Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters
One Minute After Elements of Harmony Activation
Nightmare Moon
For the longest time she just stared, her mouth slack like a drawbridge and her eyes wider than a black hole.
The lavender mare who had just tried to send her back to the moon was the spitting image of her long-dead daughter.
It was impossible.
And yet…there was something about her, but her mind battled itself into a stupor.
NO. Twilight is DEAD. It MUST be a trick of Celestia’s to distract us!
But why use the elements as a distraction when they could have banished me back to the moon? That doesn’t make sense. Maybe…
NO. It is impossible, the dead remain dead. This is nothing but a sick hallucination, an illusion cast by the elements to draw us into a trap!
But she looks so much like my daughter, like my little foal.
A groan interrupted her thoughts and she realized that she had to act quickly, she was not alone in there after all.
Nightmare quickly took stock of the element bearers as she stood not ten hooves from the other alicorn.
The mare was unmoving, unconscious except for the small rising and falling of her chest as she breathed gently, as if only dreaming.
The others however, seemed to be coming back to a state of awareness as they shook off the aftereffects of using the elements.
The orange mare with a trio of apples on her flank and a brown Stetson hat flicked her eyelids as she slowly clambered to her hooves, casting a weary gaze around the room. Nightmare watched as her eyes locked onto her own body, her pupils dilating to pinpricks smaller than a pebble.
“Y-you?! But how?! Them elements were supposed to get rid of ya!!”
Before the orange earth pony could do or say anything else, Nightmare sent her flying with a quick lash of magic. She flew through the air until she crashed back down onto the floor, knocked out, gagged, and bound in a dark blue wrap of magic. Her element had flown off and clattered loudly like a broken bell on the stone.
“HEY!! Nopony hurts my friends!”
Nightmare swung quickly around just in time to dodge a multicolored blur that flew past her at a speed that would shatter bones. She then shot another binding spell that grabbed the rogue pegasus like a noose as the aforementioned mare flew back around for second pass. As the magic took effect, she plummeted to the floor with a sickening crunch, her nose bleeding and a foreleg bent at an odd angle as she closed her eyes and lost consciousness.
Another bell tolled sweetly as the element of loyalty rebounded across the room.
Nightmare got back up and cast her piercing gaze at the other four. The alicorn was still out cold, the white unicorn was standing but tittering on the edge of her hooves in a nervous canter, and the yellow pegasus was in a corner, crying her eyes out and whimpering pathetically in an incoherent blubber. The other earth pony was nowhere to be seen.
Where’s the pink one?
“BANZAI!!”
Just as the black alicorn looked up at the source of the battle-cry, a mass of pink fur collided with her head and wrapped her hooves around her horn.
Nightmare didn’t even flinch.
Slowly, as a hiss snaked between her fangs, her draconic eyes captured the earth pony’s orbs and held them in a hypnotic glare that spoke volumes. The pony hanging from her head looked perturbed from the lack of a reaction, Nightmare could see small beads of sweat break out across her fur as she smiled sheepishly back at the enraged alicorn.
“I don’t suppose we could play a game of cards for the sun?”
…
“No? How about…”
Before another sound escaped her muzzle, a spell hit her dead center of the chest, flinging her back up to the ceiling where the magic trapped her in a glowing spider’s web, her mouth gagged and a quick sleeping spell ensuring she wouldn’t do anything more to raise the alicorn’s ire. Nightmare turned back to the other three. The white unicorn looked especially skittish now as four of her friends were unconscious and the other cowering in a corner. She looked up at Nightmare as the far taller mare slowly approached with a promise of pain reflecting in her eyes.
“Now, t-this is no way for a p-proper mare to b-behave. C-could we p-please…”
The unicorn’s voice trailed off into silence as Nightmare loomed above her, her eyes widening and her lip trembling in fear, sitting back on her haunches as she quaked in the alicorn’s immense shadow. Nightmare lowered her head and took great pleasure in slowly smiling at the mare, her muzzle revealing sharp fangs glistening with saliva. Without another word, the unicorn’s eyes rolled up into her head and she greeted the floor in a loud thud as she collapsed in a dead faint. Snorting in amusement, Nightmare took her time placing a magic inhibitor on the unicorn’s horn and wrapped her legs together tightly, the mare’s flesh flashing red as the bindings bruised her.
“P-p-p-please s-s-stop.”
