When Luna has passed, a mare known as Stardust Nebula, Luna's own protégé had been tasked by her to take control of her duties, as the Heir of the Moonlight.
1000 Years into the future, following the passing of Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle had assumed control of Equestria and the Sun.
Luna had lived much longer after her sister, being quite younger, however, when Luna had passed, in her final moments she had passed down much of her power to her young protégé, Stardust Nebula.
Imbued with Luna's ancient power, but struggling to control it, Stardust has a long future ahead of herself.
Inspired by the song, Heir of the Moonlight, by Synthis feat. FritzyBeat
FritzyBeat has given me permission to use his character, Stardust Nebula.
My name, is Stardust Nebula, Personal Protégé of Princess Luna. With the recent passing of my mentor, it had come down to me to raise and lower the moon at night. Sort of an, Heir of the Moonlight... And I have NO idea what I am doing.
Well, I guess saying I have NO idea is a bit of an overstatement, but, It’s only been a week since Luna has passed, with the rest of Equestria still mourning her as much as I am, I already have a major obligation to fulfil.
One that, I have been struggling to do, I mean, it’s an incredibly large job to take on! You don’t just slide into the position comfortably, I can’t exactly feel entirely mconfident as well. If the history of my mentor is anything to go off of, she didn’t exactly do well when she considered herself lesser of her sister.
Ever since I had been trusted with her powers, I felt a lot of weight on my shoulders to take over her duties, but, I haven’t been exactly able to control the powers given to me, the whole predicament had started last week, during Luna’s funeral.
The funeral had just come to an end, and as part of the funeral, Twilight had lowered the sun, as well as bringing up the moon, there was quite a lot of clamor about what happened, it was always assumed one of the current Princesses would take over the duty, but that wasn’t exactly what happened.
I stood next to Twilight as she gave the recession, I had hoped it would be enough to take eyes off of me, but it wasn’t. Twilight’s voice had turned into a blur as everypony stared at me, my mane and tail had flowed like Lunas, I wondered how many ponies that night had figured out who was taking her place.
I didn't stay for the gathering, despite my love for Luna, I didn't want to risk anypony asking me questions, so I had waited inside the castle until Twilight had joined me.
“Stardust.”
Twilight spoke quickly once she had entered, I looked over, seeing dried tears streamed down her cheeks.
“I understand that you don't wish to be bothered, but don't you wish to say goodbye to Luna?”
I shook my head, sighing and shutting my eyes tight as I spoke.
“I already said my goodbyes a few nights ago.”
At the time, I could still hear her voice echoing through my head, her last words to me.
“I understand.”
Twilight gave a quick nod, walking past me and wrapping her forehoof around me.
“I can tell you aren't comfortable with your role yet… It has been a hundred years since Celestia passed, and I still find myself doubting if I can fill her shoes.”
Twilight started leading me deeper into the castle, I kept my eyes shut and let her guide me, still feeling tears against my cheeks.
“However, you have to remember, no matter how big the job ahead of you seems, Luna chose you for a reason, she believed you could do what she could, and more.”
Twilight had lead me to Luna’s old room, I opened my eyes and stared up at her insignia upon the door, watching it creak open from Twilight’s magic.
“Get some rest, I'll have the night guard patrol for tonight. When it is time to lower the moon I will get you. I understand that you still do not have full control over your new magic.”
I couldn't help but feel like I had gained something I hadn't earned, it wasn't my magic, it was Luna’s. Twilight had given me a pat and I slowly walked into the room, glancing at the pieces of furniture.
Everything about the room had changed, the guards had replaced everything with items that matched my insignia instead of Luna’s, save for the door.
“I'll see you before sunrise Stardust.”
With that, Twilight had gone, and I had thrown myself onto the bed. I wasn't able to sleep at first, but exhaustion closed in as I prepared for my first real day, as Luna’s successor.
My mental preparation didn't last long, as the moment I felt sleep take over, I was laying in a rather soft bed of flowers, hearing a peaceful creek slowly flow beneath me. Becoming curious I had slowly stood, and walked to the edge, looking down towards the pond, seeing my own reflection, and my flowing mane.
