The Lunar Republic

Princess Luna smiled at her two friends and trotted over to quickly embrace them. Although Bon Bon returned the hug Lightning Dust squirmed slightly in the princesses embrace, and when she let go she shook her mane when she finally let go.

"Now back to business," Luna cleared her throat and looked at Lightning.

"You said that you are reporting back from your mission."

"Yes Princess. I've picked up the book from the library. Though it was hard to find, actually if it wasn't for that enchantment you put on me, I wouldn't have found it."

Luna listened intently to what she said, but when Lightning finished she leaned over their noses nearly touching.

"I sense that something else happened that troubles you." Lightning cringed at the fact that Luna could tell that she was hiding something.

"I...heard voices from the book." Luna and Bon Bon watched as Lightning opened the bag she held and she slowly pulled out the book in her teeth. She set the book down and pushed it so it was in front of Luna but she kept her hoof on the cover looking Luna worried.

"N-not that I was scared," she said quickly puffing out her chest, but when she looked at Luna's knowing eyes she sighed letting her bravado go.

"Just...be careful princess. Something is wrong with the book."

Luna nodded before looking at the book. The magic was already strong, she had felt it when Lightning was flying, and she had felt it when the book drew closer to her shield. Even now the magic of the book was crushing her shoulders, and making it hard for her to breath. The only reason Lightning thought she heard voices was because the book was trying to shift the very fabric of space and time around it. Luna had read on everything she knew of the book and had even had her friend look them up as well, but it's real power was still unpredictable.

"Stand back Lightning, I wish to try something." Lightning looked at her in genuine concern, after all she was loyal to Luna, and she didn't want to see the Princess hurt. Fortunately for her, Bon Bon was thinking the same thing.

"Princess Luna," Bon Bon said slowly and took a small step putting herself between the princess and the book.

"Perhaps it's unwise to actually go near the book at its stage. We need to study it, maybe find a way to stabilize its power. It's affects on this world is pretty clear." Bon Bon spoke as if she was calculating every single word, her mind was thinking of the right words to say. Luna could see she was trying her best to keep a straight face, but she noticed that Bon Bon's eye was twitching.

"Bon Bon your eye is twitching."

The earth pony looked at Luna in surprise before shaking her head.

"It's nothing Princess. Just-"

"Your hear the voices too?"

Both turned to Lightning who was holding her eye with a hoof, but she quickly put it down but nothing could hide the look of pain in her eyes.

"My fellow ponies..." Luna sighed shaking her head.

"I'm proud that you two are trying your best to hide what your feeling, but I will not judge you if your in pain. Your both right to feel uneasy, this book is unpredictable and is very dangerous, but I have prepared for it." She trotted forward and wrapped her wings around both of them.

"You don't need to hide your real feelings about it. But if I don't make this book stable, then we are all in danger."

Both ponies looked up at her then they sighed shaking their head in shame and despair. Lightning allowed her bravado to go and she held her good to her eye her ears drooping in utter defeat as the voices battered her mind. Luna knew Lightning could take a beating, but her mind had never been trained for a mental assault like this.

Bon Bon on the other hand was trained to resist these types of magic assaults, but the magic book was of old magic from before even Luna's time, and even the special agent couldn't truly resist it.

Both ponies backed away as Luna approached the book. Both were worried but they trusted her to stabilize the books unknown power.

But the second Luna's hoof touched the book, her eyes closed.

And IT started.

***

Luna found herself in the middle of nowhere.

Literally.

She found herself floating through an endless void of grey. She couldn't feel any ground, yet still she stood. She couldn't feel feel any air, yet she breathed. She couldn't see anything, yet she saw something. But, what she saw was just the grey abyss of nothing.

Her own breathing came out as distorted and cut up, yet as far as she knew, she was breathing just fine. She couldn't even turn her head, it felt stiff and out of place, but at least she could feel her own discomfort.

