Is All It Takes

“Not another step!” The words of the moon princess echoed off the throne room’s walls and met her sister’s ears. Each word was like a dagger to the heart for the older sister as she came to a halt. Her limbs twitched ever so slightly, ears splayed back as a maelstrom of emotions washed over her.

The lunar princess rounded her cold throne and came to a stop in front of it. “Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all basked in your precious light!?” The dark alicorn questioned with a furious shout. She squinted her eyes and frowned as she stared her elder sister down. With a contemptuous snort she looked away and strode towards the center of the twin thrones.

“There can only be one princess in Equestria,” she exclaimed, “And that princess. WILL! BE! ME!” She raised up on her back hooves and slammed her front ones onto the stone railing in front of her. It shattered like glass as her eyes exploded with a ghastly white light. Power surged through her as her glowing eyes faded and an ominous shadow rose up around her. Cracks radiated out from the site of her hooves’ impact and crawled their way up the wall behind her.

A shiver ran up the elder alicorn’s spine as a wave of horror and dread washed over her. Her breath quickened and body numbed. She couldn’t believe what her younger sister was saying, and she feared what she meant.

The splintered wall crumbled to reveal the radiant sun beyond, beaming brightly across the land. The princess of the night rose into the air, horn alight with a magical blaze, and so too did her precious moon. It shot up past the horizon and right into the sun’s path, blocking its light from the world. The sky darkened and billions of stars blinked to life.

An eclipse? The white alicorn was stunned. They promised each other they’d never block the other's light; that they’d never claim the sky as their own. Sorrow and fear battled in the elder alicorn’s mind, each trying to dominate her emotions.

The solar eclipse cast long shadows across Equestria, whilst brilliant moonlight sliced through the air illuminating the Castle of the Two Sisters’ throne room. Dark magic withered like snakes in the shadow of the moon; their tendrils drawn to their royal castor. Darkness made its way to the blue princess and coalesced around her, covering her head to hooves in a sphere of black magic. She fell into its shadowy cradle as it sealed her from view. The black ball of energy fizzed and popped, something shifting beneath its veil. The sphere of darkness levitated high into the air as it took on an orange hue, shining like a second sun.

The older sister was overwhelmed with emotion. She was too stunned to speak, too scared to move, and too mesmerized to look away.

The amber orb quickly darkened before becoming overwhelmed with the visage of the midnight sky. Different shades of blue swirled and mixed together in the ocean of stars as the ball began to contort and take shape. Then the bubble of starlight burst into a blood red moon, a pony at its center. The dark silhouette hung there, the night sky streaming from it in a mock tail and mane. Its eyes snapped open to reveal a twin pair of cyan irises and black slitted pupils. Its jaw unhinged, teeth contorting into jagged fangs, as a cackle split the air. The shadowy mare laughed hysterically as she landed on the ground and stepped forward. The moonlight cast away the darkness to reveal an alicorn as black as night wearing dusty blue armor. Her laughter echoed around the throne room in a manic symphony.

As quick as it started though it died, and was replaced by a sinister scowl. The night princess unleashed a torrent of magic into a nearby statue of her sister, obliterating it. Her magical beam swept across the throne room’s wall and vaulted ceiling in a destructive display. Sections of the roof came crashing down allowing more moonlight to seep in through the newly created hole. The debris impacted the ground with a thunderous slam, causing dust and dirt to be thrown into the air. The new dirty cloud obscured the night-themed alicorn from view as it swirled around in a newfound silence.

Seeing this, seeing what stood in her sister’s place, the elder alicorn was at a loss. She didn’t know what to think; she didn’t know what to do. How could her beloved sister do this? How could she say those things? Sure they didn’t always see eye to eye and they argued plenty, but all siblings bickered. Recently it had been more frequent and more intense, but surely that wasn’t the older sister’s fault. Surely the younger was acting way out of line. She’d calm down any moment now, right? At least those were the thoughts running through the alabaster alicorn’s head. In truth, the sun princess didn’t know whether to blame the night princess or herself. Everything had just been so complicated and messy recently. She hadn't been able to spend as much time with her sister as she’d like, but surely that wouldn’t have led to this. What’s a few years when compared to a lifetime of thousands?

Conflict surged within the elder as the throne room’s eerie silence began to weigh on her. More and more she thought back to her interactions with her sister; more and more she started to see the cracks in their relationship. Little things she’d missed suddenly stuck out in her mind, and it was all becoming too much. No, this is wrong. Something must have happened to her sister, something must have possessed her. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. They had recently fought a troublesome foe together in the north, a master of shadows and fear. He must have put some kind of curse on the moon princess before he was banished. Yes, that made sense. Yet, she knew it didn’t.

Despite how much she wanted to believe it, she knew no curse was ever placed upon her sister. They had fought the tyrant side by side, neither leaving the other’s sight for too long. There hadn’t been a single moment where the wicked king could have cursed her sister. There just wasn’t enough time for her not to have seen it. Besides, her younger sibling had been acting strange way before their encounter with the evil king. At the time she brushed it off, but now things began to click.

With drawing horror the day princess realized that what was happening to her sister was in part, her fault. Maybe even more than she’d like to admit. However, she forced herself not to dwell on it. Now was not the time to confront her own faults. Right now she had to calm her sister down; they could talk it out later.

