//------------------------------// // Bringing Back the Nightmare // Story: Why Did I Choose to be Trixie? // by Mike the Red //------------------------------// Our Celestia and I teleported to the Throne Room in the other universe to see a rather disheveled looking Solar Princess sitting on her throne, a worried look on her face. "Celestia, are we too late?" I asked her. "Ah, good. I was wondering when you two were going to show up! Please, let's go to the infirmary to meet up with Trixie and Twilight -- perhaps the three of us working together can heal them," she offered, her concern giving way to gratitude upon our arrival. "Do we teleport or trot down the hallways?" I asked. "What do you think, Amethyst? Time is of the essence here!" our Celestia chided me. "Yes, of course. Let's go," I stated flatly as we teleported to the infirmary. The two junior Alicorn mares were resting comfortably, though they showed bruises and scars from their battle with the dark King. They woke up as we startled them with our sudden appearance. "Amethyst!" Trixie exclaimed. "I knew you would come back! You must help us! Sombra has gotten too powerful!" "Please help us, Amethyst," Twilight said softly. She grimaced in pain as she coughed a couple of times. "Celestia? How badly were they hurt?" I asked. "Is our combined magic enough to heal them fully?" "They were nearly killed, Amethyst. It's been about all I can do to make slow progress in healing their injuries," she replied, a hint of sadness in her voice. "It's been more than six months -- this has been quite taxing for me." I turned to our Celestia. "Shall we give it a try? Maybe we can help them heal a bit faster," I suggested. She nodded her head in approval and lit her horn, her golden aura surrounding the two junior Alicorns. I lit my horn and my yellow aura mixed with Celestia's as we focused healing magic upon them. They were quite surprised to see our magic working a near-miracle upon them, then rose to their hooves and doing a small hoof-bump before turning to us and smiling broadly. Satisfied we had done a good job, we released them from our magic. "Wow! That was amazing!" Trixie exclaimed. "I had no idea you could do that!" "Considering you two helped me out twice, I felt it only fair I return the favor, even if this might be the only time I get to do so," I responded, smiling warmly. "Now about that Dark King ..." "We need more help," Twilight stated. "He's become so strong, I don't even know if the five of us could stop him." "Celestia? Where is that crystal statue of Nightmare Moon?" I asked the native Sun Goddess. "It still stands in the Statue Garden in the Courtyard," she replied. "But why do you want to know?" "I think I might be able to persuade her to help us get rid of Sombra," I mused. "She's too dangerous! She's been a statue for nearly four years! She'll be furious if we release her!" Trixie exclaimed, a very worried expression on her face. "I understand that, but I believe she can be reformed. If nothing else, I would like to talk to her again," I said. "I don't think that's such a good idea, Amethyst," our Celestia advised. "She is indeed quite powerful and her reaction to being released might prove quite disastrous for us. I believe the five of us are strong enough to deal with Sombra effectively. I doubt Nightmare's presence would be much better than a distraction." I raised my right eyebrow at the mention. "I believe a distraction might be exactly what we need!" I grinned. "Think about it -- I have a feeling that Sombra might find her appearance entrancing enough to give us the drop on him." "I believe you may have a point there, Amethyst. So how are we supposed to restore her?" the other Celestia asked. "If the Elements of Harmony are still available, there are five of us, so that should be enough to reverse the process that transformed her into a statue in the first place," I offered. "Amethyst, there are six Elements," our Celestia stated somewhat quizzically. "Not in this universe, there aren't," I replied. "Celestia, I believe we should track down Diane, Fluttershy, and Applejack so we can use the Elements on the statue. Trixie, Twilight, we should make short work of this." "I continue to be impressed by your thought process, Amethyst," the other Celestia smiled. "I'm just playing a hunch -- I hope I'm correct on this," I responded. "Your plan sounds plausible enough to work," our Celestia mused. "Okay, then, let's get going. Trixie, Twilight, how are you feeling now? Are you two strong enough to withstand a teleport to Ponyville?" I asked. "You don't have to go that far, Amethyst -- the others are here in the Castle," Trixie stated. "They've been visiting us while we were recovering, but thanks to you and Celestia, we're feeling great!" Twilight chirped. "Good, glad to hear it. We're going to need as much help as we can get to take down Sombra, so let's get to it," I said. "I'll take you to the rooms the other Element Bearers are staying in," the