Chapters The tale of the Mare in the moon, a story known by ponies of all ages, a tale of the eldest sister of Celestia and Luna, who grew jealous and rebelled against her sisters.
The story tells that she tried to bring eternal night, because ponies adored her younger sisters and the sun, while they feared and shunned her and the night.
So she decided to bring eternal night, but in the end, was banished to the moon by Celestia and Luna.
Few even know of her real name anymore, as Nightmare Moon, and only her sisters knew the real story.
They knew that there was more to why Nightmare tried to bring eternal night than jealousy, however even they didn't know what drove Nightmare to do so.
But Celestia and Luna knew when Nightmare declared she would bring eternal night, that something in her had changed.
Something had caused her to go mad and attack Equestria, to try to cover the world in eternal night, and they knew that one day she would return.
Over a thousand years ago.
The throne room of the Castle of the three sisters.
*CRASH!*
Went the throne room doors, the thick heavy enchanted wooden doors shattered like plywood, as three alicorns came crashing through it, locked in intense combat.
They were all wielding weapons and decked in full body armour, showing signs that they had been fighting for quite some time.
"Please stop this sister!" Luna yelled, as she and Celestia continued to clash with their older sister.
"Come to your senses already Nightmare! " Celestia yelled, as she barely deflected a strike from a deep dark blue conjured spear from her eldest sister.
She unleashed a powerful blast of gold magical energy from her horn, launching Nightmare across the room.
In less then a second of being flung across the room, Nightmare flared her wings and came to a stop in mid air.
She recovered her balance in the air quickly, left unfazed from the push, and proceeded to charge her horn with magic.
If Nightmare had heard her sisters words at all, she didn't n show it, as she continued to attack them.
All the while they fought, Nightmare's eyes held a deranged and demented look of madness in them, her face was filled with seething fury
Nightmare rushed at Celestia as she morphed her spare into a great sword, holding it above high above her head in her magic grip, preparing to swing with great force.
"Sister!" Luna yelled as she conjured a large shield in front of Celestia, blocking Nightmare's strike.
Celestia seized the moment, she fired a potent concussion spell right at Nightmare's chest. But Nightmare saw it, before Celestia fired the spell, Nightmare turned into ethereal mist and swiftly dodged the attack.
The glittering mist then began to shoot out numerous bolts of black lighting and spear length icicles at them.
Celestia and Luna quickly put up magic bubbles around them, just in time to avoid the flurry of lighting and icicles.
"Nightmare, why are you doing this, we are a family, this has to end! " Luna said, crying tears as she shouted at the swirling cloud of dark blue glittering mist, paine and sadness clear in her voice.
The attacks suddenly stopped and the large cloud descended, landing on the ground and gathered around the thrones. The glittering mist flowed down the stairs and began to reform Nightmare's body near the center of the room.
She took a few steps as the mist finished reforming her body, she came to a stop close to the center of the throne room.
Nightmare stood still as she glared down at her sisters, with cold sharp eyes that held no warmth in them, while watching Celestia and Luna land on the floor.
They all stood silently as they stared at each other from opposite sides of the room, 30 yards was all that separated them.
"Why are you doing this? " Celestia asked sternly, trying to be strong for herself and for Luna.
"Why Nightmare?" Luna asked, being more open with her emotions, letting her sadness be heard.
"Why?" Nightmare asked coldly with a angry scowl, sounding insulted by the question.
"Why you ask, after all this time, you both should know better than anypony else why. " Nightmare said with a venomous tone, glaring at them with ice cold fury.
"ALL OF EQUESTRIA FEARS ME, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT LIVING LIKE THAT IS LIKE?!!!! THEY SHUN MY NIGHT, THEY SEE ME AS A MONSTER THAT ONLY BRINGS DARKNESS!!!" Nightmare yelled with in unbridled fury.
" EVEN AFTER ALL I HAVE DONE FOR THEM, I HAVE FOUGHT FOR THEM, BLED FOR THEM, THE SAME AS YOU BOTH HAVE!!! "
" I HELPED BUILD EQUESTRIA FROM THE GROUND UP!!! YET THEY CONTINUE TO ONLY ADORE YOU BOTH, WHILE THEY ONLY FEAR ME!!!!
"YOU BOTH KEPT SAYING IT WAS GOING TO GET BETTER, IT HASN'T!!!! THEY ONLY SEE ME AS A MONSTER OF THE NIGHT, SO I WILL MAKE THE NIGHT THE ONLY THING THEY WILL EVER SEE!!! " Nightmare roared with a beastly snarel, her voice erupting into pure rage as her voice boomed throughout the room.
Celestia and Luna physically recoiled at their sisters use of the full force of her royal voice.
It's sheer volume shook them to the bone, and the very foundations of the Castle they were standing in.
"Bringing eternal night is not the answer sister, it will only make our subjects fear you more, can't you see that?!" Celestia said, trying to reason with her older sister.
She had been badly hurt while fighting Nightmare, her armour was damaged and torn in several places. She had large gashes and cuts across her body.
Her gold armour and white coat was dripping with blood and pooling on the floor at her hoofs. Despite this she still stood strong and was prepared to fight on.
"She is right Nightmare they are your subjects too, this is madness, please don't make us fight you anymore!" Said an equally hurt Luna, pleading with Nightmare.
Luna was in no better condition than Celestia was, both severely injured, exhausted, and were running on fumes at this point.
While Nightmare was only mildly hurt, left with only a few dents in her armour and some shallow cuts from their fight. Which were quickly being repaired and healed with her magic.
It was clear to Celestia and Luna that Nightmare had plenty of strength and magic to spare, a testament to her prowess as a warrior.
THEY ARE YOUR SUBJECTS, THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN YOURS, THEY DON'T WANT ME, THEY NEVER HAVE!!!!" Nightmare yelled as she slammed her hoofs in to the ground.
Shattering the stone floor, leaving cracks like a broken mirror where she struck, and glared at them with pure hate in her burning white blue eyes.
"THEY HAVE NEVER SEEN ME AS THEIR RULER, EVEN AFTER I HAVE RULED WITH YOU BOTH FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS!!! "
"THEY ONLY WANT YOU TWO, THE SUN, AND SWEET DREAMS YOU BRING THEM, MY DEAR SWEET SISTERS!!! Nightmare said with fury, her voice was ice cold and overflowed with deep hate and malice.
Celestia and Luna had been fighting with Nightmare for a whole day, using the full scale of their power to fight her.
It took both of them to fight Nightmare on any even footing, and they had to be careful Nightmare, for was an extremely skilled and a highly trained warrior.
She had thousands of years of combat training, and more than double the magical and physical strength Celestia and Luna had combined.
There was a reason she was the commander of their military, was and called the "Queen of battle" by other countries.
"Please stop this Nightmare, your proving to everypony your are the monster they say you are!" Celestia said, instantly regretting her words, her face filled with fear and regret, realizing what she had done.
Upon hearing those words, Nightmare froze up, she stood there motionless, staring at them with an emotionless blank face.
Then, her expression slowly shifted, morphing into a twisted expression of indescribable rage, as her slit eyes glowed and became needle thin.
"RRRRAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHH !!!!!!!!" Roared Nightmare, losing what little sanity and reason she had left.
She charged at them in blind rage, enveloping her body with her deep dark double toned blue aura.
Using her magic, Nightmare encased her body in condensed aura, using it as a propelling force along with the strength of her wings.
Just before Nightmare reached them, Celestia and Luna quickly put up magic shields and braced for the impact.
In only a second, Nightmare collided with them, smashing into their shields like a ballista bolt.
Upon impact, their shields shattered, and and all three of them went flying backwards from the shockwave of the impact.
"HAHAHA! EVEN MY OWN SISTERS THINK ME A MONSTER, NOW I AM TRULY ALONE!!!' Nightmare cackled maniacally with a deranged and demented smile.
She then used her magic to pull one of her personal weapons from a pocket space, called the Ethereal blade.
It was a massive, jet black claymore, with a pale blue silver hilt, and had a large bright blue round sapphire jewel encrusted into it.
Celestia and Luna's eyes shrunk when they saw it, knowing that the sword could cut through most things like a hot knife through butter, including magic.
Nightmare charged at them at full speed, swing down the claymore with tremendous force. Celestia and Luna barely had time to cast a shield and dive out of the blades reach.
They both teleported to a corner of the large throne and readied their weapons and resolve to fight once more.
"Ugh!" Grunted Celestia as she smashed into a wall, receiving a strong hit to her jaw, knocking her golden helmet off.
Leaving half of her face bloody and bruised, as she got to her shaky hoofs Celestia spat some of her teeth out and a mouthful of blood.
"Sister the elements!" Luna shouted, before she was hit with a powerful magic bolt, sending her crashing into the ground, breaking some bones upon impact.
Celestia teleported to where Luna was standing in the center of the throne room, they pulled out the elements of harmony from under their armour, hidden until they were ready to use them.
"RRRRAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!!!!!" Yelled Nightmare, her eyes filled with rage and madness as she charged and locked swords with them.
"Sister now!" Yelled Celestia as she and Luna charged the elements, as Nightmare's sword was steadily cutting through their swords .
In the next moment there was a thundering sound and bright white light, then all was quite except for the two remaining alicorn sisters.
They looked up at the moon shinning in the night sky, now with the image that would be know as the mare in the moon.
As Celestia and Luna slumped to the ground, their sorrow filled cries echoed through the castle and into the moonlit night.
Present day Equestria
Day of the summer sunset celebration.
"Oh no." Twilight said said fearfully, seeing the mare in the moon image vanish.
" Come on Twilight, you don't want to be late for the celebration now do ya? " Applejack said, nudging the purple unicorn with a hoof.
" R-right. " Twilight said with a nervous smile, taking a moment to look at the moon before entering the town hall.
Long had Nightmare stared at Equestria, her home always in sight, left alone in the silent void on the moon.
The very symbol that she embodied and represented, her prison for so long, even she didn't know anymore.
She has been trapped in the moon as a spirit, having been stripped of her body by the elements of harmony.
But after so long, the magic that bound her slowly had been unraveling, and after over a thousand years, she was freed from her bonds.
In the throne room of Canterlot castle, a deep glittering cloud of deep blue mist formed, slowly morphing into the shape of a large and tall pony.
After a few moments, Nightmare's body was fully manifested, and for the first time since her banishment, breathed in fresh air.
"Ahhh it is good to be back, wait what happen to the castle, everything is different. " Nightmare said, seeing the striking differences in the details and architecture.
Each room was room was mostly white marble and high grade glass windows. The white walls and floors were filled with luxurious furniture and golden decorations. The floors were either made of white marble or had luxuries purple and gold carpets on them.
"This is all different, but it doesn't matter, this castle looks nice, too much use of the color white though. " Now where are Celestia and Luna?" Nightmare asked as she started to walk through the castle halls, using her magic to search for her younger sisters.
Nightmare had just went around a corner and was starting down a corridor, while looking over the designs and styles of the place.
But what caught her interest the most, were the large glass stained windows. Each depicting battles and events that Celestia, Luna, and her had been in.
