> Echoes of a Dead Time
>  by shadowless_night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Even dead things can sometimes talk
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The skies above Equestria’s old capital shimmer in the moon light, a sight once of rare beauty, yet now common place amongst the world. As the star's rays flow down from the sky, they light up ruins of a once prestigious city, a place of culture, beauty and snobby nobles. But whatever it once was matters no longer since the streets are now silent ruins, shrines to an old world desecrated by the bloodied patches that stain the formerly beautiful works of art that made the golden city. The golden city that still shimmered in the night light still echoing its devotion, still brightly proclaiming its loyalty to her. The ruins of Canterlot, a place of worship to the sun, to the Princess of the Day. It lived to serve her and now, it was her tomb. With all that followed her.

The shimmering lights disrupted by a shadow and the sound of flapping wings, bat ponies of the night guard in their glistening moonlit armour, tugging along their precious royal cargo to the decaying castle in the city’s heart with practised control and ease. It had been almost two years now since its destruction during the takeover, the glorious moment when the rightful ruler of the night fought the tyrannical sister of the day and won, aided by her creatures of moonlight who stormed the battlements of the golden tyrant. Deep tears still litter the ground where great ursas charged forward, making trenches that spanned through entire districts, one even into the castle itself. That particular rip is now shadowed by the guards of the night bringing the Princess of the Moon herself along its stretch, slowly landing with a soft clattering of hooves against the rubble of a great hallway torn open in the ursa's approach. 

With an almost robotic level of efficiency the four royal guard detach from the carriage, opening its door before immediately dropping to bow before their ruler while its lead speaks, “My princess, we have arrived in the castle.” 

Luna, the slayer of light, the hero of the night itself steps out her royal carriage, her mane and tail billowing in the windless night with the stars themselves confined within its waves. She steps forward on the shattered grounds her face one of disgust to have to visit such a vile place again, the place where her sister ruled forth and rejoiced in her banishment, the place where she was forgotten and the place she gladly ripped asunder. 

“Rise my guard. As you know, we are here to investigate reports of traitors hiding in these ruins, those that chose the sun, to the moon. They must be found and brought to justice, however be vigilant. If traitors are here, they may have laid down traps or ambushes for our approach.”

The guardsmen merely respond with a chorus of ‘yes your majesty’, rising to take up formation alongside the Princess’s advance. The moon god simply advances, trusting her guard to be swift and keep up as she begins to move into the ruins with the caution of a seasoned warrior, ready to defend should a rebel attack. 

They advance into the old corridors of broken busts and torn tapestries, silence consuming the very air only to be broken by the muffled sound of armoured hooves on the decaying carpet beneath them. Luna stops, a brief flick of a wing enough warning for all the guard to take up defensive stances as they listen intently. 

At first, nothing happens beyond the crippling silence retaking the corridor. Then an ethereal blue shimmer runs into view, shaped like a pony long since passed who runs with a clear look of terror on her face. As the mare’s features come into view, it becomes obvious she is one of the servants who worked in the castle, screaming as loudly as if she was still alive, only to be silenced by an arrow through her throat as a spectral bat pony charges forward, kicking at the space where a busted down door lies before charging in with a spear in his grip. Screams and cries echo from the room before silence reigns as the mist fades. 

One of the guards with the Princess step back slightly, only to be stilled by the sound of Luna addressing them, “Do not fear my loyal soldiers. The death of an Alicorn is no simple feat. We are timeless beings, never aging and nigh impossible to kill with normal means. My sister’s death showered this place with her magic, enough to capture the very souls of those who fell. And with my own attunement to the spiritual world, it is awakening these souls to relive the very memories of this place. They cannot harm you, but do not disturb them. This is their punishment for living in my sisters lies.” The guards nod and return to formation behind the princess as she advances once more, heading deeper into the living ruins of a dead world. 

