The Shy Shadow of the Moon

People March On

"Often the cruelty of others has the farthest reaching consequences, for while the mind forgets, the heart remains scarred"

The filly was now a young mare, beginning to mature in body, though in mind remained a scared little filly. She watched as old friends walked beside new friends, forgetting her, uncaring of the memories left behind... of the ponies left behind...

The Mare watched them mingle with strangers, her friends she once played with, turned strangers as she couldn't play with them anymore. Yet, she remembered the few that truly bullied her... The mare turned to leave, but found four ponies blocking her way, three stallions, and a mare.

"Where you going wittle shy?", sneered the bright red mare, her wings splayed out in intimidation.

"I-I-I-I was just...", the mare tried to explain, but was cut off by one of the stallions.

"Shut it Fluttershy! Bright Zip wasn't done talking yet!", he chuckled darkly.

"My my, you are BOLD today wittle shy! Interrupting me!", Bright Zip tisked, starting to advance on Fluttershy, her wings quivering in a threat display, making Bright Zip's feathers buzz like static.

"I-Im sorry!", Fluttershy quivered as she retreated, but Bright Zip was cornering her, getting closer and closer.

"You know how this works Wittle shy, its time to be punished!", Bright Zip sneered disdainfully as she raised a hoof, showing her victim the bronze frog cover under her hoof.

Fluttershy paled as she saw the frog cover, aware of how much more painful the blows would be with it. It weighted a ponies hoof to allow them to strike harder in melee, potentially causing bone fractures and tendon breakage. As Bright Zips hoof descended, Fluttershy coward into the corner, screaming.

"NOOOOOOOOOO-"

"-OOOOO!!!!!!", Fluttershy sat bolt upright, spraining her wings as she forced them open in fear, ready to fly away.

A cold sweat coated her, as she looked around with eyes wide and pupils shrank to pinpricks, trying to find the danger to move away from it as fast as possible. But as she took in the quite calming chitters of Angel Bunny, and smelled his scent nearby, she began to grow calm. Fluttershy became aware of his paw gently stroking her barrel, carefully working the stiffness her fear induced adrenaline forced into them.

She pulled him into a hug, laying on her side and burying her muzzle into the chicken down pillow, tears streaming down her snout as she cried. Angel gently stroked her neck and mane, his chittering becoming words again as she calmed down.

"mumu sun mu-there there... I'm here Fluttershy... it was just a nightmare...", He said reassuringly, his tone gentle and calm. She weeped freely as he calmed her down, her mind seeing flashes of the past slowly fading from view, hugging him close. Her nose was filled with the scent of her friends fur and feathers in the bed and pillows, friendly smells that helped her heart return to a steady and calm beat.

"I-Im sorry Angel... I woke you up...", Fluttershy hugged him close again, wiping her final tears away as her mental blocks were restored, allowing her to stop crying, to smile for him... For them...

"Fluttershy, it's fine... im never annoyed when you need help... you know that." Her brave little angel said, hugging her tighter.

"I know Angel... I know...", She ran a gentle hoof over his ears, the sensation calming her down.

Then the wing pain began, their forceful extension having caused her muscles to cramp and ache... but she remained silent, not telling Angel so he doesn't worry further...

Standing, she stretched her wings, as she usually did when waking up, trying to hide the cramping pain. Then she walked towards her showers, needing to get the sweat off before it dried and began to smell. The last thing she wanted, was for her carnivorous friends to smell fear on her.

They wouldn't hurt her, but their protective instincts would make her cottage a no-pony zone until they calmed down again. She didn't get many visitors, besides Hooves and Dash, but as the local animal consultant she did occasionally get called to help the other ponies in Ponyville deal with pests or particularly irate pets. She didn't want to hurt somepony because her nightmares made her sweat, and caused her carnivore friends to become anxious for her safety...

She recalled the nightmare as the water cascaded down her neck, it was one of many incidents with Bright Zip and her gang... Dash stopped them eventually, but Rainbow Dash hadn't been at her old school... Soon, Fluttershy left the comforting warmth and privacy of the shower, intending to prepare for the day since the nightmare had taken any chance of a full nights sleep away... She would be better off reading, or knitting... yeah, knitting... Ms Walnuts kits are going to need little sweaters when they are born, or maybe a small sock to act like sleeping bags?...

As Fluttershy sat on her favorite chair before the fireplace, she started to knit, trying to forget the nightmare through focusing on helping her friends...

Today was the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration, so she had a lot to do, when the day properly started, before she left for the next several hours... Hopefully Pinkie Pie's party wouldn't be too bad... Then, as she recalled the presence of the pony from Canterlot today, she began to shiver as she recalled the reputation of Canterlot nobility... not usually mean, but... very tribal to say the least...

Hopefully the pony coming here wasn't a tribalist...

Even as their Heart Looks Back

The dark mare watched as the stars finally started to align, literally as well as figuratively. That's right Tia! The heavens themselves demand her release! Soon all of Equis will know her night!

She paced restlessly, checking every few minutes for the right moment, her magically enhanced eyes watching Celestias progress across Equestria to Ponyville. The smug mare probably forgot about them, a thousand years alone with the crown, and she has forgotten the one she has trapped on the lunar surface!

Oh how she was going to learn the price for her negligence! The dark mare continued to pace, eyes locked on the solar diarches position, glaring daggers at the one who abandoned her up here. The one who allowed the nobility to snub her! The one who had shrugged off her attempts to get the mares help! The one who allowed them to desecrate the graves of her fallen! AND DID NOTHING!!!!

