into the village and noticed that people were packing everything up. I quickly learned Celestia was moving the royal court to Canterlot, the unicorn city in the mountains. I knew I would have to travel at a distance and on hoof so I set out right away in hopes I would get there around the same time the royal court did.
The journey to Canterlot took a week on hoof and by the time I arrived the royal court was already there and had begun settling in. There was a looming castle on the outskirts of the city that was not yet finished. It was amazing how much work the unicorns could do in such little time. They must have started building this castle right after Princess Luna was banished.
I looked around, listening in on conversations as I passed by other ponies. I needed to know everything I could if I was going to take Celestia down. The conversations I overheard were disconcerting, though I couldn’t place why they disturbed me so much. It wasn't until later that evening as I settled down in the forest outside the city to sleep that I realized what had bothered me so much. All these ponies were going on with their daily lives as though nothing had happened. They gave praise to Celestia for protecting them and for being such a generous ruler. Not one pony, however, mentioned Princess Luna.
I was afraid to talk to any pony lest I be discovered, but I knew I had to ask. The next morning, when I returned to Canterlot, I approached a grey earth pony near the gates.
"Good evening dear sir, could you tell me, what is happening here?" I asked.
"The Princess Celestia, in her wisdom, has decided to move the court here, to Canterlot!" exclaimed the stallion excitedly.
"And what of Princess Luna?"
At this question the stallion looked confused, as though he was trying to remember something on the tip of his tongue, or a dream he had last night that was slipping away. "I'm not rightly sure what you mean. Princess Celestia is our sovereign."
I had been angry before, but that anger was nothing compared to this. Celestia had put a block in these ponies minds. She didn't want them to remember Princess Luna or that Nightmare Night. It would be as if Princess Luna had never existed at all.
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
I walked up to the front desk of the hotel and inquired about Heart Charmer. The kind old mare behind the desk informed me that Heart Charmer was in room 24. When I knocked on door 24 a few moments later, I heard her voice from the other side asking, "Who is it?"
"Ms. Heart Charmer? It's Cloud Twist," I answered. "Can we talk?" There was a twisting in the lock and the door opened to reveal the pretty mare, her white coat and blue mane shining in the sunlight from the windows.
"Come on in," she said, moving over to give me room to walk in. "Did your meeting with the princess go as you hoped?"
"It did, but that’s not the reason I came. I wanted to apologize for my outburst yesterday, it was out of line. But... there are things you don't know about Celestia, things she has done. Things I could never forgive her for." Tears began to well in my eyes as the memories resurfaced.
"Would you like to tell me about it?" she asked, placing her hoof on my back. I snapped back to my senses and, remembering where I was, dried my eyes.
“I... I appreciate the offer, I do. Thank you, Heart Charmer, for everything you have done for me. Again, I apologize for my behavior yesterday.”
“Oh, of course,” she murmured, looking away from me and taking her hoof from where it rested on my back.
“I should go,” I shifted restlessly. “I need to get some sleep while the sun is still up.”
I returned to the castle and things took a turn for the worse. I don't know what made me think I could live in the castle and never run across Celestia but the day came much sooner than I had hoped. As I entered the courtyard I noticed the Day Guard running drills... overseen by Celestia herself!
I tried to hurry past but her eyes caught mine and I knew she recognized me. She spoke with one of her personal guards who intercepted me. I knew it was useless to run. "The Princess would like to speak with you," stated the guard. I followed him, albeit unwillingly, to where Celestia was standing.
"State your name," she ordered.
My mind ran through a thousand possible scenarios every one ending with me being thrown into the dungeon. I did not want to go there again. I had to keep calm and I had to establish my ties to this time period. I couldn't lie to her; she would know if I did. "My name is Sir Cloud Twist, personal companion to Her Royal Majesty, Princess Luna, Ruler of the Night and the Moon and the Stars."
"How dare you?" Celestia stated softly. "How dare you! How dare you return here! You who incited civil war amongst my kingdom!" she shouted as I struggled to remain calm.
"I am the loyal servant of Her Royal Majesty Princess Luna. I will always return so long as she is alive." My whole body shook in rage, but my voice remained even. "You must excuse me your Majesty," I stated through gritted teeth, "But I have had no rest and need sleep before the night returns so that I may serve my Princess."
As I began walking away the voice behind me spoke the words I dreaded to hear. "You have not been excused! It may have been a thousand years since last I saw you, Cloud Twist, but I still remember the day! You must stand trial for your crimes against Equestria! Guards, throw him in the dungeon!"
The rage was apparent in my voice with my next words. "And what of you, Celestia? Who is there to hold you accountable for your crimes? WHO?!" I glared back at her as the guards escorted me to the dungeon.
I was thrown unceremoniously into a dungeon cell. I wondered if it was the same cell as all those years ago. They all looked the same with an understuffed cot lying on the floor and a small hole in the corner for bodily functions. I heard a sound from a dark corner and quickly looked over, expecting a rat. An old bat pony moved into the light, his wings rustling, his legs so stiff you could practically hear them squeaking.
"What are you in here for?" came the bat pony’s raspy whisper.
"A long story that ends with Princess Luna pulling me out of this pit. How about you?" I asked, sitting down on the hard stone floor.
"I am a Child of the Night," the old pony rasped. At this declaration I let out a gasp. How could this be? Surely all of the Children of the Night had perished long ago?
"A Child of the Night?" I asked excitedly. "Are there others? Do they know you're here? How long have you been here?" I couldn't believe it, after 1,000 years the Children of the Night still stood vigil.
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
Every night I stared up at the moon, wishing to see her one more time. I knew it was impossible; I was doomed to watch her from here until the day I died. I would not die quietly, though. I would not let Princess Luna be forgotten. I would remind the ponies of Equestria that they had another princess, one who loved them with all her heart, one that was ignored until her heart shattered. There had to be some who were faithful, some who would help me fight.
So I watched, and I waited. I would wander around the town at night, when all was quiet and there was little chance of getting caught. I didn't wear my armor, it would certainly expose me as a Luna supporter if the wrong person saw me, so I kept it hidden in a small cave a mile out of town. Then one night, about a week after arriving in Canterlot, my hackles rose as I passed the shadows of an empty street. I was being watched. I knew that the day guard only posted two guards at night near the castle. They wouldn’t be this far into the town proper. I glanced behind but there was nopony there. I slipped into a darkened alleyway and quickly swung around to see a shadow run out of sight. I stuck to the shadows to make my way back out of town. I had no idea who was watching me but I knew it couldn't be good.
Just as I arrived back at my cave a shadow separated itself from the others around the entrance and a young unicorn mare appeared. I took a defensive position, ready to fight if I had to, more likely to flee than the former. My wing, while healed, was still sore. I knew my limits and knew how long I would last in a true fight.
"Wait!" The mare pleaded, taking a step away from me.
"Who are you? Why are you following me?" I asked angrily.
"My name is Dream Song, I've seen you before. You come into town every night. You always look so sad, and I think I know why," she spoke so softly and kindly. She looked up at the moon as she said these next words. "You miss her too, don't you? Princess Luna."
That was the start of it all. Dream Song showed me that there were others who remembered, who would always remember. These were the ponies who knew the night as it should be, who understood it's beauty. These were the Children of the Night.
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
"So you've heard of us, have you? Perhaps that is why you’re here," the old stallion mused as if to himself. He went on. "Few know of our existence, we operate in the shadows because long ago Princess Celestia banished us from Equestria when she banished her sister. But still we are here, waiting for the day that our princess returns."
"She has returned! Her Majesty, Princess Luna, Ruler of the Night and the Moon and the Stars, has returned to Equestria!" I exclaimed excitedly. "The Children of the Night will no longer need to be silenced, they must be allowed to return! To think that the true servants of my princess survived for a thousand years. When Princess Luna gets me out of here I will be sure to get you out as well."
"It matters not to me if I stay or go, my time grows short. But you say Princess Luna has returned to Equestria?" asked the old stallion. I nodded vigorously in affirmation. "That is indeed good news, I never imagined I would live to see the day. I can die in peace now.”
"I will get you out. You shouldn’t have to die in this dungeon, you are a Child of the Night! A true servant of our princess," I protested.
