//------------------------------// // Ch. 19 - Surprise // Story: The Monster in the Twilight // by Georg //------------------------------// The Monster in the Twilight Surprise “No!” hissed Nightmare Moon, staring at the empty sky where Celestia had vanished. “Coward! I’ll track you to the ends of the world and—” Where she has gone, you dare not follow. No…” Nightmare Moon stared at the blazing sun sitting defiantly on the horizon and snarled as she felt Celestia’s hated presence within. “Hide, you coward. Crawl into your infernal sun and burn. Let your refuge become your tomb!” Blackened fire climbed into the sky in an ebon thread, wrapping around the rising sun as the Nightmare used brute force and raw power to accomplish what the Elements of Harmony had done to her so many years ago. Familiar chains wrapped the glowing globe with wards and enchantments of immense complexity, a solo feat that could only be accomplished by the most powerful, at a horrific price. My sister shall emerge more powerful, purged of her anger and prepared for your destruction. “She shall remain trapped in her beloved sun until the stars burn into cinders!” Spittle mixed with her words as Nightmare continued to work enchantments never attempted by mortal or immortal pony. “A thousand years I spent behind the bars of my prison, I know every rune and charm and ward the Elements laid upon it. No stars shall come to her aid while she watches her ponies die in fire and ice.” You can’t do this… “Yes I can.” Black fire crackled at the end of Nightmare’s horn as the alicorn leaned into her spell with abandon, magic cascading into the sky in the long mystic thread that wrapped around the sun. “It will take every spark of magic in this body, down to your very blackened soul, but she will never return.” So weak… “I don’t need your pathetic body anymore,” growled Nightmare as the final portions of the spell spun out from her horn. Teeth clenched against the pain of drawing out the last of her magic, she snarled, “Once I have consumed the fury inside that brain-damaged fool, I will remake that body into something more appropriate. Goodbye princess.” The sun dimmed once the spell completed, lines of darkness fading into its substance as it sank below the horizon. Once again, silence filled the dark plaza, unbroken but for the noise of the party in the town hall. Finally, a single breath sounded, a deep gasp for air that came from a pool of shadow surrounding the dark alicorn. It was soon followed by a second, and spasmodic coughing that made Nightmare’s sides heave while she staggered to her hooves. The moon hesitantly emerged from behind the thin layer of clouds, once again filling the plaza with silver light that highlit the snarl upon the face of Nightmare Moon. “What have you done, you little fool?” gasped the Nightmare. “Why can I not leave this body?!” Joyous laughter filled Nightmare Moon’s mind, penetrating to even the deepest memories and darkest shadows. Rage as she could, the Nightmare could not find even the smallest trace of the simpering alicorn princess, but the laughter continued. Who is the fool now? It was I who invited you into my heart, and it is I who must permit you to leave. You shall infest no other living creature while this body draws breath, parasite. “You think to thwart me that easily?” Did you not hear my sister? You have already lost. Search my memories, if you must. Our bodies have endured countless assaults over the years, from Tirek’s fire to Discord’s power. It may take years to recover from the most grievous of injuries, but we always have. So go ahead, fling my body into the hottest lava, bury it beneath the heaviest of stones. The agonizing pain you endure as this flesh slowly regrows will be entirely yours. And I will be there with you. Forever. “No!” Running roughshod through the alicorn princess’ memories did nothing but confirm her annoying unevicted pest’s pronouncement, except— “The Elements of Harmony. What magic makes, magic can unmake. Isn’t that right, princess?” Nothing but silence greeted the Nightmare as she chuckled in the darkness. “Your sister lacked the will to cleanse me from your body, or even turn us to stone as the two of you did that capering chaotic idiot. But she could have easily used the power of the Elements to unmake us both. She will regret that decision.” Panting for breath, the Nightmare listened to the sounds of the crowd inside town hall slowly begin to fade as the brief sunrise confused the partygoers. Her lips curled back in a hungry grin, and weak wingstrokes brought her to the balcony entrance of the town hall with hundreds of ponies crammed inside. “First, I think a little snack is in order.” * * * Trixie jolted back into awareness when the dark alicorn began throwing spells onto the freshly-risen sun. For the first time in her life, she was grateful not to be the center of attention, but the moment would not last. Her instinctive reaction — casting an invisibility spell and running like mad — had to be relentlessly quashed before Trixie could do what she knew had to be done. This