Nightmares Don’t Last Forever
Chapter 5
Nightmare Moon sighed, glancing at the smaller purple pony that sat next to her. It’s cold tonight… I haven’t felt that in a while, the princess thought to herself. “Yes, fine. I will answer your questions, Twilight Sparkle,” The alicorn groaned to her companion. “But first let’s talk about something else!” Nightmare said, immediately perking up.
“You said you’d-”
“Yes! And I will, but first we’ll have to talk about things that won’t make you…” The princess paused, grinning awkwardly as she lowered her head. “Oh, hey! So what is the moonest thing that’s happened in the last thousand years?! Does the shrubbery still walk around when you turn your back?”
Twilight cocked her eyebrow apathetically. “Moonest?”
Nightmare laughed bashfully. “I’m… hoping it catches on.”
“Uh-huh. And the moving shrubbery?” The unicorn asked with a small smirk playing on the sides of her face.
“I made that part up,” the princess said, flashing a large grin at Twilight.
“Of course. Well, in the hopes of moving this along, I’ll fill you in on some of more important historical footnotes,” The purple pony said in a tone that was probably too excited. “Let’s start with-”
“Wait! Stop. I can already tell this is going to be boring,” Nightmare interrupted. “Tell me about stuff that I would be interested in.”
Twilight pouted and looked off into the night sky. The heavens were particularly clear and bright tonight, probably due mostly to Nightmare, the unicorn noted. “Well… astronomy has had a lot of advances in the last couple hundred years,” Twilight mentioned offhandedly.
“Wait, what!?” Nightmare ducked her head down to Twilight with a surprised look on her face; surprising Twilight just as much. “That… that actually got off the ground?” The princess whispered skeptically.
Twilight chuckled at Nightmare’s outburst. “Well, yeah. It has its own science and everything. And don’t get me started on the subcategories… no, really, you probably shouldn’t. Being anti-social isn’t the only reason I haven’t had any friends in the past” Twilight chuckled again, though this time out of embarrassment. “I’ve been told I could talk a pony’s ear off when it comes to astronomy.”
“You study astronomy?!” Nightmare cried in amazement. “There’s enough of it to talk a pony’s ear off!? But- but it was just a tiny club I made! How does that even…” Nightmare plopped onto the ground and stared blankly off into space. A dumb grin slowly slid across her dark face.
“Yes, and yes. Astronomy happens to be my favorite non-magic subject” Twilight proudly stated.
“Seriously?” The princess said, gaping at the purple pony.
“Yup! Sometimes, I stay up all night just looking at the stars. They really are beautiful, and I’ve gotten lost in them hundreds of times. Spike would get so mad when he’d see I hadn’t been to bed,” the unicorn professed while she stared dreamily at the night sky.
Nightmare’s mouth couldn’t hang any lower. “R- really?” The princess’s cheeks took on a blue hint of color.
Twilight looked back to Nightmare in confusion. “Well, yeah. What’s gotten you-…”
A flip switched in Twilight’s head.
Twilight looked away with an air of aloofness, hiding her smirk completely. This will be perfect, the purple pony giggled mischievously to herself. The unicorn’s voice took on a sultry, titillating quality as she picked up her words once more. “Yes… I cannot recount how many times I’ve refused sleep, instead watching the stars sparkle through my telescope, sifting through the masses of celestial bodies; each unique and more beautiful than the last. Oh, how I sometimes dread the thought of the rising sun, coming to obscure such a beautiful spectacle.” Twilight dramatically sighed, placing a hoof across her head. The unicorn paused for theatrical effect while she stared longingly at the stars through hooded eyes. “You know… there’s a game I sometimes play,” Twilight paused again, bringing the hoof to her lips. “It helps me remember all the names of the stars.” The pony gave the tip of her hoof a light sensual lick before raising it too the sky. “I outline each constellation with my hoof.” The unicorn slowly began caressing the outline of one of her favorite star formations. “Just sliding… ever so slightly around the edges, barely touching the stars themselves. And it help me memorize their shape.” Twilight slowly finished her sketch in the air, drooping her hoof slightly, only to raise it back up to give the constellation one last stroke. “Sometimes I almost feel like I can… touch them.” Ha ha ha I did it! I used the voice she uses! Twilight praised herself, making sure to keep her come hither gaze at the heavens. “What do you think, Nightmare Moon?” The unicorn innocently asked her princess. Twilight waited for a response but none was given. “Nightmare?” the purple pony broke her gaze with the sky to question her mistress.
