//------------------------------// // Nightmare Moody // Story: The Melancholy of Princess Twilight Sparkle // by BakaBoy //------------------------------// Déjà vu That summarizes my situation perfectly, being carried in the magical aura of a particularly pedantic pony princess... Who happened to be laughing maniacally while galloping along with her asymmetric accomplice Discord as they both were trying to evade the capture of a fundamentally flustered filly who just happened to be throwing rather dangerous looking bolts of magic towards our fleeing group. Although I must admire the fact that Princess Luna was perfectly demonstrating that anger was indeed compressible. The bolts of magic ("The Royal Canterlot Taser"...patent pending) were steadily streaming from Princess Luna's horn as she continued her chase. Pots perished, statues suffered, walls wrecked, tapestries totaled, carpets combusted, and yet the two meddlesome monarchs were not marked even once. I wish I could say the same for myself... I had to commend Princess Twilight for creating the spell, the ability to subdue a creature or pony reliably at a distance without risking serious injury to either of the two individuals in conflict was perfect for the relative utopia of Canterlot. I just wish that Princess Twilight didn't teach Princess Luna the spell... I had been hit about four times now due to the erratic movements of my female form bobbing around in the air... embarrassingly enough it was mainly my bu... posterior... that was being struck. Fortunately since the spell contained a numbing sensation after being struck the second bolt onward was hardly noticeable. "GET BACK HERE YOU CHARLATANS!" Squeaked Princess Luna behind us, I couldn't help but giggle at how Princess Luna now sounded in combination of her Royal Canterlot Voice. The thing about the Canterlot Castle corridors is that they all look the same, if you're running (or in my case, being carried) at high speeds through the corridors it can be very difficult to determine exactly how far and how long you have been going for. So I just decided to just sit back and try relax as much as my stinging posterior would allow while the endless cycle of being chased continues. The sudden sound of glass shattering and an abrupt scenery change indicated a change in the chase. Corridor walls became shrubberies, the floor became a carpet of green grass and the statues... Well they stayed pretty similar actually. Princess Twilight's aura still held me fast so I had no chance of escape... or ability to dodge any of the incoming projectiles that Princess Luna was spawning. Looking forward I could see exactly where the devious duo (plus cargo of pegasus mare (me)) were heading, the Royal Hedge Maze. Infamous for being near impossible to navigate due to its magical nature shifting the maze paths without anyone noticing and made doubly hard after Discord added his own personal touch of booby traps, if anyplace could dissuade pursuit, especially from a moody monarch, it would be the maze. The snap and crackle of rearranging branches was the only indicator of the maze rearranging itself as we entered, the entrance behind us closed before Princess Luna could pass through. A quick look behind ensured our temporary escape until the hedge wall promptly combusted and a scream could be heard from beyond the wall. "I WILL GET YOU YET!" The pace of the chase slowed down considerably now that we were safe within the maze, the Princess and Discord were both still giggling among each other and slowly progressing through the maze. There wasn't really a specific direction that they seemed to be heading but I had no say in the matter since I was still being suspended in the air by the Princesses magic. "So Princess, who's the mare?" Discord suddenly asked while pointing a thumb in my direction. The sudden pause in the Princesses step gave me a slight suspicion that I was completely forgotten. Her sheepish smile as she turned and nervous chuckle as she faced me only confirmed my suspicion. "Aheheheh... Hi Blunt, how long have you been here for?" She asked, face tinting red with embarrassment. I was flabbergasted, didn't you have to concentrate to carry something in magic? It explains why I was carelessly being tossed around the sky though, her magic field must subconsciously act like her tail judging by all the bobbing and weaving I was doing through the air. "Wait, you were carrying me on accident?" The surprised squeak in my voice was embarrassing, doubly so by the fact that I myself found it quite cute. I am a stallion not a mare, I don't do 'cute'. "I thought you were a book" Princess Twilight muttered while awkwardly pawing the ground. Discord's cheeks suddenly inflated as he doubled over in laughter while my face turned red in embarrassment while a frown slowly adorned my brow. "How could you mistake me for a book?" I asked while Discord suddenly stopped laughing for a second and looked directly at me and started slowly scanning down my body (which was creepy enough with the small grin he had plastered on his face) until his eyes settled upon my flank, specifically my cutie mark. At that point his eyes bulged out and he started howling with laughter as he fell over clutching his sides. Rolling around in the dirt his arm detached from his body and floated over beside me while pointing a quivering talon at my face. Discord could barely speak as his laughter caused him to stutter uncontrollably. "You mean, this is the guard that you were dragging around the castle last week? Isn't she, sorry I meant he missing a couple of parts?" his words were barely understandable and I had to think about what he said before anything made sense to me, it didn't help that his floating arm started poking me in the sides. Meanwhile Princess Twilight started grinning and poking Discord with her hoof to stop him from rolling around. "Well... He is a lot lighter as a mare now, and the book was pretty heavy too" chuckled Princess Twilight. So wait, I weigh about the same as a book!? "Oh yeah, I probably should grab the book now just in case shouldn't I?" said the Princess, seemingly to herself. With a flash a very large book appeared, after seeing the size of that tome I could see why I could have been mistaken for the book. "That's a BIG book..." I muttered, the cover spinning into view as Princess Twilight turned the book in a second aura of magic. "It's been a while since I've read this" Princess Twilight said nostalgically . 'The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide.' Oh. She still was on her quest to find the Elements then? Princess Twilight's ears suddenly perked up as if she heard a distant noise, the glow of her horn suddenly faded and I was unceremoniously dumped on my rump as the levitation magic holding me in place dissipated. Even Discord stopped rolling around as his ears rotated around trying to find the source of the apparent noise that they could hear but I couldn't. A sudden blast to our left along with the ensuing cloud of smoke from the maze wall being obliterated slightly further down the maze was a clear sign of what both the Princess and Discord were trying to hear. An evil chuckle could be heard as a small figure strode out of the cloud, head held high in confidence and eyes filled with malice. "What's black and blue and is about to show you the definition of pain?" Princess Luna, now donning her full Nightmare Moon regalia, squeaked out. The only problem with her threat was the fact that a small filly wearing over-sized armor would never look threatening. Seeing the image of her clumsy movements over broken branches set something off inside me as a I failed to stifle a chuckle. That of course, was the breaking point for Princess Luna who began to seethe in rage. Her eyes glowed as a dark aura covered her horn, a single bolt of magic shot into the sky and exploded and suddenly the air was filled with members of Princess Luna's night guard. A single bat-pony landed beside the filly princess and bowed while still keeping his eyes on us. "Corporal Leviathan" said Princess Luna through gritted teeth (still looked adorable in filly form) "Take your squad and apprehend these scoundrels!"