The First Nightmare Night
Maestro, if you please.
The pale moon cast its eerie light down onto the mountain. The sharp edges of the jagged rocks gleamed in the light, looking more like the slick teeth of a fell monster history had long forgotten. A thick fog clung to the rocks, giving them an even more mysterious appeal. An ominous breeze began to blow and the still was broken by a dark shadow peeling itself from the crest of the mountain. Two magnificent black wings shot into the air as two icy blue eyes slid open, revealing the shadow to be a black alucorn. Rearing back, the great black alucorn slammed her forehooves down, sending out a pulse of dark energy.
Around the mountain, the rocks seemed to bend and shake as the pulse hit them. A large swarm of bats scurried out of a cave and cut through the light of the moon, casting a terrifying shadow. Slowly, a dark pegasus with dragon wings looked up and took flight. His mistress was calling him, as well as hundreds of other thestrals. Together, they formed a flying legion, all heading to the crest of the mountain. The black alucorn, Nightmare Moon, smiled approvingly at them before stomping her rear hoof, breaking part of the ledge she stood on. Down below, a series of pony shaped insects buzzed as they trickled out of the forest at the foot of the mountain. More of them poured out and flew up to join the thestrals, forming their own swarm.
Deep inside the forest, a large grizzly bear made out of stars had a large shadow pass over him, waking him and causing him to lumber to the mountain. The shadow extended over others, causing them to do the same. Together, the Ursa Majors and Minors began to climb the mountain, each climbing at a quick pace. They moved fluidly, like they were trained for this. The thestrals swooped low over the Ursas as a changeling buzzed upwards to join the swarm. Inside the changelings swarm, their queen flapped her translucent wings angrily. The lead Ursa Major gave a roar, startling the thestrals, but they quickly reformed their legion.
As one, the horde of creatures of the night wound their way up the great mountain. A changeling or two deviated from the set path for a second before rejoining. The thestrals flapped their wings angrily as they raced the changelings to the peak, who also redoubled their efforts. Below, the Ursas charged by them, slamming their paws against the rocks. At the peak, Nightmare Moon grinned wickedly as her army came to her before she slammed her hoof again, causing them all to be temporarily out of synchronization. As they recovered, Nightmare Moon began to move her horn in an upwards fashion until she stomped her forehoof again, causing everything to stop in its tracks.
The creatures of the night, Nightmare Moon's army, gathered around her in a giant circle as the tip of her horn glowed a fiery red. Slowly, she began to write words in the air with the tip of her horn, spelling arcane runes long forgotten. Her pace quickened as the runes fell to the ground, etching themselves into the mountain. The fiery runes began to weave together to make an unnatural fire of yellow and blue. No smoke came from this fire as it circled the black alucorn, moving like it was alive. When she finished writing, the flames shot skyward around her, causing her minions to cheer. The first part of the ritual was successful, the spell had accepted her.The shouts of her army pleased her greatly as the flames died down, forming a perfect circle of yellow fire around her hooves.
Nightmare Moon gazed around to her subjects with a piercing gaze, expecting them to fulfill their part of the ritual. A thestral, changeling and Ursa Minor all slowly approached her, eyes averted and heads down. They neared the unnatural fire, feeling the intense heat radiating from it. Nightmare Moon looked at them with a mock kindness her eyes clearly betrayed. Now they were just mere pawns in her path to power. As they kneeled before her, the fire's heat slowly became more intense and the three creatures recoiled at the yellow flames. Their reaction, however, caused the fire to leap onto them, burning them to bare bones in seconds. Clearly pleased, Nightmare Moon grinned an evil grin as the fire gained a blue tint. It steadily became darker until an unearthly howl of a thestral, changeling and Ursa Minor echoed throughout the army. The howls grew louder as the flames licked Nightmare Moon, causing her to scream as well.
