Nightmares

by unoservix

Chapter 16: Questions and Answers

Nightmares
———

Chapter 16: Questions and Answers

———

No one could really blame Twilight and Trixie for wanting to just go back to their room and go right to sleep—not after running for their lives inside a mountain from a giant remorseless reanimated dragon skeleton. That meant Princess Celestia's spell would have to wait, but the princess herself didn't appear to mind.

Nor did Rarity, because at least it gave her the afternoon free for window shopping. Canterlot was where the finest clothiers made their name and it never hurt to know what the competition was doing. She trotted down the streets in the stylish business district, glancing approvingly or disapprovingly at the designs in the windows as their quality warranted, and quite enjoyed the crisp spring air wafting by at Canterlot's lovely elevation.

And yet window shopping didn't have all its usual charm today, because she remained distracted—and so she returned to the castle with a frown, filled with doubt...and that was how she bumped into Princess Celestia.

"Ah, Rarity," the princess said with an indulgent smile as Rarity went through the perfunctory bow, "I've been looking for you."

"Y-You have?"

"Yes," the princess extended a wing and guided Rarity along down a hallway, "I understand you've been involved in this whole ordeal with Twilight Sparkle and Trixie, and I've meant to ask about it." The princess frowned pensively. "How has she been doing?"

"Oh," Rarity fidgeted, "well, err, they seem to be getting along just fine."

Celestia arched an eyebrow. "Not a ringing endorsement."

Rarity hung her head. "I must confess, Your Highness, I can't help but worry. I'm no stranger to romance and matters of the heart, and I can't help but fear that Twilight is...setting herself up for a fall."

"How so?"

"She's...very attached," Rarity said with a grimace, "and I'm not sure Trixie is the kind of pony who would reciprocate with such an attachment." She glanced up and frowned at Celestia's inquisitive expression. "Twilight has apparently been afraid for some time now that once the Nightmare is eliminated, Trixie will have no reason to stay in Ponyville. She doesn't appear to like us and she's got quite a case of wanderlust, so..."

"So Twilight fears that Trixie doesn't take their relationship as seriously as she does."

"Y-Yes."

Celestia went thoughtfully silent.

"I mean, Twilight is not the most...socially graceful of ponies," Rarity went on nervously, "and I can only imagine how much it would devastate her if it turns out she's right, and..."

"And you don't want her to get hurt."

"Right."

Celestia smiled. "You're a good friend to be so concerned about her feelings," she said, "but I'm afraid the lessons Twilight Sparkle learns from this affair are lessons she can only learn for herself. And what Trixie does once she's free of the Nightmare is entirely up to her."

Rarity looked down at the floor sadly. "I know."

"That's the hard part, isn't it?" sighed Celestia.

———

The steam vent burst open into a shattered rocky chamber ringed with torches, and Lapis Lazuli watched with bemusement as Nightmare Inferno vaulted up out of the darkness and landed in front of her, flames dancing wildly from his mane and tail.

"Brilliant!" he cackled. "Absolutely brilliant! The vent goes all the way down to the magma chamber! It's still active, Lazuli, even after all these years, Celestia couldn't stop it all up!" He turned around towards the rest of his minions. "Well, good news, my friends: we're skipping ahead to the climax of our play!"

Barbell and his followers glanced around awkwardly at each other. "Uh, yeah, about that," the muscular pony began, "a lot of those skeletons—"

"Don't worry about them, I'll take care of that," Inferno said with a wave, and then he hopped up onto a large rock and turned towards Barbell and his ponies again with a dramatic sweep of his wings. "I know you've been waiting for this day for a long time—and it's finally here! You've slogged through the mud and infiltrated towns, you've stolen potion ingredients and cut throats and waited patiently for the day when your faith would be rewarded! All of Canterlot's riches, all the wealth of the mightiest city in Equestria, will soon be yours, my friends—as a token of the thanks of Nightmare Inferno for your faithful, tireless service!" He whirled around with a maniacal grin. "Now! One last push is all we need! All of Canterlot's gold, all of its silver, all of its jewels, all of it will be yours! Break open those vents and let's get this party started!"

With a hearty shout, Barbell and his ponies rushed off towards the vent. Inferno smirked as they dug in, with a disdainful Lazuli at his side.

"Bunch of ingrates," she growled under her breath.

"Now now, Lazzie, be nice," Inferno whispered back. "Soon we won't need them at all." He nodded towards the vent. "Everything will work out once he has his way."

Lazuli looked skeptically towards the vent. "Assuming they can crack the vents open enough."

