The royal sisters have maintained an unsteady relationship since Nightmare Moon was defeated. But when old friends from the moon return, questions on loyalty may bring this inner evil into the world of the living once again.
It has been five years since the return and vanquish of Nightmare Moon, and the royal sisters have maintained an unsteady relationship. However, old friends from the moon threaten to destroy this shaky bond, and questions on loyalty may bring Nightmare Moon up a second time.
“Sister.” Princess Celestia looked up from her work.
“Yes, Luna?” She sighed, looking meaningfully at the forms she had yet to fill out. Luna frowned, slightly perturbed by her sister’s blatancy.
“I have something to tell you,” the younger princess ventured, “It’s of great significance.”
“I should hope so. What is it?” Luna took a deep breath and, chin high, delivered the news.
“I have taken on my most faithful student.
“What?” Celestia jerked upwards, staring with disbelief at her sister. “Who?” Upon Luna’s command, Trixie entered the room. Celest made a hacking sound and cast the mare out of the tower. Upset, Luna began to involuntarily speak in her royal tone.
“Thou shan’t be of such crudeness to thon sibling’s second of hoof.”
“Luna, don’t you know that she’s evil?”
“Thou art not evil, thon be in need of guidance, and thy shalt provide.” When Celestia still looked disapproving, Luna continued. “Thou apprentice require thon guidance, say? Yes, and thy's needs just so.”
“But she’s weak and evil, she’ll end up like Sunset Shimmer!”
“So thou maketh a prat’s blunder and thy pays for thon by being banished from thy’s own choice of apprentice? Sidesay, thy shalt pay proper to thyn apprentice. Tis naysay that thon assign proper duties to thy, for thy art too young for thon needs. Thon only needs thy to adjust thon lunar phase.” Luna was speaking so fast and strangely by then that Celestia had trouble understanding her.
“Slow down Luna, your royal tone is acting up and I don’t know what you’re saying,”
“Thou art not--” Luna clapped a hoof to her mouth and paused for a while, trying to get rid of her tone. Celestia took the opportunity to try and placate her.
“Listen, I just didn’t want anything bad to happen. Besides, you didn’t even consult me!” Her tone mostly gone, Luna opened her mouth.
“Why should I have to consult you? Thou didn’t consult me when you got your student! It is because thy is below you, isn’t it? I only raise the moon, I’m too young and inferior to do anything more!”
“You were ON the moon when I got Twilight!” Angry, Celestia said something she shouldn’t have. “You wouldn’t want to go back, would you?” Luna gasped and stumbled backwards. Hot tears sprang from her eyes. Hurt, she screamed back.
“At least there I wasn’t with you!”
***
Twilight and Celestia were the only two on the stadium for the Summer Sun Celebration. Twilight shifted awkwardly.
"If you don't mind my asking, Princess, where is Luna?" Celestia sighed.
"We had a... Fallout and she's putting her feelings before the needs of the republic. I won't stand for it, though." Celestia looked to a royal guard. "Take a letter to Princess Luna. Ask if she will be attending the Summer Sun Celebration." The guard nodded and headed off.
"Was it... Like the Nightmare Moon kind of fallout?" Twilight asked. Celestia closed her eyes.
"Very much." She opened her eyes again and looked at Twilight. "I worry about her. She lets her feelings get the better of her and she forgives herself before anypony else does. I fear Nightmare Moon may appear a second time some day." Twilight thought for a moment about when she felt she was going insane with a lack of princess-like responsibilty. In the dark corners of her mind were thoughts of becoming Dawn Terror, her kind of Nightmare Moon. She completely understood how Luna must be feeling.
"Well..." Twilight suggested hesitantly, "Have you ever considered that maybe you're partly respons--"
"Message for the princess," The guard said, head down as he extended a piece of parchment with his magic. Celestia took it, scanned it quickly, and dropped it. Her face was a mixture of sadness, regret, anger, and frustration.
"The Summer Sun Celebration will go on without Princess Luna," she announced, clearing her face of emotion. The guard nodded and went off with the paper. Twilight intercepted it and read it, curious. Her heart sank as she saw what was written.
Princess Luna will not attend the ceremony in which ponies celebrate the lowering of her inferior moon and the raising of her sister's superior sun.
Twilight stood in fron of Luna's door, once again going over in her head what to do. She knocked and waited.
"Come in," Came a bored voice. Twi pushed open the door --unlocked-- and stepped inside to darkness. The small beam of light from the door shone onto the floor, revealing a patch of dirty carpet and a half eaten bag of potato chips, contents spilling out into an unwashed soda stain. Twilight stared at this only visible part of the room, puzzled.
