Chapter 3
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I was really interested in how Spike was explaining how his magical fire breath worked. Apparently, he was the only dragon who could do this, to his knowledge. The reason why is, when he was an egg, Twilight had poured lots of magic into his egg in one moment, not only causing his egg to hatch, but also mixing some of her magic with his own body’s energies, which is what makes his fire magical, compared to other dragons, whose fire breath is just that, fire.
When he finished explaining it to me, I looked around and noticed Twilight wasn’t in the room with us anymore. She must have gone to see those friends.
I didn’t really like the idea of more ponies knowing about me. This is an whole different world from mine, and, aside from Twilight and Spike, I don’t know anyone else, and I barely even know them.
“Um, Sp-Spike?” I asked, looking to the young dragon. From his height I was guessing he was maybe as old as me, a child.
The purple dragon looked back from the bookshelf he’d been reaching a claw up to a shelf I realized had comic books and not book books on it. “Yeah?” he asked, looking at me over his shoulder.
I looked away, my mane playing with itself like I would be my hands, if I still hand them. “Are... are Twilight’s friends nice?”
He blinked, then turned around to face me. “Well, they should be. They’re the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, after all.”
I blinked, looking to him, an eyebrow raised. I’d never heard those words before, but something about the Elements of Harmony sounded... familiar, somehow. “What’re those?”
“The Elements are what helps keep Equestria’s magic alive and allow us all to live peacefully,” he then snickered. “Well, most of the time, anyway.”
I looked down, frowning. Something was nipping, at the back of my mind, something I couldn’t place, but that felt like it was trying to be heard.
“So, where in the human world were you? Y’know, before you went to that operating room and woke up here, in Equestria?”
I looked up at him, smiling slightly. “Australia.”
Spike blinked. “Where? I’ve never heard of that, and I was asking the girls about it the last time we went to your world and they never mentioned any place called Australia.”
I frowned. “I... don’t know where it is. I just know that’s where I live.”
Spike nodded, folding his arms. “Guess that was one of the places they didn’t tell me about. Still,” he looked back to me, “since the human world’s just a reflection version of this one, why is your name Michael? It doesn’t sound like a name.”
I frowned. “It’s normal where I come from. At my school I know at least five other Michael's.”
He raised an eyebrow. “More than one pon— er, person has the same name as you?”
I nodded, then cocked an eyebrow. “Isn’t that how names work?”
“Not usually,” he shook his head. “It’s rare in Equestria for a pony, or any creature really, to have the same name as another. I mean, Twilight was named after her great grandmother, but that’s the only time I can think of one pony sharing the same name as another pony. Everypony else I’ve ever known’s name’s been unique.”
I blinked, my expression becoming confused. “Uni...? Uni...?”
“It means one of a kind,” he deadpanned.
“Oh,” I looked away, frowning. “You said this world is a reflection of mine?” He nodded. “But, my world doesn’t look like this.”
Spike nodded. “Well, that makes sense. Your world has all that technology and stuff. It makes sense that—”
I shook my head. “No. I mean, this world looks different, like a cartoon.”
Spike frowned. “Seriously?”
I nodded, looking around the room. “This worlds looks kinda like The Powerpuff Girls show.”
Spike blinked, then grinned. “Oh! You like The Power Ponies too, huh?”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Power who? I’ve never heard of them.”
Spike went over to the bookshelf with the comics and took one down, then held it out to me. I thought about how to take it, when I saw my mane move forward, like an arm and took the comic from him. The look in his eyes said he had expected me to do that just as much as I had.
But, he also held a slight bit of fear in his eyes and it hurt me that he’d look at me like that. I looked down, pulling the book to me with my mane.
I looked to the comic, to take my mind off of that, and frowned. On the comic was the picture of six ponies who were clearly heroes, one who kind looked like Twilight and a villain, who looked like a horse with freakishly long green hair.
I opened the comic and started reading.
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As I was finished reading the comic, I shook my head. It was like a weird, pony version of the Power Rangers. It was interesting, but strange.
I decided to find something else to read while I waited for Twilight to come back. I walked back to the bookshelf, using my mane to place the comic back where I’d seen Spike take it from.
I scanned the books, trying to find something that looked like it would have a lot of pictures. After a while I found one that I got a strange feeling from, like I knew it.
I used my mane to lift it out and put it on the floor. It was a large brown book with the picture of a golden unicorn head on the front. I cocked an eyebrow, wondering why I’d think a big book like this would be fun to read.
I opened it and looked down the list of stories at the front of it. I stopped at one title, getting a strange chill down my back, causing me to flutter my wings (those are something I’m still trying to get used to having at all).
Mare in the Moon. Something about that title both scared me and gave me a small flicker of anger that I didn’t understand.
Gulping, I looked to see what page it was on, then used my mane to flick the pages to it and started reading.
Certain parts seemed to jumped out at me, like “the younger used hers and brought out the moon to begin the night”. Something about that stired something in the back of my mind, but I couldn’t tell what it was.
