The moon.
Cold, desolate, dusty, barren. Nopony has ever set hoof on it’s surface before. Despite being raised and lowered by Princess Luna herself, even she didn’t truely know what the surface of the midnight lunar object looked like.
It didn’t take much for her to find out herself.
If anypony was on the moon, they would’ve seen a small dot of bright, rainbow light shine from one of the larger continents on the planet that was suspended in the star filled vacuum thousands of kilometers away.
They would’ve also seen something being thrown at high speeds towards them from the blue and green orb. This something streaked across the nonexistent sky and atmosphere of the moon. It arced around the lunar surface in one complete revolution, until it finally plowed pinto the ground at an angle, causing it to burrow a deep trench across the landscape, kicking up lunar dust as it moved. After what felt like hours, the dust settled, and the something had finally come to a stop.
This something groaned in pain from grievous battle wounds. This something also happened to be Nightmare Moon.
The pitch black Alicorn slowly and shakily tried to rise up from her lying position in the trench, and her legs buckled slightly from both being weak and in pain. She continued though, and managed to succeed in standing up. Her armour was damaged, covered in dents and dings, and some of it’s midnight blue paint had faded, leaving behind the silver colour of steel. Her coat was disheveled, covered in bruises and cuts, some of which were still leaking blood that trickled down her body in small crimson streams. Her wings were in poor shape, with several feathers missing and others poking out in the wrong directions.
She looked around her, confused about where she was. The lunar landscape was alien to her, full of dust that had also managed to cover parts of her body. Various craters and rocks littered the surface, offering no signs of familiar landmarks. Even the stars themselves seemed different, yet familiar at the same time.
Then she looked up above her, and her legs gave out from underneath her, sending Nightmare Moon tumbling to the ground.
Above her was the blue and green orb from before. And she could make out a continent she had only seen from maps, but from her position, it was frightening.
Nightmare Moon gazed awestruck up at the planet above her, and the land of Equestria that was nestled between the oceans on it’s surface.
A solitary tear escaped from her eye and snaked it way down her cheek. She knew exactly where she was, and for the first time, Nightmare Moon was truly scared.
Then her emotions finally burst through her hardened image she had tried to maintain, and she wept. Not out of anger, or because of defeat. Not even pain, but out of sadness, and regret.
She regretted what she did. She regretted what she had tried to do to her own sister, to the whole of Equestria.
I’m a monster... she thought to herself amongst strangled sobs. I can still feel it, the darkness, lingering in the back of mind. Her crying settled down enough for her to look up at her former home, trying hard not to break down again. It’s weak after what Tia... what she did to me. And I deserved it. I should’ve never listened to him and his lies. Because of him, I’m alone again.
This time, I’m alone forever...
MEANWHILE, PRESENT DAY EQUESTRIA...
After one incredibly short and oh so stupendously boring tale of the woes that be a baby dragon’s life later, me, Twilight, Spike and Fluttershy finally arrived back at the library. Thank the Gods!
It was plainly obvious that both me and Twilight were getting closer to strangling the little lizard with each word he said, and I was just about to snap when he finally said: “and that’s the story of my whole entire life - well, up until today. Do you want to hear about today?”
“NO!” Me and Twilight all but shouted at the baby dragon, who seemed slightly taken aback by this.
“Oh, I wouldn’t mind hearing about today,” Fluttershy said, also taken aback by our answer, but still curious enough to press on.
Luckily, Twilight performed a selfless act to save all of Ponyland, by unceremoniously tipping to her right, letting her left legs leave the ground and forcing Spike to slide off and onto the floor. My hero.
“Aww, is Spikey-Wikey sleepy? Does he need his beddy byes?” Twilight said, using baby talk on Spike, who just folded his arms and huffed. Victory at last!
“Aww, the poor thing. You must simply get him to bed,” Fluttershy said as she hovered over to the door and opened it, somehow completely oblivious to what Twilight had done.
Twilight suddenly looked panicked and I realised why. We exchanged a glance before she moved to block fluttershy from entering the library, while I scooped up Spike and had a very strong feeling of throwing him inside.
“Yes, yes. We’ll get right on that. Well, good night!” Twilight said hastily as she all but forced Fluttershy out of the door and slamming it right in her face. I personally wouldn’t want to do it to poor Flutters, but I have the worst headache right now, and I’m sure Twilight has one too.
