//------------------------------//
// One New Face, Three Old 
// Story: Starchildren 
// by Stratocaster 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 2: One New Face, Three Old




Above the lunar sky, the triangulated young stars burned with increasing intensity, like three bright sigils in a mystical runestone. Far below, the curious little colts the stars represented had now grown up into strapping young stallions. The barren ground shook as a brotherly rivalry ensued between them.
Red Nova galloped through the lunar surface in pursuit of his targets, keeping an eye on every crag and crater. Suddenly, he stopped with a skid as a bolt of lightning zapped the ground near him. Nova looked up knowing full well where that kind of power came from. With a flight streak made of pure cosmic electricity, Dark Star zoomed overhead, casting deadly lightning down on the grounded earth pony. But Nova knew the perfect countermeasure for the pegasus's erratic flight magic. He summoned the dark powers granted to him by his adoptive mother and manipulated the gray ground to envelop him entirely. He was no safe from the effects of lightning underground.

"Ya can't hide forever, dirt grub!" taunted Dark Star as he hovered above.

But waiting for the earth pony to surface again would prove to be foolish. After a few seconds, the spot where Nova plunged under erupted with a violent quake, and a spire of moon rock rose up like a rapid drill. Dark Star swerved away from the spire, but failed to see Nova jumped from the top of it and careen down on him. Nova dug an elbow into his brother's back, and the two plummeted back toward the ground with a slam. He then rose to deliver a final punch to his rival, who lay before him with a groan. But Nova was suddenly knocked to the side by an immense force. Standing among the other two stallions was White Nebula, who used his dark magic to control a supply of iron, which he formed into a large gauntlet. 

With a cough, Nova got back on his hooves and glared at Nebula. "Yer gonna pay fer that, glitter-head!" he growled. 

He then summoned several rocks to rise from the ground and shoot toward the unicorn. Expecting such an attack, Nebula transformed his metal into a coat of armor for his entire body, which the moon rocks simply bounced off of with barely a dent. Nebula then harnessed his magic to form a menacing sword and charged toward his brother. Nova used his earth powers to form a similar suit of armor. But as Nebula began to swing his blade, the stone quickly cracked under the strength of the magic metal, and Nova was quickly left exposed.
Nebula was ready to strike down and incapacitate Nova, but was quickly halted by a light shooting pain rushing through his body. Floating above, Dark Star conjured a streak of lightning from his hoof and zapped his unicorn sibling. However powerful, Nebula's metal proved to backfire as a high conductor for electricity. The unicorn collapsed to his knees, almost numb from the sudden shock. Nebula still managed to glower up at Dark Star, who circled over him in a teasing manner.

"That was a dirty trick, windbag!" he shook his hoof angrily.

"Oh please, like your powers are a fair advantage?" scoffed Dark. "Somepony's gotta keep you in check, White!"

"How the heck are you still up?!" barked Nova. "That pile-driver shoulda put you in a coma!"

"Your tricks are old, Red!" Dark laid back in midair casually. "Why don't you try thinking outside the box for once?"

"Why don't ya come down here an' say that to mah face, fly boy!" stomped Nova.

"Quick getting all riled up, rockhead!" Nebula confronted him.

"Stay outta this, magic nerd!" Dark taunted after landing.

The stallions continued to kick up moon dust and fling insults between each other. Then, they were encased in the familiar dark blue aura which froze their movement, and clonked their heads together. Nightmare Moon approached them with a scolding glare.

"If you boys are going to keep quarreling among each other," she scorned. "Then I do not know why I bother training you!"

"Sorry, Mother." The three of them said at once, as they rubbed their heads.

"I suggest you three save your energy for later." Nightmare Moon continued, inspecting her sons like soldiers in recruitment. "The ponies of the world below are celebrating the Summer Solstice. And it will be the perfect time for us to strike."

"Are you sure, Mother?" asked Nebula. "What if these Elements of Harmony prove to be fierce warriors?"

