My Little Nightmareby HumanarianChaptersPrologue: The lonely MoonChapter 1: Nightmare comes to lifeChapter 2: Laugh it up!Prologue: The lonely MoonPrologue: The lonely Moon. ~~~ • ~~~ A royal castle looked even more beatiful during a sunset. It's majestic shapes gained a special grace as they were bathing in the orange lights reflected from the trees, which surrounded the entire place. The daytime was over as the last rays of the Sun started to fade into the darkness. "It is done" - the soft, yet solemn voice spoke. It belonged to the beatiful alicorn mare, whose body was white as a pure light and mane pink and sparkling. She had a sun as her cutiemark, which only seemed to make her look even more graceful. "Alright, Luna... You may take it from here," - she said with a voice betraying her as the notes of tiredness started to ring through her usually calm tone stripped of any emotions. The young and very excited alicorn filly appearead in the doorway of balcony, quickly trotting to the larger mare. Her coat was blue, with a few dark patches on it and a cutiemark of a quater moon on her flank. Her mane wasn't sparkling at all, yet had a soft cyan shade. She then stopped and proclaimed in a childish, yet solemn voice: "Fear not, sister of mine. Thou may rest as we shalt guard the night!" The alabaster alicorn was obviously tired as she gave the filly a weak smile and disappeared in a doorway. The younger one paid no mind as she had focused on something and it was obvious that she wasn't going to let her concentration fade. Soon, her horn lit with a soft light and she started to rise in the air, spreading her wings. At the very same moment her mane started to sparkle, just like her sister's one, and the Moon appeared in the sky, starting to rise higher, spreading it's soft light, the very same light the filly's horn was lit with, all over the tender surface of the beautiful land. The nighttime has begun. The young filly landed on the balcony softly, she was panting a bit. Yet, she looked happy as she gazed into the night skies. Her horn produced the soft glow once again, and one by one, the stars started to appear in the sky, adding their tiny light to the moonlight. The more time filly spent on the balcony, focusing on her spell, the more stars appeared in the sky, forming the beautiful arrays and making the night something... more than just a night. It was now a work of art, the art of the little alicorn filly. Luna's art. Suddenly, a spark flashed in her eyes and she gasped, as if she had just realized what a beauty she was creating. "'Tia hast to see this!" - and with those words, Luna has disappeared in a doorway. Whenever Celestia looked tired, that meant she was actually exhaused. And that was one of those days. Visiting ten different cities to attend the meetings with their mayors, having to make sure sun spread just the right amount of heat over the soil for the current season and, of course, a lot of paperwork. She fell asleep as soon as her hooves touched her bed and her head felt the softness of a pillow beneath it. However, that peaceful slumber was not fated to last for a long time... "'Tia! 'Tia!" - the high-pitched voice of an adorable young alicorn woke her up, - "Thou hast to see what I just did!" She was so excited that she had even forgotten about her usual formal "we". Celestia did her best to supress the groan. She didn't have time for that right now. "What is it, Luna? I'm so tired... It's been such a long day an-" - she didn't manage to finish her sentence as the excited filly was already jumping on the chest of her big sister. "It's the sky! Oh, 'Tia, please, thou hast to see it! I worked so very hard to move the stars in such a beautiful array!" So, that was it? That was the reason she had to wake her exhausted sister up? Celestia gave the filly a confused look, she had to remain calm, to be a good example for her younger sibling. "Not tonight, Luna..." - she sighed and closed her eyes, slowly shaking her head from side to side - "You don't want to know what I passed through today and-" "Oh... It... it's fine, sister," - Luna's voice was stripped of her excitement and started to shake ever so slightly, - "Sorry I woke thou up." She jumped off of the bed and walked towards doorway slowly. If Celestia wasn't so exhausted, she could have probably noticed that the filly's colors had gained a darker shade. Luna didn't turn her head as she spoke: "It... it's just that I'm feeling a bit longely again... hehe..." She gave a small, nervous laughter, and anypony who would hear it could tell how bitter that laughter sounded. Anypony, except Celestia: she was too exhausted to notice. As Luna had left the room, her older sister let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding. Any issue could wait until the morning. The sleep was more important at the moment. Celestia awoke to the rays of the morning sun entering her room and laying on her face tenderly. She smiled and let out a yawn, still refusing to open her eyes. The rays of that precious light felt so nice against her skin, she never felt such a huge desire to sleep in. Because never before she woke up to the warm sunlight. Celestia froze. The sun was spreading it's rays all over the room. HER sun. Her eyes shot open instantly and she was out of her bed before she knew it. She galloped to the balcony with the speed that could rival actually teleporting there. What she found there was her little sister, sitting on the floor and panting hard. She turned her head to the sound of Celestia's hoofsteps, and an elder alicorn didn't need to look twice to realise that Luna was utterly exhaused. But, despite he tiredness, her eyes were shining with glee and happiness. "G... Good morrow, 'Tia..." - the filly said between panting. Celestia was speechless. Had Luna really just raised the sun? "I... I saw how tired thou were yesterday... So... So I thought..." "Luna!" - Celestia's voice interrupted the speech of the exhausted filly, - "What did I tell you about rising the Sun?" The spark of glee disappeared from Luna's eyes and she lowered her gaze as she spoke: "Thou... Thou told me not to try and move it..." Her voice was barely a whisper by the end of the sentence. "And I told you that for a reason, Luna," - Celestia's voice was far from happy, - "Look at yourself now! You could have exhausted yourself so much your life would be in danger!" "But-" - Luna's voice started to shake again, and panting had nothing to do with it. "No, Luna, I don't want to hear it." "But I-" "Go to your room and rest, Luna. Now!" The young alicorn filly stood up and slowly followed her sister's orders. She knew she had no choice. When Luna disappeared in a doorway, Celestia let out a sigh and looked at the sky. Luna barely managed to lift the Sun slightly above the horizon, so Celestia still had work to do. She focused on her spell and her horn gained the golden glow. She never heard the quiet sobs coming from behind her. Yet another sleepless night. During her rule, Celestia got used to them. It wasn't the first one and, of course, it sure wasn't the last. Paperwork, lots and lots of paperwork... Who would ever think the foundation of just one new city could result in tons of paperwork? And that paperwork was Celestia's job for the night. Because she had to spend the entire day attending yet another "ribbon-cutting ceremony", and then the "high-society" party to celebrate the foundation of the city of Fillydelphia. No need to say, by the end of the day she was exhausted. Celestia never liked a paperwork. It always seemed like no matter how many papers she filled, she would simply never reach the end of the stack. She sighed, putting yet another paper down and levitated the next one towards herself as she- "'Tia! 'Tia!" - the voice coming from behind had nearly made her accidentally push the entire stack of papers onto the floor. "I did it! I finally did it! Come, thou hast to see it!" - with those words the very excited alicorn filly took her sister's hoof in her own and pulled. Celestia didn't even know her younger sibling had so much strength. Being pulled from her work in such a rough manner annoyed her greatly, but she had to remain her composure. "What is it, Luna?" - she said, trying her best to keep her voice calm and solemn, so her emotions would not be revealed. Luna just kept pulling her sister towards the doorway, she was more excited than ever before. "A starrain! I hast finally managed to create the rain of stars! Thou hast to see it, it's so gorgeous!" "You mean the shooting stars?" - a small smile found it's way on Celestia's face, the smile of pride and happiness - "Oh, Luna, that... that is impressive!" "Come on, sister! Let us share the glee of my beautiful night! Thou need'st to forget about thine work sometimes." Luna was right, Celestia still had work to do. And if she left it for tomorrow, she might as well forget about sleep for yet another night. "Sorry, Luna... Not tonight," - it pained Celestia to refuse her sister's offer, but she really had no choice, - "I have too much work, I don't even think I'll have time to sleep this night." The work had to be done. "B... But sister, I-" "I'm sorry, Luna." Everything else could wait until the next time. "B-But I worked so hard-" "I can't go with you." There will always be next time for the things like that. "You... You don't un-" "Luna, please, listen to m-" - Celestia never finished that sentence as the loud resonating scream interrupted her. The next second Luna ran through the doorway, not caring to hold her tears back any longer. Celestia let out a long sigh. "I'll have to talk to her in the morning," - and with that, she returned to her work. Luna curled up in her bed, the tears running down her cheeks. The very same tears she cried every night. The tears of despair, the tears of frustration, but mostly... the tears of loneliness. She couldn't even remember the last time she didn't feel lonely. It was like she felt lonely from the very day she was born. Sometimes, she stopped and asked herself: who is she? The answer was obvious: she was Luna, the Princess of the Night. But... what did it mean to the others? What did it mean to her sister? What did it mean to herself? Did it... really mean anything? Anything except the eternal loneliness, that is. She hoped so. Desperatelly, whole-heartedly she hoped it meant something. Something that would make her special, important to the other ponies. But all she saw them doing during her night was sleeping. Nopony was out there, enjoying the peace and beauty of a resting land, a tender moonlight or a soft night breeze. And it didn't matter how creative Luna became with her sky: nether the amount of stars, nor the way she organized them could change that. She was all by herself. And even her sister wasn't there for her. Even her sister... With her eyes covered in tears, Luna didn't notice her colors getting darker as the new feeling had appeared in her heart: the feeling of rejection. The years flew by, both Celestia and Luna became wiser, stronger and even more beautiful. Day by day, they ruled Equestria together, keeping everything in perfect harmony. But some things never change. Some pain doesn't get easier with time. Through all those years, Luna hadn't managed to get used to her loneliness. It kept eating her heart from inside, it kept bringing tears to hear eyes. Indeed, some pain only gets worse with time. The younger alicorn didn't even notice when she started to take offence in the fact that the other ponies spent so much time with her sister, showering her with praise and adoration when Luna got nothing of that. What started as a simple feeling of injustice then grew through jealousy and bloomed into the pure hatred. The hatred towards her own sister. The aweful feeling Luna couldn't stand, but it only kept getting worse. Day by day, she kept watching her sister getting complimented wherever she went, everypony bowed their heads to her and only dared to use the words "Your Majesty" while addressing to her. But worse of all was the Summer Sun Celebration. It was like a direct insult to Luna's heart. It was a celebration of the Sun. The celebration where everypony praised Celestia and her precious sun, thanking her for providing them such a nice daytime. And nopony, absolutely nopony had ever thanked Luna for her night. For the rest she provided the land tired from the day's heat, for the beautiful piece of art she turned the skies into, for the stars that were believed to grant the most sacred of wishes... No, Luna was never praised. Luna was lonely, sad and... forsaken. "Not another step!" - Luna's voice resonated through almost empty throne room. She walked from her throne and looked down on Celestia. Her eyes were shining with pain and hatred she's been collecting in her heart through all of those years. "Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all bath in your precious light?!" - she let the venom in her voice envelop the word "precious" as she kept talking, her voice rising, - "There can only be one princess in Equestria! And that princess SHALL BE ME!!!" And with that, the Princess of the Night let her forehooves stomp and shake the floor of the royal castle. That was it. The shadow started to crawl up the wall behind her back, along with the large crack, until the wall couldn't take it anymore and broke, letting the sunlight into the throne room. Luna let her horn glow with the light of her magic and the Moon has appeared in the sky, starting to rise towards the sun, until the source of the daylight was completely eclipsed. At that very moment the shadows surrounded the Lunar Princess and sealed her in their darkness, forming a large dark orb. When the darkness had faded, the mare that was standing before Celestia could no longer be called Luna. She was something else, something much... darker. Her coat was completely black, the pupils of her eyes were serpentine and she was almost twice as big as Luna. She laughed loudly and evilly, her voice not sounding like Luna's one at all. The Solar Goddess didn't have time to shake off her shock as the dark mare made her move, blasting the ray of her energy at the ceiling, making a large hole in it and letting the moonlight fill almost entire throne room. Celestia tried to use her chance and escape through that hole, so she could think of something and figure out how to stop that villain her own sister had become, but she didn't have such a chance as the mare fired another beam, now directly at her. She barely managed to dodge it. "Luna! I will not fight you. You must lower the moon! It is your duty!" - in her desperate situation, Celestia tried to reason her sister, but that was to no avail. "Luna? I am Nightmare Moon. I have but one royal duty now: TO DESTROY YOU!" - Nightmare yelled at her ex-sister, firing yet another beam. That was Celestia's chance to escape and she took it, quickly flying up and disappearing in the hole in the ceiling. "And where do you think you're going?" - the wicked smile spread across the dark alicorn's face as she took off as well and started to chase Celestia. Both mares were soaring in the sky and a few more beams were fired, until one of them had finally hit it's target: Celestia released a screech and fell all the way back down to the throne room. Nightmare froze in the air. That was it, she had reached her goal. She had destroyed her so-called sister, which had made her life a misery! The justice had finally been served! She let herself bath in her own evil laughter again. But that moment didn't last long as Celestia rose to her hooves. "Oh, dear sister, I am sorry! But you have given me no choice but to use these!" - with those words, Celestia lit her horn, revealing the secret cache hidden in the throne room's floor. That cache contained the six powerful objects known as the Elements of Harmony. A long while ago, Celestia and Luna took them from the sacred Treee of Harmony and used them together to stop Discord's tyranny. Now, she had to use them alone. The elements surrounded Celestia's body, forming a coil as they started to twist around her, gaining the speed. Soon, the Solar Princess was glowing with the rainbow light as she took off and flew to meet Nightmare once again. Nightmare Moon didn't flinch. She knew what Celestia was going to do, but there was no going back for her at the moment. She had sacrificed everything to gain such power and she was going to give it all to that fight. So, she focused all of her energy, charging her horn and preparing to fire the last crushing beam. Celestia could see that her sister was not going to retreat, the Princess of the Day knew what she was about to do. She had finally realised that it was entirely her fault. If only she took a better care about her sister... If only she was there when her sister needed her... If only... The tears ran down her face as she fired the rainbow beam. The two beams collided and just for a moment it looked like their powers were equal. But then the rainbow beam started to overpower the dark one quickly. Nightmare Moon knew it was the end. She could see the light approaching her fast. But at least... at least that would finally be the end of her suffering, her loneliness. The light had enveloped her. The whole world looked different from the Moon. The planet, the lands of Equestria... it all was so beautiful. Yet now, it was beyond her reach. She was banished from Equestria, stripped of her title and, to add the insult to injury, her own sister, that made her life so miserable, did that to her. But there was no need to worry about it, or even get angry. She was defeated and sealed on the Moon. And the best part was that she didn't even need to get used to her new fate: her entire life wasn't really different from her current situation. The main part of her punishment was the loneliness, and she already felt lonely her entire life. Instead, it would be wiser to make an escape plan, the plan which would allow her to get back at Celestia, to make her feel her righteous wrath! Even if it would take a thousand years, Nightmare Moon didn't care about such a minor detail as time. Result was the only thing that counted to her. "At last, I am free!" - the loud voice resonated through the entire Canterlot castle, busrting into the wicked laughter. Celestia new what was coming for her, yet she didn't move a muscle. She kept sitting by her fireplace, waiting for her fate. And she didn't have to wait much longer as the shadow threw the doors of her room open and walked in. "Remember me, Celestia?" - Nightmare's voice was dripping with venom and hatred, - "It's been a while... Indeed, how long was it? A thousand years, perhaps? Oh, my, that's such a long while... But no amount of time can possibly make me forget my beloved sister!" She highlighted the word "beloved" with as much hatred as she could. Celestia didn't flinch. "I will not fight you, Luna-" "LUNA IS DEAD!" - the mare of the Moon lost her temper quickly. In fact, she never planned to keep calm, - "You killed the being known as Luna! You took away what was her by right! You weren't there when she needed a sister! You had made her life a misery!" If she wasn't blinded by her rage, Nightmare Moon would notice a tear appearing in Celestia's eye, a tear that was instantly blinked away. The Sun Goddess let out a sigh. "Do as you wish. I am no longer in possession of the Elements of Harmony, therefore I cannot stop you." That was a surprise, that was unexpected. Nightmare Moon imagined a long fight with her sister, she had dreamed about defeating her in the battle, but what did she receive instead? Celestia was willingly giving up to her supremacy and accepting her defeat without even fighting back. After a moment of shock, the wicked smile crossed the dark alicorn's face. "Well, well, well... It