Of Olden Times Long Past: An Introvert's Perspective

Chapters

Done in With Heartbreak
Ghost of The Mind
From Shadows to Darkness
The Shattering Truth

Done in With Heartbreak

Of Olden Times Long Past

An Introvert's Lone Perspective

October 11 2012

6:15 AM

Songs used during production: Octavia's Overtune Remix and Canticle of Cadence
“In Her name, and for the New Lunar Republic, charge!”
Battle cry of Her Majesty's Lunar Army.

“The night is young, the starlight of the stars grace oh so poetically. Simply both bliss and divine, once in a lifetime, to experience such grace and poise.”

“Yet so I see her beauty, so young, so innocent, and... So alike me.”

“Shy and most timid, she took refuge under her sister's shadow. Rarely, did she present herself, hiding within the shadows and out of sight.”

“Oh to be so dazzled by such a wee, young Princess. Her heart touched upon mine greatly so, that nothing save Octavia could even compare.”

“Tis be a most joyful year to remember, of such fond memories that I foster. One who was so informal, and to our level of the common being. Struck soundly dumb by fools love, never would thine have foreseen the coming storm that made it so to change this forevermore. As with all good things, you too went your own separate path.”

“A year has since past, yet so much has changed. She possessed the same poise and grace of her former.... Yet so noted, thou carries her form in different posture. Standing tall and proud, you now tower over all. No longer you were the shy introvert that has touched my heart. In her place, you stand beaming with confidence like none other. Your voice, once so quiet that thou art even rival Fluttershy. Your speech and mannerisms, no longer of the modern tongue, but in a veiled, Elizabethan Equestrian. Shakespeare looks down in bemusement, but all the same your theatrics still hold most endearing.

Jolly art thou most inner thoughts. Your every hoof step carries a spring that once a year before, never would have been possible. So loud and rambunctious, so unlike the little one who only a year before has returned from banishment.”

“So coy and cunning, a flare of your brilliant moonlight reveals all beneath the shadows. Governor and Guardian of the Night once more, you make peace with the people's heart. So tearful Celestia was, who had not enough tears to shed for your return to grace. Glorious and valiant, you stood tall and proud. Conquered the evils that have cloaked thine form, you are held in equal measure to your beloved elder sibling. Converse you do with a new alicorn of magenta, her love so abundant.

Your life was never before so joyful. Night is held to the utmost regard, equal in measure to that of the Day. More protective and loving than ever, your sister lashes out to those who even dared to insult you and your beloved night. When word came that you were attacked by the extremist factions who fear the night, hearing the failed assassination attempt land you in hospital, so great was her rage that all of Equestria heard her roar with agony and despair.

She was not merciful to the culprits, who she smited with glee all too evident. Now, your sister Celestia has passed an edict, that if anyone were to disrespect the night again, she would plunge the country into darkness for a week's time. Thanks to your efforts to calm her soul however, this thankfully did not come to pass. Both of you now stand proud, ever the symbols of hope, valor, wisdom, and justice.”

“Yet out of all that, a feeling of being constantly observed has you at least bit on edge. But no matter how much effort you put in to locate this source, the shadows reveal not what you desire. Shrugging it off as so, you continue your daily duties to the people, but only for a while.”

“For every once in a while, this feeling comes back in force, yet disappears as quickly as it came. Frustrated, you request the presence of Twilight Sparkle, a prodigy at magic, and Pinkie Pie, whose abilities to break into other dimensions is unparalleled.”

“Now here you are, waiting with anticipation as the time draws near. You will finally find out what this feeling of apathetic sorrow is, indeed so Princess Cadence has stated, this soul feels most alone. Before, it held feelings of camaraderie, jolly joy, and heartfelt kinship. But now, this soul weeps silently for a loss that cannot be replaced, a veil pulled over the eyes of others to keep silent and stem their worries, for it's own is not worthy of comment. Or so it would seem anyhow. But so great is this call, you cannot help but heed the cry for help. Something is amiss about this soul however. You feel fear, tension twisting it's knife in your gullet. You sense many feelings plaguing this soul, those of despair, fear, anger, envy and general apathetic acceptance. This soul knows much about you, even though it has never met you in person. From afar does he admire you, though you sense there are many others like minded who hold you in that regard, even if their plane of existence differs from your own.”

“You have established the gender and age of this one. The reveal of whom this one may be draws your complete attention... Ah, a young soul in their adolescent age, bright but ultimately introverted, even more so than Twilight before she met her fellow elements. Conflict reside within his heart, something to do with a change that has cause him alarm. Yet despite his attempts to communicate these feelings to his fellows, they could only shrug, helpless to answer what was gnawing at him from the inside. His failure to put to words the emotions and feelings that he hold only serve to irritate and depress him more than ever.”

“Wait... Something has happened... Huzzah! Your companions have now established a portal to view into the realm that has the source of these feelings....”

“Wait... What are you doing? …. No stop! You mustn’t dwell within these sacred parts. It shall be His pain alone, has always been and forever shall be. Cease with this meddling immediately, or face the sword's edge you wretched cur of an-”

CRACK

The puzzle will finally assemble itself to completion. Destiny now draws ever closer. We must make ready...

"DAMN!" Luna shouted. She slammed her forehooves into the marble floor, creating a small crack at the impact site. The bang, combined with the Royal Canterlot Voice, could be heard all around the castle. The sudden noise caused a servant to accidentally drop a cake on an unfortunate Prince Blueblood, who had the fate of standing under the balcony outside, right under where the cake landed at deadeye center.

Needless to say, the resulting theatrics of the Prince that night made headlines in the papers, and much to his dismay, almost everypony will recall the moment from that time on, the look of absolute horror that plastered itself on his muzzle being something that was absolutely priceless..

Luna had took no notice of this, for she had more immediate and pressing concerns to deal with..

"By Faust's hooves! Make haste Twilight Sparkle, thy sense an interference!"

"I'm trying," Twilight said, struggling to stem the huge amount of magic overload that threatened to burst from her horn and flood the room with explosive anti matter. Sweat beaded the young unicorn's brows as she grunted.

"Just-, a few more seconds -nghhhh, GOT IT!" Twilight shouted, only to cough as she began to wobble.

"Twilight! Art thou unwell?" Alarmed, Luna began to trot over to assess Twilight's condition, only for a steady hoof to halt her.

"I'm fine Princess! I just a need a breather."

"Very well Twilight Sparkle. We shall move on to the task at hoof here."

The image portal flickered for a few moments before settling on a urban woodland backdrop.

An image flickered briefly in front of Luna. What she saw was what she could only describe was a bipedal, hairless ape.

What stood out to Luna though was the fact he was brooding, looking horribly depressed. There he sat alone on a park bench, surrounded by a desolate wasteland. Not another soul was to be seen, and the neighborhood around it looked like it had been abandoned for some time, rust covering just about every building, along with some smashed windows and collapsed rooftops to add into the mix of decay.

"Curious. It would appear we have found our query Twilight. We suggest that-"

Luna stopped as her blood went frigid cold.

"By Faust!?"

An oppressive spirit that hovered over him, casting a heavy veil of haze with a darkened dye that engulfed the colt. One that she knew all too well from the past.

Luna scowled. Something ticked at the tip of her horn. "Twilight Sparkle, thy hast sense of a malevolent presence within this r- !"

Luna yelped, flinching from a scalding sensation on her horn. The princess panted as she forced herself to concentrate, sensing a very strong signal emanating from the portal. Luna grimaced as she steadied herself on her four hooves, complete tunnel vision overtaking her eye sight.

"Princess Luna! Here, I'll stop the spell-"

Luna silenced Twilight with a grunt.

"No Twilight. We have this-... Under control."

Luna gritted her teeth, fighting through the sudden vertigo that was trying to force itself upon the Night Princess.

"Yes, this is the one! He is the source! Quickly Twilight, we mu-"

She paused and blinked. Where the bipedal once stood, was a younger version of herself, who looked at her with sorrowful eyes.

FLASH!

'Bow to me Celestia! Soon, the night will last FOREVER! Nightmare Moon cackled, thunder sounding in accompaniment.

Luna.... I'm so sorry.... Please forgive me.... Celestia said in a whispered sob. It was now or never. Risk eternal night, or send the one she loved to a fate worse than death.

It only took Celestia one last look at Nightmare Moon before the Element of Harmony floated around her in a semi-circle.
The Elements of Harmony glowed brightly, then suddenly the beam was upon the hellish deity.

"No!" In that moment, Celestia flinched with horror, hearing a shriek so horrible that it would haunt her for the rest of her life.

"I'm so sorry!" Celestia wailed, tears now flowing freely down her mane, her words being choked with sobs in between.

'"*hic* I'm so- *sniff* sorry little sister... I have failed you...." Celestia whispered, lying flat on the ground as she gazed at the moon in what would be the first of many tormented filled nights, always serving as a reminder for her sins.

"No. Oh no, please not now!"

As dread matured into horror, a younger "Luna" found herself back against the wall, terror wide within her eyes as Nightmare Moon slowly strode her way closer to her prey, followed in tow by a tentacle monster, whipping and lashing out at anything in it's way. "Luna" trembled, knowing all too well what this hideous intentions this wicked thing held for her. She could only whimper as she tried to shrink herself into a corner, hiding herself from the ungodly demons of the world.

"Please, just stop! I- I just want to go home." "Luna" whispered, praying with all her might that the scary monsters would just go away.

The monster displayed callous disregard to "Luna's" request, who shrieked as she felt herself snatched up and put face to face in front of Nightmare Moon. Her heart ran cold as she was pierced by the wicked pupils of Nightmare Moon, who only grinned with an all too sinister intent of completely stripping away whatever innocence this little one had.

"Do you know what I do to naughty fillies like yourself?"

Her eyes flashed a venomous blue.

"I have them punished personally."

A wail of agony pierced the morning sky as "Luna" went through some of the most brutal torture imaginable.

Luna blinked, before staggering back in absolute agony, her head and horn throbbing with a horrible pounding pain, feeling like that she drank Moonshine that was mixed and distilled with liquid rainbows. She could vaguely hear Twilight calling out to her in panic, which only made the Princess's pounding headache even worse as Twilight's voice reverberated, bounce around her brain hard. She saw flash of stars, her vision started to fade into darkness.

Luna could vaguely feel the sensation of an unknown source beginning to tighten it's vice grip around her, pulling the Princess of the Night to... Actually, she had no clue as to her own destination.

"You will find out all you wish to know, my dear night guardian.

Luna blinked. Gone was the Observatory that she was in, only moments before she had been engaging in a spell cast matrix with Celestia pride. Now, there was only darkness, yet she had a clear view of a figure who seemed to radiate light. The character in question was bipedal in nature. Two wings jutted out of it's shoulder blades, folded at a rest position. It also was wearing some type of armor, it definitely didn't seem metallic, resembling more of a dress uniform. In it's, ("Talons?" Luna wondered.) it held something black and metallic, though by the general shape of the object, Luna guessed it had similarities to a crossbow. Where the bolt was placed was beyond her though.

Reasserting her posture, Luna found herself face to face with the strange creature. But at least she had a clear view of whom she was conversing with.

