//------------------------------//
// Ponyville 
// Story: The Nightmare in the Moon 
// by Omega Dracomancer 
//------------------------------//

It got increasingly boring at the castle. Luna managed to keep it together, which is always good. I fully expected her to get sick again. I still do. We didn't hang out as much as I hoped we would, though. I guess that didn't matter.

I was laying on my bed, reading. It's been years since I've read this much. I used to get free pizza from Pizza Hut if I read enough for school, so it was Harry Potter day in, day out.

There was nothing else for me to do. I needed to find a hobby or something. Nightmare berated me for being so boring.

At all times, there was at least one guard around me. That really didn't make a difference with nothing to do.

A little while later, just after lunch, I started exploring the grounds. The guards that were following me didn't seem to like it, even though they didn't do anything to stop me. I took a field trip to the dungeons one time. There wasn't anypony down there. Nothing special. I'd probably store a few ponies down here when we took over, so it was nice to know where it was.

I wandered around the castle grounds some more, past some guards who were doing rounds. They glanced at me.

I sat against the tree where Luna fell asleep against me. I saw her watching me from her balcony, and gave her a wave.

I walked around some more, back into the building.

'Nightmare, when we're done here, do I get to live here?'

'Certainly.'

'Cool, cool.'

I went to the library and looked at a few books, then went back outside. I saw the hedge maze in the distance, and from there, I guessed where the hallway that contained the Elements of Harmony were. I saw the stained glass window designs, so I was right.

'Wait... Do Twilight and her friends have them? Celestia said that... Um... They got them... And that... I don't... remember very well. If they have them, then I could just swipe them and hide them. Plan... starting to form. Hmm, good plan. Still, the whole guard situation. I have never felt so determined in my life.'

Luna flew down next to me.

"Good morning, Luna." I said, "How are you?"

"I'm fine. And you?"

"I'm ok."

"We've received a letter from Twilight today." she said, "Here."

I took it and read it. She asked about Luna, and she even wrote about me, although it was kinda long and rambley. Pinkie probably helped her write it.

"It's been a while since you've seen your other friends. Maybe you should pay them a visit."

"Alright. I've been wanting to talk with Twilight about something, anyways."

She nodded. "I'm sure my sister will wish to speak with you before you go. Come with me."

Celestia was in the throne room, looking over a scroll.

"Hello, Phil."

"Hello, Princess."

"Sister, we have decided that he should go back to Ponyville."

"Why is that?"

"He's spent a time away from his other friends. The letter we received said that they were worried about him, and I thought that he should see them again."

"Alright. It's ok with me. However, you'll need to be accompanied. Since you're going to Ponyville, I'll have Shining Armor join you."

He stepped forward, giving me a brief glance.

'Wait, why is he here in the first place? Doesn't he stay in the Crystal Empire with Cadance?' I thought to myself, 'Speaking of, she's also a viable target for that potion.'

"Fine by me, Princess." I said, "I expected you to say something like that."

"Sister, are you going to take him to the station?"

"Yes, I am."

"Alright. Goodbye."

Our little party left for the train station. It came as no surprise to me that Shining Armor was the one that came with. He was about two foot shorter than me, and I was 100% sure that he could kick my ass any day of the week. Twice on Sundays.

"Guess this is it." I said, "I'll see you in a week. Or a few weeks. Or something. Don't get sick while I'm not here. Or preferably, not at all."

"I'll make sure not to."

"Good." I held my arms out.

"What are you doing?"

"C'mon, gimme hugs."

"A hug?"

She glanced at Shining, then back at me. She smiled. "Alright."

I wrapped my arms around her, and she did the same. She held on surprisingly tightly.

I relaxed a little, but she didn't let go. Not that I wanted her to, of course. Hugs are awesome. if someone ever tells you that hugs aren't awesome, you look them right in the eyes and tell them that hugs are awesome.

I could feel her let out a quiet sigh. After a while like this, she finally pulled away and few seconds later said, "Sorry. I've made this awkward, haven't I?"

