• Published 16th Apr 2012
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Hooves, Plush, and Magic: The Untold Tales - Harry Leferts



This is the place for side stories, origin tales and plot bunnies for my fic: "The Wizard and the Lonely Princess". So come on in,

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Luna's Story Part 6

Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is owned by Hasbro and Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling.

"Hello"-Normal Speaking
"Interesting..."- Nightmare Moon speaking.
'Huh'- Normal Thoughts.
'All mine...' Nightmare Moon's thoughts
______________________________________________________________

Sitting down in the now reflexive state of Nightmare's body serving as a backrest for him, the three lapse into silence as they watch the rise of Equestria over the horizon of the moon. After hearing about Discord and Lepdioptera the day before, Harry knows why they're being silent and lets them stay that way for a while before turning to Nightmare and watches as she pushes her hoof through the moondust. He then turns to Luna and sees her looking up into the starry sky above as she sits next to him. Finally he sighs as he nods. "You guys don't have to tell me any more about what happened if you don't want to."

Sharing a look with her darker version, Luna shakes her head with a grimace. "No, you deserve this much." She then gets up and makes her way right next to Harry before sitting down and wrapping a wing around him. "Remember the old saying that hindsight is 20/20?"

Raising an eyebrow, the young wizard shakes his head. "It's always easier to see where we did wrong after time has passed."

Lips twitching a little, Luna nods. "It is." She then once more frowns. "But in my case, looking back on it, I can see where things started going wrong." She then turns to Harry. "I think it started back before Discord when I was an adviser like Celly."

Confused, Harry looks at her. "How?"

Sighing, the lunar princess shakes her head. "Back then, when Ponies came to advice, they really only came to me if Celly was unavailable." Seeing the frown on Harry's face, she holds up a hoof. "That's not to say that they didn't enjoy my advice or ignored it. But Celly was my older sister. And that meant that she was wiser and smarter then me, right?" Seeing the distaste on her friend's face, she laughs a bit. "Yes, it's quite silly I know. But things worked like that back then. The older you were, the wiser as you were supposed to be." Her soft smile soon turns into a frown as she continues. "However, that was only the beginning." Sighing, she continues. "Because they went to my sister, I was less well known. And after becoming a Princess, the fact that I spent more time alone working behind the scenes caused Ponies to see me as mysterious... and the incident with the Love Poison just made it worse."

Waving his arms, Harry shakes his head. "Wait, what? How did that make it worse?"

Nightmare scowls as she looks away. "Rumors started up that I had wanted Celestia under the influence of the potion for my own goals. After all, being her sister I would have had to recognize that signs that she was under the some kind of outside influence."

Harry's jaw just drops. "That's..." He then shakes his head before looking between the two of them. "And what did Celestia have to say?"

Going silent for a moment, Luna stares off into the distance. "She convinced me to let it go, that they would die away soon enough." She then shakes her head. "They didn't. Rather, the rumors spread." She then sadly chuckles. "And our attentions were drawn away by various issues that popped up."

Harry raises an eyebrow at this. "Issues?"

The blue Alicorn snorts. "Yes." Snorting again, her lips twitch into a small, bitter smile. "As it turned out, Discord had actually saved Equestria in a sense." Seeing the shocked look, she looks down and sighs. "After his defeat, the other countries around Equestria started falling apart. The first to go was Canis."

Interested, Harry cocks his head to the side. "Why?"

Shifting a little, Luna tilts her head to the side as she looks at him. "Canis was less of a country as it turned out and more of a giant pack. Like in the dogs you know, one Alpha ruled over the pack. In the case of Canis, this Alpha was the one who ruled over the strongest pack, which in turn ruled over the others. When Discord tore through, he wiped out most of the 'Alpha' packs and decimated the 'Beta' packs and the monsters he brought with him caused even more damage. The Omega packs, those considered to be the weakest pre-Discord, were now the strongest. However, there were so many, that the entire country soon descended into a civil war unlike any you've heard about."

Nightmare then grunts. "There had to be at least a hundred Omega Packs and now with those above them weakened, they tore into them and each other trying to claim a spot as an Alpha pack as the Beta packs did the same." She then shakes her head with a saddened look. "It... did not take long before it spilled over into the neighboring countries."

