“Oh my beloved subjects. It’s been so long since I’ve seen your precious, sun-loving faces,” Nightmare Moon sneered, “Gaze upon your one true princess!”
The crowd stared blankly as a murmur began.
“Don’t any of you know who I am?” Nightmare raised a brow, “Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?”
The room fell silent as the ponies quivered and backed away in fear. Nightmare waited for someone to say something. She looked around to find the guards had crawled to a corner to lick their little cuts and tiny bruises. Nightmare rolled her eyes and sighed.
“Very well then,” she sniffled, “I shall return within the next hour or so.”
Nightmare dissolved into mist and wisp off to the Everfree Forest. She swiftly whisked pass trees and monsters, over cliffs and streams, in little to no time she found her destination. The old castle of the two sisters, a place she once called home. Nightmare manifested in the courtyard.
“Celestia took such great care of this place,” she said with sarcasm, “What would we ever do without princess sunshine?”
Nightmare slowly trotted among the rubble. Examining each stone with analytical eyes. Each rock reminded her of her near victory over Celestia. She made her way to the throne room and reminiscence about memories of her sister happily tending to her subjects while she was put in the dark corner like an unwanted stray dog. Nightmare blasted the thrones, not caring which one was Celestia's. She made her way to the room that held the Elements of Harmony. Each stone sat atop a pedestal. All except one.
'Celestia must've hidden it somewhere' Nightmare deduced, 'How foolish. She knows the sixth is useless without the five.'
Nightmare levitated each stone orb to her. She glared at each one before crushing each of them beneath her hoof. All orbs turned to shards, however, Nightmare felt it safe to disintegrate the shards into dust and let the wind take them. One can never be too careful about power like that. There's no telling what foolish hero would somehow manage to make those shards work against her. Now that they are just mere dust particles scattered through the wind, none can wield the elements against her!
Her mind at ease, She leisurely climbed the staircase to the nearest balcony. At the top, she gazed over the Everfree Forest and tapped her hoof.
‘Shouldn’t someone be coming here to stop me?’ she thought, ‘I easily defeated those guards without trying! Surely those weren’t the highest level of warriors Equestria had to offer.’
After a moment or two of waiting, Nightmare decided to touch up the night sky.
“Ugh, Celestia has no taste in star mapping,” Nightmare spat, “Time for a REAL princess to paint the night.”
With her horn glowing soft teal, the sky began to move. Stars shifted from randomly scattered dots to full constellations. The moon, which was off in the corner, was pulled to the center of the sky. Celestia always made the sun the center piece of the daytime sky so why not make the moon the center of the night sky? Now Nightmare began real work. With a ripple of cosmic energy, an entire nebula became visible as it spread across the stars down to the horizon line. Another twist and a swirl of stardust swept through. As a final touch, Nightmare softened the glow of the nebula with a sheet of blackness. Darkening the sky so the luminescent stars and moon shined brighter than any light.
Pleased with her work she dissolved into mist to make a quick trip to that town she was in. Once she got there, ponies scattered all over, staring at the sky as if some miracle had performed before them. Nightmare coughed behind a mare who shrieked with terror. All eyes laid upon Nightmare now.
She gave a sly smirk, “BEHOLD, THE ABSOLUTE BEAUTY OF THE NIGHT!” she bellowed in the traditional Canterlot voice, “OBSERVE THE MAJESTY OF MY LABOR AND SPEAK YOU MIND!”
The ponies glanced at each other in confusion, “Um… What?” an orange mare asked.
“LOOK AT THE SKY AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!”
The ponies quickly looked up. They took in the night sky Nightmare worked hard on. Many began talking about how beautiful it was. Some were amazed by the luminous stars hanging from about. Giant yet fragile bulbs of concentrated plasma. The brightness of such small things gave the impression that they were actually bigger than what they saw. Then there were those who remained silent. Whether it was out of fear or satisfaction did not matter to Nightmare. All she wanted was an opinion.
“Well…” Nightmare urged.
