Sisterly Rivalry

by Nathan Hon

Rating: everyone
Tags: Daybreaker, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Nightmare Moon, Drama
Length: 3823

A (pretty,I guess) good explanation on how Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon became long-time rivals.

As you probably all know, Daybreaker hates the night and of course Nightmare Moon. On the other hoof, Nightmare Moon hates the day and hates Daybreaker back.

So the two always had a lot of conflicts and quarrels with each other in the dream world, creating a very big rivalry between the sisters.

So how exactly did this all come about? Let’s find out.

Published 2018-07-11 13:40:07 UTC
Last updated 2018-07-11 13:40:07 UTC

Just Two little naive siblings

Author's Note

Thought of this while writing Sisterly Snuggles and Dreamy Problems. Go check them out, they’re alright :)

Enjoy!

Just Two little naive siblings

Once upon a time, in the dream world of all the ponies of Equestria, there were two very interesting sisters. They were a pair of twin sisters, and just judging by their name, you could tell they must be non-identical.

Why? Because they represent directly opposite things- One represented the sun, one represented the moon.

Let me give you some background story. When princess Luna was born, she had a way to access dreams in her real form. This led to the creation of the dream realm, where ponies have their dreams in. With her magic, Luna also granted Celestia the ability to enter ponies’ dreams.

Since there can’t be a duplicate of themselves in the dream world, their actual dreamy selves are... A little different than usual. Like a robot missing a few pieces of themselves.

So, instead of the two royal sisters themselves, two unique ponies were created in the dream world as their replicate dreamy self, but not the body they use in dreams. They don’t exist in the real world- And they can’t go to the real world either. But they can cause a little mischief in ponies’ dreams.

It’s easy to distinguish between them. One sister has a red and orange mane. Her fur is white, she has red eyes and her cutie mark is a bright sun. The other sister had a navy and purplish mane instead. She had black fur, sapphire eyes and a bright crescent moon as her cutie mark.

They were Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon.

They compliment each other very well- And they have little in common. One, they have completely opposite colours on their body. Two, they control day and night, which are direct opposites. Most importantly, they have different beliefs. Daybreaker enjoys the warmth of the sunlight and the sun’s rays are the prettiest, she says. Nightmare, on the other hand, thinks the moon gives out the magnificent light to observe and the coolness of her Night is best.

So pretty much, they are each other’s counterpart.

And if there is anything they have in common, is the one thing that’s common for counterparts- They both hate each other a lot, and they always fought over who was more superior, sun or moon. Since they were little, day and Night were already enemies and their fight didn’t seem to end.

When they were first born into the dream realm, nothing that bad happened, but they didn’t seem to connect with each other very often. In fact, it wasn’t until they were a few years old they really did get together. Nopony in the dream realm knew why, but that was how it went.

Just like the princesses in the real world, they stay in the Castle of the Two Sisters at the time. They didn’t have parents but they weren’t very concerned with that. So, it was just them, the two sisters, alone. Because of this, they wanted somepony to talk to, but even so, they didn’t want to talk to each other for some reason. But after a while, Nightmare had the courage to talk with Daybreaker with her thoughts.

So Nightmare crept into her sister’s bedroom, which looks the same as hers, just recoloured. It was similar to the one in the real world. She quietly sneaked under her bed. Since she was a villain and had really large strength even as a filly, she just held onto the blankets, gave a flap of her wings and pulled herself up onto the bed.

Yawning and her eyes half-closed, she tucked herself into the orange blankets of her sister’s bed. But, by the oddest chances, as soon she was sleeping and tried to find a good place to get comfy, her body contacted something.

Both of them opened their eyes.

“*gasp* Huh? Wh-Why are you here?” Daybreaker asked.

They used their thoughts to communicate, so they can understand each other.

“O-Oh,” Nightmare stuttered, “I didn’t expect you would go to bed so late tonight. I... I just wanted to come have a talk, since we’ve never chatted before.”

She had a smile, but Daybreaker was a little confused.

“O-Okay...?” Daybreaker replied. “Uhm, forgive me, but... Remind me what your name is? I know you’re my sister but we’ve never chatted often, so...”

