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

I woke up with Twilight in my arms, her back against me. She was so warm.

I didn't move. It felt pretty nice. I just wanted to lay here forever.

'Wait... hold on... my arm is... Nope, I'm good.'

It was underneath Twilight, but she was laying over the upper arm.

I just laid here until she started moving.

"Hmm?" She looked at me. "Oh, hello Phil."

"Hello."

"This is comfortable."

"Yeah."

"We should do this more often."

"Y-yeah."

She got off of me and out of the bed.

I got up as well. "I'm hungry. Angelus! Make me something to eat!"

"Make your own food!"

I laughed at myself.

I followed Twilight downstairs. Angelus was currently already making food for Chrysalis.

I plugged in my music to let it charge. Should've gotten this last night. Whatever. It let out a ding when it turned on.

I sniffed myself. Not pleasant. "Taking a shower, Twilight."

A few minutes later, I walked back out. I shook out my mane.

"Hey Arcana, when are you gonna go home?" I asked.

"You still need to take me to see the Princess."

"I don't wanna..."

I walked around the library a little.

"Hey Twilight, I'm gonna go get some food from Pinkie."

"Are you sure you should be walking around with your arm like that?"

"I still got like..." I had to count it out. "Three other good limbs. See ya."

"Wait for me." said Chrysalis.

"Just catch up. I won't be that far."

"Remember to take a coat. It's cold out there."

"Rarity's got my coat."

"Angelus, follow him."

"Yes, ma'am."

She left the house after me.

Chrysalis looked at Twilight. "He just does whatever he pleases, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, but he's pretty predictable."

"I don't know about that. The escape he pulled off was nothing short of a miracle."

"There's something I don't understand, though. He hasn't had much training with spells, but he picks up on everything flawlessly. He doesn't have a lot of magical power, but you said that he was able to deflect spells from the changeling guard. That isn't easy at all, and I've never taught him that or seen him preform anything like it."

"Interesting. From what I could tell, he might've been able to match or even overpower their Queen."

"That's... impossible. Even I couldn't do that. She was as powerful as Princess Celestia the last time I met her. How could he have gotten that kind of power?"

"I don't know."

"There has to be an explanation."

I paused on my way to the bakery. I wanted to say something to Angelus, but I didn't have anything to say. It was just like with Shining. Meh.

I quickly got some cupcakes from Pinkie. I gave one to Angelus, and another to Chrysalis when she arrived.

"I guess we should go to Canterlot soon." I said, "You two wanted to meet Celestia, right?"

"Of course."

"We'll leave... in two hours. I got some stuff to take care of. I take it you're coming with."

"That's correct."

"Alright."

"What are you going to take care of?"

"Stuff..."

"Like what?"

"You know... Things..."

"Do you really have something to take care of?"

"No."

"Then why can't we leave now?"

"Be nice to him, Angelus. We don't want a repeat of what happened in the prison."

"That was just a fluke. He's weak. Just look."

She poked my chest, and I recoiled away from her. "Ah!"

"Hey! Don't touch him!" Pinkie shouted at her, walking closer.

"Or what?"

"Don't hurt my friend." she said angrily.

"Angelus, I told you to be nice. I will send you home if I need to."

"B-but..."

"Enough. Apologize."

She grumbled.

"Say it."

"I'm... sorry." she said reluctantly.

"Anyways... Thanks, Pinkie. I'm gonna get going."

"Aw, already?"

"I'll be back. Some time. See ya."

"Bye."

I headed to Fluttershy's to find out where Lightning was, but she wasn't home. 'Bummer, I wanted to talk to him. Rainbow... probably knows where he is.'

I went to Rarity's shop to get my hoodie.

"Anypony here?" I called.

Rarity walked out of a door. "Hello, Phil. Your hoodie is in here."

"Sweet, it's freezing outside." I grabbed it and put it on. It had been cleaned as well. "Thanks, Rarity. Hey... uh... no, nevermind. Thanks."

"You're quite welcome. Um... You're going to Canterlot today, aren't you?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"I have a package that I would like you to deliver."

"Alright."

