Nightmare: The New Definition Of Friendship

Her voice was filled with sorrow and regret as she spoke to her wounded sister laying on the ground. “It’s over,” she declared, then levitated the helmet off Nightmare Moon’s head and threw it aside. “Stop fighting me, sister. I wish not to bring any more harm towards you.”

Celestia was injured from the battle— some cuts and bruises on her forelegs and upper body, but nothing too serious. Nightmare Moon on the other hoof was laying in the ground, blood seeping from her mouth.“You have no right to call me sister anymore,” Nightmare Moon hissed. “Look at you.” A chuckle escaped her mouth as she continued. “Riser of the sun. Standing victorious like always. You must feel proud of yourself, like you can defeat anything.”“It’s not like that,” she said as a lone tear trailed down her face. Her heart ached with pain every time she looked at her. “I take no pleasure harming my own sister.”“Liar!”“I swear on our mother’s grave, I am not lying to you!” Celestia snapped. Both sisters stared at each other for a while, neither minding the sound of the calm wind. The anger that burned in Celestia’s heart died down as she continued. “I am sorry I caused you pain.”“That’s all you have to say to me after thousands years of banishment?” Nightmare scolded as she shook her head. “All you ever cared about was yourself, Celestia. You never thought to ask how I felt about how our own subjects showered you with admiration.”“They loved the moon just as they loved the sun.” A sigh escaped her mouth before she continued. “I couldn’t sleep all those years, knowing what I’ve done to you. But you left me no choice.”“I’m done listening to your lies,” Nightmare Moon stated coldly. “Go ahead and banish me. Just know I will never forgive you for this or what happened before. You will always remain the selfish little princess ponies couldn’t see for who she really was.”What shocked Nightmare Moon is what escaped from the white alicorn’s mouth. “No. I won’t.”Anger began to rise in Moon’s tone as she spoke. “I've attacked you in your home, which nearly killed you, destroyed the sun itself, would have left your subjects without a princess to praise... And you're not going to punish me for it?!"A yellow aura surrounded Celestia’s horn as her eyes burned with a bright light. She stepped closer to the fallen alicorn. “I’m saving you.” Then blasted her magic at Nightmare Moon.Darkness began to seep out of Nightmare Moon’s eyes as she shouted the words, “I HATE YOU!”  Then blasted her own magical beam towards Celestia. Celestia was the last face Nightmare Moon saw before the two beams collided.

The room was filled with gasps and everypony was looking for the white alicorn who didn’t show up to the celebration. Twilight trotted to the table filled with treats and drinks, while Applejack and others followed her. “Strange, Celestia should be here,” Twilight thought to herself.“What’re you thinking about there, sugarcube?”Twilight turned to Applejack. The others stood behind her, eagerly waiting for her response. “I was right. Nightmare Moon must have attacked Celestia in her chambers in Canterlot. I may still have some time to go there and save her.”“Celestia was right. You do need to stay away from those books,” Spike muttered, then received a nudge in the arm from Twilight’s forelegs afterwards. “Ouch, joking!”“You’re talkin’ crazy, sugarcube.” She reached a foreleg around Twilight, then pulled her closer. “Even if it’s true, you’re not going alone, that’s for sure! We’re your friends and friends always stick together.”“Yeah!” the others shouted in unison.Twilight felt a lump form in her throat as the word “friends” echoed in her ears.  Slowly, she began to back away from the group.  “Well, would you look at that! I don’t have much time to discuss plans with you so I’ll just be on my way!”As Twilight sprinted away from them, a rainbow-colored streak flew through the air and landed in front of the surprised unicorn. “Woah, woah.” She paused as she tried to figure out what Twilight was planning before she continued. “You’re working for that ‘mare in the moon,’ aren’t you?”“What? No, I—”“Uh huh, save it for the ponies you meet in prison!” Rainbow Dash said as she gripped Twilight’s foreleg then proceeded to take her downtown. But she felt Twilight’s foreleg slip from her grip as Applejack pulled her away. “Hey, Applejack what’s your deal?!”Applejack rolled her eyes before turning to Rainbow Dash. “She ain’t no spy, Rainbow!”“How do you know that?” Rainbow Dash questioned as she stared down at the two while hovering in the air. “She’s probably trained to get out of situations like this!”Applejack shook her head then turned to check on Twilight, who was rubbing her sore foreleg. “Don’t mind her. She’s just acting like herself, as usual.”