//------------------------------// // 10: Spectre of the Nightmare // Story: A Do-Over // by Pip232 //------------------------------// Luna gawked at the mirror, rubbing her eyes. When she pulled them away Nightmare Moon was still there. She struggled to wrap her mind around what was happening. Nightmare Moon blinked when Luna didn’t, and this nearly made her heart stop. “What, what is this?” Luna managed to say. “It’s a mirror, Luna. I’d think you’d be familiar with the concept.” Her words made the princess flinch again. “What’s wrong? Scared of your own reflection?” At her words, Luna’s eyes hardened. “No, you’re not me! You’re all my worst traits brought to life. You’re, not, me!” Luna shot back with all the strength she could put into her voice, but Nightmare Moon sensed her weakness and pounced on it. “You know that’s not true, you and I are one and the same. We’re two sides of the same bit; one reflection bound by different names. I heard what happened to Scootaloo.” Her voice didn’t come from the mirror, it was as if it was directly inside Luna’s head, and every word sent a chill down her spine. “You know as well I do that there's a way to save her and that the doctors won’t be able to.” “There is no we, there never was a we, and there will never be a we!” Luna angrily told Nightmare Moon, but felt the need to hug her wings close to her sides, trying to stop the chill she was feeling. “There was once, but in any case, we both know there’s a spell that can save her. Even Celestia couldn’t stop it then and it’s just as potent now. You just haven’t felt the need to use it yet. The spell you used to create your soldiers.” She taunted Luna, dangling that piece of knowledge in front of her. “I know you care about her. I’ve seen how you speak to her, act around her. So why do you hesitate to cast a spell that would heal her and ensure she stays close to you forever?” Luna froze and looked at the ground. She was fully aware of the fact that she could save Scootaloo, but at what cost? The spell that turned normal ponies into bat ponies had only ever been used on adults, and even their minds didn’t always survive the process. Even if the process was applied to Scootaloo there was no guarantee she’d be saved. She might be driven mad by the transformation process, or it might kill her outright. She had no idea how it would affect a filly. “I know that look, it’s the look of hesitation, of fear.” Nightmare Moon chuckled, a chilling sound that seemed to lower the temperature in the room. “It’s true, not all ponies you used it on survived with their minds intact, but do you really think she’d allow that to happen? You’ve seen how strong her will is.” She saw the look of continued hesitation on Luna’s face and decided to hammer it home. “If you use that spell you might kill her or you might drive her mad, that’s true. But if you don’t, she’ll die, or if by some miracle she lives she’ll wish she was dead.” Nightmare Moon suddenly cackled. “Make your choice soon, she doesn’t have long and you know it.” “Are you okay?” As soon as Luna heard the voice she turned to see Pinkie Pie. When she looked back at the mirror she saw her own reflection again. Nightmare Moon was gone. “I’ve never seen Luna cry before,” Fluttershy noted after she dashed off to the bathroom. “should someone go check on her?” She asked aloud. “I’ll do it.” Pinkie volunteered, walking towards the restroom Luna had darted off to. As she approached she heard Luna say something about her worst traits and then that there was no we. She stopped, pondering what that could mean. She thought for about half a minute and decided to just open the door. “Are you okay?” Luna took a deep breath and nodded, shaking her head to clear it. “Yes, I’m just worried about Scootaloo is all. I think the stress is getting to me.” It wasn’t a total lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. “So what was that you said about your worst traits?” Pinkie asked tilting her head to the side. “It sounded really bad.” Luna looked Pinkie directly in the eyes. “Pinkie Pie, hear me now. I implore you not to speak to anyone else about what you’ve heard here. Please, I need you to keep this to yourself.” “Okay, I won’t repeat what I heard, cross my heart and hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye.” Pinkie assured her, doing the motions that went with the words. “Don’t worry Luna, nopony can break a Pinkie Promise-” Her face darkened as she added, “or else bad things happen.” She immediately perked back up again and motioned for Luna to follow her. “C’mon, let’s go. Rainbow Dash really needs some cheering up.” “Oh yes, of course.” Luna used her magic to open the door and followed Pinkie out of the room, seeing Twilight was holding a scroll. “—Luna will be arriving with aid any moment, please prepare for her arrival. I worry she may not handle the situation properly, given her