Convergence Series: Journeys

by TheGreatEater

Chapter 34: Luna: Fears pt. 2, The Nightmare of War

The fog whipped around Luna as she screamed for it to end. She didn’t want to relive her greatest sin, and the nightmares she still had from it. She thought that she was a strong mare, but having wounds such as these opened made her feel like a little filly again needing the protective warmth of her big sister. But just as when she gained her cutie mark, there was nopony there to protect her from the harsh realities thrown her way.

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The newly birthed Nightmare Moon didn’t waste any time once the sun set. She went to the Tulpa who were her personal guards, and the only members of the nocturnal races that still survived. As well as those in her court that she knew felt oppressed and down trodden. With promises for power, and a place of power she played on their desires and insecurities.

From them she formed a network that would spread and gather more supporters, after all she didn’t want to lose her power on her first week and a good powerbase required a good network of followers. It was by the time the night was supposed to end that she had gathered enough followers to start two of the three groups she was known for. The Shadowbolts, the military flying force, and Children of the Night, a cult dedicated to serving Nightmare Moon. Growing her power amongst the populous.

“Thou! What are thou doing here monster?!”

“Did thou forget so soon? We told thou we were Luna and thou forced us to hide this part of thyself. Now we will hide who we are no longer. And we are Luna no longer, nor are we Lulu. We are Nightmare Moon!”

“We ... we didn’t forget. Is that really thou Lulu?” Celestia asked, her ears pinned to the back of her head.

“Didn’t we just tell thou to call us Nightmare Moon? Thou should really learn to listen.” She laughed at her sister’s curious look.

“Well ... Nightmare Moon. Why don’t thou set the moon and we can talk about this?”

“No! We shall talk no longer! We have wasted centuries with thou and thee self righteousness. Always defending thou day loving ponies. Now they will love our night forever. For the moon shall never bow to the sun again!” Calling a huge flash of lightning to ominously signal the end of her sentence.

The fog wrapped up around Luna. Dragging her into the next memory. She was now standing a month later with her sister sitting in front of her. “Listen ‘Nightmare Moon’, we have tried talking peacefully about this. The worlds crops are dying off, monster attacks, and acts of violence have risen by 20%. It is time to let this stop. What will it take for you to drop the moon sister?”

“The acts of violence as we said would stop if thou would allow thy groups into the cities to guard them. But thou still refuse to allow them. These attacks would lessen if thou would allow thee more freedom Tia. Or is it that thou fears us so much that thy would allow our subjects to suffer?”

“Fine. We shall allow your groups more access to the cities. Starting now.”

“Excellent! Well we shall stop talks now and we shall talk more next week. If thou are willing to truly work with us then we will consider allowing the sun to set.”

“Thanks sister. We knew we could see eye to eye if we tried.”

“Yes! Eye to eye”

The truth of the matter and the reason that Nightmare Moon left with a grin on her face and spring in her step was that she was behind the rise of violence and monster attacks. It was a propaganda campaign to make the guards look like bumbling fools who couldn’t save their subjects. While showing just how poorly Celestia was at saving her subjects. The actions of Children of the Night’s extremest cell, Shadows of the Night, was the reason for todays success.

They first set a Canterlot and Fillydelphia orphanage on fire. Resulting in thirteen deaths. Six foals, four fillies, one colt, and two nigth shift workers. Then they drew in a Manticore from the Everfree forest to attack four cities. Each Manticore attacked minor cities that were close to major ones. This way not only showing that the guards “didn’t care” about the smaller cities, but that they were close enough to be helpful and didn’t save lives from being lost.

Than there was buying gangs and bandits to do what they would do anyways, but in targeted areas. Thus guaranteeing that it would have the maximum amount of coverage. That and a few rumors spread amongst the populous of Equestria ensuring that the ponies had doubt about Celestia and her ability to protect them. While making herself look like the better choice of a ruler. After all it wasn’t Celestia keeping Nightmare Moon’s guards and royal forces that were the cause of such dangers. Or at least that’s the half truth she had spread by her cultists.

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“No, no, no! I can’t see any more. I’m sorry! I am so sorry! Please make the horrors stop!” Luna pleaded. Knowing that the blood of those foals were on her hands, as well as the innocents she had killed in her propaganda against her sister. The shadow war to gain a foot hold of power against her sister. Altogether she had been responsible for ninety six deaths just for her sister to let her get a good foot hold, and things were only going to become worse.

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It was a year later, she had used her foot hold to get her cult a massive following that rivaled the Order of the Light, Celestia’s religious movement. She had gained numerous guards and military personnel to defect to her side. Her having the orphanages, daycares, and hospitals burned down by those people with ties to the Order of the Light, thanks to Luna’s brianwashing spell, black mail, and bribes. The later two thanks to a network of middle men who left Luna’s hooves looking clean.

This not only turned popular opinion against her sister’s religious cultists, but turned a good amount of them to herself. Even as the crops had started to fall, and poverty strike. It was funny to Nightmare Moon how she was able to convince the masses that it was her sister that didn’t want too raise the sun. Telling them ‘that if her sister had the power to raise the sun, why didn’t she? Was her sister, the most powerful Alicorn they ‘knew’ of, really unable to raise her sun?’

