Stronger Than Blood
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Darkest of Nights

Stronger Than Blood

"Hilarious! Hahahaha-"

The loud laughter died out as the transformation was completed, and all that remained of the ex-ruler of Equestria was a stone statue of his likeness. Barely standing in front of the statue stood two very unique ponies, the only two of their kind in all of Equestria. Both of them stood panting heavily, their eyes locked on the statue of the strange creature they had just turned to stone. They waited and waited, expecting the creature in the statue to break free, but no movement came from the rock. They had done it, they had defeated Discord, the ruler and tyrant of the land.

"We... we did it. We defeated him." Celestia said, her legs giving out and causing her to collapse on the ground. She was soon joined on the scarred landscape by her sister Luna who also fell from exhaustion. Strewn around both their bodies lay six gems that were glowing abnormally bright, and as their light faded Celestia looked over at her sister and smiled. "Heh, I guess these gems did hold as much power as Starswirl said they would."

Luna didn't return the smile, instead lowering her head and shedding a single tear for their late teacher. "Please, sister, do not remind me of him. It's still too painful to think of him." she said solemnly.

Celestia nodded, getting shakily back to her legs. "It still hurts me to think of him, too, but you know that he would not wish for us to mourn him when there is still so much work to be done. Come, sister, we must spread the word that all ponies are now free of Discord." she said, managing to summon enough magic to lift up the six gems and place them in a velvet bag for safe keeping.

Luna nodded and got to her hooves as well. "Yes, sister. Equestria is finally free."

As word spread across the land that the two sisters had defeated Discord, every city, town, and community unanimously agreed that Celestia and Luna should become their new leaders. Both sisters were hesitant to assume such a large role, but it soon became clear that they were desperately needed. Long before Discord had taken over, the unicorns were in charge of raising the sun and moon, but after coming to power Discord had assumed that duty. His terrible powers corrupted the sun and moon so they rose and fell at random intervals, and though they tried with all their power the small group of unicorns who remembered the complex spell of raising and lowering the sun could not muster enough power to take back control. Only when Celestia and Luna tried their luck at wresting control of the sun and moon from Discord's chaos did they manage to finally bring order back to the world and thus cementing their place as the new rulers of Equestria. Though they were reluctant to accept their new positions as rulers and being caller 'Queens of Equestria', they ultimately accepted their new roles but at the insistence that they be called 'princess' as to not sound like heavy-hoofed rulers.

Celestia and Luna took up residence in Discord's old castle but the taint of his presence still lingered, so the two sisters opted to have a new city built farther north and to become the new capital of Equestria. A new army was also raised to help spread order and calm as ponies across the land converged on the old capital to offer their services to the new rulers. Many of the wealthier citizens of Equestria moved to the new city of Canterlot to be closer to their saviors, and plans for smaller villages and towns around Canterlot began to be formed so even the common ponies could be closer to their leaders.

After the first few years of their rule, life in Equestria began to resemble normalcy after so many years of chaos and mayhem. The sun and moon once again rose and fell in predictable patterns and ponies could go about their lives without worry of Discord suddenly appearing and causing something dangerous random to happen. Just in case some unseen threat remained hidden somewhere, Celestia and Luna decided to stand watch over their new kingdom all day and night; Celestia standing guard during the day and Luna keeping watch at night. Celestia had her hooves full with overseeing so much activity across so much land during the day, but at night Luna was left with hours of nothing to do as almost everypony was asleep during her watch. To help pass the time, Luna decided to make her nights more appealing by sending thousands and thousands of stars into the black night sky, and her work had an immediate effect on everypony. Almost all of the citizens of Equestria stayed up later to stare in awe at the sparkling sky that Luna had produced, and to keep her new audience from becoming bored she changed the positions of her starts each night and added shooting stars to streak across the sky. Her beautiful masterpieces were the most popular topic for a while, but as the days turned into weeks the ponies started to retire back to their beds instead of staying up late to admire Luna's work. At first the princess of the night was hurt by the betrayal she was shown, but Celestia managed to calm Luna's anger by explaining that though their subjects needed their rest, they still thought Luna's work was beautiful. Luna listened to her older sister and nodded in understanding, but deep in her heart she still felt the sting of being ignored.

