//------------------------------// // Chaos // Story: The Night's Stars // by SC_Orion //------------------------------// Nightmare Moon walked in silence through the castle's courtyard. At her immediate right, Twilight walked alongside her. The moon hung low in the sky, still hours away from reaching its apex, still casting Twilight in her shadow. She tried to ignore the moon, but couldn't. It was there in the edge of her vision, almost smiling a damned smile at her. She didn't turn to look at it; she kept walking straight forward. She refused to turn to look upon the moon. But she still saw it. She still saw those scars. Even without turning to face the moon, she could see those dark blemishes. It was almost screaming at her, and she felt so much pull towards the moon because of that scarring. It weighed on her mind so much more than it should have; It weighed on her mind too much. She felt like half of her mind kept being drawn to the moon. Even with all the problems and potential problems she faced, her attention was divided and unfocused. Though perhaps for a short while, she could allow her mind to roam: Last night had gone without issue; the rioting in Manehattan hadn't resumed, and so the city was starting to recover. Even though that recovery was limited to forgetting about what had happened and returning to the normalcy of, 'Stay inside at all times, because it is night at all times,' excepting the ponies whose job it was to sort through and clear the debris. To her relief, the rioting hadn't spread outside of Manehattan, though it did not quell the unease the dissent gave her. All it would take was a spark, and then surely, surely, Equestria would be consumed with rebellion. And when that happened, she would be forced to take drastic action. If she didn't take drastic action, she would lose control. And when she did take drastic action, she would lose control. It was a lose-lose scenario. She should have devoted more thought to the matter, but her treacherous mind wouldn't cooperate. The half of her mind not so drawn to the moon was instead drawn to the right, focused on her student and how soon, Twilight would depart once more. The batpony-pulled chariot was already prepared and waiting. As they approached, she could see the two batponies already harnessed to the chariot, standing at attention, just waiting for her student to climb aboard and for her to give the order. She could have simply sent her student off without seeing her depart. She could have, but she would not. To send Twilight back to Ponyville without seeing her off was improper since nothing demanded her immediate attention. She would not betray Twilight so. Twilight was, after all, her student. She could have simply teleported Twilight back to Ponyville. It would have been quicker and more efficient, but it didn't have the same symbolism. She let her eyes drift away from the chariot, then caught herself before her eyes drifted too close to the moon. Her lips flicked open for a moment, then she forced them closed again, pressing them into a tight line so they couldn't betray her. Her eyes wandered back to the chariot, then jumped onto Cadance's form. She squinted at Cadance and wondered, 'Why are you here? Last time you were not.' Cadance's head turned in a graceful motion, and for just a moment, Cadance looked at her. The lesser alicorn was thinking about something, Nightmare Moon could see it in her eyes, but she didn't know what. Then, Cadance looked back at Twilight, the thoughtful, almost reminiscent look still in place. Cadance's right wing twitched, and Nightmare's eyes snapped onto the movement. For a moment, she saw the feathers of Cadance's left wing dance above her back as the lesser alicorn fluffed her wings. But not Cadance's right wing. Rather, Cadance held it firmly against her side. 'You are holding something.' She scrutinized Cadance's wing, but there was nothing to give away that she was holding anything, let alone any signs to help her determine what it was. 'You are hiding something.' But what? It wasn't a weapon; Cadance wasn't an assassin, let alone a fighter or a threat as anything more than a symbol and a leader. It had to be something small, because there wasn't a noticeable bulge beneath her wing, nor was her wing stuck out from her body any more than usual. 'You are here to see Twilight off...' occurred to her, and her head drifted to the right, then her eyes settled on Twilight's back for a moment before settling back onto Cadance's form. Most likely, then, it was some kind of surprise gift for her student. She felt a draw of curiosity to know what it was, but it wouldn't be anything so important that she had to know. Sentimental, perhaps, but not important. Cadance wouldn't intentionally harm Twilight either. Whatever it was, it wasn't a threat to either of them. She still felt curious. She pushed it from her mind and looked back at her student. "When you return to Ponyville, you should find a crate of books that I have prepared for you to study," she said. Twilight's ears perked right up. Nightmare couldn't miss that smile, nor the joy that flooded Twilight's eyes as they lit up. Twilight's desire to learn and study was something she could use to strengthen their nascent bond; but of course, she had been failing to strengthen that bond of teacher and student. The opportunity had always been there, but she had been neglecting it. It was another failure on her part. A month and a half since her return, and she hadn't started teaching her student. Could she truly call herself 'teacher' at this point? It weighed on her mind, almost as badly as the scarred moon did. The thought, 'I am betraying you because I have not taught you,' came to mind, making the feeling all the worse. Betraying her student. Breaking that promise to teach her student. The promise that was supposed to be the foundation of their nascent relationship. Twilight wasn't her student. Not yet. She hadn't had the time, or perhaps she simply hadn't made the time. And so she was betraying Twilight and lying to her. The knowledge agitated her. It made her chest feel tight, it made her chest feel like it was moving and squirming around inside her body, and her chestplate was no help either. She wanted it to stop. She wanted to teach her student. And the only way that would happen was if she made it happen. It was unacceptable that she called Twilight Sparkle her student, yet had not started teaching and training her. It was unacceptable that she wasn't teaching Twilight, even more so than those nations waiting over a month before acknowledging her! It ought not be that she didn't teach her student! And so she wouldn't keep waiting. She had to act when she could. A part of her reasoned, 'I have been busy establishing my rule,' which was true, yet it still felt like nothing more than an excuse. It was simple, really. She hadn't taught Twilight like she was supposed to, and so she was betraying the filly. And that reminded her of her sister betraying her. It was unacceptable. Her jaw tightened for a moment, then slacked. Dwelling on her failure to teach her student wouldn't fix the problem; it only wasted time. "I will visit tomorrow and I will begin teaching you," she affirmed aloud. Twilight's excitement changed. It wasn't the same carefree joy that it was before. Worry seeped into it. Concern and fear pulled on her mind, breaking her focus, ruining the joy. "O-oh, um, okay," her student stuttered out. "W-what should I study, or-or-" Nightmare wanted to sigh as Twilight tripped over herself. 