//------------------------------// // A Knife In My Back (unedited) XXL // Story: Everlasting Night // by Dream Searcher //------------------------------// Unedited: If you see a mistake in this chapter, don't hesitate to show it to me in the comments. Everlasting Night. Chapter 3: A Knife In My Back May 21st, Year 1 of the New Moon Thoughts color Nightmare: Blue Twilight: Purple Shining Armor: Green Fluttershy: Yellow Applejack: Orange It was early morning when Nightmare woke up. She had a wonderful dream about ruling the world. Her armies had conquered every nation in the known world (Press download image on the right side of the page.) and were marching proudly through the streets of Canterlot while the national anthem was being played. That reminded Nightmare that she didn’t have a national anthem, she had to ask a musician to create one. She took a moment to look at Applejack. She was still sleeping deeply, but it seemed that while they were sleeping Applejack had unknowingly laid her head on Nightmare’s shoulder. Nightmare smiled a little at the display, the first somewhat hostile mare was now sleeping on her shoulder with a smile on her face. Sleep can even make the worst enemies friends for a small amount of time. Nightmare looked at the clock that was hanging next to her door, it read 5AM. Time for Applejack to wake up and time for me to get the chariot ready. Nightmare slowly placed Applejack’s head back on the pillow and whispered into her ear. “Rise and shine, my little apple.” Applejack pushed Nightmare’s head away and mumbled something between ‘get lost’ and ‘let me sleep.’, but Nightmare knew the perfect way to get Applejack awake. She placed her hoof on Applejack’s chest and it made its way down very slowly. Applejack’s eyes shot open and she quickly pushed Nightmare’s hoof away. “Now hold on, partner. That’s forbidden terrain.” A little blush appeared on Applejack’s face, she was clearly embarrassed. Nightmare, however, found it rather amusing and only smirked while she got out of the bed to stretch. “For now.” Nightmare stretched until she heard a satisfying little plop coming from her spine. She hadn’t stretched for a thousand years so it clearly felt good to Nightmare. “Now why don’t you take a shower in the royal bathroom while I get a chariot ready.” Nightmare guided Applejack to the bathroom. It was much larger than the bathroom in the servant’s bedroom. It had a large shower and instead of a bath it had a jacuzzi, this was accompanied with shampoos from different regions of the known world. In short, it was far more luxurious than the other bathroom. When everything was in order Nightmare teleported to her throne room and left Applejack alone so she could wash herself. The throne room was empty, except for the guards who had guard duty. There was one guard that was sleeping on duty, so Nightmare decided to play a joke on him. She magically transformed herself into a guard and trotted towards the sleeping guard. She poked him until he opened his eyes. “If the Queen sees you, you’ll be in big trouble.” The disguised Nightmare warned him. “What will she do, kill me?” The guard closed his eyes again and tried to sleep. Nightmare smirked and changed into her old self. She whispered with her normal voice near his ear. “Maybe.” The guard opened his eyes and looked at Nightmare. She could have sworn that his eyes were now the size of watermelons. “Q-Queen M-Moon, p-please don’t k-kill me, I w-won’t do it again.” He had a terrified expression on his face. He wanted to kiss Nightmare’s hooves, but he was frozen in place from fear. “I won’t kill you if you get a chariot ready and find two guards who used to be farmers. They need to accompany my servant to Ponyville.” The guard bowed deeply and left to do Nightmare Moon’s bidding. When the guard had left the throne room Nightmare burst out laughing, she always enjoyed seeing the terrified faces of her subjects. She stopped laughing when she saw a very tired Rarity walk into the throne room. “Ah Rarity, why are you up so early?” Rarity let out a big yawn. “Oh excuse me, I worked all night. I’m pleased to tell you that I’ve already made two flags. My first flag was completed by midnight, but I decided that I could make a second one.” I made her my servant only one day ago, but she already worked her rump off. Maybe I should reward her. “Thank you Rarity, you’ve really outdone yourself. I shall give one of the flags to the local tailor so he can help you with the flags. Is there anything you want as a reward?” Rarity thought for a moment but she gently shook her head. “No, I’m fine… or wait, there is something. I heard that Applejack was going to Ponyville today, so could you ask her to check in with my sister and my parents. They’ll probably want to know where I am, they must be very worried.” I could tell her to go with Applejack today, but I see that she’s way too tired. Nightmare smiled warmly at Rarity. “I shall order Applejack to check in with your family and you need to go to bed, you look like you could fall asleep any minute now.” Rarity yawned again, but this time she had a hoof in front of her mouth. “I know and thank…” Rarity never finished her sentence; she fell asleep on the spot. Rarity was leaning to the right, but Nightmare had been just in time to levitate the sleeping Rarity. With a smile on her face she quietly walked to the servant’s bedroom. She quietly opened the door and tiptoed to Rarity’s bed, the others were still sleeping. She gently tucked in Rarity and looked at the other mares. Fluttershy and Twilight were sleeping like a normal pony would sleep, but Pinkie was sleeping in a different position. She was lying with her hind legs on her pillow and her head was lying on the place where normally her hind legs had to lie. Nightmare smiled even wider. I need to remember that for when Pinkie sleeps with me. She tiptoed again out of the room and trotted back to the throne room. Nightmare sat down on her throne and looked at her notebook. Before she went to sleep she had written down what was going to happen today. 6AM: Applejack goes to Ponyville. 6AM – 10AM: Paperwork. 10AM-11.30AM: Meeting with the Commander and his prisoner. 11.30AM-1PM: Lunch and a bit of rest 1PM-5PM: Going to Rainbow Dash with Fluttershy and the Commander 5 PM-8PM: Dinner + something to kill the time. 8PM: Applejack returns. 8PM-10PM: Speak with Applejack about Ponyville. 10PM: Time to sleep. Nightmare looked at the throne room clock, it read 5.15AM. Nightmare decided that 45 minutes of sleep would do her no harm and so she laid herself more comfortable and drifted off to sleep. ***** Nightmare awoke due to a poke she received. She opened her eyes and saw the guard who was sleeping on duty before her, he still had a terrified expression on his face, but less than before. “Queen Moon, it’s 6AM. Your servant is already waiting at the chariot and the Pegasi that have to pull the chariot are waiting for your approval to leave.” The guard said with a normal voice, he was trying to mask his fear. Nightmare got up and trotted to the door of the throne room, she motioned at the guard to follow her and he quickly obeyed. They walked through hallways where servants were busy painting them black. They arrived at the gates of the palace that were as white as the moon. Nightmare turned to the guard. “Have you found two soldiers who used to be farmers?” She might speak with a more lively voice to her servants, but when she spoke with her guards she spoke with a cold voice. The guard nodded. “Yes, my Queen. They’re both earth ponies and they’re already waiting with your servant at the chariot.” Nightmare nodded in approval. “Good, you may leave now.” The guard bowed and went back to his post in the throne room. Nightmare opened the gates and was greeted by her new sun rising in the east; it was going to be a warm day. In front of her stood the chariot with Applejack and the two soldiers already sitting in it; she trotted to the side of the chariot. “Okay servant, you know you’ve until 8PM to enjoy your day in Ponyville. Oh and before I forget, Rarity asked me if you could check in with her sister and parents, tell them she’s safe and don’t forget to bring that baby dragon with you.” To make sure that Applejack didn’t forget what she had to do, Nightmare wrote it all down on a piece of paper from her notebook and gave it to Applejack. “Thank ya… mah Queen.” Applejack found it very difficult to say it, but she knew she had to. Nightmare smiled, nodded and turned to the two stallions that were sitting next to Applejack. “Now you two. Your service in the army is over.” Nightmare materialized two sacks with bits; it was their wages for being a soldier. She gave it to the two used-to-be soldiers. “With this money you both can buy a house in Ponyville. You’re going to help my servant’s family on their farm, but keep your armor and sword so you can protect the farm against attacks from I-don’t-know-what.” The two soldiers saluted and nodded. “It was an honor serving you.” They both said in unison. Nightmare then walked to the 4 Pegasi soldiers who were going to pull the carriage, they were already ready and just waiting for permission to leave. “You’ll stay in Ponyville for the day and I want that one of you always keeps guard over my servant. Don’t let anything happen to her or I will punish you all severely, understand?” The threat didn’t affect the Pegasi, they were trained properly and kept standing still as a statue. Ah, so these are the elite of my army, good. “Yes Queen Moon, we understand.” They said in unison and kept staring forward. “Good, you’ll need to return with my servant at 8PM, she’ll have a baby dragon with her and he’s allowed on the carriage. Now go and watch out for ambushes, peace is still very far away.” The 4 Pegasi nodded and began running, after 5 seconds they took off and flew away. Nightmare turned around and went back into the palace; she had to do some paper work. Nightmare trotted back into the throne room and sat down on her throne. On her way to the throne room she had commanded a random servant to bring her the paperwork that was stashed in the palace’s post room. So Nightmare sat down on her throne and two minutes later the servant trotted into the throne room with a small stack of papers and letters on her back. Nightmare figured it were around 30 papers and letters. The servant gave the papers to Nightmare and returned to whatever she was doing, Nightmare already forgot. She opened the first letter that she saw. To the evil Queen Moon I will personally kick you on the head, tear your wings off, cut your legs off and anally rape you with it. Sincerely, a pony who hates you. Nightmare frowned. She knew that she would receive hate letters, but it still got her a bit angry. “If I ever find you then you shall be the one who will be anally raped.” She burned the letter with her magic until it was nothing more than pieces of ash on the floor; she’d make one of her servants clean it up later. “Don’t you think that being anally raped will hurt?” It was Pinkie’s voice that startled Nightmare. She quickly flew towards the ceiling while her guards were ready to attack Pinkie. When Nightmare calmed down she saw that her guards were closing in on a terrified Pinkie. She’d make an excellent assassin. She’s very good at sneaking, but I don’t see Pinkie killing anypony. “Guards, hold it!! She’s just my servant!” Nightmare yelled at them with a stern voice. They quickly obeyed and placed their swords back in their sheaths before they went back to their places. Nightmare saw that Pinkie was shaking, crying and hiding behind her throne. She landed next to Pinkie and embraced her. “Shh, Pinkie, they’re gone. I advise you to never do that again, guards can get jumpy very quickly and certainly when there’s a war.” Pinkie looked up at Nightmare while Nightmare kept stroking Pinkie’s mane. “Okay, I’ll never do it again.” Pinkie’s mane deflated like a leaky balloon. It broke Nightmare’s heart to see Pinkie like this. “Well, never is a big word. Try it again when the country is at peace and I shall search for ways to scare you, we’ll make it our own little game, alright?” Pinkie’s mane inflated as quickly as it deflated, the old Pinkie was back and she looked at Nightmare with one hell of a smile. “Alright, but do you think that the war will be over soon?” Her voice was again as enthusiastic as before. Nightmare sighed. I really hope that it will be a short war, but I know that the Celestial Army won’t give up that easily. “I really hope so, Pinkie, I really hope so. Now why don’t you make breakfast for us? You can choose what you want to make.” Pinkie left Nightmare’s embrace and jumped a couple of feet in the air. Nightmare figured that Pinkie was the only earth pony who could jump so high. “Can I make those delicious cupcakes that you gave to me yesterday?” She landed back on the ground and Nightmare just smiled at Pinkie. She’s one energetic mare. “That’s fine with me, here’s the recipe.” She materialized a piece of paper with the recipe written on it and levitated it to Pinkie. Pinkie took a moment to look at it, took it into her mouth and trotted to the kitchen. Nightmare still smiled and shook her head. I’m sure that there’re going to be more situations like this. Nightmare sat back down on her throne and levitated the next two letters from the stack. It were the casualties reports from Ponyville and Canterlot. Casualty report: Ponyville Soldiers at start of battle: 180 Soldiers dead: 34 Soldiers injured: 52 Soldiers still fit for battle: 94 Enemy soldiers at start of battle: 160 Enemy soldiers dead: 48 Enemy soldiers captured: 112 Enemy soldiers that joined your army: 95 Enemy soldiers that chose to go to prison: 17 Total count of your army in Ponyville: 241 No enemy soldiers escaped. Town not so badly damaged, repairs have already begun by the soldiers that are stationed in Ponyville. No civilian casualties. Casualty report: Canterlot Soldiers at the start of battle: 1550 Soldiers dead: 523 Soldiers injured: 658 Soldiers still fit for battle: 369 Enemy soldiers at start of battle: 1875 Enemy soldiers dead: 473 Enemy soldiers captured: 1402 Enemy soldiers that joined your army: 1049 Enemy soldiers that chose to go to prison: 353 Total count of your army in Canterlot: 2076 2 Enemy soldiers escaped. Lower part of the city (the poor part) is badly damaged. Repairs have begun, but it will take quite a while without the funds that are needed. No damage in the rich part of Canterlot. 