Naractia's Nightmare-(Night)

by Shadowflame

Preparations and Worries

Rowan woke up in his bed the next morning. He'd gone to bed a few hours before sunrise, which wasn't nearly enough sleep for him. But still, he groggily got himself up, knowing that he needed to transcribe the Liber Tenebrarum, just like he did everyday.

The night before, Rowan had explained to Twilight the situation about Naractia and the drones. After a few questions from Twilight, Rowan returned to his house, dead tired, and fell asleep.

Getting off his bed, Rowan walked out of his bedroom and into the study, to do his daily task of transcribing the Liber Tenebrarum. As Rowan walked into his study, he remembered that he was supposed to get preparations ready for Nightmare Night with Twilight. And on top of that, he had promised to go check on Naractia and Zecora. Rowan sighed as he realized that his day was going to be practically full.

Oh, well. Rowan shrugged, I should try to transcribe the Liber Tenebrarum as fast as possible.

He looked at the clock in the study. It read 8:20, and Twilight was supposed to come over at 9:00 to help oversee preparations with him.

Rowan smiled, It usually takes me about half an hour to fully copy the page, so I'll have plenty of time. His stomach growled at him, making Rowan chuckle, Although, I should still work fast. I want to be able to eat before Twilight gets here.

In an instant, Rowan brought out all of the required materials for his daily task: One quill, two pieces of parchment, the Book of Shadows, and the page of the Liber Tenebrarum. With everything on his desk, Rowan quickly began to transcribe the page in a frenzy.

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Naractia woke up lying down on a bed, inside Zecora's hut. The hut was surrounded by thick trees, but as Naractia looked outside, she could tell it was morning from the faint light that trickled through the canopy of branches and leaves. Yawning loudly, she got out of bed, "I wonder how Zecora's doing right now."

But as Naractia got up, she remembered something, "Oh, yeah. I need to get some things for Zecora before I go back." She looked around at the inside of the hut until she spotted a saddle bag by the front door. She walked over to the bag and opened it, revealing an wide assortment of herbs and plants. Satisfied for finding it, Naractia closed the bag and left it by the door, making a mental note to bring it along when she left for the grove.

"All right, with that settled, now I just need to find some food for Zecora." Suddenly, her stomach growled, "Oh, yeah. I should probably get something to eat for myself."

Naractia walked around the inside of the hut, looking for anything edible. It was difficult for her, seeing as she had only spent a minimal amount of time among ponies and she never really paid attention to what they ate. Plus, Zecora's hut was filled with hundreds of different things that could be mistaken for food.

There was a plant on a shelf with several heart shaped leaves, but Naractia didn't think that it was common around town, so she assumed that it wasn't food and left it alone. There was a pouch of seeds in a cupboard, but when Naractia picked it up, a few seeds spilled out and fell to the floor. As soon as the seeds made contact with the ground, they burst in loud snaps, making Naractia jump back a to the opposite side of the hut.

Naractia let out a deep breath, "Okay, I doubt that's food." Cautious not to spill anymore seeds, Naractia put back the pouch. "Come on, Naractia." She sighed to herself, "If I were in a hut filled with dangerous ingredients for potions, where would I put some normal food?" She thought for a moment. The most logical answer to her was to keep the food in a secluded place, away from any dangerous plants.

Naractia scanned the inside of the hut until her eyes caught sight of a small cupboard on the opposite side of the hut. Naractia smiled as she made her way over to the cupboard. She opened it to find a few shelves filled with ordinary food, like bread, fruit, and veggies.

Naractia looked through the cupboard, "All right, I shouldn't take too much. Just enough for me and Zecora... Well, maybe I'll take some extra, just in case."

Being careful about the amount of food she took, Naractia grabbed a loaf of bread, a few carrots, and couple of apples and stuck them in a sack. Carrying the sack with her magic, she walked over to the door, pulled the saddle bag up onto her back, and raced out the hut, on her way to the grove where Zecora was waiting.

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Rowan sighed with relief as he put down his quill, having finished his daily transcription. He looked at the clock in the study. It read 8:40, which made Rowan raise his eyebrows.

"Hm... I finished in twenty minutes. That's a new record." He shrugged, "Anyways, I should eat something before Twilight gets here."

He quickly put away the Book of Shadows on his bookshelf and deposited his two usual letters, along with the page of the Liber Tenebrarum, in his storage spell. With everything in their place, Rowan ran downstairs to eat breakfast.

