//------------------------------// // CH 73 Moonlight Investigations // Story: Twilight's Nightmare // by Nightsclaw //------------------------------// What exactly is a Chosen? It was such a simple query, and yet, even after days, the question still sat there rattling around in Moonlight’s mind, unresolved. It was a core part of who and what she was now. It was something she should know, if only to come to terms with her new life. So every thought, every scrap of information about Luna’s most elite played through her mind as she silently trotted after Mercy. The basics were simple. As the name itself implied, she was chosen. Luna had wanted her, claimed her, and changed her just to have a tool in her service.   The urge to touch her throat almost made her trip. Being a unicorn, a three-legged trot was not a skill she had mastered. At least the thestrals’ magic that clung to her hooves stopped any audible evidence drawing Mercy’s attention. She let her gaze turn to the painted beauty of the pitch-black world around her. Its breathtaking beauty was far more pleasant to focus on than the phantom sensation in her neck. She took a slow, calming breath and considered just where she was. Before this night, she never knew these tunnels were here deep in the heart of the mountain. Every fifty or so Celestias, a passageway peeled off to one side or the other. The scent of rock dust and dampness came from most. Her ears twitched and panned around, analysing the soundscape. There were so many little sounds out there. So subtle, so small, they were drowned out by even a whispered word. From somewhere, water dripped into shallow pools. Beyond that, thestral foals cried out in joy and challenge. A game of tag or the like, if she had to guess. She shook her head with a small smile. Even now, with everything going on, foals could find time to play. Without the grounding sounds of constant clops as hoofs met the ground, the journey seemed timeless. The repetitive motion of the trot slipped from mere movement to almost a form of meditation. The swirling patterns drew her in. They promised to always be there to soothe and comfort her. Her breathing slowed, and her motions slipped into a more fluid gate. Her body calmed even as what she saw provoked her mind to return to her contemplations. What does it mean to be Luna’s Chosen. She thought yet again, the question as insistent as a stone in her frog. The enchanting display of colour that turned any darkness into a beautiful wonderland was by far the change that grabbed her attention the most. Despite being the most obvious, it was the least of the effects of the new wellspring that was now a part of her soul. The solidified darkness that muffled both hers and Mercy’s hoof falls was but the smallest of tricks she had learnt so far. It was still odd not to shiver as the crawling sensation of frozen cotton candy replaced the normal firmness of her grip fields. As with anything, thinking about it focused her senses on it. She followed it back to where the energy started. Deep in her chest, buried near her heart, the cold of a winter’s starlit night cradled the blinding blaze of her arcane potential. From there, thin trails of sensations followed her spine before they branched off to follow each lead until it escaped through her hooves to envelop them. Her mind’s eye held the new power in hoof and turned it one way and then the other. Unlike the clearly defined uses of her unicorn arcana, the umbral sorcery was a vista of unknown possibilities.   A whim stirred inside her. Why not? I’m meant to be practising.. As she had been taught, she imagined using her aura but did not light her horn. With this fictional kinetic field, she pulled the silken darkness up around her legs as if pulling on a set of socks. It clung to her like thin oil as it subsumed more and more of her. She held on to that image as her hooves went through the motions of donning a fictional cloak. The slick darkness spread more, and its tangible weight enveloped her. “You’re getting better at that.” Mercy squeaked in the hi-pitch whispers that only thestral could hear. It was just another reminder of the new suit of abilities she had to master. It took a few tries to answer likewise. “Practice, practice, practice, or so all my old instructors swore by.” The speaking and yet not speaking felt wrong, and something in her throat still tried to provoke a coughing fit. She held her breath and waited for it to pass. I could really go for a juicy mango right now. Mercy slipped back into the register of normal ponies’ voices. “True. If the Sovereign was not so busy, you would be getting a month’s worth of training every time you laid your horned head down to sleep.” Just like a mage light had just been summoned into existence, suddenly, so much about the Nightguard fell from the darkness of rumour to the clarity of cold hard fact. All that self-assurance, all that arrogance and disdain for the abilities of their solar counterparts. In a single moon, a new recruit