Canterlot castle, late into the night.

Strategy room

Several high ranking military members and government officials stood around a large white marble round table.

They were in the middle of discussing about how they were going to prepare the city's defenses, should Nightmare attacked again.

"I still can't believe that Princess Celestia and Luna left Canterlot, and without any guards right after they woke up! "

" Nightmare Moon is still out there, and we don't even know were the Princesses are!" Said a military officer, frustrated about the princesses sudden departure from the castle.

" We can only hope that they return soon, now I want all patrols to report in every 20 minutes, we still don't know how she got past the magical barriers unnoticed." General Storm Roamed said in his grizzled voice, looking at the magical projected map of Canterlot on the table.

He was a larger than normal Pegasus with a dark blue grey coat and black Mane with a handle bar mustache. He had lighting shooting out of a navy blue hurricane as a cutie mark.

He was wearing a heavy set of very detailed and embroiled dark blue military uniform, he held the title of a four star general of Equestria's military.

*Bam!*

"Commander Steel Gate, we just received word that Princess Celestia and Luna have returned to the castle! " Said a royal guard, rushing into the room.

"Have five squads of royal guards ready, we need to make sure their protected." Steel Gate said as he rose from his seat and hurried out of the room.

He was a gruff looking aged Earth Pony stallion, his coat was a dull grey with a dark grey mane and mustache. His cutie mark was a dark grey metal gate with a metal shield on it.

As he and the five squads entered the grand meeting room to meet with the Princesses, they saw the last thing they were expecting.

There seated beside Celestia and Luna at the large white marble table, was Nightmare moon, who was lazily reclining in her chair .

"Nightmare Moon!" Steel Gate yelled, as he and every guard in the room readied their weapons.

" Huha, I get the feeling I'm going to have my name yelled at me a lot." Nightmare thought tiredly, sighing loudly as she poured herself a cup of tea from the tea set that Celestia had prepare earlier.

"It is alright Captain Gate, the situation is under control, lower your weapons, Nightmare is no threat to us." Celestia said, smiling as she placed a hoof on Nightmare's shoulder.

"Your majesties, you can't be serious!" Steel Gate said, dumbfounded by the what he heard the Sun princess say.

"B-but that is Nightmare Moon a-and she attacked you, tried to bring eternal night!" Said a quivering royal guard, staring at Nightmare like she was the embodiment of fear itself.

" Huha, you all need to listen, not let your emotions control you, and take the time to read the situation better. " Nightmare said, speaking to them in a calm, even tone, while eyeing them with a calculating gaze.

All the guards flinched upon hearing Nightmare Moon speak for the first time, her voice was commanding, ice cold, and radiated power and authority in every word.

" If I remember right, the royal guards are supposed to be brave and fearless, not leafs shaking in the wind." Nightmare said, unimpressed with the guards as she looked them over.

"You lot are royal guards, right?" Nightmare asked rhetorically.

"Indeed we are." Steel Gate said, holding his nerve as Nightmare stared at them with her cold gaze.

"Then act like it." Nightmare said with authority in her voice, before taking a sip of her tea.

" Now then, are you going to properly introduce me to them, or should I?" Nightmare asked, faintly smiling as she looked at Celestia and Luna.

"Yes, I think a proper introduction is in order, I know that this is sudden, but please remain calm my little poines." Celestia said in her motherly voice as she smiled.

"I would like you all to give a warm welcome to our older sister, Nightmare Moon, she will be ruling with me and Luna once more as a Princess of Equestria and the night." Celestia said, smiling motherly as she she gestured to Nightmare.

At those words the guards jaws dropped, completely stunned by the news, not believing the words their ears were hearing.

Four days later

Mid morning

In the royale Grand meeting room of the Canterlot castle

The grand meeting room, a large meeting room that was reserved for national affairs, was packed with numerous ponies.

All were yelling, trying to talk, and arguing over each other, making it hard to understand who was saying what.

There were dozens of heads of noble families, heads of state, and government officials of high states.

