The relentless rain was putting a damper on Twilight plans and spirits both. A huge front of rain had been battering Ponyville for days on end, but finally it was starting to let up. The torrent became a drizzle, and rays of sunlight at last began to burn away the dark clouds above.
"Good grief." Twilight leaned out her bedroom window. Ponyville looked thoroughly tussled by the storm, with flowerpots and carts upturned all over the place. "You know, a competent weather factory could have minimized the damage, but this place doesn't even have a single cloud mason! What's the points of letting the pegasi live here if they aren't doing their share?" She griped. Days stuck indoors had made her very grumpy.
"I don't know Twilight. What if they don't want to be weather ponies?" Spike said as he made his bed, silently thankful that the rain had stopped so Twilight could get out.
"According to selection theory, Pegasi are evolved to use their connection to magic to shape weather. That's why they exist as a tribe. When they slack off, they put the burden at my hooves." Twilight griped. "If I have to go out of my way to learn a weather spell, I'll be absolutely insufferable about it and bring it up to every pegasus I meet."
"Yeah that'd be pretty insufferable." Spike agreed.
Twilight sighed. "Okay, I get you're tired of me complaining." She backed away from the window and shut it. "I'm tired of me complaining too."
Spike shrugged, leaving the bedroom to make breakfast and tea.
"Don't act like you weren't complaining too, young dragon." Twilight huffed. She grabbed up some of books she'd finished from the nightstand and followed Spike downstairs.
"What would I have to complain about? The books you assigned me to study are all here in the Oak." Spike posed facetiously. "So you're the one who is behind on her work with the princess, not me."
"I'm not behind." Twilight snapped.
Spike just shrugged again and waddled into the kitchen.
Twilight took a moment to calm herself while she put the books back on the shelves. Spike didn't know anything. There was no reason that way to react to his usual jokes.
Indeed, if she reacted to harshly, Spike might wonder why, and find out just what Twilight had been up to. Twilight knew she really, really needed to settle herself. That started with being productive again to sooth her neroticism.
"I'll find my breakfast in town." Twilight called towards the kitchen. "Uhh, I'll be back by noon, I think."
"Alright Twilight, have a nice day." Spike called back.
After grabbing her saddlebag, Twilight stepped out and started down the muddy streets. The ponyvillians were about their cottages, cleaning up the storm debris and chatting with their neighbors. There hadn't been much damage: Twilight had to complement the sturdy provincial construction.
Passing by the bakery, Twilight saw the pink form of Pinkie Pie arranging thing behind the counter, so she ducked inside.
"Oh hey'ya Lady Sparkle! I was just thinking about you." Pinkie waved exuberantly. "How are you? I bet you felt all cozy through the storm knowing you were safe and sound inside the Golden Oak!"
"Usually trees would be an un-ideal place to be during lightning, but that oak is a welcome exception." Twilight gave a little smile. "I'll have a tartine and a milk tea."
"Sure thing!" Pinkie grinned. "You can go ahead and sit down and I'll bring it out to you."
"Thanks." Twilight did as bidden and eased herself into a chair by the window.
In truth, Twilight had been miserable throughout the storm because she had kept herself awake, through the entire week, to prevent herself from falling into a dream. It had stared to become a delirious experience after a few days, before she had started taking short naps. The pounding, rhythmic rain and the swish of the oak's leaves had almost driven her crazy.
But still Twilight had succeeded: She had held off the pull sleep, and low and behold, she had not fallen into Nightmare Moon's court. The entrancing music had not taken hold of her.
"I could test more at the edge of the forest today. Maybe the magic will be disrupted by the humidity in a measurable way." Twilight wondered. She pulled out her notepad and started writing her thoughts.
After several minutes the door opened and a yellow pegasus scurried in.
“Hello Mis Fluttershy.” Twilight looked up from her notepad. “Awful storm, wasn't it?”
Fluttershy stared at Twilight, who was an unexpected site on her routine. “Um, hi Lady Twilight.” Fluttershy drip dried on the doormat for a moment before taking the seat opposite Twilight’s. “It, um, wasn't too bad. Ponyville gets storms off the Everfree pretty often. I'm used to seasonal rain from the Unicorn Range when I was in Cloudsdale.”
“Oh, you’re from Cloudsdale?” Twilight presumed.
Fluttershy nodded. "I left when I was young.”
Twilight rubbed her chin. Fluttershy had claimed to be slightly older than her. How much older? “Did you leave before the Cloud Creche incident?” Twilight asked.
“Um,” Fluttershy shied away. “shortly after.”
“Oh.” Twilight could see it was something of a raw point for the mare. Not surprising. Many Cloudsdale pegasi had lost family at Cloud Creche. Twilight was happy to drop the topic, as dwelling on it began to stir up uncomfortable memories of her own. “On an unrelated note, did you finish the wildlife estimates for Ponyville and the Everfree fringe yet?”
Fluttershy blushed. “I did my best, but with the storm and rain I didn't finish, especially the math bits."
"That's fine. May I see it?" Twilight asked.
"It's at home." Fluttershy said. "But I remember a lot of what I wrote. I could, um recount it for you now if that helps."
“I appreciate the offer." Twilight said, putting down her notepad and jumping out of her chair. "But I can fetch it myself." Her horn began to glow as she summoned up her magic. "What and where is it?"
Fluttershy looked confused, unsure of what Twilight was trying to do with magic. "Umm, it's a pile of letters on the table in my living room."
The pop of Twilight’s teleportation spell frightening Fluttershy with its abruptness. Twilight had disappeared.
"Hey, did somepony put a rock through my window again?" Pinkie Pie leaned out of the bake room, scrutinizing the situation.
"Uhh, no. Twilight left." Fluttershy said. Her eyes wandered to Twilight's notepad. "Oh." She bit her lip, innocently leaning closer and squinting at what Twilight had written. "I... I can't read it. Um, I think she coded it, or maybe wrote it in another language."
Pinkie Pie giggled to herself. "That's pretty tricky of her, hee hee. So, you want a tart or something?"
"Um, later." Fluttershy murmured, sighing and sinking into her chair. "I lost my appetite."
Not a second later, Twilight reappeared in a blinding flash, a stack of loose parchment in her magical grasp.
"Oof, it's been a while since I teleported that far." Twilight let out a tired breath. She plopped the stack of papers down on the table. "And muggy weather like this plays havoc with magical currents over distances. There a reason unicorns stick to the mountains and leave the coasts and ripuarian to the earth ponies."
Pinkie Pie threw Fluttershy a glance, which Fluttershy returned with a worried shake of her head.
Twilight began flipping through the papers.
"The forest... Bears, predatory eagles, badgers, carnivores plants, wolves, timberwolves-" Twilight paused, then read down a bit further to herself. "Many magical animal species, and in startling numbers. Sounds lethally dangerous." She glanced up at Fluttershy. "I know you haven't done the math, but what would you guess are the standard errors on these estimates."
Fluttershy shrugged, averting her eyes.
"Fine. I trust you that its accurate enough." Twilight said, lying. She dug her notepad from under the papers and jotted a few things. "According to this, going in there really is certain death, just like everypony says. If I even try to clear land near the forest for the Summer Sun fair, I'd have to plan mass graves."
"Oh my." Fluttershy paled.
"I'm joking. Sorry. That's more the kind of joke I would make with other students at the University, especially the destruction magic or military science students." Twilight laughed. "In the face of death, of with its contemplation, we start becoming morbid and cynical, don't we."
"That's what we call foreshadowing." Pinkie Pie whistled to herself, ducking back into the kitchen to finish the tartine.
"Am I on the right track with it?" Fluttershy nodded towards the papers. "I want to help how I can and-"
"It's fine. Good, even. I don't think it needs to be progressed much. You can keep at this wildlife thing, or help Rarity, I'd say." Twilight said. She leaned back in her chair, and looked out onto the muddy lane. It had started to sprinkle rain again. "This place is so deprived. No post. No temple. No inn. No tavern. No mayor. No sheriff. No weatherponies. If it weren't for that blessed Golden Oak, I'd have gone mad. Like, completely insane." She looked back to Fluttershy. "Something has been on my mind. With no temple, there's no visible cemetery. Where are the dead buried? Presumably you don't chuck them in the river for the villages downstream to take care of."
Fluttershy cringed. Twilight didn't actually seem sorry for the earlier morbid joke. "Each family has their own, um, private cemetery, out of town in various places."
"That makes sense. It's a very personal place, I imagine. You know, I have no idea where my maternal grandparents are buried. I don't think my mother cares to let me know." Twilight grunted. "Everypony on my father's side gets shipped to the fortress at Foal when they die. There's whole mountain vaults full of them. Generation after generation of Bright family, laid in stacks of sarcophagi, like all the ancient dynasties." She frowned. "It's a bit sobering to think about how close the dynasty is to extinction now. Thousands of years of the Bright family, soon to lead into oblivion. It won't be long before I'm found there too, my six-star mark chiseled on the face and foot of a grey slab, shoved into an annex until Foal mountain shatters beneath me."
"Oh... my." Fluttershy squeaked. Twilight really was an odd pony at times. "You sound closer to your father's family."
"By default." Twilight shrugged. "I won't get into it, but the Brights keep my parents at a distance. My mother was just a lesser noble, scion of a totally unknown house. We had nothing but our name before I was entitled by her highness. I might have wellborn blood, but in truth it's not on the caliber of those mountaintop unicorn lords." She gazed away somewhere to the north. "Ancient warlords, entombed one after the other, mother, son, father, daughter, century after century, in that fortress. They were born in a time when the crown was won by power, and pony willpower ruled this continent."
She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning back in the chair again. "And I am here by an alicorn's will. Would they judge me ill, those proud ancestors?"
"..." Fluttershy shifted uneasily. "That sounds unfair on you."
"It's the nobles life. I'm years past dwelling on those kinds of questions." Twilight said from her laid back pose. "If I ever have children, they'll be welcomed as I am now a viscountess. But that's still cutting it: Viscountess is one of the lowest landed court ranks." She peaked an eye open. "Do you wonder, ever, what the ancestors of this village would say about its modern state?"
Fluttershy bit her lip to hide an alarmed gasp.
"Breakfast is ready, m'lady!" Pinkie returned from the kitchen with Twilight's tartine and tea. She eyed the stack of papers dominating the table. "You mind?"
Fluttershy snatched up the papers and stuffed them in her saddlebag. Hopefully Twilight wouldn't ask for them again, to scrutinize more closely.
Pinkie plopped the plate down in the vacated spot. "Bon appetite!"
"Thank you Pinkie Pie." Twilight said, sitting up.
"You're welcome." Pinkie sing-songed as she bounced away.
Twilight took a bite of the tartine and made an appreciative hum.