They had a short giggle.

“Nightmare,” She answered. “Nightmare Moon.”

Daybreaker nodded. “Hmmm, I see... I’m Daybreaker.”

They shook a hoof with each other, hoping to become friends. They slipped out of their blankets, since they want to talk. It wasn’t that cold that night.

“Are... Are we really sisters?” Daybreaker asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“Because... We represent different things. You know, the things we like are totally opposite of each other’s. How are we in common? There’s nothing common about us!”

Nightmare made a face of curiosity.

“I’ve been thinking about that too,” She said. “I mean, you like the sun, but I like the moon. You’re the day, and I’m the night. There is a story that I heard about recently... Even though I’m still young, haha.”

Daybreaker nodded. “Do go on.”

“Legend has it that there were once two very unique princesses, born as twin sisters,” Nightmare began, “The two represented opposite things- Sun and Moon.”

“Just like we are!” Daybreaker said.

Nightmare nodded. “The two didn’t really like each other because of their differences in beliefs. They both think that their symbol is the best- One liked the sun and one liked the moon. Soon, they were arguing over who was better.”

They looked at each other in shock.

“Does it mean us?” Daybreaker gasped.

Nightmare scratched her head. “I... I don’t know... Let me carry on.”

“The two princesses like to push against each other and argue over their superiority- A feud between Day and Night. Every day, whenever they meet, they would likely bicker over a lot of things. They had a lot of disagreements on which symbol should be in the sky and what time of day it should be in the dream world. This made the two fight a lot and became enemies.”

“*gasp* Oh no!”

Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon hugged each other- The first hug they’ve had.

“*chuckles* Awww... I’m not done yet,” Nightmare said.

Daybreaker shook her head. “I don’t want to know what happens next! What if that happens to us?”

The two let go and Nightmare moved on.

“Once, as a little challenge and a way for them to get along more, they were held together by a magic spell- And they had to hug wherever they go. So, the two sisters became more cooperative. When they slept together, they told funny stories that they made up about their own symbol, to let the other know more about the sun and moon and have a good laugh. Finally, after a week, they broke apart and promised to never fight anymore.”

“Phew!” Daybreaker said. “I’m glad that happened.”

Nightmare Moon was still worried. “It is a legend, though. No one knows if we will love, or hate.”

The two got close to look at each other.

“I know we have a lot of differences. And it couldn’t be changed,” She said. “You like the day and I like the night. Sun and moon are known to be opposites. And what do opposites do a lot?”

“They fight, don’t they?”

Nightmare nodded. “That’s right. So... I want you to know this may happen to us. But we have to control ourselves so we don’t hurt each other. We’re siblings, after all.”

Daybreaker agreed. However she had something to confess.

“Nightmare?”

“Daybreaker?”

“Can I confess something? Keep an open mind.”

“Sure.”

Daybreaker looked away as Nightmare patiently waited for her answer.

“Do you know why I never talked to you?”

“No, why?”

“Well... It’s because... I don’t know why, but... I really really hate you.”

“Why?”

The two were silent for a few minutes.

“It’s just... There’s something about you I really don’t like... Probably because you are representing the moon. I love the sun and I think it’s the best!”

Nightmare twitched her eyebrows.

“You know, I don’t like you either. I hate you as well,” She confessed. “I don’t like how everything your room has are basically daytime colours. The moon is much better.

The two tilted their heads. They didn’t agree with each other. Daybreaker didn’t like the moon. Nightmare didn’t like the sun. This meant they didn’t like each other, since they are representing the sun and moon. This continued for a few more minutes, where they kept talking about what’s good about their symbol.

But, they still started to argue a little.

“The moon is better!” Nightmare claimed.

Daybreaker disagreed. “No! The sun is better!”

“Night!”

“Day!”

They shook their heads and pressed them close. Orange and blue sparks emitted from their horns.

“Looks like we got a little bit of a rivalry, Nightmare,” Daybreaker insisted, pushing.

She nodded as she pushed back. “True. Looks like we couldn’t agree on Sun and Moon being the better one.”

