Nightmarish

by Lurks-no-More

Rating: everyone
Tags: Princess Luna, Comedy, Princess Celestia, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 1765

Luna prepares for her Nightmare Night trip to Ponyville, when Celestia shows up...

After seeing "Luna Eclipsed", a lot of people were asking why Celestia let her sister dear go out to Ponyville, all decked up as the Metal Queen of Darkness, complete with bat-guards and a murderchariot right out of Nightmare Night stories. Shouldn't she have told her sister about how things had changed, and that her grand entrance might backfire?

Here, then, is my take of how Celestia's attempts went. It turns out that Luna can out-flank her scheming sister sometimes!

There is now a Spanish-language version of this story: Pesadillesco, translated by SPANIARD KIWI!

Published 2012-06-08 04:24:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-06-08 04:24:02 UTC

Chapter 1

With a flick of her horn, Luna tightened the last bolt and welded it shut. She gave the chains a telekinetic tug, then another, harder one. They held. A gleeful grin spread across her dark muzzle and she began to prance and caper with excitement. "Yes! It is finished! Yes, yes, yes! This will be the most wonderful of nights!"

A single beat of her wings sent the giggling Princess into the air, where she pirouetted gracefully... only to stop when she noticed Phobos, one of her two personal pegasus guards, standing in the doorway with a carefully neutral expression on his face.

Luna immediately dropped back to the ground and straightened, tossing her flowing mane back and out of her face. "Yes, what is it?" she asked, feeling foolish and rather cross at being caught like that.

"My apologies, Your Highness, but Princess Celestia is here and wishes to see you," the guard said.

"Oh? Very well! We will see our sister in the blue reception room," Luna said. Phobos bowed and backed away. As soon as he was out of sight, Luna grabbed her tiara from the top of her desk where she'd put it. Checking herself in the mirror, she cast a quick spell to clean away the axle grease on her hooves and the metal chips and wood shavings clinging to her increasingly ethereal mane like tiny, unwanted asteroids.

It has to be about tonight, Luna thought and drew a deep breath. She should have expected the secret to slip, what with the maids and such who have been to her rooms. But... perhaps it was for the best. She just wished they hadn't told Celestia everything and spoiled the surprise!

Composing herself, she trotted out of the room.

Celestia stood out no matter where she went or the company she kept, but in the darkness of Luna's private apartment in the Canterlot Castle's west wing, the Princess of the Sun was especially conspicuous. It wasn't just that she was huge and white - there were plenty of white accents, in alabaster and silver and blue-veined white marble in Luna's chambers, after all - but that she was literally glowing with soft golden light.

Phobos and Deimos were looking markedly awkward where they stood, flanking the outer door. Not surprising, Luna thought; until a year ago, they had been serving her sister. Technically, one half of the Royal Guards belonged to her, but she and Celestia had agreed that it would be best if she started with just one pair of personal guards. She'd immediately renamed them after her ancient charioteers, from the times before the whole regrettable Nightmare episode. Continuity of the royal tradition was a good thing, she felt.

"Greetings, our beloved and trusted sister!" Luna said as she entered the room. "We are pleased as always to see you!"

Celestia gave her a warm, easy smile. "So am I, little sister. Though you're not so little any more," she added with a light laugh. "I wished to see you about tonight's festivities, Luna. As I'm sure you know, it's the Nightmare Night..."

Luna's happy expression turned into a sour scowl for a second, and Celestia sighed. "I'm no happier about the macabre folklore that has sprung up around your darker persona than you are, Luna," she continued. "But it has become a deeply rooted part of the holiday, which I'm sure you would enjoy otherwise."

The Night Princess nodded. "Absolutely! We are overjoyed by the idea: a nocturnal fest and a masquerade, to celebrate darkness! The lese-majesty aside, it is everything we could wish for, and that disgraceful aspect can be easily changed."

Looking Celestia directly into the eye, she shifted to the more intimate form of address, as was befitting when talking about such matters with one's own sister.

"I know you have been worrying about my reclusive manner and reluctance to step into the open, even as my recovery has progressed. I confess that it has been partly my own cowardice that has held me back. But tonight, that will change! Tonight, I will finally present myself to our mortal subjects as Princess Luna, and prove once and all that the creature of nightmare is no longer, but instead a pony who desires their love and admiration! And that is why I will be traveling to Ponyville tonight!"

Luna did not begrudge the obvious relief in Celestia's sunny smile. Her sister had been right about worrying her, after all. "You have no idea how pleased I am to hear that, Luna! I have already- Wait, did you say Ponyville?!"

