//------------------------------// // Chapter 17 // Story: Virtues of Harmony // by SkylertKlaw //------------------------------// Chapter 17: The Creature That Feasts Upon Dreams "A Nightmare Moon CLONE?" Celestia's image in the magic mirror was a mixture of both shock and worry. It had been only five minutes since the brief confrontation with the clone, but the air was still tense with unease, specifically for Luna. Celestia looked even more nervous than her younger sister did. Twilight and Luna couldn't blame the ruler of Equestria for that. The two sisters only reunited two years ago. If anything threatened to drive them apart again, the two would have to relive an event neither wanted to remember. "Yes, Princess." Twilight said, trying her best not to look away from her mentor's eyes. "It just appeared so suddenly. But it was rather weak, since it only took one blast from Luna to kill it..." "This makes no sense..." Celestia mused, still in a state of shock. "We've detected no foul play on our end, and Zecora has secured the Everfree for the time being. How could it just..." The ruler of Equestria narrowed her eyes . Now was not the time for them to be questioning why things had happened as such. "Stay on your guard, Twilight. There's no telling what Amducias and Storm Rider are planning. I'll contact you if anything happens out here." Twilight bowed her head out of respect quickly as Celestia's image began to vanish within the magic mirror. "Understood, Princess." She said, "I'm concerned as well, but at least we know the elements they're after are not taken yet. Though we don't have any idea who represents which element, the only one we think might be plausible is Sky Fire possessing the qualities for one element..." Celestia nodded her head once. "Understood. Trixie, Zecora, and I will continue our own efforts on our ends. And please...be safe, all of you." With that, the magic mirror went silent. An uneasy silence filled the room between Twilight and Luna. Nightmare Moon was a horrible event for not just them, but for all of Equestria. To see a clone of her just arise like it was nothing was disheartening. Twilight couldn't help but wonder why Nightmare Moon was capable of gaining clones. But now she couldn't help but wonder why Discord didn't get any clones himself. "Well..." Luna said, finally breaking the silence. "That...went well." Twilight didn't give her a small laugh. The bond Luna and her mentor had together was such a strong one. While it was common knowledge that the two sisters loved each other dearly, most ponies wondered if Celestia even regretted sending her younger sister to the moon. After seeing the fear that she had in her eyes was more than enough proof for Twilight. Celestia did not want to lose her sister ever again. Luna yawned slightly before walking over to her bed, collapsing on it with a huff. Twilight frowned. She had only used one spell, yet she was acting like she had just used up all her magical powers in just one day. "I don't get it...why am I so tired?" She asked. "It's possible that you used a lot of magic against that clone," Twilight mused, "Maybe you should be more careful on how you use your magic from now on, Princess." "Yes...that's probably it." Luna sighed, shaking her head, "I...I should stay here for the night. I'm sorry I couldn't be more of help today." "Don't be sorry." Twilight said, "You did all that you could do and it's been a long day for all of us." The purple unicorn smiled as she bowed her head respectfully towards Luna. The younger princess gave a slight smile at her manners. Twilight Sparkle was many things, respectful to her rulers being one of them. "Besides, I have Spike to help me out tonight, even though he normally doesn't like to stay up late." "Heh, all right. Just...don't push yourself too hard." With that, Luna closed her eyes and began to sleep silently. Twilight giggled slightly before leaving the room. There was so much to do, and so little time to do it. In the back of her mind though, she was worried. Worried that they couldn't find the Virtue Elements, or who their Bearers would be. She bit her lip. Could they even win this war? Creators knows what they were going to face later on down the road. Shrugging the question about winning the war off her mind, Twilight walked back to Rainbow Dash's room. Hopefully there was still some dust remains of the clone. She would have loved to have a chance to study any samples that she could get her hoofs on. When she arrived, she noticed that Applejack, Spike and Fluttershy were already in the room before her. She also noticed that Sky Fire was still with Rainbow, his tail gently wrapped around