Crown of Shadows

"On nights clutched in cold winter's grasp, where animals burrow deep into their holes and ponies feel the need to lock their doors, darkness creeps. Darkness that cannot be burned away by lights or magic. Darkness that cannot be destroyed by love or joy, friendship or hope."

"Darkness, in it's purest form, creeps."

"When birds go silent in the evening lit trees above, and eerie winds whisper omens of old into our ears, darkness creeps. The feeling of hair rising on the nape of your neck? A bone chilling hoof placed just between your shoulder blades when you know you're alone? Darkness causes it. Maybe you get a feeling that you are being watched from afar in the middle of the night by something sinister? Are you sure those weird sounds you hear whilst the world sleeps...are just floor boards shifting in an old house?

They are not, do not assume so.

"All these things are precursors to what we all truly fear, to what you all fear. They are the tell tale signs that we are, and always will be surrounded, by that which creeps just out of sight...

Darkness."

There was about four or five seconds of silence after the storyteller finished her tale.

"Laaaame."

A tired voice droned out from behind a group of enraptured young foals. The owner of the voice, an older colt of tawny brown coat and rusty red mane, threw a piece of candy and almost hit the storyteller.

"Can't you make it a bit more intimidating then 'darkness creeps'?"

A moment of worried hoof wringing.

"W-well we were trying too, b-but it is for the younger children, not older colts such as you scoundrels, honestly, be off with you!"

Another wrapped candy hit the stage amidst scoffing and grumbling. The trio of colts turned away from the stage.

"Come on guys, lets go check out the 'haunted postage parlor', seriously can they get any lamer?"

As the neigh-sayers wandered off, the mare on stage was brought out of her muttered curses by the sound of several small delicate hooves clapping vigorously.

Whoops, almost forgot to bow!

After a sweeping of her cape and a tip of her hat rim, Trixie hopped off her stage and landed among the younger costumed foals, growling playfully at them. They giggled and screamed in fright before running away, giddy smiles across their muzzles. when the lot of them reached the entrance to the mare's storytelling graveyard, one little colt turned back and waved.

"'Happy Nightmare Night, Ms. Lulamoon!"

Lifting here hoof in a, appreciative wave, Trixie watched as they all ran around the festival, nabbing candied apples, cotton candy, candy corn, anything with candy in it's name really, before diving back into the sea of costumed faces.

"That was rather entertaining, Trixie. I could tell you've been working on your speech huh?" The blue coated mare turned her head slowly back and genuinely smiled as a familiar purple alicorn dressed in dark blue royal night guard armor walked up from behind the portable stage. Trixie couldn't help but feel her cheeks redden ever so faintly as her teacher and friend complimented her on her skills once more.

She rubbed her shoulder nervously, and smiled. "We are trying to improve, Princess Twilight, though Trixie feels as if the older these scamps get, the less enthused they become. It won't be long before even little Pip the Pirate stops coming by and thinks we are 'lame'." Trixie let her hat and head droop a bit at that, but unlike her old self, she perked back up in a second or two and stamped a hoof into the dirt.

"We suppose we'll just have to try harder at the next performance, maybe add some smoke, or--oh! Magically augmented fireworks made to explode into the form of Nightmare Moon herself!" Trixie danced on her hooves and then trotted past her mentor, to the stage beyond. Twilight Sparkle chuckled and readjusted a shoulder pauldron.

"Ya know, I wouldn't go too overboard, you might set something on fire like last ye--"

A piece of candy shot out and hit the armored chest plate, and the alicorn looked up to see Trixie with a flustered look and frazzled mane as she reset a fog machine with a wrench gripped tightly in her magic.

"ONE TIME! One time we did that and it was an accident! Is it too much to ask that we not let it slip out for one nightmare night celebration? Besides, we had informed you that spiders are not to our liking, and so when we got on stage," Trixie grumbled and finished resetting the machine before waggling the wrench threateningly at the Princess, who was now holding back a giggle.

"What was dangling over it? A giant freaking spider! It was completely rational of us to set it ablaze considering what Trixie has seen you and the elements of harmony attract out of that accursed forest!"

