Humans visit Equestria like they own the place, and for a good reason. The Magic Mirror in the depths of Celestia's treasury produces them only when the world is once again in mortal danger.
Luna, after turning into Nightmare Moon, has been able to understand something in the infinity of this cycle and wants to stop it. But why?
Originally written in Russian as Последняя жертва by orc01.
The author doesn't know English well and gave his explicit permission to translate and post the story. The translation is an independent work of fiction, and does not constitute theft, self-appropriation of authorship, or disrespect for the work of the original writer.
Edited and preread by way2dawn.
Chapters (2)
this last act of sacrifice is my own
It bothered me that there was no discernible in-universe reason for Luna's sacrifice to end the cycle. At least, I did not see any.
But the events of the story were well written and compelling.
8760364 Oh, the author of this story has a kind of explanation for this matter.
Well, humans... In my story, humans are the incarnated will of the universe. They appear in Equestria for a reason; in order to save all. It's like a creepy experiment. Someone is ready to sacrifice his life for you, but are you ready to do it yourself? Celestia wasn't. Luna — at least her dark self — figured out the hint. But what if she was wrong? What if, suddenly, her sacrifice would be in vain? She didn't think about this when she decided to kill herself. In the afterwords, I hinted that Nightmare's original intention was neither to die nor to break the enemy ship with her body. She just didn't want to live in the world whose inhabitants are incapable to defend themselves.
However, in the end it wasn't in vain. The universe was finally satisfied. The strong individual used his power for the purpose for which it was given to him. Nightmare Moon is truly a monarch, powerful and mighty. She isn't to wait for 'generous' help from other worlds. She is not a princess but a queen. Her acts are of royal scale. Her response to invaders is one that they will remember for life. Her sacrifice is a sacrifice of the monarch.
8761131
Interesting. Thanks for the reply!
... although I'm having trouble squaring "decided to kill herself" with "intention was [not] to die"
8762669
Thank you for reading!
I think what was meant here is that "intention wasn’t to die" refers to the moment when Nightmare attacked the enemy fleet. But when she got a dangerous wound, she realized that the best solution for her would be to sacrifice herself. She still had no place in this world.
8763703
I see. As a reader, I saw her actions as simply "win at any cost, or die trying" which is ... not quite the same thing, but not inconsistent with it.