//------------------------------// // Chapter 3.2: Nightmare // Story: Secrets of the Mane Six // by Starscribe //------------------------------// Fluttershy didn’t take her far—just to one of her comfortable sofas. She pushed the weighty oak like she was an earth pony, yanking the rug, then yanked on a latch. Square stone stairs sunk into the ground, stretching down exactly fifty meters before they turned sharply upon themselves and went another fifty meters down. There was no light here, and Twilight lit her horn to a pale lavender glow as Fluttershy pulled the hatch closed above them, then passed her as a blur in the darkness. How many secret holes in the ground does Equestria have? First the portal to the Underworld, then Regolith’s secret vault. What next? Fortunately this place didn’t take them down much further. A single large space stretched out around them, built in the style of Equestria’s most ancient ruins. Twilight recognized the style of the decorations—these had been carved in the ancient days of Equestria, when the land’s name was new, and Luna still ruled beside her sister. The building reminded her of a temple of sorts, with a row of central columns leading past rusting metal shapes that had probably been braziers once. At the end of the hall was a carved Alicorn, with the stars in her mane. “I know this style…” Twilight began. “This place… looks like it could be in the Castle of the Two Sisters.” “It was close, once,” Fluttershy said. “I had it buried, after… after.” The Alicorn wasn’t Luna. As they got close, Twilight recognized with horror that she had met this pony before. Nightmare Moon towered over her at twice her true size, carved from a single slab of black granite. A little altar rested at her hooves, and dry herbs burned there. Behind the altar was… an armory. It too looked like something that could’ve been built in the ancient castle, single stubs of metal to hold up thin metal suits with swords and shields hanging beside. “You had it buried?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Fluttershy, these pieces aren’t fitting. Rainbow Dash knew you growing up, didn’t she? Your cutie mark story…” Fluttershy laughed, her voice distant and pained. It sounded like Regolith. “Rainbow’s not from Cloudsdale either, Twilight. We agree to tell the parts of the story that make sense, to spare everypony the… ones that don’t.” She swallowed, then kicked over one of the dummies so that the ancient armor fell at Twilight’s hooves. A sword fell sideways off its hook, taking a sizeable chunk of rock with it. “What is—” Fluttershy was suddenly an inch from her neck, teeth bared. “You want to help? Well, here is where we see if you can. Nightmare’s Daughters might be gone, but our temple is still here. I need to see if being an Alicorn will let you fight. Otherwise…” She shook her head. “There are worse things than death. Death is often a mercy—for sickly creatures, old ones, death is a relief as they pass from our world into the next. But if you fail where we’re going… you won’t ever get to die. Whatever you’re imagining right now, it isn’t awful enough. Worse. No, worse than that.” Twilight swallowed, levitating the armor off the dummy in front of her. “What are we doing, Fluttershy? Why would we need this?” She had so many other questions—and if she was careful in how she asked, she might get those answered too. But for now, this was the most important of them all. It wouldn’t do her any good to understand how Fluttershy had become a vampire if she got herself killed by some other monster she barely knew about. “How much do you know about—wait, don’t bother. You don’t know.” Fluttershy sat down on her haunches, staring up at the statue in front of them. “Princess Celestia doesn’t like her ponies knowing about anything that’s really dangerous. A decade ago her guards didn’t even carry weapons.” “You didn’t answer my question,” Twilight said. “You’re a vampire, right? Regolith said you were in his court. What was the favor you wanted?” “A Vanguard from the court,” Fluttershy answered. “To keep the Eternals away from Equestria for a little longer. That’s what Nightmare’s Daughters were made for. My… my sisters are all gone now. Each of them died doing… the mission she gave us. I’m the only one left.” She nodded slightly towards the armor. “That belonged to Gusty. She’d be happy to see someone else was wearing it. Put it on.” Twilight did. She wasn’t wearing anything else, so it didn’t take long. Though she’d taken it for ancient guardsman armor in Luna’s colors, just a few seconds putting it on was enough to see she’d been wrong. It was a set of scale-mail, but not scales of steel. They were dull silver under the exterior paint, and though they were light against Twilight’s body, they were utterly inflexible when she pushed on them. “M-mithril?” she stammered, settling the breastplate over the scales and cinching the straps. Thanks for all those trips to Renfaire, Shining. I’d really look like an idiot right now without you. “You have more here than… than Celestia’s school does. How many catalytic reaction tubes could you make with—” “No!” Fluttershy was beside her again, roaring so loud that the whole tunnel seemed to shake. Was Twilight imagining things, or had the statue’s eyes flashed down at her. “No.” Fluttershy’s anger hadn’t faded. “This place is sacred, Twilight. It must be ready for… the next sister who joins the hunt. One day I’ll die, and my armor will go up with the others. And it will stay there, until someone is ready to put it on for the right reason.” And just like that, Fluttershy was wearing her armor. How’d she do that so fast? There was even a helmet, with a moveable