//------------------------------// // Part V // Story: Old Ideas and New Memories // by Dark Side of the Rainboom //------------------------------// “Nightmare Moon!” A unicorn with a violet coat and white and yellow hair ran up in front of the true Goddess of the Night. He bowed. “My Queen, the prisoners of the city are ready to be presented to you.” “Excellent Maenon. Your Queen is pleased. Where is General Macht?” the dread queen commanded. “He is leading another charge against the Solar Tyrant’s army.” “Oh Maenon, what would I do without you?” “You would be just fine, my liege.” “Perhaps, but it would not be as fun.” They both laughed. “Alright, show me these prisoners so that I might give them an ultimatum.” Nightmare Moon emerged from her foreboding command tent and looked out over the scene. Smoke filled the night air, and snow blanketed the ground. Nightmare Moon snorted at Celestia’s feeble attempt to freeze the Lunar Empire’s army into submission. The burning city of St. Dawn’s on the horizon lit up the night sky around it. All the while a large moon hung in the sky. A forerunner of things to come. Though it could not be heard, a massive battle raged nearby. It was here that her sister would fall, and the night would last forever. She chuckled, chilling the air around her. The Queen of the Night took to the air with powerful wings and looked over her camp. It certainly was impressive. 100 forges worked around the clock to produce arms and armor. The medical tents could heal the worst wounds quickly and get soldiers directly back into the fight. On the other side of the camp was a massive group of ponies, all of them prisoners. Nightmare Moon touched down on a stone platform that stood in front of the large crowd. On all sides guards patrolled, making sure no one got through. “Ponies of St. Dawn!” she announced, “I present you with two options and two options only. Join my forces and bring down the pathetic imposter on the current throne, or die. Simple enough?” “Never!” a voice from the crowd shouted out. An earth pony jumped out and barreled through all of Nightmare Moon’s guards before lunging at the Queen herself with his blade. She easily caught him by his throat with her magical grip and held the pony up for the whole crowd to see. “And what, pray tell, is your name?” she asked him for the entire world to hear. “I…,” the stallion gasped, “…am… Commander Frihet… tasked with… evacuating… the town. And you… are… the real imposter…” Nightmare Moon laughed heartily. It froze Frihet’s blood. “You are a very brave pony,” she laughed again, “but very foolish.” She squeezed. The cries of the crowd were heard all over the camp and battlefield. Nightmare Moon threw her prey to the side. “Let me make it clear!” she yelled. “You do not have a choice in the matter. Either way you will serve me. Willingly… or otherwise.” She cast another spell on poor Frihet. An aura enveloped his body, and slowly he stood up, as if he were just waking from a sleep. “Who do you obey?” she asked. “You, my Queen,” he answered. “Who would you kill for?” she asked. “You, my Queen,” he answered. “WHO WOULD YOU DIE FOR?” she screamed. “You, my Queen,” he answered again. “Good lad. Report to General Macht at once.” “Yes, my Queen.” She turned back to the crowd. “You see, choice is an illusion. You have no freedom. You have no hope. You have nothing. And who is this?” Another pony had stepped forward. “I am called Tradere. I am… was a captain in Celestia’s Army. Now, I am yours to command.” “Welcome to the winning side Tradere.” The insults slung at her from the audience were deafening, but Nightmare Moon was more so. “SILENCE!” she commanded. Silence fell over the crowd. “You would do well to listen to Tradere here. She has seen the light.” A guard approached his Queen and whispered something inaudible into her ear. “And what’s more, apparently she was the one who led the charge against my forces. How ironic. I love it. But I am not without mercy. You have ten minutes to decide. There is a right answer.” Nightmare Moon walked away from her new recruits back and headed towards her logistics tent. Inside sat a pegasus, scribbling furiously at a long roll of parchment. “Ah, your majesty,” he said when he noticed his Queen, “I apologize, I did not hear you come in. What is it that you would like to talk about?” “Rationis, you seem troubled, what is it?” “Well… it’s nothing my Queen.” “Speak.” “I’ve been… looking over the numbers. They just don’t add up to what we need. At this rate the war will end with a stalemate. That’s assuming of course that your sister does not join the fight directly. I just feel like maybe… we… should reconsider? Maybe negotiate a truce? Perhaps things won’t be so bad?” Nightmare Moon remained calm. “We cannot do that. What’s done is done. Run your numbers again, maybe you missed something. Devise a better strategy. See me when you’re done.” “Yeah, another strategy…,” Rationis trailed off. “You can do it. I have faith in you.” She walked out of the tent when Maenon stood obediently. She approached him. “I am beginning to question Rationis’ loyalty. When he is done with his current assignment, take care of him.” Maenon bowed. “Yes, my Queen.” “My Queen! My Queen!” a guard ran to Nightmare Moon, bowing only for an instant. “I found this Solar spy attempting to gather intelligence on our food stores. “Please, your majesty, I only wanted something to eat for my mother and I,” the young colt begged. “You will speak whe-“ He rose to strike the colt. “That is enough guard,” said the Dark Night. The guard stopped. “Yes… my Queen.” He bowed again and ran back to his post. “So, you’re a thief. I don’t like thieves. The only thing I detest more is a mystery.” She bent down to look the colt in the face, “So how is it you managed to completely subvert my best guards all the way to the food stores, which I might add, are in the middle of camp?” “Well…,” he started, “It was just a simple matter of manipulating light fields around me. Your majesty,” he quickly added. “An invisibility spell? At such a young age? I doubt it.” “But I really did!” The colt yelled back. Then he realized who he was talking to and sunk down. “Yes, yes you did. I can feel the power coursing through you, young unicorn. Tell me Maenon, what do you think I should do with this thief now that the mystery is solved?” “He would make an excellent slave, my Queen.” “That he would.” She stood up to her full height. “However, I have decided… to let you go.” “You’re majesty?” Maenon was taken aback. “You heard me. See to it that he gets through the camp safely. With some food.” “I… Yes, my Queen.” As the pony started to walk away, she pulled him aside. “I want you to follow him all the way to his mother. Bring both of them to my quarters. Unharmed.” Maenon smiled. “Yes, my Queen.” The colt jumped happily. “Thank you your majesty.” He followed Maenon through the camp. Nightmare Moon smiled. He would make a good apprentice. She returned to the crowd of prisoners. “So,” she began, “what have you decided?” A pony stepped forward. “Is he to be your spokespony? So be it. What have you decided?” The pony gulped, then a new look of determination overcame him. He stood straight and looked directly into the Queen’s eyes. “Rot in Tartarus.” “So be it.” Nightmare Moon’s horn glowed but before she could use her spell, a mass of feathers and rainbows collided with her. Left in the place of the Immortal Night Queen was a massive crater, completely devoid of life. All at once life burst forth from it once more, a whirlwind of black and white. It rose high into the air before splitting. The black fragment of Nightmare Moon, and the white fragment of… “Sister,” Nightmare Moon hissed. “Luna,” Celestia answered. “It’s ‘Nightmare Moon’ now, Celestia.” “Not to me it isn’t.” “Well thank you for saving me the trouble of hunting you down. Now I can just end it here.” “Yes, it will end here, but not for me.” “And what is that supposed to mean?” “Do you remember sister, all those years ago when we rose up to defeat Discord? Do you remember how we did it?” “You didn’t,” slight fear crept into the Dread Queen’s voice. “I am so sorry Luna, this is not easy for me at all, but it has to be done.” All at once a prismatic beam of light shone from Celestia’s horn, engulfing Nightmare Moon and her attempt to block it. A bright explosion of multicolored light engulfed her. Then… darkness. Nightmare Moon fell. Down… Down… Down…