//------------------------------// // Original Air Date: October 22 2010 // Story: Friends, Forgiveness, and Magic // by Invinsible //------------------------------// Friends, Forgiveness, and Magic Original Air Date: October 22, 2010 Nightmare pulled herself off the ground and quickly assessed her new surroundings. She could already tell she wasn’t in a dream. She had to compliment whichever version of either her mom or herself was in charge of the night sky, because the stars looked beautiful. The spooky trees reminded Nightmare Moon of the Equestria Forest and the very first adventure she ever had with her friends, hunting down the Elements of Redemption that would help them defeat Eternal Twilight. Stars above, how the time flies. “How it flies indeed.” Nightmare Moon tensed up and glared at Lady Faust, but the elder alicorn wasn’t even looking at her. “I suppose I should be flattered that somebody is interested in hearing my side of the story. Useful little spell you created. I know I would have loved to live inside my own daydreams. Hope you don’t mind, but when you jumped into the portal and started chasing me, I took control of your magic and made you cast a spell to enter my mind. The demon friendship squad wasn’t real. My memories before that were. Did you like what you saw?” Nightmare’s horn charged up with power. “What I saw does not change what you did!” “Hush now,” Lady Faust said as she shrank the size of Nightmare’s text, causing her shout to turn into a whisper. “If you draw too much attention to yourself, your old friends are far more likely to attack you than me.” She looked back at Nightmare and smirked, while pointing at a group of ponies on the other side of some bushes. “Do you even know where and WHEN you are, Nightmare Moon?” “So, none of you have been in here before?” she heard Princess Twilight say. Except, looking through the bushes, she wasn’t a princess. She didn’t have her wings! “Ugh, heavens no! Just look at it - it's dreadful.” “And it ain't natural. Folks say it don't work the same as Equestria.” There was Rarity and Applejack. Plus Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie. All ponies that she had once fought against in some way or another who would later become her friends. Or if not, then the Equestria versions of themselves. Right on cue, a cloud of magical mist tried to knock Twilight’s friends off a cliff, so that mist could only have been the villainous version of herself. Princess Nightmare Moon glared back at Lady Faust. “What are you doing in Equestria’s past?” “Oh, it’s not just the Equestria you’re familiar with,” Lady Faust said with a smirk. “Welcome to October 22, 2010. The day when the second episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic aired.” “Welcome to Equestria Prime.” Nightmare’s eyes widened. Before she could express her astonishment, Lady Faust teleported both of them far away from the Everfree forest and straight into a field of ice and snow. Lady Faust looked up and smirked at the sun. “Would you look at that? The planet IS round.” She chuckled. “Or perhaps the sun is only here, on the day of eternal night, because this planet is whatever I say it is.” Nightmare frowned. “But you’re not really Lauren Faust, now are you?” Lady Faust glanced back at her. “Exactly how much of the fourth wall can you break?” Nightmare shrugged. “Just enough. I know that in my world I’m as real as I can be. But in another part of the multiverse all the people I know are just fictional characters created for a TV show. What happens in one world can influence the other.” Lady Faust frowned. “Discord and Pinkie.” She poofed up a laptop computer at her eye level and began scrolling through a document on it. “But when did they…? Oh! Of course. Multiverse theory is one of the easier ways for a person to accept they might be a fictional character in one universe. And if the conversation isn’t shocking enough, it’s not interesting enough. At least, from a writer’s or reader’s perspective.” She made the laptop vanish and smirked at Nightmare. “So your little tricksters kept things short and simple enough to be done off-screen. Well played. But that just means you don’t know as much as you could.” “Well since you’re in a talking mood, why not fill me in on the rest? Since you seem to love the spotlight so much.” Lady Faust grimaced and turned away from Nightmare. “You have the wrong idea about the spotlight. I hate it. Nobody ever listens to me, especially when they’re staring at me.” Her glare softened. “But since you’re making an attempt, despite all that I’ve done to Everfree, perhaps you’ve earned this.” “I first met the real Lauren Faust out in a far less magical world, whilst I was masquerading as a human. We met at a coffee and smoothie place, although she no longer remembers our little get-together. I read her mind and saw the pictures she had drawn in her imagination, the first few steps towards her new show. I pushed a few of my own ideas into her head, gently nudging her in the right direction. She wanted to create a show