other Celestia offered as she trotted out of the infirmary. Our Celestia and I followed the native Sun Goddess directly, the others trailing us as we trotted down the hallway and made a right turn into another hallway with quite a few doors. She knocked on one door and a pink pegasus opened it. "Hey, Trixie! Twilight! Ah thought it was gonna be quite a lot longer before ya two were up on yer hooves again!" Diane exclaimed excitedly. Her hair appeared to inflate almost immediately. "Celestia and I helped out a little," I grinned. "Mikey? Or -- what's yer name again? Ah remember ya couldn't fly all that well," she chuckled. "I've had quite a bit of practice since then. My name is Amethyst -- Amethyst Flame," I replied with a slight hint of a chuckle. "So what'cha need? What's up? Ah see th' way yer all lookin' at me -- ya must want somethin' ..." "We need you, Fluttershy, and Applejack to come with us to the Statue Garden -- there's a small matter of using some magic for a moment or two," I stated matter-of-factly. "Applejack's next door, Flutters is the next one after AJ's," Diane offered. An orange pegasus opened her door upon hearing her name -- this was the first time I had seen this universe's Applejack and I was surprised to see her cutie mark of two red apples and two oranges arranged in a square pattern on her flanks. The fact that she was a pegasus surprised me as well as her lack of a southern accent. "Did somepony mention my name?" asked the orange pegasus. "That's MY line, AJ!" exclaimed the butter-yellow earth pony mare. "Okay, since we're all here now, let's head on down to the Statue Garden," I stated calmly. Applejack asked Fluttershy about me, but it turned out she didn't know me in this form either. Trixie explained to them who I was and they nodded their heads in understanding. I must admit I had butterflies in my stomach as I wasn't exactly sure what to expect once we restored Nightmare Moon. I betrayed my calm exterior by flashing a slightly worried look. We chatted quietly among ourselves as we trotted down a few staircases and hallways before entering the courtyard where the Statue Garden was located. The crystal statue of the dark princess occupied a prominent position in the center of the courtyard. "Don't tell me you have some apprehension about this matter now, Amethyst. This was your idea in the first place," our Celestia chided me. "I understand that, Celestia, it's just that -- well, the uncertainty of her reaction has me feeling a little trepidation," I replied. "Are we supposed to stand in a circle around the statue? Use the Elements as normal, just reverse the process?" Trixie asked. "I believe that's how it should work," I mused. "Yes," replied both Celestias in unison. Everypony stood in a large circle surrounding the crystal statue. I watched as the Element Bearers started levitating above the ground, necklaces containing the elemental gemstones suddenly appearing on their necks and glowing brightly. I found myself also levitating, my circlet and torque glowing brightly as well. Magic streamed from each of us before uniting in a large rainbow-hued wave which crashed down upon the statue, surrounding it in a vortex and swirling around and around with ever increasing swiftness before a blinding flash of white enveloped everything. The magic spent, we slowly descended to the ground and now stood surrounding the dark Alicorn of Nightmare Moon. Her expression was one of fury. "HOW DARE THOU IMPRISON ME LIKE THAT! THOU SHALT PAY FOR THINE ERROR!" she thundered in her Royal Canterlot Voice. "Your Majesty, we need your assistance," I stated calmly. I watched her scowl turn into a smile before she started tittering, then giggling, then burst into full blown belly laughs. "You've got to be kidding me! You need MY help? Really? For what?" she asked, trying her hardest to regain her composure and still laughing. "King Sombra has returned," I offered. Her eyes widened as she stopped laughing immediately. "Hmm. I believe I might be able to offer you some assistance in that matter ... but tell me something, stallion. Who are you and where did you come from?" "Your Majesty, this is no time for a game of 20 questions. We must hurry if we are to save Equestria from that dark King," I stated firmly. "I am willing to assist you in this matter as long as you do not imprison me in crystal again. You have no idea how painful that has been for me. Again, I ask you, stallion Alicorn -- you have four suns as a cutie mark?!" the dark Alicorn asked in great surprise. I chuckled softly. "Yes, your Majesty. Much has changed over the past four years, including me changing from a copy of Trixie into the Alicorn stallion you see before you. My name is Amethyst Flame." I blushed as she licked her lips at me. "I didn't know I was that attractive to you -- I am flattered by your gesture." "Well, a nice looking stallion like you deserves such flattery! Perhaps you might provide me with a little pleasure once we're finished