Twilight tossed and turned in her bed, groaning in her sleep. She was shivering, but her fur and sheets were soaked with sweat. Her right hindleg spasmed violently, throwing her bedsheets right off her body. A whimper escaped from her throat as she fell from her bed, landing heavily against the hardwood floor.
The impact wasn’t enough to wake her, but it did wake her assistant from where he was sleeping in his basket as the foot of her bed. “Geeze, Twilight, what’s that about?” he complained sleepily, rubbing at his eyes. “Twilight?” Spike asked, realizing that she was lying on the floor. “Hey, you okay? Twilight?” He rushed to her side and shook her, trying to wake her from whatever nightmare held her in its cruel grip. “Twilight? Twilight!”
Huff… huff… huff… Inside her dreams, Twilight panted as she ran through the Everfree Forest, fleeing from something large and ominous chasing behind her. She dodged around and under the trees that stood in her way, their branches raking at her skin as they grasped at her fur. One branch caught in her mane, tugging her back and stopping her run. She screamed as she pulled away from it as hard as she could, her mane tearing at her scalp before she quickly broke free.
Behind her, she could hear the sounds of falling trees and breaking branches as whatever pursued her got closer. She caught an image of it through the branches, and had to quickly cover her mouth to suppress a scream. It was the creature of Discord’s from the Everfree, only now it was as large as a tree. No, wait… As she watched, the creature shifted and reshaped itself, becoming… Oh no,['/i] Twilight thought fearfully.
“Oh, Twiiiiliiiight~” Discord sang out, his larger-than-life claws pushing a tree out of his way. “Wheeeere aaaare youuuu~?” The tree crashed heavily against the ground, the impact sending tremors through the dream-landscape. Twilight whimpered as she backed away from the incoming colossus, hiding herself under a nearby shrub. The giant Discord poked his head over the tree tops, the playful expression on his face becoming somewhat annoyed. “Where are you, my little pony? Why don’t you come out? All your friends are having a fun time without you.” He snapped his fingers and Twilight saw her five friends appear on his outstretched hand. All of them were greyed-out, their bright colours muted, and they were yelling at each other. Twilight couldn’t tell who was saying what, but she could hear enough.
“What do mean, ‘what do you mean’, you stupid-“
“If I wanted your worthless opinion, I would think there’s something wrong with me-“
“Yer dumber than a sack of rotten apples-“
“At least I know how to talk-“
“I’m sick of seeing your ugly faces-“
“Well,” the giant Discord said with a shrug, “maybe ‘fun’ is the wrong choice of words.” Casually tossing the five ponies over his shoulder, he continued searching the forest for Twilight. Twilight watched as her friends fell out of sight, none of them apparently aware of their situation as they fell to their doom. A tiny scream escaped from her lips before she could silence it.
Dream Discord’s ears twitched as his head swivelled to look in her direction. His eyes searched the ground for her for a few seconds before a large malicious smile spread on his lips. “Ahhh,” he said, apparently savouring the moment for all it was worth, “there you are.” Stretching out his giant arm, his massive claws easily tore away her meager cover, fully exposing her to his wrath.
Twilight stared up at him in horror, unable to run or even to scream. Her mind screamed for her legs to run, but they had locked up from fear and were preventing her from fleeing. Discord smirked cruelly before reaching down towards her, his grasping claws coming ever closer… and closer… and closer…
A flash of crystalline blue suddenly flickered through his demented yellow eyes, and his claws crawled to halt less than a full pony length away from Twilight. He frowned in the distance, apparently seeing something Twilight was unable to. “Already?” he grumbled. “I’m not ready to face her yet…” He turned back to look at Twilight, a condescending smirk on his face. “Well, looks like you get to live a little longer, little pony. But next time we meet, nopony will be able to save you.”
