//------------------------------// // Magic and stars // Story: My Friend, Nightmare Moon // by evanim26 //------------------------------// Amber awoke the next day where she stretched her hooves and wings only to get another sharp pain in her injured one so she only kept them closed for now "I believe you should not move your wing unless you want to feel more of that pain." Nightmare said Amber nodded "Okay." she said while gently rubbing her wing then she stood up and got out of bed and just as she did her stomach growled "Hey Moony, is there anything to eat around here?" she asked "I do not think so, anything edible in this castle is probably rotten." Nightmare said "There has to be something left, let's take a look." Amber said trotting out of the room Amber trotted around the castle looking for something edible but she wasn't having any luck considering nopony has been in the castle for thousands of years and she knew that the trees and plants outside would not have anything for her either since it was the Everfree so she just had to find something until she eventually came to the great hall and laid down to rest Amber sighed "How am I gonna stay here when I don't have anything to eat?" she said "Perhaps I can provide you food?" Nightmare said "How?" Amber asked "Transfiguration spells, I can make food for you." Nightmare said Amber perked up "You can do that?" She asked "A spell as simple as that is no problem for me and the last thing I need is you dying from hunger." Nightmare said "Does that mean you'll have to take control for a bit?" Amber asked "Yes." Nightmare said Amber nodded "Okay, just be gentle." she said Nightmare said nothing and immediately began her takeover making her original colors appear on Amber's body as her eyes turned into green slit ones and with that the takeover was complete and Nightmare had control over Amber's body Nightmare sighed "Ah, it feels good to be able to move like a regular pony again instead of float around like some smoke." she said then she turned to one of the rocks inside the hall "Transfiguration, a spell so simple even a foal could cast it and I had more than enough years to master many spells, not counting my time on the moon that is." she said then she made her horn light up and turn rocks into Apples, small batches of hay, and corn "that should satisfy her hunger for now." Nightmare slowly released her hold on Amber allowing her colors and eyes to return to normal Amber groaned as she rubbed her head then she looked at all the food "Wow, I guess unicorn magic really does make life easier." she said as she stepped to the apples and began eating one "You can praise me if you wish, I will take any and all." Nightmare said Amber giggled "Your magic is really strong Moony, I bet even princess Celestia would be jealous." she said Nightmare chuckled "Of course she would, her magic does not even compare to mine." she said Amber finished her apple and threw it away "Can I ask you a question?" "Very well." Nightmare said "Could I learn these spells? you know, now that I have a horn." Amber said Nightmare raised an eyebrow "What kind of benefit would I get from allowing you to learn these spells?" she asked "Well, I can do things on my own, and wouldn't it allow me to be a better servant for you?" Amber asked "Very well, I will allow you to learn these spells while I teach you myself as well." Nightmare said Amber smiled "Really?" she asked "Yes, Though I will warn you once, magic can be very dangerous if left unchecked. you will be forced to keep focus every day until you have fully mastered it and I will not be gentle about it, Are you still willing to learn magic Amber night?" Nightmare asked Amber nodded "Yes, I want to do this." she said "Very well, head to the library, I will guide you." Nightmare said Amber nodded then made her way through the castle going the way Nightmare tells her until she came upon the library where there were books on every shelf and they were all pretty old but good enough to read "Wait a moment." Nightmare said making Amber stop "I wish to know, why do you want to learn magic?" she asked Amber looked down "W-well...you see, it's for you." she said "What do you mean?" Nightmare asked Amber looked back up "Well, you said before that you need to recharge your power and that you don't have enough of it which means that the more you use your power, the less you have. so I want to help by learning magic so I can help myself and you can rest." she said Nightmare was silent for a few moments "You wish to know magic so you can help....me?" she asked and Amber nodded "You truly are a strange pony, to want to willingly help somepony like me, why?" "Because we're frie-...I mean, it's my job as your servant to make your life easier, isn't it?" Amber said with a nervous smile Nightmare smirked "you are already getting into your new role, if you keep this up then I may have you by my side when I bring my eternal night." she said "Um, thanks, I guess." Amber said "Now enough of this pointless chatter, we must get started on your magic lessons." Nightmare said "Right, where do we begin?" Amber asked "Go to the shelf on the left and take the book with a purple unicorn on it, we will begin there." Nightmare said and Amber did as she was told and took the book to the table sitting in the library "Go to page thirteen and start reading, I will guide you." she said Amber did as she was told and began reading and as the hours passed by she continued doing what she was told until she eventually learned the levitation spell but could only lift a small rock off to the side