Luna was laying around in her room, dealing with another one of her reoccurring headaches. They seemed to be happening more and more lately and it was getting really tiring now. Something flashed in her mind, but left before she could hold on to it. She groaned as another wave of pain washed over her.
"Ah, I see the Princess is starting to remember," a voice said, interrupting Luna's groaning.
She scanned the room and her eyes landed on a pair of hooves in the shadows, "Who art thou," she asked, more that a little confused at who was in her room.
The figure laughed a little and said, "I'm the one who can get rid of that headache of yours, but it will come at a price of a flood of memories. Things you may not want to remember, would you still like me to get rid of the headache?"
Luna's mouth was agape. Nopony of this time period talked like this...Stallion...Mare? She couldn't figure it out and she just decided to blow it off. But there was still the question of how the pony knew of her headache.
Luna, finally shook her head and muttered, "Yes, please get rid of the headache."
The figure gave a small chuckle and said, "'Alice wandered down the rabbit hole, not once wondering where it went or how she was going to get back out.' There may be a little paraphrasing in that, I don't exactly have the whole thing memorized."
Luna was about to ask what it was talking about when suddenly she saw things she never imagined possible.
There was magic flying in the air, ponies were being blown apart while trying to fight something.
King Sombra rushed forward from behind the troops and yelled, "Celestia, what are you doing, stop this madness, you're killing innoccent ponies."
Celestia walked in out of the corner of Luna's sight and looked at her and said, "Don't worry, I won't hurt you little sister," then turned to Sombra and said, "Sombra, this kingdom will be mine, give up and I may let you live."
Sombra snarled and said, "You will never get the kingdom Celestia, I should have thrown you out when I had the chance."
Celestia gave a short bark of laughter and said, "Well, if you're going to act like that..." suddenly everypony's heads crushed in on themselves and the soldiers fell to the ground, leaving Sombra standing in the middle of the pile of dead soldiers.
"Y-you killed them. You killed them all," he shouted.
"So what now, are you going to challenge me to a magic duel," Celestia challenged.
The King gave her a hardened gaze and said dully, "Yes I am. Now you will fall you tyrant."
Celestia laughed again and said, "When I'm done with this kingdom, you will be the tyrant."
Luna was back in her room as suddenly as she had been in the memory. The shadow was still sitting there and she game an annoyed sigh, "What exactly was that I ask thou."
"Well, it's what you would call, a memory, just taken from you and replaced with a notion that you and your sister made the kingdom, rather than her taking it from Sombra," the beast said.
"How dost thou know of this implausible information," Luna questioned it.
The shadow gave a short laugh and said, "Well I was there of course! And as a being made of nothing, your sisters magic has no effect on me."
Luna watched as a shadow walked out of the gloom and she simply said, "But that's impossible, me and Tia are the only ones who can live that long," as she studied the shadow, not fazed in the slightest.
"Well then," the shadow said, "it seems your knowledge is flawed. But I'm not here to talk about trivial matters, I'm here to offer you a deal. You've seen what Celestia has done. I have seen what she will do to the kingdom in a few hundred years. Will you help me?"
Luna eyed it warily and asked, "How dost thou expect me to help thou and how dost thou know of what happens in a few hundred years time?"
The shadow laughed and said, "Well my dear, that's because I am the embodiment that can travel time and space. I am everywhere and nowhere." It disappeared and Luna began to search for it, the beast appearing minutes later in the other corner of her room, near the window where the light of her moon flooded the room. "So, would you like my help to take back the kingdom, you might be able to stop her reign of terror after all."
Luna's gaze drifted out the window and she muttered, "But Tia isn't causing anypony terror. If anypony is it's me." The sentence ended with her sounding a bit more sad than she would have liked to admit, but she threw caution out the window with this beast.
The beast curled around her, making her shiver as it said, "Now now Luna, there's no need for that. I want you to know that I love your night. In fact, I thrive in it. The darkness gives me a sense of security. I live to see your night, as well as your beauty."
The last comment made her blush a little, but she welcomed the heat and said, "I have to admit, Tia has been a bit cautious lately, as though she is hiding something."
"Well, I can help you with that, I can help you find out what is wrong, just let me help," the beast pleaded, almost as if something was wrong. "I have shown you proof of your sisters evil, now all you have to do is act on it."
Luna gazed at the shadowed face of the beast and said, "Fine, I will allow thou to help, but I am worried for Tia, what will happen to her if she is caught?"
The beast laughed a little, "Well now, that's up to the timeline masters. They will decide what happens to her. As they do with all evildoers."
Luna had been in pain before, but none as excruciating as this. Her whole being felt as if it was being stretched and twisted as she was lit on fire from the inside out. Her wings flew out splayed across the room as her wingspan had extended several feet and her horn grew as well, protruding from her head as Celestia's did. When the pain had stopped and she looked into the mirror, she saw an Alicorn that she didn't recognize. Her crown had changed, as did her little hoof shoes. She was no longer Princess Luna.
The beast seemed to know what she was thinking because it said, "Your name now is Nightmare Moon. and your mission is to find out what Celestia is up to."
Nightmare looked at her hooves and said, "But, what's with the change?"
The beast laughed and said, "Why I made you a full Alicorn dear, to make you have the much needed strength for the confrontation to come. Now no more questions, go, your kingdom needs you."
Luna arrived at the doors to the chamber before the throne room and opened it to see a Changeling and a creature of myth, a Dragonequius standing before her.