Chapter 06 - The Dark Soul
“You can’t do this to me!”
Rarity nearly jumped out of her coat as the grand doors to the throne room burst open. Two Lunar Guards escorted the stranger, but he was not ready to leave. He thrashed in their grip, digging his hole-ridden hooves into the carpet. Rarity frowned; she had just cleaned that.
The stranger’s black coat gleamed in the blue firelight of the grand hall. His solid blue eyes glared into the other room at the darkened throne, and he continued spewing his vile slander.
“My Queen will see this as an act of war, you wretch!” he cried out. One of his escorts drove a hoof into his side to silence him, and the stranger sucked in a pained breath, thankful for what little protection his natural ‘armor’ provided him.
“Your Queen should have considered that before sending a spy into my midst!” a chilling voice called from the throne room, spitting out the words as if they were acid.
Rarity didn’t dare peek through the doors, knowing full well the fury she would find. She could hear the verbal war waging from the other side of the grand hall, and it only seemed to grow more intense the closer she drew. It was not of her own choice, though; the tapestries were due for cleaning again, and she knew better than to let the Princess’ decor gather dust.
“I am Nightmare Moon!” the voice bellowed. The hall became still, even the stranger froze. “Ruler of Equestria; Princess of the Night! The very heavens bend to my will! If your Queen dares think to defy me—” Her voice fell softly, allowing her words to hang hauntingly in the air. “Then let her know my wrath.”
Rarity fought back a chill threatening to race down her spine. The guards knew their cue, and resumed dragging the now mortified stranger. His eyes were frozen in shock; the realization of what he just did fully dawning upon him. His mouth moved, trying to form words, and when they finally came, they had lost the fire Rarity had overheard.
“W-Wait,” he called, not even bothering to resist anymore. “No. No, please let me go,” he begged. “Just let me report to my Queen, and we will have nothing more to do with this nation. You’ll never hear of us again!”
There was no response. The heavy doors to the throne room hummed in a deep blue light, and a low groan flooded the hall as they slowly closed. Dread gripped the stranger’s twisted heart in a vise. No, he couldn’t let this be the end.
“Please, the changelings are starving!” he cried over the closing doors, a fearful tear threatening to break from his eye. “We won’t survive a war; it will be the death of us. Just let me go!” The guards drug him around the corner at the end of the hall, and the stranger gave one last, desperate cry. “Don’t make us fight a meaningless war; there is no love in this land!”
The door closed with a grim finality. Rarity realized she was quivering slightly. She took in a breath and summoned one of the tapestries down to her, finding salvation in the dust as she brushed it away.
“Come on, let’s talk about this.”
It was all for naught, though. Apparently, the Princess was having a busy moon.
Three guards escorted a stallion towards the Princess’ throne room, another pair of frightened blue eyes. He lightly dragged his hooves across the eloquent carpet; more scuffs she would have to clean. She stiffened as she recognized one of the guards.
“Captain,” she nodded politely as the thestral approached. “I am pleased to see you have returned safely from that dreadful North.”
“Aye, it’s good to be back,” the captain nodded. “Much warmer down here; don’t have to worry about the frost.” The other guards paused with him, and he nodded to one of them. “Silver and I can take it from here, Night Owl. Why don’t you get some rest?”
The thestral stiffened, looking between his captain and his prisoner. “Sir, with all due respect, I dragged this traitor here by carriage for two moons,” he explained, restraint heavy in his voice. “I… think I’ve earned the right to see his trial.”
“I’ll ensure you’re properly rewarded for your duty,” the captain assured. “But you’re exhausted; I could see it when we met at the bridge. Go to the barracks; take the rest of the moon off, or go to the medical wing if you’re still sore.” Night Owl hesitated, stealing one last look at his prisoner. “Get some rest, knight,” the captain said with a gentle finality. “That’s an order.”
A small sigh barely escaped the guard. “Understood, sir,” Night Owl nodded. “Thank you, Captain.”
He marched down the hall, stretching his sore wings and legs. The captain waited before turning to the other guard, motioning for her to bring the prisoner before the Princess. She gulped down her fear and pushed the prisoner forward, summoning the doors open with her magic. A small whimper escaped the prisoner, but he knew better than to try to run.
