Nightmare Moon is... Maleficent

As Nightmare Moon had said, Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer did grow in grace and beauty, beloved by the woodland creatures that they met whenever they adventured into the woods. Although Discord was not like the other creatures, he did love the twins. He no longer thought about Celestia whenever he played with the twins.

Nightmare Moon felt irked by that. Once, when the twins were nine years old, she hid in the shadows as she stared at the cottage from a distance.

"Nothing? I have never amused Discord, but the twins stole his heart," She remarked bitterly.

The twins giggled merrily as they hopped out of the cottage. Discord transformed into a dark brown raven, but retained the red irises with the yellow around the red. He flew towards the twins.

"Hey there," Twilight greeted him.

"I think he's a handsome bird," Sunset commented.

"Let's play with him," Twilight suggested.

Nightmare cringed as she watched from the shadows. She didn't know whether it was because Discord could play with them without worrying about being caught, or whether she hated whenever he spent time with the twins. She only watched as the three of them chased each other playfully.

She looked to the right, and saw the familiar structure from a distance. Hatred and rage built in her heart once again. It had been several years since she last saw of her cruel sister. The castle still made her livid! For a mysterious reason, an icy claw of fear gripped her heart as her eyes focused on the structure. Something about the fortress seemed foreboding and ominous. Had Celestia really gone off the deep end this time?

She had a slight flashback of when she once saw the fiery mare in the mirror. She had heard horror stories about that rumored Queen of Dark Flames or the Queen of the Eternal Sun. Each month, Discord would tell Nightmare Moon about Celestia's slow and steady descent into pure evilness.

Once, he told her of a strange cult that worshipped the sun. Celestia would meet with the cultists each morning whenever the sun rose into the Eastern horizon. At first, Nightmare didn't believe Discord, as she was stunned by the news. She had started to believe Discord's reports each time he went off to spy on Celestia.

The dark alicorn began to put together the pieces of the puzzle. It was her sister's ambition and lust for power that motivated her to steal Nightmare's wings. Ambition had darkened the older sister, and vengeance had plunged her further and further into the abyss of hatred and revenge.

That abyss had become a bottomless hole, with no way out. There was no light in Celestia's soul. There was only darkness and gloom in her whole being. Nightmare Moon knew that her sister's reign was becoming more of a tyranny each year.

She loathed her father for wrongfully crowning Celestia the Queen of Equestria. To the dark alicorn, it felt wrong and demented. It also felt uneccessary and foolish. She would never forgive him for believing in Celestia's lies and for trying to make Celestia destroy Discord.

A feeling of illness churned in Nightmare's stomach as she thought about how deceptive her sister could be. Why would somepony want to deceive family and friends for the sake of power? There were rumors in the kingdom that Celestia had secretly murdered the late king. Nightmare had once figured that to be true, since the alabaster alicorn would do such a thing. She wanted to someday confront Celestia for her horrendous crimes, but she didn't want to be mauled by the fearsome flames that would prepare to burst from Celestia's horn.

The summer heat had worsened. Nightmare began to worry that she would get heatstroke, so she summoned a spell to keep herself cool. As she looked to the bright blue sky, her eyes squinted. The sun had barely moved. Was Celestia prepared to watch the world burn and suffer?

"No, Celestia. I would not allow that. The night exists for a reason," Nightmare whispered to the sky.

She worried that the eternal heat would cause a huge wildfire that would bring harm to the Everfree Forest and its denizens. She watched the twins, and focused on potential signs of harmful effects of the deadly summer heat. All of a sudden, Twilight tumbled to the ground, exhausted. Sunset Shimmer also passed out on the ground. The breezies didn't know what happened, but Discord and Nightmare Moon knew what would happen next if nopony took action; the twins would suffer and die from the baleful heat.

In Canterlot Castle, Celestia stood in her bedroom, and stared out the window. Nopony was out in the glorious sun, which was why she watched the courtyard from her room for any signs of ponies that revered the sunlight. Her popularity had started a steady decline ever since the rumors involving the late king started. A wave of resentment washed away the happiness in her heart once again.

There were occasional rebels who were daring enough to go against the solar tyrant's reign. They would anger Celestia, and she would send them to be killed on the gallows and on the guillotines. She had slowly gained a reputation as the bloodthirsty and cruel queen, but nopony would tell her about it. Everypony in the kingdom respected her, not out of kindness, but out of fear that they would provoke her if they ever spoke out against her.

She stomped to her mirror, and chose to ask the mirror the same question that she once asked. "Tell me that I am the fairest of all!" She demanded.

"No. Your daughters are still the fairest of all," The mirror replied.

"How? Just how? I wish that the gift never happened so that I can outshine them in grace and beauty!"

"You do not shine with beauty."

"I've had it!" Celestia stomped her hooves and whacked her left forehoof against the glass. "Am I so wrong to think everypony will love me for being their queen? Am I so wrong... to think that nopony will resent my rule? Am I so wrong that they will see the beauty of the sunlight and shun the moonlight? What is wrong with them?"