“Wow, rude much?” Spike huffed from my arms. Oh, that reminds me...
I release my grip on him, letting him fall to the floor and hitting... a cupcake? He stood up, half of it covering his face. “Ugh, who left this here?” He asked.
“Uhh... Twilight...?” I say as I look around the mysteriously pitch black room, now worried about what was about to happen next.
“Wha-” she began, but she never finished it. Instead, the lights suddenly came back on, blinding all three of us.
“SURPRISE!” Voices shouted from all around us, catching us by... well, surprise, and was met by a variety of yelps from all three of us.
“Surprise! Hi. I’m Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were you, were you? Huh? Huh? Huh?” Pink pony... I knew she had something to do with this...
I decided to do the smart thing and get away from the ‘Welcome Party’ she had undoubtedly prepared for Twilight. “I’ll leave you two to get acquainted,” I say to them as I edge away from the pink pony and the purple Unicorn. As I said before, I don’t do parties, and I am pretty tired from all the walking we did today, so I just snuck away upstairs. None of the ponies seemed to notice me, well except that mint green Unicorn who kept staring at me.
I approach the top of the stairs and enter the dark upstairs room. Though the window, I could see the sun was starting to set over the horizon, as the sky was turning into a dazzling shade of pink, orange and purple. The room was still a mess, with books all over the place, so I had to be careful as I walked across and up the stairs onto the upper level, where my makeshift bed was.
I was bored. Seriously bored. What am I even doing here anyway? I shouldn’t be here helping these racehorses with supernatural powers, I should be getting home! I have friends, family and a life! But the stupid car needs fuel, and I have no idea how I’m supposed to fuel it! I could do it Back-To-The-Future-style by using a train, but I seriously doubt that they’ve invented the steam locomotive yet.
But, they’re alright in the end, those ponies. Twilight’s okay, she’s like me in a small way, and Applejack been kind to me as well. Rarity is... nice. Although she acts like one of the rich upper class snobs,
I shrug off my coat, flick my hat off, kick of my shoes and yank off my socks, before collapsing on the kiddie sized blankets. I am exhausted, and could do with a rest. Just a quick one. I yawn silently as my vision started to fade into black...
...
... Before being rudely brought back into reality by a kick in the stomach.
“Oy!” I choke as the hoof landed with force right on my stomach. Said hoof moved off my stomach and I could feel my innards settling down.
Then another hoof greets my stomach.
“Fucking hell!” I wheeze, winded by the second blow, and causing the perpetrator to squeak in surprise.
“Oh gosh! I’m so sorry Declan, I didn’t see you there!” Twilight quickly apologised as she lifted her hind hoof off of me. I cough for a few moments, before beginning to talk.
“S’alright. What are you doing up here?”
“I don’t do parties,” Twilight replied meekly, and I could sympathize with the purple pony.
“Neither do I. Loud, noisy things full of people. I’d rather spend my time reading, or playing video games” I say, causing Twilight’s ears to perk up.
“You like reading?” She asked, to which i nod in response. We both smiled at each other, before Twilight gasps and runs to the window. “Oh no!”
“What now?” I sigh, as I stand up with some minor difficulty and walk over to Twilight.
“Look up at the stars!”
“So what? They’re stars.”
“But these ones are moving!”
“Which ones?”
“Those four!”
“Those ones?”
“No! The ones by the moon!” I sigh and turn to face Twilight slowly.
“I can’t see them, cos they’re too small,” I explain to her.
“They’re not that small,” was the reply.
“I don’t have the best eyesight back where I come from,” I explain to Twilight, who looks at me in concern before nodding. She lit up her horn and used her fancy purple aura to lift my right hand into the air and pointing at a group of stars.
“Those stars...” she said softly, and I glance down at her, before looking back up.
“Ooooohhhh, those stars! Why didn’t you say so?” I ask lightheartedly, making Twilight groan and face... hoof?
“You are unbelievable!” She groaned, to which I laughed.
“And you are such a nerd!” I reply through my laughter, causing her to smile.
“I prefer the term ‘geek.’”
