//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Of Chariots and Accusations* 
// Story: Trust in the Night 
// by JumpingShinyFrogs 
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It wasn't long after the lizard had set his letter on fire, which seemed counterproductive to me, that a pair of strangely identical white ponies wearing golden armour descended from above. Their faces were like stone; cold and unattractive. They were towing an ornately decorated golden chariot behind them. They stalled a bit at the sight of me, like the racist white ponies they were, but didn't start screaming or threatening me, which was a nice change.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle," said one of the ponies. "We have brought the transport you have requested. Are you ready for your audience with Princess Celestia?"

I put a hoof to my mouth and stifled a laugh. His voice was far too gruff to be real. It reminded me of that one character who's in every cartoon; the hulking, idiotic bodyguard who hangs around with the villain.

Twilight, whose full name was also quite ridiculous, gave me an odd look before addressing the armoured pony. "Yes, we are." She turned to her friends. "Hop in, girls, but be careful with Nightmare Moon. She could have more tricks up her sleeve."

Who was 'Nightmare Moon'? Were they talking about me? I admit, I did look a bit nightmarish, and had a crescent moon motif going on, but really, 'Nightmare Moon'? That sounded so evil. 

"Come on! Move!" said the cyan pony, from somewhere behind me. 

I realised that while I had been thinking about the name bestowed upon me, the ponies had been urging me into the chariot. And now the cyan one had her face shoved into my flank and was pushing me forward. I knew I was right about her. All those colours, the voice, the attitude and now this.

I started to walk forward into the chariot, where the other five ponies and the lizard were waiting. To my right, I saw a cyan and rainbow blur go flying past me. Once I was onboard the chariot, I expected them to close up the back or something. But nope, they literally just took off. And since I was near the back, I ended up on the ground, with my horn digging a hole in the dirt. 

The cyan pony fell over laughing as the chariot slowed to a hover in mid-air. I was really starting to dislike her. The yellow one looked a little bit sympathetic, but everyone else was either laughing quietly or making an effort not to laugh. The pilots lowered the chariot back onto the ground. I climbed aboard again. This time, I stomped straight up to the front, my head low. 

"Hey!" said the lizard, snatching his tail off the ground, tears forming in his eyes.

I didn't care. I was not going to fall out of this flying safety hazard again, and I didn't care whose tail I stepped on. 

Once I was on the chariot again, I sat down heavily on my haunches, and the chariot took off once more.

"This seems unsafe," I said out loud.

"What does?" asked Twilight, an eyebrow raised and a suspicious tone in her voice.

"The chariot thing. There's no back at all. I already fell out, and was fine, but that was at ground level. What if the pilots accelerated too fast at a high altitude?" I asked.

Twilight slapped a hoof to her face. "The lack of a back makes it more lightweight, and therefore easier for the pilots to carry and steer. The pilots are trained in rescue maneuvers. We're not as thoughtless as you. We actually stop to think about consequences," she said.

It almost sounded like she was accusing me of something. But I didn't know her. At all. I shut up after that. We were high up in the sky, and I had no idea where we were going. I asked Twilight how long it would take and she said about an hour.

Now that I wasn't falling out of chariots, wandering through forests and causing mass panic attacks in towns full of racist ponies, I had a chance to think. Where was I? How did I get here? Why did I get here?

The obvious answer was that this was all a dream. But I quickly ruled that out. It felt too real, I had already hurt myself multiple times since arriving here, and I got here by falling. Weren't both of those occurrences meant to make you instantly wake up from a dream?

Next choice was a coma. But that made no sense. I wasn't doing anything before I woke up here that would send me into a coma, and again, this was way too lucid to be a dream in any way. What else could this be, though...?

"I've got it!" I shouted suddenly. 

The ponies and lizard turned to look at me, with the oddest of expressions on their faces. "Got what?" asked the orange one.

I hadn't meant to say that out loud. Ah well.