As the years passed by, a disturbing message reached the two alicorn sisters; some strange pony had supposedly taken over a large mass of land far to the north of Canterlot and had isolated his claim from the rest of Equestria. Rumors began spreading across the kingdom that the pony responsible for the hostile takeover of the northern lands was a jealous earth pony who had hired a unicorn to come up with a spell to turn him into a unicorn himself. The spell supposedly worked, but at a terrible cost; it turned the pony into a corrupt yet powerful unicorn and the caster of the spell was immediately killed off to ensure that he would be the only earth pony to benefit from the forbidden spell.

As news came trickling in that the dark pony's influence was slowly spreading south, Celestia and Luna were forced to take action. Though they had hundreds of ponies under their command as Royal Guards, the guards were all spread across the continent, and there was not nearly enough of them left in reserves to take on the new tyrant on. With no other options available, Celestia and Luna left the new capital and ventured north with just a small group of guards. They knew that traveling north would be dangerous and cold, but everypony in their group was shocked to see just how deadly the northern lands had become under the rule of its new king.

As the temperature of the air became colder and colder, the pegasus and earth pony guards found that they were unable to stand the frigid temperatures and were forced to turn back, leaving just a small compliment of unicorn guards who were able to keep themselves warm with their magic. However, conditions became even more treacherous as they pushed farther north and soon the snow became too deep to walk through. Celestia and Luna had the ability to fly above the deep snowbanks but the unicorns had no choice but to turn back also, and with great reluctance they trudged back south, leaving the two princesses alone to fend for themselves.

Determined to press on, Celestia and Luna continued the slow progress forward. Though they thought about turning back and better preparing their guards for the dangerous journey, doing so would take far too long, and with Canterlot still extremely vulnerable as it was being built both alicorns knew that they had to stop this threat now before the dark influence spread and became stronger. Their determination paid off and both sisters finally managed to break free of the cold storm and found themselves overlooking an absolutely stunning city made of crystals. However, the sky remained dark and a single figure could be seen walking towards them.

Luna and Celestia stood their ground as an intimidating stallion walked up to them. Once he was just a few feet from them Celestia gasped as she recognized who was now standing in front of her.

"Sombra." Celestia said quietly.

Luna heard her sister's quiet words and finally recognized the stallion. "Sombra! You're alive?" she said in disbelief. Though it had been years since either alicorn had seen the pony in front of them, they both clearly remembered the day that he had disappeared after a horrible accident.

Celestia took a cautious step forward, unsure if the stallion had managed to learn how to control his unnaturally obtained powers. Her mind flashed back to the day where Sombra had become a unicorn; the damage he caused barely contained by their teacher while he screamed in pain as his body tried to adapt to the horn he had concocted using black alchemy and forbidden potions.

A sly grin formed on Sombra's face as he glared at his two former classmates. "You all said that it was impossible, that I would never be able to use magic. You all said that it was a useless dream to chase. But look at me now. I now rule the elusive Crystal Empire and all the land around it. My power is growing every day, and soon I will conquer all of Equestria! I will prove you two wrong, and most importantly, I will prove HIM wrong!"

Celestia and Luna looked at each other with worried expressions. Sombra had been born a simple earth pony with absolutely no magical ability, but their teacher was willing to teach him some basic potions and alchemy to sate his desires. However, the allure of being able to use magic like the unicorns kept calling to him, and having the only two alicorns in the world as his classmates finally caused his jealousy to override any rational thoughts. Taking what he had learned as well as consulting advanced books on transformations. Finally, after weeks of hidden work, Sombra came to the point where he had to test his creation.

The potion worked... too well. Unable to control the sudden surge of new power coursing through his body, bursts of pure magic began to fire wildly around the room, soon breaking everything inside the room and setting fire to the walls. Their teacher had rushed in to the room and attempted to create a protective spell around Sombra to contain the dangerous pony, but a sudden explosion went off and their teacher was barely able to cast a spell to protect Celestia, Luna, and himself. By the time the smoke cleared the room was in shambles and Sombra was nowhere to be seen. Nopony had any clue where he was or had gone, until now...

"Sombra!" Celestia shouted out. "Let's talk, we don't want to hurt you!"

The false unicorn laughed. "You, hurt me? I don't think so. My magic is greater than that of anypony alive, even our teacher. Nopony can touch me, nopony can take away what is now mine!"

