In the Shadow of Moonlight

by tom117z

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Sad, Main 6, Nightmare Moon, Princess Luna, Drama, Original Character, Bat Pony
Length: 4979

Nothing can stand in the way of Nightmare Moon. Night is eternal, and all shall bow to her might. But then there was the foal...

The night reigns eternal.

Nightmare Moon sits the Equestrian throne from her castle in the City of Everfree. From there, her rule is undisputed and unshakable. Ponies tremble beneath her, both for her wrath and necessity, her magic all that is keeping the tidally locked world alive. With one side facing away from her sister's hated sun, and the other obscured in a veil of shadow blocking almost all light, by her grace alone does enough warmth peek through that Equus and its peoples might yet live.

It is a reign of terror. Of fear. Absolute and unmoved.

Until she met the foal. Then Princess Luna began to find something she had been missing for far too long...

Commisioned by DarknessProductions.
Cover by Eugenia Mackiewiez.

Published 2020-10-17 20:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2020-10-17 20:30:02 UTC

1 - Prologue

Princess Celestia desperately tried to figure out just where things went so wrong.

How could she not have seen the signs? Realised that all was not well? She knew her younger sister had been growing distant for some time, but she had assumed…

The alicorn had assumed much, it appeared. Too much. How could she have been so blind? With hindsight’s benefit, moments raced through her mind where Luna had attempted to approach her older sibling. She’d seemed distressed, unnerved, and at the time Celestia had sent her away for being ‘too busy’ to contend with her gloomy complaints.

She should have listened. She should have realised there were far more serious issues behind the other pony’s distress.

But no.

Instead, she had remained aloft on her gilded throne. Bathed herself in the praise of the unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi. She was the epitome of grace, after all. The most serene and wisest being in all the world, as they so claimed with all the zealotry and reverence usually reserved for the Gods of the world.

How she had loved the worship. Their praise. Their adoration. She had been the protector of Equestria and all her people, infallible and unwavering, nothing else had seemed to matter.

But she was far from infallible, a fact she had forgotten as Starswirl’s many lessons became buried beneath her own cursed ego.

And she had failed to see the cancerous growths emerging within their own society until they’d burst.

The past few days had been the worst in Equestria’s history, at least since the reign of Discord. Out of the blue, thestral citizens had risen up throughout the land and struck out at their fellow Equestrians. The guard had been mobilised to quell the riots, but that only added to the flames when the Lunar division turned on their Solar counterparts, striking many down and supplying arms and armour to the rioters before they even knew they had been betrayed.

At first, Celestia had cast her wrathful gaze on what had seemed an entirely unprovoked and irrational assault. Why would her own citizens rise up? Why would they attack them so? She, who had ruled so benevolently and provided them succour by her very grace?

But then she realised her sister had vanished into the night, leaving no sign as to where she had departed to.

And then Celestia finally opened her eyes, cast them from her own blinding light and towards the true nature of Equestria.

Letters, diary entries, all left behind within Luna’s chambers for her to find.

Scribblings of a brewing anger, hatred… but not from the thestrals or Luna. No, using their own praise as a smokescreen, darker dealings had been undertaken beneath the solar alicorn’s own nose.

The thestrals were being segregated by their fellow ponies, view upon as lesser beings. Many nobles had taken to kidnapping and brutalising them, either using them for entertainment or pressed into servitude as ‘servants’, slavery with a flowery title. The Solar Guard had turned a blind eye, many high-ranking members belonging to the nobility and sharing in this dark view, and the others otherwise being silenced through bribery or threats.

Even those who had refused to turn their heads were ultimately ignored… except by Princess Luna. Her division of the Royal Guard were largely thestrals, and otherwise had a much larger population of commoners among its ranks. While Celestia was tasked with keeping high society in line, Luna had always been something of a champion to Equestria’s poorer sectors. She would ensure their comfort while her elder sister would keep the nobility from scheming, an arrangement that had worked well for over a century.

But now the alabaster alicorn couldn’t be certain when she had been so taken in by the very ponies she had been intended to monitor, all but sharing in their ill sense of superiority.

