It was a warm, festive night and all were celebrating in the colourful city of Canterlot.
"Come on Lulu, if we don't get to the 'Duck' stand in time, all the good prizes will be gone!!" Celestia scolded as she dragged her dear, younger sister through the joyous, and quite loud crowd.
" Tia..." whined Luna, still trying to escape from Celestia's tight grasp. " You know I don't like those kind of games, I never win! " and it was true. Each year the Night Festival would occur, Celestia would show Mother the abundance of gifts she had won, Luna however, would be empty-handed.
Celestia was now holding a large, plush pony. She looked down at Luna surprised. Usually whenever she'd won or received something, Luna whine so much that even the Royal Guards wouldn't be able to calm her down.
" Is everything alright? " Celestia asked, clearly concerned of her sister's unnatural behaviour. She wondered maybe Luna was scared again. For the past few nights Luna kept having nightmares.
"Oh I'm fine, really" she murmured. But Celestia wasn't buying it.
"Maybe.. you're hungry!" suggested Celestia as she once again dragged Luna to another stand.
****
Thunder could be heard from up ahead. "It's almost here." stated Clover. "Not much to wait out now. If we set out immediately we can stop it, we'll need our Elemental Gems, if we are to complete this task.
"Already on it chief!" a heavily armoured pegasus with a bold face saluted proudly. One who might've seen him for the first time might have been a little frightened by his booming voice. Or they might have been disapproving of how arrogant and hot-headed he was. He really knew how to make a storm out of his anger when he wanted to, which makes him live up to his name, Commander Hurricane. Although this may be, he wasn't picked Element of Loyalty for no reason. With time to warm up and if you were on his good side he was actually a really nice friendly type person. As were all the other Elements.
They each wore their Elements one by one and set out into the night, Princess Platinum, daughter of the Unicorn King was the Element of Generosity. Private Pansy a frail and shy pegasus, the opposite to her commander was the Element of Kindness. Chancellor Pudding-Head, representative and ruler of the Earth ponies bore the Element of Laughter. Smart Cookie her advisor was the Element of Honesty and last but most certainly not least, Clover the clever the very special apprentice of the legendary Starswirl the Bearded was the Element of The Magic of Friendship, which included the Magic itself. Their job was to protect the princesses at all costs and to do so, they needed to get there before IT did.
"You better now?" Celestia had been trying to console Luna as best a she could. But Luna didn't answer.
'Maybe she's jealous of my winnings'
"Here" she offered as she pushed the plushie, a candy bar, a whistle and a stack of party toys toe=wards Luna's side of the table. She smiled cheerily, hoping to cheer Luna in the process. 'It worked!'. But not for long.
Their smiles soon dropped as they spotted an unexpected thundercloud above. A shadowy figure emerged from the cloudy mist. Luna stared at the monstrous 'thing' in horror. It was like her worst nightmare had come true. In fact her worst nightmare had come true.
"Run away to somewhere safe!, Quickly!!" A husky, deep, familiar voice rang from behind them. Celestia and Luna's parents were dashing in their direction. Their father with his signature sword, their mother counted on her alicorn magic. Rather than fighting, their moth went to guard the children as the father leapt at it. He aimed the sword at the monster attempting to stab or at least harm it in some manner. It was only stunned.
Celestia and Luna were ordered to run away as this was the opportunity. Leaving their parents, city, kingdom and home behind, they fled into the Everfree Forest.
My Anger Is Red, Whilst I Feel Blue. But No Matter How Weak I Am, I Will See Through!
My Anger Is Red, Whilst I Feel Blue. But No Matter How Weak I Am, I Will See Through!
"Luna..........Luna...." a wispy called out. It was a hair-prickling voice, almost like a snake slithering the old remains of an empty building.
"Go away! Leave me be!!"
Nightmare cackled, amused at her glass cased hostage. To Luna and Nightmare it was an empty blackness of infinity. The same blackness that had engulfed the entire city of Canterlot and by now nearly all of Equestria. No matter what, there was nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide.
To everyone else Luna stood dumbstruck in the transparent glass case, staring to the distance, where her cries would never be heard.
"Oh don't be like that" her eerie voice taunted "You and I are one in the same, always alike, always have been and always will.