Twilight failed in holding back a loud snark of laughter, and Trixie glared at her, shoving the wrench back into the toolbox she kept just off stage.

"We find nothing funny about this, Princess Sparkle! We don't talk so flippantly to others about your irrational fear of cheese quesadill--MMPH!!!"

Trixie was yanked down off the stage, and before she could properly defend herself, Twilight had pulled her to the dirt and covered her mouth with a silver shod hoof. The royal mare looked around quickly and with worry on her face before letting go and whispering closely.

"We do NOT talk about the cheese factor in public! Your just asking for Discord to toy with me like he did last year." A shudder passed through Twilight's body and Trixie felt her mentor's wing tighten around her shoulder.

"....Quesadilla costume, pah! 'I'm finding my ethnic roots'...yeah right...that thing is more like a spawn of tartarus."

a momentary pause of silence. Trixie smiled sheepishly at twilight. "...Er, the costume, or Discord?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and went to reply when a gentle cough from the entrance caught both mares by surprise. Looking up, they found none other then Mayor Mare standing there with three or four young foals at her sides. The young ponies nervously looked from Trixie to Twilight. There was an equal amount of awe among the bunch of them. As the foals slowly walked forward under the guiding hoof of Mayor Mare, hushed whispers met the grappled pair near the stage.

"It really is Princess Twilight!"

"Who is the mare next to her? Is that Trixie?"

"You mean you don't know what the student of Princess Twilight looks like?"

"How am I supposed to know, she's had like four of them!"

"Three actually."

All the foals mouths fell quiet as Mayor Mare spoke up. She looked at them with a relaxed smile, and pointed to the now standing mares. Trixie had dusted herself off and was now preparing the stage, while Twilight sat and beckoned the newcomers forward with a wing.

"That is correct, Mayor. My first student, was Starlight Glimmer. Very good with temporal magic theory, quantum spell mechanics, and a bit on the brash side, but all in all a good friend and an excellent friend. I believe she'd visiting with family in her hometown this year."
One of the foals lifted their hoof rapidly, and before Twilight could even pick them, they spoke.

"Oh! oh! is that the mare that wore the mechanical suit last year? That was so cool!"

Twilight smiled and shook her head, watching as the foals began sitting around her in a semi circle. Some of their tails were certainly wagging happily.

"No, that was my second student, Lyra Heartstrings. She's a bit of a gamer, tinkerer, and historian. Her passion is finding fact from fiction through her musical magic skills, but mostly she just really likes making things ponies don't think can come true, into a reality. The mechanical suit was sort of her way of showing others that anything is possible if you put your mind to it."

Mayor mare grimaced and blushed.

"Y-yes she did get a little...grabby with those mechanical appendages of hers though, i had to ask her stop picking up the foals. I thought she might--"

"So what does Trixie do?" All heads turned to a grey pegasus mare who was looking at Twilight with a quizzical frown. Twilight put a hoof to her chin, giving the illusion of deep thought.

"Hmmm good question...why don't you ask her yourself?" Twilight stood and maneuvered out of the fillies way, allowing the young mare to flap up onto the stage in her hunt for the suddenly unaccounted mare.

"Trixie? hello?"

No reply came.

the foals behind her suddenly gasped and murmured as fog started to billow out across the stage. It slid off the stage and surrounded the group, the nearest foal coughed lightly and looked around nervously.

"U-um hello?" From the side of the stage, Twilight caught ear of a dark rolling laughter, it wasn't one she'd heard in a long time but she remembered it well enough. The laughter rose in volume as the fog swirled softly onto the small crowd of foals....and then, it died suddenly. By now the filly was shaking at the knees slightly. She shook her self and stamped out the shivers, her chest puffing out in mock bravery.

"I...I want to know what you do, Great and powerful Trixie!" She was defended with several nods and stamping of hooves from her fellow foals beneath her. The laughter arose again but this time as if flowing right up to the foal.

