It was another calm and pleasant day in the city of Canterlot, the regal capital of the land of Equestria. The Ponies, the colorful inhabitants of this vast city and many others like it across the land were enjoying the early morning with even more excitement than usual.
“Tonight should be quite the elegant gala,” a blue stallion with a cobalt mane and tale told his significant other in an uppercrust tone. He had a horn atop his head, as did his wife, a white mare with a curly red mane and tail. The two were sitting outside a cafe, enjoying a hot cup of tea to start their day as they conversed.
“It certainly should,” she agreed, her horn glowed a pale blue as she levitated her cup to her lips to take a sip and then gently moved it away as she drank it. “The Summer Sun Celebration is one of the biggest events of the year. I can hardly wait to- whoa!”
The mare was interrupted mid sentence as a streak of rainbow shot past their table at such a speed it left their manes a wind blown mess. They also lost their magical hold on their teacups, causing them to spill their contents onto the table. “What in the world was that?” asked the stallion, looking around confused.
“I don’t know,” his wife replied with a fearful look in her eyes as she hugged her husband close. She pointed with her hoof and shouted out, “But it’s coming back!”
The two quickly ducked under their table as the wild rainbow flew straight towards them, only, this time, it came to a halt as it reached their table, revealing itself to be a blue mare with feathered wings. Unlike the two ponies with horns that were Unicorns, she was a winged pony, a Pegasus.
This Pony also had a rainbow of colors on her medium length mane and tail. Her eyes were purple and upon her flank was a special mark, a Cutie Mark, a symbol that all Ponies gain at some point in their lives. Hers was of a storm cloud with a thunderbolt coming out of it. The Pegasus also had a bulky, brown delivery bag full of mail saddled to her side.
“Uh, sorry to disturb you,” she apologized to the two. “But do you think you could give me some directions? I’m a little lost.”
“Clearly,” scoffed the stallion, going from relieved that they were not in danger to annoyed that their morning tea had been interrupted in the blink of an eye. “The proper fly zone is at least twenty meters straight up from here.”
“Hahah, funny,” chuckled the mare before she reached into her bag and pulled out a scroll. “But, actually, I just need to be pointed in the direction of this place.”
“Hmm,” hummed the stallion as he read the address and pointed. “Two blocks down that way and then take a right. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding it from there. Now, please, we’ve had more than enough excitement for one morning.”
“Thanks,” she nodded before getting into a sprinting stance with her head low to the ground and her wings raised. “Come on Rainbow,” she spoke to herself to psyche herself up. “Let’s show them a little dash!” In a flash, she lunged forward as she flapped her wings and shot out of sight with the same amazing speed she showed before. Once more, the couple was caught in the force of her speedy flying and their manes ended up a greater mess than before.
“The nerve of some Ponies,” spoke the white mare as she checked out the mess her mane was left in.
“Indeed,” her husband agreed.
Flying where she was directed to, in record time, the rainbow pony was finally able to find the address she had been searching for and knocked on the door of the home. “Mail’s here!” she called in.
“Coming,” called a voice from the other side of the door. As it opened, a white stallion with a rather strong build stepped out. He was a Unicorn with a long flowing blue mane and tail. His Cutie Mark was of a blue shield with a purple six-point star on it.
“Hey there,” he greeted her with a smile. “I don’t think I’ve seen you delivering the mail before. Are you new?”
“Actually,” she admitted as she handed him a bundle of mail scrolls along with a single magazine. “I’m just helping out while the regular mail pony is out. I think she’s sick or something. I didn’t have anything better to do and I figured I could try to see how fast I could get it all delivered. The only thing about that is I didn’t realize I had to do places outside of Ponyville too. This is my first time in Canterlot so it’s taking me a bit to figure out where everything is.”
“Well, you still managed to get here a lot faster than our regular mail pony,” he complimented her. “Ms. Uh…”
“Dash,” she told him. “The name’s Rainbow Dash, future Wonderbolt.”
“I’m Shining Armor,” he introduced himself. “Captain of the Royal Guard here in Canterlot. So, the Wonderbolts, huh. They’re the best flyers in Equestria, so you gotta be pretty amazing to join them.”
“Amazingly awesome is probably more accurate,” she replied with a confident look on her face and her front hooves crossed. “And yes, I am.”
“Then I guess you’re at the top of the reserves and just waiting for a spot to open up on the team,” Shining Armor assumed.
“Actually,” she confessed, averting her eyes. “I’m not in the reserves just yet… or been accepted to the Wonderbolt Academy to be put in the reserves… or signed up to take the test to get into the academy. But, when I do it’ll be a piece of cake. There isn’t a flyer, pony, griffin, dragon, uh… whatever, that’s faster than me.”
“Well, I’d bet ten bits on that,” he chuckled. “Anyway, I don’t want to keep you from the rest of your deliveries. it was nice meeting you.”
“Same to you,” she nodded. “Oh, and this is just a warmup. After Canterlot I’ve got some mail to deliver in Saddlearabia.”
“Saddlearabia?” replied a shocked Shining Armor. “I guess you’re taking the train to get there. It’d take days to fly.”
“Let’s not forget who you are talking to,” she replied before taking off just as quickly as before.
Shining Armor watched in awe as she zoomed out of sight. “I probably should have bet more bits on her,” he told himself.
“Whoops, this address is this way,” Rainbow Dash said as she zoomed past Shining Armor once again. He just chuckled a bit and retreated back into his home. Getting to his kitchen table, his horn glowed as he levitated the mail to go through it. “Junk… Junk… Bill… Junk… Bill… My magazine subscription to O&O Monthly… Bill…” he mumbled as he placed each letter on the table according to what it was. He kept his magazine levitated, eager to read that as soon as he got the chance. He then looked through the last couple of things, adding a few more to the junk pile before he looked at the last scroll more closely.
“What do we got here,” he smiled as he examined the wax seal on it and saw it was that of a sun. “That’s Princess Celestia’s seal, so this must be our invitations for the Summer Sun Celebration tonight.” Still levitating that scroll and his magazine, Shining Armor made his way out of the kitchen and to the stairs leading up to the second floor. “Hey, Twily, our invites have arrived,” he called up the stairs. He waited for a response, but after a minute there was nothing save for silence. “No answer. Why am I not surprised?”
Shining Armor proceeded up the stairs and made his way to the room at the end of the hall on the left, his sister’s room. On the door was a purple six-point star with the name “Twilight Sparkle” written in pink letters on it. There was also a sign on the door that read, “Reading: Do Not Disturb.”
Doing the brotherly thing, Shining Armor ignored it. Opening the door, he looked inside to see a room a room that would have been perfectly clean save for the copious amounts of books of all kinds from adventure stories to sci-fi and horror and plenty of other genres too. There were also text books for math, science, even ones for different kinds of magic and almost every other subject as well. All those books were stacked on top of one another and crowding almost every inch of the room. They were on almost all the chairs in the room too. They even occupied the bed, and concealed the carpeting on the floor too. The room did possess a bookshelf, but it was already filled up with as many books as it could handle.
The room also had a telescope that was pointing out the window and gazing up at the clear, blue sky. And, hanging from the ceiling was a mobile of the solar system. It was made to scale and even included the moons orbiting the planets. On one desk was several bottles of ink and writing quills all neatly lined up together. Next to them were two neat stacks of scroll paper, one that was all blank and the other covered in tons of notes. On another desk sat the pony that lived in the room. She was a purple Unicorn with a long, dark purple mane and tail that had a pink streak in the middle of both. Her eyes were purple and her Cutie Mark was of the purple six-point star along with six smaller white stars surrounding it. She sat in the only chair that wasn’t being taken up by books and had her nose currently buried in one.
“And in her last moments before she was sealed away,” read Twilight, so immersed in her reading she wasn’t even aware that her brother was standing right behind her. “She vowed with all her hatred, ‘One day I will be free again, even if it should take me a thousand moons!’” Putting the book down, Twilight pondered to herself. “A thousand moons…”
“Hey, Twily,” Shining Armor greeted her, but his sister just got up and grabbed another book.
Quickly, she flipped through the pages, stopping at one, skimming through a few lines and then repeated it. All the while, she kept mumbling to herself, “A thousand moons… A thousand moons…” Finally, her eyes lit up and she had a eureka moment. “Aha! A thousand moons!”
“What’s this about a thousand moons now?” questioned Shining Armor as he used his magic to levitate the book out of Twilight’s hooves. Doing this finally managed to get the mare’s attention.
“Shining Armor,” she said with a look of surprise on her face. “When did you get here?”
“Oh, I’ve been here for days,” he joked. “You’ve got this incredible power to become completely oblivious to everything around you when you immerse yourself in your studies.”
“Hahah, very funny,” she replied, rolling her eyes.