She whirled around, stomped into the hallways, and stormed to the throne room. She sat upon her throne, and looked to her subjects. "Don't forget to bow! I am your queen!" She commanded. "You fools! Show me that you're not frightened of me. I am no tyrant!"

In the woods, Nightmare Moon levitated the twins into the air, and carried them into the cottage. The twins were gently placed onto a couch.

There was no sign of the breezies. Discord had told Nightmare Moon earlier that the breezies had another picnic. Nightmare trotted out of the cottage, and approached a nearby well filled with cold and fresh water. At last, as she looked to the skies, she saw that the sun willed itself to move. The sun was still unwilling to dip into the horizon.

The sun suddenly seemed wicked and malevolent. Nightmare Moon levitated a nearby bucket from the ground, and lowered it into the well. As soon as the bucket became filled with water, she levitated the bucket out of the well and trotted to the cottage. The land had cooled down a little, which was an improvement. She entered the cottage, placed the bucket onto the floor, and levitated the cups from the shelves.

She placed the cups into the water, and moved them through the water until the cups were filled with water. She then placed the cups onto the table. Soon, the twins fluttered their eyes open and stood up. They looked around, and wondered what happened while being unconscious.

They eyed the cups on the table, and levitated the cups off the table. As soon as the twins drank the water, they began to cool down and they felt energized as a result.

"Who gave the water to us?" Sunset wondered.

"I don't know. Must be our godmother," Twilight hinted as she looked to the shadow that stood near the door.

"That shadow?" Sunset hummed as she pointed to the door. "She doesn't look like a breezie. I cannot see any wings. There was a horn, though."

"I see."

The shadows disappeared from view, and the bucket also disappeared.

"About our aunties..." Sunset began. "I feel like they were forced to take care of us. Is there a reason for it to happen?"

"It's a mystery. They told us that our parents were dead, but... some conversations that our aunts hinted to us that they aren't," Twilight replied.

"They never told us why they are forced to care for us."

"If our godmother is an alicorn... then, I wonder why she doesn't have wings."

Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle paused before continuing their conversation.

"I've seen your drawings. They have a wingless alicorn," Sunset Shimmer revealed.

Twilight tilted her head for a second. "Yes. What about them? I sometimes see the shadow in my dreams. It puzzles me how the shadow enters my nightmares and changes the dream before the nightmare could get any worse. That shadow hasn't revealed the identity... yet," She explained.

Sunset Shimmer grinned. "I've seen the shadow in my dreams, too," She returned.

"This shadow has the power to stop nightmares, it seems." Twilight mused as she levitated a book from the shelf, and flipped open the book. "We've heard horror stories of malevolent shadows haunting our nightmares, but this shadow seems benevolent and protective of us."

"Not all shadows are kind. Once, I have a nightmare where a shadow with a fiery mane chased me down the dark hallway. She told me that she will burn me to ashes," Sunset confided.

"That's scary. I can't imagine." Twilight shuddered at the mention of the fiery shadow. "That shadow has been in my dreams, too. She told lies to me, and I would try to tell her off."

They looked at the pages. One of the pages had the short tale of the Sun and the Moon. "On the night during the battle between the evil queen and the forgotten princess, the queen's daughter will enter a bedroom and release the wings. She will discover that the wings belonged to the princess," Twilight spoke.

"I wonder what this is supposed to mean. I'm sure it's an old mares' tale," Sunset reassured her.

"Well, it's a myth about the two sisters. I don't know if the sun and the moon had been in alicorn form. This part of the page is torn away." Twilight pointed to the torn middle of the page. The bottom had been ripped out, for sure.

"Remember one time when Moonflower tore out the bottom? She told us that we shouldn't believe the tale," Sunset pointed out. "I'm sure she is being so paranoid. Our aunties are so unpredictable sometimes. I cannot stand their drama. At least they're not here today. It gets irritating."

"Yeah. I was crying during that time, but they simply scolded me for being a brat," Twilight recalled.

They shook their heads as they recalled the moments whenever the breezies thought that they would find out the truth. As they looked to the window, they smiled as they saw the familiar bird from before.

"I think he wants to play with us!" Sunset Shimmer exclaimed.

They ran out the door, and chased the bird to a small clearing near the woods. As they looked to the skies, they were surprised that it was almost nighttime. They hadn't been outside for a while.

As Sunset looked to the setting sun on the Western horizon, she smiled. "Twilight, look," She exclaimed.

"Wow," Twilight breathed out as she stood near her sister.

As they glanced at the structure in the distance, their imaginations were activated. "Who do you think lives there?" Twilight quizzed.

"The legendary Sun Queen?" Sunset suggested.

"It's an old mares' tale," Twilight giggled as she eyed the castle.

"Does a king live there?"

"I don't know. Some villains love castles." Twilight mused as she thought of the events that happened in her favorite stories.

"Yeah, but it's not too dark or creepy," Sunset replied. "It seems like something out of breezie tales."

"Like, what? Sleeping Pony? Snow White and the Seven Ponies?"

