//------------------------------//
// Chapter Eight: Sabotage 
// Story: Nightmare to Earth 
// by bobdat 
//------------------------------//

Half an hour after we got up, we were outside his house again. This time, I was determined to get the wallet no matter what.
The first sign that it wasn't going to happen was the fact that both of the cars were gone. I tried the door, and it turned out nobody was at home.
“Of course, the launch.” I murmured. 
“What?”
“If the launch is happening, they'll both be there. The astronaut's wives always watch them go.”

Pinkie broke the door down by running into it. 
I began the search in his bedroom, before moving through all of his jackets and coats, then searching obvious places like the coffee table and bedside drawers. But there was no sign of his wallet. The document folder with my version of the photo was hidden under the bed, so I pocketed it. 
“Any luck?”
Twilight shook her head when we met in the kitchen. Pinkie had eaten all of the snacks that remained in the house with a slightly guilty expression.

“That means he's taken the wallet with him, into space.”
Once it was there, we couldn't touch it. 
“So we have to destroy the rocket before it takes off?” Twilight asked quietly.
“Yes. But with all the security, we've got no chance.”

I didn't want to contemplate a future with Nightmare Moon, but there was no other option.
“I have an idea.” Pinkie said, wiping melted chocolate from around her mouth.
“What is it Pinkie?” Twilight asked, sounding as if she'd had just about enough of hearing about cakes and parties.
“Why don't I send somepony back in time further, so they can destroy the rocket then?”
“I wish we could...” 
“I'll just use my magic, Twilight. So who's going, you or him?”

“Pinkie, only unicorns have magic. Earth pony magic isn't possible to control.”
“Oh, you're so silly Twilight. I can travel around between parties! I can send somepony back to a party, then they can destroy the silly rocket!”
It sounded insane, but I was willing to go along with it.
“Okay Pinkie, send me back about six weeks.”

Black abyss number three swallowed me, but this one had streamers and balloons.


***


Getting into the factory that made the glass was actually surprisingly easy. I simply sprinkled some kind of powder I'd read about in a book into the molten glass, and apparently it would weaken the final product.


***


The inside of the suit was very hot, Tony noted, as he was strapped into the seat. All of the usual things rushed through his mind, from fear about the mission to irritation about the sweat running down his back.

Lift-off was, as usual, scary. The rattling made him think that the world was about to end, but it didn't. CAPCOM's reassuring voice did make him feel a little better, but the strong G-forces and nausea were enough to make anyone feel pretty terrible. The sky outside changed from white to blue as they passed through the cloud layer, and Tony worked out what he was sat on. The square was his wallet, still tucked into the pocket of his flight suit. He'd forgotten to take it out when they were suited up. 

Oh well, he thought. At least he had that picture of his wife. It had been taken the day that they'd taken the photos on the moon, but he thought his wife was far more beautiful. Those weirdos stealing it had made him really angry though, and he hoped that his wife would be safe staying with her parents. He didn't want any more lunatics smashing the door down to get to her whilst he was up in space.

The blue was starting to darken now into the black that was space. Tony thought about his two fellow astronauts, who must be feeling fairly terrible. He looked across to the man on his left, who apparently was a biologist. Then he saw the man's face, which was white with terror. Now, launch was terrifying, there was no doubt, but it was no worse than a roller-coaster. Something in his expression said that something was badly wrong. Call it pilot's instinct.

Sadly, Tony didn't need his instinct to work out what was wrong. On the left side was a window, which had a tiny white chip in it. As he watched, the white chip expanded, like watching water freeze but sped up. The experienced astronaut had never seen anything like it, but as the chip expanded into a fracture, he knew what was going to happen.

The abort lever was inches from his hand, and he pulled it as hard as he could, with no effect. Then a crackling voice appeared in his helmet.
“Captain, what's the problem? Over.”
“We've... there's a fracture in window number four.”
“Repeat please?”
“Fracture in window number four, over.”

There was no reply from launch control, which Tony knew from experience meant that they knew it was over. In mission control, they'd be looking at the screen with dread, waiting for the explosion.
The fracture had turned the window into a sheet of white. The biologist's expression was exactly the same, but now the astronaut to Tony's right had exactly the same expression. He'd heard everything over the radio.