Nightmare looked up after making sure the spells would hold to see the butter pegasus still shaking in the corner of the room, her long pink mane obscuring her eyes. The slight pitter patter of dropping tears could be heard in the silent ruins.
The black alicorn could only look on in disgust at the trembling mare. This? This was her sister’s task force? These were the ponies the elements chose to wield them? The only one that seemed competent was the still unmoving lavender alicorn laying in the middle of the floor. The others were rash, reckless, predictable, and cowards.
Her hooves clacked ominously as she slowly approached the whimpering blubber with a practiced step as if she had all the time in the world.
Which she did.
Nightmare stopped just a few hooves away from her, in a position much like the one she assumed with the unicorn, like a predator about to pounce on helpless prey.
A faint whisper escaped the pink mane.
“What was that? We couldn’t hear your pathetic voice begging for mercy. Speak louder little morsel.”
Another small whimper was all the response she got.
Oh, she was going to enjoy breaking this one.
The midnight alicorn grasped the pegasus in her indigo magic and lifted her to just below eye level, the pink mane still hid her eyes as she trembled violently in Nightmare’s grasp.
“Come now little one, we don’t bite…much.”
Finally growing impatient since the mare didn’t respond, Nightmare whipped the offending mare’s mane out of the way so she could lock eyes with her next victim.
A stare of great magical power looked back.
“Y-you will s-stop right now.”
“We will stop right now.”
NO!! Snap out of it!! It’s mind compulsion magic!!!
Faintly, in the undercurrents of her mind, Nightmare recalled non-unicorn mind magic was exceedingly rare, and required direct eye contact. The magic then compelled, not forced, but strongly suggested doing whatever the pony said. It was a kind of hypnotism.
“You w-will release my friends and g-give them back the e-elements.”
“We will release your friends and give…”
In her trance-like state that gripped her mind, Nightmare remembered what giving back the elements meant.
Back to the moon.
FOREVER.
“NO!!”
Breaking eye contact quickly, the compulsion shattering like glass, Nightmare panted in relief as she regained control of her faculties.
Right before she sent her hoof, sheathed in iron, into the pegasus’ head.
With a sickening crunch, Nightmare’s hoof clocked the yellow mare in the temple above her left eye, before another whimper could escape her when she renewed her trembling in the alicorn’s magical grip. As soon as the impact registered, her eyes closed and she fell to the floor with a dull thud, her legs and wings splayed out, twitching faintly before ceasing movement altogether.
That was too close…
Yes…now…what to do about that pesky mind compulsion? Hhhmmmm…
If there had been anypony else to witness it, Nightmare was sure they would have fled in terror at the smile that spread her muzzle, rippling with sweet vengeance as her sharp teeth reflected the moonlight and her eyes shined with malice.
Lowering her horn to the condemned pegasus, Nightmare reached out into her head and found the nerves that connected the eyes to her brain.
And severed them.
After all, what threat was a eye-oriented mind magic when the pony was blind?
Nightmare watched in perverse delight as the pegasus’s eyes began rimming with bruises from the severing of her optic nerves, adding to the black and purple knot already swelling on top of her head. Gently, Nightmare’s magic flicked the unconscious mare’s eyelids back just in time to see them turn white with blindness.
Standing back up, Nightmare bound the crippled mare much like the other pegasus with the sole exception being that she wasn’t gagged.
The screams would be harmony to the alicorn’s ears.
Chuckling to herself, Nightmare finally cantered back over to the lavender alicorn still lying still on the floor and plopped herself down in front of her, the debate renewing in her mind with a fervor, clouding her mind and making her hesitate.
She looks just like my foal, the mane, the horn, wings, everything. Just bigger.
It must be a trick of Celestia’s. We must not be caught off guard again by more of her tricks.
I will find out the truth…
Curiosity as to who it really was finally won out, and Nightmare lowered her head until her horn connected hesitantly with the other alicorn’s.
Being the Night Alicorn, Nightmare was well versed in mind magic, specializing in dreams, but she could also peer into memories. Usually, she could only do this if the pony had these thoughts near the surface, such like a bad memory causing a nightmare. She could delve deeper, but what glimpses she could catch would be fleeting and small.
The lavender mare was unconscious, obviously, but Nightmare finally knew why she hadn’t awoken like the others.
