The Shadows Cast Over A Weary Sun

by runner2

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sad, Nightmare Moon, Princess Luna, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Celestia
Length: 3160

This story takes place during the corruption of Luna when she becomes Nightmare Moon and events following it.

Luna is angry at the lack of appreciation for her nights. As her building anger reaches a climax, Celestia is confronted with an enraged Luna, who ultimately loses herself to the corruption of her anger. Becoming Nightmare Moon.

Celestia must try to reason with her, or ultimately stop her in order to protect her town. After these events, she is faced with more problems and has to protect the town from the beasts of the forest.

This is my first attempt at writing anything, so sorry if it is kinda poorly written and stuff. I don't intend to do anything more with this, so I am just gonna leave it as is.

Published 2013-08-08 14:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-08-08 14:00:01 UTC

Chapter 2: The Painful Choice

Chapter 2: The Painful Choice

The sounds of glass breaking and screaming echoed through the halls as Celestia drew closer to the throne room.
As she got closer she noticed the light coming in through the windows begin to fade. Slowing down the peer out of the windows, Celestia seen that the sun was beginning to set without her guiding it. With renewed urgency she resumed galloping toward the throne room.

Bursting through the throne room’s double doors she was stopped in her tracks by the sight in front of her. Princess Luna was standing in the middle of the room screaming as a dark and powerful magic mist swirled around above her.

“Luna!” shouted Celestia. “What are you doing! You must calm down!”

Luna shot an anger fueled glare at Celestia.

“NO! I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE CELESTIA!” Luna began. “ALL OF THESE PONIES HAVE NO APPRECIATION FOR MY NIGHTS! NOT EVEN YOU!”

Celestia took a step back at the outburst.

“I CAN’T STAND ALL OF THE ATTENTION YOU GET FROM YOUR DAYS WHILE I GET NONE!” she screamed, growing angrier by the second. “YOU CLAIM TO BE MY SISTER, BUT YOU NEVER ACKNOWLEDGE ME! YOU ONLY CARE ABOUT THE ATTENTION OF YOUR SUBJECTS!”

The evil mist swirling above Luna became denser and started to move lower. Celestia, noticing this, began to try reasoning with her enraged sister.

“Luna! I’m sorry I haven’t been paying much attention to you, but you must stop this now before your anger consumes you!” Celestia pleaded. “If you let this go on you will lose yourself to your anger!”

By this point the walls of the throne room began to crack while the roof overhead started to shake from all of the magical pressure. It wouldn’t be long before the castle came down around them. Celestia realized this.

“Please stop this Luna! We can find a way to work this out!” Celestia shouted, fear evident in her voice. “I promise I will pay more attent-“

“NO! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU WILL!” Luna interrupted. “BUT EVEN IF YOU DO, THEN WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE PONIES!? CAN YOU HONESTLY TELL ME THAT THEY WILL APPRECIATE MY NIGHTS!? THAT THEY WILL APPRECIATE ME!?”

Celestia didn’t have an answer. She couldn’t know if all of the ponies would appreciate her nights, and she couldn’t tell her they did knowing what could happen if it turns out that they didn’t. This was getting too far out of hoof, and she knew she had to stop this soon. One way or the other.

“Luna, you must stop this before you destroy the castle! If you don’t stop then I will be forced to stop you myself!” Celestia stated. “Please don’t make me have to take action and just stop this foolishness.”

At this, Luna’s rage seemed to intensify. The evil mist that had been slowly moving down toward Luna suddenly rushed straight toward her. Celestia looked on in horror as the mist surrounded Luna and began to close in. Celestia shot a blast of magic at the mist, but it had no effect. The mist began to solidify into a dark sphere before rising midway into the air of the throne room. A few tense moments ticked by as Celestia looked on. Suddenly a crack appeared on the sphere, followed by an ear shattering sound of breaking glass.

The resulting blast of magic destroyed or damaged most of the castle and knocked Celestia back a ways. After regaining her senses, Celestia looked to where the sphere had been. She was shocked by what she saw. In the air where the sphere had been was an alicorn with a black coat and starry dark purple ethereal mane and tail. Upon seeing this, Celestia knew she had failed to save her sister from her own anger.

