The last tendrils of the sun slowly disappeared over the horizon, and the Kingdom of Equestria was once again shrouded in a momentary, complete blackness, with no source of light to be found. It was a nightly, very brief occurrence, at which time every pony and horse would gaze out of the windows of their cottages to await the rising of the moon, which would then signal that it was time for them to retire to their beds. To drift off into the dreamland, and shun the beautiful scenery it would bring with it.
A little way above these ponies, a larger, majestic being stood; an alicorn princess, with a coat of equal colouring to the night sky, and with a flowing mane and tail of brightest blue, sparkling even in the blackness. She wore delicate shoes upon her hooves, and around her neck, an exquisite necklace, decorated with the shape of a moon, rested, and her flank showed the same design.
The mare's eyes shifted from the horizon, to a large castle which towered behind her. Upon one of the balconies, she could see the shape of an even larger alicorn than herself - her older sister - who was now stood stiffly, looking around expectantly. She had done her job and lowered the sun; now it was the younger's turn to raise the moon.
The midnight blue alicorn spread out her beautiful wings, beating them softly to lift herself into the air as she felt her Magic flow through her veins; a momentary hesitation, and then across the horizon, the unmistakeable shape of the moon began to appear. It took a few seconds, but then the sky was filled with it's light, and the mare softly landed back down upon her cloud.
She glanced down at her Kingdom below her, and her wings dropped sadly in the darkness when she saw that, as per usual, not a single pony had stayed up long enough to appreciate the beauty of her incredible night; the soft hues of the shadows, the ways water sparkled and shone with the moon's glow through the blackness.
Gently, she stepped off of the cloud, and let herself glide softly down to the castle below, flapping gently a few times before landing on the balcony of her own bed chamber. She folded her wings away slowly and gazed out over the thatched cottages below her, surrounded by great fields of green where the young could go to play; there was not a single being in sight, but the mare knew where they were; curled up in bed, not taking even a moment to appreciate what she gave them each night.
A soft knock sounded on the door, accompanied by the soft, concerned voice of the one pony who ever gave her any due; her older sister. The sound made the mare's flattened ears perk up, and in the back of her mind, she could feel Her commands to give in; to attack the bringer of the day, to attack her own sister.
"Luna? Are you in there, my sister?" came the soft call, and Luna shook her head in frustration, trying to lose the nagging voice in the back of her mind. But it never went away; with every passing day, it grew stronger, more demanding as her own sorrows grew.
The door opened slowly, and the older sister stood in the frame, looking around the room worriedly, until her eyes landed on a shattered mirror in the corner of the room.
"Luna, you must tell me what is wrong." The older demanded, her voice laced with concern, but the younger would not appear weak, as she shook her head.
"I am fine, Celestia, my sister." She replied, as she stood taller and tried to smile convincingly. Celestia had always been perceptive, though; she knew something was wrong.
"Is it that the ponies still rest during your night, Luna?" she asked gently, and the smaller alicorn turned her head away, not bearing to look at her sister.
"Does not matter," she replied quietly, her mind reeling again at the reminder.
They do not respect you, Luna... the voice in her head sneered, and the midnight mare stiffened up visibly. Should they not love you, as their Princess? They do not even see you, or the work you do for them.
"Luna..." Celestia's voice broke through Her taunting words, and the midnight alicorn spun around quickly, stamping her hooves on the floor of her room as she shouted, "Go away!", whether to her sister or Her, she wasn't quite sure. The door slammed shut as her magic flared up, and she quickly locked it, before she felt Her presence growing stronger again.
"Leave me alone!" she cried in fear, as she bucked and jumped wildly, tearing about her room and opening her wings in a snap, as she jumped off of the balcony in terror, trying to escape the constant torment of Her.
Why shouldn't they love you, Luna? the voice sneered again, You are their Princess; they should adore you, you know. How can you let your pathetic sister overshadow you with her precious light? You know, deep down, you are so much stronger, so much better than her...