From the wendigos to when they fought Sombra to free the Crystal Empire, to when they sealed Discord in stone. But as she began to study them, she noticed some slight changes and a key difference in the the depictions.
"These are different, why have these been changed, why am I not in any of these? " Nightmare thought, getting upset that her sisters would let somepony make such an error about their accomplishments throughout history.
"Hold it right there!" Said a loud voice from down the hall behind Nightmare.
"Hmm, and who are you little pony? " Nightmare asked curiously with a amused smirk as.she turned to face the one behind her.
Upon doing so, she saw it was angry golden armoured white coat and navy blue mane unicorn stallion before her.
"I am Shining Armour, the commander of Celestia's royale guards, and you will be stopped here Nightmare Moon! " Yelled a nervous but determined Shining Armour, getting into a fighting stance.
"Oh the current commander of Tia's guards huh, you know me but you intend to face me, your queen? My your a brave one, foolish, but brave. " Nightmare said amused, studying his stance and judging his worth as a warrior.
"Queen, you are no ruler, your a monster, a tyrant trying to bring eternal night! " Shining Armour said, not aware that he just hit a very raw nerve.
"Confident are you, well let's test your mettle then warrior!!!" Nightmare said with an angry yet excited tone, shooting a black lighting bolt at Shining.
Upon seeing the lighting around Nightmare's horn, Shining made a shield bubble before it could hit him. .
"Auuuugh!" Shining yelled in pain, as the black lighting hit his shield, shattering it upon impact.
Upon contact, Shining's shield shattered and he was electrocuted by the magic lighting, feeling intense pain across his body.
Shining made the mistake of using a barrier that absorbed the force of attacks, when he should have used a shield spell that deflected magic.
When energy based attacks like lighting bolts hit, they latch on to what they touched, turning almost anything physical into a conductor.
Luckily he had on armour that gave some protection against energy and elemental based attacks, but was not unscathed. His armour and body had several burn marks.
He got back up on shaky legs and shot 4 large light red magic bolts at Nightmare, only for them to shatter as they hit her, doing no damage.
"Hahaha! Really, are you serious, you looked stronger, but wow your weak. Wait you specialize in defense, and you severely lack firepower. "
" Because you trained only in defense magic, didn't you, I would think that you'd know it's important not to limit your capabilities" Nightmare said with a mocking smirk and tone.
"That doesn't matter, I am a shield for Celestia and the ponies of Equestria!" Shining yelled, still determine he lit his horn, but it immediately went out.
"What?!" Shining said, stunned and confused as his spell was cancelled.
"Trying to use a sound amp spell to call for help, won't work while in range of a silent ward, need to look out for those." Nightmare said mockingly as she smiled.
"Huha, you really are a rookie, knowing next to nothing about what a magic battle entails. Some commander you are, now GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!" Nightmare roared with fury.
She conjured a large deep blue whip like tendril out of her mane, flowing with concentrated magic.
Seeing this, Shining focused his magic to make a multi layered shield bubble, just before Nightmare swung her conjured whip.
She swung her ethereal whip faster than the eye could see, it tore and shattered threw his shield in a instant.
" BOOM!!! "
The impact sounding like a thunder strike as it connected, shattering to the bubble to pieces, like a broken mirror.
"Ugh. " was the only sound Shining said as he laid in the rubble that was once a castle wall, before blacking out.
One moment, Shining was looking at Nightmare preparing for a counter attack, then everything became a blur for him,
"Pathetic, and I wasn't even trying."Nightmare spat with disappointment, before moving on with her search.
"She is free." Luna said with sadness in her voice.
"Yes she is, this day was going to come sooner or later Luna." Celestia said, putting on a brave face for her sister, but felt worry building in her heart.
They were standing on the balcony of dawn and dusk where they raised and lowered the sun and moon together.
This balcony was a huge overhanging balcony that was themed after the sun and moon. Positioned between the east and west wing of the castle, giving a great view of the horizon.
This is where one could look over a vast amount of Equestria with a stunning view of the sky. It had a stained glass window on both sides with their cutie marks on the them.
This was the place where the two sisters rose and lowered the sun and moon, and spent time watching sunsets and stargazing together.
"Tia, do you think she will be her true self, or like she was, before we banished her?" Luna asked hesitantly, hope and fear mixed in her voice.
"We can only hope she is her true self Luna, if not we will have to prepare for when she will strike. "
"Now our little poines are waiting, let's start this new day shall we?" Celestia asked as she charged her horn to raise the sun.
"Let's sister." Luna said smiling as she prepared to lower the moon, reaching out to it with her special magic.
but strangely, try as she might ,Luna could not lower the moon, some force was fighting against her command.
"Luna, what's wrong?" Celestia asked, confused that the moon was still in the sky.
"For some reason, I can't make the moon move!" Luna said frustrated, stress clear in her voice, as she felt some force fighting against her command.
" Hahaha. "Then a came ghostly chuckle rang throughout the air.
"That is because my dear little sister, is because it's my moon."Said an all to familiar voice.
Both sisters spun around and went pale upon seeing their older sister Nightmare Moon.
She was smiling at them, appearing to be happy to see them, if not for the mad and unnatural cold and burning anger held in her eyes.
She was wearing her full set of legendary Nightingale armour, from head to hoof Nightmare was covered in deep dark black blue and pale blue silver metals.
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Her armour was made of materials, known as shadow steel, moon silver, and was covered in highly detailed dark blue and pale blue silver engravings runes.
Her double plated black chest plate had a blue silver crescent moon in the middle, glowing in the moonlight,
Her whole neck was covered in blueish black and silver scaled plated armour,her whole barrel was covered in armour.
The top of her back had a solid plate of moon silver with bluish black slightly curved spines running down her back.
Her underside armour was pure bluish black, her hoofs had armoured spiked boots of the same color.
Her helmet was a solid blue black with moon silver on the edges with blue flames around her glowing pale blue slit eyes burning with a furious look in them.
"Long time no see dear sisters, how I've missed you both." Nightmare said, dispute the sweetness of her words, they could tell they were full of venom and anger.
"I wish I could say the same Nightmare. " Celestia said dryly, trying to keep herself from showing any fear.
" What, not happy to see your big sister after all this time? " Nightmare asked seemingly calm, too calm in fact, which only unnerved her sisters more.
Then suddenly, without any warning, Nightmare lunged at her sisters with her claymore ready to swing, the blade glowed with a dark blue aura.
Celestia and Luna had but a second to teleport away from a massive deep blue crescent moon shaped slash coming at them, leaving a 3ft deep 4ft wide and 23ft long ice coated gash in the floor.
They reappeared on opposite sides of the room, Celestia on Nightmare's left and Luna on her right.
"Normally, one of you would follow up with an attack, then the other would follow after with them, at least that's how I taught you both how to fight,
" But it seems you both have gotten rusty since I've been away." Nightmare said with a mad fang filled smile spread across her face.
Celestia and Luna stayed silent as they stood their ground, watching Nightmare and fighting to keep their nerve.
"Tell me dear sisters, how long have I been gone for, I've seemed to have lost track of time." Nightmare said, as she playfully twirling her sword in the air.
"A little over 1200 years." Celestia said with a stern flat tone in her voice, her eyes locked on Nightmare's every move.
Both Celestia and Luna saw Nightmare's slit eyes shrink and her muscles tighten, she looked like a beast ready to pounce.
"Nightmare wait we can talk abou-"
"YOU TRAPPED ME ON THE MOON FOR OVER A THOUSAND YEARS?!!!!!" Nightmare screamed with unbridled rage.
Nightmare then charged her horn with a double toned black and deep dark blue aura, creating a powerful magic shockwave pulse, knocking back Celestia and Luna across the room.
They quickly used their magic to stop their momentum and landed on the floor, though they could feel the soreness of the impact all over them.
As they got back up and got their bearings, they saw Nightmare staring at them, shaking with rage.
"Nightmare, please stop why are you doing this, are you planning on trying to bring eternal night again?" Luna said with tears in her eyes.
All the memories of what Nightmare was like before, as the caring, loving, sweet big sister she remembered Nightmare was before flooded Luna's mind, only making this fight worse for her.
"What else would you expect out of a monster like me, after all that's what everypony thinks of me, even my own sisters!" Nightmare spat with disdain and venom.
Celestia and Luna's hearts broke at those words, the very same last words they said to her over a thousand years, those hurtful words that pushed her over the edge.
Nightmare lunged at Luna and dived in the ground like it was water, shooting up from under Luna. Hitting her square in the jaw with a high velocity upper cut, knocking her up in the air and out cold, Nightmare then shot a magic blot at Luna, sending her crashing into a wall.
"Luna!" Celestia yelled as she flew at Nightmare charging her horn. But Nightmare had already sank back into the ground again before Celestia could do anything.
Before Celestia could react, she felt a tight grip on her barrel, she only got a glimpse of a deep dark glittering blue mist around her. Then she was slammed into the ground on her back, knocking the air out of her.
Barely able to see straight, she saw the blurry form of Nightmare towering over her, looking down at her like a predator ready to finish off their prey.
"Well this was fun sister, but I think I will go pay your little poines a visit next. " Nightmare said with a cold tone, charging her horn with dark lighting.
Nightmare hit Celestia with a black lighting bolt at point blank range, and with a short scream Celestia was unconscious.
Nightmare stood in the middle of the room, looking at her unconscious sisters, then in a rare moment, Nightmare felt something else through the blinding haze of rage and bitterness.
As she looked over them beaten and defenseless, the sight made Nightmare feel something grip her heart strongly.
Slowly, the anger and bitterness faded from her mind, replaced with a painful sense of guilt and regret.
She carefully used her magic to lift them up and casted healing magic, gently used her hoofs to mend their wounds and fix their broken bones.
" I've done the best I can for you both, you were always better at healing magic then I was Celestia, all I was good for, was fighting and waging war. " Nightmare thought sadly as she checked over them.
She carefully laid them on the floor and grabbed two near by pillows in her magic, gently moving their heads as she placing their heads under them.
"Now, it is time I meet my new subjects of this age." Nightmare thought, as she took to the skies.
"That wasn't there a thousand years ago, looks like a good place to make my first public appearance." Nightmare thought, as her eyes fell on a small town southwest of Canterlot.
Ponyville, moments from the start of the summer sunset celebration.
As Nightmare reformed in the air over the town,standing on a low hanging cloud, she saw a distinct lack of ponies in the rural town.
"Hmm where is everypony, oh is that this town's place for gatherings? " Nightmare thought as she looked at a large communal building.
"Hmm, I wonder what's going on in there, oh well it's just the right place to show them I'm back." Nightmare said smiling as she slipped into the shadows and entered the building.
"And with that, let us now greet Princess Celestia as the Sun greets this new day. " Mayor Mare said, finishing her speech, as the curtains were drawn revealing that no pony was there.
"Where is she. " Said a random pony
"She was supposed to be here by now. " Mayor Mare said confused, checking her watch.
