Nightmare Moon is... Maleficent

Morning came. Nightmare Moon fluttered her eyes open, and groggily shook her head. She placed a hoof to her head. Her body felt numb for several seconds, and her heart slowed down. When she completely regained her consciousness, the pain shot through her back. She looked over her shoulder, and gasped in horror. Why did Celestia do this to her?

She recalled the night where she confronted her sister and tried to protect Discord from her. She remembered Celestia smiling at her misery. She remembered her sister shooting a powerful beam at her. She remembered passing out from the impact. Her head ached. Nightmare's heart ached even more. Anger rose in her heart as she realized what happened. Celestia did this to her so that she could avenge their father!

The dark alicorn looked to Discord, and saw that he was still asleep. Didn't he witness Celestia's horrible crime? Probably not. Why was Nightmare's own father so swift to believe Celestia's lies?

She allowed dark thoughts to consume her mind. She struggled to stand, only to tumble to the ground. She wasn't used to being wingless. She panted as she struggled to stand for the second time. She looked to the riverbank, and walked near the water. She gasped in horror as she saw her reflection. "No, no! Why?" She wailed. Her screams of anguish echoed throughout the forest.

The creatures and the breezies that heard the scream started to tremble in fear of the mare's potential wrath. Nightmare didn't care, and she strode towards her friend. She placed a hoof onto his cheek, and tried to wake him up. Discord stirred and opened his eyes. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. As he looked at his friend, he gasped.

"Don't run away! Go to the castle and spy on Celestia," Nightmare shouted crisply.

"What did she do?" Discord questioned.

"She took my wings and cursed me to transform into this monstrosity."

"That does it!" Discord lost his composure and sat up. He stood up and rushed out of the forest.

He soon found himself in the castle courtyard. He flew up into the air, and approached a window. He peered into the window, and gasped at the scene before him.

Celestia wore her mother's crown, and sat upon her throne. She looked to her subjects and feigned a benevolent smile. "Luna transformed into Nightmare Moon, and I had to stop her. She was jealous of me, so I defeated her. My father died after rewarding me with the position of a queen! I am your new ruler, the Queen Celestia of Equestria. King Sombra will arrive shortly. We had gotten married in secret. There is a new castle built in Canterlot Village. I will move there with my king," She explained.

Discord heard what his former sweetheart said. A pang of anger and hurt shot through his heart like an arrow. He placed his lion paw to his chest, and gasped in horror. First, Celestia lied to Luna, and now, she lied to Discord? He flew away from the window, and returned to the forest.

As soon as he approached Nightmare Moon, there was so much darkness in the forest despite the fact that it wasn't yet nighttime. She seemed to brood in silence as she looked to the ground. "Are there any news?" Nightmare hummed.

"Yes," Discord replied. "Celestia became a queen. She also married Sombra, thereby breaking my heart. She even lied about you."

Nightmare paused as she allowed the darkness to consume her heart. Violet flames emerged from the ground as she groaned with rage. "I knew that she would hurt me to rise in power..." She muttered. "She's a monster and a coward! A liar, a cheat, a chameleon!" Her voice became loud and intense. Violet flames only grew taller, and prepared to shoot into the darkened sky.

She screamed with hatred, rage, and vengeance as the violet flames clashed against the dark clouds. Discord only watched as Nightmare finished screaming. "Now what, Nightmare?" He asked.

Nightmare Moon stomped out of the forest, and advanced towards the castle. When she saw that Celestia and Sombra moved out to live in a different castle, her anger only worsened. The castle had already fallen to ruins because it was old and no longer sturdy. The structure reminded her of herself; broken, yet still strong. She strode into the castle. Her heart ached even more. She sat upon the demolished throne, and looked into the darkness. She could stay here and rule from the darkness and into the forest.

Soon, she grew bored of the silence. She galloped to the forest, with Discord following her, as she searched for the meadow. Darkness consumed the Everfree Forest, and blotted out all of the light. Trees shriveled, the plants turned brown, and the ground became dank and dark. A throne made from vines emerged from the ground in front of Nightmare, and she sat upon the throne. She cackled as she looked to her new subjects. She had appointed herself the Queen of the Everfree Forest, with Discord as her co-ruler.

Discord stood near the throne, and stared down the creatures and the breezies. "She is now your queen. Don't disobey her," He warned. "You don't want to feel her wrath."

Nightmare cackled once more as she gave them a dark grin. She knew that she would take down Celestia with such vengeance someday, if she ever gained more power. Meanwhile, in Canterlot Castle, the trio of night breezies held a conversation with the new King and Queen.

Celestia refrained from calling them fools. She knew that it would only send them into a rage. "What do you need?" She wondered.

"We seek asylum," Night Blossom confided.

"Your Royalnesses, please take us in! I see that you have the most wonderful fashions ever," Silver Moon added in.

"And the most kind of ponies," Moonflower enthused.

