Red Moon Risingby ChemtestChaptersVictoryCollaboratorsMemoriesThe Land of GriffonsVictoryThe full moon hangs high above the dark Everfree forest, it’s light shining down amongst the canopy of trees and all across Equestria. Ponies all across the nation would be waking up after a long night of celebrating the Summer Sun Celebration, and all of them would be confused about the moon which still hangs in the sky, questioning why it was there instead of the sun. None of them would know about the ancient castle in the middle of the cursed woods, nor of the events happening there. Rocks and crystals lay strewn over the ancient castle floor, the Elements of Harmony having just been broken, leaving nothing behind but a distressed unicorn and a smug alicorn. Twilight Sparkle, a slim unicorn mare in well-kept shirt and pants, kneels over the destroyed Elements, her mouth opening and closing in shock. In front of her stands a figure not like any other, a tall and dark alicorn mare, coated in short and very dark fur, nearly black in its coloration, with an ethereal starry mane and tail flowing from her head and her big flank. Dark purple and blue chainmail covers her form, hugging her tightly and showing off plenty whilst protecting everything important, the chainmail being especially tight around her chest, which is second only to Celestia’s own, large enough for any grown mare or stallion to lose themselves in between. The rest of her is slim, but is covered in lean muscles that are well defined all over, capitalizing on her warrior Queen look. Nightmare Moon smirks and crosses her arms, showing off her sharp fangs and spreading massive leather wings behind her, “Is that the best you could do?” Twilight Sparkle looks over the shattered Elements with despair, closing her eyes and trying to come to terms with failure, but then her mind begins to realize something, and she opens her eyes, hearing five people approaching from the hall behind her, “The spark…” From the hall emerges her friends, the tough Applejack, the athletic Rainbow Dash, the enigma Pinkie Pie, the fashionable Rarity, and the shy Fluttershy. The five of them all look at Nightmare Moon for a second, eyes widening upon seeing the shattered Elements on the ground, but they approach closer to help their friend anyway. Twilight stands up, a confident smile on her face, pointing a finger at Nightmare Moon, “The Elements of Harmony aren’t just rocks, Nightmare Moon, but they are the magic within all of us! You may have destroyed the Elements, but I realize now, the Elements are all right here! Pinkie Pie, the Element of-“ In the middle of her monologue, the massive horn on Nightmare Moon’s head lights up, and a blue flash fills the room. As the others all clear their eyes of the bright flash, and look around, they would see that Fluttershy and Rarity are both gone, with no indication of ever even being there. She just smirks more, “Did you truly think I would be that easy to defeat?” Rainbow Dash yells and spreads her wings, shooting towards Nightmare with rage, “Where is she?! What did you do to her!? I’ll kill you!” She’s caught mid-air in a field of magic, her slim form struggling within the blue aura, “Come on, fight me, fight me! Where’s Fluttershy you-“ Another blue aura appears, holding her lips together. Nightmare just grins at the struggling Pegasus, her magic then lashing out and restraining Applejack, who attempted to sneakily attack her from behind, “Those Elements always had one weakness, little ponies, they require all six of you. A simple teleportation spell and they’re useless.” Twilight just blinks, “But… we… we lost?” She looks away and whispers, “Princess, where are you, I failed you..” She just grins more, “Yes, you lost. Is it that surprising? I have killed by the hundreds, I have survived death itself, I am the Night eternal who has commanded armies and committed countless offensives and defenses personally. The largest thing you have commanded, unicorn, is the running of a library. Is this the best Celestia has to send to me, six untrained civilians? She is pathetic for not coming to face me herself.” Her aura then fades around Rainbow Dash and Applejack, the two falling to the floor unceremoniously. Rainbow gets up and buzzes her wings, but before she can do anything, Nightmare Moon disappears in a flash. Silence reigns over the ancient and decrepit castle, the moon’s light shining down from high above onto the four mares. After a minute, Applejack looks over at Twilight, speaking quietly, “What now, sugarcube?” ——— It is a dark day in Canterlot, with the moon staying up way past it’s time to set. While the common ponies pay it little mind and continue on like normal, the nobility has taken it upon themselves to celebrate the new ‘holiday’, the only logical explanation for the moon still being up. They’ve gathered in the Royal Canterlot Gardens, sharing talks about the night over fancy bottles of wine and cheese, the entire palace proper being under heavy guard due to the worrying circumstances. In a flash of bright blue, Nightmare Moon appears on the streets of Canterlot, her regal form instantly drawing attention from the pedestrians all around. They watch as she begins her march down the street, many of them following, curious about the new alicorn, or just wanting to watch her flank as she moves. As more and more follow, the streets become crowded by curious ponies, following the alicorn as she walks the streets of the city. After a few minutes, Nightmare looks back, giving herself a small grin at having gathered such a crowd so quickly. She quickly looks to her right, to a young homeless stallion who watches her from the alleyway, and immediately shys away from her bright reptilian eyes. With a flash of her horn, she summons a giant bag of bits, tossing it to the stallion and looking directly into his eyes, “Gather the poor and destitute. Gather the workers and the farmers, the sick and the injured, the victims of the world. They shall follow me to the palace.” The young stallion looks at the bag, and then at her with slightly wide eyes, giving her a simple nod before running off into the alleyway. She smirks and looks at the center of the city, the grand jewel of Equestria, Canterlot Palace. A massive building of stained glass, marble, and gold, where Celestia would rule the whole nation from, and where, currently, are the noises of a noble’s garden party. Her eyes narrow ever so slightly as she spreads her leather wings behind her, marching once more towards the palace, ears flicking lightly at the whispers of the crowd behind her. It is not long before she arrives to the gates to the palace’s gardens, now surrounded by hundreds of the poor of Canterlot. Single mothers, injured workers, homeless stallions and mares, filthy bandits who stole out of desperation. There stands a noble at the gates, along with two guards who have their spears pointed threateningly, the noble stallion shouting at the poor ponies, “Get away from here before you dirty my suit, you’re all ruining the mood! Shoo!” His shouting dies down as the poor ponies look at the approaching Nightmare, with most of them stepping aside, most out of fear, some out of respect. The noble looks at her as she approaches, and nervously adjusts his tie, licking his lips and opening his mouth to speak, before he is cut off, “These ponies shall go inside.” The stallion blinks, and then scowls, “You have no authority here, mare, whoever you might be. I, Lord Jet Set of Manehatten, carry with me the authority of the Princess herself, you can’t just… command me around, or force me to let these filthy things inside our party!” She looks at him with lightly narrowed eyes, not caring as the two guards adjust their spears, pointing them nervously at her, “The Princess is gone, Jet Set, Celestia has fled and abandoned you all, her title has no authority here. I am Nightmare Moon, banished sovereign of Equestria, and I have reclaimed my throne, now step aside!” Her eyes burn with a cold passion within them, her wings flaring out wide as she shouts loud enough for all to hear. Lord Jet Set steps back for a second, before steeling himself, “You… you are an enemy to the Princessdom of Equestria, then! The Princess may not be here, but as Lord of Manehatten, it falls to me to… to fight against you, fiend!” He reaches to his side to draw an overly ornamental rapier, but as his hand touches the sword’s handle, his eyes widen, and he goes pale. Slowly, he begins to make choking sounds, a blue aura appearing around him, as a blue aura appears around the guards, stopping them before they can intervene. The noble stallion falls to his knees, his entire body beginning to wither into a husk, gasping out, “M-mercy…” Nightmare looks at him with a firm scowl, her horn lighting up bright one last time, pulling the soul directly out of the stallion with a flick of her horn. The pale white energy floats in the air in front of her as the stallion’s body turns to dust, before flying into her mane, becoming a new star within it. The guards both stagger back as the aura disappears from around them, their eyes wide and their mouths open in a silent gasp. They stare at the alicorn, and she stares back, before both throw down their spears, which clatter against the ground. Nightmare takes a deep breath and spins around on her heels, shouting to the gathered audience, “I am Queen Nightmare Moon of Equestria, ponies of Canterlot! I am no Queen of nobles, I am no Queen of inaction, I am no Queen of grandstanding and of decadence! I am a Queen of ponies! I am a Queen of all ponies, no matter the gold that lines their pockets!” She spins around again, launching a bright blue beam of energy, tearing apart the gates and fences around the garden in a single spell, “The nobles, the rich of Canterlot enjoy waste, they enjoy decadence, they enjoy to see you, the common pony, suffer! I say no more! The destitute of Canterlot, the poor, the forgotten, the oppressed, I say to you now that your liberation is at hand, and this night, the night of your liberation, shall last forever!” With a flash of blue magic, the full moon high above becomes a blood red color, casting it’s scarlet light down upon the whole world, “The commoner of Equestria…” She points at the garden, where the nobles’ party is breaking down, rich mares and stallions panicking over the destruction of their fence and the blood red moon, “Have at them!” Author's Note Hey everyone, it’s been a long time since I last posted a story. I’ve got a lot of free time nowadays, and I’ve worked on my head canon setting a lot more than I have before, so, given circumstances stay the same, hopefully this story should be able to get finished. I’m planning on making this roughly follow the show’s Season 1, with 1 chapter per episode with certain exceptions. And if anyone has any questions, ask, I love to answer. CollaboratorsThe burning sun hangs up in the sky, it’s bright light shining down upon the confused nation of Equestria. Just last night, the moon had stayed up longer than it was supposed to, turning red about halfway into the ‘day’, with rumors spreading across the entirety of Equestria about riots and revolts led by an oddly organized force in every major city in Equestria. Many had fallen asleep that night, worried, only to wake up the next morning with the news that there is a new Queen of Equestria, and that she has raised the sun for them for the first time. Nightmare stands in the Canterlot palace, in the middle of a bright room, painted to look like a partly cloudy day, bright blues and small white clouds covering the walls and roof, with a massive bed in the middle of the whole room, soft blue blankets resting upon it. Celestia’s room is a bright, peaceful place with not many luxuries, merely a dresser, a connected bathroom, and a desk, upon which sits a half written letter and two golden tickets. Nightmare looks around with a sneer, before walking up to the envelope, grabbing it and reading the first words aloud, “Dearest student, I hope you are adjusting well to Ponyville, as Luna is adjusting to the modern Equestria. Inside this envelope, I have provided two tickets…” She trails off, a fiery anger appearing in her eyes, “She thought she would win?! She was so confident she wrote a letter in advance?!” She growls and swipes the letter off the table, her magic tearing it to shreds. As the letter’s pieces begin to fall to the ground, she takes a deep breath, placing a hand upon her breast to assist. In the midst of her calming down, the door opens slightly behind her, someone else poking their head in. They’re a slightly thick cream-white colored mare with dark black mane, and some small glasses that sit on her muzzle, along with a nice looking red suit-dress that hugs her thick curves. She clears her throat, “Queen Nightmare.” Nightmare blinks and spins around, looking into her eyes instantly, “What is it, Inkwell? I asked