Lost to the Darkness

Princess Twilight sat in her quarters in Canterlot, her quill scratching along the parchment as she filled out her last bits of paperwork for today. Being a princess was much harder than she had envisioned it being. She had to attend meetings, listen to the troubles of her subjects, and wrap it all up by documenting the day's proceedings. Dipping her quill into the inkwell once again, she let out a sigh. Work wasn't the problem, it never had been for her. Twilight realized that the worst part about being a princess was not being able to be with her friends.

Sure, she saw her friends about once a week, but it was never enough. Occasionally, she thought of ordering to have them relocated to Canterlot, but they all had their own lives in the quaint farming town, and it would be wrong to force that change on them. She decided to grit her teeth and place the quill back on the paper.

Finishing the painstaking process, she took a quick glance at the clock, happily and mindlessly ticking the hours away, currently sitting at half-past eight, before returning to the stack of novels she had set aside for her free time tonight. As she picked up the uppermost book of the mountain, a familiar tome smiled at her from underneath. It was a brown book, with the scratches and stains of hundreds of years beginning to show on its binding. A golden unicorn with piercing green eyes was emblazoned on the front cover. She recognized it immediately as the tale of Nightmare Moon. Ignoring the stack she had prepared, she picked up the aged book and began reading the story she had read before so many times.

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn. The younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies. But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night. One fateful day, the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness of the young one's heart had turned her into a wicked mare of darkness, Nightmare Moon. She vowed she would shroud the land in eternal night. Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom, the elements of harmony. Using the magic of the elements of harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon, and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since...

With an audible sigh, she shut the book, dissatisfied with its lack of detail. Obviously, it was only written as a short tale for a mare to tell her foals before bedtime, but it was the only surviving account of what truly happened a thousand years prior, save for the princesses themselves. When that thought crossed her mind, she jumped back, berating herself for her ignorance. Celestia will have recently finished lowering the sun, and if she was quick, she should be able to catch her before she went to sleep. No sooner thought than done, Twilight galloped off to Celestia’s quarters, leaving the room littered with books.

After the brief run through the hallways, Twilight rapped at Celestia’s door, quite out of breath. On the way over, when she was not preoccupied with bumping into the royal guard, she tried to think of the best way to ask her question. Before she could, however, the door glowed with the warming light of the sun, and opened to reveal the white coated alicorn who was Twilight's mentor for so many years. "Hello Twilight," she said softly, "what brings you here at such an hour?"

As Celestia beckoned her inside her room, Twilight responded, "Well princess, you see, there's this thing that I've been meaning to ask you..."

"What is it, Twilight?"

"It's about Nightmare Moon."

The solar princess sighed audibly, hanging her head. "You wish to know how Luna became Nightmare, and how I defeated her using the elements of Harmony, is that correct?"

"Yes, Celestia, that's right," Twilight replied.

"I knew it was only a matter of time until you decided to ask me that question, and I am glad that you came to me rather than my sister to discuss this matter, Princess Twilight. It was wise of you to respect her past trauma, and I thank you for that."

Twilight recoiled at being called 'princess,' as it was a title that she had not grown accustomed to yet. It seemed to carry expectations with it, expectations for her. She feared letting everypony down if she didn't... "Twilight?"

"Thank you, princess," she uttered, regaining her composure. "But if it's not too much trouble, could you please tell me?"

"Very well..." At this, Celestia shut her eyes in concentration, and a yellow aura grew about her horn. A light breeze began to flow around the room, and the view of Canterlot in the window vanished. All that could be seen was the sun setting in the distance. The princess's horn glowed brighter, and the breeze flowing around the room became a gale, threatening to toss Twilight off her hooves. A beam with the brightness and color of the sun shot from Celestia's horn, hitting the ceiling and flowing down along the walls. The gale picked Twilight up, sweeping her into the point where the beam met the ceiling, then all went black.
When Twilight awoke, she found that she was still in the Canterlot Palace, but it was a smaller, simpler version. She was in the grand hall, but it lacked its iconic stained glass murals. A cool, late spring breeze flowed through the empty room, and the light of a new crescent moon was shining through the windows, reaching towards two alicorns in the distance. As Twilight slowly walked over to the end of the hall, she could make out their features; the white princess was seated in her throne, and her sister, Luna, standing directly in front of her. Both of them wore their traditional Royal decorations, but their necklaces showed something different than Twilight was used to. Each princess's necklace had a trio of gems arranged in a equilateral triangle. Luna's gems were of a light blue, a deep red, and an orange, while Celestia's were lavender, a deep purple, and a pink. Twilight immediately recognized them as the same colors as the elements of harmony she and her friends possessed.

