Nightfall

Spire of the Moon, Canterlot Castle

Seeing she was nearing the crest of the winding purple staircase, Princess Celestia slowed her pace. She had felt so hurried to get to her sister's chambers, but there was something foreboding, something that made her feel strangely leery the higher she ascended the tower. She had tried to brush aside the notion, thinking it merely a side-effect of her already deep concern for Luna and what had happened to her chamber guards, but the uneasy feeling had only grown in strength, to the point that the eeriness was almost a tangible entity physically compelling her to leave. She needed answers, but decided others shouldn't have to face whatever was causing this.

The princess took one more step then came to a stop and spread her wing to motion those following her to do the same. Behind her, four royal guards moving together stopped completely then stood at the ready, their armored hooves clattering on the carpeted staircase as they shifted their stance. Celestia looked them over but it was unnecessary – the fear in their eyes was clear. “From here I’ll need to go alone.” She said quietly.

“Your Highness!” Silver Shield began, one of her most trusted in the royal guard. “Please... let us-”

Celestia raised her foreleg then slowly shook her head. She didn't want to give any of her guards a chance to press the matter, but seeing their concern she smiled to hopefully make them feel more at ease. “Please wait for me here. I won’t be long.”

Turning, she pulled her wing to her side and moved from the staircase into the dark hall leading to her sister’s chambers. As she moved forward, she felt as if she were stepping into night itself.

Torches hung upon iron sconces that lined each wall, and though their flickering magical blue flames would never burn out, they brought almost no light to the area. Reminding herself that Luna could see much better in the absence of light than her, yellow magic ignited upon Celestia’s horn, the magical energy a tiny beacon in the void-like darkness. As she continued on, she noticed most of the windows had been sealed but figured it wouldn't matter much if they were opened anyhow - she could sense the sun was at its peak in the sky but the dark clouds of an approaching blizzard had completely drowned out the star’s light. Even so, there was still one window she wanted to view – one that was normally beautiful at any point, day or night.

She peered down to the end of the hall, an area just outside the aura of her magical light, and barely managed to see the large stained glass window her sister had magically created with the tower only a few years past. The princess knew the imagery of it well – the vibrant glass depicted Luna and Celestia near their previous home, the Castle of the Two Sisters, the both of them united together at the tree of harmony – but no light shone through it, leaving it instead looking black, featureless.

Trying not to let the dreariness affect her, Celestia continued forward but after only a couple of steps, she briefly looked curiously at the vaporous white puffs of her breath and realized it was nearly as cold here as it was outside the tower. The magical wards of the castle protect it from all harsh weather, but for some reason it didn’t seem to be in effect within the hall. Her eyes narrowed at the mounting questions but she continued on until finally standing in front of the door to her sister's chambers, where she hoped she could finally get some answers.

Something magical protects the room and nopony has dared go near the door, she remembered what the guard had said earlier and slowly pressed her hoof onto the large door's handle. At her touch, the handle turned itself and she could hear the click of the lock release. The door creaked loudly then slowly opened inward. Feeling frightened by the unusual welcome, she swallowed to push back the strange feeling and stepped across the threshold and into her sister's chambers.

Within the room, the light of her horn made speckles of dust and ice shine like snowflakes dancing in the frigid air. "Luna... are you here, sister?" She whispered cautiously.

"Whooo... Whooooo." A strange voice replied.

Celestia slowly looked across the area but her vision seemed blocked, as if the darkness were trying to engulf her light. The energy of her horn intensified until its shimmering golden glow nearly filled the chamber. She smirked and felt relieved as she spotted what had spoke - in a large opened cage, a snow owl hooted once more, its eyes shining brightly.

She's always shown affection for some of the most unusual pets, she thought. Trying to shake the feeling of being startled, Celestia sighed then turned to the far wall and realized something was out of place. “Where... is her necklace?” She whispered then glanced about, thinking maybe it had been placed elsewhere. Dread began to creep into her chest the more she searched - the glow of the element of harmony wasn't anywhere to be found.

She slowly made her way to where the necklace should've been on display, to where the room was still darkest. The glow of her horn created long shadows across the front half of a black alicorn that had been carved into the stone, its wings spread upright and its head lowered into a bow. Where Luna's element of harmony should reside – the statue's bear neck – was empty. She moved closer to inspect it, but what she found on the wall made her shake her head and bring a hoof to her mouth in shock.

Though rich purple drapes covered most of the walls, around her sister's statue they had been torn down and the remnant of what looked to be Celestia's cutie mark had been painted upon the stone. Through the center, the image had been smeared and was incomplete. In its place, runes had been painted over the remains of the cutie mark and as she moved close, the paint of the runes began to glow, as if reacting to her magic. Though they were of an older Equestrian dialect, Celestia could read them clearly.

