The Student
4 years before the war of the Crystal Empire
Luna laid on her soft, comfy bed, staring up at the black and blue ceiling of her chambers. Next to her lay a little filly, no more than 8 years of age, who slept peacefully after a hard night of lessons. This pony was definitely not a normal filly, with her black coat that faded to a dark red on her hooves, and wings that were larger than average, with the potential of growing as big as Luna's one day. Her wings also went from black, to dark red on the tips of them.
The reason she was not a normal filly were clear to Luna. It was not the fact that she was rescued from abusive parents. It wasn't the fact that she unusual eyes, that looked reminiscent to that of a dragons eye. No, it was because she had a natural connection to the night. In this day and age, no pony that had a connection to the night survived. They were all hunted and killed out of fear. Misunderstood, that's all they are. These tales of vamponies and wereponies strike fear into the hearts of the day walkers, and the night walkers, with their sharp fangs, are always thought to be one of those monsters.
It's a good thing Luna and Celestia hunted those creatures into extinction. Although they were creatures of the night, they were still made by Discord.
After a year of teaching the young filly, Luna felt a connection. Her sister would only teach unicorns, since teaching unicorn magic was what she was good at. Luna preferred teaching pegasi, wings were just a magical as horns. It's a lost art, but channeling spells through wings can be done, at a large wellspring cost however.
Luna looked down at the filly, glancing at her cutie mark. You have the potential to be so much more than just a normal Pegasus. You are destined for great things but are yet to be complete.
Pulsar whimpered a little and seemed to flinch in her sleep. Her right hind leg twitched. Luna watched Pulsar show signs of a nightmare, maybe even a night terror. Inside she felt sorrow and anger. She felt sorry that the filly had to go through constant nightmares and flashbacks of her parents, and anger at the parents who could somehow harm their own child, simply because she was a little different to others.
I will calm her dreams today. I need to sleep anyway, we have more lessons tonight.
Luna quickly hit herself with a sleep spell and entered her own dream. She hastily left for the dream realm, and looked for Pulsar's dream. After finding it, Luna entered the dream.
She needed to have context and watch first, before interfering so that Pulsar would not suspect that she was there.
Looking around at the scene in front of her, Luna saw a run down living room, with a heavily stained and damaged cheap furniture. Many empty bottles littered the floor, some smashed.
A smaller, younger version of Pulsar layed on a chair, covered in cuts and bruises. She was playing with a little stuffed toy that looked similar to Luna. Another little filly ran in giggling, this unicorn filly was very different to Pulsar, her fur was orange and her mane and tail were yellow and red. It looked as if one of them was adopted, but neither of them were.
"Selena! Selena! Do you wanna play?" The little white filly asked.
"I-is daddy still here?" Pulsar's voice was full of fear
"No, he went to work, so did mom. Did he hurt you again little sis?"
Pulsar looked down at the ground and nodded. She stood up, revealing more bruises and marks around her neck. She jumped off the chair and walked up to her big sister.
"Why does daddy hate me so much, Sunny? Did I do something wrong?" Pulsar asked
"I heard them talking once, saying that you are a 'nightwalking monster'. I don't hate you sis, I will never hate you, no matter what" Sunset promised
The door slammed open, and a stallion walked in. Luna could see that he was blurred out, she didn't know why he was, but she knew it was something to do with Pulsar attempting to forget him.
A bottle flew through the air, and hit Pulsar in the chest, smashing the bottle and causing Pulsar to fall backward.
"CLEAN THAT UP, BRAT!" the blurred stallion commanded. "Oh, hi Sunny, please go upstairs to your room honey"
Sunset looked at Pulsar concerned, mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' and ran up the stairs quickly.
Pulsar got up, legs shaking a little, and grabbed a little broom in her mouth and started to sweep the shattered glass off the floor. She stopped in front of a window, and looked up at the full moon.
"I wish someone could help me" She whispered.
Luna decided this would be the perfect time, so she made the moon flash brighter, and made herself appear through it. She dispelled the dream, getting rid of the house and everyone in it, replacing it with a large white Fluffy cloud. She sat on the cloud, and put Pulsar next to her.
"Greetings, my student, I am glad you agreed to watch the stars with me this night" Luna softly said.
Pulsar looked around, a bit confused, then looked at Luna with wide, glistening eyes.
"O-Of course... Sorry, I think I got lost in a memory of something" Pulsar muttered.
"Was it the time you managed to harness the power of my moon to stop... Certain events?" Luna asked
"Yeah... That..."
Luna draped a wing over Pulsar, and stared at the moon.
"Do not worry about your family anymore, your parents were arrested by my night guard, and your sister was taken in by my sister. You shall not be abused any longer. I promise you that" Luna declared.
"Thank you"
"But why do I have to be here? They always ignore me. Especially that Queen from the Crystal Empire, she always glares at me" Luna whined
"Sister, this is a very important meeting. All the leaders of the nations in Equus are here. You are a leader of Equestria, like me. You have to be there" Celestia countered.
Luna rolled her eyes and walked through the door with Celestia. Sitting around the giant table in the middle of the room, were all the leaders of multiple nations outside of Equestria. Luna recognised all of them except one. Sitting in the seat meant for the Queen of the Crystal Empire, was a dark grey stallion. His eyes a brilliant scarlet, his horn curved and fading from black to red on the tip. He looked as though he and Pulsar were related.
A night walker? Luna thought, staring at the stallion.
"I called this meeting for some important matters. First and foremost, the new King of the Crystal Empire has recently been coronated, so we should all greet our new fellow leader, King Sombra" Celestia declared.
After a round of greetings, they all got to business, talking about the usual things in the meetings. Luna didn't pay attention, they never ask her anything, only her sister. She could only stare at the newcomer to the table, the night walker that had somehow been elected King of an empire whose previous Queen dispises night walkers.
Luna tried her best to suggest solutions to problems that other leaders brought up, but she was always ignored. She just sighed and went over to the corner of the room and teleported in a book from her bed chambers. The book was titled 'Guide to teaching'.