Knowing why she's saddened, Luna walks over and places a comforting hoof on Nightmare. "Some of the packs attacked the neighboring countries for resources and territory in order to fuel their fighting. Others were scattered bands broken off from fighting packs or were remnants of the defeated packs that had not been killed or absorbed." Looking up at the orb that is Equestria, Luna sighs. "The other countries stood no chance. They were already straining from internal and external conflicts such as a shifting of the power structure to monsters rampaging across the land. When the Canis Civil War spilled over into the neighboring countries, the waves of refugees from them swarmed into the other countries. Straining them past the breaking point and causing collapse."

Harry frowns at this. "Then why didn't you mention this happening to Equestria then?"

Luna and Nightmare share a look before the dark Alicorn answers. "Because Harry... it didn't." She then clears her throat a bit and clarifies. "And by that I mean Equestria was pretty much unaffected by it." Seeing his eyes widen, she shakes her head. "None of the raiding canids, though some started referring to them as Diamond Dogs for their strange obsession with gems which they used as a form of wealth and to show power, or any refugee had tried to enter Equestria for a long time." She then brings her head closer to his. "You see Harry, they all thought that Discord was still around and in charge of Equestria. And so we had the time to rebuild what we could without worry of the other countries."

Luna slowly nods. "Of course, we were pretty isolationist and the reputation of those countries were in tatters due to how they shrugged us off when we had asked for assistence. We simply thought that they were rebuilding like us and wanted nothing to do with Equestria... which, frankly, was just fine with us." She then holds out one foreleg with the hoof facing up before gesturing with it. "The first sign that we had was when a Canid pack ran into Equestria while escaping from another. They soon raided a village and found out that Discord was no more and due to that, they let the packs allied with them know and word spread."

Wincing, Harry shakes his head. "How soon did it take before one of them tried something?"

Grimacing, Luna shakes her head. "Not long at all. Some of them blamed us Ponies for what had occurred with Discord and so, one of the packs managed to raise a large army and attacked Equestria in the name of vengeance. It was truly the first test of the Equestrian Guard. But it took time to gather our forces, though thankfully we had help in delaying them." Seeing Harry cock his head to the side, Luna smiles. "Years before, I and Typhoon had went and gained an agreement with a old Great Wyrm known as Spykroplis and his mate, Amakirr. Of course, neither had a family and so had taken a small settlement of Ponies nearby as their own. And when the Canids had turned their attention to that village, they gained the rage of two very old, very powerful dragons."

Harry just blinks at that. "And they held off the Canids for Ponies?"

Nightmare nods. "Yes." She then sighs. "Spykroplis and Amakirr had never had children as when they had met, they were too old to lay eggs. Instead, during the reign of Discord, they took in a group of orphans and raised them as their own. This group became the village at the bottom of the mountain where they lived with their cave right above them. When the Canids showed up and attacked, the dragons were on them almost immediately and drove them off. It gave us the time we needed to gather our forces and go on the offense." Her eyes sparkle a little as she grins. "And, of course, Spykroplis and Amakirr were pissed off enough that they joined up with us."

Half sunk into remembrance, Luna looks upwards. "That began what some called the Century of War. For the next hundred years we fought various groups trying to tear apart Equestria for their own reasons. I was usually at the front with the troops while Celly was back at the Capital keeping support going among the nobility. Usually by flattering them with feasts and celebrations to keep the Ponies and the funds flowing from their personal domains and kingdoms."

Giving her an odd look, Harry raises an eyebrow. "So she was never there?"

Snorting, Luna shakes her head. "Oh, she was there alright from time to time. And trust me when I say that she could fight just as well as I could, she simply didn't like to." She then gives a soft smile of remembrance. "And Celly was always better at the social side of things then I was..."

Seeing her frown, Harry sighs as he realizes why. "And because of you always being at the forefront of battle, they thought that you were violent, right?" A slow nod is his only answer causing him to scowl. "Foals."

Giggling some, Luna soon becomes serious again as she lays a hoof on his hand. "Harry, I know how you feel. But as I have said it has been many, many years for me. But, in the end, i can partially understand where they might be coming from." She then leans downwards a bit and looks into Harry's eyes as she tilts her head. "Their parents and grandparents, having gone through Discord's reign, had given them everything that they themselves never had. And so... their children became, unseen to them, spoiled. Those who did not serve in the Guard could not understand what we went through and why."

Nightmare gives a snort as she smirks. "It was also around this time that issues between us and the nobility started occurring. We also cemented the loyalty of our Guards at this time."