Nightmare Moon chuckled a bit. "The way you all fight each other, I assume they will be no match for you. Now listen carefully, my sons." She glanced over at the planet. "For the past several years, I have been building up for a spell that will transport you to Equestria in a town called Ponyville. Once there, there is a chance you will run into certain ponies who will mistake you each for a brother. No matter what, you must assume the identities that these ponyfolk give you. I feel my wicked sister Celestia will keep a sharp eye on the celebration, and I do not want you to raise suspicion."

"So how will we know when to open the seal?" asked Dark Star.

"When the longest day turns to night, and the moon is in full view." She said. "That is when Celestia is tasked to change the heavenly bodies. But you will be there to interrupt her, and use the summoning spell I have taught you through."

"We have to face Celestia?" Nova raised an eyebrow. "What if she sees us comin'?"

"My egocentric sister will be too busy boasting her presence at the Ponyville festival to notice." Nightmare Moon scoffed. "That is when the ponies will be least expecting my arrival. Not even the Elements of Harmony will be prepared for a spell of this magnitude."

"I...I don't know about this." Dark Star scratched his head. "Doesn't it seem kinda risky to open the seal right where Celestia and the Elements of Harmony are going to be?"

"Steel yourself, Dark Star." Nightmare Moon assured him. "I promise that once I am free, you will all become more powerful than you've imagined. You will become true guardians of the night. Nothing shall stand in your way."

"I like the sound of that." Nova said flatly.

"We will not fail you, Mother." Nebula said with determination. "We'll put an end to your suffering along with Celestia's rule. The night shall last forever."

The dark sorceress grinned with pride at her boys, satisfied that she had rubbed off on them. "I have trained you all well." She said. "You are now ready to face this challenge. Go forth unto the land of mortal ponies, and lead our glorious uprising. I have the utmost faith in you, my sons."

With that, the three stallions gave solemn bows to their beloved master and mother, as she charged the dark magic used to teleport them to the world below. Nebula, Dark, and Nova all knew that their lives had been leading up to this day. They would not let their mother's faith in them go mistrusted.

...

As dusk began to approach, the eager citizens of Ponyville gathered together around the town hall, reveling in the Summer Sun Celebration. And many of them found it to be the best celebration in years. From Rarity's elaborate decorations, to Applejack's delightful fair food, from Fluttershy's musical bird orchestra, to Pinkie Pie's popular party games, it was all a rousing success, all the while being kept dry thanks to Rainbow Dash clearing the skies. But all that was missing among the jubilant ponies was the much-talked-about student of Princess Celestia, who had earlier only been seen briefly by a few in public.

"So then I totally saved everyone in that hot air balloon," Rainbow Dash chatted with one of her friends by a drinks table. "And who else was aboard to congratulate me than a Wonderbolts scout!"

"Rainbow, we all know that never happened." Applejack rolled her eyes. "By the way, have ya seen that new mare from Canterlot around anywhere? She said she would be at the party."

"Oh yeah, what was her name again?" pondered Rainbow for a second. "Twist-tie Spackle or something?"

"No no, I think it was Twirl-bright Special?" Applejack scratched her mane.

"Twilight Sparkle?!" Pinkie Pie joined them, hopping in place from excitement over the festival's success. "Of course she's coming! I sent her an invitation, didn't I?"

"So breaking into a newcomer's house and throwing a surprise party is your way of inviting them?" asked Applejack.

"Well why do you think so many ponies came to your last birthday party?!" Pinkie said as if stating the obvious.

"Well I hope she comes soon." Rainbow huffed. "She seems like a nice gal, but she put a lot of pressure on us to get this whole thing up and running."

"Yeah! If she doesn't come, I am so throwing her a Don't-Be-Such-A-Party-Pooper party!" grumbled Pinkie, looking as angry as she could.