The noblemare was a hazard, Fluttershy appraised, trowing concealed glances Twilight's way. She could see it, and Pinkie was coming around to the idea as well. It was just Applejack and Rarity who thought they could wield Lady Sparkle against one another, even as they pretended to play nice.
But Fluttershy had never been a bold pony, so she resigned herself to sit back and see what became of Twilight Sparkle's continued prodding into Ponyville's secrets.
Fluttershy was silent for a few minutes longer, working her way to the courage for a question. “Twilight, do you plan on going into the Everfree.”
“I'm just being thorough.” Twilight mumbled through a mouthful of food.
“You are, arn't you. You're going to go into the forest.” Fluttershy said.
Twilight didn't respond until she'd gotten through half her plate. “It's not like I would be smote immediately by heavenly lightning. It would be risky but not impossible.” Twilight said. “I could find some skilled hunter unicorns and get past the magical creatures, if I had a reason to."
"You have a reason to, or you wouldn't be saying that." Fluttershy paled.
Twilight shrugged and took a bite of tartine.
Fluttershy hesitated, then shook her head. "I wouldn't have made that report if I thought you would use it this way."
A cross look overcame Twilight's features. "Don't lie to me, Mis Fluttershy. You suspected this of me from the start which is why you've fluffed the numbers of dangerous creatures so outrageously." She crossed her hooves. "You think you already know my intentions and are trying to control me?"
"I- I did make up the numbers, and... I- I'm sorry, but it's because I'm too scared to do the accurate count. I made my best guess." Fluttershy explained, showing contrition. "Please, I'm sorry. There really are terrible things in the forest."
Twilight pursed her lips. Either there were dangerous beasts, or there were not. Their numbers was not all that important, since even a few timberwolves or astral bears would be an impossible obstacle for a single pony. Unicorns had struggled against magical predators from millennia, even before the Great Migration. Twilight was not nearly good enough of a hunter to anticipate and subdue one.
And yet, the mystery of the forest remained, the key to understanding Ponyville's secrets, and a deeper reality to the Nightmare haunting her dreams. Eventually she would have to make the plunge, and subject herself to the forest's dangers for real.
But maybe if could be put off. There was enough to do in Ponyville before that.
"I understand Mis Fluttershy. My earlier thanks stand then." Twilight smiled. She took her tea in her magic. "I remember you telling me you like tea. I should come over for a cup some time."
"That would be... nice." Fluttershy averted her eyes. "I'll have to get back to you after I, um, talk to Rarity."
"Have some engagements planned? Don't worry about it then." Twilight took a sip of her milk tea. It was pretty good. "Just one more question though. You said storms are common this close to the Everfree?"
"Oh, yes." Fluttershy nodded. "Big rainstorms can last months above the forest. Ponyville only receives the outer bands. Good thing you're not actually going in."
"Good thing." Twilight agreed quietly.
The fall of night was come. Errands run, notes taken, chores completed, the reward being the comfortable bed ever awaiting.
After fighting so hard for the past week, Twilight was going to allow herself to fall into a dreaming sleep. Spike was huddled into the corner, reading by candlelight, while she slipped under the covers.
"Don't stay up too late." Twilight said.
"Very funny." Spike glanced over his book. "Goodnight Twilight."
We shall see, Twilight thought.
And when she next opened her eyes, it was upon the ruined castle.
The storm still raged here, deep in the Everfree Forest. Rain beat down endlessly on Twilight’s dream-body as walked the length of the dark throne room, shattered open to the skies. For the black altar awaited.
There was no hesitation in Twilight's voice. "Hark, Nightmare, I've returned. The pact to summon you is this: Tell me your name, and I will tell you mine.”
The cracked obsidian altar began to glow with its deep blue magic. The familiar hum filled the air, the sign of the attention of the Dark alicorn. But nothing was said from the other side, to reciprocate Twilight's offer.
Twilight waited for a few moments, then kicked at the altar , splashing it with cold rainwater. "Come on out, my lady.” Twilight said gruffly. “I say again, I offer you my name, in exchange for yours.”
But still no response was forthcoming.
“Lady Nightmare, is it your right to ignore me? We're both compelled to this." Twilight said. "Are you expecting me to beg for my own torture?"
A low rumble issued forth, the psychic droll making the whole dreamfabric vibrate, and Twilight heard the piercing sound of the Nightmare of the Moon’s displeased voice transmitted through the altar.
“Perhaps if you did not talk so much, you could discern my displeasure, pony.” The discordant noise of the Nightmare's words gave Twilight an immediate headache. "Or was it 'Twilight Sparkle'? I see it clearly, that in this as in every age, ponykind sits well with its deceptions!"
“I was completely honest with you. My name is Twilight Sparkle, of Twilight-Bright, and none other.” Twilight insisted. “I don't know why giving our names didn't end the summoning pact last time, truly. I'm just not well versed in that kind of magic."
“Loquacious, excuse filled, you are a revolting subject. But tell me, Dame Sparkle, why I would wish to receive your name if you speak true, and I already have it?” Nightmare asked acidly. “Offer me something I want, under different summoning pact terms. Tempt me! Seduce me! Otherwise bother me no longer and kill yourself. I have no desire to watch this blasphemous slab drive you to depredations.”
The strange and provocative words confused Twilight. "My lady, what can I offer that you would want?"
The magic around the black altar thrummed. "You pony. You thought you knew me so well, enough to condescend to me about my desires. Why now taken aback? Wretch." The Nightmare chided. "Wretch, pony, yes, a wretch."
That much was true. Twilight did feel wretched. She considered quickly. “You would want some other information.”
“Ah! There is hope for you, Twilight Sparkle. But be specific.” Nightmare encouraged.
Twilight tried to think back on the details of the last dream, of what the Nightmare had engage with and what had enraged her. But the swells of Dark magic around her, the infuriating hum and snatches of the distant melody, were distracting her. “You wish to know about..."
Oh, but there was one topic that always pulled the Nightmare of the Moon's full attention: Celestia. She could not bear even subtle remarks about her celestial sister of the sun. Twilight had to make her offer very very indirectly. "Lady Nightmare, you wish to know more about my world, do you not? Then that is what I must want in return. Please, tell me of your world."
“I shall,” Nightmare’s voice was approving. “if you tell me of yours.”
“It's a pact then. Accepted”. Twilight nodded. The magical music’s grasp on her mind dwindled in tandem with Nightmare’s incorporeal arrival.
The demon alicorn made an act of stretching, rocking her etherial body and moving each slender limb in turn. She opened her glowing eyes and turned them on Twilight. "The rain continues, when the magic of this altar cleared it away previously. It is not so bad, even if it agitates me. There is no rain on the moon."
"I have never dreamed that far." Twilight said.
"Few have." Nightmare nodded. She leaned in. "You were gone a spell."
"I couldn't sleep." Twilight said. "Miss me?"
"Hardly. I suspect, and it seems well confirmed, that you were avoiding me." Nightmare hummed in amusement. “You lay awake out of guilt and terror, I assert and thus it is true, on account of your lies. Always lying you are. Such sin is deserving of obliteration."
“If you believe that punishment fits the crime, then so be it.” Twilight said softly. “It’s within your power.”
The Nightmare threw her a look of annoyance. "Of course it is. Do not bore me, pony." She strode across the to the shattered thrones in the middle of the raised dais. She regarded the thrones for a while, knowing that they were just beyond the outer limit of her etherial leash. "If we have any pretense of being above base beasts, we much know our limits, our standing among one another, and the nature of our interrelations."
She turned back to Twilight. "Under dark skies, the outcome of the intercourse between us as ponies is decided by STRENGTH alone. Pony, I demand you kneel."
With a sigh, Twilight bowed her head for a few seconds.
The Nightmare smirked. "Will you fetch too, pony? Maybe still you are no different than a beast."
"Why the hell did I tell you my name if you're going to keep calling me pony?" Twilight snapped back. "I have pledged to respect your status and majesty as an alicorn. You don't have to flaunt it over me. That's just... Ingracious."
"Grace, status, the norms of feudal courtesy: I have already made clear my distain for all of it." The Nightmare said, then paused, abruptly lost in thought, content to let the rain beat at her.
Twilight sighed to herself again.
The Nightmare perked up after a while. "I have thought after it more."
"Clearly." Twilight nodded.
"In the Northern Wars, against the corruption of the Dark sovereign of the Crystal principality, I galloped forth alongside the flower of Equestrian youth: Mares and Stallions of intense bravery, unparalleled wit, and the taste and acumen for war. In full barding we would charge, to crash against the foe, to shatter them, utterly!" The Nightmare said, in a revere as she spoke out this memory. "They were ponies of a breed WORTH the respect of an alicorn. They were the ponies who commanded their own fate, and fought and died to shape the world... before the alicorn advent, that is."
"The warlords of Classical Equestria." Twilight said. "Only earlier today, I had my own reminiscence about they among my ancestors."
The Nightmare's revere faded. She eyed Twilight. "Is this really what has become of their lineage?"
"Oh shut the hell up already." Twilight grumbled.
Prolonged company with the Nightmare was going to make her crass and callous. There was only so much abuse Twilight was willing to take, and like Celestia's little slights and dismissals, the Moon princess's nettling was wearing at her.
"That is better. For the warlord worthy of respect, obscenity is optional, but PRIDE is not." Nightmare lectured. "You must be self-assured, self-controlled, possessed of a noble certitude. There can be no detached irony, no cynicism."
Was this an alicorn or a crusty Canterlot aristocratic conservative reactionary? "I'm not interested in conforming to your bizarre idealization of a made-up past. Ponies don't act like that anymore, if they ever did in the first place."
"You accuse me of lying? Oh what gall! I lived and killed alongside those ponies." Nightmare’s unblinking face upturned. Unreadable, stern, but with a hint of glee. "So clearly you modern ponies are not up to that standard. I have had to rely on the weakest ignoble filth on the flank of my division before. It is unwelcome."
"And I have no interest in picking a fight on your behalf." Twilight said. "In case you haven't caught on, I'm not even that eager to rhetorically spar over my liege's honor."
"Ah, but your own honor?" Nightmare invited.
Aye, Twilight could was willing to do that. "You haven't broken me yet, my lady. Not nearly."
"That's very good. I like that, Sparkle, truly I do." The Nightmare rapidly nodded her head, tossing her etherial mane around. "Tell me more. I came to hear it all. Tell me what the point of a wellborn noble whelp is, if not to go to war?"
Meandering though they had, they had come back to the night's grave topic, and Twilight had delayed getting tortured to death/wakefulness. "In modern Equestria, the class order is not radically different than it was a thousand years ago. The noble blood have the privilege of running all the imperial institutions. Cities are larger, and there are many more merchants and artisans than in classical Equestria, but they only have political control in a few Free Cities. Then there's peasants, as there always are."
Nightmare Moon stared, as if not understanding. "The privilege..."
