//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: Queen Nightmare Moon // by Makitk //------------------------------// Nightmare Moon sat for hours in the hallway of the palace, opposite the royal physicians' practice, while the Unicorn doctors worked on the Pegasus stallion's eye inside. As time passed, more of the palace guards returned from their work outside, positioning themselves along the halls and corridors leading up to where their Queen was located, saluting her if they walked by. The dark Alicorn mare barely noticed the odd mixture of day- and nightponies in their respective armors; lost in thought as she was. Swiftwing had brought up an interesting point during their conversation, something she knew happened, but which she had banished to the back of her mind when she started to manifest within Luna: Her subjects relied on her to keep their dreams safe. Nightmare Moon had not looked upon the Dreamworld since she rose to power, the affairs of her nation and issues with the Elements of Harmony having kept her occupied, but now she sought it out again. Her mind expanded into the realm of dreams, while her perception of the waking world faded. Sounds became hollow, an empty echo of what they truly were, then disappeared completely as they merged into a faint white noise. Her body felt more and more distant to her as her focus moved to the Dreamworld, until she could only barely feel it as more than a faint reminder. When she opened her eyes anew, she stood on an empty plane with a thick, low fog around her hooves. The world around her was as dark as her night, with the exception being the utter lack of moon or stars. There was just enough light to see by, even if there was no clear source for it. Nightmare Moon peered off in the horizon, slowly turning her head to the right until she managed to look past her flank behind her. She then turned her head in the other direction until she was sure she had seen all of the world around her. "Nothing," she realized, turning to face forward again. "Absolutely empty." When Luna had come to the Dreamworld before her, there had been rows and rows of large windows, creating an unending corridor from one horizon to the opposite end. Each of these allowed her to see into the dreams of other ponies and, if she wanted to, to step through into them. Now there was nothing. The dark mare felt her heart sink at the realization of what it could mean. After all, had Swiftwing not told her? "I pray to Luna to keep me safe at night," he had told her. Not her. Not Nightmare Moon. "Nopony calls for a nightmare to save them from their pleasant dreams," she sighed dejectedly. This was the reason she had not visited the Dreamworld after turning from Luna, she realized. Luna would have received the ponies' pleas for help in their dreams. Depending on their peril, these voices were soft whispers in the back of her mind, or shrill screeching which interrupted her normal affairs until she dealt with them. Day and night these voices were there, pulling at her, their presence increasing or decreasing depending on how many ponies were resting at the same time across Equestria. It had been a fulltime job for her, next to her other Royal duties, but she had managed well enough with it. All those voices praying, pleading, speaking to Luna, now fell on deaf ears. Feeling abandoned yet again, as Luna before her, she allowed her consciousness to fall back into her body. Sitting still for the duration of her visit to the Dreamworld had made it feel cold and cramped. She slowly opened her eyes, then stood up to stretch, her wings extending outward and trembling as she was caught by a yawn mid-stretch. As she sat back down again, the door opposite her opened up and one of the Royal Doctors walked out of their office. She took one short half-step to turn into the hallway, realized her Queen was right in front of her staring her in the face, and instead corrected herself to walk straight to Nightmare Moon. The Unicorn mare's white horn glowed briefly as she used her magic to close the door behind her, then again as she pulled her protective mask down. "It is done, my Queen," the doctor spoke with noticeable relief. "We had to use the best regenerative spells we know to regrow the patient's eye, but we managed to restore it to function." Nightmare Moon dared to broach a smile at the news. "There remains but one complication, my Queen," the unicorn mare continued, and the Queen's smile faded again. "What would that be?" the Alicorn ruler asked curtly. "The patient is refusing treatment where it concerns the scar tissue surrounding the otherwise mended eye," the doctor stated factually, her right ear turning backwards slightly. Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow at that. "Is it stopping him from using his eye?" "No, my Queen," the other replied. "We made sure the eye socket was open and clean before we regenerated the eye." "Then let him keep the scars," the Queen decided, her smile returning. "As you wish, my Queen," the doctor accepted with a nod, pulling the protective mask up in front of her muzzle again. After a nod from her Queen, she turned back to the office and disappeared into it, leaving the door slightly ajar. "N, E, Z, R," Nightmare Moon could hear Swiftwing recite from within the office, and she quickly realized he was being subjected to an eye exam for the doctors to find out if his restored eye was functioning properly or not. "How's he doing?" the voice of the returned female doctor drifted out, and there was a lower male voice responding to her: "Better than expected; the restored right eye has improved vision compared to the left." "The Queen's orders are to leave the scar tissue in place," the unicorn mare spoke again. "He can go, unless there are other tests we need to do?" "No, we have all the data we need," an androgynous third voice answered. "I'll get off the chair then?" Swiftwing queried, and there was a soft squeak following a moment after. "Thanks, guys. You don't know how