The medic kept casting glances at Luna as he worked his healing spells. She had refused to let go of Blueblood while he worked, so he was forced to move awkwardly around her to get to the worst burns.

“Thou art performing an admirable job, Lieutenant Lime,” she said, deliberately referring to him as a rank higher than his current one.

Lime grimace of concentration as he delicately pulled the smoke out of Blueblood's lungs, turned into a slight smile at her, but he was too focused on the spell to be able to say anything. As soon as the green aura left Blueblood's body, he began to cough roughly. His eyes squinted at the pain this caused his burns, but as it subsided, he opened them. He gradually blinked them into focus and brought them to rest on Luna's face, less than a foot away from his. They widened significantly at the sight.

“He is out of immediate danger, ma'am,” said Lime.

“Hmm?” Luna was distracted by the gaze of those soft blue eyes which she had thought, briefly, she might never see again. “Oh, yes, thou hast my deepest thanks.”

“Do I look that bad now?” Blueblood whispered. “You're staring at me...”

“Thou hast never looked better to me,” said Luna quietly as Lime returned to the rest of the wounded.

She took a deep breath, nodded to herself, then firmly pressed her lips to his. She parted his small gasp of surprise farther open with her tongue and kissed him with fervor. When he began to overcome his shock and respond with equal passion, all fears Luna had held of experiencing a traumatic reminder of her previous kiss with Zecora were banished from her mind. This was her choice, and his.

Luna broke away from the kiss. Blueblood's disappointed groan turned into a moan of pleasure as she nuzzled at his long, tender neck. His entire body shuddered as she then sank her teeth into it.

Luna's head immediately jerked away. She forced her breathing to slow, her mouth to stop watering, trying desperately to bottle back up her desire... and her more literal hunger, awakened by the flesh-cooking smell that had suffused the cavern. She bit her lower lip, hard, and turned away.

“So I do look bad,” he mumbled weakly as he rested his head back on her neck. “I guess I taste bad too. Sorry about that.” His eyes drifted shut as he cuddled up to her. They shortly snapped back open as he felt his body being shaken.

“Do not even think of dying now,” Luna warned him.

“I wasn't!” Blueblood protested. “You're just warm, and I'm tired...”

Luna went rigid, except for swallowing the lump in her throat, but she made no move to disengage herself from Blueblood either.

“Sleep, then,” she whispered, willing herself to relax. “Thou art safe.”

“Don't need to tell me twice.” His eyes closed again as he rested against her. Luna could tell from subtle body cues that he was not actually asleep, but she allowed him the small ruse. She was more concerned that he did not seem concerned by anything that had just transpired. Was he that badly wounded? Was he not afraid of her?

Luna turned her face away quickly before she could dwell on that further.

She had been expecting an audience after what had happened between her and Blueblood, but everyone's gaze was instead locked on Lyra.

Captain Heartstrings was as extensively burned as Blueblood, and maybe more deeply as well. It was difficult to tell how bad her condition was, especially since she was fading in and out of consciousness, but she was breathing. Luna watched the medic work intently, fighting back a brief pang of useless guilt over the fact that she had not been watching the entire time. The smoke which the medic was pulling out of Lyra's lungs was stained with dark flecks of blood, and her breathing was becoming shallower.

“I could use some help here,” Lime managed to say as his horn started to spark and blacken.

All the unicorns in the group, though their horns were in similar or worse states, rushed forward. Luna instinctively made to do the same, causing Blueblood to let out a pitiful groan. She settled back down, growling at how useless her lack of controlled magic had made her.

“First of all, one at a time!” Lime shouted as he ended the healing spell. “Second, anypony with some blood left will do, not just unicorns.”

The whole company, save for the unconscious, gathered in several lines a short distance away from where Lyra was being treated. They were joined by a growing crowd of diamond dogs who had been looking on intently the whole time, but who had not drawn much attention until there were suddenly dozens of them. They pressed as close as they could to see what was going on, while keeping a wary distance from the pony soldiers. They had dropped their makeshift weapons and now stood wringing their paws and chewing their lips.

“Excuse me, coming through,” a mare said loudly as she shoved her way through the line. Quicktail, limping awkwardly due to both her hind legs being bound in bandages and splints, ignored the many annoyed looks as she appeared in front of Lyra and Lime, carrying a long satchel across her back. “I know exactly what you're doing, and I can help.”

