The Nyxing Hour

by Nagel Navari


Chapter 8

The pony who had recently been named Nightfall Storm barely listened as the pony who burned and the pony who had saved her spoke in hushed voices about things she didn’t understand.

Nightfall barely had words to describe what she had experienced over the last day of her life—coincidentally, the only day of her life.

But it also wasn’t. There was another lifetime buried behind shadow and smoke, brief flashes of terrible things. The worst part of it was not seeing herself do so much that felt wrong, but the feeling that she was enjoying it.

Then they’d come here, and Nightfall had felt betrayal. That was a familiar emotion, the one she had thought to expect from everyone. The world was a harsh place, where ponies only pretended to compassion. Ultimately each pony only cared about themselves.

But no, the pony who had saved her hadn’t only been leading her to a worse fate. Her memories held nothing but hatred for the Alicorn named Celestia. The pony had banished her, then sent other ponies to kill her. She would surely do the same thing this time.

She didn’t. Every second Nightfall kept living was another second those strange memories got further away. They weren’t her memories, Celestia said. They didn’t have to be her future, either.

Still, she kept behind Midnight as much as she could. Every glance at Celestia was an unpleasant reminder of the way the world had been. Midnight Storm was something new—she was the one who had saved her and protected her from all the other ponies.

Nightfall got the sense this conversation was somehow still protecting her, though what much of it meant was lost on her. They seemed to be talking about living somewhere, and maybe a fair bit about caring for her, as well.

She’ll work it out, Nightfall thought. She sat close enough to Midnight that she could feel her warmth, more than she expected from a pony. It felt good—it was something most ponies had, but she didn’t. What was it?

Family, Nightfall thought. She wanted to find mine for me. But I don’t have any. If Nightfall wasn’t the ponies whose strange memories she saw, then she was somepony new.

“Can you…” She spoke up suddenly, surprising even herself. She hadn’t really been listening to what the older ponies had been saying. Something about agents, whatever those were. But as she spoke, both of them turned to listen.

Nightfall spoke to Celestia, though she didn’t actually say so. They would have to figure it out. “Can you make her go away?”

She didn’t actually look to see how Princess Celestia had responded to that.She couldn’t help fearing that every new thing she did to remind the princess she was here might provoke some terrible reaction.

Yet when Celestia did speak, there was no anger in her voice. None of the violence her old memories expected. You’re just a Nightmare.

It is… possible,” Princess Celestia said. “But young… Nightfall, it won’t be for some time. We still don’t understand what created you. But we know one thing with confidence—you were supposed to be her. If we try to destroy that now, before you’ve grown into somepony new, there might not be anything left. It might kill you.”

She felt Midnight Storm tense beside her. The dragon pony was braver around Celestia than anypony else Nightfall had seen so far. None of the others dared to question her.

“Do we need to be so blunt with her?”

Nightfall chanced a brief glance up from the floor at the princess. She didn’t seem angry, but her expression was firm. Confident that what she’d just done was right. “Nightfall is no ordinary filly, Miss Storm. If it were possible, I would see her sheltered from this. But she is an Alicorn. When she is older, she will have the power to do terrible things. She must understand from the first moment that all actions we take have consequences for Equestria’s citizens. If we fail, death will certainly be among the possibilities.”

Nightfall whimpered, moving close to Midnight again. She didn’t really understand that—except for the no at the beginning. Celestia couldn’t take the memories away or else she would die.

I’ll have to make some new memories.

She could barely express her relief as they finally made their way from the royal sitting room, escorted through the beautiful maze of the castle.

Its hallways did not trigger her memories as she had initially feared—this place was new to her, it wasn’t some awful echo of the past. Not like the terrible castle she had run away from. Not all castles are bad.

The guards didn’t seem to like Nightfall very much. They always grabbed their spears when she went past, always watched her closely until they were out of sight. It was almost like they knew what she had done—they knew what she had done to ponies, and what she might do again.

I won’t. Princess Celestia said I don’t have to. But what was she supposed to do, tell them that?

At least Midnight didn’t look at her that way. Even after learning the name of the pony she had been, Midnight Storm had done nothing but protect her. She even tried to protect me from Celestia.

In that moment, Nightfall had learned that there was at least one pony in Equestria she could trust. If one, why not more?

The guards led them to a big room with lots of shiny things on the ceiling and beds so big Nightfall could swim in them. There was even a table inside with dinner on it—but Nightfall didn’t care.

She could tell from the window outside that it wasn’t even dark, but she didn’t care. Nightfall found somewhere soft and dark, and she fell asleep.

She didn’t have a pleasant sleep. Her night was spent with the constant sensation of eyes on her, like someone was standing over her bed with a sword, waiting for her to make a single mistake before they brought the blade down on her.

It was more of her own memories, from a time when she had barely existed. She hadn’t been a pony then—though what she had been was hard to say. Many thoughts mixed together—resentment, fear, anger.

Then she fought, and ponies died. It was terrible, but still didn’t feel like her. But it could be, if you want. You have a birthright waiting for you.

Nightfall woke up screaming. She felt trapped on all sides, a strange weight surrounding her. Had she been imprisoned in her sleep? She fought, kicked, shattered the walls, and sent huge chunks of them flying in all directions.

Tears streamed from her eyes as she took to the air, escaping from the traitor Celestia’s prison.

Then she blinked, and reality came into focus all around her. She was floating above one of the massive beds, surrounded by a sea of pillows. She’d scattered them all over the room in a little explosion of sheets and blankets.

Midnight Storm emerged from an open doorway a second later, eyes flashing and tail lifted over her head. Nightfall could see the blade glinting in the light from outside—the light of noon at least.

