//------------------------------// // Part 12: "(You're the) Devil in Disguise" // Story: Once a Time Lord... Well, actually still that, but now a Pony as well... // by The Bricklayer //------------------------------// Canterlot Castle: Celestia’s thoughts raced as she took in the Doctor’s last statement. She thought back to her previous encounter with Nightmare Moo-No, her sister, Luna. She couldn’t help but see Luna’s face whenever she saw the Nightmare, as she knew underneath all of that rage and jealousy was just the mare she’d grown up with. ...The darkness of the night seemed to creep into the room and clamber up the walls as shadows seemed to take minds of their own. And then, laughter filled the room. But not joyful, ringing, cheerful laughter as Celestia normally knew it from its user. No, the laughter of the maniacal kind as a form manifested itself in the darkness and in the shadows. Two great black wings expanded, and a misty mane and tail like the stars themselves followed that as a form came into being. Dark blue armor around her chest and head, with a long sharp horn protruding like a lance jutting out from her forehead. “And so the stars will aid in her escape, or so the legend goes. Isn’t that right… Dear sister?” Nightmare Moon asked with a small laugh, one of pity as she trailed a hoof up Celestia’s face. “Oh, I’m sorry, have you forgotten about little ole me? What a pity…” She cooed. “You’re… You’re not supposed to be here!” Celestia stammered out in fear, neglecting to charge up her horn out of both fear and kindness. Fear, for what was in front of her, angry beyond belief. Kindness, as the power of her spells could do untold damage to her sister if not used with the utmost caution. “It’s… It’s not time yet! I still have two more months to go before the Summer Sun Celebration!” “And yet… Here I am,” Luna… No, Nightmare Moon as Celestia had to remind herself remarked. “And look at you, all defenseless and without the Elements of Harmony to defend your precious kingdom… Why it’s all so easy, isn’t it? Almost a pity that there’s going to be no challenge in taking what’s rightfully mine…” With that, Nightmare Moon and all that she had brought with her vanished and the light came back to Celestia’s room as the Princess herself shook in terror, beads of sweat trailing down her face. Celestia’s mind had to force itself to snap back to reality. “I’m sorry Doctor,” she said as she looked around the room, watching the shadows cast by the moonlight and making sure they weren’t moving about in an unnatural fashion. “But I know what I saw.” “Yes, you did,” the Doctor said as he began pacing back and forth, after pocketing his Sonic in that coat of his. “Hallucinogenic drug, made to play with your mind and make you see exactly whatever it is the crafter wanted you to see. In this case, your worst fear,” he continued. “Now, I don’t know if this was just pure luck on the crafter’s part, or he or she knew exactly what you feared most but whatever the case I’d say it worked quite well to their advantage.” the Doctor said, sounding almost as if he was in awe and admiration of the creator, nightmare fetishist that he was and all. “You think?” Celestia asked sarcastically, a rare showing of that from her. “...Sorry, was I being insensitive again?” the Doctor asked, suddenly realizing exactly what he said, and how it might have come out as to the Princess. The only answer he got was a raised eyebrow from the Princess. “...Right, dumb question,” he muttered to himself. “Masterpiece of creativ-Er, fear, this is,” the Doctor continued, quickly amending his statement. “Now, doubt you’ve read any of DC’s work, but this is similar in principle to the comic book villain Scarecrow and his fear gas, just in pill form. Gets inside your head, makes you think whatever you’re seeing is your worst nightmare come to life. In this case, an old myth come to unseat you from your throne and cast Equestria and probably the world beyond in eternal night.” “Yes, that’s Nightmare Moon’s agenda,” Celestia explained. “Sadly, there’s more of a personal aspect for me in this, as I’m sure you’ve already figured out, intelligent as you are Doctor. Fact is, I bet you already know.” “Sadly, I don’t. As much as I hate to admit it, I don’t know everything about everyone.” “Everypony…” Celestia sighed, even if she knew correcting him probably wouldn’t work. “But why would there be a personal… Oh.” the Doctor started before his eyes widened in realization and he gave Celestia a look of pity as he remembered an earlier conversation between the two. Early that next morning, just as he was preparing to leave Canterlot to see what the rest of Equestria had to offer, the Doctor found Celestia idly pacing back and forth through the throne room via a peek in the doors which had been left opened just a crack. Curiosity overtook him, and he trotted up to Celestia, who by now was staring at a particular stained glass window. The window depicted her, surrounded by six -or maybe seven, it was hard to tell