Nightmare Moon’s Return - A Walk in the Woods
The Ever Changing Moon
-
Chapter 2
Nightmare Moon’s Return
Part 4 - A Walk in the Woods
Twilight left Town Hall, following Nightmare Moon who was... talking with her parents. The dress was no longer present on the princess as it was taken away by Rarity for an emergency cleaning, all thanks to Pinkie Pie tripping while pulling a massive welcoming cake. Instead, the alicorn now wore iridescent blue armor, which only made her more intimidating.
Her mother, Twilight Velvet, was now cleaning the alicorn’s chest with a wet pink towel, trying to wipe the cream from her fur. The image of a powerful corrupted princess being main component of a giant cake covered in over a thousand miniature candles was still haunting Twilight’s mind.
How did Pinkie even manage to make so many tiny candles? she asked herself.
Twilight raised her forehoof to her mouth as she yawned. She had been on her hooves for an entire day and night, overseeing the preparations while her parents and Spike did their best to keep her relatively sane. Celebrating with her enemy for three hours straight did little to help.
To make matters worse, Nightmare Moon’s attitude proved unpredictable. One moment she unleashed her verbal fury on Pinkie Pie for insulting her, only to burst into laughter a moment later. Her regal and calm posture occasionally shifted between an harsh ruler, and a playful pony, often showing a lack of social skills no doubt caused by such a long absence. Maybe she has a mental disorder or split personality, which makes sense considering how much time she’s spent away from civilization. A way of coping with loneliness maybe?
Twilight shook her head and sped up, listening to their conversation.
“Forgive me for saying this, Miss Velvet,” Nightmare Moon spoke, “but I find it difficult to believe.”
“I am being honest, Your Highness. My husband and I, we were ready to attack you when you grabbed our daughter by her neck,” Velvet admitted, her glare firm and eyes narrowed. “She’s our daughter after all and you threatened her life.”
“Mom,” Twilight said, coughing to get their attention. “Don’t anger our new ruler and guest.”
Night Light puffed his chest and said, “Don’t underestimate the most magically talented family in Equestria.” He ignored the panicked shake of his daughter’s head.
Nightmare Moon chuckled and asked coldly, “Oh really?”
“Really,” Night Light responded with a confident smile.
***
The alicorn stomped. “I demand a tug of war in an hour against your family.” She pointed at the trio of unicorns. “My magic against yours! I would suggest something more in depth, but I am short on time.”
“We’d be honored,” Velvet responded before pointing at a huge oak tree. “Here’s our new home, which also serves as the local library. It even has a telescope.”
“Our little Twilight always loved stargazing and astronomy. You both should get along, Your Highness,” Night Light suggested.
Nightmare Moon glanced at Twilight with a weak smile.
“Hey, Twilight!”
“Spike?” Twilight asked as her attention focused on an opening door, revealing a sleepy Spike with a blanket attached to his tail and a pillow in one claw.
“H-hello Spike, up already?” Twilight asked, trotting towards her assistant.
“Not yet, but it’s hard to sleep with all the yelling.” He rubbed his eyes before pointing at the tall alicorn. “What did I miss?”
Twilight took a deep breath and explained, “We welcomed Nightmare Moon as planned and accepted her as our ruler. She revealed the existence of thestrals, Rarity being one of them.” She took a quick breath and continued, “Everypony was okay with it, we celebrated for hours, and now we’re giving Nightmare Moon a tour of Ponyville, updating Her Highness about historical events and modern Equestria. Oh, and she doesn’t want to destroy the world.”
“That’s great.” Spike yawned, stretching his arms. “Equestria is safe and no artifacts were needed.”
“Artifacts?”
“The Elements of Harmony, duh,” Spike said with sleepy eyes, his mouth was quickly shut by Twilight’s foreleg who was now smiling awkwardly.
“Please, don’t listen to him. Spike always talks nonsense when he’s sleepy.”
His eyes opened wide as he pushed Twilight’s foreleg away. “Rarity is a thestral?” He grabbed Twilight’s head and pressed his nose against her muzzle, now looking her deeply in the eyes. “Please tell me thestrals don’t drink dragon’s blood, or eat them!”
“No… I mean yes, I mean… only those strong and old enough to penetrate dragon scales, but now’s not the time,” Twilight answered hastily.
“I hope she’s in the ‘no dragon eating category.”
“Oh, for the love of Celest…” She paused, catching glare from the angered alicorn. “Rarity seems to be a honorable lady, she won’t hurt you.”
Spike sighed and wiped sweat from his forehead.