“Whatever you say, O Geeky One,” I say with a mock bow, causing the Unicorn to giggle. Then came the awkward but lighthearted smiling that could only be shared by two social introverts such as myself and Twilight.
The mood was shot down, however, when Spike suddenly appeared from nowhere on the lower level, a lamp shade littered with confetti covering his head.
“Guys, you’ve got to come down! Pinkie’s starting to play pin the tail on the pony!” Spike called to us, his body still moving to the music emanating from downstairs.
“Dude, do you know what time it is?!” I ask incredulously.
“Uhh... it’s almost 10 o’clock,” Spike replied oblivious. Wow, time really flies when your having fun.
“Exactly! It is late, and I want to get some sleep for tomorrow!” I say to him, but he just frowns.
“But it’s the eve of the Summer Sun celebration, all the ponies stay up or they’ll miss Princess Celestia raise the sun,” Spike explained, but I just shrugged it off.
“Well I ain’t a pony, and I have some pressing matters to attend to tomorrow so I won’t be attending the celebration tomorrow,” I say to him. Spike just shrugged and walked back downstairs, mumbling ‘whatever’ as he went. I turn back to Twilight, who was looking out of the window and up at the stars again, this time sitting on her bed and holding a book next to her, talking to herself softly.
I thought about going over to her, but a silent yawn escaped me and I remembered that I was very tired. I decided that sleep was a good option and just let the ponies have their fun with their weird celebration thingy. I lie back down on my makeshift bedding and feel myself slowly drift off to sleep...
FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AGO...
Nightmare had lost count on the days she had been exiled on the moon. Time seemed to be nonexistent on the lunar surface, but she could tell that time was still flowing. During the first few days, she had held onto the hope that her sister had forgiven her for what she tried to do, and would bring her back, but as time stretched on, that hope slowly faded away until it was nothing. All she had now was the growing insanity in her head, helped by the darkness that resided in the recesses of her brain, and the regret of everything she had done.
She was doing what she had been doing for Faust knows how long: gazing up at the blue and green sphere that was her former home, lying on her side on the lunar surface, allowing it’s dust to settle on her body. Her various injuries had healed, but her form was now thin and her coat pale from malnourishment. Her magic had long since dried up, from her attempts to try and return home, but it was blocked and drained each time.
She was distracted from her mindless gaze when a bright light pierced the blackness from behind her. Slowly and shakily, she rose from her lying position to see the cause, lunar dust drifting off of her form as she did so. Her legs wobbled as she mustered what little strength she had left to maintain her balance and slowly turn around to face the source of the light.
And found herself falling to the ground in shock and surprise at what she had seen.
Ponies. Actual ponies. On the moon. Two of them.
Nightmare looked at them in disbelief. If she could, she would’ve cried there on the spot. They had came for her! She was going home!
Nightmare wanted to call out to them, to talk to them, but her voice got caught in her throat and all that came out was a dry and pitiful coughing fit amongst the soundless vacuum.
But something wasn’t right about the ponies. For starters, they where pure white and translucent, like they were apparitions or false images. Another thing was that these ponies had soulless eyes, lacking pupils and irises.
But at this point Nightmare would do anything for redemption. She extended a hoof weakly towards the spectral ponies, and noticed that more were descending from above. A lot more. She rose her head up to look above her, and saw a large pale comet streaking across space above her. On it’s rocky landscape however, were hundreds, if not thousands, of the spectral ponies. All descending down to her.
The ones that had landed slowly advanced upon the disgraced lunar princess, like a predator stalking it’s prey, about to strike. They suddenly opened their mouths and instead of normal teeth, they had a draconian set of dentures that made Nightmare’s look like a set of old false teeth for an elderly pony. Their tongues were split in two, like a snake but with the split much longer, as if they had two completely separate tongues.
And then they all pounced, swirling into a pure white mist as they swarmed around Nightmare, sucking at her precious life essence. And she screamed into the vacuum of space as they ripped at what was left of her magic and soul.
And then she died.
“Declan, wake up.”
“Ngh...”
“Declan, wake up!”
“Get yer bat’leths away from me yer filthy Klingons...”
“Ugh, don’t make me do this...!”
“No, I don’t want a Tribble...”
“Fine, but it’s your own fault...”