Possessing a sharp beak and eyes that pierced into her soul, Luna found that any attempts at communication fail her, muscles slack, gaping at the hypnotizing glare that the avian was giving the princess.

"All will be revealed in due time, my lady. But for now, you must rest. Until then, farewell to thee and good slumber to you my dear." It said in a low, gravely voice, giving confirmation that it was indeed a male.

"Wait! Who and what are you? What do you mean by revealing?" Why are yo-" Luna was rendered silent as the biped lifted a finger to her muzzle.

"All in due time my lady. What I can tell you is that you will wake in a very strange place. A place that exists outside that of our physical realm. Do not be alarmed, for I shall be there to greet you, and once I have explained everything held dear, you shall reawaken back in the land of the living. But now, you must sleep."

Then in a flash, he disappeared..... Already, the veil of darkness was beginning to smother her, quickly it enveloped her vision.

"Who.... Was that?" She mumbled in a stunned duper, before she slumped flat on the cold floor.

Ghost of The Mind

Of Olden Times Long Past
An Introvert's Perspective
October 15 2012
7:05 AM
Fate Oh So Cherished

Songs used during production: Black Hawk Down: Leave No Man Behind, Hans Zimmer

Luna had a massive headache. The type that felt like her horn was being split in two by a sledgehammer driving a wedge down the middle using a hacksaw as the nail. And for whatever reasons that were beyond her, the bed that she was currently lying on felt very uncomfortable. The Night Princess groaned as she tried to adjust herself to a more comfortable position.

“Ughhhhh. Its far too early for the morning sunrise Tia...” Luna grumbled, shifting herself on her lovely silk bed in a vain attempt to get comfortable. It certainly didn't feel like a silk bed though. For one, whenever she tried to shift either too far right or the left side of the bed, Luna felt the cold touch of metal press against her, furthering the Princess's discomfort. To add to that, the air smelled of some kinda of antiseptic, almost with a hospital like quality. It didn't help that her head was being pounded like an anvil, drilling it's way into her skull.

There was also something else that was nagging at her. Something to do with preforming a spell experiment with Twilight Sparkle and...

“Gah. Next time we deal with some magic related activity, we will have to train Twilight Sparkle before hoof. Confound this pounding headache, it must be that damned spell's doi- EEEYAH!” Without thinking of the consequences, Luna opened her eyes, only to be blinded by a bright light.

“We'll get you for this Tia.” Luna growled, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the intensity of the beam of sunlight that was shining directly in her eyes. Slowly, her headache eased to nothing, allowing for coherent thought to dominate once again. Luna absent mindlessly tapped her hoof against the metal railing in thought. Something didn't feel right though.. She just couldn't place her hoof on what though. Figments of her memory from yesterday's events took it's sweet time in rearranging itself.

Getting up from the bed slowly, she composed herself as her vision slowly cleared up.

“Okay, Twilight Sparkle and myself had perfected a method of tracing down this source which observes our presence. We then constructed the necessary spell matrix, which led to.... Wait..."

Spell Matrix..... THE SPELL MATRIX!

Luna bolted up wide awake, eyes wide. All the pieces of the pieces of the past few days came back to her in a rapid, furious frenzy of bot flies. The preparations, the nagging presence, the avian.

Luna's vision cleared during this instant, which only addled her even more as her surroundings became immediately clear.
She wasn't in her comfy silk bed, rather she was currently resting in a hospital bed, surrounded by medical equipment of all sorts that quite frankly, she couldn't make heads or hooves as to what function they preformed. In other words, your typical hospital bed that came complete with all the familiarities to any who had the misfortune to spend more than a day in one. What was odd though was that the entire area looked completely derelict, abandoned for some time. The air had a yellow, musty feel to it, as if the building was imposing an eerie force upon her.

In retrospect though, she shouldn't have really been surprised by that all that much though.

"So you are awake then."

Luna jumped as her head whirled to see that the same avian from before was resting on a chair, casually reading what appeared to be some fictional romance novel of considerable length. The book snapped shut as the avian looked Luna directly in the eyes.

Now, it should be known that Luna isn't a being that one can just simply intimidate with a show of force. More often than not, she was the one responsible for inspiring terror within the hearts of Equestria's enemies. However, she could almost feel those sharp pupils pierce into her soul, and the Night Princess couldn't help but feel unnerved by being his focus of attention.

"We have much to discuss, oh silent paladin of the night."

"Forgive thee for our... Ignorance. But pray tell, what hast thou summon us for? For that matter, just whom to we speak to this day? What matter of such importance that you have summoned our presence personally? We recall that you have stated that you know something of these odd occurrences?"

The avian raised a talon, silencing any further questions Luna had for the individual.

"All will be explained in due time Princess Luna, all in due time, be patient. As for how I have come to know your name, I shall explain how I have come to know this, as well as the knowledge that you seek of at present time. If you will allow me the time to explain myself and your presence here, you will find the truth to your questions."

Luna eyed the strange avian cautiously, unsure as to what this odd bird might be hiding. After all, it isn't every day that the lunar princess finds herself being the one drawn into a dream, usually with her being the one that enters a pony's dream world to lay rest to their weary mind, spreading out comfort and solace to those who especially need it, and nightmares to those particularly wicked when she could. Nopony, not even Celestia herself, had the power to draw the Night mare herself into their own dream world by their own will. It simply just never happened.
Never had she been forcefully dragged into the dream realm by another than herself.

This one seemed to be reasonable though. Whether his intentions were pure remained to be seen however.
On the other hoof, he did claim to have answers to the visions that had been plaguing her for the past few months now.
It didn't take long for the embolden princess to make up her mind. She couldn't sense any malice coming off this individual's aura, and her gut told that there might be more perilous matters that could come of this. Setting herself down a few feet form the owl, she began her personal interrogation.

"Well... We accept your proposal. Thou must note however that We are not to be double cross nor deceived. Tis isn't in our habit to associate Our presences with evils doers and the like."

If the owl had been intimidated by her thinly veiled threat, he didn't show it. For a moment, silence reigned between them, the silence thick even to cut butter.

Finally, Luna made the first move. "We... We wish to know why you have summoned our presence to the Dream Realm. We are also most curious as to how you managed to pull thy presence yourself."

"To answer your second question, it involves my kind's being having a complex system linked from the physical to the abstract realm. To put it bluntly, we are powered by our aura user."

"... Forgive thee for our ignorance, but what is an "aura user"?

The owl thought for a moment, then a flash later, Luna saw that a bipedal being, fully clothed all over his body, come into existence. Walking a circle around his projection, the owl stopped to the right of him.

"An aura user is, simply put, our Earth Realm's counterparts. We are their creation, an imaginary friend if you will. While the place where my aura user hails from has no real form of magic, in the dream world it is a different story. I suppose you could say that we serve as their advisers, their companions when they are alone, and inspiration in times of innovation. Be it in literature, construction, chemistry, we help aid them in the creation and problem solving process. We are also their crutch when they fall into hard times. Finally, we are a shield against dark influences. Though our influence directly isn't all that far, we can help aid as a form of their conscious. " He sighed as the image disappeared.

"I guess you could say we are their projection, an image of their personality fully expressed, an alter ego." He stood silent.

"... Curious. We have something similar back in Equestria, though far more pronounced in our magic. But lately we have felt a disturbance in the Dream Realm. A very sharp one that has me most worried."

"Strange, it appears we are slowly adopting modern formalisms..." She thought to herself, then shook her head.

The owl sighed as he took his helmet off. "I am afraid that is exactly why I am here in the first place. As of recent times, my master has gone through hard times...." He paused as he steeled his will in with strength.

"The one you whom you know as Nightmare Moon as captured him."

The silence that followed for the first ten seconds, one could hear a pin drop.

"... You better not be making this claim in light jest, or I shall have you annihilated and turned into a pulp."

"Unfortunately, I am not joking. And my person is in grave danger. To answer your question, she is planning to harvast his emotions for her own devices and to increase her power..." He gave a visible shudder.

"I had to watch as that bitch capture him. One moment he was brooding by himself in his secluded sanctuary away from civilization in the woods. The next..." He shook his head with a sigh.

"She popped into existence with a burst of magic, accompanied by what I can only coin to be a dark aura. He never stood a chance. I could only watch helplessly as she dragged into the realm which we currently occupy, an ethereal plane of existence that bridges the gap between reality and dreams."

"We are well familiar with this plane of existence. However, it seems that our plane of existence differs from your own, for I did not sense a disturbance until as of recent. Is this correct?"

"Dead on. Now tell me this. You should know how dreams are the abstract creations of the individual, a sort of fantasy land where stress and havoc of everyday life is sorted and file by their profound experience that affects the person in question."

"Indeed...." Luna could sense that the conversation was about to become a lot more dire, and she felt as if an invisible hand tighten it's grip on her mane. She braced herself.

"What point are you trying to emphasis? We rather not stand in idle banter while our foe is creating unholy havoc."
The owl paused for a moment's consideration, pondering carefully as he thought how to convey his next piece in the conversation.

"Let me put it this way. Tell me this. Are you or anyone else capable of shifting a being's physical form?"

"No. As of present time, there is nopony, not even my sister Celestia or I, that are capable of such magic...." She stared on cautiously. "And your point? How does this relate to the subject at hoof?" The owl sighed. Here was hoping he wasn't royally manhandled within the next few minutes time.

"It would be better to show you than tell you from only my words alone. I advise you steel yourself."
Without warning, the entire room vanished in a flash of light that was so bright, that it blinded Luna for a moment. When she was finally able to rub off the disorientation, she saw that the two were in a black plane of existence. Oddly enough, she was still able to make out bother herself and the odd dream deity before her in a cast of light.

"We are at what I like to call the "Blank Zone". The reason why I call it that? In every individual, exists a centralized specific plane of existence that is almost completely separated from the others that are linked within the person's mind.
This is where the most important changes in their mental facility take place, as well serving to store a person's "essence" if you will."

"... Curious. We were not aware of this plane of existence." Luna spoke after a moment of shock, analyzing the incredible magic that she felt in her surroundings.

"Few do Princess Luna. Rarely, will anyone pass into this plane of existence. It only occurs under some of the most extraordinary circumstances. There is a reason for that. It is a dangerous thing for one to tamper one's essence... I request that you remain silent for the duration of what is coming next. This requires that none to disturb the vision field that I am about to project."

Luna nodded. "Please do enlighten us. We shall respect your wishes."

"Good. I should advise that the images that I am going to show are merely fragments of the past. They are only illusions that illustrate what has happened. I only need you to stay silent for the beginning, then you may speak."

A shroud of darkness flickered across Luna's vision, blinding her for a moment. When it cleared, she almost jumped.
In front of her stood two beings, transparent ghosts that stood to reenact the past.. Nightmare Moon was standing over the human from before in an oppressing, victorious manner. The boy before her was on the ground, barely conscious.

"Pathetic," Nightmare Moon spoke, kicking over the human's body on his stomach. "I would have expected much more resistance from a mortal of such great energy than I see now. No matter, this shall make my job easier.... I look forward to ending your current life." She chuckled in a cold, menacing manner.

"For you shall start anew."

Suddenly, Luna felt her head pound as she felt like the magic around her being pulled away, directed into the human before her. What was this madmare doing? That answer came abruptly immediately after as nearly gasped in shock.
She could sense it before it even happened, but... It simply couldn't be true. His aura was shifting, melding into something. But is it?

