New Moon
A dark periwinkle alicorn mare sits on a cliff, watching the moon as it slowly inches its way beyond the far hills. At first glance, it may seem as though the mare is lost; nopony is foolish enough to venture this far. But look again, and you see a familiar bounce in the light blue mane, a highly recognizable black necklace with a white moon, a black crown that undoubtedly marks her as royalty-unless she stole. But nopony dares to steal from the Royal Sisters, just as nopony dares to stray this far away from Ponyville and Canterlot.
But this mare is no ordinary pony, which is why she comes out here every night to watch her wonderful stars glint, gaze adoringly at her beautiful moon shimmer. She has dark magic none could ever dream of, an ability to annihilate that none could ever see in the sweet, innocent alicorn mare that is sitting on the cliff, watching her ever-so-precious night.
You see her cyan eyes cloud with fear and for a moment, it's not the familiar Princess of the Night that rules over that cliff; it's the one-and-only, much-feared Nightmare Moon, greedily taking in the appearance of the barren lands beyond that she so craves to rule over. But in a blink, it's gone, and you are once again staring at the young princess.
"Dost thou dislike us?" Asks the alicorn, and you gaze at her for a fraction of a second, wondering of the princess is joking. But then you remember: the Princess of the Night never jokes; she is a very serious pony, and only loosens up around her sister. You.
"Of course not; you were not in control when Nightmare Moon had you in her clutches," you reply gently. Immediately you see her tense and for a moment you wonder if you offered her the wrong answer. But your younger sister relaxes after a few seconds, and you find yourself instinctively reach out with your pure white wing-so out-of-place in the pale moonlight-and attempt to wrap it around her comfortingly. But the filly-so young, and you only just remember she is still a filly-flinches away, and again you remember she does not favor physical contact ever since the catastrophic Nightmare Moon incident.
"It wasn't your fault, Luna," you whisper, and you can see her stiffen. That was not the right thing to say to her.
"Dost thou not realize that we could see everything being done by that abomination while we were- were- her?! That knave did everything using our hooves and our name! And thou dares to tell us that it was not our fault?!"
The screaming fit seems to have charged her, and she gives you an angry glare before tossing herself with renewed vengeance at a nearby tree. Within a few seconds, the tree has been gruesomely decapitated and Luna's horn is faintly shimmering. You feel like throwing up; violence was never an answer in Equestria, but who could blame Luna? She didn't understand. Before she became Nightmare Moon, they had lived in a time of grief and strife and conflict and raging war. She didn't know that raising your hooves first was not a key to resolving problems.
"Luna," you begin, but you are cut off by Luna snapping, "Oh, don't be so patronizing! We understand thee will not accept the circumstances under which we used during the dark and tyrannical reign of Nightmare Moon. Back in the good days, I would have been immediately courted and imprinted guilty. It was a much better method of royal justice, in our opinion."
"Luna," you say insistently. Fuming, Luna tilts her head to one side to indicate that you have earned her attention. You clear your throat a bit and say again, "Luna. I understand your anger, your frustration, your bitterness. You are feeling what I felt when I banished you to the moon."
Luna's lips curl into a snarl. "Art thou going to remind us of that horrible experience?" She scoffs, but this time, you cut her off. "No, listen to me! I was horrified of what I had done. I had become a monster more than you, had just broken all ties with my only close family by-to my utmost guilt-sending her to her own moon! I could have just made it easier by sending you to a nearby place-Manehatten, for instance-but nooooo! The first place I just had to think of was the moon!"
Luna scowls. "Thou art trying to make us feel better." It was a statement, not an inquiry in any form, so you do not elaborate.
"Just... don't. You don't know what it was like. Just... don't," murmurs Luna, giving you a gentle squeeze. A warmth spreads through you. She hadn't even dared to look at you in the eye, and yet now she was hugging you. You couldn't suppress a smile. And as you grin down at your younger sister, she tenses for another moment as the sun rises. But then she sighs; in contentment, not in repressed rage, and she undergoes a familiar change.
Her coat grows a darker shade of periwinkle, her mane shimmering and turning into a far more familiar flowing pattern that imitates your own. Her cloak appears, as though teleported by magic, and wraps itself around her longer, graceful neck. The all-too familiar curve of her wings, sweep of her mane, makes her suddenly dashing, beautiful, recognizable.
And for a moment, just for a moment...
.tcefrep si ehS.