Nightmare Moon stood before me laughing triumphantly. As I looked into her eyes I felt my fear turn to anger, but it was not toward the monstrous Alicorn in front of me. I was angry at myself. I'd let everypony down, Granny, Mac, AJ, Bloom, Luna, and the one that cut deepest of all, Pa. Now I'd be trapped here leaving Nightmare Moon free to terrorize Equestria.
"Oh, what's the matter Little Prince?" She cooed at me mockingly. "Did my voice frighten you just now? Aha ha ha haw. I'm sorry, Why don't I make it up to you?" She walked over and whispered into my ear. Her breath was as cold as the air on a still night.
"How about this? I'll undo the curse set upon you if you agree to forever serve me?" I winced as She placed her hooves on my shoulder. Her shoes felt cold to the touch. You'd be my Dark Knight second only to me, You could have anything you want. Power, wealth, acceptance, even true love." Luna's words echoed in my memory as Nightmare Moon nuzzled her cheek against mine.
"She who doth turned us against thy sister to seize thy kingdom."
"I would love you like you were my own foal." Nightmare whispered tenderly. Hmm, a mother who torments and traumatizes me by making me relive my worst memory. They sure have a crazy way of expressing love on the moon, don't they? I wasn't buying it.
"Like you told Luna you loved her?" I asked her. She seemed to shrug but I could tell deep down I'd just struck a nerve there.
"You didn't know her before she met me." She began to explain. "Forced to live in the shadow of her sister, Her long nights slept through unappreciatively by her subjects. She didn't have a friend in the world until I came along.
"You mean until you turned her against her sister!" I reminded her. In an instant, her mood changed from calm to fury as she turned to face me.
"I showed her the truth about Celestia!" She snarled baring her fangs at me, "I helped her see through all the lies and deceit."
"The only lies and deceit I see are your own!" I said stomping my hoof on the ground. "I saw how you tried to take her back from me. That didn't strike me as something a good friend would do."
I thought for sure she was going to attack me for that. But instead, she simply turned around and sighed. She looked up gazing into the shadowy mists as if she was contemplating what I'd just said. Then she opened her eyes looked at me and calmly asked me. "Is that your final answer?"
"It is," I answered. She sighed looking at me dejectedly as if I'd disappointed her with my answer.
"So be it, If you will not join me then you shall sleep forever more. Pleasant Nightmares my little Prince." Her horn gave off a blinding flash before she vanished into a cloud of smoke. Her insidious laugh echoed around as the smoke began to clear. I felt a chill in the air as the forest seemed to grow steadily darker.
"ARRROOOOOOOOO!"
The familiar howl left every hair on my coat standing on its end as my nostrils breathed in the foul odor of wet mossy bark. Behind me, I could hear the rustling of leaves, the splashing of feet in shallow puddles, and the blocky click-clack of wooden limbs sprinting. It was alone? They never hunted alone, always in a pack.
At that moment I understood what Nightmare Moon meant. I was to be imprisoned here, forced to face my most painful memories again and again. A sentence that was most logically designed to break the will and spirit of even the bravest of ponies. So why didn't feel scared at that moment? If I died assuming the Timberwolf could kill me in this dream what would it matter? I would return at some point and relive it all over again. It was getting closer, in my head, I could picture it step by step like the shadow of death the predator inched closer to the unsuspecting foal who had foolishly ignored his parents and wandered into the forest. I could destroy it? It would be as easy as snapping a twig. Or I could burn it or freeze it or just grab it and smash it into the ground repeatedly until it was nothing but a pile of splinters? What would happen if I did? Would more come? Or maybe Nightmare Moon would throw some other horror at me? Or maybe she'd gotten bored with me and decided to leave me here alone for all eternity, wandering in a forest that seemed to stretch into infinity? At least until I died. Then what? The telltale snarl of the beast told me It was almost on top of me. Deciding it best to not keep it waiting I turned to face it.
Third Pony POV
The still calm of the upstairs hallway was broken by the sudden chorus of ringing alarm clocks. Babs Seed's eyes slowly stirred as she wrapped her pillow over her ears wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep. Groaning She reached out toward the offending timepiece. A twist of the key and the infernal racket around her became slightly more bearable. Babs was hesitant to separate herself from her snug comfortable sleeping bag to deal with her cousins' alarm clocks. Why couldn't Apple Bloom's family have digital clocks like hers did? She pondered. The accompaniment of more moans from her cousins came as a welcome relief. Sprawled out across the room they slowly shuffled and crawled out of their sleeping bags like zomponies in a horror movie. rising from the grave.
"Uhh..." Cinnamon Sugar moaned.
"Ughh..." Liberty Belle groaned.
"Five more minutes." Red June muttered sleepily.
One by one the clocks ceased their incessant ringing until only one remained.
"Hey, Apple Comet! Feel like shutting that off for us?" Red June hollered at her cousin who was somehow sleeping like a log thru all that ringing.
"How can anypony sleep thru that?!" Liberty Belle shouted over the sound of the alarm clock. Red June had enough and stomped over to his bedside.
