Don’t Fear Me…

She was the terror, she was the darkness, she was that which no pony would dare go near.

And thus, she was alone.

Always alone.

As Nightmare Moon’s victory over Celestia became worldly known, her darkness spread all over the land. Armies were raised to combat her, but without their sun to guide them, they fell one by one. pages never written into history, never to be remembered.

well over twenty years later, Nightmare moon was beginning to wane.

The alicorn sighed heavily, watching her moonlight bathe the land in her glorious night as she sat atop the marble throne of Canterlot. She owned the castle now, the land around it…the whole country was her’s to command.

Now if only there were ponies to command as well.

After her coup, the ponies of Equestria revolted, they demanded she return the throne to her celestial sister.

To which she refused, of course.

As a final act of defiance, they left. Leaving for the Crystal Empire, and Griffonia. When Nightmare forbade them from leaving they laughed.

“Try to stop the exodus, but we will be like sand in your magic, eventually we will slip through and be gone from your tyranny.”

And just like sand, they slowly vanished from the now desolate and empty lands she called home. She could terrorize them with horrors whilst they slept, but it would not bring them home.

Another sigh, another empty court room.

And now, an empty throne.

Nightmare left her castle and explored the land surrounding it. She flew here, walked there, and let her mind wander over whatever she laid eyes on. The lands were quiet, and calm.

But far from peaceful. No, they needed life, movement, motion, something to use the space around her…If just to feel lived in again.

She paused in her umpteenth waltz through Canterlot and found she had reached a district she didn’t visit often. The working District, with it’s large warehouses and loading docks, all desolate and eerily devoid of any commotion.

except one.

Nightmare’s ears perked up at the sound, swiveling towards one of the dilapidated buildings to her right. She listened, and heard.

It was faint, but it was there, and she felt her hopes leap into the night sky. Maybe it was a pony?

Entering the structure through one of the main docking bays, she crept stealthily around the stacks of crates and equipment, long forgotten and cluttering the area with dust and debris.

The sound grew louder shortly, and Nightmare felt her breath hitch, had they heard her?

Pausing in her search she remained still and listened again, her hopes almost dashed as nothing came within reach…then,

“…Ouch!”

It was fairly close by, and she recognized the sound as feminine. Silently looking at the floor around her, she spotted what she was looking for. The building had been long since abandoned, and thus the dust settled on the floor was not disturbed save for her hoof prints, and whoever else had been here.

Judging by the amount of tracks, this arrival was quite new, as not many tracks were present and the ones that were, were quite fresh. She stepped forward and slowly followed them to a smaller packaging doorway. It was small and Nightmare had to crouch to get through, but she managed to slip through the opening and into another section of the site.

“….Ow!..gently…not so tight..” Nightmare peered forward and found her quarry, a young pegasus mare lay across the room from where she stood. The mare’s right wing was in an awkward position, and she was trying to wrap a bandage around the limb with her teeth.

The Mare was a medical pony, as the bag on her side and the cutie mark she had made that quite apparent to the alicorn. She silently watched in fascination as the pegasus gently flipped the roll of cloth around her wing several times, muttering and wincing whenever the limb would move wrong. Eventually she got it wrapped and sighed, leaning back into the crate behind her.

“Aaaaaahh…much better…stupid flag pole…” Nightmare blinked curiously, and assumed this flagpole was the mare’s way of getting injured. She silently watched as the smaller pony rested her head against her fore hooves and closed her eyes, or she would have if she hadn’t lazily looked in Nightmare’s direction.

Nightmare cursed having a magical mane filled with the night sky incarnate.

The mare’s head snapped up, and Nightmare watched in horror as her eyes dilated to pinpricks and she opened her mouth.

“nigh…night….nightm-m-mare….” Nightmare gently and calmly took a step out into the moonlight, her ears splayed back with slight worry.

“Hello little–”

“AAAAAAAAH!” The mare shrieked and jumped to her hooves, and to Nightmare’s horror she tried to fly. with an agonizing scream of pain, the mare crumpled to the ground and whimpered, her wing twitching painfully. Nightmare took another step forward, and the mare seemed to double her efforts to get as far away from the dark coated alicorn.

“No! S-stay away from me!” She scooted as close to the crates as she could, her form curling in upon itself. Nightmare paused, her hoof raised almost halfway, watching in pain as the mare started to cry,

“P-please…please don’t h-hurt me…please….” Night let her hoof lower back to the floor with a dull clack.

“..I…I wasn’t going to…” The mare showed no recognition that she’s even heard the words. She stared wide eyed at the alicorn as if her worst fears were…right…in front of her…”

Nightmare sighed and looked away,

“Is…Is that all you ponies think I want? To hurt you?”

She got no reply.

“I want nothing more than to have my night cherished… to have others bask in the glory that is my moonlight…Is that so much to ask?” She said looking back down to the mare. The eyes were still fearful, and her body was still tensed up like a coil, ready to spring at a moment’s notice.

“I don’t want to hurt you…little one…I promise…” She lifted a hoof, and found the mare watching it with both fear and curiosity. She moved a step closer,

“I’m alone…so very alone, I have no one to talk to, nothing to do…Please…” She took another step, allowing the moonlight to bath her head and neck in the silvery path. Her eyes began to shimmer as tears came to the surface.

“Please…j-just don’t fear me…”

Another step, and a slow, snail’s pace of a crouch, and nightmare moon was lying just a few feet from the mare.

“Don’t fear me…”

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This picture took over three weeks to finish, but I’m so proud of it. It’s been an idea of mine to do an alternate universe where Nightmare Moon wins and finds out that without citizens, being a ruler isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

After all, it’s the citizens who make the crown.

I do hope you enjoy ^^