//------------------------------//
// Albategnius 
// Story: Fear Princess 
// by MythrilMoth 
//------------------------------//

In a middle-class home in an upscale neighborhood in Canterlot, two unicorns looked up at the sky, frowning. "That's peculiar," Twilight Velvet said. "The Mare in the Moon..."

"I've...I've never heard of anything like this," Night Light commented, staring at the smooth, blank, silver-white moon, its face marked only by a few craters. The mare-shaped shadow that had covered half the moon's surface since time immemorable had, moments earlier, simply vanished. "What do you think it means?"

"I don't know," Velvet said, biting her lip. "Maybe Shining Armor will know, he's at the Palace with Cadance, right? We should ask him when he comes home..."

"Mommy? Daddy?" A small voice piped up. The unicorn couple turned away from their bedroom balcony as the door opened and a small purple filly trotted in. "What's wrong with the moon?"

"Twilight, sweetie, you should be in bed," Velvet chided.

"I know, Mommy, but I hadda pee, and when I looked out the window I saw the moon and it's not right. Why's the moon wrong?"

"We don't know, sweetie," Night Light said. "Your brother's at the castle right now, we were going to ask him if he knows when he comes home later."

Twilight Sparkle frowned. "Can I sit up until Shiny comes home?" she asked. "I don't think I can sleep until I know what happened to the moon."

"That's not a good i—" Velvet broke off and sighed. "How's this?" she tried. "You can stay in here with Mommy and Daddy, and if you're still awake when Shiny comes back, we can all go ask him then. If not, we can ask him tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay Mommy," Twilight said, yawning. She crawled up onto the bed; her parents smiled at each other and rolled their eyes, then got into bed on either side of her.

Within minutes, the little family was sound asleep as the moonlight streamed peacefully through the window.


* * * * *


The various ponies gathered in the throne room—courtesans, guards, scholars, and the like—looked up as Shining Armor cantered through the doors. "By order of Princess Cadance, clear the throne room!" he barked. "Only Kibitz and two guards from each company are to remain. You bunch, the unicorn scholars, Cadance wants you to get that mirror out of here. Take it someplace secure and tell no one except the guards where it is."

The guards immediately snapped to attention and began herding ponies. Kibitz stood fully at attention, his ears perked, his mustache twitching.

The other ponies were slower to move.

"Now see here, young colt!" a gruff unicorn stallion said. "Who do you think you are, barging in here barking orders—"

"The situation just changed," Shining Armor said over him. "We're not going to be able to cover up the fact that Princess Celestia is gone anymore!" He braced himself, then continued: "When Cadance raised the moon, something...went wrong."

Kibitz's eyes widened.

"For right now, we need as few ponies as possible underhoof while we deal with this...situation," Shining Armor said. "Please, I ask that you do as I say and don't argue! This is for the good of all Equestria!"

Glancing uncertainly at one another, the milling crowd of scholars and courtesans began to thin. Several guards seized the mirror and carted it off. The remaining guards stood crisply at attention, flanking the throne.

Once the room was mostly clear, Kibitz trotted over to Shining Armor, his eyes clouded with worry. "Should I take this to mean, erm..." He cleared his throat. "An unexpected guest will be—"

"Nightmare Moon has returned," Shining Armor said bluntly. "Nightmare Moon is back, and Cadance made a deal with her." His muzzle twisted into a sour grimace. "She'll be ruling Equestria until we can get Her Majesty back."

"My word," Kibitz breathed hoarsely.

"It...it's the only choice Cadance had," Shining Armor said miserably. "I mean, this is Nightmare Moon we're talking about. Without Princess Celestia..." He shook his head.

"Yes...yes, of course," Kibitz said absently. His eyes widened and he let out an alarmed whinny as the throne room doors suddenly burst open with a sharp bang, and a stream of blue-black smoke whirled into the room, settling above the throne before coalescing into a pitch-black alicorn mare wearing a midnight blue helm, peytral, and hoofguards. Seconds later, Princess Cadance and Zecora trotted into the throne room, closing the doors behind them.