"Enough is these mind games." Luna said rolling her eyes. "Tis the most basic of unicorns can ward of this weak thing you call a mind assault."

With that being said, Luna's horn slowly started to glow. First it started as a small light, just a dim glow in the void. But slowly, but surely, it grew. Luna felt the core of her magic slowly start to enter her horn. Her magic was slowly pushing through a barrier that had formed itself around her horn, probably from the abyss, but that didn't stop her. Slowly the magic spread through her horn, like water flowing through the roots of a tree. With a small spark her magic ignited and she felt it slowly start to affect her body. A strange weight in the back of her head slowly lifted, and she felt as if her body had come back to life. Like when you just wake up and you feel sore all over.

"Hmm very powerful magic." She stretched her neck and stretched we legs before shaking her head.

Luna knew that the words she uttered about a unicorn being able to withstand this was a lie. The only reason she had been able to resist the books terrible trap was because she was well prepared and had already studied about the book and its contents. If it had been any other pony, their mind would be destroyed, and their brain would be glue.

"Hmm now that that's taken care of. I think it's time for a little change in scenery." She said with a smile and with a wave of her horn the abyss changed.

A drop of water dripped from her horn, but when it hit the ground, the floor rippled. Slowly the ripples of grey transformed to blue, and they expanded and expanded until finally Luna stood on an ocean. Her horn glowed as she flew over the water, but the grey sky's didn't fit at all.

She would change that.

Luna soon started to soar through the air, but as she flew, her hair extended. Like a hairbrush, her hair soon started to paint the sky wherever her hair touched, the grey disappeared, and in its place the grey was a beautiful dark blue. As this new sky formed, she felt a new wind carry her. It wasn't the choking atmosphere it was when she first came to this place, it was now the breeze on a beautiful cool night.

Luna slowly lowered herself until her hooves touched the surface of the cool water and using her magic she casually walked on the water looking at the new black sky.

"Hmm it's missing something." Biting her lip Luna smiled and in her mind she slowly cast her favorite spell.

Darkness.

Luna looked around confused, then she slowly lowered her head. Slowly black water started to rise as she sank into to her knees. She felt so sleep, she needed a nap. The water was such a great pillow, felt so cool and inviting beneath her hooves. Slowly Luna sank, and sank. And the darkness slowly consumed her.

***

Bon Bon held her stomach as she leant against a wall. For the past couple of minutes her chest was aching from a strange pain that had struck her when Luna had first disappeared inside the book. One second she was there, the next POOF! She was gone without a word or sound. Then a strange power emitted from the book and it was having a strange toll on her, and Lightning.

Thinking about her friend, she looked and saw Lightning had collapsed. She must have collapsed a couple minutes ago, but Bon Bon was so focused on keeping her mind guarded to notice. Dragging herself up, she slowly trotted over to Lightning, every step like agony for her muscles.

Sleep.

The word kept popping in her mind, but she always forced it out. The last thing she needed to do was sleep, she wasn't gonna let herself be brought down by this. Lightning was lying on her stomach her head slumped to the side, limp and lifeless. Bon Bon finally made it to her side,

"Lightning? Everything ok?"

No answer.

Bon Bon sighed and shook her head before she slowly flipped Lightning over onto her back.

"Lightning you need to wake up." When Lightning didn't wake up Bon Bon sighed.

Not dead.

Chest rising.

Breathing shallow.

Unconscious.

Strength failing.

Bon Bon sighed and shook her head as these thoughts went through her mind. She sighed and sat down, her throat felt like it was trying to close on her but she kept her breathing stable and she kept her mind thinking, not allowing her mind and body to succumb to the powers of the book. She turned her attention back to Lightning, but she noticed that the pegasi was starting to sweat. She observed the pegasi and put a hoof on her head, and she noticed that her forehead was warm. Her ears twitched when she realized that Lightning breathing was distorted, and she was coughing slightly.

Warm head.

Sweating.

Coughing.