for little girls that was treated with respect. I wanted a show that focused more on adventures instead of such unstable ideas like friendship. And then there’s the fact that Twilight Sparkle shares the same facial features, voice, and manestyle as my little sister, Tulip Secondborn.” Lady Faust sighed and pawed at the snow under her hoof. “I wanted to remember her as…as the bookworm she was. Instead of the manipulative friend she became.” “Of course, Lauren Faust was the one making the big decisions and so even though she created the show, eventually she handed it over to other writers. But her contributions are still remembered because even though she wanted the show to be popular I don’t think ANYONE could have predicted how popular it would become. The Brony fandom took the so-called ‘real’ world by storm. Even with the show ending, I don’t think anyone will ever forget the impact a little cartoon made on an entire planet. Nobody could have predicted it back then. But now, I can.” Lady Faust summoned up a two-story bookcase full to bursting with glowing books. “Over nine years of the shows episodes, it’s greatest fanfictions, and it’s greatest fan reactions. I know what the people will love and what they will hate. With the future knowledge I have now, I can turn My Little Pony Friendship is Magic into an even bigger hit than it was before. This time, I’m not going to let anyone else tell Twilight Sparkle’s story. First thing I’ll do is have Twilight Sparkle defeat Nightmare Moon and restore Princess Luna all by herself. Her friends can help her get there but when the duel comes, it’ll all be up to Twilight. No hoof-holding friendship lasers, not this time.” Her smile widened. “The bronies will do more than love the show. They will worship it. Their adoration will consume all their trivial thoughts of reality, leaving only blessed fandom in their minds.” She looked off into the distance and grinned. “And once I have them all eating out of my hoof, I will give them the greatest friendship lesson of all: You don’t NEED to make friends. You can accomplish things by yourself. There is no reason to ostracize loners and introverts. Nerds, geeks, fanboys, and fangirls are people who should be respected and not ridiculed.” She closed her eyes and sighed happily. “If I work hard at it, I can create a world where it’s okay to be alone.” Nightmare blinked at the bizarre nature of Lady Faust’s plan. “You did ALL of this, just to force everyone to never make friends anymore?” Lady Faust raised an eyebrow at her. “What? No, obviously people should be friends if they both want to be friends. I’m telling people that they don’t NEED to make friends. That it’s not necessary in order for you to be happy.” “But everyone already knows that. Nobody is forcing you to make friends…” “Don’t lie to me!” Lady Faust snarled, her eyes lighting up with glowing blue flames in them. “Friendship is relentless! Friendship is without mercy! Friendship has hunted me down like a Terminator for centuries! I tried hiding from the world! I locked myself up in caves buried thousands of feet deep. What a shock, explorers dug down to uncover ‘secret treasures’ and thought I was just the most fascinating specimen! I banished myself to lifeless planets and distant moons. Surprise, astronauts or dimension-hopping wizards, or SOMEBODY chased after me! You keep saying you’ll leave me alone, BUT YOU NEVER LEAVE! ME! ALONE!” Nightmare took a step back at Faust’s fury. “Is that true? But…but how many times could this have happened? You mean to tell me that after you teleport to a lifeless planet, astronauts immediately find you?! Just by accident?” Lady Faust cooled the fire in her eyes and shook her head. “We’re both immortal but you’re still too young. One day you and your little buddy Smog will understand. Go to sleep for too long and wake up to find a dragon slayer poking at your cave with a plasma sword. Blink and you can miss a century going by.” Nightmare nodded in understanding. “You must be truly ancient. But even if you could build up your own army of followers like Merry Weather, I don’t see how you’ll get these ‘bronies’ to worship a television show.” Lady Faust smirked and shrugged. “What does it even mean to worship something? What’s the difference between a religion and a fandom? If you ask me, I think if DC comics had been written before the Bible or the Quran, then people would be following the sacred texts of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.” Nightmare frowned and shook her head. “Maybe the reason people don’t listen to you is because you make no sense. Religion doesn’t work like that.” “How do you know? I’ve never heard you discuss religion before. How do you decide? All you social butterflies do is argue and scream about a million different topics, and I can’t understand ANY OF YOU!” Lady Faust growled. “I already said I’m sorry for being autistic, what in Nintendo’s name can I say that will make you happy?!” Nightmare observed Lady Faust’s shaking body and flickering horn. “So, you really…” Lady