//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 // Story: The Sorrow and the Temptation // by Hustlin Tom //------------------------------// The preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration had been going on for almost two months before the actual event. It was to be a time of unimaginable joy; the four-hundredth festival in honor of Princess Celestia’s leadership and her rule over the Sun. It was to be a day to be remembered and spoken about for generations to come; but it was not for joy, light, and happiness that this day would be remembered. The day before the festival was to take place, Princess Luna did something she had never done before; she slept through her night. The sky was darker than it had ever been during that night; no light from the moon, the stars, or any other astral body shone on Equestria. A darkness so deep covered the land, one could not see their hoof in front of their snout even if they had wanted to. The nightmares that had gripped ponydom for years returned with a vengeance that night; nopony was spared the image of the black alicorn phantasm that night, save one. Never once had Princess Celestia seen the image; she did not know of her herd’s plight, and, more importantly for Princess Luna’s plan; it meant she would be soft, reveling in her day as much as her ponies would. She would not see her vengeance coming. The Princess of the Night rose late; it was ten o’clock in the morning when she finally awoke. She felt rested and invigorated as she never had before. She waited patiently as the minutes ticked by; half past ten, eleven. At half past eleven in the morning, she set about her last preparations. Using her telekinetic magic, she raised the helmet she had crafted in front of her face to examine it in detail. It was perfect, and it was just as ready as she was for the task ahead. She placed the helm on her head, delicately clamped her war regalia to her chest, and slid her hooves into her armored shoes. She looked toward her vanity to size up her appearance with her completed ensemble of armor, and she was surprised to see the black alicorn, also bedecked in armor, standing just next to her. “How is this possible,” she asked the mare who had until this time solely appeared to her in her dreams, “Have you found another way to this physical plane?” “I am not actually here,” the false reflection of the obsidian mare declared, “you and the power of the armor are giving me just enough anchor to create a minor illusion spell, nothing more.” “I see.” There was a pregnant pause as the two mares looked at each other. “It’s nearly time,” the black mare pierced the silence with her words. “Yes. Now that our time of reckoning is upon us, though, I feel the heady giddiness one gets before going to battle.” “Is the cunning and determined Princess Luna losing her edge?” asked the dark phantom with a teasing grin. “Nay. I am but flesh and blood, just as you are about to be,” the Princess of the Night said to the mirror. Princess Luna took a step to her right, and her eyes became serpentine in the blink of an eye. A devilish sneer parted her lips, “Good. I can’t have you, my one true friend, abandon me now this late in our endeavors. I think it’s time for us to show ourselves to the world, and to take what is rightfully ours. Don’t you agree?” The Princess returned to her original position. Her eyes had returned to their normal shape and color, and she wore an expression of determination, “Aye. Let us begin.” The Princess smiled to herselves. She sauntered onto the balcony immediately outside her bedroom chamber, seemingly without a care in the world. The sun’s light reflected off her armor while simultaneously passing through her semi-transparent mane and tail. The bright orb was near its apogee; it was almost high noon. From the balcony she could not hear the celebratory mood of the ponies in the courtyard and in the town beyond, all of it for precious, fleeting, and feeble daylight. The Princess began summoning all the energy she could muster from both herself and her armor. The power within her grew and grew and grew. She could feel the heavenly bodies her phantom friend had spoken about. She reached out with the power she had, and she did not ask, but demanded their power as well, and she ripped it from them. Her form had become so concentrated with magic that she began to slowly levitate into the air, and her ascent marked the beginning of the summoning. Wave after wave of arcane energy boiled off of her as she finally cast the spell she created to bring her friend to the waking world. Almost immediately after the process was complete did she realize that something was horribly wrong. She felt the moon, her moon, cease its revolution around the planet. Panic consumed her, “What is this madness? What is happening?” “Everything you ever wanted,” the obsidian alicorn suddenly appeared beside her in the air. “For years now we wanted to avenge ourselves on our foes, and now we are finally achieving it in full.” The Princess whirled to the western horizon, and just at its edge she could see the silhouette of the moon began to rise, “The planet won’t survive if you cause the moon to stop! You’re going to cause it to collide with the sun!” “Oh, we didn’t plan