Overheard
Winter Bells
Preread, Edited, and Reviewed By
Batty Gloom, Illustrious Q, Municipal Engines, Cloudhammer, Wraithguard, Kohta Izumi, Kirk Heller
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Part of a side-story miniseries known as "In The Family" for the story Past Sins
- The stories of the miniseries -
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Chapter 6
Overheard
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“Five minutes to curtain!”
The cast and crew of the pageant bustled as final touches were made. Makeup was perfected, costumes were adjusted, props and set pieces were moved into place, the windows had been locked, and the stage manager quickly dealt with any emergency that tried to rear its ugly head. In all, everything was going as smoothly as one could hope for a live performance.
Except for the fact Fluttershy was hiding behind a wheeled rack of costumes, not wanting to go on stage.
“Fluttershy, Darling, I promise it’s not that bad.”
The pegasus poked her nose, and only her nose, out from between a pair of costumes. “But you said it looked like there are more ponies out there than last year.”
“Only one or two, I assure you.”
“Really?” Pinkie Pie said as she bounded up beside Rarity. “Looks to me like there are a whole lot more than that. Why, I bet there’s another five hundred and forty-two, especially if you count the ponies sitting in the balcony they put up.”
Fluttershy whimpered. “They put up a balcony?!”
“Oh yeah, and it’s almost full! That’s why I said there’s easily another five hundred and forty two ponies out there. I was so excited when I saw the balcony I ran up there and ended up counting all the seats, and there’s five hundred and fifty-five seats up there. And I bet there’s some ponies still coming in.” Pinkie Pie nodded once and bounced lightly on her hooves. “Yeperooni, I bet it will be a full house, just like last year... well, except now there'll be five hundred and fifty-five more ponies.”
With another whimper, Fluttershy retreated back behind the costume rack. Rarity threw a glare at Pinkie Pie and then quickly resumed her efforts to coax Fluttershy out.
“You suppose we ought to try and help?”
Twilight shook her head. She was standing with Applejack a few dozen feet away, watching the scene around the costume rack unfold. “All I could do that Rarity can’t is try to pull Fluttershy out with my levitation magic, and we all know how well that went the first year we did the pageant.”
“Yeah,” Applejack said with a chuckle, “I suppose we should just trust Rarity, considerin’ she’s the one that talked Fluttershy into being a fashion model.”
“Three minutes to curtain!”
Twilight and Applejack turned to the voice that was calling out the warnings. Nyx was walking around with a watch hanging around her neck, shouting as loud as her voice would allow. It was a sight that made Twilight grin. “I’m glad Princess Celestia asked if Nyx could help out with the pageant, even if she just stays backstage.”
“Yeah, it was nice of her,” Applejack said as she adjusted her costume hat, which just didn’t feel right on her head. “What’s the name of the job the stage manager gave her again?”
“Clock Manager,” Twilight answered. “She’s supposed to make sure we start on time, that the intermission doesn’t last too long, and that we all have about a five minute warning before we need to be on stage.”
“And does she know most pageant’s don’t need a Clock Manager?”
“Yes, she does, but she’s not letting that stop her,” Twilight said, before giggling a little and leaning into Applejack. “In fact, I think she’s out to prove that a Clock Manager can help a play run a lot more smoothly.”
“That or prove to the stage manager she can do more than just watch a watch,” Applejack said back, a small chuckle in her own voice.
“One minute to curtain! Spike, are you ready?”
The two mares couldn’t help but laugh again as Nyx jogged off, quickly making sure Spike was on stage and ready. Still, they needed to be in their own places soon enough, and after a few quick words of “good luck” Applejack and Twilight began to mix with the other actors and actresses getting ready to get on stage.
But as many of the performers got into their places, a pair remained at their vanity. One was reading over a script frantically. The other was touching up his makeup slowly, a cover for the fact he was watching everypony walk past in the reflection of the vanity mirror.
“Ohh. Oooohhhh! OooOhhh. OOhhhOhhh!”
“What are you doing?” Column whispered, not taking his eyes off the mirror’s reflection.
“I’m trying to learn my lines,” Quick Snap replied. “There’s one scene in the play where almost everypony has to be on stage. If we don’t go on with everypony, they’ll know what’s up.”
“Do you mean the part of the play where the three leaders are meeting to discuss the food shortage?”
“Yes, that one,” Quick Snap said as he turned his eyes back to the page.
“Do you mean the part of the play where no pony but Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash has any lines?”
“We have a line. See?”
Quick Snap held the script in front of Column’s eyes, using a free hoof to point at the line in question. It wasn’t even a real line. It was a sound effect, a gasp. They were to gasp on cue a few times. They weren’t supposed to actually say anything, and the fact that Quick Snap was panicking about gasping made Column turn and look at him with a cold glare.
“Seriously?” Column whispered. “We’re trespassing in the castle. At any moment, somepony may realize we don’t belong, and you’re practicing your gasping?”
