Chapters It all started when Celestia and Luna began their rule after the defeat of Discord with the Elements of Harmony. Celestia was beloved by all and everypony enjoyed her beautiful day. However, not so much was Luna's night. The ponies of Equestria would simply sleep the night away, leaving Luna angry and bitter, feelings that only continued to fester as the years wore on. Luckily, Celestia detected the dark presence within her sister and managed to purge it through a combination of her own magic and the Elements of Harmony. However, to the sister’s shock the Darkness formed into its own being, calling herself Nightmare Moon. Celestia tried to subdue her with her magic, but she managed to avoid the spell. However, despite this setback, Celestia was able to save her sister and that was all that mattered to her.
“Sister, I'm so sorry. I should’ve realized how you were feeling after all this time." Celestia said on the verge of tears.
"Please, don't apologize sister, I admit part of the blame falls with me. If I had just been more clear on my own emotions, perhaps we could have avoided this.” “For now, there is the matter of what to do about this Nightmare Moon. Just what in Equestria is she?”
"It would appear that your darker emotions were intense enough to manifest into another being. I’m not sure exactly how that’s possible, but I assure you we will resolve this."
"Ha! You think I'm afraid of my weaker half and my oh so regal sister" Nightmare Moon said with an evil grin.
"You are no sister of mine." Celestia said in a very loud tone
"And I am not weak." Luna added.
We'll see, soon the night will last forever and you will be nothing but a footnote in the history of my reign of this country. Be prepared my dear siblings, the night is coming, and it isn’t alone.” Those last words were spoken with a particularly sinister edge, yet neither could question her, as with a single flash of dark magic she was gone leaving the alicorn sisters to dwell on the events that just happened, though not for very long.
"Princesses!" A guard ran into the room,a panicked look on his face.
"What's wrong?" Luna asked.
"The statue of Discord it's gone!"
"Nightmare Moon. So that’s what she meant by not alone. If she were to free Discord, I doubt there’d be any force that could stop them." Celestia said, a sense of dread creeping within her.
"Indeed sister. Guard assemble the Royal Guard, we need to take immediate action. The fate of Equestria depends on it.”
"At one Princess Celestia," he said, bowing to both Alicorns before leaving the throne room
As the Alicorn sisters prepared their guards in a far off portion of Equestria, long forgotten and abandoned by time, the newly formed Nightmare Moon mulled over her plan to free Discord and takeover the country.
"Once I release Discord, there won’t be a creature in Equestria that can stop me. Now that just leaves the matter of freeing him. Though how hard could it be." Nightmare Moon said with a sly smile, fully confident in her abilities. With a massive flash of power, her horn flared with immense magic energy, before firing a large dark blue beam directly at the statue. However, despite hitting the mark, once the dust cleared, to her frustration the statue still remained.
Her eyes narrowed on the statue. "This might take longer than I anticipated."
Despite having learned a lot about Discord whilst inside Luna’s mind, she’d never learned how to release him. Though she supposed it made sense, after all why would they intentionally free the all powerful Spirit of Chaos. Regardless, that was a thought for another time as she saw the sun rising and exhaustion finally setting in, Nightmare Moon laid down to sleep and wait for her moment to arrive. .
Sadly this proved to be easier said than done. Despite spending months using all manner of spells, nothing Nightmare Moon succeeded in free the Spirit of Chaos. Thankfully for her, after some time passed a new option became available to her.
Chapter 1 The Forgotten Empire
King Sombra, the black hearted unicorn from the capital in the north, the Crystal Empire, rose to power, ruling over his subjects with an iron hoof. He was quick to turn the helpless ponies into his slaves, with ambitions to expand beyond the borders of the north.
Naturally, Nightmare Moon was eager to align with Sombra but knew she had to be fast, as Celestia and Luna would want to be quick to quell Sombra’s reign of terror. However,to the evil mare's delight, she managed to arrive before the royal sisters and Sombra welcomed her personally.
"So, you are the evil presence I felt approaching. I must say, I never expected another pony to have such, exquisitely dark magic as mine. I King Sombra, formally welcome you to my empire," Sombra said.
"Thank you for the warm welcome but we can't waste time, the Alicorn Princesses of Equestria are coming to end your reign."
"Yes, I heard. I have many eyes all over Equestria, even in Canterlot.. Come into my palace, we can make our plans."
They evil duo entered the throne room, finding a few mares chained up along with Sombra's guards.
"Leave us now!" Sombra ordered.
"Yes my King." As the guard lead the others away, Sombra quickly stopped them.
"Captain wait, take them with you as well." Sombra said gesturing to the chain up mares. "And don't be afraid to have some fun with them, think of it as a prewar bonus."
“Thank you, my King.” he said bowing to Sombra, whilst eyeing the mares who only looked down in sorrow and shame.
The guard lit up his horn and detached the chains from the wall.
"Alright, you heard our King, now get moving." The guard ordered.
