It was a peaceful night as Princess Luna walked through the halls of Canterlot Castle. She enjoyed her nightly walks, greeting the guards and reminding herself of all she had. However, something was off that night. The castle was completely empty; even the guards were inexplicably missing.
"No matter," Luna said to herself as she walked. "I'll just have to go find them. They had best have a good reason for abandoning their posts."
"Never satisfied, are we?"
The alicorn froze as a familiar voice echoed through the halls. "What!? Who's there?" Luna called out. "Reveal yourself!"
"As you wish, my Queen."
Suddenly, the shadows began to gather, drawing together into an equine form. As the stallion's glowing green eyes opened, any doubts as to his identity were dispelled. "Sombra," Luna said with a glare. "Why am I not surprised that you cheated death yet again? And what are you playing at, calling me 'queen'? I am a Princess, as you well know!"
The shadowy king approached her with an amused expression. "Princess? That would be an insult to one such as you," he replied. "Isn't that right... Nightmare Moon?"
The alicorn's expression turn cold upon hearing that name. "Nightmare Moon is gone. I am a Princess of Equestria, now and forever more."
"The past is not so easily forgotten, nor should it be," Sombra replied. "And why should it have to be? Why should you have to be the one to change? Why should you be denied what you desire?"
"What I desire?" Luna asked warily. "What do you mean?"
"Celestia had this castle and rulership of Equestria to herself for centuries, Twilight is free to use Dark Magic as she pleases, and Cadance is adored by ponies wherever she goes. All you ever desired was what others had, and with good reason," Sombra said softly, soothingly. "If they get such things, why shouldn't you?"
"Even if I did still hold such desires, why would you care?" Luna shot back.
"It's as I said 1,000 years ago, you are far more fit to rule, far more deserving of respect than Celestia. The same is even more true of those new foals that would claim the title 'Princess'," Sombra replied with a sneer when speaking of the other Equestrian royalty.
"No, I meant why would you care?" Luna's eyes narrowed in suspicion as she spoke. "The King Sombra I remember would never offer such supportive sentiments unless he was trying to gain something. In fact... How did you know about Twilight using Dark Magic or Cadance's popularity amongst her subjects? No..." Luna stepped forward as her confidence grew. "Something's not right here. Who are you really? What happened to everypony in the castle?"
'Sombra' was silent for a moment, eyes closed in thought. After a moment, his eyes opened, revealing slitted teal eyes. When the figure spoke, it was in a more feminine tone. "Come now, Luna, surely the Princess of the Night knows when she's dreaming?" As Luna's eye's widened in surprise, the figure cackled and began to change. It grew taller and sleek wings formed on its sides as its mane shifted from looking like living darkness to a swathe of the night sky.
Sighing in resignation, Luna muttered, "Of course, this is the Tantabus' doing, isn't it?"
"Perhaps," the dream representation of her alter ego replied. "But just because our pet got more creative doesn't make my point any less valid."
"There is no 'our'. The Elements of Harmony got rid of you," Luna said angrily. "I will atone where and when I can but you are nothing but a bad memory, a nightmare."
Nightmare Moon just cackled at that. As she calmed down, she replied, "My dear Luna, I have always been a Nightmare! As for the accursed Elements, they may have driven away the Nightmare Forces that empowered us but they could never get rid of me. After all, I am you. For as long as you live, I do as well. You may play Princess now, but you did before, as well."
"I made a mistake," Luna said firmly. "I was alone then, now I have friends that care for me and, if for no other reason than for their sake, I shall never repeat that mistake."
"You do have friends... for now," Nightmare Moon's smug tone was undeniable. "However, immortality is as much a curse as it is a blessing. One day those friends will be gone and it will be just you and Celestia once more. Eventually, everypony will forget about me and start ignoring you once more. Then, your Envy will consume you once more. It's only a matter of time... But the Nightmare Forces will return soon. Why not simply embrace them now, rather than delay the inevitable?"
"I shall not fall to temptation again!" Luna declared. As the dream started to fade, another question occurred to her. "What I don't understand is why you took on King Sombra's form, at first."
"I am a part of you, Princess of the Night," Nightmare Moon replied. "But I am also your dream. Sometimes the subconscious notices things the conscious mind has yet to acknowledge. Dreams have power, yet sometimes the answers they provide are more obvious than one expects..."
Luna sat up in her bed as the strange and disturbing dream ended. Looking around her room, she saw the sun starting to set outside her window. As she got up, she pondered the events of the dream. An alicorn's dreams were often prophetic, but the meanings were not always clear.