They kept pushing and looking at each other in the eye.

“How about we settle down now?” Daybreaker asked.

“Why should we?” Nightmare retorted. “We need to settle it.”

Daybreaker gasped. “Hmph! If you want to keep fighting, I don’t care.”

Their muzzles pressed together as they pushed.

“We promised not to fight,” Nightmare pointed out. “But we didn’t promise to not argue, right?”

Daybreaker moaned. “I know, and that’s why if you want to keep bickering, then I wold totally fight back.”

They continued arguing for a while and pushed for a while, Soon, they were tired.

“Really, let’s settle down. We’re tired,” Daybreaker insisted.

Nightmare hmphed. “Fine. But before that, let me say something.”

“I have something to say too.”

They looked at each other with narrowed eyes.

“I hate you, sister,” Daybreaker said.

“I don’t like you either. Rivals, Daybreaker?”

“Rivals, Nightmare.”

They pulled apart at last, their noses becoming weird because they squished together for so long.

“Hmph! Stupid Daybreaker,” Nightmare said.

Daybreaker was mad. “No, you’re the bad sister, Nightmare!”

“Fine.”

“Fine!”

The two let out a hmph and crossed their hooves back-to-back. They went back to sleep, but didnt look or even contact with each other.

*********

“Okay!” Daybreaker said. “We’re done, Nightmare, you can stop being mad now!”

They changed the surroundings back to their room in the dream realm now, which was much different. The two fillies sighed in relief and stood back up.

“Can we stay in our filly forms, pleaaaaase?” Nightmare begged, tugging her sister’s hoof.

Daybreaker rolled her eyes and smiled. “Alright. We’re gonna turn back once today ends anyway. Moving on... That was really fun, right?”

Nightmare giggled. “It was! I didn’t know having these roleplays was such a fun idea!”

“And it is much more fun when you’re the character.”

They both had a laugh and hugged. They were spending the last hour trying to come up with ideas and doing the roleplay. They didn’t mean it, of course, but their lines were kinda improvised and their actions were fun for them to do.

“We should do this more often,” Nightmare suggested as they let go.

Daybreaker clapped her hooves. “That’s a great idea! Ooh! We should totally roleplay us in filly selves fighting, that would be really fun.”

“Oh, it will,” Nightmare said as she nuzzled her muzzle against her sister’s. “But on a later day. We’re tired now.”

They sat back down on the bed.

“You know, I wanted us to do this role play for a reason,” Daybreaker said. “To teach us a lesson, to be precise.”

Nightmare was interested. “About what?”

“I would tell you,” Daybreaker replied, holding out her hoof. “If you accept this.”

Nightmare smiled and giggled. She took her hoof. The two teleported to the castle ballroom, and changed their forms to teenage years, when they haven’t fully grown and were the same size as other mares. Steadily, they held each other’s hooves, blushing as they tried to balance. They kept tumbling and bumping into each other, but they laughed it off. The two just walked in a circle around their sister, feeling affectionate.

They both twirled each other around, and spread out with a hoof holding the other. When they brought themselves close together, they swayed side-to-side.

“I’m surprised,” Nightmare complimented. “We have pretty nice chemistry, even though we’ve once been big rivals.”

Daybreaker rolled her eyes as Nightmare stepped a hoof on hers. “I am surprised too. And I’m surprised at how well you dance, Nightmare. I used to like dancing.”

She nodded. “You too. I never knew behind that villainy shell of yours... You have quite the passion.”

They took turns to pick each other up, swing around, and pull them back in for a forehead kiss. The sisters were in bliss, and even sang a bit with their counterpart.

“So, would you tell me now?” Nightmare asked.

She nodded as they kept dancing.

“We fight a lot, don’t we?”

“Yep, we sure do.”

“So... I’ve been thinking, Nightmare. About things.”

“Yes? Carry on.”

“Now that we’ve made up, I’ve been wondering-“ Daybreaker said. “Why were we once so naive? I mean, you and I, Sun and Moon, day and night. We were never meant to be rivals. We’re meant to be companions.”

