//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Reconditioning // by trondason //------------------------------// “You’re bullshitting me.” Alex interrupted Nightmare’s tale. “You’re telling me that magic is not only a real physical force, but you and your sister moved the Sun and Moon across the sky?” “Yes. Why is that hard to believe? Who moved them in your world?” She wasn’t completely sure what ‘bullshitting’ meant, but she could guess from context. “NO-ONE! The moon revolves around the planet due to gravity and it’s own velocity, and the sun didn’t revolve around the earth at all, but instead the other way around!” “Hmm. How unusual. But that’s how it works here. How else did you think I was going to bring Night Eternal?” Nightmare replied, confused. With a big sigh he began with “There are lots of ways to simulate eternal night. Volcanoes tend to fill the air with lots of dust and ash, that can take decades if not centuries to clear. Get a particularly big one to erupt, and it could fill the entire Atmosphere.” “Well, anyways, it doesn’t matter much anymore, now that I have changed my plans. Now-” “Hold it. Someone’s coming,” Alex interrupted, and quickly stood up and walked out, ignoring Nightmare Moon questioning him. By the time she stood up and reached the door, he was no-where to be seen. Once again cursing her currently magicless state, she trotted back towards the cushion she was sitting on, and proceeded to wait. Alex stood hidden in a tree watching as a purple Alicorn with a large purple and green lizard on her back crossed the old rope bridge spanning the chasm surrounding the castle, pondering what he should do. It would be annoying if she discovered Moony, since that would remove any planning time they had, and also lose the ability to control her initial reveal. He would kill her, but from what Moony said, Alex had a feeling that Alicorns are important, and her sudden absence would also draw a lot of attention. A plan rapidly formed, and as she got close, Alex stepped out of the tree, landing noiselessly in front of her, eliciting a yelp from both her and the lizard. Interesting. “Go away.” He stated bluntly. Rapidly collecting herself, the Purple Alicorn replied with “Oh, um. Hello.” she gave a nervous smile. “I’m here to collect some of my books, which someone found their way into that castle over there. Can we please pass by? I promise we won’t be long.” She said, obviously put off by Alex’s stature and generally scary appearance. “No. Go away.” Alex repeated, noting that she was including the lizard creature, who upon further observation, seemed to be sapient. “Hey!” The green lizard thing interjected. “You can’t talk to her that way! She’s a princess!” “Don’t care. Go away.” Alex stated resolute, his earlier suspicion of Alicorns being important confirmed. “Better watch it. I’m a dragon! If you don’t move, I’m going to burn you.” The ‘dragon’ threatened, letting loose a small bit of flame for emphasis. Judging by the Alicorn’s expression, she did not approve of the threat. Before she could say anything, Alex responded “Bring it.” With a fierce grin spreading across his face. If the dragon had a death wish, Alex was all too happy to help him out. “Spike!” The Alicorn shouted in surprise, her horn glowing with a similar glow surrounding ‘Spike’, before he was apparently dragged behind her. She then turned an apologetic grin towards Alex, and said “Really sorry about that. But we really do need to collect our books.” “Still don’t care. Go away.” Alex responded, blunt as ever. At that, her grin faded away, and was replaced with a glare. “You were the one who took them, weren’t you.” “Yes. Now for the last time, go away.” Alex warned. “No. We aren’t leaving here without our books.” She stated, stomping her hoof. From behind her Spike yelled out “You tell him, Twilight!” Alex just shrugged. “Have it your way.” He then blurred forward, wrapping his hands around each of their necks, and ‘gently’ slammed them to the ground, applying pressure to their Carotid Arteries, completely cutting off blood flow to the brain. In just a second, they were both out like a light. Alex held it for a moment longer, before picking them up and tossing them on his shoulder, carrying them towards the castle. “Hey Moony. I got a gift for you.” Roused from her contemplations, Nightmare looked back to see her familiar walking in with a purple pegasus over one shoulder, and some purple lizard over the other. He callously dropped them on the ground in front of her, and she had to withdraw her earlier