"No!" she yelled, as she tried to escape Her, but it was no use, of course; she felt her fear grow, and then she lost all control of her body as She finally began to overtake it, slowly, so slowly. She felt the feathers on her wings begin to fall out, and she tried to flap them to stay airborne, but she could not feel the muscles; could not move at all.
She could see the ground hurtling towards her as she panicked more, as She took more and more control.
You will give in to me, Luna, the voice whispered, and now it felt as if She were no longer just in her mind; it felt as if she were actually besides her, plummeting too. You will give in, or you shall die.
A shrill scream of terror came from below, and out of the corner of her eyes, which she could not move, she could see a great white mare flying so fast towards her, catching her falling body as she fell, and just like that, She was gone again, and Luna could feel her own body again. She cried as her sister carried her back to her room, and when Celestia helped her curl again on her rug, she whispered quietly, "I'm so sorry, my Sister."
Celestia, in turn, simply smiled as she gave the younger mare a gentle kiss on her cheek. "Do not worry, Luna. It is not your fault - things will get better soon." Luna smiled weakly as she rested her head down, and tried to believe her sister, but it wasn't easy with Her whispers constantly plaguing her mind.
Soon. Soon.
Tears rolled down Luna's cheeks as she lowered the moon the following morning, fighting for control over her own body with Her. She gasped for breath as she finally accomplished it, and collapsed on the floor, but She forced her body to get up, slowly taking control of her limbs. She slowly walked over to the smashed mirror, and looked at herself in the broken shards of glass; the face that stared back at her was not her own, but one of a devilish, hideous creature, with slits for eyes, a mane wilder than the raging of a river, and a coat of purest black.
"No, no, no!" Luna cried, as she quickly stumbled back, but she could still see that face, imprinted in her mind. "Go away!" But as usual, it was of no use fighting - She would never leave.
"Lunaaa..." A voice whispered, and the young alicorn spun around, face to face with the ghostly image of the creature she'd just seen in the mirror. "You know you can't fiiight it anymooore..."
Luna screamed in terror, but the creature took away her voice as she galloped away, fleeing through the halls, trying to escape the haunting of Her. She sped through the Hall of Hooves, and as she went, they came alive, batting at her whenever she got too near, and in the background, she could have sworn she heard the haunting music of a pipe organ playing.
She eventually ended up in the throne room, and in a desperate attempt to hide, she fled to hide behind her own throne.
She trembled in fear, and she soon heard two sets of hooves coming near. One, she recognised as the graceful walk of her sister, and the other, the crushing sound of Her approaching.
Clop. Clop. Clop.
And then there was silence for one precious moment.
Oh, Luna... the voice whispered in the back of her mind again. You are such a fool... Did you really think you could hide from me forever?
She could feel herself losing control again, and she panicked. She kicked and bit and fought - or tried to, but her body was, again, no longer in her control. She protested as she felt her legs moving to reveal her position, and she fought for control, but she was too weak. All she could do was slow Her down, as she took over her body.
She watched in fear as she saw her sister standing across the hall, and tried fruitlessly to kick out this invader of her body as she heard the words coming out of her mouth.
"Not another step!" The words came, too harsh and angry for her, and then it was quiet for a short while as She watched for Celestia's reaction. "Did you really expect me to sit idly by, while they all basked in your precious light?"
No, no, no! Luna thought again desperately as she heard the words coming out of her own mouth. No, don't listen, my sister! This isn't me speaking - help me, my sister! But if Celestia had heard her silent pleas, she made no attempt to save her from the nightmare overtaking her body.
Her legs were forced to move again, and Luna felt herself be dragged to the podium in between the two thrones. She felt her miraculously-healed wings slowly begin to unfurl, and her mouth opened to speak again. The words which came would haunt her for years to come.
"There can only be one princess in Equestria!" came Luna's voice, but it was the Nightmare who was speaking. "And that Princess, shall be ME!"
Luna's eyes flashed a bright white for a second as She made her body rear up, before She slammed her hooves down with such force that the low wall smashed. With great effort, Luna had managed to get enough control over her body again to prevent any more damage; Her original aim had been to bring the whole throne room down on the older Princess.
