Chapter Nineteen - Winter
“Step forth,” Nightmare Dusk commanded the Pegasus who was nervously lingering by the door. A nudge from a guard sent the Pegasus sprawling to her belly. She quickly got to her hooves, slightly red in the face. She hurried towards the throne and gave a brief bow. She was yellow, with a turquoise mane.
“Raindrops, is it?” The Queen inquired, and the pony nodded.
“Y-yes, your Majesty.”
“Right, so what did you want?” Dusk said as though she didn’t care at all.
“Well,” Raindrops started, “it’s about winter, actually. It’s awfully close…”
“So it is! I’ve been so busy I didn’t even realize,” Dusk laughed, a genuine laugh, not a cruel or dark one. It was a nice change, actually.
“Right. Well, I’m from the Ponyville weather team, and I came here to ask – to forget about snow. We don’t want it to snow,” she said quietly.
“What?! Absurd! Snowy winter skies are the most beautiful skies! Summer skies are cloudy; winter skies are clear and black! Why would you not being about the snow?”
“We can always keep the sky clear,” Raindrops said, and continued; “Ever since the sun stopped rising, the temperatures have been dropping. Snow is going to be unbearable!”
Nightmare furrowed her brow, thinking hard. Had the temperatures dropped? She hadn’t noticed if they had, part of her figured this mare was making it all up. Yet something tugged in the back of her mind telling her it was the truth, and not to be stupid. Yet at the same time: It would only be a little change, it’s not like they would freeze or starve, and it was only a minor change. They weren’t babies; they could handle a slightly colder winter.
Don’t be stupid, one side of her thought. The other was saying; They can handle it, it will just take some getting used to.
Don’t be an idiot.
They have already holed up their food for winter, it’s not like they’ll starve.
When spring comes around the cold will remain, nopony will be able to grow crops. We must do something,
They are capable of using magic,
No, they aren’t. But it’s not our problem for now.
More than a little conflicted, Dusk turned to Spike. “What do you think?”
“Oh, er, I guess if you raise the sun it won’t-“
“We won’t even consider it!” The Queen interrupted, and turned back to Raindrops. “We will consider your proposition, though. Winter is still a few weeks off, come back later and we will have decided.”
Raindrops slowly nodded, “Thank you… your Majesty,” she added with no large amount of gratefulness. She then turned and aloud the guards to escort her out.
Once she was gone, Nightmare Dusk leaned back in her throne, rubbing her temples with her hooves. “An understandable proposition, We suppose…” she muttered to herself. “We think they’ll all live, they’ve got food to last the winter.”
“Yeah,” Spike said, “Every winter we have to store a bunch of food to last us, since crops don’t grow in the cold.”
“Yes, We know that! But… oh, Cadance may have been right. What if the plants won’t grow in the spring?”
Spike had no answer, and neither did she. “Oh, what can we do…” she got to her hooves and started pacing in a circle in front of the throne. Very Twilight-like.
“Magic. Yes, magic.” She relaxed a great deal. “Magic, it always comes through. It can do this, We’re sure.” She sighed in relief. “Problem solved.”
“Wouldn’t it just be easier to raise the sun?” Spike deadpanned. “I mean, it wouldn’t make you any less the Queen. Besides, you could always just make the day longer. I hear over on some other parts of the planet nighttime lasts for thirty days!” he said.
“And,” he added, “You could earn the love of your subjects by mastering the sun. Right?”
Dusk couldn’t help but admit, he had a strong point. How could she earn the love of her subjects if she only subjected them to freezing cold and starvation?
“We…” she bit her lip. Then, a cold, biting anger rose in her chest. “No.” she said coldly. Inside her head she was scolding herself, but she refused to follow through.
“The sun has done nothing but blind and burn, we refuse to let him return!”
“But-“
“NO, SPIKE!” The Royal Canterlot Voice was as much a shock to Dusk as it was Spike, who was knocked off of his feet. Dusk coughed several times, her chest feeling like it would explode. “…Except our apologies,” she said slowly. “We should not have lost our temper at you.”