A flash of bright white light filled the area, its dazzling white temporarily blinding Twilight. When she could see again, the monolithic form had vanished. “What… what was that?” she gasped out, not understanding what had just happened. “Why did he leave?” A powerful wind abruptly whipped up, blowing Twilight’s mane into her face. “Now what?”
The mighty wind blew through the forest, picking up rocks, sticks, and dirt as it went. The wind curled in on itself, twisting itself into a little tornado four times as tall as Twilight. A large pair of blue wings suddenly sprouted out of the center of the tornado, their feathers unruffled by the wind blowing through them. The wings gave a single, powerful beat, instantly dispelling the tornado. “Art thou- Are you well, Twilight Sparkle?” the being that had been in the center of the whirlwind asked. “We sensed another in your dreams and thought it would be best to intervene ourselves.”
“Princess… Luna?“ Twilight asked hesitantly, taking a tentative step towards her. “Is that really you?” Seeing that dark blue alicorn’s nod, Twilight leapt at her, pressing her head into Luna’s chest. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,” she cried, large tears running down her cheeks. “I was… I was just so scared!”
Luna looked down at Twilight in surprise, at a complete loss of what to do. “Um… It was no trouble at all, citizen,” she said, awkwardly trying to comfort Twilight. Her flowing star-speckled mane wrapped around the unicorn that was almost half her size, trying to bring her some manner of comfort. “It is our duty of Princess of the Night to bring peace to those in need. There is no need to fear now that we are here. Er… Please stop crying on me.”
Outside the dream, Spike noticed that Twilight had stopped trashing and a peaceful expression had appeared on her face. Whatever nightmare that had held her was now gone. “Geeze,” he complained, “don’t make me worry like that.” Bending down, he levered Twilight back onto her bed. She was too heavy for him to lift all at once, so he had to put her head and upper body on the bed first before squatting down and heaving up the rest.
“You make me work too hard,” he complained to the insentient form of his housemate. Seeing her peaceful expression made a smile appear on her face, and he bent down to kiss her horn as he before walking over to the closet on the side of the room and pulling out a fresh change of sheets. Laying the sweat-stained sheets out so they would dry out properly overnight, Spike pulled the fresh covers over her body. “Good night, you big overachiever,” he said with a yawn as he headed back to his basket.
Inside the dream, Twilight sniffled as she stepped away from her teacher’s younger sister, wiping at her eyes. “I’m sorry, Princess Luna,” she apologized. “I was just so scared.”
Luna nodded her head, her eyes showing understanding. “It is no concern, Twilight Sparkle.” Leaning in close to Twilight, she whispered into the unicorn’s ear. “I admit, he scares me too. And sister is worried as well. She’s barely gotten any sleep since you first told her that Discord was stirring.”
Twilight’s ears flattened against her skull at hearing that. Somewhere in her head, she had always thought of her teacher as firm, unflappable, and always in control. Even seeing her defeated by the queen of the changelings hadn’t been able to shake that belief. To hear it from her own sister’s mouth… “How?” Twilight asked. “Why is she so scared of Discord?” Something occurred to her that she had never even thought to ask before. “Actually, who is Discord? I’ve faced him before, but now that I think about it, I don’t actually know a thing about him.”
A sigh escaped from Luna’s mouth. “That… is not an easy question to answer,” she admitted. With a wave of her wings, she dispelled the surrounding dream landscape, leaving the two standing in an empty white void. “But I suppose you deserve to know. If he breaks free again, you and your friends are the only one who will be able to stop him.”
Luna’s horn started to glow, and the empty white void fade away, replaced with a completely different scene. Twilight watched in awe as the Princess easily warped, recreated, and controlled her dreams. The image coalesced, transforming into a place Twilight had never seen before.
It was a small village, smaller even than Ponyville. Snow covered the town, though none was falling at that precise moment. Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns were there in equal amounts. Strangely, the three species of ponies stood segregated from each other; the earth ponies standing with the earth ponies and the unicorns standing with the unicorns. The three groups stood separate from each other, occasionally shooting suspicious glances at the other groups.
