Nightmare Past
Know that I am well, if not safe, and that I shall return as soon as I am able, the last line of the letter read.
Twilight read the letter every single day after she rose in the morning, and again before she went to bed, each time wondering if, perhaps, it would be the last thing Starswirl ever wrote to her.
Each day of his prolonged absence was marked on the calendar. Even after two months, Twilight had yet to grow accustomed to the circumstances – not his absence, as such, for Starswirl had often been away for long periods before – but to his silence. For on every one of his previous journeys, he had, every day, made sure to write around suppertime. Spike would hiccough a letter into his bowl, and Twilight would gather it with great care.
When she was younger, and had to rely on somepony else to care for her, she would insist that Starswirl’s letter be read to her. Over the past couple of years, she had read his letters aloud each night, comforting herself by imagining him reading them to her in his inimitable voice.
But this time, there was nothing.
Twilight had reached the point where she felt she could hardly stand it any longer, where she could no longer bear to go into town and endure reassurances that rang false, however well meant they were, where she might very well have to pack up and go out herself to find Starswirl.
It was only then, nine weeks and two days, and nineteen hours since his departure, that Starswirl returned. Twilight could speak with some authority on the matter, for she had kept track.
Spike had retired hours ago. For her part, Twilight was brooding in the kitchen, staring vacantly at a cold cup of tea she had prepared after dinner, when she heard the front door swing open. She perked up, her eyes widening and her face brightening. Other than herself, there was but one pony in all of Equestria who would dare open the cottage door of Starswirl the Bearded without knocking first…
Twilight ran into the hall in a jumble of hooves, intent on running into her mentor’s fatherly embrace. She stopped suddenly, taken aback, when she saw him.
Starswirl had a swollen bruise over his right eye, and the tip of his right ear was gone. His robes were not just travel-worn and mud stained, they were positively tattered in places. Save for his staff, his clothes and his boots, the gear with which he had set off was gone. He was also clearly favouring his front left leg.
‘Ma-master Starswirl?’ she stammered.
Starswirl managed a grim smile. ‘I am happy to see you, child.’ He winced as he put some weight on his left foreleg. ‘Nevertheless, I will not speak of my travels tonight.’
‘O-of course,’ Twilight said, confused.
‘I am sorry,’ Starswirl said. ‘It is no longer safe to discuss such things after nightfall.’
Twilight felt her insides twisting, and her mouth went suddenly dry. ‘No… longer – safe?’
Starswirl shook his head.
‘Please, child, stoke the fire and shutter all the windows tonight. I must rest now. We will speak of this further only in the light of day.’
‘I don’t – I don’t understand,’ Twilight tried to begin.
Though his face softened, Starswirl remained unmoved. ‘I promise, I will explain what I can in the morning.’
With that, he took off his travelers’ boots and, still favouring the left foreleg, carefully made his way up the stairs.
It took Twilight another moment, standing there in the hall, alternately staring at the door and at the stairs, before the reality of Starswirl’s return had sunk in enough that she could attend to the duties he had laid upon her.
The last window on the ground floor to close up was in the lab room. Twilight looked out of it for a moment, gazing up at the moon. Ever since that fateful Summer Sun day, it had been unadorned. Up until now, that had been a mere curiosity. With Starswirl’s admonition in mind, though, the sight of the bare moon filled Twilight with foreboding, as if some nameless fear were rising, unbidden, to cloud her thoughts.
It was only as she was shuttering the window in her own chamber that weariness overtook her.
They breakfasted in silence the following morning, while Spike was still sleeping. Starswirl seemed far more at ease in the comfort of his cottage, even managing to smile when Twilight entered the kitchen.
As they were finishing, Starswirl set the kettle on the stove for a second time that morning, then turned to Twilight.
‘That enchanted gem you have in your chest, the one your mother left for you – would you please bring it here?’
Twilight started. ‘Uh... I- okay, of course,’ she managed, then got off her seat and went up the stairs.
By the time she had returned, Starswirl was working his way through the washing-up. His magic enveloped the teapot, a strainer, a spoon, and the container of tea leaves, and soon had it ready for the kettle to finish boiling.
Twilight’s gem was still in its red velvet bag as she placed it on the table and sat down.
Starswirl joined her, floating over the teapot and some mugs.
‘Twilight,’ he began, ‘You’ve seen the moon these past few months, since the first night after Summer Sun.’
‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘The Mare in the Moon is gone.’
‘What do you know of the Mare in the Moon?’
‘Until this summer, modern astronomers believed it was some sort of geological formation that slowly became exposed over centuries, happening to take a form much like the head of a pony.’
‘What else?’
‘Late Antiquity Equestrian art depicts the moon as lacking the Mare’s head feature, so we know it first became apparent between nine and twelve hundred years ago.’
Starswirl grimaced. ‘What else? What of the legends surrounding it?’
Twilight pursed her lips. ‘You mean Nightmare Moon?’
The kitchen window slammed open, and a cold breeze gusted into the kitchen. They both started. Twilight stared at the window, confused, while Starswirl frowned, gazing at it intently. After a moment, he got up and closed the window by hoof.
Returning to his seat, he said, slowly and carefully, ‘It may be that it is best not to use that name so often, except when we really mean to. For now, let us refer to her as the Nightmare, or the Enemy.’