“About two minutes ago,” he told her truthfully. “And I’ve got good news. Our invites to the Summer Sun Celebration just arrived.”
“That’s perfect!” exclaimed Twilight as she took the scroll, broke the seal, and unrolled it. Included in the letter was two golden tickets. Written on the scroll was a message penned by the Princess of the Sun herself, Celestia.
To my most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,
I humbly request your presence at this year’s Summer Sun Celebration, both you and your brother. Enclosed are two tickets to allow you both entry. I look forward to seeing you there.
Have a bright and sunny day,
Princess Celestia
“This is better than perfect,” said Twilight after she finished reading the letter. “This is exactly what I needed.”
“I’m glad you are so excited,” commented Shining Armor, happy to see her overjoyed by something that wasn’t leather bound and several hundred pages long. “I knew if no other force in Equestria could get you to take a night off from your studies, an invitation from Princess Celestia could. Now we can go to Summer Sun Celebration and have some fun.”
“Fun?” questioned Twilight.
“Fun,” answered Shining Armor. “Doing something that one finds enjoyable.”
“First off,” countered Twilight. “I know the definition of fun and yours is rather abridged. Secondly, I don’t have time for fun, not when she’ll be returning.”
“Uh, she?” asked Shining Armor as he rubbed his front hoof on his head. “She who?”
“The Mare in the Moon,” answered Twilight. “That ‘she who.’ She vowed to come back even if it would take her a thousand moons and guess when that is?”
“I’m gonna give her the benefit of the doubt and say that’s seven moons from now,” he answered, already certain of when it really was.”
“No,” replied Twilight. “One thousand moons will be tonight!”
“I think you’ve been cooped up in this room a way too long, Twily,” he told her. “It makes you go kinda Twilynannas.”
“I am not going Twilynannas!” snapped Twilight as she levitated the book she had been reading at her desk and floated it over to Shining Armor, showing him the page she had just been reading. “I was just in the middle of re-rereading Stories of the Sun and it says so right here on chapter 23 page 217 that the Mare in the Moon, Nightmare Moon, vowed to return to seek vengeance on Princess Celestia for sealing her away. She promised to return after a thousand moons and that time is finally upon us.”
“You do know this is just a story,” Shining Armor told her, pushing the book out of his face. “Lots of ponies have written fantasy stories around Princess Celestia doing all sorts of amazing things that she never actually did.”
“But this isn’t just some fantasy book,” Twilight pointed out. “Check out the author’s name.”
“C.L.S. Tia,” read Shining Armor.
“C.L.S. Tia,” repeated Twilight with a giddy grin on her face. “Get it, that’s Princess Celestia’s pen name. This isn’t just some made up stories, this is Princess Twilight’s Autobiography.”
“Okay, let’s just say, there is some truth to these stories and the Mare in the Moon, uh, Nightmare Moon, is going to return tonight,” Shining Armor said. “Is there really any need to worry? I mean, Celestia stopped her from, uh doing whatever she did last time.”
“You didn’t read this book before did you?” Twilight figured.
“I like to read,” Shining Armor retorted as he looked around at all of Twilight’s books. “Just not nearly as much as you do.”
“The abridged version,” she sighed as she summed the story up for him. “Nightmare Moon was the ruler of the night just as Celestia was the ruler of the day. One day, Nightmare Moon grew jealous of Celestia since Ponies would be awake and enjoy the day, while her nights were always slept through. She felt she was being cheated and, as a result, she became consumed with jealousy, turning her into a foul monster and decided to bring eternal night to Equestria so that she could rule alone. Celestia stood against her and they had a fierce battle. The two were evenly matched, but with the use of the six special gems, the Elements of Harmony, Celestia was able to banish Nightmare Moon to the moon and restore balance to day and night. Ever since then, Celestia took charge to rule over Equestria both during the day and at night.” Twilight took a few seconds to catch her breath. “Got all that?”
“Uh… yes,” he nodded, though his tone didn’t sound so certain. “But, would you care to go over that again a little slower.” Sighing, Twilight went over the story with Shining Armor twice more before he really understood it all.
“Ok, I think I got it now,” Shining Armor told his sister. “But if everything you said is true then wouldn’t Celestia just be able to defeat her with the Elements of Harmony just as she did in the past? In which case, there wouldn’t be any danger even if she were to return.”
“I guess,” Twilight replied, unable to argue with that logic.
“Then there’s no need for us to panic,” Shining Armor added. “We can just go to the Summer Sun Celebration and enjoy ourselves. And, whether or not this Nightmare Moon should show up, we know that Celestia can handle her just like before and we can just have a pleasant evening hanging out with friends.”
“Hang out with friends?” asked Twilight, not sounding too keen on the idea.
“Why not?” replied Shining Armor. “That’s the main reason for even having a party in the first place. I’m sure your classmates from magic school were also invited, though they might not recognize you without your face in a book.”
“Hahah, very funny,” Twilight said to her brother as she rolled her eyes, but then smiled knowing he was only poking a little fun at her as well as looking out for her well being, both part of his job description as her big brother. “Okay, you win. I’ll go see Princess Celestia and then hang out with my classmates.”
“Nice try,” he retorted knowing his sister well enough. “Friends first. You can spend plenty of time with Princess Celestia afterwards. Just do this one thing for me, your big brother, best friend, forever.”
“Ok, BBBBF,” she smiled and gave him a hug.
As night drew near, Shining Armor got himself dressed up in his best red suit. Emblazoned upon the left pocket he had his Cutie Mark stitched into it. Using a little magic, he adjusted his silky, white cravat, tightening it comfortably around his neck. With a cloth, he polished the medals on the right side of his coat and then the golden buttons going down the middle of his chest and on the cuffs till they glistened. “I cleanu pretty well, if I do say so myself,” he smirked as he looked at himself in the mirror. Levitating a comb with magic, he gave his mane a final touchup before heading down the hall to Twilight’s room to check on her.
“The party starts in twenty minutes,” he called to her as he gently knocked on her door.
“I know,” she called to him right away. Shining Armor sighed with relief that she hadn’t forgotten the time, and ended up lost once more in her endless research.
When Twilight opened the door, she came out in a shimmery pink dress with a sapphire embedded on a golden brooch clipped to her right shoulder. Her hair possessed a greater sheen than before and any split ends and frazzled hair were gone. There was also a pale blue butterfly hair clip on the right side of her head.
“Dress dry cleaned, stopped over at the Canterlot spa to have my makeup and hair done, return home with dress to put it on and get ready for the party,” she listed. “Check, check, and check.”
“You and your checklists,” he chuckled and turned to head down the stairs. “Well, if we’re all set, let’s get going.”
“One moment,” she said as she used her magic to float over their two tickets from her desk, keeping one for herself and floating the other to her brother. “Tickets… check.”
“Yeah, these would definitely help,” he smiled and then proceeded once more towards the stairs with her following after.
Going outside, they could see a number of other mares and stallions were also dressed for the occasion and also heading for the large castle in the center of the city. The streetlights illuminated the dark city streets and the moon above shone brightly in the sky. Twilight looked up at it, seeing it was full out tonight, as she worrily knew it would be. She also observed the shadows upon it that uncannily resembled a horse’s head and how “Mare in the Moon” was coined.
“The Mare in the Moon,” she thought to herself as she felt some butterflies were also in her stomach and not just the one upon her head. The Mare in the Moon had always been there like one of nature’s wonders. No pony ever gave it much thought just how it got like that, other than it being simply one of nature’s wonders. But after all Twilight had read on story behind it, she couldn’t help but dread that it’s true nature was to soon become common knowledge. As she gazed up at it, she wondered if it was possibly staring back down at her.
“It’s going to be alright,” promised Shining Armor, putting his front right hoof around her shoulders to offer her some comfort.
“Right,” she nodded and kept her eyes forward as they neared the castle and started up the set of stairs to the main gates.
“Tickets,” instructed the royal guards, clad in silver or gold armor. They had their spears in front of the entryway in an ‘X’ shape to bar the way in. The party guests held up their tickets and the guards responded by moving their spears out of their way and letting them through before blocking the way once more for the next group.
“Tickets,” they said again as Shining Armor and Twilight arrived.
“Here they are,” said the Captain of the Guard as he and his sister showed their tickets. “Tough luck getting stuck with guard duty tonight, Spearhead.”
“Tell me about it,” the pony in silver armor sighed and fought back a yawn. “Got another three hours of standing here before my shift ends, but what can ya do? Gotta be at the ready to protect the guests from typical dangers. Dragons, Changelings, giant bugbears, and other stuff like that. Well, enjoy the party.”
“We will,” nodded Shining Armor as they proceeded inside.
“Oh, and don’t forget I’m having that art show next week,” he called to Shining Armor to remind him before returning his focus to his job.
“He’s an artist?” inquired Twilight.
