At last, it's the bittersweet ending to Blast to Our Past! Celestia and Luna's story arc of the 1990s comes to an end (for now, at least) and for the second sub-volume onwards, we'll focus on the likes of Sunset, Flash, Twilight, etc., with Celestia playing the occasional major role.

This chapter itself, I admit, isn't my favorite it terms of writing, but I'll let you be the judges on that.

Sub-Volume 1 - Blast to Our Past

Chapter 14 - No More Lonely Nights (McCartney, 1984)

Written by Zack Wanzer and James Riddle

Following Sombra's disappearance, there no further reports on any household terrorist attacks, much to the relief of the townsfolk of Rainbow Falls, but Celestia wasn't happy. Sure, she was glad that there were no further attacks, but she still had the hole in her heart that Sombra would've filled. She greatly missed saying "good morning" and "good night" every day to him, she missed the talks they had and the jokes they exchanged to one another.

Of course, next to Sombra, there was one other person that Celestia missed greatly and hadn't spoken to in over two years...

"I wish you were here with me, Luna..."

JUNE 28, 1997

Luna, or Nightmare Moon as she preferred being called, had recently graduated from Canterlot High School. Clerk File, her friend who had saved her from a hit and run incident, had been released from the hospital a few weeks after the incident and was able to carry on with high school. The two were able to keep in touch and update each other on their lives so far.

One afternoon, Luna had just gotten back from lunch. When she got in the door, the phone rang.

"Hello?" she said, answering it.

"Luna? It's mother." Luna stopped, and felt as if time had been frozen; she hadn't heard her mother's voice in over two years. What could she do right now? Answer her mother? Hang up and ignore her? Reluctantly, Luna decided it would be best to talk to her mother.

"Mom?" she finally said.

"It's so good to hear from you again, Luna," said Harmony on the phone.

"Why did you call?" asked Luna.

"Can't a mother have a talk with her own daughter once in a while?" asked Harmony.

"You've got Celestia," Luna huffed.

"You know I would never abandon either of my daughters," said Harmony firmly, "and besides, Celestia's fallen into a funk lately. Sombra's disappeared."

"He has?!" gasped Luna. "When, and why?"

"Celestia found a letter last month. She says it had something to do with his father."

"His father?" asked Luna. "He never mentioned anything about his own father to you or me."

"Apparently he was the head of some Mafia," said Harmony, "but now Celestia is feeling depressed and I thought it would be comforting if her sister were to visit her and cheer her up."

"I'll think about it," said Luna.

"You'd better," said Harmony. "You can't avoid your own family forever. Especially when your own sister needs support."

"Alright, mother," said Luna. With that, Harmony hung up the phone.

"Does she really think I should talk to my sister?" she asked herself. "Would she even re-accept me after what I'd done and said to her?"

Luna didn't really know what to do. She wanted to call her sister and apologize for how she had acted, but she was afraid that if she did, others would think of her as a sissy. In secret, after being with Lullaby Strings and saving her life, Luna had begun to view her current situation differently.

"I'll have to think it over," she said to herself at last.

JULY 7, 1997

However, a week later, Luna still hadn't gotten a proper thought on the situation. "Perhaps I should take a walk," she said to herself, "maybe to cleanse my mind."

With that, Luna set out to regain her thoughts. As she strolled down, she bumped into Clerk File.

"Sorry, Lun- er, Nightmare Moon!"

"Oh, hi Clerk," said Luna. "How have you been?"

"I'm fine, Nightmare. What brings you out and about?"

Luna told him about the situation with Celestia.

"I'm really sorry to hear what happened to your sister," said Clerk. "I do hope things work out eventually. I bet that Sombra fella was a nice man."

"Yeah, he sure was."

"Are you going to go talk to her?" asked Clerk.

"I haven't decided yet," said Luna.

"It would be in the best interest if you did," said Clerk. "Families need to be there to comfort each other when they're in grief."

"I know that, but..."

"But what?"

"I'm not sure if Celestia will want to talk to me," said Luna.

"Why not?" asked Clerk.

"A couple years ago," said Luna, "I was rather harsh to her. I wanted to apologize for being so, but I couldn't."

"Why?"

"Because I was afraid," said Luna quietly.

"Afraid?"

"Afraid that people would think that I was weak," said Luna.

