Chapter 14: Nightmare Nova
Ponyville Town Armory
Cadance
A storm approached.
The clinking of armor could be heard in the small shed as the guards around her shuffled through the equipment. It was hardly the thick iron plates stored in Canterlot Castle, but it was something. Standard procedure dictated that all towns under the Crown of Equestria had to possess a cache of armor for militia in case of an emergency.
With great sorrow, Cadance knew it was not enough. No matter the courage or bravery of her loyal guards, they could not overcome the strength of the Nightmare’s Legions.
Not without help.
“What will we do Shining?” Cadance asked somberly.
Her captain looked on at his troops and sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t know. I only have around fifty guards here, the others that were with us were either recaptured before we managed to escape or they have fled elsewhere. I can only guess at how many Imperial Soldiers there are garrisoned in Canterlot.”
Cadance closed her eyes, her frustration mounting. Twilight was there in the castle all by herself fighting that monster. So much had transpired in so little time.
I feel so useless.
She was a princess. A sovereign of the Equestrian Nation. It was her solemn duty to make the hard decisions. The Greater Good, her aunt had called it. The decisions and sacrifices a princess made for the greater part of the realm.
Cadance steeled her face into a regal mask. “Captain.” Shining’s ears twitched in concern as he turned to look at her. She only used his title when she was upset. “If the situation were different, and it were not Twilight in Canterlot Castle, what would your advice be for me?”
Shining’s ears flattened against his head as he stared at Cadance. She knew he would reach the same conclusion she had, no matter how he wanted it to be otherwise. He was a leader, a strategist, it was second nature for him to think of these things.
“If it were not Twilight…I would send you to Cloudesdale with our fifteen pegasi guards. If I know Spitfire, she’s already made plans to overthrow the garrison there.”
Cadance searched her memory. “Spitfire…the Wonderbolt flight commander?”
Shining nodded. “Spitfire is one of the most talented and skilled flight commanders in the world. She’s also the most stubborn mare I have ever met. Spitfire is also a cunning officer. She would not have been captured with the other guards. Spitfire would have hidden herself at the first sign of trouble and taken her officers with her. Cloudesdale is the home of a large amount of retired veterans from the Royal Guard, the perfect place to recruit for an uprising. Cloudesdale has always been a militant society, ever since the days of it’s founding by Commander Hurricane. I would send you there because it is the best chance to survive Nightmare’s wrath. Now that she’s out in the open, it will be much harder to catch us by surprise again.”
Cadance nodded, but a concerning thought came to her. “What about you? Where would you go, there are spells for Unicorns to walk among the clouds, but those only last so long and take a lot of energy. That’s why in ancient times no Unicorn or Earth Pony army could conquer a pegasus city. Earth Pony’s don’t have the magic, and it would take a powerful unicorn to cast even one cloud-walking spell, let alone hundreds. Where would you go?”
Shining sighed and shuffled his hooves, turning back to look at his stallions while they strapped their armor on. “South, I think. Towards the Appleloosa Territory and Dodge City. The Earth Ponies there are fiercely independent, but with a strong sense of loyalty to Celestia. I could start gathering volunteers there, far from the Legion’s strongholds in the more populated cities.”
He sighed bitterly. “Of course, none of that would matter since within a week’s time, everything would be dead or dying from the cold. I can formulate a plan for resisting tyranny, I can’t find a solution for the world dying.” Shining glanced back at Cadance. “Are you sure you can’t do anything about that.”
Cadance shook her head. “No. I can’t. My Domain is over Love and Family, I have no authority over the heavens. Nightmare Moon does, and that bothers me to no end. Her existence bothers me to no end. How could the Moon choose her?”
Shining looked at her in confusion. “I don’t understand. Choose her?”
Cadance nodded thoughtfully. “When I Ascended, Celestia instructed me on the nature of Deep Magic, the magic Alicorns govern. Deep Magic is so powerful and unpredictable that no mortal magician can constrain or control it. The ancient unicorns who cycled day and night could only guide it, never control. Celestial Mechanisms such as Day and Night choose those that would wield them, forming a permanent bond with them. That is what gives alicorns their immortality. The Sun chose Celestia to be her champion, just as Love chose me. If the soul-mark on Nightmare Moon’s flank is true, then the Moon chose her as well, which is what bewilders me. It got me to wondering, and I think that at one time, Celestia may have only cycled the sun. Because she already had control of one part of the cycle, she may have been able to extend her influence over others as well if there was no one else to stop her.”
“But when would that have been? For the longest time only Celestia has cycled day and night, she has been for as long as anyone knows, and the oldest records go back a thousand years.”
Cadance’s mouth dropped open and she turned sharply to Shining. “What did you say?”
“…the oldest records go back a thousand years?”
Cadance stood up and walked out. Her mind churned with a hundred different thoughts. Words, snippets, small pieces of information started forming a disturbing image.