Eyebrow raised, Harry turns towards her. "Oh? How so?"

Smirking, Nightmare tosses her head back some. "When we were fighting, I was always with the soldiers at the front. I slept, ate, and faught in the same conditions side by side. The nobles did not like this as they saw it as beneath me, beneath our rank."

Luna nods. "Celly always told me that we should act as we should for our station and behave as Princesses should. But..." Shaking her head slowly, she sighs. "I never could do that." Snorting, she looks at Harry. "I tried, I really did, but I always wound up once more in the same position as the normal ground soldier side by side with my personal Guard." Thoughtful, Luna looks up at the stars. "Celly and I approached our respective Commands in different manners." She then looks at Harry. "Part of that has to deal with what military we had spent the most time in. Celly was most used to how the old Unicorn Kingdom had done it. Whether I had the most experience with the Pegasi military and the old Earth Pony militias."

Looking between the two Alicorns, Harry blinks in curiosity. "What was the difference between the two?"

Nightmare hums to herself thoughtfully before answering. "As you can rightly guess, in the Unicorn Kingdom's military, Officers were without question from the nobility while the footsoldiers were mainly from the lower classes. Now, that's not to say that a footsoldier could not rise to a Officer rank, but the titles they would be given would, at best, be only for them and unable to be passed down. And usually done only in times of war when more officers were needed. Otherwise, the only rank that a lower class citizen could try for that was higher then a footsoldier would be Knighthood or a War Mage."

Nodding, Luna looks over at him. "And in the case of knighthood, like in your world, the Knight would normally take on a young colt or filly and train them in the ways of knighthood as a squire. That happened often with Celly and usually she joined the orders of Paladins, those Knights specializing in fighting monsters and healing the sick and injured with their magic."

Snorting, Nightmare shakes her head. "Though for great deeds of valor and bravery in service of the Kingdom, one could be knighted as well."

Clearing his throat, Harry catches their attention. "And... War Mages?"

Luna smiles before answering. "War Mages were a group that trained their magic for battle and battle alone. On the field of battle, they were completely terrifying to their foes as they used their spells to wipe out entire groups of troops or smash fortifications. Only the most powerful Unicorns could become a War Mage and the training was brutal as all their magical might was turned towards combat and combat alone."

Nodding, Nightmare sighs. "Which was one of the reasons for their rarity in troop formations. Usually an army would have, at the most, five or six. Which, really, was usually all that was needed." She then smirks evilly. "And you can guess what we usually were when we joined the Unicorn militaries."

Snorting, Harry gives her a knowing look. "That would be the epitome of a sucker's bet." Frowning, he continues. "And the Pegasi and Earth Ponies were different?"

Smiling, Luna gives him a nod. "They were." Frowning in thought, she furrows her eyebrows. "Earth Ponies didn't have what you might call a true army. Due to the taxation from both the Unicorns and Pegasi, they couldn't truly afford an army of their own. Instead, they had well trained militias. Groups of Ponies, usually colts and Stallions with some mares, who trained themselves in the art of combat alongside living normal lives."

Nightmare then gives Harry a hooded look. "But don't think that they were pushovers. They weren't." Shaking her head, she chuckles. "While not as disciplined as the Pegasi or as powerful magically as the Unicorns, Earth Pony militia were feared for their ability to ambush their enemies and then fade into the surrounding brush. Their woodspony skills second to none. And, if they had to fight in a standup battle, then they would use their physical strength and durability to the best of their abilities making close combat suicidal. And if you gave them time to dig in..."

Harry nods as she trails off. "It would take a lot more to dislodge them then would otherwise."

Nodding, Luna pats him on the shoulder. "Correct Harry." She then sighs. "Their chain of command, however, was very causal. What you might consider to be an officer would be just the most experienced among them and often times would treat their subordinates no different them they, themselves were treated. As Comrades in arms."Shaking her head, she continues. "Pegasi, on the other hoof, were much like your world's spartans in that they were born into the military." She then raises a hoof. "And the difference between them and the Unicorns was that the Officers would not be granted privileges much above the normal soldiers until well into the upper ranks. Their leaders were very hooves on and, like myself later, would often be right there beside their own troops, eating much the same food, if a little better, fighting and dying."

Harry slowly smiles. "So you and Celestia had very different leadership methods."

The grin on Nightmare's muzzle is enough. "Yes." Smiling in remembrance, she sighs. "My troops respected me greatly due to me going through the same things they did. There was no distance there."