“Luna! Stop this now!” Celestia demanded.

Looking down toward Celestia, the figure spoke. “I am your weak sister Luna no longer. I will make you and all of these ponies show appreciation for the night, for I am Nightmare Moon! And this night will last FOREVER!”

“I cannot let you do that.” Celestia said, fighting back tears. “I will have to stop you!”

Before Celestia could react, Nightmare Moon blasted her through the doors and into the courtyard. Sliding to a stop beside the harmony fountain, Celestia looked up to see Nightmare Moon readying another attack. Celestia quickly dodged to the side and retaliated, returning a blast of her own. The attack barely did anything to Celestia’s anger corrupted sister. Realizing that there were still innocent ponies around, Celestia took flight.

Nightmare Moon glared at the fleeing Celestia and quickly gave chase. The ponies of the town of Everfree watched in horror as their Princess Celestia fought an unknown alicorn in the skies above their town. Flashes of light and dark magic blazed in the sky above the town for several hours before a bright light fell down toward the castle, crashing into the courtyard.

Celestia was now lying in the ruined courtyard of her once glorious castle. Nightmare Moon descended into the courtyard to finish their fight and make her night last forever. Celestia, looking behind her realizing it was her last option levitated the elements of harmony from their pedestals in the fountain. Nightmare Moon looked on arrogantly, wondering what Celestia was up to.

Celestia stood and turned to face her corrupted sister, tears falling from her cheeks. Before Nightmare Moon realized what she was planning, Celestia harnessed the power of the elements and sent the rainbow beam toward her. The swirling colors surrounded Nightmare Moon and began closing in. Nightmare Moon looked toward Celestia with rage in her eyes. “I’m sorry…” was all Celestia said, freely crying now.

In a sudden blinding flash, Nightmare Moon was gone.

Chapter 3: Sorrow

Chapter 3: Sorrow

The next day arrived and the ponies of the town of Everfree came out of hiding to determine what had happened. Quill, who had managed to escape the castle with most of the staff, returned to see if he could find the Princesses. Passing the gate he seen Princess Celestia standing in the courtyard looking toward the sky with a sad expression upon her face. He didn’t see Princess Luna and hoped she was alright.

Cautiously approaching the Princess, Quill cautiously asked “Princess Celestia, what happened last night? Where is Princess Luna?”

Celestia began shedding fresh tears and turned to face Quill.

“I wasn’t able to help her.” Celestia began sobbing. “She was corrupted by her own anger and I couldn’t help her.”

“Princess, what happened to Princess Luna?” Quill asked.

“Luna was corrupted by her anger towards me and all of the ponies for ignoring her nights. She transformed into a dark being trying to make nighttime eternal and fought me when I tried to stop her.” Celestia said, tears still flowing. “She was too powerful for me to control, so I was forced to banish her.”

Quill, who was listening intently, then spoke up. “Where did you banish her to?”

“The moon.” Celestia stated sadly.

“What will happen to the moon if Princess Luna isn’t here to raise it now?” Quill asked.

Celestia looked toward Quill with a blank expression saying, “I guess I will take over the raising and lowering of the moon.”

Quill slowly nodded in acceptance of that. Before he tried asking anything more Celestia spoke, “I wish to be alone for a while.”

Quill bowed saying, “As you wish, Princess.” Before turning to leave the remnants of the castle.

Chapter 4: Forest’s Corruption

Chapter 4: Forest’s Corruption

A few weeks had passed since Celestia was forced to banish Nightmare Moon. An air of unease had been hanging over the town since knowledge of what had happened spread. On top of the already devastating news, many odd events had been happening since then as well. The weather in and around the town had begun to act on its own, without pegasai help. Many strange plants had been growing around and into the town. But the worst had yet to come.

On the night of the end of the 3rd week since the banishment, strange noises were heard in the forest around the town.
The guards and citizens were unsure what could be making these noises, and were scared of them.

