Envy

by SergeantBuck

As Daylight Dies

She liked this new form. Strong muscles, quick wings, and an untold number of new spells. Dawn was supposed to break an hour ago, but she had little trouble in repressing her sister's own ability to raise the sun. Just as Deathbell had promised, her powers were more than enough to best the abilities of the once-mighty Celestia. It would only be a matter of time before she would replace her sister on the throne of Equestria and allow all of her loyal subjects to bask in the glow of the moon.
As she flew over Canterlot, she spied the first few residents waking from what their clocks told them to be morning. They stumbled about in the streets gazing up at her starry skies in confusion. In due time, they would learn to adjust. She landed in the town square before fountain bearing a statue of her mother and father.
"Look at me now, Father!" she bellowed at the stone figures. "Are you proud of your little Luna now?"
She examined her reflection in the water, staring back at her draconic, aqua blue eyes and her new, more muscular body. A shadow of her former self. She looked...beautiful? No, terrifying. And that is exactly what she wanted to be. If nopony would love her, then they would grow to fear her. All eyes were upon the black mare as she strode through the city. Nopony spoke to her and all averted their eyes when her icy glare fell upon them.
A stray pony stood in the middle of the road, her eyes wide as she stared at the nightmare advancing towards her. The alicorn stopped and examined this frightened obstacle before her. The quivering pink coat, the dilated yellow eyes, the uncontrollable, quavering squeak in her throat. The sight brought an evil grin to Nightmare Moon's face.
"Stand aside, peasant," the alicorn ordered. The pony simply sat there, too overcome by fear to move.
They will not obey, a voice echoed in her ears. Show them who their true master is.
Two black swords materialized before Nightmare Moon, their glistening blades coated in violet flames. She pointed one at the mare and spoke again.
"Defy me, will you? Such disloyalty shall not go unpunished!"
A pair of guards dropped from the sky and stood before her bearing spears, barring the path between herself and her victim. They leveled their blades at the demon and stood their ground.
"Hold there, abomination!" one guard shouted. "You go no further!"
"Abomination?" The fires of her rage burned bright again. "That is how you wish to address your Empress?"
Thunder shook the sky as a blast of energy erupted from her mouth, sending the two guards toppling through the stand of a nearby vendor. She stood before the defeated pegasus and glared at them.
"You worthless dogs shall submit to me," she growled. "Or I will make you wish you had never been born."
The guards shook themselves and stood. Nightmare Moon grinned as she lifted them up and smashed their heads together with a resounding clang! She wouldn't kill them. As much as she wanted to be feared, a dead servant was a useless servant. The sound of heavy boots soon reached her ears and she found herself surrounded by a group of Platinum Knights, her ex-personal guards. All of them drew their blades and pointed them at Nightmare Moon. Captain Silverbeam hovered at the head of the pack and was the first to speak.
"Luna, stop this insanity immediately! This isn't you."
Nightmare flashed the Captain an evil grin. "You're correct, my captain. I am not Luna. I am a monument to the stars and the Mistress of the Moon! I am Nightmare Moon!"
Her spectral swords whirled about and pointed at the captain. Silverbeam drew his own sword.
"If that is the way you wish to play it," he said. "I'm sorry, my Princess."
Silverbeam raised his gladius and charged at the alicorn. She deftly sidestepped his attack and whirled about, sending her moonblades after him. As he spun to face his opponent, the first blade rapped his hoof with its flat and forced him to drop his weapon. The second blade slammed its hilt into his wing, sending him crashing to the dirt.
Pitiful, Nightmare Moon said to herself. I expected so much more from a Captain of the Platinum Knights.
She stood over her defeated opponent and held her blades above his head. Silverbeam sat up and stared into her reptilian aquamarine eyes.
"What are you waiting for?" he challenged. "Kill me!"
Nightmare Moon withdrew her swords and unsummoned them. The voice called to her again.
"Why? Why won't you kill him? I grant you power and you refuse to use me?"
"No," she said to both the captain and the entity in her mind. "Why kill you when I can use you instead?"