so she continued practicing until she could finally lift one of the bigger rocks but she had been practicing for so long that the sun was now slowly dipping into the horizon Nightmare noticed that Amber was exhausted from her training "Perhaps it is time you rest for the night." she said Amber shook her head "No, I can keep going, I want to keep practicing." she said "But won't you miss the night? not that I care." Nightmare said Amber found herself between two hard decisions 'Practice or Night watch? Oh, which one do I choose?' She thought until she had finally gotten an idea "What if I make a schedule?" "Really?" Nightmare said "Of course, I'll make a schedule which will help both of us." Amber said "I'm listening." "Okay, so the plan is this, I'll train and sleep during the day so I won't have to miss the night." Amber said "You would deliberately sleep and train through a whole day just so you can watch the night sky?" Nightmare asked and Amber nodded "I am unsure as to why you still surprise me at this point, I knew you loved the night but I did not think you would miss the day for it." she said "I didn't do much during the day anyway so it's not much of a loss for me." Amber said then she began trotting out of the room "Now, let's go star-gazing." she said making her way back to Luna's room and going back to the window Nightmare also watched the night sky "Hey Moony, guess what?" Amber said "Hm?" Amber pointed to one of the stars "I call that star over there Fin." then she pointed at another star "And that one Fum." she said Nightmare raised an eyebrow "You named the stars?" "Yep, I named a lot of the stars, as their friend I should know their name, right?" Amber said "The stars do not have names, they are simply that, stars." Nightmare said "I know, which is why I gave them names, did you ever name the stars?" Amber asked "Of course not, I am not a foal." Nightmare said Amber was surprised "You mean you never named the stars? not even once?" she asked "No." "But you were trapped on the moon for so long, you had to do something to pass the time." Amber said but Nightmare said nothing "Come on Moony, you can tell me if you did, I promise not to tell a soul." Nightmare sighed "Very well, look to the window." she said and Amber did as told "Now look at the top left side of the moon." she said Amber looked where Nightmare told her to and saw a star that was a red color "Wow, I don't think I ever saw that star before." she said "Of course not, this star is well hidden by the moon, nopony would see it unless they know exactly where to look and I memorized where it was ever since I had returned from my imprisonment." Nightmare said "What did you name it?" Amber asked "Reina." "What does that mean?" "It means queen in another language." Nightmare said "You know different languages?" Amber asked "When you travel as much as I did, you pick up a few things." Nightmare said Amber perked up even more "You used to travel? I thought you were only attached to princess Luna." she said Nightmare chuckled "I am a being who uses ponies to advance my own power while increasing their own hate and jealousy for others, so yes I traveled. until I met princess Luna and I have never seen somepony have so much hate and jealousy in my entire life." she said then she laughed loudly "It was spectacular, using her to increase my own power but as I did, I suppose at some point her own jealousy became my jealousy." she said "What do you mean?" Amber asked "As I continued to possess Luna, I saw why she was so hateful and jealous and I couldn't help but understand it, her night is truly one of beauty, and yet the ponies only slept through it and only focused on Celestia's day. so I chose to give her a push in the right direction." Nightmare said "You made her jealousy and hate increase to the point she turned into you with the mission to bring about eternal night." Amber said Nightmare chuckled "It would have gone perfectly to, both Luna and I would prosper. she would have the night gain the appreciation it deserved and I would become empress and queen of Equestria, but Celestia had one more trick up her sleeve, the elements of harmony." she said Amber looked back to the window and continued watching the night sky "That was some story, I liked it, in a way, but I want to hear more about your travels." she said Nightmare couldn't help but smirk "Very well, I will tell you more about the places I traveled to before I met Luna." she said Amber listened to every one of Nightmare's stories about where she traveled and how the ponies were back then compared to the present day ponies and she couldn't help but ask for more of them so Nightmare obliged and told her more stories of her travels until she eventually got back to the point where she met Luna and tried to bring eternal night. "Wow, I can't believe the griffons were once nice to others and had a king." Amber said "I will admit, seeing the griffons now is very surprising to how they were back then." Nightmare said Amber smiled "Thanks for sharing your stories Moony, it made this night's star-gazing ten times better." she said Nightmare smirked "Hm, now I believe it is time for you to sleep, the sun is coming up." she said and Amber also noticed the sun rising Amber stood up "you're right, let's head to bed." she said as she went to the bed and laid down "Hey Moony?" "Yes?" "Can you tell me those stories again tomorrow night?" Amber asked "Why would you wish to hear my stories again?" Nightmare asked "Because they sound so cool, hearing about those other lands and how they used to be a thousand years