Nightmare

by Arad

Rating: everyone
Tags: Princess Luna, Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Celestia
Length: 1540

Villains aren't created overnight. Luna knows this better than most.

Villains rarely appear out of thin air. They start as most creatures do, but fall victim to fate, choice, manipulation... or love. Princess Luna's descent into the Nightmare is something that has been long forgotten by modern ponies, but Luna will always remember.

(Sequel to Celestia, and a part of the past that she would rather keep hidden. Reading Celestia is strongly recommended!)
(Many thanks to my prereaders Noble Cause, Metallusionsismagic, and BradTheBrony!)
(Character tags will be added as the story develops!)
(Coverart is a placeholder for the moment, until I get something better!)
(BEWARE POTENTIAL SPOILERS IN COMMENTS!)

Published 2016-11-16 04:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-11-16 04:10:02 UTC

1 -- New Moon

First Moon...

Total darkness surrounded Luna, the concealment afforded by it as comforting as a blanket or a suit of armor. Silence was the welcome partner to the darkness, another appreciated ally of the young alicorn filly. The darkness and the silence, they were two things that would never betray Luna. Or scare her... or hurt her.

There was only one other that she held such unconditional trust in… but her older sister was nowhere to be found. The pony who was present sat by the door, an earth pony mare with cookie marks on her flanks. A plate of fresh bread sat beside the mare, a tempting bit of bait to no doubt lure Luna out from hiding. The mare had said as much, begging for the filly to come out and eat. But that earth pony wasn’t Luna’s sister. She was with the ponies outside. She couldn’t be trusted.

The door to Luna’s room opened slowly, and hoofsteps announced the arrival of somepony new. “I just received the message, Cookie, and I came as soon as I could,” Sunny said, her tone familiar and worried. It took nearly all of Luna’s willpower not to rush out from her hiding spot to her sister’s side. The outsider was still in the room.

The earth pony responded to Sunny with an equal amount of concern in her voice. “I’m so sorry to bother you with this, given everything that you’re doing now. I was watching the foals and I looked away for a second, and by the time I came around some of them had vanished. We formed a quick search and discovered a hoof-full of them had… well, done something terrible to Lulu. Again.” Anger entered her voice next. “I’ve punished the lot of them for what happened, and I’ll be having a word with their parents just as soon as I’m done here.”

A small sigh came from Sunny, the sound sinking like a dagger into her heart. It was the sound of disappointment, something Luna never wanted to hear from her sister. “Thank you for watching out for her, Cookie. I… I should have known it would not be a simple thing to have her integrate with the other foals.” The earth pony’s voice caught as Sunny continued. “This is just another part of Solaria’s legacy that we’ll have to bear. If you wish to return to the others, I’ll spend some time with her.”

The door opened and closed once more, and the comforting silence rushed back in. Luna peaked out from the safety of her sanctuary to see Sunny giving the plate of bread an odd look. “Oh my, what’s this?!” the elder alicorn said, her voice far too loud for her supposed monologue. “Some delicious bread fresh from the ovens, and I think it has cinnamon too! It’s been abandoned here all on its own. If there’s nopony here to claim it, then I guess it’s all mine…”

“No!” Luna shouted reflexively as she bolted from cover and skidded to a stop beside the plate. “I’m starving!”

“Oh? And would you be starving if you had eaten with the others?” Sunny asked, somehow not surprised in the least by Luna’s sudden appearance. When Luna paused in her ravaging of the bread to look down to her hooves, Sunny asked, “Luna, will you please tell me what happened? From what I’ve been told, you’ve been hiding in here for the better part of two days and you don’t come out at all anymore. If you tell me what’s wrong, then maybe I can try and make it better.”

Several moments of silence passed between the two of them before Luna found her voice. “They said… they said I was evil because I had wings and a horn, just like the last time. Then they chased me into the forest. I ran across a fallen tree to cross the creek, and the others kicked the tree downstream and left me there…” Her tear-streaked face turned up to look at Sunny. “Why are they so mean to me? I haven’t done anything bad, honest!”

