//------------------------------// // Act 3, Chapter 1 - Home with One Heck of a View // Story: Hoof and Claw Versus the World // by Chythar //------------------------------// Nightmare Moon had discovered My Little Pony toys, and she was most displeased that I had hidden this knowledge of Equestria from her. During that ugly conversation, I discovered how Nightmare Moon had come to my world. More importantly, she revealed that she is actually Princess Luna in disguise and not some sort of creature who possessed her body. Woah. The night skyline of Los Angeles stretched out before me, a bright and twinkling pearl close the sea. That's what the travel guides said, anyway. The city may not be as tall as some (thanks to a regulation requiring that every building over 75 feet tall must have a helicopter pad on its roof), but for me it was a comforting sight. I'm finally home. Close enough, anyway At that moment, Nightmare Moon and I were flying westward high above the 60 freeway. Beneath us, cars sped down the freeway going west. Their red brake lights swam back and forth, like fish down a concrete river flowing towards the sea. White head lights dashed in our direction on the other side of the highway, zipping like angry bees escaping an unseen danger. In the distance, some dozen or more tall buildings reached skyward; some tall, some not. But they all stretched high above the smaller buildings that covered the ground for miles around, like a sparkling ocean made of concrete and glass. This modern metropolis did not sleep, its buildings both tall and small still lit with tiny specks of light from millions of windows. It reminded me of a star field that had left the sky and covered the ground instead, bright and twinkling for as far as I could see. Their light was so bright it made the actual night sky look dim in comparison. Don't tell Nightmare Moon I said that, though. We continued to follow the concrete and asphalt road during our approach to the city. A look ahead, and one could easily see the cluster of high-rises that was Los Angeles in all of its night time glory. The high-rises were our actual destination this evening, so as soon as we crossed over the 5 freeway we left the torrent of cars behind and angled right towards downtown. Our path took us over the large LA Fashion District, where many of its shops were still open for business despite the late hour. Laughter and raised voices from angry shopkeepers drifted up to us as we passed overhead. To our right, I could see the Los Angeles Flower District, its floral arrangements quite colorful even from the air. Cars and trucks still wound their way through the streets, as if unaware that the sun had set. Idly I watched the traffic travel down the road beneath me, and saw a yellow taxi cab zip around a city bus; it then came to a screeching halt at a red stop light. The buildings and pavement below were still warm from the day's heat, and that heat created thermal plumes that wound high into the sky. Those thermal plumes were both a blessing and a curse to a flyer. While the rising air made flying quite easy, the sudden updrafts could make a normal flight very dangerous. An unexpected updraft on one wing could easily spiral a flyer out of control, and if you didn't recover in time you might find yourself crashing onto a rooftop. Once again I was thankful for the lessons and memories given to me by the Mare in the Moon. Not only did her centuries of flight experience make mid-air recovery simple, the pegasus magic I wielded allowed me to sense where the more dangerous updrafts were. Avoiding disaster was then an easy matter of angling away from them. Without those memories and magically-grafted experiences, I doubt I would have survived that thermal minefield without crashing. As it was, those magically-gifted skills and the confidence they gave me made the updrafts fun! I kept my senses out for an updraft I could play in. The closest ones weren't stable enough, but there was one off to my left that felt really strong. Its thermal signature was familiar, REALLY familiar. So familiar that it triggered a long-forgotten memory in my head. I quickly realized it wasn't a memory of mine, but one of Nightmare Moon's. It had to be hers, as 'I' remembered 'myself' as a pegasus filly. It was probably a memory from a younger Princess Luna, and one from before she became an alicorn, but that was just a guess. The memory had no sense of who the flyer was, or what she looked like, just what she was feeling and seeing. It was a happy memory, no matter whose memory it was, and it told me how I could have some fun in that thermal column. I thought the idea was awesome, and I wanted to try it out. So I broke formation and headed directly towards the air current. The Night Mare noted my course change and called out a warning. "Be cautious, my Captain! You are heading towards a thermal draft!" I turned my head back towards my Queen and gave her a grin, just as the updraft caught my wings and dragged me into it. The air current really wasn't very strong, especially compared to a tornado or dust devil, but it was more than enough to tug me around. I spread my wings wide and simply let the spiraling wind slowly pull me up into the sky. A sigh escaped my lips as the thermal's warmth wound its way through my feathered wings and soaked into my sore muscles. The warm massage