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// 162 - A World of Nightmares 
// Story: Putting on a Silver Robe and Wizard Hat 
// by David Silver 
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"That little... If I ever lay eyes on that mare again, I will tear--" An imposing and dark figure stormed into the room where Silver was taking in his surroundings. It was Nightmare Moon, and she looked far from pleased. "Would you believe, pet? Somepony would dare to challenge my authority." She strolled towards Silver, brow raising as she went. "You seem subdued today. Are you well?"

Well? "Sorry."

Nightmare blinked. "You spoke."

Silver's ears rolled back. Was he not supposed to speak? "S-sorry, Luna."

Nightmare shook her head. "I have not been called that since..." She glanced towards a window where the moon hung in the sky, a pony shown on it, but not quite the same as before. "Pet, who has meddled with you?" She approached with a growing frown. "This has been a trying time, but I will not tolerate my possessions being interfered with."

Silver tried to catch up with the world. He was Nightmare Moon/Luna's pet? Alright... "I'm fine, really." He smiled up at her. "What happened that has you so upset?"

She sat down in front of him on her haunches and reached out to pet him gently across the top of his head. "A pony much like the Royal Magician arrived, claiming to know time magic. She used it to flee rather than show me the secret." She snorted with annoyance. "She must have been a fake, or I wouldn't be here, would I?"

Silver felt a deathly chill run through his body. Twilight had already come and gone? He... he shouldn't be there, should he? Did something horrible happen? Was he stuck there forever?

"Pet? You look unwell." She trailed a hoof down over his cheek. "Oh, I know. It's mealtime." She rose to her hooves. "I know just the bad pony too."

Bad pony? Silver perked his ears. "Um, mother?"

"Mistress," corrected Nightmare with a shake of a hoof. "Now that you can speak, we will clearly have to go over etiquettes, pet. What do you need?"

"A mirror, please? May I borrow one?" Silver needed to see himself. He was pony shaped, that much he felt certain of, but he needed to see the details of what that world had done to him.

A mirror floated over from a cupboard and hovered before Silver, who gasped at what he saw. He was big and bulky, with dangerous teeth, slit eyes, and dark greyish fur. He was a lunar unicorn, built seemingly to intimidate and physically punish, if he had to guess.

"You do not like what you see? I thought Twilight did an excellent job." Nightmare gave a slight nod. "You were such a useless thing before. Naked of fur, confused, and out of place. Now you are a darling pet." She reached to pet him gently. "And a fitting deliverer of my wrath. Speaking of which..." Her magic took ahold of his chain and drew it to her side, unclipping it from the floor along the way. "We have a pony to punish. Poor Twilight, devoured by her own creation." Nightmare laughed maniacally as she began walking from the room, taking Silver with her.

Silver hurried to match pace with his new mistress. "What did she do wrong?" The idea of attacking, let alone devouring, Twilight made him both hungry and horrified. His body knew what it wanted.

"Two things. She clearly did not suppress your ability to speak properly, or we would not be having this conversation. Second, the interloper looked just like her. She may be a thorn in my flank in the future. Easier to just deal with her now." Nightmare glanced glanced over her shoulder. "Simplicity itself."

Silver licked his lips, thinking quickly on how to avoid this. "Why don't we, um, mistress, test her loyalty?"

Nightmare paused and turned to him. "Today is full of surprises. My pet is speaking sage words." She flashed her dangerous teeth. "But he'd better not get used to speaking against my orders. You've captured my interest, pet. How do you propose we test her?"

How? How... He frowned with thought. "What if you gave her a long and difficult task to see how well she stuck to it?"

Nightmare tapped her chin. "A fine start, but let's get you chewing her leg to really make the gravity of the situation clear." She tugged the leash of a chain. "Come now, no more back talking. We have a pony to terrify."

She led him up several stairs. The guards they passed subtly looked away from him. He was a creature to be feared, and Nightmare Moon's pet, making dealing with him a double-threat. She threw open a door with a glow of magic and stepped inside a laboratory. "Head-Wizard Twilight Sparkle, report."

Twilight looked up. Her mane was done up in a severe bun, though her tail was allowed to flow straight, though it had a dark-purple ribbon at the end. She bowed on recognizing Nightmare Moon. "Your Eminence. We've had excellent progress in night-growing potatoes. We predict--"

"Yes yes, very good." Nightmare smiled. "Come with me." She turned and walked right back out, taking Silver by the leash, and Twilight as well, even if her leash was more of a social construct. "I have a very important duty for you that simply won't wait a moment."

"Of course, Your Majesty." Twilight glanced at the large pony-shaped horror that walked all-too-close at her side. "He's rather calm today."

"Isn't he? Speak, pet."