"What do we do, foal?" The filly shrieked and jumped off the stage as a black ominous form rose out of the fog, seemingly from nowhere. It grew and grew, until with a sudden shudder and shake, burst into form. Standing there, in all her splendor, was the mighty Nightmare Moon. Teeth glistening, her body in a cat like pose, poised to strike at any moment as the evil alicorn cackled mirthlessly. Thunder struck out across the sky behind her and the pegasus filly fainted right on the spot.

the rest screamed and dove behind mayor mare, who for the most part played along with an exaggerated gasp of awe. Nightmare flared her wings, casually sat down, and admired one of her feathered limbs with a cruel smile.

"I don't feel very encouraged to answer that, as I see no offerings of sweets before me. If you wish to show some respect for this eldritch queen of the night, not get gobbled up, and maybe get that question answered...give me something sweet to bite...."

Twilight was thankful she had cast a silence bubble over her mouth, because at that moment an entire bag of candy smacked Nightmare moon in the face and exploded everywhere. The 'alicorn' stared forward as candy rained down around her, mostly in confusion.

"TAKE IT! Just please don't eat me!" All eyes caught the glimpse of a pink mare in a blue and yellow vault suit blurring past them and simultaneously giving each foal a candy bag and a single bat topped cupcake. Nightmare blinked away her confusion and cackled loudly.

"Ah yes run! Run and flee for you have been spared by moving so quickly pink entity of the vaults, for I , Nightmare Moon will find you one day and gobble your soul!" She suddenly lept off the stage and landed a foot from the brave pegasus filly who'd dared question her actions. The foal had recovered from her fainting spell and was standing proudly, albeit still shaking visibly, she was glaring up at the tall mare.

"SO! you want to know what the great and powerful Trixie does?" Nightmare leaned her head down until her and the foal were mere inches apart. The filly back stepped and fell on her rump, too slow to see it happen, she was gently bopped on the nose by the alicorn, who now held a very gentle and motherly smile.

"Trixie tricks and she treats."

A blood moon.

A rare occurrence where the earth's shadow covers the moon, bathing it in the crimson glow of the sun. Sometimes thought of as an omen in ancient times, ponies would flock to lunar churches and pray to the Princess of the night, Princess Luna. Others took it as an odd boon, a stroke of luck upon them, and they'd do things differently the next day as a sign of appreciation. Sometimes it was thought of as a gift from the celestial Alicorn sisters. That they would change the very color of a celestial body, if but for a brief period for all to see. A few scholars also dared to say it was connected to Princess Luna's heat cycles, and considering how rarely alicorns had children, some went to agree with these knowledgeable bodies.

Only to find them buried nine feet under for such a perverted presumption.

The truth was simple though, the earth and moon revolved around the sun, and sometimes the earth would blanket the moon in it's massive shadow. Celestia used to joke with Luna about it. Saying "I'm giving you a warm hug that's out of this world". Luna had failed at the time to see the humor in the statement. She was in a darker time then, and thought her moon looked like it was covered in blood.

Hence the name.

As the lunar Princess sat outside her balcony, enjoying the fresh air, the stars and moon above, and the cheering from down in Canterlot, she couldn't stop a shiver from passing down her spine. Nightmare Night was in all intent and purpose, a celebration. A party meant to frighten and to inspire, and Luna couldn't find any holiday more enjoyable then her own. She had partied hard within the limits of Ponyville, with Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie pie dragging her from booth to booth in an attempt to show her every possible thing they could before she had to leave.

Another shiver ran down her back, and Luna shook herself, opening her wings and closing them once more in an attempt to rid her thoughts of darkness. She knew, as did her sister, that nightmare night would always be more then a holiday.

It was a reminder.

Nightmare night was a reminder of Luna's worst moment in history, the day she'd turned to the dark side and tried to overthrow the sun itself. She had begun to spiral into darker and darker moods, reacting less and less to the optimism of her ponies and her sister, until one day the darkness reacted. It had offered her a friend that would never leave, a companion who would always listen, and power that could rival her sister's. After a long period of fighting to stay above her ill thoughts, she had eventually embraced this new option, and unknowingly gave her soul to pure darkness. From the ashes of her mistake, Nightmare moon had arisen, using Luna's body, her magic, and her mind like a puppet on strings.

