//------------------------------// // 5 - Family Problems // Story: Once Upon a Nightmare // by Maran //------------------------------// Chapter 5 – Family Problems Sunset Shimmer rubbed her eyes all through homeroom period. She hadn't slept well the night before, and she had never been a morning person even when she did get a full night's sleep. Just as she started to nod off, Pinkie Pie shook her arm. Sunset's head whipped up from her desk as her eyes popped open. “Come on Sunny! We have to go now.” Even in her fatigue, Sunset smiled at the nickname. She had always wanted a nickname, but no one had ever given her one before, even at the height of her popularity. “I didn't hear the bell ring.” “That's because it didn't!” said Pinkie. “But Principal Celestia wants us to come to her office ASAP.” “Did she say why?” Sunset fought back a yawn. Pinkie shrugged. “Does she ever?” Sunset shook her head. “All right, let's go see what she wants.” As they headed toward the classroom door, Sunset felt apprehensive. Even though there was probably nothing to be concerned about, she worried in the back of her mind that she'd somehow done something to get herself and her friends in trouble. There was also the possibility that something had gone wrong that wasn't Sunset's fault, but Principal Celestia wanted her help resolving it. When Sunset and Pinkie stepped into the principal's office, all of their closest friends were already standing inside. Celestia gave them a warm smile, and Sunset swallowed a lump in her throat as she thought of her old mentor, the only pony who had ever really understood her. “Good morning, Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie,” greeted the principal. “I'm glad you're here. This might come as a surprise to you, but I need your guidance about a certain development.” She met Sunset's eyes. “Especially yours, Sunset.” “You need my advice?” said Sunset, her eyes opening wide. Celestia nodded. “You're the resident magic expert. And last night, Vice Principal Luna came in contact with some powerful magic. She needs to learn how to control it, and we were both hoping that you could help.” Sunset and her friends exchanged astonished, worried looks. Even though they had just talked about something like this happening, Sunset had no idea it would be so soon. “Luna,” Celestia said into her phone, “You can come in now.” The door opened behind Sunset, and Vice Principal Luna stepped into the room. Only, she wasn't quite the vice principal anymore. Her hair was the same as Princess Luna's mane, which Sunset had glimpsed from a distance when she'd gone to the Crystal Palace. Her irises shone like neon lights, and her pupils were slit like a housecat's. Pinkie gasped. Fluttershy let out a high-pitched “eep!” Sunset forced herself to stare into Luna's eerie eyes. Her nerves started tingling as her Element activated; she didn't have to glance at her friends to know that they were powering up as well. All the while, Celestia smiled, seemingly ignorant of the severity of the situation. “Nightmare Moon,” said Sunset, her brilliant hair streaming around her. “You don't have to do this.” Luna gaped. “How did you know?” “Sunny knows all kinds of things,” said Pinkie. “But she doesn't know where the hidden cameras are.” Deciding that it was best to keep the conversation on track, Sunset said, “In Equestria, Nightmare Moon was a scary story parents told foals to get them to behave. We didn't know she was real until recently.” It was only a partial explanation, but it was all she had time for. “Please, Miss Luna. Don't give in to the Nightmare.” “I'm not giving in.” Luna shook her head. “I'm just using the Nightmare's magic.” Celestia's eyebrows were up near her hairline. “You never said anything about a Nightmare,” she said to her sister. Glancing from Sunset to Celestia, Luna said, “I didn't want people to start calling me Nightmare Moon. I just wanted to be Luna McQueen, but better and stronger. I want to be the one to fight the next Adagio Dazzle, or whoever else might come along.” Sunset blinked. Nightmare Moon was supposed to be a cackling maniac, but if one looked past her fangs and reptilian eyes, she sounded reasonable. But perhaps the original Nightmare Moon had started out the same way before sliding into darkness. “And risk becoming just like her?” said Sunset. “Miss Luna, trust me when I say that the Nightmare's magic is dark, and you can't control dark magic. I learned that the hard way.” She winced, and Pinkie put a reassuring hand on her right shoulder. Glancing to her right, Sunset saw Pinkie smiling at her, along with Rainbow Dash, who held Pinkie's hand. Applejack, however, seemed uneasy – even her pony ears flattened against her head. Turning back to face Luna, Sunset added, “Let us free you from this dark magic before someone gets