I was suddenly woken up rudely when something cold and wet became my face, and I had the horrifying feeling that I was drowning.
I started to shriek while I flailed my arms around in a blind panic, until they were held in place by a weird but warm tingly sensation. All it did was made me freak out more. “Arrgh! Help!”
“Declan, calm down!” A familiar voice called out to me from above. Was I dead? Did I actually drown? I bet it was that lizard... he never liked me. “I didn’t mean to scare you, I just wanted to wake you up.” The voice was so soothing, like an angel that I could fall in love with.
I open my eyes, which I had kept closed on instinct when the wave of water hit me, and instead of seeing a beautiful angel, I see...
“Oh, it’s you,” I say glumly to Twilight, who was standing above me, her horn glowing.
“Gee, good morning to you too,” she replied, releasing my arms from her pony powers while frowning at me.
“Well you would be in a sour mood if someone tried drowning you,” I say huffily, reaching out an arm to find my glasses, before I remembered that I had forgot to take them off before sleeping. Again.
“I just poured a cup of water over you! That wasn’t nearly enough to kill you!”
“Well use a wet flannel or something next time,” I half say, half yawn as I slowly get up, and groan due to my soaked clothes. “Aw geez! Look at my clothes! They’re soaking wet and these are my only set here!!”
“Sorry!” Twilight hastily replied, backing away and looking downcast, but perking up instantly when an idea hit her. “Oh, I know a spell that can dry you instantly!” She told me happily, smiling.
“A spell? To dry me off? I dunno...” I say, doubtful of what could happen. I know these Unicorn ponies have special powers, but I don’t really know the full extent of them, but the powers I have seen have acted similar to the plasmids from BioShock. In the end, I decide to go for it. These wet clothes are starting to annoy me. "Oh okay. Just don’t evaporate all the liquids inside my body.” Twilight grimaced at this, but only for a second as she powered up her horn and aimed it at me.
And then I was engulfed in flames.
“AAHH! FIRE! IT BUUURRNNSS- hey, waitaminute...” I frown in confusion as the flames cover my entire body, yet it feels no different to the thing she had used on me earlier. Not to mention that the flames were purple. “Heh, this kinda tickles.”
"That should do it," Twilight said as she powered down her horn and the purple flames vanished, leaving me dry and warm.
"Toasty," I comment as I pat my now dry clothes, and noticing that it was still night time through the window. "Wait, what time is it?”
“Around 6 AM, why?”
“You woke me up... at 6 AM...” I said in a deadpanned manner.
"Yeah, the Summer Sun Celebration is about to start, and I was wondering if you had changed your mind about not going?" Twilight asked me, looking up at me hopefully.
"As much as I would like to go and attend this celebration, I would like to go and sort out some stuff today. Maybe even try and get my car to work," I explain to Twilight, who gives me a puzzled frown.
"What's a car?" Oh boy...
"Er, it's a long story. I'll tell you about it some other time," I reply as I put my socks and shoes on before heading downstairs, then going further downstairs to the ground floor. The first thing I notice is the lack of purple dragon-lizard-thing. "Where's Spike?" I ask Twilight, who had followed me downstairs.
"Oh, he's at the celebration already. I stayed because I wanted to see if you still didn't want to go," she explained.
"And I still don't, though I appreciate the thought," I say to her, giving the purple Unicorn an appreciative smile.
"Okay, just be careful, in case Nightmare Moon really does return," she told me, concerned.
"Don't worry, I'll be careful," I told her, and then she walked out of the library, leaving me alone inside the great tree in the early morning night.
After grabbing a slice of bread and butter (blech, wholemeal again!) I grabbed my coat and walked outside into the still dark morning. I found it odd, that at this time of the morning the moon was still high in the sky and there was no sign of sunlight at all from the horizon.
Everything about this seemed wrong, but I just took it in my stride as I closed the door behind me and headed off into town to locate my car.
... And I have no idea where it is. Real smooth.
It doesn’t help that the town is in the middle of a lamp post shortage, making the darkness seem almost completely pitch black.
Aw well, I’ll just use the flashlight app on my iPho- oh wait, that’s a bust too. I really need to start thinking about my plans more thoroughly.