The wall behind her crumbled and cracked, and then completely fell apart, the window shattering, to reveal the gleaming morning sun. Her wings snapped open as She controlled her, and Luna felt her hooves leave the floor as a familiar weight on her mind, which always came with raising the moon, appeared.
Help me, sister! You must know this is not my doing!
The tears that Luna felt rolling down her cheeks were, of course, not there, and the deep scream of terror could not be heard by any of the other occupants of the room. There was an eerie blackness spread across the kingdom as her moon stopped in front of the sun and stayed there, causing a lunar eclipse, and as she felt her body land on the floor, a black smoke began to swirl around her body. Across the room, Luna could see the ghostly shape of Her galloping over, and yet her sister did not even seem to see the shadowy creature now attacking her younger sister, completely taking her body for its own.
For just a moment, the control on her body was released as the black smoke completely swirled around her, and Luna screamed, her eyes wide with pure fear, as the essence of the nightmare seeped into her body through her mouth and her nose, running down her throat like a liquid, before she felt her body be completely lost to the creature. Her mane and tail grew as wild and unruly as she'd seen in the mirror earlier, her coat the same shade of pure black, and on her head a blue helmet now rested. Her wings changed shape and she felt herself growing taller. Around her neck, her neckless changed into a more intricate shape, and her shoes changed too. Her eyes, which had closed tightly shut from the pain, snapped open and the pupils contracted into slits, and her teeth sharpened into fangs as a cruel laugh was forced from her throat.
She screamed silently again, but she was no longer in control of her body. She felt the tears roll down her cheeks in her mind, but they did not appear in reality; with a final cry of anguish, and one massive heave to get the nightmare out of her body, she felt her strength fail her, and the small amount of control over her body she had managed to keep was completely lost.
Forgive me, my sister, she begged as the nightmare dragged her body over to confront Celestia. I was too weak to fight back; I never meant for this to happen.
The nightmare, now pursuing Celestia through the streets of the kingdom, laughed in its mind back to her. Oh, Luna - this is all your fault. I told you that you would give in eventually; and now there's nothing you can do to save yourself, or your sister. The voice sickened her, and this fury inspired Luna to fight back again - and she lost once more. Don't be a fool, Luna. You know you can't fight me; I am your superior.
And deep down, Luna knew that the Nightmare was right, knew that she couldn't fight her back- she watched with relief as her sister powered up the element of harmony to attack, and smiled in her mind when she fired. Maybe Luna couldn't fight off the nightmare, but her sister could do it for her.
Do not cry for me, my sister, she whispered in her mind, as she saw Celestia's tears. This is not your fault - I do not blame you. I was just too weak.
The magic of the elements of harmony struck her body, and while the nightmare screamed, Luna felt a great sense of courage as the elements which had once listened to her found their mark. Do not cry, dearest sister, she repeated in her mind, and as she felt her body be blasted the thousands of miles to the moon, she could feel her sister's awareness, somehow. I will see you in one thousand years' time - and then, I can truly be freed from this nightmare which has plagued me for so many years. Please do not mourn me; this is my fault, therefore I shall be the one to suffer the consequences.
She winced as her body smashed against the rocky surface of the moon, and her bones felt as if they'd been smashed into thousands of tiny pieces - but she could feel again, and when she tested out her painful limbs, she smiled very faintly when they moved. Not far off, the nightmare, forced out of her body, was moaning gently in a raspy voice, and she'd been converted back into that ghostly creature which she'd been before, and Luna felt victorious, even if it had not been she who had beaten Her.
Thank you, my sister, she whispered in her mind, and she could feel Celestia's sorrow and horror that she'd sent her away, still on the Earth. I am sorry for being so weak. She will undoubtedly conquer me again, and I am sorry for being so weak. I will see you in one thousand years' time, when there will be a way to destroy the nightmare, but until then, do not weep for me.
She paused for a second, and then the tears finally began to fall. I love you, my sister.
There was a second of silence, and then came the words which would keep Luna fighting the nightmare for one thousand years, and even when she would be forced to return to the Earth under Her control, she kept those words close, as her motivation to not completely give in.
I love you too, my little sister.
