Equestria's not so terrible Nightmare

Chapters

The dawn of a new Equestria (Edited)
A new Era (Edited)
The worst Night ever (Edited)
Feelings of guilt (Preread and edited)

The dawn of a new Equestria (Edited)

This Chapter is now edited by: Dragon Angel Knight

Chapter 1: The dawn of a new Equestria

"NO! NOT AGAIN!!!" Nightmare Moon shrieked.

Panicked, she built up a Shield Spell, putting every last bit of her Magic into it as the Elements of Harmony brought their full force to bear on her.

"I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO THE MOON! " bellowed the Dark Alicorn over the noise caused by the attack of The Magic of the Elements of Harmony trying to penetrate the shield.

She gritted her Teeth and desperately tried to hold her Shield up against the powerful magic assaulting her, but she could feel her spell get weaker every second, making the Mare in the Moon do something she had not done in the last 970 Year of her 1000 Years Banishment to the Moon. She was Crying. Desperate, she thought to do something, knowing it would hurt her even more.

"I´m Sorry, but I don´t wanna be alone for another 1000 Years!" Nightmare Moon's Horn flashed, bringing something directly before her shield. The whole Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters was wrapped into a bright white light as the elements hit their target.

"Uuuh, my poor Head," Groaned Twilight Sparkle as she opened her eyes, "Girls? Girls, are you all okay?"

She heard her new friends moaning something, before she looked towards the End of the old Throne Room. A lot of Smoke was there, but they souldn't see much through it.

“Twi, did we beat her?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“I don´t know Rainbow.....I'll take a look,” Twilight responded.
“Not on your own, Sugarcube! We are comming with you, this time,” Applejack said, to the agreement of the others.

Twilight only nodded, before she and her Friends walked into the Smoke.

“I... I think....we beat....her...” Fluttershy said quietly.
Pinkie Pie gasped and hung in the air comically for a few seconds, then exlaimed, “You know what this calls for?! A PARTY!”

Twilight shook her head with a smile at Pinkie's antics and continued towards the throne. She stumbled over something small and furry on her way forward and fell to the floor, letting out a loud curse.

“What the Hay?!” She yelled, then gasped as she saw who was there laying on the ground in front of her.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight said happily as she wrapped her forelegs around the muzzle of her Mentor and broke down in tears, “Princess....Please wake up! It's me, Twilight!”

“Oh my Goodness! Twilight, look at her, something happened to her!” Gasped a shocked Rarity.

The Lavender Unicorn didn´t need to look, but she could feel something was wrong. She slowly looked down at her mentor's body to see what was happening. What she saw, made her jaw drop in shock. Celestia´s Mane and Tail losing their color, leaving only pink it its place. Then the Body of the Sun Princess began to shrink. The Process stopped as quickly as it started, leaving Celestia no taller than Twilight.

Everyone stared in shock before Applejack said, “Woah Nelly! What happened to her?!”

“Simple! The Elements have stripped dear Celestia's powers from her!” a voice said from the shadows.

Everypony jumped as they heard the voice and saw Nightmare Moon materialize in front of Twilight, sitting on the throne. Before they could react, Nightmare grabbed the necklaces and tiara that Twilight and her friends were wearing with her magic and tucked them safely away into her starry mane.

“The Elements!” gasped Twilight.

With this out off the Way, Nightmare stepped over to Celestia and lay herself on the ground beside her. The Six Pony´s thought that Nightmare Moon would enjoy the sight of Celestia like she was, but the look on the dark alicorn's face said otherwise.

“Celly....?” Nightmare Moon tried to put her Hoof over Celestia´s Cheek, but another hoof smacked it away. Surprised and angry, she looked at a sobbing Twilight, who was standing protectively over the now Powerless Sun Princess.

“Don´t you DARE touch my Mentor, you monster!” Twilight yelled.

“Ok, that's it, you FOAL!” Nightmare´s Horn ignited, getting ready to teach this upstart unicorn a lesson she would not soon forget.

A small groan came from below Twilight and both she and Nightmare Moon looked down in concern. Twilight moved to help her beloved mentor, but the dark alicorn shoved her away and moved closer to Celestia.

“Sister! Are you alright?” Nightmare Moon asked, her voice laced with concern, “Sister?”

Twilight's eyes widened in pure disbelief as she heard Nightmare speak. 'Sister,' she thought, 'What in the name of Faust's teats is going on here?!'

Celestia slowly opened her eyes and looked up into Nightmare Moon's face.

“Luna....is... is that you?” she asked slowly.

“You know, that is not my name anymore, sister...” Nightmare replied quietly, looking relieved that Celestia was alright.

Celestia´s eyes went wide as she recognized the voice. Quickly, she jumped to her hooves and faced Nightmare Moon. Nightmare only sat quietly on the ground opposite of Celestia, an unreadable expression on her face.

“Hello Big Sister. Long time no see, huh?” Nightmare said softly, looking Celestia in the eye.

“Princess Celestia!” Celestia turned around at the sound of her name and saw her Protege, Twilight with five other ponies.

“Twilight Sparkle, you have to...! ...Wait... something isn't right...” Celestia trailed off, a confused look on her face.

“Uh, I can explain, Celly,” Nightmare Moon said quietly, her expression still as unreadable as before.

Celestia looked back at her sister, an expression between anger and curiosity on her face as she said, “Do tell... How did the Elements not banish you again?!”

Nightmare let out a sigh and stood up, looking at her sister and the element bearers. “I knew I was going to be defeated, even with that shield I threw up. So I did the only thing I could. I used you as a living shield. I'm sorry, but the elements took most of your magic.”

Celestia´s jaw dropped and she fell on her Plot in shock and disbelief. “Am I still... Am I going to...?” Celestia asked, unable to finish the sentence.

“No, you're still immortal, but you only have about enough magic as your little student, and you no longer have the magical prowess to challenge me,” Nightmare Moon said.

“So... you used your own SISTER as a shield?! I wouldn't even do that with YOU!” Twilight exclaimed loudly, “you MONSTER!!”

“Alright, you uppity little plot kisser! I have had just about ENOUGH from you!” Nightmare said angrily, turning to face Twilight, “I was NOT going back to the moon for another Millenium!”

Nightmare Moon moved to buck Twilight in the face with her armored hooves, but was blocked by Celestia, who had moved between her sister and her student.

“Luna, please! Don´t hurt Twilight!” Celestia said, flaring her wings out protectively in front of Twilight.

“Why? Why are you Protecting her?!” Nightmare Moon let out a derisive snort, before turning away, “Buck it, I don´t care. Do what you want. I have to rule a Kingdom. A Kingdom under my beautiful, Eternal Night!”

“Luna, you still want to bring Eternal Night all over Equestria?! You will doom everypony, plant and animal to a slow and horrible Death!” Celestia yelled.

“Do you really think I am THAT foalish, Celly?” Nightmare Moon asked, silencing her sister, “What do you think I was doing for almost one-thousand years, hmm? Hopping around with a folded up map on my head, counting craters, and having make believe adventures with bat-ponies?”

“OOH!!!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly, jumping up and down, “That sounds like FUN!!!”

Everypony turned and stared at Pinkie Pie and she said a bit sheepishly, “Well it does...”

Nightmare Moon closed her eyes and began to summon her magic, concentrating it all into her horn, snorting a bit as she focused. She turned her head towards her moon and grunted as she let her spell loose into her night. As Nightmare finished casting her spell, the moon slowly became brighter and brighter until it was almost as bright as the midday sun, but the stars were still visible in the sky.

Everypony looked around curiously until Celestia spoke up in surprise, “It's... warm!”

“Oh good, it seems to have worked,” Nightmare said, opening her eyes again, looking pleased with her work.

“H... How is this possible?!” Twilight exclaimed, “It's the middle of the night, but, it's as bright and warm as it was earlier this afternoon!”

The Moon Goddess chuckled a bit at the bookish unicorn and the look of incredulity
on her face.

“When the elements took Celestia's magic and I took them from you, I tapped into the Element of Magic and took it back. I control all of the power of the Sun and Moon, now,” Nightmare Moon said, with a smug little smile.

“Luna!” Celestia started, but she was cut off harshly by Nightmare Moon, who said angrily, “My Name is Nightmare Moon, Celly! Stop calling me Luna!”

Nightmare Moon composed herself and looked over at Twilight and her friends. She looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, “If I remember correctly, the punishment for Assault Upon the Crown and Treason was either Death by hanging or Banishment, right, Celly?”

Celestia looked at Twilight and her friends, then back at Nightmare Moon, then slowly, nodded and said, “It was... before you were banished...” She paused, then quickly said, “But things have changed...!”

Nightmare interrupted Celestia with a hoof. Twilight and her friends looked at each other desperately, tears threatening to overwhelm all of them, even the usually brash and overconfident Rainbow Dash. Twilight knew that without the Elements of Harmony, they had no chance against Nightmare Moon.

“Oh for the love of the night! Quit crying already! I may have been a bit, shall we say, vengeful, a millennium ago, but I've had a long time to calm down and think things through,” Nightmare said loudly.

She moved to each of the ponies and said, “Look into my eyes...” Twilight's friends quietly did as they were told, feeling as if Nightmare's draconian eyes were staring straight into their souls. It seemed to calm everypony down. But Twilight was the last on to feel this glare. She was a bit nervous as Nightmare approached, but it all seemed to melt away as Twilight looked into her eyes. She stared into Nightmare's teal colored eyes, unable to look away. When Nightmare Moon finally did walk away, after what felt like an eternity, Twilight was left feeling at ease and slightly warm around the face.

“Alright, were you all to have lived a thousand years ago, you would have hung on the Gallows...” Moon started, “But you are lucky. I've never been somepony who clung to the laws too much. I will let you all go, under one Condition!”

Twilight swallowed hard and asked, “Which.....is?”

Nightmare Moons horn glowed and Celestia let out a small 'eep!', as her Dark Sister grabbed her with magic and levitated her over to the 6 Friends.

“You all will take care of my Sister! And you....” Nightmare Moon pointed her Hoof at Twilight as she said this. “You will report to me how everything goes with Celly! If you need anything, I'll set up some way of getting it to you, just send a letter. So, if there are no further interruptions or questions, I have a throne to take.”

Nightmare Moon smirked in farewell, her draconian eyes lingering on Twilight as she turned into a purple mist and went out the window.

Everyone sat quietly for a while before Applejack spoke up, “So, what now?”

“I'm not sure, my little ponies... I'm not sure,” Celestia answered, her voice barely a whisper.

Twilight started sniffling as she said dejectedly, “I'm so sorry, Princess, I failed you...”

“No, my faithful student, you did all you could with what little information you had...” Celestia said, putting a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, “But, I suggest that we head to Ponyville for now. It has been a while, and I'm sure we all need our rest.”

Celestia closed her eyes and tried to cast a teleportation spell, but was met only with a sputter of golden sparks.