The main reasons for this meeting, was to inform them that Nightmare was back, not a threat, and would be taking her place as as a princess and ruler of the night once more.

But as soon as they announced the news, the room went into a frenzy of heated arguments and objections.

Celestia, Luna, and Nightmare, were sitting beside each other at the head of the table, finding the whole thing utterly ridiculous.

Nightmare was feeling exhausted from how late it was, ( being a nocturnal, it was 2 in the morning for her), and getting angrier by the second.

She was clenching her teeth hard, as she struggled to restrain an angry scowl from showing on her face, as she listened to their complaining.

On the outside she was cold and stoic as a statue, the only thing giving away her mood was the slight twitch under her eye, otherwise her face was a stone mask.

" Even after all these centuries, somethings just don't change unfortunately." Nightmare thought, trying to ignore her growing headache.

" Oh if only I could use the Royal voice, that would silence their annoying squabbling, then we'd finally be able to get something done. "

" But my sisters wouldn't like that, and asked me not to, but this is wasting a lot of time, and is very annoying. " Nightmare thought as she sat and endured.

Nightmare wasn't alone in her frustration, both Celestia and Luna were also growing irritated as well with how things were going.

"I can't believe they are putting up this much of a fuss, even after me and Celestia told them this was just a formality to introduce Nightmare to them."

" And what do they do, they go and turn it into a full blown debate!" Luna thought, slouching in her throne.

Already 10 minutes had passed, the meeting had only just started, and all the Princesses were already tired.

" How can she be a Princess of Equestria, she was known as a myth only a few days ago, and now she'll will be ruling Equestria? "

" This is hard to accept, surly you can agree Princess Celestia?" Said a slightly overweight reddish brown unicorn stallion, stroking his thick brown beard.

He was Sir Halrock Bricktrotter a very wealthy owner of big mining companies and was from a influential noble family.

"Now wait a minute, if Princess Celestia and Luna says she is worthy to rule as a princess of Equestria, then we should respect that." Said a fancy dressed White unicorn stallion with a golden monocle and blue mustache.

He was Sir Fancy pants, a very influential and renowned noble and business pony . He always tried to keep balance in these kind of meetings, often taking Celestia and Luna's side.

He was studying how Nightmare would react to this kind of opposition, and what he saw was her being observant and patiently listening.

"She's nothing like how the legend describes her to be, she has a good poker face, even better than Celestia's."

" I wonder what kind of pony Nightmare Moon is, she certainly seems very reserved." Fancy pants thought watching Nightmare's behavior.

" But the fact remains, she attacked Celestia and Luna just four days ago, trying to bring eternal night, how can we trust her not to try again?" General Storm Roamed asked, getting everypony's attention with that.

He and all the heads of state and government had been told by Celestia and Luna that Nightmare was the grand commander of all of Equestria's military.

Making many worried about what she would do if given such authority and power again, fearing she'd build her own army.

" Luna and I know our Elder sister, she was under a magical influence that had changed her, she would never attack us or Equestria willingly." Celestia said matter of factly, scanning the crowd for any who would say otherwise.

She had made it a point to let them know that Nightmare could be trusted, and upon hearing that no pony seemed to want to say anything else against her word.

They knew, If anypony pressed the matter anymore, they would look to be questioning the Princesses competence.

"That is good enough for me, I trust a family knows themselves the best. I have nothing further to say on this matter Princess Celestia, Luna, Nightmare. " Storm Roamed said with a nod, satisfied with what he heard.

"See, Celestia and Luna clearly trust Nightmare with her role as a princess once more, and if they trust her, so should we trust and respect their decision." Fancy pants said as he looked over to the princesses, he saw Nightmare smiling and saw Celestia nodding to him.

There were murmurs of agreement passing among the nobles and Bureaucrats, giving their support and approval as well.

" Well spoken Sir Fancy pants and General Storm Roamed, you two speak with wisdom and a level head I have not seen in ages. "

" Your kind words are appreciated and will be remembered." Nightmare said smiling, happy to see those with a open mind and not be governed by fear.

