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// Gathering intel 
// Story: Entwined 
// by janushyde 
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It had been another month and Nightmare moon could feel that her power was keeping up its steady rate of recuperation. While she still did not have the ability to directly communicate with her host yet she remained ever vigilant in her quest to gather information about her. 

It had seemed that fate threw her a bone as over the course of the month three rather interesting chain of events took place; first there had been the dragon that needed to be ousted, then came the incident with the Zebra and the discovery of a wonderful little plant called Poison Joke, finally there was the parasprite infestation. Each of these little episodes yielded some useful information about either how the world had changed during her long banishment to the moon or some new information about her host that she could put to use.

So as Twilight and Spike settled in for the night after a rather uneventful day of tending to the libraryamd later time for Twilight to practice her magic Nightmare Moon decided to reexamine the events of those days and confirm what she had learned from them.

First there had been the dragon, for some reason a fully grown dragon had decided to use a mountain cave in Equestria for the duration of his century long nap. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue and would even be welcomed as this type of arraignment typicayl benefitted both parties the dragon would be left to sleep in peace and after awakening he would leave behind a small portion of his hoard in thanks. This dragon though had a snoring problem and needed to be ousted because the thick smoke he produced would choke the life out of the land if he was allowed to sleep uninterrupted.
I wonder Celestia, what position are you grooming Twilight for that you would task her with this, is she to be a weapon, to lead the unicorn division of the Royal guard, or is she to be your arch mage? Nightmare had pondered to herself as Twilight explained to the citizens of Ponyville about the black smoke and what needed to be done about it. 

The young unicorn proceeded to round up the rest of the elements of harmony and head off to remove the dragon from the area.As the trip to the dragon’s lair progressed Nightmare Moon found she getting progressively more enraged. The source of her ire was two ponies Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. The former had a tendency to act as if her skull was empty and the latter’s fear was slowing their progress. For the love of THE MON how can you FUNCTION in life if you’re so weak willed and cowardly! It was bad enough that you couldn’t leap over a small crevice the rockslide however is inexcusable! There is a WORLD of difference between being afriad and being a BURDIN! Nightmare roared within Twilight’s mind her inability to properly express her frustration was driving her up the wall.

In the end however Nightmare had to eat some crow when she saw Fluttershy react to the dragon’s strike against her host and the others due to the reckless actions of Rainbow dash. It wasn’t the words or even tone that the yellow Pegasus used rather it was the way the dragon responded to them. She made him cry I didn’t think her capable of speech to this creature let alone scolding him like a mother would her foal. Bitbo Baggins eat your heart out. She had mused as the dragon flew away from his cave.

Upon further reflection however she had to reevaluate her opinion of Fluttershy once more. She seems to have a gift of great power a gift I had thought lost to the ages. The ability to not only communicate with animals but to dominate their wills, If I am correct this power could be used on equines as well and could even allow her to spot me dwelling within Twilight’s mind. I must take caution to suppress my presence whenever Twilight and Fluttershy make eye contact from now on. If this theory proved true her progress would have to slowed vastly in order to avoid being discovered, while she had no solid proof that Fluttershy bore this most ancient are rare gift it would be in her best interest to act as if she did.
Being pleased with the conclusion she had drawn here Nightmare decided to move onto the next significant memory the events that lead to the zebra Zecora becoming a part of the Ponyville community. It had been about five days since the incident with the dragon. Twilight and Spike had some errands to run so they headed for the town square only to find it empty and to be hauled into Sugarcube Corner.

After a brief and oddly panicked explanation about what had been going on Nightmare was a bit startled to find out the cause of all the panic it was a Zebra mare being accused of witchcraft. Really roughly a third of the population is able to actively use magic to some extent and you’re throwing around the old witchcraft argument? Still a slightly xenophobic song is better response then the nobles who wanted Celestia and Luna to cull the population centuries ago. Was her mental response to the attitudes of the other bearers of harmony

As the day wore on things only continued to escalate as Applejack’s sister tried to shadow the Zebra and was quickly apprehended for her trouble, I’ll give the foal credit she has grown some since I last saw her cowering under a table upon sighting me those weeks ago. Though the real issue is why the Zebra issue a warning about the flowers, she had pondered to herself as the group returned to Ponyville

The explanation came the next morning much to the delight of the dark alicorn. Each of the bearers had been given an affliction of sorts by the plant some were ironic such as Pinkie’s inability to speak and Applejack’s reduction in size while others just seemed to be targeting an aspect of the pony that they prided most Twilight’s magic and Rainbow Dash’s flight for example.‘As much as I enjoy the sight of them being humiliated like this I’d prefer not to have my host's ability to protect herself stripped away. I wonder how they’ll try and rectify this mess. Whatever method they use shall likely prove to be most amusing I just know I’m going to enjoy this. Nightmare pondered to herself as she settled in to watch the events to come.