seems many things have changed during my absence. That makes me eager to go explore my kingdom. And yes, you heard correctly, MY kingdom. You're done, Celestia. Now, begone!" - and with those words the mare of the Moon shot the beam, banishing her ex-sister to only she knew where. "You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth Element: the Element of Magic!" - Twilight Sparkle finished her speech inspired by the magic of friendship she had just discovered. Nightmare Moon could only stand there in shock as the pieces of the destroyed elements lit and attached them to each one of the six ponies standing before her. No... Five elements transformed and formed the necklaces. No. The sixth element formed a tiara and rested on Twilight's head. No! The elements began to resonate with one another, causing the six ponies to be enveloped in the bright light. NO! Soon, the rainbow beam appeared and unleashed the power of Harmony upon Nightmare Moon. "NOOOO!!!!!!!!" - she could only scream in despair, she knew it was over. She helplessly watched the rainbow beam surrounding her. She saw the the bright colors, the blinding light and then... nothing. The void, the darkness... There are many words to describe the place where the mare of the Moon found herself after being defeated. And, to add the insult to her injury, one of those words was... ...loneliness. It was a sunny day and the weather was just fine for a nice long walk. And that's exactly what I was doing as I walked home from the place I work at. I won't hide it: I do not own any car. But I never felt bad about it. You see, I just really enjoy walking, especially while listening to some nice music. I never listened to a specific genre, or a band. I only listened to the songs. It works like this: I hear a song somewhere, I like it, I download and listen to it. Though, I must admit, my late choice of music consisted from the songs created by "My Little Pony" fans and also some original "Littlest Pet Shop" soundtrack. I love both of those shows, as you can guess. Wait a moment, why do you give me that look? Ah, I see... This is supposed to be the part where I introduce myself, isn't it? But, you know, I don't think my actual name really matters... Hold on! You'll see why it doesn't matter if you just seat back, relax and let me tell you my story. Well, I'm just a regular guy, nothing more, nothing less. I live in Russia, I'm 23 years old, I'm a programmer and also a piano player. And I'm a fan of the shows I've mentioned earlier. The story I'm going to tell you is releated to one of those shows: "My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic". I could spend hours telling you about why the show is so awesome and stuff, but if you're reading this story, you must already know all that. As much as you must know there is more to that show than just the actual episodes. Sure, there is a lot of fan-made artwork, animations, videos, songs... But the thing that makes it all so special to me is the fact that each and every character mentioned or even just shown in the episodes is an individual with a unique personality, be that by the will of show's creators or fans. And that's why even without giving a character much screen time, the show makes it possible for any person to guess the character's backstory. And if the secondary characters are so well-developed, I can't even start on how great the main ones are! Be they heroes... or villains. I'm sure every fan of the show loves a lot of characters, but can certainly name one character they love most. In my case, it's Princess Luna. And not only because a night is my favourite time of day. I love Luna for her personality: she's wise, she has her own personal style, she's understanding and kind. But that's not all. The thing is that she saved all of those qualities in her heart even when she gave in to despair and became Nightmare Moon. Of course, you can say that the Elements of Harmony have made her good, but the truth is they only dispelled her dark powers, the powers that made her Nightmare Moon. But all of her feelings remained her own. And she gave everypony the second chance only because she was willing to do so, even after a way her own sister betrayed her. You might probably want to stop me here and tell me that Celestia didn't actually betray Luna. But that's where I disagree. It doesn't take a second look to see that Nightmare Moon is... a certain state Luna was brought into. And, given her personality, I can tell it would take a lot to bring somepony with such a pure heart into that state. However, Celestia had managed to do so, and that is nothing less than a betrayal in my eyes. And even after all that happened to her, Luna was willing to give the second chance even to her sister, after how Celestia ignored her despair and loneliness back a thousand years ago, she still gave her the second chance, she was willing to trust Celestia once more. And in my opinion, only the person of the highest morality and purest heart can do such a thing. But, I digress... As I mentioned before, it was a good sunny day, but nothing out of ordinary. Well... maybe the temperature was higher than normal, but aside from that I can't say something made that day special. Oh, I've forgotten to mention... I hate the heat. And to me, the temperatures of 28°C and 35°C don't make a big difference: I hate both. As I walked down the street, I looked at the sky, only to see not a single cloud up there. Damn it. I cursed the sun for frying me alive and kept walking, hoping that I might manage to lose myself in the music in my ears, so I reach home before I know it. And I was right about one thing: the song that started to play next had completely distracted me from the heat of the day. That was a beautiful fan-made song, written by a very talented person known under the nickname of Ponyphonic and sung by a beautiful and just as talented girl Eileen Montgomery going by the nickname of EileMonty. The title of the song was "The Moon Rises", and, as you can guess, it was about the pain Princess Luna went through, resulting in her becoming Nightmare Moon. My mind quickly wandered to my favourite character and I could almost feel the waves of sorrow washing over me as the song reached the words: "And am I so wrong to think that they might love me too?" Whenever I thought about Luna and her pain, I always wished I was there, to be by her side, to calm her down, to reassure her, to make her loneliness disappear. Hell, I even wished I was Celestia, because I sure wouldn't mind taking all of her responsibilities on my shoulders, just so I would have an opportunity to spend time with Luna and make sure she bloomed into the best pony she could possibly be. The drop of sweat ran down my face, reminding me of the hot weather. Ugh... Why can't the night last longer than the daytime? Oh, did I mention that my favourite season is winter? Well, I did now. And not just because I hate the heat. Or because I'm Russian. But also because the night is always longer than the daytime during winter. And the way the snow sparkles under the moonlight is beyond beautiful. But, once again, I digress. You see, I would describe my entire evening, but I'm pretty sure you'd be bored out of your mind by the time I finish. And it's not the evening of that day that is worthy of mentioning. It is the night. Author's Note What I have to say it that I'm sorry this chapter happened to be this short. But remember, it's only a prologue! I honestly wanted to write more, but then I thought: "Hey, it's just the prologue! It can't be too long." And so I decided to stop there and leave the rest for the other chapters. I hope you're cool with that. Chapter 1: Nightmare comes to lifeChapter 1: Nightmare comes to life. ~~~ • ~~~ Thank stars, it was Friday! Which meant I could stay up late as much as I wanted, not caring about getting up early the next day. I sure was going to sleep in... Ah, I suppose, that's another thing I've forgotten to mention. I'm a night owl type, I love staying up at night and sleep until, like... 3 PM the next day, if not later. I'm not sure about the other countries, but here in Russia the weekend means two days off for over 90% of jobs. And which day can be better than the day off? Ehm... yeah, I know, I'm lazy. So, as you can imagine, I had been enjoying my free time in my apartment, browsing the Internet. But something felt a bit off that night. You see, usually I enjoy spending time playing games like Dota 2, Mortal Kombat and a lot of others, but that night I didn't feel like doing anything of that sort. Even browsing the Internet didn't entertain me for some reason. I sighed and looked out of window. Maybe I really should start going outside... It was a beautiful night. Not a single cloud had appeared on the sky since I last checked during the day. Only at the moment it was a good thing: the stars were shining especially bright that night. I looked at the clock in the corner of my computer screen. It was almost a midnight. See if I care... I sure was not going to waste the opportunity to stay up during my favourite time of day, but there was one problem: as I mentioned before, I didn't feel like doing anything. So, I looked out the window again. Might as well start going outside today. Indeed, since I didn't feel like playing games, watching movies, drawing or doing any other things I usually liked to do, I might as well go enjoy the night in a more... literal way. And with that, I turned my PC off, put some clothes on and stepped outside. No matter what city you live in, I'm sure you could notice the fact it always looks better at night. It was true for my city as well, especially since it was split in two by the river and green fields near it, so being in one half of the city always meant being able to get a good look at the half over the river. But to do so, one would have to go to the part where buildings ended and the green fields began. And that's exactly where I decided to go in my attempt to enjoy the night outside my appartment. Since I didn't reach that part of the city yet, the buildings were still blocking the view, so instead of trying to catch the sight of the night city on the other side of the river, I looked up at the sky. So many stars... That night was, indeed, something. Or maybe I just never noticed the beauty of the night due to staying inside my apartment. However, I was wrong when I said before that the stars were especially bright that night. Then why is it so bright? My eyes fixed on the answer almost immediately: it was a full Moon. The light spreading from it was trully magical and even if there was any doubt about going outside being a good idea in my heart, it faded away immediately. Gotta love those green fields. I didn't even notice how I got there as I focused on the beauty of the night sky. Though the city was not even a mile away, stepping onto those fields felt like going camping, spending time with nature somewhere far away from the city's noise and dust. And I can't even begin to describe how magnificent they were under the bright moonlight. Combined with the view of the night city, it was a breathtaking picture. I stepped forward and took a deep breath of a cool night air. No more heat, no more blinding light. It was perfect: cool, but not too cold, dark, but not too much, thanks to the moonlight. Since that moment, I didn't really care where I was going as I just took step after step, enjoying the weather, enjoying the stillness... Enjoying the night. I didn't care that I was all alone out there. I only knew that was exactly something I felt like doing that night. At the moment, it felt so much better than doing any of the things I usually enjoyed doing at home. However, the track of those thoughts was quickly lost as soon as my eyes noticed something... unusual, to say the least. I'm not sure how to say it, but what I saw was a fragment of the night sky. What? Not unusual enough for you? Well, I could agree with that, if it wasn't for just. One. Problem. The piece of the night sky was on the ground. You can call me a fool, but the idea of running away wasn't anywhere near my mind at that moment. You see, during my entire life I was bored of reality. I always wanted something to step in and blow the everyday's bustle away. I always hoped that one day something supernatural will happen and it'll change my life into something completely new and exciting. Childish dreams, you say? Can't say I disagree. But what can I do if something childish is the only thing that gives me enough hope to meet a new day? But, I digress. So, instead of running away or thinking about the possible ways to defend myself from whatever it was, I stepped closer to investiage. As I took my steps, I had noticed that the fragment was not still: it's silhouette was moving, it looked like the small tides of water. Wait a moment, this looks oddly familiar... Another step closer - and I had noticed another silhouette. It was completely black and was not moving at all. It looked like it was attached to the fragment somehow. Soon I could see it was a silhouette of a muzzle. Wait a second... it's not the fragment! It's the mane. Luna?! N... no, it's not her. Wait, no... It can't be! But it was pretty much true. Under one of the trees that grew near the river was lying nopony else but Nightmare Moon herself. Only she was of an age of a filly. And her armor could not be seen anywhere near. I stepped closer, only to discover that she was sound asleep. Or maybe she's unconscious for a different reason? I tried to gently nudge her. She didn't even flinch. I could feel my heart racing as I quckly ducked to listen if she breathed at all. To my relief she did. Yet it didn't look like I could possibly wake her up at the moment, no matter what I would do. So, my decision was pretty obvious: I carefully took her in my hands and carried her to my place. Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Nightmare Moon! THE Nightmare Moon was sleeping on my bed! I honestly felt like I could squee better than the craziest fangirl in the world, who just bought the newest book of her favourite series. At the same time, I simply could not believe what I had found. Maybe... maybe it's just a dream? I could feel a shiver running down my spine. For just a second I became really afraid of it all suddenly ending with me waking up in my bed only to find out it wasn't real. Comparing to this, the reality is a nightmare. I chuckled a bit at that thought, but froze almost instantly as I saw Nightmare's ears twitching a bit. A few moments later, her eyes slowly opened and she raised her head. I didn't move. I didn't know what could happen next, but decided to let her speak first. She is the royalty, after all. "W... where am I?" - she had spoken her first words. Her voice was exactly how I remembered it, only a bit higher. And, unlike Luna, she never bothered with royal "we" and the ancient speaking manner. I couldn't help but smile. "I hope you slept well, princess," - I tried to sound solemn and formal, but surprisingly found my tone warm and friendly instead. She shivered, if only so slightly: "Who.... what are you?" Nah, can't blame her. I bet that would be my first question as well if I was in her situation. "Oh... I'm a human," - well, that went swimmingly. Can't you sound any more dumb? She probably doesn't even know what human is. "A... a human? I've never heard of anything called human before..." Yep, just as I thought. "What are you doing here anyway?" And that's where I realized I could let my questions out. "Me? I'm sorry, princess, but I do believe it would make more sense to ask what you are doing here." She raised a brow. I knew I owed her some explanation, so I started to tell everything about how I found her and how I brought her here to make sure she had a comfortable bed to rest upon and a safe place to stay if she desired. Surprisingly, she didn't cut me off at all during my speech. Instead, she sat on my bed silently and seemed to be focusing on every word I said. That's right... I almost forgot she was the least sassy villain of them all. "Everything you said, human..." - she began, letting her voice bear more confidence that time, - "...makes perfect sense. Except for just one thing. How exactly do you know I'm a princess?" Wow, that was fast. I instantly felt paralyzed by her question. Just a few minutes were enough for her to make me spill the beans. But it was okay, if she really wanted to know, I'd tell her. "Do you really want to know it now, Nightmare Moon?" - I asked, trying to see if saying her name would surprise her any further. It didn't. "Well, well, well..." - I swear I would recognize that voice anywhere anytime, - "It seems you know my name. Though I'm honestly not surprised. One must know the name of their princess!" Now that's more like it! I could feel her attitude coming back. That meant she started to feel comforatble and I was happy to see that. She must had noticed my warm smile: "What's so funny, human?" But totally misunderstood it... "It's a pleasure for me to see that you're alright and not feeling uncomfortable at my home," - I simply stated. The look on her face changed to one of confusion. "Why would you worry about my well-being? Your princess can take care of herself-" "My little princess couldn't even keep me from bringing her here," - it wasn't polite to cut off the princess and I knew that, but couldn't help it - "What if it was someone with some less... noble thoughts about you in their mind?" I looked at Nightmare and watched as she opened her mouth to respond, yet realised that she couldn't really argue with my statement. She slowly let her eyes focus on her hooves. Is she feeling... ashamed? How cute. "But still..." - she said after a few moments of silence, - "Why do you care about what happens to me?" Good question, Nightmare. Nothing less is expected from you. It took me quite a few seconds to think my answer over. "Say, Nightmare..." - I began as a brave yet silly idea formed in my head, - "Have you ever desired for a caring older sibling? The one who would be there for you and guide you through anything you couldn't handle alone..." I couldn't help but smile as I watched the look on Nightmare's face. It was clear that my question had caught her completely off-guard. Hm... It takes a lot to catch somepony like her off-guard. Well done. What could she possibly be thinking about at that moment? I'd pay for her thoughts, really. But decided to just let her think it over. Finally, she opened her mouth again. "I... think so?..." - her voice was the same, but sounded differently that time. It was stripped of it's confidence and majesty. It was shaky, uncertain and even... scared? I stood up, only to watch her eyes widening as she realised the full size difference between us, especially since she was just a filly at the moment. I slowly took a sit near her on the bed and looked her in the eyes. "If you'd like me to, I'd be your older brother," - I simply stated. A look of disbelief was now clear in her eyes. "B... brother?" - she asked, more herself than me. We sat there and kept staring at each other for a few more moments before she quickly turned her head away and tried to cover it with her foreleg. Yep, she was blushing, blushing... deep purple. For a moment I thought that it was too cute even for me. I took a deep breath: the speech was in order. "Listen, Nightmar- Nighty..." - I smiled to myself, enjoying the cute nickname I came up with, - "There are a lot of things you need to learn about this place before your questions can be answered. For now I can only tell you that you're not from this world. You're not supposed to be here." She turned her head to me and was about to protest when I raised my hand in the air, the motion for her to pay attention as I