Time Troubles part 7 Nightmareverse:
Part 1
A Worse Nightmare Than Before
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As we drop from the portal and land on the road of Cloudsdale, Twilight charges her horn before a dome of purple magic surrounds us, followed a second later by a beam of magic hitting it.
I turn to where she’s facing, crouching down, glaring at Starlight Glimmer, who’s looking at us from a nearby cloud.
Twilight leaps into the air, her horn still glowing with her aura, before she fires a blast at Starlight, who merely hops to the side, leaving the beam to slice through the cloud, cutting a piece clean off.
“Not bad,” she says nonchalantly with a light smirk, which grew. “But it’s gonna take a lot more than that.”
“Lucky for you there’s more where that came from!” Twilight growls
She flies up, before down a turning dive and flies at Starlight, firing several shots of magic, which Starlight deflects with a shield, small spicks of it flying at Spike and myself, but just falling short of touching us.
I brace myself to fly in and join the fight.
Wait!
I hesitate. Nightmare seems worried about something. What is it, Nightmare?
Look behind us.
I glance over my shoulder and notice a pair of pegasi fillies are flying over, watching the battle.
If we join Sparkle in this battle, we’ll only draw more attention.
I don’t see the problem.
With Starlight occupied, the race between Rainbow Dash and those colts is no doubt starting or has already begun. We might be able to be avoided being noticed by them if only Sparkle fights Starlight. But do you think it would go our way if two Alicorns are seen fighting a unicorn here, especially when the second of those Alicorns looks like a filly version of Nightmare Moon?
I blink, before my ears fall back. Oh. Yeah, that wouldn’t be good.
So, instead we watch the fight, myself and Nightmare becoming more and more anxious as more and more foals join the small crowd forming to watch the fight.
This is really bad. At this rate, Dash is sure to notice the fight. Nightmare, what do we do?
We can’t do anything! Nightmare’s sounding really, really worried and annoyed. We can’t let anypony notice us. We can’t let word get out that a pony that looks like you is around.
Twilight lands after several minutes, puffing and panting from exhaustion due to the fight.
How is Starlight not tired? Nightmare asks, sounding annoyed. Twilight Sparkle is an Alicorn and Bearer to the Element of Magic. How is she tired when Starlight is not?
Maybe Starlight’s cheating with some kind of endurance spell? I suggest. She did have to look through Starswirl’s spells to find the Time Travel Spell. Maybe she found something else in there that gives her stronger endurance?
“Whoa!”
At once my body goes rigid as Nightmare and I recognise that voice. We whirl around to see Rainbow Dash and the two bullies she’s meant to be racing sitting on a cloud block, Dash with a box of popcorn.
Twilight teleports in front of them, her expression as anxious as Nightmare and I are feeling. “What are you doing? You have to finish your race!”
“No way,” Dash smiles. “This is way more exciting.”
Spike and I hurry over to Twilight. Nightmare, we need to convince Dash. I know what you said, but maybe making her think Nightmare Moon is coming after her will make her fly fast enough to do the Rainboom?
Nightmare groans and would facehoof if she weren’t inside me. Fine. I guess we don’t have a choice. Let’s just do it before—
“See?!” We turn to see Starlight walking over with that damn smirk of her. “You can’t stop me, no matter what you do.”
Her horn glows and the portal opens, pulling us back in and sending us through time once more.
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This time, when we drop out of the portal, it’s like we’re thrown out and slam into the table so hard we bounce off it, before hitting the ground.
However, I’m barely able to pay attention to the pain from impacting the table as my head is seized by a massive headache.
Argh! What... what in Equestria is this? Nightmare moans, feeling the headache too.
It’s not just any ordinary headache, either. It’s like my aura is pulsing uncomfortably, as if something connected to my magic is... wrong.
“That’s strange,” Spike’s voice says as I struggle to shake off this really bad feeling.
Something... is... wrong, Nightmare’s cringing, I can just feel it. I... I can’t tell what, but something is... just... wrong.
“Well, you obviously don’t mean us falling, because that’s becoming pretty routine,” Twilight voice says, snark clear within it.