drained my stresses away and left me feeling warm, relaxed and happy. The same memory that guided me towards the thermal updraft also told me how to leave it in a neat way. When it felt right, I angled my wings towards the edge of the air current. My wings felt a touch of turbulence, then I was out of the updraft. A twist of my back and wings, and I found myself upside-down in the cool night air. The cooler air outside the thermal was an unexpected shock, and I let out an involuntary gasp. Then my pegasus magic kicked in, and I no longer felt cold. Once again, I lost myself into the memory and let my pegasus magic take control. My body continued its arc downwards, and I descended down towards the ground at a rapid rate. A twitch from my wings and my feathers caught air. The pegasus instincts completed the mid-air loop, and an instant later I found myself flying behind Nightmare Moon. My time in the thermal had left me feeling playful, so I decided to mess around with the Moon Mare. A quick flap of my wings, and my body shot forward through the air towards the ebony mare. Just before I collided with her, and before she could move out of the way, I did a twist in mid-air and flipped over her body. I finished the move by flying backwards in front of her, then flashed her a wide grin. With teeth this time. "Oho! Feeling playful, are we? Two can play at this game! Let us see if this cat can learn new tricks!" Nightmare Moon then turned to her left and took off. As I followed after her, I sensed another thermal updraft nearby. My pegasus magic said this updraft was larger than the one I had just played in, and the currents were twisting upwards in a corkscrew pattern. I quickly realized that Nightmare Moon was heading right towards this powerful updraft. As I watched, the Moon Mare flew directly into the thermal plume. But instead of angling upward as I had, she tilted her wings to her left. Her feathers caught air, and she then began to corkscrew upwards through the air current. Another memory flashed in to my head, one where 'I' was playing in a similar air current. The memory was of a warm, sunny day somewhere in Equestria. 'I' had flown into a thermal column much like this one, and was laughing and giggling as 'I' corkscrewed my way higher and higher into the air. Once at the top of the thermal, 'I' quickly flew down to the bottom of the column and started the process all over again. The happiness and glee stored in the memory was overwhelming, and I couldn't wait to experience it 'again'. A few quick flaps of my wings took me to the edge of the thermal, and momentum pushed me inside of it. Just like I 'remembered', I angled my wings just as 'I' had done for hours and hours on that warm summer day. So caught up in the memory of that pegasus filly, an involuntary giggle burst out of my mouth as I began to circle around the column of air. "Fun, is it not?" I looked upwards at Nightmare Moon, who was some 30 or so feet above me. As I locked eyes with the ebony mare, she gave me a gleeful grin with much teeth. I had never seen her so happy before, and it warmed my heart to see her enjoying herself so much. Had I been a Changeling, I probably would have burst into pastel colors at the sight. Instead, I blushed slightly and broke eye contact with the mare. Yet my smile kept getting wider and wider. I could see different parts of the Los Angeles cityscape each time I went around the thermal updraft. I felt like a little kid who kept spinning themselves around and around, giggling louder the dizzier they got. Well, I wasn't feeling dizzy at all but I could feel a case of the giggles bubbling up in my throat. Fierce warriors did not giggle, so I did my best to keep them down. But I was slowly losing that battle. Suddenly, I heard a shout of jubilation above me. When I looked up, I caught Nightmare Moon rapidly descending the length of the thermal column. On her way down, she shouted out to no one in particular. "Again!" Her enthusiasm was infectious, and I could not resist laughing aloud at her antics. Her descent also warned me that the thermal air current was reaching its end. Somehow, I just knew that I would be out the top of the updraft in something like three more loops around the column. My excitement grew as I rose higher into the air, and those darn giggles threatened to pop out like an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction. One loop... Two... Three! I felt the column of air end, and my happiness peaked with it. One eager back flip later, and I was rushing down the outside of the thermal column at a rapid rate. I couldn't hold them in any longer, and began to giggle aloud like a school colt running free after a long day at school. The cool wind rushed past my face as I descended down to the bottom of the thermal updraft, ready to ascend it again. Close to the bottom, I saw the Night Mare was already back inside and ascending upwards. Her laugh was light yet heartfelt, and so very feminine in tone. It was so unlike her normal coarse exterior, but at the same time it fit her soul perfectly. We travelled up and down that updraft several times, each trip better than the last. I never wanted that time to end. But if it didn't end, this story would be a lot shorter. On my last trip down the outside of the thermal column, Nightmare Moon was waiting for me at the bottom. "While this diversion