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// Oppertunities 
// Story: Entwined 
// by janushyde 
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A day had passed since Nightmare Mon had made contact with Twilight in her dreams and so far things had been going swimmingly.  Twilight had spent most of the following day deep in thought reconsidering her place in life and even began to ponder on some long term goals rather than stay content with the short term joys of life in Ponyville.

However things didn’t stay quiet for long, the second day after first contact Twilight and Spike were out in one of Ponyville’s parks practicing some transfiguration magic when Pinkie Pie made herself known through her antics, which included darting around conspicuously and wearing a rather outlandish umbrella hat. 

After capturing her attention and receiving an odd explanation about the motivation behind her oddly cautious behavior Nightmare set to work. Don’t be so quick to judge remember it was this kind out of outright dismissal that landed us in so much trouble with the Poison Joke. She advised. Who knows this could even lead to a whole new field of magic to study.She proposed hoping to spark twilight's intrest in the subject.

If this Pinkie sense is indeed what I expect it to be than I have been underestimating Pinkie Pie. This type of expression of bardic power is incredibly rare it was almost unheard of even in my own time; however given her nature as the bearer of the element of laughter I should have seen a surprise like this coming. The real issue however is that Pinkie is unable to fully utilize this ability while understandable given it’s extreme rarity this is something of a setback as it limits her ability to turn this power to Twilight’s and by extension my own favor. Nightmare Moon mused to herself as Twilight walked into a ditch while arguing with Spike.

As the day progressed Twilight became more stubborn so Nightmare Moon returned to her work. Is it really so hard to believe that there are types of magic that are unknown to unicorns at large? After all we only know what we do now because of dedicated research, even that can be insufficient at times weather it be because or bias, lost documentation or the knowledge being deemed too dangerous for the public at large to have access to. She admonished her host as the unicorn climbed out of the ditch and began to head back to the library seeming to ignore both Nightmare’s words and Applejack’s inquiry.

Once she had arrived at her destination “I can’t believe I’m doing this, but I won’t risk making the same mistake twice. It just HAD to be prophetic ability, one of the most uncertain branches or magic know to pony kind.” Twilight signed and started to search the stacks for a tome that could hold the answers to this frustrating situation. Within moments she had gathered a small stack of texts on there art of Divination and the pony’s credited throughout Equestrian history as being oracles, prophets, and seers of the future. Once satisfied with her selections Twilight set to work on scouring the texts for the secrets they held.

Hours had passed and while Twilight had refreshed her knowledge of many great prophets and seers, yet none of them seemed to share Pinkie’s method of prediction. Though each prophet did seem to have their own favored method; some read tea leaves, others gazed into a basin of water in the moonlight, others still used more gruesome methods like reading the entrails of dead animals, some simply found what they sought through their dreams or meditative trances. However Pinkie pie’s method seemed more akin to channeling a spirit rather than just gazing into what had yet to be. “Still no confirmation on Pinkie sense though I did learn more about ritual and artifact magic so I guess this wasn’t a total waste of time.” Twilight murmured to herself as she settled down for a quick nap, hoping that some rest would leave her refreshed and ready to resume her work later.

You have no idea how close you came to finding your answer without realizing it my dear host, perhaps I’ll inform you of the true nature of Pinkie’s abilities once you fully trust me. Nightmare pondered she was getting ready to go delving into Twilight’s dreams when the door to the library burst open revealing Applejack and Pinkie Pie, the latter of the two rushing up to Twilight and began to shake her in a panic!  Startling Twilight from her slumber, and almost making her fall off the couch she was resting on.

“Twilight hurry my Pinkie sense is telling me that something awful is going to happen at Froggy Bottom Bog!” She exclaimed

It took a few seconds for Twilight to process Pinkie’s rushed warning. When the meaning of the words sunk in her eyes widened as she realized what this could mean if Pinkie was right, while she was still reluctant to put her faith in Pinkie sense she wasn’t so sure of herself as to risk Fluttershy’s life. “What! But that’s where Fluttershy is... we’ve got no time to lose!” Twilight exclaimed rolling to her hooves and following the two out the door.

Moments later the trio found themselves at the entrance to the bog where they caught sight of Fluttershy releasing the last of the frogs she had with her into the wetland. Once they spotted her group let a collected sight of relief as she seemed to be in no imminent danger.

Hearing the noise behind her Fluttershy turned around to find out what it was and to her delight she spotted Twilight AppleJack and Pinkie Pie.“Hello everypony it’s nice of you to join me out here but I was just about ready to go home and-“Whatever Fluttershy was going to say next was cut off by a coughing fit brought on because of some caustic green mist that was rising up around them all. As the mist continued to rise it began to choke them all and even caused them to miss a very important detail the sight of four long reptilian necks surfacing from the water around them. 