"Oh, oh! maybe she's hiding! " Pinky Pie said, bouncing in place.
"This is great, what a perfect opportunity to show myself." Nightmare thought, smiling as she turned into her mist form.
"Hahaha!" Nightmare laughed out loud with mirth, she couldn't hold in her amusement any longer. She emerged from the shadows as glittering mist on the balcony overseeing the room.
"Hahahaha!" Came a ghostly laugh scaring all who heard it.
Then from the shadows of the balcony came glittering dark blue ethereal mist. What appeared next made all the ponies blood go cold.
There standing before them, was the tallest, largest pony like creature they had ever seen.
"Greetings ponies of Equestria, your queen has returned!" Nightmare said with zeal as she was surveying the crowd, a little bit disappointed that she saw fear in their faces.
"What have you done with Princess Celestia you creep!" Rainbow Dash said, trying to fly at Nightmare. But was help back by Applejack holding onto her tail.
"Who is she, Where is Princess Celestia!" Said some random ponies.
"Oh, I love guessing games, oh scary big bat pony, oh miss bat mare, oh the pony of shadows!" Pinky Pie said, clapping her hoofs excitedly.
"What, am I not royale enough, do you really not know who I am?" Nightmare asked, feeling confused an quickly getting irritated.
"I do, your Nightmare Moon, the mare in the moon!" Twilight yelled as she pointed at Nightmare, causing everypony to gasps loudly in shock.
"Mare in the moon, I don't remember ever being called that before." Nightmare thought, her full attention now on Twilight.
"I have gained many titles over the centuries, but I have never been called this, mare in the moon before. " Nightmare said with a curious look and a raised eyebrow.
"W-what b-but." Twilight stuttered out, quickly losing her nerve.
" Prepares I should refresh your memories, I am Nightmare Moon, the eldest sister of Celestia and Luna, ruler of the night, and Queen of Equestria!" Nightmare said, flaring her wings for dramatic effect.
"Nightmare Moon, I thought that were just bedtime stories!"
"You mean she's real?!"
"Queen, Equestria has never had a queen before." Twilight said, tilting her head to the side, confused as she stared at Nightmare.
"Only Princess Celestia and Luna have ruled Equestria." Twilight's said, lighting the spark of rage in Nightmare.
Rage overwhelmed Nightmare's mind, recalling the altered stained glass windows, the reactions of the ponies, and the words of Twilight.
As Nightmare pieced it all together, a horrible thought rose in her mind, though it was the only thing that made sense, igniting seething fury and bitterness in her like never before.
"[/ I AM NIGHTMARE MOON, THE QUEEN OF EQUESTRIA, I AM NOT A BUCKING FAIRYTALE!!! " Nightmare screamed, her voice echoed through the building like thunder.
Her double blue toned ethereal mane and tail flowed through the air, forming into an ethereal twister. Nightmare then turned into mist and flew out the building in a glittering dark blue cloud.
" HOW COULD THEY, THEY ERASED ME FROM HISTORY, THEY MADE EVERYPONY FORGET ABOUT ME!!! Nightmare thought, seething with rage as she flew into the sky.
" Wait, the elements, the elements are the only thing that can banish me to the moon again! If I destroy them, then they can't send me back to the moon, and I know where they are! " Nightmare thought, a fiendish smile spread across her face, as she headed for the Everfree forest.
In the throne room of the old castle of the three sisters.
Nightmare had gotten to the castle and held the elements in her magical grasp. She was a moment away from smashing the elements, then the throne room doors flew open.
"Nightmare, we are here to stop you!" Twilight yelled as she and her friends charged into the old castle's throne room.
"You're to late ponies, nothing can stop me now!" Nightmare said as she shattered the elements to pieces and laughed.
But then she heard the purple unicorn mare and the others talking, and then to her surprise, she saw the elements reforming.
"Impossible, I shattered them, they didn't have a trace of magic in them!!!" Nightmare thought, becoming overwhelmed with panic.
The six ponies began to levitate into the air, radiate a shining white light.
"These, these are the new bearers of the elements, does this mean that I will be imprisoned again?!!!"
" I won't go, I just got back, I just reunited with my sisters!!!" Nightmare thought, as a moment of clarity came and temporarily cleared her mind of her madness.
A familiar white light projected from Twilight and her friends at Nightmare, engulfing her in the blinding white light.
" Mother, Celestia, Luna, I'm sorry...so sorry... " Were Nightmare's last thoughts, as she faded from existence.
"We did it! " Twilight said as she cheered with her friends, feeling a rush of excitement and energy at their accomplishment.
"Yeeha!" Applejack said as as she was threw her hat in the air.
"We really did it." Fluttershy said smiling as she looked to the others.
"My that was exhilarating!" Rarity said, still astonished by what they accomplished.
"That was awesome!" Rainbow Dash cheered as she flew through the air.
"Woopee!!" Pinky Pie shouted as she threw some confetti in the air.
"Congratulations on defeating Nightmare." Luna said, teleporting into the room with Celestia.
"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna!" Twilight said excitedly, running up to them.
"It seems you made a few friends in your short time here, my pupil." Celestia said smiling as she looked to Twilight.
"Yes I did, and I couldn't have gotten through this with out them." Twilight said happily, looking at her friends.
"Where is Nightmare anyway?" Luna said, looking around for the bat alicorn.
"Oh, she vanished after we used the elements on her." Twilight said, recalling what happened to the bat alicorn.
as Twilight and the others were talking amongst themselves, still feeling the adrenaline from their battle.
They didn't noticing that Celestia and Lunahad went stiff upon hearing the news of Nightmare Moon's demise.
"Well, if it's alright with you all, why don't I teleport you all back to Ponyville, you and your friends must be tired after all of this." Celestia said calmly with a smile.
"Yes that would be nice, we're more than a little tired." Twilight said, looking to her friends nodding in agreement.
" Waaaaaauugggh!!!, Nightmare!!! "
After Twilight and her friends were gone, Luna burst into tears wailing loudly, slumping to the ground.
Celestia cried openly as well, tears pouring out as she sobbed loudly, no longer able to hold in her emotions either.
"I just, let our sister be wiped from existence, how could I have let this happen! " Celestia thought, sobbing uncontrollably, losing all strength in her legs as she collapsed beside Luna who continued wailing.
"Nightmare, she's gone!!!" Luna shouted, crying her eyes out in her hooves.
Little did they know, that Nightmare was not gone, right behind them, a glittering dark blue cloud of ethereal mist was forming from thin air.
As the glittering cloud of mist finished reforming the bat alicorns body, she no longer had her armour on.
Letting her ethereal mane and tail flow freely, as she laid unconscious on her side on the stone floor.
Without her helmet, the top of her head was visible, revealing a short spiky deep blue sapphire mane with her ethereal mane flowing from it.
" Ugh, I can finally think again, uuugghgh and everything hurts, is this our castle, where are Celestia and Luna?" Nightmare thought, as she lifted her head and looked around.
Her vision was blurry, and she had a ringing in her ear, but both were clearing up as her eyes focused on a familiar white and blue silhouette.
"Celestia, Luna?" Nightmare thought, feeling pure joy at seeing her little sisters, only to be quickly replaced with heartbreak.
*sob, sob, sob* Cried Luna.
"Nightmare I'm so, so sorry, I failed to save you ." Nightmare heard Celestia say, barely a whisper as she cried as well.
"Their crying over me, Celestia, Luna, you have nothing to be sorry for." Nightmare thought, feeling her heart break at seeing her sisters crying over her.
Carefully Nightmare got up, her legs felt like jelly as she began to walk over to them. But thanks to her special magic as bat pony, she approached them silently, trying not to alert or scare them.
Slowly, she warped her wings around both of them, giving them a much needed hug. She felt them relaxing against her large wings, slowly calming down in her embrace.
"This brings back so many memories, I used to always hug them when we got upset with each other when we were younger, I'm glad I've not lost my touch." Nightmare thought, smiling fondly as she enjoyed hugging her sisters again.
"Thanks Luna, I needed this." Celestia said smiling, wiping a tear away.
"What do you mean, I thought you were hugging me. " Luna said, opening her eyes and looking to Celestia.
Nightmare could feel their bodys go stiff and their heartbeats speeding up, as they saw a familiar large black wing on their shoulders.
Nightmare watched with amusement, as they both slowly turned their heads to look behind them.
When they saw their older sister right next to them, their eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their heads.
"Hello Tia, Lulu, I'm back. " Nightmare said weakly with a smile, her voice dry and hoarse, having not come back quite yet.
Nightmare, your back." Luna said as she cried again, only this time it was for joy, as she saw that Nightmare was her true self again.
"Yes, and it is good to see you both again". Nightmare said giving them a tighter hug.
"Your back, your really back, I thought we lost you." Celestia said, smiling as she and Luna nuzzled their older sister.
"Sorry for worrying you both, but I'm back now, and I'm not going anywhere." Nightmare said smiling as she returned the nuzzle.
They stayed like that for more than a minute, as they enjoyed the fact that they were a reunited again.
"So sisters, I would like to know what you both have been up to, and where are you living know, obviously not here anymore." Nightmare said as she gesturing around the old ruins with a hoof.
"No, we moved to a place called Canterlot, it is on the side of the ancient Mountain Skypeak, oh you will love it there Nightmare, the view is amazing! Luna said excitedly, telling Nightmare all about their new home called Canterlot.
Celestia watched joyfully as Luna told Nightmare about their home, happy that they were together again.
" She looks so much better,her eyes no longer have that madness in them, and the way she is acting, she really had returned to normal."
"Well I don't know about you two, but it is almost dawn and I am tired, why don't you show me where this Canterlot is?" Nightmare asked while yawning.
"You don't remember, you were there just an hour ago." Luna asked confused.
"I was, I don't remember, probably from getting hit with the elements, I was literally unmade by them for a few second, but I'm sure it well wear off." Nightmare said, shrugging it off like it was nothing.
"Well don't worry about it, we'll just show you around the place, so shall we be off to our home then?" Luna asked with a smile to her older sister.
"Yes let's sisters, I am feeling rather exhausted, oh and by the way Celestia, there's something I've been wondering." Nightmare said, eyeing Celestia with an odd look.
"Hmm, what's that?" Celestia asked curiously as she looked to Nightmare.
Nightmare raised a hoof, and gently poked Celestia's side, her hoof going 2 and a half inches deep when she did.
"How often are you eating cakes now a days?" Nightmare asked with a smug look on her face.
"Th-that's not important right now, let's just get home so you and Luna can get some sleep, unless you want to stay up past dawn." Celestia said, her voice sounding higher and a light blush covered her face.
"No I don't, I have never been a morning pony before, and that's not likely to change." Nightmare said, chuckling at her little sister's antics.
And with that the three sisters teleported to their new home to start there lives as a family again.
To be continued.
Author's Note
Well I hope you all like this story, it's a different take on Nightmare, and Nightmare is one of my favorite characters in mlp, hope you enjoy the story!
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
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!
Next up Nightmare is getting a visit from some familiar poines in the hospital.
Care to try and guess from the clues?