has been most fun, we have goals to accomplish this evening. Come." The ebony mare gestured with her head towards downtown Los Angeles, which wasn't quite where I expected it to be. A look around showed me that we had ended up on the other side of the 10 freeway, now farther south of downtown than we were before. And I had no idea HOW. It's not like it's easy to miss a large 8-lane freeway that's packed full of speeding cars. But somehow, I missed it. With no easy answers coming to mind, I decided to roll with it and made my way towards the downtown area. As the two of us flew on, I found my thoughts slipping back to the thermal drafts and all the fun I just had there. The more I remembered, the wider my smile grew until I thought my face would split wide open. I was pulled out of my reverie by a soft tap on the edge of my left wing. I turned my head to look, and I saw Nightmare Moon had much the same warm grin on her face. As soon as we locked eyes, her grin got just a bit wider. Oh GOD. I think my heart's going to burst. She is so ADORABLE! I think I'm in love... This time, it was my turn to blush and turn away. Once Nightmare Moon and I passed by the LA Convention Center and the well-lit Staples Center, I knew we had finally reached downtown Los Angeles. I idly wondered if there was a game playing tonight, but it was hard to tell because the building was brightly lit all the time. The tops of the buildings below flashed by as we followed Figueroa Street from above, the night life below seemingly more active than in the daytime. Were they active because it was cooler in the evening, or were they celebrating the end of the work day? Probably both. I did have a destination in mind tonight; despite our playtime earlier, this was no mere sightseeing trip. At the police station we took over earlier that night, I had done some web searching on the best penthouses in downtown Los Angeles. My Google-fu turned up the name of the Roosevelt Lofts, a complex right in the middle of the Financial District. Plush, roomy apartments and several large penthouses to choose from. If the one my Queen wanted was occupied, well...let's say that a few well-placed shadow parasites would make that Not A Problem. A right turn at 7th street, then one block to Flower Street and we arrived at the Roosevelt Lofts. The two of us circled the building from the air to get a good feel for it and the surrounding area. Right away, the Night Mare found a problem. "Hmph. I do not care for what I see." "What's wrong with it?" "I wish to be able to see the lands that I rule from my residence, and this domicile cannot do such a thing." I took a good look at the ten-story building that was the Roosevelt Lofts, then looked up at the high-rise buildings that dwarfed it. She does have a point. "Why don't we take a look at the penthouses anyway? Maybe you'll find something that you'll like." "I do not care how nice these residences are. If they do not command an impressive view of this city, they are insufficient for my needs." Without another word, the Night Incarnate flew straight up into the air. She continued her ascent, with me following behind, until she crested above the roof of the tall MCI Center building next door. With a twist of her wings, the mare made a small circle in mid-air and looked around at all the buildings in the area. "There! We shall inspect that building and see if it is suitable." The ebony mare was pointing a hoof in a north-easterly direction, and appeared to be aiming at a familiar landmark. "What, the US Bank Tower? The white, round one?" "Aye. We shall enter from its peak and work our way downwards. Let us be off." While I was annoyed she didn't like the home I picked, I quickly realized it didn't matter. She could live in a trailer park for all I cared. So I gave myself a mental shrug, and followed the dark mare towards the tall building a few blocks away. We were far above the streets and nearby buildings, so we headed directly towards the top of the US Bank Tower. From what I remember, the building was the tallest one on the West Coast. I hoped that Nighty would find the view there acceptable enough, as her choices for tall and epic views was very limited. We easily reached the top of the US Bank Tower. As soon as we crested the top, Nightmare Moon chose to land on the helicopter pad while I circled around it looking for an entrance. Finding one was easy; I just followed the stairs leading down from the helicopter pad. There wasn't even a door. I called out to my Queen to summon her over, then landed to take a look around. I was expecting a single elevator or perhaps a large, impressive waiting room. But instead, I was greeted by a dirty, tiny room with a single doorway. The missing elevator was a surprise, but the lack of one would not stop us from getting inside. I noted that there was a security camera pointing towards the door, but I couldn't see a little red light indicating the camera was on. Usually no light meant the camera was off, but I decided not to take any chances. In a flash, I summoned up a snowball and buried the camera in snow. I figured the altitude would make water damage to the camera plausible. "Still playing with snowballs like a foal? How amusing." "Just trying to be stealthy, my Queen. You know this." Nightmare Moon stuck her tongue out at me, but said nothing. A look at the single