When Luna and Celestia arrive, The Castle of the Two Sisters looks almost the same as always. The throne of the sun still stands on the right, with the throne of the moon on the left… but there is a new throne between them. It’s made of rocks and stone, with ruby highlights. Luna recognizes it as the one thing left behind from Discord’s reign. But now, instead of Discord sitting in it, there is Lightshield. Only, he looks different. His mane is jet black to match his grey-black fur. His eyes are a striking red. His cutie mark is discolored and hanging upside down on his flank. He grins smugly, and gazes up at the stained glass window above him.
“Pretty, isn’t it?” He remarks, pointing at it with his ebony hoof. “A shield. A stained glass window of my cutie mark. Shame that’s all you guys ever had to offer me. Ooo, and lookit that! It’s half orange and half purple, snazzy! Does it represent being torn between night and day? Does it represent having ponies fight over you for a living? Oh, how about being powerless for no reason!”
Celestia stares at him in awe, speechless that he would even consider taking the throne. That anyone would even have a complaint about her reign.
Luna is far less impressed. “Lightshield!” She cries. “What. Are. You. Doing!”
“I agree,” Sweetie Belle says in the present. “What. Is. He. Doing?”
Apple Bloom nods in agreement. “Yeah, I thought you said he was a nice guy!”’
“He was,” Luna responds coldly. “Until...well… allow me to explain.” She clears her throat and proceeds.
“Lightshield, ha!” Her coltfriend sniffs.“That name was overrated, and didn’t suit me at all! You may call me Nightshield! As for what I’m doing, I’m making myself whole again! Now that I have control of the sun AND the moon, I don’t have to be torn between anything! Problem solved!”
Luna frantically peers at the ponies standing next to the stallion. “Guard Number One! Guard Number Two! Thou art taking HIS side?”
“My name is Shadowblade!” The second guard shoots back, flapping his batlike wings in her direction.
“And mine is Eclypsa!” The first joins in.
Celestia shoots a glare at her own traitorous guard, Skychaser, who dives down, and helps block Celestia’s pathway to the thrones. Nightshield struts down the tall staircase.
“Wow,” he snickers. “Looks like I’m better at this than you!” He reaches the bottom, and winks at his marefriend. “Don’t worry, Lunie! I still want you around. You see, you two may use the humble title of princess, but I am NOT a prince. I am a king.” He darts his eyes up at Celestia. “Tia, you’re excused.”
The sun princess furrows her brows. “I beg your pardon?”
“Yes,” He replies, with a shooing-a-servant-away gesture. “You are pardoned. You’re excused. You can leave now.”
She huffs loudly. “I will most certainly NOT leave! This is my castle!”
“Right,” Nightshield chides, without even looking her in the eye. “Your castle. Sure, honey.” He offers a hoof to Luna. “Care to dance?”
“Dance?” Luna questions, her hoof half-raised and hesitant.
“Oh, come on, Lunie!” The stallion flirts, taking her hoof and dipping her elegantly.
“We are unsure of what thou is trying to do!” The moon princess responds, trying to keep her balance. Princess or not, her job never required her to be good at dancing. “Why has thou dethroned us, and is now offering to… dance with us?”
“Well, that’s just it,” He laughs, spinning Luna. “I’m not trying to dethrone you at all. Well, probably not. I’m a king now, baby, and I need a queen. So, you don’t need to use the royal ‘we’ when addressing me. I don’t need any of your fancy princess talk. I’m not your subject. But now, Princess Celestia can be OUR subject!”
Luna steps on Nightshield’s hooves by mistake. “So you are… trying to dethrone my sister?”
“Well, here’s the deal,” Nightshield casually informs her. “You have two options: One, you can marry me, and we can defeat Celestia together! Two, you DON’T marry me, and I dethrone you both. Your choice. Honestly, it works out for us either way, since the only thing standing between us was Celestia and royalty. Come on, Luna! I know you’re not all friendship and flowers. That’s Tia! Not you!”
In the back of the room, Celestia stands in a battle stance, but her eyes are wide. “Luna,” she pleads. “Don’t do this!”
Luna raises an eyebrow, and purses her lips at Nightshield. “But of course not,” She scoffs. “I will not sacrifice my own sister for my royal title. We may have our disagreements, but I will not betray her! Besides, married or not married, you’ll still have the sun and the moon, despite the moon being rightfully mine! I am not giving what little power I have to my protector!”
“Protector!” The stallion retorts. “Whatever happened to coltfriend?”
Once more, Luna hesitates. “Well, I...I-”
“Fine!” He snaps, dropping her on the floor mid-spin. “If you’re against me, that’s your problem. He stomps back up to his throne. He gives a nod to his guards, and they promptly block both princesses from the thrones.
At this point, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are too engrossed in the drama to cut in. They are huddled together, staring in amazement.
“Such a shame indeed,” Says Nightshield in the story. “You would have made a great queen. I guess now you can just be my non-royal marefriend. I’m sure you’ll change your mind eventually. In the meantime, lemme have some fun with these new toys of mine!” His horn glitters with black sparkles. Both the sun and the moon, encased in a black glow, rise shakily into view through the castle skylight. With some effort, he begins to move them rapidly in random directions. As the sky blinks grey, pink, blue, and black, the screams of confused ponies can be heard from every direction. Some shout: “What is going on with the princesses!” While others are galloping loudly to their homes, probably to lock themselves inside and freak out.
“LIGHTSHIELD!” Celestia shouts in her own royal voice. “THOU MUST STOP THESE DESTRUCTIVE SHENANIGANS AT ONCE!”
“IT’S NIGHTSHIELD,” He barks, then he squints at her for a moment, thinking. But about what, Celestia is unsure. Then his lips curl into a smirk. Celestia isn’t sure exactly what he does with his magic, but the sky goes almost completely dark. The only thing visible through the skylight is the moon, which now has a peachy hue.
“Know what this is?” He taunts.
“A lunar eclipse,” Luna yawns. “I have seen many. What is your point?”
Nightshield nods. “That’s right. A solar eclipse. The moon and sun are positioned so that Equestria is casting a shadow on the moon. Know what that means?”
“Do not patronize me!” Luna complains.
Nightshield ignores her. “It means the sun is on the opposite side of the world. Ah, but right now, I’m moving it with my magic. I’m moving it slowly closer. And when it gets here…” He looks Celestia in the eye. “It’s gonna crush you.”
The Crusaders gasp.
“YOUR COLTFRIEND WAS GONNA BAKE CELESTIA LIKE AN APPLE CRISP?” Apple Bloom yelled, but she was met with a fascinated ‘shhhh!” from the others.
In the story, Celestia inhales sharply, taking a few steps back. The sisters make eye contact. “The Elements of Harmony,” They both say at the same time. The princesses begin to search the castle for them, but the guards herd them back to the center of the throne room.
“Ah, ah, ah!” Nightshield teases, as the six gemstones float over to him. “Looking for these?”