The magic from the elements had reconnected what seemed to be long dormant leylines of magic that connected with her wings and hooves, the pegasus and earth pony magic, in addition to the already prevalent unicorn powers. The change had been so sudden an unexpected that the body had reacted by putting itself into a deep sleep, not a coma, but a state of unconsciousness that would allow her body to heal and adjust to the sudden restoration. Currently, her mind was stuck in a dreamlike state, unaware of her surroundings and recent ascension. Just below the surface, Nightmare sensed older and more useful memories, which flicked by rapidly as she glimpsed at them.
‘Spike, take a letter. To the princess’
‘Princess look! I…’
‘Have fun at the academy Shiny!’
‘My Cutie Mark!! Yes! Yes!...’
As the memories flew by Nightmare’s awareness quicker than shooting stars, one memory stood out amongst the rest and grabbed her attention like a dying mare for water.
A name.
Her foal’s name.
Twilight Sparkle.
Delving deeper like a frenzied gold miner, Nightmare searched back to the farthest and deepest memories, ones recorded but not remembered by the conscious mind. Buried in the furthest recesses of memory.
A familiar room appeared, a room which Luna had crafted underneath this very castle. The room had a recognizable crib and stars studded the ceiling. As the present Luna watched at the edge of the memory, she saw a sight that hadn’t been seen in over a thousand years.
It was herself.
The self she had left behind when taking the name Nightmare Moon. She was a dark blue, like the sky on the night of a full moon with hooves clothed in a sparkling crystal slippers. Her torc, black as night yet twinkling, had a silver moon emblazoned on the front. Her mane shimmered in an invisible wind as gentle stars glowed in the ethereal strands. A small black tiara graced her head, just behind a regal horn.
And she was carrying a small bundle, gently nuzzling the lavender foal within.
The foal was the source of the memory.
As this brief glimpse of the past proved too much for her fragile emotions, Nightmare whipped herself out of the lavender alicorn’s mind and looked down at the slumbering mare before her.
Twilight.
Her daughter.
Alive.
All at once, memories and feelings she thought she had long shunted to the side resurfaced with the bluntness of a hammer.
She could be a mother, raise her child, teach her, hold her, talk to her…
Love her, and be loved in return.
Such strength was the renewal of these hopes that they overwhelmed her and she fell weeping to floor in joy, holding her daughter to her chest, never again to let her go. She cuddled the unaware filly and laid there crying in absolute ecstasy for what seemed like hours. Never ceasing to delight in the miracle given to her.
Slowly, like a patient awakening from a drugged sleep, Nightmare began putting together bits of information that both shocked and infuriated her.
Celestia!! She’s trained my own daughter to attack me! Does her treachery not end? Why did Celestia keep her? Was it to hold it over me and further humiliate me? And why did she only have her unicorn magic? Could she not tolerate another alicorn and so mutilated my child!!!
All these thoughts and questions flashed like lightning in her mind as she accessed each possible theory and conspiracy, trying to undermine and access her treacherous sister’s mechanizations and schemes.
But nothing seemed plausible.
Slowly, the thoughts drifted away and Nightmare was left holding Twilight in her hooves, cradling the much smaller mare like she was still a foal. Looking down at the sleeping mare, one more thought breeched the surface of her mind to fill it completely.
What now?
Clearly, this is not what she had planned. Her original plan was to steal the elements, hide them or render them useless, and then return to Canterlot to consolidate her rule.
But now things had changed dramatically.
She needed to do everything to protect Twilight, which was first on her list of priorities. Nightmare could not bear to think that her daughter could be taken away from her again, not so soon after her miraculous reappearance. Second, she needed to get Twilight to recognize her and undo whatever lies Celestia had crammed into her head, which would take some time and effort.
As she mulled it over, her draconic eyes settled on each of the bearers, and realized that she also needed to hide the elements.
Nopony else could use them since they had bonded with these mares, and if she hid them, the bearers could not activate them against her and so were valuable prisoners to flaunt a dissenting public with as to demoralize the inevitable rebels.
A plan formed, one which would protect Twilight and keep her near enough for her to watch over and also imprison the bearers were they would suffer the most.
With her purpose renewed, Nightmare lowered Twilight gently to the floor and stood back on her four legs. Reaching out with her magic, she grabbed the five necklaces and the one crown that made up the Elements of Harmony and sealed them away in a dimensional pocket that only Nightmare could access. They would be safe for the time being before she found a more promising hiding place or secured vault.