“Well... That is a bit of a problem,” Applejack said slowly.

“What did Cele... I mean, the Princess just try to do?” Rarity asked.

“Please, everypony. Just call me Celestia,” Celestia said, “And I was trying to cast a teleportation spell, but it seems as if we will be walking to Ponyville.”

A little while later, with Applejack leading the group, they made their way out of Everfree Castle and towards Ponyville. Everypony was quiet, including Pinkie Pie, who was usually bubbly and talkative, no matter what the situation. At the moment, however, the pink party pony was as silent as the grave and her usually poofy mane and tail were straight.

“It's strange...,” Celestia said suddenly, “About two-thousand years ago, my mane was like this... Now it just seems...”
“Weird?” offered Fluttershy. She looked surprised at what she said and as everyone turned and looked at her she said shyly, “Um... nevermind...”

“It's alright, Fluttershy,” Celestia said kindly, “And yes, it is a bit weird...”

“Prin... Er, I mean, Celestia,” Twilight said, forcing herself to call Celestia by her name and not her title, “What's going to happen to Equestria now?”

Celestia sighed and said, “I don't know, Twilight... Before I banished her, Nightmare Moon's heart was full of anger and jealousy... And pain...” Celestia paused and took in a breath, letting it out as another sigh, “But I didn't see that in her eyes tonight...”

“What do you mean, Princess?” Rainbow Dash asked, hovering next to Celestia.

“I'm not sure, but I did see a flicker of something...” Celestia trailed off softly as Ponyville came into view. “This is Ponyville, right? A lovely looking village.”

Twilight said nothing, absorbed in her own thoughts again, a crestfallen look on her face. She was startled out of her depressing thoughts by Applejack saying, “Hey, Twi, You alright, sugarcube?”

Twilight hung her head and said, “No, I'm not alright... I dragged you all into this... and I...” she couldn't speak anymore, just let the tears fall as her friends and mentor surrounded her.

“Please, don't cry,” Fluttershy said in her quiet voice, “It wasn't your fault.”

“Hay yeah, what kind of ponies would we be if we didn't stick with you, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Yes, dear, I agree with Rainbow on this one,” Rarity said, “We all knew what we were getting into when we followed you into that forest tonight.”

Twilight looked at each of her friends and saw that not a single one of the felt any regret for what had happened. She felt a fresh wave of tears threaten to overwhelm her as she pulled everypony in for a group hug. Celestia joined in as well, comforting the Purple Unicorn. The group hug ended and the ponies were on their way back to Ponyville again.

As they neared the town, ponies started staring at the now pink-maned alicorn with Twilight and her friends. Most of Ponyville did not recognize Celestia at first glance, but when they checked the cutie mark, they did a double take. By the time they reached Twilight's library home, they had gathered a large crowd, all demanding an explanation of what had happened to their beloved Princess. Twilight and the others explained, to the best of their ability what had happened. When they were finished with their story, ponies started shouting and blaming Twilight and her friends for everything that had happened. The yelling and shouting made Twilight cringe, but she had expected this kind of reaction and was somewhat prepared for it. The others, especially Fluttershy, were not and the timid pegasus hid behind her mane and started crying quietly.

“ENOUGH!!!” Celesta bellowed out suddenly. The crowd immediately went silent as they were given the full force of the Royal Canterlot Voice. “THESE PONIES RISKED LIFE AND LIMB TO SAVE EQUESTRIA! THE LEAST YOU CAN DO IS THANK THEM AND BE ON YOUR WAY!”

“But they failed!” said a young filly with a tiara.

“Shut up, Diamond Tiara!!” three voices shouted out in unison, earning a small smile from Celestia.

“I know you are all upset, but this is how things are going to be from now on,” Celestia said, “So please, stop blaming these ponies... They are all great ponies and I am proud to call them my friends.”

Twilight looked up at her mentor a bit dazed and thought, 'Even after everything, she would still call us friends?'

“But Princess...what should we do now?” asked a red mare with smily-faced flowers for a cutie mark.

“Whats your Name?” Celestia asked.

“Cheerilee,” she responded.

Celestia smiled at Cheerilee and said to the crowd, “For now, we shal just ago about our lives as normal. But, you need to quit blaming Twilight and her friends for this. It is not their fault that things are the way they are. I also would like it if you all quit calling me Princess... Just Celestia will be fine.”

Everypony was quiet for a few moments. Then, one by one, they all left. Only three little fillies were left at the library, surprising Celestia. She walked over to the fillies and asked them their names.

The white one said, “I'm Sweetie Belle! Rarity is my sister!”

The yellow one with the Strawberry colored mane said, “Ah'm Applebloom! Ah'm Applejack's sister!”

The orange one said, “I'm Scootaloo! These two are my best friends!”

Celestia smiled and said, “It's nice to meet you three.” She looked around and said, “it seems like the company here will be good at least.”

Everypony chuckled at Celestia's little joke. But it was already way past bed time for the fillies, so they went back to their homes after saying goodbye. The older ponies soon followed suit, wishing their friends a good night.

–

Nightmare Moon sat in Celestia's room in the palace, watching her sister through a small basin of water she had enchanted to keep an eye on her now little sister.

Nightmare Moon sighed heavily and said, “Oh, Celly, even without the sun and your powers, ponies still flock to you like a moth to a flame...”

The queen of the night was able to take over Canterlot much easier than she had expected. True, some of the more... fanatical of the royal guard had been thrown into the dungeon, but for the most part, the transition of power was seamless and non-violent, which made the Dark Alicorn sigh in relief. It would have been much harder to keep control if her little take over had been bloody. The thing that surprised her the most, however, was the fact that the young captain of the royal guard was wiling to accept the change of power. Nightmare tried to remember the colts name, Shining Armor or something similar. She was also surprised to see yet another Alicorn, other than Celestia wandering the halls. Cadence, if she recalled correctly.

Nightmare snorted and said, “Bah! I'll deal with it tomorrow, for now... After a thousand years... a real BED!!!” She busied herself with taking off her armor, first her shoes, then her breastplate, then her helmet. To anyone looking in, she would have looked like a different pony, and certainly far less intimidating than she did at first glance. She took a quick glance in the mirror and made a mental note to get something a bit more royal looking made for herself. She hopped onto the bed and lay down, attempting to get comfortable. After a few minuets of this she found that she couldn't get to sleep on the soft bed. She got up in irritation and grabbed a few blankets and set up a space on the floor.

“Honey, what do you think about this?” Asked Princess Cadence as they walked towards the new Queens room.

“Honestly, I have no clue what to think about this... and here I thought that Celestia and you were the only two Alicorns in Equestria,” said Shining Armor in frustration, “At the very least, we can be thankful that nopony was seriously during the coup...”

Cadence nodded, still not sure what to think of her new aunt. “Well, I don't think she's a bad pony, even with this whole eternal night business.”

Shining Armor just snorted as they rounded another corner, “Really? She overthrew Celestia and only the stars above actually know where she is right now and you seriously think that she isn't a bad pony?”

“Yes,” Cadence replied, “But you'd better get your armor straightened out, because we're here.”

Shining looked at the door that they were now standing in front of and did as his fiancee suggested. Cadence knocked on the door and sat back on her haunches, waiting patiently for an answer. After a few moments, she looked at shining and said, “We're on time...” She knocked on the door again, calling, “Auntie Moon?”

They looked at each other when they didn't hear an answer, so Shining pushed open the door with his magic and said, “Your Highness? Are you here?”

He sighed inwardly at himself for saying 'Your Highness', but was quickly silenced by Cadence, who waved a hoof at him to come closer.

“She must not be used to a bed, or something,” Cadence whispered and pointed with a hoof at a shape on the floor or the Royal Chambers.

Shining looked at the shape and couldn't help but smile at the sight of their new monarch curled up under a blanket with an abacus clutched to her chest.

Authors note: Well, i hope this Story will be better than my First. What do you all think?

Editor's note: Well, after 3 days of work, it's been edited so you guys can read it clearly. Also, it's a bit longer than the original, so I hope you had fun reading it!

A new Era (Edited)

Edited by Dragon Angel Knight

Chapter 2: A new Era

Four weeks after Nightmare Moon's take over, things were going quite well, even in the more outlying cities like Las Pegasus. The only real differences were the lack of sun during the daylight hours and the uniform for the royal guard, which had been changed to a dark blue metal with Nightmare Moon's symbol, a teal colored draconic eye. The armor was also enchanted to give the wearer golden versions of Nightmare Moon's eyes, bat-like wings if they were pegasi, and a slightly longer horn if they were unicorns.

It was with these guards stationed at the doors and around the throne room that Nightmare Moon held court. The current issue on the table was whether or not to grant permission for a charity event that would go to funding orphanages all over Equestria.

“And so, Your Highness, this charity event...” the speaker fell silent as the Queen of the Night raised a hoof with a small smile on her face.

“Your name is Fancy Pants, correct?” Nightmare Moon asked. The stallion in front of her nodded and she said, “You have permission to use the Grand Ballroom for your event, it has my full support as well.”

Fancy Pants smiled and said, “Thank you, Your Majesty, this will help out a lot of less fortunate children.”

Nightmare Moon's smile grew a bit larger as she said, “This proposal is excellent. A new orphanage with its own School? A perfect opportunity to better our children. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for foals, as well...”

“A thousand thanks, Your Grace,” Fancy Pants said as he bowed low, “You will not regret this."

“No, my little pony, thank you,” Nightmare Moon said, “And I am sure that I will not regret this choice.”

She dismissed Fancy Pants with a smile. She was in a relatively good mood when she sent for the next petitioner, however her mood was shattered when the doors to the throne room were thrown open, followed by an uptight, irritating voice Nightmare had learned to actually hate.

“AUNTY MOON!” Prince Blueblood practically screeched.

“Great... My 'Nephew' approaches...” Nightmare Moon muttered, then said in the closest thing she had to a neutral voice, “What do you need, Nephew?”

The arrogant prince levitated a scroll over to his aunt, not even bothering with protocol. Nightmare sighed heavily, took the scroll and began to read it to herself. It was a petition to have a rather large party in the Grand Ballroom. There was no specific goal in mind, no charities to donate to, just a party.

Nightmare Moon looked up from the petition, ripped it into tiny little pieces and scattered them around Blueblood's disbelieving face. “No,” she said simply to the stunned unicorn.

“But why?!” Blueblood asked, looking outraged.

“Because another petitioner already came in asking to use the Grand Ballroom for a charity event that is going to benefit needy children by building a new orphanage with its own school,” Nightmare Moon said, attempting to keep herself as calm as possible, “I have already given my permission for that event and I will not revoke it because YOU want a party for no reason other than to have one.”

Blueblood just scoffed and said, “Really Aunt? Are common foals really more important than us royals celebrating ourselves?”