"Oh, by now it's all over," Inferno chuckled. "There's a weak point. All that remains is to hammer it relentlessly until it gives way. And that, dear Lazuli, is all on him." He grinned as a puff of steam burst up from the vent, with six ponies frantically clawing it open. "You know, up there they say revenge is empty and meaningless." Lazuli glanced at him inquisitively. "I guess it's easy to think that, when you've never had the occasion to want it. But we," he turned towards the shadows, "are going to prove them wrong."

———

Sleeping during the day always screwed up Twilight's internal clock, and that always meant she would wake up at some point during the night and not get back to sleep for hours. As she headed out of her room in time to see the brilliant purple sky after the sun had dipped down beneath the horizon, she idly wondered if being in love was supposed to result in so little sleep. And so as she stepped outside with a yawn, she immediately ran into Princess Celestia.

"P-Princess!" she exclaimed. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you—" She blinked. "W-wait, what are you doing here?"

Celestia laid a wing over her most faithful student with a soothing smile. "Am I unwelcome?"

"N-no, not at all, it's just—"

"Don't worry," Celestia chuckled, "I just wanted to talk." She guided Twilight towards a balcony, under Luna's dazzling constellations. "So how are things with Trixie?"

Twilight bit her lip. "F-Fine..."

"They don't sound fine."

Twilight hung her head and leaned on the rail, suddenly feeling very tired. "Well, I...princess, I don't think I was ready to fall in love."

Celestia smiled. "What makes you say that?"

"It's...it's so strange. And so stressful. And I'm scared that it's all going to end badly." She blinked away her tears. "Trixie doesn't like any of my friends and she doesn't want to stay in Ponyville. And...if she leaves, what does that make the last few weeks of our lives? Is she only staying around with me until she's got her magic back?"

The princess arched an eyebrow inquisitively. "But you still unhesitatingly brought her here," she said, "and you chased after that other unicorn in hopes of eventually restoring her magic."

Twilight scrubbed away the tears. "I know, princess," she said, and blushed as another memory bubbled to the surface. "I...during the train ride up here I used a conduit spell so that Trixie could use a little magic again, for a little while."

Celestia's eyebrows rose. "The conduit spell?"

"Y-Yes...I know it was dangerous, but I had to do something for her, and," she smiled sadly, "at least now she can't say I've never done anything nice for her, right? A-And it made her so happy, and...I can't let her just be a unicorn without any magic, cooped up in the library all the time. That's not her. I have to let her be her. And..." She squeezed her eyes shut. "And I don't even know if that's who I fell in love with."

"What do you mean?"

"She...said that she hadn't been herself ever since that first night in Ponyville," Twilight explained. "A traveling, boastful magician, I guess. That's what got me to try the conduit spell. And," she wiped away another tear, "when we finished, she told me that no matter what happens with your spell, it was something that she'd never forget. And I just wish I could know, somehow, once and for all, what it is she's really thinking. How she really feels. Because if I knew that she would just leave as soon as she had her magic back, then," her ears drooped and the tears came again, "then at least I could accept it." She looked back up at her beloved mentor. "And that's why I feel like I wasn't ready for this."

Celestia smiled reassuringly and pulled her student close for a hug. "Oh, Twilight," she sighed, "everyone wishes they would've known what to expect from the feeling of love."

"I wish someone had figured it out," Twilight mumbled. "And written a book."

"And what would that book have said?" Celestia asked. "Would you have let some pony you've never met, writing who knows how many years ago, tell you what you're supposed to feel? Who would've been able to tell you that you'd fall in love with a boastful, prideful showmare that brought so much trouble with her?"

Twilight pursed her lips. "Rarity, probably. I bet this is all in those blasted romance novels of hers. I knew I should have read them."

Celestia chuckled. "Oh, you'll find some things in there," she said, "but certainly not what you need. But it sounds to me like this problem has a simple source." She grinned. "You're thinking too much."

Twilight's ears went flat. "What?"

"It's true. You're thinking too much. Tell me, did you offer to use that conduit spell for Trixie out of some calculation to convince her not to leave Ponyville after her magic had been restored?"

"N-No! Of course not! I just wanted to make her happy!"

Celestia smiled. "And that's what it's all about, isn't it? That's what it means to fall in love someone: to feel yourself completed by the one pony in the world whose happiness you'd give anything—even your own magic—to ensure. And that's exactly what you did, Twilight Sparkle. Isn't it?"

Twilight stared down awkwardly at the floor. "I guess...I just wish I felt that way."

"But making her happy is what you wanted," Celestia said, "and that's what you have to do."

Twilight frowned and the tears returned once more. "Even if that means letting her go?"

Celestia's smile faded. "That's what you'll have to decide," she said, "together."