The princess steeled herself, determined. She’d reach out to her younger sibling and talk to her. She’d get her to stop this nonsense and then she could help her. She’d make everything fine again. It would be just like the old days. With her mind made up, confident that she could fix her sister, she stepped forward into the moonlight ready to face whatever insult her wrathful sibling would throw at her.

The black alicorn breathed in and out. She stood in the silence for a moment and collected her thoughts, readying herself for the conflict to come. The sound of approaching hoofsteps reached the lunar alicorn’s ears, signifying that her sister was moving towards her. With the inevitable confrontation only moments away she hardened her expression and stepped forth through the dust and grit.

The moonlight bounced off her newly minted armor as she walked into its cold embrace, and met her older sister face to face. They were no more than three pony lengths apart as they stared at each other, each with determination clear on their faces. The dark alicorn tilted her head in confusion. She’d expected her sister would make the first move after what she had said and did. She had really hoped that she would.

“Luna, I can hel-”

Something in the dark alicorn snapped. That fake smile. Those ignorant words. That condescending tone. She always used those whenever she wanted “Luna” to calm down. Whenever she didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of the nobles or she just couldn't be bothered to even have a conversation with her only sibling, she’d use those. It caused all sorts of memories to rush back to the forefront of the night princess’s mind in rapid succession.

Luna hated the way she was treated.

Luna hated the words her sister would say to her.

Luna hated that smile.

Luna hated Celestia.

A look of pure hatred crossed Luna’s face as soon as Celestia began to speak, causing the white alicorn to stop. She didn’t understand what she had done wrong, but clearly she had offended her sister.

*BLEEEOW*

A brief flash of blue was all the warning Celestia got before a teal laser exploded from her sibling’s horn. The princess of the day just barely managed to dodge the blast as she dropped to the floor. She flared her wings out, and with a mighty flap, sent her body flying backwards putting distance between herself and the irate lunar princess. Quickly standing back up she mentally readied a shield spell in case her sister fired again.

Her sister shot at her? The thought struck the alabaster princess hard. That didn’t make any sense to her. What was happening to her sibling; what was she thinking? Things with her dear sister must be even worse than even she originally thought. She needed to get through to Luna, and fast.

Adrenaline coursed through the moon princess’s veins like a cold fire. She couldn’t believe that she just attacked her sister. She should have felt shame at what she’d done, yet she didn’t. Instead she realized that it had felt…good. To finally have enough power to strike back against her oppressive sister. To be able to use that power and strike fear into the heart of Celestia, if only for a moment. It felt good, real good.

To be taken seriously.

To successfully stand up to her sister.

To finally shed that feeble shell of the pathetic younger sister.

She finally had a shot at getting the respect and attention she so rightfully deserved. No longer to be shoved aside to make way for the “real” Princess of Equestria. She would never again be stuck in Celestia’s shadow. She’d never be known as the weak ruler again. She’d be Luna no longer, because she had become more. Now, she was so much more. Looking to her sister, her mind was made. There would be no holding back.

“Luna, I will not fight you,” Celestia spoke earnestly, “You must lower the moon; it is your duty!” The alabaster princess stood firm, hoping her words made even the slightest impact. The midnight-black alicorn only quirked an eyebrow in response to the plea.

“Luna?” She questioned. “I am not Luna, not anymore. She was weak, so she’s been cast aside. I’ve grown beyond Luna and become more than she ever was!” Anger built inside the night princess as continued her tirade, limbs twitching in anticipation. Celestia’s eyes widened as her sister spoke.

“I am, Nightmare Moon!” The lunar alicorn declared with a thrill. Blood roared in her ears as she declared her new name. It felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off her shoulders; she felt free. “I have but one royal duty now,” Nightmare Moon said, igniting her horn, “To destroy you!” She fired a deadly beam of magic at Celestia, one the solar princess just barely avoided with a flap of her wings. Using her momentum to her advantage, Celestia continued her ascent and sped off through the hole in the throne room’s roof.

“And where do you think you're going?” The dark alicorn questioned as she opened her black wings and launched off the throne room floor to give chase. Flapping her wings as hard as she could she soon caught up to the much slower Celestia, hovering in front of the vibrant moon.

“Luna please, stop!” Celestia tried again to reach the sister she knew was somewhere inside that cursed body.

Nightmare Moon wasted no time in unleashing a flurry of flames in response. Celestia deftly avoided them with the practiced ease of thousands of years of battle experience. She ducked and weaved between each fiery ball of energy, only having to deflect one or two with a quick spell. “Luna you need-” She tried again.

“RAAAGH!” Nightmare Moon let out a furious shout before teleporting right on top of her target. Celestia, taken by surprise, had no time to react as Nightmare Moon appeared right in front of her and bucked her in the face. The force of the impact sent the white alicorn careening backwards. With her balance thrown off she rapidly lost control and plummeted down towards the castle below. “MY NAME IS NIGHTMARE MOON!” The moon princess screamed, rage coursing through her.

Celestia hit the keep’s roof hard, cracking its surface. Luckily she wasn’t too high up when she came crashing down. So, the sudden impact didn’t leave her with any permanent injuries, only a few scraps and bruises. The buck to the face however, seemed to have done something more substantial. Blood oozed from the princess’s nostrils as she hastily tried to right her aching body. Her legs screamed in protest at the fast movements, but Celestia had no time to waste. Standing back up she ignored the growing headache and wiped the blood off her muzzle with a wing. She looked up to the hovering nightmare with apprehension. Nevertheless she readied her wings and flew back up to face the terror head on again.

