Cover art is done! Yay!

Wanted to write a slightly less dark chapter, and to delve into some character development.

Chapter 4 - Embrace

Luna hated it.

Ever since she lost her horn this voice had been speaking to her. Whenever she made a mistake, it taunted her. It whispered dark thoughts to her at night, giving her not enough sleep to function. It tried to get her to do bad things. It was driving her to the edge.

That noon saw the first time the voice took control. Luna was outside, trotting around the gardens. She didn't like them, but she was told to get exercise to recover the damage she had from the time imprisoned on the Moon.

She'd run, but her crippled leg, twisted awkwardly to one side, kept her from moving too fast. So she kept at an awkward trot speed. Staring at the sky, she spread her wings and took flight.

Flapping her wings, she carried herself up onto a perch at the very top of the castle. The view up there was amazing and worked really well as a secret watchtower. Luna smiled as she took in the scenery. The city of Canterlot that day was cloudless, letting Luna see the vast land of Equestria.

She felt a slight breeze pick up. She decided it would be the time to get back down to the garden. She raised her wings and tried to make herself fly. The wind was oddly blowing downwards really strongly, forbidding her from flying.

Hello, Lulamoon, said the strange whispery voice. Luna's eyes snapped open and she cowered behind the shelter of the perch.

You know, you can't hide from me. The wind picked up again and suddenly her wings lifted on their own. They made a mighty flap and she took to the sky, having no control over her body. She screamed and cried but it didn't stop. "Please! Please stop!"

A chuckle echoed through the wind as she broke through the previously nonexistent clouds. Above there she sped up (once again against her will) and flew above the clouds. Luna was trying to kick and scream, to no avail on moving her own body besides her mouth.

"Stop!" She was tearing now, praying that the unknown power would let go. Her body then started hovering, and she sighed. "Now let me go!"

Her wings snapped into her sides. Luna tried to extend them, without success. You asked me to let go, said the voice. She felt the air whistling past her as she gained closer to terminal velocity. Judging from the distance, she had about thirty seconds until she messily smashed against the patio of the castle. She fought the item that had a grip on her body as the time ticked down to her death. She decided to do the one thing that may save her.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

Princess Celestia hung out in the royal gardens. She liked her own little corner there, where not many ponies actually came there. Maybe occasionally Luna, but that was besides the point. She took in the exotic plants and listened to the birds chirping happily.

The gardens were high up the castle, so when you looked out the glass panels you saw a sight to behold. The city of Canterlot spread out below her, ponies the size of ants from her point of view. The castle patio was more well hidden, but she could use it as a gazing point for events that she wished but couldn't go to.

Something seemed to breeze about. The wind seemed to breeze a little. Weird. The weather was supposed to be sunny, but there was clouds in the air.

Something broke through the clouds above her, sending a shaft of sunlight through the haze. Celestia pointed her attention to it as it was making some odd noise. The falling thing was a navy blue color, with some odd light blue trail.

Seemed like it was going to impact into the castle patio. Celestia then took a closer look.

Oh shit. It was Luna that was falling, screaming with the most power her lungs can carry. Celestia spread her wings and took to the sky, sailing towards where she was falling.

Luna was facing up, her hair whipping her face as she probably screamed so hard she'd lose her voice. Not like she was going to live to see that anyways.

Luna shot past what looked like a white pegasus pony. She had counted the seconds as she fell.

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

Luna shut her eyes (she had control over her face) as the impact would kill her. No such thing happened.

As if on cliche, she was suspended about ten feet from the ground. Looking back up the white pegasus pony was falling, slowly taking form into her 'sister'. Celestia's horn glowed the brilliant golden color it usually does when she does magic. It lit up brighter as Luna was lowered to the ground.

At that point, Luna was too out of breath from screaming so loudly she immediately collapsed onto the hard polished granite floor. Celestia circled a bit before landing. Trotting up to Luna, she glared at the moon princess on the ground. "What were you thinking?"

Luna hoarsely croaked, "But… I didn't have control… That voice, he took over me and I couldn't expand my wings and-"

"Luna," Celestia interrupted, "Look." She pointed at her sides, where wings were sprung out. "Why did you try to commit suicide? You scared me!"

"But it wasn't me-"

"Stop! How many times are you going to attempt suicide, and then just expect me to let it slide?"

"IT WASN'T MEEE!" Luna sobbed.

Celestia huffed, stood to her full height and stalked off, leaving Luna on the ground, muttering curses and the like. She opened the door to the patio and entered, leaving the door open.

Luna's eyes took on a darker hue. As she stood she felt an odd energy course through her body. She went through some physical changes: She grew taller, coat started to grow darker and mane becoming more black.

There was a sound not unlike a sword being drawn from it's scabbard as Luna's horn just regrew.

But this was not Luna. It was her alter-ego, Nightmare Moon. Luna, fighting the horrible beast inside her head, kept trying to push through, to dispel Nightmare Moon. I can't let you win! I can't let you take over me once more!