Ultimately failing her coup, she had been banished to the very entity she was soul bound to protect. The sole companion she had during those thousand years then showed her true colors in the form of a blackened alicorn with fear and power radiating off her in coiled tendrils of darkness. Nightmare Moon had patronized luna day in and day out about her failure to become stronger, her weakness to fight back, and her futile attempts to rid the darkness from her heart.

In the end, only the elements of harmony had saved her, and that hadn't been till a thousand years later.

Another shiver ran down her back and Luna snorted in annoyance. She knew why the shivers came and went, what they were trying to do, and she had tried so hard to ignore it. She stood and shook herself fully from mane to tail, and then waited.

...
...

another shiver.

"It is harder to ignore the signs then it is to accept them, yes?"

Luna flicked an ear back and sighed, watching from her left side as her sister Celestia came to stand beside her. Celestia was wearing a rather simple blue dress that was covered in stars, moons, and bats; all of these made from silver. Her normal regalia was replaced with silver shod shoes and a torque that looked like it had been half burned in a fire for a century or two. Atop her head was her crown, albeit with a burned mask adorning one side of it that covered her left eye completely and most of her cheek.

"Thou sees through us even to this day, Tia.....Hmm, the silver bats are a nice touch to your dress, oh haunted spirit of thy ballroom."

Celestia held a small smile and looked down at her chest for but a moment, before looking out over the expanse the sisters called their kingdom. For a while neither spoke, until a shared shiver ran over their coats. Celestia sat and put a wing protectively around her sister, to which Luna leaned closer.

"You feel it as well then, Tia?"

a nod.

"Yes, as does Cadance. Somewhere out there, a darkness we can't see, but we know it's present."

Luna hummed and leaned closer, nibbling a spot on Celestia's neck out of habit. Celestia leaned into the touch.

"What will we do then? Are the elements aware of it?" Luna watched a wane smile come across her taller sister's face, before Celestia nodded again and looked down at Luna.

"Yes, I told twilight what the shivers meant, and the first thing she wanted to do was disprove it." they both smirked.

"Of course the student would wish to do so, she is of the sciences and can't take us at word alone, alicorn or not it seems. What of the others? Their reactions?"

Celestia chuckled and nuzzled her sister atop her head, Luna swished her tail in enjoyment.

"Rainbow Dash wants to fight it head on, Applejack declared she wouldn't let it touch her farm, Fluttershy shied away a bit, and Rarity merely frowned while admiring her hooves...."

Luna merely sighed and then counted in her head before looking perplexed and...slightly worried.

"And what of the pink one?" At this Celestialit up her horn suddenly and a large blue, white, purple, and pink blanket easily fifty feet in width and length appeared above them. Celestia laughed as the spell went out and Luna shrieked as the large cloth landed atop them abruptly, covering almost the entire balcony in cloth. The muffled whinnies and neighing of her younger sister made Celestia grin.

"She gave me this blanket and said we should share it, so none of us catch colds."

A blue wing extended out and smacked Celestia's side, causing the Alicorn to quickly brace her front hooves on the stone as she began to laugh.

"Tia! Get this thrice damned cloth off our balcony at once! We cannot see where we are going--OOF!"

Two alicorns fell over amidst the fabric, mixtures of grumbling and laughing combined as the blanket was draped in golden magic and teleported away. Celestia was on her side, a hoof holding her sister down as they tussled. Luna was in a head lock and was furiously batting a wing against her sister's thigh in an attempt to break the hold. Luna growled and flailed, trying to get away from her sister's iron grip.

"Thou will cease thy assaults on our heavenly body at once!"

Celestia laughed and playfully nipped one of Luna's ears, the action elicited a muffled squeak and a fit of giggles from the lunar mare.

"Oh come on Lu lu, when was the last time you and I had some fun together?" a hoof descended to Luna's belly fur and began vigorously tickling her sides.

"We-Ehehahah! W-we will not be subjected to-Snrk!-- T-this torture! Re-AHAHAH! not the ear!--Re-release us at once!"

Luna finally broke away from her sister with a triumphant squeal and jumped from the balcony, Celestia followed suit a second later. Down below them, the guards and nearby citizens cheered and clapped as their princess also enjoyed the holiday. For some, it showed the bond that the sisters had repaired over the last twenty years, and for others, it merely meant that the night was young and there was more fun to be had.