Frowning, Harry leans forwards as he looks between the two. "So then... what happened?"

Sharing a look with Nightmare, Luna sighs. "After the wars settled down to skirmishes, Celly and I realized we had an issue." Making a grand, sweeping gesture with a hoof, she shakes her head. "In the aftermath, we had conquered a great swath of the area around what had been our Kingdom, expanding it's boarders greatly and now had groups of non-ponies there. One day, my army was near the boarders when we came across one of the old Canis forts It was miraculously intact... But inhabited."

Blinking, Harry stares at her. "By the Canids?"

Luna slowly nods. "It was." Frowning, she looks at the ground. "However, remember how I told you that dragons had also torn apart and created their own little fiefdoms?" Harry begins to nod before stopping as his eyes widen. "Yes, this pack had been led by a dragon, a particularly nasty specimen who was likely to kill one of his subordinates as he was anypony else." Luna's expression slowly darkens. "He had recently raided Equestria and we had tracked him back to there. I was so angry, I challenged him to fight me one on one." A bloodthirsty grin appearing on her face, Luna chuckles softly. "The foal accepted and I slew him with little hardship." Noticing Harry looking somewhat unnerved, her expression softens. "However, I was not prepared for what happened next."

Chuckling, Nightmare shakes her head. "What seemed like the entire pack, numbering a few hundred, came out with their captives and bowed before us. It was..." She trails off for a moment before shaking her head. "Needless to say I was surprised when they as one dropped all their weapons and bowed."

Drifting off into her memories, Luna sighs. "Even though they were defeated, I wanted nothing less than to either drive them from our lands or slay them where they stood for the crimes against my subjects." She goes silent for a moment and then sighs as she closes her eyes. "And then... at the height of my fury as I stood above them with all the signs of battle on my armor and my troops awaiting me command... I saw... him..."

Confused, Harry cocks his head to the side. "Him?"

Nodding the lunar Princess continued. "Yes. Him..." Opening her eyes, she goes back to that day. "He was a young pup. Barely weaned from his mother. And yet, there he was, with the rest of his pack with his head bowed and touching the ground..." Sighing, she bows her head. "His mother at first tried to shield him from my gaze, but the movement of Typhoon beside me stopped her. He then looked up at me. And..." Trailing off, she swallows heavily before continuing. "And then he looked at me. And it struck me." Turning her shining eyes to Harry, she blinks away some tears. "This little pup, who had not experienced life truly... thought with near certainty that I was going to kill him." Swallowing again, she licks her lips as she shudders. "I couldn't do it. I just could not sentence such a little one to death, no matter how much I tried to harden my heart. So... I asked them why they bowed to me. And what they thought I might do to them. And their answer... was simple. " Trying to say something for a few moments, she finally sighs as she looks at Harry. "They told me that since I defeated the dragon, that I was now their Alpha. And, like the dragon did when it conquered them so many years before, that I was going to kill all those I wished to show my power."

Staring at her for a moment, Harry says his next words softly. "And yet you didn't." Blinking, he drops his gaze and looks at the various rocks at his feet. "Because, unlike the dragon, you're not a monster."

Luna is still for a moment and then nods. "Correct." Clearing her throat and shifting a little, she sighs. "Since I was their new Alpha, I ordered them to swear their allegiance to me and Equestria as a whole. They would gain their penance by working to build their new home and protecting it." Smiling, she shakes her head. "They agreed of course. Almost immediately."

Harry snorts a bit. "I can imagine how that went down with the nobles."

Snorting herself, the blue Alicorn grimaces. "It went down as well as you might think." She then hangs her head. "It was one of Celly's and I's greatest arguments." She then looks at Harry. "She was of the thought that allowing them to be our subjects might be a bad idea. After all, they were not Ponies and they had been our enemies so shortly before." Blinking, she turns to the horizon. "I told her that if that was true then Equestria should have never come about. After all, the three tribes were different and even more so, they had been enemies for centuries before then. And if we did not give the canids the chance for such reasons... then we were hypocrites of the highest order." Sighing, Luna closes her eyes. "She told me that she would allow it with some reservations... but that I was responsible for them."

