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"AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! NOOOOO! PLEEEEEAASE!"
Luna bucked in her sleep, fighting off the invisible grasp of her enemy. Hitting her head hard on her stone pillow only furthered her fright and confusion. Scrambling to her hooves and shutting her eyes tight she pushed back on her sister’s voice echoing inside her mind. Her instincts took over her fright and, in one great woosh she flew several feet from the ground. Harnessing the last echoes of fear from the dream, she felt the power awaken in her. Her eyes forcefully opened, glowing a pure white as she let herself lose control on her target.
The innocent stone never stood a chance.
Magical energy crackled about her as she loosened a fraction of her alicorn might on the offending party below. A heavenly beam tore through the ground beneath her as she focused all her rage on destroying the cause of her grief.
After the ionized smoke settled among the rocks, Luna floated gently to the ground. A scorched crater was all that remained of where she had slumbered only moments before.
The rage leaving her and awareness returning, she tried to get her bearings. Forcing herself to take slow, deep, calming breaths Luna eventually settled down. Her eyes dimed from the heavenly white light and slowly revealed the blue orbs beneath.
She couldn't take this anymore. All she wanted was one damn moment of freedom from this crushing misery. Why couldn't she at least have a second to sleep and dream in peace? No, of course not, all she got was this endless emptiness when she was awake and these tormenting nightmares when she tried to sleep.
“THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE MY REALM!” Luna swore to the indifferent void.
She slammed her hoof on the ground in sheer frustration. Then, slumping in utter defeat, her eyes fell to the grey dirt in front of her. She just wanted some peace. Something… anything…to make her forget that she's trapped here.
"That's a rather large crater you left this time. Something must really have pushed your buttons."
Luna’s fur prickled. A slight buzzing started in her head. Forcefully sighing with exhaustion and irritation, she addressed the voice.
"What do you want Nightmare?"
Instead of responding, the voice remained silent.
The unexpected muteness sent a chill down her spine. She felt like an ant under a microscope, being studied only for the sick torment of the observer.
"..."
"Well?"
"..."
"Have you nothing to say?"
"What is power for?"
"...What?"
"What is power for??"
Her head tilted as she narrowed her eyes at Nightmare's question.
"What kind of question is that?"
"I gather you don't know then" spoke Nightmare. "I'd have thought by now you would have learned it yourself..."
"But I suppose that was asking too much of you."
Stepping out from the shadows toward Luna, Nightmare carefully explained.
"Power is given to free you from the bonds of this world. To break the bonds of oppression, and to destroy those who oppress you. Cast aside the chains of others and their law, leave the common ponies to their worthless honor, and let them rot in their graves clutching their precious morality. You are above all this. You are chosen. We are chosen. We are the ones who shape the future of Equestria. We are the Alicorns.
And you... you are going to let a simple banishment spell stop you from defeating your sister and claiming your rightful place on the throne?
You pathetic...stupid...worst excuse for an alic-"
"SHUT UP!!!"
Pouring all her rage into a single magical blast, Luna sent it sailing at Nightmare. The fiery projectile exploded upon impact, engulfing the surprised Nightmare in a dark vortex of flame and magic.
Nightmare staggering back, coat singed and smoldering, tried to peer back through the magical smoke surrounding her. A sharp gallop and a sudden impact drove her to the ground. A firm hoof, adorned with a blue slipper crushed against her face.
“YOU CANNOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!! I AM NOT YOUR SLAVE!!! I AM NO ONE'S SLAVE!!!”
The smoke cleared slowly and the moon found itself sporting a brand new crater with an Alicorn at the center.
"That... is more like it." Nightmare spoke behind Luna.
Nightmare casually emerged from the edge of the crater, an amused grin on her face as she looked at the small, raging princess. The singed and defeated copy of Nightmare fading to smoke as it joined the unsettled dust around the crater.
"There... right there...that is what will stop anypony from ever taking advantage of you again."
"Keep that rage flowing through you. Feel its energy amplify your focus, feel it give you purpose, feel it make you stronger.
Learn the gift of the Alicorn's power and free yourself from your sister’s clutches."
Luna remained tense. “No more tricks, no more games. What do you want from me?!? What do you want me to do?!?"
"I want you to take what is yours. What you deserve. If you think that the desolate moon is what you deserve then fine, stay here. But that is not where you belong."
She raised a hoof toward the lush planet looming before her.
"This is where you belong, this is where you were happy, this is what is right."
“And she stole it from me” both voices said simultaneously.
The realization shattered her monotony; a fiery new purpose burned its way inside. The moon quaked beneath her as her horn glowed and her eyes glowed once again with the power of a goddess. The thoughts tormented her no longer, she was now their master.
The long campaign for her soul had ended. The old Luna had been absorbed into the new one. With one final release of breath the old Luna was gone. Cast away into the bottomless void. Her mind etched an unmarked grave at the bottom of the pit.
“Death is not enough to quench the injustice that she has done to me. She shall watch as everything she knows is broken down and destroyed. As all her dreams are crushed, never to be realized. As her precious nation is shown what she truly is and rises to bring her down. Only the will justice be delivered and the wrong righted.” Princess Luna swore to the watching stars.
Horn and eyes glowing, she thrust a hoof at Canterlot.
“This is mine!” "Yes" “And she will not stop me!” "Yes, YES"
Summoning everything she knew and everything she had been taught these last thousand years came together in a near singularity. Harnessing her power of the stars she drew them closer, closer, and closer still. She felt their power. Their unbridled, raw power and forced it to break the decaying banishment spell. In a scream of agony and release she sent herself from her lunar prison at the planet in front of her.
Luna collapsed into darkness.
"Now it’s my turn, do not forget what I taught you. You will take your rightful place in time. Leave that to me."