"No, you're not weak," said Clerk. "You're a wonderful, smart, beautiful person."

"You... you really mean that?"

"Of course I do," said Clerk.

He really means it? Luna thought to herself. No one has ever said anything complimentary to me in a long time and genuinely meant it!

Before anymore could be said, Luna wrapped her arms around Clerk and held him in a hug. He was surprised; someone tough as Nightmare Moon actually showing a caring side?

"Th-thanks," he said at last.

"No," said Luna, "thank you for cheering me up in this mess."

With that, Luna released her grip on Clerk and walked off. But not before kissing him on the cheek. As she walked further away from him, she began to think once more.

Clerk at least still truly cares for me, she thought. Perhaps he may be right. Perhaps I should make amends with Celestia.

But the only real problem was working up the courage to do so.

"Perhaps I'll wait a little bit."

DECEMBER 18, 1997

The "little bit" in which Luna decided to wait turned into five months. Her nineteenth birthday came and went, and that night was when she and Clerk File had their own "fun". Clerk had been nervous about it at first, as he planned to wait until he was married. Unfortunately, he didn't have protection and that had some unforeseen consequences...

"You mean I'm going to be a father?!" asked Clerk when Luna told him the news.

"Yes," said Luna.

Clerk was so surprised by this that he fainted. When he came to, he had made a decision.

"Luna," he said, "I think we should get married."

But Luna shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Clerk," she said, "but you're too young to get married."

"I realize that," said Clerk, "but would you ever want to when we're older?"

"Not even if we were older," said Luna.

"Why not?" asked Clerk. Had I done something wrong? he thought.

"It's your fault all this happened!" Luna snapped. "You ruined my life!"

Clerk was taken aback.

"R-ruined your life? Wh-what are you talking about?" Of course, Clerk did nothing of the sort, but Luna was too stubborn to admit she was the one at fault.

"You're the reason all of this happened to me!" snapped Luna.

"That is a complete lie!" snapped Clerk. He was cross that Luna would accuse him of something he did not do. "I didn't make you run away from home. I didn't make you abandon your own sister, I didn't make you feel like you weren't as good as her, I didn't make those other students tease you, I didn't make your house burn, and I didn't make you become like this! All of this was your doing!"

Luna said nothing as Clerk continued. But on the inside, she knew he was right.

"I took a hit and run for you and ended up in the hospital! I tried to get you to see that you're a wonderful person! I suggested that you make peace with Celestia, and this is how you thank me? Whatever happened to the Luna I fell in love with?"

Luna didn't answer, and so without another word, Clerk left. A few seconds after he shut the door, Luna's lower lip quivered, and then she burst into tears.

"Now I've lost Clerk as well!" she sobbed. "He was the only boy who ever loved me, but now he's gone all because I didn't want to admit I was in the wrong! I'm so stupid!"

Luna buried her face in her hands and when she lifted it again, she looked into a nearby mirror.

"I did this to myself..." she said quietly. Her makeup had been ruined because of her tears.

"Clerk's right," she finally said. "I'm the one who put myself through all this trouble. So now I have to make things right. One step at a time."

Luna decided to wash the rest of her makeup off.

"What do you think you're doing?" came a voice.

Luna sighed disgustedly. "You again?" Her devil conscience appeared before her. Her angel conscience followed after.

"So, you're going to go back to being weak and pathetic?" sneered the devil conscience.

"I'd rather be that than a straight-up bully!" said Luna defiantly.

"That's the spirit!" cheered the angel conscience.

"You can't do this, Nightmare Moon!" objected the devil conscience.

"My name is not Nightmare Moon!" yelled Luna. "It is Luna Faust!"

With that, Luna took a hot, soapy rag and began to wash the makeup off of her face.

"You're making a huge mistake here!" protested the devil conscience.

"The only mistake I ever made was listening to you in the first place!" snapped Luna. "Get out of my mind and never bother me again!"

"Fine..." the devil conscience sneered. "Someday, you'll be sorry..." With that, the devil conscience vanished.

"Well done, Luna," said the angel conscience. "You're making the right choice now."

"Thank you," said Luna.

DECEMBER 21, 1997

Celestia was alone having spaghetti for dinner when the doorbell rang. She groaned as she stood up from her chair; seven months pregnant, with her baby due February at the latest.

"Who could it be?" she asked herself. "I wasn't expecting company."