her's. A small knowing smile came to her face as she walked into the room. Rainbow put on a cheesy grin as she waved at her. "What took ya, egg head?" She asked. "I had to report what happened to Princess Celestia," Twilight answered, frowning a bit, "She's...not too happy about what I told her." "I can understand that." Sky Fire said, his eyes narrowed. "I thought Nightmare Moon was gone forever." "The original one might be, but if Amducias and Storm Rider could clone her..." "Let's not think on it." Rainbow interrupted, "Anyway, you're here to examine the remains, right? Fluttershy came by earlier to check up on us too." Twilight blinked a couple of times. Fluttershy came by? That was the last thing she would have expected from her. Still, it was in her element to make sure that her friends were ok. True to Rainbow's word, Fluttershy was already by the pile of dust that was once the Nightmare Moon clone. She frowned somewhat as pulled away. "Well?" Twilight asked. "It was definitely magical in origin." Fluttershy said, placing a hoof to her chin. "Artificial too." Rainbow sighed, "Well, it WAS a clone, so that last big goes without saying." "I'm sorry, but I can't make any accurate observations with the remains like this. Princess Luna went all out against her." "Well can you blame her?" Spike asked. "I would have gone all out the moment I saw something dark from my past." "Well one thing's for sure, we need to be careful from now on." Sky Fire said, stretching his wings out some. "Everypony be on the lookout for anything that might be trying to attack us." Applejack gave a simple nod of her head. "You know it, Fire, we'll be keeping a better eye on everypony." For that brief moment, Twilight could have sworn that she saw an entirely different pony in Rainbow's boyfriend. For some time he never really looked like he wanted to take charge of anything. For that moment though, he was a completely different pony. A confident leader. In the back of her mind she had no doubt what his element was. The question was if he was willing to accept it or not. "I should get back to the library." Spike said, walking past her before turning to face her. "You coming Twi?" "Oh! Sure thing, Spike. I was gonna head there anyway." She quickly said. Fluttershy gave a slight nod of her head. "With Luna resting, I'll be doing dinner tonight. I'll let you all know when it's ready." The group went their separate ways for now, leaving Sky Fire and Rainbow alone in the same room. The two let out a huge sigh of relief as their friends left. Rainbow leaned on his shoulder gently, her eyes half closed. "You think they know?" She asked. "Knowing how observatent AJ is and how Fluttershy just seems to sense things? Most likely." He smirked, "But that doesn't mean we're gonna be 'lovely dovey' in front of them." "Oh ha ha." Rainbow smirked, nudging him slightly. "Hey, wanna see if your cooking's gotten any better since before you left?" "Er.." Sky Fire hesitated for a moment, "Believe me, you don't want me cooking anything if you want your stomach to stay calm." He smirked back at her briefly before nudging her back. "I'll tell you what, when you break the record, I'll learn to cook." "You're on!" XxXxX Back in the library, Twilight and Spike spent most of the time sorting through most of the books. Both of them were looking for an answer as to what caused the Nightmare Moon clone to appear. Twilight's young ward frowned when he saw the worried expression on Twilight's face. "How's she doing?" He asked. "She's resting up right now, she seems really tired for some reason and she hasn't even used a lot of power today." Twilight sighed, "It makes me worry, Spike. Especially with the coming events soon." "I've been thinking..." Spike put a claw to his chin, "Maybe it has something to do with how that clone appeared..." Twilight glanced back to her best friend with a quirked eyebrow. She had no doubt that it was somehow connected to the clone, but the way he said it was odd for him. Spike must have been getting either smarter or was still struggling to find the right words. "Elaborate for me, cause that barely made any sense, Spike." "Well, when Luna read the book she passed out and had a vision about Nightmare Moon, right?" He pointed out. "Now the book's gone, a Nightmare clone appears, and afterwards she says she's exhausted." He shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno, it just sounds like she's being drained somehow." Twilight's eyes shrunk in fear. If what Spike said was true then...she had to find Luna. "Oh my gosh...Spike we have to wake her up!" "What are you-" "That book is trying to make her accept her dark powers again! We have