Inside the throne room of the old two sisters' castle in Everfree Forest, the air was heavy with silence. The castle, once a grand and majestic place, now lies abandoned and forgotten.
Suddenly, a flash of light illuminated the room, like a certain aussie robot that was sent back in time to kill a fetus. The sphere of barrier slowly dissolved, revealing Nightmare Moon landing gracefully on the cold, stone floor. She looked around, taking in the empty, dusty hallways and the broken, crumbling walls.
"Just a teleportation spell? No wonder why it uses so much power." Brute force is one of the best strategies in many situations. May it be money, war, or sending a mare to the moon.
It was a letdown, she thought to herself. After all the excitement she had built up, she had been hoping for something more dramatic.
"I should have no problem with that, but still..." she said to herself, shaking her head. "My expectation just got subverted. This felt like The Last Jedi all over again." She didn't even get to use half of the subsystems of her spell.
She sighed, looking up at the ceiling. It was hard to believe that this was once the heart of Equestria. Luna had spent so many years here, both good and bad, ruling over Equestria with her sister. But then everything had changed, and she had been forced to leave. Now she was back in her place. The castle was in ruins, and there was no one here to welcome the night princess.
She walked down the hallway, the sound of her hooves echoing through the empty halls, each step a reminder of the emptiness that filled her soul. Memories flooded her mind, memories of a past filled with darkness and despair. She remembered the time when she had ruled Equestria alongside her sister, a beautiful visage that hid shadows, and twisted her with hate and resentment.
There were moments that shone in the darkness, moments that she held onto tightly, the light that penetrated the blackness of her heart, even if those moments were fleeting.
But then it had all been taken away by her own sister, she had been banished to the moon for a thousand years. And now she was back, but everything was different.
Not her, it's Luna's.
Nightmare Moon closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could feel the anger and bitterness rising inside her, but she forced it down. She couldn't afford to lose control again, not now when her entire future relies on that shoddy plan that must be executed perfectly. Firstly, she must fin-
"Hello, Lulu" A familiar voice resounded behind her.
Well, that's convenient.
Celestia called out, "Hello, Lulu" her voice echoing through the empty halls of the castle of the two sisters. She saw the dark figure of her sister in the throne room, staring back at her with cold, unyielding eyes.
"Lu- Nightmare Moon," Celestia said as she walked in, her voice filled with sadness. "I had hoped that we could resolve this peacefully. We are sisters, after all."
But the black alicorn did not respond. Instead, she continued to circle around the room, her eyes never leaving Celestia.
"We don't have to do this. We can rule Equestria together in peace." Celestia spoke, her voice filled with sorrow.
The two alicorns began to circle around each other, neither of them speaking a word. Celestia tried to reason with her sister, to convince her to come back to the light, but Nightmare Moon remained silent.
"Very well," Celestia said with a sigh. "If it must come to this, then let it be so."
With a heavy heart, Celestia raised her horn, preparing to defend herself against her own sister. She knew that there was no other way - this was a battle that had to be fought, no matter how much it pained her.
The two alicorns charged at each other, their horns glowing with powerful magic. Suddenly, Nightmare Moon stops, her flank is facing the entrance.
The black mare suddenly spoke up, "What do you know about a mass driver?"
".... What?" Celestia was taken aback by the sudden change in subject.
Nightmare Moon suddenly darted behind the entrance door, which was made of thick metal.
"I choose you, Armstone!" Nightmare Moon shouted in glee. "Retrograde at 500%!"
Celestia realized her sister was not casting any offensive spells at all! "What is Retro-"
Wink! Boom!
*splat*
The atmosphere in Ponyville shifted from excitement to fear as the moon slowly began to set, and the Summer Sun Celebration was about to begin. However, Princess Celestia was nowhere to be seen, and the ponies were beginning to worry. Suddenly, a black alicorn appeared on stage, with razor-sharp teeth and slitted eyes that sent shivers down the spine of anyone who dared make eye contact.
The ponies gasped in terror as they recognized the dark mare—it was Nightmare Moon, the infamous mare who had once tried to plunge Equestria into eternal night, a demon who consumed the flesh of young foals. She had been banished to the moon thousands of years ago, but now she was back, and the ponies of Ponyville were powerless to stop her.
Suddenly, a brave pony stepped forward, his voice shaking but determined. "Where is Princess Celestia?" he demanded, hoping against hope that the princess would suddenly appear and save them all.
Nightmare Moon laughed, a cruel sound that echoed through the silent town square. "Am I not royal enough for you?" she taunted; her voice laced with malice. "Don't you remember who I am?"
Just when it seemed like all hope was lost, Pinkie Pie suddenly interjected, as she often did in times of crisis. "Hey, I remember you!" she exclaimed, her voice cheerful despite the gravity of the situation. "You're Nightmare Moon, right? From a thousand years ago? Wow, it's been a while since we've seen you around here."
Nightmare Moon froze up, then scowled at the pink pony. "And who are you supposed to be?" she sneered.