Luna sat in the dark corner and read for the rest of the meeting. Nopony seemed to care, not even her sister. At least that's what she thought, she failed to notice the King of the Crystal Empire walk up to her.
"Does this always happen? You get ignored while suggesting the best ideas, and they foolishly make up a less efficient way to solve the problem?" Sombra asked
Luna just sighed and nodded and, thinking that's all a pony would want to converse with her about, went back to her book. She loved books, they didn't judge, they didn't hurt, they didn't even ignore. They just gave wonderful tales and revealed brilliant facts.
Sombra watched as Luna went back to her book, then purposely coughed to get her attention.
"You don't get many ponies talking to you, do you. I've heard so many outlandish tales about the night mare of the moon, yet you don't seem that bad at all. At least, you don't look like you eat children" Sombra watched Luna's reaction to his statement.
"Is that what they say about me? All while they hurt and murder children of the night? They truly do dispise me" Luna sighed
"Surely your sister tries to stop these rumors and tales?"
"Ha! Yeah right, she says it's a 'phase'. That they will get over it. She is too busy being drunk on their praise and adoration to even talk to me most days"
"So your whole kingdom hates you and your sister does nothing?" Sombra asked in disbelief
Luna sighed and looked out the window, staring at the military training grounds, watching her young student train, doing workouts and training routines meant for adult stallion soldiers.
"Do you see that filly on the training grounds right now?" Luna asked, not looking away from her student.
"Yes, impressive. Although I worry she may have broken in there and will be escorted out or arrested by what looks like Equestria's general, who is currently on his way to the training grounds" Sombra pointed out.
Luna sighed and kept watching. She was very tempted to go help, but she couldn't due to this meeting. She decided her student could defend herself and if not, could fly away fast.
Sombra, however, kept an eye out the window, just in case the filly needed assistance. He knew all too well how ponies treated his kind. He was ready to dart down there to help at any time.
"She is my student, And recently she has realized she needs physical training as well as flight training. She has an aptitude for spell casting with her wings. She favours lightning, but recently I saw her reading a book on shadow magic. She seemed interested, but unfortunately that kind of magic is only for batponies or night unicorns" Luna explained
Sombra watched as the general trotted over to the filly, who had just finished doing some wing-ups
"Are you sure she will be ok?" Sombra asked worried.
"She will be fine. It shouldn't go too far, and if It does, it will be a quick trip to the infirmary" Luna assured.
Luna and Sombra went back to the table, where the other leaders were debating laws and other political stuff that bored Luna out of her mind. This stuff didn't even need Lunas attention at all, yet she still had to be there. She had a feeling King Sombra wouldn't be well respected either.
Once the meeting had concluded, Luna left with Sombra, both chatting and walking down the corridor, when Celestia trotted up next to them.
"Hello Luna, I see you are getting along with the new King of the Crystal Empire" She then leaned down next to Luna, muzzle near her ear and whispered "Don't get too close, remember what I told you, its just pain down that path. Loving a mortal cannot happen, we are above that"
Luna's ears lowered against her head as she looked at the floor near her hoofs "I remember..."
"Good. Good meeting you, King Sombra. I have to go unfortunately, I am very busy" Celestia excused herself and trotted down the corridor all regal-like.
"I have a few things I need to take care of, maybe we can talk again later?" Luna asked hopefully
"Of course, I'm here for a few days" Sombra replied
"Alright, talk to you later then" Luna said as she walked away
"Now to check on the filly to see if she is alright" Sombra whispered to himself as he headed towards the door.
"... 27...28...29...30" Pulsar collapsed to the ground, her coat slick with sweat. Breathing heavily, she groaned and stretched her aching wings. After two hours of physical training, she was ready to have a shower, have something to eat then have a nap. Of course, when she saw the general walking up to her, she knew that was unlikely to be her plan anymore.
She sighed, had a drink of water from her bottle, and took a tablet specifically made for her by Luna to refill her energy and dull her aches.
"Well well well, if it isn't the Night Mare's little pet. Looks like I don't need those kicking bags after all, I got myself one right here. Look at this pathetic, night walking filly trying to be a soldier. Ha!" General Blueblood mocked
Pulsar rolled her eyes and sighed. Obviously this wasn't going to make her day better.
"There is plenty of field for us both. No need to kick anypony out" Pulsar stated.
The general laughed and got closer to Pulsar. She wasn't scared, and instead of the reaction he expected, all she did was sigh again. Apparently this enraged him, because he went to attack. His attack failed and he ended up getting a small hoof to the face then a muzzle full of dirt.
After he recovered from her dodging his attack, he went in to punch her. After some hits dodged, and some landing, he once again fell over.
The General had had enough of it all, so he started preparing a spell to knockout the young filly.
Pulsar took notice, and decided that the best course of action was the move Luna told her not to use unless it was the end of a battle, because it can zap all her energy and even make her throw up. Plus it can injure the wing. She held her left wing out and channeled a layer of lightning to try and protect herself from too much harm. This caused her wing to glow, which the general noticed after he shot the spell towards Pulsar's chest.
Pulsar's wings continued to glow, untill the spell got really close to her, then she seemed to catch it in her wing. Spinning around ferociously, she unleashed the even larger spell towards General Blueblood as if it was a ball.
The spell hit the General and he was down unconscious in an instant. Pulsar stumbled a bit, with her wings almost featherless. She limped towards the edge of the arena and proceeded to throw up in a trash can.
"Most impressive, I knew pegasi could channel some magic through their wings, but that was something else" a voice complimented.
Pulsar looked behind her, lazily getting into a fighting stance again.
"Who are you? Stay back!" Pulsar warned
"Now now, little filly, I am King Sombra. I was just talking to your mentor, and I must admit, she was not lying on your skill and potential" Sombra bowed slightly.
Pulsar looked at him suspiciously, and limped around him, studying him. After she had finished, she collapsed down onto the grass, but still conscious.
