Disguised Dreams

Fear.

That was Sombra's weapon, fear.

It had been long since Celestia implanted the essence of greed into one of the more powerful unicorns in Equestria.

The alicorn had been younger, foolish.

And though her pact with envy may have worked, greed was truer to himself than to his pact.

The battle was etched into Luna's mind like an axe buried in some-pony's head.

"Where's Tia?" the blue filly asked her nanny.

The caretaker was a crystal pony. Next week, she would quit out of sheer pressure. As very caretaker did.

"I wouldn't worry, little thing."

"But Tia's been gone so much... What about Star Swirl? He missed our weekly teaching session. I was hoping to learn some defense spells today."

The caretaker watched as Luna's little wings buzzed until she reached level eye-contact with her. "Why doesn't anyone play with me anymore? Celestia is always too busy. And Chrysalis's brother died, so now she's being trained to be a-"

"Chrysalis?"

Luna bit her lip. "Erm, an imaginary friend? Not my point, I miss my friends. Now help me, I'm too short to reach my bed."

In the middle of the night, Luna was awakened by a green shockwave. the wave was followed by a desperate cry from her sister.

Noticing that her nanny had fallen asleep, the tiny alicorn slipped out of her covers.

Treading quietly through the halls, Luna realized just how unusually desolate the place was.

Well, not really. Everypony was still there, but slumped against the floors and walls in deep slumber.

Celestia let out another shout, but it was much weaker than the last time. Luna fearfully broke her slow trot into a gallop.

The tiny foal swiftly reached the balcony, but it wouldn't open. She took a few steps back, and pitifully threw herself into the door, but it still refused to budge.

Upon more examination, the door was sealed from the outside with a deep, purple crystal.

The foal was persistent. She struggled to muster the magic, but the tiny filly eventually shot a beam of white hot magic at the door, vaporizing it instantly.

Celestia was against the balcony.

The young mare's fluffy pink mane and tail were in tatters. Her left eye was black and swollen shut as a tiny stream of blood slipped from the edge of it. It was clear she had lost a few teeth. Her wings were very nearly stripped clean of feathers. What was left was matted and red with blood. Scarlet cuts and ruptures coated her once white fur.

Standing in front of her was a big, gray stallion with a short, but flowing black mane and tail. Crystals crackled and grew around him. The stallions eyes glowed with an eerie green light.

Celestia boldly but weakly shot a stream of red magic toward him, but he easily countered it.

Luna watched in horror as the determination in her sister's eyes form into fear.

His spell overtook the white alicorn in seconds.

With a fleeting cry and blindingly bright flash, Celestia's horn was broken into two.

The stallion's horn glowed with dark energy. Celestia's eyes were already filled with terror, but Luna watched as they filled with the same green glow the stallion had.

She could not break his gaze, and shivers pulsed through the mare.

Luna didn't know what he was doing to her, but she was bold enough to get into the line of the spell.

With eye contact broken, Celestia easily broke free of the horrific incantation. Just in time to see little Luna, boldly challenging him with her gaze.

The filly turned to the weak mare, her eyes were filled with utter defeat instead of fear now.

The stallion fired a few spells at the filly, but she evaded them with some difficulty.

But he did hit the flaw in his plan with a fireball after a while.

Luna screamed, then lay motionless and engulfed in flame.

What happened next was sudden.

The flame dispersed, shooting out in all directions.

Luna shot into the air with an unnatural smile.

She giggled, and though it was completely adorable, there was an eerie tone to it.

"Fool," she laughed.

"You believe you can smother the reign of the moon so easily?"

Luna shut her eyes for a moment, then opened them. The white morphed into a light blue, and her pupil thinned out into a slit.

She laughed hysterically. "You may be able to fall my sister, but me? Ha! You and I are of a kind, both born under the night's domain. Our powers forged in shadow and fear. You should know that it will not go out willingly." More giggles erupted from her mouth. Multiple voices whispered and echoed the filly's words.

"I don't know what you are, who you are, but I know by simple observation that your powers are solely based on fear. But they are but a DROP in the ocean compared to the nightmares I could induce!" The tiny, but frightening foal met eyes with the Stallion, who took a step back.

"We both control the shadows, but anyone who truly thinks knows they are loyal only to me."

Luna rose into the air, horn flickering and eyes glowing.

Darkness flocked to her, bonding itself to her horn.

Luna's coat turned midnight black. Feathers flew off her wings, leaving black skin behind. Her mane and tail stretched and turned violet, flowing softly behind her.

Luna laughed again, showing that her teeth had sharpened into fangs.

The stallion frantically shot beam after beam at the filly, but she was right. The shadows were loyal to this little foal.

Each shot bounced off her like water off a duck's back.

Luna climbed in the air, hung their for just a split second, then shot down like a comet.

She plummeted into the stallion, driving him through the balcony, beginning a long fall.

Luna smiled at her victory, embracing his end gladly.

But from under her, the stallion shifted into shadow, then floated away.

Luna caught herself, then flew back to Celestia.

The mare pitifully shied away from the little alicorn.

"What are you?" she mumbled weakly.

"Don't worry, Tia. The magics bound to me are dark, but good-willed. They wouldn't harm me or you. Save your voice, you need a healer."

But they could not get a healer.

Celestia explained to Luna that everyone in the castle was killed by the stallion. Sombra, she called him.

The sisters were forced into hiding. That meant every wound had to heal on its own.

It was a painful year.

When they returned, Sombra had become leader of Equestria, but the Crystal Empire became his domain.

He brutally murdered the Emperor and Empress of the land, and enslaved the inhabitants.

Celestia and Luna did overcome Sombra, thus taking back their land, but he took the empire with him.

Of course, he came back.

Celestia still wanted to punish the spirit.

Luna knew that Celestia captured and sealed him within a magic cage.

But now…

Luna sensed that anything good within Celestia was destroyed, gone now.

She needed to win this war.