relationship with Scootaloo. Please keep an eye on her for me, Twilight. P.S. No matter what, she is not to read this… what?” Twilight asked looking up from the letter. Spike was desperately drawing a claw across his neck, the sign for a pony to stop talking. Fluttershy was looking behind Twilight with a worried expression. Twilight turned and saw none other than Luna herself standing there, an angry look on her face. She withered under her gaze, pressing her ears flat against her skull. “So my sister couldn’t be bothered to send the letter fast enough to herald my arrival, and even then she thinks me incapable of keeping myself under control at a time like this?” Luna asked rhetorically. She turned around and huffed. “I will be back. Do not follow me.” Luna told them, turning and storming down the hall with all eight ponies and one dragon watching her turn a corner when she reached the end of the hall. She threw a door open and walked into the stairwell, kicking it back shut with her hind leg. Luna’s mind was a storm of anguish, confusion, conflict, and anger. She was distressed that a filly she cared so much about was in so much trouble and she couldn’t do a thing about it. But then there was the fact she could, but didn’t know if she should. Her spell to turn somepony into a bat pony could either be a boon for Scootaloo, or it could be the thing that killed her. Or it could do worse than kill her. She’d seen it work wonders on similar injuries, the healing powers it gave her ponies. Cuts closed, bones mended in hours instead of weeks. Wounds that would be fatal to a normal pony would only incapacitate a bat pony for a while, and injuries that should’ve been permanent turned out not to be. It was a tempting option for Luna to use on Scootaloo, but there were risks. The spell was one of dark magic, something that was highly frowned upon in Equestria, but that wasn’t what she was concerned about. It put a large strain on the target’s body and mind. To go through such rapid physical change in seconds was an enormous demand on the body, and she’d never used the spell on a pony already in such an injured state. The transformation trauma may well be the thing that kills her. Then again, it’d never been used on such a young pony either. Luna felt herself sink to the floor, pressing her back against the wall. Death wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to Scootaloo. It took a large amount of dark magic, and so much so fast could snap the target’s mind in half. They’d become nothing more than a feral beast, their only instinct to destroy everything in their path. The thought of using the spell on her, and Scootaloo becoming like that made her feel sick to her stomach. But even if all went well and Scootaloo pulled through because of her spell she’d still face obstacles. As a bat pony, she’d stick out like a sore thumb, the only one of her kind. Additionally, while bat ponies could potentially overcome permanent injury, that wasn’t always the case. She shook her head to clear it, focusing on that letter. That stupid, patronizing letter. Celestia didn’t trust her to handle herself, even after all these years and everything she’d been through. Luna growled and punched the tiles in frustration, breaking one of them. It seemed Celestia still saw Luna as she did a thousand years ago. She gave a loud groan of frustration, imagining her sister sitting on her throne, writing that scroll, and having the gall to ask Twilight to watch over her. Luna pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on. There was the also matter of what she saw in the mirror, and it terrified her. Luna didn’t know if that was truly Nightmare Moon or a stress-induced hallucination. She decided to believe it was the latter for her own sake. It was better to believe her sister may have been right than to entertain the possibility that Nightmare Moon still existed. Nightmare Moon couldn’t be more pleased with the situation she had created. Luna’s mind was a tangled mess of thoughts, anger, and indecision, just how she liked it. The mirror trick had cost her precious energy, but she saw it as an investment towards her freedom. All she needed was to exhaust Luna mentally and physically, and her escape would be so much easier, but she still needed to be careful. While she needed to weaken Luna enough to escape, she also needed enough energy to actually accomplish that. Then there was the matter of Luna figuring out exactly what was going on, and the more times she showed herself the greater the risk of that happening. She needed to pick her next moment to show herself carefully. For now, she just needed to sit back and wait. “Ah’m worried.” Apple Bloom had broken a tense silence that had hung ever since Luna stormed off. “About what, sugarcube?” Applejack knew that was a very dumb question, but she also knew having Apple Bloom point out the openly