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The darkness makes its move as Twilight rallies to gather her friends for the coming conflict.

LUNAR LAMENT Chapter 3: Desperate Times

MLP:FiM Fan Fiction By: Scy Storm ssbs.furrynet.com

AUTHOR'S NOTES: No, I don't feel like loading Applejack's dialogue with "Ah"s for all her "I" and "Y" noises. It gets REALLY tiring reading her dialogue in some fics I've gone through. I've made her accent obvious enough, otherwise, you guys know how she talks, use your imagination! :P

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The sounds of doors opening. The soft clatter of hooves across marble floors. The halls of the royal palace of Canterlot echo with the noise of ponies coming to life for the beginning of the new day, set to come any moment. Two lines of royal guardsmen, freshly suited up in armor, make their way down a specific hallway, stopping a few yards away from the ornate doors that lie at the end of it. They line up against opposite walls, looking at each other silently and waiting. In the dark room that lies beyond the doors, there comes a stirring, and with a delicate yawn the room becomes awash in magic light sources that lie amongst the wall decor. A royal pony steps out of her bed, her white pelt adorned with the soft pink color of her mane & tail. With a sharp inhale and a stretch of her muscles, her mane & tail expand into an ever-waving sea of four bright colors. She exhales, and smiles brightly, her eyes opening. "Good morning, Equestria."

Celestia turns and looks out the window, seeing her sister's beautiful night still adorning the sky. The moon still lies roughly in the middle of the sky, complimented by a sea of stars. The ivory princess chuckles softly. "Oh Luna, did you forget again?"

Normally the moon should be setting right about now, as Luna brings an end to nighttime, just in time for her sister to raise the sun. Luna's personal journey around Equestria has caused her to be a little forgetful, however, or a little too tired to pull it off on some nights. Thankfully Celestia still has the ability to rectify her occasional hiccups. She closes her eyes and concentrates, her multicolored mane appearing to shimmer with the glowing of her horn. The moon in the sky above shifts, sinking away toward the horizon, the stars blinking out of view with it. The alicorn's horn glows even brighter then, the night sky shifting colors gradually to a bright blue, giving way for the bright sun to rise from the other side of the sky, gradually bathing Equestria in its light. Celestia opens her eyes slowly, the glow disappearing from her horn, her eyes viewing the new daytime fondly. "Perfect."

She turns away from the window then and makes her way across her chambers to her work desk. She doesn't expect her usual letter from Luna to be there, but it doesn't hurt to check. She's surprised, however, when she does indeed see a letter there. It floats in place above her desk, covered in a very specific green glow. It's been quite a while since this occurence has happened. This came directly from Twilight...

With a quick flash of her horn, the letter opens, Celestia's eyes scanning over its words carefully. Her eyes slowly widen in horror, her mouth opening slightly before her lower jaw starts to quiver. What? This can't be happening again!

She barely manages to finish the letter before gasping loudly from the sound of her window opening violently behind her, a cold gust of wind flowing through her room, carrying on it what sounds like sick laughter. The princess turns and stares silently at the now open window, a black mist beginning to flow into the room with the appearance of an ooze, sliding across the wall and floor. Celestia watches in horror as it all flows to one spot on the floor, lingering for just a moment before rising up into the form of a dark pony, her face forming into a sick grin & catlike eyes. "Celestia..." she mumbles in an almost hissing tone of voice.

Celestia clenches her teeth briefly, trying to keep from visibly shaking in the dark one's presence. "Impossible!" she exclaims.

Nightmare laughs into the air, her grin seeming to go even wider. "I see the little foal has already told you about me," she says, noting the open letter still floating behind the princess.

The letter stops floating and simply drops onto the desk as Celestia takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "What are you doing here, Moon?"

The dark mare begins to slowly walk forward, eyes glaring, as if trying to pierce Celestia's very soul. "You likely already know about my encounter with your sister. I've been pondering my next move all night. Now, I have it..." she says, venomously.

Celestia gasps softly, trying to back up away from the approaching mare, but her desk is right behind her. She glares back defiantly at the dark mare, her horn beginning to glow brightly. Nightmare stops walking and laughs again, staring right into Celestia's eyes. "Come now. You needed the Elements to stop me so long ago. You don't want to hurt me. You can't bring yourself to do it, can you?" she taunts.

Celestia's body shakes as her will begins to falter, the glow leaving her horn, her hoof stomping once on the floor below. "Why?!" she yells out in frustration.

"Hahaha... You still haven't figured it out, have you? No matter. The Elements didn't stop me, and neither shall you," Nightmare taunts again, her body beginning to shift into mist once more.

