> Heir of the Nightmare
>  by Polaris501
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue: Those Left Behind
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters 

Five hours and one minute after the banishment of Nightmare Moon

Celestia





She couldn’t stop crying.

Celestia wanted to, but she just couldn’t cease to mourn for her beloved sister.  She was sitting in the ruins of their home, her tears wetting the ground, grieving for the horrible loss that gripped her broken heart.  

“How did I not see it coming?”

Questions like these are what the sun princess asked herself, over and over again.  Remembering everything and trying to piece together the reasons for her little sister’s despair.  Try as she might though, Celestia just couldn’t come to grips with Luna’s hatred, it eluded her and taunted her with how much she had failed her beloved Lulu.

And so she wept.

Her subjects had long since fled, terrified of the monster her sister had become.  Celestia knew she should go to them, calm them, and soothe their fears.  But how could she when she couldn’t calm herself?

The elements had abandoned her.

As soon as Celestia had banished her sister to the moon, the gems faded and went inert, rejecting the royal sisters, no longer finding them worthy of being their bearers.  Turning themselves to stone, they refused to answer her pleading and begging, no matter how much she cried before the deaf stones.  Magic itself disappeared, waiting for the one who would wield it again with its full power, uniting the others in a harmonic balance.

Still she wept.

Celestia lied on the cold rubble, wishing that it was all an illusion, praying that it had all been a nightmare.

Nightmare Moon.

Just the name caused the broken princess to renew her sobbing, laying her head pitifully in the puddle of her own sadness as fresh tears fell like stars to join their brethren beneath the weeping mare.

“Luna, what will I do without you?  We were meant to rule together.  Why has this happened?  I’m so sorry Lulu, I have failed as a princess, as a friend, and as your big sister.  Please, just let it all be a bad dream.  Please, come back to me……”

Only the silence answered her pleading.





Several hours later Celestia dragged herself through the remains of her home, searching for an answer, a memory, and a shred of hope for her little sister.  She never stopped weeping, a trail of tears followed the white alicorn all throughout the ruins.  

She was standing in Lulu’s room.

It was a pale shadow of the beauty it once inspired.  The bed was torn, curtains ripped, and stone shattered.  What grief tore at her little sister that would drive her to the depths of despair and madness?

There Celestia collapsed on the torn bed, fresh sobbing wracking her frame as new grief rose up inside the remorseful pony.

A faint crying could be heard.

It was not her own, she realized, and Celestia searched for the source of the foreign wailing.

It was coming from under the broken stone of her sister’s floor.

Celestia weakly rose to her hooves, the waterfall of tears never ceasing and looked through weeping eyes for the origin of the soft crying.  She could hear it under the stone, and lifting up the scorched rubble she uncovered a secret stairwell.

Slowly trotting down the tunnel, Celestia knew this wasn’t a trapdoor or secret passageway she and her sister had built to have fun with when they were younger.

More sadness crashed into her as she dissolved to tears again, thinking of her fallen sister.

But still she carried on, for the crying had grown weaker until it had fallen into nothing.  At the end of the tunnel and at the end of the stairs, Celestia finally beheld what her sister had hidden.

It was a foal’s room.

Celestia stood bewildered as she took in the room in its entirety.  Somehow Luna had kept secret the pregnancy and birth of the foal not just from Equestria, but from her family as well.

Luna had obviously put a lot of love and care into the room.  The ceiling was a perfect replication of her sister’s sky, lovingly painted and crafted into absolute beauty.  The walls showed lush green fields and beautiful flowers that only bloomed under the gentle light of a full moon.  Scattered around the floor were small toys and books that looked like they had been played with by even tinier hooves.

But what held Celestia’s sad gaze the most was the crib, and the small occupant that she could not yet see within. The sun princess walked quietly up to crib, and looked down carefully inside it.

It was a small, beautiful, and adorable alicorn filly.  She had lavender fur that matched the color of the sky as the sun set, and a purple mane and tail with a pink highlight.  Her wings matched her coat, gently tucked at her side.  A small and stubby horn poked out from beneath the mane.  She was gently sleeping.

No she wasn’t, Luna’s foal was dying.

Celestia could see now that the defenseless foal’s breathing was shallow and weak, coming out in weak rasps.  Her heart beat was small and fluttering unevenly.  The princess could see small black flecks that clung to the foal’s coat like an infection.

With the utmost care, Celestia picked the foal up in her magic and scanned to see what was wrong, for she had to save her sister’s child.  She couldn’t imagine her failure if her niece too, was lost because of her failure.

Dark Magic.

Celestia cringed as she felt the malady that clung to the innocent filly like a leech on a pony.  The dark magic sapped at her life force, devouring it without care for the lavender foal that it was killing.

What could she do?  Celestia did not know how to remove it without injuring the dying filly, the elements might have healed her completely if they hadn’t gone dormant.

A sacrifice would be necessary.

Celestia did not know how this Dark Magic came to infect the foal, but a sneaking suspicion told her it was because of Lu……..Nightmare Moon.

Carefully lifting the foal up, Celestia began casting her spell, hoping for it to work.

Since Celestia did not know the source of the infection, and the elements were asleep, the princess had to draw on the filly’s own internal magic to heal her.

The cost would be high.

The foal squirmed slightly in discomfort, but was too far gone to do anything else.

Like a surgeon, Celestia tapped into the filly’s magic and began siphoning it into the spell that might save her.  She first took her earth pony magic, as it was the most healing of the three.

It was not enough.

Crying silently, Celestia took the small alicorn’s pegasus magic too, and the foal’s wings disappeared, leaving nothing but a few small feathers that fell to the cold stone below.

The Dark Magic faded, leaving the grievously wounded foal in her aunt’s embrace. 

Celestia’s tears started flowing again, but these were intermingled with tears of hope and a small bit of happiness.

Her niece still wouldn’t wake up.

Celestia desperately renewed her search for injuries and infection, but found none within the small foal.  With more tears streaming down, following pre-determined scars down the white mares face, Celestia realized that the shock of having the dark magic removed and the siphoning of her magic had put the foal into a coma.

Celestia knew what needed to be done.  The foal wouldn’t survive for long in a coma, and though Celestia wanted to take care of her sister’s foal, she knew that if ponies discovered that her sister had given birth to a child, they might seek to harm her precious niece.

Wrapping the filly in a gentle swirl of magic, Celestia slowed down the effects of the coma and placed the filly in a magical cocoon that would keep her safe and stable until she awoke.

Lifting the homeostasis pod onto her back, Celestia prepared to leave the room but stopped.  She searched with her eyes around the room, trying to see if her sister had named her daughter.

There fastened to the crib, a silver plaque was emblazoned with a name.

My beautiful star, Twilight Andromeda Sparkle

> Chapter 1:  Silent Chains
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The surface of the moon

Five hours and one minute after the banishment of Nightmare Moon

Luna





She couldn’t stop screaming.

Darkness rolled over the surface of the moon, shifting at mind-breaking speeds as it encircled the source of its turmoil.  Dust was kicked up into the black void from the rage that infested the lunar crust.

Black chains were spiked down by long iron stakes, nailing their prisoner to her charge.

There in the center of the largest crater, an alicorn with the fur of a moonless night was held down by enchanted chains that consumed her magic, binding her in the darkness.

Luna was in great pain, her wings were bound to her sides, pinned down by a thick iron ring that surrounded her barrel.  All four of her legs were captured by unyielding chains that stretched out over the surface of her moon.  Her neck was clamped by a collar that fastened to the hard rock beneath her.

She couldn’t breathe, there was no air for her lungs to take in and so they scrunched in agonizing contractions, desperate for anything to fill them.  

She could barely move, her chains pulled at her feeble body in different directions, stretching her out until any movement she attempted was met with agonizing torture.

Even her tears became a curse, for whenever she cried, they would freeze instantly from the lack of any warmth, burning her eyes with their frozen spikes that dug into her pupils.

She knew that soon she would be in even more agony, for there was nothing she could do to quench her thirst or satisfy her hunger.

But the worst was the silence.

No matter how much she struggled, pawed, and screamed there was nothing for her ears to receive.  The trapped mare was left with nothing but the maddening ringing that her ears produced.

With nothing but a lifeless wasteland and empty space to cast her hellfire gaze, with naught but vacuum to fill her frozen lungs, the eroding princess desperately grasped the last dregs of her sanity that held her besieged soul together.

A bitter hatred and a shred of love was all that remained of Luna.

Love for a small filly she had just brought into the world.  Luna had been filled with joy at her birth, for now there was somepony that she could empty her love into, but now those forlorn hopes were dashed to pieces with her banishment.  How could she take care of and love her daughter when they were now worlds apart?  All Luna had left to give her daughter was a fervent prayer that her child would survive, and remember the mother who loved her.  

That one hope was crushed under the tempered hammer of the nightmares cold logic. 

We know that Twilight will die, no one knew of her existence.  She will die alone and forsaken.

But….sister will find her….probably….and c-care for her……f-for me…..

Sister will leave her to die, we know this.  She will not care for the child, not when we have betrayed her.

But surely Tia’ would spare my innocent foal!  She would never abandon her family…..

Like she has left us to freeze on this forsaken wasteland?  Celestia will give the child over to her stolen subjects, letting them do with her as they please.

No!!  My beloved child…..my little star……please be alright……

She is dead as sure as we are imprisoned on this rock….the last hope is gone……what is left to do?

D-dead…..gone……..No!!! Surely……but what if…..my child, gone?  With sister not……….and with my foal……….what is left for me?

Embrace the pain, the anger, only then will we survive to avenge Twilight.

Yes……nothing remains……..revenge…….sister will pay!!!  They will ALL SUFFER!!

With hope reduced to ashes in the farthest recesses of her beleaguered mind, only anger remained to tempt her.

The hatred consumed her, hardening her heart and isolating her soul, leaving a black hole where once harmony and love stood entrenched.  Her once sharp mind eroded away into a downhill slide of utter insanity, breaking her consciousness into shattered pieces of forgotten remembrance.  Time flew faster than a moment and lasted longer than eternity, adding to the madness that infected the black mare.

Still she screamed.

At her sister, who had imprisoned her.

At her subjects, who wouldn’t love her.

At her moon, who had betrayed her.

And for her beloved child, whom she had left behind.

Yet no sound escaped her.

And thus it was for a thousand years.





The night of the Summer Sun Celebration

Nightmare Moon

A thousand years of battling herself for the salvation of her sanity, having only hatred as her companion, and of building dark power fueled by despair and anger that was barely leashed by the faltering chains of harmony.

A thousand years of tears to freeze and drift in the void that was the torn remains of her heart.

The stars aligned, lending their magic to aid their mistress in her escape.

Ancient bonds shattered under the onslaught of the nightmare’s fury.

And a demon unleashed upon a world that had forgotten her.

Now was the hour of her vengeance.

So the lunar alicorn forsook her moon, plummeting to the earth and burning a path through the night sky, taking the form of a falling star.

Nightmare Moon had returned.

__________

As Nightmare stood in a lonely meadow, her hooves forming deep imprints in the crater scarring the earth, she took in her first breath in ages, the cold night air finally refreshing her long dormant lungs.  Pain filled her throat from being used after so long, but it was worth it.  

She could finally hear again, sounds and sensations surrounded her, overwhelming her broken mind with the renewal of feelings.  Her fangs glistened with saliva as she desperately devoured the grass at her hooves, finally smothering the hunger that had tortured her for a millennium.

Finished with her grassy meal, the black mare weakly limped with renewed fervor to the nearby creek, guzzling down a river of water to wet her mouth and quench the drought within her.

Having taken in her fill, the suffering mare fell and panted on her side, wallowing in the mud, grateful to be allowed even the most mundane of sensations.

It is time, Celestia will finally suffer for the petulant obstruction of our glorious night.

We will find you sister, your sun will set.

Raising her armored head, the rejuvenated alicorn sent out a wave of magic, searching for her hated foe.

The sun princess’s signature glowing magic radiated from a nearby mountain.

Her eyes pierced through the darkness of her night and gazed for the first time upon the mountain city of Canterlot

“Nothing shall stop us.”





Canterlot Castle

Celestia

She was only expecting one pony to attend her court this evening, and this mare had been on the sun princess’s schedule before the foundations of her castle were first hewed from the surrounding mountain.  Celestia had prepared extensively for this night, anticipating the imminent arrival of her long-awaited visitor.  The tall white mare had maneuvered her chess pieces into their proper places, setting up a trap so that she could call check-mate, and finally end this game.

Her guards gone, deceived into leaving the castle so that they would not throw themselves away.

The servants dismissed, sent home to their loved ones so they would not suffer for her mistake.

And her student faithfully awaiting her teacher, forging together the friendship that might redeem her mother.

Nopony to be harmed in the crossfire of her failure.

And so she patiently waited in her silent castle, sitting before her empty throne, ever-watching for her opponent’s next move.

The large gilded doors opened widely upon oiled hinges, silent in their protest of the invader.  The sound of hooves shod in iron clacked across the marble, echoing off the stone walls before fading once more into silence.

“Greetings dear sister.”

“…….good evening.... Luna.....it has been a long time.”

Before Celestia’s haunted eyes stood the source of the parasitic fears that had plagued her mind for uncounted years.

Silhouetted in the starlight stood an alicorn mare with fur as black as coal as a polished helm sat upon her brow.  A burnished steel chest plate kissed by the moon projected from her chest and a sharpened obsidian horn deadlier than a sword rose from her forehead.  The demon’s mane and tail sparkled with dim stars that billowed wildly like an unleashed hurricane.  Her teal eyes, with slits for pupils like that of a poisonous snake, glowed from within the helm and pierced into the sun sister’s soul.  She had hooves covered in armor that seemed eager for bones to crack underneath.  Her bat-like wings were flared in malevolence, ready for a fight.  Fangs longer than knives smiled at Celestia.

Nightmare Moon stood before her once more.

“That is not our name.”  the black mare corrected in a voice dripping with malice.

“Very well…..the names we choose for ourselves are a reflection of the choices we make in this life.  If Nightmare Moon is what you choose to call yourself, then that is what I shall name you.”

“Speak not in riddles, we did not break out of our infernal prison to banter with you.”

A pause, the estranged sisters stared into the other’s eyes, one searching for a trace of light while the other searched for a sign of weakness.

Celestia searched with a desperate and aching heart for a shred of her little sister, a remnant that she could bring out of the darkness and love, to share the light with.

But the white alicorn could find none.  All she could see when she gazed at the fanged alicorn before her was the ancient foe that she had imprisoned on the moon.  Celestia had always hoped that a part of her sister remained in the monster that she could bring to the surface so that she would not have to put her student in such danger for the sake of her subjects.  But it was not to be, only the cleansing power of the elements could save her sister now.

“So be it.”

With that final statement, Celestia leapt to her hooves at the speed of lightning and charged her horn with powerful magic, aiming it at the nightmare that stood opposite of her, intending to defeat her awry sister before anypony else could be harmed.

She was not quick enough.

An arrow of Dark Magic tinged with blue and black had already streaked from the fallen princess’s horn and pierced through the air at the sun princess.  It hissed with ill intents as it flew between them, lighting up the room with its hatred.

It connected with Celestia’s chest.

Pain beyond anything she had experienced blossomed at the contact of the beam, it burned through her torc and branded her skin with its searing anger.

With a despairing cry of desperation, Celestia felt herself fly backward at an alarming speed and she hit the wall with a resounding crack, breaking her wings, bending them at agonizing angles, and her head bouncing off the hard cold stone; her crown falling off onto floor.

Barely conscious, Celestia slid down the wall to the stone below, not being able to control her legs through the haze of pain that fogged her mind.  She could barely hear the sound of armored hooves trotting towards her, slowly growing in volume as they approached.

Her eyes fluttered open in a controlled effort to get up, to resist, but her tears filled them once more for failing her beloved sister.  All she could think about was how weak she was.  Celestia could never truly prepare to fight her sister again, not after so long, and she had been a fool to think she could.  Celestia looked up with a blurry gaze and saw the outline of her attacker who wore a razor sharp smile that reflected the moonlight.

“Please….sister….” 

An iron hoof filled her vision, raised above her limp head.

“Good-night Celestia.”

The hoof descended.

And Celestia knew no more.
> Chapter 2:  The Empty Crib
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Castle

One hour and three minutes after the Return of Nightmare Moon

Nightmare Moon





WHERE ARE THEY!!!!

A trail of wreckage followed in the Nightmare’s wake as she searched Canterlot Castle for clues to the location of the Elements of Harmony, the one thing that could defeat her now.  After dealing with Celestia, she had immediately scanned the castle for their presence, for the element’s power signature should have shone like a beacon in the darkness.

They weren’t there.

Growing worried with the lack of their dominating presence, the tall mare then began searching through the sun princesses’ room, looking for any indication of where she had hidden the powerful artifacts.  Papers littered the floor, books ripped open, and desks overturned.

Nothing.

Nightmare knew only too well the elements poised a threat to her, having once used them herself and being on the receiving end of their power as well.

It had not been a pleasant millennium.  

It had come as a surprise to her that Celestia did not have them with her, leaving only a mystery to where the dreaded gems might be.  

She did not know why, but the fact that they weren’t in the castle was maddening to the lunar alicorn.

What’s this?

A single paper with a few choice words caught the draconic eyes’ attention, and picking it up in her magic, she quickly scanned it, her eyes darting across the page, it said;

To HRH, Princess Celestia of Equestria

Greetings your majesty!  Preparations are under way for your imminent arrival in our fair town.  Thank you so much for hosting the 1000th Summer Sun Celebration here in Ponyville!  Everything is falling into place smoothly as you have requested and your guards arrived earlier than expected, but no harm was done.  The Books and Branches Library has been set aside for your personal protégé while she stays here, and I also report that I gave a list of all of the ponies in charge of the festivities so that she may begin organizing the event in earnest.  Thanks again!

Sincerely, 

Mayor Mare of Ponyville

That usurping ingrate!  She made a HOLIDAY of our banishment!! For the SUN of all things!!!

It grated Nightmare’s fangs that her sister had embraced so willingly her solo rule of Equestria, but the enraged alicorn was able to pick up a piece of useful information from the hated missive.

Celestia’s personal protégé

In the years before her banishment, Nightmare remembered that the white alicorn had been fond of being a strong patron of education, and had been entertaining the idea of her own private school.  However, the black alicorn knew that it was nearly impossible for Celestia to take on a full time apprentice with her duties and that it wasn’t in her character to single out one pony above the rest.

What made this one so special?

Mulling this over in her mind, Nightmare grinned as she decided to kill two birds with one stone.

If this pony is so important to Celestia, he or she is bound to know where the wretched mare has hidden the elements, plus, crashing Celestia’s precious celebration will be an excellent way to introduce our new reign.  

Her malevolent laughter, filled with malice, echoed off the empty castle walls, Nightmare searched through the other papers until she found the location of the town and where the celebration was to be held.

Satisfied with her findings, she pushed open the balcony doors with her magic roughly, causing their frames to crash in protest off the castle walls.  Nightmare Moon opened up her wings, and with a joyous relish she sailed off into her glorious night, leaving the forsaken castle behind.

The hunt for the elements had begun.





Ponyville Town Hall

Nightmare Moon

As her magic created a cyclone of a seething mass of stars, Nightmare could hear the delicious sounds of fearful squeals and screams coming from her new subjects.  Appearing with a flourish of her powerful magic and a flap of her mighty wings, the crowd of ponies below hushed quickly upon seeing her.  Casting her searching eyes around the town hall, she addressed them.

“Oh my beloved subjects, it’s been so long since I’ve seen your precious little sun-loving faces.”

“What did you do with our princess?”  a cyan-pegasus yelled at her, but before she could fly up to where Nightmare could swat her down like the insolent fly she was, a tan earth pony with a comically large hat seized the pegusus’s rainbow tail in between her teeth, halting the pegasus’s flight.

“Whoa there nelly!”

Nightmare had to laugh at the pitiful effort, her cold voice was alone in the crowded building as she spat at them.

“Why?  Am I not royal enough for you?  Don’t you know who I am?”

A pudgy pink earth pony was the next to speak up, Nightmare immediately disliked the mare from the way she spoke with familiarity and the lack of respect.

“Ooh ooh!  More guessing games!  Uuumm, Hokey Smoke?  How ‘bout, Queen Meanie?  No, Black Snooty!  Black Snooty!”

Before the enraged alicorn could shut the childish pony’s foalish mouth, the tan mare once again intervened and stuffed an apple in the offending mare’s mouth, muffling her annoying voice.

At least somepony here has some common sense.

Nightmare suddenly drew closer to some of the ponies, watching in delight as their faces were the picture of abject terror at her proximity.

“Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?  Did you not recall the legend?  Did you not see the signs?”

“I did!!”

Nightmare looked quickly at the pony that spoke up and was shocked by the visage before her.  It was a lavender unicorn that had a purple mane with pink highlights, and she was staring up at Nightmare in utter defiance.

She looks just like my foal…….

NO!!  She’s dead!  We’re sure of it!  This mare is a unicorn anyway!!  The foal was an alicorn!

Quickly reaching out with her magic, Nightmare’s divided thoughts were clarified as her scan verified that the mare only possessed unicorn magic.  As Nightmare recovered from her shock and her cold demeanor reappeared on her features, the lavender unicorn continued unaware of the black alicorn’s pause.

“And I know who you are!  You’re the Mare in the Moon!  Nightmare Moon!”

The crowd gasped as Nightmare regarded the unicorn before her in pleasant surprise.

“Well, well, well, somepony who remembers me.  Then you also know why I’m here!” 

The purple mare backed up and whimpered pathetically at Nightmare’s spiteful declaration. 

“You’re here to…to…”  

Forgetting the unicorn when she began stuttering in fear, Nightmare’s scornful laugh reverberated across the room as her glee let loose and she set forth her first royal declaration.

“Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last.  From this moment forward, the night, will last forever!!”

Letting her magic loose in her euphoria, her mane filled up the room in a tremendous hurricane of force, lightning flashing across the room and causing the small ponies to shirk in fear.

Her laughter was interrupted as she heard another mare yell out.

“Seize her!!  Only she knows where the princess is!!”

Broken out of her manic reverie, Nightmare looked down into the crowd for the heckler but instead spotted three royal guards flying at her, their faces carved in grim determination.

Reaching out with her magic at the magical storm she had caused, her eyes lit up in a powerful glow as she attacked.

“Stand back you FOALS!!!”

Her lightning thundered out towards the incoming pegasi, striking them and hurling the unconscious guards into a feathered mess at the base of the walls.

Nightmare knew she had made her point and wrapped herself in powerful magic that caused a tornado of wind to fill the room with a dramatic display of power as she left the ponies to their wailing.  Snaking through the air at a speed most pegasi couldn’t match, the tendril of magic went out into the town, renewing her search for the elements.

She flew out to the edge of the town so she could gather her thoughts and plan her next move.

The letter she had read earlier detailed that Celestia’s student had been given residence in the town library, which by its name she deduced was a tree.  Flying back into the town, she soon spotted the library and flew up to a nearby window where she spotted the ponies within.

There inside were ponies she recognized from her earlier interaction, a white unicorn, two pegasi, and two earth ponies.

And the lavender unicorn.

She knew of our return and she is here in the library!  That unicorn must be Celestia’s protégé!

The unicorn was speaking, and Nightmare heard the tail end of the lecture she was giving to the other five mares. 

“…..it is said the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.”

Celestia left the Elements in our castle?  That’s strange……..but no matter, I’ll find them soon enough and destroy them.

Not needing any other information, she flew off into the direction of where the castle was.

She couldn’t find it.

Nightmare looked on in shock at the state of the lush fields that once surrounded their castle, it had turned into an overgrown jungle.  

The forest dominated her view and Nightmare could barely see through the mist, and the thick canopy of trees covered up any sign of the castle.  How was she supposed to find the elements in this mess?

The black alicorn, disguised as a magical mist, pondered over her situation.  She needed to find the elements as fast as possible, but searching the forest would take too long.

Nightmare then spotted Celestia’s protégé leading the other five to the edge of the forest, and realized that the locals might know where the castle is.  Deciding to follow them, she watched the group as they paused at the base of the cliff.

We don’t need all of them.  Losing a few might prove beneficial later.

Acting quickly, she divided herself up and dove in the cracks of the cliff, digging into the weak spots, causing the mountain to have a landslide.  

Nightmare pulled out and observed the group.  The two pegasi flew above while the others tumbled down, the two flyers quickly grabbed the pink earth pony and the white unicorn, but the other earth pony and the lavender unicorn kept falling.

She then saw the earth pony stop herself by grabbing onto a root with her teeth, but the unicorn continued her descent until she hung over the cliff, barely keeping from plummeting below.

The tan earth pony let go of her root and quickly got in front of the unicorn, hooking their hooves together.  Nightmare could see them trade words but didn’t pay attention, for she then saw the two pegasi fly down below the unicorn, who then let go and allowed them to catch her.

Cursing silently, Nightmare followed them along the path until she spotted a manticore sleeping on the trail up ahead.  Forming some of her magic into the shape of a thorn, Nightmare plunged the conjured thorn into its paw, waking it up, roaring in pain.  Nightmare flew silently into the underbrush and waited for the six mares to catch up.

When they did, she saw them stop in surprise at the manticore, and Nightmare watched in utter enjoyment as they fruitlessly battled the beast.  The manticore lunged forward in its anger and the white unicorn reared back and kicked it, yelling obscenely at it.  Unimpressed, the manticore just lowered itself and roared back, sending the white mare away in fright.  The beast chased after the fleeing unicorn until the tan earth pony jumped onto its back and rode it like it was some kind of rodeo event.  Nightmare amusingly watched as the manticore sent the earth pony flying, and the rainbow pegasus flew up to it and used her Pegasus magic to envelop the beast in a whirlwind.  It seemed to have some effect until the large beast lashed out with its tail and swatted the Pegasus onto the dirt in front of the others.  The Pegasus returned to its feet and four others joined her in charging at the manticore.  Nightmare watched in cruel anticipation until a loud shout interrupted her fun.

“WAIT!!!!!!”

The timid pegasus, which Nightmare had ignored, stopped the others before calmly cantering up to the beast.  Nightmare’s mouth would have gaped in utter astonishment if the mist she was currently in would have allowed it.  The weak mare gently ripped out the thorn she had placed, and after roaring promptly, causing the others to yell in concern of the pegasus’s wellbeing, the beast picked up the mare and groomed her!  GROOMED HER!

I cannot believe this!  Of all the…has so much changed that beasts have become….kittens?

Nightmare paused, she knew a lot could change in a thousand years but not an animal’s instinct to devour pony as prey.  

Something else was at work.

Kindness.

With a sudden feeling of anger that consumed her being, Nightmare realized that these six mares were undoubtedly the team Celestia had chosen to wield the elements against her, led by the sun princess’s personal student.  

As the mares went around the beast, Nightmare quickly flew down the path.  She searched with malice in her heart for her next setup.  Sensing the trees that surrounded the pathway, she quickly infected them with dark magic that would distort their appearance and cause them to radiate fear towards the ponies that looked at them.

Not waiting to see the results of her enchantments, she flew off quickly again down the pathway, flying over a river and cutting off a serpent’s mustache in spite as she passed.  Nightmare’s anger grew as she anticipated the battle to come, and her draconic eyes finally settled upon a stone mass across a deep chasm.

It would have indeed taken Nightmare a long time to find the castle with trees sprouting through the lower hallways and the walls covered in plant growth, camouflaging it.  Reaching out with her magic, Nightmare searched for the elements before the meddling mares could arrive.

She couldn’t find anything.

Again!?  But they must be here!!

Nightmare could sense the lingering magic of the Tree of Harmony below the castle, in its cave where she and Celestia discovered it years ago, but the elements themselves she could not detect.

Nightmare flew up to the ruins of the front entrance to the castle and materialized, her black form overshadowing the gate.  Flinging them open with a burst of magic, she proceeded to search the castle, starting with Celestia’s old room.

They’re not here!  But where…..

The black alicorn’s internal tirade trailed off as her draconic eyes locked onto the doorway to her old room.  She hesitated, not wanting to stop her search but wanting to see what had become of her foal.

Did she dare?  What would she find?  Bones?  Dust?  A bloody smear?

With dread filling the remains of her heart, Nightmare gently pushed open the door and stepped a thousand years into the past.

The room was a sorry sight, whatever wood remained had long rotted and animals had made homes in what was once royal furnishing.  Nightmare could barely recognize the room where she lived for years.

What captivated her gaze however, was the upturned stone slab, revealing a set of stairs.

Twilight

She paused there and debated leaving it as it was.  Nightmare had long decided that her foal was dead, and looking at what remained was not going to help what sanity she held onto.

She descended anyway.

Luna lit her horn and looked ahead as the faint light revealed bits of the stairwell.  Moss covered the walls and spiders scurried away from the lunar alicorn.  The stairwell ended after descending several hooves below her room, and Luna halted again before she stepped into her foal’s tomb, not truly willing to face the pain that would inevitably come.  

But….for her daughter….she would make the effort.

Luna  took those final steps and lit up the room as she fully stepped inside.

Desolation greeted her tear-filled eyes.

The walls and ceiling, which she had once painted for her small foal to see had faded to nothing, the gray stone revealed underneath.  
No paint adorned the walls, not a shred of the love she had put into this room remained.  Where once stars and flowers were was nothing but cold hard stone, the paint peeling away with time.  The floor, which had once been padded with soft flooring, only had plant undergrowth that reeked of decay and animal droppings littering the floor.  The toys that her foal had played with were all gone, destroyed by ponies or by time, the mourning mother could not tell.

The crib.

Luna stood there a long time, staring at the remains of what once held her pride and joy.  It was a heap of rotting boards and it had fallen to the hard floor, Nightmare could see that rats and other filth had created a nest where once her child slept.  The silver plate was crumpled and she couldn’t make out the name she knew was inscribed on it.

My beautiful star, Twilight Andromeda Sparkle

It might as well have been a tombstone.

She stepped up to the crib, and gently tossed away the garbage until she could see what was underneath.

Nothing.

No bones, no dust, no trace.  Nothing remained of her beloved daughter.

Sadness overcame her, grief filling the last remains of her broken heart, and the weeping mare fell to her knees, not caring for the filth staining her coat, just wanting to be near the child she still mourned.

She cried, her tears wetting the empty crib.

Twilight….oh my Twilight…..I am so sorry……please, wherever you are……please forgive me…

Luna knew she could not stay there long, if she did, she would never leave.

And so she left, leaving the empty crib behind her, watching as darkness swallowed it once more.

Her heart too, stayed there.





Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters

Nightmare Moon

Fate, it seemed, had a sense of irony.

Nightmare was observing her opponents carefully, for some previous moments past Nightmare, using dark magic illusions, had whispered sweet nothings into the cyan-pegasus’s deaf ears, but the foalish filly refused and had rejoined her friends.

Friends.

That didn’t sit well with Nightmare, she could see the bonds forming, it would power the elements, and they would send her back to the moon!

No.  She would never go back.  Never.

She watched them carefully as they discovered the elements, and Nightmare seethed in anger at the sight of them, her nostrils flaring in utter hatred!  They were right where she and her sister had put them, a pedestal that could be stored underneath the castle to store the elements.

She studied them closely, no wonder she couldn’t sense them, they seemed drained of magic, dormant, and dead.

No magic.

There were only five, without the sixth, they were powerless.

Victory was upon her.

Nightmare watched carefully as the five mares left the lavender unicorn with the five dead stones.  

Now, while they’re separated!  The elements are ours for the taking!!!

She appeared in a whirlwind around the rocks and swiftly gathered them up, as she powered her spell to teleport, she heard the unicorn cry out.

“The elements!”

Before Nightmare could react, the mare jumped into her spell just as Nightmare teleported.

With a flash of light, Nightmare reappeared in the throne room of the castle, where she took the elements and went to the platform where the ruined thrones sat while the weak mare sputtered and coughed from the teleportation.  Nightmare started to laugh at the poor mare in a cruel manner, her laughter driving spikes of fear into her opponent.  This?  This was her sister’s prize student?  Nightmare looked down at the mare and saw she was pawing at the stone, as if preparing to charge.

“You’re kidding.  You’re kidding right?”

As soon as the words slipped from between her fangs, the unicorn started galloping at her.  Reciprocating the action, Nightmare took absolute joy in toying with the mare, assured that victory was upon her with the elements dead!

As they charged, Nightmare lowered her head, intending to impale the unicorn on her sharpened horn.  

Any moment now……

Right before the unicorn met her death however, she teleported in a flash of purple light that temporarily blinded Nightmare’s sensitive eyes.

As the tall alicorn recovered, she turned around to where she saw the elements surrounded in the glow of the unicorn’s magic!

“Just one spark….come on…come on!!”

Not willing to take any chances, Nightmare quickly dissolved into her purple mist and teleports her way back in front of the mare, materializing and breaking the unicorn’s concentration.

With a cry of pain, the purple filly flew back from the magical backlash, but Nightmare could see the elements glowing with power, it seemed to be working!

“No!!No!!”

But then the magic faded.

Laughing like a demon possessed, Nightmare reared back and brought her hooves crashing down on the dead elements, shattering them into small fragments.  She heard the unicorn cry out in despair.

“But where’s the sixth element?”

Nightmare couldn’t stop laughing, for with the elements finally broken, nothing remained to stop her.  She turned back to the unicorn and spoke in a voice laced with poison.

“You little foal!  Thinking you could defeat me!  Now you will never see your princess or your sun.  The night will last forever!!”

The lunar alicorn let loose her magic in her euphoria, the dark magic rolling over the remains of the castle, lightening flashing through broken windows.  She could barely heard the sounds of the other five mares approaching.

The lavender unicorn spoke up again, her voice defiant and determined.

“You think you can destroy the elements of harmony just like that?  Well you’re wrong!  Because the spirits of the elements of harmony are right here!”

The elements activated.

The black alicorn could only stare in shock as the elements that were surely destroyed began faintly glowing with an inner magic.

“What?!”

So bewildered by this turn of events, she barely heard what the unicorn said next, Nightmare was trying to figure out why the gems had suddenly come to life.  She had destroyed them, hadn’t she?

“Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt represents the spirit of honesty!   Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of kindness!  Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of laughter!  Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of generosity!  And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart’s desire, represents the spirit of loyalty!  The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us!”

With each utterance from the unicorn’s mouth, the elements formed around one of the five mares and formed a necklace bearing the resemblance of their respective cutie-marks.

But magic was still gone.

“You still don’t have the sixth element!  The spark didn’t work!”

Nightmare was beginning to hate how defiant this insolent unicorn was, but the pure magical energy that now permeated the air was destabilizing her own magic, preventing her from acting in any form or fashion.

“But it did, a different kind of spark!  I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you, the spark ignited inside me, when I realized that you all, are my friends!”

With a light as bright as the sun, the Element of Magic appeared above the unicorn, its power radiating so intensely that Nightmare had to look away and shield her sensitive eyes with a wing.

“You see Nightmare Moon, when those elements are ignited by the…the spark that resides in the heart of us all.  It creates the sixth element, the element of magic!”

Nightmare could only watch in complete horror, terror gripping her, as the six mares began glowing and the elements began connecting together, gathering their awesome magic.

NO!!!!!  WE WILL NOT GO BACK TO THE MOON!!!!!!

The midnight alicorn knew how the elements worked, they found the source of something that was disharmonic, and corrected it.  They acted like any other energy, from positive to negative, from harmony to disharmony, balancing it.  To escape the rainbow beam that was about to be unleashed on her, Nightmare reached out to find something else nearby that also was disharmonious, the tree, the castle.. ..Anything!

One thing shared Nightmare’s malady.

Not knowing what it was and not caring, since the beam had already begun to form, Nightmare reached out to the magic of the elements and redirected it.

Normally, others couldn’t do this, but half of the elements had once been wielded by Nightmare herself, and with the elements already under the strain of the magic, all it would take was a little misguidance to redirect the beam so that Nightmare could escape.

Transfixed by the pure power of harmony that filled her senses, Nightmare watched in increasing levels of fear as the beam ascended high above her.

And then collapse on itself.

A bright flash

Screaming mares

Nightmare couldn’t watch anymore and turned away as the light blinded her.

Then it stopped.

Nightmare opened her draconic eyes, fearing she would see the moon.

What she did see was just as shocking.

Collapsed on the floor in various states of discomfort, the six mares were all near unconscious from the power they had just channeled. 

But one of them was different.

The lavender mare laid still on the stone floor.

With wings.




It can’t be…….
> Chapter 3:  Harmonic Misfire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters

One Minute After Elements of Harmony Activation

Nightmare Moon





For the longest time she just stared, her mouth slack like a drawbridge and her eyes wider than a black hole.

The lavender mare who had just tried to send her back to the moon was the spitting image of her long-dead daughter.

It was impossible.

And yet…there was something about her, but her mind battled itself into a stupor.

NO.  Twilight is DEAD.  It MUST be a trick of Celestia’s to distract us!

But why use the elements as a distraction when they could have banished me back to the moon?  That doesn’t make sense.  Maybe…

NO.  It is impossible, the dead remain dead.  This is nothing but a sick hallucination, an illusion cast by the elements to draw us into a trap!

But she looks so much like my daughter, like my little foal.

A groan interrupted her thoughts and she realized that she had to act quickly, she was not alone in there after all.

Nightmare quickly took stock of the element bearers as she stood not ten hooves from the other alicorn.

The mare was unmoving, unconscious except for the small rising and falling of her chest as she breathed gently, as if only dreaming.

The others however, seemed to be coming back to a state of awareness as they shook off the aftereffects of using the elements.
The orange mare with a trio of apples on her flank and a brown Stetson hat flicked her eyelids as she slowly clambered to her hooves, casting a weary gaze around the room.  Nightmare watched as her eyes locked onto her own body, her pupils dilating to pinpricks smaller than a pebble.

“Y-you?!  But how?!  Them elements were supposed to get rid of ya!!”

Before the orange earth pony could do or say anything else, Nightmare sent her flying with a quick lash of magic.  She flew through the air until she crashed back down onto the floor, knocked out, gagged, and bound in a dark blue wrap of magic.  Her element had flown off and clattered loudly like a broken bell on the stone.  

“HEY!!  Nopony hurts my friends!”

Nightmare swung quickly around just in time to dodge a multicolored blur that flew past her at a speed that would shatter bones.  She then shot another binding spell that grabbed the rogue pegasus like a noose as the aforementioned mare flew back around for second pass.  As the magic took effect, she plummeted to the floor with a sickening crunch, her nose bleeding and a foreleg bent at an odd angle as she closed her eyes and lost consciousness.

Another bell tolled sweetly as the element of loyalty rebounded across the room.

Nightmare got back up and cast her piercing gaze at the other four.  The alicorn was still out cold, the white unicorn was standing but tittering on the edge of her hooves in a nervous canter, and the yellow pegasus was in a corner, crying her eyes out and whimpering pathetically in an incoherent blubber.  The other earth pony was nowhere to be seen.

Where’s the pink one?

“BANZAI!!”

Just as the black alicorn looked up at the source of the battle-cry, a mass of pink fur collided with her head and wrapped her hooves around her horn.

Nightmare didn’t even flinch.

Slowly, as a hiss snaked between her fangs, her draconic eyes captured the earth pony’s orbs and held them in a hypnotic glare that spoke volumes.  The pony hanging from her head looked perturbed from the lack of a reaction, Nightmare could see small beads of sweat break out across her fur as she smiled sheepishly back at the enraged alicorn.

“I don’t suppose we could play a game of cards for the sun?”
…
“No?  How about…”

Before another sound escaped her muzzle, a spell hit her dead center of the chest, flinging her back up to the ceiling where the magic trapped her in a glowing spider’s web, her mouth gagged and a quick sleeping spell ensuring she wouldn’t do anything more to raise the alicorn’s ire.  Nightmare turned back to the other three.  The white unicorn looked especially skittish now as four of her friends were unconscious and the other cowering in a corner.  She looked up at Nightmare as the far taller mare slowly approached with a promise of pain reflecting in her eyes.

“Now, t-this is no way for a p-proper mare to b-behave.  C-could we p-please…”

The unicorn’s voice trailed off into silence as Nightmare loomed above her, her eyes widening and her lip trembling in fear, sitting back on her haunches as she quaked in the alicorn’s immense shadow.  Nightmare lowered her head and took great pleasure in slowly smiling at the mare, her muzzle revealing sharp fangs glistening with saliva.  Without another word, the unicorn’s eyes rolled up into her head and she greeted the floor in a loud thud as she collapsed in a dead faint.  Snorting in amusement, Nightmare took her time placing a magic inhibitor on the unicorn’s horn and wrapped her legs together tightly, the mare’s flesh flashing red as the bindings bruised her.

“P-p-p-please s-s-stop.”

Nightmare looked up after making sure the spells would hold to see the butter pegasus still shaking in the corner of the room, her long pink mane obscuring her eyes.  The slight pitter patter of dropping tears could be heard in the silent ruins.

The black alicorn could only look on in disgust at the trembling mare.  This?  This was her sister’s task force?  These were the ponies the elements chose to wield them?  The only one that seemed competent was the still unmoving lavender alicorn laying in the middle of the floor.  The others were rash, reckless, predictable, and cowards.

Her hooves clacked ominously as she slowly approached the whimpering blubber with a practiced step as if she had all the time in the world.

Which she did.

Nightmare stopped just a few hooves away from her, in a position much like the one she assumed with the unicorn, like a predator about to pounce on helpless prey.

A faint whisper escaped the pink mane.

“What was that?  We couldn’t hear your pathetic voice begging for mercy.  Speak louder little morsel.”

Another small whimper was all the response she got.

Oh, she was going to enjoy breaking this one.

The midnight alicorn grasped the pegasus in her indigo magic and lifted her to just below eye level, the pink mane still hid her eyes as she trembled violently in Nightmare’s grasp.

“Come now little one, we don’t bite…much.”

Finally growing impatient since the mare didn’t respond, Nightmare whipped the offending mare’s mane out of the way so she could lock eyes with her next victim.

A stare of great magical power looked back.

“Y-you will s-stop right now.”

“We will stop right now.”

NO!!  Snap out of it!!  It’s mind compulsion magic!!!

Faintly, in the undercurrents of her mind, Nightmare recalled non-unicorn mind magic was exceedingly rare, and required direct eye contact.  The magic then compelled, not forced, but strongly suggested doing whatever the pony said.  It was a kind of hypnotism.

“You w-will release my friends and g-give them back the e-elements.”

“We will release your friends and give…”

In her trance-like state that gripped her mind, Nightmare remembered what giving back the elements meant.

Back to the moon.

FOREVER.

“NO!!”

Breaking eye contact quickly, the compulsion shattering like glass,  Nightmare panted in relief as she regained control of her faculties.

Right before she sent her hoof, sheathed in iron, into the pegasus’ head.

With a sickening crunch, Nightmare’s hoof clocked the yellow mare in the temple above her left eye, before another whimper could escape her when she renewed her trembling in the alicorn’s magical grip.  As soon as the impact registered, her eyes closed and she fell to the floor with a dull thud, her legs and wings splayed out, twitching faintly before ceasing movement altogether.

That was too close…

Yes…now…what to do about that pesky mind compulsion?  Hhhmmmm…

If there had been anypony else to witness it, Nightmare was sure they would have fled in terror at the smile that spread her muzzle, rippling with sweet vengeance as her sharp teeth reflected the moonlight and her eyes shined with malice.

Lowering her horn to the condemned pegasus, Nightmare reached out into her head and found the nerves that connected the eyes to her brain.

And severed them.

After all, what threat was a eye-oriented mind magic when the pony was blind?

Nightmare watched in perverse delight as the pegasus’s eyes began rimming with bruises from the severing of her optic nerves, adding to the black and purple knot already swelling on top of her head.  Gently, Nightmare’s magic flicked the unconscious mare’s eyelids back just in time to see them turn white with blindness.

Standing back up, Nightmare bound the crippled mare much like the other pegasus with the sole exception being that she wasn’t gagged.

The screams would be harmony to the alicorn’s ears.  

Chuckling to herself, Nightmare finally cantered back over to the lavender alicorn still lying still on the floor and plopped herself down in front of her, the debate renewing in her mind with a fervor, clouding her mind and making her hesitate.

She looks just like my foal, the mane, the horn, wings, everything.  Just bigger.

It must be a trick of Celestia’s.  We must not be caught off guard again by more of her tricks.

I will find out the truth…

Curiosity as to who it really was finally won out, and Nightmare lowered her head until her horn connected hesitantly with the other alicorn’s. 

Being the Night Alicorn, Nightmare was well versed in mind magic, specializing in dreams, but she could also peer into memories.  Usually, she could only do this if the pony had these thoughts near the surface, such like a bad memory causing a nightmare.  She could delve deeper, but what glimpses she could catch would be fleeting and small.  

The lavender mare was unconscious, obviously, but Nightmare finally knew why she hadn’t awoken like the others.  

The magic from the elements had reconnected what seemed to be long dormant leylines of magic that connected with her wings and hooves, the pegasus and earth pony magic, in addition to the already prevalent unicorn powers.  The change had been so sudden an unexpected that the body had reacted by putting itself into a deep sleep, not a coma, but a state of unconsciousness that would allow her body to heal and adjust to the sudden restoration.  Currently, her mind was stuck in a dreamlike state, unaware of her surroundings and recent ascension.  Just below the surface, Nightmare sensed older and more useful memories, which flicked by rapidly as she glimpsed at them.

‘Spike, take a letter.  To the princess’

‘Princess look!  I…’

‘Have fun at the academy Shiny!’

‘My Cutie Mark!!  Yes! Yes!...’

As the memories flew by Nightmare’s awareness quicker than shooting stars, one memory stood out amongst the rest and grabbed her attention like a dying mare for water.

A name.

Her foal’s name.

Twilight Sparkle.

Delving deeper like a frenzied gold miner, Nightmare searched back to the farthest and deepest memories, ones recorded but not remembered by the conscious mind.  Buried in the furthest recesses of memory.

A familiar room appeared, a room which Luna had crafted underneath this very castle.  The room had a recognizable crib and stars studded the ceiling.  As the present Luna watched at the edge of the memory, she saw a sight that hadn’t been seen in over a thousand years.

It was herself.

The self she had left behind when taking the name Nightmare Moon.  She was a dark blue, like the sky on the night of a full moon with hooves clothed in a sparkling crystal slippers.  Her torc, black as night yet twinkling, had a silver moon emblazoned on the front.  Her mane shimmered in an invisible wind as gentle stars glowed in the ethereal strands.  A small black tiara graced her head, just behind a regal horn.

And she was carrying a small bundle, gently nuzzling the lavender foal within.

The foal was the source of the memory.

As this brief glimpse of the past proved too much for her fragile emotions, Nightmare whipped herself out of the lavender alicorn’s mind and looked down at the slumbering mare before her.

Twilight.

Her daughter.

Alive.

All at once, memories and feelings she thought she had long shunted to the side resurfaced with the bluntness of a hammer.

She could be a mother, raise her child, teach her, hold her, talk to her…

Love her, and be loved in return.

Such strength was the renewal of these hopes that they overwhelmed her and she fell weeping to floor in joy, holding her daughter to her chest, never again to let her go.  She cuddled the unaware filly and laid there crying in absolute ecstasy for what seemed like hours.  Never ceasing to delight in the miracle given to her.

Slowly, like a patient awakening from a drugged sleep, Nightmare began putting together bits of information that both shocked and infuriated her.

Celestia!!  She’s trained my own daughter to attack me!  Does her treachery not end?  Why did Celestia keep her?  Was it to hold it over me and further humiliate me?  And why did she only have her unicorn magic?  Could she not tolerate another alicorn and so mutilated my child!!!

All these thoughts and questions flashed like lightning in her mind as she accessed each possible theory and conspiracy, trying to undermine and access her treacherous sister’s mechanizations and schemes.

But nothing seemed plausible.

Slowly, the thoughts drifted away and Nightmare was left holding Twilight in her hooves, cradling the much smaller mare like she was still a foal.  Looking down at the sleeping mare, one more thought breeched the surface of her mind to fill it completely.

What now?

Clearly, this is not what she had planned.  Her original plan was to steal the elements, hide them or render them useless, and then return to Canterlot to consolidate her rule.

But now things had changed dramatically.

She needed to do everything to protect Twilight, which was first on her list of priorities.  Nightmare could not bear to think that her daughter could be taken away from her again, not so soon after her miraculous reappearance.  Second, she needed to get Twilight to recognize her and undo whatever lies Celestia had crammed into her head, which would take some time and effort.

As she mulled it over, her draconic eyes settled on each of the bearers, and realized that she also needed to hide the elements.  
Nopony else could use them since they had bonded with these mares, and if she hid them, the bearers could not activate them against her and so were valuable prisoners to flaunt a dissenting public with as to demoralize the inevitable rebels.

A plan formed, one which would protect Twilight and keep her near enough for her to watch over and also imprison the bearers were they would suffer the most.  

With her purpose renewed, Nightmare lowered Twilight gently to the floor and stood back on her four legs.  Reaching out with her magic, she grabbed the five necklaces and the one crown that made up the Elements of Harmony and sealed them away in a dimensional pocket that only Nightmare could access.  They would be safe for the time being before she found a more promising hiding place or secured vault.

Then, she grabbed the five other bearers and grouped them together in a large bundle, uniting their magical bindings and placing a deep spell of sleep over them so they wouldn’t wake and cause trouble, although she had been looking forward to the yellow pegasus’ screaming.  

Finally, she picked up Twilight and slung her on her back, making sure she was secure and still unmoving, it would not do for her daughter to wake up and interfere, Nightmare didn’t want to hurt her but wouldn’t hesitate to stop her for her own good, Twilight didn’t know any better after all.

Casting her eyes around the forsaken castle ruins, searching for anything she may have forgotten or overlooked in her frenzied state, 

Nightmare charged up her horn and she and the others vanished in a whirlwind of magic, teleporting to the next step in her plan.

The Night would rule, and Twilight would join her.

> Flashback I:  Awakening
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Castle

17 years before the 1000th Summer Sun Celebration

Celestia





It seemed like an ordinary day at first to Celestia, wake up, raise the sun, eat breakfast, run the country, eat lunch, yell at nobles, eat dinner, raise the moon, sleep, then repeat for a few centuries.

She was in the middle of a session of her Court of the Sun, mediating a land dispute between the city of Manehatten and the city of Baltimare when suddenly her crown glowed slightly and heated up, alerting Celestia to the predetermined signal.

That could only mean one thing.

It was time.

“Gentlecolts,” Celestia interrupted, the two stallion mayors stopped their presentations and looked up at her expectantly.  “I will have to need you both to reschedule this for another time, something more important has come up that needs my immediate attention.”

Before either could protest, Celestia swiftly addressed her seneschal, Quick Quill, who was standing amongst a fortress of bureaucratic papers at the foot of the dais on which her golden throne sat.

“Ms. Quill.”

“Yes, your Highness?” the mare intoned dutifully.

“Reschedule all of today’s and tomorrow’s appointments and events for another time, close the castle to public visitations for the same duration, and then inform Captain Wheeler that I will be in my chambers and that I must not be disturbed for anything short of invasion.”

As Quick Quill opened her mouth to answer, her brow scrunching in question, Celestia didn’t hear what her seneschal was about to say for she had already charged her magic, her long slender horn rippling with magic, and with a flash of gold the throne room was replaced by her personal chambers.

Her niece was awake.

Celestia quickly enchanted her door to hold back any visitors and to alert her to anyone trying to get in before she trotted quickly over to a large painting of herself and Starswirl the Bearded which hung right next to her bed.  Many a rare visitor to her private chambers had wondered if the sun princess had had a fleeting fancy with the ancient stallion.  While Celestia had cared for Starswirl a lot since he had been one of her greatest friends that was not the reason for why the portrait was there.  Moving the painting off of the wall with her magic, Celestia was greeted by a blank wall.

At least, that is what other ponies were supposed to see, but Celestia knew better since she was the one to have set up the camouflaged barrier over the tunnel entrance in the first place.

Wasting no more time dilly-dallying, Celestia dispelled the conjuration and quickly stepped into the large and barely lit downward staircase that led deep underneath the castle, even deeper than the dungeons.  It would have been faster to teleport, but Celestia had enchanted the underground chambers to repel all magical modes of teleportation, the only way to get there was by physically entering the tunnel after breaking through numerous protective wards that would have alerted Celestia to an intruder the moment they were touched by anyone but her.

Descending quickly, her golden hooves tolling sweetly like ancient bells on the stone steps, Celestia allowed a true and genuine smile, something that hadn’t grace her face in ages, break through the normally unbreakable serenity she held up for her subjects.  

Who wouldn’t be happy to finally meet a new family member?  After all, this one had been in a coma for almost a thousand years.

Finally, she arrived at her destination after traveling down the winding staircase.

Anypony that knew the princess and had visited her private chambers always berated her politely for never pursuing her own interests or hobbies.  They could only see the governmental works that always cluttered her desk and swallowed her work area, if they had seen this secret chamber, those well-wishers would have gaped at her “hobbies" in shock.

The underground chamber was very wide and twice as long, lit by numerous chandeliers that glowed with magic crystals instead of flame.  Wall to wall there were books and memoirs that made up her own private library.  Hundreds of old and new tomes, some of which she had written herself, filled the antechamber.  Alongside the bookshelves were sculptures she had hoof-made, some were the likeness of old friends long gone and some were of herself, her sister and niece in what she imagined as happy scenarios when the nightmare was finally over.  Celestia was also fascinated by new magic and newly discovered sciences, so she had built a fully stocked laboratory to suit both magic and scientific needs.  Her time exploring other worlds with Starswirl had given her a taste of adventure and a fascination with magic and sciences.  This chamber was just too sacred to her for it to be cluttered with dull government papers and forms, and so she squirreled away her “me” stuff down here where she could sit quietly and have fun on occasion.

Of course, those were all secondary to the true purpose of the chamber.

Celestia, with a spring in her step that made her feel centuries younger, almost tip-toed on her hooves to the large crib that held the now de-activated homeostasis pod.  Peering over the edge, her hopeful eyes looked down into the cradle.

Two large purple eyes stared back.

Twilight was awake.

The small lavender unicorn looked up at her aunt with wide eyes and a small smile, her stubby horn gently parted her purple mane and her tail swished back and forth in delight at the other pony’s presence.  Lifting up a small hoof, Twilight booped Celestia’s muzzle and giggled uncontrollably in a squeal of happiness.

Grinning like a filly that saw Santa Hooves on Hearth’s Warming Eve, Celestia reached down into the crib and picked up the laughing filly.  Tears of joy ran down her face uninterrupted as she had eyes only for the beautiful foal in her hooves.

She wasn’t alone anymore.

For centuries she had watched over her sister’s daughter as she slept in a peaceful coma, hiding her away from those that would try to take advantage of her niece’s predicament.  Patiently waiting for the day she would wake up and finally meet her.

“Hello little one!”

“Aaahhbbbbbba b aba!!” Twilight wiggled her ears and babbled at her in return with unmatched glee.

“It’s nice to meet you too Twilight!  I’m Aunt Tia!”  The sun princess was glowing with happiness, joy overfilled her soul with a wondrous warmth.  She could feel the years of loneliness, depression, and regret fade away from the absolute love she had for the filly she held to her chest.

Gently, like a cloud descending to the earth, Celestia laid down and placed the tiny unicorn filly in between her forelegs.   Twilight struggled cutely to stand up once she was on the ground, but could only roll over and laugh at the white face that filled her vision.

The sun alicorn leaned down closer to Twilight and put her two forelegs in front of her face, hiding it from the foal.

“Where’s auntie?”

The sun princess could here Twilight burble in question at the alicorn’s disappearance.

“Here she is!”  Celestia was rewarded by Twilight clapping her hooves in delight and giggling at her aunt’s antics.   Celestia reached down with a hoof and tickled Twilight’s belly, causing happier giggling to bubble out of the little foal.

Grrrrrrrrrrrr…

Twilight shriveled up in discomfort, her face contorting into a slightly pained expression as her stomach growled.  Celestia realized that the foal was probably hungry after not eating for almost a millennium.  Reaching out with her magic again, she quickly grabbed some milk from her private kitchen (she baked her own cakes too!) and gave it to Twilight, who grabbed onto the bottle with her small hooves and quietly suckled on it, her eyes closing as she peacefully sipped.

While Twilight was preoccupied on the padded floor, Celestia levitated a couple of diapers over to her for when the foal finished eating, just simply delighted in takeing care of the little one.  

When Twilight finished, Celestia burped her and put the diaper on Twilight for when she would need it.  Finishing that, she laid Twilight back on the floor and watched her.

Twilight looked like she was a tad uncomfortable with the undesired diaper but quickly lost interest and her wide eyes traveled about the room in exploration of her new environment.  To Celestia’s delight, Twilight lifted up a hoof and pointed at her.

“MMMMmmmmm.”

“What is it Twilight?”

“MMMMmmmma!”

Celestia then realized that Twilight was not pointing at her, but something behind her head on the ceiling.  Turning her head slightly, she tried to glimpse what it was that had caught the foal’s attention and looked up at the ceiling.  

Her sister’s cutie mark glared angrily back at her.

“MMmaamma!”

Mama

And just like that, the happiness that had filled Celestia blew away like a fragile spider web in a hurricane with the innocent reminder of her sister’s absence. 

Twilight wanted her mother.

Guilt welled up inside Celestia as she continued gazing at the mural.  In some of her spare time she had decorated the chamber with different pictures, one of which was a likeness of her sister’s mark that she had painted almost directly above the cradle where Twilight had slept.  Celestia remembered that it was very early on that a foal memorizes and recognizes their mother’s cutie mark.  It was a psychological impression to bond mother and foal, much like voices and smells.

For a moment, Celestia felt just the tiniest twinge at the thought of Twilight wanting Luna instead of her.

Was she…jealous of Luna?

As Twilight continued pointing at the mural and babbling in foalish gibberish, Celestia turned over that errant thought over and over again in her head, as if it were a book or fact she had to re-read because she didn’t believe it at first.

If Celestia were to be honest with herself, she realized, she did indeed harbor some jealousy against her sister.

Why not?  Luna had given birth to a beautiful and adorable filly, children among alicorns were extremely rare.   Their innate magic was so powerful that conception was almost impossible, also hindering the already small chances was that their gene structures were generally incompatible with the other pony races because an alicorn was all three.  In the time when alicorns numbered in the hundreds, Celestia’s parents had been alicorns and therefore it had been a much simpler process.  But after a great cataclysm or war, Celestia didn’t know which she had been barely three when it had happened, the number of alicorns had been reduced to two, her and Luna.  That was the time period in which the unicorns controlled the sun and moon and the tribes were still separate.  After Discord, Celestia and Luna had been given the throne out of gratitude and reverence from the original Equestrian Confederation.  

Celestia still didn’t know who Twilight’s father was, and the fact she wasn’t even aware of any romantic interests Luna had revealed to her how much she had not realized or known about her sister in the time preceding the night Celestia had to banish her.

Celestia felt…angry suddenly.  Why does Twilight want Luna?  Luna abandoned her and took on the mantle of Nightmare Moon in her selfish ambition, almost killing her own daughter in the process with the ambient dark magic that poisoned her.  Celestia had cared and watched over Twilight for almost a thousand years while her mother whittled away on the moon for her crimes.  Granted, Twilight had never been conscious during that time period, but shouldn’t she show Celestia just a bit more love and attention towards her and not the mother that left her behind?

“TTtttttttiiii…” Twilight interrupted her internal rant with another boop on the large alicorn’s muzzle.

Celestia looked down with a reluctant but gentle smile that replaced the frown that had started forming on her face.

“What now little one?”

Twilight looked back up at her and tilted her head to the side as if in question.  She then proceeded to roll over from laying on her back to laying with her legs folded up underneath her.  Twilight then struggled to stand on her hooves and Celestia looked on in amazement as the foal took her first steps toward her.

“TTttiiiiaa!”

Twilight had said her name.

Celestia’s smile became more genuine as she gently encouraged Twilight to walk, prodding her with her muzzle here and there.  Twilight struggled and fell a few times, but she eventually made it to Celestia’s side where she huddled underneath one of her large white wings.  The little unicorn foal then curled up cutely and a gentle snoring could be heard as Twilight closed her eyes and fell asleep, pressing herself up against Celestia’s side and snoozing under her wing.

And in that moment, Celestia became ridden with guilt, self-loathing seeping through cracks in her psyche and drowning her in misery.

She shouldn’t be jealous of Luna, but she couldn’t help it.  It was wrong for Celestia to feel so happy when she was stealing precious moments that should have been Luna’s, not hers.  She felt like a thief that had stolen priceless crown jewels, for she had witnessed possibly Twilight’s first word and probably her first time walking too.  And it was not Luna’s name Twilight spoke, it was hers.

I…am a horrible sister.

Celestia had originally thought that she would raise Twilight herself, here at the castle once she woke up.  The sun princess had envisioned both of them waiting and hoping for Luna to return and be restored to them.  But in that moment, Celestia knew that had to change.

I can’t raise her…

Celestia couldn’t very well put Twilight back into the homeostasis pod.  That was only so that Twilight could remain safe and secure while in her coma, as the pods were designed to work.  Putting a healthy foal in one would stunt their growth and damage them both physically and mentally.

But Celestia couldn’t live with herself if she stole the role of mother from Luna, not when she had caused her sister so much pain already.  She knew that even if she tried to raise her, her jealousy would unconsciously make her biased and Twilight would eventually come to love her more than some unknown mare in the moon if she grew up under Celestia.  

Did Twilight deserve being caught between the two of them?

No.  Of the three of us, she is innocent and deserves not to be tangled up in our mistakes.

Another thing was that since Celestia had taken Twilight’s pegasus and earth pony magics to heal her, Twilight had lost her alicorn immortality which was sustained by the innate balance of the three races.  She would age normally, only being able to retain and control unicorn magic, and then she would eventually die.

Did Celestia want to put on Twilight the pressure of being a crippled, former alicorn with the weight of being the niece and daughter of the two most powerful alicorns ever?

She’ll be happier not knowing.

What then, was she supposed to do?





Canterlot Castle

3 days later

Celestia


She hated herself.

In the days since Twilight’s awakening, Celestia prepared for the inevitable separation that had to take place. 

That didn’t mean she would enjoy it.

The couple in front of her in her throne room however, did not notice her internal struggling as they could only see the unbreakable calm she had painstakingly developed and held up for countless centuries.

The two ponies in front of her were Night Light, a stallion, and Twilight Velvet, a mare, both of whom were married and minor nobility of the Armor Clan here in Canterlot.

Years ago, Celestia had set up a program in which young orphans of military casualties in peaceful times or deceased nobility were set up here in a wing of the castle.  It was then encouraged for noble families to adopt these young foals.  Fortunately, only the most caring and trustworthy nobility adopted because the bad nobility only believed in blood heirs.

Celestia had discreetly sent a letter through one of her offices to the couple before her with an anonymous plea to adopt a certain young unicorn foal.  Forging birth certificates and I.D. information was easy since she was the head of the government.  Celestia had looked for potential families to adopt her niece and these were the most promising candidates as these two were well-respected and liked, and they also had a foal named Shining Armor that was relatively four years older than Twilight.

That brought her to the here and now.

“Your highness,” Twilight Velvet said.  “We would gladly take little Twilight into our home.  Night Light and I have a few questions first though before we leave.”

Celestia struggled to maintain her mask of goodwill, finding it harder and more difficult each passing moment as she gazed at her niece sleeping soundly in the other mare’s hooves.

“Yes?”  She questioned.  “What troubles you my little pony?”

Velvet and Night Light looked back at each other in the universal language of spouse speak before looking back up at her.  It was Night Light who spoke this time.

“There wasn’t much about Twilight or her parents in that brief you gave us.  Do you know anything more about her parents?”

Too much.

“No” she lied.  “A clerical error in the Stalliongrad area where they lived ensured that much of her personal history and her families were lost.  She was placed in the royal orphanage here and we try to find all our orphans homes very quickly.”  Celestia always felt sick lying to her subjects.  Such deception she usually associated with Discord, not herself.  

Velvet piped up, shifting uncomfortably as if the princess intimidated her.  

“What should we tell Twilight then when she grows older?  She’s bound to ask once we tell her she’s adopted when she gets old enough."

There it is, the poisoned dart in the raisin tart.

Celestia took a deep breath that when unnoticed by her audience before continuing.  

“Must you tell her from the moment you take her in?  Don’t lie to her surely, but treat her no differently than you would as if she were your own.  She’ll probably find out and then just tell her the truth, you don’t know and neither do I.  Tell her that she came from a small family that had a…incident.  That much is true I assure you.  She will have a happier childhood without worrying about who her real parents are, she’ll be able to handle it when she’s an adult.”


I’ve never lied so much in my life.  Sun preserve me.

The two unicorns in front of her seemed satisfied with this and nodded their heads in agreement.

“Thank you your majesty,” Night Light said “That’s everything.  Thank you so much for telling us of this wonderful opportunity.  We’ll be on our way.”

With that they both turned around and started trotting towards the exit on the far side of the room before Celestia stopped them with a gentle call.

“Oh wait, there is one more thing.”

The unicorns faced her again as she descended the dais, pulling out what first appeared to be a very old rag.

Velvet cocked her head and an eyebrow traveled up into her mane as she studied the object in the princess’s magical grip.

“Is that doll a…donkey?”

Celestia looked down at the doll and saw why Velvet would think that.  It was brown and plushy with two button eyes and looked very old and worn, which it was.

After Luna was banished and Celestia had found Twilight, she had pulled out a few toys from the room in the old castle in hopes of preserving them for Twilight later on.  This particular doll was originally a small plushy of Luna herself, but age had worn away the horn and wings and brown replaced the blue color.  When Celestia was packing some things for Twilight as she got ready to give her to Velvet and Night Light, she repaired the doll as best she could, minus the horn and wings, and had placed patches over the moon cutie marks that had faded and torn with time.

Once again, Celestia couldn’t tell them the truth.

“Yes it is.” She lied.

An awkward pause.

“It was a gift from Twilight’s mother.”  Finally, a slice of truth in the web of lies.

“Did her mother give it a name?”  Night Light asked.

“Yes…it was…Smarty Pants if I recall correctly.”  That wasn’t entirely a lie.  Luna could get pretty snarky when she was riled up and tended to over explain things sometimes.

“Anything else your highness?”  Velvet said  “We left Shining at home, we must get back soon.”

Celestia shook her head and looked away in shame as she waved a foreleg at the door.

“No, that is all.  Thank you for coming.”

Unnoticed by the two unicorns carrying Twilight as they left the hall, Celestia’s lower lip started trembling and tears broke through the dam that she had been keeping up during their meeting.  She watched in growing sadness and ever increasing amounts of shame as she watched them take Twilight away.

As they left the room, the large doors gave an ominous boom like the gavel in a court room, finalizing the deception.

She was alone again.

She laid down on the floor and let the tears flow, for she had just given away the one thing she knew could make her happy.

Did I just give my own niece, the only thing I have left of my sister, to a pair of almost complete strangers?

It was for the best.

Right?


> Chapter 4:  Moonrise
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Castle

6 hours into Eternal Night

Shining Armor





“No sign of Princess Celestia Captain.”

Things can’t possibly get much worse.

Captain Shining Armor, head of the EUP, was pacing rapidly in the Celestia’s throne room.  His armor clacked together as he nervously walked back in forth, joining the symphony of metallic clanging as the other guard’s armor clanked as they themselves shifted in undisguised anxiety.

Two hours earlier, as he was retiring for the night in his private quarters at the barracks, he had decided to check the roster one last time to make sure the castle was properly guarded with sentries for the upcoming festival.

What he found instead however, was a clerical error, perhaps deliberate, that changed the guard’s watch shifts to where none of them were on patrol to protect Princess Celestia that night.

Realizing this, he had immediately galloped to the barracks and woke up all of the sleeping guards.  He then sent them to secure the castle and check on the princess quickly.

They searched the castle top to bottem, and they all realized the depth of their failure almost instantly.

Princess Celestia was missing.

Not only that, but there was a faint magic residue in the throne room that told the investigating guards that powerful magic had been used there recently.  In addition to that, the princess’s own chambers had been ransacked, papers and books thrown across the room in a mess.  

Dread beginning to infect him and the other guards, Shining had sent out guards to Ponyville to see if by chance the princess was there earlier than expected for the Summer Sun Celebration.  He then did the one thing he disliked about his job if a situation like this ever arose.

He told his marefriend.

It was difficult admitting to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza the alicorn of Love that he had completely lost track of her adoptive aunt and had let the castle’s security become compromised.  Admitting to his blunder had been harder than taking Twilight to the dentist when she was a filly.

Guard Protocol however, stated that the acting Captain of the Royal Guard had to inform Princess Cadence of the situation immediately if Princess Celestia were to ever be incapacitated or unavailable.

The panic attack and then succeeding shout fest from the furious alicorn had done nothing good for his hearing.

Together they then went to the throne room to orchestrate the search effort with the senior officers.  Cadence had taken her place on the dais, but refused to sit on Celestia’s throne with Shining staying near her protectively like a hawk.  

“Have we heard anything from Ponyville yet?” Cadence’s sweet voice usually soothed him but with Celestia’s disappearance nothing could calm his nerves.

Shining shook his head in frustration as came back to Cadence from talking to some guards that returned with a negative report on the princess’s whereabouts.  

“No, not yet.  I’ve sent a team of four pegasi to check in with the squad that took Twilight there earlier today.  They should be back any moment though.”

He sat back down next to Cadence, waiting patiently for the next report with the rest of the EUP Officers.  Shining then looked over hopefully to the team that was finishing investigating the magical residue they had found here in the throne room.

“Corporal Forensics, have you found anything?”

The grey uniciorn looked up from his notes and addressed his captain in a reluctant tone filled with uncertainty.  

“Yes sir, there are two definite magical signatures.  One of which is Princess Celestia’s.  The other is…well…”

“Well what?”

“We don’t know who the other signature belongs too, but from our studying of both residues, we have been able to identify that the other pony was strong in dark magic and that he or she possessed enough raw power to equal, if not surpass, Princess Celestia.”

Horse apples.

Turning back to Cadence quickly, she answered his unspoken question in a slightly skeptical voice.

“Nopony in our history has ever had that level of power, even I don’t measure up that high.”  She turned back to Forensics and cocked an eyebrow at the stallion.  “Surely you made a mistake Forensics.   Please double check your work.”

The stallion looked miffed and tapped his clipboard as he stared impatiently back at the love princess.

“I am not wrong, this is the fifth time I have studied and calculated these magical signatures.  Whoever it is that can summon that power is a threat and you should be taking me seriously!”  

The stallion was pointing condescendingly at Cadence with one of his hoofs.  Some of the guard ponies were dismissive of Cadence as she was new and thought her “soft” because of her status as the alicorn of love.

“Forensics!” Shining yelled, his ire rising at the angry unicorn.  “Give respect when addressing Princess Cadence!  She is the acting ruler of Equestria!”

Forensics whipped his head to glare at Shining and opened his mouth in what was sure to be an angry retort but the loud boom of the throne room doors interrupted his rant.  Shining appraised the newcomers and recognized them as the pegasi guards he had sent to Ponyville earlier.

“Finally!”  He breathed out impatiently “I expected you back fifteen minutes ago!  Is Princess Celestia in Ponyville?”
Shining could see four pegasi’s wings twitch in recognizable signs of pegasus anxiety .  The lead pegasua trotted forward and spoke in a reluctant but firm tone.

“No sir…she was not there.  We had to take the three guards posted there to the infirmary for injuries, that’s why it took so long.”

“Injuries?”  Cadence exclaimed.  “What happened?”

The pegasus shook his head in mild disbelief as the next words slipped from his muzzle.

“Those guards are still unconscious from whatever attacked them.  The locals describe the assailant as a black alicorn named…well…her name was …” he trailed off in embarrassment as if he himself didn’t belief the eyewitnesses’ account.

“Who did they say it was?  Every piece of information helps.”  Shining said encouragingly.

“They said it was Nightmare Moon.”

…

“What?  As in the bogeymare of Nightmare Night?”  Shining questioned him in obvious incredulity.  Shining’s eyes started checking for any signs of injury to the other pony’s head.

The guard nodded his head in affirmative to reiterate his statement.  “Yes, a large mare with a black coat and matching horn and wings with a moon cutie mark.”

Cadence snorted in amusement before saying in a skeptical voice.  “Nightmare Moon is an old mares tale, I use to tell it to Twilight when I foalsat her around the time of Nightmare Night.  Besides, Aunt Celestia has told me that she and I are the only alicorns on the planet, those were her exact words.”  

Her face brightened slightly with a smile and a bubbly laugh escaped her.  “What?  Do you think Nightmare Moon is going to come and gobble us up?”

“Don’t tempt us princess.”

Shining’s heart stopped, and he felt Cadence stiffen next to him.  The malevolent voice had come from directly behind them.  Last time he checked, all of the other guards were facing himself and Cadence, and Shining saw all of them freeze up and stand stock still with their mouths open in complete shock.  Their eyes wide and lips trembling in fright.

The voice continued.

“Now, turn around so we can revel in the fear on your faces.”

Almost mechanically, Shining slowly turned his head to face the intruder.  He could feel the temperature in the room drop fifteen degrees.  

Mother of Celestia… 

Shining felt his heart drop into his stomach as he gazed upon the mare sitting on Celestia’s throne.  The black specter was taller than 
Celestia and wore thick blue armor with a symbol of the moon emblazoned on the chest piece.  

But it was her face that kept his desire to run and scream like a filly at bay.

Behind the helmet’s eye pieces a pair of teal eyes with slits for pupils glimmered with excitement as they took in the terror the guards showed in her presence.  Her muzzle was split into an insane smile that revealed the teeth of a predator.

Faster than what Shining believed possible, he saw the alicorn’s horn light up and Cadence was jerked toward the intimidating alicorn.

“Hey!!  No!”

Shining stepped forward to attack the errant alicorn but froze and his muscles clenched in horror as he took in Cadence’s situation.

The large mare slammed Cadence violently onto the ground at the base of the throne and sealed her pink horn with a magic inhibitor.  

The black alicorn then placed a very sharp and pointed iron hoof directly on top of her throat, like an executioner waiting for the order to drop the ax.

“If any of you take a single step, either to confront us or run away, she’s dead.”

Shining broke out into a cold sweat underneath the gold armor as he stared into the eyes that shimmered with hope that they would do just that so she could carry out the threat.  His voice quiveried in fear for Cadence he addressed the alicorn.

“Who are you?  What do you want?”

“We are Nightmare Moon, alicorn of the Night and ruler of Equestria.  And what we want Shining Armor is simple, even for a foal like you.”

The nightmare never stopped smiling even as she dug her armored hoof deeper into Cadence’s neck, causing the smaller alicorn to whimper in terror as she felt the pressure increase on her neck.

“What?” he asked her, almost begging for an answer from Cadence’s tormenter.

“To distract you.”

CRASH!!!

The sudden escalation in noise came from the stained glass windows in the room.  Centuries old art shattered in a multicolored fragments as dark armored thestrals broke through them.  The broken glass tinkered across the stone floor and skidded across as if on ice.  Shining’s fellow guards cried out in shock as some of the glass cut into them and then tried valiantly to battle the speeding thestrals that slammed into them at bone-crushing speed.

Shining stepped forward intending to cast barriers or combat spells, when he realized his rookie mistake.

He had turned his back on Nightmare Moon.

As soon as the thought registered, Shining felt himself lift off the ground as a spell hit him from behind and throw him across the room, his legs flailing uselessly, towards the unyielding stone walls.

The last thing he saw was Nightmare Moon.

Still smiling.





Groggily, Shining opened his eyes as consciousness returned to him.  He registered that his armor was gone and he could feel pressure at the base of his horn, which was most likely an inhibitor ring.

“Uugghh.”  He groaned.  “How long was I out?”

“Three minutes.” The dreaded voice whispered into his ear.

That woke him up.

Shining found himself and Cadence between two armored thestrals with two more behind them.  All of them wearing smug grins as they beamed in the moment of their triumph.  Shining also saw his other guards, who were also armorless standing in a group with thestrals surrounding them too.

He scowled and glared at Nightmare Moon, bile rising up in his throat as he tasted defeat.

“Princess Celestia will defeat you.”  He growled at the smirking mare in front of him.  

“Oh?”  her oily voice asked.  “You still have faith in our sister?”  Her tone was dripping with sarcasm and Shining felt a small part of him die as he realized what that meant.

“You,” he spat.  “You did something to her, that’s why she’s been missing and the sun hasn’t risen.”

Nightmare rolled her draconic eyes and slowly clapped her hooves together, the metallic sound echoing in the silent throne room.

“Very good Captain Obvious!  With soldiers like you, it’s no wonder my sister was alone when I dethroned her.”

Oh, that hurt.  The sheer guilt of having failed his princess so spectacularly was being hammered into his mind with every clap from the night alicorn.

“Where is she?!  What have you done to her?!”  Cadence shrieked at Nightmare, her voice panicked and tears starting to form in her beautiful eyes.

Nightmare looked down with an expression of disdain of belittlement and said in a whisper, her muzzle inches from Cadence’s ear, “We will leave your imagination to decide, it does not change the outcome.”  She paused and tapped her hoof on the floor and an overly-exaggerated expression of one in thought decorated her face.  “Perhaps you shall join her, but we have a better idea.”

The smile that spread across her face would have made Ursa Majors cry for their mothers.  She slowly trotted around behind Cadence.  Nightmare reared up to frightening heights and slammed her hooves down on the smaller alicorn’s back, causing her to thunder to the ground in a painful thump.  Cadence could barely cry out as she sucked desperately for breath after having the air knocked out of her lungs.  Nightmare had her pressed to the floor with one foreleg at the base of each of her pink wings.

