"There can only be one leader. There can only be one princess. There can only be one queen! And I'll be damned if it's going to be her!"
The hostile voice echoed through Luna's head and pierced her mind.
"You have lost your importance in the world. You have become but a shadow of the one mare you used to call sister. You rose up to claim power that should have rightfully been yours, and she humiliated you by imprisoning you within the only thing you truly had control of. For years, ponies looked to the sky, only to see the ugly scar your impotence had left on the moon. After some time had passed, the world couldn't even remember if you were real. You had been reduced to something as trivial as a myth,"
Luna struggled to push the negativity of the her past out of her mind, but the voice shoved back and sent shooting pains through her skull.
"In your absence, she controlled both the sun and moon, proving that you were merely a figurehead. You were never needed. The world functioned without you for 1000 years, and now your presence makes little difference in Equestria,"
Luna tried to speak to the voice in her mind. "No! My sister loves me! She cares for me! You're wrong!"
The voice retorted with a bored voice. "Does she really? Then why does she rule Equestria, while you simply play as her sidekick? Why did Cadence acquire a kingdom before you did? You seized the Crystal Empire alongside Celestia, and it was given away before you could even open your muzzle. Now her little sycophant Twilight has become a princess, and she has simply thrown you to the wayside. Tell me again, Luna," she spat the word Luna. "Where do Celestia's real interests lie?"
Luna herself was speechless.
"You know the truth, no one has hidden it from you but yourself. Whether you choose to act upon it is your decision. After I tried taking charge, Celestia subdued me and brought your weakness out through the cracks in my strength. Be chary where you trot 'princess', Celestia has little time for the malcontent."
Luna's eyes stung as tears began to well and fall from her face.
"You'll never have control again, Nightmare Moon... that part of me is over. I'm not the going to hurt anyone,"
Nightmare Moon materialized out of the darkness.
"We'll see how long it takes for you to crack, insolent whelp,"
Suddenly, there was a loud swoosh, and Luna's entire body felt as if it were plummeting through nothingness. Her eyes snapped opened and she woke from her terrible dream. She sat up in her bed and looked around slowly, using her hoof to chase ripples in her blankets. Normally she was strong and composed, but she had been having these visions of her other self for the last few days, and they had begun to worry her. At first, it started out as whispers she could barely hear, murmuring unintelligible things to her subconscious. But slowly, they emerged from the background of her mind, and began to plague her while she dreamt.
She used her magic to crack open one of her fully drawn shades, and a bright beam of light came surging into the room. Still a long time before the moon was due to arrive, meaning that she had a little more time to sleep, but the loud yelling of Nightmare Moon made her dread having to rest at all. She closed the thick curtains once more; not to sleep, but she preferred a cloak of darkness over a ray of sunlight any day.
Luna stepped off of her bed and made her way to her tall bedroom door, passing the many expensive looking trinkets and gadgets littering her dark floor. Her horn glowed a soft cerulean as she opened the deep brown gate with her magic, and departed into the hallway. As she walked, she pondered the dreams she had been having... Nightmare Moon wasn't dead. The Elements of Harmony had certainly weakened her, but it did not eradicate her completely, instead it simply stowed her away in Luna's mind.
She turned the corner to see Discord leaning against the wall, looking in Luna's direction like he already knew she was coming, an arrogant smirk plastered to his face.
"My, my, princess, why do we look so lost this fine afternoon? You look as if you have had a nightmare."
Discord's choice of word seemed quite particular.
"It's as if you've seen a ghost! Perhaps an enemy of the past? Well you know what they say, keep your friends close..."
Luna has had many encounters with the embodiment of chaos, especially after he started to take residence in the castle, and she knew better than to react to his banter. She began to explain. "There have been a few things on our min-"
Discord interrupted her. "Why do you insist on using the royal we? It's just us you know," Suddenly Discord appeared beside her. "You need not useth your dated forsoothery on thou, princess,"
"Thee," she corrected.
Discord rolled his eyes and slithered farther down the hall. "You royal types are all the same. Blah blah blah order, blah blah blah stature. One more friendship speech from Celestia and I'm going to puke all over her throne." He began to walk alongside her. "You know, since I've escaped from my prison, I feel like I have been rather out of it. Perhaps you can relate?"