52 Civilian casualties. (Mostly civilians from the poor part of town.) Sincerely, Commander Shadow. Nightmare frowned when she read the casualty reports. I didn’t expect the casualties to be this high; luckily most of the soldiers from the Celestial Army choose to join my army instead of choosing to go to prison, but it’s still not enough to win this war. Nightmare teleported the casualty reports to a shelve in her room; there she would keep all the casualties reports. Now Nightmare had to find a way to get the money that is needed to repair the lower parts of the city. She could use the money of the nobles and so she could make sure that the poor ponies liked her and maybe they would join her army, but then the nobles might revolt. Nightmare could really use some advice on this one and it seemed that her prayers had been answered, because Twilight and Fluttershy trotted into the throne room. “Ah, Twilight, just the mare I needed.” To make things go quicker, Nightmare levitated Fluttershy and Twilight to the cushions that were placed next to her throne. Each cushion had the color of one of her servant’s coats. It went like this: left of Nightmare: Pinkie, Fluttershy and Applejack with Pinkie sitting closest to Nightmare. Right of Nightmare: Twilight, Rarity and Rainbow, with Twilight sitting closest to Nightmare. “Why?” Twilight asked while she sat down on her cushion. Fluttershy also sat down on her cushion and listened closely, it was the only thing she could do now. “It came to my ears that the lower part of Canterlot has been badly damaged and the repair team needs money to repair that part of town. The royal chest is as good as empty and we need money, so I was thinking that the nobles and the rich have to pay for it.” Twilight thought for a moment, this was a very delicate situation. “I don’t think the nobles and the rich will like that.” Nightmare knew that Twilight would come to the same conclusion, that it was very dangerous to issue a law like that. “Twilight, this is now an absolute monarchy. L’état, c’est moi. I am the state, I command and they obey. Who do you think is more important, the nobles and the rich or the poor?” Twilight had to agree with Nightmare, the poor needed the money more than the nobles and rich. “The poor of course… I think I might know a way to make this work” This awoke Nightmare’s curiosity, has Twilight really found a way? “What if you tell the nobles and the rich you’ll reward them when the war is over, like a sum of money or a building named after them, something like that.” Nightmare was silent for a moment and Twilight thought she said something stupid, her disappointment showed itself on her face, but it went away when Nightmare smiled. “I like that idea; I knew that you’d make an excellent advisor with that big brain of yours.” Twilight could feel pride flowing through her; she liked it when she did something good. But she’s still the enemy. Nightmare materialized a quill and paper and began to write. To my subjects in Canterlot. I, Queen Moon of Equestria, declare that all the nobles and the rich of Canterlot have to give 25% of their fortune to the repairs of the poor part of Canterlot. Everypony who resist shall be placed in prison. The ponies who comply shall be rewarded with a sum of money when the civil war is over. The poor ponies of Canterlot and I thank you. Sincerely, Her Royal Highness. Nightmare pointed with her hoof at a random guard and motioned to him to come closer. The guard obeyed and stood before Nightmare. “Take this paper to the post office, tell them to copy it and distribute it to every mailbox in town.” The guard bowed, took the piece of paper in his mouth and trotted out of the throne room. Nightmare levitated the next paper of the stack and was about to read it when Twilight asked her a question Twilight knew that she had to ask the question with Nightmare’s title in it, because the question she was about to ask was a delicate one. “My Queen, what did you do to Princess Celestia, if you don’t mind me asking that is.” Twilight tried to do her best imitation of Fluttershy. Twilight looked at Fluttershy to see if the imitation was good, but Fluttershy just kept looking at Nightmare with a scared expression. Twilight focused her gaze at Nightmare and she got the same expression on her face. Nightmare had stopped levitating the paper and was shaking from anger; her anger was visible on her face. She stomped with her hoof on a hoofrest of her throne and glared at Twilight. Twilight was now holding her head between her hooves and she was shaking from fear, she knew she was about to receive punishment. Nightmare inhaled and exhaled, she was trying to calm her anger down. “You’re very lucky that you’re one of my favorite servants otherwise I would have beaten you to death.” Twilight looked up, her eyes were watering and her fear was clearly visible in her eyes. “Now stop cowering and then I’ll tell you what happened to her.” Twilight needed a moment to calm down, she was sure she’d receive punishment. She sat in normal position and looked at Nightmare with less fear than before. “Good. I’ve taken all her powers; put her into a deep sleep and then I placed her in a crypt beneath a temple somewhere in Equestria, I’d be stupid if I told you where I hid her. She can only be awakened by me, so I suggest you forget her. Let us now forget this little situation and continue with the paperwork.” Nightmare continued her paperwork with the help of now-calmed-down Twilight and sometimes with the help of Fluttershy when it were medical letters. Breakfast also made everything better and the situation where Nightmare lost her temper was quickly forgotten. It was 9AM when all the paper work was done. Nightmare still had one hour to fill, but there was nothing to fill it with, luckily a guard would change that. The guard trotted to Nightmare who was standing on the balcony. She was looking at the army camp, the soldiers that were doing their daily training and then her eyes fell on the medical tent. I’m not sure how I’m going to apologize to Rainbow, but I know I need to do it; otherwise she won’t join my army. She stopped thinking when she heard the guard approaching. “What is it?” Nightmare didn’t want to be disturbed, but maybe something urgent was going on. “There are three musicians who wish to have your audience. They claim they can provide you with a national anthem.” Nightmare turned to the guard. “Send them in.” The guard bowed and went to the musicians who stood outside the palace. Nightmare walked to her throne and sat down; her servants were talking with each other about things that didn’t interest her. “Sit back on your cushions; we’re going to listen to some music.” Pinkie, Fluttershy and Twilight obeyed and walked back to their cushions. A minute later 3 ponies trotted into the throne room. The pony that stood on the left bowed, she was a grey earth pony with a black mane and tail. “Greetings, your Highness. I’m Octavia and I bring you the best anthem for your country.” The pony that stood in the middle pushed Octavia away. She was a mint green unicorn with a lyre cutie mark “Sorry you had to hear that Queen Moon, I’m Lyra and I shall be the one who brings you the best anthem…” The third pony puts his hoof into Lyra’s mouth. He was a black Pegasus with a blue mane and tail. “My apologies Queen Moon, these ponies don’t know when to shut up. I go by the stage name of Ponyphonic and my anthem will be the best.” The three ponies were starting to fight with words, but Nightmare’s shout stopped it. “Stop it! I shall decide who has the best anthem. I shall materialize magical instruments that can play your composition.” Nightmare levitated Octavia’s notebook to her, looked at all the instruments that were required and materialized them. “Now explain your composition.” Octavia cleared her throat and stood in the middle of the throne room. “My composition is called Deae Lunae. It will start sad and slow, but then it will erupt like a volcano into something more powerful. It will die down again, but near the end comes the most powerful eruption that will blow ponies off their horseshoes. This is anthem to show ponies that you’re not a tyrant and that you’ve quite a history behind you.” “Very well, I shall listen.” Nightmare used her magic one more time and the instruments began to play Octavia’s composition. It was exactly like she said and Nightmare enjoyed every second of it. Twilight noticed that Nightmare had closed her eyes, was swaying her hoof at the rhythm of the music and she had a smile on her face. Twilight whispered next to Nightmare’s ear. “My Queen, do you have a love for music?” Nightmare kept her eyes closed and kept swaying her hoof at the rhythm. “You have a keen eye, Twilight Sparkle. Yes, it’s true. Before I met Pinkie, music was the only thing that could calm down. Now shh, it isn’t polite to talk during musical performances.” Twilight nodded and focused her attention back on the instruments. When the song ended, Nightmare applauded and soon the rest followed. The Queen, her servants and her guards applauded, they all liked her composition. Her opponents weren’t so happy with her composition. “That was a good composition, Octavia. There was a bit of power in it, but I also felt something calming in it, very good. Now Lyra, tell me about your composition.” Octavia walked away from the center of the throne room and Lyra took her place. “My composition is called Crusade, created with the help of Immediate Music. It has more power than Octavia’s and there’s also a bit of prestige in it. This anthem will show that your country is the greatest and that it won’t stop for anypony.” Nightmare levitated the notebook to her, looked at which instruments were needed and materialized them. She also saw that a choir was needed, so she created a couple of ponies with her magic that would disappear again after the song. After a couple of minutes the song ended and the choir disappeared. Nightmare and the rest applauded again. “Good, very good. It is just like you said, full of power and prestige and I also like the choir in it. Now the last composition.” Ponyphonic took Lyra’s place and Nightmare levitated the notebook to her, she saw that it had lyrics in it. “Ah, you’re going to sing. That’s a bit strange for an anthem, but I’m very curious to hear it.” Ponyphonic nodded. “Yes, Your Highness. I’m going to sing your story. It’s going to start that you’re sad, because ponies didn’t appreciate your night. In the middle, after the Latin line, the mood will change to a more determined one. At the end it will be about the start of your everlasting night. The instruments began to play and Ponyponic began to sing his song titled ‘The Moon Rises.’