“Excuse me, young drake. Was your owner planning to use the Elements of Harmony against me?” Nightmare Moon asked, struggling to stay calm. Upon noticing hesitation, she raised Spike’s head with tip of her mane. “Speak, worm!”
“Your manners!” Luna admonished deep in her mind. Thou embarrass us with such a choice of words.
Upon noticing disapproval on the faces of Twilight’s parents and the drake’s trembling, she responded, “My apologies,” placing a forehoof on her mouth.
Spike spoke in panic, “Princess Celestia planned to use the Elements to heal you from corruption, but with Fluttershy’s death, one candidate was missing, please-don’t-hurt-me!”
Both Twilight and her assistant cowered on the floor with her hooves and hands on their heads.
“Is this true,” Nightmare Moon asked coldly while Twilight’s parents gave her questioning looks.
“Y-yes…” she responded as her ears drooped. She looked at the tall alicorn in fear, whose eyes were closed and breathing heavy. Twilight flinched upon receiving a hostile glare.
“Part of me wants to overlook this and not hold a grudge, especially since you are now my subjects.” She looked to the side and took a deep calming breath, trying to keep her anger in check. “Yet, a thousand years banishment on our own moon by the Elements is not something I can forget. The mere knowledge you had the potential to send me back into that cold prison is enough reason to distrust you.” She lowered her head shook it sadly, sighing. “It seems we will not get along.”
Vinyl Scratch trotted through Ponyville, her head raised high as she bypassed party guests, who were ready to take a rest after this eventful night. Her horn lit as she concealed sound waves around herself, her steps and humming not reaching anypony’s ears except her own.
She followed Nightmare Moon towards the local library, hiding on the other side of the large tree. “Now, how should I prank her?” she asked herself, thinking about her first prank.
***
Pinkie pushed a large cake towards Nightmare Moon on a platform with wheels, bypassing two lines of guests. Her cheerful trot was interrupted by a loud roar, startling her as she jumped ahead, slamming into the cake as it tilted towards the guest of honor.
Pinkie’s head emerged from under the cream as she licked her face clean. “Mmm… yummy.” The moment black angered head of an alicorn emerged, she asked, “Do you like it queenie?”
Nightmare Moon opened her mouth to respond, only for a loud burp to escape it. She blushed, trying to say something, “Call me Cakemare Moon the Queenie Meanie, and I am delightful.” She blinked in confusion as something twisted her words. Half of the crowd chuckled while the other looked at each other in confusion.
In rush of anger, she spread her wings and stomped, causing the floor to tremble. She yelled at Pinkie, only to start laughing beside her the moment Luna temporarily took over. Deep in the crowd Vinyl crossed her forelegs with a smug smile on her face.
***
“Would you share what you find so funny, my young subject?”
Vinyl stopped chuckling and opened her eyes, now staring at the unamused, towering alicorn. The aura around her horn vanished. “Hello queenie, how did you hear me?”
“I did not need hear you, my eyes are sharpest at night. You were following us for a while in the open.”
Vinyl fixed her glasses, rubbing the back of her neck. “Yea… I need to work on my stealth.”
“Are you the trickster who pranked me earlier?” Nightmare Moon asked coldly, pressing her muzzle against the Vinyl’s.
“Pretty much.” She shrugged.
Nightmare Moon grabbed the unicorn thestral with her star-filled mane, raising her above the ground. “I am in a very bad mood at the moment, so allow me to warn you!” She pushed Vinyl against the surface of the large tree and added, “Prank me again and I will personally test how long it will take for your ears and horn to grow back!”
“I would bet for it to take two days, give or take a few hours,” Vinyl said with a joking tone. “But sure, no pranks Your Queeny... I mean, Your Highness."
“You are a little too brave for your own good and lack respect for your elders.” She patted the top of Vinyl’s head. “Prove yourself useful and lead me to Fluttershy’s grave.”
“Her grave, why?”
“To give my respect to a fallen foe.”
Canterlot, once a cultural center of Equestria now felt abandoned, not a single soul in sight between the train station and the castle.
The only noise was rustling leaves under the wind and firm steps of proud purebloods. Large bat-like wings and fangs were displayed under the light of stars and the moon.
The powerful elite walked towards the castle with a thousand thestrals waiting for their command. A mix of turned unicorns and earth ponies, all keeping their distance from the castle as instructed.
An army of turned pegasi flew above the castle, observing the movements of the guards while ready to strike.
Royal and Crystal Guards in the thousands formed a ring around the castle with a large opening at the entrance.