"Yes they are, and I would like you all to know that we well be ruling beside her as equals, like we have always have been." Celestia said smiling as she looked over the crowd.

After the meeting it was already approaching the almost noon, Nightmare and Luna made it clear to Celestia that they needed their rest.

" Huha, that took way too long, well I'll be retiring for the day now sisters. " Luna said with a light yawn as she stretched her wings.

" So shall I be as well. " Nightmare said softly as she gently rubbed her tired eyes.

" Of course, good day then sisters, sleep well." Celestia said, walking beside Nightmare and Luna as they left the council room.

"Good day Celestia, oh and Nightmare when you are up we can go on our tour of the Castle, sound good? ". Luna asked, covering her mouth as she yawned.

"That sounds nice, see you when Lulu, good day. Nightmare said hugging Luna with her wing.

"Good day." Luna said, before she teleported to her room.

"And thank you for this Tia." Nightmare said as she hugged Celestia, nuzzling her younger sister.

She propped her head on top of Celestia' s and wrapped her large wings around Celestia's body, making her look like she was wearing a cloak of onyx black feathers.

"For what? " Celestia asked, confused but was enjoying the hug.

"For saving me, not giving up on me, taking me back as family, even after all I have done." Nightmare said softly, tightening her hug on Celestia.

"You are family Nightmare, you will always be to me and Luna, never forget we love you, we always well. " Celestia said sincerely, hugging her older sister back.

"Thank you, good day Tia." Nightmare said smiling as she removed her wing, looking happier than Celestia had seen her be in a long time.

"Good day Moony." Celestia said, before Nightmare teleported to her temporary room.

"Where am I, this... no it can't be... the, the...?" Nightmare said, looking around she saw the familiar landscape of the moon.

"No, no this... isn't real... it can't be real... I was freed from the moon! I was with Celestia and Luna!" Nightmare shouted, feeling her heart rate soaring.

She went into a frenzy panic seeing she back on the moon, trapped in the void of silence, staring at Equestria. As she struggled to move, she saw a black fog flowing from the horizon of the moon, heading in her direction.

"This is a dream, I need to wake up, Luna help!!!" Nightmare yelled out in panic, calling out to her sister.

"No, this can't be real, this isn't real!" Nightmare yelled in panic, struggling to use magic to wake herself up.

As she struggled to move she saw a black fog was getting closer, it rose from the ground and shifting into a solid black faceless version of her.

She knew what it was, it was the representation of the madness that consumed her mind long ago. The black construct began to walk towards her in a slow creeping pace.

"NO, NO, NO, STAY AWAY, I WILL NOT BE THAT MONSTER AGAIN, LUNA HELP!!!" Nightmare screamed out.

She struggled to get away, but try as she might she couldn't move, as it reached out and touched her.

She could feel the madness trying to tear into her mind, then could feel a presence trying to force it's way into her mind.

"NO!" Nightmare screamed as she shot up in her bed, her horn flared with her glittering double dark blue toned aura.

She looked around in panic, but saw she was in the guest bedroom Celestia and Luna gave her to sleep in, at least till they finished renovating her new room.

"* Huff, huff* A dream, *huff, huff* it was just a dream. " Nightmare said with a shaking voice, trying to calm down as she laid back in the large bed.

She laid there for a few seconds, calming down as she gathered her bearings, while staring n up at the ceiling.

Cold sweat matted her skin and fur, her heart racing and her breath ragged.

She got up from the queen sized bed and made her way to the a window in the room. Feeling pain in her muscles and bones that had yet to fade.

She moved slowly, feeling fatigue throughout her body, weighing her down like she was made of iron.

" It's nearly dawn, ugh I've barely gotten any sleep." Nightmare said, frowning as she looked out the dark purple curtains.

" I might as well go for a walk in that forest near our old home, I'm not going back to sleep after that. " Nightmare thought, the dream still fresh in her mind.