Luna and Celestia looked at each other and nodded, knowing what they had to do. "We shall not allow you to threaten our subjects or our lands!" Luna shouted back as Celestia brought out the Elements of Harmony

Sombra's eyes went wide as he sensed the sheer volume of power being emitted from the six small gems. "What are those?" he asked as the two alicorn sisters began to harness the immense energy coming from them.

Celestia focused her hard stare at Sombra. "Starswirl the Bearded informed us of these, the Elements of Harmony, and we shall use them to defeat you and bring harmony back to the land you stole." she said. Without warning, both Celestia and Luna unleashed a powerful attack straight at him.

Their aim was true and Sombra cried out in pain as the powerful attack hit him square in the chest. Stumbling backwards, Sombra managed to remain on his hooves and grimaced as he tried to shake off the pain. Grimacing, he chuckled and looked up at the two alicorns. "Heh, not bad. But you'll have to summon a more powerful attack to defeat me."

Celestia shook her head. "There are other ways to defeat somepony other than brute force. You are our friend, Sombra, and we hope that one day you will repent for what you have done. But until then, you will not pose a threat to anypony else anymore." she said darkly.

Sombra wasn't sure what Celestia meant, but a sudden tingling in his hooves caused him to look down. He gasped as he saw his hooves and legs beginning to slowly dissolve into smoke, and no matter what spells he frantically cast to stop his body from dissolving he wasn't able to stop the effect. However, his worried expression slowly became a grin, and as his upper thighs began to disappear he let out an unnerving laugh. "Ha... hahaha.... ahahahaha! You stupid foals, you should have just killed me and be done with it! You don't think I wouldn't have some sort of backup plan, did you? After I took over this land I merged its natural powers with mine, and anything that happens to me will affect it, too!"

Looking past their former classmate at the crystal city, Celestia and Luna watched in horror as the every building began to dissolve away just as Sombra was. "Sombra, what have you done! Those ponies have done nothing to you, they don't deserve this!" Celestia cried out.

Sombra laughed again. "Ha! It is your own mistake, Celestia! Wherever I go, my city goes, too! One day I shall become powerful enough to break free of this spell you have cast upon me, and when I do I shall hunt you both down and have my revenge!"

Without any warning, Luna broke into a sprint and charged at Sombra. "It's not too late to rid the world of you, Sombra!" she yelled as she prepared another attack.

Sombra grinned as his intimidation had worked, and Celestia was caught off guard by her sister's brazen attack. "Luna, no!" she shouted, but Luna was intent on making him pay for his crimes. However, this is what Sombra wanted, and with one final roar he fired off one last attack at Luna.

Unable to defend herself or dodge the attack, Luna took the brunt of the blast head on and crumpled to the ground. Seconds later, Celestia finally reached Luna and stood guard over her younger sister, but Sombra had no intention of attacking again. His torso beginning to fade into smoke, Sombra grinned and chuckled. "She was always so crass, but you are by far the more dangerous of the two." he commented.

Celestia didn't let his words anger her; instead, she remained on guard. "It's over, Sombra. Your reign has ended and you won't return unless you repent for your crimes." she said again.

With Sombra's head the only part of him left, he laughed one last time. "This is far from over, Celestia. I will return one day, more powerful than ever. And you can't stop me, nor can your sister. In fact, she will help me without her even knowing." he cryptically said.

Celestia looked down momentarily at her sister, afraid of what Sombra may have done. "What do you mean by that? Sombra? Sombra!" she yelled out, but Sombra only grinned at her as his head finally dissolved to smoke and blew away in the wind. Looking past where Sombra once stood, Celestia witnessed the last of the buildings of the Crystal Empire disappear as its ruler had just moments before, the silence broken only by the cold wind blowing around the two alicorns.

Finally stirring, Luna opened her eyes and slowly got up on her hooves. She held up her hoof as Celestia tried to help her, muttering "I'm okay" as she silently cursed herself for falling into such an obvious trap.

Celestia looked her sister over and was surprised that there were no noticeable injuries on the blue alicorn. "You... you're not hurt, are you?" she asked anyways.

Luna nodded again. "Yes, sister, I am fine. Sombra's powers must not have been as powerful as we had estimated, and his attack must have just surprised me. That is all." she said before surveying their surroundings. "It... looks as if there is no more reason to stay here, is there?"