was one assignment she was determined not to foul up. It took only a moment to grab the little pests and their wagon in her magic, then drag them all around the town hall and out of immediate eyesight of the presently distracted Nightmare Moon. To her relief, there was a patsy— or Royal Guard just coming out of the town hall entrance. To her disappointment, the feathers sticking up from one wing and the distracted expression showed it was just that annoying changeling again. She dropped the little brats at his hooves and ignoring their cries of disapproval, grabbed her hat and rummaged around inside. “Here you go, Bug. Watch these little brats for just a second and don’t let them out of your sight! Got it?” She yanked a book out of her hat and hit him hard enough across the chest with it to make his hasty response into more of a ‘whoof’ than words. “Read fast. You’ve only got a couple minutes before we’re taking these little brats to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.” “The Elements of Harmony, a Reference Guide?” asked Tallgrass in a tense voice just short of panic as he stared at the book. “What am I—” “Read it, Bug!” she snapped, slapping her familiar hat back over her horn and grabbing the pink ‘alicorn’ in her magic. “I’ll be right back!” With a quick surge of magic, Trixie heaved the disguised pink ‘pony’ through the outside doors into the town hall, but that was as far as it went. The Cadence-bug fought against her until it planted all four hooves in the town hall inner entranceway and snapped, “Slow down, you clown!” Her vibrant and quite unlike Cadence voice echoed around the small chamber between the thick inside and outside doors of the town hall, with the final ‘clown’ seeming to wedge right between Trixie’s ears and burn like familiar fire. “No time to rhyme,” snapped Trixie right back, pausing before the inner doors to the town hall. “When we go in there, I need you to order everypony to evacuate the town, as fast as possible.” “Why use my voice? Have you no other choice?” “Nopony would believe me! They all hate my guts!” Trixie flung open the inner doors to the town hall and froze solid in shock. “SURPRISE!” There were waves of happy ponies spread out across the two levels of town hall, crowding the safety rails and hovering around a huge banner that read ‘Welcome Trixie Lulamoon’ and in smaller letters below ‘and Princess Celestia.’ Balloons and ribbons festooned the whole of the building in Trixie’s brilliant blues and silvers of her coat and mane, but her open-jawed examination of the party was abruptly blotted out by a wave of pink that engulfed Trixie into a hug of epic proportions. “Were you surprised? Huh? Huh? Gummie says he forgave you for being so mean to him, so when Rarity suggested that we make this year’s Summer Sun Celebration party for you—” “Don’t give me all the credit,” said the bleached fashion pony as she rolled a ponyquin out in front of a rapidly-suffocating Trixie. “We all could tell the strain you’ve been under for the last few years. I apologize for the clumsy ruse, but we simply had to get you out of town hall while we decorated and I made a few last minute alterations. Behold!” To vigorous applause from all of the watching townsponies, Rarity whisked the covering off the ponyquin, revealing a splendid looking new cape and hat in the deepest shade of royal purple with sparkling stars. “Fluttershy did the finer needlework over the shoulders and Rainbow Dash was so kind as to provide the down.” “Down?” gasped Trixie, having managed to wedge a foreleg under Pinkie Pie’s all-encompassing hug to get some critically needed air. “Yup. ‘Taint nuttin’ warmer than a pegasus down⁽*⁾ lining on a cold winter night,” said Applejack proudly, laying a hoof on the cloak and curling one edge back to reveal a filled pocket. “‘cept one of mah family recipe bottles o’ bourbon. You’ve done took to our stash well enough on your last trips that I thought it would be right neighborly if I was to tuck a bottle inside, just fer medicinal purposes.” (*) This pegasus down also keeps the wearer 20% cooler in the summer. “B-b-but. I don’t understand.” Overwhelmed and confused, Trixie gestured to the whole town of smiling ponies, some of them with more strained smiles, and others that she suspected had been bribed, but they were all still smiling at her nonetheless. Somehow, Pinkie managed to talk while maintaining her rib-creaking hug. “We all have a little angry meanie hidden inside that comes out when ponies don’t seem to like us. A party lets you bring her out and let her have some fun, so she doesn’t try to make you angry anymore.” “Sometimes when you’re really angry, you lash out,” whispered Fluttershy from behind the ponyquin. “You don’t mean to, and you always look so sad afterwards. We thought if we could make you happy—” “And properly attired,” continued Rarity. “You could relax a little, without having to get bombed on our good lickker,” said Applejack with what actually looked like a genuine smile, the first one Trixie had seen on the farmer’s face since ever. “I know