"The cause of all this insanity," I said smugly.

"The only insane thing around here is you," said the cyan one.

"Hear, hear," muttered the white one.

"The puddle," I said. "When I fell in the puddle, some of it splashed up into my mouth. The delinquents hanging around near it must have dropped some of their 'stash' into it. Which I am now experiencing the effects of. Soon, this crazy high will end, and I'll be back in my room wondering whether or not I should call the police."

Satisfied with my explanation, I leaned back. There wasn't anything they could say to me now that could harm me.

"You really are crazy," said the cyan one.

"I'm not listening to you. You're probably just my lampshade or something."

The ponies exchanged glances. They clearly thought I was insane. But I didn't care, because they were just figments of my imagination. 

"We're here," announced one of the pilots. I felt my ears pop as we descended into a city built into the side of a mountain. This was a very pretty drug high. I might actually be sad to see it wear off.

Nah.

Once we landed, the six ponies led me forward towards an impressive structure. Huge spires that looked straight out of a fairy tale spiked into the air. A large garden was off to the side, decorated with neatly cut trees in the shapes of ponies.

I didn't have much time to admire the view. I was herded into the castle quite forcefully, both by the six ponies I was growing to hate, and by guards wielding spears, who were creepily identical to the pilots of our chariot. We entered through a set of giant wooden doors into a wonderfully furnished hallway. Servant ponies were running back and forth carrying letters, cleaning supplies, and trays of food. 

Most of those items were dropped when the servants saw me. Food spilled all over the ground and mingled with detergent. Some of the servants kept their cool, but still looked jittery. 

"Nothing to see here," said Twilight awkwardly as we passed a couple of servants tending to one who had fainted.

Leaving the hallway behind, we came to another set of doors. Not quite as big as the main entrance but still big. But we didn't enter them. Instead, we veered off to the left, into another door. Another corridor, with even more servants, greeted us. We walked along the corridor, entering doors, climbing stairs and rounding corners for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, we came to two sets of distinguished looking doors, one decorated with emblems of suns, and the other with crescent moons that resembled my butt tattoo. 

We entered the door decorated with the suns. The room it led to was spacious, but not huge. A desk sat at one end of the room, and a fireplace at the other. There was a large red cushion near the fireplace. An open door to my right led to a dark room with a massive plush bed. I wanted nothing more than to go and sleep on that bed. Maybe when I woke up the high would be gone.

From another door, to the left, I heard the sound of running water and humming. The guards who had been escorting us bowed and backed out of the room, closing the doors behind them. 

"What now?" I asked. 

"Wait. We can't interrupt Princess Celestia, but she'll be able to talk some sense into you. said Twilight. "Maybe," she added under her breath.

"Why? Is Snooty broken or something?" asked the hyperactive pink pony. 

"No, Pinkie, I don't think so,” said the posh white pony.

"Maybe we should throw a party for Snooty to make her feel better?" suggested Pinkie, whose name suited her.

"I don't need a party. And stop calling me 'Snooty'. That's not my name," I said. 

"Do you want me to call you Moony instead? I can do that! It sound nice!" said Pinkie, leaning forward.

"That isn't my name either."

"Do you want me to call you by your full name, 'Nightmare Moon'? Please say no, because that's really boring and scary-sounding," said Pinkie.

"None of your suggestions are my name," I said.

The ponies swapped puzzled glances. "Then what is?" asked the white one.

"It's Niamh," I said.

"We knew that already. Why are you saying it like we've been calling you something different this entire time?" asked Twilight, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, because you have?" I said.

"No we haven't, silly Moony! You just told us your name was Nightmare Moon! Oh, but we knew that. I like the way you say it, all grand and booming, so that's a plus, but really, we already knew!" rambled Pinkie.

"But that's not what I said," I protested. "I said my name was Niamh."

This time I heard myself say it. For some unfathomable reason, when I said my name, my voice was warped. To say 'Nightmare Moon' instead.

