Memories of the Past

It was an afternoon of a rather uneventful day, when I got a letter from Princess Celestia. The letter had a simple message on it, reading, “Dear, Frosted Steel, I must speak with you as soon as possible.”

When I read the letter, I was confused at what the Princess wanted to tell me so badly. On my way to her castle I was thinking of anything I could have done to want her attention. I had been studying with her for over two years, but I didn't do anything to anger her over any of that time, so when I got to the castle and entered the royal chambers; I asked her,

“Princess, what did you want to talk about?” She responded with a gesture for me to sit down that meant that it was going to be a long night. Over the two years of studying with her I had learned what certain things meant, for example, whenever she paced around the room she had something for me to take care of, or whenever she was restless she wanted to tell me something that she was uncomfortable talking about. Today she looked very restless. She said to me,

“I am going to tell you something that will disturb you, just as it has disturbed me.” I looked at her with my head cocked and one of my eyebrows raised; I always did that ever since I was a little colt. She continued, disregarding my confused look, “I have never told this to anyone, not even my sister or Twilight Sparkle.” I had read about Twilight Sparkle in my studies. She was a young mare, but through incredible amounts of talent and devotion to magic, she became a princess, but something was odd about her. No matter how many books I read about her, I could never find out what happened to her. All the books stopped after she was a princess for 50 years. I had, of course, asked the Princess about her, but she only lowered her head and ignored me. I knew it was a touchy subject for the Princess, so when she said her name I paid my full attention to her. “I have…”she sighed, and looked as if she were looking for a good way to deliver the message, “I receive memories from certain moments in all of Equestria’s citizen’s lives. Moments that have overwhelming amounts of… emotion in them. The emotions can range from happiness to despair, depression, fear…” The princess sighed once again, and I just stared, holding on to every word she said. “There is something particular about very few of the memories.” The princess closed her eyes as a tear slid down her cheek. “The memories are all about corruption, anger, and fear.” I looked at the princess with concern in my eyes, and asked,

“Why are you telling me this? How are these moments special?” The princess met my eyes for the first time ever since we started talking. Her eyes were full of all sorts of emotions. Fear, anger, and sadness I grew even more worried for the princess as she looked into my eyes.

“I need to show you something before I give up my position as ruler.” I was shocked by what she told me. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped when she told me this. “I know you are shocked, but it was only a matter of time until the time came for me to resign. I plan for you to be the next ruler since my sister and I have grown weak, and tired.” I was dumbfounded by what she was saying, it made no sense, but I continued to pay attention. “Please brace yourself, I am about to give you memories that will show you something that only a select few can see.” And so she casted the memory spell. I was in a castle, but it wasn't the castle I was in previously. It was overlooking a cliff, and was only connected to the mainland by a small wooden bridge. I looked behind me, and I saw Princess Celestia and Luna, but they were fighting. Not a small fight, but a fight where Luna was cursing at her sister for being the favorite, and how the citizens of Equestria favored her sun over her beautiful night sky. Celestia tried to reason with Luna, but it was pointless. Then, as I stared in horror, Luna started changing into Nightmare moon in front of my very eyes. But she was not alone, I caught a glimpse of a dark grey figure standing next to Luna, and he had a small smile, then I quickly snapped my neck to look at Celestia. She tumbled backwards, as if she saw the figure too. Unless… she did see him! I looked back a Luna, now Nightmare Moon, she laughed at Celestia yelling with a voice that was half Nightmare Moon and half Luna’s voice, “I knew my power would frighten you! I was always keeping my sadness inside of me, but now it is free and in the form of power!” Celestia stood up slowly and pleaded to Luna,

“Luna please, don’t do this! I am your sister, and… I love you!” Nightmare Moon fell on the floor as if something was fighting her power, but then I saw the figure again. I could make out more this time. His mane was both red and black, as well as his tail. He was furious, and I saw his teeth and his eyes, his Unicorn horn, and… Pegasus wings. His eyes were a bright red, with slits for pupils. His teeth were sharp triangles, his Unicorn horn was the same shade as his dark grey body, but his wings were odd. They were the same color as his body, but the base of his wings had some metallic design that was pure white. He closed his eyes as if focusing on something, then, Nightmare Moon rose again, striking her sister while she was staring at the pony next to her. Celestia quickly got up and started fighting Nightmare Moon with tears in her eyes, as she used, what I presumed to be, the Elements of Harmony to banish her to the moon. My heart was racing as I watched the battle end. The last thing I remembered was the figure smiling devilishly, and then, the  memory ended.