continued: "I swear to you here and now that I'll tell you everything about how I know you're a princess and any other question you'll ask. For now I just offer myself to you, so to speak. I want to be your guide in this world and..." - I took another breath, - "...I want you to feel loved and cared for." She simply started at me. She stared with the eyes full of awe and amazement, as if I was the princess there, not her. Another few moments were shared in utter silence. I decided to wait for her to break that silence. I didn't expect what happened next. No, she didn't answer. Instead, she jumped at me and tackled me to the bed. Before I realised what she was going to do I could feel myself wrapped in a tight hug. Who would ever think Nightmare Moon is so... warm? It looked like she no longer cared for the reasons behind my words and actions. She seemed just... happy? Yeah, I'd say she was happy at that moment. Her title and power forgotten, she was just a happy little filly snuggling wih her... brother? "Should I take that as a 'yes', Nighty?" - I asked and could feel her head rubbing against my neck as she noded. That's when I noticed she was crying. Poor little filly... I snuggled her closer to my chest and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. I sensed she felt safe in my loving embrace. And that's what I was going to do: to keep her safe. No matter what. A hell of a way to spend your Friday night, if you ask me. I can't even describe how much excitement and happiness I felt every time I looked at ~~that little princess~~ my little sister to make sure she was there and she was real. But seeing her was one thing, holding her in my arms was another. And it felt like... I don't know, like the most sacred wish coming to life! It looked like my hopes and prays were finally answered, and Nightmare Moon was exactly that one supernatural thing that was meant to change my life forever. "But do you have a name, hu... I mean, brother?" - she said as she finally took a hold of herself and lifted her head from my neck. I could feel my heart melting as she called me her brother for the first time. I could not be happier. After all, that was a responsibility I desired. Look upon me, Celestia... And die of envy! But then something else came to my mind. My name... what should I tell her? Ponies are not familiar with human names. And my isn't even an English one. I was afraid of confusing her. I had to think fast. "Hm, I guess now, since I am the brother of the most amazing princess..." - I smiled as she blushed once again, - "...I suppose, I need a name worthy of her glory. How about you call me..." I took a moment to think about it. Which name should I choose? I almost started to panic as I realised nothing came to my mind. I sure couldn't just take a name of a canon character. And even if I did, what would it be? Rainbow Dash? Golden Harvest?... Big Macintosh, for crying out loud?! No, I sure was not going to pick any of those. I needed something closer to the night... closer to Nightmare's nature. And then it hit me. "...Eclipse?" - I finished and looked at the filly with a sheepish smile on my face. She practically gasped. "WHAT A GLORIOUS NAME WORTHY OF THE BEAUTY OF THE NIGHT ITSELF!!!" Yeah... gotta love Royal Canterlot Voice. Nightmare quickly realised her outburst and cringed on my chest, looking at me. That was her turn to give a sheepish smile. "Sorry..." - she mumbled weakly. She was so cute when confused. I couldn't help but put my hand on her head and pet her softly and lovingly. "No need to worry, little sis. I'm honored my choice of name was met with such an approval," - I chuckled a bit, - "But not nearly as much as I'm honoured to be your big brother." Her big brother... Of course, even the idea of it was so ridiculous. I mean, she was at least a thousand years older than me! How can I be her big brother? But I must confess, I could care less about logic at that moment. I was her big brother, she had accepted me as one, that was a fact. And a fact is the most stubborn thing in world. However, I still had one thing I needed to be certain about. "So, Nighty... Do you remember anything about what happened before you woke up here?" - that was a simple question and the look on Nightmare's face was telling me that the answer she was about to give was going to be just as simple. She opened her mouth to reply, only nothing came out. I noticed her face expression starting to change to one of confusion again as her eyes started to look around the room, like if she desperately tried to remember something, like if it was there, but she couldn't put her ~~finger~~ hoof on it. I decided not to wait any further and let out a sigh: "I thought so..." "I... I can't remember. I thought I did, but now... I remember nothing about my past! I don't even remember my own birthday!" Well, that's a shame. "I'll tell you everything I know about your past, but, as I said before, you need to learn a few things about this world first," - I stated a bit colder than I wanted, but continued regardless - "So, are you ready to learn, Nighty?" I gave her a friendly smile and took her in my hands to move and sit her on my head. She couldn't suppress a giggle. "Okay, I think I'm ready." "Then let the learning begin!" - I said solemnly, - "So, let's start with simple things..." "And this is a refrigerator, or 'fridge'. That's where humans store their food," - I said and watched as Nightmare extended her hoof to touch one of the shelves inside the fridge. "Oh... it's quite cold in there," - she stated the obvious, retreating her hoof back to my head, seeking for my warmth. More and more cute every minute... "Well, it has to be cold in there. The food will last longer if it's kept in cold, " - I explained, enjoying how my little sis was surprised with everything I brought in her attention. "Oh... The technology of humans are quite impressive!" - she ~~clapped~~ clopped her hooves together in excitement. She is a little filly now, after all... We was already done with electricity, lamps, calculator... Vacuum cleaner had scared her quite a bit. I didn't really have a TV at my place, because I never cared to watch it. Everything I'm interested in is available in the Internet. And why would I bother having TV when I can watch a lot of TV-channels online? Finally, it was my PC's turn. "Now, Nighty, pay attention, for this is one of the most impressive pieces of our technology," - I didn't need to look up to realise that she was burning with excitement, - "This is a personal computer. It's a complicated machine, which can be applied for a lot of things. Let me give you a demonstration." I turned it on. Indeed, after bringing Nightmare to my apartment my mind was too preoccupied with thoughts about her, so I didn't even get a chance to turn my PC on and start browsing Internet again. The loading screen has appeared: "Right now, it's checking every part or device it consists of and making sure they all are ok and ready to do their job. Oh, and now it's loading an operating system. Operating System is something like a mind for this machine. It allows you to use each of the devices and keeps everything organized." Nightmare was so lost in my words and what she was witnessing that she almost forgot to breath. Now, that's the level of excitement. Finally, the login screen appeared. "And now it's asking me to enter the password so it would understand it's really me and noone else using it right now." "Oh, how stunning! Can you tell me your password? Can you? Can you? Please?" - that filly was more than just excited. I giggled a bit. "Sure, Nighty. It's EskY2cp5rec," - I stated, making sure my voice sounded like it was nothing unusual. The effect didn't take long to appear. "W... what? I... is that even a word?!" - she was confused again. And back to her adorableness beyond measure. "Of course not. The words proved themselves useless as the passwords. So, humans started to use different combinations of capital and small letters, and also digits as the passwords." "F... FF... FASCINATING!!!" Great, now my ears are going to ring. "Aaaaanyway, " - I said, rolling my eyes, - "Now it's ready for work. Let me show you some things it can do." I could feel her entire focus returning to the screen as I decided to open a 'Start' menu and launch a calculator program. "Looks familiar?" "I-It does! Is... is that a calculator too?" Yep, she's learning fast. That's a good thing. "Indeed, it is. But it's a bit more functional version of it, which can handle some advanced mathematics the previous one couldn't. However, it's only one thing of many this machine is capable of. Here, let me show you something completely different from any calculating business," - I smiled and closed the calculator, then clicking on a shortcut with a title 'Zuma' on it, - "Now, wait for it... Here it goes!" "Wow, the picture has changed all of sudden! What did you do? Tell me!" - she didn't bother to hide even a bit of her excitement. "Well, I gave my computer a command to start this game for me. And so it did! Now, let's see if you're going to like this game..." Explaining the rules went swimmingly, because Nightmare Moon had been paying her full attention to me. It didn't take long for her to ask me if she could try the game. Teaching her to use the mouse was piece of cake as well, and I'm glad she still had her telekinetic powers. But I could not possibly imagine how much she was going to love playing Zuma... "YES! TAKE THAT, YOU FOOLISH COLOR BALLS! I HAVE DEFEATED YOU!!!" "Nighty, Nighty... Please, don't be that loud," - I hated to ruin her fun, but I couldn't risk waking the entire house up. As soon as my little sister had realised her behaviour, she quickly silenced herself and gave me a sheepish smile. As cute as ever. "Nighty, you see... Just like ponies, the most humans sleep at night. And that includes my neighbours. I'm sure they would not appreciate being woken up in the middle of their sleep." I couldn't help but feel how my speech was depressing Nightmare, and I knew why, so I had to be really gentle on that subject. "They deserve their rest, Nighty... But we still can have our fun. We just need to be quiet. Quiet as... night." That's implication had made her smile, and before she knew it, she had returned to the game, reaching the next level. That time it was a level with two roads of balls. "There... there are TWO tracks now?" - she asked me in disbelief. But I new just the way to encourage her. "What's wrong, Nighty? You're not up for a real challenge?" - I said, giving her a sly smile and arching an eyebrow. That had made her gasp audibly. "Wha~?! Oh, it is SO on!" And with that, she focused her attention on the game again. "Well, that was a lot of fun, wasn't it?" - I asked, closing the game and returning to the desktop again. "F-fun? What's fun?" I mentally facepalmed. Of course... She's never had any fun before! Well, I sure owed her a bit of speech then. "Ok, Nighty. Let's see if you can figure out the answer to your own question. Tell me, what did you feel while playing the game?" - a simple question, yet I couldn't wait to see how much answering it would make Nightmare learn about herself. "What I... felt? Uh..." - she took a pause and soon obviously became lost in her thoughts. I smiled, seeing it as a good sign. After all, it was showing that she tried to figure out the emotions which were so rare to her. Maybe she had never felt anything quite like that before! Seriously, how could I possibly know? "I'm not sure..." - she finally returned from wherever her mind had taken her to, - "But... it did feel good. I just... I can't really put my hoof on it!" "Let me help you with that. Do the words 'joy', 'happiness', 'excitement' and 'glee' ring any bells?" - I carefully chose my words, hoping not to touch anything too personal for her. "Well... I don't know. Maybe? I never really experienced the most of those feelings... Or maybe it's my memory failing me again. But I did feel excited." "Well, then maybe you've just experienced them for the first time. Anyway, I'm pretty sure you did have fun playing that game!" - I stated with a smile on my face to encourage her. And it helped. "Are there any other ways to experience this... fun?" Now, that's more like it! I'm sure she had no idea how much spot on she was with that phrase. But all in good time... "Well, aside from games, there are a lot of other ways you can entertain yourself while using a PC. For example, you can watch movies! You see, movies are something like the animated pictures. Watching an interesting movie is almost like watching an interesting scene from somewhere noone can see you. Except what happens in the movies is not actually real. Hm... how do I explain it? Well, imagine that you read an interesting story. Only instead of reading you actually watch the events of that story happening right in front of your eyes!" "That sounds.... AMAZING!" Urgh... She's just a little filly now, remember? "Nighty, what did I tell you about talking loud at night?" - I said. That's when I had noticed a visible shiver running down her fur. "I... I'm sorry, b-brother..." Something was wrong. All of sudden she looked really shaken and stressed. Did I just bring back some... unpleasant memories? I almost gasped at that thought. I had to comfort her. "Sh... It's okay, little sister, it can happen to any of us," - I embraced her gently, pulling you into the comforting warmth once again. I'm not sure how, but it did a great job calming her down, repelling whatever fears she had. It also gave me a wonderful opportunity to feel that she was real and not just a dream. After holding her close for a few more moments, I whispered: "Would you like to watch a movie?" She immediately jumped. "Would I?!" - she gasped in joy, then tried to cease her excitement and act like a princess should - "I.. mean... I would like that very much, brother." That only earned her a chuckle from me. "Alright then, let's pick up a movie and enjoy it together," - I said, starting to browse my movies folder. There was a lot of different movies there: the films, the shows, the cartoons... I wanted to find something, ehm... bright for her to watch. Something that would make her forget about any fears and even the fact that she's all alone in this world. Something nice enough to make her watch it over and over again. And then it hit me... "Are you sure they can't hear us?" - Nightmare whispered in my ear, and I couldn't help but smile and press pause. "I'm absolutely positive about that, little sis. See? It's just a movie. I can stop it whenever I want, or even make it go back to the beginning or any other part you'd like to watch again. As many times as needed." "That is most impressive!" - she commented, not afraid of being heard by the movie characters any longer, - "I just wanted to say... That dog's voice sounds oddly familiar to me." I smiled. I knew exactly why that would be true. "It should. But, Nighty, as I promised, I'll explain everything to you a bit later, along with where exactly you heard that voice before." "O-okay..." - she sounded confused, though I felt she did trust me. "So, shall we continue with the movie?" - as soon as I said that, her excitement came back. "Of course we shall! I can't wait to see how this turns out, " - she almost squeed as she said that. I only smiled and pressed 'play'. Maybe you've already figured that out, but just in case you haven't, I'll say it: we was watching 'Littlest Pet Shop'. No wonder Nightmare Moon recognized the voice of Zoe Trent. After all, that dog and Princess Celestia possess the voice of the very same actress! Yeah, I wonder how I'm going to explaing THAT to her... But anyway, my little sister seemed to be completely mesmerized by the first episode again as soon as I let it continue. I have to say, just like in case with 'My Little Pony' episodes, you don't really notice the time when you watch 'Littlest Pet Shop' ones. They have quite a similar... atmosphere? I'm not sure how to describe it, but you watch them at ease, it's like you just absorb them, gobble them up like a food. And after you do that, you just want more. And it looked like Nightmare could feel that effect to it's full extend. Her eyes were tied to the screen. She was worrying about the characters, feeling their joy, having fun with them like if she was there, in the movie. Well, she IS from the movie herself, after all, isn't she? I couldn't help but wonder what her reaction was going to be like when I show it to her... "Oh, that was... ehm, how do you call it, Eclipse?" - she said that and I felt my heart skip a beat as she called me by that name for the first time. "You mean 'fun', Nighty?" "Oh, yes! Yes, it was fun!" - she exclaimed joyfully. You know, I used the think that I would give anything to see Luna that joyful... Well, I was a bit wrong. Seeing Nightmare Moon experiencing such a sheer joy and happiness felt so much better for some reason. The time passed by unnoticed. Wow, and I thought I didn't know how to spend this night... But, unfortunately, the night couldn't last forever, even with Nightmare Moon being in this world and sitting on my knees as we both watched yet another episode. I've noticed the first rays of the Sun entering my room. "Well, Nighty, I think it's time for us to get some rest. After all, I didn't sleep tonight at all, and, as you can see, it's already a dawn..." - I said and stood up, taking her in my hands and tenderly sitting her on the chair. "Awww... Why did the night have to end so soon?" - her voice sounded so adorable with that 'aww' sound, - "I want to spend more time with my brother!" Oh, how delightful it was to hear her speaking so highly of me... "And so you shall, Nighty. I'll just have my sleep, and you should get yours too! Then I promise I'll cook something tasty for us to eat and we'll return to spending time together," - I said the truth. We sure were going to spend a lot of time together. "Aww...kay. But can you..." - she took a pause and I saw the fur on her face going a bit purple again, - "Ehm... can I... uh... Can you... cuddle me? Please?" That I did not expect. But how could I say 'no' to such a cute little filly? Moreover, how can I say 'no' to my little sister? "Of course, Nighty, come here," - I said, moving a bit to give her enough space to settle in, - "Mind telling me what's scaring you?" "I'm not scared. It... it just feels nice to be in your arms. It feels... safe," - her voice sounded sincere and I had a really hard time trying to hold back the tears of happiness and pride, - "Brother? I... I think some of my memory is starting to return." Wow, that was fast, even too fast... "I think... I think I remember something about humans. They are believed to be just a myth." She giggled and poked my nose. "You are a myth!" "Actually... I'm a mythter." A moment of silence. And then we both were holding our stomachs, laughing out loud. I really have to thank 'Littlest Pet Shop' script writers for that joke someday... Author's Note Well, I really can't say much here. I just hope you were looking forward to this chapter and enjoyed it. Also, I wonder how many idiots tried to login as me, using the password from this chapter. Chapter 2: Laugh it up!Chapter 2: Laugh it up! ~~~ • ~~~ It was a strange sensation. Cold, silent... and completely dark space was all that surrounded me. I didn't know where exactly I was, but what I knew for sure was the fact I wasn't alone. Someone was there... but where? And who? Wait... How did I ever end up getting here? I couldn't give even a vague answer to any of those questions. Yet, for some reason, I wasn't frightened by that fact at all. What was really scaring me was that feeling of a mysterious presence somewhere near. Then I noticed that I was actually moving, walking forward. No wonder I've