. Now the hour has come at last The soft and fading light Has crossed the west horizon And has bidden us goodnight And what a lovely night it is To walk a moonlit field To see the softer shades That are by starlight now revealed So why is it that now, When all is quiet and at rest When candles glow and all the world Is at its very best The ponies of Equestria Should lock themselves away To shun the moon and wait instead For Sister's sunny day? In umbra Luna est (the moon is in shadow) Am I so wrong to wish that they Would see things like I do? And am I so wrong to think That they might love me too? Why shouldn't they adore me? Is it not within my right? I'll not be overshadowed! Mine is not the lesser light! I've waited long enough now For them all to come around And though the Sun may plead and threaten, The Moon will stand her ground And all will know the wonder Of my dark and jeweled sky When all the world is wrapped In an eternal lullaby So say goodnight at this, The final setting of the sun Tomorrow dawns in darkness The nighttime has begun! Nocte! (night!) ‘Sister’s sunny day’? What does he mean by that? I’m pretty sure Nightmare isn’t Celestia’s sister, so that must be a mistake in the lyrics. Nightmare and the rest applauded again when the song ended, she even had to wipe a tear away. “Wonderful, just wonderful. You have an amazing voice. Your song tells my story perfectly and that Latin was a nice touch. Now I shall declare my verdict.” Nightmare was silent for a moment, all the ponies in the throne room were very excited. “The winner is… all of you.” Everypony exchanged confused looks, but it was Twilight who made a remark about it. “My Queen, I hope you know that a country can have only one national anthem.” All the other ponies in the throne room nodded in agreement, even the guards. “I know, but I just couldn’t decide, they were all so perfect. So I decided that I split the year into three. Each song will get 4 months to be the national anthem. Octavia’s song will be the national anthem from January to May and it shall be the civilian anthem. Lyra’s song will be the national anthem from May to September and it shall be the army’s anthem. Ponyphonic’s anthem shall be the national anthem from September to January and shall be the night’s anthem, because it’s my personal favorite. It’s a win-win situation.” Nightmare wrote it all down in her notebook so she didn’t forget, but how could she forget such amazing songs. “It’s settled then. Lyra, you should be honored, your anthem will be the first to be heard by my subjects.” “Believe me, I’m honored, my Queen.” The three bowed and left the throne room with a smile on their faces. They all won. ***** Meanwhile Applejack had arrived in Ponyville. During their trip the carriage was attacked by a Celestial ambush, luckily there was a night patrol in the area to save them. The battle was bloody, but quick, the night patrol annihilated the ambush. It made Applejack sick, seeing ponies being killed in front of her eyes would be a sight she needed adjust to, but it would take quite some time. Luckily that the patrol was nearby, otherwise she would be dead and not the ambush. So because of the ambush, the carriage needed an hour extra to arrive in Ponyville. When they arrived at the farm, Applejack hopped out of the carriage and trotted to the 4 Pegasi who were making themselves loose from the carriage. “Thank ya kindly for brinin’ me here and for protecting me, but ah can take care of mahself from here. One of the Pegasi, who had a green coat and a black spiky mane and a black spiky tail like the night, shook his head. “That won’t be possible, Miss Applejack. The Queen has ordered that at least one of us has to keep an eye on you.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “Ah’m not gonna try to escape, seriously.” Applejack darted with her eyes left and right, the Pegasus knew that she was lying and gave her a ‘really?’ look. Applejack immediately knew that she was busted. “Alright, the thought came into mah mind a couple of times. Let’s make a deal, one of ya accompanies me while the others enjoy Ponyville.” The Pegasus looked at his squad mates, they just shrugged. The Pegasus looked back at Applejack and nodded. “Alright, Miss Applejack. I’ll stay with you while the others of my squad will help guard Ponyville, name’s Red by the way.” Applejack eyed him from top to toe. “Ah don’t see anything red on ya.” Red opened his wings to their maximum and showed them to Applejack. “I get that a lot. My parents named me Red, because I’ve red highlights on my feathers and on my hooves.” Applejack looked at his wings. He was right, some of his green feathers had red highlights on them. The colors were very conflicting with each other and one would get a headache from looking at it for too long. “Ya can put your wings back to your sides. Red nodded and retracted them, then he turned back to his squad mates. “Be back here at 7PM, that’s the time we have to leave.” The squad mates nodded and Red followed Applejack and the two soldiers to the farm. Big Mac was plowing the fields, he was still thinking about Applejack. His sister and her friends never returned from the castle and a search party didn’t find any trace of them, it seemed like they just disappeared… or they were murdered by Nightmare Moon. The news that Applejack was missing hit the Apple family hard. Granny smith’s condition dropped to a critical level in just one day, Applebloom didn’t go to school today and Big Mac just kept working on the fields until he fell asleep on the spot. Big Mac was just about to pass out again, but he saw an orange pony trotting on the road to the barn. At first he thought it was just his imagination playing with him, but when he saw that Applejack was accompanied by some soldiers he knew that it was real. He undid himself from the plow and galloped to Applejack who still hadn’t noticed him. He was almost near Applejack, but then he got tackled by one of the soldiers that were accompanying Applejack. Applejack heard the ruckus and looked in the direction of it; it was then that she saw Red holding a sword at Big Mac’s throat. Applejack quickly intervened. “Red, he’s mah brother.” Red looked at Applejack and nodded. He got off Big Mac, sheathed his blade and then he went back to his position at Applejack’s right side. Big Mac got up and embraced Applejack like he had never done before. “Oh Applejack, where were ya? We thought ya were dead. And who’s that clown that attacked me?” A little tear left Big Mac’s left eye. He didn’t cry when he was hurt, but he was very emotional when something happened to his family. Applejack laughed and cried from happiness at the same time. “One question at a time mah brother, let’s discuss all of this with a cup of tea. Ya do have to make extra, because we have guests.” Applejack motioned with her hoof at the three soldiers that were standing behind her. Big Mac let go of the embrace and nodded, he actually didn’t like making tea for the conquerors, but Applejack was with him now so that made things much better. “Okay, Ah’m just glad that ya’re safe.” Big Mac, Applejack and the soldiers trotted to the farmhouse, Applejack knew she had some explaining to do. ***** It was almost 10AM, the Commander and his prisoner could arrive any moment now. Nightmare was very curious about the prisoner. The Commander had said that he was very skilled in fighting, but how loyal was he to Celestia? Nightmare had to find a way to make him join her army if he was a very loyal follower of Celestia, but she could worry about that when she actually saw the prisoner. Nightmare checked her clock again, it was exactly 10AM. The doors of the throne room opened, the Commander was known for his exactness. However, there was something not right, he was alone. The Commander bowed. “Greetings Queen Moon, I have arrived at our agreed time.” The Commander stopped bowing and returned to his normal position. “I can see that, where’s the prisoner?” Nightmare was not amused, if the Commander was wasting her time, then things wouldn’t look good for the Commander. The Commander, however, knew that Nightmare had a short fuse and immediately got to the point. “I wanted to announce the entrée of the most skilled fighter of the Celestial Army.” The Commander trotted back to the door and stood next to it. “Mares and Gentlecolts, I give you the most skilled fighter of the Celestial Army, Capitain of the Royal Guard: Shining Armor!” Shining Armor walked inside, his head hung low. He had hoofcuffs on and a ring around his horn that prevented him to use his magic. His head had cuts and bruises and was swollen everywhere, the guards of the dungeons didn’t hold back when they punished Shining Armor. Twilight eyes widened and she brought her hooves to her mouth. “No.” She silently said. This can’t be happening; my brother. Nightmare noticed that Twilight was a bit more upset than usual, but she didn’t pay attention to it, she turned her attention completely at Shining Armor. “This miserable worm was Capitain of the Royal Guard? Don’t make me laugh.” Nightmare truly enjoyed humiliating other ponies until they could only pity themselves. “Look at me, you worm!” Shining Armor slowly raised his head, his expression was more of a sad one. That was until he laid eyes upon his sister. His expression immediately changed to that of a shocked one. “Twilight? What are you doing here?” Nightmare looked at Twilight and then back at Shining Armor. “Ah, you two know each other?” Neither of them paid much attention to Nightmare, but Twilight knew she had to answer. “He’s my brother.” Nightmare sensed something. She sensed a very strong bond that could never be broken, a bond that she could use to her advantage. I know the perfect way to get him into my army. Nightmare began to smile mischievously, she was going to start with her plan. “Oh good. Shining Armor, I give you two choices: either you join my army or you die.” Twilight gasped and began to create tears. “Oh no no no, you can’t do this.” Twilight grabbed Nightmare’s right foreleg, but Nightmare pushed Twilight away from her. Shining Armor gave Nightmare his determined expression and a glare. “Never, I’d rather die than becoming a traitor. Twilight’s tears were flowing freely now. Did my brother just say he wanted to die, I don’t want to lose him. Pinkie and Fluttershy saw how upset Twilight was and wanted to comfort her, but they were stopped by Nightmare. “Stay there!” The two obeyed and went back to their cushions, they knew how evil Nightmare could be when she was angry. Nightmare focused her attention back to Shining Armor. “Let me say it differently: either you join my army or your sister dies. Can you live with the guilt that you’ve killed your sister?” Everypony in the room became silent, they hadn’t expected that, not even the Commander. Shining Armor’s ears twitched from anger and rage. “Don’t you dare to hurt her!!!” he tried to power up his horn, but his horn ring prevented that. Then he tried to run towards Nightmare, but he tripped due to his hoofcuffs. After his fall Nightmare kept him in place with the help of her magic. Nightmare smirked, she knew she was going to be victorious. “Oh I dare, you have until one to change your mind, otherwise say goodbye to your little sister. 3” Nightmare leaned her head closer to Twilight, Twilight was also kept in place by Nightmare’s magic and so were her friends. Shining Armor’s anger and rage faded away and this was replaced by doubt. Should I really risk Twilight’s life just because of an oath that I swore. “2” Twilight was really scared now, her brother wasn’t giving in and she would die. Please brother, just accept. I don’t want to die. “1” Shining Armor kept being silent, but the doubt was still very visible on his face. Sweat was dripping off his face, but he still wasn’t giving in. Nightmare let out a sigh and nodded slowly. “Very well, you’ve made your choice.” Don’t worry Twilight, everything will be fine. What? How, I thought I was going to die? You’ll see. Nightmare powered up her horn, a dark blue light was emitting from her horn. The light grew and grew until it was a small orb. Nightmare levitated the orb to Twilights chest, more precisely: to Twilight’s heart. ‘Take one last look at Twilight, because this will be the last time you’ll see her alive.” They looked at each other, both had tears in their eyes. The orb reached Twilight’s heart and it sent out a wave of electricity through Twilight’s body. Twilight screamed from pain and spasmed. When the orb disappeared Twilight slumped to the ground, she wasn’t breathing. Shining Armor broke down. “Nooo, Twilight!!!” Nightmare released her magic over Shining Armor and he ran towards the lifeless body of Twilight, this time minding his cuffs. The guards wanted to stop Shining Armor, but Nightmare stopped them with a motion of her hoof. Shining Armor took Twilight’s lifeless body in his hooves and rested his head against hers. “I’m so sorry, Twilight. I realized too late that you were more important to me than my oath and now you’re gone, all because of me.” Nightmare knew that this was the time that Shining Armor would accept her proposal. “You know, I can still bring her back IF you accept my proposal and accept me as your Queen.” Shining Armor was quiet for a moment. He’d do anything to get Twilight back and if that meant that he had to join the army of the enemy, then it would be that way. Shining Armor let out a sigh. “Please, I’ll do anything.” Nightmare shook her head, but her smirk never left her face. “No-no, I want to hear you say it properly.” Shining Armor looked back at the lifeless body of Twilight, he knew it had to be this way. “Please bring her back… my Queen.” Shining Armor knew that this would be the start of his new life as a soldier of the Night Army, but if that meant that Twilight would be safe then he accepted his new life. Nightmare smirked even wider and patted Shining Armor on his head. She powered up her horn again and this time a smaller dark blue orb left her horn. It went into Twilight’s chest and two seconds later Twilight began to cough. “Wha-? Is this heaven?” Shining Armor’s eyes widened and he pulled Twilight in a bone crushing hug. “Oh Twily, I really thought I lost you.” Twilight tried to move her legs, she tried to get out of his hug before one of her bones would break. Shining Armor noticed that he was practically hugging Twilight in two and he quickly let go of her. “Sorry.” Twilight took a moment to breathe and this time she hugged her brother, but with less power. They both cried in each other shoulders and Pinkie and Fluttershy did the same. Nightmare, however, was indifferent to the whole scene. “I’ve brought your little sister back, but don’t betray me or I won’t spare you nor your sister, understand?” Shining Armor nodded. “Yes, your