The mares walked out as they were told, some silently weeping as they knew what awaited them. Sombra walked around Nightmare Moon looking at her body
"I must say, you put all those mares to shame."
"My dear King, you do know how to woo a Princess don’t you.” Nightmare Moon chuckled to herself, enjoying the attention."
"How would you like to queen instead?"
His response was practically being tackled to the floor by the Nightmare Princess, looking over him with a ravenous expression etched across her face. She quietly leaned in closer, until the two dark ponies noses were touching, her hot breath all across his face.
“I say, let’s skip the wedding and skip right to the good part.” She practically devoured his mouth as she began to kiss him with fierce intensity that he returned in kind. Had any guards bothered to remain by, they would’ve heard a chorus of sensual and suggestive sounds, whilst the throne room shook and rattled in ways they’d never heard before.
Meanwhile Celestia and Luna and their army had finally arrived, being met with the oppressive atmosphere of the Crystal Empire and plight of its inhabitants. Needless to say, it left more than a bad taste in the mouths of the two princesses.
"Such a wretched place, ponies in chains,forced to work against their will. How can anypony condone such cruelty." Luna said in disgust.
Celestia’s own expression remained completely stone like, as her eyes looked upon what was before her. "It's worse than that sister. Look Sombra's guards are raping some mares."
Needless to say the sight was almost too much for either Princess to stomach, Luna more so, who tore her eyes away from the sight, practically collapsing in shock at the sight.
"This...this is horrible."
Celestia could only offer her sister a comforting wing, though keeping her eyes locked on the horrid sight before her. "Don't worry sister we will stop all of this. Guards!” All the soldiers, whose own expressions remained stoic despite all before them, stood ready, awaiting their orders.
“Free every pony in chains, and capture every soldier or guard you find.” Her expression turned deathly serious, her teeth grinding at the cries of misery from the mares and slaves. “Use extreme force if necessary, leave no stone unturned.”
"Yes Princess." The captain said before lead the guards into the empire.
They engaged in battle with the empires guards, though they managed to catch many of them by surprise. Granted some guards saw them coming and retaliated with swords and spells. The battle gradually grew in intensity, with some of Sombra’s soldiers actually using slaves as shields. Eventually though, the more experienced guardsmen were able to roundup most of the guards, though there were casualties on both sides, as well as a few civilians.
Looking at the sorry state of the citizens, the guards doing their best to comfort the unfortunate victims of the guardspony, Celestia’s expression continued to grow harsher, her horn starting to ignite with burning intensity, as if she wished to pass judgment on the captured ponies.
However, Luna quickly stopped her. “Sister, I fear we have another complication. I sensed the presence of Nightmare Moon. I fear she may be trying to ally herself with Sombra.”
"Then we must get to them and ensure that doesn’t happen. We’ll make certain neither of them plagues Equestria ever again. This ends today.” She said with great intensity, just as more of Sombra’s guards arrived, with Celestia and Luna’s own army meeting them head on.
The battle between the two armies raged on as Luna and Celestia entered the palace to find Sombra and Nightmare Moon. However, as they approached the door, they heard more than a few sounds they hadn’t been expecting.
“Sister, do you hear….”
“Yes Luna, I do.”
“....Are they doing what I think they are? Slut…”
Luna’s simply blast the doors off their hinges, having given no course to things like ceremony or proper process anymore. Thankfully, the attack was enough to pull the two wicked rulers away from themselves, though both Princess could make out the sight of cum running down Nightmare Moon's hind leg.
“Well, it would appear we have some gate crashers. Come to see my new kingdom dear sisters? Or maybe they want to join in” The Nightmare Pony chuckled, unaffected by their sudden intrusion.”
“"I would give it to them unless they want to join the chin up mares." Sombra added. “Nightmare, you didn’t mention you have a twin. I wonder if she’d be interested in joining the other mares in serving me.” Sombra’s own words dripped with such vile intention it made both Princess’s skin crawl.
"Enough," Luna shouted in a tone that made the Royal Canterlot Voice seem like a whisper. “You….you...FOUL CREATURES! How on earth can you sit there and laugh at the misery of the ponies around you.” Her glare turned especially harsh when her eyes focused on her Nightmare counterpart. “I cannot even fathom how you were ever a part of me. I’m ashamed of that fact, but I intend to use all of my power to see to it that you never plague Equestria with your evil for another moment.”
With a war cry that threatened to shatter the crystal walls around them, Luna launched a powerful spell at her darker half. The beam flew with such speed that neither of the pony’s in it’s direct path knew how to react. Yet Nightmare Moon was able to hit the floor quick enough to avoid the shot, though not before it managed to clip one of her still open wings, leaving a noticeable hole near the top.
The shot caused the dark princess to howl in absolute agony, roaring and biting back pain, her fierce gaze sending out hate in Luna’s direction. “YOU FILTHY FUCKING HARLOT! I will Eviscerate you for that.”
