Twilight Velvet groaned, her eyes closed as she struggled to maintain her strength. She was exhausted, though nopony could really blame her. Giving birth to a child wasn't a particularly easy task for anypony. She smiled none the less as the doctors slowly trotted into the room. Followed closely by her nervous husband. Tall Order. “Is her head properly supported? Are you sure she's not too small? I've read a number of books that say an earth pony foal should weigh at least--”

“Honey, it's fine,” Velvet said with a smile as her child was gently deposited into her hooves. “Remember Shining? He was a little small too and now he's a wonderful little unicorn colt.”

“Yes, but earth ponies are supposed to be bigger,” the stallion said, trotting around the room nervously as the nurses left. “Are we sure we can trust these ponies? I can't say for certain, but some of these medical degrees don't look in the best condition. What if some of them are fake? What if--”

“Honey, calm down,” Velvet said with another soft chuckle. “This is one of the best hospitals in Canterlot. It'll be fine.” She then looked down at her little baby girl. A purple coat, a streaked purple mane. She hoped her husband wasn't upset that frankly, aside from the lack of a horn, their daughter really looked nothing like him. Then again, she suspected he was thrilled to not be the only non-unicorn in the family now.

“So, what should we name her?” the mare finally asked, watching the little foal open her eyes and stare up at them with the prettiest purple eyes she'd ever seen.

The walking hooves stopped and she slowly looked up to see her husband staring at her. Then, slowly he moved forward and put his nose to hers. “I can think of only one name sufficient for such a perfect little dear. Twilight's Glow.”

She blushed, quickly looking down. “Oh, you little flirt you.” She did stare at the foal for a few more seconds though. “I... do like that, though. Twilight Glow. It's... perfect.”

------

“Daddy, daddy, come on!” Twilight squeaked in her excited little filly voice, circling around the stallion's hooves as he tried to keep up.

“Now now, calm down. We're almost there.”

“But I wanna be in the front row! I wanna see the princess raise the sun!” the little earth pony filly shrieked.

“You will, I promise,” he said with another soft chuckle as they walked through the streets of Canterlot. Normally he wouldn't dream of being up so early, especially on a holiday like today. But Twilight had been wanting to see this for so, so long. The Summer Sun Celebration was happening in Canterlot this year so there was nothing else to do about it. When she unleashed the filly eyes, there was no possible way he could say no. As their empty cookie jar back home attested.

A weakness that, despite his wishes, he had to his wife as well. Which was why she was back home, curled up in bed and he was walking through Canterlot before the crack of dawn. However, they finally made it to the crowd and he let out a low whistle. Off in the distance he could see the guards and stage. Twilight turned to him. “Daddy...”

He gave a nod. “Go ahead. I'll be right here after the sun is raised. Just be careful, okay?”

She let out a high pitched squeak before racing off. “THANK YOU DADDY!”

He chuckled before turning his attention to the show. He let out a soft gasp of awe as the princess appeared on the stage, making her way ahead. He couldn't blame his little girl for wanting to see the princess up close, she truly was a spectacular mare. Not quite as spectacular as his wife, of course. But then, nopony was perfect.

The sun was slowly raised up and he couldn't help but let out his own gasp of awe as well. Magic truly was an amazing thing and he couldn't help but feel a slight pang of jealousy at all those unicorns who used it so effectively. Still, it wasn't as if any of them could claim to have that much power. The princess truly was unique.

“Daddy daddy daddy!” Twilight shrieked as she ran up and gave him a tight hug. “I was up front and I saw the princess and she saw me and she looked right at me and I looked right at her and then I sneezed but she just smiled and she was so amazing and wonderful and eeeee!”

Tall chuckled and put a hoof over his little girl. “Yes, she does have that effect on ponies. She is quite amazing, isn't she?”

“She's so amazing! Daddy, do you ever think one day I can be that amazing? I can do what she does?”

He paused before nodding. “Yes. I don't think you can do exactly what she does.” He sat down and slowly raised the little filly's chin, to make her look him in the eyes as her face started to fall. “But the princess does more than raise the sun and moon. She inspires our nation, unites us. I believe that one day, you'll be just as inspiring to everypony around you. Maybe even more than the princess ever was.”