As Twilight looked on, the two princesses began to speak. "My sister, the seal holds well. Sombra shan't escape his frozen prison for nigh one thousand years, if Starswirl's studies of the Elements of Harmony hold true," said the younger of the two, bowing her head.

"I'm glad to hear it, Luna, but what has become of the Crystal Kingdom?"

"I am not sure, sister, but Sombra seemed to take the kingdom with him when he was thrown into the abyss."

"So, the kingdom is..."

"Gone, and along with it, the Northern Lights that spread the kingdom's love and happiness throughout this land. I'm sorry, sister... I tried to save the kingdom, but I..." Luna's normally regal voice wavered, and a tear fell from her eye.

Celestia stood from her chair and lifted Luna's chin with her hoof. "Sister, it was not your fault," Celestia said in her motherly voice that Twilight had heard so much in her days as Celestia's pupil. "There was nothing either of us could have done to stop him."

"You are right, sister, as usual," said Luna, sniffing, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I will retire." With this, Luna's horn glew with the color of the night sky, and the moon sunk below the horizon, allowing for Celestia to lift her sun from the east, bringing its warmth and light over the land..

"Goodnight, little sister."

"Good day, sister."

As Luna made her way out of the throne room, the memory faded, and when Twilight's vision returned, the darkness of night had returned to the throne room, and the princess was seated alone in the throne. The moon had waxed slightly, signaling only a day had passed since the princesses had talked. Tonight was a night Luna was dreading. The citizens of Equestria had lined up outside the hall to tell her their plights, ask her their questions, but the princess knew of one question that would be on everypony's mind tonight, and she dreaded it with all her heart. With a deep breath, she announced to her royal guard, "Send in the first pony."

Luna's fears came to be realized, as nearly all of the gripes were about the Northern Lights. She felt her strength waning with every complaint about how her night had lost its beauty, every jab at her, saying it was her fault, and every bit of crying about friends they had had from the empire who had disappeared that night. With every pony that she turned away, another took its place, and from the peeks out the door she could take between ponies, there was no end in sight. The same happened every day for nearly 2 weeks. The constant repetition of this question was driving her mad. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of this, she could take no more. Stepping outside the throne room, she addressed the crowd of ponies, "We are most sorry, but thy princess of the night will not be seeing any more ponies tonight, please return next week, and we might address thy problems." Turning around, she marched back into the throne room, slamming the door shut behind her. She left the royal attendant to finish up her work for the day and teleported to a place that was very dear to her, a place where she would never be disturbed, the castle of the royal pony sisters, in the middle of the Everfree forest.

The castle had come to be Luna's second home over the past few months, and she had spent an increasingly large amount of time inside its dilapidated, broken walls. It held a special place in the moon princess's heart, as it had been a place of solace when she and her sister, just fillies at the time, had gotten lost in the Everfree, and only could find home from the view from its tallest tower. Later, the Elements of Harmony had been rediscovered here- apparently Starswirl had tried to hide them there, for whatever reason- and, finally, Luna had discovered her dream-walking ability there. Nowadays, Luna used it whenever her life was too much for her, whenever her subjects' expectations could not be met, or even her own.

Today was a special case, however, because as she stared into the reflective fountain in the main entryway, she remembered the face of every pony who had criticized her night, and it drove the princess to the ground in tears. Without the kingdom's love, was her night really nothing? Was it her fault that the kingdom fell, and whatever god was watching over them thought it fitting to punish her for her mistake? Maybe she really was a failure...

