Nightmare Moon is... Maleficent

Meanwhile, in Canterlot Castle, Solar Flare woke from her dream with a start. In the dream, she fought her sister, and they ended up on the roof. The dream ended when she found herself on the sun, chained to the hot and fiery celestial body with no way out. She swore that she saw her sister with a pair of wings, and that she heard her sister singing to her in the solar exile. That song sounded like an unhappy lullaby, which would remind anypony of a heartbreaking loss.

For Solar Flare, it reminded her too much of the prophecy. She didn't want to be exiled from her kingdom. The kingdom was hers alone. Nothing else could change the fact. Nopony would need to overthrow her for the sake of some lost sister! She crawled out of bed, and wore her favorite dress. She cackled like a madmare as she stomped into the hallway.

A soldier froze as he felt the queen's cruel gaze. "Pinkie Pie and her friends helped Soarin and Flash Sentry to escape the dungeon this morning," He admitted.

"How dare you let them get away! Why, I shall send you to the fearsome gallows, where you shall hang until you died," Solar retorted.

"I tried to stop them, but-"

"No excuses!" Solar slammed the floor, which caused a crack to surge through the wall on the left.

"Ack! Sorry-"

"I shall give you no mercy! Guards, hang him on the gallows!"

Solar Flare watched as the soldier got whisked away from view. She smiled with satisfaction as she strode to the throne room with such pride and grace. She didn't know that her greed, pride, and strife would befall her. She was so obsessed with hunting down her sister for revenge. She barely cared that Sombra died. She barely cared that she had heard reports of the twins being raised by a mysterious shadow. She wanted revenge, and that was the only thing she wanted... for now.

As she sat upon the throne, she was enraged when the group of five mares stood before her. "What do you want? Are you going to stop me, to dethrone me?" Solar Flare demanded.

"We're sick of your tyranny," Rainbow Dash expressed. "That's why I would never again try to team up with the Solar Army!"

"Now is the time to give up the throne for good," Apple Jack concurred.

"I am disgusted at you," Rarity spoke. "I couldn't believe you would try to even enlist the fillies into the army! The colts may be enlisted, too. Those foals are innocent! They would be scarred for life if they had to murder somepony in the war! At least I saved my sister and her friends from the dungeon."

"And, every time an animal gets onto the castle grounds, you would kill them for no reason. Solar Flare, you are more evil than your own sister! You even murdered Apple Jack's older brother last week," Fluttershy confronted Solar Flare.

"Killing the others wouldn't be a good way to make friends. Majesty, you have no soul! Your sister should have been queen instead," Pinkie Pie explained.

Solar Flare lost her composure. She stomped towards the group, and her mane flickered in front of her face. She was more menacing than ever, and gave them a baleful glare. Dark flames erupted around the group.

"Stay away from the castle forever, or you will forever be banished from Equestria," Solar Flare warned.

The flames swiftly disappeared. The group rushed out of the throne room and didn't say anything else. The cruel queen chuckled at their reaction to the flames. They were so afraid that they dared run from her. The queen snorted derisively as she approached her throne and sat upon the throne. Because Solar Flare was so vain, she had requested a mirror that would stand by her throne.

She glanced at the left, and glared into her reflection. "For the last time... tell me who is the most beautiful and the most powerful queen of all!" She commanded.

"Your sister and her nieces are the fairest of all ponies in the land," The mirror replied.

"What! You're kidding me, right? You're only joking..." Solar Flare groaned as she looked to the huge doors. The mirror halted its talking, and remained as silent as possible.

Near the Everfree Forest, Twilight and Sunset practiced their lines.

"Aunties, we love you, but we're going to move out. We need to have more independence," Twilight spoke.

"And, not only if we need it, but we also need time away from you sometimes. Also-" Sunset began.

A pair of stallions hid behind the bushes as they observed the twins. They watched in awe as they emerged from the shadows. They gently approached them, and watched as the twins whirled around to face them.