“No,” Spike’s voice replies. “It’s just that the other times we’ve come back it’s been day. But look.”
Struggling through the headache, I look up only for my eyes to narrow. Spike’s right, it is night-time, when both times we came back before it had been day. Why is that, and why in Equestria is it giving me such a magical headache? And why does it feel like it shouldn’t be night right now and that it’s bad that it is?
Twilight turns to Spike. “What would the map bring us to a different time of day than when we left?”
As she’s speaking though, my ears twitch at the sound of rustling and Spike and I look behind us, before my legs lock in place and my eyes widen in horror.
A pair of Timber Wolves have come out from the brush, one hopping on top of the map.
“Um, maybe we should figure it out later!”
`The wolf on the table sniffs the air, before looking our way, growling.
`Oh, great. It had to be Timber Wolves, Nightmare groans. I’d suggest running, now.
`But I can’t. My legs are locked in place. I... I can’t move. My heart is pounding in my chest as I stare at the creatures that haunted my nightmares before Alchemist gave me something worse to dream about.
`Oh, for the love of... Nightmare growls and I feel my legs move out of my control. I realize you’re still scared of them after what happened, which I'll admit I played a part in reinforcing, but if you’re not going to do the logical thing and run for your life, then I will!
As Nightmare makes me run, a howl from the Timber Wolves follows after us. Shortly after we catch up to Spike and Twilight, who have stopped before a cliff edge with a small bridge leading to the other side.
Whilst my heart is still pounding from being so close to those walking pieces of wood with teeth, I’m able to take control of my body again as we all stare up in awe and confusion at what’s on the other side.
It’s a large, beautiful looking castle, with a glowing white crescent moon on the top most spire. I don’t recognize it.
“The Castle of the Two Sisters,” Twilight says, her voice filled with shock, awe and hope.
Wait. What? That’s not the castle. It should be in ruins, shouldn’t it? It was when I came to Equestria.
This is how it looked before, Nightmare says, sounding just as awestruck and confused as Twilight.
Before? You mean, before you and Mama got banished to the moon?
Before I took over Luna, yes, Nightmare says, making my head shake a little. But... how is it like this? Time cannot be that rewritten that somehow the castle was never damaged in our battle, nor abandoned. The battle that did that was before the Rainboom.
A howl from behind us causing my heart to leap into my chest.
“Let’s all question this later,” I shout, running to the bridge. “We can worry about it once we’re inside and not in danger of being eaten by living wood with teeth!”
“Good point!” Twilight and Spike say in unison and we all rush over the bridge, up to the castle, force the doors open and close them behind us.
“So, if the castle’s here and the Timber Wolves, the map brought us into the Everfree?” Spike asks as we all standing facing the door, panting. “Wh... why would it bring us here?”
We turn to look around, before I cock my eyebrow. The place has a night-time theme. There are tapestries of the moon and starlit nights and the torches seem to light with a blue flame as if responding to our presence.
I... don’t like this, Nightmare sounds unsure.
We walk up the stairs, not really paying attention to where we’re going as we look around, seeing more night themed decor.
“This place seems a lot cleaner than I remember,” Spike states as we walk through the doors of the throne room, still not really paying attention, at least until a tapestry that was on the floor glowing with a blue aura and lifts into the air.
Following it, I see a white unicorn with a purple mane and a trio of diamonds for a Cutie Mark.
“Rarity?” Twilight says in joy.
Said mare turns around to look at who’d spoken to her.
Oh, by the stars! Nightmare gasps, cringing. Just what is that mare wearing?
I have to agree. Rarity’s wearing a really ugly black blouse with a blue leaning at the front, purple shoes on her front hooves and her mane and tail are done up in a bun. It’s a horrible look on her.
That is the worst piece of clothing attire I have ever seen on a pony. Who in their right mind would make her wear something so hideous?
“The castle isn’t open for viewings today,” Rarity says, her voice holding a hoity tone I’d never have expected to hear from her.
Ugh. She sounds like some of the spoiled nobles, Nightmare says with disgust. How could the Bearer of the Element to Generosity ever fall that far?
Despite Nightmare’s words, Rarity is still talking, so I pay attention.
