The Longest Journey

Yet again, Nightmare descended. Deeper into the blackness, until the horizon became dull grey. Lighter for the sky, darker for the ground. Nightmare willed for the land to shift, and in a second she was standing before the tired form of an alicorn. This time she was not met with an attack, but merely a forlorn stare. “Why are you here?” Luna asked weakly.

Nightmare sighed. “I need some of your memories.” Luna’s pupils shrank as she stood up and backed away from the mare before her. “Only the unpleasant ones, Luna. The ones filled with despair, where evil had won for a short time.”

Luna glared at Nightmare without the slightest effort to hide her hatred. “Do you truly believe that pesky, false sentiments would make me gaze upon you kindly? You are mistaken, demon. I won’t allow for any of the horrors of the past to come back.”

Nightmare sighed in understanding, yet the grim resolve never left her eyes. “Everything I told you is true, Luna. I regret things I’ve done. Unfortunately, I also have my duties. Duties I must execute, whether I want to or not.” Nightmare’s horn flared. “I can understand your will to fight, but the more you resist, the more it’ll hurt. I am certain I’ll overpower you in the end.”

Luna’s furious scowl turned into a frown, and her eyes were set on the ground. “I won’t fight. Do it quickly.” Luna’s eyes scrunched and her horn flickered in a last act of desperation, yet it dimmed just as quickly. Her strength would not allow for any fight to take place. Nightmare stepped next to the Princess, her horn burning with the dark blue fire.

A flash of light.

She stood at the Highest tower of the Canterlot Castle, Celestia standing beside her.

The fiery sphere of the sun descended beyond the horizon. It was time for her to take over.

Celestia remained silent, she didn’t notice her yet.

“You allowed the changelings to flee,” said Luna, the frown ever-present in her features.

The answer didn’t come immediately as Celestia’s train of thought had been interrupted. “Good evening to you too, sister.” She smiled when Luna rolled her eyes. “As to the changelings, we must give them a chance. They are an intelligent species, not unlike we are. I’d never stoop to chasing down and killing each and every one of them; it’d be inequine, barbaric.”

Luna was still far from convinced. “We should’ve given them the ultimatum: either unite with us, or fall. Now, they will gather their strength, exploit our weaknesses, and strike again.”

“Luna, we are stronger than we were a thousand years ago, and thus we should be the wiser. This is not how Equestria was brought to peace.” Celestia’s tone turned slightly harsher; she measured her sister with a stern look.

“But this is the way we shaped its borders. One day we’ll face the enemy we won’t be able to drive out of our country. What happens then?”

“Many things have changed since your... departure. We solve conflicts with diplomacy, not bloodshed.” Celestia walked out of the balcony without a word.

Luna stood in the same place, confused and angry. Even though her features expressed no emotions, a thousand thoughts roamed through her mind. She knew very well where the changelings were hiding. She couldn’t strike though. Not without losing her sister’s trust in the process.

Luna couldn’t see what her sister had on her mind. The changelings would come back, stronger than before. They would learn on their mistakes and strike again. Luna was afraid and helpless, and that angered her. She had become but a historical asset in this country. “You may leave now, sister,” she said.

The memory faded.

Luna’s legs shivered. Nightmare used her mane to support the Princess. She then eased her to the ground gently and lay down in front of her. “Whenever you feel like you’re too weak, tell me to stop.”

Luna looked at her with determination in her eyes. She’d had her hoof in the destruction of everything she loved. She had no choice. “I would tell you to stop and never come back, but you would have to do it eventually, wouldn’t you?” Nightmare nodded silently. “Start the spell and be done with it. The sooner, the better.”

Nightmare lit her horn yet again.

A flash of light.

Luna trod the castle’s corridor. There was a possibility, a dreadful cold creeping up her spine, telling her she was being watched.

There something in a dark corner. Her gaze swept over the corridor. Behind a door, perhaps?

A dark, mocking laugh resonated across the corridor. She quickly struck a nearby lamp with her magic, leaving but smithereens.

“Boo! Nopony likes you.”

Luna sighed in frustration and resumed her trotting.

“Boo! Nopony listens to the music you like!”

Her horn was charging up with the faintest of sparks, unnoticeable to the keenest of observers.

“Boo! Nopony reads your fanfics!”

A bolt of lightning struck a nearby vase of flowers; neither the flowers nor the vase were the same ever again.

Discord decided to reveal himself just then and materialised from an armchair, the same one that had been following Luna for quite some time. She cursed herself mentally for not noticing. “Oh, you know, dear Luna, that I wasn’t serious,” Discord said. “I was simply practising my bullying skills.”