She blinked and then gasped. “You... you think I could do that?”

“I have no doubt in my mind.”

------

Twilight stared at the blank pages in front of her, a pencil at her side. She couldn't believe it. She was such a failure. A useless, horrible, didn't deserve to have friends or family or anything failure. She'd wanted so hard to do what daddy said, to be an inspiration, a driving force for ponies. To be somepony who could make her feel, if only for a moment, the way the princess had her.

It had finally come to her while she was reading Daring Do. She could still feel her heart skipping a beat, the excitement as the mare dodged spears and fought off horrible bad not nice at all ponies. Then the belief that she could do anything. She'd been so excited that she'd barely even paid attention at the dinner party with the Orange's. She'd had to explain what a rooster was to her daddy. He was just so silly sometimes. Then she'd come straight home, couldn't sleep and decided to start right away.

But now she couldn't start. It was a little after dawn and she'd made no progress. She had ideas. The greatest, most wonderful ideas of all time. But she couldn't start it. She had no idea WHERE to start. The first lines refused to work. She felt like crying, wailing into her hooves. She was a stupid, idiotic, no good horrible pony and she'd been such an idiot to think she could ever--

An explosion outside made her yipe, before she looked up. Streaking across the sky was the most beautiful rainbow she'd ever seen. No, it was more like a rainbow explosion. Her eyes widened as she watched the beautiful... thing streak across the horizon. She'd never seen anything like it. It was amazing. Spectacular. Wonderful. It was...

It was her start. Her beginning. She slowly picked up the pencil and looked at the paper. Her story wouldn't end with a whimper. It would start with a boom. She slowly wrote the first letters that would change her life forever.

------

“Twilight, you simply must release this new story of yours soon!” Printing Press, a light green unicorn and the earth pony's agent, said quickly before pushing the manuscript across the table.

“I... I don't know,” Twilight mumbled. “I mean, I think the Mare in the Moon is such a fascinating little story, I want to make sure my story is one to match it. I want to do a few more alterations first.”

“Oh, come on,” the other mare said. “You've re-written it at least a dozen times. The editors say it's good to go. I have four publishers biting at the bit to try and get it before the Summer Sun Celebration. After your last book, ponies are dying to read it. Now is the time to strike. Besides, the Mare in the Moon story is only a page long. Your story has it crushed into pieces.”

Twilight sighed, looking down at her manuscript. “I... don't think it's ready, though.”

The mare nodded, before smiling. “What if I told you a copy was sent to the princess?”

The earth pony's eyes widened and her mind nearly cracked. “Wait, what?”

“Mmm hmmm.”

“T-there's no way she read it, s-she's the princess,” Twilight said with a dismissive wave of her hoof.

“She has read it. Not only that... she loved it. Officially said it was one of the best stories she'd ever read and, more importantly, a great re-telling of the Mare in the Moon story. She actually requested to speak with you about the story on the morning of the Summer Sun Celebration.”

“W-what?”

“Yes. She wants you to write a second story. About this... 'Moony' from the story. Said she touched her heart with how sweet she was. If a bit foalish at times.”

Twilight gulped, then slowly nudged the papers forward. “You... wouldn't lie to me, right?”

“The appointment is at nine in the morning.”

“G-go ahead. P-publish it,” she squeaked, staring at the papers. The PRINCESS? She could hardly believe it. No, she entirely couldn't believe it. The princess read one of HER works. How did the mare find the time, ruling a kingdom and everything? And she wanted her to write ANOTHER story based on it? She'd just planned on making it a one-off. She didn't even think it was that original. The Mare in the Moon was just an old wife's tale, making her a good pony had only come to her after she'd read about the legend of the two sisters. Really, combining the two had just been a silly idea when she started, but she'd become so enthusiastic that she couldn't help but keep writing. Before she'd known it, she'd had the first edit done.

