Nightmare's Dream

by Tinyweasels

Chapter 6-Timely Problem

A Timely Problem and Nightmare Moon, Heroine?

It wasn't long before they reached the outskirts of Clocksburro and from the start something seemed strange. Many residents just stood in the village square looking up at the large clock tower in the middle. Other people wandered around like they were in a daze, looking at their hoof watches.

"This is very curious," Trixie mumbled as they rolled into the town square.
The Clocksburrians hardly even acknowledged them as they arrived, some even bumping into them, they were so fixated on the clock tower or their watches.

Trixie approached the crowd at the clock and began speaking to them while Nightmare Moon waited at the cart. Several minutes passed and she noted that the clock's hands hadn't moved at all.

Shortly Trixie returned.

"It would seem our show will be of little use here. A crisis grips this town."

"What manner of affliction?" Nightmare Moon asked.

"Time, or rather, the lack of it. Every timepiece in the entire town has stopped working. The gears are missing, even from the town clock. For Clocksburro to have no way of keeping time, it is like a punishment from the gods."

"Then let us be on our way to the circus," Nightmare Moon said flatly, already beginning to turn the cart around until she felt her tether pull tight.

"We shall do no such thing. The Great and Powerful Trixie may have boasted of great feats in the past, but if she has a chance to genuinely do some good, then she is up to the task!" she said, excitement creeping in to her voice.

Nightmare Moon sighed and rolled her eyes. At this rate she'd be stuck to this cart forever. She watched Trixie wander off with some of the locals, leaving her with the cart.
As she listened to the locals discussing the issue, Nightmare Moon had a suspicion about the cause of the problem, but she saw no need in sharing that information—at least for now.

The village of Clocksburro's population was mostly Earth ponies. She was surprised when she realized that Earth ponies were treated as equals by the greater pony races, considering their unthinking ancestors were stolen from another world to be beasts of burden for the unicorn and pegasus. It was only her own ancestors' meddling that gave them speech and thought, but to think that Celestia would allow them be equals—it was almost too much.

As she waited, she noticed a short stack of paper on a bench in the square. Bored and curious, she walked over. "Fillydelphia Enquirer" was the title. She studied the writing closely; writing in the time she was from was all done by unicorns with quill pens but this in front of her had printing with mechanical regularity.

Page after page, she flipped through the different sections of paper—the news, sports, technology, arts and leisure, the comics. The longer she read, the more desperate she found herself to find something connected to the world she once knew. Again and again, the only thing that had survived the ages was Celestia, the one constant in their world. Every place she had known was gone; every person she had known had been dead for nearly a thousand years.

Celestia had nursemaided the ponies of Equestria from ignorant peasants to educated people and graduated them from the dark ages to civilization. Her thoughts were interrupted by the return of Trixie nearly an hour later.

"Well, I have determined that it is a creature of some sort, which is at least something," Trixie said, her discouragement evident.

"I wish to make a deal with you, Trixie," Nightmare Moon said.

"What sort of deal?"

"I will tell you how to capture this creature and in return you set me free."

"What would you know of it?"

"It is a thing of the Everfree Forest. It must have followed someone who traveled past it. The creature is a type of sprite, a mischief maker, with a fondness for mechanical things."

Trixie pondered Nightmare Moon's offer for a while and nodded. "Very well, I accept your offer, Night. If we can capture this creature you're free to go," Trixie said and extended her hoof.

Nightmare Moon looked curiously at the extended hoof.

"We shake on it. To seal the deal," Trixie explained, giving Nightmare Moon an odd look, then took Nightmare Moon's hoof in hers and shook it.

Nightmare Moon was momentarily offended that she would be required to give a gesture as proof of her word, but dismissed it. "The creature is a sprite. It looks like a tiny green pony with butterfly wings and antennae. It is intelligent, but guided mostly by impulse. It knows that people want it captured, so it is careful; however it is compelled, nearly hypnotized by the regular movements of things—a windmill, a clock, anything. It has some magical power, enough to move objects. It can become invisible, so catching it can be a challenge. It prefers to come out at night while others are sleeping."

"Why is it stealing gears? Just to annoy people?"

"No. It steals them to build its own machine so it can just sit and watch it working."

"So to catch the sprite, we just need bait and it will come right to us."

"Exactly."

"A cage inside an illusion," Trixie said, looking up as the sun started to go down. "I have work to do."

Nightmare Moon watched, actually impressed, as Trixie began constructing a very elaborate illusionary machine in the air. It was a strange mix of clocks and clockwork gizmos; clearly anything she could imagine was thrown into the mix, trying to make it as enticing to the creature as possible. It grew until it was nearly as big as the clock tower and it glowed brightly, visible for miles.

Trixie was under great strain to maintain something so large and complex for so long. She seemed to have something to prove by helping the town and wasn't about to let fatigue stop her. Most of the village turned out to watch, wondering what was going on and seemingly also comforted by seeing moving clockwork machines.

