Queen Nightmare Moon

by Makitk

Chapter 1

"Sister, I need your help; we need to do this together," Celestia spoke, her pleading gaze setting on the blue form of her sister.

Luna peered back up as Celestia's magic lifted the Elements of Harmony back up from where they lay scattered on the ground.

"Together," Luna agreed, moving to her sister's side.

Both alicorn sisters took to the sky again while the Elements of Harmony started to rotate around them.

A short distance away from them, hovering over the chaos and destruction he had caused, Discord watched the sisters rise up to his level again while spitting tea back into a teacup like he was sipping from it in reverse.

"Oh, look; the dark sister joins the fight again," he spoke mokingly, throwing the full teacup over his left shoulder where it promptly changed into a pig with wings.

The poor creature needed a moment to realize it had sprang into existence, but soon managed to get the air under its wings and correct its flight path; making for the horizon - away from the ongoing battle - as fast as it could.

"And you brought the Elements of Harmony along again, how lovely. Do you really want to try them on me again?" Discord continued to mock the sisters before him.

"With my sister at my side," Celestia started, giving a glance and a smile in Luna's direction, "I would. Your reign of chaos is at an end, Discord!"

As Celestia's magic intensified as she prepared for the attack, Luna joined her magic with that of her sister and both of their horns glowed brighter in unison.

Discord, having successfully deflected an attack from Celestia by herself, leaned back to watch the show, and even pulled up a target in front of him.

"Oh, this is going to be good," he chuckled, unaware of his impending doom.

As the Elements took the magic of their sisterly bond, they served as a conduit to enhance Celestia and Luna's magic. The resulting beam launching from them in Discord's direction was ten times as powerful than what the Alicorn sisters could produce on their own.

Their magic pierced the target Discord had set up in front of him, disintegrating it, and then hit the Draconequus full in the chest!

"W...what? No, it can't be!?" Discord decried, as he quickly turned to stone...

Celestia lowered her head as she realized the fight was finally over, the Elements of Harmony slowly sinking down around her and her sister as well now they had lost their immediate use.

Luna kept her eyes on the newly formed statue, and slowed its descent down to the ground, placing it in a solid spot in the meadow below so it would not break on impact from an otherwise quick drop.

Luna's eyes moved as she watched Discord's influence on the world retreat; order slowly restoring itself as the magical chaos he had spread pulled away again.

Something about it touched her heart; it was sad, in a way, that it had to go. It had been too much, of course, but for a brief moment there had been a spark that went through the ponies; a spark of enjoyment.

It was a bit like a carnival ride; a funhouse where everything was the opposite of what was expected. It had given rise to dreams which were filled with mirth.

At least, for the first night after Discord rose. After that, the nightmares had begun, and Luna had been witness to great pain and suffering in both the waking world as the dream world.

She shook her head and let herself drift down to the ground, to stand next to her sister Celestia.

"If only he had listened," she mused.

"I, for one, am glad you were here with me to combat this evil," Celestia retorted. "We shall return to the castle and tell our subjects about our victory over the Lord of Chaos."

Luna smirked lightly at her sister calling the Draconequus evil with such definitiveness, watching her put the Elements of Harmony back in the pouch in which they had been taken to the battlefield in the first place.

"As you said, sister; we needed to do it together," Luna suggested in return to Celestia's words, folding her wings to her side. "I'm just glad my wing held out; his last attack on me made for a rough landing; I thought I had torn a ligament."

She peered off in the distance. "It appears the lands are repairing themselves now Discord's magic is sealed."

"Let's hope he will remain locked in stone until the end of time," Celestia let out with a snort, settling the pouch with the gems in it on her back between her extended wings.

"Right," Luna spoke half-heartedly, narrowing her eyes against the sunlight to watch a group of ponies gather on the road ahead. "It looks like we are going to be intercepted by a group of our subjects."

Celestia lifted her head high and set her eyes on the road as well. "So it does. Let us meet them halfway!"

The taller sister eagerly trotted forward at that, forcing Luna to fall in line behind as the road narrowed slightly. With Celestia's wings standing tall and proudly up on either side of her, and the sun halfway down the sky already, Luna felt like she walked in the shadow of her sister even more than she had for weeks before.

It did not get any better when the crowd gathered around Celestia and quickly proclaimed her the sole victor of the fight they had just won together. Maybe they had only seen Luna get beaten down by Discord, and had not seen her rise again... or maybe that shadow was darker than even Luna herself felt it was.