My wonder had quickly turned to horror, watching shadows swirl around my reflection, and turning my reflection into a nightmarish looking form, sharp toothed and quite angry looking, I had stepped back, watching my reflection slowly exit the pool and stand before me, much taller and much more threatening.
"W-Who are you?"
I had asked quickly, feeling the other edge of the seemingly floating piece of earth beneath me.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm you. The you who will eventually shroud this wretched land in darkness!"
I woke up with a start, rubbing my head and sliding out of the bed, unceremoniously thudding onto the floor tiredly, before standing. It was odd feeling my hair float away from my scalp the moment I stood, slowly trotting to the door. It opened before I could open it myself, revealing Twilight who seemed ready to walk in when she almost bumped right into me.
“Oh, Stardust, you’re already awake. You didn’t stay up did you?”
“No, I just woke up.”
Rubbing my head I slowly walked past her, grunting and rubbing my head again, giving Twilight a glance. She had a concerned look on her face, watching me grunt. It was a terrible combination of things that had caused me to wake up in a start.
“Are you alright Stardust, I can lower the moon for you if you aren’t feeling up to the task.”
I looked back at her and grumbled, slowly trotting towards the tallest point in the castle. I didn’t often have nightmares, but I felt my sleep become incredibly troubled the more I thought about Luna last night. It was awkward feeling the state of my own dreams become unraveled, as well as some internal clock in my head told me it was time to lower the moon. I decided to finally answer Twilight, seeing her follow me.
“It’s fine Twilight, I can do it.”
I felt my voice get shaky, I was still uncertain if I was capable of even controlling the moon at all, Twilight had been covering for me for the past few nights. When I had initially absorbed Luna’s power my body could barely handle it, it took me almost to the funeral to be able to walk around without teleporting randomly.
“It is fine if you don’t think you can do it Stardust, I once had to hold all three of the other Princesses’ magic for almost a day, I think I teleported halfway across Equestria and put some pretty noticeable scars into the landscape for a bit.”
Twilight smiled at me, it seemed she hoped to cheer me up with her predicament, I would be lying if I said it didn’t make me laugh inside, but it quickly dissipated as I stepped onto the pedestal with the telescope, looking up at the moon.
I took a deep breath, my horn glowing softly at first, planting them firmly into the floor as my horn glowed even brighter, focusing everything on the moon, eyes wide as I stared at it, watching it slowly dip downwards.
Until everything broke apart all at once, I collapsed with a gasp, and the moon had drifted back into place, spitting onto the floor, I slowly stood, my horn glowing again until Twilight put a hoof onto my back.
“Stardust, don’t stress yourself, or you’ll only hurt yourself.”
Before I could protest, Twilight’s horn shined brightly, she slowly bent forward and I watched the moon dip down past my sight. She slowly stood back up with her horn still shimmering as the sun slowly rise over the horizon. Twilight, huffed, doing both had clearly tired her out.
“There… There is nothing to worry about Stardust.”
I frowned and turned, walking back into the castle, hearing Twilight approach from behind, I simply shook my head at her and sauntered back to Luna’s room, closing the door behind me as I laid back down, shutting my eyes.
It was interesting being in full control of my own dream, feeling every emotion inside of my body, however, I wasn’t exactly thinking straight when I fell asleep, and before my own eyes I felt my head cloud, and nightmares took over.
I thought back to what Luna did when she had felt useless, and shunned. She became an almost unstoppable mare, her own sister had to force her to the moon to save Equestria from her eternal night. In the back of my head, I felt the same voices creeping unto me, tempting me with unimaginable powers.
I could feel the voices whispering again, a much less physical form had been whispering for a long time into my ears.
"You don't have to be helpless. We can help you Stardust, let us help."
I grumbled, gritting my teeth in the empty space I had dreamed up.
"I don't need you, I will never need you."
"Then we will take what is ours by force."