conclusion. “You sure you don’t want to rule or something? According to the pint-sized dragon,” He said, nudging said creature with his foot “claimed that she’s a Princess. They would make some prime hostage material. If we play it right, and your sister really is the bleeding heart you made her out to be, we could probably get anything we want with them.” Nightmare sat amazed at the sight of the apparent Alicorn before her. Apparently she, her doppelganger and Celestia weren’t the only ones anymore. And if her memory didn’t fail her, she was the same purple Unicorn who wielded the Element of Magic against her who knows how many years ago. Things must have certainly been interesting while she’s been gone. “I also took the liberty to make sure they don’t remember meeting me, so we can also dump them somewhere if you want.” Alex continued, as she was busy thinking. That shook her out of her reverie. “You can do mind magic!?” She nearly yelled in shock. “It’s not magic, and it’s only effective to prevent short-term memories from becoming long-term.” He replied, not looking away from the dragon that he hunched over and started poking. “Hmm.” Nightmare hummed thoughtfully, wanting to know more, but had a feeling that her familiar would decline saying anymore. She really had no idea what she should do with them. Alex raised a good point, if Trixie really was a Princess, and her status as a Alicorn certainly lent credence to that, then she had a strong negotiating tool against her Sister. Heck, considering that she was her Sister’s protege, she’s a strong negotiating tool regardless. But did Nightmare truly want to go down that route? With her new goal of being appreciated and loved by her subjects - ‘They aren’t you subjects anymore’ a niggling voice in the back of her head reminded her - then that course of action would be a bit counter-productive, but not completely prevent her goal, and really, if she got back in power there was a lot more she could do. Keeping that in mind, she considered other options available to her. She could request her familiar to drop them off outside the forest, so they could arouse on their own and not remember the slightest of what went on, giving Nightmare Moon more time to prepare and plan her own reveal. Or, she could let them wake up here, and talk to them now. Try to convince them of her new goals. This would probably be the hardest approach, but also have the best possible outcome if it did succeed. If she proves successful, she might get Trixie on her side and vouch for her to her Sister and that doppelganger. However, if she fails, then they will know that she is back, and would likely then come after her to re-banish her, dashing any hopes she has of achieving her dream. ‘Though’ a thought occurred to her ‘Since my familiar can apparently erase new memories, that means I can try talking, and if that doesn’t work, have him make it never happen.’ At that, her mood brightened considerably. “I- I would like to talk to them.” She stated. Alex turned his head towards her and said “Really? Alright, whatever.” He stood up, picked them up, and turned towards her “Where we doing this? Right here probably ain’t the best idea.” “Why not?” Nightmare asked, confused. “Control of information. They will know you are back, but not where you are. At most, they got the vague idea that you are in this forest, maybe. The forest is rather big, and would take work to search, work that would be rather noticeable and allow us to leave with a sizable head-start if need be. A cave would probably be good. There are lots of caves.” Alex elaborated, while walking towards the door, acting like Trixie and the dragon didn’t weigh anything. “That sounds reasonable. And so you know, this forest is called the Everfree.” Nightmare concluded, trotting along. Twilight groaned as consciousness returned to her, her head pounding. The last thing she could remember clearly was setting off into the Everfree with Spike to find out what happened to her books, and after that events turned into a blur. Slowly she pushed herself into a more upright position, and looked around to see that she was in some cave, a few magic torches here and there providing light, with Spike a few feet away, seeming to still be unconscious. “Greetings, Trixie.” She head Luna say to her left. Why did Luna call her Trixie? “Luna? What’s going o-” She started to ask, turning her head, only to come to a stop when she saw who it was that was speaking to her. Nightmare Moon sat on the opposite side of the cave, apparently having been waiting