Nightmare’s face was dominated by a deep blue. Her eyes were as wide as they could go, and her lips were pursed in utter shock. “Wh-… why did you tell me that?” The princess hesitantly spoke through her blush.
Whatever switch had triggered Twilight’s episode immediately slammed back into its original position. Realizing everything she had just said the unicorn quickly turned away, her own face felt like it would melt at any second. “I- I don’t know! Why do you say all of the stuff that you say!?“ The purple pony half accused the princess.
“Because it’s fun!” Nightmare squeaked out.
“Well, it’s fun for me-… HA HA HA let’s change the subject!” Twilight frantically looked around the room for something else to talk about. Her eyes stuck to the portal. “Ah, portal! Yes, um how did, uh… how did you… how did you get the portal in the library, anyways?” Twilight’s curiosity instantly eclipsed her panicking nature at the presentation of a plot hole.
“Oh… uh… that, well.” Nightmare coughed nervously, turning her head away to look at her kingdom. “Right after you left the library. I moved it in, installed the hidden door, and was able to catch up with you and your friends before you were in the forest for more than a couple minutes… Your dragon is a heavy sleeper by the way.”
Twilight giggled knowingly. “You should try waking him up some mornings…”
The princess fidgeted with her hooves, looking at a nearby piece of tile. “So did you… did you mean what you said?” Nightmare asked, almost masking hope in her voice.
“Umm… what part?” Twilight asked looking at a different tile on the opposite side of the balcony.
“The part about wanting to see the stars all the time,” The princess murmured.
“Uh… well, I… yeah, I have wished a couple times that the stars and the night sky would last-” A large squealing princess interrupted Twilight.
Nightmare laughed giddily, grabbing Twilight and flying straight up into the air, spinning wildly. The moon princess’s hair spun out into a beautiful blue corona that spread through the night sky as the duo rose higher. “Haha, Don’t you see Twilight! That is exactly what I’m doing here. I want to share my night with everypony! All the time! You understand me don’t you!”
Twilight screamed.
“Oh hush, you big baby” Nightmare teased, stopping her accent and slowly returning to the balcony. “I haven’t even done anything to make you scream yet,” Nightmare giggled, her good mood returning.
Twilight flopped out of Nightmare’s hooves once they were close enough to the balcony and hugged the cold stone floor. “Please… please! Don’t ever do that again,” The unicorn pleaded breathlessly.
“No promises.” Nightmare grinned.
Twilight coughed up a bit of trepidation and calmed her mind. “You… you just wanted the night sky?”
Nightmare nodded happily in reply. “I wanted everypony to have it!”
Twilight paused, still looking away from the princess. “So, let me get this straight... You were locked in the moon for a thousand years, took over a country, and mind wiped your own sister… so people could see the night sky all the time?”
Nightmare couldn’t see Twilight’s face, but the princess could imagine what it looked like. “It- it’s not exactly like that!” A bit of anxiety nipping on edge of the moon princess’s voice.
Twilight turned on the alicorn, glaring at her dark form. “Well, then why don’t you tell me what it is exactly like!”
“I… I just wanted ponies to appreciate the night…” Nightmare conceded, lowering her head dejectedly.
“That’s it!?” Twilight yelled, a small flame spurted from the side of her hair. “I read your story, but I didn’t think it was word for word! You’re so… you’re…”
“The queen!” Nightmare yelled back, wisps of her own hair whipping wildly.
“No! You’re a spoiled princess who thinks you can always get your way!”
“I will always get my way! I deserve it, I worked hard! You can’t even fathom how hard I worked to create the night sky! And nobody even cared… nobody appreciated… That’s never going to happen again. And nobody is going to stop me or stand in my way!”
“Not even your sister apparently! Who knew blood wasn’t as thick as selfishness!” Twilight chided, her hair licking up in spurts of red and orange.
Nightmare flinched “Th- that’s not-! Celestia just didn’t understand! Nopony does, and neither do you!” Nightmare sneered at the purple pony.
Twilight closed her eyes and screamed through her teeth. “I understand perfectly well!” The unicorn’s hair subsided with a sizzle, a small pillar of smoke lifting from her hair. “I understand perfectly well,” Twilight growled as she turned away from Nightmare and began walking back to the portal.
“Wh- where are you going?!” Nightmare demanded.