“So the legends were untrue, then?”

She laughed as they stopped the dance.

“Come on, Don’t be silly, Nightmare,” She giggled. “It is just a made-up story. If it really was true and we were the ones it was referring to, why did we fight longer than expected? It’s been years since we broke apart.”

“Actually... Yeah, good point.”

Nightmare insisted on teleporting them back to their room, and they wanted to change back into their filly selves, so they did.

“What I’m trying to say, Nightmare Moon,” Daybreaker said calmly, “Is that we shouldn’t fight just because we’re different. Everyone is unique in their own way. We have a lot of differences and it tore us apart pretty harshly. But we overcame that challenge. Remember when we fought and believed in the legend?”

“Y-Yeah, what about it, Day?”

She took her sister’s hands. Nightmare smiled.

“Night, the legend did say this: Two princesses were born as twins. One represented the sun and one represented the moon. Another legend said that Sun and Moon were believed to be direct opposites- A pony who’s obsessed with the sun and a pony who’s obsessed with the moon have a higher chance of having a fight.”

“We’re exactly like that!” Nightmare pointed out.

Daybreaker giggled. “Yes, and we may or may not have split the world in half and Everypony who dreamed would be fighting each other at one point.”

They bursted out into laughter- That was just one of their ridiculous ideas in the dream world domination.

“I know,” Nightmare laughed. “I think it was your Solar Empire versus my Lunar Republic? I’m not quite sure. Still, it was really funny seeing Everypony fight because of our own quarrel.”

“That’s right,” Daybreaker reminded. “This is why I wanted us to make up- I want us to get along more and stopping being at each other’s throats all the time. I mean, I hate you and you hate me too, but we’ve got to find a compromise sometime, right?”

Nightmare knew where it was going.

“Uh huh, yeah.” She answered. “And we’re still working on it, aren’t we? Sure, we do a lot of lovey douby stuff now. Cuddling, sleepovers, even kisses.... Ugh, so gross but cute. But we are doing a lot of things that are normal! You know, like chatting and having laughs with each other and doing roleplays like this? Great way to increase our connection and know more about each other.”

They both nodded to each other. Daybreaker spawned in a big and cool-looking cookie. Half of it was covered with orange-coloured icing that resembled a sun, while the other was covered with navy icing, and resembled the moon.

“You know, Nightmare... I’ve learnt a lot. Most importantly, some things can be solved much simpler than we think sometimes,” She said. “Take this cookie for an example. There’s only one, and what would we usually be doing right now, if we haven’t made up?”

Nightmare giggled and used her magic to levitate the cookie to her side. Daybreaker refused and pulled back. Now, the cookie, surrounded by magic auras of red and blue, was getting pulled between the two sisters.

“Exactly,” She explained.

Nightmare understood now. “So, What you’re saying, is that in this case, all we have to do is calm down and took about it. How can we make this a win-win situation for us, so we both get to eat the cookie?”

They thought for a bit, and came to the same conclusion.

“Sharing!”

“See? All we have to do, is talk about it, and share what we have,” Daybreaker said.

The two sisters nodded and broke the cookie exactly where the two halves met with their magic, with a smile.Feeling frisky, they switched halves and ate each other’s cookie half.

“Nightmare, come look at this,” She continued, moving to the balcony.

They went out there- To see an interesting and heartwarming sight. Up in the sky, both sun and moon were raised. The dream realm had been divided into two halves- One for Daybreaker and one for Nightmare Moon, But they share the realm they rule as a whole. It was divided after the two factions had fought in the dream realm, and both sides agreed to split the world evenly, but unwillingly.

But it’s a much more different story now.

Now, it is Sunset for the Solar Empire. Similarly, the moon was also setting in the Lunar Republic. In their faction, a day is described as the time their symbol is in the sky, not just when the sun is up. And the interesting thing is that whenever it’s sunset and moonset, something splendid happens.

“Hey, look!” Nightmare said, levitating in mid-air. She put a hoof around her sister’s neck. “It’s about to happen, sister!”