"What do you want? Here to kick me out? Make fun of the little filly trying to be a soldier?" Pulsar weakly asked
"Not at all, in fact, I hoped to be able to teach you some things. Things like shadow magic" Sombra replied
Pulsar tried her best to contain her excitement at what he said. No! Stop being excited! You can't trust this stallion, you can't trust any strangers.
"Can't.. Trust you" Pulsar said, voice showing her exhaustion.
"Oh of course, I want to earn your trust. But for now, why don't we just talk and get to know each other more? After all, your teacher would probably want you to be friends, and we are both night walkers"
"Fine.. I guess you are right..I am confused on how a night walker is a king.."
After a few hours of talking, Pulsar started feeling a bit more comfortable with King Sombra, but her past still kept her from fully trusting him. Eventually Luna found the two, and joined the conversation.
"So, this is where you two have been the past few hours? I should have figured you would get on" Luna chuckled
"Your student is definitely a good one. Although judging by her combat ability, she wants to be a soldier" Sombra commented
"Yes, she does, and she definitely has the skill to be general. She just needs experience, which Im in no rush to give her. War is a terrible thing" Luna sighed sadly.
Pulsar yawned and her eyelids got heavy. Getting up on her hooves, she wobbly trotted over to Luna and layed down next to her and fell asleep cuddling up to her.
"She looks like she sees you as a mother figure. You two are pretty close, ever thought of adopting her?" Sombra asked
"A mother isn't really what she needs right now, and I don't believe I'm ready to be a mother"
As Luna looked down at her student, many thoughts ran though her mind. One, however, stood out. But that could be an option one day, When we are both ready
"I shall take my leave. These meetings have me on a diurnal sleep schedule, and it's getting late" Sombra bowed and walked away.
Watching Sombra walk away from her sister, Celestia was getting suspicious of how well they got on with each other, Luna is getting too close to her student, now a stallion too? It's getting out of hoof. When will she learn we are above the mortals?
Rolling her eyes, Celestia walked away from the window she was spying on her sister through, and headed straight for her chambers. Her day was over and it was time to lower the sun fully and sleep.
After closing the doors, she trotted over to her balcony. Her chambers were very clean and tidy, the ceilings covered with gold patterns. The walls were a beautiful ivory white, and the gold decor glistened in the light of the sunset. In the corner, an old desk stood covered in books and scrolls, with ink pots and quills lined up next to an open, yet old book.
Her balcony, which was made of marble and gold like most of the castle was built out of, faced north, but had sections towards the east and West of her tower. Walking over to the west side, she stood in position and looked over the villages to the West of the castle.
Celestia smiled down on her subjects. They all think of her as perfect, and that is how she acted. But really, she was most definitely not. She was very aware of what she called her dark side, even named her 'Daybreaker'.
Her horn began to glow bright, the hue reminiscent of the rising sun. Her magic called to the sun, telling it to lower below the horizon. It obeyed, slowly sinking below the west skyline, painting the sky in orange and pink hues.
If this world burned, it would be entertaining
Celestia sighed. She hates it when Daybreaker sends her thoughts like that.
Make Equestria one with righteous flame!
Celestia walked back into her chambers, ready to put this day behind her. It's been exhausting, ponies wanting her advice and assistance. All those duties. Not to mention her current student, who also happens to be sister to Luna's Student. They both spend time together and love eachother, like her and Luna used to, but they are yet young and will learn that sisterhood love fades. Celestia still loved Luna, it was her little sister, even if it isn't biological. Luna, however, seemed to be jealous.
Neither did Celestia nor Luna know the true price of alicornhood. Neither knew the price of immortality.
Getting into her giant bed, Celestia got comfortable and stared up at the ceiling. Tomorrow was yet another busy day, if only Luna would try and help. Slowly drifting off to sleep, her mind went blank, ready to dream.
"Well well well, look who finally went to sleep" came a voice Celestia knew all too well.
"Daybreaker. What do you want this time"
Daybreaker stepped into the light, mane and tail bursting into flames. Her pupils draconic and a burning , the whites in her eyes seemed to be a very dark brown, almost black, instead of the normal pearl white. Her teeth were not equine, looking more predatory in origin. Her cutie mark was the same, but with an added fire burst surrounding it.
"I want control! You always keep me from having fun!" Daybreaker complained.
"You already have enough control. I know the times where I black out during the day, you take control. I feel like it has drove me and sister apart!" Celestia seethed
"Guilty!" Daybreaker mocked whilst laughing manically.
"Why do you have to be so... Evil? What made you this way?" Celestia asked
"You made me this way. It was all you"
"SELENA! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"
Pulsar ran down the old worn down stairs of her parents home and stopped in front of her mother.
"Yes, mother?"
"Your father wants more moon essence. Make more" Pulsar's mother commanded
"Isn't he drunk enough?.." Pulsar mumbled
"Don't make me get the whip out" her mother spat
Pulsar cowered down and backed away, going to make some more Moon essence. Grabbing an empty bottle in her wing, she hurriedly went over to a window, opened it, causing a loud screech. Once it was open, she concentrated hard on the moon, trying her best to harness some moonlight to make the alcoholic beverage her father demanded.
After only getting a little, she watered it down to a safe percentage and quickly brought it to her father, who grabbed the bottle and threw the empty one at her wing, causing broken glass to get stuck in it.
"Get out of my sight" her father said as he drunk some of the liquid out of the new bottle
Pulsar held back tears and rushed back upstairs to her room, wing limp at her side.
"Sis?! Oh my god, I've never seen you this hurt!" Sunset rushed up to her, but Pulsar pushed her back.
"It's fine"
Pulsar began to remove the glass pieces with her mouth, wincing and grunting everytime one came out. Once all the glass pieces were out, she grabbed a first aid kit from under her bed, and began to clean and sterilise her wounds.
"You... Really have done this a lot, haven't you.." Sunset asked, watching her sister bandage up her wing.