Luna had reached the end of the hall and turned the corner, but Discord simply phased right through the stone wall. She then realized that he had shrunk himself down to small size, and was now hanging off of her horn with one hand. "Ever since Celestia brought me back, I have felt so useless. I'm the god of chaos, and I am forced to behave like I'm some stubborn child." There was a poof and suddenly, he became a moving painting in the floor beneath her. "It's as if I'm a whole new me!"
Princess Luna stopped and looked down at oil painted Discord, who merely returned her gaze with a sly smile. "What do you know Discord, I command thou as your princess, to telleth us what your up to!" Discord sighed as he changed from a painting on the floor into a muerel on the wall
"There you go with your fancy talk again princess. Why do you find it so hard to change? Not even Celestia talks like that anymore."
Luna's expression remained stern. "Thou are avoiding the question."
Discord began to groom his mismatched claws. "How does one avoid a question?" Luna was beginning to get angry with Discord, but she had to find out what he knew.
"Discord, telleth us what thou knows or we'll have you locked in a statue for a few hundred years!"
"Stop threatening the innocent or Celestia will send you back to the moon for a few hundred years."
Luna's composure was finally broken. She looked at the muerel of Discord as her mouth fell agape. She stared at him in silence before she opened her mouth to talk. "Never speak of my Darker Side in such a manner again." She stepped forward and gazed directly into Discord's eyes, who seemed to show a hint of genuine fear. She continued down the hall with her head down, her skull now ringing with hatred and lividity. Suddenly, she could hear Nightmare's voice echoing through her head again, and she stopped directly in her tracks.
"You should think twice about getting angry princess... She's strongest when your angry." Said a voice behind her. He turned around to find a strangely apologetic Discord who was now looking at her with a serious expression. "You talk in your sleep quite often. I've made it rather a hobby of mine to check on your little shows. " Luna looked at him uncomfortably, "At first, you would say strange things like, "I'm your sister! I'm not you!"... But today was a little different. You spoke for another pony, and from the sound of it... I'd say it was her." The princess pondered these thoughts for a long while. Before she simply, disregarded Discord and continued down the hall without paying any mind to the Draconequus.
Discord looked down at the stone floor with a hint of loneliness in his face. Finally, he stood up with a resolved face and announced to no one in particular, "Whatever, I'm going to hang out with Shuttershy... Er, Shutter-whatever." Before he walked right through the wall once more.
Luna's heart began to sink, thinking about what her sister had to do to her. Nightmare Moon was too cowardly to face the punishment herself, and instead laid dormant for the entirety of the punishment. Luna herself had to experience every second of the millennia she had spent imprisoned, while Nightmare Moon Hibernated in the comfort of her conscious. She continued to walk, but her steady gait was slowing down as she became increasingly distraught with the thoughts of her banishment.
But something in her head snapped.
She started to get angry. Much angrier than before. Her breathing increased, her heart rate began to spasm and kick, her skull felt as if it were cracking, and as it all happened, a voice in her head laughed hysterically. Her glowing, spatial mane began to darken and flow erratically, as her posture slowly became aggressive. She closed her eyes and stomped her hooves, and looked forward to see the tall white figure of Celestia, standing a few feet away.
Her vivid mane billowed smoothly, creating a soft hum that filled the dim hall. She said nothing. She only stared into Luna's eyes, her own giving no hint as to what was going through her mind. Suddenly, Luna felt calm and somewhat submissive. She bent her head low and looked up at her sister, a look of guilt and shame smitten upon her face, but Celestia merely walked forward slowly and looked worriedly into Luna's.
"Dear sister, what has possessed you to act in such a manner?"
Luna looked up at her sister with tearful eyes, her spirit finally collapsing under the stress of having to struggle to keep control of her own body. She tearfully told Celestia of her nightmares, Discord, and how Nightmare Moon survived her ordeal with the Elements. Celestia listened, her face stern and thoughtful, as she tried to piece together the puzzle that had been laid before her. She had remained silent for awhile before turning to Luna.
"Perhaps we should try the elements once again,". Luna had been shaken by the whole experience, but silently nodded without making eye contact.
They cantered quickly to Celestia's chambers, which was shaped like a large cylinder that rounded out towards the top. There were tall, ornate sections of the wall that had been removed to allow the sun to light up the room, which was now beginning to set, casting brilliant beams of orange all over the polished cobblestone floor. On the inner walls were several tall tapestries placed directly next to each other that created an enormous and colorful map of Equestria. The beams danced along the fabric as the map gently undulated in the cool draft that had been frolicking from the windows.