"It wouldn't hurt to see how things have changed, I think Celestia and Luna called it the Everfree forest."Nightmare thought, grabbing a towel from the bathroom with her a magic and wiped off the sweat on her coat.

As she stepped out of the room two bat pony guards wearing black plate armour with pale blue sliver edges with a crescent moon symbol on the chest plate stood at her doors. Both greeted her with a crisp salute.

"Good night your majesty, heading out?" Blooming Dusk asked, she was a light purple black bat pony mare with a spiked deep purple Mohawk and tail.

"Yes I am heading out for a walk, I will back soon." Nightmare said to her night guards, knowing they would understand her short response.

" Do you want us to accompany you your highness? " Star strike said, he was a pale black bat pony stallion with a short messy silver mane and tail.

Nightmare was a very reserved and patient pony that didn't let her emotions get the better of her, most of the time.

Nightmare's voice was slightly deeper than Luna's and, had a slight naturally cold tone to her voice.

Combined with the calm reserved manner she spoke and showed most of the time. Many came to see her as cold and intimidating, provoking fear in those around her.

Whenever she was on the verge of losing her temper or was upset, she would want to be alone, so that she wouldn't take here anger out on those around her.

Her temper was legendary and was like boiling water, little things didn't bother her, but to many little or big things would cause her to boil over.

It was hard to gauge what she was truly feeling, only those who new her at a deep personal level
could see the signs and figure out her mood.

Celestia and Luna realized at a young age with Nightmare, that bat poines, and other nocturnal creatures were very expressive with their eyes.

Not many knew of the origin or how the bat race of poines came to be, the only knowledge of it was scarce and vague.

Some said that Nightmare created them to fight against her sisters, or it was a curse she place on poines, but that was only twisted lies from those long ago.

The truth was a bit more simple, all bat ponies could trace their lineage back to the original Night guards, the royale guards of Nightmare Moon.

Those that wanted to serve and experience the night as Nightmare did, would have to be changed to the nocturnal version of their race, in order to be able to do what the job required.

Such as being able stay up all night and seeing clearly in the dark. As one of the nocturnal races, they gained the ability to hide in shadows completely invisible, and could moving without making a sound.

Plus they had enhanced reflexes and hearing, which made it easier to fight, ambush, and detect intruders and fight enemies.

Nightmare used her unique magic to create the spell "Nocturn " to only work on those loyal to her, and were willing to go through with the change.

Because once done, the change was permanent, and not even Nightmare could undo the change once done.

Only later on did Nightmare find out that the change was passed down through the generations, thus the bat pony race came to be.

"No I want to be alone, If my sisters ask for me, tell them I will be back soon. " Nightmare said, before she teleported away in a dark blue flash.

She appeared somewhere in the Everfree forest, and walked with no real direction in mind, slowly she could feel her emotions steadily boiling over.

She felt tears flowing down her face as she slowly came to a stop in the forest. Finally she could no longer keep it together, she lost it and let out all her anger and sadness.

Tearing apart the ground, trees, boulders, and obliterating everything else in sight, Nightmare vented all her repressed emotions and stress, using the full force of what magic power and strength she had.

Timber wolfs, cockatrice, manticores, hydra, any and all animals near by fled in terror as Nightmare tore through the forest in her emotional rampage.

"HOW COULD I HAVE DONE THAT, HOW COULD I HAVE HURT MY OWN SISTERS, HOW COULD I LET MYSELF DO THAT TO THEM, TO OUR POINES?!!!" Screamed Nightmare as she went through the forest like a storm.

After Nightmare had exhausted herself she sat in the middle of the destruction she had made, the clearing looked like a hurricane had came through.

"How could I have done this to them?" Nightmare asked herself, the full weight of what she had done overwhelming her.

Tears pour out of her eyes as Nightmare cried like she had never had before, not since her mother passed away had Nightmare felt so sad and broken.

The princess of the night cried and wailed with all her heart at the top of her lungs, remembering everything lead up to how it all happened.