“Well, if being able to put paint to a canvas qualifies you as an artist,” he told her. “Then yes, he’s an artist.”
“An abstract expressionist?” Twilight assumed.
“That and paintings of spears,” he answered. “Lots and lots of spears.”
Shining Armor and Twilight followed the other guests through the castle and into the main banquet hall where a chunk of the city’s populace were currentl occupying. The hall was lavishly decorated with velvet tablecloths upon all the tabletops and long tapestries of the sun and moon hanging upon the wall. There was even a giant ice statue of Celestia standing elegantly in the middle of the room.
The small round tables were set up for Ponies to sit at and converse while the long rectangle ones that were covered with all sorts of festive party foods and drinks for the guests to partake in. Waiters were frequently coming in to replace any of it as soon as a tray or a bowl was emptied.
On the stage a string orchestra was playing some classical music to help set a calm and elegant tone for the evening. They all played in perfect synch with one another, finishing one song and then shortly starting another after only a brief rest. They didn’t even need to communicate which song they were to perform next and just started to play again.
Looking around, there were tons of guests that filled the room. Twilight saw all of her classmates and a number of other familiar faces she recognized when she left the Fortress of Solitude that was her room. However, the Ponies that mostly made up this party were Canterlot’s elites. The two siblings were quick to recognize a number of them from reputation alone, such as Fancy Pants, Prince Blueblood, and Zesty Gourmand.
Fancy Pants, was a white Unicorn with a short blue coiffed mane and a monocle. He was dressed in his regal black suit and was in the middle of regaling a few of his uppercrust associates with a story. As he finished, they let out a slight chuckle as he removed his monocle to wipe it with a monogrammed handkerchief and put it back in place.
“Oh, how very droll,” one remarked to him once he finished.
“Yes, very droll indeed,” the others nodded like a flock of sheep.
“Well, if you thought that was droll,” went on Fancy Pants. “This next story will definitely be most riveting.”
“Please, do tell,” they urged him.
Meanwhile, Prince Blueblood was regaling a number of mares at the party with some banter of his own. He was a white unicorn with princely long golden hair and baby blue eyes. He had on his white suit with a red rose pin upon his pocket.
Compared to Fancy Pant’s brief tellings of rib-tickling events, Prince Blueblood was busy droning on and on in a self-indulgent manner about his favorite subject, himself. The mares listening to him mostly just nodded every once in a while and gave him responses like, “You’re so amazing!” “How can you still be single?” “Is it true that you are Princess Celestia’s nephew?”
The vain prince then followed it up with more of his boasts as he prattled on more about himself. In time, however, a number of the mares grew weary of listening to the airbag with a one track mind go on and on without end. Before long, it became painfully obvious to them all that he showed no interest in any of them beyond being his audience. When they realized that, their interest in him quickly withered away. They started to respond to him differently after that. “Uh… wow… that’s really… something.” “Oh, excuse me. I’m gonna go get some punch.” “Are you absolutely sure you are related to Princess Celestia? Removed perhaps?” Such responses were met no differently from him and the mares that had more than they could take swiftly left his side. He barely even noticed as some other mares promptly took their place, soon to learn what the ones who fled were already aware of.
Zesty Gourmand was a pale purple Unicorn with a pale pink mane with a very slender body and pointy cheekbones. She had on a mauve overcoat covering over a white dress blouse. As one of the largest food critics not only in Canterlot, but all of Eqiestria, she spent her time at the party by eyeing the horderves at the food tables. For most of the more filling items, she offered her typical critiques to the waiter and instructed them to report it to the chef that had prepared what she considered, “this pitiful excuse of edible substance.” For any of the far more fancy and miniscule dishes that appeared more like the crumbs left over from a meal placed atop crackers, she gave them a nibble and merely responded with the word, “acceptable,” and then moved on to try something else.
“Yup, this is definitely a Canterlot party,” commented Shining Armor in a neutral tone after he finished surveying the room.
“It sure is,” agreed Twilight. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a princess to find.”
“After you spend a bit of time with your friends,” reminded Shining Armor, blocking her from running off.
“My friends?” asked Twilight. “Oh, right, my classmates.”
Shining Armor sighed, and knelt down a bit to be eye level with his sister. “Just promise me that you’ll try to make some friends. I don’t mean to be a pain in the flank, but you are so open-minded when it comes to reading about everything under the sun. Maybe you can try to be like a book tonight and open up for some other ponies?”
“How long did it take you to come up with that one?” wondered Twilight.
“I spent a couple thinking it over, earlier today,” he admitted. “But can you promise me this one thing, that you’ll try your best to make a few friends.”
“Of course,” Twilight nodded. “In fact, next time you see me, I’ll have more friends than you can even count on one hand.”
“Twilight,” Shining Armor replied, very well aware of their fingerless situation.
“You know what I mean,” she told him. “I’ll get right on that right away.” Twilight tilted her head, looking past Shining Armor. “Oh, hey, look who’s coming over to see you. It’s Cadence.”
“Nice try,” smirked Shining Armor. “But I’m not falling for that. I wasn’t born yesterday.”
“Hey there, Twilight. Hi, Shining Armor,” an Alicorn, a Pony with both a set of wings and a horn, greeted them. Her long mane and tail curled up at their ends and were a mix of pinks, purples and even a yellow hue. Her eyes were a crystal blue and her Cutie Mark was of a clear blue gemstone heart.
“Nice to see you too, Cadence,” smiled Twilight. “How’s my favorite former foalsitter doing?”
“Doing well,” she replied. “And how is the former foal I loved to sit for the most?”
“I’m doing great,” answered Twilight brightly.
“And, how are you doing this evening, Shining?” Cadence turned to ask him.
“C-C-Candance?!?” he stuttered and blushed. His previously calm demeanor was instantly flustered by this pony’s unexpected arrival. “I’m d-doing swell. I-I didn’t know you were invited to the castle for the party too.”
“It’d be very awkward if I wasn’t, since I live here,” she pointed out.
“Right, right,” he chuckled nervously. “That’s cool. Care for a punch- No! I mean, do you want to punch me. No! That’s not what I meant to say.”
“I’d love a little punch,” she chuckled and gave him a gentle jab at his chin. “Ya big goof.”
“Y-Yeah,” Shining blushed some more. “Let’s go get some.” As he started over to the nearest food table, he turned back to Twilight once more. “Don’t forget your promise now.”
“I won’t,” she called back to him and started heading to where her classmates were sitting at a table, eating some food, talking, and laughing. Seeing them all together, so happy, Twilight couldn’t deny that it did look nice and inviting to her. She almost felt compelled to go over and join them, but as soon as she was certain Shining Armor was too distracted with the Pony he had an all too obvious crush on to pay her any mind, she snuck out of the banquet hall and hurried to the castle’s throne room.
“Sorry, BBBBF,” Twilight apologized. “But I don’t have time for distractions. All of Equestria could be in great peril and the fate of our home and even the whole world does not hinge on me making friends.”
Compared to the combination of the music and Ponies conversing with one another, the rest of the castle was deathly quiet to the point of it being unnerving and a little creepy. As Twilight made her way towards the throne room, she couldn’t help but stare through the windows and gaze up at the Mare in the Moon. Alone in the castle, her sense of foreboding only increased and she could feel her nerves acting up again. Her worries at an all time high, Twilight hastened her walk to a trot as she rushed to the large double doors of Celestia’s throne room. Standing before it, she swallowed hard as she stared at the last thing standing between her and the princess. Gathering her courage, Twilight knocked upon it and waited.
“Hello?” asked a voice from the other side of the door. “Is somepony there?”
“Y-Yes,” Twilight’s voice cracked as she answered. “It’s me, your student, Sparklight Twickle, uh, I mean Twilight Sparkle. I would like to request to be in your presence.”
“Oh, Twilight,” the voice spoke in a delighted tone. “Yes, please, come right in.”
With her magic, Twilight managed to push open the heavy doors with a fair amount of concentration as she closed her eyes and her horn glowed brightly. Once the way was cleared, she took a few breaths and then ventured into the large room.
On the far end of the room was a half dozen steps leading up to a golden throne with a sun tapestry over it. On either side of the throne were fountains filled with crystal clear water. Along the tall walls adjacent to the throne were rows of windows. Some were merely plain glass with a view of the night sky above and a part of the city. The others were made with stained glass art. Most were merely of elegant designs while a few had more story to them. One was of Princess Celestia in battle against a bizarre creature with a long, slender body that appeared to be a mishmash of different animals. In the next stain glass was another picture of the creature, it’s odd body turned gray and a wincing look of defeat in it’s expression, indicating it’s ultimate defeat in its battle against Celestia.
