It seemed to take forever for the blinding flash to fade, but when it finally did Shining took a look around. The place he was in was completely unfamiliar to him, it appeared to be like the interior of the castle in Canterlot, but with some noticeably different design choices to it. This included the tapestries depicting Princess Celestia and Princess Luna that hung on either side of what he could only describe as the throne room. "What is this place? I've never seen it before, but something about is strangely familiar." Shining wondered outloud, hoping that someone could inform him of where he was.
Suddenly, from out of the blue a familiar voice called out. "Not another step." And then, who should emerge from the darkness but a very angry looking Princess Luna?
"Princess Luna?" Shining asked, he hadn't been expecting to see either of the royal sisters. "What's going on? What is this place? Why did you and Princess Celestia vanish?"
Luna didn't seem to be aware of Shining's presence, in fact she seemed to acting as if he didn't even exist in the first place. "Did you really expect me to just sit idly by while they all basked in your 'precious light?" She angrily remarked, a noticeable hint of jealousy punctuated every line of dialogue.
"'Precious light'? What are you talking about, you're not making any sense!" Shining protested. "Please, tell me what's going on! Why is The Everfree Forest invading?! I need answers!"
But Luna still didn't acknowledge Shining, she just trotted to the center of the throne. "I have lived in your shadow for long enough, there can only be one princess in Equestria. And that princess, will be ME!" Luna's eyes appeared to briefly flash bright white, as she effortlessly shattered the throne with her front hooves! Her last bit of dialogue seemed to echo everywhere, as Shining looked up and gasped! A crack was forming in the castle window, and in a matter of seconds the stainless glass window shattered into pieces, exposing the bright sun!
Shining watched, unable to bring himself to move from his spot, as he watched Luna move the moon up to completely block out the sun! When she did so, rays of darkness showered down from above, enveloping the princess in some sort of protective dome. When the dome faded, before Shining stood a very familiar looking alicorn with a coat that seemed to be as black as the night when the moon didn't shine, her mane and tail now flowed and looked like a starry moonlit sky, and her cyan eyes were now covered by moderate blue violet eyebrows. On top of that, the alicorn standing before Shining Armor now boasted a pair of fangs!
Shining found himself a loss for words, he was starring down the evil Nightmare Moon once again! And this time, she seemed to be far more powerful and dangerous!
Nightmare Moon didn't seem to be anymore aware of Shining's presence than Princess Luna had, she just stood there and laughed wickedly, while her magical beams completely destroyed the castle!
"Luna, why would you give into the darkness again?!" Shining demanded. "Don't you remember how long you were banished to the moon last time?! Do you really want us to send you back there?!"
But Nightmare Moon didn't answer Shining, she just continued to laugh while she carried out her destructive ways.
Just then, Princess Celestia came trotting up, looking quite furious! "Luna, I know you can hear me!" She cried out! "Stop this madness at once and lower the moon, it is your royal duty! I will not fight you!"
"Luna? There is no Luna anymore, Celestia.... there is only Nightmare Moon!" Nightmare Moon responded with a hiss. "And I have but one royal duty now: to destroy you! The night shall last forever, and I shall rule all!"
"No, I don't believe you!" Celestia protested. "I know Luna is inside you, somewhere! Luna, whatever dark force has taken control of you, you must fight it! Our subjects will starve without the sun!"
"Let them starve!" Nightmare Moon bellowed. "Equestria shall either learn to appreciate the night and bow to my will, or they will cower and be starved into submission! Either way, they will never again see you as their supreme leader! Your time is up!"
Celestia lit up her horn, and it looked like she was going to strike at Nightmare Moon. But she didn't, she teleported away in a dazzling flash of her magic!
"Coward!" Nightmare Moon shouted in her Royal Canterlot Voice. "Hiding won't save you! You're only prolonging your inevitable destruction!" Flapping her wings, she took off in search of Princess Celestia, randomly blasting away chunks of the castle in the process.
At last, Celestia emerged from hiding, flapping her wings quite furiously. "You're out of your league, Nightmare Moon! Your emotions betray you, I can sense the goodness of my sister struggling to break free! Give me back my sister and we can end this without violence!"
For a brief moment, Nightmare Moon just stood there, and a look of guilt seemed to register on her face. "Sister." She said in a somber and saddened tone.
"Luna?" Celestia asked, her heart swelling with hope as she flew close and prepared to extend a hoof to her troubled sister.
Shining watched from a distance, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. But there was one question that nagging at the back of his mind. "Why aren't Princess Luna and Princess Celestia noticing me? It's like I'm a ghost," He thought. "Did I somehow die? Is this the afterlife? Just what is going on, and what does this have to do with why I drank that potion?" The young alicorn decided to wait and watch, hoping for any sort of clue that might tell him what kind of situation he was in and what he needed to do to get out of it.
Nightmare Moon remained frozen, flapping her wings but making no effort to fight back against Celestia. However, when Celestia extended her hoof out, Nightmare Moon (after a moment of hesitation) swatted it away. "YOU FOOL!" She bellowed, quickly lighting up her horn and striking Princess Celestia square in the chest! Celestia let out an ear piercing scream, and fell from the sky!
"NO!" Shining gasped, as he watched the pony he'd come to know as a second mentor and mother plummeted towards the ground. Without hesitation he flew after her, even though he knew there was nothing he could do to save her!
"What have I done?" Nightmare Moon asked herself, before a rather fiendish grin broke out across her face. "Oh that's right, I've slayed that sun loving tyrant! Long live the princess indeed."
Shining flew after Princess Celestia, but he could only watch in horror as the mighty alicorn crashed through the roof of her crumbling castle and hit the ground with a sickening thud! Despite the impact, she barely left a cloud of dust!