"Hey, can't cha hear that!?" She asked impatiently pointing at the clock. "It means it's time to get up. When she got no response Red June picked up the clock and held it to his ear in hopes of getting his attention. Nothing, not even a smug turnover to say Ehhh I don't really feel like it.
"URAGH!" Red June raised the clock into the air as if to smash it against the floor.
"There's probably a key on the back!" Cinnamon Sugar pointed out
"A'h know!" Red June shouted as she turned it. A tranquil silence fell upon the bedroom as Red June casually tossed the alarm clock on the floor before grabbing hold of the blanket with her teeth. "C'mon up and at 'em" She muttered yanking it off the bed. To her mounting frustration, the sleeping colt did not budge.
"Boy, He sure is a heavy sleeper." Cinnamon Sugar noted scratching her head.
"Aw right, mister Ah've had enough of yer games." Red June threw her hooves up and walked over to the door. "If y'all wanna sleep thru the festival fine by me."
SLAM!
The other fillies stood there unsure of what to make of this.
"Wow, I take it back." Said Cinnamon Sugar. "He's a really heavy sleeper. Babs began to feel worried, She could sense something didn't feel right.
"Um, Apple Comet are you okay?" She asked as slowly walked up the bed. Apple Comet lay on his side his back facing them not moving. Gently Babs placed her hoof on his shoulder and turned him over.
"AIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!" She let out a shriek of terror that got the attention of everyone in the house. Moments later door slammed open as several Apples rushed into the room armed with whatever they could grab at such short notice.
Thinking somepony had broken in they had come prepared with everything from bats and sticks to frying pans and rolling pins. Granny Smith had even brought along a blunderbuss loaded with apples.
"Who's in here?" She asked as her eyes scanned the room for signs of a possible intruder.
Immediately the three fillies rushed to Granny's side. Their faces were white with fear as if they'd seen a ghost.
"Granny Smith thank Celestia yer here!" Babs said wrapping her forelegs around her neck. Cinnamon Sugar and Liberty Belle quickly joined in."
"Good heavens, you three look like Y'all'd seen a ghost or something. What happened?"
"BWAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Big Macintosh's cry brought the family's attention to the bed.
"Oh, my land." Granny Smith whispered in shock when she saw what had frightened him. Apple Comet lay motionless, only the rising and falling of his barrel indicated he was breathing. His eyes were covered with a thick layer of black shimmering sand.
Carefully Granny Smith ran her hoof over Apple Comet's eyes to collect a sample. The Apples watched as more began to trickle out of his eyes.
"W-W-What's wrong with him?" A stallion in the crowd nervously asked.
Granny stared at her hoof watching as the sand slowly faded away into a wispy mist. It felt fine yet cold to the touch Next she checked his temperature, heartbeat, and pulse, all seemed normal despite the sand's temperature.
"In all mah years Ah've never seen anything like this." She sighed sitting down next to him.
"Is...He?" Big Macintosh asked.
"He's breathing, His pulse and heartbeat seem normal. And he's not running a fever. Whatever he's got it's nothing Ah've ever seen."
Granny felt a surge of anxiety run down her spine. Her stomach turned as all sorts of different possibilities ran through her head. What if this was some kind of alien sickness? What if he suddenly got worse? What if it was contagious? What if he...... "WELL DON'T JUST STAND THERE MAC! HE NEEDS A DOCTOR!"
Mac momentarily startled by Granny's outburst shrunk back. But he quickly realized She was right, this was a job for a certified medical professional. "COMING THRU!!!" The other Apples sensing what was coming gladly got out of the way as Mac galloped down the hall like a speeding locomotive.
Granny sighed as she turned her attention back to the still form of her adopted Grandchild. He'd never had so much as a cut or scrape for as long as she had known him. For him to just come down with something like this out of nowhere was unheard of. She spotted his blanket lying on the floor. It wouldn't do him any good to leave him exposed like this. She thought as she reached down to pick it up.
"Apple Comet's gonna be okay right?" Granny Smith stopped and turned to see Apple Bloom walking into the room. Her eyes shook with uncertainty as she looked at her. It was a feeling that she shared with her youngest grand foal.
"We'll know when the doctor gets here." She said picking the blanket up off the floor.
"What if the doctor doesn't know what's wrong with him?"
Granny Smith stopped for a moment, She hadn't considered the possibility that it might come to that. "Then we'll have to take him to the hospital." She said laying the blanket over top of Apple Comet.
"What if they can't help him?"
At that moment Granny wanted to tell her to not be ridiculous and that that wasn't going to happen. But she stopped and looked down at the still form of Apple Comet. She'd seen her fair share of illnesses and ailments over the years. She'd lost her fair share of friends and loved ones that way. No, she couldn't think about it right now.
"Apple Bloom I want cha to listen to me." Granny stood stoically over Apple Comet's bed her back facing her youngest grandfoal.
Apple Bloom nodded. "A-Ah'm listening."