“Don’t worry about me. This is more important, you must know where the Children of the Night are. You must help them to return."
There was a burst of light from the door as a guard opened it. "Sir Cloud Twist, your presence is requested by the princesses."
"Did he just call you Sir Cloud Twist? As in, the founding father of the Children of the Night?" asked the old stallion with an excited rasp. I nodded a yes with a bright smile. "I truly can die happy now! Listen to me, the Children of the Night are waiting. Where the falls come down, when the moon is full and at its brightest, the path will be lit and you will surely find Salvation. Now go, the children await."
I followed the guard out of the dungeon, the old stallion’s words ringing in my ears. Where the falls come down, when the moon is full and at its brightest, the path will be lit and you will surely find Salvation.
As we exited the dungeons there was a window that showed the moon had risen. So I would see both princesses? I hoped I could convince them to be lenient, and that my Princess would forgive me. I did what I did for her, to avenge what I saw as an unfair punishment. When I discovered there were others who remembered, we began a rebellion. We wanted only to overthrow the tyrant, but our small rebellion sparked civil war. I did not want that, though I do not regret it.
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
"Reports are coming in from all over the place, Sir Cloud Twist. The ponies of Equestria have begun to lash out at the Children of the Night," reported Dream Song. "They blame us for everything, for the strict new regulations, for the animals coming out of the forest. They blame us for their nightmares, even. They say that we have terrified their children to the point they can't sleep through the night!"
I put down the letter I had received from Celestia. I had warned her. I told her the hostilities against the Children of the Night would end, or war would begin. I hung my head and sighed. The dark was always the place most ponies feared, that was why they shunned my princess and that was why they shunned her Children of the Night. There was no other recourse, no other actions that would bring an end to this. I could no longer stand by and watch these people suffer. I had to put an end to this. I walked over to the desk situated in the corner of my one-room cabin. Sitting on that desk was my helmet. I lifted the helmet and placed it on my head. It was time for war.
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
The unicorn guard led me down a hallway and at the end stood a pair of grand doors, even larger than the ones leading into Princess Luna's reception hall. He used his magic to open the doors to reveal a grand hall, adorned in gold and jewels with colored windows lining the walls, each one depicting a different story. I wondered if my story was up there somewhere. Somehow I doubted it. Celestia did not want her subjects to remember my princess and my story was much entwined with hers.
At the end of the hall, at the top of a dais, stood Celestia. Next to her stood Princess Luna. I walked up to the steps and knelt before Princess Luna, bowing my head. "My Princess," I spoke with reverence in my voice.
"Sir Cloud Twist, you have been summoned here to discuss punishment for your crimes against Equestria," came the voice of Celestia. "You are charged with treason for attacking a princess and leading a rebellion against the crown. You are charged with disturbing of the civil rest and inciting civil war amongst the kingdom. These facts are indisputable."
I wanted to speak up, to defend my actions, but when I raised head and opened my mouth to speak Princess Luna shook her head. I snapped my mouth shut and continued to listen.
"However," spoke Celestia. "Her Royal Majesty, Princess Luna, Ruler of the Night and the Moon and the Stars, has spoken upon your behalf. She speaks of your great loyalty to her and defends your actions as such. For this reason, you are hereby pardoned of all crimes.”
Pardoned of all crimes? This was better than I had hoped. I looked up at my princess and smiled. I would surely have been beheaded on the spot if not for her. "Thank you Your Majesty," I spoke with gratitude, my eyes never leaving Princess Luna.
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
The first battle was not one I would forget. We fought outside a small village near Neighagra Falls. The people there had rounded up all the Children of the Night and had appealed to Celestia to allow the villagers to execute them. Instead, Celestia had sent her Day Guard to hold a trial. The trial ended with a death sentence for each of them. When I found out about the execution date, I quickly rallied the troops and we set out for Neighagra Falls. The closer we got to the village, the more ponies joined up with us, each passing village afforded us another five or ten ponies, few of them were soldiers but each one of them willing to put their lives on the line to protect their own.
We approached the village on the day of the execution. The Children of the Night who had been tried were tied up in the center of town. We did not make it that far. Apparently, someone had warned the Day Guard and they were waiting for us outside of the village. I signaled the ponies behind me to halt and unfurled a white flag. I tucked the flag pole beneath my wing, positioning it in a way that it would wave in the breeze as I approached the enemy to entreat with them.
As I approached, a soldier from the Day Guard separated from his fellows and met me halfway.
"This does not have to come to a fight, Sergeant, release the Children of the Night and we will walk away peacefully," I offered.
"We have our orders and we will follow them. How dare you defy Her Royal Majesty, Princess Celestia?" Came the indignant reply.
"Is that your final word? You are not willing to reason with us?" I asked, despair in my eyes for what was about to happen.
"Return to your troops, Captain, we will not release these prisoners."
I closed my eyes in despair as I turned away. I returned to my followers and informed them of the news. I instructed three of them to sneak around back and release prisoners and the rest were to fight without mercy. The battle was a bloody one, and by the time it was over the falls ran red with blood. The Day Guard lay on the ground before me, all of them dead or wounded, many of them by my own hand. I had done my best to protect my own, but even we were not without casualty, more than a fourth of our troops were dead, half of those who remained were injured. Our unicorns were suffering from severe magic drain and our pegasi were exhausted, even the earth ponies were feeling the beginnings of exhaustion.
Dream Song walked to me, wounds adorning her body. "The battle is over, Sir Cloud Twist, we have won. The prisoners were rescued and escorted to a safe place not far from here. We should gather the wounded and help them to the hideout. We can return for the dead later, they will need a proper burial."
"You're right Dream, they deserve that at least. You can lead the way back to the hideout."
With the end of the trial Celestia dismissed herself and I followed Princess Luna back to her own reception hall. At the last minute, Luna took a turn away from the reception hall. Unsure if I was meant to follow her, I stopped at the corner.
Turning to look at me, Princess Luna said, "Come, we need to talk in private."
I continued following her until we reached a small chamber with food laid out on the table. My stomach growled. I had not realized just how hungry I was until I saw that food. I had not eaten since the eggs at Heart Charmer’s residence.
The Princess sat down by the table and smiled. "You may eat while we talk," she said.
I sat down respectfully across the table from my princess and said, "Food can wait, I think I know what you have to say, Princess, and it's more important than stuffing my stomach."
"It is important." She nodded. "Celestia has told me quite an interesting story about what happened in the first months of my banishment.” She paused, looking directly into my eyes. My face betrayed none of my regret. "I don't blame you for what you did, it was my fault. I planted the seeds of hatred and I'm sorry. Could you ever forgive me?"
"There is nothing to forgive Princess, what I did was done of my own free will..." I hesitated, wondering if I should tell her why I had lashed out as I had, if I should tell her that Celestia had attempted to wipe her from the memories of the ponies of Equestria. I decided against it, there was no reason to upset her. "I regret what I have done, but know that it was unavoidable. Celestia and her followers attacked your true servants in blind fear and I merely acted in their defense.
“There is something you should know, Princess. When you left your followers did not abandon you There were those who would always remember and await your return. To this day they still stand vigil, they are not aware that you have returned. The Children of the Night are waiting for you."
"The Children of the Night?" she asked.
I told her the story of how I met Dream Song, and of the Children of the Night. "I almost forgot!" I cried. "In the dungeons, there is an old pony down there, a Child of the Night. He is about to die. Please Princess," I begged. "You must let him out, he deserves better than to die in a dungeon."
"I will have the guards bring him up," said the princess, smiling at her companion. "In the meantime, tell me more about these Children of the Night."
“Put simply, the children of the night were those loyal to you even after your banishment. It didn’t take long for the ponies of Equestria to move on after you were banished, but there were some who chose to wander the night despite your absence,” I spoke with little emotion, my soldier’s experience kicked in and I might have been simply reading a report to my princess. I told her of meeting Dream Song for the first time, and how we had slowly gathered more and more of Luna’s followers as time went on.