“Oh you do, do you?” the medic said with a scowl as he checked Lyra's extremely weak pulse, and pulled back an unburnt section of hair to note the pale, clammy skin underneath. “Also, you shouldn't be putting any weight on your legs for at least a week.”

“I appreciate the advice, not-doctor.” Quicktail's mouth was drawn in a tight line, and Luna was able to notice many other subtle signs that she was fighting back a lot of pain. Opening the satchel, Quicktail drew out two thin bamboo shoots that had been hollowed and sharpened. “But this pony literally stepped into fire to save me. I'm not going to let her go until I can tell her how stupid that was.”

“Where did you get those?” Lime said.

“The Hearth Fairy, of course.” Quicktail pulled out a flask from the satchel and poured its contents over a small area on two of Lyra's legs. The air filled with the stench of highly concentrated alcohol. Then, with steady precision, she took one needle-like piece of wood in her teeth and guided it toward a vein in one of Lyra's legs.

“Okay, we can put the blood through that one, I suppose,” the medic said, frowning. “But what's the second one for?”

“Water and medicine,” Quicktail replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Pinheads always think they know everything about healing. Watch and learn.”

Lyra did not even flinch as either needle entered her body. Lieutenant Lime repeatedly objected that what Quicktail was doing was extremely unsanitary and dangerous, but glancing at the captain's unmoving form was enough to keep him from stopping her.

“Let her work,” Luna said. Many of the assembled ponies and diamond dogs jumped, so intent on Lyra that they had almost forgotten the Queen was there. “I trust her.”

“Aww.” Quicktail flashed Luna a sappy smile through teeth that were holding a third bamboo needle, which she jabbed into the first volunteer, allowing the transfer of blood to Lyra. Once her mouth was free again, she spoke. “We're bee eff effs now!” The irreverent tone was broken a little by Quicktail's wincing and a slight crack in her voice, but the bright red mare kept up a brave face.

Luna shook her head, more out of bemusement than rejection. Neither she nor anyone else said anything as the seconds crawled slowly by. Lyra lay unmoving, a black, bloody mess on the cavern floor with only a few traces of minty green hair left. Half of the shining lyre on her flank had been burned away completely, and it was difficult to see the other half. Her bright eyes remained closed. Two minutes in, she stopped breathing.

Lime and Quicktail snapped at everyone to stop panicking. Outwardly, they did, though Luna was sure she was not the only one there who felt like the ground was being ripped out from under her. A muffled “ouch” from Blueblood was the only thing that made her realize she was tensing her every muscle. She slowly eased her grip on him, setting him down gently as she rose to her feet. She walked in a numb daze toward Lyra's body. The two caretakers took turns breathing air into their patient's damaged lungs, but Luna knew it was useless. Her eyelids closed, and her steps became shaky. She welcomed the salty pain of tears as she wept as silently as she could.

“Um, Your Majesty?” A voice and a shaky hoof momentarily shook Luna out of her despair.

“What?” she demanded of the soldier next to her, who visibly flinched at the word.

“I, I just wanted to know if you were alright,” he whispered, trying not to attract the attention of the rest of the party.

“Of course I am not!” Luna snapped, drawing the attention to them anyway. “The closest thing I have had to a true friend in ages lies dead at my feet, and it is my fault!”

“It's going to take more than that to kill me, bestie,” Lyra said faintly.

Luna blinked several times, but what she had thought was a corpse was in fact still breathing... and speaking to her.

“I also noticed you going all kissy on Blueblood,” Lyra continued with a wink. “Do I get one too?”

Everyone nearby smiled and even engaged in some nervous laughter, except for Luna. Instead, she inched her way forward on shaky hooves, her lips quivering. The crowd parted for her, allowing her to reach Lyra. Luna buried her face into an unwounded part of Lyra's neck and began to pour out the last of her tears. Her thanks for Lime, Quicktail, and everyone else rushed out in a sobbing torrent.

“All in a day's work,” Quicktail murmured as she wiped the sweat from her brow, then began easing herself down to the ground to pass out.

Shortly afterwards, guards were posted and messengers were sent to bring escorts and healers from Barkstone. Food was distributed, and those who could sleep did so. The rest sat in silence or low conversation, taking their quiet and melancholy mood from their leader.

“I would speak with thee a moment, Blueblood,” said Luna as she drew him aside. “'Tis a rather delicate matter, but...”