As soon as Celestia reached her enraged sister, Nightmare Moon lit her horn up ready to continue the fight. Celestia, however, only wanted to talk. So, before the lunar princess could cast the spell she was conjuring, Celestia quickly did one of her own. A golden bubble sprouted up around the dark alicorn and encased her securely within. Nightmare Moon was only shocked for a moment before she quickly released the magic she’d built up and fired at the bubble. However, the golden prison stood steadfast and held against the night-themed alicorn’s barrage.

“Lu- er, Nightmare Moon!” Celestia caught herself, not wanting to anger her sister more, “I just want to talk!”

Nightmare Moon looked to the sun princess with disdain. “Talk!? You want to talk?” She scoffed at the notion. “What is there to talk about? You’ve ruined my life!”

“Please just hear me out!” Celestia begged. “I didn’t want any of this! If I knew where this would’ve led I wou-”

“Would’ve done something differently huh? Because you only care about how this is affecting you now, right? Because if I wouldn’t have done this; if I would have continued to suffer in silence and get pushed around, you wouldn’t have done anything would you? You wouldn’t have even bat an eye…” The lunar princess trailed off and cast her gaze to the moon above.

“Nightmare, all you had to do was talk to me,” Celestia tried again, “I would have listened. We could have figured something out! We still can.” Celestia looked to her sister desperately, hoping that she’d snap out of this rage and come to her senses.

“HA!” Nightmare Moon barked. She snapped her head back to her sister and frowned. “You can’t be serious, Celestia,” she spat the day princess’s name out like it was poison. “Talk to you? And how exactly was I supposed to do that when you were never around?! And even when you were, you hardly even spoke to me!”

Celestia opened her mouth to defend herself but Nightmare Moon was quicker, “Don’t you even dare say that I should have sent letters, because I did! I doubt you even realized though. There’s no way you read any of them. Luna the ‘pretend princess’ wasn’t worth your time, right? Too unimportant I suppose.”

“Luna, I did read them! I read all of them!” Celestia cried out. “I wanted to visit you, to check in with you! I just…” Celestia trailed off, too ashamed to finish her sentence.

“You just were too busy to visit your depressed, lonely sister,” Nightmare Moon finished for her, quietly. “So you stuck her in some backwater town in a ramshackle castle. Far from you, far from your nobility, and far from your mind. Because it was time for the adults to talk and wittle baby Wuna had to weave da woom.” The moon princess mocked in a cutesy tone.

“Luna, that’s not… That was an important… I didn’t…” Celestia struggled to come up with a response. She did send Luna away, but it wasn’t because she didn’t care for her. All she wanted to do was give Luna a bit of alone time to cool off. She just couldn’t deal with her angst then, there was an important meeting coming up…and...oh.

Oh no.

“Luna I-I’m sorry I didn’t-” Celestia was cut off by her sister’s glare.

“I’m not Luna, anymore…” Nightmare Moon warned as magic flicked around her horn.

“N-nightmare,” Celestia stuttered nervously, “I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you like that. At the time it seemed like a good idea but I was wrong.” Celestia's eyes started to water as she continued speaking, “I should have treated you better! I never realized how bad you were hurting. I didn’t know how bad things were. How bad they are.”

Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow at Celestia before sighing heavily, “Of course you didn’t. Because you didn’t care till now. Now that this fight, this eclipse, is happening, now you care. It looks bad, doesn’t it? Despite how hated I may be by everypony in Equestria and how forgotten my title is, I’m still technically a princess of this nation. And the two princesses fighting doesn’t look good for the nobles. Think of how other countries will judge us after this.”

Celestia was at a loss for words. She couldn’t believe that her sister thought of her that way, that she thought Celestia was that vapid. But as the sun princess searched her sibling’s gaze she saw no hint of doubt. She really believed what she said was true. Celestia’s head spun as she tried to come up with something to say to her sister. Someway to convince that what she thought wasn’t true.

“Nightmare, that isn’t true!” The white alicorn’s voice wavered as she tried to talk her sister down, “I’ve never thought like that! I’ve always cared.”

Nightmare Moon glared at her sister for a moment before relenting. She exhaled through her nose heavily before closing her eyes and tilting her head back. “It’s fine, Tia. I don’t know why I ever expected anything more than lies and deceit from you. And honestly, sticking me in that castle makes sense. I mean you’re always so good at pushing your problems off until later.”

“Luna, I-”

“I mean look no further than the creatures you hate!”

“Luna please!”

“You have that dragon who settled in the Whitetail Woods. You forced him out of Equestria to go become somepony else's problem.”

“Luna I’m sorry!” A few tears began to leak down Celestia’s face as she desperately called out to her sister.

“There’s that shadow king who you banished into the ice for 1000 years and that chaos lord who you turned into a statue. I just wanted to kill them and be done with it, but NO! You just couldn’t do that! You came up with these temporary solutions instead. So tell me, in a thousand years when that tyrant is back, what poor pony are you going to dump the problem on then!?”

“Luna!”

Nightmare Moon’s eye twitched in irritation as her anger grew. “And how about the time your naughty, ignorant, sister was acting up. Just put her in a far off castle and throw away the key! Then you don’t have to think about her! You don’t need to deal with her or her problems now!”

“Luna!” Celestia begged. Her magical bubble cracked.