“Please do not refrain from screaming, we do enjoy it when you squeal.”

SNAP

“AAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!”

Shining struggled in futile against the thestral guard as Cadence writhed underneath the nightmare’s hooves, screaming in agony as a wing was broken.

SNAP

The screaming only increased in volume and intensity as Nightmare put all of her immense weight on Cadence’s broken wings, her face contorted with pleasure as she listened to the mare scream.

Slowly the screams died away, leaving a shocked silence behind as Nightmare stepped over Cadence’s broken form to face the both of them.  

“Ah, such sweet music to our ears.  You might have to perform for us again sometime little miss nopony, we find your screams to be most pleasant.”

She looked over to the guards at the back and spoke to what appeared to be that group’s leader.

“Knight Scorpio, take those guards to the dungeons and lock them up, fix the unicorns with magic inhibitors and the pegasi with wing binders. But before you do, we have something to tell the prisoners.”

That horrible smile dawned on her face again and Shining dreaded what she would say next.

“There are five civilian prisoners in the cisterns also, a unicorn, two pegasi, and two earth ponies.  If any of these guard prisoners struggle against you in any way, start torturing the civilian prisoners until they stop."

Shining could feel the blood drain from his face in absolute horror, becoming paler he realized what that meant once the order was given.  He knew that his guards would have caused trouble for their captors if it was just them in harm’s way.  But with Nightmare’s threat of any mischief on their part causing harm to come to innocent civilians, none of them would do anything to raise their captor’s ire.   

With that depressing warning reverberating in his guard’s heads, Nightmare nodded and the thestrals led them to the dungeons, none of them making a sound or causing any kind of trouble, as complacent as kittens.  

Leaving Shining and Cadence alone with the monster.

Nightmare’s eyes flashed with glee as she continued staring at her captives.

“You two,” she spat. “We are going to keep you here in the castle as servants.  That threat won’t apply to you as I have a much more…entertaining way of keeping you complacent.”

Shining only stared and Cadence whimpered at the thought of what the demon from Tarturus thought was entertaining.  

Nightmare Moon’s horn glowed and Shining felt his magic inhibitor warm up slightly before cooling back down, the same happening for Cadence.

“We have enchanted your inhibitors to cause pain any time you try leave the castle, work against us or anyone with my authority, steal, be disrespectful or inhibit us in any way.  In addition, these inhibitors will monitor any rebellious conversations you have and will alert us of what you say to anypony should it involve actions against us.  The pain will start when you do any one of these things and only increase so long as you don’t obey.”

Shining glared at Nightmare in defiance, a small amount of courage coming out.

“No amount of pain will ever keep me from trying to stop or hurt you.”

Laughter echoed through the throne room, cold and tasteless as it rebounded off the stone walls.

That laughter chilled him more than anything else she had done previously.  It was etched in malicious amusement and came out long and it froze the blood in his veins.

“Oh, how amusing.  You thought it would cause yourself pain?  Silly, foalish Armor, it will cause Cadence pain every time you don’t obey, and vice versa.”

…

“You’re a monster.” He stated.

“AAaaahh!!” Cadence yelped in pain and her eyes started twitching as her inhibitor lit up.

Shining quickly turned back to Nightmare in urgency.

“I’m sorry!  I’m sorry!”

Cadence fell down again and her body increasingly twitched with her eyes scrunched up and tears came flowing out as the glowing of her inhibitor increased.

“Sorry what?”  Nightmare asked sweetly.  Her eyes staring with perverse glee at Cadence’s torture.

“I’M SORRY YOUR MAJESTY!!” he yelled, desperate for Cadence’s suffering to end.

Her inhibitor’s glow died and Cadence fell panting to the floor again, her broken wings flopping uselessly at her sides.  

“We hope you enjoy serving us.  Don’t you just love being our servants?”  Nightmare’s voice couldn’t get any smugger as she waited for the expected answer with the none-too subtle taunt.

“Yes, we love being your servants.”  They both said in a monotone as they ground out the hated reply.  Shining with barely leashed anger and Cadence with weak resignation.  

“Good.”  Nightmare commended.  She sounded like she was enjoying herself in their shared misery.  “Now, go and set her useless wings Armor, we don’t want our new servant to get infected.  After you finish with that, go up to the former ruler’s bed chamber.  You will find your new master, my daughter,” Genuine excitement and happiness seemed to accompany those two words. “sleeping on the bed.  You are to obey everything she says if she awakens.  We will know if and when that happens.  Now go, your filthy presence is stinking up my new throne room.”

They both trudged out of the throne room in silence and their heads bowed low in resignation to their fate.  Once the throne room door closed behind them, the boom echoing down the silent and empty hallway, they made their way to the medical wing.

The nightmare had won, and they had loss.  





On the Way to Celestia’s Former Chamber

30 Minutes Later

Cadence

“Do you feel any better?”

Cadence nodded numbly at Shining as they walked to Celestia’s chamber.  Her wings were set and wrapped in bandages but still ached with every step she took.  But that was nothing compared to the sense of failure that infected her.  Tears fell to the floor with every step as she pondered her adopted aunt’s fate.  

Celestia had always been kind and caring to her ever since she had been taken in as the sun princess’s neice after Cadence had ascended.  Now all Cadence could think about was that she had somehow contributed to Equestria’s crisis and her aunt’s demise.  But how could she do anything against Nightmare Moon without causing Shining to feel unbearable pain?

“Shining?”  She sniffed.  “What are we going to do?”

She had always admired how he was strong and steadfast.  It shook her to the core to see him so lost and broken.  He seemed to have aged ten years within the ten minutes they had been in that throne room with the demon.   His bearing, always so confidant and full of purpose was now slouched as he projected to the world how unsure he was of himself.

“I don’t know Cadence.”  He said dejectedly.  “These inhibitors and their rules are pretty air-tight.”  Shining winced and looked back at her as they continued walking through the silent castle.  “I’m really sorry back there, I didn’t know just saying that would activate the enchantments.”  

“It’s alright Shiny, you couldn’t have known.  I’m sorry that we’re stuck like this.”

“Yeah,” he said.  “Do you think Twilight’s O.K.?”

Cadence pondered that.  Celestia had told her that she had sent Twilight and Spike to Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration preparations.

“She’s smart, she’ll stay out of trouble since she’s in a small town out of the way.  I’m more concerned about when she finds out about Celestia or us and what she might do.”

A sense of horror dawned across his face as he realized just what Twilight would do.

“We’ve got to warn her, somehow, to stay away from the castle.  We’ll figure it out once we escape from watching over Nightmare’s daughter.”

…

“Have you ever heard of Nightmare having a child in any of those old mares’ tales?”  He asked after a pause.

“No.  Which makes me wonder who this mare or filly actually is, and what their relation to Nightmare Moon is really.”

“Whoever it is, I bet she’s really ugly like her mother.  Fangs and everything.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he stopped and stared at Cadence in anxious anticipation suddenly to see if that triggered the enchantment.

Nothing happened.

“Huh,” She commented “I guess it only activates if we say it to them personally or around others.”

“Cadence I’m so sorry.”  Shining pleaded with her as they resumed walking towards Celestia’s chamber.  They could see the doors at 
the end of the hallway.  “I spoke without thinking, but now I guess we can vent a little bit.”

“Yeah…”  Cadence thought for a moment, trying to find something vindictive to say.  “I bet Nightmare’s daughter is a…messy eater!”

…

“You’re not good at being mean are you?”

“No.  Comes with the territory of being the alicorn of love.”

They had reached the doors.

“Ugh.”  Shining complained.  “I can’t believe we’re doing this.  I bet this daughter of Nightmare’s is a total witch.”

“Let’s just get it over with so we can start brainstorming on what to do next.  After you?”  

“The captain always takes point when entering a monster’s lair, princess.  Follow me, and we shall brave this monstrosity together.”  He gestured dramatically and rolled his eyes before facing the chamber entrance.

He pushed open the door with a hoof before Cadence saw him stop in shock and stare bug-eyed into the room.

“What?  Is she really hideous?”

“Dhhh” was his answer.

“Oh come on, it can’t be that…bad…”

Cadence stepped into the Celestia’s chamber fully and for the first time gazed upon Nightmare Moon’s daughter.

A familiar purple pony with a horn and wings slept on the bed.

“Oh no.  This is much worse.”



> Chapter 5:  Awakenings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Castle Dungeons

6 Hours Into Eternal Night

Rainbow Dash





Cold and wet, those were the sensations that filled Rainbow Dash’s awareness as she awoke.

“Uuugh.  Where am I?”

Slowly, Rainbow gathered her hooves under her, a clanking sound echoing in the chamber, only to fall back down as pain filled her right foreleg.

“Aaah!!!”

She looked down in the dim light and saw that her leg was sloppily bandaged and set in a flimsy splint.  As the pain receded, she looked around at her surroundings, curious as to where she was since the last thing she remembered had been Nightmare Moon’s magic flashing at her.

It was a cell.

At first glance, she could have imagined that she was at the bottom of an old well.  It was cylindrical in shape, and she was laying on the cold and mossy cobblestone at the bottom, and at the top was an iron grate as high up as thirty hooves.   A small oil lantern hung above her cell hatch in a chamber or hallway above her.  Black steel chains were attached to all four legs and a slightly glowing metal ring surrounded her barrel, pinning her wings to her side.

She couldn’t see anypony else.

“Hello?”  She yelled “Is anypony up there?”

Rainbow’s ears twitched as she fervently listened for the smallest of answers to her summons.

“R-Rainbow Dash?  I-Is that y-you?” a small and frightened voice called.  Rainbow could barely hear the other pony, but the voice was unmistakable.

“Fluttershy!!  It’s me!  Are you in a cell?”

“I-I think so!  But i-it’s so dark in here!  I c-can’t see anything!”  She wept “I woke up, a-and it’s been dark e-ever since!  I b-begged the guards f-for a light but they j-just laugh at m-me!”

Dash could hear her friend weeping, the anguish echoing from cell to cell.

“HEY!”  A new and gruff voice shouted.  “Quit your crying!”  A loud metallic clanging filled the chamber and Fluttershy’s cries cut off suddenly.

Dash perked up and stood on her three good legs to stare up at her cell hatch.

“Let us out!”  She yelled, her throat hurting from the dryness clinging to it.

As she looked up at the ceiling, an armored pony came into view.

He was unlike any pegasus she had ever seen!  His coat color was a dark grey, with his ears tufted like a feral animal’s, and large bat-like wings protruded from the polished silver armor he wore.  His yellow eyes were just like Nightmare Moon’s, slit like a serpent.

Immediately, just from looking at the pony, Dash knew he worked for the black alicorn herself.

“What kind of freak are you?  Did Nightmare Moon dig you up from some pit in Tarturus?”

The pony’s eyes narrowed underneath the silver helm and a growl escaped his muzzle, revealing small pearly white fangs in the dimness of the dungeon.  

“Silence Prisoner 0001!” he yelled down at her, his enraged shout ringing her ears in the confined space.  “What and who I am is no concern of yours.  Be grateful that her majesty allows you to live.”

He then turned and disappeared out of sight, his armored hooves clacking in descending noise as he trotted away.

“Come back here you coward!  Let me out so I can smash your face in!”

Dash waited and was rewarded with the sound of hooves making its way back to her cell, she looked up and was surprised to see not the guard again, but a different pony, a unicorn, wearing a stained apron and carrying a bucket in his magical grip.

“Feeding time pigs."

To her horror, he upended the bucket and slop rained down on her.  Drenching her colorful mane in a putrid collection of rancid leftovers.  Rotten vegetables, fruit peppered with worms, and moldy bread mixed in with water drenched her, a putrid smell clinging to her coat..

“Eeeewwww!” she complained, lifting a hoof to clear some of the muck off of her coat.  “What is this?”

The unicorn looked down in neutrality and stated plainly, “That’s your meal for the next twelve hours.  Enjoy, I picked only the best from the local trash heap.”

Finished speaking, he turned around and Dash shook the muck out as much as she could before rearing back on her rear hooves, dragging the chains with her.

“Let us out!  You can’t keep us in here forever!  Princess Celestia and the Royal Guards will get you!  You hear me!”

Silence.

Dash laid back down on the smelly floor and waited for an answer.

Nothing.

“Stupid guards…stupid unicorn…stupid Nightmare” she muttered quietly to herself.  “We’ll get of here, you’ll see.” She promised.

Now all she had to do was figure out where her other four friends were.

It seemed that even here, in the dark depths of the madmare's dungeon, Rainbow Dash was still number one.





Canterlot Castle, Celestia’s Chambers

7 Hours into Eternal Night

Twilight Sparkle





“Twilight!  Twilight!  You have to wake up!!”

“Nnnnhh…don’t want too…”

“Come on Twiliy!  You have to get out of here!”

“Got to…elements…Moon…”

“What’s she talking about?"

“I don’t know Shining!  But we have to get her out of here before Nightmare comes back!”

Nightmare?  NIGHTMARE!!!





Power, raw power sheared through the room at the speed of light.  Magic pulsed ominously as it was channeled through the bejeweled crown on her head.  The nightmare was shaking in fear at the might facing her.  With this power, Twilight could do anything.  The possibilities were endless, the potential was there and it waited for her to make a choice.

Punish, or Heal?

It felt like a test.

Twilight knew she did not command the elements, such deep mechanisms embedded in the world did not answer to a single pony.

But it wanted Twilight to choose, it was giving her the choice.

What should she decide?  The alicorn had taken her teacher, tried to kill her, and endangered the world, surely those actions warranted punishment?

And yet…Twilight could see the trembling figure and something rose within her…compassion?...sympathy?...pity?  It could have been all of those or none of them.

In that moment, as she towered above the alicorn, Twilight did not see the black specter as an enemy, but instead saw somepony else.  A pony that was afraid, and wanted to love and be loved in return.

What would Twilight want, if in Nightmare’s position?

Who was she give judgement?

Twilight made her decision.

The elements would heal, not punish.

Twilight channeled the awesome power given her and extended an olive branch to Nightmare Moon.

Something unexpected happened.

An error?

A correction?

Twilight knew naught which it was.

All she knew was pain as the healing magic slammed back into her own body, the magic inside her warping and twisting into a new shape.

The elements still relayed what they were doing to her, even as her mind began dipping into the realm of dreams.

Heal.

Restore.

The choice was no longer hers.





“Uuggghh, what happened?”

Twilight could feel her eyelids crack open weakly, the sudden influx of light blinding her as she adjusted to her surroundings.  She was laying on something soft, and she could see the familiar contours of the castle ceiling, the solid white stone soothing and calm.

 Familiar?  Solid?  Isn’t the Castle of the Two Sisters a crumbling ruin?

“Twilight?” a deep and recognizable voice asked.

Twilight blearily turned her head and the blurry face of her brother, Shining Armor, came into view.  As her eyes focused on him, and his figure becoming clearer, she saw that he was nervous and that he had a deep concern for her was written all over his face.

“Shining?” she asked feebly “What are you doing here?”

Another familiar face came within her sight next to Shining, pink and relieved, yet fear underlined her usually happy features.

“Cadence?”

“Twilight!  You’re awake!  We were so worried!”  

Cadence quickly wrapped her in a protective hug, pressing Twilight down into the softness whatever she was laying on.  Twilight felt confusion take over her, this wasn’t making any sense.

Shining frowned in bewilderment at her, assessing her last statement.

“What am I doing here?” he asked, his brow creased in concern “That’s what I should be asking you Twiley.”

“What do you mean?  Aren’t we in the Everfree Forest?”

“Twilight…you’re in Canterlot Castle.”

“WHAT!” she screamed, attempting to get up but Cadence easily held her down in Twilight’s weakened state.

“Listen to us Twilight!”  Cadence demanded, holding Twilight down firmly.  “A black alicorn going by the name of Nightmare Moon and an army of lunar pegasi have taken over the castle!  We don’t know why you’re here, but you must escape!”  The love alicorn said desperately, her face the very epitome of worry and concern.

Twilight gaped at her, her jaw dropping as she processed her foalsitter’s words.

“NO!” She shrieked “That’s impossible!  We used the Elements of Harmony on her!  Nightmare Moon should be gone!”

Twilight starting pushing at Cadence with her forehooves more forcefully, trying to find out what happened.  The pink mare obliged, letting Shining take her place.

“The elements of what?” Shining questioned, his concern obviously increasing, but he then shook his head and picked Twilight off the bed gently.  He held her steady as she swayed uncertainly on her hooves, still slightly disoriented.

“Twilight,”  Shining said, addressing Twilight in a nervous but inquisitive tone “tell us what happened in Ponyville.  We got a report from a squad of guards that Nightmare appeared there first, before she took over the city.”

But as he spoke, Twilight had instead stole a glimpse over at Cadence and noticed her wings were wrapped in bandages, noticeably broken.  She gasped and rushed over to her, searching Cadence for more injuries.

“Cadence!  What happened to your wings?!” Twilight cried, dismayed at her friend’s injury.

Cadence grimaced but shook her head, “I’ll explain to you later, but first tell us about Ponyville.”

Twilight took some calming breaths and then spoke to them of everything, sparing no details.  The prophecy, Ponyville, her friends, Nightmare, and the elements.  She watched as they both became enraptured with her tale.  Cadence seemed very interested in Twilight’s initial discoveries and Nightmare’s first appearance in the town hall, while Shining paid closer attention to Twilight describing their journey through the forest and the elements themselves.  She began describing her short duel with Nightmare when Shining interrupted her.

“You fought Nightmare Moon!” Shining screeched at his sister, his eyes widening in shock.

“Not really,” Twilight corrected, wilting under Shining’s stare “it was more like a chase, I just successfully dodged her enough and caught her off guard with the elements.”

“What then Twilight?” Cadence asked, her brow furrowed in thought “You activated these elements and then what happened?”

Twilight sat down on her haunches and tapped her chin with a hoof, trying to recall the memories.  But the memories slipped through her mind like water running through a griffon’s claws.

“Well…” she began “I don’t…really recall.  I felt this huge surge of magic, and the next thing I know I’m waking up here.”  She shook her head, her mane flipping across her face as she closed her eyes and let out a sigh.  “I need to know what Nightmare told you.  We must find my friends and the elements, that’s the only way I know how to stop her.”

Shining cocked his head suddenly to the side, his face scrunched up in thought as he realized something.

“Wait,” he said “are your friends two earth ponies, two pegasi, and a unicorn?  Nightmare mentioned some civilian prisoners when she imprisoned all the guards.”

“Yes!  That’s them!”  Twilight answered, staring at her brother intently as if she could find out their fate by just staring at him.  “What happened to them, where are they?”

She watched in growing frustration as Shining and Cadence shared a quick glance at one another, their faces morphing into different levels of anxiety, before Cadence looked back at her and spoke reluctantly.

“We’re…not really sure.  Nightmare said that five prisoners with that description were in something called a cistern, but the castle dungeons don’t have anything like that.  After Nightmare took over the castle, she bound our magic and sent us up here to you.  I am assuming that Nightmare brought you here herself after what you just told me.”  

She paused reluctantly and looked at Twilight in the eye, her lips quivering as she spoke her next words, as if not sure what to make of her thoughts.

“I don’t know what her game is Twilight, but when she captured us and sent us up here, Nightmare told us she was making Shining and I the personal servants of –“  

Cadence’s horn suddenly lit up and her mouth closed shut, her own magic silencing her.  Twilight watched in horror as she struggled to speak, but to no avail.  Eventually, she stopped trying and the magic released her.

Shining watched in alarm as well, thinking about what to do as Cadence struggled.  He turned to Celestia’s desk and picked up a parchment and quill, trying to pen whatever it was they wanted to tell her, but his magic slammed his hooves to the floor as soon as he tried to write.

“Hmph!” Cadence snorted in frustration, glaring up at her horn. “She enchanted the inhibitors to use our own magic against us!  I cannot believe this!”

Twilight was shocked at her statement and parted Cadence’s mane with a hoof, revealing a shiny blue inhibitor at the base of the pink horn that she had not noticed before. Twilight looked over at Shining and he showed her his own inhibitor, parting his blue mane and shaking his head sadly.

“These prevent us from leaving the castle, or from disobeying her without causing each other pain.”  He said despondently, his body posture sagging in depression from his predicament.  “And,” he added “preventing us from telling you what lie she told us apparently.  I don’t know what her angle is, but we must be careful around her.  Nightmare is as stable and balanced as a dragon.  There’s no telling what she’s thinking, she’s insane Twilight, don’t ever forget that.”

Twilight scowled and looked back at Cadence’s inhibitor, her own horn lighting up.

“Well,” she grunted defiantly “I’ll just have to take them off then.”

But just as her magic connected with the inhibitor, the pink horn it was attached to began to glow.  Cadence looked up at her forehead to see what Twilight was doing, only for her eyes to widen in realization.

“Wait!  Twilight don’t-“

The next thing Twilight knew, a large and very hard barrier appeared in front of Cadence and slapped her away, sending her crashing across the room and into a chess-of-drawers, shattering the wood.

“Uuggghh…empty-skies!” she groaned out from the heap of fragments.  “I should have known better, that would have been too easy.”

Twilight became aware of a small amount of pain assaulting her system, originating from her sides.  Twilight glanced down to see what was poking her, confused as to why it felt warm and…feathery?

As she laid eyes for the first time on the cause of the new sensation, her usual calculating mind came to a complete grinding halt and shut down.  Her purple eyes became pinpricks as she lifted up a lavender wing for the first time.

Wings.

Two of them.

Attached to her.

Her breathing picked up pace rapidly, her chest rising and falling in quick succession.  Twilight could only gasp in only short breaths, turning her panicked stare across the chamber at Shining and Cadence, who looked back at her nervously.  From their anxious posture, Twilight discerned that they had obviously thought they could tell her perhaps more effectively somehow, trying to avert a panic attack.

“Now Twilight,” Cadence warned, her voice bordering on concern and fright, “take a de-“

She never finished.

“WINGS!” Twilight screeched, the windows of the room visibly shaking at her scream “THERE ARE WINGS ON ME!”

She scrambled out of the rubble of the broken furniture and rushed over to Shining and seized him roughly, shaking the poor stallion who looked slightly frightened by his manic sister.

“SHINING!  WHAT DID SHE DO TO ME?!”

“Me? I did nothing my little star.”

It felt like the temperature immediately dropped twenty degrees, Twilight’s heart stopping in her chest from the short statement.  Her new wings folded tightly to her sides in shock and alarm.

That voice.

Twilight knew that voice.

Twilight dared not move, content to stay as still as a statue, her magic still holding Shining in a firm grip.  Her brother was looking over her shoulder as if a ghost had appeared behind her.  Shining’s face had paled, the blood draining from his usually vibrant features to make him look haggard and old.  She let go of him, Shining slumping down where he was, still gaping at the dark mare Twilight knew was right behind her.

Dreading every movement, she turned around slowly, a cold sweat breaking down her back from the sudden fear that had taken ahold of the new alicorn.

It was her.

Nightmare Moon.

The imposing mare was standing directly in front of her, the wild blue ethereal mane billowing with dying stars.  Her eyes were staring through Twilight and into her soul.  A smile that revealed her knives for teeth graced the specter’s face.

“B-B-But,” Twilight sputtered, her ears folding back as she looked up at the alicorn looming over her, naught but two breaths away.  “I-I thought…t-the e-elements-“  

Twilight stopped, swallowing her words, although her incomplete sentence only seemed to make Nightmare smile wider, her eyes flashing with glee in the descending gloom that had descended on them.

But instead of smiting her then and there, as Twilight had thought she would do, Nightmare turned her muzzle at Cadence and Shining, although her eyes remained locked onto Twilight. 

“Stay here until our return, clean up this mess and fix the state of the room.  Twilight and I are going for a walk.”

She turned back to Twilight, her tail swishing back and forth excitedly at something.

“Come Twilight, there is much for you and I to discuss.”

Twilight didn’t know how, but she buried her fear and managed a few, defiant words.

“W-What makes you think I’m going a-anywhere w-with you?” she croaked in what she hoped was a rebellions tone.

Nightmare frowned at Twilight, a small sneer crawled up her face suddenly.  But just as it appeared, it was gone as if it had never been there.  A very mischievous, almost malicious, smile quickly replaced it.

“If you will not come willingly,” she said, her draconic eyes flashing towards Shining and Cadence “we could always order your servants to carry you.”

Twilight sighed, she really didn’t want to be the source of further humiliation for her brother and his marefriend.  Twilight did not really having a foalproof reason to refuse Nightmare Moon, considering how helpless her friends and family were.  Twilight nodded at the black alicorn in reluctant resignation.

“Fine, I’ll go.  Just…please…don’t hurt them, or my friends.” She grumbled, grinding out her manners like a tooth being pulled.

“So long as they do what we say and do not cause trouble, they have no reason to fear our wrath.”  Nightmare told Twilight, smiling down at the smaller mare.  “They need to know their place under our glorious reign, we do not trust or want Celestia’s useless captain.  Nor do we find the puppet princess worthy of our notice.  They are both much more useful as our servants.”

Ending her demeaning lecture, Nightmare turned around and exited the chamber, clearly expecting Twilight to follow.

Twilight began to go, but turned back to Shining and Cadence, who were glaring at the exit of the chamber Nightmare had just passed through.  They then noticed her staring and their concerned expressions came back to greet her.

“I’ll…figure something out.  Probably.”  Twilight told them quietly, knowing it sounded more like a fervent prayer than a statement of confidence.

“Just be safe, don’t antagonize her.  We don’t exactly have the upper hoof.” Shining warned.

“Twilight,” Cadence said, her face very, very anxious.  “Nightmare is up to something, be on your guard.  I’m not sure if she’s delirious or desperate, but she wants you to be something.”  She lowered her head and shook it despondently, sighing in frustration.  “I would tell you what she told us when Nightmare first sent us up here, but her magic is preventing us from telling you.”  She looked back up at Twilight “Be careful.  We’ll find a way out of this, I promise.”

And with that, Twilight faced back towards the open doors, knowing she could no longer delay the alicorn’s summons.  

As she entered the hallway, she barely noticed the doors close with an ominous boom, like the shutting of a tomb.  She looked up at her surroundings and was surprised at what she saw.

The castle had completely changed.

Where once the white marble that dominated the castle was sleek obsidian that twinkled like starlight.  The once gold furnishings had been transformed into silver plating.  The sun and moon decorations had been replaced by just a singular figure of a dominant moon.  Most of the paintings that had lined the walls were gone, many of them had featured Celestia or prominent figures over the past millennium.  Everything had been either recolored, replaced, redone, or removed.  Nothing looked the same.

“What-But-How-Why?” all came out of Twilight in quick succession as she stared at the new decorations.

“This is our castle now, and it shall bear the likeness of our most mysterious night.  We have no desire for the old furnishing to remind us of Equestria’s former ruler.”  Nightmare said plainly.  “The how is very simple, our magic is strong and such metamorphic spells are simple for us.  In time, the paintings and statues will be replaced with more deserving figures.”

The lunar alicorn turned back down the hallway, away from Twilight, and started walking patiently towards what Twilight knew would lead towards the Royal Gardens.

She reluctantly followed, glancing at the new furnishings as she followed Nightmare’s large and menacing form, trying to figure out what was going on and trying to formulate a plan of opposition to take.

Twilight figured up her options, running through a mental checklist of plausible plans.  

She couldn’t defeat Nightmare in a magic duel or by other conventional means.  The alicorn was too powerful and she had already tried that in the old castle before using the elements, to disastrous results.  

As much as she hated to admit it, Twilight could not depend on Celestia to come and rescue them.  From what she had read, Celestia had needed the elements in the past to deal with Nightmare Moon, and Nightmare had them…somewhere.  And since Celestia had not appeared, and Nightmare had insinuated as much, she was probably captured and imprisoned.  Twilight would not even consider the option that Celestia could be dead, such morbid thoughts were demoralizing, and would crush her soul if she voiced them, even to herself.  Twilight had to cling to the hope that she could find and free her mentor somehow, if she didn’t, Twilight did not know if she would have the courage or the strength to stand-up to Nightmare.

The Elements of Harmony were no longer an easy solution either since Twilight didn’t have the elements, not even knowing where they were.  In addition to that, Twilight did not know where her friends where, another problem with using the elements.  Twilight could only hope they were unharmed and she could somehow free them.  The fact that Nightmare had them imprisoned in an unknown location didn’t help her position or any plans regarding the elements.

Cadence and Shining were near helpless, their magic imprisoned and Cadence injured along with the servitude enchantments place on them.  They could both easily be harmed or manipulated if Twilight started fighting Nightmare Moon.

Shining had mentioned that a Lunar Pegasi army had taken the castle and all of Canterlot.  If that were true, then Twilight was severely outnumbered now.  There would be little hope for help from the other cities.  With Celestia missing and Nightmare in control of Canterlot and the celestial mechanisms, then the rest of Equestria would have to submit to the usurper in order to just survive. 

Twilight was on her own.

The only plausible plan she could come up with was to wait for an opportunity, find and rescue her friends, locate the elements, free Celestia, and perhaps gather some useful information as she waited.

Twilight realized she would have to face Nightmare alone till then, and deal with the consequences of her failure with the elements.  

She still didn’t know what Nightmare wanted with her.  The logical thing Nightmare should have done was imprison or enslave her too.  The wings, forcing Shining and Cadence to be her servants, and the obvious restraint Nightmare showed at Twilight’s defiance was unsettling, if not disturbing.

And that scared her.


> Flashback II:  A Star is Born
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters

Five Months Before the Banishment of Nightmare Moon

Luna





It was silent.

It was always silent.

Luna had to force an expression of neutrality on her face, even though there was no reason to keep it.

She was sitting on her jaded blue throne, looking regal and reposed as she kept her vigil over the night.  Luna shared this throne room with her sister, Celestia, to portray their equality in both power and authority, but even a blind-pony could see that this was not the case.

Every night, year after year, Luna held her Court of the Moon so that their ponies could address Luna on issues that they thought warranted the attention of the Equestrian Crown.  In the first years of the Royal Sister’s Reign, she had had many petitioners and visitors, some from the far corners of the world that had come to pay homage to the alicorns that had restored harmony and now controlled the celestial mechanisms of their world.

But, those ponies that would come to seek her guidance had slowly dwindled, until nopony came to visit her anymore.

But not so with Celestia.

It had started innocently at first.  Under the tyranny of Discord, ponies worked during the day and night since they both rose and fell randomly and there was no sense of time.

But since the restoration, ponies had begun to focus more during the time of day and not night.

Luna understood that, in the beginning.  With earth ponies working their crops they had to work by daylight in order to harvest fresh and tradable produce to sustain themselves.  Traders and merchants also needed to work by day because that was when ponies were mostly awake, it being easier to sleep at night due to the bright light of the sun awakening them.

That did not mean Luna did not try to garner her ponies respect and admiration.  The lunar princess had done many things to remedy the situation, with many successes at first.

Luna had delved into the realms of dream magic, something that always was affiliated with the night and therefore within Luna’s range of expertise.  The guardian of dreams she became, sifting through her ponies slumbers and chasing away the nightmares.  Many had praised her protection over their dreams, thankful for the peace she was bringing to their daily rest.

Luna had also found a colony of lunar pegasi during some of her travels, a reclusive branch of pegasi that typically dwelled only in the night.  They were of small number, having been thought at first to be cursed or dark creatures and so were hunted and killed.  But Luna changed that when she made them her personal guard, the Night Watch.  She had put forth education initiatives to teach ponies that her guards were not monsters, and this had also concluded with success.  All of Equestria realized their folly and accepted the lunar pegasi into their ranks.  To reward Luna’s efforts on their behalf, the clans of the lunar pegasi swore eternal allegiance to her.

Luna trained her Night Watch to be fearsome warriors, great knights of the realm.  Under her banner, they searched the country under the moonlight for fearsome beasts left over from Discord’s rule and dangerous criminals that harmed her ponies.  The Night Watch proved to be effective and became a respected and beloved part of Equestria, ponies adoring their feats of bravery and humble self-sacrifice.

To rebuild her ponies love and fascination for the night, there were several new programs and studies she initiated among her mages and the nobles of the Lunar Court to put into action.  The Winter Solstice, Harvest Moon Festival, and Feast of Starlight were the most major holidays and social functions that Luna introduced to her ponies in order to familiarize them with the benefits of the night.  These all became very popular and ponies attended her festivals, bringing her great joy and a new peace of mind.

In the academic world, Luna created the study of astrology so that ponies could understand the deeper mechanisms of her night.  Prophecies and portents that the stars sometimes revealed to the world.  Luna did place the stars, but sometimes a few would rearrange themselves in order to reveal something, that was when astrologers took notice.  Also so that the night could be useful, Luna introduced astronomy to her ponies.  Ponies began using the stars  for navigation, constellations for the changing of the seasons, and phases of the moon to note the passing of months and years.

For a few decades, these all were welcomed by her ponies and Luna felt very optimistic for the future.

But, it was not to last.

It was not sudden, there was no great cataclysm that turned her ponies away from Luna and her night.  It was a slow, and terminal illness that would bring devastation upon her.  Patient and sneaky, it was the slow drip of water that eventually weakened the foundation that brought the whole castle down.

It started, with the nightmares.

As the population of Equestria grew, it became harder and harder for Luna to safeguard all of her ponies dreams and for reasons that Luna could not discover, the number of nightmares had increased exponentially to the point where she could no longer safeguard all of Equestria.  Therefore because of her long vigil over their slumbers, ponies began to think that the nightmares were her doing.  The problem grew so bad that a myth arose that Luna decided what ponies dreamed, giving them sweet dreams or sending them dark nightmares to punish them.  Luna could not control the dream world, such was impossible, she could only banish disperse the frightening images with her magic.  When she realized that ponies thought she was the cause of nightmares, Luna tried her best to reverse this trend but the mistrust was already entrenched, thwarting her efforts.

Then, the Massacre of the Innocents happened.

To this day, Luna still had no idea what had caused the terrible tragedy.  A fringe group of lunar pegasi, not criminals but neither were they the ideal example of their kind either, stole the armor of her Night Watch and traveled to the town of Tall Tale in the north of Equestria.  Once there, the disguised thestrals began killing the inhabitants of the town.

It was not loud or raucous like a rampaging dragon, but a silent killing like that of a ghost that continues to haunt the region.

The murderers did not go screaming in, but instead broke into each house, one by one, and slit their adults’ throats as they slept.

With the children…moon and stars…Luna could not recall even Discord ever maiming somepony as horrendous as the poor children of Tall Tale by those foul beasts.

The vile creatures had killed more than half the town when somepony realized what was happening.  An alarm was sounded and Celestia’s Day Guard rescued them, killing all the rogue thestrals in the process because they fought to the death, or took their own lives if captured.

After the dust settled, more than seven-eighths of the town were dead or dying and the sole blame were the corpses lunar pegasi dressed as Luna’s Night Watch.

The outcry from the ponies of Equestria had been staggering.

There were many calls for the old ways to return and persecute the lunar pegasi, the extremists seeming to having been proved right by the massacre.  Nobles bickered with Luna and demanded that she completely disband her Night Watch and deport the colony of lunar pegasi to beyond Equestria’s borders.  It had taken many years to silence those wrongful petitions, but Luna was able to salvage her Night Watch and protect the innocent thestrals that had no part in the horrible tragedy.

To say the least, Luna’s defense of the lunar pegasi had done nothing in the eyes of the public to endear them to her.  Many rumors began to mill that Luna herself had ordered the attack, and that the Night Watch were her band of assassins to do her dirty work.

That was the tipping point.

With the increasing nightmares and the massacre, ponies began fearing and mistrusting the night and the alicorn that brought it.  A black mythology arose in the rural towns that the night alicorn was the protector of thieves and murderers since most of their deeds happened during the night.  

Eventually, this led to ponies believing that Luna had naught but ill intended for them and they began to cast her as a fearsome tyrant perched on a throne like a vulture waiting to pick their dead carcasses.

Nopony would go to her festivals anymore for fear of being labeled as a conspirator with her and what they came to believe was a gathering of evil spirits and malevolent necromancers.  Her beloved constellations were scorned and blasphemed as evil portents that she placed in the sky to inspire fear and despair.  Those that studied the stars were persecuted until astrology and astronomy seemingly disappeared overnight.

Luna had tried telling Celestia of what was happening, but it always seemed that her sister was buried under work, ponies now dumping their issues onto one side of the Equestrian Diarchy.  It didn’t help that Luna’s pride wouldn’t make it easy to admit to her big-sister that their ponies feared her.  

Luna had wondered why Celestia didn’t notice her growing black reputation, and so had investigated into the cause of her big-sister’s ignorance.

What she discovered was deeply grating, and made Luna bitter and cold.

What had happened was that the ponies of Equestria had painted Luna as a dark reaper that came in the night to kill and plunder while Celestia was pictured as the pure and good that kept Luna’s darkness at bay. 

Good and Evil.

Yin and Yang.

Day and Night.

The reason why Celestia had no clue as to her sister’s troubles was that nopony had the nerve to voice that they thought her beloved sister was the very embodiment of evil.  Flattering nobles always gave dishonest embellishments on how wonderful Luna was in order to curry favor with the sun princess.  The Day Guard loved Celestia but knew that to tell her that they thought her own sister was a danger to her and Equestria was to tread on very, very, thin ice under the heat of the sun.  Interaction with common ponies were very rare because of their station and thus Celestia did not hear the rumors nor the stories that surrounded Luna.

The few times Luna tried to bring it up, she felt like Celestia brushed off her misgivings as something that would fade with time or was a simple nuisance that would pass.

Luna realized that Celestia reveled in the love and adoration of their ponies, and could not see that they thought her little-sister was a monster.

It was poetically ironic, the very paragon of the sun blinded by her own glorious shining.

As Luna gazed mournfully across the silent hall, the light of the torches the only flickering movement, she decided she had more important things that to wait for ponies that would not come.

“We think,” Luna said quietly, addressing her two thestral guards in resignation “that my Court of the Night shall not have any visitors tonight.  We are weary, and this only depresses us.”

Raising a gavel that hadn’t truly been used in some time, she rapped it on its stand, the wooden smack echoing silently in the cold and lonely throne room.

“Court is adjourned.”  Luna said, mostly to herself.  Gone were the nights that ponies would seek her for guidance and protection.  They had turned her into a dark specter that was the darkness to Celestia’s glorious light.  

Descending from her throne, Luna began making her way to her tower in the castle, her two guards falling in behind as they escorted her.

The castle was so empty, it filled Luna with nostalgia for the time when great mages and astrologers would come to the castle and bring forth great discoveries or make fantastic new creations to benefit Equestria.

But no more, they were long gone.  Nopony would be associated with the moon princess anymore.  If there was proof of this, it was the echoes of her hooves as she made her way alone to her chambers bouncing off the unyeilding stonework of the castle.
Finally she made it to her door, the guards taking their posts on either side of it.

“Make sure we are not disturbed.”  Luna commanded, not even looking at her guards as she addressed them.  In her peripheral vision, they both gave a silent nod of affirmation to her demand and Luna made her way into her personal residence.

Once inside, Luna actually let out a sigh of relief, no longer having to wear the fake mask she had to wear to her subjects, if she saw them at all that was.

Oh, my aching back…

Luna had to stretch.  Her back muscles were throbbing painfully along with her ankles.  To anpony else looking at her, she would have seemed normal, but that was far from the truth.

The blue alicorn made her way to a rug in front of her warm fireplace.  Luna stretched like a cat, her wings flaring out as she yawned. 

After the soreness alleviated a little, Luna straightened up and finally let go of the magical illusion that she maintained every time she stepped hoof outside of her chambers.

Like water running through a stream, the illusion faded away from her body to reveal her very large and obtrusive belly.

Luna was carrying a little pony with her.

She slowly laid down on her side on the thick woolen rug so as not to harm her unborn foal.  Luna stared into the glowing coals of the warm fire and began recessing her beleaguered mind from the trouble that plagued her, trying to find some calming and rejuvenating sleep.  

As she almost slipped into the realm of dreams, Luna felt a small kick in her lower abdomen awaken her.

“Oof.” she murmured.  The expecting mare looked lovingly down at her pregnant belly with a smile and rubbed it gently with a hoof, trying to calm the little pony inside. “When are you coming out little one?  Mama wants to see you.”

When her unborn foal didn’t reply, Luna again began relaxing from her brief but welcome interruption.  Her teal eyes reflecting the flames as they danced, Luna began drifting off to sleep and started reminiscing how this had all started, roughly three to four years ago.

In her growing loneliness as she realized her ponies feared her, Luna had found the Royal Gardens to be both refreshing and peaceful.  
The gardens were always so beautiful, having both flora and fauna that prospered during the night and day.  When her burdens had become too much for her psyche, she found solace in the life flourishing under her moon.

That’s where she met him.

His name was Terrace Crescent, a lunar pegasi and one of her former guards in the Night Watch.

Ironically, she had heard of him before, but had never gotten to truly know the stallion until they met in the garden.

Crescent was a former guard because he had lost both his wings and the bottom part of his right-foreleg while battling a Manticore.  Unable to perform his duty anymore, he had been awarded medals for bravery and had been honorably discharged.

But instead of returning to the lunar pegasi colony, Crescent had gone straight from the Night Watch Barracks to the castle staff administrators, asking if he could stay on as the gardener for the nocturnal plants in the Royal Garden.  Crescent’s request was granted, the old gardener was retiring and Crescent’s special talent was actually handling nocturnal flora.  Crescent had joined the Night Watch out of a sense of duty towards his people’s commitment to Equestria, but now that he could no longer perform that duty, he wanted to practice his craft at the castle.

Luna had been informed of this by her staff, but truly didn’t register the change until she found him tending to the garden one moonlit eve.

Crescent was tall for a stallion, thought he was still shorter than Luna.  He had a dark blue mane and tail with the traditional draconic eyes in a shade of yellow.  Luna had seen his scars where his bat-wings use to be as well as the crutch he used in place of his missing leg.

Feeling it impolite to ignore Crescent, especially since he had been injured in her service, Luna engaged in a conversation with him.

She was surprised to say the least, that even in his crippled state, he was cheerful and optimistic.  He always did his best and looked on the bright sides of things even in the face of his disability.

It was quite innocent at first, they talked about the different plants and how they bloomed beautifully in the starlight.  Luna found him to be charming and rustically familiar, something she didn’t experience often because of her rather intimidating position as a princess.  

After several months of running into him here and there when she visited the garden, she began seeking his presence more often.  Crescent had a calming effect on her, and their conversations were always filled with mirth and laughter.

Crescent was very intelligent, his family came from a long line of lunar philosophers and scientists.  Even with her cumulative knowledge of centuries, Crescent still managed to surprise her with his small yet wise tidbits of thought and knowledge. 

Eventually, she counted him among her friends, which were very few and far between because of both her position and her now intimidating reputation among the citizens of Equestria.

Then two years ago, Crescent confessed to her that he had developed feelings for her.  Luna had been shocked at first, and was going to refuse his advances.  But before she dismissed him, Luna did some introspection on herself and realized that she too had had feelings for him.

They were falling in love.

After discovering this, they were hesitant to continue seeing each other for fear of the consequences.  But they could not stop seeking the other out and they began exploring their feelings together secretly, away from the prying eyes of Luna’s court.

Then one night, one glorious magical night, Crescent proposed marriage to her.

Even with only three functional legs, Crescent was a gentlecolt and he had kneeled when he proposed to her.  Crescent told her that even though he was not worthy of her, he wanted to seek her hoof in marriage for she was more beautiful and wonderful than the night itself.  He held out to her with his only front leg all that he could afford, it was a small silver horn ring that bore the image of the moon.  

To most, especially the nobility, such a ring would have been considered cheap and worthless.

To Luna, it was her crown jewel.

She accepted, and they secretly married there in the garden where they had truly met each other, the only witnesses to their union the night sky, which Luna had never put more effort into it than that night.

They had both decided to keep their marriage a secret.  Luna was afraid that the nobles would grow angry that she wanted to marry what they would have perceived to be a commoner and a useless cripple.  Also, she didn’t want him endangered if the more erratic zealots that believed her to be a monster went after Crescent to get to her.

Crescent’s reasons were simple.  He wanted to make her happy and to not have outside pressures affecting their relationship.

Luna had thought about telling Celestia, but she feared that her big-sister would not approve since she was a champion of royal decorum.  So, she didn’t tell her.

Their marriage was wonderful for Luna.  Crescent was always understanding and he never made demands of her like the nobility would have in his position.  Being with him practically made Luna forget about all her troubles and she found comfort in his love.  Whenever they were together, even if it was for just a few minutes, Luna treasured those moments and it always made her feel bright and optimistic for the future.

With Crescent’s support, Luna no longer held misgivings for the future.  She looked on the positive side of things and looked forward to the time for when her ponies would love her again, even if it would take more years of hard work.

For several months after their secret wedding, they carried on as usual to all observers.  None ever suspected anything.  They would meet secretly and enjoy one another’s presence.

Then, tragedy struck like a lightning bolt.

One night Luna went out to meet him at one of their predetermined rendezvous, but she couldn’t find him.

Worried a little, since Crescent had never missed one of their dates, Luna checked with the castle staff administrators as to his whereabouts.  

They told Luna that Crescent was in the castle’s infirmary, having passed out while he worked.

Her concern rising astronomically, Luna had disguised herself with magic and gone to see Crescent as quick as she could.

She was too late.

Crescent had died.

Barely retaining her disguise and composure upon finding his pale and limp form, she questioned the doctors as to the cause of his death.

They told their princess in disguise that his old wounds from the Manticore attack had reopened and gotten infected, killing him quickly but painfully.  It was a strain of infection almost impossible to detect, not giving off any symptoms until it was too late to save him.

Luna secretly buried him in their garden, mourning for him deeply.  Her night sky reflected her sorrow as the stars themselves seemed to cry out in grief.

Two nights later, Luna discovered she was with foal.

Luna was beyond shocked, they had discussed the possibility of children but Luna always wrote it off as a distant and unachievable hope because of the rarity of alicorn children.  Not giving much thought to it.

But eleven months ago, when she reached out with her magic and felt the life growing within her, Luna realized she wouldn’t give up her child for anything in the world.

Realizing that soon she would have a young foal to take care of, Luna took precautions to keep her secret while she planned on what to do once her child was born.

The first few months had been the hardest with her morning sickness and unpredictable mood swings.  Alicorns only rarely contracted illnesses.  Their magic was so strong that it literally burned away all of the regular diseases that their ponies contracted, it would be hard to explain to her big-sister why she was sick when she didn’t have any of the symptoms of an alicorn illness and then Celestia would probe deeper and discover that she was going to be an aunt.

Ironically, the lack of anypony coming to visit her Court of the Night and her sister’s relative ignorance of Luna’s affairs proved to be a blessing in disguise.  Luna had been able to hide her occasional bouts of morning sickness in the privacy of her quarters and because of her fearsome reputation, ponies expected her to have mood swings.

When the foal grew bigger and started to show, it had been simple to hide her stomach with an illusion spell.  The cravings she accumulated were also easy to disguise, she explained to her chefs that she had grown tired of her regular meals and had arranged for a healthy diet while she carried her foal.

In her spare time, which she now had plenty of, Luna made preparations for where the foal would stay once he or she was born.  She couldn’t possibly pass off wanting to build a foal’s room close to her residence without raising some suspicion, so she had tunneled and built the room herself underneath her chambers using her powerful magic.

Once the room was finished, she built a crib and fashioned together other things her child would need eventually.  Once done with the required necessitates, Luna made foal’s toys, blankets, and other accessories.  

Luna’s favorite was a small plush doll of herself.

Then she had lavished great beauty into the decoration of the room.  Placing diamonds for stars in a jaded blue ceiling and a marble moon to watch over her foal.  Along the walls, Luna painted beautiful silver moonflowers, a monument to her foal’s late father.

Once all that was completed, all Luna had to do was wait.

She considered what would happen once her foal was revealed.  Luna knew she couldn’t hide her child forever in her (metaphorical) basement.  Eventually, she would have to tell Celestia and the rest of Equestria.

No matter how much she tried to run through all the various scenarios, Luna couldn’t pin one down as to their likely reaction.

Luna knew Celestia would support her, even though she might feel angry that Luna had kept both her late husband and her pregnancy secret for so long.  Celestia loved foals and Luna also knew Celestia would relish having another family member.  The only real reason Luna hadn’t already told Celestia was because she knew her big-sister would want to tell the rest of Equestria immediately.

That, was the problem.

The nobility would be furious.  Not only had Luna secretly married a thestral not of noble blood, but Crescent hadn’t even been in Luna’s guard anymore, an affront they would not ignore.  In all probability, they would not recognize her foal as a legitimate royal and demand she either give up the foal, or give up the throne.

Luna would die before she gave up her child.

As for her throne, it would take a huge amount of effort on both herself and Celestia parts to save it, but it could be done.

The political consequences would last for decades though.  The present nobility would shun her and further alienate her from the rest of Equestria.  Luna would have to weather out the political firestorm until the nobility trusted her again.

As she laid there in front of the bright and soothing fire, Luna still did not know how or when she would reveal her child, so she had decided to wait until she could no longer hide her pride and joy.

Another kick.

Luna arose from her reminiscent thoughts and turned an upraised eyebrow at the offending belly where her child slumbered safe from the world.

“Go back to sleep little one, mama is tired.” She told her stomach reproachfully.

As if in defiance of her, the foal kicked again.

Then again.

Suddenly, Luna became aware that her lower body had begun to go into the early stages of birth.

It’s time!

Her breathing picking up as Luna realized that her foal was coming, she quickly blanketed her room in a magical barrier, ensuring nopony would enter and sound-proofing her chamber at the same time.

“Ooooohhh.” Luna groaned as another contraction wracked her body.

Luna repositioned herself on her rug and got ready for her foal to arrive.





Three and Half Hours Later





“You are so beautiful…my little star.”

Luna was tired, after several hours of sweat and pain though, it was all worth it.  She was laying down on her belly, recovering from the shock of the foal leaving her body.  Her fur was matted with sweat from the effort and she panted with exhaustion.

But, there in between her forelegs, resting peacefully, slept perhaps the most wonderful thing in her life.

She was so tiny, her wings were cute and fluffy as they rested on the foal’s sides.  Her daughter had a very small horn that could barely be seen through the purple tuffs of hair that made up her mane and tail along with a pink highlight that ran down the middle.  Her soft and warm fur were the most beautiful shade of lavender, much like when the day ended and the night began.  And her eyes, her wonderful eyes sparkled when they had stared up at her mother for the first time.

“Yes,” Luna said, reaching down with her muzzle and a smile to nuzzle her wonderful foal.  “that will be your name. Twilight for the beginning of a new night in my life, Andromeda for the lavander of your coat like the star, and Sparkle for how you bring joy to me because you sparkle with life.”

Twilight Sparkle didn’t respond to her mother’s nuzzling, she too was exhausted and was snoozing deeply as she laid on her belly between her mother’s legs.

Feeling blessed that Luna had given birth to a healthy and happy foal, she leaned down and laid her head next to her gently breathing daughter, finally succumbing to a much deserved rest.  Her starry mane gently blew in an ethereal wind above the both of them as she closed her eyes, wondering at what the future had in store for the both of them.

She was no longer alone.

And that made her happy.




> Chapter 6:  There Shall Be No Lies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Royal Gardens

Eight Hours Into Eternal Night

Twilight





It was by far the worst tea Twilight had ever had.

In truth, it wasn’t the tea itself that was ruining a normally welcome part of her routine.

It was the mare she was having it with.

Twilight was sitting on a plush blue cushion in the Royal Gardens uncomfortably, her posture stiff.  There sitting innocently in front of her was a small glass table with a warm pot of tea along with two saucers and their accompanying tea cups.  There was also a plate of her favorite cookies, chocolate chip fresh from the royal kitchens.

The gardens were beautiful as always, even at night.  Princess Celestia always made sure that her gardens were alive at night as well as during the day, teeming with both diurnal and nocturnal flora and fauna.  There were statues of various things Celestia had wanted immortalized in her garden for visitors to see.  Great sculptures representing victory, harmony, happiness as well as odd ones such as the mismatched chimaera were lined up along the walkways of the garden.  

In the past when Twilight went stargazing, the gardens were her favorite spot.  Sometimes even the princess would join her, though Twilight realized after a couple of these impromptu get-togethers that Celestia was uncomfortable discussing the stars and the phases of the moon with her.  It was very subtle and Twilight one day discovered Celestia’s disquiet and had never broached the subject as to why Celestia was uneasy with astronomy.

She had always wondered why.

The answer was probably sitting across from her.

Nightmare Moon was also reclining on a dark blue cushion, although hers was much larger.  She had actually removed that accursed helmet and placed it on the ground next to her, her normally billowy mane seeming to calm down to match the gentle waviness Twilight usually associated with Celestia’s mane.

Although Nightmare Moon seemed to be attempting to appear less intimidating, her change in decorum didn’t alter the effects of the midnight fur, the dagger-like teeth, the feathery bat-wings, and the teal draconic eyes.

“Do you want some tea Twilight?”

Why?  Is it poisoned?

“No thank you, tea doesn’t agree with me.” Twilight lied, her voice clipped and short.

“Really?”  Nightmare asked, looking skeptically at Twilight.  “That’s not what the castle staff told me.  They also said that these cookies are your favorite.”

Fiddle-Sticks

“Well…I usually don’t drink tea this time of night.”  Twilight amended, enunciating the starlit skies above them.

Nightmare raised an eyebrow but she smiled in defiance of Twilight’s non-too subtle remark.

“Oh, that’s right, you’re usually stargazing.”  The lunar alicorn zinged back at her.  

Double Fiddle-Sticks

Feeling like the conversation was becoming too much like a tennis match.  Twilight glared back at Nightmare and put on a wary expression, attempting to steer the discussion into perhaps more useful territory.

“Why am I here Nightmare Moon?  Why the wings?  Why am I not with my friends?  What do you want from me?”  Twilight demanded of the larger mare, lifting her head in question to stare into Nightmare’s eyes. 

Nightmare continued smiling smugly, like she had predicted that Twilight would change the subject and ask those very questions.  She took a little sip of tea before placing her cup back down on the table with her indigo magic.

“First answer me this.”  Nightmare retorted.  “What do you know about the Elements of Harmony?”

“I’m afraid I’m going to decline answering that.  Giving your opponent useful tidbits of your strategy is an excellent way to lose a game of chess.”  Twilight replied, preparing for the inevitable storm that was sure to come.

Apparently, the storm was some amused chuckling as if Nightmare found her statement funny.

“You are assuming that I don’t know anything about the elements already.”  Nightmare said bluntly.  “When in fact, I probably know more about them than you actually do.”

“Oh?”  Twilight intoned sarcastically. “And why would that be?”

“My sister and I did use them once or twice, in fact, I once saw the elements on a daily basis.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and tried not to snort in frustration.  She couldn’t believe that Nightmare was trying to obtain information on the elements by claiming she already knew, thus trying to draw Twilight into a false sense of security and reveal perhaps vital information.

“You know I find that hard to believe.”  Twilight told Nightmare, shaking her head in disbelief.  She glared at Nightmare as she formed her next question.  “This sister you mentioned, is she some other ancient mare that’s going to come back to conquer Equestria?”

Nightmare’s smile grew, like Twilight had talked herself into a trap the black alicorn had set.

“You tell me, you were her personal protégé.”

It took a moment for the words to fully register with Twilight, when they did, she didn’t even try to restrain her snort of incredulity.

“You are claiming that Princess Celestia is your sister?”  Twilight asked mistrustfully, her disbelieving gaze boring into the offending mare.  “That is probably the most far-fetched thing I have ever heard.  If that were true, which it isn’t, somepony would have recorded it in the history books, such a thing could not have been ignored.  You’re lying.  Simple as that.”  

Twilight straightened up and closed her eyes in triumph for disproving Nightmare’s claim so easily.  But when she opened them back up, she was surprised to see that Nightmare didn’t look mad at all or even affected by her words.

“It’s no surprise to me that my sister would cover up what she would see as a black mark on her pristine reputation.”  Nightmare growled, her face morphing into a scowl at mentioning her ‘sister.’  She looked across the garden, seemingly lost in thought for a moment before the scowl disappeared and Nightmare returned her searching stare back to Twilight.  “Celestia did have an entire millennium in which to do so.  But that’s not why I brought it up, I wanted to make a point.”

Now confused at Nightmare’s change in tact, Twilight’s ears folded back and she tried to decipher why Nightmare would mention that Celestia was her sister if getting Twilight to believe her wasn’t her true goal.

“What…point, were you trying to make then?”  Twilight genuinely asked Nightmare, her curiosity getting the best of her despite her misgivings.

“That you aren’t going to believe me, no matter what I say.”

Twilight’s confusion was growing by the minute, Nightmare wasn’t making any sense to the lavender alicorn.

“Well…yes.  There is no reason for me to believe you.  None.”  Twilight retorted bluntly, raising her guard as the conversation sailed into unfamiliar waters.

A cunning smile of satisfaction bloomed upon Nightmare’s terrifying face at Twilight’s assertion.  Her horn lit up as she next spoke.

“But there are tools that will ensure that the truth is spoken.”  She said cryptically, her horn still glowing.

Twilight shook her head again, not taking Nightmare’s statement at face value.

“What ‘tools?’  Truth spells are possible, but casting one horrendously damages the mind because it forces it to tell the truth against a person’s will.  Many have died shortly after the spell being cast.  Besides, any ‘tool’ you have is liable to be a fake to convince me of your lies.  I doubt you would use an actual truth spell on yourself.”  Twilight confidently lectured Nightmare.  Convinced once again of her flawless argument, she turned away from Nightmare and stuck her nose in the air with a cute but indignant “Hhmph.”  

Nightmare’s smug and confidant voice cut through the night.  Her words alone seeming to chill the air.

“Even if it’s the Element of Honesty itself?”

That seized her attention immediately.

Turning back quickly to stare at Nightmare, her eyes were immediately drawn to the golden necklace with a gem in the shape of an apple that was held out in front of the black alicorn with her magic.

“W-Where did y…”  Twilight stammered out before she stopped and thought.  There was only one real logical conclusion as to where it came from. 

“The elements, you’ve put them in a dimensional pocket.”

Nightmare nodded in affirmation of Twilight as the element floated between them.  A very satisfied smile was creeping across her maw, showing off those pearly daggers she had for teeth.

O.K.  I know where the elements are, perhaps I can find out where she’ll store them.

Dimensional pocket spells were one of the most advanced works of magic ever invented by Starswirl the Bearded.  One mistake and the objects in question could be instantly crushed, vaporized, annihilated, etc.  On top of that, in order to be able to retrieve the stored items a portion of their magic had to be continuously put into the spell.  Large objects were much harder to store than smaller ones, like the elements.  One of the major downsides of the spell was that eventually, the pony’s magic would eventually run dry from maintaining the magic needed for the spell, leaving their magic reserves empty.  It was useful because nopony else could access the objects inside the pocket, it was like picking the lock of the royal vaults with a blunt rock, it just wasn’t possible.

With all those facts, Twilight knew that she could not retrieve the elements while Nightmare had them in her dimensional pocket.  But Nightmare would not be able to keep them there indefinitely because maintaining the spell would leave her weakened and vulnerable, so she had to find a more permanent storage place for them eventually, and probably soon too.  It was possible that because of the surprising leniency Nightmare was giving Twilight, and her close proximity in the castle might just give Twilight the advantage she needed to take back the elements.

Logically, Nightmare would want to store them nearby so that she could keep a draconic eye on them.  Hiding them in some vault far away was too dangerous.  Eventually somepony could find them and then Nightmare would be open to attack by them.  So she had to keep them close.

Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

If Twilight was able to stay in Nightmare’s good graces, she would be able to explore the castle for wherever Nightmare would hide them and also be able to use her magic so that when the time came, Twilight could free her friends, whom Nightmare probably also imprisoned close by, and defeat her.

But then again, the elements failed once, they might fail again.

If Nightmare’s confidence was any indication, she knew why the elements hadn’t worked.  If Twilight played her cards right, she could be able to wheedle the information out of the smug alicorn.  Once she did, there might be a solution to their misfire.

Mental Checklist:
1)	Remain Free, and stay in Nightmare’s graces for whatever reasons.
2)	Find out why the elements did not work.
3)	Locate where Nightmare will hide the elements.
4)	Liberate Elements.
5)	Locate Friends.
6)	Free Friends.
7)	Defeat Nightmare.

While it seemed easy in her head, Twilight knew that this would be anything but easy.  Guards would be everywhere, watching her movements, and Twilight would have to get the elements and her friends free at roughly the same time, otherwise Nightmare would catch on to what was happening.  To quote Celestia, ‘This is no cake walk.’

Of course, Twilight still needed to know why in the first place she had wings and the reasoning behind why Nightmare was now relatively friendly towards her.

One step at time.

Within the confines of her mind, all these thoughts formulated in a matter of seconds as the silence stretched between Nightmare and Twilight with the necklace hanging between them.

“Alright,” Twilight asked “how would the Element of Honesty be able to be used for telling the truth?  I know the bearer is supposed to be honest in order to be able to wield it, but what are you getting at?”

For the first time since Twilight had arrived in the garden, Nightmare took her eyes off of the lavender mare and eyed the jeweled necklace held aloft in front of her, her gaze staring into the red depths of the element, as if transfixed.

“The other five elements, as you surely know, are needed together in order to empower magic to its full capabilities.  But, the flow of power can be reversed.  As magic is empowered by the other five, so magic can also individually empower the other elements.”

Twilight mulled that over, while she had not seen proof of such a phenomenon, she supposed that it was not such a farfetched claim.  

Further research was needed.

“If magic could also empower the elements,” Twilight questioned “then what would their effects be?”

“It is quite simple really, if laughter was amplified, one would feel more cheerful.  If the Element of Kindness, compassion and empathy would be increased.  And so on and so forth with the others.”

Twilight watched as Nightmare twirled the Element of Honesty around in her magic in a mesmerizing dance.

“When Honesty is empowered, those under its sphere of influence cannot lie.  At all.  The element is embedded so deeply into the fabric of our world that it knows all truths,” she paused, a smile and daring twinkle lighting up her eyes as she looked from the element to Twilight, “even if we don’t know what the truth is.”

“So you expect me to believe that if you use magic on the element, suddenly everything you say is the truth?”  Twilight questioned.  “How do I know you’re not just lying to get me to believe what you’re saying?”

“You misunderstand, I will not be empowering the element.  You will.”

…

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Nightmare smiled lazily as she merrily twirled the necklace around in front of Twilight.

“As I am not connected to the elements, I cannot control them and for that matter, neither can anypony else.  And since you are the bearer of the Element of Magic, it is only you who can empower the Element of Honesty using your magic.”

Nightmare then unceremoniously dropped the element right in front of Twilight, setting off a loud clatter as it rattled the tea set.

“Go ahead, try it.”

Twilight could only stare at Nightmare, her mind racing as she contemplated what Nightmare was trying to do.

As if reading her mind, Nightmare smiled coyly at Twilight and nodded again at the necklace between them.

“Surely, you can see the benefits of the two of us speaking honestly?”

Of course Twilight could, but such honesty worked both ways.  As much as this was a great opportunity to learn much about her opponent, so was the danger of revealing something fatal to her own plans.  Weighing the pros and cons of her choice, she made her decision.

Picking up the element in her magic, Twilight stared deep into the apple-shaped gem and reached down deep into her own pool of magic.  Drawing it out, she began transferring the energy into the element before her, which began glowing with a gentle glow until bits of golden light began escaping the gem and surrounded the two alicorns.

That’s when she began feeling it, the power she had put into the element had been transformed into something Twilight had been completely unaware of as the magic surrounding them began to feel unfamiliar.  It did not feel oppressive, but the magic emanating from the element seemed to be all encompassing and knowledgeable, as if all the truth of the world was laid bare before her.

All she had to do was speak.

All right then, let’s experiment.

Setting the glowing element back down onto the table, Twilight contemplated what she would do to test the golden magical field.  Something simple came to mind, she would try to lie and say that her name was something else, like Pinkie Pie.

“My name is Twilight Andromeda Sparkle.”

Interesting…

While she had had every intention of saying that her name was Pinkie Pie, and that was indeed what she had commanded her mouth to say, the words that slipped from her were the truth, and it had come spilling from her mouth like it was what she had intended to say all along.

Putting herself on guard, Twilight was unwilling to tell Nightmare anything while having to speak truthfully.  Twilight aimed her first question at the lunar alicorn like an arrow.

“Where is Princess Celestia?”

Nightmare smiled but Twilight could tell that the question displeased her from the way Nightmare’s eyes flashed dangerously in the moonlight.

“Admirable,” she said “to try and have us divulge her location, but while we must answer truthfully, we are not forced to answer your question.”

Nightmare sat back in her cushion and her eye lids drooped until Twilight could barely see the gleaming draconic eyes.

“My turn.” She whispered.  “How exactly did you become Celestia’s student?”

Twilight considered her options.  She needed answers, and Nightmare would probably become more forthcoming in answering her questions if Twilight cooperated, to some degree at least.  

“I met the Princess after having an uncontrolled magical flare when I was attempting to hatch a dragon’s egg for the entrance exam for her school.  The flare was spreading and Princess Celestia stopped it before it did more damage, as well as reversing the effects.  After seeing my potential, the Princess made me her protégé.”

“Hmm…” Nightmare mumbled, her eyes seeming distant as she seemed to sort through her thoughts, but she didn’t elaborate to Twilight what she was obviously thinking about.

“Now, how do you know so much about the Elements of Harmony?”  Said Twilight, determined to get an actual answer this time.

Nightmare smirked as she replied.  “As I told you before, I once wielded them along with my sister, Celestia.  After using them we stored them inside the castle where we lived, coincidentally where you found them.”  She shook her head in mock condensation, “Why else do you think it was called the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters?”

Twilight was aghast with surprise, though she wanted to deny it, she could feel the truth of Nightmare’s words through the golden magic that surrounded them.  The magic of Honesty would not let Twilight refute the truth, even to herself.  The idea—nay—the fact that this tyrant was her mentor’s sister shook her to her very core.  It left a bitter and nasty taste in her mouth, like disgusting medicine she had to take in order to get better.  

Before she could truly come to terms with the revelation, Nightmare’s voice cut through the haze of Twilight’s shock.

“What did Celestia tell you about me?” she asked.  Nightmare’s tone was very dark and her eyes narrowed even further and her lips curled downwards in a frown once more.

“Nothing, everything I know about you I read in a book.” She replied.

Now this seemed to surprise Nightmare, as Twilight saw her eyes widen and her jaw drop a little in astonishment though Twilight couldn’t tell if it was pleasant or disturbing, since a mask of neutrality slammed down to cover the brief lapse in composure.

“I see.” She stated coldly, her black wings fluttering in agitation.

Twilight already knew what else she wanted to ask about, and despite the obvious danger of Nightmare answering it, she tried to appear calm and collected and not show how eager she was for Nightmare to give her an answer.

“Where have you put my friends?”

Nightmare didn’t move an inch, appearing to all the world as one of the statues in the garden.  She was undoubtedly weighing the risks of revealing their location.  Finally she looked down at Twilight, her face as stony as the mountain upon which Canterlot sat.

“Your…friends are imprisoned here in the castle dungeons in one of the older parts called the cisterns.”

Unable to contain herself, Twilight blurted out more questions in rapid succession.

“How are they?  What have you done to them?  What—“  

Twilight stopped and reeled herself in as she noticed the grimace that increasingly looked like it might boil over into anger as Nightmare bore witness to her enthusiasm for her friends.  Twilight watched as Nightmare seemed to calm herself by looking at the stars above them.  The silence between them stretched on for several minutes as Twilight awaited Nightmare’s next question, who was still staring at the stars.

Slowly, Nightmare moved her iron-hard gaze from the night sky to Twilight, never once blinking as she began speaking again.

“How do you feel about the night?”

Nightmare gestured to the moon and stars above them with an outstretched wing before she returned her gaze back to the sky, awaiting Twilight’s answer.

Twilight hesitated.  She loved the night, but she couldn’t very well tell Nightmare Moon that.   She always found a sense of deep peace and contentment under the light of the stars, and the moon had always fascinated her.  Twilight loved staying up to read in the dimming sky and loved watching the stars come out.

While she did love the time of night, she also enjoyed the day time.  Twilight knew that Eternal Night was not good thing and that it would only bring disaster.  Without the sun, the temperature would drop until their world froze, and all the plants would die without the energy they gathered from the light of the sun.  Balance must be maintained, it was a simple and unequivocal fact that if not restored soon, spelled doom for them all.

Knowing that answering Nightmare’s question truthfully would complicate things, Twilight really only had one option left to her.

“I refuse to answer that.  We’re even now since you didn’t answer my first question.”

Nightmare scowled at her rebuttal, but didn’t challenge her.

Twilight thought about what would be her next question.  She had already asked about Celestia, her friends, and the elements and had received somewhat satisfactory answers.  Turning her head around and looking at her new purple wings, Twilight knew what she would next ask.

“Why did you give me wings?”

Nightmare smiled and waved at her back with one of her own wings.

“I did not give you the wings.  You were born with them.”

Twilight immediately thought of the impossibility of that statement, she had only discovered the wings on her back an hour ago, but the magic around her would not let her refute Nightmare’s assertion.

Nightmare continued.

“You want to deny it, but it is the truth.  You were born with those wings, and Celestia took them from you when you were a foal.”

Denial coursed through Twilight, but deep down the element revealed to her that what Nightmare said was truth, and now a whole plethora of questions plagued Twilight.

“B-But I was born an alicorn!”

WAIT!  That’s not what I meant to say!

Twilight leaned back violently and almost fell over, her wings fluttering nervously as she broke out into a cold sweat.  She had meant to say that she was born a unicorn, but the magic around her made her say otherwise.  As she sputtered from the revelation, she couldn’t think coherently as Nightmare began speaking again.

“Oh yes, you wish to deny the truth, that my sister would not be capable of such acts, but the proof is sitting before me.”  She pointed at Twilight with a black hoof.  “It seems however, that when you attempted to use the elements on myself, they redirected and hit you instead, restoring you to your alicorn self.”  Nightmare finished, but Twilight’s thoughts were too discombobulated to give a scathing or disbelieving reply.

Nightmare Moon spoke truth.

Twilight wished she could dismiss the black alicorn’s words as mere fantasy, but the magic radiating from the element prevented her from doing so.  She could feel the truth reverberated in the other alicorn’s words, thanks to the Element.  Honesty remembered everything that had ever transpired, and could see behind the curtains of a pony’s heart.  Only then did Twilight fully understand that the element was so embedded in the soul of the land that it was the bones that made the foundation for civilization.  It was impossible to lie in its direct presence, it was akin to holding a snowball to the sun.  Lies melted away from the burning brightness of Honesty.

Truth was like fire, useful and beneficial, but impartial.   There are dangers to fire, just as there are for truth, for both are inherently neutral and can be used for the benefit or destruction of anything.

This truth burned.

But Nightmare was relentless, either ignorant or uncaring of Twilight’s internal struggle.  As the magic faded from Twilight, who finally comprehended and begrudgingly accepted the truth given her, Nightmare spoke once more.

“I have another question.”  She said, her voice excited and yet foreboding, as if her next words carried the weight of the sky.  Nightmare seemed to sit on the edge of her seat, leaning towards Twilight much like a hurricane about to break upon the shore.  Her gaze seemed to pierce Twilight like hot iron through butter, and a sense of dread rose within her at the intense scrutiny.

“Who is your mother?”

Out of all the questions Twilight had anticipated, that one completely blindsided her.

Thoughts raced through her mind faster than shooting stars, but her outward appearance showed none of her turmoil.  Twilight did not want to answer as her parents, Night Light and Twilight Velvet, could be put in terrible danger if she answered.  And yet why would Nightmare ask Twilight when she could have easily gotten the answer if she asked anypony else?  It was not exactly a secret who her parents were.  Any of the servants at the castle could tell the lunar alicorn who Twilight’s parents were.

So why ask me?

Twilight didn’t have an answer to that conundrum, and seeing that Nightmare would not be satisfied with a refusal to answer, Twilight would tell her, as the question was going to be answered by her or somepony else eventually.

“Nightmare Moon is my mother.”

It took a moment for Twilight to register what she herself had just said.

“No, I-I mean that Nightmare M-Moon is my m-mother…” she repeated, trying to correct what had to be a mistake.

N-N-No…that’s impossible…

The magic was becoming overwhelming from the amount of denial that infected Twilight, it sought to eliminate any shadows of doubt Twilight had of her own statement.

She would not relent in her efforts to refuse though.

Twilight’s eyes blinked in rapid succession and her breathing picked up instantly, her heart seemingly clenched in ice.   Her vision narrowed until all that seemed to encompass her surroundings was Nightmare Moon, who seemed to have become larger and more encompassing of Twilight.

It wasn’t until she felt feathers that were not her own touch her in an embrace that Twilight realized what Nightmare Moon was doing.

She was giving Twilight a hug.

Nightmare Moon was hugging Twilight.

Like a daughter.

“Shhhh, I know this is a lot, my little star—“

“NO!!”  Twilight screamed, pushing herself vehemently away from the mare to escape her feathery embrace. She started to tremble violently as the magic overtook her, forcing her to realize that—

“NO!  My mother is Nightmar—MY MOTHER IS NIGHTM—GAAAH!!!”  She screamed, her voice pitching in increasing height as her mouth kept betraying her.  “STOP IT!” Twilight shrieked, rounding on Nightmare and pointing a shaking hoof at her.

Nightmare played all innocent, shaking her head at her in rejection of her protests.

“It is not me, my daughter, it is the Element of Ho—“

Before the lunar alicorn could finish, Twilight aimed a well-directed blast of purple energy from her horn and the element shot off the table to clatter across the garden before coming to a rest at the castle walls.  The golden light that had surrounded the two of them abruptly dropped and the magical pressure that Twilight had felt for the past few minutes disappeared.

“YOU’RE LYING!!”  Twilight bellowed, her mane springing up in frenzied curls as panic set in.  “My mother is—“

“ME!”  Nightmare interrupted, stepping up to Twilight quickly, never breaking eye contact.  “I AM your mother!  YOU are MY daughter!  I gave birth to you!  Cele—“

“STOP LYING TO ME!!”  Twilight wailed, anger and desperation gushing through her as she tried to make sense of what had happened.  “You—you must have somehow enchanted the element or—or—it’s a fake!”

“You know very well, Twilight Andromeda Sparkle, that it was not a fake!”

An idea sprang to the forefront of her mind, an old spell she had read some years past while studying under Celestia.

“I’ll prove you’re a liar!”  Twilight yelled in defiance.  As Nightmare continued watching, Twilight reached out with her magic and yanked out a few strands of hair from her mane.  She then held it up between them, starting to cast the spell she was sure to vindicate her.

“I can’t be your daughter because you’ve been gone for a thousand years!  I was born 17 years ago!  I know a spell that can tell the age of any living thing from a sample of hair!”

While her magic took effect, the two alicorns stared at each other.  Twilight stood with utter surety, confidant that when her spell was complete she would prove once and for all the lies Nightmare had made her tell.

Nightmare sat back down and seemed to wait patiently, as calm as the eye of a storm.

The spell finished, Twilight’s magic winking out.

…

…

…

“Well?”

“N-N-No…I-I can’t be—“

“One thousand years and five months old.  I know.  I was there.”

“B-But y-you a-and the wings and—and the p-princess—“

Twilight couldn’t speak anymore, words died in her throat.  Her frame renewed its trembling as all of the facts formed together against her will.  She had just proven herself wrong with her own spell.  

She was over a thousand years old. 

The wings.

Nightmare’s leniency.

Honesty’s cruel truths.

There was only one true and viable conclusion, no matter how much she wished to purge it from her mind.

Tears began pouring down Twilight’s face, her face turning pale as her blood ran cold.

She couldn’t stay there.

Without another word Twilight turned around and fled, her tears dropping to the grass below.  She was only too much aware of the mare that was still sitting silently behind her as she galloped towards the entrance to the castle.  Her wings fluttered as she flung open the doors and departed the garden as fast as she could.

Twilight never looked back, for if she had, she would have seen…

…her mother.

> Chapter 7:  The Dragon at the Gate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Castle Royal Gardens

One Minute After the Revelation

Nightmare Moon





It was with no small amount of pain that Nightmare watched her daughter flee, just catching a last glimpse of Twilight’s purple tail as she galloped away at full speed.

Of course, she had expected Twilight to react like this in some form or fashion.  One did not just reveal that you were their mother from a thousand years ago over a conversation without some tears flowing.

It still hurt though.

Sighing to herself, Nightmare put her helmet back on and sipped her tea.  While she tried to calm down her racing heart, her magic pulled back the discarded Element of Honesty to her side.  Sparing a glance at the golden necklace, the element was whisked away back into her dimensional pocked along with the other five elements, a loud ‘pop’ signaling its disappearance.

Keeping the pocket open, Nightmare pulled out a small oak box that was lined with silver.  The oak was dark, signifying its age, and yet it was very well preserved considering its age.  Setting down the box on the tea table, it opened quietly with barely a squeak from its gilded iron hinges.

Inside was a crown.

It was not her own, nor was it one of her sister’s.  This crown had been forged a millennium ago in total secrecy, and Nightmare had only just retrieved it a couple hours ago from a small hidey hole in Twilight’s foal room at the old castle.

It was fashioned with a bright and shining silver, the metal purified of all contaminations and strengthened with powerful magic.  It was curved upward in a gentle arc, engravings of moonflowers and twinkling stars dotting its surface.  There on the brow was a single diamond.  It was simply cut into a round shape and to most would have seemed unfulfilling if it was just the gem by itself.

But it was not.