Frowning in thought, Nightmare nods her head. "They renamed themselves the Moon Clan in our honor. But... they gave us a key to stopping the other Canid packs." She then turns to Harry. "We went around for the next twenty years finding the various packs still roaming the areas we claimed as Equestria and challenging the Alpha's to leadership of their packs." Snorting, she shakes her head. "They always lost mind you, sometimes though we had to kill them, mostly, we left in them the place of our Beta. Ironically, the Canids were far more loyal then most of our Ponies."

Luna nods. "Odd and yet true." She then looks at Harry. "During that same time, we also allowed other non-pony species into our Guard. Minotaurs, dragons, and so on. The fact that I was allowing those who had once turned their backs on Ponykind into my Guard was another reason for the friction between Celly and I as well as between me and the nobility." Her eyes slowly harden into a glare. "Some of them whispered that I was a traitor to Equestria for doing so." Seeing Harry about to say something, her hoof comes up. "To give my sister some credit, she made damn sure that they would get the idea not to say such things around her. It just drove it underground though."

Leaning back in thought, Harry frowns. "So Equestria expanded during this time?"

Smiling with a nod, the blue Alicorn chuckles. "It did." She then frowns. "Before being sent here, it was known as 'The First Age of Expansion' since Equestria more then doubled in size." Still frowning in thought, she continues. "In fact, that would set the stage for the... Civil War between my sister and I."

Taken aback by the depression and self-loathing in her voice, Harry lays a hand on her shoulder. "How so?"

Hanging her head with a sigh, the lunar Princess is silent for a moment. "By that time, I had been away from Equestria as a whole for a few generations. Neither Celly or I had given it any thought since to us it was but a blink of an eye, but due to that, I was barely known and as the 'Other Princess' then anything else as I had barely been seen. Celly, however, had become more and more popular as she would pull off celebrations and such on holidays such as her 'Summer Sun Festival' meanwhile due to my absence, the holidays under my purview, such as the 'Winter Moon Festival' had interest fade in them." Blinking a bit, she looks at Harry. "I was so busy with helping to set up and develop the outer reaches of Equestria, that I had not noticed this."

The larger, black Alicorn then continues. "And it was a long, hard road as without a true government, I had to set everything up." She then frowns. "As such, I used the old Unicorn tradition of giving new lands to those who had proven themselves the crown. As such, the nobility saw a influx of new noble families. Some of them caused a stir such as Earth Ponies now being part of the nobility. Others..." She then grimaces. "Up to about fifty years in, the fort where we first became a Canid Alpha was part of our personal fiefdoms. We handed it over though to the same pup, now an old dog, who prevented us from driving them away. His name was Fangtooth and he had a long and decorated history in the Night Guard. We felt that giving it to him was the least that we could do." Nightmare then softly smiles as a slightly teary look appears in her eyes. "He would go on to rule it for five years before he died one winter's night. We gave him a funeral fit for one of his standing within our Guard... which a number did not like but abided by. Even Celestia showed up to mourn his passing."

Smiling in fond remembrance, Luna nods. "Yes, and as time passed, his family would turn their lands into one of the most productive areas of Equestria and become well known for their metal and gemwork." Suddenly, she frowns. "However, things were not that rosy in other areas as some members of Celestia's Court convinced her that some of the newly gained lands should belong to them. And so, some of them were given to family members who had no lands of their own." She then shakes her head. "And so the whole area became, like the interior regions of Equestria, a patchwork of small kingdoms." Growling some, she continues. "And that's not mentioning how those I made nobility had been ostracized as they were 'Newblood' and thus could not understand the 'Old Ways' to say little of those who were not Ponies to begin with."

Groaning, Harry lays his face in his hands and shakes it. "And so tensions rose."

Nightmare nods. "Yes. There was a lot of bad blood gathered that was not helped due to other issues." Holding out a hoof, she shakes her head. "And as time passed, those we rose to the nobility took us on as their main patron while the older families took on Celestia as theirs." Bitterly chuckling, she grimaces. "Thankfully, it eventually became less that some of the new nobility was non-Pony and more that they could not trace their ancestry with the nobility to before Discord."

Also, grimacing, the younger looking Alicorn groans. "And it was then that I returned to Everfree Castle to discover that in the time that I was gone that I had nearly been forgotten. I... was not happy with Celly. Not at all." Her expression softening, she sighs with a soft smile. "However, Celly helped me start a project that I had wanted to do for a while. A series of schools for our subjects to learn in. Celly worked on the great academies while I helped fund and start many a small school in the outer areas for all. Back then, even having your average citizen able to read to an extent and do simple math was an amazing accomplishment."

