I'm a Nightmare!

I suddenly found myself in a dark version of Celestia’s throne room, with only a fire to light my surroundings. Night Song was in it, along with the colt from earlier and other ponies I didn’t recognize. None of them had the injuries from the fight. I was sitting on a black, spike covered throne and they were all bowing to me. Suddenly, Night Song stood.

“My Queen! To prove my devotion to you, I will give you a piece of myself!” she proclaimed. Then, taking a knife, she plunged it into her eye and gouged it out. The action was accompanied by her screams of pain, and she didn’t stop with just one eye. She repeated the action with her other eye, and then stood before me with an eager smile on her face as tears of blood ran down it.

“Remember, I have done this for you.” she said kneeling to me.

“No.” I muttered, my own eyes wide.

“My Queen!” Came another voice, it was the young colt. “We have all decided to give you a piece of ourselves.” Then he, and all the ponies behind him did as Night Song had done.

“No!” I said louder. They all stood, and as one said.

“For you, our Queen!” smiles and blood, all glinting in the light.

“NO!” I screamed, falling from my bed in a tangle of legs, wings, and blankets.

I was still in the infirmary room, after relating all that Night Song had told me to Shining Armour I had gone back to that room and fallen asleep. The bed in there was a lot smaller than the one in my room, so the fall was more jarring but shorter. I just lay there on the floor and stared at the ceiling. A guard entered to check on me, and when he was sure that everything was fine he left. I stood and walked to the window, and just stared. I wasn’t looking at the scenery, just nothing. My attention was on nothing and nopony, until I noticed Luna in the courtyard.

She was shooting bolts of magic at several targets, and nopony would get near her. I felt a wave of anger wash over me as I remembered the way she attacked me. She didn’t even ask me if I knew anything, she just accused me. She just stomped up to me and forced all of her anger and hatred on me. She also looked so scared though, so very scared. That shocked me, the fact that I thought that, but it made me feel better to. It was just more proof, to me, that I was no longer nor would I ever again be Nightmare Moon.

A very important decision was made at that moment, and I knew that if I didn’t act on it then I would never get another chance. Immediately I turned around and walked out of the infirmary, in the direction of the courtyard. As I went along I began to go faster. Other ponies, who somehow sensed that something important was about to happen, followed after me. Soon a huge crowd was in my wake as I raced down the corridors and into the courtyard. I didn’t stop until I was standing in front of the targets Luna was using, and then, I just stood there. The shocked expression on Luna’s face was immediately replaced by one of intense hatred.

“What do you think you are doing?” she asked, almost rhetorically.

“Getting your attention, Princess. That’s what.” I answered, with no less venom than her.

“For what? To proclaim your dominance over all of Equestria? To fight me for control?” She gave me a smirk. “As if you could do anything with your pathetic magic. All of the power you used to have, you got from me, and trust me when I say that you will never have it again.” That had, hurt somehow, but I shook it off and pushed onward.

“No, you pathetic excuse for a princess, I am not. I am instead trying to tell you something of great importance, so I suggest you listen to me.” I replied.

“I would rather spend another thousand years on the moon.” She told me, as she walked away.

“Well then, I was going to ask if you wanted to help me find your sister and Princess Twilight, but I guess I’m on my own.” I smiled as she stopped.

“What?” She asked. Slowly she turned to face me again.

“You wanted me gone, right? Well, I guess you're wish is being granted. I will be leaving, soon, and I will hunt down the ponies who did this and return the two missing Princesses. Then I will fade away and hide myself amongst the mortal ponies. You will never have to see me again, and I'll even change my appearance from time to time so as to keep you from recognizing me.” Well, I wasn’t sure about anypony else, but I could swear you could hear a pin drop.

I didn’t wait for a response, I just walked away. The sea of ponies that had formed around us parted to let me through. I stalked through the halls and into the room I had first woke up in when I got to this impossibly infuriating yet wonderfully amazing place.

“Please let me in, Shadow.” begged Cadence as she stood outside my bedroom door, simultaneously making me feel bad and giving me an odd sense of deja vu. I sighed as I looked up from my attempts at planning the rescue.

“You’re not gonna talk me out of this Princess. I will go on this mission, I will save the others, and then I will leave.” I said through the door.

“I know that, but you’re not gonna do it alone.” she replied.

“What?” I asked, as I opened the door and then stopped in my tracks. Standing right outside my room was the Princess Cadence remaining bearers of the elements, and Discord.

“HI!!!” came a high pitched voice of ultimate happiness. “My name’s Pinkie Pie! What’s your’s? Oh wait, it’s Shadow! Haha, I can’t believe I forgot that, I mean how could I forget that? You’re all that Equestria has been talking about, and I haven’t thrown a party for you yet!” she seemed ready to keep chattering on, but Rarity was kind enough to pull her off my back.

“Dear, you must be better with your manners, especially around royalty.” she said, as she gestured to Cadence.

“I don’t mind Rarity. Right now is not the time to speak of this though, we need to plan the rescue.” she walked past me into the room. The others followed her in.

“Wait, wait, wait.” I said as I got back in front of them. “I don’t remember agreeing to that.” Cadence opened  her mouth to respond, but Rainbow Dash beat her to it.

“You didn’t have to. I would go after Twilight and the Princess in a heartbeat if given the chance, heck I’ll even do it on my own. For now though, there’s no getting rid of me.” she sat on my bed and crossed her front legs in front of her chest, just to prove her point.

“Ah’m with Rainbow on this one.” said Applejack as she walked past me.

“Well, I’m with them, and knowing Fluttershy she’s gonna want to go to.” said Discord as he slithered past me with Fluttershy in his claws.

I sighed knowing that I wouldn’t be able to stop them at all. I picked the map of Equestria I had been looking at before and set it on the floor.

“Alright, since that’s decided, does anypony know where the Princesses might be?” And so the adventure began, sort of.