//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: The Adventures of Selina Lunar // by Mike728 //------------------------------// I find myself lying down on a cold, flat surface on my stomach but what it was, I can’t tell or take a guess because it is so dark, so dark to the point that it is pitch black. The only thing I can tell, however, is that the surface is smooth, and I mean REALLY smooth, that was it. My body feels sore and there is a feeling of stiffness in my joints. ‘Where am I?’ I think to myself. ‘Why does my body feel so sore? But more importantly; why is it so dark?’ I open my eyes with the attempt to find out where I am. Instead of being able to see, all I see is nothing but pitch blackness; the darkness itself showing no signs of having changed whatsoever. It is like I didn’t open my eyes at all, although something deep down tells me that my eyes are indeed open. The air is as cold as the surface that I am currently lying on and I begin shivering uncontrollably. The cold is becoming so unbearable that my teeth begin chattering loudly and my shivering worsens. I feel the strong urge to curl up like a ball and honestly, I will do anything to try and keep myself warm. It will be better than allowing myself to freeze. I move my arms and my legs a little bit when I pick up the slight sound of something rattling. I lift my head up from the cold, flat surface and freeze. I realize that I have something smooth and cold wrapped tightly around both of my arms and my legs. My heart begins racing rapidly in my chest and I begin to hyperventilate. ‘What is this?’ I think to myself. ‘What is it that I have wrapped tightly around my arms and legs? Am I chained up or something?’ Strong feelings of confusion and fear course throughout my body like crazy. Not only do I have no clue on where I was, why it is so darn cold or why it is so dark, but the possibility of being chained up sends chills down my spine. If I am chained up, what did I do that could have resulted with that happening? Not having the answer to that question is making the situation much more terrifying than it already is. Something bright cuts through the pitch black darkness and I raise my right arm to block out the sudden blinding light. The sudden brightness causes my vision to blur and I can see the blurry outline of my arm, although for some reason, something seems off about it but I can’t pinpoint what. “Princesses, she’s awake!!” came an unfamiliar female voice. The owner of the female voice mentioning ‘princesses’ instantly catches my attention for some reason, but I don’t dwell on that for long. I slowly lower my arm so that my eyes can adjust to the brightness. That way, I don’t blind myself. I have to blink a few times so that my vision can adjust much quicker. Although it does little to help, the good thing is that I’m making progress. “Well, it’s about time she woke up,” came another unfamiliar female voice. This voice didn’t sound like the one I heard a moment ago, sounding a little angry too. It even held a lot of authority. “She’s got a lot of explaining to do.” “Yes, she does indeed,” came yet another unfamiliar female voice. Unlike the other one, this one was gentle, yet there is trace of slight sternness. Like the previous one, it also held a sense of authority, one of tremendous power. ‘Can those other two voices be the so-called princesses?’ I think to myself. ‘Something tells me I’m about to find out.’ With one final blink, my vision returns to me. I lower my arm back down and feel it make contact with the very cold surface. I can’t help but shiver briefly. I then take in my surroundings. From the looks of it, it seems to be some kind of room, but it’s not some ordinary room. The room is entirely made out of stone and the size of the room is neither too big nor too small. At the far end of the room are large metal bars with some of them going from the ceiling to floor while others went from one side of the room to the other. Though I don’t much about rooms, but I’m pretty sure that they aren’t supposed to look like this. ‘What kind of room is this?’ I think to myself with wonder. I then notice something standing on the other side the bars. I am awe struck by what I’m seeing. Standing outside of the bars are 3 strange horse-like creatures, ones that I’ve never seen before. The one on the center is a purple horse with a horn protruding from the top of its head with a pair of wings attach to both of its sides, the one standing to the left is a tall, white-furred horse that also had both a horn and a pair of wings, and the one standing to the right is a shorter dark, blue-furred horse that too had a horn and a pair of wings as well. To put it simply, all 3 of the horses have a horn and a beautiful pair of wings. I continue to stare in awe at these strange horse-like creatures. The aura they give off is one that spoke of great respect and authority. With that in mind, this gives off the impression that they are the Princesses that the first unfamiliar female voice spoke of. I look down at their hooves and see they are wearing some kind of metal footing around them; the white one being that of beige and the blue one being that of maybe a very light blueish color. I then look up at their heads and notice what may appear to be crowns. ‘They must be the Princesses,’ I think to myself. ‘They have to be as it might explain the stuff they’re wearing.’ I take notice of the white and blue-furred horses’ hair and my awe turns into one of utter amazement. The white one’s hair is a combination of four different colors; cerulean, turquoise, blue, and pink while the blue one’s hair is sapphire blue and looks to be sparkling, like there’s small little stars. I then take notice of their faces and I notice something off about those looks. I don’t know why, but it looks like they’re looking at me funny. I take a closer look at the white and blue-furred horses and notice them giving me a look of pure, utter hatred. I can’t help but shrink at this. I don’t know why they are giving me that look and it is honestly a very creepy and scary look. It is a look someone gives to their most hated enemy. 'Why are they looking at me like that?’ I think to myself nervously. 'I don’t like those looks one bit.’ I quickly take notice on where the sudden light is coming from. It’s coming from a small ball of light that was on the tip of the purple-furred horse’s horn. That is strange; how is a horse capable of such a feat like that? I feel a strong feeling of amazement at such a strange capability. “Nightmare Moon, why have you come back?” the blue-furred horse asks me with a tone that was filled to the brim with venom and hatred. I snap out of my amazement upon hearing what she said. Confusion hits me as I stare at the blue-furred horse with curiosity. What does she mean by ‘come back’? And who the heck is this ‘Nightmare Moon’? I take a quick look around the room to see if she is talking to someone else, but I see no one in the room other than me. I look back to the blue-furred horse and I tilt my head to my left, arching my right eye as I do this. “What do you-” I say before stopping myself mid-sentence, shock at hearing the sound of my voice. My voice sounds strangely feminine with a small bit of roughness and some regal tone to it. I quickly recover from the shock before I resume my question. “What do you mean by ‘come back’? I don’t understand what you mean.” The expression on the blue-furred horse’s face quickly becomes intense and she slams her left hoof onto the bars. The tremendous blow of the slam is so great that the bars shake violently. I can’t help but flinch. My question must’ve set her off, but why? Did I say something wrong? “DON’T YOU DARE TRY TO PLAY DUMB HERE!!!” she yells, her voice somehow louder than ever before. The loudness of her voice was so intense that there was slight ringing in my ears. “YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN, NIGHTMARE!! NOW START EXPLAINING; WHY HAVE YOU COME BACK?! HOW DID YOU COME BACK?!” “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, I swear!!” I shout at the top of my lungs out of fear. Her reacting like this is giving me the impression that she’s expecting me to know what she’s talking about or is expecting me to remember, but I don’t. “YES, YOU DO!!” she yells in an accusing tone. “No, I don’t!!” I yell back defensively. “STOP LYING AND EXPLAIN HOW YOU CAME BACK!!” “I don’t know anything!!” “YES… YOU… DO!!” “NO… I… DON’T!!” At this point, I am beginning to get angry. “THIS… IS YOUR LAST CHANCE, NIGHTMARE MOON!! IF YOU DON’T TELL US RIGHT NOW, WE WILL TURN YOU TO STONE!! START EXPLAINING… NOW!!” Something snaps within me and I feel all the fear wash away like dried dirt. I had enough of this creature accusing me of something that I have no clue on what she is talking about and her accusing me of not only lying but threatening me as well has only fuel the flames. I look the blue-furred horse dead in the eyes, bare my teeth at her before I completely explode. “STOP IT!! JUST STOP IT!! STOP ACCUSING ME OF SOMETHING THAT I DON’T HAVE ANY KNOWLEDGE ON WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT OR ACCUSE ME OF LYING BECAUSE I’M NOT LYING TO YOU!! I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE I AM, WHY YOU AND THOSE TWO ARE SOME KIND OF TALKING HORSE-LIKE CREATURES, WHY I’M LOCKED UP IN THIS PLACE OR WHO THIS ‘NIGHTMARE MOON’ CHARACTER IS!! SO JUST STOP IT… AND GO AWAY!!” I