“Shining…” She whispered hoarsely. “The Legend of Nightmare Moon traces back a thousand years, around the same time all the royal records disappeared in an unknown catastrophe. The Summer Celebrations have been going on for a thousand years. Twilight said she was a thousand years old. This is far too many coincidences to be mere coincidence.”
“But…Twilight is enchanted-“
“But what if she isn’t?” Cadance cut him off.
…
“Cadance…that’s impossible.”
She turned to look at Shining with trepidation. “If Twilight was enchanted…then how was she able to let us go? How could she if she was under Nightmare Moon’s spell?”
A worm of doubt flickered across his face before it was replaced by a fierce scowl that Cadance rarely saw directed her way.
“If that were true Cadance, then what you are suggesting is that Twilight has been freely collaborating with the enemy.” An eyebrow rose in skepticism. “It would also mean that she believes that she is in fact Nightmare Moon’s daughter.” He shook his head in rejection. “Twilight is no fool, she wouldn’t be taken in under some trick or fabrication, and she’s too smart for that. It would only be logical that she is under an enchantment.”
Cadance mulled his words over but ultimately dismissed them. Things were looking clearer yet darker at the same time. She recalled the conversations she had with Twilight. She had disregarded them at the time as falsehoods forced upon her by Nightmare’s enchantment.
But now they were looking all too damning.
But Shining too had a point. There was just too many contradictions that it was too confusing to understand it all.
She needed more facts. But where would she get them?
Perhaps the mares that Twilight had rescued along with them might have some other tidbits of this larger mystery. When they had returned to Ponyville, the five mares along with Spike had holed up in the town library. Cadance had healed all their injuries, except for the blind pegasus. She would need more time and study to lift such a dark wound.
She turned around and left the armory, Shining trailing behind her while the guards continued to organize the armor and weapons.
“Cadance, where are you going?”
“To the library, perhaps Spike and those mares will have more to tell us.”
The walk along the road was quiet. Cadance glanced at some of the houses, catching glimpses of ponies watching her as she walked down their street. They watched her as if she were some dangerous predator stalking their homes. It hurt her that her ponies were scared of her presence.
Shining noticed her looks. “Don’t give it much thought Cadance, they’re all frightened. Any town that had been attacked personally by Nightmare would be.”
Cadance nodded, but his words did little to assuage the guilt. She couldn’t help but feel responsible for their fear. Her failure to protect her nation in their time of need was too terrible of a burden. The eyes that stalked her only made that burden feel more real.
“What did the Mayor have to say?” Shining had talked earlier with the leading town official, Mayor Mare.
“She wouldn’t outright say it, but I got the feeling that she wants us to leave as soon as possible. The Mayor is loyal of course, but she fears for Ponyville. Unfortunately, I agree with her. When Nightmare discovers that we escaped, and that we are here, this small town will be caught in the crossfire when she sends Imperial Troops, which is if she of course doesn’t come herself.”
Cadance nodded. “How soon do you think?”
“How soon until Nightmare discovers we escaped?”
“Yes.”
Shining sighed unhappily. “That depends on how long Twilight occupies her time.”
Cadance glanced at him in concern. “What…What do you think will happen to her?”
She knew as well as he did that Twilight was no match for Nightmare Moon. The demon had personally defeated Celestia, a feat that had been at one time unthinkable. Twilight had already been beaten before by Nightmare, and Cadance could only coldly conclude that it would happen again. Cadance considered herself to be an optimist, but she wouldn’t delude herself either. She wasn’t a fool.
Shining looked miserable. She knew how much it cut him up that they couldn’t charge in to at least try to rescue Twilight. “I don’t know. I don’t think that Nightmare will kill her, that’s the only reason why I’m not going back right this moment. Nightmare enchanted her for some reason, that would explain why she would present Twilight as a princess. Perhaps she intended to use Twilight to legitimize her throne, since Twilight is Princess Celestia’s apprentice.” He shook his head. “Either she will imprison her or re-enchant her. Other than that I don’t-“
Shining stopped.
Cadance turned and looked at him curiously, he was staring up at the sky. She too glanced up to see if she could catch what had stolen his attention.
What she saw she would never forget.
The black expanse of the Night sky enveloped their world in every direction. Before the events of the Summer Celebration, it had always been a source of peace and introspection for the young alicorn. But now it was a constant reminder of the fear and danger that faced their world. A promise of a slow and cold death. The Moon and Stars that innocently shone in the black void now mocked her of her failure.
Now they filled her with terror.
The Stars were going out.
One by one, the small orbs of light along the horizon surrounding them winked out. It was like candles being snuffed out by a sudden burst of air, blinking out of existence. Cadance watched in horror as more and more Stars disappeared with increasing speed, leaving behind only the dark and oppressing void.
Others noticed.
