Nightmare Moon created her own kingdom of ponies during her banishment on the moon. When the time came, she left them for revenge. Years later, her children discover a way to follow her but what will they find when they do?
This is the story of Lunar Light, an Earth Pony, and Moon Drop, a Pegasus Pony, animated statues fueled by the magic of Nightmare Moon. Having been left behind on the moon, they looked for a way to follow their mother to Earth with their fellow siblings and when they found the means to get there, something doesn't go according to plans. What will they find on Earth when they look for their mother and what will they do when they finally meet the reformed Princess Luna?
Chapters will be divided and titled as the number of attempts Twilight tries to accomplish her goals. Yes, you can also consider this a Twilight Death Tally. Also to note, I know the beginning chapters are a bit tame but the later chapters will hold a lot of the gore for you grimdark fans.
After the defeat of Discord, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna took control of the lands and created a nation purely for ponies known as Equestria. Princess Celestia took charge of raising the sun for every pony, bringing warmth and light to the lands allowing the plants to grow and the animals to see. Princess Luna was charged with raising the moon, signifying night casting darkness across the land for it to rest leaving only the light of the moon to light up the land. But Princess Luna realized that none of their subjects were realizing the beauty of her nights, sleeping or, as Luna saw it, ignoring its beauty and wonders. She became distraught, believing that nopony loved her like they loved her sister. She started to lose her state of mind, falling deeper into a pit of sadness that soon engulfed her. She cast aside her princess title and took on a new persona, Nightmare Moon. But her sister, Celestia, would not let Nightmare Moon control her subjects like Discord did. She fought her sister and, with the power of the Elements of Harmony, banished Nightmare Moon to the moon for, what her subjects believe, eternity. Soon the story of Nightmare Moon became nothing more than a legend to entertain and give the children a good scare. A thousand years later, we know the events. Nightmare Moon returns and is defeated by Twilight Sparkle and her friends using the Elements of Harmony, returning to her normal self, Princess Luna. But what of the years she spent in exile?
The first century, Nightmare Moon spent her time storming over the surface of the moon; angry her sister would not be more sympathetic to her situation. She wanted nothing more than for the ponies to appreciate her nights. She vowed revenge upon her sister as she exhausted most of her magical power to return to the world below. She became weak, stumbling across the landscape before resting in a crater for nearly a decade. The second century of her banishment, she rested to gather back her strength and magical energy. During this time, she contemplated on the spell used to banish her to the moon and realized that the spell weakens as time passes. She also discovered that she could use the stars as stepping-stones to aid her escape from the moon and return to the lands below but the time when the stars would align in such a way was not for a very long time. Her rest made her realize her surroundings, and found herself longing to live in the castle that she lived in with her older sister, Celestia. The third century, she spent her time creating her very own castle, crafting its walls and roofs out of the lunar dust and stone. Finding various colored gems within the moon itself, she created colors infusing them with the banners and glass windows, creating a plethora of designs that looked familiar to her. As she finished, she looked over her work and saw what she had built was a replica of the castle she once lived in with her sister. Everything was the same from the rooms, the banners, the window arts, and ultimately, the two thrones. Once more, sadness and rage started to fill her heart. She lived in her empty castle for another century, hearing her hooves echo throughout her domain and she realized she was lonely. She wanted to talk to somepony, anypony. She wanted some sort of interaction to distract her. She started to sculpt statues of Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi of all sizes. She placed them throughout the castle and found it more tolerable than before but it was not enough to ease the pain of loneliness in her heart.
From the fifth century to nearly the time of her return, she studied her magic, trying various methods of spells to achieve her greatest desire, interaction with another pony. Time and time again, she tried to make ponies come to life, she tried portals, alchemy, and finally magic. All of Nightmare Moon’s attempts were in vain until finally, she tried automation during the last fifteen years of her imprisonment. She turned to her statues and tried to bring them to life and found small successes in bringing them to life but her magic was too great for the statues to bare. They crumbled soon after they came to life, disappearing into dust. Finally, she came to a statue of a pure white male earth colt. One of the first statues she had ever made. She cast a revised version of her spell upon it and watched as the statue slowly came to life, breath filling its body as it slowly laid down upon the ground. Nightmare watched as the body stabilized before lowering her head near it. Slowly, the colt opened his eyes, gazing upon Nightmare Moon and smiled.
“Mo…ther…”
The following years, Nightmare Moon filled her castle with more ponies that she created. They lived and grew like normal ponies, which was a surprise to Nightmare Moon as she knew they were crafted from nothing but stone before bringing them to life. They had a coat of fur, flowing manes, and even were able to feel. Nightmare Moon finally felt like she was at home until one day, she looked to the night sky and saw the stars were starting to align once more. She started to recall her sister’s punishment and her own banishment and grew angry once again. She and her children spent the remaining years, merely a decade, preparing for Nightmare Moon’s return back to the world below. When the time came, Nightmare Moon cast her spell and disappeared in a brilliant light, leaving her children behind to fulfill her need of revenge.
Two ponies stood side by side atop a balcony, one Nightmare Moon with her translucent hair flowing softly to her side. Beside her stood a white pony, on his flank a crescent moon with radiant beams of light extending downwards. His short, silvery hair was being brushed by Nightmare Moon as his blue eyes gazed up towards the Earth, staring in wonder. “Look Lunar Light. Earth. That was where I once came from before my heartless sister banished me to the Moon.”
Lunar looked towards Nightmare Moon tilting his head slightly before asking, “But, why would your own sister do something like that? Isn’t family supposed to help and love one another?”
Nightmare Moon nuzzled Lunar with a gentle smile. “Of course my child. But my sister did not want to share the love of our subjects. She was jealous at how beautiful my nights were and tried to hide it under her light. When I tried to show everypony the nights I have to give to them, Celestia moved to stop me. We fought but she managed to overpower me. That’s why I shall return and give my sister the same courtesy by banishing her to her beloved sun.”
“But you taught me to forgive and be patient mother, To understand the feelings of others before understanding myself. Won’t getting revenge go against everything you have taught me so far,” said Lunar as he turned back towards the Earth.
“Oh my little pony, you will learn one day that there are some things that you cannot forgive,” said Nightmare Moon as she nudged Lunar back to the castle. “Now off with you, it’s time for you to rest. Mother has many things she must do.” Lunar nodded and headed off to bed, wishing Nightmare Moon a good rest.
Lunar awoke the next day and entered the dining hall but much to his surprise, it wasn’t just him and his mother. There was a new pony sitting on the opposite side of Nightmare Moon, a unicorn. She had a gray coat with a white mane that shimmered as it moved. Her purple eyes grew wide as she looked towards Lunar, a smile growing on her face.
“Mother, who is this,” asked Lunar as he sat down opposite of the new unicorn. Nightmare Moon turned her head towards Lunar with a surprised smile. “Oh Lunar, you are up finally! I would like you to meet your new sister, Crescent Eclipse. I brought her to life as you were sleeping and I’ve been talking to her about magic and other things until you came around.”
“You’re my big brother, Lunar Light? I’m SO happy to finally meet you,” shouted the Unicorn as she bounced around Nightmare Moon and tackled Lunar in an overly excited hug. Lunar smiled widely as he rubbed her head and gave her a hug back. Nightmare Moon stood up from the table with a laugh before nudging them to the courtyard to play. Days went by, and more and more ponies started to appear. The castle was growing more and more lively and Lunar could not have been happier. Looking towards Nightmare Moon, he could tell that she was starting to lighten up, thoughts about her distress fading away. Time went by, the ponies played, the ponies learned. Lunar guided, scolded, comforted, and cared for his brothers and sisters when Nightmare Moon was not available but there were times when he himself would get in trouble.
One day, Nightmare Moon disappeared with the last of the pony statues. For everyone, this was a rather large event. This was going to be the final sibling they will ever have. It was a few hours before the door opened and Nightmare Moon emerged with a look of victory upon her face. “My children of the moon; gather around. For today, I bring to you Moon Drop, your newest sister.” Everyone moved forwards to see a little filly trying to hide behind Nightmare Moon’s leg. She had a white coat spotted with dots of light gray and a short gray mane.
Her big green eyes looked between all of the ponies, not sure what to make of them before seeing Lunar who stood behind the crowd, not smothering her with words or sounds of affection. She smiled, as Lunar smiled back towards her, gesturing towards the crowd between them. She accepted their words as she moved through them until, to Lunar’s surprise, she slipped through the crowd all together and stood before Lunar.
Her smile grew wide as she looked up towards him and she said, “Hi big brother! I hope we can be the bestest of friends forever!” Lunar looked down to the young filly with a surprised look on her face. The last thing he expected was for the filly to push her way through the crowd to him. He blinked before realizing everyone was staring. He smiled as he lifted her onto his back and said, “Don’t worry, because we will be. Let me show you the castle, your other siblings, and where you will be sleeping.” The two took off, the crowd of ponies following behind with laughter in their voices and a bounce in their steps.
The days went by, everypony went about doing their assigned chores before spending the day however they wished. The Pegasi were charged with keeping the higher parts of the castle clean, using their wings to fly up to the harder to reach places. Many of them even took the time to take care in cleaning the windows from the outside. The Unicorns were in charge of organizing and putting away various items that have been used and left out. Cleaning the dishes was also part of their routine and Cresta was the one responsible to make sure everything went smoothly for the Unicorns. She would help here and there just to make sure they would be finished quickly before dismissing the others.
Finally, the Earth Ponies were charged with cleaning the lower parts of the castle as well as tending to the courtyard by covering any craters and removing meteors that may have fallen during their sleep. Lunar was in charge, making sure that those under his supervision were doing things fast, safe, and thoroughly. On many occasions, he let them leave early and finishing up the chores himself. He’d rather see them happy than to have the day drag out when he can complete the chores faster.
One day, Lunar felt a pat on his hind leg after dismissing the ponies for the rest of the day. Looking down, he saw Moon Drop looking up at him with her large round eyes. “Big brother Lunar, can I help you with the chores,” she asked, a slight sound of a cry in her voice. Lunar looked up towards the Pegasi who were still busy cleaning before turning towards Moon Drop saying, “Why aren’t you helping your Pegasi siblings? They look to still be hard at work.”
Moon Drop lowered her head and with a whimper said, “They said that I was still too little to fly up that high and help. I told them I could help with the dusting but they said I didn’t have to. Instead they told me to relax and play but I really want to help Mother…”
“Have you talked with Cresta then? Surely she has something that you can do,” said Lunar as he sat down next to the little filly.
“I did go and ask but she said that I was too little to put such heavy books back on the shelves or that I was too clumsy to clean the dishes. Then Cresta said something under her breath. I think it was something about someone being useless." She was starting to cry now but stopped as Lunar gave her a one-leg hug.
“Alright, no tears Moon Drop. You can help me by scrubbing the fountain’s base and statue. I’ll be nearby moving some rocks that rolled into the courtyard back outside. Afterwards, we can go get mother to show how good a job you did cleaning her fountain,” said Lunar as he pushed her onto her feet. Moon Drop agreed and gave Lunar a big hug before skipping off to the fountain.