snort and begin breathing very heavily as I glare at the blue-furred horse. This anger… never before have I ever felt such anger like this. The intensity of it is beginning to terrify me. I begin to calm down and soon, my body is now at ease. I look back to the three horn and winged horses and notice that they are looking at me with a hint of bewilderment on their faces. “Did… did you just call us ‘horse-like creatures’?” the blue-furred horse asks with bewilderment in her tone. “Yes, I did,” I reply back in a much calmer tone. “I have no clue on what any of you are supposed to be so I referred the 3 of you as that.” The 3 horses look at each other, their faces changing from an expression of utter bewilderment to one of disbelief. From seeing this, I can tell that they weren’t expecting this turn of events. Although I still have no clue on who ‘Nightmare Moon’ could be, I have a feeling that these horses don’t have the greatest relationship with him or her. ‘I wonder what they’re thinking,’ I think curiously to myself. They turn their attention back to me with the same disbelieving expression plastered on their faces. “Actually, we’re called ‘ponies’,” the purple one begins before she points her right hoof at me, “and you do realize that you’re a pony too, right?” Wait a minute… what did she just say? Did I actually hear that correctly or did my ears deceive me? Did… did she just say that I was a pony too? I… I don’t want to believe it. I refuse to believe it. This has to be some kind of joke and that maybe, she is pulling my leg and trying to get a reaction out of me; nothing but a sick joke. Yeah, that has to be it, but I want to make sure that what she said wasn’t what I actually heard. I give her my best confused look and I tilt my head slightly to my left. “What do you mean that ‘I’m a pony too’?” I ask her. “Can you please explain it to me?” She hesitates for a moment, like she is debating on whether to tell me or not. “I mean that you’re a pony, just like me, Celestia, and Luna. If you don’t believe me, look at yourself.” She didn’t have to tell me twice. I raise both of my arms in my line of sight about a foot away from my face. My eyes widen in shock. I have hooves and forearms that are covered completely in black fur and clamped around my forearms are metal shackles with the chains attached to the floor. I begin shaking my head in disbelief. ‘No, this has to be a joke,’ I think to myself, refusing to believe that what I am seeing is real. I quickly rest my hooves back down on the floor and turn my head to take a look at the rest of my body. What I see makes my heart skip a few beats. My entire body is in the shape of a large equine with black fur and a pair of wings attached to my sides, which are lying limply on the ground. Just like my forelegs, there are metal shackles clamped around my hindlegs and attach to my tailbone is what looks to be some very strange magic-like cloud with stars. The starry cloud-like thing is moving like how long hair blows in the wind. Due to the structure of my body, it gives me the impression that I am female. I feel something in the back of my mind tell me to check in between my legs to double check and see if I truly was female. I don’t know why but if I have to hazard a guess, some part of my brain is trying one last attempt to firmly deny that what was happening isn’t real. I don’t want to, but I have to at least check it out. I roll onto my left side and slowly lift my right hindleg up into the air. My eyes catch sight of… them in between my legs. This is all the proof I need to accept the unbelievable truth; I am a large, black-furred, female equine pony. I take a deep breath and scream. I feel the entire structure shake, but I don’t care. I begin tugging at my restrains frantically while I continued screaming. The metal chains begin rattling loudly like crazy, so loudly that my hearing begins ringing but again, I don’t care. I want to get out of this cell, escape this dreadful place and find someplace safe. I begin to feel frustrated and let out low, desperate whimpers as I continue tugging at my restrains. ‘I want to go home, I want to go home,’ I keep repeating frantically in my head. I don’t know where ‘home’ is but once again, I don’t care. “HEY, STOP IT!! CALM DOWN BEFORE YOU HURT YOURSELF!!” I hear the purple pony shouts in a frantic tone. I instinctively stop what I am doing and turn my attention back to the 3 horned and winged-paired ponies. The 3 ponies are looking at me with stunned and slightly nervous looks. “Look, I don’t know why you’re freaking out like this, but please calm down before you genuinely hurt yourself,” the purple pony says to me in a pleading tone. Did… did she just tell me to calm