“Without you to watch over the ponies at night, they began having nightmares. This led to widespread fear that was blamed on the children of the night. When I saw the suffering your followers endured, I couldn’t stand by and watch. At first, I had wanted vengeance against Celestia. But then, I just wanted to protect those who were innocent. Guilty only of being loyal to you.” Finally, my emotions broke through. Tears welled in my eyes as I told her the details of the war that should never have been. My voice broke and I looked away, unable to meet her gaze. “I did not mean for ponies to die.”
Princess Luna moved closer to me and spread her wings over my back comfortingly. "It's in the past Cloud Twist, we all have regrets, some of us more than others, all we can do is learn from our mistakes and move on."
I wiped my eyes with a hoof and realized what had happened. Princess Luna was comforting me when I was supposed to be the one protecting her, not the other way around. The door to the chamber opened and the bat pony that was sent to bring up the Child of the Night entered. Princess Luna pulled her wing from my back and nodded her head to him as he approached.
"Princess," the bat pony bowed before her. "I apologize for interrupting, but I thought you would like to know, the old bat pony in the dungeons, he has passed away. I went to release him as you asked but I found him curled up in a corner and he wasn't breathing."
Shock descended on me, gripping my heart more powerfully than the grief I had felt only a moment before. A shock that was surely mirrored on my face. That he should die just as he was about to be released was unthinkable. I looked up at the princess and saw a look of profound sadness. That is why she is my Princess, I thought to myself. No other could be so sad about the death of a pony she had never met.
I felt my shock turn to resolve. "I must not let this end here, with his final words he revealed to me the location of the other Children of the Night. ‘Where the falls come down, when the moon is full and at its brightest, it will light the path and you will surely find Salvation.’ "
Princess Luna looked at me and smiled. "Yes, we must find them. We must bring them back to Equestria where they belong."
"But Princess," I protested. "You must stay here and watch over Equestria, they need you."
"No, Cloud. Equestria has survived without me for a thousand years, I am sure they can survive without me until we find the Children of the Night," Princess Luna said wryly. "You said you knew where they were, but that sentence didn't make much sense. ‘Where the falls come down, when the moon is full and its brightest, it will light the path and you will surely find Salvation.’ What falls was he referring to?"
"I think he was referring to Neighagra Falls, the place of our first great battle. It makes sense that they would settle there in the end."
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
"Captain, the foraging crew has returned and they found something peculiar. They came across a cockatrice next to a statue, the medical squad is attempting to revive the pony now."
The report startled me, why would a pony be wandering around in the woods? "Thank you Night Chaser," I replied, dismissing the scout. I headed out into the encampment. Our forces were camping in a clearing in the woods at the base of the falls. Nopony ever came into these woods so it was unlikely anypony would discover the Children of the Night and rat them out to the Day Guard, so why was this random pony wandering around the woods to be petrified by a cockatrice? I would soon find out.
As I entered the main encampment I found one of our medical ponies helping the stranger to his hooves. A unicorn colt! He couldn't have been more than 13 years old! "Where am I?" the colt asked, blinkingly taking in his surroundings.
"You're in the war camp of the Children of the Night. Who are you and what were you doing wandering around the forest at night?" I asked with authority.
"The Children of the Night? But then, why did you save me? I thought the children of the night were supposed to be evil, the bad guys," he asked with the ignorance of the majority of the populace of Equestria.
"That’s what your tyrannical ruler wants you to think. The ponies of Equestria would not be happy if they knew she was the one who started this war. Now, answer my question. Who are you and what were you doing wandering in the forest at night? Don't you know the forest is dangerous? If we hadn't been here you would have been stuck as a statue forever!"
"My name is Violet Smoke. I only came in the forest because my friends dared me to spend one night in the forest," he admitted. "I am truly grateful for your assistance and I’m sure my parents will be grateful as well. I know I have no right to ask such a thing, but could someone take me back to my village?"
"Violet Smoke, huh? Well, I would be happy to escort you myself, but as you know, we Children of the Night can not enter a village without causing a panic. I can take you within eyeshot of the village, but that's as far as I can go," I explained to him.
"Thank you very much Mr… I’m sorry, what’s your name?"
"Cloud Twist."
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
"Not long after that the mayor of the village came looking for us. Turns out he was the boy’s father and he wanted to thank us," I explained to the princess. "From then on we had an ally, the mayor convinced the village that we were not to be feared, but rather respected."
"Sometimes, you just have to show ponies there is nothing to be afraid of," said Princess Luna. "It seems to me you were a very wise leader."
"Wise or not, I could not have done it without my friends, they helped me when I could not do it myself.”
"Friendship is a truly powerful thing, even my sister knows that. None of us would be here without our friends, and that includes me."
I smiled, knowing that she was right, friendship could easily be the most powerful force in Equestria.
Princess Luna had a few preparations to make before she could leave the capital in search of the Children of the Night so we decided to leave the next night. I followed my Princess around all night, we did not have much opportunity to talk as she delegated certain duties to those around her. The night passed too quickly and once the sun had been raised we separated and went to our own rooms. My room was conveniently located just down the hall from the royal chambers where Princess Luna slept through the day. As we reached the door to her chambers, I gave a bow.
“Good day Princess, may the day be short and you wake rested and at peace,” I said, reciting the ancient dialog.
“And may your sleep be as restful as well Sir Cloud Twist,” came the reply, as Princess Luna entered her chambers and closed the door behind her with a smile. I continued to my room and laid down to rest. Tomorrow would be a long night of flying to reach Neighagra Falls.
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
That night I dreamt of a world, a world where everything was perfect. Nightmare Moon never existed and my Princess was beloved by all. None of the terrible crimes of my past ever happened and the love of my life stood by my side. I awoke to a knocking at the door and pushed the dream from my head. Wishes are just that, wishes. I can not change what has happened, I can only strive for a better future. As a second knock came I shouted out, “Who is it?”
“Princess Luna has requested your presence, Sir Cloud Twist,” came the reply.
“I'm on my way.”
I hopped out of bed and headed down the hall to the royal chambers. As I knocked on the door I heard “Come in Sir Cloud Twist,” from the other side. I entered and found the Princess eating her breakfast. In the center of the table sat a tray with a pot of oatmeal with apple slices, apple bread, a pot of apple spice tea and apple fritters. “Good evening,” said the Princess with a smile. “Sit, have something to eat. We have a long trip ahead of us this night.”
“Thank you Princess.” I sat across from her and picked up a slice of apple bread from the tray and poured some apple spice tea from the tea pot.
“Did you find your quarters satisfactory?”
“Very much so, Princess. The heavy curtains blocked out every trace of the sun allowing me to sleep well through the day.”
“I am glad, when I first returned I had difficulty adjusting. I am pleased that you are having no such difficulties.”
“If I may be so bold, Princess,” I hesitated. “What difficulties did you have upon your return?”
“Have you heard yet the story of what happened the day I returned?” asked the Princess.
“No, I have not.”
“When I returned it was as Nightmare Moon. Most of the ponies did not know who I was, who I had been. Only one recognized me, Twilight Sparkle” explained the Princess. “Twilight is the personal protégé of my sister and a very wise pony for her age. Her and her friends found the Elements of Harmony in the old castle but rather than banish me back to the moon as my sister had, they banished the darkness within me. For the first time in a millenia, I felt remorse for the things I had done. That has been my greatest difficulty, moving past that remorse and finding the love I had once held for my little ponies. There are still times when I struggle with it, whenever I see a pony running to my sister instead of to me. She does her best, I know. She attempts to convince them to talk to me instead, but many of them still fear me.”
Tears welled in my eyes as I thought of the pain my Princess had suffered, that she still suffered. “Those ponies are fools, and blind fools at that. They can not see your majesty and grace, the beauty that you bring to this world every night,” I stated. “Some things in this world will never change, but you should never lose heart Princess, because for every pony who fears you, there is a pony who adores you. You will see when we find the Children of the Night, there will always be those who are loyal to you and you alone.”
A slight blush rose to Princess Lunas cheeks, barely noticeable, but still there. “Thank you Sir Cloud Twist, you really are my most loyal subject. One day you will have to tell me the full story of how you came to be so wise.”
“I learned from you, and from my friends.”
