//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: How it all Began // Story: Ever Lasting Night // by Rainbow Heart //------------------------------// Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year the stars will aiden her escape and she will bring night time eternal. Today was that day. It was the summer sun celebration, this year it was hosted in a town called ponyville. Everypony was exited for the summer sun celebration, after all it is one of the most famous days of the year in Equestria. The ponies in ponyville did all they could to make the town look more beautiful then it ever was after all their ruler Princess Celestia would come to their town or so everypony thought. How wrong they were. None of them knew this would be their last day ever. It was time for Celestia to leave for ponyville she had prepared herself and was rather exited. She looked out of the window from her castle in Canterlot with a smile. ''Ponyville....If I remember correctly the dear daughter of the founders still lives there. I wonder how she's doing, it would be lovely to see her again.'' The white alicorn said to herself as she let out a chuckle. Celestia nodded, it was time for her to go to ponyville. She moved away from the window and walked downstairs to exit of the castle. From the windows she could see the night, she looked at it whenever she passed a window. Oh how she missed the gorgeous nights her little sister could create. Her beautiful star constellations, her shining moon. No matter how hard Celestia had tried she could never recreate the nights like her little sister, her dearest little sister Luna. She missed Luna day and night, it all was so different after she banished her. Celestia still felt guilty about banishing her little sister, but she had had no other choice as she was unable to reach her sister's heart. Celestia released a sigh when she recalled all the lovely memories she had with Luna, she hoped that one day her dear sister would come home. As Celestia was lost in her thoughts she didn't notice one of her royal guards passed out on the floor right away, but she did soon after she passed his body. Celestia felt a rush of worry and immediately turned to the stallion, she lowered herself to see if he had any injuries. He appeared to be hit by magic there was a bruise on his neck. Celestia rose again as she braced herself for anything that could be lurking in her castle, she was prepared for anything.....at least that's what she thought. Celestia rushed further down the hallway to warn the other guards but when she arrived she found them all passed, out every single one of them. ''Who could have done such a cruel thing?'' She asked herself. ''Show yourself! I will not allow you to hurt my subjects! whoever you are come out now and stop this cowardly act!'' She raised her voice as her voice was very demanding and stern and so was the look on her face and her body language. Celestia wasn't going to let the one behind this get away with it. ''Foolish sister do you not recall me?'' A sinister voice said softly from the shadows. ''Sister? Show yourself right now!'' Celestia wasn't going to let her guard down by what she thought was a mere trick in fooling her, yet she would be lying if she said that somewhere inside her heart she did not think it was her sister, or rather....Nightmare Moon. The awful creature her sister had become. The Luna she knew wasn't that selfish and would care dearly about the ponies in Equestria, Nightmare Moon however was a cruel mare who would do anything to get what she desired. Celestia prepared herself to fight as her horn gave off a powerful yellow glow. A figure moved out of the shadows, a black mare with a horn and wings, she was an alicorn with flowing blue starry mane. Celestia's eyes widened with shock when she saw her, as a lot of different emotions went trough her. It was her, Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon grinned at the sight of her sister, she felt a bit of a triumph but she would not be satisfied until she had sent her to the moon just like her sister did to her. ''No it can't be.....'' Celestia uttered ''It's been so long since I've last seen you my sister Celestia. What has it been? A thousand years!'' Nightmare Moon had somewhat of an evil laughter in her tone. ''Luna or should I call you Nightmare Moon?'' Celestia returned to her serious attitude. ''Tina are you not happy to see me?'' Nightmare Moon asked being rather sarcastic. ''You are not my sister!'' Celestia said her eyes narrowed angry. ''I wasn't intending to make this a touchy reunion.'' Both alicorns stood ready to battle one another. Both of them didn't show any sign of backing down. Nightmare Moon her horn started glowing too as the two sisters ran at one another with their horns clashing against one another trying to push the other down. Both felt anger towards another, Nightmare Moon her anger coming from envy and Celestia her anger coming from the fact that her sister turned into a monster like this, even though she took most of the blame for it herself. Nightmare Moon was determined to win, she would not fail not again this time her sister would not be able to use the elements against her and she knew it otherwise she would have tried convincing her to return back to her normal self again. Her weaker self who was supposed to be so much better then who she was now. Her old self, Luna. Refused to believe that she had power now and that that was what mattered and nothing else. Nightmare Moon suddenly jumped back and flapped her wings as she rose from the ground, charging her horn with a powerful magic which she shot towards her sister. Celestia was surprised by this but managed to call up a magic shield to protect her in time as her horn glew and shot magical sun-like rays at Nightmare Moon, who dodged them all. The mares flew up as they kept trying to shoot one another down with their magic. The citizens of Canterlot noticed this and looked at the two fighting alicorns in the sky, most of them started to cheer on Celestia. This made Nightmare Moon's anger to grow even greater, she flapped her wings as magic sparked off them gathering as a huge ball of magical energy, she flapped her wings once more shooting the ball at Celestia. It was a very powerful attack as Celestia took quite a lot of damage. Celestia was taken by surprise, magic coming from wings? She had never seen that before but there were things Nightmare Moon knew more about then Celestia. Nightmare Moon started laughing as she shot another beam of her magic at Celestia her magic wrapped around her tightly as Nightmare Moon used a spell to imprison her sister in the moon forever. She wanted to be sure her sister would never ever come back. Nightmare Moon took a lot of pride in her victory as she landed on the balcony of the Canterlot castle she watched the horrified faces of the ponies in the crowd. Naturally they would be scared they had no idea what she was going to do to them. ''Citizens of Equestria remember this day as it is your last.'' She said holding back the chuckle in her voice. ''From this moment forth the Night will last FOREVER! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.'' She started to laugh as thunder struck behind her. Everypony was confused. Some tried to fight her, a few pegasi tried this, flying straight at Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon was not impressed by this, they were fools to try and stop her, and she would make that very clear. ''Stand back you fools.'' Before the pegasi could try and harm her Nightmare Moon had already used her magic to smack them down to the floor. As she shot a sharp shot of magic at one of them, making him bleed. More then that wasn't necessary she thought to herself, soon everypony would love her and no one would dare to oppose her. She would have to destroy the elements of harmony, and she knew just where to find them. But first she had to calm down the ponies who were terrified of her as calming them down would save her a lot of trouble. She straightened herself looking down at all the ponies below her. ''I am your new ruler now. Do not fear my beloved subjects I will make sure no one shall bring you any harm but me, but I won't harm you without a reason. If anypony tries to oppose me again.....well I won't be as merciful like I was to those pegasi. I hope this is all clear.'' The ponies didn't know what to do. They were up against a mighty powerful alicorn who wouldn't hesitate to kill if they were to disobey her. They decided to bow to their new ruler even though they weren't fond of her, but at the moment there was nothing they could do to stop her and perhaps it was better to trust her words for now. ''I shall take my leave for now. I will not live in this pathetic castle that once was my sister's. I shall go back to my own castle and you ponies will build it to how i desire it.'' She had said in a threatening tone. Nightmare Moon flew up into the starry sky. She was headed towards the castle of the royal pony sisters, the castle she had lived in with Celestia before she had banished her to the Moon. Anger rose inside her thinking about her banishment, but it was all over now, no one would be able to defeat her. She was the only alicorn in Equestria. Once she had arrived at the castle she walked in ready to do what she was going to do. She walked closer to the elements of harmony. ''Ah the elements, the things my sister used to defeat me. But they have no bearers now, and even if they showed up one day. No one will ever know!'' She levitated the elements with her magic and put them on the ground as she rose her two upper legs and hoofs into the air as she went down smashing with them on the elements shattering them to pieces. She didn't glance at them as she walked to the window looking at the moon her sister was now sealed in. Celestia was now the mare in the moon, and would be unable to ever break free. A pride filled smile appeared on her face, she had succeeded. She would rule Equestria now. Years had past. Nightmare Moon had freed her army of bat ponies from the stars they were locked in, as they fought back any resistance the ponies would put up against her. Day time was no more, and ponies started to get used to living in the Darkness of the Night, later they would also surrender to their new ruler, she had gotten more and more ponies by her side. Earning their loyalty. The old broken castle was rebuild to a castle fully themed with the Night and herself. She sat on her throne, she was the ruler of Equestria and she wouldn't give that title away to no pony. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Years later in another part of Equestria two grown ponies walked into a forest. One was a beautiful pink pegasus mare with flowing purple and yellow mane. She had a shimmering pink heart as her cutie mark but her expression was rather sad her soft green eyes filled with tears she was holding back. The mare carried a pegasus filly on her back. A beautiful girl with soft pink fur as her mane was curled up at the end and filled with three beautiful colors; purple,pink and yellow. The filly was fast asleep. Next to the mare walked a stallion a blue earthpony with dark purple hair and his eyes were a soft yet dark shaded purple his expression was rather stern as his cutiemark was hidden by the armor he wore. His face turned to the mare. ''You know this is for the better right?'' He said sounding rather strict. ''Yes....Yes I do....'' The mare replied softly. She knew she was lying this idea wasn't for the best. Why did she have to abandon her filly? She knew she couldn't keep her for this was her punishment. But even if she were to resist they would take her filly by force and execute her in front of her very own eyes. She would rather abandon her filly with a small chance of survival then giving her no chance at life at all. She looked at her back watching her filly sleep she was just adorable. She looked forward as they approached a dark forest and entered. ''This is your punishment don't try to resist you know what will happen if you don't cooperate.'' He said stern pointing at a tree in the distance. ''How could you do this? You know she's your daughter too.'' The mare insisted as holding back the tears in her eyes got harder and harder. ''I do not care for her. Emotions are for the weak like our old ruler Celestia she ruled with emotion rather then power and we all know what happened to her.'' He said glaring at the mare. ''Now do it!'' He shouted at her. The mare wanted to protest but the anger in the eyes of the stallion send shivers down her spine. She swallowed slowly walking to the tree where she had to abandon her