"Because Equestria is unified, there's no more endemic war, obviously. Noble houses aren't fighting and slaughtering each other." Twilight explained. "So we govern. The imperial design flows down from the seat of power, through us, to the mass of ponykind."
"Then you are but a multitude of magistrates." The Nightmare of the Moon uttered. "Ahh... I becomes so much clearer to me. I understand you now, Twilight Sparkle, descendent of warlords. Your class, the warrior caste of ponykind, has becomes so much milk cream, to whom blood is owed, but from whom no blood is expected anymore."
Twilight had heard somewhat similar arguments from coffee house revolutionaries before, and reactionaries. "That's a bit trite. You might not understand us without experiencing it. We keep Equestria whole. We aren't hurting anypony." She said.
"Is that so?" The Nightmare rushed forward with fearful haste, sending droplets in every direction as she aggressed on Twilight. "BOW, PONY!"
Twilight startled, and fell backwards on her haunch.
"For you've already forgotten the lesson, that coercion is the ultimate law of relations between the unequal! When I battled across Equestria, in every armored pony hoof there was a whip to cow the resentful peasant. And with every wing horn and mouth, in the grasp of these masters of war and power, were the swords with which they killed the covetous contenders abroad and below. What we had had all been earned by FORCE, and what was unearned was not had at all, but surely taken! When what is wanted by one is not wanted by another, the bloody hoof, horn, and wing decide the future." Nightmare explained "I have all three." She nickered. "But you are so deluded by alicorn glamour you forget you hold the sword over the rest of ponykind on her behalf. That is so devious I can't help but laugh. You think you're helping them, ha ha!"
Nightmare Moon's nostalgic vision of Equestria, a barbarous land of warlords who fought over every scrap of land, sounded extremely unpleasant to Twilight. Besides it was ahistoric! The classical warlords were a sophisticated civilization with complex systems of diplomacy, tribute, rites, and responsibilities between them. Yes there had been war, but it wasn't all war all the time. Twilight wondered whether the clash between what the moon princess had wanted, an anarchic Equestria, and what had actual been, the complex societies of classical Equestria, had in some part caused her corruption and downfall.
How was Twilight going to explain and propose these thoughts? It would sound ridiculous to try to lecture the Nightmare about a time she had never lived, but which Nightmare had. It was difficult enough to explain the modern era without bringing up Celestia explicitly? "Lady Moon, aren't you a sovereign yourself? You don't let your lunar subjects wantonly kill themselves, do you?"
The Nightmare of the Moon paused, then allowed herself a long wistful sigh. She lifted her head to appraised the fleeting moonlight struggling to break through the clouds and rain above.
"If you wish to hear about my moon, it is shameful to speak of her behind her back."
The clouds were punched open, and the silvery bright shadow of the moon was upon them, summoned by her daughter's wish. Twilight looked to her too, trying to see what the Nightmare saw.
Something was off... It took Twilight a few moments, before she realized that the pattern of lunar craters, the 'Mare in the Moon' of folklore, was considerably less prominent than it usually seemed. Ah, but that mare was right beside her! "We've met, but were never properly introduced." Twilight whispered, eyes wide. In indescribable yearning swelled up in her. She wished she could reach up and touch the moon.
The moon was disinterested. It had no intention of humoring Twilight's doting, when here daughter was in the room.
"I see..." Twilight had lived her hole life under the sun, so instinctively knew how to live a life under divine attention. She turned back to Nightmare Moon. "Now is it okay to share?"
"It is." The Nightmare confirmed.
“My moon is the gateway to the heavenly stars. It is very bleak and beautiful there, with canyons and mountains that dwarf the greatest on this planet. Once it was a land of great pleasure and jolly, the moon denizens luxuriant on the commerce between the Dreamworld and the Cosmos. Now it is silent. The inhabitants have all ascended into Nightmares.”
Nightmare closed one eye and pointed a hoof up, trying to pick out a specific spot on the so-distant satellite. “My waking body is up there, in a purgatorial limbo, cursed to never leave. I rule only in a sense. I am the greatest and most powerful upon my moon, certainly, but it is so much dust... unchanging. Meteors strike, eclipses come and go, Star gods flit past, but the moon is indomitable even by me. After all it is but a dream. My dream...." She sighed. "She is my dream, and I am her nightmare. We shall never be separated from each other.”
It was the kind of poetic captivation which came over the Nightmare of the Moon now and then.
And even if she didn't want to admit it, the alicorn's brief ramblings of passion captivated Twilight. “Are you no longer the Moon's princess, therefore?" Twilight asked.
Nightmare initially rankled at the question, but her aggravated expression mellowed almost immediately. "The princesses were manifestations of the wills of their respective Celestine deity. What I inherited from the princess is of no matter, if that is the aim behind that question, for I manifest nowhere, and not the least on her behalf." She laughed, somewhat sinisterly. "It is all for me now. It has been since I was born out of what I was. The Nightmare emerged of the princess, but there was no princess any longer. Only me."
"But was it you who had such fond memories among the ancient ponies, your erstwhile comrades, or that princess?" Twilight asked.
Nightmare's nose wrinkled. "You mean to vex me."
"I really don't. I want to hear you talk about Ancient Equestria. Though if it was the princess, and not you, then I'd have no recourse." Twilight said.
Contemplating this, the Nightmare fell into her silent mood.
This made Twilight wonder if there was something phenomenological about the Nightmare's extreme moods. Was it a quirk of personality, or was there something more, for Twilight envisioned each mood as a phase of the moon, shifting, extant but impertinent, fated to give way to the next.
"I remember the night before a battle against an army of the Dark north. I went up into the Foal Highlands in search of herbs, poison fern, horsebane, and haemony, to weave into my arrows. It was the dark of night, and the new moon too, so I walked the silent mountain vales alone, without raiment and adornment." The Nightmare ran a hoof over the profile of her cuirass- In her incorporeal form, it was hard to distinguish the stylized armor against her fur. Did she ever take it off now? "I passed into a meadow and saw a bedraggled nightmare, a straggler from our last victory. It begged me to spare it, but she had taken up arms against our cause, so I crushed the creature against the earth."
The dark alicorn stomped the ground, mimicking the half-remembered murder on one of the puddles of rainwater.
"Who was that pony? I much suspect they are dead now. Alas this is the fated end to those who dare to live."
Interesting. "Very florid, my lady." Twilight said. "I doubt you'd let me get away with being that prosaic."
"Indeed not. But was that your only takeaway, or are you simply avoiding expressing thoughts that would aggravate me?" The Nightmare posed. "Be well assured, the Celestiaan Lunar princess, sister to Celestia, was a tested warrior who make her mark in blood. She was a prolific killer, which is why she gave rise to me," Nightmare Moon cocked her head. "her successor and inheritor."
That was a very interesting lead that Twilight would need to pursue. What were the mechanics of 'nightmare-ization'? By what dark rituals could a creature of flesh become one of dreams?
Wait- Twilight paused. Had Nightmare Moon just directly referred to Celestia? At least that teasing taboo was broken. "Then why didn't Celestia give rise to a Nightmare."
"You DO mean to vex me. I have no answer for you, because I do not know. Go ask her yourself." Nightmare snorted in irritation. "I assume you two must be very close if she permits you to neglect her title, oh so important to you ponies, when in the company of others."
Twilight had just been caught out. "Her imperial highness has a long and arduous royal styling. Most commonly, she is Princess Celestia." She coughed.
"Bah, 'Imperial highness'. What pretension. You shall never catch me thinking imperially of myself." Nightmare grunted. “No alicorn can be an emperor after the fall of the Tower. There is only one empire in Heaven anymore."
Twilight had no idea what Moon was talking about. "Would you really reject if somepony called you Empress Moon? respectfully, I would think it would suite your ego." Twilight grinned. "Perhaps I should prematurely apologize, should I ever be caught being familiar with you to others. Actually, I tend to be more formal that Celestia prefers, even with other ponies."
Then, as she went over what she had just said in her had, Twilight's smile faltered.
Nightmare’s stare was piercing. For a long, silent moment, the beast's glare became harsher and harsher.
"How familiar is the 'imperial highness' with her noble class of magistrates, Lady Twilight Sparkle? Just how well does Celestia know you, hmm?” Then she rose, and slowly advanced on the unicorn. “Is there some interest in your affairs perhaps? Do you tell her about your hopes…” Nightmare leaned forward until her nose was touching Twilight’s “and dreams? I would very much like to know.”
“Lady Moon-” Twilight’s heart was racing. If Nightmare found her answer dissatisfying, there way a large probability she would be facing tortured nights for an eternity. "This dream remains between us. Not a soul, not a spoken word, not a letter to paper, has been shared."
Nightmare closed her eyes, considering this. "A valiant effort to save your hide from the sun princess, surely. But I nay care, and that is not what I asked."
"Then... It's hard to explain.” It wasn't really that hard to explain. Twilight gulped, not only from fear, but the familiar anxiety that came whenever she tried to define her complicated relationship to Celestia. "Princess Celestia was my mentor for a number of years, and I was her ward. I received personal attention and magical instruction, occasionally, alongside the normal instruction of the magic school." She paused. "I'm currently her direct vassal, as viscountess and Élève Premier, a special agent of sorts for imperial affairs."
Of all the possible emotions, Nightmare’s face was desecrated by a teethy smile. “Her student? Ha!" She withdrew, letting Twilight breath easy. "Oh how I loath to recall that nag, but all the same, how contrary to her nature your words seem to me. An alicorn born with the alicorn nature of suspicion and cynicism was she, my erstwhile sibling Celestia. She did not trust anyone with her plans, except me, and even then only when necessary. And how she hoarded magical artifacts, secreting them away in little vaults like a squirrel, grossly satisfied that they were for her enjoyment alone..." Nightmare flicked Twilight with her ethereal tale. “But most outrageous of all is the claim that you, pitiful pony you, are a student and successor to her. I should call it a lie, yet I believe it. A little Sparkle, in the shadow of an alicorn.”
Twilight rubbed at her cheek. “I'm just her agent and vassal. I'm not heir, not even close." She shivered to contemplate it. How had the Nightmare even thought it were possible? Had there been pony heirs to the alicorns in her time? "The succession is kinda complicated. If I recall my history, the Summer Sun secession didn't start until the empire was founded so you wouldn't know about any of that. I guess legally, if there were no more Celestias, the junior princess, Mi Amore Cadenza would be imperial heir.”
Nightmare snickered. “I detect by your pointed tone that you resent this other pony. And why not, when Celestia put this higher-rank vassal between you and a throne. But to call them junior princess? Is she just making up positions for her cronies?"
Twilight was very uncertain how the Nightmare would react if she revealed that Cadence was an alicorn too. Hopefully it wouldn't slip out. "I don't like Cadenza on a personal level but I'm not going to do anything to her. I don't share your savage ideology, sorry."