By the time Luna felt another shiver, it was nearing sunrise. After their impromptu race around the castle, Celestia had contacted Twilight and the three alicorns and fellow harmony bearers were treated to an all you can eat smorgasbord within the castle kitchens. Applejack and Luna had been the victors there, hooves down.

The night had lasted long, and was filled with many warm and memorable moments, but soon everyone had been so tuckered out that they'd all commandeered Celestia's bedroom in the name of sleep. Twilight, Celestia, and Luna were all snuggled up in one big alicorn pile atop Celestia's bed. Nearby on cushions and couches were the other elements and spike, the now teenage dragon had his large body wrapped protectively around Rarity.

and Luna, Luna was awake again, if only briefly. Her head nestled right next to her drooling sister, with Twilight sleeping rather casually across the white mare's back, a purple wing draped lovingly over Luna. Even though the shiver had woken her up, Luna drifted back to sleep quite quickly, and with a smile. Knowing she had family and was not alone any longer made the darkness around the room less creepy it seemed.

But darkness always creeps.

....a broken bookshelf....a dilapidated door.... a torn tapestry...worn stone....cold, hard stone....

She shivered.

The stone was so cold, frost even covered it's edges and the pages of a nearby book were clearly frozen together. She blearily blinked open her eyes and tried to lift her head, but unable to find the strength to do so, it fell back to the stone with out a sound. She coughed haggardly, a breath of frost escaping her lips.

weak...so...weak.

She looked around again, this time with just her eyes. The room she was in looked vaguely familiar to her. If not mistaken, this was the main atrium to the royal throne room. If she could just turn her head a little to the right, she could see if it were true...was she really...

her head shifted laboriously to the side, and her eyes fell on the remains of a pair of damaged and forgotten thrones not fifty feet from her spot.

...so...that means...

I am...alive?.....no...this cannot be so....another nightmare then...Sighing, coughing, and the flipping her ears back against her neck, she closed her eyes. Like all the previous dreams and night terrors she had, she tried to let the dream wither away like all the rest. Snippets of previous dreams came to mind as she did so. A battle between two gods in this one, a flowery field covered in sleeping ponies in another, a destroyed and barren wasteland, devoid of life... So on and so on as the pieces drifted in and out of her mind, muddled though it currently was. As she lay there, she thought of her previous life once more. It was a topic she came back to on many occasions when she had enough lucidity to remember.

Defeated by the elements of harmony. Blasted into galaxy knows how many pieces...Not exactly the best comeback to be honest. That was the odd thing though, she had actually come back once more. Now, as her mind reformed and her body shifted and moved, she waited for the dream to loose it's strength and fade like all the rest. Another shiver ran through her, right down her spinal column to the tip of her tail.

she had a spine again?

Something was off. She could still feel the stone, and the scent of old dust as it lingered past her nostrils. Dreams did not normally last this long when she willed them to leave her be. The aether she had been apart of for so long was fine tuned to hear her words and obey, and yet...it wasn't?

She peaked an eye open, and saw the same book still sitting before her, frozen just like before. More frost was collecting around it and her hooves...

.....not..a dream? Slowly lifting her head, she gauged that she had a bit more strength then previously and looked around the dilapidated castle. She looked to the thrones, then to the side passages that still stood, and then to the exit, it all looked like it did when she'd fought here before. She sighed, letting a cold cloud of frost hover before her muzzle before it too dissipated. Something touched her leg.

She looked down, to find a rather peculiar sight before her. She was not whole yet.

Her legs, chest, and even part of her cheek were missing, where they should be perfect were wisps of shadowy tendrils clawing out and thrashing quietly but desperately. She felt something touch her again, this time from her side, and looked behind her. Her wings were also not fully formed. Several feathers were either missing, partially formed or finished but in odd angles. She would have to preen it seemed, else she leave this place looking like a disheveled mess.

that wasn't the odd thing though.

The shadows around her, they were breaking away from their positions and crawling towards her. Once reaching her form, they started mending the missing pieces of her body. Slowly she watched as they reformed her into a whole mare again. Sometimes the blobs of darkness would hop and bounce, as if full of energy and life. Leaping over entire books or gaps in the floor to get to her, while others slithered and swayed around objects in their way. Coiling around table legs and columns of stone that had fallen from the ceiling. The outcome was the same. They were rebuilding her....