Faust’s horn lit up with power again and stayed glowing. “Yes. On top of being an alicorn OC, which I know the bronies hate, I am on the autism spectrum. I have Asperger’s. I have a communication disorder, social phobia, a social skills learning disability, Extreme Shyness Syndrome, the Anti-Pony Plague, misophonia, anthropophobia, the Stutters, a Defective Mouth, or whatever the psychologists and therapists of your world wish to diagnose me as. Bottom line is, ponies are social creatures and I am a social failure. How do you think they reacted to me? I was worse than a thousand frightened Fluttershy’s and Chrysalis’ put together. I spoke quietly if at all. I stuttered and stumbled on every sentence. If I said the word ‘hello’, ponies asked me if I needed to go to the hospital. I am a big, fat, awkward, LOSER. And with magic playing a factor in my mind, it might have made things worse. I might be literally ALLERGIC to friendship. I used to pass out if I heard some pony talking for too long, or throw up after getting hugged by too many ponies. I could not have survived in Ponyville or Peaceville.” Lady Faust’s eyes twitched madly as she thought about her childhood. “But even Pinkie Pie couldn’t have survived PonyTown. The people I grew up with were scum. Bigots, bullies, and murderers more depraved than your world of forgiveness can comprehend. They covered up all their evil in a blanket of pink cupcakes and parties, but it was always there.” Lady Faust covered her chest with her hoof and stared Nightmare in the eye. “You think I became like this just because my mom ‘didn’t like me’? My mom tried to murder me.” Nightmare gasped and backed away from Lady Faust. “No. That…that can’t be true!” “Oh yes,” Lady Faust grimly nodded. “Sunset was right. I grew up during my world’s version of the Changeling Trials. And you know, when I became an alicorn I tried to stop it. I approached the changeling queen and offered them a cure for their love hunger in exchange for an end to the fighting. They happily agreed. The changelings praised me as a hero for saving them from starvation. And when I brought this news to my village, how did they react? My family and ‘friends’ led an angry mob towards me and they tried to murder me!” Lady Faust growled, stomping her hoof four times in emphasis. To her complete shock, tears began to fill both their eyes. Nightmare wiped her eyes clean and asked, “How could she…?” “And you want to know something else? Let’s pretend just for a minute, that friendship could EVER exist outside of a fantasy world. The closest thing I ever had to a best friend? His pony disguise was Mister Bookworm but her birth name was Felicia Faust. A gender fluid changeling. Now what do you think my mom did?” Against her will, Nightmare pictured her dear friend Queen Chrysalis, tied to a stake and burning. She held a hoof up to her mouth to halt the vomit she could feel building up. “No…” “Yes.” Lady Faust swished her tail and Nightmare felt her stomach settle down. “Now, I’ve gone back in time to kill, revive, and memory wipe myself so many times I’ve lost track. But I will NEVER forget or forgive those criminals for what they did. As I stood there, forced to watch as the one person who believed in me was set ablaze to the cheers of the ponies around me, I saw the TRUE nature of friendship.” As much as Nightmare wanted to debate the second and third sentence, the first sentence had a greater priority. “As messed up as your life was, I don’t see how that was helping. Why would you kill and revive yourself like that?” “I don’t know genius, maybe I hate myself?” Lady Faust grumbled. She winced and pressed a hoof to her head. “Maybe some days I feel like Rick, Morty, and Jerry all at the same time? Entertaining show, but yikes is it cynical.” “I’ll have to get Discord to explain that reference.” Nightmare frowned. “What about Everfree? I can see why your concept of friendship is so twisted, but there are still people I care about. If Equestria Prime was your target all along; if you had no business at all with Everfree or our Equestrian allies, why did you attack the universe tied to mine first?” Lady Faust groaned. “You’ll hate me no matter what I say, so what the hay? I guess the pragmatic answer was that I wanted to get the bronies attention. I suppose my other reason was stress relief. I went on a rampage through that Equestria because-” She was cut off as Nightmare slammed into, her horn crackling with lightning and dark magic. “Just because you could?!” the princess of nightmares snarled. Lady Faust rolled her eyes. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? You and the readers down in the comments think I’m so irredeemable, don’t you? Even though I must have dropped a dozen hints that what I did to your worlds was NEVER going to be permanent.” Two books poofed into existence, floating behind Lady Faust’s head. Nightmare released the anti-social alicorn and stared at the two very large books. The title of one book read Everfree and the other book read Equestria tied to Everfree. Lady Faust pointed at them. “See those books? They contain everything and everyone there is to know from your two worlds. I can use those books to bring back all the people I killed in your world. There’s even instructions that YOU could use to bring them all back. I don’t remember a thing when I kill and revive myself and I guarantee you that all the ponies you know won’t even remember dying. A perfect reset button is yours for the taking, Princess Nightmare Moon.” Lady Faust frowned at her. “And all I ask is that you take these books and leave. Me. Alone.” Nightmare frowned. “I remember everything I’ve read on multiverse theory. If you change Equestria Prime, what will happen to Everfree?” Lady Faust snorted. “I’ve already written those books, already established their canon. Even with the changes I’ll make across the multiverse, your worlds will be restored exactly how you remember them. Perhaps a little better, if those extroverted monsters will listen to me this time.” Nightmare stomped her hoof. “Fine, but what about all the other universes created after Equestria Prime? I can’t help but think your actions will end up erasing billions of alternate universes before they ever have a chance to live!” “If they get erased I’ll just un-erase them!” Lady Faust growled. “I thought I made it clear that I can undo death. Will you please just take the books and leave?! I thought your friends were the only things you cared about!” Nightmare fired a blast of magic at Lady Faust, that unfortunately didn’t leave a scratch. “Then you don’t know me as well as you think you do! You can’t just shrug off what you’ve done like it’s nothing! If you actually cared about your Mister Bookworm, why didn’t you bring him back to life?” Lady Faust’s horn lit up the sky like a lightning bolt. A string of furious mumbles formed behind her gritted teeth before she blasted Nightmare off her hooves and across the snowy field. “Because I can’t even convince the few people I care about to listen to me. Nobody will ever listen to me. It doesn’t matter what I say to you. Nothing I do matters.” Nightmare growled and pulled herself back up. “I am so sick of this. Maybe my magic isn’t enough to bring you down, but let’s see how you do against these!” With a flash of light from her horn, Nightmare conjured up Trixie’s hat. She reached into it just like a great magician and pulled out a miracle. Twelve magical elements of incredible power. The Elements of Harmony and the Elements of Redemption all together. She levitated them all and held them up like a spinning shield in front of her. Lady Faust’s eyes widened at the display for a moment…before she let out a chuckle. “You think…you think that…aha ha, oh you almost had me there! Ha, ha, ha!” “What’s so funny?” Nightmare growled. “Each Element is supposed to be paired to one bearer. If there aren’t enough, some ponies might be able to wield two, maybe three at the most. Of all the ponies in all the worlds I’ve encountered I think only Princess Celestia and your mentor King Sombra have been able to use six elements by themselves. And those weren’t exactly successful attempts, now were they? But one person using TWELVE elements? It’s insanity. That much raw power could kill even an immortal like you! Your plan is so crazy…it just might work. That means in most stories, it would work.” Lady Faust’s smirk twisted into a harsh sneer as blue electricity sparkled along her eyes and up to her blindingly bright horn. “But this isn’t any ordinary story, is it? This is Equestria: where Friendship is Magic. Therefore, if you don’t have friends you don’t have a chance.” Nightmare’s only response at Lady Faust’s amusement was to shoot a spell through the Element of Magic that sent out two beams of magic that curved around to touch the other eleven elements in her levitation field. The elements spun in their circle and fired a blast of rainbow magic at Lady Faust. The elder alicorn smirked as she batted away all that raw energy with a single wing swipe. Nightmare gasped and Lady Faust kept taunting her. “Don’t look so surprised. Even if you think of your friends as ‘by your side, in your heart’ that’s not enough for Equestria’s standards. The only time Twilight Sparkle could ever accomplish anything was when her friends were physically by her side! Whenever she tried to save the day by herself, she failed miserably!” “I am not Twilight Sparkle!” Nightmare Moon declared. “Oh, but you are!” Lady Faust laughed triumphantly. “You can make all the comments about wanting eternal night or loving your mommy Luna, but your heart isn’t in it. You and Everfree were born to swap roles with Equestria’s heroes. You’re just a carbon copy of Twilight Sparkle, wrapped up in Nightmare Moon’s image. Deep down, you’re just like her; a socially awkward bookworm who abandoned her own values to be crowned Princess Slave of Friendship! Isn’t that the friendship lesson you’ve been teaching us all? ‘Don’t be yourself, individuality is overrated. Just give up on your dreams, join the herd, and do as you’re told by your