Celestia's expression of surprise almost made Luna laugh, but she stifled her giggles for the sake of decorum "Indeed! 'Tis not only the closest pony settlement to the site of Nightmare Moon's final defeat, but also the home of your favored apprentice Twilight Sparkle, and her fellow Bearers of the Elements of Harmony!" she said, spreading her wings and launching into air. "They, more than anypony, deserve to see our true self and receive our undying gratitude!"

"Uh... that's true, of course," Celestia said. "I, ah, was just thinking that perhaps it would be better to begin with a royal banquet here in the castle..."

"No! I appreciate your concern, my beloved sister, but this is something I must do!" Luna said. "Too long I have shied away from our subjects, lurking in my chambers. I owe this to them and to myself. Come, I want to show you something I've been preparing for this night! Phobos, Deimos: accompany us!"

With a proud and excited bounce in her step, Luna led her sister and the obediently following guards to her personal library, the only part of her apartment where she had categorically barred the servants from entering. It showed in the dustbunnies gathered in the corners, and the general disarray with tools, books and construction material strewn over every available surface, but Luna didn't think Celestia would care. Her sister had always appreciated art, and would be familiar with the organized chaos that always accompanied true creativity!

"So what is this thing you want to show... Oh. Oh! Oh my." Celestia stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening and mouth hanging open when she saw the result of Luna's painstaking work. It was a chariot, low-slung and long, all night black and decorated with silver inlays and glowing green gems. Long chains connected the chariot to the ponyquins wearing full barding, much like the glowing golden armor of Celestia's Royal Guards, but made from elaborately fluted and artfully darkened silver.

"It was the chariot that you use for official travel that gave me the idea," proudly smiling Luna told her speechless sister. "I could bring my guards with me when I teleported, of course, or fly myself, but this is so much more elegant and regal, don't you think? Of course, I had to modify the plans a bit, as I did not want to copy you." She reached out with silver-shod hoof to touch the wickedly sharp curve of one of the bat-winged fins flaring out behind the rear wheels. "It is an absolute beauty, don't you think, sister?"

Celestia blinked and closed her mouth with an audible snap. "Ah... Yes, it's definitely something quite unique, Luna," she said, her voice trembling with suppressed emotion.

"I know!" Luna said, pleased that her sister was so impressed. "But wait! There is yet more! Phobos, Deimos: remove your armor and don the barding I have prepared for you!"

The guards exchanged a half-second glance that Luna couldn't read, then bowed deep. "As you command, Your Highness." As they took off their enchanted armor, their white coats and blue manes shimmered, returning to their original colors.

Then, as they put on the dark armor, their coat began to change again, but instead of the shining white of the Royal Guards, it was becoming uniform dark grey. When they placed the tall, crested helmets on their heads, a shimmering dark aura surrounded their ears, turning them into tufted bat-like ears. Their feathered pegasus wings underwent a similar transformation, changing into broad, leathery bat wings. They stared at one another, wide-eyed, and then began to gingerly test their new wings.

"Behold! The first of the new Night Guard!" Luna cried out in triumph, rearing up and throwing her front legs wide. Outside the window, a lightning flashed and a crack of thunder split the clear, quiet night. "I hope you don't mind my copying your ideas for the chariot and the uniforms, Tia," she said, suddenly bashful. "They were just too good not to use!"

Celestia raised a hoof to rub the bridge of her muzzle. "No, of course I don't... Do you have any other surprises left for me, Luna?"

The dark alicorn thought about it. "Well, I was going to don my Cloak of Winged Night for the journey," she said, tossing her head back. From the vaulted darkness of the roof, a swarm of bats descended, only to turn into a dark, hooded cloak that covered Luna. "Do you think it's all right, or should I go with something more grand, like the Robes of Living Darkness With Thousand Unblinking Eyes?"

Celestia hoof had now moved onto her forehead, pressing against the base of her horn hard enough to dent her golden shoe. "No, no, absolutely not! I mean, your cloak is just fine for the event. It's perfect, even!" she said in a voice that seemed inexplicably tired.

"That is good," Luna said. "I must admit that I am a bit behind my times when it comes to royal etiquette and all. I wouldn't wish to overdo it!" Looking out of the window, she noticed the full moon rising over the hills across the Canterlot Gap. "Oh, is it this late already? I must be going now, if I want to arrive in Ponyville in time for the festivities! Hitch yourself to my chariot, guards!"

She gave her sister a quick hug and trotted over to her chariot. As Phobos and Deimos lifted it into the air, carefully maneuvering the large vehicle towards the balcony door, Celestia called after her.

"In a thousand years, it seems that I have forgotten a lot about you and your tastes, Luna," her sister said, shaking her head and chuckling. "You wouldn't wish me to send my student a message telling about your arrival? No? I thought so." She sighed but smiled. "Go on, then, and have a wonderful night, little sister. And good luck!"