As I wake up groggily, I realize that I am surrounded by both alicorns who have me in a sleepy embrace. Their wings are wrapped gently around my barrel. The bed we are laying on must be Celestia’s, if the sun motif that adorns the room is to judge by. The bed itself is large enough to not only support the three of us, but possibly two more ponies. As I take in the opulent room filled with multiple floor to ceiling shelves which are filled with books and various nicknacks, the nicely embroidered tapestries hanging off the walls along with a couple masterfully done paintings, I can feel a raging inferno starting to grow in the pit of stomach.
Quietly I get up and out of the bed as best I can while contemplating my next moves despite the lack of communication still with my mother. My grogginess makes it difficult to not only coordinate my movements but my thoughts as well as I find myself sitting on the balcony, still as a statue.
"Good morning Moonshade, did you sleep well?" Celestia asks as she spots me after waking up, her words are slurred by the yawn she lets out followed by groaning as she stretches, waking up Luna as well. Both of them approach me happily, only to be shoved away by a wall of shadows in front of them
"You know 'aunt' Celestia, 'mother', I almost believed your story last night." I speak as I keep my eyes closed, my tone full of venom and anger. "How you said you both 'loved' me so very much and how you, Celestia 'tried' to find me. It was nothing more than a lie… A LIE TO COVER UP THE TRUTH!" Angrily the walls curl around the alicorns, trapping both rulers before pulling them closer to face me. My eyes open in that moment as I stare at both of them and I can sense the purple wisps coming out of them.
"Wh-what's going on? let us go, Moonshade. NOW!" 'Mother' commands, earning a smirk and chuckle from me as she stares back. Her horn begins to glow with her magic, but before she could do anything I encircle her horn with the magic inhibitor that was removed the day before.
"What we told you last night was the truth, little Moon. Who told you it wasn't?" Celestia inquires as her magic also activates in an attempt to free herself and Luna.
"Why, my real mother told me, of course. Normally I am able to talk to her telepathically, but for some reason I cannot at the moment." As I watch both of the princesses I let out a chuckle as the younger is fully enveloped in shadows. I can even feel them completely covering her muzzle, cutting off her air supply, sight and hearing.
"What do you mean your real mother? Luna is your real mother! NOW LET HER GO!" Celestia's voice becomes aggressive as she watches her little sister struggle for breath in the black cocoon, with each passing second her struggles grow weaker and weaker.
"I mean Nightmare Moon of course. I might not remember everything from my past, but what I do remember is her protecting me. Which is more than you EVER did!" Glaring at the sun princess I let my last words echoing around the room before I vanish from the room, transferring both myself and Luna to the shadow realm. "Now that I have Nightmare Moon's vessel I want Twilight Sparkle, and ONLY Twilight Sparkle to come to the abandoned castle in the Everfree. If she doesn’t, then I will destroy her new home, Ponyville."
Swiftly I make my way through this shadowy version of Equestria, directly to the replica of the Castle of Two Sisters. While there is more color here than one would think, it is heavily darkened. None of the denizens of this realm, which is the only difference between this place and the real Equestria, bother me on my journey, despite my being practically a stranger. Even the few shadow demons I run into end up giving me a curiously wide berth while gibbering in their own tongue. The few times I have tried to ask them about it, they ended up scattering, though my mother said it had to do with them knowing who I am and who she is.
The walk through the constantly shifting and dark mockery of the Everfree Forest is dull, though there is a patch of flowers I take a few moments to lay by. The petals are a silvery white with greyish yellow stems. The petals in turn form a full circle, with dark splotches of various sizes along them, making them look like a miniature moon. With a smile I pluck one magically and places it behind my left ear before I continue.
As I approach the outside of the run down castle I can sense something is inside. Right there, just inside the ruined doors is a half-demon pony. Who does he think he is, claiming MY home while I am here?
“He must be taught a lesson, my daughter. It is obvious he does not know who you are.” It is only in this realm that I am able to see Nightmare Moon, though she is nothing more than a hazy, black silhouette with glowing cyan eyes. Silently I bow and drop the still form of Princess Luna before approaching the sleeping stallion.
Without even giving him a chance to wake up and defend himself, I charge up my magic, ignoring the pain that surges through me as I focus on a light type spell. Through gritted teeth I continue to focus. “HEY WH- WHAT IS… OH GODS, IT HURTS! MAKE IT STOOOOP!”
Looking at the creature as I finish casting, panting with the amount of exertion needed, I notice the spell performed just as I wanted it to. A brilliant, white glow can be seen emanating from his stomach and growing as he is slowly vaporized from the inside.