A few ponies fell out of their stupor and turned to the princess. Nightmare felt amused that some had still kept their gaze on her night sky.
“I await your opinion.”
A lone mare timidly walked up, “I-It’s very beautiful…”
“Do not worry about insulting me,” Nightmare yawned, “After all I’ve been through, words mean little to nothing to me.”
The mare stepped back feeling embarrassed.
“Then why do you want our opinion?” a stallion called out, ”Why did you suddenly appear out of nowhere, tell us your the princess now, and do this weird stuff to the sky?”
Nightmare looked at the stallion, “Why do I ask for the opinion of fools? Hahahahaha, Even fools can point out flaws that can be improved! That is why I ask for opinions!”
The stallion scoffed at Nightmare, “That’s called a critique. You don’t need a whole town’s thoughts on something like the sky.”
“Nonsense!” Nightmare laughed, “All are valid to give their thoughts! If I refuse to hear the people, how can I improve our kingdom?”
The stallion scratched his head. He wasn’t sure what to say. Was this Nightmare alright with any thought about her sky? This alicorn appeared out of nowhere, messed with the sky, and is now asking for a critique? Not only that but sates she is willing to hear the voice of commoners? What sort of princess is she?
“I think it sucks!” A red stallion yelled.
Ponies ducked behind counters, stalls, flower pots, anything. A sense of dread enveloped them. Even a minor mistake was enough reason for a princess to sentence anyone to prison! There was no telling what this Nightmare would do to a straight up insult!
“Go on…” she gestured to the stallion.
Jaws dropped from foal to mare across the town. Even the stallion had a hard time believing what he heard.
“Er… I… um… WHAT?”
Nightmare frowned, “You claim my night sky sucks, would you care to elaborate?”
The stallion stared in disbelief, “Uh… W-Well… The nebula is sort of an eyesore! A-And the stars are too bright!”
Nightmare looked up towards the sky, “Would you say the nebula is too adds too much detail?”
The stallion stared blankly.
“I’ll ask someone else, then,” she sighed as she rubbed her temples, “Care to explain why you think the stars are too bright?”
“Uh… they’re just too bright.”
“My sister’s sun is far brighter, yet ponies adore that abomination! What makes my stars different?”
“For one, the sun is one giant ball and no one can actually look at it without hurting themselves,” the stallion stated, “Second, you have a dozen stars glowing around a giant glowing orb!”
Nightmare pondered, “So if I lower the brightness, you can see the moon and stars clearer?”
“Yes!” the stallion triumphantly declared.
“I see,” Nightmare’s horn began to glow.
Ponies nearby began to shiver as everything became darker. Looking up, the ponies saw the stars and moon dim. The stallion watched in amazement. Nightmare listened to what the stallion said and applied what he told her. No other pony would talk to the princess that way! None had enough courage to even try. Yet, this stallion insulted the work of a princess. He should’ve been shackled, banished, punished in some way or the other. Instead… nothing. Nothing happened. No punishment, no enraged princess, no anything! It astonished and frightened the town.
A shy mare timidly approached, “I-I think the nebula is too distracting. I notice that more than the stars. Maybe you could remove it… if that’s ok with you…”
Nightmare smiled, “Ah, Of course! Thank you miss.”
Nightmare’s horn glowed and the nebula faded back into space. The timid mare felt more confident as she slunk back into the crowd.
“Are you able to make a blue haze?” an elder pony asked, “I like blue and would like to see a haze before I die.”
“I am sorry but I can not do that,” Nightmare stated, “A haze is under the jurisdiction of pegasi ponies. You should be able to ask your local weather mare for that.”
The elder pony walked away muttering “huh, Never knew they did anything.”
It was then more ponies began coming up to Nightmare to share their opinions and ask simple questions. Ranging from name to if she was real to how she can control the night sky. All were answered as simple as possible. However, there was one who asked a silly yet appropriate question.
“How long is it going to be night?” she innocently wondered.
Nightmare chuckled to herself.
“THIS NIGHT SHALL LAST FOREVER!"