Nightmare Moon's eye began to twitch in annoyance at the arrogance that this so called 'Prince of Equestria' had. She had been willing to allow the party, albeit in a slightly smaller ballroom off in another part of the castle, but now she was too angry with this upstart noble to allow him to do anything of the sort.

“Yes! Yes they are, Blueblood,” Nightmare said coldly, “I daresay that those children are more valuable to me than you ever will be.”

“B-but...” Blueblood stammered, retreating a few steps from the throne.

“I allow this charity event because it will better the lives of needy children who do not have parents to take care of them due to circumstances beyond their control,” Nightmare Moon said, her voice still filled with icy venom, “Now get out of my sight, you ungrateful, pathetic excuse of a pony!”

“But Aunt Celestia would have let me...” Blueblood started indignantly.

“I. AM NOT. MY SISTER!!!”Nightmare bellowed, “NOW LEAVE!!!

Blueblood looked terrified as he scrambled to get out of the queen's wrath, but he wasn't fast enough, because as he reached the door, he felt a painful jolt of electricity hit him on the flank, causing him to jump a few feet in the air, howling and holding his flank with his forehooves.

Nightmare Moon allowed herself a small smile at the arrogant Prince's humiliation before calling out, “Are there any more petitioners?”

“No, your majesty,” called back a pegasus guard without looking.

“Good,” Nightmare said, “Court is now closed.”

Nightmare Moon looked around at the throne room and growled, “I swear if I have to deal with that worthless Prince again, I'll BUCK HIM STRAIGHT TO THE SUN!!”

Nightmare left the throne room in a flash of midnight blue light, ending up in her chamber. She was still irritated as she tried to lay down for the night cycle of her moon, but try as she might, she could not fall asleep. Her mind kept falling back to all of the selfish petitions of the day and only made one choice clear.

“Buck it,” Nightmare Moon said getting out of bed, “Buck this place, buck them, I'm done! I'm moving the capitol some place else!! I have no idea what Celly was thinking when she moved it to Canterlot; The castle in Everfree was good enough before my banishment, so that are is where I'll start looking.”

She crossed the room to her door and said to one of the guards, “Would you go get me the treasurer, the royal engineer, and Captain Shining Armor? We have business to discuss.”

The unicorn guard turned, saluted his queen, then teleported to his destinations in a flash of greenish light. Nightmare Moon herself turned and walked back into her room and sat at her desk, the plans for her new capitol already forming in her head.

Ponyville, two nights later

“Alright, so you want me to do what now?” Celestia asked in confusion, looking at Twilight for help.

“Girls, I thought I told you already that magic can't help you get your cutie marks!” Twilight said in frustration.

“But Celestia is an alicorn,” Applebloom said pleadingly, “Maybe she can do it!”

Celestia looked at the fillies in front of her and said, “I'm sorry girls, my sister and I tried that a long time ago, but it didn't work...”

Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo looked at Celestia with the biggest puppy dog eyes they could, but when Celestia kept up her apologetic look, they sighed in defeat.

“Hey! What about getting our cutie marks in gardening?” Scootaloo asked suddenly.

“Oh yeah!” Sweetie Belle said excitedly, “I bet Carrot Top would be happy if we helped her out with her chores!”

The three fillies looked at each other, then cheered loudly as they bolted out the door, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER GARDENERS! YAY!!”

“Oh, wow...” Twilight said, “I'm always surprised at how loud those three can be.”

Celestia nodded, rubbed her ears, and said, “As am I.”

Suddenly, a crash sounded in the library and Twilight was tackled by a rainbow colored blur. Celestia looked around and saw Rainbow Dash and Twilight sprawled on the floor by a bookshelf, with all of the books littering the floor around the two. As Celestia approached, concern lining her face, she heard Twilight groan softly.

“Rainbow, you do know that I have a DOOR, right?!” Twilight asked irritatedly.

“Mmm... Yeah, but where's the fun in that?” Rainbow Dash said with a cocky grin, “You also make a good emergency break.”

“I guess everything is fine with you two,” Celestia chuckled.

“Ugh... Nevermind Rainbow, what brings you to the library?” Twilight asked.

“I was flying over the Everfree Forest, y'know, doing some cool stunts..” Rainbow Started to say, but she was cut off by a roll of the eyes from Twilight, so she finished by saying, “There's some ponies in hardhats and stuff over at the old castle.”

“Really?” Celestia asked, “What are they there for?”

“I don't know, but it looked interesting,” Rainbow said as she spread her wings and hopped up into a hover.

Celestia looked thoughtful for a moment, then headed towards the door and broke into a full on gallop as she aimed herself at the forest. She had almost made it to the entrance of the forest by the time Twilight and Rainbow had caught up to her. Her pace had slowed to a leisurely trot, remembering that her faithful student and her rainbow maned friend would be unable to catch up fast enough.

The three ponies had passed by Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie during their rush to catch up to Celestia. Applejack turned her head and asked to no one in particular, “Well what the hay are those three doin'?”

“I have no idea~!” Pinkie responded in a sing-song voice and bounced after her friends.

“Well, darling, I suppose we should see what all the fuss is about, wouldn't you agree?” Rarity asked.

“Um... Yes, I'm kind of curious about that,” Fluttershy said in her quiet voice.

The three ponies trotted after their energetic pink friend who had already caught up with Twilight, Celestia, and Rainbow Dash. The four ponies ahead of them had been stopped by a pair of Lunar Guards that were stationed at the entrance to the Everfree trail leading towards the old Castle.

“I'm not going to ask again,” said an aggravated Pegasus, “Who are you and what is your business here?”

“I'm Twilight Sparkle,” the lavender mare said, “We're here to see what's going on out here.”

“I'm sorry, but we cannot allow anypony in. Queen Moon's orders,” The guard said. The guard next to him, a unicorn, looked at the ponies they were blocking, then did a double take as he saw Celestia's wings, horn, and cutie mark.

“Princess... Celestia?” he asked cautiously.

Celestia looked at the guard and said, “It's just Celestia, now. Is Queen Moon here?”

The guard was about to answer when he was interrupted by the mare in question as she flew silently overhead. She landed a little bit behind the guards, then walked towards the group of ponies. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity, having caught up with the others, sank into a courteous bow as Nightmare Moon said, “No need for formalities out here, Elements of Harmony.”

“Hello, sister,” Celestia said to Nightmare Moon, “What is all this about? And why are the Lunar Guard back?”

“Celly!” The Queen of the Night exclaimed as she gathered her sister up in her magic and gave her a hug, “It's so good to see you again!”

Celestia squealed as she was lifted up and said, “Luna!! You're embarrassing me in front of my friends!!!”

“I know,” Nightmare Moon chuckled, “I just wanted to give you a hug. It's been a while. But, in answer to your questions, a few of the so-called nobles back in Canterlot made the mistake of comparing me to you... So, I decided to strip them of rank and title and move back here.”

“By 'Nobles', you mean Blueblood, don't you?” Twilight asked.

“Yes. I have no idea how you and Celly put up with him, Twily, but it was worth it to see the look on his face when I zapped him on the flank,” Nightmare Moon chuckled.

“I, wait, did you just call me Twily?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, I did,” the Dark Alicorn said with a grin, “And I met your brother too. Quite the charmer, really, I can see why Celestia picked him to be Captain of the Royal Guard. And Twily is such a cute nickname...”

“Yeah, yeah, just tell us why you're here already!!” Rainbow Dash said before Twilight could utter a retort, “It's not like we're getting any younger!” This earned blank stares from the rest of the mare present, but Nightmare Moon just chuckled.

“Ah, the proverbial elephant in the room as it were,” she said, “Well, I'm restoring the old castle where Celestia and I ruled and adding a few changes to it. Canterlot really was a poor choice in capitol, Celly... But for now, the rest is top secret and will be taken care of in due time.”

With that, Nightmare Moon escorted the group back into town and said her farewells as she went to supervise the restoration of Everfree Castle. Rainbow Dash landed on the ground and said, “Huh... Kinda weird, all this stuff that's going on.”

Celestia nodded and said, “Yes. Luna was against moving the capitol. She said that Canterlot was over run with ponies that didn't care for others the way that the rest of Equestria did.”

Applejack looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, “I wonder what really made her decide to move the capitol back to this castle...”

“I'm not sure, Applejack,” Rarity said as she waved a hoof, “But I for one, would not be moving such an important place as the capitol of Equestria into a dark and wild forest.”

The group made their way back to Twilight's library and headed inside. Spike was still in the library, having opted out of seeing what all the fuss was about. He went into the kitchen and grabbed a few bottles of apple juice for his friends.

“Here you go,” Spike said with a friendly grin, “Sweet Apple Acres best.”

Everypony said thanks and popped open their bottles and drank for a little while in silence. Then Celestia said with a sigh, “I guess there's not much we can do about it at the moment. I just wish I knew what was going through her head sometimes...”

Twilight nodded in agreement before getting lost in thoughts of purple mist and teal colored dragon eyes.

-Meanwhile, back at Canterlot Castle-

Nightmare Moon had teleported to her chambers shortly after bidding farewell to Twilight and her friends. While the new capitol was being built or rebuilt, depending on your point of view, Canterlot still remained the center of Equestrian operations. So, the Dark Alicorn sat at her desk, going over paperwork, redoing the tax system, and going over maps of her land.

“It surprises me how far ponies have come since my banishment,” Nightmare Moon said as she took off her helmet, “But, I suppose now is as good a time as any to catch up on what I have missed.”

Before finally deciding on the old castle in Everfree Forest, Nightmare Moon had looked through all the cities and towns that looked promising. She had stopped at Manehattan, but there was no real place to build a castle, except over the river that ran around the city, which would have been a bad choice because it would have impeded the water based traffic in and out of the harbor. Hoofington was too close to the Griffin border for a capitol and the Griffins themselves would have probably taken all the construction in the area as an act of war, And Nightmare Moon didn't want that at all. Apploosa lay in the desert, which in case of war, was far too risky. All any attackers would have had to do was wait until any supplies in the castle and surrounding areas ran out. Stalliongrad was an industrial city, so the air quality was not as healthy as places closer to a forest. Needless to say, before the Queen of the Night had made a decision, she had spent weeks combing the entirety of Equestria, had found nothing, and had become frustrated enough with the whole thing that she was about to give up entirely. But, before she could get a hold of her guards and call off the ongoing work, she remembered a certain lavender unicorn lived nearby and that close to the town she lived in was an old castle that the Dark Alicorn had once lived in.

The more Nightmare Moon thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. If she moved the capitol back to Everfree Castle, she would be in more familiar surroundings, she would have an excuse to occasionally leave the castle to go visit her sister in Ponyville and check up on her.

'And...' came an unbidden thought to the Dark Alicorn, 'I could visit that faithful student of Celestia's...'