When Nightmare had first made it, she had intended to cut it into a more regal shape.  She had set her project down one night and when she had returned to it, a surprise had been waiting for her.

A star had made its home inside the gem.

To say Nightmare had been surprised would have been an understatement, and she had spent many a night looking for any missing stars in the night sky, to no avail.  She never found out how the star entered the gem, or where it came from.  She didn’t change the shape of the gem after that, as it was now more beautiful than any cut she could have shaped it into.

Long did she stare at the plaque engraved on the pedestal on which the crown sat.  Sitting quietly as the wind rustled her black fur gently.

To my most beautiful flower.

A few minutes may have passed as Nightmare stared at the box, but she did not know how much time had passed nor did she particularly care.  Her thoughts were on Twilight and how to proceed.

“Your majesty?”

SNAP

The box’s lid slammed shut, and if had not already been magically enforced, Nightmare was sure it would have shattered.
Looking up, she met the eyes of Knight-Commander Noctis, her leader of the contingent of Lunar Pegasi.  He was taller than the average pony but was still dwarfed when compared to her own height.  Noctis had gray fur with the tufted ears along with the yellow draconic eyes that were unique to their branch of the Pegasus family.

He bowed formally upon receiving her attention, his muzzle inches from the ground.  His thick blue armor clanked as it shuffled from his movement. 

Annoyance flickering within her, Nightmare scowled and put the box back into her dimensional pocket before she addressed Noctis.

“What is it Commander?  We are very busy.”

“My Empress,” he intoned reverently “there is a dragon at the gate.”

Surprise and a brief spell of alarm coursed through her, her ears flickering and her back straightening into an alert position as she tried to pick up the sounds of a rampaging dragon.

She heard nothing.

Nightmare scowled again as she got to her hooves, and she stiffly put back on her iron horseshoes.

“Do not play games with us Commander, you will find that we have lost our sense of humor after spending a millennium on the moon.”

Still in a bow, Noctis spoke again in the same calm tone.

“Forgive me my liege, it is but a baby dragon.  Not a fully grown one.  He is requesting permission to enter the castle, claiming to have residency here.”

Nightmare was tired of getting surprised tonight, but she stood up and fanned out her wings anyway.  She cast a longing gaze at the doors which Twilight had just fled through, but resolved herself to giving her daughter some time to reconcile the fact of her maternal heritage.

“Very well Commander, let us go meet this…dragon.”

Thrusting her wings downward, Nightmare lifted up quickly into the sky and angled herself towards the castle gates, the wind catching her black plumage.  She was dimly aware of the sound of Noctis’s wings beating as he followed her.  Nightmare’s eyes pierced though the darkness until she spotted a small purple and green figure next to a small gathering of her soldiers, illuminated by the glowing light of a lantern on the gatehouse.  Holding her wings in tight to her body, she dived towards the ground at bone-breaking speeds.  The figures were becoming bigger as the ground rushed up to meet her.  She fanned out her wings so to slow her descent to where she could safely land without injuring herself.

With a resounding crack upon the stone, she landed in the midst of her soldiers, who gave out surprised cries before they knelt as one in her presence.

The dragon in the meantime, who was only knee-high to her, gaped in astonishment.

Noctis landed silently next her, and approached the dragon.

“Speak, for you are in the presence of her Imperial Majesty, Empress Nightmare Moon of Equestria.”

The dragon said nothing, he merely stared up at her with wide green eyes and a mouth so wide it would catch flies if he didn’t close it soon.

…

“Speak!”

“uuuhhh…” the dragon rasped, never taking his eyes off of Nightmare.

A few chuckles could be heard behind her as the soldiers chuckled.  They were silenced by a stern glare from Noctis before he returned his eyes to the dragon, a frown masking his face.

The dragon seemed to come to his senses, shaking his head as if trying to banish the dark figures before him.  He rocked on his feet as Nightmare watched him start visibly sweating.

“Oh!  Uuumm—I think I..have the wrong address!  Yeah!  Sorry boys—and her uhm-majesty—but I really must be going!  You know how it is, gems to eat, cakes to make, and parchment to buy!  So I’ll just be seeing you all later!”

Turning around quicker than what Nightmare would have expected from a dragon, he took off running.

He didn’t get far thought, for Nightmare had grabbed him in her magic.  The dragon was lifted off the ground and he floated towards Nightmare, but oddly enough, he kept waving his arms and pumping his legs as if he was still on the ground fleeing.

Nightmare let him hang in front of her while he tired himself out, beads of sweat dropping like rain to the street below.  Finally, he fell limp in her magical grasp and beat a claw to his chest, panting from the effort.

“O.K.  You got me…(pant)…can you please put me down?”

“Certainly.”

THUMP!

“Oooohhh…that rather hurt you know…”

She had dropped him to the street, and the dragon was now rubbing his tail, which had received the brunt of his fall.  He then reluctantly rose to his feet and stared at Nightmare once more.

“We shall not ask again, dragon, for the reasons of your coming here.”

Nightmare’s cold and unyielding voice seemed to prod the dragon into answering quickly.

“Oh!  I…uh…well I live here.”

“Your statement is doubtful young wrym.  Have you come to pillage the Royal Treasury upon hearing of my sister’s fall?”

“No.  I really live here.”  Seeing the disbelieving looks on the faces surrounding him, he started to elaborate.  “I came looking for my—uh—friend who I live with here in the one of the castle’s towers.”

Nightmare had just about had it with his short answers and his obvious stalling.

“You have precisely ten seconds to fully explain why you are here before my throne room sports a new dragon rug.”

“O.K.!O.K.!TwilightSparklehatchedmewhenIwasandeggwhenshewasafillyandwegrewuptogetherhereinthecastle!TwilightisCelestia’sstudentandI’mlookingforherbecauseshedisappearedandnevercamebacktoPonyvilleandIheardthatNightmareMoonhadcapturedsomepony’scalledthebearersoftheelementsofharmonyandIknewthat’swhatTwilightwaslookingforbecauseshehadreadabouttheminabookIgaveherandsoIgotatrainandcameherewhenIwokeupand PLEASE, OH PLEASE DON’T TURN ME INTO A RUG!!!”

The dragon fell on his knees and panted from all his rambling.  Nightmare had listened closely to everything but only one thing truly grabbed her attention.

“Did you say Twilight Sparkle?”

The dragon looked up and nodded, a few whimpers escaping him as he awaited his fate.

Gears were turning in Nightmare’s head as she went over her recent conversation with Twilight, for she remembered Twilight mentioning hatching a dragon’s egg when she was a filly.  It clicked together that this was probably the same dragon.

“What do you do with Twilight Sparkle?” Nightmare asked the dragon, leaning down so she could look him in the eye.

“Oh, I’m her—um—Number One Assistant!”  He seemed to take pride in saying that, perking up a little bit.

“You are her servant?”

The dragon let out a long suffering sigh, wilting back down again.  He slammed a claw into his forward in exasperation.

“No, well, kinda-yeah.  I mean I do help her with basically everything, but I’m not her slave or anything.  I’m really—“

“If you want to continue breathing, you will amend that statement.”

“Slave is good.”  The dragon replied quickly, his eyes frantically moving from side to side as he avoided her gaze.

Nightmare thought it over.  It was not hard to come to a conclusion.  The dragon was so pathetic that it did not threaten her.  And by letting him rejoin Twilight, she might gain a little gratitude from her daughter.  

Of course, some precautions had to be made.

Reaching out with her magic, she summoned a collar and quickly enchanted it before snapping it firmly around the dragon’s neck.

“This is to prevent your dragonfire, and also keep you from wandering off from the castle.”  A sneer that could carve mountains covered her face, showing teeth longer and sharper than the dragon’s own fangs.  “You will serve my daughter faithfully, and if you do anything to harm or disrespect her…”she pulled the dragon right up against her muzzle.  “…losing your hide will be the least of the pain we shall inflict on you.”

The dragon nodded quickly, more of his hide glistening with his sweat.  But then his scaly face scrunched up in confusion.

“Um…who’s your daughter?”

Nightmare straightened up and turned away from the dragon, looking up towards the part of the castle she knew Twilight had probably retreated to, Celestia’s old chambers.  

“My daugh—“

BOOM!!

She never finished, for a roaring thunderclap emanated from the castle, and to Nightmare’s complete and total shock, long lances of purple lightening began shooting across the city.  They winked in and out of existence faster than her eyes could track.  The magical power radiating from it was unlike anything she had ever experienced.  Pain burst inside her head and her eyes flashed different colors as the magical explosion engulfed the city.  

She barely heard as her soldiers fell into a dead faint at her hooves from the magical pressure overcoming them.  Nightmare looked up to see the source of the disturbance and broke into full gallop back towards the castle when she beheld it.

It was coming from where Nightmare thought Twilight should have been.





Canterlot Castle

One Minute After the Revelation

Twilight





Her world was ending.

Twilight ran at full gallop, falling several times to the floor in the hallway and knocking over the few furnishings Nightmare had left in her redesigning of the castle as she staggered and collapsed.  She swayed back in forth in what could have been taken for as a confused stupor. 

Her mind was reeling, everything she had held for fact in her life was unraveling at the seams.  Everything was thrown into question, her childhood, her family, her life, absolutely everything.

Celestia lied to me…

Though only minutes ago such a thing had seemed impossible, it seemed all too likely now.

Nightmare Moon is my mother…

Nothing fit together anymore, everything she had ever known seemed to burn away like dry wood in the inferno of that one revelation.

I was adopted…

That much was plainly obvious.  She did not know why she had been taken in by Night Light and Twilight Velvet, but she now knew that somepony had concealed the truth from her.

Celestia…Celestia knew…why didn’t she tell me?

Since Twilight was Nightmare’s daughter, it only made sense that Celestia was her aunt.  And since Celestia was the only pony that had lived here in Equestria over the past thousand years, she had to have known about her true nature and heritage.

And she kept the truth from me…

She collapsed once more in the hallway, and sat up only to raise her hooves to her face, watching them shake as fear and confusion consumed her.

Born of a monster…

Twilight screamed, her despair echoing off the castle walls a she shoved her hooves from her face, no longer wishing to see them.

“Twilight!  What’s wrong?!”

Blearily, through the haze of tears, Twilight looked down the hallway and saw her brother—

No, not my brother…

She struggled to lift herself to her hooves and she swayed back and forth dangerously as she made her way to one of the ponies she thought was family.

Will he hate me if he knows who I really am?

That depressive thought consumed her as she staggered across the hallway, knocking over another vase to the floor.  It shattered into hundreds of pieces but Twilight barely noticed, as her focus was on the white stallion at the end of the hallway.

“Shining!”  She moaned, her voice desperate and afraid.  “Shining!”  She yelled again, ripping the name out like it was her last hope for survival.

Or her last hold on sanity.

Twilight heard the sound of rushing hooves and felt a hoof land across her shoulder, gently guiding her back towards Celestia’s chamber.

“It’s alright Twilight, your BBBFF is right here—“  

At the sound of the silly old acronym they used when they were kids, fresh sobbing wracked her body as she wept pitifully onto the floor, her mane matting her face and her feathers in complete disarray from the force of her distress.

“Cadence quick!  Come help me!”

Another sound of hooves, these sounded lighter and more graceful as they approached, and Twilight felt herself lifted onto Shining’s back, and they made their way back to the chamber.

She never stopped weeping.

“Is she injured anywhere Cadence?”

“No, I don’t see anything…”

Twilight heard the doors shut behind them as they entered the chamber.  Shining lowered her to the floor gently, much like when he would tuck her in to bed after reading stories before bed-time.

“Twilight?”

Shining’s voice was almost pleading, and Twilight looked up from her position on the floor to glimpse the blurry face of her bro—

Not my brother—

A horrible sense of dread and suspicion rose within her, and she pointed a shaking hoof at Shining.

“D--Did you know?”

Shining looked confused, he looked across at Cadence who looked equally baffled.

“I don’t understand, know wh—“

“T—That I’m…I’m a--adopted.  Did you know?!”

Horror washed over Twilight as Shining fell back from her, his ears flicking back and a guilty expression taking over his face.

“You knew…”

“Twilight, listen that’s no—“

“YOU KNEW!”  She screamed, her eyes briefly glowing white as anger rose within her.

They’ve…they’ve all lied to me…

Celestia, Shining, Cadence, her ‘parents.’   They had all been in on it.  Surely they had been.  It all made sense, Night Light and Velvet were nobles so they had close connections with Celestia, Cadence foal-sat her when she was a filly to keep an eye on her.  The same with Celestia when she got her mark.

Is my whole life a lie?

Anger coursed through her, giving her direction, giving her purpose.

And she had the perfect target.

With a blinding flash of light, a blazing beam of magic ignited from the tip of her horn and shot out at Shining.  It slammed into the shocked stallion and the force of her magic sent him sailing across the room and into the opposite wall.

Cadance gasped and ran up to Twilight.

“Twilight?!  What are—“

“GET OUT!” Twilight screamed, her face contorting with anger and sadness.  “LEAVE ME!”

Shining grunted as he came back to his hooves, he looked disoriented and stumbled back towards her.

“Twilight please, just lis—“

“NO!!  NO MORE LIES!”

She was losing control, her magic was rolling off of her in waves of energy.  The bed behind her caught fire, and the whole room was engulfed in red and orange light.  Her eyes were flickering white and purple and her mane began to etherealize from the magic running through her.  Sparks shot from her horn and the tips of her hooves, and she grinded her teeth as more anger and crushing despair consumed her.  

She only watched through pain-filled eyes as Shining and Cadence fled from her, witnessing their flight as their tails disappeared through the doorway.

Magic was pouring from her like a river’s torrent.  She had always been able to control her power, but she was too traumatized to try and take back control.

Born of a monster…

With that final thought, Twilight gave up trying to control herself, and let go.

She screamed.

And her world became fire.



> Flashback III:  Of Stars and Bears
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Castle

Eleven Years Before the 1000th Summer Sun Celebration

Celestia





It had been an exhausting day and she was sporting a few new bruises, but Celestia would have it no other way.  

Twilight was with her.

The small filly was literally bouncing with excitement as she carried a large package on her back.  They were moving through the castle out into the Royal Gardens, where a crystal table and Celestia’s evening tea sat waiting for them.  The stars in the night sky seemed to sparkle more so than usual that night, for Celestia had just set the sun and raised the moon.

“Princess!  I’m so excited!”  Twilight squealed giddily, her brown package bobbing up and down on her back as she skipped along, the cutie-mark of a large pink star surrounded by five smaller white ones that she had just received earlier that day shining on her lavender flank.

Celestia too, was excited.  It wasn’t every day she was reunited with her sister’s daughter, though Twilight had no idea of their relation.

Of course, Celestia had no idea when she had woken up that morning that she would have an impromptu family reunion with her niece, nor had she anticipated the two of them having tea in the gardens just after Celestia had raised the moon.

It had started earlier that day, when Celestia was touring the grounds of her school with the headmaster.  She had been walking quite briskly, eager to shed the rambling stallion trailing after her and return to her castle when the city had felt a disturbance.

A very…explosive disturbance.

After the initial boom that reverberated across the mountain, the tower above her had become illuminated with fiery trails of purple lightening that lanced through the air like shears in a wheat field.  The shockwave had broken windows for miles inside Canterlot and rattled the walls of the city.  Ponies that had not been rendered unconscious from the magical output pouring from the tower soon fled from the school and its immediate vicinity.  Much to the shock of the fleeing onlookers, what appeared to be a fully grown dragon sprouted from the tower, breaking through the roof to look blinkingly down on the panicked pedestrians.

Celestia had immediately flown up to the top of the tower to quell the magical flare and to tame the dragon.  Upon studying it, Celestia had realized that the dragon, while having the appearance of a fully-grown drake, had the mind of a newborn hatch-ling.  Also, she discovered it was the same dragon that had been the small green egg she had given the school centuries ago.

Celestia had given the dragon egg to her school’s professors for it to be used at the entrance exam in order to measure the candidate’s magic.  Few unicorns Celestia had ever known could have hatched the egg, the magical caliber required would have to have been on the same level as Starswirl the Bearded and Clover the Clever.  Students that had reached the egg-stage in the admission process were already admitted (though the students were never told this, is was a well-kept secret among the alumni of her school), and the egg was to see the magical output the new students would possess.  Celestia didn’t think that children would have ever been capable of actually hatching it.

But there it was, staring back at her as she had hovered above it, not only hatched, but magically amplified a hundred times its original size.

Upon the clarification that the not-so-small baby dragon posed no threat, Celestia had dived past the enlarged drake and into the tower’s room through the shattered roof, landing upon the crackling stone a few yards from the epicenter of the magical flare.  Shielding her eyes from the brightness of the flare with a wing, she looked into the glaring purple light and beheld a shockingly familiar filly.

It was her niece, Twilight.

Though Twilight was a bit larger since Celestia had seen her in the six years since she gave her to Twilight Velvet and Night Light to be adopted, there was no mistaking the lavender fur or her purple and pink mane.

As Twilight floated in the air before her, her eyes glowing like miniature stars, Celestia studied the magic emanating from the distressed filly.

It had become apparent immediately that the flare had been set off while Twilight had been either using magic, or about to, when something had scared or shocked her, unlocking the ocean of magic inside her like a dam bursting.

Celestia was infinitely grateful that Twilight was young and innocent, for an uncontrolled magical flare usually reflected the turmoil the pony was experiencing.  In an adult pony, ambient magic could be disastrous, and often ended in extreme injury or death.  But because Twilight was a child, the magic she had lost control of while potentially dangerous, had instead intruded on her surroundings in ways that Celestia could easily counter.

Twilight had obviously been concentrating on hatching the egg when her flare went off, which involved a passage of time and growth physically.  With her magic unleashed, the flare had not only hatched the egg, but had aged the hatch-ling physically to the size of a thousand year old dragon.

The other victims of the uncontrolled magic were apparently two ponies that had been turned into potted plants along with a group of ponies Celestia recognized as professors from her school that were being levitated around inside the tower.

Quickly, before the magic turned into something lethal, Celestia had reached out with a hoof along with a strand of magic towards Twilight, touching her gently on the shoulder.  With the connection made, Celestia felt a sudden rush upon her mind as the magic relayed Twilight’s panicked emotions along the connection.  She could feel the alarm and panic from when Twilight lost control of her magic as well as with her fierce determination to pass the exam.

Sympathy and compassion rising within herself, Celestia had sent positive feelings of calm and peace back down the connection, where she felt Twilight metaphysically grab them like a lifeline.

Almost instantly, the magic’s flow had cut off as Twilight calmed down and Celestia helped reassert control over her powerful magic.  

The dragon shrunk down to a hatch-ling’s size, sucking on its tail.  The potted plants turned back into Twilight’s adoptive parents.  And the professors were suddenly dropped from their levitation field that had entrapped them.

Recovering from the effects of the wild magic, Celestia looked down to see two wide purple eyes staring back at her.

In that moment, as Twilight stared tearfully up at her, Celestia knew she could no longer try to keep Twilight away from her.

Twilight was family, and she realized how wrong it was of her to have fostered Twilight on somepony else.   Celestia had a responsibility to Twilight, and she would take this opportunity to reunite, regardless of the dangers of taking Luna’s place as the maternal figure in Twilight’s life.

The conversation that followed was quick and to the point, as Celestia had been eager to bond with her niece.  Asking for Twilight to become her student was a necessary step, for besides the obvious of wanting a hoof in Twilight’s upbringing, the potential for another, more violent magical flare could only be avoided within the walls of the castle, behind centuries of protective enchantments and close to where Celestia could keep a close eye on Twilight.

While Twilight jumped around from her excitement from being Celestia’s new student, she had noticed Twilight’s flank glowing, and investigated.

What she had found almost made her drop in shock.

She recognized it.

She had seen Twilight’s new Cutie-Mark a long time ago when Starswirl the Bearded had showed the sisters the Tree of Harmony within the Everfree Forest, before either of them had earned their Cutie-Marks.  On the tree’s trunk were three distinctive symbols, a sun, a moon, and a star.

The same star Twilight now had on her flank.

For the longest time after the Royal Sisters had earned their marks, they had wondered about the star on the trunk, as the sun and moon they recognized as their own then.  They had asked Starswirl about it, but the old stallion had refused to elaborate, even though he hinted he knew something.  The unicorn wizard was renowned for peering into the heavens and divining prophecy from the stars, but he did not hoof out the information he learned lightly, if ever.  

Further musings at that point would have to wait, for Celestia had to take Twilight back to the castle after showing the giddy filly her new mark.  Her parents had hastily packed a few of her things for the overnight stay, while more packing would be done later.

Which brought her back to now.

“Princess!  Princess!  Look!  We’re here!”

Shaking herself from her reminiscing, Celestia fully acknowledged her surroundings and found herself in her garden, with Twilight bouncing around with seemingly unending energy. 

“O.K Twilight, now what is it you—“

“TWILY!”

Celestia turned to face the interruption, which had taken the form of a young unicorn guard.  He had a white coat and a blue mane and was also wearing the light golden armor of a Royal Guard Cadet.

The colt ran up to them and skidded to a halt in front of Twilight, scooping the surprised filly into his forelegs before hugging the protesting filly.

“Shiny!  Too tight!  I can’t—ugh—breathe!”

Oh.  So this must be Shining Armor.

Celestia knew all of her guards, but they had just taken in a new group of cadets a week previous and the sun alicorn had yet to meet them.  When they had been packing Twilight to come to the castle, Velvet and Night Light told Celestia about how their son was a new cadet in her guard, and was actually at the castle.

“Shiny look!  I got my Cutie-Mark!”  Twilight yelled, pointing a hoof at her flank.

Shiny looked at it closely, his eyes scanning it.  “Stars eh?  Is that for magic then, like Mom and Dad?”

“Oh, uhmm…I think so!”  Twilight turned around to Celestia “It is for magic, right Princess?”

Hhhmm…a good question.

Cutie-Marks were perhaps one of greatest mysteries to ever be studied by pony kind.  Some if not most of Equestria deduced what their real calling was in life and called them ‘special talants’ while the more deep-thinking philosophers questioned if a mark was the magical signature of a pony’s soul, showing their destiny or perhaps the nature of the soul.

Celestia for one, thought it was a combination of both.  While there was no denying that ponies developed talents matching their mark, Cutie-Marks also tended to reveal something about a pony’s personality and character.

There was also something to be said for how a pony was raised and who their family were.  The Famous Apple Family was a shining example of this as the whole family found talents that were apple related in some form or fashion.  However, genetics weren’t the only factor.  A pony’s upbringing had a lot to do with their character and it showed with the Cutie-Mark they earned, it was not just based on family alone.  Twilight, though being Luna’s daughter, could very well have developed a talent dealing with magic like her adoptive parents, it would be many years until Celestia could be sure.  Cutie-Marks may appear in a single day, but exploring the meaning behind the mark was a journey of self-discovery that could take decades.  

All the same, Celestia smiled down at Twilight reassuringly.

“I believe so, but each mark is different and special and no two are alike.”  She padded Twilight reassuringly on the filly’s back.  “That is something for you yourself to discover though, nopony can do it for you.”

“AAAaaaaaaaawwwwwww!!!”  Twilight wailed, throwing herself on the ground.  “You mean I still have to find out!?  I thought when I got my Cutie-Mark, I would know!”  Twilight turned back to Shining with a pleading expression.  “Didn’t you Shiny?”

“Well…no, not exactly.” He replied, rubbing a hoof behind his head as he looked down at Twilight bashfully.

“What!”

“Twily, even though you found your Mark, it will still take a while for you to fully understand what it means, it isn’t you know, instantaneous knowledge about who you are.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Darn.”  Twilight, though seeming a bit put out, trotted up to Celestia where she looked up at her tall aunt with a wide smile.  “I guess that means it’s a good thing I’m your student, right Princess?”

Celestia giggled, warm fuzzy feelings floating inside her.  “That’s right Twilight, we can discover it together if you want.”

To her slight surprise, Twilight leaned forward and gave Celestia a hug.  Though the small filly couldn’t reach all the way around her aunt’s larger frame, the warmness of the hug still felt lovely.

“Thanks you, soooOO much!”

Mustn’t (sniffle) cry…

Celestia realized she had never hugged her niece.  She had picked Twilight up when she was a foal and in her coma, but the two of them mutually hugging had never happened.

Not willing for Twilight let go, Celestia wrapped her own forelegs around Twilight and returned the embrace, holding Twilight close to her heart, where she belonged.

Celestia saw Shining Armor smile slightly and discreetly motioned that he was leaving.  Celestia watched as the young colt trotted back into the castle and dipped out of sight.

Celestia continued to hold Twilight until the filly started squirming.

“Princess!  You’re just like Shiny!  I can’t breathe!”

Reluctantly, Celestia lowered Twilight until the filly was back on the ground.

“Sorry, I don’t get hugged very often.”

“Really?”  Twilight asked, tilting her head to the side.  “That’s too bad, you give the warmest hugs!”

Oh my sun, she’s just like Luna.

Celestia struggled in vain to hold back the floodwaters that threatened to pour down her cheeks.  She didn’t want Twilight to see her cry so she pointed back towards the package the filly had brought to the garden, seeking to distract her.

“What is it you wanted to show me Twilight?”

Earlier, after Twilight had gotten settled in to her tower, Twilight had asked her if she could show Celestia her favorite hobby.

Twilight turned back to her brown package and squealed as she scurried over to it.

“It’s my telescope!”  Twilight told her enthusiastically, almost ripping the paper off as she hurried to set the telescope up.  “I use it to stargaze!”

Oh…no….

Old feelings of guilt and loneliness welt up inside of Celestia as she looked down at Luna’s daughter, who apparently loved to stargaze, just like her mother.  She could practically feel the moon’s light burning her as it hung like a vulture behind her, where she couldn’t see it.  Celestia knew only far too well the dangers of discussing the moon and stars with Twilight, she could just see herself dissolving into tears in front of the confused filly.

With the a few last pieces fitting into place, Twilight grunted a little as she heaved the large contraption into place, the lens facing directly at the moon.

“Even though my cutceneara isn’t for a few more days, Shiny gave me this!  Isn’t it neat?”

“Oh—it is indeed, do you—uh—stargaze often?”  Celestia asked timidly, her calm demeanor cracking a bit.

“Every single night!  That is—um—when Mom doesn’t make me go to bed that is.  I could stay awake all night!  Shiny says I’m a night owl.”

Gee, I wonder where she got that from?

Twilight adjusted a few knobs on the telescope and zoomed in on the moon.

“There’s a full moon out tonight, and I want to get a closer look!”

Oh please! Anything but that!!!

Struggling against the feelings of overwhelming guilt that threatened to reduce the immortal sun to a quibbling wreck of a mare, Celestia looked as dispassionately as she could at the moon, and more specifically, at the Mare in the Moon that covered its pearly white face.

Years after Celestia had banished Nightmare Moon, she had investigated into whether the lunar craters were her sister, or a symbol of her imprisonment.  

What she had discovered haunted her to no end.

Using the most powerful telescope of the time, along with a prestigious amount of magic, Celestia had peered up at the moon to find out her sister’s fate, four centuries into her banishment.  The craters dotting the moon were indeed a symbol of her fallen sister’s prison, for Celestia had seen her sister’s chained form inside the eye of the Mare in the Moon, struggling and screaming silently at Equestria below.

Celestia had cried for weeks, and it had taken several years to recover from her discovery.  She was immensely relieved that nopony else could see her sister’s state.  No telescope had that level of intensity to fully see clearly the small black dot in the center of the eye of the Mare in the Moon, Celestia had needed her magic to amplify the visual. 

Nightmare Moon would have her privacy, if nothing else.

Now, sitting with Luna’s daughter, who wanted to look at her mother’s prison with her jailor, Celestia had to use every ounce of self-control not to collapse and cry for forgiveness.  Even so, she could feel her lips starting to tremble and her limbs shake.

Twilight looked from her to the telescope and back again, her small brow ruffled in a question.

“Is something wrong princess?”

For just a moment, Celestia was tempted to reveal to her everything.  Luna, her coma, absolutely everything.

But she didn’t.

Thinking quickly, Celestia knew she had to distract Twilight from the moon before she gave something away.

“Well…I actually want to know what you’re favorite constellation is.”

Celestia mentally crossed her wings and waited to see if Twilight would take her focus away from the moon, the stars were a much safer subject.

Oh please oh please take the bait…

Seemingly unaware of Celestia’s inner turmoil, Twilight’s smile reappeared and she swung the telescope into another section of the sky and unnoticed by the lavender filly, Celestia heaved out a heavy sigh of relief.  

“Oh there’s so many!  Like Cancer, Canis Major and Minor, the Big and Little Dipper, Lupas, Draco, and the Ursas!!”

Though she had handled the stars along with the moon since Nightmare Moon’s banishment, Celestia had never truly gotten to know the constellations that well.

The night in general brought back too many memories.

Twilight continued.

“I don’t really have a favorite, so they’re—um—all my favorite!”

Chuckling at Twilight’s innocence, Celestia pointed at the telescope.

“Even so, which one are you looking at currently?”

Twilight scampered back to her telescope and cupped her hoof to the eyepiece as she looked through it, sending her gaze to the heavens.

“I’m looking at Ursa Major!”

“Oh?  Why?”

“Because it…well…kind of reminds me of my mother.”

Twilight lowered herself from the telescope, and Celestia was surprised so see that tears were forming in her purple eyes.

“I—I—I miss her…”

For perhaps the third time within a span of ten minutes, Celestia found herself on the verge of renewing her mourning.  She knew Twilight was not referring to Luna, her real mother, but instead was referring to Velvet, her adoptive one.

But even so, it still hurt to hear it.

Twilight sniffled and rubbed her eyes with her hoof as Celestia realized that even though Velvet was just a quick walk away, Twilight was suffering from some separation anxiety.  For a moment, just a moment, if she just pretended, she could imagine it was Twilight talking about Luna instead.

“Why does the Ursa Major remind you of your mother?”

Twilight stared up at her and her voice trembled as she spoke.

“Well…I’ve always seen Ursa Major as a mama bear to Ursa Minor, the baby bear.  A-and I could imagine that she’s always there to l-look out for me and—and that she loves me.”  Twilight cantered slowly over to Celestia and nuzzled her.  “I…I just miss her princess, I’m sorry.”

Celestia felt tears run down her face freely, no longer was she trying to mask her emotions.  Not with Twilight.  Gently, Celestia picked up the crying filly and cradled her.

“Shhhh.  It’s alright, it’s O.K., and you’re going to be fine.”  She cooed, rocking Twilight back and forth.

Twilight stopped sniffling and looked up at her aunt with a half lidded gaze.  

“I…I’m so tired princess…”  She yawned “I think…it’s time I went to bed.”

“I think so too, you’ve had a busy day.”  Celestia replied, still cradling Twilight.

Blearily, as if Twilight was well on her way to the dream world, Twilight reached out to her telescope drowsily from her place in Celestia’s forelegs.

“Just let me…pack my telescope…”

“No need Twilight, I’ll take care of it.”

“Thank you princess.  That’s very nicccczzzzzz…”  While Twilight tried to finish her sentence, she finally fell asleep, small cute snores escaping her muzzle.

She even snores like Luna.

Levitating Twilight onto her back as she simultaneously folded up the telescope, she made her way back towards the castle so she could put Twilight to bed.  Just as she reached the gateway, Celestia looked back towards the moon, and the mother on it.

“I miss her too.”
> Chapter 8:  Fire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Castle

Ten Minutes After the Revelation

Nightmare Moon





“GET OUT OF MY WAY!!”

Nightmare thundered through the castle, galloping frantically through the hallways as she made her way to her sister’s former chambers.

Twilight was in danger.

Nothing else mattered.

Smoke was quickly filling the castle, it crawled across the ceiling and ash drifted on a heated wind as if from a dragon’s breath.

She rounded a corner quickly, her iron-shod hooves skidding as she turned, causing sparks to fly across the black stone.  Servants fled past her in the hallways, Nightmare assumed they were protected from the initial magical blast by the protective enchantments woven in the walls of the castle.  They were spared the magical shockwave unlike her soldiers, who received the full brunt outside and had fallen unconscious immediately.  


Twilight, please be alright.  I can’t lose you again.

She was getting closer, which was obvious as the heat’s intensity increased with every step she made.  She picked up speed and rounded another corner as she threw herself into finding her daughter.

To her surprise, somepony else was also coming around the corner.

Before she could stop herself, or otherwise react, she collided with the unknown ponies and they became a mass of white, pink, and black fur struggling to disentangle themselves from the floor.

Nightmare grunted in frustration as she extricated herself quickly.  She reached out and grabbed the offenders with her magic with the intention of throwing them aside, but she recognized the clumsy fools.

It was Cadenza and Armor.

“YOU TWO!!”  She screamed.  “WHERE IS SHE!!?  WHAT HAPPENED!!?”

Nightmare was absolutely furious, her teeth gnashed in rage as she levitated the trembling pair  so she could see them at eye level.  The two should have been with Twilight, not running like a pair of faint-hearted ninnies.  

Sudden dread crawled up her spine, for if these two had abandoned Twilight, then something absolutely terrible had to have happened.  

Neither pony had time to answer, Nightmare saw them attempt to say something, but she quickly flung them behind her and galloped as fast as she could down the trail of smoke.  She heard their muffled cries of pain and surprise as she resumed her rapid approach to Celestia’s chambers.

Renewing her frenzied gallop, Nightmare became aware of the magical pressure from the unearthly storm dramatically increasing.  Sweat matted her fur as the stress it radiated sapped her strength.  It was unlike anything she had ever felt, this magical firestorm, it teemed with pure magical energy both destructive and uncontrolled.   The closer she came to Celestia’s chambers, the more strain the uncontrolled magic put on her.  The feeling of moving through it was akin to swimming through a mud pit.  

Casting her magic about herself, Nightmare conjured a protective layer of enchantments around her body to stop the effects of the rampant magic.  To her surprise, her spell did not halt the effects, but only mitigated it.

Not having the patience to correct or strengthen her spell, she rounded the last corner to Celestia’s chambers, and—

BAM!!!

A lance of purple lightning flew out and struck Nightmare in the chest, flinging her backwards as if she were a small sparrow struck by a hurricane.  She screamed in pain as the lightning burned through her chest plate and scorched her chest.  She then collided with a back wall, causing the stone to crack and dust to fall from the ceiling.

Hissing in pain, Nightmare looked up from her crumpled position on the floor to finally gaze at the epicenter of the wild magic.

Her draconic eyes could make out the faint outline of something pony-shaped, but the brightness of it threatened to blind her, so she quickly looked away from the eye of the storm.

Her sharp maw opened in shock as she caught sight of the state of the castle hallway.

Nightmare had explored the castle and its capabilities once she renovated it.  The very walls and stone were woven together with powerful magic that could withstand the strongest of storms, and the flames of a dragon.

But they apparently could not withstand the uncontrolled tempest of an alicorn unleashed.

The entirety of Celestia’s chambers and the precipice of the hallway were overtaken with flames.  The fire filled the room and danced along the walls and ceiling.  The blaze was not orange or red, but were instead tinted a light purple along the edges that deepened closer to the epicenter.  In addition to the flames, lightning struck out randomly along the whole distance.  The purple lances of energy would appear and scorch the stone of the castle, leaving craters and trails of cracked stone wherever it struck.  Smoke crawled along the ceiling in ever-increasing amounts, poisoning the clean air and threatening to suffocate any who would be caught in their smog.  The heat from the fire melted all the metal fixtures in the hallway.  All the gold and silver dripped down and collected on the floor, pooling in a beautiful yet terrifying collection of liquid metal.  The black stone along the entire length of the hallway was cracked and misshapen, no longer smooth or possessing luster.

But worst of all was the magic.

It rolled like thunder from the ruined chamber in droves of energy.  Each wave carrying with it enormous amounts of magical energy that threatened to combust into anything at any given notice.  It was far more dangerous than the lightening or the fire, for the magic was totally wild and uncontrolled, it was as likely to cure disease as it was to boil blood.  All it needed to go from bad to worse was direction.

But throughout that, there was a signature to the magic that Nightmare knew as well as her own.

It was Twilight’s.

And it was angry.

Nightmare could feel the flood of anger and sorrow that the magic carried.  Even though the emotions were not her own, just feeling it made her want to curl up and sob as well as lash out in a rage.  The unified combination of these negative feelings coursed through her psyche and left Nightmare with a tremendous ache that wracked her black frame.  

But still, she would not give up.  For now she realized what it was she faced, and what had happened to Twilight.

Undoubtedly, the stress from her confrontation with Nightmare, being restored by the Elements, and combined with the world-shaking revelation of her heritage, Twilight was gripped in the deepest pits of doubt and denial.  Her response had taken the form of an uncontrolled magical flare, which reflected how Twilight’s thoughts and emotions clashed in a dizzying torrent.

Upon realizing this, regret filled Nightmare’s thoughts.  She didn’t want Twilight to hurt, but Nightmare couldn’t bear to not let her know who Nightmare was to her.  Nightmare was absolutely resolute in revealing her love to her daughter.  

If some tears were shed in the process, so be it.

Gathering her strength, Nightmare lifted herself from the crackling floor and steeled herself, for she was about to charge into the storm.  

She loved Twilight, with all her heart.

Nothing else truly mattered, compared to that.

The pain Nightmare felt through the magic, it was Twilight’s, and she would do everything, anything, to stop it.

I’m coming Twilight, just hold on.  

Even as magic hurled through the air and lightning danced dangerously around her, Nightmare’s horn flared in a bright and shining beacon as it engulfed her body.  Pouring her magic into the enchantment, she cast another protective charm over herself.

Step by agonizing step, Nightmare struggled to reach her daughter.  The magic thundering off of Twilight blazed to life around her.  Its thunderous song deafened her, but still she trudged on.  The lightning crackled around her, striking her like whips, stinging and biting like knives.

But still she walked.

The hard journey to Twilight was as difficult as flying through a tornado.  Wind, aided by the powerful magic whipped her ethereal mane like a tempest.  Even as she drew closer to Twilight, her magic struggled to hold her spell.  The uncontrolled magic sought to strip her of her magical protection and hurl her away from her daughter.

But still she walked.

At last she was naught but ten hooves away from where she knew Twilight to be.  But the light was as bright as a star, and she could not make out her daughter’s form.  

Adjusting her magic, Nightmare tuned out the roaring of the magical storm and dimmed the light so that she could see her beloved daughter.

What she saw tugged her heart from her chest, for sorrow gripped her as she beheld Twilight.

Her daughter was seemingly suspended in the air, curled up in a ball with her wings furled to her sides.  If Nightmare had not known the turmoil she felt, than her position could have been described as peaceful.  Her mane and tail had transformed into purple flames, like the star Andromeda for which she was named.  Her fur seemed to shimmer with flashes of white and purple like nebulae.  Her eyes glowed brighter than the most radiant of stars, and her Mark shone like the most beautiful of constellations.

But her sobbing, more than anything, seized Nightmare’s heart and attention.

Twilight wept tremendously.  Tears fell like rain, only to disappear in a flash of steam.  Her heart-wrenching wails caused her form to tremble, even as she tossed and turned as if in a fitful sleep.

All Nightmare saw and heard assaulted her as nothing had ever before.

It was beautiful.

It was terrifying.

It was heart-breaking.

But even so, Nightmare was determined to help Twilight and so she summoned her magic stronger than before, and approached her daughter.

The path to Twilight was akin to approaching the core of a star, for all her protection was stripped from her as she struggled to embrace Twilight.  The chaotic magic removed Nightmare’s protective magic from her like peeling an apple.  Fire burned her, lightning shocked her, and magic tested her.

But nothing would stop her from helping Twilight.

Nightmare reached out despite the agonizing pain with her hooves and brought Twilight to herself in a motherly embrace, as if Twilight were a foal again.  As she made contact, a torrent of thoughts and emotions poured into her.

Fear.

Doubt.

Betrayal.

Anger.

Those dreadful emotions were what plagued Twilight, and it made her mother sad to know her child’s pain, and to know that she was the source of it.

But she was here now, and she would take care of her foal.

Twilight, I love you…

Fighting back against the negativity that gripped Twilight in iron shackles, Nightmare smothered them with the love she had for her.  She poured her love into Twilight through the bond they had, seeking to comfort her and end her pain.

Deep down, she felt Twilight respond, reaching out to her mother’s love as if it were a lifeline in a maelstrom.  

Twilight’s hooves encircled her, and she embraced Nightmare.

Mother and Daughter were reunited.

Slowly, the magical storm died, the lightning disappearing and the fire dimming.  The thunderous roar faded away into silence, leaving a mother holding her Twilight.

It was over.

Looking down at Twilight, who had reverted back to her normal state, she nuzzled her lovingly.  A few tears of her own dripped down to the floor, but these were not of pain, nor sadness.

No, these were happy tears.

How long she sat there amongst the ashes of her sister’s chamber she did not know, nor did she care.  Nightmare cradled the sleeping Twilight in her forehooves and rocked her back and forth soothingly, much like she did a thousand years ago when Twilight was a new-born foal.

Nightmare knew Twilight had calmed down for now, but they both needed rest.  No doubt the magical flare had exhausted Twilight, and 
Nightmare felt her own strength wane, and a desire to sleep and rest was quickly overcoming her.

Her horn lighting up gently, Nightmare teleported herself and Twilight to Twilight’s tower in the castle.  She knew about it from her researching Twilight’s status as Celestia’s student.

Nightmare looked blearily over to the bed nearby, and first put Twilight on it gently before joining her daughter on the bed.  She hugged Twilight tightly to her body, and wrapped a wing around her protectively.  

This is how it should be.

And with that thought, Nightmare let go of consciousness and joined her daughter in a peaceful rest.





Twilight’s Tower

Eight Hours Later

Twilight Sparkle





It was very warm where she was, it were as if she were encircled with a thick blanket.  The soothing cocoon was wrapped all around her, and Twilight could feel a warm presence at her back, and a hoof holding her close to the body.

It somehow…felt familiar.

It felt like a long forgotten dream, one which she hadn’t felt since a foal.

And she loved it.

Twilight slowly awoke from her slumber, yawning as she did so.  Not wanting to leave the warm embrace, she leaned back into the large body behind her and snuggled closer to the comforting presence.

Her eyes were still closed, for she did not want to awaken and leave the blissful state of rest she was in.

However, something was tickling her muzzle, and she couldn’t hold back a small sneeze.

“Aachoo!”

Reluctantly awake, she opened her eyes to look at the offending tickler.

A long black feather, attached to a large midnight wing was the culprit.  

Twilight stifled a cry of shock, only managing to muffle it into a surprised squeak.  She looked hesitatingly behind her, slowly revolving her head until she could see the warm, comforting presence behind her.

It was Nightmare Moon.

Her mother.

But, unlike before, the alicorn did not inspire instant fear inside Twilight.  Perhaps it was because her eyes were closed, or because the sharp teeth were hidden inside her mouth.  Without those prominently scary features and armor, the smooth face looked peaceful, and calm.  Oddly, Nightmare was snoring a little, and it too sounded familiar, much like her own.

Oh.

Confusion seeped through Twilight, wondering why she was here in Nightmare’s embrace, until she remembered what happened.

A slight shudder ran through her at the memory of her loss of control.  She had not fully been aware of what was happening, only this bright and burning light as she wept for her troubles. 

Going over the memory, she realized what, or who, had stopped her magical storm.

Nightmare Moon had saved her.

No, her mother had saved her.

There was no denying the truth or their bond now.  Only further denial would postpone whatever emotions Twilight would have to deal with.

Since I can’t deny it, I accept it.

Slowly, ever so carefully, Twilight escaped Nightmare’s embrace.  Extricating herself with the utmost care with every movement, not wanting to wake the sleeping lunar alicorn.  Nightmare mumbled on occasion and tried to reestablish her hold on Twilight, but the lavander alicorn was determined to get up.  Once fully separated, Twilight sat down and looked over her mother’s slumbering form.

Nightmare Moon was pock marketed with burns and scrapes, no doubt from Twilight’s flare.  Her wings were similarly disarrayed and burned.  But despite the obvious injuries, it was equally determined that they were healing at an abnormal pace.  Undoubtedly Nightmare’s alicorn nature was helping the mare recover from the burns.

Looking down over her mother, Twilight came to a sudden and dark realization.

It was possible nopony else knew, for certain, that Nightmare was her mother.  If she acted quickly, it could stay that way.  Nightmare was so vulnerable right now, a quick spell, a silent attack, and Nightmare would forever be silenced.

Nightmare Moon was her enemy, right?  She should be glad for this opportunity to vanquish her foe.  To stop her reighn.

Why then, did she hesitate?

Because she loves me….

Despite having no true recollection of herself during the magic flare, there was one thing that stood out like a pillar in the desert, strong and true.

Nightmare Moon loved her, with all her heart.

The feelings of anger and sadness that had whirled within Twilight had been smothered by the true and absolute love this mare had for her.  Such feelings could not be fabricated, within herself, Twilight had felt the love Nightmare had for her daughter, and there was no disputing that.

And deep down, Twilight knew she loved her too.

It was a feeling, long dormant, that she could never have realized without Nightmare’s love flowing through her to calm her.  A bond between mother and foal that could never be severed. 

Not by distance, and not even by a thousand years of separation.

What can I do?

Despite realizing her emotions, Twilight knew she couldn’t let Nightmare Moon continue with her plans.  Her friends were in danger, her mentor (aunt?) was in danger…

The world was in danger.

Eternal Night would kill their world, condemning it to a slow and cold death.  If everypony did not starve first from the plants withering away, then surely the cold darkness would claim them.

There was so much she didn’t know.  Why did Nightmare Moon want Eternal Night?  Her mother was not unintelligent, that she knew for certain.  Surely she realized what destruction her Eternal Night would cause to the whole world.

Why then?

Why did Nightmare hate Celestia?  Why did she lash out and hurt her friends?  Why did she do the things she did?
Twilight did not know, and that vexed her more than anything.

But she would find out.

Twilight could not bring herself, in that moment, to harm Nightmare.  She knew that perhaps the Elements were still the best way to stop the madness, but she did not desire for Nightmare to disappear or vanish…

Twilight wanted her to be healed.

There was something…wrong with her mother, she knew it.  She had to believe it.  And she would do everything she could to find out what.

Research would be needed.

Celestia perhaps knew what could be done, if only Twilight could find her.  It was doubtful she could wheedle the information from Nightmare.

She needed to know, before she acted.

Was it possible?  Could she do it?  Could she save her friends and her mother?

Can I stop this nightmare?

She had to try.

Leaving her mother slumbering on the bed, Twilight made her way across the room to the doors.  She looked behind her one last time at the black alicorn as she opened the doors.

Just as Nightmare had saved Twilight from herself…

So I shall save you mother.




> Chapter 9:  Sudden Promotion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Castle

Seventeen Hours Into Eternal Night

Twilight





Quietly, carefully, Twilight slowly closed the door behind her, leaving Nightmare Moon sleeping on the bed.  She got a last glimpse of her black fur as the door closed with a quiet ‘click.’

“Good-night princess.”

“GAH!”

Twilight spun around to face the source of the unexpected voice.  The deep baritone belonged to a tall bat-like pegasi she had never seen before.  The stallion had dark grey fur and tufted ears.  His eyes were yellow and were slit like Nightmare Moon’s.  His wings were like a bat’s, black and leathery.  His armor was thick and silver, though Twilight suspected there was hardened iron beneath the silver furnishings.  The stallion smiled at her pleasantly, revealing two small fangs.

“Is everything alright princess?”  He asked her in a concerned tone.

Twilight didn’t know what to say.  Two things above all kept her from replying.  First, this was a type of pony she had never seen of before, only heard about in legends.  Two, the armored stallion was addressing her as princess.

PRINCESS!

“I…I’m sorry, but you’re mistaken.  I’m not the princess.”  Twilight told him carefully.

The stallion cocked his head as if thinking, though his posture was relaxed, so he obviously didn’t see her as a threat.

“Are you not Twilight Sparkle, daughter of Nightmare Moon, Empress of Equestria?”

Twilight stuttered as her mind picked up what he just said.

“Empress?  Since when was did she become Empress?”

The stallion nodded his head as if something had just been confirmed.

“Ah, I see.  You have been asleep for the most of the past twenty-four hours yes?”

“…yes.”

“Well your highness, when Celestia failed to reappear and with the Royal Guard currently in custody and her imperial majesty’s army in Canterlot, the nobles of Equestria immediately recognized the empress’s claim to the throne and swore eternal fealty to her.”

Twilight shifted uncomfortably at this revelation and scowled, the nobles were always a pampered gaggle of cowards.  Twilight then looked at the stallion curiously and opened her mouth to say something, but he interrupted her.

“You are Twilight Sparkle correct?”

“I…yes, yes I am.”

Then to her complete surprise, the stallion kneeled before her.  He lowered his head and his silver armor clinked as he bowed.

“Then by the Empress’s command, I Noctis, Knight-Commander of her majesty’s Imperial Legion, do hereby swear loyalty to you, Twilight Sparkle, Crown Princess of Equestria.”


“P—P—Princess?!?!” She stuttered.

Noctis’s ears flickered and he straightened back up.

“Oh.”  Noctis said carefully.  “Has her majesty not told you yet?”  

“Um…no.  Told me what?”

Noctis reached with a leathery wing and pulled out a piece of parchment from his armor.  

“Here, this should explain things.”

Twilight took it from him with her magic and held it aloft in front of her, eyes darting across the page.






An Edict to the Equestrian Council of Confederate Nobility. 

With the restoration of the Lunar Throne of Equestria, her majesty Nightmare Moon declares her daughter, Twilight Andromeda Sparkle, to be Crown Princess of Equestria.  In accordance with the law, Princess Twilight Sparkle’s authority is second only to Empress Nightmare Moon.

Signed Her Imperial Majesty, Nightmare Moon, Empress of Equestria and Alicorn of the Moon.





…

…

…

“Are you alright princess?  You look a little pale.”

Noctis was not kidding.  Twilight sat frozen staring at the paper, her face turning pale beneath her lavender fur.  She had just gone from the Princess’s student to the Empress’s Crown Princess in less than twenty-four hours, and if she was reading the proclamation correctly, was second in command of all of Equestria.

What was worse, it was now public knowledge that Twilight was Nightmare Moon’s daughter.

“I—I…”  Twilight trailed off, her capacity for thinking had taken a drastic plummet in the short span of five minutes.

Noctis walked up to Twilight and gently prodded her.  “Princess?”

No response but a consistent eye-twitch.

Then, a familiar voice cut through the awkward silence.

“Twilight!!”

Twilight broke out of her state of shock just in time for a small baby dragon to hug her forelegs.

“I’ve been looking all over for you!  You won’t believe what ponies around here are saying about you!  I…hey wait a moment….Twilight, why do you have wings?”

A small sense of shame infected Twilight, and she couldn’t bring herself to match eyes with her assistant.

“I…Spike, please, ask me later.”

Spike however, seemed to have an epiphany.  For in that moment he stepped back from her and looked up at Twilight with wide eyes.

“No.  You…Nightmare’s dau—“Spike immediately stopped and gaped at her.  Then, before Twilight could react, Spike keeled over in a dead faint.

“Huh.”  Noctis murmured.  “He gave the same look to the Empress, but he didn’t faint in her presence.”

Twilight was not comfortable with that comparison, but set her feelings aside and levitated Spike onto her back.  She then turned to Noctis, there were some ponies she needed to talk to.  She turned to Noctis.

“I need to find Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor.  Where can I find them?”

Noctis looked skeptical at her respectful address of the two ponies.  His face contorted into a concerned frown.

“Your highness, perhaps it would be best to wait for the Empress to wake up before we do anything else.  There are matters of state that she needs to address.  The integrity of the castle has been compromised after the magical flare, several of the enchantments woven into the castle have disappeared from the power of the disruption.  The rest are unstable and could collapse anytime and along with the enchantments, the castle walls around Celestia’s chambers are extremely damaged, some of the walls have even collapsed completely.  We are going to need the Empress and her magical skill if we are to repair the castle swiflty.”  Noctis stated primly.

Twilight was shocked to hear the commander’s damage report.  She did not think her magic flare had done any extensive destruction, it hadn’t before, but if the commander was telling the truth, then it was no wonder that Nightmare was exhausted.

But then again, the damage to the castle might prove an opportunity.  There might be new holes in the defenses that she could take advantage of later.  She would have to explore the damaged areas to discover anything useful.

But for now, Twilight needed to find Cadance and Shining.  And for that, she would need to play her part as Nightmare’s princess.  Only by working within the system could she hope to exploit it.

Her time would come, and when it did, she would end the Eternal Night.

“Commander,” Twilight demanded.  “The Empress will wake in her own time, and until then I have business to attend to.   Now please, tell me where they are.”

Noctis’s expression turned neutral, hiding his reaction from Twilight, but he nodded his head anyway.

“Very well princess, if you will follow me, I shall escort you to your servants.”

Twilight winced at his reminder of Cadance’s and Shining’s ‘servitude’ to her, but she followed Noctis regardless, carrying Spike on her back.

As the two walked away from the tower where Nightmare slept, Twilight’s thoughts turned over in her head.  Different thoughts and ideas churned through Twilight head.  No longer did she think the Elements of Harmony might be the best course of action.  Not only were the Elements out of her reach, but Twilight did not think she had the confidence to wield them again against her mother.

The Elements now presented a dilemma to Twilight.

She didn’t know what the Elements would do to Nightmare, she had never had a clear picture to begin with.  All Twilight knew was that Celestia had once used the Elements against Nightmare, and the end result had been her banishment for a thousand years.

Is there no other way?

Maybe…maybe she could persuade Nightmare to lower the moon and raise the sun.  It was probably within her power, Celestia had, and it only made sense that Nightmare did too.  Time was not on Twilight’s side.  It was only a matter of time before the world started to cool and the plants would wither.  

By then, Twilight would have no choice.  She would have to use the Elements on her mother, regardless of the consequences.

But first she would need to free her friends.  Discreetly.  Twilight did not know how Nightmare would react if she found out she was still acting against her.

In order to free her friends, Twilight needed to know where the ‘cisterns’ that Nightmare told her about, the place where they were being held.

And the perfect pony to answer that question might be walking right next to her.  And in addition to answering Twilight’s questions about her friends, he might even shed some details on Nightmare’s army.

“Commander Noctis, you intrigue me.”  She started diplomatically.  “I was not aware of the presence of the Lunar Pegasi before your appearance at the Empress’s side.  Could you please explain to me how you came to be in my mother’s service?”

Noctis smiled, his disquiet with Twilight disappearing as pride washed over his features.

“Ah princess, I am glad you asked.  My ponies have a long history with Empress Nightmare Moon.  It spans back more than a thousand years, when she saved the Lunar Pegasi from genocide.”

“What?!”  Twilight gasped.  She had heard or read none of this.  History of Equestria during times a thousand years ago were poorly documented, and only a small percentage of ponies were literate then.  Many histories of that time were hoofed down orally from generation to generation until some ponies had the intelligence to write it down.  The destruction of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters a thousand years ago had wiped out all accurate records of the previous eras, leaving histories like the Hearthswarming Eve Tale to vague interpretation.

In fact, now that Twilight thought about it, it was probably why there weren’t any historical records on Nightmare Moon prior to her banishment.

“Oh yes.”  Noctis stated simply.  “Tales of her majesty’s feats on our behalf have been passed down from our ancestors to us.  Before her, we were hunted and executed because other ponies thought we were the spawn of dark magic.  No civilization would shelter us, or showed us pity.  Among the Pegasi Legions, before the time of Commander Hurricane, if a Lunar Pegasi was born, it was common practice for the innocent foals to be dropped from the skies.”

The way he said it, Noctis made it sound like a he was reciting a random fact.  But he wasn’t fooling Twilight.  She could tell from his rigid posture as he walked and the hardening of his eyes that a righteous fury coursed through him.  

And Twilight couldn’t find it in herself to blame him.  From what few fragments of history that could be found, it was easy to picture the ponies of that time as extremely superstitious.  It made Twilight’s blood boil to think that ponies could be capable of such atrocities.   

Noctis continued.

“Those of our ancestors that survived, through luck mostly, gathered together so as to help guard against the marauders that would hunt them.  For centuries they lived like vagabonds, always on the run, never staying in one place.  It was easier to live and learn under the gentle light of the moon when your enemies worked during the day.  They lived in a small colony, forever on the run.”  Noctis took a deep breath.  “Until she came.”

“Nightmare Moon?”

“Yes.”  He replied.  “When she ascended the throne with her sister, one of the first things she did was create her own guard.  But unlike her sister, she did not choose from among the nobility or the gentry.  Instead she found our ancestors, and brought them to their castle in the Everfree Forest.  There, under the promise of her protection and the sanctuary of her rule, she made them the Night Watch, the counterpart to Celestia’s Day Guard.”

“But there is no Day Guard.”

Noctis grunted.  “After the Empress’s banishment, Celestia changed the name from Day Guard to Royal Guard.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway where was I?  Oh yes!  Nightmare Moon taught all of Equestria that the Lunar Pegasi were ponies just like them, and she never wavered in her protection of us.  Even as association with us damaged her own standing among the rest of Equestria, driving them firmly into Celestia’s camp.”   

Noctis spoke wistfully, as if what he said were a far off dream.

“For a time, we were happy, and free.  Safe from those that would have hunted us down.  Saved by your mother, princess.”

Then, Twilight shrunk back from him a little as anger and bitterness crept back into his voice.

“But it was not to last.”

“I don’t under—“

“A thousand years ago, the Lunar Pegasi lost their champion, and their savior.  The Empress was banished by her own sister, for reasons we have never discovered.  And after that night, the old ways returned.  As soon as the empress was gone, ponies began hunting us again en masse.  Many of my ancestors died as they tried to escape Equestria.  Eventually, they found respite beyond Equestria’s borders in the far north among the roosts of the Unicorn Mountains, and there safe from their hunters my ancestors founded the Citadel of Stars.”

Twilight searched her memory for any scratch of information she could have heard of this, but she could find none.  “I’ve never heard of that place.”

“I’m not surprised.”  Noctis snorted.  “My ancestors did not announce their presence to Equestria, not when Equestria would have destroyed them.  From what started as caves, my ancestors built it from the ground up into a mighty fortress.”

Twilight interrupted him.  “But why didn’t your ancestors go to Princess Celestia?  I don’t think she would have turned them away!”

“You think my ancestors would have turned to help to the very alicorn that took away their savior?!”  Noctis snorted contemptuously.  “If it were not for her actions, we would not have been forced into exile.  No Princess Twilight Sparkle, we would never have turned to the pony that helped renew our persecution.”

Twilight remained silent, thinking over all that Noctis had told her.  But she had another question.

“If the Lunar Pegasi were safe in the Citadel of Stars, then why have you returned to help my mother?”

“Do not think we ever forgot that we were once a part of Equestria, safe under her guidance and protection.  Years after the establishment of the Citadel of Stars, one of our spies in Equestria picked up on a prophecy told by Starswirl the Bearded that he recited on his death bed to Celestia.”

A cold feeling of Deja vue, came over Twilight.  “What prophecy?”

“On the longest day of the thousandth year, the Stars will aide in her escape, and she will bring about Nighttime Eternal.”

“Oh, that prophecy.”

“You have heard it?”  Noctis asked.

“No, I read it in a book in the Canterlot Archives.”

Noctis smiled.  “So you too were looking for the Empress’s return.”

“Probably not for the reasons you imagine Commander.”  Twilight dodged.

“Oh?”

“Never mind, but please continue.”

Noctis cocked an eyebrow at her reluctance but continued anyway.  “Since hearing the prophecy, my ponies had hoped that one day we could be a part of Eqeustria once more, no longer forced to hiding on the outskirts of Equestrian Civilization.  When our elders saw the Mare In The Moon disappear from the moon’s surface, we knew she had returned, and that our time had come again.  I led our greatest legion, the Fightin’ 501st from the Citadel of Stars to the outskirts of Canterlot, were the Empress found us.  From there, she led us to the where the Officers of the Royal Guard were planning along with the puppet Princess Cadance.  She distracted them while we took our positions, and then we captured them in one fell swoop.”

Twilight had been listening intently before, but now it was possible that Noctis might reveal where the prisoners are located.

“So you took the entire Royal Guard captive?”

“Yes your highness.”  Noctis replied dutifully.  "I was surprised that Celestia had them in such small numbers.  My officers and I were expecting far more."

“Where have you imprisoned them?  I know for a fact that Canterlot Castle does not have a dungeon.”

Noctis smiled slyly.  “Do you now?  I’m sorry to correct your highness but this castle indeed has a dungeon, it was just sealed off and abandoned.  Upon taking the castle, we reopened the dungeon and placed the entire Royal Guard inside along with five criminals her imperial majesty had apprehended before we arrived.”

Trying to stop the desperation in her voice, Twilight had to know if the five criminals he spoke of were her friends.

“Criminals?  What had those five ponies done to warrant my mother’s attention?”  She asked calmly.

“From what the Empress told me, those five ponies were a band elite troops Celestia had sent to re-imprison her.”  Noctis smiled at her.  “She also said that if it were not for you, she would have not been able to overcome them.  On behalf of my ponies, I thank you princess.”

“Oh…I…uh…your welcome…I guess.”  Twilight sputtered.  She couldn’t believe Nightmare had portrayed her friends to be some sort of elite assassins or what-not.  It wasn’t a complete lie, as she and her friends had indeed set out to defeat Nightmare, but it was unfair to display them to the Lunar Pegasi that they were far more dangerous than they actually were.  Perhaps she could sow some seeds of doubt in Noctis’s mind as to their true nature.

“Are you sure they’re elite troops?”  Twilight asked him.

“Well, I don’t have any proof, but there is no reason to think her majesty would imprison just anypony.  Her majesty did warn us that they were master actors, and to not fall for any of their tricks.  I have seen them just once, and I am shocked at the amount of acting they still perform, even behind bars.  If not for her majesty’s statement otherwise, I would think those five were just plain country folk, and release them immediately.”

Twilight sighed, knowing that this line of talking would get her nowhere.  It seemed that Nightmare had thought of everything in order to keep her friends imprisoned.  Even if it meant deceiving her own soldiers.

Noctis’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Ah, here we are your highness.”

Twilight shook herself from her musings and tried to remember what she was trying to do before she got sucked into the conversation with Noctis.  The doors in front of them were small, and plain, lacking the fittings of anything decorative.  From what Twilight remembered of the castle’s layout, this was outfitted to be a servant’s quarters.

Twilight looked over to Noctis who was standing rigidly at attention beside the door.

“Oh, um…are you just going to stand there?”  She asked skeptically.  

“Just until one of my soldiers relieves me, you cannot go unescorted around the castle your highness.”  Noctis stated a matter-of-factly.  “My legionnaires are currently securing the damaged castle so that nothing slips in while we repair it.  And her majesty tasked me with making sure you are always safe.”


That’s just great.  Now how am I supposed to get anything done?

“Thank you Commander, please attend your post until I am done inside or you are relieved.  That is all.”

“Yes, your highness.”

I never thought those military protocol books Shining gave me for my birthday would ever be of use.

Leaving Noctis by himself in the hallway, Twilight slowly pushed open the door and stepped inside, Spike still out cold on her back.

Two ponies, one pink and one white, stared back at her as she gazed into the room.

A brittle silence descended like a wall between Twilight and the two of them.

“Can I come in?”

> Flashback IV:  The Knights of Ra
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters

The Night Before Nightmare Moon’s Banishment

Luna





It was nearing the end of her Court of the Moon, and Luna was glad for it, for it had not changed at all in the slightest.

They were still extraordinarily dull, as nopony ever came.

She was once again sitting on her jaded blue throne, her expression neutral as she gazed across the empty room.  Luna had become even more impatient with these sessions of court lately, as she imagined the time she wasted sitting in an empty room waiting for nopony could have been time she could have well spent with Twilight instead.  However much she wanted to be with Twilight though, she had to keep going to court and attend her other regular duties so as to not to arouse any suspicion that something was amiss.  

Normally, most ponies didn’t pay attention to her and didn’t care what she did, but it wasn’t them she was concerned about.

It was the nobility.

They had become even more hostile towards her lately, as they had a figure to rally around, a unicorn named Moloch.

Lord Moloch was from the trading hub of Rainbow Falls and the great-nephew of the late Princess Platinum.  He was a very ambitious lord who had risen through the ranks of the nobility through a combination of cunning and aggressive political tactics.  Luna also suspected that no short amount of Black-Mail was involved, since many of his opponents either backed off or fell out of power in disgrace.  She couldn’t prove it however, since she and the Night Watch had not been able to find any evidence of any wrongdoing on Moloch’s part. 

He was also the leader of a radical extremist group called the Knights of Ra, a movement started by some of the elite nobility to oppose everything that had to do with Luna and the night.  

Of course, it was not widely known that these nobles had sworn to oppose Luna, in fact, to the common pony they were known as the Gentry Society.  The Gentry Society was a front for the real secret organization the Knights of Ra, and only Luna and her top officers in the Night Watch knew their true purpose.

Luna couldn’t confront them directly; not only would that vilify her in the eyes of the public, who viewed the disguised society as a group of esteemed nobles, but they had not actually committed any crimes against the law.  For now, they had merely obstructed Luna’s efforts to reach out to the common pony and try to restrict her freedom through various and subtle laws.  The only thing that stopped the Knights from just outright trying to depose her, was their almost god-like worship of Celestia, whom they venerated.

A knock on the door to the throne room interrupted her musings, and with a raised eyebrow Luna looked over to her seneschal, a Lunar Pegasi mare, who looked back at her in equal surprise.

“I am not aware of any visitors, your highness, nopony has scheduled time in your court.”

Intrigued, Luna looked back towards the door, and awaited the pony on the other side.


I haven’t had a petitioner in years.  Who could it be?

The doors opened, and whatever hopes Luna had for a petitioner dropped instantly as she beheld her visitor. 

Speak of the devil…


It was Lord Moloch, looking haughty and self-important as he strode across the silent hall. Moloch’s coat was the color of bones, pale and white, lacking any luster or sheen.  He was wearing the robes of House Platinum, white and royal blue trimmed with silver.  

Attached to the front of his robes was a small pin.  It was a sun insignia, almost identical to Celestia’s Cutie-Mark with the exception that instead of rays curling gently from the center, there were six swords that pointed outwards.  Luna recognized the symbol for what it was, a pin signifying membership in the Knights of Ra.

“Why Princess Luna!  I had just come to see you.  I thought I might have arrived too late to entreat you, expecting long lines of petitioners this late into your Court of the Moon.  Ha!  It must be my good fortune that there was nopony here!”

Luna scowled at him, his false politeness and oily voice did nothing but raise her ire.  Beside her, the two Night Watch guards and her seneschal looked equally displeased by his appearance.

Despite her obvious disdain for him, Luna decided to humor Moloch.

“What is your petition Lord Moloch?  What do you wish to bring before the Court of the Moon?”

A few moments of silence as the stallion finished crossing the throne room, taking his time and trotting slowly as he approached the thrones of the Royal Sisters.  He stopped ten yards from the dais and continued looking up at her, smiling slyly and lazily.  

Luna was losing patience quickly, although she had almost none to begin with in the first place.  Luna opened her mouth to address the disrespectful noble, but Moloch beat her to it.

“I have come before your most…illustrious court, to bring before your most honored presence a most dire matter in need or your utter attention.”  Moloch said sarcastically, holding himself in a confidant but relaxed posture.  

“Dispense with your false pleasantries Moloch, what is it that you want?”

“Do my manners displease you, your highness?  I assure you they are only the best for someone of your stature."

“Moloch you—“

“But despite your busy schedule, I expect that you would not ignore the needs of children.”

Perturbed, Luna blinked a little though her posture did not show her surprise at his statement.

“Children?”

“Oh yes.  My city of Rainbow Falls, the trading hub of the north, has become rampant with Mares of the Night and their hapless foals.  Something must be done, your majesty.”

Luna sighed and shook her head in frustration.  Mares of the Night were the term nobility had coined for street prostitutes.  It was not lost on Luna on why the nobility would nickname the practitioners with that particular wording.  Though the Royal Sisters discouraged such practices, it was difficult to completely bury it.  Mares thrust into poverty were desperate enough to begin such desperate lives, and the foals they bore had little hope of escaping the poverty cycle.  It was a problem in every city, but none more than the centers of economic prosperity.  


Where the rich prosper, the poor you will find buried beneath them.

Luna looked down at Moloch who was gazing up at the tapestry behind her, which depicted Luna herself with a backdrop of a blue sky filled with stars.  If his words were true, which would be simple enough to prove with a discrete investigation by her Night Watch, then Luna would do everything to help, regardless of their mutual opposition to one another.  Her little ponies’ priorities were much more important than the displeasure of nobles forever lost to her.

“Very well Lord Moloch, what—“

“In fact, it’s not just my city that is plagued with this problem.  It has become so rampant that I fear it has spread even to this very castle!”  Moloch’s tone was dripping with false indignation and his face still kept his smug expression, his lips curved up in a sneer as he looked up at Luna.  

Luna hesitated.  It was now clearly obvious that Moloch was not here to discuss his city’s prostitutes, and it angered her that the unicorn lord would blatantly use the issue as a means to somehow bother her.

Moloch continued, walking around the throne room and looking up at a portrait on the wall of Luna and her sister as young fillies, when they had just taken the throne and before they had earned their Cutie-Marks.

“Can you imagine the scandal of some of the higher nobility becoming so desperate that they would mate with the commoners and have a foal?  Why, such behavior is unbecoming of ponies of our stature and will surely be most shocking when Princess Celestia finds out.  Wouldn’t’ you agree, Princess Luna?”

His words shook her to the core, for there was only one scrap of knowledgs that could hide behind his honeyed words.

He knows…

Her muscles clenched in terror as dread seized her, Luna did not even dare to move for showing the slightest acknowledgment of the unspoken statement.

“It’s a funny thing about foals.” Moloch continued, still facing the portrait but his eyes were locked onto Luna. “They’re here one day, gone the next.  We need to take care of them while we can. Isn’t that right your majesty?”

Eyes boring into him, Luna said nothing.  Her thoughts were coming together to try and figure out how Moloch of all ponies could have found out about Twilight.  Luna had kept Twilight in her foal room, safe and secure, and she had told nopony about her daughter and had given no hints of it whatsoever.  Luna had kept to her schedule and performed her duties without fail, there should have been no reason for the unicorn lord to suspect that she had foaled a child.

Teeth gritting unnoticeably beneath her muzzle, Luna wished to growl out a threat or a denial but to do so would only acknowledge Twilight’s existence.

But perhaps Moloch had heard only rumors?  Despite all of her hard work, it was possible that somepony realized that Luna now spent more time in her personal quarters than she had before Twilight’s birth.  Also, she was sure Moloch had spies amongst the castle staff, specifically maids and cleaning crews.  With Twilight becoming more vocal and adventurous, it was possible however unlikely, that Twilight’s crying could have been noticed by a cleaning maid while Luna had been away.  Luna had placed sound-proof spells on the foal room of course, but Twilight was a growing foal with unpredictable magical surges, alicorn surges.  It was possible that the spell might have faltered and a maid or somepony could have heard something.  Rumors circling in servants quarters would have been easily been picked up by one of Moloch’s spies, and if his suspicion was aroused, Moloch could have looked into her activities for the past year and made a hypothesis as to what had happened. 

Maybe he’s bluffing.

If unsure of the correctness of his suspicions, Moloch could be here to see her reaction to tell if it was true or not.  If Moloch was truly bluffing to gauge her reaction, Luna had to pull her best poker face.

For Twilight’s sake.

“It is indeed as you say Lord Moloch, such activities in your city must be taken care of and those foals taken cared for immediately.  I assume you have a plan to remedy the situation?”

His sneer faltering slightly, Moloch started to scowl as if disappointed by her lack of reaction.

“Yes, I would appreciate it if you would allot a sum of 2,500 bits to go towards my project to set up new foster homes in Rainbow Falls.”

“Very well,” Luna replied, mentally relieved that Moloch perhaps now doubted any possible rumors.  “I shall set aside the amount in an account in a local bank with instructions that the money is only to go towards the project you have just specified.  If you require more, I shall send a representative from my Night Watch to verify your need and more bits will be transferred if the initial investment is not enough.  Is this acceptable?”

“It is your highness.”

“Then our business is concluded.  You are dismissed Lord Moloch.”

Without another word Moloch swiftly bowed to her before turning around and trotting away, not taking near as much time to leave as it did for him to enter.  When the doors closed behind him, Luna turned back towards her seneschal.

“This concludes tonight’s Court of the Moon.  I am retiring to my quarters where I shall lower the moon.”

“Yes your highness.”

Descending the dais Luna did not even bother to walk back as she was becoming excited again to by the prospect of being with Twilight again.  Instead she summoned her magic and teleported away, reappearing a second later in the confines of her private residence.  

Once again harnessing her magic, Luna sealed her room with the usual enchantments, ensuring none could disturb her.

Smiling as she lifted up the trap door leading to Twilight’s room, Luna lifted off her crown and torc as well as kicking aside her crystal shoes before she finished descending down the hidden stairway.

She could hear Twilight happily laughing as her daughter heard Luna approach, a sound which brought untold amounts of joy to her mother.

Emerging from the staircase, Luna was almost skipping as she made her way across the foal room to the crib on the other side, where the foalish giggling was coming from.  Sitting down in front of the crib, Luna leaned over to look down at her daughter.

Twilight was awake and playing with her two favorite dolls, the one of Luna herself as well as a plushy with Celestia’s likeness.   She was rolling around in her blankets gleefully when Twilight noticed a shadow hanging over her, her purple eyes then peered curiously up at Luna, who smiled lovingly down at her.  Upon seeing that it was her mother, Twilight’s eyes immediately sparkled with mirth and the lavender foal turned over onto her back with her wings splayed out to her sides as she giggled up at her mother. 

“Hello little one, did you miss me?”

“Abaaabbabbaaa!” Twilight said, reaching out with her forelegs to Luna, wanting to be picked up.  Her tail wagged back and forth as she grew excited at her mother’s presence.

Gently picking up her beautiful daughter in her magic, Luna levitated Twilight out of the crib.  Her precious child giggled as she seemingly flew through the air until she was cradled in Luna’s forelegs.  Luna then proceeded to lovingly rock Twilight back and forth, cooing at her while Twilight nuzzled deeper into her plush blue fur.

After a few minutes of rocking her, Luna set Twilight down onto the soft carpet on the floor.  Luna then stood over Twilight and leaned her head down, gently prodding her with her muzzle.  This past few weeks, she had been trying to teach Twilight to walk.

“Come on my little star, you can do it.”

Twilight pushed up on her back legs first, trembling as she did so.  Her small face scrunched up in determination as she tried to push up on her forelegs and get into a standing position.  Twilight succeeded, and now her four legs shook with the effort of holding her up.  
Luna reached down with her head and nudged Twilight a little, trying to propel her forward.  Twilight, encouraged by her mother’s prodding, put her right hoof forward, only for her knee to buckle and she went sprawling back onto the floor.  

Twilight rolled over and her face scrunched up a little and she started to sniffle.  She reached out with her forelegs again for Luna, babbling as she desired to be held again. 

Instead of picking her up however, Luna laid down herself until she was on Twilight’s level, she then nuzzled Twilight again, much to her daughter’s delight.  Twilight giggled from the ticklish feeling of her mother’s muzzle nuzzling her little belly, and she tried to escape the tickling attack.  Rolling away from Luna, Twilight laid on her stomach and tried to crawl away from the much larger alicorn, giggling as she did so.  This was one of their favorite games together.  Twilight would try to crawl away and Luna would, slowly, creep up to her until she could tickle her foal again.

As she watched Twilight try to escape her mother’s ticklish muzzle, Luna slowly crawled on her belly like a giant predator, fanning her wings out as she approached her foal.

“I’m gonna get you!”

Twilight only laughed as she doubled her efforts to crawl away.  However, Luna was still fast approaching, even though she was moving at a slow pace.

“Gotcha!”

Luna prodded Twilight with her muzzle as she caught her and rolled the giggling foal back onto her back before proceeding to tickle Twilight’s cute little foal belly.  Twilight’s high-pitched laughter only increased as Luna smiled and tickled her further.  Luna encircled Twilight with her body then and looked down at her wonderful daughter as Twilight smiled up at her.  She then leaned down again and whispered to Twilight in her cutest foal-talking voice.

“Aww…you’re just so cute I could just eat you up!”

Twilight had other ideas however, for she started to prod Luna’s stomach with her muzzle as she looked for her own dinner.  Knowing what Twilight was looking for, Luna straightened back up.

“Oh are you hungry?  I guess it's time for you to eat so you can grow big and strong!"

Luna leaned over onto her side and allowed Twilight to access her lower stomach, where her foal happily began to suck on one of her teats.  Spreading a wing out over Twilight as she nursed, Luna turned her thoughts to other things as Twilight was otherwise preoccupied.

A small amount of pressure began to build up behind her horn, and Luna knew what time it was.  Extending her awareness towards the heavens, Luna realized it was time to put away the Moon and let Celestia’s Sun dawn.  

In the past, Luna and Celestia had done the swapping of Day and Night together.  But slowly, they did it less and less often as time passed, until they just did their celestial duties in accordance with their nature.

Her horn lighting up in a gentle blue glow, Luna expanded her awareness into the heavens above the world where the Moon and Stars awaited her.  

It seemed to Luna and her sister that the celestial bodies had a mind of their own sometimes.  While Luna certainly had an intimate bond with the moon, the same with Celestia and the Sun, she still could still feel the Moon and Stars shimmer and move with an innate consciousness.

Tonight the Moon felt tired, and a little sad.  For some reason the Moon seemed to be concerned for Luna, but Luna reassured the Moon that everything was fine.  Reluctantly, the Moon let Luna push it down below the horizon with her magic, letting the Sun rise on the opposite side of the world.

