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Introduction (Completely Optional)100 words
Chapter 1 - Nightmare Moon2,202 words
Chapter 2 - Darkness and Silence, Broken by Light2,474 words
Chapter 3 - Imprisoned2,123 words
Chapter 4 - A Discordant Meeting2,454 words
Intermission I602 words

Chapter 1 - Nightmare Moon

Jealousy and hatred seethed through Princess Luna. Ponies hated her night. Not one pony stayed awake to see her twinkling artwork in the midnight sky. Her sister never put much effort into her days. All Celestia ever did was raise the sun, yet everypony rejoiced in the daylight. This drove Luna nearly to madness; she was growing closer to the edge with every passing hour.

Luna passed through the halls to her bedroom. She had just lowered the moon, ending another of her beautiful, unappreciated nights. Her hoofsteps were heavy with drowsiness and her mane hung limply along her neck, its normal bounce gone with the morning breeze. The bright lavender walls of the castle slowly faded into a deep purple as she neared her room.

Two members of her personal night guard were waiting outside her midnight blue door. They stood alert as the princess of the night passed between them with her head low and her mane limp. Neither pegasus said a word, knowing almost exactly what was wrong with the dark princess. They often heard her throughout the day talking to herself and weeping, for she thought nopony loved her night.

The guards knew otherwise, but it was not their place to say anything. Instead they stayed silent as the door closed with a dark blue aura surrounding it. The crescent moon adorning the midnight-colored door pulsed a soft white, the light overpowered by the black glow from the background of the emblem that depicted the night princess' cutie mark. If the guards had taken notice of the pulsating glow, they would have looked in to see a frightening transformation occurring.

When it came time to raise the moon that night, Luna did so from the confines of her room. The guards that had been posted outside her room were relieved by two more pegasi in gleaming armor of deep purple. They bore Princess Luna's cutie mark as an emblem upon their chests. The two charcoal pegasi stood in silence as the hours dragged on through the dark night. Not a sound could be heard from within the suite as the dawn approached.

From inside her own room, Princess Celestia prepared to raise the sun and welcome the day. The time of sunrise rolled around and her horn glowed a light gold, yet she could not raise the sun. Though she told the sun to rise it did not, for the silver moon was still suspended among glittering stars. Darkness greeted the early birds of Canterlot who were rising for a long day's work, or maybe it was a long night's work? Not one pony knew the answer, including the princess of the day.

A confused and slightly unnerved Celestia made her way to Luna's room with a frown. Never before had her sister kept the moon so high during this time, and it frightened her. The halls darkened in color and her sister's guards simply nodded as the alicorn passed. She didn't even acknowledge their presence; she was on a mission and nothing would stop her.

Without knocking, Celestia opened the door to Luna's room with a flick of her horn. What she saw only made her anger flare. Her sister was standing on the balcony and watching the confused ponies on the streets below. A near-silent sound reached Celestia, and she flicked an ear towards her sister to hear laughing. She cleared her throat softly in an attempt to gain Luna's attention only to be ignored by her younger sister and fellow ruler of Equestria.

"Luna," she said calmly, "how dare thee steal away the day from thine own subjects?"

"'Tis we who should be asking of thou, dear sister. Dost thou not hold power over thy treasured sun? 'Tis not we who steal away the sun, but thy own self."

"My dear sister, thou art mistaken. The sun canst not be raised if thy moon still hangs in the sky."

"If thou can raise the sun, canst thou not lower our moon as well?"

Celestia reared up her head at this. There was no way that was her sister. "Surely thou dost not want thine moon stolen away from thee?"

"No, we dost not. Yet we have stolen away the sun from thee and thine subjects. The night shall reign eternal!"

"Surely thou dost not mean that sister."

"We shall rule, sister. We shall rule in darkness for eternity. There is naught thou canst do to stop us. We shall have nighttime eternal!"

Luna wheeled around on her heels with her turquoise cat-eyes glowing softly. Her light blue mane was turning a deep indigo and her coat was turning black. Her angelic midnight blue wings were darkening to match her coat and her feathers became pointed instead of rounded. She was becoming a monster, seething with pure hatred before her sister. "We shalt rule alone. Naught shall hinder us."

As she continued to speak, she took a few strong steps towards her sister until she was centimeters away from Celestia. "Thy precious sun shalt never return. Thine subjects art ours. They shant see the sun again. Nor shall they see thou ever again."

As Luna's horn began to glow a dark blue, Celestia was freed from her paralyzed state of fear. Sheer terror guided her actions as her instincts directed her to flee. With fear blazing unhidden in her eyes, she teleported to the one place she though was safe: the throne room. Laughter echoed through the halls and Celestia could hear approaching hoofsteps. How Luna had reached her so quickly was unknown, but the eldest of the regal sisters knew she had to hide. Now.

Celestia ducked behind the throne in a hasty retreat. Eyes wide and ears alert, she kicked open a secret passageway, turned and bolted. Once her soft pink tail had cleared the opening, a soft golden glow filled the passage. The door slid to a close as the alicorn ran for her life. With gold-shod hooves pounding against the stone floor, she steered her course towards the dark passage that led towards the Elements of Harmony.

Luna strode through the halls of the castle with purpose in her steps. Now that her transformation was complete she had donned a pale blue suit of armor. She walked slowly towards the throne room, for banishing her sister could wait a bit longer. Her older sister and previous co-ruler had fled, and had therefore surrendered the Equestrian throne. A smug smile drifted across her face, revealing her sharp, gleaming fangs to the nearby celestial guard and castle servants. The ponies fled from her as she walked towards the throne room. It was a good sign; already ponies feared her power.