"I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie chirped. "And I'm the one who knows how to throw a party, even in the darkest of times. Maybe you should take a break from all this doom and gloom and come have some cake with us! We've got plenty to go around."
To everyone's surprise, Nightmare Moon's menacing expression softened a bit as she regarded the pink pony. "Hmm, a party, you say?" she mused. "I suppose it has been a while since I've had any fun."
She turned to Pinkie Pie with a sly smile. "Do you like pie?" she asked.
Pinkie's face lit up with excitement. "Yes, I love pie!" she exclaimed.
Nightmare Moon's smile widened. "Well then, how about we go somewhere private and have some moon pie together?" she suggested.
Before Pinkie could respond, Twilight stepped forward and whispered urgently in her ear. "Pinkie, 'eating moon pie' is just an expression. It means 'having oral sex with her," she explained with lifeless eyes like those of an underpaid schoolteacher.
Pinkie's face went from pink to red as she realized what the Mare of the Moon had just suggested. She stammered awkwardly. "Oh, right, ha ha, that's a good prank. Well, maybe we can just have regular pie instead?" she suggested, hoping to salvage the situation.
"Who said it was a prank? It's lonely up there, you know?" Nightmare replied with half-lidded eyes.
Before the situation could get any more awkward, a rainbow-maned Pegasus suddenly flew up into the air and attempted to strike Nightmare Moon with a powerful kick. However, her attack was quickly intercepted by an orange earth pony wearing a Stetson hat, who bit down on the Pegasus’s tail.
"Return the princess to us!" she yelled.
"As you wish," the black alicorn complied, teleporting in something white and red, a battered and beaten white alicorn.
Just as panic threatened to take over, a chill swept over the crowd before Nightmare Moon spoke.
"Good, that's it. There's nothing to fear. I won't hurt anyone... as long as you listen to my announcement."
"Raw and pure, undiluted magic," Twilight muttered in awe as she observed. Pretending that she didn't see the bloody princess.
"Monster...." someone whispered from the crowd.
The black alicorn composed herself and met Celestia's gaze, her only working eye. "Firstly, from this day forward, we are sisters no longer." Tears started to well up in white alicorn eye sockets.
"They are sisters?" someone in the crowd interjected.
"Secondly, there will be no eternal night. I have learned my lesson from my thousand years of imprisonment that not all enjoy the night. And I am happy to say that after my punishment, I too have learned to hate the night. I hereby give up my title as the ruler of the night and the moon itself to the Princess of Sun."
Celestia's tears flowed like a dam after a terrorist attack.
"Third and finally, I hereby relinquish my Equestrian citizenship and my claim to the throne because many reasons, but mainly because I hate it here. You guys can all go fuck yourselves without involving me."
"What...?" Celestia muttered in shock. Her mouth hung open and shows to full view of the unfortunate audiences. Alicorn's healing factor can look truly eldritch in many scenarios. Growing back teeth and pushing out third-degree burned skin patches is one of that.
"EW! I ain't going to sleep tonight after seeing- Ow that's hurt!" The sound of hoof impact muzzle echoed from somewhere.
"I will leave now. Thank you for listening to my Ted talk, and please continue your celebration." Her body turned into mist and slithered away in the direction of that dreaded forest.
Silence reigned for a moment as everything slowly began to sink in
"Mare of the Moon is gone" The first pony that came to his sense shouted.
"Mare of the Moon is gone!" The ponies erupted in cheers as Celestia fainted, unable to process her emotion with her halfway functional brain from blood loss at the sudden turn of events.
Will NMM leave Equestria? Like going in another country or maybe even further away?
I was kind of expecting a more touchy or sincere meeting of the two sisters but I guess NMM is far too gone for that, only insanity remaining.
Great chapter though, keep going!
I feel bad for Celestia. Hope she gets better soon.
Mass drivers are great:D
11550695
Sorry for the necropost but
Fateful:
having far-reaching and often disastrous consequences or implications.
"a fateful oversight"
Faithful:
1. remaining loyal and steadfast.
"throughout his career, he remained faithful to the principles of Classical art"
2. true to the facts or the original.
"the rugs they make today remain faithful to their ancestors' methods"
I think you got the definitions backward
Probably should have taken steps to show your sister she was important instead just trying to make things like they were.
it was a fun read keep going B)
I thought "Aussie" means AustrALian...
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RN she seems more sane than ever, depending on your headcanon. Eccentric like Salvador Dali, but logical in her actions. Like a certain draconequus.
I reaaaally want them to reconcile but 1000 years on the moon is a little bit too much
So the Elements of Harmony never bonded to the mane six? That might cause problems later down the road. But at least Celestia can't track Nightmare Moon down and use them to brainwash her sister into letting go of all of her appropriate anger. This way, NMM gets some form of actual revenge for what she's been through by causing Celly some emotional pain by not returning to her, even if NMM is also probably going to be hurting over it.
Well, the route this went was a bit unexpected...