———

Night had long since fallen and a restless Twilight had long since gone back to bed when Princess Celestia decided to finally turn in for the night herself—but not before one last detail. In one of the darkening hallways of the castle, Celestia received Shining Armor's salute with a grim nod. "Report?"

"My troops have finished searching the city," he said. "They haven't found a single entry to the catacombs that hasn't been blocked by fallen rubble. If there was anyone down there before the collapse, there's no way they could get out. They'd have to dig their way out, and my troops are posted at every possible passage."

Celestia frowned. "Not even through the underground river, the way Twilight and Trixie got out?"

"Not at all, Your Highness. The ceiling came down behind them. If Nightmare Inferno was down there during the collapse, he must be trapped."

The princess frowned pensively. "Perhaps," she mused, "but I will take no chances with Canterlot's security. I will put General Mountainhide in command; half the troops here are his anyways. And I want triple patrols from the Royal Guard."

"Yes, Your Highness," Shining Armor said with a bow, "but what will we be looking for?"

"Anything." She glanced out a window, over the grand sweep of Equestria as it slumbered under Luna's watchful eye. "The Changelings caught us off guard. That must never happen again."

"Of course, Your Highness."

He saluted one more time and took his leave, and left Celestia standing alone in the hallway. Bad enough that she remained unsure just who Nightmare Inferno was—or used to be—and what it was he wanted. All she knew now was that Inferno, like the rest of the Nightmares, wanted to satisfy the anger and hatred that empowered him. And when a Nightmare sought that, it usually meant someone would be endangered—the only question was who, and how.

Celestia grimaced at the thought. Standing around and waiting for the opponent's next move was the worst way to play the game.

———

It did not fail to occur to Twilight Sparkle that her trips to Canterlot of late had a nasty tendency to get longer and more involved than she had expected. She'd gotten here two days ago and, in light of her exhaustion and late arrival, Princess Celestia had just sent her off to rest; then she and Trixie went running around the tunnels and caves beneath the city, and that wore them both out, so Celestia just sent her to rest again. And yet this whole thing had started with a spell she'd offered that might finally solve this entire problem once and for all.

But surely today would be the day. Twilight had destroyed Nightmare Inferno's lair and trapped him deep underground. That was, so far, the end of one Nightmare; now they just had to get rid of the second. And nothing could possibly interfere with that now.

Twilight stepped back out onto the balcony under the gleaming morning sun, where Trixie already stood, brushing her mane. "Well, at least we don't have to go running through mountains and whatever else today," Twilight said with a cheerful smile.

Trixie glared down at the city. "We'd better not. I'm still stiff from all that running yesterday."

Twilight nervously came to a stop at Trixie's side and thought back to Celestia's words last night. Together. They'd have to decide together. That was the important part.

"Um, so my friends and I were thinking of spending the day on the town if the princess's spell doesn't take too long," Twilight began. "Do you want to come?" Trixie frowned, but said nothing. "It might be a good idea," Twilight went on, ears drooping, "you know, to get to know them..."

"Do you not remember how I treated them during my show?" Trixie asked with an arched eyebrow. "To say nothing of how they've treated me since then—"

"Trixie, they're my friends! If you won't get along with them, then..."

"Then what?" Trixie turned around to face Twilight. "Then you're afraid I'll leave? Are we having this conversation again?"

"Well, we never actually finished having it," Twilight said, fidgeting.

"That's because we don't have to. You do." Trixie turned resolutely back towards the railing. "It's your decision."

"No it's not. It's ours. Both of us." Twilight stepped up next to her for a hug. "I want you to stay, but I know you wouldn't be happy if you did. And I want you to be happy more than anything else. So..."

Trixie stared back skeptically. "Since when did you have this self-destructive streak?"

"I'm serious!"

"I know," Trixie looked away in mounting irritation, "that's the worst part. I don't want to think about the future, and that's all you want to do. All I want is my magic back, and an open road before me. You want plans and categories and putting everything in neat little boxes." She shook her head. "That's not going to work."

Twilight looked down sadly towards the city below. "I know. That's why..." She wiped away a tear and steeled herself; as long as she could say the words without breaking down in hysterics, maybe this wouldn't be too bad. "That's why if you really want to leave after we get your magic back, I won't stop you."

Silence hung over them both for a moment. "You really are worked up over this, aren't you?" sighed Trixie.

"O-Obviously..." Twilight closed her eyes. "I...I guess I just want to know what I really mean to you. Because if I knew, if I really knew for sure, then...I guess then I could accept it if you left me."

Trixie sighed and stared disdainfully towards the sky. "Must all our conversations be this dramatic?"

