Moonlight Foal

by Riossumari

Rating: everyone
Tags: Drama, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Main 6, Nightmare Moon
Length: 5352

Nightmare Moon has had daughter for years now, and her daughter thinks the world of her. But what happens when she starts to discover her mother isn't the good pony she thinks she is?

Years ago Nightmare Moon returned to Equestria to bring her eternal night. She appeared in Ponyville without warning and one unicorn stood up to challenge her, but she tried to do it alone and she failed. Celestia was defeated then banished to the moon like Nightmare Moon once was and the lone unicorn went into hiding ashamed of her failure. Now Equestria is ruled by Nightmare Moon, and she has turned the simple kingdom into a thriving empire. This is the story of her daughter Diana, and her journey to discover the truth about her mother's origins and bring together the heroes of Equestria that were needed all those years ago in order to stop her tyrannical rule.

Published 2020-04-26 22:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2020-09-17 18:13:56 UTC

Diana

Every creature knows the story, almost ten years ago Nightmare Moon returned to Equestria. She appeared in Ponyville and announced her rule, her eternal night, one pony tried to stop her, a lone unicorn who refused the aid of the ponies she’d met in Ponyville. She read the prophecy, she saw the signs but if she’d only asked for help things would have been so much different...Instead Nightmare Moon marched to Equestria and battled Princess Celestia, and after an epic battle that would be etched in history forever. Princess Celestia was beaten, banished and sealed within the moon she had once sealed Nightmare Moon in. No pony dared oppose her rule afterwards and she brought her eternal night as promised, but only for a time. Once the creatures of Equestria accepted her rule she rewarded them with the daylight like any normal day. Nightmare Moon’s rule quickly changed the way the ponies of Equestria lived, unlike Celestia she would not wait for her enemies to come to her lands. Instead she would attack and snuff out threats quickly and without worry, in doing such she shattered the lord of Chaos to dust while he was still petrified and then quickly conquered the Storm King and his lands. But Nightmare knew her rule was not perfect, she needed an heir, a child to teach her ways and rule in the unlikelihood she should ever fall. So she sought out the strongest and greatest stallions of Equestria and eventually found one who could give her what she desired most...a daughter, Diana. Heir to the moon, a gifted unicorn child raised under the watchful and loving eyes of the mare of the moon herself.

The city of Canterlot was bustling as always, ponies were going about their days as the sun shined high in the sky. Among this three small foals ran through the street playing happily with a buckball as they did. Among them a small snow white unicorn foal, her hooves were a bright silver, her mane and tail a snow white shade like her body with faded purple highlights at the ends of both. She wore a crystal blue tiara across her forehead and a diamond necklace to further show off her royal status. She was Diana, the Queen's daughter, and she was free to run through the streets as freely as she wanted because no creature dare to try to harm her knowing who her mother was. Her friends chased after her bouncing the ball around with smiles on their faces.

“Diana! Slow down! We can’t run as fast as you can!” One shouted, Diana simply laughed and kicked the ball ahead of her with her hooves a smile on her face. The three foals continued to run through the streets when suddenly they heard trumpets sounding, a crowd forming in the streets.

“What’s going on?” her friend asked, Diana’s face lit up with a smile though.

“Its the soldiers! They’re back from Griffonstone!!!” Diana shouted the three rushed over and pushed through the crowd and saw the soldiers marching through the street. Trumpets blared, flowers and confetti fell from above, it was a glorious celebration of a hard earned victory. A small group of griffons were chained up and being paraded in the middle of the soldiers, Diana looked and there she saw standing atop the stage at the end of the street was her. The ponies queen Nightmare Moon in all her glory, Diana smiled and clapped her hooves excitedly at the sight of her mother. Her coat a glorious shade of black like the darkest night sky, her mane a beautiful flowing shade of purple with white sparkles throughout it resembling the stars, her crown and regalia a beautiful silver to compliment her glorious beautiful green eyes. The soldiers came to a stop just in front of the stage and bowed presenting the captured griffons to their queen who smiled back at them.