"Pinkie, maybe ease up on the punch a little bit?" Applejack tried to control her.

"I haven't had enough!" Pinkie said as she swiped another cup of cherry punch.

Meanwhile over by the game booths, Fluttershy strolled around the festival with Rarity. Rumble was allowed to stay with Fluttershy during the celebration and was having a blast winning prizes at every carnival game he could get his hooves on. Fluttershy ended up carrying an over-sized teddy bear as a result.

"You just watch, Fluttershy!" grinned Rumble, boastfully. "Next I'm gonna win ya that gorilla!" He then cantered off happily to another game booth.

"Rumble, careful about running through a corwd!" called Fluttershy.

"Isn't he the sweetest?" smiled Rarity next to her. "He's always so elated around you."

"He reminds me more of Thunderlane each day." Fluttershy nodded. "I guess it's a trait that brothers share."

Rumble ran through the crowd eagerly, but lost attention to the pony in front of him. He soon slammed into a purple unicorn mare who seemed unusually timid to be there in a time of celebration. Rumble landed on his back and kept his head from spinning. Then he felt himself being lifted back onto his hooves by a bright purple aura.

"Ooh, sorry about that." Twilight Sparkle said, helping him up. "I don't really know my way around. Can you tell me if this is the way to town hall?"

Rumble stared confused at her for a moment, then something clicked in his mind. "Hey wait, you're that Canterlot pony that Fluttershy mentioned, aren't you?"

"Fluttershy?" Twilight tilted her head. "You mean the pegasus in charge of the bird choir? You know her?"

"Oh yeah! And she's been wondering if you were coming to the festival at all." Rumble smiled with intrigue. "Why don't you come say hi to her? I'm sure she's dying to get to know you better."

"Oh that's alright, I'm really just here to-" Twilight tried to excuse herself, but Rumble immediately led her by the hoof. "Um, okay."

Rumble soon found Fluttershy again and spoke proudly. "Hey Fluttershy! I found that Twilight Sparkle lady you mentioned!"

"Uh, hello!...Again." Twilight smiled sheepishly.

Fluttershy hid behind her mane again, still bashful of the stranger from the big city. "...Um...hi..."

"Oh Miss Sparkle!" Rarity greeted by hugging Twilight like an old friend. "I do hope you forgive me for my brashness earlier. I should've known that your mane looks...just as beautiful the way it is!"

"Um, thanks?" replied Twilight. "I really like what you did with the decorations around here, Rarity."

"Oh you're too kind!" Rarity tossed her mane boldly. "It's just my job of course."

"Well look who decided to show up!" called Rainbow, as she swooped in and grabbed Twilight in a friendly foreleg grip. "Bah, I'm just kidding, Twilight. I knew you were cool enough."

"She's here she's here she's here!!!" Pinkie bounced around. "I told you all! I know a party pooper when I see one, and she's not it!"

Applejack joined the friendly huddle by stuffing a slice of apple pie into Twilight's mouth. "Boy, are all Canterlot ponies this skinny? Get somethin' in yer stomach, girl!"

Twilight managed to choke down the pie, feeling more and more nervous around the quirky group of mares. "Uh, look, you're all really sweet for welcoming me. But I really should get to town hall. Princess Celestia wants an accurate report on the festival of course." In reality, she was in fact worried about the prophecy of Nightmare Moon becoming a reality in a few hours.

"Ah come on!" insisted Rainbow. "Everything is going off without a hitch! Are you sure the princess didn't send you here just to have fun like everypony else?"

Twilight thought for a moment, remembering the other point the princess included in her instructions. She then sighed, feeling she shouldn't run from them any longer. "Well...the truth is, Princess Celestia wanted me to come here to make friends, as embarrassing as that sounds."

"And what is so embarrassing about that?" asked Rarity.

"I don't know." Twilight scuffed the ground, suddenly forming words she never would've thought to say to strangers. "It's always been hard for me to interact with others. I'm what you'd call a book nerd."