But that was no longer here or there, for the Lunar Guard’s organisation had proved crucial for the coming events. Whereas their Solar counterparts had turned away from the thestrals’ plight, the Lunar Guard had investigated thoroughly with those few Solar who had decided to do the right thing. These reports would make their way back to Princess Luna, and it is for that reason she had so often attempted to seek Celestia’s council.

But as always, she would be turned away for making a mountain from an anthill…

How could she have been so blind?

Clearly, her little sister’s desperation to stem the tide of the injustice had grown increasingly desperate… as had her despair of being ignored and increasingly shunned by much of the populace, spun on by the nobility’s increasing attempts to discredit and demonise the alicorn.

But she had never noticed. Her sister’s failing mental health, the cause she was trying to promote and the nobility’s actions. Maybe she had noticed to some extent, but merely ignored them? Told herself it would all go away? Could she not bear to risk her standing among them and their unending praise?

A fool of a pony. If her teacher could witness how badly she had screwed it all up, he’d turn his head in shame and disgust.

And so the thestrals had revolted, all with Luna’s support. And Equestria was now all but embroiled in a civil war, but it had taken as such to knock Celestia free of her own limelight and make her perceive things for what they were.

She could not condone the violence spreading throughout the realm, but she now understood it. They had reasons not so unjust, and for that Celestia felt nought but remorse. She had already commanded that her soldiers keep their distance, protect civilians but otherwise cease all engagement until she could find and talk with her sister.

She had so much to say, so much to apologise for. So much to set right.

“First, we’ll see justice for those thestrals wronged…” Celestia muttered to herself as she gazed up at the still spotless stain glass window that cast a rainbow of colours upon the alicorn from the sun’s rays. “Then… perhaps I should take a back seat for a while, let Luna take centre stage. Whatever she needs, however we might make this work…”

Her little sister had been in so much pain for so long, and it was time to ensure such mistakes were not repeated.

And now Luna had been sighted returning to the castle, or so her lookouts had claimed. She had been seen descending towards the throne room of the Castle of the Two Sisters, the heart of the City of Everfree, Equestria’s capital city.

Celestia sighed, continuing down the empty corridors. She spied several trolleys and other items servants would usually carry cast aside, scattered along the otherwise clean halls of the castle with no sign of their former owners. No life, no sounds, nothing to indicate that this castle was home to anything at all.

Oh, and how there had been life once. The task of rebuilding a nation was a heavy burden, but the two had thrown themselves at it with a zeal few might ever know. They had spent these past few generations making it home, building Equestria back to prominence and bringing light and laughter to these halls. Whether it be the daily chattering of its residents or the shouts of those caught up in Luna’s little pranks, this castle was one of many secrets and even more memories.

Now one could scarcely even hear the ghosts.

Celestia stopped, staring up at the throne rooms doors with nervous anticipations.

She had not faced her sister since all of this had begun. And now all those practised speeches all melted from her brain and left her feeling lost and alone.

The Princess let out a breath. “She knows you, you fool. For all your follies and ignorance, you never intended for this… We will fix this, together… We will-”

Something was wrong.

Celestia twitched as she felt a pressure on her horn, on… the sun? There was a pull on the sun not her own, almost as if something else was…

No…

What was she doing!?

All hesitation cast aside, Celestia threw open the great doors and rushed into the throne room with a steely expression that was more to hide her panic than anything else. Initial observation showed the room to be entirely empty, the thrones of the royal sisters sitting silently at the other end of the grand hall.

But she knew otherwise. She could feel her presence… and it felt wrong.

“Sister…?” Celestia called out. “Luna…?”

“You come…” Luna’s voice spoke on the wind, cold and angry. “Perhaps you wish to slay me? To stop my insurrection. To reduce my ponies back to slavery?”

“Luna, I-”

“Save your excuses, your hooves are clear…”

“No! Sister, please!” Celestia protested. “Just hear me out… I am so sorry for what happened, for my part in allowing the nobles to do as they pleased. I was WRONG. I know that now. So blinded was I by their praise, by my own light, I never lifted a hoof to help those suffering beneath them, even if I myself never partook I am no less guilty for my indifference.”

