Between her empathic abilities and the Nightmare’s rhythmic words, Sunset quickly lost herself to the story. It was almost like she was Luna, the pet, the tool, the slave. No, that was not right, she was Sunset the thoroughbred pegasus and proud of it. She was born by the Master’s will to be an artist.
Sunset smiled. Pride filled her little heart. How could it not? She had been chosen by one of the Masters. She was going to become one of the best painters in the world.
"Now, remember your place," her mother said. There was no nuzzle or hug, but the love was there, radiating from her mother’s eyes. This was not just Sunset’s moment; it was her mother’s too. After this, she might even be allowed to have another foal.
Sunset's smile faded, and she stood at attention. Ready to be inspected. Large, powerful wings caught the winds outside. Her ears twitched, somepony heavier than any pegasus could be, alighted outside. She wanted to prance, to dance a pirouette in the sky, but she stayed still.
As each second passed, it was harder and harder to stay still, to maintain the required respectful decorum. She was going to see a Master again. Not just any Master, she was going to see her Master, the Alicorn that picked her for his one.
The door opened, no knock or announcement for why would a Master need to announce themselves, they were the lord and Masters of everything. The tall Alicorn stallion strode inside in all his radiant divinity. Sunset dragged her eyes away. She bowed low, wings spread, abasing herself. The rustle of feathers making it clear her mother had done the same.
“Come, my young student.” His voice thrilled her senses. He was speaking to her. She was worthy of his attention.
Sunset rose, she followed the three strides behind him that her position demanded. She left without looking back as any attention not offered to her Master would be improper, a sign of disrespect. Next time she saw her mother, Sunset knew she would be different. She would be an Alicorn Aspirant, and she would have a horn. She could not help but wonder how many times she would catch it on things before she got used to it.
She banished the silly thought; she was no longer a little filly anymore. She was chosen, out of the dozens of artists her Master had ordered bred it was her that he had chosen. She was to be his apprentice, the apprentice of the most renown artist amongst the Masters.
This was the best day of her life.
Pain shot through Sunset's new horn. A shower of sparks and jagged arcs lit the room is strobing colours. She screwed her eyes closed and released the wild, untamed beast that was her magic.
“You need not try so hard.” Her Masters kindly voice smoothed and tender warmth flowed into her horn. Relaxation spread down her spine like molten satisfaction.
“Yes, Master.” Agreeing with him on anything just felt so right, so nice. A lazy smile settled on to her muzzle.
“Now again, just slower. Allow the magic to flow, it is not a storm you need to beat into submission.”
Sunset closed her eyes and released the joy of obeying humming softly as her Master’s words guided her. “Magic is a delicate flower you need to coax to open. Magic is a beautiful merging of inspiration and technique, it is the purest definition of art. Be its muse, be its guide and let your emotions shape your artwork.”
This time there was no pain. Light softly permeated her closed eyelids.
“Now envision the scene, every aspect. The lights, the colours, the play of shadows.”
Clouds filled the sky, lit from above by the full moon, Celestia, her half-sister, lay in regal repose. She was beautiful, like all being trained to rule must look.
“Imagine every hair on her coat, how the wind caresses each strand of her mane.”
The details deepened, the more she focused, the more real the image became.
“Yes, Good, my Talented Student.”
A compliment from the Master. Sunset's heart almost stopped from joy alone.
“Now open your eyes.”
Before Sunset was exactly the image she had envisioned, perfectly painted on the canvas. All completely realistic, every exquisite detail was there.
“Be at ease, my Talented Student.”
And just like that, everything was alright. The memories of lethal-looking jagged blades that Celestia had been browsing for her trial lost its hold on her. The fear melted away.
“Soon you will be ready for your trial, you have nothing to fear. You are my apprentice, an artist. Unlike those chosen to rule, or those forged into warriors, your trial will be nothing arduous. You will drink from a cup, and you will fall to sleep. In that sleep, you will dream, dream of many things. Once you return to us, you will have awakened your true muse and have truly earnt your place by my side.”