After realizing what she was thinking, Nightmare Moon blushed heavily and shook her head, attempting to bury that line of thought. She had recovered after allowing herself to get swept up in the tax codes she was rewriting before she called to the guards to get Shining Armor. After a brief talk about the Queen's decision, they left to go make preparations to go to Ponyville for a tour of the area.

Now however, Nightmare Moon struggled with trying to get over the feelings she had for a certain mare. She had just finished with bringing about the night cycle of the moon and was laying down in her bed, which had gotten more comfortable after the first few nights of sleeping on it. She closed her eyes and finally drifted off to sleep, her dreams of lavender.

-Back in Ponyville-

“What in tarnation were you girls thinking?!” Applejack said as she scolded the Cutie Mark Crusaders, “No more Crusading for you today, Applebloom!”

Applejack wasn't necessarily angry with Applebloom, but the look on her face told the red maned filly that she would be getting a stern talking to when they got back to the farm house. Rarity, on the other hand, was nearly foaming at the mouth when she looked at Sweetie Belle. The crusaders had followed through with attempting to get their cutie marks in gardening, with Carrot Top assuming that they wouldn't cause too much damage. But, as she found out, chaos seemed to follow the fillies around everywhere they went. Scootaloo looked at Rainbow Dash for some help, but her idol just shrugged and glanced at Twilight and Celestia.

“Now, now,” Celestia said soothingly, “I'm sure the girls did not mean to mess up this mare's garden, did you?”

The crusaders shook their heads and said in unison, “No, Celestia.”

“Good. Then that means that you girls would be willing to help Miss Carrot Top fix up her garden starting tomorrow, right?” Twilight said, “Is that a good punishment for you two, Applejack? Rarity?”

“Ah, suppose....” Applejack said slowly, “But if Ah hear so much as a single word against y'all, Ah'll tan your hide from here back to the farm, got it, Applebloom?”

“While I would personally refrain from corporal punishment, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said, “I am NOT against grounding you for a few weeks if you don't help Carrot Top fix up her garden, understood?”

“Yes, sister...” the two fillies in question said in a down-trodden voice.

“What about me?” Scootaloo asked.

“I'll talk to your parents, squirt,” Rainbow Dash said seriously, “I'm sure that they would agree with this too, so don't think you're out of the woods cuz your parents aren't here.”

“Yes, Rainbow Dash,” the orange filly said.

“Alright, that being said, I think it's time you girls went home,” Celestia said, “I'm sure that it is almost bed time anyway.”

“Thank you,” Carrot Top said as the two pairs of sisters, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo left for home, “Those fillies sure are a hoof-full, aren't they?”

“You don't know the half of it...” Twilight said as she waved farewell to the Carrot farmer.

As Twilight and Celestia turned to go home, Celestia noticed a shape coming closer in the night sky. It looked like a pegasus, but it was definitely a messenger of the Lunar Guard, based on the more lightweight and streamlined version of the Lunar Armor he wore. Twilight looked up in time to see the pegasus land nearby and trot up to her.

“Excuse me, are you Twilight Sparkle?” the Guard asked.

“Yes, may I ask what this is about?” Twilight replied.

“I was asked to give you this,” the pegasus said as he handed over a letter with the Lunar Seal on it. His job completed, he took off with a word of farewell to the former sun princess and headed back to Canterlot.

Twilight looked over the letter and her eyes grew wide in surprise. She re-read the letter a few times to be sure of what she was seeing, then handed the letter to Celestia, who read the letter out loud:

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Thank you for your outstanding work in watching my sister. I am sure she is enjoying her time off after a thousand years of my absence, which, from what I have heard around the palace, was not easy on her.

As for why I have sent this letter, I am going to make a formal trip to Ponyville so I may make an announcement regarding the recent activity in the Everfree Forest, which I am sure most of the town has noticed by now, and my decision to move the capitol. I would like you and the other Element Bearers to coordinate with the Mayor to prepare for my arrival. Show the Mayor the first part of this letter, as it has my royal seal upon it, so she will know that this is not some sort of prank. I will not stress you out by making this visit sudden, so have everything done within a week. This is the beginning of a new era for Equestria.

Give my regards to your friends and my sister.

HRH, Queen of the Night, etc.
Nightmare Moon

“Ok, so we'll finally know what's going on in the forest,” Celestia said as she finished reading, “But I don't see another part to the letter anywhere...”

Just then, a second scroll fell from behind the first one. Before it hit the ground, it immediately rolled itself up, the symbol of the Mare in the Moon appearing on it like a seal.

“Ah. Luna, never much of one for subtlety...” Celestia said as she levitated the scroll to Twilight.

“I wonder what she would want to say to me that would make her seal a letter like this...” Twilight said slowly as she took the letter from her mentor, “It seems kind of weird, even with all the stuff that's happened in the past few weeks...”

Celestia nodded as they approached the library. She opened the door with the little bit of magic she had left, which enabled Celestia to do most of the things that Twilight could do, however, she was blocked off from the sun completely.

“Yes, it is weird, but then again, Nightmare Moon has been behaving more like Luna used to... Before the banishment, I mean,” Celestia said.

“Huh...” Twilight said thoughtfully, “Well, I'm going to go crack open this letter and then head to bed, Celestia. Good night.”

Twilight headed up the stairs to her bedroom. Celestia had elected to stay up a little while longer reading, so she went over to a bookshelf and started browsing the selection. When twilight got to her room, she closed the door with a soft click, not wanting to wake Spike who had already been in bed by the time Twilight had gotten home. She crossed the room to her bed and opened the letter, which had been enchanted so that it would only open for its intended recipient. The letter said:

Twilight,

I know this is an odd way of correspondence, but I have a personal matter to discuss with you whenever you have the time. I was thinking perhaps, we could talk sometime next week during my visit? I plan on renting a room at the hotel in Ponyville for some time afterward to oversee the reconstruction of the old castle.

Do not worry, it is nothing life threatening, dangerous, or otherwise harmful in anyway, but it is important to me.

My best wishes,
Nightmare Moon

Twilight finished reading the letter and became curious and apprehensive at the same time. On the one hoof, Twilight wanted to know what was so important that Nightmare Moon felt the need to ask for help. On the other, Twilight wasn't sure if she could help an immortal Alicorn understand her problems if the Alicorn in question couldn't understand them herself. Shrugging and resigning herself to whatever the new queen had in mind, Twilight put the letter on her bed-side table and readied herself for sleep.

-A week later-

“Oh no, oh nononononono NO!” Twilight practically screamed as she ran around town hall in a panic.

After Twilight had woken up the day-cycle after receiving the letters from Nightmare Moon, she had gathered up her friends, shown them the first letter, then brought them to Ponyville Town Hall to speak with Mayor Mare. Twilight explained the situation, then showed the letter to the Mayor, who had immediately started getting everything ready for a Royal Visit. Over the next couple of days, Ponyville had been busy doing everything from tidying up Town Hall and the village square, to putting up decorations and preparing food for the occasion.

Now, however, with most of the decorations in place, the food ready and set out for everypony, Twilight was beginning to panic. She had forgotten the contents of the second letter until that very morning due to the hustle of the past week. Twilight had, despite all attempts from Spike, her friends, and even Celestia, started worrying about not being able to help the Queen and being banished, or worse.

“Twilight, will you just calm down?” Spike said in a mildly annoyed voice, “Everything is going to be fine, I'm sure Nightmare Moon wouldn't send you to the moon for not being able to help with a problem.”

“How do you know?” Twilight asked fearfully, “I don't have a single clue what Queen Moon's problem is, so I can't look it up in a book! UGH!! I'm SO going to get banished for this!”

Spike was about to say something to try and calm down the troubled mare, but Celestia walked in and said kindly, “Twilight, she's here. You'd better get yourself presentable.”

Twilight's eyes shrank in fear, but she nodded anyway, knowing that the queen was going to expect her to greet her when she arrived. So, five minuets later, Twilight Sparkle found herself standing on a stage in Ponyville Square, giving a small speech and greeting the Queen of the Night.

Nightmare Moon stood silently at the podium for a moment, then said, “I'm sure you have all noticed the activity in the Everfree Forest by now, correct?”

The crowd murmured their ascent as the Queen continued, “I have decided to move the capitol of Equestria from Canterlot to its former place in the Everfree Forest. I wished to move both so I could be closer to my sister, Celestia, and to be in a more familiar setting.”

The Queen then began taking questions from the assembled ponies for about an hour before finally saying, “Enough questions. I believe that the food has been waiting around long enough, don't you agree?”

There were a few good-natured laughs from the crowd as Nightmare Moon lead the way to the Town Hall where the food was waiting.

“Twilight Sparkle, come here please,” the Dark Alicorn said quietly.

“Uh... alright,” Twilight said without confidence. She approached the Queen and sat next to her as she sat down at a long table, filled with ponies getting food and drinks. “What did you need to talk to me about, Your Highness?”

“Just... Nightmare is fine for right now, Twilight,” Nightmare said, “After this banquet, I would like you to come to my room at the Ponyville Inn, if you have no other pressing matters to attend to...”

Twilight looked at the alicorn and studied her face for a moment. Nightmare Moon's expression was unreadable, but her eyes betrayed a look of apprehension.

“Ok...” Twilight said as she watched Nightmare Moon let out a breath, “I'll have to put Spike to bed, but I'll be there as soon as I'm done.”

Nightmare Moon nodded, then began to eat the food she had gathered for herself, apparently too lost in thought to carry on a conversation.

-Editor's Note-

Little bit longer than the original version, and some things were changed. If there are any errors that you guys find, let me know and I'll see if I can fix them up. Also, Celestia is calling Nightmare Moon 'Luna' as a term of endearment. Just thought I'd clear that up a bit...

The worst Night ever (Edited)

Edited by Dragon Angel Knight

(Light F/F in this Chapter between Twilight and Celestia)

Chapter 3

Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle each said their good-byes after leaving the party. They had tried to get their cutie marks in Leaf raking after their disaster at Carrot Top's garden, but as the earth pony looked at her flank, she shook her head sadly and said, “Still a Blank Flank...”

Hanging her head in disappointment, Applebloom headed towards Sweet Apple Acres for supper, avoiding the majority of ponies in town as she made her way home. She had asked herself why there was so much activity during the night cycle, but then she remembered Applejack coming home and telling Granny Smith what was happening in the forest. So, with that in mind, the red maned filly decided to make a detour to the construction site.

About thirty minuets later, Applebloom found herself staring at work ponies moving supplies, cranes lifting materials into the right place, and a nearly completed tower, easily dwarfing the town hall in height. As she watched the work, Applebloom suddenly got an idea.

“Maybe They'll let me get mah cutie mark in construction!” The filly said to herself excitedly. Before she could rush off to try and help, Applebloom heard derisive laughter come from behind her. She groaned and turned around to find Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon laughing at her.

“You, in construction?” Diamond asked haughtily, “I hope all these ponies know a shield spell, cause you'd probably make the whole thing explode in their faces! Face it, you'll be a Blank Flank forever!”