“But, as time went on, the younger sister became... res-ent-ful... Spike? Whatg does res-ent-ful mean?”
He looked up from the comic he’d been reading. “It means angry, basically. Jealous.”
Okay, I knew what jealous was, so I continued, reading out loud quietly, since I hadn’t quite gotten the idea of reading in your head yet. My teachers had been trying to teach me how, but it was slow and, now, it might be a while before I can get back to learning it.
“The ponies relished and played in the day her elder... that means older, right? sister brought forth... Spike, what’s "brought forth" mean?
“It means bring. Like, Twilight brought you forth to the castle.” He didn’t even look up from his comic that time.
I nodded and read on. “...but shunned... Shunned?”
“Ignored.”
“...and slept through her beautiful night. One fateful day, the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart... h-had t-transformed her into a w-wicked mare of d-darkness: N-N-N-N-N—”
That name. It... it was the name Spike and Twilight kept calling me. Was... was this that pony?
“Sh-she vowed th-that she would sh-shroud the land in et-ternal night. R-reluct-ant-ly, the elder sister h-harn-essed the most powerful m-magic known to pony-dom: the E-Elements of Harmony. Using the m-magic of the Elements of Harmony, sh-she defeated her younger s-sister, and b-banished her per-man-ent-ly in the moon—”
I couldn’t read anymore. Was... was I...? Was I this pony; this... monster? Was that why Twilight and Spike were scared of me?
But... I don’t want anyone to be scared of me. I don’t.
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“I still find it a little hard to believe that Nightmare Moon could be back,” Rarity said as they neared Twilight’s door, “and as a filly.”
“She’s not Nightmare Moon, Rarity,” Twilight remained her, a slight bit of irritation entering her voice. “She only has Nightmare Moon’s body. Though how and why, on the other hoof, I still don’t know.”
“Well, as long as she doesn’t try anything fishy, I’ll—” The doors opened under Twilight’s magical influence and they all stopped, Rainbow’s voice cutting itself off.
Near one of the books shelves sat Michael, being held back Spike. She had been crying, her face soaked with tears as the young dragon held her.
By his feet and her hooves sat a book Twilight recognized. A book she hadn’t thought about since the day Nightmare Moon returned and she and the others had freed Luna from her.
The filly suddenly looked over to them, her eyes brightening at the sight of Twilight, before they filled with uncertainty as her eyes moved from Twilight to the other five mares.
For several seconds none moved, all just staring. Then, Pinkie bound forward, causing the filly to scream and try to get away from Spike to escape the oncoming pink mare, before she was picked up in said mare’s hooves and held her, a huge grin on her face.
“Oh, wow, it’s true! You really do look like Black Snooty. Wow, that’s weird. And you can use your mane to hold and move things, too, just like her? That’s kinda cool. Ya know, you may look like her, but while she was a big meanie, meanie-pants, you’re just really cute. Didn’t think she would look cute, but as a filly, it seems she would be, or is, I guess. Hey, wait! This means it’s you’re first time in Ponyville’s.”
She leaped into the air, giving a loud gasp, still holding the small Alicorn.
“Oh. My. Gosh! You need a Welcome to Ponyville party! Ooh, it can be night themed. I’ve never really done that before, since I didn’t for Princess Luna and I know a party will make that sad frown turn upside down. Do you like cloudcake? I’ve never met a filly with wings that doesn’t like cloudcake and I bet cake would make you really happy and—”
There was a flash of purple and the filly was no longer being held in Pinkie’s hooves. She turned around to see Twilight giving her a stern look, whilst the filly clung to Fluttershy, who’d taken her into a soft embrace.
“Pinkie, don’t scare her,” Twilight scolded. “She’s been through enough and...” she glanced sadly at the book, which Spike was slowly picking up and placing it back on the shelf, “I think she’s misunderstood something.” Twilight turned to the filly and sighed. “Michael, the mare in that story isn’t you.”
“Y-yes, it is,” the smaller Alicorn sobbed. “I-I’m the one wh-who t-took over o-one of the p-princesses and wa-was ba-banished a-and—”
“No!” Twilight said firmly. “You’re not.”
Michael looked to Twilight, her eyes pleading. “I... I’m not?”
Twilight shook her head. “No, you’re not. N— the mare you look like wouldn’t act the way you are at all. You have been quiet, gentle and thoughtful. You even apologized for something you didn’t even do because you felt guilty. She wouldn’t have done that.”
The filly blinked, a tiny bit of confusion entering her face. “Something I didn’t do?”
Twilight gave a coo smile. “That spider didn’t explode. Spiders don’t do that in Equestria.”
The confusion on the filly’s face grew. “But... it threw me back. There was a hole in the wall. If the spider didn’t explode, what did all that?”
Twilight looked up at the ceiling. “Well... you did, actually.”
The filly’s eyes widened. “Wh-what? How? I can’t make spiders explode! I-I... I can’t make big holes in walls.”
Twilight returned he gaze to the sputtering filly. “Well, as an Alicorn, yeah, you can.”