to not be disturbed unless it was needed.” The mare looks right back and gives her a nod, “Forgive me, your highness, but around now is when Princess Celestia would meet with the nobles.” She snorts, “So you have come to waste my time, then. There is no Princess Celestia anymore, and there are no nobles. You are dismissed, secretary. Good day.” Inkwell gives her another nod, “Well, Queen Nightmare, despite your words, there are two nobles who have shown up anyway. While I am not, of course, a Queen, I would suggest meeting with them anyway.” She blinks slightly, and then frowns, “So two idiots have come despite knowing what happened to their friend. You are dismissed anyway, Inkwell. Thank you.” Her horn then lights up, and she disappears in a flash of blue. In the throne room of Canterlot palace stand two noble stallions, the two looking at each other. One is a younger stallion, in his mid twenties, a fairly tall and attractively slim stallion with a white coat and well kept blonde mane, a simple blue and black suit covering his form. The other is an older stallion, in his sixties or seventies, also of a white coloration, with a blue mane. His form shows a few scars across it, hidden mostly by his fur, and by the fine black suit he wears, with the stallion currently wiping off his monocle. Nightmare appears in a flash of blue in front of the two stallions, looking at both of them with a sneer, “Who do you two think you are to be so stupid and to waste my precious time doing it? Did you not see what happened to the last noble who tested my patience, or have you come for a repeat demonstration?” The younger stallion looks at her, and just gives a small, confident grin, giving her a polite bow, “Queen Nightmare Moon, I am Prince Blueblood of Equestria, nephew of Princess Celestia, loyal follower of Equestria. I saw the rather grisly scene with Jet Set the other day, but the entire time, my eyes were on you, not him, for your beauty is like that so the night sky and it is-“ The other stallion lightly hits his side, with Blueblood looking over and frowning slightly, standing up and brushing off his suit. He then turns and looks at Nightmare, giving her a small bow, “I am Knight Fancy Pants of Equestria, Knight of Harmony, Defender of Ponies, loyal servant of Equestria.” She looks over the both of them, before shaking her head and crossing her arms beneath her large bosom, “So a flirtatious Prince and an elderly knight. For being so loyal to Equestria, you both seem to be rather friendly to an enemy of it.” Fancy looks up, and adjusts his monocle, “Nightmare Moon, you misunderstand us. You see Equestria as the throne that lays behind you, or as your defeated sister, but to me and my old chap here, we know Equestria is truly the ponies. It has always been the ponies, and as servants of Equestria, it is our duty to protect those ponies. And if I must, Nightmare, that would mean I shall draw my blade against you, but in all due respect, I do not wish to deal with the soreness it would bring to my arm.” She just smirks, and steps forward as Blueblood opens his mouth, speaking before he can get a word out, “You seem so confident in your ability to defeat me, Knight. You look upon a goddess and threaten her, yet only worry for the soreness of your arm? Given someone else, I would say they’re an idiot, but looking at you… I almost feel inclined to believe you’re right.” Fancy just grins ever so slightly, while Blueblood speaks up, “And if I may, my Queen, I don’t care which beauty sits upon the throne of Equestria, be it Celestia, or be it you, but it is my duty, my vow to protect the ponies of Equestria. And in order to protect them, I give my vow to you, I can help them better with you than against you. But, I’m curious about something. How did you know about Canterlot? The old tales say that you are from a millennia ago, and Canterlot is just eight hundred years old.” Fancy takes off his monocle, bringing out a rag to begin to clean it, “I must agree. As a Knight of Harmony, I have greater knowledge of the past than most, and I know for certain that Everfree used to be the capital, not Canterlot. Even during the Nightmare War, it was Moonbeam, now Hoofington, and Everfree, never was Canterlot even a concept. And yet, you come back from the moon, defeat the Princess’ student, and immediately come here. There cannot have been enough time for tou to have seen it.” She looks at the both of them, and then just smirks, “Lights. All you can see from the moon, Fancy Pants, Blueblood, are lights. I saw the lights begin to concentrate upon the mountain, and could see as the lights stayed there, a new city. A defensible, magnificent capital city upon a mountain, just the type of thing Celestia would do.” She sneers slightly, “Almost like it was a taunt, to build her new capital as close to the moon as possible, taunting me to come and get her. Shoving her victory in my face…” She clenches her fists tightly, taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, “But that is behind me now, I have won.” Blueblood smiles slightly, “That makes sense… but what now? The commoners of Equestria are confused and in the midst of chaos, the nobles and the rich are afraid and are preparing for the worst case scenario, and the Guard is scrambling around disorganized. This is the perfect breeding grounds for a coup, or a revolution, or revolts, which would harm ponies a lot more than simply you taking over.” She looks at him and grins smugly, “Those ‘high and mighty’ ponies are right to be afraid, because their ends are coming. It is time for the workers of Equestria to overthrow their tyranny, to cast off their shackles and become truly free. Just last night, I found hundreds of homeless ponies in Canterlot alone, kept there because the noble and the owner wouldn’t offer them work, food, or shelter, this is a disgrace. My first call shall be for a nation wide revolution against them, for the destitute to rise up and throw them out of their ivory towers, and use those wasteful mansions for their own housing.” Fancy Pants nods, “It sounds like you’ve read Cutie Marks, then, but your way is wasteful. These revolutions of yours would lead to the guard splitting amongst themselves, those who would help the nobles and the industrialists, and those who would help the more destitute. Half of your law enforcement would disappear before the end of the week, and those who are left would question your rule after seeing the bloodiness of a Marksist revolt.” Blueblood grins slightly, “What you need, oh beauty of Equestria, is stability. While you are the Queen, and it is not my place to question your final goals, I can, however, question the pace you take. You’ve taken down the Princess, and the nobility of Canterlot, if you then were to go to the rich, then the middle class commoner would become scared, thinking they are next, and there is nothing worse than the truly common pony turning against you. Equestria must first regroup, come to terms with you, and gather back it’s forces and it’s bureaucracy if it wishes to stand before the year is out.” She looks at him, narrowing her eyes slightly, and then slowly speaking, “You both speak… logically, and perhaps you both are right. But every moment that passes is another moment a destitute foal starves, a single mother skips a meal, a-“ Fancy speaks over her, “Not anymore, Nightmare.” He puts his monocle back on as she looks at him, “This is not a millennia ago, where nothing was between a pony and starvation. Equestria is a modern nation, of course we provide for those in need, that’s how the modern world works. Ponies do not often die of starvation, they do not often lack food, even if the nation may forget some of those at the bottom of it all. You do not know the modern world, Nightmare, and I would recommend you become one with it. Go out into the world, and discover.” She snorts and shakes his head, “And what would happen to the nation as I am gone? I am it’s Queen, if I leave, then nothing shall happen at all.” He nods and gives a small smile, “You speak of the destitute throwing away tyrants, and yet you, yourself, speak as if you’re to become tyrannical. An elected council is what shall take care of decisions while you are gone, with councilors elected in fair elections from each city and town so we may stabilize the nation.” Blueblood grins and nods, “Overseen by us two, and with full transparency with you and Equestria at large. Should you ever be suspicious, you may come back and check in at any time, but know that we will never betray you. We have the good of the Equestrian citizenry in heart, Nightmare, and we shall ensure that their needs are met while your beauty graces the rest of the realm. Both Fancy and I are popular, well respected in our circles, we can organize it all, and then, when you are back, you can organize an actually legal seizing of houses from the higher class.” She looks over them both, a pensive frown on her face, which slowly lightens up, and she gives a small nod, “Very well then, both of you make good points. It has been a thousand years, and I shall survey my realm. But if either of you betray me, it will the last mistake you make.” The two give her a nod, and then give her two bows. She looks over the both of them, and then her horn lights up, and she disappears in a blue flash. MemoriesThe sun nears the horizon, setting in the distance, as Nightmare stands in the room that Celestia had prepared for Luna. The roof is painted to look like the night sky, even with a few shooting stars flying by every so often, the walls are painted a dark purple light that absorbs the setting sun’s rays, and it is filled with all sorts of needless furniture, two different desks, three tables, an entire cabinet dedicated simply to quills and ink, and even a mini refrigerator, stocked full of Luna’s favorite ice cream, somehow having survived a thousand years. She simply snorts at the display, and turns to face a large mirror, looking upon herself for the first time in a millennia. Upon closer examination of herself, she can see the remnants of her millennia old fight, scars under her thin fur, fur matted by blood, even a little unevenness to her mane from part of it being cut off. She raises up her hands, putting them on either cheek, feeling ancient burns given to her by Celestia’s best mage. She then notes the state of her armor, covered in little nicks and chips from halted blows, noticing that it’s also gotten a bit tighter due to a small amount of weight gain on the moon. She shakes her head and leans back, “First step, ensure your reign. Second step, counter the counterrevolution. Third step, rule forever.” She smirks as her hands light up bright blue, beginning to rub them all around her body, especially around her massive chest and her thick flank. Once all is said and done, a stranger stands in the mirror. Where once a giant alicorn stood, now is a short and nerdy looking thestral stallion, one in his earlier years. He grins, looking over his form to ensure everything is right. A slim belly, chest is almost completely flat, flank is small, slightly above average for a stallion, long legs but not too terribly long, smaller leather wings and little fangs. He then reaches up, tapping either eye with a single glowing finger, with them turning from blue into a fiery thestral orange. He grins and then grabs his throat, beginning to speak, his voice slowly deepening, “Mmm, mmm, mmm… mhmm…” He stops at a fairly high pitch for a stallion, but not so much that it’s odd, “Looking good, Nighty.” He winks at his own reflection, both hands lighting up a dark blue as he disappears entirely. It’s a dark afternoon in the chic city of Baltimare, the city an eclectic mixing of towering skyscrapers and much smaller houses and shops, corporate headquarters right next to a house for a family of five, coffee shops right next to Zebrican style brothels. Everyone in the city is either chasing the newest trend, the newest style of clothing or technology, or they chase the previous trends, hipsters who scoff at everyone else, but even the hipsters can agree with the fashion chasers on one thing, that Nightmare Moon is now in style. Perhaps it’s only been three or four days since her takeover, but the ponies and other creatures of Baltimare can see the writing on the wall, and so many of them have immediately adopted blue, purple and black clothing, or painting their buildings like the night sky. It’s in one of the many alleyways of this city that Nightmare appears in their thestral disguise, a little bit of magic dressing him in a t-shirt, a purple overcoat, and some black pants, He steps out onto the streets, orange eyes looking up and down it, a small grin on his face as he notices the color scheme of the town. He, however, quickly looks away from the scenery, instead scanning the crowds of fashionistas and hipsters leaving from the many coffee shops as they close