1000 years ago--------------------

“Luna, thou art acting quite strange."

“How so?"

“Thou art more assertive, iron-hoofed, and even a bit cruel."

“Tis it not the job of a princess to uphold the kingdom?"

“It tis, but thou were doing fine before. Why the sudden change in character?"

“We thought it best to reacquaint ourself with the position. Is that a problem to thou?"

“Nay Luna, thine attitude is thine own business; we are, however, a bit concerned."

“Tis nothing thou should worry thineself over."

“Alright, if thou sayeth that thou art fine then we will not pursue an answer."

Luna looked quizzically at the male alicorn in front of her. One moment he would press an issue and the next he would drop it like it meant nothing.

She looked him up and down; his regal form was prominent in the moonlight. He stood tall, as tall if not a hair shorter than her sister Celestia. His midnight blue coat blended in with the night light.  His eyes were what truly captivated her. Deep green bulbs that reflected moonlight perfectly.

He was very informal, preferring to go around without his regalia in secret than trotting around Canterlot. She tried (without success) to get him to conform to the proper royal activities. It frustrated her to no end when she found him gone without his royal attire. She even went as far to teleport to him in order to force it on him. But alas, he had kissed her passionately and with a mischievous glint in his eye, teleported away from her.

She growled at the remembrance of that event. Star fire could be a real pain in the flank sometimes.

"Dear, what has thee tongue tied?"

Nothing."

Very well." He turned to leave. "Thou will tells us if thou has a problem correct?

Yes dear we shall." Star smiled and left the room.

A slight frown creased Luna's face. Sometimes him and her sister could be a bit overprotective. Always offering to help her and assuming something was wrong.

She sighed. They were the only ponies who seemed to care about her it seemed. Everypony was asleep at night, the beautiful constellations that decorated the night sky gone before they woke up.

As much as Star and Celestia tried to convince her that it wasn't true she knew it was. There was no getting around the fact that she was unappreciated, unloved. Her eyes hardened. That would change. Starting tonight.

-------------------Several weeks later----

"Luna we implore thou to stop thy rampage!" Star yelled.

It had been a brutal past few weeks. The night after star had visited her Luna turned. Nopony knew why until later on when the nightmare that emerged from Luna's anger said so.

"You ponies hath not appreciated me for too long. Now bow before us. Ye will not see thy 'glorious' sun ever again!" After hearing an eyewitness account of the encounter Celestia had broken down. She blamed herself for the cruel thing that happened to her sister. She had cried for a whole day straight. Star Fire had tried to comfort her, but to no avail. She could not be convinced otherwise.

Things were different now. At the end of that day Celestia snapped. Her eyes hardened and she rose from her bed. She put on her regalia and bade Star to do the same. Reluctantly he complied and followed her out of the castle.

It didn't take long for her to ditch her guards. She flew into a fury, a passion to destroy the monster that had consumed her sister. If it meant destroying her as well then so be it. Her sister had chosen her fate.

Once again Star had tried to convince her otherwise and once again he had failed. For 2 weeks they had chased her until one day a message came to Celestia that the nightmare had been spotted in another town.  Immediately she had flown off in pursuit. Star Fire had been asleep at the time and did not notice her departure. Sighing to himself he had wandered around the countryside looking for his lost love; hoping beyond hope that they would be reunited. He had finally found her in the old castle in a forest dubbed 'The Everfree'.

She faced him. An evil grin dominant on her face. "Become weary of following thine 'princess' around like thou were some kind of dog?"

Please Luna we implore thou to cease this madness and let go of thine anger."

LUNA IS GONE." She yelled. "She disappeared when the knowledge of her uselessness in society was made known."

"But thou art not useless! Thy night is beautiful, and thy company is appreciated. Why must…" Star was cut off as the nightmare screamed at him. "OUR NAME IS NIGHTMARE MOON. THY WILL REGRET TOYING WITH ME."

The dark form arose from her throne in the castle and started to blaze with dark energy. Star Fire started to back away from the monster that had been the love of his life. "Thou art a fool. We were going to ask if thou would join us in our new rule but now that thou hath toyed with us thou hath lost that chance."

His flank thumped against the wall, Nightmare Moon closed in on him. "The best part about this," she chuckled. "Is that thy precious Luna hath been locked in her mind, forced to watch thine death." She lowered her horn and a bright light shone shown on the tip. "Now let the nightmare consume thee."

A brighter light creased the horizon. Instantly overwhelming the light from the evil mare's horn. It looked like the sun itself had decided to join in. It might as well have been the sun. In fact Nightmare would have preferred it to the creature consumed in hellfire hurtling towards her and Star.

"NIGHTMARE I HATH FOUND THEE! PREPARE TO MEET THY END!" A loud booming voice came from the fireball as it hurtled straight for the two of them.