"Clearly." Nightmare Moon scoffed. "Otherwise you would not be here. You would have been a threat to the princess-empress and destroyed. It would have been a shame to lose you though, if you had the spine."
Twilight accepted the backhanded complement. "That's outlandish to contemplate. I have never given anypony a reason to hurt me, let alone kill me."
"AGAIN you vex me with your ignorance, Twilight Sparkle! By what magic are you of a higher caste than the peasant masses you so dismissively described populating your princess's empire? By god, do you think they are your willing inferior?" Nightmare Moon snorted, jets of dark steam in the cold rainy night. "I am not a wagering mare, but I would bet you that this 'Cadenza' pony holds superiority of rank over you by virtue of martial prowess, and lethal potency."
Despite their intermittent feuding, Twilight had never seriously contemplated fighting Cadence. She tapped her chin, running through scenarios in her head. "You'd be half right, I guess, about Cadenza. She has the magic edge obviously, even if I rate her less precise than me. I've also taken some military science classes but that hardly matters in a scrap." Twilight laughed softly. "And while I'm fairly squishy, I'm not entirely sure she would die, even if I took her head off, as horrible as it is to say something like that."
Nightmare seemed confused at first, then as it dawned on her the dark alicorn’s face grew unreadably locked. "So the nature of this other pony, Cadenza, is that she isn't a pony at all."
Twilight could feel the temperature of the wet throne room drop considerably. “Oops." Careless again.
So, how was Twilight to approach this? By the severe look in her eye, there was no way that Nightmare Moon was going to let her waffle or digress. "No, Princess Cadenza no more mortal than Celestia or you are."
Nightmare was stone-still for several long moments, silent, while light patter of the rain went on around them. Slowly, the Nightmare looked back at the broken thrones again.
"It is not whim that Celestia titled that mare a princess. Another alicorn..."
Those words made Twilight queasy, but she wasn't sure why at first. It was the Nightmare's tone. She sounded afraid, and that greatly, and seemingly instinctually, put Twilight in the same mood.
"She's not your or Celestia's size. She's a bit taller than an average stallion."
"What does it matter what size the alicorn is?! It existence is the issue." Nightmare snapped. "How old is she?"
"Uhh, like, my brother's age, twenty-two or so. The temple dogma likes to pretend she's as eternal as Celestia, but she talks about her childhood like it wasn't that long ago." Twilight shrugged.
The Nightmare contemplated this. "Alicorns spring neither from clay nor the womb, but nor are they eternal. Of that I can assure you." Nightmare mumbled. "The more I hear of your world, the less I understand. I thought I understood how and why things had changed since my age, even if it hurt to think about. But another alicorn? Suddenly, it seems so confusing again." She eyed Twilight. "And it is just the one, yes? Only this Cadenza creature?"
Even if she didn't like her, Twilight wasn't keen on Cadence being called a creature. "Yes it's just Cadence. Don't judge her too hard before you meet her. I think she's a dumbass but she tries to be a nice pony sometimes, which is more than I can say for some."
"You are sadly misled. Alicorns are made for the domination of mortalkind. Any kindness you perceive is her conquest of your soul." Nightmare Moon said in a conspiratorial whisper, a fearful undertone still in her voice. "Cast off those shackles of ideology which my sister's realm has placed on you if you wish to see the truth, and defeat this mare."
"I don't want to 'defeat' her. That was something you made up!" Twilight shot back. The Nightmare said she didn't understand but then had the gall to give advice. "It's long past the time she and I were competing over silly honors at the University. Now she's well enough locked away in her tower, and I'm here dealing with you. I have no reason to think about her, especially not to fight about a pretend succession!"
That pulled the Nightmare from her mood, as she threw Twilight a surely look. "Don't raise your voice with me, pony. You don't know anything, yet. There are grave, grave implications of what you've said. I should have known about the new alicorn, even imprisoned as I am. But the courts of Dreams and Heaven were ignorant of Cadenza, which means the Sun has not been honest about her vassal princess's actions on the earth." Nightmare Moon strode forward and set a hoof on the obsidian Nightmare Altar. "It might be why we have been drawn here."
"Respectfully, I have no idea what you're talking about. That sounds like total nonsense." Twilight said flatly.
Despite Twilight's provocative dismissals, the Nightmare didn't rise to her words. "Of course you don't know. Ignorant slave." She stepped around the black altar and, after a few second of thinking to herself, sat down in front of Twilight. "It was somepony's intention that we meet. Perhaps not a pony. Maybe it was a Star, or a Deava, or even my erstwhile ward Valor..." She clucked her tongue. "Whatever the case may be, I theorize we were brought together with purpose. So tell me about her."
If the Nightmare Altar had been designed and created, and it only affected Twilight and not of the Ponyvillians, then yes, somepony had intended it. Whether the creator had intentionally trapped Twilight in a shared dream with the moon nightmare so they could gossip was different assumption.
"Tell you about who? Princess Celestia or Junior Princess Cadenza?"
"For now, Cadenza. Though she must have changed quite a bit from when I knew her, I know that devil Celestia." Nightmare was overcome by a wistful look as she said this. "But I must know about the new one."
The cold west stone of the ruined throne room wasn't the most comfortable place to sit, but there were worse alternatives, so Twilight settled in. “I guess she’s about two hooves taller than me, very slightly overweight. She's a talent with psychological magic, a passible mathematician, but struggles with the more complex spells like teleportation. She's pink, and her mark is teal crystal in a decorative heart shape." Twilight paused. "Personality wise, she's outwardly nice, but stubborn, and if she decides she wants something she'll be relentlessly manipulative to get it."
"Interesting I suppose, but you lack the making of a spy. From whence did she arrive? Did Celestia manufacture her, is she an Ancient Alicorn scion, or did some other Ava send her to be Celestia's ward?" Nightmare asked.
Twilight just shrugged.
Nightmare Moon blinked in confusion. "You don't know? This second alicorn appears from thin air, was brought in by your empress Celestia, named a princess, and you ponies simply accept it?"
"Yeah. It was a mystery at first but she's not remotely important at court anymore, so everypony stoped caring." Twilight said. "Nowadays she pursues her private studies in her wing of the castle, bound by the golden fetters Celestia put on her."
"Why is she fettered?" Nightmare asked.
"Metaphorically fettered. There was a conspiracy of nobles who tried to trick her into a marriage." Twilight rubbed her chin. "It was probably the most important political shock of the last decade. Since then, Cadence was been isolated."
"You ponies truly baffle me. This whole situation is... nonsensical. There is no place for a mild-mannered alicorn on the earth.” Nightmare let out a deep sigh. She began to idly smooth her fur where it met her cuirass. “But I heard in there somewhere that she is not good with magic. Interesting. They must not have been made for war.”
Twilight cleared her throat. "Okay, to clarify, I don't know how she came to be an alicorn, but she talks about her past as though she was born and lived like any other pony. Her home village is a secret but its well known she grew up a commoner, which is a big reason why the noble circles don't like her."
"Is it possible this pony was made into an alicorn, after being a mortal? That is what I mean when I pose that Celestia could have manufactured her." Nightmare mused. "But still it would confuse me. Why? Why would Celestia do it?" She perked up, coming to a new thought. "Ahah! It would make much more sense if, say, a Star created her! Then Celestia would have noticed this blasphemy and seized the new alicorn, making the best of it." She nodded a look of stern certainty on her face. "That is surely what happened. A Star messing about with that damned ritual. That leads me to believe that this shared dream is also the machination of a Star."
This wasn't the first time Nightmare Moon had said that word, 'Star', in that way. That word, especially the way Nightmare Moon said it, tickled Twilight ear. It sounded so grave and evil, which is not what Twilight wanted to be feeling when thinking about starts, since she had six of them as her mark. "My lady, you're leaving me in the dark about a lot of this, but since it concerns me, at least tell me what the 'Stars' are."
Nightmare Moon immediately scowled and pursed her lips, reviling to even contemplate the question. "I shall put it this way: No matter how pathetically you act, you could never drop to the lowest rungs of my esteem, as all my greatest hate is reserved for them, The twelve Stars."
She caught Twilight glancing towards the clouded sky. "Nay, not those stars. That is heaven up there, where thankfully the Stars of which I speak will never pass! You poor mortals are stuck with them here on this planet."
"Why, are they non-mortal, like alicorns?" Twilight asked.
She should have known better than phrase it that way, as the question immediately annoyed the Nightmare. "Wretched sinners, they and I, but do let me catch you comparing us again. If by grace I am returned to flesh, I will skin them for what they've done." She snarled, voice dripping contempt.
"How can any particular pony get so low in the esteem of your might-makes-right worldview? If they're treacherous bastards, surely that's self-justifying." Twilight mused. She cast the Nightmare a curious look, inviting an explanation.
"It was no mere crime against me. I am not that hypocritical." Nightmare Moon said. She consciously paused collecting herself and letting her anger dissipate. "They committed a sin against nature, deeper than Light and Dark, and contravening of all Heavenly law. I shall not elaborate."
"Are you sure?" Twilight fluttered her lashes.
The Nightmare made a disgusted noise and looked away.
Another loose thread.
Twilight rolled to her hooves and started pacing the room, passing into and out of the gap in the rain made by the hole in the clouds.
Bit by bit, Twilight had endeared herself to the Nightmare of the Moon. What would have seemed impossible the first night, sitting down and having a 'normal' conversation, was now straightforward. Where before the Nightmare had raged at the every implication of Celestia, now she was articulating very specific gripes. Yes, Twilight was getting the full contour of the dark alicorn's strange personality. The Nightmare was even allowing herself to get annoyed by Twilight without flying into a rage.
Twilight looked back to the Nightmare. Nightmare Moon was sitting patiently, watching Twilight pace, letting the unicorn sort her thoughts out so they could go back to conversation. After all Twilight had done the same for her.
Twilight could help but grin. Victory. She had conquered the Nightmare, by her own logic.
In her moment of great pride, Twilight relished her control over the divine demi-god. Celestia had spurned her, but Twilight had found and taken the sister for herself. She felt like a triumphal hunter.
The Nightmare of the Moon noticed Twilight's grin, and smiled back, thinking her own triumphal thoughts.
"Fine, Lady Moon, I accept your boundary for now." Twilight said. "Though it would be a shame if I had to search after the secret of the Stars myself. I might find it with some other pony or princess, who you say bears relation to them."
Nightmare Moon grumbled her displeasure. "You damn fool."
"I suppose as long as you stay on that moon, you can't kill me for real." Twilight teased.
Nightmare stood up. "We will test that, if you continue like this. But alas no, I call you a fool for thinking you would survive Celestia if she suspects you are chasing Stars' power. If she values her nation of pliant ponies, she has surely chased those vermin into the deepest pits of this planet and sealed them there."