She prepared to retaliate only for sounds outside to catch her attention. Sombra, who was closer, looked out a nearby window, to a sight that made his stomach drop. Before him was the sight of his army surrounded by Celestia’s guards, many either restrained, captured or in the process of such. Regardless of how, it was clear whose side was favored in this battle.
Sadly for both parties Luna, still consumed by anger made a follow up attack. Aiming another powerful spell she eviscerated most of her evil side tail and, to the shock of both parties, Sombra's cock. Needless to say, his scream of pain could be heard all across the empire, even amongst the fighting.
Said pony was currently huddled on the ground in the fetal position, biting on his tongue to the point of bleeding, just to distract himself from the burning pain below. His glare burning red with hatred at Luna, struggling to get out a threat. “"Ow my cock you bitch. for that you will be punished." “You….I will make you rue the day you crawled out of your mother’s hole you disgusting sow.” He struggled to get up, yet his threats continued without fail. “Before this day is done, I’ll see to it you are reduced to a broken toy for my entire army, a worthless doll who only knows giving pleasure to others and nothing more.”
However, Celestia opted to step in.“I beg to differ. It would appear your so called mighty empire is about as sturdy as glass King Sombra.” Celestia’s voice taking on a mocking tone that made the Crystal King seethe with rage. Her own horn quickly illuminated with more magic, her sister following suit, matched by the sounds of several guards making their way up towards their location.
“You two have lost. I suggest you surrender and settle for spending the remainder of your days in Tartarus. We’ll even be nice enough to give you a cage to share.” Celestia’s own expression quickly turned smug. “Think of it was a wedding present.”
Sombra however, wasn’t intimidate, his own dark magic flaring up in his horn as he prepared for a fight. “If you think I’ll let myself be intimidated by two arrogant aristocrats such as yourselves, then your kingdom is as much of a farce as I believed it to be. I’ll enjoy wretching it from your control, after I step over your broken bodies to do it.”
Naturally, he turned to Nightmare Moon for support, and she seemed to reciprocate. Her own horn igniting with similar dark magic. However, instead, she simply offered a smirk to the three powerful ponies before disappearing via teleportation, leaving the others completely floored.
Sombra, quickly recovering from his shock, practically exploded with fury, his magic firing randoming in every direction. “MOON, YOU TRAITOR! HOW DARE YOU DECEIVE ME!”
The Royal Sisters were similarly shocked, Luna though sharing Sombra’s anger, furious that they allowed her evil twin to escape.
However, Celestia quickly helped her shake it off. “We can worry about her later Luna, for now we need to deal with Sombra.” However, Luna almost didn’t hear her sister, her rage now burning even hotter than before, her magic flaring up stronger and larger than Celestia thought possible.
Sombra however, didn’t seem intimidated, read to retaliate. “Do you think you can stand against me, I will make you suffer….”
His words were cut short as Luna’s magic fired with fury unlike any the Dark King had seen. A wave of magic crashed towards him, with the king trying to raise a barrier of black crystals but they offered no defense. A single cry from him was all that was heard before his outline was reduced to dust.
By the time the spell ended and the smoke cleared, there was nothing left but a small pile of soot and smoke. Luna meanwhile, stood firm despite the attack, her gaze at the cruel king’s remains unflinching and cold. Celestia, though glad one threat had been eliminated was still uneasy at the show of force made by her sister.
"Luna that was too drastic.”
"No it wasn’t. He didn't deserve to live. After the countless atrocities we witnessed here alone, simply locking him away was not an option. Trust me sister it is better this way.” Her expression quickly hardened as her gaze shifted to where Nightmare Moon at once stood. “And now, that bitch Moon is next."
As Luna walked away Celestia took a moment to reflect all the horror that had occurred, having some difficulty simply coming to terms with all that had taken place. Once more she felt concern for her sister, not unlike what she’d felt before Nightmare Moon had come to power. It made her truly fear the days to come.
However, neither Princess had much time to process things as two guards appeared before them. “Your Highnesses. We’ve successfully managed to capture all the opposing forces. While there were some casualties they were minimum and we’ve worked to free some of the other captive ponies.”
Celestia actually perked up at the news, if only a little. “Thank you Captain, after all that’s happened some good news is appreciated.”
Luna didn’t listen to much as she prepared to walk out and start the search for Nightmare Moon only to be approached by two ponies she recognized as the true rulers of the Crystal Empire, King Quartz Crystal and Queen Desert Rose.
"I want to thank you and your sister Princess Luna, the horror that Sombra caused to our kingdom and subjects was unforgivable." the King said, his gratitude hanging from ever word.
Luna, despite her still simmering anger, was able to put on a smile and show relief for her fellow monarchs. "It was no trouble. Both my sister and I are grateful to see you and your wife weren't killed by Sombra."