door in the room revealed a simple metal slab painted gray, a security handle in the door and a lock just above it. I tried to turn the handle on the door, in case it wasn't locked. But the handle barely budged. To the right of the door was an intercom button, directly above a fire alarm pull station. Probably have to call security and ask to be buzzed in. Definitely not using that or the fire alarm, they're the opposite of quiet and stealthy. "Well?" "Door's locked, and the only way I can see to unlock the door would alert the security in the building." "Then there is but one choice available to us. Stand aside." "Wait!" "What now?!" "Most of these doors are going to have some sort of security on them, my Queen. At least, there will be a device that tells the guards when the door is opened. If you buck the door down, that sensor will stay open and they'll know something is wrong. If you sneak in using your mist form and open the door for me, the guards are likely to consider the opened door a glitch and be lazy in checking it out. That gives us more time to check out the place without the guards bothering us." "You make a fair point, my Captain. Be aware that my plan was always to slip in undetected and open the entrance for you." The ebony mare then gave me a reproving look. "I am not an insensitive oaf, I am ROYALTY. This location is soon to be my home. I shall not destroy it and urinate all over the walls like a common ruffian." Without another word, the mare turned into mist and slipped around the edges of the door. A moment later, the door opened. I pulled on the door handle, and was greeted by the beautiful sight of my Mistress. And she was still giving me that same reproving look. "Sorry, my Queen. Still used to your first choice being violence when it comes to doors." "I have learned the lessons of stealth in war, Captain. Do not bring the subject up again." Her death glare no longer scared me, so I let her comment slide without comment. A look beyond the dark mare revealed an unadorned stairwell, and not an elevator lobby. The layout of the stairwell looked like most every emergency stairwell I had seen in my life, with walls painted white and metal stairways and handrails painted gray. I couldn't hear or smell anything important, so as far as I could tell no one had been up here in a long time. I did see another security camera, and it got the same snowball treatment as the one outside. Nightmare Moon and I descended the stairs to the next landing, then turned around to descend the second flight to the next floor. The next landing had a door and two metal pipes, one painted brown and a larger one painted red. The red one had a wheel attached to the side, so I presumed it contained water and was for fire use only. A diamond sign next to the door said "Level 73". The two of us reached the door at the same time. "The top floor, my Captain. I shall return forthwith." The dark mare quickly changed into her mist form and slipped around the edges of the door. But instead of opening the door, she slipped back around its edges and re-formed into an equine again. "Do not bother, my Captain. The room contains pipes and varied machinery, and as such is unsuitable for my needs. Let us check the floor below." Down two sets of stairs. Nightmare Moon's metal shoes clanged loudly as each one impacted a metal stair, while my paws were whisper quiet in comparison. The next floor looked about the same as the last one, except the diamond sign said "Level 72". As before, the Moon Mare slipped between the door and its frame in her mist form. But this time, the door opened with a click. "This floor has promise, my Captain. Let us explore." I stepped through the door to the 72nd floor into a carpeted hallway that stretched to my left and right. The walls were painted some shade of off-white with wood trim around the edges, while the carpet was some abstract mix of circles and lines. The carpet was colored light green with some dark green and blue mixed in. The garish mix of shapes and colors hurt my eyes and my sensibilities, so I did my best to ignore the carpet. I heard the door close behind me, and decided to turn around and look at it. The door looked like an ordinary security door with the usual crash bar used to open the door. Above the door was a lit "EXIT" sign. I looked for signs that said something like 'alarm will sound if door is opened', but I couldn't see one. That means there shouldn't be an alarm on this door. And THAT means that no one knows we're here. Good. "We should be able to search without worrying about guards, my Queen. If we keep damage to a minimum, no one should know that we were ever here." "I concur, Captain. Rendezvous back here fifteen minutes from now." Nightmare Moon turned to the nearest door on our left, and tried the handle with her magic. When it did not open, she turned into mist and slipped around the door. I walked down the hallway in the other direction, and tried every door handle I could see. I skipped any that did not open and quickly left any rooms that did not have windows. Most of what I saw were interior offices or cubicles, though I did find a cafeteria that had an impressive view of downtown Los Angeles. Several hallways ended in a window facing outside, with offices on either side of the hallway. But most of those doors were locked, so I couldn't check them out. But