Nightmare Moon's Momentary Return
It was a bright and sunny day in Equestria. The birds were singing, the clouds were few, and the beautiful sapphire skies were dotted with pegasi dashing and looping, and sharing the thermals with the birds.
Canterlot shone like an ivory-bound opal, the warm sunlight gleaming on the white and gold spires that soared above the city, and the magnificent palace glowed like a beacon of life and love. Hundreds of bright ponies trotted the streets and gardens, filling the cafes and bars and lounging on the greens in a manner perfectly befitting of the lazy summer morning.
In the perfect, elegant Canterlot Palace Royal Gardens, a flurry of staff and guards surrounded a makeshift throne, which held the perfect princess of the Day herself, Celestia, in all her radiance. Her ever-flowing prismatic mane and tail glittered in the sun, casting rainbows hues around her like a carpet of stained-glass.
“Princess, please!” A worried noblestallion begged, his coat and mane as grey as inked slate. Despite his worry, his tone remained a perfect monotonous drone, “Think about the security! What would happen if someone were to take a swipe at you out here? Think about Equestria, your majesty. And what of the Court?”
She rolled her eyes in a decidedly un-princess-like manner, “Oh, calm down Chancellor Moneybags, the last account of an attempted, and I stress the ‘attempted’, case of regicide was a thousand and two years ago—
“But-
“By my own sister, when she was the raw embodiment of malice and power! Do you think it matters if I’m inside or out when a being capable of commanding the stars themselves and casting the world into darkness is out to get me?” The pony dropped his gaze and sheepishly bowed. She nodded, “Didn’t think so. Besides, it’s a wonderful day, why not get out of the gloomy old palace for once?” Her horn glowed and a trio of oranges flew from a nearby bush, squeezed themselves into a glass, and disappeared. Cubes of solid ice condensed from the air and clinked in, followed by a tiny cocktail umbrella and a bright pink curly straw. “Have a drink, Moneybags, before I assign you a dukedom of boredom.”
He perked up, a hopeful shine in his eyes, “A duke-
“It was a joke.” She deadpanned.
He drooped once more, took his drink and padded slowly to his peers sitting under the shade of the trees. “Ah-hah, a joke, right. Good one, your highness. Duke…Hah.”
“Speak of the Nightmare…” A voice whispered on the breeze, a mote of cold causing the entire garden to shiver.
Celestia’s smile fell to a bored look of annoyance as she drawled, “…And she shall appear.”
“Oh, dearest tyranness, you know me too well.” A storm cloud blinked into existence above the palace, growing and twisting, tendrils of purest black reaching out to draw in light and warmth, and sully it within the broiling mass of horror and hatred. The cloud slowly lowered to ground level, gaining size and solidity. The flowers and grass beneath it suddenly darkened and grew in a stuttering bursts as dark lightning lashed out to touch them, leaving the once-vibrant and pretty greenery a small patch of jagged, crooked black spears, each tipped with glowing blue gems instead of petals. A few moments passed, and a figure formed, a tall, slender alicorn born of deepest night. Her fur wasn’t so much as dark, more an absolute lack of light, and her eyes, catlike and narrow, shone with foulness. Eerie smokes from the pits of Tartarus and the furthest stars rose from her coat, coalescing into a vague mane and tail.
The guards, as per usual, stepped back to let their princess handle it. Royal duties were none of their business, after all.
Her hoof touched the ground, and somewhere in the distance, a foal screamed. Her lips parted in a venomous smile, baring gleaming, razor-sharp fangs and a snake-like tongue which licked at the warm air, seeming to draw the life and joy away.
“What do you want, Moon?” Celestia said, her posture slackening from the attentive sit of a loving and caring leader of ponies, to a slouch a teenaged mare would be proud of.
“One-thousand years have passed-
“Four.”
“Ahem, four-thousand years have passed since the true-
“No, four. Just four. Remember, when a bunch of young mares purged you with the mystical gems you kept right in front of you?” Celestia had adopted a bored tone to compliment her attitude, but a tiny grin had broken through her dull façade.
“Some years have passed,” The living Nightmare corrected with a nod of her head, before rearing up and cackling, “And I, Nightmare Moon, the true princess of Equestria, have returned!”
Celestia tapped her muzzle with a hoof, looking off towards things only alicorns could comprehend for a few seconds, “Actually, you were here last week. You fled screaming for the moon.”
“The bearer of the Nightbane-Starkiller threatened my destruction.” The Nightmare muttered darkly, the shadows around her writhing.