much this means to me." "We're just doing our jobs. The Queen is waiting for you in the hall," the female unicorn's voice responded. "I won't keep her waiting then," Swiftwing decided, and she could hear his hooffalls as he ran up to the door. The white Pegasus stallion soon appeared before her, his dark blue mane still draped over his right eye. Seeing his Queen before him, he stopped a few paces before her, then dropped to a low bow with his head barely above ground. "My Queen, I cannot thank you enough for your kind gesture to me," he spoke, his voice trembling as she watched water well up in his visible eye, and a teardrop soon escaping the shadow of his overhanging mane. "I am forever in your debt." Nightmare Moon took a step to him, using her magic to gently lift the dark blue hairs away from Swiftwing's right eye so she could have a look at it. A moist orange pupil stared back at her, another tear escaping it, the clear scar leading from his forehead to his cheek cut in half by the healed eye. "You were right to want to keep the scar," she decided, letting the hairs of the stallion's mane fall back in place. "It may not look pretty, but shows you are not to be trifled with." "It is a reminder of my Queen's generosity," Swiftwing spoke, still looking straight at her. "Maybe you could get a haircut to let others know?" the Queen suggested, then turned away from the stallion to walk in the direction of the courtyard again. "Let's walk, Swiftwing. I have a proposition to make." The Pegasus struggled to his hooves, then hurried to his Queen's right side, looking up at her at a sideways angle. "As I said, my Queen; I am in your debt. Just tell me what you want me to do." "I know I have a bad reputation; my reign has led to massive changes in the lives of everypony in Equestria and beyond," Nightmare Moon started. "There are a lot of ponies out there who don't trust me and pray to Luna instead, as you said you do as well." "You would like me to pray to you instead?" Swiftwing asked. "That would already help, yes," the Queen agreed. "I would also like to ask you to serve as my daypony ambassador. You are a Pegasus, so you move fast; you can travel between towns, explaining how Luna will not be coming back, and how they should change their focus to me, their Queen." "I would be honoured to spread the word," the Pegasus responded eagerly. "Nopony calls upon a nightmare to save them from their good dreams, but perhaps they can find a certain amount of rest in knowing their Queen is the Queen of nightmares as well," Nightmare Moon suggested. "I am a fair ruler; if they put their faith in me, I will delegate their nightmares to those more deserving of them, so my subjects may rest in peace." She turned left at the end of the side hallway into the main corridors surrounding the courtyard, barely paying attention to the guards saluting her as she passed them by. Swiftwing followed, albeit at a slower pace, and the Queen paused to look back at him. He looked like he was thinking things over while putting one hoof in front of the other on automatic pilot more than anything. "Voice your thoughts, Swiftwing," she commanded calmly, pulling him out of his trance. "Ah, hm," he started, lowering his gaze. "I was thinking about how you worded that, my Queen. It... I'm not sure I can both praise your fair rule as well as lead others to believe you are to be feared." "Find a way," Nightmare Moon stated simply. "I am burdened by my gemstone eye, but not so much so that I cannot be a fierce power if I need to be." Swiftwing gave a silent nod to that. "I will find a way to spin it as you wish, my Queen." The Queen turned away from him again and continued on her path until she came to another side corridor. She pointed at it with her left wing, turning her attention back to the other. "Down there are the Royal kitchens. Get the chef to prepare you some food for your journey." The Pegasus gave another nod. "If you need to rest, talk to captains Merryweather or Starstruck to assign you a bed in the barracks," she continued. "There is no need for you to return to the palace to give me the results of your campaign, unless you truly feel you need to be physically present; I will know the numbers by my connection to the Dreamworld. The more they pray to me, the more I can protect them while they sleep." Swiftwing took the information in, then peered up at her with a questioning gaze. "But my job is that of ambassador?" "Yes, I will have you written into the roster as Royal Daypony Ambassador. You may use that title during your travels," Nightmare Moon returned with a light smile. "Don't abuse it too much to get yourself better accomodation in the towns; we do get the bills sent to us." "I will keep that in mind," the Pegasus chuckled weakly. "Is this farewell then, my Queen?" "Yes," she agreed. "If you have any further questions, direct them to the captains at the barracks. They can lead you to the proper pony to answer your queries if they can't do so themselves." Swiftwing turned to his Queen and fell into a low bow again, spreading his wings out to his side until they touched the floor as well. "Thank you, again, my Queen. I will start my work after a snack and a rest. You have been more generous than I could have hoped for, and you have my unending gratitude. I will pray to you from now on." "Yes, yes," Nightmare Moon dismissed with a light snort. "Just keep out of trouble from now on and spread the word. The sooner the other dayponies join you in your reverence to me, the sooner Equestria will be a peaceful place again." Swiftwing remained in his position on the floor, until she leaned in close and stared him straight in the eye. "That means go. Now, if you'd please." The Pegasus quickly pushed up to a standing position again, folding his wings to his sides. "Yes, my Queen!" he exclaimed, then bolted in the direction of the Royal kitchens. Nightmare Moon shook her head at him as she watched him track away from her, and sighed out to herself: "Dayponies..."