“It’s fine!” Spike got to his feet. “It’s okay, really!”
“…If we raise the sun, the night will be forgotten. Maybe we will bring it back once they learn to love us. In the meantime, hopefully they learn this lesson sooner rather than later.”
“So that’s your new logic?” Spike asked, “’Love us or die?’” Dusk didn’t answer, simply taking her place back on the throne.
“Your plan has holes,” Spike said. “Why not just go with my idea of making night last longer than day? Don’t you want to earn their love, not force it? And-“
“Alright, close your mouth!” Dusk snapped, silencing the baby dragon. “We cannot think about this right now, this is an argument for another time.”
“I wasn’t arguing, I was trying to help.” Spike muttered.
Nightmare sighed. “We know! We know, We are just frustrated.”
~~
Rainbow Dash kicked the clouds clear out of Ponyville’s sky, part of it out of frustration and the other out of grief.
Her best friend had been consumed by a nightmare. Her other best friend was held prisoner by said nightmare. Eternal night had spread across Equestria. And unless Raindrops was able to persuade the new Queen to either raise the sun or cancel winter’s snow, they were doomed to freeze and then starve.
She collapsed onto a small, soft but admittedly colder than usual cloud and sighed, closing her eyes tightly.
Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t you dare cry! She mentally scolded herself, yet ultimately failed. She buried her face in the plush-like softness, crying softly. It couldn’t be helped; this was all just too much.
“Stupid Nightmare, stupid elements, stupid, stupid, stupid…” Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, and fell asleep; hoping that when she awoke the sun would be high in the sky.
~~
Several hours later, her wish wasn’t answered.
“Rainbow Dash?” a hoof poked her shoulder. She slowly lifted her head, groaning.
“Whuh…”
“Rainbow Dash, it’s me.”
Rainbow Dash turned around and squinted in the darkness. The moonlight shone off of Raindrops’ turquoise mane, the only reason Dash could figure out who she was. “Oh, hey Raindrops,” she said dismissively before settling back down, head tucked in her hooves. A whole minute passed before she suddenly jerked her head up, springing into the air with a quick flap of her wings. “Raindrops! You’re back!”
“I am,” The darkish yellow Pegasus said grimly. Rainbow Dash’s heart sank.
“So, what did she say? Will she raise the sun, or can we postpone winter?” the cyan Pegasus asked urgently.
“She said she needed time to think about it, and to come back later.” She said with a sigh. The poor mare looked exhausted; having gone to Canterlot and back. Rainbow wasn’t entirely sure if Raindrops had taken the train or simply flown there, she’d left the other day. If it could be considered ‘day.’
“What?! Ugh!” Rainbow Dash put her face in her hooves, unsure whether to feel angry or defeated.
“This isn’t fair!” She kicked the cloud that had been her previous resting spot, and it whisked out of existence, small puffs of snow lingering in the air. All of the clouds were packed with snow, all prepared for the weather ponies of Ponyville to start the first snowfall. Dash sighed, “You can go home, Rain Drops.”
“Are you sure?” The yellow pony asked, “Do you need help getting rid of any more clouds?”
“No, I’ve already dealt with them, but thank you.” Rainbow Dash gave a playful salute, forcing a smile. Things weren’t all bad, she still had her friends. And as long as she had friends to protect she was not going to give up, no matter the cost.
“Alright, then. Catch you later,” Raindrops lingered for a moment, before turning and flying down towards her home. Rainbow Dash hovered in the air for several moments, feeling quite happy and not entirely sure why. She slowly lowered herself to the ground, and landed, feeling a chill rush through her hooves after landing upon the ice cold dirt that served as the Ponyville roads. She started walking, not a giddy trot nor a slow gait, she just walked. It occurred to her she never really walked much, always hovering in the air.
“Meh,” she said and continued forward, her destination only a few blocks away: Sugarcube Corner.
