The Night's Stars One-Year Anniversary! Excerpts/Teasers for Upcoming Chapters! · 10:15pm Nov 17th, 2019
As related in the earlier blog post, I said I'd drop some excerpts from upcoming chapters as teasers/previews. If you don't' want spoilers, avoid this blog post!
If you've clicked on this blog post and are reading this, I'm going to assume you don't mind spoilers. As such, a collection of five excerpts from different chapters are presented below, in chronological order, but without greater context.
Two royal honor guards, both unicorns, walked over with confident, rehearsed strides. In their magic, they carried two pillows, upon each laid three meticulously placed medallions. The medallions were black onyx circles, within which set a single silver crescent moon. The guards came to a stop, faced the five mares and filly, then bowed to them and held the pillows out.
Nightmare inclined her head, and the five mares and filly all fell into rehearsed bows. After they were lowered, Nightmare turned to the pillows and took the first medallion in her magic, levitated it up, then turned back to face her student.
"Twilight Sparkle, my student..." A sudden twinge of anxiety pricked her chest, nearly making her squirm. "And... friend," she amended, then swallowed. Twilight's eyes snapped up to meet her own.
Saying that in front everypony else was probably a mistake.
She forced the concern aside and inhaled. "For leading your friends in the face of Discord's chaos," she paused to incline her head, then carefully lowered the medallion onto her student's neck. Once in place, Twilight timidly stood back up, then turned to face the crowd.
Moving onto Rainbow Dash, she took the next medallion in her magic and, as much as she wanted to wring the pegasus with her magic, "Rainbow Dash. For standing by my student and your friend in the face of Discord's treachery." She inclined her head. Rainbow grinned at her. She put the medallion on the mare's neck, and Rainbow nearly jumped back up and turned around to face the crowd, smiling brashly and puffing out her chest.
"Applejack. For unwavering conviction against Discord's lies." She inclined her head and put the medallion on Applejack's neck, a task made slightly more difficult by her stetson. Applejack stood back up, nodded at her, then turned around and adjusted her stetson back into place.
"Fluttershy. For refusing to return anger with anger." She nodded and placed the medallion on Fluttershy's neck. The pegasus barely managed to stand up on shaky legs and face the crowd. Almost immediately, Fluttershy hid behind her mane.
"Rarity. For giving all you could in defense of Equestria." The mare gracefully rose and turned around to face the crowd, smiling a well-rehearsed smile.
"Pinkie Pie. For holding onto hope in the face of hopelessness." Once the medallion was on Pinkie's neck, she jumped up and turned around, smiling happily.
Nightmare Moon inhaled and nodded. In a graceful motion, she spread her wings wide. "The saviors of Equestria!" she declared.
Subdued murmurs of agreement. No jubilant cries.
It stung.
For a few seconds longer, she held her wings out, somehow trying to hope and will for celebration. Pleading for, just once, something to go her way. If not for her, then for Twilight.
It never came.
'Foalish idiot!' her mind snapped. 'You know better than this!' was violently hissed. Her wings wobbled and drifted a few inches lower as her resolve shattered. 'I should have had Cadance tend to this. You idiot!' She folded her wings and ran her eyes over the crowd again. They did not celebrate, they did not cheer.
Bitterness. Anger.
And then disappointment.
She didn't let it show. "As you should know, a banquet has been prepared." She nodded once. "Eat. Drink. Celebrate," she said, then turned to the right and walked away.
She didn't look back. She still knew Twilight turned to watch her leave.
Once she was out of sight, she teleported back to her chambers.
Hoping they would celebrate.
Knowing they wouldn't.
Midnight didn't answer her at first, but Twilight saw a bit of a frown pull at her brow. Midnight's eyes even dropped to the forests below for a split second before returning to the sky. Without looking at her, Midnight said, "We're loyal to our Princess."
And before she could give it any thought, one of the batponies pulling the chariot put in, "You and your friends are important," and nothing more was said from the batponies.
