Frozen in a Nightmare

by Nerdz

Chapter One: The Curse

It was centuries ago, in the capital city of Canterlot. The castle rose from its place on a cliffside over the mighty kingdom of Equestria, the top spires seemingly grazing the Moon, which had just reached its peak. A preteen Celestia stared out the window of her bedroom. The pure white Alicorn filly was supposed to have been asleep hours before, which she had, but she woke up and could not re-enter dreamland. She pushed her light pink mane from her eyes, and turned her innocent gaze toward a second bed in the room.

The second bed was coated in the rich shades of night, in contrast to her bed, decorated with shades of gold and orange. It belonged to her younger sister. A grin spread across her face, her green eyes sparkling. She quietly ran to her sister’s bed. She reached up and grabbed hold of the purple and black covers, pulled herself beside the younger filly, and gently shook her.

“Luna, wake up!” she whispered excitedly. Luna lifted her light-blue head, opening her eyes to discover her even lighter blue mane had covered them. Not even bothering to move her bangs, she groaned, closed her eyes, and laid her head back down.

“Tia!” Luna mumbled “Go back to bed!” Celestia rolled over onto her back, and put her hoof on her forehead dramatically.

“I just can’t! The lights from the Crystal Empire are dancing in the sky, and now I’m awake! So we have to play!” she whined. Luna gave her unsuspecting sister a shove, knocking her to the floor.

“Go play by yourself!” she moaned. Celestia sat on the floor for a minute, trying to come up with something to get Luna up. She looked around the room. Her side was painted a golden sunset color, while Luna’s side was black as night. White dots on the roof represented the stars, and, if you looked closely, you could make out constellations. While Celestia had a mural of the sun, Luna had one of a full moon. The center of the roof was painted as the twilight of evening.

Celestia looked out the window. It was midwinter, and fresh, fat snowflakes fell from above, to the ground that was already blanketed in white. Grinning, she stood, turned back to her sister’s bed, and spread her wings. Taking flight, she leaped to back on top of Luna. She shook her sister again. She leaned close to her little sister’s ear and quietly whispered their favorite winter game.

“Do you wanna build a snowmare?” Luna smirked and raised her head. She giggled and started getting up. Celestia grinned and used her magic to open their closets and levitate coats, scarves, hats, and boots, over to them. Giggling, the girls began putting them on, getting ready to sneak into the castle courtyards. Celestia fitted her last boot onto her hoof. She looked up at Luna. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah!” Luna answered. They hurriedly opened the door and tip-toed down the long ivory passageways. They stopped as they passed the doors to the throne room. Candle light streamed underneath the doors. Luna cocked her head. “Are Mama and Papa in there? What are they doing up at this hour?”

“I don’t know.” Celestia shrugged “Come on, before they hear us out here!” Luna rolled her eyes and put her ear against the keyhole.

“Shh, I want to hear what they’re saying” she whispered. Celestia joined her sister at the keyhole. Luna sighed. “We’ll never hear what they’re saying from here. She gently opened the door a crack. Suddenly, Luna was grabbed in a very powerful aura, not of her parents, and yanked into the throne room. Before Celestia could respond, the door was shut, locked, and made sound proof from the inside by some extremely potent magic.

---

The king and queen sat on their respective thrones. Much like their daughters’ sides of the room they shared, the thrones were decorated to fit their positions as the Equestrian rulers. Queen Sunniva’s throne was made of polished gold with pink silk cushions, while King Eclipse’s was crafted of carved obsidian with cushions made of velvet, deep purple in color. The room itself was possibly the most beautiful one in the castle. The long hall-like room was lined with floor-to-ceiling stain glass windows, quarts columns, a red carpet from the doors to the thrones, and red velvet drapes with soft golden cords.

As to why they were in the throne room at this late hour, the Sultan of Saddle Arabia had come earlier that day, requesting a new trade arrangement: Saddle Arabian salt rocks for Equestrian gems. After a long discussion, a decision was made, and now the king and queen were writing the documents on the preparations. The only sound in the room was the constant scribble of quills on scrolls.

All of a sudden, there was a bright flash in the center of the room. Surprised by the white light, both royals dropped their quills and scrolls, covering their eyes. Rubbing their eyes, they glanced up. A hooded figure stood where the light had been. All you could she of the pony’s face was the very end of her muzzle and a few inches of a horn.

“Who are you?” Eclipse snapped “What do you want?” The pony gave a sickly sweet smile and a short bow.

“Forgive my intrusion, Your Highnesses.” you could tell from the voice that this strange pony was a mare. She rose from her bow. “I requested an audience, but was denied I believe for my…background. As to who I am, most call me Moon.”

“I see…” Eclipse muttered skeptically.

“Please, continue.” Sunniva said. “What is it you desired an audience for exactly?”

“I’ve always been fascinated by the night. Of course, I know of few who share this fondness.” Moon seemed to be talking only to Eclipse, as if Sunniva weren’t there. “It saddens me to see the work you so obviously put into the lunar sky to be wasted on eyes blind to its beauty. Now, I have a…proposition, of sorts.” She paused, waiting for a reaction.

“Proceed.” Eclipse stated simply.

Moon gave an evil grin, her eyes now visible as they were glowing turquoise with slitted pupils. “Nighttime…” she said slowly “eternal.”

“Never!” the king and queen shouted at the same time.