Nightmare visibly cringed and tensed up in preparation of fleeing. The fireball's speed seemed to increase and Star Fire thought he see a figure in the flames. It was burning white, its mane was a writhing mass of fire.

Nightmare's resolve broke. She turned and galloped as fast as she could away from the supposed Impact zone. The conflagration slowly moved in her direction.

As it passed by Star could see that the figure inside it was in fact Celestia. Her angry pent up for so long had finally manifested itself when she had found her prey.

Star wished it hadn't had to come to this. The friendliest ponies he had ever met, consumed by anger and hate. While hate was a powerful motivator it lacked the mental backing that anger carried. If Celestia ever caught Luna, he refused to believe she was gone forever, she would die.

He shook his head at the need for unnecessary violence. Then it hit him, the nightmare would be destroyed but doing so in the manner that Celestia had prepared for would result in the demise of his love as well. A large explosion sounded and a fireball erupted a mile or so away. He ran as fast as he could in the general direction, hoping beyond hope that the execution hasn't been proceeded with yet.

When he reached the clearing his eyes took in the scene. Charred trees ringed the area and ash piles were strewn haphazardly in every direction. A giant crater was at the center of the carnage.

He approached the lip and looked down with sad eyes at the occupants. Nightmare lay on the ground on her side while Celestia stood over her panting heavily. Celestia's eyes were stone cold, showing no emotion as she prepared to deal with the threat to her beloved country.

"Do the deed 'Princess'. Thee knows that thee wants too. Nightmare taunted.

Celestia's soft tone was gone, replaced by a hard condescending voice that made even Star cringe. "Thee hath destroyed several cities, committed blasphemy and hath disobeyed ever law in Equestria. How doth thou plea?"

"Thou art an insolent whelp." Nightmare replied. "We plea guilty, not that thee didn't already know."

"Then thou is sentenced to death and eternal punishment in Tartarus." Celestia charged up her horn in preparation. Sending a soul straight to Tartarus took extreme power, power only Celestia had.

"NOOO!" Star jumped down from his position to in front of Nightmare. "Thou canst not do this Celestia."

"Move, this creature has done wrong and now deserves punishment."

"Please Star," Luna's soft voice came from Nightmare's lips. "Don't let her kill us. We love you."

"Do not listen to the creature's words. Still thy emotions and close thy ears." Celestia's hard tone piercing through his thoughts.

No, this was not his Luna. This was not the mare he fell in love with, this was not the mare he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

"We love thee as well Luna." Nightmare grinned in triumph while Celestia's eyes narrowed in prospect of having to fight again.

Star leaned close to Nightmare's prone form. "I'm sorry Luna, tis the only way." Nightmare had just enough time to wonder what he meant before their souls collided. Star trying desperately to reach the core. Nightmare could only guess his intentions. Soul separation was dangerous and fatal. His soul rampaged across her mental barriers before coming to the center of the dark storm. It entered the soft blue ball and returned with 3 orbs of energy. Nightmare gasped as he retreated from her mind with the three elements of harmony that Luna had been gifted with.

It was not known where the elements came from. Only a few knew that Celestia and Luna kept them safe. And only the royal ponies themselves knew that they were housed in the deepest parts of the sister's minds. Star knew of their potential to cleanse Luna, but it was a foolish enterprise that would end in the demise of them both. However, something not so drastic could be preformed. He knew that in doing this last act he had doomed himself to die. When the soul is separated there is no going back. He had only a few minutes before his body died. As he returned to his own body he felt a piece barely attached by a few threads. He reached and grasped it and mentally pulled it in along with  the three elements he had taken from Luna.

He then jumped on Celestia. Before she could cast a spell he thrust the orbs inside Celestia, eliciting a gasp from her. The inside of Celestia's mind was in complete turmoil as a war waged. The side of her that demanded retribution grappled with the side that wanted to forgive her sister. Both halves stopped to watch with interest as the foreign object passed by. It circled the central sphere of light and tried to enter it. Only to be pushed away magically. The strange orb gathered the other smaller three and drew them in. Making one final effort it clashed against the outer surface. Sparks of magic erupted as it slowly dug deeper. Suddenly, pain. Both halves agreed on one thing, this new entity had to leave. They rushed over to destroy it. Before they could however the sparks faded and the orb was gone. After a few seconds it emerged out the other side with six small orbs instead of three.

The personalities charged it. It fled in terror, disappearing with a flash, leaving  hatred and forgiveness feeling… empty.

Star returned to himself. His vision was blurred and he could hardly think. He didn't have much time. Quickly he summoned up the elements and ringed them around the dark figure which had risen shakily to its hooves. "Nightmare; for transgressions caused by thee to the fair land of Equestria thou is sentenced, n..not to death… but  banishment to the moon for a thousand years… by th…the authority vested in us as a P…Prince of Equestria." His vision was so distorted that he could no longer see. His speech was shaky and it was getting hard to stand. He collapsed to his knees.