I had seen enough. Everything I had seen so far told me that this office space was not suitable for Nightmare Moon. She wanted an unobstructed view of the skyline, and there were too many small rooms with too small of a view to make her happy. We would have to tear up most of the floor and redecorate it, and the company that was there would have to move somewhere else. In my opinion, it was too much turmoil to keep her new home a secret. I had not finished searching the floor, but I made my way back to the emergency exit anyway. No point in continuing the search when I knew this place wouldn't work out. I arrived back at the emergency exit door to find Nightmare Moon waiting for me. She looked at me expectantly, and I merely shook my head in response. "Your search was as fruitless as mine, then. Let us try the next floor down." Back out the emergency exit door, and down the stairs to the 71st floor. Again, the dark mare slipped around the emergency exit door in her mist form. However, this time the door didn't open immediately. Several seconds passed as I watched and waited for her to open the door for me. More time passed. Something's gone wrong. I reached over to try the door, when it suddenly flew open! The door smashed into my outstretched hand and knocked me backwards. My hand immediately began to throb in pain. Instinctively, I pulled my injured hand to my chest and cradled it with my other arm. I could feel my face twist up in anger and pain, and I glared at the creature standing in the now-open doorway. The creature turned out to be my Queen, and she had a wide-eyed and gleeful expression on her muzzle. If she noticed that she had hurt me with the door, she showed no sign. "It is wondrous! Come and see, we beseech thee! Come and see!" The ebony mare grabbed my uninjured hand in her magic and yanked me through the doorway. Too stunned to react, I let the excited mare drag me around and pull me to her side. She swept her wing wide, a gesture not unlike what a human would do with their arm when they wanted someone to look around. "See? Is it not everything that I wished to find? The view is to die for!" The concrete floor was completely empty, except for some trash and several support pillars near the windows. No walls or doors or furniture anywhere, not even any construction equipment. However, that wasn't the best part. All the outside walls that we could see were glass windows, allowing us to see for miles and miles wherever we looked. Even better, the ceiling was several feet higher than the floor above us. A quick guess would make this floor almost twice as tall as the floor above us. "Come, come! You must see the views from the rest of the windows!" Nightmare Moon flapped her wings and managed to FLY in the open air on the floor. Unfortunately for me, she still had a magical hold on my hand; I had no choice but to summon my wings and join her. The view outside all of the windows turned out to be really impressive. But I was more impressed that the two of us had enough room to flap our wings and fly around the 71st floor. Our little flight revealed that the entire floor was open and empty, so we made a fast circuit of the floor then came to rest near our starting place by the emergency exit. The dark mare took another look around the room and sighed. "This. This will be my new home on this world." She turned to me and smiled, and I realized that she was expecting me to be just as happy as she looked. Instead, I looked askance at her then looked down at my hand. The one she was still holding in her magical grip. Then I looked back up at her. The Night Mare quickly got my meaning and released my hand. "Ah. My apologies, I was caught up in the moment." She at least had the decency to blush and turn away. I rubbed my sore hand with the other, and suddenly realized that neither hand hurt anymore. I flexed both hands and wrists several times, expecting the injured one to complain when I hit the right angle. But I felt no twinges or shooting pains at all. Huh. Magical alicorn healing magic wins again. Now free of pain, I looked around the open room. I could see a bare concrete floor, clean yet bare walls, and an uncovered ceiling showing ventilation ducting and fire suppression pipes. Then wondered why the floor wasn't rented out already. "This is a wonderful place, my Queen. I think it would make a great home for you. However, the people who own this building aren't going to be real happy when they find out we're living here rent-free." "Then we shall have to convince them that this floor is already occupied, Captain. Perhaps we should give them a generous down payment...in shadow parasites?" Had I been drinking something, I would have done a classic spit take all over the ebony mare. "W-Was that supposed to be funny?!" "Aye. Was it not? I was certain that you would appreciate the morbid humor." "Oh sure, it's hilarious. But it's also extremely dark to joke about enslaving people like that." "I do not see the problem. They are merely sheep to be led to our slaughter. It is up to us as their betters to find a proper use for them. Is this not what we have been doing thus far, with all the guard stations? Subjugating them with shadow parasites?" I had no ready answer for her. "Yes, but...argh! It just sounds wrong to joke about enslaving my people!" Nightmare Moon cocked an eyebrow at me. "Is