A frown creased Michael’s brow. “Is that some special kind of unicorn? Alicorn. What’s that mean? You’re one too. What are we?”
Twilight smiled. “Alicorns are very special. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were two of the first Alicorns. Celestia raises the sun and Luna the moon... Is something wrong?” She posed the question due to the filly cocking her head, a look of confused recognition entering her eyes.
“Why... Why do I know those names?” she murmured, frowning at the floor. “The only Luna I know is that cat from Sailor Moon.”
“Sailor Moon?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Is that some sea-faring version of Night— um, that other moon?” She’d almost slipped, but a glance from Twilight had stopped her from saying it.
The filly giggled, then looked to Dash. “Now. It’s a cartoon from my home. Sailor Moon’s a girl who is really a princess of the moon that was sent to Earth by her mother to save her life.”
The six mares and dragon all looked around each other. That sounded... it was as if the filly was talking about Luna, yet not. The similarities were too eerie. A moon princess who has a cat that happens to be named after their own moon princess?
Yet, the filly had said it with such certainty, as if it couldn’t be questioned. Twilight couldn’t help feeling another tiny bit of doubt enter her mind yet once more. Every time she was able to convince herself this filly wasn’t Nightmare Moon, she did or said something that caused tiny bits of doubt, not enough to confirm she really was the Mare in the Moon given physical form, but enough to worry the Lavender Alicorn, none the less.
“Girls,” Applejack’s voice caused all, even the small filly, to turn to her. “Ah think there’s only one way we can really know what we need to. But, to do it,” she looked worryingly to Twilight, “we gotta tell the princesses.”
At once, Michael’s eyes widened with fear and she scurried under Twilight’s bed and didn’t come out.
Twilight trotted over, knelt down and looked at the scared turquoise-blue dragon eyes looking at her with fear.
“D-don’t,” she whimpered, tears shining in her eyes. “Th-they’ll send me t-to the m-m-moon. I-I don’ wanna go there.”
Twilight gave a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. We won’t let them send you there. You’re just a filly. It wouldn’t be right for them to send you there.”
Her shivering seemed to lessen, but she didn’t move. “I-I’m staying here,” she whispered.
Twilight sighed, knowing she couldn’t convince her without pushing her, and, with Michael scared enough by everything that had happened already, that probably wasn’t the best idea.
She walked back over to the girls, all of whom looked a little worried about the filly, even Dash, despite her reservations from before.
“Spike?” Twilight said and the dragon hurried over. “Take a letter and write exactly as I say.”
He nodded, grabbing a scroll and quill and getting ready.
Twilight took a deep breath, and began.
Dear Princess Celestia,
This is a letter about an urgent situation that has arisen that we need your help in solving and also involves your sister, so please be sure to read this with her or let her read it once you have finished reading yourself.
Before I go further, I must ask that you do not panic or worry the way she first feel to when I explain the reason for this letter. I can assure you the fears you fill will be unnecessary and unfounded, so please do not react on impulse.
Earlier this morning Spike and I were heading towards your old castle, to get several of the books from its library to put into the Friendship Castle’s library instead, so ponies can read them without having to brave the Everfree in order to do so.
However, as we were walking, we heard a filly screaming in fear, in the forest, followed by an explosion coming from your old castle. Upon investigating, we found the young filly hiding in the tower where you and your sister were reunited after we defeated Nightmare Moon.
She was understandably scared and I tried to convince her to come out of her hiding spot.
When she did, however, Spike and I got a very shocking surprise. She looked just like the Mare in the Moon, down to her Cutie Mark and ethereal mane and tail.
Our first thoughts are exactly what you are no doubt thinking after reading this. However, she is not like the mare that took your sister. She is scared, timid and has no idea how she came to find herself in the castle.
Not only that, she has told me herself, in all honesty, that she was not a pony to begin with, but a human boy who had been going into hospital for an operation that I believe was meant to save his life.
While I cannot ascertain as to why he suddenly found himself in the body of a filly version of the mare your sister became, I do know that she is not at all like that mare.
I am requesting your assistance as a fellow princess. I am unsure how this situation should be handled and therefore ask for yours and your sister’s guidance is this matter.
For the filly’s sake, I ask that you think carefully and not act irrationally.
The Princess of Friendship,
Twilight Sparkle
“Twi-light... Spar-kle,” Spike finished, then rolled up the scroll and sent it on its way.
“How long do ya think it’ll take fer ’em to answer?” Applejack asked. She’d walked over to the bed and was peering under it at the small black filly.
“I’m not sure,” Twilight replied, shaking her head. “I only hope that don’t react like I did at first glance.” She said that last part with shame.
Rarity raised an eyebrow. And just how did you react, darling?”
Twilight looked down, shame fully covering her face. “I... grabbed her in my magic and... and treated her like a monster. I...” she shut her eyes, a few tears welling in them. “I only realized something was off when she started pleading to her parents, asking for them to save her.”
The girls all remained silent as that sunk in.
“Night— that mare wouldn’t have been calling to her parents for help,” Rarity said quietly, her eyes downcast.
