//------------------------------// // Nightmare Introductions // Story: Chaos Origin // by AAV-sama //------------------------------// The Night Princess spent the morning resting while Celestia devotedly took over the daytime obligations. She was nocturnal and as such, more often than not left the day entirely under the responsibility of her older sister while she peacefully slept to be ready for nighttime. That late morning, though, the common peace was disrupted by the unusually busy schedule of the maintenance ponies that worked at the palace gardens. Luna sighed and nestled into her big pillow. She jumped a bit when other loud noises woke her up again. Very, very loud noises. It was, once again, the constructors that hurried over some of the garden spots, complaining about how they had been turned into soap or something like that. She could also hear her sister’s faint voice as she tried to explain and calm them down, then turned to somepony else. It sounded as though she was scolding that somepony, but Luna could not hear much of it, and honestly, did not really care. That was supposed to be her resting time. She understood that daytime was much busier than night time (not once did she think of the noisy ponies as inconsiderate), but still... She muttered wearily to herself. "Oh, how could We have forgotten...?" Her horn glowed blue with her magic as she looked at the window. The heavy curtains of the window glowed blue as well and closed themselves. Perhaps if she closed the draping curtains the noise would stay out. "Hmph. We should not have spent so much time with that... strange, creature, thing...” She yawned as her eyes started to close, and she rubbed them. A groan came out of her when she noticed that she could still hear some of what went on outside. “Unbelievable, how wilt We get enough rest with all that noise...?” She shifted a bit and wondered just what was happening out there. “Perhaps some light reading wilt help...” She pulled out a book from the shelf and opened it before her. However, her ear twitched again as she heard the faint sound of dirt being dug up. Just when she was about to get up, though, the stars that were scattered all around her room started to glow from the darkness, just the way she liked it. The music box that Celestia had given her as a present long ago also began to play, soothing her with the lullaby melody. “Hm... We did not... turn that on...” A dark shadow crept out of the music box. It watched the young princess as she slowly succumbed to tiresome sleep again. Luna nodded off as she stared at the blurring contents of her spell book. “...Cancelling spells work... Nul-Nullification... energy... through...” She lifted her head for a few seconds as she tried to focus, but that moment of awareness lasted even less than the last one. The shadow flew just a bit closer as she continued her attempts to read. “...Thoughts...” Her eyes opened a bit more when she got the strange sensation that something was in her room. “Oh... W-Wake up, Luna, there ist nothing here... Just us, drifting off to sleep. Do not... This chapter ist impor--” The music from the box got a bit louder to penetrate through her half-formed thoughts. “Impor... portant... To...” “Go on, sweet princess... See how tired thou art? Get some well-deserved rest, now...” Luna yawned as her eyes finally closed. She mumbled incomprehensibly as her body finally slumped forward as her weariness beat her. The shadow laid her carefully on the bed as she completely drifted off. “There, good girl... Sleep well, Princess...” It grinned and entered her dreams as she moved a bit and nuzzled the open book as a pillow. ~~~ In her dream, Luna blinked and looked around with confusion. She did not realize yet that she had fallen asleep so quickly, and that the place where she was consisted entirely of a dream. What didn't help was that everything around her room looked just like it did in waking reality. "Hm. Strange. Were We not on our... pillow?" She looked back at the pillow behind her. Even the book she had tried to read laid there, open, on the page where she left off. She walked out of her room to find that every single corner of the palace was deserted. “Whence hast everypony gone...?” Even the gardens were unattended. “How strange...” She was startled when loud trumpets and the sound of marching ponies was heard over in the distance. A parade of soldiers and servants walked through the city's streets. They praised the Sun Princess, who sat in a mobile throne as the main attractor for the parade. The soldiers also carried a different flag, not of the two