The passageway eventually gives way to an open garden, the blue shimmer returning and the entourage quickly stopping to spectate the events unfolding before them. The glow soon encompasses the entire compound, covering the dead burned gardens and trees to give them life once more. After a minute of silence, the magic forms into the shape of Luna herself sitting alone in a circle of the garden, meditating in peace. Eventually though, this peace is broken as another pony enters the picture, easily discerned as a royal guard of the day despite the ethereal shimmer around him. Unlike most guards however, this one has the shape of the sun on his chest plate, identifying him as a personal guard to the princess of the day herself while his horn marks him as a unicorn. He says nothing upon entering the night rulers circle of flowers, simply sitting down and removing his helmet in a casual manner, like it wasn’t the literal incarnation of the moon next to him as he looks into the sky above. Eventually, the reflection of Luna speaks to the guard, heavily accented in the speech of the times before her banishment, “Art thou another sent by mine sister to teach us modern Equestria?”

The other figure simply shrugs before responding truthfully, “She asked for me to try and see how you’re dealing with modern society.” His casual conversation, disregarding to even address the princess by her title causes the observing guards to seethe slightly, but looking at Luna’s stoic expression, they remain calm and continue to watch the scene playing out before them as the mirrored princess speaks again, “Then leave us, we hath no interest in you.”

With a slight hum, the solar guard simply remains, watching the sky with a slight smile, “Then I think I might just watch the night sky with you, if you don’t mind. You’ve done some impressive work compared to when Princess Celestia used to try.”

The mirrored princess just lets out a bemused huff, “Mine sister could never, even with centuries of practise, compare to the bond we share with the moon and stars.”

A slight chuckle rings out from the stallion across from her, once again responding with a shrug, “I do not doubt it. Your work is quite beautiful.”

Silence prevails over the star gazers before the princess finally speaks up again, “What be thou name?”

The night guards are forced to resist a chuckle from the irony as the unicorn speaks up, “Ethereal Light your highness.” And with that, the memory dissipates as the blue mist disappears. 

The group remains still for a moment as Luna looks upon the now broken and burned grounds, the once proud gardens and the tranquil air they held now nothing more than ash and cracked stonework. After a moment she moves forward, her guard following their ruler unquestioningly as they progress through the ashes and into another corridor. Princess Luna however trots a little uncertainly, trying to remember this Ethereal from before although with minimal success. Deciding to dismiss the unicorn for now, she continues through this corridor, recognising this as the ambassador guest room corridors.

Once again the mist sparks up although this time, it reverts back to the battle for the castle with several bat pony soldiers clashing with royal guardsmen who fought desperately, only to fall one by one to gruesome conflict. The last two guardsmen, stepped back to back as the bat ponies closed around them, only for one of the guard to turn and impale his fellow with his spear. After a brief moment of shimmering, the traitor guard reveals itself to be a changeling, one of the many Luna hired to fight for her during the battle. At the time, she had need of the changelings since her own guard was not large enough to combat the entirety of the solar guard and although not skilled at direct combat, she would be lying to say their tactics were not impressive. With the mist fading once more, she steps forward into the castle after gathering her thoughts. There may be traitors around after all and the last thing she needs is to have a clouded mind should they attack. 

The progression proceeds forwards, scenes of death and destruction replaying as they filter through the halls of the damned, the fallen appearing to fight and die once more. Eventually the group is forced to stop, the way forward having caved in from the force of great boulders, no doubt thrown during the invasion. After withholding a grumble of annoyance, Luna pushes open a nearby door into a side room, hoping for a way around. The room she is greeted with is a large room with a central grand piano surrounded by decorations of the sun and the moon which at one stage was probably a sight to behold. Now it is nothing more than rubble, holes in the damaged roof filtering moonlight inside to reveal the piano to have been torn in half, most likely by combat spells from a fight between unicorns while the decorations suffer from the same damage and deterioration that’s so common through the castle.

Before she, or her guards can progress however the mist returns, forming in the room as it has so many times before. The mirror of herself is back, the central piano coming alive as her spectral self operates its keys and the room is bathed in a song of beauty and darkness. Depicting the night itself in its notes. Ethereal appears yet again, startling the onlookers as he enters from the very entrance they’re standing in. He moves up to the princess on the piano, sitting a short distance away to listen to her song. 