'You do not wish to disappoint me because you were Sister's student...' Her jaw tightened. She hated that relic, and she hadn't truly begun to teach her student. She knew she would grow to hate it even more. She looked back ahead at the chariot and inhaled. "We will discuss it tomorrow," she said. "When you return to Ponyville, I would presume you would want to see and talk to your friends-" "It-it's fine, they can wait until I've studied-" her student tried to counter, yet a certain disappointment had slipped into her voice. Nightmare shook her head. "Do not concern yourself with it," she stated. "Speak to them. Spend time with them." She let a moment pass in silence, punctuated by one of her boots clicking against the ground. Glancing aside at Twilight, she continued, "Then study, if you so desire. I still do not know the full extent of your magic and knowledge, so I do not yet know where to start." Twilight watched her. Nightmare turned her head to face Twilight. When her gaze fell on the filly, her student's stride slowed until she fell a step behind. Nightmare stopped. Twilight stopped. "As I have said," Nightmare started, turning to face her student, "I have never done this before. You will have to bear with me-" she licked her lips and bobbed her head to the right, "-because I do not know what I am doing." It took a few seconds before Twilight gave a hesitant, reluctant nod accompanied with a quiet, "Okay..." "Good," Nightmare said, smiling ever so slightly. She turned back to the chariot and inhaled. "And do not worry so much about disappointing me. I do not expect you to be perfect. You are not perfect." The thought, 'And you will never be perfect,' came to mind, yet voicing it was unwise, so she kept it to herself. She glanced back at Twilight, who was, of course, biting her lip. 'That is because I told you that you are not perfect, isn't it?' her mind groaned. She sucked in a deep breath, then chastised, "And stop trying to make yourself bleed." Twilight released her lip and swallowed. "Sorry." "Do not apologize," Nightmare retorted. "Come." Twilight hesitated, leaned to the right, then timidly walked forward once more. Once her student was back beside her, she resumed her calm stride towards the chariot. "And in truth, you may have already studied these books," Nightmare admitted. A scowl slipped onto her expression as she grumbled, "Sister did not leave anything behind so that I know where to begin." "W-we can figure it out," Twilight stuttered. "Yes," Nightmare acknowledged. She stopped a few steps away from the chariot, turned to face Cadance, and nodded. Cadance's contemplative look was now more hesitant, with the lesser alicorn nibbling on her lip. "Cadance." "Nightmare Moon..." was Cadance's drawled acknowledgment. For a moment, Nightmare looked at that insignificant tiara atop Cadance's head. It felt out of place; It felt wrong. Why was it so that she let Cadance keep her title and tiara, yet she did not wear her own tiara!? It made a mockery of her, yet it was still in her best interest. To keep Cadance and Princess Cadance was beneficial. How the lesser alicorn had helped with Manehattan was evidence of that. Cadance wasn't a fighter, but she was a symbol. A symbol of hope for everypony to look at- and perhaps, a threat because she was a symbol. Cadance begrudgingly had Nightmare's respect, even though she still hated the young alicorn. It wasn't nearly as bad as Sister, but she was still jealous. Ponies loved Cadance. Cadance looked at Twilight. Some of the hesitation lifted, and a thin, rigid smile wormed its way onto her lips. As if asking for permission, Cadance looked at Nightmare. She inclined her head, and then Cadance walked around to her student. Twilight walked out from her side, and the two of them met and hugged in front of her. The jealousy grew worse: both of her student and of Cadance. They shared a special bond, one that she didn't have with anypony. As the hug lingered and the seconds wore on, a feeling of disappointment bubbled up inside Nightmare's body. Both Twilight and Cadance almost melted into the hug, flexing their muscles to hold each other close, closing their eyes. They even went so far as to share a nuzzle, and watching that nuzzle left Nightmare feeling somehow cold. The coldness lingered beyond the two of them finally parting. Twilight stepped back, then faced her. Nightmare swallowed, then slowly licked her lips before turning her head to face her student. "As I said, you should find a crate of books when you return. Open the crate and see what books there are. I do not know which, if any of them, you have read and studied." She paused. Twilight nodded. She took a moment to think, then looked Twilight in the eye. "Spend time with your friends. Talk to them. I will visit tomorrow and we will go over which books you do and do not know." Twilight seemed genuinely confused by her command, but nonetheless, gave a slow nod. "Okay... why?" "It is good for you," Nightmare answered. 'And it is in my best interest.' Her student would do well to learn how to interact with other ponies. It would help her confidence. Cadance's eyes jumped onto Nightmare, and the lesser alicorn blinked in surprise. Twilight frowned, yet her head still drifted down, then back up in a slow, cautious nod. Yet behind that reluctant acknowledgment, behind the confusion, Nightmare could see something more: Twilight wanted to be with her friends. 'But is it in my best interest?' she wondered. Twilight's gaze unfocused, and her eyes settled on Nightmare's chestplate. 'They wield the Elements of Harmony. Keeping them in check is imperative. They are threats, yet they are also potential allies...' she thought, bringing a grimace to her lips. She could not trust them with the Elements of Harmony. That was simply insane! To trust those mares with the Elements would be stupid. They would use the Elements against her in a heartbeat. 'Or... perhaps you would not,' a part of her mind cautiously reasoned. And she wasn't sure if it was reason or simply a hope. 'Would you use them to kill me if you had the chance?' she wondered with growing dread. Her eyes drifted all over her student's body. Mane, head, back, sides, tail, flank. Cutie mark. She stared at the pink starburst for several seconds before her eyes jumped back to meet Twilight's. She couldn't be sure. She just couldn't. She couldn't trust that her student wouldn't do it just to get Sister back. She couldn't trust that her student wouldn't do it. Twilight didn't know it would kill her. She couldn't trust that her student wouldn't, given the chance, betray her in such a way. She couldn't trust that her student's friends wouldn't convince her to do it. Nightmare Moon wanted to be able to trust her student, but couldn't. Not with the Elements. The idea of Twilight betraying her played through her mind, how she would have her back turned, then suddenly, without provocation, Twilight and the rest of her friends turn on her. Betrayed her. The thought left her squirming where she stood. 