Fever. Bon Bon sighed but looked around for any water source. Cursing herself when there was none nearby, she turned her head back to Lightning. Then her eyes opened as she realized one thing.

Her chest wasn't rising anymore!

Bon Bon looked at Lightning in shock, but she recovered in a second and immediately went to work. She pressed her hooves against Lightning chest and she started compressions.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

No response.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Still no response.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

When she saw there was no response Bon Bon opened Lightning's mouth and pressed her lips against hers and gave a slow breath, waited a second for a response. Again there was none. So she gave Lightning one more slow breath, but still no response.

"Damn it all." Bon Bon growled and began her compressions again. When she did 100 compressions but there was still no answer, she grew desperate. Turning to look at the book that was still on the floor, she slowly and grudgingly trotted over to it. But when she was halfway there her knees finally buckled and collapsed. She grunted as her chin hit the ground, but she continued to drag herself to the book. Whatever was going on in the book, she knew if it had gotten this bad, then Princess Luna was in trouble. Slowly she was close enough that her nose nearly touched the book, but she only whispered on word.

"Luna."

***

Luna sank further into the water, the black abyss draining her of her magic. Slowly her hair that always seemed to sparkle and flow without any wind changed was instead back to its original form, just a normal lighter blue mane, and her coat had also took on a lighter tint of blue. Her eyes was closed as she sank, and she didn't notice the shadows in the water that slowly approached her. These nightmare creature slowly made there way to the princess of the night, hoping to consume every last bit off her until she was nothing.

As they slowly approached her, they all chattered to one another. Trying to decide who gets what, or who would get to have the pleasure of killing her first. But then something surprised them. A name.

"Luna."

The name echoed through the water, it rippled, and it seemed to go on for miles. The nightmare creatures looked around, but nothing was around them.

"Luna."

Once again the water rippled, only this time, it was stronger. Louder.

***

Bon Bon felt something strange. Her strength started to slowly return to her, and without a second thought she raised she stood high once more. She heard a gasp behind her, and when she turned her head, Lightning was gasping for air behind her. Bon Bon quickly went to her side,

"Nice to have you back in the land of the living Lightning."

Lightning Dust slowly dragged herself up, but Bon Bon stayed next to her noticing how wobbly she seemed to be.

"Bon Bon..." she coughed and shook her head looking at the spy her throat scratchy, "what happen-"

She was interrupted when she noticed the book was steaming, the magical glow seemed to blink in and out as if saying that danger was close. Lightning looked at the book in surprise, then at Bon Bon who gazed at the book with a look of confusion but also caution.

"Bon Bon...what exactly is going on?"

Lightning asked looking at her earth pony friend in confusion, but she didn't respond. Both watched the book, but both had a scared thought in their mind.

Where was Princess Luna?

***

The shadows waited for another shock wave to blow through the water, another word that shook then to their core, another word that seemed to shake the very fabric of the book they were trapped in. When it didn't come, they growled to each other in their own language, and they completely forgot about the voice just as soon as it had came. However, they noticed a slight change in the water.

The water was moving.

It was strange. Before there was no such movement, the water had been still but now...it was moving. These tides were new to them, unknown to them, and it felt dangerous. The shadows scurried around, but they couldn't escape the tides, they couldn't escape this new water. But then, they noticed something about the tides, they were moving towards a certain point. Then realization finally dawned on them. They weren't alone in these water.

Suddenly without warning they were sent barrel rolling through the water. Something had hit them. They couldn't see anything, the water continued to spin them, preventing them from seeing their attacker.

The surface!

That was their only way to escape their enemy, the surface would be their salvation. With all their strength they shot up, cutting through the water as they neared the surface. Suddenly at the last second something hit them pushing them the last couple of feet until they exploded out of the water. They all screeched in anger, but when they got a hold on what was going on they saw one thing in the sky.

The moon.

