Nightmare Moon finds herself trapped on Earth, unable to communicate or touch anyone. Anyone that is, but a young man by the name of Jason. A young man, that she comes to love so much. A young man...that she would kill for to protect.
The Title Has Been Changed From 'Help Thy Lonely Soul' To 'Help My Lonely Soul'.
Nightmare Moon has forever been known as an evil mare of darkness. A unrepentant monster deserving of no quarter.
But what if everyone was wrong?
What if in fact the Mare in the moon was merely misunderstood and only wished for a friend?
Well when she is sent from her world and into ours, Nightmare Moon finally meets somepony who is willing to be her friend. And in time...more.
I hope you all enjoy it :)
Here is an updated and improved version of the original picture, sent to me by Swedish Royal Guard.
Quote: Why do we never admit it when we feel lonely? Because the jeers and teasing don't help rid you of that problem.
It was almost pitch black within the abandoned castle. The hoots from the owls and constant noise from the crickets were nice and relaxing. All in all it was quite a nice night.
But this did little to alleviate Nightmare Moons boredom.
She looked around the castle and sighed when she realised that nothing was out of place. Everything within this castle was exactly the same ever since she had been forcibly separated from Luna. To everypony else she had been blasted into pieces and was scattered all over the floor.
And in a sense they were correct. Her body had been destroyed entirely.
But her essence, her soul and everything she was had survived. But only to be forced into a dark corner of the castle, never to move, never to change or see any change happen. To her everything was stuck in time and it always would be…
She was a billowing shadow that could never be seen, never be touched...never be spoken too.
Her thousand year exile in the moon had nearly shattered her mind with solitude. And so her happiness at being able to not only talk to others but also touch and smell something again had been exhilarating. But her subjects feared her, they misunderstood her enthusiasm about her eternal night.
Her gift for them.
But rather than accept her gift with open arms they shunned her and almost immediately called for her arrest.
Bah! As if they could ever hope to have arrested me. Nightmare thought bitterly.
She was quite right in that regard. Nopony could match her magic…except the elements of harmony. They, she could never have predicted again. The moment she forced her sister into a deep sleep she had sensed that she was no longer connected to the ancient power.
And so like a foal she and overlooked the one question she should have asked herself.
If Celestia wasn't connected to them then who was?
And now she was paying dearly for that mistake.
Why couldn't they have understood me. I was never going to harm them! I was never going to become a tyrannical ruler with an iron hoof!
Nightmare felt the familiar feeling of sadness mixed with the hopelessness of her current situation overcome her. It was a mixed batch of emotions that she knew too well, but she welcomed them. If nothing they reminded her that she was alive…in a sense.
She was so lonely now. More so than when she was on the moon. At least then she had Luna with her, however unwilling the other side of her would have been to admit it. But now she had nopony, not a one. She had never really had a friend before, her guards and followers in her bid for eternal night had only been by her side for power or out of fear.
Nightmare did have to admit to herself that she was not what you would call the social type. She had attempted to be friendly with her followers but they always looked at her with fearful eyes, as if she would strike them down for saying the wrong word.
"Foals…" Nightmare muttered sadly. "Was it too much just to have somepony to talk to or laugh with?"
It was a sad fact that nopony in their wildest dreams would ever have thought of. Even Celestia herself had never considered this fact.
All the most reviled mare to ever have existed in Equestria wanted…
Was a friend.
Suddenly Nightmare felt a horrible lurching feeling, as though something was pulling at her harshly. She tried to flail and escape its grasp but it was in vain, whatever had a hold of her just simply kept on pulling her down.
"Get your hooves off of me!" she yelled defiantly.
Whatever it was didn't listen to her cries and gave her one last tug, successfully pulling her down and into a dark abyss, where she just kept falling and falling and…
Nightmare opened her eyes and instantly put a hoof to her head, massaging the headache she felt coming on.
Wait! I can touch my head?!
Nightmare looked at herself and almost collapsed in disbelief.
She was herself again!
Her coat was still as dark as midnight and her ethereal mane and tail still resembled the night sky. The only thing missing was the armour she had on before she was separated from Luna.
Her jubilant emotions were cut off however as a car suddenly sped past her left, making her fly into the air out of fear and shock.
"What the buck was that?!" she asked out loud, her breathing was slightly panicked for a second or two before returning to a reasonably calm rate.
She looked around at her surroundings and frowned when she noticed just how little plant life there was. The only green she could see was the grass and few trees in the park she had apparently landed on. With a slight frown she used her magic to feel the amount of magical energy in the planet's atmosphere.
"Strange…it feels the same as usual and yet it is as though it is rarely used. The signature feels out of place as well."
A conclusion came to Nightmare which she refused to accept until she had any proof. She flew up higher until she had a good vantage point to see her surroundings. Her heart skipped a beat as the strange buildings and beings she could see only proved her conclusion to be correct.
"I'm not in Equestria anymore."
The beings from what she had seen looked like hairless apes. Clothed hairless apes that spoke to one another and for the majority of them, used their strange appendages on some sort of metallic device which they placed close to their ears.
Deciding that she needed some answers, Nightmare flew down to the ground in front of a group of them.
"Greetings apes! I am the ruler of the night, Nightmare Moon. I was wondering if you could…"
Nightmare stopped talking when the apes literally walked through her, not even noticing that she was there.
The hay?
Nightmare flew back in front of them and waved a hoof at their faces. None of them responded to her actions and merely walked through her again.
"What is this?!" she demanded angrily. "Some new way to punish me for my actions?!"
She couldn't believe it. She was finally able to be herself once again and move around…but nothing here could see her let alone talk to her. And touching was apparently out of the question seeing that she was no more tangible than the air around her.
She was startled out of her anger when a loud ringing sounded from behind her. She flew up into the air and watched in fascination as a large group of younger looking apes all walked into a building. She flew inside of a large gate and landed on the floor, watching as all the apes walked through her or past her. A sign caught her eye as she looked around, making her trot over to it out of curiosity and read it out loud.
"Education is where the human mind comes to learn, not to fight. Bullying will not be tolerated!"
Ahh so they are called humans. Hmm interesting, I remember reading about this race in a mythology book.
Nightmare turned around as she suddenly heard a cry of pain behind her. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she saw a group of male humans pinning another slightly smaller human against the gate. The larger human holding him up was speaking to him and banging him against the gate harshly. She noticed a bag on the floor as well as books scattered next to it.
"Where's my lunch money huh?!" he demanded.
"I don't have any money!" The smaller human replied painfully.
At this the smaller Human was dropped to the ground and repeatedly kicked by the group. Nightmare's eyes widened in absolute disbelief and disgust. Not once had she ever seen anything take such a brutal beating, especially when Equestria had always been a peaceful world.
She flared her wings and flew over to the group, an angry expression etched all over her face.
"Stop this at once!" she demanded, but was only met with silence as the group continued to attack the teenager. She rushed over to the larger human and swiped at him with her hoof, only for it to phase through him.
In desperation she lit up her horn and attempted to thrown them off of him with magic, but for some reason her magic refused to surround them. It instead bounced off of them and onto the nearest source.
Namely a small wooden branch.
Nightmare blinked rapidly in surprise at this but shook it off and threw the stick at the larger human. It hit him on the back of his head and caused him to stumble slightly.
"What the fuck was that?!" he cried angrily, spinning around and looking for the perpetrator with a confused expression.
Unbeknownst to him Nightmare was right up in his face and was breathing angrily on him. The human didn't seem to notice this and merely called his friends over.
"Come on guys let's find out who chucked that stick."
Nightmare watched as they all ran inside the building and considered going after them. Her focus was taken away from them however as she heard a groan from behind her. She spun around to see the teenager slowly getting to his feet. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the bruises on his face, as well as a cut just above his eyebrow.
She looked on pitifully as he started collecting his books and putting them in a rather large backpack. He tried to put the straps over his shoulders and gritted in pain as he found himself unable to lift his left arm properly. Nightmare walked over to him and used her magic to help him.
The teenager flinched and cried out in pain as she did so, making her stop and look at him worriedly as he held his head.
"Ugh my head, I must have been hurt worse than usual today."
Nightmare's ears drooped down at the pain in the boy's voice and proceeded to put the strap onto his shoulder whist he was preoccupied. This time the teenager didn't react with a cry of pain but remained oblivious as he continued to rub his forehead. It was then that Nightmare saw a messily written name on his backpack.
"Property of Jason Storm"
Is that his name? she thought.
Jason suddenly seemed to notice that his bag was on him properly and cocked an eyebrow at it. He then shook his head and started to walk over to the building. Nightmare was conflicted at this point, she wanted to go and explore the world she was suddenly in, but she also didn't want the poor stallion to be attacked again.
She sighed in frustration but flew on after Jason whilst also looking around for some sort of projectile to throw, just in case those brutes came back.
One Hour ago
Jason Storm was having yet another shitty day. He had woken up at around six in the morning from the sound of the attic door opening.
His attic door.
Jason had never been allowed a room for himself and had instead been forced to live in the attic. It wasn't too bad if he was being honest. Sure the only thing he had for himself was a small bed with an even smaller blanket, but at least he had something.
"Get up Jason, you've got school!" came the usual demand from his mother.
His mother wasn't quite what you would call the ideal one. She wasn't an addict or alcoholic by any means but she was always so busy with her modelling career, as well as inviting random men into her bed every night or two that she just didn't have time to look after him.
Jason didn't like this but he soon got used to it and merely chose to ignore it as best he could until he finished his last year of school and got enough money to move out.
He slowly got out of his bed and climbed down the ladder to get out of the attic. He then made his way to the bathroom and got showered quickly. As he finished drying himself he caught his reflection in the bathroom mirror and grimaced as he saw a cut from two days ago still hadn't healed properly.
Jason wasn't a bad looking guy by any means. Sure he was a little skinny and had a few bruises on his skin but the way his pale complexion mixed in with his short black hair and light blue eyes still caused him to get a few glances from a few giggling girls.
Not that they'd actually try and talk to him mind you. After all there was a reason he had all those bruises and it wasn't because of girls pouncing on him.
After around ten minutes Jason got dressed into his school uniform, consisting of a white short sleeved shirt, black trousers and a black blazer. He grabbed an apple on his way out and quickly made his way to school. One of the good things about living with his mother was that he was only a few minutes from his school, and so it didn't take too long to get there.
Unfortunately by the sound of the bell ringing he had obviously overslept just a tad too much this time around. Jason quickly ran inside to get to class on time but found suddenly found himself hanging from the air as the infamous school bully and his lackeys surrounded him. They quickly pulled his backpack off of him harshly, twisting his arm in the process as they opened it and scattered all of his books over the floor.
"Where's my lunch money huh?!" Aaron Fletcher demanded.
Aaron had quite the reputation in this school and it wasn't for being number one at the chess club. He was widely known as someone you just didn't cross, unless you wanted to lose a few teeth in the process. To Jason's dismay he had been ripped of his lunch money every day for the past four years, and had taken to hiding it within a small pocket in his bag.
"I don't have any money!" he lied painfully.
He knew what was coming and braced himself as he was dropped to the floor and kicked by the entire group. It should have hurt him a lot more than it did, but after a while he just got used to the pain.
It was second nature to him.
Suddenly he heard Aaron yelp in pain as a stick dropped by Jason's head. Jason wearily opened his eyes and saw Aaron running inside of the school with his friends right behind him.
Seeing that he was safe for the moment, Jason stood up shakily and picked up all of his stuff. He then attempted to put his backpack on but was unable as his shoulder throbbed profusely every time he tried. Suddenly he was hit with an excruciating headache and closed his eyes as he cried out in pain. Then just as suddenly as it came it had gone, leaving him with a slight headache.
"Ugh my head, I must have been hurt worse than usual today."
Shaking his head slightly, he went back to putting his bag on. To his surprise however it was already secured on both of his shoulders. He raised an eyebrow at it but considering he had just gotten the crap beaten out of him he didn't complain. He walked inside of his school and headed over to class.
The day went by fairly quickly and before Jason knew it, it was time to leave. Many of his teachers had seen the state of him but every time they asked him to go home he refused merely on the account that it wouldn't be any better there then it was here. But now he had no excuses and it was time to go home. So with a little reluctance he grabbed his backpack which just seemed to slip onto his shoulders by itself. He chalked it up to him being tired, after all a bag couldn't move on its own.
Nightmare had been watching over Jason the entire time he was at this school. She found the place to be fascinating and had tried to learn as much as she could while she was sitting by her human. She had learned of many subjects during one of his lessons, and was greatly disturbed to learn that this world had been at war twice. She had also tried to take part during a Mathematics lesson, easily answering the questions and smirking when she saw the bully from before struggling with them.
But during all this time she had kept her eye on Jason, just in case some of the others tried to hurt him again. It was frustrating that she couldn't use her magic on anything living but she had at least been given the chance to use it on other things. And so she kept a rather sharp looking knife that she had "borrowed" from the cafeteria with her at all times.
Hmm it has been a rather informative day to say the least. Perhaps I should come here as often as Jason does, at least then I might hope to learn something about this world and…where is he going?
Nightmare noticed that Jason was attempting to put his bag on again and helped him with it. She then followed him as he left the school and quickly headed in a straight direction. She paused for a second as she saw him heading up to a large building but continued to follow him even as he opened the door and walked inside before closing it. Nightmare phased through the closed door behind him and looked around the room.
They were in a rather small hallway that lead to other doors and had a stairway leading up. Jason walked up this stairway and when he reached the top he proceeded to pull a string that was connected to a square door on the ceiling. The square door opened and a ladder fell down which Jason quickly got on and climbed up.
Nightmare followed him up and nearly blanched as she saw the poor state of this room. There was a small bed in the centre with an even smaller looking blanket and pillow on top of it. Besides that the only thing inside the room was a desk with some sort of square box on top of it. The square box also had some sort of black string that led to other objects, one a rectangular shape with little squares on it and some sort of oval shaped plastic object.
Her focus snapped back onto Jason as she saw him removing his clothing and clenching his teeth in pain as he did so. Nightmare magically helped him pull his top over his head but left the rest to him as she was too busy staring at the scars all over his stomach and back.
"By the Gods, who did this to you…?" she asked, concern laced in her tone.
Jason froze for a moment and turned around slowly until his face was no more than a few inches from her own.
Nightmare's eyes widened with hope at this.
"Can you see me?" she asked excitedly. Oh she hoped he could, it would be wonderful to have somepony to talk to.
Jason suddenly shook his head and proceeded to pull the rest of his clothing off.
"Hearing voices Jason, you've finally gone insane." he whispered to himself in annoyance.
Nightmare's face brightened at this confession. He had heard her speak to him…she wondered if…
Nightmare reached out with her hoof and tried to touch Jason's shoulder. She braced herself for disappointment as she did so but carried on and put her hoof on Jason.
It didn't go through him.
Jason jumped out of his skin as he felt something touching his shoulder, scaring him and simultaneously causing his shoulder to throb with pain. He spun around and for a moment he had to rub his eyes to make sure he was awake. In front of him was…well, a tall and slender looking pony. It had a horn and folded up wings which left him confused as to what it was. Its fur was very black whilst its mane and tail resembled the night sky and were floating in a non-existent breeze.
"Okay scratch what I just said, I have gone insane." he muttered aloud..
"You can see me?" Nightmare asked incredulously.
Jason started to back away from her as she said this, his eyes had become as wide as plates.
"What the…okay Jason you've had a long day and your mind is paying tricks on you. It isn't real."
Nightmare raised an eyebrow at the scared Human and starting walking over to him.
"I am most certainly real Jason Storm. For it is I you have to thank for ridding you of that brute this morning."
Jason looked at her in confusion but was snapped out of it as his back hit a wall. Nightmare was right in front of him and was looking at him with a rather upset expression.
"Why do you fear me as well?" she asked him sadly.
Jason blinked in surprise and looked her up and down as he considered his answer.
"Well for one you're a talking pony and for two you just appeared out of nowhere." he replied quickly.
Nightmare tilted her head to the side as he said this.
"My appearance doesn't frighten you?" she asked questioningly.
"Her appearance?"
Jason looked her up and down but he couldn't see anything scary about her. Her eyes were kind of strange but he thought they looked cool. The way her mane and tail billowed in the none existent breeze was far from frightening, if anything it hypnotised him with its beauty. As for her face and everything else, she just looked unhappy not dangerous or scary.
"Uhh you look pretty, not frightening." he said nervously.
Nightmare's eyes widened in disbelief. It was one thing that she was in another world where nopony could see her but this one young stallion. But for her to be complemented on her looks was something completely alien to her.
"Well I, uhh, thank you." she stuttered quickly.
It suddenly occurred to Nightmare that she was having an actual conversation with somepony. Not a talk about her bid for eternal night or a talk about power and bits, but an actual conversation.
She found herself enjoying it immensely.
Jason watched as Nightmare sat on her rump and looked at him sternly for a few seconds.
"I have a request for you Jason Storm."
Jason raised an eyebrow at this but having already concluded that he had gone off the deep end he merely nodded at this creature.
"I was wondering if you would do me the honour of being my conversation pony."
Her what?
"Uhh what do you mean miss…?"
"I am called Nightmare Moon, goddess of all things nocturnal. And as to your question…"
Jason watched as Nightmares face seemed to scrunch up in concentration and had to fight off laughing at her.
"I would like for you to be my conversation pony…I am fairly sure this consists of you talking and listening to me whilst also keeping us merry and entertained."
Jason stared at her blankly which actually made Nightmare wonder if she had explained it incorrectly.
"Soooo basically you want me to be your friend?" he asked questioningly.
Nightmare's eyes widened in excitement as he said this. She had known that she wasn't wording it correctly but Jason obviously must have understood her on some level.
"Ah yes, I would like it if you could…befriend me."
Jason stared at Nightmare for a few seconds but then shrugged and nodded at her.
"Sure, I've already gone insane so I might as well roll with it."
Nightmares expression changed from nervous to extremely happy at this. And so the next thing Jason knew, he was being embraced joyfully by the pony. Out of instinct he hugged her back which pleased Nightmare immensely.
I have a friend, an actual friend!
She suddenly noticed that Jason's breathing had become little more than gasps and let him out of her iron hold with an apologetic look.
"I apologize Jason Storm…this does not make you want to not be my friend anymore does it?"
A wave of despair took Nightmare as she suddenly realized that Jason could de-friend her at any moment. Even now after hurting him with her embrace, he could be inclined to take back his pledge of friendship.
Her worries were cast aside as she heard him chuckling to himself.
"Ouch you're kinda strong." he said, still chuckling slightly whilst he did so.
"I am sorry, do you still want to be my friend? I can embrace you softer, I swear!"
Jason flinched from her loud voice which made Nightmare feel even worse.
I am so terrible at making friends, no wonder nopony wanted me. she thought depressingly.
"Relax Moony, I'll still be your friend."
Nightmare snapped her focus back onto Jason as he said this.
"What did you just call me?" She asked quizzically.
Jason went a little red as she asked this and wondered absentmindedly if he really was talking to an imaginary pony.
"Um I called you Moony. It's a nickname and friends give each other nicknames right?"
A nick...name? Nightmare was unfamiliar with the word but if it was something friends did with each other than she would just have to as Jason said "Roll with it."
"You may call me Moony if you desire, but I must have something to call you as well."
Nightmares mind was working on overtime to find some sort of nickname for Jason and felt nothing but despair when she couldn't think of any.
Jason caught the upset look on her face and put his hand on her shoulder to try and snap her out of it. Nightmare felt a sudden warmth on her shoulder and looked at it to find Jason's hand resting there.
"You can call me Jay if you want. I don't really have any friends but if I did I'd imagine it's what they would call me." he told her.
He doesn't have any friends either? Oh then this is my chance! I can be his first friend and he can be mine!
"I would like very much to call you 'Jay'. But to confirm, you are okay with us being…friends?"
Jason nodded at her which made her smile properly for the first time in many years. She flew to embrace him once more but halted at she remembered what happened the last time she tried that.
Okay just put my hooves around him and keep it soft and gentle. Oh this is going to be difficult, soft and gentle is Tia's area not mine. But I must do it to preserve my first friendship! Right let's just-
Nightmares thinking tirade was put off as she suddenly found herself being embraced by Jason. It was quite surprising but pleasant none the less, and so she wrapped her hooves around him and made sure to focus on being as soft as possible.
Jason suddenly yawned which made Nightmare release him from her grip and look at him with concern.
"Are you tired Jay?" she asked.
"Yeah it's been a long day and that beating I took earlier didn't help at all." he replied wearily.
Nightmare's eyes narrowed as she considered all the ways she could make those male Humans pay. Magic for whatever reason only worked on Jason and inanimate objects, but she did wonder if her greatest gift would work instead.
She wasn't called Nightmare Moon for nothing.
"Goodnight Moony." Jason yawned.
She watched as Jason got into his tiny bed and tried to cover himself as best he could. To her dismay however the blanket barely covered his upper body and left a lot of bare skin to suffer under the rooms chill.
This would not do.
Just as Jason was starting to drift off to sleep he was suddenly pulled out of his bed, into the air and placed on the floor. Before he got a chance to complain however, he felt something envelop him and pull him closer to another warm surface. He turned around and found himself looking at Nightmares eyes.
In fact as he looked at the rest of her, he realized that her wings were wrapped around him and had pulled him so close to her chest that he could feel her body's warmth flowing from her and into himself.
"Moony what are you-?"
"Are you not more comfortable here then on that tiny bed?" she interrupted.
Jason blinked at her question. He actually felt a lot more comfortable which was surprising seeing that he was on the floor.
"Umm yes I am." he replied sheepishly.
"Then sleep, I shall watch over you whilst you do so."