“Where does it look like?” Twilight jeered, not bothering to look back. “I’m going home…”
“You… better show up before sunrise tomorrow!” the alicorn called after her.
“How could I ever refuse you, princess~” the unicorn responded sarcastically.
“That’s Quee-” Nightmare was cut off as Twilight entered through the portal.
Nightmare slumped onto the railing of the balcony... Alone again, huh?
Twilight entered her library tree house, quite literally fuming. Ok Twilight, just calm down, the unicorn thought to herself. I’m with my friends now, away from that selfish brat, let’s just enjoy tonight. And then I’ll find a way to return Celestia to her- Oh my Celestia!! Twilight was not expecting this.
“WHYYY?! APPLEJACK WHYYYYY?!?” Rarity cried, holding a limp Applejack in her hooves. It looked like a bomb had gone off in the library. The room was a complete mess; ruined decorations, furniture, and ponies were laid haphazardly around building.
“Rarity!?” Twilight screamed in panic. “What happened?!”
The white unicorn promptly dropped Applejack with a thud, looking up at Twilight as if she’d seen a ghost. “Dear me… Twilight, um…” Rarity looked around the room nervously. “Pinkie’s game, may~ have gotten just a tad bit out of hand.”
A bubbly hiccup could be heard from the corner of the room behind a large cushiony upside-down sofa. A set of Pink hooves slung over the side of the upturned couch were the only visible parts of the very same exuberant party pony mainly responsible for the mess. A speedster cyan pony’s hooves were similarly situated on the sofa; though less visible as the pink ones were lying on top of them. It’s also worth noting that the sofa was definitely not a furnishing that adorned the library earlier that day.
A muffled groan sounded from the other side of the room. “Twilight…? Is- is that you?” Sunny managed to mumble while stumbling out of a pile of pillows. Nearly tripping over the cushions the sun princess looked like she could barely hold herself up. Sunny’s coordination was inhibited in most part from a large tube that completely covered her head and rose a couple feet into the air. A small unconscious dragon stuck out the other side. “Heh… heh… I’m a giraffe~” the alicorn blearily informed the wall next to Twilight. “Twilight… what’s a giraffe?”
Twilight blinked. She had seen and experienced too much these last couple days. The scene hardly fazed her in the slightest. “Well… it looks like you guys had fun,” the unicorn smirked at the fidgeting Rarity.
The white unicorn laughed apprehensively, looking around the room. “Yes, I suppose we did.”
“What were you doing when I came-”
“Just look at the time! I really must be off.” Rarity dashed for the door. “I’ll be sure to come by tomorrow morning to help clean up! Oh-!” The unicorn gasped, running back to the unconscious Applejack, grabbing the blond pony’s tail with her teeth. “And I’ll be taking this with me. Toodles~” Rarity said through the hair, then dashed out the door once again, dragging the orange earth pony behind her.
Twilight smiled and shook her head. “Over here Sunny, let’s get Spike off your head and get to bed, shall we?” The unicorn magically lifted the tubing off of Sunny’s head with a pop.
“Oh my” The princess said, blinking in the new light flooding her eyes. “Twilight! I have been having so much fun!” Sunny exclaimed, stumbling on the floor a bit. The alicorn shook her head to clear most of the wooziness. “Does having friends always mean this much fun?!”
“Well… I’m not exactly the best person to ask… yet,” Twilight giggled, a determined smirk on her face. “But I’d say most of tonight’s success should be credited to Pinkie Pie”
Another hiccup resounded from behind the couch.
“Let’s… just leave them there for now,” The unicorn smiled, raising an eyebrow in the couch’s direction before looking around the room again. “Hey, where’s Fluttershy? Did she go home already?”
“Fluttershy…” Sunny stared at Twilight for a moment in thought. The pony quickly froze and slowly lifted her head up to the ceiling.
Twilight quietly did the same. Fluttershy appeared to be unconscious and suspended by her tail, which tied around the ceiling fan, which was also a new furnishing that wasn’t in the house prior. The pegasus pony was peacefully being spun around the room by the ends of the propellers, making a quiet squeak whenever the pony got to a certain point on the circulation. The fan wasn’t the one that was squeaking. “Huh…” the unicorn said without an ounce of surprise. “You’ll have to tell me how this game is played while we get everyone comfortable.”
Sunny scampered up the last of the stairs and jumped excitedly into the bedroom. “-And that’s when it just flew out of the room!”