“Princess Luna?” Twilight asked, looking up at the Princess beside her. “What is this?”
“This is a memory of mine, Twilight Sparkle,” the dark alicorn replied. She nodded her head at a large building, up at a spot on the wall far above them. “Before I can answer your question, I must show you this. Do not fear them. They can neither see nor hear us.”
Twilight’s gaze followed the direction Princess Luna had indicated, and she gasped at what she saw. Three flags hung proudly from the rooftops, each of equal size. The one on the left showed a frontal image of a light blue pegasus with large outstretched wings and a dark blue background speckled with stars. The one on the right was emblazoned with a side view of a white unicorn head with a short-cropped purple mane and blue eyes on a dark purple background evenly spaced with diamonds. The middle one showed several images of its own, including a farm, some flowers, a sun, and blue sky. Thanks to her studies of history, Twilight recognized the flags instantly.
“The flags of the founders!” she proclaimed. “Then, is this…?” she asked, looking at Princess Luna, unable to even frame her question in her excitement.
Looking at Twilight with an amused look in her eyes, Luna nodded her head once. “It is as you believe.” She gestured at the gathering. “This is the founding of Equestria as a nation. When the earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns all put aside their differences in order to come together and create a strong nation.”
“Ohmigosh!” Twilight squealed excitedly. She had read up on this event so many times, but to be able to see it with her own eyes was a privilege she had never thought she would get. The historian in her was going nuts, and she desperately wished she had some parchment to write down everything she saw. “Is this really when Equestria was formed? Oh, I wish I could be inside there right now.”
Luna smiled in amusement at Twilight for an instant before the smile faded. “Unfortunately, I will be unable to show you any of what is going on in there at this moment. I can only show you mine own memories. Look.” She pointed at a spot far at the back of the crowd. Twilight looked at the spot Luna gestured at, her eyes instantly landing on a pair of recognizable figures.
Celestia and Luna stood side-by-side on the outskirts of the gathering. They both looked far younger then their present-day selves and were both smaller than Twilight remembered – Celestia was only slightly taller than Twilight herself and Luna was even smaller. They already had their distinctive cutie marks proudly emblazoned on their flanks, and their manes and tails waved gently in the breeze as they watched the congregation with smiles on their faces.
“My sister and I played no part in the founding of Equestria,” Luna told Twilight. “They had intended to raise us as nobles and figureheads due to us being the last of the alicorns, but we chose to remain on the fringes and would only join the nation once it had already been established.”
Twilight looked up at Luna in shock. She had never heard this story before. None of the books she had every read had told how the Royal Pony Sisters came to be the co-rulers of Equestria and Princess Celestia had always danced around the issue whenever she had brought it up. “But why?” Twilight asked. “Why did you decide to not get involved with the nation at first? Surely you could have-”
“We wanted to see it,” Luna said, gently cutting Twilight off. “For as long as anypony could remember, the alicorns had ruled the world in a Golden Age of peace and prosperity. After every one of them except for my sister and I vanished, we wanted to see the form of the nation created by those who would follow after us.”
“Vanished?” Twilight asked, tilting her head curiously. She knew that an alicorn would occasionally be born to an ordinary pony family – heck, her sister-in-law was one – but was the first time she had heard of an entire species of alicorns. “What happened to them?”
Luna sighed, closing her eyes as her head sagged down. “I confess, I do not know,” she said. “It happened when I was naught but a foal. All I remember is one day being in a mighty castle filled with my winged and horned brethren. The next day, it was only my sister and I. I can no longer even remember what my own mother looked like” Her eyes opened and she forced herself straight and tall, though Twilight could still see the sorrow in her face. “But this is not what I wished to talk to you about. What dost thou know about the Windigoes?”
