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// Mare of the Night Time 
// Story: Music of the Night 
// by Aegis Shield 
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Music of the Night Part 6: Mare of the Night Time

Princess Luna’s twin guards had not dared to enter the secret passage in over a week. Her angry orders had been handed out, and the Winter Lunar Ball was well under way for its debut. The two stallions, however, lingered in front of a particular section of featureless wall between two columns. Their mistress was gone to a place they could not follow without her consent, and they silently distressed day and night. But, there was nothing they could do until—! 
The section of wall slid away suddenly, a secret switch having been pulled someplace. They stood shoulder to shoulder, then looked at each other with raised brows. A whisp of cold air rushed up to meet them, and they shuddered just a little. Checking over their shoulders that nopony was watching, they descended into darkness and the wall closed behind them.

From shadow, Princess Celestia watched them go. She didn’t move from where she stood at the corner, carefully hidden by magic from any observer. Her mouth, for the first time in a long time, was a neutral line. She’d not seen her sister in too many nights. Although the moon still rose and fell each night like it was suppose to, Luna’s sudden absence concerned her. Luna was the only pony in existence that could truly hide from Celestia. Then again, they were both goddesses, so it took one to hide from one. She chose not to go down the secret passage. If her sister wanted her privacy for a time, surely it had to do with her upcoming ball. Since costumes were a must, she was more than likely working hard on her own. Celestia didn’t like the silence, but if her sister was doing something that made her happy, who was she to interrupt? “Hmm.” She said, going back to her own chambers as her guards flanked her.

Below, many stairs later, Luna’s twin escorts emerged into her lower chambers. They peered about, for the place was drowned in shadow. Meek candles held the blackness only barely at bay, and the fireplace looked cold and disused. “You came, go-ooood…” glowing green eyes appeared in the darkness, and the cooing voice had an icy chill to rival the deepest winters. Both stallions stood at attention, then bowed low with folded wings. Out of the blackness emerged Nightmare Moon, in full regalia. Not Princess Luna. Silver sparkles of candlelight shone from her newly minted armor. It had taken a long time to return it to its former glory, much less to make it fit her again. “Rarity is trying to take somepony that rightfully belongs to me.” She told them, earning satisfying frowns from both. Who would dare keep something from their princess? “Because of this, I must accelerate my initial plans.” Her serpent-like pupils dilated a little. “When the Winter Lunar Ball occurs, I am counting on you to ensure that nopony interferes.” They nodded obediently at the rather vague orders. 

When both stallions straightened, they gasped aloud, having finally gotten a good look at her. “Mistress—!” One of them said, leaning back and lifting a hoof in mild panic.

“The unicorn Rarity has angered me.” Nightmare Moon growled to both of them, startling them back into the stoic at-attention pose expected of them. “No doubt stirring this— development.” She gestured vaguely to herself, looking over into a mirror. “All the better that my ball will be for costumes. Nopony will know the difference until it is far too late and Cleff is all mine.” She smirked at the idea. “If he does not love me, I shall make him love me.” Two fangs that had not been there a moment ago grew in her mouth, though she did not notice. “Now, go to Ponyville and distract Rarity for a bit. Cleff is mine.” She raised a hoof to command them both. The gauntlet on her long leg shimmered with an icy light, then SLAMMED upon the ground and spider-webbed cracks in several directions.

“Yes, Princess!” both stallions said in unison, wings leaping open to do her bidding.

=-=-=-=

Rarity had a grand idea that evening. It was far too cold outside, and the cold weather tended to depress some ponies. So, she decided that she would host a picnic for all of her friends right there in her own boutique! With a roaring fire and season-appropriate foods, of course, but the windows might even steam up when she made it feel like spring inside her home. “A marvelous idea!” she clucked, going and nosing around in her closet. She found her picnic basket. “Why, I could have this ready tonight and invite everypony over tomorrow for a luncheon!” She trotted about, congratulating herself and beginning to move furniture to make space. When it looked like there was enough room, she went to her pantry and frowned. “Why, I haven’t any food to serve a large group!” she said, “I’ll need to do my shopping quickly, before all the shops close tonight.” Turning, she put on her saddlebags and grabbed her picnic basket to carry bread in. “An inside picnic will be just charmi—!” she stopped on the threshold of her open doorway on the way out of her house.

Two rather terrifying-looking stallions stood there, shoulder to shoulder, frowning at her severely. “Halt.” One barked at her. Rarity leaned back, raising a hoof a little defensively. They were so pale-looking! Their armor was silvery and their expressions angry. Their wings were so strange too, they looked leathery instead of feathered…

“Beg your pardon?” she said, trying to look friendly and not afraid. She left her door open behind her, not sure if she should retreat back into her shop or not.

“You are under house arrest.” Said the other officially, equally frowny-faced at her.

“What?! What for? Under who’s authority?!” Rarity demanded, stepping up to go hoof-to-hoof with the strange pair. They certainly resembled royal guards, but they seemed so dark and distant from the golden, sunny soldiers she was used to seeing. It certainly didn’t help that they were a full head taller than Rarity herself, either. It made it very hard to argue up at them.