The two bullies continued laughing at Applebloom as she grit her teeth in anger. It was always like this. Diamond Tiara always picking on Applebloom and her friends while Silver Spoon and a few others laughed at the stuck up filly's bullying. Applebloom had had enough and was ready to buck the living daylights out of Diamond.

“Stop laughing at me!” Applebloom said furiously, “Stop calling me that!”

“And what are you gonna do about it?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“Call your Blank Flank friends?” Silver Spoon finished.

Applebloom could feel hot tears starting to well up in her eyes. Satisfied with the reaction that they got from the filly in front of them, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon turned and started to walk away, shouting over their shoulders, “Crybaby! Blank Flank!”

Diamond Tiara turned her head to look in front of her before she hit something tall, dark, solid, and a bit furry. She fell to her haunches and said angrily, “What?! Don't you have eyes?! Look where you're goi- mmph!”

Silver Spoon had pushed her hoof over Diamond Tiara's mouth to silence her, then pointed up fearfully at the pony that she had run into. Nightmare Moon stared down at the fillies.

“You know, children knew to show respect to royalty before my banishment...” the Dark Alicorn said quietly, “I think you should run along home before I prove the Nightmare Night myths true.”

The two bullies nodded fearfully, then ran as fast as their legs could carry them. Nightmare Moon shook her head in disgust and said, “They should be ashamed of themselves. Picking on another pony like that...”

Nightmare turned her head curiously when she heard sniffles coming from behind her. She walked over to Applebloom and wiped her tears away. The filly looked up and gave a startled ruler of the night a hug.

“It's not fair!” Applebloom sobbed, “Mah friends and ah are the last ones in our school without our cutie marks! And those two bully us all the time! It's not fair!!”

Nightmare Moon comforted the filly as she poured her heart out. She looked down at Applebloom, stroked the red mane, and said, “Did you know it took my sister and I almost a hundred years to get our cutie marks?”

“Really?” Applebloom asked curiously, “Ah always thought that you and Celestia were born with 'em.”

“Nope,” Nightmare said comfortingly, “We had to earn ours just like everypony else. So I know how you feel right now...”

“How... How did you get your cutie mark?” Applebloom asked looking up at Nightmare Moon.

“Wow...” Nightmare chuckled, “You know, you are the first pony to ask me that? But it is a rather long story, and even I get cold at night. Maybe we should go to the hotel? I have a room there and it will be a while longer before I expect to have company.”

Applebloom looked like she was about to interrupt, but Nightmare Moon held up a hoof and said, “I will send a guard to your home and have him tell your family where you are and not to worry, alright?”

The filly nodded and wiped her eyes with a hoof. She followed the Dark Alicorn into town and towards the hotel, saying, “Oh, Ah guess. As long as Ah can hear your story.”

-Meanwhile...-

“Spike? Where are you going?”

The baby dragon turned around and saw Twilight standing at the top of the stairs looking down at him with a slight frown.

“I'm going over to Rarity's. Sweetie Belle asked her if I could stay the night and I figured it would be a perfect opportunity to get to know Rarity better,” Spike said, “And to show her how suave I am!”

Twilight rolled her eyes at the love-struck dragon, then said, “Alright, Casanova, but bring your toothbrush, got it? I'll be going to visit Queen Moon at her hotel sometime anyway, so I may not be at home for a while.”

Spike gave a crisp salute, then dashed out of the house after grabbing his toothbrush. Twilight rolled her eyes at the little dragons antics and walked up to the second floor of her home. She was surprised to see Celestia sleeping at the moment, seeing as it was still rather early in the night. Despite every warning going off in her mind Twilight couldn't help but think about how adorable the scene was. It wasn't until she caught her gaze being drawn further down the sleeping mares body that Twilight thought just how beautiful Celestia was. A sudden heat in her cheeks made Twilight realize what she was thinking.

Twilight steeled herself for what she was about to do and walked as quietly as she could over to Celestia's bed. She lay down next to Celestia and cuddled with her. She tentatively reached up a hoof to stroke the pink mane of her mentor, reveling in how soft and warm it felt. Before she continued any further, Twilight checked to make sure Celestia was sleeping. She then inched herself closer to Celestia before kissing her on the mouth. Twilight was almost immediately blown away by the sensations assailing her. The lips she was kissing tasted slightly sweet and a bit spicy. The tingle of their lips touching made Twilight shudder and she had to suppress a moan. It was her first kiss and Twilight Sparkle was certain that she would not want to share it with anypony else.

Just as she felt things could only get better from this point, a loud knock sounded from the front door, startling Twilight from her kiss.

“Celestia damn it...” Twilight muttered.

“And what am I damning exactly?” Came Celestia's tired voice. She had woken up with the knocking on the door to find her faithful student cuddling her and staring with wide fearful eyes.

“Twilight...” Celestia said, “Did... you just kiss me?”

Twilight stood up from the couch and bolted, shouting a hurried apology and heading down stairs as fast as she could. In her rush, Twilight ran into Applejack, who was just walking into the library with a worried expression.

“I'm sorry, Applejack!” Twilight said as she got to her hooves and helped her friend to hers, “Is there something wrong?”

“I just got word from a guard that Applebloom is a guest of the Queen,” Applejack said, “But I should be asking you that question, sugarcube. You look like you've been cryin'...”

Twilight wiped her eyes and said in a monotone, “I... I'll be fine, honest.”

Applejack looked like she was about to say something, but Celestia came down the stairs in that moment. She had heard what Applejack said about Applebloom and was coming to see if she could help.

“If her recent actions are anything to go by,” Celestia began, “I doubt you have anything to worry about, dear Applejack. But if you would like, we can go to the hotel where my sister is staying and pay her a visit.”

“Ah'd like that very much,” Applejack said gratefully, “Ah just hope Applebloom didn't do anything to git herself into trouble with anypony....”

Twilight, who had regained her composure by now, said, “I'm sure it's all just a misunderstanding or something like that.”

As the trio started walking out the door, Celestia pulled Twilight back and said, “We are going to have to speak about what happened when we return, Twilight. I'm not angry... I would just like an explanation. But later, alright?”

Twilight nodded and she and Celestia ran to catch up with Applejack, who stood waiting patiently for them. On the way to the hotel, Applejack filled in Celestia and Twilight on exactly what the guard had said.

“Apparently,” Applejack was saying, “Nightmare Moon found mah sister over by the construction site. Ah asked him what she was doing over there, but Ah never did get a straight answer...”

They reached the hotel as not long after Applejack had finished relating her story. They went into the building and a couple of guards were lounging in the lobby. Upon seeing the mares, they snapped to attention and said, “Halt! Who goes there!?”

Applejack spoke up first saying, “Ah'm Applejack and these're Twilight and Celestia. Ah was told mah sister was here with the queen.”

The two guardsponies glanced at each other, and one was about to speak when a voice familiar to Twilight spoke up and said, “At ease, Stallions, the Queen is expecting them.”

Twilight looked up and gasped as she saw who had spoken. “Shining Armor!” She cried and dashed to give her big brother a hug.

“Twily! It's good to see you,” Shining said, “But, like I said, Queen Moon is expecting you, so you might want to get a move on.”

“Agreed, Captain,” Celestia said, “Though I am surprised to see you are still wearing the Solar Armor...”

Celestia motioned with a hoof towards the armor she mentioned. Instead of the usual black and navy colored armor, Shining Armor was wearing a gold and purple suit. In place of the Lunar Guard's usual draconic eye on his chest, there was a purple shield outlined with gold trim and emblazoned with a dark pink starburst.

“Yeah, Queen Moon said something about liking how the colors contrasted against my coat when she met me,” Shining said, “She let me keep it on the condition that I added an emblem matching her cutie mark on the saddle.”

Indeed, Celestia and Twilight looked at the saddle itself and like her brother said, there in the dead center of it was a coat of arms bearing Nightmare Moon's cutie mark stamped into it.

“Ah, here we are!” Shining armor said, “The royal suite.”

Shining Armor opened the door with a slight pulse of his magic as he finished his statement. From inside, the group heard Nightmare Moon's voice telling a story to somepony. As the door opened further, this somepony was revealed to be Applebloom, who was listening to the tale being told to her with rapt attention.

“...and that is how I got my cutie mark,” Nightmare finished with a smile.

Applebloom burst out giggling as the Dark Alicorn finished her story and said, “The look on Princess Celestia's face must've been priceless! Ah wish ah could've seen it...”

Nightmare looked up as Celestia cleared her throat loudly and said with a large smile, “Ah! Speak of the devil and she shall appear! With Twilight Sparkle and your own sister as well! Come in, please.”

Applejack rushed into the room as soon as she could and went straight over to the red maned filly and gave her a bone-crushing hug. Applebloom sighed in an annoyed way as the rest of the group looked on.

“Ah. I see that the guard I sent to your home was not as tactful as I would have hoped,” Nightmare Moon said, “I apologize for making you worry, Applejack.”

The queen looked over to Shining Armor who gave a nod and crisp salute saying, “I'm already on it, Your Majesty.”

Nightmare nodded and dismissed the white unicorn with a wave of her hoof. She turned to the other ponies in the room and said, “There was never a reason to worry, you see. Your sister simply wanted to hear how I got my cutie mark and I was happy to oblige her. Though, I did forget how long winded the story was...”

“Wait...” Celestia said slowly, “You... Didn't tell her... THAT story, did you?”

“Of course!” Nightmare Moon said happily, “With every excruciating detail I could remember!”

Celestia's face went completely red as her mouth opened and closed itself without making a sound. Twilight blinked as she looked at her mentor curiously and heard a giggle.

“You should really see the look on your face, Celly,” Nightmare said with barely contained mirth, “You look as red as a beet!”

After the pleasantries, the Apple sisters took their leave, with Applebloom thanking the queen for her hospitality and the entertaining story. Nightmare, Celestia and Twilight waved goodbye to the two and looked at each other.

“You know,” Nightmare began with a slight chuckle, “I miss you, Celly. The castle seems rather empty and I would enjoy being able to see you more often. So, I thought to myself about how to solve that little problem and was wondering if you would be willing to come and work for me at the castle as the head of my serving staff...?”

Nightmare's horn flared and a Prench maid outfit came from the closet on the other side of the room. Celestia huffed indignantly and said, “You're kidding me, right? I am NOT going to be your head maid!!!”

Twilight on the other hand blushed profusely at the imagery suddenly forcing all thoughts from her mind.

“uh...” Twilight started meekly, “I think... the dress... looks nice...”

Celestia turned to Twilight with a look of utter shock and embarrassment, “Twilight! That's... I... NO!!”

Celestia turned again, this time towards the door of the room and stormed out, attempting to save what little bit of dignity she had left. After she had left the room, Nightmare Moon turned to Twilight and laughed heartily.

