//------------------------------// // A Nightmare Taken // Story: The Fifth Holy Grail War: A Pony's Perspective // by Evowizard25 //------------------------------// If Celestia was going to be honest with herself, this whole fiasco was easily one of the worst ones in her long reign. Oh sure, this was no Discord, Chrysalis or Sombra. There was no ‘big bad’ to battle, at least not yet. This didn’t do anything to assuage her from feeling dread.  Her former apprentice had stolen the Element of Magic and took it to another world. A world Celestia knew was without true harmony and rather chaotic. Its people weren’t necessarily evil. She had met a few nice ones, such as King Arthur on occasion when Starswirl had decided to visit that world. Yet there was so much bloodshed and violence.  She didn’t even want to begin to ponder what her former apprentice had experienced on the other side. She may have ousted her for her behavior, but Celestia still cared about Sunset. She just hoped nothing seriously bad happened to her. On that remark, she wished the same for her own apprentice, now princess.  While she was uncertain about her star pupil’s doings at the moment, she was certain about the state of her sister currently. Right now she was sitting by her bed, watching as she took haggard breaths. She was sweating through her fur. The color of her fur was paler as though it was being bleached from her form. Celestia had never seen her like this before and that worried her. She had lost her sister once and she wasn’t going to lose her again. Hopefully this was temporary.  “Rest easy, Luna.” Celestia kissed her sister’s forehead. “You’ll get better soon enough.” “Sister,” Luna croaked out, causing Celestia’s ears to perk up. These were the first words she had said in several hours, “I’m sorry.” “Shhh, don’t stress yourself.” Celestia nuzzled her, “It’s alright. I’m not blaming you for anything.” “You should,” Luna huffed, “I tried to peer into the other world. I wanted to see what was going on and if Twilight was safe. However, I felt something. Something so dark that it reminded me of the Nightmare.” Celestia’s eyes widened, “Has it escaped to the human world?” A million scenarios played in her mind about such a situation. The humans would be hit by a force they wouldn’t understand and it could spell destruction.  Luna shook her head slowly, “No, it felt… worse.” “How so?” “The Nightmare plays on your insecurities,” Luna explained. “It drowns you in despair and forces you to act on it, fueling your anger. There was no despair. Just anger. Pure unadulterated anger. I’ve never felt anything like it, so…” “You tried to investigate,” Celestia finished for her.  Luna nodded, “Yes and it grabbed a hold of me. I did everything I could to escape and... “ Her eyes widened, “It stole the Tantabus.” “The what?” Celestia furrowed her brow in confusion.  “I’ve… been using the Tantabus as a means of punishment for my sins,” Luna looked away, ashamed of what she was saying. “It is nothing but a pure nightmare. An echo of the one that possessed me. If it has it, it could use it to wreak untold havor on the real world.” Celestia frowned, “Luna, why would you create such a thing? You have nothing to atone for. I’ve told you that time and time again. The Nightmare was the one at fault-” “And I gave it access to do as it pleased,” Luna snapped at her. “I allowed it inside and let it hurt you and scare the ponies of the realm. I deserve every bit of punishment.” Celestia quickly hugged her little sister, “No. None of that. I won’t have you give in to despair so easily. You’re my sister, Luna. I can’t have you lose yourself to that emotion again. Not if I can help it.” Luna nuzzled her, “I’m sorry, sister.” “There is nothing to be sorry about,” Celestia said, “I will make sure Twilight is informed about this. In the meantime, get some rest. You need to regain your strength.” “I love you, sister.” “As do I, my Luna.”  Celestia knew she had to talk to her about the Tantabus and Luna’s inner turmoil. She couldn’t just let her sister wallow in fear and despair, hurting herself in some manner. No. That wasn’t acceptable. Of course, that would have to wait till this whole mess blows over. She hoped Twilight could fix this soon enough.  ___________________________________________________________________________ Avenger sat alone in her master’s house. Normally she would have loved nothing more than to go out and kill her enemies as soon as possible. Why shouldn’t she? She was most assuredly the strongest servant in the Holy Grail War, in her opinion. Everyone would end up burned alive, or staked. Probably both if she was feeling really angry that day.  Yet her master believed she wasn’t ready. That he didn’t have enough information on the other servants. That he wasn’t going to lose her so early in the war. Bah. She wanted to burn him alive. He was disgusting and unworthy of her. Unfortunately he had command seals, so she had to play nice. At least for now. Once they were gone, she would kill him gladly and take the grail for herself. Then she would watch France burn.  She looked down at her hand and a purple shadow started to weave around it. She didn’t know what it was. It was not part of her myth. It was alive yet it wasn’t at the same time. A creature of magic. They were a strange bunch. If she was still her saintly self, she would have been honestly wary of it. In fact, she would have destroyed it. It was nothing but pure hate.  