"This isn't possible. Even she couldn't be mad enough to-"

Her words were caught in her throat as she saw the human become engulfed in a mold before her.

What followed would stay with Luna for eternity.

Even thought she couldn't see it, the intense and extremely vivid emotion of anguish coming from the lad made her nearly faint. Emotional pain beyond description coursed from him. She couldn't say anything else about it other than it was a moment that was so horrible, that it rivaled nearly that of her fall to darkness.

Then, as if it couldn't get any worse... It was only for an instant... But it felt like an eternity.
When the cocoon that held the human finally dissipated, Luna's jaw fell off its hinges.

Now, it should be known that Luna is a long lived mare, barely even into her twenties in mortal years. Over the centuries, she had seen things that no one should wish to be a part of at all. Luna herself thought she experienced the ultimate when she was banished to the Moon. But here...

If horror were an actual physical element that could be measured, one would find themselves nearly drowned in the size of a swimming pool. The Moon Princess struggled to accept the information that was processed only a moment before.

"... What in Faust's name is this sorcery!?"

Before her, stood a younger version of herself, unconscious. Luna stood there blinking, then she saw Nightmare Moon chuckling, a smirk affixed to her muzzle. "Aww. So small and humble. So innocent and beautiful. Something that I can twisted in meld to serve me."

When "Luna" came to, she shrieked when she saw her reflection in a mirror, only to nearly slam a hoof to her muzzle when she saw a hoof instead of a hand. Panicking, she found to her utter horrific realization that her body was not her own. Then she saw Nightmare Moon hover menacingly above.

"Wh-what did you do to me!?" She squeaked, backing away. But that only caused Nightmare Moon to chuckle in amusement as she circled the reborn mare like a hawk.

"Dear Stuart, you haven't even begun to realize the amount of potential that you have. For you see, you hold a great power that you do not yet realize. And I plan to use it." She glared.

"And I plan to use it. I believe you will most enjoy being my servant. Nay, my sex slave."

Rage coursed through Luna's veins.

"THOU SHALT DO NO SUCH THING, HENIOUS DEMON!!!" She charged, intending to put a gaping hole in her mockery, before in a flash, she nearly slammed into a wall. Bewildered, she looked around to find herself back in the hospital, the owl from before panting in utter exhaustion.

"Ugh... Remind me never to do that ever again..."

"Art thou well?" Luna trotted up to him in concern, only to be waved away.

"I will be once this is all over." He gasped. He took a moment before he stood up, legs shaking.

"... Tell me all you know about what she is planning." She nearly butted in face to face with the owl.

"Every. Single. Detail." She hissed. If Luna didn't have a personal vendetta against Nightmare Moon... Well, she had another thing coming.

The corpsman dusted himself off and saluted.

"But of course. Only as the Lady wishes."

Author's Note

“Someone.... Anyone.... Please help me..... I just want to go home...” A voice echoed from both nowhere and everywhere at once.

(Note: Just a little piece from the prototype. Anyhow, bout time this finally update. It isn't exactly the next chapter per say, but it is something I suppose. I'll deal with any bugs later on, for right now Chemistry Class awaits.

From Shadows to Darkness

Of Olden Times Long Past: An Introvert’s Perspective
From Shadows to Darkness
9:22 AM

A warning dear reader, the following chapter contains non consensual activities. Be advised you will be given no warning as to when it will occur after this point. If such things may mortify your naive and light of heart soul, turn back now. You have been warned.

“Your resistance is futile foal. You only serve to hasten your demise. You will be found and captured. You will suffer the consequences for your desecration and blasphemy. You will become one with us. There is no other option.” An angelically demonic voice echoed, it's resonance pounding Stuart's ears.

“Please do join us! We wish to 'fix' you. Then everything will become nice again! We'll live happily under the rule of Her Great Majesty!” A light innocent filly's voice shouted, glee being very apparent in her voice.

“Must make it... Can't stop... Don't wanna become them.” Stuart panted, chest heaving as he tore down the hallways of the abandoned hospital. The rapid clopping of hooves coming ever so closer sent Stuart into an adrenaline rush as he charged down the darken hallways in terror. He did not know why he was running, nor what was pursuing him, but his mind was screaming at him to to run.

The clopping of hooves grew ever closer, yet the student could only push on. He could feel his pursuers breathing down his neck, yet couldn't be captured.

“Thou shall submit. Thou must be punished most severely. SUBMIT TO OUR WILL!!!”

A sharp stab of pain sent Stuart smashing into a table, eliciting a shriek of pain. He tried to get up, yet his limbs refused to obey him. Dread gripped his heart with a vengeance, locking limbs to forfeit any chance of escape.

“Oh God, I can't move. Fuck, what did I ever do to deserve this? This is-” Stuart froze as the distinctive sound of the clop of hooves on the tiles stop. Looking up, he saw why.

"Hmph, pathetic. I have confronted foals that put up more of a challenge than from a weakling like you. Nothing escapes my gaze fool, and nothing ever has escaped from me in my realm.” She chuckled, lifting Stuart's chin with her hoof.

Stuart's gaze was forced upward, paling as he stared directly into cold, reptilian eyes, malice being all too apparent in her pupils.

The alicorn grinned, Stuart shivered as he felt her intense gaze penetrating the very psyche of his soul.

“Now you shall atone for your sins with punishment that is most deserved. You will find torment like none other, so much so as to wish for death. I shall enjoy sampling your undue torment, mortal.” She giggled, a dark purple ball of light beginning to form at the tip of her horn. Stuart could only watch helplessly as he watched the soon to be disaster unfold right before his eyes.

"What did I-" Stuart began, only to flinch as the dark deity roared at him.

"SILENCE, YOU LITTLE FOAL!"

After a few moments of glaring, Nightmare Moon began to chuckle. At first, it was very soft, quiet even. Then it started to increase in volume, until it reached it's peak as she shook her head in pity.

"My dear subject, you have no idea what awaits you beyond. I will be simply delighted when the time comes to feast on your fear. I wonder how long you will last? No matter, we shall soon find out." Nightmare Moon's expression turned grim, smiling in wicked glee.

Her horn lit up with an aura of magic.

“Now suffer the wrath of the night!!” Before Stuart could so much as even blink, a green ball of energy slammed into him.

Stuart could only scream as the light engulfed him, a pure wave of agony overtaking his entire body.

Bones cracked and shifted, skin twisting and pulling, leg joints melding to form something alien. Stuart's spine was pulled and stretched as if it were being ripped apart by two elevator cables. His jaw ached as he felt like someone was trying to rip it off its hinges. His organs were on fire, being liquidated and morphed to fit something entirely alien.

So taxing this trauma was on his body that he was beginning to suffocate.

Then darkness.

“Tick. Tocck. Tick. Toock. Tick. Tock.”

Silence. Nothing but eerie silence, saving for the sounds of ticks from a analog clock in the background.

This was all that Stuart heard when he first awoke. But that was to be expected. The early dawn was no different than the ones which had come before it, and nothing wouldn't change that fact. Still, this meant only one thing to Stuart, which meant getting up and ready for school.

“Ugh. I REALLY don't want to get out of this comfy bed. School grades and standards be damned.” Stuart thought, less than enthusiastic about the prospect of yet another day's worth of homework.

Normally Stuart was a timely individual, usually getting up before the brink of dawn to get ready. Sometimes even as early as five in the morning. Today however, the young sophomore just couldn't be bothered. So far, the school week had been dreadful for him. Not only was he behind on finishing an English project for To Kill a Mocking Bird, he had bombed a rather important algebra quiz, sending his grade for that subject hovering dangerously low at a C-.

As if that wasn't enough, his alter life on the web was also in turmoil. For whatever reason, it seemed life suddenly decided to make the student' life a living hell, bombarding him with a mounting amount of problems that did anything but ease his already abused state of anxiety.

Stuart honestly didn't know why he had to fall into a melancholy mood now out of all the possible times that it could have happen, rather than when THAT episode made it's debut. One moment he was venting steam on the forums, the next he was sent into a spiraling depression after the less than optimal responses that he had received for his topic post in regards to the interpretations of Luna, his very beliefs about her coming under fire from the seemingly oblivious fellows who seemed to know nothing of Luna before she made her main appearance in Season 2. It didn't help when his head canon was further demolished and thoroughly trashed by the appearance of a certain magenta eyed DJ, as if he didn't have enough to contemplate. And it had to come during the time when he was going into relapse.

“Grrrruh, damn me and my head for bringing this topic to taunt me yet again.” Stuart slashed at the troublesome thoughts, trying to banish them into the darkest corners of his mind, slowly becoming even more dismayed as the topic hit back with the force of a sledgehammer. Stuart gritted his teeth in irritation as he tried to shift his body into a more comfortable position.

Only to find the sun shining directly into his closed eyes. No amount of moving lessened the intensity of the sunlight that wanted to ruin his day even further. And why did everything feel so damned off? Sure, his back usually was slightly sore after lugging his backpack from school and back, but he doubted that it could have rendered his whole body sore. Also, why did it feel so hot? Groaning, Stuart tried to throw off the covers off his body. Yet despite all of the twisting and turning, it did nothing to cast of the covers that seem to stubbornly cling to his body. He tried grabbing at it, but his hands felt like they have been turned to ice, numb and cold despite the heat that was building up.

By now, Stuart's annoyance had gone up in rank from being 'mildly perturbed' to 'angry enough to trash ten television sets, plus five consoles.' Groaning, Stuart opened his eyes.

"There better be a good reason for this, or I am-" His thoughts came to a complete halt when his vision finally registered, with two things immediately becoming apparent to him. Staring back at the lad in a mirror was a small sapphire, midnight blue alicorn, who barred an uncanny resemblance to another certain alicorn. The other thing was that something blue was obscuring his frontal vision. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't his nose, and worse, Stuart himself had a pretty good idea of what it may be. Stuart felt a cold sweat run down his shoulder, his entire body going numb from the coldness that was beginning to over take him.

"Wha-" He tried to say, only clamp down on his jaw as a feminine voice took hold. By now, Stuart was beginning to hyperventilate.

"Ju-just stay calm Stuart... Nothing good ever comes from panicking. Your throat's just sore... Y-ye-yeah, that must be it! I must've caught a cold. Yeah, it must be affecting my perception. Now just raise your hand and you'll find-..."
His thoughts died off as he lifted one of his hands."-that nothing's wrong...."

Only to find that instead of hands, he found the reason why they weren't responding and numb to begin with.
Harden hooves of velvet blue took their place, with only the frog moving when Stuart tried to flex it.

He looked to the mirror reflection, then back to his own form which mimicked it. On his back, were two folded wings. His hair was replaced by a dainty, cerulean blue mane. Lifting a hoof, he was met with resistance as he saw the reflection touch it's horn.

"N-no. Its -n-not possible. C'mon Stuart, baby steps." He chuckled to himself nervously. Stuart shook his gaze from the mirror as he tried to ease his anxiety, tentatively taking his first step off the bed and to the ground. Soon, after a bit of effort, he managed to get his four hooves off the ground. He gave a quick glance at the mirror's general direction before he began a brisk walk toward it. Much to his surprise, he found that walking on four hooves didn't feel unnatural at all, rather it felt like he had been doing this all his life. It unnerved him as he contemplated this stroke of good fortunes.