for them to wake up. Despite having not seen her in five years, Twilight could never mistake her for anyone else. But, something was…. off. Her mane wasn’t the bilious nebula it use to be, and was instead a normal dark-blue mane, and her wings seemed to be … missing, her abdomen wrapped in white sheets. “Luna!” She darted to her hooves, ignoring the - thankfully receding - throb in her head. “What happened!? What happened to your Wings!? Why are you Nightmare Moon!?” She exclaimed, fighting down the urge to run to her. “Please! You don’t have to do that again! You are lov-” “SILENCE!” Nightmare Moon roared, making full use of the Royal Canterlot Voice, it being further amplified by the fact they are underground. When the ringing stopped and Twilight uncovered her ears, Nightmare Moon continued “I am NOT the naive copy the Elements placed in my old body. I am Nightmare Moon.” She emphasized with a stamp of her hoof. ‘Nightmare Moon’s back.’ ‘She’s separate from Luna.’ ‘Luna is a replacement.’ ‘What does Nightmare Moon want with me?’ ‘Would the Elements really do that?’ ‘Is she going to cause Eternal Night?’ ‘What happened to her wings?’ These thoughts and more were running through Twilight’s head, and unable to process it all, Twilight eloquently replied “W-what?” Nightmare Moon took a deep breath, and released it. “As you can see, I have returned. And now that I’m back I-” “You’re going to cause Eternal Night?” Twilight asked, still a bit at a lost of what to do, but slowly working through her thoughts. “That was our original plan, but-” That was far as she got before she was interrupted yet again. “Celestia will stop you. However you plan on doing it, she will stop you.” Twilight replied on instinct, her thoughts mostly under control now. At the mention of Celestia, Nightmare Moon’s expression turned into a snarl. “Celestia is weak, and cares only for herself. If you think she can stop me, you’re foalish.” Nightmare Moon barked back. “No. She will stop you. I will stop you. I don’t know what happened, but you can’t have nearly a fraction of your power, given your current state.” Twilight replied, her horn flaring up as she fell into a wider stance, ready for a fight. “Sorry, but I can’t let you do that.” She heard someone say right by her ear, before she felt a rap on her neck, and once more knew only darkness. Alex stood over the re-knocked out Trixie, having stepped in before she got physical. He looked over at Moony and summed up “You fucked up.” She frowned at his coarse language and blunt statement, but ignored it, and sighed. “Wipe their minds and drop them off outside the forest. The conversation didn’t go nearly as well as I hoped.” She turned around and started walking out only when Alex, with a grin, replied “Nope.” Whipping around, she shouted “W-what?!” Not even turning to face her, he picked up Trixie and Spike, and replied “I said I’m not going to make this easy. You fucked up, and now you have to live with it. This will make things interesting.” With his packages over his shoulder, he turned towards the door as well and walked past Moony before she broke out of her stupor. “B-but that went horrifically! She still thinks I want to cause Eternal Night!” She protested, hurrying to catch up with Alex. “I know. You fucked up.” He replied, keeping his practiced smirk firmly on his face. Behind him, Moony let out a big sigh, before asking “Do you have to make things difficult?” “I’m not. I’m actually helping, but just not making it easy. If I wasn’t here, you WOULD still be hooked on the Eternal Night plan, and up against them on your own.” He replied. With another big sigh, Moony replied “I suppose you are right there. Just why must things not be easy?” “Because, if things were easy, they would be over with, and there would be nothing left to do. And unlike mortals, we can’t just wait till we die.” That gave her pause, before she changed subjects and picked up the tid-bit of information he dropped for her, eagerness obvious in her voice to know more about him, considering how little he has been telling her. “You’re immortal?” “Yep.” He replied, purposefully not elaborating how immortal he is. Most people can’t shrug off losing 99% of their body after all. “And I don’t suppose you will tell me how you were reclining on the CEILING back there?” She asked. “Nope.” Alex said, smirk still firmly in place, doing it’s job to annoy Nightmare with how little he was telling her, and that he was doing that on purpose just to annoy her. “Uuugh” Twilight groaned once again, as she regained