The Queen visibly flinched at the mention of their tormenter. "Yes, he said we were more valuable alive. Though I will not lie, there were moments when I wished he had let us die." the mare replied, her face showing both dread and exhaustion, clearly having had to endure much trauma as a result of Sombra.
"It is good to know peace will return to this empire now. My sister and I remember it before Sombra and we hope now you can return it to it former glory."
"You have nothing to worry about it Princess Luna, you have our word we will be better leaders and we will make sure our daughter is a great leader as well." The mare replied again.
Luna left the castle to see the aftermath of the battle between the two sets of guards. Seeing nothing but blood, guts, separated hoofs, horns and wings as well as a whole bunch of dead bodies
"Captain?" Luna called out.
The captain walked up with some bad looking wounds.
"Yes Princess."
"Good to see you still standing. How did your battle go?"
"A fair amount of casualties unfortunately Princess, I'd say at least 300 of the Royal Guards didn't survive and there was some civilian casualties,those bastards tried using them as shields."
“How many?" Luna asked, all but emotionally numb by all that had happened. Though she almost felt grateful for that, as it was likely the only thing keeping her from descending into a complete emotional wreck. .
"I'm not entirely certain, though I can at least say it wasn’t substantial. Despite their numbers many of Sombras guards were cowards or simply forced into their position. Some of them actually surrendered the second they had the chance.”."
"Please, identify as many as you can. We should honor and remember the dead, to allow them to be forgotten would be as bad as leaving them to suffer under Sombra’s rule.” Luna spoke, feeling the numbing sensation starting to wear off and she unlikely to stand for much longer.
"At once Princess." the captain left to begin his count.Luna, quickly looked for an empty location and quickly hide behind an abandoned house. Once she was out of sight the Princess finally collapsed, tears falling from her eyes without end, whilst she fought the urge to release the contents of her stomach.
Her body felt as though it’d been torn apart and beaten against a stone wall. Between the emotional strain and the mass of magic released, the fact she was even conscious as this point as a miracle. Yet that wasn’t at the front of Luna’s mind, rather…
“I should have stopped this. I allowed that...thing to take control of me and now all this has happened. How can I call myself a ruler when I contribute to the deaths of my subjects and cause harm to all those around me.”
Luna practically buried her face into the ground, grief and sorrow practically drowning her along with her tears. “How can I live with all that has happened.”
“You can start by not blaming yourself for this.”
Luna’s eyes opened, despite her many tears, finding her sister looking down at her in sadness. “Celestia?”
The Princess of the Sun merely lowered herself to the ground before her sister, before taking her into a hug, offering her some comfort. “You can’t blame yourself for all that has happened sister. None of this was your doing.”
“But, Nightmare Moon.”
“Took advantage of you in a moment of emotional vulnerability when I should have been there to help you. Really if any pony should shoulder the blame for all that’s happened, it should be me.”
Luna’s own eyes widened as she buried herself deeper into her sister’s neck, horrified at such a notion. “NO! Celestia, this was my mistake, my fault. If I hadn’t been so weak willed, this wouldn’t…”
Celestia pulled Luna’s face directly towards her own, looking at her, tears leaking from her own eyes. “That’s enough. We aren’t going to get anywhere if we keep blaming each other for this. Our country and subjects need us to be strong in the face of all that has happened.”
The Princess of the Sun lifted her sister up and pointed towards the area that had just been a battlefield, in the midst of being cleared and counted by the guards.
“Equestria will change greatly because of what has happened and we must act accordingly.” She brushed aside the tears in her eyes. “Now we must be act as a beacon and help guide our subjects. There will be time for tears later.”
With another hug Celestia made her way back to the guards, to provide what support she could, while Luna worked to wipe away what tears remained on her face. Despite how she felt, Celestia was right and they had managed to win a fairly substantial victory.
Yet, as she looked to the Horizon, she couldn’t help but feel like the battle had only just begun.
Nightmare Moon returned to her dark hiding spot with no tail (although a spell can fix that), a hole in her wing, no ally and no army, just the remainder small remainder of Sombra's pitiful guards
"Where are we? What happened? Where is the king?" One of the guards asked.
"Listen to me, all of you!" Nightmare Moon shouted so the guards would hear her. "King Sombra is dead, I am your new leader.
"What? Why would we follow you. You abandoned the king the first second you could, why should we even trust you?" one guard asked.
She didn't even answer him, opting to simply blow his head off with her magic, resulting in silence from the other guards.
"Anypony else? No? Wonderful!” Her shout effectively quieted the remaining guards, a minor detail that brought a small grin to the Princess’s face.
“Now then, it’s clear that few of you trust me and that is, understandable. However, you should consider this as an opportunity. Sombra’s ambitions were small and short sighted. He gave you an empire, but I can give you a whole kingdom.”
At the mention of a kingdom, the many soldiers looked intrigued, but also unsure at the prospect.
