Nightmare of Moon and I walked down an old trail. Cart lines and the tracks of hundreds of hooves were imprinted on the packed dirt. It was likely the road that the guard regiments used to rotate new sentries into Tartarus.
It seemed a tad risky to so brazenly walk such a populated road given my nature and the Nightmare’s appearance. Then again, the canopy blocks the light, so it might as well be past nightfall…
I shook the worries from my head. It’s not too big of a deal. The Nightmare is unlikely to overlook any spies when we’re in her element.
Ferns and vines seemed to creep out from the forest line. Tree branches bent down, leaving little room above our heads. It felt like we were in the maw of some plant-like colossus and in the process of strolling down its gullet.
“Worm, why were you imprisoned within Tartarus? From what I’ve seen you’re little more than unnerving.”
Nightmare of Moon’s voice cut through the forest ambiance like a slate dagger. My teeth ground
while I maintained my smile as I responded.
“Murder.”
She cocked an eyebrow as she glanced back at me.
“Truly? How… underwhelming. I was under the impression that you’d have a more interesting tale.”
“There was much more involved than me killing another. In fact, I didn’t belong down there. At least, not at first.”
Why was I telling her this? Am I trying to get her to pity me? Yes, that’s a good angle. Make myself appear broken, pretend to be lesser.
“Would you like to hear?”
Nightmare of Moon snorted before shaking her head.
“No, it will likely be nothing but lies.”
Damn, very well. What else is there to try?
I searched the tree line with my peripheral vision and used my blue eye to examine her code as we walked, hells, I even took the time to examine the shard of her soul I still held. No weaknesses, no opportunities.
I grit my teeth as we walked. I had a piece of her soul in my chest, and it still meant nothing. I could squeeze and shred and burn it, but at the end of the day, it was just pain. The Nightmare only needed to ignore it for a moment to kill me.
But still, why let me keep it? Did they forget I had it? Maybe they saw it as a way to order me from afar…
A sharp realization sent a shard of cold understanding careening through my head.
I can’t run from her.
She doesn’t sleep on account of being a spirit possessing a Demigoddess. She doesn’t need to worry about any leverage I’d have with only a shard of her soul in my grasp for the same reason. However, she can always see it, always track her own soul, and by proxy, track me.
We crossed a bridge that went over a creek. The gurgling water below barely registered to me as we passed.
If I try to abandon it, she’d notice and find me anyway. Is this a message? A declaration that I should give up? Or a deliberate plan to catch me mid-betrayal?
I looked up to the Nightmare of Moon again. She didn’t seem to notice my conflict, given her relaxed gait.
Whatever the case, if I want to escape, she needs to fall. A tall order, for she may be stupid but is far from weak.
We walked for hours. Occasionally, we’d hear a distant animal call cut through the drone of crickets. I spotted a few birds flitting through the trees but didn’t make a comment.
I needed an opening, a lever of sorts.
We turned a bend in the road and found the setting sun in our eyes. Nightmare of Moon snorted while shading her eyes with a wing.
“That lazy fool better lower her mothball soon, I tire of this blazing light.”
I nodded absently as I paused beside her. I didn’t speak, nothing I could say would better my position. I need her attention off of me, but to gain a bit of freedom, I need her to give me leeway…
Not flattery, that would be too obvious. Maybe a callback to her own words? Yes, using her own phrases would be best, and I need to favor her position without seeming like a bootlicker. At the same time, I can’t quite act as an equal…
“I suppose I could agree, the code encircling the sun is a tad ‘garish’ in your own words.”
Her lips turned up in the slightest hint of a smile as she restarted her casual walk.
“Yes, it is, and I will relish when the moon’s cold rays shall remain forevermore. The sun has reigned for too long, the moon shall be next!”
Her speech devolved into mad cackles. I smiled but kept silent. I’d achieved my goal.
I understood the feeling, the thrill of victory being mere inches from grasp. However, I also know how quickly victory could be torn from you. That is why I smile, not to lie, not in camaraderie, but in anticipation of the coming storm.
I will relish the expressions flashing across her face, the code rolling in her soul, the fear twinging the muscles in her chest as she is cast down. I could see it all in my mind’s eye.
Nightmare of Moon ripped a large branch off of a low-hanging tree limb before tossing it into the brush. Her wings extended to stretch out stiff muscles and I could see tiny cracks form in the ground wherever she stomped.
She held incredible power and incredible leverage, but she had a fatal error in her programming, a flaw in her thought process. She forgot the feeling of failure, forgot that it yet stalked her from out of view, forgot that it was always waiting for one wrong move. The smallest of things could fell the greatest of beings.
We came up to a small wall of debris. Chunks of rock, two halves of a tree trunk, and a veritable hill of other detritus were all piled up onto the road.
Nightmare of Moon paused, seeming to consider something before turning her bored gaze on me.
“Subject, clear away the brush ahead—such tasks are beneath me.”
An opening.
I nodded before striding up to the scattered debris. Pulling away the loose trash wasn’t hard, but I did my best to appear to struggle. I leaned back when I heaved, pivoted my whole body to throw light loads, and conducted other sorts of conceit to seem weak.
Nightmare of Moon smiled as I worked, seeming to enjoy her power over me. However, as the minutes dragged on her amusement faded.
Her expression bled into a scowl as she shouted.
“Hurry up, subject, I do not enjoy having my time wasted!”
If time was a concern, I’d have suggested that we simply walk over or around the obstruction. Either she’s simply too stupid to think for herself, or she thought she’d enjoy watching me struggle more. Perhaps she’s faking this incompetence to get me to underestimate her?
I sighed as I dropped a small log and felt several vertebrae pop as I stretched.
“I’m not very powerful, Nightmare of Moon. I’m all about leverage. As I am, it will probably take a long while to clear the path, but if I could, I don’t know, form a pulley with magic. Then this would go by much quicker.”
She gave me a flat look.
“Do you believe that I’ll make the same mistake as that complacent fool, Celestia?”
Yes, I’m sure you will, even if not right this second.
She continued, “No, do your duty as you are now.”
I heaved an exaggerated sigh before getting back to work. The sun dipped closer to the earth, covering the sky in a golden sheen. I could see the Nightmare staring at the horizon with bated breath.
I took the next few minutes to roll a large rock aside before checking again.
She was smiling widely as the sun finally set and the moon was allowed to rise, the sky now a royal purple. I felt my gaze drawn to what she stared at: the moon. It radiated cool light as it climbed the starry sky.
I had to admit it was calming to watch, enjoyable even. It seemed so serene as if it had nothing to worry about. Where the sun roiled and broiled the moon simply… existed.
I felt a little tension uncoil from my internal strings as I worked. I felt real—like an actual living being doing a job for once. My smile felt genuine for the first time in… I don’t know how long honestly, and I could look on the clear road with pride.
Then the Nightmare spoke.
“Finally, let us get moving, I tire of this place.”
We quickly left the spot behind, me not daring to look back. There wasn’t anything to distinguish it, it had the same trees, the same brush, the same curve as the rest of our path. Yet I found the tension returning, I was reminded that I wasn’t alive, not really. And that I’d never truly live again.
The forest turned to a blur of dark brown and a myriad of greens.
I could feel a tear forming inside my head, but I squeezed it down with all the might I could muster.
I couldn’t afford a tear.
I couldn’t afford sadness.
I couldn’t afford weakness.
So I smiled, and so I smile.