//------------------------------//
// Heart of Nightmares 
// Story: Envy 
// by SergeantBuck 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 2: Heart of Nightmares





Deeper, I'm falling into the arms of sorrow
Blindly descending into the arms of sorrow
There must be serenity
~"The Arms of Sorrow" - Killswitch Engage





As Luna levitated the book from the dusty shelf and set it on the table, wisps of black smoke trailed from its sealed pages. She shut the door to the library and magically sealed it, making sure her sister wouldn't discover what she was up to. Without warning, the tome opened and the trails of smoke became a cloud before the princess. There was a brief explosion and the smoke dispersed to reveal a large black unicorn at least twice her size. She wore a suit of obsidian armor and a helm with a large spike jutting from the forehead, covering her horn. Her mane appeared to be made of pure fire. The strange pony bore a set of transparent gray dragon wings and when she spoke, she sounded as though she had not one but a multitude of voices varying in pitch and tone.
"Greetings, fair Princess Luna," the unicorn said to her. "You may call me Deathbell."
"What is it you want?" Luna demanded.
"Typical. Somepony frees me and I introduce myself, and the first thing they do is make demands. No cordial introductions, just a simple 'who are you and what do you want?' Sometimes I wonder why I even bother returning to this plane. Anyway..."
A gout of flames shot from Deathbell's horn and wrapped around Luna. She tried to retreat from the fire, but stopped when she realized that it wasn't hurting her. She felt a little warmer, but nothing had burst into flame and she wasn't sweating like a pig.
"That was to simply get your attention, my dear. Now, you freed me from my prison made of paper so in exchange I will grant you one gift. Anything you want, dear Luna! Money, fame..."
"Power!" Luna cut in. "I want enough power to be able to defeat my sister!"
"Oh?" Deathbell seemed intrigued. "I seem to get along well enough with my own sisters...of course, I haven't seen them in almost four hundred years now. What does your sister have you so upset about?"
"Everything!" Luna said. "My whole life, I have been nothing but second rate to her! I want the power to show her that she isn't the strongest alicorn in existence!"
"Very well, then. You'll have your powers, but I simply require something from you first. Something material."
Luna removed her crown and necklace, but Deathbell held up a hoof. "Not like that. I need a piece of your soul."
The alicorn stopped. "What in Equestria would you need my soul for?"
"One cannot be granted something without giving something up in exchange. Giving this gift to you is merely a favor of mine seeing as you inadvertently released me."
Luna had read about soul exchange spells. They were deadly, and if the subject survived, they were bound to suffer some after effects. It didn't matter. She wanted power, and she wanted it now. Something to prove to Celestia that she was capable of moving the sun.
"I accept!" Luna declared.
"Very well, turn to page three-forty-seven in the book if you'd be so kind. Do you read Old Equestrian?"
Luna proceeded to recite a few lines of poetry in the old language, much to the delight of Deathbell. "Excellent! That makes things easier for me. I believe that spell is called Ira Stellarum and it should suit you quite nicely."
"Wrath of the Stars?" Luna translated. "What does it do?"
"It's quite simple," the demonic unicorn began. "If you want to best your daybringing sister, the only way to do it is with eternal night. Plus you'll be able to do some other neat things. Shall we begin?"
As Luna began to read the text from the ancient manuscript, sparks danced through her skin. She began to feel warm and had the sudden desire to break something. Tear open a book, smash a vase, break somepony's neck. It didn't matter what it was, it needed to be broken. Muffled voices spoke from beyond the sealed door to the library.
"Captain, I want you to seal off the exits and gather as many men as you can," she heard her sister say. "Whatever happens, Luna mustn't leave the castle. Gaia only knows what's going on behind those doors."
"Aye aye, ma'am," Captain Silverbeam replied. "Shall I tell the Platinum Knights to fetch the adamantine battering ram?"
"Yes, at once! I need to get in there and find out what my little sister is doing to herself."
Are you prepared, my dear sister? Luna thought to herself. Soon you will know what it means to be second rate.