The mare’s flared horn and deep scowl answered for her.

“I’ve got the impression you’re in a foul mood today, and not only because of my behaviour. Thankfully I, Discord, the good friend that I am, have arrived in time to lift your mood. What ails you?”

Luna raised her eyebrow in disbelief. The scowl, however, turned slowly into a tired frown. “The stars are strangely aligned. I suppose you had something to do with it.”

Discord crossed his forelimbs over his chest, utter horror radiating from his features. “Me?” he asked. “How could you believe I have something to do with your stars’ misalignment! Do you think they’d ever listen to me? They’re just like you. Whatever wrong happens, they always blame me.”

Luna sighed. “Of course you didn’t do it.” She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. “Something strange is happening. I don’t yet know what, but I will.”

Discord grinned. “Perhaps it’ll help you that your sister sent me on a special, secret mission, without uttering a single word to you about it.”

Luna’s ears perked up. “I’m going to guess she sent you five minutes ago and is now on her way to tell me why. Now go, before I throw you out myself.”

Discord put on a soldier’s helmet, saluted, and puffed out of existence.

The memory faded.

“I can’t believe you’ve freed the draconequus.”  Nightmare chuckled quietly at the complications of Celestia’s actions.

“He was ‘reformed’,” stated Luna sarcastically, as if even she didn’t fully trust the judgement of her sister in that matter. Luna scratched her chin, still eyeing Nightmare warily. “Are you truly evil?” she asked. “Can’t you and Sorcerer be reformed?”

Nightmare took a deep breath and looked Luna straight in the eye before answering. “I’ve done, and will do, many evil things. Do not be misguided by my respect toward you. If I met Celestia now, hopefully stars would be kind to her, for I wouldn’t show mercy.” Before Luna could answer, Nightmare charged her horn yet again.

A flash of light.

“Sister, are you sure this is the right thing to do?”

“Are there any other options left? We’ve already sent him notices, enforced sanctions, did our best without using violence. The time has come for direct action.”

“By the Night, I’d never have believed you would say that.” Luna smiled to her sister. It was important to keep the mood at least a bit more optimistic, considering what they were going to do.

The soldiers accompanying them trotted a small distance behind them. They weren’t meant to fight, but rather to ensure everything went well enough, and that Sombra would yield on his own accord. Facing the powerful menace with mortal magic sounded hopeless enough.

They had approached the castle gates, and were noticed by the guards. The armoured crystal ponies lowered their spears at them, but stood still. Their weaponry shone in the sun sharp and deadly; a warning to those who wish to stand against them.

“WE WISH TO SEE THE KING OF THIS EMPIRE.” The guards trembled before the thundering roar. Their king would arrive soon.

Soon, a black cloud appeared on the gate’s walls and formed itself into a pony, or at least a form resembling a pony. From afar he looked strange, twisted by evil. His bent, reddish horn, armour-clad body, and steel crown explained easily the terrified, aghast looks of refugees she had seen fleeing from his country.

“SPEAK WITH US ON EQUAL TERMS,” spoke Luna.

Sombra obliged confidently, and descended in a black cloud, reforming right before them. “I do not fear you,” Sombra said malevolently.

Your confidence will kill you, then, thought Luna.

“Our goal is not to instil fear in you. We’ve come to offer you an ultimatum. You must free the subjects of your empire, and give them the proper living conditions,” Celestia said.

Not for the first time, Luna was proud of her sister as the older mare stood defiant of the situation, and without faltering gazed into the eyes of the about-to-be-former King. Still, her hooves were planted firmly on the ground; contrary to Luna who yearned to bury them forcefully in the foul black fur.

“What will you do if I don’t comply?”

Celestia glared at him, her horn flickering with the dimmest, quickest of sparks, but Luna beat her to an answer. “Yield, or we will make you yield.” By the time she’d said that, her tail had already made a set of gestures, informing soldiers of their orders. They stood back and raised their magical shields.

Sombra teleported back inside the castle gates, but the Princesses were already in the air. They flew over the guards before they could take any action. Sombra ran through the streets of his empire fast, as if the Devil himself was chasing him, but Luna almost felt his weariness.

Celestia was running right beside her. Luna quickly formed a mental link between them. Sombra teleported in a desperate attempt to escape. Luna smirked merely, her horn flickered and she quickly followed the magical trail of the King. His attempts were vain.

