//------------------------------// // 13: Death's Doorstep // Story: A Do-Over // by Pip232 //------------------------------// Luna teleported into her bedroom, swaying slightly from side to side, fatigued from the long day's events. Her timing was opportune though since Celestia soon began to lower the sun. She sighed and walked on to her balcony, beginning to raise the moon. As soon as it was up she groaned and returned to her room. She unceremoniously tossed her tiara on her nightstand before flopping down on her bed. Before she knew it she had started crying. “Scootaloo, I’m so sorry…” She whispered aloud, feeling tears roll down her cheeks. It wasn’t that poor filly’s injuries that had killed her, it was Luna’s spell. If not for her she might still be alive. Crippled and clinging to life, but alive nonetheless. What was a princess in her position to do? She was too weak to effectively guard the dream realm tonight, and though she was utterly exhausted, sleep eluded her. However, she must’ve been crying louder than she thought because she heard a rough knocking on her door. “Your Highness, are you alright?” She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. “I am fine, but I need you to ask Celestia to come here at once. Please, it’s of great importance.” “As you wish.” Luna listened to the sound of the guard’s hoofsteps as he left. Luna was deeply hurting on the inside, and if there was one pony in the world she felt like she could confide in, it was Celestia. She was certain she’d get an earful for what she did, but she couldn’t keep this contained inside. After all, bottling up her feelings is what drove her to make the worst mistake of her life. “Scootaloo… It’s time to wake up, little one.” Scootaloo groaned and shook her head, cracking one of her eyes open, and saw wooden planks beneath her. “Was it all a dream?” She quietly asked herself, looking up. Her breath froze in her throat and her blood ran cold. Standing mere feet from her was the unmistakable Nightmare Moon. “That wasn’t, but this is, and you and I are going to have a little chat.” The guard Luna had sent arrived at the door to Celestia’s chambers and knocked. “Your highness, are you still awake?” He stepped back and ran a hoof through his mane as the door was flung open. Celestia was standing there, looking tired and more than a little peeved. “What is it, Blade Glint? It’s very late.” “I’m sorry, your highness, but Princess Luna requests your immediate presence at her chambers. She says it’s of great importance.” He said, sheepishly grinding his hoof against the marble floor. Celestia gave a heavy sigh and rubbed her eyes. “Fine then, I’ll go see what she wants. Resume your post.” Normally she wouldn’t be so short and rude, but it had been a long day and the bags under her eyes were proof of it. As she began the trek towards her sister’s room, beneath her irritation, she had a bad feeling she knew what this was about. The sight of Nightmare Moon had Scootaloo upright and alert, but it took her two seconds to see she was in terrible shape. She was sickly thin, emaciated even, with her ribs and cheekbones plainly visible. Her wings were missing a great deal of their plumage, and the feathers that remained were heavily damaged and askew. Her horn was dull and cracked. Most noticeable above anything else was that she wasn't wearing her armor. “What happened to you?” Scootaloo asked with a raised eyebrow, still taking in her surroundings. It was the Crusaders’ clubhouse, but it was way bigger. There weren’t any windows or doors either, but she could see perfectly well. What caught her attention most was the wall where they had failed cutie mark ideas. In their place, a great many picture frames were depicting every pony she knew. She easily spotted Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, whose picture frames were ornate and golden. Spanning out she saw some frames were silver, others bronze or blue, and she stopped when she saw Diamond Tiara, whose picture frame was rusted and mangled, with the picture itself being torn and crumpled. "And what is all this?” “You tell me, this is your subconscious. As for what happened to me, I was hit squarely in the face by the Elements of Harmony. However, they can’t destroy, only defeat.” She gained an unsettling grin, her cheeks stretching taut as she did so. “What’s the difference?” She asked, in a state of disbelief about where she was and just who she was talking to. “After everything I’ve seen I thought you were smarter than that.” Nightmare Moon gave a low chuckle and shook her head a tiny bit. Scootaloo glared. This was her head, and Nightmare Moon was in no shape to scare her. “Don’t patronize me, just tell me!” All this did was elicit another chuckle from her. “Very well. As I said, they can only defeat, not destroy, such as turning Discord to stone, or locking me in Luna’s subconscious.” There was a pause as she let that sink in, and looked at her hoof as if to check it for dirt. “However, while I was trapped I still retained my own consciousness. As such I was able to see, hear, and feel everything Luna experienced between when I was first imprisoned and now.” She shuddered violently, grimacing. “However, I had to constantly fight to keep my mind together and leech off Luna’s magic to help me with that.” This information made Scootaloo pale and her pupils shrink. “No way…! Then that means, everything I’ve told Luna, everything I’ve ever confided in her-! You-!” “I know all of it. I know your parents perished around a decade ago, I know you left the Canterlot orphanage