Twilight was caught off guard by the sudden shift in topic, and it took her a few seconds to process the question. “Um… They were malevolent winter spirits that fed off of fighting and hatred? The conflict between the pegasi, the earth ponies, and the unicorns gave them enough power to nearly turn the land into a wintery wasteland.” She looked at the scenery around them, the snow that covered the buildings suddenly given a new meaning. “Oh…” she said uncomfortably, backing away from the nearest pile of snow.
“Correct,” Luna said, inclining her head. “It was only thanks to the assistants of their leaders discovering the power of friendship that they were able to save themselves. But what thou may not know is that my sister and I had already known how to defeat the Windigoes and had intended to save the ponies ourselves. When they managed to save themselves, we wanted to see how well they would do governing themselves. We were impressed, and desired to see what the new up-and-coming race could accomplish without our guidance.” She smiled fondly, apparently remembering old times. “We were not disappointed.”
“How did you intend to defeat the Windigoes?” Twilight asked curiously.
Luna chuckled good-naturedly, her laughter reverberating throughout the dream. “So many questions! I fear I may never actually answer your original query.” Twilight mumbled an apology, but Luna only waved it off. “Nay, it is of no concern. It is good to be curious. My sister and I had intended to use the Elements of Harmony against them.”
“Huh?” Twilight asked. “But… I mean… nevermind,” she said, trailing off into silence. When Luna waved for her to continue, she cleared her throat. “I don’t want to bother you with too many questions.”
Luna rolled her eyes. “Ask,” she said forcefully.
“Alright," Twilight look up at Luna again. "Princess Celestia once told me that the two of you discovered the Elements of Harmony when you fought against Discord. How did you discover them then if you had intended to use them against the Windigoes?”
“An excellent question,” Luna acknowledged. “I’m certain my sister never told you this, but we were the ones who created the Elements in the first place.” She laughed openly at Twilight’s amazed expression. “I’m not surprised you didn't know that! Sister would probably wish to forget that event. And, in the irony that the wold seems to love so much, all our work was made completely unnecessary before we even finished. Maybe it was for the best. Something went wrong during their creation, and the Elements were unusable to us. Since it seemed they were not needed, we left them as lost. Until…”
The dream around Twilight wavered and wobbled before it shifted to show another scene. At first, the scene appeared normal, with ponies walking to and fro through a small town. Twilight recognized the large building from the previous dream in the center of the town. “Where is this?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Luna said darkly. “Watch.”
As Twilight watched, the buildings started to quiver and shake. She thought they were going to transition to another dream, but then she realized that the other ponies were running around in a panic. It seemed like some of them were screaming, but she couldn’t hear a thing. Fissures and cracks started to form on the ground, ponies and buildings alike falling into them. Twilight could see the horrified expressions of the falling ponies, and her legs moved before she could think, dashing forward to save them. Luna’s magic wrapped around her tail, pulling her up short.
“Calm thyself!” Luna scolded, despite looking like she wished she could save the falling ponies as well. “There’s nothing you can do for them now. This all happened long before you were born, so still thy emotions and observe.”
Twilight unwilling settled down, placing herself beside Princess Luna so the Princess could stop her again if need be. Her teeth ground against each other as the ground continued to break, more and more ponies falling out of sight. After far too long, the shaking finally subsided and the cracks stopped spreading. Only a few ponies that had been standing on the edge of town had been lucky enough avoid falling into the gaping holes. These few survivors struggled to their hooves, staring in dismay at the ruins that had once been their home.
A bright glowing sphere slowly rose out of the wreckage, bathing everything in a stark white light. The sphere began to stretch and morph, slowly growing in size. It stretched out, becoming serpentine in shape before a misshapen pair of legs and arms sprouted from it. A gasp of horror escaped from Twilight’s lips as a head grew on the light, the light becoming an unmistakable silhouette.
Beside Twilight, Luna scoffed quietly at the image. “He always did know how to make an entrance,” she admitted. Something in her voice sounded almost admiring, and Twilight was distracted from the image long enough to stare at Luna in disbelief.