"Ya think just because yer a thinkin' type means we won't accept ya as a friend?" Applejack clapped her on the shoulder. "Now who do ya think we are?"

"Yeah, we don't discriminate!" grinned Rainbow. "Even if you're an egghead."

"Um, plus you seem really nice." Fluttershy spoke. "And not everypony gets to know a student of Princess Celestia."

"You guys really mean that?" asked Twilight.

"Of course, darling!" scoffed Rarity. "Come, join us in the celebration and take a load off!"

"Wow, you're all so much nicer than most of the ponies back home." Twilight smiled. She suddenly felt a sense of warmth that she never received from the stuck-up socialites of Canterlot, or the foals in her school. "Alright, let's party!"

"Now you're talkin' my language!" Pinkie swept Twilight up in a constricting hug. "Everypony boogie before the sun goes down!"

...

With the sun dipping lower and lower toward the horizon, the serene peacefulness of the Equestrian landscape was interrupted by a flash from a dark blue aura. Just as quickly as they departed the moon, the guardian sons of Nightmare Moon found themselves on the terrestrial world on a dirt road, ready to face whatever challenges lay in wait. But their sullen expressions quickly turned confused as they looked around at the rolling fields surrounded by the Everfree Forest.

"Son of a mule!" Dark Star kicked the dirt. "This doesn't look like Ponyville. She teleported us in the wrong spot!"

"Don't go blamin' Mother for this." Red Nova sneered at him. "You try aimin' a spell from 250,000 miles away!"

"Relax, guys," said White Nebula as he surveyed the fields. "According to what Mother taught us about the terrain, we should be a few miles outside of Ponyville. Let's just follow this road until we find it."

Only half-listening to his brother, Nova ran his hoof over the grass. In his mind, it was his first time feeling it. "So this is what the earth is like." He said flatly. "It's mighty beautiful. It's almost hard to believe this place is ruled by an evil sun princess."

"Yeah well don't get all sentimental on us, Nova." Dark scoffed. "Mother gave us a job and we're going to do it. And if that means tearing up this place and kicking some flank, then let's be prepared to do so."

"That is if your loud mouth doesn't give us away first." Nebula rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, before the trio could embark down the road, a looming shadow passed over them, as a magnificent white creature soared above. Nebula felt a strong magical presence with the power of his horn.

"Whoa, I didn't know the birds here were that huge!" Dark looked up curiously.

"You pin-head!" glared Nova. "That ain't no bird!"

In a whoosh of air kicking up dust, the graceful white alicorn descended from the sky and landed in front of the stallions. She looked upon the strangers with suspicion and slowly approached them, as the other three braced themselves for danger. There was something about their appearance, something familiar, that she couldn't shake.

"I have never seen you three around these parts before." Celestia spoke. "What business do you have in Ponyville?"

"Uh, what do you care, lady?" replied Dark rudely. "If you don't mind, we have a festival thingy to get to or whatever."

"Wait a minute," Nebula stared at the alicorn for a moment, his mind clicking. "You're her, aren't you?" he approached her. "You're Princess Celestia, the ruler of this land!"

Celestia raised a brow, shocked at coming off unrecognized. "Who exactly are you boys?" she inquired. "You seem familiar."

"You betrayed our mother." Nebula glared at her hatefully. "You shunned her away from the world and imprisoned her on the moon. You're the reason for her misery."

Celestia became even more surprised, upon hearing her sister's corrupted identity. "Nightmare Moon? Mother?!" Then, the familiarity of the unicorn finally struck her memory. "Wait, I know you. You're...Shining Armor! You're Twilight Sparkle's older brother who went missing. I spent years investigating your disappearance but found nothing."

"Quit trying to confuse us with lies, you giant bird!" called out Dark. "Mother told us you would try to stop us!"

"The power of the sun lies." Nova uttered, remembering his teachings. "The night shall last forever."

