“Thank you, Princess Celestia,” Dusk Glow said sincerely.
The ruler of an entire kingdom genuinely wanted to help him.
That sincere concern from Equestria’s highest authority made him feel safe and strangely comforted.
Come to think of it, the Princess of the Sun was much easier to talk to than that Nightmare Moon he had met on the moon.
It probably was not very polite to compare the two, but that was honestly Dusk Glow’s impression.
The Princess of the Moon had given him an unsettling feeling, as though he could never quite tell what she might do next.
“Oh, right, Princess,” Dusk Glow suddenly said.
“Before I came here, I woke up on the moon.
That’s where I met a pony called Nightmare Moon.
She told me that you were the one who banished her there.”
Celestia’s pupils suddenly contracted.
Without hesitation, she spread her wings, casting a protective barrier around them to prevent anypony from overhearing their conversation.
“Please tell me exactly what happened to you on the moon.”
Her voice was low and urgent.
“Every detail.”
Dusk Glow began explaining everything that had happened.
There really was not much to tell.
He had awakened on the moon, met Nightmare Moon, learned about her banishment and why Celestia had sent her there, been attacked by a mass of black mist that somehow caused his magical powers to awaken, and then somehow ended up in Equestria.
After listening to the entire story, Celestia lowered her head slightly.
“On behalf of my sister, I apologize.
I am truly sorry that you were dragged into all of this.”
Dusk Glow thought back to his encounter with Nightmare Moon.
He remembered the anger in her voice.
The loneliness in her eyes.
There were several things he still wanted to ask about.
“Um, Princess Celestia…”
Dusk Glow hesitated.
“There’s something about Nightmare Moon that I want to ask you.
I’m not trying to question your character or anything.
I just want to understand what happened a little better.”
Celestia’s expression shifted slightly.
She seemed surprised, but there was no anger in her eyes.
“Go ahead, Dusk Glow.
Ask whatever you wish.
I’ll answer anything I can.”
Dusk Glow took a deep breath.
Then he asked the question that had been weighing most heavily on his mind.
“Before Nightmare Moon became Nightmare Moon, did you ever try to talk to her?”
He carefully continued.
“Did you ever try to understand why she wanted eternal night?
Or when you realized that her jealousy and pain were building up inside her…
what did you do?”
Then he quickly added,
“Of course, you don’t have to answer if it’s too difficult.”
He mentally considered that his emergency disclaimer.
Perhaps because Celestia was so kind and approachable, Dusk Glow had been able to ask something remarkably direct.
It was almost the same as asking whether Celestia herself had played a part in her sister’s downfall.
Celestia remained silent for several moments.
Dusk Glow nervously watched her expression.
After a while, Celestia walked toward the door and opened it with her magic.
“Dusk Glow, if you truly wish to know, then come with me.”
Dusk Glow climbed out of bed and followed Princess Celestia into the hallway.
They walked through the white corridors of Canterlot Palace, sunlight pouring through the tall windows.
Celestia looked outside.
Her gaze seemed to travel through time itself, back to a thousand years ago, to days filled with sunlight that had already begun to hide the cracks beneath the surface.
“Her name was never Nightmare Moon,” Celestia said softly.
“Her name was Luna.
Princess Luna of Equestria.
She was my younger sister.”
Her voice carried a distant echo, as though she were carefully pulling memories out of a place long forgotten.
“Many times, I invited her to take part in the celebrations held during the day.
I wanted her to see that ponies also cherished the quiet beauty of the night.”
Celestia continued walking.
“I tried to share some of her responsibilities, hoping she would have more time to rest or pursue her own interests.
I gave her gifts.
I shared my thoughts with her.”
A faint smile appeared on her face.
“I treated her the way any caring older sister would.”
Her voice gradually became more bitter.
“But Dusk Glow, understanding is not always something shared equally between two ponies.”
Celestia lowered her gaze.
“My light was simply too bright back then.
The ponies’ admiration for the sun and for me was so immediate and overwhelming.”
“But Luna’s night was different.
It was quiet.
Peaceful.
A time for reflection.
And because of that, it was easy for everypony to overlook.”
She took a slow breath.
“Every time I approached her, every time I tried to help, her increasingly jealous and isolated heart may have seen my actions as boasting.
Perhaps she thought I was pitying her.”
Celestia’s voice became quieter.