Twilight nodded. She was certain she would never forgive herself for how she’d treated Michael when they first met. That had been horrible and she’d put a filly through it for no real reason. Her worries about Nightmare Moon didn’t justify what she’d done.
The uneasy silence was suddenly obliterated by a flash of white light in the centre of the room. Standing in the middle of the room were both Princesses, Celestia and Luna, their faces stern.
“Where is she?” Luna spoke, her voice cold and almost so loud that Twilight mistook it for a second to be the Royal Canterlot Voice.
A squeak came from under the bed. At once, Luna’s horn glowed, lifting the bed and revealing the small filly cowering underneath. Said filly was this taken in the same magical aura and pulled towards Luna at a fast speed, the bed returning to the floor.
Luna looked directly into the filly’s eyes, which stared back in horror.
The filly screamed, her mane lashing out, clipping Luna’s horn, causing the larger Alicorn to flinch, her magical hold breaking and the filly bolted across the floor, heading back for the bed.
She was stopped, however, as a golden aura took hold of her and yanked her towards Celestia, whose eyes had gone wide with anger—
“STOP!”
All went still at the Royal Canterlot Voice that had come from neither the Sun Goddess, nor the Moon. Twilight, using the sudden pause, took Michael in her own magical grasp and yanked her back, bringing her over to the nearest of her friends, Applejack and relented her hold.
Michael clung onto Applejack so tightly the farm mare showed the slightest sign that it hurt, which just fueled Twilight’s anger at the two princesses further as she whirled around to face them.
“What part of “do not panic or worry” and “think carefully and not act irrationally” did you not understand?” she snorted as the two princesses stared at her, stumped.
“Twilight,” Celestia began, confusion mixed with sternness in her voice, “she attacked Luna. I was reacting to protect my sis—”
“She was retaliating because Luna had just grabbed her and yanked her through the air!” Twilight cut her off. “How would you react if your mane could do what you told it to and were suddenly attack for reasons you didn’t understand?! Just how much of my letter were you paying attention to?!”
Both princesses backed away as Twilight mane started to flow with the magical energies of her portion of the Rainbow Power she and her six friends had been endowed with from the Tree of Harmony.
“We...” Luna looked to the small filly clutching onto Applejack, bawling her eyes out and the tension she’d felt mere moments before about the thought of said filly vanished, replaced by guilt and she looked down at the floor and whispered, “I’m sorry, Twilight.”
Her sister’s suddenly change in attitude caused Celestia to halt, the instinct to protect her younger sister, which had flared when Luna had just been injured (even if the injury was small), cooled and she too looked to the ground and gave her own apology.
Twilight waited for several moments. When it seemed they were telling the true and didn’t do anything more to the youngest Alicorn in the room, her mane stopped followed and she closed her eyes, calming down.
“As I mentioned before, in my letter, Michael is not the mare you once became, Princess Luna.” She spoke, not with the voice of a friend, but that of a fellow princess, discussing a matter.
Both flinched the tiniest bit at this. Twilight had never spoken to them in anyway but as a friend, so to have her speaking to them the way they would speak with dignitaries or royals that have no concern for pleasantries was rather off-putting for them, emphasizing just how largely the two had royally messed up.
Twilight then explained what had been relayed to her by the younger Alicorn, not leaving out a single detail. Spike even told them what he and Michael had spoken about whilst they waited for the girls, though his news, which was also new to Twilight, was worrisome.
Whilst Spike had gotten his information about the other world from the girls at the sleepover during their last visit to help stop the Sirens, Twilight had spent a fair amount of time since their return reading up on the other world, aided by Sunset Shimmer answering any questions the Alicorn asked, via the journal.
Celestia and Luna had known about that world long before Luna became Nightmare Moon, though their knowledge was lacking compared to Twilight, who had actually recently gone there.
True, they had been themselves, but that was a long time ago and things were odd in their case. Their doubles were bound to them and had a spell around them that prevented any from questioning why they never seemed to age or for how long they’d been Principal and Vice Principal to the school, from way back in its early days.
This being the case, when Spike mentioned Michael had said her home was a place called Australia; all three princesses did a double take. In the other world, there was no such place. However, it was clear Michael was not lying about her origins.
This brought a whole new problem. If she was not from the other world, the one that reflected their own, but with humans instead of ponies, it meant she came from another world with humans, one with no ties to this world at all.
Once all was said and explained, Luna looked to Celestia, her face concerned. “Sister, I know only one way I can prove whether or not this filly is my darker self given a body of her own, or some other soul unfortunate enough to inherit her form.”
Celestia sighed and nodded.
Twilight sighed, but with relief. “Good. Then you will know Michael’s not—”
“You misunderstand, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, her tone becoming sombre. “What I do will prove what must and I mean must be done.”
Twilight wilted slightly. “You mean...?”
Luna nodded. “Yes. If I am given reason, any reason at all, to believe that this filly posses an immediate threat to anypony, I will have to act accordingly.”
“But—” she tried to protest.