could get as much training as the Solarguard’s standard two years. With a flicker of avarice, she recalled Candice. Why did I never try to learn her time spell? She sighed, and the cold in her chest fogged the warmer air. “If only I could have that sort of time compression for my work.” “Going through the Sovereign’s lessons is very different from dream walking.” There it was, that word again, ‘Sovereign’. There must be a story behind it, a reason all of Princess Luna’s followers used it instead of her legal title. It was true, as an Alicorn Princess, Luna was so far above ‘mere’ mortals. As the co-ruler of Equestria, she had supreme authority. She could bring life or death to any of the shadows her wings fell upon. For a moment, the ghost of Luna’s wings closed around her as the muscles in her neck strained.   “And this is your room,” Mercy said. With a flourish of her wing, she pushed the door open. What? Moonlight blanked and looked around. This part of the tunnel was different, nowhere near as crude. The walls were still carved raw mountain stone, but this time every surface was painted with umbral colours. Just how long was I lost in thought… How did I miss this? She thought as she massaged the now-taught muscles that tried to shield her vulnerable throat. It took a few seconds to see, but large chunks of the umbra radiance hung still here. Somehow the shifting inky pigments had been pinned in place. The style was a little primitive, more stylistic than the exacting precision in favour above, but with far more feeling. Careful curves and savage lines that would stir the soul did more than any photorealism ever could. To the left were portraits, and to the right were scenes of historical battles. One portrait held her attention, the most recent. She lifted a hoof and rested on the wall just below it, almost scared to touch it. Before her, right there on the wall, was the pony she would never be again. With but the slightest tilt of her head, it was gone, and only a portrait of who she was now looked back.   There was something hauntingly familiar about this. Her eyes sought and found the portraits she sought. A dozen placed down, it did not shift to the scene of the mare’s death as Moonlight drew nearer. No, here there were simply a few numbers, almost invisible at a distance. A day, a month and a year. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I do have other things to do tonight.” “Sorry, Mercy. It’s just….” Moonlight could not settle on quite how she wanted to end that statement. Mercy shook her head with a slightly sad smile. “The gallery of remembrance can be a lot to take in.” Moonlight nodded, her eyes settled on the blank space that waited for those few little numbers. “It’s like seeing your own funeral marker.” “We are all sisters and brothers. Each and every one of us will be remembered.” Mercy said timber of ritual. The solar guard had their proud traditions, their honours. A wall with endless rows of marks. It all seemed callous and uncaring now. A poor repayment for giving up everything in service to Equestria. There were so many portraits here. They were poor imitations of the ones Luna painted herself. She searched for and found Strikers. Eyes that could be playful or hard and that fanged smirk he loved so much. “They differently captured his essence.” Mercy laughed. “Yeah, in generations time, they are still going to have to put up with his cocky grin. Now let’s get you settled.” Moonlight stared at the umbral patterns that danced on the stone ceiling above. She still did not have a satisfactory answer to what it truly meant to be Luna’s chosen. It seemed like she might never figure it out. A less important but far more immediate thought pushed it aside. She had never been so envious of pegasi than right now. The enchanted sheets that allowed her to lay upon the cloud bed allowed her to approach the comfort they felt as they napped on any bundle of condensed water that took their fancy. Amusement danced in her thoughts Who would have thought one of Equestria’s most expensive beds would be my standard issue equipment now. None of the other things in the room looked particularly fancy. Everything was merely well made, functional and supremely comfortable. No noble would ever be seen using furniture like this, but they can keep their gaudy gem-encrusted torture devices. She settled herself fully into the bed’s yielding embrace. “Well, time to get to work.” As she had been taught, she closed her eyes and slowed her breathing. This is the strangest way to go to work. She thought as her body stilled, and the waking world faded from her senses even as the chill near her heart pulsed. It felt like she was on a beach, and waves somehow flowed through her as they lapped softly over the sand. It was not long before Princess Luna’s realm claimed her. The dream construct that was her office was just as impressive as it had been upon her first visit. Unfortunately, paperwork was still paperwork, even with fantastical scenery. Hours