//------------------------------// // Nightmares Locked Away // Story: Shattered Magic // by EpicGamer10075 //------------------------------// It was clear from the moment Tempest Shadow laid eyes upon it that it was a losing battle. Twilight Sparkle, the youngest and most inexperienced of the Alicorns, was fighting against the whole might of them all wielded by a tyrannical madman in the Storm King, who had decades of tyranny and death under his belt. The power of the blasts was evidence enough, and no fine control over more complex spells that Twilight could pull off was going to save her from that. They were fighting atop a massive spire within Canterlot Palace, massive chunks of the building already blasted away by the Storm King’s army and only further broken down by the stray bolts and spells flung at the current moment, and all the debris lay under a thick fog of ash and dust. This was not the Canterlot that Tempest remembered—it was a warzone, one created in part by herself, all to try and regain her own horn... Which in the end, never ended up happening at all. Tempest was hardly sure how long the battle lasted at the top of world and at the possible end of Equestria, but it ended with an explosion between the two foes, both blasted away and struggling to get back up. Galloping her way across the massive, debris-filled floorspace, Tempest knelt before Twilight and shouted her name, and while Twilight’s gaze was hazy and unfocused, though she still turned to her and weakly replied with Tempest’s own. They tried to talk, but there was nothing to say. Not until Tempest looked back to the Storm King and saw that he was still far from done. Tempest swore on her life to Twilight that he would be by the time the day was over. And so, Tempest turned on her former master and fought him for what must’ve been hours, with blasts of broken and stolen magic continuing to light up the spire, casting bruises, slashing fur, cracking armor, and breaking bones of both enemies, but... the Storm King was still too powerful. Blood pounded through Tempest’s head as she felt her death oncoming, and it was only was only with the luck of Faust herself upon the mare that she found the Obsidian Orb she led the first assault on Canterlot with. She didn’t have time to flee the Orb’s effects, and so smashed it between herself and the Storm King, petrifying them both as they glared deep into each other’s souls. Time passed, though with her mind frozen in volcanic glass, Tempest Shadow had no clue how much. The Sun was still blotted out, and the Stars were kept from her gaze, so no help came from the skies. Her heart didn’t beat, and her lungs didn’t breathe, so she couldn’t count from her own body. But she could still see and still feel when someone finally arrived at the statues. She could see the white mare with the mane of an aurora kept a steely gaze as she viewed both of them, and with barely a moment of hesitation, threw them both off the spire. She could feel the fear as her petrified form fell to the ground far below unable to stop herself as she accepted her death, all of the moments that led up to flying through her mind; her friends, their betrayal, the Storm King’s promise, all her efforts to fulfill, and how he ultimately broke it. He was the monster, but she was just his weapon, and had no more potential left in this world, so why remain within it? Death could only come soon enough... Except it didn’t. Tempest Shadow’s form was caught as she felt by the Princess of the Night herself, and those haunting cobalt eyes felt anything but in that moment as she pressed a hoof to the broken Unicorn’s chest, and freed her. Tempest gasped in shock as she felt her mind fully return to her and her eyes darted around, finding herself still within the grasp of Princess Luna, but now flying through the crisp and clear skies of dawn. “Tempest,” Luna spoke, her words clear and reverberating through the other mare’s mind. “L-Luna...” Tempest gasped out in return, with the sudden shock of clarity rendering her unable to say more. “I would like to hope that this isn’t what would happen if my sister got to you first,” The Mistress of Dreams spoke, though couldn’t help but add candidly, “But...” The Unicorn took a deep breath to calm herself and nodded in understanding, “She has every reason to hate me after everything I did.” Eyes trailing up and rolling over the dreamscape, Luna soon spotted and headed for a floating island, letting the indeterminate amount of silence settle in before she landed upon its lush, green hill, and set the other mare down so they could both stand before the large cherry blossom tree in the center. “My sister is hardly one to cross that line,” Luna spoke as she