//------------------------------// // Chapter One- An Escape // Story: Becoming A Nightmare // by thefulkboy1 //------------------------------// Chapter One... An Escape Luna stared at the walls surrounding her. They were white, with a few flecks of grey sprinkled in here and there. But other than that, they were white. How long had she been in this prison of rock? How Long was it since her sister, Princess Celestia, locked her away in the moon, never to see night, her beautiful creation, ever again? Although it only felt like weeks, Luna knew it had been longer than that. Years flew by for one who was immortal. Even an immortal trapped in stone. Just look at Discord! For decades Luna had wondered how that Draconequus felt being frozen in rock for hundreds of years. Now she knew. Only, Luna could move, and Discord probably couldn’t. That was a plus, at least. Luna grunted and stood, her hooves clicking on the hard floor. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Nightmare Moon’s hissing voice echoed. “Come now, you can’t possibly be giving up, could you?” Luna shook her head, trying to rid herself of the thing that had taken over her body. “Leave us, Nightmare Moon. Maybe if you go, then we can be freed.” “Oh, please, Luna. Spare me of your begging. It isn’t what I wanted in the first place.” “Then what do you want?” “Exactly what you want,” Nightmare Moon hissed slithering through Luna’s mind. “An eternal night. Something that I can roam freely in. It would be glorious, would it not?” “Yes, but-” “Think about it, princess. No more light. The ponies will have to appreciate you when there’s no other alternative!” She chuckled. “Yes... glorious...” “You gave us that exact same speech just... oh, how long was it?” Luna questioned, more to herself than Nightmare Moon. But Nightmare Moon answered anyway. “Fifty years. Not a very long time, is it?” Nightmare Moon chuckled once again. “Listen, I’ll tell you what- if you agree to bond with me, I’ll show you a way out of here.” Luna gasped and closed her eyes. “How... how did you know a way out? Tell us NOW!” “Ah ah ah! First, you have to promise.” Luna sighed. If Nightmare Moon was lying... then she could be throwing away her whole life. But what other choice did she have? She could be trapped in this hunk of rock, thousands of miles away from Equestria, the land she once called home, for a millennia, possible even longer. Luna glared at the wall of stone and said, “Very well, Nightmare Moon. We will bond with you. But first, we must escape this place.” ---- Discord was hungry, tired, and lonely. Just a few hours ago, a long and gruesome battle had taken place between Serpentli and Tetranova, the latter believing his part of the Darklands had been invaded by his massive brother. Well, they weren’t brothers in blood, of course. Simply... brothers in arms, as the Cloakmaster had put it. Creatures with one thing in common: they were both Nightmares, legendary guardians of the seven Darklands. There were seven of them, as Discord had gathered. Serpentli, Nightmare of the jungle land, Tetra Nova, Nightmare of the sky land, the Cloakmaster, Nightmare of the industrial land and ruler of his little pets that he collected during his visits to the Upperworlds. There was InK BlOt, Nightmare of the dream land, therefore not truly a physical being. He appeared to his chosen few through their dreams, travelling through a paintbrush smothered in black ink. He brought the name of the Nightmares to a whole new level. Then, there was the elusive yet gargantuan insect Argothmek, Nightmare of the ocean land. Discord hadn’t seen much of him, hence the “elusive” part. In fact, no one had seen him in years. The rumor across the land was that he was terrorizing the underwater city of Ocenic, capital city of the merpeople. That rumor was an odd one. Wasn’t Argothmek supposed to be protecting his people, not slaughtering them? Discord guessed that was just the normal life in the Darklands. The last two Nightmares were Amano, king of the Nightmares and ruler of all of the Darklands (he had his own land, but Discord had yet to see it), and Kolocto Wai, the graceful creature who resided over the shadowy dusk land, whatever that meant. Discord hadn’t seen her either. Legend told that, if one was not a Nightmare, Kolocto Wai’s face would appear as your most greatest fear, or just a mass of some terrifying thing that could cause any creature to have a heart attack. If you were a Nightmare, however, the guardian would have a soft, white, gentle face and her voice would sound like the wind softly blowing through the air. Discord wanted to be a Nightmare for this sole reason. He didn’t care about ruling over one of those dark, dusty, eerie lands. He just wanted to see Kolocto Wai’s face for what it truly was. He always had a soft spot for beauty Discord’s mind returned to the battle, as its aftermath lay before him. Bodies of every type of creature littered the black ground, and the disgusting stink of blood floated through the air. The dragonequus made his way down to the now silent battlefield to inspect the damage. He skirted the corpse of a rather large human, about as large as he. Humans were a dangerous race, strong and proud, and Discord wondered how Tetranova (for it was Tetranova’s human, to be sure) had gotten a human to work with him. Sure, there were a few humans who wandered the Darklands, and most didn’t survive after the first month, but Discord knew that the humans would never help a Nightmare. They viewed the guardians as monstrosities, creatures that were to be hated and killed. Maybe the human had just been desperate. Or did Tetranova have some type of hidden power and could control the minds of others? Yeah, right. Discord stared up at the sky, watching the large, white rock that was the moon.It shined like the sun in this world of darkness. The true sun rarely rose here.Discord wondered who rose the sun and moon in the Darklands. Celestia and Luna couldn’t possibly do it, could they? No, Celestia wouldn’t care about a world like this. This place was like a living Tartarus, dark, evil, and full of hate. A perfect place for the Spirit of Chaos. ---- “Hurry!” Nightmare Moon hissed at Luna. “We are almost there!” Luna had been following a small tunnel through the Moon, searching for the portal that lead out of the rock. After she had accepted to Nightmare Moon’s terms, A small hole had appeared in the corner of the white stone room, and Luna instinctively crawled into it. Nightmare Moon guided her through it, until Luna finally began to feel the cold rush of air. The portal wasn’t very large, and it was pitch black on the other side. Luna began to recede back into the hole, but Nightmare Moon seemed to push her forward, saying, “No! We’re nearly out! Just... one... PUSH!” Luna flew out of the Moon and fell down to the dark earth below.