The wind howled as fiercely as the bloodcurdling shriek of a timberwolf that night. The land was solemnly shrouded by an eerie fog and a thick blanket darkness. The moon hung eerily above the sky earlier than usual against the purple night sky creating a scarlet colored backdrop. Fall was almost upon the land and the plethora of brown palettes swirled about on the massive oaks rustling about as a swarm of locusts would in their nests. A shadow moved through the night disrupting the eerily calm wood. The figure stood amidst the scene dark wings outstretched as a pair of cloaked figures appeared from the shadow of the wood.
"Forgive our lowly presence, goddess. Such mortals such as us should nary even be worthy of the dark mistress's audience. Aught we even be speaking to her now is a privilege." Said the one on the right as she bowed along with her compatriot.
"Forgive our lowly presence, godess. The preparations have been completed ma'am. They await..." said one softly almost with a hint of fear in his voice.
The shadow smiled as she drifted past them and into the crumbling ruins of Everfree manse. The shadow withdrew it's cloak of darkness revealing jet black skin adorned with intricate, dark blue armor, a dark purple night gown and a sinister gleam in both her eyes and her grin.
"My sweet children of the night. May sweet nightmares forever haunt your eternal slumber." said Nightmare Moon.
They bowed and backed away as she trotted forward towards the ancient ruins of the blighted forest. An eerie incadescent light trailing her hair and tail as she gracefully walked through the wood with the manner only royalty could have. She had just began preparations to surely win over the land for her and shroud it in eternal darkness. Though she could not shake off the feeling of unease and uncertainty. Deep down she was still the same scared little teenage princess who stood underneath her sister's shadow. Was this really how she wanted to be remembered? Is this the kind of attention that she had been yearning? Was she truly so weak and insecure that she would wage war with the light just to win over her subject's attention?
Nightmare moon shook off the thought as she entered the catacombs. Even so this is what she wanted. She had decided this for herself. She had decided that Luna was weak, but Nightmare Moon was strong. No more backing down. No more turning back. She had cast the spell to summon her inner demons for a reason. A spell to bring out the worst of herself, the depraved, yearning, deranged and twisted version of princess Luna. Nightmare moon, the mistress of darkness. She followed the maze with ease as she walked past the tombs of the olden ponies.
Before order in Equestria, before the godesses, the Humans, angels and mages had believed in other deities. Gods of nature. Some of the spells cast by the mages of the day were still cast even now so She was extra careful not to make too much noise lest she became food for some undead revenant guarding the catacombs. In the distance she could finally see a light. An entrance way. She smiled as she entered it and spread her wings until the nearly covered the entrance.
She was descended upon by hundreds of cloaked humans, mages and angels alike. All of them her followers. Off in the distance there were a few Vampires or 'children of the night' with pointed ears and a feral look in their eyes, two pointed teeth extended from their mouths a pair of bat wings on their back and a set of iron armor guarding the entrances.
"Forgive our lowly presence, goddess. We are not worthy to receive your audience." they all said in unison as they bowed down to her.
Nightmare moon strolled slowly past her loyal followers. She made herself look both as elegant yet as lustful as she possibly could. Her royal followers simply bowed in awe and utter surrender at the dark mistress. She smiled. The power was simply overwhelming, the sheer amount of raw surrender was intoxicating even more.
"Loyal subjects... Dost thou know why thy mistress hath gathered thou here?" she asked as she approached the altar in the middle of the large circular cavern.
It was a man-made but also part made by nature. A gigantic circular structure was protruding from the wall but a mere fourteen meters away. The seal of Gradian, it was called. The Equestrians of the olden day would often perform a ceremony where they would 'summon' a specific god. Though Nightmare moon had figured it out. It was no way to summon a god, rather it was a gateway. One of the many unknown gateways to Tartarus.
"Children of the night. Tonight thy shalt summon forth a beast of darkness and we shalt harness it's power. The foolish welps, these light-dwellers shalt become it's prey and it's darkness shall blot out the sun!" she exclaimed as her followers cheered.
"For far too long thou hast waited for this night, but tonight after months of preparation thou shalt finally witness the beast of darkness!" she said as she mounted the gigantic altar. "Morpheus bestias, et visum est dominus soporem aeternum, te iam ex intima hac in infernum conjecti sunt!" she said to the gigantic seal.
The seal's energy and full potential was now being seen. Small cracks began appearing as the hooded apparitions of what they used to be began chanting, "da dea nescia nostri virtute...."
` "Ex hac luce et in sepulchrum tuum. Dele solis gloriam tuam tenebris!" Nightmare moon continued. "Constitues eos reddere in destructionem vestram in Tartara! Libera uindicta tuam divinam super omnes qui interrogant aeterna quies! Haec enim facientes mannis interficere Gentes non dimittitis!"
