Nightmare Moon is... Maleficent

Three years passed, and the twins were now three years of age. Naive, young, and innocent, they were oblivious to the fact that they were actually princesses that would fall into a deep sleep on their sixteenth birthday. Twilight had begun to foster a love for books. But, she hadn't known many words yet. She still had to read books for little foals about her age.

Sunset was more of the loyal and protective sister. She loved her sister dearly and wouldn't trade her for the world. She was curious about the world, too. Sometimes, she would take her sister outside so that they could explore together. Because they had sensed that the caretakers were forced to take care of them, they started to teach themselves to become independent.

But, there were times when they would get into risky situations. One warm afternoon, the trio of breezies took the twins out to a picnic. Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer didn't care much about the food, for they weren't as famished as their incompetent guardians.

From a distance, Nightmare Moon and Discord watched the scene from the treetops. The twins looked at a butterfly, and then they started to chase the butterfly.

"How boring. Mischief needs to come into play," Nightmare Moon commented.

"I wouldn't be oblivious to the present danger," Discord replied as he pointed to the cliff. "Trust me, if the twins were distracted, they would fall to their deaths. I would not allow mischief into this situation."

Nightmare sighed and blew out her cheeks as she looked to the trio of breezies. Cerulean magic emerged from her horn, and hovered in front of her. She mimicked the motion of tugging somepony's mane. She giggled as she watched the drama unfold.

"Oh, dear. This is hilarious!" She jested.

As Silver Moon took a bite out of her cupcake, she felt a mysterious tug on her mane. "Ow!" She exclaimed as she used her magic to tug Night Blossom's mane.

"I didn't do it! You started it!" Night Blossom retorted.

"Now, stop your bickering-" Moonflower begun, but felt a tug on her mane. "You did this again!"

"What?" Night Blossom whispered, puzzled.

"You did this!" Moonflower and Silver Moon shouted in unison as they leapt on top of her. They all got into a huge scuffle as a result.

They were however oblivious to the fact that Twilight and Sunset ran towards the cliff, about to fall to potential doom. Nightmare Moon took notice of this, and hummed softly. "Oh, look," She told Discord. "Those little beasts are about to fall off the cliff!"

"We must take action," Discord warned. "We can't let them die!"

"We mustn't be discovered." Nightmare shook her head.

"We could be sneaky. We had snuck around before, correct?"

"Yeah, right! Let's go."

They swiftly climbed down the tree, and rushed towards the cliff. The twins screamed with fright as they lost their footing, and nearly tumbled off the cliff. A cerulean aura emerged from Nightmare's horn and enveloped Twilight. Twilight floated into the air, and was redirected to the ground.

"Huh?" She breathed out as she looked to the tall and elongated figure.

Nightmare froze as Twilight glanced at her. Instead of telling her that she didn't see anything, she intended to give her a slight warning.

"Be careful," She murmured.

Twilight knew what the figure meant, so she nodded as she ran to the trio of breezies.

Discord caught Sunset Shimmer just in time as he swooped down into the abyss. He flew up into the air, and landed near Nightmare Moon. He gently placed Sunset onto the ground, and told her to play with Twilight.

"Be safe," He warned.

As soon as the draconequus and the dark alicorn returned to the treetops, Discord looked to his friend, and wondered if Nightmare Moon had grown more fond of the twins.

"Are you giving in to motherly instincts?" Discord questioned.

Nightmare Moon swiftly turned her attention to her friend, and gave him an innocent gaze. "What? I only waited for dramatic effect... you know. I want to keep both of them alive so that... maybe they can rebel against their parents," She replied.

"They might someday have the right to rebel against Celestia. Celestia has been alive for too long."

Nightmare nodded in response. "I see that you have became much more tired of her nonsense," She hummed. "So, I agree with you about Celestia. I'm not sure about the rebellion thing. If they found out about the curse, they may side with her." She frowned, but reminded herself to keep a straight face this instant.

She intended to keep a tough exterior to defend herself from further heartbreak. What she didn't know was that she began to love the twins. Did she really fall into her own spell? She thought that the twins were innocent, unlike their mother, who had stolen Nightmare's wings for the sake of power.

Whenever Nightmare Moon thought about her sister, she would feel enraged and vengeful. Her sister was the one that twisted her heart cruelly and cursed her into becoming a menacing villainess from a prophecy. Ironically, she was the villainess because she had revenge three years ago.