“And how exactly are we supposed to accomplish that. Equestria has two princesses, who just killed our King and have the might of an entire army at their call. There’s only maybe a dozen or so of us….” He paused as he took a glance at the unfortunate fool who got his head blown off. “Less than a dozen.”
Another Guard chimed in as well. “Even if you are as powerful as you claim, even you can’t take a whole country down with only a small group of soldiers. What’s your plan for that.”
Nightmare Moon’s expression shifted from simple joy to more of a sultry look, sending shivers down the spines of the ponies there. Though whether it was fear or something else was difficult to determine.
Regardless the Nightmare Queen made her way over to the group. “That’s simple. The main issue with Sombra’s army was that they were loyal to him only out of fear and most surrendered before the fight even began. Thus our main goal will be to build up an army of strong and loyal followers, willing to die for me if the need arises.”
“And how exactly do you propose we accomplish that.”
Said pony who inquired suddenly found the princess right in his face, holding his chin till it was pointed up towards her, their snouts practically touching, with a lustful gaze being sent his way.
“Why, the old fashioned way of course. And I’m looking to have a large army.”
By that point the other soldiers quickly picked up on what she was implying and for many that was all the incentive to turn their apprehension to excitement. All now gazing at their queen with barely contained arousal as she gave them a longing gaze.
“So, who's first?”
Chapter 2 The Nightmare War
Following the defeat of King Sombra and the liberation of the Crystal Empire, Equestria was blessed with a time of peace that seemed to have no end.
Over the centuries many ponies remained ignorant of what had taken place so long ago, with the tales of Sombra and Nightmare Moon becoming simply the stuff of fairy tales and legends.
It was also during this time, that Celestia took a young unicorn named Twilight Sparkle as her personal student, who was already proving to be a prodigy with magic potential unlike any they’d seen in the past. As for Luna, she was still concerned about Nightmare Moon's return, knowing it was a matter of when not if she will return. Still, Luna had kept her mind occupied, s helping rebuild the royal guards numbers, with one of particular note being Shining Armor.
This stallion was recruited at a relatively a young age, yetrose up the become the captain in a relatively short amount of time. As an interesting twist, he also happened to be Twilight's older brother.
In spite of Luna’s concerns, she’d yet to receive any kind of confirmation about the presence of Nightmare Moon, anywhere in Equestria. Ye, she still remained alert for her return, while secretly hoping that wouldn’t come. These were the thoughts plaguing her mind on this particular day..
The day in question was the Summer Sun Celebration. Celestia had chosen to send Twilight and her number one assistant Spike a young baby dragon who Twilight hatched from an egg herself as part of her test to enter Celestia’s school for Gifted Unicorns. She’d be sent to a small town called Ponyville, with the intention being to oversee preparations for the Celebration, but Celestia’s main reason being for her student, who emphasized books and study over social interaction, to make some friends.
While the intention was understandable, Shining Armor wasn’t especially happy to learn about his sister being sent away, and opted to express his concerns to Princess Luna.
"Princess, I don't want to question Princess Celestia's decision or the path she has planned for Twilight but does she have to move."
" I understand your concern for your sister Shining Armor, but you must trust Celestia's vision for her growth as a pony. Besides, it's not like you'll never see her again. Ponyville is hardly a long distance from her." Luna even pointed to a nearby window, from which both could easily see Ponyville in the distance.
"I suppose you’re right Princess Luna. I just worry about Twilight is all. Back when we were younger, I was her closest friend." He chuckled as he flashed back to his and his sister’s earlier years. “She even called me her BBBFF.”
“BBBFF?”
“Uh, Big Brother Best Friend Forever.”
That meritted a long laugh from the Princess of the Night, gleefully imagining a younger Twilight calling her brother by such an adorable nickname. “She’s quite attached to you isn’t she?”
“Yeah, can you really blame me for being a little worried.”
Luna merely offered him a comforting hoof. “I do understand, Celestia and I were much the same way as foals, I even acted much like Twilight and I believe that’s why Celestia is doing this. Breaking out of my shell and interacting with other ponies was something I needed and Celestia knows it’ll be as good for Twilight as it was for me. Trust her.”
Shining simply nodded, “Yeah, you’re right. I shouldn’t worry so much, I guess I just can’t help myself.”
The Princess’s face grew a smirk, though a shy smirk, as her face grew a noticeable blush. "Well, I believe I know a way to help you forget." Luna then wrapped a hoof around the Captain’s next and looked him lovingly in the eyes.
"Princess!"
"Call me Luna, Shiny, we’re alone, we don’t need to be secretive about our relationship and I want to help you forget about your worry when it comes to Twilight and I have the perfect means to do so.." She then locked the Captain in a deep kiss, which he was quick to return as the pair grew much hotter and heavier in their intimate contact before moving to the bedroom.
In the time since Shining had become Captain of the Guard, Luna had on more than one occasion met with him, primarily to discuss matters of security and protection. Despite the years of peace, she still felt a near constant sense of unease and had made it a sort of hobby in studying and discussing security practices, even designing a few traps for intruders.