Whilst he found that a tad bit creepy he also found himself relaxing as her comfortable wings and warmth surrounded him. He didn't know if was imagining this or whether he really had gone insane. But for now real or not he was going to enjoy this as much as he could. And so within minutes he fell asleep with his face buried in her chest.
Nightmare couldn't help but feel strange as he did so. She considered that it could be some form of maternal instinct, having somepony seeking her warmth and safety was something that could very much start an instinct like that.
None the less he was her very first friend and if this was what she had to look forward too every time he slept then she wasn't complaining. To her surprise she found his warmth quite relaxing as well and instinctively nuzzled his neck to find a comfortable spot to rest her head.
Strange, I'm neither hungry nor thirsty and yet I still need to sleep.
And sleep she did. After a few more seconds the darkness took her and she began to breathe deeply. Her head nestled itself deeper into his neck whilst Jason's did the same on her chest.
Little did they know of the destiny that awaited them.
Jason woke up to the feeling of warmth and comfort. As he opened his eyes however he realized that he was lying on the floor, so this feeling confused him slightly. He turned his head to the right and saw two cat-like eyes staring at him.
"WHOA!"
Jason practically flew from the ground and onto his feet, looking down at the standing up form of Nightmare Moon.
"What the…you were just a dream. A happy dream, but a dream none the less." He rambled quickly.
Nightmare's cheeks felt a bit hot when he called her a happy dream, but she pushed that feeling to one side and focused on convincing her new friend.
"Jay I am real, what happened last night was real…Are we not friends anymore?"
Jason actually felt like the world's biggest ass when she asked that question and shook his head.
"Of course we are…but how can you be real? Don't get me wrong I really wish I could believe that you are…but…"
Nightmare saw that words alone weren't going to convince Jason of her existence and so she resorted to something far more practical.
Jason was rubbing his forehead for a few seconds before suddenly finding himself floating in mid-air…upside down.
"What the heck?"
Nightmare's face took on a rather malicious grin as she started rotating him like a spinning top. Especially when she saw his face becoming rather…green.
"I guess that I'm still not real Jay? Nope, I guess that you're just spinning around of your own accord right?"
Jason felt like he was going to hurl, and so spoke as rapidly as he could to get her to stop.
"Okay okay you're real. No way I could do this to myself…ugh, please stop!"
Nightmare grinned at his admittance to her existence and rewarded him by placing him back on his feet. She saw his ill expression and couldn't help but laugh at him.
"Ha ha. Oh my Jay, you look absolutely horrible."
Jason winced at her declaration but smirked and decided to get some payback on his *Not sure if imaginary or not* friend.
Nightmare saw him advancing towards her and raised an eyebrow in mock fear.
"Oh no, I am going to be attacked. Will some brave stallion please come and save me?"
Jason just grinned at her and decided to go with what he guessed was her most sensitive part of her body.
Namely her wings.
He quickly reached over and began to tickle the joint that linked her body to her wings, enjoying himself immensely when he noticed Nightmares eyes widen slightly before she began to helplessly laugh her head off.
"Ahh no! S-Stop please Jay! I will do a-anything, j-just please s-stop!"
In a mad attempt to stop him, Nightmare opened her wings and encased him with them, successfully stopping him from tickling her whilst trapping him and blocking out all outside light.
"Huzzah! You have been stopped new friend!"
Her triumph was quickly swept away as he began to tickle her sides instead, resulting her in dragging him to the ground whilst she flailed her hooves around.
"Nooo, please new friend! Stop! I can't take it anymore!"
Jason chuckled and stopped tickling her, choosing instead to put his arms around her in an embrace. Nightmare's giggling calmed down some before she realised that she was being…hugged?
She smiled at this and gladly recuperated, keeping her wings wrapped around him as well as her hooves. She finally looked at his face and allowed herself to grin as she saw the tinge of green still on his cheeks.
Suddenly she realised something. She had just played a game…with her new friend. For the first time in her life, not counting Luna's, she had played a game with somepony. She had even been tickled! Nopony would ever have dreamed tickling her, but this Human had done so with no care for what she might do to him.
"He really isn't afraid of me…"
"Hey Moony, do you mind if we can do this again later? I haven't had this much fun in…forever really!"
Nightmare blinked at her nickname but smiled at the fact that Jason had remembered it.
"I would not mind at all. To be honest I have never so much as played a game with anypony in my life, let alone been tickled before…silly Human."
Jason grinned at her before beginning to stand up. He found himself unable to do so however as Nightmares grip on him prevented it.
"Uh Moony? I need to get up."
"Why?" She asked curiously. She was quite happy just to lay with Jason forever. Having never had somepony be this casual or this fun to her before, it was quite hard to imagine letting that particular pony go.
"I have to go to school, it's the Friday and so it's the last day until Monday." Jason replied.
"School? That place of learning he was at yesterday I assume?"
"Hmm, I agree. Knowledge is vital to anypony will enough drive to learn it." She said sagely.
She let go of Jason, albeit with a little reluctance and watched as he grabbed a few clothes and opened the attic door. She followed him down it and kept on following him until he reached what looked like a bathroom.
Jason turned around and looked at her with a smidge of embarrassment.
"Umm do you mind waiting outside here?" He asked awkwardly.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because I'm going to shower…naked."
Nightmare raised an eyebrow at this. Ponies were always naked, and so it raised a question as to why she always saw Humans wearing clothing.
"Why do Humans wear clothing all the time?" She asked questioningly.
Jason cocked his own eyebrow at that question but tried to answer as best he could.
"Um, well I suppose because of the cold. But most of all it's illegal to walk around in public with nothing on."
Nightmare understood most of what he was saying but still felt that it was rather foalish to wearing clothing all the time.
"You still haven't explained why you wish for me not to see you naked?" She asked innocently.
Jason rubbed his forehead and was actually going a bit red in the face.
"Because it's slightly embarrassing and my uh…thing sort of just…hangs out."
Jason felt like he was going to die from a severe case of embarrassment has he finished saying that. Nightmare on the other hand found it highly amusing as well as slightly fascinating. But she did finally understand his need for privacy.
"Ahh now I understand. But if it is not too much trouble, may I study you completely unclothed?" She asked, getting a sly grin on her face as she watch Jason splutter in embarrassment.
"U-Uhh n-no. I'm uh, really uncomfortable with that. So umm…not right now."
"Oh so you're up for it later then, good to know."
Nightmare flew off quickly, cackling to herself as she heard him spluttering some more behind her.
After a good fifteen minutes later, Jason exited the shower fully clothed and clean. His short black hair was still slightly damp but Jason had used that to his advantage and had spiked it up as best he could. Nightmare was sitting on the roof and watching the local children and teenagers walking past her in their matching uniform.
A tear came to her eye as she remembered herself and Celestia being taught by a gruff looking Unicorn called Stardust Emerald. She shook the memory away when she glimpsed Luna, not herself sitting by her sister. The door below her opened and her newest and only friend stepped out, looking around the area and sighing sadly for some reason.
"Well we can't have that now can we Jason?"
Nightmare flew down to him and stayed airborne by his side. Jason suddenly seemed to notice her and jumped slightly in surprise.
"Moony! Jeez you frightened the hell out of me." He exclaimed, getting a few stares from other people as a result.
"I apologize, but the urge was to do so was too great. On the other hoof, I recommend that you talk quietly. None other the other Humans can see me for some reason."
Jason looked around and realised that no one was looking at Nightmare. It was as if they hadn't noticed her at all.
"Oh…I really do feel insane now." He quipped quietly, getting a snort of laughter from Nightmare as a result.
Jason eventually made it outside of his school and planned to walk in, only to get dragged to one side by Nightmare before he could.
"Moony what are you-"
"Shh Jay. That brute and his followers are watching the gate." She replied cautiously, sticking her head through the wall to get a good look.
Jason felt confused but quickly figured out who she was on about and started to feel nervous. Nightmare looked back at Jason and saw the fear in his eyes. She instantly pulled a knife from her mane and prepared to fly over the gate.
"Moony what are you going to do with that?" Jason asked nervously. He had seen her eyes flash with anger before she brought it out and had a feeling that whatever she was going to use it for, it wasn't going to be pretty.
Nightmare looked at Jason sympathetically and patted his head with her hoof.
"Do not worry my friend. That brute is going to pay for all he has done to you and nopony will be able to find out who did it. A foolproof plan if I do say so myself."
Jason's eyes widened and he attempted to pull her back down to the ground.
"You can't do that, it's murder Moony." He tried to explain.
"And what he has done to you is any better?" She replied smoothly
Jason couldn't think of a response to that but due to the worry on his face, Nightmare sighed and put the knife back in her large flowing mane.
"Fine I will not kill him." She declared.
Jason sighed in relief…until he noticed the malicious smirk on Nightmare's face.
"But I will leave him a quivering mess."
Jason cocked an eyebrow at this and proceeded to walk inside of the gate. Aaron and his gang noticed him immediately and instantly walked over to him. Just as Aaron neared him, Jason saw Nightmare fly behind him and light her horn up. Instantly Aaron stopped moving and seemed to stare off into space. His *friends* noticed this and started to shake him in order to snap him out of it.
However…
Nightmare smirked when she was able to access the brutes mind. She instantly entered it and began to scan his every fear and phobia. She smiled maliciously when she found what she was looking for, and used her magic to bring Aaron into his own mind.
The bully opened his eyes to find himself standing alone in an empty white plain of nothingness.
"What the fuck is going on?!" He yelled, looking around and mumbling under his breath that he would kill his dealer for giving him faulty weed.
"What it going on…Why, it is merely your worst NIGHTMARE!"
Aaron watched dumbfounded as a midnight black winged and horned horse appeared in front of him. It was looking at him with the utmost hate he had ever seen on anyone before.
"My worst nightmare? Ha you're a horse!" He exclaimed uselessly.
The horse smiled at him in a way that made him shiver slightly. It then proceeded to walk over to him until it was right up in his face.
"You have hurt my friend Aaron Fletcher. You have hurt him so much and yet for some reason he does not want your death. I will help him with this fear, but for now let's just deal with you shall we."
Aaron wasn't about to be intimidated by some horse. And so he tried to swing a fist at it, only to find himself suddenly tied up to a chair.
"Do you really think that you can hurt me foal?"
Aaron was started to feel rightly scared of this creature, and so began to struggle against his chair.
"Aww are you frightened of me?" She asked with mock sympathy. "Good, but you have no idea how much fear you've caused my friend…here let me give you a sample!"
The horse suddenly disappeared, leaving Aaron on his own and still tied to the chair.
Suddenly the whole room changed into a very dark alleyway. Aaron was standing up but for some reason was rooted to the spot. He heard the sound of footsteps behind him and turned his head as best he could to see who it was.
His face paled immensely as he saw a large group of rotting corpses walking towards him with their arms outstretched. Aaron tried his utmost to move but his legs just wouldn't obey him. He turned around once more and screamed as one of the corpses began to tear his face with its teeth.
Jason and pretty much everyone else in the school, including the teachers were all watching the school bully thrashing around on the floor, frothing from his mouth as he began screaming in agony. Jason felt Nightmare leaning on him and looked at her.
She was observing Aaron with a happy smile on her muzzle, not a malicious one but one of utmost satisfaction. She suddenly noticed her friend looking at her and smiled at him comfortingly…only for her smile to become a frown as he began running away from her.
"Jay! Jason what is wrong?" She called, her frown deepening as she contemplated his reason for running and sighing when she figured it out.
Jason had legged it from Nightmare and into the school bathroom where he had hid himself in one of the stalls. He couldn't believe that she had managed to make Aaron become like that. Would it happen to him if he angered her? Or would she just punish anyone else who hurt or threatened him?
"My friend where are you?"
Jason froze and held his breath as he heard Nightmare's voice not a few feet from his hiding place.
"Jason please do not hide from me. I understand that you're afraid but it was all for you."
The scared Human felt slightly upset when he heard the hurt in her voice but was still so frightened of what she had done to Aaron. Suddenly the stalls started opening on their own, getting closer and closer to his own. He knew he couldn't run from her and so he merely cowered and rolled himself into a ball with his hands over his head.
He heard his stall opening and as the seconds went by he hoped that she had overlooked him. The stalls were quite large after all. His hopes were dashed however as he felt himself being gently picked up and literally cradled by a warm presence.
"Jason please look at me."
Jason heard the tenderness to her voice but refused to do as she asked, keeping himself locked in his rolled up position. He heard a sigh before he felt his neck get touched by something slightly wet, making him raise his head instinctively. His face was instantly grasped by the Alicorn, but it was done so gently.
"Why did you run from me Jason?" She asked worriedly, her expression looked hurt as she asked him this.
"Y-You made Aaron go insane." He replied nervously, averting his eyes from hers so that he wouldn't have to see the hurt that was radiating from them.
"It was all for you Jason. He can't hurt you anymore, and if his friends try anything then they will meet the same fate." Her voice become slightly more angry towards the end which made Jason tense up. Nightmare felt this and nuzzled his cheek to calm him down, smiling when she saw it work.
"B-But I d-didn't want anyone to be h-hurt." He stuttered pitifully, wincing when he saw Nightmare's eyes narrow.
"I know this Jason, but somepony has to protect you. And as my first and only friend I will not allow anypony to harm you…ever."
Jason couldn't help but lean his face on her as she said this. He knew what she had done to Aaron was wrong. But hearing that she would protect him made him feel…safe. And he couldn't help but cling to it.
Nightmare smiled at her Human as he buried his face in her chest.
"Wait my Human?...Yes he is my Human, and I shall protect him until he can do so himself." She vowed mentally.
She thought what she had done to Aaron was rather clever on her part. She couldn't physically hurt him and so she chose the other path.
Mental manipulation with nightmares and fears.
"Works every time." She chuckled darkly.
After a few minutes Jason unlocked himself and stood up. He was still shivering somewhat which Nightmare frowned at. He gave her an assuring smile however and slowly exited the bathroom with Nightmare right behind him.
As he entered his classroom however he was surprised to see that it was still empty. He looked around for a note or something but seeing that he didn't find anything, he simply went to the seat at the far back and threw his bag under his table. Nightmare sat down on his left and looked at him observantly.
"Are you sure you're feeling okay Jay? I…I haven't alienated you from me have I?" She asked tentatively.
Jason sighed deeply but shook his head and put a hand gently on her head.
"Of course not Moony. I mean you're the first friend I've ever had in my life…You scare me, I'm not going to lie to you about that. But…I also feel safe around you. Even if we've only just met."
Nightmare frowned at his admittance of being frightened of her and made it her top priority to rid him of that fear. She felt herself actually blushing however when he admitted she also made him feel safe.
"You will always be safe in my company Jason, never doubt that. You don't have magic like I do but I shall teach you how to protect yourself."
"How exactly? I know how to punch someone…I just don't have the courage to do it." He replied sheepishly.
"There are more ways to defend yourself then mere violence Jay. Lies and simple psychology can help you escape many a tricky situation." She explained knowledgeably, fully intending on teaching her *protégé'* the ways of deception.
Jason cocked an eyebrow at this but nodded at her. No matter the situation she hadn't been wrong yet…in any way.
As the minutes turned into ten and then thirty, Jason was still left alone with Nightmare in the classroom. They had been making smalltalk for that amount of time, Nightmare telling him about Equestria and bits of her foalhood, and Jason telling her about Earth and his own childhood.
"So your own mother is too busy to take care of you…and this is because she sleeps with random Humans every night or so?" Nightmare asked bluntly.
"Pretty much, I've gotten used to it though and so it doesn't bother me as much as it used to." Jason replied honestly.
"Maybe it doesn't bother you but it certainly bothers me Jay. Why doesn't she at least purchase you a larger bed for a start?"
Jason shrugged at this but answered as best he could.
"She spends her money on other things. It's not mine so it's not like I have a say or anything."
"And who told you that?" Nightmare asked angrily.
"Uhh…her."
Nightmare's eyes narrowed dangerously at this revelation with made Jason worry for his mother's sanity.
"Umm, you're not going to harm her are you?" Jason asked nervously.
Nightmare shook her head which made him sigh in relief.
"I will give her a stern talking to however…she won't lose her mind but she will learn her lesson if she refuses to comply."
She kept this thought to herself however and merely leaned on her friend as he absentmindedly began stroking her ethereal mane.
Eventually Nightmare noticed that their still wasn't anypony in the classroom and forced herself to part from her friend's beloved hand.
"I do not believe we are being taught anything today Jay." She declared bluntly.
Jason sighed in agreement and stood up, grabbing his bag and walking out of his classroom. He went to the school's reception and pressed the bell to get someone's attention. A thin women wearing smart clothing with tied up hair came out from the office behind the desk and looked at Jason in an almost bored fashion.
"Is there a problem Mr…?"
"Storm, I'm Jason Storm. And uhh yeah there is. Where is everybody?"
The receptionist raised an eyebrow and sighed in annoyance, making Nightmare narrow her eyes dangerously.
"Everybody left around thirty minutes ago Mr Storm. There was an incident and the headmaster thought it was best if everyone took the day off so that they could get someone to investigate the matter. I would recommend you do the same or get your mommy to come and pick you up."
Jason frowned at being addressed like a child but from the thunderous look on Nightmares face he figured that it would be best to leave as soon as possible.
"There's no need miss, I only live a few minutes away. Have a nice day."
He quickly left the building with a muttering Nightmare behind him. He wasn't too sure but he was faintly aware of his friend saying something along the lines of "Let's see how she likes being treated with such disrespect."
He chose to ignore her mumblings and focused on just getting himself home.
"Well Mom will be out until five today so I have the house to myself for a while. I wonder what I can do to keep Nightmare and myself entertained until then…maybe the computer."
He reached his house within the next five minutes and let himself inside. Nightmare flew in behind him as he shut the door and landed on the carpet.
"Well I imagine you have some spare time for today then?" She asked questioningly.
"Yep, I'm not too sure on how to pass the time but I'm sure I'll come up with something." He replied enthusiastically.
Nightmare seemed to ponder on this before smiling at him pleasantly and trotting into the living room. Jason cocked an eyebrow but followed her and almost chuckled as he saw her splayed out on a large sofa.
"Very regal your highness." He mocked sarcastically. Nightmare had informed him that she was a Princess in Equestria, but had yet to tell him of her banishment…or her apparent death.
"It is comfortable to lie down this way. Honestly, why Tia never did so is a mystery."
Jason watched her getting more comfortable and couldn't help but ask a nagging question.
"Moony, how are you able to touch the sofa and yet become intangible with the school gate or other Humans?" He asked curiously.
Nightmare looked up at him and smirked knowledgably.
"I cannot touch any other Human than you Jay. As for inanimate objects like this sofa or your school gate, I have simply found a way to switch between intangibility. It's not so difficult when you figure out the trick."
"Trick?" Jason asked questioningly.
Nightmare actually giggled at him and splayed her legs out comically.
"A maregician never reveals her tricks Jason. You should know this silly stallion."
"A maregician? You just made that up didn't you?" He asked amusedly.
"Not at all my friend. There was a time where maregician's were worshiped by many a pony. But alas…their time has long since passed by and it is a rare trade nowadays."
Jason honestly had no idea whether she was being overly dramatic or not. But he did find her sarcastic sense of humour to be refreshing. It was something that he could get used to easily.
Nightmare suddenly sat up onto her rump and patted a spot on the sofa for Jason to sit. He grinned at her but did so and waited for her to speak.
"Now then, I do remember saying that I would teach you the deceptive ways of the night, did I not?"
"I don't recall the night bit but yeah you got the gist of it." He replied teasingly.
Nightmare rolled her eyes and actually managed to fold her forehooves whilst giving him a look that he had got from many a teacher, normally when he seemed to be daydreaming or not paying attention.
"While I am thrilled that my humor seems to be rubbing off on you, I hope that my teachings do the same just as easily." She said in amusement.
"Anyway here I am going to reveal many hidden secrets and shadowy deceptions that will help you in almost any given situation. But pay attention for you shall practice them all the time with me. I won't tell you when, you have to figure it out when it happens. Fair enough?"
"Fair enough." Jason replied.
"Wrong my good protégé'. She replied sternly.
"There is no fairness in deception. It is all lies and half-truths mixed in with mind games and answering questions with more questions. But fear not, by the time I am finished with you, you shall be well versed with every aspect of it. Eventually even I won't be able to throw you off balance."
Jason actually found himself becoming excited at the prospect of learning this. His excitement did not go unnoticed by Nightmare, making her feel very happy to have convinced him so easily.
"It will be pleasant to have a friend who I can count on to be as clever as myself. Especially if I end up returning to Equestria with him…Maybe he will be able to convince everypony that I am not a threat to any of them…I can only hope. And if we don't go back, then at least he will be able to defend himself if I am not nearby…not like that will ever happen but you can never know."
And so Nightmare spent the rest of the day teaching her only friend the very basics of deception. She found herself pleasantly surprised at how easily he grasped it and especially on how he almost managed to convincingly lie to her.
"He is very good at this I admit…perhaps he will become my equal within deception sooner than I thought."
Eventually Nightmare noticed the fatigue on his expression and called it a day. Jason actually felt rather proud at himself for how well he had done. He knew that he still had a long way to go but if luck was on his side then he would hopefully get even better as the days went by.
"Well done Jay, I could never have imagined that anypony could grasp my teachings so easily." Nightmare commended.
In truth this was part of her way to get his fear of her out of his system. She hated the very thought of him being afraid of her and hoped that he would be able to understand her logic as his lessons went on.
"Well it could be because I'm not a pony." Jason quipped quickly, grinning as he saw Nightmare smile.
"Perhaps, your race does seem to be more adaptable then my own…It's strange, but I cannot help but think I've met a Human before. I don't know how and yet it's still in the back of my mind."
Nightmare grimaced as she said this. She really did feel like she had met a Human before and cursed when she realised that the memory might have been taken away from her separation. It was an annoying fact but when herself and Luna were separated, Luna had taken some of her memories from Nightmare, leaving the mare with annoying blank spots in her memory.