“Do you know what they called me…?” her ethereal voice asked. “Demon. The lesser, wicked sibling. The Nightmare of the Moon. All for my protest to their vile actions. How they spread their lies, infecting the rest of the populace with malice. Do you realise how they now fear my night, despite my efforts to make its beauty unparalleled?”

“Your nights have always been wondrous, Lulu…”

“My efforts to safeguard their dreams were taken as an evil infection, a bringer of torment rather than its end.”

“I know that’s not true! You have always worked so hard to give them wonderful dreams, especially the foals…”

Luna didn’t seem to register her words. “All while the thestrals suffered and those meant to protect them allowed it to occur! And you! You cast me aside, left me in your shadow, hated and reviled despite all I have done! I TRIED to do things the ‘right’ way. Oh, how I tried. But if they see me as wicked, then wicked I shall be…”

“No! Luna, you can’t fall to that temptation. Don’t fall to your hatred as I fell to my own pride,” Celestia begged of her sibling. “We can fix my mistakes. Together! Let us end this bloodshed, return the peace and evolve Equestria into a better nation. We are strongest together, a fact I have neglected for too long!”

Celestia took a step forward.

“My mistakes have caused enough suffering; I know you do not wish to bring our subjects anymore. I was wrong, you were right. I admit that. Let us end this, bring justice to the thestrals and move forward as one.”

Ordinarily, that may have worked. An admission of guilt, a promise to do better, all the things Luna had wanted as the present crisis had brewed.

But something had changed. There was something new. Something dark.

Something terrible inside of Princess Luna.

“Not another step,” was all Luna said in response, her tone holding nothing but contempt as she showed no signs that she had even heard Celestia’s pleas.

And then she emerged, coming from behind the thrones and standing before her elder sister with a hateful gaze that broke her heart.

“Luna…”

“Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all basked in your precious light!?”

“Luna, you need to calm down. If you can just-”

“There can only be one princess in Equestria!” Luna harshly interrupted, a magical aura beginning to build up around the alicorn. “And that princes… will be ME!”

Luna rose up on her hindlegs, stamping her forehooves down with enough channelled earth pony strength to shatter the ground and send a crack spiralling up the wall behind her, shattering the window and revealing the sun in all its dazzling glory.

And the pressure on Celestia’s horn increased tenfold.

Luna began to rise, a shadow rising up with her as the aura increased in intensity, a shadowy blue swirling around her form as she stretched her forelegs into the air as the moon phased into view. Under its master’s direction, the celestial objects move in front of the sun and cast all the realm into a solar eclipse. More than that, the moment it was in place a pulse of darkness shot out across the sky the likes Celestia had never seen, spreading far and wide across the entire globe as she just felt her sun’s light be snuffed out. Even in places the other side of the planet, where the moon should not have been fully blocking it out, were now submerged into the depths of eternal night.

And the shadows started to twist Luna’s form as well, twisting around the younger alicorn as her eyes went wide in a motion that was if a final, brief second of recognition allowed Luna to see through the veil of hatred and witness in horror what was happening. A distorted scream emerged from her lips before it was snuffed out as Celestia shielded her eyes, losing sight of her sister amidst the chorus of dark magic that swirled in a maelstrom around her.

The dark magic started to heat up, the blacks and deep blues shifting into a fiery orange for several moments before it shifted back into a soul-crushing black. And then, once more, into the darkened blues one final time before the magic burst like a cocoon releasing its entrapped occupant!

Luna opened her eyes, her pupils morphing into slits that zeroed in on Celestia with a primal hunger that terrified the older alicorn. Her wonderful blue coat had twisted into one that was entirely dark in nature, her ethereal mane now taking a more smoke-like appearance with her royal regalia now resembling pieces of armour that were far more vicious than those that had preceded them.

She grinned, revealing a new set of razor-sharp fangs, a dominating and wholly unhinged laugh echoing throughout the chamber as Luna lifted her wings in triumph.

What Celestia saw before her was unlike anything she could have imagined, aside from perhaps her worst nightmares…

A nightmare she had foreseen once before. Amid battle along a snowy wasteland, facing a dark mage who had revealed unto her the greatest fears festering in her mind. A twisted visage of her beloved sibling, in deep pain, while she could do nothing but…

…How had she forgotten that? What that monster had shown her? Was… was that why she had been so increasingly distant? For all her mistakes that were undeniably her own, what had… What had King Sombra done to her…?