After Lunar finished pushing the rocks out of the courtyard, he looked towards the fountain and raised an eyebrow. She was struggling to keep in flight as she was washing the statue. Suddenly, she faltered, her right wing missing a flap and she started to flip about in place before starting to fall. Lunar had already expected that may happen and ran towards the fountain. He jumped, catching her in the air before landing on the ground. He looked back to Moon Drop who was on his back and looking rather sad about what just happened. “I am useless aren’t I,” asked Moon Drop as she dropped the brush to the ground, tears starting to fill up her eyes.
Lunar lowered his head and picked up the brush before giving it back to Moon Drop. “Never say that. Time and time again, you may find yourself falling or failing in the things you do but you must get back up and try again. You will find it easier to get up after falling many times until you realize, you aren’t falling anymore.”
“But-“
“Don’t worry, I’ll be here to catch you when you fall. All you need to do is try and believe in yourself,” said Lunar as he watched his little sister flap her smallish wings before taking flight to give cleaning the statue another try.
It wasn’t for another week before Nightmare Moon gathered her children out within the courtyard. “My Children, I fear that my time to return to the lands below is drawing near. But fear not, my sister Celestia will pay for my banishment and when I rid myself of her, I’ll return to bring you all down to my side,” said Nightmare Moon as she spread her wings. The Lunar ponies all around stamped on the ground, cheering for their mother as she looked to her sides. She first looked towards her left to Crescent Eclipse who had a hoof raised cheering loudly along with her brothers and sisters. Riling them up to send their hopes and love to their mother. Nightmare Moon then looked towards her right to see Lunar Light and Moon Drop, the filly jumping up and down with the crowds cheering but Lunar stood there, a look of pain crossing his face.
“Lunar, what pains you? Don’t worry, I’ll be victorious and you will be with me soon,” said Nightmare Moon as she lowered her head towards Lunar. He looked to her, sadness in his eyes, before shaking his head. With sorrow in his voice, he said, “For the time that I’ve been alive, I have known nothing but forgiveness and patience. I practiced showing kindness and calmness to everything presented to me. You were the one who taught me all of this and yet now, you show no signs of practicing what you taught me.”
Cresta looked around Nightmare Moon to look at Lunar, having heard what he had said before saying, “Mother already told us that there are some things that cannot be forgiven Lunar. You can be too forgiving sometimes and that will be the end of you. Would you forgive a pony if they chopped off your leg? Highly doubt it."
Nightmare Moon moved forwards, bringing the attention back to her. She spread her wings wide before kicking off into the air, her horn starting to glow a brilliant blue before the light intensified to the point where no pony could look directly at her. Then the light was gone. Nightmare Moon had disappeared and returned to the land below. There were cheering and goodwill shouts for their mother before the crowd died down and went about their ways. Lunar looked towards Cresta and noticed she was staring up towards the Earth with a tear in her eye, obviously sad that Nightmare Moon didn’t take her along so she could help. The Unicorn glimpsed over towards Lunar before a frustrated look crossed over her face and trotted off, nose in the air.
Years past and not a sign or word from their mother came. Most of the ponies were already convinced that their mother had been defeated yet again, wanting to go to the Earth to save her. Others were skeptical that she lost and believed she left them behind to solidify her rule over a new world under her rule. Another group of ponies believes that she was merely too busy raining destruction upon any threats that may harm them when Nightmare Moon brings them down to the Earth. Lunar was the lone pony who showed no interest in whether or not Nightmare Moon would come back for them or not. He lived everyday tending to the problems amongst the ponies, caring for the castle grounds and making sure his brethren were living comfortably. Cresta for the past few months had secluded herself in the library, reading up on the books written by Nightmare Moon. Lunar had no idea why or what she was up too but he was too busy to think about it for too long.
One day, Lunar was passing by the library when he heard Cresta talking with Moon Drop. “You stupid little filly! Do you know how long it took for me to organize that book shelf?” Lunar poked his head through the doorway to see Moon Drop climbing out of a pile of books that had fallen from the shelf nearby. “I’m sorry Cresta, I just thought I could help you by putting the books you were done with back,” said Moon Drop, her voice starting to quiver.
“Help? Help? If you want to help, then leave! You must be the most moronic pony mother had ever given birth too! All you do is get pampered by everyone and making nothing but messes no matter where you go! You can barely even fly and you think you can put a book back on the top shelves? You are ridiculous,” shouted Cresta as she started to pick up the books with her magic, quickly shoving them into the shelf. The filly started to cry, tears were streaming down her face before abruptly stopping when Lunar stepped into the room.
“Cresta! That’s enough! Can’t you see you are making Moon Drop cry,” said Lunar as he stood next to Moon Drop, a stern look on his face.
“And you, you are almost worse than her! You do nothing but tell everypony to wait and you refuse to help look for a way to get to the lands below! Something may have happened to Mother and the longer we wait, the less chance we will have to save her,” shouted Cresta as she threw a book at Lunar. Lunar grimaced as the book hit him on the side of his head before looking towards his angry sister. “YOU ARE BOTH ABSOLUETLY USELESS! Leave me to my work you incompetent fools.”
Lunar stared angrily towards Cresta before shaking his head. He picked up Moon Drop and put her on his back before leaving the room without another word, the little filly crying silently as she gazed at her sister who went back to reading a book she had laid out earlier. Lunar walked Moon Drop to her bedroom and set her down upon the bed before sitting down on the floor, giving off a deep sigh of pent up frustration. “Does… Does Cresta hate us,” asked Moon Drop as she lowered her head into her pillow. Lunar put a hoof upon her back as he shook his head.
“Cresta is merely frustrated that she wasn’t able to go with Mother when she left. I’d assume that she is trying to find some way to distract herself from the thought but that is only going to make her more angry and crossed with everypony around her,” said Lunar as he stroked Moon Drop’s mane. He stayed with his little sister until she fell asleep before leaving the room as silently as he could. He looked down the hall to see a group of unicorns galloping towards the library, their faces filled with curiosity and excitement. Lunar gave chase and caught up with a black unicorn with a dark gray mane, gasping in between words as he asked, “Night Wind, why is every pony in a rush?”
“Cresta just gave word that she may have a way to get to mother! We are all headed to the Library to see what she found,” said Night Wind with such happiness in his voice. Lunar slowed to a stop with his eyes wide in surprise. Was that what she was doing for the past few years? Lunar shook his head to clear those thoughts before rushing to find Crescent Eclipse.
Gathered around the entrance of the Library, nearly every pony was present, shouting questions and demanding information on what Crescent Eclipse had found. Standing on a make shift stage made of books piled high, Cresta smiled towards her siblings as she waved a book over their heads with magic. As soon as she saw Lunar she started to speak, “It’s true my brothers and sisters! In this book, Nightmare Moon, our beloved mother, has detailed a way for us all to come to her! This must be a test for us to over come, a test to see how worthy we are to stand by her side!” She looked towards Lunar and so did the rest of the crowd. Lunar looked towards everypony, taking a step back, not knowing what was going to happen.
“What do you say brother? Should we wait a bit longer in case mother will return? Or shall we prove to her we are indeed her children worthy of her love by going to her ourselves,” asked Crescent Eclipse, a sly smile upon her face as if she just triumphed over everything Lunar stood for. Looking upon everypony’s face, Lunar could see how determined they were to go to Nightmare Moon and gritted his teeth. As much worry as this instilled within him, he too missed Nightmare Moon. He lowered his head for a moment before holding it high and looked towards Cresta with a stern face. “Today, we prepare for our decent to Earth. Cresta, tell us what you need and we will get things ready as soon as we physically can.”
The next day, everypony gathered outside of the castle in the courtyard. The unicorns were gathered around Cresta going over last minute details of the spell that was going to be cast, the pegasi were flying overhead, practicing keeping in formation without drifting away from each other, below them was a solid shadow of a runic symbol detailed in the book. Lunar was in charge of leading the earth ponies in mixing the ingredients to make the reagents for the spell, Moon Drop assisting at his side. Soon everypony declared that they were ready, the reagents placed within the runic symbol as the pegasi stayed in formation up high. Lunar stood upon a stage with Moon Drop and Crescent Eclipse standing at his sides. He nodded to the earth ponies and the unicorns, signaling them to begin the chanting and spell casting. The green magical aura from each of the unicorns started to fuse together before extending towards the shadow rune left by the pegasi, eating away the reagents before the rune shadow started to glow a blue hue that grew brighter and brighter until everything was basked in a brilliant white and light blue light.
Lunar looked towards his side when he could no longer tolerate the blinding light to see Cresta taking a step back, her horn starting to disintegrate into dust. Picking up that something was wrong, Lunar moved as quickly as he could to push Cresta out of the light but was too late. The unicorn burst into a large dust cloud as soon as Lunar touched her. He froze for a moment, not believing what was happening before hearing a scream behind him over the screeching that was the spell itself. He turned to see Moon Drop starting to disappear the same why as Crescent Eclipse and jumped to her aid. Just like Cresta, Moon Drop broke into a cloud of dust as Lunar reached her but not before she gave him a frightened look filled with tears. Lunar then looked to himself to find he too was disappearing. He gave a shout of fear and then suddenly everything went black.
He was floating, cold, alone in darkness. He couldn't help but to think to himself that he must be dead, the result of a spell gone wrong. Due to their selfish desire to see their mother again, he felt that they all had paid a heavy price with no reward. He could feel the tears flowing from his eyes as he thought about his sisters he failed to protect and the siblings he would never see again before the sense of weightlessness started giving way to a sense of falling. His body was starting to warm up to the point at which it felt unbearable, causing him to grimace in pain before finally his mind went blank and he fell into a deep sleep.
“That meteor shower was amazing! Did you see how many streaks of light there were sis? I swear one of them looked like it fell into our orchard,” shouted Applebloom as she jumped around her bigger sister.
“Applebloom, I know you are still excited over last night but right now we got chores to do. Can you at least help with the bucking,” said Applejack as she kicked a tree, knocking the apples to fall from the tree.
Applebloom lowered her head a little and her ears folded back. She looked towards Applejack from the corner of her eyes before saying, “Aw, alright Applejack.” She immediately kicked a nearby tree as hard as she could, knocking a few of the apples from the branches. She watched with a smile as the apples fell from the tree before reeling her feet back to kick the tree again to get the rest of the apples before hearing a moan.
“Ow, what hit me?”
Applebloom’s eyebrows raised in curiosity as she peeked around the tree, wondering who just spoke. She saw a white pony rubbing the top of his head, a few apples laying around him. “Who in the hay are you,” asked Applebloom.
“Who are you talkin’ too,” asked Applejack as she walked up to her sister. Applebloom pointed towards the pony with a hoof before saying, “That white pony right there. So mister, what were you doing in our orchard?”
“I don’t even know. All I remember is darkness, falling and then nothing,” said the white pony as he looked towards the two. Applejack and Applebloom looked at each other with arched eyebrows. “You at least remember your name,” asked Applejack as she looked at him with skepticism.