She brought out a box. "This has a custom dress in it for a very important pony. Be very careful with it. The name and address are on it."

"Yeah, sure. I'll get it to..." I read the label. "Photo Finish. No prob."

"Thank you."

"I'll... be back for it just before we leave, which would be..."

"1:30." Chrysalis reminded me.

"Yeah, so I'll show up before that. Thanks for fixin' this. I'll see ya."

"Goodbye."

I had nowhere to go, as far as I could tell, so I just walked around aimlessly.

"What are we doing, now?"

"I dunno. Just waiting."

"Why can't we just go now?"

"Because I said so."

"Because you... What are you, my parents?"

'Two... hours...'

'We may be able to get another ingredient in that time.'

'What do we have left?'

'The gryphon claws, the scales, and the blood for the physical ingredients, and we need the essences.'

'I don't think we can get anything right now. Also, now that I think about it, you're an alicorn. Can't we use your blood?'

'I'm... unsure.'

'Whatever. We'll get around to it eventually. What about these two? I told them that I wanted to make them allies to the ponies while you were out.'

'That shouldn't matter as long as you make them allies to you.'

'Easy.'

'Now that we're on the subject, what else are you keeping from me?'

'Well, I've been thinking about giving up with the potion. It isn't needed at this point.'

'I may be powerful, but you are still weak. When we're separated, you'll need to be able to defend yourself.'

'Yeah, but...'

'What?' she hissed, slightly annoyed.

'I... don't want to take the essences. I can't take these things, these... emotions away from a pony, even if it's just temporary.'

'What is the meaning of this?'

'I... I can't...' I sighed. 'Nothing I say or do will convince you against getting what you want. I'll do as you say, but I just wanted to tell you that I didn't want to.'

'Up until this point, you never seemed to mind.'

'I made myself depressed again.' I shook my head. "So Arcana, what do you want to see the Princess for?"

"To become an ally, or as you said, to simply observe them."

I nodded. "Do you truly want to be their friend?"

"Well I..."

"Yes or no?"

"That's not..."

"Yes... or no?"

"Fine, then. Yes I do."

"And should I or should I not remember all the lies and cruelty?"

"I'm... sorry."

"Ma'am?"

"I don't want an apology. Not yet, at least. All I want from you is your cooperation. I need both of you to be at least somewhat nice to Celestia. That means you too, Angelus."

"Hey!"

"What did you assume he thought of you? You've been nothing but a brute to him."

"Why are you defending him?!"

"Because he scares me."

"What? Why? Why would you be afraid?"

"I'm sure that if he wanted to, he could've defeated me back home, yet he chose to restrain himself in favor of forgiveness. I'm scared of what he could do."

"But... he's so weak!"

A few ponies started to look at us.

I kept walking.

"Apparently I'm not. Not everypony can just escape a prison."

"I told you that was a fluke."

"I don't care. I just do not care. I wonder if Vinyl has some more songs... Wait... It needs to charge first. Meh."

I stopped walking, then looked at my arm. I didn't know what I expected to see. Meh.

Two hours. That was all I had to wait. I was bored again.

I went back to Pinkie's bakery.

"Hello again, you three."

"Hello."

"Hungry again?"

"No... not really."

"Is something wrong? You're always hungry."

"I just... feel a little funny."

"Like the ha-ha kind of funny or the weird kind of funny?"

"The weird kind."

"Oh, that's not good. Was Angelus picking on you again?"

"She always picks on me."

Angelus was about to say something, but Chrysalis glanced at her, and she held her tongue.

I sat at a table, and held my head in my hooves. I looked up at her clock.

"Not even thirty minutes have passed." I said.

"You look down. I know what'll make you feel better!"

She disappeared behind the counter, and returned with a tray of cupcakes. She set them on the table.

I nodded with a smile. "I guess that works." I grabbed one and nibbled on it.

"See? You're fine. Quit worrying so much."

I nodded. "Yeah."

I tossed a cupcake right at Angelus. It stopped in midair right in front of her face, then she quickly grabbed it.

"Hey, wait a minute... Twilight said that only unicorns could use magic."

'Uh oh...' "I did that." I said.