The dark blue fire enveloped Nightmare Moon as her army let loose a cry of victory. Their master and mistress was being refined in the second step of the ritual. They kept cheering and some started dancing as the fire exploded outwards, revealing a pitch black alucorn with wafts of smoke rising from her. Without a word, Nightmare Moon opened her eyes, displaying her icy blue irises filled with power and madness. She let loose a terrible cry and her army replied in kind, cheering and dancing even more as the blue tinted fire washed over them. It wasn't burning them, but the dry scrub bushes caught fire, adding more blue flames to light the mountaintop. The thestrals began to take flight and dance about the sky, the changelings soon following suit. The Ursa Majors and Minors pounded their paws against the rocks, sending a rumbling throughout the mountain while the pale moon looked on.
The next few minutes was a blur of celebration, fire and violence. Several thestrals and changelings fought in the sky as the Ursas roared and best the ground with an unearthly ferocity. The changeling queen danced about between them, moving like a snake between the Ursas. The largest Ursa Major slammed his paw down as close as he could to the changeling queen, knocking her backwards from the shockwave. Several changelings left the sky ritual to aid her, helping her into the sky. Upon reaching the swarm, the queen shot a bolt of magenta lightning at the thestrals, striking one in the ribs. He convulsed as she invaded his mind before losing the battle of wills. He began to hurtle to the ground before his brothers caught him. On the ground, the Ursas roared and swiped at the thestrals repeatedly, nearly catching them.
Finally regaining control of her body, Nightmare Moon uttered a terrible shriek as the fire jumped up into the sky before crashing back to the ground. The yellow fire around her died in a brilliant yellow flash, making her rear up with her wings spread and looking as menacing and powerful as any being alive. The ceremony had one last step to go before a brilliant flash of white light blinded Nightmare Moon. She shook her head and felt a spell of great power cast over her. She began to struggle, but several more flashes discouraged her and her minions from fighting. Angry, Nightmare Moon whipped her head around to see who her captor was.
Behind her, floating on a set of beautiful white wings was Princess Celestia. She concentrated hard on her now unrecognizable sister, forcing her to stay still. Nightmare Moon thrashed against the spell and screamed, losing all rational thought. A tear fell from Celestia's magenta eye as her sister was surrounded in light and shot upwards into the sky. Her name was now Nightmare Moon, so it was only fitting her prison would be the moon.
(Keep the music playing. It may sound like one song, but the slow violin is where this part starts.)
Celestia graciously set herself down on the mountain, near but not on the ritual circle. She looked around, expecting the gathered creatures to be enraged and attack her. However, they all slinked off as if a spell had been broken. The thestrals all left in a large legion and flew to the north while the changelings followed their queen west past the forest to the badlands. The Ursas returned to the Everfree forest and soon there was no trace of the ritual Nightmare Moon was attempting to complete. With her task complete and not a single creature around, Celestia lowered her head and let a series of silent tears fall. Her baby sister, the most precious pony to her, was now gone, lost inside her monstrous alternate personality. Celestia continued to weep, thinking of her final promise to her parents that she would protect Luna, now Nightmare Moon and how she had failed them.
Steeling her nerves, Celesta raised her head and looked up at the pale and barren moon. She thought of her sister, working with her to defeat Discord and King Sombre and sighed heavily. How could it have come to this? She focused on the moon with her watery magenta eyes and felt herself begin to weave a spell. Slowly, the moon began to lower and the sun began to rise in the east, the ending of Luna's eternal night and the beginning of the era of harmony. Celestia took a deep breath as she continued the spell, one she would have to use every day from now on until Luna returned.
Down in the town of Ponyville, the royal guards shielded their eyes as the sun emerged from the east. The ponies living there slowly opened their doors and windows, coming out to see the sun with awe. In the distance, a bell tolled solemnly as the ponies gathered in the town's square to watch the sunrise. A dark spec appeared on the horizon, causing the royal guards to tense, but soon the unmistakable silhouette of Princess Celestia was formed from the spec. As she gracefully flew on her magnificent wings over the town, everypony young and old allall kneeled in silent respect. Looking down, Celestia felt her sad mood brighten a bit as she watched her beloved little ponies.