"No more than usual."

She had an embarrassed look on her face. Ponies had begun to stare at us, even from the train windows.

"I'll see ya later, Luna. We can try out that hug thing again when I get back."

She paused for a little while, then said, "I'd like that."

It didn't seem like it was something she had intended to say, because a look of realization flashed across her face.

"Goodbye."

"See ya, Luna."

We got on the train. Luna remained where she was for a little while, a little shocked at herself. In the end, she just shrugged to herself and went back home.

I sat across from Shining on the train, still thinking that trains rocked. In the words of a man wiser than I, I like trains. In the words of a man with a level of intelligence similar to that of my own, I like tacos.

I stared at him. He didn't really seem to care all that much, though. I'm sure the only reason he was here was because of Twilight.

Nightmare seemed to take an interest in him. At least how to keep him from getting in the way.

I thought about talking to him, but I didn't have anything to say. Probably.

'Man, this sucks. I'm so bored.'

'Quit your whining. I'm worse off than you are. I can't even move myself.'

'Yeah, alright. That potion's gonna be hell to make. I'd like to find a place that we can hide things.'

'We can use my castle.'

'But the bridge is gone.'

'That won't be a problem.'

'If you say so. Still, Celestia is going to be a tough nut to crack. Luna trusts me. Probably. I need a way to prove myself to Celestia.'

'If a chance comes up, I'll do what I can to assist you.'

'Great.'

'We could fabricate an event. Make it seem like you've overcome a great challenge for the ponies.'

'When Twilight tried that, she made the whole town turn against each other. Besides, I don't think we can do that. We're linked a little too closely at the moment. If you really want to, we'll both have to be patient. At least enough so that you can be independent again.'

'The way you talk makes it seem as though you're experienced with this sort of thing.'

'I'm actually not, and that's likely going to be our downfall.'

'We haven't started yet and you're already thinking of failure.'

'There are just... so many things that can go wrong. I haven't done anything like this, and both times that you tried, you've failed. If you want to rule the world, or even just a country, very careful planning is needed.'

'If you had been there to help me at my prime, I would have succeeded.'

'Like you would've listened to me anyways.'

'You're probably right.'

I didn't say a single word to Shining the whole trip. Oh well.

When we arrived, I looked at the clock. 2:00. That's alright. Pinkie was waiting for us when we got to the station. She had a box on her back.

"Phil!"

"Pinkie!"

She jumped on me and hugged me. "How have you been?"

"Pretty good. You?"

She jumped off. "I've been worried. All of us have."

"Yeah, well... Quit it."

"Hungry? I made cupcakes."

"You know me so well." She gave me the box. I grabbed a cupcake and devoured it. "My stomach got angry at me for eating slightly less than normal recently. It was like rawr, grrr, rawr-rawr."

"Don't starve yourself!"

"Shining! Have a cupcake!" I held box out to him and he grabbed one.

"Hello, Pinkie Pie."

"Shining Armor? What are you doing here?"

"He's here to look after me! Man, you've got your work cut out for you. Or... Uh... The phase that means you can be lazy. I don't know it, actually."

"You should've told Twilight you were coming!" said Pinkie.

"I kinda wanted it to be a surprise."

"Well lets go surprise her, then!" I said.

"Phil, I need to have a word with you. In private." he said.

I shrugged. "See ya there, Pinkie. Or not."

"Bye-bye!"

She headed off to wherever she damn well pleased. Because she was Pinkie Pie. She gets to do that kind of thing.

I had a feeling he was gonna say something about Twilight. I grabbed another cupcake and said, "Alright, buddy. What's up?"

"I want to make one thing clear between us. You're probably not gonna get this, so I'll make it simple. If you ever do anything to my sister, I'm going to hurt you."

"Well, duh. I get the feeling that you don't like me."

"I don't."

I stared at him for a few seconds, then shrugged. "Well, whatever. I can't make everypony happy."