She kept her eyes open, despite knowing she probably would no longer be able to see the sprite's hidden form. However, a short time later some part of her was aware of a presence. She looked around. She could feel it was near. She kept silent, not wanting to tip off the creature. She felt it come near her, hovering before her for a few moments before flying off.

The sprite neared the machine and flew around it cautiously, wary of traps. It flew around for a while, but it was too entranced by the machine to fight its curiosity for long and soon flew closer.

Nightmare Moon continued watching, curious herself to see if Trixie was skilled enough to capture it. She could see from Trixie's expression that she too detected the sprite's presence. The machine continued its clockwork movements, parts moving and changing, but now subtly closing in around the sprite. Nightmare Moon found herself getting tense as the seconds ticked on.

Trixie's expression was tense, gritting her teeth as her unicorn's horn glowed bright, straining to keep one eye open to keep it all going. Soon the sprite entered the cage, which sealed and locked in the creature. With her triumph, Trixie let the illusion fade, leaving behind the trap. When the sprite saw it was caught it dropped its illusion and the crowd gathered around to see the tiny sprite that had disrupted their lives.

Trixie slumped to the ground, clearly exhausted from the strain of that much magical exertion. The Clockburrians cheered and lifted Trixie off her hooves.

"Wait!" Nightmare Moon gave a shout of protest as she too was held aloft by the cheering locals. "I am still attached to this cart. Whoa!"

Once they were put down, Trixie created a magical tether to the sprite and had it lead them to its lair so that the locals could recover their missing clockwork parts. When the group returned, however, Nightmare Moon saw that Trixie was using her powers to hold aloft a strange machine, a clock with many faces and gears all over the place. The creature had indeed been making its own machine, wondrous to behold. The villagers gathered around it, all at a loss for words at the work of mechanical art.

Trixie walked back to Nightmare Moon and sat beside her.

"Thank you, Night. You don't know how much helping this village meant to me," she said, weary, then added, "A deal's a deal."

Nightmare Moon felt the bridle fall away from her. The cheering crowd thronged around them again and the grateful villagers hugged Nightmare Moon over and over, ignoring her irritated glares.

An official looking pony in a battered top hat seemed to study the caged creature most intently. He lifted a pocket watch and lowered it through the bars of the cage. Within moments the sprite had the watch dismantled. He then pushed the cage closer to the strange device and the little spite reached through the bars and began adding to its machine, seemingly ignoring its captivity in light of being able to work on its machine.

Nightmare Moon watched those gathered around the caged creature, curiosity winning out over judgment at the moment it seemed. But she realized there was another in need of judgment, one who surely felt they were going to get away with what they had done.

"Tell me, who among you has traveled through the Everfree Forest as of late?" Nightmare Moon asked. "That sprite is of the forest. It would not have traveled all this way on its own. Someone brought it with them."

The celebration died down at her words and the ponies began looking at one another. Shortly all eyes came to rest on a single mare, one who seemed to shrink under the scrutiny of the town. The pony in the top hat approached her.

"Chime, didn't you recently travel that way?" the mayor asked.

"Uh, yes, Mayor Mainspring," she stammered, looking down.

"Did you notice anything strange on your return journey?"

"Well, my watch stopped, as did the clock in my cart," Chime said. "I knew I shouldn't have taken the shortcut through the forest, but by the Great Bell of Clocksburro I had no idea what I brought back!"

Nightmare Moon was enjoying this, curious to see what terrible punishment they would inflict on the luckless pony who had brought catastrophe to the town. She didn't see a pillory in the town square, so maybe flogging or banishment.

Nightmare Moon watched and waited for the villagers to turn on her and perhaps indulge in the classic throwing of rotten vegetables, but to her surprise and disappointment, neither occurred.

Chime fell silent as she finished her story. The mayor looked her over and rubbed his chin.

"This may have a silver lining after all. Maybe this was just what Clocksburro needed. I have a brilliant idea," he said, turning to the beautiful machine the sprite was still tinkering with.

"Tourism! The sprite is not a threat to our lives or village and the missing parts can be replaced. But if we provide it with parts, it won't need to steal them. Our clocks would be safe. And like fine clockwork, that machine is quite striking to behold. I would be willing to bet that people would come from all over just to see it, moreso if we help it to grow."

Nightmare Moon's mouth dropped open as the crowd cheered and the celebration resumed full force. The mayor and the others approached them, all of their attention focused on Trixie.

"Great and Powerful Trixie, all of Clocksburro is in your debt this evening," Mayor Mainspring said. "You have saved us in our darkest hour, minute and second. How can we ever repay you?"

Trixie stood and smiled, clearing her throat, reached out and put a hoof around Nightmare Moon's shoulder and pulled her close.

"I couldn't have done it without the help of my assistant, Night. Her knowledge gave me the clue to capturing the creature."

"We are in your debt as well, Miss Night. You have our eternal gratitude for your help. What can we offer you to repay your kindness?"

Nightmare Moon was at a loss for words, unaccustomed to mortals actually showing gratitude for anything she did. Trixie filled the awkward silence.

"Your gratitude is thanks enough, good people of Clocksburro," Trixie replied. "We couldn't possibly accept any reward."