Doors creaked open and windows were slowly un-shuttered as ponies gazed up at their sky in fear and trepidation. The guards filed out of the armory, stunned into silence as they saw the disappearance of celestial monuments that were older than the most ancient of civilizations.
Constellations faded from existence as the stars that told their tale were seemingly swallowed by the oncoming darkness.
Once there were millions, then there thousands, now there were hundreds. More and more were snuffed out of sight with every passing moment.
Only one remained.
It was the brightest star in the sky, the crown jewel of a thousand beautiful lights. Its light slowly struggled between strength and weakness, a lonely beacon among horde of darkness.
Then it too disappeared into nothing, leaving only the pale moon behind.
“Shining! Shining!” Cadance whispered fearfully, her eyes roving across the empty sky. “What is happening?”
“I…” Shining suddenly seemed small under this most terrifying display. “I don’t know Cadance…”
The sound of hurried hoof caught her attention and Cadance saw the very five mares she had been going to find approaching, along with a mesmerized Spike. They were all staring up, not believing their own eyes.
The white one…Rarity, she recalled, looked to Cadance with worried eyes. “Princess, what has happened?”
Ponies all around her moved closer, their scared voices echoing the unicorn’s question. They all looked to her, searching their princess for an answer. Without a doubt, ponies and others everywhere around the world were staring up now in great terror at the lonely Moon.
The only one who didn’t seem to know what was happening was the blind pegasus, Fluttershy. She was led by the blue pegasus called Rainbow Dash.
“Dash! What’s going on?” The poor pony shook her head from side to side. She had a blindfold over her eyes, probably to stop her unseeing orbs from disturbing anyone else.
Rainbow Dash had no answer. Cadance had no answer. What did one say when the stars go out?
But then the wind answered.
It came like a hurricane, rustling the trees and making the houses to creak and groan. Howling like a tempest, the wind twisted and trailed through the town as if it fled from some unknown terror.
Cadance turned into the wind, the harsh air whipping through her mane as she searched for the source of the sudden gust. But though her eyes attempted to pierce the darkness beyond the town, all she could perceive were the faint glowing lights of Canterlot in the distance.
But then descending from the skies, a great column of flame swept down on the far side of the town, consuming several houses in an instant. Screaming broke out as ponies screamed in agony and pain.
A night that had been consumed by darkness, now burst into terrible red light.
“Form ranks!” Shining shouted above the din of the burning. Earth ponies and unicorn guards formed a circle with Cadance and Shining at its center. The pegasi guards flew up above them, looking towards the burning houses through the smoke.
Cadance coughed out a lungful of smoke. She did not know what had attacked, but she had a duty to protect her subjects. “Captain! Get these ponies out of here!” She kept looking all around them to find the source of the fire. But try all she might, all Cadance could see was the empty dark sky.
Shining acknowledged and sent a lieutenant with six earth pony guards to start moving the citizens towards the opposite side of town.
None needed encouragement, the ponies practically scrambled over each other in their panic to escape.
Again from the skies a burst of flame descended, consuming more houses. Fresh screams of fear and pain arose as ponies fled.
The pink alicorn looked everywhere twisting her neck frantically back and forth, but all she could see was the bleak and empty sky that mocked her. The fire was bursting as if from nowhere. What could she do if she couldn’t see what was attacking them?
Cadance watched as Shining barked out more orders, but was distracted by the mare Rainbow Dash flying up to her.
“Princess! I’m Ponyville’s weathermare, I’ll get some rainclouds for the fire!” Then before Cadance could say anything, the pegasus flew off in a great hurry.
The mare with the stetson hat was talking loud enough for the alicorn to hear her above the chaos reigning around them.
“Rarity! Take Fluttershy with them towards mah farm! I got to get mah family!” She too galloped off, weaving through the growing crowd as it moved towards the Everfree Forest in the distance. Rarity, Fluttershy, and the once called Pinkie Pie ran away, helping their blind friend flee.
Spike ran up to Cadance pointing with his claws. “Look there!”
Cadance and her guards turned towards where he was pointing just in time to see a shadow, silhouetted against the flames and smoke fly down just as it threw down another great tongue of fire, sending more houses up in smoke.
“Dragon!” Was Shining’s cry. The unicorn guards fired off lances of burning magic wildly into the dark, hitting nothing while the earth ponies closed in tighter while they hefted their thick shields and spears in an intimidating wall of iron. Shining’s horn steadily glowing brighter with magic as he prepared to cast a shield to protect the town. He turned to the unicorn guards with a fierce scowl. “Send up flares! Light the area so we can see the target!” He turned to Cadance. “I need time to throw up a shield to protect the town. ”
Cadance shook her head, watching more ponies flee. She knew what it was they faced. “It’s not a dragon! It has to be Nightmare, only an alicorn could fly and perform magic at the same time!”
