//------------------------------// // Memories // Story: Music of the Night // by CharlieOist //------------------------------// Celestia dodged another strike as her blade slashed the air. “Please sister! Do not do this! We can still fix this!” “No! Stop trying to fix things, sister! There is no fixing this!” The shadows crept around her feet, responding to her summons, creeping up her legs. Luna! Please! Don’t do this!” The shadows were at her knees, throwing her nerves into a frenzy. Waves of ecstasy flowed over her as the shadows touched her skin. "Don’t do what, sister? Take what is rightfully mine? I deserve the respect of those ponies out there! I deserve their love just as much as you! But I get NOTHING! No more!” The shadows were closing in on her head now. Celestial’s eyes were tearing up as she looked on in horror, watching her sister disappear into the blackness. “Please, sister, stop this! I’m sorry!” Celestia cried out, even as Luna disappeared. A dark laugh filled the throne room. No. Not THE throne room. HER throne room. “It is too late for ‘sorry’, sister. The night. Will last. FOREVER!” Nightmare Moon laughed, grabbing her sister with the shadows that surrounded them, throwing her from the castle. ******************************************************************************************************************************************************** Luna awoke in a cold sweat, her bed soaked through. Still exhausted after the dream, she absently summoned a shadow to her side, caressing it as one might a lover. The shadow swirled about her hoof, delighting in her touch. She watched as it slowly began creeping up her leg… Luna fell from the bed, a horrified cry escaping her lips. A guard burst in to see the shadow creeping away from the princess, who stared after in in horror, and another emotion the guard couldn’t identify. The guard glanced from the corner where the shadow had vanished to Luna, before quietly exiting the room, shutting the door behind him. ******************************************************************************************************************************************************** “I will turn you to stone to decorate my garden, fools! None of you shall escape here alive!” Nightmare Moon’s dark laugh echoed down through the room. The Element bearers jumped into position, and Twilight wished she had brought the Elements of Harmony. Suddenly, Nightsong began laughing. “It’s just a defense spell! She left a shadow-memory here to scare away intruders!” His horn began to glow as he pointed it towards the silhouette of Nightmare Moon sitting on the throne, and suddenly it began to disperse, the shadows washing over him like a blanket before vanishing. Suddenly, the room was lit by lantern light as the shadows uncovered the magic, ever-active lanterns that lined the room. The throne room, where the royal sisters had once sat together, ruling Equestria from its largest city, was now a place of forgotten memories. One of the thrones, presumably Celestia’s, had been reduced to rubble. Equestrian Empire flags hung in tatters alongside the flags of the Eternal Night, and the floor was covered in scorch marks, presumably from the first battle, held here, where Nightmare Moon and her forces had defeated Celestia, forcing her from the castle. The last remaining throne in the room had been remade, turned to black crystal by Nightmare Moon. Ropes, which had, at one point, been used for public hangings, still hung from the rafters, their occupants long since gone. Any windows there may once have been had been sealed up, and a veal of permanent night hung over the room, covering the ceiling in the eternal night that Nightmare Moon had wanted. The floor, though it had been worn at by time, was covered by a map of the former Empire, the furthest reaches extending deeply into what were now the Griffon Kingdoms, the Independent Unicorn Republic, and several other countries that had split off at the power vacuum left behind by the loss of one of the goddesses. “I believe this would be a good place to stop.” Nightsong said, turning around, only to find that Twilight was the only one still awake to listen to him, the tent falling out of her extra-dimensional space. The others had collapsed where they stood, breathing deeply in the telltale pattern of sleep. ******************************************************************************************************************************************************** “Sister, the guard tells me that you were attacked by shadows.” Celestia stood outside Luna’s door, her patience wearing thin. She had closed court early, pleading exhaustion, before rushing up to see her sister. That had been almost two hours ago, and she had been trying to get Luna to talk to her for the past hour. Normally, she would just go in, but she was afraid that if she tried, it may upset Luna, and, from what the guard had told her, Luna was already on a fine edge. Finally, the door opened. “It was not an attack.” Luna’s voice was so quiet Celestia could barely understand her. The Solar Princess’s eyes went wide. “Luna… You didn’t….” “Just leave me be!” Luna slammed the door in her sister’s face, the sound echoing down the corridor. Celestia sighed, then began to walk back to her own room. Reaching a guard posted at the end of the hallway, who saluted her on sight, she paused. “Have a servant bring a bottle of Applejack whiskey to my room.” The guard saluted her once more. “At once, Princess.” As she walked off down the corridor, the guard flagged down a passing servant. He repeated the Celestia’s request, then dismissed her. Celestia received the bottle just as she was about to enter her room. Thanking the servant, who smiled and bowed before scurrying off to some other part of the castle, the Princess of the Sun took the bottle in her magic, popped the lid into non-existance, and proceeded to drink its contents as she gently closed her bedroom door behind her. It would be a long day. ******************************************************************************************************************************************************** After helping get the others settle into the tent, Twilight turned to Nightsong. “Well, what now?” Nightsong smiled mysteriously. “Now, we combine our magic. I’ll use some shadow magic, and we’ll see this castle brought to life once more, even if only temporarily.” Twilight’s eye’s widened. “With shadow magic? But isn’t that…” Nightsong laughed softly. “Yes, shadow magic was Nightmare Moon’s choice of magic, but that does not make it evil, per se. It simply means that it can be used for evil. Now, shall we?” Twilight nodded, and both her and Nightsong’s horn lit up. As the shadows began to creep towards Nightsong, a tendril of purple magic shot from Twilight’s horn to his, combining with his. Suddenly, Twilight gasped, and all at once, the purple light disappeared. Twilight looked around in awe. Nightsong, sweating profusely, smiled. “I give you the Memories of Everfree Castle!”