'Surely you would not,' was her hope. But, perhaps, that hope was insane and foalish. Their bond wasn't that strong. Twilight had a stronger bond with her dear sister. She wanted to trust her student. But she couldn't. Not yet. Nightmare Moon inhaled, then calmly exhaled, casting the agitation the maddening thoughts aside. She inclined her head and told her student, "Go. Return to Ponyville. See your friends." "Okay..." Twilight mumbled. Nightmare watched her student turn around, then walk around behind the chariot. The filly put one hoof on the chariot, then hesitated. Twilight's lips pulled into a grimace and her head drifted back to face Nightmare Moon. "Um... what time will you show up?" was her question. "In the morning," Nightmare answered. "If you do not mind, I will come and we can talk as I raise the moon." For a moment, Nightmare watched as Twilight thought it over, then her student nodded. "Okay." Nightmare smiled, then turned to face the batponies. Both of them had their heads turned back to face her; they looked at her with pride. "Do take care of her," she commanded. They both gave quick, serious nods of acknowledgment: a single incline of the head, and wasting no more time than that. She turned back to face her student. Twilight sat down on the chariot in the center with her forelegs draped over the front rail. Her student could have looked anywhere she wanted; her student could have looked away from her. But that didn't stop either of them from watching the other as the batponies took off and ascended into the sky. She watched her student's climb and followed the chariot with her gaze for over a minute, well passed when Twilight should have been able to see her. Then she felt Twilight look away. Nightmare gradually brought her head back down. Something felt wrong. Watching Twilight depart yet again gave her some insane sense of longing! She missed her student's company. A part of her wanted to laugh at how absurd it was. Another part of her wanted to sit down and brood over it. She was used to isolation; she was used to being alone. One thousand years of banishment, and the isolation she suffered before that were more than enough for her to be used to being alone. Yet she still missed her student. 'I am too fond of you...' came to mind. And she was certain she was. Undoubtedly, she was too fond of that filly. It was insane, and surely it wasn't in her best interest! And that itself was insane! She knew it was likely clouding her judgment. Yet she still tolerated it; she still welcomed Twilight's company. She still had the audacity to hope that their bond would grow and solidify. "Are you okay?" came Cadance's soft, almost musical voice. Nightmare blinked away the thoughts and her eyes jumped onto the younger alicorn, forming into an immediate, distrustful squint. As she looked at Cadance, she felt the scowl on her expression and crushed it out. "I am simply thinking," she retorted. Cadance's brow folded down. "You miss her," wasn't a question. Nightmare felt a hesitation that was becoming too familiar. She lifted her right forehoof and calmly turned to face Cadance. "You are correct," she stated. Surely she had to have misread Cadance's expression because she felt certain the younger alicorn looked at her almost sympathetically. Surely, surely, surely that wasn't the case! Yet that sympathetic expression lingered, making no sense, just like everything else since her return. Her own squint faded away and mellowed out. "I can't imagine what it was like for you..." was Cadance's hesitant comment. Her eyes and muzzle even drifted away while Nightmare continued to stare at her. The memories sparked in the back of her mind. Cadance refused to look at her as she added, "Being alone for a thousand years. Not having anypony to talk to but yourself." "I dealt with it," Nightmare snapped. Cadance, muzzle still pointed away from her, looked at her, the crease in her brow growing even more pronounced. "I think ponies would like you more if you weren't so bitter." Nightmare laughed. Her lips pulled up, she threw her head back, and she laughed. It was a laugh at the sheer absurdity of the suggestion. She stared up at the stars, laughing, laughing, and laughing. Cadance actually thought that would help! To think that there was anything she could do by which ponies would somehow love her! Oh, how incredibly amusing! How incredibly naive. The bitterness came back to the front of her mind. The laugh suffocated. Her muzzle drifted back down, and she leveled a seething glare on Cadance. "Do not," she growled, "pretend to know me, Cadenza." Her nostrils flares as she exhaled. Cadance mostly held her ground, only lifting her right forehoof and limply holding it a few inches off the ground while her body leaned away from Nightmare. And she took a sense of accomplishment in how frail Cadance's backbone was, as it meant the young alicorn knew her place and was not a threat to her. But Cadance was still a symbol, and that was still a threat to her. Ponies saw Cadance as hope, and that meant that as long as Cadance was around, they could despise her while they gave Cadance the love they had given her sister. And that wouldn't change. "It doesn't matter what I do, ponies will always hate me," Nightmare spat. "I could save the world from certain doom, and they would find cause to hate me, that is if they did not believe I was not the pony who caused it! I could free dear sister and they would still hate me and love her while she uses everypony without them realizing it!" she snapped. Her legs trembled in rage. Cadance still stood there, not quite ready to flee out of fear, but not quite ready to hold her ground: if she attacked, Cadance would run. But not escape. Cadance's wings twitched at her sides. Carefully, the lesser alicorn bowed her head, though her eyes stayed locked in place on Nightmare Moon. The sight brought a victorious, ecstatic smile to Nightmare's lips. It was a victory that she so deserved! One that sister had previously stolen from her! Then Cadance nodded, and a bit of that smile faded away. The lesser alicorn lifted her head up, met Nightmare's gaze for a moment, then turned her head back to look at her right wing. Cadance unfolded her wing. Something white-gray fell an inch before Cadance's light-blue aura caught it. Nightmare's gaze immediately fell on the object. A newspaper. A simple newspaper. 'That is what you were hiding?' her mind scoffed, then mocked 'So it was not a gift for my student, or did you forget?' Cadance levitated the paper over to her, unfolded it, and then faced Nightmare. And Nightmare stared, feeling her blood run cold as she saw the headline and picture. That victorious, ecstatic smile crumbled. She felt her lips falling down, but she couldn't stop it; there was nothing she could do about it, and then there was just a numb line on her lips. "You're wrong," was all Cadance said as she turned to her right, then walked away. Cadance's horn went dim and her aura winked out. On instinct, Nightmare caught the paper in her own magic. The headline read, 'Queen Nightmare Moon Saves Foal From Fiery Fate!' Nightmare stared. She heard Cadance walking away so casually, so dismissively, yet the sound of each step was lost on her as she stared at the headline and picture. Her blood grew colder and colder until her entire body felt like it was void of warmth. Her skin felt numb. She didn't feel the night air holding her body. The edges of her vision were almost black, leaving a small circle where all she could see was that picture and headline and flickering light in the darkened edges of her vision. And it all burned into her mind. It was a newspaper from Manehattan. The front page headline was about herself. They could have put anything there. They