sisters, but of a white mare that raised her hooves with the sun on her left and the moon on the right, on her own. The crowd of subjects was ecstatic as the mobile throne made its way through the road. "Hm?" Luna looked around at the ponies that lined up at the dirt roads and cheered. “Such a celebration...” She walked over to them and noticed their joy as they cheered for the princess that sat on the throne before them. She watched as she gave them a warm greeting. “It ist for her...” She looked up at the unknown flags. “Who ist that? Why dost everypony worship her this way? Have We heard of her? She dost not--” "All hail Celestia! All hail Celestia!" The roar of the crowd continued ferociously, startling her from her thoughts. The figure from before, named Sombra, looked at the scene below from the top of the palace. Luna was speechless with surprise once the crowd revealed the princess’ name. She frowned as she looked at all of the ponies that screamed so excitedly. She heard the subjects perfectly as they screamed her older sister’s name so loudly, but she could not recognize Celestia as the mare in the flags. "Celestia? Why do We have the feeling this ist something like... the future...?" She looked up at the image on the flags, noting again that only ‘Celestia’ was printed on them. With both the sun and the moon at her sides, at that. "Wait. Just... Just Celestia...?" She walked through the crowd, observing every pony that she laid eyes on. "They art all saying our sister's name. But... What about ours...?" Sombra's eyes glowed white as he cast a spell to manipulate a pony near Luna. "Hey, kid, move out of the way. Taking my spot here." The shadowy unicorn expanded the spell to ensure that nopony could hear or mind Luna. "What? Wait. Who dost thou thinkest We art?! How darest thou speak to us in this manner, it ist not appropriate!" She glared at the ponies. "We demand an explanation. What ist this, all of a sudden...?!" Her wings fluttered and lifted her ever so slightly as she grew frustrated while trying to get their attention. "Answereth us!" She looked up at the crowd of ponies, who were all much older than she was. But their age did not give them the right to ignore their princess. She would make it very clear to them. She took a deep breath as she stepped forward. "THY PRINCESS DEMANDEST THINE ATTENTION!" She called out to all of them in what would be known as the booming Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice. Sombra reinforced his spell as he manipulated the ponies again. That time, the crowd boomed an exuberantly loud cheer. "All hail Celestia, our one and only ruler!" Luna opened her eyes a bit wider with surprise and shock. "What... What ist this...?!" She looked at them desperate and sadly. "Why...? Why would..." Her eyes started to fill with tears. She shut them close and tried to composed herself, to no avail. "Stop this! Stop all of this! It ist wrong! We rule together! Our sister and us! Stop this!" She whimpered a bit, then frowned as her horn started to glow. "Show... Show thyself..." she practically hissed. Her irises glowed a bit as her magic powered up from her anger, fear and sadness, instead of weakening with those emotions. She still could not believe what she saw. It had to be somepony else's work. She would draw that somepony else out and make them stop whatever it was they were doing. "SHOW THYSELF!" Her magic was unleashed upon the scene before her. The shadow silhouette pony appeared in front of the whole parade. The rest of the ponies stood paralyzed as he stopped some of the illusion to focus on Luna. Luna frowned as her tormentor finally showed himself before her. “Thou art--” Sombra bowed his head, then looked at her again, with a smile on his face. "Princess Luna, Thy Highness... Why deny the truth? Only by embracing it couldst thou truly see through the mirage that thou livest in." "Who art thou?!" She lowered her head to keep her horn ready in case he attempted anything. She did not like at all that he did not comply to any of her demands. Sombra motioned to himself after he bowed in a respectful reverence. "A ruler from a distant land. We have come to thine aid, in this dark moment...” Luna looked down at him with surprise as he suddenly bowed before her. “What--” He smiled up at her as his brilliant scarlet eyes glowed just slightly. “...Our dear queen." "Queen? What art thou talking about? We... Celestia and I rule together. We wilt rule together over this land. That ist the way it wast decided. And We art still training.” She shook her head and glared at the scene before her. “This ist not