later sat by the map table, slowly sipping from a tall glass of mango juice. A luminous orb tingled under Moonlight’s hoof as she rolled it back and forth on the table. The simple sphere held a basic record of all the dreams from She pushed her hoof into the orb and focused on the image she wanted. Romance-laced visions fought for her attention, and flickers of warm lust snapped at her hoof. A chill pulsed up her hoof, and she latched on. With a quick yank, she claimed her prize. There, in miniature, standing tall upon her upturned hoof, was an absolutely massive example of an earth pony. The striking brick wall of a stallion, the soft smile of a gentle giant, and a slightly bemused look to his eyes explained why many mares were dreaming about him. A glance at the earth pony rosters that lay scattered over the table just confirmed what she had suspected. “Your two hooves taller than the largest.” Moonlight shook her head as she tried to banish the romantic nonsense those four mares dreamed of. “A dozen unlisted guards that don’t dream.” Moonlight’s still strange-looking black-cored silver aura lifted the quill and added a few more lines to the open scroll. This was by far her best lead, so she signed and sealed it, then dropped it into her outbox. A star-speckled tendril of liquid night slipped from the shadow of a tree and devoured the scroll. “This is definitely the strangest office ever.” She said as she put that orb away and reached for another one. There was no point wasting time, so she lifted the next one to her horn. In a blink, she looked out from eyes that were not her own as a male thestral voice she had never heard before narrated the context for the scene that played out before her. As the speaker formed words, Moonlight could feel his tongue moving in his mouth as if it were her own. Below, the back wall of a warehouse had been partly demolished. He glided down from his perch inside half a dozen shattered crates littered the floor. “We don’t know what was in these, but unless somepony spent hours clearing out the scent, it was not the fireworks that were meant to be.” He moved over to one wall and gazed up. The rich coppery scent that tickled his nose told her what was there before he spoke. “Most of the wall has been cleansed by horn arts, but they missed a bit.” He stretched his wings and rose in a careful hoover. The new wellspring deep in Moonlight’s chest rose. It knew what it could do, and it teased her with the promise even as the feel of his flight muscles flexing taunted her for her lack of wings. “If they were on the ground, the cross beam would have blocked their view of this bit. We don’t know whose blood it is yet, but we do know it’s an earth pony. We are looking into missing ponies… but with the overcrowded city, it’s going slow.” The view rotated as he looked back down at the destroyed crates. “My guess is whatever it was, they needed it to be treated right carefully, wanted it kept dry and away from fire… I’ll send another report if we get more, and welcome aboard Moonlight.” The vision faded, and the world around her snapped into focus again. She rested the orb on the table as she added some more notes to a blank scroll. “Hello, Moonlight.” A familiar voice said in a friendly tone. “Candice?” Moonlight asked, her eyes lifted from her work to fix on the mare before her. It was Candice, and yet it was not. The lack of wings and very obvious horn were definitely new, not that anything could truly be taken for granted here. Ignoring the ethereal scythe that floated beside the mare, she asked a simpler question. “You dream of being a unicorn?” “I’m her sister, Insight. Until recently, I was stuck in her head. Now I’m free to go around and help all those I can.” Too old eyes twinkled above a sincere smile. “Right now, that happens to be you.” Insight slid around the table, and her open legs wrapped Moonlight in an eager hug. The embrace was firm like a friend’s and warm like a grandmother’s. “Welcome, Sister.” Moonlight closed her eyes and leaned into the contact. Yet another thing that would never happen under Celestia. As much as she would deny it to anypony, nearly dying and then really dying made little things like hugs far more pleasant. The simple touch of a living pony, the sound of their heartbeat, and the warmth of their body were all things she could not help but savour. Not that she would recommend what happened to her as an option just to enrich anypony’s life. “Thank you… Sister.” It felt odd using such a term, but those that followed Luna were definitely more than mere comrades. “So, I’m in need of help?” “I have a message from Luna. Well, it more came from Twilight via Luna. Those villages you’re interested in. Changelings have taken it over.” “Changelings?” Moonlight felt her eyes narrow dangerously. “There are Changelings running those villages?”   