"I'd sleep on it Moony. Sometimes I can only remember something after a few hours of sleep, so it may work for you too." Jason suggested.
Nightmare nodded at his suggestion and stood up of the sofa, stretching her aching joints and ruffling her wings somewhat to shake off the numbness that had taken hold of them.
Jason looked outside of the living room window and blinked in surprise as he saw the sun setting.
"Strange, Mom should be back by now…unless she went to a hotel again. Yeah that's probably the case…All well, I guess it means that Nightmare and I can talk some more without it looking like I'm loony."
"Are you coming then Jay?"
Jason saw Nightmare hovering by the door and followed her up into his room. Once he had closed the door, he turned around to see his blanket on the floor with Nightmare laying down on it. There was a gap beside her that was obviously left for him.
"Again Moony? We haven't even been on a date yet." Jason quipped sarcastically.
Nightmare rolled her eyes before smirking at him with a mock glare.
"Well if you'd rather sleep on your small bed instead…" She left her question open for anymore of his "Funny" remarks, and smiled when her Human kept himself quite silent.
"Good." She continued, before patting on the empty gap next to her and smiling when he started walking over to her, having already removed most of his clothing.
Jason dropped down onto his back and smiled pleasantly as he felt Nightmare's wings enfold him and pull him closer to her warmth. He instantly buried his face on her chest and smiled when an immense feeling of comfort and safety washed over him.
Nightmare wrapped her hooves around him, pulling him even closer to herself as she rested her head on his neck, mindful not to stab him with her horn.
"Night Moony…" Said Jason wearily.
"Goodnight my friend." She replied, herself getting just as tired in their comfortable embrace.
And as the call of sleep beckoned, the two friends answered.
Unknowing of how their embrace would become that more intimate within the coming weeks.
Nightmare opened her eyes bleakly and smiled at the sleeping form of her Human. Using her wings, she pulled the sleeping Human closer to herself, relishing the feeling on his body on her own. She remembered herself…Luna never being allowed anywhere near other males when she was growing up, let alone being able to share a bed with one…Or the floor.
Even when Nightmare herself had taken over, she had never really sought out the company of a stallion. She never really knew why to be honest, but as she laid there with Jason she knew that no stallion could compare to the Humans uniqueness. He was soft, smooth and yet warm and comforting all in one go.
She smiled to herself and nuzzled Jason's chest, soaking up all the pleasant sensations she got from doing so. As she nuzzled him Jason muttered something incoherent in his slumber. Nightmare looked at him with her small muzzle no more than a few inches from his face, smiling softly as he mumbled. She looked over his features and found herself feeling slightly happier than she already was. One could actually call her giddy at that exact moment.
She shook her head and placed his head on her chest, frowning to herself as her heartbeat sped up rapidly for a few seconds.
"What is this…It's been happening for nearly two weeks now." She thought to herself.
And she was correct in saying it. Four weeks had passed on by since Aaron's *Insane moment* as Jason liked to call it. She had been teaching him the intricate ways of deception ever since then, and he had only gotten better at it. He was still unable to tell when she was lying sometimes, but he could catch her out half of the time.
He had also gotten fluent in the art of dishonesty, easily being able to lie and make up excuses to his teachers and even his own mother. Nightmare couldn't have felt more proud of him when he had called out a teacher for lying about marking his homework.
"Dear Miss Condron was ever so flustered…Hehe."
On top of her deception lessons, she had also been making him exercise more often. And so Jason had been convinced to do sit-ups, push-ups and every other agony inducing type of thing possible for the past four weeks.
Of course when I say he was convinced, what I really mean is that she threatened him with "Do it or no more sleep together on the floor time".
He had complained a little at first obviously, but as the weeks went by the results of his hard work started to become apparent. His skinny form had become more toned and had lost most of the puppy fat that came with only being sixteen.
All in all he looked very pleasing to the eye. Something that Nightmare had started to notice.
Something that on that day would become a brief problem for the two friends.
Anyway as the minutes went by, Nightmare's internal clock told her that it was time for her Human to awaken. And so she gently prodded his cheek with her muzzle to wake him.
"Jay, it's time to learn my friend." She said, becoming amused when he patted her cheek gently.
"I'm up Moony, just give me a few more minutes please." He replied pleadingly.
Nightmare narrowed her eyes mischievously and started tickling him lightly with her wing tips, giggling when Jason instantly sat up to "Try" and stop her.
He grabbed her wings and attempted to throw them off of himself, only for Nightmare to envelop him with them, sit up and drag him into her iron embrace. Jason looked up at her with mock annoyance which was quickly replaced with laughter as she started to quickly prod the sensitive sides of his stomach.
"Ahh no! Moony s-stop! I-I'm up! I'm u-up!"
Nightmare laughed musically with him and wrapped her forehooves around his chest, pulling him even further into her warmth and smiling as he relaxed and merely leaned back on her.
"This is pleasant." Nightmare admitted quietly.
"I know." Jason agreed just as quietly.
They both sat there for a few more minutes, enjoying the others company in a way that most friends wouldn't. But with she being an interdimentional Alicorn and he a simple Human they weren't exactly like "Most friends".
"You really should go and get ready Jay. You first lesson begins in roughly fifteen minutes."
Jason groaned and reluctantly left her embrace, something that pleased the Alicorn for some reason.
He grabbed a few clothes from a wardrobe he had received recently from his mother. At first he was ecstatic that she had actually gotten him something, but when he noticed the bags under her eyes as well as the way her eyes darted around, he quickly figured out that his hooved friend must have had something to do with it.
He opened the attic door and climbed down the ladder, Nightmare right behind him. Jason walked into the bathroom and watched as his friend flew through the ceiling and up to her regular spot on his roof. He chuckled randomly at this and closed the door.
Nightmare was sitting on "Her spot" on his roof, watching Jason's students as they walked to school. After around ten minutes or so Jason had walked outside and locked the door behind him. He looked up and smiled to himself as he spotted Nightmare grinning down at him. She flew down and kept herself airborne, flying lazily by his head.
"So who do you think you'll embarrass today Jay?" She asked bemusedly.
"Hopefully no one, I don't go out seeking these things you know." He replied quietly, so as to not draw attention to himself.
Nightmare studied his face for a few seconds before whistling loudly and patting his shoulder.
"Oooh almost Jay, almost."
Jason looked at her with an annoyed expression on his face, but chuckled to himself all the same.
"I nearly had you there though didn't I?" He whispered.
Nightmare nodded enthusiastically at him, happy that he was keeping up with their game despite his slight fatigue from recently waking up.
"What gave me away?"
"Your left eye twitched a few seconds after you lied." She replied bluntly.
Jason put a hand over his left eye instinctively and cursed quietly.
"Do not worry my friend. Apart from that, there was nothing else that gave you away."
Jason smiled at her appreciatively and continued walking to school, reaching the gate within the next few minutes and quickly entering the building. He reached his classroom just a few seconds before the warning bell went off. He quickly made his way inside the room and sat down at the far back.
Nightmare sat down beside him and since no one was watching, took his book out of his bag and put it on his table. Jason smiled at her thankfully before focusing on his teacher that had just walked in. He could practically feel Nightmare grinning as she looked up at his Mathematics teacher, Miss Condron, and had to bite his tongue to stop himself from randomly exploding into a laughing fit.
Part of their game was not only for him to test his newfound deception skills on Nightmare but also on other Humans. He had subtly tested some student and teachers but found them to be terrible at lying and thus Nightmare had deemed them to easy. Miss Condron on the other hand was quite the master at their game, having only been called out once a couple of weeks back.
And having only replaced his previous Maths teacher two weeks ago, Jason had yet to memorize her facial patterns whenever she tried to lie to him.
The lesson droned on pretty much like it usually did, with Jason keeping himself to himself but completing the work and answering the questions easily.
He didn't like to brag, but Maths had always been simple for him. And with the way they started dumbing down the lesson as of late, he barely had to pay attention at all. He actually wouldn't have if it hadn't been for Nightmare nudging him every five minutes and giving him a stern look.
Eventually the bell rang for his next lesson and Jason packed up his bag and made to leave.
"Excuse me."
Jason stopped walking as Miss Condron motioned for him to come over to her. He frowned slightly but did as she asked and merely waited for her to speak.
Just as Nightmare had taught him.
"Never start the conversation if you don't have to Jay. That way you can read their facial movements and be able to conclude if they are deceiving you with greater effect."
"Uhh Jason is it?"
Jason nodded but remained silent as he stared at her with a mock bored expression.
"Yes, well I was wondering if you could help me with something." She continued sweetly.
Jason observed her face as she spoke and concluded that she had both rehearsed what she was saying and was giving off a fake sense of kindness.
"What do you need?" He asked, keeping his expression stuck in a false sense of boredom and catching the smallest twitch of annoyance as she blinked.
"Well I was wondering since you were there, if you could tell me what you know about Aaron Fletcher."
Nightmare narrowed her eyes as she observed this woman.
"There's something…off about this question Jay. Be careful." She warned him seriously.
Jason acknowledged what she said and then proceeded to rub his temple in an attempt to look as though he was concentrating.
"Well…I know that he's a dick who liked to beat me up regularly." He told her conversationally, adding a brief bout of actual anger to his tone as he did so.
"And it didn't take a genius to see that he was on drugs either but apart from that I didn't care to know him." He finished bluntly.
Miss Condron smiled at him sympathetically but shook her head afterwards.
"No no, what I meant was do you know what could have caused him to become ill a few weeks back?" She asked kindly.
Jason wondered why she was asking him this question, seeing as it didn't exactly have anything to do with her. But as he caught Nightmare's questioning expression, he decided to play along and see what he could find out.
"I'm not sure Miss, maybe the drugs he was taking were faulty or something." He replied simply.
Then he saw it. Her expression became extremely annoyed, angry even. It lasted a mere second and if it were anyone else they would have missed it. But neither he nor Nightmare did.
But then she was back to her kind expression.
"Okay then Jason. You should run along to your class now, just tell then I held you up and you'll be fine." She said, false kindness in every word.
Jason nodded and walked out of the room quickly with Nightmare right behind him. Once they were halfway to his next class, Nightmare pulled him to one side and checked with her magic to see if there was anyone nearby. Once she found out there wasn't, she looked at Jason seriously and started to talk.
"I don't know about you but wasn't Miss Condron a bit too inquisitive just then?"
"Yeah she was, I mean did you see her expression when I denied knowing anything?" He replied worriedly.
Nightmare nodded and seemed to seriously think about it for a few moments, before waving her hoof and sighing in annoyance.
"Well we don't know anything else for now, so just stay vigilant whenever she question's you and we'll see what else we can get from her."
"What? Besides the fact that she's a bit too curious for a recent substitute teacher." Jason said sarcastically.
Nightmare just laughed at him and ushered him with her hooves to hurry up.
After his next lesson had finished, Jason had grabbed his bag and made his way into the cafeteria. He then proceeded to quickly buy himself a vegetarian sandwich. He wouldn't usually have eat something like this but seeing that Nightmare had been quite put off from him eating meat as well as her suggestion that he eat a healthier diet to aid his toning up, he had quickly gotten used to it.
Nightmare appreciated this more than she had admitted. It was not just a healthier diet but also a head start for him if she ever went back to Equestria. And when I say she, I mean they. For Nightmare was determined to take him with her if she ever went...even if he didn't necessarily want to.
She had said that she would never leave his side after all…and even then…he was her only friend.
"Hey Jason."
Both Nightmare and Jason looked up to see a girl walking over to them.
"Uhh yes?" Jason replied questioningly.
"Haha you're so serious. Anyway I was wondering if you'd like to come and sit with me and the other girls. A guy like you shouldn't be sitting on his own after all."
Jason was about to reply that he wasn't on his own…but then remembered that only he could see the Alicorn sitting right next to him.
Said Alicorn was glaring at the girl dangerously.
"Who does this girl think she is? Asking Jay to sit with her and her friends, bah!"
Jason actually looked rather nervous at her question.
"Um thanks but I'm alright sitting on my own." He declined gratefully. "Besides my invisible friend is quite the talker you know." He added amusedly, getting a small laugh from Nightmare.
The girl giggled at this and grabbed his arm lightly.
"Oh come on, you can bring your invisible friend with you if you like. Besides I wouldn't mind actually talking to you."
Jason felt quite helpless as he was playfully dragged from his table and over to the girls one. Nightmare followed them moodily, grumbling incoherent words under her breath. The girl got to her table and began pointing to the girls as she named them.
"Right this is Annabel, Scarlet and Lisa. You can call me Violet and no, Scarlet is not related to me in any way, shape or form."
Jason laughed at the little joke and sat down with them. He looked at Nightmare and gave her an apologetic look, which she accepted albeit with a little disdain.
"So Jason tell us a little about yourself." Scarlet asked curiously.
"Well…My full name is Jason Samuel Storm. I'm sixteen years old, live in my mom's attic and for the past few weeks have slept next to my best friend who just happens to be a flying, magical pony."
Nightmare actually smirked at Jason's complete and utter truthfulness to their question. She felt her slight anger abate at his declaration of her as his best friend and even blushed a little.
The girls were stunned into silence for a few moments before they all burst into hysterical laughter. Scarlet lightly punched his chest as she spoke to him, getting a rather murderous glare from Nightmare as a result.
"Haha Good one Jay! Jesus, I could never make something that long up on the spot. You should look for a job in comedy or something."
Nightmare's eyes widened furiously at how casually she had used HER nickname for Jason. Jason caught her expression and laughed half-heartedly with them, feeling very awkward.
"Heh…Well what we all actually want to know is this. Since when have you looked so buff? I mean a month back you were quite…normal."
Jason cocked an eyebrow at their question but after he concluded the reason behind it he went a bit red in the face. Nightmare had also concluded the reason behind it and was currently glaring daggers at all the girls.
"Umm well you know, just regular exercise, eating healthily. Stuff like that." Jason replied awkwardly.
"Really? Well it's obviously worked well hasn't it?" Scarlet said rhetorically. "Hmm do you think you can meet up with us sometime this weekend? My house is parent free and I always meet up with the girls there."
Jason did not have a clue what to do. He had not missed the rather…forward looks he was getting from all of them. And Scarlet's invitation didn't take too long to kick start his hormones either.
Nightmare however was silently fuming at Scarlet's blatant invitation.
"How dare she ask that of Jay! Those females are no more than a group of common whorse! Asking Jay if he wants to visit them. Bah! Jay will not be so easily swayed just because they offer themselves up for emotionless mating…right? Jay wouldn't accept them just for that…right?"
Nightmare looked at her only friend and silently pleaded for him to deny them. When he didn't look at her however her hopes began to plummet faster than a crippled Pegasi.
"Well it sounds like fun…but I'm uhh, going to have to decline." He said nervously.
Nightmare could have flown into the air and punched the ceiling with the amount of joy she got from his reply. She looked at the girls and couldn't help but stick her tongue out at them when Jason wasn't looking.
Scarlet tilted her head slightly and gave off a rather confused expression.
"Are you sure Jay? I mean it's not like we'd being doing make overs or anything for too long…"
Jason repressed a nervous shiver at the sultriness in her voice. Nightmare on the other hand wanted to banish the girl into the sun.
"He said no! That means no you stupid slu-"
"Uhh well as nice as that sounds, I actually have stuff to do this weekend. So maybe another time okay?"
Scarlet just shook her head and giggled at him.
"Aww well alright. But I'll catch you up on that okay?" She warned him playfully.
"Not if I have anything to say about it." Nightmare mused angrily.
Jason nodded and finished his sandwich quickly, before standing up and waving to them as he exited the cafeteria quickly.
The rest of the day went by rather quickly and before Jason knew it the bell had rang and it was time to go home. He looked at Nightmare who had been very quiet for the most part, only talking to him whenever he was struggling with a question or wasn't paying attention.
He arrived at his house a few minutes later and let himself in, sighing again as he noticed his mother's car wasn't in the driveway. Nightmare merely glided in after him and followed him as he climbed the stairs and did the whole process of opening his door and climbing up the ladder into his room. As soon as he had reached the top he quickly took most of his clothing off and threw it on the floor along with his bag.
He then sat down on his bed. Nightmare merely laid down on the floor and seemed to be fixated with her right hoof.
"Moony…what's wrong? You've been quiet for a while now." Jason asked tentatively.
Nightmare merely sighed and sat up, looking at him wearily.
"Nothing's up Jay, I'm just a little tired that's all." She replied quietly.
Jason studied her for a few seconds and frowned worriedly.
"You're lying to me Nightmare."
Nightmare snapped her eyes up at him angrily and was about to shout at him. But when she saw the concern practically radiating off of him…all thoughts of yelling were forgotten.
"I'm sorry Jay…I feel like a foal." She said sadly, looking down at the ground.
She suddenly found her face being lifted gently by Jason's hand and automatically leaned into it, soaking up its warmth without so much as a thought.
"Why?"
Such a simple question, but it tore at her courage as she tried to find the right words to answer it.
"Jason how long have we been friends?" She asked slowly.
Jason blinked at the question but smiled and answered straight away.
"Four weeks and three days."
Nightmare smiled serenely at this. The mere fact that he had remembered it exactly warmed her heart.
"And…well. How close do you think we are?" She continued carefully.
The Human cocked an eyebrow in confusion but tried to answer her all the same.
"Close? Umm well we sleep next to each other so I suppose that makes us closer than most friends. But in all honesty I don't know…I have nothing to compare it to."
Nightmare winced at his response but felt as though she should had seen it coming.
"Umm okay let me rephrase that. How do…How do you see me?"
"See you? I…see you as someone I can depend on. Someone I can trust completely. And someone…"
"Someone…?" Nightmare encouraged.
Jason breathed in deeply before opening his eyes and smiling at her nervously.
"Someone who despite not having known me at all, allowed me to sleep in her embrace the first time she met me. She looked out for me and although I'm still not sure of her methods…protected me and because of that I feel safe by just being near her."
"Jason…"
Nightmare could feel her eyes watering as she heard this. Never before in her existence could she remember anypony making her feel so…special.
"And do you know something?" He asked rhetorically.
Even though she didn't need to answer, Nightmare still shook her head in a negative.
"When those girls asked me to…visit them. A little over a month ago I would have jumped at the chance. But now…I couldn't even find them the slightest bit attractive. I couldn't find their…offer the slightest bit attractive."
He looked at Nightmare before looking down at the floor pitifully.
"After being as intimate with you as I have been…How could anyone else even come close to how much you mean to me…"
Nightmare's breath caught in her throat as he confessed this.
"He…He really sees me like that?"
She swallowed audibly and walked over to her Human, placing her right hoof under his chin and lifting it as he did to hers.
"Do you love me Jason?"
Jason clenched his fists as he struggled to answer her.
"D-Do…Do you?"
Nightmare blinked at his response and closed her eyes as she answered.
"I-I don't know." She whispered.
There was a few seconds silence until Nightmare heard Jason chuckling quietly. She opened her eyes just as he spoke.
"Me neither."
She smiled at him and rested her forehead against his, but was mindful with her horn so that she didn't hurt him.
"I was jealous of those females." She admitted quietly.
"You shouldn't have been. They might be attractive but to me you're beautiful." Jason replied honestly.
Nightmare looked at his eyes and found herself unable to look away as she saw her reflection deep within them.
"You shouldn't say that Jason…I'm not like you. I'm a completely different species."
"I don't care."
"But you should. I'm immortal Jason, you'll age and die but I'll live on. How could I let myself love you knowing that one day you'll be gone forever."
Jason closed his eyes as he tried to think of some alternative.
"Is there no way for me to stay with you?" He asked…almost pleaded.
Nightmare's eyes watered at the sadness in his voice and could not help but answer honestly.
"There is a way…but it's binding Jason. You'll be bound to me forever."
Jason chuckled lightly at this and opened his eyes.
"How is that a bad thing exactly?" He asked.
"Because…because I've done things Jason. Terrible things and if we were bound then you would go down with me."
Nightmare knew that it was time now. Time to tell her best…and only friend of what she had done.
"Jason…Back in Equestria, I am feared so greatly. The Pony folk fear me, my sister hates me and it's all my fault."
Jason looked at her questioningly but remained silent.
"There was a time when I once called Luna. While my sister raised the sun, I raised the moon. The Pony folk loved the sun, they played and lived their lives under it. But everypony ignored the moon, they ignored everything I did to try and impress them, to make them look at the night sky with awe like they did my sister's sun. Eventually all the negativity, the resentment and bitterness caught up to me and changed me from Luna…into what you see before you."
Jason's expression didn't change and he merely waited for her to continue.
"There was a fight between my sister and I. I was consumed by so much hatred and bitterness towards her that I don't even remember if she tried to talk me down. I lost the fight and as a result I was banished inside the moon for a thousand years by a power weapon called The Elements Of Harmony. It was…so lonely. There was nopony there but myself, not even a creature... Eventually the stars aliened into the correct pattern and I was able to return to Equestria. I was in my right mind this time, I was myself. And I was certain that the Pony folk would accept my gift for them…my eternal night. But they didn't accept it. They tried to arrest me, attack me even. I was so angry…but I was stopped by the very thing that banished me in the first place. And as a result I was separated my other half, Luna. And was trapped as a shadow on the wall."
Nightmare took a deep, shuddering breath and looked at Jason sadly.
"Do you see now? Do you see why I could never let us be together? If we somehow ended up back in Equestria and they attack me again, you would attacked too and taken down with me. And that would hurt me more than the sharpest blade."
Jason remained silent as she finished, causing Nightmare's eyes to fill up with tears.
"I should go…"
The immortal Alicorn pulled her head back from Jason and prepared to fly away from him. Just as she spread her wings however, Jason spun her around and pressed his lips to hers. Nightmare's eyes widened in shock at this…but they soon closed and she allowed herself to melt into the kiss.