Twilight barely made out Fluttershy asking, "Maybe it's because of the Elements of Harmony?"
"I guess that makes as much sense as anything," Applejack replied.
"Yes, well, given how Nightmare Moon took to us the first time," Rarity muttered.
She looked aside at Rarity. "We were trying to stop her." She sighed, feeling like she had to choose between loyalty to her five closest friends and loyalty to Nightmare Moon. The whole thing was a mess, and she was right in the middle, torn in two. "Look, I know none of you like her-"
"With good reason, dear," Rarity put in.
Twilight scowled. "-but she's not that bad."
"I think we have different definitions of 'bad' Twilight," Applejack cautioned. "She banished her sister and took over Equestria out of jealousy! That's pretty bad in my book."
"And she killed somepony," Rarity was quick to add.
"She's killed a lot more before," Midnight added idly.
Twilight shot her guard a glare. "Not. Helping."
"To defend Equestria," Midnight amended, not that it really helped.
"Doesn't seem like she's 'defending Equestria' now," Rainbow muttered, casually rolling over onto her back. "More like using it."
Twilight puffed out her cheeks. They didn't know Nightmare Moon like she did! Granted, Nightmare Moon terrified her for months, but they were friends now! And now she knew Nightmare Moon so much better! "You don't know her like I do!" she declared. Lifting her muzzle up a bit higher, she stated, "You're not as close to her as I am." And she was a bit proud of that.
Rarity tilted her head and a slight frown pulled at her lips. "That's what we worry about, dear." The rest of her friends murmured in agreement.
Twilight's pride wilted. "I'll be fine. She's not evil, just... it's complicated. Princess Celestia did banish her before-"
"Princess Celestia had good reason to," Rainbow muttered.
Twilight whipped around to face Rainbow. "And whose fault was that!? If Princess Celestia had seen what was happening, none of this would have happened!"
Nightmare turned her head back. "If you fall," Nightmare paused and her blue aura wrapped around her horn, "I will catch you."
Twilight tried to smile. It came out as a grimace. Nightmare looked back ahead, mumbling, "Trust me."
She looked down again. The wold was almost entirely black. She couldn't make out anything except the outline of the castle, mountains, forests, what might have been a river, and grasslands in the distance. She inhaled deeply, then let the breath out. "Okay."
Nightmare leveled out, and her wingbeats ceased as she held her wings straight out and glided. Since there was less risk of falling off, Twilight let up on her grip and looked around the sky. The stars were about the same as from the ground, but the atmosphere was different. There was an unobstructed view of the sky, and it felt as if she was almost a part of the sky itself, surrounded on all sides by empty air as she was.
The contrast of the cold night air against her coat and the warmth of Nightmare's body made her shiver. "What do you think?" her teacher asked.
And then the world felt almost silent as they glided on. No insects chirping. No beating of wings. Nothing except the wind flowing through her mane and tail. It was calm. And it was so much better than flying in Manehattan, because there was nothing to weigh her down. No fear nor anxiety nor chaos happening below, just peace.
Just a moment they shared together, not brought on by necessity, but friendship.
She smiled and said, "It's nice."
And Nightmare smiled back, nodding. "I... have not been able to enjoy this as much as I wanted. Flying at night. It is... pleasant, yet... I find it lacking anymore."
Twilight frowned a bit but said nothing. Nightmare beat her wings once, then went back to gliding. She laid her head down on the right side of Nightmare's neck, and Nightmare glanced back at her for a moment.
"You did not experience this with my sister," Nightmare mumbled.
Twilight's ears pinned back. "No... I didn't."
Nightmare didn't say anything. For a few more minutes, they glided along. She thought she spotted some fluffy mass, and almost as soon as she spotted it, Nightmare turned and glided down towards it. "What's that?"
"A cloud," Nightmare answered.
Flatly, "I can't walk on clouds. I'm a unicorn."
