New Hopes Die Too.

About 400 actual years after Nightmare Moon's banishment.

We were sparring again, like every other day. Mother always wanted us to keep practicing, to hone our skills in physical combat and combat magic, to become more and more deadly. It was bliss. I always won, even when held back or when fighting against both ~~idiots~~, or their other title, my siblings.

"You attack from the left and I will drive toward her from the right," I heard my brother say to Late Night, our sister. After all these years of study he still liked to call out any attack he planed in far too great a volume.

I simply dodged.

But while it successfully got rid of Night, Valiant had planed this (ah, smart) and immediately went for a blast while I was only beginning to turn back to face them. It even got me square in the back, but didn't do much lasting damage and was more meant for the actual pain.

I raged at the petty attack, "AUGH, you stupid-"

He charged another blast, but I was able to close the distance and simply headbutt him. My favorite plan of attack, simply pour enough rage into the momentum of your head, and it became a weapon of its own. Sadly, the stupids were becoming more and more used to this sort of attack....I didn't even get a satisfying crunch out of him.

But it did manage to make him have to sit down for a while and clear out the stun he was feeling.

"Ooow, Eclipseeee," he whined, "We told you to stop doing that!"

Weakling.

"Well, then you should stop losing against me, how does that sound?"

He didn't respond, simply rubbing his forehead. Late Night was smart enough to simply take a few steps back and leave it at that. But I didn't want her to simply give up, I wanted to keep pounding on something. I needed to keep letting out my endless supply of frustration.

"Well done, my Eclipse," mother suddenly said from behind us spooking Night, "Don't be afraid to play unfairly if it means you will attain your victory. I am proud of you all for having advanced this far in your fighting skills, it is commendable that you managed to entirely reshape this crater. As a reward, I shall teach you three the intricacies and complexities of rune magic."

Ooooh, that did sound interesting. Which also meant that I had to try to avoid punching anything too hard for class session, or else mother may deem me unfit to learn or lead...again.

...

"Now, you three should be able to do basic runes, trap runes, and teleportation runes. It is of great import that you remember to never draw a rune on another living being or to make the rune too large. Both will increase its power exponentially and we do not care to scrape you off the ground," mother concluded with our class.

Class was always...something. It usually ended in either punishment or our confusion. I hated punishment when it was administered to me. But it was quite fun when one of my siblings got hurt. Idiots.

But I did feel like there was more you could achieve with runes, more power, more control, more pain. Was mother withholding this knowledge from us? To keep us from being more powerful than her?

"What about other types of magic? Can they also be applied to runes?" I decided to prod.

"Yes. But such knowledge is not yet meant for you," she answered.

I KNEW IT!

"But why, mother? Wouldn't it help us defeat our aunt?" I prodded further. But I had apparently prodded right into a wound.

"No! For the time, thou may not ask us anything pertaining to runes again!"

I hate it when she does that...

"You just don't want us to become better than you!"

That response was quickly followed by her hoof slamming into my muzzle.

I growled, but let it go. Maybe I did overdo it? Mother knows best, even if she doesn't tell us what she knows.

700 years into banishment.

Eclipse. That daughter is dangerous. I keep learning that more and more. Like a time delayed spell, she seems harmless, cunning, perfect......maybe a little weak. But then her anger grows more and more. She becomes unstable and hurts those she is supposed to help, those she should protect and lead.

It makes her magic a liability, too...going from zero to one hundred in a matter of seconds.

Valiant...he is capable. Physically, he is beyond Night and....'appeased' Eclipse. He is able to remain cool in most situations thrown at him, which is why he shall be the leader of the trio, once we return to Equestria.

His issue is his heart...it is too.....in the right place. But he should be able to lead the others, as long as Eclipse keeps her cool.

Night is...tall. She is nearly my size, but that is about it. Her magic and strength are surprisingly average; however, she isn't the most intelligent. It makes controlling her easy and she should be capable of infiltration of other nations, if a disguise spell is applied.

Eclipse often bullies her, but I have given up the thought of their petty competition making them stronger and more resilient. They are-by now-far above an average pony, even when considered on the basis of being alicorns.

I will begin their group training soon. There should be a few hundred years or so left to bring sense into these...children.

Signing off, Nightmare Moon, Queen of the Night.

Last day of Nightmare Moon's banishment.

We were in one of our last training sessions. Valiant, Night and I have been training our entire lives to help mother defeat her sister. The pony who took everything from us. Our mother's nation, our mother's position, and our futures. We can only hope to partake in destroying her with our dear mother.

I had to keep my cool. I shall not be overpowered by my rage again, I shall not think of that mysterious face-which I have called Dave for the longest time, as the name always comes when I remember it-which haunts me in my dreams and my deepest thoughts.

I subconsciously sneered.

"Sister, would you stop looking like a hungry animal?"

"WOULD YOU STOP LOOKING LIKE PREY?" I yelled at my brother.

Again.

I teleported to a far away crater, hitting random objects to rebuild focus. Stewing in my deep hatred.

I can't control it.

Well, maybe I can, but why would I want to? It is a wonderful feeling! A deep pit, in which you can throw any of the emotions that slow you down. A dangerous companion who makes enemies die a slow and painful death. Glorious!

I will try to be good. For mother's sake, so that our takeover may be as swift as possible.