When she finally had control of herself again she wiped the tears away and gazed at the night sky.

Suddenly Nightmare felt a mental alarm go off, she looked up at the sky and noticed a dim light that lined the horizon.

" Pull yourself together Nightmare, you have a job to do." Nightmare thought as she charged her horn to lower the moon.

" I need to get back to the castle, if anypony found out I was missing, no doubt it would cause a panic, especially for Celestia and Luna. " Nightmare thought, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she charged her horn and teleported back to her room.

Earlier in Canterlot castle, late in the night

"LUNA HELP!!!

Just as Luna was about to leave the dreamscape after getting done with seeing to the poines dreams.

She felt a dream that was overflowing with fear and panic screaming for help, only to realize in horror, that it was her sister Nightmare's dream.

"Nightmare, hold on sister!" Luna yelled out as she headed to her older sister's dream.

The instant she entered Nightmare's dream, she could feel sheer terror, and a choking sense of panic.

But that topped all of that, was when she saw the amalgamation of darkness attacking Nightmare, just before she was thrown out of the dream.

"Nightmare!" Luna yelled as she snapped back into the waking world, instantly teleporting to Nightmare's guest room.

In a bright blue flash she appeared before the room with bat guards stationed on either side of the door.

" Ok calm down Luna, I need to be careful with how I go about this." Luna thought as she did her best to hide her anxiety.

"Is Nightmare in her room?" Luna asked the bat pony guards as they greeted her with a salute.

"No Princess Luna, she stepped out for a walk a few seconds ago, she said she would be back soon." Star Strike said with his usual half asleep look.

"Most likely she will be back within the hour, dawn is only 30 minutes away, and she looked very tired, she couldn't have slept long." Blooming Dusk said tiredly, yawning at the end.

" Nightmare always had a bad habit of keeping quite about her pproblems,,so as not make us worry about her she says. "

" But that is exactly why we worry so much about you Nightmare. " Luna thought, recalling how Nightmare distanced herself from others when she got emotional.

"She said she wanted to be alone." Blooming Dusk said, informing Luna of Nightmare's words.

"Alright, tell Nightmare that I would like to talk to her about something important when she gets back as soon as possible." Luna said before teleporting to Celestia's bedroom.

"Celestia." Luna said as she appeared next to her bed .

"Hm, oh hello Luna, you hardly are up this late, what is it?" Celestia asked, as she finished raising the sun.

"It's about Nightmare." Luna said with a serious expression, sliding very worried.

"What happened? " Celestia asked as she turned to face Luna, her voice filled with worry and concern for her older sister.

Her full attention was now on Luna's every word as she proceeded to tell Celestia about what she saw and experienced in Nightmare's dream.

"I am back." Nightmare said with a yawn, teleporting in front of her guest room.

*Clank*

"W-welcome back Nightmare, ahh I mean Princess Nightmare!" Said a quivering voice she did not recognize.

"My guards do not shake in their armour when in my presence, huha which means." Nightmare thought, opening her eyes to see two of Celestia's golden sun royale guards at her doors.

"Blooming Dusk and Star Strike must have retired for the day, I must have been gone longer than I thought. " Nightmare thought as she glanced at a window in the hallway.

"I am too tired to deal with this again." Nightmare thought feeling irritated.

"I am going to bed, wake me if Celestia or Luna needs me." Nightmare grumbled, heading to her temporary room.

"Actually, Princess Luna said she wanted to talk to you about something important ." Said the other guard stiffening up a little as Nightmare's eyes focused on him.

" Alright, I will be on my way then, have a good day guards." Nightmare said with a nod to them before, she teleported to Luna with a homing teleport spell, having not yet learned the layout of the castle.

"Good morning Lu-

*Pffft!*"

As Nightmare teleported to Luna in the royale dining room, she was greeted with a face, and mouth full of green tea,

Having teleported right next to Luna, at the same time Luna was taking a drink, from her cup of said tea.

