Nightmare: The New Definition Of Friendship

by Manes

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Alternate Universe
Length: 4293

Celestia sends Nightmare Moon off to Ponyville to stay with Ponyville's loveable Librarian to adjust to the modern day society in Equestria.

Nightmare Moon returns from her banishment and engages Celestia in a battle. After winning, Celestia accidentally separates her sister, Luna, from her alter ego, Nightmare Moon. Months later, Celestia sends Nightmare Moon off to Ponyville to stay with Ponyville's loveable Librarian to adjust to the modern day society in Equestria.

Luckily, the enchanted bracelet around Moon’s neck is keeping her tame. Without it, Twilight would be dead meat right now. So let us, Ponyville citizens, welcome Nightmare Moon with open hooves!

My retelling of the episodes from season one, but with Nightmare Moon in it. I'm picking episodes randomly, not in order.

Special thanks to my editors: NewKidOnTheBlock, Don't Look At My Name Bro, CogWing

Also to my prereader: Nightmare Nyx
Coverart

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-06-13 23:00:01 UTC

Chapter one: Friendship Is Worth A Try {Friendship is magic part two}

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.

Chapter two: Nightmare Moon's Eclipsed {Luna's Eclipsed)

Celestia sat in her chair in the middle of the throne room. Waiting for something. Something. What was she waiting for again? She had lost track of time.  She would get up once in a while to raise the sun higher in the sky, and then come back to sit down.

A burning feeling never left her heart after she defeated her sister and witnessed what the spell had done. It had placed Luna in a coma and, in her mind, it was all her fault. A sigh escaped her mouth as a guard burst through the front door, trotting quickly up to her. “What is it, commander?”The mare wearing the royal guard armor stepped up to Celestia and bowed before speaking. “It’s happened, Princess.” she said with a smile.This made Celestia leaned out of her chair. “What’s happened? You don’t mean—”A dark blue alicorn with a flowing mane similar to Celestia's stepped into the room. Her smile shined across the room, when she got up to Celestia’s a chair. Two words that Celestia didn't think she would hear came out of her mouth.“Hello, sister.” Luna said.

Twilight happily trotted downstairs as she prepared to show Spike the Starswirl the Bearded costume she had stitched up for Nightmare Night. She couldn’t wait to reveal her costume to everypony, or whoever stopped by the library.As she trotted to the front door, she caught Spike stuffing pieces of candy into his mouth. “Spike the dragon!”The young drake yelped in surprise, dropping the candy onto the floor. He turned around with a nervous smile. “I-I wasn’t eating anything! Honest!”Twilight rolled her eyes. “That’s enough for you, mister,” she said as she levitated the bowl to the upper shelf.“Aww, come on!” Spike whined, letting his arms slump down to the floor. “I’m really in the mood for some sugary treats!”“After I’m finished giving them out to the fillies and colts, then you can have some.”Spike crossed his arms then huffed. “Fine.” He slowly examined the white beard hanging down from Twilight’s chin and the bells on top of her head and came to one conclusion. “Are you that one kooky grandpa from Ponyville Retirement Village?”Twilight was about to open her mouth to tell Spike who she was until a knock at the door got her attention. Trotting to the door, Twilight opened it to see three fillies holding baskets filled with candy in their mouths.“Nightmare Night, what a fright, give us something sweet to bite!” They chanted, then they all received pieces of candy to put into their baskets. “Thanks, miss!”Twilight smiled. “You’re welcome, and great costumes, by the way. Happy Nightmare Night!” A small colt with brown spots on his white coat wiggled through the three fillies, which resulted in him falling on his face. “Careful there, little one. You could get yourself hurt.”“Pipsqueak the pirate, at your service!” he exclaimed, saluting Twilight. “It's my very first Nightmare Night.”Twilight levitated pieces of candy into the colt’s basket. “Since you moved here from Trottingham?”“No, my very first Nightmare Night ever!”“Well, okay, then. I hope you have a great time!” Twilight noticed something was missing. There wasn’t anypony watching the kids as they go to houses to get candy from strangers. This worried her. “Where’s your supervisor?”“Right there,” he said, pointing to a blue mare wearing a firefighter’s costume. She was talking to another mare with a zombie costume on.It took a moment for Twilight to realize who that was. Her eyes widened in surprise. “Sapphire?”The mare turned around and saw Twilight with her Starswirl The Bearded costume on. A big smile formed on her face as she approached her. “Twilight, hey! We haven’t seen each other since the Summer Sun Celebration! So, how’s Ponyville been treating ya?”“Well, I—”“Enough chitchat! Time is candy!” Pinkie Pie demanded, wearing a chicken costume and acting  the part.“Pinkie Pie, aren't you a little old for this?”“Too old for free candy?” Pinkie Pie gasped. “Never.”Twilight rolled her eyes then leveled some candy into Pinkie’s basket. Twilight waved a hoof around the bells on her hat, hoping Pinkie would notice her costume. “You like?”Pinkie Pie titled her head, examining whatever Twilight was wearing, she didn’t know. Then a big smile formed on her face as she figured out what Twilight was. “Great costume, Twilight! You make a fantastic weirdo clown!”“Clown?!” Twilight yelled, earning a giggle from Sapphire who was standing in the background. “How can I look like a clown?! Clowns wear makeup!”“Well, I gotta go! Candy won’t eat itself!” Pinkie Pie said her goodbyes, then ran off with the other fillies to another house.“So, that’s the kind of friend you made during your stay?” Sapphire giggled, shaking her head. “Looks like you took my advice pretty well.”“Hardly. They dragged me into some adventures that nearly killed me,” Twilight said with a giggle. “But they are caring friends and are fun to go places with.”Sapphire smiled. “I’m happy to hear that, Twilight Sparkle. Well, I gotta go take these kids before they bite my head off. See you later!” She trotted away from the library with the fillies following after her, then disappeared out of sight.Twilight sighed and turned to Spike. “I don’t get why no one knows Starswirl The Bearded. I mean, ponies read, right?”“Yeah.” A giggle escaped his mouth as he continued. “It's a great costume! Huh! Grandpa!”Twilight groaned. “Let’s just go.”

