//------------------------------//
// Moonrise 
// Story: The Night's Stars 
// by SC_Orion 
//------------------------------//

One thousand years does not pass in the blink of an eye, even for an immortal alicorn empress.

But one thousand years had passed, and she knew it. She could feel the stars aligning, the magic at work causing the bonds of harmony to dissolve, her own power coming back to her, as faithful and strong as ever. Her mind, as sharp as ever, had thought out ten thousand plans of vengeance on her sister for her sins and transgressions over those thousand years. Each plan held a special place in her heart for just how it would hurt her sister, for just how she could use it to get back at her.

But none of them held the same sort of poetic justice that felt so right as what she planned.

Lifting her slitted eyes to Equis, her heart beat faster. The stars drew close, the bonds of harmony would soon fail, and she would be freed from her lunar prison. The brilliant blue-green orb that was Equis shone brightly. Despite the state she had been left in, she looked at the orb with a longing fondness. The one good thing about the moon was the view- it simply couldn't be matched. It soothed her rage, but would never quell it. Nothing ever would. Nothing ever could.

She wouldn't even let Celestia have that view when she was through with her.

She bared her teeth, showing her sharp fangs, then slowly ran her tongue over them. They weren't sharp enough to cut her tongue, but nonetheless, it sent shivers of delight down her spine.

'First, dear sister, I will deal with you,' she thought with a low growl. 'And then, Equestria will be mine. Your precious little ponies will give me the respect she deserve, even if I have to force it out of them.'

Envigorated by the thought, she smiled and stamped her hoof down hard on the lunar surface, leaving an indent in the thick dust, and kicking up a cloud of the white material which slowly wafted through the air before settling.




Nightmare Moon fell to her knees and gasped. One moment, the ground beneath her hooves had been the white lunar rock, and then the next moment it was cracked stones, bathed in soft moonlight; her vision had been that of the beautiful jewel that was Equis, and now that of a ruined courtyard. For several seconds, she stared at the stone, her eyes taking in the blissful dull gray of the rock, welcoming it as a reprieve from the same overbearing white of the lunar surface that reminded her of the sister she so hated.

The bindings of harmony magic that had held her for so long disintegrated like dust that the wind had been blown on, showing their true weakness. Her sister never could truly defeat her on her own; she was superior to her sister in every way imaginable. Her nigh infinite pool of alicorn magic rushed back into her, filling every ounce of her being with her power- power that she would use to enact her vengeance on the sister that betrayed her.

Despite knowing it was coming, it was still so hard to believe: after a thousand years, she was finally free of her accursed prison! In a way, perhaps that was her sister's greatest transgression against her- imprisoning her on the moon. Her moon. Forcing her own moon to be her prison, making her hate being trapped on the crowning jewel of her night.

With that bitter thought, she shook in rage, bared her teeth, lifted her head up, and let loose a primal scream that pierced the night, speaking of untold anguish, and pain, and anger. She screamed until it hurt, she screamed until her lungs were empty, and then she filled her lungs to scream again. Her cry boomed out through the night, and every creature that heard her scream was paralyzed in primal fear. They knew the scream's owner, and they trembled.

Her heart beat faster, adrenaline coursed through her veins. Her entire body trembled in rage and ecstasy. Magic flared to life around her. Her misty blue mane rippled behind her like a wildfire, untamed and refusing to be tamed.

In the blink of an eye, she rose up with a power befitting the empress that she was. The sight she was greeted with was one which she had not expected. Rather than dozens, perhaps hundreds of unicorn soldiers to stand in her way, it was an empty courtyard. Destroyed, unkempt, and unattended.

Her old home; their shared castle.

The Castle of the Two Sisters. She scowled at the name and it took all of her willpower to neither scream again nor bite off her tongue in rage. Had her sister truly let her home fall into such disrepair? It was an unthinkable disrespect that filled her with a new violence. Sure, she had bad memories of Celestia from this place, but to leave it to crumble?

Her legs shook again with rage, so badly did she want to tear down all that remained of the castle and start anew, to erase every last trace of her sister and her magic- not only from her home but from all of Equestria. From all of history.

But no, her sister wouldn't even let her have that. She let her home fall into ruin. It wasn't even worth destroying. She couldn't reclaim the throne of her own power and take what was rightfully hers from Celestia; she had already destroyed it.

Seething with rage, she swept her gaze around the courtyard. The entire castle wasn't ruined or destroyed- walls and towers still stood, but in disrepair. It would take time and effort, but she could repair and rebuild. Perhaps, another delightful way to get back at her sister; undoing the treachery she had done to their home. Her home.

Her eyes narrowed. For the first time in a millennium, she lifted her gaze to the moon. Her gaze softened and some of her anger died; the pristine jewel of hers that was the moon was still there, high in the sky, crowning her Queen and Empress of the Night. She took a deep breath of the invigorating, cold night air, then slowly exhaled.

Her senses told her that it was nearly morning, but the moon lingered in place. It infuriated her- Celestia had stolen her moon for the past thousand years, and now that she had returned, she couldn't even reclaim it- Celestia relinquished control to her. She didn't even try to lower it, she just left it there in the sky, as if to taunt her, or to enrage her further by denying her such sweet revenge.

She clamped her jaw shut; were there anything inside, it would have been crushed by the force of her anger-driven bite.

She took another deep breath, then exhaled sharply. She swept her gaze from left to right, then gave a cursory glance down at her chest. For a thousand years, she had worn the cyan chestplate and helmet, and to her relief, they were still there where they belonged, secured in place, hugging her body and protecting her.

She lifted her gaze back up, then took a few steps forward. She shivered in delight at the sound of her metal boots striking the crumbling stone; it just wasn't the same on the moon.

She walked on and scanned the courtyard, at first, taking it in, then searching for her dear sister. She searched and searched, but she wasn't there, which only served to infuriate her further. She had returned, and Celestia didn't even face her. Her body trembled with rage once again, but her rage morphed to glee as she felt a burst of magic that she recognized. Her sister's magic.

In her excitement, she flared her wings, then rocketed into the sky, shooting up above the castle and tree canopy, then glaring head on towards the source of the disturbance.

All at once, a thousand memories flooded through her mind. Every single slight done to her by her sister, every disappointment, every letdown,  every single lie, every betrayal. When they were foals, when they ruled Equestria together, it didn't matter. The pain and anger came back in full force.

Anger, bitterness, and resent consumed her, fueling her rage. Her mane and tail rippled so fiercely that the very air cracked from the intensity. And to make it all worse? Celestia looked calm. Peaceful, even. No fear, no worry. Simply acceptance and remorse.

Nightmare Moon couldn't hate it more if she tried. Her older sister was calm, enjoying her life, the very life she had stolen from her younger sister, unafraid to see her again, unworried. A thousand years had gone by for both of them. And Celestia? She hadn't suffered one bit.

She screamed at her and beat her wings harder to fly further above into the sky. Her scream caught her sister off guard, seeming to penetrate the mask of calmness she wore, but there was no fear, only surprise. She flew up until the moon was at her back and she cast her shadow on Celestia. She screamed until her throat was hoarse. She screamed until her throat nearly bled.

All the while, Celestia cautiously flew towards her. Even as Nightmare Moon lit her horn, Celestia did not.

"Luna-"

"I AM NIGHTMARE MOON!" she screamed back at the top of her lungs. Dragons would have cowered before her voice, but her sister did not. She breathed in deep, then forced the air out of her lungs and then sucked in more air to replace it. Her breath nearly steamed in the cold air from her burning hatred of the mare she once called sister.

"Nightmare Moon..." Celestia corrected, speaking in a soft, unassuming voice. She opened her mouth to continue, but Nightmare Moon had none of it.

In a flash of her blue magic, Nightmare Moon teleported beside Celestia. Her sister looked back just in time as Nightmare wrapped her mouth around her wing, then clamped her mouth shut. Celestia's chest heaved, her eyes watered, and she screamed as her wing was shattered in two places. With her wing broken and unable to keep herself aloft, she started to fall.

Nightmare let go. Her teeth were coated red from her sister's blood. A part of her was revolted, but another part of her found a primal delight in savoring having spilled her dear sister's blood. Celestia fell towards the tree canopy below. Nightmare watched with satisfaction as she fell. She never once blinked, watching the fall with an intense gaze, refusing to miss any of it, wanting this moment burned into her mind for all eternity. Celestia missed the tops of the trees, but the branches she hit cracked and broke, cutting her body as she fell through them before finally hitting the ground with a thud that even Nightmare heard, so far above. For a moment, she delighted herself in watching her sister laying on the ground, then she flew down and landed.