noticed it just now... It's pitch dark in here. And then I felt an impact. No, noone attacked me... In fact, it was quite vise versa: I hit whoever it was as I couldn't see where I was going. The reaction didn't make me wait too long... "Who... who's there?!" - said the demanding, yet scared voice. The voice I would recognize anywhere. "N... Nighty? Nighty, is that you?" - I replied as soon as I got over the shock. "Eclipse? Brother! Yes, yes it's me! Where are you?" - as she was talking, I followed her voice and touched her again. I couldn't see her, but that didn't prevent me from pulling her in a tight hug. "I'm here, Nighty... I'll be okay, little sis," - how pathetic of me it was to try and calm little filly down when I didn't even know where we were in the first place. "B... But, where are we? I don't remember us going anywhere... except bed, that is." Bingo! How did I not think of that? Of course, it was just a dream! And with her abilities and us being so physically close in reality... It couldn't be much of a suprise that she invaded my dreams. "Nighty? I think you need to focus. We're still in the bed, fast asleep... This is just a dream. You can control the dreams. And it looks like you've just entered mine," - I was making a point... but it didn't quite cut it. "I... see. But why can't I see anything? How can I control something I cannot even see?" - her thinking was as good as ever. It took me a few seconds of silence to think of a proper answer. "I can't tell for sure, but I just think that... maybe you've entered my dream before it even started. And now it's held in your power, so you can shape it into anything," - I took a pause as the idea crossed my mind, - "In fact, now, that I know it's just a dream..." I tried to focus. Even though I couldn't see anything, I closed my eyes and tried to think of something to appear. Something nice... Something that would impress Nightmare. The pictures of the night skies from The Elder Scrolls games came into my mind. And before I knew it... "WHOA!!! ECLIPSE, IT'S SOOOOO BEAUTIFUL!" - a loud gasp from my little sister had made my eyes shot open. And as soon as I did that, I wished I'd never need to close them again. Remember the astral place Twillight went to before becoming an alicorn? Well, what I saw was exactly that, except the view around was replaced by the mixed pictures of the skies from Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim. It was breathtaking even for a dream... No wonder Nighty is so excited. "Well, Nighty, it looks like I have just as much control over my dream now. Thank you for visiting me here, little sis," - I smiled tenderly and poked her nose as we could already see each other just fine with so many lights around us. She giggled. "You know what that means, right?" - she was excited about something. I couldn't help but wonder: "What, sweetie?" "Going to bed no longer means stop spending time together!" - she exclaimed, throwing hooves over her head, - "This is SO amazing! What do we do now, brother? Can you bring your... ehm... smart machine here so we could play more games?" To be honest, that caught me a bit off-guard. Of course, I could imagine my PC and it would appear here with all the games and movies... But it was a dream. A realm of endless possibilities. I couldn't waste such a chance... I had to think of something special. And then it hit me. Nighty was trying her best to look away from me, but even doing so didn't help her brightly burning purple blush. Who would have ever guessed that the Nightmare Moon is actually such a shy filly... But that was true. Maybe she just needed somepony to encourage her. "I know you like it, little sis. Why are you trying to look away then?" - I asked teasingly. That only had made her blush even more. Awww, how cute! "I... I know. I-It's just..." - she began, then stopped herself, thinking about what to say, - "A-a-I... I can't... " No matter how hard she tried, she didn't seem to be able to squeeze at least one sentence out of her mouth. Hm... maybe I overdid it. But then again, it was my goal to impress her, and that's exactly what she was: highly impressed. Okay, maybe a bit too impressed. "Hey, don't worry so much, little sis. It's only us over here... Just tell me what's on your mind," - those words had managed to calm her down a bit, helping her focus on her own thoughts. "You... You're so beautiful, brother," - she finally said. It was my turn to blush now. Okay, okay, I get it. Stop giving me that look, please! I was just about to tell you exactly what the hay was going on, alright? Let me get right to it... Before the little filly Nightmare Moon was standing a large alicorn stallion with glowing green eyes. His entire chest was bathing in obsidian crystals, a bit of which also was on his sides and back. The wings he possessed were larger than Celestia's, and their bones also had a bit of obsidian armor. The mane and tail of the staliion, while being way smaller than Celestia's, were waving in just as beautiful way and consisted only of shadows. Which means they were just as dark as his coat. In other words, it was an image of a perfect brother for Nightmare Moon. "Thank you so much, little sis..." That's right, one more thing I need to mention: the voice of the stallion was deep as Void and had a nice echo. "Oh, I wish this dream would never end!" - that made me frown. I knew she was a filly. I knew she was excited. But I also knew that some things must be taught at a young age... And that's when I realised something: the chance of changing her for the good was in my ~~hands~~ hooves at the moment. "Listen, Nighty..." - my voice had gain a serious tone, maybe even more than I wanted it to, - "There is something I need to talk to you about... Something I need you to understand." I could tell all of her attention was focused on me, my words sinking in. I hated to wipe that sweet smile from her face, but that's exactly what my voice did. She knew it was going to be a serious talk, and I honestly doubt she was happy about it. Yet from what I saw I could tell she had enough respect for me not to let even a bit of her frustration show. She was listening. Nightmare Moon was looking me in the eyes and listening to every word I say... I couldn't be any more honored. "You have just said you would like this dream to never end. But it must end when the time comes. The time you spend asleep is just as important as the time you spend awake. But when one of those things starts stealing the time from the other it becomes no good. If you sleep too much, it becomes just as bad for your health as being awake for too long. Only by keeping things in harmony you can save your good health. The same goes for the night. The night is just as important as the day. The day and it's Sun provide the world energy to move on and develop... The night and it's Moon provide the world the rest it needs after every day. Winter is just as important as Summer. And for quite similar reasons. Noone likes having a bad day... Yet bad days are important too." The confusion my last sentence provided made her cut me off... Pretty much expected. "But how can the bad day be important, brother? Wouldn't you want your life consist only of the good ones?" That was exactly the question I wanted her to ask me. The question I had an answer for. "If you live a life full of good days, you forget what a good day means and stop appreciating it." It took a few seconds for my sentence to sink in Nightmare's mind. She opened her mouth several times to respond, she looked ready to protest... Yet every time he ended up closing it in defeat as nothing came out. She lowered her head, sighing. "I guess you have a good point here, Eclipse. And besides, I shouldn't be sad about this dream ending anytime soon. After all, that would only lead to us continuing spending time together in reality." I put my hoof on hear head and stroked it gently and lovingly: "That's the pure truth, my little sister. Plus we'll have something tasty to eat." I heard her giggling at that. However, soon I could feel the cold wind starting to come from nowhere, getting stronger with each passing second as the borders of my dream started to get blurry. "You see this, Nighty? I suppose, it means I'm about to wake up," - I said that and her face instantly became decorated with a frown, - "No worries, sweetie... You will be awake soon as well, I believe. I'm not leaving you, and you know that." Her smile was the last thing I saw before my dream was shattered to pieces. I have to say, it was a pleasant feeling to be surrounded by such a warmth after experiencing a cold wind in my dream before waking up. I opened my eyes slowly. And the smile came across my face as soon as I did that. I had no idea she's even more beautiful when she sleeps... You know what? I take it back. The really pleasant feeling was holding her in a loving embrace, experiencing her coat rubbing against me as she breathed peacefully. I looked around. Judging by the amount of light, it was already evening. But there sure was plenty of time before the sunset, and I knew exactly what I had to do. I did my best to leave the bed as careful as possible: I didn't want to disturb the little filly's sleep. I figured out she was going to wake up naturally when the sun sets completely. And there was a promise that needed to be fulfilled before that happened. I have to mention one more this about myself now: whenever I set my mind on something, I just stop noticing everything else. And at that moment my mind was set on surprising Nightmare with something delicious... something she had never eaten before. And I had the exact idea in mind... Cooking borsch is never too much fun, since it takes quite a while. It was a good thing I had a meat broth ready, it did save me a couple of hours. Now, now, I know ponies don't eat meat. But there was no actual meat, only a broth. And since every other ingredient for the borsch was a vegetable, I figured it was not going to do any harm to little filly's stomach. At the same time, I knew that a well-cooked borsch is always delicious and she sure never tried it before. It turned out I was right about heading straight to the kitchen and starting to cook right away, not wasting a minute. As soon as the borsch was ready, I could hear the sound of tiny steps coming closer. I turned around to see Nighty entering the kitchen. About time... The sun was almost down, so my guess about her waking up time was correct. "Good evening to you, sister of mine," - once again my attempt to sound solemn turned out to be a kind and warm tone. She smiled, looking up at me and rubbing her left eye with a hoof. "Good evening, brother," - she said before yawning unprincesslike, - "What is it that smells so delicious?" Hearing that was already a good enough praise for my hard work. "Well, that's exactly what I promised you yesterday. Remember when I said that I was going to cook something delicious for you? Well, you've just admitted that it seems to be delicious enough." When I said that I was expecting a smile, blush, giggle... I could think of a lot of things, but the shock that came across her face was not one of them. What's... going on? I was lost in my thoughts, trying to figure out if I accidentally said something wrong. I had to think of something, and fast! For there were the tears already appearing in her beautiful eyes. But I didn't do anything wrong, I knew it! All I did was trying my best to keep the promise I gave her. Wait a second... Is she so shocked because I actually kept my promise? Before I could give that idea a second thought, the crying filly flew at me faster than a bullet and a second later she was already hanging from my neck, holding me in a tight embrace. "YOU ARE THE BEST BIG BROTHER EEEEEVEEEEEEER!!!" - she exclaimed through the stream of her tears. The only thing I could do for her at the moment was returning the affection and holding her close. "Sshhh, Nighty... Don't cry. I try to be the best brother I can possibly be for you, sweetie... Because you deserve nothing less." The next ten minutes were spent cuddling, until Nightmare had managed to calm herself down. Then I decided to carry her to the bathroom and help her wash a face up and get ready for the ~~day~~ night. She didn't say anything. She couldn't say anything, to be exact. She was too busy eating. I didn't even remind her about manners... Instead, I simply smiled as I watched her gobbling up a huge bowl of borsch. It was the third one already. The only thing she said after tasting the first drop was asking for more. And, to be honest, I could not had dreamt of a higher praise. However, it seemed like the third bawl was enough for her, which meant her ability to talk was finally back. "Never..." - she said in between her panting, - "Never before I have tasted... something... THIS good!" I only smiled in response, she was so adorable at the moment. Hay, she is ALWAYS adorable, isn't she? Well, I can't argue with that. "I'm really happy to see you loved it..." - I took a pause before mimicing her tone, - "THIS much!" She giggled. And once again, I almost died of cuteness. In fact, even after all the time we spent together, I still couldn't believe that she was real and sitting there, right in front of me, that I could talk to her, touch her, hold her in my arms. It felt too good to be true. Regardless, it was pretty much real. And so the feeling of happiness was overwhelming me. And I was happy about many things. Not only I had a cute filly version of Nightmare Moon living in my apartment and calling me her big brother, but also I had a wonderful chance of raising her the right way, teaching her the right things and helping her become the best pony she could possibly be. It was an amazing feeling. "So, brother, what shall we do now?" That question had snaped me back from my thoughts. Indeed, what to do now? "Hm, I don't know... You feel like watching the next episode of 'Littlest Pet Shop'?" She gasped. "THERE IS MORE?!" Yup, she was as excited as ever. It's settled then... "AAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW..." Well, I have to say, the combination of a cute "aw" and Royal Canterlot Voice is certainly something. Yet, before I could give it a second thought I was distracted by the feeling of a certain little filly jumping up and down on my knees. "It's so nice they are friends again! I hated seeing them both sad... Though, I must say that I liked some of those offensive jokes," - she giggled as she said that, - "But she should have never overstepped her bounds." She added with a more serious tone as she stopped bouncing. "You see, Nighty," - I began as my hand was already stroking her mane, - "Some only learn their lessons the hard way. That is why you should always think about the consequences before doing something you're not sure about. Pepper ended up hurting her friend, when the only thing she intended to do was making Penny Ling laugh. I believe it feels awful when instead of a smile you bring a frown to a face of someone you care about." I stopped when I noticed the look on Nightmare's face. She was looking at me, her eyes wide open, her features serious, her ears catching every word. She was learning. I was actually teaching her some wisdom. That thought had sent a shiver down my spine... I was doing it. I was raising a better Luna. I was giving her what she deserved: a loving and caring older sibling. "Brother... what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Her innocent sweet voice snapped me from my stupor. I didn't even notice I was actually crying. When did I even start crying? I, however, had a more important matter to pay attention to: what was I going to tell her? "Oh, it's... it's nothing, sweetie. For a moment, I just imagined what that feeling would be like. And believe me... It felt, like, really bad." Phew! That reply seemed good enough for her to buy. And so she did... "I do believe it does feel awful..." Suddenly, she stood up and leaned against me, pressing her forelegs against my face: "Smile for me, brother. I hate seeing you sad..." That's... so touching... I couldn't help but wrap my arms around her and pull her closer to me. She didn't resist. In fact, a moment later I could feel her forelegs embracing my neck. We spent the next few minutes like that, holding each other close and not saying a word. No words needed to be said: our embrace expressed just how much we cared for one another. I cared for her... And she cares for me... "Take this, you filthy pigs!" - she exclaimed, launching another bird. That's right, we'd been playing Angry Birds that time. Nightmare Moon seemed to love playing games so much, especially the games where you could improve your result and find a better, creative way to solve the task. I just smiled, watching her silently. Her focus was absolute, and I sure didn't want to disturb it. Especially since she was no longer using Royal Canterlot Voice at night. "There! I did it! I've got all three stars!" She was so happy. She was herself, no mask was needed anymore, no feelings had to be concealed. Moreover... she was just having fun. She felt joy. She knew someone cared about her and was there to share her feelings. She was happy... and so was I. "You're so funny, Nighty..." - my voice seemed to distract her from the game. She giggled. "And what's so funny about me?" "I don't know... I just want to smile all the time when I'm with you." She giggled again. Does she have to be so cute all the time? "You're the one who's funny!" "Oh, really? How so?" - I said as her statement caught me off guard. "You're funny because you think I'm funny," - she put her hoof to her mouth and chuckled softly, turning to face me. Then she beeped my nose playfully. My smile could rival Pinkie's. However, my track of thoughts was soon disturbed by Nighty's giggling getting louder until she burst into a laughter, collapsing on my knees and starting to roll around. I don't know why, but just looking at that scene had made me want to laugh as well. "Brother... " - she said as she managed to catch her breath between her laughter, - "Why... Why are we laughing?" "I... Haha... I don't know!" - I exclaimed, laughing out loud as well. I really didn't know why. There was no logical explanation, no obvious reason. Noone had even said a funny joke! I just laughed. And so did she. But through that laughter I could feel how we were becoming closer. How a certain sort of spark was ignited in our hearts. I know it sounds silly now as I look back at it, but it doesn't sound any less true. It was a spark that brings people together, the spark that makes them understand how much they enjoy spending time with one another, no matter what it would be: a game, a movie or a simple talk. The thing is just that spending some time together makes them smile. And that is all that matters. All the bad feelings, worries, fears, doubts.... Everything negative was left behind that laughter. It was rushing through our very souls, washing away everything that made us different, helping us see what made us alike. In the realm of that laughter we were no longer the dark princess of the night and an ordinary human. We were... just us, I suppose. Just the two beings having a good time. Having a good time... together. Everything else didn't matter at that moment. The force of laughter had made everything else just... fade away just for the two of us. It all starts with laughter... Author's Note Now these points of data Make a beautiful line. And we're out of beta, We're releasing on time. GLaDOS Seriously, I was afraid I wasn't going to make it in time... I'm so glad I've managed to prove me wrong. I'm just so sorry this chapter happened to be so super short. Forgive me? Also, is there anypony who had understood that the template for Eclipse's pony form was Obsidian Destroyer/Outworld Devouver from Dota 2?