Nightmare moon's eyes beamed with dark yearning as the seal slowly began to break apart and small dark black tendrils began withdrawing from the cracks and dark black shadowy mist began pouring into the room. Two dark red eyes were clearly visible from the small crack. Both of them gleaming with not only but a murderous, but moreover evil aught. As though all the world's atrocities and cruelties have been absorbed by these eyes and reflected from them. The true incarnation of a sinister entity.
"Iam Morpheus ... harenam vir ... Surgite!" she exclaimed as her followers all bowed down and extended their hands.
"Beast of darkness, lord of eternal slumber take our humble offerings and aid our goddess in her mission for divine retribution." they chanted in unison.
There was a slight pause, an eerie silence as the beast within the darkened depths stood within the proximity of the seal. the dark tendrils withdrawn from the cracks wirling and wriggling about as though tentacles of darkness ready to pull whatever is in reach into the depths of hell.
Then without sudden warning, a gigantic black hoof the size of three full grown men withdrew from the depths shaking the gigantic hall. Then another. The beast hauled itself into the hall making the very ground before the mere mortals quake.
Nightmare moon stood before her shaking followers not showing any sign of hindrance or recoil. She had to look strong no matter what.
The beast fully withdrew from the seal fully revealing itself resulting in the collective gasps and whispers of awe from the crowd.
The beast's lower part was completely horse-like hooves and all covered in shaggy jet black fur. It's tail was that of a scorpion's only rather than having a stinger it had what looked like a talon holding a massive greatsword. It's upper part was humanoid like that of a man's a body, a hulking muscled warrior. Both of it's forearms were covered in gray fur and armed with massive claws, in one 'hand' a massive halberd fashioned of what looked like a spinal cord and a pair of shoulder blades and in the other a massive hourglass filled with glowing dark purple sand-like grains. A number of massive dark black tendrils and tentacles were withdrawn from it's back some coiled together and banded then tied together to form massive sinewy wings.
Though the most disturbing feature of the beast however was it's facial features. Where it's head should have been instead was a massive shroud of dark black smoke whirling about with what looked like a number of eyes of different shapes and sizes swirling about in them some of them blinking, others twitching but most of them remained open.
It stood before the trembling ponies for a while paused. As though judging them somehow.
It slammed it's massive halberd into the ground then held out the hourglass.
Cur fecisti mihi exsuscitatus a somno meo!
It raised it's massive greatsword and stabbed it into the ground and it's dark black tendrils began to unfold and wriggle around.
The followers looked around shocked some of them began running away but unfortunately they were too late. Gigantic black tendrils came from underneath them and impaled their chests then pulled them back down into the abyss below.
Nightmare moon looked around fear showing in her eyes. Everywhere people were dying. Tentacles pulling them apart, impaling them, some of them even beginning to grow mouthed appendages and tearing into them. Nightmare moon ran out from the scene and ran underneath the altar holding herself tightly as tears began to slowly form underneath the brink of her eyes.
Ego ... Placatusque
She didn't care if anyone saw her anymore. She was scared, frightened afraid for the first time since becoming nightmare moon. She wasn't strong, she wasn't a warrior princess like Celestia was. She was weak, innocent, little Luna and she was afraid.
From underneath the altar she channeled out all the sounds of pain and the sounds of flesh being pounded and ripped from her ears and shut her eyes.
***
Almost an hour later she had decided to open her eyes and uncover her ears. There standing before her was what looked like a child about only twelve or eleven years of age raggedy waist guard dropping down to his knees and a pair of rolled up leather trousers. He also wore a dirty once white but now light brown with dirt sleeveless shirt a bit too big for himself. He had the look of a peasant and ruffled messy long brown hair. He had a pair of brilliant yellow wings protruding from his back, he was an angel. He seemed to be staring at her puzzled.
Something stole his attention and within seconds a dark black tentacle grabbed him by the neck and snatched him from where he stood.
Luna gasped as the boy was taken away. She withdrew from her hiding spot and ran after the tentacle withdrawing back into the dark abyss.
"No!" she screamed as she withdrew her wings and flew after the boy. A jet black tendril flew from the dark beyond and smacked her into the ground. She reoriented herself and got back up but by then it was too late. The last thing she saw was the boy reaching out towards her and the abyss gate closing.
Luna sat by the seal accompanied by the mass amount of ravaged corpses. She fell to her knees and began to sob uncontrollably feeling weaker than ever, even more afraid.
"What... What have I done... ?"
Luna awoke with a start. Her once beautiful olive skin was pasty and wet slick with sweat. her hair hung at the side of her face like lumpy wet ropes.
her face grew red with embarrassment when she realized she had soaked the entire bed. She called for the maid then prepared herself in the shower. She slipped out of her silky, lingerie night gown and threw them into a basket. Unlike Celestia, Luna likes to sleep without any undergarment. To her it felt more natural and non-restricting.