Her eyes narrowed to slits alongside her pupils as she recalled Tia dismissing her, her anger blinding her to the tell tale signs of exhaustion, her fury causing her to miss the slight droop of stress to her sisters shoulders. What did Celestia care? The ponies adored her, frolicked in her sun, safe from whatever darkness they thought wanted to devour them! It wasn't her crown the nobles were trying to take away!

She sent her forces to hunt down the beasts, only to be met with fears of militarization. She tried to paint the black night with stars and constellations to guide the little ponies through the darkness, only to have accusations of stealing the sunlight for her night. She tried to safeguard their dreams, not just guide ponies through nightmares, only to be met with suspicions of attempted mind control! MIND CONTROL!!!!

That is when she realized it, they thought her like HIM, that loathsome creature that claimed a crown with all the pride of a worthless worm that found an apple!

The dark mare stomped her armored hoof into the lunar turf, baring her teeth at Equis, especially at a certain solar princess. In her mind, memories of times she had tried to ask Tia for help, tried to have her sister step in, only to be brushed off as 'paranoid'. The dark mare is gifted, or perhaps cursed, with Hyperthymesia, or as better known, perfect memory. She can recall everything in her life, perfectly, including every attempt by the nobility to undermine her power, or set her up for a justifiable removal!

"Enjoy your crown while you have it dear sister! Soon you shall know my pain!", she hissed out the words as she glared down at her sister and the escorting forces.

The night was cold, but right now the dark mares fury burned hot enough to challenge the sun! After this night, dawn shall never return! She will make sure of that! Make Celestia watch as their subjects finally started to love her night! Make Celestia stay for a thousand years upon her beloved Sol! An eye for an eye!

She would pay! Those nobles descendants would pay! Equis shall pay for denying her, for denying her fallen, for denying them the same glory as the solar legion! Or her name isn't Nightmare Moon!!!!!

She cackled wickedly, the sound echoing strangely off the thin, almost absent, atmosphere of her moon... Until she stopped, and now had to wait for the right time to strike... as her previous actions slowly made her feel awkward for having done so with no audience... After all, working herself up like that, and throwing out witty one liners was just... weird when alone... alone...

She grew quiet as she considered that all of her legion would be long buried by now... no longer able to rejoice with the glory she had promised them... at first this saddened her... Before her mind twisted it into another reason to hate Celestia, another reason for her to pay.

This day decides it all... she shall win and all will die... or she shall lose, and Equestria will continue on in peace... Faust, how could they have allowed this to happen? They had been so close to their goals when her mind snapped, and the criticism and tribalist behaviors of the nobility finally drove her over the edge. It was understandable for them to fear the dark for a time after that tyrants actions, but they had actively tried to dethrone her for the suspicion of being just like... as if they would ever... To think, the loyal subjects of equestria would accuse her, the Alicorn of the night and dreams, of ever doing as that... that... THING had done!!! He had warped the magic she had pioneered, making it from something therapeutic to something traumatic, twisting dreams into nightmares to feed his dark power!

Just the idea of its existence sickens her, causing the accusation to infuriate her boundlessly at the time... though her reaction was still inexcusable, she now liked to think she would now handle that particular scenario with the unicorn noble with a bit more... tact... Throwing somepony from the throne room by their horn down the castle stairs didn't exactly project a benevolent manner... no matter how much the pompous tub of lard deserved it...

The spark of Luna recalled the events leading up to her banishment, the attempts to win over the favor of her and Celestia's subjects, after fear of the dark magic used by the tyrant stole their adoration for her... made them fear her beautiful night... She didn't blame them now, but back then she had been young... well as young as a six hundred year old alicorn could be at any rate... after a thousand additional years it certainly feels young... regardless, she had been brash, arrogant to a degree, and maybe a teensy bit vain... after all, Luna and Celestia were the first alicorns to ascend in recent memory, though according to Star Swirls research not the first ever, there had been others... very few, but others... Such as Princess Platinum from the Crystal Empire.

Luna and Tia had ascended after defeating discord, Luna had been an earth pony while Celestia had been a pegasus. It's probably why Tia is physically weaker then her despite being larger come to think of it... but no matter, the point is that they had not ascended to defend pony kind, just to be suspected and dethroned from a pedestal they had been thrust upon by harmony herself, but a bunch of greedy power hungry nobility that only held the title thanks to the actions of kin long dead...

At least... that's what she had thought at the time... now she understood that what they had been doing was not out of greed, but fear... unlike her, who focused on constellations and theoretical combat, they had understood history... had understood the price of dark magic. But while before they had trusted Luna as they did Celestia, now they had an example of what the dark could do to them...

And they feared she might become like... Him...

Still frustrating, still infuriating that they thought, after nearly six hundred years of responsibility and care, that she would so easily throw aside her shared crown for that of a lone ruler... She would laugh, if not for her current situation... She wasn't trying to snatch a crown, she was going to try and do something far worse...

If only she could convince the dark mare of the folly, but all this spark could do was prevent her from lashing out through the dream realm. She has tried to show the dark mare the dreams that proved the folly of her plan, however the dark mare ignored her and immediately moved for Celestia. But she had somewhat expected that, because she had tried to talk to her before, and got dismissed as her mind trying to cope with the isolation. Thankfully Celestia hadn't been harmed during that close call...

She might be insane, but that didn't make her stupid, so unfortunately she was able to think of a reason to hear voices in her head. Then ignore them.

Please Tia, be ready to stop her... your the only hope Equis has!