//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Celestial Tortures Book II: Nightmares // by Rarity Belle //------------------------------// The forges of rage burn on the embers of hatred But the metal forged, can be a platinum of hope If the process is done well enough   Luna growled deep to herself when she sat behind the desk that was located within her very own bedroom. The time had progressed by a several weeks after the offer was made but there never was a definitive answer on it. In her mind there still was the struggle between her true self and the nightmare image of herself. But the voices within her head always seemed to be persuading her over. She wanted to be worshiped more. She wanted to become the princess she always desired to be. But that was the plan of the being within her heart. Using her for its own good and let Equestria fall into eternal darkness. But Luna was weak in a sense of the word. Of course she was physically considerable stronger than her sister, but emotionally she happened to be a complete and utter wreck. She never had been truly able to process the disappearance of her parents when they were crowned and it all contributed to her rage and overall sadness. If not being the greatest or even the very cause of it. The eyes of the young princess laid themselves before the very papers she was working on too deep in the afternoon. Tomes of spells got written down together with countless equations and other statistics. Entire graphs were made on them to show the effectiveness of a spell compared to its charging time. Celestia often spoke it as a joke that her brain was replaced with a machine, for not even she was that smart. Luna’s eyes closed themselves gently as she began to speak her words of doubt in a whispering tone. “Am I, really going to be doing the right thing here? Building such a weapon of destruction for...what? To proof that my very own sister is wrong?” Her tone rose itself up in a much darker version of it and she continued to speak. “It is the only thing that will be able to give you, to give us, what you wanted. Now quit your moaning and continue on it. Please.”         Almost as if it was a command had Luna returned to her work. Her horn charged itself again and she levitated a quill over. The quill itself started to draw the lines of an amulet in the form of the wings of a pegasus on the outside and the head of a unicorn on top. In the center piece there would be place for a gem the size of a normal pony's pupil. The gem itself would be magically enchanted by nopony else, than herself. Her eyes allowed themselves to gaze over the drawing as they flashed over to the cat like irises and she continued to speak in the dark tone. “Yes, it is perfect,” it spoke before her eyes turned back to normal again. Luna shook her head and reached for it with a hoof in order to rub it. An uncomfortable moan of utter discomfort left her mouth as her eyelids fell shut again. “Curse these headaches,” she muttered in herself. Little was known to Luna herself though. She didn’t even knew that she had a split personality. The kind and considerable jealous sister and the being that spoke in the dark voice were in fact two different beings, yet they were merged together into one physical body. A schizophrenic was what she could be classified as. A terribly dangerous one at that as her darker side wanted and was on its way to overthrow the kind side of the princess.         Luna finished up the drawings and all the equations she had been working on. With one final charge of her horn did she place everything on one stack and let it rest upon her desk as it was. Under the sounds of a deep sigh she removed herself from her desk and a loud yawn left her mouth as she dropped herself on her bed.         “Ugh, one small nap before raising the moon could do no harm,” she mumbled to herself. Her eyes looked out to the window in order to see the late afternoon for what it was. With her horn still charged were the curtains of her room closed and thus she allowed the room to shroud itself within the darkness once again. The darkness was what her other side preferred so much more then the light of the sun. Luna discharged her horn and closed her eyes. The energy of the horn traveled in all directions like sparks before they disappeared out of existence.         Soon enough she found herself deeply asleep on her bed. Her snoring was a gentle one and her breathing soft. She traveled deep in her mind and was granted to live within her dreams for the time being. Dreams of fun and pleasure that would stay that way, or so she hoped. ---                      Celestia found herself on the throne of the castle and gave her visible eye the time to look around the room. The chandeliers and candles shone their lights as the sun almost had disappeared behind the hills. “Where are you sister?” she questioned to herself aloud.  Her mane was flowing as graceful as ever. The guards the stood in the room looked at each other before they turned their attention back to her. All of their eyes gently rested upon the royal, awaiting what would happen.         “Word had it from the marching troops that she was working until an hour or two ago,” one of the guards spoke in a deep, male voice. He had made his way up to the throne. As he reached the footing of the elevated chair, he bowed down through his forelegs in a respectful manner.         “Arise commander Blitzwing,” replied Celestia to him, “and tell me what you know, please.”         “As you wish, my princess,” answered Blitzwing. His head rose itself up. He was to be revealed as a tough pegasus guard with a grayish white coat and navel blue mane. Yet as impressive as he looked within his armor, it were the two scars that over his left eye. They were the result of the stallion's rather unfortunate encounter with a Lunar Guard that went rogue. The commander was one of the very first ponies who met the powerful claws of the durga firsthoof. Even though he had encountered the full power, his eyesight was still near perfect. It was truly a thing that surprised the doctors who treated him.         His wings spread themselves and were just looking powerful but during that same encounter one has been left terribly injured. “The princess of the moon has been working until two hours ago. What or why is still unknown to me, never was told to me. I can only hope she is alright,” he mostly repeated before Celestia.That was all the information that was known to him though.         “A wish we both have for my sister then. Commander Blitzwing, you are dismissed. Return to your bunk and get some sleep yourself, you look like you need it,” said Celestia with a thankful and caring tone. The princess was more than right on that fact. The commander was always busy from the early morning to deep in the night. Ever since his defeat against the rough guard, he had sworn a couple things to mostly himself. And he made sure that the happened events wouldn't happen to him again or any of the cadets that fell under his squadron.         The stallion bowed in silence before the princess and he turned himself around. Blitzwing left the room without a single word. Celestia watched him go as he went and she gave a small smile off. “You're a good stallion, Blitz,” she mumbled to herself after he had disappeared out of the room. ---                      Blitzwing continued on his patrol through the castle, but everything seemed to just point him over to the lunar wing. The very wing where not only princess Luna had taken her residence, but also the same one where he gained his injuries. The more he walked into the direction and through its halls, the more his mind brought up the memories of that what happened to him.         He tried to shake it off of himself. He kept walking through the hallways of the lunar wing. But it didn't matter where he went or thought about. There was always the memory of the battle he fought within the very castle walls. Blitzwing growled and muttered inaudible to himself in response to it. The memories had haunted him ever since it happened. A trauma he never fully recovered of.         The stallion went through the many hallways that looked like both night and space itself. All of the walls were different shades of blue. They were varying from light blue like the waters of the sea, to dark blue as the skies in the early evening. Through the stained glass there was the faint moon to be seen. The moon itself, and it wasn't even raised by Luna but by Celestia. The halls themselves were lit up with faint torches as the lunar guard preferred the darkness to patrol on. Nonetheless he was still able to spot them clearly with his grass green eyes.         “Captain,” spoke Blitzwing when he walked passed by the most well known captain of the lunar guard: Warding Scale. A stallion who was even tougher than Blitzwing, or at least more muscular. To that day, Blitzwing wasn’t sure of the answer.         Warding gave him a faint smile as he saluted before the commander. “Wing,” he replied in his deep voice as the yellow cat eyes fell on Blitzwing. “What brings you here, if I may ask? Or are you just touring once again? See where you can avoid trouble?”         The commander returned the salute as one side of lips got pulled up to form a faint smile. “At ease, captain Scale. I am just here to give my mind some rest. princess her orders,” he replied.         “So you finally got something else in that coconut of yours. Heh, I'm actually surprised here,” replied Warding before he crossed the hallway to the side of Blitz. Yet he mostly did it to be out of the way if others had to pass. “And how did you even saw me, in this darkness no less?”         “Gotta heed her calls, right?” Blitz replied before he released a chuckle at the words. “How do you think I became a commander to begin with? Besides, your muscles aren't that difficult to spot.” He then gave a friendly punch in the shoulder of Warding.         “Hehe, true that on both matters. Never been one for stealth, as you know. I prefer straight up action anyways,” the captain replied to him. He didn't even stroked the spot where the hoof hit him. Instead his hoof went through the gray mane. “Remember that moon?” he spoke while he yellow eyes gazed out of the window and fell on the rock in the skies.         Blitzwing looked at it for a couple seconds before he gave a nod to the captain. “Aye, most terrible day of my life without a single doubt. The same moon that was there on the night she lost her mind.” He released a deep sigh as the sounds of the fight rang into his ears. The warnings he had given her which was followed up by the sounds of the metals clashing against one another.         “Good guard and gal, shame she lost her mind...” said Warding. He took his eyes off of the window and laid them back on Blitz. “Hey, you alright commander?” he asked in a questioning tone as the face of the other stallion was even whiter than it normally was. For he had hit the part in his mind where the blades of the durga ran across his face. For a moment did Blitz felt them again on his flesh. Those thunderous blade carving through him while they fought.         “Y-Yes. I, I am alright. Just, a little nerve that got caught between two things,” he replied while rubbing his forehead with a hoof.         Warding placed a hoof on the shoulder of Blitzwing and let out a deep sigh. He looked him deep in the eyes. “Go to bed, forget about her and try to get some sleep. The last thing your squadron is waiting for, is a commander out of shape. You need it, trust me,” he spoke in a kind and sympathetic tone as the smile returned to his face.         “You, you are probably right again, Warding, I do need some sleep. I, I’ll finish up the round and then it’s off to the bunk for me,” replied Blitz to him. He shook her head a little bit in the hope to lose the feeling. He then looked back to Warding who let him go.         “Then I shall not stand longer in your way. Good luck, and a good night,” the captain returned to him. He gave a nod with his eyes closed.         “I hope so my friend, I hope so. And I wish the same to you,” Blitz spoke to him. Afterwards he continued on his patrol through the lunar wing. Warding had one last look over to the commander before he also went on with his own patrol and delved into his own thoughts. ---                      The more Blitz wandered through the halls however, the more realistic the thoughts became for him. Flashes before his eyes of the charged up claws that made their way over to him. He remembered the whole night as if it happened the day before. Unknown to the stallion was the fact that he had almost reached the bedroom of the lunar princess. Though his curiosity did got the better of him. He knew spying on one of the royal sisters was forbidden but if it was able to take his mind off of the vicious attack he found it worth the price. As silent as a manticore that walked up to its prey, he moved over to the door of the bedroom. That wonderful oaken door had always captured his imagination for some reason.         The stallion placed his ear against the wood and he started to listen to the sounds inside. Both of his eyes closed themselves from the world in an attempt to enhance the noises he could from the other side. At first he couldn't make out them out, but after a few second he heard everything perfectly. “But that’s not her voice,” Blitzwing whispered to himself. Seconds later had he removed his ear from the door. He looked around to see if there was a hiding spot somewhere in the near area. For behind the door he had heard the hoofsteps that came into his direction.         Without a warning that was given was the door flung open and Luna left her bedroom with the sounds of a growl. As she inhaled, her nose caught a scent that was new to her. Or at least unusual for the part of the castle that she owned. She took a couple more sniffs into the air and turned to her left. “Where are you?” the princess spoke in the darkened voice. She reached the first crossing of the hallways. She sniffed a couple more times before her attention was taken by the deeds she had to do. “We don’t have time for those games,” she spoke up to herself and turned herself around almost instantly.         Blitzwing’s heart was beating in his throat as her hoofsteps could still be heard but fainted away in the distance. “W-What in the, name of everything celestial,” he managed to bring out in a whisper to himself. Blitz dared to have a peek around and he was able to see the tail of the princess disappearing in a corner. “...Is going on here?” The commander proceeded to turn further around the corner and then he went out of his hiding spot. He passed the bedroom of the princess and noticed that the door was still open. Blitzwing had one peek inside in order to see if there was somepony else within it, but there was none.         