With permission officially given, Silver smiled a little. "Hi, Twilight."

Twilight jumped away, bumping into a wall of the hallway. "He spoke!"

"And he knows you." Nightmare nodded as she descended stairs with the two. "And he has things to discuss with you, Twilight."

"H-he does?" Twilight looked over the imposing pony. "This is fascinating... With what proficiency does the subject speak?" She looked to Silver with penetrating eyes. "Do attempts to converse at an elevated level of diction cause perplexment?"

Silver blinked softly, but he understood the words. "No, but that's not the way you usually talk."

Twilight sucked air through her teeth. "Fascinating." Her eyes wandered over the halls they were going through. "Your Highness, why are we moving towards the punishment arena?"

Nightmare laughed at the question. "Why else, little Twilight? What other reason would I have?"

Twilight began to pale. "Y-your High... Please. I've been good!"

"I think somepony still has a certain solar princess in their heart, or my pet wouldn't be speaking to me. Now, I am not without compassion..."

Twilight trembled even as she saw a glimmer of hope. "I'll do anything you want!"

"Excellent. I'm going to expect you to survive in that arena for one minute, without using magic. If I see that horn glow, even an instant, then you're done." Nightmare turned to face her pet and Twilight both. "I'd better be amused by both your performances." She pointed down a side hall. "You know the way, Twilight. Go."

Twilight hung her head low and began walking down the hallway with the sullen motions of a pony already sentenced to death.

Nightmare tugged on the chain she held. "Let's get you into position, pet. I meant what I said, if I think you're being soft on her, I will be most displeased."

She led the way on. "I can see you've gained some softness with your words, but they weren't entirely wrong. This is a test for you both. Prove you haven't become weak, or I'll toss you out with the trash."

Would that be freedom?

"Broken as a reminder to anypony else that would fail me."

Oh... "I won't disappoint you." He had no assurance that dying in a splinter timeline wouldn't end him forever, or even that this wasn't just the reality he would live in forever. He just didn't know...

She gestured ahead at a small room and he entered. It was barely large enough for him once the wall closed in behind him, sealing him in the dark. He could hear somepony speaking, muffled but amplified. It was like listening to a sports commentator through a thick wall.

"In this corner, the Head-Wizard, the unicorn with the power to crack any problem, but can she solve this one without magic? Let's hear it for Twilight Sparkle!" Muffled stomps of hooves on the ground came through as his room began to move closer to the action.

"In the other, an arena favorite. Hungry, vicious, and built to play with his food, the Midnight Beast!" At the announcement of his apparent name, the room fell away from all sides, allowing him to see the arena he was in and the scared Twilight on the other side of the arena.

He knew he had to make a showing and let loose a roar that shook the arena, surprising even himself with just how vicious his body could sound. Without delay, he charged for Twilight on thunderous hooves. She went wide-eyed, but jumped out of the way at the last minute, leaving him to crash against the wall of the arena in a bang of tested masonry.

Silver was mad, no, furious. He shook himself out and jumped for Twilight as she scrambled away, just missing one of her increasingly delicious legs. She would make such fine noises when he tore her apart, yes she would.

"Yes, get her! Show her what pain really means!" crooned Nightmare from a separate area from the rest of the audience, a manic grin on her face as she watched.

He lunged for Twilight and she kicked back at him, catching him across the snout, but he just didn't care. The pain was small, and he snorted with irritation as his horn darkly flared. Shackles suddenly appeared just above her hooves, binding her to the ground. No more running, no more kicking. Silver smiled as he circled her, considering just how to break her.

Nightmare Moon's laughter howled through the arena as other ponies cheered, stomped and went wild at the sport.

The rational part of his mind quailed. He didn't want to hurt Twilight, even one belonging to this strange reality. Despite this, he lunged and snapped, trapping her horn between his teeth and giving a nauseatingly sudden wrench of his powerful neck. The entire arena went silent in response to the splintering crack that echoed out from the motion.

Twilight sank to her belly, eyes wide, pupils drawn tight. Then the screaming began. She wailed as no other pony he had ever heard wailed. Blood ran down her face from her broken horn's rough and uneven end, and she screamed. She knew a deep pain only a unicorn could know, save perhaps for a pegasus with a wing torn free. She would likely never cast a spell again. She screamed.

She screamed and she screamed. Nothing seemed to exist for her but pain, and Nightmare Moon's wicked laughter above it all.

A whistle blew. Had a full minute passed? Silver had lost all grasp of time. There was only screaming. Screaming and pain.

Ponies emerged with crackling sticks that delivered nasty jolts when touched to him. They directed Silver, no, the Midnight Beast back to the elevator that closed around him and carried him down into darkness, away from those screams that still carried on.

He was a monster...