filly. Even though they only spend a couple of weeks together she was her very own daughter after all. She stopped at the tree as she took the filly from her back holding her in her arms so tight she woke up. The filly looked up in confusion at her mother she had the same eyes as her father. She was uttering some baby words as she kept trying to say a specific word. That word that send the mare into a burst of tears. The filly kept trying to say. Mommy. She truly didn't want to put her filly down but she knew she was hesitating and that the patience of the stallion would soon run out. She had no choice she had to do it and she had to do it now. She bend down and put the filly against the tree as she took a couple of steps back herself. She stared at her filly with tears screaming down her eyes. ''I'm sorry Cadance I truly am sorry that I have failed you as a mother and have to do this. But remember you will always be my precious....'' She swallowed to prevent herself from stuttering. ''Mi amore Cadenza'' She looked down crying. ''What means my love Cadance. Goodbye forever.'' The mare turned her back on the filly and slowly walked back to the stallion as she walked with her face looking at the ground. She didn't want him to look at her face. This so called father of her child who showed no care for her whatsoever. She refused to give him the joy of seeing her cry she wouldn't allow it. ''Took you long enough.'' He said coldly. ''You shut up!'' She hissed at him with anger in her voice. The two ponies left the forest as the mare looked back at it. This was the choice in her life she regretted the most of all or was it the mistake that caused this? She couldn't tell for sure which one she regretted more but it was too late to change it now. She couldn't go back and time and fix it no matter how much she wished for it. The abandoned filly crawled around as she tried to fly but couldn't pull it off just yet. Hours had past as the filly started to cry. Confused and abandoned where had her mother gone too? She was too young to understand what had just happened all she could understand was the fact the she was all alone now. The filly wouldn't stop crying for hours long. Later she tried to fly again with all her might flapping her wings as hard as she could and before she knew it she slowly lifted herself from the ground. Surprised and yet utterly amazed by what she had just done she flew around but not that fast. She had never flown before after all. While flying around the filly got scared in the dark of the night as another outburst of crying came by again. She fell on the ground when she had clapped her wings shut. She kept crying and crying but for a long time no pony would hear her. ''What is that weird sound I hear?'' A voice from an earthpony said. Curious to find out what the sound was about the earthpony approached the crying sound. A brown earthpony with black spiky mane a mare it was. Her eyes were a dark shade of blue as she had a triple set of raindrops as her cutie mark. Her eyes widened when she saw the pink filly who appeared to be all alone. ''My my what do we have here? Are you lost little one?'' She asked but the filly didn't reply and looked up at her confused. ''I see still too young to speak.'' She looked around to see if she could spot anypony but noone was in sight. ''Hello? Is anypony there?'' She shouted but no one replied. ''So you're abandoned. Tsch'' She frowned. ''I hate the kind of ponies who do this to their innocent child! You know what? You're coming with me. I would be the same as the ones who abandoned you if I just left you here wouldn't I?'' The mare face hoofed after realizing she was talking to a filly who couldn't even talk yet. She did a sigh and slowly came towards the filly who was a bit scared. The mare was rather nervous she thought it would be more easy then this. ''Uhmm I won't hurt you trust me. I swear!'' She said in a desperate attempt to get the filly's trust. She tried to grab the filly again and surprisingly it worked. The mare smirked a bit proud as she put the filly on her back. ''Now don't you fly away okay! I'm bringing you to a village......Even though it's an earthpony village ah then you'll be the first pegasus! Change is good they say'' She said while walking away. The mare walked with the filly further and deeper inside of the forest as after a while she arrived in a village where all bunch of earthponies lived. The mare walked in waving at some of her friends who waved back but where surprised to see her with such a bright colored pegasus filly on her back the mare stopped in the middle of the town as she raised her voice. ''Can someone get the village leader? Please!'' A stallion nodded and went to get an older mare. A pretty light purple mare with a straight long red mane as her eyes were a bright colored orange. She went to the mare and the filly smiling kindly her cutie mark was a tree but not a normal tree. It had a pretty brown trunk but the flow of the twigs where the leaves grew on made the upper shaped like a heart as the leaves were an autumn red color. ''Rain Drops it appears you have brought a companion?'' She asked kind looking at the filly. ''Well actually I found this filly abandoned in the forest. I swear I looked around I shouted even! There was no pony!'' Rain Drops said. ''I see'' ''Please Heart Growth could she be raised her? You don't know who can be trusted these days.'' Rain Drops insisted. Heart Growth chuckled kind. ''Oh my dearest of course I see no problem with it even though we are all earth ponies we do not outcast the other races now do you know her name?'' Before Rain Drops could even answer the filly spoke and said. ''Mi Amore Cadenza.'' Both Rain Drops and Heart Growth were surprised to hear the filly speak all of sudden. Rain Drops was way more surprised though as Heart Growth later laughed about it. ''I see well....We'll just call you Cadance but ofcourse we will remember your name. She sure is a pretty filly.'' Heart Growth said petting her head with a hoof. ''You're welcome here little one. Oh and Rain Drops you did a very good deed for not abandoning her.'' Hearth Growth smiled as Rain Drops got a bit of a blush on her face looking away embarrassed. ''Well it just was the right thing to do you know! Well Cadance this is your new home now we'll be sure to treat you well!''