//------------------------------// // Part 2 // Story: Nightmare Rising // by RuBoo //------------------------------// "Freeze!" Captain Lance shouted out the window, but the shadowy figure had seemingly disappeared into the dark forest. The white-coated pegasus cursed under his breath, then turned to the sobbing princess. "Don't worry, princess, we'll catch hi-" "NO!" the princess cried out. "I-I don't u-unders-s-stand… Wh-Why would h-he-?" "I don't know…" the captain said. He turned to the court wizard. "You. What happened here?" The unicorn mare was sobbing. "I-I-I don't know." she said. "A-All I remember is… Waking up with an incredibly strong headache… And him standing over me, with a sinister look on his face. I-It was terrifying." The guard nodded. "Princess? Anything you have to add?" The princess nodded, sniffling and wiping away a few tears as they continued to gather in her eyes. "I-It f-felt like… L-Like s-something was t-tearing at my h-h-horn. I-It h-hurt so much… I-I could f-f-feel my m-magic being d-drained… P-Please, d-don't h-hurt him…" "I promise you, princess, we'll find him and bring him in. Unharmed, if possible. Protecting you and your sister is our top priority as the royal guard." "Th-Thank you, L-L-Lance. J-Just d-don't h-h-hurt him, p-p-please." "Alright, alright. I'll pass the message to the others. They are to capture him and bring him back to the castle without hurting him, as a direct order from Princess Luna herself. Now go get to bed. It's almost morning." The princess nodded, still wiping at her tears as they continued to gather as she backed up and began to head to her own quarters. The Captain of the Guard followed her out, shutting the door behind him on the apparently-still-sobbing mare, who, unbeknownst to him, immediately started plotting. ----- The mare cursed profanely under her breath. All of her plans, ruined. After that foalish stallion's "betrayal", the princess of the sun decided it would be best if she held the Elements once more. There was no chance of getting to them now. There was a knock at the door. "Who is it?" she snapped. Captain Lance walked in. "Princess Luna has requested your presence. She said it is a matter of great importance." The unicorn mare growled. "Fine. I'll be right there." She slammed the door on the pegasus's face, then started plotting. If she could get in good with Luna, that would mean getting closer to Celestia, and, by extension, the Elements, giving her a second chance at obtaining the ultimate power they hold. She suppressed a wicked grin as she opened the door politely. The pegasus was still there. "Thank you for waiting, sir. Might you be willing to lead the way?" "Certainly." he said, rubbing his snout where the door hit him in the face. He led the unicorn to Luna's room, a room decorated with dark blue and silver, though it was difficult to see, darkened by the night princess in her vain attempts to get some sleep. The princess herself was curled up on her wet, tear-stained bed, still crying. "Princess, the court wizard is here." "O-Oh. Thank y-you once again L-Lance." Luna said. She sniffled. "P-Please, Kokoro, c-come in. I h-have s-something I would l-like to ask you about." The addressed unicorn stepped into the magically-darkened room, the door closing behind her as the pegasus excused himself. The princess tapped a location on the soaked bed, sniffling once again, but the unicorn merely glared at the tear-soaked bed with a look of disgust on her face before sitting down on the floor next to it. In her eyes, it was better sitting in the dry, dirty floor than on the tear-soaked bed as the princess wanted. The princess sighed. "K-Kokoro…" She sniffled a bit before looking to the addressed mare with a suddenly steel-hard look on her face. "I… Have decided… It's costing me a lot more sleep than it's worth… I need to know…" She sniffled a bit, still having trouble keeping her composure in light of recent events. Kokoro fought the urge to laugh at the princess's clear show of weakness. "I need to know… If you have a spell that can erase memories. Or change them, in any way. Anything to get… To get him… Out of m-my…" She broke down into sobbing again. The unicorn rolled her eyes at the sight. She moved in to comfort the princess, trying to win the princess's favor. "I know of one." she said, grinning. "And I know what you want done. Don't worry. I'll make sure that he will never bother you again, princess." And with that, she placed the tip of her horn at the tip of the princess's