Daybreaker smiled and did the same. “I know, this is now my favorite part of the day. Ready?”

“Ready!”

They both looked to each other, smiled, and lit up their horns. They controlled the sun and the moon, and moved them closer and closer until they contacted. With another spell, they made the orbs contact and squeeze together, and a few seconds later, they were combined together! Half of it was the sun, and half of it was the moon!

“Yay!” Nightmare squeaked, clapping her hooves. “It’s so beautiful!”

Daybreaker nodded. “It sure is, sister. I think we’ve both learnt a lesson from our rivalry- Something about ourselves, friendship and respect.”

They continued flying mid-air, and nodded.

“You see, having it all is always great, but...” She winked.

Nightmare winked back. “But balance and sharing with your pals are much more meaningful.”

“We may still have lots of quarrels on who’s better, who gets what, all that... *giggles* But to be honest, there’s no need for the two of us to fight, right?”

“Mhmm. Only equality and balance between the Solar and Lunar kingdoms can really tighten our friendships. So... Let’s work on that, shall we?”

They both nodded and agreed. They held hooves.

“Nightmare, you got to understand. The two of us arguing wouldn’t do anything. We are just making our friendship fall apart. We’re sisters, Night. We should put down our hate and live happily with each other. You’re more than just a friend of mine, you know that?”

“I do, sis. That’s why I wanted to make up with you after so long. I want us to learn how to respect, love and care for each other. I loved having those bittersweet moments with you too. It doesn’t feel like we love each other enough to be sisters in the past.”

They both smiled and already had each other in a hug.

“We’re always equal, Day. So let’s stop fighting and move on, okay?” Nightmare asked.

“Of course, Night.”

They were very shy, and edged closer in the hug, until their muzzles touched. Then, Daybreaker went for the kiss, making Nightmare squeak. They held it for about a minute or two as they fluttered back down.

“Should we sleep now?” Daybreaker suggested.

“Okay, as soon as we control the sun and moon to their right places.” Nightmare replied. “I have a pretty cool idea.”

As Nightmare whispered her idea, the two separated the sun and moon, and swapped it to their sister’s side. So, the Solar Empire will have the moon, and the Lunar Republic had the sun. After hearing the idea, the two both nodded in agreement and gave each other a hoof-bump.

As they went up on the bed, they forced something to click into their mind.

“Wait,” Nightmare said.

“Yes?”

She blushed and said, “Which of us really is better, then?”

Daybreaker thought for a bit, and also couldn’t decide. “True... I wonder which of us is better?”

They winked, before hanging an annoyed frown on their face.

“Obviously, the Sun and Day are better,” Daybreaker pointed out.

Nightmare shook her head. “Haha, what? The Moon and Night are way cooler.”

“Wh- No, the sun’s better!”

“No! The moon’s better!”

The two got close and started to argue and push against each other’s heads. It seemed more like they were practicing, though- Because it wasn’t as hard as their actual fights.

Using their thoughts, they told each other what to do, then they continued arguing.

“I’m greater than you, Nightmare!”

I’m better than you, Daybreaker!”

The two fillies wouldn’t stop- They wanted to come to a conclusion. Soon, they both had a cold smile.

“Looks like we need to settle this quarrel, sister...” Daybreaker said.

Nightmare rolled her eyes. “Yeah, But we all know what the answer is.”

They narrowed their eyes, and winked.

“Yeah, it’s daytime!” She stomped on Nightmare’s hoof.

“No, it’s nighttime!” She clashed their horns together.

“Come on, just admit it, Nightmare!”

“No, you admit it, Daybreaker!”

There goes the cold smile again.

“Daytime is better! I’m better than you!”

“No! Nighttime is! I’m the better one!

“No, I’m better!” They both yelled before they tackled and smashed into each other.

The two fillies laughed and fought for the whole night. In fact, they were just getting warmed up for another role play game the next day. They started kicking, slapping, and pushing each other. They were rolling and arguing on the bed. They kinda meant their harsh words a little bit, and they did kinda fight before bed.

But they were glad- Because this time, they were having fun with their loving sister.