“Soldiers...you have done well, on this day you have defeated the griffon threat to Canterlot and expanded our great kingdom. Rest well tonight my little ponies, for you have earned this victory and this celebration for your deeds. Know that this is but one great step towards our grand future of ponies ruling all of Equestria and showing all creatures that this world belongs to us!” Nightmare announced to the crowd, every pony cheered and celebrated their queens words. Music soon erupted and the celebrations became even more vibrant and loud then they already were. Diana excitedly rushed through the crowd to the stage, she was met with a few guards when she approached but they quickly let her pass realizing who she was. She rushed up the stage and over to her mother, who saw her and knelt down to hug her daughter.

“Momma! You look so pretty today!” Diana announced, Nightmare Moon held her daughter with a loving embrace happy to see her child as always.

“Hello Diana, have you been playing with your friends? I haven’t seen you since breakfast.” she asked. Diana took a step back and smiled at her,

“Uh huh, we’ve been practicing buckball!” she exclaimed. Nightmare smiled and pet Diana across the back of her head lovingly,

“That’s very good, its important to exercise you know. Don’t forget to practice your magic as well Diana, you have to be ready for when your older you know.” Nightmare added. Diana happily nodded agreeing to her mother’s words,

“Will you be home to read me a bed time story tonight Momma?” she asked. Nightmare Moon laid down on her stomach to look her daughter in the eye with a smile,

“Of course I will little stardust, I promise. But right now Momma has work to do so you go back to playing with your friends alright?” she said. Diana nodded and hugged her mother one last time and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before running off to play with friends some more.

Diana caught up to her friends Opal and Melody and the two continued to play with their ball bouncing it back and forth around the street. Diana continued to have a small lead on them but they managed to keep up with her. Diana bumped the ball with her head and Opal flew in and gave it a big kick the ball flying through an open window of a nearby house. The three foals stood in front of the house Diana and Melody looking disappointed,

“Opal! You kicked the ball to hard! Hurry up and go get it, your the pegasus fly up there already!” Melody scolded. Opal shook her head though,

“No way! That’s the haunted house! That one unicorn who tried to attack the queen used to live there! I’m not going inside, no way!” Opal shouted back. Diana sat down a little upset,

“But we need to get the ball back if we want to keep playing.” she added. The three sat in front of the old boarded up house for a moment before Opal spoke up,

“Let’s just go back to my house, we can play board games or something. Okay?” Melody agreed and the two started to walk away but noticed Diana still looking at the house.

“Diana? Aren’t you coming?” Melody asked, Diana looked at the two and shook her head. .

“No...I think, I think I wanna go home. I wanna see my mom.” she replied, her friends didn’t argue of course instead they waved goodbye and left. Diana looked back towards the house nervously,

“It’s not really haunted right? Ghosts aren’t real...” she thought as she walked up to the house. She paused for a moment and looked at the damaged nameplate by the boarded up front door that read “T ili h Spa k e” in faded letters. Diana swallowed the lump in her throat and pushed the old door open with a loud and eerie creaking sound. She squeezed under the boards across the doorway and once inside she cast a spell giving her a small light on the end of her horn to help her see. Inside the furniture was old, tattered, and covered in dust, piles of books were scattered everywhere and it was clear no pony had been here in some time. Diana slowly walked through the house looking around as she walked,

“Find the ball, get out. Find the ball, get out.” She whispered to herself over and over again as she walked towards the staircase, she put her front hoof on the stairs and it let out a loud creak. She paused for a moment but then she slowly began to climb up the stairs to the second floor. When she reached the top the second floor was much better lit but still dark, she looked around the room and saw it was a small library books everywhere, as well as a destroyed box covered in wrapping paper on the floor. When she saw her ball she smiled and scurried across the room to grab it, but then she tripped on something falling over. She stood up rubbing her stomach and looked back to see a red book on the floor covered in dust, she picked it up and read it curious as to what it was about. The book told the story of two princesses, one of the sun, and one of the moon. She smiled and thought to herself,

“That’s Momma! She was the princess of the moon!” She read further but as she did she read how the moon princess grew jealous of the other princess and how after a battle she was then banished to the moon by the sun princess using the elements of harmony. This confused the little foal,

“Why would some pony want to banish Momma? All she wanted was for every pony to look at the stars like she did. Was that so wrong?” she wondered. Diana wanted to know more about this story now, and she knew the best pony to ask was her mother. She grabbed her ball and the book and rushed out of the house and back to the castle eager to get her answers.