Celestia's eyes continued to water as she slowly picked herself up. Her right wing was folded, but her left hung limply from her side. Blood ran down her wing, coating her white feathers crimson before pooling on the ground. She trembled, but through her tears, she looked at Nightmare with defiance.

Nightmare smiled, then ran her tongue over her blood soaked teeth. One step forward, then another.

"I-I will not fight you, Nightmare Moon."

Nightmare's smile fractured into a scowl. Gripping Celestia with her magic, she forced Celestia to her knees. Celestia stared up at her, and oh, how she relished their roles being reversed. No longer did she look up to her big sister, but her big sister looked up to her through her tear-filled eyes.

But Celestia's expression ruined it. She wasn't broken. She wasn't scared. She was in pain, but still defiant. "You still deny me my right!" she spat with a hiss. "Will you continue to deny me even my revenge!? The satisfaction of fighting you again and defeating you, bringing you to your knees, and making you beg for mercy!?" she demanded.

Nightmare trembled. Her lungs expanded and deflated so fast from anger that even she felt light-headed. It didn't stop her, nor did it slow her down.

"You won't win," Celestia stated succinctly, spoken with such an unshakable faith that made Nightmare Moon sick.

And yet, Nightmare Moon tossed her head to the sky and laughed, and laughed, and laughed. The hilarity of the whole thing was unbelievable! Her sister was here, on her knees before her, with her wing shattered and bleeding, refusing to fight her, and yet she honestly believed that she wouldn't win! Nightmare's laughter faded into a haunting rumble, then dispersed into the night. She smiled and lowered her head to meet her sister's gaze. "I've already won, dear sister," she hissed.

Reaching out with her armored forehoof, she hit Celestia across the muzzle with all of her strength. There was a solid thunk. Celestia grunted and closed her eyes. The force was enough to make Nightmare Moon's leg tingle, and Celestia slammed into the ground. She bled from a gash engraved in her cheek by Nightmare's boot, but the defiance was still there.

A thousand thoughts of what she could do to Celestia ran through her mind- a thousand deaths, ten thousand tortures, breaking her again, and again, and again. Breaking her until she was hopeless, making her think she had slipped up, making her think that she could be rescued, letting ponies get close to rescuing her, then putting an end to it. Crushing that last shred of hope with an iron hoof. Seeing her so utterly destitute.

She took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. 'Calm. No killing her, that way we can draw out her death and torture her. It will be so much more pleasurable that way...' She let a smile grace her lips, once again showing off her sharp, blood-stained teeth. For a fraction of a second, Celestia's gaze faltered, dropping from her eyes to her teeth before returning to meet Nightmare Moon's gaze. "Do you know what I'm going to do, Celestia?" she asked with forced calmness.

Celestia slowly pulled her right forehoof closer to her, then pressed against the ground to push herself into a sitting position.

Nightmare Moon crossed the distance to her sister in a short stride, then stamped her hoof down on Celestia's ribs, slamming her back into the ground. Several cracks emanated from her sister's body, and her eyes widened, then swelled up with even more tears. She trembled. Nightmare pressed her hoof down farther. Celestia tensed up, her chest tightening as she fought back a scream, but Nightmare persisted, pressing down even harder.

Celestia screamed. She screamed until her lungs were empty, then let out a violent, choked cough. Splatters of blood dotted the ground in front of her mouth, and a trickle of red came from her lips. She barely managed to inhale through the pain.

Lifting her hoof from Celestia, Nightmare stamped it down hard in front of her muzzle. Celestia winced, the message was clear: You're at my mercy now.

"I'm going to do to you what you did to me," Nightmare continued. Her lips pulled up into a manic smile. "I do hope you enjoy white, Celestia, because that's all you'll be seeing on the moon. White and black. Your dreams? Oh, don't worry. I'll make sure they're pleasant. Every dream will be a nightmare. Every waking moment will be ten thousand times worse than what you've done to me, sister," she spat.

"And then in one thousand years, maybe I'll let you come back. Then you could see what I've done to Equestria?"

Celestia averted her gaze from Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare chuckled a slow, methodical laugh. "But after that... I'll send you back to the moon... again... and again... until you fight back... and then?" She leaned down close until she could touch her sister's ear. "Then I will crush you dear sister. Your life is mine now," she hissed.

Pulling her head back up, she smiled. Celestia refused to match her gaze, and she continued to cry. Sadly, her wounds were already healing, but no matter, that just meant she could inflict them again. "And you still refuse to fight me..." she growled. "Why?" she demanded. "Why must you deny my thirst for vengeance so?"

Celestia looked at her. For a moment, her expression was sorrowful and pitying, then it hardened. "My student will save you, Luna..." she whispered.

Nightmare Moon's lips and cheeks trembled from rage. "You still have the audacity to think your Luna exists?" Her nostrils flared from anger. "SHE'S GONE CELESTIA! I AM NIGHTMARE MOON NOW!" She took a moment to compose herself. "Nothing. Will change that. Dear sister."

With a scream of rage, she flared her wings out and poured her magic into her horn, enveloping her sister in her magic. Shackles and chains bound her hooves and muzzle, bindings that wouldn't be broken for easily a thousand years, then she forced her still broken left wing to her body and folded it, drawing a horrified, agonized scream from Celestia- it was music to her ears- before binding them along the bone and the feathers. To complete it, she sealed off her sister's magic.

And for the first time, Celestia showed fear. Fear at having her magic cut off, separated from her. Fear of losing her connection with the sun.

It wasn't enough, but it was a start.

"You still refuse to fight back? Even though you're leaving Equestria to me?"

"I-I can't fight you, L... Nightmare Moon..." was Celestia's whisper.

Nightmare Moon barred her teeth in rage. "Goodbye, dear sister."

Her magic exploded outward. A dark blue beam of magic lurched into the sky, launching her sister to the moon. In an instant, it touched down on the moon. Nightmare looked up and scowled as dark craters appeared over the surface of her moon.

Her anger returned in full force. The spell was the same one that banished her, only powered by her magic instead of the Elements of Harmony.

"IS THAT WHAT YOU DID TO MY MOON, CELESTIA? YOU DEFACED HER!? HOW DARE YOU!" she screamed. Enraged by the desecration of the extension of herself, the jewel of her pristine night sky, she turned her anger outwards. She threw her head about. Her ears rang from her continuous screaming as she let loose her magic.

Trees exploded as beam after beam, pulse after pulse of magic shot out into the forest. The tallest of trees with the sturdiest of trunks were like toothpicks before a dragon: absolutely nothing. They could put back no fight, they could not experience horror or fear, they could not beg for mercy, they could not withstand the onslaught of her magic.

It wasn't the most fulfilling way to vent her anger, but Celestia had denied that of her, but it helped. Just barely, but it helped take the edge off of her anger just enough for her to calm down.

By the time she stopped slinging spells at everything in sight, the forest had a new clearing in it. Smoke wafted through the air from the scorched wood left behind by the impacts of her violent magic. Her chest heaved with each breath. The scent of smoke filled her nostrils, and it delighted her. Not because of the destruction it meant, but because it was a scent she hadn't smelled in so long.

She continued to breathe heavily as her rage calmed. She slowly folded her wings, then listened to the forest. Absolute silence. Not even the leaves of the trees rustled from the wind. In the wake of her display and scream, not a single creature dared make a sound. The creatures of the night recognized her return, and they feared her. They would do well to remember that fear. She gradually looked over the results of her work, letting her gaze pass over the felled trees and mulch. Eventually, a growl escaped her mouth.

She had waited a thousand years for her revenge. Every day, every night, her thoughts had been consumed by her fantasies of the battle she would have had with her sister. The exhilarating thrill of the wind whipping between her feathers while their magic clashed, the fear written on her sister's face, and her sister's blood painting her white coat red.

And Celestia denied her that. She took a deep breath, then lit her horn and teleported herself back to her home's ruined courtyard. With Celestia out of the way, she could afford herself a few moments to think before her next actions.

Instead, her eyes narrowed. Celestia's soft voice echoed through her mind, 'My student will save you, Luna...'

The more primal part of her raged at hearing Celestia's voice in her mind- not only her voice, but that accursed name. But while an inferno raged in her heart, her more intellectual mind sharpened. Celestia hadn't fought her- she had said she couldn't fight her. She had chosen not to, despite her best attempts to force her into a fight. She had given up. She had just surrendered.

