The gardens of the Canterlot Palace were flooded by dozens of cheerful ponies, chatting and laughing. The laughs turned into loud cheers and stomps as the royal couple of Captain Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza arrived. The newlyweds greeted the audience but rushed to greet one particular pony.

“Twilie!”

Twilight Sparkle literary jumped to hug her beloved big brother and her sister in law.

“I´m so happy to see you two again! Come, you have to meet my friends, you only talked to them for a few minutes last time and I have so much to tell yo-“

“Woah, calm down shrimp!”

“Don´t call me that!”

The princess giggled as the two siblings friendly wrestled. The other five ponies and one little dragon rushed to greet them.

This was a special evening in Canterlot, one that no living pony had experienced before. For the first time in over a thousand years, an eclipse was about to happen. Even louder cheers were heard once the regents of the Moon and the Sun arrived.

“Greetings, everypony!” the soft voice of Princess Celestia was like a lullaby, despite its quietness it reached the heart of everypony present.

Princess Luna, in the other hoof. “THIS WOULD BE A NIGHT TO REMEMBER!!!!!”

Once the sudden shock of the Princess roar was gone, all ponies stomped their hooves once more. The Princesses moved towards the group of the bearers of the elements who bowed their heads.

“Please, Twilight Sparkle!” Princess Luna said. “There is no need for you or your friends to bow your heads to us!”

“It´s merely protocol, Princess.” She explained.

“But we…I was under the impression that protocol doesn’t apply to friends.” Princess Luna tone was filled wit insecurity. “We are friends, aren´t we?”

Twilight couldn´t help but smile at her naivety. “Of course we are, Princess.”

Princess Luna beamed with happiness, a smiled shared by her older sibling. Princess Celestia placed a hoof on her sister shoulder. “Ready, Luna?”

“Yes, Tia!”

While the other bearers giggled at the mention of that affectionate nickname and Princess Cadenza merely shrugged, accustomed to the regents usual display of affections; Twilight Sparkle remembered that Nightmare Night festivity, where Princess Luna was in the verge of tears, feeling rejected and alone and how, after she managed to relate with her servants, the Princess called Twilight her first friend and hugged her, a bit enthusiastically, but sincerely touched.

Using her magic, Princess Luna raised the moon, joined by the loud cheers of the audience; while Princess Celestia kept the sun on its place. Slowly the two celestial bodies came closer until they finally aligned, engulfing the whole of Equestria in a perpetual dusk.

All the ponies cheered once more, including the bearers, shouting the names of the Princesses. Celestia smiled satisfied while Luna began to laugh.

“OhhohohohohehehehehahahahahAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!”

“…Luna, I think your laugh is a litt-“

“SHUT UP, CELESTIA!!”

And Princess Luna created a whip of magic energy and hit her sister, tossing her to the ground.

Everypony gasped as Princess Luna, totally apathetic, royally marched to the front of the stage and addressed the public.

“NOW ALL OF YOU, BOW BEFORE ME!!!”

Nopony reacted, still too shocked because of what they have just saw.

“I SAID, BOW!!!!!”

Princess Luna roar was joined by a sudden explosion of nocturnal dust that slowly took the form of their night guards. The bat-winged ponies quickly subdued Celestia´s guard and forced the citizens to bow their heads.

“Aunt Luna, what are you doing?” Princess Cadance pleaded.

“Be quiet, dear niece.” Ignoring her relative, Princess Luna rose into the air once more and projected her magic, a small light blue beam emitted by her horn. The magic hit the moon that began to turn blue, its shadow slowly growing to engulf the entire kingdom, including the table where Prince Blueblood was hiding, trembling with fear. Once the moon turned into a silvery pearl, the whole of Canterlot had been wrapped into an ethereal nightlight.

