Chapter 5
I slammed into the wall of the musty room, groaning from the impact. I could feel the quick, heavy beats of my pulse, curling in on myself as I tried to calm my breathing. Curse this affliction….
“Mmh~ Suffering.”
“You’re welcome, Nyx.”
I slowly sat up, and sighed. The dim room was barely lit by the moonlight filtering down from overhead, illuminating the sanctuary I had created centuries ago. A simple bed was tucked in the corner, a variety of shelves and desks decorated the other walls, covered in alchemical devices and long decayed ingredients. Books lined one of the walls, some in written English, and others in what would be now archaic equestrian. A recreation of a hobbit’s hole of sorts.
“So, what did you get to see in the years gone by?” A faint tapping came from the mirror.
Walking over to the chair before the mirror, I wiped the dust off the mirror to reveal an astral double of myself, with stars in her black hair, and icy, slit eyes that glowed with a purple light. Nyx joined me early in my days in this world, latching onto my vulnerable form and bolstering me when I should have died. While she was definitely a fragment of the Nightmare, she was a lot more friendly than she let on. “Not as much as I thought I would. I got to hear mostly how language had changed from field trips through the years, how we were remembered in history in broad strokes. Most of the exciting stuff was from recently.”
I pulled on one of my still functioning medical masks, and began casting some gentle wind magic, collecting the dust in the air and idly compressing it as I informed my other half about the events of just the last few years. “So.. Luna came back and was purified, Dizzy is still around and is somewhat reformed, I’m the last sentient remnant of the Nightmare, some crazy bitch named Chrysalis thought she could be a home wrecker, and Tirek escaped and supercharged the Element Bearers with magic friendship hair. Ew.”
“Pretty much. Meanwhile, Celestia, from what I could gather was a functionally useless princess. Again.”
“So what do you want to do? I mean, She failed her sister, was kidnapped and or disabled, and the only good she did was play a generations long chess game to ensure there would be heroes?”
“In summary, yes.” I opened another portal sigil, tossing the compressed dust ball in, and closed it, snickering. "I do think we should try peace again, although I'm pretty sure we're gonna meet a hostile response again."
“Where’d you send that?”
“Celestia’s bedroom.”
“Ooh. Spicy.”
Nyx drifted around the reflection of the room, getting comfortable in her own right. “Hm.. How are you feeling?” I felt the rush of a spell cast on me, reinvigorating me and allowing me to catch the breath I hadn’t even noticed I lost. “We still need to find a way to fix that disease of yours.” Nyx chuckled softly. “Medicine should have advanced enough by now.”
I rolled my eyes, pulling off my mask now that my sanctuary was as clean as it would be for now. I reached up and opened the skylight, allowing fresh air to fill the room, as the sounds of crickets and wind filtered down. “Well… I do need to get some rest.. I’ve effectively been awake for 300 years.”
“You want me to take control if something threatening comes?” The nightmare fragment queried, eliciting a nod from the now exhausted magus. “Get some sleep then. I’ll keep watch.” I curled up into my bed, sighing softly at the simple comfort almost immediately ripped me from reality in to the Dreamlands.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While Illua fell asleep, Nyx hovered around the room. The mirrors allowed her to be seen by Illua, but it was reality she always affected. She started up the fire, tossing the few fire bricks that Illua had made for emergencies. They burned for a long time, and provided warmth when firewood was not an option. Nyx smiled. She had grown fond of the young lady that was her host, despite their hostile beginnings. You’re so cute when you slee- hm? Flickering out of existence, she Immediately took possession of Illua’s body, drawing the sword on the uninvited guest, nestling the blade to his neck.
“Hey hey hey hey! It’s just me, your friendly, neighborhood Chaosman!”
“Oh. It’s just you Dizzy.” Nyx returned the body to bed, and reformed into her spirit form. “What makes you come visit us so late at night? You know Illua would have liked to talk to you too.”
The chaos spirit scratched the back of his head. “Look, I’m here to ask for that favor sooner than I expected.”
“Excuse me? You’re actually asking for help instead of demanding?” Nyx couldn’t help but giggle, doubling over as the laughter took root. Discord was not amused, his gaze deadpan.
“Yes, I’m asking for your assistance. I have some good friends that I don’t want you harming.” Discord summoned a cup of tea, leaning back into a chair that spontaneously manifested underneath him. This information caused Nyx to laugh even more.
“Oh Goddesses! You have Friends?! Is this a joke, Mr. Solo?!” Nyx looked over, her laughter dying down as she took in Discord’s unpleasant gaze. “You’re quite serious about this. What changed since I was the Nightmare and you the Embodiment of Chaos?”
“While I can ask you the same, I’m trying to be serious and not joking. I also don't have a lot of time. I have friends, and I’m repairing the trust I destroyed with Celestia and Luna, and that’s my request. There are six ponies who are blind followers of Celestia, who don’t really know the true histories of the world and how terrible we both were.” Discord summoned up a patchwork table, with a model of Ponyville, with six distinct ponies hovering above it. “This is Ponyville, a town that has developed in our stone ages. It’s near a vast orchard of apple trees, known as Sweet Apple Acres. These ponies are my friends, and the Elements of Harmony.”
Nyx looked over the model, raising an eyebrow at the crystal tree in the middle of the town. “So who lives in the gaudy tree house? Another corrupt governor?”