Naturally at first things started out purely professionally. Luna made suggestions to Shining and he would oblige and listen. However, as time passed the two, due to the frequency of the meetings, became fast friends. To the surprise of Shining, Luna’s interest in security and military matters had led her to developing an interest in strategy based games, which offered another connection between the two ponies, which eventually led into them forming a mutual attraction to the other. So much so that they became a couple in secret. And after a few months Shining surprised the Princess of the Night with a marriage proposal she didn’t accept right then because she didn’t know what her sister would think about it but Luna promised that she would answer the question as soon as she could.
However, they’d kept the matter secret for some time, if only to avoid the potential scandal it could cause. Even Celestia was completely unaware of what was going on, having found herself busy with the matters of running the day to day of Canterlot. While Luna did feel guilty about keeping such a thing from her sister, she still ignored the feeling if only because she’d never felt as happy as she did in such a long time. And now she wanted to take the next step.
After what seemed like hours of intimacy , the Princess of the Night and the Captain of the Guard were laying in the Princess’s private chambers, it currently night and thus every pony being asleep at the time. The couple mulling over their current issues.
“I don’t understand why you’re so against us revealing out relationship Shiny. We’ll need to do it eventually.”
“I know, I guess it just feels a little…..I don’t know. I mean aren’t your worried how other ponies will react. I mean I’m not a Prince or even a noble. I’d hate to think about your reputation suffering because of me.”
Luna responded, simply by kissing the Captain on the cheek meriting, turning his white fur scarlet. “Don’t be so foolish. I hardly concern myself with how other ponies percieve me. As long as I have you in my life, I can deal with a few judgmental looks and a bit of mild gossip. Besides, I’m a Princess, what can they do?”
Shining effectively chuckled, “Guess I don’t really have any excuses do I? Then again, I feel the same way. I want everyone to know how much you mean to me and I won’t let anypony stand in the way of that. I want to be with you, forever.”
"I accept" Luna said, her tone suddenly become much more giddy that Shining had been expecting.
"I'm sorry what?"
"I will accept you proposal for marriage, Prince Shining Armor."
The now christened Prince, found himself a little surprised and unnerved by this new development. Granted it wasn’t that he didn’t consider the idea of marrying Luna, he certainly loved her enough to consider such an action, but not right this instance.
As such he. tentatively, made his next move. “That’s wonderful Luna. Though, are you okay with that? I mean don’t you think we’re moving a little fast?”
Luna however, looked him square in his face and he could tell right then and there she was completely serious about this. “Shiny, in my life I
The couple kissed to celebrate their engagement then Shining resumed his lovemaking with the Princess of the Night. This continued well past the night, until it was time for Celestia to take over and raise the sun.
She quietly left her room and made her way towards the balcony to begin the task, only for her to walk past Luna’s door and to her surprise, hear more than one voice, snoring. Curious, she made her way towards her sisters door and opened it as quietly as possible to avoid arousing any attention.
Cracking it open just enough to avoid any light hitting the bed, Celestia had to shove a hoof in her mouth to avoid yelping in surprise at the sight of her sister and her student’s older brother in bed together.
Thankfully she was able to quickly push down the scream and recompose herself, though she looked upon the pair with a mixture of surprise and a little annoyance. “And just when did this happen? I suppose it’s a good thing I sent Twilight away yesterday, explaining this to her would most certainly not be a short affair.”
While Celestia was falling behind schedule slightly in raising the sun, this development , required some attention and she opted to deal with it now rather than later. So she let out a loud cough, falling back slightly on the Royal Canterlot Voice to give it a little more bite.
"My, it appears you have an eventful and exhausting night didn’t you? Sister, Captain"
Just for some extra emphasis, Celestia used her magic to raise the sun up, just enough to where it peaked over the horizon and had light come in through Luna’s window, right in the sleeping couple’s face. The combination of Celestia’s amplified voice and the sun in their face, awoke both ponies, who immediately froze in terror at the sight of Celestia, looking upon them with an almost unreadable expression.
“Celestia, I can…”
"Sister get cleaned up, it is time for the ceremony, Captain go have a shower." Celestia said, cutting the pair off. Shining Armor saw no cause to argue, trying to ignore the embarrassment of the situation and readied to comply, only for Luna to stop him.
"Wait Shining, before we go sister there is something we must tell you."
Celestia looked upon the pair, curious. “I trust it’s goes beyond the revelation of your nightly activities .”
Both ponies blushed at the obvious implication but shook it off as Luna pulled Shining Armor close. “We’re engaged now sister.”
The two ponies then sat quietly, waiting for Celestia’s response, slightly terrified at how she would react to the news.
“Oh, well that’s wonderful you to. I’m very happy for your, though I do wish you’d have told me this sooner, rather than having to find out like this.”