She continued to fly westward to other cities. Manehatten, Fillydelphia, Coltsburgh and Pranceton all gave a similar reaction that Ponyville gave, each citizen paying their respects to Celestia. As she flew, her thoughts stayed with her dear sister. Alone with her anger and madness, could Celestia really just turn her back on her? Celestia valued everypony, but this was not a mere subject. This was her own flesh and blood, her birth sister. However sad and horrible Celestia felt, though, she knew this was the best solution. Luna needed time to regain control of herself and staying in a prison cell would do more damage than good. Without realizing it, Celestia found herself crying again as she saw a beautiful city of white and gold glimmer in the distance. Canterlot, her home and capitol of Equestria, was as silent as the other cities, all heads bowed in respect for their princess.
Carefully, Celestia descended to the gates of the castle where every royal guard in Canterlot stood. At once, they formed a pathway to the gates, removing their helmets and bowing their heads as well. It was ingrained in them to do so, but it made Celestia uncomfortable. Still, she smiled to them as she walked the path to the gate. At the gate itself was the captain of the guard, a greying pony who had lead the successful campaigns on Discord and King Sombre's forces while the two princesses struck the final blow. Without a word, he pushed the gate open for her, standing as rigid and proper as he could. Celestia paused and smiled sincerely to him. As one of her most loyal and helpful subjects, the captain was one of the few ponies she considered a close friend.
It wasn't long before she stood alone in a room not far off from the throne room. Her coat was as white as it could be, her mane long and bushy and flowing. Golden horseshoes were about her hooves and a necklace of shining gold with an amethyst gem hung about her neck, giving her a most regal appearance. Taking a deep breath, she opened the doors and proceeded to the throne room. The walk was slow and deliberate as her servants and royal guards stood absolutely still, mesmerized by her. Her father, the last king of Equestria, always taught her to command attention in any situation, whether it be deciding the fate of the country or just a stroll down the hall. Today, she felt magnificent, beautiful and the luckiest pony in the world.
The overly large golden doors gleamed in the sunlight as Celestia approached them. The engravings upon them told of the sun and moon, depicting both Celestia and Luna on either side. Celestia felt a knot in her stomach as she opened the doors. Inside, the room was bathed in generous amounts of sunshine as ponies lined both walls, staring in awe at the alucorn before them. Slowly and well rehearsed, Celestia moved forwards down the red velvet carpet to the centerpiece of the room, the magnificent throne. A hymn was being sung by the crowd, one of hailing the new ruler and sung at every coronation since Equestria was founded.
Upon reaching the steps to the throne, Celestia halted, kneeling before it. Up on the dias next to the throne, stood the captain of the guard along with six mares on either side of the steps leading up to him. He removed his dress helmet, revealing himself to be a unicorn and spoke. Celestia waited as he repeated the well worn words of crowning. As captain of the guard, he was also steward to the throne, assuming control should a monarch die before arrangements could be made. Celestia was unsure if she would become princess, but with Luna turning on the kingdom, she had assumed the role she was born to take. The old unicorn asked Celestia a series of questions about being a fair and just ruler as well as other things pertaining to her rank. She answered affirmatively and with confidence, causing the crowd to let loose a cry of approval. The old unicorn smiled at her and he began to cast a spell as the six mares tossed rise petals on the stairs.
Celestia rose up and walked up the stairs to the throne. She stared directly ahead at the red velvet chair, noting it had been refilled with feathers and wool to make it more comfortable and bigger. She reached the top step and turned to face the crowd. Gracefully, she lowered her rump into the seat of the throne, noting how light and airy it felt. Her magenta eyes fixed on the stained glass window opposite her beyond the doors as something cold brushed the top of her head. A metallic object light in weight settled between her horn and mane, causing a chill to travel up her spine. The crown was far lighter than she thought.
The captain looked out at the crowd and said "I give to you your new monarch, Princess Celestia. Long may she rule." The crowd roared in response and Celestia allowed herself a smile. The sun seemed to glow a bit brighter and she turned to face it. Her vision filled with the light and warmth of the sun and everything faded to white.