“Luna…”

“Oh poor pathetic Tia, you don’t understand anything of what’s happening, don’t you? Well I can’t say I’m surprised, after all, you never were the sharpest knife…” Princess Luna eyes glowed with a sinister light. “I am a bit disappointed. All those months of planning and it only took me a few seconds to succeed. And to think I went through all those troubles, weakening the spell on Discord, letting loose Cerberus, bringing the Queen of the Changelings to Canterlot…”

“You…were responsible for that?” Celestia´s words were merely a whisper.

“Of course! What, you think all I do during the day is sleep?” the mockery tone of the Princess was like the slash of a whip.

“Princess Luna…”

“Oh and I have to thank you, Twilight Sparkle! None of this would have been possible have not been by you!” the Princess spread her wings, her smile being nothing but grateful. “You have no idea how much you have changed old Tia. When we were foals she was the funny one but as time went by and she got more responsibilities, she became more sour and cold, eventually shrugging even her own sister! I can only imagine how much she grow bitter and lonely over this thousand years but then you arrived, you and your lovely reports of friendship that Tia insists on reading to me every single week!” she punctuated each word with a loud stomp. “You warmed her heart and make her weak enough for me to overthrow her. In her pathetic state even some disgusting creature as the Changeling’s Queen was able to defeat her! So, thank you Twilight Sparkle, for being such a perfect tool…”

Twilight had no response; she just sobbed and babbled something.

“What?”

“You…said we were friends…”

“FRIENDS?! What made you think that I, a Princess, will lower myself to be friends with a comm- no, that´s not right. I´m not a Princess anymore. I´ll finally take the title I was meant to have from the begging. For now on, I shall be now as the regent of a glorious empire. This is the first night of the first year of a new epoch- the Epoch of Nightmare Moon. I am Empress Nightmare Moon the First!” and Princess Luna transformed once more into the Mare in the Moon, her body covered in a spiky armor, her mane turned into a nebulous cloud and her eyes filled with anger and resentment.

A deafening silence fell upon Canterlot. Nightmare Moon used her magic to push Shining Amor and Cadance away as she grabbed the Princess. Twilight reacted and jumped to rescue her, soon followed by her friends. Instead of being worried, Nightmare Moon smirked.

“Now here´s a line I have been waiting centuries to say…” her eyes glowed once more as her sharp teeth sparkled. “TO THE MOOONNN!!!!!!!!!!!!”

A whirlwind of darkness surrounded the six ponies and the Princess, slowly dragging them into oblivion. The last thing Twilight Sparkle saw was the horrible and satisfied grin on Nightmare Moon´s face.

*****

The throne room was tainted by darkness. Using her magic, Nightmare Moon had changed the decoration to something more akin her tastes. Grotesque gargoyles, purple curtains with her blazon, lanterns filled with blue flames and a ceiling filled with bats. The perfect palace for the Empress of Nighttime Eternal.

She smiled softly and lifted the Elements of Harmony with her magic, gently playing with them like they were their precious childhood toys.

“Now that Tia and the bearers are out of the picture…” and she toyed a little with the crown of Magic. “…it´s time to sever their connection with the Elements. They need new bearers and in order to cancel sa-“

“Enough, the Great and Powerful Trixie is not a foal that needs everything explained to her!” the proud and haughty unicorn said, snorting with contempt. “And certainly Trixie is no traitor! I shall never plead my loyalty to you!”

“

You still have faith on Princess Celestia, don’t you Trixie?”

“Of course! She is the most powerful magic user in the whole kingdom, even stronger than you! It will be foolish to think otherwise!”

“And yet your admiration goes unrewarded. After all, it wasn’t Celestia´s pupil who humiliated you, Trixie Lulamoon?”

“Hmph! I merely lent Twilight Sparkle the opportunity to impress some commoner ponies. Trixie is far beyond having some petty resentment!”

“Oh petty it’s the exact word, just like your petty tricks of magic.”

“They´re not tricks, they´re real magic!”

