For a thousand years she had prepared for her return, yet it seemed that she hadn’t prepared enough.
Bound in chains and tossed into a dark empty cell, Princes Celestia, ruler of Equestria, lay on the damp cold stone floor, weak and defeated after her encounter with the newly returned Nightmare Moon. Feeling ashamed and dejected, she stared at the floor, knowing how much a fool she was to end up here.
How could I have been so stupid? She thought to herself. How could I have been caught so unprepared?
When the day had begun, she felt confident and ready, thinking that she had done all that she needed to do so that she would be prepared for the return of Nightmare Moon. In her mind, she had reviewed all the precautions she had taken and thought them adequate, letting herself believe that she was ready. How ignorant she was back then, how very ignorant.
She had allowed the safety of Equestria hang on vague orders to her faithful student and on the hopes that inside the dark and thick evil of Nightmare Moon, her beloved sister was still fighting inside, and she would be able to reach out to her if she managed to encounter the nightmare alicorn. To her, such preparations were sufficient and suitable. In her belief on her student and on her belief on her sister, she had entrusted the faith of Equestria.
But as it turned out, nothing went as she wanted.
When she encountered Nightmare Moon, inside the large office provided to her during her visit to Ponyville, she thought that she could talk her out, hoping that she could get through to Luna and negotiate a peaceful agreement. At first, she thought she was successful; Nightmare Moon was listening and seemed to be acting calm. But how much a fool she was at the time, for she let herself be drawn to a false sense of security as she lowered her guard to the point that she didn’t notice that they weren’t the only ones in the room.
Oblivious to the creeping ponies behind her, she failed to react quickly enough when they hit her with a spell, rendering her weak, as a sudden and heavy fatigue fell over her. Turning her gaze towards the culprits as she fell, she brought her shocked eyes towards a pair of unicorns, cloaked in dark blue trench coats with the emblem of the moon imprinted on the side.
As her head hit the floor, she couldn’t have help but feel frustration, as she realized how ignorant she truly have been. Of course the followers of Nightmare Moon would help her, why wouldn’t they? Was her thought at the time as she felt anger for herself, knowing that she had always brushed off the small cult that worshiped Nightmare Moon as if they were nothing.
Over the centuries, that cult had been nothing more than a nuisance in the past thousand years of her reign, creating protest and small disturbances as they preached the return of Nightmare Moon and warned that those who would not join them would be punished by the nightmare herself. Time and time, she had been assured by trusted advisors that the cult was nothing but a group of fanatics and that they posed no real threat to her reign or Equestria. But now it seemed that she and her advisors were wrong, for a pair from this cult now stood before her eyes as they managed to bring her down with some kind of powerful spell.
They must have been practicing some kind of dark magic… She thought, knowing that only such magic’s would allow an ordinary unicorn to bring down an alicorn like her.
Drifting farther and farther away from consciousness, she looked away from the two unicorns and back to Nightmare Moon, the dark alicron’s face grinning in victory before letting out a triumphant laugh. Then, looking down at her and lowering her head, she brought her muzzle beside Celestia’s ear and whispered:
“Did you really think you can revive Luna now? She’s dead; she has been for a thousand years. There’s no Luna anymore, only Nightmare Moon.”
With that, Celestia faded out of consciousness and into the dreamscape, where she was sure that Nightmare Moon was intruding and adding to the pain and sorrow she already felt by letting her dream about nothing but the loss of her sister. By the time she woke up, she found herself in this prison, surrounded by walls that were cast with magic inhibiting spells.
Letting out a small grunt, she let her head lay in defeat as she realized the small bit of irony she as in right now. When she was thrown here, she wondered on where Nightmare Moon could have possibly imprisoned her and after examining the room for quite some time, she began to realize where she was.
From the layout of the room and the age of the almost crumbling stone around her, she managed to learn that after having knocked her out of consciousness, Nightmare Moon and her followers have brought her and imprisoned her in the dungeons of the Castle of the Two Sisters, the very dungeons she herself had sealed with enchantments that would prevent anypony inside to use magic.