Author's Note

So this was a fun idea I had the other day and thought I'd write it. See how what everyone thinks and if I get enough positive feedback I'll add more to it while working on House of Sun. So let me know what you think and leave some comments and maybe a like or two.

Leaving Canterlot

Diana walked through the Canterlot streets trying her best not to draw attention, a few ponies had greeted her and she naturally said hello back. But she never gave them reason to follow her as she walked. Eventually she found her way back to the abandoned house where she’d first found the book. She swallowed the lump in her throat nervous about about getting caught or worse. She walked into the house same as before squeezing between the boards that covered the front door. The house was better lit this time since it was the daytime, but it only made the dust and cobwebs of the interior all the more obvious. She walked around began to search for something that could give her a clue as to where the purple mare she’d been told about was at. She looked through the different pieces of furniture and cabinets but it was mostly books, papers, and a few sets of clothes. Whoever this pony was she obviously loved to read and study she thought, when the first floor didn’t reveal anything useful Diana went back up to the second floor. The crushed present was still in the middle of the floor, the cracked and broken windows now having the morning sun shining through the dust that covered them. She walked over and started to search the nearby desk for more clues.

“Didn’t she have journal or something? At least everything’s organized, it makes it a little easier...” She mumbled to herself. Diana had searched for almost an hour, she plopped down on to the floor frustrated that she couldn’t find anything that gave her a clue to where she had gone. As she got up to leave though she noticed a crumpled up piece of paper underneath the desk, she walked over and picked it up unfolding it and reading what it said.

Pack things

Arrange transportation to Ponyville

Check with local ponies about festival preperations

Discuss prophecy with Princess Celestia after festival

Diana smiled brightly once she finished reading the note, the checklist wasn’t much to go on but it did give her starting point and that was enough she thought. Diana quickly searched through all the books in the library eventually finding an atlas, she dropped it on the floor and opened it up to one of the local maps of Canterlot.

“Let’s see...Ponyville is...right here! It’s actually pretty close, I can get there quick and be back before any pony knows that I’m gone.” she said with a smile. A moment later though Diana stopped to think about how she would get there though, she couldn’t take a Pegasus chariot the guards would tell her others where she was going. She also knew she wasn’t old enough to fly a hot air balloon on her own. Looking over the atlas again checking for roads that would lead there, the roads went almost anywhere in Equestria but more important the trains ran right through Ponyville.

“A train! That’s perfect! I can get some bits from my room and take a train there! I shouldn’t be gone for too long, Momma won’t be worried one bit.” Diana said happily as she eagerly tucked the atlas and the checklist into her saddle bag and rushed back to the castle.

As Diana made her way through the castle the staff greeted her as usual, she was in a bit of a hurry though and tried not to get too distracted. As she hurried around the next corner she suddenly bumped into some pony, she looked up and saw a gorgeous white mare with her regal purple tail and mane braided up standing before her. She wore blue hoof covers and a sleek elegant black coat. Diana quickly dusted herself off and apologized to the mare,

“I’m sorry Ms. Rarity, I didn’t see you there. I was just trying to get back to my room is all.” Diana said. Rarity turned and politely fixed Diana’s regalia and mane with a smile,

“Oh don’t you worry about it one bit your majesty. I understand completely, after all your young and quite energetic. But it is important to make sure you look your best, darling.” Rarity replied. Diana liked Rarity a lot, she’d only been working at the castle for a little over a year now. She’d impressed the queen some time ago with her clothing designs and shortly afterward was given a job in the castle as the interior decorator, which was a dream come true for Rarity being able to not only be among the Canterlot elite but also work for the Queen herself.

“If you don’t mind my asking your majesty, what were you in such a hurry for exactly?” Rarity asked as she finished fixing Diana’s appearance.