However they soon discovered they weren’t alone when Pinkie Pie began to shiver violently and the motion caused her to bump into one of the long necks of the hydra that had risen up around them. This was a fortunate turn of events as it alerted the four friends to the danger they had been exposed to. It was only through luck that the four ponies were able to run fast enough to get away from the beast once they had discovered it looming over them.

Twilight quickly spotted a large hill that they could flee to and directed the group that way meanwhile the gears began to turn in Nightmare Moon’s mind. This is quite the opportunity a chance to test her skill and worthiness to be my host. With just a few carefully chosen words I can coax her to take a decisive action that will both save the life of her friends and be a way to drive a wedge between her and Celestia. Nightmare schemed without another word she set to work.

We have to take action here, getting to safety is a priority yes. Yet is that enough, how do we know this hydra will just go back to sleep after all is said and done? There is a good chance it could follow us back to Ponyville, or worse yet get lost trying to follow us and stumble across another town. She informed letting the possibilities play out in Twilight’s mind as she reached the top of the hill where Pinkie Fluttershy, and Applejack waited for her.

”You girls go ahead and start crossing the gap one at a time I’ll buy you some time!” Twilight exclaimed she then turned around and faced the hydra that was rapidly approaching them Studying it’s movements briefly before rushing forward making use of her smaller size and better mobility to pass right underneath the great beast’s legs as she expected it tried to snap her up during her stunt yet only three of its heads pursued her. This divide in attention and shift in its center of gravity caused it to topple over the result being the lone head that had remained focused on her friends being temporarily flattened by its own bulk.

Twilight used this opportunity to sneak by and began to ascend the hill once more. Yet she kept a careful eye on her soon to be pursuer. This it turned out was a wise idea as once the hydra had righted itself the head that had been flattened seemed to discipline the others snapping and roaring at them apparently this one was the one in charge of the body at large.Good you know what that means, if you were to fell that head the others will follow. Now be quick about it! Nightmare instructed her host using her adrenalin fogged mind to her advantage. Twilight in the heat of the moment agreed and took action she grabbed hold of a large rock with her telekinesis and waited for the hydra to turn her way ignoring the shouts of her friends. Once she had her target in sight she took careful aim and let loose throwing the rock with all her might. The rock roared through the air, soaring with a speed that would make Rainbow Dash proud. Seemingly no sooner had she tossed her weapon than it had struck home in the right eye of the head she had aimed at and to the shock of all around tore out through the back of the beasts’ head and disappeared into the distance as the hydra fell over backward dead before it had hit the ground.

The rest of the day passed as a blur to Twilight, the horrified reactions of her friends, returning to Ponyville, informing the princess about what she had done even going to sleep hours later. None of these things would register with her. Sure she had saved her friend’s lives but at what cost. Did the lives of her and the others outweigh that of the hydra; was it really as big a threat as she believed it to be, would her friends and the princess understand could they forgive her or could she even forgive herself for this? These questions haunted her until sleep crept up on her. 

Nightmare smiled to herself as she guided her host into slumber, chasing away her host’s doubts and questions granting her host a deep sleep full of only the most pleasant of dreams that night. While she had planned to delve into Twilight’s dreams each night she had to amend her plans some. Right now Twilight didn’t need Doubt what she needed was validation that her actions were just and what better way to do so than to grant her a peaceful night full of pleasant dreams to sooth her troubled mind?

For the next week Nightmare Moon let Twilight rest at ease, granting her easy slumber and beautiful dreams. In her host'a waking hours she would whisper soothing words of reassurance even as her friends acted a bit reserved around her and Celestia’s response weighed upon her.  

Then one day as Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack  were helping her reorganize the library something came up to distract Twilight from the events that had been plaguing her. Rainbow Dash came crashing into the tree shaking the freshly sorted books from their shelves and undoing in seconds what had taken the four mare’s hours to do.  Once Fluttershy had arrived and explained the reason why Rainbow had clolided with the tree this time, Informing Twilight of the competition that the athletic Pegasus had been gearing up for along with the trick she intended to use as her coup de grace. Bah, a stream of colored light and they go gaga, yet when I arrange the stars as a beautiful tapestry of points of light and contrasting darkness my work is shunned. Typical mortals had I over indulged in color I’m sure that I would have gained the adoration of the masses. Nightmare grumbled to herself before she could begin another triad though Rarity began to prompt Twilight to find a spell that would allow the wingless members of the sextet to come to Cloudsdale and cheer her on. 