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
I looked up at the moon to see her visage hoping it would give me the strength to get through this. Things were getting worse in Equestria. The tyrants speech denouncing the Children of the Night had spread all across the country, everypony was on the look out for anypony suspicious and anypony out after dark was put on trial. The punishment if a true Child of the Night was discovered was death by fire. I knew we would have to fight again but I didn't want to risk the lives of the ponies who followed me. We only won our first battle because of superior numbers, we would not get so lucky again, not now that Celestia knew we were willing to fight.
I passed the nights training them as best I could, but few of them had ever held a blade or a bow, and I knew almost nothing of combat magic. Dream Song had learned a few combat spells from a book she had stolen from a town library and was busy teaching them to any unicorn with enough magical ability to perform them. Still, I did not want to fight.
As I slept, I dreamt of my princess. I wondered, what would she do in my position? Would she have risked the lives of so many innocent ponies?
“You seem deeply troubled Cloud, are you okay?”
I jumped at the voice from behind me and was reaching for my blades before I realized who it was. “Dream Song. You startled me.”
“Everyone is on edge. More bad news just keeps coming and we all know it's going to lead to another fight,” she said softly.
“That's what worries me. Is it right for me to lead so many inexperienced ponies to their death?” I pondered.
Dream Song approached me and placed a hoof on my neck. “If not for you, Cloud, many of them would already be dead. Many more still are out there, waiting for you to find them, to give them a home. These ponies follow you, not because you ask them to, but because they know you are worth following. It is a terrible burden, I know, but you need not carry it alone. Whenever it gets to be too much, I will be there to help lighten your load. Together, we can do this.”
“Thank you Song,” I said, nuzzling her and returning the hug. “You have helped me more than you can know.”
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
As the Princess and I finished our meal there was a knock at her chamber door. “Enter,” said the Princess. A young unicorn of the Night Watch entered carrying a set of armor.
“Your Majesty. The armor-smith asked that I bring this to you right away. He says it was built exactly to the specifications you requested and enchanted with the best protection spells his enchanters could perform,” recited the unicorn.
“Thank you Starlight, you may leave it here.” She turned to me with a smile as Starlight excused himself, “Try it on Sir Cloud Twist, I hope I got your specifications correct.”
I stood and walked over to where the armor lay and examined it. The armor consisted of many interlinked sections so as to allow maneuverability and even consisted of 2 wing-shaped armor pieces that would rest on top of my wings without inhibiting the movement of my feathers. Overall the armor was light and flexible and contained a slight glow from the defensive spells guarding it. Princess Lunas light blue aura surrounds the armor as she uses her magic to strap the armor into place.
“Thank you very much my Princess. This armor is amazing and much better than anything we had in the old times.”
“The ponies have made many advancements in the past 1,000 years. Even the enchantments guarding this armor are far beyond anything the average unicorn could dream up back then. You could likely take several hits from a unicorns blade, though I would not like to see that theory tested.”
“I love it. I shall wear it with honor,” I exclaimed.
“Then let us take flight. We have a long way to travel to reach Neighagra Falls and we do not know how much farther beyond that we may have to walk.” With that we began our journey, a journey to find the missing Children.
As we flew through the night sky a silence fell between us. It was difficult for me to think of what to say. For so long I had wanted nothing but to see her again, to stand at her side and let her know that she is not alone. Now that I was here, however, I did not know what to say.
“May I ask what is on your mind Cloud?” the Princess asked.
“Um...I...” I hesitated. She had called me Cloud, it was very unusual for the Princess to drop my title. “It's just, I left them. I left them 1,000 years ago to fend for themselves. Even as I did it, I questioned whether it was the right choice, wondered if it was just me being selfish. I rationalized it by telling myself that you would need me, when you returned. Truth is though, I think I just wanted to see you again, to let you know that even when everyone else forgot, even when everyone abandoned you, I remained faithful.”
“What happened that convinced you to try talking to Starswirl the Bearded? You say the Children were following you so what changed?”
“It was only our second battle in the war...” I began.
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
“How many?” I asked.
“At last report they had over 50,” reported Dream Song.
“This is it, the moment I've feared for all this time. Celestia will gather as many as she can in one fell swoop and she will kill them all. Fifty Children of the Night, that anyone could do something so cruel. We will have to fight and it's going to be on her terms. I fear that we will not survive this.”
“Even so, we must fight. If she is willing to go this far then there is nothing to stop her from hunting us all down and killing us one by one, and there is nowhere we can hide, nowhere we can be safe.”
“I know. I have no choice but to fight, but I will not lead them in blindly. They have to know what they are up against, they have to know that if Celestia takes the field, the day is lost,” I said sorrowfully.
“So tell them. It will not make a difference, there is a reason you were chosen as the leader, a reason that they follow you,” Dream Song said, speaking softly.
“Thank you Dream, throughout all of this you have been a constant support,” I said. As I turned towards the tent exit I stopped and looked at her. Tomorrow I leave for Canterlot, with or without an army I thought. I leaned in and kissed Dream softly but urgently. Her eyes opened wide and then she closed them. I broke the kiss, turned and left the tent to address the other Children of the Night.
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
“There were approximately 200 Children in our encampment at that point and only half of them were combat ready. I explained to them what would happen, that they were not likely to leave the battlefield alive and a few of them got real scared and backed away but we still had over 150 ponies willing to fight to protect their own,” I explained, tears streaming down my face as we flew through the night. “We left that night, marching on Canterlot.”
“You mustn't blame yourself Cloud, you did not force them to fight, you did not trick them. You were open and honest, and they marched bravely to their deaths because they knew there was no alternative,” soothed the Princess.
I shook my head and continued the story.
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
We approached Canterlot just as the sun was being raised. I knew Celestia saw us so I urged my ponies to hurry. We had to breach the city gates before they could mount an effective force to stop us. We would have no chance at all if the Day Guard caught us in the open field.
As we came in sight of the city gates, what must have been the entire earth pony division of the Day Guard exited through the gate 2 by 2. Suddenly from the rear came a shout. “Unicorns behind us! It's a trap!” Celestia had been waiting for us and had laid a trap.
“Pegasi!” I shouted to my troops. “Take to the air! Ready your bows and remember your training! Earth ponies will only go down with an arrow to the head!”
We were prepared for a fight, well here it was. I led the pegasi into the air as we prepared to attack the earth ponies standing in front of the gate. Dream Song called the unicorns to her and began furiously casting spells in all directions in an attempt to protect her allies but also to distract the enemy while the rest of us were fighting.
I pulled my blades from their holsters beneath my wings and latched them to my front hooves. I saw the other pegasi shooting arrows at the earth ponies, I was surprised to see how few arrows missed their targets. Perhaps we could win this. Then came the pegasi division of the Day Guard and I launched my attack.
I took out 5 pegasi, slicing them open with my blades and letting them tumble to the ground, before the others caught on to me. I was closing in on my next target when 5 enemy pegasi rushed me. I recognized their unique uniforms that stood out in comparison to the gold armor worn by the rest of the Day Guard. Celestias elite flyers, the Wonderbolts. I let out a deep breath and launched myself after them. This was not going to be an easy fight, I had no attention to spare for protecting the others, I would just have to hope they were prepared.
The first Wonderbolt came at me head on, he must have thought he could overpower me. I flew straight for him in a game of chicken with high stakes. I saw his blades flash and readied my own. As we came within inches of each other I did a quick barrel roll with both my blades outstretched and managed to cut at a few feathers before my enemy rolled the other way, his own blades nicking my rear leg.
“Archers, on me!” I called. All the pegasi within hearing distance redirected their arrows towards me and the Wonderbolts attacking me. With the first barrage the Wonderbolts scattered, too late. The one I had cut a few feathers from was too slow and got an error straight through the injured wing. I watched as he crumpled in on himself and fell from the sky.
I took a quick look around the battlefield the pegasi were handling themselves quite well but the ground forces were not doing so well. The enemy earth ponies were nearing our unicorns and if they made it there the unicorns would be helpless to stop them. I rushed down to see if I could take a few out and help change the tide of battle but one of the Wonderbolts caught on to my plan and rushed up to intercept me.