Finally she arrived, and knocked on the door once before entering. “Pinkie Pie?” she called, looking around. Despite everything, Sugarcube Corner had remained open; although currently Rainbow Dash was the only pony currently there.
“Dash? Is that you?” Pinkie trotted down the steps, looking relieved. “Oh, I was just thinking about you! And Fluttershy, and Rarity, and Applejack. Do you want something, like a cupcake or a fritter or a regular cake or a super cake or do you wanna hang out and be friends and-“
“Woah, slow down Pink! I’m just here for a visit.” She paused for a moment, before saying; “But a fritter sounds nice, too!”
“Okie dokie lokie!” the pink pony trotted towards the kitchen, and Rainbow Dash followed, noting that Pinkie wasn’t bouncing. Even her mane and tail seemed less bubbly. Not flat, just less bouncy.
“Soo,” Rainbow started, “I sent one of my girls to ask... ugh - the Queen – if we could postpone winter this year unless she raised the sun,”
Pinkie stopped. “Postpone winter? That’s terrible! Without snow we won’t have snowponies or snowball fights or snowcube fights or-“
“I know,” Rainbow Dash sighed, “but it’s already so cold out there and we haven’t even got the winter winds going. I’d rather not have any winter fun than freeze to death,” she took the apple fritter Pinkie handed to her and stuffed it in her mouth, chewing noisily.
Pinkie nodded sadly, “So what did she say? Will she raise the sun?! Surely meanie-pants like her love snow too! She can raise the sun and play in the snow! Or stop winter, which would just be plain crazy!”
“She hasn’t decided, apparently,” Rainbow Dash coughed, half-choking on the pastry she’d practically inhaled. “I’ll go there myself in a few weeks. And I’ll give her a piece of my mind, no matter what Cadance says!” She lifted into the air and threw a few punches as if to accentuate her point. Pinkie watched, eyes glazing over momentarily. “I hope Twilight doesn’t feel it,” she said sadly, only serving to make Rainbow Dash feel terrible.
“I hope Cadance and Shiny are okay, they’re staying at the library for now,” Pinkie said. Dash lowered herself to the ground once more, not quite sure what to say or talk about.
Pinkie looked at the clock, and said, “The Cakes took the twins to their parents – the Cakes parents, not the twins parents that wouldn’t make any sense and sounds silly! – to stay in Manehatten for now, they say too much dangerous stuff always happens to happen to Ponyville. So,” she started, heading out into the main dining area with Dash in tow. “I was thinking we invite everypony over for a sleepover? Not a party, just a sleepover! We still have to appreciate the things we still have, like each other!”
Rainbow Dash paused, “That’s not a bad idea,” she said. “Wait, by everypony you only mean Fluttershy, Rarity, AJ, Princess Cadance, and Shining Armor, right? Not all of ponyville?”
“Yup!”
“Well, okay. Here?”
“Of course, silly! Where else?”
“Okay then! You set things up here, I’ll go get everypony,” she said with a smile.
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At least she's somewhat warming up to the idea of a less cruel and oppressive rule.
Get it? Warming up? Ehhh....
1930365 Ba-dum-TSH
@Ledomare
I get it
anyway this Is AWESOME *this is sparta music in background* 
She is slowly beginning to be aware of the mistake that is Eternal Night. Soon, she will discover the three major problems of Eternal Night: low food supplies; increase aggression from predators, who will become highly vicious and 'adventurous' from starvation from the reduction of preys; and ultimately, the freezing temperature that not even the Windigo can survived in. And, boy-oh-boy, will her face flushed at the whole mess she have created!
I know you said that this chapter haven't been checked yet for spelling/grammar mistakes, but I hope you don't mind some C&Cs from me.
“…Accept out apologies,” she said slowly.
> Should be 'our', instead of 'out'.
> Another one is understandable, but looking at Google will tell you that 'Raindrops' is actually spell as one word; unlike the name 'Apple Bloom', which many have made the mistake and spell it as one word, which it isn't.