I suddenly felt the darkness begin to envelop my form, I began to panic, feeling like I was being controlled from the inside out, before I had awakened with a start again, realizing the voices were my own making.
“Gah!”
Realizing little to no time had passed, I lie there, drowning in thoughts of my failure to lower the moon. I had completely doubted my ability to do anything useful for Equestria. I feared my uselessness would push me to doing something… Terrible.
At the time, I felt all I could do was lay there and wait.
The day had passed incredibly slowly. While I was voraciously tired, I also did not want to sleep at the time, every time I slept I could feel my own doubts ruining my rest. I had waited most of the day inside of my room, but I felt the temptation of sleep creeping over me, so I decided to see if I could speak to Twilight.
I hadn’t been paying much attention to Twilight’s advice, I still wasn’t sure if I even wanted this responsibility, despite Luna believing I was the one right for the job, I didn’t believe I was, I had never asked or expected his, and to drop it all on me felt… Unfair.
I had entered the throne room cautiously, I didn’t want anypony to see me except for Twilight. I saw her sitting alone upon the throne, slowly scribbling her name onto papers. As I approached she looked over at me and gave a small smile.
“You’re up early Stardust, have you gotten some actual sleep this time?”
Her humor went through one ear and out the other, which prompted a slight frown, she seemed to understand once I got a bit closer.
“You’ve been doubting yourself haven’t you?”
I clenched my jaw softly, I didn’t exactly enjoy being patronized, but I took a sharp breath in and managed to respond without grumbling.
“Maybe a little, but perhaps that is because I have not even come close to lowering it?”
I tried my hardest not to give a smug smile. I failed pretty badly, she sighed and slowly walked down the steps to me and motioned for me to follow.
“Listen Stardust, you cannot possibly expect to get it right the first time, there has never been anything wrong with accepting help when you needed it.”
“Luna’s job, the one she so graciously dumped on me when I was already feeling terrible, involved only her strength and will alone to lower the moon! It doesn’t matter what magic she bestowed upon me if I am simply too weak to do it!”
I hadn’t realized I was shouting until the last word left my lips, I looked up at Twilight and grit my teeth.
“Even your job Twilight, when Celestia had passed on her duties to you, I am guessing it was incredibly easy wasn’t it? You were Celestia’s personal student, but beyond that, from day one she had been preening you to assume control of Equestria when she was gone! It’s not like that for me Twilight! I have not even finished my training, or even KNOWN that she was going to pass on her duties to me!”
I let out a snort, looking up at Twilight who was merely staring down at me with a frown. I had growled in anger, unable to control myself at this point.
“The reason why I am struggling to accept help is because if I cannot do this on my own, then I am not worthy of the position that has been given to me! From day one, you have always been able to handle things on your own because that is what you were PREPARED for!”
I didn’t realize how far we had walked, but Twilight had stopped us and put a hoof on my mouth. I pulled away and snarled angrily before I looked up at the stained glass window that she had lead us to.
“I know, Stardust, I was prepared for this job, but there was plenty before that I was not prepared to do on my own. Even when I was told that a job had counted on being completed by my hooves alone, but in the end you must realize when you need help, you cannot be willing to put the fate of Equestria at risk for your own desires.”
I stared up at the window depicting a young dragon with the Crystal Heart above it’s head, with Princess Cadence and her subjects powering it, I stared up at it for a long while before Twilight’s voice brought me back.
“Celestia had tasked me with defending the Crystal Empire, and had said that in the end, it had to be me that saved the day.”
I watched her slowly walk up to the window and gently place a hoof onto it’s surface, smiling softly.
“I had fallen into a trap, and I did not have time to figure out how to get out. So I told Spike to retrieve the heart and bring it to Cadence. Like you, I initially had believed because I was unable to complete the task as Celestia asked me to, I was going to fail the test, but in the end, Celestia had praised me for knowing when I needed help.”
“Twilight…”
“It’s fine Stardust, I understand that you have been put through more than I could possibly imagine, but there is nothing wrong with recovering. If you do not take care of yourself, you only hurt your ability to do the great honor that has been given to you. So please, for my sake, do not worry, in time you will make Luna even prouder than I am sure she already is of you.”
