• Published 14th Jan 2018
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Celestia XVII - brokenimage321



Being seventeen is hard--especially if you happen to be a Princess.

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Memory: The Day Of Nightmares

“No,” I breathed. “No! You’re not real!”

We stood in the darkened cavern of the Ponyville town hall, Summer Sun Celebration banners hanging from the ceiling. And, towering over me stood a mare, coat black as midnight, her mane and tail billowing out behind her in an indigo haze, her armor glinting in the candlelight.

“Lying is naughty,” she purred. “And naughty fillies must be punished…”

“Gua-ards!” I shrieked. “Help me!”

The guards were already charging towards us through the crowd. Nightmare Moon lit her horn and tossed her head, and they slammed against the wall and fell to the floor. She never even broke eye contact with me.

“The Sun Stone,” she snarled. “Give it to me!”

I clenched reflexively at the Peytral. “No!” I cried, my voice small and weak in the darkness.

Nightmare Moon looked me up and down, then narrowed her eyes. “I know your type,” she said.

“My type?” I blurted.

“Cease!” Twilight screamed from the audience. “Don’t listen to her! She’s—!”

Nightmare Moon’s eyes flashed, and she lit her horn again. A thick wall of purple smoke billowed around us, cutting off all sound.

“I know you don’t want to be Princess,” she said. “Not really. All you want is the glory, not the burden.” She smiled, showing her pointed teeth. “That Peytral has chafed since the day you put it on, hasn’t it?”

I bit my lip. I’d heard the stories, though I never believed them. I knew what she was. I knew what she’d done. I knew I had to stop her somehow. And yet, for all that...

Slowly, I nodded.

Her smile widened a little. “Then I can take your burden,” she said. “Set you free. Just…” she held out a hoof. “Give me the Sun Stone.”

I looked down at her hoof, then back up at her.

“Come now,” she said, her voice hardening at the edges. “Give it to me, and no one will ever bother you again.”

I looked up into her eyes, and I saw something there…

“Give it to me, you stupid filly,” she spat.

I clutched at the Peytral. “Never!” I cried.

She snarled and lit her horn. Suddenly, I was lifted off my hooves, and hung there, three feet in the air, dangling from the Peytral. Nightmare Moon reached behind my neck and yanked out the pin, and I dropped to the floor in a heap, coughing. The whirling purple clouds vanished, and Nightmare Moon strode from the hall amid the cries of the townsponies, peytral held triumphantly in her magic.

Twilight pushed her way through the crowd, leapt onto the platform and helped me climb to my hooves. I leaned heavily on her and took deep, gasping breaths. Already, I could see our new friends pushing against the screaming crowd, fighting their way towards us.

Beside me, Twilight gulped.

“What do we do now?” she asked.

I snarled. “We go after her,” I spat.

Twilight looked up at me and paled.

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