The cursed resident.

by Sylif Daring Doo

Preparing for trouble and an important meeting.

*Canterlot Train Station*

To say that Canterlot felt different would be an understatement, because with the massive shield, the heavily guarded checkpoint and the general emptiness of the city, it actually felt like martial law was in place, thankfully this was not the case but it certainly felt like it was, so in truth the city felt kind of cold and distant now.

It was due to all of this security that Rarity was glad that Nightmare Moon prefered to be in the guise of Silver Wing so much, because she was certain that if the Alicorn wasn't hiding she would be attacked on sight by the soldiers who fortified the station.

So as Rarity and her friends were escorted to the castle as they were instructed, Twilight followed her brother with a mind to scold him, as much as Rarity understood that Twilight was angry at her brother for not telling her he was getting married earlier, she also hoped that the angry mare wouldn't do something she would regret.

Rarity distracted herself however by looking around the city as they walked through it, seeing the intricate architecture brought a smile to her face as she focused on one of the reasons she loved the city so much, she felt her worries slowly fade away as she walked but she still felt concern for her friend.

The walk was actually very boring as they made their way to the castle, with none of the guards speaking and the group of friends not talking it was a quiet affair even as they approached gates to the castle.

When they were finally inside, the escort halved and they were led to the throne room, where they met Princess Celestia and reunited with Twilight who seemed a little more tense but no longer glaring at her brother...at least not as much, once the last noble left the courtroom a couple minutes later, everyone seemed to visibly relax.

It was then that Princess Celestia explained why the shield was up and why security was doubled lately, apparently they recieved a warning and a threat of an imminent attack, and they were busy trying to prepare for it, the Solar Alicorn assured them that they were safe in Canterlot when she saw the looks of fear and worry spread, she then ordered a maid to show them to their rooms, though she did speak up before they all left. "Twilight, Silver Wing, would you wait for a moment?" Celestia asked.

Spike looked at Twilight and the unicorn nodded to him, the dragon then followed the others out of the throne room, and once the doors closed, Princess Celestia spoke again. "Would you all give us some privacy please?" She said, referring to the guards and Shining Armor, who all saluted before leaving the throne room in a timely manner.

Once the throne room was empty aside from Celestia, Twilight and Silver Wing, the Solar Alicorn breathed a sigh of relief, her horn lit up and a golden wave passed over the room. "You may release your disguise if you wish Nightmare Moon, we will not be interrupted." She stated.

Nightmare Moon released her disguise and as she did so, Princess Luna entered the room through the door to the left of the throne. "What happened to not being interrupted?" The former villain asked with a raised eyebrow.

Another flash of her magic later, and the door that Luna came in from shimmered with a golden aura for a moment before Celestia spoke up. "I believe that we should all be present for this conversation." She explained cryptically before standing and walking down the steps from her throne, she walked with a casual pace but retained an air of authority. "Firstly, I would like to say that I am glad that you decided to come." She said, referring to Nightmare Moon.

"Secondly, I would like to address a growing concern here in Canterlot." Celestia said as she reached the bottom of the steps, her calm expression shifted to one of serious thought and concern. "This attack has been troubling me ever since I received the news, whoever it is has given no indication of their motives or reasoning, they have made no other threats or demands and have left no trace whatsoever to follow." She explained. "So while I am quite sure we are safe, I would like the two of you to keep your eyes open for any suspicious activity while you are here, these weddings always bring out the worst in ponies after all." She said with a tired voice.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at the comment and looked at her mentor curiously. "Princess?" She asked with a worried tone.

Luna then spoke up for the first time since entering the room. "My sister is merely tired from the stress this wedding has brought on." She replied calmly. "We have much to do lately to calm things down ever since, well...you." The Lunar Alicorn said, directing the end of her sentence to Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes with both a lack of amusement and a lack of annoyance. "Thank you for reminding me of my death." She said before looking at Celestia, Twilight shivered but the Princesses did not. "Now why did you want to talk to me?...you never gave me much of a reason in the letter." She asked her former self and Celestia.

Celestia nodded and looked at Twilight. "Twilight, I understand you are frustrated, because if I am not mistaken you brother failed to inform you of his engagement and this wedding until recently." She said with a compassionate tone, and Twilight's surprised expression revealed that the Princess was right on point. "But I ask you to please give him some leniency because of the threats, now I think you should go find your friends, they must be worried about you." She said.

Twilight nodded and walked to the main door to leave the throne room, Nightmare and the Princesses waited until the unicorn was out of the room before talking. "Now, what's this about?" The former villain asked with a slightly impatient tone.

"Very well, right down to business then." Celestia said before walking back up the stairs to the throne, she talked while walking. "We have recieved the full report of Feral Wing from her time in Ponyville, and I must admit we are...concerned about you." She said, causing the former villain to raise an eyebrow.

"Why are you concerned, and about what exactly?" Nightmare asked.