Celestia shakes her head briefly, taking another breath to try and calm herself, her horn beginning to glow again, this time in a much softer light. The glow soon spreads to her magenta eyes. Nightmare stares at her curiously for a moment, trying to process what she's doing. Soon, she growls. "A Vision spell? Oh no you don't!" the dark mare yells.

The princess blinks once, the glow leaving her eyes and her horn, making Nightmare gasp. Celestia flashes her a serious gaze. "Too late," she exclaims.

Nightmare's teeth clench briefly, the dark mare soon practically roaring in anger, her entire body turning into mist and jetting right at the alicorn. Celestia gasps, the dark mist attaching onto her body like an ooze. The princess stumbles forward, looking down as the dark matter slides downward and covers her legs, then beginning to work its way upward. The princess begins to breathe hard, desperately trying to think of what to do, before her thoughts are interrupted by a searing pain shooting through her body. She cries out into the air of her room, the mist quickly spreading up her neck and over her mane, turning its wavy, colored surface into something different. The alicorn continues to scream, her voice starting to change as a loud banging comes from her locked chamber doors. "Princess! Princess, are you alright?!" yell the royal guardsmen that have been waiting in the hallway.

After getting no answer, two of the guards take several steps back in the hallway, before charging forward and slamming their way through the doors to break the lock. The small platoon looks inside, and they all gasp in shock, seeing what they think is their princess standing in the middle of the room, her head bowed low and breathing hard. Her entire coat has turned a deep violet, her mane & tail now more resembling a dark, starry night, making a violent whipping motion instead of a gentle wind-blown one. The guardsmen stare in horror as the corrupted alicorn raises her head, her piercing teal gaze directed at the visitors as her horn begins to glow with malevolent energy...

"No way, Nightmare Moon? It can't be!"

Spike paces across a short area of floor as he processes this new information. Twilight stands at her work desk, magically working her quill across one of her scrolls. "It's true, Spike. I don't know how, but it's true," she says.

"But... Luna was Nightmare Moon, right? Luna is here with us!" Spike notes.

"Yes, Spike. I don't know the details, but Moon is somehow separate from Luna now. Equestria is in danger unless I do something," Twilight remarks.

She finishes up her scroll and rolls it up, setting it down next to another rolled-up one. "Well, what are you doing to do, Twilight?" Spike asks.

Before Twilight can answer, the two of them hear a groaning noise coming from the main foyer. Both of them gasp and rush to the noise, seeing Luna is finally waking up. She rubs one of her hooves on her aching head, her eyes adjusting, seeing the two standing before her. "Oh! Twilight..." she mumbles.

"Princess! I'm so glad you're alright," Twilight exclaims.

"I'm... glad you're alright, too. What is happening now?" Luna asks, looking around the immediate room.

"I'm not sure. I sent a letter to Celestia last night, but she hasn't answered it yet. The sun is shining bright though, so I know she's awake. I guess she just didn't notice it," Twilight explains.

Luna gasps a little bit, her eyes looking frightened. Twilight fails to notice the reaction, her's horn glowing a bit as the two scrolls she wrote a moment ago make their way through her house and over to her. "I can't wait around for Celestia to answer me. I need to get my friends together. We beat Moon before, so we can beat her again... Right?"

"You bet you can, Twilight! But what are the letters for?" Spike asks.

Twilight floats one of the scrolls over to the dragon. "Because I need your help, Spike. I need you to find Rarity & Pinkie here in Ponyville and tell them what's happened. If they don't believe you, they can read the letter. It's in my writing. Then you all can fetch Fluttershy," Twilight explains.

Spike grabs the scroll and looks at it confusedly. Twilight walks over to her sleeping owl pet, a quick burst of magic going over him, causing him to become awake & alert. "I know you sleep during the day, Owlowiscious, but I need your help too. This spell should keep you awake long enough to fetch Rainbow Dash for me in the clouds. Take this letter to her, okay?"

The scroll floats over to the owl, who hoots in understanding, flapping off of his perch and grasping the scroll with his feet. Spike clutches his own scroll worriedly. "What about you, Twilight? What are you doing?" he asks.

"I'm going to Sweet Apple Acres to get Applejack. She's the farthest away from us and I can cover more ground on foot than you can," Twilight says.

"A-Alright. Got it! I won't let you down!" Spike says, determined.

Twilight smiles a little, and then turns her glance over to the quiet Luna, who appears to be lost in her thoughts, a worried look on her face. "Luna?"

Luna gasps softly and looks toward the unicorn, who now has her own worried look. "No one besides us and Celestia knows you're here, so I think it's best you lay low until all my friends are together. We'll be back soon, okay?" Twilight says.