obvious was better than her internally dreading it. “You all heard what Redheart said, what if Scootaloo doesn’t make it? Ah’d never be able to look at another apple without feeling guilty.” She looked at the ground as she said that, even her bow seeming to droop with sadness. “Eeyup.” Big Mac felt the same way. “Oh no you don’t!” Despite having her own guilt to contend with, Applejack pushed it aside to comfort her siblings. “Yes, Scootaloo got hurt helping us. Yes, it was because of our wagon. But did we plan for that to happen? Did we mean for her to get hurt? No. Are we gonna be here for her when she gets outta surgery? You bet your flank we will.” “And if she doesn’t?” Big Macintosh asked. “We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.” Applejack answered immediately. “How’re you handling this so well? It’s like you’re not worried at all!” Apple Bloom said with an accusatory tone. “Ah am worried, sugarcube. More worried than Ah’ve been in a long time. You could even say Ah’m scared.” “So then why’re you so calm?” Apple Bloom demanded to know. She couldn’t figure out how she was so calm, especially given the situation. “So that hopefully you will be too.” Another response she had ready to go “Ah’m scared but that doesn’t mean Ah’m not gonna try to be a strong sister for you.” “Uh, speaking of sisters,” Fluttershy’s meek voice still got everyone’s attention. “Something’s wrong with Rainbow, she hasn’t moved since she heard about Scootaloo’s injuries.” Fluttershy waved a hoof in front of Rainbow’s eyes but she didn’t blink. “C’mon Rainbow, please snap out of it.” Twilight looked intently into her eyes. “C’mon Rainbow, snap out of it.” She knew adding on ‘if she comes out of surgery’ would be detrimental to her cause. She could’ve sworn she saw her lips twitch and gently rubbed her friend’s back. “Not just her, we all need you too.” Pinkie Pie pulled a delectable cupcake out of seemingly thin air and held it under her friend’s nose. “If you perk back up, this cupcake is all yours.” She tried, but this didn’t get much of a reaction out of her. Twilight thought she heard something and leaned in closer. She strained her ear, hearing her muttering. “It's my fault.” Standing back up she had a quizzical look on her face. “What's your fault? Rainbow, please talk to us.” “Sugarcube, is there something you’re not telling us?” Applejack’s voice was gentle but had a hint of demanding in it. “It’s okay, Rainbow. Whatever it is you can tell us.” Fluttershy said before nuzzling the side of her friend’s head. Very slowly, her eyes shifted to each of her friends. Rainbow Dash moved to not be totally on the floor, but she was unable to meet their gaze. “I was supposed to take her for flying lessons. I took a nap before that but I overslept.” “And when you didn’t show, Scootaloo got the Crusaders together for another cutie mark attempt.” Twilight pieced it together pretty easily. “What kind of sister am I?!” Rainbow’s voice was suddenly back to full volume, but as soon as she said that Applejack got uncomfortably close. “Ah’m gonna stop you right there before you open that can of worms. You made a mistake, that's all. You had no way of knowing this would happen. All you did was oversleep, and that's it.” She said with such conviction that Rainbow Dash almost believed it herself. “But-” “But nothing.” Applejack put a hoof to Rainbow’s mouth to cut her off. “Rainbow, whenever you're feeling guilty ask yourself this: Would Scootaloo want you to be blaming yourself for something you couldn't control?” What Applejack said resonated with Rainbow Dash, and she thought hard about it. She overslept and she shouldn’t have, but how was she supposed to know this would happen? She sighed and shook her head. There was still a measure of guilt, but Applejack’s words made it bearable now. “Applejack, thank you.” She said before hugging her close. The scent of apples filled her nose as she felt her friend hug her back. Rainbow felt herself smile for the first time since this ordeal began. Luna thought about everything that was buzzing around in her mind, having calmed down enough to focus on one thing at a time. On the matter of the letter, she decided to chew her sister out later and put that aside for now. On the matter of Scootaloo, she was still greatly confused. Turning her into a bat pony seemed promising, but she wasn’t going to do it until she knew she couldn’t be saved by conventional medicine. But what if that was already the case? What if Scootaloo was already lying dead on the operating table? Luna stood up and threw the door open, deciding there was only one way to rein in her fears. She saw a nurse walking by. “Halt.” She called after the nurse who turned around to see who it was. “Princess Luna, what can I do for you?” She asked looking up at her. Luna looked down at her with an intimidating face. “Take me to Scootaloo this instant.”