//------------------------------// // Prologue Part 1 // Story: The Once Regal; The Story of Nightmare Moon // by Horsegirl123 //------------------------------// The Once Regal As they dream of playing more, They're minds retire from being sore. My stars dance above unnoticing eyes. And in their sleep they cannot hear my cries, I do not matter, I am not known. My beautiful night, away they've thrown. The downward spiral, the top of it all, The true beginnings, of the name they call. And while many choose to forget, The nonbelievers will learn to regret, Forgetting the other half Of Equestria's past. Will never have thought to be so bad But all will be clear, very soon, Of how I, the once regal, became Nightmare Moon. Prelude "Come along children!" called Queen Sunniva, the ruler of light. The sky was a pale pink with no sun or moon present at the moment. The horizon that usually bore the mark of the day or night, was as blank as a newborn's flank. She knew that the temporary halting of the sun's rotation through the sky wouldn't be much of a bother, being that there was no pony around to care. No pony at all. She walked side-by-side with her husband, King Spatium as they traveled through a grassy meadow. Around them, brown squirrels jutted about while wild sheep looked up from their grazing at the passing ponies. A few bunnies wriggled their noses as the Alicorns passed through the tall grass. The female, a coat that showed a likeness to sunshine on fresh snow, sported a flowing mane of magical energy that radiated colors of red, purple, and yellow, much like that of a comet's tail. Her cutie mark showed of sunrays beaming down. King Spatium, ruler of shadows and darkness, possessed a mane of equal resemblance, but his was as dark as night, littered with shining stars that matched those on his cutie mark. His coat, a jet black, contrasted that of the Queen's, but together they created harmony. They walked effortlessly and gracefully through the tall reeds and wild grass, until Sunniva turned to check on her children that should have scampered up to her by now. A few yards away, she could see the rustling of grasses, but no pony walked through it. In a few seconds, through the grass by her long legs, two snow white and blank flanked fillies appeared. They intertwined through her legs, playing chase with each other. The eldest filly was slightly larger than the other, but nonetheless played happily with her sibling. When the fillies had begun to trip their mother's step, she summoned her magic to teleport them to her hooves. They looked around, shocked by the teleportation, but then met their mother's gaze. "Young Fillies! You are princesses and I expect you to act like so. Today is important and you'll need all your energy, so if you'd be so kind as to be good, we can be done quickly," reprimanded Sunniva. The filly alicorns whimpered a little after looking sadly at each other. "Yes ma'm," they replied with eyes cast down. Queen Sunniva smiled and nudged them with her nose. "Come on, you cant let Daddy beat you there." The two fillies lit up with huge grins, and galloped off towards their dad who had continued walking through the meadow. Sunniva watched her fillies for a moment more, before spreading her wings and flying next to them. "Where are going? My hooves hurt!" whined the smaller of the fillies as she started to slowly trudge along and drag her feet. "It's a surprise," whispered the Queen as she struggled to maintain her regal composure around the puppy-eyed foal. The filly huffed and then ran up to her sister. "Wait up sister!" she yelped as she trotted over. The elder stopped and waited, but when the younger neared, took off in flight. "No fair!" said the filly, her voice breaking. She tried her hardest to keep up with her soaring sister, but eventually collapsed in a grumpy slump. "You can do that sister. You know I cant fly yet!" "Really, I thought you could," teased the elder sister. She chuckled to herself, but realizing that tears had sprouted in her sister's eyes, she walked over and nudged her to her feet. "Sorry. I'll be fair this time. Ready? One, two-" The elder sister srinted off in a head start. "Hey!" cried the younger, but she ran after her cheating sister in a fit of giggles. The royal Alicorn family continued walking, hopping on rocks and cantering through butterfly swarms that left an array of colors and two giggling fillies. Although all was well, the Queen could not help but notice how lonely it was with only the family. There were no other speaking creatures in their world. For the past five thousand years, it had only been herself and the King. The other Alicorns had put themselves into the land. Together they created the world, becoming the water, air, animals, and nature. King Spatium and Queen Sunniva were left in charge of the sun and moon. However, their power was depleting from such a strenuous job, and soon they too would have to go into what they controlled. At the end of each magical life, an Alicorn had to become what their job was, so one day the Alicorns would be able to control the world from inside, so no other pony would be burdened with the tasks of caring for their world. At least, that's what her mother had told her before bed each night before she became a great fire on the other end of the world that shall burn on forever. As they walked alongside a bubbling crook, the fillies ran over and stuck their heads over the edge. They smiled and giggled as they searched their reflections in the rushing water, until the younger white filly spoke. "Hi Auntie." Their reflections twisted and turned until it morphed into the form of a light blue alicorn, smiling warmly at them as the water rushed over her in a thin film. As quickly as it had came, the reflection was washed out, and the two fillies remained once again. Her dark husband stopped up ahead, and while she had been lost in her thoughts, he had somehow been forced to carry the two fillies that were complaining about their sore hooves. She smiled at the sight, cleared her throat, and strode up to the remainder of her family. The winged unicorn family stood atop a grassy cliff that dropped off into a flowering valley that stretched forever beneath their hooves. The wind from the nearby forest blew the fillies hair over their muzzles, but had no effect on the magically enhanced manes of their more powerful parents. Grabbing them by their withers, the Queen plucked the fillies of the King's back and placed them on the soft grass. "My fillies," called King Spatium in a less commanding voice than the Queen. The identical white fillies stepped towards him as they were trained to do when addressed. "A special