"Too many times. None of the wounds were large enough for stitches" Pulsar replied.
Everything around her changed, back to that time. Back to her father telling her sister to go upstairs. Back to feeling the full power of the moon go through her veins. Back to the accident...
But before any of it could happen, she was suddenly back on a cloud with her mentor, watching the stars. Her best dream. Her only good dream of someone other than her sister.
"The sky looks amazing tonight"
After making sure the field was perfect, Luna set up markers to create an arena. Placing down two barrels full of weapons, Luna decided that this was now perfect for a lesson and sparring session with her student. This lesson will be all about lightning and channeling it into and through weapons, but Luna worried that it may be too much for the filly.
She set up three sets of armored training dummies, all enchanted with protection spells to minimize the damage, and any damages made will repair itself.
"Perfect, now to add some clouds to the sky, and then I can go retrieve my student and we can begin our lesson. This is going to be a good one"
Taking flight and gaining altitude, Luna searched for any clouds that could be used for a source of lightning. After finding a few, she noticed two fillies in the castle's garden, both staring at the statue that Discord is imprisoned in. It was Pulsar, her student, and Sunset, her sisters student who also was Pulsar's sister.
After putting the clouds in the right place, she glided down to the statue towards the two royal students. She heard them giggling and talking, but what was strange was that they were talking to the statue as if having a conversation with it.
"Luna is here? Oh it must be time for my lesson. Thanks Discord, I will visit again soon!" Pulsar giggled and started to trot towards where Luna was, saying her goodbye to her sister.
Luna stood, eyes wide and slightly scared that her student was supposedly talking to Discord. One of her oldest foes, who is supposed to be fully trapped in stone with no contact with the outside world. If the seal is weakened or cracked, then Faust help us all.
"Ummm Luna? Are you ok? Hellooo?" Pulsar waved a hoof in front of Luna's muzzle
"Huh? Wha? Oh, um, sorry. I've prepared our lesson in the field"
"Sparring again? But I could never win against you, I'm only a Pegasus filly, your an alicorn!" Pulsar complained.
"Which is why I will have an inhibitor ring on my horn. So it will be Pegasus vs Pegasus" Luna countered
"But I'm still just a filly" Pulsar grumbled, turning her head away from Luna.
"True. But you have the potential. You did beat the General the other day"
"He is all talk and that's it. Plus he is old and grumpy. And I almost passed out deflecting that small stun spell. And it hurt!" Pulsar complained and her left wing shuddered in discomfort.
"You know, soldiers don't complain this much. They are tough" Luna smirked as Pulsar rolled her eyes
"All they do is complain! All adults do is complain and say 'You'll understand when your older' or 'I'm the adult, I make the rules'. All I did was steal a drink off the adults buffet, how was I supposed to know It had that stuff dad liked so much in it!?"
"You're talking about the night you accidentally drank wine, then proceeded to tell everyone I was secretly your real mother and then pass out on my back? I remember it well. Took a while for that to be fixed, the papers managed to somehow print the story, front page, that same night" Luna chuckled
"Neither you or Sunny will let that go! It looked like grape juice, and I love grape juice! It wasn't labelled, how was I supposed to know it was adult grape juice?! Ugh, it was sooooo embarrassing. Sunny teases me about it all the time" Pulsar groaned.
Luna and Pulsar laughed until they made it to the field. Looking around, Pulsar felt a little nervous. All the sharp and deadly weapons and the pony shaped training dummies were very overwhelming to the filly.
"Um... There won't actually be a war or anything.. Right? I won't actually have to... Hurt a pony.. Or worse, right?" Pulsar wearily asked
"Well, the Griffo-Zebrican war isn't going well for the zebras and we have intelligence that the griffons plan to attack Equestria soon after the zebras defeat, so we might" Luna said as she tapped her chin with her hoof.
Pulsar gulped. She walked over to one of the barrels and saw multiple weapons made for her size. She also saw a set of small armor with wing blades, obviously made to fit her.
"Put it on and we will train with the weapons you would use the most. Your wings" Luna commanded, donning her own set of armor.
Pulsar nodded and slowly and clumsily put on her armor. It felt really heavy for her, but not enough to stop her flight, maybe just enough to slow her down a bit in the air.
"Watch my demonstration, this is what I will teach you this night. The basics of wing blades"
Pulsar nodded again and took a step back. She was very excited to watch this, because there were tales about what The Princess of the Night could do with her wing blades. There were also tales about what she could do with her wings in the bedroom, but Pulsar didn't know what that meant or how it was possible to fly in a cramp room like a bedroom let alone do tricks.
Luna prepared herself in a stance, carefully watching each of her targets, calculating an attack path. After a few seconds of planning, she sprung to action, leaping into the air as if she had no armor weighing her down. Spreading her wings, she flapped a few times, speeding towards the targets. Once she got to a medium range, she performed a barrel roll, launching three blades from her wings, hitting each target in the head. She then stopped barrel rolling and glided up and performed a loop, then landed in front of the first target.
She quickly punched it a few times with her hoofs, then sliced it twice with her wing blades. Then, moving fast, moved behind the second target and stabbed it in the back with a blade. After the stab, she lifted herself into the air and flew fast right next to the third target, cutting its wooden head off.
After she landed back where she started, all the launched blades came back and slotted back into their places on the armor, and all the targets went back to normal.
"Wow. That was AWESOME!" Pulsar shouted.
"I will teach you that tonight. Do you remember what I told you about wing blades?" Luna asked
"Yes! That to launch them, I have to send a certain frequ- freqe- freeken-" Pulsar scrunched up her muzzle trying to pronounce the word.
"Frequency" Luna corrected
"Frequency of lightning into it to launch one" Pulsar recited.
"Good. That is correct. Now try and launch one at that first target. Test your aim"
Pulsar looked at the first target and got into a stance. She then quickly pointed her wing forward, trying to launch one, but none of the blades moved. She tried again, but still none of the blades moved.