could have written about the chaos of the rioting. They could have glorified Cadance for putting a stop to it. They could have written of the two young adults she had stopped. They could have mocked her, or blamed her for instigating the crisis. They could have brought up the arrival of batponies to keep peace, yet spun it as if it was occupation. They could have raged against the eternal night she brought, demanded the return of Sister. But they didn't. Instead, the front page story was about her saving the life of a foal. She didn't understand it. She didn't comprehend it. Her legs trembled. She wasn't sure why they trembled, but they did, and she couldn't stop it. She just stared at the headline and picture, her eyes jumping back and forth between the two. Her mind demanded, 'Why!?' because it made no sense. She felt a compulsion to incinerate the newspaper. She felt compelled to teleport to a forest and make a city-sized clearing. She felt compelled to scream. But she didn't do any of that. She was almost paralyzed by how little sense it made. Why would they have written such an article!? Why would they have shed her in a positive light!? How did Cadance acquire such a paper!? Was it true, or was it fake!? Why did Cadance give it to her!? Why!? But it didn't matter. Anypony who saw it would simply know it was propaganda. They wouldn't care. They wouldn't believe it. They would still hate her just the same as before. Or perhaps they would believe it, but even then it wouldn't matter: they would find a new reason to hate her, even if the new reason was a lie in of itself. 'How did they get this picture?' her mind asked. She blinked away the darkness at the edges of her vision, and her eyes shot over the picture, taking in every detail. It had to have been somepony in that crowd, but she still didn't understand how. She was facing the mother after having returned the foal, so the mother was hugging the foal. And the mother's look. Relief and gratitude! It was almost paralyzing, it shocked her so much. She remembered the way the mother had looked at her. It had stirred memories from so long ago, and looking at it now, once again, it stirred memories from centuries upon centuries ago. And that look was stuck in her mind. At the time, it hadn't done anything for her. It wasn't important, and it did not matter; there were more important things to deal with. But now, the look almost haunted her. It made her have the audacity to hope, 'Perhaps you are correct, Cadance.' She stamped the thought out, lowered the paper, then looked across the courtyard. Staring straight ahead, nothing moved. For a few seconds, she continued to stare ahead as her mind churned. She blinked, then turned her head left, then right. She stood there alone. There were no Royal Guards nor Batponies to be seen anywhere. Cadance was back inside the castle. Twilight was on her way to Ponyville. She felt too aware of the silence permeating the courtyard. That silence was oppressive and felt overbearing. It felt like it was pressing down on her from all sides. 'Perhaps I will read the article later, out of curiosity,' she mused. She folded the newspaper, then teleported it to her chambers. But it would be out of curiosity, nothing more. She crushed that futile, doomed hope that Cadance was right out with the first step she took towards the castle. Nopony would believe the article was anything more than lies, perhaps except for those ponies who had been there. It would not matter or make a difference. But perhaps it would help, despite what she knew. After all, she was not always right. And it wasn't as if the article would bring her any harm. It was, somehow, in her best interest. She put it out of mind. She tried to put it out of mind. The walk back to the castle had been too quiet. The moon didn't distract her, and her student didn't distract her. Instead, her mind kept drifting back to the headline and picture. It stayed with her, despite her desires to forget about it. It stayed with her, almost mocking her, as she trotted through the marble hallways to her chambers. And when she closed the doors behind her, shutting herself in her bedchambers, the thought was still there with her. It made her want to scream. It had to be fake. It had to be fake! She stopped, closed her eyes, then sucked in a deep breath. 'Why does this bother me so?' her mind wondered. Before she could find the answer, she heard a crack. Then she felt the crack, and where it came from. A flood of disorientation overwhelmed her, nearly knocking the air out of her lungs, nearly bringing her to her knees. Her eyes snapped open and she froze as ice cascaded over her body. She felt reality shift, get forced aside and warped, then cut in two and stitched back together in some disorganized, impossible way, like mashing the pieces of a puzzle together so that they overlapped. Two serpentine eyes bore into her from every direction at once; nowhere was safe. Her eyes darted back and forth across the features of her room as tingles raced down her spine, as her black coat stood straight up. One of the golden swirls shifted. Her eyes landed on it. She stared as the golden swirl unwound itself. Her breath caught in her throat. Her chest tightened. She couldn't breathe. The air grew thick with raw power, turning into a soup, then into something almost like a paste that locked her body in place. A primal sense of wrongness overtook her. An unnatural sensation of primordial fear smashed down on her mind. That golden line twisted, bulged out, then morphed from gold to brown. A pair of mismatched horns grew from the top, then an angular head winked into place. Two yellow eyes glowed into existence, surrounding crimson red pupils. A tail unwound from the body, and white spines grew out of it as the color broke from brown to green. Mismatched legs and arms popped into existence on the body. A fang and a beard grew from the head, then a pair of lips fluttered into life, already smiling with raw amusement. Maddening laughter filled her chambers, gradually growing in volume and glee with each second. The laughter echoed off the walls. The laughter echoed in her mind. She wanted to tear her ears off as that sound penetrated her entire being. The laughter came from everywhere at once, even inside her own body and mind. The two-dimensional thing on the ceiling peeled away from the marble and became a three-dimensional beast. "Hello, Luna..." The beast fell away from the ceiling, spun around, then hovered in the air in front of her. She found herself unable to move as the world moved her closer to him. He tilted his head and gave a look that was somehow meant to be sad, with his lips drooping halfway down the length of his body. "Did you miss me?" he asked. The sadness melted into a viscous liquid that dripped onto the floor, which then sizzled and boiled when it hit the floor. Steam rose up from the liquid. "I missed you," was the cold growl. His slit pupils flashed crimson. Her body once again became her own. Her gaze sharpened, her horn surged to life. "Discord," she seethed. And with that, the world pushed her back to where she had been. Discord's eyes lit up in recognition, and he threw his body straight up and exploded his arms outward in ecstatic glee. "You remember me!" he bellowed in utter joy. The joy faded and he leveled a glare on her. "Trapping beings of chaos in stone isn't very nice, you know. That really wreaked havoc on my schedule, and