Quill, along with a few other ponies, ran into the ruined castle in search of Princess Celestia. After a few minutes of searching they found her curled up on her bed in the castle, one of the few rooms that survived the magical explosion mostly intact.

“Princess Celestia. We are in need of your help.” Quill said.

Celestia slowly raised her head, dried tears visibly staining her cheeks, before responding, “What is the matter Quill.”

“There have been strange happenings in and around town for the last few days. Now there seems to be some unknown creatures surrounding the town and making ominous noises. We are not sure what to do, so we are requesting your help in protecting us from what¬ “

A loud scream echoed through the halls, followed by the sounds of the creatures. All of the ponies turned to look back, seeing one of the towns ponies being chased down the hall by what looked like a large wolf made of wood.

Celestia jumped from her bed and instantly fired a magic blast at the oncoming creature. It yelped and retreated. Turning her gaze back to the ponies, she ordered them all to return to the town and barricade themselves in their homes.

They all nodded in agreement and rushed back to town. Celestia took flight over the town and seen several more of the wooden wolf creatures, as well as several other unknown ones, terrorizing the town.

Using her royal voice she shouted, “MY LITTLE PONIES, RETURN TO YOUR HOMES AND BARRICADE YOURSELVES INSIDE! I WILL PROTECT YOU ALL!”

The ponies, following her command, did as ordered. Flying around, Celestia had to fight back several more of the wooden wolves to protect her subjects before she could try to take care of the problem.

After several hours of continually fighting off the beasts, Celestia was beginning to tire. With a bright flash, Celestia erected a barrier around the town after blasting the last of the creatures outside of its limits. She knew that she couldn’t keep the barrier up for very long with all of the creatures attacking it from the outside, trying to get in. After several tense moments she came up with a plan. Celestia only hoped her power was strong enough for it though.

After a few minutes of building up her remaining power, she unleashed the massive spell. In a blinding flash of light, the whole town vanished, appearing on a distant mountain overlooking the forest and surrounding valley. After expending so much energy, Celestia collapsed in the middle of town.

Chapter 5: A New Home

Chapter 5: A New Home

Several hours later, Celestia awoke on a bed in the town’s hospital. Looking at a nearby clock and then out of a window she realized that the sun should have been up a few hours ago. Slowly climbing out of bed, she walked to the window and began to raise the sun. Her power was still very weak, but she managed enough to raise the sun just above the horizon.

After morning light washed over the town, the nurse rushed into Celestia’s room to find her collapsed back onto the bed. The nurse walked over to check on Celestia’s condition, and was relieved to find that she was recovering well. The nurse whispered, “You can rest now, everyone was protected thanks to you.” The nurse then quietly walked out and let Celestia sleep.

It was late in the day when Celestia finally awoke. Still feeling weak, but realizing the ponies of the town must be panicked by what had happened, she decided to announce a meeting in the town hall in an hour. Speaking to several of her subjects about the meeting, she asked them to gather everyone in the town hall for her announcements.

An hour later, all the ponies in town were crowded into the town hall. When the Princess took the podium at the front of the hall, everyone turned their attention to her and remained quiet.

“Thank you all for coming here on such short notice, my little ponies.” Celestia began, “I am sure you are all wondering what happened last night to cause such a drastic change of scenery. I was not able to keep all of the beasts from trying to get into the town, so I was forced to get the town away from the beasts. I was able to transport the town and all of you to the top of the mountain that was visible from the forest.”

A gasp sounded throughout the hall.

Continuing, Celestia said, “I am sorry to have to take you away from the forest that was once our home, but the magical fallout from my fight with…” Celestia paused, fighting back tears, “Nightmare Moon, corrupted the forest and its inhabitants. I could not let you all stay there and be at the risk of attacks by the magical beasts that now stalk the forest.”

A young colt raised a hoof.

“Yes young one. You wish to ask something?” Celestia said.

“Do you know when Princess Luna will be able to come back?” the young colt asked.

Celestia, surprised by the question, didn’t answer right away. After a brief pause she stated, “I am not sure little one.”