“Because that’s what you do Tia!” Nightmare Moon seethed. “You can never face any problem head on! You push everything off and onto other ponies! You make others suffer to make your life easier! You always pushed me and my problems away, every time! Because you see me as an enemy, you hate me!”

“LUNA!”

Nightmare Moon’s eyes took on an ethereal glow as her horn ignited into blue flames. “SO WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NOW, HUH?! I’M ONE OF THE PROBLEMS AND I’VE COME BACK! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NOW?!”

“LUNA DON’T!” Celestia screeched as her bubble splintered in thousands of pieces.

“ARE YOU GOING TO PUSH ME AWAY AGAIN, AND DEAL WITH ME LATER?! OR ARE YOU FINALLY GOING TO MARE UP AND KILL ME?!” The volatile magic Nightmare Moon had been building up crackled with energy as Celestia struggled to keep her shattering bubble intact.

“LUNA I-”

The bubble burst.

“I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT!” Nightmare Moon screamed as her magic exploded, annihilating the golden shield around her. Celestia’s horn sparked as the energy she’d been pouring into the bubble suddenly backfired and overloaded it. She shrieked in pain as she snapped her eyes closed and her head back, mind throbbing from the feedback. Nightmare Moon flapped her wings and ascended higher into the sky, casting a dark shadow over Celestia.

The white alicorn princess shook her head trying to dispel the pain coursing through it. Her attempts to soothe her aching noggin were only partly successful. Blearily she opened her eyes to see she was alone in the sky. She looked around widely trying to locate her irate sister and finally caught a glimpse of her higher up in the night sky. Clearing her blurred vision the best she could, the princess flew up towards her sister with haste.

“Nightmare, wait!” Celestia yelled up to the looming shadow. In response cerulean fire burst from its horn towards the sun princess. Narrowly avoiding the blast with a spin, she brought her gaze back to Nightmare Moon. The black alicorn princess fired another beam of magic at her sister without delay; one which Celestia deftly avoided too. Despite the miss, Nightmare Moon kept the beam going and swung her head to track her sister with it.

Celestia’s eyes widened at the laser’s sudden change in direction, bringing up a shield around her in response. Gold met blue as the two magics clashed, sparking violently. The air around them heated up as the energy built and built. The moon princess poured more mana into her spell, but so did her adversary. Nightmare Moon growled as she wove her hatred into the spell’s composition, strengthening it ten-fold. The sudden increase in ferocity took Celestia by surprise as it overwhelmed her.

The shield broke as Nightmare Moon’s flames pushed through, yet no screams of pain followed. Confused, the lunar princess kept the onslaught up for a few more seconds before cutting it off. Hovering in the sky, she was only met with silence. She turned left and right scanning the sky and ground below for any signs of her sister, yet came up empty. She was just starting to think she incinerated Celestia when she heard something faintly to her left.

*POP!*

It was the unmistakable sound of a teleport. Enraged, the inky-black princess snapped her gaze to a part of the castle off to her left and spotted Celestia panting on the rooftop. She let out a furious scream as she closed her wings and dived down towards her sister, magic at the ready.

Celestia only had a few moments to catch her breath before she heard Nightmare Moon let out a howl. Looking to the sky she knew her time was up, so she opened her wings and leapt over the castle’s parapet. With a mighty flap she propelled herself forward as Nightmare Moon pivoted direction and gave chase. Beam after beam was fired at Celestia as she bobbed and weaved; the grass beneath her getting scorched and walls next to her crumbling. She knew she couldn’t keep this up forever, Luna had always been the faster of the two. She had to find some way to stop Nightmare Moon, yet her mind was coming up blank.

Doing her best to lose her pursuer she dove down even lower to the ground and flew underneath bridges, skimmed the surfaces of rivers, and banked around the castle walls as close as she could. Nothing worked however, as the lunar alicorn just blasted through any obstacle and followed Celestia over dangerous terrain with practiced ease. And as Celestia dodged her sister’s latest barrage she could feel the flames lick her hooves as they missed her only by a hair. Nightmare Moon was getting faster and more accurate as Celestia was getting slower.

Celestia banked up and caught the wind in her wings at just the right moment to give her a burst of much needed speed. With the few seconds she had to spare she looked around trying to come up with a solution to her problem. Her gaze swept across the castle and locked onto a specific building, an idea forming in her head. “The Elements…” She whispered to herself, “Perhaps their harmony could help her.” Hope soared within the alicorn princess’s chest for the first time that night as her sister’s salvation seemed so close. She was swiftly reminded that she had a ways to go before that happened however, as a blue laser struck her in the back. She screamed in agony as the heat burned away her fur and hungrily ate at the flesh beneath.

Nightmare Moon came hurtling towards her, head lowered. The dark alicorn’s horn skewered her sister through the side of her abdomen as she rammed into her. Excruciating pain wracked Celestia’s body as she violently twisted and pulled herself off her sister’s horn in a panic. Coughing and dazed, the solar princess’s wings went out of sink and she plummeted to the ground in a spin. Ichor dripped from the lunar princess’s horn and onto her muzzle as she stared after her sister with a smirk.

Blood poured from the fresh wound as Celestia fought for control of her wings again, but to no avail. She was rapidly gaining speed and losing altitude as the ground came closer and closer. Screwing her eyes shut she concentrated on a way out of this death spiral and lit up her horn as one came to mind. As soon as she did Nightmare Moon stopped smiling and glared, going into a dive of her own. The day princess encased her body in a gold aura and slowed her descent with a levitation spell. While the night princess encased her horn in an azure aura and fired a ray of magic at her sister with deadly intent.