“It cannot be helped, Twilight,” Celestia said, her voice just as solemn as her sister’s. “If this Michael, no matter where her mind came from, is proven to be too dangerous, she will have to be dealt with.”
Luna walked over to Applejack, who tightened her hold on the quivering filly. However, a small, solemn shake of the night princess’s head made her loosen her grip slight, causing the filly to panic, before she was shrouded by Luna’s magic and fell asleep.
Twilight looked from Luna to Celestia and back to Luna, her face anxious. “Please, just promise you won’t hurt her.”
She knew she had no real say anymore. Luna had been Nightmare Moon, so she had full authority in this matter, whether Twilight or her friends liked it or not.
And they didn’t like it. They all were protesting, demanding the princesses to leave the poor filly alone, but were silenced by a look from Celestia. It was a look that told them she did not want for this to happen, but that there was no other choice and Twilight, reluctant those she was to admit it, had to agree.
She just hoped she was right and that what Luna found would prove the filly’s innocence and she would be spared.
Luna stood over the sleeping form of her darker self in filly size and her eyes glowed white and the whole room faded around her.
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Luna looked around her as the swirling purple mixed with other colours. She had entered her darker side’s filly doppelgangers mind and it was settling around her.
When she saw a line of memory, she accessed it, expecting to see the first moments she’d thought in tune with the part of her the Elements had removed from her.
However, what she saw stopped her, causing her eyes to go wide.
In the memory, she saw a small human boy, maybe four years of age, running around with other human children. His eyes were a blue much like her own, whilst his short-cut hair was blonde, like Applejack’s mane and tail.
He was laughing and dodging one child in particular. At first, she wondered if that was mean-spirited, before she saw the other child, a female with brown eyes and long, bouncy black hair was smiling too, giving the boy a smirk that said “I’ll get you next time” as she moved to run after another child and tagged him, before running off with that child chasing her.
It was a game of tag. A simple, friendly game between friends. The sight warmed Luna’s heart as she remembered when she and her sister would play tag, back when they had been fillies.
This memory, while unexpected because of the body of the mind it came from, gave her a small glimmer of hope for what Twilight Sparkle had said. Maybe this filly, whilst looking and sharing other things with her darker half, was not the Nightmare, but a child who had been brought into her world.
This, however, then caused her sadness, for, if true, the child had been taken from its family. She vowed then that, if it were possible, she would help to bring the child back to their own world and separate them from the form of her darker self.
With this in mind, Luna headed deeper into the child’s mind and memories.
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Every memory she’d seen had only made Luna surer of Twilight’s theory. A fifth birthday, where she saw several of the children from the memory of the game of tag, the boy’s first day of school, Hearth’s Warming with the boy’s family, where she saw a younger brother of near identical match and a baby sister with brown, curly hair and brown eyes, only happy and sometimes a few sad memories, none of which could possibly have been fabricated by her darker self.
Not only were they too detailed, but she would not have been able to think of such things, for she had been pure negative emotions. Such a creature could never think of such events as had played out in these memories.
This child was not Nightmare Moon, of that she was sure.
Sadly, she was also able to confirm something she had hope against. There was no way to send the child back.
The last memory the child had was of falling asleep in an operating room, his father telling him that he would be okay and would wake up all better.
...
The boy had not awoken again.
Though the child had been asleep, he had still been taking in his surrounding, absorbing the memory, a memory Luna watched with a heavy heart.
At first, the surgery was going well. The boy’s father looked relieved as the surgeons talked calmly and it seemed like the boy would be fine.
That was, however, until one surgeon suddenly sneezed whilst a scalpel had been lightly pressed against the boy’s brain. At once blood started spilling from the unintended wound caused by the sudden force and they all moved to stop the flow and return to the surgery, but a sound caused Luna’s heart to clench. The boy’s heart was slowing down. Using her magic, she was able to see what had been happening and it made her heart sink.
When the scalpel had penetrated the boy’s brain, it had, by pure bad luck, caused what she knew was called apoplexy; the scalpel had sliced a large blood vessel, the spilled blood having caused extensive damage to a large portion of brain.
She watched, unable to look away or stop it, as the monitors showed his heart rate growing weaker and weaker, all the while the surgeons’ attitudes were becoming ones of panic and the father becoming hysterical.
Within moments, the beeps of the heart monitors had become a single, long, never ending beep.
For several moments the room was silent and still, save the beeping, before the father fell to his knees and began to sob, whilst one surgeon looked to another, who glanced at the clock above the door.
“Time of death: 4:32pm.”
The memory, however, did not end there. Luna saw what must have been the boy’s soul floating out of its body, before something that looked like Nightmare Moon’s mane lashed out from nowhere, grabbed the boy’s soul and yanked him away.
Luna turned her head, trying to follow the boy’s soul, but the memory ended.
Yet, she would not give up. She used her magic and found a trace of something, not the boy’s memories, but something linked to them. With her destination made, Luna launched at it, hoping to learn what was going on.
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Luna was standing in the ruins of the tower where she had awoken after Twilight and the other Element Bearers had freed her from Nightmare Moon.