“Uh-huh,” Twilight said as if dealing with an excited little filly, which she was. The unicorn drudged up the rest of the stairs, an unconscious Spike resting on her back. “I’m… glad you’re having fun Sunny,” The purple pony managed to say with only a twinge of dejection in her voice.
“Oh, I am Twilight! Having friends… having friends is just the best thing ever!” The alicorn proclaimed gleefully, jumping up to the bed in the corner of the room and giving it a couple bounces. Sunny paused for a moment to look around the room. “So, where am I going to sleep?” The princess asked innocently.
Twilight rested Spike in his basket and pulled the covers up to his neck to tuck him in lovingly before turning to Sunny. “Well, with Fluttershy using the extra bed and my new… sofa being used by Pinkie and Rainbow, this is the last bed in the tree. We’ll just have to bunk together tonight” The unicorn stated absentmindedly.
Sunny immediately blushed and turned away, her hooves rubbed against each other anxiously. “Twilight, you…
“Yes, Sunny?”
“You aren’t going to… ‘ravage’ me are you?” the sun princess squeaked out.
“I- what! No!”
“It’s just… it did look a little fun with you and… sis. I don’t think I’m close enough to you, like you said before, for us to do that sort of thing. But- but if you really want to, I mean, I guess I can-”
“Wait! Stop! That’s not what that word means” Twilight said, completely frazzled. Well at least it’s good to know I can still be surprised. I was worried there for a while, the unicorn thought, a bit relieved by the notion. “Just make sure you only say that to somepony you’re very, very close to.”
“How do I know when-”
“Ah! Wait, sorry! No, never say that to anypony ever!” Twilight quickly corrected herself. “Let’s just… let’s just get some sleep,” The unicorn said, exhausted once again from her busy day. The unicorn quietly situated Sunny and herself in bed and quickly drifted off to sleep. Or, at least she tried to.
“Hey, Twilight?” Sunny called, turning to face the unicorn.
Twilight sighed and turned to face the alicorn. “Yeah, Sunny?”
“I’m not tired.”
“Have you tried counting gems?” The purple pony suggested.
“Huh?”
“Wait, nevermind. I never got around to testing that, did I… Well, how about a story?” Twilight offered hopefully.
“Oh yes that would be wonderful!” The alicorn commented happily, dipping her face half-way below the covers so only the top of her head and eyes poked out.
“Okay then, what to tell… what to tell…” The unicorn pondered. “Oh! How about I give you your very first friendship report!”
“Yeah!”
“Well then. Let’s start at the beginning. Now, I wasn’t exactly the most social of ponies, rather, I wasn’t social at all. I was too preoccupied with my studies of magic to have time for anything else. Well, one day in my studies, I stumbled across a book…”
“… And you know what lesson I learned that day, Sunny?”
Sunny blearily shook her head, her half-lidded eyes making it apparent she was ready to fall asleep at any moment.
“I learned that your friends will always be beside you to help you out… always be… beside” Twilight stopped, feeling the dampness of a tear rolling down her cheek. A much cherished memory surfaced to the front of Twilight’s mind. She was crying then, too…
“What’s wrong, my little pony?” A large white figure knelt down beside a bawling little purple filly that was nearly completely encased by a small fort of books.
“P- Princess…” The small unicorn cried, attempting to sniffle back her tears in the presence of her idol. “Th- the other ponies… they keep teasing me!”
“Whatever for, my faithful student?”
“B- because I read too many books!” The small filly looked down, a bit of her sadness replaced by anger, though her tears kept falling.
“You cannot simply run away when you are faced with a problem, Twilight Sparkle,” The large pony began levitating the books surrounding the filly away. “But that does not mean you have to face that problem alone.” The alicorn spread her wing to cover the filly in a warm, feathery embrace. “You will have friends beside you one day to help you.”
Twilight sniffled. “And… and you, princess?”
“… Yes… yes Twilight, I will be beside you…”
“… Always” Twlight breathed out the last word. The tears were flowing from her just as much as they had on that day. Twilight lowered head onto the now soundly sleeping Sunny. I’m sorry princess… I’m so, so sorry. You’re gone, and it’s all my fault. I’ll keep your memories alive… beside me, forever. “… You gave me my very first book that day,” The unicorn whispered, again revisiting her memory. The only place left where she could see her beloved Princess Cele-
“You were so small then.”
