Luna thrashed in her sleep, tears streamed down her face. The bed in the shape of a crescent moon upon which she rested soaked up the tears she cried, and that was a lot. The pain in her chest of her black heart, or so she believed, bore the weight of shame, guilt and loneliness. She thrashed again striking the bedpost hard enough to crack it, causing her concerned guards to jump and burst into the room thinking someone got in.
They scanned the room but saw nothing, then their gazes fell on the weeping princess herself. They stood in shock and worry when they saw how soaked her sheets were and that they were still absorbing more of the mares tears. They wanted to comfort her in some way but she was asleep. So they decided to return to their posts and report to Celestia when she woke up.
Luna continued to thrash as though being strangled, tears soaking her sheets even more. “No, please.”
Luna whimpered in her sleep, “Please, dont. Let them be Nightmare.”
*****
Nightmare, that was her name. The demon that seized Lunas mind one thousand years ago. Luna believed that she and she alone was responsible, but no, Luna fell victim to the Nighmare. That same demon haunted her mind now, destroying her from the inside out. The Nightmare cursed Luna with images and taunts of the way she had lost control to her.
“I took you once Luna,” She cackled at the moon princess kneeling in front of her, “and I will do so again.”
“Please,” Luna begged through her sobs, “Stop.”
“Why,” Nightmare challenged, “You wont fight, and your own sister abandoned you to me. You’re mine Luna.”
Her words cut deeper than any knife ever could, Luna collapsed into more forceful sobs when she heard this. She didn’t want to believe it, Celestia never abandoned her, did she? Still, she had not saved Luna from her demons, she hadn’t supported her when she needed it.
“And What’s more? No one cares enough to help you, no friends, no one.”
Still the nightmare cut deeper, her taunts and verbal abuse were only the beginning, soon she bagan to beat Luna across the dreamscape. Pushing against her mind the Nightmare tried to force her way to control. Luna thrashed in the pain of her mind being attacked by a demon, one that knew how to hurt her the most. Luna fought as well as she could in her weakness, it was futile, she had to wake up before the nightmare escaped.
Luna fought to wake up, the Nightmare resisted, wanting to finally be free of her host. Luna fought all the harder, she could not fail here, but she did. The Nightmare essence left and receded from her consciousness, Luna failed to stop her escape.
Luna sat bolt upright in bed, tears streaming down her face and breathing hard. She emmediately looked around to see her sister and two concerned guards. Celestia looked more than worried, she had lost her sister once because of her own negligence, she wouldn’t let it happen again. She turned to the guards and motioned them out, then turned to her sister once they left.
“Luna,” Celestia said her voice laden with worry, “what is the matter?”
“Nothing,” Luna said.
“Luna, this has been happening since your return, and that was ten years ago. If this happens every night, three hundred sixty five days a year then there is likely a major problem. What is bothering you Luna?”
“Nothing is wrong sister, it was just a Nightmare.”
“One that has been happening every night for ten years.” Celestia said, “The guards could hear your sobbing through the door. They are worried about you Luna, I’m worried about you. But I cant help if I dont know what’s wrong.”
Luna felt like it was a lie, the guards worried about her was absurd, how could they worry about a monster like her? Luna buried her face in her hooves, overwhelmed by the conflicting emotions and thoughts in her head. She bagan to sob quietly, Luna felt her sister wrap her wings around her and begin to shush her gently. Celestia began to brush Lunas mane with her hoof.
“Please Luna, talk to me.” Celestia coaxed.
“I dont know what’s wrong,” Luna lied, “I dont know why I’m plauged by these nightmares. I...”
Luna choked on her sobs before she could finish. She continued to sob into her sisters shoulder, the Nightmare had used everything. The nightmare replayed scenes from her childhood, and their abusive father. Luna was just a filly and her body was already hard as a rock thanks to her fathers remorseless beatings. And Luna had never received support from anyone, Celestia wasn’t aware of it as she was kept from the area and Luna was threatened with worse should she seek out her sister. She had been shown the way that she was cast out by everyone as a child, and all of the things that lead her to “betray” Celestia. The Nightmare knew how to gain control or escape, and she did it.
“It’s alright Luna,” Celestia pleaded, “I cant handle seeing you like this. Please Luna, let me help you.”
“That’s just it Celestia,” Luna sobbed, “I dont know how you can help. I dont know what’s going on, much less how it can be helped.”
Celestia stood there embracing her sister, she was now even more worried because she had never seen so many tears fall from her sisters face. She hugged Luna closer and put her chin on Lunas head, she didn’t have any idea what her sister could be going through. She wanted to know, she wanted to help, she hadn’t been able to with her father around and she felt she should have done so anyway. She didn’t want to fail Luna again. Lunas sobs finally began to recede and Luna began to shake with emotion, she felt broken. Again, and again.