“Don't worry, Twilight,” she said, “Celly will be back after she calms down a little bit.”

Nightmare Moon's voice suddenly had a sultry tone when she asked, “By the way... Do you have a thing for mares in clothing, Twilight?”

Twilight blushed an even deeper crimson, if that was possible and sputtered out, “I.... Um... Yes... B-but it's not like that's a bad thing, right?”

Twilight sounded panicked as she finished speaking, however Nightmare Moon just chuckled and said, “There's nothing wrong with liking mares, Twilight, something like that is bound to happen with the majority of Equestrian ponies being female anyway.”

Nightmare Moon closed in on Twilight and whispered, “So... You're telling me that you would like seeing, oh... let's say an Alicorn in some sexy clothing?”

Twilight swallowed hard, still blushing crimson, and nodded ever so slowly. The grin on Nightmare's face grew until it was ear to ear and she whispered, “Oh, you naughty little mare you.... How do you feel about socks?”

-Near Sugarcube Corner-

Celestia huffed, still embarrassed and indignant that her sister would not only tell a filly the rather embarrassing story of their cutie marks, but also have the unmitigated gall to embarrass her like that in front of Twilight! And to make matters worse, if they could get any worse, said filly was likely to tell her friends the story and Twilight actually seemed to be enjoying the teasing Celestia was getting from her sister.

So preoccupied with her thoughts was Celestia that she didn't look up in time to avoid bumping into somepony and falling right on her flank. She looked up to apologize and was met with a wall eyed Pinkie Pie who was also on her flank and Rarity, who looked torn between giggling and asking whether or not her friends were alright. So, Rarity being Rarity, she settled on chuckling while helping Celestia and Pinkie to their hooves.

“Celestia!" Rarity said, “How wonderful to see you! I do hope you are alright?”

“I... Yes,” Celestia said, “I was just a little preoccupied.”

Pinkie suddenly came in so close to Celestia's face that she looked like she was about to kiss the pink maned alicorn. Pinkie looked into Celestia's eyes for a few moments, then said in a rare moment of seriousness and insight, “It's something about Twilight and Nightmare Moon, am I right?”

Celestia looked dumbfounded and looked over to Rarity, who said, “It's Pinkie Pie, darling, if she says something is troubling somepony, then she's usually right. Perhaps we should retire to my boutique and talk about this over a cup of peppermint tea? Or would you like something a little bit stronger?”

Celestia shook her head and said, “Tea will be fine...”

The three then made their way over to Rarity's boutique. Celestia and Pinkie sat at the table in the kitchen, the pink party pony being unusually serious and quiet as Rarity made tea. When the tea was ready, she brought the three cups to the table and sat down.

“So,” Rarity said, “What is troubling you, dear?”

Celestia took a deep breath and told her tale of woe. It did not take long to relay the events of the night, so, as she finished telling Pinkie and Rarity what had happened, she took a sip of her tea to help gather her thoughts.

“I'm not sure if what my sister was offering was just a prank or if she was being serious,” Celestia said, “Before Luna turned into Nightmare Moon, she was quite the prankster. Nightmare Night was originally her idea for April Foal's day, but it didn't catch on as she had hoped... The whole 'holiday' she had planned ended up turning into something most ponies feared. Those that did go out at night usually ended up being cultists. Worshiping some false deity or another...”

“I'm terribly sorry to hear that,” Rarity said. Just then she was interrupted by a knock at the door. “Huh... I wonder who that could be at this hour...”

Rarity got up and checked the door and sank into an immediate bow as she saw Princess Cadence standing in the doorway. While Rarity was prostrating before Cadence, Celestia and Pinkie came walking out of the kitchen, with Celestia in slightly better spirits due to a pep talk from Pinkie. Celestia did a double take when she saw Cadence and her honor guard standing in the doorway.

“Cadence?” Celestia asked bemusedly, “What are you doing here?”

“Auntie Celestia?” Cadence asked in surprise. She strode into Rarity's home and gave her aunt a hug and said, “It's good to see you again!!!”

“And you too, Cadence,” Celestia said with a smile, “But I must ask, what brings you to Ponyville?”

“Well, as you all know,” Cadence started, “The capitol is being moved to Everfree Castle. A sizable portion of the royal family is also moving into the castle. Unfortunately, my miserable excuse for a Cousin is coming as well, however, Auntie Moon said something about a restraining order against him? When I asked her about it, she said that Cousin Blueblood is an 'arrogant, spoiled, pompous, brat that deserves to wallow in a dungeon for conforming to the aristocratic stereotype of stuck up ponies'....”

“Ah, the blonde prince with the compass rose cutie mark?” Celestia asked, “I remember him, vaguely...”

Before Celestia could finish, the unusually quiet Pinkie Pie suddenly perked up and gasped loudly before bounding over to Cadence and saying, “Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie I don't know you and if I don't know you then that means you're new in town and if you're new in town then that means you haven't made any friends here and if you haven't made any friends here then there's only one thing that needs to be done! Do you know what that is?”

Cadence looked taken aback at the sudden appearance of the pink party pony. She was about to answer before Pinkie said in a voice almost as loud as the Royal Canterlot Voice,“ A PARTY!!!” Pinkie zipped out of the room as fast as she could, leaving a pink puff of smoke in her wake.

Rarity, Cadence, and Celestia marveled at how Pinkie did the things she did. No other pony in existence before Pinkie ever did the things that Pinkie Pie did. Celestia would know, considering both her longevity and the fact that after meeting the eccentric party pony she did extensive research into the laws of physics and perhaps a few laws written in the books at Hayvard as well. It was lucky for both Celestia and Pinkie Pie that all the pink party pony did was make people smile and throw parties, other wise.... Well, it's best not to dwell on the unpleasant things, yes?

After recovering from their momentary shock at Pinkie's sudden departure, Rarity found her voice and said, “Wait... so you're telling me that the Prince I've heard so much about is nothing more than an arrogant ruffian?”

“I am afraid so, Miss...?” Cadence said.

“Rarity, Princess, and please you don't have to call me Miss,” Rarity said with a smile, “Just 'Rarity' is fine.”

Cadence rolled her eyes at the sound of her title and said, “You can just call me 'Cadence'. I'm not a big fan of the royal trappings, to tell you the truth.”

Cadence looked around thoughtfully for a moment, then asked, “You wouldn't happen to know a dressmaker, would you, Rarity? I'd like to have one made and... Rarity, are you alright?”

At the first sign of a request from royalty, Rarity began swooning. She magically pulled up a lovely red couch from its position on the wall and promptly fainted on it.

“I didn't say anything, wrong, did I, Auntie?” Cadence asked, worry etched on her face.

Celestia chuckled and said, “No, no you haven't. Rarity is a bit... melodramatic at times. It's one of those things you get used to after a while. Like Pinkie Pie's antics. However, I should tell you, Rarity is the best dressmaker I've seen in a long time.”

During Celestia's comments, Rarity had recovered. She got to her hooves and said in a dainty voice, “Darling! If you are looking for a dressmaker, look no further! I shall have you a dress that will make you the belle of the ball! Or any other occasion you should wish to use it for!!”

Rarity grabbed Cadence in a field of twinkling blue magic and said, “This is the BEST. POSSIBLE. THING! I shall make a dress like none the world has ever seen!!"

-The streets of Ponyville-

Twilight trotted around through the town, her thoughts still a little frazzled by her impromptu meeting with Nightmare Moon.

“By Celestia's beard,” Twilight said to her self for the umpteenth time, “Did she just try and seduce me?”

The purple mare shook her head and tried to convince herself that she was wrong. Besides, Nightmare Moon had taken the day time away and that alone made her a monster... Right? Twilight was not sure about it anymore. She shivered as she remembered what the dark alicorn had whispered into her ear.

-An hour beforehand-

“So... You're turned on by the thought of another mare in... provocative clothing?” Nightmare had whispered slyly, “Oh, but you like Celly... Why would you want her... when you could have me?”

Twilight sat there in shock as Nightmare Moon swooped in for a kiss. She could feel the taller mare's tongue exploring her own. It wasn't like the chaste kiss Twilight had given Celestia mere hours ago... It was full of passion and the promise of a caring partner, if given the chance. But Twilight was too stunned to do anything, and when Nightmare Moon pulled away after a few more moments, a strand of saliva connecting the two mares, she sat there, her eyes the size of saucers.

Suddenly sheepish and breathless, Nightmare Moon asked, “W-was that your first kiss?”

Twilight's mouth worked silently, unable to voice the conflicting emotions running through her mind. On the one hoof, she was upset that Nightmare had practically stolen the kiss she had meant to give to Celestia, it it hadn't been for Applejack's untimely interruption. On the other, even though Twilight had been too stunned to move, it had been an incredible moment.

After a moment of silence, Nightmare Moon asked playfully, “Was it as good for you as it was for me?”

“You stole my first kiss...” Twilight protested weakly.

Nightmare Moon smiled and said, “Celly was always a bit of a party pooper. She never did enjoy the romantic things like somepony wanting to give her their first kiss... She and I have always been like opposite sides of the same coin...”

“I... You still took something I wanted to share with Celestia!” Twilight said angrily.

Nightmare Moon let her face fall into a somber expression and said, “I've known her since the two of us were fillies. In almost everything she did, her interactions with me included, it was always about instant gratification. While I took my time in my relationships, to let love blossom, she went straight for the throat, so to speak, and bedded a different stallion or mare each week....”

Nightmare trailed off, looking out the window, the somber expression still on her face. She turned back towards Twilight and moved closer to the still shell shocked mare. She gave the purple mare an affectionate lick on the muzzle and said, “I think you should at least give me a chance. It's all anypony can ask for, really. It might surprise you, really.”

Twilight flinched as if struck and pushed herself away from Nightmare Moon.

“I.... I don't know,” she said as she ran from the room.

Nightmare stared at the door Twilight had left from for a moment, then sighed to herself, “Twilight... I wish you would just accept me... I know we would be great together, if I just had the chance...”

-Present-

Still lost in her thoughts, Twilight passed Sugarcube corner, where one of Pinkie's parties was in full swing. Pinkie suddenly jumped in front of Twilight and said, “Hey, Twilight! Come on and join the party!'

Before Twilight could utter an excuse to skip out on the party, Pinkie had dragged her into the sweet shop. After the energetic pink party pony had dragged her into the party area, Twilight looked around curiously, wondering who the party was for. Then, she spotted a familiar pink, white, and purple mane among the ponies in the crowd. She was about to move closer, but the familiar pony got up onto a stage that Pinkie had set up in the middle of the bakery and started speaking.

Twilight couldn't quite make out what her old foalsitter, Cadence was saying due to the fact that she was sitting next to a speaker. However, before Twilight could ask what was going on, Cadence had stepped down and Pinkie took her place, yelling at the top of her lungs, “It's time for Pin the Tail on the Pony!!!”