It was a quite day in Canterlot central hospital, no patients in the hospital were hurt badly.
The only thing that the hospital had to deal with most of the time, was plastic surgery mostly for the rich, or celebrities of Canterlot, and the occasional drunken partiers of the night.
But the quite atmosphere was shattered, when suddenly Celestia and Luna teleported into the hospital, right in front of the reception front desk.
With them were a few doctors, holding a few IV fluid packs in their magical grasps, hooked up to a unconscious, severely thin, shivering Nightmare Moon.
"WE NEED HELP!!! " Celestia yelled like thunder, holding up Nightmare's head as she was casting powerful healing magic on her.
While Luna was panicking and trying to wake her up, but Nightmare was completely out cold and non responsive.
Within a matter of seconds doctors, nurses, and medical staff immediately rushed on the scene like ants.
Quickly running numerous magical scans on Nightmare, with spells and medical equipment, while moving her through the hospital.
They were at first taken back that Nightmare Moon of all creatures was the patient, but they were doctors, and had a job to do.
"Is she going to be alright?"Celestia asked, worried as she watched the doctors work on Nightmare, administering medicine and checking her vital on the monitors.
When Nightmare collapsed on the floor, her body rabidly became thin and her skin became pale, turning a very light charcoal gray.
Something Celestia and Luna only saw happen only once, after the last battle to free the Crystal Empire.
When they faced the tyrannical pony Sombra, who usurped the throne, and called himself the king.
She became sick from being magical poisoned by an attack close to her heart from Sombra, when she and her sisters delivered the final blow.
Only after his defeat, did the magical poison take full effect on Nightmare, which made her collapse shortly after.
The poison had made Nightmare bedridden, nullified her ability to use magic, and made her horribly frail, weak.
She remained in a near death sickly state for three months, while the best mages and healers treated her.
And during this time, Celestia stayed with her and watched over her during the day, while Luna did at night, helping however they could.
"We have stabilized her, but If she wasn't an alicorn, she wouldn't have survived this long." Said Doctor Scope stated as he looked at Nightmare.
He was a light beige unicorn stallion, with a dark brown mane wearing a doctors coat, with a cutie mark of two red syringes in a X shape.
" What happened to her, she looks so withered." Luna said with concern, staring at the large bed her elder sister layer on.
She and Celestia were sitting beside each other on chairs, nest to the bed in the hospital room where Nightmare was.
Neither had left the room, not since their elder sister was place here once she out of the emergency room, fearing for their sister's wellbeing.
"Well, from what you've told us what happened, it seems she was hiding her condition using magic, as for what is wrong with her. " Doctor Scope said as he looked at Nightmare's med charts.
" She's severely underweight from long-term starvation, dehydration, and is showing sever signs of anemia, muscle atrophy, physical and magical fatigue, and sleep deprivation."
" To the extent that any one of these conditions alone, would be the end for any other living creature." Doctor Scope said as he looked over Nightmare's conditions with a concerned expression.
"And what caused her to throw up blood Doctor Scope, does she have, any internal damage?" Celestia asked hesitantly, fearing the answer.
"Blood, oh what she threw up wasn't blood, it was red wine and some half digested food. Although I would advise against any pony from eating raw meat, but given her food preferences you've given me."
"She'll have to wait for at least two week for her body to be recovered enough for her to be able to physically eat anything." Doctor Scope said as he gave his medical opinion.
" So, how is she doing doctor, is she going to be okay? " Celestia asked, as she and Luna looked at the doctor with worry and fear for their sister.
" Right now her body is very weak, but her vitals have been improving greatly over the last few hours, which is a very good sign. "
" She's stable, and her health is steadily improving, as things are now, she'll make a full recovery. " Doctor Scope said as he smiled at the princesses.
" Oh that is a relief to hear, she'll be okay. " Luna said as the tension and worry left her body, finally allowing herself to relax.
" Thank you for your hard work doctor, when do you think she'll wake up?" Celestia asked as she relaxed now that she knew her elder sister was going to be okay.
" Hmm, it well take quit a while for her to wake up from the sedatives, but she may wake up in the next few days." Doctor Scope said as he checked the sedative doses Nightmare was given.
" Now, if you'll excuse me princesses, I'll be on my way." Doctor Scope said, before bowing to Celestia and Luna and heading elsewhere.
As the two princesses were now alone, they directed their gaze back to their sleeping big sister
"Oh Nightmare, why did you hide your condition, why didn't you say something to us?" Celestia thought somberly, as she hugged Luna watched Nightmare's steady breathing while she slept.
"Ugh...where am I? " Nightmare thought as she opened her eyes and let out a soft groan.
Immediately she shut her eyes at the sight of bright sunlight beaming from a open curtain, lighting her horn, she shut the blends and tried to sit up.
But as soon as she tried, she felt the whole room was spinning, and slumped back down in the bed feeling nauseous.
"Where am I, what are these things?" Nightmare thought, looking around the white room, seeing all the monitors and IV fluid packs hooked up to her.
Just then, a light yellowish orange mare unicorn with a gold mane with a nurse hat came in her room.
"Oh, sorry if I woke you Princess Nightmare, how are you feeling?" Asked the pony nurse in a very sweet voice, she was smiling and had apparently gotten over her shock remarkable fast.
"I feel drained, tired, and thirsty, can I have some water please?" Nightmare asked before lightly coughing, causing her dry throat to sting.
Her coat was still a dark charcoal grey, and she was still quite thin and her eyes were completely bloodshot. With her pale bright blue eyes only making the bloodshot look that much more noticeable.
" Here you go." Said the nurse, floating a pitcher of water and a filled cup in a orange aura over to Nightmare.
But instead of taking the glass, Nightmare took the whole pitcher and the glass, grabbing them with her magic and draining them both quickly.
" Now I feel somewhat better, thank you Miss, ahh I don't think we been introduced yet." Nightmare said, getting a better look at the nurse.
She had a coat that was light bright orange, similar to actual orange juice. Her mane was bright yellow and styled in a pony tail, her cutie was wind trails around a yellow sun.
"Oh, how rude of me, I'm Nurse Sunny Breeze, but my friends call me Sunny, it's nice to meet you. Sunny breeze said, smiling cheerfully.
"Your not afraid of me, you do know I am Nightmare Moon, right?" Nightmare asked, having grown used to being feared by most ponies, except her sisters.
" Princess Celestia and Luna said you have changed, and if they say you have change, then I am inclined to believe them. "
" After all, everycreature deserves a second chance, if they are willing to take it. " Sunny breeze said confidently with a smile, as she extended her hoof out.
" Well then, it's nice to meet you Nurse Sunny . " Nightmare said, shaking Sunny's hoof, happy to meet a pony that wasn't afraid of her and was willing to befriend her.
" You are nothing like how the Mare in the Moon story portrays you, I don't know why anypony would write about you like that , you have a kind presence about you." Sunny breeze said, smiling as she checked the monitors.
" Mare in the moon story, why does that sound familiar?" Nightmare thought, trying to remember if she knew anything about it, but nothing clicked.
"What story are you talking about?" Nightmare asked curiously, wondering why she had not heard about this before.
" The story of you trying to bring eternal night, trying to take over Equestria, because you got mad that all poines were sleeping through it, that story?" Sunny breeze said looking a little perplexed.
"Why don't you tell me all about this story, it will be interesting to hear how history remembers me." Nightmare said, curious how it came to be, as well as taking this chance to know more about her new friend.
"Good morning Nightmare, rise and shine, you've got visitors who are eager to see you! " Sunny breezes said happily, and far too energetic for a pony awake at 5:30 in the morning.
During the time Nightmare had been in the hospital, she befriended Sunny breeze and others in the hospital.
Those that met her, were more than a little surprised that she was very friendly, something they were not expecting.
"Sunny we're friends, so I will not get mad at the fact you may have forgotten, a very important thing about me." Said a very irritated and groggy Nightmare from the depths of her thick blankets and pillows covering her up.
"Oh , I didn't forgot to get you extra pillows did I?" Sunny breeze asked, tapping her chin, trying to figure out the if she had forgotten anything.
"No Sunny Breeze, it's that it's 5:30 A.M, I'm a bat pony which means I'm nocturnal, my eyes and ears are extremely sensitive, and this room needs sound proofing spells on it. " Nightmare said, from underneath the many pillows that covered her head.
"Oh, I am terribly sorry for that Nightmare, and don't worry I will tell the director about your request. " Sunny breeze said softly as she adjusted the setting on the rooms dimmer switch, lowering the brightness of the lights by more than half.
" It's okay Sunny Breeze, and thank you, now you were saying I had visitors? " Nightmare asked as she uncovered her head with her double toned dark blue aura mane.
Reveling she had a short spiky sapphire blue mane, with the rest of her mane was ethereal and flowing through the air.
"Oh right, Princesses she is ready to see you, I well be down the hall of you need me." Sunny said, bowing to somepony outside the room as she left the room.
In the next moment, Celestia entered the room, and trailing behind her was a pink alicorn with a mane of pink, purple, and yellow mane, with a cutie a crystal heart.
"Good morning Tia, I was wondering when you'd finally pay me a visit, where is Luna, and who's this alicorn.
" I don't remember there being a fourth alicorn, unless, is she yours, did you finally find a special somepony well I was gone Tia? Nightmare asked curiously with a raised eyebrow and smile.
"What, no, no this is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, she prefers to be called Cadence. She is our niece, me and Luna adopted her a centurie ago. "
" Cadence dear, this is your aunt, Nightmare Moon, I thought it was time you two meet." Celestia said, introducing the young alicorn of love.
"Hello there, Auntie Nightmare, it's nice to finally meet you." Cadence said, walking up to Nightmare with a nervous smile and a hoof out.
"Hello there Cadence, it is wonderful to meet you at last." Nightmare said with a happy smile, as she gently shook Cadence's hoof.
"So how are you feeling Nightmare, you look better than the last time I saw you. " Celestia said, seeing her sister's completion looking better.
"Yes I am feeling better, but I still feel tried most of the time, and being woken up this early in the morning doesn't help me." Nightmare said yawning, giving Cadence a view of her fangs and sharp teeth, causing her to stare for a second.
"Sorry about that , Luna just retired for the day, and I came here this early so I could have a quick visit with you. "
" I'm guessing things still in an uproar at the Castle? " Nightmare asked with a raised eyebrow.
" Huha yes, but now I'm having to deal with those that thought Blueblood had poisoned you, and some of the nobles are still fussing over the changes happening. " Celestia said as she sighed softly.
" But don't worry about it Nightmare, I'll have had it taken care of before you've gotten out of the hospital. "
" Then we can rule together again, and finally spend some quality time together. " Celestia said with a smile, looking forward to such things.
" I know you've got this Tai, but I do worry about you having to still deal with all of that bureaucrat mess all by yourself." Nightmare said with concern, knowing how much of an ordeal running a nation was.
"Don't worry Nightmare, I've handle the nobles for centuries, it takes some maneuvering, but not all the nobles are crooked." Celestia said, understanding her sisters concerns.