“You will stay at these premises until bidden otherwise. Failure to do so will result in… consequences.” Said the left one dangerously, lowering his head to be eye to eye with her. Rarity tried to hide her shudder from him, but the bite of winter wouldn’t let her. He took a small step forward. She stepped back, visibly intimidated. He took another step. She retreated once more. They walked her, backward, into her own home. Reaching with his mouth, the stallion on the right closed her door with a rather harsh slam. Rarity yipped at the sound, then slowly sank in spirits. What was happening? House arrest? But why? Had she done something wrong?

=-=-=-=

Vinyl Scratch surveyed her store. Well, hers and her brother’s. They’d been turning quite a healthy profit since the day Princess Luna had visited them, demanding a record of Cleff’s singing. Now all the ponies in Ponyville considered it the hot spot for all the best music in Equestria. Business was hot, to say the least. Her face was often plastered with a great big grin, she’d hired a couple more ponies to help run the shop, and had even started a scholarship program for young musicians. It was just that good around the Vinyl’s Beats store these days.

Currently, the store-owning, disc-jockeying mare was behind the counter. As be usual she was nodding her head with a big smile, her ears held in a nice set of headphones as Celestia-knew-what pounded at her. Many talked that she might be deaf someday at that rate, but she didn’t care. She loved music. Of course, the happy feeling was lost when her door flew open and a tall, intimidating figure whacked its horn on the chime above the door. The chime was torn apart by magic, melting into ashes and then blowing away. Green eyes accented the black shadow, and Vinyl pulled her headphones off as it approached. “H-hello?” she tried, her voice quivering. Slowly, the customers that were in the stacks and stacks of music looked up and were paralyzed by fear.

Massive wings snapped open and a visible shudder of magic went through the building. The figure’s great head turned left, then right. Then, the serpentine eyes settled on Vinyl Scratch, the only one to speak. The figure’s hoof raised, and then lowered in an easy gesture. “Sleep.” She hissed softly. Everypony in the store dropped like a stone, flopping over onto their sides and unconscious. Nightmare Moon fully emerged into the light at last. The door slammed behind her and the locks clicked into place. The shades of the windows pulled, and buttoned themselves at the sills. The alicorn walked slowly along the tiles, eyeing the aisles of music for a moment, and the handful of ponies laying in them. Casting her eyes upward towards the bedrooms on the second floor, she smirked wryly. It was very quiet. Nightmare Moon mounted the stairs gracefully, sweeping up them and into the hall upstairs. Forcing the lock with magic, she found a little living area and adjoining kitchen. Then the bedrooms. She saw one plain one and one decorated one. She chose the plain one, for the blind would never need to decorate much beyond the functional.

Nightmare Moon pushed the door gently open, and found Cleff asleep in bed under the covers. Smiling, she melted into the room soundlessly and left the door open. Raising a dainty hoof, she surveyed his room with interest. Simple furniture, all of his things placed just so, plenty of personal records in his own collection on a shelf… nothing really very unexpected. She eyed the clothes in the closet, and noted with interest the little tags that were on each. Clipped to each article of clothing was a little metal tag that read what the item was, and then had a series of dots under it. Things like ‘blue suit’ and ‘orange tie’ had a little chain of raised bumps under them. Ah, that was how he dressed himself. Clever! Nightmare Moon saw herself in his mirror, scowling without realizing it. Shaking her head a bit, she returned to the topic at hand: her dear stallion Cleff. She had forgiven him for his transgression with Rarity already, knowing herself how easy it was to sway male desires. But what they had was deeper than that. They’d shared music together, and shared the night. Just the two of them. Nothing could be more sacred. Nightmare Moon did not know what scheming Rarity had done to snatch fair Cleff’s heart, but it could not have been good.

The Princess of the night loomed over Cleff, blocking out any moonlight that was streaming in the window. He slept deeply, his black glasses set to one side near a clock with no face glass on it. She smiled slowly, merely stopping a moment to admire his innocence and handsomeness as he slept. Her massive hoof came up and stroked him just once. Then, she began weaving a complex web of magic around him. Back and forth went the strands, back and forth until the pattern was so complex even the arch-mages of the royal academy would have no idea where to start. Smile and twitching her horn just so, she pricked him with a tinkle of midnight’s magic to wake him. “Cleff Scratch.” She whispered softly, spreading her wings wide in a slow and loving greeting of adoration. “Rise.” She lifted her hoof slightly, and deep within Cleff’s mind the spell she’d woven went off. His eyes flicked open.

Cleff sat up like a zombie, his dead eyes staring at nothing at all. His ruffled mane pressed to one side, he cocked his head to listen for her. “It’s you isn’t it?” he whispered to the night. “The Night Mare.”

Luna chuckled, admiring the irony of the name he’d given her. “Yes, dear one.” She cooed softly, leaning over his bed and nuzzling him quietly.

He leaned instinctively into her advances, still half-asleep and already feeling rather heady. Had she broken into his home? Where had she been all these months, how did she—“Ouuh-h-h…” he gave a quick pant when her fangs draped across his neck, igniting the nerves playfully. He could think not of what to do but sing quietly as she pulled him bodily from his bed:

In sleep she sang to me, in dreams she came,
That voice which called to me, that strokes my mane,
And do I dream again? For now I find—
The Mare of the Nighttime is here, inside my mind.