Celestia nodded and both ponies began the long journey home. Luna managed to travel unassisted, but Celestia couldn't help but worry that there was some unseen side effect. Yes, Sombra's attack left no physical wounds on her, but Celestia had felt just how much power he had used, and if the attack wasn't some sort of curse then there should be some sort of physical wound. Celestia's suspicions were further supported by what he had done to his entire city, but there was no way to tell until it took effect. Until then, Celestia could only wait...

"Sister, you saw how quickly our guards were forced to turn back. We need this!"

"For the last time, Luna, the answer is no!"

Luna and Celestia stood facing each other, both alicorns staring each other down. It had been a week since their battle with Sombra, and ever since they had returned to Canterlot Luna had been sulking over the loss. The princess of the night spent most of her time with the guards under her command, and just moments ago finally approached her sister with a proposal to officially create an elite fighting unit; the Blackguard.

To show that the new force was ready to be of use, Luna summoned the small elite force that she had been secretly training for the past few months, but Celestia quickly ordered them back to their barracks. Ignoring the feeling of fury she felt from her sister trying to hide such a lethal force, she tried her best to remain calm while she allowed Luna to explain her actions. Her little sister said that while the new guard unit was fine for every-day policing and guard duty, they were not capable of taking on special missions and severe weather, as proven when they all had to turn back just days before. However, Luna boasted that her Blackguard could handle almost any type of weather and specialized in infiltration, making them the ideal force to send in first to clear the way for the regular guards.

Though she had to admit that having these highly trained ponies had some uses, Celestia quickly said no to the proposition, correctly fearing that Equestria would become a fascist state and cause their subjects to fear them instead of love them. Celestia's rejection did not sit well with Luna, and they soon found themselves arguing as they were now.

Luna stomped her hoof in frustration. "We have no choice! If we wish to protect Equestria we must raise an army capable of invading another nation if necessary, not just guard the city! If you let me demonstrate what my current force is capable of you'd agree with me and see that having the Blackguard will benefit ponies everywhere!"

"That's not the direction we need to go in." Celestia countered. "If we raise an army of that size and capability we will never achieve the kind of peace every creature deserves to enjoy. There's no reason to summon a massive army when diplomacy and talks can solve any iss-"

"No it won't! How can you not see this yet?" Luna interrupted. "Were you able to talk Sombra down? How about Discord? You of all ponies should know that there are times where force is the only way to solve a problem! Even our teacher was able to acknowledge that! That's why he created the Elements of Harmony and sacrificed himself so we could use them to protect Equestria!"

Celestia was stunned by her sister's outburst and felt a slight wrench in her gut as she knew that Luna spoke the truth. She sighed and spoke in a calmer tone than before. "Can you prove that these ponies would be of use for non-military reasons?" she asked.

Luna nodded. "Of course. There has been that spike in thefts here in Canterlot and the guards cannot catch the two unicorns responsible, but my Blackguard can." she boasted. "I'll have them deploy tonight and capture the thieves responsible. They've done some reconnaissance already and we know that it's only two ponies responsible for most of the thefts."

Celestia was fuming that Luna had already deployed the deadly ponies but bit her tongue. "Very well. But I want them brought in alive and unharmed." she conditioned.

Luna nodded and left to give her ponies their orders, leaving Celestia to sigh heavily and walk out to her balcony to lower the sun for the night. Once her task was done, she retired to her bedchambers to sleep for the night, but something kept her awake most of the night. While speaking to Luna before, Celestia could have sworn that her sister's mane and tail had turned slightly darker...

The night almost over, Celestia awoke and walked to the throne room where she found her younger sister waiting for her. Luna's face was of mixed emotion, and as she spoke Celestia found out why. "I sent my Blackguard out and they found the two unicorns responsible for all the thefts." she said. "They did not come quietly, and one of them attacked and killed one of my ponies, but the rest of them were able to capture the two thieves. As you wished they were not harmed, though one of them dared to spit in my face."

Celestia nodded gravely. "I did not expect them to be violent. I'm sorry one of your ponies was killed by them. I assume you already decided a punishment for the two thieves?"

Luna nodded. "Yes, but I did not choose to have them executed. Instead I gave them a chance to seek redemption and atone for their crimes." Luna said, hoping her sister would not question what their fate was.