She slowly walked over to the door, and when she opened it, she got an early Christmas present in the form of...

"N-Nightmare Moon?"

"No. Nightmare Moon is no more; it's Luna Faust again."

After a few seconds of staring, Celestia embraced her sister in a hug and started crying. "Oh Luna!" she said through her tears. "You have no idea how great it is to see you again!"

"I'm so sorry for what I did, sister!" Luna sobbed. "I wanted to apologize years ago, but I was too afraid others would think I was weak!"

"Never mind that now," said Celestia. "I forgive you." Even though she had lost her husband, at least she had her sister back.

"How long have we been apart?" asked Luna.

"Since March 27, 1995," said Celestia. "Then there's four more days in March, 275 days for the rest of '95, 366 days for '96, which was a leap year, 334 days for '97 from January to November..."

"That's 979," Luna added.

"And today's the 21st," concluded Celestia, "which means we haven't spoken to or seen one another in a thousand days."

"Goodness, has that been long," said Luna. "I've heard you were having a baby, Celie, and... I'm having one too!"

"What?!" gasped Celestia in surprise. "I'm to be a mother and an aunt?"

"So will I," giggled Luna.

"Who's the father?" asked Celestia.

"Clerk File," said Luna. She sounded sad when she mentioned the boy's name.

"Is something the matter?" asked Celestia. Luna explained to her sister about the fight she had with Clerk.

"I'm sorry to hear about that," said Celestia. Then she smiled a bit. "I guess we're in a league of our own."

"We are?" asked Luna.

"Of course," said Celestia. "We've both lost our lovers and we're with child."

"That we have," said Luna.

"Not too long after Sombra left," said Celestia, "lots of guys have been asking me to marry them. Some of them were still in high school."

"Really? That's like asking your teacher to marry you!" Luna exclaimed in disbelief.

"I know," said Celestia. "Perhaps you should try patching things up with Clerk now that you've patched things up with me?"

"He might not forgive me that easily," said Luna. "I might wait a few days."

"Would you care to join me for spaghetti?" asked Celestia.

"Sure," said Luna. "I've been craving pasta topped with whipped cream lately."

Celestia laughed. "I'm afraid I'm fresh out of whipped cream."

"That's alright," said Luna. "Ice cream could do then."

The two sisters just laughed as they sat down to their supper. Yes, it was wonderful for them to be friends again.

AUGUST 1, 2038

Dawn Spark was amazed by the story. "So that's how two sisters became friends again?"

"Yep, it sure is," said Sonata.

"What about Sombra or Clerk?" asked Dawn. "Did they ever come back?"

"They eventually did," said Adagio. "Luna called him after a week and they patched things up. But Sombra? Well, that's another story."

"Well, what else went on with dad and mom?" asked Dawn.

"You're full of questions, aren't you?" laughed Flash, tousling his niece's hair. "But seriously; your mother and father had some misadventures of their own before finally getting married."

"Like what?"

"I think we'll have to ask them when we get home," said Flash. And with that, after saying goodbye to the Dazzlings, Flash, Dusk, and Dawn headed for home. By now, the rain had become very light showers, but there was no need for an umbrella.

"I wonder what stories aunt Sunset and uncle Vincent will tell us," Dusk told his cousin.

"We'll just have to wait and see," said Dawn. Indeed, we will all have to see what happens next, as the story of Vincent van Colt and Sunset Shimmer is only just beginning...

FOOTNOTES

Once again, the 1000 year banishment is referenced as 1000 days. Of course, as they're human, being isolated for a thousand days made better sense as I wanted to go for a Christopher Nolan-esque approach with this series. (If you've seen his Batman trilogy, you'll understand where I'm going with this.)

Speaking of which, I decided beforehand that Luna's child would be Nyx, a character from Pen Stroke's Past Sins. Her birthday is August 8, 1998. The story was written/published between July 18 and August 29, 2011, 42 days, so I picked the average for Nyx's birthday. Also, as she is considered a reincarnation of Nightmare Moon, it'd make sense that she was conceived whilst Luna was still Nightmare Moon. Admittingly, that would affect how Nyx's relationship with Twilight would go since the latter is almost like a mother to the former, but since Twilight was born 1996 and Nyx 1998, that probably won't be a huge deal. However, I don't really have any plans for Nyx in this series; it'd feel like she's just... there.