On them shined a full moon, it's light burned their skin, but yet it stayed there shining brightly. This light was new to them, it was too bright, they couldn't bare it. But they felt a change. It was bigger then the new celestial object above them. And it was right behind them.

Turning their heads they screeched in terror and fear when they finally noticed that there was a giant twister. This tornado of water was forcing wind to pick up, and it was making the shadows uneasy. Then one of the shadows screeched, and the other soon followed his gaze. Something was moving up through the twister. A blue light was slowly twisting up the vortex, but when it reached the middle it stopped abruptly. The shadows twisted their heads in confusion, but soon curiosity when they noticed that from the blue light came two glowing eyes. Without warning the light expanded suddenly knocking the shadows back, and to as do it the light also seemed to slam the water into their faces sending them spiraling through the air. But once they regained their balance they looked at what was left of the twister.

Instead in front of them was a different mare. Her coat was dark purple, no longer the light blue of her weakened state, and her mane was once again flowing and her eyes shined magic energy. This was the princess of the night.

Luna blinked and the light disappeared from her eyes, and she shook her head in confusion.

"W-what...happened?"

Before Luna could shift back to reality, one of the shadows leapt at her with a horrifying screech. It didn't like the light of the moon, it was too bright, it's burn was worse than fire. It was fast, but Luna was faster. Magic flowed to her horn, and suddenly a beam of energy shot from her horn hitting the shadow. The shadow screeched in terror as his body suddenly hardened and became crystal. All his comrades could do was watching horror as their friend became nothing but a giant hunk of crystal and slowly plunged into the ocean with a loud splash. Luna looked around at the shadows that were slowly surrounding her. They growled, and barked at the princess, but still they kept their distance. The last thing they wanted was to be turned to crystal and sink through the never ending abyss. Line glanced left and right, not seeing a way out of the mass of shadows, but she was not afraid. She had also read about this part of the test, and she knew that the only way out of this book was to defeat the guardians that were the very beings around her.

"Well it seems we have a little predicament here." Luna's words hung in the air, and the shadows floated around her, uneasy with her calm demeanor.

"I can't escape here without destroying you all, and you won't let me leave without my magic and my life. Is that accurate?"

The shadows looked at one another, hissing in their own language, until finally they all nodded and suddenly they started to take shape. They stretched and bent, and soon standing in front of Luna were black ponies. They had no fur, they had no breath, they only had red glowing eyes filled with hate and bloodlust. Luna smiled and taking a deep calm breath, before her eyes opened once again a frown on her face, however with that frown was a smile. Her eyes danced with excitement, and mischief and she stretched her wings.

"Let the games begin."

***

The shadows lunged at her, the need to destroy their enemy was strong. Unfortunately for them Luna was stronger. Luna folded her wings and plunged toward the ocean causing the shadows to crash into each other in pure comedic fashion. They snapped at each other, growling at one another for the others sheer stupidity. They didn't notice Luna, until it was too late. Luna crashed into them like a rocket, the magical shield she surrounded herself with literally turned her into a living cannon ball. While the shadows did their best to recover from the blow, Luna showed no mercy. The second they regained their balance, Luna was zooming towards them again. The shadows saw her coming and in a split second decision they all charged, their fitful growls, and wrathful red eyes, unnerved Luna. She slowed mid charge and the shadows yipped and went for her, thinking that they had the advantage. Suddenly in a flash of light, Luna disappeared. The shadows stopped and looked around confused. Where had their prey gone?

"Have at thee you pitiful worms?!"

They looked up to be greeted by a giant ball of magic smashing into their bodies. The magic cut some of them down however to Luna's surprise, her ball of magic dissipated. The shadows cackled to themselves, and to Luna's horror horns appeared on their heads.

"I need to end this quickly." She thought and once again she charged the shadows. The shadows, finally getting over their newfound powers saw her coming, and they slowly formed a semi circle. Luna knew they were trying to make her falter in her charge again, but she wasn't gonna falter this time. The shadows growled and their horns glowed with magic that they stole from Luna, and with sickening laughs they aimed their horns at the approaching alicorn.