down?! Does she seriously expect me to calm down when I don’t even know why I’m freaking out right now?! I don’t even know why me being a female is such a big deal for me and not knowing the reason why is not helping matters whatsoever. “Calm down?! CALM DOWN?!?!” I repeat in a loud and frantic tone. “HOW AM I SUPPOSE TO CALM DOWN WHEN I DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW THIS HAPPENED?!?! IT JUST DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!!” “What do you mean ‘it doesn’t make any sense’?” the blue-furred pony asks me in a curious tone. “It should make sense as you should know how you came back.” I feel myself become angry at the blue-furred pony’s statement. This pony still believes that I possess the knowledge on how ‘I’ came back, which I honestly don’t. Her accusations wasn’t helping the situation one bit. They were making it worse than it already was. “HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU; I… DON’T… KNOW… ANYTHING!! IT’S LIKE YOU EXPECT ME TO REMEMBER, BUT I DON’T!! NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT, I CAN’T EVEN REMEMBER ANYTHING PRIOR TO ME WAKING UP IN THIS PLACE!!” I stop to think about what I said. Now that I do think about it, I really don’t remember anything. I feel a sudden cold sensation form within my chest as the gravity of the situation hits me. I… I can’t remember anything. I shut and squeeze my eyes tightly and use every ounce of my mental strength to try and remember anything; anything at all. Nothing. I try digging deeper, but I receive the same result. No matter how much I try, the result remains the same; I can’t remember anything. I lower my head to the floor and I feel my eyes begin to water. What… what has happened to my memories? How can they just vanish from the depths of my mind like that? Am I suffering from some kind of memory loss? How did this happen? “Hey, what’s the matter?” came the voice of the purple pony. I look up from the floor and see her giving me a concerned look. I look the purple pony in the eyes. “I… I can’t remember anything…” I say weakly as I feel something wet trail down my right cheek. Both the purple and white ponies give me a confused expression and they both tilt their heads to their right while the blue pony gives me a disbelieving glare. “What do you mean ‘you can’t remember anything’?” the blue-furred pony asks me in a disbelieving tone. “I find it pretty hard to believe that you can’t remember anything. I think you do, and you’re just refusing to admit it by lying.” I lift my head up and proceed to glare at the blue-furred pony and bare my teeth at her. This pony is really starting to get on my nerves. I absolutely hate how she is accusing me of lying when I’m not. And more importantly, I wish she would wipe that look from her face. I’m growing tired of her glaring at me all the time. “I’m… not… lying…” I growl through my teeth. The blue-furred pony hardens her glare. “Yes, you are,” she growls aggressively. I harden my glare as my vision begins to become blurry from whatever it is that’s building up in my eyes. “No… I’m not,” I growl defensively. “Yes, you ARE!” she shouts, pointing her right hoof in an accusing manner. I can’t take it anymore. The accusations, me finding out that I’m a large, black-furred, female equine pony, me waking up in some strange place, being locked up against my will, all of it has become too much. I feel everything explode within me and I can’t stop myself from letting everything out. “I’M NOT LYING!! STOP ACCUSING ME OF LYING BECAUSE I’M NOT!! I REALLY CAN’T REMEMBER ANYTHING!! I KNOW THAT MY NAME ISN’T NIGHTMARE MOON AND SOMEHOW, I DO KNOW THAT I HAVE A REAL NAME BUT I CAN’T REMEMBER WHAT IT IS!! I KNOW THAT I HAVE A HOME, AND EVEN A FAMILY, BUT I CAN’T FOR THE LIFE OF ME REMEMBER THAT TOO!! I’VE BEEN TRYING SO HARD TO REMEMBER, BUT NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY, I CAN’T!! WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS MEAN?! I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS ALL MEANS!! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?! WHY… WHY CAN’T I REMEMBER ANYTHING?! WHY?!?!” I collapse onto the ground on my stomach and begin sobbing loudly into my forelegs. Why couldn’t these ponies get that I can’t remember anything? What is it going to take to get these ponies to understand? I’ll literally do anything just to prove that I’m not who they think I am and that I am telling the truth and only the truth. After what feels like forever, I remove my face from my forelegs and I look up to see 6 pairs of forelegs standing about a foot away from me. I look up and see the 3 ponies looking down at me. I realize that they are now inside the cell with me. I must have been sobbing so loud that I didn’t even hear them come in. I notice the purple and white ponies giving me an expression of what I can best describe as sympathy. The blue pony, however, is giving me an expression that I can best describe as both pity, but also disbelief. “You… you really can’t remember anything, can you?” she asks me in a soft and comforting tone. I stare at the purple pony as I feel a strange feeling of ease and comfort flow throughout my body. “I-I can’t remember anything,” I say weakly. “Please, you’ve got to believe me. I’m telling the truth.” The 3 ponies once again look at each other and they do it for quite a while now. I have no idea what is going on in their heads and I feel my heart beating rapidly in my chest. They look back to me and I am beginning to fear that they still don’t believe me. A soft, warm smile spreads across the purple and white pony’s faces while the blue pony’s remained the same. I guess that the purple and white pony believe me while the blue one does not. I am happy and upset at the same time. Happy because at least two of them might believe me. Upset because something tells me that the blue pony is going to be a problem. “If that’s the case, then let’s start from the beginning,” the purple pony says before she points to herself with her left hoof. “My name is Twilight, Twilight Sparkle.” She then points to the white pony that is to her right. “This is my former mentor, Princess Celestia.” She then points to the blue pony that is to her left. “And this is Princess Celestia’s sister, Princess Luna. They are the rulers of Equestria and they raise the Sun and the Moon.” Now, I know their names. That’s a good start. Small, but good nonetheless. Although I now know their names, I don’t have a single clue on what exactly this ‘Equestria’ is. Is it a place or is it something else entirely? Is that where I am? “Equestria? What is this… ‘Equestria’ that you speak of?” I ask Twilight curiously. I see in the corner of my eye that Luna's glaring at me. I pretend to not notice. “It’s a kingdom,” Twilight replies. “It is inhabited by ponies like us and to many other creatures, such as dragons and griffons and many others.” I stare at Twilight with wide eyes. So, that’s what Equestria is; a world inhabited by ponies, dragons, griffons, and many other creatures. Though I now know what Equestria is, her answer has given birth to brand new questions in my head. What are dragons? What are griffons? What other types of creatures inhabit this world other than the 3 that Twilight mentioned? Are there any creatures out there that eat ponies and if so, what can they be? So many questions, yet no answers. “Hey, you with us?” I hear Twilight ask. I shake these out of my head. As much as I really want to ask Twilight those quick questions, those questions can wait. There’s one question that I need to have answered. “Yeah,” I reply. “I do have another question to ask. Where am I and do I have these metal shackles clamped around my legs?" “Well, to answer that question, you…” She hesitates for a moment like she’s debating on whether to tell me where I am or not. “You are in the dungeons beneath Canterlot Castle.” I feel my eyes go wide and I begin shaking violently. A cold wave of panic hits me like a ton of bricks and I begin feeling dizzy. I then begin to hyperventilate as the gravity of the situation sinks in. For some unknown reason, these ponies had decided to lock me up in the castle dungeons. That realization makes me panic even more. “The dungeons?” I ask, trying to hide the fear that I feeling. “Why am I here and how did I even get here in the first place?” “Yes, the dungeons,” Twilight replies, “and to answer your question; you didn’t do anything wrong. This is where we decided to keep you until you’ve woken up so that we could find out how you came back.” “What do you mean?” I ask still slightly dizzy although my rapidly beating heart is now returning to normal and I begin calming down. “To make a long story short, we found you unconscious at the Castle of the Two Sisters earlier this morning. We decided that it was best to bring you here as to not cause a panic.” “Why?” I ask, now fully calm. “Let’s just say; you are not the most popular or liked pony in Equestria whatsoever,” Twilight says with a nervous smile. I look at her curiously and I arch my right eye. I don’t like the sound of it since it didn’t sound like a good thing whatsoever. On top of that, I can’t help but find Twilight’s smile to be somewhat… cute. I push this thought aside, feeling slightly disturb from it. “Why is that?” I ask curiously. Even from a distance, I can see sweat form on Twilight’s forehead. “It’s… it’s nothing too big,” Twilight replies with a very