But, if I do lose it...well, gain it...No, regain a part of myself, then so be it!

Sometime in my thinking, my siblings snuck up on me.

Almost invisible in our moo- our mother's moon's shadow. Valiant has almost black fur, which reflects a lightblue-ish sheen in the right light, Night has the same colour, but her sheen is more greenish. My fur reflects a deep velvety purple, darker than my siblings, but not as deep-black as our mother's fur. Mother always stated that our furs resemble the feathers of ravens, ferocious beasts I presume?

But having trained on the darkest parts of our home, we could see each other. Yet, I decided I wouldn't attack, in the next few weeks we should return to Equestria, according to mother. She said that it is difficult for her to keep time, some days she feels like a day becomes a week, other times she seems to stay still for a few minutes and continues like nothing happened.

Mother has been training herself, she seems 'on edge' and irritable. We think she may be nervous, despite the absurdity of the thought. Actually...

"Where is mother currently?" I asked the two, my voice calming down.

"She is training her magic in the training crater, why?" Valiant asked.

"She seems on edge. We should be...nice to one another, maybe she will leave us the killing blow?"

"Well," Night cut in, "I would rather not kill our aunt, mom is the one who deserves this."

Bafflingly, Valiant nodded at her idea.

"But...we should still get along and try not to deplete each others's strengths," Valiant added, before starting to turn and trot back to look for mother.

...

As we arrived, we saw a sort of miasma (like her mane, but...uhh...rainbow coloured) surround her, before she disappeared.

"Oh," we muttered, not fully comprehending what happened, before Late Night ran to where mother had just been, clearly panicking.

"Wha- Where!? Mom!" was all she could really get out.

All I could do was laugh. Some of it was nervous laughter, but the hilarity of the situation was impossibly good!

Valiant gave me a small hit on the back of the head, "Would you stop laughing? I am trying to figure out what happened...Maybe you could go calm down Late Night?"

Wait, he didn't figure it out yet? THIS IS RICH!

"What if she's dead!? No, she can't die! Right!?" Night continued screaming, so I walked up to her and try to calm her down, "M-maybe this is a trap for us? Is she about to attack?"

"No it isn't," I simply stated.

"How would you know?" the others replied in tandem.

I almost started laughing again, "Heh. Ok. What is an event, related to our mother, that is supposed to happen soon?"

Valiant caught on, "Wait. But the curse...shouldn't we also be brought back with mother?"

"Apparently we weren't... Which means we have to figure out how to get back ourselves."

"B-But that's impossible," Night muttered, "Mom said she tried, but the curse was holding back any type of teleportation."

She had a point...

For once.

Although, "But now the curse is broken! Isn't it?"

"Thank you captain sarcasm, but how would we get enough energy to teleport this far?" Shadow pointed out.

He had a good point...

Once again.

Luckily, salvation came in the form of our sister.

"What about a big rune?"

It was risky...good.

It could kill many...wonderful.

It was the perfect plan...I DID NOT hug my sister out of joy.

But even with Valiant Shadow's reluctance we began to draw.

Soon we can have revenge.

Maybe I will find and kill Dave...

News that Nightmare Moon was defeated came quickly. Rose already began opening up her stand for the festival to continue. In the distance she could even see figures leaving the Everfree Forest. She could just make out the large one, who was likely their Princess Celestia being returned by the newcomer and the other locals who went into the Everfree.

She would never do such a dangerous thing. Even if it is said to hold some of the most powerful and intriguing flowers in the region.

She didn't dare dream too far, but maaaybe the Princess would buy some of her flowers? She would become famous! Maybe she would earn a noble title? Ooooooh!

Ok...maybe she is dreaming too far, but one can never dream far enough.

This year's flowers had been growing well and healthy. The variation in colours is almost astounding! The terrifying pony that invaded town-hall had suddenly claimed something about night, somepony even said something about eternal night! That would kill her flowers and her business! The horror!

Anyways, enough daydreaming.....night dreaming? Oh yeah, it was still night...

The group of ponies, who were almost halfway between the forest and ponyville, stopped suddenly and seemed to look up. At...the....moon.

The moon looked different.

Well, it lost its pattern earlier today...night(?).

Now, though...now it had odd rune-like lines all over it, like somepony just took it and carved an odd name into its surface. Worrying...

Actually, scratch that, what was more worrying was the fact that the lines suddenly began to glow. She could almost swear she felt large amounts of magic radiating off of the celestial object.

What occured next felt like a flash.

First the lines disappeared entirely.

Next, a bright flash of light and thunderous roar occured in the middle of the street pushing over her stand along with her and some of the bystanders.

Then, she noticed three dark figures standing up.

"Alicorns," she realized aloud.

...that got their attention...

They began walking towards her, like a timberwolf approaching the prey it just cornered.

Her heart was racing as she backed into a house's wall and could do nothing but stare at the beings trotting towards her.

One of them leaned down and simply said, "Boo!"

She screamed as loud as she could, eliciting laughter from the three...well, gods before her.

"These ponies really are weak," the front one, judging by the voice it was a she, concluded.

Rose felt her instincts wishing there was a way for her to escape this...pony stalking towards her.

She continued,"Now, where is the Pr-"

"Stop right there!" the newcomer mare, the one from Canterlot, commanded.