As they blinked the white spots from their eyes, the two princesses looked upon their surroundings, and found them terrifying. It was dark, darker than the bleakest night. The void around them whispered with many voices, menacing and malicious.

"Monster"

"Foul Beast"

"Filthy Creature"

"Know your place"

"You are not welcome"

"Suffer"

"Despair"

"DIE"

"ENOUGH!"

Luna roared, the Royal Canterlot Voice drowning out the whispers, now a deft silence settled in the black expanse. But then, another noise wormed its way through the void, a gasping ragged breathing, coupled with winces and whimpers of pain. The two sisters looked around in alarm, looking for the source of the sound. Seeing nothing, Celestia lit up her horn, revealing themselves to be at the entrance to a dark hallway.

"Sister, isn't this...?" asked Luna.

"Yes Luna, these appear to be the Canterlot Castle Dungeons...but what puzzles me is that these look like the ones before I purged and reformed the nobility, before I moved from the Everfree and started living in Canterlot..." replied Celestia with a worried expression.

As they ventured deeper and deeper into the blackened hallway, on each side were cells, all of them empty, save for a small leather bag placed directly in the center of each. Feeling curious, Luna walked up to one of these cells, opened the door, and picked up the bag with her magic. Looking at the label etched into the leather, it said; "Failure #12: Nightmare Moon." Feeling a little nervous, she opened the bag, and looked inside.

"NO! Luna please! You must stop!"

The voice of her uncle, his voice torn raw with emotional anguish, was like a slap to her face. Luna looked to where it came from and saw her uncle frantically running after Celestia as she took off from the ground and flew through a jagged hole in the ceiling, the Elements of Harmony in her magical grasp. With a gasp she realized where she was; this was the moment she had turned, and had been banished to the moon, when her sister had risen up from the treasury with the elements to stop her. As she watched the events unfold through the jagged hole in the treasury, she looked down to the floor, and saw that Farren had dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his eyes. His mouth moving, but nary but a faint whisper came out.

"Luna, please....don't do this, please come back...you have to stop Luna, please....."

Each whispered word was like a hot knife tearing into her heart, but it did not end there. As a rainbow light bathed his tortured features, Farren's eyes widened in realization, and something broke. His eyes looked glassy and dull and he stared dumbly as a familiar figure appeared, carved black upon the face of the moon.

"No..."

As he sat there on his knees, Celestia descended through the hole in the roof, the elements in her magical grip now stone orbs, the elements had rejected her. Celestia softly landed, the elements where placed back in their places, and then she began to cry. It started slow, with a gasping choke, then a hiccuping sob, finally the dam broke, and Celestia sobbed openly, keening in anguish for her loss.

Luna watched with tears streaming down her face as her uncle stood up, and wobbling like a puppet, stumbled over to her sister, and drew her close, putting the sobbing alicorn's head to his shoulder. As Celestia cried her heart out, Farren was unnaturally quiet, staring ahead of him with a dead, glassy stare. He embraced his only remaining niece, and stared, dead to the world.

With a gasp Luna was back in the hallway, and she felt sick. She then promptly dropped the bag, and began to be wracked with shuddering sobs.

"Luna! What happened!? Whats wrong???" Celestia ran to Luna and held her sister close, rubbing the small of her back in an attempt to comfort her, "you looked into that bag and a second later, you were crying. What did you see?"

"My banishment sister, I saw what happened after you did it...Oh Celestia, his eyes, his eyes! They where so cold and dead..." sobbed Luna, crying into her sister's shoulder.

After a few moments of crying, Luna finally calmed down. With a sniff, she rubbed her eyes with a wing, wiping away the tears. Then, in a moment of clarity, she looked around her at the almost endless hallway in horror.

"Luna, what is it?"

"Its his memories..."

"...What?"

"This hallway, all these cells, those small leather bags. These are all of uncle Farren's memories, all of the times he felt failure and anguish, every time he suffered and was broken. Oh by our mother Celestia, there are so many..." she whispered in fear, gazing upon the dark cells.

As they gazed upon the cells, one stood out in particular; the door stood at the end of the hallway, this door was not made of bars, but of solid steel, with no window to peer in, the only feature that made it distinctive was that the door had bloodstains on it. Splattered all over the door, some parts were fresh, others were dark red patches of dried blood. Realizing that the door was the source of the madness that afflicted their uncle, they walked up to it, and opened the door.