really- gems circling her as she fired a magical blast at a dark Alicorn in blue armor with a crescent moon and stars for a Cutie Mark with a striking resemblance to Celestia herself in some ways. “Something wrong?” the Doctor asked, and Celestia staggered back in shock. “Oh… Doctor, I didn’t hear you come in… No, nothing’s wrong. Just… reminiscing, that’s all…” The Doctor shook his head as he chuckled. “Oh Celestia, don’t lie to me. I’ve seen that look on your face before, God knows I’ve worn it so many times I can’t even begin to count. Hell, I’ve seen a lot of the looks you’ve been putting up lately. False happiness, a mask to reassure your little ponies that everything’s alright with their ruler. But that’s not the case, is it?” he questioned. “Doctor… I assume you saw the power I unleashed at that Weeping Angel right?” Celestia asked and the Doctor nodded. “I also assumed you’ve lost those near and dear to you, right?” “Oh… Far too many times to count, really…” the Doctor trailed off as he remembered the faces and the names before a look of dawning recognition reached his features. “Oh, Celestia. I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” “That mare… The one in the window in that hall of yours and the one you saw tonight, she’s the one close to you isn’t she?” the Doctor realized. “Yes, my sister,” Celestia admitted sadly. “Those ‘cards’ you sent me as part of our pen pal relationship, you mentioned a civilization on the moon and a mare you were about to name as Luna,” she said, noting the Doctor’s eyes widen in shock as he realized the full scope of what he’d stumbled upon at that moment. Neither pony saw it at that moment, but watching from the shadows from the outside balcony was a mare, a unicorn. Stone gray in coat color, with a golden mane and an atom’s nucleus as her cutie mark. Her eyes widened as she quickly realized what the Doctor had just figured out, before she quickly teleported away in a light green flash. Celestia’s eyes noted the Doctor’s own widen in recognition. “Now you see why this is so personal for me, why… why it got to me so badly. I don’t like admitting it, but I was afraid. Afraid of why my own sister might do to me in her own anger and rage,” she trailed off sadly before her expression hardened and her horn began to glow golden. Fear was gone, replaced with something else. “But now that I know somepony’s just using me for their own ends, for kicks even… Rest assured, they will soon realize who exactly they are dealing with. I do not like being played, and when my personal emotions are played with, enough to unsettle me this much…” “Yes, I completely understand Celestia, if I was in your position I would probably be feeling the same way,” the Doctor replied, before his own expression hardened and he gave Celestia a worrying glance. “But I have to ask, is it justice you’re after… Or revenge?” Celestia’s silence on the matter only worried him further. Right about then, as if to break the silence on some god-given cue, a member of the Royal Guard burst in, panting and sweating up a storm. It was easy to surmise he’d run quite the distance, from the barracks all the way up to Celestia’s personal chambers. “Princess… Twilight… and… and a friend of hers!” the guard, one Steel Sentry if Celestia remembered correctly, panted out catching her attention at once as soon as he mentioned her student. “They… They said they saw this dark alicorn like pony in their room! Threatened them! Mentioned something about eternal night coming to pass!” As soon as Celestia heard that, there was a bright flash of light and she and the Doctor were gone from the room… Sparkle Family Household: Soon as the Doctor and Celestia entered the home, one could easily feel the fear in the air. And who could blame Twilight for being so spooked, considering what she’d just witnessed? Nearby on a shelf above a fireplace, a radio played smooth jazz music. The house itself was fairly nice, it could be said. There were pictures lying in frames both on the walls and on some of the furniture, with mounds of books, both finished and unfinished scattered around them as well, perhaps unsurprisingly given the owner and residents of the home. One particular book laid open, one titled “The Legend of the Lost Princess”.  Celestia’s smiled a little at this, it seemed not much could keep Twilight from a mystery once she got wind of it. Not even the Canterlot Library’s restricted sections, it seemed. The walls were a vibrant cream color with a lavender carpet running across the floor. A radiant chandelier hung from the living room, with little crystals hanging from each section. There were just enough chairs for each member of the Sparkle household, with each one being neighboured by what they liked the most. In a corner of the room hung a golden shield, one resembling a Roman clipeus. A reminder of Twilight’s grandfather and his time in the Guard. Celestia always had that sneaking suspicion that shield, along with certain stories of glory in battle, led Shining to enroll in the