A Tale of Luster and Dawn

Chapter 7 - Luna's Confession

Luster Dawn paced around the throne room at Canterlot Castle. She had requested an audience with Princess Twilight Sparkle and the ex-princesses. 

The search through the Smokey Mountains proved fruitless, and Luster Dawn was going to suggest other ideas she had on Rachel's possible location. 

Although the arrow on her map pointed to the mountains, where Rachel was confirmed not to be, the arrow could still tell some things about where Rachel went. The arrow pointed not only at the Smokey Mountains, but also generally in the west direction, so Rachel was probably somewhere west of Canterlot.

Luster Dawn was beginning to think that Rachel could have gone to the Undiscovered West, but there was no sure way to know. 

It seemed to be worth a try, however. Luna couldn't just give up in the search for her only daughter, and even worse, Rachel could find herself in the wrong crowd. She definitely had the magical potential to wreak havoc on a whole new level if she turned to the dark side. 

Finding her was more than just a personal matter, Equestria's fate lay on this factor. 

When Luster spoke with Princess Twilight, she said exactly that. "I understand, Luster. We need to act now. But where should we even start?" she said. Luster suggested the Undiscovered West. "Maybe," said Twilight. 

"It would help to know exactly why Rachel grew rebellious in the first place. Could it be the same reason Sunset Shimmer once did? To gain more power than she already had?" "I don't think so," Luster responded. "Rachel doesn't seem to be the type to desire power and let it be the driving force of all her actions. 

She is clever and intelligent, and I'm sure she desires more. I had a chance to speak to her in private when she was still here. I heard her story, and I sympathize to her. She had to live in a barren wasteland for hundreds of years. 

Half of the time her father wasn't even with her. And her mother was ripped away and transformed into a form Rachel never knew nor was familiar with. Anyone would be deeply shaken from within after those ordeals. I'm no psychologist, but Rachel's problems come from deep inside her subconscious. Desiring power is just too shallow for her."

"These are important factors to consider," said Princess Twilight. "However, I don't see how we can use them to find Rachel." "I didn't say we can use them to find her," responded Luster Dawn. "But if we truly want her to come back, we must consider them." 

"What do you mean, 'truly'?" asked Twilight. "We just need to find her to bring her back."

"With all due respect, this is where you're mistaken," said Luster. "You haven't considered how we will actually convince Rachel to return to Luna. If we force her to, that will just be cruel and a violation of Rachel's right to choose her own path. 

Beyond that, she won't view us ponies as humane. We absolutely must convince her that the light side is her best choice. We must let Rachel herself decide. And to do that, we must dig deeper to uncover what is troubling her."

After a long pause, Twilight sighed and said, "You are absolutely right, Luster. I am so ashamed that I didn't realize that Rachel should be valued as an individual. Go talk with Princess Luna, Luster. I'm sure there's something she can tell you to help get to the root of Rachel's problem."

Luster quickly bowed and left the throne room. As she was walking through the hallway, looking for the rooms Celestia and Luna were accompanying, she bumped right into Luna, who was on her way to the throne room to find Luster. 

"Princess, I need to speak with you," Luster said to Luna, and they both went to Luna's room to discuss. 

In Luna's room, Luster Dawn explained everything she knew about Rachel and how she should be approached. Luna took a long pause, sighed heavily and finally said, "Luster Dawn. You know my daughter better than I do." 

She smiled sadly, then looked down and said, "Its time I told you. Its a big secret, nobody knows. Not even Celestia. Nightmare Moon isn't gone. See my cutie mark, the crescent moon surrounded by a black cloud? It wasn't always like that. 

A thousand years ago, it was only the crescent. But after my infamous turn to the dark side, this black mark appeared, and its bound to me, forever, because Nightmare Moon has always been there, and will always be there. We all have our own Nightmare Moon, hidden deep inside. We must do everything in our power to keep our evil side from surfacing, but there is no way to completely be rid of it."

"Nightmare Moon may have been defeated," Luna continued, "but she isn't gone. She lives on, locked away forever. But not inside me." Luster Dawn's heart skipped a beat. What was Luna implying? "I have waited years to get this off my chest. 

The moment has never been more right. Remember the day when Nightmare Moon visited me once more and told me about Rachel? She never appeared after that, not even once, even when I begged her to help me find Rachel, my daughter. 

Only now I realize why she didn't answer my calls for help, and why Rachel never truly accepted me as a mother. Its because I'm not her mother. Nightmare Moon is. 

And I see now that Rachel will go to any lengths to fill the hole in her heart, and I am powerless to stop her and force her to come back from her quest. Now, all I can do is help her fill the hole, even if that means bringing her back together with Nightmare Moon."

"But how can you do that?" asked Luster Dawn. "You said Nightmare Moon was locked away forever." "And she is," responded Luna. 

"Years ago, I trapped her in the Realm of Mirrors. It is a magical dimension connecting every reflective surface that existed, exists, and will exist. Whenever I looked in a mirror, I could sense her evil presence in my reflection, because she is my reflection." As she said that, Luna turned and lifted up a handheld mirror that was lying on the table next to her. As she gazed into it, Luster could almost see a black reflection, with sharp fangs and slit eyes gazing back. 

"I wrote a powerful enchantment, able to be completed only by very powerful individuals. I also wrote a spell that can bring any pony into the Realm. As much as I will miss Rachel if she decides to remain there forever, there's nothing I can do to change her decision. Bring Rachel the spell, its the only thing I can do for her."

With a zap of Luna's horn, a scroll appeared in the air and gently floated onto the table in front of her. Without another word, Luster Dawn bowed to Luna, took the scroll and left.