Moonlight sighed and let her head fall to the table. “So they’re a threat, just not the one I’m looking for.” Insight’s hoof rubbed along Moonlight’s back. It stirred memories of when her grandmother had done it. Just the right level of pressure to let a pony know you were there and were strong enough to keep them safe. “Here, let me show you what I know about it.” As they approached the treeline, Insight’s scythe rushed forwards, did a few flips and somehow turned itself inside out before it slammed into the ground. It was not a weapon that landed. With a blink-and-you-would-miss-it speed, its form flowed into the shape of a door. What greeted her on the other side was nothing like what she had expected from a portal made from a scythe. Instead of some realm of undeath or the verdant green of the Eternal Fields was wood, lots of wood. Wooden walls, wooden floor and ceiling and countless wooden bookshelves. Once they were both though the door melted, its stable form dissolved into an ethereal pony, a foal sized unicorn that, if the reports were to be believed, looked just like a min version of the tantabus Luna set loose in Ponyville. The thing? Filly? Whatever it counted as galloped around Insight’s legs until she lifted in with her aura and nuzzled it. A soft musical voice called out from somewhere beyond the maze of bookshelves. “Insight, It would seem you have brought guests. You really should allow me a little warning to prepare a proper welcome.” “Hey there, Sweet Dreams. Yes, we have company, complements of Luna’s investigation division.” “Well, I do hope we’re not in trouble?” Sweet Dream answered as teasing amusement danced in her voice. “No, just sharing some experiences with one investigating Twilight’s attacker. Shared interest is all.” The clop of Moonlight’s hooves on the wooden floor was solid, tangible, and real. Something about the qualities here made it hard to remember this was just a dream. Was this another one Princess Luna created herself? Moonlight knew this was in the dream realm somewhere, but that was like saying you were on the planet. It didn’t really give you anything to go on. “Where are we?” Moonlight asked quietly, so as to not be overheard. Clearly, her attempt at discretion failed. Instead of Insight, the same musical voice as before answered. Only this time, its tone was grander, a show mare announcing to a crowd. “You, Claimed of Luna, have the honour and privilege to have entered The Grand Golden Oaks Library, Sanctuary and Dominion of one Twilight Sparkle.”    Only one thing came to mind as she stepped into the central multi-level chamber. “That’s a lot of books.” A few seconds later, the normal analytical part of her mind remembered it should be doing something. Three ponies were visible, a blue-coated silver-maned Alicorn pouring tea with a welcoming smile, a grey clone of Twilight sans wings, muzzle buried in a book behind a tangled mess of spiked golden chains, and last but not least, a mirror propped up at the end of the table near the Alicorn was a burning maned wild demoness of a unicorn. None were an active threat, well, not to anything but her diet if the array of snacks were anything to go by. Though, by the demoness’ ravenous eyes fixed on the food, it might not last that long. She breathed in. The fragrances of exotic spices mixed with more familiar scents promised culinary satisfaction far more than any Canterlot restaurant ever could. Pangs of hunger threatened to make her stomach growl. Hot chocolate, whisky and pastries blended with cakes, flowers and fruits of all sorts, and even zap apples. She ignored the distractions and let her attention move on to what lay beneath it. She took a second breath and held it. A hint of blood and burnt wood lingered, but it was old, with no hint of poisons, explosives or Blight.   With nothing screaming at her senses that this was a trap, she headed further in. The open space had multiple exits, dozens of them at just a quick glance, divided over multiple levels. On the ground floor, there seemed to be a main staircase, visible past a large bookshelf that likely led to the higher levels. Just the mobility possibilities one with wings would have in here. The sensations of phantom wings flexing haunted her with longing. Her new wellspring whispers to her, pleading with her, it wanted to fly. The open door behind them that they had just entered through had other closed ones flanking it. Each had the mark of one of the Element Bearers, but Twilight’s one was far too small for any but a foal to use. There were two more doors. The most normal was what was clearly the external door. It looked just like the one from the now-destroyed Ponyville Library. The other looked like an armoured vault from a Manehatten bank rendered from solid gold. “Moonlight, may I introduce Sweet Dreams, Grey and Nova,” Insight said, hoof indicating the Alicorn, the recoloured Twilight clone, and the fiery pony in the mirror. Grey looked up and then back down at the hoard of paperwork she was working on behind the mess of spiked chains. Nova watched with a hungry intensity as her eyes moved from the food set out upon the table. Only the