He could feel himself being pulled along towards the sitting room, gently led by a power far greater than he could grasp. The hoof-falls sounded metallic. Was she wearing something heavy and metal on her legs? A slight brush against her side told of some sort of armor. The cool touch of the metal made him tingle slightly, and he shivered away. She turned her head with a slow and seductive smile. Her wings blanketed out, ensnaring him in its warm feathery embrace. She joined him in a louder, more firm voice as she led him down the stairs and out of the shop:

Sing once again for me, our strange duet!
My power over you, grows stronger yet!
And though you shrink from me, to leave me behind,
The Mare of the Nighttime is there, inside your mind.

Magic slowly coursed through all of Cleff’s very being, warming him as they stepped outside into the cold and icy night. He flushed at the press of her body to his. He heard the hiss of retreating ice during every single one of her hoof-steps. Was she magical? He could not tell. All he knew was that a certain glaze was coming over his mind, like he were about to fall asleep but just couldn’t quite do it. His senses blurred just a bit, and he followed her wonderful voice into shadow. He could not help but cock his head at her to ask:

Those who have seen your face, draw back in fear?
Is there a mask you wear, sweet voice I hear?
Your spirit and my voice, in one combi—ned,
The Mare of the Nighttime is here, inside my mind.

They both knew he questioned the day she’d jerked away from his probing hooves. He was started to suspect, she knew. But by the time he’d pieced it all together the night's embrace would’ve closed around him entirely, so it mattered little. She stopped a moment on a bowed bridge to nuzzle him, one wing extended over his entire back. Cleff swooned as though drunk or still half-asleep, sighing out a little cloud of steam.

You’re there! The Mare of the Nighttime!
Ahh-hh—

Cleff could find no passionate words and instead fell to a siren-like cry of pure, unadulterated song. Nightmare Moon gasped openly, as though she’d suddenly been set upon by a virile stallion. Careful not to stagger and break the stallion’s trance she held, she moaned to him, “Sing, my stallion of music!” Having stopped on the bridge, she had only a thin railing to lean on and little else. Cleff drew breath, going up one step for another great and shiver-enducing cry of song. “Sing, my stall-ion—” Luna whined out in a husky voice, as though in the throughs of passion. Her wing tightened around him as though they’d tumbled into bed together. She was careful not to squeeze him and ruin his song, but it was all she could do not to take him right there on the bridge. “Sing, for me—” she swooned with a reddening face. Cleff suddenly leapt up onto the thin railing, walking along it in his magic-enduced trance and lifting his voice higher! “Sing, for ME!” Nightmare Moon demanded in a desperate, panting gasp. It was too much, but she didn’t want to go back. Her back knee’s knocked together and her flanks sank down. Her god-like powers quavered as his song back-lashed into her spell and took her over instead. Entranced, Luna was upon her knees before her stallion. “Sing my stallion! SING FOR ME!” the Royal Canterlot Voice concussed the night and a tight grouping of trees had the snow blasted off of them. She was so close, it was exactly like—

Ahh-hh—!

Something in Cleff snapped. Perhaps it was his unicorn blood. Perhaps it was his passion for song. Maybe even that his entire body was laced with Nightmare Moon’s seductive magic. But, something deep inside him cracked and pressed his voice to the next height of heights. With a passionate, furious bellow, the Royal Canterlot Voice imploded from his chest like it was his own! A non-alicorn, wielding the voice of the gods!

Snow rushed away from the pair in a great ring. Every window in Ponyville exploded from its frames. Every building shuddered. Every single resident was startled awake and Fluttershy hit her own ceiling with a powerful panic attack. The Princess of the Night purred a quiet, syrupy sound, leaning on the railway to recover for a few precious seconds. She pushed her mane behind her ear, a giggly smile rising across her face. She’d lost a few feathers in her… moment. Nightmare Moon marveled at him with shock and joy— until he crumpled to the ground, exhausted and unconscious. “Such talent, my dear one. But mortal ponies should not use the voice of the gods.” She whispered lovingly, nuzzling his mane a few times with her nose. Cleff moaned, laying there in the snow. She turned her head, eyeing the streets that were rapidly filling with ponies looking for the cause of the impressive disaster. “I’ll expect you at the Winter Lunar Ball, Cleff.” Licking his cheek rather lovingly, she pressed a hoof-written invitation into his pajama hat where it would not be seen. “Do not disappoint me.” With that, Nightmare Moon’s wings snapped open and she launched herself skyward, leaving the ponies of Ponyville to figure things out. Before she was even out of sight, she saw Cleff had been discovered by the crowd. They would take care of him, until it came time for her next move.

When her twin guards joined her in the sky, she was a little off put by the long pink yarn-ball that had mysteriously tangled itself over one of the stallions. Rarity was not a happy prisoner, but she’d been contained nicely. Nightmare Moon nodded happy acknowledgement to both of them as they began the flight back to Canterlot. Everything was going according to plan.

End of Part 6