“Twilight Velvet is a very nice mare, it’s her daughter you don’t get along with, not her. She was just over to discuss whether she could get a royal bursary to widen Twilight’s bedroom door a bit-
“The wing-conundrum?” Nightmare asked, a look of ancient familiarity coming to her eyes.
The Princess nodded sagely, “Always too wide, no matter what you do.” She snorted, and straightened up. “Anyway, why?”
“Why…What?” The embodiment of evil tilted her head.
“The return, the smoke and mirrors, you know,” She gestured around at the descending darkness and withering plant life, “This.”
“Ah, yes.” The Nightmare’s grin grew, “I have come,” Her voice rose in volume, the unholy force shaking the daffodils and sending a scattering of birds flying from the trees, “To return Equestria to the den of debauchery and sin it was during my grand rule! If I cannot corrupt your light, then I shall corrupt your ponies!”
“And how shall you manage that?”
The Nightmare threw back her head and laughed a cold, heartless laugh that carried the terrified screams of a thousand tortured souls and aeons of bitter darkness. “I shall entice them with the most sinful drink, musicks and revelries, so that they might crush this insolent empire of peace and harmony you so treasure!” She watched Celestia’s unamused face and sighed, “Fine then!” She seized an indifferent, stony-faced guard with her almighty strength born from hatred and fear. A chalice of blood-red wine appeared in her other hoof with a burst of blue smoke. “Drink, fair stallion, drink deeply and we shall see how ‘harmonious’ you can be!”
The guard nodded dumbly and promptly gulped at the proffered cup, then licked his lips and let out a hearty roar. Nightmare’s eyes lit up with poorly-contained malignant joy. And then he started speaking.
“Oh, an absolute classic! I’m very sorry, Ma’am, but I couldn’t contain myself a moment longer! Truly incredible- how does one obtain such an exquisite wine? That must be…” He tapped his hoof against oblivion for a moment, “…Ah, silly me! Sanguine, Schnapps! Come and test this, I think it’s a Vintage Pre-Nightmare!” Two other guards ran over to join him where he floated in the grips of solidified terror, interested smiles on their faces. He held the chalice out and they both lapped at it quickly.
“Oh, most definitely! A true rarity, if I don’t say so myself.”
“Hmm, this might even be a Pre-Discord. I should ask Father, he’s the best on vintages in Canterlot.”
“Urgh.” Nightmare grimaced and flung the stallion and his comrades into a bush, where their excited, cultured babble continued, albeit quieter.
Celestia grinned, “Now you see why I try to keep this palace dry- turns out half the royal guard are absolute wine buffs. Most of them are the sons and daughters of high-nobility, after all.”
“No matter, my sinful musicks shall cast your tranquil society into an age of disparity and rage!” She formed a magnificent cello from pure darkness, then stood up tall and held it in the crook of her hoof, setting her bow against it with a sneering snarl. The sky darkened and she closed her eyes.
She dragged it across the strings, releasing an unbridled torrent screeches and squeals from the depths of torment. Bounding, evil melodies fused with maddening howls and roars of beasts long-since vanquished creating a wave of powerful, unstoppable, furious noise. She growled along with it, her voice turning from haughty ice, to raging, sorrowful, damning gravel which tore at the ears and souls of every pony in the vicinity. From realms unknown, a demonic thunder rose, sending thundering stomps and rumbles like drumbeats through the ground, and from somewhere in the planes only true horrors know, a light, high-pitched fiddle floated over the monsoon of sound, carrying a mournful-yet-upbeat melody.
The nobles rose and staggered back as her howls invoked curses and names incomprehensible to the pony mind. The remaining guards respectfully bowed out, and Celestia just sat, her hoof tapping in time.
And then it stopped, with a long, grating growl which faded off slowly, bringing tears to the eyes of the gathered as it tailed off into a deathly silence, before allowing the birdsong to return. The cello vanished, and the sky returned to the bountiful blue it had been before.
Celestia looked impressed. Mildly.
“Woah, sick licks!” A bundle of mutterings from behind her caught her attention.
“And that beat was crazy, Bro!”
“No joking! She even looks the part! Think she’ll sign my sticks? Or even my Cutie-mark?"
A group of young stallions and mares gathered around her, stomping their hooves in appreciation whilst they nattered excitedly. Every single pony of the two-score crowd had some shiny metal studs, black jackets, or dark mane-dye.
