Nightfall

by Stale_Coffee

Rating: teen
Tags: Tragedy
Length: 2726

Luna, Queen of the Night, is not who she once was. Things are... Different about her.. And only Celestia, her dear sister can save her.. But saving her may destroy Canterlot in the process.

Luna has been at war with herself for many years now.. and she is finally going to break. Her actions will change Equestria forever..

Short story

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-09-11 03:00:03 UTC

Nightfall

Dear Luna,

It has come to my attention that you are not who you used to be. I worry about you immensely especially with your little..

The princess of the night tossed the letter aside, not even bothering to finish it. Celestia wasn’t worried about her, she was just worried that Luna would try and overthrow her. But how could she? She was in so much pain, and her vision was slightly blurred. Luan did fear that she could kill at any second however.

She had already killed many ponies that came to visit her, but was always too weak to harm Celestia. But, not this time…

~~~

Two winters earlier…

“Sister! We have the most wonderful news!” Celestia looked up from the papers that littered her bed.

“Yes, Luna? What is it?” Luna opened her mouth, then shut I as if trying to remember. Finally, she shrugged. Celestia shook her head, trying to force back a smirk. She looked into her sister’s eyes, almost seeing the night sky as if it were captured in time. But, as suddenly as it was there, it vanished. She lowered her head again, glancing over her papers.

“Do you know what time it is Luna?” The princess of Night looked at the ceiling, trying to remember.

“No sister, we cannot recall what day it is. Please tell us, in hopes that it enlightens us.” Celestia raised an eyebrow questioningly. Luna looked at her with large, glistening eyes that just screamed, “Tell us! Please?” The princess of Day sighed heavily.

“As you wish Luna. Now, as everypony else in Equestria knows, it is the Eve of the Summer Sun Celebration. I am looking at these papers here, planning my route across Equestria. Now, I know that you would love to come, but I must not allow you to. You have duties here in the castle. My duties lie elsewhere at the moment. I will be leaving shortly, so I have a list of things for you to do.

Please, make sure that you get them done. I don’t want to come back to the castle and find in oblivion like the last time I left you alone.”

Luna looked on, eagerly awaiting the list of things that Celestia wanted her to do. The great alicorn rose from her bed and bid Luna farewell. Before she left, Luna asked her sister, “Wait! What is it that you want us to do?” Celestia blinked a few times then exclaimed.

“AHA! Now I remember! In your room, there is a note on your bed. Read it, because everything that you need to do is on there. Do not go out of your way to do something that the list doesn’t specify. Please. Now, hurry along sister.” Luna walked off in the direction of her room, mumbling under her breath slightly. Celestia stared at her as she wandered off, only stopping to send a vase flying across the hall.

“Oh dear. Could the days of darkness be upon us once again?” She shook her head in sheer denial.

“Don’t play games with yourself Princess. I’m sure Luna will be alright.” And with that, she took off into the cool night air. It was time to raise the sun once again.

~~~

Current day..

Luna lay in her bed, the hot flashes striking her without warning. She writhed with each burn, only to scream out in pain.

“Aaaaagh! Make it stop! It hurts!” She could not bring herself to cry, because the tears only hurt her more. She had been bed-ridden for quite some time now. She was never allowed to leave the bed. Nopony visited her, except for the occasional nurse. Strange things were happening to her. At night, she would become a demon-like being, wanting to kill anypony that came near.

But by day, she suffered from the pain. The singing of her coat. She felt the transformations coming every now and then, but they were much, MUCH stronger at night. There was no explanation for what was happening to her, even though the nurse ponies had run every diagnostic they knew. All came back with negative results. This was a new disease that they had never heard of before.

So, there Luna lay. She assumed that it was midday by now. It always hurt worse around midday. But, at night, the pain would fade, and she’d sleep. Or so she thought she slept. Every morning, it was the same thing. Wake up to some kind of horror scene, get injected with some kind of sleep medicine, and wake up around midday, screaming in pain.

The nurses told her to try and remember how exactly she got this unknown disease. She did, but with the flare-ups and the migraines, it was impossible to think any further than a few simple words. Memories would flood her mind every few hours or so, and the swelling wave of memories was just enough to make her pass out.

The stages of Nightfall were terrible. She didn’t enjoy the way that she would come in and out of consciousness. It happened frequently. The mental war was fueled by an anger that she had bottled up within her, long ago. It began when she sat in the shadow of her sister’s radiance. It has been that way ever since.

