SharpWit

I've seen plenty of discussion over the years on Luna becoming Nightmare Moon and what would happen if she had originally defeated Celestia or the main 6 upon her return, but what if she just never took that step, made the attempt to have it all? The castle of the two sisters had become an unhappy place for the younger, this doesn't simply go away by doing nothing. Be regulated to living in her sister's shadow, perhaps time would cause the fame and fortune to go to Celestia's head, causing her to always strive for more? Without having to banish her sister, Loss might not be such a heavy concept on her physche, and she could take everything for granted. Perhaps this could go so far as self corruption and providing the introduction to Daybreaker. After all, her motive seemed to be of the potential her power permitted. What do you think? What would happen if Luna never became Nightmare Moon and banished?

A PG13 show taking place at least a century and a half prior to Friendship is Magic, where the Griffons still have the Idol of Boreas in their possession and their Kingdom and position on the world stage rival that of Equestria which is solely ruled by Celestia. TLDR; The two go to war only for it to be revealed that the Changelings were behind it all! The two sides come together to face a common enemy, and an Equestrian nuke puts them in their place, but the damage is done, and can't be forgiven.

And Then There Was None "You have excelled in your duties and performed valiant acts that inspire excellence and awe little one. For that, your team and myself are most thankful. Alas, I do require the return of my armor." She would raise a hoof to @Shiny Silvermoon chest, and both would teleport back to the desolate ground, while the armor rescinded back into a spear like shard. "Fret not, for you are deserving of more than praise, Here!" Nightmare Moon with her magic having restored, whisked dust up from the battlefield, spinning it before Shiny like she had materials for the cream cheese, only this time she heated and refined raw elements to form a silver medallion. At first it seemed to glow from behind, but when Nightmare Moon lowered it, the light was clearly the moon brightly restored in all of its glory, shining down upon the victors. "I would like you to have this, in honor of leading the charge where I could not, and the alliances you made all around, with the magic of friendship. Should you need protection, you need only press a hoof to it, and you will be granted a fraction of the night's power, much like you've experienced this evening." She summoned a ribbon for the pony to bear her gift for all to see, and acknowledge all that was accomplished, great and small thanks to her. "Now then, go enjoy the good beverage and company at present. I've heard a rumor they produce it via clouds of cotton candy." Upon sitting around Shiny's neck, the mare would teleport back to where she had been on the ship, no one the wiser in part to the sheer amount of celebratory antics happening aboard. Nightmare Moon was nowhere to be seen, destined for greater things, following a source of energy, weak in resonance, but beyond what any ought to handle. She smiled having come to the spot, and with a few nudges of her hoof, revealed Grogar's bell having split in half with his defeat. "Can't let this go to waste." She grinned, her mind drooling at the possibilities as she garnered her newfound strength to meld the bell halves with the shard to form a new artifact. She swung the makeshift dagger through the air and cut through the fabric of reality. The torrenting hole much like the one she had come through to be here instantly appeared, only she had complete control over it. She stepped in, the seam shutting behind her, and she found herself nowhere and everywhere all at once. A beautiful world in-between all the rest, much like the dreams she walked, and she had the winner's pick to go anywhere she wanted. She watched as the team members returned to their respective homes, unable to detect her watching eyes, unable to stop her from simply stepping through and knocking on the doors of each one's humble abode. Completely and utterly defenseless. Her options were endless, it only begged the question of where to start. SO MUCH WORSE

She frantically galloped away from Daybreaker's attack, flapping her wings to beat them back but they were licking her tail. She tripped and felt them wash over her, but she wasn't too bad, noticeably toasted. She looked back to check herself, her tail was alight! Singed at the tips with golden embers flinging off as it flowed, IT FLOWED! She took a decent hit but her She had regained some of her energy! With a flick the embers were gone and she mostly looked back to her regular self. Then she laughed at how she had nailed Daybreaker. "What a Shot! This dire situation almost has an element of fun to it!" She said with a smile. @King Sombra attack sent cracks across the landscape, a chasm starting from her crater shot between her legs and she stepped to the side before it could swallow her. She felt relief from not falling in, but it gave her an idea. "There's only room for one ruler of darkness!" She loudly decreed, knowing it would get Sombra's attention. She swooped in front of him snake like, hissing to intimidate, only to be met with his prideful growl. They swiveled this way and that to establish a stance of dominance, both charging their horns. She reered up as though to strike, only to duck from his dive at her. He flew overhead, and with a swift kick was flung into the chasm, bouncing off of the walls. She trotted off smugly.