Prologue: The lonely MoonPrologue: The lonely Moon. ~~~ • ~~~ A royal castle looked even more beatiful during a sunset. It's majestic shapes gained a special grace as they were bathing in the orange lights reflected from the trees, which surrounded the entire place. The daytime was over as the last rays of the Sun started to fade into the darkness. "It is done" - the soft, yet solemn voice spoke. It belonged to the beatiful alicorn mare, whose body was white as a pure light and mane pink and sparkling. She had a sun as her cutiemark, which only seemed to make her look even more graceful. "Alright, Luna... You may take it from here," - she said with a voice betraying her as the notes of tiredness started to ring through her usually calm tone stripped of any emotions. The young and very excited alicorn filly appearead in the doorway of balcony, quickly trotting to the larger mare. Her coat was blue, with a few dark patches on it and a cutiemark of a quater moon on her flank. Her mane wasn't sparkling at all, yet had a soft cyan shade. She then stopped and proclaimed in a childish, yet solemn voice: "Fear not, sister of mine. Thou may rest as we shalt guard the night!" The alabaster alicorn was obviously tired as she gave the filly a weak smile and disappeared in a doorway. The younger one paid no mind as she had focused on something and it was obvious that she wasn't going to let her concentration fade. Soon, her horn lit with a soft light and she started to rise in the air, spreading her wings. At the very same moment her mane started to sparkle, just like her sister's one, and the Moon appeared in the sky, starting to rise higher, spreading it's soft light, the very same light the filly's horn was lit with, all over the tender surface of the beautiful land. The nighttime has begun. The young filly landed on the balcony softly, she was panting a bit. Yet, she looked happy as she gazed into the night skies. Her horn produced the soft glow once again, and one by one, the stars started to appear in the sky, adding their tiny light to the moonlight. The more time filly spent on the balcony, focusing on her spell, the more stars appeared in the sky, forming the beautiful arrays and making the night something... more than just a night. It was now a work of art, the art of the little alicorn filly. Luna's art. Suddenly, a spark flashed in her eyes and she gasped, as if she had just realized what a beauty she was creating. "'Tia hast to see this!" - and with those words, Luna has disappeared in a doorway. Whenever Celestia looked tired, that meant she was actually exhaused. And that was one of those days. Visiting ten different cities to attend the meetings with their mayors, having to make sure sun spread just the right amount of heat over the soil for the current season and, of course, a lot of paperwork. She fell asleep as soon as her hooves touched her bed and her head felt the softness of a pillow beneath it. However, that peaceful slumber was not fated to last for a long time... "'Tia! 'Tia!" - the high-pitched voice of an adorable young alicorn woke her up, - "Thou hast to see what I just did!" She was so excited that she had even forgotten about her usual formal "we". Celestia did her best to supress the groan. She didn't have time for that right now. "What is it, Luna? I'm so tired... It's been such a long day an-" - she didn't manage to finish her sentence as the excited filly was already jumping on the chest of her big sister. "It's the sky! Oh, 'Tia, please, thou hast to see it! I worked so very hard to move the stars in such a beautiful array!" So, that was it? That was the reason she had to wake her exhausted sister up? Celestia gave the filly a confused look, she had to remain calm, to be a good example for her younger sibling. "Not tonight, Luna..." - she sighed and closed her eyes, slowly shaking her head from side to side - "You don't want to know what I passed through today and-" "Oh... It... it's fine, sister," - Luna's voice was stripped of her excitement and started to shake ever so slightly, - "Sorry I woke thou up." She jumped off of the bed and walked towards doorway slowly. If Celestia wasn't so exhausted, she could have probably noticed that the filly's colors had gained a darker shade. Luna didn't turn her head as she spoke: "It... it's just that I'm feeling a bit longely again... hehe..." She gave a small, nervous laughter, and anypony who would hear it could tell how bitter that laughter sounded. Anypony, except Celestia: she was too exhausted to notice. As Luna had left the room, her older sister let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding. Any issue could wait until the morning. The sleep was more important at the moment. Celestia awoke to the rays of the morning sun entering her room and laying on her face tenderly. She smiled and let out a yawn, still refusing to open her eyes. The rays of that precious light felt so nice against her skin, she never felt such a huge desire to sleep in. Because never before she woke up to the warm sunlight. Celestia froze. The sun was spreading it's rays all over the room. HER sun. Her eyes shot open instantly and she was out of her bed before she knew it. She galloped to the balcony with the speed that could rival actually teleporting there. What she found there was her little sister, sitting on the floor and panting hard. She turned her head to the sound of Celestia's hoofsteps, and an elder alicorn didn't need to look twice to realise that Luna was utterly exhaused. But, despite he tiredness, her eyes were shining with glee and happiness. "G... Good morrow, 'Tia..." - the filly said between panting. Celestia was speechless. Had Luna really just raised the sun? "I... I saw how tired thou were yesterday... So... So I thought..." "Luna!" - Celestia's voice interrupted the speech of the exhausted filly, - "What did I tell you about rising the Sun?" The spark of glee disappeared from Luna's eyes and she lowered her gaze as she spoke: "Thou... Thou told me not to try and move it..." Her voice was barely a whisper by the end of the sentence. "And I told you that for a reason, Luna," - Celestia's voice was far from happy, - "Look at yourself now! You could have exhausted yourself so much your life would be in danger!" "But-" - Luna's voice started to shake again, and panting had nothing to do with it. "No, Luna, I don't want to hear it." "But I-" "Go to your room and rest, Luna. Now!" The young alicorn filly stood up and slowly followed her sister's orders. She knew she had no choice. When Luna disappeared in a doorway, Celestia let out a sigh and looked at the sky. Luna barely managed to lift the Sun slightly above the horizon, so Celestia still had work to do. She focused on her spell and her horn gained the golden glow. She never heard the quiet sobs coming from behind her. Yet another sleepless night. During her rule, Celestia got used to them. It wasn't the first one and, of course, it sure wasn't the last. Paperwork, lots and lots of paperwork... Who would ever think the foundation of just one new city could result in tons of paperwork? And that paperwork was Celestia's job for the night. Because she had to spend the entire day attending yet another "ribbon-cutting ceremony", and then the "high-society" party to celebrate the foundation of the city of Fillydelphia. No need to say, by the end of the day she was exhausted. Celestia never liked a paperwork. It always seemed like no matter how many papers she filled, she would simply never reach the end of the stack. She sighed, putting yet another paper down and levitated the next one towards herself as she- "'Tia! 'Tia!" - the voice coming from behind had nearly made her accidentally push the entire stack of papers onto the floor. "I did it! I finally did it! Come, thou hast to see it!" - with those words the very excited alicorn filly took her sister's hoof in her own and pulled. Celestia didn't even know her younger sibling had so much strength. Being pulled from her work in such a rough manner annoyed her greatly, but she had to remain her composure. "What is it, Luna?" - she said, trying her best to keep her voice calm and solemn, so her emotions would not be revealed. Luna just kept pulling her sister towards the doorway, she was more excited than ever before. "A starrain! I hast finally managed to create the rain of stars! Thou hast to see it, it's so gorgeous!" "You mean the shooting stars?" - a small smile found it's way on Celestia's face, the smile of pride and happiness - "Oh, Luna, that... that is impressive!" "Come on, sister! Let us share the glee of my beautiful night! Thou need'st to forget about thine work sometimes." Luna was right, Celestia still had work to do. And if she left it for tomorrow, she might as well forget about sleep for yet another night. "Sorry, Luna... Not tonight," - it pained Celestia to refuse her sister's offer, but she really had no choice, - "I have too much work, I don't even think I'll have time to sleep this night." The work had to be done. "B... But sister, I-" "I'm sorry, Luna." Everything else could wait until the next time. "B-But I worked so hard-" "I can't go with you." There will always be next time for the things like that. "You... You don't un-" "Luna, please, listen to m-" - Celestia never finished that sentence as the loud resonating scream interrupted her. The next second Luna ran through the doorway, not caring to hold her tears back any longer. Celestia let out a long sigh. "I'll have to talk to her in the morning," - and with that, she returned to her work. Luna curled up in her bed, the tears running down her cheeks. The very same tears she cried every night. The tears of despair, the tears of frustration, but mostly... the tears of loneliness. She couldn't even remember the last time she didn't feel lonely. It was like she felt lonely from the very day she was born. Sometimes, she stopped and asked herself: who is she? The answer was obvious: she was Luna, the Princess of the Night. But... what did it mean to the others? What did it mean to her sister? What did it mean to herself? Did it... really mean anything? Anything except the eternal loneliness, that is. She hoped so. Desperatelly, whole-heartedly she hoped it meant something. Something that would make her special, important to the other ponies. But all she saw them doing during her night was sleeping. Nopony was out there, enjoying the peace and beauty of a resting land, a tender moonlight or a soft night breeze. And it didn't matter how creative Luna became with her sky: nether the amount of stars, nor the way she organized them could change that. She was all by herself. And even her sister wasn't there for her. Even her sister... With her eyes covered in tears, Luna didn't notice her colors getting darker as the new feeling had appeared in her heart: the feeling of rejection. The years flew by, both Celestia and Luna became wiser, stronger and even more beautiful. Day by day, they ruled Equestria together, keeping everything in perfect harmony. But some things never change. Some pain doesn't get easier with time. Through all those years, Luna hadn't managed to get used to her loneliness. It kept eating her heart from inside, it kept bringing tears to hear eyes. Indeed, some pain only gets worse with time. The younger alicorn didn't even notice when she started to take offence in the fact that the other ponies spent so much time with her sister, showering her with praise and adoration when Luna got nothing of that. What started as a simple feeling of injustice then grew through jealousy and bloomed into the pure hatred. The hatred towards her own sister. The aweful feeling Luna couldn't stand, but it only kept getting worse. Day by day, she kept watching her sister getting complimented wherever she went, everypony bowed their heads to her and only dared to use the words "Your Majesty" while addressing to her. But worse of all was the Summer Sun Celebration. It was like a direct insult to Luna's heart. It was a celebration of the Sun. The celebration where everypony praised Celestia and her precious sun, thanking her for providing them such a nice daytime. And nopony, absolutely nopony had ever thanked Luna for her night. For the rest she provided the land tired from the day's heat, for the beautiful piece of art she turned the skies into, for the stars that were believed to grant the most sacred of wishes... No, Luna was never praised. Luna was lonely, sad and... forsaken. "Not another step!" - Luna's voice resonated through almost empty throne room. She walked from her throne and looked down on Celestia. Her eyes were shining with pain and hatred she's been collecting in her heart through all of those years. "Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all bath in your precious light?!" - she let the venom in her voice envelop the word "precious" as she kept talking, her voice rising, - "There can only be one princess in Equestria! And that princess SHALL BE ME!!!" And with that, the Princess of the Night let her forehooves stomp and shake the floor of the royal castle. That was it. The shadow started to crawl up the wall behind her back, along with the large crack, until the wall couldn't take it anymore and broke, letting the sunlight into the throne room. Luna let her horn glow with the light of her magic and the Moon has appeared in the sky, starting to rise towards the sun, until the source of the daylight was completely eclipsed. At that very moment the shadows surrounded the Lunar Princess and sealed her in their darkness, forming a large dark orb. When the darkness had faded, the mare that was standing before Celestia could no longer be called Luna. She was something else, something much... darker. Her coat was completely black, the pupils of her eyes were serpentine and she was almost twice as big as Luna. She laughed loudly and evilly, her voice not sounding like Luna's one at all. The Solar Goddess didn't have time to shake off her shock as the dark mare made her move, blasting the ray of her energy at the ceiling, making a large hole in it and letting the moonlight fill almost entire throne room. Celestia tried to use her chance and escape through that hole, so she could think of something and figure out how to stop that villain her own sister had become, but she didn't have such a chance as the mare fired another beam, now directly at her. She barely managed to dodge it. "Luna! I will not fight you. You must lower the moon! It is your duty!" - in her desperate situation, Celestia tried to reason her sister, but that was to no avail. "Luna? I am Nightmare Moon. I have but one royal duty now: TO DESTROY YOU!" - Nightmare yelled at her ex-sister, firing yet another beam. That was Celestia's chance to escape and she took it, quickly flying up and disappearing in the hole in the ceiling. "And where do you think you're going?" - the wicked smile spread across the dark alicorn's face as she took off as well and started to chase Celestia. Both mares were soaring in the sky and a few more beams were fired, until one of them had finally hit it's target: Celestia released a screech and fell all the way back down to the throne room. Nightmare froze in the air. That was it, she had reached her goal. She had destroyed her so-called sister, which had made her life a misery! The justice had finally been served! She let herself bath in her own evil laughter again. But that moment didn't last long as Celestia rose to her hooves. "Oh, dear sister, I am sorry! But you have given me no choice but to use these!" - with those words, Celestia lit her horn, revealing the secret cache hidden in the throne room's floor. That cache contained the six powerful objects known as the Elements of Harmony. A long while ago, Celestia and Luna took them from the sacred Treee of Harmony and used them together to stop Discord's tyranny. Now, she had to use them alone. The elements surrounded Celestia's body, forming a coil as they started to twist around her, gaining the speed. Soon, the Solar Princess was glowing with the rainbow light as she took off and flew to meet Nightmare once again. Nightmare Moon didn't flinch. She knew what Celestia was going to do, but there was no going back for her at the moment. She had sacrificed everything to gain such power and she was going to give it all to that fight. So, she focused all of her energy, charging her horn and preparing to fire the last crushing beam. Celestia could see that her sister was not going to retreat, the Princess of the Day knew what she was about to do. She had finally realised that it was entirely her fault. If only she took a better care about her sister... If only she was there when her sister needed her... If only... The tears ran down her face as she fired the rainbow beam. The two beams collided and just for a moment it looked like their powers were equal. But then the rainbow beam started to overpower the dark one quickly. Nightmare Moon knew it was the end. She could see the light approaching her fast. But at least... at least that would finally be the end of her suffering, her loneliness. The light had enveloped her. The whole world looked different from the Moon. The planet, the lands of Equestria... it all was so beautiful. Yet now, it was beyond her reach. She was banished from Equestria, stripped of her title and, to add the insult to injury, her own sister, that made her life so miserable, did that to her. But there was no need to worry about it, or even get angry. She was defeated and sealed on the Moon. And the best part was that she didn't even need to get used to her new fate: her entire life wasn't really different from her current situation. The main part of her punishment was the loneliness, and she already felt lonely her entire life. Instead, it would be wiser to make an escape plan, the plan which would allow her to get back at Celestia, to make her feel her righteous wrath! Even if it would take a thousand years, Nightmare Moon didn't care about such a minor detail as time. Result was the only thing that counted to her. "At last, I am free!" - the loud voice resonated through the entire Canterlot castle, busrting into the wicked laughter. Celestia new what was coming for her, yet she didn't move a muscle. She kept sitting by her fireplace, waiting for her fate. And she didn't have to wait much longer as the shadow threw the doors of her room open and walked in. "Remember me, Celestia?" - Nightmare's voice was dripping with venom and hatred, - "It's been a while... Indeed, how long was it? A thousand years, perhaps? Oh, my, that's such a long while... But no amount of time can possibly make me forget my beloved sister!" She highlighted the word "beloved" with as much hatred as she could. Celestia didn't flinch. "I will not fight you, Luna-" "LUNA IS DEAD!" - the mare of the Moon lost her temper quickly. In fact, she never planned to keep calm, - "You killed the being known as Luna! You took away what was her by right! You weren't there when she needed a sister! You had made her life a misery!" If she wasn't blinded by her rage, Nightmare Moon would notice a tear appearing in Celestia's eye, a tear that was instantly blinked away. The Sun Goddess let out a sigh. "Do as you wish. I am no longer in possession of the Elements of Harmony, therefore I cannot stop you." That was a surprise, that was unexpected. Nightmare Moon imagined a long fight with her sister, she had dreamed about defeating her in the battle, but what did she receive instead? Celestia was willingly giving up to her supremacy and accepting her defeat without even fighting back. After a moment of shock, the wicked smile crossed the dark alicorn's face. "Well, well, well... It seems many things have changed during my absence. That