slight friendly edge to Nova’s eyes gave Moonlight any hope that she was not to become a convenient snack for the demoness if she somehow got free from the mirror. With the perfect grace of a noble hostess and an elegant sweep of a wing, Sweet Dreams bid to join her. Moonlight found herself moving almost automatically, ingrained etiquette from her training in Canterlot, and the fact it was an Alicorn making the request, made it extremely hard not to just go along with it all. With a slight shake of her head, she allowed herself to proceed. Sweet Dreams expertly added powders and liqueurs to five normal-size cups and one that looked too small for even a foal’s play set. Insight nodded as she accepted hers. The Grey wingless Twilight merely claimed it in her one aura, not even looking up from her constant writing. The small cup joined a normal one as it was pushed through the mirror to eagerly taken by an animated button-eyed plushie. The demon pony just downed hers and looked hopeful to Dreams for more. “In a moment, dear. Just let me serve our guest,” Dreams said before turning those deep-pools-of-silver-a-pony-could-drown-in she called eyes on Moonlight. “Sugar, Honey?” Moonlight’s mouth worked once or twice before she managed to get any words out. “Honey, please.” Sweet Dreams’ eyes released Moonlight as they glanced towards the tea service. A weight lifted from Moonlight’s chest, and a shaky breath escaped. She slowly inhaled, willing the blood rushing in her ears to slow. Long glistening strands of thick honey tried to follow the generous portion as it was added. Its slight green colour and prismatic sheen marked it as no type of honey Moonlight had ever seen. She sniffed, and her eyes widened. Just the scent had Moonlight’s taste buds tingling with anticipation. The first taste, oh dear Celestia, that first tentative sip of slightly too hot liquid. If it tasted any better, she would have downed it despite any risk of scalding her mouth.   After fixing a small mountain of snacks and three flasks of tea for the demon pony, Sweet Dreams claimed her own seat. Her silver aura pushed the offering through the mirror as if it was merely an open window. On the other side of the glass, a small self-animated plushy set about helping Noca arrange the food into piles. A slight flick of a blue wing caught Moonlight’s attention, dragging her gaze back to Dreams’. The Alicorn had an enthralling, but too knowing, smile as she began. Her silver aura retrieved a sealed scroll. “This is Twilight’s report on the current Changeling situation.” “Thank you.” Moonlight said as she accepted the scroll. With a flick of magic, she broke the seal and unrolled it. Line after line of Twilight’s densely packed and verbose writing greeted her. Dreams waved her hoof and sat a little straighter, some of the casual grace replaced with controlled formality. “Feel free to peruse that at your leisure. For now, we have other things to discuss.” “We do?” Moonlight asked, shifting her attention from the open scroll.   “There are things you need to know if you are to ever find the one that hurt my Twilight. Things about Alicorns and about the many failed attempts at becoming one.” Sweet Dreams talked for hours after Insight had to leave. Revelation after revelation left Moonlight’s head spinning. Alicorns were bucking bombs until they passed their trail? Emotional and mind control came as standard if you even let one speak to you, and changelings were just another tribe of ponies? Add to that all that had transpired between Princesses Twilight and Celestia, the fact that the current Twilight was a copy as the original had, in essence, been assassinated in foalhood by the same Dark Mage that was responsible for the attack on Manhattan, Twilight’s abduction and the Blight. Moonlight almost numbly munched her way through another odd-tasting star-shaped treat This changes so much. In her head, pages and pages of notes were rearranged and new connections formed and old ones were discarded as ridiculous now she knew the truth. The flavour on her tongue changed as she bit into a sandwich. The softness of the bread and the bite of the mustard were enough to bring reality, or at least the Bastion around her, into focus.   “Ah, you have returned to us?” Sweet Dreams smiled as she sat sipping from her tea cup held in her aura as her wings and hoof danced through the motions that looked far more complex than they needed to be. Knitting needles clacked together as three different types of thread followed through the air like serpents. How did I miss this? Moonlight could not take her eyes off it. A shudder ran down her spine. It may just have been cloth and fabric, but with thick red strands from blood vessels and every single bone and muscle in the equine form represented, it was like some kind of reverse dissection. “If I may, what are you making?” Dreams’ eyes gleamed silver as she peered past her work. She spoke, her musical voice playful and light. “Have you never seen a soul created before?”