“What’s wrong?” Midnight asked, stepping in and scanning the room with narrowed eyes. Searching for an intruder? “Who…” Her eyes widened, and her tail drooped in the air behind her. Her expression changed to one of understanding. “Oh.”

Was that disappointment? Nightfall whimpered—then she remembered she didn’t know how to fly, and she flopped sideways onto the mattress. At least it was soft enough to catch her.

“Bad dream?” Midnight asked, making her way to the edge of the bed. Close enough for Nightfall to reach if she wanted to, but not actually trying to force her.

Probably for the best. After feeling trapped by all her blankets and pillows, Nightfall was still uncomfortable. She rose to her hooves on the bed, spreading her wings and bouncing up and down.

Nightfall nodded. “I… yeah.”

Midnight sat down on the edge of the bed. She didn’t look like Nightfall had just woken her—her mane was groomed, and she smelled like she had bathed. She let me sleep, didn’t she? “I can’t imagine. Celestia says that cult put Nightmare Moon’s memories in you. Must be… scary stuff.”

Nightfall crept closer to her, though she remained tense, ready to jump out of reach if Midnight tried to grab her. Of course, she didn’t. “Yeah,” Nightfall said. “I don’t… understand. But it’s far away. I think leaving will make it get better. Celestia… reminds me. Reminds her.”

Midnight nodded. “The only thing we’re waiting for is your meeting with Princess Luna tonight. Do you think that won’t help? I could… ask her to wait. If you think you need more time…”

Nightfall nodded eagerly, rushing over to her. “Please? I don’t want to see me… her… I don’t want to see her. Please.”

“Alright.” Midnight Storm didn’t move away yet, just held still. Her warmth was as inviting as it had been the day before.

She came to my rescue again, she thought. She was out there guarding me. When she thought I was in danger, she came to protect me. Maybe she’ll protect me from Luna too.

“I don’t know what the princess will say,” Midnight muttered. “I can make your case. But I can’t stop a princess of Equestria from getting what she wants.”

“I understand,” Nightfall said. And she thought she did, too.

Her stomach gurgled loudly then, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten for hours. If the sun was really as high as it looked, it had been nearly a full day since she’d eaten anything.

“Do you think… there’s anything left from last night?”

Midnight laughed. “They’ll bring us something new.” She rose to her hooves, gesturing with a wing at a door behind her that Nightfall hadn’t even noticed. “Why don’t you get yourself cleaned up? I can talk to the guards outside and get them to bring us lunch and tell Princess Luna you don’t want to see her. By the time you’re done, I’m sure there will be a meal waiting. These castle ponies are so fast!”

“Sure,” Nightfall hopped off the edge of the bed, yawning and stretching. She made her way towards the darkened door. She’d seen switches on the walls before, and learned how they worked. Yet nothing else she saw inside seemed familiar to her.

Nightfall stared for several long seconds, taking in the strange metal shapes set into the wall, the knobs and dials. There was a huge tub of water here, but she couldn’t find anywhere to heat it.

“Where’s the well?” Nightfall asked, calling after Midnight. “I’d rather just use a river than carry buckets up here.” There had been servants for that kind of thing, once. Maybe there was a bell hidden she could use to summon the ones assigned to this bath.

Midnight Storm stopped in the hallway, turning slowly on her hooves. “The… well? What do you mean?” She made her way into the bathroom, marching straight to the tub.

She pulled on both of the knobs, and water started flowing out of the wall. Steam was already rising from it, slowly filling the room.

It had been a long time since Nightfall had a proper bath.

She beamed, wings flapping energetically as she stuck one leg into the flow. It was warm, just like it looked. “This is… amazing!” she squeaked. “How many servants does it take to make this work?”

“I have no idea. They have plumbers now. They do… something with pipes? I don’t know how it works.”

“Amazing.” Nightfall clambered up over the edge, splashing down into the tub.

By the time Nightfall was clean and fed, she had almost forgotten about her awful dream. So much about Equestria had changed.

She hardly even noticed as somepony knocked on the door. Midnight walked away from the table, gesturing that she should stay still with one wing. So she did, preparing to run if one of the princesses had come (though where she would run to in a tiny castle suite with a bunch of locked windows, she couldn’t have said).

It wasn’t a princess, though. It wasn’t even a guard. The pony standing in the doorway looked much like any other—a blue pegasus with a darker mane and amber eyes. She dressed like she was about to go on a trip, with bulky saddlebags on her shoulders and a wheeled case resting on the ground beside her.

“Yes?”

“Hi!” The pony grinned at Midnight, then glanced over her shoulder at Nightfall. To her surprise, the mare didn’t stare at either of them—she only seemed curious. A friendly curiosity, like the unicorn who had ridden the train with them. What had her name been again?

“Who are you?” Midnight asked. There was an edge of suspicion to her voice—another sign of her quality as a protector.

“Oh, I’m Sapphire Breeze. I’m the royal representative Princess Celestia warned you about yesterday. Apparently we’re going to be living together in Ponyville.”

“We’re…” Midnight’s tone had changed, and her wings twitched in a way that Nightfall couldn’t quite recognize. What emotion was that? “Oh, that’s what you mean. Living together.” She stepped to the side. “Come in, then. Did you hear that Nightfall doesn’t want to see Princess Luna?”

“Yes, yes.” The pony stepped inside. “I just came from speaking with her. She agrees the filly’s wishes should be respected, at least in the short term. But that’s not why I’m here.” She pushed the case in ahead of her, and it rolled over to the side of the table. “I’ve got some gifts for you, Nightfall Storm. I think you’ll like them.”