Twilight walked away from the speaker and tried to get closer to Cadence. Once she got close enough, she saw Cadence put the tail of the pony on its nose.

“Oops!” Cadence said in good humor, “Looks like I put it too high!!”

Cadence looked into the crowd and gasped as she saw Twilight walking closer with a huge grin on her face. “Twilight!” she said.

Twilight finally got close enough to Cadence to give her a hug and said, “Cadence, I'm so happy to see you again!!”

Rainbow Dash fluttered over to the duo and said, “Wait... You know her, Twilight?”

“Yep!” Twilight said happily, “She's only the best foalsitter in the whole world!”

Before Dash could respond, Pinkie Pie popped up out of nowhere and said, “You know each other! That's super-duper awesome! That means that this welcome party just turned into a 'Happy Reunion Party'!”

Pinkie bounced off to the stage to make the announcement as Cadence, Twilight, and Rainbow started giggling. Before long, Twilight had forgotten why she was so conflicted, as she had lost herself in the party.

–
Several hours and a rather large amount of hard cider later found Twilight stumbling through the door with Spike held haphazardly on her back and Celestia in tow. Celestia had shown up for the party shortly after Twilight had and they had enjoyed the festivities while they had the chance, especially considering that Cadence had not seen Twilight since she was a foal before that night. Spike had left early, along with all of the other children in Ponyville after about nine o'clock, as Pinkie had started serving the more adult themed drinks and it was past the baby dragon's usual bed time.

Twilight gave a huge yawn and said with slightly slurred words, “That.. wash a good party.... I hope we get to she Cadensh again..”

Celestia, who had several thousand years of experience with alcohol of most strengths said, “Yes, it was a bit of fun. I'm glad Cadence could join in.”

So, with that, Twilight made for the washroom, as liqueur eventually makes it so a mare must relieve herself before doing anything else. By the time she left the washroom, Celestia was already laying on the spare bed, a book cracked open in her hooves. Twilight walked as steadily as her inebriated state would allow and sat quietly next to the white alicorn for a moment.

“Um... Why are you looking at me like that, Twilight?” Celestia asked curiously, having apparently forgotten what Twilight had done earlier that night.

Instead of answering, Twilight, in a rather bold move for the bookish unicorn, gave Celestia a kiss on the nose. This surprised Celestia greatly, but what came next frightened her. Twilight gave her mentor a look of longing so powerful that it left the former princess stunned.

“Shhh...” Twilight whispered drunkenly to Celestia, “Just relax....”

Too stunned to offer an argument, Celestia sat there, unable to move as her faithful student started kissing her up and down her pearly white body. Eventually, Twilight came back up to Celesta's face and kissed her deeply. Celestia's eyes shot open wide and she struggled away from the lavender mare. Twilight pressed her mouth harder into Celestia's, preventing her from getting away.

Twilight finally broke away for air after a few minuets of passionate kissing. It was then that Celestia made her move. With all the force that she could muster, Celestia pulled back her forehoof and smacked Twilight across her muzzle. The lavender unicorn was sent sprawling to the floor from the force of the impact.

Celestia looked down at her student fearfully as she lay on the floor. Twilight got unsteadily to her hooves and faced Celestia.

“B-but... I love you...” Twilight said in a weak voice as a bruise formed around the side of her face.

“But I don't love you...” Celestia said, tears forming in her eyes, “Not like that... I-I'm sorry it happened like this....”

Celestia turned and ran out of the library after she finished speaking. Twilight felt too numb to do anything but stare after the love of her life in disbelief. She slowly crawled herself into Celestia's bed and held the book she had been reading close to her chest, and cried herself to sleep.

-Streets of Ponyville-

Celestia ran without any sort of plan on where she was going. The fact that Twilight harbored such feelings for her scared Celestia. She loved Twilight like a daughter, but this changed everything. Eventually, Celestia stopped running, her adrenalin having finally been spent. Even though she was both angry and frightened of Twilight, she hadn't meant to physically hurt the mare.

“What have I done...?” Celestia whispered to the darkness. She cast a small spell for warmth and curled up on a bench. Her tears carried her off to sleep as the moon reached its zenith and a certain dark alicorn watched with a somber expression.

“The worst night ever...” Nightmare Moon said sadly.

Feelings of guilt (Preread and edited)

Edited by Dragon Angel Knight

Chapter 4

It was rare that Twilight Sparkle couldn't immediately think straight after opening her eyes. This particular time, it was due to an excrutiating amount of pain coming from her jaw. She attempted to ask what had happened, but was quickly shushed by Applejack.

"Don't try to talk, sugarcube," She said sounding concerned and angry.

Twilight reached up to try and feel what was wrong with her jaw, but again, was stopped by one of her friends, Rarity this time.

"Darling, I don't think that's the best idea right now," she said in a matronly tone. Twilight ignored her and felt a bandage wrapped around her muzzle before Fluttershy grabbed her hoof gently and pushed it back down to the bed side.

"There's a nasty bruise on the side of your muzzle, Twilight," Fluttershy said in her soft voice, "We thought there might be a fracture as well, so we took you to the hospital.... I hope that's alright...."

Several thoughts began to spin in Twilight's head, first she wondered where Spike and Celesta were, next was why her head hurt so much more than a bruise or fracture ('Never drinking hard cider again!' Twilight swore to herself), last was why there was yelling coming up the hallway. She looked around and found a pad of paper, a quill, and some ink lying on the bedside table. She grunted with the effort of raising it with her horn and brought it over to her bed and began writing out what was on her mind.

'Where are Spike and Celestia?' Twilight wrote.

"Welllllll.... They're both outside right now, arguing," Pinkie said a bit morosely, "But I'm sure they'll get back to you later if you leave a message after the beep!!!"

Before Twilight could write out her retort, Pinkie let out a loud beep, then Spike and Celestia came in the door, arguing loud enough to wake the dead.

"Damn it all, Celestia!" Spike was saying, "You could have handled that differently! There wasn't any need to put Twilight into the hospital!"

"Oh so now I'M the one on trial here?" Celestia asked, "How would you handle one of the few ponies you trusted with your life waltzing in and forcing hersef upon you?"

Celestia turned to glare at everypony in the room as if daring them to say something. Then, she noticed Twilight awake and said, "So... You're awake. Anything to say for yourself?"

Twilight looked down at her pad, then wrote out an apology, "I'm sorry... I wasn't thinking straight and, honestly, I thought you might have similar feelings."

"You forced yourself on me, tried to rape me, and all you have to say is 'sorry'?" Celestia asked coldly, "Do you really belive it's that easy?"

Twilight shook her head, then wrote, "I'm sorry, Celestia! I love you..."

Celestia's face grew dark as she said, "If you really loved me, you would have TOLD me instead of trying to RAPE me..."

Twilight wrote out frantically, "I didn't mean to rape you, I swear! Please just let me explain. Shortly after you left Nightmare Moon's room, she said that you weren't as easy going and fun..."

"Oh, so you're taking advice from my sister, the bringer of Night Eternal and usurper of the throne?" Celestia asked. She sighed heavily, then turned away from Twilight, who had started sobbing uncontrollably, "I don't know what to think anymore, Twilight.... I'm starting to think you failed on purpose..."

Too late, Celestia realized what she had said and put a hoof to her mouth... But the damage was already done. Twilight, in her shock, had dropped the writing board with a clatter, her eyes the size of dinner plates and her pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks.

"Twilight, I..." Celestia said hesitantly, "I didn't mean.... I'm sorry..."

Twilight just turned away and started sobbing quietly. Celestia tried to move closer, but found her path blocked by Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The former with a smoldering glare, and the latter with an extremely aggressive posture.

"Princess, Ah think it may be a good idea for you to leave," AJ said quietly.

"That was totally uncalled for, sun butt!" Rainbow said bitterly, "After everything She's done for you, you go and say something like that?!"

"I.... Yes..." Celestia said, hanging her head and turning to leave the room, "I'll just go now... For what it's worth, Twilight, I do appreciate what you've done for me."

"Good riddance to bad rubbish," Rainbow said angrily. Applejack nodded in agreement as the former alicorn of the sun left the hospital.

***

Celestia walked through Ponyville, tears in her eyes. She really had messed up quite alot recently. She had planned to get her true sister back and that plan backfired quite extravagantly. She had planned on letting Twilight down easy, but again, it backfired. And now, she was down one lavender unicorn as a friend, probably the rest of the Element bearers as well from the looks of things.

So distracted was Celestia that she didn't notice where her hooves had taken her and she bummped into a guard. She got to her hooves and looked at the guard she had intended to appologize to and took in her surroundings. She was at the gate to the newly rennovated castle.

"Lady Celestia, are you alright?" the pegasi guard asked, concern on his face.

"Truth be told, Cloudbuster, no," Celestia said with a heavy sigh, "And before you ask how I knew your name, even with the change in armor, the enchantments on the armor don't change the look in a pony's eye. It's different for each individual."

"Ah," Cloudbuster said, "Well that's that question out of the way. But, if I may ask... .why are you here?"

"Is my sister holding court right now?" Celestia asked.

"Of course. Shall I escort you?" Cloudbuster said.

"I'd like that," Celestia said.

***

Nightmare Moon looked around the throne room, her visage unreadable as she asked, "Are there any other petitioners for this evening?"

The guard at the door poked his head out and looked around, stopping once in recognition, then retreating to the throne to say, "Lady Clestia has come seeking an audience."

"My sister?" Nightmare asked with a comically bemused look on her face, "Send her in, please."

Celestia walked into the chamber and looked up morosely as Nightmare said happily, "Celestia!! It's good to see you again!"

"It's good to see you too, Lulu..." Celestia said quietly, hoping that Nightmare Moon still remembered thier little code for when they needed to talk privately.

Apparently, she did remember and got the hint instantly because she turned to the guards and said, "Night Court is closed for the evening, tell any new petitioners that they may come and be heard tomorrow. I am not to be disturbed unless all of the other nations have decided to declare war on Equestria and the castle is crumbling from thier combined assault, do I make myself clear?"

"Clear as Crystal, Your Highness!" the guards in the room all said in unison.

"Good, now if anyone needs either myself or my sister, we shall be in my chambers," Nightmare Moon said as a silvery aura enveloped her horn and they teleported away in a flash.

Celestia and Nightmare Moon reappeared in the Queens chambers in a flash. Nightmare Moon trotted over to a cabinet and pulled out two glasses and a bottle saying, "Apparently, the Apple family makes a pretty good moonshine called Applejack Daniels. They usually don't sell it, prefering to keep it around for medicinal or recreational purposes. Ms. Applejack, the mare the drink is named after and creditied for brewing, thought it would make a nice house warming gift. Though, by this point, I'm pretty sure you'll want a drink more than I will."

"I thought moonshining was outlawed..." Celestia said slowly.