Meanwhile, in Canterlot Castle, Celestia stared at her reflection in the full-body mirror. She stood tall, just alone in her bedchambers as she prepared to ask a question. She heard a noise, and looked to the glass container. The pair of wings shuddered. A voice had spoken to her and warned her against becoming evil.

Celestia only scoffed with haughtiness as she ignored the warning. "Well... well," She begun as she stared into her reflection once more.

She adored her own appearance. Magenta eyes, an alabaster coat, and a multicolored mane were the hallmarks of her beauty. Or, at least that was how she felt about herself. Though she was beautiful and queenly on the outside, she was vain, greedy, and envious. Vain, because she only cared for herself. Greedy, because she did a terrible crime against her own sister to become queen and to rise in power. And envious, because she had loathed her sister for being popular one time.

She knew that the twins were being raised in the cottage. A fear grew in her heart; what if they outshone her in grace and beauty? Celestia shook her head and tried to push the thoughts away. The thoughts returned to haunt her. Once, when she was young, she had been loved by all she met. But, when Luna or Nightmare Moon came along, everything changed.

The queen had a yo-yo effect with popularity. Before Luna's birth, she was cherished by everypony. But, when Luna was born, everypony hated the older sister because of what she did to her younger sister. Later, when Celestia's curse on her sister fulfilled, she stole her wings and rose in power. Because of that, and her lies about the sister, she became popular once again.

Perhaps dishonesty was much better than being truthful, after all. Celestia's thoughts halted as her reflection transformed into the fiery mare.

"My reflection in the mirror... who is the fairest of all? Speak the truth. I will not have you mentioning any other mare," She interrogated the reflection.

The fiery mare nodded, and gave the queen a dark smile. "I will tell you what. For a while, you were the fairest of all. But, since your daughters will grow in grace and beauty..." She begun.

"What?" Celestia retorted derisively.

"Both of them, in their own ways... Sunset Shimmer's beauty came from her heart and a willingness to be loyal to others. She is also beautiful on the outside. That will perfectly befit her future. A suitor will easily love her. Twilight Sparkle's beauty came from her kindness and love. She is as beautiful as her sister," The mare continued.

Celestia gasped, and groaned as she thought of how her daughters outshone her in grace and beauty. The reflection rippled like water as the magical sparkles surrounded the glass. The glass soon showed her a scene of Twilight and Sunset playing with the woodland creatures. The creatures seemed to love the twins. They would be afraid of the solar queen, and that would be what Celestia feared.

"You're joking," She denied.

"No. I am serious. If you must be beautiful, but eternally regal, then we shall merge together," The mare returned as she reappeared in the reflection and pushed away the scene.

"Do you think me willing to burn down my kingdom? I have risen to power. I will not accept public spite so easily."

"You will be more loved. Every mare in the kingdom will try to be as beautiful as you."

The queen nodded. She couldn't help but admit that she wasn't willing to lose the spotlight to another mare. "I will submit to you," She promised.

"We, together, shall be called Queen Solar Flare. Has a brilliantly regal ring to it, no?" The mare assured her.

"It sounds beautiful. I love the name." Celestia smirked evilly.

"Good. Then, we shall team up to eliminate your sister and the others that would outshine you in grace and beauty. I am who stays eternally young and beautiful."

"That's what I want."

Celestia placed the tip of her horn onto the glass. Solar Flare mirrored her actions, and a fiery aura soon rushed through the glass and into the alabaster alicorn. Soon, the wicked fiery queen transformed into dark flames and surged through the glass in order to enter Celestia's body.

Her limbs and her slender neck began to stretch and elongate. Her body became more slender, and her mane billowed like the flames. Her pupils became draconic and slitted. She was now several inches taller than her sister in her dark form.

Power surged through her veins like never before. Celestia levitated a deep red gown from the golden canopy bed, and changed into the gown. An elegant, black high collar sat upon the back of her gown's neckline, which complemented her dark aura brilliantly well.

"I am the Queen. This is who I am," She muttered. "When my sister comes to fight me, I will throw curses at her. I will even attempt to murder her, should she ever try to find her useless wings."

Dark flames erupted from Celestia's body when she mentioned her sister. The flames flickered even more as she thought of a way to murder her sister and to murder Discord. The queen approached the container, and chuckled with malice.

"You will not stop me from continuing my reign," She mused. "You never will, since you don't have wings. You are powerless without them! Ahahahaha!"