greedy, peer-pressuring friends!’” “That’s not true!” Nightmare roared as she blasted Lady Faust with her own magic, which again did nothing. “If you can’t be yourself with your friends, then they don’t deserve to be your friends. I still love reading books and gazing at stars. Even if I have mellowed out over the years, I still daydream about making the world kneel before the power of the moon! Compare me to Twilight all you like, but I am power hungry and proud of it! My life is more than just my friends!” Lady Faust shook her head. “Don’t pretend like you’re finally seeing reason now, Twilight Clone. I may have stopped writing you, but I still know how you think. Your darkest impulses. Your greatest fears.” She smirked up at the hot, unbearable sun and looked down at the empty field of snow around them. Beams of magic trickled down from her horn and touched her vocal cords. “And I know your greatest fear has already come true.” Finally endowed with the ability to sing like a normal pony, she began: “You’ve always had a friend or two, Someone to lend a hand,” Lady Faust sang, briefly turning her left hoof into a human hand before changing it back. “When times were tough, you looked to them To get out of a jam. But now, no matter where you turn There’s no one here but you! You’re all alone, your greatest fear Has finally come true!” Nightmare stomped her hoof and sang back: “Just because I’m by myself Does not mean I will fold. I don’t need help to defeat you! I just need to be bold.” Lady Faust rolled her eyes. “Spare me your aesopic speech. We both know you are wrong!” “I’m not afraid to stand alone!” Nightmare sang. “Little nightmare, you won’t be standing long.” Faust fired back. Lady Faust blasted Nightmare with magic, erasing both her wings and one-third of her right back leg. As Nightmare struggled to regain her balance, Lady Faust kept sing-taunting her. “You’re on your own, can’t fly away. You’ve met your doom this final day!” “I’m on my own but won’t give in! I’ll get back up and fight again!” Nightmare sang. She spun the elements again and tried to blast Lady Faust, but her opponent just ignored the elements’ power and zapped Nightmare again. Her left front leg was erased out of existence and a chunk of her flank began to fade away. “The hope in you is fading fast And when it’s gone the world will be mine at last!” Lady Faust sang back. “But like the moon, I’ll shine once more!” Nightmare sang as she fired a huge blast of her own dark magic at Lady Faust. Once again, no sell. “Until day comes, and brings uncaring war!” Under Lady Faust’s power, the sun over their heads spat out a wave of flames that hurtled down to the battlefield and struck Nightmare, burning the fur right off her flesh. “AAAAAAHHHH!” Nightmare screamed. For added injury, Lady Faust blasted Nightmare with her magic, causing her horn to disappear followed by several pieces of her body. Without her magic holding them up, the twelve elements dropped into the snow. All that was left of Nightmare’s body was her head, neck, front right leg, and a piece of burnt flesh holding everything together. This was the end, wasn’t it? No magic of her own and no help from the Elements. Friendship wasn’t strong enough to defeat Lady Faust and Nightmare wasn’t strong enough without friendship. As she watched her own body fading away, it finally sunk in that she just wasn’t strong enough. She looked down at the Elements surrounding her. Magic, Honesty, Generosity, Loyalty, Kindness, and Laughter. The allies she had found in Equestria and the former enemies she had defeated and befriended in Everfree. She then weakly titled her head to see the Elements that started her adventures. Knowledge, Nobility, Zeal, Love, and Freedom. She thought about Sunset Shimmer, the Great and Powerful Trixie, Gilda, Queen Chrysalis, and Discord. She thought about her loyal minion Smog, her wise mentor King Sombra, and her loving mother Luna. Out of all the friends she had made, it was those eight Everfree heroes she held in the highest regard. She was sorry she wasn’t enough to help them. But then…Princess Nightmare Moon finally stared at her own Element of Power. And an idea sprung forth. In her mind’s eye, she saw two little fillies. One was a pale white unicorn filly, who cowered with fear as a crowd of ponies snickered at her. One was a midnight black alicorn filly, who hissed at all the sun loving fools who couldn’t understand the glory of the night and the strength of her solitude. But out from the crowd of ponies there came Luna. Princess, guard captain, duchess, loving sister, loyal friend, and the best mom she could ever imagine. Luna knelt down to the filly Nightmare Moon and hugged her. And the filly Nightmare Moon stopped hissing and smiled as she returned her mother’s hug. As for the filly Lily Firstborn? She was dragged away against her will by a crowd of faceless ponies, screaming and reaching out to her own mother. But Regality heartlessly smirked and waved Lily away before she returned to styling her mane in the mirror. That was it. Nightmare