day has come upon us. Today you have to help out your mommy and daddy, okay?" Hearing that they could be of help instead of just sitting around all day, the fillies shook their heads ferociously. Their white manes and tails were starting to turn green from rolling in the grass in such fits of excitement. "Ooo! I wanna be like mommy and be a sun god!" piped up the younger sister. The King and Queen chuckled. "Here's what you have to do, my sweets. You're going to be like mommy and daddy soon, so we have to see who will control the sun and who will control the moon. We have a hard time, but we know you too were born for this." The two fillies bit their lips in anticipation, so excited to be treated like grown mares for the first time. "We need you to concentrate. Our magic lessons have not been in vain. Now do what I tell you my beautiful daughters." The fillies always rolled their eyes when their dad called them beautiful, since they were plain and identical. "Close your eyes," whispered the King in a calming tone. The fillies did as instructed as their mother watched intently. Their horns lit with magic, both wrapped in a white aura. "Now," instructed Spatium, "feel your magic grab hold of something you cant see. It will be very large and hard to pull up, but you both have the ability. Facing back to back now, the fillies both bit their lips as they exerted all their energy on their magic. In the east, in the direction the eldest filly was facing, came a bright glow over the horizon. Still with her eyes shut tight, darkness started to spread over the horizon of which the younger filly faced. Flank to flank, the fillies brought up the moon and the sun until they were almost touching at center of the sky. Right in the middle of the sky was a clear divide between a glorious day and a spectacular night brought on by the two fillies. The morning that the eldest daughter had brought from the east spread warmth to the meadow. Sunrays danced around on puddles and streams and animals came out to bask in the heat. The sunshine was warm and delicious, melting over the Queen's coat and forcing her to smile in its feel. The sky was painted with reds and oranges as the magic pumped out of the little one's small horn to create a sunrise and day that was unique to her and her personality. Colors exploded from the horizon as she continued pulling the sun upward, unaware of what she was actually doing. A few clouds blotted out the sunshine, but others let the rays go right through them. The younger filly, however, had created a masterpiece of her own. As the giant moon rose and she gritted her teeth, along came constellations of bears and lions and fish and crabs. Bright stars twinkled in the stretching blackness of her elegant night as swirls of stars and cosmos continued to flood out of her tiny horn and onto her canvas. She grunted as the magic flooded out of her. Although she could not yet fly and push the constellations into the sky, they were floating a bit below it which added an abstract effect that was as unique as the filly herself, even if she was identical to her older, taller sister. King Spatium and Queen Sunniva smiled and nodded at each other. Sunniva took her position in front of the eldest, and Spatium in front of the younger. Using their powerful magic, they shot a beam into the skies their children had just created. Sunniva took the rays of light that the eldest's sun had created, and swirled them around them around the filly. The filly smiled at the sudden warmth of the sunlight. The colors that she had just created now swirled around her, and the pinks absorbed into her mane, dying it a soft, cotton candy pink. Her tail became the same color as well. The younger filly, on the other hand, was being decorated by her father. Using his magic, he spiraled down the blackness of the night and mixed it with the brightness of the stars, giving the filly a beautiful purple shade of coat. For her mane and tail, he have her a turquoise that appeared when the moon first started to rise above the horizon as it erased traces of the sun. She felt the cold breeze of midnight air, and the young filly's eyes shot open. 'No,' she thought to herself, 'I was supposed to rule the sun!' She stared up into the sky, realizing that the object she was pulling up was indeed the moon, and the swirls coming out of her horn were stars instead of colors of the sunrise like she thought. As her father's magic receded from her, she collapsed on the ground, exhausted. She looked over to see her sister also lying on the ground. Suddenly, their parents stood over them. "Its not over yet dearies!" sing-songed their mother. "Look," she said pointing to their flanks with her muzzle. "Our cutie marks!" he fillies cried in unison in delight. Turning in frantic circles trying to get a clear look at the sun that surely now adorned her flank, she let her mouth open in surprise and shock. Celestia cheered and hugged the parent alicorns while the dark filly whimpered quietly. As the younger filly stared disappointedly at her crescent moon on a black splotch, she looked over to her cheering sister who's flank was now home to a beautiful sun. She could almost feel the warmth coming off of it. Jealousy burned inside her a little, but then her father spoke. "Eldest daughter, we hereby name you Celestia, goddess of the sun." 'Celestia' beamed in delight as she received her new name. Up until this moment, the sisters were referred to as Eldest and Younger, mainly because the King and Queen had not had anything that distinguished them from each other. "And you, our younger daughter. You are hereby named Luna, princess of the night." 'Princess?' thought Luna to herself. 'Why aren't I goddess of the moon?' Even though she was currently a little jealous of her sister, she couldn't stop saying her name over and over again. 'I have a name!' she screamed in her head. She looked over her new body, seeing the new violet taint that adorned her coat. A light blue mane was cut shorter than she remembered, and her was silky smooth. She ran her hooves through it, admiring the rich color that was so different from the deadly white she sported before. She looked over and smirked a little at her sister. 'At least I have some color,' she thought to herself as she noticed Celestia's unchanged coat, but she now had a longer, flowing pink mane that nearly dragged on the ground as she hopped around in delight from her new life. Suddenly, when Celestia's eyes rested on Luna, noticing she was staring at her, she stopped her cheering and walked over to her younger sister. "Princess Celestia/Princess Luna," said the two sisters as they stared at each other in their new forms.