The stain glass after that one was of two Pony silhouettes, a black one against a sun and a white one against the moon done in a manner similar to yin-yang sign. “The battle between Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon,” Twilight concluded based on her research. As her eyes moved on to the next one, she saw it was of Celestia and six gemstones on the bottom half. Celestia was gazing up at her foe, Nightmare Moon as a ray of light from all six gemstones pierced through her body and at the top, her final fate of being sealed away as the Mare in the Moon.
“You hardly need to be so formal to see me,” Celestia told Twilight, once she had taken a few steps into the room. Celestia was a very tall and slender Alicorn with a snow white coat. Her feathered wings and long Unicorn horn were of the same hue. Atop her head she had a golden crown along with a long mane of greens, blues, and pinks that flowed as if it was caught in a perpetual breeze. Her tail was the same way. On her flank she had a Cutie Mark of a golden sun. Celestia was standing by one of the plain windows on the side that best showed the full moon in the night sky.
“It is my great honor to be in your presence, your majesty,” Twilight said as she bowed before the princess.
“I think I have been your teacher long enough that you should feel comfortable enough around me to be… uh, what’s that word that the kid’s use nowadays? Ice, I think? To be ice around me.”
“I think you mean chill,” replied Twilight. “I could be wrong. The only slang I know is what I’ve picked up from my brother. I doubt anyone’s published a book on the subject, but I could check the library on my next visit. Uh, but that’s beside the point, even if you are my teacher, this is not class and you are more than my teacher, you are Princess Celestia, the leader of not just all of Canterlot, but also all of Equestria. And it isn’t just that, you also raise and lower the sun and moon. Every day starts and ends with you. If I were to be informal to you, that would be the same as disrespecting the most important of Ponies.”
“I can assure you,” Celestia told Twilight. “I might be the one that brings the morning and ends the day, but it does not start and end with me any more than it does for anyone else. I may be your princess and also your teacher, but I am also still just a Pony and I hope that you can look past all that to see me as your friend as well.”
“Of course,” nodded Twilight. “And friends help friends when they have problems, right?”
“They do,” agreed Celestia. “So, tell me, what trouble is plaguing my most faithful student? Are you having difficulty understanding some of the material in this week’s chapter of study? I could make some space in my schedule to go over with you again. Or is there a rare book you are having a hard time locating? I could check my collection and let you borrow it.”
“Actually, I’m not the one with the problem,” the purple Unicorn explained, but her eyes did light up at that offer Celestia put on the table. “But I wouldn’t mind taking a peek at your collection of books some time. The Pony with the problem is you and I want to help.”
“What problem is that?” asked Celestia. “I have to handle countless problems every day as princess.”
“This is a very specific problem,” hinted Twilight. “One that’s been coming for a thousand Moons.”
“Oh, that one,” remarked Celestia as she stared up at the moon and the shadow of a mare within it. “That story is so old that few even know of it and I doubt that those that do know it realize it is not merely a work of fiction. As for Nightmare Moon herself, most only know of her as a sort of boogiepony that enjoys turning dreams into nightmares and of the holiday that we celebrate for her, Nightmare Night. All of that has, in truth, just been a facade to conceal the fact that she is not some age old myth, but a real Pony that she very much still exists.”
“Then I was right!” declared Twilight. “The Mare in the Moon is Nightmare Moon and she is real!” Twilight was excited that her suspicions were confirmed, however, that realization also brought back that feeling of dread back to her. “But don’t you know that Nightmare Moon is going to return tonight? You should be getting prepared to face her, assembling your guard and evacuating the civilians. Do you even have the Elements of Harmony ready?”
“Truth be told, I do not know if Nightmare Moon can or will make good on her promise to return on this very night,” Celestia admitted. “This day has been the day I have feared for, for the last thousand moons. It is also the day I have longed for the most, she was, after all, my fellow princess for a time and a Pony I was very close to. It pained me to have to fight her back then and to have to do so again, aches my heart just as bad as it did a thousand Moons ago.”
“But you can still beat her, right?” asked Twilight. “Defeat her and seal her back into the moon?”
Shaking her head, Celestia continued to speak to her student. “I had thought very long about what I would do when this day would come. Should Nightmare Moon return for revenge as she promised then I will fight her. If even after all this time her hatred towards me hasn’t subsided then I will have no choice but to finish what was started so very long ago, this time for good.”
“If that’s what you must do, then all me to bear this burden with you,” offered Twilight. “It isn’t fair for one Pony to tackle such a hardship by themselves.”
“Nightmare Moon is my responsibility alone,” answered Celestia adamantly. “I cannot allow any other Ponies to get involved.” Celestia lowered her head, a look of despair on her face and in her voice. “Tonight, I alone will face Nightmare Moon and one way or another end this tragedy. Twilight, you should hurry over to the party and enjoy yourself. Don’t tell any Pony any of what we have talked about and wait for the sun to rise. By then, it will all be over.”
“Forgive me, princess,” apologized Twilight. “But I won’t do that.” Hearing such a refusal and from Twilight of all Ponies left Celestia speechless as she stared at her, mouth agape. Having Celestia look at her so distraught only aggravated Twilight’s nerves further as she tried to give her an explanation. “Well, as we both agreed, friends help their friends with their problems and if this is your problem then I want to be here to help.”
“I know that,” Celestia retorted. “But it will be dangerous. I cannot ask anyone, especially a friend to help me with something as horrible as this.”
“I’ve taken on every test you have given me from pop all the way to the end of semester exams,” Twilight told her, determined not to be turned away. “I’ve given my all in every last assignment you gave me from levitation to transmogrification and every other aspect of magic you taught us about.” Twilight paused to take a few deep breaths before continuing. “What I’m trying to say is, that when I start a project, I like to see it to the end no matter what.”
“That may all be well and good,” argued Celestia. “But this is hardly like any test you have taken before. It could be multiple choice and all the options could be wrong. Failure could be waiting for you no matter what choices are available.”
“If none of the answers are right, then I’d just have to come up with a new one that is,” countered Twilight. “And if that doesn’t work I’ll figure out a different solution and another and another until I find one that does work. There’s no such thing as a test that can’t be passed, and I won’t give up no matter how hard it might be.”
Hearing such bold words, Celestia smiled a bit and spoke, “Simply amazing.” After that, Celestia proceeded to walk away from the window as she considered everything Twilight had just said. The young, purple pony watched her pace, happy that she didn’t flat out refuse her. Looking once more at Twilight, Celestia saw the combination of the bright-eyed look of determination and sad puppy dog eyes that made it impossible to refuse. “She truly is something special.” With a sigh, Celestia turned to Twilight to give her answer. The young Unicorn braced herself for whatever she decided upon.
“Twilight,” she spoke with a gentle smile upon her face. “I’ve watched you since your earliest days in my school and I even took you under my wing to help teach you what I know. There are a lot of things that I have come to admire about you. You are bright, intelligent, and hard working. However…” Her smile faded as a more serious expression replaced it. “You are still young and I’m afraid what magic you do know will not be sufficient in facing a threat the likes of Nightmare Moon. There is also more you need to learn, things that I’m afraid I am not qualified to teach you. That being said, are you prepared for the most difficult assignment of your life?”
“You’re letting me stay to help?” asked Twilight in amazement.
“This is my decision. I will allow you to watch,” she instructed her. “You will not engage Nightmare Moon save to protect yourself. As for whatever the outcome of tonight might be, it will be up to you and you alone to decide what you want to do next.”
“What I want to do next?” questioned Twilight. “I don’t understand.”
“I will not blame you no matter your decision,” Celestia admitted. “But I do hope that you can succeed where I have failed.”
“Failed?” repeated Twilight, growing more confused as Celestia was making less and less sense to her. However, Celestia didn’t get a chance to elaborate before the sound of a wicked laugh filled the throne room and Twilight’s blood turned cold. The two mares darted their eyes around the throne room, searching for the source of such a villainous cackle, but it felt like it was coming from everywhere. The two then turned their attention to the moon and saw it’s pale, yellow glow without a trace of the horse head shadow upon on it.
“The mare in the moon is gone!” gasped Twilight.
“Oh, Celestia, it has been far too long,” the evil voice spoke once it had finished laughing. Something black creeped through the shadows of the room. “I hope you haven’t gone soft on me in the thousand Moons that we’ve been apart. I certainly don’t recall you allowing children to accompany you into battle or are you willing to stoop so low as to let others fight your behalf now?”
Twilight and Celestia reflexively stood within the light of the moon as if it would offer them some form of protection. They then watched as all that darkness accumulated around Celestia’s throne, some of it spreading onto her tapestry, turning it from a warm-hued displaying a sun to one of cooler tones and a white crescent moon where sun had been. The black ooze covering Celestia’s throne also darkened it too, altering its appearance to take on a crescent moon theme as well. Then, out of the darkness a new Alicorn appeared, this one with a coat and wings as black as night. Her icy blue eyes had slit pupils like that of a lizard’s and she had sharp pointy teeth in her grinning maw. Atop her head she wore a helmet that went from the bridge of her nose around her head and down to the bottom or back of her neck. There was a hold in the helmet over her forehead for her horn to poke through. Her main and tail were like a starry night sky and flowed just as Celestia’s did. Her Cutie Mark was of a crescent moon upon a dark sky.