“I bet she’s hiding something!” Rainbow Dash shouted from the background. “She’s a good spy, I’ll give you that! But she can’t fool Rainbow Danger—”“Can it! Sugarcube, we wanna help you. We don’t want you going off to fight somepony far more powerful and dangerous.”“I’ll be fine.” Twilight turned to Spike. “Go to the library and meet me at the bridge with some supplies. We’re going to go on our journey to find the elements.”“Twilight, that seems too—” Green flames bursting out of his mouth interrupted Spike as he spoke. A parchment floated in the air, surrounded with sparkles, then landed in Twilight’s magical aura as she read the letter to herself.Her eyes skimmed through the letter with interest. The others stared at the unicorn, waiting for the news that the letter held. What surprised them was that a relieved sigh came out of the unicorn's mouth instead of a stifled gasp. “Celestia, is going to be fine.”“Oh, thank goodness.” They all sighed in unison.“So, what does the letter say?” Fluttershy finally having the courage to speak up.“Celestia ran into some problems in her chambers. She informed me to be keep the public calm and tell them about the situation.” Twilight explained. “But… Something about this letter seems… off.”“What you mean, darling?” Rarity asked, levitating the letter in front of her. The others joined in and huddled next to her to look at the letter as well.“Girls, I’m little crushed here,” she managed to blurt out as she felt her lungs were being crushed. “I don’t know… It’s like she’s hiding something from me. Like she doesn’t me want to be worried about it.” Twilight shrugged. “Maybe I’m just overthinking things.”Applejack patted Twilight’s back. “Yeah. It’s best to sit down and relax.”“Yeah, take a chill pill!” Rainbow Dash added with a chuckle.“I don’t have any pills.”“It’s an expr—” Rainbow Dash stopped herself then decided to not even bother. “Nevermind.”“Let’s party and don’t stop!” Pinkie Pie bounced around them happily. “Let’s do this!”“I’d rather not.” Fluttershy squeaked nervously, hiding her face behind her mane.“No, we should all go to calm them down before we do anything.” Twilight looked at the scared crowd, who were still wondering what was going on. She turned back to the group. “Make them have a good time or something to keep them busy to get until Celestia gets here.“Yes, ma’am!” They saluted Twilight and ran into the crowd of ponies, making their way up to front stage to begin their speech.While the others went to calm the crowd down and inform them about the situation with Celestia, Twilight stayed behind and sat at the table, deep in thought. Was she hiding something? What was Celestia hiding from her in the letter?“You okay, there?”Twilight snapped out of her thoughts and turned around to see a blue mare with a friendly smile planted on her face.  Her mane was black and she had a needle as an cutie mark. “Mind if I have a seat?”“Sure,” Twilight pulled out a chair for the mare. She sat down then took a drink from the table. “Do all the ponies wanna be friends here? It seems like a thing here.”“What makes you say that?”“Well, I’ve got five ponies wanting to be friends with me already. And I just got here!” Twilight threw her forelegs up the air in frustration. “I mean, I’ve met complicated ponies in my life, but, this... THIS takes that to a whole new level.”The mare laughed. “Yeah, Ponyville is like that for newcomers. They always have open arms.” She placed a hoof Twilight’s shoulder. “It’s best to just have fun with them. Converse. Get to know them better.”“How—” Twilight turned her head to see if they were behind her; they were still with Spike. She turned back to the mare. “How do you deal with them?”“Me? I just hang out, then make some more friends.” The mare shrugged then sighed. “But, sometimes you can meet the wrong ponies who’ll only make you think they're your friend.”“There are ponies like that?” Twilight asked with a look of shock upon her face.“I could tell you about the ones I met, but it’s a long tale that I don’t feel like telling. Besides, I have some friends I can rely on now.”Twilight giggled as she examined the mare from top to bottom. She looked pretty beat from all the dancing with her friends. “How’s that been working out for you?”She shrugged. “It’s been okay. I mean, it’s little annoying having friends smothering you all the time, but you get used to it and eventually come to like it.”“I don’t know. I never really had friends besides Spike, and I’m not too sure about starting with them.”Music began to play in the background. Everypony must have calmed down and decided to have a little fun. She turned around in her chair and saw the group of mares dancing with Spike.So, that’s their way of distracting ponies. “Parties...” Twilight mistakenly blurted out.