"Good to hear that." Granny Smith took a moment to gather her courage before slowly turning to face Apple Bloom. "Now Ah don't know what's wrong with Apple Comet and we might not know until the doctor gets here. It might be a spell or a hex or something he touched or ate. To be honest it's like nothing Ah've ever seen before. Right now all we can do is wait for the doctor and hope for the best."
Apple Bloom felt a spiny lump in her throat as Granny Smith explained everything to her. Her eyes were becoming red and puffy, she felt tears begin to form as fears of what this meant for Apple Comet formed in her head. What if the doctor really couldn't do anything? What if he stayed that way forever? What if he...he....he.
"Now now," Granny said sitting up forelegs outstretched. The little yellow filly threw herself into her embrace burying her head in her shoulder.
"It's okay to be upset, trust me Ah'm upset too," Granny whispered as she felt a single tear race down her cheek.
Comet's POV
Sensing that its cover had been blown the monster stepped out of the shadows and faced me in the light. At first glance, it didn't look too different than any other Timberwolf. Its bark was smooth dark ebony its eyes shone with pale silver light Almost as if it were merely the shadow of a Timberwolf instead of the real thing. The beast circled me a moment its eyes staring back into me. I stared back determined to show it I was not afraid.
"Well, are you gonna do something?" I snapped at it. "Or are you just gonna circle and growl at me?" The Timberwolf stopped and turned to face me, a scowl formed across its face. Then in the blink of an eye, it lunged ...right into my hind legs!
"WHAM!!!" An explosion of shattered lumber echoed through the forest as the Timberwolf's head separated from its body sailing off into the distance while its body tumbled to the ground before erupting into a cloud of blue smoke. For a moment I imagined the head flying so far as to land on top of Nightmare Moon's. My sense of triumph was to be short-lived however as the smoke cleared two figures stepped forth. Somehow out of the remains of the first Timberwolf emerged two more, their cold silver eyes staring lifelessly back at me.
WHAM!!!
BAM!!!
You know those moments when you feel so frustrated that you just want to hit something to relieve your stress? But you can't bring yourself to do it because you're afraid of accidentally hurting somepony? Just replace those moments with every minute of every day and make it strong enough to knock down buildings and you'd get how my life is.
And that was on days when I wasn't imprisoned in my dreams and tormented by my most painful memory by an evil Alicorn bent on ruling Equestria. So you might understand why I wasn't too upset when I saw the Timberwolves I'd just smashed up spawn four more or eight or sixteen or thirty-two. What I had here was an opportunity to forget about my problems and just cut loose for once and I was determined to take it.
Third Pony POV
"My he certainly is a tenacious one isn't he?" Nightmare Moon said with an air of reluctant admiration as she watched the battle play out in the dark waters of a small reflecting pool. The young colt was putting up a ferocious fight cutting down her Timberwolves one after another without showing any signs of slowing down. "By now you should've realized that for each of my little pets, you destroy two more shall take their place. Or is your hatred of them so great that you do not care? Either way, it matters not, sooner or later you will have to accept the inevitability that there is no escape from the night."
"It seems thou hath underestimated him, Nightmare Moon." A defiant voice said from behind her. Nightmare gave a smug grin as she turned and looked at the ragged form of Luna trapped in a crystal orb on the table behind her. The Filly wore shackles on her hooves and neck and had a ring of moon rock placed over her horn to nullify her magic.
"I must admit I was a teensy bit careless," Nightmare admitted as she picked the filly's prison up in her aura. Her enormous face loomed in front of her captive as she grinned. "But as you're about to see he is quite out of the way."
With a flick of her hoof, the image in the pool was dispelled. "Show me his physical state." At her command, the water in the shimmered and rippled showing her what she commanded.
Luna gasped in horror as she looked upon the face of the sleeping colt. Her face slowly turned white as she watched the sands of Hypponos continue to pour from his eyes like a cascading waterfall."
"No, it can't be." She whispered as she felt her stomach begin to turn inside out. She felt hot tears running down her face but her throat felt like it was gripped in a vice.
"What did you think would happen by getting him involved?" Nightmare asked a devious smirk stretched across her face. "That somehow he would be able to bear the elements of harmony all on his own? That he would just singlehoofedly defeat me? Ha ha ha ha ha." Luna's ears drooped as she hung her head low. She could feel the last little thread of hope she had left slowly unraveling leaving her stomach feeling hollow and empty. "All you accomplished was condemning him to a fate worse than death."
What was left of Luna's fortitude crumbled as the little filly sank to her stomach and buried her face into her hooves. All the while Nightmare grinning triumphantly in satisfaction knowing she had broken the captive Princess's will. "There there, my dear." She cooed putting on a show of false sympathy. Just close your eyes and let your future Queen make it all better." Nightmare tapped the tip of the horn against the surface of the orb, releasing a starry blue mist that began to wrap itself around sobbing filly like a python smothering its prey. Luna felt her body rapidly fading away as Nightmare's magic began to reabsorb her.
"Forgive Me, Sister, Forgive me Kom-El..."