“The tapestries all need changing, again,” she says the last word as if she has had to do this more than a few times and is not happy about it.
As Rarity uses her magic to straighten the tapestry we saw her levitate, Spike rushing in front of her, a smile on his face. “Rarity! It’s me!”
The look Rarity gives him... I can even feel Nightmare is shocked. But what she says makes even Nightmare’s jaw drop.
“I don’t socialize with dragons,” she says the word like a swear or something, “I don’t know anypony who would.”
The way Spike deflating and the look in his eyes... it hurt me... and makes me want to hurt Rarity for hurting him like that, causing me to glare at the mare who is my sister.
“Rarity,” Twilight, rather rudely in my opinion, hopes over Spike and runs to get in front of and face the unicorn I’m pondering how to make suffer for hurting me big baby dragon cousin, “you have to listen t’ me. The future of Equestria is at stake!”
Rarity turns, her eyes narrowing slightly. “I don’t know how you know my name, but I am far too busy to entertain some tourists’ ridiculous fantasies.”
Tourist?! This is my castle, you little whelp! Nightmare snarls. Why, if it wouldn’t be horrible for Stellar, I’d make you sorry you opened that snobby mouth of yours.
I’m seriously starting to wonder if I wouldn’t mind that with this Rarity.
Twilight ears wilt. “But I have to get back to the map so I can stop Starlight from changing the past,” she waves a hoof to emphasise how bad it is, “because every present I come to is worse than the last.”
“Time travel you say?”
At once my legs freeze up, my eyes going wide by both mine and Ngihtmare’s will.
That voice. It... no. No, it couldn’t be!
We turn to the throne, which I now notice is shrouded in a dark vale and a pony is standing within it.
Quickly glancing around, I notice several things I hadn’t before. The tapestries in this room depict Nightmare Moon, so do the windows.
We turn back to the throne, my throat gulping.
Okay. Now I understand why we felt off when we arrived.
“Now, that's something I would like to see,” the figure says, leaning their head out enough for me to recognize a mare with a black coat, a star-like filed for a mane and tail, wings, a horn and blue eyes with pupils shaped like just like mine. It’s Nightmare Moon!
This... this could be a problem, Nightmare says uneasily.
Um, wouldn’t you be okay with this? I whimper, crouching closer to Twilight as several ponies with bat wings walk out from the shadows, lining up in front of the dark mare on the throne whilst she laughs. You get Night Eternal, right?
This... Nightmare gives me the impression she would be backing up if she could. This doesn’t... feel right. Something’s... off about this Nightmare Moon. By the stars, that is not something I’d ever thought I’d say, talking about Nightmare Moon as if she isn’t me.
Well, this one kinda isn’t. And I get a bad feeling her seeing us isn’t going to make things any better.
Nightmare shudders. She’d probably think we’re a clone of her or something, maybe even take us on as her daughter.
Technically speaking, she’s possessing Mama right now, so she kinda is?
Not helping, Stellar.
The bat winged ponies all move over, surrounding us, cutting off any chance we have of escape.
Nightmare Moon flies off her throne and lands in front of us. “Tell me how you came by this magic to travel through time.”
“The princess asked you a question!” one of the ponies shouts at us, in a very familiar sounding voice, before she pulled of her helmet to reveal a buzz-cut rainbow mane. “And unless you wanna end up in the dungeon, you’ll tell her what she wants to know!”
“Rainbow Dash?!” I gasp, my jaw dropping. Rainbow Dash is serving Nightmare Moon. No. No, that... that can’t be. It doesn’t make any sense.
“Yeah?” the cyan, somehow a bat-winged mare says, frowning at me. “Who wants to know?”
At once I feel Nightmare take control of my mouth, my face scowling at her. “Well, so much for a pony whose loyalty would never make her abandon her friends, let alone the princess.”
“What did you say, you little brat?!” Rainbow growls, her eyes narrowing. “Don’t ever question my loyalty to the princess.”
Suddenly, I get where Nightmare’s going with this and take back control, feeling my own disgust rising. “Oh, sure. Like your loyalty to the last princess was? Cos it looks like you totally stayed loyal if she,” I point at Nightmare Moon, “is running the place. Yeah, don’t see any reason to doubt how strong your loyalties are, Rainbow Crash.”
