//------------------------------// // Ch. 8: Subconscious // Story: The Night Watch // by thunderhawk7865 //------------------------------// Alabaster sat on one of the love-seats in Luna’s room. Beads of sweat dripped down his face as both Shining Armor and Celestia gazed at him. Alabaster had been relieved of his armor and weapon, and his neon blue mane fell messily around his face. He reached a hoof up and brushed some of his mane aside so he could gaze at Luna, who was still bedridden. She had started fidgeting more violently since the incident where she laughed like Nightmare Moon. They were running out of time. “Are you ready, Alabaster Star?” Celestia said suddenly, drawing his gaze away from Luna to her sister, who stood motionless as she gazed at him. He could tell she was worried about her sister. He could see it in her eyes. “My sister is depending on you.” Alabaster gulped and looked down. He pawed the chair anxiously. Truthfully, he wasn’t ready. He had no idea what to expect once he was within Luna’s subconscious. All he knew is that he he couldn't go in with any of his weapons or armor, so he had to remove them. The only other thing he knew is that he would be in a kind of out-of-body state like Luna was when she searched through dreams. Celestia and Shining Armor would cast the spell that would send him in. “If I die while I’m in there…” Alabaster looked up at Celestia, whose face suddenly turned even more sullen at his mention of a possible death. “What happens to me?” Shining Armor and Celestia exchanged a look before Shining sighed. “Your body will become a shell; the soul gone from it. We’d...have to put you down.” “I figured…” Alabaster shuddered at the thought. “If I don’t make it back, please take care of my daughter.” Celestia blinked away a tear. “I will personally see to it that your daughter is cared for.” She shook her head and lowered her horn towards Alabaster as it started to glow a brilliant golden color, while Shining did the same, his horn glowing blue. “There is no turning back now, Alabaster.” Alabaster sighed, try his best of relax as he sunk down into the loveseat. “Let her rip.” Even though his eyes were closed, he saw a brilliant golden and blue flash of light. And then, he felt as if he were flying through the air. Then he hit the ground. Hard. “AAAARGH!” He cried out as he hit solid ground. Luckily, he landed on his hind-quarters, which cushioned his fall, but that didn’t stop the rest of his body falling forward and hitting the ground as well. He groaned into the dirt as he shakily stood up, reaching a hoof up and wiping the dirt from his mouth. He took a moment to take in his surroundings and immediately, his blood ran cold. He was right in the middle of the Everfree Forest. And before him, across a deep chasm and repaired as if nothing had ever happened to it, was the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Alabaster’s body floated in the air above the loveseat he was previously sitting on, his eyes open wide and glowing. His mane and tail were billowing slightly as if a small wind was blowing past him. Celestia and Shining Armor let up their spell and their horns flickered out. They both panted heavily. The spell had clearly taken a lot of energy. “So...heh...the only way he gets out is if Luna gets saved from...her...right?” Shining asked, coughing a bit. “Indeed, Captain.” Celestia recovered a bit quicker than the guard captain. “Keep the castle on high alert...no, all of Canterlot on high alert. I want every guard available at their stations. If Alabaster fails…” Her voice trailed off, and she turned to face her sister. “I understand, your Highness.” Shining Armor used what magic he had left to pick up his helmet and place it on his head. “I will make sure we’ll be ready if...if Nightmare Moon makes an unexpected return.” Celestia was about to object to Shining calling her sister that, but he held up a hoof. “It’s true, what Alabaster said.” He turned around and opened the doors. “They definitely aren’t the same pony.” With that, he gave a quick salute and closed the doors behind him, his heavy hooffalls indicating his fast descent down the stairs of Luna’s tower. Celestia took a seat on the floor next to Luna’s bed and stared at her sister, a tear gently rolling down her cheek. “I’m counting on you, Alabaster…” Celestia thought to herself as she blinked away the tear. Alabaster gritted his teeth and wiped a bead of sweat off of his brow as he finally made it across the rope bridge that led to the castle. He shivered. It was cold. Heinously cold. He jumped