hurt.” “But then you'll have to face the other magical creatures by yourselves. I want to help.” Sunset reached for Fluttershy's hand, and her friend gave her a hint of a smile. Rarity's eyebrows were lowered in determination as she gripped Fluttershy's shoulder. Gazing back at Luna, Sunset said, “Nothing good can come from the Nightmare. I'm sorry, but we have to free you from it.” The Elemental magic lifted her and her friends into the air and whipped their long hair. “This ain't right.” Sunset looked down the line at Applejack, who was leaning away from Rainbow in midair. “Oh come on! Just hold hands already!” Rainbow stretched toward her and grabbed her hand. “But she ain't done nothin' yet!” Despite Applejack's protests, a ray of colored light shot straight up out of each girl, joining in an arch and rushing down toward Luna. The Vice Principal's eyes widened, and as soon as the rainbow reached her, she disappeared. All that was left of her was a black scorch mark on the floor. The multicolored light dissipated, and the teens floated back down, reverting to their natural round-eared forms. Celestia stared shell-shocked at the scorch mark, the fine lines around her eyes growing deeper with worry. Then she rounded on Sunset and her friends. “What did you do!?” Sunset opened her mouth; then swallowed. “I think,” she choked out through her dry throat, “we might have sent her to the moon.” “What!?” Sunset had only heard Celestia truly yell once, and that was Princess Celestia's reaction to Sunset's declaration that she deserved to become an alicorn. “I'm so sorry!” Sunset quailed at her former mentor's glare and the anger in her voice. “I didn't know it would happen! I thought we would just, you know, blast the magic out of her, like what happened with me.” Celestia blinked and shook her head. “But...you're telling me you sent her to the moon? As in the actual moon in the sky?” “I'm not sure, but it would make the most sense, based on what I know about the Elements of Harmony. I don't think they can be used to take a life, so they must have sent her somewhere.” “You don't think?” Celestia closed her hands into fists. “Um, Sunset,” said Fluttershy, her aquamarine eyes wavering dangerously, “you know there's no air on the moon, right? I mean, if she's there, she can't survive.” “Well, in Equestria, the Elements imprisoned her in the moon the first time. I don't know if it was like being turned to stone or if she stayed in a dungeon under the surface, but somehow she didn't die.” Sunset tapped her fingers together. “See? She's probably fine.” Rainbow tossed her head. “But if you're still worried, you could text her, Miss Celestia. I don't know if she'd get any reception on the moon, but it's worth a shot.” At once the principal picked up her phone and started texting. Sunset caught Rainbow's eyes and mouthed, 'Thank you.' It was hard not to feel overwhelmed by Luna's different appearance and her sudden disappearance. It didn't help that everyone expected her to be some kind of magic expert, now. She looked past Rainbow and saw that Applejack had pulled her hat over her eyes, the way she did whenever she was upset and trying to hide it. Out of her friends, Applejack and Fluttershy seemed the most rattled by Luna vanishing. It made sense that Fluttershy was shaken, but why Applejack? “She says she's fine,” said Celestia, sounding immensely relieved. “I'm super glad she's okay, Miss Celestia,” said Pinkie, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Not that I had any doubts. I'm with Dashie – Miss Luna has magic to protect her.” “Did she say where she is?” asked Rarity. Celestia's forehead crinkled in confusion. “She says she's home.” She glanced up at the girls. “You sent her home?” The six friends looked at each other and shrugged. Celestia took a deep breath. “I know I asked you to come here to help, and I'm sure you did what you thought was right. But I'm going to have to ask...” She lowered her head for a second before gazing up at Sunset. “...No, I insist that you don't use magic from now on, unless I ask you.” Sunset opened her mouth to object, but Applejack spoke up first. “We'll sure try, Miss Celesta, but I don't think we can guarantee that.” The other teens looked at her in surprise. Having regained her composure, Applejack continued, “You asked us to help Miss Luna to control her magic. I'm sorry, but the truth is, we don't got a clue how to control it either.” Seeing that her friend had a point, Sunset nodded. “No one got hurt.” Rainbow put her hands on her hips. “But we could have sent Miss Luna to the moon,” said Sunset. Rainbow stared at her; then glanced at the other serious faces – except for Pinkie, who smiled and shrugged. Folding her arms, Rainbow said, “Fine, we'll try not to use our magic.” Celestia gave them a wan smile. “You're all good kids – I know you'll do your best. I'm sorry you got mixed up in – well, everything this year.” Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. Sunset figured that Celestia was still emotional about what was happening with her younger sister. Feeling horrible, Sunset said, “I'm the one who should be sorry! I brought magic here and turned this school into some kind of ancient evil magnet!” “I know.” Celestia walked toward Sunset and put her fair hand on her shoulder. “But that's in the past. What's important is what you choose to do in the future.” For a moment, Sunset made herself believe that this was her princess telling her this. Tears stung her eyes. Fluttershy put a comforting hand on her arm. Rarity stood off to the side, dabbing at the corner of her eye. The only people left dry-eyed were Rainbow and Pinkie. “Is there anything else we can do to help?” asked Sunset. Celestia's eyes focused on the wall before turning back to Sunset. “I'll let you know, thank you. Right now I need to call my sister. You're dismissed.” She pulled away from Sunset and held up her phone. Rarity sniffed and cleared her throat. “I beg your pardon, Principal Celestia, but could we trouble you for some hall passes? The bell for the next class is about to ring.” Celestia gave them each a hall pass, and soon they were free from the uncomfortable office. As soon as the door closed behind them, Rainbow said, “If you guys had wings, you wouldn't have agreed not to use magic.” “I have wings sometimes,” Fluttershy said under her breath. Applejack raised her eyebrows at Rainbow. “Really? That's what you think is important?” “Well, yeah. Rushing through the air, seeing how fast and high I can go...” she spread her arms. “There's no other feeling like it.” Vinyl Scratch stared at Rainbow as she ambled past the group, but as usual, she said nothing. Rainbow's arms dropped to her sides. “But I've hardly had the chance to fly yet. I wish I could just make my wings appear whenever I want. Do you think maybe if I went up to Miss Nightmare Luna...?” The bell rang to signal the start of class, and Snips and Snails sprinted past the girls, running late as always. “C'mon now Dash! I thought we all agreed to keep an eye on Miss Luna to see if she did anythin' bad to Miss Celestia,” said Applejack, arms akimbo. “Uh, hello? She has dark magic, what more to you need?” “Just 'cause she has glowin' eyes an' hair, that don't mean we get to banish our vice principal to the dang moon!” At this moment, Sunset realized two things. First, Applejack's accent sounded stronger when she was angry. Second, and more importantly, AJ was a good girl who respected authority. She'd never directly attack an authority figure unless there was sound justification. Rainbow clenched her fists. “We're not banishing her to the moon!” “Hold on a second, Rainbow.” Sunset held up her hands. “Let me help you out.” Rainbow and Applejack both stopped walking and gave her confused looks. “Okay...” Rainbow said uncertainly. Sunset stepped toward Applejack, placing her hand on her shoulder. “Now Applejack, do you believe what I said about Miss Luna having dark magic?” The other girls gathered around, staring with interest. “Well now,” said Applejack with a thoughtful frown, “I believe the other Luna had dark magic. But we know magic works different here. Maybe our Luna can handle whatever magic she has on her own.” “You're right, magic is different here. And Vice Principal Luna seemed somewhat in control. But she responded when I called her Nightmare Moon. So I have to assume this is the same Nightmare from Equestria. And its goal here is going to be the same as it was there.” “But our Luna would never try to kill her own sister,” said Applejack, her emerald eyes wide. “Would she?” “Probably not right away. But I can tell you from personal experience that she's going to keep getting worse unless someone intervenes. We'd be doing her and Celestia a favor if we separated the dark magic from Luna.” Applejack ran her fingers through her bangs. “I reckon you're right, sugar. But what're we s'posed to do now? Go over to her house and put the fear o' rainbows in her?” Rainbow laughed. “Oh, I'll put the fear of rainbows in her all right.” Her vague threat was undermined by a crack in her voice. She didn't always sound as tough as she wanted. “Maybe we could see if Twilight wrote back yet, and we could ask her what she thinks we should do,” said Pinkie. Sunset glanced over at her, and Pinkie actually looked apologetic. “I don't want you do think you're not good enough, Sunny. You've been super! It's just that Twilight has access to all this knowledge that we don't have.” “It's all right, I understand,” said Sunset with a kind smile. She reached into her book bag and withdrew the magic book. “Good thing this book is a lot more predictable