Celestia and Nightmare Moon were seated in a carriage being pulled by two royal guards. For the most part, Nightmare Moon recovered from the separation, but still felt some pain. Celestia knew this and she blamed herself for both of their pain.Neither princess had said anything to each other, until a certain blue alicorn caught Moon’s attention as they flew above her. “Since you choose to fear your princess rather than love her, and dishonor her with this insulting celebration, we decree that Nightmare Night shall be canceled! Forever!”“Your so-called welcoming subjects still chose to fear us.” Nightmare Moon said, looking down at the scene. Everypony was crowding on the ground, covering their heads with their forelegs as Luna announced.“Give them time, sister. They’ll—”“Don’t call me sister. You’ve lost that right,”  Nightmare Moon said coldly. She turned to watch the other actives that were going down the ground.“Please, let me help you.”Nightmare Moon didn’t respond. She watched as Twilight chased her alter-ego into the everfree forest. She could feel the magic inside the enchanted necklace around her neck beginning to course through her veins, preventing her from escaping or using her magic...She was trapped.Celestia sighed. “I waited for you two to wake. I was scared. It tore me apart watching you both lay there, not giving any sign of life. I almost lost my sister and—” she paused. Was she another sister? An enemy? Celestia shook her head as she continued. “Friend.”“That’s a lie. You never wanted her to wake up.”Celestia stared at the dark alicorn sitting across from her in the carriage. The hatred from her never burnt out.Nightmare Moon recoiled in disgust. The carriage landed in front of the Golden Oaks Library. Both princesses stepped out of the carriage and trotted to the front door. Moon hated that she needed to be babied by her sister and the two guards that followed behind her.Celestia noticed the door was already open, so she went inside, with Nightmare Moon following after her. “Twilight? Are you here?”“So, this is your protege’s home?” Nightmare Moon examined the bookshelves. She saw pictures of Twilight and Spike and one with Celestia as she trotted around the place.  She noticed a book laying on the edge of Twilight’s desk and decided to look into it.The more her eyes skimmed the pages she flipped as read on, the more Nightmare Moon became interested in the book.“Yes, she wanted to stay here in Ponyville, so I made some arrangements to get her this library,” Celestia explained. “She sends me friendship reports that I think you’ll find—”“I only asked one question.” Nightmare Moon trotted to the chair then sat down as she waited for Twilight. “But, I do have another question for you, and I want you to answer truthfully for this one.”Hesitating, Celestia gulped then nodded. “I will. After all you’ve been through, you deserve to have my honesty.”“At the castle, when you had me beat down like some diamond dog,” she leaned to closer to Celestia; enough for her to see the burning hate lying in her eyes, “Were you hoping that spell you were going to cast on me would kill me?”Celestia stared at the mare sitting in the chair who was silently waiting for a truthful answer that would forever change her. “I—”“Spike, I told you candy would give you a stomach ache if you ate too much!” Twilight and Spike trotted in the library, not noticing the two mares and the guards standing right in front of them. “Next time, you need to take my advice.”“Yeah, yeah...” Spike dismissively waved a claw as he walked past the mares and into the kitchen.“Twilight.” Twilight turned around at the sound of the soothing and kind voice of her mentor. What she saw sitting in that chair made her eyes widen and left her mouth agape.Twilight gulped, her lip quivering as she spoke. “I-Is that—” she blurted out, unable to finish her sentence, pointing a shaking hoof at Nightmare Moon.Celestia stepped in front of her shaken student and put as reassuring a smile as possible to calm her student down, even though the whole situation was unbearably awkward. “We need to talk.”

Twilight and Celestia sat in the other room, discussing what she had seen alive, sitting in her house. “Twilight, I want to apologize for not informing you about this, but this is urgent.”“Of course, Princess Celestia,” Twilight said to her mentor as she levitated a cup of tea she made a couple of minutes before. “But... how is she even alive? I thought Luna was cured.”“She is, but before I cast the spell on Nightmare, she blasted her own magic at me… It had an encounter effect. Instead of getting rid of Nightmare Moon, it gave her a separate body.” Celestia sighed. “How is Luna adjusting?”“Well, at first, things weren’t going so well for Luna, but then everything went fine and she’s happy now.”“That’s good. I want Luna to be happy after the things I put her through.” She looked at Nightmare Moon in the other room. “Nightmare Moon is alone and afraid; I can see it in her eyes. I want you to make her feel welcome, like she has ponies by her side at all times.”“But isn’t Nightmare Moon Luna’s jealousy and hatred?” Twilight turned to Nightmare Moon  and saw  she was still reading the book, then back to Celestia.“Yeah, she does look like she could use a friend.”“Twilight, I need you to be a friend to my sister; make the other ponies see she’s not a monster, but a misunderstood mare. Can you do that for me?”She nodded. Twilight had never had a more serious look on her face in her entire life. “Of course, Princess. I won’t let you down.”“Thank you.” Celestia smiled and sipped her tea before speaking again. “This is some really good tea,” she commented, earning a giggle from Twilight.