as lightning flashed through the sky and it started to rain a bit. He growled annoyedly. “I’m in a dream. I’m in a bleedin’ dream.” He muttered out loud to himself as hastily made his way through the slightly ajar doors of the castle. “I shouldn’t be cold. I shouldn’t be-” He paused and took in his surroundings. It looked as if the place was abandoned, even though it looked like nothing had happened to it. Red carpets greeted his hooves as he slowly entered the grand main hall, and tapestries of the sun and moon adorned the walls. “Whatever Luna is dreaming about, it must be in the past. I’ve seen this castle. It’s destroyed and abandoned and in the middle of the Everfree Forest.” He then suddenly remembered his mission. Somewhere in this castle, this dream of Luna’s, lurked the monster responsible for his wife’s demise. He looked around frantically. He needed a weapon. He used his magic to yank a longsword free from a stand of armor off to the side of the hall. He held the blade in front of him with his magic, inspecting it. Sharp. In a slightly used condition. It’d have to do. Then he heard something he didn’t think he’d hear in a dream of Luna’s. A foal crying. He whipped his head towards the direction of the crying. From first impressions, it sounded like a filly rather than a colt. He brought himself to call out to the filly. “Um...hello?” He slowly trotted towards the crying, his sword hovering in front of him. “I’m...I’m not going to hurt you, mate. I swear to it.” The crying seemed to be coming from some armament crates in the a corner of the main hall. Clearly, the castles occupants, wherever they were now, were preparing for some kind of fight. “Go away!” The voice suddenly shrieked as he got close enough to hear the filly’s rapid breathing behind the crates. She sounded like she was on the verge of hyperventilating. Alabaster grunted and took a few steps back. “C’mon now...I’m not here to hurt you…” “Hopefully…” He added in his head as he carefully reached a hoof forward and pushed one of the weapon crates aside. He gasped. Curled up in the corner behind the fortress of boxes was a tiny version of Princess Luna. “Go away, pwease…” She choked back another sob as he gazed surprisedly at her. “Befowe she finds me…” Alabaster had no idea how to react to this. Here was a tiny, innocent filly that would one day grow up to be Luna. He didn’t know how to treat her. Then it hit him. “Who is chasing you, love?” Alabaster nodding in understanding at the filly Luna before taking a quick look around the big main hall. “Is...she...here? In the castle?” Luna sniffled sadly and nodded, tears flowing out of her eyes. “She’s big and scawy. She looks like my big sistew, but...e-evil…” She curled up again and choked back more sobs. The pieces all fell together in Alabaster’s head. The real Luna was dreaming from the perspective of herself as a filly. Nightmare Moon was trying to track her down and kill her. And judging from his surroundings, he was in the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters right before Luna’s fall. Right before her transformation into… “Nightmare Moon…” He growled and whirled around. A flash of lightning exploded outside, hitting a tree probably. A few of the stained glass windows shattered. Alabaster instinctively leaped behind him and used his body to shield the young Luna from any stray shards of glass. Then he heard the evil laughter. The evil laughter that had haunted his dreams for so many years. He leaped up, not caring a few shards of stained glass had impaled themselves into his hide. He couldn’t feel them. Adrenaline surged through his body as he stared angrily at the tall figure before him. “Well, well, well...what have we here?” Nightmare Moon cackled. “We don’t believe we’ve ever seen thou in this dreamscape before…” The sword he took from the statue twirled around in front of him as he glared daggers at the embodyment of his rage. “It’s because I’m not from Luna’s dream, Nightmare Moon!” He swiped at Nightmare Moon with his sword, but her figure fizzled and disappeared in a purple cloud of smoke. “Huh?!” Alabaster gritted his teeth, looking around the large main hall of the castle. “Ahhh...we seest now…" Nightmare Moon’[s ghoulish voice echoed around the room. “Thou art from the real world...no doubt Celestia sent you in to save the pathetic foal behind you…” He turned around to see the cowering filly Luna whimper and cover head tiny head with her forehooves. “GO AWAY!” She shrieked at Nightmare Moon. Lightning cracked again outside, shattering more glass windows further down