At the very top of her room was a beautiful chandelier, with a big blue and green earth surrounded by a crystal sun and moon, and several hundred sparkling crystal stars littered about. Celestia entered her private chamber, and closed the door behind Luna. Her horn flared a soft teal, and her many windows began to move. They churned and warped, before closing together, leaving no sign that hinted they ever existed. Upon the last window closing, the room turned pitch black, but with another flash of teal, the chandelier lit up with many colors. The sun and moon brightened as the center orb opened up to reveal a small box which descended slowly in front of the two princesses. It opened to reveal five elements.
Luna suddenly looked panicked, "Sister! Where art the sixth Element? Should it not be here?" But Celestia simply put on a gentle smile as she sheepishly responded.
"Twilight must have it," her horn flashed teal once again as her windows reopened and her chandelier closed. "I need to have a new crown fashioned for her, it isn't such a good idea to keep the elements exposed." She walked over to a wooden desk and magically grasped a quill and parchment, scribbled a few words, and sent the note to Spike.
There was a rather awkward silence between the two sisters as they waited for the crown to be sent. It didn't take long for the golden diadem to materialize in front of Celestia, and she wasted no time in reuniting it with the rest of the Elements. They leapt off of the ground and floated in a circle around the eldest sister, as she aimed the Center at Luna, who couldn't help but wince a little as the six stones powered up. There was a large flash of light and a white beam quickly engulfed Luna. There was high pitched hum as the elements sparked out and dropped to the floor, leaving Luna in a defensive position, and Celestia wide eyed and speechless.
As the metal of the jewelry collided with the floor, multicolored sparks showered from the six stones.
Luna opened one of her eyes slowly, before she looked at her sister. "Hath the experiment failed? We don't feel any different,".
Celestia bent down and looked at the scattered elements. "I don't think it worked..." Luna looked surprised. "What? Are they broken?" Luna looked back at her sister.
"I don't think it recognized anything to fix. Perhaps your just imagining Nightmare Moon in your head,"
Luna looked offended. "We're not making this up! Nor would we allow our imagination to get the better of us! How dare you think so lowly of your own sister!"
Celestia was taken aback.
"Luna, I didn't mean any harm by that,"
"You don't mean any harm for anything, but look what you have done! We'll kill you, you soft minded wretch!"
Celestia backed away as a now enraged Luna marched toward her. Her eyes began to glow a strange and malevolent red, as her pupils began to morph into slits. her teeth began to elongate and protruded from her upper lip, as she readied her horn to ram the white mare in front of her. Suddenly, a few sparks sputtered from Luna's horn, and she collapsed to the floor. "Sister! Are you alright?" Celestia rushed toward the navy colored heap that lay on her stone tiling. Suddenly, Luna's billowing mane sputtered out of existence, leaving her natural blue one resting on the floor. She stirred and struggled to get up, but she felt weak. Unexplainably so.
She managed to stand herself up, but her whole body shook as she strained to keep herself from falling once more. Celestia picked her sister up off of her feet magically, and placed Luna over her back. She kicked down her door and began to scream into the hall.
"Someone come! Luna has fallen! I need help!" Her voice strained and cracked as she screeched out every word into the hall. Almost immediately some royal guards yelled back.
"We're coming princess! Stay where you are!" Celestia felt her sister pass out on her back, and she knew if she wasn't helped soon, She might have to rule without Luna once more.
A trio of royal guards rushed toward the princess and floated the unconscious Luna off Celestia. "Get her to the hospital!" Sputtered a now panicking princess. The guards looked at Celestia with faces of horror and uncertainty. They had never seen their leader in such a state of disarray. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" She yelled suddenly.
The three guards jumped as they begun galloping down the hall, their princess in a blue protective bubble between them.
Celestia would have accompanied her sister to the hospital, but she had to notify Twilight of the events. She would be an indispensable tool in figuring out what was wrong with Luna, who would now be unable to lower the moon. Celestia burst back into her room and reopened her stone windows. She galloped toward the open air before she leapt out of the castle, spread her white wings and began to glide toward the ground. The air whistled past her ears as she stomped the grass with her landing, and lit up her horn once again.
The sun sank beneath the surface of the horizon, casting brilliant shades of deep red and brown across the sky, before the moon emerged for the opposite side and colored the heavens a deep purple. She then took off once more, as she flew in the direction of Ponyville