“So much has happened since I left,” the captain sighed after a pause. “Tensions are growing with the griffons; a rebellion rose and fell against the Princess. I’ve even heard of a recent band of warriors that are travelling the country, turning the citizens against the Guard.” His voice trailed, and he shook his head. “I should have stayed here,” he muttered. “Quelled everything before it all came so out of hoof.”
“Your knights up north needed you more than we did,” Rarity offered with a sympathetic smile. “The Princess has protected us well enough, and I’m sure your presence itself helped rally the knights to push back the Old King.”
“Yes, I’m sure that would make for a great headline,” the captain said with a distasteful chuckle. He motioned a hoof down the hall where Night Owl disappeared. “That Lunar Guard woke up in Baltimare in a pile of trash and rubble with more bruises than he remembered receiving. That was after the entire population of the city suddenly turned against the Guard while they were engaging this new crop of insurgents.
“We’re barely holding the frontlines as it is. What will my knights do when word of this rebellion spreads north?” he demanded. “Will they fight for the ponies that call them traitors? Will their faith in our cause stand firm when the very ponies they’ve sworn to protect despise them?” His fire faded as his eyes fell. “I never should have left,” he repeated with a sigh of defeat.
Rarity raised a sympathetic hoof, but she prompted to lower it as the captain regained his stolid bearing. “It was out of your hoof,” she offered. “You couldn’t have known. The world has changed so much these last two years.”
The captain nodded his head appreciatively, drawing a breath and letting it out slowly. “Aye, it has,” he agreed. His eyes glanced back down the hall, and he lowered his voice. “Speaking of the world changing, did you see that… creature Valiance and Stonewall were escorting?” he asked. “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. What was it?”
Rarity shook her head. “I’m not sure, but whatever it was, it was a spy. It had the nerve to threaten war on Her Highness.”
The captain stiffened. “And how did the Princess respond?” he asked carefully.
“I fear she may have accepted his bluff,” Rarity sighed. “After sending him to the sleeping chambers.”
She noticed him deflate at the news, if only barely so. Being Captain of the Guard had made him rather stoic over the years, but even he couldn't hide his distaste. Nopony wanted to fight a war, let alone after returning from one still ongoing.
“I’ll… speak with the Princess,” he offered. “Thank you, Miss Rarity.”
“Always a pleasure, Captain,” she nodded, returning to her work.
The captain marched to the open doors of the throne room, only to step aside and his lieutenant galloped by. It must have been urgent. He glanced inside and found the prisoner already bowing before the throne. The Princess acknowledged his entrance with a brisk glance before returning her focus on the quivering subject before her.
“Please, Your Highness, please understand,” the librarian begged. “We didn't mean to offend you.”
“If you meant no ill will, then why conspire in secrecy?” Nightmare Moon demanded coldly.
Tall Tales gulped down the lump in his throat. How had it all come to this? “We heard stories,” he admitted. “Stories of the Guard gathering books of the Solar Age and destroying them.” He looked between his guard and the newly returned captain at his sides and built his courage. “We couldn’t stand by and let them destroy our history.”
“We,” the Princess echoed, her eyes narrowing. “You keep saying ‘we’. How many of you are there?”
The librarian winced. “I… I don’t know.”
“That isn’t an answer,” his guard glared.
“It’s the truth!” he defended. His eyes darted towards the Princess before looking back to the marble floor. “You’ve already arrested most of them. Those that remained… abandoned our quest.” He took in a breath and stood, trying to feel brave as he held his head high. “There’s nopony left. I… I’m all that’s left of the Solar Archives.”
Nightmare Moon hummed in thought, regarding the librarian with an amused smile. “A very commendable speech,” she offered. “Perhaps more so if the last librarian we captured hadn’t declared the same.”
Tall Tales winced, closing his eyes as if doing so would take him away from this horrible place.
“Tell me, librarian,” the Princess commanded. “Confirm a rumor for me. I’ve been told the Solar Archives hold all the remaining books from the last age. Is this true?”