the main hall. Alabaster felt something attach to one of his hind legs. He looked down as saw the filly Luna burying her muzzle into the fur of his hind legs. “D-Don’t let her g-g-get me, mistew…” His eye twitched he gazed at her. Here was the small, innocent version of the mare he used to hate with all the passion in his heart, and she was afraid of the part of herself Alabaster swore to destroy. His heart pained to see her like this, especially since he figured that the real Luna was seeing things through this tiny filly’s perspective. He gave a sigh and reached a hoof back, running it slowly through her cobalt mane. “Don’t worry, love. I won’t let her get you.” Alabaster gave a small smile as she slowly peeled her face away from his leg and sniffed, gazing at him as if he were an angel from Celestia herself. “And call me Al.” “Ok, Owl…” The tiny version of Luna slowly detached herself from his leg and smiled up at him. Alabaster chuckled at her slight slur of his nickname. “No, no, it’s-” Lightning cracked again, and Alabaster gasped in pain as he was flung into one of the armament crates, shattering it and causing the numerous weapons of many kinds sprawling in many directions. The filly Luna shrieked as Nightmare Moon appeared yet again, this time in her battle armor. “Art thou ready to die, Al, was it?” She cackled as Alabaster shakily stood up, using his forehoof to wipe the blood from his muzzle. “Only if you are…” He replied before looking over at the filly Luna. “Luna! Take cover somewhere! Hide! And don’t come out until I say!” The little filly didn’t need to be told twice. She bolted away as fast as her tiny legs could carry her, her tiny wings fluttering on her back as she desperately tried to take off. Nightmare Moon laughed as she charged up a spell from her horn. “Hah! As you you actually think we’d let our pray go that easi-LAAAAGHH!!!” Suddenly she shrieked in pain as a javelin from the shattered armament crate was impaled through one of her forehooves. She growled and looked in the direction from where it was thrown. Alabaster stood there, panting heavily and his horn fizzling out, indicating her had hurled the javelin. “THOU WILT PAY ETERNALLY FOR INTERFERING!!!” Alabaster growled at his opponent as used his magic to pick up the sword he had taken from the suit of armor. “You picked the wrong Princess to mess with, Nightmare Moon!” (cue if you want. It helps with the mood) Before Alabaster could even make a move, Nightmare Moon exploded in a cloud of purple smoke and re-materialized behind him, slamming one of her armored forehooves into his exposed back. The filly Luna yelped as Alabaster went flying, slamming into the wall across the hall. Nightmare Moon turned, laughing, and approached the tiny filly, who started to cry once again. Before Nightmare Moon could attack, however, she gasped in pain as Alabaster had used his magic to teleport above her and slam himself and the hilt of his sword down on her back, leaving a massive dent in her armor, and slamming her into the ground. “ARGH!” Nightmare Moon barked in pain as Alabaster flipped off of the collapsed goddess of nightmares and snarled, twirling his sword in the air. With a roar, he charged the demon again, his sword aimed for her evil heart. This time she was ready for the night guard. In a puff of black smoke, she produced a large axe, the pole of which was very long. It almost looked like a spear with extra blades on the end. She moved swiftly, parrying his sword strike by using her magic to move the polearm down to block the sword. Alabaster leaped back and struck again and again, viscously. Nightmare Moon was more than a match, however, parrying his attacks blow for blow. She cackled evilly before disappearing in another cloud of smoke, causing a last swipe from Alabaster to hit thin air. Thrown off by the sudden change, Alabaster fell forward onto the floor. He somersaulted back to his feet and whirled around just in time to swipe his sword in front of him, knocking aside three black, spikey daggers that Nightmare Moon had just thrown. She cackled maniacally as more daggers appears in the air around her. In an instant, their points were aimed at Alabaster. “Cud…” He swore under his breath as he began to run to the right. Dagger after dagger impaled the wall behind him as he ran. Realizing he was too quick for her daggers, the demon goddess hurled some in front of him, hoping he’d run into one of them. Noticing the daggers flying in his path ahead of him, he leaped up using as much strength as he could used every ounce of magic he had to