“Mistress, must you really go alone?” Shadow Crest asked, receiving the tiara from her Empress.
“I do, Shadow. At times, you cannot trust anyone but yourself.” Nightmare Moon answered, taking off her shoes.
“Mistress, you know you can trust me. I will bring you the artefact!”
“Shadow, this is not for debate. This is too dangerous to entrust anyone else, even you.” Nightmare Moon turned around to look her exact copy in the eyes, “You can aid me by doing what I am now going to ask of you.”
“Any way I can, Mistress!” the other Nightmare Moon readily responded.
Nightmare Moon touched her copy’s shoulder,
“I trust you with a very important task. Watch over the court. Make sure they won’t find out I am gone.”
“But ho... of course, Mistress.”
“Good, my Shadow. Remember: the fate of the Empire is in your hooves for the next few hours. Mimicking others is in your nature, but remember the failure of your former Queen. Do not get careless.” Nightmare Moon put a simple, grey cloak over her shoulders and began tying her mane to fit under the cloak,
“This is only for a few hours, I will be back soon. Will you do this for me?”
“Anything for you, Mistress. I will not fail you.” Nightmare Moon nodded and touched her Changeling replacement one more time, before spreading her wings and leaping off the balcony into the moonlit skies.
Nightmare Moon swiftly gained attitude and then spread her wings wide, entering glide. The black mare took a deep breath of cool air and used the moment to look over her domain. Guards in towers, thestrals flying about in their work, Ponyville as sleepy as always, the Everfree Forest green and misty. Ah, the Forest! Such fond memories.
“Are you really going to trust a Changeling to rule over our land?” Luna forced herself into the mare’s thoughts.
“She is no ordinary Changeling. Shadow Crest is loyal only to me. She can’t be any other way.”
“You don’t trust your own ponies, but a Changeling?” Nightmare Moon felt Luna’s confusion.
“Oh, but I do trust our ponies, Luna. I simply have to adjust to the nature of their loyalty. Rarity, for instance, will follow you anywhere. Just like Shadow will do for me. But Rarity’s loyalty doesn't not belong to me, but to you, Luna.
Rarity is completely trustworthy, but only until she sees it as your benefit. Rarity has to be constantly watched over, otherwise, she might push her snout somewhere where it isn’t supposed to be.”
“Then...why did you agree to send her over to Cloudy Dawn?”
“I didn’t send her anywhere. She is still very close, but she no longer simply maunders around the palace until I find her something to do. Actually, Luna, it was an inspired idea on your part.
Rarity and Dawn is a very convenient pair. Dawn would’ve been troublesome if it wasn’t for Rarity. Just like Rarity’s, Dawn’s loyalty is conditional. The condition is for her to be in the right company.
Dawn thinks of herself as very smart; so much, in fact, that she even takes it upon herself to school others. She is potentially dangerous, unless...she tells others what we want her to, Luna. Rarity’s habit to stick her nose everywhere serves our cause now, she supplies Dawn with all the information we want her to know and more. And Dawn, in return, finds a way to use it for the benefit of the Empire.”
“And what if she finds out?” Nightmare Moon smirked at the silly question.
“She already knows, Luna. But Dawn understands it’s not her part to make moves. She used to work for a printing house; she sees all that happens, but she doesn’t act on it. She analyzes it and passes to someone who needs to know. This is why she let herself to be drawn into Twilight’s retinue, she feels the need for her talents there. Dawn will do no harm while amongst them.”
“I see now,” slightly bewildered Luna indicated, “But what of my sister?”
“Luna, please. Let us now enjoy our flight. I am honestly starting to hate the stillness of air inside the palace.” Luna decided not to insist.
Nightmare Moon completed a few practice aerobatic stunts, to stretch her wings a bit more. So rare she gets to soar now. It takes a very special occasion these days. The skies have grown outrageously empty in recent years. Maybe it was time to reestablish Wonderbolts? Hmm, maybe Shadowbolts would be more fitting.
The Empress had to cut short her reflection. It was now time to get on the ground again, they reached the destination.
Nightmare Moon sharply dived, folding her wings. With the acquired speed, the Empress took a sharp turn right and raced around the ruined Castle until she slowed down enough to gracefully land at the stone square before the main entrance.