I nodded slowly, feeling Twilight embrace me and put her head against mine. I don’t remember how long we were sitting there, but it seemed to last forever. I realized she was waiting for me to pull away and I slowly wiped the tears from my cheeks, I didn’t realize I had started crying.
I slowly pulled away and let out a soft huff, looking outside one of the windows and standing slowly.
“It’s time to lower the sun isn’t it?”
Twilight nodded and began to head to the terrace at the tallest tower, she didn’t seem to expect me to follow, but I did anyways.
“Shouldn’t you get some sleep Stardust?”
“I will Twilight, but before I do, I want to try and raise the moon for tonight.”
“Stardust…”
“Don’t worry Twilight, only one attempt, if I cannot then I will let you do so, there is no harm in trying is there?
“There isn’t, I’m glad you are already thinking much clearer Stardust.”
She smiled down at me and I had followed closely behind her until we reached the terrace, watching her horn glow brightly as she walked out, and slowly dipped her head as the sun disappeared from sight. She then motioned for me to step out onto the terrace.
I took a slow breath in, my horn glowing softly, then slowly getting brighter, thinking of the moon as I slowly brought my head up, my breathing becoming quickly more labored as the moon crested the landscape and slowly slid into place. I gasped as I let go and watched the moon sit firmly in the sky, beginning its cycle.
I suddenly felt like everything was in a haze as I looked up at the moon, and my eyes shimmered as I stared up at the sky. I heard Twilight speaking but her voice had become incredibly muffled, I felt an urge to go up into the night sky. My horn glowed softly, I heard the patter of hooves behind me.
“Stardust! Don’t!”
That was all I heard before I felt myself melt away, escaping amongst the stars.
I hadn’t understood what I had done at first. Absolutely terrified of the feeling of total weightlessness, the lack of a body wasn’t exactly normal to me. I found that even though I couldn’t feel myself, I could still see, and I had finally taken a breath to take in what I could see.
Stars, as far as the eye could see, I could see stars, glimmering and shining so incredibly brightly. I had slowly adjusted to the feeling as it quickly felt natural, and I had gazed over the massive expanse of space for a very, very long time. It was odd, feeling comfortable and at peace for once after the massive week of trauma and panic, the dull lull of the stars and the absolute silence had become peaceful. Goodness knows how much time had passed before I realized I was capable of moving, at an alarmingly fast rate as well, feeling myself drift through was seemed like an endless expanse had become incredibly addicting.
It was at that moment I realized I could stay here, forever. No worries, no problems, only peace, for as long as I wanted I could be happy. The thought had lingered for longer than anything I had ever thought about, out here, I was safe from my own nightmares, I did not have to burden the task given to me as Twilight could easily take care of it, Celestia had done it for a thousand years.
Yet, at my most comfortable moment in an incredibly long time, I felt a soft nudge in me, reminding me of everything my mentor had taught me. Luna, she had always been persistent at me to observe everything. Her words had gently drifted through my head, I slowly observed every individual star in my sight, and felt a slow realization creep through me, they weren’t stars.
They were dreams.
I let out a soft gasp as my body returned to me, floating about gently among the dreams, I felt a peculiar attraction to the ones that seemed, troubled. Shaking my head and looking above me, letting myself float as I looked in the direction I assumed was up.
“Well, here I am Luna, your realm is now mine, and I have no idea what to do. For that matter I do not understand how I even get out of here.” No answer had come to me, but I had persisted in the rant to myself.
“Nor do I understand why you chose me, I had never desired such a thing, and while I understand you felt I could do this, that does not change my own doubts.” I had clutched my own head in my hooves, I couldn’t stop myself at this point.
“Why? How could you leave me?! You were ALL I had in this world! When I had NO ONE else you had taken me in! A being so much better than me had taken pity on me! Why?! You were a goddess, I was NOTHING! You meant so much more than I had ever gotten to tell you.” I had felt myself take in a deep gasp of breath and sob, “But, you’re gone now, and now I will never be able to tell you what you’ve done for me.”