“Pardon me?” The mare stared at Twilight with a confused look. “You okay there, uh…” She stopped mid-sentence as she waited for Twilight to mention her name.“Twilight. Twilight Sparkle,” she finished with a smile.“Twilight Sparkle. That’s a pretty name,” she complemented. “Who were you talking to, Twilight Sparkle?”Twilight shook her head and giggled. “No one. Just thinking aloud.”“Why does that name sound familiar to me...” she tapped her chin of a moment, then shrugged. “Maybe I’m getting you mixed up with somepony else.”Twilight smiled. “No, I’m Celestia’s student.”“What?” The mare leaned back in her chair and waved a hoof in mock-dismissal. “Get out of here!”“Oh, I thought we were having a good talk, but okay, I’ll leave you alone.” Twilight then proceed to get up, but was pulled back down into her chair by the mare’s forelegs grabbing onto her.“I didn’t mean literally, Sparkle.” She snickered as she shook her head. “You really do need some friends if you can’t figure out sarcasm.”“Oh.” Twilight giggled nervously, her body slowly sliding underneath her chair to hide her blush.“Trust me, having friends is going to be the best thing that happened to you,” she reassured Twilight with a smile. “You just gotta let them try first.” She turned her head over to the dance floor. Her friends were waving her a hoof at her, urging her to join them.Twilight leaned over in her chair, trying to see where the mare was looking. “Something wrong? You seem distracted by something over there.”She turned back to Twilight, who returned a confused expression. “My friends are calling me back to the herd. They’re so annoying,” she rolled her eyes. “But, hey? Friends are friends.”“Huh?” Not getting anything that came out the mare’s mouth was what Twilight’s good at. “Maybe after this, I should read some more about ‘friendship slang,’” she thought to herself.“They want me to go join them and they won’t take no for an answer, so I guess this is a goodbye.” She got up from the chair then began to trot away from Twilight, leaving her alone at the table. “Think about what we talked about, okay?”Twilight stared at her drink on the table. “Let them try... let them—wait!” Twilight called out as she ran up to the mare. “I didn’t catch your name!”“It’s Sapphire,” she introduced herself as she held a out a hoof. “I hope you feel welcome in our friendly town,” she jokingly said with a chuckle.Twilight giggled, then shook the mare’s hoof. “Oh, I’m very welcome.”“Hey, why don’t you do join me and my friends?” she suggested, then turned to wave at  her friends before turning back to Twilight. “It’ll be fun. And you’ll get the hang of having friends.”Twilight shook her head. “No, I think I’m going to stay behind and think about some things.”“You sure?”Twilight nodded. “I’m sure.”“Are you sure that you’re sure—”“Yes, I’m sure!” Twilight giggled nervously as everypony stared at her, after hearing her sudden outburst. “No, I’m fine. Really.”“Well, alright, but you’re missing out!” She shouted as she ran away into the crowd. Then she was gone from Twilight’s sight. Twilight trotted back to chair and sat down with a huff.“Make friends...” Twilight turned around in the chair to look at the five mares playing around and dancing with Spike. They looked happy. “I guess I could give it a shot. It won’t be so bad.”

At the royal castle…After the dust had cleared out from the room, Celestia stood there, confused at what she was seeing.Her sister, Luna, was freed from Nightmare’s clutches, laying on the ground, unconscious. Her alter-ego was also unconscious, laying on the other side of the ground, her darkish blue mane revealed without her helmet on.The two spell colliding together must have caused this.  Why Celestia wasn’t affected by it?Celestia quickly moved to Luna’s side as she began to wake from her unconscious, her coughing alerting her. “I’m here, sister,” she assured her as she sat down near her body. “No more fighting.”A smile appeared on her face as she stared into her big sister’s eyes. The eyes she haven’t saw in thousand years.“I’m sorry for causing you harm, big sister...” It was all that Luna could muster. Her eyes slammed shut and her breathing slowed down.“LUNA!” Celestia picked up her sister’s body from the ground, then hugged her as tightly as possible. Tears began to rain down the solar princess’s face. “Luna, please wake up!” She pleaded, but Luna remained asleep.  “LUNA!”Celestia’s sobs were cut short as the laughter coming from the other side spooked her. The laughter echoed in Celestia’s mind, haunting her with her mistake. All that Luna’s alter-ego could do was laugh; she couldn’t move.  All she could do was laugh...Laugh at Celestia’s pain.