Within short order Pinkie Pie had tossed a book to twilight and instructed her to turn to page Twenty-seven. Upon turning to the aforementioned page both host and hosted widened their eyes in surprise. Deadalus woven wings? The fool was allowed to publish this deathtrap’ Nightmare inquired as Twilight set about casting the spell on Rarity. As if the impressive light show wasn’t telling enough Twilight’s shortness of breath soon put a halt on any thoughts of casting this spell on the rest of the group. All was not lost though, when within the same book on a different page a spell that allowed for cloud walking was found and cast in short order as it would be far less taxing on the lavender unicorn.

Sometime later the five friends found themselves seated in the stands waiting for the competition to begin. Witch it did after Celestia and the judges made their arrival within the stadium. Soon the contest was well under way with talented fliers from across Equestria strutting their stuff. Some like number Seven performed daring displays or acrobatics and agility others like number Nine displayed speed that made the heart pump and the jaw drop. However the biggest surprise was contestant Thirteen she was a griffon and not just any griffon but it was Gilda an old friend of Dash’s. her performance was astounding with a grace that seemed impossible for her frame and a precision timing that allowed her to pull out of seemingly fatal dives she wowed the spectators with her impressive display.

As impressive as her performance had been though Gilda wasn’t the center of attention. No that was Rarity who had finally immerged to perform in a combination of elegant dancing and outlandish costume and makeup. However what really wowed the crowd was the colorful display of the sunlight shining through her wings. The wonder was cut short however when the heat of the sunlight burned her artificial wings and sent her plummeting to her doom. 

Tragedy was averted on this day by Rainbow Dash finally performing a Sonic Rainboom. Fortune smiled upon Dash this day as she was awarded the grand prize. During her brief meeting with the group Princess Celestia seemed to be eying Twilight closely. Scan all you want dear Sister, you couldn’t spot me within Luna nor shall you do so within Twilight. Nightmare boasted to herself as Celestia’s piercing gaze was unable to detect her presence once more.

Twilight however lost her good cheer when she saw Gilda slinking out of the stadium seemingly forgotten by the crowd. “Would you girls mind waiting a little longer, there’s something I’d like to do before we leave?” She inquired after receiving a nod of acceptance from her friends Twilight raced out after Gilda. It took a few minutes for persistent tailing but the griffon finally seemed to give up on shaking her tale and stopped near the entrance of an alley.

“Well dweeb, you got my attention what do you want? Have you come to throw my failure in my face, or are you here to try and me out of this town like your pink friend did in Ponyville.” She barked out clearly upset at the disturbance of her solitude.

“Not at all, in fact I wanted to congratulate you, your performance it was simply, stellar! I also wanted to introduce myself seeing how we didn’t get a chance to talk back in Ponyville. My name is Twilight Sparkle and it’s a pleasure to meet you!” Twilight beamed extending her hoof toward Gilda.

“Well at least you seem to know talent when you see it. Your one of Dash’s new friends right? So why did you really come to meet me?” She grumbled eyeing Twilight’s hoof uneasily.

“Like I said came to congratulate you and introduce myself. Though I’ll admit I also wanted to talk to you about Rainbow Dash. I know she hurt you but you have to admit you put her in a rough spot making her choose between friends like that.” Twilight said never breaking eye contract with Gilda.

“What do you care she chose you lome-o ponies over me anyway!” Gilda shouted getting ready to take off however Twilight’s next words froze her on the spot.

“I care because I want to be your friend! I wanted to be your friend back at the party, if Rainbow Dash thought so highly of you than you must be a really good griffon! Besides getting to know you would help me get to know Dash better. I bet you have some great stories about your time together in Flight School.” She explained.

Gilda sat down and pondered what Twilight had just told her after a moment she seemed to have made a choice.“Humph, don’t get a sappy on me dweeb. I’ll tell you what though I’ll think about what you said and I’ll look up later once I’ve made my choice. If you’re pulling my leg though I’ll make sure you regret this got it?” She replied taking off once Twilight agreed.
Once back at the balloon she informed her friends that she had gone off to congratulate one of the other competitors and got busy talking explaining her absence to the group. They nodded their acceptance and soon they were off to Ponyville for a good night’s rest.

That night Twilight was ploughed by horrible dreams. Her concern over Rarity’s brush with death was the source of this problem. Each dream was different, sometimes Rainbow dash saved her, mere inches from death other times she didn’t. In the dreams where Rarity didn’t make it her friends turned upon her. They blamed her for casting such an unstable spell on Rarity, for not trying to grab her in mid air with her telekinesis, In one case though by far the most horrible of these dreams they accused her of weakening the spell, after all it was meant to last for three days yet Rarity only had her wings for a few hours before they burnt out by the sun. Twilight got no rest that night.

