//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: Queen Nightmare Moon // by Makitk //------------------------------// Nightmare Moon left her sister Darkstar to the caring hooves and horns of the palace staff, half-hearing about the items of food the other Alicorn demanded of them to help her get her strength back. At least, those of who had returned after their initial spell of panic at the sun changing color in the sky above. They were used, by now, to sudden eclipses. They complained about it among themselves, but they had taken to carrying lamps around in case they needed them. As a result, there were a great many lamplights casting shadows around her as the Queen walked idly through her palace. The new light outside was preferable to that of Celestia's sunlight on a cloudless day before, but it came at a high price. For the first time since she had stood up against her sister, Nightmare Moon worried it was not worth it in the end. She came to the courtyard and peered up at the sky, the black disc of her moon staring back at her, surrounded by a bright-blue aura. That was another drawback of this new situation; her moon's surface, damaged as it was by craters of various size and shape, was hidden from view. Nightmare Moon sat herself down on the upper step of the few steps leading up from the courtyard to the palace proper and closed her eyes. She could feel the difference between both eyelids closing; her right rubbing across the smooth faces of the Element of Kindness. That was the sole reason she was in this situation now; a magical stone that kept pressing upon her, making her secondguess decisions and actually care for others. "Dear stars, I've turned into Celestia," she realized with a start. "Are you okay, pri... er, my Queen?" a soft voice asked from nearby, and Nightmare Moon opened her eyes again. The source of the voice was not immediately obvious as there was no pony before her, so she turned her head to glance about to find a Pegasus stallion hovering above her, having somehow made it past her guards. It had been a crazy day, what with the moon and sun moving about at seemingly random and the latter then suddenly changing colour, so they were most likely dealing with panicked ponies, she reasoned. The stallion's white coat stood out against the dark sky behind him, his white feathers flapping lazily to keep him hovering roughly in the same place. His dark blue mane was draped over his right eye, obscuring it from sight, but his left had an orange pupil in it which peered at her with worry. "You wanted to say princess, did you not?" the Queen started, bringing her head down and extending her right wing to motion at the empty spot next to her. "Come sit with me, if you have nothing else to do." She felt the air displacement of his wings as he moved to set himself down beside her, and watched as he took up a spot a respectful distance away from her. Her right eye made his white coat appear pink, and she smirked lightly remembering Contrail's remark when the mare had first looked through her own gemstone eye. "Be honest with me; you didn't think much of Luna when she and her sister were here, did you?" she asked him, and he stiffened up a bit. "I'm not sure I should answer that, my Queen," he started carefully, looking anywhere but straight at her. "Luna has left us, and my Queen has made it known that that was to be the end of it." "Your Queen is asking you directly, however," Nightmare Moon pressed. "I never asked any of my subjects before. I'm starting to wonder if what I know has not been warped somehow by my own insecurities." The stallion twitched an ear, then shook his head. "No, my Queen. I did not think much of princess Luna when she was still among us; her sister had a way of drawing the attention to her. I did pray to Luna before I lay my head down, though. Most of us asked her to keep us as safe in our dreams as Celestia did while we were awake." There was a brief pause, then he turned his head up to look straight at her. "I beg my Queen's forgiveness, but I still pray to Luna before bed." Nightmare Moon smiled back weakly, giving a nod to the other's words. "You are forgiven." The pegasus visibly relaxed at her words, and straightened his back. The movement made some of the hairs of his mane sway away from where they had covered his right eye, revealing a nasty scar straight across it leading from his forehead to his cheek. The Queen used her magic to lift the hairs before they could fall back in place, and leaned in to get a better look, but the other shyed away quickly to the point where he almost ripped the hairs out of his own head! Nightmare Moon quickly let go of his mane, then sat back herself and reached up to her own right eye with her left hoof. "I lost mine as well. It was replaced by this damned gemstone. Tell me your story to distract me from mine?" The pegasus stallion was still trying to recover from his anxiety attack, having scooted back to the other side of the wide steps with trembling wings, and the Queen's words barely reached him. "Er... what?" "Your eye," his Queen spoke, tapping her own with her hoof. "Mine was lost when this gemstone rammed itself into my face during the fight with my sister. It has been a bother ever since, but there is nothing I can do about it; it is a magical stone and fights any attempt to dislodge it." The stallion stared straight at it with his own, then steeled himself while looking away. "Mine was lost in the chaos before Celestia restored order again." "Celestia and Luna both fought in that fight," Nightmare Moon interrupted. "Nobody remembers Luna." "Pardon me, my Queen," the other spoke, casting a curious glance sideways at her. "I'll try to pass the word on if I can." "Continue your story," the Alicorn pressed. "I was in mid-flight when the world tumbled," the stallion continued obediently. "Up was down, down was up, and my wings refused to lead me to safety. I... I hit a unicorn falling toward the new ground, and they hit my eye with their horn." Nightmare Moon winced at the thought. "That sounds to me like you are lucky that horn did not pierce your skull." "Fortunately it was a glancing blow, my Queen, but one that took my eye out with