Then over and over she'd found herself drawn to it, as if some invisible force was pulling her to it. Trying to make her 'Moony' character more likable, to understand why she'd do such things. Taking over the land, all of that. Just such a silly idea. And those Elements were even worse, no more real than any of Daring Do's stories. But the lore had just absorbed her and she'd had so many ideas.

Her favorite part had been making the five 'stars' to aid in her escape. Leaving the ending open like that, on her return to the world she'd been so long banished from, had just been a stroke of genius. She'd found she couldn't think of a sufficient ending. What would happen to the mare? She was practically wiggling in her seat. She hadn't been this excited since her first book was published. Possibly more, because this was all HER story and she hadn't had any help from her mother or the mare's agents.

“Twilight? Honey? You're doing it again?”

“Huh?” the earth pony asked, before gasping. “O-oh! I-I'm so sorry! I didn't, I never, I-I just... I thought... I was... lost in thought. Sorry.”

Printing chuckled. “Oh, it's fine. You artists always have your ways about you. So you're sure you're okay with it? I can go forward?”

“Yes.”

“Good. We'll have the first prints out by the Summer Sun Celebration. They'll sell like hot cakes. Hot cakes covered in whipped cream, syrup and cherries. Served on a royal guard's flank.”

Twilight's cheeks turned bright red. “Printing!” she gasped.

“Oh, come onnnn. You really need to get out more, dear. That can't be the raunchiest joke you've heard. After all, your brother is dating that alicorn mare, right? I'm sure he has a ton of jokes like that.”

She snorted. “Well, my brother, unlike you, is a perfect gentlecolt. He'd never make such jokes about such things.”

“What a shame. I know I wouldn't mind taking a bite out of his flank.”

“PRINTING!”

------

Twilight awoke with a groan and rolled over. She couldn't believe it, she'd been so excited she couldn't sleep. Tomorrow she met the princess! Face to face, to discuss the book. She just wanted to talk with her so bad. And now she'd get her chance. So of course she'd been up almost all night fretting, worrying, panicking and at one point bathing. Okay, three points. SHE COULDN'T MEET THE PRINCESS WITH BODY ODOR! Just the idea was horrifying. Now her body was rebelling against her, waking her back up.

She glanced to the window and sighed. It was still night time, the sun hadn't even risen yet. She glanced at the clock. It would be hours until--

It was eight fifty. In the morning. Her heart almost exploded. She jumped out of bed with a hot flash of adrenaline and ran to the window. She looked out. The stars were in the sky, the moon was out. She then looked at her clock. It had to be off. The sun should have risen hours ago. She ran through her house, looking at all the clocks as she flipped on lights. All of them said eight fifty. Then one said eight fifty-one. She shrieked and ran back up, grabbing her books before running out the door, barely taking a moment to lock it before galloping down the street.

She couldn't begin to imagine why it was still so dark out, perhaps the princess had slept in? Still, she'd imagined somepony would have woken her by now and let her know. None the less, she galloped through the streets. Not many other ponies were out and about, those who were looked just as confused as she did. She'd have to ask the princess when she saw her today what was going on. Perhaps a special event? A celebration? That had to be it.

Oh buck she was so late. She was panting and a little sweaty by the time she arrived, though still riding that adrenaline high. She walked to the gates and smiled to the guard. “Hello I'm Twilight Glow and I have an appointment at nine with the princess I'm so sorry I'm late!”

The guard just waved her through, barely even paying attention to her, his focus instead on talking with another guard. She grinned and galloped through the castle.

The place was packed with guards and servants racing about, they seemed to be in a bit of a panic. She hoped everything was okay, was her lateness really that much of an issue? She was directed to the meeting room by a rather haggard looking servant.

She paused when she stepped into the room. It was small, but cozy. It had a gently glowing fireplace, a table and a few chairs. As well as a clock that read... ohhhh, she was late. Not very late, but late. But she was sure it wouldn't be a problem. It seemed the princess was late today as well. She wiped a little sweat off her brow and sat down on the chair, letting out a low groan. She then spilled the contents of her bags onto the table.