Moon Shadow glanced at the approaching scouting party, a group of five pegasi thestrals wearing dark blue armor, well camouflaged to blend into the night. Similar to the armor of the Royal Guard, but thicker and a bit heavier. Metal claws were attached to their shoes and sharp blades on the leading edge of their wings.
“My Lord!” He bowed respectfully.
“Speak.”
He saluted. “Both the princess and empress are in the throne room, unguarded. Their armies are gathered nearby, keeping their distance from the castle.”
“Any enemy reinforcements nearby?” Moon Shadow asked, wondering if the enemy had kept a well hidden reserve.
“No reinforcements, My Lord. Their entire force is here.” He took a quick breath. “We scouted airships and chariots among their ranks, most likely to keep their ground force mobile.”
Moon Shadow looked at his followers and asked, “Do our armies have enough airships and chariots to intercept, should their guard move to Ponyville?”
“Yes, Lord Moon Shadow. They are too close to leave undetected. If they try, blood will rain.”
He smirked, closing his eyes. It was well known among his kind that blood-hypnosis allowed even a young pureblood to control their prey. Sending their own blood into a pony to manipulate their will at distance. For centuries, he kept such ponies in the ranks of Monster Hunters, as only purebloods could detect blood-control.
Now was the time to use his enemies for one last time. With both alicorns and the enemy army gathered in Canterlot, nothing can stand in the way of showing our queen what ponies really think of our kind.
With orders sent, he glanced at Fleur de Lis who was walking by his side, once again in great shape.
“You should be smiling. Today we will write history for the generations to come.”
Fleur looked away and frowned. She knew that there was a chance she would one day need to raise her hoof against Celestia, but she didn’t like it in the least.
“If you are thinking about informing Nightmare Moon of my campaign, I would suggest abandoning such hopes.” He grinned, satisfied by the glare he received in response. “I predicted such a move from your side and had all of your clan's messengers imprisoned.”
“She will find out about your transgression and punish you,” Fleur said venomously with narrowed eyes. “You are just delaying the inevitable.”
Moon Shadow shook his head. “I could not care less if she punishes me or not. Hesitation was our downfall in the past, and I will not allow it to stop us again.” He chuckled. “Besides, after I show our would-be queen the worst of ponykind, she will support my campaign instead of trying to stop it.”
Fleur stomped, driving her forehoof into the cobblestone street several centimeters and sending cracks spidering out across the well-maintained road. She removed her hoof from the new hole, shaking the dust and debris from it.
“I knew you would hate me, considering the steps I had to take to ensure my unquestionable leadership. I am not proud of my actions, yet I cannot afford to hesitate or waste time like our future queen did.” He raised Fleur’s chin with a hoof and looked her deeply in the eyes. “I would suggest that you redirect your anger towards Celestia for your son’s sake.”
She slapped the hoof away and took a deep calming breath. Her plan to inform the two-faced princess had failed, and all that was left was to hope that Nightmare Moon wouldn’t be fooled by whatever Moon Shadow was planning.
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Luna's getting stronger I see
. Nightmare's in for a surprise though. I'm half expecting a yellow hoof to spring out from the dirt in front of the grave 
...moar!
Well... "She" have to obey him, but he didn't give any order like "Don't try to rescue your messengers when I don't look" or "Don't send someone to sabotage my plans or rescue them" right? Not to say if rumors go that not only he plans versus their queen but also incarcerated the servants of another vampire? Well, he is just helping. And is not her fault if someone hear her comment that.
Here's to hoping Nightmare Moon puts Moon Shadow in his place. And that place is six feet under.
7275328
Nah. She'll simply sense the power of a Pure Blood in that grave, yank her unconsious body out of the ground, then return to Ponyville to demand to know What The Flying Horseshoes is going on.
Can this story end, among other things, with Moon Shadow screaming in a certain pinkie mare's basement or something similar?
I like this, but I FUCKING HATE MOON SHADOW
Moon Shadow needy's to be killed by flaming BEES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/9c/5f/47/9c5f4789cecad92521fa79157841ff09.jpg
SEEEEE Luna knows
Huh, that’s actually quite noble of her.
7275461 And then Twilight finds out… needless to say, the (edit: rest of the) Mane 6 will collectively go Oh Tartarus.
MOON SHADOW!!! YOU ****** ****** *****!!! You're not nice Moon Shadow! You need to go somewhere and go die!
Yep , that's Commander's Nightmare Moon alright , always the honorable one.
