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// Chapter 23: Inside the House of Nightmares 
// Story: Marshmallow Dreams 
// by Halira 
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The inside of Miss Nightmare's house was black as night, with only an occasional nightlight along the wall to give illumination and let me know where the boundaries of the room were amongst the void. It was exactly the kind of place I would expect one of the most frightening ponies in existence to live. 

"Sorry, forgot to turn the lights on before I left to get you," Crystal said. 

A moment later the room suddenly lit up with a soft light and the inside of the house took on a very different character. In place of the oppressive dark cave I had first entered there was now a room that looked almost disappointingly domestic. There were two sofas, both done in navy blue, with lots of plump frilly pillows piled along their sides, as well as a big cushy looking armchair in the same color. There was a perfectly normal computer desk with a desktop computer and a stool. On every wall were framed photos, most of them featuring a family of night ponies, although there were other photos that featured other ponies and humans. There were even a few with Wild Growth and one that had two griffins and a griffin chick. There was no television set, but there were lots of bookcases, and a small glass display case. This didn't look anything like what I expected from the Queen of Nightmares. I wasn't sure what I expected- some medieval dungeon or something like the Addams' Family mansion- but definitely not something like this. 

Crystal started walking towards a stairwell. "I'll go let Phobia know you're here. You two can relax while you wait for her. Jess, Phobia wants this room muted to everyone outside of it, so make yourself useful."

"I figured as much," Jess replied, as she walked over to the chair and flopped into it. "It's done. No one can hear what is being said in this room, even if they have their ear up to the door."

Crystal seemed to focus on something unseen for a moment before nodding. "Confirmed. I'll be right back with Phobia. Make yourselves at home."

Jess tapped the arms of the chair with her hands. "Already have. Hey… do you think you can let me change out your fluids in your car? I'm planning on getting a mechanic's license at some point."

The crystal pony turned back. "I don't mind, but you aren't even old enough to drive yet. Don't you think a mechanic's license needs to wait until after you have your driver's license, and aren't you already working on a second doctorate or something already? What are you planning to do; launch their spaceship and give them an oil change on the side?"

The partial human shrugged. "Never hurts to expand my expertise- and I have my learning permit for driving, just so you know. I like cars. I want to get a classic corvette and covert the engine to a clean one."

Crystal chuckled. "I approve of your hobby. We can talk about cars later. Let me get Phobia before she starts wondering if something's wrong."

I didn't know anything about cars other than they should have four wheels and someone needed to start color coding pony harnesses compared to human seat belts. I instead decided to further investigate the room. 

All the framed photos looked pretty much like normal family type photos. Every tribe of pony was represented, along with humans, and more. Some even looked like they were taken in Equestria. I spotted even a photo of Lántiān joined by three foals and a red unicorn mare with a purple and yellow mane that had just a small touch of grey to it. That same unicorn was featured in other photos, and I wondered if that was Miss Nightmare's mother. 

"There's me," Jess said, as she pointed to some photos. "Me twice, actually. You can see what I looked like when I was a pony."

I looked at the indicated photos. It was easy enough to pick the photo of Jess in her partial form out. She was in a graduation cap and gown with Robby, two adult humans, and a young boy all standing around her looking proud- except the young boy who looked like he'd rather not be standing still for a photo. Next to that photo was another photo; this one had the same human couple, what looked like a Robby as a younger teen, and a tiny little yellow earth pony filly with a blue mane that matched Jess's hair. 

"You were so cute as a little filly!" I gushed, flapping my wings to hover just a little and get a better look. 

"Well, most ponies look cute and adorable, little fillies even more so. It's your secret weapon against us humans," Jess said with a smirk. Her expression turned wistful though. "Every once and a while I wonder what it would be like to still be a pony; mainly because I hate picking out clothes to wear. I wouldn't go back to being a pony if I had the option, since I do not want to give up my hands, and can't imagine functioning without them- I'm not even sure how you ponies function without hands, and I spent six-and-a-half years as one."

I thought about pointing out she still had the tail and ears of a pony, so she looked adorable too, but remembered that Robby said not to bring up the fact Jess was a partial. "That's a long time to be a pony. I didn't know you could rehumanize that late."