It wasn't much, just a binder filled with a few ideas for a sequel to her book, two copies of her book(one for the princess, one for the princess' student, Moon Dancer. Both signed, of course.) She set them up besides each other, neatly stacked and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

There were a few small pastries on the nearby counter and she had missed breakfast, so she had one.

Then two.

Then five.

She really hoped the princess hadn't rescheduled without telling her. What if the moon being out was all some problem with her magic? There would probably be some sort of panic going on that the princess was dealing with. She then shrugged. Didn't really matter, by now the sun HAD to be up. Since, honestly, how could it not be? Even if the princess had overslept, they couldn't let her do it all day. The sun had to come up eventually. She sat down on the cushions again and leaned against the table. She was sure the princess would be here soon. Any minute now.

She laid her head on the table. She wished she had gotten just a little more sleep last night.

Just had to close her eyes for a second.

------

The princess of the night, Nightmare Moon, flew to her new castle. Canterlot. She remembered the tiny little castle away from home that she and her sis... that she and that mare had once held. It had been nothing more than a retreat, from when they had to leave their real home. Now there was an entire city surrounding it, with hundreds of ponies. Now it would be her new home.

There was a light groan and she glanced back at the six ponies held in a small, blue orb barely the size of a filly. Each of the six had been shrunk down to the size of toys to make them easier to carry. She hadn't killed them, of course. This Moondancer was that mare's precious little protege. It would be fun slowly making her bow to a new ruler. Besides it was another blue orb, which housed the remains of the Elements. Now nothing more than broken stones. Both would be placed in her throne room, a sign to all of what her power was and that there was no way to defeat her. Even Celes... that mare had failed.

She flew down to the castle battlements and grinned as guards rushed forward, spears leveled on her.

“Who are you? Identify yourself!” one of them yelled.

“Oh? Do you not remember your princess of old? Has a thousand years really been so long?” She slowly slid the pony holding orb forward and it opened slightly. Moondancer fell out with a shriek, growing to her full size before she hit the ground. “Tell them who we are, student,” she said with a light chuckle.

The mare slowly looked up, before turning to the gathered, confused soldiers. “She's... she's Nightmare Moon. The mare in the moon. And she has... defeated Celestia and me.” The words came out of the unicorn's mouth, filled with shame. She looked back to the five ponies trapped in the bubble. Her friends. They'd all tried so hard, her, Lyra, Bon Bon, Minuette, Lemonhearts and Twinkleshine. They'd fought off all the threats using a mix of magic and secret agent training, but there hadn't been any success when it finally mattered. They'd had to watch helplessly as the Elements were destroyed under Nightmare Moon's hoof. They'd failed. More importantly, she'd failed. And now she'd never see her teacher again. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes.

A spear bounced off Nightmare Moon's flank, making the alicorn turn back and snort. “Truly?”

Moondancer was tackled aside and the royal guards unleashed on the princess. Magical spells and spears flew through the air, filling the courtyard in dust. The mare gulped and looked back, her mouth falling open as she looked at where the alicorn had stood. Was it possible? Would that be enough to--

Then the mare's cruel laughter filled the air and the dust was brushed aside. “Pathetic. Not even a fraction of the strength that Starswirl the Bearded once held.” Another unicorn raised her horn to attack, but the alicorn's horn glowed. Dark magic flowed around the unicorn.

The mare screamed, holding her head and writhing. After a few seconds she was dropped again, collapsed on the ground.

“Our name is Nightmare Moon, true ruler of Equestria. You will all learn to kneel before us, or suffer the consequences.” She paused and then gave a small smile. “Spread the word. We have defeated your Celestia and her prized pupil. The Elements of Harmony are destroyed. Our moon will now remain in the sky, forever!” she yelled, before laughing loudly. She watched the fear in their eyes, but she could still see the small fragments of hope. Of belief. The thoughts that their princess would save them. She slowly raised a hoof towards the heavens, pointing at the moon. “If you wish to see your princess, look nowhere else but there. For now she has become the mare in the moon.”

“It's... it's true,” Dancer said, the tears slowly going down her face. “Celestia is... Celestia is gone.” Her body shuddered and she let out a soft sob.