What had she done!?

What stood before her was but a pale reflection of the sister she knew, twisted by emotion and magic into something sinister that lay hidden deep within all alicorns. Magic largely fuelled their very existence, the bridge between all the pony sub-species, allowing great power and the gift of immortality both. But with that nature came a potential, for magic of all forms could be corrupted, and so those of magic too were the most corruptible.

And that is what she beheld now. A fallen alicorn, magic run rampant and twisting her sister into a horrid reflection. Luna, in all her contempt and desperation, had allowed it to occur, left in unchecked and allowed such dark magics to infest her mind until the hate was all she could see. But Celestia had pushed her so far towards this fate, had done nothing to stop Luna reaching the breaking point…

And now night eternal had fallen.

No.

She wouldn’t let it!

She couldn’t!

Luna’s horn lit up, a trail of magic cascading towards the roof and cutting swaths of debris away and towards her sister! Celestia sidestepped the worst of it, then raising her wings and taking to the air high above her corrupted sibling.

She responded by firing another beam directly at Celestia, who merely moved aside once more as the spell trailed under her right wing and hit the ceiling, blasting a hole that revealed the night sky.

“Luna! I will not fight you! You must lower the moon! It is your duty!”

“Luna? I am Nightmare Moon! And I have but one royal duty now, to destroy you!”

Nightmare Moon reared back, repeating her attack as Celestia gave a mighty bat of her wings that sent her safely away from the strike and through the formerly created hole in the ceiling. She made for the open sky, glancing behind her as the other alicorn snarled.

“And where do you think you’re going!?”

Nightmare Moon lifted her own wings, taking off after her sibling with furious haste. She opened fire, sending more beams of destruction magic in a desperate fury that lacked tactics or grace, just a hail of death with little regard for anything else. This bind rage made it all too easy for Celestia to outmanoeuvre the attempts on her life, the magical attacks streaking on by and decimating walls, walkways and a great many other segments of the castle.

As she did so, already could Celestia feel the dark magic within begin to spread out from the points of impact and seep into the very stone and ground. If it made its way into the forest…

She hoped the Tree of Harmony, the source of the royal sisters’ greatest power, could keep back the horrific mutations such an infestation would bring.

But so preoccupied with this disturbing through was she that the Princess of the Sun, for just a moment, turned her attention away from her opponent.

And that moment was all that was needed.

A beam of magic scored a direct hit, Celestia screaming out in pain as the mana burned into her skin and sent her hurtling from the sky.

Nightmare Moon’s chaotic laughter echoed in her ears as she fell. The wind blew through her coat and mane as unconsciousness threatened to overtake her, her pain-addled mind barely securing a magical shield around herself as she fell through the roof and back into the castle.

She remained in a daze for several moments. She did, however, eventually manage to open her eyes and register just where she had fallen. Though her muscles ached, she brought herself to her hooves and looked up into the sky.

That attack should have, by all rights, lanced right through her body and left a far more grievous injury than a momentary stun and burn where it struck. It was almost as if… something inside Nightmare Moon was holding back.

Luna…

Celestia glanced towards a spot on the floor. For all the fortunate she had left, she had fallen straight into the Chamber of Harmony. Her horn lit up, and from the floor arose a great pedestal containing sit gems of varying colourations. Each one hummed with power far surpassing her own, the greatest gift of the Tree of Harmony; the Elements of Harmony.

Magic. Laughter. Honesty. Kindness. Generosity. Loyalty.

The sisters were meant to bear them together. Three each, representing their three strongest traits. Magic, generosity and kindness for herself. Laughter, honesty and loyalty for Luna.

They were never meant to work for her alone. But those traits in Luna had been twisted. Laughter had become contempt, honesty to cruel deception and loyalty to betrayal.

She prayed that, even for one last time, the Elements would heed her call.

“Oh dear sister, I am sorry. But you have given me no choice but to use these.”