Heh, can't wait to see what will happen next!
...Nightmare is a child. That's exactly what she is. A child that lacks common sense and education.
Somepony please educate her.
Awaiting further releases.
heh I say more and more twilight is leaking into Nightmare... Night mare may have one the first battle but the war of wills isn't completely over.
1930749 1931383 1931431
The real Twilight Sparkle is finally starting to...*sunglasses*...work her magic.
YEAHHH!!!
1931383 I think Twilight will.
Oh, and I found a pretty common typo(I can understand it since this hasn't been proofread yet):
Either it should be "piece", or Dash is starting to become nice and doesn't want to battle Dusk anymore, but make peace
1931674
She seriosuly needs that. Or at the very least some tapping into the immense knowledge Twilight possesses.
I wonder if twilight wins and somehow forces NMM out would she still be an Alicorn? that would be interesting.
1930749 thanks for pointing those out, I shall fix them.
Aw, I have to completely go through and respell her name? XD I'll do it, for you guys
1931674 the whole 'piece VS peace' thing is one of the more confusing grammar bits for me, thanks for pointing it out
1931986
You're welcome. Oh, and there is a fast way to speed up the process with the name if you're interest: If you using Word, use the 'Find and Replace' and just simply type what you want to replace in one get-go. If you don't, I know that Notepad (and maybe Wordpad) also have the same function as well.
1931383 Well, if you think about it she was created by Luna out of jealousy and anger, in other words, childishness
1932062
Correct.
Se could potentially be a good ruler if she acquires the necessary knowledge and maturity though.
*applies science to equestria and eques(what i call their planet) and. Begins to rotate around the sun*
Yeah! f you, dusk i auto-win
So Nightmare is finally starting to see the "ups and downs" of ruling that were denied to her the first and second time of trying to take over. At the very least, she seems to be saving the literal 'love me or die' mentality as a last resort... which means she'd rather not actually kill anyone if she can help it.
Whether or not she'll swallow some of her pride and take Spike's advice, one thing's certain: THIS is where Nightmare will have character developement... I can feel it!
It's nice to see the other 'Elements' keeping in character while trying to cope with the situation..... though I sincerely hope your version of 'wavy haired' Pinkie is does not end up like Pinks(a third, middle personality) from "Breaking Twilight". I don't think I could handle HER being a bloodthirsty psychopath in THIS story.
..........
1939040 Character development yay!
Also, the way I see it, Pinkie Pie knows things are bad, she understands whats going on, but she's still trying to make her friends smile, and look at the positive side: She IS the Element of Laughter, after all
1940703 Makes or breaks the author? Now I'm scared
And nothing PO's me more than Pinkie-insane fics
Some of them are amusing, but the grimdark ones irritate me (And I like grimdark 
)
1940782 Oh, okay then
I'll do my best to do the development as well as I possible can 
1940793
Just take your time miss. No one here is gonna try to skin you alive just because you couldn't satisfy a reader.
You should always be wary of trolls though...
this situation seems familiar....... nightmare moon esque pony strugling with a desision to raise the sun or not... hmmmmmm... where have i seen that before?
cough cough *past snis*
what? i didn't say anything, i just coughed.
1946088 WHO TOLD YOU?! *Holds at gunpoint*
No seriously though; a few minor things in the story were inspired from Past Sins, but Past Sins was the first brony fanfic I ever read - three years ago - and I don't remember much, so any similarities are accidental, but not entirely coincidental if you catch my meaning
Since becoming queen, Nightmare Dusk has had a personality switch. When Twilight was losing it, she mercilessly beat Spike. Now as NMD, she wants approval and friends? Does the Nightmare just want what Twilight had before this fiasco? It seems as if they act differently depending on form; Twilight was mean and cruel, and not NMD is tempered and apologetic, to a point.
Might want to correct that.
.......
AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO FEELS A DEADPOOL LIKE RELATIONSHIP FROM THAT?!