What am I?

Well, you know the story of the Two Sisters.

I know Celestia didn't know enough for the whole story.

I don't blame her, truly; even Luna didn't notice me for the longest time.

What am I? Why, to be frank, I am a demon.

A little parasite, at least when Luna and I first “met”.

See, what my kind of demon does, is we latch onto somebody to share their power. In order to stay unnoticed, we take on a copy of our host's identity.

Lucky me, then, that the first person I came across, who I latched onto, was none other than the local moon goddess.

Now, this may come as a surprise, but there are some drawbacks to making yourself a copy of someone else.

Again, you know the story; Luna was jealous. Envious. Doubtful, internally self-destructive. Making myself a copy of that did not help things.

So, I was quietly the exact same way for a while, extra pressure in her head. When she finally noticed me, she named me Night, twin to the Moon.

We came up with Nightmare Moon together.

That was our lowest point. Thinking ourselves so pointless we tried to get ourselves removed.

Celestia banished us. To us, it passed in an instant.

An instant, and a thousand years of advancements happened without us.

Do you know how disorienting that is? Watching your home turn to rubble and a town pop into existence outside of the forest, lit up like it's on fire? I don't recommend it.

Contrary to popular belief, the Elements did not ‘purify’ Luna of me. They pulled us apart by force; she went with Celestia to Canterlot, and I was left alone.

That's not good for a parasite, you know. Especially not after I'd already bonded with Luna so deeply. I bounced from host to host just to stay active.

Luna found me again eventually. Took me back.

She was different, more stable, more held-together. So much different from me.

She still took me in as her sister, and introduced me to her sister and a new addition. A little magical creation named Radiant Path. Her daughter, born from magic, living in a synthetic body.

Thus, it was put to me—could I survive using a body like that as my host?

Well, clearly, as you can see, the answer is yes.

I know, I've been talking for a while, hang in there.

Well, not like you can go anywhere, anyway.

Where was I? Ah, yes, me existing on my own.

It's fun, very fun. My own jurisdiction and my own work to do. My own Guard, too.

You know my Shades. They did real well pulling you out of hiding.

So, here I am. One Princess Nightshade, now helping to keep an eye on the spiritual side of things for my sisters.

Ah, right, my apologies; the addition to my name came with my return to my family.

Now, as for you…

Well, we can't exactly let you keep running around, can we?

No, no, don't start squirming. You can't escape that ichor.

It's me, remember? You blasted it off my body; quite the spellwork on you, no wonder tracking was an issue.

You didn't get the idea I stopped being a demon, did you?

Now, let's see here…

Trespassing, desecrating graves, destruction of religious sites, stalking, harassment—

Yes, Clove, I remember the murders. Yours helped find him.

–You get the idea.

No, I don't think I'm going to let you down from there.

Not like that, at least.

Clove, Future, Wellspring?

Take him down below when you're done.

And you, my poor fool?

Have fun here in hell.

_{Written November 24, 2023}