Luna stepped into the shower and turned the dial all the way up and let the steamy water hit her slim, yet curvy body. She sighed as she massaged her shoulders and neck, which have been feeling stiff for the last three weeks.
What could've that dream meant? It was bizarre and eerie. Yet for some reason she couldn't help but feel as though it were important somehow. She recalled her dream as she scrubbed her smooth body down with soap and sighed.
In her dream she had seen the same boy. The same boy many years ago that she had failed to save. He looked so young and innocent, he had done naught more than wander into the wood and stumbled upon the ancient enclave into the catacombs. The poor boy then lost his life that fateful night.
Luna sighed as she let the droplets of water fall onto her sleek, wet form as she pondered what could have happened to the poor boy while he was trapped within the abyss of Tartarus. Perhaps he was subjected to many years of mental, physical, psychological and emotional suffering, or perhaps had become the beast's servant, or even worse...
Luna shook the thought off as she decided no to pry at it anymore. She would ask Cadence and Twilight when she could. Asking Celestia however, was not an option. She had enough to deal with, what with all of her royal duties. She did not want to worry her dear sister any more.
She turned the dial and ceased the falling of the water. Though Canterlot's plumbing system was the most modern and highly used technology reserved only for royalty, water was still a precious resource found only in pure water lakes and rivers.
She stepped out of the shower and wiped her body down with her towel. She went over to her dresser and dismissed her blushing maid. In the distance she overheard a conversation with the other maids about how Kawaii 'Luna-sama' was and her friend replying about her 'weird hobbies'.
Luna got dressed in her same frilly, short skirted, spaghetti strapped dress, though she objected to it, Tia had said it suited her so well and she looked so cute in it. Luna sighed as slipped into her undergarments then into the dress. and got ready for the day.
"Princess Luna!" called out a familiar voice from outside her doorway. "May I come in?"
"Yes of course Twilight." she answered.
Twilight entered the room and closed the behind her. Her usually calm and kind-like exterior changed when she noticed something wrong with Luna. Twilight was always quite the observant one with her keen eye. She noticed instantly the dark bags underneath Luna's eyes and her frizzy, messy hair and the sullen look on her face. Even the slight creases and folds on Luna's neat bed.
"Luna... I-Is something wrong? are you okay?" she asked as she sat down with her next to the bed. "Anything that I can help with?" she added.
"Well..." Luna thought about it for a while. If she told Twilight, she would deduct it to a traumatic event involving the boy and try to pry on the horrific event. "N-Nothing at all." Luna answered. "Naught that concerns you that is... y-you know how sometimes ladies like to experiment with... n-new ways to relieve of stress... a-and sometimes we enjoy ourselves a little bit too much..." she lied with her cheeks growing hot red.
"O-Oh..." said Twilight blushing in turn as she felt her wings suddenly get a tingly impulse and a heatwave run through her body. "W-Well, what you do in your leisure time is not any of my business anyway." she said chuckling awkwardly as she got up and started to leave.
"W-Wait! Twilight, didn't you have some reason of coming here?" Luna asked her.
"O-Oh right... My brother recently sent word of an attack on the crystal kingdom. There has been a supposed Terror attack on the kingdom. These extremists call themselves the 'Blood Moons'?" she said.
Luna froze at the name. In her time as nightmare moon, she had not just created the New Lunar Republic, but the exclusive society, moreover cult, known as the Scarlet Midnight. It was not just a band of shady cloaked people practicing the occult (well, it was in it's earlier days) but after an incident after a meeting, any angels, mages and humans were immediately forced to learn combat and weapon training Then undergo blood transference with the Vampires.
These Blood Moons could have been a secret division of Scarlet Midnight that branched off after her banishment.
Luna began playing with her hair as she recollected what had happened that night during the meeting gone wrong.
"Princess Celestia says she has some business down in Germaney and won't be able to join us. She wants us to cfhekc it out for now so I can gain some experience with a little combat," She said shifting uncomfortably. "I never once thought of all the lives the princess must have taken jus to instill peace..." said twilight.
Luna noticed how uncomfortable Twilight had gotten and offered her a warm smile. "Let's get some breakfast." she said patting Twilight's leg.
***
Twilight was greeted by the maid and a familiar face enjoying a warm milk of glass and paper Mache omelet.
"Good morning Discord..." Twilight said slightly irritated by his rude manners. "How is your morning going?" she asked.
Discord wiped his messy face on his sleeves. Due to his fatigue and stressed magical glands, (not to mention his beard) Discord had been presented as older than he should've been. But when he started working for the princess and shaved off his beard it was clearly obvious that he was about the same age as the princess herself, according to Luna, actually just a bit younger than Celestia.