"Nope, I looked. Just the sale and transportation of the alcohol," Nightmare said with a cocky grin, "Something I changed about a week ago, while the capitol was still in Canterlot. Drink?"

Celestia took the offered glass in her pale yellow magic and swirled it around before taking a sip. Nightmare Gauged her reaction before saying, "So.... what's wrong?"

With a sigh, Celestia started explaining the problems she was having, saying, "I messed up big time sister.... First with trying to get you back, then with Twilight.... What's next? A Changeling invasion right under my nose with Cadence being impersonated by Chrysalis?"

"Funny you should mention the Changelings, sister," Nightmare Moon said, "Chrysalis just came by the other day, congratulated me, and asked if I would be willing to let them integrate into society... I agreed considering that the entorage she had brought looked starved... But I digress, you were saying?"

"I was about to ask if that position at the castle was still open or not," Celestia said slowly.

Nightmare paused for a moment, to be sure she had heard correctly, then said, "Are you sure? You seemed rather put off by it when I first put it on the table..."

"I am," Celestia said with a slow nod, "I don't like the prospect of being a servant... But I believe, due to recent events, I've over stayed my welcome in the library."

"Alright, only if you're sure, though," Nightmare said, "Let me show you to your room, sister."

They made thier way to the servants quarters in relative silence. Celestia only said something when she noticed the rest of the servants staring as they passed by. To which Nightmare scoffed and said, "Because we're alicorns. You'll get used to it, Celly."

They reached a large door at on end of a hallway and Nightmare Moon flared her magic, opening the door. It led into a modestly decorated, but rather large bedroom. If it wasn't for the fact that it was in the servants quarters, Celestia would have mistaken it for her private suite back in Canterlot.

"This is my room?" Celestia asked, unsure of whether to be flattered or insulted by the many sun related images through out the room.

"Yes," Nightmare said, "I had it made specifically for you... In case you ever took me up on my offer. As for the imagry... I thought you might like to see your sun. Even if it is only on the wall."

"Thank you, sister," Celestia said quietly.

"No problem, Celly," Nightmare Moon said, "Your uniform is in the wardobe over there... and I'll introduce you to your staff tomorrow. For now, get some rest. You look like you could use it."

A moment after Nightmare finished speaking, a guard knocked twice, then entered the room and trotted up to the Lunar Queen and whispered something in her ear.

"What?" Nightmare Moon asked, "AGAIN?! Ugh... I'm sorry, Celly, but duty calls, I suppose. You're welcome to come along, if you wish."

***

Quick Note, the guard that had come for Nightmare Moon fell into step beside the Alicorn sisters. Nightmare Moon cleared her throat, which prompted Quick Note to say, "Your agenda for the next few days is pretty full up. There are a few appearances planned for tomorrow night, all of which are here in Ponyville. First on the list is the meeting with Mayor Mare, then the Banquet Prince Blueblood planned for the former-Canterlot Elite...."

"Ugh... I hate that insufferable Prat I am unfortunately related to...." Nightmare Said, "Is there any way I can cancel that particular appointment?"

Quick Note chuckled and said, "Unfortunately, no, you can't. Most of the Elite moved out here to Ponyville to keep close to the palace. Though, with it being in the Everfree, I doubt that they'll be heckling you too much... Damn Snobs..."

"I heard that last part, Note," Nightmare said with a chuckle, "But don't worry, I'm of the same opinion."

Note laughed and said, "Yes ma'am, I thought you might be. But most of these eliteists are supporters. Still snobbish, but support is support, am I right?"

Nightmare nodded, then asked, "Anything else on the agenda for tonight?"

"Yes, a visit to Ponyville Hospital," Note said, checking the list, "Then you're free for the rest of the evening, ma'am."

Nightmare blinked, then a grin slowly spread on her face. A visit to Twilight was just the thing she needed right now. And, if the black Alicorn was completely honest with herself, Twilight was more than just a conquest.... And, according to Celestia, Twilight was on the rebound, which meant it was the perfect time to ask her out!

***

Twilight sat on her bed in the hospital a few hours later, tears streaming down her face. She didn't honestly think that words could hurt so much, but, then again, she also didn't think that it would have been Celestia saying them. It was almost as if Twilight had given up on life. Not even the presence of her closest friends could do anything to cheere the unicorn up.

Just as Applejack was about to say something, there was a light knock on the door. AJ went to it and opened it up, to find Nightmare Moon sitting outside, waiting to be let in. Everypony who could bowed. Normally, Nightmare moon would have enjoyed the sight, but right now, Twilight was her main concern. Even though the lavender unicorn was pointedly ignoring her.

Nightmare moved to beside the bed and said, "Twilight, I'd like to apologize for my sister."

Twilight looked up into Nightmare Moons eyes and wrote out on her board, "Thank you, but that should be her apologizing, not you."

The rest of the group looked on apprehensively before Spike cleared his throat and said, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry. Anypony want something to eat?"

The rest of the girls latched onto the idea and left with the little dragon to get some food and to leave Twilight and the queen to their privacy.

"I didn't expect you to come and apologize, Nightmare," Twilight wrote out, "Somehow, I just didn't think it suited you."

"I agree, it leaves a rather bitter aftertaste," Nightmare said, "But, then again, there are certain ponies I believe merit having at least an apology."

"Do you know what happened?" Twilight asked.

"Yes," Nightmare said, "Celestia came to me and told me. She seemed rather upset by it all."

"I'm not really sure I care about her anymore," Twilight wrote out, "It's not as if she wanted to be with me anyway..."

"I know it may seem like the end of the world, Twilight," Nightmare cooed, nuzzling the filly comfortingly, "But believe me when I say that things can only get better from here."

"How can you say that?" Twilight asked, "Do you know what I would have done for her? What I would have given up to make her see me the way I saw her? I can't believe I was stupid enough to fall for her..."

"Don't dwell on the past, it will only end up eating away at you," Nightmare said quietly.

"Why do you care what I'm feeling," Twilight asked, "It isn't as if you love me or anything, is it?"

"Well...." Nightmare said, blushing, "I think that may be the case, Twilight."

Twilight blinked in disbelief and wrote out a simple question, "Why?"

"The night I returned," Nightmare began, "You and your friends stood up to me. You in particular struck a chord in my heart with your bravery. You were willing to fight and die if need be when you charged me. It's also because of you that I was reunited with my sister. Even if it wasn't exactly the way she had planned it to begin with."

"If that's true, then why didn't you force me to be your bride or something?" Twilight asked.

"If there's one thing I hated about Discord, it was that he took away a pony's free will whenever he did mess with them," Nightmare said matter-of-factly, "He never killed anypony, directly, which I will give him some leeway for, but I cannot become like him. I won't force anypony to do something against thier will, especially if it's as life changing as marriage or courtship. I wanted you to be my lover because you want to be, not because I forced you into it."

There was a thump at the door, which both ponies disregarded as an eavesdropping friend fainting. Twilight got lost in thought, however, trying to come up with reasons to believe this.

"I.... I'm going to need some time," Twilight wrote out eventually, "I'm not ready for this, especially not after what just happened with Celestia. It's just too much all at once. Do you understand?"

"Of course, Twilight," Nightmare said with a small smile, "But all I sak is that you think about it for a little while. And let me know when you come to a decision."

***

A week after the incident, Twilight was release with the suggestion that she should eat soft foods for another week, to make sure her jaw had healed completely. During the week, the path towards the Castle had become an actual road. The Everfree Highroad, the posted sign said. There was also a railway being built that would lead to the castle, but it would take another month or so before it was finished.

It was the gate at the end of the Highroad that Twilight Sparkle found herself standing at, speaking to a guard. "I was wondering if I would be able to speak with Queen Nightmare Moon. Is she available?" Twilight asked the guard.

"I'm sorry, but that isn't possible right now. Her Royal Highness is currently in Fillydelphia on bussiness and won't return before...." The guard trailed off, watching the sky behind Twilight as Nightmare Moon swept in for a landing, beating her chariot by a good minuet and a half.

"Twilight!" Nightmare said in good spirits, "What a nice surprise!"

"Queen Moon.... Could we talk somewhere private?" Twilight asked.

"Of course. Guards, I'll be teleporting Twilight and myself to my private chambers," Nightmare said, "Do not disturb us unless it is important."

The pair dissappeard with a flash and a pop of magic and reappeared in Nightmare Moon's chambers. Twilight had been in Celestia's chambers before, and these were very much the same, only everything was moon themed instead of sun themed.

"So, what did you want to talk about, Twilight?" Nightmare asked in a cheery tone.

"Did you... really mean what you said at the hospital the other day?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, Twilight," Nightmare Moon said as she removed her helmet and set it on a nearby table, "I did. I'm not the kind of mare to lead someone along like that and shatter their hearts. Even if the foals tales have me swooping down and gobbling up ponies who don't leave me candy on Nightmare Night."

Just then, a knock on the door made Nightmare look up and say, "It's open!"

In walked Celestia, followed by another pony, who quickly introduced herself as Silver Smith, the local jeweler. Celestia either didn't notice Twilight or didn't think it wise to make a remark on her presence in Nightmare's room because she nodded toward the black alicorn and left without a word, her maids skirt trailing in her wake.

"Ah! You're here about my crown, yes?" Nightmare said with obvious enthusiasm.

"Yes, your Majesty," Silver Smith said, "I've brought the finished crown and it's ready for you to try on, if you wish."

"Wait... Why would you need a crown?" Twilight asked curiously, "I thought your helmet was your crown."

"While a helmet is good for intimidating ponies," Nightmare said with a laugh, "A crown makes me seem much more approachable. That, and I'm quite tired of the hat mane I get with that thing."

Nightmare took the crown from Silver Smith and gently placed it upon her head, just behind her horn. Her mane, which was a billowing cloud before, now more closely resembled Celestia's mane whenever Twilight had been with her in court, with the exception that it was made of star dust and moon beams not sunshine and rainbows.

"Huzzah!! This is fantastic work, Ms. Smith!" Nightmare exclaimed happily, "Guard! Please ensure that Silver Smith is paid in full for her hard work and have Celestia escort her to the gate."

Twilight tensed up at the mention of her mentor's name, a motion that did not escape the notice of Nightmare Moon, who waited until Silver Smith left before saying, "She really is sorry, you know."

"Once upon a time, I would have followed in her wake, drinking in everything she said as if it were the Elixer of Life," Twilight said solemnly, "Now, I'm not sure what to think about her."

"Well, now that the pleasantries are out of the way, have you made your decision?" Nightmare asked.

Twilight took a deep breath, let it out, then turned towards Nightmare moon and said with all the courage she could muster, "I'm not entirely sure I'll be able to trust you enough for that kind of relationship.... But I'm willing to be friends. At least for now."

Nightmare smiled a small smile and said, "A friend. I think that will work, for now."

Author's Note

So! It's done! The new Chapter! I hope you have enjoy it! ^^