Around her, Luna could feel the Stars murmur and mumble as the sky changed from day to night.  

The Stars were a curiosity to Luna.  They followed her will most of the time, but the Stars had a rebellious streak.  They also seemed to know about things, important information and knowledge, and would most of the time tell Luna these things.  Stars, much like the Sun and Moon, could look down upon the world and view its inhabitants, but unlike its counterparts, the Stars knew far more since they could divide their attention.  The Stars didn’t converse in a language or in writing, it was more like a passing of a feeling or memories.  Sometimes even, the Stars would rearrange themselves without telling Luna so as to send a message to the world below them, for the Stars sometimes had glimpses of the future that they would try to convey to ponies and the Sun and Moon alike.  Starswirl the Bearded was best at reading their messages, and was one of the few mages that could still converse with them sometimes, though not as often or with such accuracy as Luna.  It was a dying art, as more unicorns did not learn magic regarding the celestial orbs since they no longer had to care for them.

Luna extended her magic to all the Stars, passing on an urge for them to sleep and rest while the Sun followed his path through the sky.   Most acknowledged her message and turned over and fell asleep, winking out until the next night.  Others though, particularly the ones belonging to the various constellations, seemed to ignore her efforts and refused to blink out.  Putting more of her magic into the effort, Luna firmly sent the feeling that the Stars time was over, and that they needed to rest.  Grudgingly, it seemed, the constellations flickered out one by one, until the sky seemed empty once more.  Satisfied that her duty was done, Luna let go of her celestial awareness and shrunk back into her body until she no longer could feel the sky.

Shaking herself of the powerful magic, Luna lifted her wing up once more to find that Twilight had finished and had snuggled firmly into her side.  Her daughter had fallen asleep after she had finished nursing and Luna watched her small chest rise and fall as she breathed, content in staying warm as she was nestled in her Luna’s midnight blue fur.

Watching her most beloved daughter, her most precious star, Luna knew what she had to do.

Reluctantly, and quietly so as to not awaken Twilight.  Luna levitated her foal back into the crib against the wall, where she lowered the oblivious Twilight back among the discarded sheets.  Leaning over the crib herself, she tucked Twilight in until she was sure her daughter was nice and comfortable.  Nuzzling Twilight gently, Luna lightly kissed her before leaning back.

“I’ll be back soon, Mama has to go talk to your Aunt ‘Tia.”

Luna had thought it over for some time, and she realized that she had better soon reveal Twilight to Celestia.  Twilight was growing bigger by the night, and it would not be long until she might be able to escape the foal room.  Luna didn’t want to keep her down here forever, she wanted Twilight to grow and to play and be a part of the world, no matter how much she wanted to keep Twilight to herself.  
It would mean a lot of changes for the both of them, but Luna had to do it now while still she had the courage to tell her sister.

For better or worse.






Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters

Two Hours Until the Banishment of Nightmare Moon

Celestia





It was certainly another beautiful day, and Celestia would have it no other way.

The tall white alicorn was perched upon her golden throne while the preparations for the Court of the Sun were under way.  She smiled as ponies hustled back and forth trying to prepare for this session of court for a great many things were on her agenda today.  Budgets, censuses, laws, parties, social parties, food tastings, grand openings, and even more parties!  It just seemed ponies everywhere wanted her to be there whenever they were throwing a get together.

Celestia happily waved at a few of the nobles that waved back enthusiastically.  The nobility of Equestria just seemed to adore her!  The throne room was just bursting with all sorts of ponies as they organized themselves before the start of court.  Ambassadors from foreign nations milled about one another in their social circles while merchants plied them about tariffs and embargoes.  Ladies of her court huddled together and would gossip excitedly as different Lords would pass by.  Knights of the realm stood stoically as they regaled their great triumphs to young maidens.   Her personal half of the Royal Guard, the Day Guard, all stood sentry at the entrances and exits while an elite few stood at the base of the dais upon which the Sister’s thrones sat.

“Your Shining Majesty!”

Distracted from her observations, Celestia searched about for the voice until she spotted the owner among the crowd at the foot of the dais.  The deep voice belonged to a tall white stallion wearing the sash of House Platinum.

“Lord Moloch!”  She greeted, extending a hoof so as to motion him forward.  “Good Morning!  How do you fare upon this bright and shining day?”

Celestia knew Moloch was a true gentlecolt.  He was the head of a large social club called the Gentry Society, which made regular donations to charity and discussed how to improve city sanitation and public education.

At least, that’s what the members told her.  Celestia had never actually been to one of their meetings or parties, as she had never been invited.

Moloch beamed at her with a wide and pleasant smile.  “I am only doing as well as the rest of the ponies that live and flourish under your most magnificent day.”

“Oh Moloch you flatterer!”  Celestia giggled, she loved hearing praise for her work.  “What brings you to today’s Court of the Sun?  Do you need more bits for the orphanages in Rainbow Falls?”

Moloch shifted uncomfortably and avoided her eyes.  “Well…no.  I…uh…recieved some help from Princess Luna last night during the Court of the Moon.”  

Taken aback, Celestia cocked an eyebrow at him.  It was unlike Moloch to go to her sister’s court.  But, she wasn’t jealous by any means, she loved hearing about Luna’s success just as much as her own.  Celestia used to see Luna’s interactions with their ponies during court when they shared the Dawn and Twilight Courts when they switched day and night.  That had ended some fifty?... seventy?...Oh!  It didn’t matter!  It had ended some years ago when the nobility had suggested they have two separate court times so that they could cover more ponies 24/7!  Luna had seemed reluctant to the idea but Celestia thought it was a grand thought and switched her court times immediately.  Now she only heard about her sister’s court from whatever the nobility told her.  Luna didn’t talk about it that much and from what Celestia could gather, her Court of the Moon was extremely boring, so she didn’t force the issue and she just let it slide.

“Oh how was it?  I barely hear about Luna’s court these days.  Were there lots of ponies that wanted her attention?”  She pried him.

“Of course it was Your Shining Majesty!”  Moloch said smoothly.  “Lots of them, mostly common folk wanting justice and what not.”

“Oh good!  And stop calling me, ‘Your Shining Majesty.’  It’s such a long title, simply ‘Princess’ or ‘Your majesty’ will do.”  Celestia reproached gently.  While she appreciated the title Moloch and the rest of the Gentry Society had given her, it did lose its luster after a while.

Moloch smiled and stepped up closer, bringing out a small box from his jacket pocket.  He held it aloft in his magic while he talked.  

“Well your majesty, the other members of the Gentry Society and I have come to a unanimous agreement and would like to extend an invitation to you to join our great society.”

He opened the box to reveal a large gold pin with a sun that greatly resembled her Cutie-Mark, with the exception of the sun’s rays being replaced with sharp swords.

Celestia almost squealed in delight, she had heard only great things about the Gentry Society’s gatherings from all her nobles.  This was finally her chance to go and see for herself what they did at their parties.  She reached out with her own magic and clipped it firmly to her torc.

“I accept Lord Moloch.  When is your next gathering?”

“Tomorrow your majesty, when the sun reaches its apex in the sky.”  Moloch said brightly.

Celestia smiled but a nagging thought raced forward to the forefront of her mind.  

“Did you invite Luna?  I’m sure she’d love to go too!  In fact, we can go together!”  She told him, entertaining thoughts of a nice outing with her beloved sister.

Moloch winced and shook his head.  “I’m sorry your majesty, but we didn’t invite her.”

“Oh, why not?”  Celestia asked, she was very disappointed the Society hadn’t done such a simple courtesy to her counterpart, she expected better of such an esteemed elite.  Now she was less inclined to go at all.  It wasn’t fair for them to invite Celestia and not Luna.

“It’s just that Princess Luna sleeps during the day, when we have our meetings.  We didn’t want her to feel obligated to go and interrupt her sleep.  Will you still come?  It will mean the world to the rest of us.”

Celestia thought it over.  On one hoof, she was still peeved that the Society didn’t invite Luna.  But on the other hoof…Moloch was right, Luna did sleep during the day, and it would mostly inconvenience her.

“Oh alright.”  She conceded reluctantly.  “But there better be cake!”  

Moloch chuckled.  “Of course your majesty.  Now if you will excuse me, I must go inform the others of your impending arrival tomorrow.”

“Of course, you’re free to go.”

He bowed low, his forehead almost touching the ground.  “May your Glorious Day always shine!  Thank you Your Shining Majesty!”  

And with that he departed, exiting a door that led deeper into the castle towards the Royal Apartments where she and Luna had their bedrooms.

Now that Moloch was gone, Celestia could once again busy herself with the beginning of court.  She watched her seneschal take her place at the foot of the dais and most ponies in the crowd had finally calmed down enough for her to start today’s proceedings.

“Um…sister?”  Spoke a very familiar voice.

Celestia whirled around in surprise, her crown tilting to one side as she gaped at her visitor in shock.

But there emerging from the door from which Moloch had just exited through, looking very shy and out of place, stood Luna.  Her sister very much seemed out of place among the gold and white of the gathered ponies in her dark blue fur and nightly vestments.  Luna’s face was scrunched up in noticeable discomfort as ponies across the room mumbled and murmured as they registered Luna’s arrival.  Her starry mane seemed agitated and flicked about rather than smoothly flow in the cosmic winds.  Luna’s wings were ruffled and there were small bags beneath her teal eyes.  Her sister shuffled uncomfortably as she looked up at her big sister. 

This was unprecedented, Luna hardly ever came out during the day any more, especially during the Court of the Sun.

But, Celestia was always glad to see her sister.

“Luna!  This is such a pleasant surprise, you’re usually asleep by now.”  A thought struck her.  “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to be awake tomorrow around noon will you?”

Luna looked confused and clearly wanted to talk about something else, her ears flickering to the curious murmuring coming from the nobles.  But curiosity seemed to get the better of her.

“I um…suppose I could be.  Why do you ask?”  She said quietly.

Celestia motioned for Luna to come closer, ignoring the grumbling of the nobility as court was delayed.  As Luna ascended the dais and approached her, Celestia showed her the pin Moloch had given her.

“Lord Moloch—“  Celestia started, but Luna interrupted her.

“Moloch was here?”

“Why yes, in fact he told me he got more money from you for his orphanages in Rainbow Falls.”

Luna scowled.  “Did he now?”  But then her teal eyes caught the Society’s pin on Celestia torc, and they widened in shock.  “Is that—Tia!  Is that the Kni…the Gentry Society’s pin?”

“Yes it is!  Isn’t it wonderful!  The Society has invited me to become a member and asked me to attend one of their gatherings tomorrow at noon!  Do you want to come?”

Luna hesitated, her ears flickering backwards.  “I…um…no. I don’t think so sister.”

Celestia pouted, disappointed in Luna’s lack of adventure.  “Oh come on!  It’ll be fun!  All you have to do is stay up with me until noon.   
You have nothing else going on during the day, come with me!”

Luna looked away and back towards the hallway that led to their apartments before answering.  “No, I…uh…have something important that I need do.”

Her interest piqued, Celestia leaned in closer.  “What is it?  I know you never leave your chambers during the day.”

Luna hesitated and leaned back in forth as if uncomfortable.  “That’s…what I wanted to talk to you about sister.  There’s something I need to tell you.”

“O.K., I’m all ears.  Fire away.”

Luna looked away from her and back towards the crowd in the throne room, her face twisting in discomfort as she gazed at them.  Celestia could see that the nobles were hanging on to every word they said, and some tried to inch closer to better catch their words.

Luna looked quickly back at Celestia and she spoke softly, just above a whisper.  

“Can we, talk about this…privately?”  She asked timidly.

Celestia huffed.  “Surely it won’t take that long.”

Once again, Luna shifted in obvious discomfort and shuffled her hooves, avoiding Celestia’s eyes.  “It’s important.  Can we please talk somewhere else sister?”

“I don’t see why we can’t talk here, I’m about to start court.  Can it wait?”

“No, not really.”

“Well then spit it out!  I have a really busy morning today sister!  I can’t just go gallivanting off right before the Court of the Sun!  I have a schedule to keep!”  Celestia picked up her morning schedule from her seneschal with her magic and scanned the list quickly.  “Look, I have a fifteen minute break between my afternoon tea with Duchess Obsidian and my daily meeting with the Day Guard.  Will that be enough time?”

Luna scowled and stomped her hoof in determination, much to Celestia’s chagrin.  “It’s important Celestia.  Please, please can we speak somewhere else?  I need to tell you this, I…I know you might be disappointed at first, but…I just need to talk with you!”  She pleaded.

Celestia frowned at her sister and rolled up her schedule.  “Disappointed?  Your Night Guard didn’t ransack another town did they?”

Luna gaped at her.  “What?!  Of course not, they would never!”

“Well then I don’t see what all the fuss is about Luna.  Now please, the nobles are getting impatient.  Can’t you wait until this afternoon?”

Luna looked lost and shook her head, seemingly trying to figure out how to answer her.  But she seemed to steel herself and her lips trembled as she tried to speak once more.

“Tia, I…I…I have a daug—“

“COURT IS NOW IN SESSION!!”  Her seneschal boomed out to the crowd, drowning out whatever Luna had said.  He scowled impatiently up at the two princesses as he tapped his watch.  “Your highness, it’s time for you to start the Court of the Sun!”

Celestia nodded and shooed Luna off, eager to start the day.  

“I’ll talk to you later Luna, I’m busy!”

“But…but, Tia I—“

“Later!”  She pressed.  “I’ll talk to you later!”

Luna seemed to wilt in resignation, turning her back to Celestia as she skulked off the dais.  “Fine.”  Celestia heard her say.  “I’ll talk to you later, sister.”

And with that, Luna was gone.

With her sister placated, Celestia shifted back on her throne and smiled at the gathered ponies.

“What’s first on today’s agenda?”






Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters

One hour and Forty-Five Minutes Until the Banishment of Nightmare Moon

Luna





How could she!  I was about to tell her and she brushed me off!  Again!

Luna was fuming as she stomped back to her chambers, ignoring ponies as they scuttled past her in fear.  A smoldering anger had taken place in her heart, festering like an unhealed wound.  

Why?!  Why can’t she just listen to me? I’m her sister!


Because she’s busy…

It was Celestia’s number one excuse.  Luna hated it.  She hated how Celestia was always too busy doing this or that to spend time with her anymore.  She hated how her sister was so engrossed with the nobility and running their country that she couldn’t even tell when her own sister needed her.  

Luna hated.

We should use that anger…

But like a tree shrugging off snow, Luna released her anger.  In its stead, she let memories and feelings of Twilight take its place.  Love rebuilt her heart, and smothered the fires in her soul, love for a little lavender alicorn.

Luna sighed deeply, regretting storming off away from her sister.  That hadn’t been the best way to approach Celestia, and Luna was sure she had time to tell her about Twilight.

Luna was fast approaching her chambers, the lack of ponies in her hallway another idle thought to store away in her mind.  Wearily, she entered her chambers and closed the doors behind her.  It was time to go back and be with Twilight, possibly the only comfort she could receive right then.  Later, when it was closer to that time Celestia had mentioned, she would get up and try to tell her sister about her niece again.

She had time.

Right?

Luna lifted up the stone cap and descended once more through the hidden stairwell, her spirits lifting at the promised prospect of another cuddle session with Twilight.

“Twilight?”  Luna called lovingly into the silent foal’s room.  “Mama’s back!”

She strained her ears, but Luna didn’t hear anything.

In fact, it was too quite.

Luna reached the end of the stairwell and dismissed her concerns, she smiled instead and happily trotted over to the crib.

“Hello my little s—“

The empty crib.

Ice chilled Luna’s blood and her heart picked up instantly, thumping in her chest like a drum.  Twilight’s sheets were cast aside and there was no sign of her beautiful daughter.  Quickly looking under the crib, Luna frantically searched about the room.

“No, no, no, no, no, no…”

She lit her magic and searched fervently for the little spark that was her foal, hoping beyond hope that Twilight was there.

But she found nothing.

Twilight was gone.

Somepony had taken her.

“TWILIGHT WHERE ARE YOU!!!”
> Chapter 10:  Reconcilation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Castle; Servant’s Quarters

Eighteen Hours Into Eternal Night

Twilight





The warm cup of tea in front of her did nothing to settle her nerves, or soothe her discomfort.  Twilight was sitting quietly at an old wooden table with a cracked cup sitting in front of her.  The quality of the tea was poor at best, and sewage water mixed with crunched tea leaves at worst.  The room itself was shabby and small, barely fitting two beds with rotten frames and their accompanying chest of clothes.  There was a small burner designed for earth pony use in a corner along with a few kitchen utensils; old pots, a few pans, and a couple jars of scant food littered the corner as well.  The walls were an undecorated solid black edifice of unfriendly stone, like the inside of a cave.  On one of the beds, Spike’s prone form laid still as the baby dragon had yet to wake from his fainting. 

All of this irked Twilight immensely, as these were Shining and Cadance’s new living quarters.  But none of that bothered her as much as what Cadance was wearing.

“I’m sorry, but I have to ask.  Why are you dressed as a maid?”

True enough, the former Princess of Love was wearing a dainty maid costume that was several sizes too small.  It was a black and white monstrosity that looked like it had been pulled out of a garbage chute with its several holes and ruined laces.  Twilight suspected it had been for either an earth pony or a unicorn since Cadance had to rip some new holes in the side so her broken wings could poke through.  Because Cadance had a larger frame than most mares, the maid outfit hugged her and looked uncomfortably tight around her barrel and legs.  The skirt had several patches and Cadance had managed to extend it with her awkward sewing skills so that it adequately covered her rump. 

Shining was not in much better condition.  He wore a tattered janitor’s blue overalls with several bright red patches.  Unlike Cadance’s, Shining’s new outfit was actually several sizes too big.  It looked like it had been made to fit a rather rotund and plump stallion, not the lean muscular frame of Shining Armor.  It was severely baggy and Shining had been forced to use a belt that held it firmly to his waist, so that it did not slide off easily.  A nametag scrawled with somepony else’s writing read ‘Shining Armor, Captain of the Bucket Brigade.’

The deep frown Cadance wore etched deeper into her once cheerful face as she eyed her outfit disdainfully.  “It’s my new ‘official’ uniform that befits my position.  I have been dubbed, ‘The Princess of Dust Bunnies’ by the new occupants of the guard barracks.”
Shining snorted in frustration.  “Cadance is being mild.  We haven’t had a wink of sleep since your magic flare.  They’ve made the two of us work on cleaning up the debris in the castle while the other servants were allowed to rest.  It’s been difficult to keep up with their demands since we can’t use our magic.  Once they decided there wasn’t anything more we could do for the moment, they led us here to our new ‘room.’  And calling this broom closet a room is giving it a compliment.  We had to put all the old cleaning supplies that were in here in another location before scrounging up some furniture from the local dump.  Everything we got in here is either broken, rotten, or deformed.  Our so called ‘rations’ are no better.  Most of what we’ve eaten are table scraps from the Legion’s meals.”

Twilight scowled and put a hoof firmly on the wooden table.  “That won’t happen again.  I’ll make sure you’re both given better rooms and meals.  And you can go ahead and take off those ridiculous outfits, I can’t stand seeing either of you in them.”

Cadance shook her head in resignation.  “Don’t bother Twilight, I don’t want you to get into any more trouble.  Besides, they won’t listen to you.”

“Oh yes they will.”  Twilight asserted.  She then pulled out the royal proclamation Noctis had given her a few moments ago announcing her status as Crown Princess of Equestria.  “The Legion’s commander gave me this, they’ll have to listen to me.”  She set it down on the table in front of them and let them read while she tried to bravely sip the muddy water they called tea.

Both of their eyebrows lifted to the sky in disbelief as they read the proclamation.  After a few moments, they both looked away to only gaze at her with deep concern.

“Twilight, you must know that this is some prank by those soldiers poking fun at you or that this is some sick scheme of Nightmare Moon’s.  You can’t be taking this seriously, are you feeling alright?  Did you get enough rest?”  Shining asked, his face the epitome of a concerned sibling.

Twilight suppressed a frustrated groan.  Ever since she had arrived the two of them had kept avoiding the elephant in the room; namely her new wings and the fiery magical flare.  When she had first arrived, she had announced, rather meekly, that Nightmare Moon was truly her birth mother.  But the two of them had dismissed her statement completely.  It was obvious that both Shining and Cadance believed she was enchanted or hallucinating to some degree from the aftereffects of her magical flare.  So far they had coddled her and avoided confronting the real issue, and it was getting on her nerves.

But before she could make a proper retort, a groan from the nearby bed distracted her.  Spike leaned up from the ragged bed and rubbed his eyes with his claws.

“Ooohhhh…what happened?  I had the craziest dream that Nightmare Moon was going to turn me into a rug and then Twilight grew wings.”  Spike stretched a little before straightening up and becoming more aware of his surroundings.  He looked in surprise at the occupants of the former broom closet.  Twilight watched his eyes travel from Cadance in a maid outfit to Shining’s janitor uniform and finally to Twilight with her wings.  He then promptly slapped himself and let out a loud groan.  “Oh great, it wasn’t a dream.”

Twilight could only shake her head.  She pulled up an old crate as Spike waddled over to join them.  “Do you want some tea Spike?”  Twilight politely asked.  When he nodded his assent, she promptly used her magic to pour out some of the insufferable concoction into another cracked tea cup.  Spike reached out with a claw and drank some of it before violently spitting it out.

“You call that tea?!”  He screeched.  “It tastes like sewer water!”

Shining frowned a little, indignant of Spike’s response to his tea brewing skills.  “Hey, it’s the best we could do under the circumstances.  And how would you know what the sewer tastes like anyway?”

Spike shuddered.  “Twilight once wanted to do research on the ancient plumbing system beneath Canterlot, to compare it with today’s system.”  He rocked back and forth in his chair while his eyes shrunk to pinpoints.  “Happy thoughts Spike, there are no sewer gators here…”

Twilight rolled her eyes but hugged Spike anyway, waiting patiently for the drake’s shudders to pass.  “Honestly Spike, it wasn’t that bad.  We only ran into two gators, and they weren’t even that big.”

“They were larger than Princess Celestia!”

“You’re exaggerating!”

“I still have nightmares!”

And just like that, the conversation died abruptly; silence reigning supreme over the four occupants.  It was like the new empress was hovering over them at that very moment, casting a shadow of fear over the conversation.  Cadance tried to break the sudden tension in the room and spoke encouragingly.

“So…Spike, why did you come to the castle?”  She asked him, smiling at the baby dragon.

Spike shifted uncomfortably and spoke reluctantly.  “A few hours after Nightmare Moon attacked Ponyville’s courthouse, I woke up and started looking for Twilight.  A few of the locals told me they had seen her go into the Everfree Forest with a few other ponies.  I was about to go in there after her when those soldiers arrived with a royal proclamation.”

Shining perked up, interested.  “What did they say, we haven’t exactly gotten much news here.”

“They said that Princess Celestia had been replaced by Empress Nightmare Moon, and that the Royal Guard had disbanded.  One of the officers talked to Mayor Mare and produced some kind of legal document.  The mayor read it to the town, it said something about the nobles recognizing Nightmare’s claim to the throne along with the recognition of a new princess.”

Twilight winced Spike’s unintended mention of her, but pushed the parchment Noctis had given her over to Spike.  “Did it sound something like this?”

Spike picked up the paper and read over it quickly, his eyes darting back and forth across the page.  His eyes widened and he mouthed the words ‘crown princess’ and ‘Twilight Sparkle.’  He then looked over at Twilight and stared at her wings.  “I don’t understand.  Why would Nightmare Moon make you a princess?”

Twilight wilted in her seat, her new wings highlighting her discovered heritage.  Though she had accepted the fact that Nightmare Moon was indeed her mother, she was not about to go crowing it from the castle rooftops.  “Because I’m her daughter Spike.”  She said quietly, making a point of avoiding Spike’s stare.

Shining slammed his hoof onto the table.  “Twilight we’ve already told you that’s impossible!  Our parents adopted you when you were a few months old seventeen years ago.  I don’t know what she’s done to you, but I promise we’ll fix you.”

“There is nothing to ‘fix,’ Shining Armor.”  Twilight retorted, scowling across the table.  “Tell me, did they ever tell you where they adopted me from?”

“Well…yeah.  They said your real parents were some nobles or guards that were killed in an accident in the Stalliongrad area.  There wasn’t much more they ever found out.”

“That’s not what I meant.  I wanted to know where our parents actually found me, before adopting me.  Not what they were told.”  Twilight corrected.  She had done some deep thinking a little earlier, and she had come to the conclusion that her adoption didn’t change anything between her and Shining.  He was still her brother, and Velvet and Night Light were still her parents and she still loved them.  Twilight…loved…Nightmare too, but she wasn’t trading one family for another, she was expanding it.

Shining tapped his hoof thoughtfully.  “Hmmm, Mom and Dad told me you were in the Royal Orphanage, here in the castle.  Princess Celestia actually oversaw the adoption herself.”

Another bit of information clicked into place.  Twilight had suspected that Celestia had a hoof in her adoption, but she had collected no evidence so far to prove her theory.  She wanted to know how she had gotten from point A, daughter of Nightmare Moon a thousand years ago, to point B, faithful student to Princess Celestia.

Convincing Cadance, Shining, and Spike that Nightmare Moon had not enchanted her in any form or fashion was going to take some effort.  Part of the reason was that neither Shining nor Cadance could use any spells because of the magic inhibitors on their horns that restricted their magic.  Because of that they couldn’t scan her for any enchantments she might be under and so anything she said was suspect to Nightmare’s meddling.  While she appreciated their protective hovering over her, Twilight was growing frustrated with their continual denial of her words.  It was going to be hard to get anything accomplished towards ending the Eternal Night when two of her most useful allies were stuck disbelieving her.

She did have a few aces up her sleeve though.

Twilight started by fluttering her wings so that they would notice them.  She hadn’t gotten use to the new appendages yet, but she had established some control over them.  “Look at these.  This isn’t some illusion or spell, these wings are real.  They didn’t just spontaneously sprout from my back.”

Cadance cocked an eyebrow at her.  “My horn did.”

Twilight tried to suppress her mounting frustration.  One of the weaknesses in the argument using her wings was that Cadance had ascended to being an alicorn, not naturally born like her; Cadance had originally been a pegasus.  It still wasn’t clear how Cadance had managed to do ascend, and so from their point of view Twilight had probably done same thing, which to them may have been why Nightmare wanted to manipulate Twilight.

“This is different, Nightmare told me I was born with these while under the influence of a powerful magical artifact that forces ponies to tell the truth.”  

Shining snorted dismissively.  “Our point exactly Twilight.  SHE told you.”

“That does seem rather obvious Twilight.”  Spike agreed.  “How do you know she hasn’t invaded your mind or something?”

“Because I used an age spell on myself, and it said I was a thousand years old Spike!”

Spike chuckled.  “Yeah right, and I’m Santa Hooves.  On the bright side, you look good for a thousand year old mare!”

“This isn’t a time for jokes Spike.”  Twilight reproached.  “You guys have to listen to me!  Nightmare Moon is really my mother!  And she is actually Princess Celestia’s sister from over a thousand years ago!”

“There, there.”  Cadance cooed.  She reached out with a hoof and tried to soothe Twilight like she was a mental patient.  “There’s no need to get upset.  Don’t worry, we’ll find some way to help you.”

Twilight brushed her off and got to her hooves.  “Alright fine, if you won’t listen to me, then I’ll just have to prove it.”

“How?”  Spike asked, startled by her sudden movement.

“I’ll bet you that anything that the Princess left behind something that says I’m Nightmare’s daughter.  We’re going to her chambers to go look.”

Shining remained sitting, unperturbed by Twilight’s determination.  “Twilight, everything in the princess’s chambers was fried to a crisp from your magical flare.  I know.  Cadance and I had to clean up the smoking piles you left behind.”

“There might still be something.  Come on, let’s go look.”  Twilight turned to leave and she heard Cadance and Shining reluctantly get up from their stools.  She then pushed open the door and stepped back out into the hallway.  Flanking the door were two soldiers of the 501st Imperial Legion in their sleek silver armor.  Though Twilight was a little surprised, she realized that Commander Noctis had probably sent replacements to guard her about the castle.

“Are you my escort?”  She asked them, seeking to verify her suspicions.

Much to her surprise, instead of the traditional salute or nod that Twilight had grown accustomed to with the Royal Guard, the Lunar Pegasi soldiers snapped to attention and immediately prostrated themselves before her, saying, “At your service, your highness.”

The two guards straightened back up with military precision and eyed Cadance and Shining suspiciously as they stepped out of the broom closet.  Shining glared at them from the corner of his eyes but didn’t say anything, Cadance shuffled around with distinct discomfort under their scrutinizing gazes, but Spike just ignored them.

Before either guard said anything, Twilight preempted their inevitable question.  “They’re with me, and we’re going to Princess Celestia’s old chambers.”  Taking the initiative, Twilight started trotting briskly towards her destination, leaving the two soldiers to snap forward in order to catch up with their charge.  Shining and Cadance, not wanting to walk behind them, quickly caught up and walked abreast with her.  Spike was content to just waddle behind them and look at the castle’s new lunar furnishings.

After a few minutes, the clean fresh air of the castle started taking on a burnt, acrid scent that made Twilight scrunch her nose.  She was about to ask Shining or the soldiers what the source of the horrible smell was when they rounded the corner.

Twilight’s jaw dropped, and her walk came to a screeching halt.

All along the walls, the ceiling, and even the floor were black burn marks and craters from lightning strikes.  Broken stone littered the floor along with what looked like hardened puddles of silver and gold that had melted from the ceiling.  Ash from wooden tables, chairs, and portrait frames were scattered all along the way.  At the end of the hallway, there was a large hole in the wall where Twilight could see out onto the mountain side, the stars twinkling in the night.  There were even some small fixtures still slightly smoking, the gray smog curling up to the ceiling before crawling along the ruined hallway.

“Did—Did I do this?”  Twilight gasped, her eyes wide at the destruction of the once beautiful castle.  She had known her flare had done some serious damage, but this was far beyond what she had expected.

“Whoa…”  Spike mumbled.  “If Nightmare Moon is your mom…then your father must be a dragon.”

Cadance giggled while Twilight groaned, though now that Twilight thought about it, she had no idea who her father was.

Shining put a hoof around Twilight reassuringly.  “Don’t worry about it, nopony was hurt, and that’s what matters.  Though I dislike them, the soldiers did manage to escort the servants out safely.”

The soldiers, looking conflicted between proud and insulted, said nothing.

“I…I can’t believe it.  This…I don’t—“


Cadance joined Shining in comforting her.  “It’s alright.  Stone can be repaired and tapestries replaced.  What is important is that you are alright.”

Twilight took a deep breath and tried to release her anxiety.  She mourned for the castle, she really did.  It was the place where she was practically raised.  She had spent her childhood running through these same halls.  To think that she had defiled it in this manner disturbed her to no end, but she realized Cadance and Shining were right, nopony had gotten hurt.

Except of course, the one pony that had braved the magical firestorm and saved her.  Her mother, who was still recovering from rescuing Twilight.

The realization that this is what Nightmare Moon had endured to save her from herself humbled her, and strengthened Twilight’s resolve to find a way to turn her mother away from her self-destructive path.

Twilight took another deep breath and trudged through the ash and dust, her hooves crunching loudly as she made her way towards what was once Princess Celestia’s pristine bed chamber.  The tall wooden doors were completely gone, and the copper hinges had been reduced to molten slag.  The frame was warped to resemble a furnace’s opening more than royal chamber.  The smell only seemed to worsen and grow thicker as they approached the epicenter of the destruction.

Once there, Twilight addressed the two watchful soldiers.  “Please wait outside, we’re going to be looking through the wreckage for anything useful.”  It wasn’t a complete lie, they were indeed searching for something useful, just probably not what they expected.  She watched them hesitate, but in the end they relented and flanked the ruined doorway, expressions of neutrality carved on their features.

Together, the four of them walked calmly inside.  Once Spike had finished crossing the threshold, Twilight silently erected a sound barrier between the soldier and them.  It was invisible, and wouldn’t put up any resistance beyond blocking sound waves that came from their voices.  The soldiers would be able to hear them move around, but their conversation would remain private.

Finished casting the enchantment, Twilight sadly gazed around the room with the others.  Everything that had been wooden was completely gone, and the white walls were black and warped.  The bed had disappeared, probably incinerated within the first few minutes of the inferno, and most of the pictures that had lined the walls were also gone.  The few metal instruments Celestia had kept in her chambers were twisted beyond recognition, their once shiny frames now lacking all luster.

A few tears welled up in Twilight’s eyes, though they did not fall.  She far more missed the mare that had belonged here, more than what she had kept.

“Alright.”  Twilight said, wiping her eyes.  “I know it looks bad, but maybe there’s something here that might be of use.”

Spike looked doubtful.  “I don’t know Twilight, pretty much everything is toast.”

“Nevertheless, there might be something.  Please, just help me look.”

Shining and Cadance shared glances that only couples could understand.  Shining looked back at her and grimaced a little.  “Cadance and I have already been here.  We had to clean up most of the wreckage that we could move away without magic.  If Princess Celestia had anything in here, it’s probably gone now Twilight.  I’m sorry.”

Why was it that her closest friends and family kept trying to dissuade her?  Twilight was about to angrily retort when something caught the corner of her vision, something that stood out amongst the wreckage.  Curious, she cantered over to what had intrigued her only to be disappointed.

It had once been Celestia’s favorite portrait of herself and Starswirl the Bearded, something Twilight had taken interest in with her studies of the old wizard.  The portrait was completely gone, leaving the metal frame and the back of the portrait…which shouldn’t have been there.  Most portrait’s backs were made of wood, while this one was made of metal.

Reaching out with a hoof, Twilight tapped the ruined portrait.  It let out a sound like a cheap metal drum.  What really surprised her however, was that there was no solid contact on the other side.  I was as if the wall behind it didn’t exist.

The others crowded behind her to see what she was looking at.  Growing excited, Twilight reached out with her magic and lifted the frame up from its spot on the wall.  The metal moaned as it was removed, leaving a faint outline of where it had been.  Twilight dumped it unceremoniously to the side, where it clanged loudly.

Leaving a gaping hole in the wall, with stairs leading down into a dark tunnel.

“That…shouldn’t be there.”  Shining said into the silence.  “Princess Celestia never told the Guard about a secret tunnel in her chambers.”

“Me neither.”  Cadance whispered.

“Maybe the princess was secretly Batmare.”  Spike said reverently.  The others stared at him.  “What?!  It could happen!”

Twilight climbed into the portrait hole and started walking down, her horn lighting up to beat back the darkness.  “Follow me, this must be important if the princess kept it hidden.”

As the four explorers descended into the darkness, Twilight noticed that the scorch marks became less and less prominent until they disappeared completely, leaving the white stone unblemished and intact.  Twilight suspected that a powerful enchantment had guarded the secret stairwell and would only let the princess through.  She theorized that her flare had destroyed the enchantment but not before it had taken the brunt of her chaotic magic, leaving whatever was down here undamaged and whole.  

After a couple minutes of walking, Twilight and the others finally exited the staircase into a large chamber deep beneath the castle.

At first she could see nothing, as the large chamber seemed to swallow the feeble purple light from her horn like a black hole.  But after a while her eyes adjusted, and Twilight spotted a large hearth and several crystal lamps along the walls.  Sending out small bursts of light, Twilight lit everything that could help light the chamber.  Once the lamps and chandeliers ignited, yellow light danced along the walls and revealed the chamber’s secrets.

Twilight almost stumbled back as she stared with wide eyes at the vast array of treasures before them.

The walls were covered in books Twilight had never seen; tomes with spines of gold and silver lined the shelves.  Large statures of historical figures like Starswirl the Bearded, Clover the Clever, and Chancellor Puddinghead were but the beginning of a long line of old sculptures.  Artifacts and nick-nacks of all sorts littered the chamber like the tomb of King Trotankhamun.  

Spike gaped at the assortment of treasures.  “Whoa…the princess is like the ultimate hoarder…”

Cadance stepped forward quickly and started to peruse the bookshelves.  “This…This is incredible.   There are books here I’ve never seen before!  And look!  The oldest date back to the founding of Canterlot!”

Shining explored the statuary, sizing up the statue of a past Royal Guard Captain.  “There’s no way the princess could have smuggled all this down here.  She must have made all these statues herself.”

Twilight said nothing, she was too busy staring at the item in the center of the room.  Her frame was stock still and if were not for her lavender coat, she could have been mistaken for a statue herself.

In the center of the room, next to what Twilight recognized as a Celestia-sized pillow, was a large golden cradle.

With her name on it.

Almost tripping over herself as she quickly scampered over to the cradle, Twilight wasted no time in examining it.  The cradle looked like it hadn’t been used in some time, as it was barren of any sheets or cushions that would have normally signaled that it was in use.  But besides that, it was very comfortable looking with its gentle curves and flowing nature.  On a small golden plaque were the words; My niece, Twilight Sparkle.  Twilight recognized the note as Celestia’s writing.


Is…Is this were she kept me?

Only then did it fully hit Twilight that Celestia, the hero of her childhood and her mentor was family.  Of course, Celestia had been family before all this, like Spike.  But this brought their relationship to a whole new level.  That the tall white mare she had practically grown up under was indeed her aunt was hard to immediately come to terms with.  The realization brought a smile to Twilight’s face, and warm fuzzy feelings bubbled up inside her as she remembered their fond times together during her apprenticeship.  

But then, like a bubble bursting, Twilight had a startling thought pop up in her head.

If…If Twilight was truly Celestia’s niece, then why had she kept Twilight hidden for over a thousand years?  And why did Celestia never want to have Twilight recognize her as her aunt?  Why, was it her?  Was there something wrong with Twilight?

Sudden dread and doubt chilled her as a theory sprang up from her worrying.

Maybe…just maybe…Celestia had hidden Twilight because she was ashamed of who her mother was, and Celestia didn’t want the daughter of Nightmare Moon to roam freely.

Twilight crushed that thought and buried it deep in the recesses of her mind.  Celestia loved her,   she was sure of it.  All those years of learning and love couldn’t have been faked, there must have been a legitimate reason for Twilight’s missing millennia.  


And it must be in this room.

While the others continued to explore the room, Twilight quickly perused the books in the shelves, looking for something specific.  A large amount of the tomes were from a great many ponies Celestia had known personally.  Others were written by Celestia herself, but those were either fictional epics, historical narratives, scientific pilot studies, or poetry (Twilight made a note to herself to come back later).  

It wasn’t until she came across a large stand with a thick gilded book on top that Twilight found what she had hoped might be in here.

Celestia’s journal!  Jackpot!

Squealing like a filly on Hearthswarming Day, Twilight picked up the book and started perusing through it.  She turned to the first page which was dated near the time of the founding of Canterlot, close to a year or two after Nightmare Moon’s banishment.





I’m so tired, not a day goes by that I do not miss Luna, it’s been so difficult to care about running our kingdom without her by my side.  I don’t know how many times I have been tempted to just run away and never return.  

If I did not have Twilight to take care of, I fear that I would flee like the coward I truly am.  My hopes have dimmed over the past couple years, for my dear little niece still shows no signs of waking up from her coma.  I dread that my meddling with her pegasus and earth pony magic has damaged her too much.  Shame still haunts my soul every time I remember what I did to her.  I will never forgive myself for reducing the beautiful little foal to a unicorn, even though it saved her life.  If only I had known of another way!  I still don’t know what happened to Twilight, only that dark magic was draining her life away when I found her after banishing poor Luna.  I still shudder when I think about what I would have done to myself if I had found Twilight dead in that small room beneath our old castle.

There is some good news however, I have finally managed to finish that secret chamber that will keep Twilight safe until she awakes.  I’ve made it so that it will be directly beneath where the mason workers are constructing my personal chambers in the new castle on the site of the old unicorn mining town of Cantersbury, though I think I will rename it as Canterlot.  

If I were sure that Twilight would be safe, I would not hide her like I am doing.  But unfortunately, despite my Day Guard’s purges, some of those fiendish, black-hearted Knights of Ra are still lurking about.  I never did find their leader, Moloch.  The scoundrel disappeared the day after Luna’s banishment, and I fear that he may be at large, still planning something.  How I curse the day I ever met that deranged stallion!  I should have listened to Starswirl and have had their little so-called club disbanded in the first place.

Speaking of Starswirl, the old wizard has not been feeling well lately.  I think he’s caught some kind of cold or flu.  These past few days he’s been bedridden with horrible aches and thunderous sneezes.  I think I’ll take him some flowers and try to cheer him up.  He loves to eat daffodils, they’re his favorite. 





Twilight re-read the page to make sure she had read everything correctly.  So she had been in a coma?  If she understood Celestia’s writings correctly, she had found Twilight under the influence of dark magic that was killing her after she banished Nightmare Moon.  It appeared that in order to do so, she had to take away the pegasus and earth pony magics from her alicorn whole, leaving her with only unicorn magic.

This made sense, since Nightmare had told her earlier that Celestia had taken away her other pony magic.  However, it appears that while her mother had been correct in her assumption that Celestia had indeed taken away her magic, Nightmare had assumed it had been for a malevolent purpose.

Other parts of the journal entry didn’t make much sense.  For one, Twilight had never heard of any of these ‘purges’ the Day Guard had carried out, or the existence of this group called, the ‘Knights of Ra.’  

But something stuck out to her that bothered her.

A name.

Luna.

Celestia wrote about banishing a pony named Luna, and that she was very upset over this.  This didn’t make sense to Twilight.  This journal entry had been written a few years after Nightmare Moon’s banishment, but Celestia had wrote that she had found Twilight after banishing Luna.

Twilight flipped forward a few pages, coming to the conclusion that more research would be necessary.  The next few pages detailed the construction of Canterlot and Celestia’s musings over the still sleeping Twilight.  Then, she came across a page that was severely wrinkled and was littered with what Twilight recognized as tear stains.






I…I can’t believe its h—happened, after so many years.

Starswirl, my mentor, my friend, and the closest thing I had to a father p-passed away today.

I should have seen it coming, he was over seven hundred and seventy years old.  I knew, subconsciously, that he would leave me eventually, but I deluded myself for too long, and now he’s gone.  

He passed peacefully earlier this evening, after I set the sun and brought out the moon.  Starswirl had been sick with a severe bought of flu for some time, but I made sure his last moments were peaceful.  He was awake and lucid the whole time, even up to his final moments.  How he could chuckle in the face of death I might never understand.

Starswirl had one last piece of advice for me that he gave me on his deathbed.

I have known for some time the old wizard’s dabbling with time travel, what with our experiments with the magic mirrors.  I know he hasn’t been able to travel directly into the future, just able to view it.

It is from one of these visions that Starswirl gave me new hope, and new dread.

He said that on the thousandth anniversary of my banishment of Nightmare Moon, she would return.  He said that there were many possible futures that could happen, but he was utterly sure that she would return with a fierce and burning vengeance.

And that Nightmare would come for me, and that I would fall.

But he said there was hope.  Starswirl spoke of a pony that I would take as my apprentice close to a thousand years’ time from now and prepare her for what she would need in order to defeat Nightmare Moon and restore Luna.  Starswirl said that the Elements would be key, but he was vague on how they would be implemented.

And so, here is what Starswirl the Bearded prophesied:

“On the longest day of the thousandth year, the Stars will aid in her escape, 
and She will bring about nighttime eternal.”

He said this will come to pass, and that there was only one pony that could heal Luna, and stop fear from ruling the world.

And then, with his dying breath he whispered:

“Do not mourn for me, my child, for death is but the next and greatest adventure…”





Twilight could only stare at the page.  Not only was this Celestia’s first-hoof account of Starswirl the Bearded’s death, but probably the first record of the prophecy of Nightmare Moon.

Twilight frantically re-read over the lines detailing the only pony Starswirl predicted that could defeat Nightmare Moon and save this ‘Luna.’  She especially read the lines where Starswirl said that it would be Celestia’s ‘apprentice.’  

It struck Twilight that Celestia never guessed that her niece was the apprentice that Starwirl spoke of, at least not until later.

‘the Stars will aid in her escape,’

Twilight hesitantly turned back to stare at her own flank, where a large pink star surrounded by five smaller ones stared back at her.  Prophecies were infamous with their double meanings, and it was possible that the Stars Starswirl had referred to could have been Twilight herself, or the literal stars in the sky.  Only time would tell for certain.

Twilight returned her attention to the journal and paid particular interest to whenever Celestia wrote the name ‘Luna.’

Could…Could ‘Luna’ actually be—

And then a voice Twilight knew all too well spoke from behind her.

“So this is where my sister keeps her toys.”

Twilight dimly heard the other three in the room silently stop whatever they had been doing, and an almost impenetrable gloom of silence descended upon them.

Slowly, as if her hoof had been caught in the cookie jar, Twilight turned around to face her mother.

Nightmare Moon stood in all her dark glory, her black coat standing out significantly in the yellow light against the backdrop of the white walls.  Her draconic eyes shimmered dangerously as she sneered at Celestia’s collection.  Twilight could see her mother’s sharp teeth as her lips curled back to show off her fangs.

Twilight…wasn’t sure what to do.  Or even how to address her.  ‘Mom’ just didn’t fit right for the immortal bringer of Eternal Night.  

Baby steps, Twilight, baby steps.

“Um…good evening…mother.”  Twilight said meekly.

Against all odds, Nightmare lost some of her intimidation and genuinely smiled at Twilight.  Apparently she liked being called that.  

The smile might have been more pleasant if it weren’t with razor sharp teeth.

The smile didn’t last long however, and Nightmare’s sneer quickly returned as she glared at the other two ponies and the baby dragon.  

“Leave us.”

Without protest they quickly ascended back up the staircase into the ruined bed chamber above, leaving mother and daughter to hash things out.  As soon as they left, Nightmare began perusing the objects of her sister’s collection herself, scowling at most of it.  But despite Nightmare’s obvious predisposition towards her sister’s belongings, she did seem genuinely curious, to a certain degree.

Nightmare spoke calmly, breaking the silence.  “How did you find this room?  I did not discover it with my initial sweep.”  

“Oh, well I imagine Princess Celestia had set up some wards to prevent its detection.  I…I guess my flare destroyed them.”  Though Twilight accepted that Celestia was her aunt, she wasn’t quite ready to call her ‘aunty.’  “Um…how did you know we were down here?”

“Your servant’s inhibitors alerted me when they went with you into an unguarded part of the castle.  It’s part of the enchantment I placed on them.”  Nightmare picked up a globe of the world and gave it a critical stare.  “It doesn’t look like this you know.”

Twilight was thrown off by the statement.  “What?  I don’t understand.”

Nightmare spoke slowly, still staring at the globe.  “The world, it doesn’t actually look like this.  This model is inaccurate.  There are several errors with the placement of the continents and the islands, and some of the oceans are larger than they should be.”

Twilight stared, she recognized the globe as the most modern and up to date representation of the known parts of the world.  “How would you know that?”

“It was one of the only things I could look at that wasn’t moon dust during my banishment.”  

Nightmare then gave the globe a contemptuous snort before dropping it unceremoniously to the floor, where the fragile orb shattered into a hundred pieces.  Nightmare moved on to the next piece of sculpture, which depicted the famous explorer Henry Hoofson.  

Twilight watched her mother as she scrutinized Celestia’s collection.  She didn’t know how to reply to that, or even if she should.  Twilight just couldn’t imagine what banishment on the moon was like, and she was afraid to ask the only mare that had ever experienced it.

She quickly decided to change the subject.

“I…I want to thank you for--for saving me.”  

Nightmare paused and turned back around.  “Twilight, I love you, and I would do anything for you.”  Her teal eyes flickered back to the shattered globe.  “Anything.”

Twilight felt like she should do something more, as a meager thank you just didn’t feel adequate.  So she walked up as calmly as possible to Nightmare, who turned back to her with an appraised eyebrow.  Twilight stopped in front of her and hesitantly held out her hooves.  She promptly buried her muzzle in nightmare’s obsidian fur as she gave her mother a tentative hug.  Twilight felt Nightmare relax and lean back into the hug, enfolding Twilight in her large wings and nuzzling her.  

Much to Twilight’s surprise, she felt small droplets land on her head.

Was Nightmare Moon…crying?

“Y—You don’t know how l-long I’ve wanted to do this.”  Nightmare sniffled, trying to maintain her regal voice.   “It’s--It’s been so long since I last h--held you, and I was afraid I would never be able to do it again.”

Twilight’s heart broke at those words, and she held her mother closer, feeling her mother’s heart beat in her chest.

But as the two mares held each other, Twilight spotted something over Nightmare’s shoulder.

It was a statue, or rather it was a three-piece sculpture.

It was a curious life-size piece of three alicorns of different size and age.  The tallest and the largest was obviously Celestia, as the sun cutie-mark was a dead giveaway.  Next to her was a familiar-looking alicorn that was much shorter with a recognizable cutie-mark.  This shorter mare was slightly smaller than Celestia, but taller than Cadance.  She had a smile on her gentle face and her wings were shaped like…like Twilight’s.  On the mare’s back was a small alicorn foal without a cutie-mark but with Twilight’s mane cut.  The small plaque at the base of the sculpture read:  My sister, my niece, and I; as it should be.

Nightmare leaned back and turned to where Twilight was staring.  “What are you looking at?”  She then caught sight of the statue and her gaze hardened again, glaring knives at the sculpture.

Twilight had a sudden flash of insight, and since she was still in Nightmare’s embrace, Twilight looked up at her.  Her purple eyes searching her mother’s face.

“Luna is your real name, isn’t it?”

Nightmare’s neck whipped back around and she stared wide-eyed at Twilight, clearly taken off guard.  Slowly, reluctantly, she folded her black wings back to her sides.

“Where did you hear that name?”

Again Twilight hesitated.  She wasn’t sure what Nightmare?…Luna?...planned to do with all of Celestia’s collection yet, and didn’t want it destroyed as the journal and things around them might still prove useful.  She didn’t want Nightmare to grow angry at the collection and destroy them like she had done the globe.

So she dodged the question.

Twilight pointed at the statue.  “That’s you isn’t it.  The real you, before you were banished.”

Nightmare twitched at the word ‘real,’ but otherwise didn’t react.  “This,” She gestured to her tall black form.  “is the real me now.  And my name, is Nightmare Moon.”

Twilight didn’t know how her mother had transformed from cute and cuddly to tall and prickly, but that didn’t change anything, so she pressed on.

“Why?  Luna is a beautiful name, and you looked just fine the way you were.  Why did you change Mother?”

Nightmare growled and glared back at the statue, as if all this were its fault before turning back to Twilight.  “Because when ponies didn’t respect me as Luna, I made them fear me instead as Nightmare Moon.”

“But why?!”  Twilight pleaded.  “Why would you want to be feared?  Wouldn’t you rather be loved?”

“Because love wouldn’t save you!”  Nightmare screamed.  “I tried everything!  I broke my back and twisted my wings in order for ponies to love and respect me, like Celestia!”  She practically spat out the name.  “And what did I get in return?!  Hate!  They hated me, and they hated you!”

Twilight gaped at her, stunned by the revelation.  “What do you mean they hated me?  I thought ponies didn’t know I existed?”

Nightmare was breathing heavily, but she quickly calmed herself and regained her stiff composure.  “It doesn’t matter.”  She replied sternly.  Twilight couldn’t tell if Nightmare was talking to her or talking to herself.  “Not anymore anyway.  It’s over, and I’ve won.  They’ll never touch you again, never, and I’ll always protect you.”

Twilight wasn’t done.  “But things have changed now!  I don’t know how bad things were a thousand years ago but Equestria has changed!”

“Has it?!”  Nightmare laughed sarcastically.  “It doesn’t look that way to me.”  She turned Twilight around so that she faced the crib.  “Look!  And tell me that Equestria and Celestia have changed!”

Twilight did look, but she couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary, it was just your average underground lair filled with ancient books, magnificent sculptures, and a foal crib.

“I don’t understand, I don’t see anything.”

“Do you know what I see?”  Nightmare whispered in her ear.  “I see that you were the prize of Celestia’s trophy room, the centerpiece of her collection, and the edifice of her triumph.  Nothing more.”

“That’s not true!”  Twilight sputtered.  “Princess Celestia loved—“

Twilight turned pale as she realized what she had said, and to whom she had said it.

“Love?!?!”  Nightmare shrieked, her voice rising several pitches.  “My sister knows nothing of love!  If she had loved you, then why did she leave you to rot in a chamber for almost a thousand years?  If your aunt loved you, then why did she release you only to point you like a spear at me?  If my sister loved you, why did she take your magic and cripple you?  If Celestia loved you, then why did she ever, not even once, tell you that you were her family?!  She used you Twilight for her own personal gain.  You were nothing but a trophy these past thousand years and then a tool to use against me."

From the ways her ears hurt, Twilight knew that Celestia raising Twilight while Nightmare was on the moon was a very, very, sore spot for her mother.  And Twilight realized that although what Nightmare was saying was not true, it was somewhat logical.  But she had to try and give some type of justification for Celestia’s actions.  For Twilight could at least answer why Celestia had taken her magic.

Twilight reached out with her magic and took Celestia’s journal from its stand and quickly returned to the proper entry.  “You’re wrong, look here!  Celestia wrote down that she had to take my magic in order to heal me, or I would have died!  The journal says that I was dying because I was infected with some sort of dark magic.  Celestia had no choice!  And the healing effort put me in a coma for almost the entire paste millennia!  That’s why she kept me down here, she was trying to protect me!”

Nightmare leaned down and her eyes quickly scanned the page, her sneer becoming more prominent with each passing moment.  Then with a flash of her horn, Nightmare took the journal from Twilight and slammed it back down onto its stand.

“That book is nothing but lies!”  Nightmare growled.  “The last time I saw you Twilight you were happy, healthy, and safe!  What Celestia wrote is a myth, for it was naught but ten minutes after I left you that she chained me to the moon!”

Then Nightmare dropped her anger and her face twisted with pain and sorrow, her eyes filling to the brim with tears.  

“Why do you defend her?  Do you not care what she did to me?  To us?  Please, I love you.  Come back to me!”  And then she held out her hooves in hopes of an embrace and waited desperately for Twilight’s response.

Twilight couldn’t refuse her.  If she had any lingering doubts that there wasn’t any good in her, they were gone now.  She still believed in Celestia, but she couldn’t refuse her mother.  In that moment, with her mother’s face filled with pain and fear, Nightmare wasn’t a demonic despot returned from myth and legend, but a mother that wanted nothing more than to be loved by her child.

Feeling tears of her own start to run freely down her face, Twilight practically leapt into the offered embrace gave her mother the most heartfelt hug she could produce.  Nightmare’s limbs enclosed around her, making her feel safe, making her feel loved.

“I—I love you too!”  Twilight wept.  “I don’t want you to go away again!”

And she meant it.

And so for the next few minutes, the two alicorns only held each other and poured out their hearts deep inside the mountain.  

Then once they had both calmed down, they reluctantly let go of each other and wiped what tears they had shed.  Twilight smiled at her mother and Nightmare smiled back.  The lunar alicorn turned her back on Celestia’s collection and made her way towards the staircase, with Twilight at her side.

“Let’s put this place behind us, we’ve been down here for far too long already.  They’re expecting us.”

“Who is?”  Twilight asked, curious by her mother's sudden change in mood.  Nightmare smiled down at her and Twilight caught a mischievous glint in her draconic eyes.

“Why all of Canterlot of course!  It’s almost time for our coronation!”





> Chapter 11:  Bath Time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Castle

Six Hours Until the Coronation

Twilight





Twilight was befuddled. 

She was in a very awkward and complicated situation, one that she needed to treat with the delicacy of handling a bomb.  One slip up, in either direction, and all her hopes and plans could disappear in a flash of smoke.

In several hours, she and Nightmare Moon were to be officially crowned as the new ruling royal family of the newly revised Empire of Equestria.  From what her mother had told her, all the nobles of Canterlot that had sworn fealty to her would be there, as well as the elders of the Lunar Pegasi from the Citadel of Stars.  Many of Equestria’s rich business ponies and celebrities would also be in attendance.

Her mother had led her here to a private dressing room to begin preperations.  Twilight was alone at the moment, as Nightmare Moon had left to go retrieve a few things for the ceremony.

Nightmare Moon had very explicitly told her not to leave, as she would be coming back soon.  Twilight privately thought her mother didn’t want her to running around alone with Shining and Cadance again, as the soldiers posted outside were proof of her mother’s caution.

Speaking of the soldiers, Twilight heard them start to grumble at a pony with a familiar, lilting voice.

“What do you mean we can’t go inside?”  The voice that belonged to Cadance said indignantly “The Empress commanded that we are her personal servants.  You don’t want to get in the way of us carrying out our orders do you?”

One of the soldiers, Twilight guessed, answered in a gruff and unimpressed voice.  “I do not care what assignment you have.  Our orders were very clear.  ‘Do not, under any circumstance, let any pony inside who might want to hurt the princess.’  Now move aside, or we will send for some other soldiers to detain you.”

Twilight could hear Cadance ‘hmph’ in annoyance, and then Shining’s voice picked up.

“Listen, we would never harm Twilight—“

“You will address our princess with respect.”  The soldier commanded icily.

Shining sighed.  “We would never harm Princess Twilight.  We’re family.”

“Liar.”  The soldier snorted.  “Her highnesses’ only family is the Empress, and the recently deposed Celestia.”  Twilight heard the faint clanking of metal.  “You’ve been warned once, now move along before we make you move.”

Not wanting for them to get hurt, Twilight opened the doors with her magic.  The two soldiers were immediately in front of the doors, standing between Twilight and the others.  One of the soldiers looked back and gave Twilight an unsure frown.

“My apologies for the disturbance your highness.  We were just about to send them on their way.”

“That won’t be necessary, you can let them in.”  Twilight told him.

The soldier frowned slightly in concern.  “But the Empress commanded—“

“I am well aware of what the Empress commanded. But I can assure you that these three mean no harm.”  Twilight said shortly.  She hated to have to use her new authority, but she wanted Spike, Shining, and Cadance’s presence, if only to comfort her.  “Even if they did, all of them are either restrained or injured, and they wouldn’t pose much of a threat.  I also need help with my preparations for the coronation and I require my personal servants.”

The two guards exchanged glances, before speaking up again.  “Very well your highness, but we can only let your mare servant through.”

“And why is that?”

“Well…”  The solders, to Twilight’s surprise, looked sheepish.  “It’s a mare dressing room only your highness.”

“Oh.”  Twilight blinked, that hadn’t occurred to her.  “Alright let her through then.”  Cadance smiled a little and walked past the guards, and Twilight gave an apologetic expression to Spike and Shining.  “Perhaps you two should go back to your room for now.”

Shining looked reluctant, but at Cadance’s nod, he scooped up Spike with a hoof and put him on his back before returning to their quarters.

As soon as Twilight shut the door, she dropped her regal act and sighed heavily.  “I’m so sorry Cadance.”

“It’s alright Twilight.”  Cadance said soothingly.  “I understand that you don’t have much of a choice.”

“Thanks.”  Twilight nodded.  “But I’m going to do everything I can to free you.  I just need to be careful, and take it one step at a time.”

Cadance moved over to a cushion and sat down, frowning at Twilight.  “I know you’re not thinking clearly, being under Nightmare’s spell, but you shouldn’t do anything to make Nightmare angry.  She could hurt you.”

Twilight shook her head in despair.  Apparently Cadance still thought Nightmare had enchanted Twilight into believing she was her mother.  But she did need give some thought to Cadance’s statement.

Twilight had a long list of things to do.  Free her friends, rescue Celestia, help her mother realize that Equestria had changed, and make her understand that Eternal Night wasn’t a good thing.  She didn’t know how she was going to accomplish all that, or in what order. 

From what Twilight had discovered by reading Celestia’s journal, her mother’s name had once been Luna, but something had happened a thousand years ago that made her change her name and appearance to take up the mantle of Nightmare Moon.  Something that had involved Twilight.

Twilight knew with absolute certainty that her mother loved her, almost desperately.  Twilight…returned those feelings.  Twilight couldn’t deny she felt something for Nightmare, after everything her mother had done for her.  Some deep, forgotten connection had been reignited inside Twilight.   An instinctive, almost primal affection had been reawakened.  And with Nightmare’s attitude and actions towards her, Twilight wanted to return her mother’s love.  Twilight had looked into her mother’s eyes, those desperate afraid eyes, and wanted to comfort her, wanted to show her mother that the world had changed.

Twilight wanted to know her mother better.  She had this burning need to know better the mare who she now recognized as the pony that brought her into this world.  If she were honest with herself, Twilight would admit she was slightly irked at Celestia for hiding all of this from Twilight.  A thousand and one questions had been raised in the span of a single day, with all the doubts and fears that came with it.  Twilight had seen Nightmare at her lowest, when she had begged for Twilight’s love in Celestia’s secret chamber.  She knew there was good in her mother, and she planned to bring out that goodness to change her for the better.

To heal her.

And to do that, she needed to put some faith in her mother’s capacity to be good.

“She loves me Cadance, I don’t believe she would hurt me.”  Twilight replied confidently.

Cadance frowned skeptically.  “Don’t believe her for a moment Twilight, Nightmare Moon is evil.  It’s all an act, it has to be.  I wish you could see that.”

A long pause followed, neither mare knowing how to make the other see their view on things.  

“So.”  Cadance broke the silence.  “I hear you’re having a coronation.”

Twilight sagged onto her cushion, some slight guilt creeping up her spine.  When she had been a filly, she had often dreamed of becoming a princess.  It was every young filly’s dream after all.  

Fate sure has a twisted sense of irony.  

“Yes.”  Twilight groaned.  “Mother said all of Canterlot would be there, as well as the elders from the Citadel of Stars.  I don’t know how she’s managed to get all of Equestria to accept her quickly.”

“I have a few answers for that.”  Cadance said, a slight smirk creeping up her face.  “I may have overheard a few things between Noctis and his soldiers while cleaning the castle.”

“Oh?  Do tell.”

“Apparently the Lunar Pegasi have been preparing to invade Equestira on the 1000th Summer Sun Celebration for quite some time.”

“Yes I know.  Noctis told me they had learned of the prophecy that predicted Mother’s return.”

“Oh but it only gets better.”  Cadance said sarcastically.  “Since they expected Nightmare’s return and had an exact date, they did far more than just wait for her.  I learned that they had been smuggling troops across the northern border for almost a month before the Summer Sun Celebration.”

‘That does make sense.”  Twilight conceded.  “It would explain how the 501st was this close to Canterlot, waiting for Mother to show up.”

“Yes.  Apparently the 501st was camped on the edge of the Everfree Forest, making sure to steer clear of both Canterlot and Ponyville.  Once Nightmare Moon found them, they quickly ambushed us in Canterlot Castle, securing the whole city.”

Twilight cocked her head to one side.  “That doesn’t explain why the rest of Equestria didn’t resist.”

Cadance gave a sad sigh.  “That’s because there is more than one legion.  All of the major cities, Cloudesdale, Fillydelphia, Manehatten, Baltimare, and Los Pegasus all got captured around the same time as Canterlot.  This was coordinated Twilight, and on a massive scale.”

Twilight sat there aghast.  The logistics for such a planned attack were daunting.  “What about the Royal Guard?  There’s more than just the ones garrisoned here in Canterlot.  What happened to them?”

Cadance paused, her face scrunched up in thought.  “From what tidbits I’ve picked up, the other Royal Guard outposts in Equestria were completely caught by surprise.  And I also heard that the local nobles pressured them to surrender peacefully so fighting would not break out.  I imagine the remaining Royal Guards were extremely demoralized once it was confirmed that Celestia had disappeared, and that Shining and I had been captured.  And with the large numbers of soldier the legions possessed, I can’t imagine the remaining Royal Guards would have resisted much and risk civilians getting hurt.”  Cadance grimaced.  “The fear caused by the sun not rising has made ponies complacent Twilight.  They fear Nightmare Moon, and the power she holds over them.  Literally.  Nothing says ‘fear and obey me’ more than overthrowing Celestia’s rule that has lasted a thousand years and keeping the sun from rising.  They’re scared Twilight, and frankly, I don’t blame them.”

Twilight leaned back and rubbed her temple with her hoof.  Things just kept getting better and better. 

Cadance leaned forward a little, a small spark of hope in her eyes.  “You mentioned earlier that these ‘Elements of Harmony’ could be used to stop Nightmare.  Do you know where they are?”

Twilight nodded.  “Mother had them with her in a dimensional pocket the last time I checked.  I’m not sure how to get them now, but she’ll have to store them somewhere eventually so that she does not exhaust her magic to maintain the spell.”

“If you had them, could you re-imprison Nightmare Moon?”  Cadance asked excitedly, smiling widely at the prospect.

Twilight didn’t answer immediately.  

“Well?”  Cadance asked.

“I could.  Maybe.”  Twilight said reluctantly, shrugging her wings.  “But…I don’t know if I want to anymore.”

Cadance’s jaw dropped in absolute shock.  She sputtered while she stared at Twilight.   “What—What do you mean you don’t want to!?  
You do want to save Celestia don’t you?  You do realize that Eternal Night will kill us all!”

“Of course I do!”  Twilight said firmly.  “I just…I just think there might be a better way.  What if I could convince Mother to let you go?  What if I could convince her to end Eternal Night?  To stop this madness?”

Cadance snorted in disbelief.  “I’ll believe it when I see it.”  But Cadance sighed and she got up, walking over to give Twilight a hug.  “I’m sorry I got angry Twilight, but it’s just so frustrating.  I promise we’ll find a way to lift the enchantment she’s put you under, and then you’ll be ready to get rid of her once and for all.”

Twilight pushed Cadance away.  “I’m not enchanted!”  Twilight shouted vehemently.  “And she really is my mother!  Why can’t you understand that?  I want to save her Cadance!  Not imprison her!  I have to believe that I can change her!  Because if I don’t try, I will never be able to forgive myself!  I will never be able to live with myself knowing I had imprisoned my own mother on the moon forever!  I intend to do everything I can before I try to use the Elements on her again!”

Cadance got up and looked down at Twilight angrily.  Twilight shrunk back at Cadance’s sudden anger.  Cadance looked dark and intimidating as she loomed over the smaller mare.

“So—So you’re just going to let her takeover Equestria!?  Are you going to sit there on this throne she’s trying to give you and watch Shining and I become slaves!?”  The pink alicorn was turning red as she yelled angrily at Twilight.  “We don’t even know if Celestia is alive, Twilight!  For all we know, your so-called mother killed her in cold blood!  Are you going to twiddle your hooves hoping Nightmare Moon will change while the world freezes over!?”

“What!?  No of course not!”  Twilight protested.  “I will do everything I can to free you and Shining!  As well as Spike and my friends!  I just need more time!”

“You don’t have time!”

BOOM!

Both Cadance and Twilight jumped in surprise as the doors to the dressing room flew open.  There, standing tall in the doorway was Nightmare Moon, looking very, very angry.  

If looks could kill, Cadance wouldn’t have had a chance.

Cadance suddenly became very aware of what she was doing.  She scooted back from Twilight and paled, looking suddenly scared and ashamed.  “Twilight!”  She squeaked.  “I’m so s-sorry!  I just…I just felt so angry, and I—I didn’t mean to yell—“

“Get out.”  Nightmare snarled.  But before Cadance could comply, Nightmare picked her up in her magic and slammed her onto the floor.  Hard.  Cadance whimpered in pain as Nightmare loomed over her.  Twilight was too shocked to do anything, as it had been so sudden.  She stared as Cadance whimpered in fear at her mother’s hooves.

“It wasn’t enough that we were merciful and we gave you the privilege of serving my daughter was it? Instead, you abused what we gave you!  How dare you yell at my daughter!”  Nightmare growled threateningly.  Her slitted eyes glared down at Cadance as if she were filth.  “It appears that we have been too lenient with you and Armor.  We will not be making that mistake, again.”

And then, to Twilight’s complete shock, Nightmare threw Cadance violently against the stone wall.

Cadance screamed in pain as her already injured wings were re-broken, and one of her back legs  twisted at an odd angle.  She crumpled onto the floor and squealed in absolute fear as Nightmare quickly approached her, the black alicorn’s iron shoes glittering dangerously in the moonlight.

“Let’s see you yell at Twilight again when we have broken both your legs!”  Nightmare shouted angrily.  “Maybe then you can at least crawl on the ground like the vermin you are!”

She towered over Cadance with impending doom written all over her face.  Twilight watched in horror as Nightmare brought a iron hoof up to fulfill her threat.

Acting quickly, Twilight grabbed her magic and quickly teleported between the two other alicorns.

“Wait!”  Twilight pleaded, holding her hooves up to stop her mother.  She stared up at her mother with pleading purple eyes.  “Please don’t do this!  She didn’t mean it!”

Nightmare stared at Twilight, her hoof still raised.  She stayed frozen like this for a full minute, breathing heavily.  But then some of her anger disappeared and she frowned slightly at Twilight, lowering her hoof.  “Very well.”  Nightmare said reluctantly, then her eyes found Cadance, the latter shrinking under her gaze.  “But remember this Cadenza, you have only been spared my wrath because of my daughter’s intervention.  Next time you will not be so lucky.”

Nightmare turned to the doors, where the two soldiers from earlier stood stoically.  “Take this pitiful excuse for a mare and throw her in the dungeon with the others.  Give her a cell to herself away from the other prisoners.  Don’t bother treating her injuries until after the coronation, and make sure the guards down there know that.  Then find Armor and do the same.  Make sure they will not be able to talk with the other prisoners or each other.”

The two soldier nodded and proceeded to collect Cadance.  She whimpered in pain as she was slung unceremoniously onto the other soldier’s back.  Though she did not speak, her eyes stared at Twilight as tears begged for forgiveness.

Twilight quickly nodded, wiping away her own tears.  Cadance sighed a little in relief, and then tried to relax as the soldiers took her to the dungeon.

Once the soldiers were gone, Nightmare closed the door.  She then turned back to Twilight.  Twilight expected her to be angry, but all she saw was her mother’s concern for her.

“Are you alright?”  Nightmare asked quietly.  “Did she hurt you?”

Twilight shook her head.  “No, it was a complete misunderstanding.”  She paused, trying to find the courage to ask her next question.  “Why…Why do you hate her so much?”

“Because she is Celestia’s replacement for you.”  Nightmare said simply.

Twilight stared, unsure as to how her mother had come to that conclusion.

Nightmare looked out the window and glowered.  “It seems to me that since Celestia didn’t have the decency to let you live your life, she instead found Cadenza and made the pink menace her so-called ‘niece.’  Even though Celestia had you, her real niece, she was content to raise Cadenza as royalty.  Even when she needed you to defeat me, Celestia never gave you the recognition you deserved and only made you her ‘student’ while Cadenza carried all the trappings of royalty that are rightfully yours.”

“Oh.”  Twilight replied.  She could see how her mother would come to that conclusion, and she wasn’t sure as to how she could disprove Nightmare’s assumption otherwise.  Also, Twilight didn’t think it would be a good idea to try and convince Nightmare of Cadance’s sincerity right then.  Not when she had just found Cadance towering over Twilight and yelling at her.  

It confused Twilight that her mother was homicidal one moment and affectionate the next.  And deep down, it disturbed her.  It had been extremely frightening to stand between her mother and her prey.  It seemed that Twilight was right when she had told Cadance that Nightmare wouldn’t hurt her, but she wasn’t keen to test that theory again any time soon.  She felt horrible for Cadance, and Twilight was ashamed of herself for letting that happen.  It had just been so sudden and surprising that she hadn’t had time to react, and she wouldn’t forgive herself for letting Cadance get hurt.

She wouldn’t let that slide by though.

“Why did you attack her!?”  Twilight pointed at Nightmare accusingly.  “I…I understand you didn’t like her yelling at me.  I didn’t like it either!  But to…to throw her against the wall!”

Nightmare frowned at Twilight in thought.  “In time you will see things as I do, and understand how much Celestia has manipulated your life.  Cadenza doesn’t really care for you, my star.  Cadance just wants to use you to regain the puppet throne Celestia gave her.”

Twilight wilted in frustration, grinding her teeth as she suppressed a yell of impatience.  She was stuck in the middle.  Twilight couldn’t convince Cadance and Shining that Nightmare Moon was her mother, and that there was good in her.  And even worst, Twilight continued to fail in showing her mother the good in the ponies around her.  It seemed like everywhere she turned, Nightmare Moon could only see ponies trying to undermine her or hurt Twilight.

Twilight tried to speak again, but Nightmare put a hoof to her lips.

“Shush, I don’t want to talk about them anymore.”  Nightmare lost all the anger in her posture, and she rolled her shoulders and fluffed her wings as she tried to relax. Her mother smiled at Twilight mischievously, her black wings fluttering excitedly.  “Don’t you want to get ready for our coronation?  It’ll be soon and we both need a bath before then.”

Twilight’s mind derailed drastically.  “A bath?”  She asked again, as if she had never heard of such a thing.

“Why yes.”  Nightmare said happily.  “In case you haven’t noticed, you and I are still filthy from dealing with your magical flare.  Your wings also need cleaning and preening, and you don’t know how to take care of them since you just regained them so I will need to assist you.  Also…I haven’t bathed in a thousand years, so there is still a considerable amount of moon dust clinging to my fur, despite my best efforts.”

Then before Twilight could react, Nightmare swooped down with her teeth and picked Twilight up by the scruff of her neck.  Twilight initially panicked when she saw the jagged fangs descend on her, but grew irritated quickly as her mother picked her up as if she were a foal again.

Twilight vainly struggled, but Nightmare ignored her struggles and started carrying her towards the bathroom adjacent to the dressing room.

“Hey!”  Twilight protested.  “Put me down!  I’m not a foal!  I can walk by myself!”

Her mother’s voice was slightly muffled by the mouthful of Twilight’s fur.  “Well you’re my foal.  And the last time I took a bath you were with me as a foal.  I thought it would be nice to bathe together again while we talk about a few things.”

Twilight stopped struggling and let her mother carry her, but she still crossed her hooves in protest.  “Talking would be nice.”

Nightmare Moon carried Twilight into the bath area, where a large tub set in the marble floor was already filled with warm and soapy water.  Nightmare lowered Twilight into the tub before joining her, sighing in relief as the warm water washed away the dirt and ash on her fur.  Twilight watched her mother lean back into the water with just her head above the surface, her starry mane losing its magic and reverting to a regular light blue.

“I didn’t know your mane did that.”  Twilight said.  She had seen Celestia’s billowy aurora mane of course, but she had never witnessed it lose its power like her mother’s just had. 

Nightmare giggled a little at Twilight’s question.  “Alicorns are so powerful that our magic crawls into every part of our body as we grow older.  I simply have to cut off the flow of magic to my mane and the mane I had when I was younger comes back.  It’s just easier to clean this way.  I’m sure the more you grow into your own alicorn magic, your mane will also develop into something similar to mine.”

Twilight couldn’t imagine herself with a mane like Nightmare’s or Celestia’s, but she supposed it was something she wouldn’t mind having.  They were very pretty after all.

Twilight had always admired her mentor’s beauty, and she may have been a bit self-conscious of her own image.  

A new, not unpleasant thought developed in Twilight’s mind.

Will…Will I be beautiful like that?

Twilght supposed she might be, and she actually looked forward to it.  She was going to have to get use to her alicorn heritage, but Twilight realized that it would actually be…nice.

She glanced at her mother, who had closed her eyes and fully relaxed into the tub.  Twilight wondered if she would one night be as tall and slender as her.

Then she glanced at her mother’s teeth.

I sure hope fangs and dragon eyes aren’t a part of the package.

But the more she wondered, a new, and rather desperate thought came to the forefront of her mind.  Twilight glanced over at her mother, and moved closer, sloshing the water around them a little.  She gave Nightmare Moon a questioning prod, to which her mother grunted in response.

“Mother…who…who is my father?”  Twilight asked timidly.  

Nightmare sighed sadly and opened her draconic eyes.  Even though they still intimidated Twilight, she saw that the teal orbs were filled with sadness.  Nightmare reached out with her hooves and hugged Twilight to her body, holding her close.  Twilight leaned into her, and she could feel her mother’s heart beat beneath her, and knew that her mother could feel hers in return.

“Your father.”  Nightmare said sadly.  “Lived and died a thousand years ago.  His name was Terrace Crescent, and he was a Lunar Pegasi.”

Twilight gasped softly at that revelation, and she brought to her minds-eye pictures of Noctis and his soldier she had seen earlier, trying to form a picture of her father in her mind.  She realized then that she was probably related to the Lunar Pegasi, since from what Noctis had told her, they had stuck together closely while persecuted by other regular pegasi.

And Twilight realized her father was one of the Lunar Pegasi that had probably been shunned and mistreated, much like her mother had been.  Sympathy welled up in Twilight, and she sought comfort in the large warm body that was hugging her.

“He was a kind, and loving stallion.  Crescent was first a guard in my Night Watch, but after he lost his wings and a leg to a fight with a manticore, he became a gardener at the castle in the Everfree.”  Her mother’s voice trembled a little, and she held Twilight closer to her.  “I…I’m sorry but I don’t even have a portrait of him for you to see, anything I had was destroyed with the old castle.  I met him in that garden, and we slowly fell in love.  I married Crescent, but we kept our marriage secret because the nobles then would have gone after him because he wasn’t of ‘noble’ birth like them.”

“Did…Did he ever know me?”  Twilight asked in a quiet and scared voice.

Her mother shook her head though.  “I…I’m sorry Twilight, but no.  Your father died a few weeks before I discovered I was pregnant with you.  He caught some disease I couldn’t identify, and despite my best efforts…he died.”