"That melodramatic talk only makes me more curious." Twilight said. "It's a purely intellectual curiosity. I'm not a pony easily given over to greed." She sighed. "But fine. I will respect your concerns. There might be a time that you or her share that information with me willingly."
"If it becomes pertinent it is already too late for you lot." Nightmare shook her head.
The dark alicorn went silent for a long while, contemplating her next words. "Twilight Sparkle, have you ever heard of Harmony magic?"
"Err, do you mean harmonic magical theory?" Twilight queried. "Yes, I'm pretty well versed in that. I even wrote a pretty well received essay-"
"No, Harmony. It is something of a lost art, you could say. But if you don't know...." Nightmare paused again. Her face contorted in a sour look. "Oh damn it all! What do I care for your ignorance." She turned to face the nightmare altar. "I have shared more than enough, you accursed thing! Release us from this dream. I tire of it!"
With the nightmare shifting into a more manic mood, Twilight suspected she wasn't long for the dream.
"You know, they teach you in summoning class that making vague pact terms is a double-edge sword. The terms might be interpreted leniently or harshly. We could talk for hours and not get closer to fully explaining our worlds to each other."
"Aye, that's very true." The Nightmare agreed. She glanced at Twilight, her magic flaring to life and dragging the unicorn closer by the back hooves. "But before you leave, I want you to tell me more about Celestia's palace." She nodded towards the ruined thrones. "How has she superseded our shared reign?"
It was a last out, to see if this explanation fulfilled the pact and ended the dream non-violently. "Canterlot is the imperial capital. It's changed a lot since your age. The city occupies the entirety of the plateau now, and is completely unassailable by land. Walls ten meters thick-”
“What’s a meter?” Nightmare interrupted to ask.
“Huh? ...they didn’t have the SI metrological system a thousand years ago, did they.” Twilight remembered. “A meter is about four hooves.”
“Forty hoof width walls?”
“Yes, and high too! It’s augmented with fifteen enormous keeps, each owned by a different aristocratic family, and above them all, the princess's castle, hundreds of meters tall. Magical shield arrays and ballista deter any attack by air. Some of the castles are getting cannons now." Twilight paused at seeing the Nightmare's expression. "Gunpowder weaponry like cannons use confined combustion to launch projectiles at incredible speeds."
"Ah the march of technology. Your linen dress and iron horseshoes are identical to anything that could be found in my Equestria, but here and there you hint at the radical differences." The Nightmare nodded. "But the castle, the castle. Tell me about her castle."
There was an odd anticipation in Nightmare Moon's voice. Would't she hate to hear about her reviled sister's architectural expression of supreme power and mastery? There was no greater evidence of which Celestiaan vanquished which than Celestia enjoying her night in silken luxury at the top of the world, while the nightmare of the Moon princess was slouched in an overgrown ruin.
"Was this place originally marble? Because Celestia really likes marble. All of Canterlot Castle is marble, through and through." Twilight said. "Say, what's your residence on the moon made out of?"
That dislodged the Nightmare's manic mood somewhat, as she thought about the question. "One day, perhaps, I will show you a basalt hall overlooking the dark flats of the Mare Incognitum, while a thousand moon denizens parade march for us. That would be a marvelous sight." She let out a low growl. "Then you could report it, so eagerly and dreamily, to Celestia."
Sometimes there was no winning.
The Nightmare's magic grew brighter. Twilight felt a lancing pain in her chest, her consciousness within the dream terminating almost immediately as the alicorn squeezed her heart more and more with her telekinesis, until it beat no more.
Twilight opened her eyes. It was still dark outside her window. There were some residual storms passing over Ponyville from the direction of the forest, the wind and rain ruffling the Golden Oak.
"Not too bad. I have her in my grasp. Now I just have to think of a way to use her." Twilight murmured to herself sleepily.
Maybe she could get a few hours of rest before morning came.
Unlike Twilight, Rarity slept soundly.
The morning saw a few customers come with small clothing repairs, which Rarity did quickly, humming as she worked. It looked like it would be a lovely day.
The only cloud over her was something Fluttershy had shared with her the previous day: Twilight Sparkle was likely going to breach the Everfree Forest, if she had not already. It would be terribly bad for Rarity and her friends if the imperial First Student got injured in the forest. It could be even worse if she wasn't. The ponies who respected the imperial dogma stayed far far away from the devil forest, and for good reason.
Would something have to be done? How could Rarity keep Twilight Sparkle away from the Everfreee without making pushing the stubborn noble to try even harder?
"Are you done?" Cherry Berry asked, hovering over Rarity's shoulder.
"Hmm? Oh yes." Rarity snapped from her idle wondering back to the world around her. She was all done with the last repair. "Simple enough, darling." She leaned away to let Cherry Berry grab the mended skirt. "You should start looking for a different item to go picking with. The sun is starting to eat this one, and it will tear more and more."
Cherry Berry laughed. "Surely you'd be happy about that, to keep your hooves busy." She folded up the skirt and put it in her bag. "I'll come back with the bits after the market today."
"If it wouldn't be a bother, you could come back with some apples too." Rarity smiled. "And if you see Rose ask her-"
"Roseluck doesn't want to talk to me. She thinks I'm enabling you." Cherry Berry said, her mood turning stern. "She wants you to talk to her directly, away from town."
Rarity brooded over that for a while. "I can't. Sparkle has her eye right on me."
"Which is why Rose doesn't want to talk in town." Cherry Berry said. "You're both being silly. Just invite her to meet at Fluttershy's cottage or your parent's house, and convince Rose that everything is alright." She paused for a moment. "And invite Amethyst Star while you're at it. She's been trying to gin up rumors."
Everything was not alright. "I'll think about it." Rarity said.
Cherry Berry sighed in slight exasperation. "Fine. We'll get through this. This Summer Sun fair buisness will go by and the noblemare will leave as long as we keep our heads down. That's why it's important you talk to them, especially Amethyst."
"I said I will think about it. It's my choice." Rarity said, a little more forcefully.
Cherry Berry thought about it, then nodded her head. "You know best hierophant. I'll see you later, with your apples."
You do that, Rarity thought as she watched Cherry leave.
Treachery from her faithful compatriots was not what she needed.
In trying times like these, Rarity's faith was tested.
And that's when she remembered she had something that even Twilight Sparkle surely lacked: An alicorn princess's relic.
She didn't keep it in her own home/shop in Ponyville. Something so holy and valuable would attract jealous attention and eventually theft or even violence. The relic stayed at her parents empty house in the foothills, where it was secret and wouldn't cause anypony any anxiety or restless nights.
"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity called out to the upstairs bedrooms. "Get out of bed, darling, we're going for a walk!"
After some grumbling, Sweetie Belle was obligingly if tiredly following Rarity on the oath out of Ponyville, on the northwesterly path.
"You stayed up again didn't you." Rarity commented.
"No." Sweetie Belle protested, rubbing at her eye. "I... I had another bad dream."
Maybe it was just an excuse, or it could be true. "About what?" Rarity asked, voice tinged with concern.
"I saw a river, a forest, and a desert, and- and monsters." Sweetie said, subdued.
"Oh my. Monsters?" Rarity pried further.
"They were tall and fuzzy and... but they walked like bird and they talked, talked about..." Sweetie Belle went silent for a while.
The countryside outside Ponyville was beautiful, fields of grass, crops, and orchards, criss-crossed with dirt causeways lined with shade trees. The intermittent floral bushes and vines gave the air a sweet fragrance, and everything was especially vibrant after the previous week of rain. Rarity almost wished she could spend her time out there, rather than having to be in Ponyville village center where the buisness was. But destiny had given her the mark and skills of a luxuriant seamstress, not a country pony who repaired rope and hemp-cloth seed bags.
"A tower, the monsters talked about a tower." Sweetie Belle finally said. "It doesn't sound scary, but it was really scary."
"Being spoken to by strange creatures about things you don't understand is bound to scare any pony, Sweetie." Rarity consoled her sister. "Sometimes the unknown even gives me pause."
Sweetie reacted positively to Rarity's light joking, breaking into a smile of her own. "Maybe I should have told my dream to a brave pony. I don't want to give you a bad day."
"Hopefully it's not too late for me." Rarity said with a titter.
It was too late for her.
Approaching their parent's house, Rarity knew right away something was wrong.
"It's missing." She whispered. She felt it in her gut, and down her spine. The holy relic was missing. She paused at the front door, almost too afraid to go in and confirm her feeling.
But Sweetie Belle pushed past her and ran into the dusty cottage. "I wonder if any letters got delivered here like last time! Ponies keep thinking mommy and daddy are here, hee hee. We should go visit them and bring them all the mail! Missing mail, hee hee!"
Not a bad idea, Rarity thought mutely. She felt too numb to open up her mouth and respond, instead staggering, only half-willingly, to the trap door to the cellar.
"What're you going down there for?" Sweetie Belle asked.
Rarity met her sister's curious look, trying to hide her own dread and panic. "Jam. There's still some jam to take home."
She would normally be hesitant to drop into the cool and occasionally dank cellar... but despite her hesitation she needed to know. Was it really gone? She begged her untrained magical senses to be lying to her.
"... Has somepony been in here? The mailmare maybe." Sweetie Belle wondered her herself. "It does't smell like it usually does."
The final conformation was a little gap in the lines of jam jars on the cellar shelves. Where there should have been a cloth-swaddled container, there was only an imprint in the dust.
Rarity felt weak in the knees. She wanted to cry, and certainly would have if her sister was not watching her from the top of the cellar stairs. It was gone. It was gone. Somepony had maliciously taken it. How? Who? It could have been any of a number of contemptible freaks!
Somepony had stolen Rarity's last connection to her goddess. It was just a simple horseshoe, an old thing but fit for a princess... a relic of a time long ago. And it had been hers. Why would somepony do this to her?
Rarity fell to her haunches, bowing her head and cupping her hooves together, as if she were catching water. "My lady, my lady, speak to me. Please, speak to me. Let me know that injustice will pass, I beg of you."
"Are you talking to me, Rarity? Talk louder." Sweetie Belle asked. "Wait a sec, somepony is outside! Did you invite your friend?"
Rarity jolted up, registering Sweetie's words, then got to her hooves. Had the criminal returned to the scene of the crime?!?
Twilight was just circling the cottage, admiring the rustic charm of the aged stone construction and the vines on the walls. It sat on the edge of a forested hill, the very edge of the foothills which eventually rose to the peaks of the Unicorn Range, hundreds of kilometers to the north.
"Not a bad view either." Twilight said to herself. Appreciating how the sight elevation let her see all the fields between her and Ponyville.
There was a sound from behind her, something hitting glass. Twilight turned to see Rarity pressed against the cottage window, staring out at her wide-eyed, seemingly baffled.
