//------------------------------// // III. Hello Nightmare // Story: The War in Heaven // by voroshilov //------------------------------// “Those who hated the Emperor did so out of fear. Those who loved him did so out of respect and fear.” - The Emperor’s Retainers by Lyra Mors - The moon's surface was freezing, silent and empty, save a large white half sphere in the centre of a crater. Emperor Nicholas hovered slightly above the ground, which was slowly being scorched and cracked by streams of white light streaming from the object. He beat his wings once to draw himself closer, but flinched back slightly when a vast arc of white lightning crashed past him. He thought for a moment, considering something that only his mind could understand. He brought up his sword and sliced open a gap in the object, being immediately blinded by a burst of light. The gap began to speak, whispering in an ancient tongue that was inaudible to mortal ears. Nicholas, however, was no mere mortal, and as such he understood every word. The voice was trying to tempt him, trying its very best to make him defer to its power: it bid him bow to it. With a mighty roar that shook the heavens, he spoke upon it, "silence, wretch! You will open for me to pass, such is my will!" The voice was silent for a moment, before it made a splutter and the gap opened to allow him inside. Nicholas landed, clawed feet touching the cold and dust covered ground. A near invisible shiver passed up along his legs just as he stepped past the precipice. The world changed suddenly, black gave way to white just as cold dusted rock gave way to what felt like marble but looked like cloud. "I hear you," a powerful voice echoed throughout the chamber, "show yourself and prepare to do battle!" Nicholas knew the voice immediately, for it was the voice of one of his most trusted and powerful friends. Whilst Kyhron was like a son to him, and Kaal a loyal friend, the owner of this voice was one he could even consider a sister. Both of them had gone through much, both were scorned for the simple wish to help their subjects and both had wanted to be rid of their weaknesses. He was invisible to her, he knew that, but still he smiled. He reached out his hand, wreathed in purple energy, and slashed open reality. He passed through the wound he had made into a darkened room. It was easily identifiable as the throne room of Canterlot, though the throne that belonged to Celestia was smashed and partly covered with a black drape. On the throne of Luna sat a giant black pony, armoured in blue metal and with her starry purple and blue mane flowing in a non-existent breeze. Closer inspection would show her to be emaciated, as if moments away from falling over dead - but her sheer magical prowess, majesty and grandeur gave her such a regal silhouette as to cover these weaknesses up. Knife slit pupils focused on him with first a look of indignation, then of a mix of terror and adoration. "Luna." Nicholas looked around the throne room, "it has been so long. Perhaps too long." "Nicholas," she breathed, "no. It cannot be. You are another vision, another aberration conjured up by my tyrant sister so she can stab me in the back and claim Equestria again. I will not let it happen! Disperse yourself, waywalker! Or suffer my wrath!" "Luna, vigilant as ever, I see. I am no aberration, no demented spectre sent to haunt you. If you do not believe me then I will show you so." The tiny blue alicorn sat before the ebony desk, even sat atop her chair much of her book was neither visible nor reachable. It was a book her sister and the court magician, Starswirl, had provided to teach her the basics of her magical abilities. There was much she had to learn about magic quickly, her sister and Starswirl could only hold up the moon for so long. The rock was tied to her, or so she had been told, and her unique magical hoofprint was vital to control it. Fortunately, sufficient magical power was enough to keep it turning, though it taxed the user to no end. She flapped her little wings to gain a brief look of the next page, only to slowly sink back down onto the navy blue cushion once her energy reserves were expended. It was impossible. She knew it so. Her sister was naturally gifted with magic of all kinds, when she was 8 she had built a tower using nothing but magic, a year later she had so impressed her tutor, the court magician, that he had refused to take anypony's counsel save hers from that point on. Luna, on the other hand, had the greater aptitude for physical ability: she had flown around the entire castle grounds in under twenty minutes the day previously. Unfortunately for her, magic was not something that could be taught, magical ability was inherent, potential could be unlocked through tutelage but the ability had to be there to begin with. Luna had begun to despair, for she had no ability. She was not even capable of basic telekinesis, something that all foals her age were capable of. She had not even gotten her cutie mark yet, she was a princess! The little alicorn but her head in her hooves, sighing gently as she did so. It was truly hopeless. She was expected to be capable of magic exceeding the wildest dreams of most unicorns by now, yet she had not even managed her firstspark. She was embarrassed, her sister was the shining example, the spotlight always on how wonderful she was or some incredible deed she had committed. Luna, meanwhile, was known only to a few, all of those being somewhere within the castle. The first beams of moonlight cut through the room, lighting everything just enough for it to be visible but not too bright. Luna felt instantly relaxed and revitalised, such as she had always felt when under the moon. She had always wished to go there, to see the beautiful glow for herself and experience what she was meant to be so fundamentally connected to. "Some day," she whispered, staring up through the skylight, "some day." There came a faint whooshing noise from behind her, causing her to turn, and the room suddenly went cold. The faint glow of candlelight coming from the hallway disappeared, only the moon illuminated the space. Her attention would snap between pops of white light in the darkness, she felt strangely entranced by them. Every one of them seemed to exude an aura of knowledge, though she couldn't quite explain why. She rose from her seat, lowering herself slowly to the floor beside it, and trotted into the centre of the room. She stood in the centre of the large decorative purple rug, the only real cosmetic item she owned, and looked up to behold a shadow that seemed far closer than the others. Tenderly, she poked out with a hoof, hitting a solid object. Her hoof felt as though it had frozen and she pulled it back as the feeling began to flee from its extremities. "Hello?" She questioned the shadow, still unable to visualise what she was speaking to. From the shadow came a crackling, strained voice, "hello," it said simply. Suddenly, tendrils of white light began to dance along one of its limbs, down the side of its abdomen and around its head. It was illuminated only slightly, and even then only by itself, but it was enough for Luna to flinch back in fear. It was far taller than she, or indeed anypony she had ever seen, stood on two legs and had no discernible face. There were noticeable gaps where its muscles should have been, instead there was exposed machinery and wiring, arranged mostly around a central set of pistons - maybe she had learned something from her studies after all. Its face was mostly a large metal plate, that had been apparently welded to greyed flesh and blackened bone, its left eye socket was the only one partially visible, though instead of holding an eye it held a writhing mass of white light forming a strangely logical yet random looking lattice. "What are you?" Luna asked, tentatively poking its left leg with a hoof. She pulled back her hoof when the surface practically froze her blood. "I," the creature said slowly, "am the Emperor of Sorrows." "Oh." Luna looked down. "Does that mean you're sad? I've got cookies over there," she pointed to the dresser, which held a half full jar of cookies, "you can have one if you want." The Emperor of Sorrows laughed, "not like that," it said, "I was born of pain, so I embody pain. I am Sorrow. And you? I know your pain. Your sister, so powerful is she, that you feel wholly inadequate in comparison. You hate your weakness, you want to be strong, like her, like the wizard. I used to be like you: weak, so many believed I was not worthy of any form of power. They hated me, feared me, ridiculed me, for what I was. Just as they do, and will do, to you. The wizard does not teach you because he knows what you will become. Why do you think you cannot use your magic? He is sabotaging you, though neither you nor your sister realise it. Tell me, do you want to be strong?" Luna nodded, appalled at the idea of Starswirl sabotaging her, though she wasn't sure how or why. "Yes," she said, with as much certainty as a young child could have, "yes I do." The