Falling Into Nightmare

Falling into Nightmare

1

The nursemaid trotted into the library.  Her position was an old one, mostly ceremonial.  The position dated back to the mysterious, legendary dawn of time when the princesses had been foals.  No one remembered those times, save the princesses themselves.  Still, the position had been staffed by scores of fine old mares over the millenia.  They remained among Princess Celestia’s closest confidantes, and sometimes best friends.
The nursemaid found her princess bent over a large pile of books, just like every night.
“Your Highness...,” the nursemaid said, “...Celestia, you need to get to sleep.  You can’t rule if you keep on like this.”
“This magic is older than I am,” Celestia admitted.  “It’s more powerful. I can’t understand it, but I need too.  The 1000th summer solstice is approaching.”
“You don’t trust your student?” the nursemaid asked.
“Twilight?  I’m sure she’ll do fine.  She has my confidence.  The prophecy will be fulfilled.  It’s what comes later that I fear.”
“I don’t understand,” the nursemaid said.
“I know you don’t,” Celestia said.  “I don’t mean to sound rude, but I barely understand it myself, and I have so much work to do.”
“You need to go to bed, your Highness.”
“I know, dear.  Just give me another hour of work, and I’ll get some sleep.”

2

	Celestia and Luna laid down for sleep.  It had been an eventful day, the most significant day in their lives over the last thousand years.  There had been an impromptu celebration in that little country town, Ponyville, and then a much larger parade in Canterlot on their triumphal return.
	They were now curling up together in front of the large fireplace.  Luna still had the garlands of flowers that foals had given her.  This was in the Palace of Canterlot, but the room had been modeled to exact specifications of their old nursery back in the old castle.  When Luna had first seen it, she had cried.  She had been so touched.
	“Do you want me to take control of the moon again?” Luna asked.
	“Eventually,” Celestia answered.
	“Eventually?”
	“It’s been a thousand years,” Celestia said.  “There so much that has changed.  Everything is so different now.  I want you to see it all.  I’d like you to rest.  I’d like you to enjoy yourself.  And...,” she trailed off.
	“Yes?”
	“I want you to be by my side.  I hope that’s not greedy.  I’m missed you, Luna.  I love you.”
	“I love you too, Celestia.”
	“May I asked you something, Luna?”
	“Yes?”
	“What was it like?  Being Nightmare Moon?”
	“Oh, Celestia, it was horrible.  I was aware of it the whole time, and it was like I couldn’t control myself.  Except, I could have controlled myself if I had really wanted to.  I didn’t really want to do those horrible things that I did.  Except, I really did want to do with them.  It was like I was literally having a waking nightmare.  It doesn’t make much sense.  I can’t explain it.  You wouldn’t understand.”
	“I think I do understand,” Celestia said.
	Luna looked into her eyes.
	“I know what nightmares are like.  I’ve lived the last thousand years in a nightmare.  I’ve been away from you,” Celestia said.
	“Oh, Celestia...,” Luna said.