"Hello Mis Rarity." Twilight nodded her head. "Yeah, I followed you, sorry. I was heading towards the market and saw you going past."
Rarity pulled herself from the window and slowly maneuvered to the door, keeping her eye on Twilight the whole time. "Lady Sparkle." She mumbled.
"What a cute place. Who lives here?" Twilight glanced past Rarity to Sweetie Belle. "One of your sister's friends?"
Was Twilight Sparkle actually unaware, or was she just playing dumb. Of anypony, Twilight was perhaps most likely to be the one to track down her precious relic and pilfer it. But Rarity also judged the noblemare as far too reserved to flaunt her theft in the open like this. "My parents..." Rarity coughed and straightened herself. She was better than this. One little setback could not be enough to break her. Yes it was upsetting, and many things had been lately, but Rarity would not bend, and would not tear. "This is my parents' house. They are away."
"Oh, it's sitting empty? I'm almost hurt you didn't offer that I could stay here, instead of the Oak." Twilight joked. However the unplaceable look in Rarity's eye told her she should be joking. "Look, I'm sorry, I obviously transgressed a bit, following you here like I did. I let curiosity get the better of me."
The noblemare's curiosity was certain to cause even more trouble in the future. Rarity had to be direct. "Yes my lady, you crossed the line. You can make it up quickly if you answer a question for me. Have you seen a horseshoe lying around? I have misplaced one." She asked, watching Twilight reaction. "It is a large shoe, made of steel. It's a family heirloom of sorts." To get the point home, Rarity leaned forward into Twilight's space. "I've been tearing up Ponyville looking for it. I came here to check for it as well."
Of course, Twilight had no idea what Rarity was talking about. A missing horseshoe? How inane. "I'm not really the pony to ask about that kind of thing unless it has a distinct magical signature." Twilight shrugged. "So, should I get forgiveness by way of finding this horseshoe, or-"
"Oh no my lady, answering was enough. I would be better off asking a pegasus with good eyesight." Rarity nodded slowly. Assuming Twilight Sparkle hadn't been the one to take it, there was a risk of the mare stumbling upon it and taking it from the thief. "So, what do you intent to do while you are out here?"
Be invited in for tea, Twilight supposed. "I'm sorry to hear about the lost horseshow, and I wouldn't want to take you away from your sister or your search. I guess i'll teleport back to Ponyville." She took a few steps back and started gathering up her magic. "If it's not a bother, I'll visit you this afternoon. We can talk more about the fair."
"Do as you will my lady." Rarity said.
Twilight hadn't seemed flustered or evasive, so had probably not stolen the horseshoe. So she just watched Twilight teleport away while she thought about where she could search next, and whom she most suspected.
Unbeknownst to her, Twilight did not teleport all the way back to Ponyville, but behind the line of trees along the nearby causeway. From there she spied on Rarity and the little cottage. "A horseshoe. Who does she think she's foolish with a lie like that." It did not even occur to her to take Rarity's words at face value. Still, Twilight wasn't sure what Rarity was hiding, perhaps a clandestine meeting with another pony. Whatever it was she was sure it was related to the wider secret the Ponyvillians were keeping from her.
But Rarity just went back into the cottage, and from what Twilight spied through the window, was just playing with her filly sister. There was nothing to be uncovered there yet.
Applejack and Pinkie Pie were having lunch outside the bakery, when Applejack whistled and nodded towards the street.
"Lookie, there goes Lady Sparkle, without that notebook or that dragon of hers."
Pinkie Pie tracked Twilight with her eyes a while. "Huh, she's coming from the west." She leaned back in her chair. "Hondo and Cookie's house, maybe?"
"Yep. Though she don't seem too emotive 'bout it." Applejack grunted, tearing a bite out of her sandwich. "Hell knows what them ponies keep in there." She said between mastications. "Surprised you never had a look through there."
Pinkie shrugged. "I have enough fun. If I do something crazy like burgle a pony's house, that's a big escalation. Next thing I know I'd wake up with a pillow held over my face. That would ruin my entire day." Seeing Twilight pass out of sight, Pinkie looked back to Applejack. "Rarity know swhat I'm about, and I know what she's about. Nopony feels threatened, which is the most important part of a fun game."
"Tshh, fun. Sure." Applejack shook her head.
Hearing Applejack's dismissals, Pinkie Pie grinned a lopsided grin. "Hey, I don't do anything if I don't enjoy it. Nothing, not ever. I live the way I want, and in a way I enjoy, and the consequences are up to her." She said with a small nod skyward. "In ungulis Dei."
"It's 'ungulibus Dei', not what you said." Applejack grunted, taking another bite.
"You spent too much time in Manehattan, listening to griffins. I'm like, eighty percent sure it's ungulis." Pinkie said. She paused to think. "Well, sixty-five percent."
Applejack rolled her eyes, swallowed down her mouthful and sucked in a deep breath. "TWILIGHT SPARKLE!"
Startled at the shout, Pinkie jumped, pushing her already-leaning chair even further, and making it fall backwards.
Twilight, running towards the shout, encountered this scene. Applejack hunched over a mostly-eaten sandwich, and Pinkie Pie flat on her back.
"Oh good grief girls. You didn't punch her again, did you Applejack?"
"Not yet I haven't." Applejack chuckled. "We've got a real important question. See, we here in Ponyviile are plumb ignorant without temple or priest to instruct us in the princess's truths. Some of us are just plain heretics! That gets us to arguments, and since you're a mare of learning who loves to adjudicate and get in pony's buisness-"
"You could have just shouted a slur at me. That would be quicker." Twilight sighed. "Come on, get to the question already."
In a spine-defying display of flexibility, Pinkie Pie rolled backwards onto her hooves. "It's a language question! Okay, is it said 'In ungulis Dei', or 'In unulibus Dei'. It's sorta really important."
Twilight tapped her chin. "Hmm, you're right, that is important. The right answer, of course... neither. Roanish is not a sanctioned liturgical language you dumb hinnies."
Applejack soured at the insult. "Hardly showin' noblesse oblige there, ma'am."
"You shouted for me, then you mocked me." Twilight rolled her eyes. "By what grace am I, viscountess, to take concealed mockery from a farm mare? There might be occasion for it, but not when I'm in a mood like this."
Obviously Twilight was sensitive about it, not only the issue of 'reconciling' Rarity and Applejack with her mock trial, but challenges to her right to do so.
Considering this, Applejack shared a look with Pinkie Pie. "Aw hell, I don't set out to upset nopony. I hoped you'd accept a joke like that in the spirit it's said, but I must done said it wrong."
It was a non-apology, but good enough for Twilight. "Okay then, I'm sorry for the insult." Though she counted herself magnanimous for letting it go, Twilight didn't quite perceive that she was not in Canterlot, and her behavior was beginning to grate on ponies: The relentless chiding and policing to make sure social caste distinction was respected was taken by the Ponyvillians as pure snobbery.
"By the way, it's 'In Deus ungula, corna, et ala', for those holy creatures have all three. Or at least, that's how they exist right now."
Pinkie Pie put her chair back upright and took her seat again. "Huh, so that's about the Princess, but what about the Sun? Like, we're trying to express the idea that our fate is up to the Sun's destiny? How do you say that in Roanish."
"Well Mis Pie, again you mustn't say that. For the Sun not only doesn't speak Roanish, but she doesn't speak at all, and does not like being spoken to. Thus she gave us her daughter, the interlocutor and avatar of her will, for while what our Sun intends will come to pass regardless under bright skies, it's is by her grace we have a Princess to communicate it." Twilight said, an ironic grin forming. "And under dark skies? Bereft of her light, what ponies do then is definitionally sinful. Is it not?"
A strange, knowing look passed between Applejack and Pinkie Pie, then Pinkie Pie and Twilight, and finally Twilight and Applejack. And with that, Twilight had full conformation that the dreams in the ruined castle were linked to the mystery of Ponyville. Maybe the Ponyvillians didn't have the full picture, and may not have known about the dream itself, but by moonlit ways an unknown agency went about its acts.
"So it is." Pinkie Pie shrugged, precarious leaning back in her chair again.
"Yup, so 'tis." Applejack bit her sandwich.
"See you around." Twilight nodded, heading up the street again.
Rarity and Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie Pie... These ponies... were not only on opposite sides of a personal drama, but of the mystery of Ponyville. There was something long stewing. But somehow, despite every tendency of pony perfidy, everypony showed a united front to shut Twilight out. They refused to spill the beans to advance the rivalry, even if they'd seemed willing to do nearly everything else to manipulate her.
"Damn those mares. The deserts of deceit is the desert of all sin. Holy punishment." Twilight muttered to herself, furiously running over every memory of their interactions, again and again, to extract more meaning. The whole thing was driving her mad. "I reached out to them, lowered myself to try to befriend them. I made sacrifices to bring them together in peace and harmony. This is how I'm rewarded."
As she had fought to bring them together, Twilight resolved that, if necessary, she would tear them apart, and exploit their divisions to find the truth. The Ponyvillians had already proven themselves sinners. Perhaps they would crumble and indulge in the sin of treachery as well.
As Twilight would do, to get her way.
It was still raining over the castle ruin that night, but not as much. It had dwindled to a light patter, letting sheets of mist rise out of the forest and overtake everything, up to the top of the crumbled stone walls.
This time Twilight did not hesitate at all. She strode directly up to the Nightmare Altar. "Princess Moon, I summon thee! Tell me about your greatest victory.” She intoned.
There was a laugh in the air. “Hello to you too.” The cracking-glass voice returned.
“Let’s make this easy, with a very simple pact, easily fulfilled. I'd like to see at least one of these go right." Twilight said. "Just one moment about ourselves, is all I ask."
“I have already heard more than enough about you, Twilight Sparkle, more than I could ever desire. I am replete, disgracefully so, with Twilight Sparkle knowledge. Why would I want more?” Nightmare questioned. “Are you so arrogant to think that I care?"
“You seemed to care about my name.” Twilight countered.
“I care not for names! Names are made up. Call me ishmael for all I could care for names.” Nightmare's voice suddenly turned hostile. “I DO care for truth and knowledge, something you haven’t been able to provide! Repeated failed pacts! You sinful hinny.”
Twilight was surprised to hear the rare insult she had hurled at Applejack just earlier that day. “Moon, is it always going to be a battle with you?”
"It is. It IS. How many times must I repeat it? It is always a battle. I can not control that.” The dark alicorn's etherial voice thrummed coldly. “I accept this truth without pretense, thus I rise to dominion."
“I seem to recall that last time you tried to win dominion over this planet, she banished you in the end.” Twilight smirked.
The throne room grew very, very silent.
Every single cloud in the sky had disappeared. The bright white moon glared, her beams making the misty ruins glow like day.
"I have been patient with you, more patient than even my Moon advises. This has bolstered your haughty arrogance.” Nightmare’s whisper echoed like the splintering of a thousand windowpanes at a great distance.