...It might be why I like her so much...
and just think of all the blood that will be on tia's hooves by the time all this is over. tia's "all for the day pony and only for the day pony" had consiquences far back in the time line and they've been adding up exponentially ever since. The only reason it's taken so long for things to come to a head are Luna's been out of the picture so long and so many believe in tia's one sided view
No surprise Fleur failed to communicate, while moon shadow is evil, he's not dumb
7280712 what ever I was wrong anyways.
>Wants to showcase the species' worst side
>Flagrantly pokes a beehive with a stick and complains that bees are evil when stung
God does this make a absolutely no sense.
7275328 7275461
Interesting theories. You'll have you wait to find out if any of them were correct one.
7275400
Moon Shadow isn't wasting time as he is already leading invasion, keeping Fleur at his sight. I don't think there's any time to take action against him. Besides, he have too many supporters.
7275445
We'll see.
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7275807
Seriously, how do I end up making villains everyone hates so much?
Also, out of curiosity, who is higher on (die painful death) board. Moon Shadow or Shackles ?
7275708
Whatever happen, it will certainly be a shock for Twilight. As for other main 6 members, who knows.
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Thanks.
7277395
I think you're going to harsh on Celestia. She was under pressure of a civil war. Purebloods with their bad reputation after Sombra's campaign in the Crystal Empire, and their ability to turn ponies into thestrals against their will put a lot of fear into the rest of the population. Celestia did what she thought was the best course of action, Luna did the same, and they both meet on the field of battle as the result.
Celestia killing strongest purebloods actially prevented many deaths (she would either kill several with massive power and desire of vengence, or end up leading one army to fight another. She's choisen between death of a few rather than possible death of thousands.
(Fleur and Fancy Pants knew it, which is why they didn't hold a grudge).
Moon Shadow is a bit of a hipocrite though. She want vengence, even though in Tia's place, he would do exacly the same.
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Eeyup. You don't climb the ladder as the strongest and most infuencal pureblood while avoiding Celestia's eye for so long without actualy being smart. His flaws are numberous though. One of them is that he believes that hesitation was the cause of purebloods downfall in the past, so he prepared and expected that Nightmare Moon would quickly choice to either go road of peace or war. Taking her time to judge her subjects, Moon Shadow sees it as weakness that would lead to Nightmare Moon's downfall. (With Elements activating, he kind of have something to fear). Ironicaly, Celestia want to surrender Ponyville and even Equestria to Nightmare Moon because she wants to avoid war. She choice it because she thinks Fluttershy is dead. She thinks Fluttershy is dead because of Moon Shadow's actions.
In a sense, Moon Shadow is trying to protect Nightmare Moon from something that his previous actions already prevented. He now fight against enemy who already choice to surrender. It is kind of an irony.
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Action that would show Nightmare Moon the worst of ponykind didn't even start yet, so you shouldn't make assumptions how bad it is already. The hunters were fighting purebloods for generation, so by arranging a situation where they are send to eliminate Nightmare Moon will certainly show the part of Equestira that certainly don't get along with thestrals. Of course, Nightmare Moon isn't a pureblood but a powerful alicorn, a foe they aren't trained against, a foe that they aren't numberous enough to take down. So yea, he kills two birds with one stone.
7283038 Moon Shadow. Shackles is a douche, don't get me wrong, not Shadow is a Douche AND a hypocrite. And he TOLD shakles where Fluttershy and her family lived.
7283038 Moon Shadow TO ME is like "I WILL GIT MY REVENGE OR GIT EVERYONE KILLED DOING IT" AND that irks me and I don't know Y
AND A song to Moon Shadow
Moon Shadow is a dick.
Even bigger a dick than Armsmaster is.
And that takes some real doing y'know.
Moon Shadow needs a high five.
In the face.
With an axe.
Made of silver.
Covered in garlic sauce.
And he then needs to have the crap beaten out of him with said axe until his head comes off.
And then the same procedure to his limbs.
And then we burn him.
With fire.
7308776 I have an ICBM lying around...
And also Apollo 11's plans.
After we're done burning him of course.
The missile is also made of silver.
It has the same setup as a frag grenade.
But a nuke.
I only hope you don't have them using anything so mundane as an ordinary rope. An anchor-chain strikes me as a bare minimum, and scaling up to gleipnir the chain made of impossible things like the beard of a woman that was used to bind Fenrir in Norse myth. Perhaps a cord of woven moonlight?
I do so believe that Kratus wouldn't take to kindly to Moon Shadow's betrayal of someone who he's a sister to even if she isn't in control and would gladly turn Canterlot into his grave, but not before breaking his mind.