The silence had returned once my cried had subsided, I felt the world around me shift ever so slowly, the dreams had slowly drifted away from me, and everything became dark.
“I loved you Luna. You were absolutely everything to me. I… I will never forget you.”
I took a deep breath, my horn gently conjuring a memory of mine, at the time I had wanted to see her again, even if it wasn’t real.
Slowly watching the cloudy memory formulate in front of me, It was of my filly self, sitting next to Luna, I couldn’t help but tear up just looking at her again, letting the scene play out in front of me.
“Luna?” My rather tiny self had had gently asked. I laughed softly, remembering how intimidated I was of her at the time.
“Yes little one?~” Luna had spoken softly. I couldn’t tell at the time, but her voice had always emulated how much she had cared for me.
“Do you know what happened to my parents?” I watched myself blankly, remembering the question so burning as it was back then. The feeling has never changed.
I watched Luna sigh and frown, looking down at my little self before she spoke again, “No, I do not Stardust.” I watched myself slowly look away.
“Oh. I was just curious because, uhm… I had been wondering and was… Curious.” I stared still, remembering how alone I had felt, of course Luna could tell. I watched her slowly push me close.
“Stardust, I want you to look up at the stars.” She spoke again, with more force. My little self had looked up slowly and stared up at them. “I want you to remember that I will always be here for you, no matter what happens to me, even if I seem like I am gone. If you ever feel alone, look up at the stars. I will never leave you.”
Her words rang through my head, I would never forget those words, watching the memory fade away. Silence had returned, but only momentarily. The words I heard next, had nearly broken me completely.
I had slowly turned towards the voice, unable to believe my own eyes. A rather ethereal looking Luna had stood before me, or rather, was floating. My first thought was how pitiful I must look.
“You must have quite a few questions, but I must ask you hurry with them. A certain Princess is having a very troubled dream currently, and she will need your assistance to calm her mind.” said Luna softly.
I couldn’t speak at first, feeling all of my words bulge into my throat, swelling into a confusion of possible statements, before one very specific one exploded out of my mouth before I could contain myself.
“I miss you so much!” I had pressed myself against her and hugged tightly, feeling her forehoof wrap around my body easily. “I’m not ready for this Luna… Why did you have to leave?”
“While I couldn’t exactly choose when I left this world, I am more than confident you can handle yourself.” She slowly swept my flowing mane behind my ear. “You rose the moon tonight, did you not?”
“I… I did but-.”
“But, nothing. You have proven you are capable tonight, and I am more than proud of you. Now, do you have any further questions?” She gave me a bit of a childish smile, she never did have a very clear cut sense of humor.
“How are you even speaking to me right now? Is this a dream?” I looked up at her, hopefully gaining more composure as I spoke to her.
“When I passed on my powers to you, I wasn’t just simply giving up my strength. The power I held was part of my very soul. It’s no surprise to me that part of me still exists within you.” I felt per push a hoof against my chest, but she quickly withdrew it and laid down against the non existent floor.
“So… Where are we anyways? I’ve been quite confused for awhile… I-I don’t even really know how to leave… here.” I laid down next to her, and felt her wing scoop me next to her side, laying my head on her forelegs.
“It’s more of a personal realm for our powers, but, I prefer to call it the Dreamscape. As you may have noticed, the stars here aren’t exactly… Stars.” She motioned to the many shimmering sparkles among us. “As for leaving this place, it’s quite simple. Think of home, of Equestria.”
“I… I don’t want to leave yet.” I pushed myself against her a bit, but I felt her warmth fade away from me, and I looked about, seeing nothing. Only hearing her voice come from the endless expanse.
“You have a duty Stardust, I will help you as much as I am able. Return to Princess Twilight, she’s been worried about you. I would not dream of allowing a dear friend to suffer much longer.”