Sighing, she shook her head as her gaze wandered around the room. How long had she been in there? How was Equestria fairing in her absence? How is Twilight holding up?
Regret immediately hit her when she remembered of Twilight, as sadness filled her heart. Why had she have to assign such a dangerous task to her faithful student, knowing that she would have been no match against Nightmare Moon?
True, if she managed to succeed, then the Elements of Harmony would be under her control and that Nightmare Moon would, not only be defeated, but reverted back to Luna. But still, the risk was too great. She had tossed her lot on odds and luck and now she hated herself for doing such a thing. Twilight may have been a smart and resourceful pony, as well as being one of the most powerful unicron she has ever seen, but Nightmare Moon was a cunning and despiteful spirit, with great knowledge, skill, and a desire vengeance, which was fueled by centuries of imprisonment.
Twilight would stand no chance if a serious encounter occurred. She may last for a while, but in the end she would lose.
I’m sorry Twilight… She thought mournfully. …as a mentor I have failed to properly prepare you and as a friend, I have failed to be there to help you.
The sound of rumbling power distracted her from her thoughts, as a battle seemed to rage pass the stone ceiling above her. From what she could here, she could tell that magic was involved in the fight, as she can hear the faint, yet distinct, sounds of magic being cast. She can only try and imagine what was going up there and who was fighting.
Was it rescue, has ponies from the Royal Guard located her prison and tried to rescue her. No… She thought. …it couldn’t be. From the sounds she heard, she could tell that those were only a couple, if not only a pair, of ponies fighting. A duel perhaps? But why would there be a duel here, in such a time of crisis.
Before she could think further about it, the sounds of magic soon stopped and although a great tremor temporarily shook her prison, silence soon engulfed the room. Once more, Celestia was left to nothing but her own thoughts. Many times she had felt alone and helpless towards what was happening, but during this moment she felt more alone and helpless than ever.
Some moments passed before anything else eventful happened.
Turning her head towards the thick metal door that guarded her prison cell, she could hear the clasp and snaps of the locks as somepony unlocked it, before swinging it open to reveal Nightmare Moon, who triumphantly stood on the other side. Grinning as she stared down at Celestia, she stared at the princesses’ eyes as if declaring that she finally won. But, not wanting to let Nightmare Moon be too proud of herself, Celestia quickly fixed her position so that she was able to sit in a somewhat regal form.
“What? Have you finally realized that you made a mistake and have now decided to let me free?” Celestia mocked, refusing to show any low spirit in front of her enemy.
“No.” Nightmare Moon said. “I’m here to simply return what is yours.” With that, she took a step to the side to reveal a drained Twilight Sparkle, defeated in battle and sorrowful because of her failure. Looking down and ashamed, it seemed that she was too scared to even face Celestia, and if it weren’t for Nightmare Moon shoving her inside the same cell, then she would have most likely hid the shame.
“Twilight!” Celestia gasped, as she fell on the floor after the shove. Then, turning angry eyes at Nightmare Moon, she gritted her teeth and growled. “What have you done to her?”
“Oh, nothing much.” Nightmare Moon replied nonchalantly, as she ordered one of the ponies escorting her to put Twilight into chains. “Just a couple of magical shocks to make her submit to me orders. Now, I got to admit, this apprentice of yours is quite feisty and clever. She and her friends managed to get pass my tricks many times, while she herself got me fooled in our short battle. But alas, she was no match for me.” Letting out a laugh, she shook her head as she recounted what had happened. “You should have seen her face when I destroyed the Elements right in front of her. She was completely broken.”
Shaking her head, Nightmare Moon gave a scolding expression towards Celestia, as if she were a teacher punishing her students. “Honestly, Celestia, did you really think that a young and naive unicorn like her can simply defeat me? I know who you think she might be, but I’m telling you now, she was unprepared and inexperienced and therefore no match for my prowess. Now, with all the major opposition gone, I think it’s time for me to mop up what’s left and assume my rightful role as ruler of Equestria.”
Turning away, her escorts were just about to close the door, when Nightmare Moon suddenly turned around and remarked:
“I do say though, I like that idea of yours of moving the capital to Canterlot, it just gives a very nice view of the land. Certainly better than these ruins.”