"Imagine your father as that target. Remember what he did to you, and use that emotion to attack it" Luna guided.
Pulsar took a deep breath and let the thoughts of her father come to the front of her mind. She looked at the target and imagine her father, and she felt hatred towards that target. Letting out a little growl, she spun fast, launching three blades. Each of the blades hit the target, one on the forehead and two in the chest.
Luna nodded.
"Good. Remember, emotion is a strong motivator, but it can cloud judgement in the battlefield. You will need to learn how much emotion you can channel while still being able to focus and think clearly. You know all too well what happens when your emotions get the best of you, and so does your sister" Luna gave Pulsar a stern look.
Pulsar's ears pinned to the back of her head as memories of that night came back to her.
"We have to talk about it at some point. You prefer to be called by your last name, you never want to talk about them, and you constantly have dreams of that night. I can help you, I've seen this thing happen many times, even I had an episode like that" Luna gave Pulsar a hug.
Pulsar hugged back, squeezing a bit more then usual and trying not to cry.
"Not tonight.. But I will talk about it to you... Eventually.." Pulsar choked.
Luna nodded.
"Shall we Continue with the lesson? I want to test your wing and lightning power"
Pulsar nodded and took off her armor. She flew to the other side of the field, ready to fly as fast as she can, and waited for Luna to set up the device to measure wing power.
Luna quickly set up the anemometer with a wing power gauge, and signalled to Pulsar that its set up and ready. At the signal, Pulsar began to fly as fast as she can, gaining tons of speed. When she passed the anemometer, she began to slow down and eventually came to a stop. Luna read the anemometer and wrote down the results.
"So, how did I do?" Pulsar gasped, out of breath from the flying.
"Go drink some water, and we will do the lighting power test, then I will share the results"
Pulsar nodded and trotted over to water stream at the edge of the field for a drink. After a minute or two, she came back ready for the lightning test.
"OK I want you to channel as much lightning as you can, without hurting yourself, through your wings. Once you have done that, shoot the lightning into this metal rod. I can then measure the power from there" Luna instructed.
Pulsar nodded and took off into the air, heading towards the clouds. She could generate the lightning without the clouds, but she has been through this test before and knows its necessary to use five clouds. She gathered up five clouds and positioned herself in the middle of it.
Lina watched as her student positioned the clouds, rubbing the top of one cloud against the bottom of another, generating a charge between the clouds and absorbing it into her wings. Once she could gather all the charge she could from the clouds, she began to channel her own lightning into her wings, making them glow bright. After a minute or two, she dived down and released all the charge into one giant lightning bolt that hit the metal rod.
"Interesting"
Pulsar landed next to Luna and tried to look at the results, but couldn't see them.
"It seems your wing power is slightly above average, as I suspected it would with all that physical training you have been doing. However, your lightning power is significantly higher than average. This is surprising, I did not expect it to be this high. With enough training we could get it even higher" Luna explained
Pulsar was surprised. All that training I did actually paid off? Wow.
"So uhhh, you mentioned sparring? I don't think I'm ready for that"
"Very well. Truth is that I too am unsure sparring against you just yet. But next lesson you will spar against a batpony guard. We will spar in a few years when you are older" Luna decided.
Pulsar nodded and donned her armor once more, ready to keep practicing with her wing blades.
Neither noticed Celestia watching from a cloud in the sky.
Lulu is a great teacher, planning ahead and letting her student choose her own path and adapting the lessons to that. I really should spend more time with her and bond with her as sisters should.
She doesn't want that. She is training that foal to defeat you and help her take Equestria for herself.
Celestia continued to watch as Pulsar hit all three targets, still trying to learn what Luna did at the start of their lesson. Celestia knew what Daybreaker was saying wasn't true, but she couldn't stop the feeling that, while Pulsar imagines her father as the targets, Luna might see her. Did Luna really hate her that much? Was Daybreaker just trying to get into her head?
She didn't know.
She never knows.
"So I'm learning to what?" Sunset asked
"How to win against creatures of the night. Creatures like Vamponies, wereponies, and batponies" Celestia repeated. "And also night walkers like your sister" She added quietly
"I thought you and Princess Luna got rid of all the Vamponies and wereponies? And aren't the batponies on our side, princess?"
Celestia sighed and looked up at the Lunar Tower of the castle. Her sister would probably be sleeping, her sisters student too. She doesn't have the same relationship with Sunset as her sister does with Pulsar. It's more professional than personal. A personal connection with a mortal means pain and loss in the future.
"In case the Batponies decide to go against Equestria, or Vamponies and Wereponies come back" Celestia partially lied.
Sunset just nodded and looked over at the target.
"Combat is more my sisters thing, Princess"
"Yes, I know, and combat spells and teaching ponies combat is more my sisters thing" Celestia confessed. "But you need to know it. Now I want you to cast a spell similar to the candle lighting spell, except I want you to make it bigger, in the shape of a ball, and then throw it at the target"
Sunset nodded and cast the spell, creating a tiny fireball that hit the target, doing barely any damage.
"Pour more magic into it. Both you and your sister were gifted with deep wellsprings and natural connections to the Sun and Moon. Embrace the Sun, and it can guide you through your life. However, if you harness it, it shall bless you with the magic of fire, light and life. Reach out for guidance from the Sun when you cast" Celestia instructed.
Sunset nodded once more and started to cast, closing her eyes and mentally reaching out to the sun. The fireball above her horn began as a tiny flame, then grew to the size of a gem, then grew even more reaching the size of her body. After a while of it growing, Sunset threw the fireball, that was now the same size as Celestia, towards the target. The target was vaporized and the fireball exploded.
Thinking quickly, Celestia surrounded the explosion with a shield, stopping it from doing any more damage.
"Good. Very good. Do you remember those repairing spells I taught you?" Celestia asked, Sunset nodded. "Good, fix the target with one"
Sunset quickly started to repair the target, slower than Celestia would have liked, then went back over to Celestia's side.