Celestia appeared right beside her a second later, and the pair was gaining on their escapee once again. Sombra’s steps were growing weary each second. He stumbled and fell.

Although he were a king, Luna didn’t give the pitiful excuse for a pony a chance to rise. She quickly shot a paralyzing spell, causing Sombra to fall to the ground limply. Celestia reached her and stared at him in shock. Luna’s determined, yet supportive gaze allowed her sister to recover. “No doubt, not now,” she said.

Glow of the Elements, of their bearer’s eyes.

A rainbow striking the mad king.

An overwhelming flash of light.

The world slowing down to a crawl as it all happened almost at once.

Yet when Luna’s eyes lost their glow, she saw the empty plain they were standing on.

An old failsafe spell, she was informed later, had banished the subjects with their king. The sudden silence and single flakes of snow falling from the sky could not alleviate Luna’s guilt.

The memory faded.

“He came back after a thousand years, didn’t he?” asked Nightmare. Luna nodded weakly. “And he was banished yet again.”

This time, Luna shook her head. “He was torn to pieces by the power of the Crystal Heart. If you believe our measures with you or Discord were cruel, you should’ve seen what happened to Sombra.”

Nightmare winced silently. “It was a pleasure visiting you, Luna.” Sooner or later, Luna would realise whom and in what she had helped. Nightmare didn’t wish to be beside her at that time.

With a flicker of her horn, Nightmare quickly left the ethereal plane. The only sound that reached her was the quiet sobbing of the Lunar Princess. She blocked it out quickly to spare her mind and tattered heart.

Nightmare awoke.

It was very early morning. She noticed Sorcerer lying in his armchair, the book he was reading placed on his lap, open. He stirred awake and turned his slightly vacant gaze in her direction. “I had a spell set to wake me up in case something started happening. How’d it go?”

Nightmare silently congratulated him on waking up so sober. She needed a coffee, or two. Possibly five. “Well enough. We have work to do.”

Sorcerer levitated a bucket of hot black liquid which Nightmare eyed hungrily. “Is this what I think it is?” The mage nodded. Nightmare lowered her head into the bucket and drank hungrily. She stopped after hearing quiet, muffled snickers from above her. She raised her head from the bucket and asked in a heavily weary voice, “This is a horse joke, isn’t it?”

Sorcerer burst out laughing and almost fell off his chair. “No, it isn’t a horse joke. I was simply amused by the amount of coffee you drink. It seems like you’re much better at coming up with jokes than me.” Nightmare rolled her eyes before lowering her head into the bucket once again and drinking the hot liquid. “We should visit ‘our king’ as soon as he wakes up to know what plans he had come up with.”

“You had him making the war plans?” Nightmare asked in a disbelieving, uncivil tone.

Sorcerer nodded. “Around three hundred years ago he was the king of a kingdom north of Equestria. He armed it and sent its forces south, taking over the better part of the country and forcing Celestia to evacuate her sorry posterior from Canterlot. That’s why he is making the war plans,” Sorcerer explained.

“What about the army?” Nightmare asked, not pulling her head out of the bucket. Sorcerer grinned at the gesture.

“His soldiers had made the Life and Death Oath. Somehow he had them recite the exact words of ancient spells that would bind them to him even after death.”

Nightmare paused, pulling her head out of the bucket and looking at Sorcerer, surprised. A few drops of coffee still dripped from her muzzle and with a quick spell, she dried and cleaned it. “Our King hides many mysteries. Do you think there had been some third party involved?”

Sorcerer shrugged. “I’ve got no idea, but it seems so. Nevertheless, the King knows nothing.”

Nightmare moved away from the bucket, and rubbed her forelegs against each other uncertainly. “It seems like we’re getting into something much greater than just ourselves.”

Sorcerer nodded grimly. “We’ve already been in something much greater than ourselves. What we’re getting into now, though, is still quite a huge mystery. Hopefully we’ll prevail.”

Nightmare nodded too, hope still shining in her eyes. “Well, either us, or whatever dark god plays the game. Equestria is doomed.”

Sorcerer chuckled. Nightmare didn’t reciprocate the gesture, still unsure of the future. “Well, Nightmare, do you recall how we named our every operation in the past?”

Nightmare rolled her eyes. “It was a childish tradition, Sorcerer.”

The mage smirked. “Childish, but a tradition nonetheless. What season is it?”

Nightmare sighed before replying. “End of autumn, winter is approaching soon enough.”

The mage nodded, a confident smirk upon his features. “The Dawn of Winter it is then.”