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// Nightmare (Luna) 
// Story: Sun and Moon 
// by Papyrus 
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	So, some stuff happened and this did not get done on time. I apologize for that. But it is done, and has been submitted to the LoE writing auditions. So, here's hoping it is good enough! Also, for those of you who don't know what a nightmare (the mythical creature) is, it is a deamon that is said to be the cause of bad dreams. Which is where we get the term.

Luna slid to the left as she galloped deeper into the marble maze that was Canterlot Palace. A quick glance behind her let her know how much of a lead she had on her older sister. It was not much. Determined to extend this game of chase as long as she could, the lunar princess leapt over an oncoming guard and ducked into the kitchens. Almost immediately she had to start dodging ponies carrying trays of hot food, knives, pots of boiling water, and the occasional dessert platter.
Luckily for her, she was far more nimble than most ponies would give her credit for. Soon she had made it through the side exit of the kitchen and was ascending the servant's staircase that led to her and her sister's suites. The navy blue alicorn missed her own door as she had glanced back to see her sister charging up after her, covered in what looked like the remnants of a lemon meringue pie. 
The older and taller of the sisters had probably accidentally bowled over the unicorn waiter with the dessert tray. He had been standing there stunned after Luna galloped by. He would be alright, but would probably be more keen to move out of the way the next time he saw Luna or Celestia running through the kitchen.
With a soft thud, Luna struck her sister's door. The alicorn shook her head softly and attempted to shove the thick oak open. It would not budge. With her sister's hooffalls getting ever closer, the alicorn simply blew the door open with her magic. She was a bit over zealous, perhaps, as the oak door gave a loud groan before falling onto the plush carpet. Its hinges had split from the force.
"LUNA! GET BACK HERE!" Came her sister's aggravated cry. "YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT DOOR!" Luna hopped over the fallen door and heard a soft crack. She glanced down and saw a picture of her sister and Twilight Sparkle. 
Oh, that can not be good.. Luna thought to herself before starting to gallop again. When she blew open the grandiose double doors that led into the hallway, she made sure to use much less force. The two guards who were standing on either side nearly jumped out of their armor. With a hasty apology, the night princess bolted right down the hall. Her shoes clattered on the polished marble and her wings would occasionally flutter behind her. Luna did her best not to use them however.
This was a game the princesses had created a long time ago. One could call it a type of cat and mouse. Celestia was not always the cat, contrary to what a lot of ponies might believe. Her younger sister enjoyed doing her best to chase the princess of the Sun around as well. While they had never established a real set of rules, there were a few time honored traditions that the sisters did follow. The first of these was that flying was out of the question. One could use their wings to help them jump a larger than normal distance, but not fly.
Of course, this tradition stemmed from the older sister's near mastery of flying. Luna knew that even in her prime she would not be able to escape or catch her sister if the elder was to use her wings. It was a concession of sorts on Celestia's part in exchange for the second rule.
No teleporting. To a non-unicorn, teleporting should be mundane for the alicorn sisters. In truth, it was one of the most difficult spells any creature could attempt. While both Celestia and Luna knew and learned the art a long time ago, only the younger sister had ever mastered it.