“Twlight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship. She’s one of my friends. The others of the Elements live in their own homes, in different portions of the town.” Discord directed each figure of his favorites to their homes in the town, before banishing the model. “Live has improved as a result of your actions, including Electricity, appliances, and even what the ponies call the ever wonderful INTER-“ Discord’s volume almost went to announcer levels, only for Nyx to snatch his snout, and hold it shut, pointing to the sleeping woman. “Apologies… The internet.” Discord coughed.
"Volume. Please."
“Either way, if you two become hostile, you can face two goddesses, a set of six ponies that are a living super weapon that can permanently alter your very being, such as enforcing absolute order by turning you to stone once again, and…” Discord put his face in Nyx’s, the pupils in his eyes replaced with the letters for death. “If you harm a single pink lock on my precious butter yellow Pegasus, I swear by all things I will make you two suffer for all eternity, in a manner that you shall never become desensitized to. Don’t test me.” Discord’s much more playful demeanor returned. “Beeeesides, I don’t think Illua would go back on our agreement. She’s a good sort, anyways, TTFN! Ta ta for now!” And with a snap, Discord was gone, but his voice wasn’t. “Oh and this isn’t a threat. It’s a promise.”
Nyx pinched her brow, groaning. “Oh she’s not going to be happy when she wakes up.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The fields were alight in a crimson glow, flames dancing along the blackened grass where the spilt blood wasn't. Bodies of ponies, griffins, and minotaur dotted the landscape, and vultures circled high in the sky. I stood painted in the gore of war, my eyes to the sky as thunder rolled in the dark clouds above me. The stench of rotting flesh and the sounds of futile cries of suffering echoed in this meadow. I simply stood upon this scar in the landscape, unbreathing. Unmoving.
Eventually, I realized I was lucid, and took my first breath in the nightmare of my memory’s creation. Why am I conscious?.. Nyx? Did you wake me?
“Ah… So you are the monster that my Sister fears.” I turned suddenly, drawing my blade defensively, to see the Princess of the Night casually strolling in my nightmare. I remained tense before the dream walker sat down beside me, studying the field of the dead.
“Why do you invade the first dream I finally had in years?” I was not ready for a confrontation. I could already tell I had been severely weakened from my time in stone
“We-- I came to talk to you actually. I’m upset that you harmed my sister, but I would like to see things from your perspective as well. Celestia and I never had that chance with most of the villains we had dealt with originally.” Luna’s thoughts manifested in this world, dousing flames and obscuring the world’s horror.
I blinked incredulously, surprised at the response. “You actually want to hear me out?”
“Yes. My sister told me and the Elements of Harmony the story of you being both a grand hero and a horrible villain. You brought magic and medicine to our ponies, and sought to destroy the corruption of the government my sister allowed to flourished.” Luna explained, the rain upon the landscape twisting to show her good deeds as per Illua’s memories. “Yet… You also brought war to the capital, and reveled in the violence, murder, and suffering of your victims. Are you truly the monster my sister should fear? Or are you the Hero that historians exalt you as?” The images of the battle replaced the visages of her good deeds.
“You’ve obviously been pulling from my memories for these Images, why don’t you find out?” I had glared at her, sheathing the blade once again.
The nocturnal mistress quirked an eyebrow upward. "I'd rather you be honest with me, than invade your privacy. Is that suitable for an answer?"
“That's fine. I’ll tell you myself.” I took a seat upon the boulder that we shared. "Are you positive? I don't want to taint your view of your sister."
“It would be remiss of me to ignore the testimony of a defendant, if I am to be an arbiter of justice. Take your time. We have more than enough.” Luna offered a wing, but I refused it, earning a shrug from the navy princess.
“It’s a long story, and starts from when I first arrived in Equestria, roughly 300 years ago…”
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Ah so now we get to see (next time) what brought Illua to declare war on Celestia and the "noble" elite of old Equestria Sinister laugh I need popcorn!
your
10304542
Thank you. I completely glazed over that.
10304869
A person can be mute in many different ways besides losing the ability to speak
Not bad, the meeding with discord went pretty good and was a bit smoother than last time. And I like that you're having the meetings happen simultaneously.
I spotted a few typos on my way through.
I think you mean stars.
Floating quotation there
Reading death? I think you mean radiating
Not bad too far, and I wonder what affliction she's got. You might want to give a little more detail on what kind of mask in the first section. A lot of isekai characters put on weird masks, you'd probably get away with saying medical mask or air filter or something of the sort without going into too much detail.
I like this version of Luna's entrance a little more than the last, but I think the dialogue falls a little short of expressing their feelings.
Like here, Luna doesn't really give an explanation as to why. It makes it feel, well, empty. Now, because I read the last version, I have some background as to why, but going straight through on a clean read through, it feels like a skipped explanation you'd see in an anime because it wasn't relevant to the plot and the episode was running out of screen time.
Oherwise, this is fantastic! I'm enjoying the story so far, and I'm excited for the next chapter.
10305030
Thanks for pointing these out.
minor mistakes I glazed over, or I didn't copy over properly <.<;;;
The discord line is intentional, Although I should really make it clearer....
10306084
I would suggest saying she "signed" instead of "replied" then since that's what she's doing. Thank you for responding to me
you are 10000000% right