"No, Angelus did it, silly." Pinkie replied.

"You must be mistaken, Ms. Pie. Angelus is a pegasus. How could she do that?"

"Yeah, how could I do that?"

"I don't know. Twilight told me that when my Pinkie sense started acting up. In fact, I think I feel it acting up right now!" She stood still, waiting for something to happen. "Nope, false alarm."

I laughed, and ate the rest of the cupcake. "You're silly."

"You're silly."

"No, you."

"You."

I paused for a few moments. "You win this round."

I ate another cupcake, but after that, I pushed the tray away. "These are just so good. I want more but I'm too full."

Pinkie happily retrieved the tray and placed it on the counter.

"Are we going to wait here?"

"Yep."

Chrysalis stared at me. It looked like she was thinking about something, but I didn't care.

"Why are you two following him around like this?"

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"Well, of course not. I was just curious, is all."

"He's going to take us to see Princess Celestia."

"I honestly have no idea." I said.

I leaned back. It was fun just being around Pinkie. We didn't even have to be doing anything. I think I already said that.

I laid my arm on the table and examined it to pass the time. It wasn't healed yet.

'I wonder if there's a healing spell for this...'

'There's not. At least for mending broken bones. Small cuts can be closed, but it takes too much magic to be practical.'

'I want to make one.'

'It isn't that simple, you know.'

'Yeah, but I like to dream.'

I just waited it out in here, a smile plastered across my face.

"It's 1:15."

I looked to the clock. "Huh... Alright. Well, I... we gotta go. I'll... No wait... Forgetting something."

I gave Pinkie a hug again. She was so cute...

I stared into her big blue eyes. So pwetty...

My gut started to knot up, and I suddenly felt very weird. 'Strange, this only happens when I'm about to do something out of the ordinary...'

I felt my lips peck against hers. She stared at me with wide eyes when I pulled away.

'I... I just... I just kissed her...' I started blushing. I suddenly became incredibly nervous. "I... Uh... I... I-I gotta go..."

"B-bye." she said quietly.

I let go of her, then quickly walked out the door, still blushing.

'I just kissed Pinkie... But... But I... That was completely not Phil! It wasn't Phil at all! I mentally kicked myself. 'I shouldn't have done that. I'm so stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid!'

I walked straight to the library.

"Ahh, young love." I heard Chrysalis say.

"Huh?"

"I was surprised that you didn't do that last night when you had her in your arms. Well, arm. You have so much love towards her."

"Sh-shut up..." I said, still shaken, mentally and physically.

"What's the matter?"

"I... I just need to think about this, ok? I just need to think. Thinking will fix this. I hope it does. It's all I can do right now."

"That all you can do?"

"Yes it damn well is!" I shouted, "S-sorry..."

"Emotional. I like it."

"Just gonna get my music, and go to Canterlot."

"What about Rarity? You said you would deliver that package."

"Thanks. Get my music. Get the package. Go to Canterlot."

I gave Twilight a rushed greeting as I grabbed my music. I would've forgotten the headphones had she not reminded me.

I sped over to Rarity's boutique, going out of my way to make sure I wouldn't come near Sugarcube Corner.

My stomach was still knotted, and my chest had started to hurt. I slowed down, and took a deep breath. And another, then another. It wasn't working.

I quickly got the box, and left for the station. I got on the train and sat down, visibly shaken.

'I... kissed her.'

'Are you well? Is this normal?' Nightmare asked me, confused.

'It's... It's normal for me. I think. I... I always shake when I'm overexcited. I don't know why. It happens more often when I'm cold, so I usually think I'm just shivering, but I'm not, am I?'

'No. No you're not. Well, at least we know who we can get the essence of love from. Just a little more...'

"No!" I yelled, accidentally aloud. Ponies turned their heads to look at me.

'Now I'm the center of attention... Oh god... I can't handle this... I'm gonna throw up...'

I put my hoof over my mouth. I managed to keep my lunch where it was, but the feeling remained.

"Are you ok?" asked Chrysalis.

"I'll... I'll be fine." I said, panting as if I were exhausted, "I just need to think. I just... I-I need to think..."