Celestia used the grasp she had on herself to turn over, before quickly flapping her wings to move out of the way of her sister’s magic. Another quick spell temporarily scabbed over her puncture wound as she sped back up into the sky. Her new injury screamed in burning protest but she ignored it and continued her retreat from Nightmare Moon.

The lunar alicorn was going too fast to stop and followed through with her momentum instead. Going past where Celestia was only seconds ago she reinforced her legs with a spell and slammed into the ground below like a meteorite. The spell around her legs absorbed the shock as she crouched down in the newly formed crater. Releasing the built up energy in the spell she launched off the ground and into the sky like a bolt of lightning.

Celestia just needed a minute to come up with a good plan, and time to get The Elements. But with Nightmare Moon right on her tail she only had time to run, lest she be eviscerated. She looked around wildly for anything that could help her lose the nightmare if only for a few moments. Her searching gaze got caught on the nearby ravine, as a very risky plan formed in her head. It was a plan she didn’t like at all, but as she heard the ground below crack she knew she was out of time.

Nightmare Moon sailed towards her sister at high speeds, forelegs outstretched, ready to tackle her out of the sky. Right when she got close however, her sister suddenly pivoted in the air and dived down. The lunar alicorn growled and twisted her wings to the left, banking hard in an attempt to turn around quickly. As she circled back she saw Celestia fall into a ravine before leveling out into a steady glide. “Moron,” Nightmare Moon uttered under her breath as she too dove into the ravine after her sister.

Celestia locked her wings in place and looked behind her; her sister was gaining. With step one of her plan complete she just needed to complete the second one. That step was the part she wasn’t looking forward to.

Nightmare Moon was gaining on her sister and fast in the straight away the two alicorns found themselves in. She almost had that treacherous princess in her grasp. No more would she be cast aside or forgotten. No more would her work go unappreciated. No more would she be alone. All she had to do was get rid of her sister.

Squinting her eyes she shouted over the sound of the rushing wind to her sister, “Give up Celestia! Victory is within my grasp, this chase is pointless!” As she finished speaking she outstretched her right hoof and managed to brush it against her sister’s multi-colored tail. Only a second more and-

Celestia sharply turned to the left, ignoring her sister. The sudden change in direction startled Nightmare Moon as she flapped her wings to come to a stop and turned to follow her sibling. The solar alicorn, managing to spot a suitable alcove in just the nick of time, had turned and flew as fast as her wings could carry her into the tunnel’s gaping maw. As she entered the shadowy cave she pulled her wings in and tucked her legs closer to her body, hoping not to lose any appendages in her subterranean flight. The lunar alicorn swiftly followed suit, her dark form swallowed up by the shadows of the cave.

Looking ahead, her superior night vision enabled her to see her sister’s retreating form easily in the dark confines of the cave. Confused as to why Celestia would dive into this cave and trap herself with no exit led the moon princess to take stock of her surroundings, wary of anything out of the ordinary. But her night vision soon backfired as Celestia lit her horn up causing the lunar princess to be blinded for a moment by its bright aura.

Celestia ignited her horn as soon as the moonlight seeping in from the cave’s entrance dried up. With its yellowish hue brightening the space around her she readied a spell she had in mind. With a quick flick of her horn and a bright flash of light she teleported away, leaving the cave and her sister behind.

Appearing in the middle cold night sky, Celestia caught her breath and shivered as the wind nipped at her legs. She fluffed up her feather to try and gain some semblance of warmth while she hovered in the air. She had bought herself some time, but how much? She hadn’t a clue. Knowing Luna she’d only get a few minutes if she was lucky, and that assessment was being extremely optimistic. “Oh Luna…” She let out a low whine, “Why…?” Glancing around sullenly she took note of the surrounding buildings and realized she had teleported right on target.

“But how to get Luna to The Elements without her realizing,” the alabaster alicorn thought aloud, “Maybe I don’t have to. Maybe I can bring The Elements to Luna.” Celestia looked to the section of the castle that contained The Elements and sighed. She’d been working under the assumption that the harmonious gems would somehow heal her sister, or just calm her down. But if they didn’t…

“No, they’ll work,” Celestia reaffirmed to herself, “They have to.” A plan began to form in the older sister’s head as she continued to look around. On her left was where The Elements were stored in the castle and on the right the royal statue garden. Her eyes briefly fixated on a certain statute in particular, a patchwork creature frozen in mirth, before she swiftly looked away shuddering.

Nervously she looked around again as she thought of the plan she had devised. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. The idea was to wait where she was for her sister to arrive. Once Celestia locked eyes with her she’d cast a luminescence spell and temporarily blind Nightmare Moon with the flash of light. While her sister couldn’t see she’d charge up her own magic and fire a beam of it at her sister. Though the thought of hurting Luna troubled Celestia, she knew she had to do something to stop her sister before it was too late. The spell she’d cast at the lunar princess would be charged just enough to ground her, but not enough to seriously injure her. Then while she was in a daze on the ground, Celestia would grab The Elements and bring them to Luna.

“And then they… uh, work… somehow,” Celestia spoke with trepidation. It wasn’t the best plan and Celestia was the first to admit that. Like what if Nightmare Moon attacked her before she could blind the black alicorn, what if she underclocked the spell and it had no impact on the dark princess, and what if Nightmare Moon didn’t stay down long enough for her to grab the Elements. But she was running out of options and was in a rush. She’d try anything and everything before she dare resort to…more permanent solutions to the problem.