With that, the door shut close and the sound of Nightmare Moon’s laughter could be heard echoing in a ghostly sound.
At that moment, Celestia loathed Nightmare Moon more than ever. She wanted to escape here and give her what was due to her. How dare she throw her into this dungeon? How dare she steal her kingdom? Were the thoughts in her head.
But the hatred for her enemy quickly passed, as she turned her attention towards Twilight, who seemed worse than what Celestia saw during her first glance. Studying her now, she could tell that her ever faithful student was completely beat up and, as she approached her, she could hear her frightened quivering whispers.
“I failed, I failed, I failed…” Twilight kept on repeating to herself. She kept on doing this until Celestia placed a gentle hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, making the unicrorn wince in some kind of pain, before drawing her attention and making her stare at Celestia.
At first, a fixed shocked face appeared on the young unicorn’s face, as her eyes met Celestia’s. But soon, a frown formed, as she began to sniffle. Then, without warning, she burst into tears, lunging forwards and burying herself on Celestia as she began to cry uncontrollably.
“I’m sorry, Princess…” She managed to say through her cries. “I failed you…I failed my friends…I failed Equestria…”
“Oh, Twilgiht.” Celestia said, wrapping her wings around the unicorn in hopes of comforting her. “You failed nopony.” She said, then in a softer and more ashamed voice she added: “If there is anypony who has failed here, then it’s me.”
“But I was…I was so close.” Twilight insisted. “I had the Elements with me, I just…I just didn’t know how to use them. I tried… I tried desperately, but they wouldn’t work. They just remained as stone and nothing more. Then Nightmare Moon took them and…and…” Pausing for a second, she let what had happened sink in before letting out a defeated wail. “I have doomed Equestria!”
“There, there…” Celestia said, trying to sooth her as she pated her ever so gently. “You did your best and given the circumstances, you held of better than anypony could have ever done. And I’m proud of you for that, I am very proud of you, my faithful student.”
Her words seemed to have helped calm down Twilight for a bit, as her cries soon grew softer and softer till she was only sniffling. Keeping her wings firmly around her young student, she was finally done, as she looked up at Celestia with a still frightened voice.
“What will happen now, with Nightmare Moon back and with nopony to stop her?”
“I don’t know, Twilight.” She said uncertainly, fear running through her as delved deeper at the possibilities. “I don’t know…”
I must retrieve the Elements of Harmony no matter what cause. I must do it or else Equestria is doomed.
Those were the thoughts that were inside Twilight’s mind when she jumped into the swirl of magic of magic Nightmare Moon was creating before being teleported along with the Elements into another crumbling room within the castle.
Reorienting herself and trying to figure out where she was, Twilight looked around the room to see nothing but the usual old and collapsed walls that were prevalent in this castle. But as she turned her gaze towards the far end of the room, a sense of horror and dread struck her.
Standing on top of a platform and floating five of the stone orbs that represented the Elements of Harmony, Nightmare Moon let out a victorious laugh as she stared down at Twilight. Letting lose magical lightning as she stood there, the dark alicorn created an imposing and intimidating presence, as if trying to frighten Twilight.
Indeed, it did have an effect on her as she felt her heart and hopes drop from such a sight. Clearly Nightmare Moon was a hundred times more powerful than a simple unicorn like her. Powerful magic and spells were all within Nightmare Moon’s access and although Twilight was well read on many types of spells herself, all her knowledge was nothing when compared to that of his adversary.
But all hope rested on Twilight, since right now she was the only pony available to stop Nightmare Moon and her plans. So, despite the fear she felt and the natural urge to avoid destruction, she decided to fight on and face Nightmare Moon.
For Equestria… She told herself, hoping to gain more confidence. For my friends, for the Princess, and for everypony…
Gaining enough confidence and bravery, she got ready to make a charge, her horn glowing and ready to face the alicorn in battle. Seeing this, Nightmare Moon gave Twilight an unimpressed look as she stared at her.
“You’re kidding… You’re kidding right?”
