Prologue - The Seal Weakens
Throughout the history of Equestria since its creation, its denizens have had to overcome many trials as their homeland had come under peril by all sorts of dangers. From threats ranging from windigos almost making the kingdom to never come into existence, to becoming the playground of the spirit of chaos and disharmony itself, the ponies have nonetheless persevered through those difficult times. All thanks for those willing to rise and confront these threats.
But after all was said and done, there was one thing that remained a constant: the threats had always been external. Not since the time of the three tribes had a pony been in conflict with another pony at this scale. The closest that it has ever come to this was with King Sombra of the Crystal Empire. Though pony as he were, it was still an external force. Equestria had still to experience a threat coming from within.
Until it finally did.
It had been gradual, it didn't go unnoticed, but many wouldn't take it fully for what it was until it was too late. It had reached a turning point and there was no falling back. But for all involved, the one affected most was one of the kingdom’s own rulers, Princess Celestia. For the very simple fact that…
"There can only be one princess in Equestria! And that princess... will be me!"
…it had been her very own sister, Princess Luna, who was now against her.
The ensuing confrontation was brief, but would leave its mark in ages to come. In the following centuries ponies would gaze the night sky and observe the image of a mare’s head on the surface of the moon, which would be known as the “Mare in the Moon”.
But that wouldn't be the end of the younger sister’s story, far from it. Eventually a prophesy would be made foretelling her inevitable escape and return to Equestria to fulfill what she sought to do all that time ago. However, in the meantime, being bound to the Moon doesn't make for much to tell… does it?
…
Does it?
A void, dark and misty, stretching as far as the eye could see. It was the sight that greeted her after regaining consciousness. And it made her angry, for her presence there meant one thing: defeat.
But for the entity known as Nightmare Moon, defeat was just the tip of it all. Her anger was directed at many other things. And the nature of her prison was perhaps one of the most infuriating ones. Despite appearances, the void didn’t have an actual physical presence. Neither Nightmare Moon for that matter. It was more exact to say it was what the imprisonment was like from her perspective. For anyone else, it was instead seen on the large image of a mare’s head that now adorned the moon.
Yes, she knew the true nature of her prison. Even in that void she could sense it. The moon, after all, was part of her domain; for Nightmare Moon was, in fact, Princess Luna. Recent events may have changed her, but her affinity for the night remained intact. And as such, being imprisoned within her very own moon, to her was like a great insult.
In the end, it all came back to the one responsible, her very own sister: Celestia. Her anger to her at the moment knew no bounds. Nightmare Moon knew that the day she would be free once more, Celestia would pay.
She WILL pay.
It left as quick as it came, but Nightmare Moon was able to feel it. For a brief moment she could sense magic foreign to the seal. This puzzled her greatly, considering that it did actually manage to penetrate it, if only slightly. After all, there was little that could possibly affect the seal, let alone reach the moon itself in the first place.
“… th… so… he…”
She felt it again, this time it lasted a bit longer, but now it was accompanied by a voice. It was faint, but Nightmare Moon was able to hear it. This only left her with more questions; first that magic, and now a voice?
“It… nly… ten… er…”
“Kee… in… er…”
Things were getting clearer now. There was definitely something, or someone, trying to tamper with the seal. And whoever it was, it wasn't alone.
“I can fee… gadier! I’m detecting so… the seal.”
“Good. Every… bit more!”
“Yes sir!”
As the magic and the voices became more and more clear, a light began to shine across the void. Whoever they were, they were getting close to break through. As much she felt glad to soon be out of her prison, Nightmare Moon couldn't help but wonder: just what sort of power they wielded, and why their interest in setting her free? Either way, it would look that she would be getting answers.
The light kept getting brighter and brighter, until soon it was blinding her. Shortly afterwards she felt as if she was being pulled. It proved to be too much even for her, and soon she was unconscious, knowing no more.
“Ungh…”
“She’s waking up!”
“Stand back! Stand back!”
The feeling of rock beneath her was one of the first things that greeted Nightmare Moon upon regaining consciousness, and the one confirming she was indeed no longer trapped. To say she was pleased would be an understatement, but right now there was little she could do to openly express it. Instead, she just groaned slightly and rose up to her hooves. Seems whatever happened to free her left her feeling quite drained. Still, it was much better than to be trapped in that void.
Opening her eyes, she was greeted by a desolate sight. The landscape seemed void of life. It was rocky terrain as far she could see, with what looked like mountains on the horizon. The ground itself was of a grayish-white, and actually emitted a glow. To her left the ground actually gave way to a more black tone, but still with a glow. The sky overhead was dark, full of stars. It would made one think it was night, if it wasn’t that instead of the moon, a green and blue orb instead was visible. It was then Nightmare Moon realized: she wasn’t back on Equestria, she was still on her moon.
Wondering what the meaning of this was, she slowly turned so she could finally see her liberators in the flesh, as her mind was full of questions.
Questions that revolved around their identity, power, and motives.
And yet, the answer of that first only added countless more.
They were ponies.
Author's Note
And so, after writing, deleting, and rewriting, I finally finished what hopefully will be the start of a story.
I came up with the idea of making this story months ago, which is also more or less how long it took me to finish this. I went through starting over from scratch at least three times since I never felt satisfied with what I had, until I finally settled with this before I changed my mind yet again.
I understand it's mostly narrative and retelling, I wanted to start light on this, and hopefully it will serve as a base for what the story is mainly about, which as you saw at the end, is coming right after. Well, after the next chapter is done of course. May take a while, though, if it's similar to my experience with writing the Prologue.
Well, hope you enjoyed it. Leave comments and/or constructive criticism as you see fit. So until next time.