Her first kiss.
Nightmare found herself relishing the feeling of her heart pounding madly. It had done so for the past couple of weeks and now…now she knew why.
She drew back from Jason and looked at him with tears running down her cheeks, matting her fur slightly.
"Jason please…I…We can't do this."
"Why? Why not? Because I'll go down with you if they attack you again? Good, then I hope that's what happens!"
"Jason what are you saying?" She croaked feebly.
"I'm saying that I'd…I'm saying that if you were to die then there wouldn't be a reason for me to live anymore."
Nightmare's eyes widened as he said this.
"You…You wouldn't kill yourself…You wouldn't…"
Jason looked at her with such a fierce expression on his face that Nightmare was rendered silent.
"Nightmare you're the only being that I've ever felt this close to. You make me feel alive…Wherever you go I'm with you…even if it means death."
The Alicorn couldn't think of any response to that. She couldn't think of anything…
And so she acted instead, pulling Jason down to the ground with her magic and enfolding him with her wings and hooves. She looked at him and found all of her arguments disappearing as she slowly began to accept his refusal.
She unhooked her right hoof and slowly started to stroke his cheek gently.
"I've never felt love before Jason. And I don't know if what I'm feeling matches that word…but… I want to hold you close to me Jason. I want to know I'll always feel your warmth when I wake up. I want to hear from you that you're mine forever…I don't know if that's love Jason, but it's what I feel when I think of you."
Jason reached out with his own hand and started to tentatively caress her cheek, mirroring her physical show of tenderness.
"What you did…doesn't matter to me. What's past is past, and I'm not the type to open up old wounds. But I am yours forever Nightmare. And I'll always be here when you wake up."
Nightmare closed her eyes and shuddered as she finally allowed herself to accept the reality of the situation.
"I don't know if I can say it…"
"Then don't force it. Just let it happen."
The emotional Alicorn pulled Jason as close to her as she possibly could, soaking in the warmth she felt flowing from his body. She looked at him…her Human, her Humana and hers alone.
"Can I kiss you?" She asked nervously.
Jason smiled at the question and rubbed his nose against her muzzle gently.
"You never have to ask me that." He replied quietly.
Nightmare moved her muzzle away from his nose and pressed her lips against his nervously. Jason was just an inexperienced as she was, so it was just as nerve racking for him. After a few more moments of soft kissing, the two lovers drew back and looked at each other, each with a small blush on their cheeks.
"I wasn't very good was I?"
"I don't think either of us were…but practice makes perfect."
Nightmare smiled at him and nuzzled his cheek softly in response.
"I wouldn't mind practicing that a few times a day."
"A few times?"
"Mhmm…maybe a few more than a few."
Jason grinned at her before leaning his head against her chest. Nightmare sighed happily as he did so and pulled him to her tighter still.
Nightmare was flying, soaring across the sky and over Equestria. She felt giddy, she felt wonderful but most of all she felt alive. The dark Princess looked behind her and saw Jason flying, great dark wings having sprouted from his back. Her human looked at her and smiled excitedly, showing just how appreciative he was being up in the air with her.
"Are you enjoying the sights Jay?" she asked happily.
"You have no idea Moony. This is…fantastic!" he replied enthusiastically.
Nightmare smiled at him and flew over to him, causing him to stop and merely float in front of her. The Alicorn moved closer to him and leaned her head on his chest, allowing her body to just rest on him. The human just smiled at her and began to softly stroke her face, prompting the mare to look up at him and move her lips closer to his. Jason chuckled quietly and met her halfway, caressing her lips with his own gently and making Nightmare moan happily as she deepened it.
Eventually they both drew back and looked at each other lovingly.
"My love...Are you mine?" She asked calmly.
"I am always yours love…now and forever." He replied honestly.
Nightmare sighed happily and made to reach out to him again. Suddenly a bolt of lightning struck at him, making him cry out in pain and Nightmare cry out in surprise.
"Jason!"
The human looked at her briefly and smiled painfully. She flew closer to him and made out to touch him with her hoof. To her horror however the moment she did so, he smiled and faded into dust, blowing away with the wind.
Nightmare's eyes widened considerably as this happened, her shock absolute as she tried pitifully to grab some piece of her lover back.
"N-No…No, No, NO, NO, NO! JASON PLEASE NO! MY LOVE PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!"
She suddenly heard the sound of wings flapping behind her and spun around, her eyes widening in fear as she saw none other than her sister looking at her maliciously.
"A monster such as you doesn't deserve to have somepony love her." Celestia mocked cruelly.
The whole world suddenly began to laugh and taunt her maliciously. Echoing her past, her faults and the fact that Jason…never loved her. The sky around her turned black…and she fell into the abyss.
Nightmare opened her eyes and sucked in a great deal of air, suppressing the urge to simply scream loudly and cry. She shook off the remnants of her nightmare and looked at her Human…her Jason. Her eyes narrowed worriedly as she heard him whimpering pitifully.
She frowned sadly and moved her muzzle to his cheek, nuzzling him lovingly. At her touch Jason's whimpering started to calm down, becoming deep breaths once again. Nightmare smiled at this and pulled him closer to her with her wings, forcing her body to stop shaking as her Human's warmth washed over her.
"That dream…Never have I ever felt so distraught before…But it was only a dream, Jason is here in my embrace and I have nothing to fear."
Almost as though he heard her thoughts, Jason moved his head closer to her and buried it deeper in her warm chest. Nightmare couldn't help but feel giddy as he did this and tightened her embrace around him in response.
"Ahh…this is real, this is happening and he…he is all mine…"
With this thought washing over her, so too did a feeling of happiness…as well as possessiveness. And it was in these sensations that the Alicorn allowed the pull of sleep take her once again.
Jason opened his eyes to the strangest and yet most pleasant thing he had seen in his life. The first thing he noticed was the fact that he could barely move any part of his body. The second thing he noticed was that there was a slight weight pushing down on his chest. The final thing he noticed was Nightmare's face right on his own.
As he looked out of the corner of his eye he saw the answer to all of his questions. Nightmare was literally flat out laying her entire body over his own with her wings under his back securely . Her face was nuzzling his cheek subconsciously but was restricting him from moving it…unless he wanted to move. But he would wake her up from what looked like a blissful sleep by doing so.
And so he merely laid there uncertain of what to do. It wasn't until her tail started to stroke his leg that he finally gathered the courage to try and wake her. Instead of merely calling her name however, he carefully moved his right arm out from her wings tight grip and started to softly stroke her cheek.
Nightmare's senses suddenly took a hold of her mind and slowly woke her up. But instead of the achingly annoying exhaustion she normally felt from waking up, she instead was surprisingly graced by the feeling of something gently caressing her face. She smiled as she instantly realised what was going on and leaned into her Human's hand, her eyes still closed but her muzzle taken by a soft smile.
"Good morning Jay." She said softly.
Jason smiled at this and watched as she opened her eyes, gazing at him serenely. The Human found himself taken aback by the sheer raw emotions that seemed to pour from her eyes and into his own. They were so warm…so caring.
He wondered if…
"Moony…I'm wondering about something." He asked curiously.
Nightmare cocked an eyebrow questioningly and nodded.
"You told me that…you've never had a friend before right? Well I guess that also means lovers too right?"
The Alicorn grinned at him teasingly and moved herself so that her face was hovering over his.
"Hmmm, art thou jealous my sweet?" She asked playfully.
Jason's eyes widened at this accusation but quickly resumed it's curious expression.
"Not at all Moony. It's just that…you…you were looking at me like…"
Jason found himself unable to find the appropriate word for what he was trying to explain. Thankfully Nightmare realised what he was talking about and blushed lightly.
"I apologize Jason. You are correct in guessing that I've never been…loved by anypony. You're the first one to ever show me compassion…and even though neither of us are sure. You've really made me feel cared for…loved I believe the word is. And I never want to feel anything else…I don't want anypony else, need anypony else…I suppose what I'm trying to say is…you make me feel complete."
Nightmare watched as his face broke into an expression of utter shock. She wondered if anyone had ever made him feel like he made her feel. But from what she had learned of his past, he had never had a marefriend before let alone even been kissed.
She wondered if she was the only pony to have ever cared for him as he did for her.
"If so then I guess that just make us all the more perfect for each other. All the more reason to never let him go…"
She looked back down at her Human and tilted her head when she saw an expression of what looked like embarrassment plastered on his face.
"You look a little bit red Jay, are you alright?" She asked questioningly.
To be honest Jason felt absolutely fine. It wasn't everyday that he was told something so honest, so raw and powerful. But unfortunately there was one problem…namely morning wood.
Jason just grinned awkwardly up at her and tried his best to make up an excuse to get her off of him. It's not that he was overly bothered by it…but he figured she wouldn't be as flippant with it.
"I'm fine Nightmare. But um if you don't mind, can you get off of me…I need to…do…stuff…"
Jason felt like slapping himself as he told her that. He was never this bad at lying, not recently anyway. But he figured that when it came down to it he just couldn't lie to her properly.
Nightmare had cocked an eyebrow at his obvious lie and wondered what had made him become…novice like at it again. It was only as she shimmed her body slightly that she understood what was bothering him.
But it didn't bother her.
The Alicorn grinned down at her Human and started to slowly and effortlessly tease him, all while remaining oblivious to have ever noticed his *problem* in the first place.
To start off with, the cheeky mare began to innocently and what appeared to be obliviously grind her lower body into his own, all the while nuzzling him as if nothing was wrong. She then began to do little butterfly kisses in a downward motion on his neck, while still remaining entirely innocent to what he actions were doing to her confused lover.
Jason was in a state of extremely confused arousal. He wasn't sure if the Alicorn was even aware of what her actions were doing to him but her grinding and little kisses weren't helping his *problem* any.
In fact if she didn't stop soon there was going to be an even bigger *problem*…and he would have to most likely set his boxers on fire before throwing the ashes into the sea.
"Uh Moony can you uhh stop please?" He asked hopefully.
Nightmare put her head over his and looked at him in mock confusion, all the while still grinding on him and repressing a grin as she felt his *problem* twitch underneath her.
"Stop? Stop what Jay?" She replied slyly.
Jason had to fight off panting shallowly as he felt his end coming dangerously close. He unhooked his arms from her wings and gripped her flank firmly, effectively stopping her from grinding on him. Nightmare however grinned at this expected action and moved her small muzzle quite close to his mouth.
"I would have thought that it was a bit early for that Jay." She teased playfully.
Jason's eyes widened as he realised what he was doing and instantly took his hands off of her flank…only for her magic to force them back on it. He looked up at the mare questioningly and nearly gulped at the glint in her eye.
"But that doesn't mean I object to it."
Before he could say anything in response Jason found himself being kissed quite passionately, which surprised him from how inexperienced she had been the previous night. She also began to grind on him again, prompting him to gasp and shudder with repressed pleasure. Nightmare pulled back from him and grinned at his shallow breathing, knowing full well what he actions were doing to him.
"Ah, Moony if you ah, don't stop then I'm not gonna ah, last!" He struggled to say.
Nightmare blinked in surprise at what he simple actions were doing to him, but grinned at his declaration.
"Hmm do you find me attractive Jason?" She asked teasingly.
"Y-Yes of course I do." He gasped in response.
"And am I really making you feel so…happy?" She continued in the same teasing tone.
"Yes! Now if you could please stop…I would be even happier."
Nightmare just grinned at this and licked his cheek affectionately, whilst adding a little more force into her grinding.
"Now why would I do that? After all you're mine…and that makes this-"
She added even more force into her grinding as if to emphasize her point.
"Mine too."
Jason's eyes nearly rolled back into his head at her continued teasing and he knew that if she continued he wasn't going to last more than a minute. Nightmare hadn't stopped grinning down at him and noticed the twitch and shudders that were starting to wrack his body.
"Hmm…not like this." She planned decisively.
It took Jason a little while but he eventually noticed that her grinding had actually ceased. He looked up at her questioningly only to get a smirk in return from the Alicorn as she rolled off of his body. She instantly saw what her actions had done to him and had to repress a blush, but she couldn't deny how proud she was of herself to have made him feel like this.
"Right…I'm uh, shower. Yes I'm going in the shower." Jason stuttered quickly, getting up from his position and attempting to ignore the quiet giggles from Nightmare as he walked around with tented boxers.
The mare watched on as he exited his attic and climbed down the ladder. After around three minutes she heard the distant sound of flowing water and smirked to herself as the last part of her plan came into fruition.
Jason was currently washing himself in the rather large shower his mum had bought for herself. She didn't care that he used it as long as it was clean afterwards. Anyway his *problem* had yet to go away as flashes of what Nightmare had been doing to him infected his thoughts. But it wasn't just that. The way she had declared every part of him hers, as well as the loving yet possessive looks she had given him…
"Who would have known that I'm into that type of thing." He thought absentmindedly.
As he continued to wash himself he became aware of something gently moving up and down his back. He turned around and jumped slightly as he saw Nightmare using her soft hooves to massage different parts of it. She looked at him cheekily before looking down at his arousal and blushing slightly.
"So that's what it looks like." She pondered to herself.
She could remember bits from her time as Luna, and as far as she remembered she had never seen another stallion aroused before. And yet despite her inexperience she still had a good idea of what to do with her Human.
Call it a mare's intuition.
"Mhmm you don't look very calm right now do you Jay? Perhaps…I can help you with that." She said slyly.
Jason didn't even get a chance to say anything as the Alicorn closed in on her Human and pushed him against the wall of the shower. She then proceeded to wrap her wings around him tightly to keep him in place, before placing her lips on his and starting to kiss him fervently. Her Human was back into his state of confused arousal but was quickly cured of it as he felt something smooth somehow grip his member and begin to slowly move up and down.
Nightmare pulled back from the kiss and smirked at his entirely aroused expression.
"Does it feel good…my love?" She asked playfully, her voice catching in her throat as she called him *my love*.
"I said it so easily. Is it because of lust though...no it's not. I'm not sure if I can dare to say it…but this new name…pet name I believe Jason told me once. I feel…happy calling him this."
At her question Jason had merely nodded, too blinded by arousal to answer her with words. Nightmare smirked at this but stopped her actions all together and placed her muzzle tantalizingly close to his mouth, her warm breath coating his lips pleasantly.
"Mhmm I need words my love. Does it feel good?" She repeated questioningly.
"Y-Yes it does. I've never…no one has ever done this t-to me before…" He gasped honestly.
Nightmare smiled happily at this and resumed her slow stroking, getting a great sense of satisfaction as her Human left himself at her mercy. Eventually she noticed his body shaking slightly and not due to the water hitting him. Strangely enough it didn't touch her at all, as she merely let it fall through her rather than let herself get wet.
"Are you close love?" She breathed seductively, smiling as he let out a groan in response.
"I hope you realize what you've done by accepting me. You're mine, everything you are is mine. Your heart is mine, your soul is mine...You belong with me!"
She saw his gaps increase and knew he was right on the brink. All it would take was a little push…a little persuasion and he would finally reach what they both wanted.
"Finish for me Jason! Your body know's who it belongs too and I want it to release what is mine."
She pressed her lips against his and murmured three words.
Just three words.
"Just…let…go…"
This was all it took for her Human to finally reach his climax and release his essence. Nightmare imagined that Celestia would move out of the way, having always been flustered and slightly shy whenever the topic was brought up…with somepony else that she couldn't remember. She however wasn't so embarrassed when it came to the idea. And she showed this when she stayed put, slowly caressing her Humans member as he rode out his climax, which in turn had landed on most of her chest area. The rest having avoided her entirely.
She continued to stroke his softening length until he put a hand on her hoof and looked at her with slightly red cheeks.
"Mhmm how was it my love?" Nightmare asked curiously, needing to know whether she had done a good job.
"It was uhh. Well wow, it was brilliant. I've never uhh, felt anything like that before." He replied sheepishly.
Nightmare smirked at his stuttering and allowed herself to feel pride in her good work.
"Good answer love, but now I guess we should clean ourselves up hmm?"
Jason grinned and nodded at her, prompting both into washing the other. They both decided silently that they wouldn't mind showering together again, even if Nightmare didn't really need to.
After they had thoroughly cleaned the other, quite playfully in Nightmare's case. Nightmare dried herself with her magic whilst Jason did so with a towel. He then got dressed and made his way out of his house, grabbing his bag from his room before he did so. Both noticed a van with the words "Stevens Cleaning And Repair" near the driveway but paid it no mind.
Jason was looking forward to the weekend that was coming. It was during the weekend that his mother was out and left him alone to do as he wished. This in turn mean that he could talk to Nightmare as much as he liked without sounding like a loony. It also meant that he could practice his deception lessons with her as well as exercise without getting interrupted.
"And now that Nightmare and I have become…closer, I suppose we'll do some other things as well. Hmm it's so strange…I feel so close to her now, especially after showering together. I wonder if I can repay her when we go back home…Perhaps some research can help me before I do, but how to distract her?"
"Are you okay love? You're being very quiet."
Jason snapped out of his stupor and looked at the Alicorn. She was gazing down at him from the air and had a concerned expression on her face.
"I'm fine sweetie. I'm just thinking that's all." He replied assuredly.
Nightmare's worried expression changed into an extremely happy one at the pet name her lover called her, ridding her of any doubt she had before.
"Sweetie?"
"Yup…unless you don't like it?"
Jason looked at her worriedly but was pretty sure she was happy with it when she flew down and hugged him tightly. Although he was slightly worried that people would wonder why he had just stopped in the middle of the street, he accepted the hug and frowned at the fact that he couldn't recuperate the action.
Especially seeing as it would look like he was hugging himself.
Nightmare knew this but couldn't repress and unhappy frown as her Human kept his arms down. She pulled back and floated by his side, the frown still on her face.
To her utter surprise however she was suddenly pulled into an alleyway by her lover and embraced snuggly.
"Jay what are you-?"
She found herself silenced as Jason pressed his lips to hers quickly to shut her up. She blinked in surprise and gazed at him in confusion. Jason merely chuckled at her and cupped her cheek, smiling as she automatically leaned into it.
"I'm not an expert on relationships Moony. But I'm not one to keep my girl unhappy if I can help it." He said honestly.
Nightmare actually shuddered with excitement at being called his girl. Nopony had ever called her anything like that before. It was a whole new reality for the Princess.
But she found herself loving it.
In this world nopony could see her and thus she could not be hated. There were no responsibilities for her apart from keeping her stallion safe. And best of all she had found companionship from somepony she would gladly spend eternity with. All in all she found this place a very nice reprieve from the hatred and short sighted views of the pony folk.
But she knew if she and Jason bonded…they would have to leave this world. If they stayed then other Humans would eventually notice that Jason wasn't aging. He would age to twenty five and stop but any other effect would be random and outside of her control. It was the same for everypony during the sacred ponykind magic.
It was a risk only to be taken if the two ponies truly loved and cared for each other.
Jason eventually let her go and with a small caress on her cheek he exited the alleyway and continued his way to school. Nightmare kept up with him by flying next to him, pressing into his side instinctively as all mares did with their stallions.
They arrived at Jason's school a few minutes later and quickly made their way inside. Jason entered his English classroom and sat down at the back with Nightmare sitting beside him. She was still leaning on him slightly which Jason found strangely comforting for some reason, as if her mere presence was enough to keep him safe.
Eventually the rest of the students as well as Miss Condron entered and the lesson quickly started. As his teacher entered however, she looked over at Jason with a rather victorious looking expression. He quickly spotted the facial movements and concluded that for whatever reason, she was obviously very sure about something.
But what?
Jason noticed that Nightmare hadn't been looking at his teacher when she did this, but decided that it wasn't worth worrying her about something he had yet to feel concerned about himself.
The work was handed out and both Jason and Nightmare sighed as he was given yet another multiple choice questionnaire. The other students didn't really seem to care, most were happy in fact. But Jason rounded it down to lazy teens just being lazy teens.
"Your school needs to smarten up Jay. It does these students no good to go out into this world with no knowledge except on how to tick a box." Nightmare huffed in annoyance, stamping her hoof on the floor for emphasis.
Jason kept his head down next to his questionnaire and spoke back quietly, making it seem as if he was thinking out loud.
"I agree with you sweetie. But it honestly wasn't like this before. It's as though Miss Condron just doesn't want to teach us or something."
At this Nightmare scrunched up her face in silent concentration which Jason actually found really cute. Not that he'd say anything though, he liked the floor and didn't want to be sent back to his bed.
"There's something ironic about that isn't there." He thought in amusement.
"Jason what if you're actually onto something there." Nightmare said slowly, causing her Human to actually look at her for a moment, before settling his head back down into his paper.
"What do you mean?" He replied questioningly.
"What if…what if Miss Condron doesn't teach you properly…because she doesn't know how too."
Jason blinked in confusion and after checking to see if his teacher was looking at him, which she obviously wasn't since she was reading a book, he turned to Nightmare and gave her a questioning glance.
Nightmare looked back seriously and put a hoof on his leg as if to gain his full attention.
"The way she questioned you yesterday was suspicious enough for a start. But she also replaced Mr Dissy not two weeks after that stupid brute was institutionalized. Added to the fact that she really doesn't teach any of you…what if she isn't here to teach at all."
Jason had to force himself not to look at his teacher as Nightmare explained her theory. He had to admit it though, what she was saying made a lot of sense.
"But if not to teach, then what is she here for Nightmare?" He asked quietly.
Nightmare put a hoof to her chin and rubbed it as she struggled to find an answer.
"I'm not sure yet, but she never called any of the other students behind. So that must mean she's focused on you for some reason. Hmm I'd just be very careful from now on my love. I don't know why she's interested in you but it can't be for anything good."
Jason gave a small nod in agreement and focused back on his already finished questionnaire, thinking over what the Alicorn had told him.