3

	Celestia had been right, Luna thought to herself.  So many things had changed.  Canterlot was a marvel.  Ponies themselves hadn’t changed much, at least not at their core.  Luna loved that; she had always loved ponies.
	She was taking another one of her daily tours of the city.  Every day she found a new surprise.  Today she was touring the market district.  She passed through an avenue of fine jewellers, and entered a square where an outdoor market hawked cheaper costume jewelry, and related cheap fashions.  She stopped at one of the vendors, and found a silver crescent-shaped broach that caught her eye.
	“Oh, this is so beautiful,” Luna remarked. “Isn’t this beautiful, Captain?”
	“It is, your Highness,” the Captain-of-the-Guard, her personal escort, nodded.
	“It’s a very popular design, your Highness,” the vendor curtsied.  “The crescent.  I haven’t been able to keep them in stock since your return.”
	“I’m flattered,” Luna admitted.  “I simply must have it.  How much is it?”
	“Fifty bits, your Highness,” the vendor curtsied again.
	“Oh it’s simply divine.  I’ll have to have a ball, simply so I can present. Thank you so much,” Luna said.  The vendor curtsied again.  Luna moved on to admire the wares of the next vendor.
	She was back in the palace, admiring her new broach in the mirror, when she realized her omission.  She was horrified.
	“Captain?  Captain?” she called, galloping down the stone corridor.
	“Yes, your Highness?” The Captain-of-the-Guard was quick to present himself.
	“That vendor.  The one where I found this broach.  I never paid her, did I?”
	“I don’t believe that you did, your Highness.”
	“Why didn’t you tell me?”
	“It’s within your royal prerogative to simply take whatever it is that...”
	“No, no.  Captain, I understand I can do that, but it’s wrong.  I can’t believe I did that.  What did she want for the broach?  Fifty bits?  I must repay her.  A hundred bits.  No, two hundred.  She’ll have one of my own jewels.  I’m so ashamed of myself.”
	“I’ll have a squire deliver a payment immediately, your Highness,” the Captain said.
	“Thank you, Cap.... no, wait.  I should go myself.  I need to go myself.  I need to apologize.”
	“As you wish, your Highness.”
	“Has anybody told my sister,” Luna asked?
	“I couldn’t say either way, Your Highness.”
	“Oh, Captain, I’m so embarrassed.”

4

	“Nursemaid?  Nursemaid?” Luna called.  She had searched the entire residential quarters of the palace, but she couldn’t find her nursemaid.  It had made her feel so alone in the palace, without her nursemaid to talk to.
	“Captain!  Captain!”  She couldn’t find the Captain-of-the Guard either.  That had made her frightened.  He was always supposed to be here, on her beck and call.  In fact, the palace was almost completely empty.  There were no maids, or butlers, or stewards.  The guards were here, of course, but they weren’t supposed to interact with royalty directly, unless some threat was actually present.
	“Guard,” Luna shouted, breaking protocol.
	“Yes, your Highness,” he started to shake.
	“Where is the Captain-of-the-Guard?”
	“He is not here, your Highness.”
	“Yes, I can see that, you foal.  Where is he?”
	“I could not say, your Highness.”
	Luna raged at the insubordinate guard, although she did not show it outwardly.  “Where is my sister?”
	“Her Highness is in the library, your Highness,” the guard gulped.
	Luna stormed off to the library.  Celestia had been all talk.  Celestia had said she wanted to spend so much time with her, but she had spent all her free time in the library, pouring over her precious books.  Celestia loved the books more than she loved Luna, that much was clear.
	“Celestia!” Luna shouted, as she burst into the library.
	“Yes, Luna?” Celestia asked, taking off her reading glasses.
	“Where is my Captain-of-the-Guard?” Luna demanded.
	“He’s in the hospital,” Celestia answered.
	“Oh my gosh,” Luna said, the rage suddenly gone, replaced by sympathy and worry for the kind stallion that had been so good taking care of her.  “What’s happened?”
	“Are you sure you want me to tell you?”  Celestia asked.
	“Yes,” Luna said.  “Of course.  Please.  Why wouldn’t you?”
	“You put him in the hospital,” Celestia said.
	“I...I don’t understand,” Luna said, her world falling out from beneath her.
	“You attacked him.  You’ve hurt him.  That’s why he’s in the hospital.  I’ve dismissed the nursemaid and most of the staff.  Only the guards remain.”
	“I don’t understand.  Why?”
	“The nightmare,” Celestia answered.  “it’s still inside of you.  The Elements of Harmony are failing.  The nightmare is getting stronger.”
	“Can’t the Elements be used again?”
	“No.  The nightmare itself is growing resistant to the magic.  That’s why I’ve been studying so hard.  I mean to find another solution.”
	“You knew this would happen?”
	“I feared this would happen.  I wanted you to enjoy the time that you had.  You were gone so long, a thousand years.  I just wanted you to be Luna again.  At least for awhile.  For as long as you had.”
	“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Luna asked.
	“This is the fourth time we’ve had this conversation,” Celestia answered.
	“Oh God, what else have I done?  I can’t remember.”
	“This is the first time you’ve attacked anybody,” Celestia said. “But you caused an awful scene at the ball.  You made the nursemaid cry.  You stole a broach from the market.  You scared a class of foals in the gardens.”
	“I...,” she didn’t know what to do, “I need to visit my Captain.”
	“I don’t think you should,” Celestia said, “he’s hurt very badly.”
	“I need to apologize.”
	“He’s not conscious, Luna.”
	Luna began to cry.  “I shouldn’t even be here.  I’m a danger to everybody.”
	“The guards all understand; they’ve been told.  They’re all volunteers now, Luna.  The ponies still love you.”
	“How much time do I have left?” Luna asked.
	“I don’t know,” Celestia said.  “I don’t think we have very much.”
	Celestia began to cry as well.  “I don’t... I don’t think I’m going to have time to find a solution in these books.  Do you... do you want to spend the last of our time together?”
	“Yes, please,” Luna said.