That makes her eyebrow twitch. “What did you just call me?!”
“You heard me!” I turn around, glaring back at her. “I bet Fluttershy doesn’t even wanna be your friend, does she? Or Scootaloo your little sister. Who’d want a friend of sister that turned her back on the ruler of our kingdom at the drop of a hat? I bet you don't have any friends after that! And, no. Nightmare Moon did not ask us a question. She just demanded Twilight tell her, so she can go buck herself for all I care!”
“Why you little—!”
“Enough!” Nightmare Moon says loudly, causing Rainbow Dash to fall back a bit. “Allowing a foal to get under your skin, Captain Dash? I’d have thought you were better than that.”
I’m not sure if it’s wrong that I find amusement in the glower Dash gives me upon being told off by Nightmare Moon. Serves that traitor right.
Nightmare Moon then looks to Twilight. “Nopony in my kingdom but me should have a magic powerful enough to change time.”
“Your kingdom?” Spike frowns, before Twilight looks down at him with an annoyed raised eyebrow.
“Who else?” Nightmare Moon asks expectantly.
Spike gulps, hiding behind Twilight’s leg. “Um, Celestia, of course.”
There’s silence for several moments, before Nightmare Moon laughs heartedly. “My sister has been imprisoned in the moon for years!”
She indicates to the window, which we all look out of and my eyes widen.
The moon is out and on it is the imprint of a unicorn head, but with a pinkish glow around the lower left area.
No, Nightmare whispers, sounding horrified. She... she didn’t. She couldn’t.
Nightmare Moon leans down to Twilight’s eye level. “But it no less a fate than she sentence me to.” She stands up again and stomps a hoof. “Now, reveal to me the source of this Time Magic!”
She’s wrong. Oh, by the heavens she’s so wrong!
Why? I ask, my anxiety rising from Nightmare’s horrified tone. What’s wrong? Nightmare, why are you so worried?
When Celestia imprisoned myself and Luna on the Moon, it was not as horrible as I or she has led you or others to believe, Stellar, she says, sounding like she’s struggling not to freak out or something. The moon is Luna’s, and, by default, mine and your Celestial body. Whilst we were trapped there, the magic that binds us to it and the night kept us healthy and strong.
And... Auntie Tia? I ask, though I’m pretty sure I don’t want to hear the answer.
I can feel Nightmare shaking her head within me. Celestia’s Celestial body is the sun. Had Nightmare Moon imprisoned her in there, she would have been in a similar situation as myself and Luna. But she is not. She is imprisoned in the moon, our Celestial body. She cannot draw any energy from it to stay healthy.
You mean, I ask, mind filling with panic, Auntie Tia could die up there? Nightmare Moon has sentenced her to death?!
Yes, Nightmare sounds more horrified, as if my asking it made it that much more real. I bet she doesn't even know she has. Celestia's magic will keep her alive for a while, but, cut off from the sun, it will not last for long. If she is not freed soon, Celestia will perish, and I shudder to think what will happen if she does.
I quickly go over what I know about stars, both from before and after coming to Equestria. When a star dies, it explodes, sometimes creating a black hole, but not before wiping out anything within range of the star.
The sun is a star, just a really powerful one. If Auntie Tia’s is bound to it and she dies... it would die too, which means.
“We’ve gotta save Auntie Tia!” I shout, charging.
My sudden uproar takes everypony by surprise and I slam into Nightmare Moon, pushing a heap of magic into the blow.
She skids several feet along the floor. When she stops, she looks to me with a glare, one that turns to confusion as I stand braced, ready for her.
“You... you are an Alicorn?” she asks, glancing from myself to Twilight behind me. “Both of you. How are there more Alicorns and why does this foal look like me?”
“Wait, they’re really Alicorns?” Rarity asks from a little away, her tone uncertain. “I... I thought they were just tourists and the filly was dressing up as you, Your Highness.”
