Run from Nightmare Moon!
By
Teal
Two pegasi ponies of the Royal Celestial Guard stood watch on one of the many hallways of Canterlot castle. They stood on opposite sides of the wall and faced each other, so that they would be able to see any pony that passes through the walls. It was night and the castle was known to be peaceful and calm during this time. So the two ponies let their thought wonder in their heads, knowing the night duty was an easy task. Normally the job of guarding the castle at night falls under the Lunar guard, but since their numbers weren’t adequate enough to fulfill the task, some members of the Celestial guard were reassigned to night duty. Not that there was any difference in the job other than the fact that is happens at night.
Night duty wasn't a relaxing job, but it was a calming one. With its quiet and cool environment, it was less stressful compared to the day shift.
So the two ponies just stood there, as still as statues, waiting for time to pass by, until they could finally return to their barracks to get some rest. They have been through this duty many times before and had grown use to staying awake at night. They rarely complained about anything since they didn’t have much to do. Although the night shift was equivalent to the day shift, it was still boring and dull. For any guard shift was boring, since standing still could take its toll on both the mind and body.
The two usually entertained themselves with the passing and going of members of the Lunar Guard, who followed the bidding's of Princess Luna. The Lunar Guard was filled with bat ponies, that looked intriguing and fierce. They usually passed by the halls, conducting Princess Luna's errands before disappearing in the darkness.
But tonight seamed different. It was already almost midnight, yet the two guards haven’t seen a single Lunar Guard pass by their hall. The two started wondering why, knowing that the Lunar Guard tend to pass by their hall. Without changing their facial expressions, they began to worry about the small difference to the nightly routine. Normally there would have been dozens of Lunar guard ponies who have passed by, yet there wasn’t a single one. In fact they didn’t even see a Lunar guard on their way to their post!
As they wondered what could have happen to the Lunar guards, a cold bone chilling gust of wind blew through the hallway. The wind immediately hit the two guards making them shiver in the coldness. Of course they tried their best to hide it, knowing that they must not move from their post, but the wind was so cold that their bodies shook from it. It was like a bucket of ice was dropped on them.
Soon a gentle laugh, which sounded devious and fierce, echoed though the hallways making them shiver even more. But this time they didn’t shiver from the cold but from fear that was slowly rising in them. They looked left and right to find the source, but to no avail. It was as if the bearer had the ability to hide and avoid the sight of the two, but how?
But suddenly it stopped. Just like that, the laughing stopped and the winds disappeared. The two gave a sigh of relief and one of them gave a small grin. ‘Well it was probably nothing.’ He though.
But his grin suddenly disappeared when he saw his partner looking at him with wide eyes. He could see that his partner was shivering in fear once more and that a petrified look was plastered on his face. He wanted to know why he was looking at him like that, but the answer soon revealed itself. It revealed itself in the form of a cold and sinister female voice that sounded gentle yet frightening at the same time.
“Oww….” It said as he heard the voice whisper to his ear. “…are the two brave Celestial guards scared of the night?”
He too froze now when he heard the voice as he wondered who could have been talking to him. Closing his eyes, he slowly turned his head to face the source. A choice that he knew will soon regret.
Once he turned his head he started to slowly open his eyes to see what he was facing. The sight he saw nearly scared the life out of him. Right in front of his face, not more than a couple of inches away was the face of one of Equeatria’s greatest enemies. The one who wanted to plunge the lands into eternal darkness. It was the evil, yet elegant, face of Nightmare Moon.
He didn’t know how to react at first as he felt his body stiffen in fear. He just stood still, motionless as he felt his heart beat fast. Nightmare Moon grinned at him as she looked directly into his eyes. He could feel her stare pierce through him, as if he was looking at his soul.
“My, my…” She said grinning. “…I know I’m beautiful, but I didn't know I was stunning enough to freeze ponies and make them stare. But if you insist on admiring my beauty then I can’t stop that can I?” Shegave him a wink as she gave out a sound that was as similar to a purr.
