21:03 - 16/06/1008 - Hayston, Manehattan
Galloping away and giggling like schoolchildren, Sly Boots and Grass Snake were riding the electric high of their con and their clean getaway. Ducking into an alleyway just out of sight from the street, they boasted amongst themselves.
“Good grief I haseth been laden with thee bill for thine liquor!” Sly Boots mocked. He slowed down to a stop. “You hear the way she was talking? Is that what ponies from Canterlot are like?”
“No, no, I’ve been to Canterlot,” Grass Snake stopped by Sly’s side, her wings fluttering. “Her? I think she fell out of a time portal! No wonder she knew so much about history!”
“And you didn’t think Crème Brûlée and Fraîche would work again!” Sly pointed at Grass. “But it gets ‘em every time, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, cuz we got lucky with someone totally clueless,” Grass chuckled, shaking her head.
“But! I don’t wanna take all the credit!” Sly raised his hoof. “You knew she’d be a dyed in the wool Lunarist and knew exactly what’d get her talking. The history stuff? I’d never have known that!”
Grass smirked. “Come on. She’s got a moon for a cutie mark. That part was obvious.”
“Lots of ponies have moons for cutie marks.” Sly dismissively flicked a wing. “Remember Zinc, your old boss? And that jerk who runs the pawn shop a few blocks away, what was his name? Oh yeah, and can’t forget-”
A sudden bright flash enveloped the alley. Neither of them managed to reactively shut their eyes before it vanished. They heard a muffled buzz of music and talking before they could parse their surroundings. Once their eyes had fully adjusted, they found themselves standing in front of Bar 32. Both shared a look, wondering what brought them back there and why.
Suddenly a blast struck them from behind with the force of a speeding train. It sent them crashing through the bar’s doors and tumbling across the floor. They groaned and gasped as they got up. Sly felt a crack in his wings. Grass’s breath felt like it’d been stolen as she rubbed her barrel. The bar’s music scratched to a stop as the eyes of the surrounding patrons fell on the two pegasi. A hushed rattle of confused voices followed. The two pegasi tried to push themselves to their hooves, powering through their aches the best they could. Yet once they both looked to the doorway and realised who stood over them, their hearts almost stopped.
Nightmare Moon.
Adorned with no armour or regalia, her domineering figure reached nearly as high as the ceiling itself. Her coat and broad gargoylian wings were dark as the night sky itself. Draconic eyes pierced through the dark like blowtorches, with a fiery glare to match. Her bared teeth were sharp like those of a feral dog, and bright as the full moon on a clear night. The smoky miasma of her mane whirled like a hurricane. When she finally spoke, her voice dripped with acid. “Grass Snake and Sly Boots. How dare you.”
Both Sly and Grass gulped. They inched back. “Y-y-your Highness,” Grass stammered, shakily lowering her head as if to bow. “We, um, don’t know what we did to-”
“Your plague of fraud over this city ends tonight!” Nightmare marched a step forward.
Grass staggered back. “Wait, th-that was you?” Grass’s wings stood on their ends.
“Ponies of Hayston!” Nightmare projected her voice with such intensity that everyone in the bar flinched. “The time has come for retribution upon these scoundrels for their deceitful machinations!”
Stepping in front of Grass and spreading his wings out, Sly put on a brave face. “Look, whoever you are, could you just stop? This is either a prank in terrible taste or the world’s dumbest mugging.” It was impossible to ignore the shaky quiver in his voice.
At his comment, Nightmare’s face contorted into the fiercest scowl either of them had ever seen. Electricity sparked in Nightmare Moon’s horn. Both pegasi flinched back only to come to a sudden rigid stop. They looked around themselves enveloped in a magical turquoise aura. Nightmare Moon’s aura. They were hoisted into the air so quick they felt their feathers come loose from their wings.
Loose feathers became the least of their worries as the aura flashed red.
Pain seared across their bodies threatening to send them into shock. They screamed. Oh how they screamed. Like white hot iron chains were wrestling every joint in their bodies. Screams were forced out until they had no breath left. It barely lasted a few seconds but it felt like an eternity. It left them stirred to their cores.
The blazing red tint in Nightmare’s aura dissipated, the pain going with it. She threw the pair of pegasi to the ground and they collapsed like ragdolls.
“Consider yourself fortunate that I have started with a spell that induces no physical injuries,” Nightmare hissed. “Now perhaps I can teach you both some manners before I trap you in stone for eternity!”
Coughing and wincing Grass and Sly tried to crawl away. Yet with no strength in their legs or wings they could barely move at all. Sly rolled onto his back while Grass lay on her belly, unable to claw even a bit away. They pushed themselves back only for their weakened legs to trip and stumble. The monstrous Nightmare crept ever closer. Lightning in her horn and hate in her eyes.
Sol leapt out of his seat. “Alright, that’s enough!” he called. Nightmare’s head whipped in his direction. The lightning in her horn fizzled and sparked. Sol marched up to her. “Nightmare, what-”
“You too!” Nightmare barked, spit flying out of her mouth as her mane whirled again. “You’ve been nothing but insolent all night! Why, I should-”
“What the hell are you doing!?” Sol yelled. He took a step closer to her.