5

	Luna stood within her cell.  Celestia stood at the threshold.
	“Are you sure you want me to do this,” Celestia asked.
	“I’d like you to kill me,” Luna said.  “I don’t want to go back to the way I was.”
	“I can’t do that, Luna.”
	“It would be a kindess,” Luna said.
	“I can’t do that, Luna,” Celestia repeated.
	“Then this is our only option,” Luna said.  “This will have to be goodbye.”
	“Goodbye,” Celestia said.
	Celestia’s magic caused the cell to close.  Great doors slid shut.  Powerful chains wrapped themselves around the portal.  Unbendable bars were erected.  Impenetrable magical barriers were formed.  These were the most powerful sealing magics in all Equestria.  Nothing could get through.  Nothing... except Luna could still her her sister sobbing from the outside.  And then that too was sealed off.
	Time passed.
	Hours, days, months, years.  It was impossible to say.  Time had no meaning in here.
	Eventually, four small lights appeared, right at the edge of Luna’s vision.  They grew, and brightened into stars.  They were nightmares.
	“She put you in a prison again,” said one of the lights.
	“She wanted to help me,” Luna said.
	“She couldn’t help you,” one of the lights said.
	“She’s weak,” said another.
	“You’re stronger than her,” said a third.
	“She did everything she could,” Luna said.  “She’s my sister.  She loves me.  And I love her.”
	“She wouldn’t do you a simple kindness,” said one of the lights.
	“She knew this would happen,” said another.
	“She knew you would suffer,” said a third.
	“It’s almost like she wanted you suffer,” said the fourth.
	‘That’s not true,” said Luna.
	“This was all pre-ordained,” the lights said in unholy unison.  “She knew she would slow you down with her Elements of Harmony, and her stooge, Twilight Sparkle.  She knew you would have time to rejoice as Luna, and then she would take that away again.  She always knew she’d have to imprison you again.  There is nothing more cruel than to give someone false hope, and then take it away.”
	“I suppose there isn’t,” the Luna said.
	“There isn’t,” the lights all agreed. ”It’s a cruel joke that you sister has played on you.  She knows deep down that you’re a villain.  She knows that you want to do evil.  She knows full well this cell won’t hold you.  She’s only playing her little game with you.  Why are you only playing along?”
	“I suppose I shouldn't,” Luna said.
	“Why delay the inevitable?” the lights asked.
	The door shattered.  The chains melted and broke in a shower of liquid magic.  The bars were bent, and the barriers burst asunder.  Luna stepped out into the cool night air.  The stars hung above her.
	“What shall we do now, your Highness,” one of lights asked.
	“I’m a plain dealing villain,” Luna answered.  “We shall do villainy.”
	Nightmare Moon flew off in the direction of Equestria.  Four lesser nightmares followed her.