“Lunar… Lunar Light… Who are you and where am I exactly,” asked Lunar looking at Applejack.
“I’m Applebloom and this is my big sis’ Applejack and you are here at Sweet Apple Acres, where the most delicious, juiciest, bestest apples in all of Equestria are grown,” said Applebloom with an overexcited inflection in her voice. Lunar burrowed his eyebrows as he looked at Applebloom, “Sweet… Apple Acres? Sorry, I don’t know a place like that and what is Equestria?”
“Hold on a sec there,” said Applejack as she stepped forwards. “Are you telling us that you don’t remember anything at all?” The look in Applejack’s eyes pierced through Lunar, making him start to feel a little uncomfortable.
“Er, it’s not like I don’t remember, it’s more than you probably won’t believe me… In fact, I’m sure you won’t believe me at all,” said Lunar as he thought back to the castle upon the moon. The horrible memories of the teleportation spell failing… Wait, it didn't fail, he was no longer on the moon. Lunar suddenly jumped to his feet, his eyes and ears alert as he looked around trying to see if he could find any of his brothers or sisters. That soon ended when a dizzy spell came over him due to getting up so quickly.
“Take it easy there, you don’t really look so good. And trust me, my friends and I have seen some strange things in the past years, I’m sure whatever you say won’t strike me odd,” said Applejack putting a hoof to her chest in a confident motion, a smile crossing her face in a matter-of-fact fashion.
“Before I do, answer me this: Have you found anyone else before you found me,” asked Lunar, his eyes showing a genuine worry filled with little hope.
Applejack and Applebloom looked at each other once again before turning back towards Lunar, both shaking their heads simultaneously. Lunar lowered his head in defeat as he continued to think to himself. Thoughts of him being the only survivor was starting to drift about in his head. It was when Applejack put a hoof on his shoulder did he remember where he was. “Sorry, I guess I owe you a story then,” said Lunar as he motioned for them to sit before telling them everything he knew.
“Well, I was certainly not expecting a story like that,” said Applejack as Lunar finished. She closed Applebloom’s mouth, which was hanging open, before turning back to Lunar with a uncomfortable look. “Are you sure you came from the moon? And what do you mean Nightmare Moon created you and your siblings?”
Lunar sighed before saying, “I knew it, a story like that sounds too unbelievable in the first place.” He stood up and was about to walk away before his stomach started to growl, opening his eyes in surprise.
“Hungry, eh? Listen, I have a friend who knows a lot more about me. Let’s get you something to eat and then take you to her. Maybe she can make heads and tails of yer story,” said Applejack. Lunar was going to oppose to the idea but then his stomach started to growl again. He made an awkward smile before agreeing and the three of them moved to put the already gathered apples away in the barn.
Applebloom decided to leave when she saw her friends upon entering the town, waving goodbye before running off with her friends, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Their childish laughter and overexcited shouting of their ambitions of being ‘Cutie Mark Crusader Para-gliders,’ couldn't help but to put a smile on Lunar’s face. His thoughts turned back to Moon Drop and wondered how well she would have gotten along with those fillies. The sudden realization that he didn't know what happened to Moon Drop darkened his mood right back up, his head drooping as he could only contemplate what has happened to the others.
“Here we are,” said Applejack with a cheerful voice. “Sugarcube Corner, best place to get something sweet to eat in all of Ponyville. Well, don’t just stand there, come on in!” Lunar was pushed into the gingerbread looking building. His nose was immediately filled with the scent of sweets and sugar, almost enough to make him gag and start coughing. He was immediately pushed into a seat by, who he could only guess was, Applejack. Suddenly, a yellow pony appeared at his side with a smile upon her face that was motherly to a fault. “What can I get you two today,” she asked.
“Howdy Mrs. Cake! We’ll have a few of yer best muffins for this poor feller here. Found ‘im in my orchard with his stomach growling like a Timberwolf who hasn't eaten for days,” said Applejack as she took her hat off and placed it next to her. Mrs. Cake gave them a nod and a smile before promptly disappearing into the back.
It was not long before Mrs. Cake returned with the muffins, placing them between Lunar and Applejack. Lunar thanked her for the muffins and watched as she left before turning back to Applejack only to find her already eating. She looked like she was enjoying them so maybe he would like them too. Just as he was about to grab one, something burst from the muffins and latched onto Lunar’s face. A slight pause and then a scream from Lunar filled the building as he jumped out of his chair trying to pull whatever was on his face off.
After a struggle, he managed to pull the creature from his face before getting a good look at it. A miniature alligator with huge purple eyes stared back at him, blinking one eye at a time. Lunar gave a shout again, startled to realize it was an alligator, a creature he understood was a predator. He tossed the alligator into the air only to have it land onto the table on all fours staring at him. “What in the world is an alligator doing here,” shouted Lunar, obviously distraught from being suddenly attacked.
“Hey Applejack! Have you seen Gummy?”
Lunar gave a sudden shout at the voice that just spoke up behind him and bolted out the door, leaving a trail of dust behind him. A pink pony coughed a little from the dust as she waved a hoof in front of her to clear the air.
“Pinkie Pie, what did I tell you about shouting behind everypony? Ya’ll are gonna give somepony a heart attack,” said Applejack as she put her muffin down on the table.
“Come on AJ, I was just looking for Gummy. OH! There he is,” shouted Pinkie as she walked up to the table, picking the alligator up and putting him on her head. “So who was your friend?”
Applejack gave a sigh as she got up from the table. “He’s somepony who just ended up in my orchard. His name is Lunar Light but I don’t think he remembers where he came from.”
“Why? Did he say that he came from a kingdom on the moon that was created by Nightmare Moon during her banishment and only came down here to find out what happened to Nightmare Moon using a magical spell performed by his companions and now he is alone for some reason and wants to go look for them,” asked Pinkie with a wide smile.
Applejack’s mouth dropped as she heard Pinkie guess at the story she heard. After a brief moment, she shook her head and closed her mouth before saying, “Er, yeah. How in Equestria did you know that Pinkie.”
“Just a hunch,” said Pinkie as she hopped out off the building to follow Lunar, Applejack soon following after.
The two found Lunar grasping a tree branch in a tight hug, shaking to the point where the leaves were falling. “Aw shoot, look at what you did Pinkie, you gone scared him up a tree,” said Applejack as she stared up at Lunar, a look of deep thought as to how to get Lunar down.
“What you doing up here silly,” said Pinkie Pie, sitting on the branch that Lunar was gripping. Lunar gave a surprised gasp as he let go, falling to the ground and landing with a thud. Recoiling in pain, he put his hooves to the back of his head as he rolled back and forth. Pinkie giggled as she hopped down from the tree, landing next to Lunar. She leaned forwards and with a smile she said, “Hey there Lunar Light! My name is Pinkie Pie and this is my pet alligator Gummy! I bet we will be the bestest of friends in all of Ponyville!”
Lunar looked up to Pinkie through a crack in his eyes, analyzing the pony as she gazed down upon him. He then looked up to her pet Gummy who was still riding on top of her head but with a lock of hair firmly grasped with his mouth. Lunar could feel the pain subsiding as he tried to get to his feet. “Isn't it dangerous to keep an alligator as a pet,” he asked, wincing.
“Not at all! Gummy has no teeth,” said Pinkie with a giggle. As if to prove her point, Gummy suddenly started going on a biting spree on Pinkie, ending up biting her back, body suspended in midair. Lunar took a step back with a look of concern before looking towards Applejack for help.
“That’s just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. Ya’ll get used to it soon,” said Applejack as she walked up to him. She nudged him back into Sugarcube Corner, insisting that he eat some muffins before they head out to meet with this friend of hers.
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An hour later, the three of them left Sugarcube Corner to the Golden Oak Library. Pinkie was cheerfully explaining who it was they were going to meet before a yell could be heard from a distance, steadily getting louder.
“Look out below!”
Before Lunar could even look up, a blur of colors slammed into him causing him and his assailant tumbling a few feet. Lunar could feel the world spinning around him as he sat up, grabbing his head with his front hooves trying to steady himself.
“That… Was… AWESOME! Did you see that Fluttershy? I almost got that new trick down! All I have to do is tighten the turn on that third loop and then-“
“Rainbow Dash! You have to watch where you are going. Look at who you ran into,” said Applejack as she pointed to Lunar. Rainbow Dash looked back towards whom she crashed into and couldn't help but start laughing.
“Hahaha! You should look at your eyes spinning around in your head! You almost look like Derpy Hooves,” said Rainbow Dash as she fell on her back, hugging her sides.
A yellow Pegasus floated down, her wings hardly making a sound. She landed next to Applejack and with a soft, almost inaudible voice said, “Rainbow Dash, are you alright?” She then noticed Lunar who was still dizzy and she slipped behind Applejack with an, “Eep!”
Lunar shook his head before looking down towards the Pegasus that was laughing at him. “I don’t know who this Derpy Hooves is, but I feel sorry for her if you are using her as an insult,” said Lunar with a sigh. He held a hoof down towards Rainbow who stopped laughing in surprise and accepted the help back up on her hooves. “Rainbow Dash was it? I’m Lunar Light. Would say it was a pleasure but then again, you did just crash into me and laugh.”
“Oh yeah, heh, sorry. It’s just that I've been practicing this new trick I want to show off to the Wonderbolts!”
“The Wonder-what-now?”
“You don’t know who the Wonderbolts are? They are like the most awesomely amazing team of pegasi to ever fly the skies with their acrobatics! What kind of town did you come from?”
Lunar was about to answer that but then stopped himself. If Applejack didn't believe him, what hope did he have in Rainbow Dash believing him without proof.
“He is from the moon,” shouted Pinkie Pie, hopping up and down around them, her cheerful voice filling the heart of Lunar with depression and stress.
“Really? The moon? Yeah right, why don’t you tell us where you really came from,” said Rainbow as she eyed Lunar.
Lunar didn't say anything. His head lowered as he tried to think of a reason for why he can’t admit to where he came from. To his surprised, a soft voice spoke out in his defense. “But, what if he is telling the truth? What if he really did come from the moon like Pinkie says.”
Lunar looked up towards the shy little pony as she stuck her head out from behind Applejack but as their eyes meet, she quickly slipped behind Applejack showing him how timid she was. Lunar raised an eyebrow in curiosity as he turned his head towards Rainbow Dash, “So, er… Who is that?”
“Oh that’s just Fluttershy. Don’t worry about her, she’s always scared of new people,” said Rainbow Dash as she floated above everypony in such a manner that she looked like she was relaxing. Lunar looked back towards Fluttershy before looking towards Applejack who started walking. “Well, since we are all here, why don’t we all go see Twilight together and get this all cleared up,” she said with a smile.
The group arrived at the Library, the other ponies asking Lunar questions about himself trying to make heads or tails of his story. After a few minuets, Applejack decided to knock on the door, which opened soon after by a small dragon with purple scales and green spikes. “Howdy Spike! Is Twilight home,” asked Applejack.
“Yeah, so is Rarity but you will never guess what we found last night,” said Spike with an over excited grin.