Turning back to watch the scene playing out before her, Twilight saw that the light had faded completely, revealing the imposing figure of Discord. Discord appeared to be saying something to the remaining ponies, who were only staring up at him in shock. The more he talked, the more annoyed he appeared to get at the lack of reaction before he sighed and snapped his fingers.
For an instant, it seemed like nothing had happened. But then, giving the lie to that faint hope, Twilight saw a hint of movement coming from the vast hole behind Discord. Ponies started to crawl out droves, their expressions locked in expressions of anger and rage. The ponies who hadn’t fallen suddenly brightened at seeing the approaching ponies – no doubt they were happy to see their loved ones still alive. That happiness lasted until they were buried under the mob of angry ponies, who grabbed and beat them. The last thing Twilight saw before the scene faded was Discord flying above the whole thing, laughing his ass off.
Once again in the empty white void, Luna quickly got Twilight’s attention. “He was much less subtle in those days,” the Night Princess said. “It wasn’t until later that he developed his fondness for chaos and disharmony, eventually calling himself the spirit of same. At first, simple suffering was all he sought. I believe he eventually got bored of that and instead sought new ways to spread confusion and uncertainty.”
“How did you beat him?” Twilight asked. “We were only able to stop him because he believed he had already beaten us.”
Luna sighed, her face dropping wearily. “He didn’t fight against us,” she admitted unwillingly. “When we showed up, he said that the Elements would be ineffective against him and challenged us to give him our best. He taunted us, and even welcomed our assault. Sister tried to talk him out of it, but he refused to listen and forced us.” She sighed. “And we turned him stone. Afterwards, we led the reconstruction of Equestria, and were eventually proclaimed its rulers.”
Twilight gave Luna an odd look. Luna’s voice took on a strange tone whenever she talked about Discord. “You sound like you pity him,” Twilight said, realizing what that tone reminded her of.
“More like I sympathize with him.” The void faded again, as a new scene filled it in. They stood in a giant throne room, but not the one in Canterlot. Two giant thrones sat at the head of the room, though only one was filled. Celestia sat in one of the thrones, shifting through a series of papers.
Twilight, knowing what had to be coming, turned to Luna. “You don’t have to show me this,” she said desperately. There was only one moment of time this could be, and it was far too personal for the Princess beside her.
“Nay, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, her expression going firm. “It is my desire that you see this. I have never told anypony of this day, and believe it is time. I wish to tell you of it, the last great threat to Equestria before your time. After all, thy were the one-” The door abruptly exploded inwards, shards and splinters flying into the room. Stillness seemed to fill the room as a cold dark mist began flowing inside, desiring to smother and wipe out the light within. “-Who freed me from it,” Luna finished, her voice completely devoid of emotion. “From my other half.”
Nightmare Moon confidently strolled in through the open door, a smug expression on her face. Twilight shivered and ducked behind Princess Luna, unwilling to look at the Princess’ dark alter-ego who had twice tried to conquer Equestria. On the dark alicorn’s brow sat a large shimmering crown, twisted with darkness and looking like a perverted version of the crown that Celestia herself wore.
The dream Celestia stood up, tossing her papers aside. Her expression was stern as she started to speak, though Twilight was still unable to make out any words. Then, to Twilight’s surprise, a small whisper reached her ears, though the voice was not the Princess of the Sun’s. Looking up at Luna, Twilight saw that the dark alicorn’s mouth was moving as she appeared to be repeating the words that had been spoken over a thousand years before. Her eyes were closed, and it looked like she was repeating the scene entirely from memory. How many times over the centuries of her her banishment had Luna relived this very scene?
“What is the meaning of this, Luna?” Celestia said.
Nightmare Moon threw back her head and laughed, her wings flaring out as her entire body shook. Twilight was grateful that Luna didn’t repeat the laugh. Just the memory of it was enough to send shivers down her spine. “Luna? That is my name no longer. From this day, now and forever, I am Nightmare Moon! All shall live in and love my night, for all of eternity!”