Shining Armor, caught off guard by the nonchalant response, simply offered the only words he could think. "I’m sorry Princess Celestia, it won't happen again." Luna could only nod as well.
“Well I’m glad to hear that, now if you’ll excuse me I need to raise the sun. Don’t forget our appointment later Luna and Shining Armor, I was serious about the shower.”
With that the Princess of the Sun left her sister and future brother in law alone, both needing a moment to process all that happened to them in the span of a couple minutes.
Once Luna had finally regained her composure, she said goodbye to Shining Armor and headed to the Sun Raising Ceremony with her sister, now standing before a massive crowd of cheering ponies, all eager to start.”
“Mares and Gentlecolts,welcome to the Summer Sun Celebration.” Luna announced, her voice echoing across the courtyard, meritying cheers from the ponies as her horn lite up, slowly working to lower the moon. However, as the moon made its descent, Luna was struck by a beam of dark magic, sending her hurtling to the ground.
A maniacal cackling was heard throughout the area, as Celestia looked towards the sky, and to her growing anger, she spotted Nightmare Moon hovering above them, her horn still smoking from the cast spell.
"Sorry Princesses, but I’m afraid this celebration is over as well as anything to do with that wretched sun of yours Celestia. " Nightmare Moon said as she descended, several soldiers clad in dark purple armor appearing at her side. “The Age of Night, has finally arrived.”
Celestia, furious at the attack on Luna, fired a spell right at Nightmare Moon, only for one of her soldiers to take the blast, being scorched by its heat, much to the horror of the onlooking ponies.
Nightmare Moon only chuckled at the display. “I’m afraid it won’t be as easy as last time Celestia. After the Crystal Empire, I’ve been gathering an army of my own and as you just saw, they’re more than willing to die for me.” Her horn started to pulsate with dark magic, as more of her soldiers appeared behind her, while Celestia geared up another spell.
“Equestria is mine now.”
Moon and Celestia both fired spells which collided, sending a shockwave that knocked every pony nearby off their hooves. Luna, who’d finally recovered from the sneak attack, quickly started ordering all the ponies in the area to flee while readying herself to fight against her doppleganger.
Once the crowd escaped, the only parties who remained were Nightmare Moon, her army, along with the Princesses, the Royal Guard and strangely enough, six ponies who’d been placed in charge of the celebration.
The fight itself quickly descended into a mindless melee with both sides trading blows, magic and attacks. In the midst of the chaos, Celestia was still clashing with Nightmare Moon, with Luna desperately trying to reach her sister. However, she quickly found herself cornered by several of Nightmare’s soldiers. Yet none of them could get off an attack, as they were all blasted aside by a powerful burst, courtesy of Shining Armor.
"Princess Luna, are you alright?"
"Yes Captain,but your sister and her friends need your help make sure they find the Elements of Harmony. I hope we will not need them, but we must be sure. In the meantime I will help my sister, hopefully we can finish Nightmare Moon once and for all." Luna said taking off into the sky.
"Okay, you heard Princess Luna, we need to help my sister and her friends."
"YES CAPTAIN" the rest of the guards responded to their captain's call and followed as he lead to them in to the brawl.
The guards quickly spotted the group of six ponies, who surprisingly were holding their own against the horde of enemy soldiers. Between Twilight’s magic, Applejack’s strength, Rainbow’s speed and Pinkie’s unusual tactics, one would be mistaken in believing they were soldiers themselves.
"Twily are you alright?" Before she could answer her brother's question,she was distracted one of Nightmare Moon's elite guards fired a spell at her, only for Shining to block it with a shield and retaliate with his own attack.
"Shining Armor, I’d glad you’re okay. What’s going on?" Twilight asked with concern for her brother, with the other five mares quickly gathering around him.
"No time to explain, Princess Luna and Celestia need the six of you to find the Elements of Harmony so we can end this battle.”."
"The Elements of Harmony?" Twilight asked her older brother, who quickly offered an explanation as to the nature of the elements.
As this was occuring a massive explosion was heard in the distance, a result of the three way battle between Celestia, Luna and Nightmare Moon.
"Ha is this the best you both can do,” Moon laughed, casually blocking their spells with a shield.
"I’ve waited for this day for millenia you vile creature. Enjoy your taunts, for this will be the last night you ever see ." Luna shouted at her evil side before resuming the magic battle, firing a powerful blast at Moon, who quickly dodged it, only to be hit in the back by Celestia’s own spell.
“Give it up Moon, you couldn’t defeat as 1000 years ago, even when you had Sombra at your side. What hope could you have now?”
Nightmare Moon growled angrily at the Princess of the Sun, only to quickly duck to avoid another attack by Luna. Her eyes turned to the battlefield and her confidence slowly returned at the sight of more of her soldiers arriving.