up for the day. Many of them take out umbrellas as one of the city’s many rain showers begin, wetting the mane of anyone who doesn’t have one. He snaps, summoning a large umbrella and holding it above his head as he walks the streets. Rarity was not having a good day, or a good yesterday. When she was accompanying the others into the Everfree, she didn’t think she’d need bits, but now, in a town far from her home, bits are all that she needs. She is quite the bad sight, with a messy and soaked mane from an entire day of rain, dirt covering most of her body from the Everfree, and with an air around her of annoyance and desperation. She walks slowly up to a coffee shop which is currently closing, a younger stallion in the midst of closing the front door, “Excuse me, sir?” The stallion blinks and looks up at her, “Good evening, ma’am. I’m afraid you can’t get anything, we’re closing up, and Cloud Buck’s got a one hundred percent ‘no sales after hours’ rule, says it would make regulations Tartarus on him. Sorry I couldn’t help.” She frowns slightly, and then closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. She opens them up, summoning all her marely charm, looking him in the eyes and slightly pouting, “Oh, I’m so sorry, sir, it’s just all this rain, and I don’t have any place to go… a kind gentlestallion like you would surely let a mare in need have shelter from the rain?” He barks out a laugh, “Ha! I don’t get paid enough to let you in. Have a good evening, ma’am, buh-bye.” He closes the door in her face, making sure to flip the ‘open’ sign to ‘closed’ right in front of her, before walking further into the coffee shop. She frowns and growls slightly, punching the wall next to the door slightly, making sure not to actually hurt herself. Then, as she takes a minute to think, she feels the rain stop hitting her and looks back, seeing a young thestral stallion in a purple overcoat holding a large umbrella over her head. He gives her a small grin, bright orange eyes looking into hers, “Need some shelter from the rain?” She looks him up and down for a second, and then just smiles, “Thank you.” She stands up straighter, getting entirely under it, “The ponies in this town, I swear. They treat me like I’m… like I don’t even exist! Or they just look at me with pity.” He just grins slightly less, “That’s what happens with ponies and the homeless, Miss, we pretend like if we don’t notice it, it doesn’t exist.” She frowns slightly, looking into his eyes, “I am not homeless, thank you very much, sir. I have a home, it’s just… not in this town, and I’ve not been able to afford a train to go home. That’s it.” He smirks, “And I have a marefriend but she lives in Zebrica.” He chuckles slightly and shakes his head, smiling, “Well, come with me, I was going to the station anyway. Might as well send you on your way home as well.” She blinks in surprise, and then smiles, “I… thank you, thank you so much.” He smiles back, beginning to walk away, with her following alongside, “I’m Rarity, a fashionista from Ponyville.” He grins, making sure to keep the umbrella up straight, protecting the both of them, “John Night, a nerd from Trottingham. Fashionista from Ponyville? You must have gone through Hell in order to reach here with no bits left.” She looks over and raises an eyebrow, “John? Well, I must admit, you hardly had to say you were from Trottingham with a name like that. But Hell? I’m afraid I’ve not heard of that before, Mister Night, is it some… Trottingham slang? Perhaps a building around there?” He grins more and waves his off hand dismissively, “Thestral afterlife, fire and brimstone for those who do not praise John Smith, Lord of Creation, infinite moonlight and baskets of mangoes for those who do. I’m serious, though, must have been a pretty rough set of events that got you here.” She looks away and sighs, “It was… it was quite something, yes. I’d prefer not to share details, if you don’t mind, but let’s just say that I didn’t willingly come here. In fact, it was rather forceful. And I’ve spent the last two days trying to find a way home, but nopony cared enough to help me. Nopony could share a few bits to a distressed mare, shop owners have thrown me out because I wasn’t buying anything, even the guard has been too busy to help me. It’s been dangerous, too, what with all the fighting.” He looks over and raises an eyebrow, “Fighting? I’ve not heard of that until now. Between ponies, or between the guard?” She looks back, “Between the guard and some other ponies, nopony has really gotten a good description of the other group. Except when they fight, there are quite a few loud banging noises.” A second after she finishes, a loud series of bangs come from back the way they came, with both immediately stopping in their tracks, Rarity looking scared, and Night looking concerned. Night reaches into his coat, pulling out a bag of bits and tossing it into Rarity’s hands, “That should cover your way home.” He then shoves the umbrella into her other hand, taking off his overcoat and tossing it onto her shoulders, “And take those, should keep you warm and dry. I’m going to go check out the fighting.” She blinks at all of the stuff in her hands, and then blinks again at his words, “But… Mister Night, you can’t just go off into a fight! You’ll get hurt, or killed! Let the guard take care of it, it’s their job.” He grins and looks towards the bangs, “Yeah, well, I’m curious. I like that overcoat, Miss Rarity, keep it safe for me. I’ll swing by Ponyville sometime and pick it up. Have an apple ready for me when I come by as well, I hear it’s Applebucking Season.” He looks at her, smirks, winks, and then runs off down the street, leaving her behind. Captain Straight Point was not having a great night, nor was her squad of guards. A firefight had broken out on a routine patrol of the city’s commercial center, an alleyway opposite of them housing their attackers, using odd ranged weaponry that produces quite the loud bang. Two of her squad are already heavily injured, Sergeant Clop and Lieutenant Clip both having been hit, a hole blown straight through their armor and their legs, Private Pestle busy applying first aid while she, along with Private String and Private Sure, all three poking around their improvised cover to fire off crossbow bolts at random. Another bang comes from across the way, a hole appearing right above Captain Point’s ear, whatever projectile having blown through the table she hides behind with no effort. She shouts, “String, identify targets! Sure, keep your fire up!” String nods, poking his head out from the table, only to rapidly draw it back, a series of three bangs filling the air as three holes fill the wall of the alleyway behind them, “Ma’am no good, they’ve got us pinned down! We’re screwed more than a Kirin in a brothel!” She growls and reloads her crossbow, “I don’t care how screwed we are, we gotta take these bastards down! Now either identify those damn targets or raise a white flag, Private!” As she shouts, the alleyway fills with blue, the massive form of Nightmare Moon appearing beside him. The two look over at her, with String blushing strongly and saying meekly, staring directly at Nightmare’s chest, “Ma’am, two massive targets identified…” She looks over and quickly raises her crossbow, “Squad, crossbows, enemy in range, fire at her, take her down!” She looks at the Captain as she fires a bolt, a bit of telekinesis stopping the bolt before it can even leave the crossbow, snapping it in half, “Save the bravado for later, Captain. Situation report, now!” Captain Straight looks at her and scowls, shouting as she reloads her crossbow, “No! You took our princess, you took our nation, all of this is your fault! Squad, I said to fucking fire at her!” Private Pestle spins around from healing her comrades, shouting, “How the fuck about you do it your fucking self, Captain?! I’ve got fucking two lives to save and your dumbfuck little orders aren’t fucking going to change that, now either deal with the fucking situation or fucking shut it so I don’t have to hear your dumbass little fucking voice speak, Captain!” She then turns around, cleaning out the wounds of the injured guards. String gulps, his eyes still affixed to Nightmare’s chest, “U-umm, yeah, what she said, Captain…” Private Sure pokes his crossbow over, firing a shot at the opposite alleyway, ducking back down as they return fire, calmly loading his crossbow and speaking softly, “Captain, better we work with her and maybe survive than die here. We’re pinned down, and if she wanted to harm us, she already would.” She scowls heavily, “Fucking… fine. Baltimare has been under attack these past two days and nights by a group of criminals using technology more advanced than we could ever imagine. They ambush us a single squad at a time, and they always eliminate every single pony in that squad. Armor does nothing to stop their weapons, cover does fuck all. They’re in the alleyway across from us, estimate is five targets, they’ve already injured two of us.” Nightmare nods, her horn lighting up, the holes in the Sergeants’ legs healing up quickly, “Thank you, Captain. If that is all, I shall be putting an end to this. In addition, control your soldiers a little better, I can feel this stallion’s arousal.” She picks up String and sets him aside while he blushes and stammers, instead standing from cover, her horn casting a shield over herself. From the other alleyway, no more bangs come. Instead, from it’s darkness emerge five figures, all of whom have their eyes affixed on her. They all wear slim fitting black suits, with holes for leather wings and bright eyes. They’re thestrals, but all of them are oddly slim compared to most, and they carry rifles upon their backs, very advanced technology. The five slowly approach her, before bowing, their leader stallion speaking, “Mistress Moon.” She smirks and puts a hand on her hip, “I have a fan club now? How very charming. Rise, all of you, speak your names and your organization.” The five all nod and stand up, their leader nodding to her in deference, “I am General Steady Bastion of the 3rd Army. The others are Private Black Cross, Private Moon Light, Corporal Night Knight, and Captain High Tide. We are your most loyal servants, Mistress Moon. Where all others surrendered or died when they heard of your defeat, we did not. We fled under the waves and hid within the vast ocean, waiting for your return.” She grins, “And so you attacked the guard because they were not loyal to me. I cannot blame that, after all, you all believe there’s still a war going on.” She smirks, “There isn’t. I won, General Bastion, Celestia has fled and Equestria is mine to rule. What you all have been doing is attacking my guard. My city. My ponies, General. You have been attacking and killing them when it is my job as Queen to ensure their safety.” His eyes widen and he shakes his head, quickly bowing to her, “No, no, Mistress, we didn’t mean that! The guard still serve the sun heretic, Mistress, they are not loyal to you, we sought to eliminate them before they became an enemy to your rule!” She walks up closer to him, looking down at him with cold eyes, “And so you attacked them without first awaiting orders to do so, without asking if your assumptions were true. You have taken my vows and turned them into jokes just to ensure loyalty, General. Your group has killed good mares and stallions, mares and stallions who signed up to serve their fellow ponies, mares and stallions who could be convinced. But you simply couldn’t wait, could you? So you killed them.” General Bastion whines slightly, and just bows his head deeper, “I didn’t mean it, Mistress Moon, please… forgive us, we only tried to support you, to support the Night!” She snorts slightly and shakes her head, “You are not forgiven. You will not be. Neigh, you shall be punished.” She reaches down, picking him up by the collar of his suit, and looking right into his bright purple eyes, “You, and your organization, will not have any special place by my side, nor shall they have the special privilege to kill those who disagree. Neigh, General, your organization shall be used as I wish for it to be, as I command it to be. From this day on, you shall relinquish your arms to I, you shall place down any thoughts of fighting in my name, and you shall put away thoughts of acting without thought, General. Your organization shall instead be utilized in another way. You all shall assist the guard, and, when I wish for you to, you shall be used as I command.” She tosses him down into the ground, standing over him and looking down at him, “Do not question my decision or I will find you.” Then, in a flash of her horn, she disappears. Nightmare appears back in the room built for Luna, and just sighs, collapsing down onto the bed. A sheet of paper flies up and lands on her face, written in another language. She sighs and just takes it off her face, putting