Nightmarish Kindness

Luna paced within her room, her mind in a turmoil. Unlike other nights, this one worried her the most, for in her thoughts she knew something was going to happen that should not. Turning toward the mirror that glittered in the soft light of her moon, she stared at it for a few moments as if it would provide her with some sort of answer. As she looked at the edges, her breath caught when her reflection flashed an image of her darker self, but only for a split second.

'I'm losing my mind over this. A Princess is not meant to be up at all hours of the night worrying over such trifles! What have I to fear? Nothing!'

As she said this to herself though, a more pressing feeling kept nagging at her mind, which sent her into another fit of pacing. Muttering to herself, she decided to take a long walk, and hopefully calm herself. As she exited her room and trotted down the halls with her hooves muffled on the carpet, she could not tune out the sudden fear filled gasp that issued from Celestia's room. Wondering what had startled her sister so, Luna rushed to the double sun-emblazoned doors and shoved them oped with a forehoof.

"Sister? What tis the the matter? What is wrong to have awoken you from your slumber?"

After a few moments of panting and regaining her composure, Celestia turned to see her midnight blue sister demanding an explanation from her, due to her sudden wakefulness. She mentally kicked her flank in a thought of keeping her voice modulated to not startle Luna in the near future.

"I am sorry little sister. I have just had the most terrible dream. And I pray it shall not come to pass."

"Why do you think I am here? You know this was not such a dream, but a vision." Luna stated

Grimacing at this news and the telling from her younger sister, Celestia got out from her bed and trotted to one of the great windows. Looking out of it over the kingdom, she sighed, then narrowed her eyes slightly. Her sight guided her till she spied the quaint little rooftops of Ponyville far in the distance and her mind drifted to the purple visage of her most faithful student

"Then it is more troubling than I thought dear sister, for what is going to happen now is anyone's guess, but I pray we may be able to stop it, if not at least hinder it."

"What do you mean by that Tia?" Luna asked with a tinge of worry lacing her soft voice, having trotted forward to press her side against that of her older sister for comfort.

"I am saying this little sister. The Elements never destroy as you know, merely heal or cleanse. As such, shards of your former self are seemingly gathering in the forest..."

At this, Luna's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in shock.

"Y-you don't surely mean that...?"

Celestia nodded seriously, then turned once again to face the night sky, her expression as serious as it ever was when about to head into a fight with a foe she had no knowledge of.

"I do. For it is none other than who you were before my pride and heartbreak demanded your banishment one-thousand years ago. The deity in question is most definitely her....Nightmare Moon."

Farther off in the distance....

Deep in the Everfree Forest, past the dark peeling trees that looked as if they would bite down on unsuspecting ponies, stood the Castle of the Two Sisters. The building was old, and crumbling, most of the stainless windows shattered and broken on the ground floor. Said floor was covered in dark red tatters of what had once been a royal bright red rug, with tassels of gold.

Nothing remained of the once bright and vibrant life that it had held as it had one-thousand years ago, and the stone pillars supported nothing but empty sky. It was here that Twilight Sparkle and her friends had faced down Nightmare Moon, and freed Celestia from her imprisonment on the sun. It was here that Luna, sister of the Sun Goddess, had reclaimed her old self, and banished what she had once become through bitterness, a dark Alicorn bent on destruction and strife.

  Now however, the royal sisters had a good reason to be concerned for that which they named, for the Alicorn long thought dead, was not so. Whispers, curses, and oaths of dark promises filtered through the cracked and aging stone. If one looked closely enough, they would have seen ethereal tendrils of nightly cloud drifting along through the throne room, until they all congealed together. From this, a mare appeared out of the darkness, her coat darker than the darkest night, and wearing her trademark blue Star Armor that she had fashioned herself.

"Finally! After three long years, I finally have the strength to regain my form. Though I am disappointed that even my powers have weakened this much..."

As she said this to herself, she looked around, taking in the wreckage of the old home she herself had destroyed in trying to kill her sister, before ruling Eternal Night. Seeing it in such shambles, after she had ignored it when facing that unicorn mare before, she was silent for awhile. Then, her head bowing slightly and closing her eyes, her voice was barely a whisper when she next spoke.

"What....what have I done?"

She raised her head again, slipping off her helmet and trotting about the old ruins as she glanced around at everything and her melancholy seemed to grow with every passing step as more and more rooms appearing empty and devoid of joy.

Finally, she can't take the silence and emptiness anymore and stretches her wings, flying off into the distance, towards Canterlot. Her eyes shut for most of the journey, she did not open them till she landed on the highest tower of the castle, and even then made an effort to remain hidden. It would not do to be discovered so easily, especially since right now, she had no will to fight. Sighing once again, she lay herself down on the cold marble balcony and closed her eyes for a bit of rest.