Luna took a breath before looking directly at Nightmare Moon. "We have recently uncovered ancient documents that detail the fall of the Human Kingdoms." She stated.

"Are you serious?" Nightmare asked with both suspicion and awe, though she kept the former hidden from her voice as she looked at Luna. "Tell me, what do these documents say?" She asked.

"The writings claim that the downfall of Humanity was not due to a war or a plague." Celestia stated ominously.

Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow. "So what? they starved?" She asked, though when the Solar Alicorn shook her head, the former villains confusion grew as she looked to Luna for an answer. "Did something happen where they were incapable of reproduction?" She asked, but when she recieved no answer, she sighed and took a step back as she turned around and walked away until she was ten feet away. "Alright, just tell me, what killed off Humanity?" She asked.

With a deep breath, Celestia spoke with a flat tone. "Every Human in the three Human Kingdoms all vanished at once, all at the same time, and the rest who weren't in the kingdoms died of old age years later." She answered.

Nightmare froze in place. 'That sounds...far too familiar for my liking.' She turned to face the other Alicorns. "That is not possible, how does an entire species just vanish?" She asked.

"Nopony, or even no one alive knows the answer to that question, there are no documents or written proof of any sort that show that the Human Kingdoms were still standing when you came to power." Luna replied before taking in a breath and letting it out.

Nightmare Moon looked at Celestia who merely shook her head. "But then... that means that Alecia is literally the only one who would have any idea about that, if she does know what happened, it wouldn't be difficult for her to lie about her years as a ghost and conceal the truth, but it's not like we have any way of getting her to talk." She said.

"Indeed, which is where our concern lies, because if Alecia had anything to do with Humanity's disappearance, then we are both concerned about the safety of everyone on Ponyville, particularly you, Rarity and her sister." Celestia said before walking to a window and staring out it. "I do not know if anything will come of this, and it is possible that we are concerned over a mere coincidence... but I believe you can understand why this is so... troubling." The Solar Alicorn said, lowering the wall for a mere moment, revealing just how worried she was in her tone of voice.

"I believe that Alecia cares about us, regardless of how much she tries to hide it behind her apparent boredom and apathy, if she didn't care, she wouldn't have come back after all." Nightmare reasoned before nodding to Luna. "If you don't mind, I think I should return to my pupil and the others." She said before turning around and walking to the door to leave the throne room.

"Nightmare." Celestia's voice interrupted Nightmare as she went to open the door, the dark Alicorn looked over her shoulder at the Solar Alicorn who merely looked at her with a smile. "I'm proud of you, you really have grown these past few months, and I am trusting you to teach young Sweetie Belle properly, just as you did before with Glyph." She said.

Nightmare nodded and faced the door, she placed her hoof on it and paused, she looked over her shoulder at Celestia with a thoughtful expression. "Celestia, are you aware that Dark Glyph once had a crush on you?" She asked.

Celestia's face slightly reddened as she looked at the window again. "I... yes, those few years we spent together were... wonderful." She said, her voice was a mixture of both happiness and sadness. "In case you were wondering, she passed away peacefully, after many years serving as both royal advisor and magic instructor... It was her idea to start a magical school which eventually became my school for gifted unicorns." She looked at Nightmare again with a sad smile.

"She never stopped believing In you Nightmare, we may not have spoken about you many times, but she always regarded you as a friend and as always, her Mentor." Celestia said before looking outside, a small tear falling down her cheek as she did so.

Nightmare did not reply as she left the throne room, she merely walked the halls disguised as Silver Wing and when she eventually found her room, which was obviously very luxurious and elegant, the first thing the disguised Alicorn did was check everywhere for anyone in the room, finding nothing, she closed the blinds and curtains, she locked the door and climbed onto the bed.

And then, for the first time in a long time, Nightmare Moon, the bringer of Eternal Night, allowed herself to cry.

Author's Note:

Ok, so I think you all deserve some explanation as to why this chapter is late... I'm sure I've said it before, but in case I haven't or you forgot, I am very bored of the Changeling Invasion.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great part of the story, (the show and many other stories) but it is stale for ME to write with, not really an excuse but it is true nonetheless.

Another thing is just a general bad habit of forgetting to write or lack of desire to write at all, not just this story, but... I'm kind of falling out of love with writing Mlp stuff, which is why I enjoy writing Righting Wrongs so much and even some stuff on Quotev.

Anyway, if you read this nonesense, thanks, if not... no harm done, see you whenever I get the next chapter out... I should be able to write more after the wedding though, because I can get closer to maybe, finally... doing some stuff with Tirek, assuming I feel up to going that far.

Comments

[THERDSTORYWHISPERER]

Great chapter!

Is the Changeling Invasion plot going to be shortened?

[Sylif Daring Doo]

A lot of the Invasion was focused on Twilight and her views on everything, so I probably won't get any more than 2 chapters out of it, and if I'm honest, that is all it needs.