"Sorry if we frightened you two," The stallion with the orange coat spoke.

"We're lost," The stallion with the indigo mane explained.

Sunset and Twilight were stunned by their sudden appearance. They nearly tumbled back, but kept their balance as they stared them in the eye.

"Who? Who are you? How did you get here?" Sunset interrogated.

"My name is Soarin, and this is Flash Sentry. We are sent to visit Solar Flare, even though she's a terrifying tyrant," Soarin began as he found himself lost in Twilight's eyes. He blushed profusely, and chuckled as he shifted uncomfortably. "Sorry, again."

"You're forgiven," Twilight replied, focused on Soarin's sincere expression. She could kiss him, but they barely knew each other. She had heard tales of Solar Flare before; the tales sounded foreboding and ominous.

Sunset, however, thought it was ridiculous. She imagined Solar Flare to be a powerful but strict queen who ruled with an iron hoof.

"You may go that way. I'm sure the queen would love to meet you," Sunset told the stallions.

"Thanks, but she's not gentle with me," Soarin returned. "One time, she tried to enlist me in the army, but my friends rescued me."

"I don't know. She just rules with an iron hoof," Flash disagreed. "Let's go, my friend." He nodded to Soarin as they trotted away.

The twins could only sigh as they watched the stallions. They wanted to fall in love with them, but they barely knew each other. From a distance, Nightmare Moon watched them. She wasn't sure what to feel about the two stallions. She knew that they were kind and pleasant to the twins, but what if they changed in the future for the worse? Her thoughts were interrupted when Discord tapped her.

"Stop it," Nightmare scolded.

Discord glanced at the stallions for a moment before continuing. "They are the answer. They could save the twins," He suggested.

"What?" Nightmare chuckled as she looked away. "I cursed them that way because true love doesn't exist, and neither does forgiveness."

"I understand that's how you feel, but what about Sunny and Twily? Fine! Argue with me any time, Nighty. But, I won't forgive the curse. I'm going away," Discord retorted.

Nightmare tilted her head, perplexed and shocked. She had never seen that behavior before. She didn't want Discord to be filled with pessimism. But, she didn't like whenever he acted that way. She knew that he was right for a reason.

Soon, the twins entered the cottage to explain why they would leave to live on their own.

"I must tell you something," Sunset spoke.

Night Blossom and Moonflower quitted their quarrel, and Silver Moon dropped the chocolate and vanilla cake. "Oh, you would turn sixteen soon," Moonflower spoke. "First, I must tell you something, my sweeties."

"We'll move out when we turn sixteen," Twilight confirmed.

"What?" Night Blossom and Silver Moon shouted in unison, shocked.

"We're not taking you to your mother until the curse is done! Nightmare Moon was the reason why you were cursed, and-" Moonflower blurted out.

"I thought you told us that mom and dad were dead," Sunset breathed out, confused.

"Tell us why we're hidden away in the cottage," Twilight demanded. "I want to know why you're hiding everything from us! Lying's been your motivation ever since you told me not to read my books! I'm done with you! That's why Sunny and I were moving out!"

"Don't you dare!" Moonflower retorted. "Lemme tell you what! You were born to Queen Celestia, and after that, this monster came to curse you! She was the reason why you're here, and she's the evil in the world! Stay away from her. Before your birthday, I have destroyed the books for good reason, and-"

"What? Why?" Twilight gasped as she shrank back.

"She has no wings and she cursed you two to get back at Celestia. She's evil, I tell you! We're making you stay here until after your birthday- wait!" Night Blossom shouted.

The twins rushed out of the cottage, and ran towards the Everfree to confront their godmother. "Godmother!" They called in unison. "Godmother!"

Nightmare Moon approached them, and stood still. She saw how emotional they were now. Did the breezies tell them before they were mature enough to handle the truth? The trio of breezies were so inconsiderate sometimes...