He turned himself over to the hallway he saw her tail disappear into. “This is getting too fishy for me. First that odd voice, then the sniffing and now the departing. What are you hiding from us, princess?” he whispered again to himself. The stallion walked over to it and eventually into it. Blitz rose his pacing a bit in order to keep up with her. The hoofsteps of Luna could be heard and he followed her unnoticed through the halls of the castle. It was a good thing that he first went to his bunk and removed all of the clanky and heavy armor from his body. ---                      After a passage of time, and several near captured times later, he stood before the closing doors that led to the forging area of the castle. All the armor and weaponry were forged by the massive furnaces that were powered by a magical fire that never required coals to burn. The Forgers –as the workers liked to call themselves– always worked in the hot and dangerous area were one simply mistake could deliver second degree burn marks almost instantly and without mercy. The walls used to be white but since the fires started to wage in the furnaces, they had turned into the color of the very sun. It created a spectacular play on it. One forgotten by the Forgers as they got used to it.         “What brings you here?” the stallion continued to whisper to himself. He slipped through the closing door. Blitzwing then found himself in the very heart of the castle, so to speak. With his eyes he spotted the royal but he never walked up to her and just kept himself hidden behind a set of weapon racks. He had a clear view on the events despite the low level he sat on.         The horn of Luna charged up and it the cobalt blue aura started to surround it as a sheet of metal was levitated into the air. The eyes of the alicorn got focused on it and a shape formed itself within it. Time didn't had to progress long before the remains of the sheet were removed. They were simply dumped to the side like the wastes they were.         All that was left was the cut sheet of metal that looked like a set of pegasus wings, a unicorn head with horn and a triangular shape. Three different sets of things, yet so much alike. Luna brought the form to her eyes and inspected it from all sides as a grin formed itself. “Perfect,” she spoke to herself and the metal forms got placed within the fires of a forge that stood close to her.         But when Luna turned herself back to the work table, her blue eyes got fixed right on the stacks where the stallion had hidden himself. When Blitz noticed she was actually looking at him, he started to fear the worst. The commander began to pray for his life to not being caught by her.         Luna sniffed a couple times once again before she released a growl into the thin air. Her attention then turned back to the bench before her and it appeared she broke out in a massive argument with herself. “We don’t care how we do it, but just do it!” she eventually shouted to herself. The hatred within that voice, that commanding tone, it never could have been Luna herself.         Taken by utmost surprise from the words and person there was spoken in, Blitz stroked his chin a bit as his own thoughts were running wild. “Schizophrenic? Don’t be ridiculous, Blitz. A princess of Equestria doesn't suffer that kind of disease, no, there is something else. There has to be,” he spoke in a silent tone as only his lips moved. His eyes got laid again the royal as he watched her doing again with his hawk eyes.         The mare of the night held a gem in her magical aura and she spoke her words in the darkened voice. “The Eye of the Dragon, the very gem that will hold all of the power.” Her horn suddenly gained a different kind of coloring. It turned from its cobalt blue one into a blood red one. But that wasn't the only chance that the stallion could see. For even her irises turned into the same red coloring. And to add even more salt to the open wound, there were words spoken in a tongue unknown to the ears of Blitzwing that took their turn through the air.         And then it happened. The magical charge made a connection to the gem, which on its turn got filled with it. But with what it exactly got filled was still unknown for the commander. He just kept himself silent on his spot for a bit longer.         “Finally, the Alicorn Amulet shall be ready and operational,” said Luna in the regular tongue as the stream of magic disconnected from the gem. She placed the Eye back on the table and turned over to the furnace where the pieces of metal laid in. Blitzwing saw his chance clean and just made a run for it. The commander had seen enough of what was going on. He had to warn the other princess of the potential danger that could be caused by the forging. An action done by the very sister of the celestial princess, trouble laid ahead and he knew it. The stallion made his way silently over to the door and left without a trace. That was, almost, without a trace.         