Harry blinks a bit. "Sounds like truly an amazing thing that you two did."

Luna nods. "It was. The only issue I had with it was that I felt that it did not go far enough as We're talking what you would consider a second grade education for many while the nobility was able to go farther." Frowning with a sigh, Luna continues. "And during this time Celly and I got into several arguments. Mainly over things that should be done." Laying a hoof in the sandy ground, Luna starts drawing a small map with several dots inside it. Taps it. "At the time, the various communities were connected by dirt roads. Some of them not much better then a trail in the woods."

Nightmare then starts drawing lines connecting them, some of the dots with multiple lines leading from them. "And so, we came forward with a major infrastructure project. Cobblestone roads, much like roman roads here in England, were to be built at first between the major settlements. Then they would be spread out to the smaller ones." Stopping her drawing, she frowns. Stopping her drawing, she frowns. "Everything seemed to be going well... at first anyways." Using her hoof, she rubs the outlying ones out. "However, we got word that the outer areas did not see any surveyors and worse, somehow the tax plan we had come up with had been modified so that the outer areas were paying more subjectively then the inner areas and for work that they were seeing none of."

Stunned, Harry soon shakes it off. "Wait, are you joking?"

Snarling, Luna nearly spits before recovering herself. "I wish that she was, but she's not." Looking at her map, she glares. "The older Nobility were paying less taxes under the excuse that they had so many issues which to cover with what monies they did have. As for why it was only in their domains that work on infrastructure was happening..." Snarling, she slams a hoof into the ground. "They felt that the work should be done all in the central regions and then spread out to the outlying regions."

Harry glances at the map before frowning. "But... did Celestia agree with this?"

Luna just slowly nods. "She did." Blinking, she looks at the sky and slowly closes her eyes. "She told me that she has spoken to her advisers and she had decided that it would be far more organized to start at the central regions and expand from there. I agree now that I was a bit too hasty and wanted too much done too fast." The blue Alicorn then grimaces. "However. she would not interfere in the other issues." She then turns to Harry. "See Harry, as the network grew, we had the nobles quibbling and quarreling with the various surveyors and with those we had placed in the position of planning. They wanted to wring out every bit of advantage and profit that they could. And in that Celestia did not want either of us to interfere for fear of starting a conflict with the nobles." She then grimaces. "And the sight of myself quarreling with the Princess that was so beloved as Celly hurt my reputation even farther. And when added to the fact that there were creatures that lurked in the night and attacked Ponies despite all our Guards tried..."

Grimacing, Harry closes his eyes. "And so you slowly sank more and more into the shadow of your sister." Luna's silence is enough of an answer for him. "So was the whole network ever completed in the time you were there?"

Shaking her head, Luna sighs. "No it wasn't." She then purses her lips. "Eventually it got to the point where I created a group to monitor taxes to make sure that they were being gathered correctly. Needless to say, the nobility did not like this, but the outer regions for the most part accepted it. After a few decades of this, and Celly and I butting heads, we got word of the Griffin raids on the settlements near the mountains. Celly suggested that perhaps I should go and negotiate with them. After all, my experience with the Canids, by then almost unanimously called 'Diamond Dogs', and dragons showed that I was the better choice for us to go when carnivores were involved." She then gives a scowl. "Not to mention that Celly thought it best to give us both a time to cool down a bit and let things subside a bit." Clearing her throat, Luna resumes the story. "Anyways... And so, I took with me my personal Guards, Typhoon having since been promoted to the head of the Night Guard with Juniper as her second, came with me. I would spend the next fifty years coming back and forth between Equestria. Mainly so that I could change out the Guards with new ones besides Typhoon. Eventually, I managed to hammer out a deal with them."

Seeing the thoughtful look on Luna's face, Harry's eyes rise. "What is it?"

