//------------------------------// // Ch. 28 - Shame // Story: The Monster in the Twilight // by Georg //------------------------------// The Monster in the Twilight Shame It took very little effort for Scootaloo to see which building held her powerful friend. Driving to the flashes of light and rumbles of thunder, the scooter and wagon bucked as if she were traveling over a rutted road, but the rough surface only made her drive faster as not to drop into the bottom of the potholes. Until she hit a few loose pebbles The resulting braking curve at the stairs to the rumbling building turned into a breaking curve as a fragment of broken pavement caught a skidding rear wheel of the scooter and snapped it off with a terrible crunch. If the riders in the wagon had not already been diving off, the resulting crash would have been much more impressive, but as Scootaloo limped up to the massive doors, she was much more concerned about her friend than a mere twisted ankle and throbbing wings. “Open up!” shouted Apple Bloom, hammering a forehoof against the thick doors, barely able to make a thudding noise. Behind the doors, she could hear Monster fighting the dark pony with hissing roars of magic and hammering thunderous rumbles that shook the ground enough to knock over nearby piles of crumbling stones. “Time out!” shouted Featherweight, adding his hammering hooves to the din. “You’ve got to let me get pictures of Monster kicking your flank!” “The magic’th too thick,” said Twist with a last tentative poke at the doors, having given up trying to slip her last emergency cinnamon stick under the door. “They’ve just got to let us in! Monster needs our help!” whined Sweetie Belle. A noise like sizzling lightning and a brilliant silver flash preceded the immediate descent of Tallgrass, who had been attempting to find a way in through an upper window. He staggered to his hooves among the little ponies and shook his head with the sweet smell of barbecue surrounding him. “W-window’s are t-trapped,” he stammered. “More m-magic than I’ve ever seen.” “I’m not giving up!” shouted Apple Bloom, turning around and bucking at the door with her hind legs. “Open. Up. You. Stupid. Door.” A thunderous crash shook the ground, tumbling all the little ponies off their hooves, and as they attempted to stand back up, the ground shook again, even stronger this time. “That’s it,” snapped Tallgrass, grabbing the little ponies and shoving them away from the door. “It’s too dangerous here. You’ll all get killed, and it will be my fault.” Ignoring their screaming, he pushed the whole bunch down the steps towards the wagon, but paused when he reached the bottom. For a moment he did not even breathe, with his hooves buried in the grassy dirt that centuries of wind had blown throughout the ruins, then he spoke with a voice that sounded unlike his own. Flower, restrain your power! Your hate she needs, upon which to feed. The Elements of Harmony must be used to end the pain of the Princess confused. Like it had been a thrown switch, the crashing of magic from inside the building stopped, leaving the five little ponies and one confused changeling standing out in the growing storm. * * * Nightmare rejoiced in the strength that flowed through her body as the mindless monster poured delicious rage into her magic. Time after time, she was blown into her immaterial body by blasts of magic so powerful that she could barely absorb them before reforming to absorb another attack. This was far better than anything Celestia had done during her attacks. No pitiful whining or begging came from the blazing unicorn, nearly invisible behind a sheen of coruscating magic and smoke. Instead there was only power, great galloping streams of it that brought her to heights of exhilaration and pleasure never felt before. Even the memories of the whiny princess did not hold sweet ecstasy in this quantity from pleasures of the mortal flesh. Nightmare luxuriated in the fire of pleasure surging through every part of her mind in crashing waves of sensations, loosening the mental grip she had maintained for so many years. Creating an opening. With a whisper of movement deep in her mind, her body reformed on the top step of the throne room and dropped her defensive spells. The Nightmare had only a moment of shock when her total control of the alicorn body vanished in a heartbeat, hearing a voice that had not spoken in a thousand years suddenly scream out of her own throat. “Kill me! Strike quickly, for I can not hold her long!” The Nightmare stopped in stunned amazement, feeling the thud of her far too mortal heart driving blood through her soon to be vaporized veins. The meek little princess she had imprisoned in her mind could only restrain her magical ability for a few moments, but a single moment is all it would take for the insane unicorn to turn her mortal form into a smoking cinder, just as the Nightmare had wanted. She would finally be free of this mortal body, free to consume the hatred and fear she could feel in the burning unicorn who would be her next body. It had to be a trap. The Nightmare could suddenly see the subtle trail she had been led down by the imprisoned princess, the little hints, the impassioned lies. She lunged against the weak bonds thrown over her will and scrambled for control of her body’s magic. The alicorn princess fought viciously to retain her fragile hold, but she was weak, and as they fought for control of her horn, a single word rang out inside the empty throne room. “No.” It was a nasty snarl of a word, spoken by a voice that could easily have belonged to a beast crouched over a blood-drenched corpse with bits of fur and bones scattered in all directions. Monster panted for breath, and only spoke again after the blaze of magic