Cataclysm of the Lunar Empress
Cataclysm of the Lunar Empress
"Do it! Don't be weak, do it!"
Nightmare Moon's hollow-sounding voice rang through Luna's ears. As she levitated the blade closer to her, a single tear slid down her blue face, twinkling in the moonlight. Shaking furiously, she levitated the knife to her collarbone.
"Yes, now!"
Slowly, Luna began to cut a message upon her perfect skin. The single tear had now become a flowing river down her face. Her eye was wide and fearful. The other one's pupil began rapidly changing, a symbol of Nightmare Moon taking over her body.
"Deeper!" Nightmare screamed, in a voice only the Princess could hear. Biting her lower lip so hard she nearly drew blood, she made the knife cut up and down over her neck, writing, 'I am your Nightmare'.
"P-Please, make me s-stop," she wept, staring in horror as multiple streams of hot, sticky red liquid ran down her glistening neck, the sound of cruel laughter echoing into her very soul.
"Pathetic! You're weak, admit it!"
"N-no," Luna whimpered, dropping the knife with a clang onto the polished floor. To her right, her shadow loomed menacingly on the shining, curved wall. It was tall, armor-covered and the darkest black to be known. Currently, Nightmare Moon could only possess Luna's shadow and eye, as well as a tiny bit of her mind. But she was growing stronger each day, taking more and more control over the young Princess.
The pair were stranded on the moon, in a large dome palace made of moonstone. There were no windows except for the foal-sized one at the tallest point of the dome, allowing the moonlight to shine down in a large circle. The palace had no rooms, so Luna slept in a dark corner against the marble-like wall. She was often cold, and hungry. The only meal she had was moonwater, the only edible substance found on the moon. As a result, she had thinned immensely, so much that you could point out every one of her ribs.
"Ugh, you're pathetic. Can't you see i'm trying to help you grow stronger? To grant you the ability to KILL your sister for the horrible things she's done to you?"
Luna drooped her head and collapsed onto the floor. "Y-you're wrong, my s-sister did what was r-right!" she whispered, staring at the massive wall of the moonstone dome.
"Then why don't you escape out the window? You can fly,"Nightmare mocked. Luna's wings had been bound to her back in a strange, black, almost gas-form substance, put there by Nightmare Moon's dark magic. It was unbreakable, and every time she tried to remove it squeezed her harder. The first day she was put on the moon it tightened so much that a bone at the end of her wing ripped her skin away.
"Leave m-me alone, you f-foul creature," she said, as she squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to open them in case Nightmare managed a solid form and appeared before her. Her twin laughed, the sound echoing off the walls. Both eyes now releasing massive amounts of water, she attempted to rest, her tears dripping with a thunk onto the floor, creating a small puddle that leaked onto her scarred hooves.
"Oh sister, how I miss you so," she whispered.
Princess Celestia frowned as she gazed at the glowing white sphere in the sky. Being a Princess, she already had many difficult duties to attend to, whilst now she had to not only raise the golden sun every morning, but the nighttime orb named the moon as well. It had been heartbreaking, banishing her younger sister to the moon, eons away. Her mother and father had too noticed that Luna's behavior was changing, and advised her to send her away before she changed into something terrible.
In her disbelief and misery of her sister's absence, Celestia had begun writing letters to her sister, only to burn them in the fire, as she knew Luna could not receive them. She often locked herself in her room, sobbing over a picture of the sisters as foals, cuddling. Oh, how badly Celestia wanted to see her sister! It had been already 100 years, and she did not think she could last 1,000.
Celestia often wondered if her sister's appearance had matured at all. Celestia's had, and very much so. Now, instead of having a still, light pink mane and tail, it had changed to have the light colors of the rainbow and flowed on its own. She had also grown much taller, taking the role of the tallest Princess.
"Oh sister, how I miss you so," she sighed, gazing at the moon longingly. With a pang, she remembered all the times they would play or read together. They'd laugh together, eat together, cuddle, and other sisterly things. Celestia realized that she and her sister had the closest relationship out of anypony she'd ever seen.
Suddenly, Celestia had an idea. Using her horn, she swung open the window and hurled herself towards it. She fell, until at the very last moment she swooped upwards, gave her wings a mighty flap and soared into the sky. She raced to the moon, faster than she had ever flown before. Tears stained the sky as she flew at top speed. The possibility of Celestia preforming a Sonic Rainboom was steadily increasing. But just as she was about to enter space, she closed her eyes.
And fell.
The speed of her descent caused the wind below her to make a loud whistling noise. Smiling ever so slightly, tears still gushing from her purple eyes, she raced towards the ground. With a sickening crack, she collided with the hard surface of the stone path. Her body was a crumpled mess, blood forming a massive puddle around her glistening white skin.
