//------------------------------//
// Night and the City 
// Story: Night Terrors 
// by NightmareDash 
//------------------------------//

The evening light played through stained glass, painting the stone floor of Celestia's personal quarters with a patchwork of colors. The small square she sat in was dark blue, which dulled the pink shades in Twilight's mane. The two were locked in embrace, quiet except for the younger one's sobbing and occasional incoherent speech.

"They were... so close... every time... if only I hadn't..."

"Shh, shh..." This is exactly what they wanted, Celestia knew. The Shadowbolts were exploiting Rainbow Dash's knowledge, and they had predicted exactly where Twilight would go when she reached Canterlot. The lead investigator with the Royal Guard theorized that it was an assassination attempt gone fortunately awry, but the way Celestia saw it, there was no fortune to the thing: Twilight was frightened and emotionally crippled. But that brought her back to reality; this was her apprentice, Faust, the closest thing she had to a daughter, and she needed her. 

Celestia wept.

"Do not worry, my faithful student. This will not stand."





Chatter was to be expected at a press conference, but even more so this time around. The event had been called that morning, sending press agencies scrambling to scrounge up reporters . This was absolutely unprecedented for Celestia; thus, everypony in the palace was swapping gossip and theories as to what could be the cause. But then the Princess herself burst into the antechamber with steely resolve, ready to remove all doubt. 

"I realize this event was announced suddenly, and many of you no doubt have questions. However, as you are well aware, these are difficult times for all of Equestria, Canterlot especially." 

Her voice was cold, but with just poignant enough to convey sincerity.

"Which is why I am telling you this myself, and why no questions will be taken today. We have recently endured yet another terrorist attack, on a prominent local business and an innocent Canterlot family. This will not stand. I will not allow the citizens of this great city to live in fear of cowards who stand against every tenet of the Harmony we cherish."

She took a quiet breath, composing herself.

"Effective immediately, I am instituting a curfew within the city of Canterlot. Nopony without official business will be allowed on the streets between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.. In addition, I have deployed the Royal Guard to patrol Canterlot and its suburbs at all hours, to protect its citizens from those who would do them harm."

Normally, this would've elicited shock and strong words of protest, even from the more subdued of the reporters present. But this was no ordinary press conference, and Celestia's forcefully stern look, combined with the just-barely-there twinkle of light in the corner of her eye, kept them quiet and in their seats.

"These measures are only temporary, and will be rescinded as soon as those responsible for these heinous acts have been brought to justice."

The glimmer in her eye disappeared, replaced by all the more force in her voice.

"Equestria has not faced a threat like this before. But I promise to you, I will ensure it never will again."





"Premature detonation? Ha, premature my flank!" Charger laughed. "Like one of my bombs would go off prematurely!"

Blueball adopted a elderly, masculine voice, full of huff and bluster. "A Charger bomb is never late, nor is it early. It explodes precisely when it means to!" This impression sent Charger into convulsions. "You mean when I mean to," Rainbow Dash retorted. "Give the trigger mare some credit!"

Starry, who was partaking in some light reading in her hammock, commented across the room, "A shame, really, that we had to blow up a perfectly good coffee shop just for scare tactics." 

"Come on, Starry, you cased the joint once, that's not enough to fall in love with it," Charger replied with annoyance. "It had a quaint, rustic charm to it, not that you'd know" she shot back pithily. "I can't speak for the coffee, but the tea was certainly above-par."

Princess Luna, examining a file of blueprints with Nightshade, turned to them. "All a matter of return on investment, my dear." She set a newspaper down on the table, fresh with headlines from Celestia's recent press conference. "And this investment is paying dividends!" 

"Now that you mentioned it, why didn't we just kill 'em?" Stratus asked as he put down a large barbell. "If we'd set off the bomb a few seconds later..."

"Oh, Stratus," Luna interrupted maternally, "you are a good soldier and a better Shadowbolt, but subtlety isn't one of your strong points. No, no, killing them would've made them martyrs, and that wouldn't do at all." Her voice gained an icy kind of contempt. "Instead, we've made these seemingly 'random' attacks very real and very personal for them. Their fear must be absolutely crippling."

Nightshade approached, and gestured to the newspaper. "And just as we hoped, Celestia is being reactionary. Curfews, increased guard presence, she's got two hooves over the edge of a slippery slope. All she needs now is a little push in the wrong direction." 

"So how are we going to do that?" Charger asked.

"Leave that to me," Luna replied. "I have one last trick up my sleeve, one I've been saving for just the right occasion to use. That occasion happens to be now."

"Ooh, ooh, are we gonna make Sunbutt disappear? Or no, even better, I wanna saw the pink one in half!"