***

Silver was eating food with Vinyl and Octavia when suddenly he heard a strange ringing in his head. He didn't know what it was but it kept growing. Although it wasn't loud enough to be painful, it was loud enough to be annoying. Octavia was busy concentrating on her food to notice anything wrong, but Vinyl knew something was up by the way Silver was fidgeting in his seat.

Silver felt a hoof touch his shoulder and looked up to see Vinyl staring at him with her head tilted in confusion.

"What?" He asked looking at her confused, but Octavia finally looked up from her food.

"She wants to know what's making you uncomfortable." Silver looked at Octavia in surprise, but then looked at Vinyl who nodded confirming what her sister said. Octavia tilted her head in confusion,

"Are you ok Silver? I mean if the food isn't good-"

"No, no, no, no! It's not the food, the food is actually pretty good." Octavia smiled proud of herself, making Vinyl roll her eyes.

"But-" Both mares looked at him,
"I keep hearing a ringing in my head. It's...deafening...and really starting to annoy me!"

He shook his head in frustration, but it was true. The ringing was growing louder, and it was causing an agonizing pain in his ears. Octavia looked on helpless as Silver began to rub his ears in annoyance and his eyes shut tight with pain. However, Vinyl was curious at this odd ringing, but slowly an idea formed in her head. Silver was still shaking his head, when he suddenly felt something go over his ears. Opening his eyes he felt something brush behind him. Turning his head he saw that Vinyl was behind him and was smiling in amusement before tapping the object on his head. Suddenly there was...a cello. It was gentle melody, it started out slow, but grew into a beautiful song. Vinyl smiled as he closed his eyes and rested against the chair, but Octavia walked over with a concerned look,

"I think you should take him for a walk. Let him clear his head, and maybe the ringing will stop on its own."

Vinyl nodded and in a couple minutes, she and Silver were walking on the streets of Canterlot.

***

Lightning Dust and Bon Bon were clutching their ears in pain. The ringing was unbearable, and Lightning was close to banging her head against the walls if Bon Bon hadn't stopped and soothed her.

"Damn it! Was is taking Luna so long?! This ringing is killing me!"

Bon Bon looked at Lightning in worry, and she was also concerned about her own safety. She had managed to calm Lightning down enough that she had stopped trying to harm herself, but she wasn't invincible. The ringing was just as hard on her as it was for Lightning, and even her resolve was breaking.

"We just need to trust in Luna..."

Lightning turned to her friend who nodded as if reassuring herself.

"Luna fights the creatures of the night all the time. I think she can handle it, and if not then we'll do our best to help."

Lightning looked at Bon Bon blankly, before nodding her head.

Then they both noticed something.

The book was smoking.

***

The explosion rocketed through the dimension. The dark horses whinnied in triumph, at their accomplishment.

They had killed the princess!

Their whinnies echoed as the waves calmed down again, but they stopped abruptly when they realized something.
The moon was still shining.

One of the dark horses growled towards the direction of the moon, until it heard a strange whistling in the wind. Turning it's head he came face to face with Luna and her cocky grin. The shadow's horn glowed as it aimed it at Luna.

"Too slow."

Suddenly a giant beam of magic shot from Luna's horn.

The other shadows felt the essence of magic, and they quickly made their way to the source.

Suddenly out of the smoke shot out Luna. She zipped through the air towards the shadows and they like wise accepted her challenge. One of the shadows fired a beam of the light at Luna, but the alicorn disappeared in a flash of light. The shadow screamed when Luna appeared in front of it, her horn glowing, ready to deal the final blow.

She screamed as pain shot through her side. The sent of burning flesh hit her hard, but when she recovered, the shadow that she had meant to kill was aiming it's horn at her. Turning her head away she threw up a quick shield of magic. Her shield shattered like glass, and she took remaining force of the blast. The blast made her spin through the air stunned, however the shadows didn't miss a beat. When Luna recovered again, she was hit from above by three blast of magic.