Despite what Trixie had said, the Clockburrians insisted on giving them a sumptuous meal of the locals' humble fare. They both gratefully indulged, and soon they were the guests of honor at a banquet in the town's meeting hall.

It felt strange to Nightmare Moon to be around so many people—people who weren't hating her or afraid of her. She found it strangely enjoyable, but that feeling quickly faded as she well knew the fickle nature of mortal gratitude. How long until the names of Trixie and Night were forgotten?

It took a moment for her to realize she had thought of herself by the name Night rather than her true name. She had to be careful. This mortal nature was eating away at her.

All manner of food and drink was laid out before her by the grateful Clockburrians, who could not do enough to make her and Trixie as comfortable as possible. As the banquet grew late, the celebration died down and soon Night and Trixie found themselves alone in the village square.

Nightmare Moon stood and looked down the road that led out of town, then back when Trixie cleared her throat.

"Well, now that you're free to go, I guess you're eager to get back to your home in the Everfree Forest," Trixie said.

"The forest." She wanted to say it was her home, but that had been a thousand years ago. "The forest is not my home. It was the place where I was standing when we met, that is all."

"Well, where is your home?"

"I have none."

"Your family?"

Nightmare Moon fell silent, thinking over that question and she felt a pain deep inside.

"The few I could even call family curse the day I was born."

"Oh my, that is rather harsh. I know what it's like having a falling out with your loved ones."

Nightmare Moon gave a snort of derision at Trixie's comments.

"What could you possibly have done?"

"The Great and Powerful Trixie has made many mistakes, pride being her greatest shortcoming. There was a time I traveled with the circus—my family are all performers—but I was convinced I was destined for something greater. I rebelled against circus life and swore I'd show them I was no mere carnival performer. I would be the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria."

"I know someone else who wanted that."

"They tried to talk me out of it and I said some rather unkind things to them as I stormed off and started my quest. Each stop my boasting grew as did my ego, always trying to best any unicorn I came across and lashing out at anyone who dared to doubt my greatness."

"That does not appear to be the Trixie you are now."

"It is not. That all changed a few months ago. Pride goeth before a fall, as they say, and the Great and Powerful Trixie had a long way to fall when she happened to wander into Ponyville and had her tail handed to her by a quiet and unassuming purple unicorn."

Nightmare Moon felt a surge of rage, well knowing which purple unicorn she spoke of. "So you are plotting revenge against her?"

"Nothing of the kind—I mean, I did at first. However, when I asked around, it began to dawn on me the monumental mistake I had made. That purple unicorn turned out to be the personal protégé and dear friend of none other than Princess Celestia herself, one whom I'm told the princess loves like a daughter. And her three friends that I publicly humiliated in front of the entire town were three of the six Elements of Harmony, also dear to the princess' heart."

Trixie turned toward her cart, her head hanging in shame.

"Since then I have traveled with a heavy heart, feeling like a sword hangs over my head, knowing that should any of them demand retribution for my actions the princess would very quickly oblige and I would be made to pay for all my actions there. To add insult to injury, the unicorn saved my life and rather than showing gratitude, my pride got the better of me and I ran like a coward. The Great and Powerful Trixie is now also the Contrite and Humble Trixie."

"You have not escaped Celestia's notice, Trixie. Do you really think it was chance that had our paths crossed? She put you in my way. How does it feel knowing you are merely a pawn in your beloved princess's sick game of revenge against me?"

Trixie started loading the cart.

"Night, if she is aware of me at all, then she surely knows what occurred in Ponyville and if knowing that she still wishes to have me be of service to her, then I do so gladly. Even if you were really Nightmare Moon and if she were pulling the strings of these events, I would still serve to show I am not the pony I was then, that there is more to me than pride."

"So, is all this the reason you are headed to the circus?"

"Yes. I want to make amends with them before I am held to account for my actions."

"You act like Celestia would do some harm to you. If it were really so dire she would have crushed you by now. Think of that creature you caught. Celestia has dominion over the Everfree Forest, yet after she defeated me a thousand years ago she did not cleanse the forest. Even those creatures of darkness I made she could not bring herself to destroy; all living things have value to her. She merely restricted them to the forest so they cannot be the plague on the mortal world I had intended."

"Are you trying to say she has too much love?"

"It is better to be feared than loved."

"I used to buy into that Macciafillian belief system, but having been both loved and feared, I can say that it was much better being loved. I would go so far as to say that those who believe as you do have never known what it is to be loved."

"So you're not running home to mommy," Nightmare Moon sneered.

"Yes. That is exactly what I'm doing," Trixie replied with complete seriousness.
Trixie's exertion rapidly caught up with her and despite the hostile tone of some of their discussion, Nightmare Moon found it rather enjoyable to have someone to talk to.

"Goodnight, Night," Trixie said, yawning.

"Goodnight, Trixie," She replied, surprised she had used such pleasantries.

Comments

[Yubella]

It took a moment for her to realize she had thought of herself by the name Night rather than her true name. She had to be careful. This mortal nature was eating away at her.

As I said, ponies break easily. And you are just that