“Huh, the place is exactly as I remember it from those years ago.” Luna pointed out. Nightmare Moon pushed the door only for it to break off the hinges and fall flat inside; leaving another one to guard the entrance alone.
“Hmm, the stonework is impressive indeed. It still stands even a 1000 years after we wrecked it together with your sister. I was surprised it was even still here when I saw it upon our return. Let’s see if the vault still has my book.” The Empress stepped through the open doors and walked through the hall, clapping on the floor with hooves and stopping for a moment in silent memorial before the stand where the Elements used to lie.
The Castle, although still standing, was in sorry shape, many hallways have crumbled under the weight of ages, others were still standing but were ridden with moss and couldn’t confirm to their former glory.
“It’s sad to see this place in such a shape. It used to be our home,” Luna dolefully called out.
“Yes. I think I will write an order to get this place cleared up. It deserves better. Actually, it reminds me...” An antic smile appeared over Nightmare’s face, “It should be here somewhere.” Nightmare Moon began fossicking the nearest wall. A pitched click sounded to the Empress that her memory did not fail her. The wall slid aside revealing stairs leading to the Castle's catacombs.
With the anticipating giggling the mare trotted down and dived into the first archway to the left, finding herself in a simple room, with a dusty blanket on the floor and a chest in the far corner.
“Oh no, please, don’t do it,” Luna begged, only provoking another malign snicker. Nightmare Moon pried off a loose stone tile off the floor and procured a metal key from underneath. She, then, proceeded to open the chest with it. After hastily opening the top, Nightmare Moon fished out an old book in a simple leather cover from the chest contains.
“Not quite the book we came for, but an ancient and valuable artifact this is just as much!” Nightmare Moon landed herself on the blanket. “We should take it back with us and leak it to some backwater printer. This ‘ought to make them very famous in a night!”
“You won’t dare.”
“Is this a challenge?” Nightmare Moon asked with mock seriousness.
“No,” Luna hastily backed down. “But, please. Please, just put it back, I don’t want to see it ever again.”
“Come on, Luna!” Nightmare Moon laughed. “Don’t be so stiff! Let’s remember a few pages of our youth.” Nightmare Moon opened the book and started turning pages over, “Oh! Here’s a good one.” The Empress cleared her throat, as if preparing for a speech,
“Dear diary,” she began reading aloud. “Today is the first time I met a stallion I like. His name is Hazy Glare and he is a prince from Saddle-Arabia. I wonder if he will invite me for a dance this evening.”
“I hate you,” Luna responded, sending Nightmare Moon laughing down on the blanket.
“Luna, you are just princeless!” Nightmare Moon approvingly proclaimed, “Good taste, though. Hazy really was cute. Let’s see what else is in there.” Nightmare Moon turned a few more pages,
“Dear diary, today was the best day ever! In the morning Celestia slipped on the icy stairs and stayed in her quarters the whole day! The whole Castle was mine!” Nightmare Moon chucked, “You used to be so cute, Luna! I remember that day! You’ve been ordering Guards and servants around the Castle like it was your little kingdom. Poor Pumpkin Crust, you sent him to drag over here a month worth of food.” Nightmare Moon returned to the diary: “Everyone was doing what I told them to and nobody been telling me what to do! Celestia is so lucky to be the bigger sister!”
“Hah,” Luna produced a sad chuckle. “I suppose she is.”
“Oh! Luna, I know exactly the entry!” Nightmare Moon flipped the diary closer to the end. “Dear diary, today Celestia, finally, took a break from her cursed crown. Celestia sent all Guards and servants away and we had the whole Castle just for ourselves!” Nightmare Moon passionately mimicked Luna’s delight from the diary, “We played chess, cooked, read poems and sang the entire day! Stars, I wish every day was like this one.” Luna did not respond.
Sensing Luna’s anxiety, Nightmare Moon put the diary back into the chest and locked it. She silently walked back up the stairs and closed the hidden passage over again. Nightmare Moon looked to her sides to be totally sure no one could see her leaving. That book down there was a major reputational threat, after all.