ago, I can't help myself." Amber said "Very well, I will retell the stories tomorrow night." Nightmare said "Thanks, Moony." Amber said then she fell asleep and Nightmare followed shortly after (Two days later) As the days stretched on, Amber had become a lot more used to using magic thanks to Nightmares teachings, and during the night Amber was always treated to Nightmare’s stories about the world a thousand years ago while she looked up at the stars above and as two days had passed Amber discovered that her wing had finally healed enough for flight and decided that it was time to leave the castle Amber trotted to the doors of the castle “Staying here was fun but I need to get home now.” she said "A word of warning, if anypony were to find out about me-.” “I know, they'll try to get rid of you but don't worry that won’t happen, I know how to keep a secret.” Amber said with a confident smile ”Very well, I will trust you to hold your tongue in front of others.” Nightmare said Amber proceeded to open the doors and take a step outside where she began flapping her wings and took to the air and flew just partly over the trees of the Everfree heading back to ponyville but before she landed in the town she stopped at the edge of the Everfree and used the night to hide herself. "Moony, can you change me back?" Amber asked so Nightmare used her magic to make Amber appear normal as she looked herself over "Thanks." she said Amber trotted into ponyville and as she did she couldn't help but notice the stares she was getting and as she kept trotting she felt very uncomfortable until a mare came up to her "Excuse me little filly." The mare said making Amber look up at her "Is your name, Amber night?" she asked and Amber nodded making the mare gasp "You're alive?!" she said Amber was confused "What is that supposed to mean?" she asked "I'm sorry, it's just...your parents had everypony looking for you and after we heard where you went..." The mare trailed off as she looked away then back "You need to go to your parents." she said "Um...okay." Amber said so she headed to her house and knocked on the door where it was immediately answered by her mom who instantly gasped as soon as she saw Amber, her name was Lucy light and she had an orange coat with a yellow mane and tail and was an earth pony "Oh my Celestia!" Lucy said who then picked up Amber and hugged her close "Onyx, get down here!" she yelled into the house Onyx Came downstairs to see Lucy holding Amber "AMBER!" he yelled then he ran over and joined in the hug, Onyx had a purple coat with a purple mane and tail and he was a pegasus "Um, hey mom and dad." Amber said Lucy and Onyx let go of her and gave her a stern look "Don't you hey mom and dad us, where have you been? You've been missing for three days." Lucy said Amber rubbed the back of her head "Um, I was flying through the Everfree when I got lost." she said "We know you went into the Everfree, we questioned plenty of ponies to find out where you went, what we want to know is why." Onyx said "Because...I..." Amber stuttered trying to come up with an excuse "Tell them you lost a toy and went in to get it." Nightmare said "I lost a toy and went in to grab it but I got lost." Amber said Onyx moved closer to her "You went into the Everfree forest...for a toy?" he asked and Amber slowly nodded so he sighed "While I am upset that you went into the forest even though we forbade you to, I'm glad you're alright." he said making Amber sigh "But that doesn't mean we won't punish you." Lucy said and Amber nodded "You're grounded until we say so, you'll come straight home every day after school, which means no going to your friends home either, understood?." she said and Amber nodded "Good, now go to your room, I'll have dinner ready in a moment." she said Amber did as she was told and headed upstairs to her room, her room had a bed underneath a window with a dresser beside it, and on the right side was her closet and wardrobe, she headed to her bed where she opened it and looked up at the night sky "I shouldn't have worried them so much as I did." Amber said "Your wing was injured and my magic needed to charge, there was nothing either of us could have done during the moment." Nightmare said Amber slumped down "Well, at least we're alright, we came back safely and now everypony can rest." she said then she looked back up "I'm guessing you're going to go to somepony else now." "What would make you say that?" Nightmare asked "Well, you said you would gladly take control of somepony who is much bigger and stronger than me but couldn't since there was nopony else but now there are plenty, which means you're gonna leave, right?" Amber said Nightmare was silent for a few moments 'She is correct, now that my power is restored enough I can split off and possess somepony else but...perhaps I shall stay here a little longer.' she thought "Moony?" Amber said "I would gladly change at this moment but it would seem my power is still not charged enough for me to do so." Nightmare said Amber smiled "Does that mean you'll stay?" she asked Nightmare huffed "Only until my power is charged enough for me to leave, as soon as it is, I will leave you." she said "Okay." Amber said but she wasn't saddened then a knock came on her door surprising her "Amber, dinner is ready." Lucy said then she opened the door and stepped inside and looked around "Were you talking to somepony?" she asked Amber got off her bed "Nope, I was just...talking to the stars, let's go eat." she said as she quickly left the room and Lucy looked around one more time then followed her shortly.