A voice whispered in her mind, this one different from Deathbell's. "Come to me, Midnight Goddess. Let me feel your anger. Let me enter your soul."
Luna stared at the text, mindlessly reciting it as she felt the flames of rage begin to rise. A tide of sadness, envy, despair, and hatred washed over her for an instant, followed by a numbing cold growing in the tips of her hooves.
The flame at the end of Deathbell's horn withered and burned out. "How do you feel, Princess Luna?"
Luna didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure if she was angry or sad. She wanted to laugh, to cry, to scream, but couldn't bring herself to do so. She simply stared at the words on the page.
"Empty." The alicorn didn't know how else to put it.
"Don't worry, dear child. Once Lady Sanguina penetrates your essence, your problems will be solved. Now, I must take my leave and return to the Seventh Circle of Hell. Farewell, Luna!"
In a brilliant flash of flame, Deathbell was gone. Luna sat there in the darkness as the new voice continued to speak to her.
"The soul of an alicorn such as yourself is a rare treat indeed...yes, you are quite powerful, Nightmare."
A loud thud sounded from the door. The magical barrier flickered for a moment, but held. It wouldn't be long before there were here.
"You will be Luna, Princess of the Moon no longer. Arise, Nightmare Moon, Empress of Midnight!"
THUD! The barrier threatened to drop again.
A spark emanated from Luna's horn and threw a pulse of magic through the room. Books toppled from their shelves and the contents of the table before sailed through the great glass window. A beam of moonlight illuminated Luna's silhouette in the darkness. She shivered as the cold crept up her hooves into her shoulders. Her crown and necklace grew heavy, taking the form of a pale blue spiked helm and a matching breastplate of pure moonstone. Pain lanced through her scalp and flanks as her strands of blue mane and her elegant tail shifted into a deep indigo cloud, small stars swirling about in the new masses of midnight.
CRASH! The barrier to the library door gave way and the heavy wooden portal slammed to the marble floor. Princess Celestia stepped through the door in a suit of golden armor, followed by at least a dozen pegasus guards bearing swords and platinum full plate.
Luna turned to face her sister, her eyes burning blue with anger. Bands of black began to etch across her body, her midnight blue coat fading to the blackness of space. An evil grin crossed her face as Luna felt the cold seep into her heart, disposing of her emptiness.
"Baby sister," Celestia stammered. "Why?"
The guards stood firmly behind their princess, but she could see in their eyes and their hearts nothing more than fear.
"Tell me, dear eldest sister," Luna said. "Do know know the feeling of powerlessness? Or of being unwanted by your family? Answer me!"
"Luna, please! Stop this now!"
The jet black alicorn hovered in the air, held aloft not by her wings but by some unknown force.
"Luna is no more! From now on, I am Nightmare Moon! The beasts of this land shall tremble before me and bask in the glory of Eternal Night!"
Tears ran from Celestia's eyes as she gazed upon what her younger sibling had become. "My darling sister..."
"Stand aside!" Nightmare Moon commanded. The guards stood their ground, only to be cast aside like leaves in the wind from another pulse of magic. The Empress of Midnight looked at her sister, who stood stoically beside her fallen comrades.
"And you, Celestia? Must I cast you aside as you did to me?"
A shimmering spectral blade appeared before Celestia's eyes. "You...you're not my Luna."
The Princess of the Sun directed her spectral sword at the remains of her sister. To her surprise, Nightmare Moon made no attempt to dodge the weapon. The transparent blade slammed against her breastplate only to shatter into a million stars that were immediately warped into the nightmare alicorn's mane. With a particularly powerful wave of energy, Celestia felt the ground vanish from beneath and the air forced from her lungs as Nightmare Moon slammed her against the wall of the library. The pale alicorn crashed to the floor and stared at the alicorn towering over her.
"Say farewell to your sun, Celestia." Nightmare Moon melted into a cloud of stars and drifted through the shattered library window, leaving her sister in tears on the floor.
The Age of Eternal Night was nigh, and Luna's time had come.