But she wasn’t. Deep inside, Twilight could feel her heart race as adrenaline got into her system. So much was at stake right now and it all depended on her. Although pressure and the fright were certainly in her, but with hope and desperation, she went out and charged.
Approaching Nightmare Moon at full speed, Twilight kept her horn glowing as her hooves took her as fast as they could towards the platform. Keeping her gaze forward, she could see that Nightmare Moon herself was also charging out to meet her. Seeing this, a small grin formed on her face as she had brought the alicorn to where she wanted.
Getting closer to one another, Twilight and Nightmare Moon were just about to collide, when all of a sudden Twilight activated her magic and created a bright flash of light, as she teleported herself away from her enemy’s path and on top of the platform where Nightmare Moon left the Elements.
Without wasting a second, Twilight immediately turned her attention towards the Elements, as she began casting as spell that would hopefully activate them. It would only be a moment before Nightmare Moon realized what she had done, and Twilight feared that the alicorn would be able to retaliate before she could finish her job.
But before she could get her magic to touch the Elements, a terrible electrifying shock took hold of her body, propelling her off of the platform and onto the cold stone floor. The pain that hit Twilight seemed unbearable and bits of the electric magic still flowed through her body.
Finding some strength to try and get up, she lifted her head towards the direction of the magic to see Nightmare Moon glaring at her with an annoyed look on her face.
“A nice trick, but do you really think a simple trick like that could win you the day?”
Feeling the mockery in her voice and not wanting to give up on the fight, Twilight aimed her horn at Nightmare Moon and shot out a ray of magic, a well-known paralyzing spell. But this ray of magic was simply deflected by Nightmare Moon, as she formed a protective bubble on herself.
The retaliatory attack made by Nightmare Moon made Twilight wish that she did not fire the shot, as another painful shot of magical lightning hit her body, making her spasm out of control. Closing her eyes, she tried to ignore the feeling she was experiencing. But with pain like the one she was receiving, the task was near impossible.
Slowly opening her eyes and looking back towards Nightmare Moon, she could see that the dark alicorn was taking her time in approaching her. Then, moving her gaze away from her enemy and turning her head towards the Elements on the platform, Twilight began to contemplate on the possibility of casting the spell from afar.
Maybe if I poured all my strength, I can activate the Elemen-
Her thoughts were cut off, as another wave of pain hit her. As if knowing what she was thinking, Nightmare Moon fire another shot of magical lightning.
“Now, now, haven’t you learned your lesson yet?” Nightmare Moon said as she got nearer to Twilight. But instead of stopping in front on Twilight, she instead continued until she was once more on top of the platform.
Once there, she turned towards the lying unicorn and grinned. “Planning to wield the Elements of Harmony, when you’re clearly unprepared for such a task-” She said, as she shook her head. “-I admire the act, but I must say that it is quite foolish.”
“You’ll never get away with this…” Twilight managed to choke out through the pain. “…you will fail.”
“I do not think you are in a position to state such bold statements.” Nightmare Moon said. “Besides, how can I fail now, since I have already imprisoned Celestia and hold the Elements of Harmony?”
“Somepny will stop you.” Twilight stated defiantly. “As long as those Elements exists, you can be defeated.”
“Oh, you are quite right about that.” Nightmare Moon said, nodding her head. “But it’s a good thing that I already found a way to stop that from happening.” Then, in one great movement, Nightmare Moon raised her fore hooves and stomped it on the ground.
The power of her hooves impacting could be felt throughout the room, as Twilight felt the floor under her shake. But her attention wasn’t focused on the floor, but instead on the Elements, which have shattered from the powerful action Nightmare Moon had created. As this happened, Twilight could feel all her hope disappear. As the Elements shattered in front of her, so did the chance defeating Nightmare Moon.
No! She thought in grief. Not the Elements!
Trying to move and do something to fix the Elements, Twilight squirmed on the floor, her shattered body only bringing pain with every movement. Feeling overpowered by the sensation, Twilight could feel tears run down her face and she let out a long cry.