As the celebrations continued in the days following, Luna felt the distance between her sister and her grow, and not only because of Celestia going from one banquet into another party without including Luna in the festivities.

The princess of the night finally retreated to her personal chambers in an attempt to ground herself again, but it was to no avail; the sound of ponies chanting her sister's name reached up into her chambers. The dreams of ponies celebrating Celestia's victory reached her during the night. And the shadow of her sister fell over Luna even when she was hidden under layers and layers of blankets trying to drown everything else out...

Snap.

The blankets flew through her chambers, and saw the rise of a different mare; Nightmare Moon. Luna reborn from the darkness that had taken possession of her.

She took a moment to make herself look like the Queen she felt she should be, and then stormed down through the palace's halls - into the throne room.

"What a dream, what a dream," she mused to herself, looking at the two thrones standing side-by-side in front of the banners of both Celestia and Luna.

"What a laughable joke!" Nightmare Moon decided, letting out a hollow laughter that spread her darkness through every opening of the palace - out into the world beyond.

The sound of merriment ceased, and there was a new sound; ponies howling in renewed fear as dark stormclouds formed above the palace and spread so soon after the previous threat to their lives had been vanquished.

It only took her a moment, but then a bewildered Celestia rushed into the throne room herself.

"Luna?" she called out, in search of her sister and an answer to the questions rising in her mind.

"You thought we could share this world," a bitter voice came to her instead, and Nightmare Moon stepped in front of her - tall and dark and filled with hatred. "You took them all; all of their precious hearts singing to your day and ignoring my night!"

Celestia could not fathom, and took a step back. "What...?" she tried, wracking her brain to try and figure out what she was seeing in front of her.

"No more will I bow to your day, 'sister'," Nightmare Moon proclaimed, and her horn lit up darkly as she charged her magic.

Celestia barely had time to pull up a magical shield as Nightmare Moon let go a bolt of energy at her, but the impact sent her skidding back a few feet.

"Is that you, Luna? What are you talking about? What are you doing?!?" Celestia decried, jumping to the side as a new attack launched from where Nightmare Moon stood. "What is going on?!?"

"Luna is dead," Nightmare Moon stated coldly, and Celestia's heart sank. "You killed her by your pride and ignorance. I should thank you, really; she was too weak."

Celestia stood shocked and was hit full-force by another shot of magic which sent her flying into the wall behind her.

"I am Nightmare Moon, and I am far stronger than your weakling sister. Bow to me, and you may yet live! Under my rule, the night shall last forever!"

"I will never give up my throne, or my sister," Celestia spat while gathering herself again, launching a counter-attack in Nightmare Moon's direction in the same moment!

Nightmare Moon barely dodged the blast, which took out a chunk of the wall behind her, and fired off a volley back at Celestia. Both Alicorns fought to the best of their abilities, but they were clearly evenly matched. All they could do was tire one another out while blowing holes in the palace they once ruled together.

It did not take long for Celestia to rush out of the throne room and to her own chambers, with Nightmare Moon in hot pursuit!

Celestia skidded around the corner, her eyes catching sight of the pouch she had still not unpacked due to the festivities, and her magic reached out to grab the Elements of Harmony from within, even as Nightmare Moon rushed into the room as well.

Nightmare Moon's quickly reached out with her own magic to stop Celestia, and the pouch tore in half, sending the gemstones flying in all directions as if by an explosive force!

There was the sound of the window shattering as one of the gemstones flew through it.

A low thud indicated another burying itself in the wood of a tall dresser.

A hoofstep back.. and another.. then a thump as one of the Alicorns set themselves on their rear.

Nightmare Moon realized it was she, herself, who was now sitting on her rear end, her vision limited somehow.

Her right eye was... Her right eye was not working.

She reached up at it with a forehoof and her hoof hit the gemstone sticking out of her eye socket instead.

She expected it to hurt as she tapped it, but instead the touch caused a warm glow to spread through her. An alien feeling taking a hold of her. Something she thought she could never feel again.

A grunt from deeper in the room reached her ears, and she turned her head slightly for her left eye to spot Celestia having fallen over on her side.

A red stain spread over Celestia's white coat from a wound in her side, and Nightmare Moon now felt the sting of pain, but from where her heart was located.

Did she truly feel for Celestia? For the mare who had mistreated her and took all the ponies' adoration without explaining how her sister had been right there with her?