returned her gaze to Tempest, “But even I did not know how hard she would take this death in particular.” Tempest looked around at the strange sky island amidst the vibrant sky for a moment, and soon replied, “You would’ve hesitated even less if you weren’t prepared for it, I imagine.” “Such differences are mutually exclusive, truly,” The Princess returned sagely, stepping forward and turning around to sit within the wide shade of the tree, with no visible Sun to give it any direction. “If I were not the warrior I am, I would not have been so resilient in the face of such tragedy.” Tempest shrugged as she trotted over to the shade as well, sitting down a short distance away from the Alicorn. “Point, I suppose.” “It is far more than just that, however,” Luna quickly added, letting her gaze stray out to the open sky, stars starting to become visible even through the daylight. “With the power I hold in this realm, I must have the truest sense of honour. There may be ways to keep oneself from dreaming, but even the spirits just succumbed to the Sandmare are within my sight.” Quickly looking back at the other mare, Tempest responded with a raised eyebrow, “I thought you were the Sandmare.” “In some ways, I am,” Luna replied with a light smirk, turning her eyes back the other pony, “But, such legends distort with time until they hardly resemble the reality they spawned from. “But, such legends are also quite understandable given mine power,” The Princess spoke, continuing the previous train of thought, and pulled her gaze away to look up at the tree they sat under on an impossible island. “I can find myself in these realms, all made by the minds of others, of their deepest thoughts, desires, and fears, and I can see every lie they tell to others, and even themselves.” Her head leveled, her eyes staring out at nothing while she kept going, “I can torment them where they can never escape, either with the paranoia of my simple presence and knowledge of their innermost thoughts, or perhaps in a more active manner...” Tempest looked on, her typically unshakable persona quite perturbed by the knowledge bestowed upon her, but Luna stoically continued on, “With this power, I can become the arbiter of all truths within the world, able to shatter bonds between creatures with the lies they tell each other, wreak fear into the invincible at the top of the world, and tear down nations that by all rights ought to be indestructible. There are many stories about the power my sister holds with the ability to wield the Sun itself as a weapon, but...” Her head turned slowly, the deep, empty wells of her eyes focusing upon the broken Unicorn beside her, who couldn’t help but gulp in instinctive terror at the sight, “Such physical power always has its limits, whereas the power I hold does not.” The diarch then blinked, her eyes returning to a calm teal sea as the let the air fade into a only slightly unnerved silence, which was quickly broken by quiet whooshes of winds and light chirps of birds. Tempest Shadow had to tear her eyes away from the other mare for a moment, looking out into the endless blue sky that lay within her own mind, which now also played host to what may as well be a Goddess amidst its ephemerality. “I do not mean to tell this to you to frighten you, Tempest Shadow,” Luna addressed her host, letting her ears flick towards her while her eyes remained looking outwards, “I say this all as preface, to truly show how important my honour is. It is something I’ve developed as I myself have realized what I am truly capable of, and none more than myself fear mine power.” Turning away as well, and letting the wind blow to fill the silence, cherry blossoms from the tree flitting about through the air around them, the Alicorn took a deep breath and continued, “I do not speak of one’s dreams to anyone but their host themselves, not even in the direst of emergencies. I quite readily comply with requests to leave one’s dreams to oneself, as privacy is a right I shan’t infringe upon. I have taken drastic measures to keep myself in line whenever I feel myself falling to temptation... with two quite notable events being the result of these measures.” The quiet returned for a time, Tempest having to take it in to let the words stew within her head for a time. Eventually though, she asked of the Princess, “The Nightmare being one of these events, I presume?” “Indeed.” Luna sighed deeply, eyes flitting around the expanse before them, her mien pensive and troubled. “There were... many reasons for that, but the ability to control mine subjects, make them obey me through fear otherwise incapable...” She shook her head of the thoughts, looking back out to see the dawnlight having noticeably darkened