to remind who she really is!" XxXxX Back in Luna's room, the young princess twitched in her sleep. Honestly, she wasn't having such an easy time sleeping. Even back at Canterlot, Luna could barely sleep an inch in her room. Every time she did, it was as if a piece of her was falling into darkness. It was only thanks to Celestia that she hadn't been taken by her nightmares. She remembered the day she was freed from Nightmare Moon's control the first time. How accepting her sister was. The days that she spent with Celestia recovering her strength. How happy she was. She was finally home. But then the nightmares began to come. She remembered the first one. It was so vivid that she could have sworn she was still awake. She woke up screaming bloody murder. It took Celestia holding her tightly to calm her down. But Celestia wasn't in the mansion with them. The nightmares could come at any moment they wanted. The one thing Luna feared the most above anything was being forced back into her dark alter ego. The terrible deeds she had done as Nightmare Moon, though she managed to clear her name two years ago, still bothered her. Twitching in her sleep, Luna tossed over a couple of time. Within her dream, Luna saw only one single being. Nightmare Moon. In all her unholy glory and malice, the dark alicorn chased after her. Frightened like a small filly, Luna ran. She wanted to escape. She wanted to forever be free from this being's darkness. But where could she go? She was trapped in this dark dream world. Finally, she came to a dead end. Forced to turn around and face Nightmare Moon, Luna let out a silent sob. The dark alicorn grinned in malice as she looked right into her eyes. "I'll keep coming back, no matter how many times you destroy me..." Nightmare Moon taunted, "And each time, I will grow stronger while YOU grow weaker. We are one, Luna. That will never change..." "N-No..." Luna mumbled in her sleep, tears welling up behind her eyelids. "Just accept it! You deserve much more than what you're given! Join with me once again, and we shall take what is rightfully ours!" "No...SHUT UP!" Luna shouted, her horn glowing with lunar magic, "You're not me! You never WERE ME!" Angry tears ran down her cheeks, shaking in anger Luna rose in her dream. "I...don't..." XxXxX "NEED YOU!" A bright flashed emanated from Luna's room briefly. The princess of the night tumbled out of her bed, panting heavily. She had done it. She was able to fend off the nightmares by herself since she was freed. A weak smile came to her face. "I am...my own pony..." She said quietly. Her fatigue finally fading, Luna found the strength to stand back up on her own legs again. "Princess Luna!" Twilight yelled from the hallway. Luna glanced up, smiling as Twilight ran up to meet her. A wave of relief flowed through Twilight as she saw her standing. But she had not forgotten that there was still danger. "Are you all right? The book, it's trying to make you into who you were before!" Luna placed a hoof over Twilight's mouth. The purple unicorn blinked in confusion at first, but watched her mentor's sister carefully. "I know." She said with a smile. "But I will not be taken again so easily." "Princess..." Twilight began, but Luna interrupted her. "Look, I'm starting to feel better." She said, stretching herself out. "I am myself, Twilight Sparkle. And I will never stop being so. Not when I know I have friends like you and Celestia who care about me." Twilight's scared expression slowly turned into a smile. Gently nuzzling her friend, she let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're all right now, I would hate to lose a friend from you if you became Nightmare Moon again." "Heh, don't think I'll disappear that easily." The two shared a quick laugh with one another. Twilight glanced back to the library, noticing the books falling over. She coughed a bit as Spike ran around, helplessly trying to put them back into place. She blushed in embarassment as she turned back to Luna. "That...and having some extra help in the library would be great too." She said. Luna giggled briefly before nodding her head. "Of course. Lead the way." XxXxX Back in the Dark Castle, Amducias finished reading the black tome that he had placed in the mansion. A confident smirk grew to his lips. " Yes, Luna. Cherish your freedom. But don't think this is the end of your ordeal. After all..." He turned around in his chair to see dozens upon dozens of Nightmare Moon clones that continue to grow in number. It was an order from Storm Rider, or rather his master, to carry out. The vampire king let out a soft chuckle. "Your inner darkness has to go SOMEWHERE. Hmhmhmhm..." To Be Continued...