The guards tensed, watching Nightmare Moon with alarm, ready to spring into action. "Stand down!" Cadance called to them.

"Yes, stand down, you weak foals," Nightmare Moon said, cold menace dripping from her voice. "I am far too elated at the moment to ruin my good mood with a demonstration of discipline." The guards backed off, whickering nervously and pawing the floor, their eyes never leaving Nightmare Moon.

"Your Majesty," Cadance said softly, "could you please not use the Royal Canterlot Voice? Nopony here doubts your power, but it'll help put ponies more at ease with your presence if you, well..." She gestured vaguely with a hoof.

Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes. "Oh, very well," she said scornfully in a much more sedate tone. She settled herself onto the throne and looked around. "Such a bright, opulent palace my sister has crafted in my absence," she observed. "This is not the Castle of Two Sisters, I know that much from the view outside. Where are we, child?"

"Canterlot, Your Majesty," Cadance said. "It's a city Princess Celestia and the unicorns built after...well," she trailed off.

Kibitz coughed. "Princess Celestia could not bring herself to remain in the old castle," he said. "Too many painful memories."

"Uh-huh," Nightmare Moon said in an unimpressed tone. She looked up and down the long room, taking in the various stained glass windows. "A stained glass record of the lone rule of the Sun Princess," she observed. "How arrogant you have become, sister." Her gaze snapped to Kibitz. "See to it I receive due immortalization in stained glass at once," she ordered.

"Y-yes, Your Majesty," Kibitz stammered.

"Hmm...I will need a great many more tributes," Nightmare Moon mused. "I shall prepare a list..." She waved a hoof vaguely. "Soon. In the meantime, I believe I should introduce myself to my subjects..."

"Not yet," Cadance said. At Nightmare Moon's sharp look, she flinched, but she held her ground. "Look..." She took a deep breath. "I can't stop you from doing whatever you want, but please listen. When ponies find out Princess Celestia is gone, it's going to cause a panic. Then they'll find out you're the new ruler of Equestria, and..." Her ears folded back. "It's going to cause fear, chaos, and widespread panic. That's pretty much unavoidable under the circumstances. Even if we handle this as carefully as possible, once word gets out, the entire kingdom will go crazy. If you just suddenly show up and start proclaiming things left and right, well..."

"You're going to terrorize a lot of innocent, peaceful ponies," Shining Armor said. "Is that what you want? A kingdom ruled by fear, terror, and chaos? Ponies all across Equestria scared to leave their homes, living in fear and misery, afraid you're going to hunt them down and do terrible things to them?"

Nightmare Moon gazed imperiously at him, her pupils thin and sharp. "If they will not worship me with the same love and adulation they gave so freely to Celestia, then I will revel in their screams of terror," she said.

"That's not right!" Cadance said. "You can rule Equestria without spreading fear and chaos and terror! Look, just..." She sighed. "Please don't go out of your way to make the ponies of Equestria fearful and downtrodden? What good is that to anyone? Wouldn't you rather prove you can be just as loved, just as adored, just as admired as Celestia?"

Nightmare Moon snorted. "Is this to be your pathetic attempt at corraling me into doing as you wish? To compare my every action and whim to my sister? Because I warn you, child, that will wear extremely thin in short order."

"I'm just trying to make a point," Cadance said. "You don't need to be an evil queen of darkness and fear! You can be a benevolent, peaceful ruler and allow Equestria to continue as it always has, with ponies happy, healthy, and productive!"

Nightmare Moon drew herself up. "And my appearance, my presence, is so guaranteed to strike terror into these precious ponies' hearts?" she challenged.

"Have you looked in a mirror?" Shining Armor muttered.

Nightmare Moon turned her gaze to him, baring fangs. "And just what is THAT supposed to mean?!" she bellowed.

Cadance winced, but interposed herself between Nightmare Moon and her boyfriend. "It means, Your Majesty, that, well..." She levitated a mirror out of her saddlebag and floated it up to the throne. "Your appearance is...somewhat intimidating."