Emperor of Sorrows smiled, baring a range of gunmetal grey teeth. "Very well," it held out its hand, with a white glow spreading from the finger tips to entirely envelop the room, Luna with it. "It's," Luna stuttered, "it's really you." Nicholas nodded. "Yes," he said, walking forwards, "I have returned. The War in Heaven is nigh." "It is time?" Luna questioned, rising from her throne, "but, we are not finished on this world? I have yet to smother the Light for good." Nicholas sighed. "Luna," he said, "this world you see before you is a lie. The Light has trapped you on your moon, Celestia rules the world below, our first task is to bring forth the Night." Luna looked confused for a moment, before looking around her. "I had wondered," she said, "I had wondered how my sister endured, how her armies were endless even as the Night ruled over the sky. Curse her sorcery!" "Be calm, Luna. Your sister has been brought into the fold, she knows what you are but will not dare harm you so long as I am there. She will be necessary for the first Act." Luna's frown turned to an expression of surprise, "she is with us?" She asked, hesitantly, "Celestia has seen truth?" "It took Kyhron to reveal it to her," Nicholas chuckled, "both he and the Composer. She has seen truth, though her commitment to our cause cannot be counted upon. For now, though, she works with us." Luna nodded, still somewhat shocked. She then smiled, and chuckled too. "Incredible," she breathed, "truly, you can work miracles." Nicholas laughed again, holding out a three clawed hand for Luna. The alicorn, just barely able to reach it, placed her hoof in its palm. Nicholas closed the claws. "It is time. Let us return to the surface. I have had Celestia prepare the Elements of Harmony, with a few choice additions I have made to them, that should return to you the power you lost over the years." Luna smiled and closed her eyes, allowing the waves of energy emanating from Nicholas to wash over her, remaining calm as she felt her body melt from around her. As she felt space collapse and who knew what pass by her, she kept her eyes closed and waited, a tip Nicholas had given her centuries previously. She breathed out slowly as she felt space come back together again, followed by her form solidifying and finding its correct place. She opened her eyes to see six ponies, none of which were her sister, all wearing various pieces of jewellery that it took her a second to recognise as the Elements of Harmony. Barely a moment later, a beam struck her. Unlike the one she had been hit by a millennia earlier, it was black, tinted with cyan and seemingly writhing to escape its path. The beam proved to be more than just energy, wrapping around her and eventually entirely encompassing her form. Within the writhing bubble's confines, spacetime distorted and all manner of ferocious and dangerous energies swirled around Luna. The bubble grew over the next minute, with Twilight shouting about how it "wasn't right!" The bubble stopped growing for a second, before popping with a ghostly moan. In its place, stood an alicorn far removed from the Princess Luna Twilight knew. She was tall, at least seven metres in height, taller than Nicholas in his reduced form, with a defined musculature and powerful figure. Her horn was almost as long as Twilight's body, ringed in tiny glowing orange runes. Her wings were similar to Nicholas', though black and more appropriate for her size. What scared Twilight, however, was not her razor sharp pearls of teeth; her navy blue armour covered in runic writing just like her horn; her legs which terminated in clawed feet rather than hooves; or her mane and tail, which clearly showed dark green tendrils amongst the stars: but her eyes. They were a far cry from the cat-like eyes she had seen Nightmare Moon with: pools of swirling black and purple ink, dotted with stars just like her mane, with pupils that were plain white slits.  