“Oh, I was...going to get something from my room. Something I needed, once I had it I was gonna go back out.” Diana answered. Rarity took a few steps to the side giving Diana space to walk by,

“Well by all means, don’t let me stop you darling. We both have work to do after all.” Diana smiled and trot past Rarity in a hurry,

“Thanks Ms. Rarity! I like your new coat by the way! It’s really nice!” Diana shouted as she moved. Rarity giggled happy to see the little mare trotting off in such good spirits. Diana returned to her room and went through her dresser, she’d been given money by her mother to buy things she might like while in town and quickly put it in her saddle bag. As she went to leave her room though she paused and looked at her reflection in the large mirror she had on the wall. She was very well dressed, and stood out a lot in her current appearance, getting to the train station wouldn’t happen looking the way she did. She sat and thought for a moment but then went to her dresser taking off her tiara and necklace and putting them away. She managed to find her rain coat, which was made of a nice material but also drew less attention she thought. She threw it over shoulder and buttoned up the front before pulling the hood over her head. She looked at her reflection in the mirror again she was confident this would be a more subtle way to move through the city. Diana was much more cautious moving through the castle as she left, she kept her rain coat tucked into her saddle bag as she walked knowing wearing it in the castle would draw more attention then she wanted. A few guards and servants took notice of her but none tried to stop her progress, when she was outside the castle she disguised herself again and made her way to the train station.

Diana kept her hood pulled up over her head and tried not to look directly at any pony nearby, her heart was pounding the entire time she was so scared of getting caught. She wasn’t sure how her mother or any guards would react to her trying to leave the city like this. When she got to the counter the stallion on the others side looked down,

"Where to little miss? Are your parents nearby?" he asked.

“Um...Ponyville please. I’d like one ticket...I’m, meeting family there. That’s why I’m all alone.” Diana said. The stallion didn’t think much of it and he had no reason to not believe her story, he tallied up the cost and then turned back to her.

“That’ll be 32 bits then little miss.” he replied, Diana took the money from her coin purse and used her magic to place it on the counter getting a ticket in exchange.

“There you go now, the boarding platform is just down the hall. Its engine 12 that you're looking for, just show your ticket to the conductor and then find an empty seat once your on board. All right?” he asked Diana. She smiled happy to see that he hadn’t figured out who she was,

“Thank you sir.” Diana answered as she trot off to the train, she waited in line until she gave the conductor her ticket and got back the ticket stub before walking onto the train. Diana looked around and found an empty seat near the back of the train car where no pony was sitting. The next few minutes were unnerving for her, a few guards were on board the train as well as many other ponies. She was so scared that some pony would recognize her, she kept the hood for her coat pulled over her head and tried to remain discreet. Then, suddenly she felt an older pony sit down next to her and her heart almost stopped,

“Had she been found out? Was her plan over before it began!?!” her panicked thoughts began to race through her mind but then the pony spoke up.

“Hi there! Are you going to Ponyville too? That’s I’m where I’m from! I just came to Canterlot to visit my old friend Rarity, my name’s Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?”

Author's Note

Oh lord, I can't believe this took me three months to update. Sry to anyone who's been enjoying the story so far. I really did mean to update sooner but I had forgotten about this story completely.:twilightsheepish:

Good news is I did have alot of motivation to get this update done, and I'll try to update alot sooner with the next chapter. :yay: I am going to try and update my other story next though, as it has been a while since I last updated "House of Sun". So worse case, you guys can read that in the mean time while I brainstorm for the next chapter. Anyway give me some likes and leave some comments. :pinkiehappy:

Dream a little Dream

Diana was on her bed looking down at the book she had found, her room a pristine white, her bed big enough to hold three adult ponies, toys and stuffed animals of different sizes everywhere. It was what one would expect the room of the queen’s daughter to look like. Diana laid on her stomach the book in front of her, she’d read it twice now from cover to cover and it only made her wonder more about why the book said her mother was banished. After a few minutes the door to her room opened, she looked up to see Nightmare Moon entering the room a smile on her face. She wasn’t wearing her regalia as she usually didn’t when coming to say good night to her daughter.