"THEE ART A COWARD!" Nightmare roared as she dove towards him with every intention of killing him before the spell could complete.

Celestia watched, in slow motion, the events unfold before her eyes. The elements spun faster around Nightmare's form.  Right as she touched the tip of Star Fire's snout she froze. "We love thee greatly dear Luna." Was all the stallion could say before he disintegrated. Starting from the tip of his tail his body drew into an orb that touched the offenders snout.

Then a glow arose from the elements as they spun faster; faster and faster till they were only a blur. Nightmare knew it was over. She turned to the sun goddess.

"Don't think this is over 'Princess' his soul lock will not last forever. We will be back to cast eternal night on thine pathetic country." She smirked. "Thou best be ready." Then she rocketed upwards in a pillar of light that touched the moon. Like the tail of a comet the elements followed suit until only Star's soul orb was left. Then that too shot into the night sky, a faint ring encased the middle of the moon for a moment then disappeared.

--------------------------980 years later.---------------

Celestia stood on her balcony overlooking the night sky. It had been almost a thousand years since the death of Star Fire and the containment of Nightmare.

As she lowered the sun and raised the moon she glimpsed the accursed figure etched on the surface of the moon. It was a dark head of a unicorn that stared at all the world with it's single hollow eye.

She sighed and was about to head inside when she heard a soft melody echoing from Luna's now abandoned tower.

She made her way up the stairs and opened the door. There on the balcony was a shadow of a dark alicorn, head held high, staring at the moon. The melody came from his mouth and now that she was close enough she could hear the words being sung.

For a thousand years we've waited here for thou

Waited every night.

For we thought that thou were the answer to our life.

Luna won't thou cry for me,

We're as lonely as we've ever been.

I am forced back into the start.

Is there any way to fix a broken heart?

Celestia let a tear slip. The alicorn in front of her was none other than Star Fire. She was about to approach when a voice much harder in tone, almost pleading, came from the sky.

Infinite despise and endless jealousy,

Bottled in our soul,

Has erupted as we're tearing through the sky.

Days turned into years and into centuries,

Patience had to fade.

Don't thou see that there is vengeance in our eyes?

As the last line faded Celestia snapped out of her trance. She slowly trotted over to star and was just about to put a hoof on his back when a deep jovial voice spoke up behind her. "Wouldn't do that if I were you, tricky magic reincarnation is. Can't tell you how hard it was to find his soul, mind, and heart. I DO NOT want to do that again."

Celestia spun around, "Discord…" she hissed. "What part do you have in all this?"

The draconequus stepped from the shadows, his 'hands' folded behind his back. "I caused it. I brought the prince's soul back so he could have one last goodbye. Sappy right?"

Celestia's face took on a confused look. "I know I know," his voice rose in pitch "but discord, this is so unlike you. Don't you want to destroy Equestria and cause eternal chaos?" His voice returned to normal. "Yes of course I want to cause chaos, but destroy this country with it? I thought you thought better of me." He pulled a tissue out of his ear and blew his nose with it in mock sadness before turning the tissue into a small flying piece of cake.

Celestia involuntarily licked her chops at the sight of the delicious treat, imagining what it would taste like.

She shook her head, now was not the time to be thinking about sweets. "It is of no consequence of how I escaped my stone prison or why I'm even doing this. You don't even need to know anything actually, so why am I telling you all this? Oh yeah cause it would be too simple to just leave you to figure it out." The draconequus stopped rambling for a moment, a you train remedying from his ear. The caboose said 'Thought' and got about a foot before a clawed hand reached up and shoved it back in discords head. "Oh yes, that. Now as I was saying, I am doing this for a reason. One I won't reveal to you of course as you would try to stop me. But enjoy this brief gift I have given you, the happiness of the two people you love most."

Celestia took a step forward, prepared to extract answers from the offending god of chaos. But before she could a large antique pocket watch popped into existence, startling her. Discord gasped as he looked at the watch. "Oh dear, I'm late, I'm late, I'm very very late!" With that he jumped into the floor. His head reappeared for a moment, giving Celestia a shit eating grin. "Toodles tooste."

Celestia just shook her head at the absurdity of it all. That draconequus was the weirdest most chaotic thing she had ever encountered. Trying to understand him was like trying to split hairs, it simply could not be done.

She sighed and turned back to the form on the balcony. His song done, Star Fire just stood there, looking longingly up at the moon. She simply sat on her haunches, watching him for an hour or so. Eventually though his form flickered and started to dissipate.

Much to Celestia's surprise however, Star turned around and locked eyes with her. "Thou and us will meet up again we think." Then he was gone. Celestia did a complicated soul searching spell, but found no trace. Discord had worked his magic and turned out his soul to somewhere else.

With nothing else dire to take care of, she made her way back to her chambers, feeling a bit happy for once in a millennium.

She laid down onto her bed, hoping that Star Fire's last words to her would come true.