Midnight

FIVE YEARS AGO...

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An indigo mare cowered upon a dais, making herself as small as possible as to not be noticed. She heard as her sister had returned, discussing recent events with her pupil, and hoped to not have her ire drawn upon her. This was not meant to be.

“Princess Luna!” her sister's stern voice called, yet it had a gentler tone than first expected.

Luna gasped when she realized she’d been spotted, her eyes flying open and her pupils shrinking in terror. Her heart slammed in her chest, her stomach tightening. Her fear was so intense she felt like vomiting. Desperately, she searched for a way to flee from the wrath that was sure to come.

The taller alicorn neared, looking majestic with her head held high and her wings spread. From below it looked as if Celestia’s magenta eyes glared down at her, her hoofsteps echoing in Luna’s ears, sounding more like the heavy steps of an executioner than her own sister. Before Luna could summon the courage to beg for forgiveness or mercy, Celestia spoke again. “It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this.”

Luna recoiled in fear as Celestia knelt in front of her. She slammed her eyes shut, awaiting some form of final judgment. It never came. Instead, her sister’s voice was soft and kind, almost soothing. “Time to put our differences behind us.”

Blinking back tears, Luna opened her eyes, before shifting her gaze away as Celestia continued. “We were meant to rule together, little sister.” Luna pursed her lips, finally forcing herself to look her sister in the eyes as the older alicorn stood. “Will you accept...my friendship?”

Slowly, the smaller alicorn stood, before leaping towards Celestia, burying her face in her sister’s soft white coat. “I...I’m so sorry!” she sobbed. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she felt the warmth of the other’s embrace. “I’ve missed you so much big sister!”

As the long parted sisters held onto each other dearly the atmosphere in the room grew heavy. The temperature dropped significantly as the shadows darkened. Celestia looked up in time to see streaks of shadows from all around coalesce near the center of the room. She nudged the younger alicorn from their embrace.

Slowly, Luna raised her head, sniffling back her final tears. She grew confused upon seeing that her sister wasn’t even paying attention to her. Instead, she glared in hatred at an unseen figure.

Curious, Luna followed her sister’s intense gaze. She gasped in horror at the sight before her. The rooms new temperature finally hit her sending a chill down her spine. A large alicorn lay limply on the ground, broken but shimmering blue armor decorated her legs, neck and head. Her mane and tail were a mass of blue and purple, stars flickering in and out, her coat as black as a raven’s feathers.

Nightmare Moon.

Luna recoiled in shock, breathing heavily as her heart began to race again. “Wh-What? Sister, this is impossible, is it not?” When only silence followed, she looked to the older sibling, hoping desperately for some form of guidance.

Celestia’s eyes were narrowed, her jaw clenched tightly and teeth grinding together. Her legs shook like leaves, her chest rising and falling with each rapid breath. Her voice came out as an angry growl. “How are you here?”

Nightmare Moon gave no response, weakly raising her head and slowly opening her turquoise eyes, the cat-like pupils shrinking in shock.

Celestia didn’t hesitate once she saw the monster beginning to move. A flash of golden light came from her horn, enchanted chains appearing around Nightmare Moon’s muzzle, waist, horn, and all four hooves. The monster growled in anger, struggling to free herself to no effect. The chains rattled along the floors and tinked against her armor.

A raspy voice spoke up from behind them. “WHAT IN TARTARUS? NOW THERE’S TWO OF THEM?”

Celestia turned around, facing the cyan pegasus, who was now flying mid-air with her forehooves crossed. Taking a deep breath, she addressed her clearly upset subject. “As you can see, it seems that The Elements did not in fact defeat Nightmare Moon. But…” for a moment the weight of her years dragged on her as she let out a sigh. “I shall deal with this complication myself. The important thing, is we have my sister back.”

Rainbow didn’t relax. “But what’s even going on?” She pointed a hoof at the chained monster, “What even is that thing?” Before anyone could stop her, she flew towards the youngest royal, their faces practically touching as she demanded. “Are you even the real Princess Luna? Are you going to kill us like Nightmare Moon tried to do?”

At the sudden verbal assault Princess Luna quivered in fear before the pegasus glaring daggers into her soul. While clearly untrained she could see in Rainbow Dash’s eye the fierce loyalty that clearly lead the element to her. A loyalty to do anything to protect her friends.

Applejack lunged forward, grabbing the rainbow tail between her teeth and pulling. Her words of scorn were muffled by the fur. “RD, quit it! You’re embarassin’ yourself!”

With the pegasus’s gaze being dragged away from her, Luna shook her thoughts from the magenta glare. Instead she brought her attention to her sister, who was inspecting the chains to insure they held the nightmare tightly. “Sister, what is to be done now?”

The white alicorn looked to the younger pony, then back at the six new Elemental Spirits. She straightened her posture. “Clearly this is some kind of side-effect from the use of The Elements.” She lowered her head, almost in shame. “Unfortunately, even I know almost nothing of the Elements or their true power. I do not know why, but it seems they split the mare you know as Nightmare Moon from my sister.”

Luna looked away, swallowing back her tears. It’s all my fault…

Celestia’s voice came again, distracting her from her guilt. “What matters for the moment, is that we cannot allow anyone else to know of this...development.” She looked down at them all, eyes cold and stern. “You will tell nopony else about Nightmare Moon’s continued existence. Not your other friends, not your family, not anypony.”

Each of the ponies bowed in turn, silently swearing their secrecy. Once Twilight returned to her standing position a thought occurred to her. “But Princess Celestia, what about Spike?”

“I’m sorry Twilight but we cannot take any chance of word getting out.” For a moment Celestia looked quite solemn at this before it became more stern as she looked out a window towards the forest. “Panic will not reign over my nation if I can help it.”

A moment of silence fell over the room as everypony contemplated the repercussions of word getting out. Celestia nodded, having decided the matter was handled, and turned to her sister. “Luna...I’m sorry about this. I didn’t want all of this to befall you when you returned.”

Slowly, Luna nodded in understanding. “Tis but a minor setback, sister.” She glared at Nightmare Moon, still struggling against her enchanted chains and shackles. She roared in rage as the metal dug into her fur and flesh. “But before any festivities...we must put this thing far away from anypony else.”