“Momma!” Diana shouted excitedly standing up on her bed with a bright smile, Nightmare walked over and hugged her daughter nuzzling her nose and then giving her a kiss.

“Hello Diana, did you have fun today playing with your friends?” she asked. Diana sat down and nodded with a smile,

“I did, Opal and Melody are such good friends. But Opal ended up kicking our ball into an old house and I had to go in to get it.” Diana replied. Nightmare giggled and climbed onto the bed lying next to Diana who snuggled up beside her mother with a smile. Nightmare wrapped her wing around her and pulled her closer hugging her gently to her body. She looked down and noticed the book she had on the bed,

“Oh? What’s this you have here Diana? Did you find a new book to read in the castle library?” she asked. Diana shook her head no, her horn glowed and she held the book up for her mother to see.

“No, I found it in the house I was talking about. Momma...is this story about you? How come it says you got sent away for wanting ponies to look at the stars?” Diana asked. Nightmare looked at the pictures in the book, the image of the two alicorn princesses staring back at her. Nightmare Moon was quiet for a minute before she finally spoke up,

“This is a story about me little Stardust...A long time ago I was sent away, because I was a lot meaner then. I wanted ponies to see what I had made in the night sky but no one was ever awake to see them. So when I tried to make it so they’d always see my night sky the other princess got angry with me, she and I fought and momma wasn’t strong enough to beat her then. So I was sent away for a long time, but I came back one day and when I did I sent the other princess away and I made everything in Equestria better. You believe me right Diana?” Diana hugged her mother resting her head against her neck,

“Of course I do Momma! You’re the best pony ever! You only wanted ponies to see your night sky and love it like I do, there wasn’t anything wrong with that.” Diana answered. Nightmare smiled and kissed her daughter on the forehead, she climbed out of the bed and then took the book and set it down on the nightstand beside her bed before tucking her in and kissing her goodnight.

“Alright Diana, time to go to bed now. I’ll see you first thing in the morning alright?” Nightmare said. Diana reached up and hugged her mother one last time, and kissed her on the cheek before rolling onto her side and falling asleep.

Diana slowly awoke to find herself in a massive void, stars and planets could be seen everywhere in the crystal blue heaven she stood in. As she started to look around she then heard a voice from behind her.

“Hello Diana, its nice to see you again.” Diana turned to see an older mare behind her covered in a dark blue cloak, covered in stars, a small blue locket shaped like a crescent moon holding the cloak together around her neck. Her legs were shackled together and the chains were about three feet long each, their ends seemingly fading into the air itself. Diana smiled at the sight of this mare and stood up and turned to face to her,

“Hi there Dreamer! I haven’t seen you in my dreams in a long time! Where have you been?” she asked happy to see her friend. This wasn't he first time the two had spoken, this mare appearing in her dreams from time to time to talk to her about Equestria, her mother, but mostly she seemed to want to know more about Diana herself. Dreamer took a step towards her the chains rattling a little as she walked.

“I’ve been...away Diana. But I have wanted to come see you I promise.” she replied. Diana sat down in front of Dreamer eager to talk to her friend,

“I have so many things to tell you! Momma’s been really busy too, she beat the griffons just yesterday! And now she says that Equestria is going to be even bigger and more peaceful than ever! Isn’t that exciting?” Diana exclaimed. Dreamer grew quiet for a moment,

“Yes...yes, that certainly is Diana...Tell me, did you happen to read about the Sun princess yesterday?” she asked. Diana sat and thought for a moment before speaking up,

“Oh! Yeah, I found an old book in a house that talked about her and Momma. I didn’t really like it though, the book made Momma sound like she was a bad pony. She just wanted every pony to look at the stars like we do, that’s not a bad thing is it?” Dreamer shook her head,

“No...No, it’s not Diana. There was a time where I wanted that too...but things changed and now I’m not so sure its what I want. But tell me, did your mother tell you anything about the Sun princess? Her name? Her family?” Dreamer asked, Diana shook her head again.

“I see...well, do you want to know more about her? She’s a princess just like your mother after all.” Diana sprang to her hooves smiling and happily nodded in agreement.