I started to control my breathing, but I was still shaking. It was a start...

I steadied myself as the train began to move. I took a very deep breath, and held it for a little while. I let it out slowly.

"Ok... Ok, that's better..." I shook my head and took in one last deep breath.

"That was so strange. I've never seen anypony act like that before. Does that happen often?"

"N-no. It's never been that bad."

"So it has happened before?"

"Sometimes, when I'm really into a... a book, I start shivering in excitement when something cool is happening. It's never been this powerful before."

"Why did that happen? Was it... the kiss?"

"Yeah."

"That was your first, wasn't it?"

I silently nodded.

"That didn't happen while you were laying with Twilight."

"I don't... I don't like Twilight like I like Pinkie. I didn't think of laying with her as that big a deal."

"You were still embarrassed by it, though."

"Well... yeah, but wouldn't you be, too? I don't often do that."

"I suppose. Why, if I may ask, did you shout no?"

"I... can't say. I just..." I shut my mouth. I was done talking.

I put my headphones on, and hit random. Skip, skip, skip, skip...

I couldn't find a song that I was in the mood to listen to. Then I heard the low hum of a microphone.

"Huh?"

Words started to play, but it wasn't a song. It was Vinyl talking. Must've gotten mixed in here somehow.

It wasn't very interesting. She was just testing out her new recording equipment.

The more I heard normal talking, the more my stomach unknotted. I let out a sigh of pleasure. I felt so much better.

I had a content smile on my face, laying on a soft pillow with closed eyes.

'Hold up, I didn't get a pillow...'

I opened my eyes to find Chrysalis looking down at me. I was on her leg. She wasn't smiling, but she wasn't angry. She just didn't seem to care. Angelus, on the other hoof, wanted to wring my neck.

I had a bad feeling that I was crossing a line that just shouldn't be crossed, but I didn't know which line it was.

I didn't want to move. I didn't want to think. If it didn't bother her, then it didn't bother me.

It probably was bothering her, though. Apparently she's afraid of me or something. I don't know. Sounds weird to me. I'm the only one who should be afraid of me. Everypony else can just... do... whatever it is they do. Be cute. Yeah, that. They're good at that. Really good. Almost too good...

I stared at her until I was completely sure she didn't care. I just closed my eyes again and refused to acknowledge the outside world.

If only humans were like this...



I was waken up with a shove, and fell on the floor.

"Angelus, why you do this?" I stood up and looked at her. 'I don't even care anymore, do I?' "Meh."

"You never, ever do that again." she growled.

I gave her a blank stare before I grabbed the box and walked away.

"Shouldn't take too long. I'll get it done then go see the Princess. This was a bad idea. I should've stayed home. I shouldn't have even gone in that cave."

I kind of recognized the address, so I went to the street, and just counted off the houses. 'These houses are pretty big. Must be like... celebrity... avenue.'

I saw the number I was looking for, looked at the box, re-checked it a few times, and knocked on the door.

It opened, but it wasn't her.

"Does..." I checked the box again. "Photo Finish live here? I got this dress for her from Ponyville."

His eyes lit up, and he reached for it. "Of course, I'll make sure she gets it right away."

"Alright, but be careful with that. It was pristine when it left the shop."

"That's quite a big word for a package deliverer."

"Hey!"

Angelus giggled.

"Ah, whatever. I don't have time to argue. I need to go see Celestia."

"Vhat? Did I just hear vhat I thought I heard?" She appeared in the doorway. "You are going to see ze Princess, yes?"

"Y-yeah..."

She looked me over. "Vhat is vith your arm? Vhy isn't it in its sleeve?"

I unzipped my hoodie. "Broken."

"Oh, that is unfortunate."

"I love your accent."

"Und yours is atrocious."

I shrugged. "Fair enough. Whatever. Goodbye."

She looked at the box.

I walked away. She was boring. Well, her accent was cool. Wish I had a German accent. Or... was it Austrian? German is so cool. And Russian. Russia is awesome. Awesome to the max.