The warm glow spread from the gemstone still embedded in her eye socket and she reached up to touch it again, but noticed a change in it. Slowly but surely she started to regain her vision, even if it was clouded by a pink tone. Slowly but surely she spotted her right forehoof reaching up to touch her right eye, and tap the hard, smooth surface of the gemstone.

Nightmare Moon blinked as her hoof touched her eye, out of habit more than it hurting, and she realized the strange new pink vision from her right eye disappeared as that of her regular left eye did, then reappeared again with more clarity.

She blinked a few more times, and slowly but surely noticed her vision improving until it had returned to normal. The only thing that remained was the pink hue stuck to everything she saw through her right eye...

The pain in her heart intensified as she watched Celestia squirming in pain on the floor with both eyes now, and Nightmare Moon rushed forward before she could stop herself.

"Are you okay, sister?" she heard herself ask, even if she had nothing but disdain for the white mare before her.

Celestia peered up with confusion in her eyes, then focused them for a moment and widened them in shock immediately after!

"Y...your eye," she breathed out in distress, but Nightmare Moon shook her head at it.

"No, your side," she pointed out, using her magic to tear a strip of cloth from Celestia's bedsheets and bring it over to work around the other's barrel. "We need to stop the bleeding."

Celestia winced as Nightmare Moon tightened the improvised bandage around her, confusion and shock still struggling for control of her facial muscles.

The blue mare ignored Celestia's face for now, instead making sure the bandage was set properly over the wound.

"There you go," she offered with a weak smile as she finished up. "You will need to see the doctor as soon as you can, but this should stop the bleeding for now."

"Luna," Celestia started, but Nightmare Moon immediately narrowed her eyes at her and the white mare pulled her head back a bit in shock. "You... may want to look in the mirror. Whoever you are."

"My name is Nightmare Moon," Nightmare Moon stated with a huff, pushing up from the ground and looking around for a mirror and finding a fullsize one in the corner. "I told you; Luna is dead."

Celestia closed her eyes at hearing that, a tear rolling down her cheek, but Nightmare Moon walked away from her to the corner of the room to look into the mirror there instead of bringing it up.

Her heart was hurting from seeing Celestia in this situation, even if she wanted to tear the mare's head off her rump at the same time, and the duality was tearing at her. She needed to put her focus elsewhere.

As Nightmare Moon moved in front of the mirror, she realized she had been hurt worse than she felt she was; blood stained her face and had leaked down the fur on her neck and chest. Her right eye was... missing. It had been entirely replaced by a pink gemstone which sat and turned in its socket just like her eye had done before.

"The Element of Kindness," Nightmare Moon realized in shock.

"That explains why we're not fighting anymore," Celestia muttered from behind.

"I can see through it, like it replaced the function of my eye," Nightmare Moon stated. "There is a pink hue over everything, but it works like a proper eye."

"Well, it is magical," the other stated calmly.

Nightmare Moon glanced back to realize Celestia had pushed herself up to sit on her rear and was examining the bandage around her barrel.

"How are you feeling, Celestia?" the blue princess of the night asked of her.

"It has stopped hurting, but now it is glowing. Pulsating, almost," Celestia remarked with a frown.

The sound of hoofsteps approaching filled the hallway beyond, and Nightmare Moon turned to face the door. "This... could get ugly."

Celestia sighed and shook her head. "No, 'Nightmare Moon', you were right; I should abdicate my throne and give you a chance to rule Equestria. With your permission, I could serve in an advisory role?"

"I... what?" Nightmare Moon started, tilting her head at the white one still on the floor. "Are you kidding me?"

Celestia looked up with a smirk. "The Element of Loyalty has embedded itself in my rump; I can't but be loyal to my sister, whether she wants me to call her Luna or Nightmare Moon. It was never my intention to make you feel unwanted. I was lost in the rush and simply forgot to include you. I would gladly take a step back and support you from behind."

Nightmare Moon pondered Celestia's statement for but the briefest of moments, but then moved to position herself between her sister and the door.

The first guard who rushed into the room was met with a stern gaze. "Fetch the doctor! My sister requires medical attention!"

As he turned and the next entered, Nightmare Moon barked her orders at them to take stock of the damage done to the palace and to seek out any who may be buried under the rubble, start repairs, dinner, a bath, and so on...

Celestia just sat behind her, giving nods to all guards who required her to verify their given orders before they could leave her room.

And thus began the reign of Nightmare Moon.

Comments

[PlieRow666]

Only one chapter?

[clubbzz]

This ... is far too incomplete to me. You have plenty more to work with here.

[tsaukpaetra]

Hmmm. But what of the other elements?