“Thank you, Master.” Sunset bowed her head feeling silly for even worrying in the first palace.
.
His warm wing enveloped her in a rare physical sign of affection. “Now put away your worries and gather your supplies today your canvas is to be a living pony.”
“Yes, Master” Sunset rushed off inspiration filling her heart as we wondered what sorts of works of art she could paint in a dream, a realm with truly no limits.
Sunset pulled her tongue back in. Despite how adorable Celestia said it was, sticking one’s tongue out when concentrating did not portray the dignified air that an artist of her calibre was expected to maintain at all times.
Celestia sighed, “Why can’t we skip this and go to the fair?”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “Tia, you know why. Just finishing your feathers is going to take an hour.”
Her half-sister, the noble in training, huffed and rolled on her back, instantly undoing half an hour of careful work.
“Tia! look what you’ve just done.”
Celestia looked at the trail of feather paint and fine powered gem dust staining the expansive cushions she sprawled on. “Sorry, Lulu.”
“It's ok sister, but you have to let me finish. My Master will be disappointed if this is not my best work yet. I don't even want to think what yours will do to you if you...”
Celestia shuddered, her eyes distant, frozen.
Luna nuzzled her terrified sister. “It will be alright sister, we will always have each other.”
Her Master’s eyes held none of their normal warmth. It was if every bit of bright joy in the stallion had been replaced with the bleakest hues.
"Master?"
He smiled an almost perfect imitation of the real expression. "Yes, student?"
"Is everything alright?”
“Yes, my Talented Student, everything is well” His words were reassuring, but his eyes lied. Something was very wrong. Yet it was not her place to question her Master. “I have been tasked with a project most grand.”
That should be good news, that should be the best of news. So why was there that darkness in his eyes?
“Unfortunately, I will not be able to take you with me.”
Sunset’s heart sank, “For how long, Master?”
This time he did not manage to keep the sadness from his forlorn smile. “A few centuries, at least.”
Centuries, that would be past the end of her training. Had she failed? Was she a disappointment?
“Now, don't fear, my Talented Student. You shall have a new master.”
Despite his words calming her like they always did, a small seed of doubt remained.
“And that would be me.” A brutish Alicorn stalked in, trailing vapours from intoxicating pipe smoke. The same substances her Master, her old Master, had forbidden her from even sampling, despite its common acceptance.
Sunset put her work aside and started to bow. An aura pressed her down, crushing her muzzle painfully to the floor. She did not think she was going to like this new Master very much.
“Useless, you are nothing but a disgrace.” Her New Master spat. “I don't know why that old fool thought you worthy of that horn.”
His crushing magic pulled Sunset closer. So close that the familiar chemical stench crawled up her nose. He had been partaking in his favourite vice again. His metal-clad hoof slammed into her horn. Pain shot through her skull. "I could just remove it, save us all a little bit of trouble."
Sunset said nothing, offered no complaint, it only ever made it worse. All she did was try to ignore the throbbing pain lancing through her skull.
Her new Master continued. “No, the old fool would be able to call that neglect…” He peered into her eyes. A sadistic grin full of fangs filled her vision.
A flash of magic and a large roll of cloth appeared next to him. His aura unfurled it, revealing the most complex spell pattern Sunset had ever seen. “Paint this.” He commanded. “Make a single mistake, and you will die. Painfully.”
It had taken days, more hours than she could remember to complete her task. Terror, and the certainty that her Master was truthful with his threat, drove her on, despite the lack of sleep or food.
“Now, stay still.” Her master’s command was the only thing that stopped the tremble travelling through her feathers.
Power gathered in the room, enough that her horn itched. The air dried, small arcs of lightning danced over every surface. Before her New Master, all the moisture from the air swirled together. First as mist. Then a thick cloud. With a sound of crushed glass, it seemed to implode leaving a thick blade of blue ice hanging in the air.