A quick glance showed the other Wonderbolts were keeping the archers distracted so I was on my own for this one. This Wonderbolt wore a pin that showed she was their captain, and she was no foal. She pulled up in front of me a fair distance away to study me. She dashed forward and I readied my blades and she pulled back before she entered my reach. The next time I was ready for her, she dashed forward and I waited and a split second before she pulled up I dashed forward, one of my blades headed straight for her belly.
At the last second she blocked my blade. I thrust my second blade forward to slash her throat and she folded her wings, causing my strike to go over her head. I quickly pulled away just as she launched a thrust towards my belly, missing me by a hairsbreadth. I was breathing heavily and knew I couldn't let this fight go on much longer.
I launched myself at the Wonderbolt as fast as I could. As I approached she barrel-rolled to the left, I quickly barrel-rolled the right, unhooking my blade and throwing it at her exposed back. The blade lodged itself in the joint of her left wing, causing it to collapse. She spun out of control as she spiraled to the ground and hit with a sickening crunch.
No time to think, I looked back towards the ground troops. I was too late! The enemy had broken through to the unicorns! I folded my wings and went into a straight dive. I only had one blade left so I was unsure how much damage I could do on my own. I pulled up just short of the ground and rushed towards the battle. I could see Dream Song casting spells furiously, fending off pegasus arrows and unicorn metal shards, casting magic arrows in between defensive spells.
That's when I saw him. An earth pony of the Day Guard, carrying a spear and running full tilt towards Dream Song who was turned away from him.
“Dream Song!!!!!!!!” I screamed, to no avail. She could not hear me over the sounds of battle. I watched helpless, as if in slow motion, as he thrust his spear through the back of her throat.
The world turned silent. I was screaming but no sound came out. As the earth pony pulled his spear from her throat I collided with him. We rolled a ways and I landed on top. I thrust my blade into his chest over and over, unable to think clearly, crying, screaming. Still I heard nothing.
As the earth pony coughed up blood and died I turned to look around. A ray of brilliance came from the gates of Canterlot and I saw her. Celestia had taken the field. She launched a ray of sunfire that went out 30 feet, killing at least 10 ponies. Then she called her unicorns blade, a blade of pure, unwavering sunfire and jumped into the fray, killing ponies left and right.
I ran. I turned away from her and ran from the battlefield.
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ “I cowered in hiding for a week. I almost gave up on life completely,” I told the Princess, tears running a stream behind me as I wobbled. Princess Luna wrapped me in her hooves and guided me to the ground as I cried into her mane. “They needed me, they trusted me, and I ran. I'm a coward!”
“No, Cloud. Look at me,” she said as she lifted my head to look at her. “You are not a coward, you did everything you could. You had just lost someone very dear to you, anyone would have done the same in your position. You can not blame yourself, all those ponies knew what they were up against and they chose to fight anyways. Had you not been there, they still would have fought but they might not have done as well as they had. The fight was lost but they lived on, and you lived on. Do not blame yourself for doing what you had to do.”
“But...” I began.
“No buts. No matter what, you must know that you were a good leader, you fought for what you believed in and nobody can fault you for that. What is more, had you not left the field you would not be here today, and for that I am happy.”
I wiped the tears from my cheeks and gave a small smile. “Thank you Princess.”
After a few minutes of sitting there, I stopped crying, wiped my eyes and pulled away. “I am sorry Princess. I didn't tell you that story to make you hate your sister or to feel bad for me. I'll never forgive Celestia for what she has done, but she is your sister and you must forgive her, if only for the sake of peace. I only told you this story because I needed to tell someone, to let it out.”
“I already forgave my sister,” said Princess Luna. “When I returned from my banishment we had a discussion. She told me some of the things that she did to help keep the peace, and while I am beginning to see how poorly managed it all was, I understand why she did things the way she did. I hope that one day you will be able to understand it as well.”
“I don't suspect I will,” I said. “However, I will try to understand.”
After a moment of silence the Princess stood. “We should continue on if we wish to make it by tonight,” she said. I rose to my hooves and nodded my head in agreement. Together we took flight, continuing onwards towards our destination.
It was not long before the falls came into sight and we began to descend. I looked up at the nearly full moon hovering above the falls. “I don't even know where to begin looking,” I said. “The old pony said 'Where the falls come down, when the moon is full and at its brightest, the path will be lit and you will surely find Salvation.'” I was cut off before I could say anything more as the ground began to shake and I looked up to see Neighagra Falls splitting in two to reveal a cave behind the falls. My jaw dropped.
“Very impressive,” said Princess Luna with some awe in her voice. “Magic like that, they must have a magic talent among their ranks.”
“A far cry from anything we could have done when I was last with them.”
We flew over into the cave and the cave seemed to light itself as the rocks themselves emitted a glow. As we began to move forward the falls closed in a cascade of water behind us. The farther along we went the lights behind us were extinguished as the lights ahead of us turned on. It seemed as if we were walking for an hour before we reached the caves exit.
We came out in what appeared to be a large canyon with a whole city sprawled out ahead of us. As we approached the city gate there came a cry, “State your name and purpose!”
“My name is Sir Cloud Twist. I am escorting Princess Luna of Equestria, Ruler of the Night and the Moon and the Stars, on a diplomatic mission to speak with Children of the Night!” I called back.
Princess Luna stepped forward and there was the sounding of a bell from atop the walls as the gate was opened. We stepped forward and entered the city, ponies were coming out of the buildings with curious looks on their faces, that changed to looks of shock and awe on their faces when they saw Princess Luna. A guard stepped up to her and kneeled before her. “Your majesty, it is an honor to welcome you to Salvation.”
“Salvation?” the Princess inquired.
“Salvation is the name we chose for our city. Once it was only a small village, but over the years it has grown to what you see before you. The name was meant to remind us of our past struggles and how we wished to move forward,” explained the guard.
“I understand. My companion, Sir Cloud Twist, has told me of your struggles during my banishment, but know that I am here now and your struggles are over. Please, may I speak with whoever is in charge?” she asked.
“Of course, Princess. Follow me please.” The guard looked at me with curious eyes before turning and leading us into the heart of the city. The city appeared to be laid out in a basic grid style but when we reached the center of the city there was a large building and the road led in a circle around it. It was to this building the guard took us. There was a large red unicorn stallion with a cutie mark in the shape of the moon with a 5-pointed star in the background.
As we approached the stallion knelt to the ground. “Welcome to Salvation, Princess. We have been waiting for you.”
“You knew I would be coming?” she asked.
“Not exactly, Princess. Please come inside and I shall answer all of your questions.” The guard returns to his post and the stallion leads us inside and into a comfortable-looking living room. There is a fire lit in the fireplace, two chairs and a couch are surrounding a coffee table in front of the fire. “Please, have a seat.”
We all take a seat, the stallion sits in a chair, I take the couch and the Princess seats herself next to me on the couch. My thoughts are racing with thoughts of the Princess and wondering why she chose the seat next to me, but also full of questions about the Children of the Night and about the stallion across from us. I decide to put my questions about the Princess aside for now and start with the stallion.
“If I may ask, what is your name?” I ask the stallion.
“My name is Red Moon. I am the elected president of Salvation,” he explained. “Of course I recognize Princess Luna from the few pictures we have of her. You, however, are a mystery.” He looked at me. “The message I received from the gate just before you arrived says you identified yourself as Sir Cloud Twist. Our founding father went by that name, but many believe he died at the Battle of Canterlot. Are you that same Cloud Twist?”
“I am. After the Battle of Canterlot I went to see Starswirl the Bearded to ask him for a favor. He put me into a magical hibernation that allowed me to survive the 1,000 years to see my Princess again,” I said.
“Amazing, even now that kind of power is rare. I am not surprised that you would find us here so quickly. We only just learned of Princess Lunas return a few hours ago.”
“I have been back for almost a month now, are you that cut off from the news?” Princess Luna asked.
“The tunnel that brought you here is the only way in or out of the city. We can open it at any time from the inside but from the outside the only way in is by using the password on one of the three days the tunnel is active: the day before the full moon, the day of the full moon, and the day after the full moon. Even the sky above us is guarded by a shield and a spell that deters ponies from coming anywhere within sight of it. These restrictions have saved us from persecution but it also means that it takes no less than three or four weeks for any news to reach us,” Red Moon explained.