"We are nothing alike!" she cried, screaming at the vast 'area'.
"Ah but we are. The only difference between you and I, is that I am hidden, I reside within you. Those horrible feelings that you feel I represent them all. The hatred and the jealousy, sadness and the loneliness. "
Luna opened her mouth to retort.
"And don't bother fighting back, because you know it's all true. Save everyone the trouble and stop lying to yourself. I am the true you. The true you who hates her sister as everypony frolics in her sunlight, whilst your precious subjects curse the night wishing for it pass!! Without me you are weak and useless, you'll never get anywhere. Your sister will always be better than you! You can't even beat her at a petty peasant's game.
Luna's mouth remained open, but this time as a sign of shock. She wanted to give Nightmare a befitting reply, one that would make all this stop. But that wasn't going to happen. She loved her older sister, she really did, definitely. Why wouldn't her mouth speak?.
"Accept your fate and together we can both get back our lost respect, our lost right to rule over Equestria and the entire world!!, You think they like you, that they'll protect you, but that's all for now. Soon they'll get rid of you as they did to me!! We shall take back what we own, become unstoppable, the night will last forever..."
She was suddenly entranced, frozen. She felt paralyzed, gradually the darkness began to fade and clear as if it were never there, instead what lay before her was something she thought she'd lost forever.
"Canterlot...? H-how....?"
The blackness appeared again this time in the shape of a swift ball, swerving in and out of buildings, hiding and reappearing. It floated around a bit before charging at Luna. She flinched, squeezing her eyes shut and lifting her arms in defence, waiting for impact. There wasn't any. She opened her eyes cautiously, darting around, wandering if it would attack again. Instead she found the ponies of Canterlot, smiles on their faces. What were they so happy about? Each of them, Luna assumed, were staring in one direction. Her own.
Missing her home very much, her first instinct was to run after the ponies, planning to embrace them with a greeting. Her plans were foiled as the citizens' attitudes seemed to change. An invisible barrier sent her welcoming hug back in the form of a push to the ground. "Get lost!!" A pony from the other side yelled. Confused Luna looked around, they were smiling a minute ago. Why this sudden change in mood.
A long figure of a shadow towered over Luna, the crowd began smiling again but this time at what was causing the shadow. Looking up she saw it belonged to her sister....who wore the same disgusted expression on her face that the ponies had a few minutes ago.
"Celestia!" re-attempting to hug, this time her dear sibling. Her the greeting was interrupted again. She felt dizzy for a few seconds, that time the barrier's push felt stronger. It was almost as if she were still encased in the glass, but there was more room, more freedom.
"Luna, don't...move.." Celestia moved slowly, her hands filling with magic. "I never wanted to do this but it's safer for the country."
"Tia what are yo-"
"Don't make this any harder! You've brought it upon yourself! Turning your back against good, in cahoots with the very monster that destroyed our city and almost took our lives! You leave me no choice."
"I can explain! Wait!" Luna now dodging her sister's hateful attacks. The sky couldn't be used as an escape route. She'd tried and it had ended terribly, the barrier now showing itself to be a dome, only visible when hit before becoming invisible again. She struggled to stand, Celestia filling her hands once again. Pulling them back intending to make this once count, she focused on the target putting more force into this last blow and once again fired, the blast nearing her face. She could almost feel even just a spark of it landing on the side of it as she flinched. As she opened her eyes again, she found Nightmare in her full human form standing in front of her, the invisible dome now slightly visible. The people were still there, each of them shocked. Celestia's emotions behind the barrier. Furious. Shocked but most definitely furious. Everything that Luna might've wanted to prove, couldn't. She certainly could not explain this one, and even if she did who's to say that anyone would believe her, or that Nightmare would sit back and watch them believe her. The hole would just be dug deeper.
Shivering with fear, Luna tried to process what'd just occurred. Everything had happened so fast.
"You see, THIS will be your future if you do not heed me, I brought you back to Equestria, since you were so adamant. But it looks like your people have had their suspicions on you. This is what I was trying to explain! But you thought your subjects couldn't do such a thing.. Even your beloved sister does not trust you!! And just within the time that you were gone and back they've judged you and decided your fate!!! Stay with me and I'll protect you, give you power. You'll be the ruler!!"