There was no way that Celestia could know her plans for Equestria, and without knowing that, Celestia would only know how she acted based on her anger, hatred, and rage: Celestia would have thought that Equestria would be destroyed. Ponykind would have suffered. And that was antithesis to Celestia. She wouldn't have just given up without a fight if she thought Equestria was at stake or ponies would suffer. After all, she had used the Elements of Harmony to banish her once before. Why had she not tried to do so again?

Something was very clearly wrong here. Her sister couldn't match her power, but she should have at least fought back. And the Elements of Harmony. She didn't have them with her, she didn't try to use them. Somepony else had them. Her sister had a plan, and surrendering to her had to have been a distraction.

Nightmare's chest tightened. Her eyes swept around the courtyard, scanning for any threats or traps she might have missed. Any sounds that could have indicated the hooves of would-be assassins. And yet, despite her higher scrutiny, not a sound stood out. Even searching with her magic revealed nothing- not even a trace of the Elements of Harmony, although the accursed Tree was still growing strong underneath the castle.

"Your student..." she breathed out.

It made sense. Celestia would have had a thousand years to prepare, time enough that she could have planned for her response a hundred years ago and found somepony this century who she could have trained and taught to stop her. Her student could have been anypony- a unicorn, a pegasus, perhaps even an earth pony. Maybe a stallion, or maybe a mare, young or old. They could have been trained as anything- an assassin, a spy, perhaps even worse, a scholar.

She needed to find Celestia's student, whoever they were, and deal with them, before they could deal with her.

Mind racing at the implications of Celestia's plan, her eyes darted back and forth across the stone. Her student could be anywhere in Equestria right now, planning, or already prepared for her return. Perhaps it would be an ambush, or perhaps her student was to wait until her guard was down, then strike while she wasn't being careful. Or maybe her student would strike before she could prepare to fight back.

She needed to find them, but it wouldn't be an easy task; even if she was an alicorn, she was but one pony, an empress without an empire. She had no soldiers, at least not yet. She needed to tread carefully- one mistake, and one thousand years of agony would be for naught.

Another growl escaped her lips. Equestria wasn't a small country- it dominated the larger part of a continent. Should she start by searching out Celestia's student? Or should she consolidate her power first? Did she gather an army to hunt her student down, or operate in the shadows to locate and eliminate this threat?

The one thing she was certain of, however, was that her sister wasn't about to let her enjoy her victory. She had already proved that by just surrendering to her.

But maybe she was looking at it the wrong way. Celestia would know that she would realize both of them had a thousand years to plan and scheme, meaning that maybe, just maybe, she was making it out to be a bigger threat than it actually was. Maybe Celestia planned for it to be something simple that she wouldn't have expected. Perhaps her student was closer at hoof than she had considered, too. After all, if all Celestia knew of her desires was her rage, then she would think that Equestria would be in grave danger, and letting Nightmare roam free for an extended period of time was a mistake.

Her student needed to be close enough to act.

Nightmare spread her wings but hesitated. A moment later, she lit her horn and teleported high above into the sky, then cast her gaze about. With her enhanced vision, she could see the forest stretch on for miles. Beyond that, there was a nearby village. In the distance, she could see a gleaming city on a mountain. The city spoke of power, and even from the distance, she could make out a castle.

Her eyes narrowed, finding her target. She beat her wings and shot off towards the village and city. The wind whipped through her feathers, a feeling she hadn't experienced for far too long. Truly, flying at night was an experience like nothing else, one which she had longed for every minute of every day she spent trapped on the moon.

But now? Now it was night everlasting, and as soon as she stopped Celestia's student, she could fly for as long as she wanted.

But the flight to the city on the mountain would take hours, and so she scowled to herself. Her student would have to be a pegasus if that were the case- the city was simply too far to walk in a timely manner, except, perhaps for an earth pony. But an earth pony would have been a poor choice- even with their stamina and endurance, one would be exhausted from running to greet her.

No, her student had to be closer than that. Perhaps Celestia had kept her close at hoof when she went to distract Nightmare. But then, why distract her? To make her put her guard down?

If that was the case, then Celestia had made a grave mistake with that whisper- a mistake that would cost her student's life. And oh, how she would relish taking it. But no, she wouldn't simply kill her student. That was too easy, and it was too quick. She would force Celestia to watch her for hours on end while she tortured the pony to the point of breaking, then she would let up on them, let them heal and recover, then she would do it all over again, and again, and again, until the pony was broken and Celestia begged for her to kill her student. And then? Then she would grant her wish, forcing Celestia to watch her end her student's life, knowing that it was entirely her fault.

The thought made her gleeful. It made knowing that there was somepony out there who had the capacity to stop her all the more bearable.

As she flew, she knew that ponies would have already noticed Celestia hadn't raised the sun on time. After all, it was the longest day of the year. That thought made her scowl. On one hoof, she was happy to steal this longest day from her sister- it was perfect, using the longest day to usher in the eternal night. And yet, what kind of Empress would she be if she wasn't there to welcome everypony into the night's reign?

With that thought in mind, she teleported the rest of the way to the town. Appearing high above the roofs, she looked around and beheld banners strung from the largest, central building. The banners read 'Summer Sun Celebration' and sang the praises of her sister.

But what made it worse was that it was the one thousandth Summer Sun Celebration. She had been imprisoned for a thousand years, and this exact day was the day of the Summer Sun Celebration. Ponies were celebrating her defeat. But perhaps that was simply because she had risen against Celestia on this, her longest day, one thousand years ago. It still didn't give her sister the right to make such a holiday.

Or, perhaps her sister didn't have a hoof in creating it. Perhaps ponies created it as a way to celebrate her defeat at her sister's hooves. If that was the case, her sister was as guilty as they were for letting this happen.

She scowled and flew down towards the building. But she did not land. No, landing and walking in like a commoner wasn't befitting her. She needed to make a grand entrance and ensure that everypony knew she was Queen and Empress.

To that end, she circled around the Town Hall, searching out someplace proper and fitting for her to land. Before she completed her first pass, a balcony caught her eye. The doors were open, and two ponies- pegasi, by their white wings which stood out on the golden background of their armor- stood guard.

Her eyes narrowed on the two soldiers- and she immediately knew that was what they were. Their armor covered their entire bodies, save for where their wings were, and from her vantage point, she could see that the helmet had armor going down the back of their necks, but she didn't see any signs that more armor was connected below it to protect the underside of their necks. It left a weak spot that their enemies could exploit- not that she needed to exploit it. Their armor would be no match for her magic.

She arced up into the sky, then angled herself back down and tucked in her wings. Silently, she descended as a predator pouncing on her prey. Outstretching her right forehoof, she landed gracefully, right forehoof connecting first, followed by her left forehoof, followed by her hind hooves. Her metal boots made a series of rapid dull thuds as they met the wood.

With but a quick glance at both of them, she determined that they were both unarmed and unprepared for her appearance. Both guards tensed at her arrival, taken aback in fear at her striking visage, but nonetheless, they outstretched their wings and launched themselves into the air without a word. Whether they attacked out of fear, or they were ordered to do so, Nightmare did not know, nor did it matter. The result was the same.

It was the last mistake they ever made. As they leaped towards her, Nightmare scowled at them and lit her horn. Flaring out her wings, she met their lunge with her magic, darting forward and unleashing a lance of magic at the pegasus on the left and reaching out to engulf the other with her mane. The lance of magic shot straight through the first pegasus's neck, and his body limply tumbled to the floor, rolling before coming to a stop.

The other pegasus struggled as her mane enveloped him. He tried to call out in fear and panic, but Nightmare clamped his muzzle shut, then pulled him closer and held him in front of her, just below eye level. Under her gaze, the stallion wilted; his training was forgotten as a primal fear overtook him, the fear of prey in the presence of a predator. Nightmare Moon's serpentine eyes looked over him, sizing him up as if he were nothing more than an insect, but yet with a threatening, burning intensity.

Opening her mouth to speak, the stallion struggled once more against her magic as soon as he saw the jagged, sharp teeth inside of Nightmare's maw. "Answer my questions and I will consider sparing your life," she commanded. The stallion gulped, but as Nightmare relaxed her grip on his head, he nodded hastily. Nightmare's scowl softened into a devious smile. "I presume you are one of my sister's guards, accompanying her to this... celebration?"

"S-sister?" he stuttered.