But her tears and crying were not solely from the pain she felt, but also from the defeat that was brought upon her. How could she have failed? How could she have let down everypony? Twilight was not a pony who often accepted failure and when failure did come to her, it always hit her like an avalanche. Failure of the past had always brought her self-esteem down, but now, this new failure had totally crushed her.
I failed… I’m sorry, Princess Celestia, my friends, everypony… I failed…
In the mist of her grieving state, Twilight failed to notice that Nightmare Moon was slowly approaching her once more. It wasn’t only till the dark alicorn was upon her did her took note nad looked up with tear soaked eyes.
“Now…” Nightmare Moon said. “…it’s time to eliminate you, before you cause me anymore trouble.”
With that, Twilight looked on as she saw Nightmare Moon’s hoof head straight for her face. If she used the same power she used earlier, then Twilight was sure that it would crush her face and kill her. In a moment like that, she felt time slow down as she let fear take over and watched the slowly approaching hoof.
Helpless and unable to do anything to save herself, she screamed to the top of her lungs.
She screamed till she shook awake, jumping in fear as she shot up to find herself in a cold and dark prison.
Breathing heavily, she placed a hoof on her chest as she felt her heart race from fear. The nightmare had been too real, all too real. The pain, the fear, the grief, it felt amplified and realistic. If it weren’t for the fact that she woke up from it, Twilight would have believed that all that happened was real.
And yet, it was real, at least a portion of it. The battle with Nightmare Moon, the loss of the Elements of Harmony, and their successive destruction under the alicorn’s hooves. All of that had happened. The only thing that didn’t happen was the death blow in which Nightmare Moon had planned to give her.
No that did not happen...
Instead of killing her and tossing her dead body aside, Nightmare Moon decided to spare her from death and instead chose to torture her with a lifelong imprisonment as she dwelled on her failure. The faith of Equestria had hang on the balance and it was up to her to save everpony. But all she did was fail.
“I failed everypony…” She said out loud, a single tear running down her eye. Right now, she felt ashamed to hold the title of being the Princess’s personal student, since it didn’t seem she deserved it. “What would Princess Celestia think of me now?”
“I would be proud of you.” Celestia said from behind Twilight, startling the unicorn as she immediately turned to face her mentor.
“Like I said earlier, Twilight, you did your best and went farther than most ponies would. You got as far as anypony can go and I cannot begin to explain how proud I am of you. If what you told me earlier was correct, not only were you able to find new friends who voluntarily went out to help you, but you also found the Elements and dueled with Nightmare Moon.”
“Yes…” Twilight said, still unsure and sad. “…but I failed, Princess. I failed to defeat Nightmare Moon and save Equestria. I also failed to protect my new friends, since they got captured too and were thrown somewhere in the dungeons here. They’re probably angry at me for letting them down.”
“Now, Twilight…” Celestia said, placing a comforting hoof on her shoulder which made Twilight flinch in pain. The soreness in her body was still there, an evidence to her defeat. “…not everypony wins in their first battle. What happened wasn’t a defeat, but merely a setback. Defeats only happen if you let setbacks stop you for good. And as for your friends, I doubt it if they are angry at you. True friends would never get angry for reasons like that. If anything, they might be worried about you.”
“Do you really think so, Princess?” Twilight asked, a small spark of hope appearing in the sea of hopelessness within her.
“I know so.” Celestia said. “In fact, why don’t you ask them yourself?”
“Huh?” Twilight asked, confused as to what her mentor said. But as if to answer her question, a familiar sounding voice with a country accent called out to her through the wall from the cell next to theirs.
“Heyya Twilight, glad to hear that you’re finally awake. How yah, holding up, sugarcube?”
“Applejack?” Twilight said, surprised to hear her voice over here.
“Oh yes, darling, we were so worried about you. We saw you when Nightmare Moon captured you and brought you to the dungeons and we were quite concerned about your health.” Anther voice, which Twilight assumed was Rarity, said.
“Yeah, you looked pretty beat up, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash’s voice said.
“Mhmm. That meanie, Nightmare Moon, hurt you real bad and I’m not going to stand for that. No one hurts my friends and gets away with it!” Twilight heard Pinkie Pie shout so loud that it seemed that the two were in the same room.