Moon glared at them. When the door opened, she snapped her head to face it, seeing the young princess. With a simple flash of her horn, the foal was snatched into the air, the door locked, and a sound proof spell cast upon it, so they could all hear the elder princess banging on the door, but she couldn’t hear what was going on inside. Moon’s final touch was using her magic to pin the king and queen to their thrones.

The filly struggled in Moon’s grasp. “Mama, Papa!” she yelled.

“Let her go!” Eclipse growled menacingly.

“Luna! Luna, are you okay!? Somepony open the door!” the elder princess yelled through the door.

“Hmm, Luna, is it?” Moon said in a terrifyingly sweet voice. She looked up at the king and queen. “The heir of the night, no doubt. Now, I’ve tried to be nice, but you have forced me to take drastic measures.” Her magic aura, which was dark blue, turned to a sickly green. “Since you,” She glared at King Eclipse, “Won’t bring about eternal night, the child will. As she grows, her power will grow stronger faster; she’ll possess the power of an Alicorn much older than herself. She will not be able to control it. She will come to show hate towards the day, even become jealous of it. Then, in a weakened state of jealousy and hatred, she will become a monster of the night; a true nightmare!” When she finished with the curse, she threw Luna at her parents.

Eclipse lit his horn and shot a beam of magic at Moon. Seeing the beam coming at her, she teleported out of the castle. All Eclipse managed to do was destroy her cloak. As she disappeared, they were able to get a good look at Moon. She was a solid black Alicorn, with blue smoke for hair, no cutie mark, and Dragon-like eyes. The strangest part was how she turned into purple smoke before she disappeared, indicating that she was no mere pony, but a spirit.

When Moon teleported away, Sunniva and Eclipse were released from their thrones. Sunniva, by this point, was holding Luna and attempting to comfort her. She looked at her husband.

“What do we do?” she asked.

“It would be too dangerous to attempt to lift the curse ourselves, as neither of us know how. But, finding somepony who does could prove even more risky.” Eclipse answered.

“How so?”

“This power that has been placed upon her…you know how unknowledgeable, and often fearful, of Alicorn magic our subjects are, and for an Alicorn so young to possess such immense abilities…I fear that they will see her as a danger, and attempt to…rid the kingdom of this danger.”

Luna gasped, understanding what her father was implying, and buried her head in her mother’s shoulder.

“No!” Sunniva exclaimed, tightening her grip on her daughter.

Eclipse draped his wings over his wife and youngest child. “It’s alright. We’ll protect her. Luna’s a bright filly, I’m sure that, with time, she’ll learn to control her power.” he pause for a moment “Until then, we’ll have to hide her powers.” he began to pace “We’ll need to lessen the castle staff. We can’t let the public know of this, so the gates will have to be closed. And,” he sighed “Luna must have her own room; Celestia can’t know of this.”

“B-but…I tell Tia everything!” Luna wailed. King Eclipse knelt in front of Luna.

“I know, sweetheart, but…you mustn’t tell your sister of this. We don’t want her to be afraid of you, or for either of you to get hurt. Do you understand?” Luna sniffled and nodded. Celestia was still banging on the door. Eclipse walked over to the door, undid the spell, and opened it.

Celestia tumbled into the room. “Luna, are you okay? What happened?”

“Celestia?” Eclipse faked surprise “I’m sorry, dear, we didn’t know you were out there.”

“I was banging on the door this whole time.”

“Your mother and I were doing some work and put a sound proof spell on the doors, so we wouldn’t be distracted.”

“How come I couldn’t open the door?”

“It must’ve gotten stuck. I’ll have someone look at it in the morning. Now, I won’t ask why you’re dressed as if you were going outside,” Celestia smiled sheepishly “but, come with me. I’ll take you back to bed.” the king levitated his daughter onto his back and headed towards the stairs.

“But what about Luna?”

“Let me get you tucked in and I’ll explain.”

---

Once Celestia was tucked back in, she asked her father what was going on. He told her that Luna had leaned out too far when she opened the door, accidentally kicked it shut, and it had gotten stuck.

“Now, your mother and I have been thinking, and we’ve decided that you and Luna have gotten to the age where you need your own space. So, starting tomorrow, you’ll each have your own rooms.”

“What!?” Celestia exclaimed “But, Luna and I haven’t been fighting over space or anything. Why would you think that?”

“Believe me, dear, you’ll thank us later.”

“But”

“No ‘buts’, Celestia. It’s been decided.” Celestia sighed and lowered her head “Don’t worry, dear, I’m sure you’ll get used to it.” Eclipse kissed her forehead. Getting up from his seat on his daughter’s bed, he walked over to the door, and turned out the light. “Goodnight, sweetheart. I love you.” Shutting the door, he walked back to the throne room to help his wife with preparations for Luna’s new room.

Celestia, meanwhile, laid in the dark, no longer bothered by the dancing lights. She stared at the ceiling, not the side decorated for the day, nor the side of the night. She was looking at the middle, the part painted as the evening. She always loved that time. She always thought that it represented the harmony of not only the kingdom, but between her and Luna. She then lowered her gaze to her sister’s side of the room. She sighed, knowing that come morning, that side would no longer be there. Rolling over onto her side, she closed her eyes, vowing to spend more time with her sister than ever before. Little did she know that she wouldn’t get to.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long wait, everypony. This chapter was based off of the first few scenes in the movie.