//------------------------------// // Interlude Part IV: I Dream Of Fire // Story: The Real Nightmare Knights // by Bigwig6666 //------------------------------// Everything was on fire. Canterlot, the capital city of Equestria, was burning, wreathed in the holy flame of the sun itself. Great smoke stacks rose up into the air, ironically blocking the light of the sun and casting long, dark shadows over the world. She who was named as the Lady of Fire, the self proclaimed Supreme Empress of Equestria, spread her wings like a mighty phoenix and took to the skies once more, basking in the heat and rage of her flame. She threw her head back and let loose an angry howl as her fire-kissed hooves danced through the air, propelling herself onwards. Her mane and her tail, both great sheets of flame, lapped at the sky around her, scorching everything they touched. Daybreaker paused in her flight, letting her blazing wings hold her still as she scoured her surroundings, scrutinising the cinders of her city for those who would oppose her--namely and chiefly--one individual in particular. And then, she spotted the source of her ire: a lone figure scurrying in-between the fires far below. Like a hawk, she folded her wings by her sides and dove, driving her horn down towards her prey, her moth slightly opened, exposing her fangs for all the world to see and tremble at. Her lips pulled back into a wicked, cruel smile as she descended to the earth like a falling star, shattering buildings that had stood for ages in one fell swoop. As the dust settled and the surrounding fires danced and wavered, she heard coughing and sputtering from an assortment of voices. “Holy moly, what was that?” came the first, quiet and nervous and belonging to a child. “It’s her,” came the second, rasping and deep. “Tirek, grab Cozy and get out,” came the third, relatively calm and collected. “I can-” “No, Tempest. It’s me she wants,” came the fourth, focused and determined, and the source of the Empress’s ire. Daybreaker flourished her head, sending the fires making up her mane cascading across the ground. Her mouth quirked upwards for a brief moment as the dust settled and she locked eyes with her prey, and then she lunged. Chrysalis just barely managed to deflect her blow and backed up, shoving Tempest, Tirek and Cozy Glow all out of the way with a wave of her horn. “Celestia, listen to me!” she called as she spread her wings and took to the skies. “This isn’t you, you have to stop this!” The elemental alicorn snarled and snapped her razor sharp fangs in the changeling’s direction as she too jumped up, spreading her wings once again to pursue. “Celly, please!” Chrysalis pleaded. “You need to stop!” Her words fell on deaf ears. Daybreaker’s vicious attacks fell again and again, fighting her and driving her back, blow after blow until her defences finally fell, and her assailant saw an opening. With one swift movement, the alicorn’s hoof lashed out and caught the changeling on the nose with such force it stunned her, all but knocking her unconscious. The Empress’s horn ignited in a swift blaze of fury, and a lash of fiery magic ensnared Chrysalis’s throat. With one flap of her wings, Daybreaker called the magic of the pegasi to her and rose up into the atmosphere, growing ever closer towards her golden-beloved to dispose of her hated enemy once and for all. “Cel...” Chrysalis croaked as she started to come around, gasping for air in her magical grasp. “Pl...” Still, Daybreaker did not relent. She paused when she reached a satisfactory height, and looked down at Equestria so far below before lifting Chrysalis up and into her vision. their eyes met again for a moment. Daybreaker felt nothing but the purest hatred for her, nothing but the desire to see her burn in the fires of perdition itself. Her mouth twitched into somewhere between a sneer and a smirk as she relished in the moment of pure defeat in Chrysalis’s face, and then she twisted in mid-air, angling her enemy towards the ground. Daybreaker dove, driving both of them down, down deep into the ashes of Canterlot. She heard screams of ponies she knew bellowing her name, begging her to stop. Twilight. Cadance. Even Luna. But she didn’t care. They didn’t matter anymore. The only thing that did was the foul creature in her grasp. The queen-turned-knight’s eyelids fluttered, and her hooves fell limp, fluttering along uselessly behind her. Her mouth opened in one final gasp, one last attempt to try and stay the solar alicorn’s hoof. “I love...” With the ground rising up to meet her, Daybreaker could taste victory on the edge of her tongue. Heat and fire scorched her vision, turning everything white, until finally she came to a screeching, crashing halt with a