Twilight fell backwards off the bed with a thud. “S- Sunny?!” Twilight whispered loudly in disbelief.
The sun princess’s eyes were still closed, still in a deep state of sleep. “Introduction to Sorcery… such a big book for such a small filly,” Sunny mumbled and giggled before turning over, away from Twilight.
Twilight was dumbstruck, staring blankly at the back of the alicorn’s head. She… she remembered… she remembered. She remembered! She remembered! She remembered! I don’t know how but she did! Twilight’s thoughts floundered over each other upon her discovery. I don’t know how she did but she did! Was it the story I told her? Could friendship be the key to restoring Celestia’s memories? Was it my memory that did it? Can mind magic work like that? Wait, but I didn’t use any magic, that’s not how magic works. Could it have been-mmmmmMMMYesss yes yes yesyesyesYESSSS! Twilight jumped around the room in joy. She didn’t know how, but she was going to get her teacher back! But first she was going to sleep. These days are getting more and more exhausting.
Nightmare Moon tapped on the side of the balcony impatiently. Where is that pony?! The princess thought angrily to herself. She better show up! If she doesn’t show up I’ll… I’ll… remove all of her hair! An evil smirk formed on Nightmare’s face. Yesss that’ll show her. She will be so naked. She’ll rue the day she dared oppo-
Twilight trotted through the portal, chipper and raring to start the new day. “Good morning Nightmare Moon~” The unicorn called in a sing-song voice
“Oh, um… good morning… Sparkle” Nightmare replied, a bit unsure of Twilight’s new jubilant attitude. “What… what are you so happy about?”
“Well, it’s a brand new day of course! Why wouldn’t I be happy?” Twilight beamed a heart-meltingly warm smile at her mistress.
Nightmare only became even more unnerved. “…Riiiiight, well, uh… you’re a good little slave for coming” the princess attempted to goad the unicorn.
Twilight didn’t flinch at all, her smile was unfaltering. How couldn't she smile. The unicorn had just found hope to return Celestia to her rightful place as princess, and of course, teacher.
“Heh…” Nightmare laughed nervously. “So, where’s Sunny?”
“Oh, she partied a little too hard last night, so I’m letting her sleep in today.” She just kept smiling. “So are we going to raise the new sun or what?” Twilight asked innocently.
“Yes… of course…” Nightmare slowly turned out to the grand view the balcony revealed, and lit her horn. The alicorn shone bright and the night whipped around them in a repeat of the first morning Twilight had spent with Nightmare. It was just as beautiful and awe inspiring as it was the first time. Less poets wrote about it this time though. Nightmare finished her chore as the moon-sun began rising in the sky, shining brightly against the black backdrop of the night. “Phew!” Nightmare exclaimed, wobbling a bit. “That was much easier the second time around.”
“Hey, you never did explain how you managed to get such a bright celestial body in the sky, and keep the stars visible behind it,” Twilight’s smile fell as she was once again placed in front of an enticing puzzle.
“Pffft,” Nightmare chided. “It’s magic, I ain’t gotta’ e-” Nightmare was interrupted by the cold stone floor of the balcony that rushed up to meet her. The alicorn laid unmoving, sprawled on the ground.
“Whoah!” Twilight winced. “Nightmare, are you ok?” Twilight moved closer to the dark princess. “Uh… Nightmare?” The pony tentatively asked again with no response. Twilight knelt down next to Nightmare and slowly lowered her ear down to the princess’s chest. The uncorn’s coat turned a few shades whiter as she jumped up in panic. She looked around the room wildly before turning again down to the unmoving form of Nightmare Moon. Shaking her head, Twilight decisively lit her horn with a large charge of magic and jabbed it into the princess’s chest. Nightmare’s body jolted. Twilight lowered her ear back to the princess’ chest. The purple pony lit her horn again, brighter this time and jabbed again. Nightmare’s body jolted once more, followed by coughs and wheezing as the dark princess pulled her cooling hooves in closer to her body. Twilight fell to the floor, relief, and fatigue from such large spells filling her.
Nightmare coughed and groaned, looking up through bleary eyes at Twilight. “… what were we-” she coughed. “-talking about?”
Twilight looked down at the fallen princess with a mixture of utter shock and boiling anger. “Nightmare… WHAT THE FLYING HORSEFEATHER?!”
Nightmare coughed again. “You kiss your princess with that mouth?” The princess groaned out, and fell over.
End Chapter 5