there a problem, Captain?" A shot of adrenaline shot through my body, and a voice in my head ordered me to submit. Yes...I will obey. "No problem, my Queen. However, no matter what our plan is we're going to have to work during the day to do it." "And why is that?" "The people who manage this building only work during the day. Unlike the police stations, there is no night shift to conquer and then tell us where the day shift lives and sleeps. Well, there are guards here at night but this is not a building full of guards. Most of the people working here are civilians. Thus, the guards will not be able to get the information we need. We're going to have to conquer them during the day, somehow." "How do you propose we do this? You know we cannot work freely during the day." I paused to think for a moment. "Actually, I think we can." I filled Nightmare Moon in on the details. I admit that I made it all up on the fly, but made it sound like a well thought out plan anyway. "Your plan has merit, though I am not comfortable with my part in it. However, I have no better plan so we shall have to make yours work." "Good deal. I hope I can get some sleep tonight, or I'm going to be really tired in the morning." "That may not be an issue. Here, sit down for a moment so I may examine your magic and see how much it has grown." The Moon Mistress summoned up two large and comfy-looking pillows for us to sit upon. I sat upon the blue one, while she took the black one. The pillows turned out to be just as comfy as they looked. After we had gotten comfortable, Nightmare Moon lit her horn and began to use her magic to examine mine. A few quiet minutes passed before the dark mare spoke. "Your magical wellspring has grown since I first created your current body. You appear to have enough magical reserves to go without sleep for a few days. However, you cannot yet tap into that reserve to go without sleep. That ability does not exist within you." "Damn." "Do not fret, your magical abilities are still developing and it may yet appear. In the meantime, I shall cast a spell on you that temporarily replicates this ability. You will not tire until the spell is broken or it wears off in a number of hours." "That's convenient. I wish I had that spell when I was back in college. Studying for finals would have been a lot easier." "An astute correlation, my Captain. This spell was very popular in our schools of higher learning, until one student damaged her magical wellspring from over-using the spell. After we discovered its widespread abuse, my sister and I subsequently banned the spell. Anyone found using it in any school of learning would be permanently banned from the school." "Uh oh. Should I be worried?" "Nay, the mare had abused the spell for months before it caused her damage. You will only be using it for a number of hours. It is perfectly safe." "Alright." Without another word, Nightmare Moon lit her horn and cast her spell. I felt a bit tingly all over, then...nothing. "Um, I don't feel any different. Did your spell work?" "It did, my Captain. You felt nothing as you are not yet tired. Had you been tired, you would have felt your exhaustion fade away and leave you as awake as you are now." "Huh. Okay, now what? We've found your new home, is this all we're gonna do tonight?" "Thou art correct, there are several more hours left in this evening. Twould be a shame to waste them here, yet there is little we can accomplish with such few hours remaining." "True. I suppose I could practice my illusions for tomorrow." "Then I shall explore the floors below us. I am curious as to what I shall find there." "Okay. How can I contact you if I need you? We don't have any minions to help us out." "Hmm? Ah, yes. I can cast a spell into the gemstone in the chestpiece of your armor, that will signal to me that you are ready. The spell merely connects your gemstone to my magic, and allows us to send a quick signal to each other. I have used it in the past to signal my generals to start their attacks, so it shall serve this simple purpose well. Here, hold still." Nightmare Moon touched her horn to the teal gemstone embedded in my chest armor, and I felt a small surge of magic pass from her to me. "There. To use it, place your -- er, what are your forehooves called again? Paws? Or hands?" "Either is good, I guess. I get your meaning anyway." "I see. Then place a paw on the gemstone, and give it a small push with your magic." I did as she instructed, then took my hand off of the gemstone. "Ah yes, there is your signal. Here is mine." I felt a small tingle on my chest, directly under the gemstone. It didn't feel like a vibration or an electric shock, nor did it tickle. Whatever it was, it felt like nothing else I had felt before. So I figured it was simply a magical 'zap' of some sort. I was sure I wouldn't mistake it for anything else. "Got it. Enjoy your exploration." Nightmare Moon turned into mist and headed for the emergency exit. She slipped around the edges of the door and disappeared from my sight. I began experimenting with illusions to change my appearance. My first attempts were clumsy, but practice made them better. I kept polishing and refining them until the sun began to rise above the horizon. As promised, Nightmare Moon's spell kept me awake and alert. I was very glad Nighty wasn't there to see me, because that sunrise was GORGEOUS.