“Yes! I only ever thought that aunt Cady was the only princess besides momma. I wanna ask her all kinds of questions.” Diana said with a bright smile. Dreamer smiled at the little filly and with a wave of her hoof an image of a purple unicorn appeared beside her.

“Then here’s who you should go ask Diana, her name is Twilight Sparkle. She was the Sun princess’ student and she can tell you everything you want to know. Sadly, my time’s up again and I have to go now. I stay any longer your mother won’t like it, and I don’t want her to get angry at you. So we’ll talk again later, alright Diana?” Dreamer explained, Diana stood up and hugged Dreamer with a smile.

“Ok! I hope one day I get to talk to you when I’m not asleep though. I’d love for you to meet Momma.” Diana replied. Dreamer stood frozen for a second, a small tear running down her cheek as she leaned forward and hugged Diana tightly to her body, the chains on her hooves rattling as she did and said with a sad tone in her voice.

“Me too Diana...I hope...I hope we get to see each other one day when your not dreaming too...”

Diana woke up in bed, the sun shining through the curtains to her bedroom window. She smiled happy that she got to see an old friend again, she sprang out of bed and went to her bathroom where she brushed her mane and tail and then put on her necklace and tiara. She trot out of her bedroom and as she walked out she was greeted by a white stallion with a blonde mane and tail.

“Uncle Blueblood! How are you today?” she announced, he stopped and looked down at Diana with a smile.

“I am just fine your highness, I was on my way to come and get you in fact. The chefs just finished preparing your breakfast.” he said. Diana smiled and trot alongside Blueblood towards the dining room. As the two walked together Diana looked up and asked Blueblood,

“Uncle, do you know who Twilight Sparkle is?” Blueblood looked down at the filly surprised,

“Where did you hear that name from?” he asked.

“From my dream friend, she told me she knows about the Sun princess from the book I found and I wanted to talk to her about it. She’s a princess just like momma and Aunt Cady! Did you know that?” Diana replied. Blueblood came to a stop and put his hoof on Diana’s shoulder,

“Listen to me your highness, you shouldn’t talk about the other princess or “Twilight Sparkle” anymore, alright?” They both are very bad ponies who only tried to hurt your mother, who knows what they might do to you. They could try to use to hurt your mother, the queen or worse. You wouldn’t want that would you?” he said. Diana looked up at Blueblood concerned and shook her head,

“NO! I don’t want any pony to hurt Momma, she’s a good queen, and every pony thinks the same right?” she answered back. Blueblood nodded and began to walk again keeping Diana beside him as he did. His words began to make her think though, she had no reason to disbelieve Blueblood but Dreamer had never lied to her before either. Diana was conflicted now which pony was right and who was the liar she thought? Or maybe were they both right? Diana walked into the dining room and saw her breakfast on the table waiting for her, a small stack of pancakes, a bowl of cut up fruit, and a cup of tea with just a hint of honey added to it. She sat down and started to eat, pausing to look up at Blueblood.

“Is Momma not here?” she asked. Blueblood set down the clipboard he had with his paperwork and answered.

“Oh no, I’m afraid she’s talking to some of the ponies in the guard this morning your highness. She has to make sure that all the griffons have work to do and aren’t slacking off. They’re part of Equestria now after all and its important that they contribute.” Diana was a little upset by this but she also knew her mother had responsibilities to attend to, but she always made time to see her at night before she went to bed. As Diana ate her breakfast she kept wondering who the pony Dreamer had mentioned was, and why did she try to attack her mother? All these questions plagued the little filly and as she ate she decided she’d go back to the house from before. If none of the adults would give her answers, then she’d find them all on her own.

Author's Note

Second chapter is up, and the plot thickens! I'm sure everyone here can guess who "Dreamer" really is. But that's kind of the point. Threw Blueblood in here as a glorified assitant/secretary to Nightmare Moon. I figured he'd be the ideal kiss @$$ to work under her and make sure everything in Equestria ran smoothly. Well, let me know what you all think and leave me some likes and comments. Updates will be slow, as my job has been getting the better of me lately. But I'll try to update this and my other fics as often as possible.