“And these spells that are guarding the city? It's pretty impressive magic, is it your doing Red Moon?” Princess Luna asked.
“The idea for the spells is centuries old and they have been maintained for as long. About 900 years ago we had a magic talent join our ranks and every couple of generations has produced at least 1 magic talent. At the moment, including myself, there are three. We work together to maintain the spells at all times. Some of them we were able to tie into the environment to draw a small amount of energy from all living things within its range, not enough to hurt them, mind you.”
“I have to admit, I am surprised by all of this,” I said. “After the Battle of Canterlot I thought there weren't very many Children of the Night left. Did someone rebuild the ranks?”
“A general named Shield Heart was one of the few who survived the battle. He knew the Children had no hope of winning a war against Celestia, so as he was rebuilding the ranks he did so with the intention of staying in hiding. If Celestia believed we were scattered and few in number it was hoped that she would leave us alone.”
“I remember Shield Heart,” I said reminiscently. “He was a good pony, I am glad he survived the battle.”
“Red Moon, I must ask your hospitality for the day. I must lower the moon shortly and it's been a long journey here. Tomorrow we can discuss reintegrating the Children of the Night into Equestria,” said Princess Luna.
“Of course, Princess. I will have two rooms prepared for you and Sir Cloud Twist. If you have any further questions the servants know where to find me,” said Red Moon. After a word to a passing servant he went down the hall.
“I am quite amazed at all of this,” I told the Princess.
“As am I,” she replied. “After everything we have seen today, the ponies may not want to return to Equestria common. I would like to see their safety features removed at least, now that I have returned they shouldn't need such extreme protection.”
“Quite so, an established city like this is far more than I imagined. We will have to discuss it tomorrow night.”
At that I followed the princess outside to watch her lower the moon. A servant came out and escorted us to our rooms.
When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was the sun was still up. My head was spinning from everything I had seen and heard in the past couple of days, ever since meeting that old pony in the dungeons. And we would have so much more to discuss when the Princess and Red Moon woke up. I decided to take a look around town and see what there was to see before our meeting with Red Moon. I donned my armor with a bit of difficulty and headed out into the town.
As I imagined, the town was pretty quiet. Many of its inhabitants had not yet woken, and the few who did were still groggy and moving slowly. I found a nice café that had just opened its doors and I entered.
“Good evening, and welcome,” greeted the proprietor, a young earth pony stallion with a bright orange coat and a sky-blue mane. “How may I help you?”
“Can I get one coffee please?” I ask.
“Coming right up.”
The proprietor pours the coffee and brings it over to my table. “So, you must be the Princess' companion, Sir Cloud Twist was it?”
I looked at him with surprise and he laughed. “We have quite an advanced system of communication here in Salvation. The story of your arrival spread through the entire town within an hour.”
I chuckled. “This city never ceases to amaze me.”
“Rumor has it you and the Princess plan on taking us back into Equestria Common. Is it true?” he asked.
“The rumor isn't far off. We have no intention of forcing anypony to do anything. We plan to discuss everything with Red Moon and we will see what happens from there. Do you think the townsponies would be open to removing the barriers and various protections surrounding the city? With Princess Luna having returned, perhaps we could remove the prejudice. From what I could tell, most ponies do not even know that the Children exist, so I don't think it would be that hard.”
“Well, there is much to consider,” stated the proprietor. “You are right that most ponies do not know of us, to them we are just stories told to frighten the children, much as the story of Nightmare Moon became nothing more than a myth, shrouded in legends. We struggled to keep it that way throughout the centuries, lest another war be sparked in ignorance. The few that we bring here, however, know of the prejudice that still exists. It's not something anypony can pinpoint, but the true Children of the Night are simply seen as 'different' or 'weird,' and as such are ostracized. Do you understand?”
“I do. Thank you for your insight.” I lay down a bit to pay for the coffee and the proprietor shook his head no. “This one's on the house,” he said.
“Thank you,” I smiled at him and left the café in a better mood. It was almost time for the Princess to raise the moon so I headed back to the town square and the presidents home to greet her. I found her just as she was leaving her room. “Good evening Princess.”
“Good evening Sir Cloud Twist,” she replied with a smile.
“I'm glad to see the two of you awake,” came a voice from behind me. I turned to see Red Moon approaching us. He bowed to the Princess as he spoke, “Good evening Princess.”
“And the same to you, Red Moon,” she replied. “I must go raise the moon, but then we have much to discuss.”
“Indeed we do Princess. Shall we?” he said, ushering the way to the front door.
The three of us headed out into the courtyard and Red Moon and I watched in amazement as the Princess rose into the sky, her horn glowing with her magic aura. We watched as the moon began to peek over the horizon and in the opposite direction the sun began to sink, creating the most beautiful mix of colors in the sky. Almost as quickly as it began, it was over, and the night had begun. The stars began to appear as the Princess brought them out and arranged them into beautiful displays, like gems adorning the sky.
“That is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” came the awed voice of Red Moon.
“Or will ever see,” I added.
The Princess landed gracefully in front of us and blushed slightly at our awed looks. “Is there somewhere we can talk?” she asked Red Moon, bring him out of his trance.
“Yes, of course. Please, follow me. I have already ordered that breakfast be served in the parlor.” Red Moon led us back into the house and down a side hallway to a large open room with chairs going around a small table laden with various food options. Along the walls were many pictures of ponies going down through the ages.
“Those are all the elected leaders of Salvation, going back to the very first. Ever since the cities founding we have elected our leaders in a mass election, everypony gets a say. A leader serves for life, unless the ponies of the town decide to remove him or her from office. When a leader dies, or is removed from office, a new election is held to decide who will replace him. There is a council of elders, consisting of the 5 oldest ponies in the city, who take over all governmental roles until a new leader is found,” explained Red Moon when he saw where I was looking.
“This city is so well-established,” I said.
“It took us a lot of time and effort to make this place a safe haven,” replied Red Moon.
“That is what we are here to discuss Red Moon,” said the Princess.
“Of course, please help yourselves to some of the food while we talk.”
We all sat down and took some of the food to our seats with us. “Princess, may I be the first to speak my thoughts?” I ask.
“Of course, go ahead,” she answered, nibbling on a piece of toast.
“I woke up early this evening and I had a chance to go out and look at the town, and even talk with the proprietor of this small café not too far from here,” I began. “I believe the ponies here are too well-established to change their ways so suddenly. You have your elected leaders, an advanced system of communication, and you've spent the last 900 years here, completely undetected. To ask these ponies to just all of a sudden uproot their lives and move to a new town, a town where they may not even be wanted or accepted, would be unthinkable. He pony I talked with told me of the prejudice against the Children even to this very day. While it is not as prevalent as it was 1,000 years ago, it is still there. We can not ask the Children to endure it, nor can we hope that the ponies of Equestria will simply accept them. I propose that we allow Salvation to stay here, but that we create a new entry, one that is not hidden by a raging waterfall, and one that will allow ponies to come and go at will. The Children of the Night need not live in fear, their Princess has returned and the world is as it should be.”
I finished speaking and sat down to eat some hay fries and listen to hear what the Princess had to say. The Princess chuckled. “And you doubt your abilities as a leader,” she said. “There is not much I can add to that. I certainly understand the prejudice my little ponies face from the rest of Equestria, I see it in the way they look at me as well. I would not wish to force such a thing on others. The ponies of Salvation, however, should know that they have a choice. They do not have to live here, nor do they have to leave. I will most certainly protect them all, no matter where they choose to live. Sir Cloud Twist is right, however, that the protection spells surrounding Salvation must be loosened, so as to allow free travel in and out of the city. Should the ponies choose to remain here, nothing will change. You will still have your elected leadership, however it will not be as autonomous as it was before, you will have to answer to my sister and I. What say you, Red Moon?”
Red Moon sat in silence for a moment, pondering what we had said. “I agree. There is a town meeting tomorrow, all the shops shut down for the night and everypony comes in to discuss whatever is bothering them. We will take this to them and see what they have to say. I know some of the newer members of our city still have family on the outside, so it will be a blessing for them to be able to come and go at will.” Red Moon smiled, “I am certain the ponies are anxious to meet their long-awaited Princess. I have some matters to attend to, if you would like see yourself around the town, or I could arrange an escort if you wish.”