Highness.” I can’t believe that I’m now a soldier in her army, but luckily Twilight is safe and that’s all that matters. “Good, now you’re part of my army. Fight well and stay loyal to me and I might even promote you to Capitain of the Night Guard, but you’ll need to prove yourself for that. You shall join training and obey the orders of your higher ranking officers, understand?” Shining Armor nodded again. “Okay. Everypony in this room leave us, I’m sure Twilight wants to have a word with me.” After 1 minute Twilight and Nightmare were the only two ponies in the throne room. Neither of them said anything or even looked at each other and after 2 minutes Nightmare decided to break the silence. “Twilight, I-“ Her sentence was cut off as Twilight began pounding with her hooves on Nightmare. I’m so stupid to hit her, but she deserves it. “How could you kill me!? Do you think it’s funny to play with the life of another pony?! Applejack was right, you’re as evil as evil can be!” Nightmare did nothing to stop Twilight, she knew Twilight wanted let off some steam and it didn’t really hurt. “I hate you more than anything! I just want that things are the way they used to be.” Twilight stopped pounding, mainly because her hooves began to hurt, but her tears didn’t stop. They were still flowing freely and drenched a bit of Nightmare’s coat. Nightmare sighed. She was glad it was over and Twilight’s pounding did begin to hurt. She has some strength when she’s upset. “Finally, could you now just shut your trap and listen.” Twilight blinked a few times, but sat down and listened. “I never intended to harm you and you weren’t really dead.” Twilight shook her head. “I normally had to die, I felt the electricity surge through me.” Nightmare laughed gently, this was a type of magic nopony except she and Celestia knew. “That electricity placed you in a plain of existence between life and death. I had ten minutes to bring you back to the land of the living before you were gone forever. Luckily your brother chose the right choice.” Twilight gulped, she barely escaped death. “So you’re telling me that if my brother continued to oppose you, you let me die.” Nightmare snickered and gently shook her head. “No, I’ll never let you die. Your brother, on the other hand, would have to pay it with his life.” “Why do you even care about me and my friends? The way I see it now we’re just your servants?” “You and your friends might be my servants, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t protect you. As long as I live nopony shall harm you except me if you all are asking for it.” Nightmare smiled and raised her right wing. “Now come and rest, I’m sure you’re still a bit shaken up from your near-death experience and my throne is big enough for two ponies.” Twilight’s image of Nightmare didn’t really change, but there was something weird about it. She was being kind and caring and she raised her wing just like Princess Celestia did when Twilight was just a filly. The open space near Nightmare seemed so inviting and warm and yet Twilight couldn’t find it in herself to move to Nightmare. It reminded too much about the Princess and it hurt too much. “I-I can’t, it reminds me too much of the Princess.” Nightmare lowered her wing and smiled warmly at Twilight. “I understand, go back to your chamber and sleep there for a while.” Twilight nodded and trotted away. Am I glad that that is over and yet she reminds me so much of the Princess, it’s like they used to know each other. No, that can’t be true, maybe with a quick power nap I can think clearly again. Meanwhile Nightmare was thinking about the same thing. One day I’ll have to tell her that I’m actually just Celestia’s sister. But that can wait for now, it’s too soon to tell her. She cleaned her coat with her magic so that Twilight’s tears were gone and called the guards. “Guards! Servants! You can come back now.” A little while later the guards, Fluttershy and Pinkie came back to the throne room. ***** Shining Armor and Commander Shadow were walking through the ruins of poor Canterlot, their destination was the army camp just outside the city. Civilians and guards were already busy with repairing the damage, this indicated that Nightmare’s law was already in effect. Neither of them spoke during the trip and kept watching the destruction that was caused by the siege. When they arrived at the camp the Commander spoke to Shining Armor. “Here it is, your new home.” The Commander pointed to a tent that was on his left side. Shining Armor took a peek inside. It was a normal army tent with 10 cots and 10 chests that accompanied the cots. It seemed that Nightmare made sure that the soldiers had some comfort after a hard day of training and fighting. Shining Armor turned back to the Commander. “It doesn’t seem that bad. So, what do I need to do?” The Commander raised his eyebrow, he had expected that Shining Armor would put up a fight instead of just complying. “You take it rather well that you’re now fighting for your enemy.” Shining Armor thought back at the scene in the throne room. “It’s the only way to keep my sister safe.” “Okay then, you’re going to change your armor and train while I get the plans ready for the upcoming battle.” The Commander started to trot away, but he was stopped by a hoof from Shining Armor. “Where do I need to change?” The Commander pointed with his hoof to a tent near the sparring grounds. “Over there. When you’ve changed your equipment go to the sparring ground and the sergeant who has duty shall tell you what to do. You’ve heard what the Queen said, do well and you might get a promotion.” And with that the Commander trotted away. Shining Armor, however, stood still as a statue. Should I really continue with this? Should I really betray Celestia? Isn’t there another way? ... No, I have to do this. Not for their cause, but for Twily’s safety. With a determined expression on his face he trotted to the tent to begin his new life a soldier of the Night Army. ***** When Applejack first arrived at the house she immediately went to check up on Granny Smith. She was very ill and weak, but when she saw Applejack her illness became less severe and she felt stronger. Everything was going to be alright with Granny. She then went to Applebloom and told her that school was important and that she wasn’t allowed to skip school ever again. They gave each other a big hug before Applejack trotted back to the living room where she was going to tell Big Mac about Nightmare and all the rest. It took her quite a while to explain everything and Big Mac needed some time to think things over. Big Mach placed his cup of tea back on the table and looked Applejack in the eyes. “Ah think ya need to return and enjoy yer life there.” Applejack knew that her brother didn’t lie, but she didn’t really expect him to say that. “But ah don’t want to leave, ah want to stay here.” Big Mac got up from his chair and trotted to Applejack who was sitting on the couch and on the verge of breakdown. He placed his big hoof on her shoulder and looked at her with a warm smile on his face. “Now listen to the advice of yer big brother. We’ll make it without you, we also have two new ponies to help us. Don’t ya worry about us, we’ll be fine and besides, ya can visit us once a week. It’s for yer and our safety.” Applejack knew that all those words were true and she really didn’t have chose. “But it still feels like ah’m saying goodbye.” “Ya aren’t saying goodbye, ya’ll come back next week.” Applejack sniffed, sighed and accepted what her brother said. “Fine, but can ah at least buck some apple trees?” Big Mac chuckled lightly. “Ya can buck as much as ya like, this is still yer farm, lil’ sis.” Applejack got up from her couch and gave her brother a big hug. Her brother isn’t really the smartest of all ponies, but when it came to advice and comforting then he was the best. She left the hug and told him that she’d come back, but that she needed to check in with Spike and Sweetie Belle. Big Mac nodded and and began to explain the art of applebucking to the two stallions that were sitting next to the couch. Before Applejack left, Big Mac told her that Spike had taken up residence in the local library. Applejack smiled and left the house with her ‘bodyguard’. It didn’t take long for her to reach the library, but something was off. The sign showed that the library was closed and the lights weren’t on. She knocked on the door, but there was no response. She knocked again, but there was still no response. She went to a nearby bush, because she knew that there always was a spare key in the bush next to the house, it was a Ponyville tradition. She found the key and opened the door. Red went in before her with his sword drawn. Applejack thought that he was exaggerating, but he was a soldier after all. So there they stood in the darkness of the library, the only sound came from the grandfather’s clock next to the door. Red and Applejack searched the ground floor of the library, but when they found nothing they continued their search on the first floor. Red opened Twilight’s bedroom door and heard somepony sobbing. Applejack put on the light and saw Spike lying in a basket while he was making his pillow wet with his tears. “Spike.” Applejack said. The baby dragon stopped crying and got out of his basket. His eyes widened when he saw Applejack standing in the doorway. He ran towards her and hugged her, he was even faster than Red who tried to stop him. A look from Applejack told him that it was ok. When Spike calmed down he tried to speak. “They told. *sniff* They told me that you were gone.” Spike was still crying, but less than before. He was just so happy that one of his friends was alright. Applejack broke the hug and looked at Spike with a warm smile, it was the same comforting smile Big Mac had given her a couple of minutes ago. “No, we’re not gone. Everypony is alright and safe. Ya’ve probably heard that Nightmare has won?” Spike nodded. “Well, Nightmare took us with her to her palace in Canterlot and she made us her… servants.” Spike looked up at her with a confused expression. “So you’re saying that you all need to do Nightmare’s bidding?” Applejack nodded, but her head hung low. “Yes, most of us seemed to accept it, but ah certainly don’t accept it and ah think Rainbow won’t accept it either after what Nightmare did to her.” She was still worried about Rainbow, but she had other priorities now. Spike needed some time register it all and when he felt like he understood it all he spoke. “Okay, but shouldn’t you be in the palace with Nightmare?” Applejack raised her head and smiled lightly. “No, she gave me a day off to see mah family and Twilight asked Nightmare to bring you to Canterlot. She ordered me to fetch you, ya’re going to stay with Twilight’s parents and ah still need to go to Sweetie Belle to tell her that her sister is ok. So pack yer things and when that’s done then go to mah farm, alright?” Spike nodded. “Can I see Twilight when we’re in Canterlot?” Applejack was already on the stairs when Spike asked her that question. “Ah’m pretty sure that Nightmare will allow you that, but probably not today.” She continued her descent and trotted out of the library with Red, her next stop was Carousel Boutique. Carousel Boutique seemed a little bit more lively, the curtains were open and the lights were on. She knocked on the door and a couple of seconds later the door opened. She was greeted by the surprised face of Magnum, Rarity’s dad. “Applejack? They said you and your friends disappeared.” She put on a smile, but she did feel a bit uncomfortable. “Hello Mr.Rarity’s dad, can ah come in?” “Of course and please, call me Magnum.” Magnum got out of the way and let Applejack and the soldier in. He closed the door and went to the kitchen. “Sweetie, Pearl, come to the living room, we have visitors.” Sweetie came out of the kitchen and saw Applejack standing by the door and just as Spike did, she gave Applejack a big hug. “Applejack, you’re alright. Where’s sis?” Pearl quickly intervened, she saw that Sweetie was suffocating Applejack. “Let her go Sweetie, that way Applejack can tell us what happened to our poor Rarity.” Her expression saddened, but she didn’t cry, she tried to stay strong. Sweetie let go of Applejack and nuzzled her mother, all eyes were now fixated on Applejack. She suddenly felt very hot, but she knew that it was just her brain messing with her. She sighed and decided to take the plunge. Wow, telling this to Spike was way easier. “Nightmare made us her servants, we now need to work for her in the palace.” THUMP Pearl had fainted and Magnum and Sweetie were trying to wake her up, but that was to no avail. Magnum looked back at Applejack. “She’ll probably stay like this for a while. Back to the topic, does that mean that we’ll never see Rarity again?” Applejack shook her head and decided to follow her intuition like she did with Spike. “No, ah think that if Rarity asks Nightmare for a day off to visit you then Nightmare will agree. Ah can visit mah family once a week.” “Is she safe?” This time it was Sweetie that asked Applejack a question. Her expression wasn’t a sad one, it was more a worried one. Applejack nodded. “Yes, Nightmare hasn’t laid a hoof on Rarity and if she does then ah’ll buck her to the moon. Ah’ll protect all mah friends, Rarity included.” Magnum sighed in relief, for the