"Shouldn't it be more difficult to go from walking on two legs to four?" Stuart muttered, flinching a little from the unfamiliar vocals that flowed from his diaphragm.

Stuart steeled himself. "It's now or never Stuart. No sense in waiting."

He let out an involuntary shudder as his eyes once more focused on the mirror's reflection. Once again, he saw not a biped human that was Stuart's mirror image, but instead, a small blue, pony figure. One whom Stuart knew too well. Giving a glance over his own body, Stuart closed his eyes and lifted a hoof to his forehead as a headache began to set it.

"Whelp, that settles it, no use in denying it. Somehow I have apparently been turned into the Princess of the Night herself. Just bloody brilliant, if I had been stuck somewhere familiar. But no, it seems whatever that dream was, it must have something to do with my predicament."

Another thought came to him.

"Why am I not panicking? I feel like I should be doing so, but I feel more calm in here than I should be... Unless this is just one horrible realistic nightmare. Or is it?"

"Perhaps you should stop thinking so much and explore a little, you know, instead of wasting time sitting here idle? Not to mention that nothing horrible has happened yet to qualify as such."

Stuart rolled his eyes as he filed the mental chatter in his head for another time.

"Perhaps I can getting something out of this little dream of mine eh?" Stuart's gaze settled upon the rest of his reflection, scrutinizing every inch of the mirror image.

Immediately at a glance, one could tell that he was no ordinary pony. For one, a horn jutted out of the middle of his forehead. Wings were folded by the shoulder blades, each feather possessing intricate detail like that of a falcon. Emerald eyes stared back at Stuart's own in uncertainty, ears laid flat in apprehension. A tail rested by the wayside, motionless as Stuart stared at it. Glancing over himself, he saw that we was covered entirely in a soft, blue shade, while the mane and tail were that of cerulean. Stuart noted that they didn't flow in the wind, not like that of Luna's later incarnation. Finally, his eyes rested upon the flanks of the body. To his surprise, there was no cutie mark to be had.

"Well, if there is one good thing about this, is that I am at least in Luna's first form. S1 Luna is best Luna. Not a bad for being my first lucid dream."

His eyes moved unconsciously back to the mirror, then to his reflection's flank.

"I've got some badass flank over here." He muttered. Then he reeled back as soon as he realized what he was doing, blushing horribly in shock and embarrassment.

"I- I actually perved on myself?" Stuart said bafflement. He then began to shake his head, but stopped as a thought occurred to him.

"Wait a minute. Luna is a mare. So wouldn't that logically mean that..."

Stuart stood like a statue for a few seconds before he was hit with the force of a freight train in the head, his eyes going wide as paranoia began to surface. "That wou-would mean.... Oh no. Please don't let it be..."

Then, as if possessed by an unknown force, his gaze slowly turned downward, dread at an all time high.

An "eep!" of horror escaped Stuart's lips as he gazed upon it. No matter how much he wanted to, he could not wretch his eyes away from that spot, hypnotized with both horror and unhinged curiosity as his eyes confirmed what should had been obvious to the start.

Despite his attempts to suppress and deny the blatantly obvious, only one word came to Stuart's mind.
But that word was enough to push him over the edge.

"My marehood." He whispered in both a mix of horror and awe, blinking as he started to feel faint from shock. "D-deep breaths Stuart... Deep breaths... Calm... Can't panic." The alicorn, now a she, whimpered, her chest heaving as she struggled to take in oxygen, chest heaving. She was also starting to feel something odd, unfamiliar dripping sensation from the nether region. Stuart's already battered mind reeled further still, realizing that a hoof was straying dangerously close to her flank. Stuart drew it back in shock.

"I'm actually being aroused by this!?" She nearly shouted in disbelief, backing away from where she sat only seconds earlier like it was a radioactive hotspot.

Now generally, responses to a given situation depends upon the individual and their coping mechanism in an unknown environment. Some simply end up fainting. Others just screech in bloody murder. There are even those who take it in stride. Stuart was essentially in a phase of stunned disbelief, both at the impact of this new revelation, and much to her disturbance, growing morbid curiosity. Her heart pulse on a chemical high as she struggled to process the evidence that was being presented to the alicorn.

"This is a bit more realistic and vivid than I am comfortable with... At least this is a dream. Just a dream Stuart." She paused, a hoof at her chest as she took a moment to let her heart calm down.

"Still," Stuart shudder, glancing both at her hooves and that area. "that was rather creepy... But who knows?" She mused, trotting carefully back towards the mirror. Stuart saw Luna's muzzle form up in a small smile of mischievous glee. "Perhaps this won't be so bad after all. I do have this horn to do magic..." Stuart then focused on a small pillow that was on the floor. After a solid thirty seconds of staring at it with a face scrunched up in concentration to no effect, she came to a stunning revelation. and promptly facehoofed.

"This isn't working." Stuart groaned in mild irritation.

"I can somehow move around perfectly fine naturally as if I have been in this body all my life, but I can't do jack shit with magic to save my life. Yeah, like that makes any sense. Must be another one of those ain't gotta explain it magic things. Pfft. Thank you dream. You put me in here as little Luna, yet you couldn't give me her freaking magic."

Stuart took a long rounded look at the small room she was in, which was composed of a fireplace, table, bed, side table and a door, presumably the exit.

"Still, I don't have any idea on how I got into this body. Or even why, for that matter. Then that Nightmare Moon figure." Stuart eyes furrowed in thought, pacing around the small room aimlessly.

The she yelped as a sharp stabbing pain suddenly erupted in her left forehoof. Stuart reared back as her back hit the front of the bedpost. Groaning, she looked at the area where she somehow stubbed her hoof. Sticking out of the floor was a rusty, bloody red nail. Looking at her hoof, she felt her blood begin to ooze out of the puncture hole in the frog of her hoof.

"Shit. Fuck that hurts." She groaned, pressing the injured hoof into the bed sheets as she tried to stem the blood that was flowing out at a frightening rate. For a moment, the alicorn did nothing, too preoccupied with waiting for the pain to die down.

"Stupid nail. Fuck the idiot who put it over there. Fuck both him and his ancestors." She muttered, swearing that if she ever came in contact with the person responsible, she would give them a thorough thrashing.

"Ugh. Now I remember why I was so livid when I stepped on a nail as a child. It freaking-... Wait a minute." She blinked.
Taking a quick look at her hoof, she saw that the blood pour had slowed to a mere trickle, a dull but tolerable throbbing pain oscillating in the appendage.

"How could I be feeling pain in a dream? That simply isn't possible! Not unless..."

Then something clicked as the the cogs in her brain shot into overdrive.

"If I am feeling pain, that would mean..."

Stuart went deathly pale as her mind assembled the final piece in the puzzle, painting her an all too vivid picture.

"Oh no."

"My dear subject, you have no idea what awaits you beyond. I will be simply delighted when the time comes to feast on your fear. I wonder how long you will last? No matter, we shall soon find out." Nightmare Moon's expression turned grim, smiling in wicked glee.

"Rest assured, this isn't simply but a mere dream, as you will soon come to find out." Her horn flared.

“NOW SUFFER THE WRATH OF THE NIGHT!!” She shouted, shooting off the blinding light from her horn.

Stuart could only scream out in terror as the light engulfed him, anguish being communicated clearly as his bones cracked and shifted, face twisting and pulling, legs becoming elongated. Before he blacked out, he heard one final wail that was not his own.

The alicorn could only stare on ahead as the the revelation hit her with the force of a freight train ramming into a car at high speeds. Her body felt completely numb, with Stuart not able to do anything as she tried to recompose herself.

"Oh my God..." Stuart said in monotone, coming into shock as she tried to force down the sick twitch that her stomach was making. Her breathing was heavy and labored as she collapsed on the side of the bed. Everything suddenly started to come back to the moon alicorn. Stuart felt her right eye twitch as she began to laugh hysterically.

"N-no. This isn't going to be problem. Nah, nope! Why would that even happen? Surely there must be some logical explanation for all of this, there has to be! I- AUGH!"

Stuart then slammed into the ground as she clutched her stomach, a sudden spasm of agony seizing at her organs. Though it lasted only for a seconds, she registered something else. Something odd. It felt pleasant, but she couldn't quite place what it was. It felt nice, and it was growing in intensity. For a moment, Stuart stood there, trying to figure out what was going on.

Then she gasped as she felt a sudden pulse of electricity hit her hard, sending a shockwave of something pleasant throughout her body. For a few moments afterwards, Stuart just laid there, breathing heavily as she recovered from the blow.

"What- what the hell was that!? I-"

"This pleasure..."

"What? Who said that? Where are-"

"Pleasure. You know you want it. It is what you desire, is it not?"

Stuart's eyes drifted downward to her vagina.

Without warning, images of stallions and mares came rushing into her brain, each of them in an enticing pose.

The mare began to fawn over the images as her imagination began to work it's charms, with all sorts of erotic images filling the timid alicorn's head. Soarin stood over the mare, giving Stuart and bright and kinky embrace. She was the dominater over Chrysalis, standing over her with the Queen gagged, with Stuart wielding a whip. Octavia and Stuart were locked into an embrace, a kiss sealing them together. Then finally, Luna was preening Stuart's wings, with the smaller alicorn set snugly within Luna's wingspan in joyful bliss.

"Oh momma. I think I could use a sexy stallion or mare right about now. " A few seconds later however, Stuart recoiled as she was pummeled by a wave of shock to her brain.

"What possessed me to even think that? What the hell is even happening to me? I mean- augh!" Stuart reared back up on her hind hooves, crying out as a horrible pressure started to exert itself on her horn.

Memories flashed within Stuart's head. The day that she got her cutie mark, Celestia nuzzling the her as a foal, all the while they both stole cookies from the jar. The sheer joy that was had the first time she used her wings to soar above the sky. The fascinating feeling of using magic the first time.

Her fall to darkness and eventual banishment to the Moon by her own sister. Stuart whimpered as she crumpled down to the floor.

"What is happening to me? It hurts! St-stop!"

Such a rush did Stuart experience that she had no time to even think, experiencing the textbook definition of sensory overload.

She looked down just in time to see the tip of her hoof wonder down to touch the opening of her marehood.

Her eyes shot open as she let out a gasp of horror, quickly withdrawing her hoof. But it was too late. A moan escaped her lips, pleasure like nothing the lass had ever experience shot through out her body. Her body felt limp against the ground as she returned the hoof to press it back in, groaning as even more pleasure hit her.

"Oh God. This feels good. Why did I even think this was..." Her pleasure came to a sudden halt, having petered off without a warning. That was when her senses returned to her. For five seconds, she sat there in a daze, mind groggy as it tried to reorganize itself.

"Ugh... Why do I feel so..." She froze as she noticed that she was sitting on a small pool of liquid, which smelled heavily of something musky, making her feel lightheaded. Then she saw the source from where it emanated.

Her heart lurched.

"No."

Her eyes went wide as the implications of what she just done moments before dawned upon her.

"No!

Stuart backed away, gasping as her thoughts began to violate her. A wreaked sob was all that was stopping her from dripping tears.