“What say you, Celestia? Have I not attracted a scourge of madness and violence to smash your hold?” Nightmare crowed, her smile only widening as she regarded the following. “And my dear ponies, are you ready to sow the seeds of a new empire of nightmares?”
“Empire of Nightmares? This is gonna be an awesome album, I can already tell.”
“I preferred The Age of Discord. Nothing can top that first album. Though this ain’t bad.”
“I really, really like her mane!”
“Ponies of the night, please, quiet, I must address you properly!” The Nightmare said, her smile fading as the ponies chattered on.
A pink filly leapt onto her back back, “Nightmare Stars are the greatest band ever!” She yelled, raising her hoof and completely ignoring the fuming princess of darkness beneath her, “Silence! The Princess of Metal commands ye!” The crowd immediately quieted and dropped to their knees.
“Thank you, noble filly- Wait, Princess of Metal?”
“The best guitarist in Equestria. The bringer of Tartarus’ heaviest music!”
The Nightmare looked to Celestia. Confusion reigned on her evil features.
“Nightmare Stars are one of the biggest bands around. The lead stole your looks.” She explained quietly, a smirk tugging at her lips.
The bringer of darkness nodded her thank and sighed, turning back to the ponies. “I’m Nightmare Moon. The evil force bent on ending harmony and light, not some stupid musician.”
“First she rips off her look, then she calls them stupid?!”
“Get ‘er! Foul heathen prob’ly listens to country or folk or something else lame!”
The crowd rose and advanced menacingly, anger in their eyes. Not the unholy rage she had brought forth, but a more equine hatred. And it was all directed at her.
“Away, fools.” Her magic grabbed them and hoisted them into the air. They struggled and yelled, and she tossed them away into the hedges.
“Giving up yet?” Celestia quipped from where she lay rather ungracefully across her bench, a metre-long daisy chain hanging from between her hooves. She wasn’t even looking at the abomination of equinity.
Nightmare stomped and gritted her teeth. “Never! I shall beat you, no matter what! Your ponies are just too weak, that’s all!” Flickers of raw malice cracked through the earth, feeding darkness into her smoke-wreathed body. Her wings spread and sharpened, each feather turning into a midnight-blue blade; her hooves were shrouded in thick, bluish-steel shoes, fitted with devilish claws. A helm of solid darkness descended onto her head, her uncovered horn crackling with acrid smoke and lightning.
“Now,” She thundered, “I shall bring forth every single Pony, every Griffin, Minotaur, Zebra- and things so far beyond that you cannot know- and I shall bind them to the anarchy which is the true element of royal banqueting! The vulgar, foul, filthy nature of the most riotous of occasions! Tremble all y-
A butterfly landed on Celestia’ nose and she went cross-eyed for a moment before sneezing. It fluttered away and she refocused on the terror before her.
“You’re going to end Equestria through partying?” The sun could crash into the ground, boil the seas, vaporise civilisation, destroy all that lived, and it would still not have come close to the level of intensity in her royal deadpan.
“In a manner of speaking, I suppose so. Anarchy shall reign, and darkness shall consume all!”
A pink blur flashed across the gardens for a fraction of a second, and Celestia visibly gulped, a shiver passed down her spine. “You remember Pinkie Pie, do you not?”
The Nightmare just looked at her.
“Sorry, ‘The Pink Devil, Servant of the Nightbane.’”
“Ah, yes, the name is familiar. Why?” A small cloud of smoke drifted from her horn, forming a question mark before it faded away into nothingness.
“She embodies parties. If you weaponise them, she will find a way to crush you. And you will regret ever thinking of the idea.” Celestia’s voice had dropped from the nonchalant tone to a serious, concrete mutter, “Nowhere in Equestria is truly safe from her.”
Laughter came on the wind. High-pitched, joyful laughter. Not a hint of malice, only friendliness and excitement. And yet the Nightmare was cowed.
“Something is not right.” She trembled. A faint pinkness had settled over the palace gardens, barely visible, but disturbing nonetheless.
“You may be the beast that possessed my dear sister and damned her to a thousand years of solitude, but I would wish the wrath of Pinkie upon none.” The solar princess glanced around, something like fear approaching her eyes. “Drop the ‘evilness’ lark and join us, quickly!”
“But- what?”
Celestia had already bolted from her ‘throne’ and set out at a nervous canter towards where the nobles had sat in the shade beneath the boughs of a sturdy oak tree. At her beckon, they piled out from behind it and sat before her.