Luna snaps out of it and looks at him with a smile. "During that time, I managed to come across some vastly different clans of Griffins. While many were obviously of the descent from the Gryphon's serfs, others had supposedly different origins." Holding out a hoof, bottom up, she shakes her head. "According to them, they had fled from a land from far over the sea." She then gives Harry a bit of an odd look. "Never did find out the truth behind that." She then sighs. "Then I was called to the eastern territories as a another bunch of Canid packs had decided to try for Equestria. I subdued them, but that took time." Shaking her head, the lunar Princess continues. "Of course, I eventually returned to Equestria, only to find that the group that I had created had for the most part been defanged. According to Celly, it was because some of the nobility had threatened some actions and she had done so to keep the peace. I can see that now, as the various alliances that were around at the time could theoretically cause disruptions if they chose to do so I know from how she acted that she hated doing so, but at the time, I felt like I had been backstabbed due to being away. It was compounded by the fact that it was at this time that I discovered that Ponies feared my night and locked themselves away from it and had done so for many years." Closing her eyes, a few tears leak from them. "Nights that I had done my best to make as lovely as possible."

Hugging her, Harry lets her lean into him. "And that was where it truly began, wasn't it?"

Sniffling, Luna nods as Nightmare leans her head on Harry's shoulder. "It was Harry. I turned to making my nights more and more beautiful... Only for them to ignore it." She then gulps a little. "And then I found out how, in my absence, various artists, inventors, and scientists had started not only rediscovering the knowledge from before Discord, but surpassing it... and so I thought that by becoming a patron of some, that I could help rebuild my image..."

Scowling, Nightmare growls. "But it did not turn out that way." Her scowls soon softens. "They either wanted nothing to do with us or those who chose to accept out patronage soon found themselves ostracized for their choice."

Luna grimaces a bit, but nods. "Yes, and so our only choice was to be an anonymous patron." She then sighs. "And around this time that 'Poltergeist' appeared." None of them notice the slight shiver run through Nightmare. "All of that combined to send me on a downward spiral. Not helped, in the least, by the fact that Celestia was so busy at this point that by the time she set the sun, she only wanted to sleep. I, on the other hoof, had barely anything besides my own plans." She then saddens even farther. "I tried to hold festivals, celebrations and parties... only for almost no one to show."

Blinking, Nightmare leans into Harry. "We felt abandoned by almost all. We had spent so much time away that many wondered as to why we were there." She then gulps a little. "I remembered one of our biggest fights with Celestia before the end..." Shifting a little, she looks at Harry directly over his shoulder. "We had a group come to the Night Court who wished for our help. They had come from a farming and craft producing community. Seems that the road they traveled to a nearby city passed through several fiefdoms who each had toll booths. As it was a many day journey, it combined with the taxes meant that they were not making as much as they should. And so, we decided that perhaps we should do something and promised them so." Looking at the small map, she slowly draws a line. "There was a stream that we ordered our surveyors to turn into a canal between this town and the trading cities. It took twenty years, but they did so..."

Seeing the narrowed look, Harry frowns. "What happened?"

Nightmare scowls a bit before stamping her hoof. "Celestia placed higher tolls on the canal then there were on the road. And so, she made us into liars."

Luna frowns a bit at her darker self. "I wouldn't go that far." She then looks at Harry. "According to Celestia at the time, she did so because the communities along the road now lost a source of income and trade. This was because, while stopped for the night, the farmers and craftsponies would pay for food an lodgings or trade some of their goods. I can see the wisdom now, mind you. But then..."

Harry sighs. "At the time and in the state that you were in, you didn't want to hear excuses."

Luna nods. "Quite." She then shakes her head. "I had not wanted to hear any of it, as now the community that I had tried to help, instead spread the news that, in the end, I could not help any pony, and at best I could only maintain the status quo." Looking into the distance, a far off look enters Luna's eyes. "It was at that point that I started pushing Celly away from me. I... I just..." Hanging her head with a sigh, Luna continues. "I felt that there were times that one should push while Celly felt a lighter touch all the time was better." Blinking away something, Luna disengages from the hug as she stands up. "That was about a hundred and twenty years before my... war."

Harry gets to his feet as Nightmare does as well. "I thought that you asked her if she could take over raising the sun for a day?"

Luna nods. "Yes." She starts walking as Harry follows on one side with Nightmare on his opposite. "I would, over the next twenty years, butt heads with the nobility of the central regions as around now they began using every trick they could to drain the outer regions of their riches." Shaking her head, she looks at a crater. "And then came that awful day. I had heard a noble speak that perhaps it was for the better if they did away with the night. That... I was no longer needed and more trouble then I was worth. I... was angry, frustrated, and most of all depressed." Turning to Harry, Luna gives him a saddened look. "I dread to think of how much trouble I might have caused my sister in those twenty years as no doubt she had to put out many of the small brushfires I started. And so, having seen how tired she had been, I offered to take over for a day. To raise the sun and hold the day court." Suddenly stopping, the Alicorn stares at the orb of the green and blue planet above them. "She laughed at me. Not, as I thought in a mocking way, but more as a older sister might when it comes younger sibling asks to do something that they are not yet old enough or strong enough to do."