Celestia looked completely befuddled. “Is this some sort of joke, sister? What are you talking about?”
Nightmare Moon snarled, baring her pointed fangs. “Thou aret no sister of mine, Sun Princess! A true sister would not push us to the side for her own glory!” Abruptly, her expression quickly calmed down, a quirk of a smile appearing on her lips. “But I do not hold it against thee. Your time has passed. From now on, it shall be me who the ponies love and admire!”
Understanding flashed across Celestia’s face, replaced with indescribable sorrow. “Luna, I had… I had no idea you felt this way. There’s still time. We can still talk about this. Please, don’t do this.” Even in Luna’s quiet whisper, Twilight could still hear the pain and desperation that Celestia must have felt all those long years ago.
“The time for talk has passed, ‘Sister’,” Nightmare Moon sneered sarcastically. “Already, my army marches on this castle. Do not think that I am the only one feeling oppressed under your rule. Many ponies march under my banner, as do the timberwolves and the hydras. Equestria will be mine!”
“Luna…” Celestia said quietly, bowing her head. Twilight saw a single tear running down her cheek, falling freely to the ground below before shattering on the cold stone floor like the bonds between the sisters had been shattered. Celestia’s eyes shot open, her pupils lost within a powerful white glow coming from within the Sun Princess. “The failing is mine. My dear, beloved baby sister… I do not know what evil has possessed you,” she proclaimed, “but I promise you, I will free you from it!”
“Promises, promises,” Nightmare Moon taunted, the sneer on her face unchanged. “You couldn’t keep that promise the last time you made it. What will you do if you cannot keep this promise as well?”
Celestia’s horn glowed brightly, charging up a magic bolt of great power. “Then I will do whatever I must to protect Equestria!” she cried, firing a blast of pure white energy at Nightmare Moon.
The dark alicorn laughed. “Equestria?” she mocked, firing her own bolt of pure black energy. “This isn’t about Equestria! It never was! This is about you! You only care about your own power!”
The two bolts collided in midair, pure light colliding with pure darkness. The sheer power of the clashing spells tore through the dream world, instantly dispelling the throne room and leaving Twilight and Luna once again in the empty white void. Twilight remained silent, believing that there was nothing she could say that could comfort the Princess.
Luna’s spoke, her voice almost completely devoid of emotion but there was a distinct quiver that gave away the depth of sorrow and regret she had to be suppressing. “Our battle raged on for hours. At first, it appeared as if Nightmare Moon would take the day. Sister was either the weaker or unwilling to use the full extent of her power. But then, Celestia used the power of the Elements of Harmony to banish… me… to the moon.” Luna choked at that, and took a moment before she could speak again. “In addition to her own Elements of Magic, Loyalty, and Laughter, she also used the power of the Elements of Honesty, Kindness, and Generosity. I would not learn this until my return a thousand years later, but the backlash from using all of the Elements on her own ravaged the magical field of Equestria, creating a magically dead land that would, in time, come to be known as the Everfree Forest.”
Twilight reared up on her hindlegs, pressing her forehooves against Luna’s side. “Why are you telling me all this?” she asked gently. Her mind whirled with all she had witnessed tonight. There was a side of Equestria’s history she had never even imagined! Under normal conditions, she would be squealing in excitement and begging to know more. But Luna’s demeanor said that there was a reason for telling her all this, a reason beyond simple knowledge.
“So you can understand what is at stake, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, spreading her wings out wide as she stepped away from Twilight. “Neither myself nor my sister are able to wield the Elements any longer after what happened that day. You and your friends are the only ones that can. Should you falter, there is nopony who is capable of carrying your burden.” Luna flew away as the white void started to fade, replaced with a pure darkness that held Twilight and began to lull her into a dreamless sleep. Luna’s voice was the last thing she heard before her consciousness faded. “Sleep well, Twilight Sparkle. I, my sister, and all of Equestria are depending on you.”