//------------------------------// // One Scared Filly // Story: An Alternate Nightmare // by PirateCattheShipper //------------------------------// Princess Twilight Sparkle limped along the tall, shadowy trees of a forest--perhaps the Everfree Forest--with blood streaked across her pelt. Her eyes were firing depths of violet, and the fur along her spine was rippling with unease and uncontrollable rage. Her hair, thick with grease, was flattened to the fur on her forehead, and her tail drooped stupidly as it was dragged along the musty--yet lush--ground of the Everfree Forest. One of the Alicorn's wings was unfolded and dangling from her flank, feathers ripped from it and blood smeared near the base of her wing, which had a deep gash running halfway through it. All of the wounds that stretched across her body, from the tip of her muzzle to the skin before her tail, were all caused from her almost never-ending battle with Starlight Glimmer. Luckily, though, Twilight herself had inflicted more wounds to Starlight's hide than the varlet mare had inflicted upon hers, but Starlight's magic had been just too powerful, thus causing Twilight to loose the battle. Starlight had been so stuck up in her own ways that she'd destroyed the scroll before Twilight could stop her using her wise, calm words, and now they were stuck in this alternate universe. A sigh dispersed from Twilight's mouth, leaving her lips like a dove being freed from its cage and finally setting out into the world. I sure hope that the mane five are together right now. I hope that they are friends. . .Twilight swallowed, hot tears building in her eyes as she plopped down onto her haunches in sorrow. Pain shot up her wounded leg, causing her to gasp, but she let go of it shortly and let her frizzy tail curl around her side, tears gushing into her eyes and blurring her vision. A hard, throbbing lump curled up inside of her throat, pulsing with so much sadness, anger, and mixed emotions that it choked the purple princess and a fresh wave of tears streamed down her face. Twilight gasped, her shoulders shaking, as mental pain raked its cold claws across her heart. "Oh, Celestia, what have I done?" Twilight's forehooves slid over dead leaves and her belly pressed against the cold forest floor. She rested her head between her tense forelegs, warm tears gushing down her face and soaking into any fur they reached. Yet, Twilight knew that, no matter what, she should keep on walking. Struggling to her hooves, the Alicorn princess started to saunter through the woods yet again, her shoulder blades protruding in desolation and her eyes glued to the plant-ridden excuse for a path. Twilight walked for a long while, and finally her muscles felt as though they were starting to catch on fire and her limbs ached, her cuts stinging as they screamed silently at her to rest. Even her eyelids were starting to droop, and a dark bag itched at the bottom of Twilight's eyes. Then Twilight's suspended ears picked up a sound of deep, emotional hurt; a filly crying. "But, how could that be?" The purple mare murmured. "Why would a filly be all the way out here, in the dark forest?" Suddenly Twilight's misery was semi-replaced with curiosity that followed after concerns quivering tail, trotting after it in half confusion. Intrigued, Twilight perked her ears up and stalked after the noise, lowering herself a tiny bit and gingerly stepping over dead leaves and frail twigs. She followed the distressed sniffling all the way to a bush not that far ahead of her, where, through the thick green leaves, she glimpsed a jet-black pelt and a sparkling, smokey blue mane. "Uhm, hello?" She said, somewhat softly, her fur prickling anxiously. There was one last sniff, then the small black filly turned her head around, facing Twilight and looking at her through splinters of space through the leaves of the bush she was hiding in. She gasped, her cat-like pupils thinning in her icy blue eyes, and scrambled back with her wings spread in alarm. "Please! Please don't hurt me!!" The innocent little filly begged, her bloodshot eyes desperate and her hackles spiking so much she looked almost like a puffer fish. "Oh, sweetie, I would never hurt you. . ." Twilight's voice was soothing, like a mother cat licking her kitten gently as it slipped into a deep, sweet sleep. The only response that the Alicorn princess got was a scared gasp and eyes that were fixed so squarely on her that she felt as though they were piercing into her own eyes. Then Twilight realized that one of the filly's eyes was swollen shut and cuts were scoured down her body. "Oh, sweetie, where are your guardians or parents?" Twilight inched closer to the mare, reaching out a hoof in comfort, but she bolted away from Twilight just like a squirrel realizing it was about to be fresh-kill would. Thankfully, though, she only had ran back a few tail-lengths. "I-I don't have one. You aren't working for Fireflare, are you?!" She trembled so hard that her feathers and fur quivered, and she could feel her muscles tighten with fear, which was pulsing from her like heat from a fire. "No, darling, I am actually from. . .Well, it's a long story that a pony even as strong as you wouldn't understand. Now, let's get you to somewhere