with this business," Nightmare mused. I smiled in response, my blush deepening a little. "Ah, the idea seems to please you!" she said, flashing a big toothy grin. "L-let's g-get on w-with this, th-then," I stammered, my blush giving me away. "Luna, he IS married," my Celestia stated flatly. "DON'T CALL ME THAT! And ask me if I care whether he is married or not! It matters not to me!" she snapped. "Stallions are in short supply around here and I feel payment is needed for my assistance." "I never said I wasn't interested," I offered, giving the dark Alicorn a quick glance, a smile briefly working its way across my features. "I've always considered Nightmare to be quite beautiful in an exotic sort of way." Upon hearing this, she hummed happily for a second, giving me another big toothy grin. "Amethyst! Remember your vows to Trixie!" our Solar Princess chided sharply. "She left the Castle shortly after you went on vacation, Celestia. For a while, I had lost all contact with her. Then suddenly out of the blue, she shows up on Marina's third birthday, but in such bad condition I had to return to Earth to fetch medicine for her," I stated flatly. "You mean to tell me that my counterpart abandoned her foal?!" asked the azure Alicorn in disbelief. "Hate to say it, but ... yeah, she kinda did," I replied flatly. "That means you were ... alone ... for those years," she mused. "I told you, didn't I?" asked Twilight. "If your wife was that unfaithful to you, perhaps ..." the dark Princess began, flashing me an impish smile. "What's done is done. We have a mission, ladies," I advised. "Now, where is that dark King hiding himself these days?" "The Crystal Empire is to the north a fair distance, but Sombra has been enlarging his territorial hold," the native Sun Goddess stated almost sullenly. "The crystal ponies ... I shudder to think about it ..." "You do not understand the full nature of his magic, Celestia. I have dealt with him in the past, working a truce of sorts with him," offered Nightmare. "He is a little stronger than me, though the last time we tangled, we battled to a stalemate. The truce lasted for about five years before he decided to try to conquer Equestria again. Some ponies died in that conflict." "But with all of us together, we should be able to defeat him permanently, yes?" I mused. "And when we do, Amethyst Flame, I certainly hope you're willing to provide me with a favor in return for the favor I am granting you. I am only tolerating this situation due to the dire circumstances facing Equestria. When this menace is dealt with properly, I expect to return to my previous position as Equestria's monarch," the dark Alicorn stated flatly. "Your Majesty, it is my fervent hope that you and your sister will rule together -- is there any way I can help the two of you put aside your past differences?" I asked. "We shall see, Amethyst. I make no guarantees nor promises regarding that matter. Depending on how well you perform for me," she began, giving me another big toothy grin, "that process may be easier than you think!" "I know a thing or two about providing pleasure, if that is what you're after, Nightmare," I said almost cheerfully, returning her grin. "Amethyst! Don't make me report this to Trixie!" our Celestia exclaimed in exasperation. "And I thought you wanted Alicorn foals, Tia," I chuckled. She blushed furiously at my statement and glared daggers at me. "Your faithful student might beat you to the punch on that one ..." "Amethyst! Your lack of fidelity to your wife is utterly reprehensible!" she shouted. "You were gone nearly as long as Trixie was, Tia. I succumbed to a temptation during a moment of weakness when your sister had left as well. If cheating on my wife is necessary to receive Nightmare's help, then so be it. If you're going to be a tattle-tale about it, I will be quite disappointed in you." "Um, Amethyst?" asked Trixie. "Yes, Trixie?" "If you were married to me, you wouldn't cheat on me, would you?" "Let me ask you this, Trixie. If the fate of Equestria was in the balance, would my faithfulness to you be more important than the lives of countless ponies?" "Oh," she said almost dumbly, hanging her head, her ears laying flat. "Well, if you put it that way, I guess I'd have to accept it." "Please understand that I do this not for my own personal enjoyment, but rather for the sake of protecting Equestria from a dire threat," I stated flatly. "I intend to make you enjoy it, Amethyst!" the dark Alicorn almost giggled. "I can hardly wait! It's been so long ..." "And I suppose you'd like to carry an Alicorn foal, Nightmare?" I half-asked. "If that happens, well ... you might make me happier than I have been in a long time," she mused thoughtfully. "Fine. Let's get on with this. How do we get to where Sombra is hiding?" I asked. "Um, Amethyst -- I don't think we'll have to worry about finding him," Twilight stated quite fearfully, her eyes widening as she spotted a large dark silhouette looming behind me.