"You have done well, my student"
Sunset was about to thank Celestia, when a loud squeal interrupted her and a dark blur tackled her to the floor. Celestia was about to attack the pony who dare attack her student, until she saw who it was.
"You were soooo awesome sis! That was a giant fireball! You are soooo powerful!" Pulsar excitedly praised
"Heh thanks sis, I thought you were going to bed. What are you doing here?" Sunset asked
"I wanted to watch your lesson, and wow it is so different from lessons with Luna"
Celestia watched the two sisters hug and talk, and it reminded her of her childhood. They are so much like Luna and I when we were foals. It's uncanny. So many great memories of us playing and supporting eachother. Back when we loved eachother as sisters should.
Celestia smiled at the memories and the two sisters in front of her. If only Luna and I were still like that. As she thought that, she felt a tinge of jealousy towards her student. She despised her sister's student for her relationship with Luna.
"Princess, are you ok?" Celestia didn't realise that Sunset was in front of her.
"Yes I'm fine. Just lost in old memories" Celestia responded.
It wasn't lost on Celestia how Pulsar was staying further away from her on purpose. What did confuse her was the look of fear that Pulsar tried to hide. Is she scared of me? That doesn't make sense
"Come on sis, she won't hurt you" Sunset urged Pulsar to come over
Pulsar walked closer, mumbling something about Luna, and sat in front of Celestia, looking even more scared.
"Greetings, my little pony, how are you this afternoon?" Celestia asked, trying to calm the scared foal down.
"I-...I'm OK.." Pulsar responded, quietly while her eyes were glued to the ground in front of Celestia.
"Do not worry, little filly, I do not bite. I'm sure your sister can confirm" Celestia said as Sunset nodded.
"I-I know... I just heard stories about you and my... Kind"
A wave of realisation dawned on Celestia. Luna has probably told her student about the hunt of the night walkers. Something she can thank Daybreaker for. Allowing that hunt almost caused a civil war, that Luna managed to put an end to.
"Ah. Well I have been meaning to talk to you, but I find it hard to find you. I suppose I know why now. Lulu seems... Too fond of you. The relationship is not just student and teacher. There is something else there" Celestia pointed out.
"Oh we are friends too. Um, I think" Pulsar quickly responded, clearly nervous.
"No its more than that, it seems... Maternal"
"What does that word mean?" Pulsar asked
"Nevermind. You two must be good friends" Celestia tried her best to hide her jealousy.
"I'm going to go visit Luna now. She doesn't want me to be near the General, he likes to... Attack me" Pulsar sighed and flapped her wings, taking off and heading towards the Lunar Tower.
"Princess, can I ask why you thought my sister and Luna have a mother daughter bond?" Sunset asked.
"They are close. Too close. Everyone says it is like mother and daughter but they always deny it. I think, in time, they will both accept it and Luna will adopt her" Celestia continued to stare at the tower.
"Well, the spot is open. I... Heard that mother passed away last week. Better than spending more time in that hospital. To be honest, looking back, Selena hasn't really had a real mother, so she probably doesn't know what one is truly like"
"I am sorry you have lost your parents. I know how hard that is. You and your sister need to support each other through this time. Promise me that you will always love your sister, no matter what" Celestia requested sternly.
"I promise" Sunset responded.
Celestia nodded and once again looked up at the Lunar Tower.
"I wish I made that promise"
Sombra slowly walked down the castle halls, scowling at the looks of disapproval he got from all the staff and nobility of Equestria. How was it that the largest, most advanced pony nation still has things like tribism and racism.
The sun princess. She probably has something to do with that. It doesn't help that Princess Luna is not very confident socially.
When he met the Lunar Princess, he was quite honestly surprised about how antisocial and timid she was. Definitely does not seem like the stories he heard of her on the battlefield.
We are always someone different on the battlefield. War changes ponies.
He stopped walking when he heard giggling from a familiar voice, or rather, two familiar voices. He smiled and found the door it was coming from. He knocked on the door, and the giggling faded into silence.
"Hello? It's Sombra. Remember? The night walker King of the crystal empire?" Sombra called through the door.
The door slightly opened, and it was dark inside. Sombra opened the door fully, prepared to walk inside until he heard the sound of a cannon. Thinking quickly, he cast a shield around him and prepared a spell to take out his attackers, memories of old battles flying through his head.
He saw Luna and her student staring at him, both confused and concerned. A look of realisation appeared on Lunas face, and he could see the panic in her eyes.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were... Or used to be military.." Luna quickly apologized.
"It's fine. But in all honesty I find it surprising that you are still here and not preparing" Sombra wondered
"Preparing for what?" Pulsar asked, looking between the two.
Luna sighed.
"Equestria has called a few divisions to the Zebrican front, and I'm leading them"
"WHAT?! But.. But what about all your duties? And teaching me? And the danger?" Pulsar gulped "It's dangerous"
Luna hugged Pulsar.
"Remember what I told you about alicorns, and you will know I will be fine" Luna comforted Pulsar.
Pulsar nodded but still looked scared for her mentor.
I do not understand how they don't see this obvious connection. Luna says Pulsar doesn't need a mother figure, and maybe she is right. But not for the reason Luna thinks, but because Pulsar already has one, and neither of them have realised.
"How bad is the war? I've heard that the Griffin Empire are trying to wipe out the equine species as a whole" Sombra asked
"Equestria is stepping in, and with me leading the charge, the fall of the Empire will come soon" Luna promised.
"In a few years, I will be able to help, right?" Pulsar looked up at Luna "I want to help you beat those nasty griffins"
"I know you do, but you are yet young for such things. You have a whole life ahead of you. I want you to promise me you will live to experience a full life" Luna sternly said, looking Pulsar in the eyes.
"I promise. This will be the last war for a long time, I know it" Pulsar confidently promised.
"Alright, well its time for you to go train, isn't it?" Luna asked, and Pulsar nooded, said goodbye and left.