I looked at the town while I walked. 'Been a while since I've seen Celestia. And Luna. Hmm... Think I... gotta talk to her. I wanna talk to Celestia, first. I can't ignore what I did. Not this time. This sucks on ice. It was so much easier back home.'

'You're very troubled by this.'

'Yeah.'

I walked into the castle, unable to keep a smile on my face for long. This was too serious for me. I didn't like it.

"Hello, Phil."

"Princess." I bowed, then looked behind me. Chrysalis and Angelus were bowing as well. "There was nothing there." I said, "Nothing useful."

"I'm sorry that I put you through that."

"That doesn't matter to me. It was pretty fun in that cave. The end results just weren't favorable."

"You were captured by changelings."

"Yeah."

"But you escaped, with these two. Hello, Arcana and Angelus. I'm glad that you were able to come home."

"Hello, Princess Celestia."

I took a few steps to the side. "These two wanted to speak with you, but I need to discuss something with you in private."

"Of course."

They started talking to the Princess. They were both being polite. 'Should I give them away? I could capture them both. Hmm...'

I didn't care what they were talking about. I was too busy thinking again. I didn't even like thinking anymore.

'Chrysalis is scared of me, and I don't like it. I snapped and... somehow managed to tap into your power directly. I was able to bend iron bars with brute force. Can you do that?'

'If I needed to, I'm sure I could.'

'It wasn't just your magical power, then. How is my mental status, can you tell?'

'You're fine.'

'So I'm stable right now... So, big emotional outbursts... Damn... I'm good with keeping a cap on my emotions, but it's been different ever since I got here. I've gotten close to my little ponies. I'm not the same guy I was back home. I need to accept that. I need to...'

"Celestia, where is Luna?" I asked, completely interrupting whatever she was saying. "Sorry, but I need to talk to her. Now."

"She's in her room. What's troubling you?"

I nodded. "Sorry, it's a personal problem."

I left the room with a bow. She waved her from a guard to the door, and he walked out after me. Chrysalis glanced at Angelus. She bowed, then left as well.

"Don't you trust him, Your Highness?"

"I do... It's just that... I think he's infatuated with my sister."

"Wait... what? Princess Luna?"

"I believe so, yes. And you?"

"He... knows some things that I would rather him not share. To anypony."

"I understand."

"What were we talking about again?"

I walked to her room at a slow pace. I had so much to say. Or... I didn't have anything at all to say... This was too complicated for me.

I'm overcomplicating this, and I know I'm doing it, too. I was doing this to myself. I won't allow it to become simple. I wasn't talking about what game to get, or what computer I wanted. As much as I dreaded it, I was talking about love. And I hated every moment of it.

I felt sick to the stomach again as I raised my hoof to knock on her door.

"L... Luna?" I called.

"Phil? Is that you?" She opened the door, and she smiled. "I've missed you. Come in, please."

I looked at the two extra ponies that came with us. "Both of you, stay out here." I growled at them.

They both refused.

'Nightmare, could you do me a favor? Block the door off when I walk inside.'

'Why?'

'I asked nicely.'

She let out a sigh. 'You're so pathetic. Very well.'

'Thank you.'

I walked through the door, and the spell was cast. They both bumped into it. I closed the door.

"Are you well? You don't look it, and you're acting strange. Why did you block them out?"

"I... need to ask you something. It's... important... to me, at least."

"What is it? I don't like seeing you like this."

In my head, I knew that I didn't have to go through this. I didn't have to do this to myself. I knew that Pinkie wouldn't mind me kissing her. She wasn't thinking about it like I was. I could just leave, right now.

I needed to know.

"I..." It was hard for me to form the words. "I need to know... if... if you... if... you have... if you have any... feelings towards me."

I looked down. I couldn't bring myself to meet her eyes. It was awkward. I was embarrassed. I wasn't this kind of person. I would never ask anyone this.

"Wh-what? What do you mean?"

"Y-you know what I mean, Luna. Please, tell me the truth. It's important. I wouldn't be upset if you said no. I just... I want you to tell me the truth."

"This... this is so sudden..."

"Please, tell me."

She gave me a small nod. "If it is truly that important to you... then I will tell you. The truth between us..."