Rowan came down the stairs and into the main room of his house, walking to the kitchen on the other side of the room. But as he crossed the room, a deep snoring stopped him. Rowan turned his head to see Shade, sleeping on the couch.

Rowan smiled at the wolf, "Guess I should leave some sausages out for you before I go." Rowan walked for the kitchen, shaking his head, "Although, I don't see why I even bother. Shade usually gets his own food from the forest." Shrugging, he continued into the kitchen, "Anyways, I should eat breakfast quickly. Twilight will be here any minute."

Once he was in the kitchen, Rowan opened the fridge and muttered to himself as he tried to find something to eat, "Hm... Eggs?... No, I don't have time to cook them. Plus, I don't feel like cleaning up afterwards... Cereal?" He thought to himself, "Okay, cereal it is."

He grabbed a carton of milk out of the fridge as he levitated a box of cereal, a bowl, and a spoon onto the table. He quickly poured himself a bowl and began to eat. But as Rowan put the first spoonful of cereal in his mouth, his mind began to wander back to Naractia and Zecora.

He thought to himself, "I wonder how they're doing. Have the drones even woken up yet?" He certainly hoped that they hadn't. Rowan had only spent a short amount of time among changelings, but he had been around them long enough to know not to underestimate them. They seemed to be able to weasel their way into anything, as well as get out of anything just as easily. They could slip past anything and hurt any pony as they pleased

But Rowan shook his head, "Come on, Rowan. Don't worry about them. Naractia's been around changelings her entire life. She's sure to know how to handle them. Plus, Zecora's with them. That zebra can handle almost anything." But Rowan's attempt to calm himself didn't help. He still worried about them, both Naractia and Zecora.

Within a few minutes, Rowan had finished his bowl of cereal. Once he'd drank the last bit of milk, he levitated his empty bowl over to the sink and put away the cereal and milk in the respective places.

Having finished his breakfast, Rowan walked out into the main room and slumped down on the couch, still dead tired from his lack of sleep. Despite his desire to fall asleep right there, he kept himself awake.

Rowan shook his head at himself, "Come on, Rowan. You can sleep later. First, I need to check preparations for Nightmare Night with Twilight. Right after that, I need to go see how Naractia and Zecora are handling those drones." Then an idea struck his mind, "Maybe I should bring Twilight along when I check on them. I'm sure that she'd want to meet Naractia."

Suddenly, there was a loud knocking coming from the front door. Rowan got up and opened the door to reveal Twilight and Spike.

Rowan wasn't expecting to see Spike, but he still smiled at them, "Hey guys."

Spike waved a claw, "Hey, Rowan. I heard Twilight say that she was going to help you with Nightmare Night, so I asked if I could come along. Plus, after Princess Luna sent you that letter, I've been thinking a bit about the celebration and I've got a couple ideas that I want you to hear."

Twilight rolled her eyes at her assistant, "Spike, I'm only helping Rowan with the preparations. Plus, I think that the entire celebration has already been planned out."

Rowan grinned at them, "Well actually, there's one part of the night that I still need to plan. I'm sure that I can listen to your ideas on our way to check the preparations." He looked at Twilight, "Speaking of which, where to first?"

Twilight conjured up a checklist and looked at the first item of business, "Well, first we need to visit Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack's supposed to be in charge of bobbing for apples along with a few other games."

Rowan walked out of his house and shut the door behind him, "Great! Let's get going."

Walking side-by-side, Twilight and Rowan walked through town towards Sweet Apple Acres. But as they walked, Spike, who rode on Twilight's back, talked to Rowan about his ideas for Nightmare Night.

Spike let loose a fury of ideas, "Ah man! It'd be sweet if you popped out of nowhere using that shadow warp spell. That'd freak everypony out! Oh, and I was thinking maybe you could cover the sky with clouds and make lightning storm!"

Rowan grinned at the dragon, "Yeah, that sounds good. It'd be perfect for the start of the night."

Spike beamed at Rowan as he continued to relay more ideas for Nightmare Night. But as Spike continued to blather about his ideas, Rowan found a chance to speak with Twilight.

Rowan glanced sideways towards the lavender unicorn by him, "Hey, does Spike know about what I told you last night?"

Twilight shook her head, "No, he doesn't know yet. Although, I was able to get him to send that letter you wrote to Princess Luna. He did ask why he was sending it, but I didn't tell him."