With a shake of her head Celestia banished the negative thoughts. The plan would work, she was determined to make it. No matter what, she was going to save her sister. If this was the best shot she had then she’d put her all into it, nothing less. “I will Luna,” Celestia said into the quiet night, “I promise.”

“Promise what?” The voice of Nightmare Moon reached the sun princess’s ears. Celestia turned her head around but was meant with an empty sky.

“Promise to me that you’ll banish me and make me somepony else’s problem?” Nightmare’s voice mocked, “Promise me that once I’m gone you’ll be happier you don't have to deal with me anymore?”

“No! That’s not true!” Celestia shouted into the inky-black night. Time was up and Luna was there, but where? Her voice seemed to come from all directions, echoing off the castle walls endlessly.

“Hmmm, really? Because I have a feeling that it’s true!” The moon princess said in a sickeningly sweet voice, “I mean you don’t even care about all the work I put into my night sky, nopony does! The tapestry of stars I weave every single night and all the painstaking details I put in, have you ever noticed? Have you ever stayed up just one night and appreciated the beauty I cultivated?!”

“That’s not fair!” Celestia yelled out, “You know what being a princess takes out of you!”

“No I don’t,” Nightmare Moon responded coldly, “Not anymore.”

“That’s not the point Nightmare! My work is draining and I need to sleep!” Celestia desperately tried to get eyes on the night terror but couldn’t catch a glimpse.

“AND YOU DON’T THINK MINE IS!?” The dark alicorn yelled furiously, “Yet, if you needed me to, I'd forgo hours of sleep to do something important for you. You couldn’t give me the same courtesy? Not even one time could you be bothered to just look at my night sky?”

“I’m sorry Luna!” The solar pony shouted, “I will. Every night from now on, just please stop this!” Celestia spotted a clump of clouds in the sky a bit higher and started flying up to them, hoping her sister was inside.

“So I can go back to that miserable life where everypony sleeps through my beautiful night?” The lunar mare asked, “The one where I’m pushed aside and forgotten? No thanks Tia, I think I’ll pass.”

“It won’t be like that this time! It’ll be better; I’ll make sure of it!” Celestia was almost to the clouds now, just a little farther.

“No, I don’t think it will.” the lunar pony said with disdain, “You’ve promised that kind of thing before, and it rang hollow.”

“I…” The solar mare’s words died on her tongue. She couldn’t think of anything to say. She had never regretted anything so much as her past actions right now, but those things were in the past. She couldn’t change them, and she couldn’t take away how she wronged Luna. The pain she caused her; she couldn’t heal those scars.

“But unlike you, dear sister, I have a promise I intend to keep,” the night princess said softly, “I promise…” She stopped speaking as Celestia reached the clouds and dispelled them with her magic to reveal...nothing. There was nothing in the clouds.

“THAT THE NIGHT WILL LAST, FOREVER!” Nightmare Moon screamed as she appeared directly on top of Celestia in a flash of blue light. The solar pony was taken off guard as she snapped her head above her and was met with a black hoof clad in dusty blue armor. The punch sent the day princess back a few hooflenths as a laughing Nightmare Moon lunged forward and grabbed onto her. Celestia wide eyed barley dodge another swing from the lunar pony as she and Nightmare grappled.

Celestia blocked a kick with her leg, but the dark alicorn scored a hit to her gut. The day princess tried to smack her sister’s limbs away, yet the younger sibling persisted. The twin princesses of Equestria spun midair together, each struggling to get the advantage over the other. Nightmare Moon pulled her head back and lunged forward with it, causing Celestia to block the strike with her own. Their two horns sparked as they snagged on each other, locked in a stand still. The two sisters looked deep into the other’s eyes, one full of hate the other full of hope.

“Luna, I don’t want to fight you!” Celestia pleaded to her sister in a desperate attempt to get through to her.

“Hahaha!” Nightmare Moon laughed, flashing her fangs, “Then why don’t you just lay down and die!?”

Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she began to charge up her horn. She had a plan, and she was determined to still make it work. “Because I need to defend my subjects; it’s my duty!”

“It was mine too, once!” Nightmare Moon growled.

“And it will be again, soon enough,” Celestia said softly as she reopened her eyes and broke away from the horn clash. She poured more mana into her horn as the magic conduit hummed with ethereal might. Nightmare Moon gasped at the powerful display, losing the grip she had on her sister only a bit. It was enough though to allow the day ruler to move back and kick her sister in the chest, forcing her off of her.

Celestia charged her horn up but was hesitant to fire. She didn’t know if she put enough into the spell to do what she needed it to do. Yet, she didn’t want to put in too much that it would hurt Luna more than was necessary. But as the night ruler got her bearings again and turned towards the solar alicorn, Celestia knew she had to act fast. She charged up her horn only a little more, hoping that it’d be enough, and prepared to fire as her sister charged her.

“Luna!” Celestia shouted as golden flames erupted from her horn, “You need to stop!” She unleashed the magic built up in her horn and fired it at Nightmare Moon. Time seemed to slow as the ray of energy hit Luna directly in the chest, and carved its way right through her.

Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened as her sinister face evaporated. Viscera and gore erupted from her chest as she lost control of her body. She looked to her sister as the world around her blurred.

“Tia?” She spoke softly as her bloodied body started its journey to the earth below.