Nightmare Moon always lingered, only being able to control her when she slept. In her condition, she was not able to raise the moon like she once did winters ago. That was Celestia’s job now. She sat there, in bed, thinking about what Celestia’s job was currently.

“She’s… taking… over… our work!! She... wants… the glory and fame… to herself… That thief!!!” She became enraged, the magical glow of her horn a black instead of a beautiful purple. Her eyes began to burn white hot with pure hatred. She arose from her bed, ignoring the pain that the movement brought to her. She began to walk towards her sister’s throne room. She was going to end Celestia’s reign whether she liked it or not.

~~~

Two winters earlier…

Luna had walked off so happily. But something had stirred within her. She had stopped for a brief second, only to look at a vase and send it soaring across the hall. It shattered into a million pieces with ease. She came out of her trance-like state, noticing what she had done. She stared in awe at this act of evil.

“Did we… really just do that?” She shook her head furiously, trying to whisk away any thoughts about that moment. After clearing her mind of all horrid, evil thoughts, she continued the walk to her room. It seemed a whole lot further than it had ever felt before.

“Was our room always this far? It couldn’t have been.” She tripped on a piece of loose rug and fell on her face. She lay there, trying to fight back this new feeling of anger and hatred inside her. Closing her eyes, she began to think of the happy things that had happened to her since her return from the 1,000 years of imprisonment on the moon.

A guard walked by, and upon noticing her laying there, asked, “My dear Princess, why are you on the floor?” She could sense him staring at her with such questioning eyes. The guard grew impatient and began to stamp his hoof on the ground. He knew it was extremely disrespectful to do that, especially when it was aimed towards a princess.

Luna flipped a switch in the back of her mind, however; it wasn’t her that had flipped it. She opened her eyes, and arose from the floor. Her size had nearly doubled, her mane longer and wilder than usual. She looked the guard in the eyes, and seeing him shrink away in fear made her feel much better.

“HOW DARE YOU QUESTION ME YOU PUNY GUARD? I AM YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!! I AM NIGHTMARE MOON!! I ARISE ONCE AGAIN, AND I WILL RULE EQUESTRIA!! CELESTIA WILL NOT STOP ME THIS TIME!!” And with that, she levitated the guard and hurled him into a wall. His armor protected him from any severe damage, but she knew how to manipulate that.

She squeezed on him mentally, squeezing harder and harder every second. She knew what was going to happen to him. Such a fool he was. He was no longer needed. Celestia could deal with this later. She applied more pressure to his brain and his heart. She could tell that his heart was beginning to fail. She gave one last squeeze on his skull.

The damage was just magnificent! The guards helmet flew off and his small head exploded, chunks of his brains and blood splattered everywhere. She dropped his body on the floor, the blood still squirting from the neck cavity. She grinned and began to laugh demonically. A dark red pool of blood began to seep into the carpet and stain the cement floor.

Then, she fainted…

A few hours later…

Luna awoke in a cold, hard bed. She was wired up to some machines. Celestia loomed over her, a scowl covering her face.

“Hello Sister! How come you look so mad?”

“Because I am Luna! How dare you?!” Luna looked at her sister questioningly.

“We don’t understand. Why?”

“Why?! Why?! You tell me why!!” Celestia held a photo of the guard’s erupted head and bloodied remains up to Luna’s face. Luna just blinked rapidly, trying to hold back the sudden sickness she felt.

“Did… Did we do this?” She looked into Celestia’s eyes, which were burning red with fury.

“Of course you did!! Who else can cause such destruction?! Do not test me Luna. Do NOT!!” Luna shuddered in fear at the anger in her sister’s voice.

“How? How did we do this?”

“I think you should know Luna. It’s pretty obvious how.” Luna shook her head, completely oblivious to what was going on.

“Whatever Luna. You are wasting my time.” Celestia walked off, trying to hold back the tears of sorrow. She knew what was happening to Luna, but didn’t want to admit it to herself. Luna was in fact turning back into Nightmare Moon, but it was a different transformation than before.

Luna couldn’t seem to remember what had happened while she was Nightmare Moon. There must’ve been more side-effects to come. But which ones were they? This was no normal change. Something was wrong here. And she was going to find out what.

~~~

Current day…

As she stormed the halls of Canterlot Castle, Luna’s rage only grew worse. She could no longer stand her sister. She had been in the light for far too long. It was time, once again, for the moon to rise and eclipse the sun.