guard. There were also all sorts of knick-knacks and other such items that the family had most likely received from Twilight, or had been purchased from places around Equestria over the years. Perhaps some had been family heirlooms, who was to tell? Trinkets and valuable of all shapes and sizes, found in every corner of the house. In a corner of the room were both Twilight and Moondancer, orange shock blankets wrapped around them, Shining standing nearby dressed in full armor. He was giving Moondancer a look, the kind an older brother would use to intimidate a potential colt or marefriend. Seemed he’d found out about the two’s little experimental session. “So, what exactly happened?” the Doctor asked as he stepped inside, and Twilight’s eyes widened. Moondancer was soon to follow. “No way… Can’t be.” the cream-colored mare whispered in shock, taking off her glasses and rubbing them to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. Normally, the Doctor would probably have made a joke about how his reputation preceded him, but now wasn’t the time. “So, two Nightmare Moon visits. One, the first to Princess Celestia a few nights before.” the Doctor said, going into detective mode. Shining’s eyes widened and he shot a look towards the Princess. “...Didn’t think it was worth mentioning.” Celestia answered casually, a small little white lie. She still wanted to keep up that infallible appearance towards her subjects. Shining’s jaw dropped as the Doctor continued. “Second time, this time to her student. My guess, someone wants to target Celestia specifically.” “Yes Doctor, I sorta figured that out,” Celestia replied flatly. The Doctor ignored her comment, of course. “Drugged her, made her hallucinate Nightmare Moon returning to her,” he said, before whirling towards Twilight and Moondancer. “Either of you, have anything to drink or eat lately, in a place where something could easily be slipped to you?” “Well…” Twilight replied. “Got some donuts from Joe, but I trust him. He’s never shown any ill intentions towards Celestia, far as we know…” “Yes, far as we know,” the Doctor continued. “But, if you ordered from the shop and I know for a fact Joe doesn’t work alone as I’ve been there myself to pick up a snack or two, someone else could have easily slipped something into your donuts.” “Somepony…” Twilight, Shining, Moondancer and Celestia corrected him. “How many donuts did you have? How many orders did you place?” Shining asked his sister softly. “Been placing orders all throughout the night, me and Twilight were doing a lot of research on old Equestrian legends,” Moondancer replied, gesturing to the book on the Lost Princess. “So, huge timeframe. Anything could have happened between then…” Shining murmured as he rubbed his chin with a hoof. “Not a lot to work with here…” “Yeah, problem,” the Doctor admitted. “Course, every problem has a solution. You have anything like security cameras placed at Donut Joe’s shop?” he asked, and received only quizzical looks in response. “...Right, Level Five planet still on the verge of an industrial boom in tech levels…” the Doctor muttered to himself, mentally slapping himself on the forehead. “Course, guards visit that place as well. Could easily talk to them, and see what they saw. Again, it doesn’t leave us with a lot to work with, but it narrows things down somewhat…” he continued before a look of glee struck his face. “Like a noir mystery this, except with magic and ponies! And magical ponies!” He soundly received a slap over the forehead by Celestia. As he grimaced in pain, he groaned out “...Right, insensitivity issues. Probably should start thinking about getting flash cards for things like this…” He then straightened up his tie and smiled. “Well, what are all you lot standing around for? We’ve got a Nightmare Moon wannabe running about and scaring the pants off ponies!” With a gesture of his hoof towards the door, he shouted out “Allons-Y!” Canterlot Royal Library: Restricted Section: With a shout of “Hey, you’re not supposed to be in here!”, two guards found themselves soundly flung aside by two light green magical auras. Walking past their unconscious forms was the same unicorn from before, nucleus cutie mark and all. “Now, where are you…?” the unicorn muttered, as she scanned the many bookshelves that lay before her. Books deemed too dangerous to be released to the public, dark tomes filled with unspeakable spells and old laws from the pre-unification days that had long been mostly forgotten and replaced with new, fairer ones. A tattered and scorched aegis style shield, bronze in color, rested up against a bookshelf. An item once said to be held by the legendary pegasus Flash Magnus himself. Finally, the villain of our piece found what she was looking for. An old scroll, worn by the ages, but still legible. She smirked, perfect. This would help her get her revenge on Celestia for sure. With a light green glow of her horn, she transformed back into the form of Nightmare Moon and teleported out of the room, scroll in hoof...