“No thank you, Red Moon. An escort is not necessary, Sir Cloud Twist is all the protection I need.” With that we left to see the sights and greet the eager townsponies.
The Princess and I excused ourselves and headed out to meet the ponies of Salvation. “The citizens here are good ponies Princess, and they live to worship your night. When I woke up most of the places were still closed, but some were just opening. This entire town works at night, while the rest of Equestria slumbers,” I stated.
“I have no doubt they are good people, and I will most certainly be having a talk with my dear sister upon returning to Canterlot. I forgive her for my banishment, and accept it as a necessary evil that she wiped me from the minds of the ponies, but what she did to my loyal ponies was taking things too far,” said Luna.
I looked up at my Princess and saw a spark of...something...in her eye. Was it anger? Anger at the plight of her loyal ponies? No, it was something else. “Princess?” I gently spoke. She looked over at me and then looked away as he cheeks turned a darker shade of blue. “It's nothing Cloud Twist, I'm not angry at her. Disappointed for sure, that she would treat any pony the way she did, but not angry.
It was at this moment that a bright green unicorn mare with a really wavy purple mane and a burst of streamers for a cutie mark appeared from inside a flash of purple light not two feet from my face. “Hiya!” she called out with a loud and hyper voice. “My name's Lunar Sweets, if you're looking for a guide to Salvation then I'm your pony friend! I know everypony in the entire town and the entire town is buzzing about you two,” she said excitedly.
“Well hello Lunar Sweets,” greeted the Princess kindly. “My companion and I would love a guide around town. We were hoping to meet some of the townsponies before the town meeting tomorrow.”
“Of course my Princess,” exclaimed the hyper pony. “I know a lot of ponies who would be very happy to meet and to serve the Princess of the Night, finally returned from her banishment. Come with me!” With that the pony started bouncing down the street like a bunny hopped up on a megamix of sugar, caffeine and Red Bull. I just looked after her in a mix of shock and surprise until the Princess began following her with a regal pace and a smile on her face. I did a double take, I hadn't seen that smile in a very long time. I had forgotten how much it lit up her face.
Lunar Sweets noticed we weren't by her side and she bounced back to us and started jabbering on at a rapid pace. “We're gonna have so much fun!” She inhaled deeply, “I almost forgot in all the excitement, we need to throw a party! Everypony can meet the princess all at the same time! Everyone comes to a Lunar Sweet party!” With that she disappeared in another flash of purple light.
“The ponies of this town sure are...interesting,” I said, staring at the place where Lunar Sweets had disappeared.
“Very much so,” replied the Princess with a giggle.
A little ways down the road was an open park with a large lake. Ponies were swimming in the lake and having picnics on the shore. We headed into the park and everything just stopped as they all looked up to see the Princess they had waited for. Many of them rushed over and began crowding around us and jabbering all at once. I saw a young filly get pushed to the ground as bigger ponies rushed forward. I pushed my way through the clambering crowd to the filly and helped her up.
“Are you okay?” I asked. She wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded yes. “What's your name?” I asked.
“Story...” she began and the rest of her sentence faded off.
“I'm sorry, what was that?” I pressed.
“Storybook Heart” she said in a whisper.
“Well Storybook Heart, would you like to meet the Princess?” The young filly nodded enthusiastically, her face lit up with a smile. I pulled her up on my back and made my way through the crowd to the Princess who was desperately fending off questions, answering as many as she could. “Princess, this is Storybook Heart, she really wanted to meet you.”
“Well hello there my little pony,” said the Princess, smiling as she leaned towards Storybook Heart. The little filly leaned forward and wrapped her hooves around the Princess in a hug and the Princess laughed cheerily, as did the crowd around us. Princess Luna pulled the filly onto her back and addressed the crowd around them. “Thank you all for the warm welcome and I promise all of your questions will be answered in time. There is still much for me to discover, I only just learned about this place a couple of nights ago and I have questions of my own. As I understand, there is to be a town meeting tomorrow night. I will answer any questions then. Tonight I would just like to get to know the ponies of Salvation.
It was at this very moment that there was another flash of purple light and Lunar Sweets appeared yelling “Party!” She pulled on a string and every type of party supply imaginable burst from a hot air balloon hovering over the park. The party supplies miraculously fell neatly into place all around the park. A DJ set up turntables near the picnic area and music began blaring from many speakers set up around the park area. The ponies began to cheer and some of them starting dancing. Princess Luna looked at me and I shrugged my shoulders. These ponies were quite a mystery to me.
The crowd around us began to disperse as some of the ponies moved over near the DJ and started dancing and others went to the picnic table full of cake and punch and every sugary treat imaginable. Storybook Heart gave a cheer and threw her hooves into the air "Lunar Sweets parties are the best!" She almost fell off Princess Luna's back and Princess Luna spread out her wing so Storybook could slide down to the ground and she took off into the fray.
The Princess and I began walking around. A few ponies would come up to us and ask Luna questions. A few of the ponies were bat ponies with special talents related to fighting or guarding and asked for positions on the Night Guard. The Princess answered by telling them to come to the castle in Canterlot and speak to the Captain, who had set up a bi-monthly boot camp to train new guards.
At one point a light brown earth pony with a golden yellow mane and a golden apple cutie mark came trotting up and kneeled before Luna before being told to stand. "Princess, may ah I ask if y'all are planning on takin' us back to Equestria common?" he asked.
Luna looked at him with a kindly smile. "What is your name my little pony?" she asked. "Are you by chance related to Applejack of Ponyville?"
"Yes ma'am I am. Mah name is Alderman Apple at yer service, I run the apple farm on the north side of town. Applejack is mah third cousin twice removed. I don't get to see her very often though what with the difficulty organizing a re-entry outside the full moon but every few years the family reunion is on just the right day as to not cause too much difficulty," he replied.
"Well Alderman, I am sure Applejack will be quite happy for the chance to see you again. We will decide what we are going to do at the town meeting tomorrow night, but no matter what the Children of the Night will always be welcome in Equestria. I'll make sure of that," said the Princess in reply.
"Thank ya kindly Princess," said the stallion. "I'll be right happy when I can visit my family again."
As the stallion excused himself to rejoin the party, we continued our walk around the park. Everything here was so serene. There was a lake in the center of the park that glittered in the moonlight like a brilliant sapphire, fireflies filled the air around us like earthbound stars. I looked over at the Princess and saw a smile on her face. "These ponies," she started, "They made quite the life for themselves, I almost find it difficult to believe that so many looked up to me, that they were waiting for me."
"I don't think it's so hard to believe," I responded. "You're an amazing princess. I can't even look at the night sky without thinking of how much it reflects the beauty of its creator."
The Princess looked down at me and I realized what I had just said and blushed. "I-I-I mean..."
The Princess chuckled and said "I understand Cloud. I work hard to make the night as beautiful as it is. The night sky didn't hold so many stars at first, I put them there in an effort to get ponies to notice, though they never seemed to take much notice at all. I feel like I was so blind." She stopped walking and looked at me, "I want to thank you Cloud Twist. None of this would have happened if you hadn't started it."
"I only did what had to be done Princess. I do regret that so many died, and then I just abandoned the few survivors. All of this..." I waved a hoof at our surroundings, "It wasn't me. I had a campful of followers and I led them to their deaths while I got to live and return to your side. The few survivors of that attack were the ones who did all the work in making this place as amazing as it is."
"You give yourself too little credit Cloud," she replied. "None of them would have even gotten together in the first place if not for you. Even if you only played a part in starting it, you were still a key figure in their history. As for leading them to their deaths, don't imagine for a second that you are the first or the last leader to lead ponies to their deaths." The Princess got a misty gaze in her eyes for a second before shaking it away. I look at her curiously, wondering if...
Seeing my look she said, "It's a story for another time Cloud. Just know that you're not alone, you may have made some mistakes, but you did a lot of good too. With time you were forgiven, now you must forgive yourself."
