Waning and Waxing

by Calliope Pony

Chapter 12

I teleport into the little chamber just behind the throne room, breathing heavily. This is the room Celestia and I always used to duck into when we needed a break from business. My head’s in such a whirl I can’t get my thoughts straight. For a moment I can’t believe what I just did.

It was right. Now they will learn some respect and appreciation.

Yes, it was right. I can make them see the true beauty of the night, I can...

A sudden light angles through the small window, and I rush over to look. Celestia is raising the sun! Even though the moon is still there she’s forcing the sun to come up anyway. The sky looks bizarre: part day, part night, sun and moon battling for supremacy.

How dare she defy me!

My anger is boiling higher and higher. She’ll pay for this!

“Luna, Luna are you in here?”

Her voice is coming from the entrance to the throne room. I should have known she would guess I’d come here.

“Luna, I don’t understand! What happened? Why are you so upset?”

She doesn’t really care about why I’m upset. She’s just unhappy because I ruined her Sun Celebration. There’s only room for one princess here, and she wants to make sure it’s her.

I enter the throne room and step out from behind the thrones.

“Not another step! Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all basked in your precious light? There can only be one princess in Equestria. And that princess will be me!”

Now show her! Defy the sun!

I smash open the wall to show the embattled sky outside, and I forcibly move the moon so that it eclipses the sun. The land is bathed in shadows. At the same time, I feel Amphilogia’s power rise up from within and engulf me. It feels frigid and evil.

For one moment my thoughts shine as clear and pure as the day I was first crowned a princess.

NO! This isn’t what I wanted!

Then I am consumed by the dark energy.

Everything is coldness and darkness and pain. My body feels like it’s being torn apart. Everything I once was is crushed down to make way for the wickedness and cruelty that rise up to form the new me, and I delight in the wickedness as it happens. At last the swirling energy condenses into my new body, and I stand there reborn, laughing.

Celestia stares at me in horror.

I stop laughing and snarl at her. I fire a blast at the ceiling, carving out a view of the night sky, bringing huge chunks of rock down in front of her. Celestia starts to fly over them, but I shoot at her, forcing her to land back down.

“Luna! I will not fight you. You must lower the moon. It is your duty!”

“Luna? I am Nightmare Moon. I have but one royal duty now: to destroy you!”

I fire straight at her, but she leaps up and flies away through the hole in the ceiling.

“And where do you think you’re going?” I pursue her.

Around and about the castle we fly. I fire shot after shot, but she dodges and evades. My blasts catch archways and turrets, knocking away whole sections of walls.

Finally, I get a good clear aim.

Shoom!

The blast hits her square in the chest. Her scream tears through the dark sky as she plummets to the ground.

I begin laughing madly. I did it! I overthrew her! Now I am Equestria’s only princess!

Swiftly, I fly back around to the courtyard. The crowd is still there, mewling and bleating. Guards are standing around to keep order but looking baffled. I sweep in and hover high above where they can all see me.

“Citizens of Equestria! Hear me! I am your new ruler, Nightmare Moon! The era of the Two Sisters is over! Celestia is overthrown!”

The crowd cries out. Pegasus guards fly up at me, but one sweep of my horn knocks them away effortlessly. Ponies down below begin shouting at me. I fire blasts toward the loudest spots, and the shouts turn to screams.

“Silence! You will show me your respect, or you will feel my wrath! As for your precious sun, you have seen it for the last time! From now on, the night will last forever!”

The crowd is in turmoil below me. Two of the unicorn guards try to fire spells at me, but I use my magic to pick them up and throw them against a wall. The pegasus guards are still struggling to rise. I hear ponies crying and wailing. That will teach them to challenge me.

From the corner of my eye I catch a light emerging from the castle behind me. The crowd of sniveling ponies can wait. I swing around and fly toward the light rising upwards.

It’s Celestia! And she has the Elements of Harmony with her! So she wants to turn this into a real fight, does she? I light up my horn, ready to attack.

We each fire at the same moment, our spells clashing in midair. We struggle, each pushing against the other. For a few moments I feel that I’m winning, and I relish the feeling of destructive power.

Then... I falter. The Elements are pushing me! I’m being forced back and back. I snarl and attack back with all my might, but I can’t withstand the immense rush of power. I feel myself being hurled backwards. The Elements cast me into the moon, and my world becomes a slamming door.