Nightmare scoffed. “Who do you think you are to speak to me that way-”
“No, what the hell are you doing!?” he repeated, slower and clearer.
Nightmare opened her mouth to retort but the words caught in her throat. “What, do I…?” She blinked. The tornado in her mane slowed. She pulled her wings closer to her body. Exasperated breaths rushed in and out of Sol’s mouth. Seconds passed. Nightmare’s jaw closed yet her lips remained parted. Sol held his breath. Neither said another word.
Only true silence wouldn’t come. Nightmare’s ears twitched at the sound of crying. Her eyes were brought up, falling on the two pegasi. Huddled against each other both were shivering as they pushed out shuddering breaths. Their reddened faces were drenched in sweat. Sly wheezed, gasping for breath. Tears dyed with ruined makeup streamed down Grass’s cheeks.
Pulling her eyes away from the pegasi, her gaze darted around the room. Every last one of the staff and customers had their eyes locked on her. No matter where she looked she was met with the same sight. All frozen wide-eyed and mouths agape. Some were cowering behind their seats. Some were hyperventilating. Some had tears. Not a single one of them smiled.
“You wanted to feel closer to regular ponies?” Sol took a step closer to her. Nightmare’s gaze fell on Sol again. “How is this supposed to help?”
Nightmare didn’t take another step forward, like an impenetrable fence stood between her and Sol. Holding his breath, Sol felt his heart racing like a fighter-plane. The pained cries of the two pegasi lowered to hushed sniffs and gasps. Nightmare’s wings dropped by her sides and pointed to the floor. There was the subtlest quiver in her lips as her neck tilted down and her gaze drifted to the floor. Seconds passed. Nightmare brought her head and wings up, mouth clenched shut. Her mane stirred again. Sol readied himself for the worst. Sly and Grass pulled each other closer. Patrons ducked for cover.
Yet without another word, Nightmare Moon spun around, beat her wings, and launched herself outside, glass from the window shattering to the ground
Sol released his breath and nearly fell forwards, having held it for what felt like far too long. He stumbled back to lean on a table to catch his breath. After gathering himself, he ran to the door, watching a cloudy blue streak fade into the infinite black above. A few other patrons ran to the doors and windows too, just barely missing said glimpse. He moved to the two pegasi, still lying on the floor, crouching by them. “Can you two hear me?”
“Yep,” Sly croaked out. “I’m alive. Currently.”
“How-” Grass sputtered out through her tears. “How’d you get her to-”
“Anything feel broken?” Sol lifted and inspected one of Sly’s front legs, finding no signs of injury. “Wounds, cuts, bleeding or anything?”
“She slammed me against the damn ground,” Sly grunted. “I think my wings are broken.”
“And you, Grass?” said Sol.
“I-I don’t think… I-I think that… I’m not… there’s no more pain.” Grass shuddered, wiping the tears from her face. She fluttered her wings, likely to make sure they still worked.
Carefully, Sol pulled Sly away from the bar and rolled him into his front. All up Sly’s back and wings were stark bruises, with trace amounts of blood trickling through the feathers of his wings. It wasn’t anything life threatening at first glance, but he’d definitely need proper attention. Sol sucked in a breath, sending the magic of a healing spell flowing from his horn to Sly’s bruises. It was a low risk spell, just soothed the pain and encouraged natural healing. Impossible to mess up, even whilst intoxicated. He’d performed the spell in much more stressful environments than this. Under much more inhibiting mental states than light drunkenness, at that.
“Is-is he gonna be okay?” Grass shakily rose to her hooves.
“It doesn’t look that bad, but he needs an ambulance. You might too, stay here. Wash!” Sol turned to try and find Sugar Wash whilst trying to keep his magic focused on Sly. Wash was staring blankly behind the bar before his attention fell on Sol. “Wash, call an ambulance. Now!”
“Yeah.” Wash nodded, still a blank look on his face. “Yeah, on it.”
He turned back to Sly, but then raised his hoof to regain Wash’s attention. “Wash, don’t mention Nightmare Moon. Hard as it is to say, they’ll probably think it's a prank if you do.”
“Uh, sure. Got it.” Wash dialled the emergency service number into the phone behind the bar.
Ponies around the bar were already rushing for the exit, leaving their drinks and their meals unfinished. Sol overheard a few passing comments from the exiting patrons, some sympathetic to the pegasi, others expressing minor disdain for them, but most were just worried for their own sakes. Some stayed behind to finish what they started, or just to see what happened next.
“Ngah!” Sly winced and writhed. Sol turned back to Sly, his spell had weakened a little in the moment of distraction. “Was that really her?” gasped Sly. Sol said nothing. “What’s this about, huh? So she can go around making ponies think she’s someone else and that’s all fine, but when we do it we’re the jerks?”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Sol groaned, focusing on his magic the best he could. “I know.”