As she lay there, crying, another voice came to her mind, a strong voice, with the quiet power of the night. Who were these ponies to judge her night? Why should she listen to these peasants, who didn't appreciate the time and detail it took to place every pinpoint of light in that dark canvas sky, who would rather be dazzled by the nighttime rainbow created by that damn crystal in the far north than by her flawless night? The dark voice offered her an idea: at the summer sun celebration, which was less than two weeks away, and, coincidentally, a full moon, she would create the most beautiful night any of the heathens had ever seen. It would be so bright and magnificent that it would be a pity if it ever ended. In fact, it never shall end. On the day of the Summer Sun Celebration, the night will last forever.

-------------------

The two weeks leading up to the ceremony passed quickly for Celestia, and she was laying in her bed, relishing the current quiet in the castle. After all, every pony in Canterlot would be out partying tonight. Wouldn't want to miss the majestical pony princess raise the sun, after all. Celestia chuckled to herself and rolled over, smiling. Her workload had become so little now that she had whole days at a time to herself. Even Luna had stopped coming to her about her subjects complaining about her night. Her student had just finished the final preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, stationed in Canterlot this year, and Celestia had had enough time to practice that she could do the ceremony asleep. As she closed her eyes, she knew the celebration tomorrow would go without a hitch.

One of the castle servants awoke Celestia early that morning, leaving a tray of food at the foot of her bed. She blinked at it through the bleak candlelight of the castle and saw a delicious cake among the other, more traditional breakfast foods. She thanked the servant before digging in. She mentally rehearsed the ceremony one last time while she ate, even testing her command of the sun, grasping at it with her magic. When she did, she felt a familiar magic holding the sun as well. Celestia smiled, it was just like her sister to try to help her with the ceremony. Walking over to the window, Celestia was amazed by Luna's work on the night tonight. The full moon bathed the land with its light, making it feel almost like her day, and each constellation, every star, shined with such brightness and purity that Celestia almost felt bad raising the sun to blot them out. Making a mental note to thank the princess later, Celestia donned her traditional royal dressings and left to do the ceremony.

The solar princess stepped out onto the stage, glancing at the crowd. It extended down the streets of Canterlot, with ponies lined all the way back to the mountain. The pegasi were so vast in number that they nearly covered the view of the night. Celestia stood briefly at the base of the monument, allowing herself to take a moment to find the sun with her magic. As she began to flap her wings and ascend, she noticed something was wrong.

She could not move the sun. As she reached the height of the ceremony, the sun had not risen above the horizon. It was then that she realized that Luna had not been helping her, but hindering her. In a combination of confusion and rage, she yelled the name of her sister out to the heavens, ordering her to come forth.

The princess of the night materialized of the stage, saying nothing. She eyed her sister with the defiance of a foal who had snuck out after bedtime. "Luna, what are you doing? Lower the moon," Celestia said, quite confused.

"Why should I?" Luna asked, not taking her eyes off of Celestia.

“My sister, you know very well why this land needs the sun. Please, my sister,” Celestia begged, “lower the moon.”

Taking offense, Luna yelled back at her, as well as addressing the murmuring crowd in her traditional voice. “This land does not need a sun. Its denizens-foals, the lot of you-worship it. With childlike naivety, you all worship a burning, destroying ball of flame. Some of you even say that my moon is but a reflection of that appalling sphere. Disgusting, all of you,” Luna spat, turning to face her sister, “and you, Celestia, I can keep that sphere of destruction and lies away as long as I want. As long as I live, this night will last forever.”

The white alicorn looked in disbelief at her sister. After a few seconds of consideration, she carefully asked, “Who are you?”

“I am the same pony you always knew, I have simply realized the truth.”

“You are not my sister,” Celestia said, charging a spell, “and I will do all in my power to stop you.”