Before he had left Twilight's house the night before, Rowan had written a letter to Princess Luna that explained the situation about Naractia and the drones. Since Spike had been asleep when Rowan was there, Twilight had promised to hold onto the letter and have Spike send it in the morning when he woke up.

Rowan sighed with relief when he heard that it'd been sent, "Thanks, Twilight." He glanced back towards Spike, who was still oblivious to their conversation. Keeping his voice to a whisper, Rowan looked back at Twilight, "But we'll have to tell him what's going on. Not now, but just as soon as Luna tells us what to do about you-know-who."

Twilight nodded and looked forwards to the road ahead, "Hey, look! There's Sweet Apple Acres."

Rowan looked forwards to see the massive apple orchards that belonged to the Apple Family. Most of the trees were bare, since it was almost the end of Apple-bucking season. And right now, a certain mare was bucking a nearby apple tree with her back hooves.

Rowan called out to her, "Hey, Applejack!"

Applejack looked towards them and waved back. Leaving the tree for later, she ran towards her friends. Upon reaching them, Applejack had a wide smile on her face, "Howdy Twi, Rowan, Spike. What brings ya'll 'round here today?"

Twilight smiled at the mare, "Well, Princess Luna asked Rowan to oversee Nightmare Night, and I'm helping him check preparations for the celebration." She looked at her checklist again, "So, do you have everything ready that you're doing?"

AJ grinned smugly, "Why, yes-sir-e! I've got all of tha apples picked fer bobbing fer apples and all of tha pumpkins ready fer tha pumpkin launch."

Rowan grinned, "Great. Can we see?"

"Why sure! Of course ya guys can. Just follow me." Applejack turned around and started towards the barn, Rowan, Twilight, and Spike following after her.

As they all walked to the barn, Rowan caught something in the corner of his eye. He turned his head to see the edge of the Everfree forest, just lying outside of Sweet Apple Acres. Continuing to look at the forest while he walked, his thoughts began to draw back to Naractia and Zecora with the drones. And as the thoughts began to return to his mind, so did the worries that accompanied the thoughts, making Rowan grimace.

Twilight looked back to Rowan and noticed his expression. "Hey, are you all right?" She asked him.

Rowan quickly shook his head out of his thoughts, "Um, yeah, I guess. I'm just worried about them." He pointed his head back towards the forest.

Twilight understood that when Rowan said "them", he meant Naractia and Zecora. She smiled at him reassuringly, "Don't worry. I'm sure that they're fine."

Rowan shook his head, "Well, it's not just them that I'm worrying about. It's what Zecora said when she explained that someone else must have sent those drones. There's something going on that nobody knows about, and it could happen at any moment. What if something already happened to Zecora and-" Rowan cut himself short as they reached the barn.

Applejack opened the door to the barn and led the others inside, "All right ya'll, this where we're keepin' all of our supplies for Nightmare Night."

Rowan walked into the barn and looked around at the interior. On all sides of the barn, stacked high to the rafters, were dozens of baskets of apples and at least a hundred pumpkins. Rowan couldn't believe that Sweet Apple Acres could supply this much from their crops alone.

As Rowan and Twilight inspected the supply, Spike jumped off Twilight's back and stood in the middle of the barn, looking at the vast inventory of apples and pumpkins. The dragon laughed out loud, "Wow, Applejack. I think we'll be good for Nightmare Night."

Applejack smiled smugly, "Well, Ah certainly hope so. Last year, we did just fine when it came to apples, but we ran out of pumpkins a bit before th' end of the night. Ah don't think that'll happen this year, though."

Rowan smiled as he finished inspecting the supply, "Yep, it looks like we're all set here."

Twilight nodded at him at marked off an item on her checklist, "Okay, we have Sweet Apple Acres all set for the celebration, but we still have a few more things to check before we're done."

Rowan nodded, "Right, we should probably get going. I want to be finished with this as soon as possible." He looked back to Applejack, "Thanks, AJ. I hope we didn't take too much of your time."

Applejack shook her head, "Naw, that's all right, sugarcube. Ah always have time for mah friends."

Rowan grinned at the mare, while Spike climbed back onto Twilight's back. All of them walked out of the barn together, and then Applejack shut the door behind them.