it," the other grumbled. "I sometimes think it might have been better if it had been angled differently." Nightmare Moon closed her eyes and gave a slow nod. "I go back to that fight every day, wondering if I could have avoided this stone somehow." "Yes," the other agreed with a sigh which came from his very core. "If we had tilted our heads differently, if I would not have taken that delivery job, if Discord had been defeated a moment earlier, I might still have had my eye." "We can't change the past," the Queen muttered to herself. "Nothing could have saved your eye, nor mine." "I... guess not," the stallion agreed hesitantly, and Nightmare Moon opened her eyes again to look at him. "Believe me, I have had the best minds from the magic academy look for a timetravel spell; there is none," she told him. "I would not be sitting here as I am if there had been one." The white pegasus peered up at her, then down again a moment later, all energy seeming to drain from him. "Well, I flew here for naught, then." There was a sting in her heart, and Nightmare Moon pushed up, bridged the distance between them, and sat down again right next to the other. "You came looking for a way to have your eye restored?" "Yes, my Queen," the other sighed dejectedly. "I saw the best doctors in the land in the first few days after the fight with my sister," Nightmare Moon stated gently. "I kept them around in case the magic academy would find a way around the gemstone's defenses. If you truly wish for your eye back, let me offer you their services, here and now." The stallion's remaining eye opened up fully, and he stared back at his Queen in complete disbelief! "I... er... what?" Nightmare Moon gave him a warm smile back. "It would prove their worth to me if they could help restore your sight. Your eyeball is missing as well as mine, and if ever this stone is going to come out, I will need them to do the same operation to me as I am offering they do to you now. Help prove to your Queen that these idiot doctors have a purpose, hm?" The pegasus sat still in complete shock, only a light tremor of ears and eye muscles showing he was still alive. Nightmare Moon saw his remaining eye water up as realization set in, and soon the poor stallion was bawling at her hooves, thanking her profusely for the offer! "Ah, er," she started, backing up a little at the display. "Pull yourself together, will you?" A number of guards, freshly returned from crowd control after the recent panic spell, came running up to her, but she gave them a quick shake of her head. They positioned themselves close by just in case, but let the crying stallion be for now. Nightmare Moon reached out awkwardly to tap the white pegasus on his blue mane. "There, there... If you're all done, you should follow me to the royal physicians." The stallion tried his best to swallow his tears down, wiping his wet fur down against his cheeks with his wings as he tried to get up on his own four hooves again. "Y...yes, my Queen," he stammered, trying to find his composure again. "I'm only doing this to verify the competence of my doctors," the Queen told him flatly, trying to help him over the worst of it. "Really, I should have tore their eyes out and have them put those back. You're just convenient. I don't even know your name." There was a smile on the stallion's face at her sudden coolness. "Swiftwing, my Queen." "Well, Swiftwing, your Queen is going to her royal physicians. Make sure you follow," Nightmare Moon continued in the same air, but gave a smile back as she set in motion toward where the guards were waiting. Her smile wavered and she looked sternly in their direction. "You four; wake up the damned doctors and prepare them for our arrival." The four guards saluted, leaving just two remaining, and she pointed at them directly. "Get to my sister, 'Darkstar', and make sure she returns to her chambers and stays there until further notice. The last thing I need is for her to interfere right now." Swiftwing fell in behind her, but she turned her head to look back across her flank. "I asked for you to walk with me, Swiftwing. Pick a side and walk up next to me." The Pegasus needed no help picking a side, blinded as he was on his right, and soon he was positioned to his Queen's right side, able to look sideways at her from his remaining eye. "Thank you, my Queen. It is truly an honor," he spoke, having calmed down again. "I already took another pony's eye out this month," Nightmare Moon spoke darkly, remembering the grave injustice she had done to Contrail - another Pegasus at that. "If I can restore yours it would even out, wouldn't it?" Swiftwing's mood fell and he slowed down slightly. "Okay, that's... more than I needed to know, my Queen." "It's the truth," she spoke back, not waiting for him. "You do want your eye back, don't you?" The Pegasus hurried after her. "Yes, my Queen, I meant no disrespect!" "You are a bothersome colt," she smirked, turning a corner to see six doctors waiting in line for her and her guest; all Unicorns, all dressed in white coats. "This stallion is missing an eye," she started as she walked up to them, extending her wing over Swiftwing to point him out. "As fate would have it; the same eye your Queen is missing. Restore his sight, mend his wounds, and make sure to do your best job on it. It will show me I can trust you to restore my own when the time comes." Her wing came down at an angle, behind Swiftwing, and she used it to nudge him forward to the row of doctors. Swiftwing took a confident step forward, but then realized there were six ponies looking at him and slowed his pace considerably. Nightmare Moon shook her head at the display. "Help him get into your office. Strap him down if you have to. But show me two working eyes on the stallion before the end of the day." Swiftwing yelped and struggled as a pair of doctors grabbed him with their magic, and all of them quickly led him into the operating room while their Queen stood and watched. "Let's hope they're as good as they said they are," she mused to herself, taking position on the other side of the hallway and sitting down to face the closed door. "With some luck I can have them restore Contrail and mine soon as well."