“They´re merely parlor tricks. The real Magic...” and she lifted the crown right into her face. “...it’s Friendship. But of course, you wouldn´t know anything about that since you have no friends.”

“I don’t need any friends…I never did.”

“Yes, always alone, always wanting to be the center of attention, and what did you get for your effort? Mockery and insults. Because you lacked power…” and she placed the crown on Trixie´s hooves. “Show them, Trixie Lulamoon. Show all ponies that the true Magic is the Magic of Pride. That one single common unicorn can be the most magical being in the entire Empire…”

“Yes…yes. YES! THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE WILL SHOW THEM ALL!!!” Trixie removed her hat and put on the crown. Instantly, her body began to discolor, turning a dark shade of grey as the bright of the crown disappeared, leaving nothing but an empty shell on top of the head of a prideful and miserable pony.

“And now for the Element of Honesty…” Nightmare Moon descended from her throne and approached a terrified pony. “Why are you scared, Carrot Top? Raise your head, your Empress commands you.”

“P-p-please, let me go! I´m just a common earth pony! I´m nothing special! Please, let me go!”

“Why you disparage yourself, farmer? I have heard nothing but praise about your farming of carrots.”

This comment made Carrot Top raised her head with curiosity. “Y-you have?”

“And that information was hard to acquire. Your fame has been always being overshadowed by the Apple´s accomplishments.”

“Y-yes, that’s true. It´s always those Apples the ones everypony talks about…”

“They receive all the praising, all the fame. Their food, served in a Princess´s wedding…”

“Yes, and why? Apples aren’t that great anyway! The only good thing about them is that they have many uses, apple pies, apple juice, apple fritters; you know how many things you can make with carrots? Well, not many!” Carrot Top suddenly realized she was screaming at the terrifying alicorn and covered her mouth.

“Such brutal honesty should be properly rewarded…” and Nightmare Moon levitated the apple shaped necklace towards the farmer pony. “Take this and your fame will spread across my Empire.”

Carrot Top looked at the bright stone with doubt but only for a few seconds. She quickly grabbed it and let herself turn into a grey caricature of an honest worker pony.

“Next, it´s the Element of Loyalty…”

“Let me go, you monster!”

Nightmare Moon moved next to the chained griffin; hold on the air by threads of pure darkness.

“I´m not even a pony! Why do you need me for?”  

“I need you because you´re the perfect example of loyalty.”

“Ha, like I care for any of you dweeb ponies!”

“You did once, for one little pony.” Gilda´s eyes opened wide. “She was your only friend, the only one you cared for; you always stuck by her side, for better or worse…”

“Yeah, so what? We´re not friends anymore.”

“She turned her back on you, didn’t she? Deep down she still has some feelings for you but she let her new friends shun you, she betrayed you. But even know you still care for her, don’t you Gilda? She is still your best friend and you want her back…”

Gilda was now on the verge of tears. “It´s all that pink dweeb fault! She and the other dumb ponies, they took Rainbow Dash away from me!”

“Griffins are not a gentle race, always competing and hurting each other. It must have been pretty rough for you, being alone and surrounded by strange ponies but then you made a friend, a true friend…”  Gilda nodded and Nightmare Moon released her of her chains. “Serve me, Gilda Griffin. I will never shun you. I won’t be your friend but under my wing, you will now true loyalty.”

Gilda nodded again and her wings turned a dark shade of grey as the lighting bolt shaped stone was placed on her neck.

“As for the Element of Gen-oh, why are you crying, my little pony?”

Diamond Tiara didn’t answered and curled into a smaller ball. “I want to go home.”

