The Nightmare Wars

by GigaBowser

Epilogue

"Celestia?"

The alicorn jolted up from the mountain of paperwork that surrounded her on her desk, realizing that she had almost fallen asleep. A quick glance out the window revealed that it was the late evening. She had been working all day, and the seemingly bottomless stacks of paper had hardly gotten any smaller. She sighed. At the very least, she had the comfort of working from her own personal chambers.

She shook off her fatigue and put on a warm smile. Then she turned around and looked toward the room's entrance to greet her visitor. "Yes, my faithful student?" she spoke in a calm, melodious tone of voice. All the stresses and heavy workloads in the world couldn't keep the gentle charm from her voice and her pleasant demeanour. This was especially true when her promising protégé was involved.

She regarded the unicorn standing in the doorway with a welcoming smile, though a second later it vanished.

"…What is this?" the young pony asked, holding up an old tome.

Celestia got to her hooves quickly, wearing a stern look upon her face. All that happiness and serenity was gone, and she was now very cross.

"Sunset Shimmer," she spoke in a low, quiet voice, "Where did you get that?"

The amber unicorn simply gave her a puzzled look. "But, what is it?"

Celestia stepped towards her student. "How many times must I tell you?" she spoke, starting to lose her patience already, "You are not permitted to go into the forbidden section of the library. Those books are off-limits. They are not for your eyes to see!"

"But," Sunset insisted, "This book, it…It talks about Nightmare Moon in a completely different way. It says that you were struck down, and the night lasted for months. It says there was a war! I- Hey!"

Sunset looked up in indignation as Celestia used her magic to take the book away.

"Sunset," Celestia said sternly, "I understand its appeal, but you are not to set hoof in that section again. Do I make myself clear?" She sighed and lowered her tone a little. "I don't want to have to…punish you, Sunset."

"But, Celestia!" Sunset practically shouted and then repeated herself for a third time, "What is it?!"

The alicorn glanced at the book in her magic's grasp. It was an old tome, fashioned centuries ago as evidenced by its degradation. It was a very dark grey in colour, but not quite black. On the cover was a circular symbol surrounded by yellow rays. It was a corruption of the coat of arms Equestria had used more than a millennium ago. There was no title and no author listed, but the book was very thick.

"This…" Celestia said in a quiet voice, but drifted off into silence.

"Everypony knows the tale of Nightmare Moon," Sunset spoke up, "Even my mom told it to me at bedtime. But this is…so much different. It's in such detail, and it's so much longer. Judging by its appearance, I would say that its age is at least-"

"Sunset!" Celestia interjected, "This book was in the forbidden section for a reason." She turned and gave Sunset an authoritative gaze. "This was written long ago by…by a mad pony…" Her eyes drifted back towards the book.

The unicorn was silent for a moment. "…I see."

Celestia stared at the book in silence for a minute before she regained her composure. "If you wish to learn all there is to know about the tale of Nightmare Moon, then you can find it here." Celestia punctuated her statement by retrieving a thick book from the nearby bookshelf. Its cover identified it as the Encyclopaedia Equestria.

Sunset gave the large book a glance and then skewed her lips.

"This book's coverage of the tale is the best and most accurate that you will find," Celestia continued, "You will not find the answers in the forbidden section of the library. Now then, do I have your word that you will not set hoof in there again?"

The amber pony stared at Celestia for a few silent moments. Celestia gazed right back. A stern and unflinching look was on her face, but inside she felt troubled. Asking for Sunset Shimmer's word at this point was becoming a pointless endeavour. As she had said earlier, the unicorn had gone against her wishes and snuck into the forbidden section many times before. While Celestia did appreciate her student's thirst for knowledge, no pony her age should be freely reading the words that were locked within.

Sunset looked up with her teal eyes, and as Celestia gazed back at them she found a certain sadness welling up within her. Those were not the same eyes she had seen on the promising young filly who was so excited to have passed her entrance exam. They were cold and hardened, showing hints of distrust and resentment. A spark that had once been there seemed as if it was long gone. Lost forever behind those bold teal eyes, which seemed to strike right through her and hit her somewhere deep inside.

"As you wish," Sunset spoke in a low, even tone, "…Celestia." She then turned and unceremoniously walked out of the room.

Celestia simply stood there for a moment, staring at the spot where the unicorn had been. Sunset Shimmer was growing distant, and it worsened every day. Celestia had not taken a protégé under her wing for such a long time, and their relationship had started off so well. The unicorn truly did have a lot of potential.

Now, however, Sunset's attitude was just making her feel like a failure.

She heaved a heavy sigh, noticing that she was still holding the two books. She trotted back over to her desk, first placing down the dark tome. Dust fell from it just from the simple act of being set down. The book was centuries old, and it was only thanks to preservation spells in the library that kept the pages together. She carefully opened it to a random page, seeing that all of the antique writing was still there.