"She questioned me about Aaron but didn't question anyone else. She can't teach for shit and the way she looked at me when she walked in today…wow. She looked a bit too smug for my tastes."
Eventually the bell rang and Jason got up from his seat with his bag swung back over his shoulder. He made his way out of the classroom but noticed that Nightmare wasn't beside him. He looked behind him and raised an eyebrow as Nightmare gestured for him to carry on walking.
"What is she doing?"
He nodded his head slightly and carried on walking to his next class, albeit at a slower pace. He was around halfway there when he felt the familiar warmth of the Alicorn leaning on him.
"What were you doing Moony?" He whispered quietly, keeping his eyes peeled in case anyone was looking in his direction.
"Something I'd been sensing the moment we entered earlier. I'm not sure what it is, but I used some electricity to remove the buzzing that triggered my magic."
Jason suddenly felt her place something in his pocket. He casually took it out a few seconds later and looked at it curiously. It was a circular object that looked no bigger than a five pence coin, yet it felt far too heavy to be so.
"Wait…I've seen something like this before when I was browsing for headphones. I think…I think its."
"Nightmare this is a listening device. I remember seeing something similar when I was trying to buy some headphones, it just ended up on the same page. But why would there be a listening device in a school?"
Nightmare gazed at the device seriously before using her magic to crush it into dust.
"I'm not sure love, but it was in the same class as yours then this is only making me all the more worried for you. What if somepony is spying on you?"
"Why would they? I'm hardly interesting."
Nightmare searched her mind for an answer but couldn't for the life of her find one. There was no reason for anypony to spy on her Human. The only thing that could warrant suspicion was the fact that only he…could…he could...
Nightmare's eyes widened in disbelief and she shook the notion away. It was impossible for a start and besides there was no way any Human could of detected anything. She decided to remain silent with this new theory until she found more proof and chose instead to simply shrug at her Human and nudge him so he would hurry up to his class.
And so the rest of the day went by rather quickly and apart from Jason telling her to explore for a bit while he went and did something personal the day had been quite bland and repetitive. She had to admit though that she was curious as to why Jason refused to tell her where he had gone during his brief thirty minutes of alone time. Thirty minutes being all she would leave him alone for seeing as he was apparently being spied on.
As well as herself not liking being away from him for a minute let alone thirty or so. But she would of felt quite vulnerable telling him this and so she remained quiet. After a few minutes they reached Jason's house and entered, closing the door behind them.
"So Moony what do you-"
Jason quickly found Nightmares hoof over his mouth, silencing him instantly while the Alicorn flared her horn and looked around with narrowed eyes. He heard a lot of loud banging noises around his house and cocked an eyebrow at Nightmare questioningly. His question was quickly answered however when about eight circular objects flew towards them from different parts of the house.
Nightmare narrowed her eyes dangerously at them before using her horn to crush them into dust. She then removed her hoof from her Human and looked at him gravely.
"I don't think it's a question on if you're being spied on anymore Jason." She said bluntly.
"I know…but why? Why put these in my house? How did they even manage to do it? Mom was home today so it's not like they could have just entered and start placing them everywhere…Unless."
They both remembered it at the exact same time. The van that had been outside of the house in the morning. Neither had paid it any thought but now that they had discovered even more devices...
"That vehicle that was outside this morning Jason. Perhaps it was not all it appeared to be."
Jason nodded at this but couldn't help wondering about the main question.
"But why spy on me at all? I have nothing to hide and I'm certainly nothing special." He asked questioningly.
Nightmare closed her eyes and realized that her previous theory might not have been so farfetched after all.
"Jason…My love. What if…what if the reason you're being spied on…is because they somehow know about me?"
"Know about you?" He asked disbelievingly. "How? I've never done anything to give you away, so how could they know about you at all?"
Nightmare sighed and motioned for Jason to follow her up into his…their attic. He did so and after doing all the usual actions, closed the attic door and sat down over on his bed with Nightmare sitting in front of him.
"Jason, what if what I did to the brute didn't go unnoticed. What if your world somehow had the knowledge to detect myself…or more likely. To detect magic."
Jason frowned at this and rubbed his forehead in frustration.
"Okay but even so why would they spy on me? It's not like you don't use magic on others. I mean do you remember our second week? You kept tripping up that asshole every time he tried to kick a football at me."
Nightmare giggled as she remembered this but forced herself to focus on the matter at hand…as well as the point that her Human had missed.
"I know Jason but with all the times we've slept beside each other." Nightmare sighed and placed her head on his chest as she continued to explain.
"My body is too weak to contain all of my magic and so it regulates it by forcing it to flow into my mane and tail, both of which have been near and most of the time around you. Even now I can sense how much of it has washed over you love...you're literally bathed in my magic. And if that is what these spies have somehow detected…"
Jason swallowed audibly as he realised what this meant for him.
"Then eventually…they're going to come after me." He finished quietly, feeling her nod on his chest as he did so.
Nightmare moved her face opposite his and smiled at him assuredly as she placed her wings and hooves around him in an embrace.
"Don't be frightened of them my love. I'll protect you from them even if I have to drive them insane to do so…Nopony will touch my stallion."
Jason couldn't help but smile thankfully at this, even if some part of him was wary of her *Insane methods*.
"And I won't let anyone touch my girl either. I'd be lost if you were ever taken from me Nightmare."
Nightmare merely smiled at him happily as he said this. She used her wings and slowly pulled him off of his bed and down onto the ground, where he was safely secured in her embrace.
"It won't ever happen Jason. And if they try to take you from me then…I'm sorry because I know that you don't agree. But I'll kill all of them if they try."
Jason frowned at this but couldn't argue with her. A month ago he supposed that he would have tried to dissuade her to do otherwise. But it would be very hypocritical to do so now.
Especially if he had already decided on doing the same thing.
Warning: There is smex in this chapter...nuff said really XD
"Why did this happen?" Jason asked miserably, looking at his...their blood stained hands.
"Because of us...they want us..."Nightmare consoled soothingly.
"And because of us...she died."
One Week After Discovery...
It was around five in the evening and in an abandoned house many miles from his own home, Jason was standing quite still with his eyes closed in concentration. His right and left hand were splayed out flat and opposite the other.
"Keep your focus Jay." Nightmare advised sagely, watching him as she floated a short distance above him.
Jason took in a deep breath and exhaled calmly, before snapping his eyes open and flicking his fingers forward. Said fingers crackled with black electricity for but a brief moment, before flying off of them and hitting the decayed brickwork, leaving an impressive scorch mark where it hit.
Nightmare smiled proudly at her Human and flew down to hug him from behind.
"Brilliant Jay, I knew you could do it!" She exclaimed happily, nuzzling his cheek as he grinned up at her.
"It felt amazing Moony." He said enthusiastically, before his expression become something akin to a frown. Nightmare noticed this and cocked her head in confusion.
"What's the matter Jay?" She asked worriedly. "You just performed magic, you should be proud of yourself."
Jason rubbed his forehead in embarrassment as she asked him this, never intending to actually show his frustration.
"I am proud Moony...It's just that when I did it, it felt...wrong. Well not wrong exactly but like it wasn't the type of magic I was supposed to use." He looked at her sheepishly as she studied him curiously. "Does that make any sense to you?" He asked questioningly.
Nightmare gazed at him for a few more moments before she broke out into a wide grin.
"Well I can't be too sure whether I'm correct or not but sometimes with a powerful Unicorn they can only specialize with a particular type of magic, like fire and water. Perhaps electricity just isn't your element, so to speak."
Jason cocked an eyebrow at this but hummed contemplatively and prepared himself to fire yet another lightning spell.
To say he had been surprised when Nightmare offered to teach him magic would be a major understatement. In fact it took a lot of convincing to get him to agree with the idea that he could even use magic.
Ever since they discovered he was being spied on, Nightmare had become almost obsessively determined to teach him how to defend himself. To Jason's surprise Nightmare knew a lot about fighting without magic and had been teaching him how to move fluidly, to know when to dodge and when to strike.
"You'd be surprised what you have to do when it comes to war Jason." She had said, bitterness heavy in her voice.
And of course Nightmare may or may not have put a little of her essence into his soul. Not enough for a bonding but enough to unlock certain properties that otherwise he and any other Human would never have been able to use. Jason didn't know what Nightmare had actually done however...and it was eating away at her.
"To force my essence inside him without his permission...Why did I do it?" Nightmare thought bitterly. "It not only makes him a bigger target for these spies but if it had gone wrong I could have corrupted him into something evil...something like me."
Even with this poisonous thought in her mind she couldn't restrain herself from being near her Human, even knowing that the more they touched the more of herself, her essence and magic would wash over him and bath him in it.
His touch was addictive to the Alicorn...and it belonged to her and her alone.
Around half an hour later both of the lovers were walking back to his home, the long distance being another part of Nightmare's "fitness training". Jason's mother had had become rather ecstatic when she realised just how much healthier and fitter he had become in the past few weeks. It had been a drastic change from her usual apathetic attitude towards him, although Jason found himself less than happy when he had to trudge around fifteen different clothes stores.
"I think I preferred it when she didn't give me the time of day." He thought begrudgingly.
To add to his frustration no other low level elemental spell he had tried had felt right either. Be it fire, water, air, earth or more electricity spells. However, Nightmare knew exactly what type of spell caster he was. He was patient but not overly so. He knew how to fight but didn't want to. He had no neutral friends, you were either his friend or you were not...something that Nightmare and he had in common.
"Push and pull, no middle ground. Easy temperament but can be easily set off given the right circumstances. He is a force to be reckoned with, especially now he is almost at my level of deception. And that is something I thought I would never witness...I'm so proud of him...I want him."
Nightmare was flying by him and was watching him out of the corner of her eye. She couldn't quite explain how attached she currently felt towards her Human. She cared for him greatly that much was obvious, yet while she called him "My love" she had yet to actually declare how much she really did love him.
She had yet to say those three words.
"I care for him so much...it's overwhelming and comforting at the same time. And when he touches me...oh nopony has ever made me feel so...wanted. He shows his loyalty to me again and again, even when those...those WHORSE keep bothering him for a...bah, visit. They'll stay away if they know what's good for them!"
Jason noticed the possessive expression etching onto her muzzle and frowned unhappily. Not at how possessive he full well knew the Alicorn could and would be, but how after all the affection and care he showed her everyday she still believed that he could be taken away from her.
In truth Nightmare was frightened that he might leave her for another Human. It didn't take a genius to see all the attention he was starting to get from female Humans nowadays. Most were quite attractive and weren't shy about flaunting what counted for an attractive asset to Jason.
"And what do I have that he could find attractive? Nothing by any Human standards. I mean by pony standards I suppose I have a nice flank...and my horn is sharp and well manicured. My wings are nicely preened as well...But none of that is attractive by Human standards! How can I impress him when he could never find my physical attributes attractive?"
Nightmare scowled as this thought passed through her and closed her eyes to hide her despair.
"How long until he finally notices somepony far more beautiful than me...especially when I'm not beautiful..."
She remembered when he had indeed said she was beautiful...but it was said in the thralls of deep emotion. For all she knew he could have just said it because passion had claimed his mind.
The depressed Alicorn let this thought plague her all the way back to Jason's house. Her mood perked up quickly however when she saw him heading towards the shower. Ever since Nightmare had "helped" Jason in the shower she had been sharing them with him almost every day. Sometimes she gave him a bit more than a wash...yet Jason had not given much more than an intense kiss in return. And this was something that only increased her fear of him abandoning her for somepony...someone else.
She had also taken his little breaks from her, when he asked her to stay away from him for up to an hour each day, as something else that was potentially leading towards abandonment.
But for now she decided to push the depressing thoughts to one side and focus on the sheer enjoyment she felt by merely looking at him. And now...now was a perfect time to put looks into touch.
Jason had already started showering himself down, taking great satisfaction as the sweat and grime from the magic and battle training, as Nightmare had dubbed it, washed away even as the tension remained. Suddenly he felt the now quite familiar sensation of Nightmare kissing his shoulder tenderly, causing him to turn around and cup her face gently.
"My love...may I join you?" She asked sultrily, smirking as she saw his eyes darken quickly as a result.
"Hmmm, I'm not sure...I may just want to be left alone." He teased amusedly.
Nightmare cocked an eyebrow before she quickly lunged at him and started to furiously attack his lips with her own. Jason didn't expect this sudden move and nearly fell backwards, but was kept steady by Nightmare's strong wings.
He felt a hoof tenderly stroking his body as it began to progress downwards slowly. He drew back from Nightmare and groaned slightly as he felt her somehow gripping his length. The Alicorn just grinned at him whilst refusing to move her hoof at all.
"Well I suppose if you just want to be left alone I can go...but I don't think you want that do you?"
Jason just shook his head dazedly which instantly sparked Nightmares possessive obsession over him, the pleasure she got from her power over him was immense.
It reminded her that he was HERS! And nopony else's!
But just to be sure, the mare quickly reclaimed his lips for herself again and smiled serenely as her Human returned it eagerly. As they kissed, Nightmare began to quickly pleasure him with her hoof, smirking into the kiss as she felt his body already beginning to twitch and shudder. She withdrew her lips from his and licked his neck tenderly, drawing it out slowly as she felt his shuddering increase momentarily.
Just as Jason felt himself reach his finish, Nightmare ceased her movements and merely winked at him, before kissing him briefly and phasing out through the wall. Jason just stood there dumbly for a few moments before he shook his head to clear it and continued to wash himself, wondering what his mischievous Alicorn was planning.
While he did that, Nightmare had entered their room and splayed herself out on their new double bed, a gift from Jason's mother that she had bought him out of the blue...Or so Jason thought. Nightmare on the other hoof just smirked as she remembered the interesting little dream that she had shared with her.
A few personal fears were all it took for the sobbing Human to cave into her demands. Nightmare had found the entire thing rather humorous but had decided to keep quiet about it, lest Jason not find it quite as funny.
"But really though. Her greatest fear was her body falling apart? Well it serves her right for spending all her money on turning herself into plastic, rather than taking care of my beloved Jason. Whenever we end up in Equestria I shall lavish him in blessings and riches...although I do not believe he is entirely interested in that. Hmmm perhaps power then...perhaps..."
Nightmare was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of the attic door smirked deviously and stretched herself out into what she considered to be a seductive pose. She then watched bemusedly as her Human climbed up, looking quite flustered and unsatisfied.
Jason climbed up into his room and instantly noticed Nightmare laying down on his bed, splayed on her side in a rather...provocative manner. He raised an eyebrow questioningly as he walked over but instantly stopped as her saw just how dark her eyes had become.
"Uh Moony are you alright?" He asked worriedly. "You look a little...strange."
Nightmare merely smirked up at him and used her magic to pull him onto the bed, his towel falling from his body as she did so, leaving him as bare as herself. Before he could say anything, Nightmare had already climbed on top of him and was looking down at him with a small grin on her face.
"Jason...I want you." She said quietly, her grin widening as his expression become quite nervous.
"I, uh...what?"
Nightmare smiled down at him lovingly before she proceeded to slowly kiss her way up his neck, drawing out each kiss, each little touch of passion and desire.
Jason was extremely confused...and aroused. Her warm body was touching every bit of his own, fur touching bare skin, warming, caressing and brushing against it tenderly. It was beyond anything he could have imagined...but why was she suddenly doing this?
"Moony are you alright? I mean I'm not saying that I don't...but this is, well uhh, sudden isn't it?"
Nightmare brushed her lips over his, breathing warmly over them and enticing him with the strange aroma of berries.
"Shhh my love. You want this...just enjoy it, enjoy everything I want to give you, to make you mine." She said soothingly, an echo of possessiveness in her voice.
And he very nearly did...but...
"Nightmare...what's the matter?" He asked softly, concern clearly visible in his eyes.
The mare blinked at the question and opened her mouth to respond...but for a few moments nothing escaped her.
She drew her head back a little bit and gazed at him...fearfully?
"Jason...I know I'm not physically attractive to you, but...but I just need to know, to make certain that you only want me...please don't ask me to stop...I need this, I need you."
Jason just looked up at her incredulously as she said this...pleaded this. Then to the Alicorn's surprise...he started to laugh.
"What's funny?" She asked questioningly.
"You are." He replied. "Do you really think that I'm going to abandon you or something like that? Because I don't find you attractive?"
Nightmare closed her eyes fearfully as he asked this and nodded, surprising the Human even more. It suddenly occurred to him that he could have really misjudged just how scared she was of him leaving her...of how much he must mean to her.
Her first friend...and lover.
"Oh I'm an idiot." He thought embarrassingly.
Nightmare yelped in surprise as she suddenly found herself being flipped over onto her back, her hooves folded over on her chest in a surprisingly cute way.
Jason smiled down at her as his eyes wandered the entirety of her body, causing her cheeks to take on a tinge of red.
"So you think that I don't find you attractive hmm?" He asked questioningly, looking up at her once more and receiving nothing but ashamed silence as a response.
He just shook his head at this and proceeded, to Nightmares disbelief, to slowly roam down her body with his hands, talking as he did so.
"So you think that I don't find you attractive?" He repeated, smiling up at her as he kissed just below her muzzle, bringing a tiny gasp out of the normally dominating mare.
"Or this?" He continued, moving his body down as he kissed her chest in several different places, each kiss slow and deliberate.
"Or this?" He asked again, laying a slow kiss upon her sensitive stomach.
"Oh Jason...I-"
She found herself interrupted as she felt her beloved's hands stroking where he had just kissed, adding a soothing sensation to her sensitive skin beneath her fur.
Jason looked up at her flushed face and smiled at her serenely.
"Or this?"
Nightmare moaned happily as she felt her Human kissing her Cutie Mark, his left hand caressing the other side of her flank as he did so.
Jason smiled at her reaction to his ministrations but found his vision becoming...unfocused as a particular aroma kissed his sense of smell. He stopped kissing her Cutie Mark and found himself transfixed as he noticed her practically inflamed arousal. Nightmare looked down at him as she felt his movements cease and blushed as she realized what he was looking at.
Jason just smiled up at her and moved his face towards it, prompting Nightmare's eyes to widen excitedly.
"Or this?" He whispered huskily, causing the Alicorn to shiver with pleasure as she felt her Human kiss her heat.
"Ohh Jason..." She moaned breathily, her body relaxing as her Human started to tenderly lap at her sex with his gentle tongue.
Jason didn't quite know what had caused him to do this...but he cared for her like no other. And if this showed his commitment to her then he was all for doing it. As so he continued, caressing he flank with his hands, kneading into her Cutie Mark whilst stimulating her arousal with his tongue.
Nightmare thought she had died and gone to paradise. Jason was doing this to her, pleasuring her and loving her in such an arousing way. She loved it, she loved him...she loved him, wanted him...needed him.
In amongst the possessive feelings, jealousy and passion. She realized that what she desired so badly, needed so desperately...was for him to claim her, not just the other way around. She needed him to show his love for her, to tell her that she belonged to him, and that he belonged to her.
They belonged to each other...and that's what she needed to hear.
Just as she felt her climax reaching its peak, Nightmare used her magic to lift Jason up into the air, much to his surprise, and flip them over so that she was back on top of him. She instantly felt his own arousal quite ready beneath her and sighed pleasurably as she felt it rubbing against the outside of her marehood.
She then looked down at Jason and started to kiss him slowly, not furiously like before when she was driven by lust. She opened her eyes as she kissed him and saw him staring back into hers...she looked so fragile...and scared.
Jason reached up with his right hand and gently stroked her cheek, electing a smile of pure happiness as she leaned into it, drawing back from their passionate kissing.
"Jason...my love...I...I think...no, I...I love you." She said nervously, her teary eyes never leaving his own as she waited for a response...the response she so desperately craved.
Jason's eyes widened at her admittance...never had he believed she would say it. She was too bold, too confident and sure of herself.
But now...she looked so vulnerable. Like she needed him to say something...no, to say it, to respond in kind. The scariest thing that he felt he would ever have to do...but for her...
"And I love you." He replied, smiling as he saw Nightmare being brought to tears of pure joy.
He would do anything...
Nightmare smiled at him lovingly and began to nuzzle his neck softly, breathing in his scent and relaxing at the familiarity it brought.
"I wish I could just be with you forever Jason...I never want us to separate...ever."
Jason wrapped his arms around her and began to stroke her back soothingly, bringing a sigh of deep satisfaction from the Alicorn...his Alicorn...his mare...his Nightmare.
"Well...you being mine forever...I wouldn't mind that." He said, adding as much possessiveness to his tone as he could without looking like he was forcing it.
He had a feeling she would enjoy it, even if he really wasn't the possessive type.
Nightmare shivered as she heard his tone and brought her head out of his neck, looking down at him possessively, her sharp incisors gleaming as a feral smile took her expression.
"I'm already yours my love. And you...well. After tonight...you're mine forever."
Jason didn't need to ask what she meant, having known full well what would happen the moment he declared her his. The moment he said...told her that he wouldn't mind her belonging to him. And the moment when he didn't refuse himself belonging to her.
Even as she moved her svelte body against his he could feel the heat flowing from her arousal and over his member. As he looked up he expected her to look as nervous as he felt...but she didn't. Looking down at him, her expression was not one of nervousness, but one of certainty.
She looked so sure of what they were about to do.
"Jason." She breathed lovingly. "Make love to me."
An Alicorn, a pony...not a Human. To share with her what she was ready to share with him.
But as far as he was concerned...she had ruined any other girl's chance with him for life.
He just literally didn't find them attractive anymore.
"Because they aren't her." He concluded. "No one will ever compare to her."
And it was in this certainty that he slowly turned them around, placing her underneath him before he looked at her one final time. To ask a silent question. She saw the question and nodded, a tinge of nervousness finally reaching her eyes. But was quickly overshadowed by her sheer confidence and trust.