“Still as callous as ever, Nightmare Moon,” Celestia spoke as she walked towards her. With a wing in front of Twilight, she gestured for her to stay a safe distance back. “Are you ready to finally settle things between us once and for all?”
“In a moment,” she answered as she reclined on her throne. “This is my big return, after all. The occasion calls for a truly grand spectacle to let everyone in Equestria know that there’s going to be some changes and I think I know just what to do.”
Nightmare Moon’s horn started to glow, however, looking around the room Twilight and Celestia didn’t see what the dark Alicorn was using her magic on. However, her true intentions suddenly became more apparent as the castle started to tremble and shake violently. Caught off guard by this, Twilight stumbled to the ground while Celestia barely managed to remain on her feet.
“What do you think you are doing?” shouted the Princess of the Sun at the Princess of the Moon.
Nightmare Moon merely cackled with devious delight as the castle only quaked more violently. “I admit,” commented Nightmare Moon with a smug smirk on her face. “I do like the concept, a castle atop a mountain, so one can gaze down from their vantage point to view their entire country. It’s quite a nice concept, but I think we could do with a fair bit more height!”
Back in the banquet hall, all the guests were quick to panic as castle started to pull away from its foundation. Tables were getting overturned and the large, crystal chandeliers hanging overhead were crashing down to the ground, shattering to pieces. The large ice sculpture of Princess Celestia wobbled about before it finally came down on a group of ponies huddled on the ground in terror. However, a magical aura surrounded them, yanking them out of the way, as the giant ice horse smashed to pieces on the marble floor. As the Ponies turned to look who had saved them, it was Shining Armor breathing a sigh of relief that he got to them in time.
“Everyone remain calm!” shouted Shining Armor at the top of his lungs, managing to distract the partygoers from panicking and turn their attention to him. “Good. Now, we’re going to evacuate the castle at once. Cadence and I will lead you all out. Now, let’s move Ponies!”
Hurrying to the doors to the banquet hall, Shining Armor stopped and turned to search for his sister among all the guests. As he scanned for a purple Unicorn, he couldn’t spot her among her classmates or anywhere else. He then searched for Princess Celestia and noticed that she was absent as well.
“Cadence, can you lead them out?” he asked her.
“What’s wrong?” she questioned him as she started towards the castle entrance.
“Twilight isn’t here and neither is Princess Celestia,” he explained. “I’m afraid they might be somewhere else in the castle.”
“There’s no time,” she warned Shining Armor. “It feels like this whole place is going to crumble apart at any minute. We have to get out of here.”
“But Twilight,” he tried to argue.
“Twilight is likely with Celestia, like you said,” pointed out Cadence. “She couldn’t be in any better hooves. And, even if she isn’t, we both know she’s smart and mature enough to handle herself in a crisis. Right now, you’ve gotta be the captain of the guard and help all the Ponies you can get out of here safely.”
“Urgh, you’re right,” he conceded with a groan and made his way for the long set of stairs leading out of the castle. As he made it outside, he was able to finally see just what was happening to the castle and just stared in bewilderment as the castle was being pulled up and out of Canterlot.
“That castle,” gasped Cadence, seeing the magical aura surrounding the entire structure. “It’s being levitated off the ground, but why? Who could even have the power to do such a thing?”
“Who is doing this hardly matters at the moment,” Shining Armor replied. “Let’s just get everyone out of the castle while it’s still on the ground. I’ll stay up here with the other guards to help with the evacuation at this end. Can you take care of things on the ground?”
“Just leave it to me,” nodded Cadence as she hurried down as with the first group of evacuees. As they went down the staircase cracks started to form in them and all around the base of the castle as it was getting closer to being ripped from the earth. As for what was to happen to the castle once it was fully detached was anyone’s guess and nobody could think of anything good that would come of this.
“Twilight, you better be okay,” Shining Armor thought as his heart pounded frantically in his chest. Spearhead and the other guards on duty were helping him out and doing their best to keep a cool head during all this chaos.
“Okay, every pony,” he instructed to each group of Ponies from atop the stairs. “Everyone quickly, but carefully, make your way down the stairs and then get as far away from here as you can. We don’t have a second to waste. Mares, colts, and fillies first.”
Cadence reached the bottom of the stairs with the first, with the mares who were doing their best to help calm the quivering and crying children. Prince Blueblood hurried himself down among that group as well and while he was hardly a child in age, he was shaking and whimpering like one as he made his way down the steps and then hurried in search of a safe place to hide. Seeing him run off so fearfully to save his own skin, Cadence just rolled her eyes and then looked at all the Ponies as they made their way down the stairs, ensuring they reached the ground safely. For any of the children that had been separated from their parents, she kept them close beside her as she watched the flood of Ponies hurrying down the stairs like a fast flowing, colorful river.
“Okay, now all the stallions can start to go,” instructed Shining Armor as they began to head down the stairs, however as most of the adult male Ponies made it halfway down, the castle finally fully disconnected from the ground and started to rise upward. A few of the evacuees that were unfortunate enough to be near where the staircase split in half fell. Thinking quickly, Shining Armor and his fellow Unicorn guards used their magic to catch those Ponies with their magic, levitating them to the other side of the steps so they could hurry the rest of the way down.
“We’re going to need volunteers,” ordered Shining Armor. “Any Unicorns capable of levitating a stallion a short distance. And any strong Pegasi to help ferry other Ponies across.” Looking around, he observed how quickly the castle was rising as the buildings around them were getting further and further away. “Quickly now!”
With all the guards and volunteers working together, dozens of Ponies were transported over to the ever distancing stairs. As the Ponies tired out from helping others across, the Pegasi stayed on the lower side of the stairs and made their way down while the Unicorns were helped across by another volunteer taking their place.
Before long, only two Ponies remained upon the stairs connected to the castle, Shining Armor and Spearhead. “Okay, it’s your turn now,” Shining told his friend, breathing heavy after exerting so much of his magic.
“But if you levitate me over, how are you going to get across, man?” Spearhead asked, wheezing too.
“Don’t you worry about that,” assured Shining Armor as he focused his magic. His horn flickered a bit before glowing and then an aura of the same color surrounded Spearhead. Gritting his teeth, Shining Armor levitated his fellow guard to safety, the trip a lot longer after the castle had risen to the point that the base of it was over all the roofs of Canterlot and rising up at an increasing rate.
Spearhead remained as still as stone as he was levitated over a very far fall to the ground. Sweat was running down his face and his heart was in his throat as he forced himself to stare anywhere but down. Every once in a while, Shining Armor’s magic started to fade causing him to drop, only for an instant before the magic caught him again. Finally, his hooves touched down on the steps, the journey over, feeling like an eternity, to the terrified Pony, when only a few minutes had actually passed by.
“Now, how are you going to get down?” wondered Spearhead as he finally felt safe enough to take a breath and remove his helmet to wipe the sweat off his face.
“Excuse me,” called Cadence as she hurried up the stairs once all the others had made it safely to the ground. “Where is Shining Armor?”
“He’s still up there,” answered Spearhead looking back up, but the castle was already so far away couldn’t see the stallion’s white hued body. “I have no idea how he plans to get down from there.”
“That idiot,” cried Cadence as she opened up her wingspan and charged up the stairs to take off after him.
“This has to be Nightmare Moon’s doing,” admitted Shining Armor to himself as he tried to recover some of his energy before rushing back into the castle. “I’m supposed to be Captain of the Royal Guard and yet I did nothing even when I was warned about it. Forgive me Twilight. I’m coming for you.”
Taking a few steps back up the stairs to the castle, everything began to tremble again as a loud explosion sounded on the far end of the castle. “What in the world?” wondered Shining Armor, only able to imagine what had been going on while he had been busy with the evacuation. Shining Armor resumed his trek up the stairs with even greater urgency, however, as he did, he spotted some magic atop the castle that began to quickly surround the building in a yellow, spherical shape.
“And now a barrier,” he groaned as he hurried up the stairs in an effort to beat the magic before it blocked his passage back into the castle. In spite of his best efforts, he wasn’t fast enough to outrun it and was left helpless as it cut through the section of stairs he was on. He was helpless to do anything but watch as the barrier cut through the stairs till they were cut in two once more and the half Shining Armor was on fell back to the ground with him along with them. As the captain of the royal guard fell, he was fortunate it wasn’t for long as Cadance had managed to catch up to him just in time to use her own magic to prevent him from plummeting to the ground below.
“That was too close,” panted Cadence after flying all the way up there as fast as she could.