I walked to Twilight's house. House-library. Why do these ponies live in their businesses? Damn it, I've confused myself.

Some ponies said hi to me, like I was a normal, everyday thing now. They even knew my name. Jeff... right?

We walked in Twilight's place. Pinkie was already there.

"Hello, Phil. Shining?"

"Hey, Twilight. How have you been?" he said.

"I've been fine. What are you doing here?"

He looked at me, then said, "I'm here to make sure this guy doesn't do anything."

"If he's not supposed to do anything, then you're not doing a very good job." said Pinkie.

"You know what I mean, Pinkie."

"How's Princess Luna doing?" asked Twilight.

"Last I saw she was back to normal."

"That's a relief."

"So how have you been, Phil?"

"I'm fantabulous! A little bored, though."

"Bored?"

"Yeah, whatever. What about you, Twilight? How've you been? Pinkie said you were all worried."

"We are. It was kinda scary seeing Princess Luna like that."

"Yeah, but at least it looks like she's getting better."

"That's wonderful."

"Can I stay here, Twilight? I guess I'm gonna be in Ponyville for a while."

"That's fine."

"What about me?" asked Shining.

"Oh, right. Um..."

"Phil can stay with me." said Pinkie.

"Wait, doesn't he have to guard me?" I said, pointing at Shining, "I think we both gotta stay in the same place."

"I don't have two extra beds." said Twilight.

"Neither do I."

"Huh..."

"Maybe you two could sleep in the same bed." offered Pinkie.

"There's no way I'm sharing a bed with him."

"I guess I'll get the floor, then."

"You don't have to do that. I'm sure we'll think of something."

"Alright."

"Since you're in Ponyville, you should go see everypony else. I'm sure that they'd be happy to hear about Princess Luna's recovery."

"Sounds fun."

"Can I come with?" asked Pinkie.

"Of course. And he can come with, too. Not that he really has a choice in the matter."

I decided to head to Rarity's place first. She was working on something when we walked in. Seemed pretty fancy.

"Hey, Rarity!" I said cheerfully.

"Phil! Shining Armor? When did you get here?"

"Few minutes ago." I said, "How have you been?"

"I've been fine. What about yourself? Is the Princess alright?"

"Yeah, she's fine. Luna's alright. I'm pretty good, too."

"Oh, that's wonderful."

"Got that right."

"Rarity, what is that?"

"Be nice to our guests. He's the human I mentioned to you."

The adorableness... it hurts.

"Oh! You're... Phil, right?"

"That's right."

"My name is Sweetie Belle."

"Nice to meet ya. Hey Rarity, you free tonight?"

"Yes I am. Why?"

"I wanted to know if you could make something for me."

"Of course."

"Sweet. I'll stop by later. We gotta get going. Sorry to cut this visit short."

"Aw, so soon?"

"Yeah. I gotta tell everypony else the good news."

"Alright. Goodbye everypony."

"See ya."

We headed to Fluttershy's place next.

"Hey Pinkie. C'mere."

"What's up?"

I grabbed onto her and put her on my shoulders. She giggled, then started laughing. She was like virtually weightless.

"This is so fun!" she said, giggling away.

She almost fell off, but balanced herself out, then laughed even harder.

She put her hooves on my head. "I can see my house from here!"

"So can I. It's almost like we're 20 feet away from it." I said, "Spooky, right?"

"I know..."

"We are 20 feet away from it." said Shining.

"Barrel of laughs you are."

I took a wrong turn. At least, I thought I did. Pinkie had to guide me in the right direction a few times.

"Fluttershy! Are you home?" called Pinkie.

The door opened. We all looked down to see Angel. Why is this rabbit sentient? He's smarter than I am. Opening doors? Even I haven't mastered this kind of technology yet. Fucking Furry Fuck here mastered this hidden art long ago on the fiery planes of fucking Narnia. I can't compete with that shit.

"Hey, Angel! Fluttershy around?"

