Celestia sat quietly in her preparation room in the Ponyville town hall. In front of her on a desk was the warning letter her favorite student had written her the previous day. As if Celestia had needed the warning. She’d been watching the signs unfold for weeks now. Watching as the Mare in the Moon’s shadow grew ever more pronounced. She glanced up toward the bright full moon she had risen earlier, easiest to see now at its highest point in the starry sky. Pale moonlight spilling along the rooftops and through the streets.
Celestia sighed sadly; this was never supposed to be hers. Just like every night for the past thousand years, she longed for the moment she may raise her own brilliant sun. It was easier to ignore the pain in her heart in the familiar daylight. A quick glance at the clock told her it was almost time. Time for the reunion Celestia had been both dreading and desperately longing for, for so many centuries.
Celestia began to nervously pace the room. Part of her felt selfish worrying about herself, when all of Equestria was about to be plunged into darkness. But she had faith in Twilight Sparkle, she’d gather the elements, and awaken the spark. They would save Equestria, and maybe just maybe also save… a shadow passed quickly over Celestia’s window, cutting her thoughts short. The solar princess rushed to it and her eyes immediately found the moon, shining brighter and more brilliantly than Celestia could ever make it. The Mare in the Moon’s shadow gone from its surface, “The time has come.” Celestia whispered to herself as a nearly silent whoosh of landing wings sounded behind her.
“A millennia, I’ve awaited this moment.” Standing now in the center of the room was a midnight blue alicorn. Said alicorn greatly resembled the solar princess, but where Celestia looked as bright and welcoming as the day, this new alicorn was dark and menacing as the deepest midnight. Her deep blue mane flowing gloriously, sparkling like the stars, beautiful yet terrible. She stood but a head shorter than her elder, yet held a presence so much more daunting, her petrifying blue eyes holding a look of venomous resolve, vengeance gleaming through the stare she held.
“Luna, my dearest little…” Celestia began, allowing herself to momentarily believe that standing in front of her was indeed her beloved sister, rather than dark creature she’d become.
“NO! No longer does your sister exists, you sentimental foal.” Nightmare Moon spoke, her commanding voice reverberating off the walls.
Celestia however could not give up so easily. She’d been forced to let go of her sister once, she’d try harder this time, “Luna, please I beg of you. See reason, there is no need for this. We were meant to rule together.”
Nightmare let out a high cold laugh that plunged a blade into her sister’s heart, “Together? That is laughable. We were never together Celestia, it was always you. My night meant naught to any pony.”
Celestia’s heart took one final dive; she knew no words to comfort her sister.
To Nightmare Moon, Celestia’s silence spoke volumes. Simply confirming all her reasons, all her actions leading up to this moment. Resolve strengthened she continued, “Now every pony shall see, they shall all revel in my glorious moonlight. Here and now Celestia, the night shall reign, your sun shall never perverse my darkness again.”
“Luna, no please sister.” Celestia was nearly on her knees.
The younger princess ignored her and went on, “do you know what true isolation feels like Celestia? Not just loneliness, no. true tormenting isolation, just you and your darkest thoughts.” Nightmare smiled darkly at her sister, “because you will, I’ll be sure of it. You’ll know the suffering you forced on me.”
Celestia forced herself up straight. She knew she would not prevail but Twilight Sparkle needed more time, and if fighting could provide that, than fight Celestia would, “I do not wish to fight you Luna.”
“That’s the second time I’ve heard you say that. But it shall be different this time, I have grown more powerful than you can possibly imagine. And your elements are lost; you stand no chance against the true power of the night.”
Celestia leapt back flaring her wings; she was forced to retract them slightly as her wingspan was much larger than the small room could hold. Nightmare blast a powerful magical beam towards the princess, who wrapped her wings around herself as a shield. Recovering quickly from the shocks of pain dancing along her bones, Celestia gathered her might and sent a solar blast towards the moonlight queen, the blast hit Nightmare Moon along her side, searing her midnight coloured flash from shoulder to flank. Or so Celestia thought it had.
Where there should have been a deep burn along Nightmare Moon’s side was clean unharmed skin. Nightmare smiled devilishly at Celestia, who was struggling to summon more power. The magic wouldn’t come; darkness began to ebb away at her vision. She stared at her sister who was gradually becoming less and less focused.
“Wh- what have you done?”
“Just a spell I’ve been working on for about 1000 years now. It’s nice to finally have a chance to try it out. It’s simple really Celestia darling. The moon and the darkness is your weakness. You made a mistake sending me there. The one place that holds my powers, the place I was free to hone and expand myself. That blast, sent dusts of crushed moon rock into your bones Celestia. Eating at your magic, and attacking your nerves. You cannot fight me. The battle is already over.”
Celestia tried to step forward, but found her legs too weak. Her knees bent and she collapsed in a heap on the ground. Darkness took her and her consciousness left, allowing her one last look up at the nightmare that had once been her beloved sister. A tear leaked from the solar princess’s closing eye.
Nightmare Moon stood over Celestia’s unconscious form. She allowed no emotion to show. Her eyes hard and cold, as she performed the spell that sent Celestia away. To the sun of course, it was only fair. And would certainly make their next battle more interesting.
When done she glanced towards the desk and saw what Celestia had been staring at. An old picture, two little fillies, the elder pure white with a flowing pink mane, the sun emblazoned on her flank. Her leg over the shoulders of the younger, night sky blue, with short starlight coloured hair, the moon shining proudly from her flank. Both smiled the elder looking down at her sister with love, the younger looking up with adoration.
Nightmare Moon scoffed and threw the picture out the window. But inside that over bearing, dark exterior. In a cavern of her heart that Nightmare Moon had long since closed off. A small alicorn, with starlight hair, wept sadly for all she had done.