Imperial Affairs

by The Sound of Loneliness

Tyrants are seldom free.

Nightmare Moon with a practised move cut the envelope open and took out a report.

101st and 82nd have successfully cut the designated Changeling supply lines and even captured an airbase, allowing themselves to be properly supplied, while 1st Thestral Armored Guard is racing to meet them. The report also featured General Nutcracker’s personal promise to send Queen Chrysalis’ head shortly.

Nightmare Moon produced a long, angry, grunt. The Empress, then, stood up from her desk and walked to the only window featured in her quarters.

“Something is bothering you?” Luna queried, with concern. Nightmare Moon sharply recoiled from the window, “Can I help?”

“I don’t know how,” Nightmare Moon abruptly responded, the Empress took off her silver tiara, gave it a single look and hurled it away on the map, knocking over a few figurines.

“Let me try at least!” Luna pleaded with rising anxiety.

“Luna, I made a costly mistake.” Nightmare Moon rapidly closed on the newly installed glass case, housing a spellbook in black, inscribed cover and her old, crackled helmet, now carefully put back together.

“Do you mean what happened at the castle?”

“Tch...No, Luna. I am ready to die. I have been since the moon.” Nightmare Moon opened the case, taking both artifacts out and carefully putting them both on her desk, before returning back to the chair, “Better dead than back there.”

“Tell me then,” Luna asked again. “Let me help you with something at least!” Nightmare Moon sighed and looked at the window again.

“Luna, what does your sister have that I don’t?” Nightmare Moon bluntly asked, catching Luna off guard. “You keep telling me I am like your sister now, but you are wrong. So wrong. This pointless insurgency proved it.”

“You couldn’t stop it from happening. You didn't know.”

“Exactly, Luna! I didn't!” Nightmare Moon opened her spellbook and began flipping through pages of immolation, combustion and disintegration spells. “I did all I could for them to be comfortable, but they still took up arms! The only thing I achieved by leaving them alone are deaths of my subjects! ...Luna, I don’t know what to do now,” Nightmare Moon confessed.

“I-”

“I am nothing like your sister. Back when we returned I took my time to contemplate my failures. I waited and I observed. I observed Sparkle and her friends, I observed our ponies, and I observed you and your sister.
And one day I realized what my failure was. It wasn’t that I hadn’t enough skills, or power, or anything else. Just my methods were flawed.
Sparkle wasn’t the only one who learned things from Celestia. Instead of forcing ponies to bend their knees, she made it so they wanted to. I watched in amazement as she turned every failing to her advantage and an enemy into a friend. Ponies followed her not because they feared her, but because they trusted her. Trusted her enough to make decisions for them.” Nightmare Moon stopped flipping pages and picked up her helmet,
“It became clear to me, that if I was to rule the land I needed to cast this away. After all, do I not destroy my enemies by making them into my friends? Silly. Who am I kidding? I am not Celestia, I am a tyrant. Maybe it’s time to stop pretending.”

Nightmare Moon dropped her helmet again, picked up the book and approached the window to look at the moonlit city.

“Look at them, Luna! They fear me regardless of what I am doing to them. No matter how gentle I am, they still view me as if I am going to hang them for the slightest misconception. And if I simply let them be - they revolt.” Nightmare Moon flipped the book until she reached her desired page. It was covered with arcane words and diagrams, detailing the persuasion spells. “If this is what I must do to prevent them from spilling blood and making the situation worse, than this is what I will do.”

“Please don’t,” Luna fearfully asked.

“Then what else can I do, Luna? How do I make Twilight’s rebellious associates to do what I need them to?”

“Celestia can wait! Let them figure out their differences!”

“Luna, you don’t understand!” Nightmare Moon angrily snarled, “We are on the clock! Celestia cannot remain on the moon! Every moment she spends there makes her more dangerous to all of us!”

“My sister will not ruin the peace willingly!”

“Luna, we can’t reach her there! We don’t know what’s with her, we don’t know anything!”

“My sister is no threat to you on the moon!”

“Oh, but she will be once she’s back! Luna, the thing is...I’ve got a sister too.”

“Y-you mean my sister has...”