She grunted holding in a scream as her skin burned, and the impact jolted her senses. It felt as if electricity was shooting through her body, and her blood was boiling. However, she was shown no mercy as one of the shadows rammed her head on. Luckily Luna managed to move before the shadow could skewer her with its horn, but the force behind it still caused her to gasp.

Growling, Luna unleashed a blast of magic at the shadows, but they were swift and quickly evaded the attack. Instead they charged for Luna, and one by one they crashed into her, hitting her with brutal force and blinding speed. Luna grunted and screamed as they hit her, rammed her, and slashed at her with their horns. They didn't even ram her any more, they crowded around her and Luna shrieked in pain at what happened next. Their horns penetrated her flesh, stabbing deep into her, hitting whatever they could with precision, and a savage need to kill. She couldn't see anything, for wherever she turned, all she was greeted with was a volley of stabs. In one last attempt to make sure the princess would perish, all the shadows drew back from her. Luna could finally take a breath, but even that was painful because the horns had punctured her lungs as well as nearly every vital organ. She could barely flap her wings, which were also torn up and missing many feathers. Blood slowly seeped into her eyes, and drops of blood slowly dripped into the sea bellow her.

She knew that they were planning a last attack, but she was helpless. Her magic was nearly drained, as was her strength. What could she do? Then right at that moment, a small smile appeared on Luna's face as an idea formed in her head.

The shadows circled around Luna, getting into position for the final assault. They were confident that they had the princess, and they would not let her escape. Once they were in position they began to slowly move towards her, but as they drew closer their speed doubled. Luna heard them coming, their shadowy forms cutting through the air, but the smile remained on her face.

They came. Their horns rammed into Luna. Shattering her bones, stabbing into their organs, and one even broke her spine. All Luna did was grunt and go limp, but the shadows all grunted in silent triumph. But before they could retract their horns, they felt something, something strange. Her body was pulsing.

Slowly they realized something.

She was moving.

They quickly pulled away from her, looking at the spectacle in confusion. They heard, and watched as Luna's wounds started to knit themselves back together. Her bones mended and set themselves back in place, and feathers returned to her wings. The shadows gathered behind her, looking at the pony in stunned silence. Then they noticed something else, her coat was turning darker. Her legs grew longer, as did her wings, and although they were behind her, they saw that her horn had also grown longer.

Then silence.

A dead silence hung in the air, not a sound was heard. The shadows floated their looking at each other nervously, then they noticed something terribly wrong. The moon was turning black.

Like ink, black slowly seeped into the moon, until finally the moon was nothing but a black dot in the sky.

Then their eyes returned to the pony, but they screeched in terror. The pony had turned her head so all they could see was the side of the head, but also a glowing white eye. Slowly the pony turned so she was facing the shadows, her eyes still glowing brightly, but the pony in front of them was different.

The shadows looked on in terror at this new dark pony that seemed to have taken he place of the other pony. Slowly the pony opened her mouth, and her teeth slowly turned into fangs. Then a cackling laugh escaped her lips, but it grew as she spread her wings to full length only making her look larger.

"You want my magic?!" She screeched in a voice that didn't seem to be anything sane. The shadows backed away scared, their early confidence all gone. She smiled her eyes flashing,

"Well then," her horn sparked up, and a ball of magic slowly started to form on the tip. "Luna" slowly gained more magic, until a late ball of concentrated magic rested on her horn. The shadows screeched, feeling the magical energy they turned and started to flee, scratching and biting one another to get away.

"THEN TAKE IT!!!"

A light flashed and suddenly the shadows felt something hit them full force, tearing into their being as they were slowly vaporized. The one who was ahead of its friend turned as the blast hit it dead in the chest, and he saw the strange pony blast of magic as it ripped his friends apart. He could only whisper one thing,

"Nightmare Moon..."

And the shadow disappeared.