Luckily, Celestia simply nodded and breathed a sigh of relief, happy that Luna was so far doing a good job of handling the questionable elite unit. "I'm proud of you sister. See? Sometimes talking with and giving a pony another chance is all it takes." she said as Luna turned to head back to her room.

"Yes. And sometimes it takes brute force to solve your problems." Luna said under her breath as she walked away.

Time passed uneventfully and peace was once again spreading throughout Equestria. With the major construction of Canterlot now complete, Celestia and Luna began concentrating on creating a stable government to help them oversee many of the everyday tasks that needed addressing. Though almost every single pony was content living under only the two princess's rule, Celestia insisted that other ponies hold some position of power to create a balanced system of power, and thus the Congress of Canterlot was created.

With the congressional gathering now in place, both sisters could finally relax a bit and have some time to themselves, though they still had to raise and lower the sun and moon every day. With her extra free time, Celestia took the opportunity to meet her subjects and assure them all that she and her sister would be nothing like Discord, and that protecting everypony from harm was their first priority. The public loved her and warmly embraced Celestia into their lives, happy to have a pony like her watching over them.

Luna, however, did not get to bask in the same glory that her sister did. By the time she had raised her moon and cast her stars into the night sky everypony was in bed and asleep, leaving almost nopony awake to greet and talk to their other princess. Instead, Luna occupied her time with taking care of any problems that needed to be solved out of the public's view, such as catching other petty thieves or fending off any dangerous creatures threatening any part of Equestria. However, all the ponies credited Celestia for the tasks that Luna completed, and despite Celestia insisting that her sister deserved all the credit the ponies continued to worship her. Of course, this led to Luna's morale plummeting and soon she stopped caring about decorating her night skies. However, Luna only grew more irate as only a meager few came forward complaining about the lack of stars in the sky.

Completely disheartened by everything, Luna soon started shutting herself away in her room, refusing to come out and left her skies void of any stars, though she fulfilled her duties of raising the moon. Celestia tried talking to her but Luna refused to see anypony, trusting only a select few Blackguard ponies to enter her room to deliver their reports. Much to Celestia's relief, Luna didn't remain isolated for long and a few days later approached the sun princess just after the sun had been raised.

"Luna, my sister, I'm happy to see you." Celestia said, genuinely smiling. "I'm glad to see you're back out and are feeling better."

Luna took a deep breath before addressing her elder sister. "Sister, I am getting weary of everypony worshiping and praising your bright days while they shun me and my nights."

"I know how you must feel, Luna, and I promise, I continue to remind everypony that you are responsible for Equestria and everypony's safety just as much as I am." Celestia said, but Luna shook her head.

"Yet they still continue to love you and shun me." Luna said, stomping her hoof in frustration. "I know you are trying, but it's not fair!"

Celestia's heart ached as she heard Luna's frustration. "Is there anything I can do to help you feel more appreciated?" she offered.

Luna nodded, happy that the conversation was headed in the direction she had hoped. "Actually, there is. I know there is a small portion of ponies who do favor the night, but as so much of Equestria operates during the day so they cannot stay up to enjoy the night. I wish to fulfill their desires and be appreciated for my work and efforts, and thus I wish to break off and start my own kingdom."

Celestia couldn't believe her ears. "What? You cannot be serious!" she exclaimed, but Luna nodded sternly, completely intent on fulfilling her wish. Celestia stood up and walked over to her sister. "My dearest Luna, you know you are needed here with me. Neither of us can rule this land alone, and we need to both be here to defend everypony from harm. The Elements of Harmony, the gift that Starswirl gave us, we cannot wield them without the other."

Luna nodded in understanding. "I know, and I promise to always come to your assistance whenever you may call. But I cannot stay here. I just wish for your blessing to form a new nation to call my own, and allow me and my followers to leave in peace."

Celestia sighed and shook her head no. "I'm sorry, Luna. I love you and I understand your frustration, but I cannot allow you to leave. Equestria is still too weak to be split and I cannot lead everypony by myself, I need you by my side. I swear to try to give you all the credit and acknowledgement you so rightfully deserve and make sure everypony is able to enjoy your beautiful nights."