Discord, like Celestia and Luna, was a few thousand years old, yet had the body much younger than he looked and as much as it pained Twilight, he was kind of attractive.
Discord's style was usually the same thing every day. Tight black jeans, a pair of chains, mismatched shoes and a brwon tank top built to comfort his wings. He rarely ever touched his black and white long hair, but somehow managed to always look good no matter how messy or ruffled it was and there were dark black circles and dark bags underneath and around his eyes fro staying up late nights playing video games and 'derping' around in the 'interwebz'. It infuriated her so much how disorganized and laid-back he was, yet managed to get all of his duties in order for the Equestrian Archive department every week. (the princess had suggested that due to his magical skill and ability to multitask, that he work with the Equestrian Archive Department and Organize files, in only two weeks he had been fully promoted to project manager)
"Morning sweet heart. Had a nice nap didn't we?" he asked with an ironically unamused smile.
"hmm? Oh y-yes..." Luna replied as she sat down at the large table and politely ordered for some coffee while rubbing her temples.
"Mistress... Are you unwell? We can call for the nurse if you are feeling ill." the maid said when she noticed Luna's sullen and tiresome mood.
"Hmm? Oh no it's quite alright, Lyra. I-I just need some coffee to start my day." she lied with a warm smile.
Lyra, though still with a concerned look on her face obeyed and left with a small bow.
Discord sat across Luna and eyed her curiously. Just her luck, Discord was twice as keen and three times more observant than Twilight. He looked her up and down and spent a considerable amount of time staring at her breasts, Then with a smile said in a low tone, "So those dreams Have been keeping you up huh?"
A chill was sent down Luna's back. How could he have possibly known?
"Not the pleasant type of dream, I'd reckon." he said as he began floating and swirling about as he circled Luna observing her. "Something about your... Past days?" he added.
Luna turned towards Discord and gasped. "W-Wha...?"
"Daddy Discord knows everything, sweetheart." he said. "Your wings are ruffled and you seem to be sweating bullets even though the Air conditioning is up at full blast. You've had a rough night. Your eyes have dark circles around them, though they're very faint and faded, they're still visible, and due to the considerably large amount of caffeine you've been consuming for the past few days, it seems you've been trying to avoid sleep for some reason. Clear evidence that it has something to do with your sleeping patterns, moreover the nightmares you've been having. Due to the way you've been spaced out lately it isn't just some vampire, werewolf monster dream, it was something personal, something that happened quite some time ago, and something that's disturbing and troubling you at that. Therefore if you combine it all together, you've been having trouble trying to sleep lately, so you've been avoiding it for as long as you can and last night was the first solid sleep you've had in days possibly weeks... But the nightmares are still chronically recurring." said Discord as he formulated a cloud of cotton candy and rested on it.
Luna's jaw dropped and Twilight did the same at Discord's surprisingly amazing deduction skills. If Discord had figured out what was wrong perhaps he'd know what to do. But askind Discord? The living breathing manifestation of chaos itself? The last of the Draconnequis kind and descendant of the lost Basilisk race? She had no choice. Discord was her friend now and she just had to trust whatever advice he gave her.
"W-Wha..." she trailed off.
Discord Smirked as he turned upside down and stood on the ceiling doing a little dance. "Yes, Princess?"
Luna's face flushed. She hated having to ask advice of one of her ex-mortal enemies. "W-What do you suggest I should do?" she asked sheepishly as she rubbed her arm.
Discord smirked as he dropped from the ceiling and sat down next to her. "With all due respect your highness, I'm a file organizer in the west wing of the castle, not a therapist. How should I know what to do?" he said with a bemused smile.
Luna sighed and retracted a little, even more embarrassed. He didn't even know what to do? She sighed and said, "Well, thank you anyway, Discord." she said as Lyra had brought her some coffee and a warm, buttered Croissant.
"Can-Can you tell us about your dreams princess Luna?" asked Twilight as she got her coffee as well.
Luna remained quiet for a while, then opened her mouth as though to say something, but nothing came out so she closed her mouth.
"I see..." said Twilight as she hung her head in disappointment.
"P-Princess!" said Rainbow Dash as she crashed through the door holding her burnished bronze helmet and breathing heavily. Since Rainbow Dash had decided to help out as the royal commander for the corps, she had begun calling Twilight "Princess" and it made her quite uncomfortable.
Her armor was the lighter standard than most due to the fact that speed was her specialty, though the large red and yellow kite shield on her back along with the short-sword on her hip had restricted her.
"W-What is it Rainbow Dash?" asked Twilight a little startled.
"P-Princess Cadence... Princess Cadence is here..."