Nightmare shakes her head as she, too, stares at the planet above them. "Afterwards, I heard that some thought that I was trying to usurp my sister's place." She then turns and lowers her head to look Harry in the eyes. "And so, I decided that I was going to prove to Celestia... prove to them all that I was strong enough! That I was good enough to be their princess!" She then frowns. "It didn't help matters though that around this time both Juniper and Typhoon took a break from the Night Guard."

That causes Harry to whip his head around in surprise. "Wait, what?"

Luna softly giggles some. "They seemed to have fallen in love with a Earth Pony stallion. He was blind curiously, but I think in that case it helped. They thought that I didn't know of course." Shaking her head slowly, the giggles come to a stop. "They settled together in one of Juniper's old hideouts. A house built into a hillside which was just outside Everfree Glade. They later had children. Juniper's was an Earth Pony while Typhoon's was a Pegasus." She then sighs sadly. "However, as with many things in their long lives, their children eventually grew up as their love died of old age."

Nodding, the larger black Alicorn sighs. "And once their children were grown they came back and rejoined the Guard." She then waves a hoof. "By which point I was already delving deep into various mystic arts." Shaking her head, Nightmare snorts. "And so things went as the next century passed. Slowly, but surely tensions between the outer and inner portions of Equestria raised. Mayhaps we might have been able to do something if we helped Celestia at this time, but we had wanted nothing to do with her at that point as she had seemed to disliked our ideas immensely."

Luna slowly nods. "We might have prevented the coming civil war." She then shakes her head. "About twenty years before, one of Fangtooth's descendents, Chrys, joined the Night Guard as was traditional. At around the same time, Typhoon found a Hippogriff who's parents had been killed due to monsters. His name was Talon and like Chrys, when the war finally came to pass, he was among my personal Guard." She then glances at the boy walking beside her. "As we have already told you of our transformation, we won't bore you any farther with that. However, our transformation occurred just as the civil war broke. It was on one of the last days of autumn that we arose in our new state."

Nightmare hangs her head. "We immediately took control of one of the three factions in the Civil War. Celestia took control of another with the neutrals, lead by the Mi Amore family trapped in the middle." She then closes her eyes as if in great pain. "The war lasted six months that winter and into spring. The whole time Celestia and Us were fighting magically for control over the heavens. It was... bloody, brutal, and many things that come with such a war. Our Night Guard, long angered over being dismissed as a lesser Guard, clashed in the sky and on the ground with the Day Guard. Many of the nobility in the outer reaches sided with us while those in the central regions sided with Celestia. Others, the neutrals, played both sides in many cases."

Turning, Luna regards Harry. "In the end, we tried one last gambit." She looks towards the horizon and stops. "We had been stymied long, but had constructed a large spell array and using it, teleported our armies to Everfree Glade. There, I met Celly one last time in combat. We each unleashed spells beyond count. Both of us drew heavily from our respective celestial objects for energies as we flung ever more powerful techniques at each other, tearing apart the land and sky. Finally... We saw her fall towards the castle far below, badly injured. Diving, we landed just as she hit the ground..."

Nightmare then sneers. "However, we weren't the only intelligent ones as at that time she sprung her trap." She then smirks. "She had set up a spell array designed to bind our power and body for a time. How she pleaded with us to turn away from our path..." Trailing off, Nightmare blinks away a tear. "We told her however that things had gone too far, that there was no where to go but the end..."

Harry's eyes widen. "And that was when she used the Elements... wasn't it?"

Luna nods. "Yes." She then closes her eyes. "And I could see how much it tore her apart on the inside to do it. At that moment Typhoon, Juniper, Talon, and Chrys all jumped in the way of the beam... only for it to do nothing." She then looks around. "I have searched long and hard for them to see if they are here... but they are not. They were our most loyal of servants and perhaps... if we had thought of it... they might have become our friends."

Speaking in an almost whisper, Nightmare continues. "I too have searched, only to find nothing." She then blinks. "At that moment, I could feel my power torn apart, with at least some sealed here in the moon. When we next awoke..." She doesn't have to say anything as Harry pulls her into a hug along side Luna...