“What is it?” he asked through a mouthful of hay. He turned to her, still chewing, but did set down the ration. He began to tap one of his hooves against the ground when Luna took a few seconds to respond.

Luna stared down at his hoof, more to avoid looking him in the eye than out of wrath at his impudence. “When we kissed earlier,” she said quietly, “I was lost in the moment. I did not mean to be so forceful. I trust I did not hurt thee?”

“You're apologizing for that?” Blueblood swallowed his food and suppressed a laugh. “That was amazing.”

“That may be true.” Luna's face flushed, and several seconds of silence followed before she spoke again. “Be that as it may, it reminded me of a topic I should have broached much sooner. Due to the... coercive nature of our relationship, I do not wish to press the issue of thy husbandly duties, insofar as the bearing of foals. We shall forgo that stage of our wedding night, and I shall give thee as much time as thou needest to be comfortable with our mating. I must be just in my passion, and for that, I must be sure there is more than simple desire behind it.”

After a moment of silence to process what exactly she was saying, Blueblood groaned. “Wait, really?” he said. “You're going to deprive me of the only good thing about our wedding?”

Luna's stare, blazing with fire, lifted from his feet to his eyes, which quickly darted away.

“What I meant to say was, ah,” Blueblood said, coughing and mumbling in between his words, “was that it's the best thing about our wedding. No, I mean one of the many, many good things!”

Stammer as he might, Luna was already stomping away from him. Blueblood sighed and went back to his meal. In a few moments, she felt silly getting so upset about such a trifle, but it was too late to go back now. She reminded herself to do better in the future, then moved on.

Luna sought out Lyra next, once the Captain was sufficiently rested for the medic to not insist she sleep. Luna informed her of her plans.

“You're leaving without us?” Lyra whispered, which was the loudest voice she could muster at the moment.

“Yes,” said Luna, holding on of Lyra's hooves in her own—one of the few areas of her body that was not wrapped in bandages. “I must... speak to my students quickly. The speed required for the journey would impede thy recovery. This company shall join me when all of its members are healed.”

“Going alone is insane,” Lyra protested with surprising strength, given her fragile condition. “Please don't. We need you.”

“I must,” Luna said, “I cannot have my groom nor my bridesmaid in such condition at my wedding, besides. Rest, then come to me when thou art able.”

“I guess my bravery recently has been a little too inspiring.” Lyra smiled. “I'll have to tone it down next time, or who knows what you'll do.”

Luna breathed out in a short huff, but her face lit up into a broad smile. “Jest as much as it please thee, but know that this is not farewell. I shall return.”

“Yeah, I know.” Lyra squeezed Luna's hoof weakly. “I just want you to return alright.”

“Do not fear for me, Captain,” Luna said as she began to stretch her wings. “Fear for those who would stand in my way.”

Luna waited for most of the party to fall sleep, then crept through a small gap in the patrol patterns. She momentarily felt the urge to go correct the guards, but then she remembered she was supposed to be sneaking out. It was too small a lapse for anyone but the Princess of the Night to sneak through, anyway.

Surrounded by the tender embrace of the night sky, Luna almost came to believe her own bravado. She felt the light of the stars pulse around her, her pumping wings invigorated by the energy they cast out into the darkness. The Princess of the Night focused on the orbit of the moon, passing the time of the flight back to her castle by losing herself in its rhythm. She laughed heartily, stopped for a moment and blushed when she realized how embarrassing and manic her laughter must sound, then continued laughing anyway.

She was so lost in exultation that she nearly flew right by her destination. Wheeling back, she set herself down in the courtyard. The restoration work was coming along nicely. Scaffolds dotted the outer walls, which had now mostly been built back to their former height. There were trees, gardens, and a few surprised guards who saluted and bowed once they recognized her. Luna saw the small camp of workers, sleeping in a big pile in the middle of the grass, and smiled. She tiptoed around them so as not to wake anyone when she opened the door to the inner keep. It did not take her much hunting to find the quiet voices she was looking for.

“Do you have that palm oil, by any chance?” she heard Platina ask. A shaky male voice responded in the affirmative. “Excellent! A lady could get used to this.”

Luna pushed open the door to that chamber with her wings spread, casting a towering silhouette in the entrance. Her student shrieked and tumbled off the massage table she had been laying on, while her attendant shrieked even louder and hid under it.

“Your Majesty!” said Platina, taking several attempts to right herself as she kept tripping over the masseuse. “I didn't expect you back so soon. Would you like a massage?”