The alicorn nods and straightens her posture, trying to hide her fear. She knows it's important that Twilight reach her friends, so she doesn't want to worry the mage. "I.. I understand. I'll stay here. Don't waste any more time," Luna answers.

Twilight keeps a worried glance on the princess for another moment, before nodding, magically opening her front door. "Got it. Let's go!" she says.

Luna watches the three rush out the door, which closes behind them, leaving everything quiet in the library. The alicorn steps off of the couch and stretches her body briefly, returning to her thoughts. Celestia... You always check for letters every morning, because I write to you. There's no way you missed Twilight's letter...

She walks a short distance away to one of the windows, looking out to the sunny sky. The sun that her sister put there this morning. Sister... What's happening out there?

Twilight gallops at her full speed down the road leading southwest out of Ponyville, starting to see the Sweet Apple Acres coming into view. From a distance, nothing appears to be out of the ordinary. This is a good sign. Twilight begins to slow down a little as she gallops into the farm's main area, passing through the main gate and ending her gallop just past the well. She begins panting, catching her breath and looking around the area. She doesn't see any of the Apple siblings. Shouldn't they be up and checking the crops by now? she thinks to herself.

She takes a few more glances around before her breathing is finally steady. "Applejack! Applejack, where are you?!" she yells loudly.

There's no initial response. Twilight starts to get worried, before she hears her friend yell out. "Twilight? That you makin' a racket out here?"

Twilight looks toward the source of the voice, seeing Applejack's head leaning out of one of the windows of her home. "Oh, thank Celestia! Applejack, I need your help, we have a big problem on our hands!" she yells back.

Applejack appears to be both annoyed and worried. "Well that's swell and all, but I got enough goin' on here!" she responds.

Twilight trots closer to AJ's house. "W-What? What's going on?" she asks.

"Just come inside and see for yerself," Applejack replies, before slipping her head back into the room.

Twilight wastes no time, magically opening the front door to AJ's home, running inside and heading up the stairs. She sees one room's door open, and walks inside of it to see Applejack and her brother standing at Granny Smith's bedside. Twilight gets a sinking feeling in her stomach as she slowly approaches the bed. "What's wrong, AJ?" she asks.

"I ain't got a clue, Twi. It's gettin' me right sick to my stomach," Applejack responds.

"We can't get her to wake up," Big Macintosh says.

Twilight glances at him briefly before looking at the elder pony laying in bed. She stirs around under her covers, occasionally letting out a grunt or a soft whine. Her sleep is obviously quite restless, as if she's having a bad dream. "We tried everythin', ya hear? Not even a splash'a water is workin'," Applejack notes.

Twilight stares on in confusion, her horn glowing just slightly, manipulating Granny's eyelids. "Did you ever try opening her ey- EEP!" she suddenly exclaims.

The Apple siblings gasp as well, as all three of them see Granny Smith's eyes are a swirling black color, as if darkness itself is swirling in her eyes. Twilight quickly shuts off her spell, allowing Granny's eyes to close again. "W-What the hay is goin' on here?!" Applejack yells out, exasperated.

"It... It must be her..." Twilight mutters.

The two siblings glance over at the unicorn, who is looking steadily more frightened. "Her? Who are ya talkin' about, girl?" Applejack asks.

Twilight looks back into AJ's eyes with a serious stare. "Nightmare Moon."

Applejack practically turns white. "... You best be eatin' bad apples, sugarcube..."

"I'm very serious, AJ. She attacked me and Luna last night. I have no idea what she's doing now," Twilight explains.

Applejack shakes her head around. "Wait an apple-pickin' minute, you and Luna? Ain't Luna supposed to be Nightmare Moon?"

Twilight sighs. "Look, it's a long story, I'll tell you when we're all together as a group, alright?"

Applejack stares at Twilight briefly, before taking a worried look at her grandmother. "I'll watch over her, sis. What your friend is talkin' about sounds important, eeyup," Big Mac suddenly interjects.

AJ sighs, and nods, walking her way toward Twilight. "Let's go then," she says, sadly.

Twilight looks at her friend worriedly, but stays determined. She needs to get all her friends together so they can figure out the next step. The two of them step out of the room and hurry their way out of the house, starting to gallop down the pathway toward the main gate. "Where's Apple Bloom?" Twilight asks.

"She should be at Rarity's with her little fri- Aah!"