first time a smile formed on his face. “Well, as long as she’s safe and she has a protector it’s ok for me.” Sweetie nodded as a sign that she was also ok with it. They too accept it so fast, ah’ll never understand these ponies, but it’s their choice. “Well if ya don’t mind, ah go back to the farm now. Ah want to do some applebucking before ah need to leave again.” Magnum nodded. “Of course, but could you ask Rarity to visit us soon and thanks for informing us.” “It was nothing and ah’ll ask Rarity. Bye.” They waved goodbye and Applejack and red left the boutique, she was glad that that was over so that she now could concentrate on applebucking. ***** Twilight walked through the hallways of Canterlot palace. Her body moved on its own towards the door that stood several feet before her. Now that she didn’t have to concentrate on her body she could take in her surroundings. The hallways were white instead of black and the doors were painted in gold instead of midnight blue. A connection began to form in Twilight’s mind, this was the palace before Nightmare decided to give it a makeover. How she got here she didn’t know, maybe her mind used a time travel spell in her sleep, but the only thing that mattered right now was that she was going to see Princess Celestia. She stopped in front of the golden doors and she felt that she had regained control over her body. A faint golden glow surrounded the doors and after a second they opened. Twilight couldn’t contain her excitement and ran into the room. The room that she ran into was the throne room, but the walls were white, the normal flags of Equestria hung on the walls and Celestia’s throne stood on its original place with Celestia sitting upon it. Celestia noticed Twilight and smiled. “Ah Twilight, how nice of you to AAAAH” Celestia screamed has a horn pierced through her back. Twilight ran towards Celstia to help her, but she was too late. Celestia changed into dust and the wind that came with the attack carried it away. Tears began to form in Twilight’s eyes and rage overtook her. “Where are you? Show yourself!” Twilight didn’t see that the horn began to move out of the back of the wooden throne. The horn managed to break free and the attacker showed itself. The attacker trotted to the front of the throne and sat down. Twilight couldn’t believe her eyes. Before her sat Nightmare Moon, it was logical, but she still couldn’t believe it. “You shouldn’t greet your Queen like that.” A mischievous grin formed on Nightmare’s face. If eyes could kill then Twilight would have sent Nightmare twice to Tartarus. “You told me that you placed Celestia in a deep sleep, you told me that you didn’t kill her!” “Ha, but killing is so much better. Now bow before your Queen.” Twilight changed the position of her body into a defensive stance. “Never, you aren’t my Queen.” Nightmare shook her head lightly. “You would have been such a good servant, but if you don’t want to bow then I shall kill you.” Nightmare got off her throne and jumped at twilight like a tiger would do to its prey. Twilight closed her eyes and got ready for the impact, but it never came. She opened her eyes and saw A statue of Nightmare floating in front of her. The magic that held the statue in the air disappeared together with the statue. Four hooves landed in front of her and Twilight looked up. Before her stood the Princess in all her glory. “Princess? I thought you were dead?” Twilight slowly relaxed and sat on her haunches, the tears she had now were tears of joy. Celestia chuckled lightly, sat down next to Twilight and draped her left wing over Twilight’s body. “I would, if this was real.” Twilight looked confused at Celestia while her brain was beginning to make the connections, her brain was always fast. “Is this a dream?” Celestia nodded. “Yes, it is.” “Then why are you here, Princess?” “I’m not your Princess, I’m your guilt.” The Princess changed again into the dust and it flew away, but her voice remained in the room. “You see, when you accepted Nightmare as your Queen it woke me up, because deep inside your heart you want Celestia back.” Twilight knew that those words were true, she really wanted Celestia back and she knew that her guilt spoke the truth, because her guilt was a part of her. “I really want her back, but what can I do?” The dust came back and it changed into the Princess again who was standing in front of Twilight. “That’s for you to decide, but do know that these dreams will become worse and that can give you serious mental damage if you don’t do anything about it.” She kissed Twilight’s forehead and disappeared again. “It’s time for you to wake up.” Everything around Twilight began to crumble. She looked at the ceiling and was greeted by a piece of stone that was headed straight for her face. She couldn’t do anything about it and everything went black. Rarity noticed Twilight stirring in her bed and trotted to her. She saw that Twilight was having a really bad dream, she was covered in sweat and her body didn’t stop moving. She gently shook Twilight awake. This proved to be effective, because not long after her shake Twilight opened her eyes and stared at Rarity. “Oh Darling, you were having a nightmare.” She said with a smile on her face. Twilight tried to smile back, but her thoughts were still fixated on the dream she had and so a concerned expression grew on Rarity’s face. “Everything alright?” Twilight shook her head to change her thoughts and smiled back at Rarity. “Yes, I’m fine, but I think I’ll go back to the throne room now." Rarity trotted back to her bed and began to comb her mane. “Oh me too, I think I’ve slept long enough.” When she saw that her mane was gorgeous again she followed twilight to the throne room. ***** Applejack was busy with applebucking, it was the only time she could just set her thoughts on something else, it was her form of meditation. Her bodyguard sat down against the wall of the house and he always kept an eye on Applejack. She was busy with the northern part of the orchard while her brother and the two used-to-be soldiers were busy in the southern part of the orchard. She was busy bucking her 26th tree when she thought she heard a sound. She looked around, but saw nothing. So she shrugged it off and went to the next tree. She readied herself for the bucking, but then she heard that sound again, it was a quiet whistle and this time she heard it coming from one of the trees. She looked at the tree that was a couple of feet to the right. She then spotted it, there was a soldier from the Celestial army hiding in that tree. The soldier was motioning with his hoof to make her come closer, but Applejack knew that if she began to talk then Red would notice. She walked to the tree and began whispering. “Ah don’t know what ya’re doing, but before we can talk ah need to make sure that mah bodyguard doesn’t notice.” The stallion said nothing and Applejack trotted to Red. “Hiya Red, is it ok if ah talk to mah favorite tree a bit?” Applejack knew that she wasn’t really good at lying, but she really hoped that Red would believe her. Red cocked her an eyebrow. “With a tree, huh? I always knew that there was something wrong with ponies from the countryside. Yes, fine by me, but stay in my field of vision.” Applejack decided to forget about the insult he gave her and trotted back to the tree. The stallion was still in it, but he was unnoticeable from Red’s point of view. Applejack sat down next to the tree and looked up, but not too much so Red wouldn’t notice. The stallion was a white unicorn with armor from the Royal Guard. Applejack didn’t know how the unicorn got in one of her trees, but that wasn’t important right now. “Why are ya here?” She kept talking in whispers, just to make sure that Red wouldn’t hear it, he was sitting 100 feet away from them. The stallion readjusted his position in the tree and began to whisper back. “I’m here because we know that you don’t like Nightmare.” Applejack took a quick glance at Red. Red was still looking at her, but she saw that his eyes were slowly closing. Guess the sun is making him drowsy. She focused her attention back at the guard. “So what? We both will be in deep trouble when mah bodyguard sees us talking.” “I know, but that’s not the point right now. You see, we’re planning an assassination attempt on Nightmare, but we need your help.” Applejack’s eyes widened when she heard that. She tried to regain her composure so that she wouldn’t arouse suspicion. “Are ya crazy? Ah may hate her, but ah ain’t stupid.” “Please, the only thing you need to do is to keep the front gate unlocked when you get back in the palace, so that way our assassins can murder the guards, enter the palace and kill Nightmare.” For Applejack the plan seemed like a good plan, but she still wasn’t convinced. “And what after that? Ah’m pretty sure Nightmare will kill me on the spot when she sees me walking next to a few assassins.” “Tell Nightmare that you don’t feel so good, she’ll probably let you go to the toilet, then hide in one of the closets of the palace. Our assassins will stick to the shadows and when Nightmare is killed they’ll find you. Help us, you’ll save a lot of lives and everything can go back to the way it used to be.” Applejack was still in deep doubt. On one side she could join them and Nightmare would be gone before more innocent ponies die, but on the other side it was quite dangerous to betray a monarch that could rip you apart in less than a second. In the end Applejack chose to for the ponies. “Alright, but ya make damn sure that everything goes according to plan.” “Thank you, you’ll save a lot of lives.” The unicorn began firing up his horn so that he could place an invisibility spell on himself, but he was stopped when Applejack spoke again. “Wait, there’s a complication. Ah can’t lie and Nightmare can read mah mind. The stallion rubbed his chin. “Hmm, stand closer to the tree.” Applejack obeyed and stood closer to the tree. “Alright, what I’m going to do now is a spell that makes you the perfect liar, even in your mind. I’m pretty sure even Nightmare won’t see through your lies.” The stallion could see that Applejack’s bodyguard had fallen asleep, so this was the perfect time for the spell. He fired up his horn and cast the spell on Applejack. Her body was surrounded by a white aura for a couple of seconds, but then it faded away. “That should do it. When you arrive in Canterlot, our assassins will be in place just outside the palace. When you go inside, they will wait for five minutes and then they will start their assassinations.” With that the stallion placed the invisibility spell on himself and silently walked out of the orchard. Applejack went back to bucking, but she has never been so nervous in her whole life. ***** Nightmare was walking to the medical tent of the army just outside the city and Fluttershy was accompanying her. Her mind was wandering back to lunch. Twilight seemed very upset about something and reading her mind brought her no answers, so Nightmare decided for herself that Twilight was still a bit upset about her fake death. Her attention then shifted to Rainbow Dash. Nightmare knew that Rainbow was going to be very upset about the loss of her wings, but that was the reason why she had brought Fluttershy with her. Nightmare looked at Fluttershy who was doing her best to make herself disappear behind her mane. Nightmare rolled her eyes and spoke. “Fluttershy, do you remember your order?” Fluttershy took a quick glance at Nightmare and saw her uninterested look. She quickly hid herself back behind her mane. “Yes, I need to comfort Rainbow Dash.” Nightmare nodded. “Good.” She focused her attention back on the road in front of her. Her mind wandered off again, this time to a stallion that came to speak with her during court. The stallion had identified himself as Prince Blueblood, but Nightmare had identified him as a narcissist and a pony who doesn’t give a shit about others. He complained about the new law and that who wouldn’t give any money to the peasants, that was his words for the poor ponies. Nightmare had stripped him of his wealth, title and belongings and relocated him to the poor part of Canterlot, where he could experience poverty first hand. She gave 70% of Blueblood’s wealth to the repairs and 30% was for the royal chest, which needed filling. She received smiles from her servants. Nightmare was a ruler who placed her ponies above herself. Nightmare was so deep in thought that she didn’t see that she had already arrived in the army camp. Fluttershy poked her and Nightmare snapped out of her thoughts. She took a moment to take in her surroundings and turned to Fluttershy. “Thank you, Fluttershy.” She trotted to the medical tent and walked inside. In the medical tent lay several soldiers, some with cuts and bruises and others with internal bleedings. She knew that the doctors would take care of them and so she trotted to her target who was lying at the end of the tent on a cot. Rainbow was awake and she saw Nightmare walking towards her. Her body began shaking and she hid beneath her blankets, Nightmare was one of the few things which she now feared. Nightmare saw that she was upsetting Rainbow and she turned again to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, here starts your job. Try to comfort her so I can come closer to her.” Fluttershy nodded and trotted to