Celestia fired a hot yellow blast at Luna, which glowed with the power of the sun. It hit Luna, consuming her in a white-hot ball. It hissed and crackled as it burned through the wood of the stage, and the heat was so intense that the ponies in the front few rows had to shelter their faces from it. When the ball receded, there was nothing left but a purple mist. Celestia let out a sigh, allowing the magic to flow away from her horn. Exhausted from the rather showy spell she performed, she turned to the audience to prepare for a speech.

As the princess opened her mouth to speak, the mist began to move and grow. Spinning in a violent purple tornado, it jetted towards Celestia, completely consuming her in a purple bubble. Little by little, mist leaked off of the dark purple bubble and began to form a cutie mark. It was shaped as the crescent moon, and surrounded by a purple cloud. As more of the mist leaked off of Celestia, it began to form an identical copy of Celestia around the mark. As it formed, pieces of armor began to appear on the body, beginning with four hoof-guards, an ornate chest piece bearing a crescent moon and the three elements of harmony that Luna carried, and eventually, a helmet. Finally, all the mist that remained flowed to her neck and backside, forming an ethereal mane and tale bearing the night sky, which flowed chaotically around Celestia’s black double. After what seemed like an eternity, the black alicorn opened her eyes. Two green, serpent-like eyes glanced over her new form, then at her sister. “Why, you didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?” She laughed, her voice bearing a silky, sinister tone. Celestia could do little but look on weakly, as her sister seemed to have drained her and the elements of all their energy with that spell. “I have lingered for far too long here, but before I leave you to enjoy my wonderful night, I shall give you all a taste of your punishment.” After she finished saying this, the mist from her mane and tail began to creep slowly over the crowd of the gathered ponies, and, as they turned to run, each of them fell to the ground, completely asleep.

Struggling to stay awake, as futile as it was, Celestia took one more look at her sister, who was walking slowly over to her. Luna lifted Celestia’s chin with her hoof, forcing her to look into her eyes. She spat, “Enjoy my creation, princess.” As the dark mare released her sister’s chin, Celestia succumbed to the mist, falling to the ground.

When Celestia opened her eyes, she felt woozy, as if someone had hit her on the head. She shook her head and tried to stand, but found her legs were bound to a boulder by an ethereal chain. She tried using magic, but found that for some reason, her power would not come to her. Giving up, she looked around her. She was in Canterlot, but a ruined, dark version. The darkness of night remained over the land of Equestria. The land was filled with misery wherever she looked. Fields were full of shriveled, deprived plants, there was no happiness in the citizens' faces, and the stark cold of the air had frozen the water. Ponies were lining up in front of Celestia, spitting at her, blaming her for what had happened. She tried to argue, but her words were lost in a sea of yelling. She lost it. She began to cry, cry for what she should have seen coming, what she couldn't stop. In the midst of her tears, the black alicorn appeared before Celestia, towering above her form. She smiled evilly down at Celestia and asked, "Are you enjoying it, dear sister?"

“Do you realize what you’re doing to them, you monster?” Celestia pleaded.

“Ah, my sister, you haven’t realized. You see, sister,” She explained, “for so long, my dreams have been a place of solace, an escape for ponies. Your subjects pour their hopes into my dreams, their pains, and I take it from them, and offer them their desires, a break from life. However, I have realized another use for these dreams, I can take their pains and multiply them, punish them for their ignorance and lack of appreciation. I call it a nightmare, much like myself. I am a creature born of envy, of loneliness, a lost soul drifting in the blackness of night. I am a nightmare, I am the nightmare, and from this day forward, the peasants of Equestria shall know to fear and pay homage to the princess of dreams, Nightmare Moon.” As Celestia watched, helpless, the laughing form of Nightmare Moon turned into mist, flying into the moon, probably to spread her torture to someone else’s dream.

Celestia tried what she could to awaken herself, to escape the prison her sister had built for her, but it was useless. She bit her wing, causing a trickle of blood to stain her feathers, and kicked the boulder with all she had, but the world of dream kept her from feeling pain, and the boulder was immovable. Her only option was to endure for the night until she awoke.