than the Elements of Harmony, right?” She thumbed through the book until she found her place. “Hey, she wrote back!” “Ohmygosh what did she say!?” Pinkie put both hands on Sunset's shoulders and pressed her weight on them, as if she were trying to either push Sunset down or lift herself off the floor. “Miss Pie!” scolded Rarity. “Sunset can't read unless you stop your horseplay!” Pinkie giggled. “Horseplay. Nice one Rare!” Rarity kept up her withering glare until Pinkie took her hands off Sunset's shoulders. “Sorry,” said Pinkie in a quieter voice. Sunset skimmed the letter. “Actually, it's from Spike.” Fluttershy chuckled. “Oh Sunset, you're the funniest person I've ever known!” Pinkie crossed her arms. “I'm right here! Besides, even Rarity's funnier than Sunny.” “Yes, even I'm funnier than Sunset,” agreed Rarity. “Wait, did she say Spike?” She swiveled her head to stare wide-eyed at the book. “He can write?” The corner of Sunset's mouth pulled up in a half smile. “I'm just surprised that you guys are surprised. You know he can talk, and he's really a dragon.” “Well, yes, but I didn't think dragons could write.” Fluttershy brushed her silky hair out of her eyes. “You didn't even know dragons existed until a few months ago,” Rainbow pointed out. “I think we're gettin' a touch off track. Why don't you just read us the note, Sunny?” said Applejack with an encouraging nod. “Right,” said Sunset. “Dear Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash...” “Hey, that's all of us!” interjected Pinkie. Then she frowned. “Wait a minute, why did he only use half of our last names?” “Maybe he doesn't know them all?” Rainbow scratched the back of her head. “Shush, let her read,” said Rarity. Sunset cleared her throat and picked up where she left off. “I just finished reading Sunset's friendship lessons and Pinkie's questions. I think it's great that you're sharing the book. Any of you girls are welcome to write any time! “The reason I'm writing to you is because Twilight is busy helping with a family problem. Neither of us want you to worry, I mean there's not much you can do about it anyway. The point is that Twilight will be busy for a little while, but she'll write back as soon as she can. In the mean time, I'll check the book once a day. “Your friend, Spike the dragon.” “Poor Twilight.” Fluttershy clasped her hands together. “I wish there was something we could do to help.” “Well, she does have our alternate versions to help her,” Rarity pointed out. “I'm sure she'll be fine.” “Guys, I'm going to write back to Spike, but I'm not going to tell him about Luna yet. He's only a kid.” Sunset frowned as she realized she had no idea how old he was. He'd been a puppy, and Twilight had called him a “baby” dragon in one of her letters, but he seemed at least as mature as a twelve year-old human. “That's probably for the best,” said Rarity. “We don't want to upset Spikey-wikey.” Sunset turned the page, and to her amazement, there was a childish drawing of all of them as ponies, along with Twilight as an alicorn, and Spike as a dragon. Grinning, she said, “Guys, look at this.” She held up the book where they could all see it more easily. “Awwww!” chorused her friends – except for Rainbow, but she was smiling, at least. “That must be Spike!” “Look, he drew my hat.” “And he drew me flying!” “I think he accidentally gave me three ears.” “Huh?” Sunset peered at the drawing. “Oh, that's a horn. You must be a unicorn.” “A unicorn?” Rarity's eyes shone like sapphires. “Oh, it seems you're a unicorn too, Sunset.” Fluttershy pointed to the unicorn that was wearing a jacket. “That's right. Magic was my special talent.” She looked at the floor. “Now it just seems like my only talent is fixing my own mistakes.” “You know,” Applejack said thoughtfully, “Pinkie got me thinkin' about somethin'. I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like you wasn't as good as Twilight. We couldn't've defeated the Dazzlings without you.” Rarity nodded. “We all believe in you, Sunset. I'm sure you can think of a plan to handle Nightmare Moon.” “No pressure though,” said Rainbow. “I could probably take her on by myself.” “Easy now,” warned Applejack. Sunset took a deep breath. So, she was a substitute Twilight. She couldn't let her friends down. But she also couldn't resolve this problem without her friends' help. “I'm sure we can come up with a plan if we put our heads together. But first I need to think about what I know of the Elements. They react the way they do for a reason, even if we don't know what it is right away. So there must be a reason they sent Miss Luna home.” “Perhaps there's something there that could help us.” Rarity tapped her chin. Sunset nodded. “It's not much to go on, but it's all we've got right now. Come on, we'd better go back and talk to Principal Celestia again.”