The moment her magic reached out to them; she felt their response. All six started to glow, floating to her side as they started to spin around her form until they became a blur of mana forming a rainbow-like effect.

It was like the Tree of Harmony itself was present in her mind… and she could feel its sadness and disappointment. She felt its judgement on both the siblings, equally devastated at each of their poor choices in recent days.

They leant Celestia her power to defeat Luna… but wielding three Elements of Harmony that were not her own, their power was diminished. She could not excise the darkness inside Luna, merely lock her away until a day came when somepony came along who could.

So that was what they would do, with Celestia acting as their vessel. The Elements of Harmony had elected to imprison Luna within her own moon, formless and unknowing, for a thousand years to the day. And this would be Celestia’s final usage of them, for they had judged her unworthy to carry on their mantle.

Tears filled Celestia’s eyes as she rose into the air once more, the power of the Elements coursing through her as she located her sister and faced off against the fallen alicorn.

Nightmare Moon saw Celestia, her eyes widening as she saw the Elements of Harmony lending the other alicorn their power.

“No!”

She charged her horn with as much power as she could call upon, a final desperate act, firing it at her sister with no part of her any longer holding back.

And so too did Celestia light her own horn, channelling all the power of the Tree of Harmony and meeting Nightmare Moon’s strike with her own. The struggle was only momentary before the combined power of the elements pushed Nightmare’s comparatively pathetic attempt back towards the dark alicorn.

KABOOM.

The world slowed to a halt. The Elements, as if shocked into silence, ceased their power as their beam fell just shy of its intended target.

Nightmare Moon cut her own spell as all opposition fell away, blinking in surprise at the sudden turn of events. She felt the need to check herself over, but she was entirely unscathed by the assault.

Why had Celestia stopped? She had her dead to rights! Overpowered, outgunned. Why had she…?

And then she saw it.

Celestia hovered in place, the Elements of Harmony sparking as their power bled away and died, the alabaster alicorn’s eyes wide with shock and horror at the smoking born all across her barrel. She met Nightmare Moon’s eyes, confused and defeated before her wings failed her and she started to fall once more.

And there, behind her, while sitting idly on a blackened storm cloud, was a thestral in full Lunar Guard attire. The cloud he sat upon was sparking dangerous, having just discharged one thunderous bolt that pierced through Celestia’s body and, perhaps, had even stopped her heart…

And so Celestia’s lifeless body fell, hitting the ground with a wet thud with the elements scattering around her. And there she lay, completely still…

Still…

“Princess Luna…?” the thestral called out questioningly, before shaking his head and going into a salute. “Are you unharmed?”

Nightmare Moon blinked, still staring at her sister.

This was what she wanted. Her sister was defeated, her rule now unthreatened and unopposed. She had proven herself the superior of the sisters! She stood victorious over her elder sibling, the ruler of Equestria now and forever!

And there she lay. Dead or dying…

Her sister was dying.

Her eyes changed, the slits giving way to her former rounded pupils as she gaped in horror.

“Fool…”

The thestral shrank back. “Ma’am…?”

“FOOL!” she bellowed, lightning cracking as her royal canterlot voice echoed throughout the land. “Away with you! Begone!”

In complete terror at the display, the thestral backpedalled in the air and darted away from the scene as quickly as he could. The flaps of his wings as he flew were barely acknowledged by Luna’s ears, the alicorn lowering herself quickly towards her fallen sisters and examining her with a scanning spell.

Her heart had indeed stopped, but she wasn’t dead yet. Her brain was still showing activity, but in but a few more moments…

She didn’t know what to do! She knew various healing spells, but she was hardly a doctor! Besides, Celestia herself has always been the more proficient with such magics! She was the passive diplomat while Luna, meanwhile, was the brash warrior! She didn’t know if she had the capability to undo this, and even if she did…

She would just slay you in turn…

No, she knew her sister wouldn’t do that. The elements…

Would have smitten you, you dark little thing…

Luna grimaced as her head pounded, her own magic pulsating within herself as bringing her darkest thoughts and fears to the surface. All her own, amplified by the alicorn’s own strength and magic amplified by festering darkness.

Her eyes turned back into slits.