Celestia started at her sister’s retreating form blankly, her body numb. The wind tugged at her fur gently as a cool breeze washed over her. She hovered in the middle of the silent night, her legs twitching just a little. Then all at once, everything hit her. “LUNA!” She shrieked as she bolted towards her sister’s tumbling body.

Celestia was nearly blinded by the tears that were pouring out of her eyes uncontrollably, and deafened by the rapid beating of her heart as it throbbed in her chest. She stretched out her forelegs trying to catch her sister, but the dark pony was falling faster than she could fly. She couldn’t let Luna hit the ground. She had to save her.

She was going to.

She put all her effort, all her power, into her wings and flapped them as hard as she could. She kept going down, down, and down. She was going faster, faster, and faster. And when she thought she couldn’t go any more, she kept on going. Slowly a cone had built up around her as she flew faster than any pony in history had. Yet, she paid it no mind as that cone broke and she shot forward like a shooting star. However, she still wasn’t quick enough.

Luna’s body fell into the statue garden and came down hard on one of the stone structures itself. A sickening crack rang out as her neck collided with the statue and she landed a short distance away in a bloodied heap. Her body gave one last heave before it crumpled in on itself and didn’t move anymore.

Celestia came crashing down into the garden a few ponylengths away, ripping the ground up as she went. The landing had earned her body a few scraps and bruises, but she paid them no heed. She quickly scrambled out of the small crater and rushed over to her sister’s collapsed form, nearly tripping over herself in the rush. As she made it to the bloodied body she saw the extent of the damage and the storm broke.

“Nonononononononononononononononononononono,” she was hyperventilating, “NO, NOOO! LUNA! LUNA! LU-” She collapsed onto her sister’s still body as new tears streamed down her face. She hugged the lunar pony’s body and buried her head into her black fur, blood smearing her face.

“Luuuuuuuunnnnaaaaa…” she whined as she pulled herself closer, “N-nohohohoooo. N-n-nooo, no. Luna. Lu… I’m sorrrrrrrrrry… I’m s-so sorrrryyyy…”

“LUNA! NO. NOOOO! NO…” Agony wracked the sun princess’s body as her wails rang out into the dead night. “I-I-I-I-I w-was supposed to s-s-sav-ve youuuu… Lunaaaaaa…” she choked out while sobbing.

“AHHHHHHH!” She threw her head back and let out an anguished cry. How had things gone so wrong so fast? One moment she was playing with her sister in their room, and now… she knelt over her corpse. How could she have killed her own sister?

“Lulu…” she whimpered out. The chilly night had cooled down Luna’s body, quickly sucking all the remaining warmth from it. Saliva dripped from Celestia’s mouth and snot ran down her muzzle as looked into her sister’s eyes. She cringed away. The eyes that stared back at her were too much, there was no life left in them. They gazed listlessly into the void, never to brighten up at the sight of her favorite meal again.

Luna would never again smile when Celestia and her got to spend a day together.

Never again would she laugh at the court jester.

Never again would she jump around in the freshly fallen snow on the first day of Winter, demanding Celestia come out to play.

Never again would she weave another tapestry to be hung up in their castle.

Celestia would never get to tell Luna how much she meant to her ever again.

Nightmare Moon’s mouth hung open, blood pooling beneath it as it oozed out. Celestia just started down at the broken body feeling hollow. She looked down to her own regalia and saw it covered in blood, Luna’s blood. Her gut twisted as another bout of pained screams built up inside her, but before she could do more than whimper a horrible sound interrupted her.

*CRACK*

Celestia turned around and saw the blood stained statue Luna had hit on her way down. And right where she’d smacked it, a small little crack had grown along its surface. She let her eyes trail up the laughing statue’s body and to its head. Where she was met with Discord’s gaping stone smile mocking her misery. She glared at the stony draconequus with contempt.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!” A dark chuckle echoed around the statue garden, startling the princess. She looked around but didn’t see the owner of the laugh anywhere. She turned her head and looked at her sister’s body with concern. “Oh Celestia, why the long face?” The voice questioned with mirth.

“No,” Celestia whispered in surprise, “N-not now!” With drawing horror she looked back to Discord’s stone prison, but it hadn’t moved. It was exactly as it had been for decades now. “It can’t be…”

“T-tia…?” Luna’s voice met Celestia’s ears and she turned back around to face her sister.

“L-luna?!” Celestia could barely believe her ears as butterflies filled her stomach. Luna’s dark form started to move ever so slightly as Celestia crept closer. She didn’t know what was happening, but she didn’t care as long as she could have her sister back. But as she reached out towards the lunar pony’s slumped over body, it spasmed. Her legs snapped back into place with a sickening crunch as she hoisted herself up on her forelegs, back to the day princess. Celestia pulled her hoof back and stood there, still as any statue in the garden.

Nightmare Moon’s head cracked as it swung around to face her, red and yellow eyes open wide. “Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes!” She spoke in a voice that wasn’t her’s. Celestia fell backwards, tripping over her tail, as she screamed.

“Sorry not Luna, she’s not home right now, but I’ll gladly talk in her stead,” the reanimated corpse of her sister spoke jauntily. Celestia scrambled back as fire coursed through her veins at the mockery in front of her.

“LEAVE MY SISTER’S BODY AT ONCE, DISCORD!” Celestia shouted with venom.

“Hmm, let me think about that,” Discord contorted his new face in contemplation for a moment, “Yeah, how about no.”