crunch and a crack- “NO!” With an ungodly shriek, the vision vanished. The heat and the choking air evaporated, and the screams of ponies turned into distant echoes as Celestia bolted upright, safe and sound in her bed of her Manehattan apartment. She gasped when she felt the familiar, if cold and sweat-stained silken sheets of her bed, and fumbled around for the light, trusting her own hooves more than her magic these days. She found it and switched it on, bathing her bedroom in a comforting silver glow. She took in her surroundings carefully, glad to see she was home, and nowhere else. After taking a few deep breaths and tugging the covers up close to her chin, she thought about her dream. Her nightmare. The same one for... she didn’t even know how long now--since returning from her venture into the Hive with Chrysalis, everything just felt like a blur. Everything except the fleet of emotions and sensations plaguing her every night. Rage. Hate. All directly aimed... at Chrysalis. She fluttered her wings and shivered. The sun was near due to come up, in spite of how the pale light of the moon spilled through a break in her curtains. She could tell, for she never did lose that tingle-sense for when she needed to raise it--even after retiring--and she suspected she never would. She looked over at the lamp casting its light over the room. Ironically, whenever she awoke during the night in the past millennia or so, this lamp provided her with a sense of comfort she hadn’t felt since she was a filly. The same comfort she had only felt whenever King Morpheus was nearby. “Father...” she murmured, thinking about how he used to hold her. What words of comfort would he give her now? What, if any... The shake in her voice made her tongue feel dry and heavy, and flashes of the rage she felt as Daybreaker coursed through her. For only a dream, it felt so real. For a nightmare, it felt so horrific, so awful... she didn’t think she would ever wake up from it. With a heave, she pushed her covers down and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, sitting for a moment with her head low and her wings hung loosely at her side, contemplating what to do. “Celestia...” The sudden volume of a quiet voice saying her name startled the daylights out of the former princess so much that with one swing of her hoof she knocked her lamp onto the ground with a crash, plunging the room into darkness. But she knew that voice, and love plucked at the strings of her heart as calmness replaced her sudden fright. “Luna!” she gasped, feeling a wave of elated joy wash over her. She peered into the darkness. “You scared me. Where are you? You know I can’t see very well in the dark.” The darkness of the room lit up in a familiar glow of friendly, teal coloured magic that she knew and loved. Sure enough, her beloved baby sister sat in an armchair nearby, watching her. With a wave of her head, Luna’s magic ensnared and reassembled the lamp and switched it back on, casting a silver glow over both of them. Celestia stared at her sister and swallowed, feeling her elation rapidly fade at the dark alicorn’s grim expression. “Luna?” she said hesitantly. “What’s wrong?” Luna took a deep breath before answering. “It isn’t easy, is it?” she asked, her words twinged with sorrow. “Grappling with your inner turmoil...” She sounded tired. That was never a good sign for the Princess of Dreams. “...walking that fine line between monster and saviour.” It occurred to Celestia that Luna knew exactly how she must have been feeling, possibly more so than any other pony ever could. The pale princess fluttered her wings and stood up, despite how tired she felt. Both sisters stared at one another for a moment more, before Luna also stood. They each crossed the room in a few shot steps, and embraced in a tight and loving hug. The immeasurable rock that was Celestia cracked, and the dam started to leak. She sobbed into her sister’s mane, clutching and grasping at her like she was about to fade away at any moment. “Shhh...” Luna cooed, stroking Celestia’s back gently. “Shh, I’m here, Tia. I’m here. I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner.” “Lu, it’s--I’ve been-” the elder sister stammered in between sniffles, clutching and grasping, fumbling around for her through a veil of tears. “Father--I...” “Shh,” the younger sister continued to murmur softly, pulling away to look her in the face. She smiled weakly and wiped at Celestia’s eyes for her and brushed some of her pink mane out of her eyes. “I know, Tia, I... I know.” Celestia shivered and leaned back slightly. “You... do?” she murmured. “How?” The midnight alicorn sighed and turned her head enough so that half of her face was bathed in moonlight. “It’s a long