Deep within the halls of the ancient Canterlot Castle, moonlight drifted in through the stained glass windows that were housed within the Halls of History. The stars twinkled in the distance, and the Hall was silent save for the slight whisper of midnight wind howling above the towers. Shadows danced in sync with the autumn trees that swayed softly in the breeze of the coming winter.
One shadow dipped and weaved its way through the others in the quiet dance of the sleepy world. It spread like ink through the empty Hall, past all the glass scenes of eras long forgotten. Leaves cast their dark silhouettes in the unknown melody, following the shadow in the intangible wind of the room. To the grand white door at the end they followed each other in a dance, until the larger one bid farewell and slipped under the door and through the smaller hall that followed.
Expertly it travelled through each floor of the Castle, past all of the rooms and dining halls until it found its mark at the entrance to another bedroom out of many in the building. This was the room of the young Princess of the Night, Luna, alicorn sister to Celestia, the Princess of the Day. It carefully slid under this door as well, leaving no trace as it entered her quarters.
The room was dark, save for a candle in the far corner, next to a balcony that overlooked the large city. It shone brightly, illuminating the sleeping form of Luna herself, slumped across the desk the candle sat upon. There were bags under her eyes, a sign of sleepiness that had been deprived of her for days, and a disheveled mane that replicated the night sky fell freely over her shoulders. Her form was limp, tired, and relieved of the stress that had piled upon her for weeks on end. Books and letters scattered the floor around her, some thrown in a fit of stress and sadness, some strewn across the desk due to the way she passed out.
The candle could not dispel the shadow that crept slowly to her calmly sleeping form. Almost reluctantly it moved, yet with a sort of care as if not to disturb her. It wrapped around her in a motherly embrace, cradling her head in it's dark arms, holding her with a somber note that would be the equivalent of tears of it were a pony.
It had been nearly two months since Celestia went to the far corners of the world for prospering diplomatic reasons. To prevent any future wars or shortcomings to the neighboring countries, they sought harmony with all of the kingdoms. Considering that the relations with the Dragons have been strenuous as of late, they wished to show their affection and friendship to all communities. All attempts at peace have been in vain, as the various letters claimed, and war could break out at any second due to menial little reasons.
During Celestia's absence, all goings in the land of Equestria have been laid squarely on Luna's and Princess Twilight Sparkle's shoulders. All seemed well on the outside, but the aristocracy demanded taxes on the poorer and the poorer demanded equality with the aristocracy. Nothing was truly going well, as rumors of an overthrow in government were spreading and their economy was slowly diminishing in profit.
Thus were the true ways of Equestria, and so it has always been. Even with the Royal Princesses, the Elements of Harmony, and a Chaotic Lord on their side, order could never prevail and nightmares always reigned. The shadow attempted in vain to rid Luna of her troubles, cradling her in the silent dance for a moment of tranquility to pass before her tired eyes.
"Luna, dearest Luna, how long since I have seen you last." it whispered softly. There was a pause, a small breath of reluctance."I have much to say to you, my only and ever friend. You, who showed me the light that blinded and bound me. Dearest Luna, it pains me to see you this way."
It softly held the sleeping Princess, silence reigning over the two. "I doubt you've a mind to listen to me, though I will try. You have grown much, Luna, yet you are always so young in my eyes. Weak, you are, yet so grown! Here you are in the cage of war and poverty of which you cannot escape, events that lead to my coming, that you know nothing of. No such mind should be subjected to the terrors that follow in my wake. You, who so understood me then, yet you know nothing of the nightmares that I bring!"
"So long ago you cried to me, for comfort, for the love that I can never give. I used you, in your weakness, when you shunned your own night such as your subjects did. Luna, only then did you scream, cursed my name when we were locked away in that void of the moon. I still used you, plotting our vengeance upon the world, if only to save you!"
"I will tell you the words you have waited forever to be said, and even though these words hold no meaning to you, I will offer them unto you. Your night is beautiful. Your night is unlike anything in this world or the next, so much more astounding than anything we could have made! And you crafted it under the loving care of your sister, the one you shunned and whom you cried for each day. I was more of a mother than she was, wasn't I? I comforted you, held you much like I do now, and told you dreams of faraway lands to lull you asleep."
There was another pause, a ghostly wind glided overhead in the cool of the night. The candle was dripping wax upon the polished wood, nearing the end of its faint glow. Luna breathed softly, calmly, and looked as if the shadow's words were unheard in her land of dreams. The shadow cradled her in a warm embrace, finding the words to go on.
"Your night is spectacular, and when you started to hate it, I thought you as just some other prey. I was wrong, when you showed me that you actually relied upon me. You loved me because I loved your night. Why, dear Luna? Why did you love me when you loved nopony else? I could never love you, as I do not know how, but you showed me. You burned me inside, ripped me asunder with your tear-filled eyes, asking me to help you. You showed me emotion, and I didn't, couldn't, give it back."
"But all of those years, Luna, I caught a glimpse of something outside of the shadows that made my heart dark. You showed me that, even for one fleeting moment, I didn't want this. I didn't want to be feared, to be powerful, to have an empire under my hooves. That would mean that I would lose the only friend I ever had, and you would lose your mother. No, Luna, who knew me so well, I didn't want that."
"I planned to free you of my chains, to let you go and fix all of my mistakes. But then I became greedy, jealous even, much like you did." it whispered, dipping with the equivalent of emotion to its echoing voice. "Why should I give you back to them, who hurt you and led you to me? They gave you to me! Why must I give back the night? Why should I not take what is rightly mine?"
"That is why I tried to stop them." it continued, breaking out in a small laugh. "Jealousy can drive a mare to drastic measures, hm? Though, when Twilight explained the-the magic of friendship, I stopped. She seemed so happy. You felt so eager to get out of your chains, even though you once told me that you never wanted to go back. I could have done something. I could have struck them down, taken you away from the terrors of that light. But I did not. I stood dumbstruck, waiting, breaking inside, torn between my nature and your freedom."
"I cannot love. I cannot be reformed. I am a part of Disharmony, and no matter how much I would wish to see you again after this final meeting, it cannot be so. Dearest Luna, though there is much I wish to say, I haven't much time. Luna, do not forgive me. Do not call upon my darkness again, even if history were to repeat itself. Do not love the monster I am, and do not love me for the mother I was. My chaos will always grip this world and the next, and all light will be extinguished by my evil. Forget me, and in time I will come to remember you only as a blemish on my wrath. Farewell, my child of dark."
And with that, the candle extinguished, letting the darkness of the night overwhelm it and bathe the room only in starlight. The shadow swept away across the room, papers fluttering in its breeze and scattering further across the floor. Luna was left in her dazed sleep, and as the shadow slithered under the balcony door and into the night, the Castle was left silent. The shadow danced away into the air, following the breeze of the autumn leaves and disappearing in the melody of the night.
Luna did not have any nightmares that night, nor would she ever again, as long as her stars twinkled in the distance.