“If we don’t play our parts right, somepony will know something’s wrong. Now come on, practice your lines.”
“Have you forgotten why we came back here?” Column asked before looking back to the mirror’s reflection. He watched as Nyx galloped off the stage, coming back into the dressing room as the pulleys that supported the curtain turned. The show was beginning, and it began as it always did. With the pageant’s fine narrator, once more played by Spike, reciting his opening lines.
“No, but we can’t even get to her right now anyway. We’ll have to wait until the after party.”
“We have to take the costumes off for the cast party, Quick Snap. We’ll get recognized. We have to take the picture now.”
“But she’s still got her white coat,” Quick Snap said, glancing over his shoulder at Nyx, who was once more looking at the watch that hung from her neck. “I thought you said we had to get a picture of her when her coat’s its real color.”
“We do, but I finally figured out how Twilight’s hiding her. I watched her adjust Nyx’s headband earlier, when it almost fell off because she was bouncing around so happily. I’d bet my left hoof that headband is the linchpin of the illusion. We get that off her, we’ll be able to get our picture.”
“You don’t know that for sure, and besides, how are you going to get her to take it off?”
“I’m not. I’m going to take it off myself,” Column said. “As soon as she’s alone, I’ll back her into a corner. Then I take off the headband and you snap the picture. Then we get the heck outta dodge.”
“B-but, you can’t do that!”
Column abruptly turned his head in Quick Snap’s direction. “Care to run that by me again?”
“Column, she’s just a filly, you can’t just bully her into a corner and snatch her headband off.”
“She’s not a filly, or don’t you remember that I found a letter of pardon for her in the public archives? She is Nightmare Moon.”
“Yeah, but... “
“Don’t get tricked by her,” Column snapped, placing a hoof on his photographer’s shoulder. “She may look cute and innocent, but she’s not. That is Nightmare Moon, and all of Equestria deserves to know the truth. This is the story of the century, and we have a chance to break it.”
“Then let’s break it right,” Quick Snap argued. “Let’s wait and catch her when she’s got the headband off back at her house, instead of trying to take it off here. I mean, if she screams, we’ll have the castle guard, three princesses, and the most magically gifted unicorn since Starswirl the Bearded coming down on our heads like a pack of timber wolves.”
“Did you not hear the ‘get the heck outta dodge’ part of the plan? Of course she’s going to scream, but this is what we have to do. Equestria deserves to know the truth,” Column said, punctuating his determination with a thump of his hoof against the vanity.
“You’re obsessed, and more than usual,” Quick Snap said. With a quick flurry of his wings, he removed the camera he had concealed beneath his costume and set it on the vanity. “And I’m not going to help you physically attack a filly, even if we did have a chance of getting away.
“You’re on your own.”
With that Quick Snap turned and began walking towards the exit door. Column was a few steps behind, using his magic to grab Quick Snap by the tail. “If you rat me out—”
“I’m not going to stop you, Column,” Quick Snap said flatly. He glanced back and tugged hard on his tail, pulling it away from Column’s magic. “I’m just not helping you anymore.”
“Fine, I hope you enjoy taking pictures at weddings and cute-ceañeras for the rest of your life. You know why? Because we’re done, and you can forget sharing the byline.”
“You can keep it,” Quick Snap said before taking another step. He was out the exit door soon after, leaving Column stewing.
Column, however, didn’t linger. He didn’t let the departure of his photographer and friend of two years phase him. He couldn’t let it get to him, not when he was so close. He went back to the vanity, picked up the camera, and began to hide it beneath his own costume.
He’d break the story himself. He’d blow the story wide open and everypony would then know the truth. Everypony would know of the mockery of justice that had been performed behind closed doors by their own princesses. He would get the picture of Nyx he needed, and he would wait until everypony that could rush to help her was on stage.
He would wait for the windigo scene.
~~~
Nyx slowly craned her head over the edge, looking down from the catwalks above the stage. She was there with Shining and Cadance, watching as the cave scene played out. Rainbow Dash was carrying Fluttershy across the stage, using her hoof to draw a line in the metaphorical dirt. Before long, all of them would begin fighting, shouting, and then soon after the leaders would be frozen.
In all, it would take about a minute, maybe two, for the scene to play out before Cadance and Shining Armor were supposed to make their entrance, and Nyx had gotten them into place with that perfect amount of time to spare.
“Nyx, be careful. You don’t want to fall off.”
Quickly pulling her head back from the edge, Nyx looked over at Cadance just as the princess took off from the catwalk, like a feather on the wind. She got into position, flapping her wings carefully so as not to disturb the curtains or any part of the set. Shining Armor too rose into the air, though his flight was assisted by a unicorn stallion looking up at them from backstage.