But...how is this to be? Why am I back?? She watched for a time as the little bloblits continued to appear around her, sometimes they would collide and become a larger blob before melding into her side or a limb. anywhere that wasn't fully finished, seemed to get attacked with gusto until the job was complete. In the end, they finally disappeared and no more came into view. While she definitely though it was odd, the stone beneath her finally started to annoy her with it's freezing temperatures and she attempted to stand.

It took a moment or two to remember how her legs worked, but when she did at last stand at her full height, Nightmare moon breathed a huge sigh of relief and flexed her wings out slowly until they were at their longest, smiling in pleasure as her ears heard several muted pops and cracks as her joints lost their tightness.

She hummed and then tried to speak.

"NEEEIGH!!" A hoof shot up and closed over her mouth almost instantly. Nightmare moon would never let such a horrible sound breach her lips, and yet...it had happened. She stood there with a mortified look on her face for a moment longer before trying yet again to speak.

"...Nee....whinny...neigh!?" Her attempt to speak was rather surprising. She couldn't actually form words for a moment, and ended up instead making animalistic noises! Something wasn't right, that much a she could tell, and several more attempts to form words failed fantastically with a loud braying or whinny escaping her lips. Nightmare snorted and pawed at the frost beneath her hooves in irritation.

It was as if a vice sealed around her throat and shut the sounds she was attempting to make completely out. She could form any words.....that was bad. She didn't like that one bit, but neither could she understand why or how it had happened.

Maybe my torc is in the way?

Reaching a hoof up to check it's position made her blink in surprise. She looked down and found that neither her torc, nor any of her armor was visible either, in fact she couldn't find it anywhere! Nightmare tried to growl and found that at least she'd been gifted with THAT noise, and she used it well in those few moments. She began to walk around the room, checking the bookshelf, the thrones and even behind them for any trace of her regalia....only to come out of it empty hooved. She snarled and smacked her hoof into the floor.

Where is my Regalia!?

Nightmare huffed and began pacing about left and right in a flurry. Her wings twitched, her tail thrashed and her ears lay pinned back against her neck as she tried to think of some reason she had neither her armor nor her voice. To her dismay she couldn't figure out why she would lose them.

I have a body, I have my power...I think...I am alive and in one piece....I think....So where the heck did my other stuff go!? Just to be sure she checked if she did in fact have all of herself present.

Wings? Check. Horn? Check? Legs? check, check, check, and check. Mane and tail? Check. Cutie mar--

Where there should have been a dark purple splotch and a white moon....was plain black fur. Nightmare moon's eyes widened and she snarled, whirling in place and then reversing the direction as she verified that her cutie mark was indeed gone. She came to a stop with her legs in a widened stance, desperation and worry lancing across her face and her mind raced to find where luna's---

She gasped.

They aren't mine, they never were.....

It clicked and Nightmare moon sat down rather suddenly in shock....her voice...was luna's....her cutie mark...was luna's.....and her regalia...It was all Luna's. None of it had been hers because she'd stolen Luna's body. Now, without any of these, Nightmare moon felt....

naked.

cautiously lifting a hoof to her chest, she slowly rubbed where the silver torc had once sat and felt like something had been taken from her. She felt so alienated without her helm, her shoes and her voice. It had all been repossessed by the mare she'd defeated, and now she was without the power she had craved. Then another thing came to the darkened mare.

Something was taken from me, my kingdom! Nightmare snarled again and kicked a pile of books into the wall angrily.

Those mares, and Celestia! They stole my crown from me! She snorted and looked out a open hole in the ceiling, to canterlot, her eyes ablaze with revenge. A sneer came across her muzzle.

Well, enjoy your precious peace while you can, because Nightmare moon is back, and she is going to get what she is rightfully owed!

As she stamped her hoof down in verification of her words, she realized that without her actual voice to amplify the feeling, the action felt rather empty. She sighed and started towards the doors, revenge wrapped around her thoughts and a first objective already set before her.

I need a voice.