"It is good that are some who have common sense, unlike those of the past and the ones rest I have seen." Nightmare said with a huff.
"Princess Celestia, we need to return to the castle soon, if you want to have time for breakfast and prepare for your meeting with the nobles on the royal revision at 9:30 A.m." Said a royal guard unicorn.
"Yes, yes I am on my way, Nightmare I have to go now, but why don't you and Cadence get to know one another better." Celestia said while looking to the two alicorns.
"Sure I'd love love too, hope the meeting goes well, and really, arguing about how all three of you are going to rule together again is ridiculous." Cadence said, shaking her head in disapproval.
"You and me both, me and Luna will visit again when we can Nightmare, I'll see you two later." Celestia said as she waved a wing at them.
"Bye Tia, don't push yourself too much, so Cadence, why don't you tell me about yourself." Nightmare said, getting comfortable in her bed as she leaned up on her pillows.
"Well there isn't much to tell, I am the Princess of Love, oh and I will be getting married in the near future. Cadence said smiling, bushing a bit.
"I am happy to hear that, what's their name?" Nightmare asked curiously, happy to hear that her niece had found a special somepony.
"Well, you've actually meet him before, he's Shining Armour, the...pony you... threw through a wall of Canterlot castle. " Cadence said awkwardly.
"Oh, oh I am so sorry for that, I wasn't in my right mind, nor was I in control of my own body back then, I hope there are no hard feelings." Nightmare said softly, giving a very nervous smile.
"Oh don't worry, I'm not mad at you, Celestia told me that that you were under some kind of magical influence that made you go crazy. "
" Plus Shining is alright, he's is tougher than he looks, he's the Royal Guard Captain after all." Cadence said giving Nightmare a kind smile.
"Thank you Cadence, but you only know a small part, you deserve to know the whole truth." Nightmare said looking away, feeling intense shame and guilt.
" The whole truth, what do you mean Auntie Nightmare? " Cadence asked, confused by the what the Bat Alicorn meant.
"I was, I was indeed under a magical influence that made me insane, but it was of my own making, made of potent, concentrated, negative emotional energy. "
" From thousands of years of repressed stress and emotions, stored by an emotional suppression seal and limiter that came undone, corrupting my mind and heart." Nightmare said, looking sad and ashamed.
"Why would you do that to yourself? " Cadence asked softly, stunned from what she heard, but was more worried and concerned for Nightmare.
Cadence could feel emotions her unique magic, giving her the ability to sense other creatures emotional state.
And she could feel overflowing sadness, pain, shame, and guilt radiating off of Nightmare, like a pitch black cloud of misery.
"At first... it was because of all the stress from the nobles ridiculing me and my sisters, then because I struggled to control my temper and emotions because of it. "
" When the wars happened, things got worse, the poines grew even more afraid of me, and started comparing me to Sombra, a tyrant, a monster. "
" Even after I fought for them and Equestria for so long." Nightmare said, saying the last part bitterly.
" They adored Celestia and Luna, but feared me and my night, in the end after they launched a revolt against me and endangered my sisters.
" I cut off my emotions completely to keep a cool head, but, eventually the seal broke, and I was overwhelmed by all the bottled up negative energy and emotions I had suppressed. " Nightmare explained as she recalled what she could on that day.
" And the worst part, was that I couldn't stop myself from hurting everypony I cared about, it was all my fault." Nightmare said softly, crying and shaking at the end.
Cadence's felt tears fall down her face, her heart hurting as she listened to Nightmare's words.
She could feel Nightmare's pain like it was her own, and seeing her crying and shaking, the sadness overwhelming her, sjerushed to embrace Nightmare in a comforting hug.
She could feel Nightmare shaking as she hugged her back, warping her long forlegs around her niece and place her head over her shoulder as she sobbed.
"It's okay, it's okay, Celestia and Luna don't you blame you, I don't blame you, it's okay now." Cadence said gently as she comforting the bat alicorn.
Her emotion magic confined to her what Nightmare had gone through and felt, better than any words ever could.
"Thank you Cadence, this means a lot, you have emotion magic don't you, that is a rare gift to be born with. "
" Even me and my sisters needed to learn and practice it before we could use it. Only Luna can use it well, but she can only use it during her dream walks." Nightmare said as she tightened her hug on Cadence.
" It has helped me many times throughout my life, and ultimately lead me to discover my talent to help others find love. "
" In the end, it was the reason how I became an alicorn, are you ok now?" Cadence asked, breaking the hug to look at Nightmare.
"I am now thanks, I am back with my sisters and you now, thanks to those brave ponies that used the elements of harmony,I am myself again and with my family now."
" I'd like to thank that purple mare and her friends, do you by chance know who they are, I forgot to ask Celestia about them." Nightmare said as she straightened up in her bed, feeling much better, like her heart was lighter.
"Oh, you mean Twilight and her friends, that's right I heard from Celestia that she and her friends were the ones who faced you with the elements and cured you. "
" I am sure she would like to get to know the real you very much. "Cadence said smiling.
" Though I don't know how she'll take the news of Nightmare being back again, I'll leave that to auntie Celestia. " Cadence thought, hoping the young mare wouldn't overreact to much.
" I can ask Celestia if she can get Twilight and her friends to visit you, but it would be best to wait until your healed up." Cadence said as Nightmare looked at herself, examining her current state of her body.
"Your right, better to have them see me when I am back on my hoofs, it well give me time to know how Equestria has changed over the years." Nightmare said as she drank from her water glass.
"Oh, and they are from Ponyville,... you may want to give them sometime to get over the impression you left on them. " Cadence said, recalling what she heard had happened there.
Oh, right, in my madness I went to their hometown and terrorized everypony that lives there, great, just great. "
" How do I even say sorry after I scared and probably traumatized them all for the rest of their lives? " Nightmare said dryly, doubtful that there was such a way.
" Hey don't worry, Twilight is Celestia's personal student and is very smart, I am sure Celestia can clear things up." Cadence said, hoping Celestia could make such a thing work.
" Huha, knowing Tia she could, she was my representative in negotiations with the Dragon kingdoms ruler, Dragon lord Magma. "
" If she can convince a dragon as stubborn as him to be peaceful and trade with us, she can arrange a little thing like this." Nightmare said, confident in Celestia's diplomatic skills.
"I am sure she can, and I know Twilight, I used to foalsit her when she was little, I am sure you and her friends will get along well." Cadence said, remembering what Celestia had told her what Twilight had learned from her friends from her friendship reports.
"I hope so Cadence, I hope so." Nightmare said, hoping for the best.
"I wonder what kind of poines they are, I need to ask Tia and Lulu about them the next time they visit me." Nightmare thought as she leaned back in her bed, looking forward to meeting this Twilight and her friends.
"Now, why don't I get you a TV and remote in here, a radio only does so much, plus you can get more information from it about how Equestria has changed." Cadence said as she was about to leave the room.
" What's a radio, you mean that enchanted steel music box over there?" Nightmare asked confused, pointing at a modern radio playing a jazz song.
"That's a radio, it's a device that plays music from different stations, wait Celestia and Luna haven't gotten you acquainted with the modern stuff of Equestria yet?" Cadence asked surprised with this news.
"No, what's a TV?" Nightmare asked as she looked up from the radio she was messing with, using her magic to see how it worked.
"Oh boy, where to even start? " Cadence asked aloud, realizing the she was going to be giving a very long history lesson, and was glad she brought her iPad in her saddle bag.
Later that day in Celestia's study
"Oh dear, how to ask without giving away anything?" Celestia said to herself, staring at a blank piece of paper on her desk.
After Cadence came to tell of Nightmare's request, Celestia pondered how she was going to ask Twilight to bring her friends over to visit her sister Nightmare.
She was going to need a lot of coffee for the long night head, and the daunting task before her.
Canterlot central hospital 3 months later
It was late afternoon, when the hospital front doors slid open, as Celestia and Luna walked out of the hospital, with a healthy Nightmare beside them.
"Ahh it's good to be out at last." Nightmare said as she stretched her neck and back with several pops being heard.
"Didn't they let you move around Nightmare, you act like you haven't moved in days." Celestia said looking up at Nightmare as she stood up to her full height.
"They did but, they said I couldn't push myself to much, so I didn't get to move as much as I wanted too. But I am just glad to be discharged early." Nightmare said stretching her wings to their full length, doing a few flaps to test them.
"I'm just glad your better, so shall we be on our way." Luna said smiling, glad to see her sister happy and healthy.
"Yep let's get back home, night court well be starting in a few hours and I need to be briefed on what been happening in the last 1200 years. We've got a lot of work to do but I am just glad to be back with you two." Nightmare said as she warped a large blue tinted black wing around each of her sisters in a hug, like she did with them long ago.
"And we wouldn't have it any other way right LuLu?" Celestia said smiling as she leaned into the hug.
"Indeed Tia." Luna said smiling as well, and the three sisters teleported to Canterlot castle, ready to face the future together.
It was a warm and sunny afternoon in Ponyville as everypony was going about their own business, the Ponyville weather team was fixing shade cover for the town, with a rainbow trail zipping through the sky.
All the while Twilight was rummaging through her books leaving stacks all over the golden oaks library.
"Twilight do you really think that now is the best time to look for a book, Pinky is going to be here any minute to go to Fluttershy's cottage, what are you looking for anyway?" Spike asked as he picked up another stack of books Twilight had made.
"I am looking for that book, the one on gardening Fluttershy was looking for yesterday. I can't seem to find it, ahh found it! Twilight said holding a light green book with "101 ways to make healthy garden soil. " in her aura.
"What does she need that for?" Spike asked, raising an scaly eyebrow upon seeing the book.
"She said she wants to improve the soil in her vegetable garden, she's expanding the size of her garden to have more space to plant more stuff for Angel and the others animals to have more to eat." Twilight said as she put the book in her saddle bag.
Suddenly the libraries front doors burst open, with Pinky pie bouncing in like a pogo stick.
"Heya Twilight you ready to go Fluttershy's yet, I've got these super duper tasty mini strawberry cheesecakes for us and the animal to try, oh I know that Angel and the rest will love them!" Pinky Pie said bouncing around Twilight.
"Hey Pinky and yes I am just about ready to go, finally found that book Fluttershy wanted, so ready?"Twilight said as she put the book in her saddle bag.
"Yeparony let's-
*Belch!*
Just as they were about to head out the door Spike was holding a scroll with Celestia's after he burped out green flames.
"A letter from Princess Celestia, wonder what it could be."Twilight thought as she picked up the scroll in magic, her curiosity growing as she read the letter.
[iDear Twilight
"I hope this letter finds you at a good time, Me and Luna well be celebrating the recovery of a pony that is very much dear to us on Friday at 5:00 p.m, she is as close as family to us and has recently been released from the hospital.
Her name is Moony , she has been all over Equestria and beyond, she has a lot in common with you and your friends, she likes books, sports, animals and fashion. I am sad to say she doesn't have many friends, but she is wonderful to be around.
After hearing about you and your friends and what you've done since your time in Ponyville from me and Luna, she would like to meet you all.