Ice ran through his veins. He didn't dare answer, and in his strained silence, Nightmare found all that she needed. “Good,” she nodded approvingly. She turned her attention to the guard, and she straightened to attention. “Hear my decree,” she commanded. “On this night, I hereby condemn the Baltimare Library to be razed to the ground, and the remains burned to cinders.”
“W-What?!” Tales sputtered. The guard and captain held him back as he attempted to rise defiantly, but they couldn’t stop his voice. “No; you can’t! There’s nearly a thousand years of history in the Archives, our history.”
“A false history,” Nightmare corrected him. “One spread with rumors from your last ‘Princess’.” She rose and descended from the stairs leading to her throne, her eyes locked on the tearful stallion’s. “Do not worry,” she cooed. “The truth will be revealed, and generations from now, ponykind will learn it; adhere to it. The world will be free from the lies spread by the Other.”
Tall Tales quivered in his captors’ hooves. He never realized how tall the Princess of the Night was until she stood fully before him. Her wings spread large, and her horn was sharp as a blade. Her astral mane hung in the air like the night sky, moving and weaving as if it was alive. He feared it would reach out to strangle him, and the last he would see would be the stars and those cold, reptilian eyes.
Something cold traced his chin as she reached out with her hoof. He wrenched his head away and gave her one last defiant leer. “The only Princess spreading lies is you,” he hissed.
The guard and the captain glared at him, but the Princess was much more reserved. She gave him a warm and, dare Tales say, inviting smile and turned her head to the side as if to see him better. “Our guest appears weary from his travel,” she noted matter-of-factly, her insinuating grin never faltering. “Send him to the sleeping chambers, and let him have his much-needed rest.”
The Guard nodded, locking a hoof around the prisoner’s leg and escorting him out. Tales was in a daze, trying to process what he had just heard, and only when he understood did he begin resisting.
“Wait, I'll talk!” He had heard the rumors. “I'll tell you everything you need to know!” He had heard of what happens to those who entered the Princess’ sleeping chambers. “There's two of them; only two.” Nopony ever returned. “They were looking for tomes of combat magic.” An endless nightmare, orchestrated by Her Majesty herself. “They were heading north!” He would do anything to escape that fate. “To Fillydelphia!” Well, almost anything.
“Pleasant dreams,” the Princess cooed after him. She willed the doors to close, and they obeyed, cutting off the stallion’s groveling for mercy. She would find the truth from him, one way or another. She glanced to the Captain and cast a spell to lock the doors as an afterthought. After all, this had been a very tiring moon, and she wanted no more interruptions.
“If it isn’t my white knight,” she hummed. “Here to save me from the longsome drag that is my royal duties.” The Captain straightened, holding his head a little higher with pride. With an amused smile, she turned and strode back to her throne. “At ease, Nightingale,” she commanded as she seated herself. “You’ve had too long of a journey. Tell me, how fares the war in the North?”
Nightingale hesitated. “I will not lie, Your Majesty; your knights have seen better moons,” he admitted, bowing his head slightly. “The Old King’s subjects are relentless in their attacks, and the he is using your night to his advantage. His black magic seems to feed off the darkness, and it’s twisting the land to his will.”
Anypony else would have taken her lack of response for apathy, but Nightingale knew the Princess well enough to understand her calculating silence. Perhaps he should sow some good news in as well.
“Your decision to send Cadenza in your stead was very wise, though,” he continued. “She shares the same… distaste for the Old King as you, and she has been very instrumental in the efforts to hold the line. I don’t think the morale of your knights has been any higher than this last year. With her on the battlefield, I feel we might just pull through this terrible war.”
“Of course,” the Princess nodded approvingly. She held an ornate hoof to her chest proudly. “It was my plan, after all. That false ‘princess’ was doing nopony any good rotting in the sleeping chambers with the rest of the common criminals.” She paused, uncertainty chipping away at the confidence in her voice, and she cast a suspicious glance. “And Cadenza…She hasn't shown any signs of treachery with my knights?”