Nightmare Moon finally scrambled out of the crater to where all of the action was above. @Daybreaker Spotting the burnt version of her sister, she couldnt help but trot towards her even in her lowly state. "My arent we brandishing ourselves a bit much. I can't stand this talk of sun, perhaps you could use a little shut eye, or maybe black eye? Not much of a difference around here!" With that Nightmare Moon did the sort of thing most would think only a foal would, but she had to make do, and hurled a rock as hard as she could at Daybreaker. Surprisingly effective! But she knew better than to stick around.

@Ghostie boi @Shiny Silvermoon The two would find the mare at the bottom of the crater ripping a crystal out of the ground and sharply crunching it between her teeth, sending small shattered pieces everywhere. Small blue whisps reminiscent of her magic flew past as well before disappearing into thin air. She may not be able to cast any spells at the moment, but she was still a sizeable horse. She looked up at them and gave a sigh of relief. "Good, someone came. Quickly now! I must admit I am,,,, disheveled to say the least." Self depreciation was unbecoming of her, and hurt more than the actual wounds, but not quite as much as her severance from the moon. Once the two were before her, she shakily stood up and flexed her wings. Slowly she was regaining some strength, but how pitiful it felt to not qualify as a deity. She preferred her imprisonment over this. Was this how Discord felt while turnt to stone? "Carnelian stole my armor! Well,,, what was left of it. She's used her crystal magic to reassemble it for herself, but she forgot a piece!" She held up the lone fragment she had incidentally been laying on, long to a point and with a razor's edge. "My armor was forged with the power of a star, nothing short of that can destroy it. Thus a piece as sharp as this can never dull and is nigh indestructible itself beyond the damage it's already received. Carnelian's arrangement will give her nearly as much spell protection as it offered me, but a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and she's missing one altogether! If thou were to fashion this into a weapon, it will surely find a gap and shatter the armor once more! Then together you may defeat her, and clear off the rest of these vagrants!" She stomped a hoof crushing another nearby crystal, sending more bits and whisps flying. Then stepped toward @Shiny Silvermoon towering over her. "Avenge us, my little pony. Avenge Team Moon"

That's all she wrote!

The end is approaching, show you jumped in just at the knick of time to vote for Team Moon and @me for a crude image of your profile picture on a Moon Pie!

@Props Valroa Nightmare Moon was too weak to truly do anything, only the spirit to glare at her adversaries. Normally casting such spells wouldnt have had much if any affect on her, but the blast had blown uncontrolled in all directions. Diverting it around herself ussually occurred naturally without any thought, but she hadnt been able to so with those, those blasted crystals! They had sapped her of her power, her mastery, her VICTORY!!! If not for her armor, she would have been obliterated by the blast. It's protection forged by the power of a star, undone by the power of a star. She watched as Carnelian took the broken pieces. She grew angrier and angrier with every shard floating by, fueling her frustration and her energy ever so slightly, but still nothing compared to what she was,,, had been capable of. She'd never felt so vulnerable. She stewed in her spite as they left, leaving her alone and defeated,,, but she was still here! Utterly pathetic by her own definition, but alive! And by the sounds of it, her team? Yes her team! They were still fighting against the odds! And having held together for even more than a moment meant there was maybe, just maybe the slightest chance for them? @Shiny Silvermoon But what to do, what to do!? She shifted anxiously only to fell something sharp! Aha! She thought to herself, but she couldn't climb out of this crater in her current state, let alone barely stand. She would need,,, HELP

@Props Valroa As Nightmare Moon had poured her magic she could feel that pull become even stronger, she could feel her power waning the more she put into it, but more she did, gritting her teeth to maintain a hold, feeling her steady grip start to give way. She hadn't felt anything like this since her early days as a filly when great feats still game with a degree of difficulty. For the first time in centuries, she felt,,, tired? Truly tired with her enchantments exhaustion but this was different. She had maintained the ball, but did not expect what happened next. Freeing the starburst had the unintended consequence of striking herself as well. She flew back with the full force of the impact, her armor cracking with the brundtness and partialpy crumbling when she hit the edge of the newly formed crater, the pieces still singing as before. The light was gone, and the trembling earth quieted. Something was very wrong. She quickly stood up and tore her still intact helmet off, throwing to the side where it split in two. She then collapsed and stymied to catch her breath. The pull was so strong now, sapping what little energy she had left. Even her mane stopped flowing in places. She looked behind her to see even her precious moon had dimmed, the stars no longer in the sky. "No,,, no this cannot be! NO!!!" She whipped her head back to see Carnelian still existing somehow. "YOU! How are you Still here!? What's happened!?!" More crystals sprouted up around them as she began to conjure a beam to strike the mare, but the blue streaks faded in the wind and her mane stopped flowing altogether. She was done.