Then the moment came, the moment where Cadance and Shining were to reveal themselves. Nyx bit her lip, but then smiled as Cadance did much better than she had during the afternoon performances. Unleashing a windigo quality whiny, she and Shining descended upon the stage. The sound sent shivers down the spines of many in the audience. It wasn’t as good as Celestia’s, but it was far better than the childishly spooky noises Cadance had used earlier.
And, despite Cadance’s warning, Nyx poked her head out over the edge of the rafters, smiling ear to ear as she watched the performance continue below. Twilight hugged Fluttershy and Applejack in the center of the stage as the lights began to fade and tighten, as if the cold, frozen grip of the windigos magic was closing in on them.
Darker and darker the stage got as Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy performed their parts. Closer and closer the danger seemed to loom. Nyx had seen the scene many times that afternoon, but it was still tense, at least for her. Soon, only a single spotlight remained on, and the pony operating it was tightening the beam down on the three mares just below.
It was then the catwalk shifted a little bit, making Nyx flinch and quickly pull back from the edge. On instinct, she looked back over her shoulder, and her heart skipped a beat at the sight of a stallion just behind her. He was dressed like one of the actors, like an earth pony, but she could clearly see the glow from his horn. That same glow was starting to wrap around her headband, and the pony was lifting something up from his chest as well.
“No more hiding, Nightmare Moon.”
The utterance of her former name made Nyx panic. She turned and bolted, trying to run away as fast as her hooves could carry her. The headband slipped off her head, pulled away by the strange stallion’s magic. Like snow in a bitter wind, the white coat she had been hiding behind blew away, revealing her natural, inky black color.
Taking her headband, however, wasn’t enough for the stallion. Nyx felt the vibrations through the catwalk and heard the clatter of hooves against metal. It was worse than that, though. The stage manager had warned them a dozen times not to run on the catwalks.
Why? Because they were temporary. The whole stage was a temporary setup, just like the temporary balcony Pinkie Pie had been so excited about. It was meant to stand in a hall of the castle just for the Hearth’s Warming pageant and then be taken down soon after. It wasn’t meant to endure the same stress and punishment as a proper stage, and Nyx felt the catwalk give a small jerk beneath her hooves.
The catwalk’s small lurch caused her pursuer to stumble, and the impact of his fall caused Nyx to trip and hit up against the guardrail. Still, she got back to her hooves the fastest and continued to run, but she could hear and feel the stallion resume his chase. His heavy hoof falls sent wave after wave of vibration through the metal, further weakening what remained of the catwalk’s supporting structure. Nyx rounded a corner, following the path of the suspended walkway. It was a rectangle in shape, and eventually it would double back to the stairs that lead back down to the dressing area. That was where Nyx was running to, where she’d hope to find somepony to help her. But the stallion was still coming. She could feel the catwalk shift as he rounded the corner just behind her, and, in her moment of panic, Nyx couldn’t help but look back.
This was a mistake.
The stallion had raised the thing that he had been carrying. Nyx heard a click, and then her eyes were assaulted by a bright flash. She screamed and shut her eyes tight from the pain, but she also kept galloping. The edge of the catwalk came fast, and Nyx ran straight over the edge. Instinctually, when Nyx felt her hooves lose their grip on solid matter, she spread her wings. And her little wings flapped hard, trying to keep her aloft, but they didn’t yet have the strength.
Clanks and crashes of metal began to reverberate through the hall. A shout of “Twitchy Tail” filled the air, causing Twilight and her friends to scatter as lights, hung from the catwalk, began to drop onto the stage. Cadance grabbed Shining in her own magic and flew clear of the collapse. The audience watched in horror. The ponies operating the spotlights quickly brought their lights back up to full power and width, illuminating the stage.
The catwalk came crashing to the stage like a meteor to the ground. It splintered the wood of the stage, creating a gaping hole and damaging some of the fine stone just beneath. The rail supporting the curtain, which had shared some anchor points with the catwalk, snapped. The great, heavy sheets of red fabric fell down, covering the hunk of fallen metal while also pulling down the wreaths and lights that decorated the stage’s exterior.
It was a disaster that took only seconds to occur, but seemed to happen in slow motion for the ponies watching from the audience.
The dust began to settle and a graveyard like silence had fallen across the room. Everypony seemed to be holding their breaths, their minds trying to comprehend what they had just seen. The spotlights focused on the fallen catwalk, which was covered by the stage curtains like a blanket pulled over a pony in the hospital.
Everything was still, everything was quiet, except for one thing.
A bit of movement lingered on the stage, and one of the spotlights moved to focus on it. It was a rope, from which the wooden, prop moon had been hung. The rope was swinging back and forth a little, like the pendulum arm of a grandfather clock that was running slow. The spotlight moved down the rope, beginning to illuminate the moon that was miraculously still attached.
Sitting on top of the moon, and clinging to the rope as terrified tears flowed from her eyes, was Nyx.