“Thank you, I suppose,” Luna finally voiced out. “It seems, I needed to read it again, after all.”
“Of course, Luna. I told you: we are in this together. What is good for you is good for me.”
“I think, I am starting to believe you now,” Luna contently said,
“You know, ever since we returned from the moon, I never thought much about why I was sent there. It isn't pleasant to think about.”
“I am with you on this one. Moon is miserable.” Nightmare Moon winced from the memory.
“I think, I finally understand,” Luna continued her thought. “It’s not because I rebelled against my sister and it’s not because of you. She had to send me away because it was the only way to stop our subjects from fighting each other. She didn’t like her options for a single moment, but she still did what our ponies needed her to.”
“Sadly. Sparkle is right on many things, but not this one. Not every matter can be solved with a hoofshake and a hearty song.”
“Sadly,” Luna gloomily agreed. “Watching you do it did hurt a lot. I can only imagine how much it hurt her to do it herself, I don’t think I could do what she did. I am so proud of her.” Luna finished with a raptured whisper. Nightmare Moon garnished her face with a coy smile.
“Good, Luna. Don't forget to tell her as much.”
“Oh, I will,” Luna musingly responded. “Thank you for this. You know, I can’t half believe this myself, but you are a lot like her now. What happened to you?”
“Let’s get my book now.” To Luna’s disappointment, the black mare moved to continue her search.
“Actually, Nightmare,” Luna began anew. “When are we going to read your diary?” Nightmare Moon smiled wide again and even chuckled a bit.
“Oh, quiet, you silly goat.” Luna’s answer was an unusually joyful giggle.
“Oh, finally. This looks like it.” Nightmare Moon crawled over a pile of rubble and approached a heavy metal grate door, with a lighting window directly above it. A book in inscribed black cover lied on the pedestal inside, “No lock though. Looks like it was melted by something,” Nightmare Moon remarked on the puddle of solid metal right underneath the grate, “Someone's been here.”
“Well, at least now we can simply open the door and take the book. Whoever was out here, was wise enough to not touch your things.”
Nightmare Moon tried pushing the door both ways, first with her magic and then with a shoulder. The door didn’t move.
“Stuck. Well, I suppose we can just use my Vapor Form and slip through the grate, or…we can do something fun. I didn’t practice my spells in a while, I suppose this is as good as any occasion.”
“Watch the window above. It still has glass in it, if you shatter the glass it will fall down on our head.” Nightmare Moon gave away an offended snort.
“For what kind of amateur you take me, Luna? It’s just a simple shockwave, highly directional.”
Nightmare Moon proceeded to take off her cloak and stand back off the grate. She then channelled her, so rarely used nowadays, arcane power and blasted the grate inward, creating a huge cloud of dust in the process.
Finding herself cowered in a disgraceful amount of dust and stone crumbs, the Empress quickly shook it down and trotted to the doorway to examine her work. The amount of force was just enough to push the door inside, curve it and leave it hanging on a single hinge.
“I still remember how to do it!” she victoriously announced. A small stone hit her on the head. Nightmare Moon raised her eyes, her curiosity changed to the complete horror as she realised that the stone was merely the first taste.
With a deafening roar, the whole archway and the upper wall section came crushing right on the mare’s back, breaking bones and showering her with the now broken pieces of glass.
“Argh...” Nightmare Moon groaned from pain under the pile of collapsed stone. She then conjured her power once again and turned her body into blue mist, the mist slipped out from underneath the rubble and turned back to the pony again once free.
Nightmare Moon audibly swore upon landing on her side and turned to examine her injuries.
She couldn’t move her hind legs, one of her forelegs was broken along with most of the ribs. Even worse, her whole back was covered in broken glass with one big piece, she had to conclude, cut her right through the abdomen. She was already making quite a big puddle of blood. With her heart racing, it was about to get bigger quick.
“Luna, this is bad. This is very-very bad,” she tried to reach her shocked host. “Luna, listen to me. We can still get out of this. The bones will heal, this body is not like any regular one. It will heal back in less than a day. We just need to stop the bleeding. Focus, let’s use Vapor Form, we do not bleed when we are not corporeal. But you have to calm down: we need to slow the heartbeat down, the bleeding will kill us soon if we won’t.”