visor that slid into place and covered all but her eyes. “What is an Eternal?” Twilight asked. “See, I went hunting with—” She stopped, swallowing. “I went hunting last night and I didn’t learn vampires existed until one almost killed me. How about you tell me about the Eternals while we’re still somewhere safe.” “Sure.” Fluttershy reached around her foreleg, and started dragging Twilight across the floor. The effort seemed to cost her nothing—she didn’t even sweat or breathe heavily as she did it, as Applejack might’ve. How have I not noticed your strength before? Fluttershy had always seemed the weakest and most fearful of her friends. She could barely fly. How much of that was an act? Fluttershy stopped in the center of the room, which was covered with the same thick layer of dust as the rest of the temple. But then she flapped her wings, and a brief breeze cleared it. There was a stylized map of the globe below them, one of the ancient-style ones with the front and back halves of the planet. There was just one problem—there was a lot more land here than there should be. “That’s Equestria, there. The part in gold. Badlands are below it, Crystal Empire above. Griffin Country across the sea.” Twilight’s entire world, what she’d always thought was the entire planet—wasn’t even one continent. “What is all this? This land colored black… there’s no land here. You can sail all the way from the east of Griffin Country back around to the west coast of Equestria. This is…” She swallowed, clutching at her head. Why does this hurt so much? Twilight reached up, and felt a little dribble of warm blood trickle out of her nose, splattering on the map. Fluttershy froze, her eyes snapping back around to Twilight. For a few moments she didn’t move, didn’t breathe—didn’t do anything. “I have to go,” she muttered, backing away. “C-clean that… burn it. Now.” And she was gone, running up the stairs as quickly as Twilight had ever seen her move. “You have to—” Her eyes widened. Blood. You really are a vampire. Twilight took a deep breath, then cast a simple mending spell on herself. She lifted up all the blood in her magic, walking it back towards the statue. The flame on the little altar at Nightmare Moon’s hooves still burned, though curiously it didn’t seem to illuminate anything. “Burn it, huh?” Twilight levitated her blood down into the fire. Bright white light sprang from the altar, sparking and roaring like she’d just settled magnesium in with the herbs. The statue’s head turned to face her, a grin spreading across stone lips. “An Alicorn burns an offering to me,” the statue said, her voice rumbling through the structure. It sounded exactly like she remembered. “Strange to see one of you come to join my family. I can only offer information, child. I cannot extend your life.” Twilight ignored that, staring up at the ancient stone. It looked almost completely intact, while so much else of this temple had rotted to nothing. “We beat you,” she stammered. “Me, and the Elements of Harmony. Princess Luna is free.” The statue leered down at her—another expression Twilight remembered well. Oh Celestia, I summoned it somehow. I brought a demon to Equestria and now we’re about to be attacked, and— Nothing happened. No attack, anyway. “Is, was, yet to come. Time surrounds us with the comfortable illusion of causality. You ponies cannot understand—even Luna. You are creatures of your plane, trapped by your three walls. What was, is. What is, will be.” Twilight glanced towards the stairs, searching for Fluttershy—but the pegasus wasn’t there. There was no sign of her, not even the rustle of wind or light touch of elegant hooves on stone. “I don’t know what you mean,” Twilight said. I’m not telling you anything, Nightmare Moon. You aren’t going to attack Equestria again because of my mistakes. “You wouldn’t,” the statue said. “So be it, Alicorn. Ask me your blessing, and become one of my Daughters. Protect the garden for one more day.” “Protect the…” She frowned to herself, biting one lip. “I don’t want to be anything of yours. You were evil. You tore Equestria in half! Ponies died because of you! Sweetie Belle wouldn’t be a vampire right now if you hadn’t created them in the first place!” The statue seemed to sit back on her pedestal. Was Twilight imagining things, or was it moving more the longer she watched? “That is unfortunate, for you are now in my realm and I am not inclined to release you. If I was concerned with the future…” She shook her head. “Ask your boon, and become one of my Daughters. My words will give you sight into the secrets of any mystery not known by mortal or god. I have ridden beside Orion, walked with the enkindler and seen the death of stars. I will share with you what I have. That is why you came, isn’t it?” If she asked, “how do I escape without joining you,” that might very well be enough. Maybe Nightmare Moon would just say “you can’t” and she’d be no better off than before. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t be useful. “I want nothing from you,” she said, turning out her wings. “I ask no blessing. I won’t take any of your gifts.” The statue leapt down from her pedestal with a loud crack of stone. Twilight wondered how something so large didn’t shatter—but didn’t expect she would be getting an answer. “If what you say is true, and Luna rejects me, then I hope you can be better rulers of this realm than I was. It is a very beautiful place, even if its eyes are always fixed firmly on the dirt and loam. Go with my last Daughter, then. You asked no gift of me—I will give one anyway. I will help you swing your sword. Keep her alive, and I will be grateful. Neither of us wish to lose a friend.”