"You don't seem very confident about the war." Sombra pointed out.
Luna sighed and looked out of the window next to her, giving her a view of the horizon towards Zebrica. It was full of smoke and had a red aura.
"Griffins are bloodthirsty and relentless. This war is fought to prevent the extinction of pony kind. But I fear that the griffins will give us no choice but to wipe them out" Luna admitted. "I-"
"You sound like you don't want to, but will if you have to" Sombra recognized. "I understand, it's how I became king after all. I had no choice but to overpower the Queen, and that unfortunately meant.. You know. But the people supported me, and they will support you"
"Thank you. Sister doesn't understand that in war, you have to make quick, tough decisions. There may be politics and voting in war, but in a fight, it's you or them"
Pulsar sat in front of the statue of Discord, staring at the Moon.
Oh come on, little miss Moon, Lulu will be back. There is no need to be so worried. Or maybe there is. Ooo I wonder if one of my old weapons is in that battle. They keep popping up everywhere, or at least, they will.
Pulsar sighed and looked at the statue
"She will be back, soon hopefully, and she can see what I've learned. She will be proud" Pulsar declared
Oh of course, but why do you even care about her? She obviously only likes you because you remind her of her youth. One temper tantrum from her and she will become a whole new pony
"Maybe, but I will be there for her as her friend and student. For as long as I live" Pulsar promised
blegh, friendship. How is friendship so good? What good are friends.
"Well, I guess you wouldn't know. You have never had any friends. I wouldn't expect you to have friends anyway. Which is so predictable of you" She did her best to not smirk.
Moi? Predictable?! I can have friends if I wanted, how's that for predictable?
"I didn't expect that. I also don't expect you to be my friend. Well, no one would expect it, after all my teacher is Princess Luna, one of the ponies who defeated you" Pulsar said, continuing the manipulation
You're right. I think we should be friends. I- ohohoho that's clever. Who knew that one and a half years under Sombras guidance could you get so manipulative. Touché.
Pulsar smirked.
"And yes, I will be your friend"
Oh fine, I suppose that can be your reward for somehow managing to trick me. Can I also say, congratulations on being the first night walker Pegasus that has cast a shadow spell? Not even I expected that
"Thank you, Discord. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry you have to spend so much time in stone. I couldn't imagine such a thing" Pulsar shuddered
Eh, you get used to it after a while. But the process of turning creatures to stone hurts. That's why I don't turn ponies to stone, unlike some immortal creatures
"I heard about Celestia's love of petrifying 'criminals'. Luna has tried to stop it but she never succeeded. Oh no, I'm late! I'm sorry discord, I have to go to my lesson! Talk to you later!" Pulsar took off and flew away fast, leaving a trail of dark mist that dissipated after a few seconds.
Friend. Interesting. I've never had a friend before. It feels weird, but in a good way. How odd.
"YEILD!" Luna yelled in the Griffin Emperor's face, holding a wing blade to his throat. "DON'T MAKE ME HAVE TO WIPE OUT YOUR SPECIES!"
"F-fine. I yeild!" The griffin emperor dropped his weapon.
"Good. Now stop your war against Zebrica, and don't cause any more trouble, and I won't be back to take the other eye" Luna released the griffin and turned away, glad it's all finally over.
"IT'S A TRA-" the sound of a blade slicing flesh filled the room, as all of Lunas soldiers in the room were quite literally stabbed in the back.
The emperor grabbed his weapon and stabbed Luna through the shoulder. He only missed her chest because of the eye Luna had stabbed a few minutes before.
"I did my homework, and I know an alicorns weakness is discordian metal, you wi-"
The Emperor kept monologuing so Luna just tuned him out while trying to focus. She turned herself into a blackish-blue mist and slipped into a crack in the floor.
I gave them a chance, let's hope his successor will stop this stupid war.
She started to weaken the structure and eventually made it collapse, killing all the griffins inside. Leaving the building and returning to her normal form, she flew over to the crowd of griffins that called themselves the resistance.
"Who is the leader of this resistance against your government?" Luna asked.
"That would be me. The names Grover, your highness"
"Well, Grover, I suggest you quickly create a new government and make sure Griffonia becomes a peaceful nation. If not, I will be back"
She was exhausted, and with her job finally done, she could go home. She winced when she remembered that stupid griffin stabbed her with a weapon made from Discordian metal.
Ugh that's going to scar.
Looking out onto the battlefield, she saw so many bodies. Griffins, Zebras and Ponies alike all had heavy casualties, mostly military.
"I wonder how much I will be blamed for" She sighed "Probably be accused of starting it. Again"
Celestia was fed up with Equestria's nobility. They had the nerves to complain that the Griffo-Zebrican war has ended because they no longer get loads of money for weapons distribution.
Every time there was a war, she would worry for her sister. And everytime, Luna came back changed. She would go through therapy and Celestia would try her best to help her.
She knew this time would be different.
She wouldn't be the one comforting Luna.
She wouldn't be the one helping her through her experiences.
She wouldn't be the one giving her the love she needed.
Her student and that King would be. And oh how that made her feel jealous. So she decided there was no point even trying.
Her and Luna have spend hundreds of years together, being true sisters. But the last few decades have been tough. She worries about what might happen in a few years time.
Everything will be fine given time. It will all work out in the end, i hope.
She looked out the window, watching all the soldiers, some injured, return home to their families. In front of them all, she saw Luna, who had a giant blood soaked bandage on her left shoulder.
They had Discordian weapons
She walked onto the balcony.
"Welcome home, loyal soldiers of equestria. We thank you for your service to our nation and its allies. For the families who lost loved ones, I promise that their lives will be celebrated and know they did not give their lives in vain. Tonight there shall be a Celebration for the end of the war, and for the next month, funerals will be arranged for each soldier who could not make it back to us. I would also like to thank my sister, who led the charge and led us to victory"
She looked down and saw Luna walking into the castle, and decided that if her sister wanted to see her, she would come up. So she walked over to her old desk and began to work on the piles of paperwork towered up on top of it.