story. In short, in my custody, there is a painter--Crane--who has been granted the gift of foresight, and with this gift he has been painting events of the future, all of which have come true so far. The Nightmare Knights retrieved him from Shady Hollow, if you remember, investigating the Headless Horse?” Celestia sniffed. “Yes, I remember you telling me. What has he--what have you seen?” Luna bristled. “Mad things. Terrible things. At first I thought it best to see he gets psychiatric help, and perhaps even Twilight Sparkle’s guidance and rehabilitation, but I realised that after one of my agents foiled an assassination attempt on his life, he would be safer elsewhere.” She nodded glumly while Celestia raised a shocked hoof to her lips. “So I took him. And, after some deliberation, I have determined that whatever acted through him wanted our attention, not as a threat, but a warning. From his masquerading as the Headless Horse, to the appointment of Starlight Glimmer as their Director, and a smattering of incidents involving the restless dead, including...” She bit her lip. “Queen Imago’s resurgence.” Celestia went as stiff as a board and pulled away. “Yes... I know of that creature’s return, sister.” The night princess’s face grew dark. “I saw she would be there, as would you, though I did not fully understand... I am sorry I couldn’t be there, also. What...” A few moments of silence hung in the air between the sisters, the younger regarding the elder with hesitance and concerned curiosity. “In the dark, under the Changeling Hive,” Celestia finally said, gritting her teeth to try and hide the shake in her voice. “Imago... it was her that... she revealed that she is the one responsible for murdering our father. Not... not Chrysalis like we had... like I had thought.” Luna leaned back with a pained expression. Her heart pounded in her chest, almost bursting with sorrow. “I... see,” she murmured. “That’s not all,” Celestia added quietly, the shake in her voice fading, being replaced by something tougher and angrier. “She confessed that she did it while she was...” The solar sovereign hesitated again. Her tongue felt dry and the flush of heat under her coat was starting to make her feel itchy. “While she was disguised as our mother.” A low and dangerous growl accompanied her voice. The heat she was starting to feel crept up and into her face, and for a moment she saw red. Then she blinked. Tears started to well up in her eyes again when she saw how tense Luna had grown. “Oh, Luna... I didn’t...” she mumbled, turning her head away in shame. “I’m sorry.” The younger sister leaned forwards and rested her chin on her sister’s shoulder. “I’ll ask again... it isn’t easy, is it?” Silence answered her. Luna swallowed again and reached out, cupping her sister’s face in her hoof to turn her towards her. “Tia... how did it... start?” Celestia looked deep into her eyes and shivered before answering. “She... killed me, Lu,” she murmured. “Or at least... I’m sure I came very close to it.” She lowered her head and let out a shuddered breath. “She killed me, but I didn’t die--obviously. Instead I felt... angry. And then the fire came and I couldn’t... control it.” She grit her teeth and turned her head. “But I beat her, Lu. I beat Imago. I burned her.” The midnight alicorn nodded sagely in understanding. “Rage is a special kind of anaesthetic,” she murmured. The elder sister weakly raised a hoof to her head and scratched behind her ear. She could still feel her face flushed with heat from her dream--although in truth she didn’t know if it was still from her dream now or not. “I burned her,” she continued. “I would have killed her if...” She swallowed. “Chrysalis hadn’t stopped me. I wanted... I wanted to hurt her because of it...” Celestia looked up, her face whiter than usual and her eyes ringed with red. “I lost her once already, Lu--I can’t... I don’t want to hurt her.” Luna regarded her sister carefully for a few moments, and was reminded very much of them in their youths after they had first ascended alicornhood--and a few magical mishaps. After taking a deep breath, she reached out and put her hoof over her shoulder. “I know you don’t, Tia.” Celestia let out a short and quiet sniffle, reaching up to touch her. She forced a smile out and turned her head to kiss her sister’s hoof. They sat like that for a short while, simply enjoying one another’s company. And then as they both breathed out and seemed to relax, Luna let out a haughty snort. “What?” Celestia sniffed. “Oh, nothing,” the younger sister replied, removing her hoof and taking a look around. “It’s just that I see you’ve done the ‘Celestia Suite’ up a bit since the last time I saw it.” She pulled a face and stuck her tongue