“Lunar?” It was a tiny voice but it was familiar. Lunar looked through the door to see a familiar sight that brought joy into his heart. A small filly flew out of the doorway, tackling Lunar in a hug around his neck. “Moon Drop! I thought I lost you like the others,” said Lunar, tears starting to drip down his face.
“I couldn't find you, Cresta, or the others when I woke up. I was so scared that I would never, ever see you again.”
“It’s alright, if we were able to find each other, we can find the others.”
“So wait, you were telling the truth,” ask Rainbow Dash, ruining the moment for the two. Lunar looked up towards Rainbow with a tearful smile and nodded. He let down Moon Drop as he looked towards the doorway to find a white unicorn with a luxurious looking mane and a purple alicorn.
“Spike and I found her just outside of the library when we were returning from watching that meteor shower last night. She didn't really tell us much, in fact, that was the first time she said anything at all,” said the alicorn.
Lunar immediately took a knee, understanding that alicorns were normally royalty by the teachings of his mother. He chanced a glance upwards towards her to find her looking a bit uncomfortable. “Um, you don’t have to do that. I’m new to the princess thing and it just feels weird. I’m Twilight Sparkle, what were your names again?”
“Oh, I’m… I’m Lunar Light and this is Moon Drop, my youngest sister. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess Twilight.”
“Please tell me what you both have done with your manes! The way they shimmer in the light is just fabulous! Oh, my name is Rarity by the way. I own the Carousel Boutique and work there as a seamstress.” Rarity was already hovering over Lunar and Moon Drop with excitement, her eyes wide as she gazed upon their manes.
Moon Drop slipped underneath Lunar as if trying to hide from her and whispered, “She was doing that when she came by earlier. She’s scaring me.” Lunar couldn't help but to give a chuckle at her before turning towards Rarity. “It will be a long story but I guess that’s why Applejack and her friends brought me here.” He then turned towards Twilight and said, “Princess, if you can listen to my story, maybe I can show everypony here I was telling them the truth.”
“Please, just call me Twilight. And sure, I've been trying to figure out where Moon Drop came from before you came by.”
Hours later, Lunar finished his story to a group of shocked ponies, save Pinkie and Applejack. He heard Moon Drop giggle at their expressions before Applejack said, “Now do you see why I have trouble believing in that? Is there anyway to tell if he’s telling the truth about himself and his sister?”
“But he was telling the truth,” shouted Moon Drop, jumping to her feet with an angry look on her face. Lunar put a hoof around her and shook his head, calming her as gently as he knew how.
“Well, I could always try a memory or a truth spell. But I am going to need his full cooperation,” said Twilight as she pulled a book from a shelf. She opened it up and flipped a few pages with her magic before setting it down upon a table. “I hope you don’t mind Lunar, but I need you to stand in the middle of the room.”
“Anything to clear this up with everypony,” said Lunar, following Twilight’s instructions. He waited patiently as she read through the pages a few times to get the spell down before walking towards him. Her horn started to glow as she focused on the spell, placing her horn upon his forehead, letting the magic seep into him. Lunar closed his eyes as he started to feel a change inside him, growing in pain. His eyes suddenly opened up, a bluish glow flowing from then before a bright light engulfed them in an explosion. The two flew back from each other, Twilight flying back into a bookshelf and Lunar bounced across the ground before slamming into the wall.
“Twilight, Lunar, are ya’ll all right,” shouted Applejack as she and the rest of her friends ran to Twilight’s side. Moon Drop ran to Lunar’s side instead, her eyes filled with worry.
“Magical feedback? That shouldn't be possible… Unless,” started Twilight, groaning as she pushed herself back up to her feet. Rainbow Dash landed next to Twilight, her face scrunched as she tried to figure out something before asking, “Um, what is a magical feedback?”
Twilight walked over to Lunar Light, helping him get back onto his feet as she tried to explain. “A magical feedback is when two or magics interact with each other and are not compatible. If they cannot interact, the two forces push away from each other and can even harm the two sources.”
Rainbow Dash didn't understand it at all and looked towards Spike for help. He sighed and said, “She means that when two magic spells don’t work together, they can explode.” They all looked to Lunar who was assuring Moon Drop that he was okay before Rarity spoke up. “But that doesn't explain why a feedback even happened in the first place! Lunar isn't an Unicorn.”
Twilight looked back to the others and smiled, “He already answered that one with his story. He said that he was originally a statue and Nightmare Moon brought him to life with a magical spell. What happened just now confirms that there is a magical spell still in effect so I guess this means his story is true.”
Lunar merely nodded as the rest of the ponies looked embarrassed for not accepting the explanation at the start. Lunar stepped up next to Twilight and smiled, “Don’t worry about it. I know the story was a little far fetched sounding so I wasn't really expecting anypony to accept it readily.”
“So, I’m guessing you are going to look for the rest of your family then, darling,” asked Rarity. “I guess that means you two are going to need a place to stay won’t you.”
“Well, they can stay in the guest room at the farm house for a while if they don’t mind helping out with the chores,” said Applejack with a smile.
“Ooh, ooh! They can stay at my place and we can party all night long and eat candy and cake and-“ Pinkie Pie was cut off when Twilight called out her name.
“I think the best course of action is to go meet with Mayor Mare. Maybe she can find them a place to stay for the long term if they decide to stay,” said Twilight.
“That’s a great idea Twilight,” said Spike as he put back the book that Twilight brought out earlier. “And after that, we can help Rarity find some gems like we promised.”
“That’s right, I almost forgot about that! Sorry Rarity, I guess I got caught up in all this that I completely forgot.”
“It’s okay, darling. I almost forgot about it myself,” said Rarity moving some hair out of her face.
Applejack took a step towards the door with a sympathetic look before saying, “Sorry girls, I have to get back to the farm and finish my chores. Kind of got distracted by all of this and I’m already behind as it is.” With that, she waved goodbye to her friends and left.
Rainbow Dash grabbed Fluttershy and flew towards the door saying that she wanted to finish perfecting her stunt for the Wonderbolts and she really needed Fluttershy to help. Finally, Pinkie hopped out the door yelling that she had to go back to Sugarcube Corner to help with the baking and watching the babies. The five of them looked to each other with a smile before heading out to see the Mayor in Town Hall.
“I’m so excited to see our new home Lunar,” shouted Moon Drop as she ran circles around the group, a smile on her face that seemed to reach from ear to ear. They were heading to the edge of town to where an older house stood, the Mayor was happy enough to let Lunar and Moon Drop have it for free once the situation was explained by Twilight.
“It was nice of the Mayor to give you a new home darling. And for free none the less,” said Rarity as they carried on with a light step, deciding to swing by the house since it was on the way to the quarry anyways.
“Well she did say it was a fix-me-up… What does that mean exactly,” asked Lunar turning towards Rarity.
“It means that it needs a little TLC and repairs before it is suitable for living.”
“T… L… C?”
“Oh right, I forgot you aren’t used to Earth just yet. TLC means Time, Love and Care,” said Twilight with a smile.
“Um, is that it,” asked Moon Drop, the expression on her voice was filled with disappointment. Everyone looked towards the direction of Moon Drop and beheld a rather depressing sight. It was a house, yes, but the windows were broken, the roof was starting to cave in, the walls looked like they were rotting out and the door was hanging off a single hinge.
Twilight looked around to confirm the location and said, “This does look to be the place. “It certainly is… A fixer-upper… I guess we know why the mayor was alright to give it out for free,” said Rarity as she took a step back from the atrocity.
Lunar’s face went from surprised to a mild smile as he took a step forwards. “It may not be much now, but we will make it our own.” He turned his head towards Moon Drop who walked up next to him. “After all, we are our mother’s children.”
Moon Drop smiled up towards him before Spike gave a cough to get the attention onto him. “So we’ve seen the house, lets get to the Quarry and help Rarity with those gems!” His mouth was watering a little as he spoke, obviously showing where his interests lie.
“Oh! Of course! How could I have forgotten, I’m sorry darlings but I have to get those gems if I hope to finish that dress for Sapphire Shores before she leaves on her tour in a few days,” said Rarity as she started to walk away with Spike closely following.
“Let us come with you. I’m sure we can be of some help,” said Lunar as he turned towards the three.
Twilight turned towards Lunar. “But don’t you need to start getting to work on fixing up your home?”
Lunar chuckled. “Well, we don’t really have the materials to even get started. We’ll pick up a few resources on the way back from where you are going to at least make it liveable.”
“I would appreciate all the help,” said Rarity as she gestured towards a cart on the side of the road ahead. “Spike is a good digger but he can’t really pull a cart filled with gems rather well.”
“I’d move mountains for you Rarity,” said Spike, obviously smitten by her physical appearance to notice everypony rolling their eyes with a knowing smile.
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Walking down the dirt pathway towards the quarry, the five talked about a lot of things. They shared stories from their lives with one another, cracked jokes for laughs, and spent the time traveling explaining things to Lunar and Moon Drop on what things are and how things worked on Earth.
“Oh, that reminds me Lunar, I asked earlier but I don’t think I got an answer. How did you and Moon Drop get such lovely, sparkling manes,” asked Rarity with a enthusiastic smile.
“Well, you remember when I explained that Nightmare Moon crafted our bodies from stone and moon dust right? Well, she found gems on the moon that she ground into a dust and used as coloring,” said Lunar.
“I see, that would explain such a beautiful shine when the sun passes through every strand.” Rarity’s eyes lit up a little as Moon Drop shook her head, displaying an example of what Rarity admired.
“Lunar, do you know how Nightmare Moon used the spell to animate you,” asked Twilight, her eyes bright with hope of learning a new spell possibility.
Lunar frowned as he shook his head. “I’m modeled after the Earth Ponies so I’m afraid I don’t know much about magic. If I can find any of my unicorn brethren, maybe one of them knows about the spell.”
Twilight’s ears drooped a little upon hearing that, her hopes of learning a spell to animate statues dashed aside. Moon Drop however had a curious look on her face. “Why do you keep asking about mother? Didn’t she come down to Earth a couple years ago?”
Twilight, Rarity and Spike stopped before looking towards each other with worried looks before looking away from each other as well as Lunar and Moon Drop. Lunar took a step towards them, “Something happened to her then. Please, you have to tell us, is she still alive?”
Twilight reluctantly spoke up, “She’s alive… But not in the way you remember her. After she returned to Earth, well… My friends and I went and found the Elements of Harmony… And defeated her… Turning her back into Princess Luna.” Twilight braced herself for an outburst from Lunar or Moon Drop but it never came. She looked towards the two to see them looking at each other, a pained look mixed with relief covering their faces.
“You’re… not angry?”
Lunar turned towards Twilight, a tear forming in an eye. “Though it pains us to know our birth mother is gone, we’ve always known there to be a brighter side to our mother. This Princess Luna… Did she forgive Princess Celestia and receive forgiveness in turn?”
“Yes. She did.”