“I fear yes, Luna. Your sister isn't alone there. Nopony else would make a suitable host.” Nightmare Moon took her seat again, “Celestia is a very formidable adversary, but it’s always a matter of time and my kin has all the time she can need. I and my sister are not seeing eye to eye, Luna. The reunion isn’t going to be happy, for anypony.”

“Nightmare, please!” Luna begged, starting to sob. "They DO trust you now! You even managed to talk Fluttershy into accepting you! It has been so beautiful!"

“Luna, I hate to do this! I really do! But sometimes you need to do ugly things to do what has to be done. Talking no longer does the trick. If they need to fear for their free will to obey me willingly, so be it. Nightmare Moon sighed and lowered her head in a mute apology, "I pray they forgive me one day."

“Please, there has to be a better way than this! This is just...horrible.”

“Luna, why do you care so much? As ever, I will not hurt our ponies unless I must and Celestia will be back regardless. I'll tell her you had no part in this.”

“Nightmare, I don’t want to lose a sister again!” Luna desperately cried.

“You wh-”

“Nightmare, I lost Celestia twice because of my foolishness! She was my only family, the only one I could turn to in the world! Nightmare, I cannot believe this still, but you are my family too! You know me better than anyone, even Celestia doesn’t understand me as you do!
Celestia always was busy when I needed her, but not you. You are always there for me! You comforted me and cared when no one else did! Even after you got what you wanted from me, you didn't let me rot! You still cared! You are the sister I always wanted! I don’t want to lose you to my cruel fate too!”

Nightmare Moon spotted drops falling down on the desk under her snout, Luna's total desperation did the trick, “Luna, why do you have to make this much harder than it already is?”

“Don’t go! Please!” Luna begged, “I don’t want to be alone again!”

“...There isn’t another way. Dash and Applejack won’t listen to reason and it hurts Twilight to even look at them, not mentioning my relationship with them. Ponies died over it, words won’t cut it now. Luna, I am sorry, I failed! I shouldn’t have left them to the to their own devices! It wouldn’t have come to this if I just brought them in.”

Nightmare Moon felt someone’s gaze at herself and looked at the door to see both shocked and terrified Rarity at the door, covering her mouth. Rarity started to promptly close the door again,
“Rarity, it’s fi-” but it was too late. Nightmare Moon dropped her head on the desk.

“...Luna, there is no pretending with our subjects. I can never replace Celestia for them. I fooled nopony with my smiles and waves. They know exactly who I am, it’s time for me to acknowledge it too. I am Nightmare Moon, the Mare of Darkness, the Mare in The Moon, the Queen of Night; the time has come to remember what I do best.” Nightmare Moon lifted her helm and turned it around to fit it on her head.

“No,” Luna weakly sobbed.

“I am sorry.” The Empress had nothing else to say.

The newly restored Mare of Darkness allowed herself a few moments to check the straps on her armour. The helmet was a great help in the transition, it was familiar. The tears shortly stopped, no royal had time for useless sentimentality. Nightmare Moon knew exactly what she had to do now. She picked up the spellbook and ventured out to find Captain Rolling Thunder. The Guard has grown stagnant in these halls...

---

“I am honoured that you would come to me, Princess.” Cloudy Dawn opened the door and let the Princess in her office.

“There is nopony else,” Twilight grimly replied, putting herself on a single chair in front of Cloudy’s desk. “Rarity is away on some Imperial nonsense again and without her...well, there is only you. Fluttershy has suddenly surfaced, but she isn’t much help in these things.”

“I see, can I get you something, Princess?”

“Just your ears.” Cloudy nodded and at sat at her own chair, “Cloudy, I think, I know now why Nightmare Moon was so angry with me back there. The blood bath at the palace taught me better than any book.”

“Was it because you didn’t serve her cause?”

“Yes, but this isn’t all. Cloudy, I am a very guilty mare. I am to blame for deaths of two dozen ponies and 4 days ago two of my best friends were sent to repent for it,” Twilight colourlessly reported. Cloudy slowly nodded.

“You didn’t stop them.” Twilight shook her head.