As Twilight and her friends blundered their way through the Everfree Forest toward Zecora’s hut the comedy of errors unfolded. Weather it was Rainbow’s airborne mishaps Has she honestly forgotten she can walk? to Pinkie’s continues failed attempts at conversation I rather prefer her this way if there’s anything worse than a bard it’s a bard who won’t shut up. The real treat however was hearing Fluttershy singing with that new voice of hers I find this both disturbing and funny, though it would be even better if she put some effort into the song. Soon however the group confronted Zecora and the whole misunderstanding was cleared up.

As amusing at that was there was quite a bit of useful intelligence gathered that day. Twilight is rather forcefully opposed to the so called supernatural. It is rather odd how she seemed to refute the existence of non unicorn magic when given how much she knows about physics she knows that pegasi drawn carriages shouldn’t behave the way they do. Then there is that plant Poison Joke, I should have known of it but I didn’t unless it came into existence some time during my banishment I should memories of such a useful little thing. I wonder if I could convince Twilight to begin an in depth study of it. Finding out how it works could prove to be a vital asset to me in the future especially if I can learn how to manipulate the effects it induces. Hmm perhaps I can also convince her to take up alchemy as well, having a backup plan for emergences is always useful and given how hungrily she devours texts on magical theory I’m surprised she hasn’t ventured into this field of study already. Nightmare reflected as she slid away from that memory and advanced upon the last one she wished to view for the night before resting herself.

Two weeks after the encounter with Zecora had passed and Ponyville was abuzz with activity and for good reason Princess Celestia was coming for a visit. So Twilight was spearheading the effort to make things presentable for the occasion. For the most part things were well in Hoof. Streamers were hung, the banner was being redone and in spite of Pinkie’s interference the banquette seemed to be coming along then Fluttershy arrived and showed off her new found friend. A parasprite, how very interesting I had thought that those abominations of Discord's had long since been destroyed. It would seem however that they have managed to maintain their numbers in the Everfree somehow. Nightmare Moon thought to herself as Twilight left the bakery with the colorful insect nestled in her mane.

The next morning When Twilight awoke she was shocked to see how the population of parasprites had surged while she slept. afriad that this would interfear with the day's events Twilight set off to see what could be done to stop disaster from befalling the princess visit. ‘Hmm let’s see how you conduct yourself here my host I wonder just how badly things will fall apart before Pinkie can pull your fat from the fire. I don’t know how she of all ponies knew about these pests when you didn’t but by some fluke she does. Nightmare purred enjoying seeing her host so clearly panicked by the thought of losing favor with Celestia.

It was hours later and things were starting to get desperate at this point. After Fluttershy had proved that she had no control of the parasprite horde Twilight and her friends had tried rounding them up and driving them back into the Everfree Forest. Whatever progress had been made by this flash of inspiration had been voided when it was revealed that Fluttershy had kept one of the creatures in her house and as parasprites are want to do it multiplied like there was no Tomorrow. Next Rainbow dash had tried using a tornado to remove them. This plan was only foiled by Pinkie Pie who had arrived with a pair of crash cymbals that got swept up into the whirlwind causing Dash to lose control of it and spreading the parasprites over the town at large. I’ll give you credit those ideas of yours would have worked if not for dumb luck. Nightmare mused as Twilight raced back to town.

As the time of Celestia’s visit drew ever closer Twilight’s desperation grew more and more apparent, weather it was her hasty attempt to stop the Parasprites eating all the food with magic. This resulted in them turning on other objects instead for example buildings. That’s interesting her spell would have worked on them just fine in my time. Or her flat out insane request of building a replica of the town in less than a minute I was enjoying watching this come crashing down around you Twilight, however that’s just sad. Useful no doubt about it but sad none the less, Nightmare chided before she could further voice her thoughts on the matter music began to swell and soon Pinkie Pie came into view decked out in a vast assortment of musical instruments playing away. Within seconds the ravenous hordes of parasprites stopped their destruction and began to move in time to Pinkie’s playing even following the mare as she trotted out of Ponyville and to the Everfree forest.

It was about this time that Celestia arrived at the entrance to Ponyville. She thanked Twilight and the town at large for their efforts but claimed she was unable to keep her appointment as another nearby settlement was suffering from an infestation of its own. After Twilight gave her report for the week Celestia and her escort departed,

So much learned from this little incident, parasprites are still around and seem to have dewlapped a defense to unicorn magic since I last came across them. Still they could be put to great use as a weapon be it the orginal untampered with breed or those that were altered by Twilight’s spell round them up and release them in upon an enemy nation and watch the destruction ensue. Now we come back to you my host, I’ll admit while perhaphs taken to an obsessive level your devotion to Celestia is to be admired. In time I intend to have your devotion directed to me, and I think that I know how to go about it all I need is time. Dear Celestia, you may have been trying to let her off the hook but in doing so you have given me a way to implant a seed of doubt in her heart once we can talk. Nightmare Moon thought her glee becoming more evident as her plans for Twilight developed. Brushing aside her inevitable manipulation she settled down to get some rest for the remainder of the night after all tomorrow was a new day that would yield new insights into her host and how to best earn her loyalty.