“You mean that big empty house, where you do nothing but wait all day for Silver Spoon to drop by, so you have somepony to talk too? Home, where all you have are lonely dinners and cold servants that won’t play with you? Or maybe you meant your school, the only place that resembles somewhat a home for you?” Diamond Tiara whipped her tears and looked up at the Empress. There were no traces of kindness on her eyes. “How many times have you tried to please those ungrateful foals? How many generous deeds have you done for them, only to be mocked and rejected? An entertaining newspaper ruined by the honesty of a dirty do-gooder.  A beauty contest to show your natural grace won by a tomboyish pegasus that never cared for her appearance. Your chance to become a famous star, stolen by a shy unicorn that never wanted it. All your effort always goes unappreciated, especially by those three…”

“Yes, they always make fun of me and my Cutie Mark! It´s a diamond tiara because I´m special! My special talent its being better than all those lame ponies! I am special!”

“And a special pony deserves a special place in my court…” Nightmare Moon placed the gemstone on Diamond’s Tiara

neck, the smug of the filly growing larger as her color vanished.

“And for the Element of Kindness, who is better than the kind Captain of the Royal Guard?”

Nightmare Moon loomed over Shining Armor who did his best to look away.

“Look at me, Captain.”

Shining kept looking way.

“I said…LOOK AT ME!” and she forcefully moved his head with a magic wave. “That´s better. But I don´t like that look, not one bit. You took a pledge of service to my crown. You should look at your Empress with love and devotion, Captain.”

“I will never serve you.”

“How strict. Is that how you were with your little sister?”

“Don’t try to fool me. I will never betray Twilight.”

“Just like she never betrayed you.”

“She saved my life! And the life of the whole kingdom! Several times!”

“And that did wonders for her ego. The same ego your parents have been nursing for years. Isn’t that how things have been for years, Shining? Your little precious sister always had anything she wanted, served on a silver platter, whilst you had to work hard your entire life to rose from a mere soldier into the position of Captain. Always busting your plot, overshadowed by your uncle and grandfather’s fame, facing the disappointment of two scholar parents that never approved of your career choice, while your little spoiled sister got everything she wanted. She became the pupil of the Princess herself, leader of the bearer of the elements, savor of Equestria, victorious over Discord, loved by everypony. Even your own wife loves her more than she loves you!”

“STOP!”  Shining collapsed into the ground, his heart aching with the horrible knowledge that Nightmare Moon was speaking with some degree of true.

“Raise thy head, Captain.” Shining looked up and found the butterfly shaped stone right in front of his eyes. “If you wish to save your sister of her own pride then assume your rightful duties.”

Shining watched at his reflection in the stone for a few seconds, then placed it on his armor and saluted his Empress as all color left his body.

“And finally for the Element of Laughter, I brought my own personal jester court, the one pony that all ponies laugh at…”

The grey pegasus gasped and tried to fly off but all the windows and doors were shut.

“What was your name again? Ditzy? Derpy? Something ridiculous like that. The name that all ponies shout, usually after you screw up. Because that’s what you are. Nothing but a failure, a laughing stock. A useless good for nothing pony that causes a mess everywhere it goes. You make me laugh but only because you´re such a ridiculous mess, with your goofy crossed eyes and your slow voice. Heard them laugh, heard my entire court laugh at you!”

Hundreds of laughs, coming from thin air, filled the empty courtroom. Derpy Hooves covered her ears butt it was useless. The laughs were too strong, too mean, and too cruel.

“STOP LAUGHING AT ME!!!”

Distracted, Derpy didn’t realize that Nightmare Moon had already placed the rock balloon o her neck, causing her blond mane and eyes to turn a dull grey, duller than her body coat.

“Finally, all the Elements have been corrupted. Now, there is not a single force in the whole of Equestria that can oppose me. I am unstoppable!”

“For hundreds of years I have suffered

Alone in the darkness I cried

But I have escaped from my prison

And the moon shines in the sky

Now, my revenge has been fulfilled

My Empire it’s firmly rooted

And all those ungrateful ponies will realize

That a new management it’s in rule!

This is the night of my victory

The night that shall never end

I´m the Empress of Darkness, of Nighttime Eternal

In my crown, the stars are emeralds

The ruler of shadows, the mare in the moon

No longer a buffoon or merely a joke

Now I rule

This is the night of my victory

A nightmare!

