Chapter 11

Everything boiled down to this moment. Celestia could feel in her bones that this confrontation with Nightmare Moon would be the last one. What happened next was anypony's guess, but the princess knew she could pass on to the next life knowing that she finally told her faithful student the truth. Strangely, this fact brought her a sense of peace.

Spike hid underneath Twilight's front legs, clutching them in fear. Twilight stood frozen, unable to believe that Nightmare Moon was, in fact, standing before them with a promise to end their days in ruin.

The wicked mare methodically approached the trio at the throne. Her smugness matched her through-the-roof confidence. Feeling invincible can either inspire confidence or instill fear, depending on who owns that feeling. For Nightmare Moon, she had the latter effect.

Knowing that she was powerless to do anything, Celestia stepped forward anyway and shielded Twilight and Spike with her wings. She was not going to let harm come to them so long as she drew breath. This was it. The fate of all living things hinged on this point. After centuries of harmony, Equestria was about to be veiled in an infinite darkness. Every laugh, smile, and expression of love would become ancient history, and eventually fade into mere myth. These thoughts and worse flooded Celestia's mind as she watched her entire life as a princess flash before her eyes. She took a deep breath and said, "You're going to have to go through me if you want Equestria."

Nightmare Moon finally was within striking distance of the three. One by one, she eyed each of them as if she was looking into their souls. She first stared at Spike, whose weak knees made him clasp at Twilight's legs even harder. The dark mare then looked into Twilight's face; she could see fear, but also a hint of defiance. If the young unicorn didn't have absolute clarity that she was powerless to do anything, she would have tried to stop her. Finally, the wicked mare gazed into Celestia's eyes. There was a deep sadness, but also a prepared willingness to make a sacrifice.

No pony could have predicted what came next.

"You have nothing to fear, my little ponies," Nightmare Moon said. The voice that came out of her mouth did not have its aged witchcraft-like tone. Instead, it had more warmth.

Just then, the midnight blackness of the wicked mare's body faded away. The color vanished until it shined a bright white. Her raven wings lost their sharpness as they softened into a more angelic shape. Her misty mane and tail solidified into a playful crimson messiness. Most noticeably, the terror in her once green eyes melted into a healing shade of cerulean blue. Nightmare Moon's armor fell to the floor, where they disintegrated.

A light shone from where the magical mare stood. When the brightness died down, Celestia, Twilight, and Spike could see that Fausticorn indeed stood before them. They had no idea how to react.

The Divine Alicorn Spoke. "Hello, my little ponies. It's me. I promise."

Smiles appeared on Twilight's and Spike's faces. Celestia, however, had been duped enough times to not accept appearances at face value. There was no way to know whether or not this was another one of Nightmare Moon's deception tricks.

The Divine Pony picked up on Celestia's skepticism right away. She approached her creation slowly. "I know you've been through a lot, Celestia. I assure you that it's me this time and not Nightmare Moon."

Celestia did not relax her caution. "Prove it."

Fausticorn nodded "Fair enough." She closed her eyes and held her head high. Her horn glowed with its golden aura. Directly above them a special energy ripped open the air creating a dimensional portal. Out of the portal door emerged the most unexpected of ponies: Princess Luna.

When Luna touched down, Celestia couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Luna? How can this be? I saw you transform into Nightmare Moon in Fausticorn's realm!"

"I know, dear sister," Luna said. "I'm sorry for what you have been through."

Fausticorn stepped forward. "Allow me to explain, Celestia. This has been a test for you."

Celestia tilted her head. "A test?"

"Yes. You sought me out the same way Twilight Sparkle does to you. I saw that it was time for you to be challenged in a way that was unimaginable for you. I decided to draw out your deepest fear, which was losing Luna as your little sister."

Celestia and Luna shared a quick look at each other. Relief filled Celestia's heart as she saw Luna smiling at her.

Fausticorn continued, "I knew you were going to come to me, so I planned ahead and summoned Luna to my realm. I had her stay there while I created a dummy-Luna that would turn into Nightmare Moon."

"A 'dummy-Luna'?" Celestia could hardly swallow at the thought.

"Seeing her was quite the out-of-body experience," Luna said.

"Yes, it was quite a fun experiment." Fauticorn giggled. "And you know what else? When 'Nightmare Moon' turned into mist and swallowed me up, that was actually me the whole time.

The whole time? Celestia thought she was going to have a heart-attack. Celestia could barely get her words right. "So, wait. When I saw you earlier, that was you you? Not Nightmare Moon you?"

The Divine Mare nodded. "Mm-hm. That was me."

Celestia kept arriving at the same question. "But, why? Why did it have to be like this?"

Fausticorn inhaled slowly and smiled gently. "Celestia, I deliberately designed an imperfect world for you and your subjects to live. What you were going through was definitely not fun by any measure. In fact, I'm one hundred percent confident that you were downright miserable."

Celestia nodded in agreement.

"Take heart, however, because there is good news. While you may have been experiencing rock-bottom for some time, even though it might have seemed like it, by no means was it permanent. True suffering is a part of life. That means it is normal to suffer. It's not fun, but it's normal. Ponies everywhere can take comfort in knowing that suffering is normal."

No pony spoke. Each of them took a moment for reflection on these words. At last, Twilight broke her silence. "Just one question, Ms. Fausticorn?"

"Yes, Twilight Sparkle, what is it?" The Divine Pony welcomed the question.

"I was told there are other dimensions besides this one and your own. How many others exist?"

"There are quite a few strange worlds out there. I've heard of one in particular where creatures called 'humans' live. I've always wanted to see what they are like. From what I gather, they are an interesting species. I cannot help but wonder how they would react to ponies."

Spike, who had been trembling under Twilight's legs, had stepped forward scratching his head. "They're called 'humans'? That sounds weird."

"I'm sure they're nice," Twilight said.

With a mighty stretch of her wings, Fausticorn stood regally in front of her creations. "Go forth, my little ponies! Tomorrow is a new day to live, where you have the opportunity to learn! Mistakes will be made and heartache is inevitable, but so is laughter. So is friendship. So is love. Embrace the good and the bad of everyday and grow from it."

With that, Fausticorn vanished into the thin air. When she was truly gone, light from the sun broke onto the horizon.

Princess Celestia greeted the oncoming sunlight with joy. She turned to her faithful student, her assistant, and her little sister of the night. "Today is a new day to love."