On the day of the Summer Sun Celebration, I nearly fell out of my bunk in excitement as I woke up. It wouldn’t be long until the early celebrations in Canterlot began, but today was the day I escorted Princess Celestia to Ponyville. Shining Armor wanted me to have my own chariot to do so, but I assured him I could fly on my sword instead. During the past few days I took whatever time off I got to practice, and I was already faster than the guards pulling chariots. I could probably have my sword be the chariot, but that might have been pushing the limit. I wasn’t ready to find out.
The day passed too slowly for my liking. Guarding Cadance’s room or patrolling the walls was no way to pass time, and the heat was... actually, it wasn’t that bad up here in Canterlot. The perks of being a city on a mountain I guess. That isn’t to say the heat wasn’t at least a little uncomfortable.
After what seemed like eons, the time finally came, and I met up with Princess Celestia and four pegasus guards that were to pull her chariot. They were all those weird, white-coated guard clones. Or quadruplets, but that didn't make nearly as much sense.
“Ready to go, Princess?” I asked, magically twirling my sword overhead.
Celestia turned to me with a smile and nod. “Yes, thank you. It seems like it’s going to be a wonderful night.”
“I hope so.”
Celestia watched curiously as I formed my sword into a surfboard, hopped on and began hovering next to the chariot. “I must say I’m impressed with how quickly you’ve learned to fly like that. It must take a lot of skill and talent.”
I gave a short bow. “Thank you, Princess. It’s not as hard as it looks, really. The enchantment does most of the work.”
“What sort of enchantment did you use?”
“It was a basic one, for ease of magic manipulation, but it seems to have worked pretty well.”
She eyed me skeptically for a moment but quickly turned to the other guards. “Let’s be off! Wouldn’t want to keep Ponyville waiting.”
We set out as the sun was dipping below the mountains in the distance, and the orange sky gave away to purple, which gave away to dark blue, which finally gave away to black as we arrived uninterrupted at Ponyville’s Town Hall building. I and the rest of the guards followed Celestia inside while she looked at the decorations with a smile on her face, though the main room was empty of ponies.
“It seems my faithful student’s preparations have paid off,” she said. “I’m going to begin my own in the dressing room. This Summer Sun Celebration starts shortly after midnight, so that will leave a couple hours.” She turned to me. “You may guard the door. I shouldn’t be too long, and if somepony comes asking for me you can tell them I am getting ready. The rest of you can wait in here.”
I nodded and followed her up to the dressing room and stood guard outside. After a long, tiring hour of standing there, it began to get uncomfortably warm. It was much hotter here in Ponyville, and the air was thick and stuffy. I looked back at the dressing room’s door anxiously. Celestia surely wouldn’t mind if I took a quick break outside. Only the Mayor and a white-coated unicorn had come to check on Celestia so far. No, she couldn’t have needed anything in the next few minutes.
I found an open window and used my sword to fly out. It was still warm outside, but at least it wasn't as stuffy. I saw lights from the library down the street where a lot of noise was coming from. Somepony was apparently already celebrating. Not unusual, though a bit strange for it to happen in a library.
A minute later I turned back to the Town Hall, when something in the sky caught my eye. The moon had flashed, and that face that had been on it since forever was gone.
“What the hay?” I muttered.
I stared at it for another minute trying to figure out how that was possible, but nothing about it made sense. Faces don't just disappear off of moons. Maybe Princess Celestia would know something about it. I slowly made my way back inside and to the door of the dressing room, when I heard a muffled voice inside that did not belong to Celestia.
“And now, sister, you will know what it is like to suffer for a thousand years in banishment!”
My heart skipped a beat, and I looked at the rim of light at the bottom of the door in panic. There was a flash of light, and in an instant of adrenaline-filled fear I was charging through the door with my sword out. Standing in the middle of the room was a tall, black-coated Alicorn mare, with a mane and tail seemingly made out of pure magic. Celestia was nowhere in sight.