When Celestia didn't believe that what Luna did wasn't a suicide, a wave of hate must have swept through her mind, allowing Nightmare to break past the defences. But Luna had this conflict before. She thought what few happy thoughts she actually had.

The time when she reunited with her sister.

Earning her cutie mark.

Making a new friend.

She broke through, as Nightmare Moon scowled inside her head, "You are persistent."

Nightmare was locked into the deepest, darkest place of her mind once again as Luna recovered from the internal battle. She breathed heavily.

Luna felt something shatter through her. Her fur returned to normal, her mane regained it's starry night hue, and as expected, but with high hopes anyways, her horn re broke, the used-to-be-grown part of the horn dissipating into dust. She sighed. There goes hope.

She stalked back into the castle.

Shining Star was hanging out with Emerald again. The two had really hit it off as great friends, having a lot of similarities with the other.

Nothing more than that, though.

The day before the Grand Galloping Gala, the two were at an ice-cream parlor. Emerald had ordered some cookies-n'-cream and Star ordered a special new flavour called 'Hokey Pokey'. They both ordered at the same time and they sat facing away from the counter, looking out the front window.

Imagine their surprise when it got put together as one bowl. When the waitress brought it over and Emerald saw one bowl, she was quite confused. Finding the two separate flavours together was quite the surprise.

So they clumsily ate the ice cream from the single bowl, Emerald with her magic and Star using his hooves (with a spoon of course.) Star gave no shits while Emerald had a slight pink tinge on her cheeks.

Star had finished his ice cream already. He leaned back and pushed the bowl over to Emerald, who gladly took it for herself. Star decided the awkward silence was bad enough. "You excited for the Gala then?"

Emerald scoffed with a mouthful of ice cream. "You kidding?" A small amount of the cold treat drooled out of her mouth, and Star snickered as she hadn't noticed it. "Of course I am! It's going to be great!"

"Hey, uhh, Emerald?"

"Yeah?"

"Get a napkin," Star snickered. Emerald looked to find that her light green coat had a small trail of melted ice cream running down it at snail's pace. Her face flushed as she used a napkin to wipe it off.

"That didn't happen," Emerald sternly said, but both parties knew it was jokingly spoken.

"Yeah, whatever. Come on, we should be heading back." Star and Emerald had already paid and the two left the parlor.

Walking through the town, Star glanced behind him to find some dark grey pony following them. When said pony noticed him he averted his gaze and seemed to emit some creepy smoke.

"Emerald, let's pick up the pace a bit," said Star, speeding up from a lazy walk to a steady canter. She followed and queried, "Why are we moving faster?" Star looked behind him. The pony had picked up the pace.

"To make our follower more suspicious." He spun around, stopping suddenly. "What you doin', following us like that?" Star asked.

The pony suddenly emitted smoke, creating a smokescreen. The few other ponies on the street gaped at the sudden sight of what looked like a smoke bomb had gone off.

Star turned and walked away, Emerald following suit.

"So who was that guy?" Emerald asked.

"No idea, but it may be better for us to get to the castle as soon as we can," said Star. They made haste back to the castle.

The entrance was lavishly decorated. The two ponies skipped that and headed straight instead to the library. Pushing in they sat in the couches in the mostly neglected room and sat there talking.

The conversation had been going on for a while, with minimal silences that brought the awkwardness between the two friends. It kept like that until Luna pushed in through the library doors. "Shining Star."

Emerald gasped and got out of her chair to bow. Star walked up to the princess proper. "How are you doing today?"

Luna bit her lip. "Honestly, not very well. But then again I only woke up recently." Star shook his head at Luna's habit when she either lied or was nervous.

"Are you actually okay?"

Luna quivered. "Not here." She turned and left.

Emerald quipped, "You're leaving again?" Star nodded and waved as he left.

Luna knew he had to tell Star about this. Isn't it what friends do, to tell each other if something goes bad?

How was she going to tell him that she needed help protecting herself from Nightmare Moon?

You can't protect yourself against her forever, the voice whispered in her mind. Luna shook her head rapidly, trying to dispel the voice for another five minutes. Ever since Nightmare Moon tried the first time to take her over earlier that day she had heard little quips from the being as well as the voice that nearly turned her into a purple pancake.

As the two walked, Luna said, "Something really bad happened… I think my situation has gotten worse."

Star looked puzzled. "You mean the food disor-"

"NO! Not that," She interrupted, "Nightmare Moon… She tried to take over earlier today."

"She what?" Star exclaimed. They had walked all the way to the observatory.

"And… The voice nearly killed me by what would have been a messy splat."

"Uhh…"

"Celestia thinks I tried to commit suicide again, Star. She thought I betrayed her trust!" She said with a shaky voice. "Why can't Celestia believe that this voice broke into my head?"

"Hey, Luna?"

"Yeah?"

"I believe you." Star struggled to put a hoof on the shoulder of the slightly taller princess, but he managed. "Sometimes people need time to process what others say is actually true."

Luna nodded. "It just feels like after I found out Celestia was not my blood sister, she has drawn away from me a bit. It hurts." She shuffled her shoulder to get Star to remove his hoof.

