Moon Beam (MLP fanfiction)

Chapter 7 Harvest Time

Luna spent the rest of the afternoon after her bath resting and trying not to think what Princess Celestia's arrival in town earlier in the day portended. Had she slipped up somewhere? Did her sister actually know where she was hiding? Was she simply letting paranoia get the better of her? She found herself with no easy answers, and nopony to talk about them with. Eventually, she gave in to the exhaustion from running for over an hour and took a nap.

The moment her eyes had closed and her head had hit the pillow, she was asleep. Instead of the peaceful slumber she had hoped for, however, Luna found herself back in that too-real dream on the moon, with Nightmare Moon waiting for her. She braced herself, staring at her evil incarnation, trying to figure out what she wanted. Was she going to taunt her again, pointing out all the flaws in her plan? Or was this another round of 'Let's Tempt Luna'? After a short while, Luna just wished that she would say or do something other than just look at her intently! Luna was about to just cut loose with a scream of aggravation when Nightmare Moon walked slowly up to her...

And bowed down? Luna cringed back a bit, eyes wide in shock. "Wha, what are you doing?"

Keeping herself prostrate, Nightmare Moon answered in a humble tone, "Princess Luna, I have come to see the genius of your plan. Please, forgive me my earlier recalcitrance. Today was an eye-opener for me, a day which I will remember fondly centuries from now."

Luna scowled at Nightmare Moon. "Stop it! You're just making fun of me, aren't you?"

"No!" Nightmare Moon protested. "I can see how you might think that, due to our previous talks, but I'm being honest with you. I am sincere when I say that I fully agree with your plan, and I want to do everything I can to help with its implementation."

Luna gaped at Midnight Moon. "You, you want to help me make friends?" she stammered.

Nightmare Moon looked up at her. "If that helps you keep your disguise going, then yes. Anything to help you stay here, as Moonbeam."

"Why?"

A wicked smile opened up on Nightmare Moon's face. "Did you not see the pain Celestia was in at the ceremony? Oh, she tried to hide it, but I could tell. She couldn't take her eyes off of you!" Slowly, she stood up. "Every day that you are here, every hour that you are away from her, is causing her torment. We owe her a millennium's worth, Luna. We're one month of the way there now, but we still have a long ways to go just to get even."

Luna could only stare in horror as the truth of Nightmare's Moon's words struck home. 'No! I'm not doing this to hurt my sister!' She wanted to scream this for Nightmare Moon, for all of Equestria to hear, but couldn't find her voice.

"In fact, I've taken the liberty to think over some things, and I have a few suggestions for you. First off, you need to keep being friends with Twilight Sparkle. It's obvious she's being used by Celestia to watch over us. Let her! The more she can report back, the more Celestia suffers."

Luna felt tears running down her face. "Maybe, maybe Celestia doesn't know..." The protest sounded false as soon as it left her lips. Nightmare Moon's words, she realized, explained why the magical prodigy of a unicorn had spent so much time with her over the last month.

"Ha! Oh, she knows. Just think of all the resources she has available to her. I'd be surprised if she hadn't figured out where we were by the end of the first week. I'll admit, I was worried when she showed up at the medal presentation. But after that initial moment, when she didn't call in the guards or even come up to say hello, that's when I knew we were safe. Indeed, I suspect you could even drop the disguise, and she wouldn't do a thing to come get you." Nightmare Moon paused to consider what she had suggested. "I don't think you should, though. I can see that backfiring all too easily right now, and then where are we? Forced to go back to Canterlot and Celestia, that's where."