"They don't advertise it, and it is an extremely complex spell, but they can turn any pony that doesn't have a cutie mark permanently into a human- if they are accepting of the spell. I'm not the only one here to have it done; Tempest Shadow used to be an Equestrian pony, and had been a pony her entire life until she humanized. They did a better job on her than me, but I was kind of the alpha subject for the procedure. They had the spell better ironed out by the time they did it to her."

I couldn't help it any more after that, I had to touch on the subject. "Are you mad you still have pony parts?"

She was silent, and her ears had gone flat. I worried that I offended her. I was about to apologize when she spoke up. "I'm not mad about it. In a vacuum, I have no problem with my so-called pony parts. What I don’t like is how people get misconceptions about me, or the way I get treated because of them. Anyway, I'm human, therefore they're a human tail, human fur, and human ears- just different from what most humans might have."

"Is it my stripes or my spots you see…" I mumbled to myself.

Her ears perked up and she gave me a puzzled expression. "What was that about stripes and spots?"

I landed and shook my head, and then gave her a big smile. "Nothing, just musing about how we all see ourselves one way, and everyone else seems to see something different." My attention was diverted as I looked over at the glass case, and finally found something nightmarish in the room. My wings stopped flapping and I dropped to the ground with an audible thump then pointed a wing at the case. "Ack! What is that?"

She looked at where I was pointing. "Oh, that? That belongs to Phobia, and she's never really explained why she has it sitting out in a glass case. I agree, it's creepy looking."

The item in the glass case was what looked like a very ugly, and very dirty, old human doll. It was a dirty brown-grey color, had two black button eyes, was in a slumped over sitting position, and was otherwise featureless. Since it was obviously extremely old I wondered if it was some old family heirloom. It felt completely out of place with everything else in the room. 

"That was left to me by someone very close to me who has now passed away. I take it as a personal reminder and warning."

I turned to see who spoke, and saw a night pony in a jet black gown, her green mane and tail were well styled, and I could tell she was wearing mascara. She wasn't old, I'd say somewhere in her thirties, although if someone told me she was in her twenties I'd believe it by just looking at her. She also looked very delicate and thin, definitely not someone who fit the night pony fighter archetype. If it came down to a physical confrontation she didn't look like she could put up a strong fight against a foal. I might have been the last kid always picked in gym class, but if I had been in class with her there might have been competition for that role. 

The night pony glanced at Crystal, who had followed her into the room. "Thank you for bringing her here, but can you please step outside? This is going to be a very private conversation." Her voice was soft and calm, but I still got the sense it was one that was used to being obeyed.

Crystal blinked in shock. "Um, okay. I didn't think she was that big a deal, but I can give you your privacy. I do need to ask, as your bodyguard, is she dangerous in any way? I know better than to underestimate a pony just because they look harmless."

"My little sister is more dangerous," Miss Nightmares deadpanned. "If Miss Riddle tried to attack me for some reason Jess would be more than capable of defending me on her own… even if she doesn't keep up with her martial arts training like she should." Jess snorted and crossed her arms in annoyance at being called out. 

Crystal bowed her head briefly. "Okay, you're the boss. I'll know when you're done when I feel Jess's sound dampening field go down. Is that alright?"

Miss Nightmares nodded. "It may actually go down for a minute or so very soon. So when it stays down for five minutes or more you may check on me. Let me stress that no one is allowed inside while we are talking; not you, not Tempest, none of my foals, not even my wife. Only break that order if it is a life or death situation. Don't make a big deal about it to anyone, but don't let anyone in. Do I make myself clear?"

Crystal whistled and gave a salute. "Real hush-hush. Clear as crystal, boss." The crystal pony gave me an appraising look before she left. "I meet so many interesting people on this job. Anyone that Phobia is being this secretive with must be pretty interesting. Good luck with whatever she's putting you up to."

Crystal left the room and Jess cleared her throat. "We have full privacy."

Miss Nightmare's posture had never been stiff and remained relaxed. "Good. First thing on our agenda actually involves you, Jess. I need to put another compulsion for secrecy on you."

Jess jerked up in the chair. "What?! You know I don't like the idea of my head being messed with. Haven't you given me enough of those?"