"I guess I can slightly emphasize on how that would hurt," Star admitted. He moved forward, onto a small balcony for smaller telescope use in the astronomy dome. He rested his forelegs on the ornate metal fencing.

Luna came out next to him. There was a single telescope sitting on the balcony, and it was a C-shape.

She sighed. "This is where we usually keep watch over the city in times of crisis." She took the telescope in her magic and made it spin a three hundred sixty degree turn. She stood over next to Shining Star.

The two observed the city, enjoying the company of a friend. Luna had never had such a good friend slash protege before, and she was enjoying the extra company that came with meeting every night for starlight teaching.

Luna hadn't noticed, but she began to lean slightly on Shining Star. He paid no mind. The two shared the oddly intimate moment, both of them happy for different reasons. Star, because he was enjoying the vast view of Canterlot. Luna, because she got to spend time with the only friend she had.

Unfortunately, moments like those don't last forever. Meal time came around and Luna shifted her weight back to the center without a thought at what she was doing, and they both stalked off to find the warmth of food.

The food was warm indeed. Luna took a bite out of the corn cob she was holding (with her hooves), rather messily, spilling the occasional bit.

There was an unnatural tension in the room. Celestia and Luna were in the same room at the same time, and that is what Luna wanted to avoid. She was afraid an argument was going to burst out of nowhere, and cause even more friction than was necessary.

Luna took another bite of her corn. She looked at her plate, where the leftover remains of a very satisfying dinner was.

She felt the revulsion surface. She knew it was her eating disorder, and she tried to fight the feeling. It wouldn't stop unless she made herself throw up in many cases. Her belly churned and groaned, and she started to breath deeply to make the feeling go away.

"I… must excuse myself, sister." Luna stood and walked off. She heard a pop and fizzle as she left, but paid no mind to it.

Walking to her room, she doubled over as a sharp pang reminded her of how she reacted as she walked into her room.

The lights were off. Luna walked into the bathroom and flicked the lights off, turned around and squeaked in surprise. Celestia stood there with a worried look on her face, but it molded into a more disappointed frown. "Why did you come all the way here to your private chambers to use the toilet, Luna?" Celestia was just waiting for Luna to come clean, as she knew she went here to hide

Luna shuffled her hooves against the ground then groaned as her stomach tightened. She couldn't bear the pain any longer.

She grabbed the toothbrush, shoved the back end to the back of her mouth and threw it onto the counter as the food she finished not long ago came back in a less-than-pleasant state. The dinner she ate all ended up in porcelain as her stomach convulsed painfully.

Finally the bile stopped. She coughed and wheezed as she felt her throat sting from the acidic bile. She spat into the toilet and pulled the flush lever.

"How long has this been happening for?"

Luna's head snapped to the still present Celestia. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"HOW LONG?" Celestia yelled.

"Since I've returned…" Luna cast her eyes to the side, the shock making her hair suddenly stop billowing and fall flat as a light blue, tousled mane with a lock of hair hanging out the front.

Celestia reached down and hugged Luna. "Look, you need to try to-"

"I have been!" Luna snapped, "Stop getting all up in my business!"

Celestia opened her muzzle.

"Don't you dare say it's because you're my sister! I DIDN'T HAVE ANY SIBLINGS AT ALL!"

Luna felt it again. Nightmare Moon was trying to push forward. Luna, weak from the retching and coughing, gave in with little pressure.

Celestia watched in horror as her own sister's fur dimmed, eyes narrowed and her mane regain its waving. When Celestia realized she was facing Nightmare Moon, she instinctively put up a shield.

Nightmare's now complete horn glowed a bright red, and she unleashed a barrage of magic at the white alicorn. Her shield buckled and gave in.

Celestia flew back at the first bolt that hit her, her head slamming into the foot of Luna's bed. She felt her nose start to bleed as she fired magic at the being.

When she shot at Nightmare Moon, she realized something. The alter ego of Luna was not trying to damage her, only knock her out. She would have been killed if she was shot by that much raw magic.

She also realized she didn't hold back in her magical discharge.

BOOM.

The bolt collided with the black alicorn and she flew back into the toilet of Luna's quarters, smashing it.

That must have been enough to knock Nightmare out of control, but that left Celestia staring in mute shock at her sister, who had just been hit in the chest with an incredibly powerful bolt of pure energy.

She scrambled up and ran over to Luna, whose chest was rising and falling rhythmically. Her hair was ruffled, still missing it's magical state and actually not that long, taking into consideration the amount of hair her fully flying mane was. Her peaceful eyes were closed, and if it had not been for the wound in her chest she would have looked quite adorable.

Her wound was grotesque. Missing her heart, the actual damage wasn't deep, and the heat in the magical shot cauterized the wound instantly. But the area around the blast was singed and the actual wound itself was already blistering.

Celestia used her magic to lift Luna onto her back, and she galloped in through the door, past a running troop of worried guards and out towards a place of treatment, tears staining the fur on her cheeks as she ran.