//------------------------------// // 7 - Give and Take // Story: In The City That Never Sleeps // by Moonatik //------------------------------// 21:23 - 16/06/1008 - Lunar Castle, Everfree Forest Nightmare slammed the door shut behind her as she rushed into her private chambers. Yet she didn’t rest. She paced up and down her chambers as a tempest of furious thoughts swirled in her mind. Much like a tempest, those thoughts ripped and tore in every direction. Fury at her ungrateful subjects. Fury at that impudent unicorn. Fury at those who had exploited her for their personal gain. Fury at the failures of the night. What did it all mean? Whether she liked it or not, she was alone. Being a mare of the past living in the present was her sole burden to bear. There wasn't another being anywhere who even remotely shared her experiences. Turning to the windows looking out into the night sky, she saw the moon hanging high. A beat of her wings sent her up to the mezzanine to get a better look, seeing it marked with the mare in the moon and the colours of her accursed sister’s mane. She thought back to the night of her return. She saw her weak and feeble sister broken by the fury of the Nightmare, and she heard the last thing Celestia had ever said to her. “I know you can still change, Luna.” She scoffed, bringing herself back to the present and shaking her head. Ridiculous! Why would she want to change? Why would she need to change? Why should a legendary figure who conquered an Empire twice over have to change? She was feared by her enemies and respected by her loyal subjects, deservedly so! No, it was all backwards. Why should she have to change to match her subjects? They were her subjects, they should change for her! They already had, as far as she could tell. A decade ago, the average Equestrian was a skittish coward feebly clinging to their pathetic harmony. Now they knew the glory of battle and the triumph in total victory, proudly marching beneath the regal banners of the Lunar Empire. The parting pleads of that usurper were a non factor. Beyond any doubt, she didn’t have to waste any time considering what Celestia might think. Not a second longer. Absolutely not. She stared at the moon for another minute. Eventually she tore her eyes away and clenched them shut. Slowly she opened them and allowed her gaze to drift over her chambers. Dotted on pedestals around the room were the petrified forms of rebellious creatures who had fallen to her might. Each of them reduced to literal trophies to her power. Her gaze turned to the ‘statue’ closest to her, a unicorn mare whose face was sealed in a look of terror. Channel Coast was their name. They tried to prevent the proclamation of the Lunar Empire by bombing the proclamation ceremony, right after Nightmare Moon’s soldiers had taken Canterlot. All they accomplished was killing a few ponies and wrecking the Canterlot throne room. A deserved fate, doubtlessly. The thought led her back to that insolent little brat, Sol Nightshade. All he’d done was lead her to embarrassment, nevermind he berated her to her face. If he was anyone else, if he wasn’t Selenite’s husband, she could only begin to imagine the appropriate punishment for his behaviour. Gazing on the petrified body of Channel Coast, she saw her face fade away, picturing Sol Nightshade frozen in horror. A grin crept onto her lips, a cackle slipping out. Just what he deserved for being so disrespectful and- She pulled herself away and tried to push the thought out of her mind. No, Sol Nightshade wasn’t a traitor, or anything close to that. He just had trouble knowing his place, like most of her subjects, really. And he was Warmaster Selenite’s husband, for crying out loud. If there were any questions about his loyalty, Selenite wouldn’t be so close or trusting with him. Selenite always had Nightmare Moon’s best interests at heart. …Didn’t she?