"Hmm green tea, a good choice for a morning drink, although I would prefer hazelnut coffee myself ." Nightmare said with a faint smile as green tea dripped off her face.

"G-morning to you too Nightmare, and sorry about that, you startled me." Luna said giving, her a napkin.

"She looks to be okay, but from what I saw in her dream and the report we've received, tells a different story. "

" She was always too good at hiding how she really felt for her own good." Luna thought as recalled similar times her elder sister did so .

" Think nothing of it, so what is it you wanted to talk to me about Luna, I would like to go to bed soon, I feel very tired." Nightmare yawned, taking a seat at across from Luna.

"Actually, Celestia wanted to take to talk to you about something, I was just looking for you earlier but couldn't find you, were did you go? Luna asked, hiding her concerned for her.

"I went on a walk through the forest southwest of here, I think you and Celestia said it was called the Everfree forest." Nightmare said, hiding the fact she had a emotional breakdown in said forest.

"So is Celestia waiting on us, or do I have time to eat, because I haven't ate anything yet" Nightmare asked, feeling hungry.

"Oh! Yes go head and order something, you must be hungry we have plenty of time. I haven't ate yet either, Prime choice? Luna called out to the present waiter.

"Yes ma'am what would you like to have?" Asked Prime choice, a young turquoise coated gold mane unicorn stallion, wearing a butler uniform.

"I would like a fruit salad, with cut apples, strawberries, blueberries, and a glass of orange juice." Luna said giving her order.

"Yes ma'am. Prime choice said with a nod.

"I well have two large pork rib rakes, raw and bloody, with a glass of cherry red wine." Nightmare said.

The guards and servants gasped upon hearing such a food request.

" While I am no stranger to Nightmare's carnivorous side, poines now a days are not around many meat eaters, and even they would rarely asked for raw meat around ponies." Luna though, sighing as the young waiter looked t her with worry.

"Please tell the head chef Deluxe Taste her order, he has experience fixing meat dishes ." Luna said looking to the young butler.

"Y-yes ma'am." Prime choice said nervously as he hurriedly left the room.

"Maybe I should have you place my orders for me Lulu." Nightmare said with a slightly annoyed tone in her voice.

"Sorry Nightmare, just give them time, it's only the five day since your return, their still getting use to things." Luna said with a sympathetic smile

" Huha ,your right, I am just tired of being feared Lulu, you and Tia told a few nobles and heads of state that I was going to rule beside you both again, and you saw what happened." Nightmare said with a sigh, recalling how that meeting went.

"Yes, I agree they overreacted greatly, especially some of the noble families, I can't believe they reacted so rudely."Luna said with anger lacing her voice.

"I can, trying to bring eternal night twice didn't help neither, but I am just glad we are back together as a family now." Nightmare said with a faint smile.

"Yes, we are together again, and that is all that matters." Luna said smiling happily as she placed her hoof and on top of Nightmare's.

"Here are your meals ma'ams." Said Prime choice, setting down the food in front of them.

"Finally." Nightmare said, happy to eat at last after over a thousand years .

Even though Nightmare ate with proper manners, the sound of ripping flesh and crunching of bones were audible to those in the quite dining room.

While Luna wasn't fazed at all by the sight and sounds, the same could not be said for the others. Some looked ready to vomit, including the present guards.

"Ahh I needed that , so shall we get going Lulu?" Nightmare said satisfied, wiping some blood from her lips and finishing her wine for the third time.

"Yeah lets, Celestia is currently in the throne room, we 'll teleport to it until you are given the full tour and familiarize the layout, sound good? Luna asked as she and Nightmare got up from their seats.

"Yeah it's faster that way, plus I don't feel like I have the energy to walk there anyway." Nightmare said, as Luna warping her sister in a hug and teleporting to Celestia.

*Poof!*

" Tia we have... arrived. " Luna said, teleporting into the the throne room, however they were not expecting to see extra guards.