Rowan, Twilight, and Spike waved good bye to Applejack as they began to walk back to town. As they walked, Rowan looked Twilight, "Okay, where to next?"

Twilight looked on her checklist, "Next we need to stop by Carousel Boutique, to see if Rarity has all of the decorations ready."

Rowan nodded, "Right, let's get this finished as soon as possible." With that, the two unicorns, accompanied with a small dragon, galloped back towards town.

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Naractia walked into the grove, momentarily blinded by the sudden increase of exposure from sunlight. Once her vision adjusted to the brightness, Naractia saw Zecora sitting in front of the bound changeling drones, watching them closely with an unwavering eye.

Naractia glanced over at the drones to find them beginning to move, but it didn't look like they were fully awake. She breathed a sigh of relief as she walked up to Zecora.

Upon reaching the zebra, Naractia quietly whispered to Zecora, as to avoid waking the drones, "Hey, I'm back."

Zecora nodded as she kept watching the drones, "There is no need to be quiet around the drones. They will wake soon, and it won't matter if it be from our tones."

Naractia nooded as she understood, "Right. Well, I brought the things you asked for, including breakfast." She lifted the saddle-bag off of her back and placed it in front of Zecora, along with the small bag of food she carried.

Zecora glanced down at the saddle-bag, smiling as she recognized it as her own, "Thank you, Naractia, for bringing my bags. Of course, you must be hungry, for I hear your stomach urgently nags."

Naractia's stomach growled at her, making the changeling grimace, "Well, I didn't eat yet. I thought that I should eat later with you, so that I wouldn't keep you waiting here alone."

Zecora smiled sideways towards her, "That was a wise decision to have made. It is wiser to accompany those who are alone, than to leave them in wait." She bent her head down and began to leaf through the saddle-bag, "You may eat first, but before these drones wake, I need to make a particular brew. It would be easier for them to take it without seeing any fear of what it may do."

Naractia nodded and began to help herself to some of the food that she'd brought. Meanwhile, Zecora was grinding several herbs together between her hooves. Naractia glanced curiously at Zecora's actions as the zebra prepared some sort of mixture with the herbs.

As she bit off a piece of bread, Naractia asked Zecora, "Hey, Zecora? What is that for?"

Zecora didn't look back as she replied, "Every drone has a instinctual link to their hive. The purpose of the concoction that I make is to overpower this link, and allow their minds to thrive. Without their instinct, their urge to return to the queen will not be due. And with their minds, we may be able to learn who sent them after you."

Naractia paused for a moment, taking in what Zecora had said, before she replied, "Well, drones have never thought for themselves when I was with the hive. They've always required the guidance of the queen to survive, so they've never really needed to think for themselves. In fact, I didn't think that they had real minds of their own."

Zecora stood up, "It is finished, ready for the drones to take. We can only hope it will work, for their sake."

Naractia inhaled sharply, "Wait, you mean it has a chance of failing? What happens if it doesn't work?"

Zecora didn't respond, which Naractia figured was a bad sign. Neither of them spoke, as they thought about the nasty result that could follow if the potion failed. Just thinking about it made Naractia shudder.

Ending the silence, Zecora held up a small cloth filled with a light green powder, "This is the brew that the drones will need. We must hide it in their food, and then wait for them to feed." She looked at the drones, who were beginning to rouse, "I need you to give them the food that you brought, with the potion hidden inside. I would advise that you do it quickly before they open their eyes."

Naractia took the powder from Zecora and began to sprinkle it on the rest of the food in the sack. But as she did this, Naractia noticed Zecora begin to walk back into the forest, her saddle-bag laid on her back.

The changeling called out to her, "Hey, wait! You aren't just leaving, are you?"

Zecora looked over her shoulder as continued to walk, "I am sorry, but I have other matters that require my attention. Just make sure you keep watch over the drones and give them my potion. I will be back after I have done my jobs, but do not fear, for I will not be too long." With that, the zebra disappeared behind the line of trees surrounding the grove.

With her zebra friend gone, Naractia returned to her task of applying the potion to the drone's food. By taking the sack, and shaking it vigorously with her levitation, Naractia was able to quickly mix the potion and the food. But as she finished mixing the powder among the food, she heard buzzing and moans from the drones as they began to regain consciousness.

Quickly stashing away what remained of the potion, Naractia split all of the food three ways, to feed all of the drones.