consciousness. This time she found herself in a muddy ditch beside what she assumed was the Everfree Forest. Glancing around some more, her attention was drawn by a very loud snore, helping her locate Spike a few meters away, laying on his back and absolutely covered in mud. Stumbling to her feet, and grimacing at the feel of mud covering her wings, she gave herself a quick shake to try to dislodge what she could. It predictably wasn’t that helpful. Releasing a big sigh, she sludged over to Spike, and started shaking him. “Spike. Wake up.” He snorted, and rolled over, swatting her hoof away. “Five more minutes.” he mumbled. “No Spike. Now.” She picked him up with her levitation, and started shaking him. “Fine!” He groaned dramatically, opened his eyes a fraction, gave her a once over, and asked. “Uh, Twilight? Why are you covered in mud?” Putting him on her back, she replied “You are too.” Then, with a flash of light, she teleported out of the ditch and looked around to see where they were. “Huh.” She heard him reply. “What happened? Last I remember we were entering the Everfree to find some of your books that somehow ended up there.” “Nightmare Moon has returned, and she kidnapped us. We have get back to Ponyville so you can send a letter to the Princesses.” Twilight hurriedly responded, before teleporting to another hill in the distance. “What!? Nightmare Moon!? Why did Luna turn back into Nightmare Moon!?” Spike shouted in surprise, and she could hear a underlining of fear. “That’s just the thing, Spike. She claimed she and Luna were two different people now. We have to get back to find out what’s going on.” She said, before spotting Ponyville in the distance, and teleporting back to her Castle. Quickly grabbing a piece of parchment from her desk, she scribbled a quick note, and floated it toward Spike to send. In a flash of green fire, it was sent, and all they could do now is wait. They didn’t have to wait long, barely ten minutes later, - during which time Twilight cleaned herself with a spell - a bright flash of golden light heralded the arrival of Celestia and Luna, the latter of whom was still blinking sleep out of her eyes. “Tell us what happened.” Celestia stated, cutting straight to matters. Twilight began her explanation “Spike and I entered the Everfree to track down some mysteriously missing books, but my memories fade away after that. The next thing I can remember is waking up in a cave, with Nightmare Moon sitting on the opposite side waiting for me to wake up. Her appearance has changed though.” Twilight paused, a frown appearing on her face. “Her mane composed of actual hair instead of magic, and most shockingly, her wings were missing.” Twilight said, barely suppressing a shudder. She has only had her wings for a few years, but she already can’t imagine losing them. “She was wearing bandages around her midsection, so I can only assume that she had them before, but they were removed for some reason.” That put off all three princesses. It’s one thing for a new villain that they must fight appearing, but to hear that they have been mutilated? That is more than they would wish on anyone, not even Discord. Taking a deep breath, Twilight continued “After confusing her for Luna,” Twilight shot Luna an apologetic look, “she made it quite clear that she is separate. She also believes that Luna is a copy of her that the Elements made to replace her. As I was about to try to capture her, however, somepony knocked me out from behind, a male judging by his voice.” “This is a…. concerning development.” Celestia responded, a worried look on her face. “Who was this male you spoke of?” “I honestly don’t know Princess. All I heard was him say ‘Sorry, but I can’t let you do that’, before I felt a light rap on my neck, and then I was unconscious.” She said, rubbing her neck, wondering what happened. “Well whoever it is, we need to do something. I will summon the guard, while you gather your friends. Luna, you-” She cut off, as they turned to look towards Luna, only to find her looking off into the distance, eyes blank and face a visage of fear. “Oh, Luna.” Celestia put her wing over he sister, and lead her off to one side if the room to talk to her. Twilight gave them privacy as she ran the meeting through her mind several times, trying to figure things out, ‘Why did Nightmare Moon kidnap me, only to let me go? Who is that male? What happened to Nightmare Moon?’ Then her thoughts came to a halt as she remembered something she ignored originally in the heat of the moment. “That was our original plan, but-”