With anything from seconds to minutes, Tony scrabbled at his flight suit, unzipping the side. Sticking his hand inside, he managed to get his fingers onto his wallet. If he was going to meet his maker, he wanted to look at his wife again.
The wallet fell open obediently, as if it understood the gravity of the situation. Tony found it difficult to pull the photograph out with his gloved hands, but managed it by flinging his useless credit cards out first. He unfolded the square of paper and looked at his wife, who looked happy in the photo. She'd probably be informed by telephone in a few minutes.


At the same instant as the window broke, nobody noticed the radio connection break. In fact, Tony's wife wasn't informed by telephone.

I was standing on the viewing platform near the launch site when it happened. I'd expected the rocket to disintegrate on launch, but it had disappeared from sight when suddenly everything froze. This time, I knew it was Nightmare Moon, and I looked up at the sky to see where she would be coming from. Then the ground collapsed again.

I woke up next to the still bodies of Twilight and Pinkie, in some kind of strange palace. The floor was black marble, highly polished, but there was nobody around. In front of me was a black throne, and it looked very uncomfortable.
I nudged Twilight, but she didn't move. 
“She won't come to until I let her.” Nightmare said, appearing from a corridor off to one side. She smiled at me and took a seat on her throne.

“Do you know where you are?”
“In your palace?”
“Yes, that's true. Rather, I mean why are you here?”
“Because we destroyed reality?”
Nightmare smirked. “Yes, you destroyed reality. Very clever of you, really. In fact, I can tell you that all of the astronauts on the rocket are still alive. For the moment, whilst time is frozen.”
“Why did you freeze time this time?” The sentence didn't really work.

“Why? Because you've beaten me.” Nightmare said, sounding honest. In fact, she sounded tired. “For that, I commend you. But you overlooked one thing.”
“What's that?”
“I can no longer rule over either ponies or humans. But for both worlds, there is no reality now. In fact, the only thing that exists is this palace. Outside is nothing. It's disturbing.”
“So we're trapped?”
“I'm trapped. You're free to go.”

I paused. This was a trick.
“There's nothing to return to?”
“Quite right. Time is the one thing my sister and I have no control over. It is our master, perhaps. I control the moon, she the sun, but time progresses even if we neglect our jobs. The reason the sun rises is because it's that time. Do you understand that?”
“Yes.”
“But I do have enough magic to control time just this once, because of the unique circumstances you've given me. I can restore one reality, but only one.”

“Will this reality be the same? With you as ruler?”
“No, I'm trapped in this palace. The new reality will simply be however the world progressed without me.”
“So why don't you restore reality?”
“I can only restore one. Pony or human, not both. One reality has to stop existing.”

This was a sudden development. 
“Take a look at the brave ponies who accompanied you.”
This was a guilt trip, but I had to. Twilight and Pinkie looked as if they were sleeping, now returned to their natural pony forms.
“There's one other thing.”

“What else can there possibly be?”
“You're tied to the human reality. If it disappears, you disappear too. Forever. It's like signing your death warrant. But if you keep the human reality, they disappear.” She pointed an elegant hoof at my companions.
“This is too difficult to decide. Isn't there another way?”
“There's a third option, but it's simply that you live in my palace forever and both realities are destroyed. I assume you'd rather not have that one.”

“Can I think about it?”
“No. I can only hold the moon for a few more minutes. The glass in the rocket is moving at eight thousand miles an hour, so the photograph will be incinerated in about... two minutes.”

I crouched down next to Twilight and Pinkie. They looked peaceful and innocent, not like Nightmare Moon. They didn't deserve her cruelty. 
“Chop chop. I need a decision before they both disappear.”
I stood up, allowing my hand to run across Twilight's shoulder as I did so. A last fleeting touch of reality.

“Ready?” A smile was on Nightmare's face.
“One question first.”
“Make it snappy!”
“Are you really the same as Princess Luna?”

Nightmare Moon cackled happily.
“Of course. Princess Luna is my... good side, shall we say. I am the Mare in the Moon, she helps rule Equestria. But once I'm locked here, in just minute or so, Princess Luna will be free to return without me. She won't have her bad side any more.”
I nodded. “Okay, that makes sense.”
“That is, assuming you restore the pony reality.”

I had no answer for that.
“You've got thirty seconds before the photograph burns. What's it going to be?”
Turning away from Nightmare, I looked down at Pinkie and Twilight. Then I took a deep breath.