and came to Ponyville, and I know you’re incredibly resourceful.” “Yeah, well, I want to know how you got here, and how did I for that matter?! If I really got crushed by a wagon full of apples, how am I still alive? And why do you look like you’re starving to death?” “After the accident, you were rushed to the hospital, and Twilight sent a letter asking for help. Luna answered and brought her personal physician to help treat you, but your chances of survival were bleak at best. But even if you survived, you would have suffered permanent injuries. I reminded Luna that there was a spell to save you. Tell me, have you ever seen bat ponies before?” “Yeah, I saw the two that brought Luna when she first visited Ponyville after-” she stopped talking when the mare chuckled. “No, you didn’t. Those were just two pegasi that had illusion magic cast on them to appear as bat ponies. They wanted costumes as well so Luna obliged them.” “What do bat ponies have to do with me or that spell, unless… they’re...” she trailed off and looked at the floor as realization struck her. “I think I’m gonna be sick…” “Oh don’t be so melodramatic, the increased healing factor that spell grants was the only way to save you. However, I wanted out of Luna’s mind, so when she cast the spell I used it as my way to escape and enter you, Scootaloo.” “So that’s why you look so terrible, you’re weak from travel.” Scootaloo had a look of realization on her face. “There’s the clever filly I’ve come to know, but I’ve already planted the seeds for my return, and all I need to do to strengthen myself is absorb the one I left in you.” Her eyes turned pure white with a glow to them. Scootaloo felt a wave of cold spread through her insides as a purple mist exited her body, condensing into an opaque silhouette of an Alicorn. She felt drained as it left her, and by the time the mist stopped, she felt as if she’d just galloped all over Ponyville. “The Tantabus?” She managed, trying to get some of her strength back. Nightmare Moon’s horn glowed and the silhouette dissolved into mist once again, entering her chest. As it entered her body her wings filled out and organized themselves into pristine condition. The cracks in her horn filled themselves in and her muscle mass was restored. “Much better.” She murmured, looking herself over before returning her attention to Scootaloo. “Correct. What I just absorbed was a tiny fragment of the Tantabus, but as you can see it was brimming with magic.” “But I thought the Tantabus was gone forever after-” she gave a low gasp. “When Luna reabsorbed the Tantabus it was in her subconscious with you!” Nightmare Moon nodded, still looking over her rejuvenated body. “Right again. I see your cleverness has returned, but you are only partially correct, Scootaloo.” She raised an eyebrow. “Partially?” “As I told you, I was within her subconscious, but I wasn’t totally helpless. I could nudge Luna’s train of thought in certain directions, influence her decisions, or put ideas in her head. I was the one who filled her head with the notion that she needed to be punished, and while the Tantabus may have been her creation, I was the one who guided its creation.” Scootaloo shuddered violently at the thought of another voice in her head guiding her actions, but her shudder only continued when she realized that’s exactly what she had now. “When it wasn’t haunting her dreams it was within her subconscious, allowing me to modify it to my needs. When I figured out I could have the Tantabus store her fear and anguish as a form of magic that could sustain and strengthen me, I tried to escape with it." “The group dream! The Tantabus didn’t decide to escape, you made it do that!” “Yes. In my original plan, it was to be how I escaped to the physical world, but Luna managed to weaken it and trap me all over again, but that was only a setback. What you fought wasn’t the entire Tantabus. The core of it, yes, but not the entire being.” Celestia knocked on Luna’s door, dreading what awaited her. “Sister, I’m here. I was told you wanted to see me.” “Enter,” Luna called. Her voice lacked energy and had a strong note of sadness. “I think I know how things went at the hospital,” Celestia said with a knowing tone, closing the door behind her and casting a soundproof spell on it as she sat at Luna’s bedside. “Do you think she’s up there, sister?” Luna asked, feeling tears brim in her eyes. "Do you think somewhere among the stars Scootaloo’s soul still exists?” “She’s in a better place now, sister. I'm truly sorry she couldn’t be saved. I know you cared a great deal for her.” Celestia put a hoof on Luna’s shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. “I’m sure you did everything you could.” The next thing Celestia knew Luna was hugging her and openly crying. “But that’s just it, she’s dead because of what I did! I should have just let the doctors do what they could for her, but I was so scared of losing her! I tried to save her my own way, but it ended up killing her instead!” She couldn’t stop herself from sobbing into her sister’s fur, the waterworks in full force. Celestia was taken aback by her sister being so distraught, returning the hug and nuzzling the top of her head. Trying to save such an injured pony was a task likely beyond any spell she knew of, except for one. “You tried to use that spell, didn’t you Luna?” Her tone wasn’t accusatory, it was sad with a hint of disappointment. “I couldn’t bear the thought of losing another foal so close to my heart, but in the end, I was what ended her. The cruelty of the irony is not lost on