I would be delight if you and your friends could come visit us and meet her, it would be best if you come at around 4:30 p.m at Canterlot castle, I'm sure you all well get along well, I hope to see you all soon."
Sincerely Your teacher Princess Celestia.
P.S : "She can be a little shy around others."
Twilight read the letter scanning the letter with focus about this pony that was apparently so close to Princess Celestia and Luna that she had never even heard of before.
"Who could this be?" Twilight asked perplexed as she finished reading.
"What does it say Twily?" Pinky asked as she bounced over to Twilight.
"Princess Celestia is inviting me and the girls to come to Canterlot and meet a close friend of theirs. From the sound of it they recently got out of the hospital, the date for it is this Friday at 4:30. I'll have to see if the others can come if their not too busy. " Twilight said as she put the letter in her saddle bag.
"Oh, sounds like fun why don't you take the strawberry cakes and book to Fluttershy and I'll tell the rest of the girls and met up with you at Fluttershy's place in a few, sound good?" Pinky asked bouncing with excitement.
" Sounds like a plan see you and the girls there, Spike you want to come?" Twilight asked heading out the door with Pinky.
"Sure better than picking up books all day." Spike said as he stretched his back after moving another stack of books.
After Pinky left the library she was humming as she hopped through Ponyville, she spotted Rainbow talking to Appalejack as they left the Sweet tooth bakery.
"I told you these apple muffins would be good AJ." Rainbow said as she took a bite out of her muffin.
"Well they an't Sweet apple acres but them Appleoosa apples are pretty good too, I should try making some apple muffins next time to sell." Appalejack said as she finished her muffin.
"Heya two whatcha doing?" Pinky asked popping in front of them.
"Nothing just got done with weather work for the week and got some muffins, something up Pinky?" Rainbow asked, taking another bite of her muffin.
"Twilight got a letter from Princess Celestia that sounded important, and she was wondering if you want to meet up at Fluttershy's place to talk to about it." Pinky said bouncing excitedly in place.
"I just got off of work so I'm free what about you AJ." Rainbow said finishing her muffin.
"Chores are done for the day so I reckon I can, just got to tell big Mac then I'll be over in a jiffy see ya then." Applejack said waving to friends as she headed back home.
"Great see ya there! Said Pinky zooming off to the Carasol boutique.
*ring* "Rarity you in here!" Pinky called out as the store bell rang.
"Be there in a minute Pinky." Rarity said from the back of the store.
The Carasol boutique was filled with mannequins dressed in many clothes of a variety of styles with pieces of clothes on others left unfinished that Rarity was working on.
Rarity came from the back of the store, carrying a glittering deep purple scarf for one of her orders in her aura as she walked in the display room.
"Hello Pinky it's good to see you but our weekly lunch isn't till next Wednesday, has something happened darling?" Rarity asked as Pinky gave her a huge, little did pinky know that Rarity was blushing for a moment during the hug.
"Oh, yes something did happen, Twilight got a letter from Princess Celestia and wants us to meet up at Fluttershy's, I came to see if you want to come, they'll be strawberry cheesecake." Pinky said wiggling her eyebrows with a playful tone.
"Well today business has been rather slow and that does sound delightful, let me close up shop and we can be on our way." Said Rarity as she used her magic to move the clothes, mannequins, design drawings in a whirlwind of motion as she put everything in its place.
"Alright we can get going." Rarity said putting up the last of her stuff.
"Wowza that was fast, that's got to be the third most quickest clean up I've ever seen." Pinky said amazed at Rarity's speed.
"I always try to be as organized as possible with materials, just as Twilight is with books." Rarity said smiling with confidence.
"Oh it's so nice to have you all here, would any of you like some herbal tea?" Said Fluttershy balancing a tea set with a hoof and wing.
"Thank you Fluttershy." Twilight said as she took a tea cup and and a slice of cake for herself.
"So Twi what's this about a letter from Princess Celestia you want to chat about? " Applejack said as Fluttershy poured their tea.
"Well Princess Celestia sent me a letter inviting us all to Canterlot to visit them at the castle, and there's this pony that is a close friend of her and Luna's. Her name is Moony, she sounds like a professional explorer the way Princess Celestia talked about her."
She mentioned that Moony has been in the hospital for sometime and recently got discharged and they want us to meet them." Twilight said as she brought out the letter and passed it around.
"Oh my, I'm glad she's feeling better." Fluttershy said as she poured her tea.
"Well she sounds like a nice pony, I would certainly like to meet a friend of the Princess's, when does she say to visit?" Rarity said taking a sip of her tea.
"She says she would like us to be their at 4: 30 p.m, but it's strange? Twilight said as she looked at the letter again.
"What is it darling? " Rarity asked as she took a slice of strawberry cheesecake.
"What I can't figure out is why so late in the day?" Twilight asked taking a sip of her tea
"The Princesses schedule could be busy, or this Moony could be planning to go back home soon, that might explain the odd time." Rarity said looking at the letter again. " They may even be a bat pony, so that would mean this is pretty early for them." Rarity said looking over the words.
"Well can everypony come or is anypony to busy?" Twilight asked looking at her friends.
"Sure I can the Cakes well be out of town with the kids visiting some family." Said Pinky eating two slices of the Cakes she brought.
"I'll have to run it by Granny Smith, but I can come, apple bucking season won't be for another month." Applejack said with a shrug.
"Yay I can come, she sounds pretty cool."said Rainbow stretching out her wings.
"Sure but I'll have to check to make sure Angle will have enough food before I can go". Fluttershy said as she put some honey in her tea.
"I can take care of Angle and the others while you all gone to Canterlot." Said Spike eating a cake.
"Alright then we'll met up at Ponyville station on Friday at around 3:15 sound good." Twilight said as she looked to her friends .
She was met with nods and agreements from the others as she began to write a letter to the princess.
Dear Princess Celestia
"Me and my friends would be glad to come and see you and Luna, and would be delighted to meet your friend Moony.
She sounds like a nice pony, me and my friends would like to meet her and well be leaving Ponyville will arrive at Canterlot station at around 4:30 see you soon."
Your faithful student Twilight Sparkle.
As the train pulled into Canterlot station in the mountain city of Canterlot with the the sun shining light yellow light on the ancient mountain side city.
As the doors opened Twilight and her friends step out onto the Canterlot train station, filled with activity of ponies coming and going.
"Ah Canterlot always looks lovely during this time of the day during summer." Rarity said admiring the sun's glow off of the mountains.
"It sure does, so Twilight do we head straight to Canterlot castle? Asked Fluttershy worried that they were arriving unannounced.
"Yeah we head straight there since Princess Celestia and Luna have invented us, the guards and staff well be expecting us so theirs no problem." Twilight said reassuring her friend.
"Well that's good to hear I wonder how long this Moony is going to be here, she sounds like an exciting character. Are you sure you haven't heard of her before Twilight?" Rarity asked looking over to Twilight.
"Not at all, which has had me wondering who is she, where has she been this whole time, why was she in the hospital, and why does she want to meet us all of a sudden? " Twilight asked, looking to each of her friends.
" She probably wants to meet us because we're awesome and because we go on amazing adventures. Who wouldn't want hear about cool stuff like that Twi! " Rainbow said confident as she flew over and landed in front of the group.
"Well what are we waiting for let's mozy on over there already!" Pinky said bouncing in the air with a big smile.
As Twilight and her friends got closer to the towering white and gold castle that was Canterlot castle they saw a group of fifteen armed royal guards at the security check point in front of the doors. They stopped as one of the guards, a large light blue stallion unicorn wearing a decorated helmet of a lieutenant approached them. "Twilight Sparkle and company I presume? The guard said with a deep gruff voice.
"Yes mister?" Twilight asked a little nervous at the guards voice.
"Keen Sight ma'am, okay you and your friends are to go through the doors behind us and a member of the castle staff well meet you in the castle front lobby. They will take you to the Princesses." Said the guard pointing to the large golden doors of the castle.
As Keen sight approached the doors with Twilight and her friends behind him, he flared his horn with magic and on command the large golden castle doors opened for them as they walked to the castle.
As they entered the castle they saw a lavish and large reception hall leading to a lobby with luxury chairs, coaches, and decorated wooden furniture, with several servants walking around cleaning the castle.
"Ahem, Twilight Sparkle and friends?" asked a light Carmel pony with a butter cream mane, wearing a maid uniform.
"Yes we are, Princess Celestia and Luna invited us." Said Twilight wondering how she missed a pony approached them.
" Yes, the Princesses are waiting in the royal garden having tea, now follow me." Said the maid as she began to lead them through the castle.
After some time they arrived at the entryway to the gardens, they were greeted by Princess Celestia walking up to them showing her usual smile. "Here they are Princess Celestia your student Twilight Sparkle and her friends, have a good time in the garden." Said the maid with a short bow.
"Thank you Malzy." Celestia said thanking Malzy as she smiled as she saw Twilight and the others
"Your welcome Princess Celestia." Malzy said with a smile as she bowed before she turned to leave.
"Princess Celestia it's so good to see you." Twilight said walking up and hugging Celestia.
"Hello Twilight now are you and your friends doing?" Celestia happily returning the hug, lingering for a few moments.
"Me and Luna are back in the corner where the rose bushes are with Moony, she is eager to meet you all." Celestia said breaking the hug and walking down a path into the garden.
"So this Moony, how do you and Princess Luna know her Princess Celestia, if you don't mind me asking." Rarity with a hint of curiosity in her voice.
"Not at all, she is dear to me and Luna and we have known her since we were little. In fact she practically raised me and Luna. She has been there for us in both good and bad times, she is very dear to us." Celestia said smiling as they walked into the garden.
"Wait when you and Luna were little, raised you and Luna, how is that possible?!" Twilight asked, feeling utterly confused, her friends were feeling just as confused the as her.
"Well to tell you all the truth you've all have met her before, though I wish your first meeting with her was under better circumstances. But that is why I invited you and your friends here to meet her and get to know the real Moony, or as you all know her better as, Nightmare Moon." Celestia said as they saw a table come into view.
Luna was sitting and talking to a much bigger and familiar blue tinted black alicorn. As Twilight and her friends came to a halt, they stood there stunned at what they were seeing. Here was Nightmare Moon, talking to Luna, in the castle gardens, having tea and snacks.
Without her helmet and armour, they could see the family resemblance, Nightmare looked like a older more mature looking version of Luna, and was 1/3rd taller than Celestia.
She was wearing her royal regalia, it was similar to Luna's but was made of pale blue silver and had slight differences in the designs.
A second later Nightmare looked to them, noticing them for the first time since they arrived.
"Hello there, you must be Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow dash, Rarity, Appalejack, Fluttershy, and Pinky pie right? " Nightmare asked as she greeted the stunned six.
" I thought I recognized you all from back then." Nightmare said as she remembered the fuzzy images from before getting hit with the elements of harmony.
"I would like to thank-
"NIGHTMARE'S BACK?!!! Nightmare was suddenly interrupted, by the sudden yelling of a panicked Twilight.