At this time, another hoof raised. It was one Celestia recognized as one of her more gifted castle magicians.

“Yes Starswirl?” Celestia asked.

The older unicorn, walking forward spoke up, “I believe that Princess Luna will return. Although not for another thousand years.”

Celestia, looking on in disbelief, asked, “How do you know Starswirl?”

“I have been studying the effects of the elements you used, and have determined that on the longest day of the thousandth year that she could use the stars to help herself get free.” Starswirl said. “Although she would be the same as when you sent her there. That is, she would still be Nightmare Moon.”

Celestia was greatly relieved to hear this, for she had though that the banishment was permanent and couldn’t be undone. Since after using the power of the elements, she had lost the ability to control them by herself.

“Thank you for letting me know this, Starswirl.” Celestia said warmly.

Chapter 1: Darkness Rises

Chapter 1: Darkness Rises

The sun rose high on another glorious day over the town of Everfree as ponies of all races and talents began to start their days. It was a day like any other in the bustling town. But in the recent weeks leading up to this day, there had been many rumors. Rumors of betrayal and hostile arguments coming from the castle had put an uneasy tension in the air. No one knew weather these rumors had any significance or if they were just simple matters that had grew to be over exaggerated.

Walking down one of the many elaborate halls of the castle was Princess Celestia, heading back to her room after finishing her task of raising the sun.

“Princess Celestia!” a panicked voice called out from down the hall. It belonged to one of many officials that handled the more simple tasks in the town. He quickly galloped up to her before giving a deep bow.

“What is it Quill” she asked, while motioning from him to rise.

“It’s Princess Luna, she is out of control!” he half shouted. “She is destroying the castle and screaming something about making the night last forever!”

Although her face remained stoic, there were hints of anger and fear showing in her eyes. “Oh no.” she muttered to herself.
Princess Celestia stood tall and directed her attention to Quill. “Tell me where she is!” Celestia demanded.

“She is in the throne room, ma’am.” Quill quickly responded, backing away slightly. “I have already ordered all of the staff to stay away from there until further notice.”

Upon hearing this Princess Celestia quickly rushed off toward the throne room.

Chapter 6: The Years After

Chapter 6: The Years After

Many years had passed since the incident. Celestia had managed to expand and better defend the town and its ponies. The town, renamed to Canterlot several years prior after the mountain it now resided on, was now the capital of Equestria. Although she still remembered her failures in protecting her sister, she held out hope that Luna would be returned to her in time.

The years slowly went on, the city was prospering along with the rest of Equestria. Every year on the anniversary of Nightmare Moon’s banishment, Celestia would become very depressed over the memories of her failure at being a sister. Noone questioned why because most of the castle staff knew of the stories that had been passed down through the ages. About the darkness that tried taking over the throne and making night eternal. About what she was forced to do to prevent the disaster. And about who she lost as a result.

In the forest of Everfree, things had gotten very dangerous. The creatures that were spawned on that night so many years ago still roam there, always clinging to the shadows. After the first hundred or so years since that day, the forest had started to expand. Celestia realized that she had to keep watch on it and stop the expansion of it. Appointing a team of ponies to tend to the forest, she casted a spell to stop the expansion of it. She was not strong enough to cleanse the forest of the dark magics that still corrupted the ground there, but she was able to halt their progress.

It was now only around 15 years before the prophecy would come to pass about Nightmare Moon. During one of her mornings she witnessed a magnificent explosion of color cover the sky. Immediately after there was a commotion at her school for gifted unicorns. Rushing over she discovered that a young unicorn had lost control of her powers during an entrance exam, and went to help. Upon learning of her name, and seeing her newly acquired cutie mark, she decided to take her on as a personal student. Celestia knew the other meaning behind the prophecy of Nightmare Moon’s return. After seeing this young unicorn, she knew it would come to pass and that she would soon have her sister back.

The End.

Thank you for reading.
This is my first ever attempt at writing anything so I’m sure it isn't all that good. But I feel I did a decent job on pulling off a story for a first time.
Hope you enjoyed it!