//------------------------------// // Prologue: Doubt // Story: Recurring Nightmare // by SaintAbsol //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle sighed, her eyes barely focused as she tried to read the tome in front of her. The light of Luna’s full moon shone brightly through one of her windows, and the addition of a candle provided just enough extra light for her to see, but not enough to wake Spike with it’s brightness. Despite what he would sometimes protest, she really did have his best interests at heart- and baby dragons needed their sleep as much as an other babies. “Hoo!” “Shh!” The Unicorn quickly hushed Owlowicious, not wanting his nocturnal habits to awaken her friend either. “I can’t afford to have him know about this.” She whispered back, her violet eyes darting to make sure he was still asleep. “I can’t have anyone knowing about this.” “Hoo?” Though it was much quieter this time, Twilight could hear the question in the sound the owl made and sighed. “I know, I know.” She said, knowing that- even if there was evidence that he could understand her- she was mostly using him to talk out her own issues. “I shouldn’t keep secrets from my friends.” She bit her lip, “it’s just... I don’t know if this is right.” “Hoo?” “I’ve gone over all the lore, all the tales, all the legends; I’ve even asked Princess Celestia for history books that were printed centuries ago. It’s not adding up; not even close.” “..hoo.” The owl was outright glaring at her now, his face surprisingly good at displaying some frustration over her vagueness at the moment. The purple unicorn sighed, then yawned; in her tired state, she wasn’t really thinking straight. She’d forgotten that, even if she couldn’t understand him, Owlowicious could understand her- he wanted to know just what she was talking about. Not to mention that he didn’t like being treated like an inanimate object. “I’m sorry.” She said at last, actually addressing him now and not just talking at him. “I’ve just been at this for weeks now and I don’t have an answers.” Her head hit the book she’d been looking through as she felt her mind trying to pull her into sleep- but Owlowicious still needed answers. “Just promise me you’ll keep this from Spike and the others.” The owl simply nodded, no need to ‘hoo’ when he didn’t have to. “I think Nightmare Moon is still out there.” “Hoo?” This time, ironically enough, it was meant exactly as it sounded. “Huh? Oh, right; you weren’t there.” Though she wanted to sigh yet again at having to explain this, Twilight simply couldn’t find the energy to do it. “A thousand years ago, Princesses Celestia and Luna created the Sun and Moon respectively. For a while, things went as you’d expect; but Luna started to get jealous of all the attention that the day was getting; it wasn’t really like now, ponies weren’t all that interested in the night sky or the stars and moon. Which really doesn’t make sense when you see just how much we can learn from studying the night sky; what with the stars and the other planets out there and all the nebulae and-” Another ‘Hoo’ reminded Twilight that she was rambling. “Sorry; where was I? Oh right; Princess Luna was getting jealous since she put some much work into the night sky and no one was interested in appreciating all that hard work. That jealousy twisted her until, at last, she literally refused to let the sun replace the moon one night- so that ponies would be forced to appreciate her work. Princess Celestia confronted her, but she wouldn’t listen anymore; she had been corrupted by her own emotions into something she never should have: Nightmare Moon. “After that, Princess Celestia had no choice but to imprison her in the moon itself with the Elements of Harmony- lest everlasting night reign over Equestria.” The young unicorn had slipped into her ‘storyteller’ mode: using fancier terms and speaking like she was narrating a book to the owl. While there was nothing wrong with this, he would have liked that she get to the point. “One thousand years passed; then Nightmare Moon escaped with the aid of the stars and trapped Princess Celestia away while her night ruled. The others and I were able to use the Elements of Harmony again- learning of our own connection with them- and freed Princess Luna from Nightmare Moon and released Princess Celestia.” Twilight had to pause for breath here, the young mare having not really done all that much during the story. Owlowicious just stared at her, tilting his head as if confused by something, and she was well aware of what. “I know, that seems like Nightmare Moon’s gone. But I saw something; while everypony was busy with admiring their necklaces or welcoming the princesses back, there was some armor where Nightmare Moon had been and it faded away into some blue smoke. That blue smoke was always around Nightmare Moon, she even turned into it at times. That can’t just be a coincidence. “I know that it’s not anything solid- which is why I haven’t told anyone- but I can’t shake the feeling that whatever that was is something that could come back. Even if Princess Luna was jealous, she had to have something that pushed her over the edge and brought about Nightmare Moon. And that’s why I’m looking through every legend, every story and every account I can find of what happened a thousand years ago. But the only things I’ve been able to find are just various versions of the ‘Mare in the Moon’ legend; and I already know that story by heart!” She stamped her hoof down in frustration, then paled as Spike stirred and quickly blew out the candle. She waited, holding her breath as the baby dragon shifted about in his bed. She released it after he stilled and her horn sparked for a moment to re-ignite the tiny flame. “I can’t just go to Princess Celestia with just a hunch; and Princess Luna’s been having so much trouble as is, I can’t make it harder by starting rumors about Nightmare Moon. Ponies’ll just blame her for it without even trying to find the real problem. You have to promise me that you’ll never tell anyone what I’m doing.” Owlowicious blinked his beady eyes at the pleading unicorn mare before him. Though at least as intelligent as any given pony- and perhaps more so than a few- his face was almost always as flat and inexpressive as your average wild animal. Twilight waited anxiously for him to respond, as he theoretically held the entire future of her research in his wings. But the brown owl finally nodded and the purple unicorn sighed in relief. “Thank you, Owlowicious. I know that it’s bad to keep things from your friends, but this is just one of those secrets that needs to be kept.” With a yawn, the tiredness that had been staved off by her tension while talking to her number two assistant suddenly came rushing back. She was tired so very... very.... Twilight Sparkle passed out in mid thought, her head thumping lightly on the pages of the open book in front of her. Owlowicious, with nothing else to do for the night, fluttered up to his usual perch by the window and gazed up at the full moon. For the first time he could remember, the sight of the pearly orb in the sky gave him no comfort.