I aimed my sword at the dark Alicorn. “Who are you!? Where’s Princess Celestia!?”
She looked at me curiously and laughed maniacally. “Silly foal, don’t you recognize me? Do you not see who I am? I AM NIGHTMARE MOON, QUEEN OF THE ETERNAL NIGHT!”
I huffed and took a step back. “Never heard of you, but I don’t care if you’re the Queen of Mareland. What—have—you—done—with—Celestia?”
Nightmare Moon smirked villainously. “You are a foalish Royal Guard. Don’t you see? She is gone, forever, banished from Equestria! It doesn’t matter, you’ll never see her again. You cannot get her back.”
I whirled my sword and took an aggressive stance. “Doesn’t mean I won’t try.”
She laughed again. “Don’t be any more a foal. You don’t honestly think you can defeat me, do you?”
I lashed out with the sword, taking a slice at her head, but missing and hitting her magical mane. A small dark lock of it came off and disappeared into smoke. Nightmare Moon gasped and took a step back, then reached out with her mane to grab at my sword, but it only slid off.
She gaped at it in awe and confusion. “How is this possible!? Why can I not take your blade?”
I smirked. She didn’t seem that strong. How in Equestria did she manage to banish Celestia? “Maybe I’ve got a stronger grip than you thought. And you know, using your mane isn't a very effective way to grab an object.”
I didn’t really know how she couldn’t. I could feel the magical power of her mane just coming near me. She should’ve been able to take it straight out of my magic. Not that I was going to complain.
Instead she scowled and aimed her horn at me and fired a beam of magic. As fast as I possibly could, I used a burst of magic to change my sword’s shape into a shield and put it between me and the beam, causing it to bounce right off. Nightmare Moon gaped at it once again, and I took the opportunity to attack, reforming the blade and spinning it at her like a helicopter blade. She formed her own dark sword with magic and struck back, fending off the attack. I repositioned the blade between me and her defensively.
“It seems you know how to fight,” she sneered. “It’s a shame I’ll have to get rid of you though, you would have made an excellent guardservant.”
I snorted. “Not in a thousand years.”
“There is plenty of time to reconsider.”
I launched another attack at her head, to which she gracefully stepped aside and countered with her own. I dodged it by rolling to the side, meanwhile using my sword to strike at her from behind. She seemed to have eyes on all sides of her head and moved her blade and fought it off. Blows between swords and magic continued, until Nightmare Moon fueled her blade with a giant burst of magic and threw it at me. I raised my sword and shaped it into a shield to block, but the sheer force behind the blow was so heavy it knocked me off my hooves.
This Alicorn was really starting to get on my nerves.
I managed to jump up just in time to avoid a second blow. Regaining my posture, I reshaped my sword into a giant, doubled-sided axe and began spinning it in front of me.
“There is only one thing I may reconsider tonight, Nightmare Moon, and that is stopping you. If you bring back Celestia, you have my word that I’ll stand down.”
Nightmare Moon only chuckled. “You are an amusing guard, but still a foal.”
I swung my sword-axe, and Nightmare Moon stopped it short with one wide swipe of her blade.
“I have had enough of this nonsense!”
She began laughing maniacally and channeled a bubble of magic around herself. It burst across the room and knocked me back against the wall. For some reason I now had a terrible headache. With a groan I looked back up at Nightmare Moon, who only towered over me with a scowl.
“I shall deal with you later.”
And with that, she disappeared into a purple mist.
I slowly sat up and rubbed the spot where my head had hit the wall. That was going to leave a mark for a while. Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could I have let this happen? It was all my fault. I should have never left Princess Celestia’s door. Royal Guards don’t get to choose when they take a break, and the one moment I do, Celestia is taken by some evil Alicorn who I’ve never even heard of!
I levitated my sword back to me, reshaping it back to normal. As I mounted it on my back a white-coated unicorn mare with a fancy purple mane and tail ran in.