"We don't have the elements!" Twilight yelled as she powered her horn to attack.
"Eeep! Fluttershy screamed diving behind Rarity's tail for cover.
"Bring it on Nightmare!" Rainbow said as she flew at Nightmare.
" Well so much for that. " Nightmare thought, wishing she didn't half expect this to happen.
Nightmare reacted on instinct, turning her body ethereal just before a magic blast went through her chest and right after that, Rainbow zoomed through her head.
"Wait, stop she isn't trying to bring eternal night!" Luna said afraid they might get hurt, but Twilight and the others were to focused and too panicked to listen.
"I mean no harm just listen-
Suddenly Pinky popped fro.out of nowhere in front of Nightmare with her party cannon.
"where did that come from?" Nightmare thought as she turned into her mist form as a blast of confetti and cake batter phased through her harmlessly.
"I got her!"Yelled Applejack as she threw her rope around Nightmare's neck, pulling on her hard with the rope.
Nightmare just stood there, staring at Applejack, with a " Are you kidding me? " look on her face.
"What in tarnation?! " Applejack said, unable to move Nightmare an inch as she used all her strength to pull.
"What's this pony made out of, its like trying to move a mountain! "Appalejack thought just before Nightmare cut the rope with a feather on her wing, "Ugh! " went Applejack falling on her rump with a thud.
From behind her Nightmare could hear Rainbow flying at her, Nightmare decided to turn into her mist form just before the impact.
As she passed through, Nightmare grabbed Rainbow in her magic and held her in front of her after she reformed her body. " Listen I am trying to- Nightmare tried to explain but was, interrupted once more.
"We need to get the elements!" Yelled Twilight, clearly in full panic mode as she flared her horn with magic, causing it to spark with purple energy as she tried to teleport the elements to them.
"LISTEN TO ME!!" Nightmare yelled, her voice echoed through the garden as she grabbed all six of them with the her ethereal mane and sat them down in front of her.
"I am trying to thank you for saving me! " Nightmare said annoyed as she leaned down to look them in the face.
"Huh?! " Yelled six very confused ponies.
"Huh?!" Said six very confused ponies.
"I said thank you for saving me and stopping me from bringing eternal night." Nightmare said again in a much calmer tone. She sat back in her chair and poured herself a cup of tea.
As Twilight and her friends sat there stunned at what they heard from Nightmare. The same Nightmare that appeared before them and was bent on bringing eternal.
Was now thanking them for stopping her, and drinking tea with Celestia and Luna.
"Saving you what, we stopped you from taking over Equestria, why she even here?! " Twilight said looking to Celestia and Luna, trying and failing to break her magical bindings.
"You see Twilight, Nightmare was not herself back when you all first met her, she is very friendly once you get to know her." Celestia said smiling and explaining to them as she tried to calm them down.
"If she's so friendly, why hasn't she let us go yet?" Rainbow said with an angry tone. Pointing out Nightmare's magic grasp was still around then, only for them to vanish a moment later.
" There you go, now let's talk and get to know each other better. " Nightmare said smiling, trying not to seem scary or threatening to them.
"Yes let's, our sister Nightmare would like apologize, and for you all to hear her side of the story." Luna said as she pulled out six additional chairs for the large wooden table.
"Wait you said she was not herself, what do you mean she attacked us, tried to bring eternal night, what's going on?! " Twilight said still in panic mode, frantically trying to make sense of the situation,
"Yeah she seemed plum set on her intent to bring eternal night, and didn't seem to want to talk then." Applejack said, finding this whole thing hard to believe.
"Huha she sure was, I didn't even get to throw the party I had planned." Pinky said nodding her head.
"S-she was quit a bit mean when she first arrived, and I can't imagine what would have happened to the animals without the sun. " Fluttershy said timidly as she poked her head out from behind Rarity's tail.
" I am awfully sorry for terrorizing you all, I was not in control of myself back then. That is what I want to explain." Nightmare said as she tried to convey her regret through her eyes.
" I-I'm sure you didn't mean to though." Fluttershy squeaked out, retreating back to her hiding spot upon seeing Nightmare eyes land on her.
" Oh come on, I know I look intimidating but I'm doing my best here, I already feel bad enough! " Nightmare thought, feeling worse after seeing she was still scaring them.
" She does seem sincere y'all." Applejack said feeling the honesty in her voice and seeing the look in Nightmare's eyes.
"I agree with Applejack, all she is asking for is a second chance and I think we should hear her out at least. " Rarity said placing a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.
"Ok, what you think girls? Twilight said looking to rest of her friends.
"Yeah I'm cool with this Twi." Rainbow said nonchalantly with a shrug.
"Yeah, I can always plan another party, so no more frowny faces here! " Pinky said cheerfully, before jumping in her seat.
"So now that that's over with, tea?" Nightmare asked, raising a teapot with her magic.
As Twilight and her friends sat down with the three royal sisters at the table, they could feel a thick sense of unease in the air. All of them were feeling awkward as they were having tea with a former enemy, Nightmare in particular was feeling very uncomfortable.
"She looks so nervous". Fluttershy thought as she stole a glance at Nightmare.
Nightmare looked as calm as can be on the outside as she sipped her tea. But Fluttershy was not fooled by her act, she had gotten good at telling a creatures emotional state from carrying for animals for so long.
"So Nightmare... what happened?" Twilight asked delicately, noticing Nightmare's behavior.
Celestia and Luna looked at Nightmare, ready to stop her if she got too angry, knowing that the emotional wounds had barely began to heal.
But they were also ready comfort her if she got too emotional from this, not wanting a repeat of what happened when they first visited her in the hospital.
When Nightmare first woke up in the hospital, she instructing one of her guards on watch to send a message to her sisters to visit her, and that she needed to talk with them.
When she first tried to tell them what happened to her, to put it mildly, she had a full blown emotional breakdown.
Which shocked them greatly, for they never saw her so emotional vulnerable before, she began crying and getting more and more upset as she went on recounted what she had done.
Reaching the point to were she simple cried in her hoofs, only being able to say sorry over and over again. Celestia and Luna did the only thing they could think of, they hugged her in a tender embrace, letting her know they were there for her.
Nightmare hugged them back, wrapping her forlegs and wings around them, not letting go for a minute or so. She was still crying, but was smiling as she found that their roles had been reversed.
They were comforting her liked she did for them when they were sad or upset.
" All this time I was the one who had to be strong and protect them, now their the ones comforting me, how ironic. " Nightmare thought while feeling relived that there were no hard feelings between them.
Celestia and Luna knew she was her old self again, but it was very clear to them that she was far from okay.
.
Upon being asked the question Nightmare's face became blank, showing no emotions. A blank look that she used when trying to control her emotions, similar to talking deep breaths to calm down. Making all present more than a little nervous as to what she might do.
Twilight and her friends readied themselves, not knowing how she would react. Though Celestia and Luna were more worried that she would have another breakdown than anything else. Then after a few seconds she looked up at Twilight's group with a sad and pained look.
" Huuhaaa, that...is a long...and painful story young ones, and it is not easy for me to tell." Nightmare said with a long sigh, looking looked up in the sky with a distant look, like she was remembering something long ago.
After another long pause she started telling the grim and tragic events, leading to her going mad and being banishment to the moon.
After what seemed like hours, with the help of Celestia and Luna explaining and adding in details Nightmare had forgotten, due her still having a little bit of memory loss, she told her story.
Nightmare started out telling them that she was Celestia and Luna's older sister, and queen of Equestria after the three of them debated who should lead. Then she told them how she and her sisters had built and ruled Equestria together.
She went on telling what they accomplished throughout history, smiling as she remembered the fun adventures they went on.
She went on explaining how and why she suppressed her emotions, being driven to the decision because of the overwhelming stress and frustration she was going through. From dealing with the wars from multiple fronts, to the berating, slander, and schemes of the nobles, and from the public against her and her sisters and everyone they were associated with.
She said It was simply to much for her to keep a sane and level head, and she knew after dealing with it for so long, she realized she was cracking under the pressure.
But didn't tell anypony about it, because she didn't want it to be known and having them worry about her, especially her sisters.
She explained that she devised a magical emotion limiter in her mind to suppress and regulate her emotions to keep her calm and collected.
However as time went on more and more stress and frustration built up in her, and as a result the emotional seal kept suppressing the excess emotions in it.
Which resulted in the seal wearing out and breaking, releasing centuries of bottled up negative emotions into her heart and mind, making her go insane.
She ended her story with her time trapped on the moon and up till her return back to Equestria.
"It's a miracle that she's back to her old self, and that she found it in her heart to forgive us. " Celestia thought as she looked to Luna with a gloomy expression.
Luna looked back at Celestia with the same look, they couldn't even imagine what Nightmare went through.
"Being a prisoner in her own mind, having her own thoughts and personality drowned out by overwhelming negative emotions. Constantly flooding her mind, amplifying her anger to the point of being stripped of reason. Then being left on the moon with only her thoughts in a void of silence, how awful." Celestia and Luna thought, as Nightmare began to continue after pausing to take a sip of her tea and refill her cup.
Nightmare left out as much details about the many wars she and her sisters fought in as she could, so as not to reopen old wounds for her or her sisters.
"My sisters and I fought so Equestria could be at peace and it is, there is no need for those gruesome times to be retailed." Nightmare thought, knowing that Celestia and Luna didn't want to share such grim and dark stories of war as well.
"Ahh you poor dear, I'm so sorry we were so afraid of you, it wasn't your fault." Fluttershy said gently, feeling sympathy for the bat alicorn.
She flew over and hugged Nightmare's neck with both her forlegs, completely forgetting her fear of Nightmare in a second.
"I'm afraid it was my fault Fluttershy, but it's nice to hear you forgive me." Nightmare said returning the hug a bit hesitantly.
"You were going through a rough time darling, between the stress of ruling, the fighting, and the persecution you were facing, its no wonder you had a emotional breakdown. No pony should have to go through that, and frankly somepony should have notice you were struggling, no offense
"None taken, you have a point there Rarity, we should have seen that something was wrong, but unfortunately Nightmare is really good at hiding how she feels." Celestia said as sipped her tea, giving Nightmare a look.
"I had to, between all that was going on I had to keep calm to make competent decisions, plus every creature around me was terrified of me. And the last thing I wanted was to make you both worry about me. Getting angry and acting on it would only make everypony more afraid of me, my looks didn't help either." Nightmare said with a huff, probing her head with a hoof as she leaned on the table.
"How so, you have a stunning figure and great looks darling, I don't now how anypony could not see that. " Rarity said, finding it hard to believe.
" Now that she's out of her armour she's stunning, she has a figure that beauty models dream of." Rarity thought, amazed at how Nightmare looked.
"Besides my razor sharp teeth, fangs, and eyes, most saw me as cold and harsh, but thank you Rarity I appreciate that." Nightmare said smiling at Rarity's kind words.
"Well I hope you realize that you can share with us how your feeling Nightmare, we always will be there for you. " Celestia said smiling as she hugged her with a wing.