“Brother, mother is finally happy! Maybe we can meet her again and live with her, happy like always,” said Moon Drop as she started to cry tears of joy. Lunar pulled Moon Drop close to him in a one armed hug with a smile and nodded.
After a moment of emotions from Lunar and Moon Drop, they calmed themselves and with teary-eyed smiles, they opted to continue to the quarry even though Twilight and Rarity offered to wait a little longer, a prospect that Spike agreed whole-heartedly.
Arriving at the quarry, Lunar and Moon Drop gazed at how large the area was, a large quantity of holes scattered here and there looked to have been done recently. Rarity looked to be dealing with dirt that has covered the very bottom of her hooves, muttering to herself curses on the dirt. Twilight and Spike were unpacking what looked to be a notepad and quills, as if getting ready to take notes or something.
“Rarity? How do you find gems,” asked Moon Drop as she wandered over towards the unicorn.
Rarity recoiled, not noticing that the filly had even approached her before giving a confident smile. “Oh, that’s easy enough to answer, dear. I use magic,” she answered in a dramatic fashion.
Lunar looked towards Twilight who cleared her throat to clarify why she was there herself. “I asked Rarity some time ago if she could show me the spell she uses to find gems. I wanted to see if there was a way to improve it so that she could find more gems. Alright Rarity, ready when you are.”
Rarity nodded with a smile as her horn started to become covered in a light cyan glow. Gems immediately around her started to glow under the ground, revealing their location for all to see. But that was not the only thing that happened. Lunar and Moon Drop started to glow, the crushed gems that were used to color them before their animation reacting with Rarity’s spell. Moon Drop and Lunar looked at themselves, a smile crossing their faces as the young Pegasus started to bounce around, leaving a streak of the glow behind her which quickly disappeared.
Everyone laughed along with Moon Drop as she continued to run around before slipping into a nearby crater, popping her head out with a grin and a giggle. Twilight put down her notepad and quill, calling for attention on her. “Alright Rarity, I think I can make the spell go farther without using more magic than is necessary. I’ll test it out and teach it to you if it is a success.”
Rarity nodded as she stopped her spell and let Twilight have her space. Everypony watched as Twilight’s horn started to glow a purple hue before expanding over the area around them. At first, gems started to appear below the surface and even further down than Rarity’s version but that wasn’t it. Moon Drop screamed at the top of her lungs, jumping out of the hole that she fell into. Glowing within it, Lunar was the first of the rest to realize what Moon Drop was afraid of.
“What… What is this,” he shouted as he detached himself from the wagon he pulled from Ponyville. He jumped into the hole and started to dig vigorously at the spotted object. It was not long before he emerged from the hole holding a statues head, tears streaming down his face. Around him, more statues, broken and shattered started to illuminate from their craters. “This can’t be happening. Our family… Here and broken…”
“How? Why? My family… I’ll never see them again… Mother is going to hate us, I just know it,” said Moon Drop, curled into a little ball with her hooves over her head. Her eyes clamped shut trying to hold back the tears but a light started to emanate from the crack of her eyelids.
Lunar noticed this and ran towards her, wrapping his hooves around her while rocking her back and forth. Magical energies started to swirl around them as Lunar tried to calm her down. “Moon Drop! Moon Drop, listen to me! Mother isn’t going to hate us, she could never hate us! Calm down, listen to my voice. Don’t lose yourself to your emotions.”
Twilight cast a bubble barrier around Rarity, Spike and herself. She tried to call out towards the two Lunar ponies but her voice was drowned out by the roaring winds caused by the foreign magics.
“They’re all dead, Lunar. They are all DEAD and it’s all our fault,” shouted Moon Drop. “We shouldn’t have listened to Cresta! We should have listened to you at the start and live out our lives and now look what has happened!”
The magic was intensifying as Moon Drop opened her eyes and looked up towards Lunar. A steady dark blue hue of magic escaping from her eyes. Lunar gritted his teeth as he buried her face into his chest, stroking her mane in an attempt to calm her down. His voice became soft and gentle as he spoke.
“The truth is that I agreed with Cresta. I wanted to see mother just as much as everyone else and when she proposed that spell… This is our punishment for disobeying mother and we will have to live for their sakes. So calm yourself dear sister, think of what mother would think of us if you became a Terror…”
Moon Drop’s wailing softened into muffled sobs. The magic was starting to subside as she started to calm down. “But they are all dead Lunar… How can we face mother like this?”
“I don’t know about you, but I don’t see all of our siblings here. Surely those who didn’t land here is still alive,” said Lunar as he rested his head upon Moon Drops forehead, continuing to stroke her main. “We will find them someday, hopefully soon, and we’ll just have to forge a new life here on Earth. So no more tears little one.”
With that, the magic subsided. Moon Drop crying softly into his chest as he continued to comfort her. Twilight lowered her barrier after a moment before slowly walking up to Lunar and Moon Drop.
“Um, pardon me but what in Tartarus WAS that?”
Lunar looked up towards Twilight, continuing to comfort his little sister as he did. He could see the worry in her face and sighed. “Remember when I told you mother brought us to life to have a family? That was only half the reason for our existence. We knew that Nightmare Moon was only one half of our mother, a darker half bent on taking her revenge. Nightmare Moon wanted an army that would sacrifice themselves for her and become ponies of immense power. Under intense physical, emotional, or mental stress and even through pure conviction of will, we can release all the magic within us to make us more powerful, probably as powerful as an alicorn in her prime. We call ponies that release this power, Terrors.
“But this ability has a terrible price, however. The amount of magic released is not controlled so after some time, we return to being statues… We die… Only twice did this happen back in the kingdom and on both accounts, the Terrors nearly destroyed everything around them… But mother would appear before their full transformation and return them into dust.”
Twilight, Rarity and Spike just stood there, not knowing what to say as Lunar went back to caressing Moon Drop. Spike nudged Rarity and the two silently slipped away from the scene to finish what they came to do.
Twilight, however, walked up towards the two slowly before sitting upon her haunches and wrapped her hooves around Lunar and Moon Drop, trying to add comfort for the poor filly without realizing that she was comforting Lunar as well. He was on the breaking point too, not only realizing that his decision to go through with Cresta’s fool plan to teleport caused this, but that he almost lost his sister to becoming a Terror because of it.
They stayed like that for hours until Moon Drop finally fell asleep. Rarity quietly caught their attention to the full cart of gems, signaling that they were done. Twilight lifted Moon Drop onto the cart where she continued to sleep as Lunar pulled the cart back to Ponyville.
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The sun was almost gone and Lunar had done what he could that day to at least make a room windproof. The fireplace ablaze providing warm as Moon Drop sat on a bed made of hay and leaves far enough away from the fire to be sure that it wouldn’t light up from a stray ember. Lunar sat down next to Moon Drop and she leaned upon him, her eyes never drifting from the fire itself. “Will we ever be happy Lunar?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“We lost everything. Our home, our family, our birth mother…”
“We didn’t lose everything you know. We have a home. We just need to make the best of it. As for our mother, we lost the worse half. Princess Luna is our mother now, the kindness that shown through that darkness and spared us from our true purpose. And as for family, you still have me and I have you. Maybe we can adopt this town as part of our growing family.”
“Is that enough to be happy though?”
“It is if you make it happy.”
Moon Drop laid down upon the bed of foliage, squirming about to get comfortable. Lunar laid down behind her, a hoof wrapped around her to keep her close with the crook of his neck caressing her head like a pillow. They remained silent, listening to the crackle from the fireplace as the flames danced in an orange glow. They watched until the flames started to die, and they drifted off into sleep…
___________________________
It has been a few weeks since the incident at the quarry. Since then, Lunar had done his best to clear his mind of the graveyard by working as hired help for the town, using the money he earned to fix up the house and provide for Moon Drop. He also made some friends with any of the locals, doing a little more than what was asked for him for free. The home itself was relatively finished, a few window shutters stilled needed to be repaired, a hole in the floor of one of the room still needed to be repaired, but other than that it was rather pleasant to live in.
Of course, he didn’t do all he repairs alone, Applejack came by to help with the yard work, making the front and back yards look very pleasant. Rarity assisted in decorating the inside, making the wallpaper, carpets and drapes during her free time with her fabrics. Fluttershy came to assist moving the animals from his home into her home as well as clearing out any pests that refused to leave. Rainbow Dash helped break down the walls that were rotting out as well as repair worn down parts of the roof while Twilight made sure that everything was planned out, measured, and most importantly, done correctly.
Once all the repairs were done and Pinkie had spare time, she threw a party that Lunar found rather fun. Moon Drop looked like she was having a blast too and even made friends with Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo; effectively joining the Cutie Mark Crusaders with just as much enthusiasm. It was only a few days after the party did they learn of a holiday that was coming up soon…
“Such an insulting holiday. If mother is no longer Nightmare Moon, why do they continue this farce.” Said Lunar with disdain. He stared out the window at the ponies starting to bring out the decorations for the event itself.
Moon Drop came out of her bedroom with her costume on, an outfit that was designed after the image of Nightmare Moon. “I remember Twilight telling us that this was more a holiday for kids. Come on Lunar! Free candy!”
“I just don’t understand why mother doesn’t have them change the holiday into something less… Degrading. Have you even heard some of the traditions and stories these adults tell their children?”
“Well, yeah. Mother never ate any children, why would they say such things about her?” Moon Drop sat on her haunches next to Lunar, curiously looking up at him to try to read his thoughts.
Lunar groaned as he threw up his hooves in frustration. “There is so much about this holiday I just can’t get upset about… But at least the children look like they are having fun so I guess there is at least one reason why mother would not end this holiday immediately,” said Lunar as he looked down towards Moon Drop. “That’s a rather good costume. Did you make it yourself?”
“No, I asked Miss Rarity if she could help me out by making one in her spare time. She not only did mine but she did one for Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo!” Moon Drop’s smile spread for ear to ear, her wings fluttering about as she jumped up and down in excitement.
Hearing that Rarity made the costume made Lunar chuckle a little. He knew that the unicorn was talented but this costume just made him create a whole new level of professionalism for her alone. The quality of her work could show from not only the color scheme of Nightmare Moon’s fur and armor but also the flowing hair that seemed to shimmer in a translucent glow just as he remembered.
“So you are playing as mother’s dark side, what are the other Crusaders dressed as?” Asked Lunar as he walked to the kitchen. He watched her out of the corner of his eyes as he pulled out a few leftovers from the cabinets.
“Umm… I think Scootaloo is dressing up like Cerberus, a three-headed dog that guards the gates of Tartarus… Sweetie Belle is dressing like Celestia because we came up with this idea at the same time… And Applebloom, I think, is dressed up like an apple flower? Still not sure what that looks like.”
Lunar couldn’t help but to smile as he watched her make scrunched faces as she thought. The two ate their breakfast in relative silence, purely enjoying one another’s company as they contemplated what they were going to do that day. Lunar had already agreed on helping the town by putting up decorations and setting up some of the games. He could remember the trouble he had keeping his emotions in check as he tried to worm his way out of helping at all but when Twilight came by with Fluttershy, they put up a rather compelling argument.