Shining paled as he stared at her. “Then you have to go. Now!” He turned to the pegasus guards. “Take the princess to Cloudesdale! Get in touch with Flight Commander Spitfire!”
“No Shining!” Cadance, not moving from his side. She glared at down at him fiercely as she motioned for the pegasus guards to ignore his order. “I’m not leaving you here to face her alone!”
“Damn it Cadance!” Shining growled as he searched the darkness fearfully. “We can’t defeat her! You have to go now before it’s too late! Equestria needs its princess!”
Another great wall of flames hammered down upon Ponyville in a great torrent of destruction. The town hall and a sweet shop both were devoured as the fire flew torched them in a single blast. More and more houses were catching on fire as the wind spread the inferno, leaving only blackened skeletons behind.
Cadance heard the flapping of large wings flying through the plume of smoke beyond. Shining swung his helmet towards it and pointed the sword he got from the armory. “Open fire!”
The unicorns fired off more lances of magic towards the sound, piercing the smoke like arrows. But for all their fearsome power, the spells vanished into nothing, not hitting anything. The guards all looked this way and that, trying to find their foe. The wind continued to hiss and swirl around them in a terrible storm of fire and smoke.
Spike gasped, staring aghast at a burning oak tree. “The library! Twilight’s stuff is in there!” He ran on his small feet towards the large tree as fire licked the bark tauntingly.
“No Spike wait!” Cadance screamed. She had to stop him, or send him somewhere else. Twilight would never forgive her if something happened to Spike on her watch. Foregoing the protection of her guards, she leaped over their wall of shields as she chased after Spike who was now running through the open doorway.
Shining’s frantic voice chased after her. “Cadance no!”
BOOM!!!
The explosion shook the earth and shattered the air. Cadance was lifted off her hooves as the concussive force threw her backwards. She tumbled through the air until she skidded along the ground. She coughed as Shining helped her back to her feet. Cadance looked up from the ground through teary eyes as she beheld Spike’s fate.
It was gone, destroyed. The burning library tree had a terrible beauty to it as the flames danced along its blackened bark. Ash and smoke rose from the now hollow trunk as burning books and paper rained down all around.
Spike was nowhere to be seen.
“Spike…no…” Cadance cried.
Shining too had tears but he would not be dissuaded as he picked her up and slung her on a pegasus’s back like a saddle bag. “Go! Go now to Cloudesdale! We’ll buy you as much time as we can!”
But then a voice, sharp as iron and cruel as death drowned out the noise of the destruction around them.
“Cadenza!”
Answering the challenge, Cadance leaped off the pegasus’s back and drew herself to her full height. She let her full power flow through her in her grief and rage. The air popped and crackled around her as lightning danced all around her grieving form. Her eyes brimmed with power as she let them turn into light filled orbs. She knew that strength alone couldn’t put down the Nightmare, but she was tired of running. Celestia was imprisoned or dead, Twilight was who knew where, and Spike had just been taken before her very eyes.
Mi Amore Cadenza would run no more.
“Here I am you monster!”
A vision of black flew through flames of the library, paying no heed to the fire that danced around her. Cadance let her magic flow through her as she let loose a devastating torrent of energy towards the black monstrosity. Alicorn magic focused into a singled deadly arrow of white light hurtled at her foe only to be met by a black beam of Dark Magic. The two colossal spells collided in mid-air, sending off a blast of concussive force that caused the very ground to tremble.
Taking no heed of the blast Cadance sent forth more lances of magic even as the black alicorn did the same in a shocking display of Dark Magic. Lightning flickered all around them as their magic collided back and forth in a beautiful dance of death and destruction as both alicorns tried to land a lethal blow on the other.
Cadance barely caught a glimpse of Shining as he and the other guards rushed forward towards the black demon with spears, spells, and swords even as she continued to send a barrage of magic at the Nightmare.
Their weapons never even made contact. Just as they neared her the black figure ceased launching spells at Cadance long enough to evade the white lance of magic that sped past her and launch back into the blank sky. Shining and the unicorns fired up more spells at the Nightmare but their magic was easily reflected off a shimmering obsidian shield.
Before Cadance or anyone else could react, another streak of black lightning flew down towards Shining and his guards but Shining was able to erect a strong shield just before it hit them.
But it didn’t stop.
More lightning poured down and all around them, sowing great streaks of black ash into Ponyville’s streets. Cadance quickly formed a small shield around herself just as the fringe of the lightning storm erupted around her.
Cadance could see that Shining was sweating as he poured his magic into the shield even as more Dark Magic thundered down at him. Her eyes widened in fear as cracks begin to appear in the once seamless shield, spreading quickly as the Dark Magic overpowered her captain’s strength.