not the good kind!" Nightmare's head twisted to the side in anger and she snapped, "Were it not for Sister I would have killed you myself!" Discord's expression drooped in faux hurt and he mocked in a voice that one would speak to a young foal, "Aww, you know better than to say that Luna!" Nightmare Moon's cheeks trembled from uncontained rage. She lifted her right forehoof, bolted forward one step, leveled her horn on him, then declared, "LUNA IS DEAD!" at the top of her lungs. Her magic surged out of her horn with enough force that she felt her body pushed back from the recoil. She felt a shockwave crash around the room and slam back into her, but she held her ground. The column of dark blue light lanced towards Discord. If it had been anything else, it wouldn't have survived. But it was Discord. The beam touched his brown fur, and in response, he laughed in jubilant joy! His body shook and shivered as he coiled up as if to protect himself. "O-oh stop! Th-that tickles!" he cackled. Nightmare's horn burned hot from the magic she channeled. She felt the drain on her strength. Her legs trembled. Discord spun around one more time, and then finally she stopped. It was wasting magic. Discord kept spinning in the air, laughing and squirming in response. And there wasn't a thing she could do about it. Discord could shrug off anything she did to him. And no amount of anger, hatred, and rage would change that. Her body felt icy as Discord finally righted himself and grinned at her. "Speaking of your oh-so-lovely dear sister," came his deceptively pleasant voice before it twisted to the sound of metal scraping against metal, "where is she?" Nightmare kept silent and glared at him. Her mind raced, and dread welled up inside her chest. 'I cannot stop him!' her mind hissed. And then what that meant settled in, 'I need the Elements of Harmony.' The thought left her feeling sick. She barely held back an agonized grimace. But she couldn't act just yet. No, Discord would find out if she did. She couldn't take that risk. She needed to take advantage of his overconfidence and playfulness. She needed to distract him long enough for him to grow bored and decide to leave. 'And leaving will mean causing chaos elsewhere...' she realized. Discord brought his claw to bear, then snapped his talons. She felt her stomach drop out of her body when nothing changed. He could have done anything and she didn't know what it was! She couldn't put up any resistance to that thing! Her rule was in jeopardy! And cleaning up after Discord, assuming he could be stopped, would be a challenge. "That's odd," Discord muttered absently to himself. He turned around, left and right, right and left, searching for something. He lifted the bed up with a single talon, and his eyes elongated to roll over the floor. "I don't see her anywhere," he muttered again. His eyes pulled back to his head, he set the bed down and then faced her. Nightmare's mind raced. 'You cannot break the banishment spell? Why? How?' It made no sense! The only thing that could stop Discord was the Elements of Harmony. Was he just toying with her, mocking her and waiting for the right moment? Or was it somehow beyond his abilities? The banishment spell was the same one Sister had used on her, but it wasn't powered by the Elements. She didn't understand, and had no answers. 'You must not know where she is in case you can retrieve her...' she knew. She swallowed and matched his gaze. "She is gone," Nightmare growled. Discord brought his claw to his chest. His ears fell back and he pulled his head back as he left out a defeated, disappointed sigh. "Oh, that's too bad." Then as if nothing had happened, he perked right back up. "Well, it was good to see you again Luna!" he declared. Nightmare opened her mouth, only to feel a cold pressure force her mouth closed. She stared down at her mouth to find a muzzle keeping her mouth closed. And oh, how her body trembled in rage. "But I have chaos to cause," came Discord's threatening voice. "Ta-ta, Luna." She heard him snap his talons. There was a flash of light, and then he was gone. Her horn exploded to life. Her magic erupted around the muzzle. She ripped it off and threw it to the floor. The overbearing feeling of primordial wrongness fled the room. The air no longer felt like a paste. She no longer felt as cold as ice. The feeling of being looked at from every direction disappeared. Her legs still trembled as her mind cried out, making one single, simple demand that could never be, 'No!' She charged towards the balcony door, threw it open with an uncontrolled burst of magic and jumped outside. Gone was the beautiful purple and black tapestry of her night, dotted with those jeweled stars. Now, it was a mishmash of every color she could see. Oranges, reds, purples, browns, blues, greens, indigos, violets, whites, and every color in between. The colors boiled and shifted, twisting in on themselves, flowing and inverting in ways that made her head hurt. Reality itself couldn't decide which color to settle on, at least not until the moon suddenly fell back under the horizon as if a ball had been dropped. The ice in her heart returned as the sun shot up into the sky, burning away the chaos and her beautiful night with its scorching brightness. She felt the heat of the sun against her coat. The light burned her eyes. Everything turned far, far too bright. Canterlot was barely visible. She squinted, pressing her eyes nearly all the way closed, leaving just a small sliver through which she could see the sun-soaked, whitewashed marble of Canterlot. "Princess Celestia?" her student whispered, nearly frantically. Instead of feeling anger, she felt a subdued, distant sense of disappointment. Then the light died down, the warmth faded, and darkness returned. The moon bounced back into the sky as if rebounding like a ball hitting the floor. Internally, she screamed. Her mind screamed in rage and anguish. Her work had been violated yet again by a being she couldn't stop. She felt powerless. She was powerless. She knew she was powerless. And she hated it. She hated it more than she hated anything, her sister included. Her legs trembled, her lips pulled back into tight, vicious lines and revealed her sharp teeth. She clenched her jaw as that fire and anger boiled and raged inside her mind and heart. She felt the pressure of the bite in her gums. She flared her wings out and screamed at the top of her lungs, "DISCORD!" But the world didn't care. He didn't care. He laughed. The scream ended with a choked cough. She felt something tear, then warmth trickled down her throat. She let out a gurgled growl and lowered her head. She coughed again, and specks of crimson dotted the otherwise pristine white marble. A small portion of the rage subsided, just enough for her to think logically, even as the world fell apart around her. Clouds swirled together in the sky, yet they weren't proper clouds. Instead of being true clouds made by pegasi, the clouds were a disgusting, bright pink color. Instead of raining water, some foul brown liquid fell down onto the world. The clouds grew in size until the whole of Canterlot was covered in the pink-colored clouds. The brown fluid rained down on her body, and she felt it stick to her coat and mat her fur. It was almost like it was raining on that fire, but the anger and rage didn't subside. She had to force it back; she needed to think. She needed to be in control. She seethed as she glared straight ahead. She licked her lips. Mixed in with her own blood, she tasted chocolate milk. Had it not been Discord's doing, perhaps it wouldn't have infuriated her so much. 