After ducking around the corner, Luna took the occasion to look over her shoulder once more. Her sister had not yet crossed her own bedroom. Hoping to lose her sister in the maze of corridors, the navy blue alicorn took the first opening presented to her. An open door to her left. She quickly slammed it shut with her magic and pressed an ear to the wood. Relief spread through her as her sisters hoof falls became quiet and distant. For now she would be safe. It took a moment for her heart to stop racing, though once it had quieted down she looked around the room.
The Sun would have normally been over the horizon partially by now, though the Royal Sisters' game had put it behind schedule. With no light from the room or from outside, Luna channeled a tiny amount of magic to her horn. A light blue glow would pop on, as if she had turned on a headlight attached to her head. Unfortunately the room was not what the Night Princess had hoped it would be, a supply room with an attached servant's passage. It was a bedroom. A rather familiar bedroom. With a rather familiar figure laying on the bed. Despite the blue hue of her magic, Luna could see the top of a purple mane and a lavender horn poking out from under the quilted bed sheets.
Somewhat nervously, Luna turned and reached her magic for the door. As the handle turned, it gave a sharp creak and clicking noise. A jolt of adrenaline shot through the alicorn and she glanced over her shoulder as she had done so many times already. A snore would escape Twilight and she wiggled a bit in her bed. Relief spread through the royal pony and she eased the door open. She almost instantly began to wish she had not.
A bolt of white fur and golden magic struck her head on. The two bodies tumbled and rolled several feet. They came to a stop at the edge of Twilight's bed, the elder sister on top. Luna gave a sheepish smile and wiggled a bit.
"I guess you win, Sister." She forces a giggle. The elder princess merely grins back and starts to tickle her sister's sides. "N-no! Y-you know I- Hahhahaa... H-hate that!" The smaller alicorn would protest, no longer watching her volume. With a satisfied giggle, Celestia would increase the speed of her tickling.
"Princess?" The voice sliced through both of them like a hot knife. Their eyes met and they stopped immediately. Silently, both waited to hear another sound. It came in the form of a soft yawn and a hushed whisper. "O-oh! Princess Celstia! Princess Luna!" Twilight bolted upright, her covers slipping off, and caught on Celestia's horn. The lavender unicorn hopped off of the bed and immediately bowed. Celestia shook the covers from her head and opened her mouth to speak, though she was cut off by her pupil. "Princess I'm sooooo sorry! I didn't mean to fall asleep!"
Luna could not help but chuckle at the apology. Her sister had done a lot in those thousand years. It was probably for the best, really. The old way of ruling had been such a hassle. The frivolities of the court were one thing, the hassle of getting anything done under a bureaucratic system was another altogether. At one point, actual red tape had been used to bind together large documents and forms for new laws. As well as to section off the courthouse, since the lesser nobles could never get along.
"Do not worry about it, Twilight!" Celestia would shift from her position above Luna to sit in front of her student. "And as I said, you do not need to bow when we are alone." She smiled and lifted her pupil's head. Twilight would smile back and sit. Following suit, Luna would do the same. "I cannot expect you to do what is impossible for you. Nor would I want you to hurt yourself for my sake." The white alicorn wrapped a hoof around her sister and pulled her close. "WE should be apologizing to YOU for waking you up."
"Sorry, Miss Sparkle." Luna blushed and whispered. "I hope you sleep well."
":Oh, no sister!" Celestia tapped Luna's choker with a hoof. "Since you caused this, you get to finish telling Twilight the story I started last night!"
"Oh my! That would be absolutely wonderful!" The lavender unicorn happily swayed in place, her tail swishing behind her.
Defeated, Luna took a minute to compose herself before starting. "Very well, where did you leave off?" Her sister turned her head slightly to the side and whispered in the navy pony's ear. "I see. Well, that is perhaps not the best starting point for me. But since my sister insists..."