and got to work purging her mind of anything even remotely related to that colt. ----- Princess Celestia found her sister's recent behavior to be strange… One day, she was sobbing so much her bed was completely saturated with tears, the next she was bright and cheery. Well, as bright and cheery as one who controls the night could be, anyway. As she pondered what might have caused her sister's sudden mood swing, Captain Lance and Jingle entered the throne room, Jingle walking on his hind legs, as usual. "…still hasn't happened." Jingle said. "So, let me get this straight." Lance said. "Your stomach stopped hurting a few days ago, but you still think 'something bad' has yet to happen? The princess had her magic drained by that black unicorn. That is 'something bad'." "Yes, but that was not the something bad." Jingle stated. "The something bad is going to be worse, far worse, and Kokoro has had her hand in it. That's why my stomach stopped hurting. Princess Celestia, I suggest you get that evil court wizard away from here at once. Whatever evil she has planned, we must make certain it does not come to pass." "I thought you said she's had her part in this." Lance said. "I'm fairly certain she's evil." Jingle told his friend. "My stomach ache, believe it or not, was alleviated slightly the morning of… The incident. Kokoro caused the stomach ache. Kokoro had some part in that incident, I know it." The princess listened intently to this conversation. "I will do what I can to keep this kingdom safe. Given Jingle's track record with threat detection, I'll take his word for it this time. Captain, inform the court wizard that we are no longer in need of her services, and escort her out of the castle." "Right away." Lance said, before turning and exiting the throne room. The princess nodded slightly. "Jingle, anything else I should know?" "Not that you probably don't already know, princess," the jester answered, "but I didn't have any bad feelings about Kitsune himself. He may have been the cause of the incident several days ago, but I don't think he had any say in what happened." The princess nodded again. "I'll be sure to extend a royal pardon to him. Hopefully we can get him to return once we get all this sorted out. I'm sure that would make Luna very happy. Anything else?" "No, your majesty." Jingle said, bowing. "Anything else you need?" "Yes." the princess sighed. "I need something to get my mind off recent events, Jingle. I feel the court jester would be the best pony for the job." ----- Princess Luna breathed in deeply. The night air was excellent. She always enjoyed her nighttime walks. They were always so calming. The forest, though filled with monsters, wasn't too bad a place to go for a walk. She knew every kind of monster in the forest, and how to most effectively defeat them. She was ready for anything. She didn't need the help of the guards. Captain Lance would enjoy a good night's sleep. She heard a rustling in the bushes. A cockatrice? All she'd have to do is not look. It can't turn one to stone unless they look it in the eyes, after all. But what else could it be? She looked at the bush for a moment. It was fairly large. Maybe a griffon? They were semi-sentient, so maybe talking would help if it were. It wouldn't be a manticore, since the bush wasn't quite that big. Maybe a baby dragon? Not much was known about dragons, aside from their greed. But would a dragon really allow her baby to wander off like that? As she pondered what it could be, a dark cloud emerged from the bush. She had never seen anything like it. It looked similar to her mane, somehow. Suddenly, the strange cloud leapt at her, latching on to her horn. She didn't know how to react. She tried grabbing at it with magic to try to pull it off, but that failed. Then she tried to throw it off by shaking her head. Once again, her efforts failed. She panicked. She didn't know how to deal with something she had never seen before. Her walking broke into a run as she continued trying to get the thing, whatever it was, off of her. Eventually she slowed to a stop. The cloud was no longer latched on to her. She grinned. "Well, well, Princess Luna." she said. "This is a pleasant surprise. We could not ask for a better pony to have fallen under our control." She turned around and started heading for the castle. "Best not do anything suspicious, though. Act normal. Our plan will be more likely to succeed then. Eternal night… Such a delight." She chuckled to herself, which then became a full-on evil laugh. As