Wrath consumes me. Day after day, nothing changes. I remain confined to this chamber in the tallest tower in the palace. The guards outside the doors never speak with me. If nothing else, they fear me. As they should.
I still have not forgotten. The six bearers… Traitors, all of them! I witnessed them make that solemn promise. They knew what they were up against and they knew what they had to do. He was oblivious to the danger and nothing we could have said could have prepared him for what to expect. They knew this too and vowed to keep him safe from both Discord and themselves. And they failed. And the cost? His life!
Discord may be gone forever, but the wrath remains with me. Every waking moment, I feel nothing but bitterness. They know not what they had robbed of me. That man… The first to ever see me as a mare and not a monster. The only man to ever hold my heart… My love, why did this happen? How could they fail you like this?! They were your dearest friends and they threw you away! You may have ended Discord’s reign of anarchy forever, but the cost was still too great!
How long has it been since I awoke to find myself confined to this chamber? A week? A barrier still stands. I cannot escape. Even teleportation does not bypass it. My sisters… They must have known the grudge I hold once I heard what had become of my beloved. And from the traitors themselves, no less. If only this barrier was not here, I would hunt each of them down.
The guards… Where were they? There are always two stations just outside the door. I heard someone coming. And then I saw her. Celestia.
“Are you well, Nightmare Moon?” She asked solemnly, all too aware of my heartache and rage.
I answered her the same I always do. “Are you here to release me or to lecture me once more?”
She paused. Her eyes looked away momentarily before she replied. “I am here to inform that the funeral begins soon. His body has been prepared and we are ready to depart. And…I would be honored if you could attend as well.”
For the sake of being fair, I spoke in return. “Will the six of them be attending as well?”
“Of course. He was…dear to them, so they will naturally attend.” She seemed to know why I was asking. That look in her eyes showed a silent fear.
I growled as I spoke from within the shadows of the dimly lit chamber. “Then you would be wise to keep me confined here, or I will slaughter them on sight and mount their heads on a pike.”
For once, she did not answer. And yet, she did not depart. It took some time, but she finally spoke. “Sister… I know he was precious to you. And, given different circumstances, if you and he had become an item, you would have my eternal blessings. But please… As your sister, I implore you. Hold onto your sorrow if you desire, but let go of your rage. It…”
How dare she… Did she truly know nothing of loss? Could she even comprehend the agony I was in? I bombarded the unseen barrier before the open door with magic lightning, but to no avail. “Silence! What do you know of rage or loss! He was my guiding light! The path that led me out of the shadows! Without him, I am forever lost! You cannot comprehend what I have lost! And all because of them!”
I was then suddenly silenced when my sister snarled at me, a wave of flame being unleashed against the barrier between us. She was prepared to cast another. There was something she wanted to say and I felt compelled to listen. “Nightmare Moon. You are correct. I do not know loss and wrath like you do. And yet…I envy you.”
Those words… She? The Princess of the Dawn, envious of me? “Explain yourself… What could you, the one who has everything, possibly envy me for?”
Tears beginning to cascade down her face, she spoke softly, yet sternly. “I have seen the two of you bond. And truly, the two of you were fine friends. But during the brief times I was with him, I felt something…new. I saw within him…a kindred spirit. And I see why. He was the sun to your moon. Your, as you said, guiding light. And I saw myself within him. I often asked myself why I waited until just recently to finally get to know him while you and our sister bonded quickly and spent much time with him.”
A quiet sob escaped her lips. I always thought that Celestia had always been…distant to him. But in recent weeks, we spent a fair amount of time with him. How I miss those days… And the two of them showed such great chemistry. So much in common. Indeed, he was much closer to the light than the dark. Just like her. And she finally spoke once more. “Only now I will never know how close we could have become. You knew his friendship and love while I only got a taste of it. I miss him too, sister. You should know that. But that is not all I wanted to say to you.”
It was so conflicting… I felt both concern and anger as I listened to her. But there was still much she wanted to say, so I listened. “I know why it is you can’t let go of your anger. It is a means to cope with your pain. If you have someone to blame, someone to seek vengeance on, it becomes more bearable. And in your eyes, they were to blame. And in a way, your views are correct. They did indeed fail to fulfill their promise. But you must never forget, sister. The true puppet master who orchestrated his demise. The six bearers are not to blame, Nightmare Moon. The guilty party is Discord. And I know that it is difficult to direct your anger and hatred toward one who is no longer alive to harm.”
…She… I did not want to admit it, but… Celestia was right. Discord… He was once again the source of great turmoil. And now his actions have forever robbed us of something precious. “We were fools to believe that there was any hope of salvation for his shattered soul. Despair and loss had twisted him into a demon obsessed with chaos to drown his sorrow. Perhaps… Perhaps in James, he saw a way out. A way to end his misery where we could not. Discord was set free, Nightmare Moon. And he will never return. If you must, cling to your sorrow. But let go of your wrath knowing that he who has wronged us is no more and died horribly for his sins.”
It was true. I have seen the aftermath of the hellish battle. Whatever it was that occurred, my beloved must have surely given that monster hell… Even if it meant becoming a monster himself… Discord, you monster… You… I will never forgive you for what you have done… If you were still alive, I would destroy myself.
I could not contain myself. I felt my wrath leaving me. My tears flowed as my sister tearfully spoke to me. “Do not hate them for a failure they could not prevent. They are suffering greatly at this moment as well, sister. Their pain is your pain and their loss is your loss.”
I saw the barrier fade. My sister rushed to my side and held me as I wailed. With the anger gone, only despair remained. My love… I know not what I will do now that your guiding light has faded… Wait for me… I will be seeing you one final time… What happens then… I cannot say. Without you, I am lost…