Her scowl returned. "Does my sister hide even the knowledge of my existence?" she growled under her breath. "I am Nightmare Moon." To her surprise, the guard's eyes widened at the sound of her name. Recognition, fear, and surprise. He knew that name. "It seems Celestia did not completely erase all trace of me, then," she spat. The guard's muscles tensed up even more upon hearing just how much hatred Nightmare projected that name with.

"But I will not ask again. Are you one of my sister's guards who accompanied her to this?" The stallion swallowed, then nodded quickly. "I see," Nightmare growled. "It has been one thousand years since I have last set hoof in Equestria; where is the seat of my sister's power?"

"C-Can... C-Canterlot..." was the fear-filled response.

Nightmare pulled him closer and her eyes bore into him as if attempting to set him afire with nothing more than her slitted eyes. "Where?" she demanded.

The guard's foreleg struggled against Nightmare's magic, and for a moment, she let up. The guard hastily rose his shaking leg and pointed off in the distance. After one glance at his hoof, she looked off towards the city on the mountain. "I see," she stated.

Without giving him a chance to do anything else, she reaffirmed the grip of her magic on his forelegs and forced it back down. For a few more seconds, her gaze lingered on the city of Canterlot, then she looked back at the guard. He trembled with fear under her gaze.

Was this truly the stallion Celestia had chosen to accompany her on such an important trip? Was this the best she had to offer? Or was this another part of her distraction- bring ponies who had no idea what they were doing with her, so that when Nightmare showed up, her guard would fall, allowing her student to deal the executioner's blow?

She sincerely hoped that this wasn't the best that her sister had to offer. If her army was as pathetic as this stallion, then how would she be able to make it her own army, an army worthy of her as its commander? Or perhaps his fear came from other sources- perhaps, if the other soldiers were as cowardly as he, they would come around once they realized she was in charge, and they had better serve more competently than these fools.

"Swear fealty to me and I will grant you your life," she hissed.

"P-Princess C-Celestia-"

Nightmare Moon's lips trembled in rage at the mention of her sister's name from the guard's mouth, and it made him come to an immediate stop. She leaned in closer to him until her eyes were mere inches from his, and her eyes spoke of barely contained rage. "If you will not swear fealty to me then you will join your comrade!"

The guard tensed up, clenched his eyes shut, and struggled to look away from her. But before Nightmare could make good on her promise, the guard managed to speak again, "W-wait!" he shouted out. "S-she l-left standing orders that if s-somepony named N-Nightmare M-Moon showed up we were to f-follow her o-orders!"

Through his fear and rushed explanation, Nightmare could barely make out the individual words. He was terrified of her, even more so with her threat. It took her a few seconds to decipher the message, and once she did, she pulled her head back from him and let her gaze soften. "She left standing orders to obey my rule?" she demanded.

"Y-yes!" the guard frantically replied. "T-the Captain o-of the Guard h-has orders t-to s-stand d-down and f-follow y-your command!"

It was preposterous. The soldier had to be lying to save his life. But the recognition in his eyes when she said her name. 'What was your plan?' She scrutinized the pegasus she held in her magic. He was barely worthy to be considered one of her soldiers, but she had to start somewhere- and who knew, perhaps he had some potential use, even if it was just somepony to send to his death to buy time for other more competent soldiers.

Perhaps her sister's plan was simply to have the guards obey her so that she would spare them rather than exterminate them. She felt a sense of calm at that thought. 'Yes, that would be you, wouldn't it? Order them to not try to stop me so as to spare their lives. Well, dear sister, I will make use of this.'

She released the soldier from her magic. The stallion unceremoniously fell to the floor. He took a moment to pull himself together and right himself, but as he stood before Nightmare, he still trembled uncontrollably, shaking in his golden armor. He looked straight ahead at her chest, perhaps trying to avoid her gaze, but it did nothing for his fear. "You will fly to Canterlot. Inform this 'Captain of the Guard' of my return. Ensure that he will follow his standing orders. I will arrive in Canterlot shortly to establish my rule. Tell him that Equestria is mine. Your precious princess of the sun is now my prisoner, and you will swear fealty to me and revoke allegiance to my sister, under penalty of death. The night will last forever."

The stallion gulped but nodded. "Y-yes..." his brow creased unsurely as he struggled to find the proper title for the alicorn.

"Queen," Nightmare growled.

"Y-yes, m-my Queen!" the guard acknowledged, falling into a low bow, touching his muzzle to the wooden floor. Perhaps it was not a bow of love or respect, but it was one out of fear. It wasn't as gratifying as a bow from love or respect, but it was a bow she could accept. He arose from the bow and stepped aside, then spread his wings and took off towards the city on the mountain.

Nightmare watched him fly off for a few seconds. 'I guess we will see if he was sincere, won't we, dear sister? Perhaps he was just ordered to say that and the guard has different orders.' She took a deep breath and spared a passing glance at the corpse on the balcony.

With nothing else to impede her, she walked towards the open door. She stepped over the corpse without giving it a second thought- she would have somepony clean up after it, but it wasn't her problem. 'Perhaps,' she thought as she stepped into the Town Hall, 'establishing my rule will be easier than I expected. Sister didn't try to stop me... and perhaps all of her plans are centered around this student of hers...'

Casting her gaze right, then left, she looked over the room she found herself in. The room was square in shape, with a desk off to the left, facing the right side of the room from where she was. The whitish colored walls were adorned with pictures of various events, almost all with one mare at the center of them- the mare looked aged, judging by her gray mane and glasses, but there was a certain open friendliness to her in the pictures. Judging from the pictures, the mare seemed to be the mayor.

With disinterest, she walked through the room and crossed to the other side. With a gentle twist and pull from her magic, she opened the door. She walked out with an intent, practiced stride- one which conveyed calm authority, but authority one did not cross. Adding into her stride was a look of disinterest- nothing would stop her. Several doors lined the hallway she found herself in, but the door that drew most of her attention was open, large, and arched: it spoke of importance. She turned to the left and calmly strode towards the door. It was a slow stride, but each step conveyed power. Beyond the open door, she could hear the fearful murmurs and whispers, with the occasional shout mixed in, of dozens of ponies.

A smile crept onto her lips as she silently approached the balcony. Amongst the frantic murmuring, she could hear whispers of her sister's accursed name, fearfully asking where she was and why her precious sun hadn't taken the moon's place.

The dissent was outrageous. Spurred on by anger, she quickened her pace, only pausing once she reached the doorway. Turning, she flared out her wings in a display of power, then stepped out onto the interior balcony. With a dominating stride, she approached the railing.

As her visage appeared to the crowd of ponies below, the murmurings grew quiet until they all fell silent. A wave of fear seemed to roll through the crowd, and everypony took a step back to distance themselves from her. Her intense gaze swept over the crowd, searching for anypony who stood out. For the most part, the crowd was filled with ponies of varying coat colors, manes and tails, mostly brightly colored. Among them, one stood out even more brightly colored than the rest. Her eyes lingered on the rainbow-maned mare for a moment longer than the rest- she didn't display the same fear that the rest did. She could spot the pony she presumed to be the mayor, along with two more pegasi guards. There was even a young dragon riding on the back of one of the young unicorns- something that caught her by surprise, though it was only a slight curiosity.

Nightmare smiled. In one thousand years, it was nice to know that ponies were still struck by fear in her presence- or perhaps it was just shock that would wear off in time. But now? Now she had their attention, the attention that was her birthright. She let her teeth show in her smile, and a wave of gasps swept through the crowd. "My beloved subjects," she purred, "and yet none of you know who I am," she growled. "Does my crown mean nothing since I have been imprisoned for one thousand years? Am I not royal enough for you!?" she demanded.

She shook with anger, and everypony- even the guards and rainbow-maned mare all flinched back. She breathed in deep breaths and exhaled sharply, panting from rage. "My sister denies even my memory!" she shrieked. For a few seconds, her burning gaze swept over the crowd, searching out any recognition. Surely, somepony other than the guards had to know her!

But as her eyes swept the crowd, they beheld only confusion in addition to the fear. A low growl escaped her throat. So badly did she want to lash out at these naive ponies- to teach them to fear and respect her, but she held herself back. The last thing she needed was to encourage dissent even further. If she was too harsh, her rule would be too fragile and she would never get to enjoy herself. She took a moment to calm herself.