Upon waking the next day Twilight was weary, tense, and somewhat unfocused. However her mood brightened when she recalled that Zecora had invited her over for tea this afternoon. Just the thought of a good cup of tea and a friend to talk with helped her to relax some and kept her from being as irritble as she could have been.

As she made her way through town to the Everfree forest she was nearly bowled over by the Cutie Mark Crusaders, after regaining her barings she was greeted by Fluttershy, who explained that she was in charge or the trio of trouble makers for the day.I pity her I would rather face the dragon than deal with children for such an extended length of time. Nightmare mused while she suppressed her presence within Twilight’s mind still being cautious when her host was around the soft spoken mare.

After Twilight bid Fluttershy and the crusaders a good day she was back on her way. Nightmare took this opportunity to prod her host a bit.Perhaps we should take her advice; there is a spell that allows one to store items in a small pocket of magic for convenience. It would be wise to have some water and food on hoof in case of an emergency. Better yet having some means to defened ourselves with should the need arise’ Nightmare suggested to her amazement she got a response.

I know the spell you’re talking about Doubt and that does seem like a good idea. While nothing has happened to me in the Everfree yet it could easily turn into a disaster but after the whole ordeal with the hydra I’m not so sure if I should listen to you.’ She replied continuing on her way.

The hydra and its ilk are exactly why we need to take extra precaution not to mention the possibility of getting lost. Nightmare said hoping to sway Twilight to take her advice and build some more trust with the mare.

I know you’re just looking out for me Doubt but I don’t think you need to worry, look we’ve already made it. Twilight chirped pointing out the tree house in the clearing just up ahead. She happily strode up to the dwelling and knocked on the door.

Moments later the door opened revealing a smiling Zecora “Hello Twilight my Friend, upon your timeliness I can always depend.” She greeted standing aside to allow Twilight entrance to her home.

“Thank you Zecora, I’m so glad you invited me over I didn’t get much rest last night and a cup of tea and some good company is just what I need right now.” She said while making her way to the small table in the center of the room where a tea service set awaited the two of them.

“It is no trouble at all, I’m always willing to help with a problem be it big or small.” Zecora replied as she poured some sweet smelling tea into their cups then took a seat across from her friend “So what is it that forbids you sleep, did you get too caught up in counting sheep?” She joked taking a sip from her cup.

“No, it wasn’t that I know some meditation methods for dealing with a restless mind. It was just some nightmares is all.” Twilight began than she proceeded to explain the events of the most recent Young Fliers competition to her Zebra friend who listened to her story intently letting her get the ordeal off her chest, taking sips from her tea when appropriate.

“I see, to me it sounds like you feel guilty. Though I do not think you are to blame for Rarity falling to the allure of fame. As I recall from what you did tell, she was given a warning most fell.  I do not see any fault in you as you had no control over what she would do.” Zecora said as she reached out a comforting hoof to her friend, who gladly accepted the gesture.

“Thank you for listening to me and for the tea.” Twilight began, than she noticed the position of the sun through a window. “Oh my it’s getting late I need to get back to the library, would you be able to drop by next week for tea?” She realized adding the invitation almost as an afterthought.

“Now that it’s denizens bear me no ill will I would love to visit you in Ponyville.” Zecora said with a grin walking Twilight to the door.

Sometime later as Twilight was making her way home through the darkening woods she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. It looked out of place so she turned about to get a better view of what it was, than everything went dark.

The next morning as Twilight was having tea with fluttershy as her softspoken friend filled her in on the events of last night. Nightmare Moon pondered over the information she had just learned. It really is just as I feared; she does indeed have the ability to dominate the wills of others. I wouldn’t put empathy out of the picture either given how well she seems to be able to read the mental state of others at times. While she has limited control over the full extent of her powers for now with time she will only gain contrail. It seems it was indeed the right idea for me to take the precaution of suppressing my presence within Twilight when Fluttershy is around.

Later that day as Twilight was making her way home Nightmare Moon was treated to another surprise her host reached out to her for the first time. You know Doubt I hate to admit it but you were right yesterday I should have taken some precautions before leaving for Zecora’s hut while I still could have run into the cockatrice allthough I might have packed something that could have prevented me from being petrified, like a small mirror. Twilight admitted scuffing a hoof on the ground in deference to her mental companion.

No, need for that, I’m just here to help you out after all. We weren’t able to avoid this mistake but I think that because of this we’ll be more willing to cooperate with each other in the future. Nightmare cooed happily to her host. That night Twilight would once more be treated to a restfull sleep filled with pleasant dreams.