'My student is out there,' whispered in her mind. Her chest tightened and her lungs deflated. Her head whipped left, then right. She nearly launched herself to the railing, then looked out across the castle's courtyard. Some Royal Guards and the occasional batpony remained at their posts, others raced across the courtyard, or flew in the case of the batponies and pegasi, for shelter. She heard a frantic knock on Cadance's door, then the lesser alicorn answered it. She put the conversation out of mind because it would waste time and distract her. Instead, she planned and prioritized: 'I must ensure my student and her friends are safe so that they may use the Elements of Harmony against Discord.' Then the anguish of, 'Can I trust them to do this? Will they be able to do this?' set in and twisted in her chest. They had to succeed, and she could not help them. They had to succeed because she couldn't stop Discord. Only her student and her friends, wielding the Elements of Harmony, could overpower Discord. She had to rely on her student and her student's friends. And she wasn't sure she could trust them with the Elements of Harmony to stop Discord and not turn on her. The twist in her heart grew to encompass her whole chest as the thought, 'I have no choice,' came to mind. 'If I do not give them the Elements to use, Discord will win and destroy Equestria.' But knowing that didn't make it any easier. Yet another part of her, absurd as it was, thought, 'I am giving my student an opportunity to show her loyalty and prove that I can trust her,' and she wanted to laugh. It truly was absurd! She might as well be considering giving Twilight some weapon to kill her with and telling her, "If you use this on me, my sister will return," and expecting her not to follow through on it! It was begging for things to go wrong. The whole idea was foalish. And she felt uncertain. But that didn't matter, and she was letting it paralyze her. Twilight would either succeed or fail; Equestria would either be saved or Discord would destroy it again; Twilight would either use the Elements of Harmony on her or would not. But she could still maximize her chances of success. After all, the six of them would be, for a short time after using the Elements, incapacitated. If they succeeded, if they stopped Discord, then there was enough time for her to act. And surely they would prioritize Discord, the bigger threat, over her? It would be stupid not too, and her student was smart. So then it was in her and their best interest to deal with Discord first! It was in their combined best interest to be allies. It helped ease her anxiety, yet the world still fell apart around her. 'You are still out there,' came to mind again. She pressed her jaw tight and scanned the sky for her student. Discord wouldn't know. At least not at first. He might figure it out. But unlike her, Discord wasn't a killer, and that was one of the few comforts she could take. He wouldn't kill her student to stop her. But that didn't mean he wouldn't stop her student somehow. Or worse, turn her student against her. She fluffed her wings, then dashed back inside and headed to the door. She threw it open, and Captain Shining Armor jumped back. "Queen Nightmare M- what's going on!?" And that question made Nightmare feel some sense of defeat that made her hate Sister all the more. 'You did not tell them!?' her mind screamed. "I do not have time to explain," she stated. "Gather the Guard and do what you can to slow him down. You will not be able to stop him, but I require you to distract him as long as possible while I deal with him." The captain gave a reluctant nod, one which all but said, 'This isn't going to end well for us.' She twitched her head to the side and growled, "He will not kill you, nor should that matter! You have your task, tend to it!" His metal boots scraped on the marble floor as he bolted to perform his orders. Nightmare ignored it and lit her horn and charged a teleportation spell. The world warped around her, then Cadance came into sight in front of her, skidding to a stop in the hallway. "N-Nightmare," was the lesser alicorn's stutter. "Cadenza," Nightmare Moon greeted hastily. She flicked her eyes over the two guards accompanying Cadance, then met the alicorn's gaze and asked, "Pray tell, did sister tell you of him?" A quick, nervous nod was the answer she needed. Anything else would have taken too long. 'Good. You did something right.' Cadance bit her lip and fidgeted on her hooves, alternating between holding her weight on her right legs and left legs. Her wings bristled at her sides, continually spasming. And she recalled, 'You are not a fighter.' A grimace pulled at her lips. Cadance would perhaps not be much assistance in stopping Discord. Perhaps in restoring order if Discord was defeated, but not in defeating him. And for some reason, a part of her found some sense of irony in having an alicorn at her disposal, yet it was one who couldn't help because she was weak. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled to cast it aside; it was distracting her. "Good." "What are we going to do? Shouldn't you be trying to stop him!?" Cadance asked. "I-" Nightmare drawled, her eyes jumping on to the two guards before meeting Cadance's once again, "will speak to you of it in private." It would take slightly longer, but there were things she could not say in front of other ponies. To admit in front of the guards that she could not stop Discord? It would be foalish and insane! It would show weakness and invite more dissent, this time from the Royal Guard! She didn't give Cadance an opportunity to say anything before she teleported the two of them back into Cadance's chambers. It took Cadance a second to recover from her sudden teleport, and her mind screamed out, 'I am wasting time with her! I need to tend to my student and her friends!' But Cadance could still have some use in this situation, and so talking to her had its use, even if it delayed her. Rushing head first into the situation without a plan would get her nowhere. "I cannot stop him," she admitted. There was one single second during which time Cadance just looked at her, recognition escaping her as if what Nightmare said had gone unheard. Then, Nightmare watched and saw it click in Cadance's mind. Any semblance of a smile, any hint of confidence or reassurance that it would be okay? It all disintegrated. The alicorn's lip wobbled, she took a step back, recoiling in fear. "W-what?" was Cadance's quiet stutter. "He is more powerful than I," Nightmare related, "and I cannot harm him." And oh, how she hated admitting that. The bitterness seethed in her mind. "B-but you-" Cadance started. And Nightmare knew where that was going, and wasn't about to let it continue, so she jerked her head to the side and snapped, "Yes, my sister and I defeated him once before!" She leveled her head once again, inhaled, then scanned the room, looking everywhere except Cadance as she said, "But I cannot do that now." "But if you-" Her eyes snapped onto Cadance and narrowed. "No," was all she said. Any more than that would have only further infuriated her. "Then-" "I will deal with it!" Nightmare preemptively snapped. She strode past Cadance and walked towards the alicorn's