"Your precious princess is gone!" she proclaimed, "Imprisoned in the moon as she did to me!" She flapped her wings and launched herself into the air, then descended and landed on the floor below. Ponies gasped, squeaked, and trembled as she so suddenly appeared much closer. Leaning in and sweeping her slitted eyes over the crowd, she growled in a low voice, "Do any of you know my name!?" she demanded. She scanned the crowd in vain for recognition- other than the guards, if anypony recognized her, she either didn't see them or they hid it well. "Did you not see the signs of my return?"

One pony spoke up, and it was the voice of a filly- most definitely not a soldier- "Y-you-you're N-Nightmare M-Moon!"

To her surprise, it was the young purple unicorn who had a baby dragon on her back. The crowd parted around her, leaving her out in the open. Her eyes darted nervously about as ponies stepped away from her, leaving her unprotected from Nightmare's gaze. For a few seconds, Nightmare just stared at her. The unicorn had a lavender coat with a dark indigo blue mane, complete with a pink and purple highlight. She was well groomed, and now that she looked at her, she stood out in some way that she couldn't place. There was something about her that bothered her. Looking at her, she felt a strange sensation of curiosity, perhaps even amusement. Eventually, she realized she had been staring long enough that the unicorn looked confused, rather than scared. She shook the feeling off and smiled at her. "Then you know why I am here," she said in a sweet, mocking voice.

Her trance broken by the honeyed words of Nightmare Moon, the unicorn gulped. Without an immediate answer, Nightmare took a step forward. A step that was mimicked by the unicorn, who stepped back in response. "Y-you're here to b-bring e-eternal n-night..."

Another gasp echoed out through the crowd.

A slow, methodical chuckle escaped Nightmare's lips. It was oh so sweet, so delicious, that they feared her for bringing eternal night. A thousand years ago ponies had scorned her night, but now these ponies would inherit the wages of those ponies' sins, and they would have to accept eternal night. "You are correct," she purred. For a moment, she stopped to let it sink in. The unicorn backed up and wilted under her gaze. Nightmare snorted, then turned to glance over the crowd. "I am Nightmare Moon, and you will obey my rule or suffer my wrath!"

"S-she's taken the princess! Somepony stop her!" a mare cried out.

Instantly, her gaze shot over to the pony who spoke up. The mayor. Nightmare scowled, and instantly, the pony squeaked. A blue glow surrounded her, then she was heaved up into the air and shot over to Nightmare, bringing her to within inches of the alicorn. Both of them trembled- Nightmare in rage and the mayor in fear.

For several long seconds, Nightmare stared into her eyes. The mare was fearfully silent. With a flair of her nostrils, Nightmare's gaze returned to the crowd. Forcefully, she launched the mare into the crowd.

She squeaked and the ponies she crashed into grunted as they broke her fall. Everypony else jumped out of the way. "I will be merciful since this is just our introduction," she quipped, "but my mercy will not last forever." Her smile returned, once more showing off her predatory maw. "Unlike my night," she promised.

"You would do well to remember this day, little ponies, for it shall be your last! Challenge me at your own peril, even my dear sister knew better than to send her guards against me!" she spat.

"We're not afraid of you!" a raspy voice cried out. Nightmare's glare leveled on the rainbow-maned pegasus. She had shot into the air, but an orange-coated earth pony stood below her, holding onto her tail with her mouth. The earth pony gave a solid tug and pulled the pegasus to the floor with a squeak, but the pegasus still fumed.

Nightmare let out a low chuckle. "And you think you can stop me, pegasus?" she asked.

One step after the other, she walked towards the mare. Even at her methodical approach, the pegasus refused to back down, even when the earth pony beside her stepped back. Eventually, Nightmare stood before her, wings flared, looking down at her. She cast her shadow on the pegasus, but even that did nothing- she still had her chest puffed out arrogantly. "Even Celestia could not stop me!" she hissed. "And you? You're just a pegasus!"

It was an absurd thought. Not only was she just a pegasus, but she didn't even have any training. She wasn't a guard or a soldier, just some arrogant pegasus to be knocked down a few pegs. She couldn't stop herself from laughing at how outlandish the idea was! This mare! This lone pegasus standing up to her and stopping her when even her sister couldn't! As she laughed, everypony else wilted. It brought tears of joy to her eyes- truly she would relish breaking this pony, perhaps the whole of Equestria if this futile resistance persisted.

But perhaps once everypony realized their position, their resistance would fade and she could rule as she wanted.

"Oh yeah! Well, there's a lot more of us and only one of you!"

The pegasus's voice brought her laughter to an immediate halt. "You're kidding. You're kidding, right? You honestly think that these ponies could stop me!?" She cocked her head to the side and leaned down to eye level to match the pegasus's gaze. "My own sister couldn't stop me! And she's an alicorn like I am. And you have the audacity to think that these ponies could stop me!?"

To prove her point, she lifted her head back up and swept her gaze over the crowd. "Look at them!" she ordered. "And see their fear! The guards obey my command! You cannot stop me." For a few seconds, she let it sink in. Sure enough, the pegasus saw that she was the only pony standing up to her. Sweeping her gaze back over the crowd, Nightmare could see that there were ponies who glared at her, but when she cast her gaze on them, most of them wilted. The orange earth pony was one notable exception. She looked back at the pegasus. A little of her determination had wavered, but she was still rebellious. "I could kill you before you could even take flight," she growled.

'I'm wasting time with this! I need to find my sister's student... perhaps this is another planned distraction...' She scowled at the thought. She grabbed the pegasus's head in her magic and tilted her muzzle upward. She reached out with her mane and slid her magic over the pegasus's jaw. "Perhaps we will meet again, and rest assured if our paths cross, next time I won't be quite so merciful."

She held the pegasus firmly. "Let me go!" she demanded.

Just for that, she flicked the pegasus's nose with her mane, hard enough to make her wince and try to jerk back, only to be immobilized by Nightmare's magic. And only then, did she release her head. The mare continued her resistant glare, but her forehoof lifted to rub away the pain on her nose.

In a flash of midnight blue light, Nightmare teleported to just behind the wall of the inner balcony. She held her breath and listened silently. Surely, there had to be some hint or sign or something that she could use to identify and track down Celestia's student!

Every voice was hushed, but a few were harsher than others. It took a short while, but she heard somepony break out into a fear-driven gallop. She would have pushed it aside as somepony running simply out of fear, but it was the only pony who ran- surely, they would run in a herd if they were so scared. And then there was the fact that the pony ran outside of the building, out into her night. After her introduction, surely that would have taken courage.

With another, much softer flash of light from her horn, her body slowly faded in with the darkness until no prying eyes could see her. As soon as she was invisible, another brilliant flash of midnight magic emanated from her horn, briefly illuminating the hallway before her vision shifted.

The pony galloping away was the unicorn mare with the baby dragon. Had she paid attention to her surroundings, rather than her fear, she would have detected Nightmare's teleport, but she did not. Nightmare watched the mare run for a moment, then the sound of the doors to the Town Hall being thrown open again drew her gaze back towards the structure. Five more ponies galloped out, and her eyes narrowed as she watched them. Among their group were the unruly pegasus and stubborn earth pony.

'Six Elements of Harmony,' shot through her mind.

For a moment, she froze in fear. Had she been so blind? Those ponies could have been her sister's students! As she watched them pass by, she frantically looked them over for the Elements, but much to her relief, they were nowhere to be seen. And yet, she knew that they could be racing right towards the Elements to retrieve them.

She spread her wings and bolted into the sky. Following close above them, she watched their every move with intent scrutiny. The rainbow-maned pegasus was at the front, followed close behind by the earth pony, then a white unicorn, then a pink earth pony, and then a yellow pegasus.

The first two, she could understand. The ponies following them, though? The unicorn seemed to be more concerned about getting her hooves dirty from running and not being able to see. The pink earth pony seemed happily oblivious to everything. And the pegasus bringing up the rear of her group was actually terrified of her own shadow cast by the moon.

It was enough to make her squint at them in confusion. 'Is this truly the best you could find? This can't be another distraction!'

Even more bizarre was that they followed the first unicorn to a live oak tree that seemed to have been made into a house, all without killing the tree. Sure, she knew that deer were capable of doing that, but she did not know of ponies who had done that. A closer inspection of the oak tree revealed a sign with a book on it. Indeed, it was a library.

'How fitting,' she mused sarcastically. Of course, it made perfect sense. Her sister's students would be going to a library.