It was this trust in him that gave him the confidence to start.
He slowly pushed into the mare who instantly put her back hooves around his behind, pulling him into her herself and wincing as he went through the barrier.
Their innocence was lost forever.
Jason stopped once he fully hilted himself within her, holding back a gasp as he was fully enveloped in a tight grip of heat and pleasure. He forced those feelings to one side however and softly stroked Nightmares cheek, kissing her gently to try and help her forget the pain she clearly felt.
Her eyes were clenched tightly and her stature was unmoving. But as the seconds went by and her lovers caresses were felt, the pain slowly transformed into a sea of pleasure. She opened her cat like eyes and looked up at him lovingly, putting her forehooves around him and pulling his body tightly against her own.
"To feel you inside of me Jay...it's incredible. Please...keep going, I need to feel more of you."
Jason could only comply with her request and pulled himself backwards, before slowly pushing himself back in and receiving a moan of bliss as a result. And so this continued, in and out, push and pull. Until the mare's breathing had almost converted into moans.
"Ohhh...faster Jason! Be forceful, make me yours!" She demanded, holding onto him like he was her lifeline.
Maybe he was.
The Human quickened his pace and put a little more effort into his thrusts until he was practically pounding against her. Nightmare could only scream with pleasure as a result, but was quickly silenced as Jason claimed her lips for himself which in turn prompted her to furiously make out with him.
To his surprise the mare quickly spun him around and began to mercilessly pound herself upon him, each pound equalling to a repeating thought racing in her mind.
"He's mine, mine, mine, mine, mine. He's mine!"
Jason heard her panting above him and nearly finished as he took in her look of total abandon. Her eyes which were usually sharp had become unfocused and half lidded. Her mouth was parted with her tongue hanging out slightly and her ears were pulled back in pleasure. The gasping Human reached up and pulled her down to him, something which she reacted to violently as she instantly claimed his mouth with her own and began to fervently caress it.
He quickly drew back from her and closed his eyes in frustration as he felt his climax nearing. He tried desperately to hold it back, to wait for her to finish first.
"Don't hold it back my love."
Jason opened his eyes and noticed Nightmare looking down at him with a rather savage grin. Her relentless pounding hadn't slowed and her lidded eyes hadn't changed. But she still managed to look down at him lovingly as she spoke.
"Nightmare...I-I can't-"
"Then don't love...I want it, I want it right now!" She demanded, putting even more force into her movements as she tightened even more around him.
He couldn't hold it back anymore after that.
Nightmare smiled happily and laughed as she felt her lover's personal essence flooding inside of her. To her this was paradise, to have brought him to such a pleasure that he lost control of himself...This was something she could and would never give up.
Jason panted as he felt his climax finally stop and merely laid there in a blissful afterglow. Nightmare however merely grinned deviously as her horn glowed, leaning her face down to Jason's and smirking as he looked at her horn.
"Oh you're not done yet lover. You haven't felt me really lose control yet...as I have you. A little unfair no?"
Jason cocked an eyebrow questioningly at her but quickly realized that despite him finishing, he hadn't actually softened at all. And before he knew what was going on, Nightmare had pulled herself from him and merely laid down with her flank pointing in his direction. The Human could only grin as her tail stroked his entire body, pulling him over to her as she waved her flank teasingly.
Nightmare moaned breathily as she felt her Human enter her, her previously worked up orgasm sensing this as it began to simmer once again. Jason could only marvel at the sheer intensity of her heat as it wrapped itself around his length in a tight embrace. Jason knew that no other Human could match up to her. The tight grip, the almost unbearable heat mixed in with the subtle muscle control she had quickly taken advantage of could never be replicated by any other.
"Oh man...Moony, Nightmare I'm going to-"
"Me too! Just hold on for me! Just a couple of seconds more!"
Jason quickly pulled her back and moved himself over her. Nightmare hadn't expected this but got over it pretty quickly as she merely laid there and let herself be thrust into again and again, her climax reaching its peak at a breakneck pace.
The Alicorn suddenly froze in place for a few moments, not even registering her lovers thrusting before she raised her head up to the ceiling and screamed for all it was worth as her first ever orgasm ripped through her. Jason quickly silenced her with a passionate kiss that was furiously returned by the mare as an unbearably pleasure sensation flooded her senses. She instantly felt her lover's essence a second time as her highly sensitive walls become coated with it.
Jason slowed down on his thrusts as he rode both of their climaxes out, until he collapsed on his side and pulled the covers over the both of them. He looked down at the sheets and was pleasantly surprised to see it stained with the effects of his lover's orgasm.
"I guess I made it too difficult for her to concentrate." He thought bemusedly.
Nightmare turned on her side slowly and pretty much collapsed on her Human's chest, breathing heavily as her body relaxed into its blissful afterglow. She looked at him dreamily and kissed him softly before drawing back and putting her head back on his chest.
"I've claimed you now my love. You're mine for all of eternity...forever mine..."
Jason just shushed the mare soothingly as she closed her eyes and allowed sleep to take a hold of her, enveloping her in its comforting embrace.
Jason smiled at this but with her warmth so close to him, her mane and tail billowing gently over his skin...the Human quickly followed her into a peaceful sleep.
And a peaceful night
...If only that was the case.
Both of them instantly awoke to the sound of sirens and a loud banging on the front door. They instantly got out of bed with Nightmare phasing through the house and Jason quickly getting dressed.
As he put on his shoes Nightmare quickly phased back inside with a look of immense worry on her face...along with fear.
"Nightmare? Nightmare what's wrong?" Jason asked walking over to her quickly.
"Jason...there's so many of them. We can't fight them all, they all have weapons and I can't physically hurt them."
The mare forced herself to snap out of it and regarded her Human nervously as he gazed at her fearfully.
"My love...they're here...and they have your Mother."
Jason flinched as he heard a loud banging sound downstairs and quickly realized that they had just broken down the door. He went over to the other side of the attic and quickly strapped a duffle bag around him, said bag filled with essentials that he and Nightmare had picked just in case this ever happened.
But they had never expected there to be so many people. All of them carrying guns and all them determined to get him.
"What do we do Moony?" He asked questioningly, his heartbeat quickening as he heard however they were climbing the stairs.
Nightmare knew exactly what she could do...but it was so risky. There were so many ways in which it could go wrong. It could kill him or her, or both of them. It could even backfire and destroy half the neighbourhood.
But she had to try...or she could lose him forever.
"Jason come here quickly!" She said fearfully.
Her Human wasted no time and ran over to her, although he was slightly surprised when she forced him to kneel with her magic.
"Moony what are you-"
"Do you love me Jason? Do you really, really love me? Is there no other but me who your heart...your soul desires?"
Jason blinked in surprise at her question...but there was only ever one answer he would ever give her.
"Yes. I only love you, I only ever want you and there will never be another. But why are you asking me this?"
Nightmare put a hoof to his mouth and smiled at him lovingly, before replacing her hoof with her lips, caressing his gently as her horn began to glow. And glow it did, more brightly then it had ever glowed before.
She drew back from him and rested her horn against his forehead, smiling tearfully at what she was about to do.
"And I love you so trust in me...and if this is the end for me...then please...follow me into the void. I'll be waiting for you."
Jason felt tears pooling into his eyes at this and cupped her cheek tenderly, which she only leaned into for but a moment.
Then before he could do anything else...anything else that could distract her, prevent her from potentially killing her mate, her lover. She slowly eased her horn into his forehead and embraced the both of them in magic.
Jason could feel her, feel her...everything. Her thoughts, her hopes, her dreams and fears. Her love for him and the immensity of it all. In turn Nightmare could feel his everything too. She could see his love for her...and smiled mentally at how it was almost bursting at the seams. She could see just how attractive and beautiful his mind painted her to be. But she could also see just how insecure he was around her, not because of fear or regret...but because her power made him feel inferior.
She didn't want that, she didn't want this, for him to feel weak and dwarfed by her power. It reminded her of how insecure she had been when she had been comparing herself to Human females. How inferior she had convinced herself she was...when Jason had always considered her to be the picture of pure beauty.
Both of their memories were shared in an instant. And in that instant, everything that was forgotten was remembered. In that instant...they knew everything about the other. Every experience, every lesson, every joy and every disparity. And in that instant...both remembered and witnessed not just Nightmare's past...but her former self's past as well.
Jason's attic door was shot open and a number of men in suits climbed up it, instantly spotting Jason on his knees, an almost unnoticeable glow around him.
Unbeknownst to either Nightmare or Jason, the magic that had infiltrated their minds, revealing everything about them to the other, had already begun to affect the two of them. Beyond the invading men's sight, Nightmare was slowly evaporating into thin air...the air being breathed in instantly by Jason as he remained kneeling, his eyes shut tight.
One of the men grabbed the Human and swung him over his shoulder, Jason remaining immobile as the magic coursing within him had yet to stop its effect.
Its random and potentially dangerous effect.
As the men walked outside Jason's Mother saw her seemingly unconscious son and began to fight against the man that was restraining her, a gun held to her temple. Numerous neighbours had begun to gather outside and talk amongst themselves, only just able to see who the men were taking as the Sun was halfway set.
The subtle glow around Jason vanished, leaving nothing but an interesting tattoo on his forehead. It was a crescent moon with a dark blue background behind it, apparently resembling the night sky. Nobody saw this however, with Jason being carried on the man's back it was hard to have noticed anything, let alone his face.
"My love...it worked."
Everybody suddenly gasped as the sun, which had previously been setting, was instantly forced out of the sky. In its place came a blood red moon. The sky itself quickly took on a colour of crimson, of blood.
"AHHHH!"
All the men that had gathered around Jason's home cocked their guns and aimed it at the Human. Said Human was standing on his feet, the man who had been carrying him however was on the floor, his body having received quite a deadly shock...literally.
Jason's shadow began to contort and twist its shape, turning from his own shadow into that of a tall and svelte pony. Said shadow spread its wings and moved in tune with Jason as the Human slowly turned around and stared at the men dangerously.
With slitted eyes that were certainly not his own.
"We will warn you only once. Leave us alone, release our Mother and never return." He...or rather...they said.
And so it was. Two minds, one merged soul. Two personalities with two lots of memories, three at a stretch.
Two beings, now merged into one. Nightmares pure magical power mixed in with Jason's unmatched potential. Their intelligence, their sense of knowledge that while before was quite high, now combined had made them think beyond any normal being.
Not even Celestia herself could match up to their power...and they both knew it.
But their weaknesses...were they increased in power as well?
A man wearing a suit walked forwards past the numerous cars and vans and stopped a short distance from...them.
"You're in no position to bargain kid. Now come with us before someone gets hurt." He demanded, slyly jerking his head towards Jason's Mother.
The merged being merely grinned at this and splayed his fingers out, letting a black aura envelop it to the surprise of almost everyone...save a smug looking teacher who was grinning at them from behind Jason's Mother.
Jason looked down at their hand in wonder as they marveled at the aura it had taken.
A black aura didn't mean death or evil like most beings suspected. In fact it literally meant nothing, unlike other colors that pointed towards a certain attribute. Golden for righteous and healing magic, blue for magic that surrounded liquids, red for heat magic and so on and so forth.
Their aura being black was quite a good thing indeed as it didn't restrict them to only being extremely good at one type of magic.
With black, it meant they could master everything.
"Well...this was unexpected. A black aura?...Ohh this is going to be amusing."
The man in the suit gritted his teeth as he fought off the fear he felt by looking into what he thought were Jason's eyes. It wasn't just the appearance that unnerved him, but the look of amusement that seemed to flow out of them.
As if he was playing...and they were all his toys.
Jason smirked at the man and looked up at their precious moon. Even with it not being their own, it still bathed them in the same magical glow...even if it was red.
"Last chance Human. Go or die." They said, no deception in their voice whatsoever.
The man just growled and aimed his gun at them, with every other armed Human following him.
"We don't need you alive kid. Open fire!"
Their guns aimed, they cocked, they fired, their eyes narrowed, slitted iris flashing dangerously as they raised their hand forward.
The bullets all stopped...and turned to face their firers.
"Our turn."
The bullets flew back, they hit, another gun was fired...a life was lost...
This thought covered the entirety of Jason's mind. It enveloped their literal entities, filled them up with such confidence and satisfaction that any other magical ability Nightmare had once used seemed...pathetic in comparison.
Bullets once fired at them were returned with much force at their firers.
"Heh...they drop like flies caught in a bug zapper." They thought, smirking at the ease in which they had taken control of the situation.
Nothing could kill them now.
That thought was like a comforting blanket...like the way Nightmare's mind, her shadow and persona had wrapped around Jason, warming him...loving him.
And now that they were one...she too was enveloped in his safe embrace.
So protective...so warm. If not for the situation she would have let herself fall asleep in his mental haven.
"Perhaps later my love..." She thought.
Jason's persona smiled in response...While Jason remained apathetic, the two persona's anger at what was transpiring feeding their combined control.
So many emotions, so many conflicting feelings. But their love for each other held strong.
But unfortunately...
Jason blinked at looked over to their right, past the bodies of the dead or dying men and over onto the body of...their...
"Mother!"
Jason ran over to their Mother and picked her up, checking her neck and wrist for a pulse. To their relief their Mother opened her eyes weakly and stared at them...sadly?
"What happened to you Jason?...Was this me?...Did my negligence do this to you?" She asked feebly, obviously struggling to stay awake.
Jason shook their head rapidly and looked everywhere for somebody, anybody to call for an ambulance.
But everyone had ran off in terror...in terror of them? Of the men?
They didn't know.
"I'm sorry I didn't look after you...even though my nightmares were telling me too I still didn't...I'm sorry Jason...I'm...sor..."
Jason's power flared suddenly as the life went out of their Mother's eyes.
"NO! MOTHER! Mother wake up! Mom wake up, wake up please!"
Jason's normal voice had shattered through his new one...their new one. His shadow had returned to normal, darkly mirroring a weeping teenager on his knees. Nightmare's mind backed away into the darkest corner, letting her lover grieve for his Mother in silence.
"Why did this happen?" Jason asked miserably, looking at his...their blood stained hands.
"Because of us...they want us..." Nightmare consoled soothingly.
"And because of us...she died."
They both suddenly heard a voice behind them, felt the cold metal of a gun by their head.
"Your Mom's not waking up Jason...and neither will you."...Said Miss Condron.
Jason's grief mixed in with Nightmare's rage...and they reacted...violently.
Jason spun around before the gun went off and pushed the "teacher" away with their palm, a black aura surrounding it. But instead of her flying backwards...their hand went straight through her, making her gasp and drop the gun.
Jason's shadow contorted back into the Alicorn's, said shadow flaring her wings in anger.
Miss Condron blinked in surprise and looked down, not feeling any pain for some reason. But then she suddenly screamed in agony as Jason used their magic to enter her mind, forcibly ripping information after information out of her.
Her memories, her childhood, fears and dreams.
Who she really was and who she worked for...why she was spying on them.
Nothing was left untouched.
Jason pulled their hand out of the women and snarled as she crumpled, her mouth dribbling and her eyes unfocused.
The sheer power of Jason, the sheer rage and pain they felt.
She had felt it too...and her Human mind simply couldn't take it.
She was brain dead.
Jason didn't know whether to laugh at her fate or pity it, but they had no time to ponder on it. Already they could hear the sirens, the whipping sounds of many helicopters coming their way.
"We need to go Jason...let me take control for now, you need to rest." Nightmare said mentally, sympathy deep within her voice.
She hadn't liked Jason's Mother at all. She had found her to be lazy and inconsiderate when it came to her beloved.
But she remembered when her Mother had left her...and her sister. Her Father had followed as well, not to die but to watch over them and await the day when they would both be crowned Queen's of Equestria.
No...not her. Luna and Celestia.
There was no room for a monster...especially one like her.
"Shhh..."
She sighed as her loves comforting mental caresses calmed her down, directing her from that train of thought.
Even in his grief he still worried for her, still refused to let her see herself as a monster.
"You're no monster my love...you're so beautiful." He whispered lovingly, smiling as he felt her sigh deeply in satisfaction.
The Human gave up control and closed his eyes to everything around him. There was only darkness to keep him company...as well as Nightmare's ever watchful gaze.
She would never let him fall into grief...but she would let him mourn.
She would never deny him that.
The dark Alicorn soothed his persona with her mind, cradling him in her dark embrace and smiling softly as he fell asleep.
Nightmare opened her eyes and flexed her new and unusual body. But she didn't linger, choosing instead to flare up her...their magic and teleport them far away.
The next thing she knew she was standing under a cave in a forest many hundreds of miles away from Jason's home. She had picked it from Jason's memory, as it had been this exact cave where he had taken shelter during a storm as a child.
He had just been playing by himself and then the rain and thunder came. He had hidden in this cave, frightened of the lightening and unable to sleep. Nightmare could only imagine what it could have been like if she had met this earlier version of Jason first.
She felt uneasy as her maternal instincts brushed against her mind, the mere thought of looking after Jason as a youth stimulating this particular feeling.
"It doesn't matter at any rate. Jason is not a foal, he is my beloved...and I can't believe he didn't tell me that his birthday is tomorrow! But then again I suppose we can't really worry about it right now...Although perhaps his grief need not last today...Perhaps I can gift him with a present to disperse his sadness.."
Nightmare smirked at this thought and instantly pushed the thought into the private part of her mind. While Jason was asleep he couldn't hear her thoughts and each of them still had a private part of their individual minds. Their combined one was like a whole new personality and so it came with its own thoughts and memories.
Their combined ones to be precise.
But as long as only one of them was "awake" their melded being didn't remember anything that they thought to themselves.
Nightmare thought it was vastly interesting if a little confusing.
"I can feel his sadness...his loneliness in the fact that he has no relatives left." She thought sadly. "But he will never be lonely. I will never leave him...well, I can't ever leave him now. But even so this moment will become nothing more than a sad memory...and hopefully one that won't affect him as drastically as it would have affected me."
She moved deeper into the cave and laid down on the hard floor. The Alicorn felt a tad uncomfortable but closed her eyes none the less and receded into Jason's mind. She saw the sleeping mental form of her lover and trotted over to him, her own natural appearance having returned. She slowly lay on top of him and wrapped her wings around him, nuzzling her face into his neck and quickly relaxing her mind...
Sleep took her easily.
Jason opened his eyes and looked around him, not recognising the rock and the dripping of water outside. He sat up and rested against the wall, continuing to look around the cave he was in.
"Nightmare must have brought us here...I wonder where we are, and why nopony...no one has found us yet."
Jason felt odd at having mixed up his words but figured it was another effect from the bond he and Nightmare now shared.
This new being they became upon combining their minds was incredible, as if it were a new individual all together. It could do anything both of them could do and do it better...and if he was being honest the rush he felt when his mind merged with his lover was so intense.
It was like that invulnerable feeling you got when you were drunk. Like nothing could stop you.
Except they were very much aware of their actions and knew exactly what they could do. As for being stopped?
Well they weren't evil by any means, but if Celestia attacked them then God help her, because they wouldn't hold back.
Jason suddenly remembered what had happened not eight hours ago...his Mother...dead...gone forever. It was devastating, heartbreaking...he would never see her ever again.
"Then why don't I feel as bad as I should?" He thought guiltily.
"Good morning my love." Nightmare crooned lovingly, surprising Jason as he hadn't felt her wake up.
"Morning Moony, did you sleep alright?"
"Better than ever before." She confirmed gleefully.
Jason suddenly felt something touching the side of his neck and turned around. To his absolute shock however he found himself face to face with Nightmare herself. Said mare was smiling at him amusedly whilst stroking his back with her right wing.
"Wha-" Jason began.
Nightmare instantly shushed him by pressing her lips against his, caressing then with the utmost tenderness and passion. Jason returned the kiss in kind after a few seconds of stunned silence, causing Nightmare to grin into it and add a lot more force, pinning him onto his back.
"How are you able to touch me? I thought with us bonded you weren't able to anymore."
Nightmare smirked as she kissed him, moving down and nibbling on his neck with her fang-like incisors and getting a low growl in response.
"You're half right lover, I can't touch anything else except you. And you can see and feel me because I have quite literally become your...tangible shadow."
She licked his mouth before shoving her tongue into it and grinding her body on his lower half.
"Now shush and enjoy this." She added sensually, grinning as she manually took off his jeans and put her hoof down his boxers.
"Happy birthday my love." She breathed seductively.
Jason growled at her tight grip on his length but couldn't help the happy surprise that came with her knowing about his birthday.
He hadn't celebrated a birthday since his Dad passed away...But Nightmare knew everything about him now. His fears, his hopes, dreams and desires...Especially his desires.
And what he desired the most right now was to have her show just how much she owned him...loved him. Nightmare was only too happy to comply, and what better way to show it then literally make it his special birthday treat.
Although she was a little surprised about how much he actually liked being claimed by her, verbally and physically. It actually made her shiver with pleasure that her declaration of him belonging to her excited him so much.
She was possessive and he loved it.
"I knew we were made for each other MY Human." She said possessively, smirking at his subtle shudder.
She began to quickly lick at his neck, nibbling it as well for good measure. Her hoof was already at work, swiftly moving up and down his length with an almost painful grip.
Jason took the rest of his clothing off and laid back against the wall, softly stroking Nightmare's ethereal mane as she continued to pleasure him. The mare slowed down on her rubbing and eyed his member questioningly...before smirking and licking the tip affectionately.
"Wow Moony..."
Nightmare smirked cheekily up at him before she quickly engulfed the whole thing and began to pleasure him lustfully. Jason was leaning his head back as he cupped the Alicorn's cheek tenderly, said Alicorn smiled at his touch and sped up her motions.
Jason suddenly felt her cease her actions and looked at her questioningly...only to be pleasantly surprised as the mare crawled on top of him and enveloped his length with her warm walls.