***


I am not actually sure how I survived the lightning, though by some miracle or grace I did. It was a slow recovery. For weeks I could barely move. The burn from the strike was right above my hips, centered in my back. I am told it was hard to see exactly where because of the shade of my coat. Regardless of how it looked, I know how it felt. Imagine for a moment somepony had poured a bit of cooking oil on your back and then set it ablaze. Then increase the pain by nearly a thousand times.
Every moment I spent on the bed was spent cursing my sister. She had to have been behind it. She had to have wanted me dead. The only reason I was not is that she had a change of heart or was too weak to actually follow through with her deed. Either way, she obviously cared little for me. I was blind to how she would sit and watch me. Ask me questions. Cry as she slept. My anger blinded me to them, and only now do I realize how foolish I was. Foolish to shun somepony who cared. Somepony who had risked their own life to save mine. Foolish to shun my only sister.
As time went on, I did get better. I slowly regained the movement of my limbs, though my wings were slow to recover. The thin muscle and hollow bone had left them particularly vulnerable to the electricity that shot me down. I did not mourn nor care about a further impalement to my ability to fly. It was never something I had wanted to be good at. Never something that had been important to me. Celestia would always be better. Why should I bother?
Then it happened. On a rainy night, much like we just had. Thick storms had gathered around Canterlot mountain since, as you probably know, back then the weather was not something that was actively controlled. Or so we thought. The home of the pegasii that had caught us was below, in a valley. I remember hearing them whisper in worry about if the home would be safe. I also heard my sister vow that she would keep it intact with her magic. More empty promises. I knew, or believed I knew, that she could do no such thing. Nevertheless, the couple agreed.
Their names... I do not quite recall... I believe one was Stormcrasher and the other was Livre? Yes? Alright. So I do remember correctly. 
Stormcrasher was a rather young colt. He had just finished building his home when he had met his wife. The two had grown close quite quickly. Livre was a pegasus, though she had grown up in the Griffon Empire. They had met in Cloudsdale  during a fair of some kind. Nevertheless, Stormcrasher was important. Is important. I am sure his name has been lost to myth by now, but everything in Equestria, pony or otherwise, owes their freedom from chaos to him. Even myself and my sister.
As lightning flashed across the sky I was afraid. I knew I was inside, though the thought bore not comfort. I huddled upstairs in my bed as Celestia and the couple boarded up the windows and doors. Then they took me to the inner room of the house and we waited. My sister created a force field around the whole mansion at first with her magic, though the storm quickly sapped it from her. It shrank and shrank until it only enveloped our room. Even then, she struggled to keep it up. The whole structure shifted at one point. We all felt it had to have been the observation tower that had been attached by only a thin cloudbridge.
In his despair, Stormcrasher hurried from the room, much to the dismay of his wife who followed soon after. Both myself and my sister waited a moment, hoping they would return. Our hopes were dashed as we heard Livre scream. We both followed after the noise and soon found ourselves at the edge of the slowly dissolving cloudbridge. The couple was slowly retreating from something. We could not see past them to tell what, though. Then, suddenly, Livre bolted back towards us. Perhaps to hide. An unearthly shriek split the storm and a large black and orange creature leapt over Stormcrasher and caught the pegasus mare.
It looked like a pony, except ethereal. Smoky. Black vapors rose from it's body and its eyes were a crimson red. In it's chest one could clearly see a sphere of burning rock, the flames rippling through it's body. It was a creature of Tartarus. It was a Nightmare. Those eyes stared at us. They were emotionless, though I prefer that over seeing the hate they must have held against us for still having our bodies. It's mouth opened, the smoke seeming to form jagged fangs.
Beneath it, Livre screamed and struggled, though she could not seem to harm the nightmare. her blows slid through its body. Somehow, the smoke managed to pin her down, to exert weight. Stormcrasher charged at it from behind, but the creature slid slightly to the side, sending him bowling into me. We rolled a short distance before he jumped back to his hooves. Before he could charge it again, I took hold of his chest and did my best to stop him from moving. I yelled at him over the driving wind and rain that he could not hurt the beast. He never stopped slowly dragging me forwards. Determined to save his wife.
He broke free of my grip and rushed forwards. Celestia missed catching him and nearly fell of the edge of the bridge. He was too late, however. The nightmare lifted Livre off of the bridge and disappeared quickly in the storm. The pegasus tried to follow but was struck by a ball of fire and slammed into the cloudbridge, almost falling through. All three of us watched in horror as nearly fifty nightmares landed around us, blocking our escape anywhere but to dive off of the bridge in winds that were almost blowing sideways.
Without thinking, we both did the same thing. Celestia grabbed Stormcrasher, who had stopped moving and merely begun to cry, and we both dove off the side. I do not know if she could see me in the murky light of the storm. But I could see her. I was scared as we fell. She never opened her wings. I hated myself for the feeling, but I was worried for my sister. The abyss was so deep and dark, we could not tell how far we were from the ground. I silently begged that we would both survive, though my frame shook with fear more than it did from the storm.
Finally Celestia opened her wings and tried to level off. With relief, I followed suit. It was difficult to navigate in the weather, the wind kept blowing us off course and the ground was still out of sight. All we had was our-

***


"Princesses! There you are!" An aide pushed into the room. "We have been looking for you two all over! It is nearly ten in the morning and the sun is not up!" He tapped a hoof on the floor. The two sisters looked at each other and then smiled apologetically.
"We will get right on that, right Luna?" The white alicorn winked at her sister. They both grinned at Twilight who had a puzzled look on her face.
"Yes, we will." The night princess would bow to Twilight and then slip past the aide before he could protest. As he spun on hoof, Celestia would make a break for the other direction. The poor colt spun around again, only to catch sight of the rainbow colored tail disappear around a corner.
"Wait! What about the SUN!?" He cried out and hurried around in a circle before following Celestia.