she approached the castle, she pretended like she was herself, bowing politely to the guards, who let her in after asking a few questions as to why she was out late at night without a guard to escort her again. ----- This was the last straw. Sister or not, Celestia could not let this outrage go on any further. From sad, to happy, to pure, jealous anger, all in the span of a few weeks. And now she refused to lower the moon! The ponies of Equestria needed the sun to go about their day! Without the sun, plants would die, and without plants, the ponies themselves would die! Equestria would become a barren, dead wasteland. And Luna didn't seem to care at all! She burst through the doors of the throne room to confront her sister. "Luna!" she shouted. Her fellow princess turned to look at her. She looked very different, however. Her coat was a very dark, almost black color, and her mane was a dark purple. She had replaced her crown with a silver helmet that covered the top of her head and partway down the back of her neck, with an armor piece of the same material similar to that of the guards at the base of her neck. "Ah, Princess Celestia. So happy you could make it." she said. "However, Princess Luna is no more. I am Nightmare Moon." Princess Celestia was shocked. Luna, no more? "No. I won't believe it! Luna, lower the moon now!" "No." the dark pony said. "This night will last forever. Nopony can stop me. Not even you, Celestia." Celestia was shocked once again. "Luna, sister, please, listen to me!" she implored. "Everypony needs the sun. Without it, they would all-" "I don't care!" Luna shouted. "They refuse to appreciate the beauty of my night, and for that, they shall all pay. The moon will never again go down, and the sun will never come up. This night will be eternal, and I don't care how many poor, pathetic ponies get hurt." Celestia was stunned. This couldn't possibly be her caring, loving sister. Why, just a few days ago, she was crying over having lost a single pony, who was clearly very important to her. Now, she just doesn't care? "I will not allow this." she said, her face becoming stern. "Luna, stand down, or I will have no choice but to take drastic measures." Luna laughed. "Do your worst, princess. You can't do anything to me!" "Maybe I can't, but…" The six stone orbs representing the Elements of Harmony floated over to Celestia, circling around her. "…The Elements of Harmony can!" Luna grinned. "You wouldn't use the Elements' power on your own sister, would you?" She laughed evilly. "Of course not! You wouldn't dare do anything that could lose your precious sister." Celestia growled. "If that's what it takes to protect my subjects… Then I will do it without hesitation!" The Elements formed a pentagonal formation, the Element of Magic pressing up against the tip of Celestia's horn. Celestia wanted to remove whatever caused her sister's sudden change, but had no idea what it was. She racked her brain trying to figure out a way to stop Lu- No. To stop Nightmare Moon without harming her sister. She didn't know if it was possible. She may have to destroy her sister. Then a thought struck her. Maybe she could… Yes, that would work. "Prepare yourself, Nightmare Moon. You are going to wish you had never taken over my sister!" Nightmare Moon laughed. "Oh, really? And how are you going to do that, exactly?" "I'm going to use the Elements of Harmony to protect myself and my subjects. I'm going to use the Elements of Harmony to get rid of you for good!" The Elements started spinning around the Element of Magic, in the center of the pentagon. "Say goodnight, Nightmare Moon!" "What?" Nightmare Moon asked, startled as the Elements began to glow. "No." She could not believe what was happening. "NO!" she charged forward, straight toward Celestia, but it was too late. The Elements unleashed their power. A bright, rainbow-colored beam shot out toward her. It shot out the window and curved toward the moon. Princess Celestia dropped to her knees, sobbing. She lost her sister. There was no way she was ever going to get her back… The moon was still up. Her subjects would want to know what was wrong if this night lasted for too long. Tears streaming down her cheeks, she used her magic to take hold of the moon, slowly drawing it down below the horizon. Once she had done that, she began to raise the sun. Slowly but surely, the sun rose until it was fully above the horizon. The princess collapsed, unable to do anything more, overwhelmed by extreme exhaustion and melancholy.