When Celestia awoke, she found herself in her quarters, although how she got there she did not know. There was a low light shining through the window, lighting the room enough for her to see her way around. Rising from her bed, she felt her hair stand on end and her teeth began to chatter. Unseasonal for a summer's night, the cold air chilled her to the bone. Ignoring the cold, she tried to bring the sun above the horizon, only to see that her sister still had it under her magic, preventing her from raising it. Going over to the window, she could see the whole city. The square where she had failed the ceremony was empty of ponies, apparently they had all been transported to their homes as well. Celestia did not know how long she had been asleep, but already smaller shrubs and flowers were beginning to wilt, some even gaining a thin sheet of frost. She knew the sun had to rise before her dream became reality. She needed to know how to stop Nightmare.

She teleported to the library, looking for something, anything she could use to defeat her sister. Hidden within one of these tomes, there surely had to be an answer, right? Her thoughts immediately went to the elements. Star Swirl's extensive research on their magic was sure to contain some pertinent information. Reaching the Star Swirl wing, she began flipping through the many scrolls and books the bearded pony had written during his life, when she came across the sealing spell the sisters had used against Sombra. However, the element bearers all had to feed energy into the spell for it to work, and she only possessed half of the elements. Most of all, she didn't wish to use that spell on her sister, as long as she could help it. Looking amongst the surrounding spells, she found a simple memory spell, apparently misfiled. Celestia spent hours in the library, searching for some way to stop nightmare, when she came across Star Swirl's first essay on the elements. Celestia uncurled the scroll and read it.

...the Elements of Harmony are like no magic I have ever seen. Unlike the forbidden talismans of magic given to us by the zebras, these seem to be almost sentient. They can create magic of their own will, even if its bearer possesses none. Unfortunately for my studies, nopony can just take an element and use it, but they seem to hear the unspoken testimony of the bearer, to search their soul, and only if it finds them worthy, will allow them to bear it. Once it has found a worthy bearer, the element binds itself to its bearer's soul until it finds a bearer more suitable, no longer finds the bearer worthy, or the bearer dies...

Storing the scroll, Celestia knew this was the one she had been looking for. It told her several things: that she could take the elements from her sister, that the bonds between her sister and the elements was likely weak, and that Celestia's own elements are likely weakly connected as well. Now all that was left was to find Nightmare. Celestia recalled that Luna had a strange attraction to that old castle in the middle of the Everfree. It was a long shot, but the only lead she had. Unfurling her wings, the princess took off, bound for the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.

On the flight, she went over her plan again. It was a simple, admittedly incomplete plan, but Nightmare had to be stopped before tonight, when more ponies would suffer her torturing night terrors. Occasionally, she looked down on the land as she flew towards the castle. In the stark moonlight, the princess could see whole fields covered in ice, ravaging the farmers' crops. She saw ponies closely huddling beside a flaming trash can, just trying to stay warm. Stores were being raided, homes robbed, all because of Nightmare. If Luna felt underappreciated, what good would destroying the land do? All this destruction, sadness, all to teach them a lesson? This monster wasn't Luna, even if it possessed her mind. That was her hope- that some part of her sister still lived beneath the skin of that nightmare, and she was going to bring it back to the light.

Reaching her destination, Celestia folded her wings and dove, landing in front of an old doorway, which was apparently the main entrance to the castle, but now showed rust on its hinges and rotting wood. The forest surrounded the castle, leaning towards the gates as if it were too afraid to enter, but was trying to watch intently. With a sigh, Celestia pushed open the door, which replied with a loud creak, and proceeded through the castle. As she walked through, she could see a faint light in the tallest tower, the light of the moon emanating from the window and casting itself on the stones. Celestia spread her wings and flew through the open portal.