She closed the book and stared at the blank cover, a mix of emotions flooding through her. It was as if her mind couldn't choose one of them. Instead, she turned away and set the encyclopaedia onto the other side of the desk.

Celestia gazed at this one as well, seeing the intricate and eye-catching way the title was written, and the beautiful drawing of an earth pony, unicorn and pegasus on the cover. The book had to have at least a thousand pages. The Encyclopaedia Equestria was a painstakingly-crafted in-depth collection of the most important information about the nation of Equestria and the world around. Math, science, politics, entertainment, history and more were covered within, and reading the entire thing was practically required for any young student with ambitious goals.

She flipped over the book to its index, sought out the page she wanted, and then turned to that page. It was in the section that covered lore, myths and long-lost stories, and it took up but one entire page. In the top left corner was an artist's depiction of a jet-black alicorn with striking, evil eyes. Celestia read what was written, though she already knew the words.

"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 in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon. She vowed that 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-"

A teardrop splattered onto the page, blurring the ink slightly. Celestia let out a shuddering breath, dried her tears, and continued to read.

"…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."

Celestia let out a heavy sigh and continued to stare at the words. She waited for them to magically change, but they stubbornly remained the same. She glanced back over to the other book briefly, and then gazed up and out the window. It was late.

She closed her eyes, a solemn look upon her face, as her horn glowed a brilliant gold. Unseen by her beyond the castle walls, though she could feel its strong connection, Celestia set the sun. As the skies grew purple and the land was slowly enveloped in darkness, a few more tears ran down her cheeks.

The glow around her horn then changed. It began to glow bright silver. A few moments later, on the horizon visible outside of her window, the shining brilliance of the moon started to appear. Celestia remained still and quiet as the last rays of sun disappeared from the land and she raised the moon.

When the deed was done at last, Celestia opened her eyes and gazed up at the moon. An unmistakable visage greeted her, made up of dark craters and patch marks on the face of the moon. The face of the Mare in the Moon, there to greet her just like any other night. All across Equestria, the nighttime had come.

A shiver ran through her body and she bit back a few tears. It was wrong. Every single night it felt so wrong, no matter how many times she had done it. It was something that simply had to be done, though it made her sick to her stomach every time. The magic was not hers to wield. She could feel the blood-stained marks of thievery upon it. No matter how she rationalized it, Celestia felt like she was committing a crime.

She couldn't help it. A sob escaped her lips as she continued to stare up at the moon, watching as the stars twinkled into existence on their own. The night sky was pitiful to look at. The stars were dim and few and far between. Truly the most brilliant thing to behold about the night sky was the moon itself, yet that was marred by unsatisfactory graffiti as well. It was simply a travesty in her eyes.

The moonlight twinkled in her tear-filled eyes. Celestia stared at the moon for a good five minutes at least. The brightest stars in the sky were all the closest ones to the moon itself. She watched them closely, unable to hold back any more tears.

Silent and alone. Celestia wasn't sure if those words applied better to the moon in the sky, or to herself. The moon was like a great observer. A thousand tales would be written into the book of the moon, and Celestia knew each one by heart. By her broken, damaged heart.

If nothing else, the moon served one purpose. It was a silent reminder.

She let out a few painful cries, and then gazed down at the black book once more. "I'm sorry…" she whispered, though the words felt empty. She raised a hoof and brought it towards the book. "…None shall ever know…"

She placed it on the book, as if holding it shut. She kept it there for a moment, and then slid her hoof off of it and brought it back to the ground. Some of the damaged cover was rubbed away by the motion of her hoof, revealing a second, hidden cover beneath it. The letters were faded, but the words could still be read. By Princess Celestia~

"…None shall ever know."

Author's Note:

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Comments

[GigaBowser]

7018381 Thank you very much, I really appreciate your kind words!

[Cynders Domain]

Please make a sequel to where Luna returns

[Sphex]

This story deserves so much more recognition than this. While it is very gory and brutal, it is by far the best story about how NMM came to be that I have ever read. I've always wanted to find some good story about it because it is something that interest me greatly but everything I've read so far has just been unsatisfying.

// Sphex

[GigaBowser]

7021756 There is! It's called "Friendship is Magic"

7023062 Thanks a lot! I had a lot of fun writing this one, and I agree that other stories of this subject have been quite underwhelming in my opinion. I'm so glad you enjoyed reading~

[Cynders Domain]

7024241 i'm talking about in your own image or what they talked about

[thelastprincess]

That was the best story EVER

[GeneralSarcasm]

What a wild ride! excellent work Giga.

[-Aphelion-]

Awesome