In that instant, her psyche fractured into a million pieces, reeling from the aftermath of her actions.

She had done the unthinkable to herself. Stuart didn't know why, it was just only pleasure.

Pleasure is benign, not to be feared.

But there was something sinister about this, the sensation came with something horribly corrupting. So unspeakably foul. She couldn't put it down to words, but it just felt that she had committed the worst kind of wrong. In her eyes, she felt like she had ingested the most heinous poison of offense against the world.

"NO!"

The floodgates were blasted wide open as Stuart began to sob, tears dripping freely from her eyes. Tension in her body began to build, yet no amount of thrashing could not rid her of the vileness that had happened moments ago.

"I did not just do that! I did not just do that! For the love of Faust I did not-... Faust!?" A hoof clamped her muzzle shut.

It was only after she tasted the salty, yet pleasant musk of her own vivacious body fluid did she feel her mind burrow in on itself in absolute anguish. Confusion, anger, and horror flooded her senses entirely, every thought being a bombardment of torment.

Why did she swear in Faust name?

Why did she just partake in the most unsacred of acts?

What were these memories? They weren't hers!

"No, no, no! This cannot be real, this just cannot be real, this CANNOT be real! It's just a nightmare, a really vivid nightmare! It just HAS to be one!" Stuart stuttered, desperate to regain an ounce of control over her spiraling sanity.

"Mmhmhmhmhm. I see that you are coming along quite nicely, my dear."

"That voice, it couldn't..."

Stuart flinched as the sound of glass shattered behind her. Turning to what made the noise, Stuart was happy for anything to get her mind off the trauma that she had just inflicted upon herself.

Her heart stopped dead cold.

In front of the shattered remains of the glassy surface, stood none other than the Princess of Eternal Night herself, wearing an innocent yet chilling smirk. Stuart felt her gaze burrow right into her very soul, exposing everything shameful that she had ever done.

"N-Nightmare Moon!?" She squeaked. Stuart's head pounded as her fragmented psyche tried to evaluate and assess the current situation, yet she could think of nothing but the fact that before her stood probably soon to be executioner.

"Are you not happy to see me, my dear?"

Terror the likes of no other had planted its nefarious seed within the crescent alicorn's heart. Nothing but pure adrenaline pumped through her veins, the room itself suddenly becoming several degrees warmer than the moment before.

Without even giving Stuart a chance to compose herself, Nightmare Moon simply advanced with sinister intent, of which Stuart had no intention of even wanting to know the slightest about.

"St-stay away! Stay away!" She backpedaled, only to shriek as she narrowly avoided being zapped by a bolt of hot plasma. Looking back, she saw Nightmare Moon chuckling, no doubt at the pitiful position that Stuart found herself in.

"And this isn't even a quarter of the torment that awaits thou, you little foal!"

The muscles that made up Stuart's legs right at that moment turned to jello. She trembled, barely able to even stand.

"What have you done to me!? Y- you monster!"

"Oh that," Nightmare Moon mused, offhandedly glancing at one of her hooves. "I simply just adjusted your form to suit my purposes." She let off a small chuckle.

A pit of darkness knotted at Stuart's stomach, her fear amplifying the closer Nightmare came. Then unexpectedly, anger surged to the surfaced.

"Focus. You can beat this wicked shadow. Show courage and strength."

Forcing herself to a composed, yet regal posture, Stuart stood her ground and stared defiantly into the eyes of the elder alicorn that had brought this darkness, his darkness, to life.

"You think you scare me? I don't balk at the shadows like some scared child. I have weathered through worse than whatever you could possibly try to inflict on me. I will not balk in fright at your "intimidating appearance. I know not how I have got here to this place, why I am in Luna's body, nor as to your own insidious agenda that you have to gain from this. But I will NOT cower behind closed eyes while you still draw breath. You think you can break me? Just try and weep. You are nothing but a ghastly shroom, one with no power to actually do anything. You can't toy with me." Stuart finished with stomp of her right hoof, smirking in defiance as she stared evil itself in the eye.

Maybe she could actually get out of-

"My, you are certainly the feisty one. I like that." Nightmare chuckled, cupping a hoof to her muzzle.

A lump, metal ball sank down Stuart's throat.

Nightmare simply glanced at the student, before she began to approach the lunar mare menacingly. Caught off guard, As Stuart scrambled backwards from Nightmare Moon, she shrieked as the darker deity's horn flashed a brilliant darken violet. Before she could even process what had happened, Stuart felt her hooves become bolted to the ground, paralyzing the cerulean alicorn and leaving her vulnerable. No matter how hard Stuart tried, she could not wretch her hooves even an inch off the ground. Looking back, she found herself helpless to do anything against the demonic entity. Fear gripped Stuart like a chain, for no amount of struggle slackened the hold that rooted the lass to her spot.

"Oh, my sweet, sweet little pony. You simply do not even know what the implications of that word means." A mirth of giggling whisped off from her lips. Then a mad glint affixed itself to her eyes.

Stuart felt a cold sweat run down her body.

"I am not afraid. I will stand firm. I shall not fall." Stuart thought, steeling her will as she stared back with an iron resolve.

"Oh, but you will my dear. You shall soon learn to fear, respect, and most of all, revere me."

Stuart stared in bewildered shock, her jaw hanged slack in astonishment.

"H-how?"

Nightmare Moon circled Stuart like a hawk, eying every part of Stuart's body as if it were a succulent meal waiting to be devoured, her mirth of chuckling doing more and more to unnerve the young student by the second.

"Oh dear Stuart, don't tell me you have forgotten whom you are conversing with. Did you really think Luna fell to my dark magic like a house of cards? I shall have to right you then. Luna is a formidable deity of both will and strength. Her fall took years to properly mastermind for the maximum effect. It was only foiled by her sister Celestia discovering my plan, forcing it to be pushed into action. If it weren't for her, both of them would be mere pawns within my hooves, and Equestria would be my domain. You?"

She guffawed, throwing a hoof in the air for a dramatic flair. "You aren't even a quarter hoof of the threat that they represent. In fact, I could break any mortal of whom I wished to suffer within only a day."

"Then why do you need me? Whatever your agenda, I sincerely doubt putting me in Luna's body will do anything to further your wicked cause, whatever it may be."

"That is where you are wrong Stuart. While it is true that I can harvest the emotion of others to further my own power, you are of a special case."

"Like?" By now, Stuart's heart was beating so rapidly, that she wouldn't doubt that it's tempo rivaled that of some machine guns.

"Well, you do know how the changelings harvest love to both not only feed themselves, but further their own power? I am not restricted to only that mere emotion. In fact, I can flourish in all forms of emotion known to all living kind. I only need to farm their mana to further my own gains. But you are a special case my dear."

Stuart could almost feel Nightmare's shadow impose itself upon her, covering the powerless alicorn in an oppressing veil of hideous malevolent evil.

"You hold no friends of which to empower you, to use as your shield. What more as an introvert, you hold something very fine tuned and highly developed. Though you seldom express it, if at all, your feelings are deep, complex, and rich with vivid energy that, while it doesn't rival that of both the rulers of Equestria, it holds an untapped potential that could become that much more in it's own way. Your mana is purer than that of anything I have ever seen. I cannot resist this great source of power."

"And what makes you think that I will help you? Even if I have a fondness for Luna's younger couterpart, I will sooner gut myself with my own horn than serve you." Stuart spat in disgust, eyes brimming with defiant hate.

That was when Stuart found herself eye to eye with the dark deity.

"That is where you are wrong, dear Stuart. In fact, you will find it to your benefit to serve me. Besides, I have my ways to convince you otherwise.

"Like what?" Stuart asked, daring to rebuttal.

A predatory grin was worn as the Mare of The Moon licked her lips in anticipation.

"Oh, I don't know. But there is one that I do wish to partaken in personally." Somehow, her smile became even more sinister than it was before.

"Perhaps we could fulfill some of your more outlandish fantasies, particularly with your newly founded marehood." She asked with a flutter of her eyelids.

Stuart's mind came to a complete, crashing halt; her heart sizing in her chest. The implications of what she had just heard left her with no response. She struggled to articulate her shock, yet nothing came to shore. It was an uphill battle for her to process the statement, opening and closing her jaw in disbelief.

"W-WHAT!?!" Stuart finally fluttered, trying to rationalize the logic behind Nightmare Moon's audacious claim.

"M-my Marehood? No, she cannot possibly mean... It just isn't possible!"

She began to chuckle, a cold wave of fear flooding her veins.

"Y-yeah. No, you can't be serious. Surely this is a horrible joke of yours made to fringe me. No way you are going to do that, no way in hell, ri-"

Stuart paused, noticing a certain dampness in the air. Sniffing a few times, she traced it back in the direction of where Nightmare Moon was standing. There was a certain musky element to it, something that made Stuart warm and fuzzy in her chest.

Five seconds were passed in analysis. Then her gaze fell on Nightmare Moon, seeing her thin veiled eyes flicker at her in anticipation, even preda-

Reality came in the form of Stuart's stomach lurching abruptly as a strangled sob caught in her throat.

Every alarm bell in the young alicorn's brain was screeching at her to be anywhere but here. Stuart's composure shattered as this most sudden revelation overwhelmed her senses, terror rendering limbs flaccid as she mumbled hysterically.

"Oh God, you can't possibly... I-" Stuart whimpered as her darker counterpart came ever closer. Every hoofstep that the hellish deity took, Stuart's heart only thumped faster still.

"Why would I make such a gesture in jest, when I could marvel at just how you melt in my hooves? I assure you that you will find it most enjoyable." She purred in seductive melody.

The dark goddes grinned.

"It's time to dance my dear." Nightmare Moon said, licking her lips.

Gaping with a scream, Stuart tore off and ran.

Only to slam directly into the waiting hooves of Nightmare Moon, lust being all too apparent in her eyes.

"Oh God, someone-"

Stuart screaming stopped abruptly as something wormed its way into her mouth before she let out so much as a peep, Nightmare Moon forced Stuart into a kiss.

Both her eyes and wings shot wide open simultaneously, the new, unfamiliar stimuli rendering all of her sense numb in a jolt.

"Ohmygodsheisactuallykissingmegottagetawaythisiswrong!"

"Mmmmmmhggghgh!" Stuart struggled, wings flapping. But seconds later, an overwhelming feeling of pleasure sized her body... She tried to fight it, every ounce of her will power fighting against it, but it just felt... It felt so good. Stuart couldn't help but release a shudder as her resistance began to crumble.

The lass was rendered into a blissful, cationic state, moaning in pleasure as the Moon Goddess deftly maneuvered her tongue around her mouth. Euphoria began clouding the small mare's judgement, begging her to help return the favor. Yet somehow, Stuart managed to stave off this assault on her mind, but only just barely as Start forced herself off from Nightmare Moon, gagging as she spat at the ground in disgust. Her stomach lurched, and she just barely suppressed the horrible feeling of trying to chunk. Then she made eye contact with Nightmare Moon.

"What the hell was that for!? You wretched, ungodly-..." Her heart stopped with a gasp.

She gasped with not a breath of terror, but one of bedazzlement and admiration.