Touching down in the tower, Celestia could see that it was an old throne room, much like hers in Canterlot, but the bricks had grown mossy over time, the windows had all been broken, and the ancient stone pillars had vines slowly climbing their way up to where the ceiling used to be. Looking to the throne, she saw Nightmare, looking into a mirror built into the back of the throne. But instead of her dragon-like eyes staring into the mirror, Nightmare had Luna's eyes. They were the soft, green eyes that Celestia always loved about her sister. As Nightmare looked into the mirror, she began to cry. Tears began to roll down her face one by one, and dripped to the stone floor. As Celestia began to slowly approach her sister, Nightmare snapped upright, tears halting their flow from her eyes. Still facing the mirror, she spoke in a low tone. “Hello, sister. What are you doing here?”

“I have come to ask you back to the kingdom, little sister. Please,” Celestia pleaded. “we were meant to rule side by side, equal parts of a greater-”

“What would you know about equality?” Nightmare snapped, spinning to face Celestia, her reptilian eyes burning with rage. “You’re the one those foals worship. You sit and bask in the light of your own ball of limelight while your loyal subjects praise every molecule of your being. Oh, the princess of the sun cometh, what a beautiful flowing mane she has! Did you see her magnificent white coat? Absolutely stunning! Gee, this day sure is magnificent, thanks princess! While you soak up the light of Equestria, who sits in its shadow? Your subjects praise the very ground you tread, play and socialize in your creation, but what do they do with mine? They shun it, they ignore it. The lesser cousin to the day. I offered them everything. I gave them every piece of beauty that I could. The stars strewn across the sky, their dreams that they cling to like a drug addict. I even let that stain from the crystal empire sit there to please them, but did any thanks come to Luna? Any credit? The laborers even spread a rumor that the light of my moon is just a reflection of the sun, that I am merely a reflection of you. I am going to show them all that Equestria doesn’t need a sun, and it doesn’t need you. For once in history, the moon will outshine the sun!” Laughing maniacally, Nightmare drew power from her elements, readying a beam to fire at the princess. A tear falling from her eye, Celestia did the same, preparing to meet Nightmare’s beam. They both unleashed their magic, their arcane powers shrouding the room in a bizarre twilight. As the contact point, a point of both blinding light and total darkness, began to creep closer to the solar princess, she knew it was hopeless. The room began to lose what light she had provided from her magic and the blackness of night began to take over. All Celestia could do in the last few seconds before contact was draw a little power from the elements to shield herself from some of the pain.

When the darkness reached her horn, in the second before she was thrown across the room, Celestia could feel Nightmare, her magic and spirit. It drove her almost to tears as the magic told Nightmare’s story. It told her of Luna’s despair after Sombra’s demise, she truly did think that it was her fault, the poor girl. She held herself responsible for the deaths of an entire city. Through the next few weeks, she spiralled into madness, driven insane by the constant reminder of what she couldn't have helped. She dabbled in the black magic of Sombra, trying to bring back the empire that he had taken with him, but the spirit of Sombra, speaking from his prison, planted a poisonous seed in her mind. It told her that her subjects hated her, and the only way out was to teach them to love her. The seed began to grow until the last straw, when she thought her sister had abandoned her, tried to kill her at the celebration. That seed became Nightmare, pushing the kind, shy princess to the back, and brought the insane mare to the forefront. As Celestia was thrown back, the last thing she saw before losing consciousness was the laughing face of Nightmare, but in the midst of her maniacal laughter, she saw a single tear roll down her face.

Blinking awake, Celestia noticed that she was chained, much like in her dream, to the ground, with Nightmare standing over her, and on her neck were all six elements of harmony. With an arrogant tone, she said, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen! Celestia, they will tell stories of how powerful the night really is. How great is the shadow that the night casts." Leaning in close to Celestia, looking into her eyes, she said, "They will forever remember this day, princess of the sun, as the night that the moon eclipsed the glorious sun, forever."

As Nightmare finished her statement, Celestia pressed her horn against Nightmare's forehead, causing her eyes to widen in surprise. "W-what are you doing?"

"Please... Come back Luna, I need you back," Celestia pleaded, allowing her memory of Luna to flow into Nightmare, flooding her with the memory of her life. As Celestia finished the memory spell, Nightmare staggered back, struggling to maintain control.