Wait, how much independent will did the Moon have? Twilight tried to match the intense stare that pale satellite had fixed on her... But it was so unlike the holy Sun's attention. Looking up to the Sun, a pony was assured that that star, liege of their liege alicorn, was all too busy guiding the fate of ponykind to spare anyone any particular attention.
The Moon was not so gracious. Especially not that night. There must have been something Twilight missed the previous night, some message about the moon's displeasure. Not that displeasure had come. The vast presence of was ALL, ON, HER.
The stringy ferns and mosses coating the stone floor wobbled, standing at attention for the Moon, and Twilight too, her capacity to talk and breath stolen away. She felt lightheaded, and her skin became numb, a sensation Twilight could only compare to drowning. Visions of strange silhouetted landscapes danced in front of her eyes.
Oh heavenly celestial, why put up with your irritable Nightmare? Twilight wheezed but could not speak with no breath in her lungs. Every muscle was frozen under the light from beyond the earth.
The plants began to wither under the too-intense divine attention.
"What was the pact you proffered again? Oh what does it matter. You have no intention of keeping it." The Nightmare growled. "I offer to reciprocate, and your pact is accepted, and so on." The shadowy alicorn shape materialized in front of the altar. "Here we are again, Twilight Sparkle."
Alas no gods' love was infinite. At last the Moon relented, the light fading, her attention turning elsewhere; Twilight stumbled to the side and slowly recovered her senses. "Good grief." She groaned, sitting down to let her legs stop trembling. The moon had payed attention to her! And how? Twilight didn't even know how to describe the feeling. It had hurt so much, but Twilight almost wanted it again.
The Nightmare of the Moon was clearly displeased about the whole thing. "Hark, Sparkle, I'm the one you should be paying attention to. I challenge you to a duel."
That must have been a joke, Twilight decided. "You shouldn't say something like that when your mother has already slapped me around like that."
Nightmare Moon stared down her nose at Twilight, glowing eyes narrowed to a glare. "She is privileged to do as she desires. And I-" She bowed her head slightly. "I must win the right. So defend yourself. DEFEND YOURSELF!”
Beams of lightning and black fire erupted from the Nightmare's horn, scattering in every direction, a bloom of light and sound. Twilight went from confusion to terror in a moment. She threw herself behind a fallen pillar, but was immediately locked in place by a barrage of tarry shadow pelting everything around her. Thinking quickly, she teleported blindly across the room to another pillar.
Wait, had Twilight had just used her magic? Twilight gasped and brought her hoof up to her horn, experimentally summoning up a spell. Her hoof tingled as the flow of magic danced across the enamel.
"I felt that too!" Nightmare Moon yelled from the other side of the throne room. "It is the trials we face which elevate us, or crush us." The throne room fell back into foggy darkness as the Nightmare relented in the magical assault. "Twilight?"
"I'm here." Twilight called out. She tested her magic again, forming into a simple light spell. As commanded, the magic formed into a shimmering pinprick of light.
Twilight let out a breath. She had her magic back, so she had nothing to worry about. Nothing to worry about at all. "Thank you, oh holy moon." She mumbled. Now she had to fend off a killer alicorn.
"Oh? Was that a teleportation spell you did? Very good. You might be a clever pony after all." Nightmare bore down on Twilight new hiding spot, but was stopped by the Nightmare Altar's chain. "Indeed the dream continues." She stalked around the limit of her leash. "Twilight Sparkle, this is no way to conduct a duel. Come out from there.
Sighing, Twilight climbed to her hooves and stepped around pillar. "A duel needs two ponies. Do you actually want me to fight back? You get everything you want by kicking me around."
Nightmare Moon levitated a pebble and flicked it at Twilight's head. "Aren't you a creature of resolve? No? Then I could obliterate you a thousand times over and not fear retaliation. Pointless!”
“I resolve to peace.” Twilight said. "There is nothing either of us gained by fighting each other that we can't gain by cooperating."
Nightmare gave Twilight a pitying look. "Can you not find it within yourself to raise arms against an alicorn, even one you are inculcated to hate? Then how are you ever to be expected to usurp one, you saucy little mare? If only I could kill your sleeping body and give you the real peace you resolve to."
Dark magical energies began to crackle at her horn again.
"Lady Moon this-" Twilight's speech was interrupted by her sudden need to crash teleport away from the gout of black fire the Nightmare propelled at her.
Twilight reappeared behind the pillar again. She stifled a pained whimpered from the sting of casting a complex spell so suddenly; The regular magical rules applied within the dream, it seemed.
"I feel bad for you. At first, I was baffled by the silent world you inhabit, where Celestia rules and quells the passions of ponykind, yoking them to her order. Afterwards, by myself on the moon, I reflected on my feelings, and wondered if I was envious. Twas that I realized was that I yearned not for you, but on your behalf." Nightmare Moon said. "Because you were not meant for your world. I see it in your eyes, and I can taste it on your voice. I feel it in your dreams. Oh little pony, you have a Dark heart that hungers."
“You'd only think that if you ignored everything I ever said to you.” Twilight’s voice was edged, and just loud enough the Nightmare perceived its direction.
Nightmare faced Twilight's general direction. "However much I berate you, insulting your slavish nature, you bristle. You instinctually reject what I command of you. If you were truly the dog of alicorn agency, I would have broken you by now." She laughed to herself. "But the clearest sign is that you have drawn my mother's attention. She thinks I am best served by your death. "
Twilight peeked around the pillar. "I'm glad to be noticed."
The Nightmare shrugged. "You are too smug in your role. You think you are ironically detached from the Equestria around you, but that self-delusion will break eventually, Twilight. We will come to greater knowledge about the truth of you!"
Expecting another blast of fire in her direction, Twilight backed up to the wall of the throne room and ran along to the next pillar; She had to get closer to the Nightmare's play area before she could cross to the other side and exit to the next room.
"It starts when you fight back. Prove to me that you are real! Nothing about our rendezvous have felt as satisfying as you trying to kick yourself free of me. The struggle against one other is what defines the truth." Nightmare hummed. If only her senses weren't stunted by the altar, she could have snagged the little unicorn without issue. She had been going too light on Twilight. The little mare needed to be punished and tortured until the truth came out. "Just wait until I grab you this time. I will chip out every scabbed-over dogma from your head, until you reject every pretense and fight me. Yes, pony, I'm going to peel your skin off. You're disappointing me so much right now. My mother gave you your magic back so you could show me what you are capable of."
Why would she say such horrible things? Despite herself Twilight shivered. The previous night's discussion had been productive, perhaps even enjoyable. Was Twilight going to be expected to continuously prove herself for the dark alicorn in trials of violence?
"You're a relic of the past, and so is your bucking stupid ideology." Twilight yelled. "You're a barbarous maniac.That's not how I want to live, and the future of Equestria won't support it."
"You have another creature's Equestria nesting in your head. What a sorry state for the daughter of Warlords! Do you care nothing for your own dream?" Nightmare Moon asked. She bared her teeth. "Twilight, by heaven, you have no reason to lie to me! If you well and truly forsake all ambition, you are as good as dead. I BEG thee, Lady Sparkle. Tell me the truth!"
Beg? Had the alicorn really said that? Twilight silently considered the Nightmare's demand.
If Twilight really was content in her place, and resolved to follow the simple path of serving Celestia as First Student forever, Nightmare Moon had no reason to be friendly any longer- Twilight really would be no better than a slave, worth nothing, who could be destroyed without consideration or regret. The coy game Twilight had been playing, ambiguously offering amity to the moon's nightmare, while holding back any real commitments, wasn't going to be enough anymore.
It was an abrupt, violent confrontation with fate was coming. Twilight had let herself become too familiar with a demigod, a heavenly creature of heavenly descent, and now she was paying the price. What hero did not walk the earth without facing a trial which would foreshadow their eventual end.
"Am I a hero?" Twilight questioned vacantly.
By self-pitying and dwelling on conspiracies, Twilight had forgotten the dramatic arc that had brought her to that moment. She had stoped respecting the dream, the alicorn, and the bend of chance which had brought her to them. There she was, a pony before a demigod. The Nightmare of the Moon was anxious for her answer, and would decide her actions by what Twilight said.
Thus, by this dark line of reasoning, Twilight seduced her own ego. The Nightmare was proving that pony agency mattered even in a world ruled by gods.
"Speak up!" Nightmare Moon shouted.
Twilight sighed. It was like the first few nights, with Moon trying to coerce her, but this time not to shut her up, but to make her talk.
"Very well, Lady Moon, I'll try to tell the truth. I never said I was content."
A slim grin marred Nightmare Moon's features. "Look at me while you talk, pony."
It was a risk. Maybe Nightmare really would skin her. However Twilight had her magic back (thank you again blessed moon), which afforded her some chance at defense.
Twilight cautiously stepped over the rubble she had been hiding behind. "Your past is not my future.” Twilight faced Nightmare down. “But neither does my future belong to Princess Celestia.”
The truth struck Nightmare Moon, energizing yet tingling like a thunderclap, everything she had anticipated. The Twilight Sparkle in front of her was not long for this world. Something better would replace it.
"I'm vindicated. A living dream yet lies behind those eyes. That's very good, Twilight." Nightmare Moon nodded. "Now fulfill my expectations for you and stand ready for this duel! I would have no satisfaction beating an unprepared mare."
Twilight had a split-second to decide whether she jumped back out of the range of Nightmare Moon's leash. She could do as she'd planned, and retreat out of the throne room, well out of Nightmare's ability to target her with magic. Without line of sight, she could probably avoid the moon's angry glare as well.
But Twilight hesitated. She had her magic, after all. Why not at least try to contest the alicorn?
And then, Twilight's next thought was the recognition of a bloom of burning black magic at Nightmare's horn, a spell that was about the be cast her direction.
Twilight squeaked and cast a bubble of magic around herself- A standard protective spell that Twilight had some experience with. And none too soon, as Nightmare's lethal spell glanced off the bubble and arced up into the night sky. Twilight yelped and cringed away, losing her concentration and letting the bubble dissipate.
"Ah ha!" Nightmare Moon took advantage of Twilight's shock, rushing forward and planting a shadowy hoof on Twilight's chest. "There is room for improvement, to say the least, ha ha haa!" She let out a mocking laugh. "The next hit is yours, Twilight Sparkle."
Being asked to retaliate while at such a massive disadvantage felt like an invitation to great unpleasantness. Stuck with the hoof on her chest, Twilight still felt a glimmer of pride in having deflected the alicorn's attack, even if haphazardly. "Those who fight the alicorns are only met with ruin." Twilight grunted, trying to get enough air. She punched futilely at Nightmare's hoof while preparing a spell.