With an echoing laugh and a flicker of midnight blue magic, Luna entered the throne room. She made her way to the throne with strong, steady hoofsteps. As she approached , the swirling cloud of purple that was her mane quickly discarded the gold and lavender silk banners that adorned the regal seat. Another brief flicker of magic later and the entire room's decor, including the gold accents of the throne, had been replaced with decorations of deep purple, midnight blue, black and a touch of white.

Luna stepped forward to take a seat on the throne. Its once golden accents were midnight blue and the banner draped across the back was a deep, almost black, purple with her cutiemark embroidered onto the thin fabric. Similar banners hung from the ceiling, both in the deep purple and in midnight blue. Tiny white dots meant to resemble stars also decorated the banners that hung from above, each banner depicting a different well-known constellation. The red carpet from the door to the throne was now a deep purple that was slightly lighter than the banners and was trimmed with midnight blue. Intricate swirls of black accompanied the solid blue to complete the dark and ominous look of the room.

"That is more suitable for us. Now, we need a new name. Luna will not do."

The new ruler of Equestria sat on her throne with a hoof to her chin in thought until she was approached by one of her night guard. The pegasus walked forward slowly with his head bowed in respect and bat wings folded to his sides.

"Yes? What dost thou wish to speak to thy queen about?"

The guard shied away slightly at her harsh tone and, after swallowing the lump in his throat, raised his head to meet the turquoise gaze of the queen. "Thy guard before thee couldst not help but overhear thy plight. Might I suggest a name for thee, o queen?"

He lowered his head slightly, but still held the dark alicorn's steady gaze as he awaited a reply. A long, drawn out silence followed as the alicorn seated upon the throne considered his request. Of course, this only made the guard even more nervous as the silence drew on longer and longer. His slit yellow eyes glinted with nervousness in the moonlight streaming through the windows on either side of the throne, but he could catch no clue as to what the mistress of the night was thinking for her eyes were closed in contemplation.

After a few more moments of tense silence, the dark alicorn before him spoke. "Yes. Please do give us thine suggestion."

The guard nodded and swallowed once again, trying to quickly piece together a reply. "As thou art now the sole ruler of Equestria and wish to rule in everlasting night, thy humble guard dost believe that Nightmare Moon is quite suitable for one so regal as thyself."

The alicorn sat silently on the throne with a thoughtful look upon her face. Her mane and tail rippled around the throne as an ominous cloud of purple smoke, only succeeding in making the the guard more nervous(he was reaching frightened/terrified at this point). No longer able to meet the queen's eyes, the pegasus averted his gaze to admire the new decor. A few seconds later, he found himself lost among the starry patterns.

"We wouldst not suggest admiring the decor for long: 'tis enchanted."

The guard shook himself from his daze and turned his yellow eyes back to the alicorn to see her gleaming white fangs. He gulped nervously and the dark queen chuckled lightly, though it did little to calm his racing heart. "Calm thyself. We art not angry with thee. Thy suggestion is perfect for us, and a declaration must be made to all of Equestria. Come."

The charcoal pegasus lowered his head respectfully as Nightmare Moon stepped down from her throne. Once she had passed, he followed hesitantly with his eyes on his hooves. They made their way to the balcony just off the throne room. As the pair came to a halt in the fresh night air, the guard remained a few paces behind the queen. Nightmare Moon cleared her throat and the guard braced himself for what was to come.

"CITIZENS OF EQUESTRIA, DO NOT BE FRIGHTENED. WE HAVE NEWS AS TO WHY THY SUN DOST NOT RISE THIS DAY!"

At these words everypony stopped what they were doing and turned their eyes toward the castle. There was a vast mix of emotions in the citizens' eyes. Some were sad, angry and confused while some of the more noble ponies wore expressions of worry and dismay. Nightmare Moon looked over the sea of her subjects and smirked, her fangs catching the moonlight. The guard at her side risked a glance from the balcony only to duck back behind the alicorn as each and every pony turned their heads to look at him with eyes alight in anger.

"THY DEAR PRINCESS CELESTIA HATH SURRENDERED THE THRONE TO US, YOUR NEW QUEEN."

Nervous glances passed between the ponies below before one brave soul dared to ask the question on everypony's mind. "What about Princess Luna!?"

A glare from the alicorn shut him up and froze him to the spot. "PRINCESS LUNA IS GONE! SHE WILL NEVER RETURN, FOR WE HAVE TAKEN HER PLACE. YOU ARE LOOKING AT THE NEW QUEEN OF EQUESTRIA, NIGHTMARE MOON. BOW BEFORE YOUR QUEEN!"

The ponies below fell to their knees, quivering like leaves ready to fall from the branches of autumn trees. Echos of her command rumbled throughout the city as the royal Canterlot voice slowly faded. Nightmare Moon turned back to face the guard. "What is thy name?"

"Darkwing, your majesty. Captain Darkwing."

"Thank you, Captain, for your help. As for the rest of my subjects..." she glanced over her shoulder with a sigh. "...I hope they will be as loyal as thee." With this she walked off the balcony with her mane and tail swirling around her and made her way to the throne to begin court.

Author's Note:

Any guesses as to who Darkwing is? Maybe you have some and maybe not, but I have plans... *enter Nightmare Moon laugh here*