"'Yet sometimes the answers they provide are more obvious than one expects...' Was she referring to this dream, or to another?" Luna pondered. "The only other dream I've seen recently involving Sombra was the one Twilight had. Why would that matter, though?"
A bit of a nitpick, but the phrase repetition was a bit jarring.
Damn I wonder how long it will take for Luna to figure out the truth. Can't wait for the next arch to begin!
7000975 It was supposed to emphasize Nightmare Moon driving the point home. Sorry if that didn't come across as well as I wanted it to.
7000998 It should be pretty soon. I've been looking forward to writing it, myself!
An intriguing update. Am I the only one who thinks that Luna should be put on trial? Not only did she turn into a monster and attempted to bring about genocide, she created one in order to validate herself.
7001079 Luna is clinically insane, but nepotism's a bitch. Ironically, even if part of Luna continues to resent Celestia, it is Celestia's power and influence that keeps anypony else from acting against Luna. That said, she was sealed away for a THOUSAND years. That's quite a few consecutive life sentences.
Still, nopony ever said that the Equestrian justice system made sense.
pre02.deviantart.net/fedd/th/pre/i/2014/131/8/b/king_nothing_by_jowybean-d7i0ecj.jpg
7001076 Thanks! Glad you liked it!
7001093 Heh, glad you liked it. Expect to see more of that, alongside comic adaptations and original story arcs.
Gawdfuggindemmit, this happens EVERY TIME! EVERY TIME I start writing a story of my own, a fic hits the feature box that is way too close to my idea for comfort.
Ah well, I'll read it; it'll probably be better than mine.
7001091
Ha! I am curious about the Nightmare persona and the Tantabus. They are aware of Twilight's development, would they seek out Sombra, since he is indirectly their creator. I imagine he would use the opportunity to devour their power and eliminate the competition if they did approach him. After all he has a much more promising and competent apprentice. To quote Darth Sidious,"You are no longer my apprentice. You have been replaced."
7001100 If you want to write a story, don't let mine stop you. Every author has unique ideas, and I for one only write what I want to read, anyway!
7001105 They are only aware of what Luna is aware of, since they exist in her mind. The Tantabus, perhaps, given the opportunity, but we're still in season 3. It doesn't get the power to escape Luna's dreams until season 5. Nightmare Moon in this was just a dream representation of Luna's suppressed desires, sort of a manifestation of her Id, brought about by the Tantabus to fulfill it's directive to torment Luna with nightmares, so it returned to Luna's subconscious once the dream ended.
As for Sombra, he would certainly take advantage of the opportunity if it presented itself. Just because he's starting to develop a soft spot for Twilight, doesn't mean he would hesitate at a chance to get revenge on the Two Sisters.
7001124
I imagine Sombra would be more hesitant to toy with the Two Sisters at this stage, he's not that powerful yet and he is getting his jollies at tormenting Armour, not to mention they are bigger influences on Twilight. But Black Knight would be an interesting character if he went to Canterlot with Twilight to guard her on a visit. If he flirted with some ladies, would she get jealous? Imagine if he met Twilight's parents? I imagine she would just die of embarrassment.
7001130 oh, he certainly wouldn't got out of his way, but draining the power of a 'dangerous parasite' like the Tantabus is something he could easily pass off as 'a misguided attempt to help'.
As for him going to Canterlot... you may not have to wait very long for that.
Flirting isn't something that would even cross Sombra's mind, but the overly polite 'Black Knight' could have his chivalrous facade misinterpreted by more modern-minded ponies.
As for Twilight's parents, who says Twilight has to be present to be embarassed, when he meets them?
7001259 Glad to hear it. Sombra will be spending a bit of time around Celestia, soon, so you'll be likely to understand any 'odd' behavior on her part.
7001467 Oh god I can imagine Twilight trying to explain the 'other Sombra' and Celestia's romance to Sombra!
7001746 Actually, Twilight was an alicorn in Reflections, so that hasn't happened... yet.
7001467
She did call 'Black Knight' handsome. She is either looking to see if Twilight is interested, and if not she's looking for some ebony to complement her ivory.
7001807 That's because Celestia met the alternate Sombra long before the start of the Reflections arc. So, even though nopony else knows about that alternate reality yet, when Celestia sees 'Black Knight', she is reminded of the king she fell in love with.