~~~
Princess Luna slipped in from the hall where the reception had been held, where Celestia was trying to calm and reassure the ponies who had been in the audience. The performance hall, on the other hoof, was under the full control of the royal guard. Medics were checking over everypony that had been on the stage. Thankfully, nopony was hurt except for one stallion that had been found resting amidst the wreckage of the catwalk. He was unconscious, had a banged up knee, and was missing a tooth, but he had been taken to the castle’s medical ward for treatment.
Princess Luna spoke a few kind words to ponies she passed. Some of the actors and actresses were hugging each other for comfort while others were clinging to blankets provided by the guard. Many were trembling, their minds and bodies trying to process how dangerously close they had come to severe injury or even death.
But none seemed more rattled than Twilight. She was near the stage, in what would have been the audience’s front row, holding tight to Nyx, who was wrapped in a blanket and quietly crying. Twilight’s friends, number one assistant, brother, and sister-in-law sat nearby, but she seemed oblivious to them and the rest of the world around her. She just clung tightly to Nyx, as if the filly would disappear if she let go for even a moment.
“Twilight,” Luna said gently, not wishing to startle her, “how are you and Nyx faring?”
“We’re both okay,” she said, trying to quiet the tremor in her voice. “I got clear of the stage before the catwalk fell and Nyx isn’t hurt either.”
“That’s good to hear,” Luna said, though she could not bring herself to smile. “I am relieved neither one of you was harmed. But, I must ask, what happened?”
“There was somepony chasing me on the catwalks!” Nyx half shouted, half cried.
“Who?”
“I don’t know!”
Luna lowered her head down and spoke in a calm, sweet voice, like a gentle breeze on a warm summer night. “It’s okay Nyx. I promise, you’re safe now.” Luna then glanced up at Twilight. “Would you mind if I took her for a moment? The guard needs a statement and I think it would be better for everypony if I was the one to speak with her.”
“Can I come with her?” Twilight asked.
“Of course. In fact, I was going to have all of your friends come. I’ve had some of the leftovers from the reception taken to a small servant break room that’s nearby. I imagine everypony will feel much better once you’ve had a chance to eat and drink something, and it will let me get everypony’s side of the story.”
Twilight nodded, unable to deny that something sweet sounded very good at the moment. She let Nyx climb free of her embrace before standing up herself. Twilight then rallied the rest of her friends. Soon, the group began to follow behind Luna, a departure that didn’t go unnoticed.
“Where are they going?” Shining asked.
“Princess Luna probably just wants to talk to them,” Cadance replied, keeping her eyes shut as Shining used a washcloth to wipe away some of the windigo makeup from her face. Shining was still in full costume, but he had insisted on helping her first before trying to get his own makeup off. It was a kind gesture Cadance appreciated. They had been closest to the catwalk when it decided to fall, the closest to getting crushed. It was a little unsettling.
“There, beautiful as ever,” Shining said with a small smile.
“Thanks, honey. Here, let me clean your face now.” Cadance took the washcloth from him and dipped it in the bowl of water Shining had fetched to facilitate the cleaning process.
“Thank you,” Shining said, only to push the rag away with a hoof. “But, I actually wanted to go look at something.”
“Look at what?”
Shining stood up, stretching his legs a moment before turning and trotting towards the stage. “I’m not so sure this was an accident.”
Cadance couldn’t help but arch an eyebrow. She climb to her hooves as well and followed Shining onto the stage. There were a few guards standing watch and a few more poking around, investigating things. Technically, they were to be the only ones on the stage, but none of them spoke up against Cadance nor Shining Armor as they circled around the fallen catwalk.
Shining craned his head back, using his horn to cast out a beam of light. It illuminated the ceiling of the stage and showed the places where the catwalk had been anchored. “Cadance, can you levitate me up there so I can get a closer look?”
“Of course,” she replied before calling on her own magic. Soon, Cadance was holding Shining up, letting him float around in the rafters of the stage as he used the light from his horn to closely inspect many of the catwalk’s anchor points. He didn’t say anything as he worked, but the growing frown on his face worried Cadance.
Twenty minutes later, Shining motioned to Cadance and she lowered him back down. “So, what did you find?” she asked.
“A lot of the bolts that were securing the catwalk are stripped or were torn out,” Shining answered as he landed on the stage.
“Well that makes sense. It did fall down.”
“Yeah, but not by itself,” Shining Armor said. “Remember, during rehersals, some of the stage hands were checking the catwalk for safety while we were waiting to go on. If the catwalk was going to just fall down like that, they would have noticed something was wrong. No, I think the catwalk was torn down.”
“But who would do that?” Cadance couldn’t help but ask. “Who could even do that without somepony noticing?”
“Nyx could,” Shining said coldly.
Cadance’s jaw fell open in shock at the words that had just come out of her husband’s mouth. With a single swift step she was up beside him, whispering as she scolded him. “Shining, that is your niece your talking about.”