“Do not worry, Your Majesty,” the captain assured her with a nod. “Even if she tried, your Guard will remain loyal to you. They are all that’s keeping her safe on the front; she wouldn’t turn against their leader and lose that protection from the Old King.” The Princess relaxed, albeit subtly, but the captain took note of it. “I’ve heard you have had trouble with insurgents in my absence,” he noted.
Nightmare Moon straightened in her throne, the air of pride quickly returning. “Yes, but it was nothing I could not handle,” she waved off. Her lips pressed into a small frown, and she shook her head. “Still, the nerve of those ponies. Do they not know of the terrors I save them from? An ancient king from a forgotten land returns, threatening to take all of Equestria. Tensions rise with the broken Griffon Kingdom. And now we have an infestation of spies of the likes nopony has ever seen! And I am the one that holds them at bay. I am the one defending Equestria from falling to Chaos.”
She let out a scoff. “Yet these rebels would have me dethroned. And what would they have in my stead?” she demanded. “They speak of their last Princess so highly, and the era of ‘peace’ in which she reigned. They ignore the fact that in her kindness and generosity, the Old Princess left them weak, vulnerable to attacks such as these,” she said, spitting the words out as if they were acid.
“But I will show them,” she nearly growled. “Even with three wars threatening to overwhelm us; even with these rebellions threatening to turn us against ourselves; even without their precious sun and that witch that commanded it; Equestria will stand strong! We will stave off these invaders and insurgents; these spies and saboteurs. And History will remember those who tried to rise against us and warn those who would dare try again of my power!”
“Perhaps you shouldn’t wait for history to remind everypony why you hold the throne,” Nightingale suggested softly. “I believe some ponies have already forgotten.”
The Princess took a breath, folding her wings back to her sides as she returned to her reserved composure. “Ah, yes. Baltimare,” she said coldly. “You’ve already heard?”
He gave a solemn nod, and she shook her head. “An entire city, turned against me, against Equestria,” she hissed. “This band of ‘Warriors’ is becoming a thorn in my side.”
“What will you do with the city?” the captain asked hesitantly.
The Princess didn’t answer immediately. A thought rolled in her head, and she hummed delightedly. “I will make an example of them,” she announced as she rose from her throne. “Send Dream Catcher and her acolytes once she’s done with our latest ‘guest’. While all those traitors sleep, have her cast a spell to ensure they stay locked in the Dreamlands.” Her voice trailed slightly as she stared off at something only she could see. A wolf’s grin threatened to split her muzzle. “A weeklong, uninterrupted nightmare; more than enough to remind them the fate of those who would turn against me. Wouldn’t you say?”
“More than enough, Your Majesty,” Nightingale agreed with a nod.
Nightmare Moon nestled herself back in her cushioned throne, humming to herself in thought. “Speaking of Dream Catcher, she should be finished with the librarian by now,” she noted, an excited grin slowly taking over. “It is time I paid our guest a less… formal visit. Stand by, Captain. I may have a new assignment for you yet.”
With her magic, she reached out to the Dreamlands, and it answered her beckon. Before her eyes, shadows came to life, stretching and consuming the throne room as they raced to her. She closed her eyes as the soothing and familiar sense of weightlessness washed over her, and when they opened, she found herself in a realm filled with the thoughts and passions of all her subjects.
Her fangs flashed in the ambient light as she gave a playful smirk. “Now, where are you, my little pony?”
He had to hurry. They were going to burn them. Burn them all. All his life’s work. All his friends’ life’s works. So many books. He couldn’t save them all.
Tall Tales galloped through the rows upon rows upon rows of bookshelves, shoveling as many books as he could into his saddlebags. With each book his hooves touched, he could see the faces of every stallion, mare, and foal that gave them to him, entrusted them to him. He had let them all down.
The Mare in the Moon hung over his head, his only source of light in the infinite abyss where the ceiling should have been. She studied him with disappointed eyes. How could he have failed her so?
His bags were full. Again. This made for the third set. But there’s still so many. Tales turned back and galloped to the stairs; the other bags were waiting in his office. He would have to grab a new one and keep working.
He slid to a halt at the base of the stone steps, frozen in fear. Cold, reptilian eyes glistened in the shadows far up the stairway.
“In a hurry, librarian?” the Nightmare asked.