The sun showed very, very early morning; most likely only a few minutes after midnight, judging back the dark, yet not totally dark sky.
A sound that was like a mixture of a shuffle and a shiver caused Luna to turn to the doorway leading into the tower.
Walking in through the open doorway was a figure donned in a brown cloak. Her first thoughts were Zecora the zebra, whom she had met that first Nightmare Night back.
However, the eyes within told her something else. They were eyes she had seen staring back at her not too long again from the face of a filly, wide with fear.
Now, they held determination and spite as their owner walked past Luna and stopped near the window, the last place Nightmare Moon had stood before the Elements had defeated her.
Luna saw the shattered fragments of Nightmare Moon’s armour and a few pieces of black fur, including one with the black mare’s Cutie Mark, lying by the window, surrounded by intricate mana lines the likes of which she hadn’t seen in centuries.
The mare pulled back her cloak’s hood and what Luna saw was a mass of shadows with a pony shape, with Nightmare Moon’s eyes glowing within.
“It has taken me a long time,” she said, a grin appearing within the darkness. “But, now, with my fragments and this energy leftover by the Element Bearers from the Tree of Harmony, I shall return anew!”
Luna’s eyes were wide with horror and prayed that this was only a memory, though wondered how it was connected to Michael when he was dead.
The shadows that were Nightmare Moon’s essence took a pot filled with some kind of oils and another of powders and poured them onto the mana circles. They glowed at once with a bright turquoise light and the grinning teeth seemed to grow wider.
Magical energy started to whirl up from the circle, which the shadows stepped into, a tiny vial of a red substance held within its reaches. The vile opened and the red slipped out, forming into six separate tiny balls of red in a hexagonal pattern.
“With the blood of the Bearers I shall be given life of my own,” the shadows announced as if talking to a crowd (Luna was very embarrassed that she had been part of something similar whilst the two of them had been connected). “They thought I was only trying to scare them off with my creepy trees. Little did they know that, with the scratches they got on each bush, they left tiny specks of their blood and it will give me LIFE!”
With that final shout, the magic began spiraling around the darkness, the blood drops expanding to the size of a full grown pony, eerily taking the shapes of those they had come from and the shreds, both armour and otherwise were coated in the blood as they passed through each bloody form of the six ponies.
Then, all the shreds flew towards the darkness, disappearing within it.
“Yes!” she cried, in a voice Luna was sad to admit she’d heard from villains in those movies she’d watched with her other world self a week ago.
From within the darkness, something spread out over the shadow, something Luna recognised as fur. It was rising from her hooves and up her body.
“YES!” the darkness cried in mirth. “Soon, I shall be whole again; a physical form and— Wait.”
Luna blinked at the change of tone, before she saw what was happening. A light had appeared within the centre of the darkness and it was growing.
“No! No, stop! I will not— No! Leave me alone! Don’t— GAH!”
The light had spread to her whole body, covering even her fur that had already grown. At once there was a blinding flash and Luna had to shield her eyes.
When it faded, lying on the floor was the small filly whose mind she had entered. She slowly stirred and looked around, frowning in confusion.
___________________________________________________________
When she finally reached the memories leading up to her entering the filly’s mind, she was certain.
Somehow, Nightmare’s spell, which was only meant to give her a physical form (she clearly hadn’t known she only had enough shreds of herself to give her a filly’s body instead of a mare’s in the end) had also yanked Michael's disembodied soul from his world and pulled it into Nightmare and, with her magic focused solely on the spell, she had been unable to stop the soul from entering her.
From what she could assess, Michael’s innocent and pure spirit had been powerful enough to force back the darkness of Nightmare, making him... or her, the dominant being within the body.
Luna wanted to believe that it meant Nightmare was gone forever, but she was certain she was not.
As the memory ended, Luna focused her magic in search of a power she herself had welded and never wanted to see again. However, her spell did not fail her. It was faint, buried deep, deep within Michael’s essence, but she sensed it.
Nightmare Moon.
Within seconds Luna was at the point of origin to the force she sensed. However, what she found confused her. In front of her was a large wall of glowing golden light. There were bars in front of the wall, blocking out the dark shadows within.
“Hello, Luna.”
Luna’s heart skipped a beat as Nightmare Moon’s eyes and sharp teeth appeared from within the dark recesses of the area beyond the bars.
“How nice of you to visit. Have you come to join with me again, or to merely gloat at my expense?”
While she had started in a taunting manner, Nightmare’s words became spiteful at the end, her eyes glaring at Luna from behind the bars.\
“I finally gain a body of my own, only to have it ripped away from me; imprisoned within my own body whilst that child controls it and I am helpless to do more than watch from within!”
Luna blinked, then smirked. The irony was not lost on her. She turned, glancing back at the eyes and teeth, the latter of which were snarling.
“I do find amusement in the irony of your situation, Nightmare Moon,” she said, coldness mixed with the snide tone. “You know now what I was forced to go through whilst you held me captive within my own body. The only difference is the roles are reversed: the evil trapped within the light.”