The two nearly trip over their own hooves as the loud sound of striking lightning booms through the area. It's followed quickly by loud, cackling laughter. Twilight begins to shake in fear. The two watch as a swirling mass of dark energy forms in front of the gateway, eventually exploding with a blast of electricity, revealing the dark mare herself. "Where do you think you're going, foals?!" she yells.

The two stare in shock. "No... No! Not now!" Twilight exclaims.

"Ohhh horse apples, you weren't kiddin'..." Applejack says, her voice quivering.

Nightmare Moon laughs again and starts to slowly walk toward the duo, forcing them to start backing up toward the direction of AJ's home again. Twilight starts to notice how much bigger the dark mare is compared to the previous night. She doesn't really look like her larger self from their very first meeting in Everfree, though. The unicorn shows a look of confusion, mingled with her fright. "You work fast, little mage. I was going to take care of your little apple friend first. I suppose I'll have to take you both out here instead..." Nightmare says.

Applejack snorts in anger, trying to show some moxie even as her body quivers in fright. "You ain't takin' no one out, ya hear?" she proclaims.

Nightmare laughs, a bolt of dark lightning striking on the ground in front of the two ponies, making them cry out and stumble backward several steps. A loud yapping is heard soon after, as Applejack's pet collie comes running out from the barn, scampering in front of the two scared ponies and barking angrily at the intruder. "W-Winona! Get outta here, girl!" Applejack yells.

The dark mare snarls, her horn glowing as she unleashes a quick blast of dark energy at the dog. Winona yelps and falls unconscious, Applejack screaming in response. "Your little idiot dog is brave. Just as worthless as you, however," the alicorn remarks.

Applejack practically whimpers, as Twilight clenches her teeth, her horn glowing. Nightmare notices it and lets out a hearty laugh. "What are you going to do, foal? You got a decent little hit on me last night, but as you can see, I've gotten stronger," she notes.

Twilight quivers, trying to think of what she actually intends to do here. "I... I'm going to..." she mumbles.

Applejack glances at the unicorn. "We gotta do somethin', Twilight! Anythin'!"

Nightmare Moon continues to cackle as her horn begins to glow with malevolent energy once more. "Here's what you can do... Embrace eternal darkness!"

Before the alicorn can get her spell off, she's slammed into by the sudden presence of Big Macintosh. Twilight and Applejack gasp in surprise as the dark mare is sent rolling to the side, off the pathway, Macintosh planting his hooves to stop his movement. The girls realize he used the distraction Winona caused to sneak around and flank Nightmare from her side. The stallion turns his gaze toward the shocked mares. "Run! Get outta here, now!" he yells.

Applejack stares at him pleadingly, as if telling him not to do this. "B-But, Macintosh..." she mutters.

"No arguin', sis! GO!!"

Applejack erks, and nods quickly, looking at Twilight. Twilight suddenly gets an idea, concentrating with the spell energy she's been charging. Her hooves begin to glow brightly, along with Applejack's. "Run for it, AJ!" she says.

The two start running, Applejack surprised to find that they're going a whole lot faster thanks to the spell, passing through the gate within seconds. She takes once glance back at her brother, who is now staring down Nightmare Moon as the dark alicorn stands up. She whimpers softly and looks forward again, unable to look at what's going to happen next. Unseen to the two girls, Nightmare Moon rises to her feet, a glare of pure evil focused on the red stallion before her. "Foolish bravery runs in this family. Trying to be a hero, are you? Do you even know who I am?!" she asks.

Big Macintosh ignores her, returning her glare fearlessly, his nostrils huffing as his hoof scrapes a few times on the dirt below. He's preparing another charge. The dark mare just grins widely, and before the stallion can charge again, she yells out and blasts him with her dark magic. Macintosh groans loudly, his eyes going wide, quickly filling with darkness like Granny Smith's. He falls to the ground soon after, unconscious. The dark mare ends her spell and then looks toward the main gate, seeing no sign of the two girls. She narrows her eyes a little and ponders, before chuckling. "Very well... Perhaps it will be more fun to take out the whole group..." she says, before turning into a swirling cloud of mist and jetting into the air.

A fair distance away, Twilight and Applejack continue to run at improved speed, seeing Ponyville approaching quickly. Twilight can hear Applejack sniffle a little bit, the unicorn glancing her way. "We'll get her back for this, AJ. I promise," she says.

Applejack fights off her emotions and nods slightly, focusing on her gallop. "I'll be gettin' her back big time, I promise ya that," she says.

Twilight nods, turning her glance back toward the upcoming town. "I just hope the others are okay..."

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TO BE CONTINUED...

MLP:FiM and all Characters/Locations Copyright © Hasbro & Lauren Faust Characters/Locations used without permission

~ Scy