“Or perhaps she believed that I was trying to take control of the very thing that belonged to her.”
“So the tragedy really was caused by misunderstanding and isolation?” Dusk Glow asked.
“Yes.”
Celestia’s voice was heavy with sorrow.
“It was the pain of a pony who felt unseen, unheard, and unappreciated for too long.”
She closed her eyes.
“And that was my failure.”
“As her sister, I failed Luna.”
Dusk Glow felt his heart tighten.
Celestia’s answer confirmed his deepest suspicion.
She had wanted to reach Luna, but a wall of jealousy and isolation had stood between them.
Celestia took a deep breath.
Then, unexpectedly, she began to hum.
Her voice was low and slow, carrying an ancient sorrow.
“Did I ever try to reach her?
Did I hear her silent cries?
Every word of love I gave her
Was like sunlight through the skies.
But the light could never reach her,
Could not chase the dark away.
For beneath the moon she treasured,
She was slowly lost each day.”
Dusk Glow blinked.
He was not entirely sure why Celestia had suddenly started singing.
Still, he remained silent and listened.
A golden glow gathered around Celestia’s horn.
Magic flowed through the hallway, and the world around them seemed to transform.
An image appeared before them.
Two young alicorn sisters stood together in an observatory.
Young Celestia and young Luna stood side by side beneath the stars, their white and deep blue coats glowing softly in the darkness.
With their childish magic, the two sisters worked together to illuminate the constellations.
Luna’s eyes were still filled with wonder.
There was no trace of resentment in them.
Then Celestia continued singing.
“I invited her to share the daylight,
To stand beside me, crown to crown.
But she only saw the shadows,
And the loneliness they found.”
The scene changed.
Luna was now grown.
She stood in the shadows while crowds gathered around Celestia.
The ponies cheered for the Princess of the Sun.
Luna watched from afar.
Loneliness filled her eyes.
Between the two sisters, an invisible crack slowly widened.
It spread like the shadow of an eclipse.
Celestia’s song continued.
“Then one night, she broke the heavens,
And the endless night began.
‘Let the moon rule over all!’
I heard her cry across the land.”
The illusion changed again.
The battle between the two sisters unfolded before Dusk Glow.
Nightmare Moon spread her batlike wings, fury burning in her eyes.
Celestia raised the Elements of Harmony, tears running down her face as their brilliant light pierced the night sky.
For a brief moment, Dusk Glow saw two silhouettes within that light.
They were not a princess and a monster.
They were two sisters, desperately reaching for each other as fate forced them apart.
Dusk Glow held his breath.
The song showed the tragedy far more clearly than any explanation ever could.
Then Celestia sang the next verse.
“And I raised the Elements before me,
Though my heart cried out her name.
With their light I cast her from me,
And our lives were never the same.”
The golden light became brighter.
For a moment, Dusk Glow could see Celestia’s face within the illusion.
There were tears in her eyes.
The image of Nightmare Moon slowly disappeared into the light.
Then the vision changed once more.
“For a thousand years, each morning
Has reminded me of that night.
While the ponies praise the sunrise,
Who remembers Luna’s light?”
As Celestia sang, the illusion showed Equestria celebrating Nightmare Moon’s defeat.
Ponies throughout Equestria celebrated the return of daylight.
They cheered for their beloved Princess Celestia.
They celebrated the end of the endless night.
But from her magnificent throne, who could understand what it meant for a sister to lose the only family she had left while an entire kingdom celebrated?
Dusk Glow’s forehoof slowly reached forward.
He almost felt as though he could touch the sorrow that had endured for a thousand years.
The vision changed again.
The moon appeared in the night sky.
Celestia looked up at it.
Her voice softened.
“The sun and moon were meant together,
Side by side across the sky.
And if Luna comes back to me,
I will never let her say goodbye.”
The final note faded into silence.
The illusions slowly disappeared.
The observatory was gone.
The battle was gone.
The cheering crowds were gone.
Only Celestia and Dusk Glow remained in the hallway.
A single tear slipped from the corner of Celestia’s eye.
Dusk Glow suddenly realized that his own face was wet as well.
He had not even noticed himself crying.
This was no longer the sympathy of an outsider.
He could feel the pain of two souls torn apart by fate.
Celestia’s song had stripped away every trace of royal composure.
For just a moment, Dusk Glow could see the wound that had never truly healed over a thousand years.