“I would prefer an explanation,” Luna muttered, then turned to the table. “Leave us.”

He left in a blur, tripping over his words and his feet in his haste to leave. Once he had departed, Luna kicked the door closed with a rear leg.

“I was attacked by a diamond dog, who wore a robe which bore the same symbols as thine.” Luna stepped closer, slowly. Platina backed away from her advance. “Have I become so inconvenient already? Did you think I would fall so easily?”

Platina stared at the remnants of Luna's horn with wide, quivering eyes. “I have no idea what you're talking about. Are you okay?”

“No!” Luna slammed one hoof into the massage table, spilling pleasantly scented oil all over the floor. “Thanks to thee, I must deal with assassins on top of all else! And what is all this? Wert thou so sure of my death that thou hast already delved into a life of idle luxury?”

“Luna, please, just tell me what happened,” Platina pleaded as her rear pressed into the corner. “We can talk about this.”

“Aye, we can.” Luna felt a searing pain in her forehead—magic was sparking out of it, and from the wound on her horn, burning white plasma dripped down onto her face and the carpet, scorching whatever it touched. “Begin doing so now.”

“What's going on here?” a soft voice, lifted harshly, demanded from the middle of the room. Luna turned to see the remnants of a teleportation spell dissipating from Willowleaf and Nickle Waltz.

“What are you doing to Platina?” Waltz added, chewing his lip.

Luna reached her forehoof back, preparing to strike Platina. Immediately, the horns of all three apprentices began to glow. Waltz's sparked in a chaotic, prismatic array of colors. Willowleaf's poured out darkness, which seemed to sap the very light out of the environment around her. Platina's had only a faint glow, but it was enhanced by a slow trickle of blood that began to form along the twists of her horn's bone.

“I don't know what this is about,” Willowleaf said quietly, “but I suggest you lower that hoof. This will not go well for you.”

“Monsters!” Luna snarled. “I shall see you burn for your crimes. Come heaven or hell, I am done running. We finish this now!”

“Brave words,” said Willowleaf, moving closer to Luna very cautiously, “though foolish. We are your servants. You've won. Why are you attacking us?”

“She thinks we sent some diamond dog magician after her,” Platina offered.

“Another step and I shall cave in her skull!” Luna shouted. Her raised leg twitched.

Willowleaf stopped. “Okay, easy. We can solve this. I can tell you with some certainty that Platina is far too much of a bigot to stoop to teaching a lesser race the secrets of magic. For my part, I do not have the... social acumen to do any kind of teaching. So, dear Waltz, was this your doing?”

“Not that I remember,” Waltz said, his eyes tracking the small, chaotic fireworks caused by his spellcasting.

“I think you can see, with all due respect toward my dear comrade, that he is far from a devious mastermind. So what's really going on here?” Willowleaf's rotting face narrowed into an expression resembling suspicion.

“Dost thou truly think I am to be so easily misled?” Luna asked. Against her will, her own horn responded to the incredible upswell of magic in the area and began reflexively attempting to focus it, causing even more starfire to drain out.

“Given that you're turning on your only true friends and allies left in the world over such flimsy evidence... yes. Yes I do. But I am not lying, and neither are they.” Willowleaf held her head high as she spoke, quite a change from the constant awkward hanging Luna remembered.

Luna's eyes flashed with fury, but before she could even begin her kick, Nickle Waltz teleported between her and Platina.

“Stop it!” he shouted, rearing back and spreading his forelegs out to protect her. “Leave her alone!”

“Out of the way, fiend,” Luna commanded with a dark edge to her voice.

“We might be fiends,” Waltz countered sheepishly. “But we... we are what you made us.”

“Do not attempt to blame me for your crimes. You have had a thousand years to live and develop without me.”

“M-Maybe,” he said, shaking, swallowing and licking his lips repeatedly, “but you defined us in our formative years.”

“And you commanded us to continue our work in your absence,” Platina said as she stepped up to support him and keep him from falling over.

“We also brought you back,” Nickle Waltz said. “Though I'm starting to wonder who 'you' is exactly. Are we talking to Luna, or to Nightmare Moon?”

Tension crackled in the air almost as furiously as the defensive spells being cast.

“Uh, what are you doing?” Willowleaf said through the side of her clenched jaw. “We talked about this. Emotionally unstable? Violent? Altered moral compass? Ringing any bells?”