makes me eager to go explore my kingdom. And yes, you heard correctly, MY kingdom. You're done, Celestia. Now, begone!" - and with those words the mare of the Moon shot the beam, banishing her ex-sister to only she knew where. "You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth Element: the Element of Magic!" - Twilight Sparkle finished her speech inspired by the magic of friendship she had just discovered. Nightmare Moon could only stand there in shock as the pieces of the destroyed elements lit and attached them to each one of the six ponies standing before her. No... Five elements transformed and formed the necklaces. No. The sixth element formed a tiara and rested on Twilight's head. No! The elements began to resonate with one another, causing the six ponies to be enveloped in the bright light. NO! Soon, the rainbow beam appeared and unleashed the power of Harmony upon Nightmare Moon. "NOOOO!!!!!!!!" - she could only scream in despair, she knew it was over. She helplessly watched the rainbow beam surrounding her. She saw the the bright colors, the blinding light and then... nothing. The void, the darkness... There are many words to describe the place where the mare of the Moon found herself after being defeated. And, to add the insult to her injury, one of those words was... ...loneliness. It was a sunny day and the weather was just fine for a nice long walk. And that's exactly what I was doing as I walked home from the place I work at. I won't hide it: I do not own any car. But I never felt bad about it. You see, I just really enjoy walking, especially while listening to some nice music. I never listened to a specific genre, or a band. I only listened to the songs. It works like this: I hear a song somewhere, I like it, I download and listen to it. Though, I must admit, my late choice of music consisted from the songs created by "My Little Pony" fans and also some original "Littlest Pet Shop" soundtrack. I love both of those shows, as you can guess. Wait a moment, why do you give me that look? Ah, I see... This is supposed to be the part where I introduce myself, isn't it? But, you know, I don't think my actual name really matters... Hold on! You'll see why it doesn't matter if you just seat back, relax and let me tell you my story. Well, I'm just a regular guy, nothing more, nothing less. I live in Russia, I'm 23 years old, I'm a programmer and also a piano player. And I'm a fan of the shows I've mentioned earlier. The story I'm going to tell you is releated to one of those shows: "My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic". I could spend hours telling you about why the show is so awesome and stuff, but if you're reading this story, you must already know all that. As much as you must know there is more to that show than just the actual episodes. Sure, there is a lot of fan-made artwork, animations, videos, songs... But the thing that makes it all so special to me is the fact that each and every character mentioned or even just shown in the episodes is an individual with a unique personality, be that by the will of show's creators or fans. And that's why even without giving a character much screen time, the show makes it possible for any person to guess the character's backstory. And if the secondary characters are so well-developed, I can't even start on how great the main ones are! Be they heroes... or villains. I'm sure every fan of the show loves a lot of characters, but can certainly name one character they love most. In my case, it's Princess Luna. And not only because a night is my favourite time of day. I love Luna for her personality: she's wise, she has her own personal style, she's understanding and kind. But that's not all. The thing is that she saved all of those qualities in her heart even when she gave in to despair and became Nightmare Moon. Of course, you can say that the Elements of Harmony have made her good, but the truth is they only dispelled her dark powers, the powers that made her Nightmare Moon. But all of her feelings remained her own. And she gave everypony the second chance only because she was willing to do so, even after a way her own sister betrayed her. You might probably want to stop me here and tell me that Celestia didn't actually betray Luna. But that's where I disagree. It doesn't take a second look to see that Nightmare Moon is... a certain state Luna was brought into. And, given her personality, I can tell it would take a lot to bring somepony with such a pure heart into that state. However, Celestia had managed to do so, and that is nothing less than a betrayal in my eyes. And even after all that happened to her, Luna was willing to give the second chance even to her sister, after how Celestia ignored her despair and loneliness back a thousand years ago, she still gave her the second chance, she was willing to trust Celestia once more. And in my opinion, only the person of the highest morality and purest heart can do such a thing. But, I digress... As I mentioned before, it was a good sunny day, but nothing out of ordinary. Well... maybe the temperature was higher than normal, but aside from that I can't say something made that day special. Oh, I've forgotten to mention... I hate the heat. And to me, the temperatures of 28°C and 35°C don't make a big difference: I hate both. As I walked down the street, I looked at the sky, only to see not a single cloud up there. Damn it. I cursed the sun for frying me alive and kept walking, hoping that I might manage to lose myself in the music in my ears, so I reach home before I know it. And I was right about one thing: the song that started to play next had completely distracted me from the heat of the day. That was a beautiful fan-made song, written by a very talented person known under the nickname of Ponyphonic and sung by a beautiful and just as talented girl Eileen Montgomery going by the nickname of EileMonty. The title of the song was "The Moon Rises", and, as you can guess, it was about the pain Princess Luna went through, resulting in her becoming Nightmare Moon. My mind quickly wandered to my favourite character and I could almost feel the waves of sorrow washing over me as the song reached the words: "And am I so wrong to think that they might love me too?" Whenever I thought about Luna and her pain, I always wished I was there, to be by her side, to calm her down, to reassure her, to make her loneliness disappear. Hell, I even wished I was Celestia, because I sure wouldn't mind taking all of her responsibilities on my shoulders, just so I would have an opportunity to spend time with Luna and make sure she bloomed into the best pony she could possibly be. The drop of sweat ran down my face, reminding me of the hot weather. Ugh... Why can't the night last longer than the daytime? Oh, did I mention that my favourite season is winter? Well, I did now. And not just because I hate the heat. Or because I'm Russian. But also because the night is always longer than the daytime during winter. And the way the snow sparkles under the moonlight is beyond beautiful. But, once again, I digress. You see, I would describe my entire evening, but I'm pretty sure you'd be bored out of your mind by the time I finish. And it's not the evening of that day that is worthy of mentioning. It is the night. Author's Note What I have to say it that I'm sorry this chapter happened to be this short. But remember, it's only a prologue! I honestly wanted to write more, but then I thought: "Hey, it's just the prologue! It can't be too long." And so I decided to stop there and leave the rest for the other chapters. I hope you're cool with that.
Chapter 1: Nightmare comes to lifeChapter 1: Nightmare comes to life. ~~~ • ~~~ Thank stars, it was Friday! Which meant I could stay up late as much as I wanted, not caring about getting up early the next day. I sure was going to sleep in... Ah, I suppose, that's another thing I've forgotten to mention. I'm a night owl type, I love staying up at night and sleep until, like... 3 PM the next day, if not later. I'm not sure about the other countries, but here in Russia the weekend means two days off for over 90% of jobs. And which day can be better than the day off? Ehm... yeah, I know, I'm lazy. So, as you can imagine, I had been enjoying my free time in my apartment, browsing the Internet. But something felt a bit off that night. You see, usually I enjoy spending time playing games like Dota 2, Mortal Kombat and a lot of others, but that night I didn't feel like doing anything of that sort. Even browsing the Internet didn't entertain me for some reason. I sighed and looked out of window. Maybe I really should start going outside... It was a beautiful night. Not a single cloud had appeared on the sky since I last checked during the day. Only at the moment it was a good thing: the stars were shining especially bright that night. I looked at the clock in the corner of my computer screen. It was almost a midnight. See if I care... I sure was not going to waste the opportunity to stay up during my favourite time of day, but there was one problem: as I mentioned before, I didn't feel like doing anything. So, I looked out the window again. Might as well start going outside today. Indeed, since I didn't feel like playing games, watching movies, drawing or doing any other things I usually liked to do, I might as well go enjoy the night in a more... literal way. And with that, I turned my PC off, put some clothes on and stepped outside. No matter what city you live in, I'm sure you could notice the fact it always looks better at night. It was true for my city as well, especially since it was split in two by the river and green fields near it, so being in one half of the city always meant being able to get a good look at the half over the river. But to do so, one would have to go to the part where buildings ended and the green fields began. And that's exactly where I decided to go in my attempt to enjoy the night outside my appartment. Since I didn't reach that part of the city yet, the buildings were still blocking the view, so instead of trying to catch the sight of the night city on the other side of the river, I looked up at the sky. So many stars... That night was, indeed, something. Or maybe I just never noticed the beauty of the night due to staying inside my apartment. However, I was wrong when I said before that the stars were especially bright that night. Then why is it so bright? My eyes fixed on the answer almost immediately: it was a full Moon. The light spreading from it was trully magical and even if there was any doubt about going outside being a good idea in my heart, it faded away immediately. Gotta love those green fields. I didn't even notice how I got there as I focused on the beauty of the night sky. Though the city was not even a mile away, stepping onto those fields felt like going camping, spending time with nature somewhere far away from the city's noise and dust. And I can't even begin to describe how magnificent they were under the bright moonlight. Combined with the view of the night city, it was a breathtaking picture. I stepped forward and took a deep breath of a cool night air. No more heat, no more blinding light. It was perfect: cool, but not too cold, dark, but not too much, thanks to the moonlight. Since that moment, I didn't really care where I was going as I just took step after step, enjoying the weather, enjoying the stillness... Enjoying the night. I didn't care that I was all alone out there. I only knew that was exactly something I felt like doing that night. At the moment, it felt so much better than doing any of the things I usually enjoyed doing at home. However, the track of those thoughts was quickly lost as soon as my eyes noticed something... unusual, to say the least. I'm not sure how to say it, but what I saw was a fragment of the night sky. What? Not unusual enough for you? Well, I could agree with that, if it wasn't for just. One. Problem. The piece of the night sky was on the ground. You can call me a fool, but the idea of running away wasn't anywhere near my mind at that moment. You see, during my entire life I was bored of reality. I always wanted something to step in and blow the everyday's bustle away. I always hoped that one day something supernatural will happen and it'll change my life into something completely new and exciting. Childish dreams, you say? Can't say I disagree. But what can I do if something childish is the only thing that gives me enough hope to meet a new day? But, I digress. So, instead of running away or thinking about the possible ways to defend myself from whatever it was, I stepped closer to investiage. As I took my steps, I had noticed that the fragment was not still: it's silhouette was moving, it looked like the small tides of water. Wait a moment, this looks oddly familiar... Another step closer - and I had noticed another silhouette. It was completely black and was not moving at all. It looked like it was attached to the fragment somehow. Soon I could see it was a silhouette of a muzzle. Wait a second... it's not the fragment! It's the mane. Luna?! N... no, it's not her. Wait, no... It can't be! But it was pretty much true. Under one of the trees that grew near the river was lying nopony else but Nightmare Moon herself. Only she was of an age of a filly. And her armor could not be seen anywhere near. I stepped closer, only to discover that she was sound asleep. Or maybe she's unconscious for a different reason? I tried to gently nudge her. She didn't even flinch. I could feel my heart racing as I quckly ducked to listen if she breathed at all. To my relief she did. Yet it didn't look like I could possibly wake her up at the moment, no matter what I would do. So, my decision was pretty obvious: I carefully took her in my hands and carried her to my place. Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Nightmare Moon! THE Nightmare Moon was sleeping on my bed! I honestly felt like I could squee better than the craziest fangirl in the world, who just bought the newest book of her favourite series. At the same time, I simply could not believe what I had found. Maybe... maybe it's just a dream? I could feel a shiver running down my spine. For just a second I became really afraid of it all suddenly ending with me waking up in my bed only to find out it wasn't real. Comparing to this, the reality is a nightmare. I chuckled a bit at that thought, but froze almost instantly as I saw Nightmare's ears twitching a bit. A few moments later, her eyes slowly opened and she raised her head. I didn't move. I didn't know what could happen next, but decided to let her speak first. She is the royalty, after all. "W... where am I?" - she had spoken her first words. Her voice was exactly how I remembered it, only a bit higher. And, unlike Luna, she never bothered with royal "we" and the ancient speaking manner. I couldn't help but smile. "I hope you slept well, princess," - I tried to sound solemn and formal, but surprisingly found my tone warm and friendly instead. She shivered, if only so slightly: "Who.... what are you?" Nah, can't blame her. I bet that would be my first question as well if I was in her situation. "Oh... I'm a human," - well, that went swimmingly. Can't you sound any more dumb? She probably doesn't even know what human is. "A... a human? I've never heard of anything called human before..." Yep, just as I thought. "What are you doing here anyway?" And that's where I realized I could let my questions out. "Me? I'm sorry, princess, but I do believe it would make more sense to ask what you are doing here." She raised a brow. I knew I owed her some explanation, so I started to tell everything about how I found her and how I brought her here to make sure she had a comfortable bed to rest upon and a safe place to stay if she desired. Surprisingly, she didn't cut me off at all during my speech. Instead, she sat on my bed silently and seemed to be focusing on every word I said. That's right... I almost forgot she was the least sassy villain of them all. "Everything you said, human..." - she began, letting her voice bear more confidence that time, - "...makes perfect sense. Except for just one thing. How exactly do you know I'm a princess?" Wow, that was fast. I instantly felt paralyzed by her question. Just a few minutes were enough for her to make me spill the beans. But it was okay, if she really wanted to know, I'd tell her. "Do you really want to know it now, Nightmare Moon?" - I asked, trying to see if saying her name would surprise her any further. It didn't. "Well, well, well..." - I swear I would recognize that voice anywhere anytime, - "It seems you know my name. Though I'm honestly not surprised. One must know the name of their princess!" Now that's more like it! I could feel her attitude coming back. That meant she started to feel comforatble and I was happy to see that. She must had noticed my warm smile: "What's so funny, human?" But totally misunderstood it... "It's a pleasure for me to see that you're alright and not feeling uncomfortable at my home," - I simply stated. The look on her face changed to one of confusion. "Why would you worry about my well-being? Your princess can take care of herself-" "My little princess couldn't even keep me from bringing her here," - it wasn't polite to cut off the princess and I knew that, but couldn't help it - "What if it was someone with some less... noble thoughts about you in their mind?" I looked at Nightmare and watched as she opened her mouth to respond, yet realised that she couldn't really argue with my statement. She slowly let her eyes focus on her hooves. Is she feeling... ashamed? How cute. "But still..." - she said after a few moments of silence, - "Why do you care about what happens to me?" Good question, Nightmare. Nothing less is expected from you. It took me quite a few seconds to think my answer over. "Say, Nightmare..." - I began as a brave yet silly idea formed in my head, - "Have you ever desired for a caring older sibling? The one who would be there for you and guide you through anything you couldn't handle alone..." I couldn't help but smile as I watched the look on Nightmare's face. It was clear that my question had caught her completely off-guard. Hm... It takes a lot to catch somepony like her off-guard. Well done. What could she possibly be thinking about at that moment? I'd pay for her thoughts, really. But decided to just let her think it over. Finally, she opened her mouth again. "I... think so?..." - her voice was the same, but sounded differently that time. It was stripped of it's confidence and majesty. It was shaky, uncertain and even... scared? I stood up, only to watch her eyes widening as she realised the full size difference between us, especially since she was just a filly at the moment. I slowly took a sit near her on the bed and looked her in the eyes. "If you'd like me to, I'd be your older brother," - I simply stated. A look of disbelief was now clear in her eyes. "B... brother?" - she asked, more herself than me. We sat there and kept staring at each other for a few more moments before she quickly turned her head away and tried to cover it with her foreleg. Yep, she was blushing, blushing... deep purple. For a moment I thought that it was too cute even for me. I took a deep breath: the speech was in order. "Listen, Nightmar- Nighty..." - I smiled to myself, enjoying the cute nickname I came up with, - "There are a lot of things you need to learn about this place before your questions can be answered. For now I can only tell you that you're not from this world. You're not supposed to be here." She turned her head to me and was about to protest when I raised my hand in the air, the motion for her to pay attention as I continued: "I swear to you here and now that I'll tell you