“But...where do we go? You didn’t take anyone with us and there is nopony around for miles in this forest! We won’t make it to Ponyville!”
“There’s a zebra healer in the woods, Fluttershy occasionally dreams of her. I remember where she lives. We can make it, Luna. Focus on Vapor Form. It all will be alright if you just focus. The pain will get easier shortly.”
“Yes, yes. Let’s do it.” Nightmare Moon took a deep breath and tried her best to push through the pain and vaporise herself. The misty cloud quickly zoomed out of the alcove and streamed through the corridor they came from.
“Good, good, Luna. We are getting there.” Nightmare Moon encouraged.
“I…c-can’t! It hurts so much!” Luna’s focus broke, causing their body to drop down to the ground again.
“Agh!” Nightmare Moon sharply groaned on impact, “Luna, damn you! For once in your life, do not screw up!”
“I can’t handle this!”
“Luna, listen. Do you want to see your sister again? Yes or no?!”
“Yes!” Luna cried.
“Then pull yourself together! You are not getting another chance at this!” Luna forced herself to refocus and their body swiftly disappeared again.
“Here’s the Element hall, Luna. We are almost out. Just a bit further.”
“I c-can’t t-take it any lon-ger!” Nightmare Moon herself felt the panic creeping in, Luna was already on the verge of breaking and they did not even leave the ruins yet. “It’s overwhelming, everything is dizzy, I am sorry!” Luna cried out, falling them both on the stone again.
“If I have to drag you all the way there, so be it!” Nightmare Moon tried to conjure the mist form herself. “Arghhh...”
she sharply growled, but it was no use. Luna’s darting in their head prevented her from focusing, not that it mattered. The Empress discovered her own thoughts no longer obeyed her either. Well, there was still the old fashioned way.
“Not...like...this!” she gritted her fangs and used her only working leg to drag her body to the doorway, but the heroic effort was to no avail. Her broken body didn’t have strength left.
“It’s over, Luna,” Nightmare Moon said, allowing herself to fall down on the floor. “Too late, too far, too slow.”
“I am sorry!” Luna cried out. “Why am I so useless?! How can I help any of my ponies if I can’t even help myself?!”
“Luna, quiet down. Your sister is watching,” Nightmare Moon quietly uttered. Indeed she was, the moon was low in the sky, looking at the dying mare through the absent roof. Nightmare Moon could almost see the sadness in her eye, almost.
“Oh, sister! I am so sorry...” Luna started again. Nightmare Moon took a deep sigh. Well, maybe there was one thing that still could be done. There was another entry from the diary they both vividly remembered. It always worked for Celestia in past, why not for Nightmare Moon? Regardless, this was the only good thing she could do with the remaining air in their lungs.
“...sorry, I am so sorry, Nightmare. I-” Luna’s sudden amazement forced her to broke short, as Nightmare Moon began quietly singing to her:
“Hey there Little Moonbeam
How do you do?
There’s a great kingdom
Waiting for me and you.
As you lay your tiny head
Dream of the world
They’re gonna love you
Their Moon will return.
L-little Moonbeam,
Little Moonbeam,
Let your radiance show.
Little Moonbeam,
Little Moonbeam,
Let your kind heart g-glow
Though shadows may close in,
You will stay strong.
Y-our l-little spark of love
W-will cast out the d-ark!
K-now t-hat you are n-not alone,
The s-sun’s at y-our side,
To-geth-er y-you’ll clean-”
Nightmare Moon’s breath failed forcing her to cough. Just as her sight could barely distinguish anything any longer. The bleeding was doing its work. But Luna liked the song regardless, she always did. There were no more wails and tears. Luna was quiet and tranquil, as if simply sleeping. She may be a 1000 year old fretful foal, but what a marvellous foal she was. Nightmare Moon lifted her hoof to affectionately caress Luna, chuckling softly upon realising her mistake.
The black mare saw a bright trail of fiery red, perhaps left by a meteor in the sky. She, then, softly smiled, wished Luna goodnight and closed her eyes. Soon the velvet darkness gently swallowed its happy mistress.