“You shan’t die, dear sister. Death would be too soon a release.”

Dark magic started to bubble up in her horn, Nightmare Moon turning her eyes to the moon high above her.

“Let you be bound to my power, the very symbol of my strength, for all time! Undying, but never able to oppose me again! Farewell, Celestia!”

The dark magic came to its full strength, enveloping Celestia in a mist that entirely obscured the alicorn. And then, finally, that mist started to rise up and towards the moon. And there, upon its surface, the visage of a mare appeared. It spread across with ethereal properties, holding a slight glow akin to Celestia’s own flowing mane.

And there she sat, the Mare in the Moon, the final resting place of Princess Celestia.

The denizens of Everfree were really confused. A short time ago, thestral insurgents and their Lunar Guard supporters had successfully usurped control of the city from the Solar Guard and began funnelling the unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi into the ground in front of the Castle of the Two Sisters.

So there they sat, armed guards and thestrals at all sides with a dangerous look in their eyes. Solar Guard prisoners were there as well, alongside those of the nobility who had failed to escape the city during the chaos.

There was no word as to why they had been brought there, only that they were to remain packed in silently and in great fear. Neither did anypony know why night had already fallen, where Princess Celestia was, or why the moon now had the shape of a pony graffitied onto it. They just sat in petrified terror for what felt like hours at the very least, hoping for rescue or mercy to grace them that night.

And then, atop a balcony hight above them, a swirling form of shadows started to come together. Lightning struck all around them as thunderous laughter assaulted their ears, causing foals to curl up against their parents and several ponies of all ages to shriek in fear.

And then, from the dark shadowform spell, emerged the visage of an alicorn as black as the night around them, cackling with sadistic glee at the sight that awaited her.

“Behold, the majesty that is Nightmare Moon!” the alicorn bellowed out. “Celestia and Luna are no more! From this day this forth, the Equestria you all knew is dead and gone! From its ashes, a new Lunar Empire shall arise and spread the might of the stars throughout Equus! The tyrant’s sun will never again blight our world! The night… will last… FOREVER!”

There was another round of vicious laughter, the terror among the populace only increasing along with several brave shouts of protest and question.

“Where is the Princess!?”

“Eternal night!? We’re going to freeze to death!”

“I want my Mama!”

Nightmare Moon sneered, noting even some of her own thestrals seemed to begin looking around in discomfort and confusion. She supposed some of them didn’t have the stomach for the peace and security she would bring to the world, but fear would keep them in line.

“Fear not, my little ponies…” she purred in a predatory manner. “My magic shall allow in the heat needed for survival… just enough, without needing the sun’s accursed rays to destroy paradise. There will be cold, but you had best adapt, for my might is infinite! There shall be no protest, no rebellion! You WILL learn to love my night… or else, you shall share the fate of the nobles and Celestia’s guards.”

Nightmare Moon looked down at the gathered captives, her pupils dilating in dark anticipation.

“Execute them.”

Shouts erupted anew, cries of protest and horror. The Lunar Guard hesitated collectively, shocked by the sudden barbarity and rage behind the command.

“Foals! Do as I command!” Nightmare Moon raised her wings, bringing down further strikes of lightning in a frightening display of her power. “Execute them!”

They complied.

And so, the first day of Nightmare Moon’s reign began amidst a flurry of horrified shouts and the drawing of blood. And nor would it be the last…

For a thousand long years forth had the future been set, the Elements of Harmony reducing themselves to mere stone as the Element of Magic itself dispersed into pure aether. The Tree of Harmony would weep as darkness fell across the world of Equus, powerless to stop all to come.

It would watch. It would wait.

Await the coming of the glimpsed Champions of Harmony, though that future may have been rendered in peril…

Or to await one who could thaw the heart of darkness, and return to the world a Princess, rather than a vicious Empress.

If it weren’t already too late.

Author's Note

A new fic, commissioned by DarknessProduction by filling the highest tier on my patreon for a month. Never thought it'd actually be filled, but here we are.

Twiggles help me indeed...

It'll alternate with Perfect Rose. And in a couple chapters time, we'll meet the titular foal who may just melt the heart of darkness...