She stood silent for a moment, before tilting her head back and bellowing a laugh that seemed to echo through spacetime itself. She looked directly at Twilight, who stepped back unconsciously and bowed low in fear. Luna stepped forwards, every step silent save the clicking of her black claws against the marble floor. She stopped before Twilight, lowering her head so the two were just about level, causing Twilight to shrink back and close her eyes in a desperate attempt to banish what confronted her. "Thank you," Luna said, voice ethereal but like silk, "for freeing me." A serpentine tongue darted from her mouth, tasting the air and giving Twilight a nasty flash of what looked like razor sharp edges. "My sister," she said, looking up from Twilight to face the golden door at the end of the room, "she is coming," Luna turned to Nicholas, who simply nodded, causing her to smile. Footsteps began to draw nearer the door. "Do not speak," Nicholas said to the Element bearers, "do not act unless I say you may." The bearers seemed all too happy to oblige him, even Pinkie Pie, who was cowering behind a potted plant. The footsteps stopped, replaced by the sound of a door handle turning. The hinges creaked as the wood and gold door was pushed open, revealing Princess Celestia. The alicorn entered the room, looking towards Nicholas as she closed the door. "Where is she?" Celestia asked, confusion evident in her physicality and voice, "did you find her?" Nicholas didn't respond, causing anger to begin to swell inside Celestia, "where is she?" She asked again, louder this time, "where is my sister?" "Right here," Luna's appearance was otherwise silent as her magical disguise peeled away, placing her right in front of her sister, who she towered over. Celestia stammered for a moment, before stepping back just as Twilight had done. Luna followed her, laughing jovially, though with a clear malice underneath. "Oh now, don't leave me again, sister. Come on, don't you want to catch up on all the fun we've missed?" When Celestia neared the door, the runes on Luna's horn glowed brighter, there followed a sound of rending metal and crunching wood, as Luna made sure the door was locked tight. Celestia had backed herself into a corner, literally and metaphorically, Luna standing above her and laughing as she enjoyed the spectacle. "My lord," Celestia gathered herself enough to plead fearfully to Nicholas, "help me, please!" Nicholas remained silent. "My lord!" Celestia pleaded harder, "My lord! Please help me! Anypony! Please!" Rainbow Dash prepared to make a move, but relented when Nicholas shone his sword in front of her. Rarity looked on in an almost twisted fascination; Pinkie Pie continued her cowering, except now she had somehow procured a pillow with which to cover her ears; Fluttershy began to sob as she covered her face with her hooves; Twilight stood in abject horror and Applejack simply looked away in a mixture of shame and helplessness. Luna lifted her right forehoof, baring her talons at Celestia. "Do you remember these, sister?" She asked, grinning, "do you remember how an army was cleaved in two by them? Do you remember how they rended your armour like it was nothing? Do you remember how they shattered your precious Daybringer? I do, Celestia, I do. Soon, you shall too." She brought the claws up, before slicing across Celestia's face with a malignant glee. The solar princess dropped down, her hooves clutching at her left eye as blood began to pool on the floor below her. Luna simply laughed, tilting her head back and allowing it to echo throughout the palace. "You thought you could contain me, didn't you?" She sneered at the crying, desperate pony. "You thought you could trap me forever! You thought so much, yet, you were still wrong. You are almost pitiful, almost." She brought up her claws again, slashing directly downwards to cut at Celestia's left foreleg. The alicorn let out a yelp of pain before it was choked back and she grabbed the bleeding leg. "For so long I lived in exile." Luna brought the bloodied talons up again, fury and hatred running through her voice. "For so long I was trapped on my moon." She brought them down across Celestia's underbelly, causing her to collapse forwards as her sobbing became quieter. "For centuries," Luna's voice rose until it hurt the ears of all who listened, "I waited, preparing for the day I would meet you again," she brought up the claws, now dripping with blood, once more. "And now," her voice reached a crescendo, her eyes widened, the sclera filled with storms, and pupils became knifepoints. "I will have my revenge!" "In time," Nicholas said, voice at its usual volume and with no hint as to what he had just witnessed evident in it, "clean yourselves off, both of you. Kyhron will be here soon." Luna levitated a handkerchief up to her claws and wiped them free of blood, she brought another forwards for Celestia, laying it just in front of her head. She then followed Nicholas, who was preparing a table at the other end of the room. As they conversed, the Element bearers, save Pinkie, Rarity and Twilight, surged towards Celestia to tend