safe so you can heal. Sound good?" Twilight's voice was dripping with decorous honey. A golden-yellow liquid exuded from between the filly's legs as her fear-scent intensified a shocking amount. "W-will you beat me, too? I don't like th-that very much. . ." She ducked, her head shrinking into her ruff, which was covered by "Armour", of which had a moon on it. . . "Oh my ancient books! Are you Nightmare Moon?!" Twilight's heart skipped a couple beats as realization slapped her in the muzzle. "Er, yeah. . ." The trembling filly--no, Nightmare Moon, breathed, her voice barely a whisper. "Oh, dear. . .Please, come with me, I promise I will raise you the right way!" Twilight begged, eager to help transform Nightmare Moon back to the loving Princess Luna that ponies had soon grown to adore. "Wh-why should I? You will just use me like everypony else does!" Nightmare leaped to her hooves defiantly, fluffing up her fur defensively. Her eyes blazed and her sharp teeth flashed in the pale moonlight that cloaked the forest in an eerie depth that casted long shadows across the life-full ground. "Oh, Sweetie, I only wish to help you!" Twilight's wings spread in anxiety, of which pinned her ears back against her skull. "But nopony else wants me! Why would you?!" Tears clogged in the small black Alicorn's cat-like eyes, her lip curling and her voice cracking as she spoke. "Because. . .I know you better than you think. Now," Twilight's voice was as soft as kitten fluff, "let's get you somewhere safe." The purple mare attempted once again to walk up to Nightmare Moon, and to her satisfaction, the scared little "girl" allowed Twilight to take her hoof, and thus the two limping Alicorns made their way down the not-taken-care-of path of the woods. Finally, after walking what felt like moons but really was about an hour or two, a house came into view. It was small, and wood was boarded over the windows and door, but Twilight knew a spell that could easily get them in. She glanced down at Nightmare Moon, who was trembling beside her, exhaust dulling her pain-ridden gaze and her pupils unfocused. Some of the poor filly's cuts had been opened up by the movement, and puss was oozing from her swollen eye. A stab of sympathy sliced through Twilight and she winced, blinking as she looked at the poor, youthful yet somewhat civilized villain that limped beside her own aching body. Nightmare caught Twilight's gaze and looked up at her, so many emotions mingling in her eyes that Twilight actually felt tears build in her own. "What's wrong?" She choked out. "Are we going to be okay?!" Anxiety thumped with Nightmare's heart. "No, sweetie, everything is completely fine. Now, let's get moving. I know a spell that can get us in." "Oh, alright. Do you think there is a bed in there?" Nightmare's voice was practically a whimper. Twilight parted her jaws to respond, but her jaw hung loosely open as she realized who's house this was. . .For it was the one and only Fluttershy's cottage. "Oh and I know a spell, too, that can get us in." Nightmare Moon skipped up to Fluttershy's old cottage and bowed her head, preparing a spell, magic igniting on her sharp horn. "Uh-huh. . ." Twilight breathed absently, stupidly staggering up to the old, abandoned cottage while hoping with all of her might that Fluttershy was okay, at least being well-fed and treated the way she should be. "Uhm, Princess? Priinceeess? Hello, are you there?" Nightmare yelled, dancing around in front of Twilight, who had apparently started spacing out. "Huh? What?" Twilight shook her head rapidly and her vision cleared as she came back to "reality". "Yes, yes, I'm fine! Let's, let's go on inside." Dragging in a deep, rattling breath, Twilight cautiously took a step into Fluttershy's old cottage, inhaling dust almost immediately and coughing shortly after. Nightmare looked at her, concern brimming in the blue depths of her eyes. "This might not be the best place to stay"--Twilight broke off as another small fit of coughing seized her--"but it sure is better than nothing. There should be a couple bedrooms upstairs, and one of them has a large bed that we can both sleep in--that is, if it's still there." Nightmare Moon parted her jaws in confusion and raised a hoof, ready to comment on this strange Alicorn's knowledge of a random, abandoned house, but she shook her head in defeat, deciding it was best she didn't ask. "Follow me, Nightmare." Twilight invited as she paced lightly through the house and found her way to a staircase, following it upstairs to a room, in which was the bed the Cutie Mark Crusaders had slept in during their sleep over at Fluttershy a few seasons back. Nightmare examined the room bitterly, a frown set upon her face. "It's not very sanitary." She observed as she trotted over to a window, rubbing a hoof on the cobwebby curtains. "And it sure could use a lot of fixing up." She was starting to get a little bit arrogant. "Well, Honey, this is all we have." Twilight tried to reason. "Whatever. I suppose it'll do." Nightmare finally agreed, leaping onto the bed and curling up into it. A sigh of relief escaped Twilight, and she, too, layed down on the bed, her aching limbs numbing (along with the rest of her body) as gradually she slipped into a deep sleep.