“I don't care anymore, not after this display!” Waltz said, leaning on Platina for support as he regained some control over his voice, and then unleashed it in a torrent of quick words. “Yes, we really cared about Thin Mint, and we're still really mad that you killed her, but we would never hurt you. Did you ever stop and think that maybe this diamond dog stole magic from us, or was taught by someone else we don't know about? How about we try to figure that out, instead of throwing accusations around?

“Sure, some of us care about you as a pony more than others do, but that doesn't mean we want you dead. Even those of us who don't love you as much still want you in power, because maybe, just maybe, you'll listen to us. Celestia never would.” He took a deep breath. “Luna, was it you, or was it Nightmare Moon who ordered us to find a way to break the prison and work against Celestia's reign? Who was it who made Thin Mint enter a pact to make sure we did so?”

“That is a meaningless question,” Luna answered quickly, though she lowered her hoof slightly, ostensibly to steady herself. “It was a gradual process. I cannot say for certain. What is thy point?”

“How can you not say for certain mere days before you were banished? You were doing a lot of things Celestia would not have approved of long before that. When did you—sorry, I mean Nightmare Moon—resolve to kill her?”

“Nickle, please.” Willowleaf interjected. “Don't do this now.”

“I never wished to kill my sister until the possession was complete,” said Luna. “I love her.”

“You sure talked an awful lot about how much easier things would be without her in your way,” Platina said as her horn began to glow a brighter shade of red, and a little more blood seeped out of it. A second later, a book materialized in the air next to her. Luna recognized it immediately; it was a journal of hers, which she had stored in the chest with her crown jewel and armor. The book opened with Platina's magic, and the pages began to turn.

“Thou hast no right to read that.” Luna raised her leg again, hoof pointed up. “Give it back, now.”

“What does it matter?” Platina shrugged as she continued flipping through the pages. “We've all read the whole thing already. I just brought it here in case you forgot.” The page-turning slowed as it reached the middle, and Platina started to make a show of reading it, darting the book back and forth just out of Luna's reach.

“You know, there's a lot of interesting material in here. Battles with monsters, adventures in the realm of dreams, resentment against Celestia and her attempts to control you, accounts of the usefulness—or lack thereof—of certain students of yours, anger and bitterness about the fact that no one remembered your sacrifices, even when you arranged the stars themselves to remind everyone. Good stuff. But you know what it's missing?” Platina reached the end of the journal and paused briefly, matching Luna's stare. “Any mention of demons. Any hints of possession. Any change in writing style or topics. Why could that be?”

Luna stared for a few more seconds before responding. “Because I would not put such things in a journal anyone could read, nor couldst thou recognize the signs even if I did.”

“I could tell,” Nickel Waltz said. “Demons were one of my specialties. You... you didn't seem like you were possessed, in person or in writing.”

“This is pointless!” Luna shook her head and turned her eyes toward the ceiling. “Celestia saw me change. I was going to speak to her anyway, and now doing so can clarify this balderdash as well.”

Platina glanced at Luna's black coat, then her slitted eye, and then her mouth. “We've seen you change too, for the second time now. The only thing you're missing is the teeth.”

“I am going to see my sister,” Luna said flatly. She swept out of the room with her blunt teeth bared and a growl in her throat. Her apprentices prepared to defend themselves, but she paid them no attention. They shared a look, then followed her at a safe distance, but they did not try to stop her. She marched down toward the dungeons with purpose.

That purpose began to waver as her path took her past the throne room of the palace. Even though renovations were well underway, blasted rubble, broken furniture, and burned tapestries still littered the halls. Because time had passed so differently while she was imprisoned, it seemed like this place had been whole only a few years ago. She could still remember what those thrones looked like before she—before Nightmare Moon—blew them to pieces trying to destroy Celestia. Out of the corners of her eyes, for the briefest of instants, Luna saw everything exactly as it had been a thousand years ago. But if she focused on it, it was gone, and nothing remained but ruin.

Her eyes were already burning by the time she reached the stairwell that led to Celestia's cell. Luna took each step slowly, telling herself that she did not want to let blurred vision make her stumble. She was a warrior, and warriors did not let fear control their actions.

With that thought in mind, Luna kicked open every door between her and her sister. Some of them were made of metal or stone. It made no difference to her, save for welcome jolts of pain in her legs from the sturdier barriers. She was not yet done kicking when she reached Celestia's prison, but that surplus of energy drained away quickly at the sight before her.