it aside and climbing under the covers, sleeping for the first time in a thousand years. The Land of GriffonsNightmare stands in the room built for Luna, looking over the mysterious sheet of paper that was left on her bed the previous night, which she had ignored in favor of sleep. The paper is covered in writing, but it is very messy, with very poor penmanship overall, looking as if it’s some type of list. The words, in addition, are written in another language, which, after a few minutes of looking it over, Nightmare is able to determine to be Griffish. She folds up the sheet of paper and looks outside as the sun rises, still raised by Celestia’s magic despite her having ran away, and gives a small grin to herself, muttering, “Griffonia it is.” She turns back to face the same mirror as she did the previous day, looking over her armor and sighing. With a single flash of her horn, the chainmail changes to become fabric, stretching itself and molding to suit her form until it finalizes, a dark blue formal dress now covering her, the mare looking slightly foreign outside of her armor. Then, in another flash of magic, her helmet begins to move like liquid up her head, gathering and hardening to form a tiara around her head, with a massive sapphire at the front of it. She looks at herself, now dressed like a proper Queen, and snorts, muttering, “I look ridiculous.” She then reaches up, rubbing her hands against her tiara, pumping them with magic and slowly shaping curved spikes that come out of the tiara and curve towards the center of her head. She smirks once she’s finished eight of them, each one decorated with smaller sapphires, “That’s better.” Then, with another flash of magic, she disappears. It’s a busy day in the capital city of Griffonia, Griffonheim, with griffons of all sorts walking and flying around it’s stone streets, trading goods with one another, reporting to their workplaces, bypassing the many street beggars around and giving respectful nods to any heavily armored Griffonian Ritters, the Knights of the Empire liking to wear their armor as they walk around just to get some extra respect and some discounts at stores. In the center of the town is a massive palace which towers above any surrounding buildings, built with thick stone walls, small windows, and in a dark tan color, one could easily confuse the palace for a fortress, but the palace is built to serve both purposes, able to be defended easily during times of war and elsewise being used as a residence for the Griffonian Emperor. In the streets of the city appears Nightmare in a flash of blue, a few surrounding griffons squawking at her sudden appearance, but quickly shutting up and continuing on with their day upon seeing her. She just grins slightly, looking up at the palace and quickly moving there, a bit of magic keeping her dress from getting dirtied by the streets. Whispers break out behind her between gossiping hens and curious cocks, all eyes following her as she walks, as a few armored griffons spread their wings and fly back to the palace. As she nears the palace, Nightmare comes to a sudden stop, hearing a little cling noise from beside her. She looks to the noise, seeing an elderly Griffon sitting on the side of the streets, both of his eyes milky white and staring off into the distance, his feathers greying and dirty. He raises a shaky talon, which is missing two claws, shaking around a small metal cup which it holds, his voice speaking dryly, “Bits for a war veteran? I just need to buy lunch.” She frowns slightly, taking a glance at the palace, but then looking back at the older Griffon, kneeling down in front of him, “A war veteran? I would expect you to be taken care of, not out on the streets begging. What war?” The old Griffon chuckles dryly, which devolves into coughs, the elder covering his beak before shaking his head, speaking creakily, “I expected I would be taken care of too, Miss. Not like I signed up to die just to become a beggar. It was the Third Conflict, Miss, not like there’s been any other wars. Damn Minotaur just couldn’t be happy.” She nods slightly, and then leans closer, looking at his eyes, “You’re blind, I can see. Looks like a sharp weapon of some sort cut just close enough, or perhaps crushed your helmet in such a way that it cut into the front of them. You say a Minotaur… was it an axe, perhaps, old veteran?” He grins slightly, “You see? I don’t!” He then chuckles again, once more devolving into coughs, taking a minute to recover before clearing his throat, answering her, “Minotaur axe, I deflected it with my sword and tried to pull back, last thing I saw was the edge of it. Then, just… dark.” She nods again, as a bag of coins is thrown into the beggar’s cup. She looks to her side, where a figure stands. He’s an even older Griffon than the veteran, easily in his late eighties, wearing a white cloak and hat, his feathers having turned so grey from age that they almost blend in to his cloak. The elder has a long wooden cane in one of his talons, using it to keep himself up, amber eyes looking at Nightmare with much wisdom behind them. He smiles softly at her, “Nightmare Moon.” She looks back at him, and then back at the veteran, who’s milky eyes have widened a bit, “Relax, let me help you.” Her hands then light up blue and she reaches up, covering his eyes with the palms of her hands, and sending a small blast of magic into either of them. She pulls her hands back then as the Griffon blinks, his eyes turning from milky white into a bright blue, his eyes now slitted like hers, the Griffon looking at her in awe. Nightmare then stands up, turning to face the newcomer, “Yes, I am Nightmare Moon. What of it?” The Griffon gives her a small grin, “I am Archon Jesuit Eros, most faithful of Boreas, I’ve come to make sure you get to the palace without much trouble. I must say, I did not expect to find you healing an old veteran. It would seem like the tales have painted an incorrect version of you.” She grins slightly, “The tales were written by my enemies, Archon Eros, you would do well to remember that. Take me to the Emperor, I would have words with him. Or her, if the succession has led that way.” Eros nods to her and turns around, beginning to walk along, using his cane to support his steps, “I’m afraid the Emperor won’t be up for meeting quite yet, he is currently learning mathematics. Ah. I forgot you wouldn’t know.” He looks back at her, “The Emperor is just twelve, a Regency Council rules in his stead, and I am one of the ones on that council.” She nods along with him and follows along, “So you, and your fellow regents, would be the ones to blame for the state of your griffons, I can see.” She frowns slightly, “You left a blinded veteran on the streets of your capital city, Archon.” The old Griffon just nods, turning to look ahead as he walks, his cane clicking with each step, “Yes, but if only it were that simple, Nightmare. The Empire is short on bits, if we spent any on the old veteran, those would be bits not spent on repairing the old capital of Griffonstone, or the farming centers of Brodfeld or Prywhen, and then, no matter how many bits we give that veteran, he would starve. Do we have the bits to spare? Yes, but we can hardly agree upon where to put them. The Archonate only has one voice in the Council, but Lady Gabriela of Lushi and Field Marshal Dawnclaw of Prywhen have their own voices. One wishes to aid the commoners, being us, the Archonate, another wishes to aid the industrialists and bigger businesses, the Lady of Lushi, and the Field Marshal wishes to go on a crusade against the Minotaur in revenge.” She raises an eyebrow, “You lost against the Minotaur? How far must this Empire have fallen since my banishment, that the twice defeated Minotaur could finally defeat you. What happened to the Griffonia of old, the center of innovation, of riches, second only to Equestria proper? Where are your shining knights with shining guns?” He just shakes his head, “They’re gone, Nightmare, slowly removed one by one over millennia. Innovation stopped all over once we signed the Cain Accords, that no nation shall invent weaponry more deadly than any other nation without first getting it approved, and our civilian technology is limited by understanding of the world. Our money has long been funneled to the nobles of the realm, to the already rich merchants, and to the Minotaur lands, who took our investments and then stabbed us with them. Griffonia has declined, but perhaps the 31st century shall be the Griffonian rebirth, under the clever mind of Grover the Tenth, and perhaps with your help.” She grins slightly, looking around as they enter the grand imperial palace, walking into it, past a gate guarded by heavily armored griffons carrying halberds, looking at paintings lining the main hallway of the palace, “You wasted no time jumping to asking for help, Archon. One might question the eagerness with which you suggested a want for my help.” Eros nods, coming to a stop and looking at a specific portrait, tapping the wall underneath it with his cane, “This is Emperor Grover the First, victor of the First Conflict, only able to do it due to your father’s sacrifice and Equestrian blood. He became Emperor of Griffonia because the Pegasi, Commander Katherina, Cloudsdale, the city that is now part of Equestria, killed Emperor Ascendant of Romau. Griffonstone was only able to survive the attacks from Pompneigh due to Prench fire mages, on loan from Equestria. And his great grandson, Grover the Second, was only able to win the Second Conflict due to Equestrian medicine and Equestrian volunteers. Prince Gwyndolin of Brodfeld was only able to gain power and give the Kingdom over to Grover because of a squad of Equestrian soldiers. We would not exist without Equestria, Nightmare.” Nightmare nods along with his explanation, leaning against the wall and giving him a grin, “So you wouldn’t exist without us, that means that my help is valuable to you all. But what do you offer in return, Archon? When have the Griffons been the saviors of Equestria?” He looks over at her, and gives her a slow nod, “Without Griffons, Nightmare, no country would exist to begin with. You were but a filly back then, but the history books show that in the earliest days of the world, there was no country, and no nation, merely cities and villages equally likely to fight as they were to trade. That is, of course, until the Romauian Empire, the first country to span multiple cities, and multiple groups. If Romau had not created the standard for what a kingdom, or a country, was, then would you all have created Equestria? If Romau had not studied the sciences, agriculture, transportation, construction, and created iron tools, would Equestria have been created? If it was not for holy Griffonian knights holding their ground, the western Necromancers would have conquered Zebrica. Equestria would be a mass graveyard given over to dark magics.” She pauses, and thinks over his words, nodding along with them, “So in your mind, Equestria and Griffonia are in a symbiosis, we both aid each other in ways that others cannot. But there is a problem with speaking in history, Archon, it’s that what Equestria used to be, and what Equestria will be are massively different. I am willing to give my aid to Griffonia, but what shall Equestria get in return?” He smiles softly to her, “We will offer you protection, protection from Celestia. She will not take your leadership lightly, and eventually she will return. When she returns, everyone will support her, the Zebras and the Minotaur, they will provide material, men, and money. We help you take care of Celestia, when she returns, and you help us rebuild. And once the Empire is back to how it once was, perhaps then we can help protect against further attacks. You are a smart mare, Nightmare, and our interests, Griffonia, Equestria, the Archonate, and you, they all align.” He offers her a talon, looking into her eyes. She looks back into his eyes, looking away for a minute, then giving herself a small nod. She straightens up her posture, reaching out and shaking his talon, “I agree to this, Archon. Let us not hope I will regret it.” She then lets go and reaches down, taking the sheet of paper out of a pocket in her dress, giving it to him, “I found this in my bedroom this morning, Archon. Can you translate it?” He looks at the paper and then takes it, looking it over, “Well, this was written by a hatchling, judging by the writing, almost no structure to it at all. But, from what I can tell, Nightmare, this is a grocery list. Or, rather, a shopping list. The only legible entries are ‘pool noodle’ and ‘mirror demon’. I’m afraid that is all I can provide.” He hands it back to her. She takes it, and then gives him a nod, “I thank you for trying. I must dismiss myself, I have things to take care of in my realm.” He nods once more, “Until we meet again, Nightmare.” And, in a flash of blue light in front of him, she disappears.