Standing right in front of her was not a monster of the shadows. No, she was of the greatest beauty and grace that Stuart ever laid eyes upon. And what more, she had been blessed by a kiss from the Moon Goddess herself! An honor only reserved for the most devoted and greatest of individuals. Her smile was most warm, and Stuart couldn't help but take a step forward, only to bite her lips in shock a moment later.

"What the hell am I thinking!? She just stole my first kiss! I can't be attracted to her, I just can't! I must... I must..."

Please her.

Images of blissful silence, sitting out in a field under Nightmare's comforting embrace, trading pecks to each others partners, ran through her head. She saw herself melting under the wonderful ruler's embrace, showing her pleasure that she could have never dared think possible.

She felt herself sink to the floor, her arousal overwhelming her sense of reason and logic.

"Mistress. Oh God, why am I- Stop!" Stuart mumbled, struggling to fight against these unfounded feelings, only to shriek as she felt her wings be stroked by a thick, wet tongue. Yet the moment she tried to get away, her legs gave out on her, a groan lifting her into a haze, barely aware of her surroundings.

"Shhhh. Don't you worry now. Everything is going to be okay, my little pony." She cooed.

Why was she fighting this beautiful goddess? She is the most beautiful maiden mistress of any that she has ever seen.

It felt so wrong, yet she couldn't stop these thoughts from flowing throughout her head.

"Ah, such loyalty. Somepony such as yourself deserves a little treat." Nightmare Moon spoke kindheartedly, her voice carrying a warm confidence and a soft but tempered poise. Such elegance! Stuart couldn't help but shudder as she felt her fur being carassed by Nightmare's hooves.

"For such steadfast dedication this early on, I believe a little reward is in order. Wouldn't you love that dearie?"

"Oh yes, I-I would love that Mistress!"

But instead of stepping in front of her mistress, Stuart took the initiative to please Nightmare.

Their lips connected, this time willingly. The way Nightmare Moon's soft tongue caressed her own with its thick texture brought her into an ecstasy she never thought possible. Her legs were useless, yet Stuart wasn't sure that she even wanted to part. She moaned in pleasure as she felt herself shudder with feelings of romantic, tender foreplay.

Then she felt Nightmare Moon pull away abruptly. Not feeling at all completed, Stuart looked up to Nightmare Moon with a wanting yet not fulfilled.

"H-hey! Why did you- ah!" The younger alicorn collapsed into the embrace of Nightmare Moon as she felt her wings being stroked by Nightmare's tongue, grooming Stuart as she looked lovingly into Nightmare Moon's eyes.

"You are a good little servant, aren't you my dear?" Nightmare cooed.

"Oh yes. Yes, my mistress." Stuart was in heaven, and she would do anything to please her beloved mistress. Nightmare Moon simply chuckled.

"Too easy."

This continued on as Nightmare's horn glowed, and she summoned a teacup and kettle from the sidedesk. Then, she concentrated. A purple liquid poured from Nightmare's horn and into the the kettle. Once an ample amount had been gathered, she poured it over Stuart's wings. The liquid had an electric, energizing feeling.

Stuart gasped as she felt a felt tongue wrap itself around her horn. The bliss was simply beyond any description. She felt a scream escape her lips as Nightmare's tongue slowly lapped up and down, the sensitive horn pulsating with magic. Both her wings extended to their full length, with Stuart moaning even louder from the gifts being bestowed upon her. Then her horn, oh goodness her horn, she didn't want it to stop. Stuart didn't just want this. She needed this.

"Oh Faust Mistress, it feels wonderful! Please don't stop!"

"Hush. Now drink this cup young one."

Stuart took one look at the purple liquid that sloshed in the cup.

Without hesitation, she gulped down the liquid with no problem. Pure ecstasy coursed through out her body, and Stuart couldn't help but shiver with delight, groaning with pleasure as her vision pulsed. However, her mind was beginning to come back into focus. Nightmare Moon stood back, watching the mare stumbling back to to the ground as she her disorientation off. She stood like that for a few moments, clutching her head with her hooves.

"Ugghh. Why did you leave me Mistress?"

Stuart's sensory organs were slow to reassert themselves, yet eventually the ringing in her head ceased.

"Owww, my head. Why do I-"

She stopped, blinking for a few moments, memories coming back to her. Then slowly, she look down at her hooves in mounting horror, beginning to process what had just happened. She saw that her wings were now properly preened, but shining with a proud royal purple and blue crescent glow. She felt power surge through her horn, and that by itself was making her dizzy. It was almost plesurea-

Stuart caught herself. She had just made out with Nightmare. Willingly!

"N-no." Stuart trembled, trying to reign in her crumbling sense of composure.

"I- I did not enjoy that. I did not enjoy that. No, no, no, no, no! I did not-" Stuart realized that she still tasted some of the leftover saliva and something else from her. She also noticed a certain dampness in her fur. Looking down, Stuart's words caught in her throat as she found that a noticeable puddle had formed beneath her.

"I- but you-." She tried to articulate, yet she could only think of... No! She did not take part in deviance. She d-

"Kiss me?"

She looked up to see a smirking Nightmare Moon. "Kiss me? Oh yes, you did indeed enjoy it, little one. You're not bad for a first timer. I also have observed you have thoroughly enjoyed my grooming skills." Nightmare said, an air of seduction clear in her vocal tone.

Stuart felt bile rising from her throat, her legs weak and wobbly. The realization of this fact brought her out of denial. She collapsed to the ground, past the point of caring that she was laying in a puddle of her own sexual body liquid, with tears running openly in ample amounts down her muzzle. Stuart sobbed uncontrollably as spasms wracked her body, covering her face with her hooves in shame and guilt.

"I- oh god! I liked it! I actually liked it! You- why-." She trembled, the humiliation and shame from partaking in that intercourse sparing none of her humility. Then she looked up and realized Nightmare Moon was walking towards her in stride. Stuart whimpered, her ears completely folded flat as she tried to squeeze herself into a corner.

"For a mare that claims to be disgusted by such, you show steadfast dedication otherwise. Something that I cannot allow to go unrewarded."

"S-stay away from me-" Stuart's protests were cut down with a shriek as Nightmare Moon once again forced herself upon the thoroughly traumatized mare, locking lips as she wrapped her tongue with her own. No matter how much she tried to force the overbearing alicorn off her body, Stuart simply wasn't strong enough to overpower her. And much to her shock and humiliation, Stuart could feel a bubbling sense of arousal build up in her loins, the heat inside her clitoris just begging to be filled with something big.

Her head ached, a loud dinging sound pounded her brain relentlessly. Before long, Stuart felt a cold shiver rattle her spine, feeling another wave of pleasure course throughout her body despite her wishes. She felt lightheaded for a moment, then Stuart abruptly collapsed, too dizzy from the euphoria to even try standing straight. She gasped as she felt an affectionate nuzzle from Nightmare Moon.

"No sto- aaah..." She began, but then stopped. She felt oddly safe, comfy even. When Stuart gazed upon Nightmare Moon's face, she only saw a warm smile being returned, her green eyes assuring safety and passion. Why was Nightmare Moon suddenly being affectionate? Why was she enjoying this? Why did she feel so... Comfortable? She should be running, yet all did was return the nuzzle, nestling herself between Nightmare's wings, return her own affectionate nuzzle.

"You're cute like that Lulu, you know that right?" Nightmare cooed, beginning to groom Stuart's ruffled feathers, who only returned another pleasured groan.

"My name is..." She started, only to pause as her eyes blinked with confusion.

"Lulu? But-"

A cold chill went up her spine.

"Oh no."

There was nothing but a black void.

The young alicorn's limbs went numb, with a icy blanket sweeping across her body as she desperately clawed at the spot where her deepest memories laid ingrained within her mind. Her heart pounded as she began breath at a faster interval. She looked up back at Nightmare Moon, her whole body shaking with tremors.

"I-... I can't remember my name! Wha- what the fuck did you do to me!?"

Nightmare Moon simply smiled back.

"You have nothing to worry about princess of mine, for your name has always been of the night my dear Lulu."

Lulu gave a sharp squeak as she felt Nightmare Moon nibble her wings. A ticklish feeling of pleasure shot through her spine, with Lulu's whole body going limp with fatigue as she felt Nightmare Moon's molars massage her wing sockets and joints, all with the expert precision of a masseuse.

"Besides, that's what sisters do for each other."

Lulu bolted up in alarm, wide eyes staring in utter disbelief at her senior counterpart.

"SISTER!? What do you mean- guuuuugh..." She sat down, feeling another blaze of euphoria course through her body. Then she broke down sobbing.

"In due time Lulu. Just sleep. Soon, all will be made well, my dear sibling." Nightmare nuzzled lovingly, wrapping one of her wings protectively over Lulu's body.

A wave of darkness clouded over Lulu's vision. Her mind was a haze. She couldn't stop it.

"Why?" She sobbed, looking up mournfully at Nightmare Moon.

What was the point? Why did she humiliate her? What had she ever done to her?

These questions echoed through out Lulu's mind as she fell into a deep slumber.

The Shattering Truth

March 25, 2013
9:27 AM
The Shattering Truth

Denial crumbles under the weight of truth.

As the morning dawn rose above the horizon to banish the mists of the night, Stuart himself shifted in discomfort as the temperature in his room began to shift to the degree that sticky sweat began to build up on his body.

"Why is it so damn hot?" Stuart's first thought upon waking up. It was not all that unusual for the student to feel overheated in the morning. With the thermostat having a tendency to discriminate against him room and offing the cooling breeze that it bestowed to the rest of his household, waking up within sweaty blankets that somehow invoked the feelings of being both too cold and hot was the usual routine when the morning sun rose into the sky.

In addition to the sensation of being bathed inside of a rice cooker, his body was sore all over.

"I swear, someone needs to- OW!"

Stuart winced as a sharp burning pain flared up along his back a sharp crack. Stuart himself wasn't a stranger to feeling sore in areas he didn't think was previously possible, what with him having to run laps on the school track during his physical exercise activities. Such was the routine of a run, having since become somewhat used to such soreness in his body.

"Okay, so something else that isn't quite my back feels like I tore something. I hope it isn't some ligament or the like."

Even as he tried to cast off the foul, wretched blankets that conspired to smother him, his fingers felt almost completely numb. He didn't sleep on them again did he? He groaned at this rather unfortunate way to wake up to the morning. But even that was compounded as he heard his voice sounded a shriller tone than usual.

"And even my throat feels clogged." He thought as his mind went to work to cobble all his jumbled thoughts into something half coherent. Finally, the blankets were thrown off his body and off to the side. But that weird, sticky sensation on his skin was still stuck to his body.

"At least it isn't a week day. Ugh... Might as well wake up for the day. With any luck, this should all resolve itself within the hour." He thought with a yawn, standing himself up to a resting position as he blinked open his weary eyes, vision blurry. But even that simple action felt off. The posture he was in didn't feel natural at all. The way is joints were locking didn't feel like normal.

Another groan.

"Jesus, I didn't pull some leg ligament did I? That would just be the perfect way to start off for the weekend. Crippled to hobbling until either I die from the ungodly pain, or from the stress with dealing with homework. Joy. Must be side effects of that dream earlier. Correction, an unnervingly vivid nightmare." He shuddered. Never did he ever have such a dream that felt so real.