Tales took a step back, and then another. “N-No,” he stammered. “No, you can’t be here; not so soon. I-I didn’t have enough time.”
Shadows stretched out from the darkened stairwell, reaching out for him like claws. “Please, did you really think you ever would?” the Nightmare cooed. Tales backpedaled further away as the eyes descended. A body as dark as a starless midnight formed to complement them, contrasted by a blue, ethereal mane made of a galaxy of stars.
She glanced around, observing the underground library as if it was her first time to step hoof in it. “Ah, so this is the fabled Solar Archives,” she mused, stopping at the base of the stairs. “Or, how you remember it, rather. A shame I will not be present for its destruction, but I will relish each moment I have here with you.”
Tall Tales’ mind was reeling. What was she saying? She was here now, no matter how badly he wished she wasn’t. Somewhere deep in the archives, a hidden door opened, he could feel it, and a spark flew out, catching the first of many bookshelves on fire.
The blaze spread until it surrounded the two. Tales felt something burn against his sides, and in a flurry of motion he threw off his saddlebags, his already burning books joining the inferno. The Nightmare’s obscure form became fully defined with no more shadows to hide it. Her eyes rolled as the dreamer tried to put out the fires in his imagination.
“Allow me to give you a moment of clarity,” she offered. The room shook around the librarian, and he looked around as if seeing it for the first time. The Nightmare advanced upon him, and he retreated to the edge of the inferno, looking at her with frightful eyes. “Cooperation is key to earning more pleasant dreams in the sleeping chambers. Until then, you will sleep as long as I want you to, dream how I want you to, and you will only awake when I see fit.” She lowered her head next to his ear and whispered, “And for a crime such as yours, it will be a long time before you shed this nightmare.”
The flames licked at his tail, and Tall Tales pulled it closer and batted at the singed hairs. “The dreams of the subconscious mind are a wonderful place. So much harder to hide secrets in here,” the Nightmare continued. She lifted his chin with a hoof so his glazed eyes could meet hers. “So, I will ask you this once,” she explained slowly. “Should you try to deceive me, and I will know if you are in here, then this nightmare will continue once I leave. And once it ends, you will relive it again and again, each time as if it was your first time until the end of time. Do you understand?”
The librarian stood petrified in her hoof, and she gave a pleased grin. “Good. Now, who are these ‘Warriors of Sunlight’?”
Captain Nightingale straightened to attention and his princess returned to the waking world. As she blinked the last of the Dreamlands from her eyes, he noticed the corner of her lips twitch. Whether it threatened to form a smile of amusement or a frown of disappointment, though, he couldn't be sure.
“Two of them,” she whispered softly, as if in a daze. “There's only two of them.” Another twitch, and the Captain inwardly winced; she was definitely upset. “A timid mare and a lumbering oaf. How do they keep besting my Guard?!” Her voice lowered, and she spoke more to herself, “What power do they possess?”
Captain Nightingale knelt to a deep bow. “Your Majesty, what is my mission?” he asked. “My blade is yours to command. Just say the word, and I'll bring these traitors to justice.”
“No.”
He blinked, unsure of what he heard, and looked up in confusion. “Your Highness?”
“No,” she repeated, rising from her throne. “You are far too valuable to me to risk sending after these foes. If something was to happen to you and make you unfit for service… You are to stay by my side, as a last line of defense against these traitors.”
“Your Majesty, with all due respect, if not me, then who else would you send?” the captain demanded. “We cannot wait for them to build their strength before they make an attempt on your throne.”
“And we won’t,” Nightmare assured him as she descended. She paced across the throne room floor, and the captain stood by, awaiting clarification. “But I need somepony both capable and expendable so that no matter what happens, the effectiveness of my Guard will not suffer.” A tense pause filled the air as the Princess thought, and as a candidate came to mind, a devilish sneer overtook her. “Perhaps your lieutenant can finally have his chance to prove his loyalty to me once and for all.”
The captain hesitated. “Hasn’t he proven himself enough?” he asked in a disarming tone, not wanting to offend his princess. “He’s already sworn his loyalty to you,” he reminded her. “On the last moon of the civil war when he surrendered to us. He hunted down the remnants of the old Guard. He even personally arrested his own family by your decree.”