Rainbow. She knew she had to do her best, because she was now part of Rainbow’s recovery. She stopped next to the cot and touched Rainbow’s blanket with her hoof. A light eep came from beneath the blankets. This is worse than I thought. “Rainbow, it’s me, Fluttershy.” The shaking lessened, but it was still there. “I-is N-Nightmare with y-you?” It seemed that Rainbow was now the new Fluttershy. “No, she’s standing a couple of feet away from us. Could you please come out from under the blankets?” There was a silence, but slowly Rainbow pushed the blankets away from her. After some time Rainbow was again lying on her pillow with her blanket on her chest. She kept her gaze focused on Fluttershy who was sitting next to the cot. “Why is N-Nightmare here?” She took a quick glance at Nightmare who was, much to her surprise, smiling at her. Fluttershy began stroking Rainbow’s mane, it was like a mother would do to her child. “Well, I think Nightmare should explain that to you, but you have to let her come closer.” Rainbow shook her head very quickly. It was a bit too fast, because the place where her wings used to be began to hurt. “No, she’ll hurt me.” “No she won’t Rainbow. I’ve been with her for a day and did I get hurt? No. She might be hard on the outside, but I know that deep inside she’s a very nice mare.” Fluttershy began to look at Rainbow with a pleading look. “Just trust me.” Rainbow needed some time to think, but in the end she decided to trust Fluttershy. “Alright, I trust you.” Then she began to speak under her breath. “But I hope I’m not going to regret it.” Fluttershy motioned with her hoof at Nightmare, meaning that she could come closer. Nightmare took small steps, so that she didn’t startle Rainbow. When she was sitting next to Fluttershy she spoke. “How are you, Rainbow Dash?” Nightmare knew it was a stupid question, but it had to start somewhere. “I’ve been better.” Rainbow replied sarcastically. “You took my wings away.” Nightmare rubbed the back of her head with her hoof, this was going to be the hardest part for her. “About that, I’m very s-s-sorry. I couldn’t control myself and it’s my fault that your wings are gone.” Nightmare breathed a sigh of relief. It was a small apology, but was the best she could do. Rainbow, however, was far from accepting the apology. “Apologies won’t bring my wings back.” Nightmare knew that this was the time she had to preform the dangerous spell. After a few moments of silence she decided to take the plunge. “Well actually…” Nightmare didn’t finish her sentence. Her horn began to glow a midnight blue and so was Rainbow’s back. Nightmare began to concentrate on Rainbow’s back and Rainbow could feel a light stinging sensation. She took a quick glance at Fluttershy whose eyes were beginning widen. After a few minutes the spell stopped and Nightmare began to pant. “Would you… accept this as an apology?” Rainbow looked at her sides. On her sides were two bat-like wings and they were black like the night. “Wow.” That was all she could say. Nightmare regained her breath and smiled a little. “They aren’t your old wings, but it’s the best I can do. You actually have the same blessing as my Pegasi guards and the Commander: the Blessing of the Moon.” Rainbow took another moment to admire her new wings. “They’re pretty cool actually.” Rainbow looked back at Nightmare. “I still don’t fully trust you, but… thanks for the wings.” She extended her hoof towards Nightmare. “I promised myself that I would bring your wings back and that’s exactly what I’ve done.” Nightmare touched Rainbow’s hoof with one of her own and shook it. “Now we just need to wait for somepony else.” Fluttershy decided to be part of the conversation again, being Nightmare’s servant made her a bit more sociable, but not much. “Who?” “The Commander.” ***** Twenty minutes had passed, but there was still no sign of the Commander. Fluttershy and Rainbow talked to each other and Nightmare occasionally said a sentence or two, but she kept her gaze focused on the opening of the tent. She felt that she needed to stretch her legs and began to walk around the tent. Her gaze fell on a young dark blue stallion with a light blue mane and tail, Nightmare saw that he was just a teenager. She didn’t know what it was, but she felt something in herself, something like motherly concern. She trotted over to him and sat down next to his cot. The young stallion turned his head and began to smile. “G-greetings, my *cough* Queen, what brings y-you to my cot?” Nightmare saw that the young stallion was very weak. His eyelids were almost closed and it was hard for him to smile. Nightmare smiled back with a genuine and comforting smile, just like she did with Rainbow Dash. “I wanted to see the condition of my injured soldiers. Tell me, what’s the matter?” The young stallion coughed again and threw his blanket to the side. Nightmare looked at his injury. His body had a cut that started near the beginning of his throat and stopped on his abdomen, it looked like a cut from and operation. “Could you tell me if I’m going to make it?” Nightmare knew that he was dying and that the truth would hurt, but he had asked it and Nightmare was pretty sure he knew the answer also. She placed his blanket back on his body and looked him in the eyes. “I’m sorry, your wound is too severe.” This was the first time Nightmare actually felt really sorry for somepony, she hated it when kids died. The young stallion closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “I knew it.” The was a moment of silence between them and then he spoke again. “Could you do me a favor, my Queen?” Nightmare nodded, it was the least she could do before he died. “Could you preform magical euthanasia on me? I know that I’m going to die, but I don’t want to suffer anymore.” Nightmare’s eyes grew wide and she took a step backwards. She didn’t mind killing the enemy or ponies that had wronged her, but this was one of her own soldiers and he was just a child. “I-I can’t do that.” The young stallion sighed again and gave her a pleading look. “Please, it’s my last dying wish, I don’t want to suffer anymore.” On one side it’s unethical to ignore his last dying wish and let him suffer, but on the other side it’s still murder and of a child. I hate to say it, but I shall honor his wish. She lowered her horn and touched his forehead, their faces just inches away. Nightmare had a saddened expression, but the young stallion gave her a smile. “You’re still sure about this?” He nodded. “Yes. Thank you, my Queen.” Nightmare suppressed a tear, fired up her horn and smiled back. “Please, call me Nightmare.” “Thank you, Nightmare.” He closed his eyes and kept smiling. Nightmare could feel and hear his heartbeat slowing down. THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP _ And then it stopped. Nightmare stopped her spell and looked at his face. The smile was still there, like nothing had happened and Nightmare knew that he had passed on peacefully. She sat back down next to his cot and placed his blanket over his face with her magic and that was the moment when a small tear left her right eye and rolled down her cheek. Rainbow and Fluttershy had seen the whole scene and so had the rest of the tent. Rainbow turned to Fluttershy. “I guess she does care about other ponies.” Fluttershy, as the delicate pony as she was, had cried during the scene, but she knew that what Nightmare did was the right thing to do. “I told you so.” It seemed a bit childish, but it was the only answer Fluttershy could come up with. Rainbow silenced Fluttershy with her hoof and looked back at Nightmare. “Wait, she’s singing.” Rainbow was right, Nightmare began to sing. This was something Rainbow didn’t really expect, but it was a kind gesture. “Sound the bugle now - play it just for me.” She placed her hoof on his body. “As the seasons change - remember how I used to be.” Shortly after that the rest of the tent, even Rainbow, joined Nightmare’s singing. Now I can't go on - I can't even start I've got nothing left - just an empty heart I'm a soldier - wounded so I must give up the fight There's nothing more for me - lead me away... Or leave me lying here Sound the bugle now - tell them I don't care There's not a road I know - that leads to anywhere Without a light I fear that I will stumble in the dark Lay right down - decide not to go on Then from on high - somewhere in the distance There's a voice that calls, "Remember who you are" If you lose yourself - your courage soon will follow So be strong tonight - remember who you are Yeah you're a soldier now - fighting in a battle To be free once more - yeah, that's worth fighting for After the song Nightmare stayed with the stallion until a doctor came to place him next to the other dead ponies. She asked him his name and family so that she could send some money to his family. His name was Blue Streak and his family lived in Cloudsdale. She hastily wrote it down on a paper and teleported it to her chamber. She took one last look at the teenager and then the doctor levitated him out of the tent. She went back to Fluttershy and Rainbow and sat down next to Fluttershy. Fluttershy placed a hoof on Nightmare’s side. “You’ve done the right thing, I hope you know that.” Nightmare nodded and smiled gently at Fluttershy.”I know, but it was a hard thing to do.” Rainbow decided that enough self-pity was said for a day and decided to brighten the mood. “Yeah, even I have to readjust my image of you.” Rainbow knew that her comment was a hit, because Nightmare chuckled lightly. But there wasn’t much time for laughing, because the Commander trotted into the tent with his plans for the siege of Manehatten. Nightmare shook her head to get all her sad thoughts out of her head and trotted to the Commander like nothing had happened. “Ah Commander, glad you could make it.” The sarcasm was strong in this one. The Commander bowed before his queen and began to apologize. “I’m sorry, my Queen. I had to make some adjustments on the plans.” He rose up from his bow when he saw Nightmare walking away from him. “I hope the plans are perfect. Now come, we need to tell Rainbow Dash about her new job.” The Commander followed Nightmare to Rainbow’s cot. When they all sat around Rainbow’s cot Nightmare began to speak. “Rainbow, this is Commander Shadow. He’s the leader of my army and also the best soldier in my army.” Rainbow looked at the Commander who was sitting next to her. She saw that he had a giant scar on his chest, but she didn’t want to know what had caused it. “Um… nice to meet you, I guess.” She extended her hoof towards him. He accepted it and shook it. “Likewise.” Nightmare decided it was time for business. “As much as I enjoy small-talk, that wasn’t reason for the Commander’s presence.” She turned her attention to Rainbow. “Rainbow, I decided that I won’t make you my servant.” Rainbow’s ears perked up and giant smile formed on her face. “Really? So I can go back to Ponyville?” Nightmare shook her head. “No, I want you to become a part my army.” Rainbow’s eyes widened from amazement, but her expression turned sour pretty quickly. “No, I’m not going to kill ponies for you.” She crossed her forelegs in a kind of childish manner. Nightmare knew that Rainbow wasn’t going to accept her new post just like that, so she was prepared for this. “Come on, Rainbow. You’ll get your own tent and you’re not going to a normal soldier. Oh no, you’re going to be Captain.” Rainbow’s ears perked up again when she heard the word Captain. She had two dreams when she was a filly. One was becoming a Wonderbolt, the other was joining the army of Cloudsdale and promoting in the ranks. She had dismissed this dream and only focused on becoming a Wonderbolt. “Captain? Just like that?” Nightmare nodded. My little fish has taken the bait, now I just need to reel her in. “Yes, I sense that you know your way with weapons and tactics, so I’d be stupid to just make you normal soldier. Do you accept?” Rainbow rubbed her chin. She was really considering joining her army, because if she did one of her dreams would become reality. On the other hoof, she didn’t want to kill anypony and certainly not for this tyrant. But her image of Nightmare had changed recently, so that was also something to take into account. There were so many things she needed to take into account, so it was impossible for her to decide that right now. “Can I decide later?” Nightmare nodded. “Yes, I figured that you would need some time, so I give you two weeks to make up your mind.” She turned her attention to the Commander. “Commander, you can now explain the battle plans, that way Rainbow knows how to make tactics.” The Commander didn’t respond, instead he just kept staring at Fluttershy who did two things at a time. She stared back, but she also hid behind her mane. Nightmare rolled her eyes and decided it was time to raise her voice. “Commander!” The Commander shook his head and began to make himself as little as possible. “What? Oh, I’m sorry, I was distracted.” Nightmare rolled her eyes again, it was starting to get really annoying for her. “Yes, I think the whole tent saw that. The plans, if you would be so kind?” The Commander quickly laid the battle plans at the end of Rainbow’s cot, just next to Rainbow’s hind legs. Meanwhile Rainbow gave Fluttershy a playful poke. The Commander took a map and laid it on the cot, but in front of