“Not close enough,” replied Shining Armor, still upset that he failed to make it into the castle. “We have to get in there!”
“It’s too late,” the pink Alicorn informed him as the entire barrier finished surrounding the entire castle from all sides. We can’t get in there now.”
“We have to try,” Shining Armor told her. “I just know that Twilight and Princess Celestia are still inside. Plus any Pony that wasn’t in the banquet hall while we were evacuating. We still have to rescue them all from Nightmare Moon.”
“Nightmare Moon?” questioned Cadance. “You can’t be serious. That’s just an old Pony’s tale to get little colts and fillies to behave. I’ve used them myself, when I’d foalsit some particularly troublesome kids.”
“Well, Twilight believed she was real and coming back tonight and now I’m certain she has too,” he told Cadence and pointed up at the sky. “Look over there.”
“It can’t be,” gasped Cadence as she looked to where the stallion was pointing and saw that the moon was missing the shadow of a horse’s head upon it. “The Mare in the Moon is gone.”
“Yeah,” he nodded and gazed at Canterlot Castle. “She’s no longer in the moon. Now she’s in there and we have to go in and stop her.”
“Stop her?” questioned Cadence as she focused her magic and fired a few blasts of her power at the barrier to see what should happen. The light blue beams connected, but they merely dissipated on contact and had no effect on it at all. “We can’t even get to her with that powerful barrier she’s put up. And even if we could, do you think we could defeat her if Princess Celestia can’t?”
“Then what are we supposed to do?” he asked her with a sigh, unable to deny their powerlessness.
“Return to Canterlot and try to maintain order,” she answered. “With the whole castle plucked out of the ground and floating into the stratosphere the entire city is probably in a state of panic. After that we can figure out our next move.”
“Fine, let’s do that then,” he responded to Cadence’s suggestion, but couldn’t help looking back at the castle with an anxious expression on his face.
“I know you are worried about Twilight, but we just have to have faith that she’s going to be alright.” Cadence might have said this to comfort Shining Armor, but after everything she had seen and learned on this night, even she yearned for some reassuring that this wasn’t the beginning of the end for Equestria as they knew it.
A short while earlier, back when the castle had first fully broke free of the ground and started to float higher and higher into the sky, Celestia snapped at Nightmare Moon, “Stop this at once! Do you have any idea what you are doing?!?”
“I am merely making my presence known to my subjects,” she answered casually. “The way I see it, you have ruled over this land by yourself for the last millenia and then some. Now it is my turn to rule while you sit back and watch my glorious reign.” Leaning forward, Nightmare Moon smirked at Celestia. “That is, unless you wish to challenge me for the throne all over again. Please say, ‘Yes.’ I’m really looking forward to exacting sweet revenge on you.”
Celestia turned quickly back to Twilight and then back to Nightmare Moon. “I’ll fight you,” the Princess of the Sun told her foe. “But, first, let me bring my student to safety. She has nothing to with this matter between us.”
“Oh, but didn’t you wish for her to watch us?” Nightmare Moon replied as she arose from her throne.
“That was before you uprooted my castle from the ground,” she argued.
“Like I would allow any who are willing to oppose me to escape,” scoffed Nightmare Moon as her entire body changed to pitch black before she turned into a shadow that quickly flew past Celestia and encircled the young Unicorn. As she reformed, she stood before Twilight and looked down at her with a frightening smile. Twilight trembled but did her best to stand her ground.
“Let’s see now,” the dark Alicorn spoke as she brought a hoof to her chin and thought. “I never forget a nightmare. You are… Twilight Sparkle, correct? You have a recurring nightmare of showing up in nothing but your underwear for a test after having spent your time studying the wrong subject. It is a pretty common nightmare to occur for many Ponies during end of semester classes, though I never did understand the underwear part. Most Ponies don’t tend to wear any sort of clothing in the first place.”
“How did you know that?” Twilight asked her, an embarrassed look on her face after her greatest nightmare was exposed.
“It is a part of my job, well, my former job, as Princess of the Night to protect ponies as they slept,” she explained. “However, after my banishment to the moon, I used that power of mine to have a little fun viewing the dreams of Ponies, seeing what makes them happy and finding out what fills them with terror. Oh, what a delight it was twisting the most wonderful of sweet dreams into the more horrid of nightmares and bask in the fright of all those cries and shrieks.”
“Why would you do something so horrible?” cried Twilight.
“Have you ever been imprisoned with your jailer intending to never release you?” questioned Nightmare Moon. “It grows very dull, very fast. There wasn’t much else to do to keep myself busy. I spent the last millenia exploring the dreams of Ponies, but, it was not just for my own amusement. It was also a vital part of my preparation for when I would finally take my rightful place as ruler of Equestria.”
“That’s enough,” Celestia told Nightmare Moon, being careful not to provoke her while she had Twilight in her clutches.
“Typical Celestia,” scoffed Nightmare Moon. “You were never too keen on sharing. First your toys, then Equestria and now your students. It’s really no wonder why things turned out the way they did.” She then turned back to Twilight, snickering with amusement. “Hey, my little Pony, I probably could have escaped my imprisonment moons ago, if I wanted, but do you wanna know why I chose to wait as long as I did?” Without waiting for an answer, Nightmare Moon told her anyway. “Because, I wanted to let Celestia build up her legacy, so that when I did make my return, I could pull out the bottom block and watch with great delight as it all comes crumbling down.”
“That won’t happen,” argued Twilight. “Celestia has devoted her life to making Equestria the wonderful place it is today. There’s no way that you could destroy all that so easily. Even if you were to somehow defeat the princess, that won’t diminish how we feel about her and there’s no way any Pony would ever follow you.”
“If that is your answer then you are just another of the ignorant masses,” Nightmare Moon told her. “None of you are aware of the truth, but I know it. Tell me, do you want to know what kind of Pony your beloved Celestia really is?”
“No!” cried Twilight, quickly focusing her magic to teleport away from Nightmare Moon in a flash of light and reappeared at Celestia’s side. Twilight had planned to reappear on her hooves and facing the dark Alicorn, but instead she ended up on her back and began to scramble back to her feet while the other two just stared at her. “Uh, I’m still practicing my teleportation spell. Anyway, you are just trying to confuse me with your lies, but I will never believe a word you say! No matter what Celestia has done it has only ever been for others.”
“I guess I should expect as much from one of Celestia’s students,” sighed Nightmare Moon. “It’s such a pity that you’ve decided to bet on the wrong horse.”
“I’d say I’m betting on the right one,” countered Twilight. “One that has the Elements of Harmony on her side. She used them to defeat you once and she can use them to stop you again.”
“Is that so?” asked Nightmare Moon in a mocking tone. “Oh, heavens me! Please Celestia, don’t use those accursed elements on me. I’m finally able to breathe some fresh air. You won’t believe how little there is on the moon. Oh, please show me some mercy. Don’t use the Elements of Harmony… that is, if you can even use them anymore.”
“Of course she can,” countered Twilight confidently. “Face it, you were better off staying in the moon instead of coming back just to waste our time.”
“I can’t,” admitted Celestia. “I can’t use the elements anymore.”
“Princess?” questioned Twilight, seeing her lower her head in despair. “What do you mean you can’t?”
“She means that the elements will no longer work for her,” cackled Nightmare Moon. “She betrayed all they represent when she used them to banish me and now they will no longer grant her use of their power and, without them, she has no hope of defeating me.”
“Is this true?” worried Twilight, unaware of this fact and hoping it to just be Nightmare Moon spouting more falsehoods. She turned to Celestia, praying she could easily deny it. “It can’t possibly be true, can it?”
“It is true,” the white Alicorn princess admitted solemnly. “Ever since that day, the Elements of Harmony turned to cold stone and remained like that ever since. Nothing I did would awaken them and so I left them behind in my old castle when I moved into this new one in Canterlot.”
“Hardly surprising behavior coming from you,” commented Nightmare Moon. “If something doesn’t work the way you want it to, you get rid of it. I’d be wary of her if I were you, Twilight. Fall out of her good graces and you could be next.”
“Quiet!” snapped Twilight, more angry than frightened by Nightmare Moon at this point. “Even without the Elements of Harmony, Celestia can still defeat you. She was awaiting this day as long as you have been, just to stop you. You are just another fiend threatening the peace of Equestria, another monster to be destroyed.”
“Really now?” taunted Nightmare Moon as she looked over at Celestia, her head lowered in shame. Rather than being uplifted by Twilight's words of encouragement, she looked even gloomier than ever. “Is that really the mighty sword and shield of Equestria. She looks more like a dull butter knife and a rusty piece of scrap metal to me.”
“Celestia,” asked Twilight, horrified to see such a sullen look upon her face before the battle even began. Whatever fight she had had already been stripped away from her. “What’s wrong?”