"Ohh Jay...I love you so much." She thought dazedly, moaning slightly as her Human began to move in sync with her movements.
"And I love you." He replied lovingly.
"For all of eternity my dark angel." He added with a whisper.
As time passed, their lovemaking became more frenzied. Nightmare had forced the Human onto his back and was mercilessly pounding herself upon him. Jason's arms had been restrained by her strong hooves and his mouth was currently being ravaged by the Alicorn's lips, her fangs grazing them slightly.
Nightmare drew back from her kissing and licked the rim of his right ear, before whispering into it.
"You're mine forever Jason...for all of eternity. I will never abandon you...and you will never abandon me, for if so I shall hunt whomever has stolen you from me and bathe in their blood."
She continued whispering these dark promises, knowing just how much it excited him...as well as how much it excited her.
"And then after I have killed them, I will torture you with my body. I will please you and love you until it is all you know. I will rut you endlessly, claim you again and again until passion takes you and you ravage me until we're rutting like animals!"
She could feel her lover's body shaking as his climax started to become apparent. Her own was almost upon her as well...
But there was one last thing she had to say.
"And even when you tire I will not stop. You WILL be tortured with my body, until you beg me to stop. But I won't, I will keep rutting and rutting until you pass out from the sheer pleasure of it all. And then..."
Nightmare moved her face over his and licked his lips slowly, a rather malicious smirk on her muzzle.
"And then I'd do this!"
The Alicorn's eyes flashed black for but a moment before she bared her fang-like incisors and bit down on his neck harshly. It was at that exact moment that his climax was ripped out of him, resulting in him giving off a moan so lustful it was practically a roar.
Nightmare's orgasm quickly followed his, making her moan into his neck animalistically as her body shook violently.
The two lovers panted heavily as they embraced each other. Nightmare removed her teeth from his neck and kissed the spot where she had bitten him tentatively. Jason looked up at her dazedly and stroked her cheek softly, resulting in a brilliant smile from the mare.
Said mare looked back at where she had bitten him and grinned possessively.
"I've marked you my love...now everypony will see that you're mine." She purred lovingly.
"I'm already yours Moony...I mean with our bond we might as well be married." He replied honestly.
Nightmare's eyes widened at his response and her body began to shiver with excitement. Jason looked at her questioningly before his lips were quickly claimed by the dark mare.
"Now that's a thought my darling." She thought happily. "We ARE pretty much married aren't we?"
Jason blinked at her rhetorical question but couldn't help smiling at her excited shivering. Nightmare drew back from his lips and grinned at him, moving her left hoof up to his forehead and brushing his slightly longer hair away from his eyes.
"And who needs a wedding ceremony anyway?" She continued ecstatically. "I love you, you love me."
She rubbed his nose with her snout before licking it affectionately and gazing at him possessively.
"And so now I say...I do."
Jason's eyes widened at this and tried to think of some way out of it...but when he saw her smile wavering and her bright eyes dulling into sadness...the doubt was swept away.
He loved her...and he was going to spend the rest of eternity with her anyway so...
"I do." He whispered into her mind, receiving warm and extremely happy feelings in response.
"Then you may kiss the extremely lucky bride." Nightmare teased enthusiastically.
Jason grinned up at her and pulled her head down to his, kissing her passionately.
They continued kissing for what felt like hours, hands and hooves touching the other, loving them with each stroke, with each...caress.
"So then...Am I Mr Moon...or are you Mrs Storm?" Jason inquired.
Nightmare thought on it for all of about two seconds before she licked his cheek and nuzzled her face into his neck.
"Hmm I think Nightmare Storm has a certain...ring to it. Don't you?" She asked curiously.
"Well as long as I still get to call you Moony." He replied cheekily, resulting in a smirk from his lover before she nodded and kissed his nose affectionately.
For the next few hours all they did was lay there in each other's embrace. And although both knew it wasn't an "Official wedding" they didn't really care.
As far as they were both concerned, Jason and Nightmare had just become Mr and Mrs Storm. And nothing anypony could say would ever change that.
"If we ever end up back in Equestria my love...I would like it if we could purchase two wedding bands. You know, one for each of your...our arms. To symbolize both of us together, even if we both share the same body."
"I'll make it my top priority WHEN we get there...Because we have to get there now. There's no place for us on Earth anymore." He replied promisingly.
Both instantly remembered what they had learned from Jason's so called teacher. Said teacher was called Sarah Droconn and was as they thought...A spy.
But not from something as obvious like the FBI or the CIA.
No she was from a specific group dedicated to finding and containing any magical substances that came to Earth. Be that objects...or people.
Her group had picked up on Nightmare's magic the moment she arrived on Earth. And to the mares dismay she only made herself easier to track by using her magic so often...and bathing Jason in it wasn't too smart either.
But there was a simple way to stop and end all of this.
The group she worked for was called A.M.A. This stood for the Anti Magic Agency, no need to elaborate any further than that really. Anyway they had a way of opening small wormholes into magical planes...like Equestria. They couldn't enter as of yet because they didn't know how...But Nightmare did.
Nightmare and Jason had only to use their own magic to find the right wormhole and jump inside of it...before finding a way to permanently shut down any way of potentially being followed once they reached the other side.
Unfortunately they had seen just how well fortified the A.M.A's main headquarters was...getting in would be easy. But progressing once they were noticed and finding the right place that controlled the wormholes...would not be as easy.
"Then it is a good thing that we are neigh invincible in our power...but we shall not be overconfident. That led to my downfall before, it shall not lead to ours now."
She felt Jason agree with her mentally before they both calmed their minds and focused on their new bond. The effects were apparent almost immediately.
Jason's hair became slightly darker and Nightmare's Cutie Mark on their forehead seemed to brighten a touch and become...life like.
But the most noticeable thing that changed were their eyes. Jason's eyes changed from their normal Human appearance and became slitted and intimidating.
They focused their eyes outside of the cave before flicking their wrist, a black aura briefly appearing around it. In an instant they became clean and clothed, the only difference from before being that every piece of clothing they wore was the colour of black.
Of midnight and nightmares.
"Ready my love? This may turn out to be our death."
"We go in, find the right room and use our magic to activate the correct wormhole...I'm ready Moony...I'm with you all the way." He replied.
"And I you." She promised lovingly.
They took one step outside of the cave and looked up at the darkening sky, both of them pleasantly surprised at just how much time they must have spent cradling each other.
They took a deep breath and closed their eyes...before snapping them open and flicking their wrist, teleporting them in an alleyway just a few minutes from the A.M.A's main headquarters.
"I hope this becomes slightly entertaining." Jason mused bemusedly, Nightmare's sadistic personality driving that particular sentence...Even with Jason's one holding it back from simply walking in there and slaughtering everyone.
"We both know that some of the Humans...people, inside of there have no idea who they really work for. Let's at least give them one chance to run."
He heard Nightmare grumble somewhat but felt her agree and stroke his persona soothingly, calming down his nerves lest they start to affect Jason's confidence.
They took another deep breath...before they began to walk confidently in the direction of the building. They couldn't help but smirk as several people looked at them before whispering into their collars, completely under the illusion that Jason didn't notice any of them doing it.
Jason quickly reached the right building and grinned before they looked behind them and waved mock cheerfully at a man "blending in" on a bench. Said man narrowed his eyes before whispering into his collar again, something that Nightmare's persona chuckled at.
"Their fear of us is so unbelievably obvious...but then again they could be all the more dangerous because of it. So let us be careful...to a point at least. No need for this to get boring."
Nightmare smirked mentally at Jason's hesitant agreement before focusing her mind back onto the task at hoof.
"Then let's do this." Jason whispered bluntly.
Jason walked towards the building and casually strolled inside of it, opening the doors with so much force that they slammed on the walls, resulting in many people looking at them.
They smirked up at a camera and mock saluted it, before walking forwards slowly, observing the numerous amount of people who were beginning to reach into their pockets.
"Now to get everyone's attention." Nightmare cackled.
Jason causally yawned, stretching their arms out aimlessly...before each hand shone with a black aura, producing a crackling sound briefly before lightning shot off of each hand and hit two obvious agents, making them fly back into the large windows and smash straight through them.
The result...was instantaneous.
Everyone began to panic, screaming as they cowered or ran around...before noticing that Jason was standing between them and the exit, their eyes glowing faintly as they grinned at all of them.
"Okay everypony here is the deal!" They yelled loudly. "Everyone who wants to live...run past us and GET OUT!...And those of you who, heh, think you stand a chance against us."
They took a light sarcastic bow in front of everyone, before finishing their little rant.
"Feel free to try and stop us..."
Almost half of the Humans in the room looked at each other before they carefully sprinted past Jason and out of the building. Those who remained glared at the Hybrid, said Hybrid smirked back at them, their hands covered in an almost opaque black aura.
"Well...don't say we never warned you." Jason said quietly.
In an instant every person in the room pulled out their guns and aimed them at Jason. Jason just grinned at the and clapped their hands together loudly, producing a wave of pure darkness that hit all the armed men and women.
Everyone dropped their weapons and fell to the floor, clutching at their ears with their hands as blood began to pour out of it like a faucet, their mouths foaming and their eyes melting in their sockets.
Jason walked past all of them calmly, no emotion whatsoever on their face as they reached an elevator and clicked the button. The door opened and they stepped inside, observing the bleeding Humans with the smallest of smirks before they pressed the basement button and the door closed.
They reached the basement level with no resistance to their surprise. Said surprise was quickly erased however as their magic quickly picked up on numerous Humans hiding within the shadows, waiting to strike.
Jason grinned and knelt down on one knee, placing their hand on the ground and smiling as their black aura seeped into it. They then stood up and continued walking to their memorized destination, smiling to themselves as the distinct sound of footsteps was heard behind them.
"AHHHHHH!"
"NO! NO STOP PLEASE!"
"I DON'T WANT THIS! DADDY PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!"
Jason chuckled to themselves darkly as their planted magic took effect, successfully trapping any Human who walked across it in their worst nightmare.
A very realistic nightmare...one where death was possible.
"Ahh mental manipulation never gets old." Nightmare mused cheerfully...a bit too cheerfully for Jason's tastes but he wasn't complaining.
Getting impatient, Jason began to sprint their way towards the hopefully correct room. "Hopefully" being that what they needed hadn't been moved elsewhere.
They came across numerous agents in their way...but said agents only ended up becoming bloody smears that were left behind in Jason's slaughter. The Human persona felt like he should have been a LOT more concerned with the fact that he was killing so many people...without a care in the world.
But Nightmare's mind had enveloped his own, as she always would do whenever they merged together like this. And with her mind literally cradling his own in her dark embrace, whispering sweet nothings into his own mind...in part to distract him from the killing and the other to keep him from potentially hating her for what their bond had turned him into...
A murderer.
And he heard her comforting whispers the entire time as they mercilessly killed anyone in their path.
"I'm killing people...I'm really..."
"Shhh my sweet Jason. It is necessary my darling. They would experiment on us if they had the chance...we need to get home, to Equestria. Only then will we have no further need to kill."
"Am I monster for doing this Moony? Am I a..."
"No, no of course you aren't. We are simply doing what we have to, to survive."
"I knew this was coming...but I never wanted anything like this."
"I know sweetie, but they attacked us, they killed your Mother."
Jason could feel her soft...seductive and loving voice wash over him like a balm...a comforting and honest balm.
"They...they did attack us first." He whispered.
"Yes they did my love." Nightmare replied soothingly.
"And...and they killed Mom." He continued, his emotions starting to affect Jason as their eyes flashed dangerously.
"Yes...and they should be punished for that shouldn't they?" Nightmare purred sultrily, her comforting words quickly persuading Jason.
She wasn't evil, make no mistake about that.
But they had hurt her Jason deeply and attacked them a mere hour after their lovemaking.
Needless to say, she was pissed. And if Jason was unsure about delivering "justice" to these...Human monsters...Then she had no problem with persuading him that it was necessary.
She wasn't evil, but she wasn't benevolent like Celestia.
She didn't believe in mercy when the enemy had done something so terrible as what they had done to her lover.
His Mother was dead because of the A.M.A...
But worst of all they had THREATENED him...
Mercy was not something she was carrying with her tonight.
Jason's eyes took on a look of familiarity as they quickly reached a very large double door. Said door had a sign that read "MUST HAVE THE CORRECT CLEARANCE TO ENTER".
They smirked at it and focused a deep amount of magic into their aura, focusing just the right amount until they felt it become almost painful.
The remaining agents and spies inside the room were hiding behind cover with their guns prepped and ready to fire. They were all sweating in fear as they realized that the gunfire and screams had stopped almost four minutes ago. The doors suddenly became the color of midnight, startling the agents into aiming their weapons at it.
To their absolute horror however, the doors mutated into a large black swirl that quickly began to suck everything into it, crushing it instantly. One man had his cover pulled into it and tried to resist following...but there was nothing to grab on to. The man flew into the black hole and was quickly crushed, his blood and squished bones quite visible before they too were sucked in.
The other agents fired at the swirl in a desperate attempt to defeat it...but it was to no effect. They too were quickly pulled into it, all at once.
The crunches and tortured screams made Jason shiver.
Jason quickly dispelled the black hole before they too were sucked in. They then walked into the room and cocked an eyebrow at the complex machine before them. It resembled a large keyboard but had a screen in the middle of it. The memories they had acquired showed them how to turn it on...but nothing beyond that.
It was Nightmares hope that their magic would be recognized as Equestrian magic and thus would open a portal to Equestria.
They turned on the machine and actually gasped at what the screen was telling them. Apparently numerous portals had been opened all around the world, some by the A.M.A and some by some other source. A long list of names was next the where these portals had been opened, some being listed as missing and others being listed as recovered but deceased.
PETER STONE- RECOVERED BUT DECEASED.
EMMA FLOWERS- RECOVERED BUT DECEASED.
LAURAN ASHLEY- RECOVERED BUT DECEASED.
CHRIS HIGGOTT- MISSING.
SARAH SMITH- RECOVERED BUT DECEASED.
TONY BREEZE- MISSING.
DANIEL SUMMERS-MISSING.
Jason switched the machine onto its portal setting and watched as a bright purple light appeared in front of them. They lit up their aura and cast a simple lightning spell into it...but nothing happened.
Just as they were about to sigh in disappointment the portal began to spasm, its purple swirls spinning rapidly.
"This might be our death Jason...this could lead us anywhere." Nightmare warned worriedly.
"Then let's hope it doesn't...but even if it does...know that I don't blame you for any of this. And that I love you."
Nightmare embraced his persona with her own lovingly, her Alicorn form looking at her lover tenderly as she kissed him.
"And I love you... I always will."
They looked up at the portal bravely and grimaced as a loud ripping sound came from their back, demonic black wings having forced their way out of them. Said wings flapped once, once being all they needed to get them into the air.
"Equestria is going to love this." Jason chuckled darkly...before flying straight threw the portal, their eyes closed and content, awaiting the possible death that may take the-
"OW!"
Jason felt himself slam into a wall and slide down it roughly. He opened his eyes and blinked as they adjusted to the new darkness. The Human stood up and looked around but saw nothing of any interest other than the fact that he was in a castle.
He suddenly felt something touch his back and yelped in surprise as he spun around...but was quickly silenced by the feeling of Nightmares lips on his own. He quickly drew back and looked at her, noticing her wide grin but also noticing that she was TOUCHING the floor.
She wasn't supposed t be able to touch anything other than him.
"Moony...how are you-"
"I'm not sure." She interrupted quickly, looking at her now quite solid body. "But something feels...off. I think we need to go outside." She added, her expression one of confusion.
Jason nodded and followed her outside of the castle...only to stop and become slack jawed at the scene that graced him.
There were ponies walking around a village. A village that by Nightmares memory shouldn't even exist anymore.
"Foalsville..." Nightmare whispered, amazement and shock in her voice.
It was impossible...
Foalsville hadn't existed in over two thousand years...
Nightmare's mouth was still open in disbelief at what she was seeing. Foalsville had perished in the battle of Redfall two thousand years ago. Crystal Justice and Celestia themselves had been the last two...or should she say one, to perform the final blow.
Jason was just as confused as she was...although actually attempting to remember what Nightmare knew about that day was difficult, as if their separation had dulled their shared memories. The Alicorn had noticed this as well however, and a single shared glance between the two was enough to convey that knowledge.
There was something else that was bothering him too...what did he do to the people that tried to stop him from entering Equestria?
"Did I hurt them?" He thought questioningly.
...He couldn't remember.
"Jason I do not believe we are in the right Equestria...or more specifically the right time." Nightmare said quietly.
Jason was about to reply until he suddenly saw...a Human. Said Human was running as fast as he could, almost as if something was chasing him...and were those tears?
"Moony what's-" Jason tried to say, only for Nightmare to put a hoof to his mouth gently to silence him.
"I remember Tia telling me about this...she was so upset." She told him sadly.
Nightmare quickly cast a spell of invisibility over the two of them...which required her to stay close to her lover.
"Not that I'm ever going to complain." She thought amusedly.
The two of them followed the Human and instantly noticed a Unicorn running after him, tears in her eyes as she called him, begged him to stop, to come back.
Said Unicorn had a pure white coat, teary blue eyes and a bleak orange circle as her Cutie Mark.
"It is Tia in her disguised form" Nightmare uttered, amusement laced in her tone as she recollected just how long it had taken the benevolent Alicorn to find the right "look".
They continued to follow the two of them until they realised that the Human had reached a dead end, Foalsville's own defence of uncountable bricks, reaching far and wide to protect the village from evil.
"The great wall of Foalsville." Nightmare told Jason quietly, awe held within her voice as she once again looked upon the great defense...with her new eyes.
"Tia just leave me alone. I said we are through and I BUCKING MEANT IT!"
Jason winced at the hatred in the Humans voice and pitied Celestia for having been on the receiving end.
"Why is he yelling at her?" He asked Nightmare quietly.
"You'll see, let's just watch. I've always wanted to know what they actually said." She replied, half sad for Celestia despite their differences. She could only imagine what she would feel like if Jason left her.
"Chris please don't leave me." Celestia pleaded. "I'm so sorry about Sapphire, I really am...but-"
"BUT NOTHING!" Chris interrupted furiously, tears really starting to leak from his eyes. "I could have escaped and given Sapphie a proper burial...BUT YOU ATTACKED ME, YOU STOPPED THAT CHANCE AND NOW SHE'S BEEN USED AS A CHEW TOY FOR REDHOOF'S DIRTY DAMN PET!"
Jason and Nightmare both flinched at the severity to his tone but couldn't stop themselves from watching this argument continue.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Celestia whimpered pitifully, moving closer to Chris as she did so.
Chris tried to back away from her but stopped as his back hit the wall. Celestia was so close to him that she could almost touch him now.
"I'm warning you Celestia!" Chris yelled, clenching his fists threateningly.
The young Princess stopped for a moment as she stared at her ex lovers fists. Said right fist was almost touching her muzzle, her breath warming the knuckle as it remained closed aggressively. Then without any warning she moved forward ever so slightly and licked the sore skin, although why it was so sore even Nightmare did not know.
"Tia what are you doing?" Chris asked...his voice still furious, but at the same time not quite as severe.
Celestia ignored him and merely looked up at him with her teary eyes, her tongue still lapping gently over his worn skin. Chris's eyes narrowed dangerously at her lack of response and Celestia felt his fist twitch angrily in response.
"Do it Chris." She said quietly.
"What?" He replied, stunned.
Celestia's eyes hardened suddenly as she turned her face so that her cheek was in full view.
"I love you so much Chris. And if hitting me is what you need then hit me, attack me, brutalise me until I'm a bloody smear that is unworthy to kiss your feet."
Chris's eyes widened greatly, as did Nightmare's and Jason's.
"I...she never told me about this!" Nightmare whispered furiously.
It made Jason smile though, that despite her what her sister did to her and what Nightmare herself is known to be. The dark Alicorn still quite obviously cared about her...to an extent.
Nightmare only cared for another more...and it didn't take a genius to guess who.
"Celestia what...what are you playing at?" Chris asked. The distraught Human was completely shocked that his lov...Ex lover was asking this of him.
"I'm not playing Chris." She replied seriously. "You're angry at me, so hit me. Attack me until that anger is gone!"
Chris began to rapidly shake his head and try to move around Celestia. The young Princess was having none of it however as she blocked his attempt every time by moving with him.
"Tia just...just get out of my way and leave me alone. I'm not hitting you!"
At this Celestia's eyes flashed dangerously, her blue eyes glowing as her form grew to almost match Chris's height. While she was distracted, Chris ran as fast as he could from her. Not in fear...but in a denial.
He would never hit her.
"Foal..." Nightmare muttered. "You can never run away from an Alicorn. They will always find you."
Jason gulped audibly at that which resulted in Nightmare grinning at him possessively.
"So no running from you then?" Jason asked questioningly.
"Nay, thou is stuck with me forever." Nightmare replied teasingly, putting her right wing around him and pulling him closer to her.
"I can live with that." He said lovingly, getting rewarded with a long lick along the side of his cheek.
Both looked back on the scene in front of them and frowned as they saw Chris having almost made it away from his Ex lover.
Unfortunately for him, Nightmare's prediction came true and he was magically pulled back over to Celestia, before being dropped next to the wall once again. Celestia in all her young glory walked over to him and stuck her cheek out again, her eyes hard and ready.
"You will hit me Chris." She said simply. "You will lash out at me or Solaris help me I will make you hit me!"
"I'm not hitting you Tia and that's the end of it!" Chris replied, a part of him truly terrified of what Celestia was threatening him to do.
Celestia's eyes stayed strong and steely for a few moments longer...before they rapidly softened and became flooded with tears.
"Why?! Why won't you just hit me for buck's sake?!" She cried, her face now turned to look at him whilst her hooves pounded against the ground angrily.