“You admire him for this?” the Princess asked.
“I respect him,” Nightingale corrected. “He’s made difficult decisions just to keep the peace of Equestria, decisions most stallions I know wouldn't dare make.”
“Then consider this his final test,” she said smugly. “Ever since I let that false ‘princess’ awake and sent her to fight in the North, your lieutenant has been persistent in being posted there as well. On his successful capture of these insurgents, I will be assured of his loyalty, and he will be reassigned to the Frozen North, where he can finally be reunited with his beloved Cadenza and fight alongside her.”
The captain opened his mouth to object, but opted to promptly close it. The frontlines of the North were no fate he would dare wish on anypony, even those eager to serve. And even if his lieutenant succeeded, even if he was reassigned to the North, even if he reunited with Cadenza, Nightingale feared she would not be the same as Armor remembered. The North changes ponies, often for the worst.
“Have him assemble a team,” Nightmare Moon continued. “Small enough to move quickly, but large enough to be effective. They leave in the next two moons to Manehattan. Hopefully, they’ll be able to stop these insurgents before they find what they’re looking for.”
“What are they looking for?” Nightingale pressed curiously.
“An old magic,” the Princess grimaced, thinking back to the librarian’s nightmare. “One that rivals my own. They’re far from finding it, but it would be in our best interest to stop them before they spread their rebellious ideas to a city as unstable as Manehattan.”
The captain nodded as she turned back to her throne. “Will that be all, Your Highness?” he asked.
She paused as she reached the base of her throne. “No,” she said thoughtfully. Her lips pressed into a devious smile. “Ready the dragon as well. It will accompany them to Manehattan.”
The captain paused, eyeing his princess warily. “Your Highness, he’s still young and so… small,” Nightingale pointed out worriedly. “Are you sure you want to send him?”
A small laughter escaped her tickled smile. “Oh, but it has grown so much in your absence; nopony would be the wiser,” she eagerly explained as she ascended the steps to her throne. “And the indoctrination has been going well. I am all it worships, all it will follow, and all it dreams of.” A sly smile threatened to split her face. “I made sure of it.”
“But… Your Highness,” Nightingale stammered, unable to believe what he was hearing. “If what you’re saying is true, wouldn’t sending a dragon be a bit… excessive?” he asked. “Manehattan is unstable enough as it is. Sending a team of knights is already enough to increase tensions with the griffons already there. But a dragon?” He shook his head in disbelief. “What are you hoping to accomplish?”
“The show of force is often a force itself, Captain,” the Princess reminded, craning her neck back to greet him with excited eyes. “Imagine the faces of the those wretched, griffon spies once they have seen that I, Nightmare Moon, Princess of Equestria, have tamed a dragon to my will. When they bear witness to the extent of my power, they will begin to ask themselves: If the Princess of Equestria is willing to unleash a fully-grown dragon upon her own loving subjects to root out only a couple of insurgents…” She sat comfortably on her throne, her wolfish smile chilling Nightingale to his core.
“What would I be willing to do to them?”
There is surprisingly few Nightmare Moon / Dark Souls art.
I'd fix that if I could, but then I'd have to draw
and no one wants to see that
Praise the Sun! Moon!
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Yeesh, it's nearly been two months since I've updated this. I didn't even realize. Guess I've been slacking
Writing through the Best Princess' perspective was interesting; never really wrote through the villain's perspective before. There weren't a lot of episodes for me to work with, either. Which is a real shame, I feel like Nightmare Moon could have had a lot more potential in the show as a villain outside of what we were given.
Hope you all enjoyed! The pressure is on for our heroes; the Princess of the Night has taken notice.
Praise on, Sunbros! \ [T]'/
Got to Praise till your Hollow \ [T] /
and i shall leave you with the person who coveted the consumed the blood of the dark soul maybe just maybe we will see him in the story for he is a badass though and though
praice the Motherf****** Moon!!!! .... I mean SUN!!!
8476114
Glad this is being updated still, a breath of relief for me as I really like this DS story.