“Now then. We will begin the redecorations of my new home,” the alicorn said before stepping past the stunned ponies. Within a week, all in the kingdom would know who she was. Some would follow her willingly, others not so much. But it mattered not. They could not defeat her, no matter how hard they tried. She was the true ruler of Equestria now. She couldn't help but feel a little giddy.

When first they fought, it had taken her sister mere minutes to fight and then banish her to the moon. This time it had taken the princess of the night only a few minutes as well. Without the elements, her sister was weak. Defeating the student had been even easier. Setting the ponies against each other. They cared for each other, but there were gulfs between them she had been able to use. Now the elements were destroyed, no more.

Not bad for one nights work. The next few days would be interesting. Within a month, however, the ponies would adapt. She was sure of it. They would grow to love her, to care about her. To see her as their rightful ruler. She would be the mare that her sister never could be. She would give them all power, respect, love, adoration. And they would love her more than they ever loved her. The nights she created would be the kinds of legends, ponies would stay up just to glimpse them. To bask in her glory.

The thought gave her warm fuzzy feelings as she walked through the castle, changing the pictures, curtains, carpets, pretty much everything she could with her magic. Room by room she went, the ponies frantically moving to get out of her way. A few of the guards tried to block her way, but she removed them within seconds. It was all too easy.

The throne room was her favorite. She remade the throne into a black monolith, placing the two orbs on the back, to overlook her. Then she moved onto the next rooms.

Eventually she opened a door and found a small little purple pony, sleeping on a small cushion with her head on the table. Drooling a little. The first pony not in a panic to see her. She smirked and stepped forward and stomped on the table.

The mare jumped up with a yipe. “Sorry, sorry! I was just... I was just...” Then her eyes looked up at the princess and the alicorn felt pride. Soon the fear would fill her eyes. Soon.

“You look AMAZING!” the earth pony said with a gasp, her eyes glimmering and her hooves pushing together. “I can't believe it! You look just like I envisioned Nightmare Moon to look like!”

Errr, what?

“Well, a bit taller, but wow.” The earth pony jumped to her hooves and moved around the stunned princess and proceeded to, of all things, poke her. “Is this part of Printing's idea? I just knew she was up to something. I haven't seen a costume this good in years!”

The princess just stood there, stunned. Then that probing hoof poked her just below the wing and she let out a soft giggle and quickly dashed ahead, trying to ignore the ticklish poke. “No! Cease!”

The earth pony just stared, a grin on her face. “Such amazing attention to detail! Ohhhh, wait, is that what this was all about? Is Printing trying to get a movie based on this? Well, I think they've, frankly, just outdone themselves on your costume. You do look a bit too scary, though. Nightmare Moon is supposed to be an identifiable figure. Scary, but sad. Even though she does bad things, ponies are supposed to kind of root for her to have her happy ending. If you look like that, ponies are just going to get all scared of her and give foals nightmares. Nopony will like her then.”

Nightmare Moon just stared, her mouth falling open in shock.

Who in the blazes was this mare? Wait, nopony was going to like her? What was going on here? Something just didn't mesh up.

“The wings are a bit much though. Really, the whole thing is just far too frightening. This is supposed to be a sad to uplifting story, for older colts and fillies. This might be a bit much for them to handle, they'll just see Nightmare Moon as some scary villain. It'll completely miss the point,” Twilight said as she walked around. “Hold on one second.”

The alicorn just stared in bafflement. Who was this pony? Why did she proceed to... poke and prod at her in such a manner? If she knew that Nightmare Moon truly stood before her, why did she seem so calm? Were the mare not so obviously an earth pony, she'd have imagined her some great unicorn wizard, perhaps overconfident. She let out a yelp as the mare proceeded to poke at her with a pointer. Where did she get a pointer from?!

Author's Notes:

Another one of those mini-stories I was talking about. This is the two chapter one. The entire premise came about because, well, I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if she hadn't been a unicorn. Celestia only met her because of her big burst of magic. But if she was destined for all the greatness she achieved, how would being an earth pony have changed it?