//------------------------------// // Chapter 15: Preparations 3 // Story: Piece by Piece // by Eltirions //------------------------------// 11 December 1008 Lilac had, somehow, royally fucked up. She’d been fucking up and suffering from fuck-ups for the better part of a year now, true, but that didn’t make it any less heartstoppingly terrifying. Governess Belle’s smile was probably meant to be reassuring. But there was a reason Lilac had stocked up on love after shouting at Long for an hour. Lilac loved that mare, really she did, and she owed her a lot, but this was beyond stupid straight into the depths of idiocy that were usually reserved for toadies with only a name and money to support their position. ‘’Well, I’m Rarity Belle,’’ Governess Belle said, ‘’but I assume you knew that already.’’ She raised her cup of tea to her mouth. ‘’Please, help yourself,’’ before taking a sip. Over the past months, Lilac had gotten used to using her hooves instead of her horn to do things with, so the movement of lifting up the tea cup came naturally to her. She took a sip and tasted the tea in her mouth. It tasted of citrus. ‘’This is a nice blend,’’ she offered. ‘’Thank you, I picked it myself,’’ the Governess said. ‘’Feel free to take a biscuit if you feel so inclined. This might be a job interview, but it is also a friendly conversation.’’ Lilac was sure that the Governess meant her words; for as long as she believed she was speaking to a pegasus, of course. ‘’Thank you,’’ Lilac replied - probably a few seconds too late. ‘’So, darling,’’ Governess Belle began after a few more seconds of awkward silence. ‘’I’ve been told by Mayor Winter that you are a, as she put it, ‘dab hoof at administration’. So tell me about yourself. Where do you come from?’’ Oh joy. Here I go. ‘’Well, I was born in Whinnyapolis, in 981. My parents were simple factory workers, but I got my cutie mark in administration, as you can see.’’ Lilac was quite proud of how good of a cutie mark she’d made. It was a piece of paper filled with scribbly lines, over which a writing quill hung. It looked very realistic. She cleared her throat. ‘’Anyway, after graduating from university I started working for the local government, and until last summer, just after the war, I moved here.’’ It was a bad cover story, but it was also the best she had. Lilac just hoped that Governess Belle didn’t question it overly much. The unicorn hummed. ‘’I see. May I ask why? The Crystal Empire was not in the best of states at that time.’’ ‘’And I wanted to help with that,’’ Lilac jumped in. ‘’So I moved to Crystal City. I accidentally bumped into Long - that is, Mayor Winter - while I was getting my registration arranged, and she offered to help me and my niece settle in.’’ ‘’Niece?’’ This was always the most emotional part of the story. ‘’My brother- he had a child, but the mother died in a car accident a few weeks later and he drank himself to death on the anniversary of her death two years later. I took the child into my custody. She’s called Sugar Petal, and she’s sixteen years old.’’ Governess Belle gasped. ‘’My condolences, darling,’’ she said softly. ‘’I shouldn’t have asked.’’ ‘’It’s fine.’’ It wasn’t. Lying about the death of her once-lover and his wife wasn’t something Lilac had ever expected herself to be forced to do, but here they were. ‘’If you say so, darling.’’ Governess Belle didn’t sound convinced. ‘’If you are ever in need of anything, do not hesitate to ask me.’’ Well, you are the Element of Generosity. ‘’Of course, my lady.’’ Governess Belle waved her hoof. ‘’It is nothing. Now please, tell me more about what you can do.’’ She gestured at a stack of documents put on a closet against the wall. ‘’As you can see, I have a lot of work to go through. I know this is a little late, but you’ll have to start right away, seeing as we’re leaving tonight. My apologies.’’ That was fine; Lilac hadn’t expected anything less. ‘’I’m at your service, my lady. I will admit that it looks like quite the adventure, but I have no doubt that I’ll be able to make sure everything is correct.’’ ‘’I’d be ever so grateful for that, darling,’’ the Governess said with an air of obvious relief that Lilac couldn’t fault her for. The mare’s horn lit up blue, and about half the stack floated over to the desk. ‘’Shall we get started, then? I find that talking while working always works great.’’ |-x-X-x-| 11 December 1008 If there was one thing Nightmare hated about being the sole ruler of Equestria, it was that everyone who couldn’t sort out their own problems went to her. And she couldn’t just ignore them, because that would only make things worse, and her Empire needed stability more than anything right now. But she could spare a few minutes to visit Sunset again, to see how she was doing. It wouldn’t do if the unicorn wasn’t at full strength when they left for the Crystal Empire.  ‘’How is she?’’ she inquired of the two guards that were posted in front of the door. ‘’Last we checked she had fallen asleep again after eating her food, your Majesty,’’ one of the guards replied. Could be worse. ‘’Thank you.’’ Indeed, Sunset was sleeping serenely when Nightmare entered the room, an empty plate on the nightstand next to the bed. It was a more peaceful scene than any the alicorn had seen Sunset in yet. Nightmare’s horn lit up blue, and she closed her eyes. When she opened them again a second later, the Dream Realm was spread out in front of her. And given that almost no one was sleeping at this point in time, it felt really empty. This, combined with their proximity to each other, made it that Nightmare immediately found Sunset’s dream.  Now, she had never entered Sunset’s dreams before, since there had never been any need to. But now she needed to ensure that Sunset was sleeping safely, even if a quick glance allowed her to determine she was not having any sort of nightmares. And so, Nightmare entered Sunset’s dream. She found herself standing in front of a cathedral. How odd. The cathedral was fully made of grey stones, twin towers reaching high into the sky. The sun was darkened by the shadowy clouds, but still visible occasionally, and it’s rays reflected prettily off the polished roof and windows of the cathedral. The doors of the cathedral were fully opened, and there was a mass of ponies inside. Curious. Now what is this place? Nightmare strode into the cathedral. It was an immense hall, but Nightmare had no idea to which religion or god the imposing building was dedicated. All the symbols and iconography she could see appeared to have been forcefully removed with some form of spellwork, and from the looks of it said removal had been quite recent. Of course, dreams were weird places, and this barely cracked the top thousand. Nightmare turned her attention away from the building and directed it towards the people inside of it. There were rows of benches on both sides of her, filled with ponies dressed in mourning clothes, their faces blurred and anything distinctive about them shrouded by clothing. Nothing strange about that. Background ponies were often blurred in dreams. Nightmare looked forward, at the altar, and saw Sunset standing right in front of it, facing in the direction of the altar.  The alicorn approached the steps leading up to the altar and silently ascended up them until she reached the top of the low platform, a few steps behind Sunset. ‘’I’ve been wondering if you’d ever show up.’’ So, she’s conscious. Why am I not surprised? ‘’I am checking in on your health,’’ Nightmare said simply. ‘’But I must confess my curiosity at this scene.’’ She still couldn’t see what was laying on the altar. Sunset didn’t turn around as she replied, ‘’My dreams are my own.’’ ‘’True,’’ Nightmare agreed, and said nothing else. Silence fell. Nightmare could not hold herself back forever. She stepped forward and looked at what was on the altar. And looked. ‘’I trusted her.’’ ‘’So did I.’’ It wasn’t a lie. Nightmare, when she was Luna, had trusted Celestia, and it had ended in war not once but twice. That mare was so utterly twisted, selfish and haughty that Nightmare had barely kept herself from just outright killing her in Tall Tale, on that fateful day. |-x-X-x-| 29 June 1008 Tall Tale was in ruins, which was a shame. Nightmare liked the city, how it blended nature with modern buildings. Her visit in 1003 was still a fond memory of hers, even if the cheerful city that had greeted her then was unrecognisable when put next to the smoking ruin it was now. The city’s parks had been cleared, used for stationing soldiers and building defences. The bridges across the river had either been destroyed or fortified, and most of the civilian population had been evacuated into the countryside, something that Nightmare Moon did not mind at all. The battle had entered it’s fourth and final day. Her troops had whittled down the defences and broken through them last night, and now there was no more hope for Celestia. She would pay. But there was another reason aside from her sister. Her niece was here, and no matter what, Nightmare would not leave Tall Tale without her. ‘’Your Majesty, we are ready,’’ one of her guards informed her. ‘’Very good.’’ Nightmare flexed her wings once to make sure her armour was fastened correctly, and then she strode outside. She took to the skies, followed by a cadre of her Night Guard, and made straight for where Celestia was supposed to be, in City Hall. That building, of course, had been hit by the same effects of war as the rest of the city, and it was half-destroyed. Of course, that didn’t prevent its remaining defenders from opening fire. Nightmare created a magical shield in front of herself and her followers as they dived down, straight into the storm of bullets. A golden spear of light burst from the roof of the building. Celestia, dressed in her full armour. Nightmare snarled. ‘’SISTER!’’ Celestia didn’t reply verbally. That was not a problem. Nightmare released her shield as her Night Guard broke away, knowing well enough to not get tangled this clash of gods. Nightmare took the first shot, a beam of pure magic that would have torn through a tank. As it stood, Celestia met it with a beam of her own, and the world exploded. They met hoof-to-hoof. Nightmare’s hoof met Celestia’s face and Celestia’s hoof introduced itself to Nightmare’s barrel. An adequate exchange, considering that Nightmare managed to find Celestia’s uncovered face while Celestia only managed to hit magically-reinforced steel. Nightmare followed the kick up with another, which Celestia managed to dodge. Celestia then cast a swift bolt of energy that bounced off Nightmare’s cheek, leaving a light bruise that was probably going to sting later. But Nightmare could give as good as she got, of course. She dove down and slammed her forehooves into Celestia’s neck, then bucked her away with her hind legs. The white alicorn fell down and almost hit the ground, but managed to recover just in time. Not that it mattered. Nightmare descended on her like a lightning bolt, and slammed her into the concrete of the square before her sister had a chance to get back into the fight. Once Celestia had been crushed, Nightmare leapt up and concentrated all her might. ‘’Goodbye, sister,’’ she muttered as her eyes glowed white. With a blindingly bright flash, Celestia disappeared from the face of the world. Immediately, Nightmare bled off the excess magical backlash by shaping it into whips that struck out at the remaining defenders. ‘’Secure them,’’ she ordered the nearest Night Guard, who took an admirable two seconds of shocked staring, before realizing what she was doing and hastily saluting. Nightmare gave a brisk nod, then swept across the square and marched into City Hall. Where are you, my niece? Nightmare’s horn sprang alight with a purple glow, and though it stung a little, the Life Detection Spell still allowed her to sense a small but immensely powerful life form in the basement. When she reached the basement, the door was locked but unguarded. A simple unlocking spell did the trick, luckily. The door opened soundlessly, revealing a comfortable bedroom that was definitely not intended to be such. And sitting on the bed, looking straight at the door, was Flurry Heart. And now Nightmare had no idea what to say. She hadn’t planned for this; the words should have come naturally. So, they looked at each other. Flurry looked… scared. But not nearly as much as Nightmare had expected. The filly shifted. ‘’Auntie Luna?’’ Nightmare smiled as she suppressed her customary look of irritation at her old name. ‘’Hello, sweetheart.’’ She took a few steps forward, until she was within reach of Flurry. ‘’What happened to Auntie Tia?’’ Flurry asked after a short silence. ‘’She…’’ How do I explain this? ‘’She’s…’’ ‘’Did you kill her?’’ Nightmare almost took a step back in shock. ‘’No!’’ she blurted out. ‘’No, I did not kill her. I sent her away.’’ ‘’To where?’’ ‘’To the Sun.’’ ‘’Okay.’’ Flurry moved forward a little, and Nightmare wrapped her in a hug. ‘’You’re safe now,’’ she whispered into the filly’s ear. ‘’Don’t worry.’’ |-x-X-x-| 11 December 1008 ‘’You there?’’ ‘’I was merely reminiscing,’’ Nightmare immediately rebutted. ‘’We are in your dream, after all.’’ Sunset huffed. ‘’Shut up.’’ Nightmare would have raised an eyebrow, but didn’t feel like it. Instead, she simply looked at the altar again. ‘’I miss her.’’ Nightmare had deduced that the moment she saw Celestia’s cutie mark. She didn’t mind it, but she didn’t fully understand it either. ‘’It must have been hard for you, fighting Twilight.’’ ‘’The fight itself?’’ Sunset sounded dismissive. ‘’Twilight was too surprised to act really aggressively. But if it had lasted longer, I probably would have lost.’’ ‘’That was not what I meant.’’ ‘’I know.’’ And Sunset, of course, refused to elaborate. ‘’I think,’’ Nightmare said, ‘’that I have not thanked you properly for doing what you did. Going against Twilight and Celestia like that.’’ ‘’It was…’’ Hard. But Sunset probably wouldn’t say that. ‘’Thank you,’’ Nightmare jumped in after it became clear Sunset was not going to finish her sentence. ‘’For everything.’’ Sunset looked away from the altar and tipped her head in acknowledgement. ‘’They betrayed me, so I… betray isn’t the right word.’’ ‘’You did a good thing.’’ ‘’I did,’’ Sunset agreed, for which Nightmare was grateful.