Then, she grabbed the five other bearers and grouped them together in a large bundle, uniting their magical bindings and placing a deep spell of sleep over them so they wouldn’t wake and cause trouble, although she had been looking forward to the yellow pegasus’ screaming.
Finally, she picked up Twilight and slung her on her back, making sure she was secure and still unmoving, it would not do for her daughter to wake up and interfere, Nightmare didn’t want to hurt her but wouldn’t hesitate to stop her for her own good, Twilight didn’t know any better after all.
Casting her eyes around the forsaken castle ruins, searching for anything she may have forgotten or overlooked in her frenzied state,
Nightmare charged up her horn and she and the others vanished in a whirlwind of magic, teleporting to the next step in her plan.
The Night would rule, and Twilight would join her.
I like it, I look forward to more.
Thank you for the update, and I'm glad to see the muse going for this.
I thought this was dead
Took you long enough!!!
but good job
I like the way this is going, keep up the good work!
welcome back to the writer's world.
Oh boy, Nightmare Moon's solution for the stare: blinding Fluttershy by cutting her optic nerves. That scared the hell out of me.
Now we face Nightmare Moon either rejecting Twilight, or brainwashing her into being an obedient daughter. Either way, I can't wait for you to update.
nice twist on the story
4245025 Why does everyone assume the elements will redeem her? That's so predictable. It's like knowing the end before you even start.
Proofreading. This chapter needs it.
Can't wait to read what happens next!
Humorous as that is, I'm pretty sure you meant "quaked". ;)
4245781 I see what you mean. While that is a good idea, I'm afraid that's not what I have planned exactly. On the wedding thing, although it was rather cheesy, it was a wedding episode, therefore love being the solution was expected. It would have been nice to be surprised though. I sincerely hope the season 4 finale surprises me!
I approve heartily of the direction this fictitious work has taken.
More damn you
Ohh! Another chapter and I liked it! keep it up
Fluttershy is going to when she wakes up!
Please write on!
Banzaii! For new chapters!
Oh I absolutely love you for this chapter.
Very, Very interested to see where this goes from here
4245766
Ahem!
mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/files/2011/09/201106021423020551367e.jpeg
I doubt you will actually answer this question but will Nightmare moon actually at some point turn back into Luna or will she stay as Nightmare moon?
Why did you have to do that to Fluttershy why
I'll be honest. This story has much potential and I am looking forward to every single dark deed the newly instated dark Queen has in store. And you get A LOT of cookie points from me for what she did to Flutters.
Awesome! Bring More Darkness!
By luna i am loving this story.
I am a big fan of twilight nightmare moon storys and this is by far my fav, the way you tell the story makes It believible and fun to read at the same time.
Fav and like. Good job polaris i would love to see more content in the future .
-Star
Why'd you have to make Fluttershy blind?
Wasn't there some other way?
...You had better make Twilight guilt trip Nightmare into restoring her vision
In all seriousness, though, it looks great so far and I'm definitely looking forward to reading the rest of what's up so far.
@the author, The eyes would not turn white when the optic nerves are severed. Whiteness in the eyes is a byproduct of cataracts, in which a part of the lens becomes more opaque and obscures vision. Severing of the optic nerve would have no impact on the lens (and thus, no effect on the apparent color of the pupil), nor would it have any impact on the pigmentation of the Iris.
Oh, Nightmare Moon, you made Fluttershy blind?
YOU HAVE NOW LOST ALL SYMPATHY FROM ME YOU STUPID LITTLE-
Sorry about that, didn't mean to go quite that far, it's just...
Then after several years of Nightmare Moon's reign, I come in with my Grande Armee taking over Equestria....
encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSwE8icpqil2MBEiwX2Fne-k_K2OxFQDopaZJWE5tfxG1cH2EW5ig
Just kidding, LOL
But, after long years of reign the
peopleponies become so unhappy they triggered a revolution that will come with a bloody endencrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSitf8r3_3tepodV_3FChtO3fl0_cwXnrSQfTOd5kY-u1t3vyCp
LOL
How come nightmare moon didn't hear twilight's name through out the forest? Also again Please tell me nightmare is a split personality, because after this chapter it's getting harder to deny that nightmare didn't corrupt Luna.
A few typos and a suggestion.