…

“I buried him at the old castle in the Everfree.”  Her mother continued.  “Perhaps you and I one day can go find it together, and we can…we can clean up his grave and plant a few moonflowers.  Those where his favorite.”

“Thank you Mother, I would like that.”  Twilight murmured softly, a few tears falling down her cheeks.  She had…well…expected her father to be dead, since she had been born a thousand years ago.  But…it sounded so tragic, like something out of sad play.  

Nightmare nuzzled her.  “You have his eyes.”

“I do?”

“Yes, but everything else you got from me.”

Twilight actually felt…happy about that, and a little proud.  But…she knew this wasn’t what her mother actually looked like.  She had seen Celestia’s pictures and sculptures of her mother’s true form.  She now knew the tall, black, alicorn with dragon eyes and fangs for teeth wasn’t her mother’s true form.

“Can I see you?”  Twilight asked.

Nightmare looked down at her, brow creased in slight confusion.  “I don’t understand.”

“Can I see you,” Twilight tapped Nightmare’s chest, right above her heart.  “from before you were banished?”

Nightmare smiled in happiness.  “I’d love to show you.”

Her mother’s horn lit up and Nightmare’s whole body briefly glowed.  She shrunk to where she was smaller than Celestia but larger than Cadance.  Her fur turned from black to dark blue.  The wings at her side curved and resembled Twilight’s.  Her teeth flattened into regular vegetarian molars.  And her eyes rounded and lost their draconic resemblance.

Twilight stared up into those loving, eyes and she felt nothing but love for her mother.

Nightmare smiled at her, and Twilight couldn’t help but smile back.  “This is what I looked like a long time ago, and I guess it’s easier to see the family resemblance now.”

Indeed it is.


Though her appearance was the completely different, her voice was exactly the same.  But with this appearance, it came off a lot better.

“What magic is that?  I’m not familiar with it.”

“It’s something I picked up while studying magic with my mentor, Starswirl the Bearded.  It allows me to change shape or form at will.  It’s something that only powerful and experienced magic users can do though.”

“You studied with Starswirl the Bearded!?”  Twilight asked, stunned that her mother had known the legendary wizard.

“I did.”  Nightmare said fondly.  “He was in fact the closest thing I ever had to a father, so I guess you could call him Grandpa Starswirl.”

That thought was too weird for Twilight.  A picture of Starswirl sitting in a rocking chair with Twilight in his lap while Nightmare talked to him popped to the forefront of her mind against her will.

Shaking her thoughts off, Twilight gestured to her mother’s beautiful blue coat.

“Why…Why do you not want to be like this all the time?”  Twilight asked hopefully.  “Why do you want ponies to see you as dark and scary?”

Nightmare’s face turned sad, and she held Twilight closer.  “Because ponies don’t respect me like this.  They only seem to respond to me when they fear me, and so I made myself taller than my sister, with a black coat to so as to be her complete opposite.”

“And…And your name?  Why do you want to be known as Nightmare Moon instead of Luna?”

Her mother snorted in annoyance.  “Even before I was banished, the ponies a thousand years ago called me the Night Mare, and not Luna.  So I combined the two.  Luna in the old language translates as moon.  Night Mare Luna.  Nightmare Moon.”

…

“Can…Can I call you Luna?  I like it much better than Nightmare Moon.”

Her mother smiled and snuggled closer.  “Of course you can.  But only you.”

Twilight sighed.  It was a start.

“Though I’d much prefer ‘Mom.’”  Luna said smugly.

Twilight giggled a little, despite the seriousness of the whole situation.  She couldn’t forget what her mother had done though.  Conquer Equestria, hurt Cadance, and imprison Shining and her friends.  She still didn’t know what Luna had done to Celestia, and she was still afraid to ask.

But now she had hope.  

Luna relit her horn, and she grew taller once again.  Her teeth sharpening and her blue coat darkening to black.

But now when Twilight looked at her, she wasn’t scared anymore.

She knew what was really under there.

“I think we’ve been in here too long.”  Luna said.  She climbed out of the bath tub and Twilight followed her.  “Come, I need to preen your wings before we get dressed for our coronation.”

“Alright…Mom.”

And Twilight smiled.


> Flashback V:  Dark Side of the Moon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters

One Hour and Forty Minutes Until the Banishment of Nightmare Moon

Luna





She was about to lose control.

Luna vainly searched with her magic for the small spark of life that was her foal.

Nothing.

Her eyes roved wildly around Twilight’s foal room, looking for a hint as to who had taken her precious child.

Nothing.

She collapsed onto the floor and screamed to the heavens, not caring if she was heard.  She screamed until her throat was raw.  Fear unlike anything she had felt before clawed at her soul.  Lund didn’t know what to do, where to look, or who to hurt for taking Twilight from her.

She sprang to her hooves and leapt back up the staircase into her chambers with tears running freely down her face.  Luna had to go tell Celestia, no matter the consequences.  They needed to start searching everywhere in the castle, every house in the city until Twilight was found.


What if she helped them take Twilight from us though?

Luna screeched to an abrupt halt, breathing heavily.  It was an absurd thought, but now that the seed was planted, doubt flourished.

What if Celestia did know?  And her dismissal of Luna earlier was only an act?  What if she was jealous of Luna’s child?  Would she take Twilight out of spite?  What would her sister do with her niece?  Hide her?  Enchant her?

Kill her?

Luna shook her head violently, but the dreadful thoughts refused to go away.  She knew Celestia would never do anything to harm an innocent foal, much less her own family.

But the seed of doubt remained.

Luna lay trembling on her bedroom floor, shaking violently as her sobbing shook her.  Her vision narrowed and her heart beat loudly in her chest as if it was trying to escape.  

A glint of gold caught the corner of her eye.

Latching on to the unfamiliar object, Luna brought it to eye level, where she stared at it feverishly.

Her heart skipped a beat.

It was the sigil of the Knights of Ra.

Moloch.

She remembered the conversation she had with him last night, and also how he passed her when Luna went to talk to Celestia just a few minutes ago.  He must have somehow foalnapped Twilight and accidentally dropped his pin.

Luna snarled in anger as she crushed the sigil in her magic.  Then wasting no more time, she transformed herself into a cloud of magic so as to travel unnoticed through the castle.  Flying under the doorway of her chamber, she silently flew from shadow to shadow on her way out of the castle.

Now she had a target.

As Luna quickly passed pony after pony heading to the throne room to greet Celestia, she began to focus on what needed to be done.

Her Night Watch had researched diligently as to the location of the Knights of Ra’s secret headquarters.  They had been able to file down the possibilities until they had closed in on a mansion that belonged to Moloch, that he purchased under a pseudonym.  It sat only a few blocks from the castle, and Luna hoped beyond hope that that was where Moloch had taken Twilight.

It had crossed her mind to summon her Night Watch, but they were probably still tired after carrying out last night’s duties, and her guards weren’t exactly subtle in the daytime.  She was afraid that Moloch might take Twilight hostage or worse if he realized that she was on to him.

Finally leaving the castle, the blue cloud of magic that was Luna quickly flew low along the ground and approached the mansion gates.  The mansion was a large four story complex with a wall encircling the grounds around it.  There was but a single gate for entry, and the mansion was surrounded by other upper-class buildings.  Ponies milled about oblivious to their Princess of the Moon approaching.  
Reaching out with her magic, she felt several wards designed to keep out intruders, namely enchantments for teleportation or flying.  There were a few of Moloch’s personal guards that were disguised by the front gate.  She ignored them and flew around to one other walls, and then into an alleyway parallel to the mansion.  Once there she reformed herself into a physical being, dismissing the purple cloud she had been.  Luna cast an illusion over herself and disguised herself as a regular unicorn mare, trying to look as non-descript as possible in case someone looked into the streets from the mansion’s windows.

Trotting over quickly to wall, Luna probed the mansion’s magical defenses with her magic again, being careful not to set off any alarms that could attract her prey’s attention.

There!

No system was perfect, and Luna found the Knight’s wards to be no different.  She found a weakness in their defenses, one that Moloch had clearly overlooked.  Almost directly beneath her, Luna sensed an underground sewer line large enough to fit a small pony that ran beneath the mansion’s walls and the magical wards.  

Glancing around, Luna spotted a gated grate that helped drain water from the streets that led to the water system below.  She transformed back into a cloud of magic, and slipped between the grates and into the pipes below.  

Darkness engulfed her, and Luna couldn’t see anything.  Transforming back into her alicorn self, she ignored the splash of water around her hooves and lit her horn so that she could see.  Galloping quickly down the dark tunnel, Luna searched for a way into the mansion from the stone sewers below it.  Different avenues presented itself and some very disgusting, but Luna was desperate for a way in that bypassed the grounds and led into the mansion itself.  Finally, she found a medium-sized food waste disposal chute that led to what was probably the basement.  Returning to her cloud form, Luna squeezed through the chute until she was almost inside the room above the sewers..

Reaching out with her magic, Luna didn’t feel any ponies in the immediate vicinity.  Moving fast, Luna reformed in the basement of the mansion.  This time, she cast another illusion over herself to make her look like somepony who would probably be in the mansion, namely a tall slender unicorn mare with a white coat.  She didn’t plan on being seen by anypony, but it didn’t hurt to be careful.  Now that she was inside the mansion, she was wary to use her magic cloud spell in case it set off any unknown alarm enchantments.  That magical cloud spell was very powerful, and seldom used except by experienced mages.  Lune expected that the Knights would have set up spells to detect powerful magic being used inside the mansion without permission.

Luna’s teal eyes danced around the room, and she quickly spotted what appeared to be a servant’s robe and accompanying garments.  Apparently this was where the mansion’s servants did laundry and disposed of food waste.  Luna cast a spell dispelling whatever smells she may have picked up in the catacombs, and then teleported the servant’s outfit onto herself.

She climbed the stairs leading up into what she assumed was a hallway on the first floor, making sure to stay as quite as possible.  Opening the doors slowly, she peeked out and found that it was indeed an ornate hallway, with many sun-styled decorations.

Seeing that it was empty at the moment, Luna forged on ahead and began exploring the castle, looking for any and all signs of activity.  Her ears flickered at the faintest of sounds, every board that creaked, every door that opened, and every wind that whispered.  Oddly enough, Luna had yet to see any other ponies in the mansion.  It was as if everypony, even the servants, had been sent home for the day.

Luna found out swiftly that the mansion was designed with a circular layout.  All the rooms, the kitchen, everything else was surrounding the center of the mansion, a place Luna had yet to find an entrance too.  

The disguised alicorn was rapidly coming around a corner when she halted abruptly, for she had picked up on a conversation between two unidentified ponies.  Straining her ears while staying alert so as to not get caught eavesdropping, Luna listened in on their discussion.

“Do you know what Lord Moloch has discovered?  It’s odd of him to call a meeting with such little notice.  Usually he gives us time for us to make believable excuses to explain our absences elsewhere, so as to keep our meetings secret.”  Luna didn’t recognize the owner of the polished voice, but from his accent she discerned it was a young lesser noble.

“Hhhmmm.”  The second pony considered, this one sounded quite older.  He also sounded like a noble, but an elderly one.  “I’ve only heard rumors…Lord Moloch has been quite vexed lately though.  Something has been on his mind…”

“Is it about Her Shining Majesty, Princess Celestia?”  The first pony asked excitedly.  “I heard she accepted Lord Moloch’s invitation to come to a ‘Gentry Society’ meeting tomorrow.”

“Yes, I heard that as well.  It’s the first step for bringing her fully into the fold.  Perhaps then we will be able to rid our beloved sun goddess of the Night Mare’s influence.  Only when Her Shining Majesty is free of that wretched demon she is cursed with for a ‘sister’ can we finally begin openly cleansing Equestria of the Night Mare’s convents.  I look forward to the day when we will no longer be forced to sacrifice those hideous Lunar Pegasi on our sacred sun alters in secret.”  The elder said wistfully.

Luna had to suppress reaching out with her magic and strangling the two conspirators.  What they were saying confirmed Luna’s fears regarding the Knights of Ra’s true agenda.  Bile rose in her throat at the casualness with which these two vermin calmly discussed the murder of innocent ponies.  If this were any other circumstance, Luna would have clapped these two in irons, but they were heading to a meeting where Moloch was and so she needed them alive.

For now.

The younger noble shuffled slightly.  “It’s almost noon.  You and I were the last ones to arrive.  We better get in there before we’re late.”

His compatriot grunted in agreement, and Luna heard them trot further down the hallway.  She barely heard the tell-tale signs of them opening a pair of large doors.

Luna suspected that the doors the two Knights had just gone through led to the center of the mansion.  She equally suspected that there were probably some of Moloch’s guards standing silent sentinel at the entrance. 

Pursing her lips in concentration, Luna began casting an invisibility spell Starswirl had taught her.  It wasn’t true invisibility, it was more like an illusion or a mirage.  It put the images one would suspect to see around her, but her shadow could still be seen on the ground.  It also took up a lot of energy, and became more unstable over time so it wouldn’t last long.

Luna watched impatiently as her body seemingly disappeared.  She then focused on a vase standing on a pedestal in the opposite hallway across from her.  Nudging it with her magic, the vase toppled over and shattered on the ground loudly.

Luna was right, Moloch had stationed guards.  She held herself very still as the clanking of armor approached the intersection in the hallway.   Two unicorn guards wearing bronze armor went to investigate the source of the noise in the other hallway, leaving the entrance behind them free for Luna to enter through.

Trotting as fast as she could without making a sound, Luna slipped by the oblivious guards and barely cracked the doors open with her magic.  She quickly entered the center of the mansion, still invisible, and silently closed the doors behind her.

Turning around, Luna almost gasped out loud in shock at the mansion’s center.

The Knights of Ra had built a temple.

The room was as high as the building, three stories tall.  It was cylindrical, with balconies ringing the upper stories of the temple.  Large golden columns with suns capping their tops ringed around the balconies to support the roof looming over the large chamber.  The roof was domed with a golden circle in the center, representing the sun.  Red mosaics streaked with gold surrounded the golden disc in an attempt to artistically show the sun’s rays.

But the most disturbing fixture of the room was the statue.

Of Celestia.

It was a huge golden idol located at the back of the temple and was two and a half stories tall.  Her large gold wings were outstretched to circle the temple’s walls in a perverse embrace.  Her face was neutral, lacking all emotion.  What would have been Celestia’s eyes were replaced with blood-red ruby.  The crown on her head was not the one the real Celestia wore, but instead a golden wreath of bronze flames.  In her forelegs she held out a large golden bowl, and Luna could see black marks scarring the bottom of it.  Directly below the bowl was a raised dais with a large stack of dry wood.

Below the dais on which the idol sat was a gathering of around thirty ponies all wearing scarlet robes.  All three tribes were represented, but the majority was made up of unicorns.  Luna suspected this was because of the unicorn’s past obligation to raise the sun.

Luna snapped out of her shock and realized her invisibility spell was about to collapse.  Probing the area with her magic, Luna sensed that the Knights had placed one last shield between her and them.  This shield felt unfamiliar but it only covered the center of the chamber, leaving the balconies free for Luna to explore.  While the Knights were focused on the dais, Luna climbed up the stairs as quietly as possible to the third balcony.  No other ponies were on the second and third balconies, as all the Knights had gathered on the floor of the temple.

Sighing in relief for not being noticed this deep into the rat’s lair, Luna let the invisibility spell fade.  She crouched down and closed her eyes, hastily searching with her magic for Twilight.

Luna found her.

Twilight’s magical signature was muffled though, as if something were suppressing it.  Luna’s heart fluttered as she felt that so far, Twilight was unharmed.  Because of the shield between her and the Knights, Luna was unable to pick up on her daughter’s exact location.  She could only feel that Twilight was somewhere in the temple, close to where the assembled ponies were.

Grinding her teeth in frustration, Luna felt a mixed combination of fear, anger, impatience, and caution.  She couldn’t plan on how to rescue Twilight yet without knowing her exact situation, and Luna couldn’t break through the shield without alerting the Knights to her presence.

She would have to wait, and let Moloch make the first move.

And sure enough, the slime-ball passing for a stallion stepped out from behind the idol of Celestia, wearing scarlet robes trimmed with gold stylized flames.  Luna glared a thousand daggers at him as the oblivious noble stepped out onto the dais in front of the pile of wood.

“Fellow Knights!”  Moloch’s voice boomed all around the temple.  He had magically enhanced it.  The other Knights fell silent and watched him with rapt attention.  “Today is a historic day for our noble cause.  For today we shall deal a devastating blow to the Night Mare of the Moon and be one step closer to elevating Her Immortal Shining Majesty as Queen of not just Equestria, but the whole world!”

Luna scowled fiercely as the Knights clapped their hooves on the floor in agreement.  This was exactly why she and Celestia had outlawed the vile practice of worshipping them long ago.  They were not goddesses, they were the guardians of Equestria and caretakers of Day and Night.  They refused to acknowledge ponies that would prop them up as divine beings, and had fervently cracked down on several cults centuries ago.  Luna had thought the Knights of Ra were only dedicated to Celestia, but she had no idea that they actually worshipped her.  It seemed that the Knights had kept the secret of their true nature very well.

“Sixty-six risings and settings of the sun have passed since I received a vision of the future!”  Moloch preached to his followers.  “A dream that revealed to me a most dire situation, one that could have undone all of our glorious work!”

Luna felt confusion at Moloch’s words.  Visions of the future were almost unheard of.  The only pony Luna knew of that had ever received a vision via a dream was Starswirl the Bearded, and those were given to him by the Stars.  Luna very much doubted the Stars would give the leader of the Knights of Ra, a cult that hated the night in which the Stars shone, a vision of any sorts.  Even Starswirl had difficultly wheedling anything out of the Star’s unpredictable patterns, and he was on good terms with them.

Perhaps Moloch was…lying to embellish his tale.

But perhaps not, Luna couldn’t tell.

“As I slept, there before me I saw the Royal Castle here in our great city.  I paying homage to Her Immortal Shining Majesty, who sat on Equestria’s throne in all her glory, finally ready to embrace us and our purpose.”  More enthusiastic clapping followed this, but Moloch had merely paused for dramatic effect.  “But then out of the darkness rose not one, but two Night Mares!”

His captive audience gave a collective gasp.

“Our most hated foe, aided by this new Night Mare, cast down our soon-to-be Solar Queen into the eternal darkness that is Tartarus!”  Moloch cursed acidly.  “There they bound our goddess in chains for all eternity!  Assured of their victory, the Night Mares fully unleashed the forces of Night upon Equestria, starting a reign of chaos greater than that of even the demon Discord!  There was no order, and all other ponies were subject to the carnivorous and lecherous desires of the Lunar Pegasi!”

The mob shifted in agitation and one of them shouted, “Lord Moloch, what must we do to escape this fate!?”

The Knights murmured their consensus with this question and returned their attention to the leader of their rabble.  Moloch reared back and a wicked smile bloomed over his face.

“Do not fear, Oh Knights of Ra, for it was then that the dream revealed to me how I might stop the Night Mares’ schemes, even before they began.”

Luna’s ears twitched, this sounded important.

Moloch smiled down upon his Knights, his eyes glimmering with a malicious fire.  “The vision showed me the Night Mare’s chambers in yonder castle.  There was a stone slab in the floor that revealed a staircase to a secret chamber.  And inside this crypt of darkness, the vision exposed to me a secret the Night Mare of the Moon has been desperate to keep hidden in the depths of her darkness.”

Moloch stepped back and lifted in his magic a large, wooden chest from below the dais.  Luna had not been able to see it before because the crowd had blocked her vision.  Moloch opened the chest and lifted out a large brown bag.  The bag squirmed in his grasp and a keening cry Luna was all too familiar with reached her ears high above the temple floor.

Twilight!

Luna desperately longed to fly down to the dais and rescue Twilight from the deranged unicorn’s clutches.  But she forcibly restrained herself, making sure to keep her eyes on Twilight.  Luna knew that with Moloch’s proximity to Twilight, he would get to her daughter much sooner than Luna would.  Luna would have to wait until either Moloch acted to harm Twilight or moved her foal away from him before she shattered the shield.

“Behold!”  Moloch yelled.  “The spawn of that tail-lifting whore!”

He yanked the bag away to reveal Twilight to the Knights.  Moloch held her in his magic by the scruff of her neck.  Twilight flapped her tiny wings and flailed her hooves as she tried to get away vainly.  Her eyes were closed and large tears stained her cheeks.  Luna watched through angry eyes as her helpless foal cried out in fear.

Crying out for her mother to save her.

The Knights jeered and hissed at Twilight, several of them making obscene gestures that made Luna want to grind their bones to dust.  
Others laughed at Twilight’s crying and made faces mocking Twilight’s fear.

“Oh yes!”  Moloch grinned widely, shaking Twilight roughly with his magic.  “This pitiful thing is nothing but the by-product of the Night Mare’s orgies with the Lunar Pegasi!  If it were not for my efforts, this monster would have grown to be as much of a prostitute as its forbear!  But now because of my intervention, that shall never come to pass!  The Sun shall reign supreme forever!”

The Knights abandoned all semblance of decency and jumped up in praise of Moloch.  Luna watched them in hatred and disgust for what these ponies had become.  They were murderers, foalnappers, and perverse pagans.  They were a dark blight upon Equestria that Luna would take great joy in annihilating.  

A chant rose up from the Knights.

“Sacrifice!  Sacrifice!  Sacrifice!”

Moloch nodded in assent to the mob’s demands, and he lifted Twilight up above him to the large golden bowl that the idol Celestia was holding with her forelegs.

Luna realized with dawning horror at what they intended.

Twilight would be placed in the golden bowl and the Knights would set fire to the bonfire beneath her.  The metal bowl would then heat up to unbearable levels, and the Knights would cheer as Twilight was cooked alive.

Luna decided then that she would leave none of them alive.  And only pain would accompany them as the Knights greeted death at Luna’s hooves.

Watching with bated breath, Luna summoned her magic to break through the shield as soon as Moloch dropped Twilight into the bowl.  She eyed several knights warily as they approached the dais with jars of oil and a lit torch to light the wood.  Returning her attention to Twilight she watched as her foal was levitated up into the golden bowl, screaming all the while.  Then, Moloch released his magic surrounding Twilight, letting her fall into basin of the bowl.

Now was the time.

Unleashing her magic onto the Knight’s shield, a beam of lightning erupted from her horn to dance along the shield’s surface, shattering it completely.  As the sparks of the broken shield fell among the Knights, they yelled out surprise as they searched for the source of the disruption.  Luna didn’t waste time and leapt over the balcony railing, fanning out her wings and taking flight towards Twilight.  Diving towards the bowl, she set off another bolt of lightning into the crowd, paying her victims no notice as they screamed in agony.

“It’s the Night Mare!”  Moloch shouted.  “Kill her!  Kill them both!”

Twilight’s purple eyes saw her as Luna landed in the bowl, and cried louder as she reached out to be held.  Luna swiftly cast a shield spell of her own between her and the knights, just in time for several lances of energy to be deflected.  Scooping Twilight up with a foreleg, Luna placed her daughter on her back between her wings.  Then she folded her wings over Twilight to protect her from any stray magic bolts and to help Luna carry her as they escaped.  She quickly cast a sleep spell on Twilight and watched her daughter carefully as she fell asleep.

Luna didn’t want her to see what her mother was going to do next.

Glaring down at the Knights as Moloch tried to rally them, Luna realized she would have to get through all of them before they could make their escape.  The Knights were between them and the exit, and Luna didn’t want to risk blowing a hole through the roof and cause the mansion to collapse on them.  She wouldn’t be able to fly out anyway with Twilight folded in her wings, and she couldn’t transform into a magic cloud either as the spell was only meant for one pony, not two.

“Flee for your lives!”  Luna taunted, her eyes flashing blue with magic.  Her voice rolled across the Knights like a hurricane.  “There is nowhere to hide!”

Instead of dismissing the shield, Luna hurled it at the Knights below the dais, knocking many of them over before Moloch dismissed it with his own magic.  The jars of oil the Knights had been carrying earlier spilled their contents onto the wood pile below her.  Luna followed her shield as it rolled over the Knights and vaulted over the lip of the bowl and onto the dais.

Some of the Knights trembled at her fury, but the majority of them only grew angry.  Doubtless many of them saw this as their golden opportunity.

A pegasus Knight behind Luna descended from the upper tiers of the temple towards them with the intention of slamming into Twilight on her back.  Luna didn’t bother facing him and merely placed another shield between her and him.  The pegasus failed to notice the shield and slammed into it with a sickening crunch.  The Knight then slid down the shield until he fell to the ground.

Luna could see the unicorns forming at the exit, combing their magic for some spell while the earth ponies engaged her.

Four earth ponies charged straight at her with their heads lowered.  Luna was fortunate that many of the Knights didn’t have weapons, as it made crushing them that much easier.

As the four ponies gained ground and speed, Luna cast a spell on the marble floor to make it slick.  The earth ponies yelled in surprise as they lost their footing, and tumbled over each other.  Even while the earth pony Knights were still flailing about, Luna picked them up in her magic and hurled them across the room.  Three of the stallions broke completely through a column each, their bones cracking on impact.  The fourth smacked flatly against a wall, failing to soften his impact at all.

Luna could still see the unicorns gathering their magic, and the two guards from earlier had now joined them, but she was too distracted by a duo of pegasi circling above her like vultures.  Luna couldn’t put up another shield to deal with them as she had the first one, since she might need that shield for whatever the unicorns were concocting. 

Shouting out curses at Luna, the pegasi streaked towards her simultaneously from two different directions.

Amateurs. 

These ponies were not warriors, they were bureaucrats, and thus they easily fell into her traps.

Waiting for just the right moment, Luna merely formed a slide of magic in the shape of a U just above her, catching the two pegasi at both ends.  Unable to slow their momentum the two pegasi smashed into each other violently at the bottom of the U.  As they groaned from the pain, Luna reached out with her magic to their wings.  Finding their wing bases, Luna broke all four wings.  The pegasi Knights screamed in anguish before Luna hurled them away from her, their forms breaking upon the walls of their temple before the fell lifelessly to the floor.

The unicorns seemed to be almost finished combining their magic with the spell.  Luna could see Moloch in the center, glaring the promise of death at her as he helped form the spell.

Not stupid enough to wait for them to finish forming whatever spell they were enchanting, Luna gathered a large amount of magic into her horn and sent the lance of energy straight into the center of the magical energy that was being gathered.

She wasn’t trying to destroy the spell, far from it in fact.  

Luna was overpowering it.

Luna smirked in satisfaction as Moloch’s eyes widened as he realized what she had done.

But he was too late.

With the magical energy now exceeding far more than what the unicorns could handle, the spell they had been forming collapsed and released all the energy.

Several flashes of light temporarily blinded Luna as the explosion rocked the whole mansion.  Unicorns screaming in torment flew across the room from the force of the explosion.  Even as they flew by in absolute misery, Luna picked up as many of the unicorns as she could in her magic and a tornado of magical energy formed around Luna as she dealt with her foal’s would-be murderers.  The unicorns yelled, cursed, and screamed as the magic cut through them and many of them still tried to cast magic at her, but her much stronger magic dismissed their feeble attempts.

Eventually the unicorns flew by faster and faster in the magical hurricane as Luna put more energy into the spell.  Their screams were drowned out by the howling of the wind.  Using the magic surrounding the unicorn Knights, Luna made sure that their heads were at the forefront of their momentum.

Then she released the spell.

The tornado holding the Knights captive immediately vanished, but the inertia carrying the unicorns didn’t.  

With several screams, followed by a satisfying crunch as their heads impacted different parts of the temple, several unicorns left their broken horns sticking out of the stone walls as they too fell lifelessly to the floor, joining their fallen brethren.

Silence.

The acrid smell of smoke drifted from the site of the explosion, and Luna detected the coppery smell of blood and sweat.

There was only one Knight left.

Turning towards the dais, Luna glared with absolute hatred at the stallion responsible for taking Twilight from her.

Moloch was breathing heavily on the pile of wood, burn marks scarring his once pristine white coat.  His eyes watched her angrily as he stumbled to his hooves.

“You think you have won!?”  The deranged pony screamed, spitting out blood.  “You will never win Night Mare as long as the sun rises!  Celestia has already eclipsed you, and soon our goddess shall be rid of you once and for all!  It matters not that you kill us today, for ponies will always revere her more than you and your filth of a foal!”


Luna didn’t respond.  She just watched, patiently.  Biding her time. 
Moloch scowled with the fury of forty dead Knights and reared back on his hooves for one final attack.

“Die in fire Night Mares!!”

Luna didn’t even bother raising a shield.

The tip of his horn let out a spark as he attempted to conjure fire, and he succeeded.

The foolish Moloch, in his anger, had forgotten that he was standing on a pile of wood smothered in oil and that he too was covered in it.

Luna turned away and trotted towards the open doors with a finality that assured the end of her hated foe.

She calmly listened as Moloch screamed in agony, burning to death on his own sacrifice pier.

“So ends the Knights of Ra.”





Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters

Ten Minutes Until the Banishment of Nightmare Moon

Luna





Luna laid Twilight down back into her crib.  She had checked over Twilight while they had secretly returned to the castle, and had healed the few small bruises her foal had collected.

Luna wished she could resurrect Moloch, just to kill him again.

Having made sure that Twilight was still asleep Luna tucked her in, assured that Twilight was now safe and sound.  Luna brushed Twilight’s mane with a trembling hoof though, for she was still afraid for her beloved daughter.

She had come so close to losing Twilight.  And the thought that she might have failed, or that she might have not arrived in time to stop the Knights filled her with a dreadful terror.

Moloch’s words haunted her.

It could happen again.  And we might not be so lucky next time.

That was right, it could happen again.  Moloch had been right too.  As long as the ponies of Equestria feared and hated her, she and Twilight would never be completely safe.  There would always be those who would seek out their deaths.

What then could she do?  Luna had tried everything, and despite her best efforts, all that she did seemed to collapse and fail.  What avenue did she have left when she couldn’t bring Equestria to respect her?  

Make them fear us.  Fear of our vengeance.  Fear of our power.  Show them that we are greater than Celestia.  Then they will not dare act against us or our daughter.

That…could work.  But it would have to be something that ponies would not be able to change, something that only Luna could control.


Show them who is more powerful.  Raise the moon in the sky and do not let the sun rise.  That will reveal our dominance over Celestia.  She IS key.  They do not respect us, only HER.  This will make them respect us.

Luna pondered over her internal thoughts.  She hadn’t thought about it before, but somehow it made sense to her.  It shouldn’t have made sense, but somehow it just seemed to click together.

But could she do that?  Luna had sworn an oath to always keep Day and Night in balance.  It was her duty.


The question is, would we do that for Twilight?  To protect her?  It is the only way after all.

She’d do anything for Twilight.  Luna would protect her.  It was clearly the only way.  Luna had tried everything else.  If they would not respect her, then how could she expect ponies to respect Twilight?  Something had to be done before somepony else thought they were vulnerable and tried to kill them.

Luna halted her thoughts.  Celestia would object as sure as daylight to the disruption of the balance.  Perhaps if she talked it over with her, Celestia could agree to let Luna show their ponies that the Night was powerful, and that she and Twilight should be respected too.


Celestia will never listen to us, she never has.  She loves being the center of attention too much, and will loathe to lose even a small amount of respect from Equestria.  Celestia will never agree to let the Night last longer, so we will have to force the Night to remain.

Luna turned away from Twilight’s crib, angry tears bleeding from her eyes.  Celestia was always respected.  She never listened to Luna, and because of that Twilight had almost been sacrificed to a bunch of blood-thirsty sun worshipers.  It was her fault ponies didn’t respect the Night.  She was too glorious, too majestic, too much everything that Luna wasn’t.  She should show Celestia that she could no longer be ignored.

Luna made her decision.

Turning towards the exit, Luna scowled darkly as she determined to head to the throne room.

Twilight started crying.

Luna’s anger vanished instantly, and she went back to the crib.  She leaned down until her muzzle was just above Twilight.

“Shh.  It’s going to be alright my little star.  Mama is going to make things all better.  Nopony will ever come take you away from me again.  I’ll be back soon.”

Twilight cooed unhappily and gripped her mother’s muzzle with her forehooves, as if desiring for Luna to stay.


She will never be safe, not as long as ponies do not fear us.

Backing away from Twilight, Luna tucked her daughter back into the crib.

“I love you Twilight.  I’ll be back soon.”  And Luna nuzzled Twilight before giving her a good-bye kiss on her forehead.

And then she left, trying to ignore the sniffles coming from her daughter’s crib.  It was for her own good.  Everything would be better soon.  It had to be.  There was no other way.  

Luna ascended the staircase into her bed chambers.  She turned around and started to levitate the stone slab back into place, hiding Twilight again.  Moloch had been the only pony to know of the secret foal-room, and he and his Knights had taken that secret to their grave.

Luna paused.  She had…felt something.  In Twilight’s foal room.  Something…dark.  But what…

We are just imagining things.  We must go to the throne room.

Luna decided that she was just imagining things.  She decided that she must go to the throne room.

She turned around and opened the doors to the hallway outside.  Closing the doors behind her, Luna swiftly trotted towards the throne room.  It would be empty this time of day, as her sister’s Court of the Sun had finished earlier.

Luna decided that if she was going to be feared, she needed to look different, and she remembered a few transformation spells from her time as one of Starswirl’s apprentices.

She would need to be at least as tall as Celestia, to signify their equality in all things.

Her coat would need to be black, to underline that she was an alicorn of the night.

Teeth…she could transform her teeth into fangs, to show the ponies of Equestria that she was the predator, not the prey.

Luna would transform her torc into armor, to show that she was ready for whatever her enemies would throw at her.

She would need to have a new name.  They wouldn’t fear the name Luna, they hadn’t before, and they wouldn’t now.  But what?  To the populace, she was the Mare of the Night, the Night Mare of the Moon.

Ponies already feared her, so she would become that which they feared, only worse.

“I am Nightmare Moon.”




> Chapter 12:  In Dungeons Deep
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Castle

One Hour Until the Coronation

Twilight





It was a beautiful gown, the quality of which Twilight had never seen before.  The Lunar Pegasi that had brought it to her and had said it was from the one of the best seamstresses in the Citadel of Stars.  It was everything Twilight could have ever looked for in a dress.  Silver stars studded the light blue fabric with silver trimming along the hem.  Twilight was sure she would have been the belle of the ball if she had ever had the chance to wear this to the Grand Galloping Gala.  In addition to the dress, a small obsidian torc with a pink star sapphire hung around her neck.

She was beautiful.

But it wasn’t her.

Twilight sighed and sat down wearily, turning away from the mirror and the mare she didn’t recognize.  Her mother had gone earlier to prepare for the final preparations for the coronation, and she had insisted that Twilight stay in her tower.  Since then Twilight had done nothing but mull over her situation.

Why was she giving in to Luna’s demands so easily?  Twilight knew that she should be focusing on retrieving the Elements and saving her friends.  Guilt welled up inside her at how easily she had let her mother send Cadance and Shining to the dungeon.  And shame burdened her as she recalled that she had yet to find out her friends’ fate.

Twilight was enlightened enough to realize her conflicting feelings.  She knew her friends didn’t deserve to suffer, and that what her mother was doing was wrong.  

Was she betraying them?  By giving in to Luna’s demands was she neglecting her duty to Equestria?  Using the Elements was the only sure way to defeat her mother.  Twilight had no guarantee that by letting Luna do these things would Twilight be able to change her mind, and end Eternal Night.  Was Twilight being realistic when she thought she could heal the rift between Luna and Celestia after a thousand years of sadness and hatred?

But now…Twilight wanted to deepen her relationship with Luna.  She had felt the love Luna had for her, and had grown a little to love her in return.  Twilight wanted to know Luna’s past, her dreams, her thoughts, her knowledge, and what made her happy.  She wanted to make her mother happy.  Was that evil?  Night Light and Twilight Velvet, her adoptive parents, could never be replaced, but Twilight wanted to expand her family and know her birth mother more.  Was that wrong?  Was she making a fatal mistake by hesitating?  

Twilight didn’t know.

Her ears flickered towards the door as somepony hesitantly knocked.

Curious, Twilight glanced toward the doorway.  “Come in!”

Creaking a little, the doors let in a narrow strip of light as a familiar baby dragon made his way in.

“Twilight?  Are you in there?”  Spike said timidly.  His green eyes traveled around the room as he tried to find her in the darkness.

“Over here Spike.”  She lit her horn and the room was bathed in purple light.  Twilight watched fondly as her number one assistant waddled over to her.

“Whoa.”  Spike said, getting a good look at her dress.  “You look just like a princess.  All that you lack is the crown.”

Twilight sighed again and avoided looking into Spike’s eyes.  “Yeah…my mother wants to present it to me during the coronation.”  
She shuffled awkwardly.   “Why…What are you doing here?”

“I don’t have much to do with Shining and Cadance in the joint, so I thought I’d come and find you!”

“Oh.”

Spike smiled weakly, and his eyes shifted back and forth rapidly.  The poor drake was clearly uncomfortable discussing Cadance and Shining’s situation.  Twilight had a nagging suspicion that Spike thought he was next to go, seeing as he was the only one left of the three of them.

“So…”  Spike said awkwardly.  “You’re going to be a princess?”

“Well…technically I already am, the coronation is just a formality.”

“Ah…O.K.”

The awkwardness of the situation was oppressive, and was obviously smothering their conversation.  The elephant in the room, Cadance and Shining’s imprisonment, was doing little but drive a wedge between the two of them.
Twilight returned her stare to the mirror, where the pony she didn’t recognize stared back at her.

What am I doing?  This isn’t me.  

Making a decision, Twilight knew what needed to be done.  She had given Luna too much, it was time to take something back.

Dress up time is over.

“You know what Spike?”  

“Uhh…..what?”

Twilight started making her way towards the door.  “I think our friends have stayed in the dungeon long enough.”

Spike let out a sigh of relief.  “Oh good.  I heard the food down there is terrible.  And you know what a picky eater Cadance is.”  Spike then stopped short and a thoughtful expression crossed over his face.  “Hey…you said friends…as in plural…usually you would just say family when talking about Shining or Cadance.”  Spike smirked and looked at her smugly.  “Did you finally take my advice and made some actual friends?”

Twilight blinked, her magic lingering on the closed doors.  She had forgotten that Spike didn’t know that she had made friends with Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie.  She turned back to him and smiled a little.

“Yeah…I did, and it’s…kinda nice.”  Twilight sighed.  “But now they’re in the dungeon, along with Shining and Cadance.  I’ve been a fool Spike, I should have been trying to get them out, not playing princess with my mother.”

“Then why did you?”  Spike asked, genuinely curious.

Twilight glanced down, an odd mixture of hope and guilt battling within her.  “ ‘Cause she’s my mom.  And…she doesn’t seem so fierce when she’s with me.   I think…just maybe…that I could solve all this without it becoming violent.”  Her heart was pounding and her voice caught in her throat.  “She…she loves me Spike.  I know you, Cadance, and Shining don’t believe me but she does.  I can’t just ignore that.  I won’t.  You’ve only seen her when she’s been on the offensive and commanding, but that’s just a mask.  The ‘Nightmare’ is a mask.  I’ve seen what’s underneath that.  She has compassion, and she feels sadness and fear just like any other pony.  And love.  I think sometimes we’re too quick to judge ponies for what we’ve been told, and we don’t try to look at it from their point of view.”

“Whoa…that’s deep Twilight.”  Spike said in awe.  “When did you become such a philosopher?”

“Since I found out that the most haunting legend in Equestria is actually my mother.”  Twilight said somberly.

Spike nodded.  “You know…Cadance and Shining may not believe you, but I do.”

Twilight’s ears flicked and she looked at Spike hopefully out of the corner of her eye.  “Really?”  She squeaked.

“Well yeah, I’ve seen you use that ‘Want it, Neet it’ spell when you first found it, when Princess Celestia was teaching you.  You know, the one that enchants ponies.  You’re not acting like that.”   Spike said seriously.  

“Thanks.” Said Twilight.

“No problem.”  Spike said, waving a claw in dismissal.  He reached out to the doors and pushed them open.  “So…tell me about these new friends of yours.”

Twilight nodded but eyed the two Lunar Pegasi guards that had been flanking the doors, but now stared at her curiously.  “Hold that thought Spike.”  She said quietly, Twilight then raised her voice and tried to look as regal as possible.  “Don’t worry gentleman.”  She told the soldiers primly.  “My assistant and I are just going for a short walk to see some friends before the coronation, I’ll be back soon.”

The two soldiers nodded and remained where they were.

As Twilight and Spike made their way to the dungeon, Twilight started formulating a plan.  She knew Luna was busy at the moment, so there was a chance she could her new authority to get her friends on a train back to Ponyville before her mother noticed.  She knew her friends had been labeled as assassins, but she was pretty sure she could convince the soldiers that they weren’t what they were labeled.

And if that didn’t work, there was always magic.

Twilight wasn’t sure how her mother would react when she discovered that Twilight had released her friends, but she would convince her that they weren’t a threat since Luna already had the Elements. 

Cadance and Shining’s situation was more…difficult.  It wasn’t going to be easy, but Twilight was determined to get them out, safe and sound.  

“So Twilight, who are your friends?”  Spike asked as they walked.

Twilight shook her head as she filed away different jail-break scenarios and her mind’s eye drifted over her five new friends.  “Ironically Spike, you’ve already met them.  Do you remember those five mares on the Princess’s list for the Summer Sun Celebration?  The ones that were in charge the various preparations?”

Spike scrunched up his face in thought as he searched his memory.  It had only been the equivalent of two days since the celebration, but with all that had gone on it had seemed much longer than that.  

“Hmmm…yeah, I think I know who you mean.  There was that cowpony, Applesnack I think?  She had more relatives than a cow has spots.  Then that annoying blue one…Rainbow Smash?  Then there was that really pretty pony, Rarity.”  Twilight smirked as Spike’s face lit up as if in a daydream at the mention of Rarity.  “Oh! And Fluttershy, I liked her, she was so polite and she listened to everything I said.  Pinkie Pie was that really hyperactive pony that threw that party in the library.  Is that all of them?”

“That’s all of them.  Though their names were Applejack and Rainbow Dash.  But besides that, you got it right on the mark.”  Twilight corrected primly.

“Huh.”  Spike said thoughtfully.  “You know…from the way you reacted, I would have never thought you would have become friends with them.”

“Chasing down a thousand year old legend that turns out to be your mother tends to do that.”

“Ah.”

Finally, the pair of them stood outside the doors leading to what Twilight assumed was the dungeons.  Noctis had told her earlier that the Legion had renovated the old sealed-off dungeons.  Since Twilight had grown up here, she knew that this door was new and hadn’t been there before.

Also, the plaque next to it said ‘Dungeon’, along with the four heavily armed soldiers standing in front of it, looking curious at Twilight and Spike.  The door was obviously makeshift as it seemed that the entrance had been walled off some time ago.  It was wooden with iron studs holding it together.  The stone around the door was cracked and broken from the soldiers opening the wall to renovate the long abandoned dungeons.

Twilight pulled back up her ‘princess mask’ and spoke firmly to the soldiers in front of her.

“Please step aside gentleman, my assistant and I are here to inspect the prisoners.”

The four looked on stoically while one of them stepped forward to address her.  He had on different markers on his armor than his comrades, so Twilight assumed this was an officer.

“I apologize your highness.”  The Lunar Pegasi said sincerely.  “But we have strict orders from Commander Noctis to not let anypony through without the proper authority.”

Twilight had thought this might happen, but she smiled inwardly as it was Noctis’s command, and not her mother’s.  “Are you saying that your princess doesn’t have the proper authority?”

The Lunar Pegasi subtly shifted, as if uneasy.  His ears flicked as he thought it through.  Beside him, the other soldiers remained stoically uninvolved.

Twilight decided to provide the proper nudge.  “I’m just here to make sure the prisoners accommodations are correct, as well as extract some information from them concerning the Empress’s return.”  It was not technically a lie.  She did come to check on her friend’s accommodations, but not in the way the soldiers probably expected.  If she could, ‘the prisoners’ next accommodations would be their own beds in Ponyville.  Also, she wanted to know what her mother had done to them while she had been unconscious from using the Elements of Harmony.

Having come to a decision, the Legion Officer nodded and stepped aside, one of his companions unlocking the door so that they could enter.  Without hesitation both Twilight and Spike walked calmly into the…the…

Oh…no…

It was…far worse than anything Twilight had imagined.  She knew these dungeons were old, but she had thought it might have been renovated to resemble something close to a standard county jail.

How completely wrong she was.

It was truly, in its essence, a cave fixed with bars and iron doors.  The dungeon was literally cut into the hard rock of the mountain.  All the normal fixtures of a nice polished floor and smooth walls were replaced with cold and slimy granite.  Torches fashioned to the walls only served to highlight the barbaric conditions.  Old rusty chains hung from the ceiling, the red-tinted iron failing to gleam in the dim light.  Twilight could hear the faintest drip drop of water somewhere in the dungeon, amid the occasional sound of metal chains clanking across the rock.

A few guards loitered around, and Twilight noticed these were not normal Legion Lunar Pegasi but normal looking ponies.  One of them, a orange unicorn carrying a bucket that smelled of garbage approached her drunkenly.

“’Scuse me ya’ highness.”  He slurred.  Twilight sniffed the air daintily as a whiff of the stallion’s breath reached her muzzle.  His breath smelled of alcohol.  The stallion was drunk off his plot.  “Didn’t know that ya grace was gonna bless us dregs ‘ere with ya presence tonight eh?”

Twilight stared, her shock not having worn off yet.  She felt numb.  Guilty.  Shameful.  Was this where her friends were?  Did she leave her brother and the closest thing she had to a sister at the mercies of drunk stallions?

“Where are the prisoners?”  Twilight said quietly.  Her voice halting and timid.  

But her anger was rising.  Slowly.  Like the eruption of a volcano.

“Na who cares ‘bout them dumbells.”  The unicorn dismissed her question as if unconcerned.  Then his voice dropped to a conspiring whisper.  “But I tell ya somethin’ ya highness, these Legion folk are de best!  Dey put me right to work dey did!  Dough I volun…volun…jumped at the opportune’ to join I’s did.”

Twilight appraised the unicorn, surprised a little.  “You’re not with the Legion?”

It was clear the unicorn was drunk out of his mind.  He had no inhibition whatsoever as to not tell Twilight everything he knew.

“Nope!  Me an’ me lads down ‘ere weren’t none too ‘appy with ol’ Celestia runnin things, what wid the prohibition an’ all, so we told dem Legion boys dat we were da resistance.”

“But there is no resistance!”  Twilight shouted indignantly.

The unicorn laughed.  “Yup!  Youse right!  But dem Legion folk don’t know dat!  Dey were just all too ‘appy to find somepony that dey dought didn’t like the princess.  Dey even gave us dis job of watchin an’ interrogatin da prisoners.”  He leaned in next to her, and before Twilight could respond, he rubbed flanks with her.  “Say ya highness, since it’s ya big night an all, I don’t suppose ya be willin to let me get a piece a dat flank of yours wouldja?”

Twilight gaped at the drunk stallion, shocked beyond belief.  But before the stallion could do anything else, or say anything else for that matter, she lit up her horn and struck him violently with a binding spell as well as smothering him with another to put him so sleep.  The offending stallion fell to the ground and stayed there unconscious.

“Wuz goin on?”  Another stallion mumbled sleepily.  He appeared from around a corner with a lantern as he searched out for the source of the noise and rubbed his eyes from waking up.  He saw Twilight and the unconscious jailer and his eyes immediately widened in fright.  

Twilight panicked.

Without so much as warning, a beam of purple light flew at the stallion and struck him as well, binding his hooves.  Then he slammed into the opposite wall from the force of the spell before falling into unconsciousness like his drunk compatriot. 

The crash of his body alerted the other jailors that were somewhere else in the dungeon.  Two more stallions, a pegasus and a unicorn, came rushing around the corner, far more alert and awake than their compatriots on the floor.  They both saw Twilight and gaped in shock at their princess.

“Princess what happened?”  The unicorn demanded.  His eyes roved about the dungeon as if seeking some other assailant.

Twilight couldn’t believe her dumb luck.  They thought somepony else had attacked the other jailors!  Quickly taking advantage of their confusion, she walked up to them and lit her horn in another spell.

“Oh, um…nothing!”  She released the sleeping spell over the unaware two stallions as they looked about for the other nonexistent assailant.  The spell washed over them and the two stallions promptly fell at her feet, giving out loud snores as they fell into the realm of dreams.

Twilight quickly searched the dungeon to see if there were any other jailors.  But it seemed like she had already found all of them.  Working quickly, she gathered all four of the stallions into a pile and reinforced their bindings, as well as laying over them a more powerful sleep charm.  It was obvious that the unicorn was not trained in the magical arts, as he hadn’t even sensed her spell when she cast it.

Spike was still standing where he was, dumfounded by what had taken place.  While he looked on, Twilight cast a silencing spell between them and the soldiers on the other side of the doors leading to the dungeon.

“Spike,” Twilight said urgently, concentrating on her spell work. “Look around the dungeon for Cadance, Shining, and my friends.”

“Right!”  Spike saluted and scuttled off, peering through cells carved in the walls and in the floors.

Twilight finished casting the spells but didn’t join Spike in looking for her friends.  She was trying to figure out what she needed to do next.  She couldn’t just let these guards go, that would be disastrous if she wanted to get her friends out with as little confrontation as possible.  Twilight could hide them, but four missing guards would arouse too much suspicion.  She decided that a memory wipe of Twilight attacking them was probably the best decision.  She was just about to begin casting the spell when Spike’s voice cut through the silence.

“Twilight!  Over here!  It’s Cadance…she doesn’t look too good.”

Twilight dropped what she was doing and immediately scurried over to where Spike was.  He was standing silently above one of the cells carved into the floor.  An oil lantern hung over the pit and it had iron bars for a lid.  Twilight peered down into the darkness and she could barely make out the form of a Cadance-shaped pony with chains attached.

“Cadance?”  Twilight said guiltily, pleading that her old foalsitter would respond.

A weak, but relieved voice answered back.  “Twilight…is that you?”

Twilight nodded feverishly.  “Yes it’s me Cadance.”

“What…What are you doing here?”

Twilight grasped the padlock keeping Cadance locked away with her magic.  “I’m here to get you out of course.”  She snapped the lock cleanly in half and she wasted no time in opening it up.  Twilight hesitated as she thought of how to get to Cadance.  If she knew how to use her wings, she would have flapped down.

That reminded her.  As soon as she stopped her mother from freezing the world over she was going to ask her to teach her how to fly.  

Anyway, Twilight decided she would levitate herself down into the cell using her magic.  She would have teleported, but she didn’t want to scare Cadance and the cell was small anyway.  Twilight might have lifted Cadance out too but she wanted to get stock of Cadance’s injuries before she jostled her around too much.

Using her magic, Twilight surrounded herself in her purple aura before gently lowering herself into the cistern.  When she reached the bottom, her hooves immediately came into contact with something very smelly and squishy.

“Ewww…”  Twilight complained.  “What is that?”

Cadance snorted weakly.  “That’s…my dinner you’re stepping in Twilight.  The finest slop Canterlot’s trash bins have to offer.”

Twilight looked Cadance over.  It wasn’t pretty.  Her wings were still bandaged, but the bandages were soaked with slop and slime.  Her back leg, which Luna had broken, had a makeshift splint that was barely adequate.  She still had the ring around her horn, and chains were attached to all four legs.  Her normally bright pink fur was matted with mud and slop.  She looked extremely tired and exhausted, as the bags under her eyes only underlined her exhaustion. 

“Oh…oh Cadance…I’m so…so sorry.”  Twilight murmered.  Ignoring the mess, she wrapped Cadance in a gentle hug, making sure to avoid hurting her broken wings.

“Heh…”  Cadance mumbled.  “You…You lifted the enchantment?  How?”

Twilight shook her head, tears of anger and shame falling down her face.  “There was no enchantment Cadance.  There never was.  But that’s not important right now, Spike and I are here to get you all out.”

Cadance seemed confused, but she was too tired to think clearly and rationally.  Twilight carefully detached the chains and then slung Cadance onto her back.  Concentrating on her magic, Twilight flashed them up out of the cistern to where Spike was waiting for her.  Laying her down gently, Twilight unwrapped her bandages and undid her splint, letting her broken leg fall free.  Cadance groaned in pain a little but otherwise remained quiet.  The horn ring on Cadance’s horn was different from earlier, so Twilight was able to remove it.  Now she could use some healing magic on Cadance.  Alicorns were fast healers, unnaturally so.  But Cadance would need to heal faster is she was going able to walk out on her own hooves.

“Alright.”  Twilight gave Cadance an old bandage to bite down on.  Knowing what Twilight was about to do, Cadance nodded and bit down on the bandage.  “This might sting a little…just bear with me.”

Healing magic was difficult, and not for the faint of heart.  Only higher level mages and trained doctors were taught these spells, and only they could pull them off successfully without damaging the body further.  The less dangerous spells merely influenced the body into taking the steps to properly heal.  Nudging it in the right direction so to speak.  However, what Twilight was about to was one of the more dangerous spells.  It dramatically increased the body’s healing process, it was…a little painful since it was unnatural.  Celestia had taught Twilight to only use these spells in an emergency, and this definitely clarified as one of those times.  

Calming herself, Twilight reached out with her magic to Cadance’s wings and leg.  Feeling the broken appendages, Twilight focused her spell and began repairing the bone and knitting the muscle back together.

Cadance groaned in pain as her leg snapped back into place.  She then yelped a little as her wings fanned out and began repairing, tears of pain running down her face.  Twilight had to admire her courage and strength to endure that.  A few months of healing in a couple of seconds was nothing to sneeze at.

Finally, the spell finished and Cadance let out a relieved sigh before falling asleep.  Usually, the shock of healing the body like that required lots of bed rest.  Cadance had earned her nap.

Twilight padded her back and carefully made sure she was comfortable.  “Spike?  Watch over her please.  She should wake up soon, and I don’t want her to wake up alone.  I’m going to go find my brother.”

Spike nodded as he sat down next to Cadance.

Twilight approached the next set of cisterns and peered down into each of them.  The first two held nopony but the third held a familiar white unicorn.

“Rarity!”  Twilight prompted.

The mentioned mare started from the unexpected call.   Peering up at her, the unicorn gasped slightly.  “Twilight!  Is that you?  How in Equestria did you get free?”

Twilight grimaced.  She should have realized that her friends would think that she too had been captured by her mother.  They didn’t know.  She was going to have a lot of explaining to do.

“I’ll explain later.  How are you?  Are you injured?”

“Well…no.  I’m afraid to admit I fainted from sheer fright at gazing at Nightmare Moon’s visage.”  Rarity admitted sheepishly.  “Have you freed the others?”  

“I’ve got Cadance, and I’ll find the others and my brother soon.  Just hang on, I’ll get you out in a jiffy.”  Using her magic, Twilight broke open Rarity’s prison cell and her chains before teleporting her up to the surface.  

“Oh thank goodness!”  Rarity exclaimed, already trying to clean the dirt and muck off her coat.  “I feel so absolutely filthy!  Those rude stallions were so crass and uncivilized.  None of them had a shred of decency.”  She looked up from dirty white coat to look at Twilight, and an eyebrow floated up into her mane.  “Twilight darling, why in Equestria are you wearing such a beautiful dress?”

Twilight wasn’t sure how to explain to her friend that her own mother, who they had tried to use the Elements on, had imprisoned Rarity and was now in the process of making Twilight a princess.

Unfortunately, Rarity was distracted by something else.

Her eyes widened as she took in Twilight’s wings.  “Um…Twilight…are those wings on your back?”

Twilight nodded but tried to avoid explaining things right then.  She’d rather explain everything when everyone was free, so she only had to do it once.

So, Twilight simply distracted her.

“Yes…yes they are.  But that’s not important right now.”  Twilight pointed at a hoof behind her at the sleeping Cadance.  “Do you think you could watch Cadance while I free the others?”

Sorry Cadance…

Rarity looked at where she was pointing and her eyes bugged at comically.  “Is that…Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?!”  And with that Rarity shuffled over to sit with Spike to watch Cadance intently, like a filly on Hearth’s Warming Eve waiting for the presents to arrive.

Smiling painfully at Rarity’s enthusiasm, Twilight made her way to the next cistern, where she spied a motionless pink pony at the bottom.  Twilight immediately noticed that her usually poofy mane was flat and lifeless.

“Pinkie?”

Pinkie Pie looked up at the sound of her name and saw Twilight.  A wide smile immediately lit up her face and her mane poofed back up.

“Twilight!  You’re here!  Do you have a Get Out of Jail Free Card?”  Pinkie asked.

Twilight blinked, taken aback a little.  “A…buh…what?”

“You know, from Ponyopoly!”

“Um…no?”

“Oh that’s too bad.”  Twilight could only stare as Pinkie reached back into her mane and pulled out a bright yellow card.  “Here!  You can have mine!”

Twilight stared, unsure as to how to respond.  She then shook her head to clear the confusion before opening up the cistern and breaking Pinkie’s chains.

Then…much to Twilight’s absolute confusion…Pinkie bounced from wall to wall of the cistern until she was standing right next to Twilight.

Twilight stared.  Again.

Seemingly oblivious to her acrobatics, Pinkie took her yellow card and stuck it in Twilight’s mane.  “There you go.  Now remember that when you pass Go, you collect two-hundred bits!”  And then, without further ado, Pinkie skipped over to join Rarity and Spike.

Twilight stayed there for another moment.  Trying to process the enigma called Pinkie Pie.

What…What just happened?

Twilight decided to leave the matter until another time.

Note to self:  Study Pinkie Pie

Twilight walked over to the next cistern and peered down into it only to see two angry green eyes stare back at her.  

“Twilight Sparkle!”  Applejack yelled up at her.  ‘Bout time ya showed up!  Now move your rump and get me outa here!”

Twilight nodded and immediately smashed open the cell and broke the cowpony’s chains before teleporting her up.  

Applejack promptly slapped her old hat back on her head and shook Twilight’s hoof.  “Thank ya kindly Twilight.  Now tell me what’s going on?  Ah’ve been pickin up tidbits of what the guards been talkin ‘bout, and they’ve been talkin ‘bout some daughter of Moony’s they found becomin a princess tonight.  Point me in the right direction so ah can go buck the traitor to the moon along with her mama.”

Twilight paled and before she could respond Applejack noticed her wings.  Her friend’s jaw dropped open before her lips pulled back in a snarl and she scowled at Twilight.

“Twilight Sparkle.”  Applejack said accusingly.  “Are those wings on your back?”

“…yes.”

“Do those mean what ah think they mean?”

“…probably.”

“Yah care to explain?”

Twilight knew there was no avoiding this one.  She could see the steely glint of accusation in Applejack’s eyes, and knew her friend was struggling between disbelief, confusion, and anger.  Twilight tried to look confidant but she wilted a little underneath Applejack’s glare.  She decided it would be best to start from the beginning and work her way up.

“Alright, from what I know, Nightmare Moon captured us and brought us to Canterlot Castle, which her army also captured.”

“Army?”

“The 501st Imperial Legion from the Citadel of Stars, a Lunar Pegasi city in the Unicorn Mountains.  They and some other legions captured all the major cities of Equestria.”

“Tarnation!”  Applejack swore.  “That’s not good.  What about the Royal Guards?”

Twilight sighed.  “Also captured.  Nightmare Moon and the 501st captured Princess Cadance and my brother Captain Shining Armor—“

“Your brother’s the Cap’n?”  Applejack asked, a little awed.

“Yes.  From what I’ve been able to gather, the other Royal Guard garrisons in the rest of Equestria surrendered peacefully after the nobles caved in to Nightmare Moon’s claim on the throne.”

“Hmmm…this isn't sounding good at all.”  Applejack pondered.  She eyed Twilight’s wings a little.  “Tell me how ya got those.”

Twilight took a deep breath, it was time to come clean.  “I didn’t ‘get’ them.  I was born with them a thousand years ago when Luna, Celestia’s younger sister, gave birth to me a few months before she renamed herself Nightmare Moon and Celestia banished her to the moon.”

…

“…beg pardon?”

Twilight sighed.  “I know this is a lot to take in, but please just hear me out before you start throwing punches.  I’m Nightmare Moon’s daughter.  The princess you heard about from the guards, that’s me.  I was born a thousand years ago, but because of some dark magic, Celestia had to use my pegasus and earth pony magic to heal me.  I remained in a coma for the next thousand years and I just woke up seventeen years ago.  I didn’t find out about any of this until after we confronted her and she revealed that I was her daughter.  Now I’m trying to convince her to halt Eternal Night while simultaneously saving all my friends and family.”

The look on Applejack’s face would have been priceless were it not for the seriousness of the situation. 

“You sure about that Twi’?”  Applejack said in disbelief.  “Ah’m known for telling tall tales but yours could reach the moon.”

“Do you think I’m lying?” Twilight snipped back.  She was irritated at all the disbelief she was getting from ponies.  But on the other hoof, she was curious to see if Applejack, the bearer of the Element of Honesty, could see that she was telling the truth.

The cowpony scrunched up her eyes and stared at her, and Twilight could almost feel like her eyes were scanning her soul for any sign of deception.  Applejack seemed to mull over Twilight’s words in her head while she glared at Twilight.  Finally, she nodded her head.

“Eeyup.  You’re tellin the truth.”

Twilight cocked and eyebrow and looked at Applejack skeptically.  “Really?  Just like that?”

“Just like dat.”

“Why?  How come you believe me?  I haven’t even managed to convince my own brother of all this.”  Twilight added.

“Whelp,” Applejack snorted.  “Ah can tell you’re serious about this, and the thing is Ah can spot a liar from a mile away.  Also you’re a terrible liar Twi.’  An’ anyways if anypony can string a yarn that long and keep a straight face they must be tellin the truth.”

“Huh.”  Twilight huffed.  She didn’t think it was going to be that easy.  “So…you’re not mad?”

“At you?  Nah.”  Applejack dismissed Twilight concern with a wave of a hoof.  “Ah know yah had to be in a tight bind with ol’ Nightmare to be willin to dress all fancy for her.”

Twilight deadpanned.  “Oh.”

“Now enough talk.  What’s the plan?”

“We need to get everyone out first, then we can discuss that.”  Twilight told her, moving on to the next cistern, Applejack following close behind.  

They both looked down to see an agitated blue pegasus struggling in her chains.

“Just hold on sugercube, we’ll get ya right out.”  Applejack yelled down.

“Twilight!  Applejack!  It’s about damn time!”  Rainbow yelled, clearly irritated.  “But get me later, Fluttershy’s in the next one over!  Get her out first!”

Twilight glanced over at Applejack while she opened up the cell and broke Rainbow’s chains.  “I don’t think she’ll be able to fly up without cramping her wings after they’ve been locked up that long.  Can you help her?”

“Yah can count on me Twi’!”

“Great, I’ll go get Fluttershy.”  

Twilight walked over to the next cistern, which like all the others was sealed off with iron bars and had an oil lantern hanging over it.  She peered down into it and sure enough the yellow pegasus was chained up, huddling in a corner of her cell.

“Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy jerked her head up and moved her head back and forth looking for the source of her voice.  “T—Twilight?  Is that you?  Oh please tell me that’s you!”

“Yes it’s me, just hold on it’ll just take a moment to get you out.”

“Oh thank goodness!”  Fluttershy cried.  “I was so scared!  It’s so dark down here!”  Fluttershy jerked her head back and forth, looking around her cell.  “Where are you?  I can’t see you!”

Twilight frowned a little as she broke open the cell.  What was she talking about?  Fluttershy should have been clearly able to see her with the oil lantern shining above them.

“What are you talking about?”   Twilight asked, confused.  “I’m right above you!”

Twilight had to admit it was a little dark down there, as she couldn’t fully see Fluttershy’s face.  The pegasus looked up above her but she failed to focus in on Twilight.

“No…I…I still can’t see you!”  Fluttershy whimpered, obviously distraught.  “Where are you?!”

A cold dread started to form in the in the pit of Twilight’s stomach.  Without further hesitation Twilight lowered herself into the cell, her horn lighting up the darkness. 

Fluttershy was a mess.  She was cowering in the slop of the cell, her once beautiful sunshine yellow coat covered in muck and dirt.  
Her once pristine wings were brown and several feathers were knocked out of alignment.  

As soon as Twilight’s hooves touched the cell floor, Fluttershy jumped as if surprised by the noise.  Twilight carefully moved closer until she could finally look at Fluttershy’s face.

What she saw stopped her heart and made her want to vomit as she saw the pale, lifeless orbs that were once her friend’s kind eyes.

Fluttershy…Fluttershy was blind!

Blind!

Twilight had a cold suspicion as to who was responsible, and the thought was the equivalent of a dagger plunging into her heart.

“Fluttershy?”  Twilight said carefully.  She flinched when her friend whimpered at the proximity of the voice.

“Twilight?  Can you please get a light?  It’s so dark down here…and I’m scared of the dark.”  She whimpered out pitifully.
Twilight didn’t know what she should do.  What to say.  How could she tell her friend that she was blind?

“Yeah…just—just give me a moment.”  Twilight stalled for time, tears already falling down her face.  “I’m going to unlatch your chains.”  And with an audible click, her chains fell away to the floor.Twilight immediately gathered Fluttershy in a tight hug, trying to still and calm the shaking pegasus.

Twilight had to ask.

But she was afraid of what the answer would be.

“Fluttershy…what was the last thing you saw before you ended up here?”

“Here?  Where are we?”

“The dungeons of Canterlot.  But please tell me, what was the last thing you saw?”

Fluttershy gulped and her trembling began anew.  

“Oh Twilight it was terrible!  You were on the floor!  And—And I saw her attacking all our friends!  I was the only one left!  All of you were in pain and I—I panicked!”

“Fluttershy…who was it?”  Twilight cried, her heart breaking in two.

But she already knew the answer.

“It—It was Nightmare Moon!”

And Twilight’s heart broke.

She began sobbing pitifully as she hugged Fluttershy.  Twilight felt betrayed, deceived, and lied to.  How could she do this?  How could her mother hurt this kind and innocent pony?  

What was she going to tell Fluttershy?  How could she tell Fluttershy that she was the daughter of the pony that blinded her?
Twilight hesitantly reached out with her magic to Fluttershy’s eyes, but immediately recoiled.

Dark Magic.

Eyes were such a complex and fragile part of the body.  It was a tedious and delicate task to heal eyes with magic.  But with Dark Magic also infecting the wound, it was too dangerous to attempt.  Dark Magic would immediately try to repulse the healing magic and cause more damage.  A skilled mage or doctor would have to first painfully extract all the Dark Magic before attempting to heal the injury.  A painful and long process that required the most skilled and practiced to undertake.

And it was beyond Twilight’s skill.

“Oh Fluttershy…I’m so sorry!”  Twilight wept.  “This is all my fault…I should have tried harder…I should have…”  But what should she have done?  Should she had tried harder to banish her own mother?  Would she have been happier if she hadn’t known?

Was it worth to be ignorant of the truth, if she could have lived in the lies and be happy?

She’ll never know.

Fluttershy still trembled but she scrunched up her blind eyes in confusion.  “What?  I don’t understand.”

Twilight hugged Fluttershy closer, blinking out sad and angry tears.

She had to tell her.

“Fluttershy…I’m so sorry but…you’re blind.”

“No!”  Fluttershy cried, a sound so terrible to hear.  “No that can’t be!  I can’t be blind!  How—how am I supposed to take care of Angel!  Or all my furry friends!”  She shook and wept in Twilight’s embrace, she struggled blindly to face Twilight with a plea on her lips.  “You’re good at magic Twilight!  Can’t you fix me!  Please!  I can’t help anypony else if I can’t see!”

Twilight cried harder at Fluttershy’s begging.  Even when brought so low, her friend was still thinking of others.  It broke her heart that she couldn’t do what her friend asked.  She just didn’t have the skill.  Cadance might, as she was more skilled at healing magic, or Celestia, but Twilight didn’t even know if her mentor was alive.

“I’m sorry...”  Twilight said quietly.  “I can’t.  I’m not…I can’t heal you…Maybe one day, but I can’t today.  I’m so sorry.”

And that was when Fluttershy broke.  She fell limp in Twilight’s hooves and wept, her beautiful tears staining the muck on which they stood.  Her cries of pain and hopelessness were torture to hear.

Twilight gathered what little of her courage she had left.  She needed to be strong, for Fluttershy, for her friends, for her family.  Now was not the time to fall into despair.  Now was the time to be strong and courageous.

Hugging Fluttershy closer to her, Twilight teleported them to the top.  She slung the still crying Fluttershy onto her back and made her way towards the all the others who were gathering in the center of the dungeon.  She noticed that Cadance was awake and that she had freed Shining Armor and the other Royal Guards who had imprisoned.  They looked odd and out of place without their armor.  Applejack was with Rainbow Dash whose leg was healed, Cadance’s work Twilight presumed, and they both looked with wide eyes at the state Fluttershy was in.

Rainbow approached Twilight as if in a daze, staring at Fluttershy and her eyes the whole while.  Her face drawn up in absolute horror.

Twilight knew what was coming.

Rainbow’s face morphed from shock to a raging hatred in less than a second, she snorted and blinked out angry tears as she tensed up and yelled to the heavens.


“Damn you Nightmare Moon!!!  If I ever get my hooves on you, you’re going to beg for the moon!!”

Rarity also had tears running down her face as she walked up to Twilight.  Without a word, she took Fluttershy from Twilight and carried her away so that Twilight could handle the others.

It was time to act.  

Twilight knew what needed to be done.  She had been a fool.  A blind fool.  She still loved her mother, but she couldn’t let that get in the way of what had to be done.  All the world was groaning out from underneath her mother’s iron hooves.  She had just looked the other way.

No more.

Twilight may be her daughter, but she needed to do what was right.  She could no longer blindly accept her mother’s tyranny, for that was what it was.

Did her mother act without reason.  No.  But that didn’t make what she was doing right.  The ponies that had wronged her a thousand years ago were dead.  There was no reason to wreak havoc on this scale.

Eternal Night was not the solution, but Twilight was no longer deluded to think that she could convince her mother of that before it was too late and more ponies suffered because of it.  

Cadance had been right, Twilight didn’t have time.

The Elements of Harmony were off the table.  Twilight couldn’t get to them and her friends were in no shape to face her mother again.  And if they did, things for them would only get worse.

Cadance and Shining were almost no better.  They were both too beat up and exhausted to face her mother and it would take too long for them to recover to be of any help to the situation.  The Royal Guard too was not an option, as the Legion far outnumbered.  Twilight also suspected that the Legion might actually be better trained than the Royal Guard, as they had more combat experience.

Twilight, and Twilight alone could end this madness.

She was going to have to rip out her own heart to do it, but Twilight would have to defeat her mother.  If she could talk her out of all this she would, in a heartbeat.  But Twilight had seen first-hoof that her mother wasn’t being rational.  Luna was letting her fear dictate her actions, and fear seldom listened to logic.

Twilight closed her eyes, the last of her tears falling down her face.

I’m sorry mother.

Twilight turned to the gathering of ponies, who were all looking at her.  She realized they were looking to her for what to do next as she was the one who had freed them.

A plan formed in her mind.  She owed it to her friends to get them out safely.  And there was a way she might be able to do that at the same time as confronting her mother.

“Captain Shining Armor?” Twilight asked sharply.  Her brother straightened up even though the bruises covering him only showed a small part of his pain.  He knew that she only used his title and full name if the situation was dire.  “I’m going to create a distraction, and you’re going to take it.  It will be enough for you to slip past the soldier garrisoned in the castle.  Take your guards, Cadance, and my friends out of Canterlot and to somewhere safe.”

“No way Twilight.  I’m not leaving you here.”  Shining retorted defiantly.

Cadance also refused to back down.  “You can’t do this by yourself.”

“Don’t you think I know that?!”  Twilight yelled.  “But I can’t do this with you either!  None of you are in any kind of shape to face her.  She’ll kill you.  I can’t live with myself if that happens.  I have the element of surprise.  She’ll never expect for me to go against her.  If she sees you, she’ll be alert and any chance I have of ending this goes south.  This is our only option.”

“That’s a bunch of ponyfeathers Twilight!”  Rainbow yelled at her.  “We weren’t able to beat her together and with the Elements.  There’s no way you’re going in there alone!  I’m coming with you!”  

“No Rainbow Dash.”  Twilight commanded firmly.  She grasped Rainbow with her hooves and turned her head towards Fluttershy.  Twilight knew it was cruel what she was about to do, but it had to be said.  “Look at her Rainbow!  Fluttershy needs you!  Now more than ever.  Promise me you and the others will take her and Spike and leave.”

“No—“

“Promise me!!”

Rainbow snorted and struggled as she blinked out tears of frustration.  Finally, she took a long hard look at Fluttershy and closed her eyes as she nodded angrily.  “I promise!”

Twilight turned to Applejack, she knew that the cowpony could keep them all together and out of harm’s way if necessary.  “When you get out, promise me you will stay safe.”

Applejack looked like she wanted to argue, but she knew the futility of that.  She took off her hat and nodded solemnly.  “I promise.”

“Cadance.”  Twilight said next.

“Forget it Twilight.  Shining and are aren’t leaving you here.”  Cadance said firmly in a voice that rivaled Celestia’s.  Cadance’s and Shining’s faces were determined and stubborn to the last.  Never wavering and ever brave.  Twilight knew without a doubt that they would march into Tarturus with her.

Twilight smiled.  It was a bitter and sad thing.

“I know that.  So I hope you’ll forgive me for what I do next.”

And then before either of them could react, Twilight sent a twin set of stun spells straight at them.  They never stood a chance.  Their eyes widened in surprise before the bolts struck them.  They were too surprised to react and even then, they had yet to recover enough from their imprisonment to mount an effective defense.

The others gasped in shock at what she did as the princess and her captain fell unconscious to the floor.   Before anypony else could react, Twilight turned to the liberated Royal Guard.

“Who’s next in the chain of command?”

A white pegasus stepped forward, the normally stoic guards shocked out of their routine.

“Um…I am.  Lieutenant Iron Wings at your service.”  He said nervously.

“Excellent Lieutenant.  Seeing as Princess Cadance and Captain Armor are both incapacitated, I, Twilight Sparkle, niece and student of Princess Celestia order you to take the both of them out of Canterlot as soon as the opportunity arises.”

“And when will that be ma’am?”

“Here in about ten minutes.  The yelling, shrieking, and earthquakes should be a dead give-away.”  Twilight said grimly.  “In addition to the two of them, you are to escort these five mares and Spike to Ponyville before anything else.  Understood?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Twilight turned towards the dungeon exit and the soldier she knew were waiting on the other side of her silencing spell.

“Twilight?”  

It was Fluttershy.

She turned back around and looked forlornly at the pegasus, even though she knew Fluttershy couldn’t see it.

“Yes?”

The blind pegasus gulped.

“Is it true?  Is Nightmare Moon your mother?”

…

…

“Yes.”

Silence.  Dead silence.

Fluttershy tried to turn in Twilight’s direction so she could see her face.  Her voice spoke like a thousand shattered hopes.

“Can…can she be saved?  Is she redeemable?”  Fluttershy asked.

Twilight looked at her friend, who was a far better pony than anypony else in this castle.

“I hope so.”

Fluttershy nodded, like that was all that she needed to hear.

“Then go save her.”

> Chapter 13:  As Twilight Falls
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Castle

Ten Minutes Until the Coronation

Twilight





It was as if nothing had changed.

As Twilight walked towards the throne room, the servants and soldiers greeted her as if she were their princess, not their enemy.  They bowed and greeted her as she went to confront her mother, completely oblivious to her true intentions.  

Of course, she wasn’t going to correct them.  That might seem…treasonous, which it probably was on some level.  Convincing…or forcing…her mother to end Eternal Night was going to be difficult enough without an entire legion’s worth of soldiers trying to stop her.  Twilight knew they were fond of her, because of Luna being her mother, but she knew where their allegiance ultimately lay, and that it was not with her.

Standing before the throne room doors, Twilight had few options, and even smaller chances of complete success.

But she had to try.

Her first and foremost priority was the survival of Equestria and the world.  Then her friends' safety had to be secured.  Twilight owed them that and more after what she had let them suffer.  This inevitable confrontation with Luna, whether with words or magic, should buy them enough time to escape the castle and get out of Canterlot.  

Twilight blamed herself; she had let it come too far.  She wasn’t sure what she could have done to change things, but it was useless to think on that now.  Not when so much was at stake.

How did it come to this?

Suddenly, Twilight wondered what her life would have been like if her mother hadn’t become Nightmare Moon and if she hadn’t been banished to the moon.  Would things be better?  Would the Lunar Pegasi’s exile have happened?  Would Twilight still be…Twilight?

She would never know.

Maybe it was better that way.

Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying and failing to calm her nerves.  Her heart was beating in her chest as if it was trying to escape.  

It was now, or never.

Pushing open the large doors, she stepped into the throne room.  Unlike its tenure under Celestia, the throne room was now decorated with large amounts of solely night-oriented decorations.   Banners depicting her mother’s cutie-mark were what immediately caught Twilight’s eyes.  But next to them were purple banners depicting her own.

Side by side.

But if her mother wouldn’t see reason, they would be side by side no more.  Twilight could no longer be a part of this, not so long as ponies suffered and the world’s survival was in jeopardy.

The dais where Celestia’s throne once sat drew Twilight’s attention next.  In place of where the once scarlet and gold seat once sat were two silver and onyx thrones of equal height.  One emblazoned with the moon, the other with stars.  

Standing before the lunar throne was the cause of all of the turmoil going through Twilight.

Mother.

