To Save a King

by Blackdrag-rose

III: Peachy dreams for nightmares

Peachy was walking through a meadow of flowers, which was odd because there were no such meadows anywhere around Ponyville. The sky was a light blue, as per usual, and there were several clouds filling the sky, which also meant that she had a good amount of Celestia's sun hitting her. She saw trees all around her as well, which was more odd then the meadow and still confused her to no end.

The last thing she remembered was going to bed after hanging out with her friends, but how did she end up here, in a meadow of flowers and trees? This wasn't the same Dream World she had been in previously so she could train under Princess Luna, that world was vastly different. Princess Luna's Dream World was vast and full of nothing, just endless white sand and a blood red moon that was always full. No matter how many times she had entered Luna's Dream World the sight of the blood red moon was enough to frighten her to no end, despite the fact she was a being of terror now.

Peachy never really figured out why Princess Luna's Dream World was so barren, she had figured that since her return she would have had something nice to dream about. Yet her Dream World was lifeless, as if it was resembling the moon she had been imprisoned on for over a thousand years after her attempt to steal her sisters attention. The more Peachy thought about it the more her beautiful world changed to the barren world she had began to dread seeing, only this time she saw something that Luna had described to her in great detail.

Descending from the blood red moon at the speed of one of Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom's was a fully grown alicorn the size of Princess Celestia. A full black bodied alicorn with dark blue armor on her hooves, a similar colored chest plate, and a crown covering her head colored the same. Her ethereal mane and tail were unmistakeable, the alicorn was none other than Nightmare Moon.

Peachy jumped to her right as Nightmare Moon hit the ground where she had been standing, which exploded on impact and threw sand up into the air. She jumped back as dark blue spikes pierced where she had been standing, which indicated that her new enemy was not fooling around. Peachy turned into pure mist and flew over where Nightmare Moon should have been, but instead found it empty save for the hole in the ground. Next thing she knew Nightmare Moon was holding her physical body against the ground with her magic, which made sense due to the fact that Peachy's abilities were the same as Nightmare Moon's.

"So, you are the mare that poor Luna's been training for the past year," Nightmare Moon stated, showing her teeth as she looked over the mare she held, "She's taught you the tricks that made her feared and yet they are imperfect. In your current state you could help her win her little 'War Games', but other than that you would be worthless in a real war."

"Buck off Nightmare Moon," Peachy shouted, feeling the evil mare pry into her own nightmares, "You won't find anything worth using against me."

"Oh but I have," Nightmare Moon grinned, her horn lighting up, "I trust you remember that evil monster that nearly killed you last year? A stallion by the name of Dark Sky if memory serves?"

"You wouldn't dare," Peachy whimpered, "This is Luna's Dream World, you can't do this to her world."

"Since Luna and I are the same pony I can mess with her world," Nightmare Moon triumphantly said, hearing the roar of the evil stallion that Chrysalis had created, "and since Luna isn't here to stand up against me I can summon anypony's worst nightmare into her world. Such as..."

Before the rest of her sentence left her mouth something bashed right into her side and threw her off of Peachy, who was expecting her teacher and was horrified by what she saw. The pony standing above her was the evil changeling version of her alicorn friend, but the pony was more focused on Nightmare Moon. As the vile mare began to stand up the changeling blasted her in the side with one of his energy beams, which Peachy now began to recognize. She still cursed the fact that they were watching Bleach before eating some of Wisdom's cupcakes and ending up in Equestria.

The beam was definitely a hollow's cero.

"So this is the power of Dark Sky," Nightmare Moon said, grinning as she spat some blood out, "I must say, I am impressed."

"Hold thyself villain," said a voice as Princess Luna appeared above her darker self, "I will not have you mucking up my training with my student and summon one of the worst nightmares in the history of Equestria. I banish both you and the vile nightmare back to where you came from."

Luna's horn lit up and the next thing Peachy knew both Nightmare Moon and Dark Sky vanished from the dream world, though the only thing that remained was the hole in the ground. Luna grinned happily and turned towards Peachy, who sighed a sigh of relief.

"He still haunts your mind," Luna observed, watching Peachy look away for a second, "it is only natural considering Nightmare Moon commonly haunts my own dreams. I had to deal with that evil nightmare twice this night, once thanks to my other side and once when it emerged in King Rocket's own dream."

"Is Rocket okay?" Peachy asked, the mention of her friend slightly alarming her.

"Rest assured my student," Luna said, "The Changeling King is safe and you need to get some rest before we even attempt to teach anything."

"What?" Peachy asked, shocked by the news, "But I was supposed to learn the Nightmare Form tonight."

"Not after that my student," Luna proclaimed, "Soon I will teach you the Nightmare Form, but until then I want you to practice with me every night until your dream skills are perfect. I will return you to your dream and the peace it will bring."

Before Peachy could protest she woke up in her bed, in the spare bed of Twilight's library. It had been an upgrade since she had started in Applejack's house and Rocket no longer lived there at all. Tick still lived with the Vinyl and Octavia while Wisdom lived in Pinkie's home. Peachy laid her head on the pillow and held a hoof into the air, staring at the metal armor she refused to take off.

"Buck, I was so close."

Author's Note:

Yes, a cliffhanger