Past Twilight was gone, gone into the future. She had not managed to stop her before doing it. She would find her vengeance, yes yes. Her success had always been just a couple of hooves away, yet too far for her to achieve. It was mocking her, yes yes. The success was mocking her. Her ear twitched and she giggled. It felt funny when her ear twitched. Yes yes, it felt funny. It had been the two years. Twilight has left and returned and left again. Yes yes, Twilight had traveled through time very much. She had not managed to stop Twilight, no no. She had tried of course, but she never succeeded. It had been mocking her. Yes yes, Twilight had been mocking her. Pesky past Twilight.
The time had come. She had changed. She had changed her life, her way of thinking, her whole existence. She had become a different pony. She was not that pathetic filly anymore. She didn't have to hate herself anymore as she had now changed. Finally, she had found peace with herself. Neither had she to agree anymore nor did she have to deny any of her statements. The insanity had left her body, replaced by something far more mighty. All of these changes had made something very radical necessary: She had to change her name. That unspeakable name didn't fit her anymore. She had changed, she had evolved, she had become something completely different.
She was Nightfall's Radiance.
Not only her mind had changed but also her body. She had grown, her coat had turned darker and darker, until it had almost turned black. Her horn had grown and as had her training of magic. Her wings had grown and as had her ability to fly. She was a lovely sight now, especially in the dark. No remains of that foolish filly. She was a mare, grown with anger, grown with fear, grown with death in her heart. Her heart was cold now, her mind was clear. She laughed a deep, vibrating laughter. Her old self had died, had been exterminated, was nothing but a pure shadow of the past. Now she was here, a beautiful and majestic queen, here to rule them all.
The kingdom fell as easy as she had expected. Those fools were no match for her power and never have been. Celestia had grown old and fat. Nightfall's Radiance laughed once again as she remembered that face filled with fear and in 36comprehension.
"Who are...? Twilight Sparkle? What has happened to you?"
"That is the name of a pony that has died a long time ago. I am Nightfall's Radiance, the true Queen of Hatred, and it will be my pleasure to be your doom."
She laughed again. She had developed such a beautiful and cruel laughter. Celestia's face turned into a grimace as she heard it. Celestia slowly backed off, trying to find a corner. Her student has become a monstrosity. However, that was not the problem bothering her. Much worse was the question of whether she had created this monster herself. Was this her fault?
"What has happened to you?"
Celestia was almost numb in fear. Who was that pony standing before her? She remembered the filly Twilight Sparkle, that enthusiasm when she had freed Spike of his egg and was accepted into her tutoring. The lessons she had sent her with every week, the lessons she had learnt. How could such a loving, caring, wonderful Alicorn turn into this? Had it been wrong giving her such powers? Had she created this? That last question would bother her for all eternity. Then Luna descended from above and stopped her grim thoughts.
"Sister of mine?!" She turned around to Nightfall's Radiance "Who art thou foul monster? No harm to my sister shall be done as long as we forbid it!"
"Don't you remember me, Luna?"
There was an idea slowly developing in Nightfall's Radiance. Maybe she could turn this pathetic Princess into a real nightmare again. Maybe she could turn Luna into Nightmare Moon once again as already in the old times. As her loyal servant, Nightmare Moon could come in handy when dealing with their subjects.
"Or should I speak to your real self, Nightmare Moon? Purge yourself of your chains and join me in the destruction of Canterlot."
"Twilight? I... I didn't want to believe... For a monster is what thou hath become. And as a monster thou shall be judged."
"Oh Nightmare Moon. Don't be foolish or I shall destroy you both."
That had not been an empty threat. However, the two Princesses had already made their decision. They attacked both at the same time, in perfect union. Nightfall didn't have time for this childish play. With a single burst of magic, she disrupted both attacks at once, throwing them into two opposite corners. Together they were strong, but alone their weakness grows. She teleported all three of them into a distant place; the void. It was dark, but darkness was her ally. Through the years she had developed the darkness in her heart. The darkness in her heart had developed into a darkness throughout her body. Her eyes had changed, allowing her to see in her darkest moment. The one sister, Luna, would have the same advantage, whilst the other one would be without orientation. That would separate them both, giving her a clear advantage.
She attacked Luna first, because she knew Celestia could not help her sister. Luna evaded the first bolt of dark energy, but the second one already struck the shield Luna had created mere seconds before impact. The shield crumbled, but it didn't fall. Luna was strong, but never as strong as Nightfall. She would crush that princess, and it would only take her minutes. However, instead of attacking her directly, Luna teleported through her over to Celestia. It was the one thing that could still save them both. Together, they were too strong. She had to separate them further or the loss was inevitable.
"Your love makes you weak."
"It is your lack of love that dooms you to fail."
She laughed once again. Celestia really thought love could rescue them. There was no possibility for failure anymore. She had already failed. She had already died inside. Days didn't matter. What was time anyway? Only a way for her to achieve her goal. She would have an eternity to overthrow Celestia and Luna. They would fall eventually. It would just be a lot easier if they would fall now. She should not underestimate them both, but she should not easily give up either. It had cost her time to come to this point. Too much time to just stupidly waste. Nightfall had trained for this moment: Days, Months, Years. She had been the essence of ambition, never stopping her training once through sickness or sleep. Sleeping was something weak ponies could allow themselves to do, but she didn't need the sleep anymore. She was the sleep, she was the nightmare, she was the hatred itself. She had no mortal needs anymore. She had become something bigger, something better, something stronger. She had become the immortal Queen of Hatred.
