Chapter 2
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Within a flash Twilight, Spike and the Nightmare Moon filly were in Twilight’s bedroom in the Friendship Castle. It was much like her old room, but in her library before Tirek destroyed it. The walls were lined with books, but it also had an area for her science experiments, cushions to seat on when she wanted to just relax and have a good read, etc.
Spike stepped back, holding his head, groaning. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that feeling. I think I left my stomach back at the castle.”
“Oh, nonsense, Spike,” Twilight lightly scolded. “You’re fine. It’s not like your first time; you threw up afterwards.”
The baby drake grumbled, folding his arms, before he blinked and looked back to Twilight. “Uh, Twi? If I threw after I first teleported with you, don’t you think...?”
His words were punctured by a small groan. Twilight looked down and saw the filly’s face had gone green. She pulled away and leapt into the air just in time as the filly expelled her stomach’s contents.
Twilight came back down and rubbed the filly's back as she hurled again, while her stomach rebelled against the sudden molecular shift it had been so suddenly forced into.
This went on for about a minute, the filly beginning to sob halfway through. When she finally stopped, she moaned, her body rocking from side to side as she tried to recover.
Twilight used her magic to teleport the vomit into one of the many toilets within the castle, hoping it hadn’t been occupied at the time.
Twilight rubbed the filly’s back as she groaned, her head down. “Feel better now?”
“No,” she replied in a weak and crocky voice. “I hate being sick. It hurts.”
Twilight nodded, magicking up a glass of water. “Here, drink this.”
The filly complied, drinking slowly, til the glass was empty.
Once the water was all gone, Twilight levitated the glass over to the small coffee table, then leaned down and nuzzled the filly’s neck. “Sorry about that. I guess I didn’t think you’d never teleported before.” Nightmare Moon's done that a lot, so that fact you reacted like you've never done it before is a good sign, I guess.
The filly looked up, weak confusion in her eyes. “Teleported? You mean, like in space movies?”
Twilight gave an inward sigh. If she was talking about movies then she wasn’t too badly off after that spewing incident.
“Sort of. Can you tell me where we are?” Though she knew it was unlikely, she still felt she needed to test if this filly was indeed Nightmare Moon. Depending on how she answered, she would know. Even Nightmare Moon wouldn’t have enough sense to lie, at least not well, after that vomiting. Though Nightmare Moon wouldn’t have mentioned such things as space movies, because she’d see them as beneath her.
The filly’s expression returned to one of confusion. “Y-your castle? Did we move into another room? I thought it was all in ruins?”
Twilight blinked. That wasn’t quite the answer she’d anticipated. True, she’d expected the filly Nightmare Moon to know this was the lavender Alicorn’s castle, but she’d expected to hear jealousy and spite in her tone at the fact that the pony who’d defeated her had gotten her own castle. However, that next statement took a second to process.
She thought they were still in the Castle of the Two Pony Sisters. If she thought that, she couldn’t really be Nightmare Moon, could she? Nightmare would have known right away that they were in a different castle, yet this filly didn’t.
Twilight shook her head. “You’re half right. This is my castle, but it’s not the castle I found you in. That’s the Castle of the Two Pony Sisters. It was abandoned over a thousand years ago. My castle’s barely been around for two weeks.”
The filly blinked. “Two weeks? How long’d it take to build?”
Twilight chuckled. “Actually, it grew and it only took a few seconds.”
The filly’s raised an eyebrow sceptically. “Grew? That makes no sense. Castle’s don’t grow.”
“Well, this one did,” Twilight replied, motioning around them.
The filly looked down, her nose scrunched up, as if she was trying to understand how a castle made of crystal could grow, especially in just seconds.
Twilight wanted to indulge the young filly, who seemed curious, but she noticed the filly’s ethereal mane move to her chin as the filly thought, like a pony puts a hoof to their chin when their thinking, or humans their hands, if she counted those from the other world.
This also reminded her. She needed to know what this filly knew. If she wasn’t Nightmare Moon, her behavior was certainly different, then who was she and why did she look like the Mare in the Moon?