The melody continues, the mist Luna either not noticing, or caring for the guards intrusion as she continues to play her song. Eventually though the song simply cuts out, ending abruptly with a sigh from its creator. The unicorn speaks up, breaking the sudden silence, “That was a beautiful song.” 

Spectral Luna simply huffs, “Perhaps to you, but it is incomplete to me. Tiss a song we made many years ago, one of my favourite, yet we cannot remember the rest.” She stares at the keys sullenly, the real Luna not able to withhold the brief wave of sadness that crosses over her before her hatred sparks again to fuel her thoughts. 'She took that from me too, just as she took my subjects love and adoration for herself and painted me a nightmare!' Caught up in her own anger, by the time she looks up again at the past memory before her, it is concluding, the princess leaving the room while the guard turns to the decorations which swiftly fade into ruins once more. 

Anger now fuelling her march, Luna proceeds through the musical hall swiftly, exiting in the opposite doorway back into the main corridors which weave throughout the complex. With a swift trot that leaves her guard scrambling to keep up, she progresses through the complex. She wants to find the traitors and be done with it, ignoring the ghosts that rise in favour of moving quickly. Soon the princess finds herself in a hall, one which she doesn’t properly recognise until the emblem of the sun nearby makes itself present. She has progressed into the day guard quarters, a corridor filled with entrances to barracks, armouries and training rooms. The princess takes a moment, mentally scolding herself for losing herself to her rage. She must have run through half the castle to get here and if the slightly heavy breathing from the guards following her were any indication, she wasn’t moving slow enough to perform a thorough check and anypony could have hidden when she moved through. With a barely kept sigh, she turns to move back and recheck the passages, when the mist forms again, this time it’s far more vibrant then before. 

The stallion that seems to appear around her is there again, this time with several other guardsmen who patrol this wing of the castle leading an Alicorn forward. Only instead of Luna, her counterpart is alongside the guard talking in that motherly voice she has so practised over the years, “I am not sure that’s wise Ethereal. She may not appreciate it in the way you mean.” 

Ethereal Light nods in response, “I understand that my princess, but regardless I believe it is worth trying.” The two ponies pause as the Solar Princess contemplates the guardsmen’s request. Eventually she gives a small smile and nods, “Very well, you have my permission. But should your plan backfire, you are to take whatever punishment my sister prescribes your actions. So don’t come crying to me if you get stuck as her personal maid for a few weeks.” 

Princess Celestia smiles at the guard, clearly playing around. The guard simply chuckles at her actions, nodding with his response, “I wouldn’t dream of it your majesty. Besides, it might give her a good memory to have for her longest night, if nothing else.”

With that, the spectres disappear into the darkness once more, leaving Luna somewhat confused. Her revolt had taken place on the longest night. With the moon at its full power for as long as it was, she was able to converge the mightiest of the creatures that serve her to charge against Celestia’s forces not just in Canterlot, but eliminating guard pockets from Manehatten to Ponyville. Whatever plans he had for her would never have had time to come to fruition. 

Lost in thought, Luna is knocked back into reality when she notices one of her guard talking to her, “My apologies, I was contemplating something. What is it?”

The bat pony guard does a quick bow before repeating himself, “No apologies required my princess. It is just that I believe I know where a traitor would hide if one is here. In our barracks, we had an operation centre and a shrine devoted to the night and yourself. I believe any traitor would likely seek out the solar guards equivalent should they come here.”

Luna nods, giving a slight smile to the guard in praise, “It would seem those would be the best places to search, thank you.” The bat guard bows once more before returning to formation with his comrades. Looking around, the corridor shows no signs to where such areas would reside, just as the night guards rooms would have been equally hidden amongst the twisting corridors. Just when she was about to order her guards to split up and search, the glow of magic seeping into the room returns, as the mist begins to play another memory trapped within its grasp. 