A n a t h e m a.

The princess shrunk back, feeling tears forming at the edge of her eyes. "What's made you do this?" She asked quietly. “Do you... hate me, Luna?”

She looked to the opened balcony filled with snow then once more to the statue where the element of harmony should reside, and fighting back the trembling in her bottom lip, she swallowed hard. “I can't put it off any longer... Whether she wants to be here or not, I must find my sister!”

Quickly Celestia turned and exited the chamber, determined to return once more to the throne room - there, she was confident she could lead the search to find Princess Luna.

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Smokey Mountain's Peak

"I... I can't do this!" Stormstrike shouted then gave a wracking cough as he warily made it to his hooves. Taking a few deep breaths still recovering from from the crushing power of Luna's magic, he watched as the princess flew higher and higher into the air, passing over an outcropping of blackened stone until hovering directly above a massive volcanic fissure. She didn't look his way, or give any indication she could even hear him, but he refused to give up. "You can't really expect me to return like this... There has to be a way to bring you back-" Something out of the corner of his eye made him shift and with a gasp he lunged out of the way as a clawed wing split the stony earth.

A sleek blue dragon, its eyes burning brightly with purple energy, turned and pivoted toward Stormstrike, putting itself between him and the princess. It took a step forward then lowered its wide head and spread its wings, seemingly creating a barrier.

Stormstrike grimaced as he watched the dragon pull its long black claws from the stoney earth where he had stood only seconds prior. “It'll take more than that to get me to leave.” He unclasped his helmet then quickly pulled his dusty black mane from the top. Without looking at it, he tossed the helm to his side.

Though they were intimidating, he had fought against dragons before. Even though the massive lizards had been exiled to the borders of Equestria, on rare occasion, an adventurous one would find their way into the kingdom and sometimes it took more than politely asking to get them to return home. He knew that even with their size and incredible power, most lacked agility, especially in flight. Even without a weapon, there was a chance he could still get to the princess, somehow make her change her mind. For a moment he considered removing his breastplate as well - he knew he'd likely need the extra speed. He glanced once more to Luna, still uncertain what to do... but his eyes opened wide in disbelief. Any fear he had of the dragon blurred away as he lunged forward, his black wings spread for takeoff. "No! Princess... NO!"

Stormstrike leapt forward then spiraled midair only barely missing the snapping jaw of the blue dragon, but its snout caught his side sending him barreling onto the ground and crashing against a boulder. Weakly, he looked up.

High above, the element of harmony tumbled through the air, released from the aura of magic keeping it afloat. The beautiful necklace sparkled silently, like a falling star coursing through the sky, then vanished as it went into the massive gaping fissure.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Canterlot's Throne Room

"For now, it's more important that we keep... every... thing..." Celestia blinked, unable to finish her sentence. Something was horribly wrong. It felt like her heart was being crushed and suddenly she couldn't breathe. She swallowed and looked helplessly to Calligraphy who had just greeted her return to the throne room.

The light-blue unicorn flinched and held her chest, the sudden motion causing her glasses to slip down to her nose. She whimpered painfully then looked to Celestia, terror in her eyes.

The flooring seemed to become wobbly and the princess couldn't seem to steady herself. She tried to use her wings but they only seemed to make it worse. Trembling, she could feel the sweat upon her brow. There was a tone, a whistling shriek of anguish, that she couldn't hear yet filled her mind. Her eyes closed and she stumbled backward. Faintly, she heard somepony shouting her name.

Princess Celestia collapsed and in a sparkling flash, her crown fell from her head and tumbled across the tiled floor. Before falling unconscious, breathlessly she tried to speak, but only managed a single word.

"Sis... ter..."

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Smokey Mountain's Peak

Dusty tears matted the coat of his cheeks as Stormstrike pulled himself to the edge of the fissure. The  searing pain within him had passed but he felt hollow, like part of him had been stripped away. His eyes burned as he looked desperately into the fiery depths to see if there was any hope - any chance at all - he could save the element of harmony. Through the thick rising smoke he could only find a single golden ring in the lava and he shook his head the tiniest bit in disbelief. The element had clearly passed through the crust and into the super-heated stone. It was gone.

Gagging and his eyes watering from the acrid fumes, slowly he slid back from the edge and laid his head against a jutting stone. A mix of emotions tore through him - he wanted to scream out in rage just as much as he wanted to curl up and cry – but he didn't submit to his anguish. It was impossible to believe, but as he tried to cope with the reality of what had happened, he clenched his eyes shut and gave a shuttering sigh.