Then in a great explosion, Shining’s shield was destroyed and fire erupted all around her as her guards were flung back like rag dolls. They crashed into disheveled heaps around the area, all seemingly unconscious. Shining himself flew into a burning house across the courtyard, crashing through the upper story and out of sight.
Familiar laughter rained down from the shadow above her.
Twilight’s laughter.
Cadance found herself petrified as the black alicorn landed across from her, placing herself between Cadance and where Shining had disappeared.
Blood red eyes that reflected the fire stared hatefully into her own. A coat that had once sported majestic purple fur was now an inky black. Her mane was a ruffled black mess with a streak of poisonous purple and crimson. A mouth that once showed her nothing but smiles now sneered at her in disdain.
A pony she loved as her own sister was now trying to kill her.
“NO!!” Cadance screamed, horrified by what her eyes told her. She stepped back, trembling all the while as she stared in absolute terror at the pony she had just tried to kill.
The demon wearing Twilight’s face stepped forward menacingly, her ruby red eyes never wavering from Cadance.
“Cadenza…” The shadow spat. Her voice was a pale reflection of Twilight’s, a whisper of her voice now laced with poison and hatred. “Vengeance…is mine.”
“V-Vengeance?!” Cadance squeaked. “What has Nightmare done to you?! How has she cursed you now!?”
Twilight’s new red eyes flashed dangerously as she gritted her teeth in anger. They, like Nightmare Moon’s, were horrible sharp fangs.
“Don’t you dare speak that way of the Empress!” Twilight snarled. “She freed me!!! I am free!!! After a thousand years of imprisonment…I am free!!”
Cadance shook her head in hysterics. This couldn’t be happening! All her the fight had left her, abandoned her in the light of this harsh reality.
It was all so horribly wrong! Just moments before, Cadance had been trying her very best to kill Twilight! A pony she had known since she was a filly! She felt sick, nauseated, horrified, and disgusted with herself all at the same time. All this emotion and confusion all rolled up into a mess of absolute horror.
Cadance wept.
“Free?” She sobbed bitterly. “Only the most enthralled of slaves would embrace your freedom…”
Twilight lashed out with a hoof and struck Cadance across her face, sprawling her onto the ground. Her black form towering over the alicorn on the ground.
“You know nothing!” Twilight shrieked furiously. “Celestia made a slave of me! She made me a tool and a weapon to do what she could not! Her perfect, precious, puppet! Her dear, darling, and…most faithful student!”
“Why?” Cadance cried, she cast her eyes into her tormentor’s in a desperate search for answers. “Why do you say such things? Celestia loved you!”
Twilight went berserk.
Yelling in fury and madness Twilight slammed her hooves into Cadance, punching and kicking at anything within her reach. Cadance winced and raised her hoof up to defend herself, but it was batted aside and a rain of pain and misery was pummeled into her.
Cadance let go and took it, knowing that she deserved this. She was entitled to this pain, this fate. She had failed. Failed Equestria. Failed Celestia. Failed Shining. Failed Twilight. No matter all that had led to this moment, no matter all that she did not know…
She blamed herself.
Seconds passed into minutes, and still the pounding did not stop. Over and over again Twilight’s black hooves descended onto her trembling frame, her pink coat darkening into crimson as her blood fled her body.
Then as quickly it had come, the punching ceased.
Cadance twitched in pain on the ground, coughing up blood from her throat as she tried to regain her senses. She moaned in agony as her body weakly responded to her commands. Nothing felt broken, though the cuts and bruises that littered her body were too numerous for her to count.
She raised up her head to find Twilight to see that the black alicorn had stepped back and was smiling at her. Her ruby red eyes shimmered dangerously as they looked upon her like a hunting trophy.
Cadance coughed violently and struggled to regain her breath. “I’m…so sorry…Twilight…”
Twilight’s eyes narrowed suddenly and her eyes glared holes through Cadance. “That name…no longer has any meaning for me.”
Cadance shook her head in denial, digging her hooves into the dry dirt in an attempt to stand. She looked all around her sadly, watching Ponyville burn. She saw that the town hall, the bakery, and a fashion boutique had already been reduced to cinders among others. Their black skeletal frames a haunting reminder of what Twilight had done.
Though her legs trembled, Cadance stood. She flicked her eyes up to Twilight’s own hateful red orbs.
She smiled.
“No matter what you do… you will always be Twilight...”
The black alicorn snarled. Her horn shimmered inky black as darkness engulfed it. Unlike before though she didn’t fly into a frenzy. Instead Cadance felt herself be picked up in her magic and brought closer to her, gritting her teeth as she was dragged along the ground.
Cadance could have resisted, could have fought back. She was an immortal alicorn, and she had strength enough to put up a fight.
But she didn’t.
Not against Twilight.
“You know so very little of the world.” Twilight said condescendingly. “There are ancient secrets, ancient knowledge of which you are blissfully ignorant.” A cruel smile graced her lips. “We stand now in the ruins of this small town, but beneath our hooves lie the bones of the ancient capital of Equestria. A city that predates Canterlot by centuries, even before the formation of Equestria itself.”