A sister’s love.
A sister’s guilt.
A sister’s longing for the pony she had lost.
…
In the high reaches of Canterlot Palace, Princess Celestia and Dusk Glow stood together on a balcony overlooking the city.
A gentle breeze drifted past them, carrying the warmth of the sun.
“Luna…
my sister…”
Celestia looked toward the distant sky.
“Her pain.
Her fall.
The impossible choice I made.
And the storm that is coming.”
She spoke softly.
“There are things I cannot tell my subjects.
They need confidence.
They need to believe that their Princess of the Sun can handle anything.”
Celestia gently wiped the tear from her cheek with her magic.
“That is the answer to your question.”
She looked at Dusk Glow.
“You wanted to know whether I tried to reach her.
Whether I tried to communicate with her.”
A faint smile appeared.
“Perhaps music is more honest than words.”
Dusk Glow wiped his eyes with the back of his hoof.
“I…
I don’t know what to say.”
His voice caught in his throat.
“This is all just…”
“You don’t have to say anything.”
Celestia smiled.
The warmth in that smile was softer than the setting sun.
“Sometimes, simply being understood is healing enough.”
“She’s coming back in a month,” Dusk Glow said quietly.
“When she does…”
He hesitated.
“Will you use the Elements of Harmony to banish her again?”
Dusk Glow looked at Celestia hopefully.
“No.”
Celestia’s answer was immediate.
“I cannot bear to spend another thousand years without her.
I will not lose her again.”
Her voice was firm.
“The Elements of Harmony banished her, but they did not destroy the light within her.”
Celestia looked toward the moon.
“I believe…”
She paused.
“I have to believe that somewhere beneath all that darkness, my little sister is still there.”
After sharing a song soaked in a thousand years of tears, Dusk Glow felt something he had never felt before.
A profound sense of responsibility.
It was not a mission forced upon him.
It was something he wanted to do.
He wanted to help these two sisters.
He wanted to repair the bond that had been twisted apart by darkness.
Why?
Because now that he knew the truth, he could not simply stand by and do nothing.
The sun still hung high in the sky, shining brilliantly over Equestria.
Yet Dusk Glow felt that he could see beyond that overwhelming light.
Far away in the heavens, the moon hung quietly in the sky.
It was no longer simply a celestial body to him.
It was the soul of a princess who had been banished for a thousand years.
It was an eternal wound in the heart of an older sister.
“I want to see what happens,” Dusk Glow said.
His voice was more determined than he expected.
“Not just watch from the sidelines.
If there’s anything I can do…”
He looked toward Celestia.
“I want to help.”
A faint light appeared in Celestia’s eyes, like the first star breaking through the twilight.
“Your willingness to help is more precious than any magic, Dusk Glow.”
Then her expression suddenly became serious.
“But remember this.”
“When Nightmare Moon returns, her anger and pain will be very real.
Do not underestimate the darkness within her simply because you pity her.”
“I understand.”
Dusk Glow nodded solemnly.
“Thank you for telling me all of this.”
He looked at Celestia.
“You’ve made me realize that the word ‘redemption’ carries far more weight than I ever imagined.”
A hint of relief and gratitude appeared in Celestia’s eyes.
“Thank you for being willing to listen, Dusk Glow.”
Normally, Celestia would never have revealed these things to another pony.
But she believed that Dusk Glow, as a visitor from another world, had the right to know.
He came from a world completely different from Equestria.
He carried a perspective that was entirely new.
He needed to understand that this world was not perfect.
Celestia looked at Dusk Glow thoughtfully.
Somewhere deep within her heart, she felt that this could not simply be coincidence.
Had this visitor from another world truly arrived in Equestria carrying some kind of special purpose?
“By the way, about this matter…”
“Don’t tell anypony for now,” Dusk Glow finished immediately.
“I understand.”
Celestia nodded with satisfaction.
Then…
Grrrrrrrgle.
A loud rumbling sound echoed across the balcony.
Dusk Glow froze.
He slowly covered his protesting stomach with a hoof.
His face turned bright red.
He had not eaten anything for two days.
Seeing his embarrassment, Celestia could not help but giggle.
The heavy atmosphere immediately disappeared.
Dusk Glow gave an awkward smile.
Perhaps before he could face the coming storm, he first needed to learn how to build a new life in Equestria.
After all, even the greatest adventure had to begin with breakfast.