Celestia smiled at their foolishness. She knew how dumb they could be. They had believed in her lies, and there was no going back.

"You can reside here," Celestia offered.

Moonflower and the other two squealed with excitement. "Thank you! Thank you! Also, we sense darkness on the horizon. I cannot believe that sweet little Luna became a monster. I think she is going to have revenge. I can sense it," She maintained.

"I'll defend you from her," Celestia reassured them.

"Good. We wish that you give birth to a foal in the future," Night Blossom intervened.

A year had passed since Celestia rose to power as Queen of Equestria. Two weeks after her twenty-first birthday, she became pregnant. Her unborn foal would be born in April of the following year.

Discord and Nightmare Moon found out, and they felt angrier than ever. One night in December, they spoke to each other about the rulers of Equestria.

"Discord, what will you do with the unborn foal?" Nightmare hummed.

"I suggest that we not take revenge," Discord replied.

"I want Celestia to feel the pain that I have felt!" She stood her ground as she stomped towards her throne.

Discord remained still, and stood before his friend. "You treat me like a servant. I'm not lesser than you. Why does this have to happen? I thought we're friends," He asserted.

"Oh, stay with me. We are to be partners in crime." Nightmare smirked darkly.

"Fine, whatever."

"Try to rebel, and you'll endure my wrath!"

"Sorry!"

Nightmare gasped, slightly angered by the response. "Why did you apologize?" She jeered.

"Because," Discord returned innocently.

The snow fell from the skies. There was still no light from the moon, which saddened Nightmare Moon. She strangely missed the moon and the stars. But, what of it? She wouldn't want to be bothered by light ever again, unless her heart became willing to change.

Several more months passed. Discord would report to Nightmare Moon each week about Celestia. He even told her that they had prepared for the birth of the foal. The dark alicorn realized that her friend still held feelings for Celestia, even though the enemy twisted their hearts with such a betrayal.

Something about Discord's visits to the castle irked the dark alicorn. She knew that Discord wanted Celestia back after the betrayal. How can he forgive her so easily? She decided to confront him one night before the first of April.

As Nightmare sat upon her throne, she watched an exhausted Discord appear in front of her. "Why are you always thinking about my sister? I hate her," She bellowed.

"Of course you hate her. Well, I feel jealous of Sombra for winning Celestia's hoof in marriage. She told me that we would rule together someday, but it turned out to be a cruel lie!" Discord retorted. "Have you not considered my feelings?"

"Don't you understand? Celestia betrayed me first before she betrayed you!"

"I know, but what about my failed relationship with Celestia? She seemed to not feel guilt for me." Discord frowned.

"That's because she loves Sombra so much more! Get over yourself, Discord!" Nightmare stomped her hoof, and sneered with spitefulness.

"I can't help it! I loved her so dearly. Now, I've forever lost her to Sombra!" Discord cried out.

"Of course you can't," Nightmare rephrased with contempt. "Now, silence!"

"Fine. You always seem to look for a fight." Discord turned away, and strode into the darkness.

Just before he could fully leave, Nightmare cleared her throat. "Discord! Stay here," She warned. "Don't flock to Celestia!"

There was no response, but Discord chose to remain in the meadow. Nightmare looked to the skies, and groaned. It would be little time before the royal foals would be born to her enemies and the evil Equestrians! Not if she had anything to do with it...

It would be a week and a half before the foal was born. Nightmare couldn't wait for her chance at exacting her vengeance upon her enemies! She grew more impatient by the day. Days and nights continued to pass.

On the tenth of April, Discord snuck out of the forest and flew to Canterlot Castle. He heard the chatter below. He wondered what the chatter was about. He wouldn't let Nightmare know that he went to see Celestia, but he would inform her of the foal's birth. He approached the castle window, and peered into the throne room.

"It's the twins!" A mare exclaimed.

"Yes! It's Princess Sunset Shimmer and Princess Twilight Sparkle!" A stallion replied.

"It's the twins! Let's go to the christening! Let's see the twins!" A colt cheered.

"Sweet Celestia! Our fair queen gave birth to two beautiful princesses!" A filly replied.

Everypony stormed into the throne room, for the whole kingdom was invited to the christening. Even a trio of breezies that never had a clue about taking care of the young ones...

A pang of envy grew in Discord's heart. Those princesses could have been his own daughters if Celestia never betrayed him! They were born to another stallion instead of Discord. He would never watch them grow into beautiful young mares... they had looked nothing like Luna or Nightmare Moon, either.

He decided that maybe revenge on Sombra would be the perfect choice. Nightmare Moon wanted revenge on Celestia. This would be the perfect day to have revenge on the royal couple! He soon returned to the forest, and told Nightmare Moon about the christening.

"The christening is not for one, but two baby fillies. They're twins, but they look different," Discord explained.

An idea popped into Nightmare's mind. She looked into Discord's eyes. "A celebration... for a pair of twins. How wonderful..." She remarked with darkness in her tone.