Luna stepped backwards, tears of frustration, anger, and jealousy welling in her eyes. "You... I can't believe you! You just don't want me to surpass you in popularity! You don't want everypony to love me instead of you!" she shouted. The air in the room seemed to grow colder as Luna's mane and tail began to darken, and an unsettling layer of fog began to build at Luna's hooves.

Celestia was shocked and furious that Luna would suggest such a thing, but she was more worried by the gradual change of her sister's appearance. "Luna, that's enough!" Celestia said sternly, her voice bellowing in a rare show of anger. "Of course I do not wish such a thing!"

The sudden response by Celestia caused Luna to falter and go silent, giving Celestia a moment to breathe and speak in a calmer tone. "Luna, there is no need for this jealousy. You know that everypony needs to sleep, and it is natural to sleep at night. You are one of the few ponies to have the unique gift of being able to master living during the night. Everypony in Equestria depends on you to keep them safe at night, even me." Celestia said with sincere gratitude.

However, Celestia's words were not enough to soothe Luna's anger. "But you still refuse to allow me to create my own kingdom where ponies appreciate what I do." she said in discontent.

Celestia shook her head once more. "As I said, sister dear, we cannot afford to divide our powers. Equestria needs us to protect it, so no, I cannot give you my blessing to leave." she said with some sadness in her voice.

Luna's expression was a mix of sorrow and anger, but she remained silent as she turned to return to her room.

Celestia bowed her head, upset that her sister was hurting this much, but with Equestria being so new and unstable, appeasing Luna was almost impossible at this point. "Please, have patience, sister." Celestia said softly.

Luna slammed the door to her room shut and jumped onto her bed, screaming into her pillow in frustration. "It's not fair!" she cried over and over, her hoof beating her bed in futility.

'Life isn't fair, you foal.'

Luna's head snapped up and her eyes darted around the room. "Who said that? Who dares enter my room without my permission?" she yelled out loud. She didn't see anypony in her room, and with great caution she got up and slowly paced around her room.

'Here you are, one of the new rulers of Equestria, yet you can't even win over the loyalty and respect of your own subjects. You're pathetic.'

Beginning to panic, Luna fired off a magical blast at the wall in frustration. "Show yourself, coward!" she yelled out.

The room seemed to darken as an eerie mist began to pool at Luna's hooves, and for some reason Luna found herself drawn to the oversized mirror adorning one of the walls. Walking up to it, she found that instead of seeing her reflection, all she saw was a massive cloud of fog, but as she peered closer a pony emerged from the smoky reflection. To her surprise and slight horror, the pony in the mirror looked very similar to her; it was an alicorn, but taller and with a much darker mane and coat. Slightly caught off guard, Luna stumbled backwards, but what she had thought was her reflection sneered in mockery by her ungraceful steps.

'It's no wonder nopony respects you. You have the grace of a three-legged cow.'

Luna adopted an aggressive stance and bared her teeth. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" the princess demanded.

'You silly foal, you're looking at yourself. I am you... what you could be.'

"What are you talking about?" Luna spat at the 'reflection', still in her aggressive stance. "You are not me! What black magic is this you are using?"

The menacing alicorn in the mirror laughed silently. Oh? Are you so sure about that, Princess Luna?' The mirror seemed to ripple as the fog and the large alicorn faded away, but as Luna's actual reflection became clearer she gasped as her coat was almost black and her mane and tail were now a deep blue. Luna could only stare in disbelief at the transformation as the voice continued to laugh inside of her head. 'You see? I am what you could be, what you want to be.'

Luna scoffed, her mind still in denial. "And how do you know what I wish?" she challenged.

'Oh? You would rather live in your dear sister's shadow forever?' the voice mocked. 'Yes, maybe you would rather just fade away into your nights that nopony ever sees. Maybe you would rather let your sister take all the glory for your hard work and be forgotten. Even Discord's name will be remembered throughout time, but not you. You shall be forgotten and remain unloved.'

Luna tried her best to shut out the hurtful words, but her will soon crumbled as tears sprang to her eyes. "No... no, you're wrong..." she tried to say but her voice faltered.

'Oh, I'm wrong? Then perhaps I should just leave you to disappear and rot away while your sister takes all the glory. Forever shall everypony remember the name Princess Celestia, while her sister is forgotten by all. Or... if I decide to help you, everypony across the land shall both remember and respect the name Princess Luna.'

