Princess Celestia's hooves pounded against the stone as she galloped through the never-ending passageway. Her sister's voice echoed through the tunnels, surrounding her with the royal declaration of her 'surrender' and chilling her to the bone with how cold her sister sounded. No, not her sister. The mare out there was an embodiment of dark magic that had taken advantage of the second most powerful being in Equestria during a state of weakness. Sadly, the dark spirit had locked onto Luna and turned her into a monster. The alicorn making the declaration was no longer the kind, innocent sister Celestia once knew. And apparently she was calling herself Nightmare Moon.
"How fitting. She is calling of herself a nightmare." mumbled Celestia, slowing to a trot as she grew closer to an intersection of tunnels. "Now, which way was it again?"
Captain Darkwing stood silently beside Nightmare Moon as court began. As of right now there was some random mare with a cream-colored coat and spring green mane droning on about how the moonlight wouldn't help the crops grow and then there wouldn't be enough food and so on. The fact that her cutiemark was an open packet of seeds and a seedling should have been a dead giveaway that she was a farmer, and the fact that she was an earth pony with her mane pulled into a braid confirmed it. One quick glance to his left and the Captain knew his queen was ready to snap.
Left eye twitching in annoyance, Nightmare Moon did her best to sit patiently. Dealing with these kinds of ponies was a constant part of being a ruler... "Enough!" she barked. The mare's jaw snapped shut and she fell to the floor in fear. "We have heard your argument and come to a conclusion."
The mare lifted her head, emerald eyes filled with hope. "Y-yes, my queen?"
A veil of silence fell over the throne room for a few precious moments. Darkwing used this time to make sure he had a good sense of balance on the polished floor and laying his ears back in preparation. He wanted to be able to hear when he when he got home, thank you. Nightmare Moon took a deep breath before casting her gaze downwards to stare at the cowering mare. "I WILL NEVER BRING BACK THE SUN! THE NIGHT SHALL REIGN ETERNAL! NOW LEAVE!"
The mare turned and high-tailed it out of the throne room. After the last traces of the yellow and green streak were gone, Nightmare Moon turned to Captain Darkwing. "Captain?"
"Yes, my queen?"
"See to it that no other," she paused for a moment and eyed the doorway, "farmers enter this room with pleas for the sun to be returned."
"Right away, my queen."
He dashed across the room and out the throne room doors to find a long line of ponies, mostly earth ponies, waiting to enter. He groaned and stepped forward. "Anypony who is a farmer seeking the sun must leave this instant!" he commanded, his hoof pounding against the floor authoritatively with the sound of iron against stone.
Darkwing watched as the majority of the line disappeared. As he turned to re-enter the throne room, he stretched out his wings slightly. A smug grin crossed his muzzle as the sound of retreating hoofsteps was heard coming from behind him.
Sound traveled quite well through the nearly silent stone tunnels. Celestia had slowed to a walk as she traversed the tunnels, cringing when Nightmare Moon's shouting reached her once again. Apparently, she had forgotten to mention the fact that night would reign eternal to the citizens of Equestria. Once the echo faded, all that was left to be heard were Celestia's hoofsteps. Each time her hoof struck the stone it would ring, thanks to her gold shoes. The sound would barely begin to fade before her hoof fell again, creating a chorus of delicate ringing through the tunnels.
She continued on through the dark, winding tunnels. The soft glow from her horn provided limited visibility, but she couldn't risk a more powerful illumination spell if she wanted to avoid detection. For all she knew, there were members of the night guard searching for her. Better safe than sorry. she thought, turning the corner to find a dead end. The stone wall showed little wear, though what was shown was rather recent. After quickly glancing over her shoulder, Celestia touched her horn to the center of the wall. A soft golden light similar to the first rays of the morning sun spidered towards the edges.
The light reached minuscule grooves in the stone invisible to the naked eye, filling them with light in the pattern of a six-pointed star. Celestia stepped back as the wall slid away revealing a great hall where the Elements of Harmony were kept. The ceilings were high, with stained glass windows on either wall. Most were simple, just randomly colored plates of glass, while others were slightly more intricate. One example of this was the most recent addition: the fall of Discord. Luna and Celestia had trapped him in stone with the Elements almost a year ago, but now Celestia had to wield them against her own sister.
She stepped out of the tunnel into the chilling, colored moonlight. Everything had a silvery, yet colored, hue instead of the light gold she was used to. At one end of the hall stood a pedestal where the Elements sat when they were not in use. Atop the center pedestal was a golden crown with a pink gem in it. Branching out from the pedestal were five arms, each with a gem resting on them. Red, purple, sky blue, light pink and orange; all six Elements were accounted for. She moved forward towards the pedestal, cringing when the door behind her slid closed with a hollow, yet surprisingly loud thud.
Almost immediately, an armored unicorn burst through the doors with a pegasus not far behind him. "Captain Shield?" Celestia called as the two white stallions neared her.
"Princess?" The unicorn ground to a halt, causing the pegasus behind him to bump into him as he skidded to a halt on the stone floor. Solar Shield glared briefly at the pegasus behind him before turning back to look at the white alicorn at least twice his height. "I thought you would have left the castle by now, since you've surrendered the throne to Nightmare Moon."
She hung her head slightly. "We did not surrender. Well, technically we did, but not exactly. We were headed here, for the Elements."
Silence fell over the hall and it seemed to grow, until the pegasus standing behind Captain Shield noticed something was amiss. "Y-your Highness, if I may, why is Princess Luna not with you? Has something happened to her?"