"It's important!" Twilight cried. "I...I don't even..." She shook her head and swallowed another lump in her throat. "Do you remember what you said right before I suggested the conduit spell?" Trixie blinked at her. "You said you haven't been yourself, ever since that Ursa came through Ponyville. And I used that spell so that you could be yourself again, at least for a little while. But if the real you is someone who wouldn't be happy with me..."

"Twilight," Trixie sighed, "this isn't about you."

"W-What?"

"It's not." She turned around and pulled Twilight close enough for a hug. "Look, I don't really know how to put this nicely, so I'll just be blunt. Stop worrying so much." She frowned. "If being in a relationship has made you so unhappy, then maybe it's not something you should have done in the first place."

Twilight blinked. "W-What's that supposed to mean—"

"You keep talking about how you want to make me happy," Trixie said, "but that's only half of the problem. The other half is that you aren't happy." She waved in frustration at Twilight. "You're a nervous wreck. You don't sleep right, you don't eat right, you worry yourself sick about what happens when I get my magic back, and now you're on this self-sacrificial 'if you love something, let it go' kick." She shook her head. "I told you what I wanted already. I want my magic back and I want to hit the road, get back to doing shows, all the things I did before I showed up in Ponyville. I want everything to go back to the way it was before I ever walked into that blasted town. And maybe that'll be better for both of us." She arched an eyebrow. "I dare say you seemed happier before we decided we were in love than after."

Twilight hung her head and made no effort to hide her tears. "I-I guess I can't argue with that..."

"And besides," Trixie added, and pawed at the floor awkwardly, "you're...well, you're too nice to have to go through all this anyways."

"I-I am?" Twilight asked with a blush.

"Well, you could've made like your friends and just fried me with the Elements," Trixie said with a roll of her eyes.

"I know," Twilight said, "but...well, if you really are going to leave once your magic is back, I just want to know what I really meant to you, before you go." She frowned. "So...so at least I'll always know."

Trixie sighed. "For heaven's sake, Twilight, you act like I'm just going to wink out of existence the moment I get my magic back."

"Y-You're not going?"

"I don't know! I don't even want to have this conversation!" Trixie turned around with a huff. "Only you could have taken a cute little summer love affair and turned it into an existential crisis."

Twilight's ears went flat. "Gee, thanks." She cast her eyes down towards the city. "I just...don't know what I'm doing here, I guess. And I don't want to do something wrong, and...drive you away."

Trixie glanced over her shoulder back at Twilight. "If you were going to drive me away, you would've done much worse things to me long ago than get on my nerves now with your weird paranoia."

Twilight cringed. "W-Was that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Take it however you like. I don't want to have this conversation."

Silence again. Twilight plucked up her courage. "Trixie, you've never said it before, and no matter what else happens, I need to know. Do you love me?"

Trixie twitched nervously. "Twilight...I—"

They both fell silent at the sound of a quiet rumble—a quiet rumble that slowly got louder. Twilight and Trixie both peered over the edge of the balcony—where, far below, the streets of Canterlot were alive with motion. And far down below in an intersection, the ground splintered open and a white pony skeleton pulled itself out of the ground.

"Wha—what the heck is that?!" Trixie cried.

"Pony skeletons...?" Twilight's eyes lit up in recognition. "Wait! Inferno! He attacked us with a reanimated skeleton, and he had all those other skeletons down there with him!"

Trixie grimaced. "I thought we buried him."

"And yet he comes back at the exact moment I ask you such an important question," Twilight grumbled. "Well, come on—"

Another crash sounded and caught their attention. Both ponies whirled around in surprise—where the floor behind them split open and three pony skeletons crawled out, flames dancing in their empty, black eye sockets.

———

Author's Note:

aaaargh so late, and such a short chapter too

school happened, and it's still happening, but hopefully i can get the next couple chapters out faster.

Comments

[ForSpite]

Said it before, I'll say it again-- it's a little frustrating that neither of them is bringing up the possibility of Trixie, say, touring part of the year and spending the other part with Twilight (winter's probably a miserable time to pull a wagon). Still, they both have opposite issues-- Trixie doesn't want to talk at all and Twilight over thinks everything, which seems true to the show.

I'm glad to see more of Inferno's plan falling into place and look forward to seeing this mysterious 'he' Inferno's been trying to free all this time who has something to do with the volcano deep within the mountain.

[RTStephens]

It sucks to be lovers in a world where the impossible happens on a daily basis. No time to get through a life-changing conversation!

I mean really, these villains have no sense of decency!

Anyway, another nice "cool down" chapter before getting into the actiony bits again. Let's see just were this all takes us!

[Reisentanith]

I can't help but think that inferno is not the type to keep minions alive, Don't volcanoes sometimes have poisonous gasses in the vents?