The ground shook, cracking and tearing in different areas. Pillars arose and deep holes were created. The cracks surrounded where Luna was sitting. Soon she too were on a pillar high above the ground, except this one was shaped differently, smaller pillars uprooted themselves from the original pillar, each arranging themselves. Luna now found herself sitting on what resembled a chair...no....a throne.
"This....is your future with me"
She looked at the ground below, everybody had fear in their eyes. Now they looked up to her, and literally. Her sister among them all, sad and disappointed...
"No....I don't want this!" Luna shouted "Not if my sister can't rule with me!!"
"Even after the way they treated you!?"
"They may have been bad, but you aren't any better!! For me to accept your request, wouldn't make me any better than them...or you!! In fact they'd hate me even more!!"
"Very well..." NIghtmare was not pleased.
The ground shook once more, reverting everything to its original spot.The world once again disappearing to black. Staying black.
She was again back in her never ending encasement of darkness.
A sudden gust of wind passed by her. It came again, bearing Nightmare's cackles. The swift ball of purple darkness was back. It flew past Luna one more time speeding away, coming back again like lightning. It morphed, growing larger and taller than Luna, growing sharp fangs. It was like an enlargement of Nightmare, except in a more terrifying form. It pounced on Luna, only managing to grab her leg, as she'd fired a shot. Though something wasn't right.
She'd thought she'd be a gonner right now. It wasn't supposed to be this easy, she may have been an alicorn but if she were that powerful, she wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.
The head of Nightmare loosened its grip, turning its attention to somewhere else, disappearing.
****
The sound of shattering glass filled the room.
"NOOOO" A shrill scream. "How dare you!!"
"NOW!" yelled Commander Hurricane as each holder, put their Element to use. Sealing away Nightmare and destroying her once again.
"Luna!! " Celestia cried. She scrambled towards Luna, dropping the gem and hugging Luna now that the battle was over. She sobbed loudly, all that she had been through was enough. Now she wanted to return home.
"Tia-...." Her voice was weak and she was drained. She smiled softly, before drifting to sleep
****
"You cannot escape from Nightmare Moon!" threatened the monster. They sprinted as fast as they could, but it wasn't fast enough. Luna began to trail behind Celestia out of exhaustion and as a result, slipped. She was soon pulled off the ground by what seemed like the same dark mist that'd attacked the city. Nightmare Moon had kidnapped her hostage.
The forest was cold and isolated. Such a festive warm night had turned into discouraging, fearful darkness. Even the moon and stars looked to have lost their shine, all felt lost.
Commander Hurricane and Smart Cookie ran towards them. As soon as Celestia was in sight, Smart Cookie touched her Element, sending out a signal. Almost immediately the others reached the exact spot.
"Are you hurt, princess?" Platinum questioned frantically. Celestia tried her best so say something but once she opened her mouth all that was heard was a loud sob.
"No, need for tears princess" assured Clover "We'll rescue Princess Luna, and save the kingdom!".
No matter what the situation. The Elements of Harmony always remained level headed. Maybe this was why Celestia, and possibly the whole kingdom, felt confident and at ease when they were around.
"But how will you know where they are!?" she managed to sniff.
"We can pick up her signal in many ways" explained Private Pansy. Her soothing quiet, calm voice was like that of tingling chime-bells. A great thing to have during urgent situations, for only her voice alone gave Celestia more confidence. As Pansy went on with her explaining. Clover reached into her bag.
"Here, it will help you, for you must travel with us now". It was a gem similar to the others except it was cut into a shape of the heart, similar to the one at the crystal empire but pink. "It is the Element of the Heart, you might need it." she smiled.
"But I haven't even had any training yet," Celestia argued. "I don't know the first thing about how to use an Element, or Nightmare Mo-"
"But you know more than we do about Princess Luna" Interrupted Captain Hurricane. "If you don't want to go..." whispered Private Pansy " You don't have to, we understand".
Celestia thought for a moment, gathered courage. She was given the Element of the Heart so she must follow her own. "I'll come with you" she answered. "I'm ready!".
****