how hard it is to keep up yer stuffy Canterlot image. Sometimes ponies fight so hard to keep their real self hidden even when that’s what everypony really wants to see.” “Yeah, I know how easy it is for a performer to come off as a jerk,” said Rainbow Dash while hovering above them all, unwilling or unable to meet her gaze. “But even a jerk deserves a second chance.” “Or third,” said Spike. “Would you like me to get you some punch? No charge this time. Oh, wait. It’s about to start.” “Attention, everypony!” called out Mayor Mare from her podium. “Oh, no,” whispered Trixie when a shadow passed the upper floor balcony where Celestia was supposed to appear any moment. The sound of wings and the clatter of hooves on the floor behind the curtain were most certainly not from the expected alicorn, who Trixie had just seen being imprisoned in her own sun. Unaware of the upcoming catastrophe, the mayor rattled on. “Before we start the party for the pony of the hour, I would like to call your attention to the magic of the sunrise, while we celebrate this, the longest day of the year!” Keeping the glow of her horn to a minimum under her faded purple hat, Trixie launched recklessly into a series of spells. She was not prepared as much as she wanted to be, but there was no time to linger behind the stage, no time to check through her props, and no time for a dress rehearsal. And the moment that curtain parted, there would be no time at all. “Showtime,” she whispered. Pink magic formed around Rainbow Dash’s tail, yanking her down to ground level even as Trixie’s new cloak and hat leapt off the ponyquin in a swirl of fabric, blocking the sight of anypony who happened to be looking in their direction instead of upwards, at the opening curtain… * * * Outside the town hall, Tallgrass fought with the open book as five energetic little ponies tried to read it from over/under/around him. Strangely enough, the larger sixth pony did not join her friends, but remained in the wagon under the blanket, shivering hard enough to rattle the wheels while putting out enough dark emotions to set every one of the changeling’s nerves on edge. “What are these ‘Elements’ anyway?” “Do they turn ponies into superheroes?” “Why do we have to read it in a book?” “She said we’re going to the Castle of the Something Something, I bet that’s by where Monster lives.” “Thrixthe called you a bug. Doeth that mean you’re a changeling?” With a bleat of raw terror, Monster fairly shot out from under her blanket and darted away into the dark town, her cries of panic vanishing off into the distance at the same time five little ponies looked up at Tallgrass with growing apprehension. “You’re not a Royal Guard?” “It’s an ambush! Just like Daring Doo and the Golden Chalice!” “Hit it, Scoots!” bellowed Apple Bloom, kicking Tallgrass in the knee while Sweetie Belle grabbed the book. With a buzz of overstressed juvenile wings, the little pegasus propelled her scooter and attached wagon forward into the town streets in rapid pursuit of their frightened friend while Twist laid down covering fire with jawbreakers and jellybeans. “Ow! You little—” yelped Tallgrass, breaking into a gallop just before Featherweight dropped down into line of sight ahead of him. “Smile.” The dark night turned to day, at least for the changeling, who promptly became painfully aware of a nearby streetlight post as he galloped straight into it. Featherweight patted his camera while flying to catch his friends. Candid shots were always the best. * * * Nightmare Moon remained crouched behind the balcony entrance while the infantile official prattled onward, bloating and bloviating in the way all infernal politicians loved to wallow in the attention of their underlings. Her growing anticipation waged war with hunger pains until at blessed long last the windbag finally reached the crescendo of her speech. This was what the Nightmare was waiting for, the point at which the maximum amount of delicious fear and panic would be generated at the sudden appearance of her dread guise. “…the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria—” The Nightmare stepped forward into the balcony entrance and gazed down at the hundreds of stunned faces, breathing in the delightful aroma of building fear. “Princess Celest—” The idiotic official overseeing the event stared in slack-jawed stupidity at her magnificence, filling the balcony entrance with the glory of the night while the miserable little worms chattered among themselves below. “Oh, my beloved subjects,” she said, exalting in the pulse of fear that strobed up from the multicolored multitude. “It's been so long since I've seen your precious, little sun-loving faces.” Nothing brought fear like uncertainty, and the panic-stricken ponies below radiated the delicious substance in great abundance. “What did you do with our princess?” sounded some arrogant fool in the crowd, her voice muffled at the end as if she had suddenly been tackled. “Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?” The Nightmare fairly shivered with joy at the burst of pure fear that