Snouts snapped shut with a whimper or cracked open with a shriek upon contact with the barrier. The dark entity made up of tooth and nail dissipating like tissue set aflame, dissappear into the ether with a brilliant flash so bright, even she had to look away. Just as quickly it abided, and Nightmare Moon allowed herself to be pulled forward. Her shadow continuing to flow into the barrier's edge, churning on the ground like a white bubbling brine retreating from the shore, but with a sense of agony about it. When within reach she raised a hoof to the barrier, only for its edge to illuminate as her position held. She continued to feel a pull, but subtlely it had picked up from all around rather than from Carnelian. For the moment that was no matter. She looked at her hoof curiously, before setting it down upon her remaining shadow. It too glowed and illuminated the other hooves, before gently dimming to her shadow's original state. "My my, that was impressive. I'm even a little starstruck, but you are still starbound." She leaned down through the barrier unabated so that they were face to face. Her horn began to crackle with a build up of energy, a small white ball appearing at its tip quivered with uncertain stability whilst emanating intense heat. Even the nearest of her own coat hairs began to cook, her eyes drying slightly on top of her refusal to break away her stare. Her helmet sang with an eerie vibration from the frequency of its ferocity. "Pray to whatever gods you believe in, for it's too late to beg me for mercy." With that she released the burst, and all that could be seen for miles was a blinding light, hiding the steroidal surge of growth in the changeling crystals that continued to sap them and everyone else of their energy.

Nightmare Moon would divert her motion to conjure a rectangular shield, angled downward to redirect Carnelian's blast into the stoney surface, splitting a section of earth open with red hot edges. "You seem to have a handle on projecting a light, but it's intensity is nothing compared to the heavens I move above. Would you care to visit them? One need only the cover of darkness!" She'd summon her own shadow forward, stretching out from her grounded hooves to take on a corporeal form, writhing with sharp snapping snouts and clinging clawed extremities, racing toward Carnelian like an incoming Tsunami of terror. Within the blink of an eye they'd be overhead, Nightmare Moon and her night sky no longer visible as it came to the verge of enveloping her to be confined within a demonic shroud.

Nightmare Moon stood motionless, the pair unblinking. This pony didn't understand that for her, give and take wasn't an exchange, but a one sided affair. To be in her position, meant nothing could be given, for anything and everything fell within her domain. To assume otherwise was an unacceptable transgression, and in this case, rejecting her one offer. Those who disregard must be discarded. They stared for a moment longer. Then she'd start walking forward, her horn coming alight. Carnelian would feel a subtle pressure in her head, as though some part of her was being pulled forward. "You've such lovely blue eyes, I think I'll use them and your shattered remains for a mosaic."

"I will grant you only one, for the only pony I've yet to dominate is you, and I will not relent from one power to yield to the next." She said, her eyes lighting up from the millennia of fury within.

It's gotten late, so short is this poem. Here's some Cheesecake, for those who roam, The world of dreams, and our team beyond. Join us and I'll give you one, but For now I'm off, with a yawn.

@Shiny Silvermoon "Excuse me." She said before poofing away. Before Carnelian, a bolt of lightning would strike the ground, scorching the earth and kicking up a dust cloud, having caught the heightened rays of the Supermoon to act like a spotlight. Within this glow stood the tall silhouette of an Alicorn with flowing hair. The cloud dissipating with a flourish of her wings, but the light bright as ever, Nightmare Moon smiled. “So, you really think you’ve ascended as some higher being? Your little stunt has pried these ponies from their homes, costing my subjects, and thus me!" A scowl spread across her face. "Perhaps it's time we put that immortality of yours to the test.”

I offer but a humble bribe, to convince ye to join the greatest of tribes! For if our greatness doesn't speak for itself, then I shall gather ingredients from my shelf. Vanilla and Sugar, stir and mix, beat the eggs, lick those lips! Give us your vote, and witness a theatrical concussion, Fly to the moon for the recipe, and feast your eyes on the World Cup Begins Discussion!

Nightmare Moon was traveling back along in the clouds, only half formed herself when the familiar mare suddenly popped up beside her. Her legs became solid and created contrails as she came to a sudden halt, the condensation forming beneath her making a cloud to stand on. Her creations were originally intended to fan out but had mostly gathered in one space. Having just been able to make out the beastly battle, she was going to investigate the awful ruckus only to be shocked by @Shiny Silvermoon speedy interception. "I suppose I can arrange that." She said quizzingly. Her horn lit and the moon enlarged by nearly 8% and was considerably brighter. From above, the crystals could be seen reflecting the moon's rays, creating a sparkling landscape to match the bejeweled sky. She smiled at the beauty of it all, but felt the urge to do something more, as well as the absence of,,, her creations! They and the others had wiped each other out. She had no real attachment towards them, but she didn't think they'd be defeated so soon, and nonetheless they were hers. The kettle hadn't blown, but the water was beginning to simmer.