//------------------------------// // A Truce With the Nightmare // Story: Tasavir's Little Ponies // by Mike the Red //------------------------------// I was facing a furious Nightmare Moon, having made her return a thousand years after I had Twilight and her friends help me banish her. My memory of that event was dim, though I remembered I had traveled across a dimensional barrier to fetch the Element Bearers. With a thousand years having passed since then, I had no idea of whether or not anypony in that universe, even including Celestia might still be alive. I didn't want to abandon my little ponies, but I felt a serious need to enlist some help. It might be a bad idea to reopen that rift, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I lit my horn and concentrated as hard as I could, focusing on Princess Celestia and the Royal Throne Room in Canterlot Castle. I figured it would be a long shot, but I was convinced I had no other choice. "What are you doing? Where do you think you're going?" the black Alicorn asked impatiently. "I should stop you before you even get started!" Before she even finished her sentence, I succeeded in teleporting across the dimensional barrier and materialized in a throne room, though it looked as though it had seen better days. I was shocked to see the once proud castle reduced to a long disused ruin, the ceiling gone, the walls crumbling, the floors covered with moss, vines, and other natural growth. "Princess Celestia! Where are you?" I called out, using magic to amplify my voice so that it would reverberate throughout the ruined castle. I called out for her again, and repeated my call for the Solar Princess several more times before I resigned myself to the possibility that she was no longer alive. That's what you get for neglecting to contact her for a thousand years... I took to the skies in an attempt to locate other ponies. I flew in the direction I remembered for Ponyville, but as I gained altitude, I noticed a very large city off in the distance. My guess was that it would be Manehattan, so I decided to fly there and try my luck in that city. My estimate of that city's distance relative to my position was a poor one as I found myself flying considerably further than I thought. I had no idea the city had become so incredibly huge over the years, the population probably numbering in the tens of millions. I'll bet five dollars Celestia's in this city. The buildings which looked large from a distance were Brobdingnagian in their scope and scale when I finally approached them. I hadn't expected mile-high buildings on such a grand scale. I descended to street level and encountered ponies the like I had never seen before. These ponies seemed to be a mix of all three races along with crystal pony traits. I approached one in an attempt to talk to her -- well, I think it was a mare, but I couldn't be sure -- but upon seeing me, she prostrated herself before me, giving me a very humble greeting in a language I couldn't understand. "Excuse me, ma'am, but I can't understand what you're saying," I offered. She looked up at me quizzically and lit her horn with a pink aura, hitting me squarely in the face with that aura. There was no pain associated with the spell she cast, but then she talked once again and now I was able to understand her. "I am so sorry for striking you in your face with that spell -- I pray that it did not hurt you," she stated effusively. "No, it did not -- but the language you spoke before you cast your spell -- it's not Equish or English." "We call it Equillisis, which has its roots in Equish and evolved with us as our needs changed. Since you are new to us, we would like to know who you might be and where you came from," she stated, maintaining a reverent tone to her voice. "I call myself Tasavir, and I have traveled across a dimensional barrier in order to find Princess Celestia, a white Alicorn who bears a resemblance to me," I stated calmly. She gasped very loudly when I mentioned my name. "You? You? You are ... TASAVIR?! Impossible!" "What do your legends say about me?" "You are ... an equal to Celestia! But ... we do not know ... I've never seen her. But I think I know somepony who might know more than me," she offered. "Pardon my asking, ma'am, but what is your name?" "Oh! Sorry! My name is Mellifluous Harmony Constellatio Paradrade Lunactis Sparkle," she stated proudly. Her coat was a mix of purple, pink, lavender and white, her mane and tail were very long and straight, a mix of several shades of blue and violet with just a hint of pink. Her eyes were a pretty shade of mauve, but what caught my attention was her very long horn, which was a very dark purple at the base and faded to lavender at the tip. "Mind if I call you Harmony for short? And considering the length of your horn, I suspect you are quite magically gifted," I mused. "There are many ponies like me who are far more powerful than me. You may call me Harmony if you like," she said, offering a smile. "But why do you need to talk to Celestia? The legends say she died about five hundred years ago." "Nightmare Moon has returned to my realm," I replied almost sullenly. "Who's that?" she asked, giving me another quizzical look. "Luna's evil side," I stated flatly. I caught a brilliant flash of white light out of the corner of my eye and turned to see Celestia herself teleport to my location. Harmony bowed deeply before the Princess. "I felt a disturbance in the aether," she said, her voice tinged with concern. "So you finally returned. Tasavir, was it? What brings you back after ... a thousand years?" "NIghtmare Moon has returned to my realm and I need the assistance of the Element Bearers, whomever they might be." "Ha, ha, hah! That's a good one!" she laughed. Her face dropped a little when she saw my stern expression. "You're not kidding, are you? She's returned? Would that I had better news for