“Celestia, what trickery-
Celestia’s magic grabbed her by the ear and yanked her over to the cool patch of grass. She then spoke in a voice far too loud to be talking to her company, “Ah-hah,” She forced a laugh, nudging the others to copy her, “I sure am having fun here with my friends and I definitely do not need any help getting along at this party. I especially don’t need any guidance from a certain pony. Her help is not needed at all.” She fell silent, and an invisible presence disappeared, followed by a loud sigh of relief from every pony in the gardens. “Now, quickly,” She said in hushed, desperate tones, “Get something really boring out, like Ponopoly, so she doesn’t come back. Her parties are way too energetic for me, and I’m trying to relax today.”
The Nightmare sat dumbly by her side. The nobility seemed to regard her with the same respect they saved for Celestia, if a little more carefully. Unconsciously she threw the dice, and joined in with the limited chatter of the ponies.
Perhaps they weren’t so bad after all. The noble banter definitely annoyed Celestia, so there was that, and where there was annoyance, there was an empire that could be crushed. At least the Pink Devil had been appeased. Anything that could carry such a terrible, intelligible power could not be taken lightly.
“Hmph,” She mumbled, “Equestria survives another day, it seems.”
-
Several hours later…
What had begun as a simple ritual to ward away the energetic interference of an incomprehensible pink pony had turned into a full-scale gathering in the gardens.
The sun was setting, bathing all in honeyed glows and stretching shadows long. The birdsong had dipped to a low avian chatter as the animals returned to their nests. The ponies were drinking and laughing around the tree, a companionable buzz filled the air, and cards, dice and game-pieces were falling at a rate of knots as they socialised.
Nightmare Moon was surrounded by a large group of nobles. Just like them to suck up to the latest royalty, and she wasn’t helping matters as she granted them all ancient titles from places that no longer existed. Perhaps they knew and were just enjoying her company for once, or perhaps they were really stupid and vain enough to think the name ‘Earl of the lesser lands of Unicornia’ still carried weight. Who knew? And more importantly, with a few drinks and a healthy helping of laughter and good-mannered teasing, who cared?
Celestia sat aside, sipping delicately at a tall glass filled with amber fluid. Maybe she could lift the drinking restrictions in the palace once in a while. Not for the guards though, who had enough time in their life to listen to them drone on and on about the ‘Oaky overtones with a hint of leaf-smoked blueberry’ or whatever they nattered on about.
“Excuse me, Princess?” A pony had sneaked up on her. Hah, Moneybags would have freaked…If he wasn’t busy competing with a monster from Equestria’s darkest hour to see who could hang the donuts on their horn.
“Hello, Miss Velvet. How may I be of service?” The white pony looked confused. Understandable, given the company.
“Oh, it’s nothing much. I just wondered why your guest kept calling me ‘The Mother of Banes’ and ‘Bearer of Starkiller’ and the like. I must admit, having a title other than ‘Twilight’s mother’ is a nice change, I can’t help but feel she’s a little wary of me though.”
Celestia snorted, then a giggle escaped her lips. The absurdity of the day caught up with her and slammed the gates on decorum. With the help of the scraps of alcohol, she quickly descended in full-scale laughter, until she was writhing and howling, slipping from her impromptu throne and rolling. Thankfully, for the first time in recorded history, none of the ponies were paying attention to her.
She turned to the concerned parent and said, a joyful tear in her eye, “I think we should have a word with Twilight. Her work-ethic worries me.”
“Hi, Mum! Hello, Celestia! I was in Canterlot and I thought I’d drop by.” A purple alicorn stood beside them, her wings furling as she spoke.
There was no way her voice could have reached Nightmare Moon. Not from all the way across the lawn with the clamour of the crowd. And yet, she turned, deathly slowly, absolute terror in her slit eyes.
A scream from beyond the dimensions that ponies could know about ripped through the air, and the Nightmare, donuts-on-horn and cards-in-hoof leapt straight up.
“The Nightbane! The Starkiller!” She shrieked in unearthly terror. The world turned dark as pitch for a moment, and everyone muttered in confusion. When the blinding darkness lifted, she was gone.
One-hundred-and-two pairs of eyes, from nobility, Royal Guards, metal-heads, solar-princesses and mothers alike, turned to face the young Princess.
“Well done, Twilight. Just…” Celestia let out a little groan, “Well done.”
Author's Note
Just a silly little story that popped into my head during lunch and I sat down and hammered it out in a couple of hours. It's fair chilly outside, so feel free to point out any stupid mistakes I've made, and I apologise in advance, for my hands were numb.