Looking back towards the Elements, Celestia answered her guard's harmless question. "In a sense, yes. We do not, however, wish to alarm you, so we will keep it brief. She has been..." she paused, glancing at her guards before turning back, "destroyed by the one known as Nightmare Moon."
Without another word, Celestia stepped further into the chilling moonlight and made her way towards the Elements. The sound of her hoofsteps and those of the two guards were all that was heard, only heightening Celestia's nerves. How could this have happened? Her sister had seemed so joyful mere days ago. What had changed within her and how had she not seen it? Was she so blind to her younger sister's feelings as to not sense she was being corrupted?
Her flowing mane of soft pink seemed to pause as she neared the pedestal. With great care, her golden magic surrounded the crown and gems. The crown floated over and landed gently atop her head, taking the place of her royal regalia. All that remained of her golden adornments were her shoes, for she was never seen without them. The gems she hid in her mane, to bring out later when she confronted Nightmare Moon.
Turning, she made her way to the main doors of the hall. She no longer cared for sneaking about, she just wished to bring her sister back from the clutches of that monster. Her guards followed silently, ready to stand by her until the end of the forthcoming battle. She was grateful for the support, but that fact that the only sounds that could now be heard were the three sets of hoofsteps disturbed her greatly. Why had everything grown so quiet all of a sudden, and why did she feel like she was being watched?
Celestia stopped suddenly, whipping around to find a cloud of dark smoke drifting behind her, just above the heads of her guards. "Nightmare Moon." she growled softly, only loud enough for herself and the drifting cloud of smoke to hear, as it was growing closer to her with every second.
A cold, hollow laughter flooded the corridor, causing even Princess Celestia herself to shudder slightly at just how chilling it was. The dark purple smoke drifted towards the ground, forming into the shape of an alicorn as tall as Celestia with pointed wings spread wide. The form solidified to reveal the pony in question with a grin upon her face, her fangs glinting in the bright moonlight that shone through the tall windows. Her eyes shone with amusement at the determined look on Celestia's face. "Thou really dost think thy can defeat us? How juvenile art thou really, Celestia?"
Celestia stood silently, her horn lighting up softly. "Thou knowest we dost not want to do this, Luna. Please, just lower the moon."
Another chorus of laughter filled the hall as Nightmare Moon's horn began to glow as well. "Thou cannot stop us. The night will last forever, and nopony can do anything about it. We make the rules now, or did thou forget that?"
With sadness gleaming in her eyes and a determined frown upon her face Celestia's horn began to glow brighter, as did the crown atop her head and, though hidden, the gems in her mane. But before she could pull out the Elements, Nightmare Moon shot a blast of magic at the ceiling and she felt herself being pulled up through it. "Thee dost not want to destroy our castle, does thou?"
As soon as they were surrounded by the shining stars and far from the castle, Celestia felt the magical hold on her be released. She immediately spread her wings, charging her horn once again to pull out the Elements of Harmony. As each gem emerged it started to spin in a circle around her neck, slowly at first but growing to dizzying speeds once the five were present. Once they had reached speeds no tornado could hope to match they began to travel upwards slowly until they reached her horn, closing in around the base in a blur of color similar to a ring.
Celestia closed her eyes against the pulse of magic as it coursed through her and merged with her own magical reserves. Suddenly, her eyes shot open to reveal that they were now glowing white orbs due to the sheer amount of power coursing through her. Her horn's glow turned from golden to a shimmering rainbow of color, while Nightmare Moon floated a short distance away, frozen in awe.
When the full force of the Elements' power reached her, Celestia released the energy in the form of a single blast of magic targeted at her opponent. From the tip of her horn came single rainbow colored beam that hit Nightmare Moon full-on in the chest. With a wail of terror and a flare of white, the dark alicorn vanished into thin air. In the moon above appeared a silhouette of a unicorn with a downcast expression. "Maybe someday thou shall be free, my dearest sister."
Captain Darkwing saw the blinding flash of light from his position just inside the throne room doors where he was told to wait until Nightmare Moon returned. Why she had left he was unsure, but it had seemed important so he said nothing. The light from the flash soon vanished, however, leaving him to wonder just what had happened. When sunlight replaced the softer moonlight, causing his pupils to shrink in response to the sudden change in brightness. Not long after, the full realization of what had just transpired hit him. Nightmare Moon had just been dethroned, putting Celestia in charge once more.
Darkwing did not want to think about what that meant for him and the rest of the night guard, especially those who had been explicitly devoted to Nightmare Moon. He soon had his answer when Princess Celestia appeared in the throne room. At first she went about like he was not even there, changing the decor back to the banners of day and the throne's accents back to their shining gold. Then, when she was done, she turned and looked right at him, glaring at him as if she could read his mind.
As he finished this thought, her horn began to glow. Amongst the light gold he thought he saw flickers of each color of the rainbow. The princess drew closer to him, her violet eyes seeming dark and menacing, a poorly concealed gleam of anger in them. He opened his mouth to call for help, but no sound came out. His body was encased in a bright golden glow, and he was soon joined by the two guards that had been positioned outside the throne room doors and the guard that had had the idea for their queen's name, though he himself had been too afraid to propose the suggestion.
Frosted Star, Night Stone and Moonblink. Those were their names. Frosted Star was a pegasus like himself, while Night Star and Moonblink were unicorns. All three shared the bright yellow dragon eyes that were common among the night guard thanks to their enchanted armor. They also had dark gray coats the color of charcoal and small, barely noticeable white fangs protruding from the corners of their mouths.
The four guards shared glances with each other, the last thing they were permitted to do before the three other guards vanished one by one into thin air. One last thought rolled through Darkwing's mind before he joined them amongst the stars. We will die serving our queen. And then he was gone.