7001765 Oh, well then its gonna be even more awkward if Sombra is there for those events!
7001862 Exactly!
7001844
Oh yeah, Good King Sombra is basically looks what Sombra before the Dark Magic altered him. So I imagine from Celestia's POV he's looking pretty fine, especially considering she isn't able to travel from AU willy nilly.
I imagine Sombra would get quite the ego inflation if he did travel to that particular AU, seeing him rule Equestria, the one beacon of order and prosperity in a pretty dark world. Alternatively, he could fall head over hooves in love/lust for the two Evil Alicorns.
Well, I'm enjoying this story so far! Here's hoping Sombra and Twilight have some romantic time together as they crush their enemies.
7001887 Perhaps at first, but such opinions wouldn't last long. After all, Good Sombra is a pacifist, Evil Luna is even more childish than the canon one, and Evil Celestia is as strong-willed and ruthless as Sombra, himself.
7002073 Glad you're liking it so far! Also, congrats on/thanks for being the story's first mod reviewer.
A new chapter! Glorious! *squeeing intesifies*
7002275 Glad you enjoyed it!
7001091 Amazing job with Sombra and the entire story so far, Maltrazz! I could swear I read this before a few months ago. I remember the name "Black Knight" and his appearing before Celestia and swearing fealty to Twilight so clearly, but according to FIMFic's system, I've never read it. So weird.
SQUEE! I LOVE Fall of the Crystal Empire! King Sombra is such a smooth talker, trying to entice Luna to join him. I think most people DON'T realize that his power birthed Nightmare Moon, even though he clearly did in the video. That, in a mythological way, makes her his daughter, which is completely logical since nightmares are little more than fear-induced dreams and that is what King Sombra's power is all about.
A brilliant job so far. You are tops on my list of favs I'm tracking right now. Keep it up!!!
7002745 Well, I've also posted this on FanFiction.net and DeviantArt, so you may have read it on one of those sites. Shame Equestria Daily won't feature it, as it would make it much easier for people to find it here. (This being my most edited and corrected version, due to this site making it so easy to edit.)
Glad you liked the reference! Fall of the Crystal Empire may not actually be canon, but for lack of more canon details about their fight, I decided to use the overall idea, at least. (With proper credit given in the Author's Note of the chapter I first mentioned it in.)
7003866 Expect more. Sombra is VERY Sith-y.
7007167 Heh, don't worry. Twilight is still Twilight. Sombra might influence her a bit, but she's not about to change too drastically.
Hmm. Luna's relationship with Nightmare Moon reminds me of that between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Hyde keeps tormenting poor Jekyll, cruelly reminding him that they are actually the same person.
Also, I do wonder how long it'll take Luna to figure out Sombra's not as dead as everypony would like to think.
The fact that he shows up in Luna's dreams, but not in Celestia's (at least, not that we can see), has some nice implications for Luna's character, too. She's perceptive and observant, in a subtle way that her sister might not be.
7026638 Glad you like it so far!
Credit where it's due, I would not want to detract from such a great animation.
7027806 Indeed, an apt comparison. I should get some pictures done for character comparisons in the reviews for this story...
Indeed, when she figures things out could have quite a heavy impact on Sombra's plans!
To be fair, after what we've seen with Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra, and Tirek, Celestia doesn't exactly have a good track record of recognizing trouble before it arrives... Luna could be said to be TOO observant, which led to her Envy issues in the first place.
Any chance you read MLP: Friends Forever #4? It's involves a minor addition to Sombra's past, and there's an interesting creature involved. Granted, the story took place after Twilight became an alicorn, but it seems like something that could be weaved into this story if you like.
7029975 Not yet, but thanks for the recommendation. I see if I can find time to check it out.
7046475 Oh, his presence will definitely interfere with it, but in a way I think few suspect...
7046502 Lol, an apt way of putting it, although Sombra has certainly showed himself to have the upper hoof when it comes to cunning.
I belieb the comma shouĊd be a semicolon
Is this a reference to the Confrontation cover with Luna and Nightmare Moon? It seems very similar.
7001091 That bit with the justice system is so true.
Ah so Luna is aware of what Twilight's dream about Sombra means, if only on a subconscious level. Seems she might discover Sombra soon, thanks a lot Tantabus. Wonder what or if Sombra has a fail-safe in mind in case that happens?
Visions from dream demons, changelings skulking about, talk of the umbrums, the return of King Sombra and Twilight Sparkle might be ascending into alicorn-hood soon. Nothing else to say but Winter Is Coming and when it arrives, Gods help them all if they're not ready.