She suddenly rounded on Chris and began to pound against him as she spoke, the Human doing nothing but take her soft hits as they came.
"Just hit me Chris! I don't care if it'll hurt or if I'm a Princess, just get this hate out of your system!"
Jason and Nightmare were close enough to listen and thanks to a handy spell, able to see the expression's on both of the Ex lover's faces.
And Chris's eyes just looked empty.
"I'm not going to hit you Princess." He said tiredly, ignoring Celestia's soft poundings against his chest.
Celestia looked at him furiously as he said this and proceeded to shout at him angrily.
"YES YOU WILL! I WILL NOT LET YOU HATE ME! I WILL NOT!"
Nightmare winced as her sister promptly slapped Chris's face with her hoof, the Human simply looking stunned rather than in pain.
Celestia's eyes quickly widened in horror at what she had just done and proceeded to softly rub his cheek in an effort to replace the pain with whatever comfort she could.
"Oh no, Chris I am so sorry. I didn't mean too, I swear!"
Chris merely touched where she had slapped him, coincidently touching her bare hoof briefly as he did so, before pulling away from Celestia and merely sliding down the great wall.
Celestia sniffled at his continuous rejection to her touch...but she was never known for giving up. And she proved it, by slowly walking over to her Ex lover and laying down on the ground, uncaring about dirtying her coat. She placed her head against his side and snuggled into it carefully, watching for any reaction from Chris as she did so.
"How has nopony spotted Celestia yet?" Jason asked curiously.
"They're arguing on the west side of the great wall my love." Nightmare explained. "Back in the day the west side of the wall had loosened many bricks upon ponies and was quickly called an unlucky curse. Nopony comes near here anymore...I'm guessing that Crystal was counting on that when he was running from Tia."
"Sucks to be him then." Jason quipped, getting a small prod from Nightmare as a result.
"Tia if you really do love me then you'll leave me alone." Chris said quietly.
"I love you too much to do that Chris...mates care for each other." Celestia replied sincerely.
"We're not mates anymore Tia...We're not anything..."
Celestia's expression became very upset once again...before the mare breathed deeply and stood up, making her way to stand in front of Chris.
"Then I will leave you...on one condition." She promised, causing Chris to raise his head and stare at her uncertainly.
"What?"
"One kiss." Celestia said, her expression quite serious and yet...silently pleading for his agreement.
"Ohhh Tia you didn't. Not the one kiss plan." Nightmare crooned adoringly, prompting Jason to raise an eyebrow at her...unusual affection.
"Wha-?" He attempted to ask, only to be silenced once again by her hoof.
"Just watch. Ohh Tia has always been the manipulative one. Always with a plan...with a plan on top of the plan."
Chris stared at Celestia questioningly, as if trying to find whatever angle she was trying to get at. She had attacked him, betrayed him in one of the worst possible ways...he would feel nothing for her anymore...right?
"One kiss and that's it?" He asked, getting an enthusiastic nod in return.
Celestia slowly moved closer to him and leaned her chest against his, her face right in front of his own, breathing warm air on his lips, coating them with her love.
She looked up at his eyes quickly before she closed her own and proceeded to press her lips to his, moving against them lovingly, attempting to coax a response...which did happen. Chris's lips returned the oh so familiar touch, his eyes closing instinctively as his arms began to slowly wrap themselves around-
Chris suddenly tore his lips from hers and panted heavily, his eyes flashing the amount of love he had for her whilst also reflecting the hate he felt for her...both were battling with him and Celestia could see it.
"Chris..." She breathed passionately, her eyes searching his own for any response as she licked his lips tentatively. Her ethereal hair had strewn around her face, bestowing her with a somewhat wild if not...quite sexy look.
Intentional...perhaps.
"Wait for it..." Nightmare advised quietly.
Chris looked at Celestia's breath taking appearance for all of about ten seconds...before he quickly leaned forward and captured her lips with his own, Celestia moaning happily into it as a result.
"There we go!" The dark mare whispered enthusiastically.
And just as quickly as he had kissed her, he had ripped his lips from hers and pushed her away from him, his eyes staring at her angrily.
"There, you've had your kiss now leave me alone." He said sternly...but Celestia could hear the want laced in his tone.
"Oh, that wasn't supposed to happen." Nightmare muttered confusedly.
Celestia gazed at Chris sadly as his rejection finally hit her...he didn't want her anymore.
"Don't you love me anymore Chris?" She asked pitifully.
Chris looked at her with a mixed range of emotions clearly visible on his face as she asked this.
"You said you'd leave me alone Princess, so leave me alone." He replied, dodging the question.
Celestia let loose a few tears at this before she used her magic to teleport away from him, nothing but wet dirt as any clue to her having been there.
And like a trigger had been pulled, the world changed around them in the blink of an eye. The next thing the two knew they were in a small room with some merry music coming from below them.
"Whoa...what just happened?" Jason asked worriedly.
Nightmare looked around their surroundings for a few seconds before she opened the door to the room and stuck her head out.
"I do believe that we are in Bill Hoofingston's tavern." She replied, looking back at him with a grin on her muzzle.
"Bill?"
"Name's like that were more common two thousand years ago Jason."
They both suddenly flinched as Chris stormed past Nightmare and into the room next to them, slamming the door behind him. Nightmare's invisibility spell was obviously still in effect as the next thing they knew Celestia's Unicorn form had walked past her and made it to the next door.
"Chris please let me in." Celestia pleaded pitifully.
"Just go away Tia!" Was the response she got.
Celestia stomped her right hoof on the ground in frustration before she grimaced and quickly opened the door, stepping in and closing it behind her.
Nightmare grinned at Jason and used a particularly tricky spell to make them both intangible. Added with the invisibility spell this would be enough to knock a Unicorn out.
But for Nightmare all it did was give her a light ache on her horn...which was quickly kissed by Jason.
"All better now!" She thought gleefully.
Together the two of them stuck their heads through the wall and observed just what was going on between the two Ex lovers.
It was not pretty.
Celestia was in her original form but had barely made it a few steps into the room. Chris was facing her with a strange looking sword held by her neck.
"Get out Tia." Chris demanded scathingly.
"Chris can we just-"
"No." He interrupted. "Whatever Sunbeam and I did is none of your business. We're not together anymore Tia and I don't...We're not together and that's that."
Nightmare cocked her head curiously as she saw Celestia's eyes dilate to pinpricks.
Celestia just looked at his sword blankly for a few moments before she used her magic to throw it into the wall, surprising Chris so much that he lost his balance and fell over. To Nightmare, Jason...and most likely Chris's surprise Celestia let loose a primal growl before she pounced on top of him, leading the two into wrestling with each other.
Celestia pinned Chris down on his back with her hooves and despite his struggles, the Alicorn's hidden strength was obviously much stronger than his own. Her wings had wrapped around him tightly, holding him in place.
"Get...Off...Of...ME!" Chris yelled, struggling as best he could to get out of her iron hold.
Celestia remained silent but that feral look in her eye said enough to Nightmare. She knew exactly what was going on with her sister. With the two Ex lovers struggling loudly, Nightmare was able to lean over to her lover's ear and whisper without giving them away.
"Tis the Alicorn's way of claiming their mate." She whispered amusedly.
"What?" Jason whispered back.
"Alicorn's never give up their mate to anypony." She explained quietly. "I imagine that she saw young Crystal here doing an affectionate act with somepony else."
Jason blinked in surprise at this new revelation.
"So...are all Alicorn's as possessive as you?" He asked in a whisper.
Nightmare grinned and licked the rim of his ear gently.
"The Alicorn race has always been quite possessive when it comes to their lover's." She replied honestly. "And some are far more so than myself."
Jason couldn't help himself from shivering at what that actually meant. Nightmare was possessive enough as it was, and if there were ponies that were even more so...He shuddered at the possibilities.
Celestia was gazing down at Chris with her teeth bared and her iris's so small they were almost none existent. She seemed to be more or less in control of her actions however as she spoke to him evenly.
"I know you still love me Crystal." She said, a slight growl accompanying her voice. "And whatever that...that Pegasus managed to make you feel, I can make you feel better."
Chris didn't even get a say in the matter as he found his lips instantly claimed passionately by the almost primal Alicorn. The Human obviously tried to push her off of him and fight back, but Celestia was having none of it. Her horn lit up and Crystal was literally forced into a motionless position, as if his body had just become completely frozen.
Celestia grinned at this and retracted her wings from around him, as well as moving her forehooves from his arms and beginning to softly caress his cheeks. Chris couldn't move a muscle...only his eyes were able to move and they currently showed fear. Celestia noticed this and tilted her head curiously.
"Shhh my love, there's no need to be afraid." She crooned lovingly. "I'll make you feel so satisfied." She finished, a slight purr to her tone. She then began licking his cheek tenderly whilst gazing down at him adoringly.
Jason's eyes widened at what he was witnessing...was Chris about to be raped by Celestia?
He looked at Nightmare who was regarding this whole situation with a...rather cheerful smirk on her muzzle. In fact he could have sworn he heard her whisper "That's my sister."
"If I wasn't in love with her..." He thought dryly.
"T-T-Tia...d-don-don't...p-please."
Celestia blinked in surprise that Chris was still able to talk. Her paralyzing spell should have completely frozen his body.
"But I must my love." She replied, obviously trying to convince him of...something. "I love you so much! Nopony else will ever be allowed to compare with what I can make you feel...It's for your own good Crystal, it's for us!"
Chris growled furiously as he struggled to talk. But with his sheer willpower was he able to accomplish it.
"Y-You don't n-n-need to prove a-anything." He gasped, choking almost painfully against the spell. "Nopony will e-ever compare to y-you. B-But forcing m-me I-Isn't the right w-way, T-Tia..."
Celestia's dilated iris's suddenly expanded as she heard this, causing her to gasp and back away from Chris and into a corner of the room. The spell instantly dispelled from the tired Human and he instantly sat up, resting his body against the bed, breathing heavily.
"Paralysis spells always have a nasty after effect of exhaustion." Nightmare thought sympathetically.
The sound of crying suddenly hit everypony's ears and they all looked over at Celestia to see her holding her face in her hooves, her body heaving with sobs. Chris didn't react to this at all for a few moments...before the Human cleared his throat to get Celestia's attention. The distressed mare looked up at him pitifully as she waited for him to shout at her to leave...but was not given this nightmare. Instead Chris sighed in frustration and patted his chest, an obviously familiar motion to Celestia as her eyes widened and she stumbled her way over to him before she collapsed on the floor, her head on his chest.
"I'm so sorry!" She cried terribly, pawing at his clothing in an attempt to grasp onto some part of him.
"Shush, it was your instincts." Chris replied soothingly. "You told me about them, remember?"
"A month Chris...a month without your touch and then to see you kissing that mare...I couldn't...I'm so sorry!"
Chris remained calm throughout her sobbing and merely held her too him, an action that had obviously worked before as the young Princess began to calm down, her eyes closing as the comfort of her Ex lover washed over her.
"No...can't sleep..." She mumbled tiredly, fumbling against Chris in an attempt to look at his face.
Chris lifted her muzzle to his lips and kissed her briefly, before speaking softly in her ear.
"Just close your eyes Tia...go to sleep."
Celestia tried her hardest to fight against this, her eyes were closing and opening at a rapid rate.
"Don't leave..." She whimpered, her eyes staring up at him pleadingly...even as they began to close for the final time.
"I won't." He promised, stroking her cheek gently.
Nightmare and Jason watched as the Alicorn finally succumbed to slumber, before they moved away from the wall and spoke to each other quietly, unsure if Chris could still hear them through the wall.
"Okay I don't understand." Jason said simply. "One second he's yelling at her and saying that they're through and the next he's kissing her and tucking her into bed?"
Nightmare was about to reply but the room around them quickly dissolved into nothing, only to be replaced by a very beautiful garden. She quickly spotted Crystal and Celestia sitting by a large oak tree...yet they were not touching each other at all.
Crystal still looked quite hostile actually.
"You asked for me to be here Tia...why?" He asked warily.
Celestia was looking at him with kind eyes...albeit with some obvious despair behind it.
"I...I just wanted to talk to you Chris...about what happened two days ago." She replied.
Chris just sighed in frustration at this but sat down against the tree none the less and remained silent.
"Chris I...What I tried to do was wrong and I can't just entirely blame my instincts because...because deep down I really wanted to...to claim you."
The Human tilted his head questioningly at this but he still remained silent, offering her no reprieve from her apologetic confession.
Celestia moved closer to him and was obviously relieved when he didn't try to run away from her. She then bit her lip nervously before she slowly put her hoof on the palm of his hand, looking at him as soon as she did so as she awaited the look of revulsion that he would surely give her.
It never came however. Instead Chris closed his hand over her hoof and squeezed it gently, electing a happy if somewhat confused smile out of the young Princess.
"Chris-"
"Come here." He interrupted quickly, flicking his top outwards in some sort of familiar gesture to the Princess.
Celestia couldn't repress a small squeal of happiness as she more or less collapsed onto the ground and began to wiggle her way under his top. She wormed her head under it until she was safely relaxed under Chris's chin, all the while being mindful not to hurt him with her horn.
Nightmare looked at Jason and smiled blissfully at the thought of her doing that with him...she actually started to drool a little.
"I can't stay away from you Tia." Chris confessed reluctantly. "Every day I try to forget you but every day you're always there in my mind."
"Then don't stay away." Celestia pleaded softly. "Stay with me forever...I still believe in us Chris and I don't ever want to be apart from you."
Chris chuckled dryly for a few seconds, confusing Celestia who remained silent as he did so.
"Is there still an us Tia?" He asked quietly.
At this Celestia proceeded to nuzzle his neck rapidly and hum an affirmative.
"Yes there is Chris." She replied soothingly. "I still and always will love you...do you not love me anymore?"
Chris looked down at her eyes...eyes that were so close to his own, so doe-like and innocent.
Pleading silently for him to say...
"Yes...I do, I've never stopped." He sighed honestly, letting loose a content breath as Celestia kissed the crook of his neck happily in response.
"We will always belong to each other Chris." She breathed passionately. "Forever...and ever...and ever-"
"And ever." Came a voice from behind Nightmare and Jason.
The two of them spun around to see another...another Alicorn. Said Alicorn had the same colour coat as Celestia but her ethereal mane was akin to a billowing shadow and her Cutie Mark was a emblem of the Milky Way.
The whole world crumpled around them, leaving nothing but a white emptiness with the two Alicorn's and the single Human in it. Jason didn't recognize the new mare...although he really felt as though he should have.
Nightmare on the other hoof knew instantly who she was and was trying to actually cower behind Jason.
"Moony what's wrong?" He asked worriedly, turning around and cupping her face gently.
"It's her...don't let her see me!" Was all he got in response, the dark mare closing her eyes and attempting to bury her face into his stomach.
This new Alicorn merely smiled at Nightmare and gracefully walked over to her. Jason didn't move from his...somewhat protective stance, but one look from this mare was enough to convey that she meant no harm.
He moved aside and watched as the Alicorn brought his lover over to her and started to cradle her almost limp form in her forehooves. Nightmare's eyes were scrunched tightly closed in her refusal to look at the mare. To Jason's absolute surprise however, his lover actually started whimpering as the new Alicorn began to gently lick her face comfortingly, shushing her as a Mother would her child...
"No way..." Jason thought, completely stunned at what he had just figured out.
"I am not your foal Queen Era." Nightmare whispered, nowhere near as bold as she usually was.
"Are you not?" Queen Era replied, her voice echoing in such a soothing manner.
"I am not Luna." Nightmare persisted...although she still leaned into the Queen as she was nuzzled gently.
"I am aware of that Nightmare Storm." The Queen countered softly, surprising both Jason and his lover by using their unofficial married name.
"You did not birth me."
"Did I not?" Era replied amusedly. "Were you not a part of little Luna? Are you not now your own Pony? Your own mare with your own mate?"
Queen Era lifted Nightmares head to face her own, looking into her teary and for once quite innocent eyes, their draconic appearance replaced with a normal looking iris.
"I both acknowledge and recognize you as my own daughter, Nightmare Storm." She continued, her tone of voice very motherly and loving.
Jason couldn't help but smile as he watched his lover bury her face into her Mothers chest, acting very much like a sleepy foal. Era looked up at Jason and with a slight nudge against Nightmare, managed to convince the dark mare to rise and walk alongside her.
"Queen Era." Jason said simply, getting her attention as well as Nightmares who looked at him happily, her slitted iris having returned once more. "Era means time and we've been leaping from moment to moment within Crystal Justice's and Celestia's timeline. I imagine that we have been doing so because of you, if I am not mistaken that is."
The Queen smiled at him softly and he had to beat down the urge to simply lie down next to her and fall asleep sucking his thumb.
"No wonder Moony acted like she did." He thought dryly.
"Very astute my young Human, I can see why Nightie likes you." She said with a musical giggle. "But yes, I am the one who has been jumping you from moment to moment. Both to teach you two a lesson as well as a young regret...twill be such a tragedy when he remembers that anger again...although even now history repeats itself and they argue on the field."
Nightmare walked over to her lover and leaned against him, observing and listening to her Mother at the same time.
"They argue on a field?" Jason asked curiously.
"Indeed they do. The very field where the west side of the Great wall once stood...so long ago." Era replied sombrely. "Yet his resentment will not last the night...Celestia and Crystal have always been drawn to the other."
The Queen shook her head and smiled at the two of them.
"That however is their problem to deal with, not yours." She said. "For the lesson has been shown...yet to learn it you must downgrade your close bond."
Nightmares eyes widened at this as she hissed at Era angrily, standing in front of Jason and flaring her wings warningly, determined to protect her mate.
"You will not tarnish our love with your magic!" She growled furiously.
Queen Era merely smiled soothingly and touched Nightmares cheek, her smile becoming wider as her daughters angry expression became unfocused and blissful.
"I seek not to tarnish your love my daughter." She explained tenderly. "I merely seek to fix what your bond broke...namely your physical form."
Before Nightmare could say or do anything, Era had already lit up her horn and was pressing it against Nightmares. Nightmares horn lit up as well, as Era pulled her own back and retracted a very fuzzy and vomit coloured aura out of her.
Jason felt his chest become lighter at that moment, as if a great weight had been lifted off of it.
"What did you do?" He asked, walking over to Nightmare and stroking her cheek to get her attention.
"I removed the third personality your bond had created." She explained. "I also corrected the faulty magic that prevented Nightmare from regaining her Physical form whilst allowing her to retain her ability to...become one with you as you were previously, albeit with a more Jekyll and Hyde relationship."
"Jekyll and Hyde?" He thought questioningly, looking at Era for an explanation but only getting a secretive wink in response.
Jason pondered on what that meant exactly but placed it to one side for now, his concern for his lover far more important than any magic Era could perform.
"So we will be fighting for control instead of sharing it?" Nightmare asked, frustration laced within her tone as she had apparently figured it out.
"Twill be a lesson for you both to learn." Queen Era soothed. "But for now I must share with you both some knowledge...take heed of it."
Nightmare and Jason both looked equally annoyed at Era's meddling...although secretly Nightmare was elated that she had a choice between switching back and forth between her physical form and partially bonding with her lovers mind and soul.
She wondered if Celestia had something similar but just hadn't realised it yet.
"Two warnings and a hope I can give you both." Queen Era said softly. "First of all Jason Storm, there will be a temptation that you can take or refuse...but to take it will separate you from Nightmare."
Jason looked at Nightmare and shook his head instantly, despite not knowing what the temptation was.
Why would he ever leave her?
"Secondly my dear daughter, beware the Unicorn. He will betray not only you but everypony you call family."
Nightmare nodded at this and frowned as she planned to talk to all the Unicorns whenever she eventually made it to the right timeline.
Queen Era stopped speaking after this and smiled at the two of them, before turning around and walking into the whiteness, fading from sight.
"Mother wait!" Nightmare called, smiling when Era appeared half faded in front of her.
"You said there was a hope?" Nightmare continued curiously.
Era looked at the two lovers and smiled serenely, before she kissed both of their cheeks and bringing a light blush from Jason as she did so.
"Indeed the is a Hope." She said, her form fading slowly. "She looks just like her Mother...and has her Fathers eyes."
And with that the form of Queen Era faded from existence...and the two lovers felt themselves snap back together.
The whole world faded away...
The next thing they both knew was black smoke around them, the sound of clopping, voices and somepony drawing a sword.
"Tia the shadow!" Came a frightened voice that sounded a little bit like...
"My shadow?" Jason thought confusedly.
"It might be mine lover." Nightmare added amusedly.
They could both feel...that emptiness that had previously been filled. The third persona...both of them combined...gone now.
Instead was the feeling of a rope connecting the two, with both merely holding it for now, but with the knowledge that whoever pulled the hardest would be the one in control.
The smoke cleared around them and together they both looked up at the face of Princess Celestia.
And alongside her was...
"Crystal? But he was sent away..." Nightmare thought, her tone slightly shocked.
They could also see Princess Luna and another Human that they didn't recognise.
"Another Human? We...We are all in a relationship with an Alicorn, and all of you are in a relationship with a Human...What's going on?"
"Forgive me for interrupting your thinking time my love...but I do believe our dear Celestia may be about to attack us."
Jason looked back at the Princess in question. Said Princess was slightly taller than the last time he saw her...then again it was two thousand years ago.
Celestia was looking down at him...them, with an expression of pure shock.
"Oh we're in so much trouble Moony." He muttered out loud, a smirk gracing his face as he heard Nightmare laughing in his mind.
"Perhaps...but none the less, it's going to be fun." She replied, still laughing darkly as she stared down her sister through Jason's eyes.
"Nightmare Moon..." Celestia whispered, her shock slowly being replaced by anger as her horn lit up.
"Here we go." Jason said quietly, his hands lighting up with a black aura as he prepared for the fight of his life.