Twilight’s horn grew darker, shadows leaping out from it and into the ground. The rocks around them shook as…something…awoke beneath them. The dying houses of Ponyville crumbled into plumes of ash and smoke as their foundations cracked and crumbled.
“Behold…the city of my birth.”
Suddenly plumes of dirt erupted all around them as columns and walls of stone rose from their dark tomb, captivating Cadance with a morbid fascination. Stone buildings the likes of which she had never seen groaned to life, snapping back together as their foundations were re-laid and their columns restored. They overthrew Ponyville’s remaining buildings in an upheaval of fire and dirt, at once soothing the fires while simultaneously putting the town out of its misery.
The cacophony of grating stone and splintering wood overwhelmed her hearing as the alicorn smirked at Cadance, her glowing red eyes never wavering from her. Even as the fires finally died, the flames in her ruby eyes only shimmered more, as if they would forever contain the moment of Ponyville’s burning.
A city was reborn, even as a town was buried.
Silence.
All around the two alicorns, the bones of an ancient city stood as silent sentinels over their meeting, stretching on for miles and peeking out of the Everfree Forest like islands in the sea. The apex of the city centered around a ruined castle at the heart of the Everfree. The city was in no way restored, it was a ruin that was only a shadow of its former self. A ghost town in every sense of the word. And yet the architecture whispered of a long lost glory, a past of wealth and knowledge dimmed by its fall. It appeared that at the height of its power, this city would have surpassed even Canterlot.
“This city was the last host to the thrones of the Sun and Moon. Sister thrones that gave light and order following an age of darkness and chaos. For a time, there was peace and prosperity.”
Cadance watched Twilight silently, still trapped within the other mare’s magic. She was enraptured by what she was saying, and yet baffled by how Twilight knew of these things. The resurrection of the city was still too stunning to comprehend.
Twilight spoke reverently, as if giving a eulogy for an old friend. Though her eyes remained on Cadance, she seemed calmer and almost sorrowful as she spun her story.
“Yet it did not last, as one sister shined brighter in the eyes of ponies than the other, diminishing the younger sister’s importance in their minds. Eventually, their flawed thinking gave way to fear and jealousy, driving the younger sister away even further just as the older was raised on a golden pedestal.”
“The younger sister, though discouraged and heartbroken did not give in to darkness. Instead she rose above the doubts and fears that plagued her and rescued persecuted ponies much like her. Ponies that were killed and tortured fore merely being different. The younger sister took them under her wing and forged them into a nation, a state that would not fall under tyranny and injustice.”
“She didn’t use the rescued ponies’ gratitude to her advantage, not even attempting to set wrongs right by force. Instead the sister and her small group of ponies worked together to restore themselves and again have a place in Equestria. They worked for everyone, friends and enemies alike, indiscriminate in their deeds even as those they worked for cursed their existence.”
“Years passed, and the younger sister’s deeds continued to fall into deceitful whispers and rumors, spread by ponies who worshipped the older sister as a goddess and hated the younger sister with every fiber of their black souls. These ignorant vigilantes plotted and schemed, depicting the younger sister as a horrible monster.”
“Yet still she did not fall into darkness, even as despair knocked on her door.”
“Where was the older sister you might ask? The answer is that she grew blind in the praise and adoration that was lavished on her. Arrogant and indifferent to her sister’s plight. She allowed it to consume her, and by doing that she only increased her little sister’s suffering.”
Twilight’s eyes thinned into slits and she used her magic to bring Cadance inches from her face. The bloodied alicorn couldn’t help but look directly into her captivator’s blood-red eyes, the other alicorn’s breath brushing up against her face in a harsh and unforgiving whisper.
“One night, the younger sister was gifted with a reprieve from her century old torment. A light within the darkness. A child.”
…
“Me.”
“But her enemies discovered the child, and took them from her. Intending to sacrifice the child in fire on a golden alter to their twisted beliefs. The younger sister came upon them in force and magic, giving only death to those that dared to harm her child.”
“It was the fear that it could happen again, successfully, that finally pushed the younger sister into the abyss.”
“Thus the younger sister donned the mask and armor of Nightmare Moon, thinking that tyranny would bring the safety and security she desperately desired. No longer would she bind herself in the shadow of her sister, not when someone she valued more than herself was threatened.”
“The battle between the two sisters leveled this city, driving it’s destruction into the annals of legend and myth. Days and Nights passed by in a struggle for dominance, interchanging at the whim of fate and force.”
“But a force greater than both the sisters was in play, a power they neither understood nor controlled. Channeled through six artifacts by the older sister, this power decided the outcome of the battle, and judged its instigators. The verdict was a thousand years of pain and loneliness on the very thing that made the younger sister who she was.”