She felt Nightmare jolt for a second, her heart speeding up rapidly, and her muscles tightening, becoming as hard as rock.

Luna nervously looked to see about Nightmare, growing more worried upon seeing how she was looking around the room.

Nightmare's slit pupils had become needle thin, her eyes had a clear nervous look in them, like one would have in a mid fight or flight response.

As Luna and her appeared in the throne room, they saw over 5 dozen squads armed guards presence all over the room.

In response, Nightmare's deeply ingrained muscle memory, and centuries of reflex and combat training kicked in.

Seeing this, Luna saw Nightmare was on verge of panicking and was on guard, Celeste saw this as well.

" Hello sisters, take a look at this Nightmare, we had this done last night as a surprise for you. "

" The architect Luna suggested for the job finished this in 3 hours and did a wonderful job. Celestia said quickly, gesturing to throne seated in between theirs.

Seeing this, Nightmare slowly approached the thrones with Luna walking beside her, the new addition greatly interested Nightmare.

As Nightmare stood before the new throne, she looked it over with a keen eye, inspecting it's every detail.

It was shaped and designed similar to her sisters, but was larger, and made of onyx black metal, and had dark blue cushions, with her cutie mark at the top.

"It's wonderful...thank you sisters, this means a lot." Nightmare said smiling happily, wiping a tear away.

" We're glad you like it Nightmare, and like we said we're going to rule together, just like before. " Celestia said, as Luna and her hugged their older sister.

As Nightmare got comfy on her throne, she noticed a heavily bruised white unicorn stallion in golden armour standing next to Celestia.

He was glaring daggers at her, but quickly looked away when she looked at him.

" If I remembered right, his name was Shinning Armour, Celestia's head of her royale guards, what happened to him? Nightmare thought curiously as she studied him.

" Ah, I remember now, Celestia and Luna said I apparently had fougt him on the day I had returned. "

" I don't remember much of that day, but I remember smacking a pony that got in my way similar to him, through a castle wall, oh." Nightmare thought, feeling bad as she recalled memories of the fight.

"I am glad to see he's okay, Celestia must have healed him, but his injuries must have been really bad to leave so many large bruises." Nightmare thought, feeling bad for the poor stallion.

"So Celestia what is going on here?" Nightmare asked, gesturing around the room with a hoof.

"Well, you see Nightmare, some of my personal aids insisted that I increase the number of personal guards we have around us, and to increase the security of the Castle." Celestia said, emphasizing her words carefully.

" She's saying that everypony doesn't trust me around them, tell me something I don't know." Nightmare thought, mentally rolling her eyes.

Luna sighed aloud, understanding what Celestia was saying as well, finding it ridiculous.

"From what I have seen of them, it looks like they need better training than numbers . " Nightmare said, hearing Shinning Armour grind his teeth at her criticism with her sharp hearing.

"Hey it's no my fault they act like their scared of their own shadows, I've meet foals who would walk up to me and not be scared at all, which says a lot." Nightmare thought.

"Oh, and Luna said you wanted to talk to me about something, and as much as I would like to chat more, it is already past dawn and I am really tired. Nightmare said feeling very tired, her eyes were already feeling like weights as she strained to keep fully awake.

"Well, you see some news was brought to my attention, concerning a large magical explosion going off in the Everfree forest, shortly after you left, do you know anything about that?" Celestia asked clearly not liking having to ask this question.

"Probably spies for those that were threatened by me being back again, spies, assassins, politicians, I've dealt with many of them before. "

"Nothing's changed, even in peaceful times it's always the same, but now that I'm back, I will not let any creature take advantage of my sisters. " Nightmare thought bitterly, remembering events of the past.

"I went on a walk through that forest to clear my mind and to get some fresh air, maybe you and Luna would like to join me next time when either of you can." Nightmare said smiling, remembering when Celestia, Luna and her would go on walks when they had a break.

" We'd love to, but while you were out there, were you attacked?" Celestia asked curiously.