Moon Drop, however, was more focused on the prospect of free candy and fun games to get too worked up over a holiday dedicated to exploiting the Mare in the Moon legend, in turn their mother. Her mind wandered from thought to thought on where to go, when she should meet the other CMC, how much candy could she carry and so on.
They had just finished their meals and were starting to clear the table when a rapid knock on the door cut the silence. Lunar let Moon Drop answer the door, hearing the familiar cheering from the CMC. He smiled as Moon Drop announced she was going to play with her friends before the festival started and gave her his okay. The door shut, the water hitting the plates echoed through the now silent home. He felt content, happy to make do with what family he had left but his heart started to sink as he gazed out the back window.
Scattered in small plots, small plaques dedicated to their brethren spotted the garden. Lunar had taken the time on his days off to return to the quarry and dig up the remains of his family with the help of Twilight and her magic spells. He remembered nearly breaking down himself as he placed the shattered statues of his brothers and sisters into a cart to bring them to a better resting place. He couldn’t bare to bring Moon Drop along as he had convinced himself she did not have to burden herself with a sin she did not commit and couldn’t thank Twilight enough for lending a supporting hoof during his time of emotional distress.
“I guess it’s about time I get to helping with the festival… May Mother grant me strength to get through this day.” Mumbled Lunar as he put away the dishes.
_____________________________________
“Lunar, you are putting up the wrong decorations!”
Rarity’s magic engulfed the string of hanging Nightmare Moon head silhouettes before the entire line was pulled down, another string adorned with skulls floating up towards him at the top of the stepladder.
“Sorry Rarity, you know my stance on this holiday so you can’t really blame me for my lack of enthusiasm to get everything perfect.”
“Well you should! It’s for the children after all, think of the looks on their faces when they see beautifully created decorations draped over the streets in an aesthetically pleasing manner that will inspire awe and adoration for the finer arts! ‘Rarity,’ they will ask, ‘Who made these wonderful decorations!’ And I would announce that it was I who made most if not all of the decorations for the celebration tonight! They will then see the beauty of my crafts and come to my boutique with requests to become beautiful in their own rights with my dresses that I~”
“Rarity! Gone off on another tangent there.”
“Well excuse me for enjoying my profession.”
Rarity left Lunar to hang up the new set of decorations she had handed him, muttering what obscene curses under her breath. Lunar sighed as he looked around the town square. Everpony was busy with their assigned tasks; Twilight taking charge in making sure that everything was going as smoothly as possible. His gaze turning a bit into a stare before realizing what he should have been doing.
He couldn’t help but to think that for being a Princess, she didn’t like to use the title even to those who didn’t know her as well as the town did. She was adamant to get Lunar to stop with the formalities that he was so used to displaying for his mother that it even made Lunar feel just as uncomfortable as she was receiving them. From the story she told about how she ascended into Princesshood, Lunar would probably agree that she didn’t deserve it either but he realized that it was just Twilight venting her frustration of her new title.
Tightening the knot with his teeth, Lunar climbed down the stepladder as he looked back to the decorations he had put up. Not bad work if he were to say so himself but knowing how much of a perfectionist Rarity was, he felt inclined to double check the slack at a distance.
“Good work there, Lunar.”
The new voice from behind him nearly gave him a start. He quickly turned around to see Applejack hauling a cart of apples behind her, her eyes gazing up at the decorations.
“I would agree but I think Rarity would have everything to say against the notion.” Said Lunar with a hint of depression.
“Hon’, Rarity can find fault in everything and anythin’. Just tell her that it’s fine and she’ll drop it.”
Lunar couldn’t help but to chuckle at the prospect. If this was how Applejack disarmed Rarity then why hadn’t he discovered this method earlier? His eyes drifted back to the rather large cart of apples with a curious thought of how strong Applejack must be.
“That’s right! Lunar, can y'all help me out by going to the farm and pulling a cart to Sugarcube Corner? Pinkie is gonna make ‘em into treats for the young’uns.”
Lunar nodded and the farmer continued to pull the cart, saying her thanks with a slight strain from pulling the cart. Lunar smirked, if there was any pony that should be thankful right about now, it was him for getting an excuse to escape from Rarity’s never ending criticism.
It didn’t take long for him to reach the farm and haul the oversized cart filled with apples, not being as heavy as it looked. He dreaded seeing Pinkie Pie in fear of her springing a surprise like she always did but today he might be lucky. Hoping that she was too busy helping the Cakes with the baking, Lunar entered the front of the shop.
“Hey there Lunar! Applejack said you would be coming with some apples!”
Lunar jumped to the side, Pinkie suddenly appearing at his right, a hoof to his chest as he tried to calm his heart.
“For the love mother, Pinkie! Would you please stop appearing out of nowhere like that? You know how much I hate jump scares!”
“Well sorry Lunar, I didn’t mean to scare you. I was watching you pull the cart in front of the shop at that window over there and thought you saw me when you started to walk in.” Pinkie’s hyperactive attitude caused her to overly express everything she said from pointing to the window and mimicking his walk up to the doorway. Hardly a bit of sincerity sounding from her apology but that was just how she spoke.
Lunar looked around the room as Pinkie continue to talk about things that he started to care less and less about, tuning her out as background noise. The place looked like a tornado had swept through it; pots and pans were strewn around the floor and table tops, patches of flour, dough, and fallen deserts littered the floor, dripping from the ceiling looked to be blotches of icing as well as oozing dough. He looked towards the pony with an arched eyebrow.
“Um, where is Mr. and Mrs. Cake? Shouldn’t they be here helping with the cooking?”
“Oh, they are out of town visiting relatives with the babies for Nightmare Night. Why do you ask?”
“It’s just that… This place… Pinkie, would you like some help?”
“OH! That would super dooper spectacularific! You handle the cleaning so I can keep on making these treats!” Said Pinkie as she jumped up and down before zooming back into the kitchen just as a timer rang.
Lunar just stood there for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts on what needed to be done and harden his heart incase Pinkie does something to scare him again before cautiously walking into the kitchen grabbing a nearby mop.
_____________________________
“OKEY DOKEY! Thanks for the help Lunar! I can take it from here!”
Lunar sighed as he leaned across a countertop resting his head from the exhausting exercise from just trying to keep up with Pinkie. He once thought that Applejack had limitless stamina when it came to work but Pinkie had just proven him wrong. Not only was she still bouncing around everywhere and moving from one place to another in a blur, she was even managing several ovens, mixing bowls, beaters, and decorations without breaking a sweat.
“Pinkie… You are one amazing pony… Wait, didn’t you have a pet alligator?”
“Yep, Gummy! He’s so fun. Did you want to play with him?”
“No, no… It’s just that the last time we… met… he was hiding within a batch of muffins waiting to try to eat me… Where is he now?”
“If he isn’t in the cake or the bathtub, then he’s probably in my mane!”
“Wait, wha~”
Lunar lifted his head with a confused look, turning towards Pinkie out of reflex. As he did, he saw a familiar pair of eyes popping out of her mane before the alligator erupted out of it’s hiding place latching firmly onto his face. Lunar froze, his brain trying to register what just happened before letting out a scream and pulled the alligator loose from his face, running out the front door in the process.
“Heheh, poor Lunar gets scared way to easy,” Pinkie said with a giggle, “Right Gummy?”
About a block from Sugarcube Corner, Lunar continued to run around a building his heart beating fast and his mind constantly telling him to run. He was moving so fast, he didn’t even see Fluttershy until it was too late and he ran into her.
“Oof!”
Lunar gripped his head trying to stop the world from spinning before looking at who he just ran into, quickly jumping to his feet.
“Oh, Fluttershy! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to run into you there.”
He helped her up, hoping that he hadn’t injured her. The Pegasus looked around as soon as she got her bearings straight before giving a sigh of relief. She picked up her saddle bag which was thrown from her back when Lunar collided into her before turning her attention back to Lunar with a quiet voice.
“Oh no, I’m quite alright. Why where you in such a hurry? I mean, if you have the time to tell me…”
Lunar gave a sigh of relief. “Oh it’s nothing. Just Pinkie’s pet giving me a jump scare again… Really have to stop asking where the alligator is.”
“Oh, I see.” This provoked a smile and a small giggle from Fluttershy, finding the situation funny much like every other pony who hears about it. Lunar rolled his eyes in a pout.
“Well not all of us take well to Pinkie’s antics, surprises and choice of pets… Anyways, what are you up too Fluttershy? You seemed awfully worried about your saddlebag when you couldn’t find it.”
“Oh, it’s nothing special. I’m just bringing seasonings for the bat’s food before we release them at the start of the Nightmare Night celebration.”
Lunar made a face that was easily spotted by Fluttershy. He got up and walked around a bit, trying to keep his emotions in check.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“No… It’s just that this holiday just feels so insulting to mother… I mean Princess Luna. To have a holiday based around over fabricated stories of her alter ego, I bet she wants to end this holiday so bad.”
“Actually, Lunar. Nightmare Night is one of the few holidays that the princess can interact with her subjects. In fact, she’s supposed to be here soon to help finish the preparations and join in the festivities.”
Lunar was about to say something but stopped himself. What did he know? This pony had no reason to lie to him. Lunar sat down on his haunches, thoughts swimming through his head on how to respond before lightning made him jump back to his feet. He looked around to see Fluttershy on edge just like him and they both looked up to see Rainbow Dash dealing with a rather troublesome storm cloud.
“Rainbow Dash, be causeful! You aren’t wearing any protective clothing!” Shouted Fluttershy which, to her down fall wasn’t very loud at all.
Lunar continued to watch Rainbow Dash try to discharge the renegade storm cloud by kicking it a few times but on one of her kicks, a bolt of lightning discharged in Rainbow Dash’s direction, causing her to react by closing her wings and curling into a ball. Though the lightning bold missed her, se started to fall towards the ground with a shout, too shocked the move.
Lunar ran as quickly as he could as the nearby ponies who were watching gave out gasps of surprise and shock. Just before the Pegasus hit the ground, he slid under her, acting as a pillow to cushion her fall.
“Are you okay, Rainbow? Seriously, you should know better than to play around with lightning.”
Rainbow Dash looked at Lunar with a surprised look on her face, amazed that he was able to reach her in time but more so still surprised from the sudden bolt that almost hit her. It was a little bit before she realized that their faces were extremely close together, enough to feel each others breaths on their muzzles.
“Rainbow Dash! Are you alright?”
The voice belonged to Scootaloo who was quickly followed by the rest of the CMC, Moon Drop included, and Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow Dash was quickly brought back to the world around her and she flew up into the air, her front hooves behind her back with a sheepish smile crossing her face.
“Uh, heh. Yeah. I’m fine! Who do you think I am squirt? It’s gonna take more than a bolt of lightning to take me out of commission.”
Lunar rolled his eyes as he looked towards everypony, Twilight doing the same thing with a smile on her face. Everyone froze and looked towards an opening in the clouds as trumpets began to play, signaling the Royal Carriage has arrived with tonight’s special guest. Lunar got up and stood next to Moon Drop, eagerly awaiting to speak with the guest of honor. As the carriage landed, a somewhat familiar face emerged with a pleasant smile.