Celestia sat in one of the far corners of her cell, her head bowed under the weight of the black magic-suppression crystals clinging like leeches to her horn. Her coat was filthy, and her limp, faded mane hung in a tangled mess over her face. Her eyes were closed, and her face was without expression. Luna could tell through her breathing that Celestia was awake, but the deposed Princess made no movement to acknowledge her presence. She simply lay there, apparently lost in thought. Or playing some kind of mind game with Luna.

Luna snarled at that idea, and nearly slammed the thick, magically reinforced bars between them. Instead, she closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and lightly tapped the wards with the back of her boot. The shock of doing even that was painful, but the sound and the shower of sparks caused Celestia's ears to perk up and her eyes to flutter open. She had to blink them several times to get her vision to adjust to what scant light there was down here; Luna tried not to think about how long they had been closed.

“You were crying before you got here, sister,” Celestia said in a croaking, raspy, yet still infuriatingly gentle voice. “What's wrong?” She looked at where Luna's horn should have been and her eyes widened. “Did they hurt you?”

“That was my doing,” Luna replied. “Simply another casualty of war. I should be asking thou the same thing. I told my students to treat thee well. This is absolutely not acceptable.”

“They haven't done anything to me,” said Celestia as she slowly rose to her feet, one leg at a time. One of them shook, but she quickly forced it to stop. “I wish they would, honestly. Enduring taunts, threats, and insults would be preferable to having no one to talk to. Food just teleports in, and waste teleports out... usually.”

“I shall not allow this callous treatment to continue, sister,” Luna said, her brow furrowing.

“Why does it matter to you?” Celestia began to close the distance between them, careful step by careful step. “I'm out of your way, and you're free to wage your wars and right the world's wrongs. I see your horn has been one casualty, as you said. How many others have there been?”

Luna felt her blood begin to boil. “Enough to stop the cruel enslavement and disfigurement of our subjects! Hast thou any idea what they suffered in the depths of the earth?”

“I personally arranged to buy back as many as I could. I am painfully aware of their circumstances.” Celestia's face was now as close as it could be to Luna's without touching the magical barrier in place, making the bags under her eyes clearly visible.

“What?” Luna growled. “Thou paid those thieves for their crimes? Rewarded them for their acts of war? No wonder they have grown so bold in their raids!”

“What should I have done instead, Luna?” Celestia asked in a voice much softer than the grinding of Luna's teeth. “The royal guard had already been stretched so thin that there was a security breach at Tartarus. Our few allies would not risk war for the sake of a few dozen ponies a year. I don't have the ability to enter ponies' dreams and turn farmers and merchants into deadly warriors in a matter of days.”

“Thou couldst not have done it as quickly as I, no, but thou still possessed the ability to raise an army. Equestria adores thee, sister. They would gladly have marched under thy banner to free our brethren.”

“Marched to their deaths, you mean?”

“Some causes are worth dying for!” Luna slammed her hoof against a bar near Celestia's head, causing a wave of pure agony to shoot through her body as dark, unnatural lightning shot out from the point of impact. She staggered back, biting her lip, but she kept her eyes open and locked furiously on Celestia.

“That is easy to say when you're not the one doing the dying,” Celestia said, turning her head to the side and away from Luna's pain and anger. “Do you think there have not been times, over a thousand years, when I tried force over diplomacy? I have seen so many ponies die at my command, and then I have turned around and been berated when I sought to deal with threats on my own instead. I am the last of the royal line, they told me. I cannot risk my life fighting armies and dragons. And you know what? They were right, especially when I have always been better at negotiating than fighting. Gold and gems are such a small price to pay for peace.”

“Those are the excuses of a coward!” Luna declared, stamping her shocked, smoking hoof on the floor in spite of its protests. Spit flew from her mouth as she raged. “How thou can call such an unjust world a peaceful one is beyond my comprehension. What a pathetic—”

Luna's rant was cut short by the sight of a tear sliding down Celestia's cheek, accompanied by the barely audible sound of sobbing.

“I...” Torn between love and anger, Luna found herself able to do little but stammer. “Uh.”

“We should have worked together,” said Celestia, once she had taken complete control of her voice again. “I should have begged you not to leave. We could have avoided all of this, and solved all of the problems you mentioned. Now look at us.”