Towering over any pony alive her mother’s intimidating form demanded respect.  The thick blue iron covering her served the dual purpose of royal regalia and armor.  Her draconic eyes were staring into Twilight’s in confusion as she walked toward her.  Her muzzle, concealing her dagger-like teeth, were smiling at her presence though.

Twilight did not know how much longer that smile would last.

“Twilight?”  Luna asked, clearly surprised, though her smile showed her true feelings.  “What are you doing in here?  You should be getting ready for our coronation.”  She eyed Twilight’s dress, which was torn a little with a few new stains from her visitation to the dungeons.  “What happened to your dress?”

Twilight leveled her gaze evenly at Luna, impassive and calm.  “I’m afraid I had to dirty my dress a little when I went to visit my friends in the dungeon.”

Silence enveloped the throne room immediately.  The lunar pegasi who were present looked at each other in confusion while their empress’s smile immediately disappeared only to be replaced by a neutral mask.

“And why were you down there daughter?”  Luna spoke regally.  “You know, as well as I do, that those ponies are not your friends.  They, along with Armor and Cadenza, were puppets of Celestia.  Tools meant to imprison me again and keep us separated.”

Twilight scowled a little, her voice clipped and short. “I disagree.  The Elements of Harmony would not have been able to heal me if not for our friendship.  Those artifacts derive their power from the positive aspects of their bearers, as you must know since you once wielded them yourself.  No amount of planning or scheming can ever fabricate such bonds.”  Twilight dropped her scowl and replaced it with a pleading expression.  “Please mother, listen to me.  They are innocent of the crimes you accuse them of.  If there is anyone that you must hold responsible, then blame me.  I gathered them.  I led them through the Everfree Forest.  I gave them the Elements.  I united them against you.  Your treatment of them is unjust.  Their imprisonment is unjust.   You of all ponies should feel sympathy for unjust punishments!”

Luna flinched as if Twilight had struck her.  Then her face hardened into a cold glare that sent shivers down Twilight’s spine.  Without taking her eyes from Twilight, she spoke to the lunar pegasi.

“Leave us.”

Immediately they left without question, leaving mother and daughter alone in the throne room.  The silence they left in their wake was akin to that of a tomb.  The two alicorns stood apart, both of them as unyielding as mountains.

“Twilight.” Luna said quietly. “I forgave you the moment I realized who you were-“

“And if you hadn’t?”  Twilight interrupted.  “Would my fate be any different from theirs?”

Luna stopped short and pawed the floor in frustration.  “I do not know.  But that is not what happened, for which I am thankful.”  Her face softened considerably.  “The thought of you in chains…pains me more than I can say.”

Twilight nodded, relaxing her stern posture a little.  “I know.  But you can’t imprison them and not me, not when I am more at fault then they are.  That is hypocrisy.”

“I know that.”  Luna snapped.  “That is not why I have them under lock and key.  Their potential to act against us is just too great.  I will not take that chance, not when you are in danger.”

That derailed Twilight’s train of thought completely.  “Danger? You think my friends are potentially dangerous to me?!”

“Yes.”

“That’s preposterous!  They would never-“

“And I thought the same of Celestia once.”  Luna said softly.  “We too were united with the Elements, just like you and those ponies.  We were everything to each other, through thick and thin.  We were as close as sisters could be, inseparable.  But it didn’t last forever.”

“What happened?”  Twilight asked sadly.  “What could have possibly come between you?”

Luna looked reluctant, but she replied anyway.  “It wasn’t that something came between us, but that we drifted apart.  Pulled in different directions.  When we first took the throne together, everything was bliss.  We were happy, our ponies were happy, and the possibilities of a grand future seemed endless.  But it was not to last.  Celestia had her duties in the day, and I at night.  Our ponies, as was their nature, began to choose between the two of us.  Deciding who was better and who was not.  In time, this grew into fear.  Fear for me, and fear for those who followed me.  And as their fear for me grew, so did their adoration for my sister too.  And Celestia loved it.  She grew drunk on their praises, and drowned herself in their devotion.  Their infatuation with her blinded Celestia.  She could not see their cruelty, or their hatred.  I rescued the lunar pegasi from genocide, and I was loathed for it.  I patrolled their dreams, keeping the nightmares at bay, and I was hated for it.  Their fear and ignorance grew into hatred and arrogance, and Celestia refused to see it.  Not even for the sake of her own sister.”

Twilight walked forward a little, trying to bridge the gap between her and her mother, but Luna continued.

“I could have lived with that.  I might have endured.  But something happened that changed everything, and I realized I couldn’t let things continue as they were.”

“What?  What happened?”

Luna stared directly into Twilight’s eyes.

“You, Twilight.  You happened.  Your birth is the greatest thing to ever happen to me.  You are more precious to me then anything.  I would trade my throne, my crown, my moon and my life before I would see you come to harm.”  Luna’s voice turned icy cold and hateful.  “And the ponies of Equestria hated you because you were my daughter.  An innocent foal, barely old enough to crawl and still they despised you.  Just because of who you were.  If you had been Celestia’s foal, they would have celebrated, but because you were mine, they cursed you.” 

Luna closed her eyes and trembled a little, as if trying to shake off a bad memory.  “And then…oh Twilight forgive me…I failed!  FAILED!  You were taken from me!  I had never been more scared in my life.  They didn’t care that you were innocent.  The ponies that stole you had every intention of burning you alive.  A sacrifice to their twisted and perverse ideology.  I almost lost you to then, but I was able to save you.   But I realized it wouldn’t stop there.  If it happened once, it could happen again.  I knew what I had to do.  I couldn’t wait for ponies to change, I had to take things into my own hooves.  And I did.  But the attempt ended in failure, and I was exiled to the moon.”

Twilight was feeling worse by the minute, and she could feel tears well up in her eyes.  This was not how she had foreseen this meeting would go.  She had never imagined the horrors of what her mother had gone through for all this to happen.

It was tragic, and Luna wasn’t even finished.

“I thought…I thought I had failed again.  And that this time, your life was forfeit for my failure.  I was sure that they would kill you.  And for the entire millennium that I was on the moon, I believed that you had perished.  It broke me.  I don’t know how long I cried in the empty void, mourning for you.  Eventually, the only thing that kept me from taking my own life to end my misery was the thought of avenging you, of returning and bringing my vengeance on Celestia and the world.  To make them suffer as I had suffered.” 

Luna opened her eyes and smiled.  Twilight could see the happiness and love that radiated off of her.  

“Then, a miracle happened.  You survived.  You were alive.  I had no hope of your survival, but I have never been happier to be proven wrong.  And then, when I expected the Elements to banish me again, they did something else.  They healed you, and gave you back to me.  I knew then and there what I had to do.  I would not fail again.  I will not fail again.”

Twilight closed her eyes and shook her head dejectedly.  “I can’t let you try again.  Eternal Night cannot become a reality.”  Twilight reopened her eyes and looked directly into her mother’s.  “I’m sorry, but I will not be your princess.  Not as long as Eternal Night reigns.”

Luna flinched back violently and stared at Twilight as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  “What blasphemy is this?!”  She spat.  “Eternal Night must happen!  A thousand years ago I made the mistake of letting myself slip into Celestia’s shadow.  Ponies saw this as weakness and sought to destroy us!  I will not allow them another chance to take you from me!”  

Twilight refused to back down, even in the face of her mother’s growing fury. 

“Those ponies are gone!  A thousand years have passed, and ponies have changed!  Celestia has changed!  Why can you not see this!”

Her mother stood up angrily to retort but before she did, the doors to the throne room were thrust open violently.  Commander Noctis of the 501st came rushing through with a trio of armored soldiers.  

“Majesty!”  He shouted.  “The prisoners have escaped!  They’ve broken out of the castle and are making their way to the train station!  What are your orders?”

Dammit.

They were trying to escape too soon, and now had forced Twilight’s hoof.  Keeping her eyes on Luna, she addressed Noctis.  

“Do nothing commander.  The prisoners were released under my own authority.”

Noctis stared at her in disbelief, betrayal clearly written over his face.  “You broke them out!?”

Twilight ignored him, choosing instead to continue facing her mother.

Luna only stared at Twilight, clearly not wanting to believe what she was seeing.  Her eyes were wide with shock and confusion, before they narrowed in anger.

“Do you know what you have done?”  She hissed.  “They will betray you, just as the ponies of a thousand years ago betrayed me.  They are not worth your efforts!”

Twilight stood her ground, remaining defiant to the self-declared Empress of Equestria.  “I brought them into this mess, and I will get them out.  They have suffered enough at your hooves.  I will not-“

“Suffered?!”  Luna shrieked.  “I only gave them what they deserved!”

“Deserved?!  They were only in that ruined castle because of me!  They don’t deserve the dungeon!  Fluttershy did not deserve to be crippled!”

Luna looked confused a little at her mention of Fluttershy, but then the confusion cleared away to cold clarity.  She raised an eyebrow at Twilight, but then turned to Noctis.  “Commander, I do not care for the well-being of escaped prisoners.  Bring them back, dead or alive.”

Noctis nodded and he and the other three turned around to carry out her orders, but Twilight used her magic to slam the doors in their faces.  They turned around in impatience and frustration but were clearly reluctant to attack Twilight.

For now at least.

“Why Mother?”  Twilight pleaded, never taking her eyes off of Luna.  “Why did you blind Fluttershy?  She did not deserve your wrath.  The ponies of a thousand years ago are dead and gone, save Celestia.  Their descendants do not deserve your vengeance!”

In clear clipped tones, Luna spoke aggressively.  “You do not know your so-called friends as well as you claim.  I blinded the pegasus because she attempted to use a rare form of mind-control on me that required the use of direct eye contact, and force me against my will.  A crime punishable by death a thousand years ago.  So by comparison, I have been merciful!  Or did your ‘friend’ neglect to tell you this when you sprung her from her cell!”

Twilight was taken aback by her mother’s claim.  Mind control was considered to be one of more shameful acts of magic.  There were three forms of mind control;  Spells by unicorn magic, amulets, and the rarest of form which required direct eye contact.  They were only supposed to be used in emergencies.  The attempt of forcing a sentient being against their will using magic carried a life-long sentence or the death penalty, even today.

“You lie!”  Twilight squeaked.  “Fluttershy bears the Element of Kindness!  It would be against her very nature to even consider doing such a thing!”

“Ah…”  Luna whispered condescendingly.  “But you forget Twilight, that those with the greatest capacity to do good, also have the most potential to do evil!”  She hissed.  “I do not lie to you daughter, not now or ever.  Do not take me for a liar and a fool!”

Twilight shook her head in defiance, and she could feel her wings fan out in a natural aggressive posture.  Now was not the time to let doubt stop her.  Even if her mother was right, that still did not change what Twilight had to do.

“I do not think you a fool mother.”  Twilight said quietly.  “But do not think me one either.  This night has lasted long enough.  Lower the moon, raise the sun.  Release Celestia wherever she is and stop chasing my friends!  That is my demand, and that is my wish.  It is time for this madness to end.”

Luna stared at Twilight in utter shock.  “Are you…Are you challenging me!?”

“Only if you persist.”  Twilight tried to reason.  “I do not want to fight you Mother…”

“And I, you.”  Luna said firmly.  Her draconic eyes glittered dangerously.  “But I will do whatever necessary to protect you, even if it is from yourself!  You are still disillusioned by my fool of a sister!  I cannot allow you to persist in this folly!”

“Your Eternal Night is not protecting me Mother!  Please!  I beg you!  You must lower the moon, it is your duty!”

Her mother’s eyes widened and she stared at Twilight as if seeing a ghost.

“That’s…”  Luna whispered.  “That’s just what she said…just before she banished me.”  Her eyes glared holes through Twilight and her lips curled back in an enraged snarl.  “Celestia has poisoned you against me!  You must see that!”

“No.”  Twilight shouted.  “It is you who must see!  Celestia loves me-“

“She does NOT!!”  Luna shrieked furiously.  She stamped her iron-clad hoof on the ground, shattering the tiled floor.  “I am your mother-“

“Celestia has been more of a mother to me than you’ve ever been!”   Twilight yelled back.  Immediately she knew that it was her anger speaking, not her heart.  She wished she could take it back, but she couldn’t.  She wanted to tell Luna she loved her, but the consequences of her outburst were too late to stop.

Luna started hyperventilating, and Twilight watched in fear as her horn starting bursting wildly, blue magic flying randomly in all directions.  Her eyes dilated and Luna wheezed as if in pain.  She hunched over and sobbed bitterly, looking to all the world as if she was broken and lost.  

Then all hell broke loose.

With the sound of a hurricane, Luna unleashed a terrible wail of anguish in despair.  Her eyes closing in pain as she yelled to the heavens.  The sound was too deafening to comprehend and all the windows burst open at the force of her screams.  Tears fell furiously to the floor as she slammed her hooves repeatedly into the ground, shaking the whole castle.  Dust fell from the ceiling and it seemed as if the very mountain trembled beneath her mother’s despair.  All the lights and candles blinked out and submerged the castle in darkness.  Twilight could hear Noctis and his soldiers flee in fear as they witnessed their liege’s misery.  Magic flew wildly around as Luna lost all control of herself.  The wind from her mother’s screaming threatened to blow her off the mountain, but Twilight dug in with her magic and remained firm.  Curtains, banisters, and tapestries tore loose from their holsters and flew away like leaves in the wind.

Then as soon as it begun, the screaming stopped, leaving a dead silence.   Twilight could barely see anything, as it was too dark.  She stumbled around a little before regaining her bearings.

A voice, drowned in sadness and tinged with madness broke the silence of the night.  It echoed throughout the remains of the throne room, and seemed to surround Twilight.

“Know this, daughter, that I do this for your own good.  Celestia has turned you against me, and thus you are a danger to yourself.  But do not worry, MY little star, I will protect you.  You willsee the truth of my sister’s folly and I WILL have you back!  NOTHING shall stop me…not even YOU!!”


The eerie glow of her mother’s powerful magic was the only thing to light the throne room.  Twilight stared in absolute horror as she beheld her mother’s demented form.  Luna’s eyes were glowing blue with absolute power.  Her fur stood on end as the very air crackled around her.  She stood as if to pounce on Twilight, her eyes never wavering from her face.

This was not Luna that Twilight had come to love, but her mask, the dread Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare Moon had returned.

And Twilight was her prey.

The time for talk was past.

Now was the time to run.

Using her magic, Twilight teleported quickly out of the throne room into an abandoned hallway.  Thinking fast, she sent out several tongues of flame from her horn to re-light the castle.  It seemed that all the other ponies had abandoned the castle out of fear of Nightmare.  The torches, at least the ones still intact, quickly alit with purple flames, casting a pale light along the deserted castle corridors.  

Twilight gasped in shock.  She had clearly underestimated the damage done to the castle by her mother’s screams.  Cracks were numerous and the stone shattered in hundreds of places.  All the windows were destroyed, letting the pale moonlight in.  

She didn’t know what to do.  All her plans for this confrontation had gone right out the window.  Twilight had succeeded for the moment in distracting her mother from her friend’s escape, but she was no where closer to halting Eternal Night.  

Twilight sat down and took a few calming breaths, putting her back against the wall.  She knew she didn’t have much time, it was all but assured that Nightmare would come after her.

But what could be done?  She had sent her friends on their way for their own protection, and they were in no shape to wield the Elements.

A thought struck her.

Celestia had wielded the Elements by herself once.  Maybe Twilight could too.

But how?

A voice interrupted her.  It echoed around the deserted castle like a broken record.

“Tttttwwwiiiilllliiiiigggghhht….Ttttwwwwiiiiiilliiiiiggggghhhhhhtttt……where arrrrrreee yoouuuu?”


Fear unlike anything she had ever felt before bolted through Twilight.  Her heart traitorously beat louder as if calling out in surrender to her hunter.

“Come out…come out…wherever you are…”


Her very voice sent shivers of terror down Twilight’s spine.  This was not at all what she had planned to do.  She had envisioned a grand duel, not hide-and-seek in the dark, with Twilight turning tail and running.

But she was scared.  Was that so wrong?

Insane giggling crept down the corridor…and it was getting closer.

“Silly little filly…you cannot hide from MAMA!”

Before Twilight could so much as let out a scream, the rug underneath her swept out from under her.  Scrambling back onto her hooves, she looked up and screamed.

The rug had taken the shape of a snake, with ropes for fangs and carpet for scales.  It’s eyes were the same pale blue as Nightmare’s magical glare.  It wrapped its coils around Twilight’s struggling form, entrapping her until its master could arrive.

“Snakes!”  Twilight screeched, not caring if Nightmare heard her.  “Why’d it have to be snakes!”

She quickly lashed out with her magic and set the rug-snake on fire.  It hissed in anger and pain and immediately set her loose.  Twilight galloped away until she turned around and sent another lance of fire straight at the abomination.  The old carpet quickly caught fire and the monster thrashed around as it turned black and crumbled to cinders.

Not wanting to be caught, Twilight wasted no time in leaving the ashes behind.  She lit up her horn to teleport away, but to her  shock she discovered she couldn’t.

Nightmare had cast a enchantment on the castle, preventing any and all types of teleportation.

She was trapped in the castle.

The voice came again.

“Naughty, naughty Twilight…no cheating…”

Even though she had run away, her mother’s voice was still getting closer!


“We played this game before…haven’t we?”

Twilight didn’t answer.

“Surely you must remember…you would run away from me and I would chase you…but the thing was, I always got you in the end…”


She prayed feverishly she could break her mother’s winning streak, if this was a game they were playing.

Twilight decided she couldn’t be still and let Nightmare find her, so she cast a silencing spell on her hooves and started to creep down the hallway.  The castle was completely silent, as if no pony had ever lived inside it.  The purple light from her magical flames flashed like ghosts, casting deep shadows on the ruined masonry.  Twilight reached the corner and silently slipped  around it…

And met two draconic eyes…and a bright jagged smile.

“GOTCHA!”

The shadows leaped up as if alive and whirled around Twilight like ropes caught in a tornado.  Faster and faster they spun as they created a cocoon around Twilight, all while her mother laughed insanely from the sidelines.

Twilight was lifted from the floor as the shadows closed in faster, thinking quickly, she unleashed beams of purple light to dispel the shadows, but the two clashed as they fought for dominance.  The darkness was trying to suppress the light while the light fought to break free.  On and on they flickered back and forth, but slowly the darkness was closing in around Twilight.

She began panicking.  What could she do?  Twilight was an alicorn reborn but her mother was an experienced celestial being with the might of the night!

No!  I can’t let it end like this!

As her light receded, giving way to darkness, Twilight reached down deep inside herself.  Trying to find the strength to push back the shadows.

She found something.  A power that was aa much a part of her as she was a part of it.  Something that she had never felt before, and yet it had always been there, just out of her reach.

Twilight called to it, and the Stars answered her.

In a tremendous wave of purple light, Twilight’s magic burst forth like a raging supernova and pummeled the darkness until it was no more.  The light shot through the castle and illuminated it like a jack-o-lantern, making it a beacon that could be seen for miles around as if a lighthouse was on Canterhorn Mountain.

Using that same magic, Twilight flew like a shooting star through the castle’s corridors, away from her mother.

And still Nightmare sang. 

“Run, run, as fast as you can.  You can’t escape me, I’m the Mare in the Moon!”


Shaking off her fear, Twilight tried to ignore her mother’s eerie singing as she zoomed to her destination.

She now had a plan.

Bursting back into the throne room, Twilight skidded to a stop and quickly dispelled the ancient magic, lest her mother use it to track her before she was ready.

Working fast, Twilight started etching a rune circle into the floor of the castle.  Twilight had to get the Elements, and in order to do that, she needed to get them out of her mother’s dimensional pocket.  To do that, she would lure Nightmare here where she would cancel out all the magic around her temporarily, thereby freeing the Elements.  Once they were free, Twilight would try to use them to lower the moon and bring back the sun.

Nightmare’s voice echoed through the castle like a haunting spirit.

“So…found some new toys my little foal?  I always knew you were destined for greatness, my little Stars.  Just as I am the Moon, You are the Stars.  Together…we are the Night!”


Twilight worked faster, using all her knowledge as she weaved together the complicated spell.  She etched and ingrained the runes with her magic, panting from the effort as she hurried about.

The sound of iron-shod hooves clip clopped down the corridor, slowly approaching the throne room.

Twilight was running out of time.

Her mother was singing her a broken lullaby.

“Twinkle, Twinkle, little star.  How I wonder where you are.  Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky.  Twinkle, Twinkle, little star.  How I wonder where you are…”

Twilight finished the runes, and in an attempt to prevent her mother from seeing it, she scattered the dust from the ruined stonework in order conceal it before hastily making her way to the two thrones.  Standing before them, Twilight faced the doors.  Waiting.

She didn’t have to wait long.

Creaking open like rusty gates, the doors slowly swung open to reveal the black specter of her mother.

For what seemed like an eternity, mother and daughter stared at each other.  A small smile crept across Nightmare’s face as she began walking towards Twilight.

“You’re not running away?”

“No.”

“Ahh…but I enjoyed our little game.”

“I didn’t.”

“Such a pity, you used to love this game.  It was your favorite.  You used to squeal and laugh when I caught you.  Laugh for me Twilight.”

Twilight didn’t laugh, instead she focused on her mother’s footsteps as she walked closer and closer to the center of the rune circle.

But Twilight had to try, one last time.

“It doesn’t have to be this way Mother.  I love you…please…don’t make me do this.”  Twilight let real tears leak down her face as she pleaded.  “Celestia will forgive you…all of Equestria will too.  Just give them a chance…please…for me.”

Her mother halted, and Twilight waited with bated breath as she thought Luna would accept.

But Nightmare shook her head, and all of Twilight’s hopes were crushed.

“I cannot daughter.  They would only destroy us.  I am sorry.”

Twilight bent down and wept.  “S-So am I.” 

And Twilight sprung her trap.

The rune circle came alive with purple flames leaping from the etch marks embedded in the castle floors.  Nightmare gasped in surprise as she was caught in the center of it.  Before the lunar alicorn could react, the circle took effect and her dimensional pocket containing the Elements was violently discharged in an explosion.  Nightmare flew back and crashed into the opposite wall, sliding to the floor in a crumpled heap.  The Elements, freed from the prison, clattered to the floor.

Twilight leapt up and ran as fast as she could to the crown which bore the Element of Magic.  She reached out with her magic towards it, almost grasping it-

But chains, forged from moonlight, attached themselves to her legs and brought her to the floor.  Twilight shouted in frustration as she continued reaching for the Elements, but she could feel her magic slowly being drained away from her into the chains.

Twilight sobbed.

I failed.

She heard Nightmare return to her hooves, and the chains began dragging Twilight to her mother’s feet.  Once there, Twilight could see a spell forming on her mother’s horn.

“Mom…”  Twilight begged.  “Please…”

But her mother paid her no heed, and bent down until the tip of her horn touched Twilight’s.

“I will make you see.”

And all became darkness… 



> Chapter 14:  Nightmare Nova
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ponyville Town Armory

Cadance





A storm approached.

The clinking of armor could be heard in the small shed as the guards around her shuffled through the equipment.  It was hardly the thick iron plates stored in Canterlot Castle, but it was something.  Standard procedure dictated that all towns under the Crown of Equestria had to possess a cache of armor for militia in case of an emergency. 

With great sorrow, Cadance knew it was not enough.  No matter the courage or bravery of her loyal guards, they could not overcome the strength of the Nightmare’s Legions.

Not without help.

“What will we do Shining?”  Cadance asked somberly.  

Her captain looked on at his troops and sighed, shaking his head.  “I don’t know.  I only have around fifty guards here, the others that were with us were either recaptured before we managed to escape or they have fled elsewhere.  I can only guess at how many Imperial Soldiers there are garrisoned in Canterlot.”

Cadance closed her eyes, her frustration mounting.  Twilight was there in the castle all by herself fighting that monster.  So much had transpired in so little time.  

I feel so useless.

She was a princess.  A sovereign of the Equestrian Nation.  It was her solemn duty to make the hard decisions.  The Greater Good, her aunt had called it.  The decisions and sacrifices a princess made for the greater part of the realm.

Cadance steeled her face into a regal mask.  “Captain.”  Shining’s ears twitched in concern as he turned to look at her.  She only used his title when she was upset.  “If the situation were different, and it were not Twilight in Canterlot Castle, what would your advice be for me?”

Shining’s ears flattened against his head as he stared at Cadance.  She knew he would reach the same conclusion she had, no matter how he wanted it to be otherwise.  He was a leader, a strategist, it was second nature for him to think of these things.

“If it were not Twilight…I would send you to Cloudesdale with our fifteen pegasi guards.  If I know Spitfire, she’s already made plans to overthrow the garrison there.”

Cadance searched her memory.  “Spitfire…the Wonderbolt flight commander?”

Shining nodded.  “Spitfire is one of the most talented and skilled flight commanders in the world.  She’s also the most stubborn mare I have ever met.  Spitfire is also a cunning officer.  She would not have been captured with the other guards.  Spitfire would have hidden herself at the first sign of trouble and taken her officers with her.  Cloudesdale is the home of a large amount of retired veterans from the Royal Guard, the perfect place to recruit for an uprising.  Cloudesdale has always been a militant society, ever since the days of it’s founding by Commander Hurricane.  I would send you there because it is the best chance to survive Nightmare’s wrath.  Now that she’s out in the open, it will be much harder to catch us by surprise again.”

Cadance nodded, but a concerning thought came to her.  “What about you?  Where would you go, there are spells for Unicorns to walk among the clouds, but those only last so long and take a lot of energy.  That’s why in ancient times no Unicorn or Earth Pony army could conquer a pegasus city.  Earth Pony’s don’t have the magic, and it would take a powerful unicorn to cast even one cloud-walking spell, let alone hundreds.  Where would you go?”

Shining sighed and shuffled his hooves, turning back to look at his stallions while they strapped their armor on.  “South, I think.  Towards the Appleloosa Territory and Dodge City.  The Earth Ponies there are fiercely independent, but with a strong sense of loyalty to Celestia.  I could start gathering volunteers there, far from the Legion’s strongholds in the more populated cities.”

He sighed bitterly.  “Of course, none of that would matter since within a week’s time, everything would be dead or dying from the cold.  I can formulate a plan for resisting tyranny, I can’t find a solution for the world dying.”  Shining glanced back at Cadance.  “Are you sure you can’t do anything about that.”

Cadance shook her head.  “No.  I can’t.  My Domain is over Love and Family, I have no authority over the heavens.  Nightmare Moon does, and that bothers me to no end.  Her existence bothers me to no end.  How could the Moon choose her?”

Shining looked at her in confusion.  “I don’t understand.  Choose her?”

Cadance nodded thoughtfully. “When I Ascended, Celestia instructed me on the nature of Deep Magic, the magic Alicorns govern.  Deep Magic is so powerful and unpredictable that no mortal magician can constrain or control it.  The ancient unicorns who cycled day and night could only guide it, never control.  Celestial Mechanisms such as Day and Night choose those that would wield them, forming a permanent bond with them.  That is what gives alicorns their immortality.  The Sun chose Celestia to be her champion, just as Love chose me.  If the soul-mark on Nightmare Moon’s flank is true, then the Moon chose her as well, which is what bewilders me.  It got me to wondering, and I think that at one time, Celestia may have only cycled the sun.  Because she already had control of one part of the cycle, she may have been able to extend her influence over others as well if there was no one else to stop her.”

“But when would that have been?  For the longest time only Celestia has cycled day and night, she has been for as long as anyone knows, and the oldest records go back a thousand years.”

Cadance’s mouth dropped open and she turned sharply to Shining.  “What did you say?”

“…the oldest records go back a thousand years?”

Cadance stood up and walked out.  Her mind churned with a hundred different thoughts.  Words, snippets, small pieces of information started forming a disturbing image.

“Shining…”  She whispered hoarsely.  “The Legend of Nightmare Moon traces back a thousand years, around the same time all the royal records disappeared in an unknown catastrophe.  The Summer Celebrations have been going on for a thousand years.  Twilight said she was a thousand years old.  This is far too many coincidences to be mere coincidence.”

“But…Twilight is enchanted-“

“But what if she isn’t?”  Cadance cut him off.

…

“Cadance…that’s impossible.”

She turned to look at Shining with trepidation.  “If Twilight was enchanted…then how was she able to let us go?  How could she if she was under Nightmare Moon’s spell?”

A worm of doubt flickered across his face before it was replaced by a fierce scowl that Cadance rarely saw directed her way.

“If that were true Cadance, then what you are suggesting is that Twilight has been freely collaborating with the enemy.”  An eyebrow rose in skepticism.  “It would also mean that she believes that she is in fact Nightmare Moon’s daughter.”  He shook his head in rejection.  “Twilight is no fool, she wouldn’t be taken in under some trick or fabrication, and she’s too smart for that.  It would only be logical that she is under an enchantment.”

Cadance mulled his words over but ultimately dismissed them.  Things were looking clearer yet darker at the same time.  She recalled the conversations she had with Twilight.  She had disregarded them at the time as falsehoods forced upon her by Nightmare’s enchantment.  

But now they were looking all too damning.  

But Shining too had a point.  There was just too many contradictions that it was too confusing to understand it all.

She needed more facts.  But where would she get them? 

Perhaps the mares that Twilight had rescued along with them might have some other tidbits of this larger mystery.  When they had returned to Ponyville, the five mares along with Spike had holed up in the town library.  Cadance had healed all their injuries, except for the blind pegasus.  She would need more time and study to lift such a dark wound.  

She turned around and left the armory, Shining trailing behind her while the guards continued to organize the armor and weapons.

“Cadance, where are you going?”

“To the library, perhaps Spike and those mares will have more to tell us.”  

The walk along the road was quiet.  Cadance glanced at some of the houses, catching glimpses of ponies watching her as she walked down their street.  They watched her as if she were some dangerous predator stalking their homes.  It hurt her that her ponies were scared of her presence.

Shining noticed her looks.  “Don’t give it much thought Cadance, they’re all frightened.  Any town that had been attacked personally by Nightmare would be.”

Cadance nodded, but his words did little to assuage the guilt.  She couldn’t help but feel responsible for their fear.  Her failure to protect her nation in their time of need was too terrible of a burden.  The eyes that stalked her only made that burden feel more real.

“What did the Mayor have to say?”  Shining had talked earlier with the leading town official, Mayor Mare.  

“She wouldn’t outright say it, but I got the feeling that she wants us to leave as soon as possible.  The Mayor is loyal of course, but she fears for Ponyville.  Unfortunately, I agree with her.  When Nightmare discovers that we escaped, and that we are here, this small town will be caught in the crossfire when she sends Imperial Troops, which is if she of course doesn’t come herself.”

Cadance nodded.  “How soon do you think?”

“How soon until Nightmare discovers we escaped?”

“Yes.”

Shining sighed unhappily.  “That depends on how long Twilight occupies her time.”

Cadance glanced at him in concern.  “What…What do you think will happen to her?”

She knew as well as he did that Twilight was no match for Nightmare Moon.  The demon had personally defeated Celestia, a feat that had been at one time unthinkable.  Twilight had already been beaten before by Nightmare, and Cadance could only coldly conclude that it would happen again.  Cadance considered herself to be an optimist, but she wouldn’t delude herself either.  She wasn’t a fool.

Shining looked miserable.  She knew how much it cut him up that they couldn’t charge in to at least try to rescue Twilight.  “I don’t know.  I don’t think that Nightmare will kill her, that’s the only reason why I’m not going back right this moment.  Nightmare enchanted her for some reason, that would explain why she would present Twilight as a princess.  Perhaps she intended to use Twilight to legitimize her throne, since Twilight is Princess Celestia’s apprentice.”  He shook his head.  “Either she will imprison her or re-enchant her.  Other than that I don’t-“

Shining stopped.

Cadance turned and looked at him curiously, he was staring up at the sky.  She too glanced up to see if she could catch what had stolen his attention.

What she saw she would never forget.

The black expanse of the Night sky enveloped their world in every direction.  Before the events of the Summer Celebration, it had always been a source of peace and introspection for the young alicorn.  But now it was a constant reminder of the fear and danger that faced their world.  A promise of a slow and cold death.  The Moon and Stars that innocently shone in the black void now mocked her of her failure.

Now they filled her with terror.

The Stars were going out.

One by one, the small orbs of light along the horizon surrounding them winked out.  It was like candles being snuffed out by a sudden burst of air, blinking out of existence.  Cadance watched in horror as more and more Stars disappeared with increasing speed, leaving behind only the dark and oppressing void.

Others noticed.

Doors creaked open and windows were slowly un-shuttered as ponies gazed up at their sky in fear and trepidation.  The guards filed out of the armory, stunned into silence as they saw the disappearance of celestial monuments that were older than the most ancient of civilizations.

Constellations faded from existence as the stars that told their tale were seemingly swallowed by the oncoming darkness.

Once there were millions, then there thousands, now there were hundreds.  More and more were snuffed out of sight with every passing moment.

Only one remained.

It was the brightest star in the sky, the crown jewel of a thousand beautiful lights.  Its light slowly struggled between strength and weakness, a lonely beacon among horde of darkness.

Then it too disappeared into nothing, leaving only the pale moon behind.

“Shining!  Shining!”  Cadance whispered fearfully, her eyes roving across the empty sky.  “What is happening?”

“I…”  Shining suddenly seemed small under this most terrifying display.  “I don’t know Cadance…”

The sound of hurried hoof caught her attention and Cadance saw the very five mares she had been going to find approaching, along with a mesmerized Spike.  They were all staring up, not believing their own eyes.

The white one…Rarity, she recalled, looked to Cadance with worried eyes.  “Princess, what has happened?”

Ponies all around her moved closer, their scared voices echoing the unicorn’s question.  They all looked to her, searching their princess for an answer.  Without a doubt, ponies and others everywhere around the world were staring up now in great terror at the lonely Moon.

The only one who didn’t seem to know what was happening was the blind pegasus, Fluttershy.  She was led by the blue pegasus called Rainbow Dash.

“Dash!  What’s going on?”  The poor pony shook her head from side to side.  She had a blindfold over her eyes, probably to stop her unseeing orbs from disturbing anyone else.

Rainbow Dash had no answer.  Cadance had no answer.  What did one say when the stars go out?

But then the wind answered.

It came like a hurricane, rustling the trees and making the houses to creak and groan.  Howling like a tempest, the wind twisted and trailed through the town as if it fled from some unknown terror.

Cadance turned into the wind, the harsh air whipping through her mane as she searched for the source of the sudden gust.  But though her eyes attempted to pierce the darkness beyond the town, all she could perceive were the faint glowing lights of Canterlot in the distance.

But then descending from the skies, a great column of flame swept down on the far side of the town, consuming several houses in an instant.  Screaming broke out as ponies screamed in agony and pain. 

A night that had been consumed by darkness, now burst into terrible red light.

“Form ranks!”  Shining shouted above the din of the burning.  Earth ponies and unicorn guards formed a circle with Cadance and Shining at its center.  The pegasi guards flew up above them, looking towards the burning houses through the smoke.

Cadance coughed out a lungful of smoke.  She did not know what had attacked, but she had a duty to protect her subjects.  “Captain!  Get these ponies out of here!”  She kept looking all around them to find the source of the fire.  But try all she might, all Cadance could see was the empty dark sky.

Shining acknowledged and sent a lieutenant with six earth pony guards to start moving the citizens towards the opposite side of town.  
None needed encouragement, the ponies practically scrambled over each other in their panic to escape.

Again from the skies a burst of flame descended, consuming more houses.  Fresh screams of fear and pain arose as ponies fled.

The pink alicorn looked everywhere twisting her neck frantically back and forth, but all she could see was the bleak and empty sky that mocked her.  The fire was bursting as if from nowhere.  What could she do if she couldn’t see what was attacking them?

Cadance watched as Shining barked out more orders, but was distracted by the mare Rainbow Dash flying up to her.  

“Princess!  I’m Ponyville’s weathermare, I’ll get some rainclouds for the fire!”  Then before Cadance could say anything, the pegasus flew off in a great hurry.

The mare with the stetson hat was talking loud enough for the alicorn to hear her above the chaos reigning around them.

“Rarity!  Take Fluttershy with them towards mah farm!  I got to get mah family!”  She too galloped off, weaving through the growing crowd as it moved towards the Everfree Forest in the distance.  Rarity, Fluttershy, and the once called Pinkie Pie ran away, helping their blind friend flee.

Spike ran up to Cadance pointing with his claws.  “Look there!”

Cadance and her guards turned towards where he was pointing just in time to see a shadow, silhouetted against the flames and smoke fly down just as it threw down another great tongue of fire, sending more houses up in smoke.

“Dragon!”  Was Shining’s cry.  The unicorn guards fired off lances of burning magic wildly into the dark, hitting nothing while the earth ponies closed in tighter while they hefted their thick shields and spears in an intimidating wall of iron.  Shining’s horn steadily glowing brighter with magic as he prepared to cast a shield to protect the town.  He turned to the unicorn guards with a fierce scowl.  “Send up flares!  Light the area so we can see the target!”  He turned to Cadance.  “I need time to throw up a shield to protect the town.  ”

Cadance shook her head, watching more ponies flee.  She knew what it was they faced.  “It’s not a dragon!  It has to be Nightmare, only an alicorn could fly and perform magic at the same time!”

Shining paled as he stared at her.  “Then you have to go.  Now!”  He turned to the pegasus guards.  “Take the princess to Cloudesdale!  Get in touch with Flight Commander Spitfire!”

“No Shining!”  Cadance, not moving from his side.  She glared at down at him fiercely as she motioned for the pegasus guards to ignore his order.  “I’m not leaving you here to face her alone!”

“Damn it Cadance!”  Shining growled as he searched the darkness fearfully.  “We can’t defeat her!  You have to go now before it’s too late!  Equestria needs its princess!”

Another great wall of flames hammered down upon Ponyville in a great torrent of destruction.  The town hall and a sweet shop both were devoured as the fire flew torched them in a single blast.  More and more houses were catching on fire as the wind spread the inferno, leaving only blackened skeletons behind.

Cadance heard the flapping of large wings flying through the plume of smoke beyond.  Shining swung his helmet towards it and pointed the sword he got from the armory.  “Open fire!”

The unicorns fired off more lances of magic towards the sound, piercing the smoke like arrows.  But for all their fearsome power, the spells vanished into nothing, not hitting anything.  The guards all looked this way and that, trying to find their foe.  The wind continued to hiss and swirl around them in a terrible storm of fire and smoke.  

Spike gasped, staring aghast at a burning oak tree.  “The library!  Twilight’s stuff is in there!”  He ran on his small feet towards the large tree as fire licked the bark tauntingly.  

“No Spike wait!”  Cadance screamed.  She had to stop him, or send him somewhere else.  Twilight would never forgive her if something happened to Spike on her watch.  Foregoing the protection of her guards, she leaped over their wall of shields as she chased after Spike who was now running through the open doorway.

Shining’s frantic voice chased after her.  “Cadance no!”

BOOM!!!

The explosion shook the earth and shattered the air.  Cadance was lifted off her hooves as the concussive force threw her backwards.  She tumbled through the air until she skidded along the ground.  She coughed as Shining helped her back to her feet.  Cadance looked up from the ground through teary eyes as she beheld Spike’s fate.

It was gone, destroyed.  The burning library tree had a terrible beauty to it as the flames danced along its blackened bark.  Ash and smoke rose from the now hollow trunk as burning books and paper rained down all around.

Spike was nowhere to be seen.

“Spike…no…”  Cadance cried.

Shining too had tears but he would not be dissuaded as he picked her up and slung her on a pegasus’s back like a saddle bag.  “Go!  Go now to Cloudesdale!  We’ll buy you as much time as we can!”

But then a voice, sharp as iron and cruel as death drowned out the noise of the destruction around them.

“Cadenza!”

Answering the challenge, Cadance leaped off the pegasus’s back and drew herself to her full height.  She let her full power flow through her in her grief and rage.  The air popped and crackled around her as lightning danced all around her grieving form.  Her eyes brimmed with power as she let them turn into light filled orbs.  She knew that strength alone couldn’t put down the Nightmare, but she was tired of running.  Celestia was imprisoned or dead, Twilight was who knew where, and Spike had just been taken before her very eyes.

Mi Amore Cadenza would run no more.

“Here I am you monster!”  

A vision of black flew through flames of the library, paying no heed to the fire that danced around her.  Cadance let her magic flow through her as she let loose a devastating torrent of energy towards the black monstrosity.   Alicorn magic focused into a singled deadly arrow of white light hurtled at her foe only to be met by a black beam of Dark Magic.  The two colossal spells collided in mid-air, sending off a blast of concussive force that caused the very ground to tremble.

Taking no heed of the blast Cadance sent forth more lances of magic even as the black alicorn did the same in a shocking display of Dark Magic.  Lightning flickered all around them as their magic collided back and forth in a beautiful dance of death and destruction as both alicorns tried to land a lethal blow on the other.

Cadance barely caught a glimpse of Shining as he and the other guards rushed forward towards the black demon with spears, spells, and swords even as she continued to send a barrage of magic at the Nightmare. 

Their weapons never even made contact.  Just as they neared her the black figure ceased launching spells at Cadance long enough to evade the white lance of magic that sped past her and launch back into the blank sky.  Shining and the unicorns fired up more spells at the Nightmare but their magic was easily reflected off a shimmering obsidian shield.  

Before Cadance or anyone else could react, another streak of black lightning flew down towards Shining and his guards but Shining was able to erect a strong shield just before it hit them.

But it didn’t stop.

More lightning poured down and all around them, sowing great streaks of black ash into Ponyville’s streets.  Cadance quickly formed a small shield around herself just as the fringe of the lightning storm erupted around her.

Cadance could see that Shining was sweating as he poured his magic into the shield even as more Dark Magic thundered down at him.  Her eyes widened in fear as cracks begin to appear in the once seamless shield, spreading quickly as the Dark Magic overpowered her captain’s strength.

Then in a great explosion, Shining’s shield was destroyed and fire erupted all around her as her guards were flung back like rag dolls.  They crashed into disheveled heaps around the area, all seemingly unconscious.  Shining himself flew into a burning house across the courtyard, crashing through the upper story and out of sight.

Familiar laughter rained down from the shadow above her.

Twilight’s laughter.

Cadance found herself petrified as the black alicorn landed across from her, placing herself between Cadance and where Shining had disappeared.  

Blood red eyes that reflected the fire stared hatefully into her own.  A coat that had once sported majestic purple fur was now an inky black.  Her mane was a ruffled black mess with a streak of poisonous purple and crimson.  A mouth that once showed her nothing but smiles now sneered at her in disdain.

A pony she loved as her own sister was now trying to kill her.

“NO!!”  Cadance screamed, horrified by what her eyes told her.  She stepped back, trembling all the while as she stared in absolute terror at the pony she had just tried to kill.

The demon wearing Twilight’s face stepped forward menacingly, her ruby red eyes never wavering from Cadance.

“Cadenza…”  The shadow spat.  Her voice was a pale reflection of Twilight’s, a whisper of her voice now laced with poison and hatred.  “Vengeance…is mine.”

“V-Vengeance?!”  Cadance squeaked.  “What has Nightmare done to you?!  How has she cursed you now!?”

Twilight’s new red eyes flashed dangerously as she gritted her teeth in anger.  They, like Nightmare Moon’s, were horrible sharp fangs.

“Don’t you dare speak that way of the Empress!”  Twilight snarled.  “She freed me!!!  I am free!!!  After a thousand years of imprisonment…I am free!!”

Cadance shook her head in hysterics.  This couldn’t be happening!  All her the fight had left her, abandoned her in the light of this harsh reality.

It was all so horribly wrong!  Just moments before, Cadance had been trying her very best to kill Twilight!  A pony she had known since she was a filly!  She felt sick, nauseated, horrified, and disgusted with herself all at the same time.  All this emotion and confusion all rolled up into a mess of absolute horror.

Cadance wept.

“Free?”  She sobbed bitterly.  “Only the most enthralled of slaves would embrace your freedom…”

Twilight lashed out with a hoof and struck Cadance across her face, sprawling her onto the ground.  Her black form towering over the alicorn on the ground.

 “You know nothing!”  Twilight shrieked furiously.  “Celestia made a slave of me!  She made me a tool and a weapon to do what she could not!  Her perfect, precious, puppet!  Her dear, darling, and…most faithful student!”

“Why?”  Cadance cried, she cast her eyes into her tormentor’s in a desperate search for answers.  “Why do you say such things?  Celestia loved you!”

Twilight went berserk.

Yelling in fury and madness Twilight slammed her hooves into Cadance, punching and kicking at anything within her reach.  Cadance winced and raised her hoof up to defend herself, but it was batted aside and a rain of pain and misery was pummeled into her.

Cadance let go and took it, knowing that she deserved this.  She was entitled to this pain, this fate.  She had failed.  Failed Equestria.  Failed Celestia.  Failed Shining.  Failed Twilight.  No matter all that had led to this moment, no matter all that she did not know…

She blamed herself.

Seconds passed into minutes, and still the pounding did not stop.  Over and over again Twilight’s black hooves descended onto her trembling frame, her pink coat darkening into crimson as her blood fled her body.

Then as quickly it had come, the punching ceased.

Cadance twitched in pain on the ground, coughing up blood from her throat as she tried to regain her senses.  She moaned in agony as her body weakly responded to her commands.  Nothing felt broken, though the cuts and bruises that littered her body were too numerous for her to count.

She raised up her head to find Twilight to see that the black alicorn had stepped back and was smiling at her.  Her ruby red eyes shimmered dangerously as they looked upon her like a hunting trophy.

Cadance coughed violently and struggled to regain her breath.  “I’m…so sorry…Twilight…”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed suddenly and her eyes glared holes through Cadance.  “That name…no longer has any meaning for me.”

Cadance shook her head in denial, digging her hooves into the dry dirt in an attempt to stand.  She looked all around her sadly, watching Ponyville burn.  She saw that the town hall, the bakery, and a fashion boutique had already been reduced to cinders among others.  Their black skeletal frames a haunting reminder of what Twilight had done.  

Though her legs trembled, Cadance stood.  She flicked her eyes up to Twilight’s own hateful red orbs.

She smiled.

“No matter what you do… you will always be Twilight...”

The black alicorn snarled.  Her horn shimmered inky black as darkness engulfed it.  Unlike before though she didn’t fly into a frenzy.  Instead Cadance felt herself be picked up in her magic and brought closer to her, gritting her teeth as she was dragged along the ground.

Cadance could have resisted, could have fought back.   She was an immortal alicorn, and she had strength enough to put up a fight.

But she didn’t.

Not against Twilight.

“You know so very little of the world.”  Twilight said condescendingly.  “There are ancient secrets, ancient knowledge of which you are blissfully ignorant.”  A cruel smile graced her lips.  “We stand now in the ruins of this small town, but beneath our hooves lie the bones of the ancient capital of Equestria.  A city that predates Canterlot by centuries, even before the formation of Equestria itself.”

Twilight’s horn grew darker, shadows leaping out from it and into the ground.  The rocks around them shook as…something…awoke beneath them.  The dying houses of Ponyville crumbled into plumes of ash and smoke as their foundations cracked and crumbled.

“Behold…the city of my birth.”

Suddenly plumes of dirt erupted all around them as columns and walls of stone rose from their dark tomb, captivating Cadance with a morbid fascination.  Stone buildings the likes of which she had never seen groaned to life, snapping back together as their foundations were re-laid and their columns restored.  They overthrew Ponyville’s remaining buildings in an upheaval of fire and dirt, at once soothing the fires while simultaneously putting the town out of its misery.  

The cacophony of grating stone and splintering wood overwhelmed her hearing as the alicorn smirked at Cadance, her glowing red eyes never wavering from her.  Even as the fires finally died, the flames in her ruby eyes only shimmered more, as if they would forever contain the moment of Ponyville’s burning.

A city was reborn, even as a town was buried. 

Silence.

All around the two alicorns, the bones of an ancient city stood as silent sentinels over their meeting, stretching on for miles and peeking out of the Everfree Forest like islands in the sea.  The apex of the city centered around a ruined castle at the heart of the Everfree. The city was in no way restored, it was a ruin that was only a shadow of its former self.  A ghost town in every sense of the word.  And yet the architecture whispered of a long lost glory, a past of wealth and knowledge dimmed by its fall.  It appeared that at the height of its power, this city would have surpassed even Canterlot.

“This city was the last host to the thrones of the Sun and Moon.  Sister thrones that gave light and order following an age of darkness and chaos.  For a time, there was peace and prosperity.”

Cadance watched Twilight silently, still trapped within the other mare’s magic.  She was enraptured by what she was saying, and yet baffled by how Twilight knew of these things.  The resurrection of the city was still too stunning to comprehend.

Twilight spoke reverently, as if giving a eulogy for an old friend.  Though her eyes remained on Cadance, she seemed calmer and almost sorrowful as she spun her story.

“Yet it did not last, as one sister shined brighter in the eyes of ponies than the other, diminishing the younger sister’s importance in their minds.  Eventually, their flawed thinking gave way to fear and jealousy, driving the younger sister away even further just as the older was raised on a golden pedestal.”

“The younger sister, though discouraged and heartbroken did not give in to darkness.  Instead she rose above the doubts and fears that plagued her and rescued persecuted ponies much like her.  Ponies that were killed and tortured fore merely being different.  The younger sister took them under her wing and forged them into a nation, a state that would not fall under tyranny and injustice.”

“She didn’t use the rescued ponies’ gratitude to her advantage, not even attempting to set wrongs right by force.  Instead the sister and her small group of ponies worked together to restore themselves and again have a place in Equestria.  They worked for everyone, friends and enemies alike, indiscriminate in their deeds even as those they worked for cursed their existence.”

“Years passed, and the younger sister’s deeds continued to fall into deceitful whispers and rumors, spread by ponies who worshipped the older sister as a goddess and hated the younger sister with every fiber of their black souls.  These ignorant vigilantes plotted and schemed, depicting the younger sister as a horrible monster.”

“Yet still she did not fall into darkness, even as despair knocked on her door.”

“Where was the older sister you might ask?  The answer is that she grew blind in the praise and adoration that was lavished on her.  Arrogant and indifferent to her sister’s plight.  She allowed it to consume her, and by doing that she only increased her little sister’s suffering.”

Twilight’s eyes thinned into slits and she used her magic to bring Cadance inches from her face.  The bloodied alicorn couldn’t help but look directly into her captivator’s blood-red eyes, the other alicorn’s breath brushing up against her face in a harsh and unforgiving whisper.

“One night, the younger sister was gifted with a reprieve from her century old torment.  A light within the darkness.  A child.”

…

“Me.”

“But her enemies discovered the child, and took them from her.  Intending to sacrifice the child in fire on a golden alter to their twisted beliefs.  The younger sister came upon them in force and magic, giving only death to those that dared to harm her child.”

“It was the fear that it could happen again, successfully, that finally pushed the younger sister into the abyss.”

“Thus the younger sister donned the mask and armor of Nightmare Moon, thinking that tyranny would bring the safety and security she desperately desired.  No longer would she bind herself in the shadow of her sister, not when someone she valued more than herself was threatened.”

“The battle between the two sisters leveled this city, driving it’s destruction into the annals of legend and myth.  Days and Nights passed by in a struggle for dominance, interchanging at the whim of fate and force.”

“But a force greater than both the sisters was in play, a power they neither understood nor controlled.  Channeled through six artifacts by the older sister, this power decided the outcome of the battle, and judged its instigators.  The verdict was a thousand years of pain and loneliness on the very thing that made the younger sister who she was.”

“This is the true tale of the Tragedy of Nightmare Moon.”

Cadance could only stare.  A horrible feeling of dread overwhelmed her as all that Twilight had spoken sank in.  She wanted to deny it, realizing that the older sister in the story was Celestia, but at the same time so much was making sense even as the ruins of their ancient battle surrounded them.

Cadance’s voice was just barely above a weak rasp.  “How…How can you…know this…”

“Because I lived it.”  Twilight replied.  “The Empress showed me all of this.  Every second, every hour, every day, of every year.  A thousand lifetimes compressed into few moments.  Millions of thoughts and feelings transferred into mind and memory.  A thousand years of agony on the moon lived in a single thought!”

Twilight was trembling, her red eyes shifting rapidly back and forth as they saw some horror unseen, the memories forced upon her obviously still too fresh. 

Then she stilled, Twilight’s eyes once again boring into Cadance’s.  “Truth set me free.  But freedom is not free.  It is won through pain and determination.  No longer will I live in Celestia’s lies.  The lies she ordained me to live as her precious student with a false family.  I am free from her, from Armor, and from you.”

“Celestia-“

“Celestia sent me against the Empress, with a full awareness of my past.  She imprisoned me under the roof of a family not my own, then trained me to be a weapon against her own sister.”

Twilight stood back from Cadance, anger bristling all over her.

“But getting rid of me only to fight the Empress didn’t satisfy her.  No.  She then replaced me with you!”

Despite herself, Cadance felt a sliver of doubt and betrayal even as she denied it.  “I…could never replace you…Celestia knew that-“

“Then why is your title ‘niece?’”  Twilight snarled.  “When she already had a niece of her own?  A true blood-niece?”  

Twilight hurled Cadance with her magic across the stone courtyard.  She flew through the air and then skidded across the cold stones, halting at the base of a dead fountain.

“How does it feel to be my replacement Cadenza?”  The black alicorn taunted.  

Cadance stood up weakly, having recovered enough to stand again.  “Celestia loved me for me.  Although you think differently, I know in my heart that she would have never tried to do what you propose.  No one could have ever replaced you for her, you were too special to Celestia, Twilight."

“That’s not my name!!!”  Twilight shrieked fiercely.  “Twilight is dead!!  Buried beneath Celestia’s lies and deceit!”  She reared back on her too hooves and stood tall in the ruined city.  “I am a Night Mare!  I am Twilight’s Tomb!  I am the Death of Stars!  I AM NOVA!!”

She brought down her hooves with a thunderous crash, and suddenly the heavens blazed with a thousand lights.

The Stars had returned.

But these stars did not sparkle and shine.  These stars all blazed red like angry sparks.  The shone with a malevolence that made the dark void it had replaced as seemingly indifferent.  Now the whole night sky was tinged crimson, as if it were a bloody sheet suffocating the world.

Yet the Moon remained white.

Nova began stalking towards Cadance, her blood red eyes a perfect twin to the red stars above.

She smiled, her fangs glistening scarlet in the starlight.

“I am Nova, Heir of the Nightmare.  I command thousands of stars…what is one more?”

Then the impossible happened.

The Sun rose.

Eternal Night ended.

But the Nightmare was not over.
> Chapter 15:  Red Dawn
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Old Capital Ruins

Cadance





Dawn.  Sunrise.  Morning.  Words and thoughts which just moments ago seemed unthinkable, let alone possible.

It was also…like no other sunrise ever before seen.

Brimming from just below the horizon the first rays of sunlight tentatively reached out among the fading night sky, as if seeking permission to rise from its resting place.

But mimicking the stars, which still glowed furiously above her, the sun too was clothed in a new shade of color.

Red.

The new sunlight was unnatural.  The Red Sun’s rays of light tinted everything it touched in a crimson bath.  It crawled across Cadance like a perversion of her aunt’s gentle and warm sunlight.  The red light raining down on her made Cadance want to go hide in a hole, run away, or flee.  It was such a fearful sight that her bravery failed her and in that moment she would have done anything to escape the glare of the Red Sun.  The scarlet light that poured forth mocked her with its deception of victory.  What should have been a triumphant return was now a shocking and terrifying display of power.

Words failed Cadance.  Nothing could have prepared her for this.  It was just too many surprises in rapid succession, turning her world upside down with new revelations and breaking down previously firm beliefs.

Silhouetted against the rising Red Sun, Nova sneered down at Cadance.

“Here is my vengeance!  Here is my justice!”

Cadance shook her head, bewilderment and confusion running through her rapidly.  None of this was making any sort of sense.

“Justice?!”  Cadance whimpered in disbelief.  She stepped back and put some distance between herself and Nova, wary of a continuation of her opponent’s attacks, willing her battered body to carry on.  “What have you done to the sun?!”

Nova dismissed her inquiry with a wave of her hoof and stepped closer, magic sparking along her black horn.  “That, Cadenza, is something you can mull over during your stay in Tartarus.  What I do and why I do something is no longer your concern.”

Cadance gasped.  “T-T-Tartarus!”  Even though panic and dread was starting to overcome her shock of seeing the new red sun, Cadance’s mind was still grasping at any information that might prove useful.  “Is that were Celestia is imprisoned?”

Nova’s eyes narrowed and she hissed slightly at the mention of her mentor.  “Say that name again and I might just change my mind about sparing your life.”

Cadance stopped backing up, curiosity getting the better of her.  “You…you’re going to spare my life?”  She couldn’t help but let a hopeful tone leak into her voice.  The thought of this vengeful, hateful, and obviously bloodthirsty version of Twilight being merciful towards one of her supposed betrayers was too bizarre, especially after the beating Nova had already given her.  Perhaps Twilight wasn’t as corrupted as she had originally thought.

“I know what you’re thinking.”  Nova said bluntly.  “Don’t deceive yourself.  It would just be too inconvenient to kill you.”

That didn’t sound promising.  Cadance turned her head, surveying the ruins while also keeping an eye on Nova.  She needed to find Shining and then escape somehow, but she needed more time.

She needed Nova to keep talking.

“How would killing me inconvenience you?”  Cadance inquired.  There was genuine curiosity there among her need to buy more time.  
Nova crept forward, watching Cadance intently.  Still though, Twilight loved to explain things.  It wouldn’t be too farfetched that Nova would as well.

“We’re alicorns Cadenza.  Immortal beings spiritually tied to a permanent fixture of the world.  Age, disease, and necessities such as eating, drinking, and breathing do not hinder us.  We have an extremely high physical endurance and our magic rapidly heals injury.  The Empress’s survival on the moon is an example of all this.  We have a body, so we can be killed just like any other physical entity…with enough persistence that is.”  Nova gave Cadance a twisted smile and an absolutely manic gleam came to her crimson eyes.  “Perhaps after a century of two, once you have been forgotten properly, you and I can…experiment on alicorn endurance.”

Cadance closed her eyes and shivered.  Never…ever…participate in Twilight Sparkle’s experiments.  Memories of a small Twilight pretending to be a mad scientist when she was a filly…a reality she really did not want to be a part of.

There had been too many explosions.

“Killing you would only separate your immortal soul from your body.”  Nova continued.  “From there, nobody knows what would happen since there are no recorded alicorns before the Empress and… and her.  You might manifest another body or come back as a ghost.  You might remain tied to your corpse until a ritual could be performed.  You could be reincarnated tomorrow or a century from now.  I have absolutely no idea.  It would be better to keep you alive where I know what I’m dealing with.”

Cadance glanced to her right, looking through the ruins for a sign of Shining.  She was still on high alert but she was surprised at how much Nova knew for only being an alicorn for less than a week.

“How do you know all this?  Did Nightmare Moon tell you?”

Nova growled.  “You will address her majesty the Empress with respect.  And no, she did not.  It seems that in her spare time…she…researched me while I was imprisoned in that vault beneath Canterlot Castle!  SHE made a whole journal on her research on alicorn biology from studying me!”  

Cadance needed to get Nova off the subject of Celestia.  She was becoming obviously more agitated if the increased twitching of her eye meant the same thing as it did for Twilight.

“What did you mean by ‘once you have been forgotten properly’?”  Cadance probed.  The archway to her right looked promising.  She could see what appeared to be a main street beyond the arch, which probably led to an old gate at the city’s wall if she remembered her ancient Equestrian city layout correctly.  The problem was that there was still no sign of Shining yet, and that had her worried.  She didn’t want to leave him behind: not to the non-existent mercies of his sister.

Nova smirked as her horn shimmered dangerously with Dark Magic.  “Tell you what…I’ll explain everything in a couple centuries.  That should be enough time for everyone who ever knew you to die.”

As soon as the last word left her mouth, Nova fired off her magic straight at Cadance, who barely managed to dodge it.  Cadance immediately jumped to the right again dodging the next spell and conjured a shield with her own magic just in time to block the third one.  Cadance searched frantically for a hint of Shining among the ruins, but still didn’t find anything.  Panic setting in, she sent off a few high-powered stun spells at Nova, who levitated some rubble to block Cadance’s spells.

Cadance didn’t want to hurt Nova, but she was only going to get out of this if she acted offensively.  It wouldn’t hurt either if she could take Nova with her and try to figure out what how to reverse this change.  That was rather doubtful though, considering the pony Cadance was dealing with.

Twilight always had been a stubborn filly.

Dropping her shield before Nova could shatter it, Cadance sent a barrage of spells at the enormous stone building behind Nova, knocking out its support pillars.  With a heaving groan, the stone building collapsed, shattering into hundreds of large pieces.  Inspiration hit Cadance and she started firing high powered spells into the buildings all around them, making a temporary wall of debris that bought Cadance some time.  Dust obscured everything as the buildings collapsed all around them.  Using her wings, Cadance flapped hard quickly and stirred up the dust into an effective screen that hid her.  Cadance could hear Nova cursing on the other side of the rubble and dust as she started to blast away the obstructions between them.  Clearly Nova was still unfamiliar with her new wings since she didn’t immediately clear away the dust hiding Cadance.

Which begged the question as to how Nova had learned to fly so quickly?

Wasting no time, Cadance started galloping as fast as she could away from Nova; making a path through the ruins where she thought she had seen Shining disappear.  She didn’t want to fly over the ruins since doing so would allow Nova to easily find her again.
Nova let out a furious scream as Cadance escaped her, the other alicorn’s magic coming off in angry waves throughout the ruins.  Too angry to properly concentrate at finding her.  That had always been a fault of Twilight’s, she couldn’t concentrate on her spell work when she was agitated. As Cadance fled deeper into the maze created by the ruined city, she could hear the distinct sound of explosions as Nova blasted away at the ruins randomly, trying to find her.

Cadance stayed low and kept running randomly through the unfamiliar ruins.  She rapidly cast a spell to silence her movements as she weaved through more broken columns.

Come on Shining, where are you?

A few minutes later as she galloped through the seemingly never-ending ruins, a glimpse of white among the barren gray of the ruins immediately brought her to a halt.  Moving quickly, Cadance double-checked her surroundings for any sign of Nova but she could only hear more buildings collapsing on the far side of the ruins.  From the sound of it, Nova had taken to the air and was now bombarding the old city from above in an attempt to flush her out.  Cadance could sense with her magic that an anti-teleportation ward had been placed upon the old city; not that it was needed.  Cadance had never been the magical prodigy Twilight was, and teleportation was beyond her; Nova was just being very thorough.  However, it wouldn’t be long until Nova found her; Cadance would need to act quickly.

The glimpse of white she had seen was indeed Shining, and he was in terrible condition.  Cadance gently lifted his head up as she assessed his injuries before attempting to help him regain consciousness.  Shining’s back two legs were severely broken, probably from the impact on the ground after being thrown through one of Ponyville’s buildings.  He was bruised in multiple places and cut up a lot too, though none of them were deep enough to be serious; those were probably from being tossed about when Nova resurrected the city.  

Cadance ran her magic over Shining’s body, though she used only a little so that Nova didn’t detect her.  In addition to his external injuries, Shining had a cracked skull and four broken ribs.  Thankfully though, there was no internal bleeding or spinal injury; his armor had probably taken most of the impact.

Cadance frowned as she tried to decide what the best course of action would be.  Shining had enough injuries that immediately healing them all at once would probably only deepen his unconscious state.  She would have to only heal the injuries that would cause the most problems, the cracked skull and the broken legs.

As soon as she did though, Nova would recognize that she was using her magic and find her.  Hiding one’s magic was a skill only possessed by a master magician; something Cadance was not.  Thankfully though, neither was Twilight.

At least…not yet.

Speaking of Nova…Cadance didn’t hear anything.  She raised her head and her ears twitched as she searched for any sign of Nova’s attempts at finding her.

Nothing.

That wasn’t good.

Cadance gently tapped Shining’s face with her hoof, trying to wake him up.

“Shining…Shining!”  Cadance whispered.  She needed him to be conscious before she healed him.  Slapping him gently, albeit a little insistently, she tried again.  “Wake up!”

Shining groaned a little before Cadance muffled him with her hoof.  He stirred before wincing as he became aware of his injuries.  He was a well-trained soldier though and he quickly realized that he needed to be quiet.

Cadance leaned in closer to him while he blinked up at her, obviously in pain.  “Shining, listen closely we don’t have much time.  I’m going to use my magic to heal your legs and your cracked skull.  Any more than that and you’ll pass back out.”

“Cadance…”  Shining whispered hoarsely.  His eyes roamed about, not recognizing his surroundings.  “What happened…where’s my soldiers?  Where…where the hell am I?!”

She ignored him and looked around for something for him to bite down on while she healed him.  It was expected that Shining would be a little delirious from just waking up with a cracked skull.  He regain his clarity soon enough once he had been properly treated.  

Finding a torn up book, probably from Ponyville’s library, Cadance ripped off the cover and hastily shoved it in Shining’s mouth.  Disregarding his muffled protest, Cadance quickly cast her healing spells on Shining’s head and leg injuries.  His two broken legs quickly snapped back into place, causing Shining to let out a pained yelp, and his skull mended.

Shaking his head from side to side, Shining shook off the pain and his eyes quickly snapped back to her face.  Apparently the pain of having his major injuries healed had given back his sense of clarity.

“Where is she!?”  Shining whispered frantically.  “Where’s Nightmare!?  Where are we?  We have to-“

“SShhh!”  Cadance helped him get back on his hooves and they started making their way towards the other end of the street, to the north.  “Quiet!  We’ll talk later, first we need to leave, and fast.”

Cadance knew that Nova should have detected her once she had used her magic, so they only had moments before she found them if they lingered.  Walking briskly, as Shining was still too weak to run, they moved away from where they were and deeper into the ruins.  Cadance glanced above the skyline of the city ruins and could barely see the tall twisted trees of the Everfree Forest in the distance, and yet even more gray ruins dotting the sea of green leaves.

A few steps later though, Cadance noticed that Shining had suddenly taken notice of the crimson light creeping over the edges of the sky.  He stopped walking and leaned against a decapitated statue, staring through the twisted alleyways and streets at the glaring Red Sun beyond them.

Cadance tugged at him to follow her, too nervous to offer an explanation at that moment.  But Shining was too shocked to obey her, staring in open wonder at the crimson sun.  Shining turned quickly to Cadance; his face tinted with a little hope around the hardened edges.  

“The Sun!  Cadance, did you…?”

“No.”  She said firmly.  “No, it wasn’t me.”

“Was it Princess Celestia then?  But how-“

Cadance shook her head frantically, promising herself not to break down in tears.  She knew that if she started, she wouldn’t stop.

Shining stared at her, utterly bewildered.  “Then who?”

Cadance glanced at Shining with trepidation, she couldn’t begin to imagine how she was going to explain to Shining that the Nightmare he had tried to kill was his own little sister.

“Not now.  I promise I’ll tell you everything later.”  Cadance promised.  “But we have to move, now.”

Shining didn’t waste time and simply nodded, suppressing his questions for later:  trusting her instantly.  It never ceased to amaze Cadance at how much Shining trusted her.  If it were anyone else, Cadance suspected, Shining would have stopped at nothing to get his answers.

Taking the lead, Cadance resumed their brisk pace through the city, heading north along what appeared to be a main road.  Shining resumed his place at her side, his sharp eyes keeping watch over their surroundings.

“To Cloudesdale then?”  Shining asked quietly.

“Yes.”  Cadance whispered back impatiently.  Not seeing any sign of Nova was putting her on edge.  It was highly doubtful that the black alicorn had given up her search.  

Twilight never gave up.

“You were right, it’s our best chance.”  Cadance said with conviction.  “We just need to get there.”

Cadance and Shining continued walking, remaining vigilant all the while, until the street came up to a large open courtyard.  From what Cadance could discern from the arrangement and style of the ruins rimming the courtyard, this had once been a market place.

It was quite large, and far too open to Cadance’s liking.  So far they had been able to remain hidden in the shadows of the large ruins around them, but the courtyard was bereft of any cover to hide them from anything looking down from the skies.

Cadance and Shining glanced at each other and silently agreed that they would just have to move as quickly -- and quietly -- as possible to the other side.  Leaving the safety of the tall buildings behind them, they made their way across the center of the courtyard-

BOOM!

With a sudden burst of heat, fire roared to life all around them, flames rising up to engulf the market ruins and obscuring the rest of the abandoned city.  The malicious red fire rose up to rival the walls of Canterlot and the temperature rapidly rose to a stifling heat.  Black smoke filled the red sky as the ancient stone of the city cracked and shattered from the flames that molested them.  

Cadance and Shining immediately searched for any openings in the wall of fire, and finding none, fired off several spells to disperse the flames.  Their spells had no effect whatsoever, as to whoever had conjured the magical fire had enough power to halt their attempts at vanishing it.

Cadance had a good guess as to who.  She searched left and right for a glimpse of the black alicorn, but could find none.
But then the flames parted in front of Cadance, clearing a path through which Nova stepped forward toward them.  Nova’s glowing red eyes glared dangerously at Cadance, her mouth twisted in an agitated frown.

“So…predictable, Cadenza.”  Nova mocked.  “You surprised me for a moment, I admit, but instead of capitalizing on your advantage, as you should have if you had been smart, you went back for Armor instead of escaping.  Such…weakness has now guaranteed your failure.  The fact that I will break Armor in front of you makes my vengeance that much more satisfying.”

Shining whirled around at the sound of Nova’s voice with a spell ready to fly from his horn.  His spell was never completed, however, as he immediately recognized who it was he faced.  Shining’s eyes widened in horror and he seemed to choke on his own breath.  Terrible realization slowly crept onto his face as Shining deduced as to who he had been fighting before and why Cadance had been so reluctant to answer his questions.

“No…”  Shining croaked.  Though he remained stoic, ready to do battle, Cadance could see tears well up in Shining’s eyes.  “No it can’t be…Twilight?”

Nova’s scarlet eyes darted from Cadance to Shining, narrowing in accusation.  “My name is Nova.”  She snarled ferociously, stomping a hoof in frustration.  “That name belonged to a life fed by lies.  A life that doesn’t mean anything to me.”

Shining stumbled back as if Nova had plunged a sword through his chest.  He stared at Cadance, and she nodded in affirmation; Twilight being Nova had been what she had promised to explain to him later.

“It was all true wasn’t it?”  Shining murmured, looking told his approaching sister.  “Everything you told us in the castle, before you broke us out.  The elements, your wings, and your…your mother, it was all true.”  He shook his head, looking absolutely broken.  “How could I have been so blind?  Why did I not believe you?  You couldn’t have been enchanted, not when you are now…”  Shining said no more, not having the words to describe his misery.

“Save your breath Armor.”  Nova was getting closer with every moment, much like a predator stalking prey.  “You don’t have many left.”

Shining and Cadance stepped back with every step Nova took towards them.  Neither of them knew what to do, and Nova seemed wary of engaging them both simultaneously.

“Cadance.”  Shining whispered, just low enough to where Nova couldn’t hear him.  “You fought her before right?”

“Yes,” Cadance whispered back, watching Nova’s movements very closely.  They would have to do something soon, their backs were to the wall of fire and it was getting nearer with every step they took backwards.  “Why do you ask?”

“Do you think we could defeat her?”  Shining wondered, assessing his sister like the tactician he was.  “If we could stun her, or render her unconscious, we could take her with us and try to undo whatever Nightmare has done.  You know better than I do, and I need to know before the spells start to fly.”

Cadance pursed her lips.  Nova had already beaten her before, and Shining too along with all his soldiers.  She had never thought that Twilight could have been capable of such things, but now she had no idea how strong Twilight had become since Cadance had found her with wings.  On top of that, neither Cadance nor Shining were in top form, both of them sporting injuries already while Nova had nary a scratch on her.  Logically, Cadance and Shining should be trying to find a way to escape and fight another day.

But if they did that, what then?  Nova would only come after them again, probably with Nightmare Moon and an army of Lunar Pegasi.  Besides, Cadance had no idea what Nightmare Moon was doing to Twilight, and loathed leaving her to Nightmare Moon’s designs.

This was probably their best chance to free Twilight.

“We have a chance.”  Cadance reasoned.  “But it will have to beat her quickly.  If we prolong this, Nova will eventually overpower us.  If we put everything we have at the start though, it may be enough to surprise her.”

“Small chance you say?”  Shining asked quietly.  Then despite the situation, Shining smiled.  He always had enjoyed a challenge.  “What are we waiting for?”

Cadance and Shining halted, refusing to give any more ground.  Nova mirrored their movements and took not another step forward, her crimson eyes switching rapidly between the two of them, watching for their next step.

None of them moved, silently facing off as the flames roared all around them.  The Red Sun rose higher into the sky, a silent observer to the coming confrontation.  

Losing her patience, Nova let loose a blast of black lightening that lanced through air straight towards them.  Cadance broke off to the right while Shining dived to his left.  They both circled around and sent several stun spells towards Nova, catching her in a crossfire.  

Nova tried to raise a shield but Shining and Cadance had been too close to start with.  Several high powered beams struck Nova, though she tried to dodge, smashing into her wings and leaving several scorch marks on her fur.  Though the stun spells would have rendered a majority of ponies unconscious, Nova was an alicorn and it would take a lot more than a few stun spells.

Cadance hated having to hurt Twilight, but they had run out of options.

Nova hissed in slight pain but nevertheless completed her shield in time to absorb the next several stun spells while Cadence and Shining continued to circle her, making sure to always keep Nova between them and divide her attention.

Using her immense strength as an alicorn, Nova slammed her hooves into the cobbled courtyard, causing the ground to tremble slightly beneath them.  While Cadance was able to remain upright, Shining however stumbled and slid across the street.  Taking advantage of the brief opening, Nova sent a wall of black fire towards Cadance, preventing her from coming to Shining’s aide.

Cadance leapt forward towards the flames and sent a burst of wind with a flap of her wings.  The fire parted in front of her and she charged forward just in time to see Nova attempt to shove a black magical spear through her captain.

Shining conjured a magical kite shield and deflected the black spear before it pinned him into the ground.  He stepped back each time Nova’s black spear thrusted toward him, expertly deflecting each and every one with his kite shield.

Nova wasn’t oblivious to Cadance’s presence however, and flew up into the air in order to dodge a magical net.  Nova soared above the red flames and landed on the other side of the courtyard, placing Cadance and Shining directly on the other side of her.

“I see what you plan!”  Nova shrieked, her jagged teeth reflecting scarlet in the light of her sun.  “You’re not taking me from the Empress!  I won’t let you!  I’ll die before I ever return to that life of lies!”

Her black horn sparked with Dark Magic and the ground trembled as chunks of the city rose all around her.  With a piercing shriek she hurled hundreds upon thousands of mortar and bricks at the pair of them, tumbling through the air with deadly intent.

“Fly Cadance!”  Shining commanded.  He blasted several chunks or rock heading toward him before he was forced to raise a shield.  “Get out of here!  I’ll hold her off as long as I can!”

“I’m not leaving you!”  Cadance screamed.  “We’re in this together!  No retreat!”  She too formed a shield of her own to protect her from the incoming debris.  They were too far apart from each other to form a shield together.

Her shield held while the various pieces of the city smashed into it, shattering into dust on impact.  Nova didn’t let up however, and just increased the number of projectiles hurtling at them.  The sound of the city being uprooted was deafening as now debris flew towards them from all direction, like a black hole of rubble.  Dust rimmed the base of her shield in piles from the amount of debris that had shattered against it.  Cadance would have tried to get closer to Shining so they could hold together, but she was pouring all her magic into just maintaining her shield and couldn’t move.

Shining was no better, trapped inside his own shield.  Cadance could barely see him through the hurricane of rubble, struggling just as she was to hold his shield together.

Cadance felt herself tiring quickly, breathing heavily as her magic poured into the shield.  Magical shields were a complicated piece of magic, and she only knew how to cast one because of Shining, who was a prodigy in the royal guard with shielding magic.

Her eyes widened as she started to see cracks form in her shield.  Cadance doubled her efforts to no effect, the cracks spreading like a web all across it.

Shining was an expert with shields.

She wasn’t.

Her shield shattered and the storm of rubble crashed into her, smashing and bashing into her weary body.  Cadance cried out in severe pain, succumbing to the blows raining down on her and collapsing to the ground.  She could hear and feel her wings snap, being the most fragile of her limbs; it was as if Twilight had never healed them in the first place.  Cadance ducked her head to try to avoid the incoming projectiles, with limited success.  She closed her eyes and cried out as she was buried alive underneath the debris.

Completely trapped underneath the pile of stone, Cadance heard more bricks pile on before they gradually came to a stop.

Cadance struggled to remain conscious, passing in and out of awareness; not having the strength to save herself.  Pain throbbed throughout her bloodied body, making her acutely aware of her injuries.

She groaned as she felt magic surround her and she was pulled roughly from her tomb of rubble.  Once Cadance was free of the rubble, she keeled over and coughed up some blood as she breathed in desperately for some fresh air.  She was too weak to stand up, though she tried, and so remained laying pathetically on the ground.  

What was happening?  Did Shining subdue his sister?

Cadance wearily opened her eyes and looked up, her blurry vision slowly coming into focus as she managed to remain conscious.

It was like a scene from her nightmares.

Nova stood triumphantly over Shining Armor, who was bound in gag in the black alicorn’s Dark Magic.  Nova smirked at Cadance as she pressed a hoof into Shining’s face, pressing him painfully onto the street.

“It will never cease to amaze me how pathetically vulnerable you both are.”  Nova spat maliciously.  “All I had to do was threaten your life and Armor promptly surrendered.  Like I said before Cadenza, you’re so predictable.  It’s quite nauseating actually, the weaknesses you allow yourselves.”