“Citizens of Ponyville! I, Princess Luna, have arrived! Let the fun begin!” She shouted and was greeted with a cheerful shout from her subjects. Everypony started to gather around their princess, trying to get their greetings or words of kindness in but once the crowd started to die down the princess was immediately set upon by a small Pegasus filly who hung herself around the alicorn’s neck.
“MOTHER!”
“Moon Drop? Lunar? What are you two~”
“Hello Mother… It’s been a long two years hasn’t it?”
Lunar sat in the dark of his living room, unmoving and without expression. Wind howled through his chimney bringing in the cold, causing Goosebumps to rise on his skin. The building was quiet, nothing to distract him from remembering the events of the teleportation. He thought back to the faces that disappeared right in front of him in a flurry of moon dust and bright light. A tear formed in one eye as he started to hear the screams of his brethren as the spell made them all disappear. He lost his family that day but there was one that he knew survived.
“Hey Moon Drop, are you hungry?”
No answer.
“Oh right… You’re with mother now.” Said Lunar as his ears lowered and he got up.
His mind drifted back to Nightmare Night, remembering how his mother had the time of her life connecting with her people through the childish games and small scares everypony would play on each other. Lunar wasn’t very enthusiastic about it, sure, but he could still smile seeing his mother and sister playing again. As the night started to die down and the ponies of Ponyville started to head home, Princess Luna decided it was time to talk with her two children of the moon.
“What are you two doing here? Don’t get me wrong but I never would have expected…”
“Cresta found a teleportation spell mother. We all wanted to see you so bad and we were worried something bad may have happened.”
“I’m sorry Lunar, after my transformation back into my true self, I’ve haven’t the magic to bring you down to the Earth. I haven’t even told my sister about the kingdom because I wanted to be the one who brings you all to your new home. Where are the others?”
Moon Drop stopped with her playfulness and Lunar’s face turned grim. They didn’t want to look towards their mother but with choked words, Lunar answered her.
“They… turned into statues after the spell was cast. We found their shattered bodies in the Quarry just west of Ponyville.”
“… Lunar…”
“Don’t mother… It was our fault, Cresta and I. She knew the spell and I was foolish enough to let her try. We destroyed our family and we are no longer worthy to have you call us your children.”
“Lunar~”
“But Moon Drop… She’s without fault. She followed only because she had no other option… Mother please. Take her with you to Canterlot. She deserves to be with her mother and not to live in some run down building on the outskirts of town.”
“LUNAR!”
Moon Drop spoke up this time, her eyes filled with fear and anger, not agreeing with Lunar in the least. “What are you saying? Sure I want to live with mother again but I don’t want to leave you alone here. If I go, you come with me.”
Her eyes were starting to break out in tears and Lunar could relate to how she felt. She was going to gain a mother, but she was going to lose her brother who took care of her for so long. A brother that she knew loved her… No… Lunar told himself that he was not worthy of being called brother to such innocence. He shook his head.
“Mother. Consider this my one and only request. Please take Moon Drop to live with you and Moon Drop, I’m not budging on this decision…”
Not another word was said as Princess Luna wrapped a wing around the filly, gently guiding her away from Lunar and towards the carriage, her own gaze looking back towards Lunar with concern that he met with a practiced smile. He watched as the last of his known family disappeared into the clouds, the image of Moon Drop’s devastated face looking down at him clear in his mind.
_______________________________________________-
He wandered out the back door into the garden and looked around, gazing at the various grave markers he set up for his siblings. The garden itself was starting to wilt, having not been tended to like it used to since Moon Drop left a week ago. She was always volunteer to do much of the house chores so Lunar could go to work but now that he was alone, he found it difficult to leave time for everything and keep a social life. He walked up to a gravestone and stared at the engravings he carved into it, reading the names over and over again remembering their faces one by one with some nostalgia of the good times.
“Lunar?”
A voice broke him from his daydreaming. His ears perked up as he looked around only to see a worried Twilight standing in the entrance of his back door. She took a few timid steps forwards before speaking.
“Are you okay? You have been staring at that gravestone for nearly 20 minuets without blinking.”
“What kind of question is that? Of course I’m okay. You do know that breaking and entering is against the law right?”
“Your front door was unlocked and I was worried. Lunar, you haven’t left your house in nearly a week. The town keeps asking if you are going to come work again.”
“Why can’t you ponies just leave me alone? Why must you all keep pestering me?”
“Lunar, you can’t keep beating yourself up for what happened. You didn’t know much about magic so how could you know what side effects could possibly occur?”
“How little you know… I had the authority. I could have said no.”
Lunar had gotten up and was slowly walking towards Twilight. Each step punctuated with another point.
“I COULD HAVE STOPPED THIS FROM HAPPENING! But no, I was blinded by my selfish want and they were the ones that suffered for it!”
Twilight was backed up against a wall now, her eyes wide in fear for what she was seeing. A faint glow was emitting a purple miasma from the corner of his eyes as his teeth were barred against her. Darkness seemed to swirl around them as he moved his face incredibly close to hers, anger flaring like fire in his eyes.
“YOU KNOW NOTHING OF MY SINS OR WHAT NIGHTMARES I CONSTANTLY HAVE TO DEAL WITH!”
Lunar struck the wall just by Twilight’s head, causing her to flinch in fear. He realized what he had just done and pulled back, stepping away from Twilight keeping his back to her. He could hear to starting to cry behind him, a muffled attempt to hold back her tears.
“Fine Lunar… I leave you alone like you wanted. But I just came by to let you know that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are coming for a feast dedicated to them at town hall. I’m sure your sister would like to see you again… So come if you want, Lunar. I’m sure everyone would be happy to see you.”
With that, Lunar could hear her gallop out of his home, the front door slamming open in Twilight’s hurry. He could feel his heart drop in shame for what he did. Twilight didn’t deserve this and he knew that he had to apologize. He looked towards the moon, a tear dripping down his cheek as he sighed.
“I guess I’m going to the feast then.”
_______________________________________________-
Lunar slowly walked through the town, seeing how deserted it was. It looked like everypony went to the feast in an attempt to see the princesses and give them their praise and love. His mind drifted back to Princess Luna, a tinge of guilt sweeping over him as he remembered just dropping the responsibility of taking care of Moon Drop on her so suddenly. He froze for a moment, hesitant to see his mother again but forced himself forwards. The moon was starting to rise, the town silent and the street lamps were starting to light up one by one as the fireflies began to glow in contrast to the darkening sky. It was eerie though, it felt as if someone was watching him, following him. He looked behind him, stopping in his tracks as he scanned the area.
“Is anyone there?” Asked Lunar, his voice filled with authority in hopes to flush out somepony. There was no reply but the feeling didn’t go away. He stood there for a minute longer before deciding that it was just nerves and started to continue forwards. He passed Sugar Cube Corner before stopping again, this time hearing hoof steps behind him.
Lunar spun around to see a shadow slip behind a building. “I knew it.” Muttered Lunar to himself as he gave chase to the shadowy figure. Rounding the corner, he continued to chase the pony for a while until he finally caught up but when she was within grabbing distance, he saw a familiar glow of magic coming from the shadow’s horn. Lunar suddenly found himself lying on the ground, having been flipped back the magic used by the unicorn before looking up at her under the light of the streetlamp.
“It’s been too long brother. How have you been?”
“Cresta?! Oh thank mother you are okay!”
“Of course I’m okay. I was the one channeling the magic for the spell.”
“Cresta… The spell went wrong… Our siblings, they are all-“
“It didn’t go wrong Lunar. We don’t have the amount of magic necessary to teleport everypony without having to expend all of their magic.”
“What? Wait, then you-“
“Yes, I sacrificed them but I knew it would all be okay once we found mother again. She could make them whole and awaken them again and we can be a family once more!”
“Are you listening to yourself? They trusted you and you stabbed them, stabbed us ALL in our backs! They are in pieces Cresta! PIECES! There is no way we can bring them back as they were! We even almost lost Moon Drop to becoming a Terror because of what we found!”
Cresta looked surprised, her eyebrows raised as a smile crossed her face.
“Moon Drop survived? That’s wonderful! Where is our little sister?”
“She’s with mother but Cresta, don’t change the-“
“THAT WOMAN IS NOT OUR MOTHER!”
Lunar froze. Cresta was breathing hard now, anger was starting to show in her eyes.
“Our mother is Nightmare Moon, the source of ultimate strength and magical prowess. A being who would not bow to anypony even if it were her own sister. No, this pony is not our mother… But I intend to change that. I made a spell that will be able to change her back into her old glory.”
“No, mother is finally happy Cresta. Why can’t you see that?”
“How can she be happy living under the hoof of that tyrant? Celestia has no right to keep our mother is her shadow. No, I will revive our old mother and together, we will destroy Celestia and remake this world in mother’s image!”
Lunar jumped to grab Cresta as he horn started to glow but she vanished in a flash of scarlet light. He pushed himself back to his feet before looking around and cursed under his breath before galloping as fast as he could to the Town Hall.
___________________________________________
Lunar slipped through the front door, his breathing was heavy as he gazed over the crowd. He knew that Cresta would not just appear when Princess Luna and her sister were together. He had time, he just needed to find her. As he was looking, Applejack, who was attending the drink stand, noticed Lunar and walked over towards him with a disapproving look on her face.
“Lunar! How dare you show yer face here after what you did to poor Twilight. Making a mare cry like that, you should be ashamed!”
“Applejack, now is not the time-“
“I’ll say, I reckon you shouldn’t be here if you ain’t gonna apologize to Twilight.”
“Applejack, you have to listen-“
“No, YOU have to listen Lunar. Yer gonna march yer sorry flank over to Twilight and apologize or I’m gonna buck ya into next Tuesday.”
Lunar lost his composure as he suddenly grabbed Applejack by the shoulders, knocking off her hat and his eyes looking intently into hers.
“For the love of Princess Luna, Applejack, listen to me! My unicorn sister, Crescent Eclipse, is here and she wants to change Princess Luna back into Nightmare Moon to subvert the throne. I need you to warn the Princesses while I try to stop her.”
Applejack froze with a look of surprise on her face as she stared at Lunar, his words slowly registering in her head over the shock of his sudden attitude change. She snapped back into control as Lunar let go of her and put her hat back onto her head.
“Why didn’t you say all that sooner? Pinkie! Yer in charge of the punch! And Lunar, if you are just tellin’ a fib, you better be running fer the hills.”
Applejack ran off through the crowd, heading forwards the main table that had been set up on the stage where Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Twilight sat in each other’s company talking with each other and the ponies trying to gather around them. Lunar didn’t waste time looking through the crowd. Several times did he spot his sister but each time he got close, she would manage to slip out of his view. After nearly fifteen minutes of this, he looked towards the table to see Twilight and Luna alone at the table, a Unicorn now jumping onto the stage closer to Luna.
“Princess Luna. Hah, to think you would try to replace my mother.”
“Crescent Eclipse? Oh, I’m so happy to see that you are alright… What did you say?”