“Twilight,” she spoke quietly before raising her head up. “No matter what happens from this point on, please believe in yourself as I believe in you.”
“Princess,” spoke Twilight as she watched her spread her wings and soar up high in the throne room. Her torn glowed a bright pink as she fired a blast of magic down at Nightmare Moon. Quickly, she blocked the attack with a magical barrier and then fired a counter strike back at Celestia. The battle had begun.
Quick to take cover behind a pillar, Twilight watched at the two powerful Alicorns fought, their power on a completely different level from what Twilight had even imagined. The might behind each of their attacks was easily enough to dwarf her own and their reserves of stamina were impressive too as they fired one blast after another without tiring. “This is the power of an Alicorn,” Twilight said to herself as blasts of magic cracked the walls and shattered windows. “And I thought I could be of help?”
The two princesses continued to encircle one another, exchanging blows, defending themselves with barriers and dodging with agility. Every so often, they managed to graze one another, scorching their hair, manes, and the feathers on their wings. Still, in spite of any minor damage they managed inflict on one another, neither had yet to succeed in landing a solid hit yet.
“Had enough yet?” asked Celestia. “Even without the elements you’ve never been able to get the better of me.”
“Which is why I’ve always had to work harder than you to catch up,” Nightmare Moon retorted. “And, finally, today will be the day that I am finally victorious! I will prevail over you!”
“Is that all this is to you?” questioned Celestia. “A game that you want to win? If besting me is all you care about, then you are as much a child as ever.”
“And you are as arrogant as ever,” spat Nightmare Moon. “This is far more than beating you. This is about taking back what you have stolen from me. And if I must defeat you to get it, then that is just the icing on the cake for me.”
Once more, Nightmare Moon attacked Celestia with another burst of her magical power. Focusing her magic, Celestia vanished in a flash of light and reappeared above her foe. Turning up to her, Nightmare Moon didn’t have time to do any more in response. All she was able to do was watch as Celestia’s horn glowed brighter with a warm light washed down over her and engulfed the Alicorn of the night in it, sending her crashing to the floor below.
“She got her!” cheered Twilight, excited to see Celestia come out on top.
Groaning as she tried to get up, NIghtmare Moon was unable to as Celestia dropped down in front of her, her horn aglow and ready to finish her off. “It is over,” Celestia told the fallen Alicorn. “Give up now, Nightmare Moon. This is the end.”
“You know I never will,” she retorted. “We can fight and you can defeat me a thousand times over, but I will never surrender. You can seal me away again and again, but it will only be a matter of time until I return and for our game to start all over again. There will never be an end to it.”
“I am well aware,” Celestia admitted, her horn glowing brighter as she built up the power higher. “But if defeating you and sealing you away is not the correct answer, then I must choose my other option, one that will put an end to this once and for all.”
“You can’t be serious,” remarked Nightmare Moon, trying to remain calm, but she couldn’t cover up the fear in her eyes. “You can’t be seriously considering-”
“I have considered it,” spoke Celestia somberly. “Every day for a thousand moons. If there is no other way to stop you then I must do what is best for Equestria. There is no other option available to me.”
“Then go ahead,” the dark Alicorn dared her. “If you have the guts, put an end to our story once and for all.”
Aiming her horn, Celestia prepared to deliver the final blow and put an end to this nightmare once and for all. Nightmare Moon turned her head and shut her eyes, waiting for it, but after several seconds had passed and nothing, she peeked to see Celestia just standing there.
“If none of the answers are right,” Celestia thought, recalling Twilight’s words from earlier. “Then I’ll just find another one.”
“Is there really another option?” she thought. “Can it really be possible?”
“My, it seems you have gone soft with a thousand years of guilt,” grinned Nightmare Moon. Seeing Celestia’s guard down, she first aimed her horn at her, but then a far crueler inspiration came to her and she turned her aim to Twilight and charged up her magic. “Unfortunately for you, the same cannot be said about me!”
Nightmare Moon fired a blast of magic directly at Twilight. Seeing it coming, Twilight attempted to move out of the way, but her feet refused to budge. “Twilight!” cried Celestia, coming back to her senses just in time to teleport from looming over Nightmare Moon to right beside Twilight. Not wasting a second, she shoved her precious student out of the way, just before the blast of Nightmare Moon’s magic struck. Twilight watched in terror as she heard Celestia screamed out in agony as the dark magic washed over her and was blasted her into the wall at the far end of the room, annihilating a chunk of it in the process.
“Princess Celestia!” cried Twilight as she saw her in a collapsed pile on the floor. Tears ran down her eyes, unable to believe this could have happened, not when she was on the verge of defeating that dark pony. “This cannot be happening. This… this is a nightmare.”
Oh hoh, this is far worse than any mere nightmare,” cackled the dark princess. “This is real! I am finally getting justice and I don’t mind admitting that it tastes very sweet.”
Nightmare Moon approached Celestia and lifted her off the ground with her magic and smirked at her defeated adversary. “Oh, please, don’t tell me that you are down for the count after that little meager display of my strength,” she gloated shamelessly. “I’ve waited far too long for this day to arrive for it to be over so quickly. Come on now, look alive and fight me.”
“Do what you want to me,” Celestia told her. “I am the one you bear a grudge against. But I will not forgive you if you harm my precious student.”
“Like you are in any condition to make threats anymore,” she replied, getting up close to Celestia’s face and teasingly booped her nose with her hoof. “And besides, beating up on a pathetically helpless Pony would even leave a bad taste in my mouth. Furthermore, while I was imprisoned in the moon, I was forced to watch you rule Equestria. I think it is only fair to let you do the same, however, while I won’t cause you any more physical harm, it doesn’t mean I can’t inflict it on an emotional level.”
Turning to Twilight, Nightmare Moon readied her magic in her horn. “No, stop!” cried Celestia, attempting to break free of Nightmare Moon’s magic.
“You had your chance to stop me, but, for some reason, you hesitated,” stated the dark Alicorn as she tightened her hold on Celestia. “Sorry, loser, but I’ve decided on a different playmate!” With another blast of magic, she knocked Celestia away and watched her drop to the floor once more. “Now, Twilight Sparkle, I’m sure Celestia, has taught you at least the basics of magic, correct?”
“Y-Yes,” she nodded, trying to keep a cool head in spite of having the eyes of such a terrifying foe locked onto her.
“Then let’s put those skills of yours to the test, shall we?” she suggested in a tone that wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer. “I know how much you love to dream about taking tests.”
“Provided it was one I correctly studied for,” added Twilight with a nervous chuckle.
“You’d best hope it is,” grinned Nightmare Moon, finding her fear a delightful sight to behold. As much as Twilight tried to be brave, she wished that somepony would come to her rescue. “Because more than an ‘F’ awaits you if don’t pass.”
Taking in a deep breath, Twilight worked to gather all the magic within her, channeling it into her horn and Nightmare Moon did the same. As Twilight’s horn radiated a soft glow, Nightmare Moon’s shined with a much brighter intensity to illuminate the room around her. Before they even began, the young purple pony was well aware that she had no hope to hold her own against such an adversary.
“Now, show me what you are made of, my little Pony,” smirked Nightmare Moon as she rose up onto her hind legs before dropping her front legs to the ground, firing off a blast of dark blue magic at Twilight as she did. In response, Twilight aimed her horn at the huge beam of magic and met it with her own blast of pinkish purple magic. As the two attacks collided, they were both equal in size and in power. However, while it appeared the two were evenly matched, Twilight was clearly giving it her all while Nightmare Moon’s relaxed expression was proof enough that she was hardly even yet.
“Not bad,” admitted Nightmare Moon as their attacks continued to push against one another, the energy they were giving off enough to illuminate the entire throne room. “But any Unicorn could manage this with some hard work and study. If you are truly one of Celestia’s students, then you should at least be able to handle something like this!”
With just a bit more focus, Nightmare Moon unleashed even more magic into her attack, allowing her blast of power to start pushing Twilight’s own power back at her. Groaning a bit, Twilight shut her eyes and focused even harder, managing to draw upon even more of her magic reserves to help match Nightmare Moon’s incredible power and stop her advancement. She was even managing to push Nightmare Moon’s magic back at her. However, doing this proved incredibly taxing to the young Unicorn. Pushing herself this hard was exhausting and the magics he was quickly emptying out while Nightmare Moon continued to remain undaunted by any of this. All Twilight could attempt to do was keep on giving it her all to survive this battle. She didn't have the luxury of being able to do anything less than her all and then some.
“Simply fantastic,” marveled Nightmare Moon, sincere surprise and delight in her voice as she watched Twilight starting to overtake her, but a simply boost to her own magic allowed her to easily hold off Twilight’s best effort. “It’d be a shame to let such power and talent go to waste. How about you join my side? Before long, all of Equestria will be under my rule. Those that come to my side willingly, I will gift them with their greatest dream. What more could any pony ask for?”