The guard, who was transfixed in his position as Nightmare Moon stared at him, didn’t know what to do. Although he was trained to fight for the Princesses, he was never trained to fight a creature who spawned the evils of the night. Staring back at her, trying to comprehend the situation, he started to stutter the words that escaped his throat.
“N….nn..nnn…igh…night…mare…”
“Nightmare Moon!” The second guard finished for him yelling to the top of his lungs before running away from her. Quickly followed by the other guard, who burst away from the night alicorn. Their screams echoed through the halls, as the two guards trotted away as fast as they can. But no matter how loud they screamed, nopony seemed to notice their cries of help. Their screams seemed to have been blocked and trapped in one area by some sort of magic.
The two guards galloped rampantly across the hallway, knocking over vases, paintings and other valuable materials inside the castle, in hopes of blocking the path of the alicorn. They caused quite a mess as they tried to create a barier, but they didn' care. All they wanted was t get as far away as possible.
Nightmare Moon watched with a huge grin on her face as the guards galloped away. She started following them, slowly at first, but soon gaining momentum. She knew that she was going to have fun playing around with these two. Tonight was going to be an eventful time.
“Run…” She said smiling, as she raised her voice. “…run from Nightmare Moon!”
The next morning Princess Celestia stood in the hallway with a look of shock and awe plastered on her face. Right in front of her were two, embarrassed and humiliated guards who were looking down at the floor in shame. They tried to avoid eye contact with her, as she looked down at both of them. Behind the two was a mess that would make Discrord proud. Shattered vases and ruined painting littered the floor, making the hallway look like a garbage dump, rather than a pristine hall of a castle
“B…But why?” She asked them, wondering why would they cause so much damage, especially on such a peaceful night.
“Because your highness…”The first guard pipped up, lifting his head and looking at her with pleading eyes. “…we were trying to get away from Nightmare Moon.”
“Nightmare Moon?’ Celestia asked confused. She knew that the evil creature that took control of her sister was long gone now, ever since the Elements of Harmony dealt with her.
“Yes, Princess…” The second guard said nodding. Fear was obviously imprinted in his face, making it hard to believe that he was lying “…Nightmare Moon chased as all around the hallways trying to get us. But no matter how hard we tried, she was just one step ahead of us. She even tried sending a hundred tiny spiders to get us. In our blind escape, we might have accidentally knocked over some stuff.” He finished giving an apologetic look.
“But how did Night…” Celestia was about to ask when she suddenly heard laughter erupting behind a wooden that led to another room She wondered who could have been laughing in a moment like this and decided to push the door and see for herself. What she saw made her even more confused than before.
There rolling on the floor while laughing was her sister, Princess Luna. She had tears streaming down her eyes from all the laughing as the young princess found it difficult to breath from her hysterical laughter. But her sister wasn't the one that confused Celestia. What confused her were the fake fangs that were in her sister's mouth and the light blue helmet she had next to her. She looked at her sister curiously as the two guards remained were they stood, not being able to see the Princess of the Night, as Celestia blocked their view.
‘Why is Luna laughing?’ Celestia taught. ‘Also why does she…’
At that moment, Celestia suddenly realized it. Suddenly, all of the pieces started to fit together. She felt as if the dots have been connected and the answer has been found. She now knew the reasons behind all of this. She first looked at the guards, who both had an apologetic look, before turning towards her sister who still had the fake fangs on.
She gave a small shake of her head, before sighing. She knew that this was going to be a long day, knowing that she had a lot to do. First she had to organize the cleaning of the hallway, before apologizing to the two embarrassed guards. After that, she would have to giver her sister a long talk about her ability to appear as Nightmare Moon and misusing it to prank palace staff.
Author's Note
Oh, Luna and your silly ways. That's why we love you 
So, this story was written by me a long time ago, but I did some editing so that it would look a little bit more professional. (Fun fact: This is actually the second MLP story I wrote.) Seeing that I now have an account here, I decided to post it in the site. So I hope you enjoyed it.