‘… uhh… okay,’ Twilight replied. ‘Master Starswirl, what’s going on?’
‘Patience, Twilight,’ Starswirl replied. ‘Go on, tell me what you know of the legends surrounding the Nightmare.’
‘Right. Well, legend has it that, during the Nightmare War, she tried to seize control of Equestria from the Royal Sisters. One of them, Princess Luna, vanished, and was presumed killed. The other, Princess Celestia, managed to lure Nigh- I mean, the Nightmare’s armies into an ambush, and, in single combat, banished the Nightmare herself to the moon.
‘Of course, there’s no reliable way to verify the story: afterward, it’s said, Celestia retired from the mortal world. Her temple maintains that she still listens to the petitions of ponykind, and answers as she is able. By way of proof, Celestian acolytes point to the magic they’re able to wield. I’m – I’m sorry, Master Starswirl, I haven’t read up on it lately, so I’ve forgotten many of the details.’
‘That’s all right,’ Starswirl replied. ‘You’ve clearly recalled enough to be going on with.’
‘I myself have been keenly interested in those legends,’ he went on. ‘Nowadays, one thousand years since the Nightmare War, we’ve begun to view them as a sort of folkloric ornamentation, added on to what was essentially a civil war over control of the Equestrian government of the day. The fanciful descriptions of monsters are thought to be either decorations that the Nightmare’s armies wore into battle, or a demonization of the ponies who fought for the losing side in the war.
‘I began to speculate otherwise some years ago, all the while hoping that I was wrong, and that these myths and legends were hardly more than old ponies’ tales. But recent events have suggested my guesses were well-founded, much to my dismay.
‘Do you remember on what day the Nightmare Wars were supposed to have ended, Twilight?’
Twilight pursed her lips, lost in thought. ‘Midsummer?’ she asked hesitantly. ‘Somewhere around there. It might even have been…’ she drew in a gasping breath, ‘the day of the Summer Sun Festival?’
‘You remember correctly,’ Starswirl said. ‘And this summer, on that very day one thousand years later, the sun rises late and sets early. That very same night, for the first time in a thousand years, the moon lacks its most visible and defining feature – the Mare in the Moon.’
‘One more question, Twilight. Do you recall where legends say the Enemy dwelt?’
‘In – in a fortress she constructed on Frostreach Pinnacle, in the Crystal Mountains, I think.’
‘Exactly so,’ confirmed Starswirl. ‘And that is where I have been, these last weeks. After leaving, I journeyed north, in comfort and safety, to seek answers. Once I had them, I fled south, in haste and in danger.’
‘Danger?’ Twilight shivered, despite the warmth of the stove.
‘Yes, Twilight Sparkle: danger. For what had once passed into myth and legend, into the shadows of the past, is now among us once more. The Enemy we thought a fable, with which to frighten children, is again made real. Nightmare Moon has returned.’
Starswirl paused, his eyes darting around the room and lingering on the window. There was a long pause, when the only sound that could be heard was the ticking of the clock in the hallway. When nothing happened, he brought his attention back to Twilight.
‘But-but… but that can’t be true!’ Twilight protested. “… can’t it?’
Starswirl shook his head. ‘I only wish it were so, Twilight. But I have seen it for myself. I entered the ruins at Frostreach Pinnacle, only to find them inhabited by trolls. Trolls, Twilight! There hasn’t been a troll seen within Equestria in centuries. Hitherto, even I thought them little more than creatures of folklore.
‘And not only trolls, but also winter worgs. Mighty wolves possessing great cunning and malice, along with a fiercely cold breath. These were both among the Enemy’s armies during the Nightmare War.
‘The worgs were patrolling the Pinnacle, guarding it against intruders. Some were, I daresay, hunting packs, ensuring the trolls who were labouring to rebuild the fortress had adequate food.
‘Then, there was the Nightmare herself. She has not grown strong enough to rebuild her corporeal form, but her spirit moved to and fro among the trolls, directing their labours. She could form her head at intervals, in order to issue commands. Her face perfectly matches every depiction of her in late-Antiquity art: the pitch-black coat, the cat-like eyes, the fangs.
‘I spent as much time as I could there, in Frostreach, in order to better determine how strong the Nightmare has become, and how long her reach has grown. Eventually, I was discovered – not by the Enemy herself, fortunately, or I would have perished. I fled. I moved as fast as I could, given I had to avoid detection by creatures of the night. Bats, rats, owls – all these and more, the Nightmare can press into service as spies.
'If she has trolls and winter worgs at her command, then worse is yet to come. The legends say that vampires and werewolves served the Nightmare, and that she could even command a pony's very shadow. Imagine that - her magic could transform an artifact of our bodies blocking the sun's light into an unliving horror! But, having seen what I have seen, I am convinced that all these, and more, will be unleashed upon Equestria in the months to come.
‘I am sorry, Twilight: there can be no doubt. Our ancient Enemy rebuilds her strength, in a world that, so far as she is aware, no longer possesses the means to contest her power.’
Twilight broke in before Starswirl could continue. ‘“So far as she is aware”? What do you mean by that?’
Starswirl smiled. ‘Well spotted, Twilight. Yes, there may yet be hope to stop her. Which is where we turn to your gift from your mother.’