"The same can be said for you, Princess," I replied. "Just look around, they're throwing a party to celebrate your long awaited return. Your loyal followers waited a thousand years for you to come back to them, they never lost hope."
"You're right, Cloud. It makes me happy to see that through everything, these ponies never gave up on me. At the same time it makes me feel sad that I gave up on them." A tear sparkled in Luna's eyes and I wiped it away as it fell.
"Didn't you just tell me that I had to forgive myself?" I asked. "I think it's time you forgave yourself, just as these ponies have forgiven you." Luna looked at me with surprise at having her words thrown back at her. "You're right, Cloud." she giggled. "To think you have become so wise, you've come a long way since the day you first joined my Night Guard all those years ago."
"That was a very long time ago Princess. Many lifetimes have passed since then."
☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁
"Atteennntion!" called out the General as he paced in front of our lineup of recruits. "Congratulations, you have endured a full year of the most grueling, spirit-breaking, mind-numbing training in all of Equestria! You have all earned a place in the Royal Guard. This is where you part ways, as some of you go to the Day Guard and others will choose the Night Guard. The best of your comrades will given a rank increase. The rest of you, pay attention! These are the best of the best and they will be your superiors!"
Myself and four unicorns stepped forward. Only we 5 had the skill to be given an automatic rank of Sergeant upon graduation. I was proud of what I had accomplished and it brought me one step closer to my ultimate goal, the Captain of the Night Guard. I knew from the moment I first saw the Princess of the Night that there was no other career for me. Boot camp even helped me get my cutie mark. I looked back to see the picture of a cloud wrapped in the eye of a tornado on my flank and smiled before looking forward again.
"These 5 ponies will receive an automatic rank of Sergeant..." the General stopped and looked off to the side as both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna walked onto the training field. We all bowed as the Princesses approached the front of our lineup.
"WE ARE VERY PROUD TO HAVE SUCH A WONDERFUL GROUP OF SOLDIERS JOIN OUR RANKS!" said Princess Celestia in the Royal Canterlot voice. "WITH EACH PASSING YEAR THE RECRUITS BECOME STRONGER AND THIS GROUP IS NO DIFFERENT, YOU ARE SOME OF THE MOST SKILLED PONIES TO JOIN OUR RANKS IN MANY YEARS. YOU WILL ALL MAKE A FINE ADDITION TO THE ROYAL GUARD!"
As Princess Celestia was speaking, Princess Luna was walking among our ranks. As she approached me, I could not hide the look of awe and adoration from my face as I looked at her. When she got to me, she stopped with a curious look on her face, before continuing down the line.
When Princess Celestia finished speaking, we were all asked to line up and register for either the Night Guard or the Day Guard. Of course I did not even hesitate to sign up for the Night Guard. I was on my way and nothing would stop me now.
The next evening I awoke to a knock on my door. I answered to find one of the servant ponies. "Can I help you?" I asked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
"The Princess asked me to awaken you, sir. The moon is rising and we are preparing for the town meeting," answered the mare.
I looked out the window and was treated to a view of the sun sinking below the horizon. "Thank you ma'am. You may go." Without another word the servant mare bowed and walked away. I donned my armor and walked outside to greet Luna good night as she landed, having raised the moon and arranged the stars in the sky for yet another glorious night. "Good night Princess. I must say the stars seem extra beautiful tonight, I can see the love that you put into it."
"Good night Cloud. Yes, I wanted the stars to be perfect tonight," said Luna. "Tonight we meet with the business leaders from all over the town. Red Moon says they only invite the business leaders and high ranking officials because the town is too large and an assembly of everypony would require a setting greater than anything they could put together."
"That makes sense," I replied. "Do you know what you will say to them, Princess?"
"I think I will keep it concise. Let them know that appreciate everything they have done in my name and that I will not force anything on them that they do not wish. Then I will tell them what we discussed with Red Moon on the first night and let them decide what they want to do. I am certain many of them will be happy for the chance to loosen the restrictions on coming and going, if not removing them entirely."
"I am certain they will all see it your way, Princess. They have waited 1,000 years for this day."
At that moment Red Moon walked over to us. "Greetings Princess, and good night" he said, bowing to Luna. "And a good night to you as well Cloud Twist. I trust you are both ready to speak with the good people of Salvation?"
"Greetings Red Moon, and good night," replied the Princess. "We are indeed ready to speak with them."
"Then follow me, the meeting is about to start." Red Moon led us around the building to what appeared to be a side entrance. As we followed him inside we discovered it was a large meeting hall and what appeared to be every important pony and business owner in the town was crowded into the seats. Hundreds of ponies crammed into close quarters and talking with their neighbors. As I listened there was one discussion that was repeated throughout the ranks of ponies, what was going to happen to Salvation now that their Princess had returned. "I will speak first to get the ball rolling but you're the only thing on the agenda tonight Princess," said Red Moon.
"Thank you Red Moon," replied Luna.
Red Moon stepped up to the podium and called the assembly to order. The ponies all around the auditorium settled in to hear what Red Moon had to say. "As you all know," he began, "Princess Luna, Ruler of the Night, and the Moon, and the Stars, has returned to her loyal followers, the Children of the Night!" At this declaration there was a lot of loud cheering and stomping of hooves as the gathered ponies showed their excitement for their Princess. This continued for a few minutes before calming back down to a reasonable level. "I had the pleasure of speaking with Princess Luna and her companion Sir Cloud Twist the night before last when they first appeared in the city. The subject of this discussion, while not explicitly released to the public, is common knowledge. As I am certain you all know, we discussed the future of Salvation. I will turn the mic over to Princess Luna now to give you more details."
With that, Red Moon stepped down and allowed Luna to take the stand. "My little ponies, it is wonderful to see you all and to witness your unwavering support. I very much regret my decisions all those years ago, as I have caused you all such immense pain. Yet still you support me," said Luna. "I promise that from now on, my own spirit shall not waver, and I will protect my Children of the Night until the end of time itself. With that being said, I am going to allow you all to make your own decision as to the future of the town. Sir Cloud Twist and I discussed several options with Red Moon the other night. The first option is that Salvation remains as is, the protections kept intact. For reasons I am sure you can all see, this option causes complications. As much as I would love to stay here, I can not seperate myself from the rest of Equestria, as I am sure there are more Children of the Night that have yet to find their way here, and they will need me as much as any of you."
Luna stopped and looked around at the expressions of the ponies to see only agreement before continuing on. "The other options we discussed were more favorable and it is my hope that the ponies of Salvation will choose one of these options. In regards to the city itself, it could be abandoned and the ponies who live here could move into Equestria proper. I find this idea to be distasteful as I am sure many of the ponies here have lived here since birth and are likely to have an emotional attachment. We also discussed two options for the protections surrounding Salvation. They could be loosened to allow travel outside of the full moon, or they could be removed entirely. These last two options are the most viable, however the decision is yours my little ponies. I will give you some time to discuss it amongst yourselves and then we will take a vote."
Luna stepped down and walked over to where I was waiting. "You did well Princess, I am certain they will all see it your way and vote to remove the protective spells," I said. We looked around at the congregated ponies as they whispered among themselves, trying to decide what they wanted to do. After about a half hour of discussion things began to quiet down and Red Moon returned to the podium.
"You have all heard what the Princess has to say, and you have had time to discuss it amongst yourselves. We must now decide what we will do with Salvation. Remember that this decision will affect everypony in the city and as such you should consider them when you vote," explained Red Moon. "Those in favor of abandoning the town, move to Section A down here on the floor of the auditorium, those in favor of loosening the restrictions on travel outside the full moon, please move to Section B to my right, and those in favor of removing the protective barriers completely, please move to Section C to my left."
The ponies began shifting around and it was difficult at first to see who was moving where, however as they began moving from their seats it was clear many were headed to Section C, with a hoofful heading to Section B. Nopony moved to Section A. "It seems we have a clear majority. The protective barriers will be removed tonight, and travel between Salvation and Equestria proper will no longer be restricted," announced Red Moon to a cheering auditorium.
With that, the ponies were dismissed to tell their families and friends the good news. I looked up and saw Luna smiling brightly. I knew that everything was going to be okay and I smiled with her.