VictoryThe full moon hangs high above the dark Everfree forest, it’s light shining down amongst the canopy of trees and all across Equestria. Ponies all across the nation would be waking up after a long night of celebrating the Summer Sun Celebration, and all of them would be confused about the moon which still hangs in the sky, questioning why it was there instead of the sun. None of them would know about the ancient castle in the middle of the cursed woods, nor of the events happening there. Rocks and crystals lay strewn over the ancient castle floor, the Elements of Harmony having just been broken, leaving nothing behind but a distressed unicorn and a smug alicorn. Twilight Sparkle, a slim unicorn mare in well-kept shirt and pants, kneels over the destroyed Elements, her mouth opening and closing in shock. In front of her stands a figure not like any other, a tall and dark alicorn mare, coated in short and very dark fur, nearly black in its coloration, with an ethereal starry mane and tail flowing from her head and her big flank. Dark purple and blue chainmail covers her form, hugging her tightly and showing off plenty whilst protecting everything important, the chainmail being especially tight around her chest, which is second only to Celestia’s own, large enough for any grown mare or stallion to lose themselves in between. The rest of her is slim, but is covered in lean muscles that are well defined all over, capitalizing on her warrior Queen look. Nightmare Moon smirks and crosses her arms, showing off her sharp fangs and spreading massive leather wings behind her, “Is that the best you could do?” Twilight Sparkle looks over the shattered Elements with despair, closing her eyes and trying to come to terms with failure, but then her mind begins to realize something, and she opens her eyes, hearing five people approaching from the hall behind her, “The spark…” From the hall emerges her friends, the tough Applejack, the athletic Rainbow Dash, the enigma Pinkie Pie, the fashionable Rarity, and the shy Fluttershy. The five of them all look at Nightmare Moon for a second, eyes widening upon seeing the shattered Elements on the ground, but they approach closer to help their friend anyway. Twilight stands up, a confident smile on her face, pointing a finger at Nightmare Moon, “The Elements of Harmony aren’t just rocks, Nightmare Moon, but they are the magic within all of us! You may have destroyed the Elements, but I realize now, the Elements are all right here! Pinkie Pie, the Element of-“ In the middle of her monologue, the massive horn on Nightmare Moon’s head lights up, and a blue flash fills the room. As the others all clear their eyes of the bright flash, and look around, they would see that Fluttershy and Rarity are both gone, with no indication of ever even being there. She just smirks more, “Did you truly think I would be that easy to defeat?” Rainbow Dash yells and spreads her wings, shooting towards Nightmare with rage, “Where is she?! What did you do to her!? I’ll kill you!” She’s caught mid-air in a field of magic, her slim form struggling within the blue aura, “Come on, fight me, fight me! Where’s Fluttershy you-“ Another blue aura appears, holding her lips together. Nightmare just grins at the struggling Pegasus, her magic then lashing out and restraining Applejack, who attempted to sneakily attack her from behind, “Those Elements always had one weakness, little ponies, they require all six of you. A simple teleportation spell and they’re useless.” Twilight just blinks, “But… we… we lost?” She looks away and whispers, “Princess, where are you, I failed you..” She just grins more, “Yes, you lost. Is it that surprising? I have killed by the hundreds, I have survived death itself, I am the Night eternal who has commanded armies and committed countless offensives and defenses personally. The largest thing you have commanded, unicorn, is the running of a library. Is this the best Celestia has to send to me, six untrained civilians? She is pathetic for not coming to face me herself.” Her aura then fades around Rainbow Dash and Applejack, the two falling to the floor unceremoniously. Rainbow gets up and buzzes her wings, but before she can do anything, Nightmare Moon disappears in a flash. Silence reigns over the ancient and decrepit castle, the moon’s light shining down from high above onto the four mares. After a minute, Applejack looks over at Twilight, speaking quietly, “What now, sugarcube?” ——— It is a dark day in Canterlot, with the moon staying up way past it’s time to set. While the common ponies pay it little mind and continue on like normal, the nobility has taken it upon themselves to celebrate the new ‘holiday’, the only logical explanation for the moon still being up. They’ve gathered in the Royal Canterlot Gardens, sharing talks about the night over fancy bottles of wine and cheese, the entire palace proper being under heavy guard due to the worrying circumstances. In a flash of bright blue, Nightmare Moon appears on the streets of Canterlot, her regal form instantly drawing attention from the pedestrians all around. They watch as she begins her march down the street, many of them following, curious about the new alicorn, or just wanting to watch her flank as she moves. As more and more follow, the streets become crowded by curious ponies, following the alicorn as she walks the streets of the city. After a few minutes, Nightmare looks back, giving herself a small grin at having gathered such a crowd so quickly. She quickly looks to her right, to a young homeless stallion who watches her from the alleyway, and immediately shys away from her bright reptilian eyes. With a flash of her horn, she summons a giant bag of bits, tossing it to the stallion and looking directly into his eyes, “Gather the poor and destitute. Gather the workers and the farmers, the sick and the injured, the victims of the world. They shall follow me to the palace.” The young stallion looks at the bag, and then at her with slightly wide eyes, giving her a simple nod before running off into the alleyway. She smirks and looks at the center of the city, the grand jewel of Equestria, Canterlot Palace. A massive building of stained glass, marble, and gold, where Celestia would rule the whole nation from, and where, currently, are the noises of a noble’s garden party. Her eyes narrow ever so slightly as she spreads her leather wings behind her, marching once more towards the palace, ears flicking lightly at the whispers of the crowd behind her. It is not long before she arrives to the gates to the palace’s gardens, now surrounded by hundreds of the poor of Canterlot. Single mothers, injured workers, homeless stallions and mares, filthy bandits who stole out of desperation. There stands a noble at the gates, along with two guards who have their spears pointed threateningly, the noble stallion shouting at the poor ponies, “Get away from here before you dirty my suit, you’re all ruining the mood! Shoo!” His shouting dies down as the poor ponies look at the approaching Nightmare, with most of them stepping aside, most out of fear, some out of respect. The noble looks at her as she approaches, and nervously adjusts his tie, licking his lips and opening his mouth to speak, before he is cut off, “These ponies shall go inside.” The stallion blinks, and then scowls, “You have no authority here, mare, whoever you might be. I, Lord Jet Set of Manehatten, carry with me the authority of the Princess herself, you can’t just… command me around, or force me to let these filthy things inside our party!” She looks at him with lightly narrowed eyes, not caring as the two guards adjust their spears, pointing them nervously at her, “The Princess is gone, Jet Set, Celestia has fled and abandoned you all, her title has no authority here. I am Nightmare Moon, banished sovereign of Equestria, and I have reclaimed my throne, now step aside!” Her eyes burn with a cold passion within them, her wings flaring out wide as she shouts loud enough for all to hear. Lord Jet Set steps back for a second, before steeling himself, “You… you are an enemy to the Princessdom of Equestria, then! The Princess may not be here, but as Lord of Manehatten, it falls to me to… to fight against you, fiend!” He reaches to his side to draw an overly ornamental rapier, but as his hand touches the sword’s handle, his eyes widen, and he goes pale. Slowly, he begins to make choking sounds, a blue aura appearing around him, as a blue aura appears around the guards, stopping them before they can intervene. The noble stallion falls to his knees, his entire body beginning to wither into a husk, gasping out, “M-mercy…” Nightmare looks at him with a firm scowl, her horn lighting up bright one last time, pulling the soul directly out of the stallion with a flick of her horn. The pale white energy floats in the air in front of her as the stallion’s body turns to dust, before flying into her mane, becoming a new star within it. The guards both stagger back as the aura disappears from around them, their eyes wide and their mouths open in a silent gasp. They stare at the alicorn, and she stares back, before both throw down their spears, which clatter against the ground. Nightmare takes a deep breath and spins around on her heels, shouting to the gathered audience, “I am Queen Nightmare Moon of Equestria, ponies of Canterlot! I am no Queen of nobles, I am no Queen of inaction, I am no Queen of grandstanding and of decadence! I am a Queen of ponies! I am a Queen of all ponies, no matter the gold that lines their pockets!” She spins around again, launching a bright blue beam of energy, tearing apart the gates and fences around the garden in a single spell, “The nobles, the rich of Canterlot enjoy waste, they enjoy decadence, they enjoy to see you, the common pony, suffer! I say no more! The destitute of Canterlot, the poor, the forgotten, the oppressed, I say to you now that your liberation is at hand, and this night, the night of your liberation, shall last forever!” With a flash of blue magic, the full moon high above becomes a blood red color, casting it’s scarlet light down upon the whole world, “The commoner of Equestria…” She points at the garden, where the nobles’ party is breaking down, rich mares and stallions panicking over the destruction of their fence and the blood red moon, “Have at them!” Author's Note Hey everyone, it’s been a long time since I last posted a story. I’ve got a lot of free time nowadays, and I’ve worked on my head canon setting a lot more than I have before, so, given circumstances stay the same, hopefully this story should be able to get finished. I’m planning on making this roughly follow the show’s Season 1, with 1 chapter per episode with certain exceptions. And if anyone has any questions, ask, I love to answer.
CollaboratorsThe burning sun hangs up in the sky, it’s bright light shining down upon the confused nation of Equestria. Just last night, the moon had stayed up longer than it was supposed to, turning red about halfway into the ‘day’, with rumors spreading across the entirety of Equestria about riots and revolts led by an oddly organized force in every major city in Equestria. Many had fallen asleep that night, worried, only to wake up the next morning with the news that there is a new Queen of Equestria, and that she has raised the sun for them for the first time. Nightmare stands in the Canterlot palace, in the middle of a bright room, painted to look like a partly cloudy day, bright blues and small white clouds covering the walls and roof, with a massive bed in the middle of the whole room, soft blue blankets resting upon it. Celestia’s room is a bright, peaceful place with not many luxuries, merely a dresser, a connected bathroom, and a desk, upon which sits a half written letter and two golden tickets. Nightmare looks around with a sneer, before walking up to the envelope, grabbing it and reading the first words aloud, “Dearest student, I hope you are adjusting well to Ponyville, as Luna is adjusting to the modern Equestria. Inside this envelope, I have provided two tickets…” She trails off, a fiery anger appearing in her eyes, “She thought she would win?! She was so confident she wrote a letter in advance?!” She growls and swipes the letter off the table, her magic tearing it to shreds. As the letter’s pieces begin to fall to the ground, she takes a deep breath, placing a hand upon her breast to assist. In the midst of her calming down, the door opens slightly behind her, someone else poking their head in. They’re a slightly thick cream-white colored mare with dark black mane, and some small glasses that sit on her muzzle, along with a nice looking red suit-dress that hugs her thick curves. She clears her throat, “Queen Nightmare.” Nightmare blinks and spins around, looking into her eyes instantly, “What is it, Inkwell? I asked to not be disturbed unless it was needed.” The