filtered up from below, feeling it flow through her starved body like a fine nectar. Or at least until it was interrupted. A pink pony with no sign of fear bounced out into the crowd. “Ooh, ooh, more guessing games! Um, Hokey Smokes! How about… Queen Meanie! No! Black Snooty! Black Snooty!” The delicious flow of fear began to taper off, and the Nightmare scowled fiercely. “Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?” “I did.” The voice from the crowd of ponies was strong and clear, ringing out above the nervous babbling like a trumpet’s call. A familiar-looking blue unicorn strode out into a widening empty circle in the center of the floor, glaring up at her from under a faded purple hat. “And I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon – Nightmare Moon!” The Nightmare smiled with smug satisfaction at the sudden renewal of delicious fear from the panicked ponies. “Well, well. Some pony remembers me. So you also know why I am here.” “Of course!” The blue unicorn buffed a hoof and looked casual. “What you should be asking, Nightmare Moon, is why Trixie is here.” “What?” The Nightmare bristled. Although the edge had been taken off her hunger, there was still so much more that could be harvested here tonight to replace what she had lost, and this blue fool was — wait, there was a familiar look to the annoying unicorn. “Do you not properly fear me?” “Not really.” Trixie yawned, putting one blue hoof over her mouth for a moment. “I saw what you did to Princess Celestia. Do you really think that will hold the Princess of the Sun?” Something struck Nightmare as ironically funny about the pompous blue idiot attempting to play on her fears, and peals of laughter filled the building, bringing even more delicious fear wafting up from the terrified ponies. “Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last,” she chortled, taking affront that the blue unicorn seemed bored instead of impressed. “From this moment forth, the night will last forever!” A shrill voice rang out from the flustered official. “Seize her! Only she knows where the Princess is!” Three dark pegasi sprang into the air and darted up at her. For a brief second, the Nightmare exalted at consuming Luna’s delicious creations, but after she unleashed a spray of lightning that knocked them all backwards into the crowd, a wave of revulsion swept across her. Love? Icky, bland, sticky love? Disgusting! There was none of the invigorating hate and envy that had coursed through the veins of Luna’s minions, only the horrid taste of love in an abundance that made her want to scrub her mouth out with ashes and gargle with soap. Instinctively, she brought power surging through her horn to strike the insolent whelps into bloody fragments, but her momentary pause at the thought of splattering the entire building with that horrid substance was sufficient for the annoying blue menace to fire a spell of her own up into the air. With a crack of light and a blinding explosion of fire and sparks from her horn, Trixie rose up to stand on her hind legs in the middle of the small section of clear floor. It did not calm the panicking ponies as much as she appeared to want, but the resulting emotional bounty was too rich for Nightmare to complain while she drank it all in. “The Great and Powerful Trixie commands you all cease!” A second burst of fireworks inside the building silenced the ponies, leaving only a few small, screeching birds flapping wildly around the inside of the building. A pale pink aura formed around each of the annoying feathered beasts, circling around the top of the building until it had gathered them all together and with a quick flip of one of the upper windows, pushed them outside. “The Great and Powerful Trixie,” scoffed Nightmare, looking down at the unicorn who had positioned herself in the very center of the room. “Do you think to vanquish me with your ability to herd birds then? You have no idea what forces you are toying with.” “Are you so certain?” called out Trixie in a loud voice. “Do you really think Celestia would train me at her own hoof for twelve years and not tell me anything about you? Twelve years!” “Bah! A pittance. You’re Celestia’s little pet. I’ve watched you caper and fawn in front of Celestia, learning nothing but party tricks.” Breaking a victim was the part Nightmare loved the most, when it became time to exploit all the doubts and fears they held in the most secret recesses of their soul. She leaned forward across the balcony rail in anticipation of the delightful flow of dark angst and self-pity after she crushed this ‘Trixie.’ All it would take is the right words. “Nopony loves you or appreciates your abilities. You have forever lived in the shadow of the sun, never to shine even half as bright as your teacher. You will always be less than her. Second rate. A capering clown, who will never know true power.” “All true.” The unicorn refused to meet her gaze, seemingly in constant motion as she paced and gestured around the floor. “Every single word. I spent years at her school, absorbing every trick and every spell they could teach me. Still, if I had stayed until I died of old age, I would not have even a fraction of her power. So I decided on something different. Do you know what I did during those times I left her school?” “I couldn’t care less,” purred the Nightmare. “Something pitiful, I would suppose.” “I went to the far corners of Equestria and studied at the hooves of the greatest minds in all of magic. They taught me lessons I never could have learned from Princess Celestia. I learned things you would never know, and could not fathom, but there is one thing I managed to learn that I will never forget. “I had gone to Vanhoover in search of a retired practitioner who held a trick he had never shared with another mortal soul, a trick so awesome and intricate it had never been duplicated. A mystic secret that only I would know once he had taught it to me and passed on. I bargained with him for three days solid, not stopping for food or rest until he finally gave in. He had taken five years to master it, but I learned it perfectly in less than a week, and performed it for him so flawlessly he had no choice but to proclaim I was the better. It was only as I was leaving, after learning all that he could teach that I learned a terrible secret, one that could never be unlearned. “Celestia had been there a week before I arrived. She had dropped the hint that I had followed to find the old coot, talked him into teaching me, and had been doing it for years. There is no action she takes which has not been planned, no words she speaks, no gesture she makes that is without meaning, even if it may not take effect for years, or even centuries. “You may think Princess Celestia ran because she could not defeat you. In truth, she is using us both like puppets, dancing to her tune.” Trixie stopped, looking almost directly away from the simmering Nightmare. “Control is an illusion. Your so-called life is a hollow shell. Do you feel the strings across your flanks? Can you even know what she has planned for you?” “Celestia’s day is no more,” snarled Nightmare. “I control my own life, and the lives of everypony here! You dance to my tune, mortal! My night shall be eternal, and all will know my power!” Trixie merely stood with her back still turned to the Nightmare in the quiet town hall. “As one puppet to another, I do not fear you. You have no power over me.” “What?” Nightmare reared up on her hooves while lightning flashed in the sky outside. “Celestia and I are gods! When we fought above the Everfree, we killed thousands of ponies and poisoned the lands for generations. Now your precious princess has fled to the sun to avoid my wrath, and a little worm thinks she can stand against me?” “You are already defeated.” The arrogant unicorn even managed to duplicate the exact tone Celestia had used before she vanished into the sun, and the Nightmare recoiled back in reflex, baring her fangs with a vicious hiss. There was none of the delicious fear or panic floating up from Trixie, none at all, and that meant either Celestia had taken on a complete psychopath as a student, or she knew something the Nightmare did not. “I shall destroy you, and drink your soul,” howled the Nightmare in an incandescent rage. Still, she could feel no fear from the unicorn at all, and the tiniest fleck of doubt begin to take root in her own soul. “Before you do so, I have two things to suggest.” Trixie had not raised her voice when she turned around. Instead, she seemed surrounded by a pool of absolute calm, looking up in the general direction of the Nightmare without actually meeting her eyes. The Nightmare spluttered, itching to release her limited power on the annoying pest and blast her to bits, but held her spell. “What?” “First, look around. While you’ve been pontificating and posturing, my friends have been evacuating the building. There’s just the two of us now.” The Nightmare looked around in shock at the empty building. “And secondly.” Trixie curled her lip and turned her flank to the dark alicorn. “Nique ta mère!” All of the absolute fury and frustration she was feeling poured into Nightmare’s spell, blasting down at Trixie in a destructive force that vaporized floorboards and blew the windows out of the building in a spray of molten glass that splattered across the town. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left of the arrogant unicorn but burning scraps of purple cloth and a few smoldering teeth scattered across the shattered floor. * * * Nearby, a speeding pegasus darted away into the darkness, trying to stay low and suppress her natural rainbow trail. She was headed for a rendezvous she was still unsure just exactly how she had been talked into, or why she was carrying just exactly who she was carrying, but once they landed, she was going to get answers, even if it involved physical violence. Make that preferably if it involved physical violence. After the rainbow trail dissipated into the night air, it seemed to leave a faint whisper on the breeze from her semi-conscious passenger. “Le bourbon! Pour l'amour des étoiles, le bourbon!”