"Yeah! But, Sleeping Pony isn't too believable. Who would want to kiss a mare when she sleeps? Eww." Sunset shuddered at the thought of being kissed while asleep. "The story with the princess and the seven ponies wasn't believable, either. I mean, how can you marry somepony you just meet?" She gave her sister a look of disbelief.

"Don't talk about cooties," Twilight warned her. "I don't like romance because it's gross."

Suddenly, a thought popped into her mind. She had always wanted to try a spell from a spellbook! But, her magic could be quite tricky. The spellbook was for advanced unicorns, but she didn't care.

"Hey, Sunset. Do you know about the spellbook that I stashed under my bed? I will see if I can successfully cast a spell on something," Twilight smiled as she rushed into the cottage to find her spellbook.

Sunset waited outside, and watched as the darkness surrounded the land. She looked to the trees, and saw the wingless shadow once again. She knew that she had read the tale of Sleeping Pony, but the shadow didn't seem malicious like it was in the tale. It was just a myth, correct?

The young princess simply smiled and waved at the shadow. "Thanks for saving me and Twilight earlier," She murmured.

"I'm surprised that you will tell me this," A voice whispered.

Sunset couldn't tell whether the voice was male or female. But, what mattered most was that she knew that somepony watched over her and Twilight. "Anyways, if Twilight-" She began, but was interrupted by a lavender blur.

"Sunny! Are you talking to them?" Twilight wondered as she looked to the trees.

"Shh," Sunset whispered. "Twily, we mustn't inform our aunts of this. They seem to disapprove of the shadow for a mysterious reason."

"Maybe they believe in the ridiculous tale of Sleeping Pony."

"Yeah! That's what I thought."

Twilight opened her spellbook, and placed it onto a nearby tree stump. She levitated a dragon egg in front of her, and placed it onto the ground. Sunset gawked at the dragon egg, puzzled.

"Where did you find this?" She interrogated.

"I think I found it in a cave," Twilight returned. "It could be a baby dragon. I think dragons are quite cool."

"Of course they are cool."

Twilight gave her a nervous grin as the magenta aura pulsed from her horn. The aura turned into weak sparks as she thought of a certain transformation spell. Sunset only watched as her sister tried hard to cast the spell.

A mysterious cerulean aura surged from the shadows, and coaxed the magenta aura from Twilight's horn. Her eyes glowed white as she hovered a foot above the ground. The dragon egg cracked, and a dragon emerged from the egg and transformed into a fully grown dragon.

"Twilight, stop! It's a bad idea," Sunset begged. "I don't want the dragon to harm us!"

In the shadows, Nightmare Moon watched as the chaos ensued. Suddenly, the magenta beam crashed into Discord and transformed him into a snake. Stunned, she chose to stop the chaos at once. She willed her magic to change everything back to normal. The cerulean aura surged into everything and everypony around her. Soon, Discord was in draconequus form once again. The dragon transformed back into a baby dragon. Twilight's eyes no longer glowed as she landed onto the ground.

Sunset Shimmer had nearly fainted from fright. She sighed a huge sigh of relief, and chuckled nervously. "Well, I thought you were trying to wreak havoc on us. That gave me quite a fright," Sunset confided.

Twilight blushed with slight shame as she approached the baby dragon. She looked into Sunset's eyes. "I didn't mean to scare you," She apologized.

"That's okay. I never knew you were so powerful. Just be careful not to let it spin out of control, or else, there will be so much chaos and destruction."

"I promise I'll be careful."

The two sisters chuckled. Then, they looked to the baby dragon. "I guess we can't leave him out here," Twilight suggested.

"I don't think this is a safe idea," Sunset doubted.

"Come on. He needs a home."

"Alright, if you say so. What will we name him? Drake, perhaps?"

"I think Spike will be a better name." Twilight smiled. "Let's name him Spike. I know that the other name is cool, but the name Spike sounds better."

She levitated Spike into the air, and walked into the cottage. Sunset followed her into the cottage. "Twilight, I thought I saw something on your flank," She spoke as they walked up the stairs to enter their bedroom.

Twilight blushed with embarrassment. "What do you mean?" She pressed.

"A cutie mark. Look," Sunset pointed out.

Twilight's cutie mark was a six-pointed star, surrounded by five little stars.

"I thought I'd never get one," Twilight spoke.

"Aww, come on! Look," Sunset continued.

Twilight looked at her flank, and gasped with amazement. "Oh, wow! A cutie mark," She exclaimed. "This is amazing! I am destined to be a spellcaster?"

"Let's see," Sunset murmured. "I believe we're in for a destiny."

Twilight froze as she looked into her sister's eyes. A destiny? She didn't quite see herself as the courageous hero from the tales of old. She saw herself as a simple peasant filly. She thought that she was just a normal pony. "You're thinking of the tales," She giggled. "I'm just a simple peasant like you!"

"No, we're something more than that," Sunset reminded her. "I have a vision of our destiny, although I couldn't quite remember the details vividly."

Twilight only looked on with intrigue, and turned her attention to the window. Although she didn't believe in someday becoming a hero, she would meet her destiny. But, the destiny would be a surprise.