There were guards that stood in the way of Celesita’s room. She had that placed well secured ever since Luna’s outbursts and sudden changes. But, this was going to be far too easy to get through. She cocked head left, the right, making sure to get all of the… cricks out of it. She activated her magic, pain shooting through her instantly.

She cringed, but held her ground. The guards noticed her, but they were too late. She fired a beam of black magic at them. They were vaporized instantly, not even a single ash was left. She smiled, pleased with her work. She began to charge up her horn once more. The pain was immense. She flung the door to Celestia’s room open.

There, as if prepared for this, stood her sister. Luna looked deep into Celestia’s eyes, grabbing at her worse fears. The princess of light just stood there, confounded.

“Hello… sister.” Luna grinned and fired yet another beam of her black magic. Celestia countered with a beam that was as bright as the sun itself.

“Well played Luna. But your darkness is no match for my power of light.”

“Oh really? Well you thought wrong I’m afraid.”

“I see that you have lost the ‘we/us’ language of yours.”

“Indeed I have. It’s too bad that you won’t be able to live for long. The world still needs a mind like yours.”

“If you defeat me Luna, you will have to fight Cadence and Twilight. Don’t forget Shining Armor either.”

“You think I care? Ha! They stand no chance against me!”

“What about Chrysalis? How about her?”

“Oh my dear Celestia. If I can destroy you, then I can destroy anypony!!”

“That’s what I thought you’d say…” Celestia brought forth another beam of light. Luna evaded it and fired her own. Celestia was taken aback by Luna’s ability to dodge a beam that went the speed of light and ended up getting struck right in the chest. Her heart swelled with darkness, but Luna didn’t back down.

“Argh! Luna!! Stop this! You’re better than this!! You have so much to live for!! Argh!! You needn’t do this!”

“Oh, but I MUST!!” She held the beam, making it stronger. She could feel Celestia’s heart rate accelerating. Celestia looked into the eyes that once held the night sky like a frozen image. Those were the eyes of her beloved sister. A tear dropped from her eye and she whispered, “Farewell… sister.” She threw her head back and let out a long cry.

She looked back at Luna and focused her attention upon the cold heart that resided within. She let loose the largest beam of energy that she ever had. Luna was thrown back by the force. She fell to the floor, almost motionless. Celestia showed no mercy, and kept firing upon Luna.

Her sisters body began to glow brightly. This was the crucial moment. Kill her sister at all costs. The beam of dark magic that had pierced her heart was already killing her. May as well end it now right? She stopped firing and charged at Luna, horn-first. The horn pierced through Luna’s coat and impaled her once beautiful heart. A tear fell off the tip of Celestia’s nose and onto her sisters open chest.

Then, all went black…

~~~

1,100 years later…

“An explosion far more powerful than the legendary Sonic Rainboom came from within Canterlot Castle. It was heard all throughout Equestria and traveled further to the land of the griffons, dragons, and Saddle Arabia. It rang out for days on end. Caterlot castle was obliterated in the explosion, along with anything that was flying nearby.

A search was later conducted by none other than Twilight Sparkle herself, in order to see what the cause of the explosion was. She found that the part of the castle that was most damaged was Princess Celestia’s room. There, lay the petrified remains of the two glorious ponies that once ruled Equestria. Except, despite her efforts to revive them, they were long dead.

It was declared that the cause of the Explosion Heard Throughout the World was in fact, Celestia’s sacrifice in order to free her sister from the darkness within. In the process, Celestia died alongside her beloved sister. Twilight, being an alicorn herself, was declared the new Princess of Equestria. It was never known what happened to Luna exactly, but it was said that her angry spirit still roamed the ruins of Canterlot Castle for 1,000 years, before vanishing from all records forever.

Twilight Sparkle has ruled over Equestria ever since. It is said that she had inherite the gift of eternal youth from Celestia, but it isn’t known how exactly. The construction of Canterlot Castle has been underway since the rule of Princess Twilight Sparkle. It is predicted to be done sometime by next winter. Why did I tell you this story children? Because, it is the 1,100 anniversary of Celestia’s sacrifice.

I want you all to go home tonight and write me an essay on today’s lesson. Or if you’d like, you can make something in remembrance of the two princesses that were once loved, but are to this day long gone.”

As the class left, the teacher, Black Moon, spun around in her chair. It was said that Luna never had descendants, but boy were they wrong. Black Moon was the heir to Luna’s throne. Twilight just didn’t know it. Black moon glanced out at the moon that was steadily raising in the sky.

“I miss you… mother.”

To Be Continued…