her. Fluttershy, overcoming her initial terror and horror, treated the wounds as best she could, whilst Applejack cleaned the stricken mare and Rainbow Dash made crass, furious and quiet remarks about Luna and Nicholas. Pinkie remained hidden, with Rarity looking at Luna with a strange look on her face, that only Nicholas and maybe Luna herself could acquire anything from. Twilight, meanwhile, stood in petrified silence. She had not only given Nightmare Moon so much power, but sat and watched as she tore into Celestia. Twilight was not just afraid, she was ashamed. And she knew that Nicholas could tell. She remembered back to the book he had given her, she had taken the time to skim read a passage whilst waiting for his return. The Master of Time stood in an open field, there were bodies strewn around him. Enemies, mostly, though a sorrowful few were friends. Before him, lay one such friend. His body was broken, his eyes blank, his armour scorched and cracked. He had joked with The Master of Time before the battle. I will be fine, he said, there is no power in the Omniverse that can kill me. Many have tried, but none have succeeded, none ever will. The Master of Time looked at the body. He regarded it, trawled through its still living consciousness to see its life. It had lived a good life, but not a fulfilled one. The Master of Time spoke upon the body, and it was healed. The eyes blazed to life, the armour cleaned and sealed itself. The friend breathed anew, looking upon The Master of Time, he joked again. Twilight felt a tingling in her throat, far more pleasant than the previous time she had read it. With her jaw still trembling, she muttered, "brai-yel, xyuthan ka'ne uwa jyaeq." She looked again to Princess Celestia, who was now sat up and talking to her friends, she was no longer bleeding, though she was covered in scars. Her left eye was still covered by her hoof, Twilight sensed - though she did not know how - that it could not be healed. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she trotted to join Celestia and the others. "Knowing Kyhron," Nicholas joked, "it will be longer." Luna laughed, "that is true," she paused for a moment, feeling a minute crackling on the air. "She knows the voice?" Nicholas nodded. "She does. She is a fast learner, an excellent student. I have taught her nothing and yet she can master it simply from the Tome." "Wow," Luna said, clearly impressed, "even I required great tutelage to learn the voice, and yet I can barely speak it." Nicholas chuckled, "she is certainly a prodigy. As all of those six seem to be, in varying degrees. The one with the rainbow mane? I had to stop her from attacking you." Luna's brow raised. "Really?" She chuckled, "my, oh, my. I admire her courage." "As do I," Nicholas said, looking off into the distance, "reminds me of Kaal, in a way." Luna sighed, "it is a pity," she said, "I would have liked to meet him." The two stood in silence for a moment, both reflecting on the losses of their lives. Luna knew she had lost much, but sat besides Nicholas, it was as though she had lost nothing at all. Inspecting him with magic was next to impossible, but there was a yawning emptiness inside of him - an abyss that could never be filled. "Excuse me?" A voice, that of Rarity, came from below, "I wondered if it would be alright to join you? I doubt my friends would be incredibly accommodating of me at this moment." Nicholas looked down at her, before chuckling. "Of course. Come, sit at our table," he pulled a chair out for her, "more are always welcome." Luna smiled at the little pony. "Indeed they are." Nicholas pulled himself down into a chair as Rarity pulled herself into one, he just barely fit, his legs spreading out far beyond the edge of the table. Luna, with a single beat of her mighty, leathery wings, came to rest on the seat opposite him. She stretched her neck out with a pop, before resting back against the chair's back, which just held her. "So," she said, looking over Rarity, "what brings you to us? I would have expected you would aid Celestia." Rarity smiled sheepishly, chuckling as she rubbed the back of her head with her hoof. "Well," she said awkwardly, "the beauty of your craft...the radiance of your power...it acquired my eye," she stuttered as she tried to get the words out. "You liked it," Nicholas said, "didn't you?" Rarity went red, before admitting it, "yes. Only a little! And not in a weird way! There was just so much power, so much mastery. It was finer than the most beautiful gemstone." Luna stared at