Then the darkness seemed to brighten just a smidgen, making it easier for me to see. Looking up, I could make out the outlines of the clouds that had just recently moved away from blocking the moon. I squint up at it, and I could see four stars that were slightly brighter than usual, slowly moving towards the moon. I shrug before looking around in front of me. Now, if I recall correctly, we passed a particularly large forest yesterday when I was helping Twilight with the celebration prep.
It seemed like a good place to start, so I decide to plod along the roads, hoping I’m going in the right direction.
Meanwhile, the odd image of a Unicorn pony’s head imprinted on the moon vanished.
I am so lost.
Good news is that I have found a forest.
Bad news is that I have no idea where I am. Sigh, I wish my phone had some charge left, so I could use the GPS, but I doubt that these ponies have access to Google Maps. I look up and down the perimeter of the forest, trying my best to spot anything within the darkness.
I can make out what looks like a house or cottage on my left, and nothing but the gloomy treeline to my right. Cottage it is. Maybe someone there can help me look or give directions or something. I start to walk over to the cottage, but the lack of lights on in the windows mean that either the owner is out or their still asleep. Definitely hoping for the latter.
But something strange started to happen next. I was walking, definitely moving my legs to motor on forward, but I wasn’t even moving an inch. It’s like trying to walk on a travelator which is going in the wrong direction, or like a treadmill. I increase my speed slightly, and to my surprise, I start going backwards.
I look down, and see that the ground has been replaced with this weird mist, that sparkles and glitters, and it reminded me of a clear night sky with the stars. I look up and behind my shoulder, and gasp.
That damn black horse known as Nightmare Moon was standing right behind me. She was using her mane, which seemed to have a mind of it’s own, to cover the ground below my feet and was trying to drag me backwards!
I froze up out of shock and fear, making me going backwards much faster as Nightmare continued to pull. Luckily it was too fast. Before she could do anything, I had crashed right into her, sending both of us into the ground. It’s a good thing that miss evil black horse had volunteered to cushion my fall. I recovered quickly and was on my feet and about to peg it outta here, when I get tripped by Nightmare’s damn mane!
I hit the ground hard, extending my hands out instinctively to try and soften my landing. Instead, I just get a searing pain from both palms as they slide across the ground due to momentum, my chest and chin following the descent.
“Well well well, if it isn’t Declan... it’s such a pleasure to meet you in person,” Nightmare purred as she walked over to me, standing over me from my right side as I groan in pain from the earthen floor.
Damn, Twilight was right all along! Although the way she went on about it would definitely make anyone think she had lost her marbles.
I look up at Nightmare Moon in fear and confusion, unable to say a word as my brain went on strike. She started to prowl around me, glaring at me. “Well, aren’t you going to bow before your princess?” She asked me, stopping in front of me and looking down with a murderous glint in her eyes. Then I found my voice.
“T-this is not possible. Y-you should be-”
“Be where? The moon?” She interrupts, intensifying the glare. “Well I have some news for you: I am back and I’m here to do my duty as ruler of Equestria!” Regrettably, I found myself scoffing at this.
“Your ‘duty’? Does that have anything to do with putting this place in perpetual darkness? Cos if it is, then you’re doing a smashing job at it,” I say sarcastically, trying my best to return the glare. Then shit got real.
Her draconic eyes seem to dilate, becoming colder, more evil. Her mane and tail seemed to darken and her horn sparked menacingly.
“Why thank you, We appreciate the compliment,” Nightmare hissed at us, her voice taking o several more layers and changing in pitch, making her sound like some kind of demon. Then she stumbled backwards, wincing. And in a blink of an eye, she changed back to Nightmare Moon variant A.
“No!” She cried out, her entire frame was trembling and her face contorted in pain, as if she was fighting something back inside of her.
“Umm... are you okay...?” I ask timidly, taken aback with the sudden change of the mood.
“Why don’t they shut up?!” She all but screamed, grimacing with more pain as Nightmare’s horn lit up with her evil moon powers.
“... There’s only us two here...” I say slowly and cautiously, throwing her a wary glance. Maybe it’s a good time to go.
With another instant snap, Nightmare was variant B, her soulless eyes opening and looking straight at me. “But surely thou is forgetting Us?”
Yep, going time.