"Being molested by Nightmare Moon when I am in Luna's S1 body. Tch, now that is something that doesn't happen every day." He thought with a roll of his eyes, rubbing his head with a hand that felt like it was made of sharp grooves. Perhaps the dreams and discomfort were an omen, or some warning to beware the future. He shook his head.

As his vision cleared, he contemplated if he could somehow use it to his advantage.

"Though at least it would make good writing material. Just need to make sure that everything is in-... order."

Stuart bolted up wide awake. Any drowsiness he had moments before completely dissipate, ignoring the odd higher pitch in his voice.

He wasn't in his bed. He wasn't in his room. He wasn't even in the Fair Forest Woods.

Instead of laying on a spring bed with industrial woven fabric, he laid on soft cushioned velvet covered by what could only be a silk blanket. Beyond his supposed resting space, he saw the wall near to his left shelter a small cubby of book inside its shelve. Near it was a mahogany wooden desk set with a quill on it, presumably for writing out letters and the like. The right side of the room held a fireplace, lit by an unknown fuel source. Finally there was a balcony area, where a winged creature could take flight if they wished.

The room's surroundings were both familiar and unfamiliar to him. The reason for this contradiction?

One: He had envisioned it previously.
And Two: But he never personally set foot in it.

"This is Luna's personal quarters." He whispered, twisting his neck to look around.

"How is this possible? Why am I even-"

His heart jumped to his throat, the blood in his body dropping to a cold chill.

"Oh- Oh my God..."

The mirror didn't reflect back a young, disheveled student. A young alicorn of blue stared back in shock, her eyes wide and muzzle half open.

Trembling, Stuart slowly forced himself to bring his right arm level with his eyes. His pupils shrunk to pinpricks when a blue, elegant hoof came up instead of his dexterous hand.

"N-no. This, it can't... Please no." Stuart's inner resolve began to crack, crumbling by the second.

He did a quick checklist of the rest of "his" body.

Hooves? Check.
Fur? Check.
Mane? Check.
Muzzle? Check.
Tail? Check.
Wings? Check.
Horn? Check.
Cutie mark? Absent.

Gender?

Stuart looked down, only to shriek. There wasn't even a trace of male masculinity that remained to show his, or rather her proof of once being male. In it's place, was the vaginal slit of a mare.

Stuart's limbs locked in numbness, becoming completely paralyzed. Her heart rate increased as her breathing sped up to a labored pitch. Stuart's gaze returned to the mirror, the reflection mimicking her posture. She tried to force her head away, yet nothing could pull her gaze as the strength in her body began to falter.

"T-this is just a dream, this is just a dream! I will be waking up any second now!"

She shook her head whimpering, hoping for this to be all very real, horrifically realistic nightmare. With that, she bit her tongue.

Stuart recoiled in shock as the pain receptors in her tongue flared up, only to peter off immediately thereafter.

"Then that means-... Oh God!"

The memories of the day before slammed into her head with ferocious force, breaking wide a hole in Stuart's psyche. The mare collapsed to her side on the bed, tears running down her face as she struggled to compose herself. Stuart clutched her head with her hooves as she tried to control her grimacing to no avail.

Normally, Stuart was usually a calm, composed, and reserved individual, maintaining a somewhat stoic exterior while her mind wandered in the land of thought and fantasy. Stuart simply preferred to keep any potential emotional instability to a minimum, thus her reasons why she focused on more artistic, intellectual pursuits.

As a result of this however, she never had much experience in dealing with such powerful, intense emotions before in her life. It came with being a mostly introverted fellow, whose interests were wide though her feelings kept in reserve, and demeanor cautious. But with the experience of being molested (As a mare no less.) by Nightmare Moon, the dam didn't just crack open.

It shattered and disintegrated into dust.

Stuart already felt the roots of despair beginning to claw at her heart, humiliated by the events that took place the day before.

"S-she used me! She used me like I was her-..." Stuart trailed off as the realization hit her straight in the gut.

"Like a whore..."

She mumbled to herself incoherently as she tried to think of what God she had manage to piss off so thoroughly to earn the ire of their wrath to bring her to her current situation.

And this was only the second day.

A mote of red began to cloud Stuart's vision as she felt nothing short of pure anger build up her chest.

"Damn Nightmare Moon! Damn her to Hell for doing this to me. W-what did I ever do to deserve this?"

"Because you are a good for nothing, worthless whelp." A soft but dominant voice called out. Flinching, Stuart turned her head to locate the source of the disturbance and nearly leaped out of her fur.

"Fluttershy!?"

Indeed, standing away a meter from the balcony was none other than Fluttershy. Or at least, what passed for the Element of Kindness. But not even a few seconds and already the logical part of Stuart's mind could already tell that something foul stank about this mare. That tidbit of information was shoved back into the pits of her mind, her already fractured emotional state rendering
it irrelevant.

Fluttershy smirked as she advanced boldly to the bed that Stuart occupied, Stuart recoiled, yet when she tried to move her legs refused to budge.

"Why can't I move? Am I really that afraid of Fluttershy?" Stuart shook her head, rallying what little cohesion that she could muster to her thoughts.

"What are you doing here? How am I here? Why am I here!? Is Nightma-"

"Oh yes, Nightmare Moon is the one responsible for all this. What was your first clue you brain dead dunce?" Stuart recoiled, both at the abruptness of Fluttershy's response and the insult.

"That- that hurt. Please, please don't call me that." Stuart mumbled, withering under Fluttershy's glare.

"Hurt? Pfft, oh please." Fluttershy huffed, walking up to the shaking alicorn.

"You already more than a bang up job of doing that Stuart. You couldn't even assert yourself over Nightmare Moon. Even I, a meek pegasus was able to triumph over her. You have no excuse for losing to her. You're a bucking alicorn for fuck sakes!" She punctuated her point by shoving a hoof sharply into Stuart's chest, who recoiled in fearful shriek.

"Why are you doing this!? I thought you were the Element of Kindness!" Stuart manage to shout back, feeling her blood flowing hot with anger. She could not back down. She would not back down. Stuart steeled herself, glaring back at the yellow pegasus.

This effort was vanquished however when Fluttershy began to chuckle, mocking her.

"Pffft. I can't believe this. You? Fight?"

"... You think this is funny? Do you!? You think I can handle waking up to find myself in both an unfamiliar environment and alien body? Or the fact that bitch Nighty fucking bitch molested-"

Stuart didn't even see Fluttershy's hoof slam into her cheek, punching her right off the bed and onto the cold, hard marble floor. As Stuart scrambled back up to counterattack however, all the blood in her face drained. What she saw wasn't Fluttershy. Not even by a longshot. Whatever was impersonating her wasn't the normally meek, kind pegasus. It couldn't be, not with that utterly terrifying scowl that starred daggers right into Stuart's soul.

She backed away in fright, only to shriek as Fluttershy leaped at her. She yelped as Fluttershy's hooves wrapped around her head into a vice grip. Before she could so much as struggle, her head was slammed into the ground. Pain flared up in her head, yet the student didn't dare move for fear of what else the pegasus might do to her. Fluttershy stared at the young alicorn,furious.

"Don't you dare insult our Mistress! The Rightful Regent of the Moon deserves respect, especially from you whelp!" She hissed, slamming another hoof at the azure alicorn's cheek. Stuart whimpered, her resolve crumbling under pressure.

"What else could go wrong?" Stuart whimpered as she felt the pegasus engulf her body with one of her wings, tears streaming down Stuart muzzle as hoof lifted her gaze up to Fluttershy.

"Why?" She asked, only to be hushed as she felt a hoof quiet her down.

"Shhhh, just lay down. Because in a moment, you'll find yourself deep within your fantasy. Tell me Stuart ole girl. You've always imagined yourself being as a companion with us. Or perhaps even deeper, dare I say to dive in romantic ecstasy." She said in a seductive voice, fluttering her eyelids. Stuart flinched as one of Fluttershy's hooves traced down her barrel, her cheeks turning to a hot, crimson red as she felt a spike of euphoria cloud her gaze.

"Stop it. She is manipulating you. Fight it." One part of Stuart's mind told her. Yet Stuart could not wretch her gaze from the pegasus mare before her. She opened her mouth to protest, only to gasp in guilty delight as she suddenly felt Fluttershy nuzzle her, with Stuart shuddering from the stimulation of soft fur rubbing against her own in subtle intimacy.

"Shush sweetie, because I already know the answer." She chuckled, tapping the ground with a slight click of her hoof.

"You know, I can see why our Queen has selected you. For one, you seem such a weak link. What more, you seem to be infatuated with this form of yours. What do I mean, you ask? Why you have a crush, nay, are in love with this form, aren't you?" Stuart's eyes widened, unable to do anything save a stutter.

"Wha-?"

"Oh, don't try to deny it. I already know. You seem to have a rather serious problem concerning the rest of your fandom's so called 'headcanon'. Honestly, I don't know why you have attached yourself to such what appears to be an entirely fictional character. Hay, even now I can tell you are secretly enjoying this! I can just sense the emotions ebbing off you, and I am not even one of those bucking changelings! And don't even try to deny that you especially loved being dominated by our fair Queen."

Stuart winced, looking down at her hooves in shame. The young alicorn was bombarded with scene after scene, unable to stop the tide of memories and the emotional aftermath that came after it. In any other situation, Stuart would have questioned on how she had been able to read her mind. Considering the damage that was being caused to her psyche however, this was not possible.

"N-no, don't think Stuart. Don't think of how her hooves can... Make you melt... Those sexy hooves in your cloister... NO! Don't even-" She clutched her head. Why was her tormenter doing this? Her wings and eyes shot open as she felt Fluttershy nimble on them, causing Stuart to moan as a short wave of pleasure engulfed that part of her body.

"No wait! Please st-oo sto- augh..."

"Don't you worry now little one. Mommy's got you nice and snug." Fluttershy cooed. Stuart couldn't help but moan as she felt her wings being nuzzled, surrendering to the sweet sensations. All she now wanted to do was to cuddle up with that such sweet mare and-

"CRACK!"

Agony. There was no other word to describe it other than pure agony. That word fitted perfectly with the pain that ripped through Stuart's right wing as she screamed. Trembling, she looked up to see Fluttershy smirking, shaking her head in a patronizing, scolding manner as if she were with a foal. She even had her eyes close and was tsking.

"Wow. You are even lamer than Gilda, if that is somehow possible. You are so easy to manipulate, you know that? You are nothing more than a slave to your instincts here. You even lack the ability to control your emotions. You want to know why you are a weakling? You had the choice of fighting back. You could have gotten away scott free. But you didn't."

Fluttershy smiled, with a satisfied look to her eyes as she watched Stuart's defenses reduce themselves to nothingness.

"Ever so deviant in your sexual fantasies, you are the only one to blame here. You reduced yourself being a whore to the rightful Queen."

With this realization, horror renewed itself in the sapphire alicorn. That couldn't be true, could it? She did fight, she did resist. Or did she? No, Fluttershy couldn't be right, that had to be an outright lie! Right?

"I-... I but... I-"

"Save it foal. You know you wanted to be fucked good by Nightmare Moon. You have no one to blame here but yourself. Pfft. You know how pathetic that is? You. Are. Nothing! Nothing but a worthless whore! Hell, I can already tell that you want to be imregnated with the Mistress's foal right now as you snuggle under her very wings!"