“Um, excuse me, Nightmare Moon...” Twilight said, but stopped.
As soon as she’d said “Nightmare Moon” the thinking expression the filly had been wearing vanished and she hunched down, her stomach pressing against the flour, her eyes showing fear as she slightly trembled.
“What?” the older mare asked, worried by this sudden change.
The filly shut her eyes, her lips and voice quivering as she spoke. “D-d-don’t say that.”
“Say what?” Twilight was now concerned and confused.
“N-N-N-N-N—” the filly tried to say, but it was like she was too scared to go beyond the first letter.
“Nightmare Moon?” Spike guessed.
The reaction was instant. The filly whimpered, wrapping her ethereal mane and tail around herself, keeping her eyes shut tight.
This surprised Twilight. The filly was scared of her own name? No, not her name; Nightmare Moon’s name. Would Nightmare Moon really be so scared of just hearing her own name?
Spike frowned, putting his hands on his hips. “What? You’re scared of your own name? How can Nightmare Moon be scared of her own name?”
Twilight really wished the drake wouldn’t be so blunt sometimes. The filly squeaked as he said the name again, small sobs escaping her.
“Th-that’s not my name,” she whimpered, sniffing. “D-don’t say it. I-I... It scares me.”
Now Twilight was really concerned. If the filly was scared of Nightmare Moon’s name, how could she be Nightmare Moon? Nightmare Moon would’ve been proud to hear her name mentioned, to have somepony say the title she’d given herself.
This filly, however, cowered just at the mention of the name; couldn’t even bring herself to say it. There was no way this filly could really be Nightmare Moon. Despite their physical appearances, there was nothing else they had in common.
Twilight leaned forward and nuzzled the filly, trying to coax her out from within her mane. “So, if you don’t like the sound of Night—” she stopped herself as the filly whimpered again. “— that name, what is your name? Do you have one?”
There was silence for several moments, before the filly peeked her dragonic eyes out from within her starry mane. “M-Michael. M-my name is Michael.”
Twilight leaned back, confusion apparent on her face. Michael? What kind of a name was that? It wasn’t even a name; not even really a word. She’d never heard of a pony, or any creature named Michael in her whole life. And the human world wasn’t any different, since everyone there was just a human reflection of everyone and everything here in Equestria and she’d never heard the name Michael mentioned during her five days in that world at any point, during either of her visits.
When the filly hid behind her mane again, Twilight smiled. It might sound like a nonsense word, if the filly wanted to be called that, she’d call her that.
“Okay, Michael,” she said, leaning down to the filly’s eye level again, her own smile growing a little at the small one that appeared on the filly’s face at the mention of her given name. “Can you tell me how you ended up in that castle and why you look like N— like this?”
The filly looked down, holding her tail, which billowed as she held it, though the how was something Twilight didn’t understand. “Well, I don’t know how I ended up there. All I remember is going to sleep in the operating room and waking up there like this.”
Twilight blinked. Operating room? She tried to not think about all the movies in which crazy scientists ponynapped ponies and used them in twisted experiments and whether or not this filly had been the result of such a thing in reality and shook her head.
“Operating room? Why were you in an operating room?” she asked, trying to keep the fear from her voice.
The filly shrugged. “My mummy and daddy said I had something called a tumour in my head and it had to be taken out before my head exploded.”
Twilight blinked. Okay. That definitely wasn’t what she’d been expecting. Not to mention Michael had just said her head would’ve exploded and she didn’t seem the least bit fused. How could you know your head is going to explode and not feel ever a little bit terrified by that notion?
And a tumour? That was horrible. Why would the world be so cruel as to give a child a tumour that would cause their head to explode and at such a young age.
She blinked. Wait. How old was Michael? Looking at her she was a little younger the Apple Bloom and her friends, maybe by two years, but was she that old before or just now?
“Michael?” she asked, the filly turning her attention back to her. “How old are you?”
The filly smiled broadly. “I turn seven this year.”
Twilight gaped. Seven? Seriously? A seven-year-old child was somehow just ripped from her wherever she had been and turned into an age equivalence of Nightmare Moon? No, she said she'd turn seven this year. That meant she was only six! Though, if that shocked Twilight, what the filly said next almost knocked her out cold.