Nightmare only chuckled darkly. “I at least did not agree to have the child take control, as you did me, Luna.”
Luna did not respond for a moment, before turning to face away from those eyes. “I will not deny I did that, Nightmare,” she said in a calm tone. “I have admitted to my mistakes and payed for them.”
“But now it isn’t you paying for those mistakes anymore,” the taunting voice said from behind. “That child is. Even if she isn’t like me in the slightest, she still shares my appearance. She will never escape that.”
Luna forced herself to remain calm, to not lash out at the one finding joy in the suffering of one so young.
“Farewell, Nightmare,” she replied. "I certainly hope we never meet again."
She began fading away, returning to the physical world, but not before Nightmare had the final word.
“Your daughter will never know freedom from me.”
___________________________________________________________
Luna returned to the physical world to see all the Bearers, Spike and her sister looking at her.
She blinked and noticed her cheeks felt wet. She lifted a hoof and brushed her face. She had been crying. It must have been during the memories she had witnessed. She wiped her eyes and shook her head as they all began to asked questioned, concerned for her and turned her attention to the sleeping filly, who was wearing a small smile, no doubt reliving the happy memories Luna had seen within her mind.
“So?” Twilight asked, her voice filled with anxiety. “Wh-what did you see?”
Luna had to collect herself for a moment. Nightmare’s last words were echoing in her mind.
Your daughter will never know freedom from me.
These words haunted Luna in more ways than one. The first reason, Nightmare had stated that Michael would never be free of her. She would always be there, deep down and there was no escaping it. Another thing that worried her was what Nightmare had referred the filly as her daughter? Why would she say that? Was it because Nightmare had come from Luna, thus the same could be said for the filly lying before her?
She put it away in her mind for now and addressed the ponies and dragon watching her, waiting for her to pace her judgement on the sleeping filly.
“What I have learned is both good and bad,” she said, feeling the tension in the room tighten. “The mind dominating this filly’s body is indeed not my darker self—” a large sigh of relief runs throughout the room, “but she is not gone.”
The tension returned, stronger than before.
Celestia looked to Luna. “What do you mean, sister?”
Luna closed her eyes. “Young Michael’s spirit was pulled from his own world when Nightmare’s spell began. It merged his spirit with her essence as it was taking a physical form.” There were gasps all around. “However, his innocence and pure spirit were strong than Nightmare’s hate and spite and overpowered her, sealing her deep within her own created body, locked away in a cage of pure light from which she cannot break free.”
Twilight fidgeted. “So... what are you going to do?”
Luna opened her eyes and looked to Twilight, then turned away. “Nothing.”
“Huh?” was the response from all but Celestia, who wore a solemn face as she understood her younger sister’s words.
“I will do nothing.”
“Well, what about sending the kid back home?” Rainbow frowned, flying up to Luna’s face. “Does doing nothing mean you’re not sending him back either?”
Her silence was the answer.
“Princess!” Twilight gasped, horrified. “You’re not sending Michael back to her, um, his family? Why?”
“It cannot be done.”
“Wha?”
Luna turned to the six mares and dragon. “Michael is dead.”
For a second, all faces turned pale, before a sigh from the filly made Dash raise an eyebrow. “Seems pretty alive to me.”
Luna shook her head. “In his own world, Michael died during his operation.” Horrified gasps and Fluttershy putting her hooves to her mouth were the response. “It was an accident. One of the surgeons sneezed whilst a scalpel was placed on the boy’s brain and severed into it, causing massive bleeding and irreparable damage to his brain.”
Twilight looked like she was going to be sick.
Luna shook her head. “In a way, Nightmare saved him. Her spell pulled him into our world and gave him a new body. However,” she looked away, “even if he had not died in his world, I still would not send him back.”
“What?” Dash once again flew up to Luna’s face. “Why? She— I mean he, oh, whatever, Michael deserves to go home if it were possible.”
Luna sighed and Celestia spoke. “It is not possible because we cannot separate his spirit from Nightmare.” She looked to Luna. “Correct?”
Luna nodded. “Michael’s spirit created the cage which now holds Nightmare back. If we were to remove his spirit from her form, the cage would break and she would be free to control the body she created and use it as she sees fit.”
An uneasy silence followed as they all took that in.
“So, what’ch yer sayin’ is...?” Applejack asked.
Luna looked away. “Michael saved us all from Nightmare and, in order to keep us safe, must bear her form for the rest of her life.”
Everypony and dragon looked at each other, unsure what to make of this.
Luna sighed. “As for her care, I am placing you all in charge of her.”
A cacophony of confusion spilled from all six mares as they tried to understand what Luna was thinking.
Celestia nodded and addressed them. “We will make an announcement and decree that Nightmare Moon has returned, is a filly, with no memory of ever being Nightmare Moon and is being guarded by the six of you.”
Twilight caught on and nodded. “Equestria will want her to pay for what she did, but by saying she’s being guarded by us, all six of us, it gives the impression that she didn’t do so willingly.”