“No, she’s not,” Shining said.
Cadance glanced back, noticing a few of the other guards were within earshot. She then looked back at Shining, motioning silently for him to follow her. They stepped backstage, to the dressing area. A few of the vanity mirrors had been cracked by the impact of the catwalk on the stage, and some makeup had been knocked to the floor. Still, it gave the couple the privacy Cadance felt they needed.
“Ignoring that last little comment you made, how in the world could Nyx have ripped the catwalk down?” Cadance asked, spinning on her hooves to face Armor.
“She could have done it the same way you would have, with her magic,” Shining answered. “An alicorn easily has enough strength to rip those bolts off.”
“What magic? She had trouble lifting a napkin this morning.”
“Cadance, don’t buy into that routine. That filly is still Nightmare Moon, and she’s been trying to sabotage this Hearth’s Warming since she got here.”
“When did she try to sabotage anything!?”
“Oh, I don’t know, there was that little screaming match she had with Print Press’s daughter at the banquet. Then Father’s Hearth’s Warming logs went up in smoke after Nyx asked Twilight if she could go outside and burn that little stick she had gotten from Lumber Jack. Now this happens, almost killing you and ruining Princess Celestia’s favorite tradition.”
“This is crazy,” Cadance said, lifting a hoof and resting it on Shining’s shoulder. “The fire probably started because I didn’t extinguish the wood right.”
“Or because Nyx distracted you two and threw a piece of the burning wood into the log pile.”
Cadance opened her mouth to protest, only to remember that Nyx had distracted them for a moment. She had said she had heard something, made them look away from the grill. Cadance, however, then shook her head. No, Nyx had heard something, the bells in the distance. “This is crazy!” she said firmly before looking back at Shining. “Listen to yourself. Why would Nyx even want to ruin Hearth’s Warming?”
“To get us all under her spell again,” Shining said firmly. “When I saw Dr. Brain Trust for a second time, for my follow up exam, I asked him if there was anyway I could protect myself from being brainwashed again. He told me some counterspells, but he also told me how mind control spells work.
“It’s not easy to influence somepony’s mind. You have to be a magically talented unicorn to attempt most of them and most spells have symptoms when you try and cast them on somepony who’s mentally sound, like the headaches I was getting because of the changeling queen. But, Dr. Brain Trust also said that there are other spells, ones that work more subtly and don't require as much magic to cast.
“But to get them to work,” Shining continued, “you have to break a pony.”
“What do you mean by break them?” Cadance asked.
“Break them mentally, like how my mother broke after the banquet. Remember, she was practically bed-ridden when we left for the market. She was mentally vulnerable, and then when we get back she says she’s feeling better because Nyx came and spent time with her. That’s Nightmare Moon’s motivation. She’s trying to ruin Hearth’s Warming in hopes of breaking us down so she can brainwash us again.”
“Shining, think about it. If that was true, then why hasn’t something horrible happened to Twilight these past few months?”
“Because Twilight is already brainwashed. She has been since this whole mess started.”
“You think I’m brainwashed?”
Shining and Cadance turned, seeing Twilight standing in a gap between the curtains that separated the dressing area from the rest of the stage. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her jaw was tight with a frown. The last time she had glared so disapprovingly at Shining was when she had to find out about his wedding from a paper invitation.
“Twilie, I thought you were with Princess Luna.”
“I was, but she finished talking with us so we came back to the auditorium.”
“And where’s Nyx?” Cadance asked, craning her neck to look past Twilight. “She didn’t hear—”
“No, I had her sit with Rarity while I came looking for you two,” Twilight replied. “Now, what’s all this about me being brainwashed?”
“Shining thinks Nyx caused the accident,” Cadance explained, turning her own disapproving gaze on her husband.
Twilight stood dumbstruck for a moment before her lips tightened into a snarl. “Are you crazy?!”
“That’s what I’ve been asking him,” Cadance muttered under her breath.
Shining took a firm step forward, nostrils flaring. “Don’t gang up on me like it hasn’t happened before, or did you forget about the Children of Nightmare?”
“That was Spell Nexus, Shining,” Twilight said.
“That was Spell Nexus being controlled by part of Nightmare Moon.”
“A part that Nyx destroyed!”
“And who can verify that?” Shining asked. “What evidence do we have that it actually happened the way Nightmare Moon said it did? How do we know she didn’t take back that part of her?”
“She saved Ponyville! She released Princess Celestia and Princess Luna! She gave up the throne!” Twilight argued.
“And how do you know that wasn’t part of her plan?” Shining asked before pointing at Cadance. “Nightmare Moon’s forces knew Cadance was rallying a rebellion. The crystal heart blew King Sombra into oblivion; who’s to say it couldn’t do the same to her? Even if it couldn’t, Cadance could have led the entire kingdom in rebellion as soon as she or somepony figured out a way to move the sun and moon. Nightmare Moon’s rule was never going to be accepted.