“You heard me. I do not accept you as my mother like my other siblings. You are not the one who birthed me or taught me how to bend my magic to my will.”
“But Cresta, I am-“
“I don’t want to hear anything you say imposter.”
Twilight is now standing, anger starting to show in her eyes. “What right do you have to talk to royalty with that tone?”
“Royalty? The only royalty I acknowledge is the majesty of Nightmare Moon. Tonight, I will return this woman back to who she really is, the beauty and strength of Nightmare Moon, my mother.”
Cresta’s horn started to glow as she lowered her head, a beam of red light firing towards Twilight who was struck in the chest and blown off the stage. Lunar managed to catch her as the rest of the crowd scattered to avoid getting hurt. Luna stood up from the table, her eyes filled with fear and indecision.
“Crescent Eclipse! You don’t want to do this. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I said I don’t want to hear you speak!”
Cresta’s horn started to glow scarlet her eyes starting to glow with a small tinge of purple. Luna, seeing her child growing impatient, hesitated a moment before her own horn started to glow. Lunar put Twilight down as he shouted for both of them to stop but his cries fell on deaf ears when they both fired a beam towards one another.
“NO!”
A tiny voice cried out from a shadow that flew from the crowd. The silhouette quickly slipped in between the two beams and time nearly stopped for Lunar. There was a flash of light as the beams collided with the small figure, a scream penetrating the bodies and souls of everypony there. The flashes stopped, a body flying through the air, Cresta and Luna staring wide eyed, Lunar running as fast as he could to the filly. The child hit the ground with a resounding thud that seemed to make time resume as normal for Lunar as he reached her.
“Moon Drop… Why?” Whimpered Lunar as he picked up Moon Drop and caress her in his hooves. Wounded and bruised, the filly weakly turned her head towards Lunar, eyes looking up through half-open eyes and her mouth curving in a weak smile.
“Is… mother… okay?”
“She’s fine Moon Drop… You saved her…”
“That’s… good…”
The filly’s eyes slowly drifted towards the ground, catching a glimpse of her own body before closing her eyes. The smile on her face started to widen as her breath grew shorter with every breath.
“Cutie… Mark…”
Lunar’s ears picked up, his face filled with surprise and sadness. He looked towards her flank and saw what she was referring too. Her flank was no longer barren but now bore a full moon in the shape of a droplet of water, underneath it looked to be a ripple that flowed outwards like water. Lunar nuzzled Moon Drop in the crook of her neck, wiping the tears that started to flow out of his eyes like a river.
“Yeah… It’s beautiful Moon Drop… Just like you and mother.”
He could feel her starting to stiffen in his arms, reverting back into a statue state and in the original position she stood before being animated. He continued to cry as Crescent Eclipse approached, timidly taking each step as she observed the situation. Tears were starting to form in her eyes as she started to realize what she had done.
“Moon Drop… My sister I’m-“
“Don’t you dare take another step towards her or say anything at all. Cresta, no… Crescent Eclipse… Do you realize what you have done? You destroyed the magic she had inside her for a stupid goal. You took the magic that animated our brethren for your own selfish wants and desires and NOW you decide to grow a conscience?”
“But, Lunar-“
“I told you not to speak! You are not the Crescent Eclipse I once knew… You are nothing more than a murder and a traitor!”
“Lunar, please-“
“You and Mother once told me that sometimes, there are things that cannot be forgiven... So I want you to leave. Leave and never, EVER show your face to me again… LEAVE! GET OUT OF HERE!”
Cresta took a step back, hesitating on whether she should stay and try to talk it out. Her gaze looked towards Princess Luna who was now lowering her head by Lunar, wrapping her wing over his shoulders and tears streaming down her cheeks. Everypony around had a mixture of sadness of Lunar’s loss, and anger of Cresta’s attack on their Princesses. Everypony’s head turned towards the sound of running hooves as Celestia burst into the room, out of breath with Applejack by her side. Surveying the room, she quickly assessed the situation and turned her attention to Cresta, horn glowing a golden hue. The unicorn took a few steps back before casting a spell, teleporting out of the room before Celestia could do anything to stop her.
The building became silent out of respect, as the only sound that echoed within its walls were the muffled cries of Lunar and Princess Luna.
______________________________________
The following day, Moon Drop’s statue was brought to the Canterlot statue gardens for a funeral procession led by the Princesses Celestia and Luna. Though the crowd was small, it consisted of the main six, the CMC and a few of the townponies who grew to know Lunar and Moon Drop. Lunar sat in the back, his eyes glazed over as he continued to think about the days when he would see Moon Drop laugh, smile, play, and struggle to show what she can do. A small, weak smile crossed over his face as he fell further into his thoughts.
“…ar… Lunar… Hey, are you okay?”
Lunar looked up, broken out of his trance to see Twilight sitting next to him, a worried look over his face. He wanted to say something, he wanted to let everything out but in the state he was in, he was afraid he would lose himself. He just stared at her as she looked him over, his eyes still looking as if he was staring at something far away, far from his reach.
“I can’t say I know how you are feeling, nor can I say everything will be alright… But I can say that we are here for you. If you want to talk, you can trust us alright?”
Lunar’s glossy gaze turned towards the procession, everypony was staring at him with worried looks on their faces. A small tinge of pain started to grow in his chest, becoming more intense as he stared into the eyes of each and every pony present. His bottom lip started to quiver as tears started to form in his eyes. He brought a foreleg to his eyes to wipe the tears away, trying to act strong but stopped. He felt as the tears started to stream down his face like rivers, his arms becoming heavy. He leaned over and rested his head upon Twilight’s shoulder as she wrapped a wing around him and started to cry, letting himself be comforted by the princess as everypony came to comfort him too.
_____________________________
Back in Ponyville, Lunar continued to live his life though as the days grew into weeks, and the weeks into months, he started to leave the confines of his home less and less until finally, he just stopped showing up in Ponyville, even to buy food or to help with any jobs he was hired for. The townponies started to visit less and less as they felt it has been long enough to grieve over the death of a loved one. The CMC no longer came by the house to even talk, the girls started to come by less and less (with the exception of Pinkie Pie who he kept telling to go away) and even the plants that surrounded his home started to wilt from lack of gardening.
Lunar laid down on his bed, the dark room shrouding his vision of the decaying state of his home. His body was starting to feel heavy though he could feel the magic fueling his existence running strong. Though no matter how dark he made it, he could still see everything: the craters that held the broken pieces of his siblings, Crescent Moon’s maddened look for a mother long gone, Moon Drop’s lifeless form turning back into a statue… He just wanted to forget. Forget everything like the other ponies seemed to have. He didn’t want to feel the pain in his heart stabbing at him every second he is awake. There was a creak that echoed through the house, reminding him how empty the building was without the small hooves of Moon Drop running through it.
Lunar moved a hoof over his eyes, wiping away the tears that were starting to form there as he started to whimper. Rolling to his side, he thought about Cresta; his ex-sister as he continued to think if there was another way he could handle it. But no matter how much he tried, her words kept drifting back into his mind.
“Mother already told us that there are some things that cannot be forgiven Lunar.”
He gritted his teeth as he didn’t want to admit it. These words rang true in his head as he started to mutter to himself. “She can never be forgiven… She can never be forgiven… She can never be forgiven… Right?”
A sudden knock at the door broke him from his trance, making him jolt upright. It has been a while since his last visitor. Hell, he had just managed to get Pinkie Pie to stop coming by to cheer him up. He set himself back down on his bed, thinking that given time, the unwelcome visitor will eventually leave.
Knock, knock, knock. The rapping on the door just continued for minuets but for what felt like hours. Lunar placed his hooves over his ears trying to shut out the noise before losing it. He jumped off his bed as he felt his way through the dark of his home towards the front door.
“Go away! I don’t want any visitors! That means you too Pinkie!”
The knocking continued, there wasn’t even a pause in between anymore, just rapid rapping at the door. Their hoof must be getting sore.
“I said go away! Leave me alone!”
He kicked the door with one of his front hooves which caused the knocking to stop for a moment, but then the knocking continued. Lunar started to grit his teeth as he started to stamp on the ground in an attempt to show how aggressive he would be if they didn’t leave. The knocking continued unrelenting. Lunar suddenly had enough, he reached out at the door knob, flinging the door open but the anger on his face suddenly changed into a look of surprise and shock.
“M… Moon Drop?”
“Hi big brother. I’m home,” said Moon Drop with a teary eyed smile before she gave Lunar a hug around his neck. He hugged her back, tears starting to stream down his face.
“Welcome home Moon Drop… But how-“
“I’m sorry Lunar… But there’s someone else you need to see.” This voice was familiar. Lunar looked up to see Twilight standing nearby, her head turned and eyes looking down towards the ground.
“Twilight? What are you do-?” Lunar cut himself short when he saw who Twilight was referring too. Not too far away, Lunar saw an elegantly made cart being pulled by a few members of the royal guard. On the cart was a statue of a unicorn mare, Cresta, head bowed low and eyes closed. The expression on her face was that of sadness mixed with the feeling of renunciation. Lunar slowly let go of Moon Drop before taking a few steps towards the cart which stopped a few feet away from the pathway leading up to the house.
“Were would you like her your highness?” Asked the guards towards Twilight. She shook her head and looked towards Lunar for him to give them their instructions.
“… There’s a garden in the back… We can place her there… Along with the others.” Said Lunar as his ears drooped. He watched as the unicorn guard lifted the statue out of the cart and walked around the building into the backyard. Lunar pointed out the place he would like them to set Cresta down in a patch of flowers which were slowly withering away from lack of care.
As the guards left, Moon Drop walked towards Lunar’s side and leaned her body against his. “I saw everything Lunar. When I turned into a statue, there was enough magic for me to retain some presence… I watched you push her away, I watched everypony give me a funeral, and I watched the days go by in loneliness. But just yesterday, around midnight, Cresta came by. She sat with me until the break of dawn, telling me stories of how she really felt about me and that she was sorry. She told me she was blinded by her selfish wants and lost sight of what she should have kept her eyes on. Then she… Then she…”
Moon Drop fell to the ground, crying as Lunar moved to hold her. She didn’t have to finish, Lunar could guess the rest. Cresta had known the animation spell and he knew that it would take a lot of magic to make it successful. Cresta expended all of her magic to bring back Moon Drop, sacrificing herself in the process. Lunar looked up to the statue of his sister, feeling the pain she must have been in when she forced the magic out of her.
Lunar picked Moon Drop back onto her feet before walking up to the statue. He placed a hoof gently on the side of her face as he put his head into the crook of her bowed head.
“Cresta… I’m sorry… I didn’t want to lose you too… But what happened to Moon Drop, I just couldn’t find myself able to forgive at that time and truly believed that I could never forgive you… But now I see I was wrong. I’m sorry, my beloved sister. I can only hope you will forgive me.” Said Lunar before backing away from the statue. As he and his sister started walking back to the house with Twilight following closely behind, Lunar looked back to the statue just in time to see a single tear drop fall.