There is no greater crime then the destruction of knowledge, even if Luna returns, she has committed a terrible act that can never be undone.
I feel no sympathy for her, I hope she gets a lightning spear to the face.
Her defeat cannot come fast enough.
\[T]/
Destroying knowledge has to be one an unforgivable sin. I hope Nightmare Moon gets a Forbidden Sun to the face.
8476114
The perspective I've always taken on FiM/EG's dark transformations is that they're still the same basic person—same interests, same motivations, same goals—but devoid of the moral inhibitions that prevent them from simply taking what they want. To that end, you've got all of Luna's episodes as a character reference.
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So, mindrapping the minds of her subjects, locking them in perpetual nightmares, indoctrinating an innocent child, turning him into a weapon to unleash on her own cities... all count as lesser crimes to you?!
She crossed a line there. I'm a firm believer that all history, no matter how old, has important stories to tell and knowledge to share. Whoever thinks he or she can simply rewrite history itself to please the own goals, is scum. Nothing else. Whoever destroys TRUE history and culture, committed one of the biggest possible crimes.
I hope NNM gets dethroned one day and punished accordingly for her tyranny. Enslaving the innocent in their own dreams? Sick bitch, that must be one of the cruelest cases of power abuse of all time. Literally.
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While they all are terrible, the destruction of knowledge is greater still. Minds can be mended, the nightmares can be ended, the people freed.
But knowledge lost, History lost, can never be recovered, it is lost for ever, as are the people who worked on it, spent their lives on it, bleed for it. A Man is not dead while his name is still spoken, and she has simply erased thousands, millions, to be forgotten forever, and for what?
Spite, and self-delusion.
There is no creature worse than what this Nightmare has become.
i am seeing shining armor with 3 to 5 nameless guards and spike as the force sent.
still enjoying the tale
8477357 Actually, now that I think about it, those should be higher on the list.
For all the history Nightmare Noon has destroyed and the countless minds reduced to insanity and suicide? She deserves a karmic and ironic punishment.
derpicdn.net/img/2014/1/15/525131/full.jpg
I found one for ya!
Hail to the Darkmoon!
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Marvelous; so grossly luminescent
Hm, the changelings appear. This could be very interesting so long as you ignore the stupidity that got thrown on them recently.
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Those crimes pass with time, destruction of history does not. A century from now those ponies will be dead and gone as will the harm of the crime, but if the destruction of history is successful, it is permanent and will directly harm every last pony until the end of time.
That said, Nightmare Moon is highly unlikely to succeed since Solaire is going to give her the boot soon enough that there will be plenty of living memory to re-record, copies of books will almost certainly survive in other countries, and of course Celestia will return with living memory of just about everything.
There are many implications in sending who I presume is Spike to kill Twilight
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I would strongly disagree, loads of small little things are lost all the time forever, for instance, the exact flower arrangement on someone's lawn three years ago. That is knowledge lost to time. But, people are the thing we measure importance by, if something saves many lives, it is good, if it kills many, that is bad. Just because something is lost forever doesn't make it worse than other things. History can help define lives and give purpose to others, while when history is destroyed, it cannot be used, the same is true of minds, they cannot use history if they are dead.
Sorry if I seemed rude or anything, (I sincerely hope I didn't.) I just wanted to bring in another perspective to the matter. We can also both agree that she needs a good thwack.
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I get where you are coming from, but you are forgetting the larger importance of history here. Remember the saying "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." That flower arrangement is irrelevant down the line, but to use a clear real world example, if we hadn't learned from the failure of the treaty of Versailles and made the same mistakes at the end of World War II, we would have almost certainly had a larger, more destructive, and almost certainly nuclear war a few decades later. That is the importance of history, and why its true total destruction is such a massive problem.
NO!! SCREW YOU!!!!! PRAISE THE SUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
\[+]/ PRAISE THE CELESTIAL OBJECTS!! \[+]/
8635566 FACK YEW! I AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN'T HA'ING THA' SHIT! (jk don't hate me bro)
Now many would say to feel sorry about the heroes... but I feel sorry about the villains; if anyone knows Dark Souls game mechanics, you'd know this - Lightning + dragons = critical damage