“Where is Princess Celestia?” she asked. “She is missing her cue! What in Equestria happened in here?”
I shook my head. “I… I don’t know. The Princess… she’s just gone.”
She gasped and ran out just as quickly as she came in. “She’s gone!” I heard her exclaim to the audience.
I reached for the bump on the back of my head again, and the pain was finally beginning to surface. I failed Princess Celestia… I failed Equestria… I couldn’t stop Nightmare Moon, my sword couldn’t defeat her… I fell unconscious.
*
My head was throbbing when I awoke, and I could hear distance voices.
“Seize her! Only she knows where the Princess is!”
“Stand back, you foals!”
Thunder seemed to crack, shaking the floor. I struggled to my feet and hobbled out onto the balcony of the main room, finding it full of ponies running around, screaming and panicking. There was no sign of Nightmare Moon. I had to stop her. I had to do something. There was no way to search for Princess Celestia. Nightmare Moon had escaped to who-knows-where. The only one who could protect Equestria now was Cadance. I had to get back to Canterlot, I had to warn her, protect her.
I made my way back outside, and I looked curiously at the sky. It was still midnight. Eternal Night. I shuddered and painfully used my magic to shape my sword into a surfboard again. I slowly climbed on and began my way back to Canterlot, slower than I would’ve liked since pain hindered me.
I made it back to Canterlot within the hour, surprisingly, and landed at the Royal Barracks. Shining Armor was in the midst of dozens of guards, sending them out one way or another in a rush. When he saw me come in he ran over immediately.
“Swordulan, you’re supposed to be with Princess Celestia,” he said. “What’s happened? It should be day by now.”
I grimaced, teeth clenched in an effort to ward off the pain in my head. “In Ponyville, there was an attack. An Alicorn appeared out of nowhere and took Princess Celestia. Banished, she said. I don’t know where either of them are.”
Shining Armor stared at me wide-eyed. “Another Alicorn? Who?”
“She called herself Nightmare Moon, Queen of the Eternal Night. I think she might go after Cadance next.”
His face paled. “Cadance is in her room right now. Let’s go!”
He rushed off towards the castle, and I followed. We ran up the stairways and through halls until we reached Cadance’s door. Bursting into her room, we found it empty except for a single guard writhing on the floor in horror.
“NO!” we both shouted at once.
“How could this have happened? And right under our noses?” Shining Armor asked.
I stomped a hoof and stared at the ground. “It’s all my fault. I had left Princess Celestia’s door unguarded for only a moment, and when I came back she was gone. I couldn’t stop Nightmare Moon no matter how hard I tried. I failed Celestia and all of Equestria. I don’t deserve the title of Royal Guard.”
Shining Armor put a hoof on my shoulder. “Yes you do. There’s no way you could’ve known this would happen. Judging by whoever this Nightmare Moon is, I don’t think there was anything you or anyone else could have done.”
I shook my head. “I’m not so sure. But I am sure that I have to find a way to stop Nightmare Moon. The only way I can think of is finding out who she is and where she came from. I’m going to the Canterlot Archives. Alicorns never escape the old stories. If I find something that will tell me how to defeat her, I’ll go after her myself.”
Shining Armor frowned. “I can’t let you do that. You’re already hurt.”
I ground my teeth. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, I can do this. You need the rest of the Royal Guard here to keep everypony safe. Who knows if Nightmare Moon will return?”
I turned out of Cadance room, but a firm hoof stopped me. I looked back at Shining Armor blankly.
“You don’t need to do this,” he said.
I levitated his hoof off of me. “Yes I do. It’s my duty as a Royal Guard to protect Equestria and the Princesses. If I can’t even search for a way to save them, then what good am I? If you need me I’ll be at the Canterlot Archives.”
I ran off and made my way back outside, again bringing out my sword to fly on and heading for the Canterlot Archives. If anypony was going to stop Nightmare Moon, it was going to be me.