Miss Nightmares nodded. "I would not be insisting if it were not important. This is for Miss Riddle's protection that what is discussed here doesn't get out. If you refuse she and I can have this conversation in the dream realm, but I prefer one face-to-face. It lets me present myself to her as a pony first, instead of a Dreamwarden."

Jess seemed to mull it over for a moment before seemingly relenting. "I'll do it, but only because you've stirred up my curiosity. You can't be all secretive like this and not have me itching to know about it. Though I'm guessing you already anticipated that."

Miss Nightmares just smiled and said nothing. Jess groaned and got up from where she was sitting. "So how does this work? You just say something and I'm compelled to obey it?" I was actually curious myself. I'd never seen a compulsion done before. I'd heard about them. Miss Seapony said she did them all the time, but I'd never seen one done.

The night pony gestured with a wing to right in front of her. "Come sit down here. I need to put you to sleep for a moment. My compulsions that I do in the waking world are too weak to hold properly. My compulsions I lay down in the dream realm are far stronger."

Jess walked over. "Isn't putting me to sleep a compulsion?"

Miss Nightmares nodded. "A relatively weak one. One you could resist with ease. My stronger compulsions in the waking world are ones I don't tend to use, the ones that bring out anxiousness and fear. They are hard to control or make consistently useful, and too easy to fall into abuse with, so I rarely use those."

I watched as Jess sat down with her legs crossed in front of Miss Nightmares. The night pony put her hooves up on Jess's knees and stared her directly in the eyes as she said some things too quietly for me to hear. I suddenly heard snoring, which was a second later joined by another snore. That was the fastest I had ever seen two people fall asleep. 

They weren't asleep long before Miss Nightmares woke back up and patted Jess's face with a wing. "Wake up, and thank you for your cooperation." The night pony stepped back as Jess roused herself and stood back up.

"Um… Miss Nightmares? Aren't people going to think it's weird you being so secretive about me?" I asked hesitantly. 

Jess laughed. "You don't deal with Dreamwardens much, do you? Everything is secretive, the only weird thing about this is why she bothered to bring you straight to her instead of just dealing with you in a dream where she could lock down any chance of anyone finding out what you discuss. There's things that she shares with me in dreams that I'm not allowed to tell a soul the details of. Since seeing you in person is actually a bit of a security risk in terms of her normal secrecy I am just wondering what she considers what warrants less secrecy. Are you here to discuss plans for the demons' birthday party or something?"

Miss Nightmares shook her head. "Can you put your field back up, please?"

Jess rolled her eyes. "Fine, there, it's done. Now what did I get compelled into not talking about."

The night pony smiled. "Nothing too major. Rebecca here might be the next Dreamwarden, and perhaps before the year is out."

The pony-eared human just stared at Miss Nightmares with a blank expression for a moment before turning and looking at me in disbelief. I could see her looking me over and sizing me up, judging me. She then turned back to Miss Nightmares. "Real funny. I know you never directly lie, but you can be misleading. You said might and perhaps. Those same things could apply to just about anyone."

"True," the night pony confessed. "They could apply to you as well. If the thirty or forty thousand people ahead of you- depending on which Dreamwarden you ask the list of- suddenly fell lower. Rebecca is number one currently on all but two of our lists."

I raised a wing up. "Um, which lists am I not number one on?"

She flicked an ear and looked at me. "Mine and Ghadab's; we have other candidates we value higher, but you still rank quite highly with us. You might be number one with me before today is out, who knows? Would you like some cake? I'm told you enjoy chocolate cake, and I baked one just for you."

This was more serious than I thought. I didn't realize I needed to prove myself to Miss Nightmares. I'd just assumed that they all wanted me to be a Dreamwarden. I knew there were other candidates, but I didn't know this was actually going to be a competition. 

"Yes, please. I'd love some cake," I squeaked. 

Jess shook her head. "Can I get some coffee? I need to sit down and think."

Miss Nightmares turned and started walking towards the kitchen. "Of course, I'll put a pot on for you, although you'll have to go fetch it yourself when it's ready." She looked over her shoulder at me. "I'll be right back with the cake. Just relax, and don't let your fear get the best of you."

Easy for her to say. She didn't have her future on the line.