“This is the true tale of the Tragedy of Nightmare Moon.”
Cadance could only stare. A horrible feeling of dread overwhelmed her as all that Twilight had spoken sank in. She wanted to deny it, realizing that the older sister in the story was Celestia, but at the same time so much was making sense even as the ruins of their ancient battle surrounded them.
Cadance’s voice was just barely above a weak rasp. “How…How can you…know this…”
“Because I lived it.” Twilight replied. “The Empress showed me all of this. Every second, every hour, every day, of every year. A thousand lifetimes compressed into few moments. Millions of thoughts and feelings transferred into mind and memory. A thousand years of agony on the moon lived in a single thought!”
Twilight was trembling, her red eyes shifting rapidly back and forth as they saw some horror unseen, the memories forced upon her obviously still too fresh.
Then she stilled, Twilight’s eyes once again boring into Cadance’s. “Truth set me free. But freedom is not free. It is won through pain and determination. No longer will I live in Celestia’s lies. The lies she ordained me to live as her precious student with a false family. I am free from her, from Armor, and from you.”
“Celestia-“
“Celestia sent me against the Empress, with a full awareness of my past. She imprisoned me under the roof of a family not my own, then trained me to be a weapon against her own sister.”
Twilight stood back from Cadance, anger bristling all over her.
“But getting rid of me only to fight the Empress didn’t satisfy her. No. She then replaced me with you!”
Despite herself, Cadance felt a sliver of doubt and betrayal even as she denied it. “I…could never replace you…Celestia knew that-“
“Then why is your title ‘niece?’” Twilight snarled. “When she already had a niece of her own? A true blood-niece?”
Twilight hurled Cadance with her magic across the stone courtyard. She flew through the air and then skidded across the cold stones, halting at the base of a dead fountain.
“How does it feel to be my replacement Cadenza?” The black alicorn taunted.
Cadance stood up weakly, having recovered enough to stand again. “Celestia loved me for me. Although you think differently, I know in my heart that she would have never tried to do what you propose. No one could have ever replaced you for her, you were too special to Celestia, Twilight."
“That’s not my name!!!” Twilight shrieked fiercely. “Twilight is dead!! Buried beneath Celestia’s lies and deceit!” She reared back on her too hooves and stood tall in the ruined city. “I am a Night Mare! I am Twilight’s Tomb! I am the Death of Stars! I AM NOVA!!”
She brought down her hooves with a thunderous crash, and suddenly the heavens blazed with a thousand lights.
The Stars had returned.
But these stars did not sparkle and shine. These stars all blazed red like angry sparks. The shone with a malevolence that made the dark void it had replaced as seemingly indifferent. Now the whole night sky was tinged crimson, as if it were a bloody sheet suffocating the world.
Yet the Moon remained white.
Nova began stalking towards Cadance, her blood red eyes a perfect twin to the red stars above.
She smiled, her fangs glistening scarlet in the starlight.
“I am Nova, Heir of the Nightmare. I command thousands of stars…what is one more?”
Then the impossible happened.
The Sun rose.
Eternal Night ended.
But the Nightmare was not over.
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Good to see this get an update. May I ask if we can expect anymore some time soon?
Honestly, part of me is praying Discord gets loose and fucks both Nightmare Moon and Nova's shit up.
Twilight, or Nova; Nightmare: what ever happens, you have my support in the fight, should one be coming.
Easy there Twilight, if your not careful, you'll cut yourself on the edge.
But besides that, this chapter had immeasurable amounts of win.
IT LIVES!
I wonder that the fact that the Moon is untouched means that Luna might not be in Nightmare Form anymore.
And Poor Golden Oaks, can't catch a break.
I will admit this though. I had hoped that Twilight would redeem her mother without the elements, would have been an interesting route but that clearly is not going to happen now, sigh.
YES!!!!!!!!!! I love this I cannot wait for the next chaphter. But I will
Awww, Fallout: Equestria - Project Horizons' last chapter was released today as well :3
Late night for me then ^^"
FoE-PH GoogleDocs Page
But still, I'm now hype for both stories ^^
its not dead
oh huh well thats new huzza your back
BOUT BLODDY TIME
Yes!!! Update! I don't know how your going to play this but YES!!!!!!! Thank you!
Spectacular. Well worth the wait.
Wasn't the entire point to not raise the sun in defiance of Celestia?
Is it that not a thing anymore?
Muhahaha!! At last!
Well, that happened. Good work, Nova, I think you just broke any potential resistance. I hope Spike's okay though.
Amazing chapter as always though I did notice one thing.
Cadence never actually called her Twilight. Really just a minor nitpick in the face of greatness but I figured I would point it out.
my guess is darkness or shadows for that riddle at the end
Awesome
Update? Awesome. Can't wait for more, cause I really want to see how the whole Nova/Nightmare Moon thing will develop.