"Luna?" She asked, searching the darkness. "What is all this?"
"Shut the door," Luna's voice grumbled, followed by a smacking and crunching sound.
"What in the name of..." Twilight couldn't complete her sentence as the room slowly illuminated. Luna was using her powerful magic to do many things; Read a book, slice a pizza, open a bag of potato chips, play video games, and keep the room lit. She looked like an indifferent factory of laziness, things of menial work floating about her head.
"I believe you were about to swear to Celestia," Luna mumbled, not looking up from the television screen she was playing on.
"Huh?" Twilight closed her gaping mouth, averting her stare to gaze around the rest of the room. It all looked quite similar to the patch she had first seen, trash strewn about and soda stains dotting the once-white carpet. Then Twi jumped slightly when she noticed Luna's crown amongst the piles of trash. As she looked, she realized all the princess's royal garments were tossed about in the garbage; Crown, boots, crest, and all.
"Luna, you are a princess!" She exclaimed, shocked.
"Only because I was born one. It's not like anypony actually needs me, they were fine when I was on the moon."
"No Princess Luna, I will not have you speaking this way." Twilight picked up the trash piles on the floor, levitating them outside. She popped all the soda stains out of the carpet, leaving the floor shiny and white. She intercepted Luna's magic with her own, putting away the food and games. She placed Luna's royal garments by her hooves. While she did all this, Twilight Sparkle sang.
"You've come such a long, long, way.
"And she's watched you, from that very first day.
"To see where you might go, to hear what you might say, to test what you will do with the power that has been inside of you.
"I know what it feels like to be low.
"And I get, she doesn't know just what you know.
"But you are a princess.
"And you wear a crown, yes.
"You know that we need you,
"So please lead us dearest princess of the moon.
"You may feel,
"Like nopony ever sees what you do.
"But you'll see,
"That we love to celebrate under your moon.
"You're not just her shadow.
"You thrive with your own will.
"You will make yourself free.
"Yes it's time for you...
"To control your destiny!"
Twilight held the last note, lifting up Luna's crown and placing it on her head. Luna smiled and picked up the other garments, putting them on. She hopped off her bed and faced Twilight, looking as much as a princess as her sister.
"Celestia wrote that song," She said suddenly, smile disappearing.
***
Luna sat alone in her quarters, thinking. After she had made her snide comment at the end of Twilight's song, the latter had nodded. Then Twi said she had changed the song, now making it her own. She told Luna she should do the same, taking things into her hooves and creating her own life. The princess of the night smiled at the former unicorn's wisdom, walking over to her window and looking out at Celestia's room.. As she watched, Luna saw Celestia come to the window, staring out over Canterlot. When Celest glanced in her direction, Luna ducked, not yet ready to confront her sister. But as she thought, crouched underneath the windowsill, Luna couldn't stop thinking about how sad Celestia looked. She contemplated for a long time, then finally decided to talk with her. When Luna looked back out the window, she found Celest's window was closed and the shutters drawn. This discouraged her a bit, but she set out anyway. As she got closer to Celestia's room, disturbing sounds entered her ears. Loud crashes sounded from inside, followed by hard thumps and hoofsteps pounding on tiles. Unnerved, Luna headed quietly to her sister's room.
"Sister?" She whispered as loudly as she dared. "Are.... Are you okay?" She paused by the door, listening. There were several tense seconds of silence. So many that Luna began to wonder if she had imagined the whole thing. She lifted a hoof to knock, then paused.
What do I say to her? Luna wondered, willpower fading. Suddenly, she could hesitate no longer. Celestia's piercing scream ripped through the air, then was cut short. Luna stumbled backwards, shocked.
"Sister!" She yelled.
"Luna!" Celestia's anguished cry once again stopped abruptly, followed by an unfamiliar high-pitched voice.
"Where is she? What did you do to her? What happened to Nighty?"
Luna burst into the room, splinters of the broken door flying everywhere. She skidded to a halt where Princess Celestia lay sobbing at the hooves of two princess-sized mares, a unicorn and a pegasus. The pegasus was a hot pink, with a white mane that dangled in thick strands around her face. Her tail did the same, spilling out all over the floor. The unicorn was slightly taller, with sparkly silver fur and a dark red mane and tail, both cut short and greased in clean, precise, bunches. The pegasus's eyes were a fiery green, while the unicorn's a pale yellow.
Luna stumbled where she stood, staring with aghast disbelief at the ponies before her.