her in silence, whilst Nicholas burst out laughing, causing the table to shake. His voracious laughter was so strong he propelled himself backwards, causing the chair to fall backwards, him with it. He lay on the floor in silence for a moment, before his thunderous bellowing began again. Rarity, seeing the display, forgot all of her embarrassment and laughed as well, with Luna following suit as she failed to contain her laughter at the sudden situation. They were laughing for a solid five minutes, before Nicholas calmed enough that he lay himself back. Rarity wiped a tear from her eye, her throat hoarse from the exclamations. "Oh, darling. It seems I made the right choice." Rainbow Dash looked on the display as a betrayal. Rarity hadn't shown the slightest care for Celestia, and was instead rolling around and laughing with the pony who had injured her so badly and the creature who had let it happen. Part of her did, however, wish she was over there. They looked to be having genuine fun, which Rainbow wished she could have and forget about the partially blinded alicorn next to her. "Look up for me." Fluttershy was tending Celestia, considering she had no proper equipment she was doing a remarkable job of it. “Good work. Now look down. Excellent. How's your right eye feeling?" Applejack, to her credit, hadn't gone and shouted at Luna or Nicholas, which calmed Rainbow a great deal. She did, however, whisper a string of choice curses. She only made one small reference to Rarity and even then it was cloaked in euphemism. Celestia hadn't even noticed, or if she had she had kept it quiet. Rainbow continued sneaking glances their way, fantasising about fun and laughter whilst doing whatever Fluttershy told her too. Twilight had walked over to them and sat a couple of yards from Celestia, her head bowed and not a sound coming from her. Applejack had worried aloud if she was okay to Rainbow, but had shook it off when Fluttershy handed her a bandage to wrap Celestia's foreleg. Eventually, Rainbow turned to Twilight. "Hey, Twilight," she said, "you okay?" Her only reply was a wavering breath, followed by a choked sob. Rainbow took a step over to her, slowly wrapping a wing around her friend's shoulders. The two sat in silence a moment. "It's okay," Rainbow said, at last, "you're alright." "But," Twilight stammered, voice holding off to contain tears, "I let them do this, I gave her the power to do this." She nearly broke down, just managing to hold on as Rainbow brought her in closer. "It's not your fault," she said, firmly, "and that's final. Come on, if we all blamed ourselves, where would we be? Hmm? We wouldn't have gotten this far, that's for sure. Now, let's be strong." Twilight nodded, following her shakily over to Celestia. "Twilight?" Celestia said, her voice quiet and pained, "are you alright?" "Yes, Princess," Twilight said, sitting in front of her mentor and holding her unhurt hoof, "I'm here." "Twilight, you have to go, now," Celestia's voice rose slightly, but she still remained whispering, "he's coming." "Who's coming?" "The Emissary," Celestia was crying as she continued her warning, "you need to leave, now!" Celestia's voice peaked as a thud echoed through the room. Everything was silent for a moment, before three knocks came from the damaged door. They were either made with a battering ram or a very large fist. Nicholas rose, gesturing for the ponies in front of it to move aside, Applejack and Rainbow dragged Celestia away, whilst Fluttershy continued bandaging and salving her wounds. Twilight stood in place, her mind refusing to let her move even as her body screamed out that she needed to. Nicholas did not even grant her a look, rather, he grabbed the battered door handle and, with force Twilight could not even imagine but no physical effort, he pulled the door away and set it aside. Through the gap came a figure similar to him, though slightly taller and tinted in a baleful green glow. His crown was taller and made of eight vertical spikes, his three eyes were lurid red pits and he held a cleaver in his hand that radiated a black, shadowy substance. He looked at Nicholas for a few seconds, totally silent, with the two seemingly communicating in silence. Eventually, he nodded slightly, and spoke, "my Lord," he said, voice grating and vile to hear, "the seams are coming apart. Tartarus is being battered upon by daemonic hordes, the Veiled Edge is alive with combat, the Beacon of Abaddon is ablaze and the sleeping giant has awoken, at last. The War in Heaven has begun."