out. “I don’t like it.” “You never do,” her sister laughed. Celestia rubbed her eyes and rounded on her with a playful smirk. “But I will say as much as I like it,” she added, looking around for herself. “It never could hold a candle to the Luna Suite could it?” Luna laughed as she rolled her eyes and fluttered her wings. Or, well- “Luna!” Celestia’s smile vaporised in an instant, and she stared aghast and in utter horror when she saw movement of only one appendage on her sister’s back. “Your wing! What-” She grabbed Luna and spun her around, inspecting the bandaged stump where one of her wings used to be. As her hoof hovered over it a fierce and protective anger rose up in her, wholly unlike the vengeful fury she felt in her dreams. “What did this to you?!” she demanded. The Princess of Dreams sighed and sagged her shoulders. “As I said, it is a long story, and before you ask I do not have time to explain,” she said, turning herself around and gently batting Celestia’s hoof away. “The truth is we are not safe. You, me, Twilight Sparkle--even the Nightmare Knights themselves--none of us are safe...” As she half-listened, a dull sort of ringing appeared in Celestia’s ears. Something hurt her baby sister. Someone. Hurt. Luna. She wrinkled her nose in a growing anger, just as something dark and blue bopped the end of it. “Ow?” “Pay attention,” Luna said, scowling at her. “As I was saying: our enemy is gathering an army and allies, and so we must do the same. The Nightmare Knights will need help, and between us we... well... you were always better at diplomacy than I was, sister.” She forced a smile. “And this little mark is not-” “Little mark?!” roared Celestia in disbelief. “Luna, you only have one wing! You’ll never-” “Yes, I’m aware,” the younger sister snapped, gritting her teeth to try and hold her patience. “I very much felt it when it was torn away from me, and don’t you dare suggest I’ll never fly again as if I haven’t realised that.” She tutted and turned her head away, reaching up to massage what remained. “But the wound has healed, and besides, it doesn’t matter now, what does matter is that we succeed so that the Nightmare Knights succeed.” Celestia quickly scowled back at her in disapproval. “You have always mattered to me, Luna. And why?” she demanded, growing impatient and frustrated. “Why them? Haven’t they suffered enough? Tempest Shadow and Lord Tirek, and Cozy--that filly deserves so much better than what we gave her, Luna. She is thoughtful and kind, and clever, and we turned her to stone at the drop of a hat--we didn’t even try! Not to mention Chrys-alis...” Her voice broke and trailed off, her eyes quickly starting to shine with moisture again. A heavy silence fell between the celestial sisters. Luna’s slender, pointed features twisted with sorrow. “I know they have, Celestia. But as unfortunate as it may be, Equestria needs them to suffer just a bit longer.” “Why?” came Celestia’s sharp voice. Again, Luna twisted her mouth. “The paintings Mr. Crane creates? All of them are of seemingly random events, save for one thing they all have in common. I have some copies here I wanted to show you. Look.” The colour of her magic lit up the darkened room once more. From beside the chair she had been sitting she retrieved a long, rolled up case. She popped the lid off and drew one of them out while Celestia watched. The elder alicorn quickly froze, her breath catching in her throat. She stared in horror at the image before her. Canterlot, a city wreathed in flame, surrounded by flickers of shadow. The artistry was crude, but instantly recognisable. Though merely an oil painting, she’d recognise the tall spires of her beloved home wherever and whenever she saw them. And not just fire, but an intense and verbose scorching heat seemed to leap out at her from the canvas. It was unbearable. Like staring into a furnace. It was as if she was suddenly in a fog of fire and smoke, lost to the wanton destruction caused by her own hooves- “This was the first,” came her sister’s voice, breaking through the fog. “Look at the bottom, Tia.” The sound snapped the elder alicorn out of her trance-like state, enabling her to tear her eyes away from the fires and down to the bottom as Luna instructed. She wrinkled her nose when she saw five figures standing side by side. Five? But the Knights were four. Unless... “And here, another one,” Luna said, pulling out another painting. This time it was of a great crater in the desert, half of a city to be precise. Celestia examined it carefully, recognising some of the architecture. “Is this... Saddle Arabia?” she said. “It is, I can see the mosque and the palace... and there...” “Look at the bottom,” her sister repeated quietly. Celestia