The changeling drones wearily opened their eyes, taking in their new surroundings. Suddenly, they became aware of the ropes that held them bound to a tree. They all struggled with their restraints, but they stopped as they saw that they couldn't break free.

They all thrashed about frantically to get free, or even loose. That is, until their eyes rested on a yellow unicorn mare that stood nearby.

One of the drones hissed at the her, eyes burning in anger, "Release us now, you filthy pony!"

The mare sighed, "I'm guessing that you don't know who I am." Suddenly, the pony erupted in green flames, revealing the banished princess, Naractia.

The drones glared fiercely at the revealed princess. "Traitor," They all spat, "Release us now! Weakling!"

Naractia shook her head, "Sorry, but I can't allow that." Being sure to keep at a safe distance, she levitated three equal portions of food, placing them just in front of each of the drones, easily within their reach.

The drones eyed the food cautiously, until one demanded, "What is this rubbish?"

Naractia gave them a idle glance, "It's food. You can choose to eat it or not, I don't care either way. But this is all that you'll be getting for now."

All of them hissed at the banished princess, "We wouldn't eat this, even if the queen commanded us to. Take it away!"

Naractia shrugged, "Fine, starve to death. It's not like you drones care if you live or not. You're all just too scared to eat anything that an 'enemy' gave you. Just know that I could have left you in the forest to die." In a humph, Naractia walked away from the drones, leaving the food in front of them.

Once she was at a decent distance from the drones, Naractia reverted back to her unicorn form. She pretended to gaze up at the sky and watch the clouds pass overhead, but in truth, she was watching the drones in the corner of her eye.

Her plan had been to key into the drones' instinctual behavior to rebel against the enemy. She had said that she didn't care if they ate the food, but by doing this, it would be their instinct to rebel against anything that she'd said. And as Naractia glanced back at them, she figured that her plan had worked well, because all three of them were slowly nibbling the food, along with the potion that covered their meal.

Naractia grinned slyly to herself, Now that they've taken the potion, now all I have to do is wait and see if it actually works. If it does, I may be able to find out who's behind all of this... She trailed off for a moment, But if it doesn't, I could lose that information, along with the drones.

For a moment, she stood silent, occasionally glancing back to the drones as they ate. They didn't seem to notice her as she watched them. But Naractia was surprised that none of them had noticed the potion as they ate it. Naractia shrugged, as she assumed that Zecora had somehow made the potion tasteless.

Naractia sighed to herself, "I shouldn't worry. If Zecora made it, then it has to work. Rowan's told me about all of her experience with this kind of thing, and she's never failed once." She shuddered, "Still, I just hope she hasn't failed today."

Author's Note:

Hey, everybody.
Sorry if this chapter was a bit slow, but don't worry. Things will get much more exciting as Nightmare Night draws near for Ponyville.

These past weeks have been easy for me to write good chapters, since it was Christmas Break. But with school starting up again, I won't be able to get as many chapters out as I usually do. Sorry about that.

I'm grateful for all of your input and ideas. They are making the story better than anything that I could have come up on my own. Thank you for your ideas, and thank you for reading. If there is anything else that you think I should add in, then contact me, whether it be through commenting or P.M.'s.
-Shadowflame

Comments

[Fiery Knight]

Good story man it's very intresting and i look forward to finishing which mean HURRY THE BUCK UP AND WRITE EVEY CHAPTER.

[Shadowflame]

1906546
Thanks. Although, I"m curious. Have you read the story before this yet?

[Fiery Knight]

1906565
Yes I have infact is just finished reading both stories right meow.

[Shadowflame]

1906579
All right, I was just making sure, as to not confuse anybody. Although, I doubt that would be possible with the three notes that I made in the first two chapters.

Anyways, I'm writing the next chapter right now, so you should look forward to it.

[Fiery Knight]

1906602
You better be their are scarier things out there then breaking a pinkie promise...and I am one of them
P.S the other one is when Pinkie Pie tries to pop out from underneath her own hat...Yeah I've seen it not pretty and i've done things that make grown man cry.

[Luckyfanisaac]

"Hm... I finished in twenty minutes. That's a new record." He shrugged, "Anyways, I should eat something before Twilight gets here."

He was still worried about them, both Naractia and Zecora.

Twilight nodded at him and marked off the item on her checklist,

Zecora looked over her shoulder as she continued to walk,

One of the drones hissed at the her, eyes burning in anger, "Release us now, you filthy pony!"