This is the night that shall never end!

Nightmare Night!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

*****

Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes and saw a serene field of stars. A small part of her wished that all have been just a nightmare but the grunts of Applejack waking up crashed that foolish illusion.

“Ugh, what I tarna…”

“It´s everypony all right?” Good and kind Flutterhsy, always thinking on others first.

“GAH! We´re in the moon! Air, air!”

“Rainbow Dash, we are clearly not in the moon. Stop acting so ridiculous!” Rarity straightened her mane while Rainbow Dash kept trying to hold her breath.

“But where are we then?”

Applejack took a good look and answered Twilight’s question. “Ah recognize those trees. We are in the outskirts of the Whitetail Forest, which means that Ponyville it´s merely a few trots away.”

“Oh thank Celestia!” Rarity said.

“I´m afraid I had nothing to do with this, Rarity.”

They turned over and gasped when they saw what pony had talked. Instead of the tall and proud Princess there was a small and feeble winged unicorn, her mane no longer blowing with the morning breeze instead just a flat and dull shade of pink.

“Princess Celestia, what happened to you?” Twilight rushed to her side.

“It´s the moon. It´s firmly locked in place and taking away all my power. Luna…no, Nightmare Moon had drained me of my magic. I can only do some small feats.” Applejack and Twilight helped the Princess stood up. “We must return to Canterlot before I lost all of my power.”

“Oh no! This is even worse than you think!” Pinkie Pie loudly gasped. “We have missed a whole five days!”

“Pinkie Pie, what are you talking about? We were in Canterlot just a few seconds ago!”

“No Twilight! I have a perfect biological clock! I can tell exactly how much time had passed and it’s been five whole days!”

“Pinkie Pie, we don’t have time for your ridiculousness!”

“Well, look at that brother of mine; are those the same ponies I think they are?”

“Indeed they seem to be, dearest sibling.”

The mares turned right to find the puzzled stallions. Before Applejack could yell their names, they pushed them inside their machine.

“Yes yes, long time no see! Now, get inside the locomotive! Pronto!”

Despite all their protest, the seven mares were squished inside the brothers´ contraption.

“Now what are these two rattle snakes up to?” Applejack complained.

“Shhh!”

“Don’t shhh me, Twi! Yah know these tw-“ Twilight put her hoof on Applejack´s mouth and pointed at the small window. They saw two dark coated guard unicorns approaching the machine.

“Halt! What are you doing out here?”

“Well good night to you officer! We simply had a flat tire but it´s already been took care of!” Flam said.

“What´s inside this…thing?” the other guard asked.

“Well gentle officer, they’re merely carrots! A full package of fresh and delicious carrots from Golden Harvest! Care for a free sample?” Flim said.

The guard approached the carriage and used his horn to magically scan its contents. Fluttershy squeaked and even Princess Celestia looked worried. After a few seconds, the guard stopped.

“All clear.”

“Well but of course, you kind gentleclots! We are nothing but two honest salesponies, right Flam?”

“Indeed Flim!”

The guards rolled their eyes and left.

“All hail Empress Moon!” the brothers shouted. Once the guards were out of sight, the brothers left out a sigh.

“Well, my dearest brother. It seems those magical barriers work better than we expected.”

“And I´m so glad they did, my dearest brother.”

The seven mares managed to get out of the locomotive, falling into a messy pile.

“Now, yah two care to explain what the hay it´s happening in ´ere?” Applejack demanded.

The two brothers looked at each other. “Princess Celestia?” the pink mane one nodded and the brothers took their hat out of respect. “We are afraid to tell you that some things had changed on your kingdom.”

Twilight looked at Celestia whose face showed defeat and sadness. “Please, tell me.”

Above them, the stars twinkled like tuning the last notes of a terrible fanfare.