With that, her voice faded, and I was alone once again. I let my magic flow through me, feeling the raw power pulse through my veins. It was then, when I realized I felt a second heart within me. Luna’s ever beating soul, coursing through me.
“I will never let you down. That, I promise.”
And then I was back on the balcony, staring up at the moon.
Heavy breathing, the first thing I heard was heavy breathing, not my own, but near me. I had turned to my left to see the sleeping figure of Twilight, laying on quite a lavish pillow while two guards near the entrance to the balcony had turned and saluted once I had returned, however, both had quickly gone mouth agape as I stared down at them curiously.
“What? Is something wrong?” I had quickly recoiled from hearing my own voice, finally realizing that I was quite a bit taller than I was before, looking down at my hooves and seeing that my coat had become a bit, more purple than before, my mane shimmering with what looked like deep space.
Twilight had begun to stir, rubbing her eyes and slowly standing, meeting eye to eye to me, looking a bit tired, of course that didn’t stop her tired mind from realizing we were now the same height.
“Ah?! Stardust are you…? Huh…” Before I could respond, Twilight had begun to pace around me and inspected me closely, looking quite interested at all the changes, of course, I had stopped her before she got carried away.
“Twilight. Before we talk about that, i’d just like to thank you. For helping me through this.” She took a step back and had suddenly hugged me, feeling her against me, I slowly wrapped a leg around her, then stepped back when she decided she was done.
“I’m proud of you Stardust, judging by what’s happened… It seems like you’ve accepted your new role.” said Twilight, who smiled at me brightly.
“Well, I had a lot of time to think about what it really meant to receive the gift I had, It’s what happened to you as well, isn’t it, not when you became an Alicorn, but when you inherited Celestia’s power. You still see her, don’t you?” I had pressed my hoof against Twilight’s chest, who seemed surprised at what I said, as she looked down at my hoof, “She’s still within you isn’t she? She didn’t just give you her magic, she gave you part of her very soul.” I stared into her eyes now, realizing the two guards had been watching the whole time, before I withdrew my hoof, standing straight and tall.
“I… Well, you certainly learned a lot within the last two hours didn’t you?” She smiled slowly.
I tilted my head at her statement, feeling my victorious discovery had been somewhat ripped from me, “Wait, you already knew about that?”
“Of course, however, I felt it was necessary you discovered that on your own. I couldn’t just tell you that the Princess had given you part of her soul could I?” She continued to smile, my mind had drifted to how Twilight described that Celestia had used similar methods of teaching, especially her first lesson. I couldn’t help but laugh, thinking about all her lessons, putting a hoof against my forehead before my horn glowed and I stuffed the pillow into her face, “You realize this type of confidence boost could have been useful hours ago?” Watching the pillow slide off her face, she was still smiling as she beckoned me to follow her back into the castle, trotting beside her slowly.
“Of course it would have been useful, but I didn’t want your confidence coming from her, in the end it wasn’t her that gave you confidence was it?” said Twilight.
I tilted my head again, thinking about my experience, shaking my head as I found her quite right, of course she helped me find it, but in the end, even before I realized I had more than magic in me, I had lifted the moon. On my own.
“Yeah. I found it after you told me it’s fine to have help when you need it. Even then, before I realized she was… Part of me. I raised the moon.”
“Exactly, though you did sort of take off into your realm straight afterwards, but I assume you felt it was calling to you, probably the dreams of the ponies. It is your duty to help those with mental distress after all. Though, I am guessing it was your own head that had some problems to deal with.”
I nodded to her, looking about the castle, I noticed she had lead me to my room once again, “Twilight, don’t you think I should… You know, actually do my duties tonight?”
“Nonsense, you’ve earned a nice sleep tonight, I’ll keep watch for you.” She nodded at me before stuffing me inside, I slowly looked back and then laid down slowly in the bed, resting my head against the pillow, feeling myself drift quickly into sleep.
The dream was simple, laying down in nature, an incredibly tranquil place… Feeling my mind at rest for the first time, in quite awhile… I felt, perhaps this job won’t be as hard as I thought.