"What is it?" Nightmare whispered as she frowned.

"Is it true? Are you Nightmare Moon?" Sunset assumed. "I hate you! You're the evil in the world! All the fair folk are evil! I'm going away. I hate the forest, and your wings are ugly anyways!"

"Sunny, no!" Twilight scolded. "Don't be so immature!"

"Whatever!" Sunset ran off before anypony could reply.

"Are we cursed?" Twilight interrogated.

"Yes," Nightmare confessed. "I did that because your mother stole my wings. You must go save Sunset, but do not be lured by her dishonesty. I am sorry."

"I'll get Sunset. You hurt her much more than you know! Bye... forever!"

"I'm going to the castle because I love you. Discord is coming, too." Nightmare frowned as she watched Twilight disappear from view. She saw how much more immature Sunset was, but she knew that the light twin was right. Nightmare was truly the evil that caused them to suffer, anyways.

Soon, the twins arrived at the castle. Twilight and Sunset entered the war room, prepared to meet their mother. Solar Flare stood by the door, her back facing the door.

"They claim to be the princesses," A guard told Solar Flare.

Twilight suddenly felt nervous. Why did she come here? Why was her mother more intimidating than she thought? "Um... mother?" She stammered.

Solar Flare whirled around. She forced herself to grin, even though she loathed the world. "Hey. Sunset, you look just like me. And you want to be like me, to have revenge on that evil mare? Here, I'll help you to avenge yourself," She offered.

Sunset swiftly embraced her mother, and sobbed for a long time. "It's me! This is Twilight," She replied. "And, yes, I want to kill Nightmare Moon."

Twilight almost cringed with horror. She knew never to hold a grudge, but she just found out that Solar's intentions were true. That evil queen wanted to murder the wingless alicorn. Solar was more dishonest than Nightmare. Before Twilight could say anything, the guards whisked both princesses to a bedroom. As they got locked into the bedchambers, Twilight and Sunset broke into a quarrel.

"It's your fault that you led me here," Twilight accused. "You shouldn't have came here this instant when all our mother wanted was to have revenge on our real aunt!"

"That's because she's protecting us," Sunset retorted. "Shut up and leave me alone. I won't forgive our aunt!"

"How dare you hold a grudge!"

"I can hold a grudge! You'll regret siding with our fucking aunt! She's an evil bitch!"

Twilight froze, stunned by Sunset's harsh and cruel words. She couldn't believe what her twin just said. "Are you not aware of the warning signs? Our mother barely saw me. She thought that I never existed. She told you to betray that wingless alicorn," She asserted. "Stop being so ignorant and blind!"

Sunset rushed towards a door, and pounded on the door. She found that the door was locked, so she approached the tapestry. She pounded on the wall, and a door opened. She darted through the hallway, and didn't say anything to her sister.

Twilight chased Sunset through the darkness. "Sunny! Wait!" She hollered.

There was no response. They ran further and further into the darkness, and ran down the steps in one tower.

In the Everfree Forest, Nightmare searched for Discord. "Find the stallions," She commanded. "We must save the twins!"

"Alright! Let's go," A voice replied.

Nightmare approached a nearby pond. She was sure that her current appearance was foreboding. She infused herself with cerulean magic, and transformed back into Luna. However, she didn't shrink in size. Her old self must have grown over the years. She stayed the same, but her coat became lighter. Her mane was more like Celestia's once again.

Her teeth were no longer pointy, and her pupils were no longer slitted. Her eyes were normal once again. She trotted out of the forest, and saw the pair of stallions. As she approached them, the stallions froze.

"I'm looking for Sunset," Flash explained.

"I'm looking for Twilight," Soarin spoke.

"Of course you are," Luna replied as she blew cerulean dust at them.

Both stallions floated into the air as they closed their eyes. Discord held the stallions in the air as Luna led him away from the woods. As soon as they hurried towards the castle, the sun threatened to dip into the horizon.