Nightmare Moon blinked at her reflection. She took the mirror in her own magic and expanded it to full-length, studying herself from various angles. "That's what I look like? Seriously?"

"You...you didn't know?" Shining Armor asked.

Nightmare Moon returned the mirror to its original size and floated it back to Cadance. "I had this form for less than an hour before being banished and there aren't exactly any mirrors up there," she said dismissively. "Forgive me if I was a bit busy trying to kill my sister and usurp her throne to worry about this little makeover."

"Pardon me, but I have a suggestion," Zecora interrupted, stepping forward, "that may settle the pace of this succession." All eyes turned to her. She gazed at Nightmare Moon without a hint of fear or trepidation. "The issue at hand is both simple and grand. That which you seek, the worship and glory, will not come easy given your current backstory. If you wish to reign without terror and fear, begin with the ponies living right here. Learn of the way ponies live today, listen to what these ponies have to say. Ease into your rule one day at a time—"

"Enough with your pedantic rhyme!" Nightmare Moon snapped.

"She's right, though," Shining Armor said. "It might be better for you to learn how Equestria works before you upset the apple cart."

"That's right," Cadance said. "Right now, you're the most powerful being in all Equestria. There's no dispute of that. But if you go out those doors tomorrow morning and declare yourself the new ruler of Equestria, all you're going to do is cause a panic. You should take it slow, get to know how things work, get the ponies here in the castle used to you first, then we can sort of start letting the rest of Equestria know what's...what's going on here."

Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow. "You are trying to keep me at bay, to stall for time, hoping you can somehow free my sister without all of Equestria learning of her disappearance."

"Not at all!" Cadance said hastily. "It's just..." She sighed. "Princess Celestia is a constant in everypony's lives. Except for you, there isn't a single pony alive who hasn't grown up revering and worshipping her. Surely you can understand...finding out she's gone is going to shake them to the core, and if they find out on top of that that Nightmare Moon is the new ruler of Equestria, it's..." She shook her head. "It's not something we can just dump on the whole kingdom overnight. It'd turn Equestria upside down."

Nightmare Moon frowned in contemplation. "I...suppose there is some truth to that," she said. "I would prefer a worshipful and reverent flock beneath my hoof than ponies who are too frightened to even think straight." She closed her eyes. "Besides, I will be stuck walking through their nightmares whether I want to or not, and frightened ponies have far worse nightmares than ponies at peace." She fluffed her wings and sat back in the throne, arching her neck imperiously. "Very well," she said. "Beginning first thing in the morning, we will proceed with your plan to...ease into my reign."

Cadance bowed. "Of course, Your Majesty."

"I'd...better get home," Shining Armor said. "Will you be okay?"

"I'll be just fine," Cadance said. "Be careful what you tell your family, okay?"

"I'll...yeah," Shining Armor said, worrying at his lip. He glanced at the throne, frowned, then turned and left.

"I should start working on tomorrow's schedule," Kibitz said hurriedly, bustling away. "Good evening, Your Majesties."

"I believe I will retire now too," Zecora said. "I bid good evening and good luck to you."

With Zecora gone, only the guards, Cadance, and Nightmare Moon remained. Nightmare Moon tilted her head. "And you?" she asked. "Surely it is past your bedtime, little one?"

"Are you kidding?" Cadance asked, all the politeness and civility gone from her voice. "I may have basically handed Equestria over to you without a fight, but if I don't at least keep a close eye on you at all times, I'll never be able to look Princess Celestia in the eye again." She scraped at the floor firmly with one dainty hoof. "I'm going to keep you in check, Nightmare Moon. Equestria will not be your plaything."

Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes. "So dramatic," she said. Chuckling, she stretched out on the throne, eyes half-lidded. "Do as you wish. Just remember your place."

"Oh, I know my place," Cadance said softly as she conjured a large, plush cushion and folded her legs under her.