After blinking away the spots in their eyes, they realized that they were now in Canterlot Castle. However, the design was ancient, opulent and imperial. This was what the castle looked like before the princess of the sun had moved in. As they gazed around their surroundings in confusion, they watched as Farren walked past them, making his way to a set of massive double doors, saluting to the guards posted infront of them. Farren looked much better than what he looked like during the Nightmare Moon memory, now he was dressed up in an ancient set of Royal Everfree military uniform, medals pinned to his chest, looking very smart and proper. He now had a calmer expression on his face, but it now carried a hint of grief and sadness in his eyes.

"Im here to answer the summons of Duke Silvermorn." Said Farren, eyes set with determination.

Without a word the guards opened the doors, their expressions guarded and hard. As Farren stepped through the doors, he walked down the hall which the sisters now recognized as the throne room, on the throne sat a pearly white unicorn with stormy blue eyes wearing a rich looking red cape.

With a small gasp Celestia's eyes widened in fear, "No Farren! What are you doing? Don't trust him!"

"Who is that sister?"

Celestia looked back to Luna with pain in her eyes, "That is Duke Silvermorn, the former duke of Canterlot and was the leader of the nobility that ruled like tyrants in secret over the city." She looked back to the white unicorn sitting on the throne, "he was the first one I sent to the dungeons for his crimes, and they were many..."

With a small bow, Farren addressed the duke; "Duke Silvermorn, you summoned me? What seems to be the trouble?"

"Ah yes, Grandmaster Farren of the Order of the Night Phoenix. How good of you to visit." the snide and haughty tones of the duke grated harshly in the ears of everyone present, yet the grandmaster did not seem to react.

"I have been called, I must answer." reported Farren, "Are you requesting another crusade against the griffons?"

"No, no...this time I have a different target in mind..." said the duke dismissively, waving his hoof. Unknown to Farren, the guards behind him began to creep up on him, their horns aglow from casting a muffling spell on their hooves.

"What is the target then, Your Grace?" inquired Farren, his face now adopting a suspicious look as his sixth sense told him something was amiss.

"Why, its you Grandmaster, you filthy monster!" snarled the Duke, bringing down his hoof as a signal to his guards.

Before Farren could react, a sharp pain stabbed into the back of his head, causing him to fall forward, unconscious. The last thing he heard before the darkness took him was the triumphant cackling of the Duke...

---Some Time Later---

The princesses watched in horror as Farren finally came to, the void once again changing its surroundings and revealing their uncle chained to the wall of a dungeon, the old Canterlot dungeon to be precise. After a moment of struggling against the steel manacles, he slumped back down. With a harsh clank the door of the cell, the same one the sisters saw in his mind, swung open, rusty hinges squealing in protest. Standing in the doorway was the Duke, his mouth covered with a handkerchief, disgust clear on his face as he glared at Farren chained to the wall.

"Ugh, the smell is intolerable in this filthy place, but I guess it would suit a filthy creature such as yourself..." complained the Duke, "It puzzles me to no end why the princesses put up with you so long, I would have just killed you and dumped your body in a ditch somewhere ages ago..."

"You won't get away with this Silvermorn! Celestia will find out, and she'll come looking for me!" announced Farren, glaring defiantly at his cowardly captor.

"You will address me as Duke you monster! And you shall call Princess Celestia by her proper title!" shouted Silvermorn, bringing out an old and worn looking whip, "You are in to place to speak creature! KNOW YOUR PLACE!"

With a flash, Farren had been teleported and now had his back facing the Duke, who raised his cruel looking whip, its sharpened and serrated metal tip flashing in the dim torchlight...and then the whipping began...

A moment of darkness came, the two sisters realized that at this point Farren had fainted. But then the scene infront of them lit up once again, revealing the same cell. But now, Farren had a scruffy, and ragged appearance, his hair was shaggy and long, and his face now had a scruffy beard to it, indicating that several weeks, if not months had passed. The door once again clanged open, and Farren looked up to his tormentor, the Duke. Without much ceremony, the Duke turned Farren around, revealing a thick mass of scar tissue on his back, there were lines of scars everywhere on his back, making a carpet of red bleeding lines and even a couple white threads across his entire back. The Duke then raised his whip once more, and began his customary whipping of the prisoner, each strike bringing a savage pleasure to the pasty white unicorn. However, the prisoner was eerily silent throughout all this, only flinching with each strike.

After a while the noble grew bored, and so he cast aside the whip. "You know, creature..." he started, no longer addressing the prisoner by his name, "I just had an idea. The whip is no longer fun...so lets play with my other toys~"

With a chiming note signalling the use of magic, a small leather bag popped into existence. The unicorn then brought it up to the mass of scar tissue and red stripes...and began to laugh sadistically as he poured out the bag of salt into the wounds. The screams echoed down the hall, tortured and hoarse. Then, came the hot oil, burning away hairs on the body, and boiling flesh. Then came the knife, cutting here, cutting there, cutting out an eye here, drawing blood there. Then came the hot iron, searing flesh, and sealing wounds.