around her faded to a dim glow and the fire burning in her mane and tail had smoldered to mere smoking embers. “No. Not kill.” Finally wrenching control of her magic back, the Nightmare lit her defensive spells and snarled in defiance, “Little princess, you shall pay for that. I know better now than to think you would release me to embrace another host willingly. What subtle plan did you conceal, what scheme did you concoct with this ignorant beast?” “It was no scheme,” came the soft voice from her own throat. “You cannot leave my body because you are not separate from me. I made you.” “What!” snarled Nightmare, tracing the tiny threads of the princess’ mind back to the dark recesses where she had hid. “You lie! I am Nightmare Moon, Ruler of the Night. Little princess, you are the one who invited me into your heart in your lust for power and glory while you sulked in hatred of your dear sister. I gave you that power and more. How dare you call me some unhinged facet of your mind, some trinket you made from glue and glitter!” More threads to dark, unexplored corners of her mind became visible as the Nightmare traced them, feeling the last bits of the alicorn princess finally within her grasp while the whimpering princess continued to talk. “I envied the love my sister’s ponies had for her, while their disdain for my beloved sky infuriated me. I knew I could not change their hearts while their bodies remained the same, but I lacked the power to transform them without assistance. Celestia would never agree to my foolish plan, so I used the Element of Magic to first transform myself into a more powerful form. I created you from all of my hatred and fury, all the dark emotions ruling my heart on that dreadful night. I thought I could be stronger than my weaknesses.” The Nightmare paused to gloat, feeling the last threads of Luna come together within her grasp. “I am not a weakness. I am the unlimited power of the cosmos! It was I who created the three pony races of the Night, it was I who held the moon against the assault of Celestia. It is I who caused her to flee in terror—” “Liar.” The unicorn glared at Nightmare Moon with bloodshot eyes that seemed unwilling to both focus on the same target. She was swaying back and forth, and patches of scarred skin were visible where her fuzzy coat had burned away, but she radiated a deep strength from where all four hooves were firmly planted against and into the stone floor of the palace throne room. Startled by the word, the Nightmare felt the faint threads of Luna vanish out of her grasp as the little princess once again retreated, and she raged at the loss. “YOU!” A lash of indigo fury slashed out at the burnt purple unicorn when the Nightmare struck out, only feeding her rage as Monster merely parried the blow and remained standing. Nightmare Moon stared in disbelief at her smoldering foe before realizing the power she craved was suddenly missing. “Where is the anger you hold in your heart, beast? Where is the fear?!” “Celestia did not fear,” growled Monster, panting for breath. “She fled so she would not fight you. Luna.” “There is no Luna!” screeched Nightmare Moon, blasting out with such force that the unicorn flew backwards and rebounded off the far wall even after blocking most of the spell. “I have destroyed the pathetic worm you call Luna. Fear your destruction at my hooves! Fear Nightmare Moon!” With each word, Nightmare lashed out again and again at the unicorn, battering her around the room like a toy. The last indigo stroke of magic flung Monster into a pillar with a wet snapping noise, and the unicorn staggered to her hooves only slowly, with one back leg limp. “Luna,” said Monster defiantly while letting the last of her defensive spells fizzle out in a trail of sparks. With a shriek of rage, Nightmare gathered her power in a blast that would scatter the arrogant upstart around the room in a thin mist, only to continue to hold the spell in a crackling indigo sphere when a much better idea occurred to her. “Yes. You shall know what it truly means to hold power. There is so much rage you try to hide within you, so much potential for destruction. All it needs is a little… guidance.” “No,” whimpered Monster, backing up with an agonized hop when her leg tried to collapse under her. “Yes.” Nightmare Moon smiled, a glittering line of sharp white teeth in the dim room as she walked forward. * * * “Reference Guide?” snapped Tallgrass, flipping through the book in a panic. “Where in Tartarus are the instructions? Just stupid poems and pretty pictures. It should have at least something that says, ‘This end towards enemy’ or ‘Press here to fire.’ The picture isn’t even labelled!” “It’s awful quiet in there,” whispered Apple Bloom as the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders gathered together. “Too quiet,” said Sweetie Bell with a nervous glance over her shoulder at the still-glowing doors. “Aww. Monster kicked her flank and I didn’t get any pictures,” complained Featherweight. “I could have blown them up to full size and stuck captions like ‘Bam’ and ‘Pow!’ over them. Or a sign: You must be at least this tall to have your flank kicked by Monster!” “I don’t think thee won,” mumbled Twist through the bandage she was trying to wrap around Scootaloo’s ankle. “I hope they’re not hurt.” “Of course she won,” scoffed Scootaloo, her energetic posturing making it more difficult for Twist to wrap her ankle. “She’s almost as cool as Rainbow Dash. I bet she’s just—” Scootaloo’s face fell as a piercing scream echoed out of the building, a tearing wail of pure agony that rose and fell as the screamer gasped for breath, then screamed again. “Monster!” screeched Apple Bloom, flinging herself up the stairs and against the magically-locked doors