Candlelight glowed from inside the tree, streaming out into her night through windows and the open door. She glided down, then landed and looked inside one of the windows. The lavender-colored unicorn trotted down the stairs, her back free from the young dragon. As soon as she was on the ground level, she dashed over to the bookshelf and started pulling out book after book, searching the titles for something.

Nightmare narrowed her eyes as she observed the unicorn. She looked so utterly terrified, her legs shook, and she seemed on the verge of hyperventilating. But what stuck out more was the fact that she kept muttering "Elements! Elements! Elements!" to herself.

Nightmare felt anger rise in her. It was definitely one of her sister's students. But yet, the pony wasn't even an adult! She was just a filly. Did Celestia truly expect this filly to stop her where she couldn't?

The rest of the ponies arrived. The pegasus shot in through the door, and rather than stopping, she sped up, outstretched her forehooves, and tackled the lavender unicorn to the ground.

For some reason, Nightmare couldn't stop herself from smiling at the sight.

"Who are you and what do you know about Nightmare Moon!?" the pegasus demanded, pinning the unicorn to the floor. "Are you a spy?!"

"What!? NO!" the unicorn shot back frantically. "S-she's just... I-I read it in a book!" she defended.

"Rainbow Dash!" the orange earth pony called. The rainbow-maned pegasus- apparently named 'Rainbow Dash', looked back at the earth pony. "How could she be a spy?" she asked, "She's the princess' student for land sake, girl!"

'Just one student...' ran through Nightmare's mind.

The pegasus huffed and swatted her wings at the air. "Alright, fine... geez..." Rainbow slowly pulled back from the unicorn she had pinned. "I'm sorry," she offered.

The unicorn continued to stare at her with caution and uncertainty. Eventually, she started to pick herself up, wincing as she did so. As soon as she was standing once again, she shot a glare at the pegasus.

If she were visible, Nightmare's teeth would have shown in a display of amusement.

The four other ponies slowly gathered around the unicorn, and she looked between them nervously. "Twilight Sparkle, right?" the orange earth pony asked. The unicorn- Twilight Sparkle- nodded.

'Twilight Sparkle... my sister's student...' Nightmare mused. As she thought about it, she found that she liked that name. Twilight, evening- the time between day and night. While she had always preferred her night, the evenings when the sun was low in the sky was a time of her sister's day that she once enjoyed- the lighting was so calm and peaceful, even if it wasn't nearly as calm and serene as her night.

"How do you know about Nightmare Moon?" the earth pony asked.

"Does she really have Princess Celestia?" the white unicorn asked frantically.

"Is-is she really bringing in e-eternal night?" the yellow pegasus squeaked.

"Are you sure her name isn't Queen Meany? Or Black Snooty? I think those names would fit her better. What happened to her anyway? She said she was Princess Celestia's sister. Did Princess Celestia forget her birthday or something?" the pink pony asked.

Immediately, Nightmare decided that among this group, the pink pony was her least favorite, more than the rainbow-maned pegasus. Her voice was so sharp and high pitched, it gave her a headache just hearing it- and she wasn't even in the same room.

Twilight Sparkle looked at her hooves, almost guiltily. Nightmare frowned for the briefest of instants. "I... had found a book yesterday... Predictions and Prophecies. It... spoke of Nightmare Moon and her return... I... I guess that... Nightmare Moon is... Princess Celestia's sister..." she said hesitantly.

The unicorn seemed to struggle with saying that. Her features expressed vulnerability as if it wouldn't have taken anything to crack her like an egg. "I... I asked Princess Celestia about her, but... she..." she trailed off, lifted her head up, and looked at the others pleadingly. "She said that Nightmare Moon was just an old pony's tale! That she wasn't real. Sh-she lied to me!" Her ears folded back at the admission.

As Twilight's ears pulled back, Nightmare's brow creased. For a moment, she thought back to the lies that her sister had spouted to her- that she was overreacting, that ponies actually did love her and her night, but the proof was never there. The reminder stroked her ire, yet at the same time, she felt a connection to the unicorn. She looked so absolutely devastated by the revelation that Celestia had lied to her.

Nightmare both relished it and abhorred it, and the duality she felt conflicted her. The pony she watched was her sister's student- the pony her plan seemed to revolve around. She was defenseless, she wouldn't be able to protect herself. Killing her or capturing her would have been so simple, and then she could torture her and break her, all the while goading to Celestia about how her failure brought on Twilight's pain.

But perhaps, letting her go free for a little while longer would prove valuable. After all, she had not seen the Elements of Harmony in her possession. And so long as she didn't have the Elements under lock and key, they could pose a threat to her. So Nightmare bided her time- she could afford to wait and observe this group, at least for a while. If anypony could locate the Elements of Harmony, perhaps it would be Twilight Sparkle, her sister's student.

"Hey now, I'm sure Princess Celestia had a good reason..." the orange pony offered, but her expression betrayed her true thoughts- she did not like the idea of Princess Celestia lying about it. It didn't sit well with her, even if there was a good reason behind it.

Twilight nodded sullenly. "I-I mean.. s-she had to, right?" she asked, seeking out whatever reassurance could be offered to her.

The pink pony smiled, then bounced over to her and hugged her. "I'm sure she had a good reason!" she offered cheerfully.

Hesitantly, Twilight returned the hug and laid her head down on the pony's shoulder. Nightmare watched as her ears slowly lifted back, and it seemed like the hug renewed her. "Y-you're right... she... she probably just wanted to... protect me... Nightmare Moon said that Princess Celestia ordered the guards to... not try to stop her... probably to protect them too..." Twilight said. "But... I-I could have helped her!" Once again, her expression shattered. "H-how did this happen? Why didn't Princess Celestia s-stop her?"

Slowly, the pink pony pulled back from the hug. "It'll be okay," she said.

Over the next few seconds, Nightmare watched Twilight's expression intently. Uncertainty shifted to optimism, back to uncertainty and hopelessness, then determination. Twilight's eyes glanced over the other ponies.

"We're all with you! We've gotta stop Nightmare Moon somehow," Rainbow Dash said. The rest of the ponies nodded in affirmation.

Twilight nodded. "R-right... um... The book said that Princess Celestia used something called the Elements of Harmony to defeat her and banish her to the moon. Um... I briefly studied it, but I-I don't remember all that well a-and I-I can't find the book..." she trailed off.

The pink pony cocked her head to the side. "You mean that one book called 'The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide' that you brought with you and you left sitting on the desk upstairs?"

Everypony stared at the pink pony. Nightmare was about to brush it off as more of her obliviousness, but Twilights mouth opened in a slow, concerned manner. "How... do you know that... when I forgot about that..?"

The pink pony closed her eyes, smiling, and giggled. "Oh, I saw the guards carry it upstairs when I was getting your party ready and I didn't see you take it down with you when we left."

"Oh, okay," Twilight said. A moment later, and she walked over to the stairs, then vanished from Nightmare's sight. A short time later, she walked back down the stairs bringing with her the book in her magenta magic. She flipped through the book's pages as she walked, displaying a skill of being able to walk without falling while reading at the same time. "It says there are six Elements of Harmony: Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, and Honesty, and the sixth Element is unknown." She paused to skim further. "The sixth Element will be revealed by a spark?" she asked aloud.

'The Element of Magic,' Nightmare noted.

"It's better than nothing," the orange earth pony offered.

Twilight continued reading. Nightmare licked her lips. "It says that the last known location was the Castle of the Two Sisters in-" she lowered the book and looked up at the other ponies. Nightmare Moon heard her gulp from outside. "-in the Everfree Forest!"

A collective gasp escaped the lips of all the other ponies lips.

Nightmare scowled. 'I searched for the Elements at my castle! They weren't there! The book is wrong...'

"Th-The Everfree Forest? That place ain't natural!"

"That place is just dreadful! It's full of icky monsters and things! And no paved roads."

"U-um... maybe we should... t-tell Princess Cadance? M-maybe she can... um... h-help?" the timid pegasus offered.

Nightmare Moon's gaze came to rest on her, and the pony seemed to flinch as if she could tell she was being watched. 'Another princess? Surely, she's not an alicorn... Or did you truly try to replace me, sister?'

Twilight shook her head. "No... Canterlot is too far, and... Cadance isn't a fighter."

'You didn't use her title? Do you know this Cadance?' Nightmare wondered.

"No, we have to find the Elements... I have to find the Elements..." Twilight nodded grimly and looked at the floor. Nightmare strained to hear what she spoke, "None of you have to come with me..."

"Are you kidding me!?" Rainbow Dash cried out. "We can't just let you go in there alone!"