The monster of a weapon was larger than Sunset was. Her eyes fixed on it. It would be her death, her mind screamed at her. Yet her Master’s command held her still.
“Now this will do nicely.” The blade danced a lazy path around Sunset. “So, are you ready for your trial?”
“But. But I'm an artist.”
“Like I care. This way is quicker, cheaper and far less effort.” His flippant tone receded, becoming an approximation of formality. "Make yourself ready."
No. No, this was all wrong. She was meant to dream to find her muse. She was meant to just go to sleep peacefully, not be bisected by that. There was no way she could survive that. He meant to kill her. He was going to kill her.
The blade rose. The blade fell.
Panic flared, given form in the blazing light from her horn. Paints, easels, tables and chairs leapt to her defence. Everything and anything in reach of her power slammed into him. He rocked back, blinded if only for a moment.
She surged forward, her horn drove up under his jaw. Terror strengthened her. The top of her head slammed to an abrupt stop. Hot warmth flowed down her face. Something thicker mixed with her tears.
His weight toppled and dragged her to the ground, pinning her beneath his bulk.
“I, I… what have I done?”
“Peace Sunset. That was my act, not yours.”
Sunset’s pounding heart slowed, her heaving breaths becoming more regular. She found herself no longer pinned by the crushing mass of her dead Master. She was free, she was safe. Slowly she opened her eyes.
Before her, pinned under her, no Luna's, new master was the little blue Alicorn sobbing and trembling as the blood of her attacker, victim? Soaked into her coat and stained her feathers.
The distinct sound of leathery wings settling beside her, drew her attention. Sunset watched the scene from beside Twilight, a Twilight, with fangs and bat wings. “You killed him?”
“Yes. He was the first life I claimed. He was trying to kill me. Had all the advantages save one. Surprise.“ The Nightmare turned her draconic eyes to look straight into Sunset’s, her expression unreadable. By then, young Luna had watched and painted several death bouts in the arena for her new Master.”
The Nightmare put on a proud smile .“She had a keen eye for detail and a dancer's understanding of motions. She knew there was no way she could flee. There was no way she could win a normal fight.” The smile slipped a little. “No… this was the only option that led to her surviving.”
“If that was self-defence,” Sunset pointed her hoof at the nightmare. “What turned you into a monster?”
“Two main events. Would you like to see?”
“From the outside. Like this. I don't want to live through them.” Sunset was surprised she sounded so calm.
“As you wish, Sunset Shimmer.” The Nightmare wearing almost Twilight's form waved her hoof, and the world around them changed.
Celestia, the beautiful Celestia with painted feathers looked down at Luna. Her eyes made the deepest frozen abyss seem warm. Sunset’s breath caught. It was almost the same look she had given her when she ended her studies and kicked her out of the castle. The Solar princess’s perfect features were devoid of emotions as she spoke. “The guilty has violated the most sacred of laws, defiled the benevolent gift bestowed upon her.”
“Is this the murder?” Sunset asked.
“Keep listening,“ The Nightmare instructed.
“This thing before us has turned away from enlightenment and refused its trial.” Celestia’s tone was cold, formal in a way Sunset had never heard before. “There can be but one fate for that.”
Tears ran down Luna's checks. "Sister, please. He..." Luna screamed. A molten golden aura burned into her flesh, clamping her muzzle shut.
Fire blazed in Celestia's eyes. “You are no sister of mine.”
It was as if somepony cut the strings holding Luna up. The only sign she was still alive was the quiet sobbing and the utter despair in her eyes. Luna did not even struggle as two guards threw her to the arena floor.
The scene vanished. Only Sunset and the Nightmare remained strangely lit in a plane of utter darkness. “You do not need to see what happened next. I was forced to fight. To kill again and again until I learned to love it. To crave it.” The Nightmare smirked, but the humour did not reach her eyes. “One of the Masters even praised my artistry with vivisections. Even in causing torment and death, I was still an artist.” The Nightmare sighed tiredly. “Judge me if you will. I am what she made me.”
