chapter 3

The days leading up to Celestia's funeral were dark-literally. Luna was having a lot of difficulty raising the sun, and the ponies were starting to get anxious.

There were more crimes being committed throughout Equestria as the criminals were living in their constant prime. They would steal left and right, but no pony would notice. Sure, there were lights, but not enough to illuminate all of Equestria.

On the day of Celestia's Funeral, Rarity had designed dresses that Twilight, Cadence, and Luna would wear.

Ponies filled the entire statue garden and even some of the streets of Canterlot as Celestia joined the other statues in the garden.

Twilight, Cadence, and Luna stood around an empty pedestal as a couple of guards hooked up to a carriage that held Celestia's body approached them.

Luna took the sheets off with her magic and then lifted her sister's body out of the carriage.

Twilight grimaced as she watched Celestia's body being lifted and then lowered onto the pedestal. She looked so...different. Her hair no longer flowed naturally and her eyes had rolled into the back of her head. Her body was limp and her face showed no remote emotion whatsoever.

When Celestia's body was on the pedestal, Luna released it.

"Alright Cadence and Twilight, perform the spell I had sent you in the book from a couple days ago," Luna instructed.

Twilight's eyes widened. "The spell, from, from...the book?"

Luna nodded. "Yes, you do know how to do it, right? I was hoping with your experience in the area, you would be able to lead us in performing the spell,"

"Umm...well, I may or may not have read the book," Twilight said nervously.

The ponies angrily talked amongst themselves about Twilight's statement.

"How are we to perform the ceremony then?" Luna said, angry and nervous.

"We will have to try it on our own, Luna. Be sure to give it your all," Cadence said, getting in position to perform her spell.

Luna nodded and did the same as Cadence. There was a silence for a little while, with no pony talking and barely breathing. Suddenly, Cadence and Luna both let out a grunt as their horns began to glow and begin their magic.

Two beams of bright yellow light shot out of their horns and began to swirl around the body. Celestia was positioned by the magic standing on all four hooves, with the exception of the front left hoof that was raised elegantly. Her wings were outstretched, and reminded Twilight of the times she welcomed Twilight into her warm embrace. Her lips were turned up into a smile, and she was looking slightly downwards, as if she were addressing one of her subjects. Her eyes were even put back into a more life-like position.

Twilight smiled slightly as a stream of tears escaped her.

Luna and Cadence were obviously struggling with the spell, as their brows were knit and their teeth gritted. They began to show signs of struggling, and Shining Armor ran to Cadence. He didn't want to touch her for fear of making her lose her concentration, but he did stay near in case she needed him.

Suddenly, Celestia's hooves began turning into stone. The rock crept up Celestia's body until it reached the tip of her horn. The magic pouring out of Cadence and Luna's horns suddenly stopped, and the princesses collapsed.

It was quiet once again. The ponies began silently mourning their beloved princess when a blue and purple aura began to quickly surround Luna.

The pones curiously eyed the princess when suddenly a purple cloud of smoke covered and hid the princess from their eyes. They heard Luna scream from inside the smoke, but before any of them could go to her a black figure flew out of the smoke, and it slowly dispersed.

The figure plummeted towards the ground, but caught them self before crashing just a few feet above Celestia's statue.

Now that they weren't moving, everypony could clearly see that the figure was Nightmare Moon.

Twilight's eyes widened and her heart began to race.

"It is very good to be free here in Equestria again! And soon all of my other...friends will agree too," Nightmare Moon said, smiling maliciously.

"Go and return as Luna's lesser shadow! Bring back our princess!" Twilight demanded.

Nightmare Moon snarled. "I AM NOT the lesser shadow! Your princess of the night is gone forever, so just shut it and bow down to the queen darkness!"

Twilight opened up her wings. "You are very foolish to think that you can take on Equestria again! Especially since I am now a princess!"

Twilight launched herself off of the ground and pounced on Nightmare Moon. She swung her hoof across Nightmare's face and Nightmare Moon groaned.

Nightmare Moon shoved Twilight off of her and then grabbed her with her magic. She threw Twilight, causing her to disappear out of sight.

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash said angrily. She began to charge Nightmare Moon, but Soarin darted over to her and bit down her tail so she couldn't reach her.

"Soarin let go!" Rainbow Dash said angrily, squirming and stomping.

"You ponies are foolish, and will be easy to conquer. I will be gone, but not for long. Try not to do anything idiotic while I'm away-you'll regret it," Nightmare Moon said, extending her wings and flying away.

Princess Cadence extended her wings and took after her.

"No!" Shining armor cried out, but she was too far away for him to reach.