Moon finally figured it out. The same thing happened when the chaotic Pinkamania had to be blasted with the elements twice. Pinkie Pie refused redemption the first time because she didn’t see herself as the bad guy. It was only when Twilight’s team used the Elements of Redemption that Pinkie realized she was on the wrong side. Lady Faust refused redemption because she didn’t see friendship as a good thing. She genuinely believed that friendship was evil, that being reformed was a fate worse than death. Friendship could NEVER defeat Lady Faust. But Lily respected individuality. And deep down, she wanted to feel loved. Without her magic touching them, the Elements of Harmony and the Elements of Redemption all started glowing again. They rose into the air and spun in a circle, as their magic reached down and spread a healing wave of moonlight across her body. Within seconds, the pieces of Nightmare Moon that had been erased or burnt were restored to full health and she climbed back on her hooves, wings flared open, and horn glowing with power. She opened her mouth and triumphantly sang: “There’s a bond you never got to know A power you could not feel. The love I give comes back to me And makes me stronger than steel. If I remember the love I know And share it all with you My love will shine from up above And prove my cause is true!” Lady Faust shook her head, shocked at Nightmare’s return. “My depression cannot be cured. True love can never last. I’ll show you how real despair feels One final fatal blast!” “The power of the Elements was too much for Nightmare to control and her body exploded into dust, ending her life.” Lady Faust fired her reality altering sentence like a bullet at Nightmare’s heart. But the sentence bounced off the younger alicorn and vanished. Lady Faust’s jaw dropped. “You tried your worst to bring me down But I refuse to fall!” Nightmare sang. “How can this be happening?” Lady Faust asked, completely gobsmacked. “Because I rise above this brawl!” Nightmare sang as she hovered over Lady Faust’s head with one powerful flap of her wings. The Elements all lit up with overwhelming power and blasted Lady Faust, surrounding her NOT in a rainbow but in a spiral of blue magic that resembled Nightmare’s and Lady Faust’s magic fused together. “I’m on my own, with my moonlight To keep me pure through the darkest nights!” Nightmare sang. “You’re just one person. How can this be?!” Lady Faust asked, genuinely more concerned with the answer than her own life. Nightmare smiled and sang: “I’m more than that, if only you could see. I may be dark and on my own But I can see how much we’ve both grown My will is strong, my heart is true But love doesn’t need… To be the end…of…you…” In a spectacular explosion of magic and power, the Elements finished the job and banished Lady Faust from Equestria Prime. When the light cleared, Princess Nightmare Moon was the only pony left out in the snow. Lily was nowhere to be seen. Nightmare touched back down on the ground and let out a relieved sigh. “Phew…okay…okay. Lady Faust? Lily? Are…are you there?” No response. Nightmare surveyed the area for a minute. The sun had vanished, leaving a beautiful night sky in its place. The huge bookcase was gone, but the two books that could restore everyone in Everfree and the Equestria she knew were still floating in the air. She levitated the two books towards her and dropped them into Trixie’s hat. She placed the Element of Power on her own head and placed the other eleven elements next to the two books. She now had everything she needed to return home and bring all her friends back to life. As if Lady Faust never attacked them in the first place. As if a sad little loser like Lily…didn’t really matter. Despite everything she had done, Nightmare couldn’t hate Lily anymore. Lily played the role of a villain like it was a game, because stories were the only way she learned how to successfully interact with anyone. Lily was still a kid at heart, even though she was unimaginably old. Nightmare still didn’t know the whole story, but it sounded like Regality had destroyed Lily’s emotional empathy. Without Luna, Nightmare could have easily become someone as dangerous as Lady Faust. Even if Lily was too afraid to make friends, Nightmare wanted to forgive her. But without her around? Better to save those she had the power to save. And, better to leave this Equestria before the sun reappeared, signalling that the Nightmare Moon in this world had turned back into Princess Luna. Her presence would be too confusing to explain to the citizens of this world. It was time to go back home. She felt the twelve Elements give her a power boost as she opened a portal back to the universe of Everfree. “Crysssstaaalllssss…” Nightmare frowned and stomped a hoof against the ice below her. “Save it for season three, weird doppelganger of Sombra.” “Buzzzzzkillllll…” Nightmare allowed herself a chuckle as she felt a little comedy re-enter her life. She stepped into the portal leading back home and disappeared from Equestria Prime. ... ... ...