//------------------------------// // Nightmares // Story: Sisters of Heart and Mind // by ArtichokeLust //------------------------------// Mind stepped back into her home. For some reason, what those ponies said bothered her. No, actually, it wasn't what they said. It was more that they weren't afraid of her anymore. After she killed that foolish unicorn and changed her looks, nopony really trusted her. They couldn't really say that she was the same person, but they always looked uneasy around her. After a while they had to accept the fact that the two 'Humans' were staying in Ponyville, and they could either leave or stay with their families. Most chose to stay, especially after she repeatedly assured them that she wouldn't kill them, under any circumstance. The decision made sense when leaving the town also meant chancing death. Of course, her reassurance was a lie. If they tried to hurt Heart, she would kill them in an instant. Thankfully no one tried. Well, no one except Discord. She was still worried about the freaky gems those two 'alicorns' used on him. While she and Discord were probably equals in power (not strength, ruthlessness, and knowledge though), those things were apparently stronger. It was lucky that she was in the jet she'd been working on for the past month, and it was even more lucky that she decided to fly out of the way of the blast radius. But despite seeing all that, the ponies no longer feared her. Not because she was trustworthy, but because there was someone even more dangerous around now. It was strange, feeling the urge to hide. She felt only freedom for the past few years, but now... She waved her arm, locking the door, then adding locks and locking those locks. She also turned the walls into steel. "Gah!" Heart shook her hands. "Another one broke! Can't you make anything stronger?" Mind looked behind Heart at the five foot tall cube of steel sticking up out of the ground. Well, it wasn't a cube anymore. Now it looked like abstract art. Apparently it had been bent so much that the base finally snapped. She lifted the steel column up so that five more feet stuck out. It still looked deformed. "I'm sorry," she said, frowning. "I don't know of anything stronger than steel." Heart turned around. "Is something wrong?" She asked. Somehow she always knew Mind's feelings. Mind sighed, "It's probably nothing, but--" the roof exploded. "First on my todo list!" A crazed voice shouted from above. Was that Luna? She was as large as her sister, and so much darker than normal. No, this had to be the 'Nightmare Moon' the villagers were talking about. "I'm so glad you stayed home. This makes things so much easier." Mind tried to force the crazed alicorn away with her thoughts, but it didn't budge an inch. Instead, it threw its head back in laughter. "Is that it?" She pointed mockingly. "Is that the strength I've been worrying about!? You're like an ant to me!" She frowned as she settled on the ground in the middle of the house. "Then again, your strength was never in raw power, but precision--" Nightmare Moon suddenly flung into the steel wall beside her headfirst, forming a massive dent. She pulled her face from the wall and touched her cheek with her hoof. Already, there was a bruise in the shape of Heart's fist. "It appears I'll have to skip the theatrics." She turned into smoke. It looked more like she turned up the theatrics. But now that smoke was behind Heart. A horn poked out of the swirl of stars and touched the back of Heart's head. Slowly, she turned into stone. "Heart!" Mind reached out and grabbed her sisters hand. Nightmare Moon stood back and watched with a goofy grin as the petrification spell spread from one sister to another via touch. Mind concentrated. If only she could figure out how she was turning into stone. If only she could remember everything she read about petrification. Then, maybe she could-- Nightmare moon held her hoof to her head and laughed. "Two birds with one stone!" She fell back, still bellowing with triumphant laughter. "I guess I shouldn't take strategy for granite!" She stood herself up and steadied her self with a hoof on Mind's shoulder. "And now"--She slid her other hoof down Mind's face--"all your hopes are golem." She let go, landed, and looked back at the frozen duo. "What a stiff crowd." She frowned. "Come on, don't be so coald. You'll make a very nice statue,"--Lighting her horn, she conjured rope around the frozen duo and lifted them onto a wheel'd carriage that appeared just as suddenly in front of them--" as long as you're not too tied up, I'm sure no pony could ever halite such art. Now--" She looked over at the door and noticed, with a chuckle, that it was covered in locks. Maybe if she came in through the front door she would have appreciated their efforts more. Oh well. She obliterated the door in an instant, leaving a hole large enough for her new statue. "Now," she repeated, "shale we?" She tugged the rope. Celestia woke up. It was the first time in forever that she'd slept in. And now she knew what crying herself to sleep felt like. She could almost hear her sister berating her for skipping out on her duties, asking her why she would ever stop something that she got so much thanks and attention for. She looked up. Her breath caught at what she saw. Her sister's face curled around the face of the moon. Why? Why was she alone? Was she in the wrong somehow? Why did almost every other immortal end up in stone? What 'attention' could possibly help her now? She was truly alone. Everyone she could talk to would grow old and die. And the one's that wouldn't were kept from her by some means. Heart and Mind, trapped in stone by her sister. Luna, now one with her namesake. If only she could rescue them some way. Maybe tapping on them would loosen their bonds? No, even now, she wouldn't risk that. They would have to wait until she got the elements of harmony. Otherwise, she could seriously hurt them. Celestia paled. She didn't control the elements anymore! Her immortal friends would be stuck in stone until the elements' effects wore off... In about a thousand years... Celestia wiped the sweat from her brow and smiled at the two, no three statues in front of her. But then she remembered what she had to say. She stared awkwardly for a second, then smiled at the word "Love" Nightmare Moon had mockingly put on the sisters' statue. Right now it seemed somehow fitting. She cleared her throat. "I--" She choked. "I have some bad news." She looked between the statues. Of course none of them moved, but it felt like Discord just wished she would get on with whatever she had to say, and it felt like Heart and Mind were simply waiting for her to gather herself. She breathed, failing to calm herself. "Unfortunately, I no longer command the elements. That means you'll kind of be stuck for... longer than I intended." 'How long?' She heard Mind ask warily. 'Why didn't you just un-petrify us before you banished your sister?' Heart complained bitterly. 'Oh joy,' Discord said sarcastically, 'more of the still-life for me.' Celestia laughed at Discord's pun. He might have gotten along pretty well with Nightmare Moon. If only they weren't both so destructive. Of course, she knew they probably hadn't said or thought anything, and she was just laughing at her own bad pun like some self-absorbed comedian. But she still liked it when she heard their voices. They were the only solid things in this world to her now. But a question was asked, and it had to be answered. She gulped. "A thousand years," she said. "You're stuck there for... a thousand years." There was no response. Celestia collapsed. She didn't even try to hold back her tears. Star Swirl noticed Celestia bawling her eyes out in front of the statues again. He rushed over to her and tried to get her to stand up. When she failed to do so, he carried her instead. "Why do you keep doing this to yourself?" He sighed. Mind stood atop a large mountain next to her sister. They both knew none of it was real, but it was better than the boring, unchanging world around them as statues. Well, except for whenever Celestia came out. Those were certainly some... interesting... if one sided conversations. "You forgot all the wildlife. It needs animals, and humans." Heart replied. Mind smiled. She wasn't sure how exactly she was able to talk with her sister, but whenever they touched, they could share thoughts. However it worked, she was grateful. Mind waved her hand, suddenly, the sky was filled with birds and the ground was filled with cities. "You know, you could do this too." She smiled. "True." Heart smiled. "But I don't want to."