Stuart gaped, feeling like she had just been stabbed through the torso. A numbness in her heart made her dizzy with pain.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta dash. Nightmare Moon wishes you to go through this next part without any interference. Well, not that much anyway." She chuckled knowingly, whispering into Stuart's ear.

"You are going to find this part veeery interesting. Don't worry, it won't start for a while yet. That will give you plenty of time to think over what I have said. Or at least you should, since you fancy yourself as a thinker stereotype. A thinker, pah! Grass that is growing has more thought in an hour than you do in an entire day!" She mocked, cuffing a hoof to her muzzle as she snorted in glee.

"Oh, and by the way? Tell Cadence I said hi." Then with a zap of green magic she disappeared, leaving Stuart all alone. Looking out over the balcony, Start could see that the sun had already risen. Without even thinking about it, she got up and trotted over the mirror. She looked herself over, from her slumped over wings and mangled mane and tail, to her sunken in face with an expression of defeat. By now, Fluttershy's words had completely sunk in, pounding her skull.

"Fluttershy is right.I really am pathetic. Useless." She said to herself, bitterness seeping into her voice as it cracked.

"Nothing is going to be done unless you stop weeping and try to figure out a way to get the hell out of here."

Sniffing, Stuart slowly got up from the ground and recomposed herself, standing tall as she stared at her reflection. She studied it. The way her fur seem to smooth out on the surface, the way her mane still managed to retain a sort of regal appearance. The numbing sensation of having no hands to grasp with. She flexed her wings experimentally and to her unsettling shock, they moved as if she had them all her life. She wondered if she would even remember what being human was even like.

"I am not useless... Am I? I'm not a whore. I can't be! She forced me! Just that!" Stuart grimaced, forcing her thoughts to the back of her mind. Now was not the time to panic and have a mental breakdown. Fluttershy was only just trying to break her down. If she did nothing, then she might as well die right there.

"I-I must get out. But how? I don't even know how I got here. In fact, I don't know much of anything. Where do I even begin to start?" Stuart looked around the room, hoping for something to at least to aid her escape, only to be met with dismay as nothing out of the ordinary had any obvious benefits. All of it useless.

Like her.

"I can escape. I am not useless. I AM NOT USELESS! I am not..." She fell silent, her defenses too cracked to continue.

The way Stuart was reduced to being a puddle in Nightmare Moon's hooves, helpless to even resist. The way she enjoyed being cuddled by Nightmare Moon. The realization that she practically gave into the pleasure struck her like a thunderbolt.

"Just... Why?" Stuart felt tears beginning to drip as memories of being violated took hold of her. How she was forced into a passionate, loving kiss. The way her wings were stroked with an invigorating touch. How the wet tongue of the dark deity laced her horn with pleasure that rendered her helpless. She could still feel its wet surface bathe her horn in a blinding bliss.

No control. No ability to influence the outcome. Just being rendered impotent, racked by a bodily pleasure.

Stuart began to tremble as she felt an overwhelming slew of emotions knock down the barrier that protected her organized, rational thought. Every thought made her wracked with even more abhorrent guilt. She was paralyzed to the floor, trapped within a cycle of perpetual self loathing. No amount of insight lifted off the fact that she had indeed thoroughly enjoyed being pleasured in ways that she never thought possible. All of it willingly.

"Why couldn't I resist? No, why didn't I try to fight back? Why did she do this to me?"

Stuart's eye shunted close as she screamed to the heavens.

"Why!?" Stuart heaved, only to force herself back up, albeit just barely.

"Focus you damned fool! That bitch will get what is coming to her. Knowledge is your strength and power. Use it as your shield. Use it as your sword. Banish these heinous thoughts with a strike of intuition."

Slowly, Stuart felt her breathing return to normal, too drained from the aftermath of her first major emotional breakdown to continue crying. Despite heavy feelings of both remorse and despair, she felt a strange feather of calm tranquility float softly to the ground easing her as she sat against the bedpost, pondering her situation and that of the last few minutes. A sigh left her lips as she flopped to the ground, a pillow that had been tossed to the ground from her earlier scuffle cushioning the impact.

"Well fuck... Just fuck. I suppose this adds another reason to my being a solitary hermit." She muttered, looking at the rising sun off the balcony.

"Just gotta keep my calm. Easy right?"

Tentatively, she slowly rose to her hooves and surely made her way to the edge of the balcony, yet fear clinged to her. Did she really want to find out what was on the other side? Her cheeks scrunched up in frustration, slamming a hoof against the railing with a loud clang.

"Damnit! What am I supposed to do? It isn't exactly like I have idea what the bloody hell is going on, much less any idea of the motives of Nightmare Moon. Considering the circumstances..."

Stuart shivered with a mix of revulsion and anxiety as the memories from the day before flashed past her retina.

"Oh God. Why didn't I put up more of a fight? I am not some pushover, am I? Even though..." A rising bloom feeling in her chest elevated as her breathing increased, replaying the scene of having been literally cuddle bombed over and over in her head.

She had masturbated before in the past as a male, yes. But it didn't even come close to the ecstasy she felt when Nightmare Moon made her melt in her grasp. Stuart's limbs began to tremble as the clarity of just how wiling she was in participating in this debauchery came upon her.

She didn't even violate her! Well, not in that place. But what did that mean? Was she savoring the moment where Start would finally break down forever and submit to her mistress like a good little-.

Stuart slapped herself, the pain bruising her right cheek.

"No way in hell that bitch is my mistress! I am a slut to no one! No. Fucking. Way!"

Stuart braced herself against the wall, tension building in her muscles being so bad that she struggled to hold herself from breaking something.

"And what about this Cadence? Hmm..." She paused for a hoof in thought, putting the mid pieces of the puzzle together.

"So, what are the facts? I am stuck in the Season 1 form of Luna's body that seems to be based upon my own head canon. This could imply that Nightmare Moon could have potentially dug through."

Moments passed. Then her gut was hit with a sucker punch as an all too horrifying picture presented itself to her.

"She has access to my memories..."

Stuart felt the beginnings of a dark pit form a knot in her stomach, only for her to quash it with a vicious stomp of her hoof.

"No! I will not have myself sob here while Nightmare Moon does what she please! That WILL not happen."

Satisfied that she wouldn't go into a downward wreak, she thought further.

"Come to think of it, she even got the voice right."

Then Stuart was hit with yet another startling revelation, eyes widening.

"Wait. Would that mean she even overrode my personality? No. I don't feel any different, at least as much I can notice. So my personality remains mostly intact. At least as far as I can tell." She waited for a few seconds, wondering if she would be seized by another panic attack. Stuart sighed, pressing a hoof to her chest in some form of relief.

"Well, at least things are peaceful for now. But what did Fluttershy mean by Cadence? Unless-"

Stuart was interrupted when she heard several knocks on the chamber door.

"Lulu, are you awake in there?" A familiar, sisterly voiced chimed in with concern.

"Wait what? Celestia is here?!" Before Stuart could do anything, a massive headache caused her to slump to the ground.

"Wha, what's going on!? What the hell is- ah!" Stuart crumpled to the ground as the pounding in her head became unbearable. To her horror, Stuart felt herself beginning to slip away, memories shifting into something else.

She was Stuart, a student at the Celestia's school- No!

She was human! A proper, refined young lady who-...

Parents? Were they? She was pretty certain they were earth ponies.

Wait, not that!

"Oh God! Stop it! I don't wanna..."

"What?"

Luna smiled. What were these silly thoughts of about "humans"? She had a sister to greet. Today was the day she would meet the Elements! She couldn't wait to extend them her gratitude. Maybe... Just maybe... She shook her head. She would worry about that when the time came.

"I'll be right there Tia!" She rushed to the door eagerly, unlocking it. Behind the door, stood the Celestial monarch, who nuzzled her affectionately.

"Good morning Luna. Did you sleep well?"

"I have Celestia. Though I find it odd you have come up to wake me up so early in the morning."

"Oh Lulu. You haven't forgotten about the what you are going to do today, have you?" She chuckled kindheartedly, combing Luna's mane with a hoof.

"Uh, Princess, would it be okay if I can come in please?" A familiar voice called out. It couldn't possibly...

"Why sure Twilight, please do make yourself at home. I am sure Luna wouldn't mind."

"You mean, you brought the- by Faust!" Entering the room was a violet colored unicorn with a dark rainbow patterned mane, with a star sign cutie mark adorning her flank.

"Uh, hello High Princess Luna. I'm Twilight Sparkle." She said, her tone somewhat sheepish. Was that shyness that Luna detected? No matter.

"So you are Twilight? I-I am honored to meet you. I can't even thank you enough for helping me out of..." She trailed back, then shook her head.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-" She stopped, thinking of where to steer the conversation next. She then notice her sister get up and walk out the door.

"I'll be leaving you with my student Luna. I'm sorry I won't be able to attend the day with you, but I have a secession meeting with the Nobles in regards to dealing with the bureaucratic concerns of your return. Twilight, if you would be so kind as to familiarize my sister of the modern era and help her adjust, I will be forever grateful."

"But of course Princess, you can count on me!"

Smiling, Celestia chuckled warmly at her student's enthusiasm.

"If you are certain Twilight. Good day to both of you. Hopefully we shall be able to reunite later during the night, the Sun willing." She chuckled.

With a click, the door locked itself shut, leaving Luna alone with one of her saviors.

"Twilight, I can't thank you and your friends enough for helping me. I cannot ever repay you for doing that."

"Oh Princess, there is no need. Just seeing Celestia happy is all that we'll need. And if you want, your friendship will be nice."

Luna stood there, somewhat shocked at the offer. She was hopeful, but she didn't think she would get that far. Eyes gleaning, she nodded.

"What do you want to talk about first?" She asked giddily.

"Hah. Was that not a bit too easy my liege?"

"Perhaps. But I wouldn't cast down our luck just yet my subject. Already, I have fed on her emotions. And I have to say, they are quite delectable. Though this is only the appetizer."

"So what is our next move now?"

"We wait, my faithful servant. We simply wait and bide our time..." When Nightmare Moon said nothing more, Shackle Heart sighed in disappointment, trotting out to the exit of the Everfree Castle.

"My Queen, I'll be conducting a patrol with my squadron. If you will let me, I shall take my leave."

"You may go Shackle Heart. Keep an eye out for any who may stumble upon this site. If they come forth in this direction, eliminate them."

With a nod in the affirmative, she leaped into flight and flew off into the night sky. As Shackle Heart's form shrunk into a silhouette, Nightmare Moon's gaze drifted toward the portal that contained the young alicorn.

"... Who would have thought that a young human such as yourself have led to the beginnings of my return? And such knowledge of us! Whose to say how many more of those like yourself are out there? Though you were certainly the strongest single source of energy. I wonder how one manages to conjure up a devotion of those they never met?"

Nightmare Moon blinked as she felt a soft, hollow, melancholic shroud drown the air around her.

"What are these odd emotions that I am feeling? ... They are nothing! I must concentrate. These emotions are what led to that pitiful mare's down fall to my hoof." Still, these emotions troubled her throughout the night as she fed off the ambient energy being produced by the Luna duplicate.