“It would seem the tide is turning in my favor. True I may not have the power of two alicorns at my command, but with my legions of soldiers, it’s only a matter of time before your pitiful guards are overwhelmed and you two follow suit.”.
Both Princess turned their gaze to the battlefield as well and they knew that she was right. Shining Armor and his guards were holding the line for the moment, but for every guard they defeated, atleast 4 more took their place. They couldn’t keep this pace for much longer.
“It would appear we are out of options. I only hope that Twilight and the others can find the Elements.”
As if to answer her call, Celestia caught sight of Twilight and the five other ponies returning to the field, though this time with six stone orbs, the sight of which made her heart quickly sink. Luna’s own attention quickly turned to the mares and Nightmare followed as well, spotting them and zeroing in on the stones before them.
The sight caused her to let out an even more manic laugh. “So that was your plan, stall until your precious student and her little gaggle of fools found the Elements of Harmony. How cute. Still, it was a clever enough idea, I’d completely forgotten about those little baubles.”
Below her, the six ponies were doing their best to figure out the elements but to seemingly no avail, making the Princess of the Night laugh even harder.
“Seems like your final gambit has failed you Celestia. Unless you plan to lob those useless stones at my head, you’ve lost this battle and Equestria is mine.” Her gaze then turned to Luna, her smirk growing ever more sinister. “And to think, I have you to thank for all of this Princess Luna. After all without you, I wouldn’t even be here, it must eat you up inside knowing this is all your fault.”
And then he gaze shifted to Shining Armor for a second and she licked her lips at the sight. “And don’t worry about your precious Captain of the Guards. He’ll make a perfect toy for me once I become Queen.”
As she uttered those words, something inside Luna’s mind snapped. Her eyes suddenly began to glow white with intense light, as dark blue and black aura surrounded her form, filling her horn as a massive blast grew near the tip.
“YOU WILL NOT TOUCH HIM, YOU WRETCH!!”
Without a single word more, she unleashed a blast of dark blue magic, so large it looked as those it could rip through a fully grown dragon. Nightmare Moon couldn’t even find the words to respond to the blast.
All she could try was to blast it back, her own magic not even being able to slow it’s advance before she was consumed by the attack. Those on the ground could just make out a faint outline of Nightmare Moon within the blast, before her form distorted and shifted, until finally it was nothing.
The spell quietly ended, as but a few bits of ash and a small fragments of the Night Queen’s armor and horn fell to the ground. The single instance was witnessed by all those on the battlefield, and those who supported Nightmare Moon, quietly surrendered as Luna descended to the ground below, both Celestia and Shining Armor running to her side.
“Sister, are you alright?”
“Luna, can you hear me?”
The Princess of the Night, remained silent for a moment before looking up at the two ponies before her. Her eyes then shifted to the smoking remains of her evil half, now finally put to rest, a thought that felt as though a great weight was lifted from her shoulders after 1000 years and it brought a smile to her face.
“Sister, I do believe it’s time we raise the sun. After all that’s happened, it would appear we have an especially appropriate time to celebrate. Don’t you think?”
The Princess of the Sun only laughed at her sister’s response, while Shining Armor quietly hugged her close, with the Princess giving him a short kiss, meriting looks of shock from all the ponies present, most notable Twilight Sparkle. This lead to the situation and proverbial cat being let out of the bag, to which Twilight was surprisingly happy and excited about her brother marrying the Princess.
To that end the battle was over, the Sun was raised, Nightmare Moon’s army was rounded up and the Celebration had commenced, all the ponies present enjoying themselves as a shadow that had been hanging over Equestria for so many centuries had finally been settled.
Both Celestia and Luna looked over the celebration, enjoying the laughter and play that was at work before them.
“Well, I guess now that this has all been taken care of, there’s now the matter of preparing for your upcoming wedding, don’t you think sister?”
“From one celebration to another, you seem a little too eager for this Celestia. Or are you just waiting to take the first slice of my wedding cake for yourself?”
The Princess of the Sun gasped in mock offense. “Why Luna, how could you think such a thing of me. I simply want to ensure that your special day is as wonderful a time as you deserve….though I wouldn’t be opposed to getting the first piece of cake.” The two princesses quietly laughed at each other, able to finally relax after all that had happened.
And yet, both still had a nagging feeling in the back of their heads, almost like in the midst of all this joy, they’d forgotten something.
-Unknown Location-
“So, Nightmare Moon has fallen and Princess Luna is getting married. How, lovely!” A sinister voice spoke, echoing through a large catacomb.
“Well, it’d be rude for us to miss such a prestigious event don’t you think.” As the voice spoke again, hundreds of blank blue eyes opened up throughout the cavern, a combination of hisses and sickly clacking echoing loudly as the voice chuckled.
A set of footsteps were heard as a slickly green light illuminated the room. “And I’ll even make sure to bring a date. It should prove to be quiet the event.”
As the light grew brighter, it revealed the presence of another within the cave….the Statue of Discord.
To Be Continued?