Fear stirred Cadance at Nova’s words.  A fear that disturbed her deeply.  Pathetic, Nova called Cadance for allowing herself these‘vulnerabilities.’   Weakness, Nova called her love.  

Something was very, very wrong with Twilight.

Even at her lowest point, Cadance was never separated from what made her an alicorn.  Suppressed perhaps, but never divorced.  It was a power she had, but barely ever used such was its sacredness.  It was her strength, her ally, her friend, her companion through eternity.

Love.

Reaching deep within herself, Cadance awakened the part of herself that made her who she was.  A subtle warmth engulfed her, like she was greeting an old friend.  Cadance looked through ancient eyes, searching for the light that resided in everyone.  

She could see Shining’s love, his love for her, his love for Twilight, his family, his friends, his comrades, and his country; it burned like a bright beacon in the darkness.  It outshone his fear and sense of failure.

Further away, she could see the love of the ponies who had fled Ponyville, though theirs seemed subdued with grief and fear.

Even farther Cadance could see the love of the Lunar Pegasi legion in Canterlot, thousands of bright and desperate candles competing with an ancient and unforgotten bitterness.

In their midst, Cadence could see a painful light damaged and scarred by failure, loneliness, and sister’s negligence.  But shining through that was the desperate love of a lonely mother for her daughter.

Luna, Cadance could see.  Love only knew truth.

Now she knew how monsters were made.

But in the place where Twilight’s burning inferno of love should have been, there was nothing but a small, almost insignificant spark, struggling to remain lit.

Cadance searched frantically through the darkness, searching for the bright light of the filly she loved but found only a small minisculre remain.  She couldn’t even determine who it was Twilight loved the fleck of light was so small.  No other trace, no other sign, no other remnant of Twilight Sparkle’s love; for Cadance or for anyone.

Cadance pulled herself out of her alicorn magic and vomited at the feet of the void towering above her.

“H-How can this be?”  Cadance cried.  She stared up into the scarlet eyes of Nova, searching for any clue of Twilight inside them.  “What are you?”

Nova laughed without a trace of humor, not knowing what Cadance now knew.  “Your end.”

“What has happened to you?”  Cadance cried.  “Why would Luna do this?  She loves you…”

Nova, surprisingly, didn’t react with anger.  Instead, she seemed baffled and annoyed.

“What nonsense is this?”  Nova said.  “Who is Luna?”

Now it was Cadance’s turn to be confused.  “What?  Don’t you know, your mother-“

Nova slapped her across the face, silencing her immediately.

“I do tire of your rambling Cadenza.”  Nova rolled her eyes.  “If you are going to speak, you could at least have the courtesy to make sense.”  Her jagged smile returned and her horn shimmered with Dark Magic as she leaned down to whisper in Cadance’s ear.  Nova stepped purposely on Cadance’s broken wings, pinning her to the ground.  “You know, Celestia left a lot of notes and spells in that vault.  I had just enough time to find one…special spell I picked out just for Armor.” 

Nova leaned back up and cast her spell, the Dark Magic literally dripping from her horn, falling onto Shining’s pale coat.  Shining’s eyes immediately widened once it made contact and he started to flail and thrash on the ground.  The Dark Magic spread slowly across his body, leaving a gray trail behind.  Nova dismissed the magical gag and Shining’s screams filled the air.  

Shining was turning into stone.

“NO!!!”  Cadance wailed.  “Take me!  TAKE ME!”

But Nova only laughed.

Slowly, deliberately, the Dark Magic worked its way across Shining’s body.  His screams never ceasing.  His tail, legs, and barrel all hardened into unfeeling stone, steadily spreading up his neck to his head.

Shining screams steadily lost volume as his lungs hardened.  His face was twisted in pain and misery as his last breath was forever etched in stone.

Cadance cried, her tears falling on the unfeeling stone of the street, much like the statue she loved.  

“No…Shining no…” she pleaded.

Nova dragged Cadance away from Shining and into the middle of the courtyard.  The fires that had constantly raged around it died.  Cadance almost wished they still burned, at least something to replace this suffocating silence.

Nova stepped back a little, leaving Cadance to lie on the cold and unforgiving stone.  Cadance made no move to escape, not having the strength or will to try.

“To be blunt, I have no further use for you.”  Nova said candidly.  “I just want to see you suffer.”

Black lightning crackled through her beaten frame.  Cadance screamed and screamed and still her torment did not end.  Her limbs spasmed and jerked unwillingly, her broken wings trembling as the lightning surrounded them.  

Just as suddenly as the torture had started it stopped.

Then started.

Then stopped.

Then started.

Then stopped.

“Please…”  Cadance begged, smoke rising from her body.  “…mercy.”

“There is no mercy.”

Again Nova’s lightning danced along Cadance, delightfully tormenting her with their electrifying licks.  Cadance screamed, the lightning filling her throat.  She begged, pleaded, and cried but it never stopped, never ceased, and never ended.

Minutes ticked by, or maybe hours.  Cadance no longer had any sense of time, it passed by uncaringly.

The lightning continued, and Cadance’s vision turned blurry as she finally started to lose consciousness.

Her vision tunneled until all she could see was Nova’s piercing red eyes, slitted like a dragons.

When the darkness came for her, she welcomed it.

It was over.


> Chapter 16: Day of the Dead
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Castle

Thirty-six Hours Since Red Dawn

Nightmare Moon





Something…tickled her muzzle.

It was warm.

Nightmare scratched at it with her hoof and tried to go back to sleep.

But it didn’t stop.

She grumbled and tossed a black wing over her face, unwilling to give in so easily.

Now the warm…something…was tickling her wing.  The sensation was somewhat familiar, like a long buried memory that she was beginning to remember.

What is that?  What dares disturb the Queen of Sleep?

Nightmare tried to match a name with the belligerent bothering her as she groggily opened her eyes.

Sunshine.

Nightmare’s eyes slammed open and she jumped up in shock, tossing off the blanket covering her.  Rushing over to the obscured balcony, she threw back the curtains and stared out into the sky.

A scarlet sun glared back down at her.  It was starting to slowly dip down below the horizon, allowing a twisted twilight to dominate the sky before night truly fell.

The sun wasn’t Celestia’s.

The fear and anger that had begun to rise in her quickly drained away and was replaced quickly by confusion and bewilderment.  She took stock of what she knew and what she could assume.

The last thing that Nightmare remembered before waking up was casting a spell to show Twilight all that she had been through.  Her banishment, her battle with Celestia, Twilight’s foal napping, and all the pain and anguish from before Twilight’s birth.  She had been determined to show her daughter all the wrongs committed against them by Celestia and the denizens of Equestria.

But then…Nightmare didn’t remember anything past that.  The next thing she knew sunlight was waking her up.  The spell had probably exhausted her.  Mind magic was especially difficult, and the amount of energy it took to show Twilight all that had transpired over a thousand years ago had probably overtaxed her energy after their duel.

Obviously, by the way the Sun’s magic had been twisted, Celestia hadn’t raised the sun.  Cadenza didn’t have the means to do so either.  Since Nightmare herself hadn’t raised the sun, there were only two others who could have done it.  An imprisoned demon, or her own daughter.

Second, Nightmare hadn’t been imprisoned.  That meant that either her soldiers or Twilight had placed Nightmare in her chambers after falling unconscious.  Furthermore, Nightmare could sense that Twilight was in the castle as she set the sun and moved the stars.  

Her daughter was safe and sound.

Luna let out a breath of relief.

Nightmare stretched out her magic to try to get a sense of what she was seeing.  Her moon was rising in the east, mirroring the setting red sun in the west.  The stars were starting to dot the sky as the red light waned and-

Nightmare’s brow narrowed in confusion as she looked closer at Twilight’s stars.  Much like the sun, the stars were now a deep crimson red.

What has happened?

Nightmare resumed her study of the sky.  She could sense Twilight’s magic on the sun and stars.  Although, upon examining it more closely, 

Nightmare could sense that Twilight’s magic felt…muted…and angry for some reason.  Celestia’s sun was resisting someone not its mistress, but it reluctantly allowed Twilight to handle it.

Eternal Night had ended.

Nightmare frowned slightly.  She was going to need a good explanation for this…change to her edict.

She sniffed, and Nightmare could smell a faint whiff of smoke.  Looking down from the crimson sky, she could see that the small town…Ponyville…had been reduced to ashes.  Faint trails of smoke curled from the shells of the ruined buildings.  Nightmare also saw that, somehow, the old ruins of the capital had been brought to the surface.  The Everfree Forest and the surrounding land was dotted with gray weathered islands of stone.  A large chunk of the Everfree Forest had also been burned away, leaving behind acres of smoking foliage.

She needed answers.  Now.

Nightmare promptly opened her chamber doors and walked swiftly into the hallway.  The Imperial Soldiers flanking her doors on the other side saluted and immediately fell back behind her at a respectful distance.  She made her way to the throne room, passing soldiers and workers alike who were busy repairing the damage to the castle’s structure caused by Nightmare and Twilight’s duel.

Arriving at doors to the throne room, Nightmare could hear Twilight’s slightly muffled voice as well as Commander Noctis’s.  Curious as to what was happening, she paused and decided to wait and listen before entering.

“…searched the whole forest?”  Twilight questioned.

“Yes your highness.”  Noctis replied swiftly.  “The 501st swept the whole area.  After the destruction of the town, the residents fled into the forest and holed up in the old castle, just as you predicted.”

“Did they resist?”

“No.  Once my scouts had discovered their location, I moved five battalions into positions surrounding them before making our presence known.  Once they realized their situation, they surrendered peacefully.  I currently have them in a camp at the base of Canterhorn mountain.”  Noctis paused.  “Your highness, all of these ponies are civilians who fled their homes.  I have orders ready to start rebuilding Ponyville.  Just give the order and-”

“Your suggestion is noted.”  Twilight cut off.  “Ponyville will not be rebuilt however.  They harbored known fugitives of the Empire and neither resisted nor notified proper imperial authorities of said fugitives.  Speaking of authorities, what is the status of Ponyville’s government officials?”

There was a pause before Noctis answered.  He sounded unhappy and stiff.  “According to the interviews my soldiers had with the survivors, Mayor Mare was killed by a manticore while trying to navigate the forest.  The schoolteacher, a Miss Cheerilee, drew off a pack of timberwolves to save her students.  Some of my scouts found her remains.”

“What of Ponyville’s upstanding citizenry?”  Twilight asked sternly.

“Ponyville’s successful businessman, Filthy Rich, his wife, and his daughter were killed when the fire consumed their manor.  According to witnesses, they were trying to save some of the wealth they had stored in their manor.  A pair of local bakers in the center of Ponyville, the Cakes, were killed by some of your...by some of the initial fires.  One of the town founders, a Granny Smith, sacrificed herself to save her youngest granddaughter from the fire that consumed their farmhouse.”

“What is being done with the bodies, Commander?”

“I have two battalions burying them now-”

“Stop wasting time.”  Twilight interjected coldly.  “Recall one of the battalions and then order the remaining bodies to be burned.  It’s more efficient and takes up less time.”

The throne room was silent for a few moments before Noctis spoke up again, his voice firm and tinged a little with anger.  “With all due respect, your highness, until Empress Moon re-confirms your legitimacy…in light of Cadenza and Armor’s escape…I shall note your suggestion.”

Nightmare had heard enough.  She pushed open the throne room’s doors with her magic and stepped through.

Luna halted immediately.  Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened in shock.  What appeared to be a…miniature…version of herself sat on the throne Luna had commissioned to be built for her daughter.

The smaller alicorn’s fur was pitch black and her starry mane jerked angrily in an unseen wind.  The stars that dotted her mane twinkled an angry red and her teeth were sharpened fangs.  She wore dark blue plated legionnaire armor with the livery equal to that of a centurion.  

The alicorn’s eyes were slitted like a snakes, and blood-red.

Luna blinked.

It was Twilight…but it wasn’t Twilight.

“My Empress.”  The smaller alicorn stated calmly.  The mare wearing Twilight’s face nodded in recognition and trotted dutifully across the throne room.  She bowed in complete submission at Luna’s hooves.  “I was taking stock of the situation while you recovered in your chambers.  I took notes for you to review so that you are kept up to date on the Empire’s status.”

Before saying or doing anything, Luna had to make sure she wasn’t being misled.  Her magic washed over the alicorn, searching for the signature that was distinctly her daughter’s.  

She detected no deception.

Despite all appearances, it was Twilight.  What had caused this sudden change in appearance was still a mystery though.  Perhaps Twilight had decided to don a glamour to mask her true-self, much like Luna had created the persona of Nightmare Moon.

“Twilight?”  Luna saw her daughter’s eye twitch at the sound of her name.  “Why have you raised the sun?”

Twilight rose and stepped back, the very expression of cool and collected.  “Your majesty, by raising the sun under your authority, the initial impression will be that you are in fact Celestia’s equal.  Something that ponies may doubt.  Compounding this fact with your defeat of her, you prove that you are her superior.”  Twilight stated primly.  “Furthermore, heralds from the legions garrisoning Equestria’s cities have brought in reports that citizens now fear the Red Sun and have stayed shut indoors while it is daytime.  They are only coming out at night.  Ponies are now only gathering under the light of the Moon and Stars because of their fear of the Red Sun.  They have, for the moment, switched sleeping patterns so as to sleep while the sun is up; then they wake and conduct their business at night.  If we reinforce this attitude, society will surely switch from being diurnal to nocturnal.”

Nightmare turned and looked out of one of the stain-glassed windows at the last glimpse of the setting Red Sun.  It was horrifying sight to see.  Celestia’s Sun had always glowed gently, like a shepherd among sheep.  The Red Sun, however, glared down angrily from above like a vengeful god ready to smite those who dared to look upon it.  From her memories of Celestia, Nightmare knew that her estranged sister would have been horrified at the state of her beloved Sun.

“You are sure of this Twilight?”  Nightmare demanded, still staring at her sister’s twisted sun.  “I will not lift the veil of our Eternal Night by your whim alone.  You are confident that this will not encourage dissidents?”

“The exact opposite, my Empress.”  Twilight said smugly.  “I have weighed the probability, factored in all realms of possibility, and have concluded that as time progresses ponies will come to see the Night as a time of sanctuary from the Red Sun which they fear.  Eventually, that fear will turn into hate towards the daytime with the Red Sun.  The Night will hold sway in their hearts while they reserve their fear and hate for the daytime.”

Irony.  Sweet, delicious, satisfying irony.  Twilight was brilliant.  To have the ponies hate her sister’s precious sun brought a level of satisfaction that Nightmare hadn’t realized was absent.  To have the situation reversed…for ponies to love the Night and hate the Day…it was a dream come true.

“Well done daughter.”  Nightmare praised, smiling despite herself.  “It brings me great joy to see you taking an initiative promoting our beautiful Night.”  Nightmare’s eyes narrowed and she scrutinized Twilight.  “You haven’t done this out of some misplaced sense of loyalty for Celestia have you?”

Twilight hissed and gritted her fangs.  “No.  My loyalty belongs to you and only you, my Empress.  That-That mare is dead to me.”

Nightmare sighed happily at her daughter’s declaration and she smiled again.  She no longer had to worry about Twilight’s divided loyalty between herself and her sister anymore.  It seemed that showing Twilight all of Nightmare’s memories from her banishment and before that moment had finally convinced Twilight of Celestia’s manipulations.

Speaking of which…

“What is Cadenza’s status?”

“She rots in the dungeon’s deepest hole, my Empress.”  Twilight reported dutifully.  “She is broken beyond repair and is no longer a threat of any kind.  I have ensured that she will never again defy you.  Do you wish to visit her cell?  ”

Nightmare shook her head.  “No.  I will visit her later to make sure she won’t escape again, but if you are certain of her imprisonment, then I am satisfied.  There are more important matters to tend to.”

She sniffed the air and found that the smell of smoke was drifting in through some of the castle’s broken windows.  Nightmare still did not have an explanation for Ponyville’s sudden demise.

Nightmare turned back towards Twilight, a frown firmly back in place.  “What of the town?  I could see the smoke from my chambers.  How was it destroyed?  

Twilight kneeled before her again, much to her mother’s annoyance.  “I am responsible, my Empress.  The destruction of Ponyville was my doing.  They harbored the escaped prisoners from Canterlot Castle.”

 “What?” Luna gasped, shocked.  “You?  You destroyed Ponyville?!”

“It is as you say, my Empress.”

Luna stood back up abruptly and walked to one of the stained-glass windows, staring with sudden clarity at the devastation in the valley below.  “Commander Noctis.”  Luna intoned rigidly.  “How many?”

“Majesty?”  The officer sounded confused.

“Deaths.”  Luna clarified, still staring at the columns of smoke that filled her vision.  “How many deaths?”

Although Luna could not see him, she heard Noctis’s armor clink as he shuffled around in discomfort.  “Of the fifty Royal Guards who escaped, we have found thirty-six bodies.  The rest, in consideration to the severity of Ponyville’s destruction, are presumed to be dead.  Ponyville’s total population was one-thousand and ninety-nine; of them, only seven-hundred and seventy-seven remain, your majesty.  We have found only two-hundred bodies, but it is most likely that the rest perished in the Everfree Forest.”

“Three-hundred and seventy-two.”  Luna calculated instantly.  Her head turned slowly to fix Twilight with a horrified stare.  “Three-hundred and seventy-two.”

Twilight wasn’t affected in the slightest, her face could have been chiseled from stone for all the care she showed. “Three-hundred and seventy-three, actually.  Shining Armor is dead.”

The soldiers and the nobles who had been murmuring in the background of the throne room trailed off into silence at Twilight’s declaration.

Amidst the shock of that pronouncement, Nightmare felt a glimmer of satisfaction.  She had instantly disliked the stallion who had claimed to be Twilight’s brother upon meeting him.  But then as she comprehended the full weight of Twilight’s words, the small fraction of satisfaction was quickly replaced by cold realization.

Twilight had killed Shining Armor…who she had believed to be her brother.

Something was very wrong.  Luna hadn’t been with her reunited daughter for long, but she did know that Twilight was devoted to her “brother.” 

Luna turned and stared hard at Twilight, searching for the reason why she treated her mother with the same cold detachment that she was using to describe the status of her once beloved “brother.”  She needed to get Twilight in private so that they could talk and Luna could discover what was bothering her daughter.

“Enough.”  Nightmare commanded.  “I have heard enough.  We have much to discuss Twilight, we will retire to my chambers to talk further.”

Luna turned back toward the doors and gestured for Twilight to follow her.  She needed to find out what had happened to cause this shift in Twilight’s personality.

“Your majesty, what of Ponyville’s remaining citizens?” asked Noctis.

Nightmare paused and thought it over.  "The Element Bearers need to be found and re-imprisoned.  Can you recognize the prisoners that escaped earlier, Commander?”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“Search the survivors and if there any of the escaped prisoners, arrest them and put them back in the dungeons.  As for the rest of the citizens, provide the means for which they can relocate to another city of their choosing.  I have no quarrel with them.”  She paused, glancing at Twilight through the corner of her eye.  “Identity the dead if possible and give them a proper burial as well.”

Twilight scowled but said nothing, accepting her command without question.

“What if some desire to return and rebuild Ponyville, your majesty?”  Asked Noctis.

Nightmare shot a glance towards the column of smoke before returning her attention to Twilight.  “Tell them that Ponyville will not be rebuilt.  The town harbored fugitives and this is the consequence.  I won’t waste Imperial resources on a small town that has now defied me twice.  My mercy should be enough for them.”

Noctis bowed low.  “Very well, your majesty.  I shall go and organize their departure at once.”  He rose and exited swiftly, taking his officers with him.

Nightmare swept through the doors and into the hallway, Twilight following behind her.  They walked through the hallway in silence, neither alicorns breaking the lull between them.  

Nightmare took this moment to study her daughter’s new form.  The likeness between Twilight and herself was very close.  The only major differences between them was that Nightmare towered over her daughter and that Twilight’s slitted eyes were scarlet.

Once they had arrived back in the royal chambers, Nightmare closed the doors behind them and turned around to find Twilight standing quietly behind her.

Nightmare’s rigid posture relaxed as she smiled down at Twilight.  “Now then Twilight, you can drop your glamour now.”

Twilight’s brow furrowed in confusion.  “I…I don’t understand, my Empress.”

Luna also became confused.  She gestured with a hoof to Twilight’s entire body.  “Your glamour, the one you cast to create this form.  I understand why you want to imitate me in public, but now that we are in private, I want to see the natural beauty I gave you.”

Twilight shuffled uncomfortably.  “Have I displeased you in some way my Empress?  I-“

“Enough calling me, ‘Empress.’”  Luna snapped.  Her impatience with Twilight’s formality was grating her nerves.  “You have called me mother before and you can do so again.”

Twilight look scandalized.  “But…But Empress!  You are the monarch of Equestria!  I can’t address you so informally!”

Luna’s anger spiked.  “Do I have to command you!?”  She spat.  “Will you do it then!?”

Twilight fell down and prostrated before her instantly.  “I will do whatever you command Empress!  Just tell me and I will do it!  I live to serve you!  I am your most faithful servant!”

“Serve me?!”  Luna growled.  She stomped her hoof in frustration.  “I don’t want you to serve me!”

Twilight flinched as if Luna had stabbed her.  She straightened back up and Luna could see that her left eye kept twitching sporadically.

“Have I failed you, my Empress?”  Twilight said quietly, her tone sounding unbalanced.  There was a slight tremor in her voice.  Her eye twitched again.  “Have I failed?”

Luna took a deep breath, willing her anger to drain away.  She tried to smile at her daughter.  “No Twilight, you haven’t failed.  I just want you to be happy.”

“Happy?”  Twilight said disbelievingly, as if she had never heard of such a thing.  Her scarlet eyes searched Luna’s.  “You want me to be happy?”

“Yes.”

“Then stop calling me Twilight.”

…

Luna sat frozen.  Surely she had heard wrong.  “You…don’t want me to call you Twilight?”

“Yes.”

…

“Then…Then what do you want me to call you?”

“Nova.  Nightmare Nova.”

“…why?”

Twilight snorted angrily.  “Because Twilight is the name that belonged to a weak mare.  Twilight was weak.  I am Nova and I will be stronger that Twilight was.”

Luna could scarcely believe her ears.  It was like she was talking to herself.  Twilight sounded just like her.  Sounded just like Nightmare Moon.

But she wasn’t supposed to.  She was supposed to sound like Twilight.

“I…I don’t understand.  I gave you that name.  It is the name you were born with.”

“And this–“ Twilight gestured to her black fur and bat-like wings.  “-isn’t a glamour.  This is who I am now.  I am Nightmare Nova, faithful servant of Nightmare Moon.”  She stood tall as if her declaration was something to take pride in.  “I have laid waste to your enemies, sent the Elements of Harmony running, turned the Captain of the Royal Guard to stone, and imprisoned the alicorn Cadenza in a cell.  Surely that makes me worthy of your name?  The name of Nightmare!”

Luna stood taller, towering over her much shorter daughter, her eyes blazing.  “I did not endure imprisonment on the moon for a thousand years and return to conquer my treacherous sister’s kingdom only so that you could put yourself in harm’s way again!”  She said with conviction.  “It is my burden to be the face of fear before which our enemies cower.  To be a nightmare to those that would wish us harm.  I learned a thousand years ago that the ponies outside these walls would never respect me as they did my sister.  They would not stop at anything to destroy us, so I had to become something worse so that they would never dare again to seek your death.”  Luna’s voice relented and her features softened.  “I do not want your life to be mine.  You are free of my fate, free to be the one that everyone respects and loves.  Let me be the one to be the Nightmare and keep order.  You be Twilight Sparkle and bring light amid my Night.  Be the light shining through my darkness.  Be the Stars that I brought into this world.”

Twilight walked up to her and stared into her eyes.  She unfurled her wings and gestured with both hooves to Luna’s black nightmarish form.

“If you are the Nightmare, then how can I be anything less?”

Luna said nothing.  Words failed her in that moment of sadness.

Nova stepped back and gave her empress a polite bow.  “If I may be excused, my Empress, I desire to study in the Royal Library and expand my knowledge of magic.  My fight with Armor and Cadenza left a lot to be desired.  Do I have your leave?”

Nightmare Moon nodded reluctantly.  She felt numb.

Nova made her way silently to the door and exited the room, leaving her empress alone in her chambers and shutting the door behind her.

Nightmare stood up slowly and made her way to the window to gaze down upon the ruins of Ponyville below.

She had the throne, she had her daughter, her enemies were scattered or imprisoned, and ponies were coming to fear her sister’s sun.  There was nothing that she had desired a thousand years ago that was not in her possession now.

She was…not content though.  Though instead of desiring more, she now didn’t realize what she truly wanted.  What Luna did know was that what she had now did not bring her the satisfaction she thought she would have.  She didn’t know how to proceed with her daughter.  Twilight was unfeeling and everything between them now was strictly formal.  Everything had been going so well until Twilight had challenged her, and now….

“What do I do?”





Ponyville Refugee Camp

One Hour After Moonrise

Noctis





Good soldiers follow orders.

That was what they taught him at the military academy of the Citadel of Stars so many years ago.  A lesson that was drilled into the head of every legionnaire in the Army of the Night.  Listen.   Obey.  Don’t ask questions.  It was simple and to the point, just how he liked it.

However, war was never so simple.

“Commander Noctis?  How soon does Her Majesty want the refugees relocated Commander?”

Shaking himself of his thoughts, Noctis turned toward his second-in-command of the 501st Legion, Captain Scorpio.  The two of them were walking around the Ponyville Refugee camp the army had set up for the refugees.  Scorpio had been his best friend since their training days at the academy.  They had fought together in the frozen wastelands of the north and battled monsters deep in the caves under the Unicorn Mountains.  Scorpio was a brother to Noctis in all but blood.  

“Empress Moon wants us to begin relocating them immediately.  With the stipulation that Ponyville will not be rebuilt, the refugees may go anywhere they want to in the Empire.  Her majesty doesn’t have a vendetta with the survivors, but with the prisoners that escaped Canterlot Castle.  Have any of them been found?”

Scorpio shook his head.  “No sir, none of the soldiers in the regiment know what they look like.  I believe the soldiers who watched them are still in Canterlot Castle’s medical wing recovering.  I think it might just be you who knows.”

Noctis nodded thoughtfully, his eyes roaming the ponies milling around the campsite.  Many of them were afraid while a few others looked dazed, probably from shock.  Only a small number glared at his soldiers resentfully.

“I thought this might be the case.”  Noctis said.  “That’s why we’re searching the camp.  Nightmare Nova confirmed that the prisoners were in Ponyville when she destroyed it.”

Scorpio never broke stride, but his face looked thoughtful.  “Is it true, Noctis, what everyone is saying?  Princess Twilight is the alicorn Nightmare Nova?”

Noctis’s lips thinned and he nodded.

“Empty skies.”  Scorpio breathed.  He frowned and gestured at the refugees around them.  “I also heard that this was her doing.”

“Yes.”

For the next few moments, the two walked in silence.  Each lost in their own thoughts.

“Is this similar to how Empress Moon was once called Luna?”  Scorpio asked.

Noctis’s nocturnal eyes flicked from pony to pony, searching for the escaped prisoners.  It was common knowledge among the Lunar Pegasi that their empress had once gone by the name of Luna.  It was a history fact that their ancestors, the Night Watch, preserved in their records during the exodus from Equestria.  Courtesy and practice since then dictated that the Lunar Pegasi call their ancient patron by the name she chose to call herself, that of Nightmare Moon.  He thought long and hard about his answer before giving Scorpio a reply.  

“No…I don’t think so.”  Noctis said quietly.  “We know from our ancestor’s journals that Her Majesty had been called the Night Mare of the Moon for years before she was banished.  For Princess Twilight, this abrupt change of names is out of character.”

Scorpio snorted disbelievingly.  In the right setting, the two of them maintained their formality as they were trained, however, they dropped protocol once they were relatively alone.  “You know the Empress’s daughter so well now do you?  Her Majesty’s reign hasn’t even been a fortnight.”

“Not well, no.  But Princess Twilight was an open book in the few moments we met.  She had no subtlety.  None.”

Scorpio looked thoughtful, scratching his chin with a hoof.  “You used the past tense…”

Noctis sighed and closed his eyes.  “Now I don’t know.  Nova’s face might as well be cast from iron.”

“Do you know what happened in the castle between the Empress and Princess Twilight?  Rumors are flooding the Legion.  I was taking a ‘kip when it happened and you gave the order to evacuate the castle.  Then I was outside keeping the Canterlot citizens calm when Ponyville was destroyed and the Red Sun rose.”

“Only bits and pieces really.”  Noctis admitted.  “I saw Princess Twilight confront Her Majesty in the throne room about Cadenza, Armor, and the escaped prisoners.  The Empress was…extremely upset.  Her screaming shook the entire city.  Once they started fighting, I briefly saw Princess Twilight teleport away.  Her Majesty commanded me to clear the castle and to leave the princess to her.  She then teleported also then went after her I assume.  I did as ordered, and everything after that is pure guessing.”  Noctis snorted in amusement.  “I have to say though, the princess’s plan had been brilliant.  Princess Twilight’s confrontation with Her Majesty was a ruse to act as a cover for the prisoners’ escape.”

Scorpio’s eyebrow rose.  “Is this admiration I hear in your voice?  Aren’t you mad about the princess defying our Empress?”

Noctis grinned.  “Admiration for an opponent is not treason, Scorpio.  Respect leads to learning how they think, and how best to counter-move next time.”  He grinned at his friend.  “This is why I am in charge, and you are not.  I can think outside the box.”

Scorpio mock-frowned in pretend indignation.  “Hmph.  More paperwork for you then.”

“Ah.  Paperwork.  The eternal nemesis of every officer in the army.”

Scorpio snorted but said nothing more.  They checked a few more tents before moving on.  Noctis could see that his soldiers had obeyed his order and treated the refugees well.  There were plenty of rations and living conditions were good.  The refugees might have be detained until the escaped prisoners could be found, but they would be treated respectfully.

Good soldiers follow orders.

As he left another tent and headed towards another enclave, Scorpio trotted and joined him, a thoughtful frown on his face.  “What do you make of Nightmare Nova?”

Noctis shivered involuntarily.  He could still see Nova’s blood red eyes.  “Cruel…and cold.  Like ice.   She doesn’t have a shred of sympathy for anything or anyone.”

“Do you know what made Princess Twilight become Nova?  Was it Armor?  Cadenza?  The escaped prisoners we’re looking for?”

Noctis shook his head.  “No.  I don’t know what…or who brought about this change.  I’m not sure I want to know.”

Scorpio glanced at him but didn’t pursue that line of questioning.  

Noctis searched another enclave of tents.  Nothing.  There were plenty of ponies, but none of them were the escaped prisoners.

“This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.”  Sighed Noctis.

Scorpio kept searching the tents, though his twitching ears betrayed that he was listening.  “What’s the matter Noctis?”

“This.”  Noctis waved a wing at the refugee camp.  “All of this.”  His eyes left the camp to look beyond it for a moment, where his soldiers were digging graves.  “All of  that.  We came here to liberate Equestria from the Sun Tyrant and to help our ancestor’s hero, not to destroy these ponies’ homes.  Our ancestors lived by a code of chivalry, to fight evil and to defend the innocent.  A code we have tried to preserve.  I don’t feel like a liberator.  Looking at what Nova has done, at what we are an accessory to, I feel empty.”

Scorpio stopped suddenly to stare sharply at Noctis.  “Is Nova truly so destructive?”

“I’m sure of it.”

“Will you order…the Blood Moon Protocol?”

Noctis stiffened, and shushed Scorpio quickly.  Ears were everywhere.  He glanced to see if anyone around them were listening in, but the two officers were between tent enclaves and well out of listening range.

Nevertheless, he lowered his voice.

“No.”  He said firmly.  “The Empress didn’t know; the shock was all over her face.  She didn’t command Nova to destroy Ponyville.  Nova may be heartless, but she has demonstrated that she is…fanatically loyal to Her Majesty.  The Empress won’t allow another massacre to happen, not unless Nova goes rogue.”

“And the Protocol?”

The Legions of the Lunar Pegasi were trained to be prepared for anything.  Anything.  A thousand years of imprisonment was a long time after all.

“I pray it never comes to that.”  Noctis said.  “I gave an oath to serve the Empress and Twilight Sparkle, not Nightmare Nova.”

Scorpio nodded in silent agreement.  An affirmation that was surely shared by all their kin in Equestria.

“So” Scorpio resumed searching the tents.  “Have you spotted anything?”

“No, I-“  Noctis spotted a flash of familiar green scales.  “Wait…I see something.  Follow me, and stay quiet.”  

The two of them, with only the stealth a trained Lunar Pegasi possessed, crept from shadow to shadow as they weaved in and out of tents.  Their destination was a quad of tents on the edge of the camp, far from the main paths regularly used by soldiers and refugees alike, but not far enough to be suspicious.

They peaked around an empty tent to see what had captured Noctis’s attention.

Spike the Dragon.

The young dragon was carrying a clawful of supplies towards the tents and didn’t see the two soldiers following him.

Noctis didn’t know how Princess Twilight’s assistant had gotten here.  He had thought the dragon was still in the castle; nobody had told him he was missing.  He realized that the dragon had probably helped the prisoners escape Canterlot Castle, a guess that matched with Princess Twilight’s defiance of the Empress.

Spike was beat up a little.  Some of his scales were singed and he had several bandages covering his head and left arm.  His face was tightened up with worry as he concentrated on the tents in front of him.

Noctis and Scorpio circled around and crouched underneath some bushes so that they had a clear line of sight for the four tents and its occupants.
Surrounding the small campfire were at least nine ponies, not including Spike.  There was a large red earth pony stallion grouped with the mare Noctis recognized as Applejack along with a small filly with no cutie mark.  The trio were similar in color, so Noctis inferred they were family.  

The unicorn Rarity was with another small unicorn filly with a similar white coat but no cutie mark.  

The earth pony Pinkie Pie was hunched over a kettle, cooking something over the campfire.  

Rainbow Dash along with a much younger pegasus -- different colors, so they were unrelated – were helping the blind pegasus Fluttershy eat some soup.

Noctis and Scorpio listened.

When Rarity turned and spotted Spike, she wilted in relief.  “Oh Spike, thank goodness you’re alright.  You were gone longer than I expected and I was getting worried.”

Spike set the supplies down and waved off Rarity’s concern.  “Sorry about that.  There was a long line for the rations.  I also got some more medical supplies for later.”  He handed a small package to Pinkie Pie.  “Here is the cinnamon you wanted, Pinkie.  That’s all I could get, spices are in short order.”

Pinkie gave Spike a weak smile.  Noctis could see that her eyes were red from crying.  “Thanks.  I needed if for making the Cakes cinnamon apple recipe.”  She sniffed and her lip trembled.  “It…It was their favorite.”

In the bushes, Scorpio nudged Noctis.  “Is it them?”

Noctis nodded discreetly.

“Should I double-back and get a squad?”

Noctis hesitated.  Something wasn’t right.  He had only gotten a brief glimpse of them before, just enough to recognize the mares the Empress had placed in the dungeons, but he had been expecting something…more.   Noctis had sharp eyes, trained to recognize friend from foe.  He had thought the escaped prisoners would look like assassins veiled as refugees.

But they didn’t.  They looked like sad refugees who had lost friends, family, and their home.

Good soldiers follow orders.

Rising up, Noctis abandoned all subtlety, much to Scorpio’s shock, and calmly walked towards the small campsite.  Once at the edge, he audibly cleared his throat.

As one, everyone stiffened and turned to stare at Noctis.  Rainbow Dash got up and made a mad dash towards him but Pinkie Pie grabbed her before she could attack them.

Nobody else moved.

The red stallion slowly rose up -- Noctis had to admit that the earth pony was huge – but said nothing.  Though there was a clear snarl written on his face.

Scorpio followed his lead and stood beside him, though his friend shifted uncomfortably.  He was tense and ready to fight if it happened.  

Noctis doubted it would come to that though.  These ponies were regular citizens, not skilled and dangerous assassins.

Nightmare Moon had lied to him.

“You are the five mares who escaped from Canterlot Castle’s dungeons, correct?”

No response.

He turned to Spike, who was frozen in fear.  “Sir Spike, it is good to see you well.”

Again no response.  Rainbow Dash was glaring holes through him though, trying to escape Pinkie Pie’s embrace.

“Please don’t take my sister!”  The small unicorn with Rarity squeaked.  Her eyes were wide with fear for Rarity.

Noctis turned to look down at her.  “What is your name?”

The young unicorn was about to respond but Rarity clamped a hoof over her mouth, shaking her head furiously.

Noctis sighed and allowed himself to relax visibly, trying to look unintimidating.  “Miss, I’m not going to take your sister.”

Finally, a reaction.  Several of them shifted in discomfort before eying Applejack, their apparent leader.  It was obvious that they didn’t trust him.”

Applejack stared into his eyes and Noctis stared unflinching back.  He had nothing to hide.

She didn’t relax but her eyes burned with a mixture of disbelief and confusion.  “He’s tellin’ the truth.”

Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and the three young ponies all gave out sighs of relief and relaxed a little, though the tension didn’t leave them entirely.  The others remained stiff and wary.

“Why are yah here then?”  The red stallion demanded.

“You are…?”

“Macintosh Apple.”

“I was sent by the Empress to find five escaped assassins.”

The tension returned swiftly.

Noctis turned to once again stare into Applejack’s eyes.  “I haven’t found any assassins.”

The group shifted in confusion, glancing at one another uncertainly.  Applejack mulled over his words before her eyes lit up in recognition.  She was sharp, that one.

“Yah letting us go?”

The sharp intakes of breath from everyone else, including Scorpio, was almost amusing.

Almost.

“Yes.  My report to the Empress will be that the five assassins were never found.  They either escaped or perished in the Everfree.  I believe she will think you are dead.”

“And why’s that?”  Demanded Rainbow Dash furiously.  The pegasus was itching for a fight and Noctis knew it.  Pinkie Pie was still restraining her though.

“Because you’re not assassins.”  He turned back to Applejack.  “You know what this means though.”

She nodded.  “We disappear.”

“Do not return.  Nobody searches for the dead.”  He turned to face the group as a whole.  “I will not ask where you will go, but make sure you avoid ever coming near here again.  It isn’t safe for you.”

Spike strode forward with determination.  “I won’t leave.  I have to stay.”

Ponies all around him protested and it took a bit of time to settle them down before he could speak again.

“I have to!”  He said firmly.  “Twilight needs me!  I don’t know what Nightmare Moon has done to her but I have to help her!”

Noctis was taken aback slightly, he hadn’t expected this.  “Twilight Sparkle is gone, young dragon.  Nova is all that remains, I doubt she’d be happy to see you again.”

Spike swallowed but didn’t back down.  “I don’t care.  I won’t believe that.  Twilight is still there, she has to be!”

Noctis frowned.  He had to let the dragon what he was suggesting.  “Nova killed Shining Armor.”

Spike froze, his face drawn up in a combination of horror and grief.

“She turned him to stone.  He’s now a statue in the castle garden.”

Spike’s lips trembled and his eyes filled with dragon tears.  Nevertheless, he stepped in front of Noctis, the tears flowing freely down his face.  “I have to go.  Twilight needs me.”

Noctis admired him.

“I have warned you.  Do you still want to return?  You have to be sure.”

“I have never been surer of anything.”

Noctis waved a wing at the others around Spike.  “What about them?  You know they are alive.  If you make a mistake, even the smallest one, the ruse shall be discovered and it will mean their deaths.  Can you remain silent?  Do they trust you to keep their secret?”

The first hint of doubt flashed across Spike’s face and he turned around towards the other ponies.

“No.  Absolutely not.”  Thundered Applejack.  “Spike, yah seem a great guy, but Ah have to think of mah family first.”  She blinked back her tears, fighting to remain strong.

Scorpio spoke up for the first time since revealing himself, recognizing what was bothering Applejack.  “You lost someone?”

Applejack nodded.  “Mah granny.”  She pulled the younger earth pony closer to her.  “She died saving mah sister from the fire.”

Noctis felt his mouth run dry.  “I’m sorry.”  The words were hollow.	

Spike hesitated but walked up to Applejack, placing a his claws on her hooves.  “I have to go back, Applejack.  She’s my family.  She hatched me from an egg.”

Applejack wouldn’t look Spike in the eye and kept shaking her head in rejection until Macintosh put a single hoof on her shoulder.  He gave Spike a single nod of his head.

“Eeyup.”  He said.  “Let ‘im go AJ.”

Applejack looked torn before her face screwed up in determination.  She glared at Spike and pointed at him with a hoof.

“Swear it!”  She demanded, her eyes filled with unshed tears for her grandmother.  “Swear on your life that yah will never, ever, reveal our secret.  Swear that you will take it to the grave!”

Spike stepped back, clearly intimidated by the mare’s ferocity, and wrung his claws before he took Applejack’s hoof, staring into her eyes.  “I promise.”

Applejack held his gaze for what seemed like forever before she turned to Noctis.  “Will they read his mind?”

“No.”  said Scorpio.  “Dragons are naturally resistant to most mind magics.”

“I will say that we found him in the Ponyville wreckage.”  Noctis added.  “He has the injuries to prove it.  He may be punished, but probably nothing severe.  I imagine Nova would enjoy having a dragon serve her.”

Spike visibly swallowed but walked to Noctis’s side anyway.

Noctis spoke to the whole group.  “Nobody else here knows what you look like, and there are no pictures of you in our possession.  Soon, my soldiers will break up the camp and you can take a train to wherever you want.”

Rainbow Dash finally escaped Pinkie Pie and stomped towards him.  She was shorter than him, but only by a little bit.  She stopped right in front of him and snorted in his face.

Noctis tensed, there was something about this mare that screamed danger.

“Tell me why!”  She shouted, poking his armor harshly with a hoof.  “Tell me why I should believe you!  You’re loyal to Nightmare Moon!”

Good soldiers follow orders.

“I am loyal.”  He admitted.  “I am loyal to my leaders, I am loyal to fellow soldiers, I am loyal to my people.”  He looked up from the irate mare to look at them all.  “I am loyal to those who are innocent and need my help.”

Rainbow Dash stepped back, rage shaking her, but she did not attack.  For a moment, Noctis thought that she wouldn’t believe him and attack anyway.

She snorted and turned away.  Her anger not abiding at all.  “You’re lucky I trust Applejack.”

Beside him, Scorpio relaxed.  

“We’ll be taking our leave then.”  Noctis said.  Nobody bothered to reciprocate the farewell, not that he blamed them.  

Noctis turned around and started to leave with Scorpio following behind slightly.  Spike was saying his farewells to everyone else.  Noctis was sure he would catch up with the two officers, for now though, they needed to speak privately.  The group they left behind murmured and Noctis could hear them pack up what little they had, getting ready to leave.

“Noctis…those ponies weren’t assassins.  They were just regular ponies”

“Correct.”

“What does this mean?”

“It means that we don’t have the whole story.  The Empress lied to us.”

Scorpio gasped.  “What do we tell her?”

“The truth.  We didn’t find any assassins.”

“What do we do then?”

Noctis thought about it.”

“Nothing.  The Empress may have lied, but there was something about them…something strong.  Nothing sinister though.  They were in that dungeon for a reason, a reason that involved Princess Twilight.  With Nova though…I doubt whatever it was will work again.  The bond they had, it died with Ponyville.  There’s no reason to continue tormenting these civilians.  They have done nothing to us, and have only suffered.”

“I agree.”

“We must march on and remain vigilant.”  Noctis said firmly.  He glanced up and eyed the crimson stars above them.  “The night is long and dark days are ahead of us.  All of us.”

Good soldiers follow orders.

Was he still a good soldier?
> Chapter 17: Pyrrhic Victory
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Castle

Four Weeks Later

Nightmare Moon





Breath in…breathe out…

Calm, she was calm.  She was not, in fact, agitated or annoyed.  She was the perfect picture of absolute serenity – and not in any way sitting on the edge of her seat.  If her daughter were to walk through the doors now, she would find her mother to be calmly awaiting her arrival beside a very carefully and painstakingly planned meal for just the two of them.

Of course, it had helped that Nightmare had …persuaded, not tortured…the dragon Spike into revealing her daughter’s favorite food selections.

Nightmare glanced impatiently at the clock, which to her was ticking rather loudly.  It was only a few minutes until midnight, the appointed time at which she had ordered…no, suggested…that Nova meet her for a shared meal.  

She tapped the table in front of her impatiently, rattling the assembled dinnerware.

“There’s no need to worry.”  Nightmare told herself soothingly.  “She is always on time.  Always.  Tonight is no different.”

The tapping continued.

The clock kept ticking.

She stared at the door…willing it to open and reveal her daughter.

Tick-Tock…thirty seconds…

Fifteen…

Ten…

Five…

Three…

Two…

“Your Majesty?”

Nightmare jumped and spun around, startled by the unexpected voice behind her.  

Nova, as stoic as always, didn’t react to Nightmare’s flinch.  Instead, she bowed low in submission and waited.

“Yes, rise.”  Nightmare said quickly, annoyed.  She was tired of her daughter bowing to her as if Nightmare was her liege-lord, and not her own mother.  “You teleported again.”

“Yes, your majesty.”  Nova said mechanically, rising.  “You commanded that I be here promptly at midnight.  Teleportation is the fastest possible method of travel.”

“Yes…but you did so silently.”  Nightmare surmised.  “You have been practicing.”

“Of course.”  Said Nova, taking her seat.  “With the permission you gave me, I was able to learn from the Canterlot Archives of a way to improve my spell to teleport without producing sound.  This way, the element of surprise remains.”

“I know this.  What concerns me is what that level of skill requires.  When is the last time you slept?”

“Two days, fifteen hours, thirty-three minutes, and fifteen seconds ago.”

Nightmare slammed her hooves on the table, bending her fork in the process.  “You’ve been in the Archives the entire time I was in Manehatten?”

“No.”  Refuted Nova.  “I was only in the Archives for half of that time.  The other half I spent with some of the legionnaires; practicing simultaneously my teleport spell and sharpening my combat ability.

Nightmare snarled. “I told you that learning to fight was unnecessary.  You are safe, and you will remain that way.  I am here now to protect you.”

“I understand that.”  Nova said crisply.  “But the fact remains that I need to be able to successfully carry out your will among the populace.  Though a majority of the populace has submitted, Commander Noctis has shown me reports that a small minority still resists your rule.  This is, of course, unacceptable.”  

Nightmare glowered at Nova.  “That is my concern.  Not yours.  Why do you think I ordered you to stay here, where you are safe, while I dealt with Manehatten’s riots?”  She realized that her anger was rising, again, and took a few moments to take a deep breath and release her anger.  It was not easy, as she usually used her anger to strengthen her resolve.  But she did not want to be angry at Nova – Twilight – no, no, she would not be angry at her.

“Alright.”  Nightmare breathed out calmly.  “Alright that’s fine.  Exercise is good for a young mare.  Now, do you know why you are here tonight?”

“You ordered me to be here at midnight, your majesty.”

Nightmare gritted her teeth.  “You may dispense with the titles.”

“As you wish.  You ordered me here so that I could share a meal with you.”

Nightmare smiled.  Finally, they were getting somewhere.  She leaned back in her chair and relaxed a little, making sure to fix the fork she had bent earlier.  “Yes, I was hoping that you could tell me more about yourself.  We have not had a moment to…get reacquainted.”

That was a lie of course.  Nightmare had spent every spare moment in the past four weeks to try and get her daughter to open up to her.  But time after time, Nova continued to remain aloof and impassive to everything she did.  It was as if Nova didn’t care about her mother, and only about Nightmare Moon, Empress of the Empire.

This…this was her last attempt before she took a more drastic measure.

Nova remained silent and still, the perfect example of a devoted acolyte.

Nightmare glanced at the food, picked up a dandelion with her fork, and started eating.  Sure enough, Nova began eating as well since customary protocol had been followed.  

Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, Nightmare considered how to proceed.  Her past attempts had yielded zero results.  She blamed this partially on not having raised Twilight herself.  Simple conversation and interaction should not be so stifling, but every time she tried to reconnect with her daughter, she failed to gain anything meaningful.

In her desperation and frustration, she had finally turned to the dragon Spike for ways to get Twilight to relax.  Though the young dragon was…reluctant, to put it mildly…he gave Nightmare some advice that she might find useful.  Nightmare realized that the only reason that the dragon had been genuine in his desire to be helpful was because he himself had gotten nowhere in his attempts to reconcile with Nova.

She was not blind, after all.  Nightmare had only accepted the dragon’s half-attempt at excuses for his betrayal because she needed someone who had known Twilight.  Nightmare could tolerate the dragon’s presence, anyone else would only have infuriated her.

“It is impressive, daughter, that you have learned to cast a silent teleportation on your own.  I was not able to do the same until my mentor, Starswirl the Bearded, taught me how.  I was a little older than you are now.”  

Spike had told Nightmare of Twilight’s fascination with the legendary wizard.  This was to her advantage, as the old stallion had practically raised her.  

“Thank you.”  Nova said simply, giving no indication that she had any interest in Starswirl.

Perhaps a different, and more direct, approach would work.  “I understand that you desire to know more about the famed wizard of the millennium past.  I assure you that my knowledge of him is very extensive.”

Nova was silent a moment, considering.  From what the dragon had told Nightmare, Twilight should have been begging on bended knee for this sort of first-hand information.

“Hmmm.”  Muttered Nova.  “Yes, I do have a question.  Do you know if Starswirl documented his encounter with the monster Scorpan?”

Nightmare’s eyes widened and her mouth suddenly went dry.  This was not what she had expected to hear in the slightest.  The events surrounding Tirek and Scorpan’s brief incursion into Equestria had been blotted from history.  Since Tirek had been preemptively stopped, and then imprisoned in Tartarus, Luna and…and Celestia had decided along with Starswirl to keep it secret.  They didn’t want to panic the populace with news of a near invasion, or give their enemies an ally in the form of a powerful centaur warlord.  Nova having information of that event should have been impossible.

“Where…”  She hesitated.  “Where did you learn that name?”

Nova’s horn lit up and a book appeared, a book with a familiar stylized sun on the cover.

Nightmare took it immediately and flipped to the marked page.





…and then we imprisoned the centaur Tirek in the depths of Tarturus.  We bound him in enchanted chains on one of the deep spires, Cerburus barring the way.

We had of course, considered executing Tirek.  Such crimes that he had committed, and had planned to commit, were reprehensible.  He had conspired to completely enslave our people, and conquer other nations.  He had admitted this to us, even as he cursed us.  Tirek named himself warlord, and claimed that he was entitled to the magic of Equestria.

Starswirl, however, bade us not to do so at the behest of Scorpan.  Scorpan, though he warned us and prevented disaster, was still sympathetic to his brother.  Reluctant though we were, Luna and I decided that we would abide by Scorpan’s desire for imprisonment, over our initial reaction to sentence death.

Tirek’s magic is unknown to us.  His method of stripping magic from the beholder does not coincide with what we know of the magical arts.  Scorpan was not as powerful as his brother, but he did know how Tirek had come to possess such dark knowledge.  

Scorpan had revealed to Starswirl the spell Tirek used to strip magicians of their magic, though he himself was not able to cast it.  Scorpan did this, so that Starswirl would be able to devise a way to reverse it, should Tirek elude us.

Starswirl instructed us that should Tirek strip a pony of their magic, we would need to subdue Tirek first, and then submit him to the Elements of Harmony.  Beyond that, he refused to reveal to us Tirek’s spell.  He said that even the knowledge of such dark magic was dangerous, and that he would not burden us with the temptation.  

Starswirl also said that this spell was beyond him, as he did not have the power to wield it, so that nobody would fear that he could fall and use it against it.  Apparently, the reason that Tirek was still able to wield this ability, even when stripped of most of his magic, was because he had conducted a ritual in which the Dark Magic spell was bound to his destiny, and therefore it dominated his actions.

Dark Magic, the knowledge and use of it, is corruptive.  That is what Starswirl has always taught us.  It warps the mind and smothers logical thought.  It does not, however, make its own decisions.  It will tempt, it will whisper, but it will never act as if it has a will of its own.

Our trust in him was beyond question, so we accepted his reasons.





Nightmare closed the journal softly.  Her sister had always been eloquent in her writing, and her journal was no different; she could almost hear Celestia’s voice coming from its pages.

“What do you know?”

Nova tilted her head questioningly.  “Can you be more specific?  I know a lot.”

“Tirek.”  Nightmare prodded impatiently.  “Scorpan, Starswirl…what other great figures have you read about in my sister’s journals?  Events, places…what do you know?”

“I have noted through my reading that there are a great many discrepancies between events listed in these journals and what is commonly known of our history.  Discord and his Reign of Chaos, for example, is described in greater detail.  Also listed is the unicorn Sombra, who declared himself Lord and Master of a Crystal Empire in the north.”

Nightmare jabbed the journal with her hoof. “Is that why you are reading these journals, to learn spells from powerful practitioners?”

Nova sat up straighter and drew her wings up haughtily, as if about to give a lecture.  “Though the Usurper committed great crimes against yourself and the Empire, there is no doubt in my mind that her knowledge of magic surpasses all except your own.  In addition to that, these journals stored beneath her quarters detail many historical events in detail, many of which cannot be found in the Archives.  I believe that there is much that I can learn from them.  Ancient rituals, forgotten spells, and censored runes could be preserved in her collection.  The Usurper, in her arrogance, probably never thought that another might peruse through her own collection.  Already, I have found over a three dozen spells that have either fallen out of modern use or were purposely suppressed.”

Nightmare grew angry, narrowing her eyes at Nova.  “Why did you not come to me with your questions?”  She growled, jealous again of her sister.  “I know just as much as her about many of these things.”

Nova stiffened, suddenly reluctant.  “With all due respect, your majesty, I believe teaching me is a waste of your time.”

“A waste?!”  Shrieked Nightmare.

“Yes.”

Nightmare stood up abruptly and started pacing back and forth rapidly, muttering to herself and swishing her tail angrily.  

Nova nibbled on a dandelion, her scarlet eyes following Nightmare across the room as she paced.

Nightmare stopped and closed her eyes, taking a moment to take a deep breath before releasing it in an effort to calm herself.  She turned back to Nova and pinned her in place with a searching gaze; analytical, questioning, and almost desperate.  “Explain yourself.”

“Your Majesty’s time-“

“What did I say about titles?!”

Nova scowled in slight annoyance but continued.  “Your time is too precious to be wasted on me.  I am perfectly capable of learning new skills or knowledge on my own.  As Empress, you lead the Empire of Equestria; her government, her army, and her citizens.  Your importance to this nation is paramount, and supersedes all other concerns.  I can better serve you by not being a burden; a sharpened sword instead of a dull blade.  I will not be a burden to you.”

Nightmare spun around at Nova’s words and faced out the window, staring out at the crescent moon and the blood-red stars.  In that moment, she could not look at Nova’s face; nor let her daughter see her tears.  

“Is that how you see me?”  Luna whispered.  “As your Empress?”

“Of course.”

“Not as your mother.” 

It was not a question.

Nova was silent a moment, considering.  Luna could not see her daughter’s face, but she did not need to wonder.  If she turned around, she would have only seen the same unfeeling expression that had come to be representative of their relationship; cold and apathetic.  Luna had seen it a dozen times before, and did not want to see it again.

“As I have said before, your majesty, you are Nightmare Moon; Alicorn of the Moon, Conqueror of Equestria, and Empress of the Empire…and you do not need a daughter.”

Luna bowed her head and her tears flowed unhindered and unseen.  She whispered quietly to where Nova would not hear what she said.  “But...I want my daughter.”

…

…

…

“Leave me.”

Nova hesitated, her ears flickering in warning at Nightmare’s abrupt change in tone.  “Your majesty, if you are upset that I was not ready to put down Manehatten’s riots in your place, then I assure you that as your subordinate I-“

“I SAID LEAVE ME!!”  Nightmare screamed.  Still though, Luna refused to look back at the daughter that did not recognize her mother.  She then waited and listened while Nova wordlessly stood up and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Spinning around, Nightmare howled and threw out her magic violently, launching the table away from her.  It spun through the air and embedded itself in the opposite wall with a thunk; pastries and plates alike shattering on the floor.

Cursing in ancient Equestrian, Nightmare slammed her right hoof repeatedly on the tiled floor, smashing the marble into small fragments.  It did little nothing to relieve her pain, but it did feel good to vent her frustration on something.

Kneeling on the floor, Nightmare panted and watched her tears collect on the fractured marble.  After hours of planning and preparation…nothing.  Whatever ever love Twilight had for her…Nova did not show it, if it was there anymore.  It had been so bright, that brief flicker of love for her mother, that the hole in her heart was larger than it had ever been before.

Luna could rant and rave all she wanted, but that didn’t change the fact that she could blame no one but herself for Nova.

It was all her fault, and the worse part was she didn’t know how it had come about, only that she had caused it.

What Nightmare had desired was that Twilight would know all the pain and hatred Luna experienced a thousand years ago at the hooves of Celestia and Equestria and understand her reasons for doing what she did.  Those memories, of the moon and before her banishment, where charged with emotion and pain.  Luna had only wanted for Twilight to comprehend what she herself knew to be true.  Then, once she had learned and experienced the truth, Twilight would stop her foolish crusade and join her mother.

They could be a family again, and love and live with each other as they always should have.

But somewhere in all that, Twilight broke…and Nova had picked up the pieces.

Luna had a plan of action, but Nightmare was hesitant to carry it out.  The plan required…unsavory resources.

She needed more reassurances, and perhaps even some motivation in order to find out what she had done to destroy Twilight; then she could heal her.  

Casting a spell to clean herself up, Nightmare gathered herself and strode out the doors.  The two legionnaires outside snapped to attention and saluted as she passed them.  Walking swiftly, she passed various servants, nobles, and soldiers as they went about their nightly work schedule.  A few greeted her respectfully (mostly Lunar Pegasi), but most hugged the wall and made sure to stay out of her way.  

She ignored them.  Twilight and Nova consumed her thoughts. 

Deeper and deeper she went into the castle, past the throne room, the banquet halls, the ballroom, and even past the little-visited servants’ quarters.  Finally, she came to her destination; the most heavily guarded section of the citadel; the dungeons.

In the four weeks since the creation of the Empire, the dungeons, surprisingly, had not seen many new inmates.  Nightmare had expected hundreds of prisoners and rebels to quickly fill the vacant cells, but in reality, the number had been much smaller.  

Noctis, her loyal legion commander, had reported that Equestria’s populace had reacted exactly as Nova had predicted they would.  Noctis’s network of undercover spies, hidden in deep cover across Equestria for centuries, had gathered intelligence that before Nova had raised the Red Sun, there had been rumors and rumblings of rebellion, but nothing organized.  After the appearance of the Red Sun, these pockets of resistance dispersed again.  It seemed that their fear and confusion smothered these small sparks before they grew into something larger.

Nightmare had given Noctis and the other Legion Commanders explicit orders that citizens were not to be arrested until an actual crime had been committed.  Because she had been gone for a thousand years, Nightmare kept the current justice system intact until she could fully analyze its strengths and flaws.

Nightmare was not vain enough to deny that overthrowing Celestia had been an act of revenge and not for the benefit of the population. Discovering that her daughter lived changed her priorities.  Now she just wanted an Equestria that would not be hostile to her daughter’s nocturnal heritage.  Safeguarding her old allies, the Lunar Pegasi, was an additional priority.  She did not repay their millennium of loyalty by disregarding their welfare.

Putting aside her thoughts, Nightmare came to the end of the hallway to a small iron door, guarded by six fully armored legionnaires.  It was unique that it was alone and separate from the rest of the cells.  The soldiers gave a smart salute and awaited her instruction.

“I will speak with the prisoner alone.  You are dismissed.”  

The soldiers relaxed and did as she commanded, leaving Nightmare alone outside the lonely iron door.

As soon as she was sure they were gone, Nightmare slumped with her back against the wall and slowly slid to the floor next to the door.  She was so, so very tired.  She picked her helmet off her head and dropped it unceremoniously to the floor.  Letting out a sigh, she released the magic that held together the glamour that was the face of Nightmare Moon.  Teeth flattened, pupils rounded, and her fur returned to their original midnight blue.

It did not feel right, during these late-night visits, to sit and listen as Nightmare Moon.  Allowing herself to be Luna in these precious moments gave her a bitter piece of what should have always been hers.

“I am here.”  Luna spoke quietly.

“So am I.”  said Mi Amore Cadenza.

A slight pause fell between them; both had much to say, but neither one of them had the words to voice their desires.

“Why are you here again Luna?”  Cadenza asked, her voice quiet and subdued.

Her real name.  So many had forgotten it.  How Cadenza had learned it she didn’t know.  The first time Cadenza had uttered it, she became furious.  Each successive time Cadenza called her Luna, the anger diminished.  She didn’t rightly know why; perhaps it was because her own daughter didn’t user her true name.  Nightmare Moon would be a liar if she denied that a part of her missed being called Luna.

A guilty pleasure, these trips to the dungeons.

“You know why I am here.”

“…another story then?”

“Yes.”

“Will you listen this time?”

Luna’s eyes narrowed and she turned her head to look through the bars.  There was only darkness beyond them, but she knew Cadenza would be curled up in the corner of the cell, looking through the bars back at her.

“I always listen.”

“No, I don’t think you do.  I think you hear my stories, but you do not listen.  If you did, you wouldn’t need to keep coming back.”

“So cryptic.”  Luna gritted out.  “Truly my sister taught you how to answer without actually giving an answer.”

Cadenza laughed a little, though it sounded more like a wheeze.  “She did enjoy her riddles.  Drove me crazy when she was teaching me to be a princess.”

“I always prefer to be upfront and direct.”  Luna replied.  This back and forth between the two of them would have been unthinkable four weeks ago.  But time had a way of unraveling things.  That wasn’t to say that they liked each other, but that the two of them both acknowledged that they wanted something from the other.  Cadenza wanted to tell stories, and Luna wanted to listen.

In a way, Twilight had brought them together.  Not by her presence, but by her absence.  

“There was a time she was scared of the dark.”  Cadenza began.  “Usually nighttime didn’t bother her, and I actually had trouble putter her to bed.  But this time, there was a storm outside, and clouds blotted out the sky.  Unscheduled storms are rare, but they do happen.  Twilight had always planned everything out, so the lightning and thunder surprised her.”

“I found her underneath her bed, shivering and whimpering.  I told her it was only an unexpected storm, and she believed me – the storm was not the problem, her being alone was.  She was terrified, you see, of being alone.”

“Once I was there, she calmed down a little.  I may have started out as her sitter, but we soon became sisters.  As her big-sister, I knew what she needed.  Twilight had this small doll that she took everywhere she went.  It was this small, old, and worn thing that she had always had, even before Night Light and Velvet adopted her.  It was faded with age and was tearing at the seams, but every time it was torn Twilight made sure to patch it again.  No other doll or toy could ever replace it.  Its name was Smarty Pants.”

Luna’s ears twitched.  A doll?  From even before she was adopted?  “Where did it come from?”

Cadenza hesitated, a note of question in her voice.  “It…It came from Celestia.  She said that…that the doll came from her mother.  Velvet told me.”

Luna was silent, pondering what this meant...or if it really mattered.

“Was it a lie?”  Cadenza asked.  “Or did Celestia tell the truth?”

Luna contemplated answering at all, but decided that she too was curious about the doll.  “There was only one small doll.  It was a blue alicorn.  I made it so that she wouldn’t be alone in her room when I was away.”  

Silence, for a moment, as Cadenza undoubtedly digested her words, and what they implied.  Luna was grateful for the brief reprieve; it gave her a moment to sort her own troubled thoughts.

“…do you want me to continue?”

“Yes.”

“Once Twilight had Smarty Pants, she was happy again and the storm didn’t bother her anymore.  Smarty Pants always managed to cheer her up when she was sad and comfort her when she was afraid.  Twilight then wanted to build a book fort.”

“A book fort?”

“Yes, it’s a small fort made out of books.  Twilight had the largest collection of books compared to every other child in all of Equestria.  She didn’t keep many toys, only Smarty Pants really.  Twilight would make a foundation out of dictionaries and towers out of the different genres.  There was the tower of fiction, the keep of history, the observatory of science, and even a citadel of poetry.  She had so many books that once she was done, she could look me in the eye.  Twilight would then declare herself the ‘Princess of Books’ and decree that I had to bring her a new book as tribute if I wanted to continue foal-sitting her.  It was…utterly adorable.”

Luna could almost see it in her mind’s eye, word for word.  Cadenza had a way of weaving together a tale that drew her audience in.  She could almost see a small, sweet, and innocent filly building a castle of books, standing on ramparts of pages with her little ragged doll to protect her.

Along with the sadness, Luna felt a twitch of envy.  That should have been her comforting Twilight.  Not Cadenza.

But now, after these small talks, Luna knew that Cadenza didn’t hate Twilight; or that she was evenly mildly malicious.  It was blatantly apparent that Cadenza loved her daughter as if she were her own sister, and that she would never do anything to hurt her.

That didn’t mean Luna trusted Cadenza, far from it.  Celestia had trained Cadenza, and that made everything she did suspect.  Luna also thought that Cadenza would do anything to take her daughter from her and that was something she would not allow, even if her intentions were benevolent.  Nobody would separate Twilight from her again.  Nobody.

But oh how she wanted to hear these stories.  She was playing with fire just even listening to Cadenza, but the alicorn offered something Luna desired so desperately.  Who her daughter was, what she wanted, what scared her, what made her smile, what angered her, and what she loved.  

All the things she wanted to hear from her daughter’s own mouth came from Cadenza herself, as Nova would not tell her.

Irony, at its worse.  Luna had to listen to an adversary she despised to learn about the daughter she loved.

“Do you want another story?”  Cadenza asked.

“Why do you offer?”  Luna asked abruptly, standing to turn and stare into the darkness of the cell.  “Why do you care?  I put you there, and still you give me what I want.  I curse you and you tell me stories!”  Luna rattled the bars.  “Why?!”

Luna could hear the chains rattle as Cadenza stood up.  “I have seen your heart, Luna.”

The alicorn of the moon felt her heart clench, suddenly apprehensive.

Cadenza stepped closer, her chains clanking across the cold stone floor.

“I have seen your pain, and how you hide it.  I have seen your anger, and how you use it.  I have seen your sadness, and how it haunts you.  But most of all…”

Luna remained still, refusing to be intimidated.

“…I have seen your love, and that you fear losing it.”

Luna stared, suddenly feeling vulnerable even with her armor on.  Cadenza’s eyes bored into hers, full of pity.

“I loathe you.”  Luna said quietly.  “She chose you…over me.”

“Then why are you here, really?”  Cadenza whispered.  “You did not come here just to listen to a story.”

“No.”  Luna confirmed.  “I had to be sure.”

“Sure of what?”

“I had to be sure that Twilight’s trust in you was not misplaced.”

“Why?”

…

…

…

“I need your help.”
> Chapter 18:  Princess and Prisoner
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Castle

Nova





The will of Nightmare Moon is paramount.

Nova remained still as she studied the chalkboard in front of her, scarlet eyes narrowed in concentration.  Surrounding her was an array of organized research materials and equipment that had been recently delivered to the castle at her demand.  Freshly made quills, brand new parchment, and books hot off the printing press were being steadily organized into their new home in Novas’s quarters.  These walls had formerly been the home of the castle’s resident court wizard…but he had made other accommodations at Nova’s suggestion.

The dragon who had belonged to Nova’s previous self, ‘She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’, was currently organizing the new laboratory equipment and research material that she had commandeered.  He worked as silently as possible, so as to not incur her wrath.  The new bandages covering his head and arms were a testament to how much of a bad idea it was to interrupt Nova when she was in the midst of her projects.

Nova did enjoy reminding lesser beings of their inferiority, often, and with liberally applied lightning.

Turning back to her work, Nova turned returned her thoughts to the projects, ideas, conspiracies, and theories she had accumulated in her study; at the end of the night all of Nova’s work could be summed up into three issues that demanded her absolute attention.

Her empress, Nightmare Moon, had assured her that Nova had done enough for the empire, and that she deserved to relax and revel in the midst of the empress’s success.

Nova, however, knew better.

As blasphemous as that sounded, Nova had come to realize that her empress possessed a flaw.  Nightmare Moon possessed a sentiment for the ideal of motherhood.  This construct was the first of the three projects that Nova was working on.

Unfortunately, she had not come closer to finding a final solution.  The obvious answer was that motherhood was a societal tool used to continue the mortal species and allow young offspring to grow to a self-sustaining age.

Nova did not know why Nightmare Moon insisted on placing her into this category.

She was not blind, or deaf for that matter.  Nova knew very well that she shared a biological maternal link with the empress.  However, such mortal connections, and the sentiment that was attached to them, were best left to the mortals themselves and their short-sighted mindsets.  As immortal alicorns that were bound to physical aspects of the universe, the idea of relationships through the commonality of shared blood was absurd.

It was apparent that Nightmare Moon shared Nova’s belief in this, at least to a certain degree.  The empress had, after all, overthrown her treacherous sister.  From a biological standpoint, siblings would be closer in blood than a parent and her child.  The child, after all, would also share blood with the other parent, and would therefore only possess half the blood relation to either parent, unlike siblings, who were of the same blood.

Following this logic, Nightmare Moon should hold no sentiment for Nova if Celestia did not matter.

Nightmare Moon was therefore illogical.

…

…

…

“Dragon.”  Nova said decisively, keeping her eyes firmly on her charts.  “Come here.”

The small purple dragon hesitated for a moment then shuffled to her side.  “Yes ma’am?”

“I need an illogical opinion.  You are an expert in being illogical, therefore I will grant you this opportunity to speak freely so long as you do not insult either the empress or myself.”

The dragon looked from her to her charts, and his face grew slightly confused.  “Uh…which project do you need an opinion on?  I see three.”  He said cautiously.  His eyes darted from one chart to the next, and all the dots and lines connecting them.  “Is it the one with the large tree, the centaur, or the alicorn?”

“The alicorn.  In this case, it represents the empress and how the construct of motherhood relates to her.”

The dragon turned back to her sharply, but hesitated before asking his obvious question.  “Motherhood?”

“Repetition of my clear instructions is a waste of my time, dragon.”

The dragon looked away suddenly and tried not to look at her horn for the tell-tale of sparks that her patience was ending.  “Sorry.  What…What is it about motherhood that confuses you?”

“The empress is acting illogically.  She puts stock in the construct of a relationship between parent and child, and this is affecting her ability to rule effectively.”

The dragon paused for a significant minute.  Through her peripheral vision, Nova could see that he was staring up at her.  She allowed him his moment to think through his response.  Dimwitted minds couldn’t be expected to answer promptly, and pushing for an answer would increase his distress and decrease his opinion’s relevance.

“Moms are supposed to love their kids.”  The dragon stated as if it were obvious.  “It’s…uh…automatic.  It’s…well…unconditional.”

“Love.”  Nova stated emotionlessly, the word foreign to her tongue.  “Like Mi Amore Cadenza?”

“Well…no.  Cadance doesn’t…cause it.  She just helps sometimes.”  The dragon scratched his head.  “Boy, this is hard.  She’s like a…um…a teacher.  Yeah!  A teacher!  She doesn’t create it, she just teaches others about it.”  He hesitated a moment.  “She also…sometimes…maybe….guards it.”

“Provide details for your last statement.”

“She’s like Shini-“  The dragon stopped suddenly and looked away from her.  Nova clearly understood that he was about to compare Cadenza to the deceased Royal Guard captain currently on display in the royal statuary garden.

Good.  He was learning.

“She…is like a guard.”  The dragon said finally, a note of sorrow in his voice that Nova ignored.  “She protects it from those that…uh…misuse it or put it in danger.  Like…people that create love spells or like this one time she imprisoned somepony because he would beat his wife.”

“So Cadenza was a massive waste of resources.”  Said Nova.  “I knew this.  Give me a statement on why you think the empress feels the need to act on a biological construct.”

The dragon’s confusion seemed only to grow.  Astounding.

“Because…Because she’s your mother?  That’s why she loves you?”  The dragon’s statements seemed framed more as question then an actual answer.  “It’s a package deal?”

“But that is illogical.  As an alicorn, the empress does not adhere to the same biological constructs as other mortals.”

“But love is…not biological?”

“Now you contradict yourself.  You stated that the empress expresses ‘love’ for me because I am her biological child.”

The dragon was beating himself at the forehead with his palm.  Clearly, this conversation was taxing his limited ability to think.

Seemingly to have calmed down enough to form a coherent thought, the dragon was silent for another moment before daring to say anything.

“It’s…hard to put into words.”  He seemed to gather his courage, keeping an eye closed as if he expected to receive a bolt of lightning for his next few words.  “Don’t…Don’t you feel love?”

Nova opened her mouth to respond in the negative immediately, but she paused.  It was a valid question.  Logically, if the empress was capable of ‘feeling’ such emotion, then Nova must also have that possibility.

It was an interesting tangent.  Nova would need to carefully analyze and categorize her different feelings, if they existed.

What did she feel?  Did she feel love?

She certainly felt obligation to her empress.  She also felt duty and respect towards how she carried out her liege’s will throughout the empire.

Anger?  Hatred?  Of course.  She had anger to spare and then some; that was plainly clear.  It was an effort every moment of her existence to control her anger and not sully her empress’s castle with uncontrollable emotion.  Such was unbecoming of an immortal of her stature or as a representative of her Imperial Majesty.

Also, her empress was displeased by her displays of anger.

The destruction of Ponyville had been a wonderful outlet for that anger.   On one hoof, Nova was able to bring swift justice and destruction to the empress’s enemies.  On the other hoof, Nova could stop holding back and just let loose.  

Revenge on Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor had been extremely satisfying; doubly so since it furthered her empress’s ambitions and stopped an insurrection before it could even begin.

Satisfaction.  Nova definitely felt that.

Ambition?  Only in her empress’s interests.  She had not ambition for herself.  Why would she?  She was second only to Nightmare Moon herself, and to consider reaching further was sacrilegious.

That reminded her of something else; the Lunar Pegasi Legions.  Nova felt suspicion and caution towards the empress’s soldiers.  Any ruler should have a healthy wariness of its military.  Nova felt greatly suspicious of Commander Noctis, who had dared defy her orders on some semblance of honor.  He was the pinnacle of the legions spread throughout Eqeustria, and therefore the example Nova held them by.  The only reason Nova had not killed him for his impertinence was because the empress had ordered her not to.

If Noctis could defy Nova with impunity, and was seen to be doing it, then there was the potential for all of the Lunar Pegasi to rebel.

Nova glanced away from her charts and toward the cluster of rubble and old discarded guard armor piled up in the corner of the laboratory.  She had collected large pieces of the castle’s stone that had collapsed and been knocked loose.  The rubble, like the rest of Canterlot Castle’s stone, was infused with centuries of magic.

Centuries of alicorn magic.

Hence, if the Lunar Pegasi did cause trouble for her empress in the near or far future, they would be in for a rude surprise.

And a sudden demise.

But that was a side project.

So yes, she definitely felt suspicious.   If Nova were to classify it further, she would say she was paranoid.  However, her feelings of suspicion were justified by Noctis’s behavior.

Regret?  No, that would require that she would be repentant of something.

Once Nova got to thinking more about it, it turned out she didn’t feel much.  She knew there were a plethora of emotions out there, her extensive study into the empress’s maternal feelings had made her aware of this.

Should she feel more?

Nova decided that it wasn’t there, then it must not be important.  She had been working at peak efficiency for the empress and that is what mattered.  Anything else was surplus.

This maternal instinct the empress indulged in, however, was proving bothersome.  Nova needed a solution, so that the empress could focus on more important things.

Perhaps she could fake feelings of affection and satisfy the empress’s musings.

No.  That would be lying to the empress.  Nova didn’t have a problem with lying to anybody else; just the empress.  To do so would be to commit insubordination.

Nova scowled up at her chart depicting the Empress.  It would seem that she would not find a resolution today.  “You are dismissed, dragon.”

The dragon, who had been quiet up until that moment, remained so.  He seemed to deflate, as if he had expected or hoped for a different reaction from her.  He sullenly turned away from her, and resumed organizing the laboratory supplies.

Nova pondered for a moment.  What next?  Of the remaining two projects, which should she turn to?

The, ‘giant tree’ as the dragon had called it, looked promising but she had an appointment with the Empress soon.  Nova did not want to incur her displeasure with that particular project in case the Empress could detect her experiments.  There was a risk of being…misunderstood.

Centaur magic it was.  





Luna

 





“I will give you this warning only once.  Don’t move, don’t talk, don’t make eye contact, don’t cast spells, don’t eat, don’t breathe-“

“This sounds more like a list than a-“

“-without my express permission.  Do anything and I will knock you out so fast your ancestors will feel my wrath.”

“And…there it is.”

Luna narrowed her eyes at Cadenza, but decided that she would need to exercise some patience.  She needed Cadenza, or more specifically her magic, if her ritual was going to work.

Cadenza, disguised with Luna’s magic as a legionnaire, glanced curiously about.  “So how are we going to help Twilight from the castle’s observatory?”

“It has the space required for the ritual I have designed, and is remote from the rest of the castle.  Once the ritual has activated, we will need the privacy.”

Cadanza had turned sharply at her words and watched Luna warily as the older alicorn inspected the runes she had carved into the floor earlier.  “Ritual?”  She said suspiciously.  “What ritual?  This is the first you have mentioned it to me.”

She was right of course.  Lune needed Cadenza, unfortunately, if the ritual was going to work as designed. She had therefore refrained from giving the younger alicorn any details beyond the obvious ‘Help me help Twilight.’

“Twilight has a sickness of the mind.”  Luna said somberly.  “She acts, talks, and behaves differently as Nova then when she called herself Twilight.”