real. We order thee to stop at once!" She turned her glare back at him. Sombra chuckled as he walked around Luna. "Oh, it ist not real? Then We suppose every subject of thine must love the beautiful night thou givest to them. They probably play and work during the night, being ever grateful to their night ruler... Oh, but that ist right, they do not. They art not grateful at all. Instead, they spend their time sleeping and resting, as they see very little use for the night.” Luna looked as though she would protest, but Sombra continued to speak without looking at her. “That ist why thine image ist not there, in those flags, and why thy name ist not called by all those ungrateful subjects. Thist ist not an illusion, princess, this ist real. As real as those ponies that neglect thy beautiful night, all of them. Art We wrong?" Luna felt hurt for a second, but she composed herself. "What dost thou want?! We wilt not allow thee to speak ill of us, or our subjects for that matter! Thou knowest nothing of us!" Sombra moved around her as he spoke. "We want what thou wantest, dear Queen. The rightful title as ruler of the land ist thine, why not take it? While thou workest hard to remain vigilant of the night, thy sister merely enjoys each of her precious days to play around in all her gathered company.” “But Celestia--” She jumped a bit as he leaned closer to her and stared right into her eyes. He spoke softly as she scowled at him and tried to get away. “From where We see it, thou shouldst be the true ruler. Wouldst thou not like that?" She took a deep breath to try and remain calm as she had been taught. Observe thy surroundings carefully... Do not be fooled by the enemy’s tricks. No matter what they might say to make their act believable, We must not fall. She glared back at the shadow pony. "This ist an illusion. Nothing but a dream." Sombra chuckled and shook his head. "Once again... No. This ist neither a dream nor an illusion. This ist a vision of what could be. A fair warning, if thou wilt. This injustice towards thee We cannot tolerate, and have come to ammend it rightfully. Thy rule was meant to be, our queen." They now stood in the balcony of the throne room. He watched as Luna sat over geese-feathered pillows, with servants surrounding her, tending to her every need and call. Below her stood a crowd of ponies that had gathered from all across the land. An enormous garrison of soldiers guarded the palace. They wore shining silver and violet armors that held a new crest. The guards and subjects all saluted different flags; ones with the Moon Princess’ image printed on it. The image on the flags was of her standing in between the sun and the moon, all on her own, instead of Celestia. The chant of the crowd was loud and clear. "All hail Luna! All hail Luna!" She looked down at the crowd, frowning. "But... But this..." "Feels right, dost it not?" Sombra stood behind her with a wicked grin on his face. He looked down at the crowd of adoring ponies. “They now worship their rightful ruler, our queen. Thou hast finally gained thy rightful place, both in the throne and in their minds. Thou shalt be what all these ponies think of and love. Thine older sister never worked half as hard as thee to earn all the appreciation that thine subjects showed her. She dost not deserve it, it ist wrong. Now all shall be fixed. Rewards wilt come to those who deserve them.” Luna turned away from the vision. She confronted Sombra again. "But it ist wrong. Celestia and I rule together, dost thou not understand? That ist the way it ist meant to be, that ist why we both trained!" "And yet only she wilt be remembered. After all... Who would remember a princess that decided to live in her sister's shadow?” Luna gasped and backed away as Sombra walked towards her and continued his hurtful speech. “N-No...” “Perhaps when ponyfolk begin to address thy presence as 'Celestia's little sister' thou wilt realize her superior position." He moved to her left ear and whispered to her. "Tell us, who wouldst she choose? If the moment came, and the choice between thee or the throne had to be made, who would it be? Dost thou truly believest that she cares for thee so much, enough to abandon her seat?” He patted her head as she shivered just the slightest bit. “Maybe it ist easy for her to treat thee kindly, because she sees no challenge, no threat in thee. Thus, there ist no need to be harsh and impolite towards the little sister.” She did not respond as she stared at the floor. His words sank in and she could not help it, they were filled with so much cruelty... It all seemed so real and