As he writhes in agony I just leave him there while I find my way to the makeshift dungeon. "Now, 'mother' sit back and relax. I have some unfinished business to tend to. Also, don't be expecting a rescue anytime soon, I doubt they will find you in this realm." Shackles magically enclose her legs, horn and neck as soon as she is dumped from the cocoon. A shiver rolls down my spine at the look of fear in her eyes and the slight whimper she lets out as Nightmare Moon comes up to float in front of her. “Not even Discord can find you here.”
Once I step in a particularly dark spot, I vanish in a flash, leaving again for the real Equestria. Time to get the last pieces I need. It is good to hear from you again, mother.
'Yes, and I am glad to have been able to recontact you as well. That anti-magic collar must have cut my connection with you.’ Reforming in the real world I find myself exactly where I want to be, right behind the trio I was forced to befriend. My sudden arrival startles the three ponies I was forced to spend a day with.
"So, did you three miss me?" I grin wickedly as I have startled them into jumping. The only questions they can get out are the ones asked by their terror filled eyes as they are wrapped in a bubble and teleported with me back to the shadow realm.
It's still a little early to gather the materials but you never know what exactly is gonna ruin your plans. The four of us return in the castle, exactly in front of Luna, who is just now starting to come to. With a laugh I chain them tightly next to the lunar princess, her eyes are her only means of communication seeing as how her muzzle is forcibly shut.
"H- how are you freed of Discord's chains? W- What is Luna doing here? W- What are you planning on doing, Moonshade?" Lily's terror filled questions are barely heard due to how quiet she is talking. I can tell she is slowly succumbing to her growing fear.
As soon as Lily finishes her questions and falls into a crying puddle, Almond immediately shouts at me, lunging in an attempt to tackle me, followed by Sundance. "I thought we were at least starting to become friends! Was that just a ploy?"
‘Do you feel their fear, my faithful disciple? Intoxicating isn't it?'
Yes, I can. And I can almost taste it. With a touch of purple smoke tinging my eyes, I glare at my four captives. "Please, who said I was starting to befriend you three? As for you Lily, you can thank your precious Celestia and Luna here for freeing me." As I answer I look over at the two stallions with a fang exposing grin. "As for your second and third questions, Luna is here because I'm going to release Nightmare Moon, and I need something from you three to help me do that."
With another, final grin I turn to my audience of bound earth ponies, who are now joined by the shade of Nightmare Moon. "Now, I have some pent up frustration and rage to relieve. I hope you four are comfy."
“Careful, my daughter. I sense something bad is going to happen, and soon.” She wraps a hoof around my neck before I teleport back to the real world.
I waste no time with disguises as I reform, instead I head straight into the heart of the small town. Everypony's smile just intensifies the hard knot growing in my stomach. Eventually a couple of ponies stop and hide as they recognize me from my last visit into town, which causes a domino effect quickly amongst the populace.
To add to the growing chaos, I grab the closest pair of ponies in a couple of tentacles, which slowly begins to squeeze their barrels. However, a blue streak cuts through the shadowy appendages before I could slowly crush the life out of them.
"Hey, why did you do that? STOP!" A cocky, rough voice comes from the blue pegasus with a rainbow colored mane and tail asks me aggressively, only earning a dark laugh from me in return.
"Ya'll better stop, now." A southern accented voice comes from behind me, quickly following the question from the pegasus.
'Well it seems you've attracted the attention of the Elements of Loyalty and Honesty. Show them your strength, MY strength.’
"So, two of the Element bearers are here, good. Now, where's Twilight?" My heart rate increases dramatically at the prospect of a battle, my muscles tensing as a gleam comes to my blood colored eyes.
Instead of answering a blue missile rockets out of the sky directly towards me. Immediately I begin to cast, my horn lighting with an ebony glow. My chosen weapon, a glaive, slams down into the ground as four more appear, hovering on their own in front of me.
Just before the mare makes impact, the weapons rise and dart towards swiftly on an intercept course, causing her to focus more on them. Timing my next move I wait till she is in range, and with a quick calculation I jump and smash into her while her focus is solely on the blades.
As I land on my hooves and the mare crashes hard onto her side, a solid orange mass surges to my side and twists. Before I could react, the earth pony lands a solid blow on my flank, causing me to roll across the ground. Huh, she’s faster than I thought. That changes things, but not much.