everything about how I know you're a princess and any other question you'll ask. For now I just offer myself to you, so to speak. I want to be your guide in this world and..." - I took another breath, - "...I want you to feel loved and cared for." She simply started at me. She stared with the eyes full of awe and amazement, as if I was the princess there, not her. Another few moments were shared in utter silence. I decided to wait for her to break that silence. I didn't expect what happened next. No, she didn't answer. Instead, she jumped at me and tackled me to the bed. Before I realised what she was going to do I could feel myself wrapped in a tight hug. Who would ever think Nightmare Moon is so... warm? It looked like she no longer cared for the reasons behind my words and actions. She seemed just... happy? Yeah, I'd say she was happy at that moment. Her title and power forgotten, she was just a happy little filly snuggling wih her... brother? "Should I take that as a 'yes', Nighty?" - I asked and could feel her head rubbing against my neck as she noded. That's when I noticed she was crying. Poor little filly... I snuggled her closer to my chest and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. I sensed she felt safe in my loving embrace. And that's what I was going to do: to keep her safe. No matter what. A hell of a way to spend your Friday night, if you ask me. I can't even describe how much excitement and happiness I felt every time I looked at ~~that little princess~~ my little sister to make sure she was there and she was real. But seeing her was one thing, holding her in my arms was another. And it felt like... I don't know, like the most sacred wish coming to life! It looked like my hopes and prays were finally answered, and Nightmare Moon was exactly that one supernatural thing that was meant to change my life forever. "But do you have a name, hu... I mean, brother?" - she said as she finally took a hold of herself and lifted her head from my neck. I could feel my heart melting as she called me her brother for the first time. I could not be happier. After all, that was a responsibility I desired. Look upon me, Celestia... And die of envy! But then something else came to my mind. My name... what should I tell her? Ponies are not familiar with human names. And my isn't even an English one. I was afraid of confusing her. I had to think fast. "Hm, I guess now, since I am the brother of the most amazing princess..." - I smiled as she blushed once again, - "...I suppose, I need a name worthy of her glory. How about you call me..." I took a moment to think about it. Which name should I choose? I almost started to panic as I realised nothing came to my mind. I sure couldn't just take a name of a canon character. And even if I did, what would it be? Rainbow Dash? Golden Harvest?... Big Macintosh, for crying out loud?! No, I sure was not going to pick any of those. I needed something closer to the night... closer to Nightmare's nature. And then it hit me. "...Eclipse?" - I finished and looked at the filly with a sheepish smile on my face. She practically gasped. "WHAT A GLORIOUS NAME WORTHY OF THE BEAUTY OF THE NIGHT ITSELF!!!" Yeah... gotta love Royal Canterlot Voice. Nightmare quickly realised her outburst and cringed on my chest, looking at me. That was her turn to give a sheepish smile. "Sorry..." - she mumbled weakly. She was so cute when confused. I couldn't help but put my hand on her head and pet her softly and lovingly. "No need to worry, little sis. I'm honored my choice of name was met with such an approval," - I chuckled a bit, - "But not nearly as much as I'm honoured to be your big brother." Her big brother... Of course, even the idea of it was so ridiculous. I mean, she was at least a thousand years older than me! How can I be her big brother? But I must confess, I could care less about logic at that moment. I was her big brother, she had accepted me as one, that was a fact. And a fact is the most stubborn thing in world. However, I still had one thing I needed to be certain about. "So, Nighty... Do you remember anything about what happened before you woke up here?" - that was a simple question and the look on Nightmare's face was telling me that the answer she was about to give was going to be just as simple. She opened her mouth to reply, only nothing came out. I noticed her face expression starting to change to one of confusion again as her eyes started to look around the room, like if she desperately tried to remember something, like if it was there, but she couldn't put her ~~finger~~ hoof on it. I decided not to wait any further and let out a sigh: "I thought so..." "I... I can't remember. I thought I did, but now... I remember nothing about my past! I don't even remember my own birthday!" Well, that's a shame. "I'll tell you everything I know about your past, but, as I said before, you need to learn a few things about this world first," - I stated a bit colder than I wanted, but continued regardless - "So, are you ready to learn, Nighty?" I gave her a friendly smile and took her in my hands to move and sit her on my head. She couldn't suppress a giggle. "Okay, I think I'm ready." "Then let the learning begin!" - I said solemnly, - "So, let's start with simple things..." "And this is a refrigerator, or 'fridge'. That's where humans store their food," - I said and watched as Nightmare extended her hoof to touch one of the shelves inside the fridge. "Oh... it's quite cold in there," - she stated the obvious, retreating her hoof back to my head, seeking for my warmth. More and more cute every minute... "Well, it has to be cold in there. The food will last longer if it's kept in cold, " - I explained, enjoying how my little sis was surprised with everything I brought in her attention. "Oh... The technology of humans are quite impressive!" - she ~~clapped~~ clopped her hooves together in excitement. She is a little filly now, after all... We was already done with electricity, lamps, calculator... Vacuum cleaner had scared her quite a bit. I didn't really have a TV at my place, because I never cared to watch it. Everything I'm interested in is available in the Internet. And why would I bother having TV when I can watch a lot of TV-channels online? Finally, it was my PC's turn. "Now, Nighty, pay attention, for this is one of the most impressive pieces of our technology," - I didn't need to look up to realise that she was burning with excitement, - "This is a personal computer. It's a complicated machine, which can be applied for a lot of things. Let me give you a demonstration." I turned it on. Indeed, after bringing Nightmare to my apartment my mind was too preoccupied with thoughts about her, so I didn't even get a chance to turn my PC on and start browsing Internet again. The loading screen has appeared: "Right now, it's checking every part or device it consists of and making sure they all are ok and ready to do their job. Oh, and now it's loading an operating system. Operating System is something like a mind for this machine. It allows you to use each of the devices and keeps everything organized." Nightmare was so lost in my words and what she was witnessing that she almost forgot to breath. Now, that's the level of excitement. Finally, the login screen appeared. "And now it's asking me to enter the password so it would understand it's really me and noone else using it right now." "Oh, how stunning! Can you tell me your password? Can you? Can you? Please?" - that filly was more than just excited. I giggled a bit. "Sure, Nighty. It's EskY2cp5rec," - I stated, making sure my voice sounded like it was nothing unusual. The effect didn't take long to appear. "W... what? I... is that even a word?!" - she was confused again. And back to her adorableness beyond measure. "Of course not. The words proved themselves useless as the passwords. So, humans started to use different combinations of capital and small letters, and also digits as the passwords." "F... FF... FASCINATING!!!" Great, now my ears are going to ring. "Aaaaanyway, " - I said, rolling my eyes, - "Now it's ready for work. Let me show you some things it can do." I could feel her entire focus returning to the screen as I decided to open a 'Start' menu and launch a calculator program. "Looks familiar?" "I-It does! Is... is that a calculator too?" Yep, she's learning fast. That's a good thing. "Indeed, it is. But it's a bit more functional version of it, which can handle some advanced mathematics the previous one couldn't. However, it's only one thing of many this machine is capable of. Here, let me show you something completely different from any calculating business," - I smiled and closed the calculator, then clicking on a shortcut with a title 'Zuma' on it, - "Now, wait for it... Here it goes!" "Wow, the picture has changed all of sudden! What did you do? Tell me!" - she didn't bother to hide even a bit of her excitement. "Well, I gave my computer a command to start this game for me. And so it did! Now, let's see if you're going to like this game..." Explaining the rules went swimmingly, because Nightmare Moon had been paying her full attention to me. It didn't take long for her to ask me if she could try the game. Teaching her to use the mouse was piece of cake as well, and I'm glad she still had her telekinetic powers. But I could not possibly imagine how much she was going to love playing Zuma... "YES! TAKE THAT, YOU FOOLISH COLOR BALLS! I HAVE DEFEATED YOU!!!" "Nighty, Nighty... Please, don't be that loud," - I hated to ruin her fun, but I couldn't risk waking the entire house up. As soon as my little sister had realised her behaviour, she quickly silenced herself and gave me a sheepish smile. As cute as ever. "Nighty, you see... Just like ponies, the most humans sleep at night. And that includes my neighbours. I'm sure they would not appreciate being woken up in the middle of their sleep." I couldn't help but feel how my speech was depressing Nightmare, and I knew why, so I had to be really gentle on that subject. "They deserve their rest, Nighty... But we still can have our fun. We just need to be quiet. Quiet as... night." That's implication had made her smile, and before she knew it, she had returned to the game, reaching the next level. That time it was a level with two roads of balls. "There... there are TWO tracks now?" - she asked me in disbelief. But I new just the way to encourage her. "What's wrong, Nighty? You're not up for a real challenge?" - I said, giving her a sly smile and arching an eyebrow. That had made her gasp audibly. "Wha~?! Oh, it is SO on!" And with that, she focused her attention on the game again. "Well, that was a lot of fun, wasn't it?" - I asked, closing the game and returning to the desktop again. "F-fun? What's fun?" I mentally facepalmed. Of course... She's never had any fun before! Well, I sure owed her a bit of speech then. "Ok, Nighty. Let's see if you can figure out the answer to your own question. Tell me, what did you feel while playing the game?" - a simple question, yet I couldn't wait to see how much answering it would make Nightmare learn about herself. "What I... felt? Uh..." - she took a pause and soon obviously became lost in her thoughts. I smiled, seeing it as a good sign. After all, it was showing that she tried to figure out the emotions which were so rare to her. Maybe she had never felt anything quite like that before! Seriously, how could I possibly know? "I'm not sure..." - she finally returned from wherever her mind had taken her to, - "But... it did feel good. I just... I can't really put my hoof on it!" "Let me help you with that. Do the words 'joy', 'happiness', 'excitement' and 'glee' ring any bells?" - I carefully chose my words, hoping not to touch anything too personal for her. "Well... I don't know. Maybe? I never really experienced the most of those feelings... Or maybe it's my memory failing me again. But I did feel excited." "Well, then maybe you've just experienced them for the first time. Anyway, I'm pretty sure you did have fun playing that game!" - I stated with a smile on my face to encourage her. And it helped. "Are there any other ways to experience this... fun?" Now, that's more like it! I'm sure she had no idea how much spot on she was with that phrase. But all in good time... "Well, aside from games, there are a lot of other ways you can entertain yourself while using a PC. For example, you can watch movies! You see, movies are something like the animated pictures. Watching an interesting movie is almost like watching an interesting scene from somewhere noone can see you. Except what happens in the movies is not actually real. Hm... how do I explain it? Well, imagine that you read an interesting story. Only instead of reading you actually watch the events of that story happening right in front of your eyes!" "That sounds.... AMAZING!" Urgh... She's just a little filly now, remember? "Nighty, what did I tell you about talking loud at night?" - I said. That's when I had noticed a visible shiver running down her fur. "I... I'm sorry, b-brother..." Something was wrong. All of sudden she looked really shaken and stressed. Did I just bring back some... unpleasant memories? I almost gasped at that thought. I had to comfort her. "Sh... It's okay, little sister, it can happen to any of us," - I embraced her gently, pulling you into the comforting warmth once again. I'm not sure how, but it did a great job calming her down, repelling whatever fears she had. It also gave me a wonderful opportunity to feel that she was real and not just a dream. After holding her close for a few more moments, I whispered: "Would you like to watch a movie?" She immediately jumped. "Would I?!" - she gasped in joy, then tried to cease her excitement and act like a princess should - "I.. mean... I would like that very much, brother." That only earned her a chuckle from me. "Alright then, let's pick up a movie and enjoy it together," - I said, starting to browse my movies folder. There was a lot of different movies there: the films, the shows, the cartoons... I wanted to find something, ehm... bright for her to watch. Something that would make her forget about any fears and even the fact that she's all alone in this world. Something nice enough to make her watch it over and over again. And then it hit me... "Are you sure they can't hear us?" - Nightmare whispered in my ear, and I couldn't help but smile and press pause. "I'm absolutely positive about that, little sis. See? It's just a movie. I can stop it whenever I want, or even make it go back to the beginning or any other part you'd like to watch again. As many times as needed." "That is most impressive!" - she commented, not afraid of being heard by the movie characters any longer, - "I just wanted to say... That dog's voice sounds oddly familiar to me." I smiled. I knew exactly why that would be true. "It should. But, Nighty, as I promised, I'll explain everything to you a bit later, along with where exactly you heard that voice before." "O-okay..." - she sounded confused, though I felt she did trust me. "So, shall we continue with the movie?" - as soon as I said that, her excitement came back. "Of course we shall! I can't wait to see how this turns out, " - she almost squeed as she said that. I only smiled and pressed 'play'. Maybe you've already figured that out, but just in case you haven't, I'll say it: we was watching 'Littlest Pet Shop'. No wonder Nightmare Moon recognized the voice of Zoe Trent. After all, that dog and Princess Celestia possess the voice of the very same actress! Yeah, I wonder how I'm going to explaing THAT to her... But anyway, my little sister seemed to be completely mesmerized by the first episode again as soon as I let it continue. I have to say, just like in case with 'My Little Pony' episodes, you don't really notice the time when you watch 'Littlest Pet Shop' ones. They have quite a similar... atmosphere? I'm not sure how to describe it, but you watch them at ease, it's like you just absorb them, gobble them up like a food. And after you do that, you just want more. And it looked like Nightmare could feel that effect to it's full extend. Her eyes were tied to the screen. She was worrying about the characters, feeling their joy, having fun with them like if she was there, in the movie. Well, she IS from the movie herself, after all, isn't she? I couldn't help but wonder what her reaction was going to be like when I show it to her... "Oh, that was... ehm, how do you call it, Eclipse?" - she said that and I felt my heart skip a beat as she called me by that name for the first time. "You mean 'fun', Nighty?" "Oh, yes! Yes, it was fun!" - she exclaimed joyfully. You know, I used the think that I would give anything to see Luna that joyful... Well, I was a bit wrong. Seeing Nightmare Moon experiencing such a sheer joy and happiness felt so much better for some reason. The time passed by unnoticed. Wow, and I thought I didn't know how to spend this night... But, unfortunately, the night couldn't last forever, even with Nightmare Moon being in this world and sitting on my knees as we both watched yet another episode. I've noticed the first rays of the Sun entering my room. "Well, Nighty, I think it's time for us to get some rest. After all, I didn't sleep tonight at all, and, as you can see, it's already a dawn..." - I said and stood up, taking her in my hands and tenderly sitting her on the chair. "Awww... Why did the night have to end so soon?" - her voice sounded so adorable with that 'aww' sound, - "I want to spend more time with my brother!" Oh, how delightful it was to hear her speaking so highly of me... "And so you shall, Nighty. I'll just have my sleep, and you should get yours too! Then I promise I'll cook something tasty for us to eat and we'll return to spending time together," - I said the truth. We sure were going to spend a lot of time together. "Aww...kay. But can you..." - she took a pause and I saw the fur on her face going a bit purple again, - "Ehm... can I... uh... Can you... cuddle me? Please?" That I did not expect. But how could I say 'no' to such a cute little filly? Moreover, how can I say 'no' to my little sister? "Of course, Nighty, come here," - I said, moving a bit to give her enough space to settle in, - "Mind telling me what's scaring you?" "I'm not scared. It... it just feels nice to be in your arms. It feels... safe," - her voice sounded sincere and I had a really hard time trying to hold back the tears of happiness and pride, - "Brother? I... I think some of my memory is starting to return." Wow, that was fast, even too fast... "I think... I think I remember something about humans. They are believed to be just a myth." She giggled and poked my nose. "You are a myth!" "Actually... I'm a mythter." A moment of silence. And then we both were holding our stomachs, laughing out loud. I really have to thank 'Littlest Pet Shop' script writers for that joke someday... Author's Note Well, I really can't say much here. I just hope you were looking forward to this chapter and enjoyed it. Also, I wonder how many idiots tried to login as me, using the password from this chapter.