bedchambers. Cadance turned to face her as she walked by, then followed. She headed into the chambers, ignoring the unkempt bed, then proceeded out onto the balcony. The chocolate milk rain fell down on her black coat, making her uncomfortably sticky. But she ignored it. She scanned the sky, searching for Discord, searching for any signs of her student, hoping that he would not find her. She could almost hear ponies screaming out in Canterlot. Buildings lifted off the platform and hovered in the air, some spinning or rotating, and others just slowly bobbing up and down as if in some liquid, only to bob back up again and stay in the air. A part of her felt a sense of hopelessness. There wasn't anything she could directly do. She had power; she had authority, but neither served her in this situation. Neither held any capability of slowing Discord, let alone stopping him. But she could still intervene. She could assist her student somehow. She could still make sure that Discord didn't find out about Twilight, make sure that Discord didn't hurt her student or her student's friends. And most assuredly, she wouldn't make that stupid mistake that her sister had. 'You will not find out about her until it is too late!' came a bitter hiss in her mind. Then, she smiled. She would be there, just close enough to watch, but far enough away that she wasn't in danger when her student won. And the gears of her mind turned, 'Perhaps I can use your victory to my advantage,' came to mind. After all, once her student won, her student would have vanquished a great evil; a threat to all of Equestria and the entire world. She could use that, somehow. Perhaps celebrating it. It would give ponies some reassurance, maybe it would even help smooth things out. And of course, her student would deserve such recognition. And her student would have gained more of her trust. Perhaps it would help her student's confidence. But that was all in the future. Before any of those plans could come to fruition, Discord had to be stopped. 'I am getting ahead of myself,' was her disappointed reminder. She glanced back at Cadance, who lingered in the doorway. "Do what you can to distract him. I will work on defeating him," she ordered. Cadance gave a reluctant, timid nod. Nightmare studied the alicorn's frightened expression and exhaled. "You will be helping protect other ponies," she explained. Cadance's expression twisted, then softened. "I- I guess you're right." "I am," Nightmare replied. Cadance winced, then nodded. Her horn glowed, then flashed, and she was gone. Nightmare Moon looked back out across Canterlot. 'You need to learn how to teleport, Twilight Sparkle,' occurred to her. Once she finally got around to teaching her student, that would be the first thing they went over. She channeled magic into her horn to teleport but hesitated. She could teleport to her student right then, retrieve her, then retrieve her student's friends. She could do that. It would only take so long, perhaps fifteen minutes. And then they could deal with Discord. But that was assuming Discord didn't figure out what she was doing. That was assuming that Discord didn't find out and intervene. Directly acting, then, was perhaps putting her student in danger. Directly gathering them was perhaps a mistake. It could alert Discord of her plans, and to do so was a mistake. It gave him the opportunity to react. Yet at the same time, giving Discord more time to sow chaos was also a mistake. The Elements would protect her student and her friends from Discord, yet the fact remained, they could be interdicted before they could act. Her lips pulled into a grimace and she tasted the chocolate milk rain on the tip of her tongue. She teleported back to her chambers. She walked to her desk, picked up a quill and levitated a scroll over. Personally gathering them would alert Discord, but sending a letter? He may detect it, but a letter was boring. Discord wouldn't care to investigate that. She wrote the letter out, rolled it up and bound it with her seal, then sent it off. The chariot landed much harder than it had before. Twilight's whole body lurched a few inches into the air from her sitting position, and she grunted as she landed. The most likely answer that came to mind was, 'Batponies don't have much experience pulling chariots, do they?' And that made sense, given that the batponies kept to themselves, and that she hadn't seen any batponies pulling such chariots before! So the Royal Guard had at least one way in which they were better. But that might also have been ignoring the biggest point: how the ride back to Ponyville had been a terrifying experience. Of course, that was just distracting herself so she could try, and fail, to ignore the sky and the weather. She nibbled on her sore lip as her eyes jumped back and forth, and a feeling of dread left her with no desire to climb down from the chariot. The sky was certainly acting up. At first, when she had seen the sunrise, her heart had swooned with joy and burned with hope! Surely it had to have meant Princess Celestia had somehow escaped! And then the sun fell again, much quicker than it should have. Of course, it had been foolish to hope Princess Celestia had escaped. It crushed that wellspring of hope inside her, and as the flight went on and the sun and moon kept rising and falling unnaturally fast, it only made her more uncertain. Princess Celestia wasn't free. She was certain of that. Instead, something seemed to be fundamentally wrong. And really, that was easy to figure out. Clouds weren't supposed to be pink. It wasn't supposed to rain chocolate milk. Grass wasn't supposed to look like a blue checkerboard. A part of her wanted to blame Rainbow Dash for this, but seeing as though Rainbow Dash was a single pegasus and in no way an alicorn, she knew better than to put the blame on her friend, as much as she wanted to. So no, something was wrong with her teacher. That had to be the reason why. Nothing else remotely made sense. She couldn't think of anything else that had the magic required to act on such a large scale. She didn't know what and she hadn't heard anything, but something had to have happened to Nightmare Moon. And it left her squirming where she sat, despite the paralysis preventing her from climbing off the chariot. Though the batponies didn't seem to mind her staying there. A quick glance at them found that they were both squinting at Canterlot with the sort of look one has when somepony does something absolutely stupid, yet whatever it was actually somehow worked. Twilight shook her head. Her chocolate-milk soaked mane flung around to the other side of her neck, then slapped her. Her body jerked and she winced. Her lips spread into a grimace. The reminder made her feel that much more aware of how she felt. Drenched in chocolate milk. Her coat felt sticky and grimy. It was in no way refreshing. There was absolutely no way she would see Rarity out in this mess. Begrudgingly, she lowered her head and let her eyes roll over her coat. "I need a bath..." she muttered. 