“And I was a boy too, and human.” She frowned. “Wonder why I turned into a girl horse.”
The first part of that sentence caused Twilight’s mind to blue screen, but the second half pulled her back. “You’re not a horse.”
“Huh?”
“You’re a pony.”
Michael blinked, then frowned, scrunching her nose. “Eew! But ponies are girly.”
“You do realize that you’re a girl, right?” Spike asked, grinning.
Michael just turned her frown on him. “Na-ah. Before I woke up in that castle I was a boy.”
Twilight looked between the two as they bickered. It was rather amusing, seeing a filly that looks like Nightmare Moon arguing with a baby dragon about being a boy.
She decided now was as good a time as any to let the others know. She walked over to them and leaned down to Michael. “I need to talk with a few friends of mine. I’ll leave you here with Spike until I get back, okay?”
At once Michael looked up, her mood changing in an instant as she looked fearfully up at the older Alicorn. “Y-you’re leaving me alone?”
Twilight shook her head. “Like I said, I’m leaving Spike here to keep you company until I get back. I promise I won’t take long.”
Michael looked down, disappointment on her face, but nodded. She at least seemed to know that when an adult tells you to do something nicely, you do it. If she ever met Michael’s parents, she’d congratulate that on having such a well behave son, er, daughter?
Putting the thought from her mind, Twilight turned to her cabinets and lit her horn, her magic’s glow pulling five pieces of parchment over, along with a quill and ink and started writing.
I need to speak with you urgently. Something happened this morning that we need to deal with quickly before things get out of hoof. Please come to the palace right away.
Twilight.
She cast another spell and what she’d written on one parchment appeared on all the others too. She quickly put each of her friends names on one of each, the levitated them over to Spike.
He got the idea, took the scrolls and blew onto them, his magical fire breath burning them up and sending them to their respective destinations.
Michael just frowned in confusion. “Why did you write on all those papers and then just get Spike to burn them up. That’s a waste of paper and my parents always tell me we shouldn’t waste paper.”
Twilight made another mental note to thank Michael’s parents for teaching her such ethics at such a young age, then chuckled.
“Actually, Spike’s fire breath is magical. It didn’t burn those papers up, but sent them to the ponies I want to talk to.”
Michael blinked. “You mean it’s like sending a letter through the mail?”
She nodded. “Yes, but a lot faster.”
As Spike began to explain the method of his fire breath and how it was magical and different from a regular dragon’s fire, Twilight headed out the door and towards the Council Room.
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“Alrigh’, Twi. What’s so urgent ya had to see us so early?” Applejack asked as they all stood in the centre of the Council Room.
“Yeah,” Dash said, not bothering to suppress a yawn. “This was the first morning in a while that I didn’t have to do an early weather shift. Why’d ya have to make me miss it?”
“Indeed, darling,” Rarity said, rubbing her eyes. “A lady needs her beauty sleep, you know and I was up all last night finishing a design.”
Twilight nodded, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry I had to call you all hear so early, but this is really important. Earlier this morning Spike and I were heading for the Castle of the Two Pony Sisters, so I could get some more books from its library.”
“Yawn,” Dash said, rolling her eyes.
“But, on the way there,” Twilight said, ignoring the cyan mare’s jab, “we heard a filly scream.”
At once, all attention was focused on Twilight. Dash, who been looking the ceiling for something to occupy her mind, was now at full attention.
“It came from the castle and as soon as the scream came, it was followed by an explosion.”
“Oh, my!” Fluttershy gasped, putting a hoof to her mouth. “Was she alright?”
Twilight nodded. “That’s what Spike and I went to find out. We found her in the tower we defeated Nightmare Moon in.”
“Who was it?” Applejack asked, worried. “Don’t tell it were one’a the other crusaders and they were doing some stupid dare cos o’ Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon again.”
“It couldn’t have been Sweetie Belle,” Rarity shook her head. “She was in her room when I left the boutique.”
“An’ Apple Bloom was helpin’ with the mornin’ chores when Ah got Twi’s letter.”