I scramble back onto my feet and start to run in the opposite direction. Behind me, Nightmare lowers her head to aim her horn, and let’s the power surrounding it to build up with a dark aura. But just as she fired a beam of dark energy, her face contorted as it flashed back to normal, throwing her aim off. The beam went streaking past me, whizzing past my ear and striking a silhouetted object in front of me. I couldn’t help but squeal in fear as it whistled past.
“Nopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenope!” I yelp in a panic as I run.
Back behind me, Nightmare powers up her horn again, aiming straight for the back of my head. With a grunt of exertion, she releases another beam of dark energy, and again misses spectaculary. For just as the beam was about to make contact with my head, I stumbled and fell to the ground hard once again. The beam soared above me, sailing through the air, until it smashed into a wooden building that was hidden within the darkness of the night.
Nightmare quickly galloped up to me, slowing down as she noticed the ruined shed, making her eyes widen in wonder and excitement. “So this is where you hid it...” she muttered quietly in wonder, a bright aura surrounding her horn to light up the area. Confused, I pick myself off of the ground and shakily stand up, before gasping.
The DeLorean, it’s silver coloured shell adorned with God-knows-what pieces of machinery, just like the one from the film. And Nightmare Moon was walking slowly towards it.
“H-hey, stay away from it!" I call out to her, taking a few steps forward. She snaps her head round to look back at me, a look of steely determination plastered on her face, before snorting and continuing to walk towards it, stopping next to the side of the car and bowing her head, so her horn touched the roof of the car. I watched as she enveloped the whole car in the same dark aura, which flowed around it like a sheet of water. Then she gasped, and stopped, lifting her head back up which caused the aura to dissipate. Then she moved to the back of the DeLorean, where the plutonium powered the thingie that made the thingie go. Nightmare Moon let her mane reach out and wrapped it around the top of the cylinder which housed the plutonium, and pulled it upwards.
“Don’t pull that out!” I warned, backing away in case it was leaking radiation or something. But Nightmare ignored me as she focused on her mane pulling out the cylinder. But instead of a cylinder full of plutonium, there was a glowing purple crystal in the shape of a three dimensional rhombus. “What the...” I muttered, taken aback at the lack of an atomic element.
Nightmare’s mane then popped the lid off of the cylinder, and levitated out the crystal with her evil powers. Tossing aside the cylinder, she turned to face me with a wicked grin.
“Hey, put that back!” I ordered, but it fell on deaf ears as she lifted the DeLorean up with her magic, levitating the car several feet above her.
Then she threw the DeLorean at me!
I threw my arms up to protect my face and braced for the impact, and felt the metal skin that covered the car smash into me, before everything went black.
FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AGO AGAIN...
Nightmare knew she had died. Those... things, had swarmed her, sucking out her magical essence, essentially devouring her soul.
If that was the case, then why was she still alive? She could still feel her legs and hooves, as well as her wings, and she could still feel the rough and bumpy surface of the moon below her. Maybe this is what it feels like to have no soul...?
She opened her eyes slowly, her vision adjusting to the lunar landscape, revealing the hundreds of spectral monsters, all back in their normal pony form, all looking at her curiously. One of them was standing right next to her, looking down at her with the same curious look. She tried to open her mouth to speak to them, but her voice was too weak to make any sound, especially since she had screamed loudly before, making her even more hoarse.
||We have spared your life||
The ghostlike pony spoke, but it’s mouth didn’t move. It felt like the voice was echoing inside of her head. Nightmare flinched slightly at the sound of the voice in her head, flattening her ears.
||You are weak, with so little magic left||
The spectral pony turned away to look back at it’s fellows.
||Nowhere near enough to feed us after our defeat||
The spectral pony turned back to face Nightmare, seeming to stare into Nightmare’s mind with it’s soulless eyes. Then it opened it’s mouth, and Nightmare cowered in fear of becoming lunch, but instead of having her essence being devoured, a warm tingling feeling started to spread across her body. She opened her eyes, and saw a vibrant orange mist escape from the spectral pony’s mouth and envelop her body. And as it did so, she could feel her strength return to her limbs, and magic started to flow through her horn once more. But as soon as it had started, the spectral pony closed it’s mouth, stopping the orange mist from rejuvenating Nightmare Moon.
||But you may be able to help us. We would like to propose a deal...||