“GET OUT,” The alabaster alicorn seethed, lighting up her horn.

“And then what?” The reborn draconequus asked, “You go back to having a corpse for a sister?”

Celestia growled, “It would be better than this.”

“Harsh Tia, harsh,” Discord reprimanded with a shake of his new head, “But I do have to thank you.” Celestia’s eye twitched as she snorted. Discord sighed before continuing, “You know, for the whole ‘killing your sister’ thing? With her gone this body was left ripe for the taking. And with it being an alicorn and all, it seems to be more or less able to contain my awesome power. So, I must commend little Lulu on that. As well as freeing my spirit from that prison you two put me in.”

“You have no right to say her name!” Celestia shouted angrily as her horn crackled with unreleased energy.

“And you do? You’re the one who killed her after all,” he stated sarcastically before moving on, “Anyway as I’m sure you can surmise, her body hurtling into me cracked my stone just enough to let my spirit out, but not my body sadly. Meh, a problem I’ll soon remedy, I assure you.” Discord shrugged Nightmare Moon’s black shoulders as he looked expectantly at Celestia. The princess deepened her scowl in response.

“Oh come on, Celestia!” He rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh, “Turn off your horn! What are you going to do exactly? Kill Luna again?” Celestia was taken aback by the puppeteer’s questions. How could he? How dare he! No, Celestia had enough, she knew what she had to do.

Her horn flashed brightly as she cast a spell while Discord just yawned with boredom. In a blink she was gone, leaving the possessed body of Nightmare Moon alone. Discord tried to get up in her absence, but couldn’t quite manage it. The broken and unfamiliar body he found himself in proved to be more challenging to control than he initially thought it’d be. Then within a few seconds Celestia reappeared with The Elements of Harmony in her magical grasp.

“No, Discord,” the day princess said, gritting her teeth, “I’m going to save her!”

“Oh, The Elements huh?” Discord raised an eyebrow at her antics, “You going to turn me to stone again? Are you really giving up on your sister that fast? For shame Tia, for shame.”

“Silence vermin! The Elements will remove you from Luna’s body and save her.” The solar alicorn affirmed with conviction.

“Do you know that for a fact or are you just guessing? And save her? From me or death? Because either one, I’m telling you, is going to be quite difficult for even those rocks to pull off.” Discord said in a blasé manner.

“I’ll take my chances, beast,” Celestia warned as she poured her magic into The Elements. The gems started to spin and glow brightly as they powered up and The Princess of Equestria cast the spell. Discord had tried to use his chaotic magic earlier but it failed him. Now he stared into harmonious oblivion of The Elements with a broken body and unresponsive magic, intrigued as to what they’d do to him this time. Before his fate was ordained however, he wanted to leave Celestia with one more thing.

“I bet you regret everything tonight, right Tia?” He asked but was ignored by the alicorn as she powered up her floating rocks, ”Anyway, I bet you're thinking about all the things you could’ve done differently. All the things you could’ve changed to get a better outcome, I get that. But from my point of view, stuck in this garden here, it seems that there was only one little mistake you made. One thing you shouldn’t have done. Can you guess what that is?”

Celestia finished casting her spell and unleashed the power of The Elements onto her sister’s undead body. “Give me my sister back!” She cried.

“Hmmm, guess not,” he said as a rainbow washed over his new form. He raised a rapidly deteriorating wing, as Nightmare Moon’s body was taken by The Elements’ magic, and waved smarmily. “Be seeing you then, sole Princess of Equestria!” His laughter could still be heard even as The Elements lifted him into the night sky and the visage of a mare appeared on Equus’s moon.

Celestia’s breath shuddered as she watched her sister’s body, with that monster inside, be taken to the moon. Her face contorted with rage as she looked to The Elements with disdain. “You banished my sister to the moon?!” She screamed as she flung the accursed gems away from her and off into the garden.

“Luna!” She cried as more tears welled up in her eyes, the full weight of the night’s events finally weighing down on her. She collapsed onto the grass and let out a low whine as her exhausted body was wracked by excruciating pain. She curled into a ball, grief stricken, and she cast her gaze to the moon above. Her eyes locked onto the visage of her sister now plastered on the celestial satellite, as she choked back sobs. And as her eyes closed, exhaustion trying its hardest to pull her into dreamland, she spoke one last time.

“Luna,” she whispered, “I love you.”

Author's Note:

Woaaaaaaaaah, Discord is Nightmare Moon???? I wonder what'll happen next????

Anyway I hope you liked that! It was nice to get back into writing after my break and it acted as good practice. On another note if you're genuinely curious as to where this story would go next and you're disappointed that it says complete, well don't be. I've already thought of that myself and I have a few ideas of where the story could go in a fleshed-out-full-length-story-thing. Thought of a cool main plot and the general direction I could take it. So if you want to see that then show this story some support and ya know, tell me that you want a continuation obviously. If enough people want more then boom! I make more. If not, then I don't lmao.

Anyhow, have a good one!

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TheDoctorRet

TheDoctorRet #1 · Nov 13th, 2023 · 3 · ·

T-those are n-not tears, I ain't crying. I AM NOT CRYING DAMNIT

In all seriousness thought, this story was really good,I really liked it, and I hope to see more of what you are planning.

Not gonna lie, Discord been trapped in the moon for a thousand years while in NmM dead body sounds both incredible & interesting AND bizarre at the same time.

Theresa hall