//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: The Begining of a Nightmare // by speedboy3 //------------------------------// Princess Luna stood on the balcony of her castle. The lonely air of the Everfree Forest matched her mood. Nopony ever visited her, but she was fine with that. Ever since she, and her sister Celestia had vanquished Discord, the ponies of Equestria had named them their princesses. Celestia even had the stoned Discord brought back to her palace in canterlot. She had placed it in the newly finished Royal Gardens, so ponies that visited could be reminded of the importance of harmony. Luna, unlike her sister, wasn't a very social pony. She prefered to be alone with her thoughts, only talking to others when her duties required her to visit Celestia. The very reason she chose to build her castle in the Everfree Forest, is because of its fierce reputation. Ponies were afraid that nature had a sort of independence that they couldn't control. Luna even cast spells to alter certain plants and animals to make them more menacing to drive away curious ponies. The Princess of the Night however, wasn't concerned about that at the moment, as she was prepare to raise the moon and bring about night. Luna closed her eyes, and focused her energy on the moon, waiting for Celstia to finish lowering the sun. As darkness engulfed the forest, Luna's horn flared, and the moon rose into the sky. Luna sighed contently, this was how life should be. She looked from her balcony, over the tree tops and the lands beyond Everfree's borders, then walked back into the tower. Luna's castle on the inside was breathtaking. A stargazer's dream come true, if said stargazer was brave enough to ventre into the Everfree Forest to get to the castle in the first place. The ceiling in each room was painted with a different constalation or star of interest. One tower alone was put aside as a masive observatory with at least ten different telescopes, all trained on different points in the nightime sky. In the main room, stood a throne that matched Luna's hues exactly. When she felt like sitting in it, she felt like she had dissapeared into the throne. There were no guards to be seen anywhere. Why would there be? No one ever came to visit, so the princess didn't really need protection. In the center of the main hall stood three of the six Elements of Harmony. Loyalty, Honesty, and Generosity to be exact. The princess sisters had felt that having all Elements in the same location was too dangorous for anypony. T had decided to split them, and only bring them back together if a crisis arose that called for it. For the present time however, a peace was present throughout the land. Luna decided to go to the observatory, a star she had been observing was close to supernova, and she wanted to be there to witness it. She used her wings to fly up to the westerly facing telescope, and took a peek through it. The star she was observing was a blue giant, named The Horses Mane, for its beutiful colors. "Hmmm, it seems to have only a few days left in its cycle." She said to herself. She had never witnessed a supernova before and this was exciting her like nothing else could. Movement outside caught her attention. At first, she thought that it was a manticore straying onto the castle grounds, but then she saw the flowing, pastel colored mane of her sister in her golden carriage. Luna made a few quick notes on her parchment before running out to greet the Daylight Princess. "Sister!" Luna cried excitedly, Celestia almost never visited her. She had second thoughts as to why her sister was here as she ran past the three Elements entrusted to her. Maybe their powers were finally needed again. "Is something wrong?" She asked. Celestia smiled at her younger sister. "No, nothing is wrong dear sister," said the white alicorn. "I just wanted to make sure you're all right. The Everfree Forest is a strange place, ponies can go mad in here." "Oh come now Celestia, I've lived here for years now, and noth's happened to me yet. What's the real reason you're here?" Luna looked expectantly at her older sister, waiting for the inevidable response. Celestia sighed. "All right." Celestia began. "The real reason I'm here is because I'm worried about you Luna. You hardly ever leave this place, and when you do, it's because I invite you to my castle in Canterlot. It's not healthy for a pony to be so isolated. Especialy a princess, you should be out meeting new ponies, and helping those in need." Celestia had said this before, and Luna always had the same answer. The blue alicorn let out an exasparated sigh. "Sister," she began "you have told me to do this time and time again, and every time you say this I give you the same answer: I do not wish to meet ponies that I know I will outlive, it just makes the balance of life so much clearer to me. For some reason we have been given a longer life than other ponies, we may even be immortal, and knowing that everypony I meet will be dead before me is heartbreaking." Luna's eyes began to tear up at the mere thought of it. "But Luna," Celestia tried to argue, "the fact that those ponies can say that they met one or both of their rulers gives them hope, that's one reason we were chosen to rule in the first place. Defeating Discord gave everypony hope that their future would be brighter than their past. Can you at least try?" Celestia was close to begging now. She hated seeing her sister so alone. "If I do this," Luna began, "do you promise to never bring up this subject again? I'm tired of giving you the same answer over and over again." "I can't make that promise." Celestia said, sadness in her voice. "I can however let you decide on what you want to do afterwards." Luna was silent for a time. "Alright, I'll try. Shall we depart immediatly?" She asked. "If you want." Celestia said with a smile. She was thrilled that her sister had finally agreed to her request. The two sisters spread their wings, and flew towards the more tamed lands of Equestria. *** The cool night air whipped through Luna's mane as she flew low over the land beyond the Everfree Forest. She had always loved being able to fly, and if she was given the choice to lose either her horn, or her wings, she would keep her wings everytime. "So where are we going sister?" Luna asked, as she folowed behind Celesta. "We're going to find a pony for you to make friends with!" Celestia replied. They flew over the country side, hoping to find somepony to talk to. However, nopony seemed to be awake. "I don't think anypony's still awake." Luna said, hope filling her voice. "Maybe we should head back." Celstia sighed, "there must be somepony still awake." "Face it Celestia, nopony wants to stay awake at this hour save for me." Luna was running out of patience. Night was a time for sleeping, not talking to princesses. "All right, we'll go back, but don't think that this is over." The Royal Sisters turned back toward the Everfree Forest. Luna was relived, she didn't have to talk to strange ponies after all. *** Luna was preparing to go to sleep. She had lowered the moon only a few minutes ago, and after her exausting flight all over the country side, she really needed to rest. Celestia of course hadn't been too happy with the outcome of their little venture to make Luna a friend. "Please reconsider your decision." the white alicorn had said before departing. I'm deeply sorry sister, Luna thought to herself. but my place is not out ammong the ponies. Suddenly, Luna felt a chill go down her back. A new voice entered her head. Who needs that one? It asked. All she wants is for you to do things her way, she doesn't care about what you want or need. She only cares about herself. Luna stood still as a statue. That voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it. "Is somepony there?" She asked, deeply troubled, but the voice had receded out of her mind. Luna was now extremly worried, hearing voices was never a good sign for anything. Maybe I'm just so tired I can't think straight. She reasoned with herself. Deciding that all she needed was sleep, the Princess of the Night laid down on her bed, and fell asleep.