After 15 minutes, she heard a knock at the door.
"Come in"
Luna came in, limping slightly.
"Greetings, sister" Luna greeted.
"Ah Luna, I heard great things about the battle. And that there were less equestrian casualties than last time?"
"Um, yes. Also, you probably want to put this in your safe. The Emperor had it" Luna said as she pulled the Emperors weapon out of a picket dimension she uses to store stuff temporarily.
"Discordian metal, good work sister, I will put it away for safe keeping"
Luna nodded and looked around the room. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Celestia decided to ask her sister the question she dreaded.
"Do you hate me?"
Luna looked a little shocked at the question.
"Hate you? No of course not. Sure you may seem like you ignore me all the time and stuff, but I don't hate you. I just thought you hated me" Luna confessed.
"Hate you? No, of course I don't! I only ignored you cause you seemed like you didn't need me anymore and I though you were going to start a rebellion against me"
Luna stared for a moment, then burst out laughing. Celestia just watched as her sister continued to laugh.
"Oh no, another war. The Lunar rebellion vs the Cake Empire! Who will win?" Luna giggled
"Well when you put it like that" Celestia rolled her eyes then joined her sister in laughing.
After a few minutes of laughing, they both calmed down.
"I needed that. A good laugh. But I suppose I better visit my student. I have been gone for a year and a half. Oh and before I go, have you noticed anything strange or different about the discord statue?" Luna asked
"No I haven't. Why do you ask? You don't think he is going to escape, do you?"
"A few days before I left, I caught our students... Talking to it. Pulsar even said 'Bye Discord'. I haven't told her about Discord or the chaos war. Have you told Sunset?"
"That is concerning. No I haven't. We should check it out soon" Celestia replied.
Luna nodded.
"I will talk to you later sister. I'm going to try and find my student before some nurses try and force me into the infirmary"
Celestia waved goodbye and Luna walked out, determined to not be seen by staff and find her pupil. After looking for a while, she found her student reading in the library. She quickly phased into the shadows behind her student and looked at what she was reading.
Advanced magic for Unicorns? Why would she be reading that? She isn't a unicorn.
"Sombra,you have already taught me to sense when someone is in the shadows near me, why are you doing this agi- wait. Sombra went back to the Crystal Empire. So that means.. LUNA?!" Pulsar screeched excitedly
Luna phased out of the shadows
"So, Sombra has been teaching you? Do I need to get jealous?"
Pulsar rolled her eyes and hugged Luna. After a while of hugging, Pulsar noticed the bandage on Luna's shoulder.
"You're injured! How?" Pulsar asked, panicking a little
"Oh, you know, taken by surprise by the Emperor. The usual" Luna joked.
"Luna! Why aren't you in the hospital!"
"Well I came to see you first. I promise I'm going to the hospital next"
"Fine" Pulsar rolled her eyes again
"So, what have you learned while I was gone?" Luna asked.
Pulsar smirked and took off into the air, hovering a few feet off the ground, and then dark mist started coming off her.
"This is the only one I can do so far, but I managed it!" Pulsar beamed.
"Wow. Shadow magic? That's amazing! I knew you were special!" Luna exclaimed
"I also made a new friend! But he is imprisoned in stone"
Luna frowned. She knew who her student was talking about, and that worried her.
"Can I talk to him?" Luna calmly asked.
"Sure, but after you are checked by doctors. Come on, let's go to the castle hospital wing!"
Pulsar flew out the library, leaving a trail of dark mist, and a complaining librarian shouting about the no flying in the library rule. Luna trotted after Pulsar, still limping slightly, making her way to the Castle hospital.
After arriving at the hospital, she was instantly seen by the Royal doctor. He carefully took her bandage off and inspected the wound.
"Who did this shoddy disinfection work!" The doctor critiqued
"I did. No one was available to patch me up so I did it myself" Luna confessed.
"Well I can wash out your wound with honey to treat the infection, and I can stitch up the wound, but that's all I can do."
"That's fine. I'm used to this. Just please don't use the maggots this time. I'm sure I will be fine without them" Luna calmly said.
"Very well, hold still then. This will sting"
The doctor poured some honey in the wound, then after a while he cleared it out, and began to stitch up the wound with cotton thread. Luna winced and hissed during the whole process, but medical science has come a long way since when she was a filly.
After an hour, the doctor was finished, and let her go with a brand new bandage on. She met with Pulsar outside the hospital wing, and they started to head down to the gardens.
"So, did they help it?" Pulsar asked, breaking the silence.
"They did. And they chastised me for my terrible patch work" Luna joked.
They eventually made it to the gardens, and headed to the statue of Discord.
Well well well, if it is Lulu and Little miss Moon. I could feel the chaos of that war from inside my little stone prison here Lulu. Made a real mess there.
"Discord. I ran into a weapon made of that metal you created. Nasty stuff. Yet, still hasn't managed to kill me"
Well, there is definitely more chaos around when you are alive. I assume while we speak, you are checking my prison for weaknesses? Don't bother. It's still as strong as the day it was created, you just never came and visited poor old discord.
"That is because of the chaos war and what it did to my kingdom. And those creatures of the night you corrupted and deformed into monsters too!"
Oh come on, are you really going to say I'm the one that created Vamponies when you were the one to design them?
"It was an idea, yes, but I didn't want them to drink pony blood. They were an earlier design for Batponies"
Deeetaiilllss
"What do you want with my student, Discord?" Luna asked, ignoring the look she got from Pulsar.
First it was entertainment, then it was to try and turn her against a you, but now it's because we are friends. Ugh yep, still feels weird to say that
"Fine, but if I find out you have an alterior motive, then I will smash your statue to a million pieces and scatter them across this world"
I believe you. Anyway, I suppose you better be going. Tata.
"Let's go back inside, i can feel a storm brewing. And it's a big one"