Though she knew better than to trust this still unknown voice in her head, the prospect of gaining the glory she so desperately sought captured her. "You... you can do that?" she asked eagerly.

'Of course. I can fulfill your every wish. Your sister won't give you your own kingdom to rule over, but that's because she's afraid of you winning over everypony's trust and loyalty. She fears your power, she fears what you can become. But I can make you strong, I can give you what you wish.'

Luna didn't say anything, but no words were needed. Opening both her body and mind to whoever this pony was, she suddenly felt a strange feeling envelope her entire body, almost as if the mind and soul of another pony was now occupying her body. However, she also felt a sudden surge of energy and power sweep over her, and as she became used to the new feeling the voice in her head now sounded clearer and closer than before.

'You see? I can offer you what your sister doesn't want you to have. I can give you anything you wish. With my guidance and power merged with you, we can eventually rule all of Equestria. Everypony will bow before you.'

Luna smiled as images of her surrounded by adoring ponies entered her mind. "Yes... I see." she said in a slight daze. She ignored the fog slowly beginning to envelope her body, transforming her so her body resembled the pony she had seen in the mirror just moments ago. Her coat was now a deep midnight blue and her mane also a noticeably deeper blue than before. With the fog suddenly disappearing and the mirror now once again just a mirror, Luna approached it once more and looked over her new body. She smiled as she inspected her body; something about her new look made her look... more powerful, more like a true leader, not just somepony who disappeared into the shadow of her older sister.

Luna stood silent, but the voice in her head had also become quiet. However, a plan began to form in her mind. A small grin crept onto her face, and though she normally slept through the day Luna called for one of the guards outside her room to summon one of the Blackguards to speak to her. 'I will get my own kingdom, everypony WILL love me... or I will become their greatest nightmare.' she thought.

The next few weeks Celestia did not see Luna at all. The princess of the night kept herself busy and frequently Canterlot every single night, traveling south to an unknown destination. More often than not she returned to Canterlot well past daybreak, but she always remembered to lower the moon from wherever she went to. Celestia tried many times to speak with Luna but every time she went to her sister's room Luna was nowhere to be found. Though she was worried about her sister, Celestia was soon faced with another problem; reports started to come in that ponies from all over Equestria were going missing.

Her guards having no clue how or why, Celestia took on the task of investigating the disappearances personally. At first she thought she had acquired enough clues to safely guess that the ponies most at risk were citizens of Canterlot as all of the victims lived or worked in the capital, but as the days continued to pass by ponies from other cities began to disappear as well. There was sadly no pattern of what kind of pony was being targeted; ponies of all ages, races, and gender were disappearing from their homes each night, but what had Celestia concerned the most was that most of the missing ponies were just foals. From simple earth pony farmers to the Canterlot elite, nopony seemed safe from what was going on.

As day after frustrating day continued to pass by, Celestia began to notice another alarming clue; now there were members of the Royal Guard beginning to go missing. There was never any signs of a struggle, reports of a fight, or alarms due to an intruder; all the missing guards failed to show up for duty, and upon inspecting their bunks and quarters it was found that most of their belongings had been taken, yet their armor and weapons remained undisturbed. None of the remaining guards had any clue what had happened to their fellow brothers or who may be next. Panic began to spread like a wildfire, and even the guards began to waver in their duties, many of them opting to rush home and protect their families. With only a small group of loyal guards still at her command, Celestia didn't have the resources to continue investigating the disappearances on her own anymore. With no other choice left, Celestia gave in to the last resort she didn't want to resort to using and asked one of her guards to summon one of the ponies in the Blackguard.

Celestia didn't have to wait long for the guard to return, but the news he brought with him was not what she was expecting. The Blackguard ponies had their own barracks in Luna's side of the castle, but when the guard entered the home of the elite ponies he found the entire barracks abandoned. Everything had been taken out of their living quarters and armory, and there was no clue as to where they had gone.

Unable to go go off searching for the missing ponies without her sister's help, Celestia's number one priority became gaining Luna's assistance in this mystery. However, there were no hints as to the other alicorn's whereabouts, but Celestia did have one single hunch on where she may be hiding. Quickly completing her daily assignments and duties, she left her castle just as the moon began to rise. Celestia allowed a small smile to cross her face; wherever Luna was, she still completed her duties to raise and lower the moon ever night.