"We're always going to be, just please don't lock your heart up again, that is what we fear the most for you. " Luna said as she hugged her wing as well.
"I won't let that happen again sisters, and I'll be sure to be more forthcoming. " Nightmare said smiling as she looked at her sisters.
"So how did the mare in the moon story come to exist? If Nightmare Moon was the queen of Equestria back then, how did that happen?" Twilight asked, a bit overwhelmed by Nightmare's stories, and the fact Nightmare was driven to suppress and limit her emotions.
"Yeah, how did you become a myth in the first place?". Rainbow asked blatantly, raising a valid question.
"My sisters would know more about that than I would." Nightmare said looking, over to Celestia and Luna, turing the question to them. She already had a pretty good idea what their reasons were though.
"Well you see, Luna and I didn't want Equestria to only remember Nightmare as a madmare tyrant. We hid what she had done while she was under the magical induced insanity. Which lead to ponies forgetting about her after a few centuries. " Celestia said sadly, being reminded of their failure to help Nightmare, which lead to her sister becoming a fairytale.
"And to be honest me and Celestia didn't know what had really happened to her at the time. Overtime knowledge of her faded and what was still known of her became the Mare in the Moon story. But over time it was changed from what it was originally from and turned it into a fairytale. Again we are very sorry Nightmare." Luna said, apologizing a she placed her hoof on Nightmare's.
"Huha, like I have already said it's ok as much as I don't like being reduced to a scary story, I wouldn't want to be remembered as a monster either." Nightmare said looking to her sisters with understanding.
" I've had more than enough of every creature fearing me already, hopefully that will change now. " Nightmare thought feeling a sense of hope as she looked at new element bears.
"Well I think we all owe you an a apology Nightmare, we misjudged you." Twilight said sincerely.
"True that." Applejack said smiling in agreement, her other friends nodded as well.
"Well I'm glad to hear that now, why don't you all tell me about yourselves. " Nightmare said gesturing to Twilight and her friends.
"Well as I'm sure Celestia has told you I'm her personal student and am now living in Ponyville. I live in the Golden oak library, and my friends and I are the beares of the elements of harmony." Twilight said smiling as she told about her meetings her friends on her first day there.
"Ahh, a talent for magic, I bet they don't teach what they did when I ruled. If you ever want to learn some really unique and advance magic let me know. I may be able to even teach you some of my specialties like elemental, ethereal, or shadow magic." Nightmare said offering to pass on her knowledge to the magic prodigy.
"Shadow magic, isn't that dark magic? Twilight said worried as she remembering what she read about dark magic. How it corrupted and twisted those it effected.
"Huha, I see that knowledge of such magic has not been maintained, I'll have to fix that." Nightmare thought as she looked at the six ponies staring at her.
" Twilight the term dark magic refers to types of magic outside of the normal categories of magic. Like shadow magic or chaos magic, shadow magic is just manipulating shadows, and chaos magic just has the power to change things from what they are naturally. It isn't evil by nature but like any kind of power, it can be misused. Their have been those who have made magic and spells designed for ill intent." Nightmare said, imparting her wisdom on magic.
She remembered her fights with Discord, Sombra, Tirek, and a few other foes from her past, though most of them she had personally slayed.
"If not for my sisters I would have beheaded that wretched centaur after we defeated him back then. After all he had done, he deserved nothing less, but my sisters convinced me a life sentence in Tartarus was better. "
And Scorpan did ask us to spare him if we could, but creatures like him don't change. " Nightmare though bitterly.
"Oh,oh,oh! My turn, I'mPonyville'spartyplannerandIworkatthebakerySugarcubeCorner. Sinceyour firsttimetoPonyvillewasn'tsogood,howaboutIthrowyouapartywhenyoucomevisit?Ohwhat'syour favoritefood,cake,muffins,cookies,drink,music,whatkindofpartydoyoulikeWhenareyougoingtobecomingto Ponyville?" Pinky Pie said in rabid succession, smiling widely as she looked at Nightmare.
Surprisingly Nightmare could easily make out what she had said, thanks to her extraordinary sharp hearing.
"I would like that Pinky Pie as for what I like, I like various kinds of meat and sweets. My favorites are red velvet cake with pecans, white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, banana muffins, and Apple sweet rolls. As for drinks and music I like a good wine and scotch, though I do like root beer floats too. I like classic music but I've grown fond of jazz music." Nightmare said smiling nervously at them.
"No problem I can only fix sweets though, I hope that's okay." Pinky Pie said smiling happily, seemingly unfazed hearing that Nightmare was carnivorous.
"Of course, though are you all okay that I that eat meat?" Nightmare asked surprised by how well they took the news.
"None with me, Gummy my pet alligator likes to eat fish and eggs so it's no big deal." Pinky Pie said remembering her little gator buddy.
"Oh no, I'm around a lot of animals like wolfs, hawks, and bears too, so I'm used to it. Most of them like fish and I can easily get them from a river near by." Fluttershy said going over the carnivorous animals she cares for.
"Oh wow that sounds nice, you must be really good with animals, unfortunately I never was." Nightmare said smiling with a bit of saddens.
"Oh I'm sorry to hear that, how about I show you where I live and we can see about fixing that, animals like to come by my cottage." Fluttershy asked cheerfully, though sadden that Nightmare thought that.
"Thank you I'd like that." Nightmare said looking forward to seeing some animals who won't be scared her.
"So what about you Rainbow dash, I hear your the weather manager of Ponyville and a very skilled flyer." Nightmare said smiling at the cyan Pegasus.
"Yep, I make sure to see about the weather and make sure it gets done right, lots of ponies count on me and my weather team to see about it." Rainbow said smiling proudly.
"Well it's good to hear that your dedicated to your job, that is a good quality for a pony. Especially one who plans to join the Wonderbolts, I wish you good luck with that Rainbow. " Nightmare said, smiling at Rainbow, seeing a bit of herself in rainbow mare.
"Thanks I've been dreaming of joining them since I was little, I'm not the best flyer in Ponyville for nothing." Rainbow said smiling confidently.
"You said you like apple sweet rolls, you should try some made from my family. We make other things with apple's. My family runs Sweet Apple acres, it's right outside of town, we also make the best cider in Ponyville." Applejack said while enjoying a slice of apple pie.
"That sounds lovely, a family that works together , reminds me of when Celestia, Luna, and me worked together when we ruled Equestria. I'd like to stop by your farm Applejack when I visit, perhaps you can show me around and maybe I can try some of your cider. " Nightmare said as she remembered something.
"Sweet Apple acres, why does that sound like a name I've heard before, oh now I remember! " Nightmare thought remembering a light gold pony with a dark red mane with a gold Apple cutie mark.
" Would your family happen to have an ancestor named Sweety Apple by chance?" Nightmare asked curiously.
"I'm not to sure I've heard of her before. Though if their apart of the Apple family Granny Smith might know, I'll have to ask her when I get back. " Applejack said puzzled by the name.
"Excuse me but in Celestia's letter said you like fashion and art right?" Rarity asked remembering it being mentioned.
"Yes I do, but I'm quite picky on what I wear, as for art I do have an eye for such things, but not typical art. " Nightmare said thinking of all the things that interested her.
"Like abstract art?" Rarity asked curious about her taste in art.
"I do have a few paintings but weapons, armour, magical items, and statues are what I like to collect." Nightmare said thinking back on all the stuff she collected in her travels.
"That sounds cool, where did you keep them?" Rainbow said amazed as she pictured all the possible things in Nightmare's collection.
"Well I used to keep them in my room in our old castle, do you know where my things are now sisters?" Nightmare asked looking over to Celestia and Luna.
"Well after things had settled down back then, we put your stuff in storage in a vault here in Canterlot castle." Celestia said, secretly smiling as Luna and her had planned a surprise for Nightmare.
"You'll have to show me where when my room is finished." Nightmare said looking forward to having her own room.
"So Rarity are you a professional hair designer, your mane looks well done." Nightmare said looking at Rarity's purple curls.
" Thank you, I'm good with hair. But I'm a fashion designer. I run a Boutique in Ponyville and though I don't know much about metal work your armour looked exquisite. " Rarity said remembering the astoundingly well crafted armour.
" I'd really like to make you a dress, oh I already have so many ideas, you would look simply marvelous in darling. " Rarity said smiling as she clapped her hoofs together, imagining the designs she would use in it.
"Thank you Rarity I made that armour myself, and I'm sorry to say but I'm not big on dresses but for you I'll make an exception. I only ask that you don't make it frilly please." Nightmare said smiling as she accepted Rarity's offer.
"Oh of course darling I wouldn't dream of it, I'm thinking about a slick design. One that shows your figured and compliments your color, I'll show when you visit." Rarity said smiling, already picking the color schemes.
"Well thanks for having us over Princesses, but I think it's time we head home. It was nice to get to know you Nightmare." Twilight said as she and her friends got up.
It was already late afternoon and they need to catch a train before night.
"It was a pleasure to get to know you all as well." Nightmare said smiling at them, having had a great time with them.
"Thank you all for coming." Celestia said smiling, feeling happy that all ended well.
"We hope you have a safe trip home, we hope you can get back before nightfall." Luna said smiling, glad that they got to know the real Nightmare Moon.
"Yeah we need to head to train station quick, thanks for the express tickets." Twilight said thankful for the tickets Celestia mailed them.
"Take care and I hope to visit soon." Nightmare said waving goodbye to them.
*Yawn* " Well that was nice, I'm going to go to bed now Celestia, I can feel the Day walker spell losing effect." Nightmare said looking suddenly very tired.
"Me as well , how about I show you to your newly finished room Nightmare? " Luna said smiling at her older sister's reaction.
"Really it's done, wait what you said earlier you moved my stuff to it already didn't you?" Nightmare asked, smiling at how her sisters got the better of her.
"Indeed, right under your nose sister. They finished moving the last of your stuff this morning, come sister I'll you show where it is." Luna said as she teleported with Nightmare in tow.
"Huha, well the break was nice, now I've got to finish those documents. And then there's that meeting next week that all three of us are going to have to attend. " Celestia thought dreading to have to return to the unfinished stack of papers in her office.
"Nightshade." Celestia said called out. Directing her gaze to the shadow under a flower bush near the table.
"Yes Princess Celestia?" Nightshade said from within the shadow, having been present the whole time and going unnoticed by twilight and her friends.
Perfectly hidden within the shadow, a natural magic ability of the bat pony race.
"Please tell sergeant Dust wind to find Malty, and tell her to bring a bottle of my usual pick of wine and cake to my office. He is right outside of the garden. " Celestia said smiling to the shadow guard.
"Yes your highness, after that I'll be returning to my post at Princess Nightmare's room." Nightshade said emerging from the shadow, taking to the air as she went to to find Celestia's guard.
A gold flash later and Celestia was back on her office, with 2 small stacks of papers on her desk.
"I hope Nightmare likes her new room, the builders followed her blueprints to the letter. " Celestia thought, getting back to work on the stack of papers. Remembering the blueprints Nightmare showed Luna and her.