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// A Quick Explanation of the NMM Arc (Massive Spoilers) 
// Story: That Particular Instance I Performed Metempsychosis As An Equine Named After A Piece Of Silverware 
// by Yuri Fanatic 
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Explanation of Nightmare Moon



At the time when Celestia used the Elements of Harmony on NMM, Luna and NMM were both the same pony. NMM was simply Luna's shadow-given life way back then, a childhood friend who would listen and be a shoulder to cry on whenever Luna felt like she was overshadowed by her sister. Luna called her shadow "Night", and as Luna's hatred grew, so did Night's resentment of Celestia for causing her best friend to suffer so. She was created to be Luna's companion, and as a programmed spell, Night thought the best way to prevent her creator from suffering any longer was to remove Celestia from Luna's life.

It was then when Luna's hate became at its apex, Night offered to lend Luna her power to defeat her sister, allowing them both to unite in both body and mind, creating Nightmare Moon. Celestia battled with her sister, and having realized NMM's power overpowering her own, she was forced to use the Elements of Harmony on her. Luna and Night were separated upon being blasted, their body being sealed on the moon while their "spirits" were lost within the dream realm.

Night lived the years on the moon in complete isolation, fully believing that Celestia "killed" Luna. Years of planning and years of resentment turned into hatred. She wanted revenge for her best friend dying at the hooves of her. However, she didn't just want to kill her. She wanted to continue Luna's legacy of taking over Equestria to become the respected and beloved ruler Luna always wanted to be. So she plotted and went into the dreams of her loyal subjects to stage a coup upon her return.

Luna, however, was still alive in spirit. She was lost in the dark dreamscape where everypony's nightmares and fears lay. Her own hatred and fears consumed her, turning her into a Nightmare Queen, spawning night terrors that plagued everypony's dreams for the past thousand years. Night would naturally try to protect them, destroying these night terrors and spending her days finding the source of this evil. It was only on the night of NMM's prophesized return, Nightmare Luna would meet with Night and shock her to her core. Taking advantage of Night's shock, Luna would consume her and merge once more, NMM reborn again. Only this time, NMM discarded Night's carefully laid out plans in favor of simply enacting revenge on her sister and sealing her.

It was only when Twilight and her friends used the Elements of Harmony on her again, Night would be conscious once more and want Luna to redeem herself. So by taking away all the corruption from Luna, she would sacrifice herself and tell Luna to forget about her hatred of Celestia and find it in herself to forgive her sister. Only then she might have a second chance at life and earn everypony's respect and love. Luna, being left truly alone after Night's death, would embrace Celestia out of fear of being alone again.

Of course, with the timeline being changed with Silver Spoon, NMM would be knocked out, allowing Night to regain control of her own body, and suppressing Luna into the deepest reaches of her mind. She would flee, occasionally showing up to protect ponykind from massive threats to Equestria, such as the Changeling Invasion. She also would stay in isolation once more, trying her best to keep her best friend contained, seeing if there was any way to purge her hatred from her to save her.





Celestia opened her eyes, hoping that Twilight and her friends proceeded along as planned. She was her last hope, the last hail Mary to save her long-lost sister. However, instead of seeing her friends stand triumphant over Luna's purified body, she saw a group of fillies standing over a defeated Nightmare Moon. She blinked her eyes. This wasn't the plan.

Then she saw Nightmare Moon's body slowly stand up, staggering off balance. Celestia immediately took action, rushing in to catch the group of fillies in her wing before jumping back at the expected retaliation. However, nothing came.

The fillies stood there confused, some awestruck from just seeing her. She paid it no heed, her attention lay solely on the monster that took her sister away. She felt her throat threatening to growl at the sight of her. "Nightmare Moon, why do you still stand?" She asked.

The monster looked at her, but something was different. When she first fought her, before she was sealed in the moon, she clashed blades and lasers at a true monster. A being completely consumed with hatred and rage, comparable to a feral beast throwing around massive blasts of magic out of spite. However, instead of a face of cruelty and rage, the being in front of her had a calm, calculative expression. The monster's eyes narrowed into vertical slits, eyes that spoke with newfound clarity and intelligence. "Oh, it's you." The monster said with disdain, but it lacked any malice that it had before. "I must say, this isn't what I imagined my return to be like." She said with, annoyance.

Celestia blinked again. 'I' and 'me'? Those weren't words Luna- Nightmare Moon referred to herself as. She wasn't quite sure what she was looking at now. Was this the monster that first attacked her those thousands of years ago? The same monster that returned and attacked her before sealing her on the moon? It didn't matter. "Bring back my sister, now." She growled, her wings pushing back the fillies that she recently had rescued.

The monster's eyes narrowed at her. "No, she's done too much damage already." She said, her voice sounded with cold apathy. "I will leave this place. I must take steps to address the problems you've made, and will make." The monster said cryptically as she turned around.

"No, you don't!" Celestia shouted, casting a magical barrier around herself. The barrier then expanded, pushing the fillies away as it overlapped Nightmare Moon and castle ruins, forming a magical dome that prevented entry or exit. "I'm not leaving without my sister!" She declared, standing defiantly with her wings brought to bear.

Nightmare Moon turned around to face her, her expression filled with irritation. "Luna wasn't your sister the moment she embraced me." The monster stated coldly.

"You took her away from me!" Celestia screamed, launching a beam of magic at the monster.

Nightmare Moon erected a shield in front of her, the laser splashing and dissipating into nothing. After the display of light faded, Celestia saw that the monster's expression shifted to that of barely contained rage. "I, took her away from you?" The nightmare creature said calmly, taking one step forward. Then the monster laughed, a maddened laugh. A laugh of pain and anguish that wasn't present in any of the last two encounters she had with her.

Then her eyes locked with hers. "YOU TOOK HER AWAY, FROM ME!" She yelled a scream of pain that had accumulated over a thousand years.

This caused Celestia to flinch, the barrier flickering from the pure resentment the dark alicorn radiated. "You don't deserve to see her, not after what you've done." The monster said with restrained contempt. "And now, I am left to fix what's left of her, no thanks to you." She said with pure disgust. Then, with a flap of her wings, she soared, breaking through the weakened barrier and into the night.

Celestia collapsed on the ground as she saw the monster- Nightmare Moon disappear from her sight.