I am not the owner of the My Little Pony franchise.

Chapter 1

Princess Luna stood alone on a balcony of the Royal Castle, admiring the view of nighttime Equestria. The moon and stars had been raised by her just minutes ago, and she never tired of watching the land slowly fade into darkness and lanterns being turned on one by one, dotting the towns and cities with spots of light. Her older sister, Princess Celestia, was inside the Castle, sleeping in preparation for the next day.

A flash of blackness in the corner of Luna's eye drew her attention. She turned to her left, but whatever was there had vanished. Puzzled, she walked over to the edge of the balcony and looked over the railing, thinking that the thing she had seen had gone below.

Then the object exploded into view, startling Luna and causing her to frantically backpedal. It was a stream of darkness unlike anything the princess had ever seen before. Not even the night or her coat was as black as this thing. Even more shocking, the pitch-black entity began to shift and morph before her eyes, signifying that it was a living creature! Before long, the morphing was finished, and the finished form slammed down onto the balcony with a mighty thud. It stood up, cracked its neck and gave an evil smile at the (still stunned) Luna.

"Hello, Luna," Discord said.

"Discord!" Luna gasped. "What…How did you escape the spell?"

"Spell? What spell? Oh, you mean the spell of the Elements of Harmony that turned me to stone?" The draconequus laughed. "Did you really think I would be dumb enough to just sit back and let those six ridiculous ponies beat me?" Discord began advancing on Luna as he talked. "True, I turned to stone, but not because of the Elements. I was the one who cast the spell so I could trick you all into thinking that you beat me. And it looks like I succeeded."

"You stay back!" Luna began charging her horn to unleash a deadly bolt of lightning at Discord. But right before she fired, the villain turned back into his fluid form and quickly darted away. Luna's shot went wide, rocketing into the night.

"Try harder, little princess," Discord's voice mocked her from behind.

Luna spun around and fired again, gritting her teeth in anger. But Discord had once again dodged out of the way. It was only then that the princess realized that it would be much easier to fight Discord with her older sister on her side.

"Celestia!" she shouted as she went for the balcony doors. Unfortunately for her, Discord had anticipated this and slammed the doors shut, turning them into metal as well. Luna painfully smacked into them, the impact knocking her to the floor of the balcony and giving her a massive headache.

Discord materialized above her with a concerned look on his face. "Oh no! Did our poor little Luna hurt herself?" He sighed. "Don't worry. Uncle Discord here will fix you up in no time." He grinned as he pinned the squirming Luna down with his left hand and began moving his right towards her head. Her screams for Celestia ended upon contact.

"Luna!" Celestia called as she frantically galloped along the hallway towards Luna's screams. "Luna, hang on!"

Her sister's cries suddenly broke off. With a sound no longer present to signify her location, Celestia whipped her head from side to side, trying to guess where she was. Was she already too late?

The balcony! Celestia thought. Her sister was probably out there performing her nightly ritual of watching the night set in. At least, she had been until something terrible had happened to her. Celestia rushed off to the left, using her magic to open the balcony doors before her. Overwhelming relief filled her when she saw the dark outline of her sister against the backdrop of the stars and moon.

"Luna! Oh, thank goodness you're…" A bolt of lightning and crack of thunder roared across the sky as the mare on the balcony turned to face Celestia. In that brief flash of light, a shocking image presented itself to the princess. The mare was not Luna; it was Nightmare Moon!

"Surprised to see me, sister?"

"What are you doing?" a confused Celestia asked.

"Why, just preparing to bring eternal night to Equestria," her sister replied before letting loose an evil laugh. Celestia nervously chuckled, thinking that this was just a poor practical joke. Then a sharp spasm of pain unlike anything she had experienced before rocked her body to the very core. She collapsed to the ground, convulsing and jerking uncontrollably. Her breathing was short and ragged, and an attempt to call for help from her sister only produced retching and gagging. By the time the void of unconsciousness set in, Celestia welcomed it. Anything was better than this horrible pain.

"The screams stopped a full five minutes ago. We must hurry and make sure Her Highnesses are safe!" the head of the Royal Guards barked as his comrades continued trying to break down the doors.

"I…don't…remember these…doors being…so strong!" a Guard said between grunts of effort.

"Keep pushing!" the head of the Guards ordered. Finally, the doors burst open. The Guards tumbled in ready to battle any threat and intruder.

"Look! There's Her Highness Celestia!" A Guard pointed. Celestia was hovering in mid-air with her eyelids closed. Then the princess opened them to reveal blood-red glowing eyes. Before any of the Guards could react, Celestia unleashed a deadly red bolt of lightning from her horn which slammed into an Earth Guard, killing him instantly.

The Guards were shocked. Here was their princess, the mare they had sworn to protect, attacking them! Battle plans were ignored as they tried to put together a haphazard attack on this completely unexpected threat. Unfortunately, there was no coordination whatsoever, as all order among the Royal Guards had disintegrated with their fallen comrade. It was every stallion for himself.

Some Pegasus Guards attempted to launch an aerial assault and knock Celestia out of the sky, thereby making her open to attacks by Earth Guards. But none of them could get within twenty meters of the princess before falling victim to a deadly bolt of lightning. They were certainly courageous, though; even as Guard after Guard fell, they kept up the pressure.

The Unicorn Guards decided to return fire with lightning of their own. A shootout ensued, bolts of deadly energy zinging back and forth. A shot by one Guard hit Celestia's wing, knocking it out of action and forcing her to descend to the ground. She could still use magic, though. The Guard that had fired the lucky shot did a barrel roll in mid-air from the lethal energy that zapped him.

Seeing their chance, the Earth Guards launched a charge at the downed princess. But a surprise was in store for them. Nightmare Moon swooped down from the roof from where she had hid from sight. Attacking from behind, she grabbed a Guard and snatched him into the air, his cries for assistance floating behind him. With this new threat, the Guards were finished. It took only minutes for them to lay dead in pools of blood.

Discord in Celestia's possessed body smiled. True, his wing had been damaged, but it would be healed in no time with the incredible reserves of Celestia's magic now at his disposal. Even better, with both princesses in his power, there was nothing to stop him from controlling the most important aspects of Equestria: the day and night.

He began the healing process on his wing. Soon, the greatest plan for eternal chaos would be reality.