As I stand I realize I can't put weight on my left rear leg, but despite the injury I chuckle and eye the brave cowpony. A thrashing tentacle from nearby grabs her tail and tosses her into the nearest building which is only a foot behind her, her body going through an open window. I can hear her groan of pain following the sounds of a hard collision. Ignoring her I approach the downed pegasus, showing her my fangs as she tries to unfurl her left wing, but fails.
"Ah don' know what yer plan is, but we'll stop ya'll, trust me." The orange mare responds as she recovers surprisingly fast, standing next to her friend. I can, however tell how much she is hurting due to her huffing as she finishes checking on her friend as the cyan mare stands there shakily. The commotion of both the screams and the fight has drawn the attention of two other Element bearers to our location, though they were slowed by the panicking crowds. Both stop as they look about in shock at their injured friends before they glance in my direction.
"Oh you can try, but you won't succeed. Unfortunately, right now I have better things to do, so I'll make this quick." Turning I face the white, regal looking unicorn and curly maned, pink earth pony, my eyes glowering at them as they join the fray.
"What is the meaning of this, Applejack?" The flawlessly looking unicorn asks in confusion as she takes in the sight of her two friends somewhat battered and bruised.
"It sounds like a party, but parties are supposed to be fun and nopony is supposed to be getting hurt." Quips the pink one in confusion, her gaze going from me to the other three mares.
"So, now I'm lucky enough to face off against four of the six Bearers. Where is the fifth one and where is Twilight Sparkle?" My razor sharp tone and laugh confuses the four mares, two of them because they are unsure what is going on and the other two because my unsteady combat stance, thanks to my injured leg. The weapons are in a ready strike pose as well, the four magical ones in front while the real blade is behind me at an angle.
"What do you want with Twilight, darling? And why are you doing this?" The ivory coated unicorn asks, still somewhat stunned by what she has witnessed so far.
"Oh oh, let me guess, I wanna guess... You're an old… and I mean reeeeally old pony who witnessed Nightmare Moon's transformation and fight. Then after being asleep for a veeeery long time you witnessed her return and you were so enraptured by Nightmare Moon's power you have found a way to bring her back. Am I right, huh huh huh?" As the overly energetic mare blurts all of this out blurts out, her companions just roll their eyes in disbelief.
"My reason is none of your business. Now last chance, where is Twilight Sparkle."
"You think you're so tough huh? You're out matched, its four on one." The cocky pegasus, despite her injury, has been able to get airborne again as she replies confidently while hovering. Instantly she dives towards me, a rainbow trailing her as she slams hard into the ground where I once stood, right in the center of a large pool of shadows.
"So reckless but full of spirit, that is a bad combination." The shadows quickly expand and completely cover the brash athlete before expanding even further until all four mares are blocked from each other's sight. As I stand in the middle of the darkness I focus, pinpointing each ponies' location and head towards the nearest ping.
"Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie!" Even with the growing surge of fear, there is no mistaking the unicorn’s voice as she calls out in desperation. As I step in front of her she bumps into me, shrieking in horror.
"Wrong guess. Now, let's see what your worst fears are." My magical aura wraps around her horn and soon she falls asleep. With another magical surge I ensure her sleep is anything but restful as nightmares begin to flood her mind.
"Is this a game huh huh huh? If so, you're it." A hoof smacks hard against my injured leg, causing me to yelp and flinch. With a growl I spin sharply around, but the giggling mare is already gone. With a deep breath I focus again on the remaining trio and where they are at. "Run AJ, Dashie, the scaaary mare is now it." she giggles after calling out.
"Rarity, are ya okay? Pinkie, where are ya an’ Rainbow?" The farm mare tries to call out as I approach. Her movements are slowed by the density of the dome I constructed, nervousness colors her voice as she tries to find her way to her friends.
"My my, I will say you are the strong one in the group, and not just physically. Why waste your time with these weaklings when all they do is hold you down?" I ask, using a telepathic spell as I stalk her, trying to keep my breathing and hooffalls as quiet as possible.
"Ah'm strong ‘cause mah family an’ friends need me ta be. They ain't holdin' me down, either. They’re the ones Ah get mah strength from." The nervousness that once filled her voice is now broken up and replaced by her growing anger.
"Oh, you'll see soon enough. Now, I offer you this chance, and this will be the only chance you will have. Join me and take your place at the real princess of the night's left side, or die." I continue with my mental assault, taken aback a little at her stubbornness. As I continue to taunt her, I begin to add images of her family and friends, who are either crippled or dead, and make them stare at her in an accusing manner. The mental assault eventually breaks through her will, causing her to collapse in a heap before me. With an annoyed huff I refocus and jump as a ping bounces right behind me.