1: tittering versus teetering. The former is a form of laughter similar to a giggle, the latter is a state of unstable balance where the subject mass being observed is in constant motion.
2: BONZAI versus BANZAI. The former is not a word while the latter is commonly used in fiction to announce and therefore spoil a surprise attack just before impact. Banzai is Japanese in origin, but I am unsure of its exact literal translation. Neither of these should be confused with bonsai, which is the art of shaping small trees.
3: lifeless. Using this word by itself to describe NMM dropping Fluttershy almost made me stop reading and downvote this fic. You NEED to make a qualifying statement or change the word. Acceptable alternatives would be either 'fell, as if lifeless,...' or simply substituting the more accurate word 'unconscious.'
4842119
Bonsai is a type of minature tree.
Banzai is Japanese for "ten thousand years!" The idea is you're wishing ten thousand years of life to the Emperor.
Ehem.
/boringpedantry
4754229 Only Twilight's first name was used and it seems some what common since her adopted mother is Twilight Velvet.
And NMM and Luna are split personalities in this. Both love Twilight and both consier Celestia their sister. Though we haven't seen the final cause of Luna becoming Nightmare Moon in this universe i bet it;s because In fear Luna thought she couldn't protect Twilight but needed to thus she created Nightmare moon to do that.
I hope there's more explanation to come up, because a number of things seem a bit iffy.
The reasoning behind the EoH not smashing Nightmare Moon, for one. That's pretty flimsy; Why couldn't she just deflect it the first time around? Also, NMM must be nuts if she thinks she can just flip a switch and change what somebody thinks. If she was really that powerful then why is she so cruel and unnecessarily harsh to the other ponies. Cruelty for the sake of cruelty is different from cruelty in the sense of indifference. If she was going to somehow keep them from getting back together, then there was no reason to deal Fluttershy such a grievous injury. That's different from tossing ponies aside into walls without concern for their well-being.It feels like a external imposition for NMM to do that and yet to leave the others alone. That and there's the sudden, convenient addition of knowing how to use magic to sever somepony's optic nerve. That's a very scientific sort of thing, and what evidence is there that Equestria has much knowledge of that? We could assume something like England's 18th/19th century knowledge of anatomy applied to ponies. That is, they dissected some corpses to study them. Still, that doesn't explain the precision use of magic
Also, NMM's motivations here seem pretty weak as in canon. In and of itself, Night Eternal is kind of pointless and only a madpony would fail to see serious implications arising from that. I could understand punishing Celestia for the loss of her daughter or something (since that was a tipping point in the subsuming of Luna beneath NMM), but from there on you have to wonder whether she really has any plans at all. Ruling Equestria is probablt not going to be anywhere near as easy as it was before...
P.S.
On the thread of bizarre technologies, where the heck does a magical "homeostasis pod" come from. The words themselves imply non-magical technology.
5070072 Actually it does make sense. For Both canon incident and the face off between NMM and Celestia, nothing but NMM was in disharmony. If Twilight was not a crippled alircorn thus in dishamrony with herself this would have ended the same as canon.
Also NMM is a bit nuts but the story shows the reason. I say the is among the best fan made reasons for Luna going NMM
Fluttershy's blind now? She'll never see us acolytes with her perfect and beautiful and perfect eyes. Oh, Dearest Fluttershy. Your pain is my pain.
Could she not tolerate another alicorn and so mutilated my child!!!
Question mark pls.
5400500 so what my chaos champion gouges out her eyes with a dagger
4245819 and also the fact that cadence is the princess of love and all that stuff.
Good lord, that was morbid! Poor Fluttershy.
NOT FLUTTERSHY
Holy shit that was cruel
Odd approach with Fluttershy. Perfect logic in targeting the eyes, but really I’m surprised she didn’t just end her. A desire not to kill her subjects, or extremely perverse pleasure overriding more sensible step.
That's... not how that works.
You, are cruel...
FOR THE NEW LUNAR REPUBLIC
BURN THE SOLAR HERETICS OF THE SOLAR EMPIRE
10109771
Hear! Hear!
10109771
Pitiful traitors. Your pathetic “republic” will be crushed beneath the might of the Solar Empire. Sol Invictus!
10109771
10361496
10412222
This squabbling has gone on enough, may the shadows have mercy on you. *Hordes of Visorak and Rahkshi pour into Equestria from all sides with Exo-Toa and Nektann robots following*