mare looks right back and gives her a nod, “Forgive me, your highness, but around now is when Princess Celestia would meet with the nobles.” She snorts, “So you have come to waste my time, then. There is no Princess Celestia anymore, and there are no nobles. You are dismissed, secretary. Good day.” Inkwell gives her another nod, “Well, Queen Nightmare, despite your words, there are two nobles who have shown up anyway. While I am not, of course, a Queen, I would suggest meeting with them anyway.” She blinks slightly, and then frowns, “So two idiots have come despite knowing what happened to their friend. You are dismissed anyway, Inkwell. Thank you.” Her horn then lights up, and she disappears in a flash of blue. In the throne room of Canterlot palace stand two noble stallions, the two looking at each other. One is a younger stallion, in his mid twenties, a fairly tall and attractively slim stallion with a white coat and well kept blonde mane, a simple blue and black suit covering his form. The other is an older stallion, in his sixties or seventies, also of a white coloration, with a blue mane. His form shows a few scars across it, hidden mostly by his fur, and by the fine black suit he wears, with the stallion currently wiping off his monocle. Nightmare appears in a flash of blue in front of the two stallions, looking at both of them with a sneer, “Who do you two think you are to be so stupid and to waste my precious time doing it? Did you not see what happened to the last noble who tested my patience, or have you come for a repeat demonstration?” The younger stallion looks at her, and just gives a small, confident grin, giving her a polite bow, “Queen Nightmare Moon, I am Prince Blueblood of Equestria, nephew of Princess Celestia, loyal follower of Equestria. I saw the rather grisly scene with Jet Set the other day, but the entire time, my eyes were on you, not him, for your beauty is like that so the night sky and it is-“ The other stallion lightly hits his side, with Blueblood looking over and frowning slightly, standing up and brushing off his suit. He then turns and looks at Nightmare, giving her a small bow, “I am Knight Fancy Pants of Equestria, Knight of Harmony, Defender of Ponies, loyal servant of Equestria.” She looks over the both of them, before shaking her head and crossing her arms beneath her large bosom, “So a flirtatious Prince and an elderly knight. For being so loyal to Equestria, you both seem to be rather friendly to an enemy of it.” Fancy looks up, and adjusts his monocle, “Nightmare Moon, you misunderstand us. You see Equestria as the throne that lays behind you, or as your defeated sister, but to me and my old chap here, we know Equestria is truly the ponies. It has always been the ponies, and as servants of Equestria, it is our duty to protect those ponies. And if I must, Nightmare, that would mean I shall draw my blade against you, but in all due respect, I do not wish to deal with the soreness it would bring to my arm.” She just smirks, and steps forward as Blueblood opens his mouth, speaking before he can get a word out, “You seem so confident in your ability to defeat me, Knight. You look upon a goddess and threaten her, yet only worry for the soreness of your arm? Given someone else, I would say they’re an idiot, but looking at you… I almost feel inclined to believe you’re right.” Fancy just grins ever so slightly, while Blueblood speaks up, “And if I may, my Queen, I don’t care which beauty sits upon the throne of Equestria, be it Celestia, or be it you, but it is my duty, my vow to protect the ponies of Equestria. And in order to protect them, I give my vow to you, I can help them better with you than against you. But, I’m curious about something. How did you know about Canterlot? The old tales say that you are from a millennia ago, and Canterlot is just eight hundred years old.” Fancy takes off his monocle, bringing out a rag to begin to clean it, “I must agree. As a Knight of Harmony, I have greater knowledge of the past than most, and I know for certain that Everfree used to be the capital, not Canterlot. Even during the Nightmare War, it was Moonbeam, now Hoofington, and Everfree, never was Canterlot even a concept. And yet, you come back from the moon, defeat the Princess’ student, and immediately come here. There cannot have been enough time for tou to have seen it.” She looks at the both of them, and then just smirks, “Lights. All you can see from the moon, Fancy Pants, Blueblood, are lights. I saw the lights begin to concentrate upon the mountain, and could see as the lights stayed there, a new city. A defensible, magnificent capital city upon a mountain, just the type of thing Celestia would do.” She sneers slightly, “Almost like it was a taunt, to build her new capital as close to the moon as possible, taunting me to come and get her. Shoving her victory in my face…” She clenches her fists tightly, taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, “But that is behind me now, I have won.” Blueblood smiles slightly, “That makes sense… but what now? The commoners of Equestria are confused and in the midst of chaos, the nobles and the rich are afraid and are preparing for the worst case scenario, and the Guard is scrambling around disorganized. This is the perfect breeding grounds for a coup, or a revolution, or revolts, which would harm ponies a lot more than simply you taking over.” She looks at him and grins smugly, “Those ‘high and mighty’ ponies are right to be afraid, because their ends are coming. It is time for the workers of Equestria to overthrow their tyranny, to cast off their shackles and become truly free. Just last night, I found hundreds of homeless ponies in Canterlot alone, kept there because the noble and the owner wouldn’t offer them work, food, or shelter, this is a disgrace. My first call shall be for a nation wide revolution against them, for the destitute to rise up and throw them out of their ivory towers, and use those wasteful mansions for their own housing.” Fancy Pants nods, “It sounds like you’ve read Cutie Marks, then, but your way is wasteful. These revolutions of yours would lead to the guard splitting amongst themselves, those who would help the nobles and the industrialists, and those who would help the more destitute. Half of your law enforcement would disappear before the end of the week, and those who are left would question your rule after seeing the bloodiness of a Marksist revolt.” Blueblood grins slightly, “What you need, oh beauty of Equestria, is stability. While you are the Queen, and it is not my place to question your final goals, I can, however, question the pace you take. You’ve taken down the Princess, and the nobility of Canterlot, if you then were to go to the rich, then the middle class commoner would become scared, thinking they are next, and there is nothing worse than the truly common pony turning against you. Equestria must first regroup, come to terms with you, and gather back it’s forces and it’s bureaucracy if it wishes to stand before the year is out.” She looks at him, narrowing her eyes slightly, and then slowly speaking, “You both speak… logically, and perhaps you both are right. But every moment that passes is another moment a destitute foal starves, a single mother skips a meal, a-“ Fancy speaks over her, “Not anymore, Nightmare.” He puts his monocle back on as she looks at him, “This is not a millennia ago, where nothing was between a pony and starvation. Equestria is a modern nation, of course we provide for those in need, that’s how the modern world works. Ponies do not often die of starvation, they do not often lack food, even if the nation may forget some of those at the bottom of it all. You do not know the modern world, Nightmare, and I would recommend you become one with it. Go out into the world, and discover.” She snorts and shakes his head, “And what would happen to the nation as I am gone? I am it’s Queen, if I leave, then nothing shall happen at all.” He nods and gives a small smile, “You speak of the destitute throwing away tyrants, and yet you, yourself, speak as if you’re to become tyrannical. An elected council is what shall take care of decisions while you are gone, with councilors elected in fair elections from each city and town so we may stabilize the nation.” Blueblood grins and nods, “Overseen by us two, and with full transparency with you and Equestria at large. Should you ever be suspicious, you may come back and check in at any time, but know that we will never betray you. We have the good of the Equestrian citizenry in heart, Nightmare, and we shall ensure that their needs are met while your beauty graces the rest of the realm. Both Fancy and I are popular, well respected in our circles, we can organize it all, and then, when you are back, you can organize an actually legal seizing of houses from the higher class.” She looks over them both, a pensive frown on her face, which slowly lightens up, and she gives a small nod, “Very well then, both of you make good points. It has been a thousand years, and I shall survey my realm. But if either of you betray me, it will the last mistake you make.” The two give her a nod, and then give her two bows. She looks over the both of them, and then her horn lights up, and she disappears in a blue flash.
MemoriesThe sun nears the horizon, setting in the distance, as Nightmare stands in the room that Celestia had prepared for Luna. The roof is painted to look like the night sky, even with a few shooting stars flying by every so often, the walls are painted a dark purple light that absorbs the setting sun’s rays, and it is filled with all sorts of needless furniture, two different desks, three tables, an entire cabinet dedicated simply to quills and ink, and even a mini refrigerator, stocked full of Luna’s favorite ice cream, somehow having survived a thousand years. She simply snorts at the display, and turns to face a large mirror, looking upon herself for the first time in a millennia. Upon closer examination of herself, she can see the remnants of her millennia old fight, scars under her thin fur, fur matted by blood, even a little unevenness to her mane from part of it being cut off. She raises up her hands, putting them on either cheek, feeling ancient burns given to her by Celestia’s best mage. She then notes the state of her armor, covered in little nicks and chips from halted blows, noticing that it’s also gotten a bit tighter due to a small amount of weight gain on the moon. She shakes her head and leans back, “First step, ensure your reign. Second step, counter the counterrevolution. Third step, rule forever.” She smirks as her hands light up bright blue, beginning to rub them all around her body, especially around her massive chest and her thick flank. Once all is said and done, a stranger stands in the mirror. Where once a giant alicorn stood, now is a short and nerdy looking thestral stallion, one in his earlier years. He grins, looking over his form to ensure everything is right. A slim belly, chest is almost completely flat, flank is small, slightly above average for a stallion, long legs but not too terribly long, smaller leather wings and little fangs. He then reaches up, tapping either eye with a single glowing finger, with them turning from blue into a fiery thestral orange. He grins and then grabs his throat, beginning to speak, his voice slowly deepening, “Mmm, mmm, mmm… mhmm…” He stops at a fairly high pitch for a stallion, but not so much that it’s odd, “Looking good, Nighty.” He winks at his own reflection, both hands lighting up a dark blue as he disappears entirely. It’s a dark afternoon in the chic city of Baltimare, the city an eclectic mixing of towering skyscrapers and much smaller houses and shops, corporate headquarters right next to a house for a family of five, coffee shops right next to Zebrican style brothels. Everyone in the city is either chasing the newest trend, the newest style of clothing or technology, or they chase the previous trends, hipsters who scoff at everyone else, but even the hipsters can agree with the fashion chasers on one thing, that Nightmare Moon is now in style. Perhaps it’s only been three or four days since her takeover, but the ponies and other creatures of Baltimare can see the writing on the wall, and so many of them have immediately adopted blue, purple and black clothing, or painting their buildings like the night sky. It’s in one of the many alleyways of this city that Nightmare appears in their thestral disguise, a little bit of magic dressing him in a t-shirt, a purple overcoat, and some black pants, He steps out onto the streets, orange eyes looking up and down it, a small grin on his face as he notices the color scheme of the town. He, however, quickly looks away from the scenery, instead scanning the crowds of fashionistas and hipsters leaving from the many coffee shops as they close up for the day. Many of them take out