Dash shrugged. “I ain’t seen the squirt today, but it's early, and I’m sure her parents woulda come to me if she was missing.”
Twilight shook her head. “No, it wasn’t any of the crusaders. It wasn’t even a filly from Ponyville.”
Rarity cocked an eyebrow. “Then where did she come from?”
Twilight looked away, an uneasy feeling in her expression. “From what she’s told me, she came from the human world.”
“Huh?” was the confused joint response.
“But, the only way out of the portal is in your room, since that's where you left it,” Dash said, pointing a hoof at Twilight. “How did she wind up in the other castle?”
Twilight shook her head. “I don’t know, Dash, and neither does she. She didn’t even know she was a pony when I found her. She thought she was a horse.”
“Then that means she’s one’a the few fr’m that world that still don’t know ’bout the portal yet,” Applejack affirmed.
Twilight shook her head. “Most of that world doesn’t know about it. It’s mainly those living in the Canterlot of that world that know. But... that’s not all that’s worrying.”
“What could be more worrying than that a human from that world, who didn’t know about our own, somehow found herself here and was mysteriously transported to Celestia and Luna’s old castle?” Rarity asked.
Twilight took a deep breath. “She’s Nightmare Moon.”
There was silence for several moments as what she’d just said settled with the others.
“Um, pardon me, Surgarcube,” Applejack said, cocking an eyebrow. “Did ya’ll just say she’s Nightmare Moon?”
Twilight nodded. “She has the eyes, the coat, wings and horn, Cutie Mark and mane and tail. However, that’s were their similarities stop, worryingly.”
“Uh, Twi,” Dash said, her expression and tone skeptical, “I may not know much about science and stuff, but Luna was Nightmare Moon and you said that filly came from the other world. If that’s true, then she’d be the Luna from there, and Sunset’s last letter said Vice Principal Luna’s still in that world. Not to mention, if she were Nightmare Moon, she’d be an adult mare, not a filly.”
Twilight shook her head. “I know that, Dash, but it’s the truth. Her mane and tail are ethereal, just like the princesses’. I saw them moving without wind. And she speaks about humans as naturally as Lyra.”
“Now there’s a scary thought,” Applejack shuddered. “She still don’t know about that world and it’s probably fer the best.”
“Wait,” Dash frowned. “If the Lyra from here is obsessed with humans, is the Lyra from there obsessed with ponies?”
Rarity frowned. “I suppose.” Then she grew worried. “And that Lyra does know about the two worlds.”
“Girls!” Twilight shouted. “This isn’t about Lyra and the two worlds. This is about a six-year-old filly I found in the old castle who used to be a human boy but is now a filly version of Nightmare Moon!”
They all began to apologize, before Dash narrowed her eyes. “Wait. Used to be a boy?”
“That’s what she told me,” Twilight nodded with a mournful expression. “She was a six-year-old, going on seven boy who was going in for an operation to get a tumour out of his head so that he wouldn’t die,” all gasped at this, “went to sleep in the operating room and woke up in the old castle as a filly Nightmare Moon, with no clue where she was or how she’d gotten there or why she was now female, let alone a whole other species.”
Dash narrowed her eyes. “You sure she’s not just lying to you to trick you?”
This caused, not Twilight, but Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy to all snap back.
“Rainbow Dash, do you honestly think that horrible mare would be able to come out with something like that?” Rarity asked, shaking her head. “She wouldn’t even know about humans, since Sunset Shimmer wasn’t even born until centuries later, let alone be able to go into the other dimension.”
“If Nightmare Moon really were back, Dash, don’t ya’ll think she might’a tried sumthin’ else. As if she’d be able to make up a story like that an’ make it sound believable.”
“That filly is scared, lost from her family, with no idea where she is or how she got here,” Fluttershy was very close to giving The Stare, from her expression. “I don’t think for a minute that she’d be lying.”