But as Twilight expected, the Nightmare had no intention of conceding ground in the battle of egos. She lifted her hoof off Twilight chest, to immediately kick the prone alicorn in the horn.
"Ah!" Twilight yelped as pain exploded across her head and down her spine, making her spasm and curl up defensively. The nightmare really was going to torture her.
"Hit me pony. Do you really exist? What dream is worthy of consideration which can not stand up for itself." The Nightmare proclaimed. "You have stated your intention to dream, to seek more for yourself. But can you break away from what I want of you-" She punctuated with another savage kick to Twilight's stomach. "and act of your own will? Only then will this duel end, pony!""
Twilight tried to exert control over her nerves and body. The Nightmare was right. She had to do better than accepting blows like a slave. "Urg-" She coughed and spat out loose phlegm, and regained her breathing. "I guess I should have run for it like I intended to."
"If that is what you want, then it is an action fitting for you, pony." Nightmare Moon grunted, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
Spite, that great motivator, bubbled up in Twilight bruised stomach. Another alicorn bitch was bossing her around. That's all the damn alicorns did! Brutes, the lot of them!
But Twilight could not deny their strength. So, she had to be clever: She had to recapture that moment, when she had so smugly assured herself that she had conquered the Nightmare of the Moon.
However Nightmare Moon was not going to give Twilight a moment's reprieve that she did not earn, and hoisted her up by the back leg. "Are you going to lay there like a lowborn whore and suffer it all? Show me the resolve of a mare who stands up to gods!"
She flung Twilight across the room, perhaps trying to impale her on the sharp edge of the black altar. Twilight bounced over the Nightmare Altar instead and landed behind it.
Everything hurt a lot. Bones were probably broken, if that were indeed possible in the dream. Twilight's horn hurt the most of all; Trying to summon her magic only made it sting more sent needles of pain along her nerves. The shield was probably the last spell she would be casting that night- What a shame to gain and lose her magic so quickly. But maybe Twilight had long enough to think up a plan.
"I don't suppose you'll let me beg my way out of this one." Twilight groaned. She sat up but she had to lean against the altar for support; It made her shoulder tingle unpleasantly. "But then again it's not as though Princess Celestia took pity on you either. You're right, Lady Moon. This is just what happens to the losers of history."
"There we go! Back to saucy talk. I'm glad to know that soul of yours can survive adversity." Nightmare adulated. She stalked towards Twilight's hiding place. "And yes, Celestia lay me low, and thus I suffered whatever she intended. In heaven's name, I will never be defeated again! Let this be the first of many victories I have over Equestria! Yes, this is my greatest moment, to be surpassed by every victory hence! Can you survive it, Twilight Sparkle?"
Then, the realization came to Twilight. Maybe it was just because she was touching the altar, but she felt a change in the dream as Nightmare Moon ranted. Ah, Of course! The Nightmare had stumbled into fulfilling the terms of the very specific pact they had formed that night.
"Time to sea lawyer my way out of getting skinned alive." Twilight mumbled. She had to be clever if she was going to delay the Nightmare of the Moon long enough. Maybe she could play on her curiosity? "My deepest condolences, Lady Moon. This isn't my first duel but I'm obviously not the most gifted fighter, even though I studied under the princess."
Nightmare Moon stopped a few meters away. "How would I know? Land a hit on me, and then I will testify, Twilight Sparkle." She laughed. "Surely it is because of your princess-ly servitude that you are so weak, not in spite of it. Celestia prefers her slaves to be craven curs. You are only just starting your journey towards self-liberation. My predecessor used to spar with Celestia at every occasion. But for you, I can only imagine her lounging, so self-satisfied, as you recite praise on her. Such was the nature of your instruction, slavish pony."
"Not quite, my lady. I did have a few fights with her." Twilight said, feigning uncertainty and reluctance, like she was telling a story should was wiser keeping to herself. "One in particular, well... You see... It's the very reason I was her protege. But it's a long story-"
Just as planned, the Nigthmare was intrigued. "Thousands of ponies took up arms against me, in battlefields across the Equestria of my lost age. Not once did I brook them mercy, let alone tutorship. My enemies are fated to die, end of story." She said, lips turned up in a certain fondness. "How can Celestia live with herself, showing pity to a pony like you? You are a clever mare with a furtive spark of ambition, but nothing worth extraordinary attention. She should have just twisted your head off after beating you."
"No, princess, you misunderstand." Twilight said.
It was a difficult memory, and Twilight was very reluctant to think about it. Sharing it with the demon alicorn was something even harder. No matter how many times she was told she was forgiven, Twilight felt a pang of guilt about it... that poisonous moment which had set her down the road of a sinner, fighting so hard to be redeemed by her princess.
"I beat Celestia."
Nightmare showed several emotions at once, disbelief most of all. With a wave of her horn, she shot a spell at Twilight. Unable to cast her shield again, Twilight took the bolt of magic in the side and fellow over, nearly passing out from pain and shock.
"That was too bold a lie, even for you, pony." Nightmare said gravely.
Twilight just lay in the puddle where she'd fallen. The magical attack had ripped a chunk from her skin right behind her shoulder. "Oh damn." Twilight tried to stay dispassionate despite the searing pain in her remaining nerves. Why did everything had to be SO DIFFICULT? She stared straight up at the moon, but the silver goddess had no apology for her irritable daughter.
"Fine." Twilight hissed, sitting up. She looked at the wound again. "My god..." Thank the heavens it was only a dream.
But was that really the right attitude to be having? Twilight traced the edge of her missing skin. Blood, just as red and wet as it would have been in the waking world. Twilight caught some blood droplets on her hoof and brought it to her mouth.
Twilight had fretted so much before about the Nightmare Pretender breaking free and returning to Equestria. There she was, just a few meters away, an all-powerful brat, a crazy demi-goddess who was plotting to break into the waking world.
When that time came, and Twilight Sparkle had to face the dark alicorn, she had to be ready to stop her fury, be it as an enemy or... or what? Friend? Collaborator? Compatriot?
"You will take me seriously, oh Nightmare of the Moon." Twilight Sparkle promised herself. She stood up. "Because I'm not lying. I overpowered Celestia. Look into my eyes, or even my thoughts, and tell me I'm lying."
The Nigthtmare matched her gaze. "I'm not keen on getting that close to you tonight, Twilight. I'm perfectly fine killing you from a distance." Shadowy fire ignited around her horn.
The Nightmare was right to suspect a trap, but she didn't need to get close to spring it. "It was The Summer Sun, a decade ago. I was just a filly without her mark, who went to see the Succession ceremony in Canterlot’s gardens. When I saw my princess ascend, and the sun with her, I received a vision, like many ponies do, about what my destiny would be. I was going to be a magician.
"So I studied and studied. I pushed myself more than a mere filly should have. I memorized every spell I could get my hooves on, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't cast any of them. The flow of magic just rejected my call. The examination date for entry to Canterlot's Unicorn school came so fast, and they put me in front of the testing troika. I failed the test miserably. Nothing. I was a failure as a unicorn and a subject of the sun."
Twilight hobbled forward to the edge of the dais. "But destiny was on my side. The Cloud Creche incident happened at that exact moment." Twilight closed her, trying to remember. It hurt. Not just the noise and confusion of that childhood memory, but everything that had been bound up in it since. "Come to Equestria and ask ponies about where they were during the Cloud Creche incident. Better yet judge their most terrifying nightmares. The pain and the horror of it, when hundreds of pegasus fillies were killed during a Rainboom."
"A Sonic Rainboom." Nightmare repeated. Despite herself she was getting invested in Twilight's story, even as deadly magic danced at her horn.
"Did you feel it up on the moon too? The pride of the pegasi warlords, a Rainboom, unleashed right in the middle of a bunch of children. A sickening trauma to the collective soul of ponykind, and as that rainbow shockwave flashed across Equestria, every single one of us felt it and screamed." Twilight said, voice trembling. "And I screamed in joy, as magic finally came to me, and in that moment of primal terror and ecstasy, I destroyed the entire testing building. They tell me nopony got hurt, but I know better. I never saw ponies of the examination troika again."
"And Celestia-" Nightmare whispered.
"They found her at the same time as they found me, both of us passed out, at the bottom of the smoldering crater of the testing hall. She had flown out from the castle to contain my raging magic. Or, that's what she told me years later." Twilight said. "I was ignorant for years. Only a few ponies knew the truth, and they all kept it secret from me. I was just happy to have magic and this swanky mark on my flank. It only came out in a moment of tension between me and the princess. I was being a wiseass over some minor thing, and Celestia told me of the truth of that afternoon as a way to shut me up, and to hurt me."
Twilight let out a sigh. "And it did hurt me at first. I couldn't look her in the eye for days afterwards. She'd gotten what she wanted, and I was put in my place. But then I thought about it more and more, and only after talking about it with Cadenza did I realize: I had overwhelmed the alicorn princess. A pathetic little filly who had never successfully cast a spell before had incapacitated her idol, the princess of Equestria, and Celestia had to shut up and burn with that knowledge for years. Oh how it must have killed her inside, seeing me and being reminded of that humiliation." Twilight grinned devilishly. "That's when I realized that being taken on as her protege was not an act of compassion or forgiveness, but fear. That alicorn was afraid of what I was capable of. This horn has laid low one demigod already, Nightmare Moon."
"You're insane. completely bonkers." The Nightmare said, her voice shot through with hesitation. "Celestia obviously lied to you. Or maybe you're lying to yourself, or me. What I know for certain is that your story never happened." She shook her head, regaining her confidence. "Because I killed all the Rainboom practitioners a thousand years ago, slaughtered to a mare. Every bit of your tale is painted with exaggeration."
She grabbed Twilight by the neck. "I'll be starting on that skinning I promised, starting at that little wound in your side. Tomorrow night perhaps you will carry yourself with a little more humility. You're just not as clever as you think, pony."
"Maybe not, but more clever than you, alicorn. My name is Twilight Sparkle and don't you forget it." Twilight commanded. "This night's pact is fulfilled. Let's close it out already.
Apparently waiting for her verbal confirmation, the Nightmare Altar began to pulse with white light, before becoming still and dark.
Nightmare’s ghostly form instantly evaporated, and the silken tendril binding the altar to the sky withdrew.
Twilight slumped and rubbed her neck where the Nightmare's magic had been holding her. "Was I too braggadocious with her? Sorry, sometimes I go too far." She glanced up at the moon for approval. "Sometimes she wants humility, sometimes she wants pride. How can I manage a relationship with a mare like her?"
The moon, of course, said nothing.
Twilight was going to say more but she was struck with a sudden disorientation. A fog-like darkness began to fill her vision. The dream was ending and Twilight was about to be forced to wakefulness.
She couldn't help but smile, hoping that Nightmare Moon, somewhere up there, could see her. "It's about time I got a draw though. Dying was getting tiresome, my lady. Until tomorrow, good night."