In the midst of her yelling, she suddenly stopped, her eyes bearing the same softness that they had in the mirror. When she spoke, it was Luna's voice. "Sister... Please help..." She struggled out as her body reeled back, Nightmare trying to regain control. "Use these..." With a flash of magic, the six gems fell from Nightmare's chestplate and began to circle Celestia. As the elements detached themselves from Nightmare, she regained control, her eyes bearing a renewed hatred, and began to hone her magic onto her horn, forming a spear point, and began to charge at Celestia, pointing it straight at her heart.

Celestia took everything the elements had into her memory spell, and fired it at Nightmare. The black mare struggled to maintain her charge as Luna and Celestia fought the demon with every step. As Nightmare drew closer, Celestia knew they didn't have enough to stop her; the elements were already too drained to drive out the demon. With the moster charging ever closer, Celestia made a choice, a split second choice that she would regret for the next thousand years. She panicked, and used the first spell she could think of that would stop the Nightmare's horn from killing her at that moment. She cast a sealing spell, the same spell the two of them had used to defeat Sombra only a month ago. A rainbow shot from the elements, ensnaring Nightmare and halting her charge mere inches from Celestia. "What are you doing?" hissed Nightmare. "Stop!"

The rainbow began to wrap itself around Nightmare, covering her body in its blinding colors. Celestia, in a booming voice even she did not know she possessed, said, "Nightmare Moon, you have plunged this peaceful land into darkness, and tortured innocent ponies, and for this, I pass judgment.” By now, there was only a funnel of color in the place of Nightmare, gleaming with the brightest pigments of the rainbow. Nightmare’s screams of pain could be heard emanating from the whirling mass. Celestia continued, “You shall spend all eternity in a prison of your making, without hope of escape. Nightmare, I hereby banish you to the moon!”

With this, Celestia stomped on the hard cobblestone floor of the castle, and with a great, resounding thud, the tornado carrying Nightmare shot off towards the full moon hanging directly overhead. As Celestia watched, dark craters started to appear on the moon, one at a time, and after a few moments, the silhouette of the dark pony was engraved upon its surface. Not able to look upon it any longer, Celestia used the last of her magic to bring the moon down from the sky, and let the sun take its place.

As soon as the moon dipped below the horizon, the true gravity of what she had done hit her. Never again would she see her sister, her only true friend in the world, the pony she had grown up with, played with, fought with, and truly loved. With tears welling up in her eyes, she whispered, “I’m sorry, Luna…” and began the long walk back to Canterlot to face the next millennium alone.

---------------

As the memory faded, Twilight found herself back in her old teacher’s room, with a teary-eyed Celestia sitting in front of her. Celestia opened her mouth, “I was reminded of what I had done every night for a thousand years. I had tried to fill the void that losing my sister had created with students, much like you, but long life is not a blessing without friends to share it with. For after all, without darkness, there can be no light. I had lost the darkness, and therefore, all my light had gone out. Twilight, spend as much time as you can with your friends; don’t let studies, duties, or worries get between you, because losing a friend is the worst feeling in the world.”

Twilight nodded, taking in every word of Celestia’s lesson, and then replied, “Princess, may I visit my friends in Ponyville?”

Celestia responded, “Twilight, promise me that you’ll never let me get in between you and your friends again. Now go on ahead, I have to tell an old friend how much I truly love her.”

Twilight beamed with the happiness of a school-filly and gathered up her things for the long train ride to Ponyville. Before bursting out the door, Twilight looked back and saw Celestia knocking at the door of Luna’s chambers. After a few moments Luna came out and greeted her sister. Celestia stood there with tears in her eyes, unable to find words able to express her happiness in this moment. After a few moments of silence, Celestia embraced her sister, and Luna hugged her back. They both wished they could spend all eternity with the other, and neither one intended to let go ever again.

Author's Note:

This is my personal version of the Nightmare Moon story. This is, of course, quite a bit different than canon, and it was quite unfortunate than an episode explaining the origin story aired while I was writing this, but that wasn't going to stop me.
Please let me know what you think in the comments, as constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.

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