"She's right," the orange earth pony agreed. "A small thing like you'd never be able to make it on your own."

Nightmare smirked as Twilight scowled at the earth pony. Twilight collected herself and stood straighter, proudly. "I'll have you know I'm Princess Celestia's protege! Princess Celestia personally taught me about magic. I can handle myself!"

"No offense Twilight, but Applejack's right. You're just a filly! Besides, it seems like you need all the help you can get," Rainbow offered.

"I have to agree with her, even if... I really don't want to go into that dreadful place."

Twilight sighed and slumped down, scowling. "Fine," she huffed. She closed the book and put it on the table in the middle of the room, then trotted towards the door. Nightmare watched her, then stepped away from the window to watch as she trotted out of the library. The other five ponies followed behind her at the same pace, although Rainbow Dash flew up beside her.

As they made their way through the town, Nightmare took into the sky to fly overhead and watch on. The trip to the edge of the forest was a quiet, uneventful one. Nightmare found herself relaxing and smiling, despite knowing that the group of ponies below her were the focus of her sister's plans to stop her.

After all, if that was the best her sister had, there really wasn't anything for her to worry about. So instead of worrying, she decided to enjoy this little break. Perhaps it could be a fun game to mess with them and rile them up, or maybe she should just observe them as they trekked through the forest.

It would give her an opportunity to observe and ponder her sister's student. The filly had piqued her interest. Perhaps torturing her was a bit harsh- she was still a filly, even if she practically was an adult. And the thought of torturing a foal left a bitter taste in her mouth.

It was nearly the same reason why she could justify granting mercy to ponies- specifically, Rainbow Dash. They hadn't committed the same transgressions against her that the ponies from so long ago had. They had some innocence to them, so she would give these ponies the same chance she had given them before.

If they betrayed that chance and refused to respect her, then she would deal with them harshly. But then, of course, she knew that dealing with them harshly would give them more reason to resent her and less reason to love her. She would need to develop a balance.

But given that Rainbow Dash was taking a stance with Twilight Sparkle, her dear sister's student, who was meant to stop her, she questioned her decision to grant the rebellious pegasus a second chance.

As the group of mares headed into the forest, Nightmare wondered if rather than being her enemies, they could be of some use to her. Rainbow Dash had, after all, stood up to her- foolish as it was. Perhaps that in of itself was a redeeming quality- even the pegasi guards cowered before her. Perhaps she could offer her a chance to become one of her soldiers- although her loyalty would probably always be in question. It was at least an idea.

'And perhaps,' Nightmare thought as they made their way deeper into the forest, 'you, Twilight Sparkle, could become my student instead of my sister's?' she mused. Even knowing that Twilight Sparkle was currently on a quest to obtain the greatest threat to her- The Elements of Harmony- and use them to stop her, she found the idea entertaining.

After all, perhaps then, she would have some semblance of victory over her sister- stealing her student from her, making Twilight Sparkle her own student. 'But then, do you truly care for this Twilight Sparkle, or is she but a tool for you to use against me?' she wondered. Thinking back on how Celestia acted in their encounter, she came to the conclusion that, 'No, she is more than just a tool to you. You trust her, you have faith in her. You put your life and the lives of everypony in her hooves... You care about her.'

Nightmare smiled. She was thinking about Celestia, yes, and that normally would have made her want to scream and rage and level everything in sight, but instead, she was calm. Jubliant, even. For Celestia had delivered her student, somepony who she undoubtedly cherished, right into her hooves: A perfect way to get back at her for every agonizing moment and every slight against her.

And, of course, if Twilight refused, she could still stick with her original plan. Torturing and killing a filly didn't sit well with her, but for the joy she would extract from her sister's misery? Oh, it would be worth it. Plus, Twilight was barely a filly now. She was practically an adult, which meant it wouldn't bother her quite as much.

She smiled contently, cheerfully even, as the group of ponies finally reached the ravine that separated the castle from the rest of the forest. She glided down and landed on the side of the ravine with her castle. She idly cast her gaze about, imagining what the future would look like for her palace.

She beheld the rope bridge with disgust, and in its place, imagined a proper stone bridge spanning the chasm- one which would stand a thousand years and then ten thousand more.

Turning her attention back to the group of mares, she listened once again. "...get across!?"

Rainbow Dash flared her wings out, then fluffed them. She smiled arrogantly. "Duh," she said matter-of-factly.

"Oh yeah!"

Rainbow propelled herself into the air with her wings, then dived down into the ravine, grabbed the rope, then flew up to the other side.

'Perhaps you're not simply an arrogant pegasus,' Nightmare mused. She had to admit, Rainbow Dash had some skill when it came to her flying. And she was fast.

Rainbow tied the ropes to the posts, then one at a time, the other ponies- including the timid pegasus, to her surprise- walked across the chasm.

As they reached the side with the ruined castle, they looked around in awe- or, in the case of the white unicorn, a mixture of remorse, disgust, and horror.

Nightmare followed casually, but not before casting a spell so that her hoofsteps were silenced.  As a group, they went into the castle to search, eventually coming to the throne room.

Nightmare had to pause as she looked over the destruction she and the past thousand years had caused. She felt a feeling of nostalgia to see the Throne Room in such a state. Celestia's throne lay broken, with the glass window behind the shattered thrones long since gone, destroyed at her birth. But, to her discomfort and disappointment, her own throne had not faired the past thousand years any better than her sister's throne- it lay broken and crumbling, covered in moss and forgotten.

She suppressed a sigh and then cast her gaze at the pedestal that had housed the Elements one thousand years ago. The stone was rough and worn, having not been maintained over her banishment.

Then, to her surprise, she saw five inert stones, one on each of the pedestal's outreached arms. 'How!?' shout out in her mind. She had searched the castle grounds with her magic for the Elements but hadn't found them, yet here they were! Reaching out with her magic again, she realized why she hadn't sensed them before: 'They're... inert?'

It took a moment for it to click, and when it clicked, it took all of her willpower to stop herself from breaking out into ecstatic laughter that would reveal her position. Her sister had lost her connection to the Elements, and away from the Tree, they became inert! No wonder her sister had not tried to fight her with the Elements. She couldn't! They needed to be awakened. The easiest way she knew to do that was to return the Elements to the Tree, but from what she could tell, Twilight Sparkle did not know about the Tree.

Overjoyed by the revelation, she strode into the room. The group split, but they all lingered close. Twilight walked over to the pedestal and levitated the stone orbs down. "These must be the Elements of Harmony... but they don't look anything like in the book!"

"What are we supposed to do now?" Applejack asked.

"I don't know... give me a minute..." Twilight replied. She laid down on the floor and laid the inert Elements around her body in a circle.

For a moment, it gave Nightmare pause. The five inert Elements surrounded Twilight in a way that was oh-so-familiar. It was how they were arrayed on the tree. She took a moment to admire it- whether on accident or chance, Twilight had become the centerpiece of the inert Elements- magic.

"Alright. Come on, everypony, let's give her some time to figure this out," Applejack said.

Nightmare watched as the other five mares slowly walked out of the room, leaving Twilight alone with the inert Elements, and of course, herself.

Knowing that she was safe, Nightmare approached Twilight, then came to a stop and looked over her body. As soon as her gaze fell on Twilight's cutie mark, she felt that odd sense of curiosity return. Her cutie mark was a six-pointed pink star-burst, surrounded by five six-pointed white stars. Emanating out of the six-pointed pink starburst were six white rays.

It left her dumbfounded.

Her cutie mark, along with the way she and the inert Elements were arrayed. It could not have been a coincidence. Startled, she cautiously looked around the room, carefully searching out anything else that she had missed. But there was nothing there except for Twilight and the inert Elements.

Her cutie mark was representational of magic, and she, undoubtedly, was representative of the Element of Magic and born to wield it. It was her destiny, and it was a great destiny.

This Twilight Sparkle, her sister's student, was perhaps the single greatest threat to her in existence- even more so than the Elements of Harmony themselves. It made her look at the filly in a different light, and yet, she could not escape the feeling that she couldn't have been a threat to her. She wasn't aggressive. Her build was light, and she wasn't athletic. She had none of the characteristics of a fighter or a spy, nor that of an assassin.

She was a scholar.

Nightmare shuddered.

But, while she was such a powerful threat, that also meant that if she played her cards right, she could become her most powerful tool, or perhaps, even an ally. And besides that, there was still something more to her.