It had all boiled to a point where she had gained enough power to play her hand. Her sister had stated that she was going to force her to put down the moon. And even though Nightmare Moon had no thoughts of diplomacy, nor of putting down her moon. All it took was the threat of violence for her to put her last plan in motion.

The fog shifted around a crying Luna. Her mind lost in torrent of memories from what she was forced to live through again. When the fog cleared up it was two weeks later outside the hills of Canterlot. She was standing at her first battle. Canterlot was at the time not a city strong hold, like the Everfree. But was still the perfect place for a city stronghold. Nightmare Moon’s city stronghold. She knew that it was the most easiest to defend city, while being close to other cities of actual importance that she could hit and run if needed. Or grind into dust if necessary. But to be fair she sent a messenger to each city and laid an ultimatum. Either bow to her or declare war. She accepted no neutrality, and brooked no opposition.

Her favorite general, General Heart Blood, stood at Canterlot. They were the first city she approached and the first that thought to defy her. So she was going to make a message out of them. The best part of this war was that Celestia wasn’t serious about attacking her sister, and Nightmare Moon knew it. But it was the perfect opportunity to liberate the ‘oppressed masses’ from her ‘tyrant’ of a sister.

It was a true show of it’s resounding success that even a thousand years after her banishment ponies were using her propaganda as they did all those centuries ago. Even if they are ran by nobility, or the rich. But that was to be much later. Back in the war her propaganda turned a half hearted conversation to an act of aggression. Now standing before Canterlot she was going to make a statement that not even her sister would be able to ignore.

Nightmare Moon started with a contingency of Tulpa and Pegasi loaded with napalm, and exploding powder. This along with Luna’s magically enchanted harpoons that targeted enemy living targets, and were coated with solidified shadows that added to their concealment. It was thirty minutes till the city was decimated and most of the rest was on fire. From there her ground forces marched in and impaled every adult pony. While littering their entrails from their still living bodies upon the ground of the city.

It was this that was used as a message to the rest. It was added to the fact that she used Necromancy to raise their bodies after they rotted to fight for her army as shock troops. In both the figurative and literal sense of the word. It was also that message that turned Celestia from sister to protector and ruler of Equestria.

Her four favorite generals where to have their lives not only to go down in infamy, but were to end up in the worst punishment given to a mortal from the Princesses. Turned to stone. Heart Breaker was known to use her power to entrance mares to trick secrets and property out of them. Then he would ditch them. It was his power over the emotions of others and the pain he caused when he was done with them that gave birth to the word “heart breaker”. With the property and national secrets he worked out of his victims they were able to plan around a majority of Celestia’s defense plans in the early four years of the war.

Harvest Shade was a unicorn known for his Necromancy skills. Although this wasn’t made in the light before the war, and Nightmare Moon needed the undead for battle but after the war started he was the go to colt for undead forces. His control over the undead made him instantly feared by both sides. Those on Nightmare Moon’s side called him the Lich and worried about him using them for his undead experiments. While those on the otherside knew that they would be facing their family members, or would they themselves be used against the their family. Until he coined the term Lich, there was no word for ponies like him. Ones who transversed the line between life and death becoming the greatest of noble undead.

Razor Streak was a Pegasi who led her Shadowbolts. He helped her come up with numerous bladed weapons, and helped her fine tune her enchantments for her military group. He was as sharp as his name sake and was a superb air fighter. Only the Kicker clan was able to survive the battles against him, although only one of their clan was able to draw blood. It was one of the reason that the Kicker clan is as famous as it is. For that pony was the only one to ever do any damage to Razor Streak. The great Stone “The Wall” Kicker.

Then there was Last Laugh.He was an Earth Pony double agent who allowed himself to be experimented on by Nightmare Moon to hold a number of traps and enchanments woven into himself. He used these spells to self destruct destroying hundreds of yards around him when ever anyone would try to capture him. Then the spells would reform his body. It was only during his battle with Celestia that he had the last laugh for real. As he turned to stone he turned himself to a giant grenade destroying a mile of land around Celestia. Taking out a large chunk of her forces, and giving rise to the idiom “Having the last laugh”.

With these four generals she had a reign of terror that kept Celestia on her toes. Made many laws and defenses against necromancy. As well as changed the social landscape of Equestria as family was pitted against family. By the seventh year the war was at a close and the population of Equestria was lowered by 40%. Celestia lured her sister out to the hills near the Everfree forest and used the Elements of Harmony as a weapon to bind her sister to the moon. The thing that nopony ever knew about that time was that it was Luna who guided Nightmare Moons actions. They were the same being, and it was her need for vengeance and respect that caused her to do the atrocities against the ponies of Equestria. Although her sister and others were to quick to think of Nightmare Moon and Luna as separate beings. She knew that Nightmare Moons sins were her own, and the blood of Equestria lay on her hooves.

Comments

[Deathpony45]

Man Lulu's going through some serious shit. I mean damn that's gotta suck for her. I I've the generals though they're all so cleverly named and characterized sucks to know Luna's going to have to go through a lot more till she's done

[TheGreatEater]

2612497

Yep One more part that is worse than the last two chapters. Than she faces her dark side ... which is going to be so fun *sarcasm*. But yeah at least she's going have Rarity there for her.