"Well I remember seeing some timber wolfs out there while I was walking, but I can't say how many I saw." Nightmare said, though there really was no way to tell how many she destroyed from what was left there anyway.

"Oh, we'll I hope you had fun out there, though I would prefer if you told of me or Luna when you were going to step out in the future. "

" You worried us, and Luna was looking for you earlier and couldn't find you. " Celestia said, glad to end the matter.

"I will keep that in mind, so Luna what did you wanted to do earlier when you were looking for me?" Nightmare asked as she turned to Luna.

"Oh, I wanted to show you around the castle and later see where you would want your room to be. "Luna said, glad to talk about something else.

" Out of my way imbecile! "

Suddenly they could hear yelling outside the throne room doors.

"You can't go in there sir, Celestia and Luna are in having an important meeting right now, our orders were keep anypony out until told otherwise!" Yelled a muffled voice.

"What I have to discuss with them is important as well, now out of my way!" Yelled a snobbish voice filled with arrogance.

In the next second the doors were thrown open, as Prince Blueblood barged in.

"Aunties what is all this talk of a new princess, many of the nobles are saying that you will be announcing such a thing soon and, WHAT IS SHE DOING HERE?!" Blueblood shouted, finally noticing Nightmare.

"And here I thought the guards couldn't be any worse at doing their jobs, I was horribly wrong." Nightmare thought, her opinion of Celestia's royal guards plummeting further.

"AUNTIES WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" Blueblood, yelled, looking completely shocked as he looked at them and Nightmare.

"Sisters, your guards need to definitely be retrained, if they can't stop one snobbish noble from badgering into our throne room." Nightmare said rubbing her temple with a hoof, already feeling a headache.

"I AM PRINCE BLUEBLOOD, THE NEPHEW OF PRINCESS CELESTIA AND LUNA YOU MONSTER! Blueblood exclaimed in fury.

"SILENCE!" Nightmare yelled, her voice shaking the whole room like an earthquake, her face openly displaying her anger.

Besides Celestia and Luna, upon hearing Nightmare's shout using the royale Canterlot voice, everypony else was blown off their hoofs and unconscious.

Having been knocked out by the sheer volume and strength of Nightmare's Royal voice.

"Tia, Lulu who is this clown, and why is he allowed to be here?" Nightmare asked, irritated and suddenly, not feeling well as everything started to get fuzzy.

"That would be." Luna said, clearly annoyed.

"Our nephew Blueblood. " Celestia said, finishing the sentence with a very annoyed tone to her voice.

"He is the last descendent in the bloodline of Princess Platinum, we adopted Princess Platinum, and the other two tribe leaders to insure their bloodlines were kept alive.

" Ever since then, their descendents have been apart of the nobility of Canterlot." Celestia said, sounding tired.

" Please relax sister, he can be annoying at times, but he is not worth getting so stressed out over, Nightmare, are you okay?" Luna asked, seeing Nightmare's eyes having a unfocused and glazed look to them.

"I...don't...feel...*Blaaggggh!*" Nightmare said, just before she puked a puddle of blood and collapsed on to the floor on her side.

"NIGHTMARE!!! Yelled Celestia and Luna, immediately at Nightmare's side trying to see about her.

"Princess Celestia and Luna, did something happen!" Said a royal guard Pegasus flying in the room, hearing the commotion from down the hallway.

"GET ALL THE CASTLE DOCTORS HERE QUICK!!!" Celestia yelled, not caring that she was using the royale Canterlot voice.

"Y-yes ma'am right away!" Said the guard, taken back by the sight of so much blood on the floor.

"Nightmare wake up, Nightmare!!!" Luna frantically yelled, holding Nightmare's head up with a wing and her hoofs, trying to wake her sister up.

Author's Note

Hope the story is interested enough for you all!
I appreciate any ideas that are offered to make the story more interesting this is my first mlp fanfic so I will be using some idea I want to use for this story.

Next up Nightmare is getting a visit from some familiar poines in the hospital.

Care to try and guess from the clues?
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