The first thing to form is the sound of a bang strong enough to rattle the castle’s foundations itself. Shimmering solar guards bolt from the dorms, some already equipped while others run to the armouries. Ethereal appears at the head of this, giving out orders to the guards scattering around while trying to figure out the situation in a surprisingly well trained and ordered fashion. Within moments, guard squads are deployed to areas of interest, some heading to protect the servants living in the castle while one squad rushes to open communication with the night guard for support and another group deploys to reinforce the night guard defending the solar princess. All completely unaware of the betrayal that has occurred, right down to the moment it would be too late. 

With a large portion of the guard deployed, Ethereal Light turns to the group still remaining as another explosion echoes throughout the castle. The unicorn’s voice is a strict no nonsense tone that most high ranking guard officials learn to use over time, giving him an air of command as he organises the group’s tactics to try and find whatever was causing the explosions. However commending his reaction might have been, it’s quickly cut short as several of the assembled soldiers stab into their supposed comrades with their shining weapons, green flames revealing changeling infiltrators attempting to take advantage of the reduced numbers. The conflict is fierce and bloody, guards being ripped apart by a combination of changeling fangs and spells while Ethereal himself is forced to fight in a three on one battle. His fellow guards fought with spear, hoof and one pegasi member even managing to strike at his foes with a cloud of lightning with frighteningly effective results from the close quarters combat. Of course, Ethereal wasn’t one of Celestia’s personal guards for no reason and it isn’t long before he’s helping the guardsmen in their own duels against the ambush. 

Even so, the battle is grim and difficult, losses tallying up on the solar guard’s side when a group of the night guard burst into the room with weapons at the ready. Ethereal immediately greets them, ducking under a swing of a changeling’s spear as he calls out, “About time! We need a hoof over here!”

The night guard simply raise their spears and cross bows, several taking aim at the commanding unicorn as a mixture of shock and realisation crosses his face as a volley of bolts fly towards him and his horn glows to try and block the attack. The rounds collapse with bursts of sparks as they clash against his quickly brought up barrier, the guard calling out to his surviving guardsmen, “FALL BACK! RETREAT TO THE SANCTUARY.” And with that, the guards detach themselves from the fighting, backing through the hallways and into one of the main barracks chambers as the mist finally dissipates. 

Princess Luna, now back in the silence with her guards moves forward to follow the trail, stopping when she realises the lack of movement from her guards, “Is something wrong guardsmen?” They don’t speak, and after a moment its clear why. Most of her guard had participated in the conflict two years ago, her escort here had been no exception to that. Seeing familiar faces they lost in the war and knowing the end of them approaching again, wasn’t something any of them would want to deal with. It wasn’t surprising it was getting to them and at this rate, it wouldn’t be likely they could fight properly should they encounter foes with anything more than harsh words to fight back with. 

With a slight nod the princess of the night speaks up again, “Very well. Stay here and guard this entrance. I shall progress and make sure no pony lies ahead. If any try and escape, cut them down.” The guardsmen nod and bow, thankful to not have to follow her and see more of the nightmares the castle holds, if only for a short while before her return. 

After a deep breath, the princess follows the path the spectres took, intent on finding this sanctuary that lies ahead while also admittedly morbidly curious as to why this particular member of her sisters guard keeps appearing. She passes through the barracks she saw the solar defenders retreat into, moving through the long since torn up and destroyed wing which once housed dozens of guards. It isn’t long before she finds a strange looking archway marked with her sister’s cutiemark, the door it used to hold long since broken down in ruins. Noticing the blue glow coming from within, she braces herself for another memory as she enters the room.

Inside is something she would typically expect to find in one of her own temples, only reversed for the colours and symbols of her sister and the day. The room is in surprisingly good condition aside from the corpses which fill the room both clothed in armour of the Solar and Luna guard and the blood that stains the ground around them. In particular, there is one body, surprisingly preserved leaning against a piano at the side of the room. It shimmers blue as the memory begins, the spectre coming to life before her. It is indeed Ethereal, mortally wounded by injuries that cut deep, his armour discarded alongside him with his horn glowing as he speaks.