“Shocking.”  Cadenza said dryly.  “I would have never guessed that.”

Luna stopped and glared at Cadenza for a single heartbeat before returning to her work.  “This Nova personality is not what I intended for Twilight when I shared with her my memories.”

Cadenza’s ears snapped forward and suddenly she was much more attentive to Luna’s words.  “What did you do exactly?”  She paused, her tone turning accusatory.  “You obviously did something, and that something clearly went wrong.  At first, I had thought that you had somehow enslaved Twilight to your will and twisted her into your own image.”

The accusation stung, and Luna could taste bile at the thought of using such magic on her daughter.  She let it stand though; Luna deserved for such accusations to be levied toward her after seeing what Twilight had become.

“You don’t think that now.”  Luna stated, eyes turning to Cadenza.  “Why?  How did you glean that Nova was not my intention?”

Cadenza’s gaze sharpened, as if she could see right through Luna.  “My connection to love-“she tapped her armored rump for unneeded emphasis “-allows me to see the connections between beings.  Familial love, romantic love…”  Cadenza’s gaze turned almost predatory.  “…even the love between sisters.”

Luna halted and turned away from Cadenza’s knowing eyes.  “You are foolish to tread down this path, young one.  Do not forget who is princess and who is prisoner.”

“I have not forgotten.”  Cadenza said ominously, as if it didn’t matter.  “I saw it.  I see it.  Do not forget it.”

“I feel only hatred for Celestia.”  Luna spat, her irritation rising.  “Cease this line of thought and answer my question!”

“Liar.”  Cadanza hissed.  “You can lie to the world and to yourself but you cannot lie to me.”  

Luna stood straight and marched over to the presumptuous alicorn furiously.  She towered over Cadenza like a cold mountain.  “I have indulged you thus far.  Do not mistake that indulgence for leniency.”

Unexpectedly, Cadenza did not fold like Luna expected her to.  “You still love your sister.  You still love Celestia, even after a thousand years.  I know the legends, I have heard the tales of the battle between Celestia and the Nightmare.  I did not know that it was a tragedy; a fight between sisters.”

“Enough.”  

For a long moment, Luna believed that Cadenza would continue on regardless.  Cadenza was refusing to look away, her eyes boring into Luna’s.  It would seem that her time in the dungeons had given her a backbone.

How inconvenient.

Cadenza crossed her forelegs.  “I see your love for Twilight, and it is strong.  It is also, in some ways, fragile.  You will never stop loving her, but you also deeply fear that Twilight will not return that love.  From this, I know that you would have never purposely done something that would have endangered her love for you.”

Luna could feel her face drain of blood, as she took in Cadenza’s words.  Horror unlike anything she had felt before squeezed her heart.  “Tell me.”  She demanded, her voice frozen with dread.  “Tell me what you see. Tell me more.”  She whispered, almost desperately.

There was no denying it.  Whatever Luna had done to Twilight in those last, desperate moments of their duel, had led to the rise of Nova.

It was her fault, and hers alone.

Cadenza’s eyes turned sorrowful, but she never broke eye contact.  “It was there.  She loved you.  The whole time she was here in the castle, before she broke us out of the dungeon, I could see it.  I wouldn’t believe it though.  I thought it was a trick, or a trap, or a cruel joke.  I was too scared and too foolish to realize what I was seeing.”

Luna remained silent, not even daring to interrupt.  To all the world, she could have been a statue.

“And now…”   Cadance closed her eyes and shuddered.  “…now there is only a flicker.”

Luna slammed her eyes shut to hold back her tears.  She refused to show any weakness in front of Cadenza of all ponies.

Nevertheless, she felt the need to explain what happened.  She did not offer an excuse, as what she had done was inexcusable.

“We fought.”  Luna admitted, and Cadenza listened silently.  “She confronted me, and nearly beat me.  I…I…we said some things to each other that can never be unsaid.  Looking back, I may have gone…mad for a time.”  Cadenza didn’t need to know the details.  “When I defeated her, I wanted…I just wanted her to understand why.  I thought if she could understand why I was doing all this, then she would stop and just be…my daughter.  The daughter I loved so much a thousand years ago.  The daughter I thought was dead.”

“What did you do?”

“My memories…all my memories.  All the pain, the heartache, and the loneliness.  The hate.  Every moment that culminated on my taking up the mantle of Nightmare Moon.  My fights with Celestia.  When Twilight’s father died.  The centuries imprisoned on the moon.  The scorn of the common folk.  I shared it all with her.  I did not know that it would do this; that sharing my pain with her…would lead her to abandoning Twilight…and becoming Nova.  The Death of Stars.”

“This isn’t-“  Cadenza whispered.  “This isn’t a thousand years ago though.  Things have changed.”

Luna snorted derisively.  “Have they?  Pray tell, oh wise alicorn princess, how things have changed.”

Cadenza hesitated, as Luna knew she would.  “Well…I don’t know what happened a thousand years ago but-“

“Exactly.”  Luna interrupted.  “You don’t, but I do.  I know what happened, so I know that things have not changed.”  Luna looked out the window, to the blazing red stars above.  “I thought I could explain this to Twilight, but she didn’t listen.”

Even though Luna could not see her, she could hear the bitterness in Cadenza’s voice.  “Maybe she didn’t listen because you tortured and imprisoned her friends and family.”

“I am her family.  Everything else is a lie.”

Cadenza paused, thinking, clearly trying to understand Luna.  “Why do you think it’s a lie?”

Luna turned back to level her gaze at Cadenza.  “I thought she was dead.  I believed with all that I am that Celestia would not care for Twilight.  She didn’t care for me, why would she care for my daughter?  When I returned, the first thing I did was come here, to this castle, to bring justice and judgement to Celestia.  And I did.”

Luna stepped forward slowly, her armored hooves clanging like a broken bell.  “But…if it had been Twilight sitting on the throne, and not Celestia, then I would have stopped then and there.  I would have seen that things had changed.  That I was wrong, and that Celestia did care enough to love and take care of my daughter.”

Cadenza’s brow furrowed in confusion.  “But she was taken care of.”

Luna bent down until she and Cadenza were eye to eye, inches apart.  “Crippled, mortal, raised by commoners, and ignorant of her heritage is not what I define as cared for.”

“Crippled?”  Cadenza asked.  “You mean her wings?”

“Yes.”

Cadenza tapped her chin thoughtfully.  “She’s never had those though, and I’ve known her since she was a foal.”

“I gave birth to her.  She had wings then, she should have had them now.”

“So…you think Celestia took them away?”

“Who else could?”

Cadenza fell silent, and Luna could see that there was now a worm of doubt in the young alicorn’s mind, no matter how much she might not want it there.  Cadenza tapped her foot and bit her lip as she mulled over Luna’s words.

“The ritual.”  Said Cadenza, changing the subject.  “What does it do, and why do you need me?”

Luna straightened up, considering how much of the truth she should actually tell Cadenza.

Apparently, Cadenza was thinking along the same lines.  “You must tell me, rituals are dangerous if not done correctly, and this-“  She gestured to the hundreds of runes carved into the floor in intricate patterns.  “-is the most complicated ritual I have ever seen.  I’m not proficient in runes myself, but this…this is clearly beyond even what a master could understand, let alone cast.”

“Very well.”  Luna knew that Cadenza wouldn’t like it, which is why she was glad that Nova had, inadvertently, given her some leverage.  “This ritual is designed for me to enter Nova’s mind so that I can fix it.”

“Mind magic?”

“Not…Not exactly.”  Luna hesitated.  “Most mind magic can only read thoughts or intentions.  My connection to the moon, and its power over dreams, can only reach the subconscious of the mind where dreams take place.  Even then, my power to change or alter the mind is almost nonexistent.”

Cadenza suspicion only grew.  “If it’s not mind magic...what does it do?”

“This ritual combines my ability to enter dreams with your alicorn powers, specifically the ones that deal with a being’s soul.”

Cadanza stiffened and her eyes shrunk to pinpricks.  “No.”

“It will only-“

“No,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no.  No!”

Cadenza was now slowly backing up, as if she expected Luna to attack her.  She was right to be fearful of course, but Luna unfortunately needed Cadenza’s willing help.  Alicorn rituals were prickly like that.

Walking forward very carefully, Luna tried to make herself as non-threatening as possible, a hard feat when she was covered in armor and with fangs for a smile.  “I must get to the part where the mind meets the soul, which is the only place where it might be possible to separate Twilight from the memories I forced on her.”

“I won’t help you with this!”  Cadenza spat.  “You will only make things worse!”

"Hah!"  laughed Luna.  "How could things be worse?"

Cadenza had backed herself into a corner, well actually, Luna had backed Cadenza into a corner.  She couldn’t let the only pony capable of letting her fix Twilight try to escape could she?

Luna took a deep breath and sat down, restraining the urge to slap some sense into Cadenza.  Or just slap her, which she really wanted to do.  She had to convince Cadenza to help with the ritual, or everything was for nothing.

“Help me with this Cadenza,” Luna started, trying to placate the distraught mare.  “and I will restore him whom you love to you.”

Cadenza’s eyes grew wide with disbelief at Luna’s audacity, then she snarled angrily at Luna.  “You must think I’m stupid if you think that I’ll believe that mouthful of garbage.  Nothing can bring a soul back from the dead.”

“Ah!”  Luna held her hoof up to halt Cadenza from further interrupting.  “That’s just the thing.  Captain Armor is not dead.”

Cadenza stopped, and looked out the window towards the castle gardens.  Nova must have gloated to her at some point of Armor’s current display location on one of her occasional visits to the dungeon.

Cadenza turned away and Luna could see the faintest hint of a tear sliding down her face.  “Do not be so cruel, to throw this false hope at me.”

“It is not false.”  Luna asserted.  “And I can provide evidence.”

“…how?”

Luna turned to a corner of the observatory and used her magic to lift the spell of invisibility that she had cast earlier in preparation for this eventuality.  She had known that she would need some sort of leverage to get Cadenza to assist with the ritual.

The spell rippled as it collapsed, revealing the statue of Captain Shining Armor.

Luna threw a scroll at Cadenza.  “That spell is able to detect life in petrified beings like this.  My ancient Night Watch used it to help cockatrice victims who wandered the badlands.”

Cadenza unrolled the scroll and her eyes roved across it back and forth as she read it.  It was a simple spell, so Luna was sure that Cadenza would be able to understand the mechanics and recognize that it was genuine, and not a trick.

Cadenza trotted forward slowly, oddly hesitant to approach the statue.  She cast a backwards glance at Luna, who aid nothing so as not to interrupt.  Cadenza’s horn lit up, shining through the illusion.  A soft gasp escaped her, and she rushed over to drape herself over the statue.

“He’s alive…He’s alive…”

“The spell Nova used is an imitation of what a cockatrice’s gaze.  It is therefore reversible.”  Luna confirmed.

“But…Nova says she killed him…she would boast about it, trying to get me to react to her.”

Luna shrugged.  “She might actually believe that, or she only said that to make you give up hope while Armor died slowly.  I do not actually know.”

Cadenza froze, then slumped and sighed.  “There’s a catch isn’t there?”

Luna nodded, her lips twitching as a smile threatened to break out across her face.  She did love to outmaneuver her opponents.  “I have the spell to counteract the petrification, but I will only give it to you if you help me with the ritual.”

Cadenza shook her head, tears falling freely onto Armor’s stony face.

“Don’t be so hasty in your decision, this is an expiration date on my offer.  Specifically, Captain Armor’s expiration.”

Cadenza turned to glare at her again, but the effect was ruined by the tears glittering in her eyes.  “So if I don’t help you…Shining will die without the counter-spell.”

“Precisely.  If a being is petrified too long, it becomes permanent, and the victim dies.”

Of course, there was an exception to that rule, but Cadenza didn’t need to know about him.  It didn’t apply to Shining Armor anyway.

“I thought…that we had turned a corner…”  Cadenza lamented.

“I will do anything to save Twilight.”  Luna said coldly.  “Anything.”

The two alicorns remained still.  Cadenza softly caressed Armor’s face while Luna loomed over the two of them like a winter storm.  Cold and uncaring.  The only sound that could be heard was the wind rattling the windows.

“No.”

“You insolent mare!”  Luna screeched.  “I give you this opportunity to save Twilight and Captain Armor.  This single opportunity and you would throw it away?!”

Cadenza didn’t even bother to acknowledge Luna’s fury.

Luna started pacing back and forth angrily, thinking of ways to get Cadenza to provide the magic for the ritual to work.  “I should throw you back into that cell and let you rot for a few centuries!”

“I won’t trade Twilight’s soul for Shining’s life.  Shining would agree with me, and that will haunt me until the end of time.  So there is no way I will ever help you-“

“Save your self-righteousness!  Do not tell me that mare was not meant to meddle!  I will bring Twilight back even if it takes me millennia!”

“-unless I go with you.  I won’t change Twilight, but I will restore her.  If I go with you, I can see what you will do and I can stop it if you go too far.”

Luna halted and blinked, genuinely taken aback.  She chuckled, and soon she was full on laughing!

“Alright then!”  Luna turned and held out an armored hoof, letting her magic flow through it.  Her hoof lit aflame with magical blue fire, giving the room an eerie glow.  “You have yourself a bargain Mi Amore Cadenza!  I will give you the spell to free Captain Armor and you will provide the magic necessary for the ritual to work!  Then, together, you and I will restore my daughter!”

Cadenza turned around, and looked down at her hoof, considering.  A deal struck between two alicorns with their magic was very powerful, and very dangerous if broken.

Cadenza clapped her hoof with Luna’s, sealing the pact.

Finally, something was going right.
> Chapter 19:  Maze of the Mind
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna





Luna kicked the door behind her with her back leg, slamming it loudly.  She let out a heavy sigh of frustration.  “Answer me this, Cadenza.”

Cadenza looked up from where she was reading a book on dream rituals.  “O.K.  Sure.  Fire away.”

“Was Twilight ever difficult to put to bed when she was a filly?”  Luna half asked, half demanded.  “Because I had to order Nova several times to get some rest!”

“How long was she awake this time?”  Cadenza sighed in exasperation.

“Five nights!”  Luna bemoaned.  “When I had her as a foal, I would sing to her and she would fall asleep almost instantly!”  Luna slammed her hoof down.  “I blame Celestia!  Only she could inspire such unhealthy sleep habits!”

“Well, it seems that some things have carried over.”  Cadenza said sadly.  She then tapped her chin thoughtfully.  “Of course, now that I think of it, maybe the reason she stayed up all night was because she was part of it.  Twilight loved to study all night, and then would have to drown herself in coffee to stay awake in her classes when she went to Celestia’s school.”

“My point exactly!”  Luna agreed.  “She should have slept all day!”

Cadenza returned to reading the book Luna had given her to prepare her for the ritual.  “So?  What was she doing this time?”

“She was in the archives again!  Any moment she’s not with me she spends in that maze of books!”

Cadenza snapped her head up.  “The archives?  She’s been spending all of her time in the library?!”

“Yes!”

Cadenza stood up and walked over to Luna, her face twisting with worry.  She grabbed the front of Luna’s armor and shook it gently.  “Please, please tell me you restricted her access!”

“What of it?”  Luna was confused at Cadenza’s reaction.  She almost slapped the alicorn off of her.  “I found out she loved books, so I thought that letting her visit the archives whenever she wanted might…remind her of herself.  So no, I didn’t restrict her access.”

Cadenza’s armored behind slapped the floor as she dropped.  She looked up in absolute horror at Luna.  “You gave the twisted evil version of Twilight Sparkle unrestricted access to the largest collection of magical knowledge in the world?”

“…yes?”

Cadenza put her head in her hooves.  “We’re doomed…”

Luna let Cadenza have her moment before she pushed the alicorn aside.  “That does not matter.  If my-“

“Our.”

“-if our ritual succeeds, Twilight will be her normal self and you and Shining Armor can do whatever you want to each other back in the dungeons.”

Luna summoned her magic and held out a clump of black hair above the center of the ritual.  “After making sure Nova would sleep, I plucked this from her personal armor.  We now have the final ingredient to start the ritual.”

Cadenza nodded and went to her circle in the ritual, directly opposite from Luna’s circle.  Once they were both in position, Luna lit the runes in the floor.  Blue fire erupted from the carvings in the floor, and Luna could feel the old and powerful magic start to take shape.  Cadenza also lit her horn and the blue flames then grew stronger as they crackled and sent up pink sparks.

The edges of the ritual then threw up a wall of blue flame that surrounded them.The flames grew higher as the wall started to spin into a vortex and all of their other surroundings started to fade from view.The fire became brighter and brighter until Luna was forced to close her eyes.

Then darkness…

…silence…

…suffocating pressure…

…a piercing scream…

…a whisper…

…fear…

…then light.

Luna grunted as she opened her eyes and stood up from the floor.  Cadenza was laying just across from her, where she had been standing before the ritual started.  She seemed alright, and was quickly regaining her bearings.  She stepped forward, but stopped when the ground beneath her shifted.  Luna looked down, and realized it was not ground she was standing on.

It was books.

Luna looked all around her, and she could see that she stood upon the pinnacle of a mountain of books.  It was a singular mountain, and at its base, miles and miles of bookshelves as far as the eye could see.  They formed a labyrinth of epic proportions that would take years to navigate on foot.  The sky itself was a mirror of the outside world, with glimmering angry stars that bled red light.

And directly above them hung a pale white moon with the face of a mare etched onto its face.

It was sickening.  It mocked her.  It defied her.

She hated it.

For a long, twisted moment, she stared at it.  Despite her revulsion, it was almost fascinating to witness from a different point of view.  She could see every detail, from the point of the horn, to the curve of the ears, to the hollow and haunting eye.

She heard Cadenza walk to her side, and could see through the corner of her eye that she too was staring up at the sky.

“When I first arrived at Canterlot Castle, and watched Celestia lower the sun and raise the moon, I asked her why there was a mare on the moon.”  Cadenza said quietly.  Luna let her talk, it was interesting to hear, even if it caused bile to rise in her throat.  “Of course, there were a thousand and one theories.  Ancient texts clearly recorded that the moon was once unblemished.  Astronomers believed that it was the work of asteroids impacting the surface in a great cataclysm; that it was by chance.”  Cadenza turned to her.  “My favorite, the one that Celestia told to me to answer my question, was that the Mare in the Moon was the protector of dreams, and that she chased away nightmares.”

Luna turned away from the accursed sight and stared straight into Cadenza’s eyes.

“Was she telling the truth?”  Cadenza asked.

…

…

…

“In times past, when magic was more feral, the realm of dreams was fraught with danger.”  Luna admitted.It had been so long since she had talked with anyone about this, it felt good to confess this.  “Creatures of all shape and size would be driven mad by the nightmares the wild magic created.  They would have visions of demons, of family betrayals, and of lovers leaving.  They would grow so paranoid that eventually they would snap, and commit terrible deeds.”

Luna breathed deeply, and gazed out across the endless landscape of bookshelves.  “We…Celestia and I, searched together for a solution.  But in the end, I created the magic.  It was destiny, it seemed, for the dominion of the moon and the night was necessary for the magic to work.  At night, when sleep reigned, I would flit from dream to dream and vanquish the monsters within.  I was a nightmare for nightmares, and I was good at it.”

“I created an island of peace, where before, there was despair.  I was content with that.It made me happy, to know that because of me, everyone slept peacefully”  Luna’s voice grew cold.  “Centuries passed, and they forgot what I did for them each and every night.  They didn’t teach their children, and then when they saw me in their dreams I was the invader, not the liberator.”

“I’m sorry.”  Cadenza said in a small voice.

“You are the first, in over a thousand years, to express regret.”  Luna told her.  “I will not pretend that I was a perfect ruler, but I am confident that I was a fair and just leader.  If I have regret about that time, it was that others were dragged down with me.”

“The Lunar Pegasi.”

“Yes.”  Luna confirmed.  “They had always been outcasts, scorned and reviled by others.  I took them under my wing and gave them a home.  Then I gave them a purpose.  Just as I hunted monsters in the mind, so my Night Watch held their vigil for the monsters that walked in broad daylight.”

Cadenza remained silent before she spoke again with a cautious tone.  “You seem…talkative.”

“That is because I feel remorse.”

“Remorse?”

“Your powers of observation are lacking, Cadenza.  Look at your hooves, and then look closer at the bookshelves all around us.”

Cadenza looked down, her eyes narrowing in concentration.  The books, thousands of them, all shimmered with untold power, as if they were alive.  In a way they were, for they pieces of Twilight’s mind.  The pictures on the covers moved, as they depicted the contents within.  One book showed a picture of a young Twilight, ironically, reading a book.  Another had a picture of a filly Twilight with her adopted parents.  They came in all colors, sizes, and thickness.  Then she lifted her head up and leaned forward, searching for what to Luna seemed obvious.

“Gaze upon the capstone of my work.”  Luna said bitterly, as tears fell down her cheeks.  “Centuries of dream magic, fine-tuned and honed to razor sharp effectiveness…and I destroy my daughter’s own mind.”

For it was true.  Luna and Cadenza stood upon a pyramid made up of Twilight’s memories and thoughts, all piled atop one another in a disorganized mess.  The shelves that stretched on forever were empty, their contents decidedly laid at Luna’s hooves.

Cadenza stared, and her lip trembled as the enormity of what had happened finally dawned on her.  But then, to Luna’s surprise, the pink alicorn wiped the fear and despair off her face and replaced it with a look of determination.

“Alright.”  Cadenza said firmly.  “Where do we start?”

Luna took a deep breath and let it out in a huff.  Cadenza, though Luna hated to admit it, was right.  The time for self-hating would come later.

Luna summoned a telescope with her magic and started searching all around them.  “The mind is an extension of the soul, we are where the two meet.  If my theory is correct there should be figures of importance that we could inquire of on how to fix Twilight.  They might be animals, or talking furniture, or-“

“Spike!?”

“Well…yes.”  Luna admitted.  “It actually depends on the mind, each is individual.”

“No!  I mean…”  Cadenza screeched.  She grabbed Luna’s telescope and shoved it towards the base of the pyramid of books.  “Spike’s right there!”

Sure enough, Cadenza was right.  At the foot of the mountain, there was the small dragon Twilight had named Spike, standing with his arms crossed while tapping his foot.  He looked decidedly unhappy.

Luna pulled her head away from the telescope and blinked.  That was fast.  A feeling of suspicion creeped up her spine.  Had the dragon been waiting for them?

Cadenza unfurled her wings but Luna threw a hoof over her shoulder and held her back.  “Before we go meet ‘Spike’, you should be aware that these figures are a figment of Twilight’s mind.  They will act in the manner in which Twilight expects them to act.  In some cases though, they might know something that the real figure wouldn’t know, but Twilight does.”

Cadenza looked uncomfortable, but nodded in understanding.

The two of them then took flight and glided down quickly to the base of the pile.  The closer they got though, Luna had another revelation.

She had assumed the mountain of colorful books had rested upon what would have been the ground or floor.  However, she was wrong.  The books rested upon another pile of books that encompassed everything.  What she had thought had been empty bookshelves, were actually only the top few sections of those bookshelves.  The rest of the shelves were buried under the books.

But unlike the colorful books that Luna and Cadenza had started on, these books were pitch black and opaque.  There were a hundred times-no, a thousand…a hundred million more of these black books than the colorful ones that rose to form the pyramid.  And those were only the ones Luna could see!

“You!”  The illusion in the form of Spike called out in anger.  His draconic eyes boring holes into Luna.  He pointed a single claw at her.  “How dare you come here!  Crawl back into the hole you came out of witch!”

Luna landed with Cadenza at her side and looked at the illusion (from this point forward, she would call the illusions by the name they had assumed the form of) curiously.

“Interesting.”  Luna said neutrally.  "The real Spike is not nearly this brazen.”

“That’s because I’m not afraid of you, you overgrown fat old pile of moon rocks.”  Spike snarled.  “Go back!  Haven’t you done enough damage already?”

Luna snorted, amused.  Now, if this were the real Spike, she would be offended and take action.  However, it was hard to take a literal figment of the imagination seriously.

“Figment, hear me well.”  Luna said firmly.  “I am here to restore your mistress to her proper mindset.  Show us to Twilight’s present location.”

“Please.”  Cadenza added.

“Hhhmmm, yeah.Let me think about that.”  Spike crossed his arms and tapped his chin, making of show of thinking hard.  “How about no?  How about never?  How about Tarturus will freeze over before I tell you?”

“Spike, we just want to help.”  Cadenza said nicely.  “Twilight is in danger, we’re just here heal her mind.  No changes, no alterations, and no compulsions.”  That last sentence was pointed more towards Luna than Spike.

The reminder was unneeded, Luna had seen what her actions had led to.

Spike’s rigid posture softened a little.  “I…I understand that Princess Cadance.  Twilight’s memories of you are full of love and laughter.  I trust your intentions.”  Spike’s scowl returned as he stared up at Luna.  “I don’t trust hers.”

Before either of them could say anything else, the dragon walked over to one of the bookshelves and picked up one of the black books.

“I mean have you seen this mess?”  Spike whined.  “It takes me ages just to sort Twilight’s memories, and then all of a sudden, I have this mess!”

Spike opened up the black book and a face leapt up from its pages to let out a piercing scream.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Spike slammed the book closed and tossed it over his shoulder.  “Do you see what I mean?  There are thousands of those!  Thousands!  These should be in a restricted section or something!  How in the world am I supposed to put Twilight’s memories back on the shelves when there are thousands of books filled with nothing but screaming?!”

Cadenza was curious about the book and moved to open it again, but Luna slammed her hoof down on the cover.

“Don’t…don’t open that cursed thing.”  Luna spat at Cadenza.  Her hoof trembled on the book before she pressed down harder to suppress the tremors.

She knew who it was that screamed.

“It was me.”  Luna said finally, in response to Cadenza’s unasked question.  “It was me screaming.”

“And there are thousands of those?”  Cadanza said in disbelief.  “But what…when…”

Then Cadenza grew silent and Luna turned away.  She knew that the younger alicorn had turned to look up at the moon hanging above them.

Luna lifted a hoof to her head and closed her eyes.  She couldn’t believe that she had forced all those dreadful memories of her imprisonment into Twilight’s mind.

“When I realized the moon was my dominion, I transformed it.”  Luna started.  “It took centuries, but I transformed the barren moon into an oasis, a paradise.  It was unlike anything on Equestria, and I had it all to myself.  Because of who I was and where it was, only I could visit it.  Dreams, beautiful and peaceful, came alive there.They thrived there.  The Elements destroyed it.”

Luna took a deep breath and continued.  Cadenza sat enraptured by her words, and even the impudent figment kept his silence.  “When Celestia and the Elements banished me, they imprisoned me with chains and nailed them to the surface of my moon.  Without my magic, the paradise that was my moon was annihilated.  The air was stripped away, the trees were cast into the void, and the streams and rivers froze into unyielding ice.It only took a few minutes.”

Luna stared up at the moon again, refusing to be afraid of her own charge.  “I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t die.”  Luna heard Cadenza’s gasp but paid it no mind.  “Before today, I had never heard the scream.  In space, no one can hear you scream.  I thought my daughter was dead, and that I would be cursed forever to linger with my failure.  As years passed, my fear turned to anger, and then to hatred.  I thought of nothing else but of revenge.  Justice.   Judgement.”

Cadenza, though she clearly sympathized, still rebuked her.  “Eternal Night was extreme though, everyone would have died.”

Luna laughed in mockery of Cadenza.  “Is that what your modern science tells you?  That without the sun, the world would die?”

“Well…yeah.”  Cadenza didn’t sound so certain anymore.

“Magic, Cadenza, is the great equalizer.  Magic doesn’t conform itself to the rules of science, it defies it.  I created forests on a barren moon.  Do you think of so little of me that I would destroy the whole world?”

Cadenza was unfazed.  “To be fair, you did laugh maniacally and torture ponies.”

Luna smiled slightly.  “Touché.  Although, I only injured enough to where they were afraid of my power.  If I went too far, then they would rise up.  So I made examples of a few, instead of whole populations.”

Cadenza looked uncomfortable.  “I see your logic, but I don’t agree.”

“Oh please.”  Spike said with disdain.  “She’s para-quoting The Princess by Marechiavelli; ‘Ponies ought to be either well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a pony ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge.’”

They both stared at him.

“Celestia gave Twilight the original manuscript Marechiavelli gave Celestia.  Twilight read the whole book when she was twelve.”

Luna smiled slightly.  “Well, it seems that Celestia did something right.”

Spike looked up at her and smirked.  “As opposed to you?  You were there for what…a few months before you got yourself banished?”

Anger lit up in Luna very quickly, and she stalked towards the figment.  “Illusion though you are, I am not opposed to torturing you to get what I want.”

“Luna no!”  Cadenza protested.

“Boo hoo!”  Spike mocked her.  “Little Loony got her feelings hurt!  What are you doing to do, Night Mare?I’m part of Twilight!  Are you going to torture your own daughter?”  Spike smirked and held out his claws to gesture to all the black books around them.  “It’s a bit late for that, don’t you think?”

Luna stopped and considered.

Cadenza stood up and got ready to intervene, although she did not seem confident in her ability to stop Luna.

Luna sighed heavily and turned away.  “Come Cadenza, there are other avenues to explore.  This insolent drake has no further insight for us.”

Cadenza hesitated, but she eventually followed Luna as she walked away.

They trotted for a few more steps before Spike’s voice stopped them.

“Go that way.”

Luna turned and appraised the dragon.  Spike no longer had his mocking expression.  In fact, he seemed resigned and tired.

“There’s an arch that way through the shelves that will bring you closer to Twilight.”

Luna arched an eyebrow in polite disbelief and a bit of suspicion.  “Why help us now?  Why not before?”

“I was told not to help you unless you didn’t resort to torturing me for Twilight’s location.”

Luna’s eyes narrowed in concentration.  “Twilight told you this?”

Spike shook his head.  “Nah.  I don’t even know where Twilight is actually.  She’s been missing since you dumped all these memories in her head.  Magic is running the show now.”

“Magic?”  Cadenza asked in confusion.

“The Element.”  Luna clarified.

This…had just gotten a lot more difficult.  The Element of Magic was not likely to treat their intrusion with politeness.  Magic would especially not appreciate Luna’s presence.

But now she had a direction and they could move forward in finding Twilight.  She turned to leave, but looked over her shoulder.

“Goodbye young drake.”  Luna hesitated.  “And thank you.”  She turned her back on him and took her first steps into the labyrinth.

“Watch where you step Loony, I’m not the only one you have to get past.”

Luna glanced back, but the figment of Spike the dragon was gone.

“Where did he go?”  Cadenza asked.

Luna did not answer immediately.  She took a deep breath and summoned her armor to her.  The iron plates clanked together as they assembled around her form.Her boots clanked as she trotted solemnly into the darkness ahead.

“He is only a memory, and Twilight is forgetting him.”  Luna said finally, eyes piercing through the endless night.  "He was only the first.  Magic will haunt our steps, ghosts will whisper wisdom, and monsters will stalk us.  The hard part will be understanding which is which."
> Chapter 20:  The Last Lesson
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna





The arch before them was of a simple design.  Smooth stones cemented together with the large keystone at the top holding the whole structure together.  There were no runes, no glyphs, no ancient hieroglyphs that might reveal the true nature of it purpose.  The only outstanding detail that could be found was the single word etched plainly into the keystone.

Cadenza peered up at the keystone and read it aloud.  “Magister?”

“It means ‘teacher’ in the old language used by ponies in the time before Equestria.”  Luna explained.

Cadenza looked down from the keystone and looked through the arch.  “So we walk through it, and it takes us to somewhere or someone who knows where Twilight is?”

“Perhaps.”  Luna semi-agreed.  “But this is Magic we’re dealing with, so this is more than likely to be a trial to prove our worthiness.  Magic has always been dramatic like that.”

Cadenza glanced at her with a question burning in her eyes.  “You speak of Magic as if it had a mind of its own.”

Luna sighed a little, her memory turning towards old theories and arguments she had had with Celestia in ages past over the true nature of the elements.  “It does and it does not.  The Elements of Harmony are really a mystery inside a mystery inside a bottomless abyss.  With every answer I give you, ten more questions will take its place.  It was the same way when we first found the tree.”

“Tree?”  Cadenza asked, clearly desiring a concrete answer.

Luna paused and glanced at her, considering how much to tell her reluctant ally.  After all, their alliance had a definite end date.

In the end though, Luna concluded that informing Cadenza of the facts outweighed the risk of Cadenza using that knowledge against her later.  Since Magic was both their adversary at the moment in their quest to heal Twilight, having an informed Cadenza versus an ignorant one would be better.

Besides that, Cadenza might have something worthwhile to contribute instead of being a constant source of questions.

“The tree of which I speak of is no ordinary tree.It is a tree of legendary power and not the only one of its kind.  Throughout history and even beyond it, there have been many trees whose fruit surpasses all logical thought and defies the laws of science.  This particular tree is the Tree of Harmony, and its fruit is the Elements of Harmony; Laughter, Kindness, Honesty, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic.”

Cadenza’s ears snapped forward in rapt attention.  “Elements of Harmony.  Twilight told me and Shining about how she and her five friends went into the Everfree forest to an old castle and found them.”  Cadenza assessed Luna from the corner of her eye.  “She told me how she believed these Elements could defeat you.  Should have defeated you.”

Luna smiled and allowed some pride to enter her voice.  “I have been bested by them once, when Celestia used them against me when she herself couldn’t defeat me.  I refused to be beaten the same way twice.  When Twilight attacked me with the Elements I found a way to deceive the them and escape their wrath.”  Luna glanced up at the moon and the mare upon it and shuddered before looking away.  “I will not be imprisoned again.”

“So Twilight has the Element of Magic.”  Cadenza nodded.  “And it’s…what?  Defending her?  Protecting her?”

“Being stubborn probably.”  Luna dismissed.  “Magic is the most prideful of the Elements.  It does not like being denied or outsmarted.”

“Why is that?”

“Unlike the others, which are individual traits of Harmony, Magic is the combination of the other five and therefore the most powerful.  In a sense, Magic is representation of the Tree of Harmony itself among the Elements.  However, Magic has a great weakness.  If it is separated from the other five, it will become almost powerless.  To be fair, it would still be powerful, but not enough to impede us seriously.  All it can do now is throw  illusions at us.”

“But why is it in Twilight?”  Cadenza inquired.

Luna tapped her own breastplate.  “Magic has chosen Twilight as its host.  The Elements, if separated from the Tree of Harmony, require a host to function and act upon the world around them.  I know this because I too was once a host for the Elements before Celestia banished me.”

“Really?”  Cadenza asked in disbelief.  “That’s ironic.  So you, Celestia, and four others were a host for the Elements a thousand years ago?”

“Not quite.”  Luna chided.  “Six hosts are not a requirement.  At the time, it was just Celestia and I with three Elements apiece.”

“So which three did you host?”  Cadenza asked.  She then waved a hoof at Luna before she could respond.  “Wait  Don’t tell me!I want to see if I can figure this out.”  Cadenza sat down and tapped her chin while Luna waited.  “…generosity, honesty, and…loyalty?”

Luna blinked in surprise.  She did not think Cadenza was so perceptive.  “How did you know?”

“It’s obvious.”  Cadenza said firmly.  “Besides, I know Celestia better than I do you.  I thought of the three that fit her best, then the rest must have been with you.”

Luna glared a little but decided to let it pass.  They had more pressing matters to attend to.

The archway awaited.

“You are prepared?  No more questions?”  Luna asked.

Cadenza shifted her armor a little and shrugged.  “As ready as I’ll ever be to be tested by some ancient artifact.”

Luna nodded and started forward Cadenza speeding up to walk abreast with her.  Together, they walked through the arch.  It shimmered, and they stepped into…

An office.

A hauntingly familiar office.

Luna stopped suddenly, frozen.  Cadenza likewise halted and her jaw dropped in shock.

“It’s about time.”  The teacher behind the desk said.  He snapped his pocket watch closed.

Neither alicorn had a response ready.  Cadenza was flabbergasted and Luna was caught unprepared.  She did not think that this was what they would encounter.

“Well?”  asked the teacher.  “Are you going to say hello or are you going to stand there like statues?”

Cadenza tugged on Luna’s foreleg.  “Luna…is that-“

“No.”  Luna said firmly, though she couldn’t look away.  “It’s an illusion.  A forgery.  A figment Magic put here to torment me.  I must have given Twilight some of my memories of him for Magic to do this.”

“A figment?”  said Starswirl the Bearded.  He smiled and shook his head.  “A logical conclusion.  In this case, however, you are wrong my faithful student.”  His smile dropped and he frowned.  “Being wrong seems to have become a bad habit of yours Luna.”

He looked just as Luna remembered the wizard.  Old, grey haired, with a beard reaching down to the floor.  He had his star-studded cloak and hat with those dreadfully annoying bells hemmed to the edges.  His eyes, which were as blue as the sea, looked back at her with depths beyond measure.

Her mentor, teacher, adviser, and the closest thing she had to a father.

Cadenza picked her jaw off the floor and moved toward him cautiously while Luna remained still.  “Well…uh…hello. I…uh…”

“You are Mi Amore Cadenza.”  Finished Starswirl for her.  “Alicorn of Love and Heir to the Crystal Throne.”  His face broke out into a wide smile again and his eyes twinkled merrily.  "I am Starswirl, Court Wizard of the Royal Sisters."  His beard twitched in amusement as if his title were a joke.  “But I think you prefer to go by Cadance, yes?”

“Definitely.”  Cadenza wilted in relief and was immediately more comfortable.  “I’m so tired of being called ‘Cadenza’ constantly.”  She gave the wizard a second appraisal before smiling at him.  “However, my friends just call me Cadance.”

“My apologies then.”  Said Starswirl.  He walked over to them and waved a hoof at Luna.  “I raised her to be more polite than that.  Of course, of the two of the Royal Sisters, Luna was the rudest."

Luna snapped out of her frozen state and glared at the ghost.  “I will not be insulted by an illusion of someone dear to me.”

Starswirl looked up at her with a wry smile.  Although Luna fumed at him, he was not intimidated by her anger.  In fact, it only seemed to amuse him more.  “Would you like to pull my beard and test your theory?  I seem to recall that is exactly what you did when I first found you and your sister.  You walked right up to me and nearly yanked my beard off my face, thinking that it wasn’t real.”

Cadenza had the temerity to giggle.

Luna however, was unfazed.  “You are a clever illusion, to be sure, but the real Starswirl the Bearded-“  And here she hesitated slightly, a small pang of regret hammering her heart  “-died shortly after I was banished.”

The illusion of Starswirl the Bearded nodded in acceptance.  “That is true, I did die.  Celestia saw me off on my deathbed.”  But he stroked his beard and smiled enigmatically.  “And yet, here I am, alive and well.”

Luna snorted in dismissal while Cadenza wilted in disappointment.  The young mare should have heeded Luna’s warning about dealing with Magic’s illusions.

“You think I am one of Magic’s puppets, here to impede you in your journey to save Twilight, your daughter.”  Clearly, he was made to be just as perceptive as the real wizard.  Starswirl’s wrinkles deepened as his sadness became apparent.  “No, my faithful student.  I have returned briefly from the Golden Fields at Magic’s invitation to give you one last lesson.”

Luna tossed her head back and shook her head in denial of the illusion’s claim.  “Not even the Tree of Harmony can bring back the dead.”

“That is true.”  Starswirl conceded.  “However, we are not in the land of the living, are we?”

Luna frowned in thought, trying to figure out what he was hinting at.

Starswirl chuckled gently.  “Luna, only you could make a monumental discovery in the midst of an enormous mistake.  In your quest to restore Twilight to her former self, you have thrown caution to the wind and almost destroyed yourself.  However, luck, it seems, is on your side for the moment.”

Cadenza piped in.  “Destroyed herself?”

“Indeed.”  Said Starswirl.  “You too, young princess.  You are both fortunate to be alicorns, otherwise the ritual you had attempted would have killed you immediately.”

Luna, though she was loath to admit it, was curious.  “What do you mean?  Explain your thoughts more fully.”

Starswirl raised an eyebrow at her, but then gestured to the office around him.  “Allow me to answer your question with a question.  Where are we?”

“Twilight’s mind.”  Luna answered immediately.

Cadenza looked sharply at her.  “No.  This is Twilight’s soul.”

“You are both right.”  Said Starswirl.  “And both wrong.  This is Twilight’s mind and her soul, or at least, a piece of it.  There cannot be a mind without the soul, and the soul needs the mind to store and process memory.  They coexist, balancing each other out.  The soul by itself is full of emotion and passion that the mind tempers with logic and reason.  The soul, in return, lends power and purpose to the mind’s musings.”

Cadenza nodded along, accepting the illusion’s theory while Luna remained skeptical.

“That still does not answer my query.”  Luna reminded him.

“Ah!  Patience!  I’m getting there.”  Said Starswirl impishly.  “The soul is eternal, and therefore outlasts the physical body that walks in the Realm of the Life.  But because the soul is eternal, a part of it is always connected to the Realm of Eternity, otherwise known as Paradise or the Golden Fields.  What is curious, is that at one time, the Realms of Eternity and Life were one and the same place.”

Cadenza tilted her head to the side in curiosity.  “What separated them?”

Starswirl became a bit more serious.  “Evil, young alicorn, evil separated them.  Not an evil being or an evil deed, but the concept and presence of evil itself.  Evil, you see, is not natural.  It is in fact, unnatural.  Evil is the rejection of the natural world.  You could say evil is an attempt to manipulate or warp something into something it is not.”

“I don’t understand.”  Cadenza admitted.  Luna was glad she had spoken, because although she would never admit this to an illusion of her old mentor, she also did not understand.  “If evil is not natural, then how does it exist?”

Starswirl nodded, encouraging Cadenza’s questions.  “Evil is the byproduct of choice.  With free will comes the option of choice  .A soul can choose to do what is right, or choose to do what is wrong.  Somewhere in the history of the world, somebody chose to do what is wrong.  They chose to do evil.”

“Do you know who or what?”  Luna asked in spite of herself.

“I do.”  Starswirl admitted.  “The Realm of Eternity has all knowledge.  But who did what and the exact event does not matter.”

“Doesn’t matter?!”  Screeched Cadenza, incredulous.

Starswirl shrugged, unapologetic.  “I cannot account for what others do, only for what I myself have done.”  He closed his eyes and mumbled a moment before continuing.  “What does matter, is that it happened.  Somebody chose to do wrong, and evil was introduced to the world.  The Realm of Eternity, which is the realm of all that is good and true, could not tolerate something that was anathema to itself, but neither could it destroy it without removing free will.  So, the solution was to separate the Realm of Eternity from the world and create the Realm of Life.”

“You still have not answered my-“

“I am answering!”  Thundered Starswirl.  “Do not be so impudent because the answer is not easy or simple!”

Luna and Starswirl glared at one another, neither willing to cede the invisible battle.

“As I was saying…”  Starswirl continued finally with a huff.  “…the souls that choose to be good and do good unto others move onto the Realm of Eternity after their brief stint in the Realm of Life…”

“…and those that choose to do evil do not.”  Luna finished for him.

A silence descended on them, each contemplating the idea of worlds and life itself.

Cadenza was the one to break the silence, shaking her head in rejection.  “But that cannot be right, at some point, everyone chooses to do something wrong.  I…I am guilty of lying…of…of doing wrong.”  Cadenza glanced shortly at Luna before looking back at Starswirl.  “Sometimes, I’ve even taken out my anger on others when they didn’t deserve it.”

Starswirl sighed heavily and sat down.  To Luna, the illusion suddenly looked much older than when Luna had ever seen Starswirl.  “That is the great question isn’t it?  What is good?  What is evil?  Who is good?  Who is evil?  I’m afraid the world has lived with evil so long it has forgotten which is which.  It’s not like we would like it to be.  The knight in shining armor who goes to slay the dragon cannot be wholly good, just as the dragon who defends his home cannot be wholly evil.  It’s not black and white.  Personally, I think what makes something good or something evil is the intention behind the choice.  But even one’s intent cannot absolve the worst of crimes; of murder and malevolence.  The best we can do is recognize what is evil and strive to be better, to feel remorse and repent of your own evil actions.”

Luna said nothing.

“I admit,”  Starswirl chuckled.  “that I may have strayed from my point a little.  Because the soul is eternal and a part of the Realm of Eternity, those that are still a part of the Realm of Life cannot enter another’s soul without first leaving the Realm of Life.  Once you leave, you cannot return.”

Both Luna and Cadenza stiffened immediately at Starswirl’s insinuation.

Starswirl raised both his hooves in a gesture to remain calm.  “However, alicorns are the exception.  Because they are immortal, and are connected to a part of the natural world, your brief stint into another alicorn on the edge of eternity means that you can return to the Realm of Life.”  Then Starswirl scowled heavily at the both of them.  “So I cannot stress how serious I mean it when I say to not attempt this again with anyone else.  Or even to repeat at all for that matter.  This venture was extremely dangerous all on its own.  I guarantee that a second attempt will result in your permanent death.  Try this again, and you will never return to the Realm of Life.”

Starswirl took a deep breath and relaxed before continuing to talk.  Luna was glad for the brief respite, as it gave a moment for her own heart to stop beating so hard in her chest.

“Now, the reason I am here is that Magic, an immortal part of the world itself, invited me here so that I may give you one last lesson Luna.  This is allowed because Twilight’s soul is a part of the Realm of Eternity, the place where I usually reside anyway.  It also helps that I was close to you in life Luna.”

“So.”  Luna growled, her eyes dark and stormy.  “You still claim to be Starswirl the Bearded?”

“I do.”

Luna lowered herself until she was directly at eye level with the stallion.  “How am I to take any of this as true?  The Realm of Eternity, the Realm of Life, right, wrong, good, evil, even your identity; how am I to believe this is the truth?  You could be an illusion, a lie, a trap, a torment sent to haunt me and make me doubt my purpose.  If you are who you say you are, prove it.”

Starswirl shook his head.  “I cannot.”

“Why not?”

“I could sit here and provide my thoughts and explain logically how I am who I say I am but at the end of the day, you must believe that I tell the truth.”  Starswirl said calmly.  “It’s ironic really, that the greatest truth in the entire world is hard to believe in precisely because it is so great.  It’s the curse of choice, you see.  You cannot choose what is true and what is not, but you can choose to not believe in the truth.”  His beard twitched in amusement.  “Even when it’s sitting right in front of you, staring you in the face.  Some things can only be taken on by faith.”

Luna stared, considered, assessed, and decided.

“This has gone on far enough.”  Her frustration was mounting towards the limits of her patience.  “You have a lesson for me; say what you have to say and let us be on our way.”

“You cannot pass.”  Starswirl stated simply, his voice dripping with sadness at Luna’s rejection.  “Not until you actually listen, and not just hear the words I speak.”

Wizard and student stared at one another, neither one speaking any further while Cadenza observed, content to let them hash it out.

Starswirl sighed and bowed his head.  “You always did have trouble believing in something you could not prove.  Facts, numbers, and evidence was your way of seeing the world and understanding it.  Celestia was the opposite, she never had trouble believing in something.  Sometimes though, she would misplace that belief and ignore the evidence.”  Starswirl, glanced back up at Luna sharply with narrowed eyes.  “You know of whom I speak.  You know who Celestia believed to be true despite evidence of the opposite.”

Luna nodded and her lips curled back in a silent snarl.

The Knights of Ra.

“But I am not here to speak of ponies who are more dead than I am.”  Starswirl sighed and took his hat off, setting it on the desk.  “But the fault of this tragedy does not lie with just your sister, Luna.”  He looked back at her with a deep sadness.  “You should have believed that change was possible.Is possible.” 

“I did want change.”  Luna admitted.  “I did believe it was possible.  I held onto that hope for centuries.  But I am not naïve like I was then.  I don’t have that luxury, not since I became Twilight's mother.  It wasn’t just me anymore that I had to worry about.”

“You speak wisely.”  Starswirl said.  “That does not mean what you speak is wisdom.”

“Wisdom.”  Luna stated coldly.  “What good is wisdom in the face of death and destruction?  Hate must be answered with a strong hoof, it will not go away if you just speak wisdom at it.”

“You are right.”  Starswirl agreed, surprising both Luna and Cadenza.  “Hate must be answered strongly, but wisdom is not just for the villain, it is also for the hero.”

Luna turned away from Starswirl, uncomfortable.  “Hero, villain, it does not matter.  Those are just words.  Empty titles for empty dreams.  They only exist in stories, a fantasy too romantic to be real.”

“Do you say that because others consider you a villain, or because you no longer believe in heroes?”  Starswirl asked smartly.  He turned to Cadenza, who listened attentively.  “Life is a story, and we need another opinion, young Cadance.  Do you think Luna is a fiend, an invader, a villain to Twilight’s hero?”

Cadenza did not answer immediately, which surprised Luna a little.  She had expected that Cadenza would immediately decry Luna on the spot, considering all that Luna had done to her in the recent past.

“If you had asked me a month ago, I would have said yes.”  Cadenza said finally.  Luna did not grow angry at the statement, it was what she expected from her adversary.  “But now…now I don’t know.  What she did wasn’t good, it was evil.  Tormenting me, blinding that pegasus, Fluttershy, abusing Twilight, and so much else.  She’s done a lot of harm, I won’t deny or excuse that, but…but Luna herself isn’t evil.  She isn’t a hero, but…”

Cadenza trailed off, apparently out of words to detail her thoughts with.

Starswirl nodded, and he looked out the window to sky outside studded with angry red stars.  “I faced many villains in my time.  Sirens who used their power to make others unhappy for their pleasure, a centaur warlock who desired power and conquest through deception and lies, and a tyrant in the north who coveted wealth stolen from the subjects he enslaved.”  He never looked away from the window, but still he addressed Cadenza.  “Tell me, do you think I am a hero?”

Cadenza hesitated, out of confusion more than anything else.  “Yes…of course I do.  The stories of your life are legendary.”

Starswirl nodded, eyes still looking out the window, as if a theory had just been confirmed.  “I do not seem to sound as if I am bragging, but I did do many great things.  I explored magic as it had never been before, I befriended the brother of a monster, and-“  He smiled and glanced back at Luna briefly before returning to looking out the window.  “-and I raised and taught two young fillies who would go on to found a great nation.”

His face turned sad and remorseful.  “But I am not guiltless.  I have had my own mistakes to account for, just as anybody else does.  I accused a friend of theft and isolated him, and I turned a blind eye to the atrocities of others.  I…accepted it and did nothing.”

Luna looked away from the illusion of Starswirl, her heart hardening as she was reminded of her one disagreement with her mentor that had strained their relationship in last years of his life before her banishment.

“Do you want to tell her?”  Starswirl asked Luna, turning away from the window to look back at her.  “Or shall I?”

“Tell me what?”  Cadenza asked with hesitation, looking both alarmed and confused.

“Starswirl…”  Luna began.  “…he hated the Lunar Pegasi.  Like many others of his time, he considered them to be monsters born from Dark Magic.  He didn’t hunt them down or kill them himself, but neither did he try to stop the leaders of old Pegasopolis from killing them as infants.  To him, it was acceptable for the ancient pegasi to do this.”

“What?”  Cadenza gasped, staring at Starswirl aghast.  “They did that!  I mean…I don’t like the legions who invaded Equestria, but…to kill ponies because of who they are…that’s…that’s…”

“Wrong.”  Finished Starswirl.  “It was evil.”

Cadenza stared at him, some disgust swelling up in her eyes.

“I offer no excuse.”  Starswirl told her simply.  “When I walked the land of the living, I was indifferent to their plight and saw it as a pegasi problem.  It was how I was raised and it was the norm in the society I lived in.  Whenever I came across them in my travels, I would give them to the nearest pegasi cloud city.  Then they would be exterminated.  The ancient pegasi believed that the birth of a Lunar Pegasi was a evil omen.  If one was born, the leaders of the city would take the foal from the mother and throw it to the earth.”

“That stopped.”  Luna began angrily.  “When I created a royal decree protecting them and declaring them citizens of Equestria.  I also protected the few that had escaped that madness.  It made a lot of ponies angry with me, and they handed down that hatred from generation to generation.  Starswirl, when he heard what I had done, demanded that I rescind my decree, as I was stomping on the tradition and belief of the ancient pegasi.”  Luna turned and didn’t try to suppress the glare she sent at Starswirl.  “He berated me in my own court and called me a fool.”

Starswirl nodded sadly.  “I did.  I didn’t regret it then, I do now.”

The disgust that was building in Cadenza’s eyes stopped, and she looked at him warily.  “Why do you regret it now?”

Starswirl turned to Luna and let out a heavy sigh.  “After…after you were banished, I found the corpse of a young Lunar Pegasi who had been killed.  A child.  I was struck with a terrible curiosity, one that had been troubling me since the banishment of Nightmare Moon.  I wanted to know what Luna had seen in them that I hadn’t.I thought that perhaps the body had the reason for why Luna had gone mad as she had and attacked Celestia.  I didn’t think anything of it then, treating it like I would a manticore or a hydra.  I dissected it.”

Cadenza turned to the side and vomited.

“Afterwards…I realized that it had been I who had been wrong, and I gave the foal a proper buriel.  They were just like anybody else.  They had a heart, four legs, and wings.  I was…distraught with my discovery, believing that I had contributed to Luna’s grief.  I wanted to do something to help them, but I had grown old.  I was too late.  A few days later I caught a sickness.  I died a week later.”

He turned to Cadenza again, who had recovered from her brief bout of vomiting.  “Do you condemn me?  Am I evil for doing what I did?  I was wrong, and I cannot take back what I did.  I can never right the scales.  All I can do is say that I am sorry, and seek forgiveness.”

Cadenza shook her head violently.  “Don’t ask me!  I don’t know!”

“There are thousands like me.”  Said Starswirl, not heeding her plea.  “Millions.  Untold amounts of beings who are exactly like me.  I am not special or unique.  Do you condemn the beings of the past for their ignorance simply because the present knows better?”

Luna’s patience had ended.

“Enough.”  She growled.

Starswirl ignored her, and continued relentlessly.

“There is nothing new under the Sun.”  He said.  “There was evil yesterday, there is evil today, and there will be evil tomorrow.  The only difference will be in what form it takes.  You, Princess Cadance, yelled and rebuked Twilight for not conspiring to attack her own mother.”

Cadenza started sobbing, tears falling like rain down her cheeks.

“I said ENOUGH!”  Luna screamed ferociously, stomping an armored hoof onto the marble floor, cracking the surface.  “Your quarrel is with me, not with her!  Cease your mind games!”

“Very well.”  Starswirl turned towards her ominously, the bells on his cloak scratching against the floor.  “You have destroyed Twilight.”

Luna froze, eyes widening in shock.

“She does not know herself.”  Starswirl told them.  “She has the mind of a young mare not even into her second decade but she has your centuries of memories of hate and pain pounding into her at every moment.  You wanted a simple lesson and a simple answer, well here it is.”

Starswirl summoned a frying pan with his magic and then proceeded to club Luna over the head with it.

CLANG

CLANG

CLANG

CLANG

CLANG

Luna snatched the frying pan from the wizard and blasted it out the window.

“That is what it is like.  If you beat someone enough with something, that something becomes normal.  That is what you have done to Twilight.  You have given her all your hate and pain and now she does not know any better.”  Starswirl stated without a trace of emotion.  “What she has done as Nova is evil.  Hundreds have died.  So whose fault is it?  Yours, or Twilight’s?”

“I am done here!”  Luna shouted, ignoring Starswirl.  She turned to leave through the doorway they had come through but Starswirl slammed them shut with his magic.

“You cannot save Twilight, not as you are.”  Starswirl stated plainly.  “I know you Luna, and I know that you are better than this, better than Nightmare Moon.  I am not alone in my belief, Twilight knew that too.”

Luna turned slowly away from the slammed doors, a single eye turning to pin Starswirl where he stood.  “If she believed that, then why would she have turned on me?”

“She gave you a choice, Luna.”  Starswirl’s eyes glimmered with sympathy.  “And you chose to continue as Nightmare Moon.  You chose to continue this path of fear and destruction.”

“It works.”  Luna growled through gritted teeth.

“Does it?”  Starswirl said sarcastically, glancing out the window again.  “Your daughter’s mind collapsing in on itself is what you define as working?”

Luna let out a huff of air, her argument easily crushed.  “What would you have me do?  Step down?  They’d turn on Twilight and I like a snake.  Send the Legions back home after a millennium of planning?  No, they’ve been in exile as long as I have and deserve a chance to come home to Equestria.  Make amends with Celestia?  My sister burned that bridge long ago.  She would not listen to me, she has not in a long time.”

Starswirl walked up to her and put a hoof on her shoulder.  Luna wanted to shrug it off, but she allowed this small comfort.  Illusion of not, it was good to see the old stallion again in spite of their old disagreement.

“Listen to Twilight.”  Starswirl told her.  “She is the bridge between you and the Equestria of today.  You cannot blame the present for the wrongs of the past.  Do not punish the Equestria of today for the actions of their ancestors.  It would be like them blaming Twilight for your own deeds.  Is that what you want?”

“No.”  Luna said quietly.  “But how can I listen to Twilight?  Nova is what she is now.  I did that.  I ruined her.”  Luna slammed her eyes shut in an effort to hold back her tears, but it was a futile affair.  “I…I was so lonely…for so long…and I thought she was dead.  Then I had her!  I had her in my grasp!  Twilight was with me, after I had given up all hope of ever seeing her again.  So much had been stolen from me though…her first words…her childhood…all taken by Celestia so that she could throw Twilight against me when the opportunity presented itself.”

Starswirl remained silent for a moment, and then softly spoke to her.  “If there is anyone to be blamed for that.  Blame me.  I gave Celestia the prophecy of your return, and what it would take to stop you.”

Luna recoiled away from the wizard, the moment of brief comfort evaporating immediately.  She turned to face him fully and rose to her full height, dwarfing the old stallion significantly.

“What…prophecy?”

“On the longest day of the thousandth year, the Stars will aid in her escape, and She will bring out nighttime eternal.”

Luna walked away from Starswirl and past Cadenza to stand before the open window.  Outside, she could see the blood-red stars and the defiled moon hanging in the sky.  Thoughts and curses jumbled together in her head as she tried to make sense of this new information.

“How did you come by this prophecy?”  She finally asked.

Starswirl’s voice spoke quietly, but it was no less powerful.  “The Stars told me, the night before I died.”

Luna’s ears twitched while she stared up at the sky at the silent stars.  “Did they tell you anything else?”

“They did.”  Starswirl confirmed.  “There were many possible futures.  The Stars told me that in many of them, no matter what Celestia did, you would always defeat her.  They told me that the best chance for peace to return to the world was for an apprentice of Celestia to gather the Elements of Harmony and face you.  I told Celestia all this as I lay dying.  I told her this was the best chance to heal you.”

“Heal me?”  Luna said dismissively.  “I am not broken.”

Starswirl did not dare to correct her, though it was plain that he thought otherwise.

“You sold out Twilight.”  Luna said, bile rising in her throat.  “You sold out my daughter.  You set Celestia on the path that would bring Twilight to me the night of my return.”

“I didn’t know it was Twilight.  I didn’t even know she existed, not until after I died.”

Luna continued looking out towards the stars.  “I almost killed her.”  She said with a whisper.  “I wanted to.  I desired her death.  I wanted to run my blade straight through the heart of Celestia’s protégé.  I almost succeeded, several times.  I was so close that I could feel her heart beating against her ribs in fear.  She eluded me every time, and then we would do the dance of death again and again.”

Both Cadenza and Starswirl stayed silent, captivated yet horrified by her words.

“I wonder what I would have done if I had succeeded, and killed her, and then had realized the truth.  I thought that must have been Celestia’s plan; I kill Twilight, and then I kill myself after finding out I had murdered my own daughter.”

The very thought of it twisted Luna’s heart.  What was left of it anyway.

Starswirl spoke reluctantly.  “I cannot answer for Celestia’s actions, only my own.”

…

…

…

“Are we finished here?  Have I listened enough?”  Luna said bitterly.

Starswirl nodded and another pair of doors appeared on the other side of the office, behind his desk.

Luna stood up and walked away from the wizard.  “Come Cadenza, we are leaving.”

Cadenza stood up and trotted quickly in order to catch up to her.  But then she stopped briefly and gave Starswirl a hug.  “It was nice meeting you.”

“Of course young Cadance.”  Starswirl said warmly, his beard twisting into a smile.  “You take care now, I don’t want to see you again for many, many millennia.”

Cadenza gave him a small smile and walked away, joining Luna at her side.

“Are you finished?”  Luna asked pointedly.

Cadenza glared at her for a moment in annoyance.  “No, I’m not.”

“Oh?”

“As I said before,”  Cadenza tapped Luna’s side with an armored hoof of her own.  “My friends call me Cadance.”

Luna turned her head slowly to look at Cadenza…Cadance in a new light.  It was hard not to admire her bravery.  “Cadance then.”

Luna opened the doors, and on the other side was a pitch blackness that her eyes could not penetrate, she took a step forward, but then the old ghost spoke one last time.

“I love you Luna.”  The old wizard said fondly.  “You and Celestia have always been my daughters, though I was reluctant to say so in life.  It broke my heart to see you two fight.”

Luna hesitated, but could not stop the lone tear that trailed down her face.  Her lips trembled a little before she reigned in her emotions and accepted Starswirls statement with a single nod.

Perhaps…she could believe in the old wizard one last time.

“That is the lesson Luna.”  Starswirl said with great care.  “Don’t make the mistake I made, don’t wait until it’s too late.  You have an opportunity that few ever have.”

“Don’t waste it.”
> Chapter 21:  Mind Games
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna





The moment that Luna saw light start to bleed through the darkness, she knew something was wrong. It was not the gentle silver light of her Moon nor the warm golden hue of Celestia’s Sun, and it wasn’t even the cutting crimson of Nova’s Stars.

She peered into the darkness and made sure to nudge Cadance.  Cadance staggered a bit, trying to find her footing in the infinite black, and her head popped up when she too found the flickering light.

Then the voice greeted them.

“Welcome great alicorns!”  The voice boomed from the surrounding darkness.  The voice…was familiar…but it was gravelly and rough.  Luna couldn’t place it.  “Join me in my revels!”

The small glimmer of fire that Luna had seen suddenly exploded in front of her and Cadance, growing instantly to loom over both of them in a towering inferno.

Once Luna’s eyes adjusted to the fiery light, she peered up at the figure seated above them and let out an involuntary hiss.  Her eyes flashed, becoming the draconic slits of Nightmare Moon even while her coat remained dark blue.

A feeling of hatred that Luna had not felt in a millennium instantly overwhelmed her.

She didn’t bother to give the pony a reply.  Luna conjured a blue steel spear with her magic and sent it whistling through the hot air.  Luna heard a thud as it passed through her foe harmlessly and embedded itself in the burning throne behind him.

“Princess Luna, Night Mare of the Moon!  You should know better!  You cannot kill that which is already dead!”

Moloch leered down at her from his seat.  His smile mocked her as she glared up at him.  He glanced down at the spear that should have pierced his chest and grabbed it with his magic.  He pulled it out and tossed it to the side as if it were a passing interest instead of the weapon that would have pierced his heart and kill him. Again.  “For shame, princess!  Attacking your host after he welcomes you into his hall!  Your sister was never so ungracious.  She, at least, had manners.”  

Luna’s hated foe did not look as he had when she had killed him a thousand years ago.  His once snow white coat was now the color of burnt bone, smoldering and malformed.  The immaculate robes of House Platinum that he had proudly worn in life were now tattered and black.  His lips were cracked and his eyes were nothing but pits of fire.  He sat back in a throne made up of burning planks, the same as the pyre that he had died on a millennium ago.  Although the flames leapt and licked at his body, he did not seemed distressed in the slightest.

The only thing that seemed the same was his arrogant posture and the old pin that had tormented Luna centuries ago; a golden sun with six swords instead of sun rays, it gleamed and shined as if it were freshly made.

Cadance glared at him in disgust and was obviously revolted by the stallion’s current state. She straightened her posture and fanned out a wing to flap away the acrid smoke.  “Who are you?!”

“Who am I?  I am Lord Moloch!”  He said pompously.  “In life I was the great duke of Rainbow Falls and the revered leader of the Knights of Ra!”  Moloch’s gaze morphed into a lustful sneer as he eyeballed Cadance’s body.  “Why, my beautiful mare, you would have been welcomed among our pantheon…in more ways than one.”

Cadance was abhorred by his insinuation.  Her face twisted angrily and her ears twisted back as she tried to form a scathing reply, but she instead turned away from the dead stallion in disgust.  Cadance, to Luna’s approval, looked to her for answers instead of Moloch.

“Luna…who is this?” She asked, rightfully distrustful of the specter.  

Luna spat spitefully at him before answering, her scathing gaze boring holes into the stallion. “That is Moloch, a stallion I killed the night I was banished to the Moon.  He was the leader of the Knights of Ra, the fools who had foalnapped Twilight and attempted to murder her like so many other innocents.  They worshipped Celestia as a sun goddess and sacrificed thestrals to a golden idol of her.”  A feral grin crossed her face.  “I killed his followers and left him on his own pyre to burn.”

Cadance clapped both hooves over her face, horrified that such a thing had almost happened to Twilight.  A scowl quickly formed as she turned and stared back at Moloch.  “O.K., now I’m sure that this is an evil villain.”

Moloch shrugged, completely apathetic.  “Evil. Good.”  He waved a hoof at Cadance in dismissal, disappointed by her refusal. “Empty words.  There is no good or evil.  Morality is a construct crafted by those with power to rule the weak and ignorant. There are only those who seize victory and those who are vanquished.”

“I vanquished you.”  Luna taunted with a smirk.  “Are you enjoying death?  It does not seem to treat you kindly.”

“I killed myself, Night Mare.”  Moloch declared haughtily.  “You are not worthy of claiming responsibility for my death.  I died heroically trying to destroy you and your monster of a foal.  I almost succeeded too, even after I died.”

Luna’s ears snapped forward in rapt attention, taken aback by his claim of almost succeeding. “No.  You failed, beast. Twilight lived.”

Moloch’s smile turned sinister.  “Believe what you want to believe.  I cursed you both with my final breath, and I poured my magic and hatred into my last words. Do you not remember?  I believe you are familiar with such magic, are you not?” He smirked in self-satisfaction.  “Does a horned centaur from distant lands not ring a bell?”

Luna narrowed her eyes at the dead stallion, her brows furrowed in thought.  Immediately, she thought of Nova’s fascination with Tirek, the only sorcerer she knew of who could manipulate magic with his very breath.  But still, it would be better to probe Moloch further, especially as he seemed so talkative.  “Liar. How would you know of such things? Tirek’s attack was five generations before you.”

“You forget that you and your sister detailed the attack to my distant great-aunt, Princess Platinum, and the other founders of Equestria when they sat on your council. Well, she and my great-grandfather were very close, and she told him all about it.  He was fascinated, I think, by the opportunity.  He was captivated with the idea that magic could come not from horns, hooves, or wings, but from words itself.  There was already a basis for this, with the development of runes.  My great-grandfather and Clover were close, of course, growing up together in the last court of the Unicorn King.  They studied the magic together.  Their experiments were completely innocent, which is why it never attracted the attention of the crown after they failed.  They were unwilling, unlike me, to go further.  Morals, those restraints we pretend that govern right and wrong, held them back.  Together, they got so far and then stopped, fearing pathetically that what Tirek had used was so-called ‘Dark Magic.’ You see, Tirek’s spells required emotion, specifically, hatred.  They did compile some of their notes that I found after they died, and Starswirl the Bearded had the rest I think.  That is how I was able to benefit from their failure.”

Moloch smiled darkly. “It was with their notes that I cast the magic that cursed your foal.  It was such a pity that it did not succeed.  But in the end, it was for the best.  Victory is still mine, after all this time.  It was well worth the wait.”

Luna opened her mouth to retort angrily, but then hesitated.  Starswirl had told her that she should listen to Twilight. Twilight…who had told Luna that Celestia had taken away her pegasus and earth pony magic to stop a dark spell from killing her after Luna had been banished…and that had been right after she had killed Moloch.  Had she missed something?  Had she been so angry that she had been blind to a dark spell infecting her foal?

“It was you.” Luna whispered with dawning realization, horrified.  Her eyes darted left and right, seeing everything and yet seeing nothing.  “You cursed us with dark magic, using Tirek’s methods.  You used your final breath to strike at us from beyond the grave.”

“Guilty as charged.” Moloch said glibly with a smile. “But you will never have your justice, Night Mare, I am beyond your reach now.”

“But…no.”  Luna mumbled, shaking her head.  She stepped back and tried to make sense of all this. “But that means-“

Moloch held up a hoof imperiously, interrupting her.  “You are wrong on one count, however, and it would be rude of me if I did not correct you.  Though I tried to curse you both with a slow and painful death, the magic only worked on your young foal.  Loath as I am to admit it, I am not so powerful that I could permanently curse an adult alicorn.”  He leaned back into his throne and smirked at her, reveling in her realization.  “A foal, however…is such a vulnerable creature.”

Luna started forward, her eyes sparking dangerously in outrage.  “You-“

“If I could not live to see you die, then I would at least have the satisfaction of taking your foal from you.”  Moloch boasted gleefully.  Then he turned his head and considered Luna thoughtfully.  “Did you think that you could throw away your sins on my actions? Did you hope for an excuse to offer your daughter?”  He offered her a cruel smile.  “If you were looking for absolution, for redemption, for salvation, or for forgiveness, look elsewhere Night Mare.  Your actions were entirely your own.  I played no part in your decisions.”  He laughed down at her in a short burst.  “That’s the delicious irony, isn’t it?”

Cadance, shaking her head in confusion, stepped forward while Luna tried to reign in her temper.  She turned briefly away as her teeth grinded.  She could not kill Moloch again, no matter how much she wanted to.  Even attempting it would be folly, and would show weakness. Luna refused to be weak and satisfy Moloch’s pleasure any further.

“I’m still lost.” Cadance admitted with a slight huff. “Who were the Knights of Ra?”

“A cult.”  Luna spat.

“Uggh.”  Cadance bemoaned.  “Cults.  Disgusting things.”

Luna turned to Cadance, her ears propped forward in curiosity.  “You have had experiences with cults?”

“No.”  Cadance replied.  “Celestia stamps them out like weeds as soon as they pop up.  She has warned me about them though.  There hasn’t been a real cult in Equestria for at least thirty years, well before I came to the castle.”  Cadance tapped her hoof on the floor a few times in thought. “I have had creepy fan clubs and stalkers though, and this guy seems to fit the same bill.”

Luna considered it, bobbing her head from side to side.  “A rough analogy, but the concept is the same.”

“The Knights of Ra were not a cult.”  Moloch snapped at them.  “We were the vanguard of Equestria, her true guardians!  It was through our efforts that the Night Mare Luna and her mongrel Night Watch did not ruin my great nation.”

Luna shook her head angrily, her posture still tense as if she were ready to pounce.  It would do no good though, no matter how much Luna desired it.  Moloch was right, he was beyond her vengeance now and forever.

“Your cult twisted minds and murdered innocents.”  Luna snapped up at him.

Moloch sneered and lounged back, perfectly relaxed on his burning throne.  “I did, and I do not regret it.  Being able to twist minds just proves that mine was superior. Killing innocents is nothing new. An innocent monster is still a monster. I am not a hypocrite like you. Who are you, Princess Luna, to accuse me of wrongdoing?”  He gestured to the darkness surrounding them.  “Are you not here to save your precious foal once again? This time though, the fault does not lie with me.  Oh no.  Are you not the culprit, Princess?  Did you not twist your foal’s mind until it bent to your will?”

Luna stomped forward until she was at the base of the burning pyre, her eyes promising pain. “Do not speak of her!  I will find some way to kill you again, this I swear upon the moon itself!  You will not impede me!”

“Impede you?” Moloch asked, incredulous, a malicious grin splitting his charred face.  “Stop you?  Why no, my dear sweet stupid Night Mare.  Why would I ever wish to halt your journey?”

He waved a hoof carelessly and a large pair of doors faded into view from the darkness and they creaked open on command.  “Please, be on your way!  Magic awaits! Go with the blessings of Lord Moloch and the Knights of Ra!”

Luna didn’t give the doors a second glance.  “I will not fall for some simple trap, knave.”

“No traps!” Moloch laughed uproariously, lifting his hooves up in mock surrender.  “Only truth, but perilous all the same!”

“I do not believe you are capable of speaking truth.”  Luna stated firmly, as unmoving and cold as a glacier.  “Deception is your way.  You beguiled my sister but you shall never sway me.”

Moloch laughed down at her as if her words meant nothing to him.  He shook his head at them.  “I do not need to deceive you!  You have already deceived yourself!  Why would I need to do more?  You have already given me my victory!”

“No!!”  Luna screamed, incensed beyond reason.  “You have no victory!  You will never claim to be victorious over me!  You are dead! Your followers are dust!  Your deeds are shadows, forgotten by the annals of time!  How dare you have the gall to say that you bested me!” 

Moloch shrugged, indifferent to Luna’s declaration, his mocking smile ever-present.  “This is not the victory I sought in life, that is true, but victory is mine nonetheless.  You cannot say that I am forgotten though.  I am here, after all, because of you.”

“Me!?”  

“Yes.”  Moloch declared.  He leaned forward on his throne of fire, all mockery thrown away as he revealed his unmasked eagerness.  “You have given me this power, this victory.  I was defeated a millennium ago.  I was dead, my top lieutenants were killed, and you finally had the rock solid excuse to finally arrest and execute all of the Knights of Ra.  But you threw it all away!  You tried to bring about Eternal Night and overthrow Celestia!  When history speaks of the time a millennium ago, it does not reveal Princess Luna’s triumph over the attempted murder of her daughter! Instead, it recalls how the hated Nightmare Moon plunged the world into darkness and was banished by the shining and triumphant Princess Celestia!”

Luna fell silent, finally struck by his words.

“Admit it.” Moloch demanded.  “You envied-“

“Never.”  Luna hissed.  Her fury mounting as she listened to this stallion’s words. “I never envied Celestia for the attention you and the Knights gave her.”

“Do not be so shallow.”  Moloch rebuked.  “You envied her freedom.”  

Luna stepped back, Moloch’s words cutting deep.  Despite her resolve to not listen to him, his words sliced at her anyway.  “What…no.”

Nevertheless, Moloch continued without respite.  He seemed gleeful; enjoying the look of confusion and pain on Luna’s face.  “It was not her prestige that you were jealous of. You did not covet her crown or her position, you were her equal after all.  You were the leader of the Lunar Pegasi, they adored you and gave you purpose; you were not lacking subjects who did not respect you.  No, what really bit deep every night when the castle walls closed in and you sat on your throne alone was that Celestia was free to do as she pleased.”

She stepped back further, those burning eyes staring into hers.  Luna couldn’t look away.  She couldn’t escape…

“While Celestia could march out the castle doors and mingle with others, you had to travel with guards every step you took outside for fear of assassination.  Every word from Celestia’s mouth was praised and revered from every corner of Equestria when yours were scrutinized, criticized, and rejected.”  Moloch’s smile grew wider as his voice became more manic, his eyes bulging out of their sockets.  “But the spark that finally unleashed that marvelous anger of yours was that your daughter was hated only because she was your daughter.”

Luna’s lips trembled and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears.  Those burning eyes…

“That is why I have won.”  Moloch crowed.  “You cannot let it go.  You have not, even after all this time.  You blame me. You blame Starswirl.  You blame Celestia.  But the truth of the matter is that you blame us because you want to deny that you yourself are the reason your daughter and all you built is despised.”

Moloch was ecstatic at the sight of Luna’s fear.  “It would have been better if you had given Twilight to Celestia to raise as her daughter instead of rearing her yourself.  Better yet, you should not have given birth to Twilight at all!  It would have been a mercy if you had killed that foal in the womb! You could have stayed on the Moon for eternity and let Twilight live in peace!  Anything would have been better than being the daughter of Luna!”  

Luna snapped.

A scream torn from the depths of her soul was dragged from her body and it exploded out of her mouth. Luna shut her eyes as her own tormented scream hammered her ears until she could hear almost nothing else.

Moloch laughed.

…and laughed…

…and laughed…

…and laughed…

Luna slammed open two draconic eyes.

Every spell she used to kill, every ounce of magic she possessed, she unleashed it upon this beast…this demon…this ghost from her past. She held nothing back.

The wind whipped around them and lightning fell out of the darkness with cold precision. Arrows, spears, swords, scythes, and anything with a sharp blade whirled into existence before being hurtled at Moloch. Explosions lit up the darkness as the fire upon which Moloch sat enthroned was overturned by Luna’s fury.

Finally, after an age, Luna could not summon anything more to fight with.

She was spent.  

Luna fell to her knees and slammed her eyes shut while she gasped for breath in the darkness.

“You will never be rid of me.”

Luna jerked her head up and forced open her eyes.  There he was. The fire was gone, the throne was gone, and yet Moloch stood right in front of her nary a scratch.

Moloch smiled as he lifted her face up with his hoof and he bent down to whisper in her ear.

“You keep me alive.”

And the last thing Luna heard as he faded away was his mocking laughter.

…

…

…

Luna felt Cadance tug on her armor, trying to coax her into getting up, but she didn’t respond. She just laid there, staring where Moloch’s burning eyes had been.  There was just darkness now…darkness and the door.

“Come on.” Cadance said insistently.  “Let’s get out of here.”

“Yes.”  Luna hissed, slamming a hoof down and lifting herself up.  “Let us end this.”

Cadance backed away, suddenly wary of Luna’s sudden resolve.  “End what?”

“This!”  Luna shouted. She waved a hoof erratically at the encompassing darkness, her eyes wild.  “This mind game!”