“Girls…” Twilight said, her voice trialing as she became overcome with emotion. Despite the concern her friends were giving her, she felt like she didn’t deserve any of it. All of them had done something to show that they were worthy to be in this journey, while all she did was fail to stop Nightmare Moon. “…I’m sorry for bringing you here. If it weren’t for me, then you wouldn’t be in this situation.”
“Sorry, there’s no need to be sorry.” Rarity said.
“Yeah, Twilight, you didn’t do anything wrong. If there’s anypony who needs to be sorry, then it’s Nightmare Moon!” Rainbow Dash added.
“But…but I was the one who failed to stop Nightmare Moon!” Twilight reminded.
“Now, Twilight, don’t say such things.” Rarity said. “You went farther anypony expected you to go. Now, don’t think of such things as failure, like the Princess said, it only a setback.”
“Yah!” Applejack said. “It’s only a setback, well get another chance to get back at her someday.”
“And when that happens, we’ll be sure to be with you this time and not waiting outside the castle just to be caught by those minions of hers.” Rainbow Dash said, embarrassment in her voice as she described their capture.
“Thanks girls, you really are the best friends a mare can have.” Twilight said, her heart filled with joy knowing that these friends of hers would support her no matter what. “But, before we can repay Nightmare Moon, we need to find a way out of here.”
“Agreed.” The mares from the other cell said.
But for a few moments later, an awkward silence took over before being broken Rainbow Dash asked: “But how do we plan on getting out of here. This place is pretty tough to break out off.”
Nopony was sure, for nopony knew the answer. Looking around, Twilight could see that the walls were thick and strong. Despite the age and years of negligence, the naturally strong rock seemed like it could withstand anything. Meanwhile, the door of their cell looked just as formidable. Sheer force was obviously out of the question.
So was magic, for she could sense the radiating magic on the walls of the cell and knew immediately that it was enchanted with some kind of spell that would inhibit anypony inside to use magic. Besides, if one can use magic to break free from here, then surely Princess Celestia would have done it already.
Silence hang over both prison cells as Twilight, and everypony else, began contemplating plans on how to escape. But with little to limited options on how to conduct one, it seemed like getting out of these dungeons was impossible.
“What’s that, Fluttershy?” Came Rainbow Dash’s voice, which broke through the momentary silence. “What do you mean you can hear something?” Then, pausing to address the others. “Hey, do any of you know what Fluttershy is talking about?”
Keeping silent and focusing on the sounds of her surroundings, Twilight tried to figure out what her friend might be hearing. After a moment or two of listening, she soon heard sporadic sounds coming from above them. Although they were faint, the sounds that she could hear got louder and louder, slowly increasing as time went by.
Soon, everypony else was hearing it too, as the ponies began to debate what could have caused the sound.
“Do you think they’re having a party there?” Pinkie Pie asked, obvious disappointment in her voice. “Awww…they might be having a party without us.”
“No.” Twilight said, having identified some of the sounds she was hearing. “That’s no party. It seems like those sounds are coming from unicorns casting spells and firing off magic.”
“So what, those minions of Nightmare Moon are just firing off magic all willy nilly? How barbaric of them.” Rarity commented.
“I think what we’re hearing is more than just a bunch of unicorns randomly firing their magic.” Twilight said, before returning her concentration back towards the outside sounds. By now, the sound of magic being cast was still evident, but a new and different sound now came in.
Focusing on it, Twilight realized that it was a sound of somepony yelling, calling out something that she did not understand. But as the voice drew close and louder, she began picking up what was being said.
“Princess Celestia! Princess Celestia, are you here?”
Her head shot towards the direction of the door the moment she heard the loud call. From the volume of it, Twilight was sure that the one yelling was just by their door cell. But that wasn’t just the only things that peeked Twilight’s interest.
The voice sounded all too familiar to Twilight and for a moment, she had to wonder if her hearing was deceiving her. But after hearing the voice call out once more, Twilight was certain on who it was, as she heard the call very clearly.
With hope and joy in her heart, she began yelling as she called out to the pony.
“Shining Armor!”