Carefully, she lit her horn with just enough magic to perform a spell, while attempting to mask the glow of her magic from her horn. Fortunately, with the roof destroyed in her battle with Celestia, the moonlight was enough to hide her hornlight. She reached out with the barest amount of magic she could to pull it off and examined Twilight's magic.

She wasn't an ordinary unicorn- that much was obvious. Her pool of magic was large and powerful, and it was incomplete. Twilight herself felt incomplete, like she was still a work in progress, not what she was meant to be. She could feel just how much effort she had put into her magical studies, and in turn, she could feel just how much potential she had- it rivaled Starswirl the Bearded's potential. And she was a filly.

It made her shiver in fear. But Twilight wasn't a fighter, nor a soldier. She was a student. Her sister's student, but she was still a filly, still growing and developing. If Twilight had been an alicorn like herself, her potential would have rivaled Celestia, and her own potential, combined.

But for now? Now, Twilight was vulnerable. Killing her would be easy. A lance of magic through her heart, or her neck, or through her head. And that wasn't even being creative. She could easily list off a dozen ways to kill the filly before her. But she kept them all to herself and watched.

She couldn't shake the feeling that Twilight somehow knew she was nearby- perhaps she had felt the brush of her magic, but whatever the cause, she looked afraid. The glow of her horn sputtered, failing to reveal the Element of Magic, despite her best efforts.

But while Nightmare was content to watch for a while, her patience did wear out after watching her fail so many times to unlock the Elements. She was missing something. Twilight was, after all, incomplete. With a quick flash from her horn, Nightmare dispelled the magic cloaking her in the night.

Twilight's reaction was instant- she could feel the magic released and felt Nightmare's eyes on her. With a quick glance back to see her, she let out a scream, then jumped up and took step after trembling step back away from her. "N-no! N-no! No!" she shouted.

Nightmare raised an eyebrow at her. "Is that truly the best you can do?" she asked with disinterest. Twilight trembled and lit her horn, then angled it down at Nightmare. "Did my sister even teach you how to fight with your magic?" she asked curiously.

Twilight froze up at that. It was all the answer Nightmare needed, not that she needed any confirmation to know it was the case. If Twilight Sparkle knew how to fight with magic, then it was not combat spells, but using other spells for the purpose of defending herself.

Nightmare lifted a leg up, then stepped forward, avoiding the inert Elements as if they were nothing but rocks- which they were. As she approached Twilight, the unicorn backed up until her haunches pressed up against the cold stone wall. She squeaked and jumped, but Nightmare continued to approach her, smiling.

"S-stay back!" Twilight shouted.

"As I told your pegasus friend," Nightmare drawled, rolling her eyes dismissively, "Your mentor couldn't stop me. What makes you think that you can?"

Twilight wilted as Nightmare continued her march. She shied back and laid down before the alicorn as her shadow fell upon her. In her state of primal fear, her horn went dim; she lost her grasp on her magic, and that only served to intensify the fear she displayed.

"Come on, everypony! We need to hurry!" Applejack's voice shouted.

Nightmare scowled and turned back towards the doorway. "It seems your friends heard your scream," she noted casually.

"Th-they're n-not..." Twilight trailed off. Nightmare turned to look back at Twilight as the five mares entered the room. "M-my... friends?" she asked.

There was a sparkle in her eye.

'A spark,' she realized. In an instant, Nightmare recognized her peril. She was in danger and had but seconds to act. She was afraid. She was angry. She was ecstatic. Finally! A chance for her to actually have a challenge!

Nightmare's right hind leg stepped back with lightning fast speed. She turned, lighting her horn and flaring her wings. The five mares had taken a V-shaped formation facing her, with Applejack at the head. At the bottom of her vision, she could see the Elements awakening, and the pink six-pointed star that was Magic materialized out of the large orb atop the pedestal.

"F-friends..?" Twilight asked again, confused.

Nightmare reached out with her magic, teleporting the five mares across the room, then grabbing them in her magic and holding them down them down. She hastily bound them with her magic, but her focus was elsewhere. With another quick spell, she grabbed the awakened Elements of Harmony and teleported them into a quickly made pocket dimension so that they were out of reach.

"N-no!" Twilight cried out as the Elements flashed away in Nightmare's blue aura.

Had Celestia taught her better, Nightmare knew that Twilight could have interdicted her teleportation spells or the pocket dimension. Instead, she didn't. And Nightmare found herself disappointed. The Elements weren't a threat. Their bearers were subdued and-

And a pair of hooves connected with her chestplate. It was a kick. A powerful kick. Her head jerked forward as her chestplate was kicked. She actually skidded back a foot from the kick, then let out a cough from the rattling her insides received.

That hurt. A lot. And her chest was undoubtedly bruised from the blow, and her chestplate felt uncomfortable against her body.

A quick glance down at her chestplate surprised her- the kick had dented it in. Her eyes narrowed and she looked up. Rainbow Dash and Applejack had broken free. She hadn't bound Twilight, so she was free and had found her magic again. Her efforts were on trying to use it to free the others.

Applejack lunged at her- she was definitely the kicker. 'I forgot just how strong earth ponies can be,' Nightmare mused. Nightmare stepped back and jumped to the side to avoid her lunge. Applejack had too much follow-through, and with nothing to connect with, she stumbled. As soon as Applejack was off balance, she capitalized on the opening and sideswiped her chest with her armored hoof. She put just enough force into it to disable her without breaking anything- Applejack still wheezed as Nightmare's kick knocked the air out of her lungs and toppled her over.

Stronger bindings of magic wrapped around Applejack, nearly crushing her while preventing her from inhaling all the way.

She hastily glanced at Twilight, then her gaze fell on Rainbow Dash. Twilight struggled against the magic bindings holding the rest of her 'friends', but it seemed that she hadn't completely recovered from her panic.

Rather than devote more energy to fighting Rainbow than she needed to, she decided to show her just how outmatched she was against an alicorn. She grabbed Rainbow in her magic by her tail.

"Hey!" was Rainbow's defiant shout. At the very least, she was amusing.

Still holding on Rainbow's tail, Nightmare flung the pegasus at the wall so quickly she squawked. Nightmare watched as best she could, but she had thrown Rainbow hard and fast. Rainbow struggled to try to stop herself, but it was futile- she slammed into the wall.

She hit the wall with her wing upright- it was a better outcome than it would have been if her wing was outstretched, but it wasn't nearly as good for her as if her wing had been folded. She cried out in pain, and as she hit the stone floor, she grabbed at her wing joint with her forehoof.

Nightmare was sure it wasn't broken- Rainbow had folded her wing. But nonetheless, she knew it must have been painful. With Rainbow not daring to strike out at her again, she quickly bound her with stronger bindings. Rainbow grimaced as the bindings glowed to life around her wings and held them tightly in place.

Once again, Nightmare found herself disappointed. Neither of the group's fighters put up much of a fight. She longed for battling a unicorn, but a dispassionate look at Twilight already told her that wasn't going to happen- Twilight was still struggling to free the white unicorn, her horn sputtering. Her cheeks were damp with tears, and so her fur was padded down.

Nightmare frowned at that, but not from disappointment. She couldn't place it.

It took a few seconds for Twilight to realize that something was wrong. She was so caught up in trying to free the white unicorn that she didn't notice how she looked or where her gaze was directed. But, eventually, she did notice, and so, she stopped trying to free her when she realized that both Rainbow and Applejack were injured and bound.

Slowly, Twilight took a step back from the unicorn, keeping her body low to the floor in her best effort not to invoke Nightmare's wrath.

"I already know you're not going to fight, so instead I'll ask if you're going to run," Nightmare said with disinterest.

Twilight bit her lip and looked around at the other bound ponies, then back at Nightmare.

Nightmare frowned a bit. "I'll take that as a no." She gripped Twilight Sparkle in her magic and held her firmly, then bound her with her magic. She layered bindings on her horn to seal off her potent magic, which seemed to scare Twilight even more, but she still didn't resist out of the same fear.

Surveying her work, she still found herself so incredibly disappointed at their resistance- or rather, lack thereof. 'Was this the best you could do?' It was so disheartening. Truly, it made her disdain for Celestia grow even more- Celestia had gotten her hopes up for a good battle, and then stole the wind beneath her wings by exactly who she had to stop- a group of young mares and a filly, none of them trained to fight her. And the filly was their leader.

Or, perhaps Celestia had simply messed up her own plans more than Nightmare realized. She shook her head, and cast her magic on them, alongside speaking one command: "Sleep."