"You're a meanie mean bully pants, wanting to hurt others. You need to learn how to be nice and have fun, not hurt other ponies."
"H- how did you find me in this darkness?" My surprise is evident as I jump and turn till I’m facing the pink pony.
"psst, it's a secret." She answers with some laughing, just before I get hit by a burst of air, followed by a mass of confetti. My yelp of pain sounds throughout the darkness as my injuries are compounded by the surprise attack. Upon hitting the ground, I let loose a snarl as the shadowy dome disappears.
Looking at the fallen group of Element bearers, I decide to step back to the shadow realm,not wanting to risk fight against the strange, pink earth pony with a bouncy mane. Just in time too, I don’t want to mess with him, either. Before I leave, a flash comes out of nowhere, announcing the arrival of Discord.
Using the shadow realm, I travel to Manehattan as quickly as I can in search of a doctor. Before I reemerge into the real Equestria, I shroud myself in a new disguise, even going as far as to hide my horn.
With a painful groan I find myself in an alleyway right next to the hospital. The stench of rotten garbage and decaying food assault my nose as soon as I can gather my senses, making me gag and cough. Taking as few breaths as I can without passing out, I make my way up to the entrance of the white walled building. As I walk inside, the overlapping words and the smells of disinfectant already cause a migraine to develop. As I walk through the plain white halls I keep my ears pinned against the back of my head in an attempt to block out the noise.
“Miss, here, you shouldn’t be walking on that. Let me help you.” A young unicorn mare appears from one of the side doors I just past, possibly drawn out by the accidental smacking of my highly agitated, swishing tail on the wood. The mare is white coated with what used to be a neatly styled mane the color of mint with a slight streak of light brown down the middle. Her haggard appearance, tired looking eyes and the bags under her eyes makes me think she has been working hard for a while now.
Despite her tired looking appearance she flashes me a tired smile while she pulls a stretcher over with her magic. I can tell that her reserves of magic is dwindling, and nearly depleted just by how weak it feels. ‘I warned you to be careful, didn’t I?’
With a pained groan I manage to get up on the offered bed, too hurt to get mad. “I need a doctor, stat, and bring a rape kit as well!” Do I really look that bad to the point they think I was raped? They must be stronger than I thought, specially that farmer. She WON’T get the jump on me like that again. So in grained am I in my own thoughts that I failed to realize we have entered a large room, where more ponies are waiting.
After a long and thorough exam I find out the damage is worse than I originally thought. A pair of broken ribs and a broken thigh on my left side top off the list, followed by multiple bruises and cuts, even a single long gash on my left flank. As soon as I'm patched up, which includes stitches for the deep gash and a specialized cast, I try to leave. However the drugs flowing through my system make it impossible and I fall hard back into my pillow as the attending nurse rushes to my side. "How much longer am I gonna have to be here?"
"It's mandatory for us to have patients under a twenty four hour watch, miss. Though in your case you may be here for a lot longer. Now, lay back and try to relax, please." The nurse replies without taking her attention away from the other patient.
With a groan I settle back, cursing mentally as another nurse enters, glaring while waiting for a chance to disappear. "Oho, seems like somepony got herself in a little scrape. I do hope you get better soon, Moody." Instantly I groan again upon recognizing the voice.
"What do you want, Discord? Wait, let me guess, you want me to free Nightmare Moon and the others, correct?" I turn to the new arrival, unsurprisingly it's Discord disguised as just another pony. Despite asking out loud, neither my 'roommate' nor the other nurse respond to my questions. "You can forget it, pest. I'm seeing this through, and nopony is going to stop me."
"It hurts me to hear you talk like that, little Moon. Please... forget this dream of yours and release my sister." Celestia's saddened voice pleads from off to my side. That's when I notice her as well as a pink alicorn with a crystallized heart cutie mark and Twilight Sparkle, my gaze narrows as I snarl and try to cast a spell directed straight at the unicorn. However I know it failed immediately due to the mixture of drugs and chaos magic. With only a look from the crying solar princess the strange alicorn approaches despite my bared fangs and bloody stare, undaunted by the display.
As she stops besides the bed her horn begins to glow, surrounded by a teal aura. "I'm sorry, Aunt, but whatever darkness that has infected her has taken root in her heart and has very nearly consumed it." She admits gravely, eyes downcast as she finishes her scan.
"Is- is there anything we can try to do to save her?" Twilight asks in a whisper, looking hopefully at the smaller, pink alicorn before glancing back at me.
"Do you know this pony, Aunt Celestia?" The stranger asks in concern as she resumes her exam.