“I would still have left,” Luna said as she turned her head to the side and huffed. “This palace looks so much like the one in which I grew up. But it is not. It hath changed, and I have remained the same.” Her eyes slid closed. “As I said before, I have no home.”

“I know.” Celestia nodded slowly. “I don't pretend to understand, but... you do have friends. We can help you find a new home.”

“Friendship is not enough!” Luna pounded her hoof into the floor, spreading even more cracks along its surface. “If my travels have taught me anything, it is that. I have tried friendship, and look at me!” She spread the black feathers of her wings and stared at Celestia. “This is all I have to show for it! Friendship was supposed to heal me, to make me better, to banish the demons. Yet the monster still shows itself. What is the meaning of this? What did the Elements do to me?”

“I can only guess, Luna.” Celestia's eyes traveled along Luna's body, staring at the blackened parts which were not obscured by bright, shimmering armor. “I have thought a lot about it, especially while I have been down here. I am not sure you really want to hear my thoughts, however.”

“Speak.” The force of the word was broken by a slight tremor in Luna's voice. It came out sounding more like a question or a plea than a command.

“When Twilight Sparkle and her friends used them,” said Celestia after a deep, calm breath, “I believe you reverted to the last time your conscience was entirely clean. This was both mental and physical, which is why you appeared as a younger version of yourself. After that, it was up to us to ease you back into society. And we failed you, all because I underestimated the influence your memories and lingering negative emotions would have on you.”

Luna frowned deeply. “Thou hast not mentioned what became of Nightmare Moon.”

Celestia took another few breaths. “Luna... I do not think there ever was a Nightmare Moon, not truly.”

“Thou witnessed my transformation!” Luna shouted, loud enough to echo throughout the dungeon. “Then I tried to kill thee! I would never have done that, Celestia!”

“I saw some magic, yes... but I do not think it was anything more than you lowering an illusion spell. You never wanted most ponies to see the physical effects battle had on you. As for trying to kill me, remember, your conscience was weighed down by even more dark deeds back then than it is now. It is not outside the realm of possibility.”

“Thou art mistaken,” Luna said as she clenched her jaw. “A demon spoke to me. It drove me on and eventually possessed me.”

“I do not know for sure whether that is true or not,” Celestia said, “but I know you have had hallucinations in the past, especially after traumatic battles. Maybe the Elements of Harmony gave you a temporary reprieve from them. That seems like the simpler explanation to me.”

Luna stood completely still, watching her sister's body language. Celestia was standing just as still, so the only hints came from her face, which looked worried. Concerned, perhaps, and afraid. Instead of rising, Luna's anger sloshed back and forth in her heart, as if she were unsure what to do with it. So it settled there and began to take a deeper hold.

“So it is my destiny to look and feel as I do now, it would seem.” Luna continued speaking over Celestia's protests. “My past and my pride have hung themselves around my neck once again, dragging me down toward the truth. I have always been Nightmare Moon.”

“No.” Celestia stamped her own hoof now, not as powerfully as Luna had, but still enough to shake the floor. “You are Princess Luna, and Nightmare Moon is nothing more than a callous nickname given by those who do not understand you.”

“'Those who do not understand me'?” Luna repeated bitterly, which revealed the slowly sharpening points of her teeth. “No one understands a warrior better than her enemies. They knew all along, while my friends and family pretended that I was well. I am not well, Celestia. My mind is in shambles, and the most basic acts of kindness and mercy come as a struggle to me. I often think that the code of chivalry is the only thing keeping me from far greater evil.”

“Stop this, please,” said Celestia as she closed her eyes. “You are not some unfeeling stone that has to rely on external input to be normal. You react too strongly, too viscerally, to be the emotionless husk you're claiming you are. Ponies like that have to think and study behavior, and even then the imitation is usually lacking. No. You feel. You feel so much that when you hurt, the pain blinds you to the truth.”

“Time hath been unkind to our relationship,” Luna said as she turned away from her sister. “Thou art speaking of a pony that exists only within thy faulty memory. I am not she.”

“No, I'm speaking about what I've seen over the last few years since your return. I remember how proud and satisfied you were to hold court again. I remember your embarrassment and eventual amusement when we explained ponies don't like to be called 'peasants' anymore. I remember how close you became to Twilight, and how much you looked forward to visiting her. I remember how scared and angry you were when I almost died...”

Over the course of her speech, Celestia's tears had grown from tiny drops to streaming rivulets. She scowled as she wept, and her voice came out in a tight clip.