“But Luna knows about the other world,” Dash rolled her eyes. “She was the one that told us about the mirror being a gate to another world when Sunset stole Twilight’s crown and Nightmare Moon knew everything Luna did, so she’d know about the portal. And, if she is Nightmare Moon, of course she could make up a story that sounds crazy yet believable. She fooled me into thinking The Shadowbolts wanted me to be their leader, when they don’t even exist.”
“Foolin’ you ain’t exactly tha’ hard, Surgarcube,” Applejack muttered quietly.
“And, as for if she’s lying, if she’s Nightmare Moon, of course she’d lie. She was found by the one pony that knew she would return at the Summer Sun Celebration, who then led the five of us to defeat her with the Elements. If I were her I’d have made up a story too if it meant saving my flank from somepony who’d trounced me as an adult if I was now a filly.”
“Exploding spiders.”
“Huh?” all five turned to Twilight at the odd choice of words.
“When I found her, one of the first things she did was apologize for blowing a hole in the wall. But, the way she said it was that she didn’t know the spiders could explode.”
“Uh, come again?” Applejack cocked an eyebrow.
“You all saw the spiders in the castle, right? The ones with a white star on their backs?” Nods all around. “Well, that’s what she was talking about. However, the hole had traces of Nightmare Moon’s magic, meaning she must have caused the hole and the explosion I heard after the scream, but, having been a human and not knowing about magic, didn't realize she'd done and thought the spider had exploded.”
“Wait, so Nightmare Moon was the one who screamed?” Dash looked skeptical again. “Why?”
“Well, this is just a guess, but I think Michael’s scared of spiders and seeing one caused her to panic and, not being used to having magic, blasted a hole through the wall.”
“What’s a Michael?” Pinkie asked, looking as confused as the rest.
“That’s what her name was, back when she was a human boy,” Twilight replied. “She told me after we’d called her Nightmare Moon a few times and didn’t like it.”
“What do you mean, “didn’t like it”?” Fluttershy asked, then hid behind her mane. “If you don’t mind me asking?”
Twilight sighed. “Every time either Spike or I said Nightmare Moon, Michael got really scared.”
“Cos she was found out, I bet,” Dash smirked.
Twilight shook her head. “No, Dash. When she told us not to say it, we didn’t know what she meant. She tried to say Nightmare Moon, but couldn’t even get past the N. The name Nightmare Moon scares her. Do you really think Nightmare Moon would pretend to be scared of her own name; that she’d even think of that idea?”
They all were quiet as the other five thought that over.
Applejack snorted. “Nope. She’d be hollerin’ her name fr’m here t’ Manehatten like it were nopony’s business.”
Rarity nodded. “I highly doubt Nightmare Moon would go so far as to pretend she's terrified of her own name. Her ego is far too large for that.”
“I had to even comfort her and hold her to calm her down after we found her,” Twilight said, then sighed.
“Well, I know Nightmare Moon wouldn’t be able to even stomach being comforted by one of the ponies that defeated her,” Dash mumbled, then sighed. “Fine, Twi; I believe you when you say there’s a good chance that filly isn’t Nightmare Moon.”
“There’s not only a good chance, I’m sure of it,” Twilight said firmly. “She doesn’t act at all like Nightmare Moon, and the way she described herself from before is far too detailed for it to simply be a lie, even by that mare. Michael isn’t Nightmare Moon. She somehow looks like her and has the same ethereal mane and tail and Cutie Mark, but that’s it.”
Rarity looked around the room. “So, where is, um, Michael?” She frowned. “I’m sorry, but that name just won’t do.”
“We’ll worry about what we call her later, Rarity,” Twilight replied. “She's in my room. Spike’s with her. I didn’t think it would be wise to just bring her with me and have you all jump to conclusions, as you all did, and attack her.”
Applejack nodded. “That was a good idea, Twi. Ah know Ah wouldn’a been thinkin’ past the idea, “It looks like Nightmare Moon, so it is Nightmare Moon. Get it!”.”
Twilight nodded, then turned to the door. “Come on. I’ll introduce you to her. But be careful. We don’t want to scare her any further. She may not be Nightmare Moon, but she does have her magic and powers. If we scare her, it could end really badly for all involved.”
The other five nodded and followed after her as she led them to her room.