Though partially expected as well. I figured NMM would do something to spite Celestia rather than a fullout attack, but I guess this kills two birds with one stone.
Now, she renounced even her citizenship, I assume that she's outright leaving equestria?
Kind of didn't expect her to just leave the country. Also, didn't expect the sudden attack on Celestia. Who knows what'll happen next?
I'm gonna guess that Celestia follows Nightmare on her travels, trying to convince her to come home.
This is kind of fun XD.
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Personally I'm expecting Celestia to close herself off with a tub of ice cream and cry. Then she'll try to avoid the subject of her sister and bury herself in her work--or just isolate herself for a while. Her Xanatos gambit with the elements failed, throwing a lot of her plans into disarray.
Loving this. Really curious the Mane 6 not needing to unite to deal with NMM will affect later events.
Okay wow. Chapter 3 made me think this fic was going a totally different direction at first. Jaw dropped and everything. Then it became fun town again and it was great.
That was certainly not what I expected but very interesting and I can’t wait for more!
Also poor Celestia I hope she feels better.
I honestly expected more conversations and interactions between the sisters, but I like that the story didn't start to copy the return scene from the series.
P.S. the "moon pie" joke seems inappropriate to me. because this is the first time I hear about such a true meaning of the expression voiced by Twilight. (although it would be funny that Twilight is so corrupted to think about it.)
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To be honest, i just copy-paste first thing on google. I hope it's minor enough to be ignore.
Whoo go Armstone the MVP!
Question: Do you like The Last Jedi?
I am very much enjoying this.
Nighmare Moon is a much cleverer mare here than she normally is.
She skipped eight or so seasons in one episode, straight to "Fuck off elsewhere, leave all the work to some other chump, and have a good time" retirement.
Though this does lead to the question of where she's gonna fuck off to;
Crystal Empire is kind of a dump from Sombra being a crystal addict and neglecting basic government functions.
Hippogriphs became fishes.
Changelings likewise are lacking in the civil works department.
Kludgetown is Kowloon without a bulldozer to save it from itself.
Moon is a wasteland, Birbtopia is full of miserly grump birbs.
Dragonland stinks of sulphur from all the lava pools.
Yakyakistan isn't out of the running,
Breezieburg is too small.
Atlanta is a few thermonuclear explosions short of being considered livable.
EQGlandia is viable if Nightmare Moon can figure out how to not get turned into a human thing.
The Cowman Islands have interesting tax incentives, so living with the minotaurs might be doable.
Or there's always glorious colonization where Nightmare Moon can go find somewhere new to build her own country, which unfortunately falls short if you don't have a few ships filled with equiptment and provisions to kickstart the infrastructure from zero up to adequete.
Dear god I squealed so hard
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Is cowman’s island actually exists?
YES!!!!!!!! Ive always said this! Ive always said this!!!
Luna should have taken her night guard and just freaking left. The world is full of small city-states ruled by crime lords and war lords. All she had to do was take her military kill some shit bag ruler and POOF! she has a population who would have been so grateful they would do anything she wanted. They would lick her hoof.
Finally an Author writes common sense! Well done.....Well done..
Monk
"if Celestia is the nation’s mother, then Luna is its bitter aunt who hangs around renaissance fairs and World War II reenactments." -Some Dickhead
Oh, yeah... I love this ^^
Ness? (Earthbound)
Hax! I call HAX!
Well this is one of the things I love about Pinkie Pie.
She just invited the villain du... Nuit to celebrate an event in the honor of their enemy. It's kind of admirable. Stupid, sure, but admirable.
Sooo... Is Daybreaker the next villain?
Jeez. Well, she's not forcing herself to undergo Exilum Sin Misericordia, but still;
Query: Does character Nightmare Moon did not know effects and definition of her own spell?
Observation: It appears that pronouns for character Nightmare Moon had been silently changed in gender during previous chapter.
Query: Where does strong hostility of a new host towards Celestia comes from?
Warning: Rating "Teen" might be inappropriate for this story. All inappropriate content will be ignored.
Observation: This story contains high levels of edge. Please exercise caution.
Matrix alignment level: 34%
Heh, well that's one way to obliterate canon.
11588042
Nes is American, not Aussie.
11603930
it was hinted at a few times, like at the start and before they left the moon. Just like the scares on their body and muscle memory, Luna's memory and madness hasn't gone away just because a new mind occupies it.
"didn't" - for tense consistency
"vision"
11681442
Thank for the first one.
The second one would change its meaning entirely if used vision instead of visage.
OW That Hurt.
Of The Sun
With exception of the brutally beaten Celestia, I expected something like that. Great work!
11743421
She was hit with a rock flying at terminal velocity. I don't think she was really beaten. More like flattened. Without any actual fight
What The hell? Are you serious? Because unless it’s English slang, I don’t really see NewMoon implicitly saying that
Holy crap! She’s serious!
11745121
How fiction is real to her now, I use it to her advantage by adding physics
HAHAHAHAHAHA REALLY BRO