again. “Tallgrass, help! Can’t you blast the door down or something! She’s hurting!” “I only have two spells,” snapped Tallgrass, staring helplessly at the locked doors. A third gurgling scream made him hesitate with the useless book still open in front of him. After a series of muttered frantic curses, he slammed the book shut and shoved it into Scootaloo’s surprised grip. “Buck it, buck it, BUCK IT!” he muttered as yet another shriek filled the air. Green magic flared into life around the changeling, lighting up the doorway as a much larger shape took form, a regal white alicorn with golden shoes, crown, and peytral. Looking down at the little ponies, she smiled, trying not to flinch when another agonizing scream echoed. “I need all of you to stay far away from the door right now. When it opens, you need to run inside and grab for the Elements of Harmony. Can I trust you to follow my directions?” “Yes, Princess,” chimed the Cutie Mark Crusaders, although with confused looks. “Good. Now move.” ‘Celestia’ spit a green glob of substance onto the middle of the offending doors before spreading her great white wings and rocketing up into the stormy sky in a blur of white. * * * “No!” gasped Zecora, pulling her disguised hooves out of the dirt she had so carefully twisted them into. “Go!” she shouted, bolting for the swinging rope bridge with Trixie running alongside. “First stop, now go!” snapped Trixie. “Make up your pink mind!” “My Flower faces a terrible fate. If we do not run, we will be late!” Zecora gasped out her words as if she were on the ragged edge of exhaustion, pausing to catch her breath at the bridge abutment as Trixie galloped past, then slowing to a fairly-fast walk across the rope bridge. “Hurry up, Stripes. Ohhhh, ponyfeathers!” A pink magical aura wrapped around the panting disguised zebra, and she floated across the chasm while Trixie began to run again. “Thank you Trixie, for what I did see took much from me.” “Shutup! You get to carry me after I collapse.” A blur of rainbow color followed Rainbow Dash as she swooped down to effortlessly fly alongside Trixie. “Pinkie says the kids are off this way. We followed Scoot’s wheel marks and — what the hay?” Rainbow Dash’s eyes turned upwards to watch a huge white alicorn fairly flash up into the sky, entering the swirling storm clouds and beginning to fly in circles. “Cool.” Leaping up to grab Rainbow Dash’s tail in her teeth, Trixie resumed her gallop through the spooky ruins. Her pace was slowed with two ponies in tow, but she ran as fast as her legs would carry her in the direction of the faint screaming. “She’s not… I don’t think that’s Princess Celestia,” said Rainbow Dash while being towed along backwards. “Really!” scoffed Trixie through a mouthful of tail. “Yeah, the Princess wouldn’t be dumb enough to — wait a minute. Yes! She’s going to do it! I’ve never seen one attempted before, but if anypony can do it, the Princess can.” “What trick does she attempt that Trixie views with such contempt?” “It’s probably my idiotic changeling guard,” snarled Trixie while emerging from behind a fallen stone. Ahead, there was cluster of young ponies huddled up against a nearby building, with the piercing sounds of screaming somewhere still echoing around the courtyard. “There’s the kids, and there’s no sign of—” “There she goes!” Rainbow Dash flew up to get a better look, and Trixie let go before she got too high, dropping the disguised zebra at the same time. High above, the snow-white form of Princess Celestia was tucked up into a power dive, head forward with both forehooves forming a growing shock cone. “She built up a powerful negative charge up in the clouds, and when she touches ground, POW!” “Pow?” asked Trixie, trying to judge the impact point of the falling alicorn, and coming up with an answer far too close to the young ponies. “She’s not slowing down,” said Rainbow with a nervous glance back and forth between the door and the alicorn. “She’ll track all the lightning from the storm behind her if she doesn’t—” “Down!” screamed Trixie, reaching up with her magic and dragging Rainbow Dash behind a stone block at the same moment the disguised changeling struck the doors in a blaze of green magic and a huge lightning bolt. * * * “This is crazy! This is stupid!” muttered Tallgrass as he circled inside the storm, feeling the electric charge build up in his white coat to agonizing levels. Electricity cascaded across his body in a crackling sheet that blinded him to the outside world, but the blob of saliva attached to the door was part of his magic, and once he had accumulated what seemed to be every spark in the cloud, he tucked his wings in and aimed for the one fuzzy green blotch he could still see with his horn. The changeling had never held a form this large or this powerful before, and as much as the ramming wave of air building up in front of him frightened the stones out of him, the feeling of the entire storm system firing a lightning bolt up his rear frightened him more and encouraged him to greater speed. It was impossible to measure ranges at this velocity, and he nearly did not get his shield spell up in time— The world vanished around him the moment Tallgrass struck the door in a blaze of green fire, with an almost simultaneous impact of the heavens smiting down the ionized trail he had left. He was unaware of the fate of the doors while blasting through the doorway in a panicked flailing of limbs, rebounding off the slippery floor twice, and skidding on his hooves in a long slide. After several rotations during his travel, the world stabilized until he found himself in a spraddle-legged standing position in front of a towering dark alicorn nearly the same height as his present form and nearly as surprised. “Um. Hi?”