twirl the sword as fast as he could, like a shield. The daggers were deflected off of the sword as he flew through the air. Before Nightmare Moon could even realize her attack failed, she found herself getting blasted back by a cyan blast of magic from his horn. She slammed through one of the marble pillars in the room, shattering it as she slid to the ground behind it. More thunder cracked outside and lightning illuminated the room once again as Alabaster started galloping towards his downed opponent. Another flash of lightning, and his opponent was gone. He skidded to a halt, snapping his head left and right, trying to see where she had gone. “GAAAAARRRGH!” He roared in pain as a swipe from Nightmare Moon’s pole-axe sliced open one of his hind legs. He whirled around to see the grinning beast he hated with his blood dripping off of her pole axe blade. In Luna’s room back in reality, blood started oozing from Alabaster’s left hind leg as he floated. Small dripping noises caused Celestia to sit up and look towards Alabaster’s floating body. She gasped when she saw a pool of blood on the loveseat he was hovering above start to form. “Alabaster…” Celestia shook her head in worry. “You must be fighting it.” She used her magic to grab a piece of Luna’s bed sheets and wrap it around his wound. “Please...I have faith you can do this. You must prevail. But...should you die…” She paused, shook her head, finished the tying of the bandage, and turned back to her sleeping sister. She couldn’t bring herself to finish her sentence. “Pathetic!” She barked as he swiped at her again, but as she disappeared, he fell to the ground, dropping his sword and gripping his hind leg in pain, trying to stifle the bleeding. He yelped in pain as she lazily kicked him in the torso, sending him rolling across the floor towards the crates where the filly Luna was hiding. His blood stained the floor he rolled across as more blood pooled around him. “WORTHLESS!” Nightmare Moon bellowed as she raised her poleaxe above her head and swinging it down to deliver a final blow. Steel slashed against steel as Alabaster used what magic he had left to parry her attack. He magic flickered a bit as her axe blade inched closer to his face. He was losing his power from being so tired and wounded. “No…” The filly Luna whimpered from behind him, covering her eyes with a forehoof. “We’re going to end you…” Luna leaned down and hissed near his face as she slowly made headway with her axe. “When thou diest in her subconscious, thy soul will be ours! Thy body will be possessed by us and will serve our dark purposes for ETERNITY!” Alabaster turned his head away as her poleaxe got closer and closer to his face. He closed his eyes, waiting for it to end, a single tear sliding out of one of his eyes. He didn’t want to die! Not just for his sake, but what about his daughter? What about Equestria? What about- His eyes snapped open. He had turned his head enough to see the cowering figure of the filly Luna, awaiting to be possessed because of his failure to stop Nightmare Moon’s spirit. He saw the face of the adult Luna he had shunned. The Luna back in reality who lost sleep because of him. The sleep she lost made her vulnerable. It was all his fault. He had to make things right. He had to save Equestria from plummeting into eternal darkness. He had to save the Princess he suddenly cared for. He had to save Luna. Slowly, but surely, his strength started returning to him. Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened and her pupils shrank as he slowly started retaliating, shoving her poleaxe back towards her. “Impossible...thou art wounded! Severely!” Nightmare Moon started to panic. She barked in surprised as Alabaster, with a sudden surge of unexpected strength, pushed her weapon off of his and leaped up. He was too overconfident in his return, however, as Nightmare Moon whirled around and roundhouse bucked him in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards. He rolled over onto his side, holding his chest with a forehoof. A bruise could be seen and he wretched up some blood onto the floor. He shuddered, trying to get up, but collapsed, unmoving. “If we cannot kill you here…” Nightmare Moon was irritated. She slowly turned, panting angrily, and started advancing towards the filly Luna, who screamed at the sight of her enemy. “We will possess Luna once again and kill thee in reality!” The demon raised her poleaxe above her head, ready to kill the filly the personified Luna’s soul and take control. “This ends n-ELCK!” He eyes widened suddenly. She started