me.” Luna couldn’t meet her sister’s gaze, trying to find some shred of comfort in the embrace they shared. “Only part of it? Where was the rest of it?” Scootaloo had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, Nightmare Moon’s intimidating smile and piercing eyes unnerving her to her core. “At the climax of the battle, I used the Tantabus to tear a hole to the material plane and was halfway through when Luna managed to overcome her guilt. As you know, this made the Tantabus weaken and shrink. However, when we were drawn back into the dream world, I wasn’t too upset, as I’d accomplished something great nonetheless.” “Why escape with it though? Luna said if it escaped it’d make all of Equestria into a living nightmare.” Scootaloo hated to admit it but her curiosity was piqued. “Luna was sorely mistaken. The Tantabus is a beast of the dream realm, it can’t survive in the real world without a host, but given that it was the first and only creature of its kind, that sort of mistake is understandable. The core’s host was her, but since the Tantabus is an extension of my will and is linked to me, it came with me in that spell. You’re its host right now. As for the pieces that were missing, they were already in other pony’s minds, doing what they did with Luna.” “Hold on, why are you telling me all this?” Scootaloo was terrified of the answer she’d give, but all these details were making her head spin. Nightmare Moon began to chuckle, which grew into laughing, and then full-on cackling. “You’re already dead, my dear. If things don’t work out there’s no risk of you revealing my plans, so it makes no difference whether I tell you or not. I’m hoping what I’m leading up to will entice you to accept an offer I’m going to make, but I’ll get to that in a bit. For now back to my story.” Her stomach dropped as she slowly processed those words. You’re already dead. And if Nightmare Moon was here and talking about her grand plan, she obviously intended to make Scootaloo a part of it. But what was her alternative if she didn’t want to be a part of it? “You see, if the Tantabus could feed on Luna’s negative emotions and nightmares to grow more powerful, why rely only on her? With every dream she visited after its creation, I left a piece of it behind unbeknownst to the dreamer or Luna. Once I escaped into the real world I intended to absorb the fragments to empower myself and become physical once again.” “If the one from me restored you like that, then all the fragments you planted, together, oh wow.” Scootaloo found it hard to imagine the amount of magical power they could offer all together. Nightmare Moon nodded her approval. “You’re understanding it perfectly, Scootaloo. While the Tantabus was battling all of Ponyville, I was using the connection Luna had to all of you to embed a fragment into each pony’s mind. Every pony in Ponyville has one, as well as a great many ponies throughout Equestria. Without their knowledge—or Luna’s—they passively grow more powerful, just waiting to pass that strength on to me.” Scootaloo felt a sense of dread from all these details buzzing around her head, and remembered how scary and powerful Nightmare Moon had been at the Summer Sun Celebration. Now she was being told not only was that same pony aiming to return, but she would be stronger than ever, all without Twilight, Rainbow Dash or anypony else being any the wiser to her plans beforehoof. “So, where do I fit into all this? If I’m dead, what do you want with me?” Her demeanor immediately brightened, but it only made her more terrifying. Nightmare Moon’s smile widened, and a small blue light seemed to emanate from her eyes. Scootaloo found this in many ways scarier than she’d been before. “That, my little filly, is a question I thought you would never ask.” “So what do you intend to do now, Luna?” Celestia asked with a concerned tone. The princesses had gone from hugging to sitting on the edge of Luna’s bed, with Celestia keeping a close eye on her. Luna looked over at her. She may not have been crying anymore, but her eyes were plenty red and puffy. “I intend to lay Scootaloo to rest, followed by setting up appointments with the royal therapist. While I’m hesitant to talk about my feelings with anyone but you, I know bottling them up inside is what led to you-know-what.” Celestia sighed, nodding. Even now after all this time they couldn’t find it in themselves to openly talk about how she became Nightmare Moon. “Is there anything I can do for you, sister?” There was a long sigh before Luna shook her head. “Celestia, I am about to ask for something that seems foalish and stupid, but I do need something. Would you please stay the night with me? I don’t want to be alone. Please.” She was aware of just how pathetic she sounded, but felt Celestia hugging her again. “Luna, you will always be my little sister, no matter how old we get. I’ll gladly stay the night if that will help you.” She said, taking off her peytral, tiara, and shoes. Luna levitated her necklace off and set it aside, smiling softly. “Sister, you know how much I am comforted by this.” Before she knew it she and Celestia were sharing the bed, something they hadn’t done in over a thousand years. “Do you remember the last time we did this?” Luna asked. “I believe it was shortly after Starswirl began to teach us how to effectively wield our magic. I was so tired I didn’t want to walk the extra distance to my room.” Celestia smiled wistfully at the memory. Luna’s response was to scoot a little closer to her sister. Shortly after, the two sisters fell asleep together.