"Blueball, I am afraid this brand of 'trick' is quite a bit darker than the word implies. But it is one I must do alone. Stay here, rest, and be ready for our next operation." Luna left the room and made for the metal walkway outside, but then she doubled back. "Actually, Rainbow Dash, would you mind joining me? I'm going to need a large amount of raw magic for this to work, and I think you could help with that." Her apprentice eagerly jumped up and followed her out.





A kind of sanctum was waiting for them two floors down, a large, bulb-lit room made of the same rusted metal as the rest of the structure, but completely empty. As the Princess bolted the door shut behind them, Dash also noticed that the walls were still intact, forming a sealed environment. 

"So you just need me to stir up the raw magic for you?"

"Yes, I'm afraid the more... interesting parts of this process require my innate magical experience. If you're ready, shall we begin?"

"Let's do it!"

With a flicker of magic, Luna extinguished the sole light bulb, bringing total darkness to the room. As soon as her eyes had adjusted, Rainbow Dash begin to circle her mentor, ever-growing in speed. Soon she was crackling with polychromatic energy as the speed magic manifested, and as the flight path became muscle memory to her, she risked a glance to the center of her orbit to see Luna had taken on the form of Nightmare Moon. Her starlight mane spread out, seeping into the very air, and white magical energy spiraled about her horn, forming a corona at its tip. Jagged bolts of light shot out to connect it to the blurry circle of color Rainbow Dash had become; they flickered in and out of existence, but soon became solid as Luna began an incantation.

"Night so black and darkness deep, see they've no rest as they sleep!"

Fed with raw magic, the corona grew in diameter, and the tendrils connecting it to its source seemed to sprout roots, pulling every ounce of power available. Dash's speed was mind-numbing; had she even tried to think about controlling her flight path or velocity, she would've surely crashed. At this speed, her only option was to feel it.

"Vengeance of a thousand years, fill their every dream with fear!"

And at that moment, the corona exploded in a blast of light, swallowing the room. Before Rainbow Dash could tell what was going on, the momentum was sucked right out of her, and she stumbled to the ground as the haze faded. Princess Luna had been restored to her usual form, but her mane seemed to have grown extensions. No, wait, that wasn't her mane... Above the Princess floated an ethereal cloud of night, shuddering amorphously.

"And that, my loyal apprentice," Luna sighed with exhaustion, but tinging her voice with vicious delight, "is how you create a Tantabus."





It was Canterlot, Twilight was sure of that, but not the city as her waking self would recognize it. No, the buildings were a little bit taller, the streets a little bit more crowded, the sounds a little bit louder. It was Canterlot all right, but Canterlot as a young filly would've seen it. Magical. Excitement lurking around every corner, hundreds of new faces walking down the street...

Until there weren't.

To Twilight's bewilderment, the streets suddenly emptied of any and all signs of life. The streets were lined with empty storefronts, which seemed somehow drained of color, and the big city had become a very scary place. But as Twilight tried to move closer to investigate, she unexpectedly doubled over in pain. It was her back right leg, where she had been stabbed. She had tried every trick, every medical spell she could dig up to make the limp go away. But in the end, it had come down to a simple background illusion to make it appear her gait was unaffected. And now that illusion was gone and the wound was reopening, seeping blood on the pavement as every ounce of pain returned. 

Twilight cried out in pain, scrabbling at the ground with her other hooves to find purchase, but somehow she couldn't lift herself up. She did, however, get a glimpse down the road to see the silent, slow-motion explosion of a storefront. It was frighteningly familiar, but the memories were blasted off of her mind when the next store nearer went the same way. The cascade effect continued toward her, and Twilight struggled furiously to get clear of what she could tell was coming. But with a crippling flank injury and unresponsive magic, she realized there was no way to safety. All she could do was watch and wait, as each shop was blown into fragments, one by one. 

Until something caught her eye, a bolt of darkness racing overhead. It was like a forerunner to the blasts, matching their pace, but just a few yards ahead at any given time. As it passed over, a faint but menacing cackle of laughter filled Twilight's ears. But by the time she recognized it, a wave of flame and glass shards washed over her.

She awoke with a panicked start, barely even feeling her cold sweat.



 

Surveying Canterlot watchfully, Princess Celestia retreated from the palace balcony into the comfort of her private quarters. Another sunrise done perfectly, she congratulated herself, then practically dropped onto her mattress in exhaustion. Of course she couldn't just go back to bed, there was work to be done, but a few moments rest would do no harm.

But then the ambient light in her room suddenly went dim.

Getting up and returning to her balcony, Celestia saw a massive black sphere blocking the sun, leaving only an eclipse ring of light. No, not this again... Her first assumption was that it was the moon, but that theory was dashed when the sphere seemed to explode. As the debris approached the city, though, she could see if was not rock; in fact, it seemed alive. She could barely pick out individual outlines in the horde of insectoid, chitin-black monsters on its way.

"Guards, guards! We are under attack!"