"Uh, that's what ya said th' first time. And what we've been callin' ya the whole time," said the orange pony.

"But it makes no sense!" I yelled. 

The six ponies were blown back as paper and other loose objects were whipped up by the wind my voice created. They rubbed their ears, and I heard the quiet one say 'Oh, my...'

"Oh! Uh, sorry?" I said.

Twilight just glared at me.

The running water stopped. I heard something hit tiles, and a bolt unlocking. The door, which probably led to a bathroom, swung open, to reveal a tall, dripping wet white pony. Her mane and tail were like mine, flowing in wind that didn't exist, except hers were striped in pastel shades of green, blue, and pink. Like me, she had both wings and a horn. Her butt tattoo was of a sun, like the one on the door. A lopsided crown was on her head, having clearly been put on in a hurry.

When she saw me, she somehow went even whiter.

"Luna?" she whispered.

"Uh..."

Her face screwed up, and made her look like a little kid who just dropped their ice cream and is about to start crying. Which, incidentally, is what she did. Tears spilled over her eyes and ran down her face. Was I really so unpleasant as to make her cry?

"Little sister, you are appreciated. There are astronomers, ponies who dedicate themselves to studying your night. You are loved by many. Won't you come back to me?" she pleaded.

The other ponies just looked between the pair of us sadly.

"What the heck are you talking about?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" said the tearful white pony, who I guessed was Princess Celestia. She was too grandiose, even dripping wet and crying in my face, to be anything else.

"I mean I'm confused. If this is what all drug highs are like, then I'm glad I've never done anything like this before, and probably won't again," I said.

There was a blue flash and a popping sound behind Princess Celestia. Everyone turned to look at it.

A sleepy looking dark blue pony, wearing a nightcap straight out of a cartoon and four fuzzy little bunny slippers, appeared out of absolutely nowhere. She looked a lot like me, except she was blue, and her mane was different. 

"Sister," grumbled the blue pony. "What is all this shouting? I've asked you before to keep it down while I am sleeping."

"What the buck?" said the cyan pony. I really needed to learn their names. 

"Luna?" said the princess, looking between me and the dark blue pony. I was really confused now. Was that Luna, or was I Luna? No, I was Nightmare Moon, apparently. But I'd also been called 'Luna' a few times now. 

Luna(?) suddenly became alert when she saw me. "She-demon!" she yelled, charging at me. I gave a small screech as she pounced on me. "Who hast thou claimed now? Release thy host, or thou shalt have to answer to Us!" she roared in my face, blowing my mane everywhere and whipping up a wind, like I had done earlier.

"Ok, drug high or not, this whole thing is just getting ridiculous. What the *beep* is going on?" I asked out loud.

Everyone, including my blue assailant, turned their heads and swivelled their ears, looking for the source of the mysterious beep.

It turned out to be Pinkie, who was holding a red button in her hoof, with the words 'PROFANITY BUZZER' written in all caps. 

"Silly Moony! This is an 'Everyone' rated story, remember?" she said, a huge grin on her face.

The other ponies decided to ignore her, and refocus themselves on me.

"We do not know what thou art playing at, demon, but thou will release thy host at once," screamed Luna.

"Will someone please explain what is going on?" I shouted, blowing Luna's starry mane back.

"Thy Royal Canterlot Voice is admirable, but we are the true Princess of the Night, and thou shalt adhere to our demands!" responded Luna, increasing her volume.

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" shouted a voice that made mine and Luna's voices sound like whispers.

It turned out to be Princess Celestia. "Now, Nightmare Moon, or whatever you're calling yourself now, come with me. Luna, you come with us. Twilight, you and your friends wait here, but stand by in case we need the Elements."

Celestia's horn glowed gold for a minute, and in a literal flash, I found myself alone with Luna and Celestia. We were in a darker room, with little star-like glowing dots on the wall.

"Now, care to explain what is going on here?"