“But,” Shining continued, “what if Nightmare Moon bided her time? What if she faked her repentance so she could try to take over again, this time with nopony challenging her rule? Who would rebel if she was given the throne by the princesses once she supposedly grows back into her power?”
“Shining, this whole theory of yours hinges on the idea that Nyx has been trying to brainwash us and that she’s already brainwashed Twilight,” Cadance said. “Nothing has happened to Twilight since Nyx gave up the throne. She hasn’t had a mental breakdown of any sort, so how exactly did Nyx brainwash her?”
“Nightmare Moon didn’t brainwash Twilight in the past few months. It was last spring, when Spell Nexus used a drop of Twilight’s blood to bring Nightmare Moon back.”
“What?!” Twilight snapped.
“Think about it!” Shining shouted back. “I’ve read the reports, Twilie. You told guards that you took Nightmare Moon into your home because you weren’t sure who she was, that you didn’t want to send her to Celestia unless you were sure she was, in fact, Nightmare Moon. Then, you started taking care of her, and then you started to care for her.
“What if that was all caused by a brainwashing spell done by Spell Nexus or even Nightmare Moon herself? What if the blood was meant to give Nightmare Moon the power to control you, to influence you? For all we know, the only reason you care for her, the only reason you can’t see the obvious danger, is because of a spell!”
“Shining!” Cadance snapped.
“You know it makes sense, Cadance!” he shouted back at her. “When I was brainwashed by the changeling queen I ignored everything that seemed wrong about her. I just thought you were nervous about the wedding.”
“But Twilight couldn’t have been brainwashed into loving Nyx!”
“Says the alicorn who can spread love like it’s cheap, chalky, Hearts and Hooves day candy!” Shining shouted at his wife. “You two just don’t want to admit it. The only reason Twilight took care of Nightmare Moon, the only reason she cares for her now, is because of. A. Spell!”
“SHUT UP!”
Twilight’s horn was glowing, and her mane and tail were floating from the sheer amount of rage driven magic pouring off her. But, before she entered a rage shift, Twilight turned and began to stomp. She stomped in circles. A small part of her mind was seeing Shining’s logic. Spell Nexus was a brilliant unicorn, and Celestia had all the records of the resurrection spell sealed and the ponies who knew about it sworn to secrecy. There was no way to know for sure exactly what the drop of blood was meant to do in the ritual.
But then Twilight’s mind snapped back at herself. “No!” she shouted, turning and stomping back up to Shining Armor. “I don’t care what you think! I don’t care what you say! I still can’t forgive myself for letting Princess Celestia convince me that Nyx was a danger, and I’m not going to doubt her now.”
“But Twilie,” Shining tried to protest as Twilight turned and stomped away from him.
“Don't ‘Twilie’ me, Shining!” she shouted as she reached the curtains. “Nyx is my daughter, whether you like it or not. And, until you fix your attitude, I don’t want you anywhere near her or me!” She glanced back, tears streaming from her rage filled eyes. “Nyx and I are going home, back to Ponyville. I hope you have a Happy Hearth’s Warming without us!”
Twilight didn’t look back again. She threw open the curtains, planning to head back onto the stage and, from there, into the auditorium, only to find a very stunned Rarity standing on the other side. There was a moment of silence as the two unicorns registered each other’s presence. Twilight then began to hastily try to wipe away her tears. “R-rarity!? What are you doing here?”
“W-we were coming to get you. The guards have asked everypony to leave so they can secure the hall.”
“We?” Twilight asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Rarity nodded, beginning to look over her shoulder. “Why, yes. Nyx and I—” Rarity froze. Nyx had been just behind her, clinging close after what had happened. But now, she was gone. In the blink of an eye, Rarity and Twilight galloped across the stage. They came to a stop at the very edge of the boards, looking over the auditorium, which was practically empty. The guard was guiding a few final ponies out the far doors. Spike and the rest of their friends were waiting with Twilight Velvet and Night Light in the front row.
But Nyx was nowhere to be seen.
“Rarity,” Twilight began, a tremor in her voice. “How much did you and Nyx hear?”
=====================================================================
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Oh, shit, Shiny, what the hell were you thinking? Insulting Cadance was bad, but saying Twi was brainwashed was the worst thing you could possibly say.
He should just be glad that he's Twilight's brother, or else he probably wouldn't exist right now.
EDIT: Firsties!
Sees update.
Has this reaction:
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I will now proceed to read!
Shining Armor, you PLOT HEAD!!!
Shiny u are going to get coal for the rest of your life!!!!
Well damn ... Smooth, Shining... Very smooth..
Cadance, Twilight... do me a favour yes? Slap the Shit out of Shining please!
Everything has officially gone to hell in a hoof basket.