possible... No, it ist not. We must remember that, this ist not the truth. Do not be fooled, keep thy mind clear. “Thou knowest it could be possible, our queen. Perhaps she already sees a future where thou remainest below her...” He hissed with anger. “Controlled, as she wants thee to be..." She took another deep breath to level herself. "This... ist not real. It ist wrong. Thou wilt not deceive us, whoever thou art.” Sombra raised an eyebrow as she smiled a bit. “We wilt find a way out of this. It ist only a spell of thine that We can definitely break!" She smiled a little and closed her eyes to concentrate. She tried to find logic, to remember things that would help. She had been reviewing a book on her bed, in her room. She had fallen asleep, it all was most certainly a dream. It would not be difficult at all, to cancel out his spell... She just had to think like that, to have confidence in her-- Sombra roared and let out a loud, dark laugh. ~~~ The palace and everything else around them vanished. It all became nothing but a black room with a pale light at the center. Luna stood at the room's edge, accompanied only by an oval mirror placed in the center, below the light. She sighed as she tried to look around her. "Now what...?" A dark voice whispered to her. "Come close to the mirror, and face your fate." Though Luna could not see the voice, she snapped at it nonetheless. "We do not care about that. We wilt end this, there ist no need for us to be tormented by--” She was cut off as the mirror in front of her glowed. "Hm. Was I this pathetic before? No wonder our banishment came to us with such ease," a female cocky voice echoed through the room. Luna tried to locate the voice, for she heard it everywhere in the dark, small place. "Who ist that?" "I'm over here, idiot," the voice spoke again. As the echo died, Luna noticed that it came from the mirror itself. The mirror flashed with light every time that the cold sound emerged from it. Luna stepped closer to the mirror. She seemed annoyed, but also frightened, though she tried to hide it. "When ist this going to end...?" As she stepped right in front of the mirror, she saw her own reflection staring back at her. She raised an eyebrow. “But... This ist...” Her reflection smirked. “Not surprising? Just you wait.” She laughed a little as a swirl of blue magic surrounded her and startled Luna as it took a new form. A tall alicorn mare stood before her, in place of her reflection. Her coat was a very dark cerulean that looked nearly black. Her blue mane flowed around her body, surrounded by a glowing light violet aura. She wore light blue armor, hoof plates, and a helmet that sparkled as she moved. Her cyan, slit-pupiled eyes were fixed upon Luna with a glare full of contempt and pity. "Hm. To think I came from you. So sad." "Thou art..." Luna’s eyes widened slightly as she stepped back just a bit. "Nightmare Moon! Ruler of the Night, rightful owner of the throne!" She gazed into Luna’s eyes and laughed. "What is it, little one? Scared?” She smirked, leaning closer to Luna. “You should be." Luna got serious. She lowered her body as she crouched slightly in a cautious pose. "Why?" "Why? Because I am all you feared to be! I am your hatred, jealousy, and power combined. THE TRUE FORM!" Her yell echoed loudly within the room. Luna braced herself from the volume of the reflection’s voice. She shivered a bit. "Just... What dost thou want?! We... We refuse to believe thee, We do not want anything to do with thee or anything else!” She looked away from the mirror to speak to Sombra, whom she still could not see. “Let us go!” Nightmare Moon’s mane burst out of the mirror and grasped Luna by her neck, suffocating her. Her expression was full of anger and loath. "Have you any idea what I suffered because of your weakness?! You are the reason she took the throne and BANISHED ME!" Sombra watched from above. He smiled a bit as as Nightmare Moon yelled at Luna and frightened her further. "Incredible what a drop of evil can do to her heart. This seed wilt awaken in time, We art sure..." Luna grunted and screamed a bit. As she cried, her eyes glowed white. She unleashed her magic energy soon after that. ~~~ Meanwhile, Celestia tried to contain Luna, who had been acting strange, as described by the servants at the palace that had been working close to her room. She screamed and walked around in her sleep, and at that moment was about to unleash an amount of magic that could be dangerous. "Luna! Luna! Luna, wake up! What's wrong?! Stop this!" Celestia called out to her sister loudly. She bracing herself against the magic