“I didn’t do anything. I knew exactly what they intended to do after we sent our Princess away, but I chose books. While they were arming and training for their crime I was blissfully reading in my library. I refused to acknowledge my responsibility and ponies died for it.
Cloudy, I don’t blame her for sending them away. They deserved worse. I think this is her idea of mercy.” Twilight forced out a sad smirk, “Looks like I am grateful.”

“What will you do now?”

“I don’t know, Cloudy.” Twilight shrugged, “This kinda what I came here to figure out. Maybe I will ask her to send me to their trenches, maybe I will finish my research and pray for them still being alive. You seem to know what to do better than I, so tell me.”

“First of all, I think you should talk to Her Majesty, Princess.”

“Yeah, sounds like the only reasonable idea now. Should I bend my knees?”

Twilight’s reflections were suddenly blown away, as Rarity burst through the door.

"The Empress?" Rarity nodded, panting, "Trouble?" Rarity nodded again.

Comments

[My Little Epona]

I feel so sorry for NNM now...............
Quick question--do you mind if I promote this story on my blog? I really, really love this fic, and I would love to see it have more likes and more readers. Do you mind?

[The Sound of Loneliness]

10048679
I don't. I allow you, my readers, to decide if my work is worthy of anyone else seeing it. If you believe I did good enough for you to now want to promote it, then I bow to you in gratitude.

[The_Darker_Fonts]

“I am nothing like your sister. Back when we returned I took my time to contemplate my failures. I waited and I observed. I observed Sparkle and her friends, I observed our ponies, and I observed you and your sister. And one day I realized what my failure was. It wasn’t that I hadn’t enough skills, or power, or anything else. Just my methods were flawed. Sparkle wasn’t the only one who learned things from Celestia. Instead of forcing ponies to bend their knees, she made it so they wanted to. I watched in amazement as she turned every failing to her advantage and an enemy into a friend. Ponies followed her not because they feared her, but because they trusted her. Trusted her enough to make decisions for them. ” Nightmare Moon stopped flipping pages and picked up her helmet, “It became clear to me, that if I was to rule the land I needed to cast this away. After all, do I not destroy my enemies by making them into my friends? Silly. Who am I kidding? I am not Celestia, I am a tyrant. Maybe it’s time to stop pretending.” Nightmare Moon dropped her helmet again, picked up the book and approached the window to look at the moonlit city.

I love this right here. Her realization of a long time finally confessed. It makes a good villain arc that really solidifies her as no longer the villain. She's tired and wants to rule, but not in the way of tyrants. I'm too tired to give a full analysis, but very lovely. Overall, a very emotional chapter. Well done, Sound.

[The Sound of Loneliness]

10360286
Well, if you wish to get speak of specifics, she was never a villain to begin with. She is an anti-hero. She does a good thing by doing bad things. She is manipulative and self-serving, but her furthering her own agenda benefits her subjects as well. She helped bat-ponies get re-integrated to the larger society, she protected her ponies from Chrysalis, she showed Twilight the error of her covering away and why she must continue with her purpose regardless of who rules her nation. But all of it she did not because she reconsidered her way, but because all of it benefits her.
Here's a question: Is she really making a choice here? Or is this another trick?
Nightmare Moon schemes almost unconsciously, it is a part of what she is, and, like any good schemer, she almost never blatantly lies. Lies create problems and cannot be relied on, what Nightmare Moon does instead is puts the truth to her service. As such she did not lie to Luna, Luna can feel as much, but watch what results did Nightmare Moon gets. Again, she didn't lie, but she couldn't get a better result if she did. Luna is not only willing to get out of her way and being receptive, but also to protect her, the very same parasite that stole her body and twisted her purpose, and Nightmare Moon not only made Luna blame herself but also to accept Nightmare Moon into her family, no less. Nightmare Moon wishes Luna no harm, but she certainly has no qualms about using her. She is not a friend to anyone but herself and she is very skilled in finding and using weak spots, Nightmare Moon is a viper whose single word has enough poison to be one's undoing.

Now, whether this is actually what happened I won't tell you now, for it was not made to be definite. The wonder of literature is that the meaning of the work changes with the reader's perspective. Thus I do not leave a single, definite, interpretation.