"Oh my- HELP! SOMEPONY HELP!" a pony screamed, eyes wide in horror at the sight of the Princess. A small group of nearby guards ran towards the screaming mare. Two of them tried to calm her down, but all she would do was scream and point a shaking hoof at the limp alicorn. The rest of the guards rushed towards Celestia, their own eyes widening. Half of her face was crushed inwards, revealing bone, flesh and blood. One eyelid had been torn off. Her wings were hanging at odd angles, exposing multiple bones. Her hooves were all crushed and cut from her shoes, which had shattered at the force of the fall. Her mane and tail were both disheveled and coated with spots of red.
"Dear God- is she alive!?" a guard asked. Another one slowly and cautiously made his way to Celestia's unmoving body. With one hoof, he gently prodded her chest. The Princess opened her eyes, and with a raspy voice, thanks to a crushed windpipe, she whispered,
"Luna..."
With a ghost of a smile still etched upon her face, her eyes went dim.
The Princess was dead.
Cataclysm of the Lunar Empress
It had now been 200 years since the banishment of Princess Luna. Luna had no way of knowing this, as the sky had only the appearance of night.
The Princess' parents had come to Equestria from their castle in the sky, to discuss who was to take care of Canterlot. In the end, her mother, Queen Galixia, was to rule while her father, King Cosmos, went back to their castle to figure out what would happen to Equestria. Luna was forgotten completely in the storm of mourning ponies. Everypony in the Crystal Kingdom lost their marvelous crystal coats, including Prince and Princess Cadence and Shining Armor.
The pegasi stop creating rainbows, and the weather was cloudy each day. They pulled all of their feathers out of their wings, making the ability to fly nearly impossible. The unicorns all chopped off the tip of their horns and placed them into a large river, named after Celestia. The earth ponies fasted, their ribs visible to all. And still, nopony thought of the banished Princess.
Except the Queen.
Cosmos, what about our baby Luna?
What about her, Galaxia?
She's still on the moon. Don't you think she should know, Cosmos? It IS her sister!
No. If she started to be a monster then she surely is one now.
How could you say that!?
We must not release her until it has been 1000 years and she has changed, Galaxia!
"Wake up, maggot! We've got work to do."
Luna awoke with a start as a cold, solid glass shoe collided with her head. She looked up. There was Nightmare Moon, solid and terrifying as ever. Luna stood up on shaking legs, swaying side to side from lightheadedness.
"Y-you!"
"Yes, yes, I am solid. I feasted on your dreams and gave myself this form. Fancy, isn't it?" Nightmare said, clicking her tongue. Using her horn she levitated Luna up into the air and threw her across the dome, crashing into the wall. "So weak and lame!" Nightmare Moon exclaimed, cackling evilly. "Get up and fight me!" She assumed a battle stance, smirking, eyes narrowed.
Luna struggled to her hooves. As she attempted to use her magic, all that happened was a few sparks flying out of it.
"Oh, I suppose this will be fair if I-" not needing to finish, Nightmare Moon removed the cord that strapped Luna's wings to her back. She stretched them and gave them a few flaps. They were very weak and beat up from the rope.
"Let's do this," Nightmare Moon chuckled. Also assuming a battle stance, though less fearsome, Luna frowned and glared. Nightmare shot a blast of blue light at Luna. She ducked just in time, the attack creating a small crater in the floor. Using her magic to pick up the pieces of moonstone that had been attacked she threw them at Nightmare Moon, one hitting her squarely in the face. There was a loud cracking sound as the moonstone chunk split in two. Nightmare's Armor had barely been scratched.
"It's going to take more than that to kill me!" she roared, rushing towards Luna as the Princess did the same. Their magic collided, causing the magic of the ponies to fill the dome with a bright light. As Nightmare Moon took a step forward to increase the force of her magic, Luna did the same. Soon, the pair were barely a hoof away from each other. They glared and gritted their teeth. Then, knocking Luna over in surprise, Nightmare Moon had swung her horn upward, causing the beams to shoot a large hole into the dome.
"I'm free!" she yelled, cackling madly. Luna watched in horror as Nightmare Moon flapped her wings once and soared upwards through the hole. Her cruel laughter echoed in Luna's head long after she had left.
Luna began to weep. She had failed her sister, herself, Equestria, her parents. In fury, she began slamming her head against the wall so hard that a small crack began gradually climbing up it.
After a particularly furious slam, she heard a cracking sound.
The tip of her horn fell onto the ground near her hooves.
Luna didn't make a sound as the dome fell atop her.