He put his hand up, then closed the door. Fluttershy opened it a few seconds later. Finally, a little normality enters the picture. A yellow miniature horse with functional, non-electric wings opening a door with her hooves with kung-fu grip action. They're cylinders! Fucking CYLINDERS!

"Hello. What are you doing up there, Pinkie?"

"I don't know. It's fun, though."

"That's nice."

I told her about Luna. She chatted with Pinkie for a little while I glared at her witch of a rabbit, and we left shortly after.

'That reminds me, that guy... Lightning... Dasher... Yeah, that was it. Huh... I wonder what happened with him.'

"Hey Pinkie, how are we gonna get ahold of Rainbow? She lives in Cloudsdale, right? On a cloud. We can't get up there. I can't scale mountains as easily as you may think."

"She'll show up."

"I wanna live on a cloud. They're probably so comfy."

"They are."

"Alright, excluding Rainbow Dash, we seem to be a little limited at the moment, but who do you think we should go visit next?"

"Applejack!"

"Sounds like a plan to me. And... where exactly is she located?"

She turned my head to the right and said, "That way!"

I followed her directions until we got to the farm. Apples everywhere. I don't know why I expected something different. It's not my fault. I was a good son.

"Hey, there's Big Macintosh!" said Pinkie, "He's Applejack's brother."

"Alright. He seems busy."

"If he's out, then Applejack must be out, too. Go that way!"

I walked wherever she told me to go. I'm pretty sure we went in a circle.

"What're ya'll doin' on his head?"

"My vision went all pink a while ago and I needed something to guide me around town." I said, "Incidentally, your friend Pinkie Pie is pink. I didn't think you noticed."

Pinkie removed her hooves from my eyes.

"My vision has been returned to me. Hey Applejack! What's goin' on, buddy?"

"Ah'm jus' workin'. What about yourself?"

"We're all good. He might not be. He's gotta look after me."

"You have a babysitter?" said Rainbow Dash, walking in from behind us.

"Well, he doesn't sit on babies, but pretty much, yeah. Glad you could make it, too. I got something to tell you both."

"Princess Luna is all better!" said Pinkie.

"Aw, I wanted to say that."

"Really? That's awesome!"

"That's some good news."

"Damn skippy. What have you two been up to?"

"Nothing much. Just working."

"Same here, I guess. There wasn't much of anything going on."

"That sounds boring."

"It is."

I shrugged. "Oh well. You two have fun, now. I'm gonna take off. There's a few more things I'd like to take care of today."

"It's still pretty early. Lets hang out some more."

"Actually, Ah've gotta get back to work. These apples aren't gonna harvest themselves."

"Oh. Well, I'm still free."

"Alrighty then. See ya later, Applejack."

"Umm..."

"You too, Pinkie?"

"I spent my break showing you around town. I gotta get back soon."

I started walking. "So Rainbow, if you weren't hanging with me, what'd you be doing?"

"Probably training."

"Or sleeping." said Pinkie.

"What are ya trainin' for?"

She explained the Wonderbolts to me.

When she was done, I said, "The Wonderbolts sound awesome. I gotta see 'em in action one of these days."

"They have a show in about a week. We could go see it together."

"That sounds awesome. Except I don't have any money. Hey Pinkie, can I work with you?"

"I'll have to ask Mr. Cake about that."

"Alright."

"Are you gonna be coming with?" Rainbow asked Shining.

"I don't really have a choice."

"Nope, but you're paying for your own admission."

"I'll be fine. I kinda wanted to see one of their shows, too."

"It's goin' be fun on the bun."

I dropped Pinkie off at her bakery. Turns out, they weren't looking for hire.

"Ah well."

"If you still want a job, you should go ask Applejack. She's got thousands of apples to move. I'm sure she'll appreciate some help."

"But I was just there! Now I'll have to walk back there. You must like watching me suffer."

"Well, a little." said Shining.

"I'll get it taken care of eventually. Thanks for the advice. C'mon you two, there's more I wanna do."

"Right behind ya."

"Yeah..."