Luna nodded. “We shall also inform the ponies of Equestria that, if any harm comes to the filly formally known as Nightmare Moon, there will be severe consequences for those involved.”
“Um, quick question?” Rarity raised a hoof. “Can we give her another name? No offense to the poor dear, but Michael really just doesn’t fit her.”
Luna looked to the filly and gave a small nod. “Yes, she... she will need a new name.”
“Whatever you do, don’t call her Nyx,” Spike said, folding his arms and looking away.
All present blinked, then raised an eyebrow.
“Um, Spike?” Twilight asked, cocking her head to the side. “Why did you say that? And where did you come up with a name like Nyx?”
Spike looked back, blinked, then frowned, scratching his head. “I... I don’t even know. I just felt a need to say it, for some reason.”
“Nah, she’s not a Nyxie,” Pinkie grinned, shaking her head. “Nyx doesn’t have a flowing mane like this filly and the Cutie Mark’s all wrong. She’s no Nyx.”
All five mares and the dragon all stared at the party pony as if she’d just grown a second head. Though, with Pinkie Pie, that could very well happen.
“Stellar.” All heads turned to Luna, who had kneeled down and was nuzzling the small filly. “We shall call her Stellar.”
Twilight blinked, as did the others, before their faces all turned into smiles.
“Stellar,” Rarity said, nodding as she rolled them name on her tongue. “That’s a wonderful name, Princess. Elegant, yet strong and gentle at the same time.”
“Gotta admit, it sounds pretty cool,” Dash nodded, then grinned. “How about Stellar Nova? Sounds really cool and kickass.”
Applejack inclined her head. “Eeyep. Sounds just right. She is a pony with the power o’ the night, just like the princess, so it fits.”
“Hey, Princess?” Pinkie asked, a hint a concern in her voice that caused the other five mares and dragon to turn.
Princess Luna had her back to them, her head turned slightly as she looked back at the small filly. It almost looked like there were tears in the corners of her eyes.
“We must be off,” she said, turning her head to Celestia and back so fast none saw the tear trickle down her muzzle. “We must make the announcement before anypony learns of this and reacts badly. We will also tell them that she goes, not by Nightmare Moon, but Stellar Nova.”
Celestia nodded and turned to the others, giving a small smile. “We will leave you all to figure out her living arrangements amongst yourselves.”
With that they both vanished in a flash of white light and were gone.
___________________________________________________________
“Whelp, how we gunna do this?” Applejack asked as she and the other crowded around the still snoozing filly.
“Well, Stellar can’t just stay with one of us,” Twilight said, thinking. “Celestia and Luna said they’ll tell everypony that all of us are keeping guard of her. So, maybe we should set up a roster. We’ll each care for her on a specific day, then the next pony, until the sixth day, then we rotate back to the first.”
Applejack nodded. “Sounds like a good idea. So, who’s gunna be the first t’ look after the little thing?”
They all look at each other, unsure.
“Well, I think, you know, since Twilight found, she should go first,” Fluttershy whispered, then hide behind her mane. “Um, that is, if it’s okay with you, Twilight. I-I understand if you’d rather it be somepony else...” she grew quieter until they couldn’t hear her anymore.
Twilight thought for a moment, then nodded. “That’s actually a really good idea, Fluttershy.” She looked to the others. “Think about it. Until the princesses tell everypony about Stellar, we can’t let anypony else see her and, if any of you were to take her home with you, everypony would see her. Maybe from a distance they’d think she’s just a filly dressed like Nightmare Moon, but up close they’ll see she really looks like her.”
“But, if she stays in the castle all day, nopony has to see her,” Rarity nodded, looking impressed, "and you can inform all the ponies working in the castle not to worry."
“Not to mention, I think she’ll be sleeping for a while,” Dash said, nudging the filly, who continued to snooze. “I think Luna made that sleep spell a little too strong.”
Twilight chuckled, levitated Stellar in her magic, moved her to the bed and tucked her in. “Let’s leave her to rest. Spike, will you stay and keep an eye on her, just in case?”
Spike nodded, then did a salute. “No problem, Twilight.” Then he muttered, “Plus, it gives me plenty of time to catch up on my comics.”
Twilight smiled and turned to the other mares. “Okay, we’d all better get things ready. Oh, wait, who will look after her tomorrow?”
Rarity, to everypony’s surprise, pulled out a top hat with several pieces of fabric floating above, each with a number on it, before lowering them into the hat.
“We’ll draw,” she said simply. “The numbers on the fabric are from two to six. Whoever picks which number, that’s the order we’ll go with.”
Twilight nodded as the others all crowded around and started taking fabric out.
Fluttershy got a 4, Rarity 3, Pinkie Pie 6, Rainbow Dash 5 and Applejack 2
“It’s settled then,” Twilight grinned. “Applejack will look after her tomorrow, then Rarity, Fluttershy, Dash and finally Pinkie, before coming back to me.”
They all agreed, said their goodbyes and departed for the day, Spike staying in the room to watch over the sleeping filly.