Tell them... tell my sister, come next nightfall her precious city will be no more, Princess Luna’s last command passed through his memory. He tried to picture her face as she spoke those words – to imagine how she must feel to do something so unthinkable - but something unusual amongst the sounds of the storm and the churning earth made him tilt his ears and listen intently.

“Laughter?” He whispered questioningly. He was certain that’s what he heard, but there was something about it… something that, despite the burning ground he sat upon, chilled him to the bone. Strangely, almost as quickly as he had heard it, it was replaced by an odd ringing tone that was getting louder with each passing moment. Uncertain if he was just hearing things he slowly opened his eyes to look for its source.

He looked across the hellish landscape and was distracted by the heavy, almost thunderous clap of wings and saw the dragons were taking flight. He quickly glanced from side to side, watching as the massive reptiles lifted themselves into the air. Seemingly having lost interest, even the blue dragon that had blocked him earlier spread its wings then soared into the air to join the others. A legion of those beasts, all heading to the East - all heading to Canterlot, he thought.

As he watched the dragons move together then vanish into the thick storm clouds, he realized the unusual sound from before had only grown more intense - to the point that it was now almost piercing. He rubbed his ears to try and shut out the painful tone but noticed the area around him strangely had a purple tint to it. Briefly thinking his vision hadn’t fully cleared, he began to sift a hoof through the ash and soil but stopped as he noticed he too was glowing. Slowly his eyes went from the base of the fissure to where he had last seen Luna.

High above, the storm clouds spiraled like the eye of a hurricane, the winter maelstrom circling around a purple light as bright as a tiny star. Gasping and now feeling the hair of his neck rising,  Stormstrike sprung to his hooves and spread his wings to get airborne. Just as his hooves left the charred soil, the heavy smoke curled away as a blast of purple energy erupted from the alicorn high above.

In the span of a sonic boom, the thunderous magic streaked downward and coursed into the mountain, the powerful energy sending tremors throughout the area that created glowing ruptures across the stoney earth. As the ground split apart, steam thermals burst from the cracks, the fiery air spinning Stormstrike skyward. Struggling to maintain control, he watched in horror as the area where he sat only moments prior collapsed inward and was engulfed into a massive pool of churning lava, devoured in an instant by the molten rock.

“A grand beginning, is it not?” A female voice emphatically said. “A testament of what's to come.”

Stormstrike tilted his wings so he could look to his side and found a dark alicorn peering at him intensely, her strange icy blue eyes glowing with energy. "Princess... Luna?" He asked fearfully, already knowing the answer.

The alicorn grinned wickedly. “Don’t be foolish,” her attention went from Stormstrike to the brewing fires below, her sparkling ethereal mane and tail flowing unaffected by the torrential winds. “I am that which she could never be, but should have always been… I am the darkness that shall envelop this land.” She didn’t turn her head, but her irises slid upward and met Stormstrike’s eyes. “You may call me, Nightmare Moon.”

Stormstrike clenched his teeth and swallowed nervously. One time, long ago, he had witnessed the incredible magic used to change the day to night and the pony before him radiated that same celestial power. Never would he have thought that the magic of a princess could be used to bring so much destruction.

“The light of this world will soon be extinguished... and once it has, Equestria will start anew.” Lightning cascaded through the swirling sky and flashed brightly upon her dark armor as Nightmare Moon spoke confidently and turned her full attention to Stormstrike. “Night eternal is at its beginning, little pony... The time has come for you to announce its arrival.”

He gave a slow nod and met the terrifying gaze of Nightmare Moon. There was so much he wanted to say but he forced himself to remain silent. Below, the mountain shuddered as it began to erupt. He briefly watched in awe as lava exploded outward and trailed down the mountain's rocky surface, but as he looked to where Nightmare Moon had been only moments before, the dark alicorn was nowhere to be found.

Knowing he couldn't stay here any longer and terrified as the thought of what was coming passed through his mind, he quickly angled his wings to turn east. He let the heated currents help give him a speed boost, but the storm had only gotten worse near the volcano and he knew he needed to get as far away as he could or else he might not be able to stay airborne.

As he streaked across the sky, the biting cold quickly returned, but with it came fresh air and he welcomed it. He knew with the tailwind of the blizzard he could make up lost time but he had a lot of air to cover before he could catch up to the dragons – and he knew that if the city had any chance, he needed to get ahead of them. Determined to not only warn Canterlot, but to save it, he flapped his wings as hard as he could.