"Did you not brush up on the cloud walking spell?" Nightmare asked curiously.
"I had other things on my mind," Twilight muttered.
"I see," Nightmare said. There was a flash of light from Nightmare's horn. "There."
"Thank you," Twilight said.
Nightmare nodded. A few more seconds passed before Nightmare's hooves touched down on the cloud. Rather than sitting down like she expected, Nightmare laid down on her stomach. Twilight unwrapped herself from Nightmare's body and testingly poked the cloud, and the cloud dipped down under her weight but held.
She slid off and laid down at Nightmare's right side. She folded her forehooves and then laid her head upon them. The cloud felt slightly warmer than the air, softer and fluffy like it wasn't really there, and a bit humid. Nightmare shifted her weight, and she felt the cloud shift under her almost like a bed when somepony climbed into it. All in all, a cloud was something she could get used to. Provided, of course, she ignored just how far off the ground they were and that she was a unicorn and not a pegasus. "So, this is why Rainbow Dash likes clouds so much for napping on," she murmured as she closed her eyes.
"Perhaps," Nightmare said.
After a few more seconds, Twilight opened her eyes and looked at Nightmare, who stared straight ahead into the sky. She looked where Nightmare looked, but only saw stars. She didn't even know which direction it was. "What was it you wanted to show me?"
"Watch," Nightmare said.
Letting out a growl, Nightmare aimed at the Captain as he struggled to push himself up, only to fall back to the ground witha grunt, though kept her eyes locked on Twilight's.
And for a moment, she hesitated, doubting her decision because of the fear and shock in Twilight's eyes. "Defend him," she ordered, then charged her spell.
The Captain's horn sputtered. Twilight's horn sparked to life.
But no shield came.
She fired her spell.
Even a flimsy shield would have at least detonated the spell, but neither Twilight nor her brother cast the spell.
And so her spell raced towards Captain Shining Armor.
And Twilight fired back.
The spells collided and destroyed each other in a bright flash of blue-raspberry-white light that made Nightmare recoil from the brightness. Holding back a growl, she stepped back and fired again, sending a disapproving glare at her student. "Shield him!"
Twilight pushed herself into a sitting position and shot down her spell again, then stood up on shaking legs, head low, horn charged, and glaring at her.
She aimed at Twilight and fired.
She eventually looked away from her mentor and let her gaze wander around the courtyard below. She glanced over Ponyville, so far away, just barely visible from lights. She looked over at her tower, reminiscing on days and nights past. Looked at the garden, contemplating Discord.
Nightmare's voice eventually broke the stillness, saying, "This is peaceful."
She looked back at Nightmare and found the alicorn looking at her, studying her. She nodded in agreement. "It is."
Nightmare met her gaze for a moment, then looked at her mane. "I would... enjoy doing this more often."
Twilight smiled. "We can," she offered.
The corner's of Nightmare's lips twitched up, but then it was gone. And then Nightmare turned away from her, lowering her head once again. The alicorn's eyes jumped back and forth. She saw Nightmare's chest deflate and almost thought she heard her sigh. "But you made other plans," Nightmare said, turning back to face her again. "I believe your friends are waiting for you."
Twilight felt her brow and lips pull down. "Come with me," she said.
Nightmare immediately looked away and shook her head. "They would not welcome me."
And it was a fact that both of them knew.
Nightmare turned back to face her and inclined her head once. "Go. Be with your friends."
She hesitated as she looked into Nightmare's eyes, but gradually nodded before breaking eye contact. She slowly stood back up and channeled her magic into her horn, forming the two matrices for a teleportation spell.
And Nightmare's parting words before she teleported were, "Enjoy the rest of your evening, Twilight."
There were other excerpts I considered adding in, but I decided against them. Picking and choosing these excerpts was harder than I expected it to be.
What do you all think? See something interesting? Any theories about what's going to happen? Comment below!