Sunset paused. This was a lot to take in, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that everything the Nightmare had shown her was true. Her own power made that clear. Yet she learned from her time dealing with the nobles in Canterlot there were many ways to never speak a lie and still mislead others. “You said there were two main events. What was the second?”
The Nightmare looked away. She tried to make it look casual, but the patter of liquid on the ground put lie to that. The Nightmare, the most fearsome of Equestria’s great evils, was crying.
Sunset softened her voice. “What happened?”
“Celestia, that worthless Tartarus spawn,” The Nightmare snarled. “She killed my family. She burnt them all to ash and had the gall to say it was for my own good. Do you know what it's like to see those you love burning to death? To hear their cries for help and to be unable to do anything? To survive, burned and in pain, to be the only one left?”
The Nightmare trembled, tears staining her enraged face. Her muzzle twisted, a half-formed snarl fighting with her icy voice. “Thousands dead. Many of our ponies condemned to die alone or to be consumed by Nightmare spirits, all so Tia's chess pieces lined up neatly in the nation that she was making.”
The Nightmare’s expression calmed, the hot rage settling to something cold. She stood to her full height, her tears and the imperfections evaporating off in whips of shadow. A true royal presence, eyes ancient and unfathomable looked straight through Sunset as if peering into her very soul; “You wonder why I wanted her dead? You wonder why I did not care if the world died around me? Why Luna gave up and offered me the reins, why Luna cheered as I smashed Tia's skull in?”
Even without her powers, it was clear the Nightmare was being honest. A thousand years of pent up anger, rage and sadness flowed into Sunset. It was too much. Over twenty or more times, her total life experience of years filled with negative emotions. Sunset almost lost herself. It was all Sunset could do to fight the burning in her eyes and the sobs trying to break free.
As suddenly as it started, it stopped. Sunset was a little filly sticking her tongue out. Her paint-stained primary feather shaped mere pigments and oil into a beautiful landscape. The memory only lasted a moment, but it was more than enough to break the spiral of negative emotions, replacing them with a simple innocent joy.
“I apologise for losing myself, you should not have had to experience that, Sunset Shimmer.” The Nightmare said, bowing her head.
Sunset remembered the pure elation from Luna painting. The wide-eyed amazement she had looking at the world. The Nightmare was a bit like Sunset, but with one difference. Sunset had chosen to be a monster. Granted, she had been stopped before she did anything truly terrible, but she had made the choice. Luna and the Nightmare had not. They deserved a second chance more than she did.
Sunset slowly stepped forward, carefully, ensuring her motions were unhurried and easy to read. She did not want to set off the unstable and emotional ancient Alicorn.
“What do you think…” The Nightmare was silenced as Sunset’s hooves wrapped the evil mare in a comforting hug.
Sunset woke as if from a dream, all the horrors, all the pain of Luna’s she felt seemed distant. She knew it happened, understood it in acute detail, but it hadn’t happened to her. It was as if it was a history she had read for an important test.
Something felt different, something felt right in a way she had not felt for a very long timer. Sunset sat back on her haunches. She lifted what was once her arm, she stared at her hoof, so familiar and yet so alien all at once after so long. How she was a unicorn on earth. “What did you do to me?”
“I gave you a gift. I will not have one of my ponies crippled.” Nightmare smiled surprisingly softly. “And Twilight would never forgive me if I did not help you.”
“How is this helping me?”.
“Once I teach you to reassume your bipedal form, you will have both it and access to your magic. Given time and study, you will be able to have both at once.”
Sunset nodded. “Another question, why?”
“Unlike the rest of Twilight's friends, you have the potential to ascend. You have the potential to be her friend for a very long time. She is going to need all the friends she can get as the years roll on.”
“So you’re doing this for her?”
“And a bit for myself. I like you.” The three-word admission was almost inaudible. The Nightmare cleared her throat. “I admire your ambition and drive.” Nightmare sighed. “Also, I can't stand to see the mess my sister made of your training. If you allow me, I will correct it.”