shuddering violently, and it was her turn to cough up blood. Copious amounts of it in fact. Slowly her eyes traveled downward and she gave a pained gasp. A sword, Alabaster’s borrowed guard armor sword, was impaled through her chest at a downward angle. She coughed again as she felt the hot breath of a mortal on her ear to her right. She heard heavy panting and a small chuckle before Alabaster, who had used the remainder of his strength to make one final leap, said one last phrase. “You...lose…” With that, he withdrew the sword from her back with a sickening “SCHLUNK” and toppled off of the demon goddess, landing hard and falling unconscious on the floor. Nightmare Moon closed her eyes and her form dissipated into her trademark cloud of gas. This time, instead of flying away, it slowly vanished from existence. Nightmare Moon had been slain for good. The filly Luna opened her eyes and gasped when she saw the blue colt who had come to save her on the floor in a pool of his own blood. “Oh no!” She galloped as fast as her tiny hooves could carry her over to Alabaster’s body. “Wake up, Alabaster! Pwease, wake up!” The filly started crying and started shaking his body. “Wake up. Wake up!” “WAKE UP!” Alabaster’s eyes snapped open and he inhaled sharply, immediately coughing up some blood. He leaned over on his side using one of his forehooves to support himself as he leaned over the side of the loveseat and coughed the remainder of the blood out of his throat. “Art thou alright?” He took a few deep breaths and sighed, looking up at whoever woke him up. “Yeah, yeah, I’m just-” His gaze fell upon the worried face of Luna, her mane still a mess, bags under her eyes, and some tears streaming down her face. “Fine…” He finished as he gazed at Luna. Celestia approached from behind her sister and gave a bright smile. It was the biggest smile he’d ever seen the Princess give. “I don’t know how you managed it, Corporal, but Nightmare Moon’s evil presence is…” She shook her head and wiped away a happy tear of her own. “Gone. Just gone. You destroyed it.” “I am forever free of my curse, Alabaster Star.” Luna said, a tad of coarseness in her voice from the emotions and lack of rest. “I owe you my life.” He gave a small, single chuckle and looked down at the floor. “Eh, really Princess, it was noth-umph!” He suddenly found himself wrapped in Luna’s hooves, caught in a tight embrace. It took him a second to register what was happening. The mare he hated for the longest time, the mare he blamed for taking his wife away from him...was now hugging him and he was fine with it. He was more than fine with it, in fact. He felt...warm. Happy. The happiest he’d been in a long while. Slowly, and painfully, as the wounds he sustained in Luna’s mind manifested themselves in reality, he wrapped his forehooves around the torso of the Princess of the Night and rested his grizzled chin on his shoulder. Luna buried her muzzle into Alabaster’s shoulder, and he could feel the tears still pouring out of her eyes. He looked up at Celestia, who gently nodded and started trotting out of the room. “I’ll get a medic for your wounds.” “Thank you, Princess…” Alabaster said softly, instinctively rubbing a hoof up and down Luna’s back. Celestia stopped on her way out and turned around. “Oh, and Corporal?” Alabaster looked up again. “Yes?” Celestia smiled. “I know how much you hated this post, Corporal. I’ll have you moved to a different-” “No…” Celestia looked taken aback. “What?” “Um...no thank you, Princess…” Alabaster quickly corrected himself, shaking his head. “I’m...over that now.” Celestia gazed at the pair, who were still embraced in a hug. “I’m glad, Alabaster Star. I’ll be back with your medic. And again...as you have my sister’s debt, you have my as well. We both owe you a great deal.” As Celestia finally exited the room and used her magic to teleport away, Luna finally peeled her muzzle away from Alabaster’s chest and wiped away the remaining tears. “We are sorry we put you through this, Alabaster…” “It’s fine, mate.” Alabaster grunted, getting up off of the loveseat. Luna put a forehoof up to her mouth and giggled as he limped over to the balcony and gazed up at the night sky. “What’s so funny?” She stopped chuckling and stood up and trotted up behind him before making a funny shape with her mouth and imitating her guard. “Maaaaaate...haha!” She laughed. “Ace was right, you ponies from Marebourne have the best accents!” Alabaster chuckled and looked at the moon: free of Nightmare Moon’s shadow, as it should be. “It’s good to have to back for good, Luna.”