Yet that’s why she kept it. She didn’t tell her master about this creature. She kept that to herself. Telling him would allow him another leverage over her. She wouldn’t have that. No. She would use this creature. This ‘Tantabus’. The name came to her as if by instinct.  She balled up her fist. She wouldn’t let her master push her around. She would do as she pleased. Her eyes narrowed and she thrust her fist forward. The shadow surged forward and started to swirl in the air, growing larger. A shape started to form in it until before her stood something akin to a purple shadow of her own form.  “Find the other servants,” Avenger snarled. “Watch them and report back. Don’t fight them… yet. I want to keep you a secret after all.” The shadow tilted its head to the side and momentarily Avenger wondered if it could understand her. Then it nodded and the shadow disappeared.  Avenger smiled and crossed her arms in victory. This war was as good as hers.  _________________________________________________________________________ Assassin couldn’t help but lean into her mommy’s embrace. She was happy they both got to sleep in the same bed. Well, they and Spike. Aunty Saber was in another room with her other mommy… or was he a daddy? She wasn’t familiar with that word and honestly mommy sounded better. Mommy liked Shirou so he must be good. She wouldn’t lie to Assassin.  As she laid there next to her, Assassin let her hand play over her mommy’s stomach. She loved being home. Safe and quiet. Just with her mommy. This was perfect.  Her hand pushed a bit more firmly.  Safe and quiet. She loved being home. She wanted to stay there. To be secure and warm. She shook her head. She was fine. She didn’t have to worry about anything. Her mommy was there and she would take care of her.  Her hand pressed even harder causing her mother to stir. She wanted to be home. To go home. Where it was safe and warm. A knife appeared in her hand as her mind focused on it. She wanted to be there, where she was never wanted. It would be so easy. Just a few cuts and it would happen.  “What are you doing?”  Assassin looked up to see Spike. He was giving her a concerned gaze, glancing at the knife in her hand. “We want to go home.” Spike the dog frowned, “But you are kinda of home. Well not our home, but it’s safe enough here. Also, what’s up with the knife.” “We want to go home,” Assassin muttered. She felt a bit conflicted now that Spike was up. Should she go through with it now.  Twilight yawned, sitting up and forcing Assassin and Spike to move a bit away. Her lips parted a few times as she groggily looked around. She smiled at Spike, “Good morning Spike.” Then she turned to Assassin, “Good morning-” Her eyes fell on the knife, “Assassin? Are we in danger?” “We want to go home,” Assassin said, but looked away. Cutting up her mommy didn’t sound so good anymore but she wanted to go back there. She wanted it so badly.  Twilight blinked in confusion, before smiling. “Don’t you worry a thing about that. Once we’ve got the crown and this whole stupid war business is over, we’ll go home. I’ve got a mountain of books for you to read and so many friends for you to make. You’ll love it there.” Assassin shook her head and moved forward. She tapped Twilight’s abdomen, “We want to go home.” Twilight stared at her tummy and gave it a pat, “Ahhh….. Okay, I’m still not following.” “I think she wants to go inside,” Spike looked disgusted, “I’m only guessing here but she was about to stab you.”  “Spike,” Twilight gave him a small glare, “Assassin would never do that. I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding.” “It didn’t look like one to me,” Spike huffed, “I don’t want you to get hurt, Twilight. Unless she’s got a good explanation, I’ll call it like I see it.” “Assassin,” Twilight looked at her and then the knife, “You weren’t going to stab me, were you?” Assassin looked away, “We just… We just want to go where it’s safe. Where it’s home. They never wanted us there. They got rid of us. Threw us in the trash. Never loved, so we want to go back there and be loved.” Twilight pulled her into a hug, “And you are loved. So very much so, but you can’t get that by stabbing people and…” She sighed and pulled back, “Assassin, it doesn’t work like that.” “We can try.” “No it literally can’t work like that,” Twilight rolled over and got her book bag, “Don’t worry. I’ve got some anatomy books from the library here and this is the perfect time for a lecture on human biology. It’s actually quite fascinating.” “...Eh?” Assassin tilted her head in confusion.  Spike groaned, “Here she goes again.” *five minutes later* Saber wasn’t tired. As a servant, sleep wasn’t necessary, although it did help in conserving spiritual energy. That was something she needed to look out for more so given her master was rather weak. He didn’t seem to be stupid but she would have to watch how she operated as to not drain him. Perhaps she would ask Twilight for assistance if she was indeed rather powerful in the mystic arts.  “Aunty Saber!” Assassin came running and hid behind her legs, “Save us.” Saber blinked in confusion, “Whatever are you-” “Assassin,” Twilight came running with a chart in hand, “We haven’t even started on the uterus.” “We don’t want to go there anymore!” Assassin shouted, “It’s gross.” “Yes, the body can be quite gross but it also can be quite fascinating.” Saber blinked a couple of times before she processed everything.Then she looked down at a purple dog.  “You’ll get used to it,” Spike said.  Saber began to ponder how her lives in the past led up to this moment.