I hope Quick Snap has a complete change of heart and rats out his partner, and that Column gets tossed into the deepest, darkest, dirtiest dungeon.
You dun seriously goofed Shiny, letting your paranoia of Nyx and over protectiveness of Twilight ruin Heart's Warming for the whole family. And I hope Cadance boots your rump to the couch for that cheep shot at her love spell, the very same love spell that helped defeat the changelings.
And the reuse has hit the rotary oscillation device... Way to screw up Shining Armor...
Breakdown chapter and it hurts. Man, the real evil character is Shining Armor and visual evil character is Column. This is lot to take. Wonder how Nyx is doing while hearing the breakdown. Good as always
Oh Shining Armor, you idiot.
(That said, I can see where he is coming from. As Captain of the Royal Guard, being paranoid about the security of the country is part of his job description. Without knowing what we as the audience knows, who is to say that he isn't right? From his viewpoint as the highest ranking pony who's not fooled, he has a certain amount of responsibility to find out for certain.)
Poor, poor Nyx.
I mean, Hell's Bells. Shining = buggering PLOTHEAD. And MY GOD, paparazzi. Just...ugh. Please tell me he gets sent to the moon. Personally, I want to see him BURN. And if Shining continues his idiocy, we ought to be burning him as well, godammit.
2073401 Burning coal, that is....
Normally I love Shining Armor... right now though... I'd like to give him a piece of my mind. Soooo very much so... way to screw up. I just hope they can find Nyx before something bad happens to her... oh and Cadance... make sure Shining is sleeping on the couch tonight alright? ...and uuhh... keep him there until he's feeling very miserable and repentant... then make him write you, Twi, and Nyx an apology letter AND song... and then he has to sing the song... and it has to be sincere... then... well then you can add in anything else that you find appropriate.
Of course in the chaos of finding Nyx and trying to salvage Heart's Warming the reporter and his pictures will likely go undiscovered... at least until he publishes his story... wait... Shining I swear to Celestia that if the story comes out and you make a public statement about how you think she's Nightmare Moon... I will make you regret that choice... sooooo very much... yes I WILL find a way into this story and I WILL make you suffer.
Well..given that it's happened to him twice now, Shining Armor probably has PTSD issues regarding the possibility of mind control. Still not much of an excuse by this point.
it is at this point shining armor notices the one fraction of the guard he doesn't control, the lunar guard standing behind him. the lunar guard who unlike most of equestria know the true story of nigfhtmare moon, both luna and nyx, the lunar guard who have confirmed some other pony was in the catwalk. the lunar guard who just watched him mistreat a filly. in short, run shiny, run hard, run fast.
My...my feels...
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Ugh, Shining, you've managed to surpass Column in terms of being a Jerkass! And your suspicions are completely unfounded! That catwalk came crashing down because Column was running on it, and it's not designed for that sort of thing! What the Hell, Hero? And now, because of all that, Nyx has run away! Nice Job Breaking it, Hero!
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Will Column's story ever get out? Will Shining Armor realize that Nyx is really just a filly and ask himself, "What Have I Done?" If he does, will the others be able to forgive him for the way the Took a Level in Jerkass? And where is Nyx? Find out in the next feel-inducing chapter of Winter Bells!
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Also:
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Shining Armor?
F**K YOU!!!!!!!!
While I admit that we should all be.... disliking Shining right now, everyone is overlooking one thing; that catwalk was rigged to fall, and i'm not so sure either of those reporters did it.... which in itself is a troubling thought.
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2073589 Um, I think you're mistaken.
2073589 Don't forget shining is super paranoid and liable to blame Nyx for ANYTHING that goes wrong.
2073589
Kay. Shining. Regardless of your reasons, there is a way and a time to do things. Passive aggressive hostility to your niece on hearths warming eve is NOT the way of going about it.
If you suspect your sister is being mind controlled by a reincarnation of evil - express your concerns and coerce her into being examined by the expert on them. You know, the guy you've spoken with TWICE regarding mind control magics. If she is, he can diagnose it. If she isn't, you have a weight taken off your mind. If nothing else guilt twilight into seeing him by saying how worried shining is. She would probably be willing to be examined if only to put Shining's fears to rest.
2073655 So basically Shining was being paranoid... idiot.
Meanwhile... Oh shit... Celestia and Luna damn you Column
and now the time till the next chapter.
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May I already look for the divorce papers, and save time?
2073578Are you trying to draw me into the abyss that is TvTropes?
Somepony needs to put a boot up Shining's ass already.
I'm getting sick of him being a paranoid asshole. Still, great chapter and I hope to see more soon!
You know what? I hope Column's story does get published. No, really. I want that story to be published so the entire population of Equestria works to have Nyx taken from Twilight and imprisoned somewhere, effectively destroying the bond between a mother and a harmless child and driving said mother into an eternal depression (which, since Twilight is the element of magic, might have a byproduct of dooming Equestria should any EoH worthy problems arise, which they would).