In the end had Luna turned herself around just a few second after his departure and she sniffed the air again like a dog that picked up a scent. The mare followed her nose until the direction the smells came from until she stood by the weapon racks and a smirk formed itself. “This is not over, yet,” she spoke in the dark voice. After which she turned back to the forge. ---                      “Oh Discord...” Celestia spoke to herself. She found herself on the throne. Her eyes were closed and she laid in a sleeping position on the throne. Given the absence of Luna, it was her job to rise the moon and stars to the skies for the night. Something that caused her extreme’s amount of magic she wasn’t used to. It made her weaker and thus more tired. The elder sister had traveled to a world of the past because of it. To one where everything was still peaceful and chaos only existed behind the dark stone walls of the far west.         A smile formed itself on her face as a single tear ran down her cheek. She remembered the times before he was the monster of her nightmares. The gentlecolt he was to her and the lover she always wished to have. How she snuggled up against him as the lands well known nightly storms erupted but also how she stroked his cheek on pleasant days by the lake. Those were times she would never forget, ever.         Peacefully she laid on the throne while her mane waved like it always had been doing. A true magnificent sight to behold. But her rest was soon to be destroyed as the commander was on his way. “Your Highness! Your Highness!” Blitzwing almost shouted as he barged into the throne room. All of the guards on duty in the room shocked up from the sudden raising in voice as Celestia herself opened her eyes, but as per usual, only one was to be seen.         “Yes?” The mare couldn't hold herself longer and let a deep yawn escape while her head rose itself up. “Commander Blitzwing? What’s the matter? Can’t sleep?” The elder sister released a gentle chuckle at her remark before her tone turned a bit more serious. “Blitz, go to sleep, you need it.”         “I do not! For I saw things just yet nopony else ever wants to see in their lives!” he spoke before the throne. All of the other guards looked oddly at each other before their attentions turned back to the events before the seating. “You have to know this your highness, before it’s too late. P-Permission to speak, miss?”         “Oh, this again..? Permission granted,” replied Celestia to him. She had to cover her mouth afterwards with a hoof to hide another yawn.         “Your sister is forging something down in the forges. And there was this gem she called the, the, the eye of...of something I can’t remember. But she blasted the thing with a beam of red magic. She, she may be plotting against you!” he managed to bring out through the nerves and fears of his own mind could have corrupted him.         Celestia’s ears caught all of the words he spoke. She couldn't do much else then just release a deep and well meant chuckle at them. “I do not wish to offend you, commander, but that my sister, my own flesh and blood is plotting against me seems highly unlikely. And she goes more than often to the forges as she loves to create her own armor. Shake it off of your shoulders, Blitzwing. Go to sleep for once. And just do it. You’ll be surprised by how well you feel after a good night’s rest. I’ll even tell your squadron that you take a day off tomorrow,” she spoke in her usual kind tone.         “W-What? No! You have to listen to me princess! I am speaking the truth here,” he pleaded in the faint hope that she would hear his warning. But it was all in vain. Celestia shook her head under another light chuckle. “Please, listen to me, your Highness.”         “No Blitz, you have been seeing things again,” she simply spoke in response. ---                      In that moment was it the younger sister who walked into the room. She wore the fully constructed amulet on a chain around her neck. The gem in the middle shone its bright red coloring, but her eyes were still the normal blue one. Like a red and blue menace she just stood there as Blitzwing gulped deeply. “Oh no...” was the only thing that he could say.         Celestia was still skeptical about it all. She laid her eyes on her sister with an semi interested glance. “I was already wondering just where you had been this day. Rumors spoke you didn't got any sleep,” she said to her sister. Celestia would be fishing for information.         “That is correct, we didn't got any sleep and as you can see, we kept ourselves busy. But we am not here for chit chat. We want to discuss as you know it,” answered Luna in her normal tone. She walked up to the throne. But when she came closer, the scent she smelled by the weapon rack, lead her over to Blitzwing. You, she thought to herself as her eyes turned over to him before they laid back on Celestia. “Once again we purpose the offer to you, sister. We want the night to last longer.”         “Luna, we have discussed this countless times already! The night and day stay as long as they are. I have said it before and say it again, this is non-negotiable! Will you ever learn that simple fact?” answered Celestia to her. She rose up in a sitting position on the throne and stared Luna down.         “You are afraid, as always! You do not wish that you lose your precious subjects who worship you like a god. Because you aren't one! You are nothing but a rider of the tides,” Luna snarled back to her. Even Blitzwing could feel the harm that was done against Celestia.         “How do you dare to speak in such a tone, against your own sister? Your own flesh and blood no less!” the elder sister replied. Though she tried to fight back her own emotions.         “We all know who really should be sitting there, sister.” But all the wires in the head of Luna had been snapped by her alter ego as it had taken full control of her body. The amulet around her neck seemed to be having two purposes. The first one made the wearer stronger in magic. But it’s second purpose was a lot darker, for it would corrupt the wearer. In the case of the lunar princess, it would lure out the beast deep within her. A beast that knocked right on the front doors of Celestia's heart with a sledgehammer. “It was you who caused Mother and Father to die! You could have stopped them! But no, you didn't do that. You let them just die before both of our eyes! It is you who has committed the highest form of treason!” The further she spoke her words, the darker her tone got as Celestia shook her head in a disagreeable manner. The elder sister was mentally already denying every single word that was thrown at her.         “They did not, die, before us. They sacrificed their souls so we would rule the land. There is a reason why I don’t have entitled us queens, for the fact I want to honor the real king and queen.” Celestia spoke up as her eye never left Luna.         “See! It is your will again. Maybe I don’t want to be a puny princess, maybe I wish to be a queen? Ever thought about that?” Luna snarled back. “You are nothing but a selfish foal that is scared to see the reality of the situation!”         “Enough of this madness!” Celestia spoke in a booming voice all of the sudden. The sheer volume of the voice was loud enough to make cracks appear within the window of the throne room, all the other ponies to cover their ears. “Go to your room and think about your words! You have said more than enough harmful ones tonight then you did in your whole life! Get out of my eyes, now!”         “Afraid we have to disappoint you there, sister dear to us. For the nightmares have only just began. If you don’t grant what we want, then prepare to pay the price,” she spoke before her eyes fixed themselves on those of her sister. The darkness and madness within them could be read like an open book. The horrors of the beast were knocking against it, ready to be released.         “This... This is, outrageous,” spoke Celestia in a defeated voice. But little did she knew that the horror that would be coming next. It would surprise every single soul within the throne room.         Only mere seconds after she had spoken her words, Luna moaned and groaned in agony from a burning pain. One that began to rage deep within her heart. The coat of mare began to crack open like land would during an earthquake. All of the cracks filled themselves with the purest black ever to be seen by any pony that ever lived. It was only moments before the entire coat just shred itself apart and to pieces. All that remained was the darkness that declared its dominance.         Luna’s flowing mane became more misty and waved at an increased rate. The eyes turned from their normal pupils into a pair of cat-like ones. A new set of hoof shoes, a new crest piece and even a helmet appeared on her body. The exact same items she had been forging a couple weeks ago. Items that would be perfect for battle –if not an all out war.         The horn elongated itself as her teeth merged into razor sharp fangs. Even something thought that was impossible managed to happen in front of their very eyes. For even Luna's entire cutie mark got changed. From the splashes of black and the crescent moon, it got turned into a more purple and broken white version of it.         All of the changes happened under the painful screams of the real and severely weakened real princess of the night. For it was the monster in her mind that had taken full control over the body as well. And the roles were revealed as it was the young Luna that was sealed within her own heart. She could only to witness as the beast do its work.         The wings spread themselves and send liquid shadow all over the place. And with one flash of darkened light did the legs and body of Luna extended themselves into the size of Celestia. Who on her own turn looked in complete shock at everything. She wanted to charge, but that would mean she had to harm her sister. Something she would never forgive herself form.         And there it stood, in the throne room of Canterlot castle right before the princess of the sun. The completely changed princess of the night. Her coat had become as black as coal and her mane misty. The eyes looked like they were from an animal instead of those from a mare. The cat-like eyes fixed themselves once again Celestia as it spoke again in the darkened voice with a roar. “We are Nightmare Moon!”