After what seemed like an eternity, there was silence again in the dungeon. The pale unicorn stepped back and sighed in sadistic satisfaction. "Ahhh, much better. I truly did need that, however, you are no longer required..." he said, while cleaning a bloodied knife with a cloth,

"The Princess has apparently requested an audience with me, and wishes to make an inspection of Canterlot. Maybe she will move in? Oh what a treat that will be!" he gushed disgustingly, a fanatical glint in his eye.

Looking back at the now mumbling and groaning figure with disgust, he set down the tools, "And since she is coming, I can't exactly have you here to soil my castle with your filthy hide. It was fun playing with you, but I think I shall be saying goodbye." he said with a sneer.

"..."

"What was that creature?"

"Celly...will...save..."

"Now, now, you are really going to have to speak up, or else I might just gouge out your other eye."

"Celestia will save me..."

With a loud bellowing laughter the Duke leaned on the nearby table, laughing and wiping a tear from his eye.

"hehehe, you still think, that the princess, is coming to save you!? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Then with a sudden motion, the white unicorn came in close, and whispered a sentence. This one sentence is what finally broke Farren for good, what dragged the last vestiges of sanity and goodness screaming into the void. The void had him for the first time, and
it drove him to madness.

"Oh my poor dear sweet creature....Who do you think commissioned me to capture you in the first place?" he whispered, his words like a white hot poker stabbing deep into Farren's soul.

Farren's eyes widened in realization...and then broke. The light in his eyes was gone, now his eyes were glassy and dull, like as if he was dead. His whole body shuddered, and he went limp, his face now covered by his shaggy long hair.

"Yes, thats what I wanted to see!" cried Silvermorn with sadistic glee, "Such a broken soul, what delicious fun!"

However, his glee was short lived...as the shadows of the room grew, and the light of the torches grew dim, as if they were drained of their life. Looking around nervously, Duke Silvermorn realized three things: One, it had become as silent as a grave. Two, the prisoner had begun to chuckle, a broken chuckle that promised only madness and violence. Third, the prisoner was no longer chained to the wall, and now gazed upon a ring with glowing emerald script.

Now, the whole dungeon rumbled and shook as the prisoner; with his eyes burning bright emerald, his pupils a bloody shade of red, and wisps of emerald flames licking out from the corner of his eyes; this prisoner took a step forward, and with a voice both dark and sonorous, as deep and thunderous as the primeval roar of a thunderstorm, began to speak:

"A͈̲s̴̤̜̼̈̆̎͒h̦͕̺ͩ̽̉͑̃͐́͢ ̟̮̬̤̈́ͫ͛͛͢n͇̬͗̀ä̱̰̣ͦ́ͤ̄̓̑z̭̫̦̩͈̮̠͂ͭ͂͒͊̋g̪̓ͯ ͓͚̟͇̮̹dͧͣͥ̄͒̍҉̹̬̱̳ur̡̟̼̪̲̦̰̺b͇͍̺̞͎͉̠ͦ͑ͯ͢a͔͕͓ͦ͗t̠̳͈̘̝̞̦̽ͬùͧͮl͈̀û̟̱̜̹̫̥̫k͇͖̯̥̋ͫͬ̊̚ͅ,͕̺̪̱̋ͥ͂͒͋ ̺̦̬̃́̐̓̓͆̊͜a͚̝̲ͥͪ̓̎̋s͈̾ͩͧ̅̾h͎̟̞̥͇̳͠ ̣̻͇̹͔̲̺ͥ̉ͯ͞n͙̠͢âͦz̺̭̣͙̜͌̿͆͒g̮̦͈̞̫ͥ̓̊̓̿ ̦͑ͧ͒̔̄ͨ̚͜g̶̦̣̗̩͈ͥ̐ͦͪ̃ͨi̙͖̫̥̰͋̋̾ͤ̊ͥm̠̗̅̂̋̌b̯͙̮͔̜͈͢a͓̞̱͚̼ͨ̎͛͑̒̚t̴ṵ̱̲͎̦̊ͤ̿ͮͭl̷͉̯̥̖̰̝͎,̨̯͖͖͈̔̀ͬ
͖̟A̷̯̺̰ͫ̾s͚̤̲͔̳̳͉h͔̻̙̣̼ͬ͂ͦͯ́ ̫̮̰̣̱͚̲̈́ͩ̄ͤ̂ͮ̀ṅ̡̜ͯ̓̑ͥ̿ͪä̴͓̽̾̏z͚͔̦͈̹̦̙̽̃ͩ̏ġ̜͊ͤ̚ ̨̙̱̭͍̫̺̹̄̄̈́̇̊ͧt̰h̩̪͈͉̣͔͢r̎a̶̪̩͍͇͔̘͈ͪk̴͙̣̮͎̱͇͖̑́a̺̲̤̼̦̫̯͌t̶̲̱̣ͧͩ͂̒̔u̵̱̳̳͚ͨl̤͍̽̒̃͒ͪͤû̯̯k̠̙͙͔̎͞ͅ ̹͊̍̒̍ͤ́̚a̋͛͟g̨͙͉̲̪̘h̛͊̒ ̬̦̲̾̋͗b̠̉ͭ̇ͩṳ͐͆ͦͫͧ͛ͥr̺̘ͮͤͦͤͭ̊̂zͧ̿ủ͛҉̰̜̱ͅm̶̘̊ͩ̇ͩͮͤͩ-̝̗͉̻͎̤͋ͭ̍̊͢i̶̮̻̼̪̅s̢̹̙̘̎hͪͤ̅̚̚i̱͖̲̾ ̪͓̗ͮ̐͒ͫ̔͒͘k͐͋ͫͪ͏̳̘r̤̲̟͛̔ͫ͡i͕͉̱̻̖͒̏ͧ̄́̊̉mͫ̓̓p̦͇̔̿̋̄ͅǎ̹͔̔͛͋t̤̬͒uͮ̈́̐́ͩ̅͏͓̞̯̹̦̞l̵̼̹!"