I want that to happen, just so Column can know what he did and have to live with it.
(Obviously, that wouldn't happen, since that wouldn't be a very good ending. My jimmies are rustled, sue me.)
Ouch. That sofa's gonna be lumpy...
Really, are there no therapists in Equestria? Shining Armor has basically been on the front three times in three years. Twice, he got brainwashed. The third time he got magically crippled and had to stand there and watch his wife and baby sister do all the fighting! And who knows what happened to him when Discord got loose... If he doesn't have PTSD, he at least needs counseling for stress.
But let's be fair here-- he doesn't have the reader's omnipotent view. All he knows is that one of the most dangerous enemies Equestria has ever known, one with a known capacity for sabotage and magically brainwashing ponies, is alive, well, and running about as a filly... and in the past few days every time a calamity has happened, she's been right in the middle of it. He might have been more tactful about it, but he's doing the right thing by doing his duty and being suspicious. And everyone around Nyx who's in the know has been playing it close to the vest; a little effort at verifying all the claims of innocence around her might have gone a long way with him--- like a medical examination to prove twilight and his mother haven't been brainwashed.
2073927
Finally, someone played Devil's Advocate for Shining. I was about to do it myself, but it wasn't nearly as well worded.
BTW Reality Check, are you going to continue "Nyx's Family" or have you pretty much given up on it due to "Winter Bells".
I just spent som of my morning doing clean up and editing work on the Past Sins TvTropes page, so it is appropriate to run into more Nyxie.
Unfortunately, I have been able to see Shining's point since the beginning... I could see it, no matter how little I wanted to.
And now, with Nyx running off like this, I still seem to see it, even more. Sure, she could be running off because she is scared, cunfused, and sad, OR she could be running off in guilt, or fear of being discovered.
But again, at the same time, we have been seeing into her head and heart, and can feel that this is because of the more-childish reason of fear and confusion.
But I do so love twisting plotlines like this! Keep going, good sir! Onwards and Forwards, as they say!
2073995 OH GOD I hope not!
I like both of theses stories. NYX FIX
loved the new chapter
2073751 Why damn Quick Snap? He bailed before everything went pear-shaped. It's like I've been saying: he's just a browbeaten worker, and he'd finally had enough.
Also, this is the second fic I'm keeping track of wherein Shining took a level in Jerkass. Albeit, for different reasons. In this one, he's being paranoid due to having been brainwashed twice. In the other one, found here, he's being an overprotective husband. Either way, though, in both fics I'm looking forward to somepony finally taking him to task for his words.
Another excellent chapter, Pen Stroke, and I look forward to more!
2074091 mean to say column, I screwed up, thanks for correction.
Poor Nyx. Why does the whole world have to be against her?
Nice. For a second, I actually thought Shining might be right about Nyx's conspiracy.
Grammar fixes:
"...quickly dealt with any emergency that tried to rear its ugly head."
"The show was beginning, and it began as it always did: with the pageant’s fine narrator, once more played by Spike, reciting his opening lines.
"Shining, that is your niece you're talking about."
Although the "no split infinitives" rule is outdated, I think it sounds particularly awkward here:
"Twilight then began to hastily try to wipe..."
Shining, you FUCKNUGGET!
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Nyx poor, everything and everyone conspiring against her.
If I were not afraid of making mistakes I would say that Nyx has heard everything they said about her and realizing that for many pony she is pure evil decided to die out according to the freezing cold!
This story is as amazing as the rest of trilologia (which I read and comment on that soon)
Column. Douche. Shining Armor. Douche.
That is all.
Okay, at first, I wanted to smack Shining Armor about being paranoid. now, I really REALLY want to PUNCH him.
2074215 I'll just leave this
I'm hoping that Column's photo of Nyx gets out, just so that (1) Nyx's claim that somepony was chasing her across the catwalk is verified, (2) Twilight has somepony besides Shining to take her fury out on, (3) Shining can realize what an inconsiderate jerk he's just been, and (4) Column can finally get what's been so long in coming to him.
It was wise for his partner to get out when he did. I wouldn't want to be within 100 ft of Column when the world comes crashing down on him.
2073664
Who wants to bet Column is now lying unconscious in the medical ward?
Also, just realized that should be taken and not taking.
Don't worry everyone! It's not a full sequel! No chances of giant plot-twists
Why is everyone so mad about Shining? The stuff he says does make sense, and the only reason we see otherwise is because of the omnipresent POV. If this was a mystery fanfic from the POV of an average canterlot citizen, the stuff shining says wouldn't seem anymore outrageous than the true.
Well, two journalists are going to learn first hand a whole new definition of pain and Shining's being a dork. I guess he's also going to learn a new definition of pain, and solitude.
2073763 No, just mentioning the ones I found in this chapter!