did. Her eyes found four small figures, unmistakable in appearance, standing on the very edge of the crater. She gulped. “There are dozens, Tia,” Luna murmured. “Dozens more like this. All showing the Nightmare Knights standing as one, shoulder to shoulder, flank to flank. Sometimes there are more, sometimes there are less. Sometimes we are there, Twilight Sparkle and her friends as well, and sometimes we, and they, are not. Regardless, it is always the Nightmare Knights at the centre of these events. It is in they who we must now place our trust.” Celestia rustled her wings and stared at the paintings. At the fire in particular. “Teach me,” she said bluntly. Luna blinked. “Teach you?” “To control it. The fire, the darkness--whatever she is... You used to teach me so much about magic when we we little.” The Princess of the Night started to smile and lowered her head as she started to fold up the paintings and put them back in their container. “I remember, yes, though you were not always a good student-” “I’m not the arrogant, self-righteous filly I once was,” Celestia said fervently, rounding on her, her eyes sparkling with ferocity. “You know that. I’d do anything at all to keep Chrysalis safe. Just teach me. Please.” Luna stepped forwards and cradled her sister’s face in her hoof. “Okay,” she said, leaning forwards to press their heads together. “I will. Though it may be difficult.” The elder alicorn exhaled softly. “Anything to keep Chrysalis safe,” she repeated. Luna appeared to perk up a little bit as they pulled away and aimed a playful punch towards Celestia’s shoulder. “I should hope so. I have worked hard on my Nightmare Knights. Should you destroy them I will be most displeased.” “Ha.” The corner of Celestia’s mouth twitched upwards into a smile. “And though I don’t like your apartment, I do like what you’ve done with your hair,” her sister added, reaching out to run her hoof through it. A small blush began to creep over Celestia’s face. “So does Chrysalis...” she murmured bashfully. Luna grinned at her. “I should have guessed. It remind me of when we were little.” They shared in another moment of silence, simply looking at one another in the silver of the nightlight. “Father would be proud of you, you know,” Luna eventually said. Celestia flinched and her smile faded. “I’m not so sure.” “I am. He would be proud of you, Tia.” The solar sovereign sniffed and rubbed her nose. “So when do we start?” she asked, hoping to change the subject. The thought of her father’s face, of the horror he would feel if he saw her turn into Daybreaker again tore at her soul and made her heart ache. “Now.” Luna glanced towards the window and pursed her lips as the first few rays of dawn began to creep through the night. “We’ve already spent too long here. Come on. I have a chariot waiting for us already.” She and strode over to the window. Her horn ignited and magic gently wrapped around the handles, pulling it wide open. She raised a hoof to her mouth and let out a sharp whistle. Silence reigned for a while until sound of beating wings filled the air, and two massive thestrals pulling a large, black chariot came into view, coming to a stop just outside of the window. Luna jutted her chin towards it. “After you, then.” Thestrals? Celestia swallowed and lowered her head. She quietly slipped past her sister and stepped out onto the chariot. After a slight wobble she readjusted and sat down. Like a natural, Luna practically glided across, sitting down across from her and turned her head. “Doom. Gloom." With a hearty snort and a low rumble of a whinny, the thestrals spread their leathery wings and took off, soaring high into the sky above Manehattan. “Where are we going?” Celestia asked as she watched the city disappear beneath her. “And where have you been, anyway?” “Somewhere safe,” Luna replied, similarly looking out over the world. “And an answer to both: Shady Hollow.” “Shady Hollow?” The elder alicorn flattened her ears to her head. “Luna, I know the thestrals have always been your people, but what if they don’t... forgive me?” “They will,” Luna said firmly. “Superstitious they may be, what’s ancient history is ancient history. And they helped me when I was struggling with my own inner darkness.” She gave her sister a reassuring smile. “And together we’ll help you control yours.” Celestia swallowed. “If you’re sure. But the thestrals, didn’t they worship-” “Nightmare Moon? Yes.” The flat tone of her sister’s voice made Celestia wince. She resigned herself to silence, thinking about tonight. Her dream, Mr. Crane’s paintings, Daybreaker, her sister and finally... Chrysalis. Her Chrysalis. For a moment her irises sparked with fire, reflecting back the rising sun cresting the horizon.