But no guards came. In fact, none of Canterlot responded as long tendrils of flying changelings streaked down from the sphere. They overran building upon building like ants, approaching the palace at frightening speed. As skyscrapers were overcome by insects, they began to fall shortly after, some imploding, others toppling onto their neighbors. The city was being laid to waste. 

Realizing she was the only hope of defense, Celestia tried to fire a blast of solar energy at the swarm, but her magic would not respond to her mental summons. She looked down, and saw changelings were already scuttling up the wall toward her balcony, but as she tried to turn in place and retreat, the platform collapsed beneath her. Caught totally by surprise, she had no time to take to the air before plummeting into the waiting horde of black monsters. 

"No, NO!"

But Celestia's pleas were for naught, as exoskeletal claws dragged her into a sea of darkness, and she felt hundreds of tiny fangs digging in across her body.

Until she catapulted awake, practically in tears.





"Re-verb... Reverb... Hey, Reverb!"

The unicorn snapped to alertness; it was like she had been woken up, but she was most definitely not awake. She realized she was in a stark-white void, absent of anything except herself, of course, and that one other... Who was that?... No, no, can't be her. "Nightshade?"

"You got it, sister!"

"What are you doing here? What am I doing here? Where is here anyway?"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. We're sharing a dream, Reverb, thanks to Princess Luna."

"Princess Luna? You're still with her?"

"You bet, still fighting the good fight, giving Sunbutt the what-for!"

"Wow... Is Stratus still with you? I never got to thank him for saving me when they invaded Blacklight."

"I'll pass it on, how are things with you?"

Reverb rubbed her neck sheepishly. "Oh, you know, still stuck in the old job search. Think I got out clean after things went to Tartarus, though, nopony's been asking questions or anything."

"Good, good... Hey, reason I'm here is I've got a question for you."

"Shoot."

"Remember that high-frequency sonic lance you were working on just before the attack?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Princess Luna wanted to know if you ever made a prototype of the thing."

"Yeah, I remember putting it through the tests that day, in fact. Just managed to run back to the lab and save it before we had to evacuate."

"Perfect, I'll tell her. You probably ought to dust it off, just FYI. Don't worry, I'll be in touch."





"...Isn't that right, dear? There's no one in Equestria who means more to you..."

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was cut off by the opening of the hospital room door as she whispered sweet little lies into the ear of a sleeping Shining Armor. It was Princess Celestia, looking somewhat disheveled, but determined all the same. "Princess Cadence," she greeted with regal courtesy, "I must speak with your fiance."

Cadence just barely had time to whisper "Awake" into his ear before turning to regard her. "Ah, Princess Celestia. Such a... joy to see you again. Isn't that right, dear?"

Shining Armor was suddenly awake, rolling over in his bed to face them. "Oh yes, yes!  Good morning, Princess Celestia. You'll forgive me if I don't salute..."

The Sun Princess let a brief smile slip through, before closing the door and circling the bed slowly. "What have the doctors said about your condition?"

"They say I'm doing well, but that it just takes time to recover from what I went through. Why, what's up?"

"The changelings. I'm afraid this recent string of attacks has distracted us from their approach. Based on the path they've been carving through our outposts in the Badlands, they have to be targeting Canterlot."

"Is Queen Chrysalis with them?" Cadence spoke up, earning a puzzled look from Celestia. "Well, if they are without their Queen, changelings are little more than stupid insects, following their base instincts. But if Chrysalis is at their helm..." She paused for effect. "A swarm of that size would be a force to be reckoned with."

"Given they are shapeshifters, it's difficult to tell, even with our best intelligence ponies working on it. But either way, the Defense Ministry recommends a full perimeter shield of Canterlot as the best countermeasure."

"Which is where I come in," Shining Armor answered, "or at least, where I'm supposed to come in. The nurse said it's still a matter of weeks before I'm cleared to return to active duty, and even then I'm supposed to take it slow with my magic." Celestia was dismayed, but Cadence suddenly became very perky, putting a reassuring hoof on his shoulder.

"Oh, come now, dear, I'm sure you'll be in perfect condition by then! Have some confidence! You're not Captain of the Royal Guard for nothing, after all..."

A twinge of sick green crept into his eyes, and at once he changed his tune, vehemently agreeing with her. This perturbed Celestia, but she trusted him enough to believe his assurances. "Very well then. I will keep you informed as events progress. Good day, both of you." And with that, she left the room. Now alone once again, Cadence crept back to Shining Armor's ear, caressing him with her hoof. 

"Yes, dear, it's so awfully important you be able to shield the city when the changelings arrive. Why, Princess Celestia would be simply devastated if you failed! But I, my sweet young stallion, would be ever so grateful if you were to do exactly that."

She smiled, then licked her lips with a prehensile tongue.

"Fail for me, dearest."