umbrellas as one of the city’s many rain showers begin, wetting the mane of anyone who doesn’t have one. He snaps, summoning a large umbrella and holding it above his head as he walks the streets. Rarity was not having a good day, or a good yesterday. When she was accompanying the others into the Everfree, she didn’t think she’d need bits, but now, in a town far from her home, bits are all that she needs. She is quite the bad sight, with a messy and soaked mane from an entire day of rain, dirt covering most of her body from the Everfree, and with an air around her of annoyance and desperation. She walks slowly up to a coffee shop which is currently closing, a younger stallion in the midst of closing the front door, “Excuse me, sir?” The stallion blinks and looks up at her, “Good evening, ma’am. I’m afraid you can’t get anything, we’re closing up, and Cloud Buck’s got a one hundred percent ‘no sales after hours’ rule, says it would make regulations Tartarus on him. Sorry I couldn’t help.” She frowns slightly, and then closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. She opens them up, summoning all her marely charm, looking him in the eyes and slightly pouting, “Oh, I’m so sorry, sir, it’s just all this rain, and I don’t have any place to go… a kind gentlestallion like you would surely let a mare in need have shelter from the rain?” He barks out a laugh, “Ha! I don’t get paid enough to let you in. Have a good evening, ma’am, buh-bye.” He closes the door in her face, making sure to flip the ‘open’ sign to ‘closed’ right in front of her, before walking further into the coffee shop. She frowns and growls slightly, punching the wall next to the door slightly, making sure not to actually hurt herself. Then, as she takes a minute to think, she feels the rain stop hitting her and looks back, seeing a young thestral stallion in a purple overcoat holding a large umbrella over her head. He gives her a small grin, bright orange eyes looking into hers, “Need some shelter from the rain?” She looks him up and down for a second, and then just smiles, “Thank you.” She stands up straighter, getting entirely under it, “The ponies in this town, I swear. They treat me like I’m… like I don’t even exist! Or they just look at me with pity.” He just grins slightly less, “That’s what happens with ponies and the homeless, Miss, we pretend like if we don’t notice it, it doesn’t exist.” She frowns slightly, looking into his eyes, “I am not homeless, thank you very much, sir. I have a home, it’s just… not in this town, and I’ve not been able to afford a train to go home. That’s it.” He smirks, “And I have a marefriend but she lives in Zebrica.” He chuckles slightly and shakes his head, smiling, “Well, come with me, I was going to the station anyway. Might as well send you on your way home as well.” She blinks in surprise, and then smiles, “I… thank you, thank you so much.” He smiles back, beginning to walk away, with her following alongside, “I’m Rarity, a fashionista from Ponyville.” He grins, making sure to keep the umbrella up straight, protecting the both of them, “John Night, a nerd from Trottingham. Fashionista from Ponyville? You must have gone through Hell in order to reach here with no bits left.” She looks over and raises an eyebrow, “John? Well, I must admit, you hardly had to say you were from Trottingham with a name like that. But Hell? I’m afraid I’ve not heard of that before, Mister Night, is it some… Trottingham slang? Perhaps a building around there?” He grins more and waves his off hand dismissively, “Thestral afterlife, fire and brimstone for those who do not praise John Smith, Lord of Creation, infinite moonlight and baskets of mangoes for those who do. I’m serious, though, must have been a pretty rough set of events that got you here.” She looks away and sighs, “It was… it was quite something, yes. I’d prefer not to share details, if you don’t mind, but let’s just say that I didn’t willingly come here. In fact, it was rather forceful. And I’ve spent the last two days trying to find a way home, but nopony cared enough to help me. Nopony could share a few bits to a distressed mare, shop owners have thrown me out because I wasn’t buying anything, even the guard has been too busy to help me. It’s been dangerous, too, what with all the fighting.” He looks over and raises an eyebrow, “Fighting? I’ve not heard of that until now. Between ponies, or between the guard?” She looks back, “Between the guard and some other ponies, nopony has really gotten a good description of the other group. Except when they fight, there are quite a few loud banging noises.” A second after she finishes, a loud series of bangs come from back the way they came, with both immediately stopping in their tracks, Rarity looking scared, and Night looking concerned. Night reaches into his coat, pulling out a bag of bits and tossing it into Rarity’s hands, “That should cover your way home.” He then shoves the umbrella into her other hand, taking off his overcoat and tossing it onto her shoulders, “And take those, should keep you warm and dry. I’m going to go check out the fighting.” She blinks at all of the stuff in her hands, and then blinks again at his words, “But… Mister Night, you can’t just go off into a fight! You’ll get hurt, or killed! Let the guard take care of it, it’s their job.” He grins and looks towards the bangs, “Yeah, well, I’m curious. I like that overcoat, Miss Rarity, keep it safe for me. I’ll swing by Ponyville sometime and pick it up. Have an apple ready for me when I come by as well, I hear it’s Applebucking Season.” He looks at her, smirks, winks, and then runs off down the street, leaving her behind. Captain Straight Point was not having a great night, nor was her squad of guards. A firefight had broken out on a routine patrol of the city’s commercial center, an alleyway opposite of them housing their attackers, using odd ranged weaponry that produces quite the loud bang. Two of her squad are already heavily injured, Sergeant Clop and Lieutenant Clip both having been hit, a hole blown straight through their armor and their legs, Private Pestle busy applying first aid while she, along with Private String and Private Sure, all three poking around their improvised cover to fire off crossbow bolts at random. Another bang comes from across the way, a hole appearing right above Captain Point’s ear, whatever projectile having blown through the table she hides behind with no effort. She shouts, “String, identify targets! Sure, keep your fire up!” String nods, poking his head out from the table, only to rapidly draw it back, a series of three bangs filling the air as three holes fill the wall of the alleyway behind them, “Ma’am no good, they’ve got us pinned down! We’re screwed more than a Kirin in a brothel!” She growls and reloads her crossbow, “I don’t care how screwed we are, we gotta take these bastards down! Now either identify those damn targets or raise a white flag, Private!” As she shouts, the alleyway fills with blue, the massive form of Nightmare Moon appearing beside him. The two look over at her, with String blushing strongly and saying meekly, staring directly at Nightmare’s chest, “Ma’am, two massive targets identified…” She looks over and quickly raises her crossbow, “Squad, crossbows, enemy in range, fire at her, take her down!” She looks at the Captain as she fires a bolt, a bit of telekinesis stopping the bolt before it can even leave the crossbow, snapping it in half, “Save the bravado for later, Captain. Situation report, now!” Captain Straight looks at her and scowls, shouting as she reloads her crossbow, “No! You took our princess, you took our nation, all of this is your fault! Squad, I said to fucking fire at her!” Private Pestle spins around from healing her comrades, shouting, “How the fuck about you do it your fucking self, Captain?! I’ve got fucking two lives to save and your dumbfuck little orders aren’t fucking going to change that, now either deal with the fucking situation or fucking shut it so I don’t have to hear your dumbass little fucking voice speak, Captain!” She then turns around, cleaning out the wounds of the injured guards. String gulps, his eyes still affixed to Nightmare’s chest, “U-umm, yeah, what she said, Captain…” Private Sure pokes his crossbow over, firing a shot at the opposite alleyway, ducking back down as they return fire, calmly loading his crossbow and speaking softly, “Captain, better we work with her and maybe survive than die here. We’re pinned down, and if she wanted to harm us, she already would.” She scowls heavily, “Fucking… fine. Baltimare has been under attack these past two days and nights by a group of criminals using technology more advanced than we could ever imagine. They ambush us a single squad at a time, and they always eliminate every single pony in that squad. Armor does nothing to stop their weapons, cover does fuck all. They’re in the alleyway across from us, estimate is five targets, they’ve already injured two of us.” Nightmare nods, her horn lighting up, the holes in the Sergeants’ legs healing up quickly, “Thank you, Captain. If that is all, I shall be putting an end to this. In addition, control your soldiers a little better, I can feel this stallion’s arousal.” She picks up String and sets him aside while he blushes and stammers, instead standing from cover, her horn casting a shield over herself. From the other alleyway, no more bangs come. Instead, from it’s darkness emerge five figures, all of whom have their eyes affixed on her. They all wear slim fitting black suits, with holes for leather wings and bright eyes. They’re thestrals, but all of them are oddly slim compared to most, and they carry rifles upon their backs, very advanced technology. The five slowly approach her, before bowing, their leader stallion speaking, “Mistress Moon.” She smirks and puts a hand on her hip, “I have a fan club now? How very charming. Rise, all of you, speak your names and your organization.” The five all nod and stand up, their leader nodding to her in deference, “I am General Steady Bastion of the 3rd Army. The others are Private Black Cross, Private Moon Light, Corporal Night Knight, and Captain High Tide. We are your most loyal servants, Mistress Moon. Where all others surrendered or died when they heard of your defeat, we did not. We fled under the waves and hid within the vast ocean, waiting for your return.” She grins, “And so you attacked the guard because they were not loyal to me. I cannot blame that, after all, you all believe there’s still a war going on.” She smirks, “There isn’t. I won, General Bastion, Celestia has fled and Equestria is mine to rule. What you all have been doing is attacking my guard. My city. My ponies, General. You have been attacking and killing them when it is my job as Queen to ensure their safety.” His eyes widen and he shakes his head, quickly bowing to her, “No, no, Mistress, we didn’t mean that! The guard still serve the sun heretic, Mistress, they are not loyal to you, we sought to eliminate them before they became an enemy to your rule!” She walks up closer to him, looking down at him with cold eyes, “And so you attacked them without first awaiting orders to do so, without asking if your assumptions were true. You have taken my vows and turned them into jokes just to ensure loyalty, General. Your group has killed good mares and stallions, mares and stallions who signed up to serve their fellow ponies, mares and stallions who could be convinced. But you simply couldn’t wait, could you? So you killed them.” General Bastion whines slightly, and just bows his head deeper, “I didn’t mean it, Mistress Moon, please… forgive us, we only tried to support you, to support the Night!” She snorts slightly and shakes her head, “You are not forgiven. You will not be. Neigh, you shall be punished.” She reaches down, picking him up by the collar of his suit, and looking right into his bright purple eyes, “You, and your organization, will not have any special place by my side, nor shall they have the special privilege to kill those who disagree. Neigh, General, your organization shall be used as I wish for it to be, as I command it to be. From this day on, you shall relinquish your arms to I, you shall place down any thoughts of fighting in my name, and you shall put away thoughts of acting without thought, General. Your organization shall instead be utilized in another way. You all shall assist the guard, and, when I wish for you to, you shall be used as I command.” She tosses him down into the ground, standing over him and looking down at him, “Do not question my decision or I will find you.” Then, in a flash of her horn, she disappears. Nightmare appears back in the room built for Luna, and just sighs, collapsing down onto the bed. A sheet of paper flies up and lands on her face, written in another language. She sighs and just takes it off her face, putting it aside and climbing under the covers, sleeping for the first time in a thousand years.