Nightmare. He cleared his throat and began. “So, the whole operation will be called Operation Overlord. Our first attack will be an attack with paratroopers, meaning that Pegasi will drop off Earth Ponies, Unicorns and other Pegasi in the drop zones. I, Shining Armor and Rainbow Dash, if she accepts, will take part in this phase. We will start this attack in the night between the 5th of June and the 6th of June.” “As you can see; the blue diamonds represent our drop zones and each drop zone will have 100 ponies. These 100 ponies per dropzone will be divided into squads, that makes it easier to maneuver through the streets. Our squads will stay in contact with each other and the main force with something our researchers call a ‘radio’. Each squad will have one radio and one radiopony. Our objective is to capture one side of the bridges that connect Trotlyn and Queens to Manehattan. The four objectives are: the Trotlyn Bridge, the Manehattan Bridge, The Queens Midtown Tunnel and the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge. The blue lines represent the path that we should take. There is a possibility we need to alter the path if there is too much enemy resistance in Trotlyn or Queens. When we’ve captured one side of the bridges then the next phase shall begin.” The Commander searched through his papers and found the map that he was looking for, he placed it in front of Nightmare. “The blue diamonds represent the starting places of our main force. The main force will attack in the morning of the 6th of June, just after the paratrooper phase. The main force will be divided in 3 starting places. The black lines are the paratroopers who need to defend the bridge against enemy attacks. The red lines are the defenses of the Celestial army near the bridges. We know that this information is accurate, because we have our best spies stationed in Manehattan. The blue lines represent again the path our main force needs to take and the red stars represent our objectives, the other side of the bridges and the tunnel. This is the last phase before the final assault.” Nightmare knew that the Commander was a skilled tactician and now it showed, but there was still one issue that kept lingering on her mind. “Commander, what will you do with the main force before they need to begin the assault.” “Well, I thought of hiding the main force in the forest near Trotlyn.” Rainbow, who had listened carefully, decided to mingle herself into the conversation. “But that will make your main force exhausted before they even reach Trotlyn, that forest is quite a distance away from Trotlyn. I’ve seen an abandoned farm in the outskirts of Trotlyn. You should camouflage your soldiers and hide them there, the farm is large enough to hold between 5000 and 10000 soldiers. Hide them on the farm, that way they’ll have less exhaustion when they start their push across the bridges.” The Commander and Nightmare both had an eyebrow raised and their looks were fixated on Rainbow. Rainbow thought she had said something stupid, but eventually the Commander spoke. “That… is a pretty good adjustment to the plans.” He hastily wrote it on the papers he had with him. Nightmare smirked at Rainbow. “Well, well and I thought you didn’t want to help me?” Rainbow hastily shook her head, they had misunderstood her. “No, it’s not like that, I just care about ponies.” Nightmare chuckled, but kept her smirk on her face. Yeah, keep telling yourself that, darling. “Either way, it seems that I was right about you being born for tactics.” She turned back to the Commander who had laid the last map in front of Nightmare. “Shall we continue?” “Of course. This is the last phase of the Battle of Manehattan. The blue diamonds represent once again the starting positions of our main force. We shall come from the south, the east and the northeast. The blue lines represent the path we should take and the red lines represent the defensive positions of the Celestial army in Manehattan. The red star is our objective, it’s the Equestrian State Building. Conquering the Equestrian State Building would mean the conquering of Manehattan. If everything goes according to plan, then we would only need 1 day to conquer the city, that’s something I’d like to call Blitzkrieg.” That was the end of the Commander’s explanation. Nightmare thought a moment about the plans. They were really thought-out and the Commander had put his time into it, but she wasn’t so sure about the thing that everything would go according to plan. Nightmare knew that there was going to be at least one thing that would mess up the plans, she knew that well thought-out plans would always meet resistance. But aside from that, everything seemed okay. “Okay Commander, the plans are in order. I shall search for ways to attract ponies for our army, because it think that this is going to be the hardest battle in the entire war. Is there anything else you need?” “No, my Queen. I’ll now go and check up on the new recruits.” The Commander gathered all his papers, placed them under his wing, bowed in front of his queen, took a quick look at Fluttershy and trotted out of the tent. Nightmare now turned to Fluttershy and Rainbow. “Fluttershy, you can stay with Rainbow if you want, but be back in the palace before 9PM. I’m sure you two have a bit of catching up to do.” Nightmare didn’t wait for a reply, trotted out of the tent and continued her way to her palace. She knew that Fluttershy would stay with Rainbow, so a reply wasn’t necessary. ***** Applejack sat in the carriage, lost in her thoughts. She was still very nervous about the assassination attempt and the spell that made her the perfect liar didn’t bring much relief to her. Her thoughts also went to the possible consequences if the assassination failed. Death, prison, torture or maybe banishment; there were too many possible outcomes. She decided to get a little bit of sleep, maybe that would make the thoughts go away. Meanwhile, Nightmare was also thinking about something, she was searching for ways to raise the manpower of her army. The best way was probably starting with propaganda. That would mean a slow increase of manpower, but that might not be fast enough, the battle would begin in two weeks. Her other, more drastic, option was organizing a draft. She knew that the population wouldn’t appreciate a draft, but it was the only way to ensure that she had enough manpower before the battle. After a moment of deep thinking she chose to mix both ways. First she would start with the propaganda and if her manpower still wasn’t enough, then she would organize the draft. Her work for today was over and a quick look at the clock told her that Applejack would arrive any minute now. She got up from her throne and trotted to the front gates. Applejack awoke when she felt the light shaking of the carriage, to Applejack it felt more like a light earthquake than a landing. She took her hat, that was now lying on a seat next to her, and placed it on her head. She said her goodbyes to Spike, the carriage would bring him to the house of Twilight’s parents, and got ready to get out. The stallion, Red, opened the door for her and she got out of the carriage. She readjusted her saddlebags, gulped and trotted to Nightmare, who was waiting at the front gates. She bowed, got back up and took an apple out of her saddlebag. She gave the gift to Nightmare. Nightmare levitated the apple to her and took a bite out of it. Almost immediately her eyes widened and she quickly took another bite. The apple was being murdered right in front of Applejack’s eyes. After a few moments Nightmare threw the core of the apple in one of the many trash bins that accompanied the front gate. “Applejack, that was the best apple I ever ate in my entire life.” Applejack blushed a bit due to the compliment, but her mind never forgot the task she needed to fulfill. “Thank ya, your Highness. Next week ah shall bring an apple pie with me.” Nightmare nodded and began to trot back into the palace, Applejack followed after a short hesitation. “That’s very generous of you. Now come, I want to hear about your day with your family.” They entered the palace and Applejack took a quick glance at the front gate. The two guards that that stood inside the palace closed the gate, but it wasn’t locked. Immediately Applejack knew how she would get the gates open, it was now or never. She increased her speed until she was trotting next to Nightmare. She changed the expression on her face to one that told her that she was sick. “Um… mah Queen?” Nightmare turned her face to Applejack and was greeted by Applejack who was ready to throw up. “Can ah go back outside, ah don’t feel so well. Ah think it’s flying sickness.” It was dangerous to send Applejack back outside without a guard to accompany her, but she seemed sick and there were two guards outside who could keep an eye on her. “Yes, of course. But if you throw up then tell one of the servants to clean it up. I’ll already go to the throne room and wait for you there.” Applejack nodded and galloped back to the front gates. She stopped at the front gates when a guard halted her. “Halt, why did you come back?” His expression was stern and a bit intimidating, but that was expected from a guard. “Ah feel sick and the Queen has allowed me to get some fresh air.” She knew that the lying spell worked, because the guard opened the gates for her. “Ya can leave the gate open, ah won’t be long.” The guard nodded and Applejack trotted outside. The carriage was gone and to her surprise the two guards who had to guard the front gates from the outside were also gone. A hooded Pegasus jumped out of the bushes and trotted to Applejack. He whispered to her. “You’re Applejack, right?” Applejack nodded and looked at the hooded pony, only a small amount of his white muzzle was visible, the rest was as black as his cloak. “Yes, what did ya do to the two guards?” “They won’t trouble us anymore. We thank you Applejack, for opening the gate for us.” A second hooded Pegasus trotted out of the bushes and nodded at Applejack. “We now go and deal with the two guards inside. Wait 30 seconds and then you can come inside. Search for a place to hide, a storage room or a closet and hide in there. We’ll get you out of there when Nightmare Moon has been dealt with.” Applejack was searching in her mind for a good spot to hide. Yesterday, when she and her friends were going to their bedroom they passed a storage room. The storage room was filled with boxes, so that was the perfect place to hide. “Alright, but don’t harm mah friends.” “No worries, Nightmare is our only target.” The hooded stallion and his companion began their stealthy approach towards the front gate. In one quick motion they galloped inside and muffled screams could be heard. After 5 seconds the screams died down and the dragging of two lifeless bodies could be heard. 25 seconds passed and Applejack mentally prepared herself for all the blood and dead she would see, but to her surprise there weren’t any traces of an assassination. The bodies were gone, there was no blood and the assassins were also gone. Applejack shook the thoughts out of her head and ran towards the storage room, the only safe place right now. Nightmare was sitting on her throne, she had left the doors of her throne room open for Appleajck’s return. Twilight, Pinkie and Rarity were sitting next to her, all of them were eager to hear about Applejack’s day in Ponyville. Nightmare suddenly felt a feeling, it was that kind of feeling she gets gets when sompony else is watching her. She looked at her servants, they were looking at her with curious expressions, but she knew they weren’t the cause of this feeling. Her guards were like statues who were looking at the things in front of them, so that meant that there was an uninvited guest in the throne room. She began to look around and she captured a small motion in the corner of her throne room, near the ceiling. Nightmare, who could see better in the dark than most ponies, saw the silhouette of a pony and a small dagger in his wing. She immediately knew what that meant, the Celestial Army had made a move in their game of chess. She got off her throne and began to shout. “Guards!! Assassin!!!” When those words left her mouth the silhouette got into action. He opened his wings, with the dagger attached under it, and flew towards Nightmare. Nightmare, who had her complete focus on the pony, fired a paralyzation bolt at the pony. The spell hit him right in the chest and he dropped to the ground. Suddenly Nightmare heard Twilight gasp and felt something warm on her flank. She took a quick look at Twilight, she was pointing at Nightmare’s flank. Nightmare looked at her flank and saw a big cut, her blood was going down her flank and was dripping on the ground. She immediately knew that there was a second assassin. She heard the flapping of wings and looked up, the assassin was beginning with his second attack. This time she didn’t have enough time to power up her spell, so it was going to be a hoof to hoof battle. Luckily for her, a Pegasus guard tackled the assassin out of the air and smashed him on the ground. Nightmare limped to the guard and gave him a pat on his shoulder before she levitated the assassin and threw him against the wall. The assassin groaned and fell on the floor. He tried to move, but realized that he couldn’t. His