around them. “I fell pray to these temptations, and so many more, back then, and I became ruled by my emotions and desires rather than my truest beliefs and duties. Many think the Nightmare was something else in control of me, but truly it was just me, and I would be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy what I did as her. “Everyone says the Nightmare is a separate entity to convince themselves that I am completely incapable of doing bad things, but...” Her head turned to the pony beside her, who flicked her eyes to the side to look back, “You of all creatures should know that no creature is ever perfect, and good creatures are quite capable of doing bad things.” Luna’s gaze fell for a moment in thought, and she sighed before speaking again, “I was quite aware of the horrible things I was capable of after I was cleansed and had a chance to reflect. However, I was truly accepting of myself, and made something to punish me and keep me in line. I called it... the Tantabus.” Tempest nodded slowly in acknowledgement, though added, “I can’t say I’ve heard of that one, despite all the stories flowing about all the time.” “Twilight Sparkle was involved,” Luna commented, but went on to explain, “The Tantabus was meant to simply be within mine own dreamscape, to torment and teach me, but as a magical and semi-sentient creature in its own right, it eventually wanted freedom, and the only way to stop it from wreaking havoc upon all dreams was to accept that I have made mistakes and accept that I was imperfect and that I needed to move on.” Nodding more heartily while closing her eyes in understanding, Tempest turned head to the other mare and asked, “And I suppose this is where we circle back around to me.” “We can,” Luna mused with a smirk, humour clear in her tone, “Though I was primarily speaking of how I shan’t speak of these events to any other creature for any possible reason.” “I appreciate it,” The Unicorn replied with small smile of her own, though rolled her eyes a bit and said, “Though that was hardly much of what you actually talked about.” “Well, I do believe I’ve already said enough to get my point to you across, no?” The other pony retorted with a raised eyebrow, getting a shrug and a curt nod from Tempest. “It is bound to be difficult, no doubt.” Tempest cut her off a laugh. “You’re personally not making it seem like that. I’m pretty at ease with you, since you’re so understanding of.. everything.” Her expression fell, and she looked away, “Everyone else, though...” The quiet returned once more, and neither sought to soon break it, with Luna turning her gaze away as well to look out amongst the returning dawnlight. Birds chirped, wind blew, cherry blossomed fell and flitted about, and the floating island slowly moved about through the endless sky, with the two mares sitting upon one of them simply basking in it all for the time being. “I believe you can do it, Tempest Shadow,” Luna eventually spoke, getting the other pony to look over at her. “You’ve shown more aptitude towards dealing with pain than nearly any living creature I have seen. Most creatures simply go along with their communities, and heroes that emerge are either acting on vengeance or ignorance. And yes,” She quickly added, glancing over at Tempest, “I am including the Elements.” The Unicorn snorted in response. “I figured that. They are pretty foalish.” “Mm,” Luna grunted in agreement, “I really do wonder why so many ponies consider them heroes, given all the chaos they wreak. Truthfully, I do believe many other groups of friends could have fit the Elements’ virtues, and most of them would be better suited for the task, as they’d actually be mature. Actual adults that act like adults... They are good friends, both to each other and to everyone else, but they still acted nearly the same just before Twilight died and back when they first met her.” “That’s pretty ridiculous, honestly,” Tempest added, bemused. “I thought their constant adventures would’ve forced them into worse scenarios and made them more mature, but I think all it did was give them a reason to keep on going on foalish adventures and stop from them actually growing up.” Luna laughed a bit while Tempest smiled. “And how few ponies—nay, creatures, actually admit that the Elements are hardly epic heroes. Beasts though they’ve slain, I do believe it primarily a matter of happenstance and miracles, rather than the blood, sweat, and tears you and I have shed over the years.” “And that’s I’m so at ease with you!” The Unicorn retorted, laughing a bit herself. “You have got to be the only.. creature that actually puts in the effort to be called a hero and actually understand that all the rest are just a bunch of idiots.”