Shining was at Celestia's side in a moment, even though he knew it was too late. The princess of the sun remained motionless. Shining broke down into tears, sobbing over his mentor and motherly figure's body. He had sworn an oath to protect her with his life, yet when she had needed him most there was nothing he could do to save her. "No... Why? Why would Luna do such a thing? Why now?" He asked himself. "Oh Celestia, why did it have to be you and not me? I was supposed to protect you, and now just like Cadence, I've let you down."
Shining continued to sob, until much to his surprise, Celestia rose and stood up. A noticeable singe mark had formed on her chest where the beam of magic had struck her, but otherwise she seemed to be unharmed. Shining was filled with relief. "You're all right? You're all right!" He happily exclaimed, and attempted to reach out and grab the princess into a hug, but his hooves passed right through her. "Princess Celestia?" He asked.
Celestia didn't seem to be aware that anyone had tried to touch her. She just stood there, a somber but stern gaze reflected in her eyes, even though a few tears were forming. "Oh, dear sister, I am sorry it had to be this way, please forgive me. But you must be stopped, and you have given me no choice but to use these!"
There was a great deal of rumbling and clanking, as a mighty stone pedestal rose up from out of the ground. On it was perched a series of six floating gems, their colors and shapes instantly recognizable to Shining. "Are those the Elements of Harmony? But that's how they looked in... the past," He realized, then it dawned on him. Suddenly, everything up to this point made sense. "This is the night you banished her." He commented, as he looked up at Princess Celestia, who was removing the elements from their resting place and circling them around her with her magic. The gems forming a small rotating circle of energy.
Nightmare Moon was quite surprised to see Princess Celestia again. "Back for more?! I guess someponies just never learn! Oh well, I suppose I wasn't thorough enough with you last time, a mistake I assure you I will not repeat!"
"Indeed you won't, because I'm putting an end to this, now!" Celestia demanded. "With the magic of the Elements of Harmony, I will defeat you, Nightmare Moon!" She fired off a powerful blast of magic from her horn, and Nightmare Moon did the same. The two soon became locked in a tense back and forth struggle, each of their beams trying to overpower the other.
"You're a fool if you think you can stop me!" Nightmare Moon taunted. "You need your sister to wield the elements' full power, and without Luna you are no match for me!"
Celestia shook her head. "You're wrong, Nightmare Moon! The Elements were meant for a pony who embodies the best traits of Equestria's founders. For a time those were the traits Luna and I shared, but now they have lent themselves to me so that I might save my subjects from your tyranny!"
Nightmare Moon soon found her beam of magic being pushed back, and she quickly became alarmed! "Wait, if you destroy me then you destroy your sister as well! Would you really condemn your own sister, your own fur and blood, to such a fate?!"
Tears starting to trickle down Celestia's face as she somberly stated. "Who said anything about destruction? I cannot bring myself to destroy my sister, not even to save the nation I rule. But with the power bestowed upon me by the Elements of Harmony, I hereby banish you, Nightmare Moon!"
"Noooooooooooooo!" Nightmare Moon shouted, as her beam was completely pushed back and she was overwhelmed by Celestia's magic. "You're a fool, Celestia! You will regret that you did not destroy me when you had the chance! Someday, somehow, I'll be back! And when I do, we will settle this once and for all!" And those were the last words heard from the creature born of darkness, as the corrupted alicorn vanish into the face of the moon. A noticeable pony face now appeared on the moon's surface.
Celestia lowered herself to the ground and stopped lifting up the elements. She watched, as one by one they were turned into stone. "Sister, I am sorry it had to be this way," She cried, the tears flowing without restraint. "It won't end like this. I may not be able to wield the elements any longer, but I'll find someponies who are. I will find a way to save you if it's the last thing I do."
Shining then watched, as Celestia lit up her horn and enveloped the moon in her magical glow. With tears still flowing down her cheeks, the alicorn began to sing:
Fate has been cruel and border unkind
How can I have sent you away?
The blame was my own, the punishment yours
The harmony's silent, today.
But into the stillness, I'll bring you a song
And I will, your company, keep.
'Til your tired eyes, and my lullabies
Have carried you softly to sleep.
Once did a pony, who shone like the sun
Look out on her kingdom and sigh.
She smiled and said: "Surely, there is nopony-
So lovely, and so well beloved as I!"
So great was her reign, and so brilliant her glory
That long was the shadow she cast.
Which fell dark upon the young sister she loved
And grew only darker as the days and nights passed.
Lullay moon princess, goodnight sister mine
Rest now in moonlight's embrace.
Bear up my lullaby, winds of the earth
Through cloud, and through sky, and through space.
Carry the peace, and the coolness of night
And carry my sorrow in kind.
Luna, you're loved so much more than you know
Forgive me for being so blind.
At last did that pony take notice that others
Did not give her sister her due.
And neither had she loved her as she deserved
Yet she watched as her sister's unhappiness grew!
But such is the way of the limelight
It sweetly takes hold of the mind of its host!
And that foolish pony did nothing to stop
The corruption of the one who had needed her most!
Lullay moon princess, goodnight sister mine
Rest now in moonlight's embrace.
Bear up my lullaby, winds of the earth
Through cloud, and through sky, and through space.
Carry the peace, and the coolness of night
And carry my sorrow in kind.
Luna, you're loved so much more than you know
May troubles be far from your mind.
And forgive me for being so blind.
Shining found himself unable to resist shedding tears once more, as heard Princess Celestia's sad song. Even though he knew the two had been reunited in the present, thanks to him and his friends. It was this sad sight that would be the last thing he would see in this flashback, before the blinding light from before returned.