“Don’t you dare call her that!” I scream, glaring at Rarity over my shoulder, before returning to the larger mare in front of me. “She’s not the ruler of this kingdom. Or any kingdom!”
I whole heartedly agree with you, Nightmare growls. I never wanted to kill Celestia. For making that a possibility now, Nightmare Moon will pay!
Nightmare Moon blinks, before laughing. “Oh, this is amusing. I think I understand. You come from a time where you tried to change the past and the result is that filly, am I correct?”
I smirk. “Wrong. You’d think a being cunning enough to trick my Mama into letting her be taken control of would be smart enough to think of something smarter than that.”
Nightmare Moon blinks. “Mama?”
Um, why haven’t the guards done anything?
At Nightmare’s question, I glance over my shoulder to see Twilight has erected a barrier, stopping the guards.
“So, you wish to challenge me, do you, little foal?” Nightmare Moon smirks, amused, seeming to have put aside the who me calling the pony she’s possessing “Mama” thing aside for a chance to just brag. Knowing Nightmare’s attitude after having lived with her for so long can kinda help. “Very, well. Brace yourself!”
We’ll need to work together again, Stellar, Nightmare says firmly as I dig at the floor, as if I’m going to charge Nightmare Moon. But, it will be a lot harder.
No kidding.
Nightmare Moon leaps forward and I shoot up, flying at one of the windows depicting her and smashing through it, using my magic to make sure I don’t get hurt by the glass.
“You can’t get away that easily.”
The jeering voice makes me glance back to see Nightmares Moon flying at us, her horn charging with a spell.
Down right!
I follow Nightmare’s instructions, my change in movement taking Nightmare Moon off guard, causing her to miss.
This won’t be easy, Nightmare says as I turn around and fire my own blast, which the large mare avoids easily. We’re not simply fighting another villain from Equestria’s past. She is me. She has all my memories of fighting and spell control. Us simply working together isn’t going to be enough to have a chance against her.
“What do you suggest?!” I shout as I turn to a cloud of stars to avoid a charge from the older (or would that be younger since Nightmare is technically me and this Nightmare Moon is younger?) mare.
Nightmare sighs. Stellar, we need to become one.
“What?” I cry, firing a spell that, while it does seem to take Nightmare Moon by surprise, she recovers quickly and comes back around, barely missing me with those razor-sharp hooves of hers. “Nightmare, aside from since this whole Time Magic mess started and when I was held captive by Alchemist, you’ve had it in for me since day one. Why would you think I’d become one with you? You’d just overpower me and use me to rule Equestria like this Nightmare Moon is?”
“Talking to yourself?!” Nightmare Moon jeers as she takes another shot at me, which I barely manage to avoid.
I’ll admit, I was a wrong mare for all I’ve done, Stellar, Nightmare says, sounding somber. Believe me, spending time with you whilst that bastard of a stallion did what he did to you, I realized I couldn’t bring myself to be cruel afterwards. And, after seeing those other alternate timelines, working along with you, I’ve come to understand just how wrong a pony I have been.
“It would be a lot easier to focus on this conversation if I wasn’t trying to avoid being taken down by a mare that looks like an adult version of myself right now!” I cry, turning into a cloud of star and spinning around Nightmare Moon, confusing her for a bit before moving out of reach as she regained her bearings.
Stellar, when we become one, we won’t be separate being anymore. We’ll be one being, one soul. You’ll have access to all my memories, which I’m thinking is the only real chance you’ll have to beat this mare. You will also have my bravery, which will make it easier for you to fight as your fears will not hold you up. Your mind is young and you think in ways I’d be willing to bet the moon Nightmare Moon does not. Remember, she is like Luna was back when she first returned from the moon. She doesn’t know the modern times, nor the modern ways of thinking like you do. You can use that, blend it with my own ideas from my memories.
I frown, thinking about it, before nodding. She’s right. I don’t stand a chance against Nightmare Moon on my own. Sombra and Chrysalis were one thing, facing a pony that is in almost every way me will need something more than merely mine and Nightmare’s teamwork if I’m going to win.
“Okay,” I say, before glancing back at the busted window I flew out of. “But if we’re going to do this, we’re gonna give Twilight and Spike a hand.”