"Oh my word!" gasped Celestia with horror. "She brainwashed you. You've all become pawns in her revenge. I suspected my sister would return on this night, but never in a way like this."

"And when she does," said Nebula, as his brothers stood on either side of him. "You will be powerless to stop the eternal night from spreading. We will make sure of that."

"Shining Armor, come to your senses." She pleaded him. "Do you not remember your family in Canterlot?"

"My name is White Nebula, you witch." He scowled. "And my only family stands here beside me."

"I say we crush her now." Nova seethed. "The sun's almost down, and we gotta open the seal."

"Yeah, let's cut the chitchat and knock her crown off!" Dark cracked his hooves.

"I will not fight you three!" Celestia stood resolute. "Brainwashed or not, you are still rightful citizens of Equestria. You all have families who miss you everyday, and I will not let them worry a day longer."

"Enough of your lies, tyrant!" Nebula conjured a metal spear with his dark magic. "Your reign ends tonight!" With a pulse from his magic, Nebula launched the spear in the alicorn's direction.

Expecting the attack, Celestia used a magic shield to deflected the spear, but knew full well that they wouldn't stop there. She extended her large wings and rose back up through the air, narrowly avoiding an eruption of ground beneath her, cast by Nova. But before she could react in time, her wing was clipped by Dark Star, speeding toward her like a cannonball.

Dark Star turned around on a dime as he hovered in the air, his hooves bursting with electricity. "Time for a little less sun, and a little more storm!" he said cockily and zoomed toward her again. He conjured two broad waves of lightning from his hooves, making sure his foe wouldn't evade his assault.

Unable to dodge, Celestia hovered as the dangerous pegasus closed in. "Risking the lives of innocent ponies," she said under her breath with remorse. "This is low for you, Luna." With no other option, she charged up her defensive magic and harnessed the power of the sun. "Forgive me." She unleashed a ball of fire and aimed it at Dark Star, whose front was unprotected as he busied himself with fanning out electricity.

Dark gawked at the incoming fireball and swerved to try and avoid it. But the flame still managed to singe his fur and sent him hurdling to the ground. "Ugh! She's tougher than I thought!" he grunted as he lay in the dirt.

Suddenly, Celestia became under fire from a barrage of flinging rocks shaped into sharp points. Red Nova bombarded her with stones causing her to weave and duck. Then, as the princess returned her hooves to the ground, Nova slammed his two forelegs down causing a wave of earth to surge toward her. Relying on her strength reinforced by magic, Celestia broke through the rolling mound and charged toward the burly earth pony. Nova charged as well with a headbutt, but was quickly knocked aside by Celestia with a push of her shoulder.
Nova was not one to go down easily and immediately dug his hooves into the earth again, this time forming a pair of stone gauntlets. He swung his hooves at his alicorn nemesis with immense strength. But Celestia managed to match that strength as she blocked and deflected every attack. Although the princess rivaled the guardian of darkness in might, the latter held better endurance. Celestia began to feel strain on her body as the two locked hooves, both trying to throw the other down.

"Don't forget," she said, holding steadfast and controlling her breath. "I can counter all of your powers, whether earth, air, or magic."

"Yer still outnumbered, princess." Nova growled with narrowed eyes.

"But not outmatched!" Celestia then lunged backwards.

She quickly spun on her front hooves in a one-eighty and executed a devastating mule kick, which clocked Nova in the chest, sending him reeling back hard. But before she could make the next move, Celestia felt her wings being clamped down by a harsh force. She looked as Nebula morphed his spear into a long metal chain and ensnared her like an enraged bull. Although now unable to fly, Celestia gave him no quarter and unleashed a flurry of deadly magic bolts at the dark mage.
But Nebula relied on the teachings of his mother and cast a violet magic circle in the ground below him. The effects of the circle shielded him from the blasts as he focused his strength on holding the alicorn tight in his chain.