The Land of GriffonsNightmare stands in the room built for Luna, looking over the mysterious sheet of paper that was left on her bed the previous night, which she had ignored in favor of sleep. The paper is covered in writing, but it is very messy, with very poor penmanship overall, looking as if it’s some type of list. The words, in addition, are written in another language, which, after a few minutes of looking it over, Nightmare is able to determine to be Griffish. She folds up the sheet of paper and looks outside as the sun rises, still raised by Celestia’s magic despite her having ran away, and gives a small grin to herself, muttering, “Griffonia it is.” She turns back to face the same mirror as she did the previous day, looking over her armor and sighing. With a single flash of her horn, the chainmail changes to become fabric, stretching itself and molding to suit her form until it finalizes, a dark blue formal dress now covering her, the mare looking slightly foreign outside of her armor. Then, in another flash of magic, her helmet begins to move like liquid up her head, gathering and hardening to form a tiara around her head, with a massive sapphire at the front of it. She looks at herself, now dressed like a proper Queen, and snorts, muttering, “I look ridiculous.” She then reaches up, rubbing her hands against her tiara, pumping them with magic and slowly shaping curved spikes that come out of the tiara and curve towards the center of her head. She smirks once she’s finished eight of them, each one decorated with smaller sapphires, “That’s better.” Then, with another flash of magic, she disappears. It’s a busy day in the capital city of Griffonia, Griffonheim, with griffons of all sorts walking and flying around it’s stone streets, trading goods with one another, reporting to their workplaces, bypassing the many street beggars around and giving respectful nods to any heavily armored Griffonian Ritters, the Knights of the Empire liking to wear their armor as they walk around just to get some extra respect and some discounts at stores. In the center of the town is a massive palace which towers above any surrounding buildings, built with thick stone walls, small windows, and in a dark tan color, one could easily confuse the palace for a fortress, but the palace is built to serve both purposes, able to be defended easily during times of war and elsewise being used as a residence for the Griffonian Emperor. In the streets of the city appears Nightmare in a flash of blue, a few surrounding griffons squawking at her sudden appearance, but quickly shutting up and continuing on with their day upon seeing her. She just grins slightly, looking up at the palace and quickly moving there, a bit of magic keeping her dress from getting dirtied by the streets. Whispers break out behind her between gossiping hens and curious cocks, all eyes following her as she walks, as a few armored griffons spread their wings and fly back to the palace. As she nears the palace, Nightmare comes to a sudden stop, hearing a little cling noise from beside her. She looks to the noise, seeing an elderly Griffon sitting on the side of the streets, both of his eyes milky white and staring off into the distance, his feathers greying and dirty. He raises a shaky talon, which is missing two claws, shaking around a small metal cup which it holds, his voice speaking dryly, “Bits for a war veteran? I just need to buy lunch.” She frowns slightly, taking a glance at the palace, but then looking back at the older Griffon, kneeling down in front of him, “A war veteran? I would expect you to be taken care of, not out on the streets begging. What war?” The old Griffon chuckles dryly, which devolves into coughs, the elder covering his beak before shaking his head, speaking creakily, “I expected I would be taken care of too, Miss. Not like I signed up to die just to become a beggar. It was the Third Conflict, Miss, not like there’s been any other wars. Damn Minotaur just couldn’t be happy.” She nods slightly, and then leans closer, looking at his eyes, “You’re blind, I can see. Looks like a sharp weapon of some sort cut just close enough, or perhaps crushed your helmet in such a way that it cut into the front of them. You say a Minotaur… was it an axe, perhaps, old veteran?” He grins slightly, “You see? I don’t!” He then chuckles again, once more devolving into coughs, taking a minute to recover before clearing his throat, answering her, “Minotaur axe, I deflected it with my sword and tried to pull back, last thing I saw was the edge of it. Then, just… dark.” She nods again, as a bag of coins is thrown into the beggar’s cup. She looks to her side, where a figure stands. He’s an even older Griffon than the veteran, easily in his late eighties, wearing a white cloak and hat, his feathers having turned so grey from age that they almost blend in to his cloak. The elder has a long wooden cane in one of his talons, using it to keep himself up, amber eyes looking at Nightmare with much wisdom behind them. He smiles softly at her, “Nightmare Moon.” She looks back at him, and then back at the veteran, who’s milky eyes have widened a bit, “Relax, let me help you.” Her hands then light up blue and she reaches up, covering his eyes with the palms of her hands, and sending a small blast of magic into either of them. She pulls her hands back then as the Griffon blinks, his eyes turning from milky white into a bright blue, his eyes now slitted like hers, the Griffon looking at her in awe. Nightmare then stands up, turning to face the newcomer, “Yes, I am Nightmare Moon. What of it?” The Griffon gives her a small grin, “I am Archon Jesuit Eros, most faithful of Boreas, I’ve come to make sure you get to the palace without much trouble. I must say, I did not expect to find you healing an old veteran. It would seem like the tales have painted an incorrect version of you.” She grins slightly, “The tales were written by my enemies, Archon Eros, you would do well to remember that. Take me to the Emperor, I would have words with him. Or her, if the succession has led that way.” Eros nods to her and turns around, beginning to walk along, using his cane to support his steps, “I’m afraid the Emperor won’t be up for meeting quite yet, he is currently learning mathematics. Ah. I forgot you wouldn’t know.” He looks back at her, “The Emperor is just twelve, a Regency Council rules in his stead, and I am one of the ones on that council.” She nods along with him and follows along, “So you, and your fellow regents, would be the ones to blame for the state of your griffons, I can see.” She frowns slightly, “You left a blinded veteran on the streets of your capital city, Archon.” The old Griffon just nods, turning to look ahead as he walks, his cane clicking with each step, “Yes, but if only it were that simple, Nightmare. The Empire is short on bits, if we spent any on the old veteran, those would be bits not spent on repairing the old capital of Griffonstone, or the farming centers of Brodfeld or Prywhen, and then, no matter how many bits we give that veteran, he would starve. Do we have the bits to spare? Yes, but we can hardly agree upon where to put them. The Archonate only has one voice in the Council, but Lady Gabriela of Lushi and Field Marshal Dawnclaw of Prywhen have their own voices. One wishes to aid the commoners, being us, the Archonate, another wishes to aid the industrialists and bigger businesses, the Lady of Lushi, and the Field Marshal wishes to go on a crusade against the Minotaur in revenge.” She raises an eyebrow, “You lost against the Minotaur? How far must this Empire have fallen since my banishment, that the twice defeated Minotaur could finally defeat you. What happened to the Griffonia of old, the center of innovation, of riches, second only to Equestria proper? Where are your shining knights with shining guns?” He just shakes his head, “They’re gone, Nightmare, slowly removed one by one over millennia. Innovation stopped all over once we signed the Cain Accords, that no nation shall invent weaponry more deadly than any other nation without first getting it approved, and our civilian technology is limited by understanding of the world. Our money has long been funneled to the nobles of the realm, to the already rich merchants, and to the Minotaur lands, who took our investments and then stabbed us with them. Griffonia has declined, but perhaps the 31st century shall be the Griffonian rebirth, under the clever mind of Grover the Tenth, and perhaps with your help.” She grins slightly, looking around as they enter the grand imperial palace, walking into it, past a gate guarded by heavily armored griffons carrying halberds, looking at paintings lining the main hallway of the palace, “You wasted no time jumping to asking for help, Archon. One might question the eagerness with which you suggested a want for my help.” Eros nods, coming to a stop and looking at a specific portrait, tapping the wall underneath it with his cane, “This is Emperor Grover the First, victor of the First Conflict, only able to do it due to your father’s sacrifice and Equestrian blood. He became Emperor of Griffonia because the Pegasi, Commander Katherina, Cloudsdale, the city that is now part of Equestria, killed Emperor Ascendant of Romau. Griffonstone was only able to survive the attacks from Pompneigh due to Prench fire mages, on loan from Equestria. And his great grandson, Grover the Second, was only able to win the Second Conflict due to Equestrian medicine and Equestrian volunteers. Prince Gwyndolin of Brodfeld was only able to gain power and give the Kingdom over to Grover because of a squad of Equestrian soldiers. We would not exist without Equestria, Nightmare.” Nightmare nods along with his explanation, leaning against the wall and giving him a grin, “So you wouldn’t exist without us, that means that my help is valuable to you all. But what do you offer in return, Archon? When have the Griffons been the saviors of Equestria?” He looks over at her, and gives her a slow nod, “Without Griffons, Nightmare, no country would exist to begin with. You were but a filly back then, but the history books show that in the earliest days of the world, there was no country, and no nation, merely cities and villages equally likely to fight as they were to trade. That is, of course, until the Romauian Empire, the first country to span multiple cities, and multiple groups. If Romau had not created the standard for what a kingdom, or a country, was, then would you all have created Equestria? If Romau had not studied the sciences, agriculture, transportation, construction, and created iron tools, would Equestria have been created? If it was not for holy Griffonian knights holding their ground, the western Necromancers would have conquered Zebrica. Equestria would be a mass graveyard given over to dark magics.” She pauses, and thinks over his words, nodding along with them, “So in your mind, Equestria and Griffonia are in a symbiosis, we both aid each other in ways that others cannot. But there is a problem with speaking in history, Archon, it’s that what Equestria used to be, and what Equestria will be are massively different. I am willing to give my aid to Griffonia, but what shall Equestria get in return?” He smiles softly to her, “We will offer you protection, protection from Celestia. She will not take your leadership lightly, and eventually she will return. When she returns, everyone will support her, the Zebras and the Minotaur, they will provide material, men, and money. We help you take care of Celestia, when she returns, and you help us rebuild. And once the Empire is back to how it once was, perhaps then we can help protect against further attacks. You are a smart mare, Nightmare, and our interests, Griffonia, Equestria, the Archonate, and you, they all align.” He offers her a talon, looking into her eyes. She looks back into his eyes, looking away for a minute, then giving herself a small nod. She straightens up her posture, reaching out and shaking his talon, “I agree to this, Archon. Let us not hope I will regret it.” She then lets go and reaches down, taking the sheet of paper out of a pocket in her dress, giving it to him, “I found this in my bedroom this morning, Archon. Can you translate it?” He looks at the paper and then takes it, looking it over, “Well, this was written by a hatchling, judging by the writing, almost no structure to it at all. But, from what I can tell, Nightmare, this is a grocery list. Or, rather, a shopping list. The only legible entries are ‘pool noodle’ and ‘mirror demon’. I’m afraid that is all I can provide.” He hands it back to her. She takes it, and then gives him a nod, “I thank you for trying. I must dismiss myself, I have things to take care of in my realm.” He nods once more, “Until we meet again, Nightmare.” And, in a flash of blue light in front of him, she disappears.