This dark being then without another word, stepped out of his cell, and melted into the shadows. That night, Canterlot castle was wracked with screams as Duke Silvermorn's guards, his servants, and even his family was torn apart, rent in two, crushed into pulp, or tortured to death. Farren carved a warpath through the castle, with a single flick of a finger entire towers and battlements were reduced to ash, any that tried to fight him were met with a similar fate, if not worse.That night, the creature once known as Farren had his revenge.

The scene changed for one final time, this time it showed Farren sitting up in a forest clearing, clearly confused at his surroundings. Looking around as he stood up. He was now whole again, eyes intact, and scars no longer visible. Looking around again he looked down and wondered what happened to his clothes, but then his thoughts were violently ripped away as he saw that in his hand, the One Ring shone with emerald fire. And in his other hand, was a bloodied unicorn horn, white in color, and very small. Gazing at this little horn in horror, Farren looked distressed, and without meaning to do so, he stuck the horn into the pocket of his ragged pants, and then promptly ran into the forest, not knowing what to do...

The sisters were now back in the dimly lit hallway, their eyes red and puffy with tears cascading down their face in agony for their poor uncle.

"I didn't know," whispered Celestia, "If I had known I would have gotten there faster."

Luna looked to her sister and put a wing over her back to comfort her, "It wasn't your fault Celly, you couldn't of known."

"BUT I SHOULD OF LUNA!" Celestia screamed back, "I SHOULD HAVE! I SENT HIM TO GO MEET THE DUKE! I DIDN'T REALLY THINK ABOUT WHY HE HAD BEEN GONE SO LONG WITHOUT CONTACTING ME! I WAS SO MISERABLE AT MYSELF THAT I COULDNT EVEN GET OUT OF BED! AND WHEN I DID IT WAS TOO LATE! ITS ALL MY FAULT!!!" finally breaking down, Celestia cried like a foal for the first time since she was but a little filly.

Luna tried to comfort her distraught sister, but the tears did not seem to end. As she was thinking about a way to stop the crying, a warm hand touched her withers, and with a gasp she saw a hand go and touch Celestia on her head. As it rubbed her head, Celestia began to calm down, her sobs draining into little sniffles.

"Please my little Sunshine, don't cry, there has been enough of that for today." a warm voice said, "lets go home..."

"Uncle Farren?" choked out Luna as she turned her head to look at the speaker, and sure enough, her uncle's warm smiling face looked back at her and her sister.

"Yes, its me little Moonbeam. Thank you for coming to get me girls, my path has been long and dark, and I think I got lost..." he said with a puzzled frown, "but now you both lit the way, and I think I can see the way home" he murmured with a warm smile, pointing to a bright shining doorway as the dark hallway began to melt away, leaving nothing but the doorway.

Leading them with a hand on each of them, they walked towards the doorway, "Come on girls, we have some catching up to do..."

Author's Note

WHOO! 3000 WORDS! TAKE THAT KUDZUHAIKU!

So, dis was sum noice stuff. Make sure to point out typos if you see em.

Also dis was wholesome. But really though go read the Chase, treat yoself. Its a good looooooooong read. Like, "Lord of the Rings" long read.