'Or several.' It was really going to suck if it dried before she bathed. Resentfully, she pushed herself up into a standing position. She looked down and saw a puddle of chocolate milk where she had been sitting, and her grimace grew even more disgusted. At least she hadn't felt it. She flicked her eyes to the two batponies and looked over their leathery wings. They had an advantage over pegasi in this situation, and even if their sensitivity to the sudden change between night and day had made the trip unpleasant, she had made it safely. And she wished she was still in Canterlot. "Thank you for the ride," she said to the two batponies. Their squints disappeared as they both turned their heads back towards her and gave succinct nods. Without wasting any time, they went back to squinting at Canterlot. She ignored it, turned around, then hopped out of the chariot. Into chocolate milk mud. The ground felt soft under her hooves, and oh, how she hated it! Feeling the mud press up around the edges of her hooves and squish in against her frogs. Slimy, slick, and absolutely disgusting. Worse than the Everfree, even. 'Why can't these streets be more like Canterlot!' groaned out in her mind. But of course it was a small town, so they weren't. She took a deep breath in through her mouth, sighed and lowered her head to where it was even with her body. The two batponies hastily took off back into the sky, heading towards Canterlot. She watched them for a moment and her gut twisted into a knot. 'I should be going back with them...' But now it was too late. 'Nightmare Moon will fix this. I hope.' She walked the thankfully short distance to her library, but each step was still a nuisance; her hooves pressed down into the soft ground and squished more mud up around the edges. Lifting her hooves proved challenging as well since the mud wanted to keep her hooves held in place. She didn't even bother to knock. Maybe it was rude, but then she was staying at the library and almost nopony was ever there! She threw the door open with her magic, lifted a forehoof to march inside, then paused and blinked as seven pairs of eyes fell on her. "Twilight!" was the group's happy cry. All five of her friends rushed over towards her, among which Rainbow was the fastest, and it gave her flashbacks. Her eyes widened in fear. Not only would the pegasus undoubtedly knock her down again, but the pegasus was going to knock her down in chocolate milk mud! Chocolate. Milk. Mud! She winced, braced herself as best she could in the soft mud, and closed her eyes. The impact never came. Reluctantly, she cracked open her eyes. The five of them were at the door. Refusing to come outside. She couldn't blame them and was grateful for it. "Darling! You simply must come inside out of that- that! Whatever it is!" Rarity chided. Unsurprisingly, Rarity's expression was one of pure horror. Her eyes never stayed in one spot and constantly slithered over her body, and no matter where Rarity looked, Twilight's body was a mess that made her horror grow worse. "Well, if you'd get out of my way I'd be happy to oblige," Twilight snapped back. "Oh, er, right," Rarity backtracked and stepped aside, offering a sheepish, apologetic smile. Twilight quickly strode inside. She inhaled through her nose, hoping to take comfort in the scent of books, paper, and ink, only for her muzzle to scrunch up from the smell of chocolate milk. She walked inside to the middle of the room and heard her friends follow her. Reluctantly, she looked back at them. They were, including Rarity, soaked with chocolate milk, and their hooves had mud all over them. And they were inside her library now. Muddy tracks led up to where she stood, and muddy tracks were left all over the library from the rest of her friends. 'Great. Just great!' her mind commented. A scowl slipped out. But still, it was better than kicking them outside and forcing them to go home and risk that 'rain' striking again. She couldn't and wouldn't do that to them. Besides, she had company. Good company. Although she still wished she was in Canterlot. Or maybe she was overreacting again. None of them asked her how everything had gone, and the five of them gathered around her in a semicircle. Midnight and Spike walked over in front of her. 'Something's wrong,' came to mind, followed closely by a sarcastic, 'Gee, I wonder what?' as she looked out the window. The very top of Canterlot mountain was obscured by pink clouds, and the city was tinted brown from 'rain'. She pushed the thought aside and turned looked back at her friends. Spike carried a scroll bound with Nightmare Moon's seal, and a bad feeling welled up inside her chest. "How bad is it..?" was her drawled question. Midnight shrugged casually as if nothing was going wrong or out of the ordinary. It was enough to make her squint. "Nightmare didn't say. All she said is that I'm to escort you and your friends back to Canterlot by train." "I was just there," Twilight groaned. Out of instinct, she lifted her forehoof to press it against her head. Fortunately, she stopped herself before she made an even worse mess of her mane. She inhaled deeply and put her forehoof back down. She looked at Midnight and asked, "Why does she need-" but her mind answered her own question before she could finish, 'The Elements of Harmony.' The dread in her chest grew worse. She stood there, facing and watching Midnight, who just shrugged and smiled. "She has a reason, but I don't know it," was Midnight's casual response. "Right," Twilight growled. She sucked in a deep breath, swiveled around and looked over her friends. She forced a smile and raised her eyebrows up, then called out, "Well!" before dropping the forced expression and adding a flat, "Let's go." "Uh, okay," Rainbow muttered. "Are you alright dear? You seem a bit..." Rarity fidgeted on her hooves as her gaze shot over to her. Twilight squinted Rarity. "Well, stressed," her friend finally finished. "Like I said. I was just in Canterlot," Twilight answered. "And the other night was..." she trailed off and looked away from them. "We can talk about it on the train I guess..." she mumbled as she trudged to the door. "Um, what about me?" Spike asked. Twilight paused and winced. She stopped, then gradually turned back to face him as her friends all walked towards the door. Midnight even followed. Spike came into view, standing there at a loss, not knowing what to do and just tapping his claws together as he watched her. His uncertainty stabbed at her heart. 'I shouldn't leave him here alone,' came to mind. But could she really take Spike with her? She had her suspicions of what Nightmare wanted her for, although the reason behind that she could barely guess at. 'Why is the weather so messed up?! What's going on!?' her mind demanded. Of course, standing there doing nothing didn't answer either of those questions. It was still probably better to take him with her. "Come on, Spike. We need to figure out what's happening," she called. The uncertainty faded and Spike quickly ran over to her, then stood beside her. She turned around, then walked out into the muddy streets. Spike followed immediately behind her, then Midnight, and finally her friends. Fortunately, it wasn't raining, but that still didn't make it any less unpleasant. She glanced back at her friends. They all looked to her for guidance. Somehow, she was still apparently the de facto leader of the group, even now. They all looked at her when she looked at them and they gave her reassuring smiles. Rarity's smile was a bit more forced than the rest and was more of a grimace than a smile. Twilight was certain the mud was responsible. But still, it made her feel better and reassured. Sure, she had no idea what was going on, but at least she knew she had five friends who would stick by her no matter what! Just like that chocolate milk mud.