Monsters · 3:05am Aug 8th, 2015
When I started writing the interaction between Nightmare Moon and her Nemesis, I originally planned for Nightmare to reveal her origins. However. . . I changed my mind for a few reasons:
1. If I used my own favored explanation for where Celestia and Luna came from, it would actually be a bit of a spoiler for a couple of other stories -- currently on hiatus but I do plan to get back to them.
2. Nightmare Moon isn't Twilight Sparkle. She doesn't love to lecture, and she doesn't owe her Nemesis anything.
3. It seemed like a bit too much of a tangent, or distraction, relative to the story line.
4. Teasing you guys with an almost-reveal.
However, I thought some of you might like to see this little snippet anyhow. . .
Nightmare Moon snorted. “You really have no idea, do you? You’re just making up these stories.”
The Nemesis looked at her. “Then let’s hear yours?”
“We’re monsters.”
The Nemesis blinked. “Say what now?”
Nightmare Moon took a deep breath, and then she elaborated. “In the early days of Equestria, not long after the first Hearth Warming of legend, the Wizard Wars raged all around our fledgeling nation. Warlocks, witches and sorcerers raised armies to battle one another, plundering the land and building their empires. They used morphogenic spells and created chimeric monstrosities to fill the ranks of their armies: griffins, minotaurs, manticores, cockatrices. Thus… In Equestria there was universal concern, fear of invasion by Malaclypse Magus and his son, or by Queen Katrina, or the warlord Grogar, or King Sombra, or Queen Nastinka, or the witch Hydia and her daughters.”
“Equestria needed its own morphogenic monsters that could stand against whatever abominations the warlords would, inevitably, send our way. They put their most skilled unicorns to work on the problem, and they invented us: Sola and Luna. Alicorns. Living super-weapons.”
The Nemesis lowered its ears, flared its nostrils. “I don’t believe it.”
“You saw what I did to Tambelon and Grogar’s army — and that was without even casting spells. It’s exactly what I was made for.”
“But… How did you become princesses?”
“Oh, that. Well, you see… When Malaclypse the Younger heard about us, he became very determined to create the most powerful morphogenic monster of all: one that could surely defeat us. His theory was that the more different creatures he combined, the more powerful the resulting monster would be. Body of a serpent. . . equine head… one antler… one ibex horn… paw of a lion… bird’s talon… a feathered wing… a bat wing…”
“He made Discord?”
“Yes. And Discord showed his appreciation by turning Malaclypse the Younger into an eggplant. That was the end of the Wizard Wars. Everyone, good and bad, ponies and monsters alike, scattered and struggled merely to survive the unleashed chaos of a world turned upside-down. Sometimes literally. Nopony knows how long the Rein of Discord lasted. The sun and moon rose at random, and even the passage of time seemed scrambled by his magic. When Sola and I finally defeated him, Equestria had to be rebuilt from ruins, and we — the heroes of the day — took up the reins of power.”