And I hadn't thought about Cadance replacing Twilight as Celestia's niece. Makes sense that she's pissed off about that.
The answer to the riddle is, of course, time.
Naturally anyone who controls the stars can control a meager sun. I've always found it weird when people write like the sun should be somehow special when it is still just another star. Luna should be more than capable of tossing it around like its a toy if she wants given that all the other stars are hers too (also why I think she is the more powerful sister). Seeing as this is running with the stars being Twilight's I would think it would be the same.
This seems like unneeded exposition. The characters would know this and the readers are smart enough to figure this out without being told.
"two"
"They"
This feels a little rougher when compared to the previous chapters. Might be due to it taking so long to think out and formulate or maybe some other reason. It just feels like it is trying to be an introductory chapter when we are already well into the story.
There are some grammar mistakes here and there, some typos. I could kinda see this coming and I am hoping it will not go the way of The Immortal Game and do its own thing.
And as with before, I am willing to help edit.
6370585 Except it's never once mentioned that she rules the stars in the show or the Journal of the Two Sisters, her ruling all other stars is pretty much Fanon.
She is connected to the Moon, and that is it.
And, after seven months, we have another chapter. HUZZAH!
I would like to point out that they have been seen, just not for nearly 1000 years.
just add "in hundreds of years" or something to this part and it will be fine.
6370591
while your statement is correct, the fact remains that cadence had never seen them befor
6370599 ah crap your right. How could I have missed that. There go my dreams of being an editor.
OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGMGOGOGM!FEFEKR23 IT'S HERE!
Holy crap! Now I know how the apocalypse would look. Red stars baby!
Can't believe Nightmare Moon did that! Like damn, that's pretty harsh but now I don't think there's going back on it either. Which, is, AWESOME! Twilight really is dead for real I think Phew! I was squealing for the better half while reading this xD Hope the next chapie comes soon
6370448 Well like it was said in the story the world would freeze in weeks if the Sun wasn't raised so Nightmare didn't have much of a choice unless she wanted to rule over a kingdom of ice
It's back!
6370613 Granted, but she had little concern for that earlier I don't think.
I'm less confused to the logistic of WHY it's a good idea, and more WHY she suddenly remembered it was a thing she should maybe sorta do. And I'm discounting it being due to Twilight's natural affinity for stars, because if Celestia can raise both herself, it's not a stretch Luna can too.
6370626 True...Maybe Twilight reminded her? Oooor it's a plot hole
I enjoyed it home to read more soon as well as in the sun's shadow
This story definitely stands above all Twilight's AUs on this site.
So Many Chills.
It's starting to be mishmash.
6370585
Don't compare our world into Equestira story. If Sun and Moon circle around Equestria, they must be the same size and nearby, while stairs are probably very close to the planet and not as massive and sun and moon itself, that's why those bodies can be controlled, or rather, they must be controled for the planet to survive.
If moon was far smaller than Equestira, sun was far lager than the planet, and stars would be unbelievably far away while the size far greater than sun, it would mean that:
Either Celestia is so suprive to Luna, that she could control a large sun and small moon with ease, while her sister could move only a tiny satelite called moon, or it would make Luna super OP for being able to control objects on unbelievable mass that are far away, while moon she prided herself with was but a mere toy compared to that. In S4E1, when princesses were captured, sun and moon were floating over the sky at the same time, and the sky itself was cut in half for night and day, so yeah, comparing our sun, moon and stars to the one in Equestira seems a bit pointless.
Man after all these months, you have returned to us. And what an update.
The stars going out was frightening. It reminded me of Sir Edward Grey's remarks on the eve of World War I:
Yet even with the sun back, a darkness still prevails over the area.
...Well.
That was... Unexpected. :D
Wow OK that happened .... I have no words for this
6370814
The stairs? I thought we were talking about Luna and Celestia, not Sombra.
Well that was one half of a saturday well spent. I`m putting this in to my favorites.
more! i beg of thee! bringuth more of thou`s story!
Your update was a solar flare of happiness that purged my worry that this was a dead story. Thankyou for this beautiful chapter. I look forward to more.
WWWOOOOOO CHAPTERS!!!!
I hope nightmare moon and nightmare nova wins. Normally I would side with the good guys but seeing Luna suffer like I just join luna side. Let her and her daughter wins please!
Welcome back but what kept you.
I swear to all things holy if this has a sad end i will unplug the internet like Kyle from south park
drop "the"
hmm I'm conflicted with this chapter, interesting wonder how Twilights doing, probably going though shock or some form of mental brake down, but that end... hm I am intrigued.
Quick! Update!!
i.imgur.com/j9HwJQI.png
Holy Mother of God, this came back so fucking strong. Keep up the great work, Polaris!
Figures Twilight would take the name of a educational science show.