She heard hoofsteps in her bedroom, and whirled around to confront the intruder. "You better leave!" Celestia hollered, anger evident in her changing irises. Her irises shifted from normal to draconic. Dark circles appeared around her eyes. She seemed menacing, as if she hadn't slept in weeks while plotting evil against her sister.

The servant trembled in his queen's cruel gaze. "S-Sorry, M-majesty," He stuttered. "I-I didn't m-mean to, um, uh... I didn't mean to walk in on yo-your st-strange conversation..."

"Spit it out!" Celestia demanded. "Or, I shall have your head!"

"Okay! Well, um... one of the colts... his name is Soarin. He escaped with the he-help of his f-friends. I can't re-recall their n-names." The servant shook visibly as he cringed and bowed before the queen.

"Bring his friends to me! I shall have them be put on trial!" Celestia boomed as she approached the servant. "You should have prevented that from happening."

The servant forgot to bow, and backed away. The body language had sent the queen into a self-righteous fury as a result. She expected everypony to bow to her and treat her as the head queen!

"You! Have you no manners? Because you did this, you are to clean the whole castle by yourself. That's your punishment. That is unforgivable," Celestia scolded coolly. "If you miss a spot, you're dead!"

The servant ran out of the room, and the queen simply turned to stare into the mirror.

Later in the afternoon, as Nightmare Moon prepared to leave for the Everfree Forest, she heard a pair of youthful voices behind her. She turned to face the pony that spoke to her. She was used to being feared and maligned, but the voices didn't sound afraid, and neither did the voices had any hint of hate in them. A warmth entered her heart, but she managed to push away the warmth inside.

"Hello," Twilight spoke.

The dark alicorn only hummed as she observed the twins' body language. There wasn't a hint of terror in the body language, either. Surprised, she stepped back a little and blinked twice.

"What are you doing here? I don't have time for foals. I don't like them, especially when they are the spawn of monsters," Nightmare lashed out. Her voice sounded softer than intended.

Sunset smiled as she and her sister approached the dark alicorn. "Up, up!" They begged.

"What for?" Nightmare only hummed as the twins embraced her tightly. More warmth entered her heart like never before. It was the feeling that got her wings stolen. "No! Stop! I don't like foals! Go away!"

She managed to move them away with her forelegs, only to be embraced once again. Why did this have to happen? The dark alicorn groaned as she looked to the shadows. Discord tilted his head a little, almost perplexed.

Nightmare Moon huffed as she looked to the twins. She wanted to scare them off, but she couldn't bring herself to do that. "Ah, fine," She breathed out as she levitated the twins into the air.

Sunset and Twilight managed to touch Nightmare's helmet. Irritated, the dark alicorn turned her head away, only to have her mane tugged by the twins. "Ow, ow, ow!" She exclaimed. "This is why I don't like foals like you! Go home right now."

Twilight only gave the alicorn a pair of puppy-dog eyes. She frowned and squeaked like a puppy. Nightmare Moon's heart nearly ached. Strangely, she didn't like whenever the young princesses were upset.

Before placing the twins on the ground, the alicorn nuzzled them for a second. The twins giggled as the alicorn nuzzled them. "Now, go along," Nightmare instructed as she placed them onto the ground. "Go home and don't bother anypony else."

Nightmare was taken aback as she warned them not to bother anypony else. She could imagine what might happen if the twins spoke to strangers. They could kidnap them, or tell them about their actual identities. A stranger might even bring harm to the twins.

Still, the alicorn wondered if her motherly instinct was the result of being related to them. She was their aunt, but there was an instinct in her heart that told her to take care of them. There was an instinct to protect them from danger, an instinct to warn them about cruel strangers, and even an instinct to protect them from the dark truth.

An internal conflict churned in Nightmare's soul like never before. At the same time, she wanted to see the curse befall the twins, but she also wanted to turn back the clock so that she could curse Celestia instead. Well, nopony could turn back the clock. Not even Nightmare... she had said that no power on Earth could break the curse... except True Love's Kiss.

"Was vengeance really the right choice to get back at Celestia? I don't know," Nightmare spoke as she strode into the shadows.

"Are you going to return to your old self? The one who's so youthful and happy-go-lucky?" Discord returned.

"I don't think I ever will. Whenever I try to be cheery, horrible things happen to me and the ones that I care about."

"It doesn't have to be like that. I see that you are still upset over the betrayal."

"Of course I am. You feel the same, so why aren't you glum about it?"

"Don't ask me that question. I was upset, too."

Nightmare Moon led Discord deeper into the woods, and approached the Wall of Vines.