“Dear, Princess Luna. I’m not sure if you will ever get this, but with my friends dead and I soon to join them… I feel compelled to leave you a message. As you might have guessed, I am Ethereal Light, personal guard to Princess Celestia of the day and… I liked to imagine, friend to the Night. We have spoken before, on numerous occasions. We have held conversations throughout the moonlight before and in one situation, we even spoke about how you were on the moon. Well, I do not know if you would even remember any of that… I suppose to you, I was probably just another guard. An empty face kissing your sisters flanks in hopes of getting to a high rank or something. Still though, even if you always told me to go away, I had hoped that my persistence to try and help did something to help you. And even now, I find myself hoping they still did in the end despite this coup that’s occurring.”

The unicorn soldier sighs, coughing for a moment as he looks to the entrance, right through Luna.

“Even now I can hear them calling, down with the Solar Tyrant, rise of the Lunar Queen. Defenders of a tyrant… Is that how I will be remembered? As one of many who died trying to oppress a nation? I guess it matters little. Perhaps I will gain some peace in the ever after… all this fighting is just making me tired. I have spent a fair bit of time reading Princess Celestia’s personal accounts of your banishment and the days which followed. And after knowing them, I am not surprised this is occurring. The method of stopping your takeover was extreme, but what the bat ponies took in the following. What occurred to those most loyal to you... they may have just been words, but the things she wrote about those times, which no history book seems to touch on… they made me ill the first time I read them. But well, I suppose that was not the purpose of me reading them, but uncovering those truths were not something I expected and I’m glad I did. It taught me that even Princesses are not infallible.”

The shimmering memory of the guard tugs itself up, moving onto the piano’s seating with a grunt of pain taking in deep breaths for a moment to dissuade the agony of his wounds.

“I had planned, tonight to give you a gift. One you might be happy to hear, or one you may hate me more for. When you said you could not remember your song, I asked Celestia about it. In her journals, she had copied it down, precisely. Apparently she used to play it when she was at her worse, wanting to remember you above all else. She taught me to play it, bit by bit, and it was my hope to surprise you tonight by returning a piece of your past you lost. And I feel like I should still give you that part back, despite what is occurring now. Or maybe, this is just the ramblings of a dying pony going insane. But well, I hope you forgive me if I make any mistakes. It hurts to even move my hooves now.”

With that, the unicorn sits up, his hooves settling on the piano keys gently. He takes a moment, breathing in deeply before slowly, with his exhale, beginning to play. As the ancient song filters through the room, Princess Luna simply stands there. Awash in memories of the songs creation, of the happiness and dark beauty, the taste of the stars and the moon themselves. When the piano eventually falls silent with the songs end, the spectral guard collapses from the piano, lying merged with his long untouched corpse which was preserved and almost as shining as the day he lived. With another coughing fit, this time blood appearing across his ghostly hoof. 

“I guess… that will have to do. A dying guard’s gift to the noble princess. If only it were that simple.” The dying unicorn looks up, as if looking into the princess’s eyes, “I can only hope you get this message… I can feel magic in the air, filling it... suffocating it. I can only presume Princess Celestia is dead if this much ambient magic is being released and it makes me feel almost dirty for using it to power my spell… we were trained to try and contain the magic release of an Alicorn should she pass but… I guess that’s a duty I won’t be able to do. Goodbye Princess Luna. I hope you like your gift… and I hope I will see the smiles of my friends in the ever after again.”

The glow fades as it returns to the magically preserved corpse in front of her, the unicorn having passed mere moments after his spell. With the light from the unicorns spell gone, all that can be seen in the room is moonlight from a nearby window, the shining statue of Celestia it’s illuminating, the Alicorn of the Night standing amidst the dead of the sun and moon… and a small stream of tears, each glistening like the bright stars above.