anything like that! We planned the greatest insult to the Princess of the Sun of all time! We shall eclipse the sun with the moon, and when we stand victorious over the bloodied corpse of Princess Celestia, we shall take her sun and snuff it out, creating an eternal nocturne over this planet!” “This was never the plan we agreed upon, vile shade! You have betrayed me!” The dark mare cackled, and it was a sound that could make marrow freeze in a stallion’s bones, “But Princess, how could I possibly betray myself?” Princess Luna instinctively looked down at herself, and with horror realized her coat had change from a deep azure tone to that of black onyx. She looked back to where the phantom had been, but there was nothing next to her but the cold air above her tower. The Princess’ eyes slowly began their final metamorphosis to those of dragon’s irises. Her eyes glistened as tears slowly began to form, “You lied to me all this time? This was never about acquiring a body for you, was it?” Her head snapped to the right and she smiled deviously, “Of course it was! I needed a body, so I decided to take control of ours. And now, I don’t need you anymore!” Her neck contorted as Princess Luna spoke to her darker nature, “I won’t let you do this! It’s my body!” “Wrong,” the dark phantom from within her bellowed, “It’s mine now! Besides, I’m granting you what you wished for! Everyone who wronged us will die, I will permanently silence those who dispute our rule, and I will create a place where all will be equal; beneath my hooves!” The Princess struggled for a little longer, but with each passing moment her will fatigued and gradually faded altogether. Just before she was greeted by the dark oblivion of her own subconsciousness, she thought to herself, Mother, Sister, forgive me. The dark mare, now fully in control of the body she and the Princess had shared, mused to herself. She had never chosen a name for herself, and she had never received one from Princess Luna. She was simply the mare who walked through the Night Princess’ dreams. Well now..she was a mare of the night, and now it was time for her to haunt the world of the aware and the alive. “I am..Nightmare. Nightmare Moon.” She smiled; it was a name that would bring apprehension and fear as soon as it passed a pony’s lips. Excellent. “I am Nightmare Moon!” she boomed out to the world. The moon had cleared the horizon, and it was speeding toward the sun. “Now, let the endless Age of Night begin!” The last of her spells were cast, and the eclipse began. The mood of the Summer Sun Celebration was jovial as the sun reached its apex. Ponies were merry as they talked, danced, played instruments, and sang to their hearts content. Princess Celestia looked over all of her subjects enjoying themselves, and she sighed in contentment; the day was going well, and she was happy. Then somepony took notice of the sky. They pointed to it and others’ gazes followed their hoof; what was the moon doing out during the day? The Princess saw the moon rising quickly across the horizon, and she was just as equally confused as her subjects; what was Luna doing? Then the moon appeared to meld with the sun, and from the union of the two celestial bodies was a black orb that radiated light from the heavens above. Fear gripped everypony; lords, ladies, magistrates, guards, commonponies, even the Princess herself. She winked out of existence for an instant as she teleported to her sister’s chambers. She looked all around the room for her sister; the bed, the wardrobe, the balcony, even the ceiling for good measure, but she did not find or see her sister anywhere. It would take the moon only eight minutes to fully blacken out the sun, and the chaos that ensued was planet wide. One side of the planet thought that the moon had dropped from the sky to impact somewhere into the surface of the earth, and the other half thought that the sun was dying, and that they only had a little time before the world ended. Upon seeing the Princess disappear, the ponies at the Summer Sun Celebration were frightened all the more, and a stampede began as everypony tried to abandon the celebratory grounds. Lord Adamant and his family were some of the few to make it back to their homes in one piece. As the doors of their estate were closed behind them and they shivered in their ornate but ripped clothing out of stark terror, she appeared out of the shadows, as silent as death. Her eyes were as sharp as a predator’s, and she was dressed for war in fuchsia armor. She bared her teeth; she had incisors like a snake’s fangs. “Lord Adamant,” she airily spoke, but beneath her words she acted as a lioness ready to pounce on its prey, “I’d like to speak to you.” The unicorn lord visibly gulped as he summoned the courage to respond, “And too whom do I speak?” “Nightmare Moon.” The lord’s eyes darted back to his wife and son for a moment before returning to the black alicorn, “What is it you’d like to speak about?” “Blood and darkness,” she slowly began to approach the noble family. “Treason and ambition,” the alicorn drew a large magical blade from the ether and locked all the doors and windows leading to the manor’s foyer. “Blasphemy and murder,” she whispered into the doomed lord’s face. And then the lioness pounced.