“And if I were to refuse?” questioned Twilight, struggling to maintain enough power to counter Nightmare Moon’s, but she couldn’t increase her power any further. In fact, her magic was decreasing at a steady, but noticeable rate.
“I hardly think I need to explain what will happen to you if you do decide to refuse me,” she answered as she matched her magic to remain just slightly stronger than Twilight’s to draw out the battle for as long as possible. “But certainly you are smart enough to realize there is only one way for you to survive. Now, say it. Say that you’ll join me and then I won’t have to destroy you.”
With Nightmare Moon’s magic already close to overtaking Twilight completely, the purple pony tried to draw on even more power than she already possessed. This time, however, it proved to be in vain as even with the small bit more power that she manage to obtain in her losing battle it was still not enough against Nightmare Moon’s unstoppable wrath.
“I… I… I…. stuttered Twilight, struggling to keep focus while she spoke. At first, Nightmare Moon expected this to be her seeing reason and coming over to the winning team, but to her dismay, Twilight remained loyal to Princess Celestia. “I refuse!” she shouted loudly, much to Nightmare Moon’s disappointment.
“Such a waste,” she said sadly before quickly getting over it. “Oh, well. What’s done is done. No use in getting upset about it.”
With no point in prolonging the inevitable, Nightmare Moon released a taste of her true ability for Twilight to compare to her own. In an instance, the magic she was attacking Twilight with grew far larger and stronger than anything the poor Pony could have hoped to fend off. The force of such power alone caused Twilight to slide backwards across the floor and into the wall. Twilight tried to muster up even more magic to fend off Nightmare Moon’s attack, but it was already obvious that she simply didn’t nearly enough power to be a contender.
Tears welling up in Twilight’s eyes, as she felt her demise was at hand, she could only think of Shining Armor in that moment. “Brother!” she cried out as the sorrow ran down her face, moments before she was overwhelmed by the dark Alicorn’s magic. It engulfed her and blasted through the wall behind her, creating a huge hole in it and shaking the whole castle with explosive force. “Save me!”
Nightmare Moon then approached the hole she created and looked out upon the world the castle was now floating over. “I hope everypony enjoyed the light of day today, because it’ll be the last they will ever see of it,” she declared. “Because on this night, the Sun has fallen and the Moon will rise!” Smirking, she was ready to laugh, but then something caught her eye, a pink bubble wafting at the mercy of the breeze not too far away. Peering at it as best she could, Nightmare Moon was shocked to find Twilight Sparkle was contained within it, unconscious and roughed up, but still very much alive.
“Impossible,” thought Nightmare Moon. “She couldn’t have possibly… unless…” Turning to Celestia, the Princess was still on the ground, but she was awake and her horn was glowing with a pink aura, before it faded away.
“So, you regained consciousness and rather than escape yourself or attack me while my back was turned, you chose to try and save your student,” analyzed Nightmare Moon. “A noble effort, but a futile one. I could just shoot her down from here with ease.”
Turning back to the bubble in the sky, Nightmare Moon took aim and charged up a bit of her magic. She needed no more than a little to pop the bubble and send the flightless Pony to her doom. As she waited for the sphere of magic to become steady, she prepared to fire, but found herself unable to.
“What’s going on?” she questioned herself. “Why can’t I attack her? Why can’t I…” On one side of her face, a teardrop ran down her cheek and landed on the floor. Seeing it, Nightmare Moon was quick to dry her eye and shrug it off. “It hardly matters. Let her escape. If she is smart she won’t attempt to get in my way again and, if the lesson didn’t sink in, I can deal with her at my leisure.”
Making her way back to Celestia, her horn glowed a bright yellow as she started casting another spell, this time a barrier. It started at the top of the castle and quickly surrounded it from all ends till any way in or out had become solely at the discretion of Equestria’s new, dark ruler. She then cast a spell upon Celestia’s horn, covering it with a dark aura that sank into it and left with a grayish tint.
“There, a barrier to keep unwanted guests out and a spell to seal away most of your magic,” Nightmare Moon told Celestia. “Just a couple of the spells I’ve been working on in my banishment. Impressed?”
“Hardly,” Celestia answered as she attempted to channel magic to her horn to test the seal and found herself unable to muster more than a fraction of how power into it. “Not when you are using those spells against me.”
“I suppose I can’t argue with you there,” admitted Nightmare Moon in an amused tone.
With a bit more magic, NIghtmare Moon apparated some ponies in dark gray and pale blue coats. The were all dressed in either black or silver armor similar to the design of Celestia’s own royal guard save for the moon crest engraved on the chest plate. There were hornless, wingless Earth Ponies among them, a number of Unicorns, and a group of flight enabled ponies like the Pegasi, but instead of wings like birds, theirs were like bats. They stood at attention, making a line on either side of their ruler as she walked in between them. Turning back to face them, she gave them their orders. “You ten,” she spoke in a commanding voice. “I want you all to split up and search the castle for anyone else still within the castle. If they will not pledge their loyalty to me then find some place to detain them for the time being. As for you two, please escort Princess, oh, I mean ex-Princess Celestia back to her room. Make sure she’s comfortable. She is, after all, a special guest in my castle.”
“No matter what you plan to do,” Celestia told Nightmare Moon as two Unicorn guards escorted Princess Celestia to her room, their horns at the ready in case she attempted anything. “You will be stopped. I can promise you that.”
“Oh, really now?” she asked in an amused tone as she halted her guards to speak with her a little more. She rubbed under Celestia’s chin condescendingly as she smirked. “And who is going to stop me? You? Like I’d ever give you another chance. Your little student, Twilight Sparkle? I greatly doubt that as well. Her magical ability was greater than I expected it to be, but one little pony is hardly anything for me to worry about. Any other threat that might rise up, I’ll crush it immediately as an example of what will happen to those who defy me. After that, it won’t be long before the whole of Equestria has submitted to my rule.”
“You make it sound so easy,” remarked Celestia. “I guess we shall see.”
“What does that mean?” questioned Nightmare Moon. “Tell me!”
“It means absolutely nothing,” answered Celestia with her own smug grin. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a room to be detained in. Gentleponies, if you would be so kind as to escort me as Nightmare Moon has instructed you to do.”
“Urgh!” growled Nightmare Moon in frustration, as she watched the Sun Princess take her leave. When she was alone, Nightmare Moon shouted out her anger. “I hate it when she does that!”
Celestia was brought higher up in the castle to where her bedroom resided in the castle. Once inside, the guards shut the door and stood guard by it on the outside. Finally alone, Celestia made her way to her balcony and gazed out at the barrier that was surrounding the castle. Attempting to focus her magic into her horn, she care barely channel more than enough to create a faint glow. It was far from powerful enough to cause harm to anyone, let alone break through as powerful a barrier as the one that was now caging her. With no means of escape, Celestia turned back to her bed and curled up on top of it.
“I could have stopped her,” thought Celestia as she hugged her pillow tightly to her head. “I could have ended her tyranny before it began. That was the only choice I had. For so many years, that’s what I’ve always believed. But could there really be another option? Twilight, if there is another way, can I put my faith in you to find it?”
Twilight managed to gain a bit of consciousness in the time she was adrift. “Why?” she kept asking herself, far too dazed to think clearly enough to come up with a better answer than that. “Why did things turn out like this?”
Staring up at the sky, she could not turn away from the tiny sphere in the sky that contained Celestia’s castle. She was as far away from the castle now as it was from where it had once made its home in Canterlot. Extending a hoof towards it, she winced, still incredibly sore after that narrow escape.
When it started to appear no more than another twinkling star against the pitch blanknes of the night, Twilight adjusted her gaze downward to get her bearings. She found herself floating down towards a town that, compared to Canterlot, was a lot smaller and more humble in appearance. She spotted a sign upon the entrance that read, “Welcome to Ponyville,” and flew over it.
The bubble containing Twilight continued to travel over the town, narrowly missing crashing into the tops of the houses. Then, a stray breeze grabbed her transportation and sent her on a collision course straight for a large oak tree in the center of the town. Seeing the crash course she was on, Twilight attempted to gather her strength to move the bubble out of the way, however she couldn’t muster up the energy to even overcome the force of the wind. She crashed into the branches of the tree and her bubble burst with a gentle popping sound. No longer contained, the purple pony tumbled through the branches before dropping to the ground with a thud.
Groaning, as her consciousness started to fade again, Twilight stared up at a number of leaves gently rained down upon her. Her ears then caught the sound like someone unlocking a door. Turning her head to the side, she saw the door was in the side of the tree. As the handle turned, someone hurried out towards her. Before Twilight could see them, her vision faded.
“Hello?” called the voice of the one who had come to her aid. “Are you okay? Uh, never mind. Dumb question. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you.”
After that, Twilight fully lost consciousness again.