Chapter 2: Laugh it up!Chapter 2: Laugh it up! ~~~ • ~~~ It was a strange sensation. Cold, silent... and completely dark space was all that surrounded me. I didn't know where exactly I was, but what I knew for sure was the fact I wasn't alone. Someone was there... but where? And who? Wait... How did I ever end up getting here? I couldn't give even a vague answer to any of those questions. Yet, for some reason, I wasn't frightened by that fact at all. What was really scaring me was that feeling of a mysterious presence somewhere near. Then I noticed that I was actually moving, walking forward. No wonder I've noticed it just now... It's pitch dark in here. And then I felt an impact. No, noone attacked me... In fact, it was quite vise versa: I hit whoever it was as I couldn't see where I was going. The reaction didn't make me wait too long... "Who... who's there?!" - said the demanding, yet scared voice. The voice I would recognize anywhere. "N... Nighty? Nighty, is that you?" - I replied as soon as I got over the shock. "Eclipse? Brother! Yes, yes it's me! Where are you?" - as she was talking, I followed her voice and touched her again. I couldn't see her, but that didn't prevent me from pulling her in a tight hug. "I'm here, Nighty... I'll be okay, little sis," - how pathetic of me it was to try and calm little filly down when I didn't even know where we were in the first place. "B... But, where are we? I don't remember us going anywhere... except bed, that is." Bingo! How did I not think of that? Of course, it was just a dream! And with her abilities and us being so physically close in reality... It couldn't be much of a suprise that she invaded my dreams. "Nighty? I think you need to focus. We're still in the bed, fast asleep... This is just a dream. You can control the dreams. And it looks like you've just entered mine," - I was making a point... but it didn't quite cut it. "I... see. But why can't I see anything? How can I control something I cannot even see?" - her thinking was as good as ever. It took me a few seconds of silence to think of a proper answer. "I can't tell for sure, but I just think that... maybe you've entered my dream before it even started. And now it's held in your power, so you can shape it into anything," - I took a pause as the idea crossed my mind, - "In fact, now, that I know it's just a dream..." I tried to focus. Even though I couldn't see anything, I closed my eyes and tried to think of something to appear. Something nice... Something that would impress Nightmare. The pictures of the night skies from The Elder Scrolls games came into my mind. And before I knew it... "WHOA!!! ECLIPSE, IT'S SOOOOO BEAUTIFUL!" - a loud gasp from my little sister had made my eyes shot open. And as soon as I did that, I wished I'd never need to close them again. Remember the astral place Twillight went to before becoming an alicorn? Well, what I saw was exactly that, except the view around was replaced by the mixed pictures of the skies from Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim. It was breathtaking even for a dream... No wonder Nighty is so excited. "Well, Nighty, it looks like I have just as much control over my dream now. Thank you for visiting me here, little sis," - I smiled tenderly and poked her nose as we could already see each other just fine with so many lights around us. She giggled. "You know what that means, right?" - she was excited about something. I couldn't help but wonder: "What, sweetie?" "Going to bed no longer means stop spending time together!" - she exclaimed, throwing hooves over her head, - "This is SO amazing! What do we do now, brother? Can you bring your... ehm... smart machine here so we could play more games?" To be honest, that caught me a bit off-guard. Of course, I could imagine my PC and it would appear here with all the games and movies... But it was a dream. A realm of endless possibilities. I couldn't waste such a chance... I had to think of something special. And then it hit me. Nighty was trying her best to look away from me, but even doing so didn't help her brightly burning purple blush. Who would have ever guessed that the Nightmare Moon is actually such a shy filly... But that was true. Maybe she just needed somepony to encourage her. "I know you like it, little sis. Why are you trying to look away then?" - I asked teasingly. That only had made her blush even more. Awww, how cute! "I... I know. I-It's just..." - she began, then stopped herself, thinking about what to say, - "A-a-I... I can't... " No matter how hard she tried, she didn't seem to be able to squeeze at least one sentence out of her mouth. Hm... maybe I overdid it. But then again, it was my goal to impress her, and that's exactly what she was: highly impressed. Okay, maybe a bit too impressed. "Hey, don't worry so much, little sis. It's only us over here... Just tell me what's on your mind," - those words had managed to calm her down a bit, helping her focus on her own thoughts. "You... You're so beautiful, brother," - she finally said. It was my turn to blush now. Okay, okay, I get it. Stop giving me that look, please! I was just about to tell you exactly what the hay was going on, alright? Let me get right to it... Before the little filly Nightmare Moon was standing a large alicorn stallion with glowing green eyes. His entire chest was bathing in obsidian crystals, a bit of which also was on his sides and back. The wings he possessed were larger than Celestia's, and their bones also had a bit of obsidian armor. The mane and tail of the staliion, while being way smaller than Celestia's, were waving in just as beautiful way and consisted only of shadows. Which means they were just as dark as his coat. In other words, it was an image of a perfect brother for Nightmare Moon. "Thank you so much, little sis..." That's right, one more thing I need to mention: the voice of the stallion was deep as Void and had a nice echo. "Oh, I wish this dream would never end!" - that made me frown. I knew she was a filly. I knew she was excited. But I also knew that some things must be taught at a young age... And that's when I realised something: the chance of changing her for the good was in my ~~hands~~ hooves at the moment. "Listen, Nighty..." - my voice had gain a serious tone, maybe even more than I wanted it to, - "There is something I need to talk to you about... Something I need you to understand." I could tell all of her attention was focused on me, my words sinking in. I hated to wipe that sweet smile from her face, but that's exactly what my voice did. She knew it was going to be a serious talk, and I honestly doubt she was happy about it. Yet from what I saw I could tell she had enough respect for me not to let even a bit of her frustration show. She was listening. Nightmare Moon was looking me in the eyes and listening to every word I say... I couldn't be any more honored. "You have just said you would like this dream to never end. But it must end when the time comes. The time you spend asleep is just as important as the time you spend awake. But when one of those things starts stealing the time from the other it becomes no good. If you sleep too much, it becomes just as bad for your health as being awake for too long. Only by keeping things in harmony you can save your good health. The same goes for the night. The night is just as important as the day. The day and it's Sun provide the world energy to move on and develop... The night and it's Moon provide the world the rest it needs after every day. Winter is just as important as Summer. And for quite similar reasons. Noone likes having a bad day... Yet bad days are important too." The confusion my last sentence provided made her cut me off... Pretty much expected. "But how can the bad day be important, brother? Wouldn't you want your life consist only of the good ones?" That was exactly the question I wanted her to ask me. The question I had an answer for. "If you live a life full of good days, you forget what a good day means and stop appreciating it." It took a few seconds for my sentence to sink in Nightmare's mind. She opened her mouth several times to respond, she looked ready to protest... Yet every time he ended up closing it in defeat as nothing came out. She lowered her head, sighing. "I guess you have a good point here, Eclipse. And besides, I shouldn't be sad about this dream ending anytime soon. After all, that would only lead to us continuing spending time together in reality." I put my hoof on hear head and stroked it gently and lovingly: "That's the pure truth, my little sister. Plus we'll have something tasty to eat." I heard her giggling at that. However, soon I could feel the cold wind starting to come from nowhere, getting stronger with each passing second as the borders of my dream started to get blurry. "You see this, Nighty? I suppose, it means I'm about to wake up," - I said that and her face instantly became decorated with a frown, - "No worries, sweetie... You will be awake soon as well, I believe. I'm not leaving you, and you know that." Her smile was the last thing I saw before my dream was shattered to pieces. I have to say, it was a pleasant feeling to be surrounded by such a warmth after experiencing a cold wind in my dream before waking up. I opened my eyes slowly. And the smile came across my face as soon as I did that. I had no idea she's even more beautiful when she sleeps... You know what? I take it back. The really pleasant feeling was holding her in a loving embrace, experiencing her coat rubbing against me as she breathed peacefully. I looked around. Judging by the amount of light, it was already evening. But there sure was plenty of time before the sunset, and I knew exactly what I had to do. I did my best to leave the bed as careful as possible: I didn't want to disturb the little filly's sleep. I figured out she was going to wake up naturally when the sun sets completely. And there was a promise that needed to be fulfilled before that happened. I have to mention one more this about myself now: whenever I set my mind on something, I just stop noticing everything else. And at that moment my mind was set on surprising Nightmare with something delicious... something she had never eaten before. And I had the exact idea in mind... Cooking borsch is never too much fun, since it takes quite a while. It was a good thing I had a meat broth ready, it did save me a couple of hours. Now, now, I know ponies don't eat meat. But there was no actual meat, only a broth. And since every other ingredient for the borsch was a vegetable, I figured it was not going to do any harm to little filly's stomach. At the same time, I knew that a well-cooked borsch is always delicious and she sure never tried it before. It turned out I was right about heading straight to the kitchen and starting to cook right away, not wasting a minute. As soon as the borsch was ready, I could hear the sound of tiny steps coming closer. I turned around to see Nighty entering the kitchen. About time... The sun was almost down, so my guess about her waking up time was correct. "Good evening to you, sister of mine," - once again my attempt to sound solemn turned out to be a kind and warm tone. She smiled, looking up at me and rubbing her left eye with a hoof. "Good evening, brother," - she said before yawning unprincesslike, - "What is it that smells so delicious?" Hearing that was already a good enough praise for my hard work. "Well, that's exactly what I promised you yesterday. Remember when I said that I was going to cook something delicious for you? Well, you've just admitted that it seems to be delicious enough." When I said that I was expecting a smile, blush, giggle... I could think of a lot of things, but the shock that came across her face was not one of them. What's... going on? I was lost in my thoughts, trying to figure out if I accidentally said something wrong. I had to think of something, and fast! For there were the tears already appearing in her beautiful eyes. But I didn't do anything wrong, I knew it! All I did was trying my best to keep the promise I gave her. Wait a second... Is she so shocked because I actually kept my promise? Before I could give that idea a second thought, the crying filly flew at me faster than a bullet and a second later she was already hanging from my neck, holding me in a tight embrace. "YOU ARE THE BEST BIG BROTHER EEEEEVEEEEEEER!!!" - she exclaimed through the stream of her tears. The only thing I could do for her at the moment was returning the affection and holding her close. "Sshhh, Nighty... Don't cry. I try to be the best brother I can possibly be for you, sweetie... Because you deserve nothing less." The next ten minutes were spent cuddling, until Nightmare had managed to calm herself down. Then I decided to carry her to the bathroom and help her wash a face up and get ready for the ~~day~~ night. She didn't say anything. She couldn't say anything, to be exact. She was too busy eating. I didn't even remind her about manners... Instead, I simply smiled as I watched her gobbling up a huge bowl of borsch. It was the third one already. The only thing she said after tasting the first drop was asking for more. And, to be honest, I could not had dreamt of a higher praise. However, it seemed like the third bawl was enough for her, which meant her ability to talk was finally back. "Never..." - she said in between her panting, - "Never before I have tasted... something... THIS good!" I only smiled in response, she was so adorable at the moment. Hay, she is ALWAYS adorable, isn't she? Well, I can't argue with that. "I'm really happy to see you loved it..." - I took a pause before mimicing her tone, - "THIS much!" She giggled. And once again, I almost died of cuteness. In fact, even after all the time we spent together, I still couldn't believe that she was real and sitting there, right in front of me, that I could talk to her, touch her, hold her in my arms. It felt too good to be true. Regardless, it was pretty much real. And so the feeling of happiness was overwhelming me. And I was happy about many things. Not only I had a cute filly version of Nightmare Moon living in my apartment and calling me her big brother, but also I had a wonderful chance of raising her the right way, teaching her the right things and helping her become the best pony she could possibly be. It was an amazing feeling. "So, brother, what shall we do now?" That question had snaped me back from my thoughts. Indeed, what to do now? "Hm, I don't know... You feel like watching the next episode of 'Littlest Pet Shop'?" She gasped. "THERE IS MORE?!" Yup, she was as excited as ever. It's settled then... "AAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW..." Well, I have to say, the combination of a cute "aw" and Royal Canterlot Voice is certainly something. Yet, before I could give it a second thought I was distracted by the feeling of a certain little filly jumping up and down on my knees. "It's so nice they are friends again! I hated seeing them both sad... Though, I must say that I liked some of those offensive jokes," - she giggled as she said that, - "But she should have never overstepped her bounds." She added with a more serious tone as she stopped bouncing. "You see, Nighty," - I began as my hand was already stroking her mane, - "Some only learn their lessons the hard way. That is why you should always think about the consequences before doing something you're not sure about. Pepper ended up hurting her friend, when the only thing she intended to do was making Penny Ling laugh. I believe it feels awful when instead of a smile you bring a frown to a face of someone you care about." I stopped when I noticed the look on Nightmare's face. She was looking at me, her eyes wide open, her features serious, her ears catching every word. She was learning. I was actually teaching her some wisdom. That thought had sent a shiver down my spine... I was doing it. I was raising a better Luna. I was giving her what she deserved: a loving and caring older sibling. "Brother... what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Her innocent sweet voice snapped me from my stupor. I didn't even notice I was actually crying. When did I even start crying? I, however, had a more important matter to pay attention to: what was I going to tell her? "Oh, it's... it's nothing, sweetie. For a moment, I just imagined what that feeling would be like. And believe me... It felt, like, really bad." Phew! That reply seemed good enough for her to buy. And so she did... "I do believe it does feel awful..." Suddenly, she stood up and leaned against me, pressing her forelegs against my face: "Smile for me, brother. I hate seeing you sad..." That's... so touching... I couldn't help but wrap my arms around her and pull her closer to me. She didn't resist. In fact, a moment later I could feel her forelegs embracing my neck. We spent the next few minutes like that, holding each other close and not saying a word. No words needed to be said: our embrace expressed just how much we cared for one another. I cared for her... And she cares for me... "Take this, you filthy pigs!" - she exclaimed, launching another bird. That's right, we'd been playing Angry Birds that time. Nightmare Moon seemed to love playing games so much, especially the games where you could improve your result and find a better, creative way to solve the task. I just smiled, watching her silently. Her focus was absolute, and I sure didn't want to disturb it. Especially since she was no longer using Royal Canterlot Voice at night. "There! I did it! I've got all three stars!" She was so happy. She was herself, no mask was needed anymore, no feelings had to be concealed. Moreover... she was just having fun. She felt joy. She knew someone cared about her and was there to share her feelings. She was happy... and so was I. "You're so funny, Nighty..." - my voice seemed to distract her from the game. She giggled. "And what's so funny about me?" "I don't know... I just want to smile all the time when I'm with you." She giggled again. Does she have to be so cute all the time? "You're the one who's funny!" "Oh, really? How so?" - I said as her statement caught me off guard. "You're funny because you think I'm funny," - she put her hoof to her mouth and chuckled softly, turning to face me. Then she beeped my nose playfully. My smile could rival Pinkie's. However, my track of thoughts was soon disturbed by Nighty's giggling getting louder until she burst into a laughter, collapsing on my knees and starting to roll around. I don't know why, but just looking at that scene had made me want to laugh as well. "Brother... " - she said as she managed to catch her breath between her laughter, - "Why... Why are we laughing?" "I... Haha... I don't know!" - I exclaimed, laughing out loud as well. I really didn't know why. There was no logical explanation, no obvious reason. Noone had even said a funny joke! I just laughed. And so did she. But through that laughter I could feel how we were becoming closer. How a certain sort of spark was ignited in our hearts. I know it sounds silly now as I look back at it, but it doesn't sound any less true. It was a spark that brings people together, the spark that makes them understand how much they enjoy spending time with one another, no matter what it would be: a game, a movie or a simple talk. The thing is just that spending some time together makes them smile. And that is all that matters. All the bad feelings, worries, fears, doubts.... Everything negative was left behind that laughter. It was rushing through our very souls, washing away everything that made us different, helping us see what made us alike. In the realm of that laughter we were no longer the dark princess of the night and an ordinary human. We were... just us, I suppose. Just the two beings having a good time. Having a good time... together. Everything else didn't matter at that moment. The force of laughter had made everything else just... fade away just for the two of us. It all starts with laughter... Author's Note Now these points of data Make a beautiful line. And we're out of beta, We're releasing on time. GLaDOS Seriously, I was afraid I wasn't going to make it in time... I'm so glad I've managed to prove me wrong. I'm just so sorry this chapter happened to be so super short. Forgive me? Also, is there anypony who had understood that the template for Eclipse's pony form was Obsidian Destroyer/Outworld Devouver from Dota 2?