Sunny’s expression was heartbreaking to the little filly, though the ache was soothed as the elder alicorn pulled Luna into a gentle hug. “There once was a pony named Solaria, and she had a horn and wings just like us,” Sunny began. “She was… a terrible pony. She did many horrible things to everypony for a very long time. Then she disappeared, and we arrived here shortly afterward. For most ponies it’s easy to assume that the horn and wings makes us the same as Solaria. To them, it’s a safer choice than to offer trust freely.”

“But why?”

The simple question was met with a moment of silence as Sunny stroked Luna’s mane with a hoof. “Because ponies often prefer the safety of what they know and will cling to that knowledge even if it’s challenged. That is why you must keep challenging them, Luna. Show them that they are wrong about you.”

“But they never stop being mean to me! Nopony wants to talk to me unless it’s to make me feel bad!” the words came flooding out of Luna in a rush. “I want to just stay here where it’s safe and quiet and nopony hurts me here! I don’t need anypony else if I have you, Sunny! You’re better than all of them!”

The filly’s declaration was met with a sight recoil from Sunny and a stunned look, but it eventually melted away into concern. “I hope one day I’ll be worthy of your high opinion of me, Luna. And while I don’t mind you calling me Sunny while we’re in private like this, my name is Celestia.”

Luna’s snout scrunched up at the reminder. “Celsi… Cesle… Cele… Celery?” The elder alicorn’s giggles only gave Luna more determination to get it right. “Cele-- Tia! Tia!” she finally managed, repeating the last syllable triumphantly.

A tittering of laughter came from the older alicorn. “I suppose I could live with being called ‘Tia’ if you prefer, Luna,” Su-- Tia said with a warm smile that made Luna’s problems seem like a distant thing in the past.

“Tia… if my real name is Luna, then why do you sometimes call me Lulu?” the filly asked, one hoof tapping her nose as she thought. “That other pony said that name too. Why?”

“Well, sometimes ponies come up with shorter names for their friends and family, like ‘Tia’ for example,” Celestia replied quickly before giving Luna a wide smile and looking towards the doorway. “I brought something that I know you’ll enjoy. I know I enjoyed it the first time I saw it…” Her magic reached out to pull something from the bags that were set by the door. It was wide and flat, but thick as Luna’s foreleg. The outer case was hinged on one side, and the top opened up to reveal stacked pieces of paper with doodles written all over them.

Inquisitive eyes drank in every curved character and symbol before they turned towards Celestia. “What is it?” Luna asked expectantly.

A small moment of hesitation passed before Celestia replied, “It’s a book, dear. It’s a story that I used to read with… with someone a long time ago.” The elder mare chewed on her lip briefly before asking, “Would you like to hear it?”

“Sure! You sound excited about it, so I think it will be fun!” Luna agreed immediately as she curled up beside her sister. The younger alicorn’s attention was initially on the book, but it wasn’t long before her concentration was pushed aside by her imagination and visions of high adventure. Hours passed in the blink of an eye, and it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened.

“Why did you stop? It was just getting good…” Luna asked as the moment of silence turned into an agonizing lull for her starving imagination. She looked up to Celestia and saw her closing the book with the smallest of smiles on her face.

Celestia turned to her sister and the smile turned sheepish. “I’m afraid that is the end of this book and I’m afraid I have to be getting back to my duties.” Upon seeing Luna’s crestfallen expression, she added, “I did acquire the second volume of the story. If you would like, I can leave it with you to read until I return.”

“But I don’t know how to read.”

Luna’s simple statement caused Celestia to do a double take before fixing Luna with a stare. “I’m sorry, Luna. I forgot about-- nevermind,” she started, before clamping her mouth shut and taking a short breath. “How about this, Luna? I’ll see about postponing my duties for a couple of days and I’ll see if I can teach you a little on how to read. Then you can pick up one of these books anytime you like.”

A wide grin spread across Luna’s face, her imagination already filling with all of the impossible adventures that might be contained in the stories she might read. The memories of the cruelties of her peers faded, but did not vanish completely.