“And now you are turning all of that into a huge mistake. You had a chance I never did: to be truly close to ponies. For ponies to see you as one of them. They might fear, revere, or respect you... but they will never be your friends.”

“Oh, what a tragedy,” Luna drolled. Then her voice became flat and quiet. “After the Elements of Harmony were unleashed upon me, my friendship is what thou asked for. Not my forgiveness for a millennium of isolation disproportionate to my crimes. And for a moment, thy friendship is actually what I thought I desired! I should have listened to my anger then, rather than my loneliness, and rejected thy foalish pleading.” She paused and started to slowly walk away. “At least this way, I shall be losing friendship to restore Equestria's rightful place in the world.”

“Luna,” said Celestia, whose eyes Luna could feel burning into the back of her head. “Where is Twilight Sparkle?”

“She is serving as a temporary ambassador to the griffons,” Luna said. “After my wedding, I shall be departing to relieve her and resolve the situation there myself.”

“Twilight is very capable, but that seems a little dange—“ Celestia paused for a moment, as did Luna, realizing what she had just said. “Wait, your wedding? When did this happen? Were you going to tell me?”

“I...” Luna turned around, facing Celestia's pained face once more. “I planned to, yes, but the conversation did not... develop in that direction.”

“Oh, Luna...” A faint smile played across Celestia's face. “Who are you marrying?”

“Wherefore art thou smiling, sister?” Luna snapped as blood rushed to her cheeks.

“Pardon me, Luna.” Celestia inclined her head in deference. “It's just that even though you're wearing that warrior's form of yours, you're still blushing at talk of being married. It... it gives me hope.”

“Prince Blueblood the Younger,” Luna mumbled as she turned to leave.

“Oh?” It took Celestia a few seconds to realize that Luna had answered her question, then she chuckled. “He's certainly handsome.”

“He is more than merely handsome,” Luna replied, a touch more petulantly than she intended.

“I didn't mean to offend you, sister. I just don't know him very well. He must have many fine qualities for him to have won your heart.”

“He cares not for me,” said Luna. “This is a political arrangement, which will give me peace, and give him wealth and status. That... that is all.”

“You deserve better than that, Luna,” Celestia said.

“No,” Luna replied, fighting back tears. “I do not.” She turned and began to ascend the steps. “I shall see to it that your living conditions are improved forthwith. Farewell.”

Finally, with one slow blink, Luna's dual vision resolved itself into one, dispelling the subtle illusion magic she had not even been aware she had been casting on herself. The edges of the objects around her sharpened, and her gaze pierced the shadows more easily. The vertical slits had to narrow as her ascent carried her closer to the moonlight, but even the light from far above was clearer.

Willowleaf, Platina, and Nickle Waltz waited silently at the top. She raised her eyes to them, but said nothing.

“We've been talking, Your Majesty,” Platina began.

“We just want to ask...” Waltz stuttered.

“What can we do to prove our loyalty to you?” Willowleaf finished.

“Several things,” Luna replied. “First, I wish you to forge two pairs of rings. One pair for me and my bridegroom, and the other for a dear friend of mine and her lover. I shall give you designs for them shortly. Will you do this for me?”

“Of course,” they said, nodding. “Anything else?”

“Yes. You shall take better care of Celestia starting immediately, as I am sure you heard us discuss.”

“But she is the reason we had to skulk and hide for a millennium,” Platina protested, “and she's the pony who imprisoned you in the moon. We owe her nothing, and neither do you.”

“She is my blood, and you owe her more than you know.”

“Is that Luna talking, Nightmare Moon, or the Elements of Harmony?” she asked with a cruel sneer.

“I shall phrase it this way,” Luna said, staring deeply into her student's eyes. “I spent my millennium of exile, during which you 'skulked and hid', dreaming of what I would do upon my return to those who had wronged me. I invented torments which defy the ability of any language to adequately describe. Improve her condition, or I shall visit them upon you.”

Platina glared and bared her teeth until the other two apprentices nudged her, then she backed down with an accommodating smile. “Of course. So, if we do all that, you'll believe that we know nothing about whatever attacked you?”

“After but one more task,” Luna said, walking to one of the arrow slits along the tower so she could watch the sun rise at her command. “Pack your belongings. I shall require your assistance with a ritual I intend to perform at the border with Griffonce. Once the wedding ceremonies are complete, I need you to travel there with me. We have much to do.”