you, Tasavir. You're going to have to face her alone -- we currently do not have any Element Bearers, and the artifacts themselves were destroyed a very long time ago." "So what do you do if any of your villains returns? How do you defeat them?" "They have all been reformed many centuries ago. They help maintain harmony and equilibrium in my realm," she replied, maintaining a calm smile. "So how do I go about defeating Nightmare Moon without the Elements?" I asked, my apprehension growing. "You will have to find a way to make peace with her, Tasavir. Do what you can, I have confidence in your abilities." "So I made this trip across the dimensional barrier for nothing. Very well then, Celestia, I shall do what I can. If you'd like, you're free to visit my realm at your leisure. I would like to ask about what happened to Canterlot, but I'm sure that's a story for another time." "Indeed it is, Tasavir, and should the time arise when I have cause to visit you, we can regale each other with tales of our adventures during those thousand years we did not communicate with each other." "That sounds good, Celestia. I look forward to seeing you once again -- that is, if I'm able to do something about Nightmare Moon." "I have nothing less than the utmost faith and confidence in you, Tasavir. Take care and fare thee well." "You too, Celestia. See you later." I then teleported back to Earth to notice the Moon hanging in the night sky. My ponies were panicking, galloping around frantically before the black Alicorn returned to face me. "So, you returned. I would like to know where you went, but I don't think that's important any more. Prepare to be banished!" she cackled. Taking the initiative, I trotted up to her and pushed my muzzle against hers and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. Her eyes went as wide as saucers in surprise as I pulled away from the kiss -- little more than a very short and quick one, just to gauge her reaction. "W-wh-what was that for?" she asked, a look of shock on her face. I giggled. "I was curious to see how you might respond to it," I said, matter-of-factly. "You know, sometimes it gets lonely around here with nopony to talk to." "You have all these ponies galloping around -- where did they come from?" "They are the end result of an experiment of mine. I took native ponies to this world and genetically altered them so as to ease my boredom," I replied flatly. "You got bored? I was stuck on the Moon for a thousand years! Do you have any idea of just how boring THAT is?" "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I hadn't thought about retrieving you from your banishment so I could have some company. It's taken me several centuries for my ponies to have evolved enough to the point where I can have meaningful relationships with them. Perhaps we can work together?" The dark Alicorn paused in thought for a few moments, her face seemingly expressionless as she pondered. "Your apology rings hollow to me -- how do I know you're not planning on returning me to my banishment?" "I was young and naive back then. I had been misinformed about you," I said as I stole another quick kiss from her. "STOP THAT!!" she shouted. "Do you not know how to kiss a mare properly?" "Show me what I'm doing wrong," I teased, grinning slyly. She approached me and wrapped her left foreleg around my neck, pulling me close to her. I could smell her scent, an ancient and arcane odor which defied description. She leaned closer to me, her muzzle pressing against mine. "Follow my lead, if you think you can, young stallion!" she grinned. Her breath had an almost minty scent to it as she licked my muzzle with her tongue. "What do you eat? Your scent is ... unusual," she stated quizzically. "I had pizza earlier -- made it myself," I replied. "The scent of garlic and tomato -- makes me hungry," she mused. "Would you like to try some?" "I haven't eaten in a long time -- whatever food you have to offer --" I pulled away from her embrace and created a pizza for the Alicorn. She expressed some degree of displeasure at my action, but when she started eating the pizza, her face lit up with happiness. She devoured the pizza and demanded more, so I kept creating pizza after pizza until her hunger was satisfied. She belched in approval. "What name do you call yourself?" she asked. "I go by the name of Tasavir." "Interesting. I had no idea you were able to produce such tasty food," she smiled. "As far as working together -- I will have to give that further consideration. If you promise not to banish me again, I will make you the same promise. I shall require living quarters if I am to stay here." I gestured to my home, a large building just at the edge of the city I had created. "You may stay with me in my house," I offered. "You would let me live with you?" she asked, almost incredulously. "I require a more impressive domicile to match my status!" "Why? When you see the inside of that house, you will be pleasantly surprised." I offered a small smile. "I would seriously doubt that! Look how small that place is!" "It's bigger than you think, Nightmare," I chuckled. "I shall require my own sleeping chamber!" "There are several of those inside the house," I responded, almost dismissively. "Can I have some more pizza?" "Whenever you want it," I replied, a grin starting to make its way onto my face. Without warning, she grabbed hold of me and gave me a deep, long kiss, my eyes going wide with surprise at her bold move. She held me in that kiss for what seemed like several minutes as she forced her tongue into my mouth and swirled it around mine. I could not push her off me, nor could I protest as her lips felt as though they were locked against mine. Finally she released me. "THAT is how you're supposed to kiss me!" she said, laughing heartily. "You keep me happy, and there'll be more than that for you!" "Uh, great, I guess," I said sheepishly.