head was the only thing he could move. He looked at Nightmare and he was beginning to get terrified. Nightmare had a maniacal grin and one of her pupils was smaller than the other one. His dagger was ripped off his wing, taking a few feathers with it in the process, and was placed just under his throat. Nightmare lowered her head, while keeping that maniacal grin on her face. “I’ll get straight to the point, how did you get inside my palace?” Her voice was dripping with venom, but the stallion kept his mouth shut and glared daggers at Nightmare. “I knew you wouldn’t talk, but don’t worry, I’ll ask your companion.” And with that said, Nightmare slit his throat. Some blood splashed on her face, but she didn’t care, she only wanted to know how they got inside. The stallion’s head dropped on the floor and he spasmed for a few moments before going limp. His companion was still paralyzed and lying next to him. Nightmare undid the spell, but she held a firm grip on his body with her magic. She saw that this stallion was terrified, it was probably a new recruit. She placed the dagger on the floor and altered her way to get information. “If you tell me how you came inside, then I shall spare your miserable life." “T-the gates were open.” He expected to be released, but instead he got a hard slap on his cheek from Nightmare’s hoof. “Lies!! The gates were closed when I went back to the throne room and Applejack…” The gears in Nightmare’s head began working and everything shifted into place. Applejack felt sick, she needed some air and she was still gone. Nightmare asked one last question, she needed confirmation. “Did an orange mare help you?” The guard nodded. “Yes, I think her name was Applejack.” That struck Nightmare like a thunderstorm on a summer day. She heard Rarity fainting, but she momentarily didn’t care about her. Her eye twitched from rage and the dagger was once again against the throat of a pony. All traces of a kind Nightmare were momentarily gone and the evil had taken her place. The stallion tried to move his head away, but Nightmare kept it in place with her magic. “I-I thought you’d keep me alive.” The maniacal grin returned to Nightmare’s face. “I lied.” With one swift motion the throat of the stallion was slit and he suffered the same fate as his companion. She kept watching the stallion struggle against death until he was as dead as a dodo. She tossed the dagger between the bodies and turned to her guards. “Guards, dispose of these two bodies and find Applejack. I know she’s still in the palace.” The guards saluted and went to do their duties. Nightmare materialized a first aid kit and began disinfecting and stitching the cut on her flank. Applejack was very nervous now, her storage room wasn’t that far away from the throne room and so she heard the order Nightmare had shouted to her guards. She had two options. Her first option was staying in her hiding place, but with a high change of getting caught. The second option was running, but still with a change of getting caught. Of course her mind chose for the latter. She took a lantern from one of the shelves and lit it, the palace was very dark around this time. It was hard to trot on three hooves, but eventually she found a good rhythm and decided to open the door of the storage room. She peered out of the doorway and looked left and right, there was not a living soul in the hallway. Sighing, she trotted to the left and began to walk her way back to the front gate, maybe it was still unguarded. After a trot of 5 minutes she heard the clopping of hooves and it was heading her way. Luckily for her, there was a closet in the hallway. She opened it, extinguished her lantern and hid in the closet. The pony passed the closet and after waiting a couple of moments she peered her head out. The pony was gone and she got out of the closet. She lit her lantern again and continued her path towards the front gate. She was almost nearing her destination when she heard again the clopping of hooves on the ground and this time there was no closet near her. The earth pony guard turned around a corner and saw Applejack, the culprit, holding a lantern. Immediately he readied himself for a chase. “Halt, that’s an order from Queen Moon!” Applejack dropped her lantern and ran away from the guard. The guard started to chase her and he was gaining ground. Applejack looked behind her and saw the guard 5 feet behind her. She turned her head back to the way in front of her and was greeted by a low-hanging shelve. Rule number one of a chase: never turn around. The guard pinned her to the floor, but he did give her a tissue for her bloody nose. He blew on a whistle and in less than a second Nightmare Moon stood before them. Her wound was stitched, but her face was still bloody, her pupils were still small and the maniacal grin was still present on her face. “Excellent work, guard. I’ll see to it that you receive a reward. Now go, I’ll take it from here.” The guard bowed and trotted away. Nightmare lowered her head towards Applejack and spoke again with that venomous tone. “Now you’ll see why ponies call me Nightmare.” She cast a teleportation spell and they were gone. ***** Inside the throne room Twilight and Pinkie managed to wake Rarity up. Right now they were discussing what would happen to Applejack if Nightmare got her hooves on her and they all came to the same conclusion: Nightmare was going to kill Applejack. “I’m going to save her, she’s still our friend and maybe I’ll free Celestia at the same time.” Twilight said, she wasn’t bothering to whisper, because all the guards were currently looking for more assassins. Pinkie, however, wasn’t really happy with Twilight’s plan. “She’ll kill you too if you get in her way and I thought you had said that you were pretty sure Nightmare wouldn’t release Celestia willingly.” “Yes, willingly, I’m going to make her free Celestia. I’m one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria and even an evil Alicorn isn’t going to stop me from protecting my friends.” Twilight began to search the whole palace for Nightmare. If she found Nightmare, then she could teleport to her. “I do appreciate everything you want to do for us, but I still think that this is a bad idea.” It might seem strange for everypony, even for Pinkie, but this time she was the one with the brains. Pinkie’s argument fell on deaf ears, however, because Twilight was already gone. ***** Applejack was once again in that familiar room, the room that she had named ‘the punishment room’. This time she wasn’t attached to any poles or restraint in an embarrassing position. No, this time she could walk freely, if Nightmare hadn’t kept her in place with her magic. There was one thing that caught Applejack’s attention. Next to Nightmare, who was busy glaring Applejack down, float a sword. The sword looked so sharp that it could behead a pony in less than a second. In an instant Applejack knew that there wasn’t going to be any punishment today. The only thing on her mind right now was crying and begging for her life. “Alright, ah’m sorry. Ah’m terribly sorry, it was wrong of me to betray ya. Ah just wanted to s-stay with mah f-family-y-y. T-then these soldiers show u-up and show me the s-solution to all my problems. Ah’m s-so sorry, please don’t kill me-e-e.” Applejack was crying like a little foal and she could feel her heartbeat in her throat. She looked at Nightmare’s face, hoping to find the slightest bit of empathy in her face, but there wasn’t any, only a maniacal expression. Nightmare walked to Applejack’s side and kicked her in the ribs. Immediately all the air in her lungs disappeared and she cried even more. “Yes, cry like the foal you are. Cry for your family, who are going to be relocated to the Everfree Forest. Cry for your farm, that is going to be burned to the ground. Cry for your friends, who shall never see you again and cry for yourself, your miserable self.” Nightmare walked back to her floating sword. Applejack restored her breathing and started begging again. “No, not mah family. They didn’t do anything.” Nightmare’s left eye twitched and the sword floated to Applejack’s flank. It made a cut identical to the one Nightmare had on her flank. Eye for an eye, Applejack, eye for an eye. “Yes they did, they raised a treacherous unloyal bitch. I gave you so many chances to see things my way, I gave you so many rewards and still you put a knife in my back. Well news flash, Applejack, my patience with you is over and done.” She levitated the sword above Applejack’s neck and Appplejack closed her eyes in response, she knew what was going to happen next. “Now you die!” The sword went up and came back down with a crashing speed, but it stopped just above Applejack’s neck. The midnight blue aura around the swords had changed to a violet one. “What the-“ The sword began to move to the doorway and in the doorway stood Twillight Sparkle, savior of Applejack and Celestia, or so she thought. “That’s enough Nightmare, let my friend go.” She took on an a defensive position, with the sword levitated in front of her. Twilight expected that Nightmare would comply, but instead she began to laugh wickedly. “What’s so funny?” Nightmare’s laugh died down and that maniacal grin returned to her face. “Ha, did you really think I wasn’t prepared for this? When you were busy waking up your friend, I placed a spell on you. This spell will strip the victim of all its magical powers, but it only does that on my command.” Nightmare’s horn began to glow, Twilight’s horn stopped glowing and the sword fell on the ground. “See?” Twilight tried again to levitate the sword, but it didn’t move. Realization sunk in, she had doomed both Applejack and herself. Nightmare levitated the sword and held it very close to Twilight’s throat. “Now lie down next to Applejack so I can behead you both.” Twilight began to move towards Applejack, head hanging low. She had failed Equestria. She had failed the Princess. She had failed her friend, but more importantly, she had failed herself. She thought she could take on Nightmare on her own, but that was wrong of her and now she had to pay the price. Just when she was about to lie down she saw a pink blur running into the room and clenching itself against one of Nightmare’s legs. It was Pinkie that had clenched itself against one of Nightmare’s legs. “Please Nightmare, don’t kill them, they’re my friends.” Pinkie began to cry lightly. The maniacal grin disappeared, but the stern expression was still there. “Pinkie, as much as I adore you, I can’t let them live, they betrayed me.” Pinkie nodded in confirmation. “Yes, and that was very stupid of them, but give them at least one last chance. Do it for me, please.” Pinkie used the puppy eyes, it’s super effective. Nightmare sighed and released the sword from her magical grasp. “Alright, they get one last chance, but I keep them in the dungeons until I’m sure that they learned their lessons.” Pinkie nodded, stood on her hind legs and gave Nightmare a kiss on the cheek. Nightmare’s eyes widened and so did Twilight’s and Applejack’s. Normally Nightmare had to make ponies kiss her, but this one did it willingly. Nightmare shook her head, smiled warmly at Pinkie and trotted to the door. “I’ll send some guards to this room so they can take you to the dungeons, I'm pretty sure don't have the guts anymore to run. Pinkie, are you coming?” Pinkie shook her head. “No, I first need to talk to these two.” Nightmare nodded and teleported away. Pinkie then slapped Twilight and Applajack on the cheek. “You two were so stupid.” Immediately after that she pulled them into a hug. “I’m just so glad that you two are safe.” They stayed a few seconds in the hug and then Twilight pulled away. “Thanks Pinkie, if you weren’t here then Applejack and I would be dead. How did you even manage to reason with Nightmare?” Pinkie chuckled lightly. “Sometimes a mare just needs some love and friendship and that’s just the thing you two need to learn. Give love or friendship to Nightmare, 1000 years on the moon is a long time and you tend to get lonely after 1000 years on the moon.” “Well ah learned that betraying Nightmare is a very bad idea and ah won’t do it again.” The three chuckled at that remark and kept talking until the guards came. During the talk Twilight constantly thought about her dream and she knew that her guilt wasn’t going to go away anytime soon. (Applejack's cut was stitched in the dungeons.) ***** Equestrian State Building 11PM The General of the Celestial army was still waiting for a report about the assassination. It had been 3 hours since the assassination, so the report could land in his hooves any minute now. After some minutes a soldier knocked on the door of his office. “You may enter.” The soldier came inside and saluted. “Sir, I regret to inform you, but the assassination attempt was a failure. Our spies told us that Nightmare was too quick for them and the orange mare who helped them has been thrown in the dungeon together with another servant who also tried to stop Nightmare.” The General cursed in himself, but he knew that this was just a game of chess and there was always another turn. “Get some of your men ready, experienced men this time. You’re going to Canterlot and free those two servants, we can trade them for Ponyville. It will be a stealth mission.” The soldier saluted and trotted away.