nervous smile. I narrow my eyes at her and I see her begin to sweat more. There is obviously something she’s not telling me and something tells me that it’s something very big. If I have to hazard a guess, I’ll say that it might have something to do with what this Nightmare Moon has done. If that’s the case, then it does explain why Twilight is so reluctant to tell me about it and becoming so nervous about it too. I wipe the look off my face and I watch Twilight begin to relax. “Okay,” I say in a tone that says ‘this isn’t over’ because in truth, this is far from over. My mind is once again filled with questions, mainly about this ‘Nightmare Moon’ pony. Whatever it is that she did, it must’ve made him or her infamous, as well as unliked and unpopular with all of ponykind. Now that I look like this ‘Nightmare Moon’ pony, I can’t even begin to imagine how ponies will react to me. ‘They probably won’t react very pleasantly if any poor pony sees me,’ I think to myself. ‘They might run away from me out of fear.’ I resist the urge to frown. The thought of ponies running away from me out of fear makes my heart ache. I especially don’t like the thought ponies fearing me because of me not only look like Nightmare Moon, but also because they might think I will do a repeat of what Nightmare Moon might’ve done. ‘Why is this happening to me?’ I think to myself. To be honest, I don’t think I will ever find the answer to that question anytime soon. “Well, with that out of the way, let’s get you out of these shackles,” came the voice of Princess Celestia, her voice snapping me out of my thoughts. I look up to Celestia and see her horn lighting up with this gold-like aura surrounding it. I have no idea what the Princess is going to do, but I don’t panic. Instead, I remain calm. The feeling of the shackles that were wrapped tightly around my fore and hindlegs vanishes. I look down at my fore and hindlegs. I go wide-eye when I see no signs of the shackles; it was like they had just vanished out of thin air. I look back up to Celestia and see her giving me a warm smile. “Try to stand up,” she said softly. I nod and do as I was told. I slowly push myself up from the ground and I feel myself getting taller. My forelegs slightly shake, making the task a little difficult. It takes a moment for me to finish work on my forelegs, but I finally manage. I find myself sitting on my haunches and I feel a sense of pride at my achievement. “Now, do your hindlegs,” says Celestia. I give her a simple nod. I do slow work on getting up onto my hindlegs. There are times where I almost lose my balance trying to stand up. After a long and agonizing moment, I see that I am now standing on all four hooves. I look to Celestia and see that she is still giving me that warm smile. I notice that I am about the same size as her, which blows my mind. “Follow us,” Celestia says and she, Twilight and Luna turn away and begin walking out of the cell. I have no idea on why Celestia wants me to follow them and begin feeling uneasy. “Follow you? To where?” I ask nervously. They all stop in their tracks and Celestia turns her head to look me in the eyes. “We are taking you someplace else,” Celestia says softly. “It is clear to us that something’s very wrong here and until we decide on what we are going to do with you, you will be staying in one of the guest bedrooms in the meantime.” I calm myself down and nod my head as an acknowledgement. She nods her head in return. She gestures with her head in a way to tell someone to ‘follow’, looks away, and she, Twilight, and Luna walk out of the cell. They turn to look at me. I realize that they are waiting for me to come follow them. Something deep down is telling me not to trust them and just make a break for it. As much as running to freedom sounds tempting, it won’t be the best course of action. I know nothing about this world and these ponies can very easily overpower me without much effort. I sigh mentally. ‘I might as well follow them,’ I think to myself. ‘What can go wrong?’ I begin to take slow and uneasy steps. I can’t put my hoof on it, but it feels very… alien to be walking like this. It’s like I was never a pony to begin with, and that alone is very strange to me. I step out of the cell and Twilight, Celestia, and Luna begin walking down a long hallway. I follow after them, but I walk in a much slower pace behind them. As we walk, I decide to take this time to take in the layout of the Canterlot Castle dungeons. The dungeons appear to be made out of old stone that looks to have been around for a very long time, the place being lit by the dim red flames on candles. To the left and right are cells with iron bars, similar to the cell that I was locked up in earlier. The aura the cells give off is one of imprisonment and loss of hope. In general, the dungeons give off this feeling that it’s a place that you don’t want to end up spending any moment of your precious life in. The sound of a door creaking open snaps me out of my thoughts. I look to see a wooden door with a round top swinging open on its own. With the door fully open, I can see a long wide spiral stone staircase leading upstairs. Celestia, Twilight, and Luna turn their heads to face me. “This way,” they all say at the same time. They all look away and Celestia proceeds up the stairs, followed by Twilight and then Luna. Taking a deep breath, I follow after them up the stone staircase, which is also dimly lit by candles. Much like the dungeons, this gives off the impression that this had been here for a very long time, due to how old the stone looks. Come to think of it, if the stones are showing signs of age, does that mean that the castle itself is just as old, if not older? I really want to ask Celestia or even Twilight how old this place is, but the words are caught in my throat. I feel so timid to ask any of them this question. I lower my head down to the floor. Why am I feeling this way? It’s like I don’t feel comfortable with asking them such a simple question, which in my eyes doesn’t make any bit of sense. “Hey, something on your mind?” I hear Celestia ask suddenly. I lift my head to see her, Twilight, and Luna looking at me with curious expressions. “Well…” I hesitate. “I was wondering… How old is this place?” In response, their faces change into one of utter astonishment. Judging from this look alone, I can tell that my reply isn’t what they were expecting to hear. If anything, it’s like they were suspecting that I was thinking about something entirely different. They snap out of it and I watch a warm smile spread across her face. “Well, to answer your question; this castle, along with the dungeons have been here for over a thousand years,” Celestia replies. “We hardly ever use the dungeons, only using them when necessary. This is the first time we ever had to use them in the last few years.” I stare at her with wide eyes as I take in what she said. I had a feeling that the place was old, but I never imagined it to be that old!! To be very honest, it does explain why the stone walls of this place give off the aura that it has been here for a very long time. It blows my mind to even think about. “Seriously?!” I exclaim in surprise. Celestia replies by nodding her head. I feel a wide grin spread across my face. “That sounds so incredible!! This place must have a lot of history if it has been around for that long!! I can’t even imagine the things that took place in this castle over the years!!” Celestia, Twilight, and Luna look at each other, expressions of both shock and disbelief forming on their faces. I don’t know why, but something tells me that my reaction was also something they weren’t expecting. I can’t help but get the feeling that me reacting like this isn’t how the real Nightmare Moon would react. This gives me the impression that my behavior has rendered me, in their eyes, weird. The grin leaves my face as a frown takes its place. “What?” I ask. They all snap out of it before returning their attention to me. “It’s nothing,” Twilight replies before they refocus their attention ahead so they can see where they’re going. I feel the strong urge to ask them if everything’s okay, but I fight it. I look ahead and spot a wooden door similar to the one downstairs just a few feet away. My heart begins pounding rapidly in my chest as I suddenly grow weak in the legs. For some strange reason, something deep in my gut is telling me that something is about to go down. Like there’s something waiting on the other side of the door. We reach the wooden door and I suddenly feel sick to my stomach. Celestia reaches for the doorhandle with her left hoof before she suddenly pauses. My rapidly beating heart begins thundering within my chest. It’s beating so rapidly and hard in my chest that it feels like it’s going to explode. “Oh dear,” I hear Celestia say. “What’s wrong?” I ask. Celestia turns her head to face me. “Nightmare Moon, I need you to remain in the shadows for the moment,” she instructs sternly. “When we have everything under control, I’ll let you know when you can come out. Do you understand?” I nod my head rapidly, seeing that this isn’t the perfect to ask questions or ask her to not call me by that name, and she grabs hold of the doorhandle with her left hoof. I don’t know why but as Celestia slowly pulls the door open and rays of bright light seeps in, something within tells me that this is the beginning of something big for me. Something very, VERY big.