Celestia and Luna worked together. Celestia was struck with blindness, but Luna helped her see. A spell, draining her strength, but helping Celestia fight. Together, they were strong and she knew that. She knew that the love towards her sister would overcome any hatred in this world. This being - clearly not Twilight anymore - was something horrific. The glowing eyes were shining throughout the void where they were fighting. How could a pony change so much around? The bitterness and hate would have had to grow so much. She didn't believe that Twilight had encountered the same problems as she had. To change her so fast, she must have experienced pure sorrow and grief.
Again and again, Nightfall had to divide them to stop their struggle. The magic shields of both were slowly crumbling, but they were still holding on. However, her own shield was fading much faster and she realized she would not win this fight, no matter how much she would try. Those ponies took their might from an eternal source. A source that she had once known before she had transformed. She hated herself for what she was about to do. Another failure was unacceptable, was a disgrace. But she had to do it if she didn’t want to die. Giving up would only fuel the fire of hatred inside of her, not relieve it by one bit.
She stopped the fight, creating a blinding light in the dark void. It blinded both of them as they had not expected it, but they were already regaining their vision. She used the short moment of distraction to teleport out of the vast nothingness of the void space and onto the face of the world again. The world which was going to feel her hatred. If she could not fight them both head on, she would have to envenom the world with her grief and anger.
She had found the perfect possibility. She had searched for days, but there had been no chance to strike again. There had been no way to attack the diarchy. The two Princesses had remained strong and focused, and even more alerted than before. Now, however, there was an opportunity, a small chance, but her only logical choice. Twilight would be beaten by what she had created. She would be beaten by her own potion. Nightfall laughed again.
"Your soul shall be mine, Twilight."
It had been a matter of weeks. Pathetic unicorns. They had been foolish enough to trust her. She had an easy game, infecting them with her own hatred.The potions were an easy medium. Ponies starved for the ability to become mightier, to gain the strength to do wonderful things. In the end, they all fell to the power of her hatred. It were just small amounts of her magic in each potion, too small to get witnessed by foolish mares, but enough to reap their souls and turn them into images of her.
The first one had been a blue coated mare with a pale light-blue mane. She had searched for power, for something to enhance her magic so she could compete with Twilight. Even after her visit, that mare had become her most frequent visitor. She was her right hand, willing to do whatever she would say, as long as that would harm Twilight. That mare went around in the world and sold the potion to foolish unicorns. Even the wisest and most loyal of them fell in their dark hours, fell to the starvation for power. Unicorns bought the potion over night, just trying it out. They became infected by her hatred and soon enough addicted to the power. Those unicorns, her daughters and sons, created their own empire. An own city, own regiment, their own rules. She was the founder of that city and she would watch it until the end of all days. Her empire expanded, day after day. Soon, all of Equestria would be consumed by her anger.
Her daughters and sons had already caught Celestia and Luna for her. It had been a day of delight, slowly trotting towards their imprisonment, seeing both lying in their cells and laughing at their failure to evade the inevitable. Nightfall had created something she could be very proud of. She had created her own society, no, her own world of hatred. Day after day, that hatred would spread and intensify.
The anger swept through the landscape as a terrible scream emerged from her throat. The windows of her palace of shadow shattered and her bitterness had no end.
"Twilight Sparkle!"
Her hatred burst out in a magical explosion that completely obliterated the whole palace. The debris slowly rained down from the dark night's sky. Another burst shattered through the calm silence of the night. Twilight had run away. Her fate had been so inevitable. She had seen Twilight dying already, she had seen it. Twilight had run away.
Another burst of magic erupted, turning the very ground below her into thin, molten air. Another scream came out of her mouth and it didn't even sound like a pony's scream anymore. The anger was bursting out in waves as she could not accept that fate. She screamed again and her scream howled through the night all through Equestria, spreading the fear. Her guards had been foolish enough to let that pony through to the machines. She has had only one chance to catch her and they had let Twilight escape into the past with her very own potion. When Twilight would come back, a world of hatred would wait for her. She screamed once again, but her anger did not flow out. It just kept on amassing, until it was too much to bear. Nightfall's Radiance slowly stood up from what had been a throne once. Her long wings carried her through the night as she would finally let her hatred reign freely. She had always tried to contain it. There had always been something holding her back. Now that something was gone. Deep inside, she had realized that she could not change it. She could not change anything.
For that, the world had to suffer. The world, which had betrayed her, which had stolen her soul, stolen her mind and stolen her last memories of love. This world was nothing but an abomination, an illusion of love and friendship was the only thing that was holding this together. Now she would end that false illusion once and for all. She would crush everything. Her deep scream of pain and anger swept through the night again. All would have to suffer. Every little reminder of what had been called love had to be purged off this world.
She landed in the center. From here, she would begin. Slowly and steadily, she increased the amount of magic. The magic was feeding on her hatred and the hatred was growing with each and every second. The sky around her turned into darkness, the clouds started to spit thunder and lightning as they tried to escape the grasp of her magic. It all had to go. Every single memory of the past world had to be purged of her new world. A new world without the illusion of love or friendship, without memories. A new world without a future. She laughed again. A new world...
A new world without a past.