Celestia stirred in the library, overcome with shock. What could she do? Her father's spellblade was useless against whatever foul magic her sister had accepted, and Luna had been granted enough power to keep the sun from rising. She stood up, grimacing from her aching muscles before wandering the halls of the castle. After a while, she found herself in the throne room staring up at a portrait of her family. Her mother and father stood proudly, Celestia between them with little Luna between her legs looking up at her sister with an innocent smile on her face.
She couldn't help but feel sad looking at the image of her sister, or rather what she once was. It all seemed so perfect before. Luna was so happy when she learned how to raise the moon, and for centuries she had prided herself on being its keeper. She turned about to examine the shattered stain glass windows, the shards of glass glistening in the moonlight as a collection of fallen stars. A chill breeze drifted in through the windowpanes, causing Celestia to shiver beneath her armor.
"Luna...so young...so foolish...what must I do to get you back?"
A clap of thunder rocked the castle and Celestia rushed to the nearest balcony. Pulses of blue light ebbed from the city of Canterlot, and beneath the hum of magic she could hear the cries of her subjects. She wanted to be there, fighting the demon that had taken her dear sibling, but what could she do?
"Lady Celestia?" said a voice from behind her. She turned to see Captain Silverbeam standing before her, his armor dented and his face bruised.
"Captain!" she exclaimed. "Are you injured?"
"A few bruises but nothing serious. The same can be said of my men."
"Not a single fatality?"
"No, milady. The demon who calls herself Nightmare Moon seems to intend not to kill us, though she has no qualms about assaulting us openly. She bested my men and defeated me in a duel."
The Princess of the Sun looked back at her city. Blue flames began rising from some of the buildings.
"She has little control over her power," Celestia observed. "In time, she will learn to master it."
"Milady?"
She closed her eyes. "Could you do it?"
Silverbeam was confused. "Do what, milady?"
"If a sibling of yours lashed out violently and began destroying all you held dear, could you condemn them to death?"
The captain's eyes shifted to the floor. "No, milady, I could not. Though I would have little reserve about imprisoning them."
Imprisonment. There was no other way. Celestia hurriedly began walking back through the castle with the Captain hovering by her side.
"If I cannot best Luna alone, I will need help from a greater source."
"What, milady? Shall I send for aid from the land of the griffons?"
The Princess stopped before a large vault bearing the seal of the royal family. "No, captain. The only way to defeat magic is with a greater form of magic."
Celestia inserted her horn into the lock on the door, twisting a quarter turn to the right as her mother had taught her. A weapon like this was only to be used in case of emergencies, and she saw no other means to keep her sibling from burning Canterlot. The seal glowed with a pale pink light and the doors to the vault opened, bathing the alicorn and pegasus in a blinding flash.

Nightmare Moon soared above Canterlot, beaming at the sound of the frightened ponies below. Their laments were music to her ears, and all the while the strange voice said things to her.
"Yes, child, let your malice be your sword. Show them what you are capable of. Make them tremble before the Lady of the Night."
She delighted in seeing their fear. The tears of a lost filly or their shrieks of terror when she flew overhead. The sight of buildings vanishing at her whim. The world was hers and all she wanted was to watch it burn. If they would love her beautiful night, she would make them fear it. She landed in the middle of the city and looked at the trail of glorious destruction she had wrought.
"BE STILL!" Her voice echoed throughout the city. In an instant, the chaos came to a halt and the terrified citizens of Canterlot stood stock still before her. They still wore looks of panic on their faces, but their attention was on her.
"Citizens of Canterlot, you are all hereby subjects of the Empress Nightmare Moon. Kneel before your new ruler!"
The worried ponies looked about at each other in the crowd, beginning to talk amongst themselves. Nightmare Moon eyed her new subjects with discontent. Why wouldn't they obey?
"You forget, dear Princess, that words will not suffice. You must make them listen to you."
"I said kneel!" A second wave of energy burst forth from her words, bowing over the first two rows of the gathering crowd. The rest of the crowd was quick to follow, and soon she had the whole of Canterlot cowering before her.
"You'll do no such thing!" a voice called. Why did it sound so familiar?
A large, cloaked figure emerged from the shadows of an alley and advanced towards Nightmare Moon. The alicorn of the night faced the mysterious figure.
"Who are you to deft your Empress? Kneel before me with the rest of these commoners or I shall make you!"
The figure threw off her hood, answered by a chorus of gasps and cheers.
"You!" Nightmare Moon stammered.
Princess Celestia bowed her head. "Luna, I've tried to reason with you. Think about what you're doing. To Equestria, to yourself. To me."
"So you come groveling to me looking for any apology?" Nightmare Moon sneered. "You shan't receive one! If I recall, you are the one who should be apologizing."
"I'm giving you one chance, sister. Redeem yourself. Let go of your malice so that we may rule together!"
Nightmare Moon laughed. "You really think I'll return to that castle so I may spend eternity beneath your hoof, raising the moon for you every night as if I were another one of your servants? Never! I have the power to vanquish you and your tyranny!"
The cape fell away, revealing a beautiful golden necklace adorned with six jewels of varying colors, each gem burning bright with magic.
Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, and Friendship...the Elements of Harmony, the most powerful source of magic in Equestria.
Nightmare Moon began to back away from the Princess of the Sun as she materialized her duskblades.. "You keep those things away from me!"
Celestia's horn began to glow, and the stones began to hum. There was a faint chiming sound before six rays of colored light shot towards the black alicorn, spinning around her in a technicolor tornado. The voice that had been with her for so long shrieked with pain in her mind's ear.
"Goodbye, my sister," she heard Celestia say.
The last thing she saw before the storm engulfed her were the tears flowing freely from Celestia's eyes.