energy and tried to cancel the spell with her own magic Sombra’s voice echoed in Luna’s mind. "Darkness wilt come again, Queen Luna. Embrace it." With that, he vanished out of Luna's dreams and was on his way back to the Crystal Empire. Luna collapsed to the side as Celestia rushed over to her. Her sister’s magic aura had disappeared from around her body immediately. “Ngh...” "Luna! What happened? Are you alright?" She knelt beside her and tried to help her up. “Luna, answer me.” "W-What...? What happened?" Celestia sighed and shook her head as she patted Luna’s. She spoke in the formal way to make Luna feel better and comforted. "Thou wert acting very strange, Luna. Had us worried. Dost thou feel better now?" Luna shivered a bit as she panted slightly. "Y-Yes... We believe so..." She stood up and looked at Celestia. She couldn’t help it. She immediately back of the nightmare had. Everything in her dream had put Celestia in doubt before her... Everything had seemed so cruel... “Oh, sister...!” Celestia blinked and looked down at Luna with surprise as the pre-adolescent filly immediately jumped and hugged her. “Luna...” “E-Everything... It wast... Sister, it wast frightening, We... We art so sorry!” She continued to cry on Celestia’s chest as she hugged her tighter. Celestia smiled and patted her head again. “There, there, little one. It was just a nightmare. Do not worry, I’ll always be here to drive them away.” We... We art afraid thou wilt not be enough... We art sorry, but thy presence just wilt not be enough... What art We to do, sister...?! She shut her eyes closed and nuzzled against Celestia. “Let’s go put you back to bed, okay? You need to rest...” Luna clung to her. “N-No, sister! We do not--” “It will be fine, little sister. I will be with you until you fall asleep.” “B-But what... What if the nightmares come back?” Luna looked up at her as her eyes teared up again. She shook her head. “We do not want to go to sleep again!” Luna had always been rather sensitive to nightmares, Celestia knew it. They always seemed to be more realistic than anypony else’s, for some reason. She would not dismiss her little sister’s worries, even over her duties. She still had plenty of time to tend to Luna’s needs. “I will be right beside you to drive them away. I might not be in your room all the time, Luna, but I will be here at the palace. All you need is call for me and I will be right over, ready to make you feel better. Okay? Does that work for you?” Luna looked down and nodded. She still felt quite scared and doubtful. She wished with all her heart that her sister’s kind words and presence were enough. Those despicable, ungrateful feelings in her subconscious were more than the little princess could bear, and she felt only shame and loath towards herself. Those wretched emotions shunned and hated her sister to no end, frightening even Luna herself. Yet there she was, shamelessly clinging to Celestia’s warmth and comfort. As she took refuge in the Sun Princess that her nightmares spoke so ill of, the Night Princess felt even smaller and more pathetic. In the end, nothing would change. Celestia would not be able to save her from her nightmares, and neither would she, even though those bad dreams were her own. No one would take her away from the hopeless darkness that she felt when she looked at her beloved sister. The darkness haunted Luna and would never let her rest. She was plagued by the horrible fear of losing the only light in her life, to her own negative emotions. That fear grew closer again and again. It gripped her as much as the nightmares against which she struggled. There was no hope for anypony to save her, she knew that. Instead, Princess Luna would carry her burden day and night. She would be subject to its torture nearly every time she slept. Celestia tucked Luna in her bed and made sure she was comfortable. “There. Remember, I will come back as soon as you need me, little sister.” She smiled warmly at her before stepping away from the room. She left the door just slightly open. “Sister...” Luna’s eyes filled with tears as she turned over in her bed. She tried to fill her head with the duties that would await her during night, hoping that all those busy thoughts would distract her and help her sleep peacefully. She sighed, wiping her tears away. It ist so hopeless and... unlike us... But... There ist nothing else to do... No one else can help us, sister. Not even... Not even thou can. We love thee, but... These darkness ist after thee, it shalt only endanger thee... We cannot allow thee to interfere and get hurt... It ist our problem alone...