Celestia wriggled and jerked to escape the snare of the chain. But her attention was completely distracted as Dark Star came spiraling down toward her from the sky. Protected by the remaining effects of Nebula's shield, the flying hothead shot a large bolt of blinding lightning down upon Celestia. The princess screamed as the electricity coursed through her body for a few seconds. Then, she fell on her front knees, her muscles left cripplingly numb. But Celestia was far from surrender, and retaliated with a massive fireball from her hoof that rocketed upward.

"Whoa!" Dark once again only half-avoided the fireball. It seared his left wing and sent him crashing to the ground again. "Ah come on! Why is it only me that keeps getting the fire?!"

At this point, Nebula's hold on the chain was beginning to falter. As if on cue, Nova shook off the blow from the mule kick and dug his hooves in the earth once again. This caused a slab of stone to come rising from the ground next to the crippled Celestia, and overlap her back like a heavy blanket. Now she was both numb and imprisoned.
Celestia realized her situation was dire, and prepared to cast a teleportation spell as a last resort. Nevertheless, Nebula expected such a tactic and cast a temporary cancellation spell over her horn. The princess was now all but incapacitated.

The three stallions gathered around to gaze down at their fallen foe. "Oh yeah, take that!" cheered Dark. "I can't believe we actually did it! We beat the goddess of the sun! We are awesome! That's for Mother, you giant bird!" He then sent another surge of electricity through Celestia's already weakened body, causing her to grunt in pain.

"That's enough, Dark!" ordered Nebula. "She can't be contained forever. We must dispose of her once and for all. I say we banish her to the heavens, just like she did to Mother. Make her feel her sister's pain."

"Yeah! Send her to the sun!" grinned Dark with a crazed look in his eye. "Burn, baby, burn!"

"Wait a second, Neb," said Nova as he pointed toward the darkening horizon. "The sun's almost completely gone. We don't have time to mess around with her much longer. Let's just wait until after we open the seal to the moon, then we'll figure out what to do with her."

Nebula stared down at the fallen princess with a scowl. Every moral sense inside him told him to seize the opportunity and avenge his mother, by punishing the hated sun goddess. But he knew full well that restoring Nightmare Moon to her former glory was more important, and couldn't waste anymore time. Despite his need for vengeance, Nebula chose to stick to his mission.

"Fine. Let's head to Ponyville." He said solemnly. "That's where Mother said the Elements of Harmony will most likely be. Hopefully they won't be too much of a threat."

"We can take 'em." Nova replied as they set off. "It's what we were trained for."

"Didn't Mother say there would be ponies who think we're their brothers?" asked Dark.

"If so, just act natural." Nebula told them. "We need to pretend we've been here all our lives. We can't leave any stone unturned."

Celestia watched from under her stone entrapment as the dark warriors cantered toward the town of Ponyville, while the last light of the sun began to fade. She struggled with all of her might to escape, but the stone, the numbness and the lock on her magic made any hope of escape impossible.
But then, she noticed something odd. The light of the sun wasn't disappearing over the horizon like she expected it to, and became momentarily confused. That's when she realized what was really happening. The lock that Nebula put on her horn negated all spells and automatic magic she controlled. That included the movement of the sun. It seemed that the dark-trained unicorn made a slight error in incapacitating the princess, as the sun still barely hung in the sky. It was a moment of relief for Celestia, knowing that her sister's seal could not be opened as long as there was some daylight left visible.
But that didn't alter the fact that Nightmare Moon's guardians were now entering Ponyville, where they would try to eliminate the Elements of Harmony, including her beloved student Twilight Sparkle. Celestia knew that the six ponies were still unaware of their destiny, and feared for their safety, especially since the dark trio actually had relation to them.

Celestia lowered her head in defeat as she lay helpless. "Twilight, please be careful." She prayed. "Do not be fooled by their ruse. Nightmare Moon must not return."