Those Who Dream By Night
Discord’s eyes drifted down towards the two ponies below him. Pinkie bounded up. “Hi there! My name’s Pinkie Pie!” She looked up at him expectantly.
“Of course it is,” he said, patting her on the head. His gaze locked on Fluttershy briefly, and he grinned. “Well, well, well. So these are my liberators. An assassin and a firebug. Not exactly what I expected, but I’ll take it.”
Fluttershy spoke. “We need your help.”
Discord, craning his neck to look at the black sky above, nodded. “Hmm? Help?”
“We need your help to fight Nightmare Moon!” Pinkie said.
Discord frowned, and looked back down. “Sorry, who? I’m rather behind the times.”
“Luna,” Fluttershy said quietly.
Discord’s mouth opened in an O of surprise. “You’re asking for my help to fight Luna?” He tilted his head up, cackling. “You two are an absolute scream. Here,” he said, extending a paw, “have my card.”
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, but took it. It was styled after a playing card, with a grinning Discord as the joker.
“Ah, my apologies,” Discord said, pirouetting theatrically as a clawed hand swooped in to grab the card. “Wrong card. But don’t worry, I’ll call you. Or something.” He strutted away, muttering something about needing to stretch his chaos muscles.
Pinkie Pie ran after him. “Wait!”
He spun around. “What do you want?”
“We kinda need your help getting out, so if you’d be totally superawesome and stuff, you know... that’d be really great.”
He waved her off. “Oh, very well. Where is it that you call home, you misguided little creature?”
“Ponyville!”
“It’s about thirty-five miles southeast,” Fluttershy noted.
“Never let it be said that I don’t repay my debts,” Discord said, walking away. He snapped his fingers, and Pinkie and Fluttershy disappeared.
And reappeared, in a damp, windy darkness. Fluttershy spun for a moment, trying to get her bearings. Up and down were obvious, but the lack of anything in the down direction was... disconcerting. She raised her wings experimentally, and the shock of air that brought them to their full length stung painfully. So she was falling. Cloudsdale, she thought, and was interrupted by a high-pitched cry. The speed and wind blurred it, but it sounded like....
“Wheeeeee!” Pinkie Pie shouted, falling through the air thousands of feet above Ponyville.
Fluttershy shook her head, and folded into a dive. She had never been any good at this sort of thing. I wish Rainbow Dash were here, she thought.
Dash stared into the sleeping face of Twilight Sparkle. It was almost disturbing, she thought, to see that face peaceful for once, not alive with her usual cold hatred, or—more frighteningly—hot rage. Dash’s hoof went to her gun, idly circling the grip. I could kill her now, she thought. I could have done it for weeks. She’d never see it coming. A faint smile appeared on her face, and disappeared just as quickly.
She’d certainly played the part of the loyal lieutenant well. She was indispensable—although admittedly, making sure any competent officers got transferred out helped with that. And it seemed like Sparkle liked her. Saving somepony’s life a couple of times probably did that.
Shit. Dash couldn’t say that she liked Sparkle—of course not—but there was something about the way that unicorn looked at her... Get yourself together, Dash, she reprimanded herself. You’re going to kill her, not ask her out.
Respect, Dash thought. That was it. Respect. They weren’t so different after all. Twilight craved respect, at least as much as Dash did. And if that was tied up with a bunch of other stuff... well, who could blame Sparkle? As far as excuses went, “I grew up in a shitty prison camp” was a pretty good one. And I’m going to kill her. I’m going to kill this damaged, messed-up mare, and she’ll never even see it coming.
Dash sighed, and looked out the window. It was nearly pitch black. She didn’t know what she had expected.
Twilight coughed weakly, and turned her head towards her. “Dash?” she asked.
The pegasus froze for a second, unable to respond. Twilight looked around. “A hospital,” she said hoarsely. “I’m in a hospital.”
“Yeah,” Dash said quietly.
“Shit,” Twilight intoned. “What happened?”
“You got punched by a four hundred pound dragon. Something happened with your brain. I tried to keep up, but it’s not like I’m a doctor. They say you’re stable now, but—”
Twilight was trying to pull her IVs out.
“Sparkle! Calm yourself down!”
“I can’t,” Twilight hissed. “If I don’t get results, significant results, and soon, I lose everything. I lose my resources, I lose my mission...” Her eyes fixed on Dash. “I lose you.” She shuddered. “And I’ll go back. I know it, Dash. She’ll send me back.”
Dash was at the side of the bed now, and she stroked Twilight’s head reassuringly. “Hey. Nopony’s going anywhere. They cancelled all the transfer orders. Everypony’s staying right where they are for now.”
Relief smoothed Twilight’s face for a moment. “Why?”
“I don’t know. There’s something going on. Something big.”
Twilight sighed. “There’s nothing I can do about it, is there?”
“Guess not, ma’am.”
“Don’t call me that.”
Dash recoiled a little bit. “Uh, alright, Miss Sparkle.”
The unicorn smiled, a genuine smile for once. “Twilight. You can call me Twilight.”
“Twilight. Okay.”
Neither of them knew where to go from there. Twilight looked at Dash expectantly. Dash avoided her gaze.
Twilight winced suddenly. “Dash, I can’t see out of my left eye.”
“You—right. I’m gonna get you a doctor.”
Dash ran out the door, wings instinctively opening for flight. She pulled them back in. There was nothing flying away would accomplish, nothing to get away from other than the realization that once again, she might be saving Twilight Sparkle’s life. She flagged down a doctor. “Night Guard,” she said, gesturing towards her black jacket. “Drop whatever you’re doing and get in here.”
The doctor followed her into Twilight’s room. “What’s the problem?” he asked with poorly disguised annoyance.
“I can’t see out of my left eye,” Sparkle announced weakly. “I haven’t read much about the subject, but considering that I've experienced serious head trauma in the last few hours, I’m guessing that’s not a good sign. I want a doctor. Now.”
“I think the specialists are tied up in surgery. You can wait until they’re done.”
“I’m the princess’s personal student, and while I’m in Ponyville, I act as her plenipotentiary,” Twilight said. “Get me a doctor.”
“You can’t just—”
“I can. Get me a doctor. Now.”
The doctor scowled, but walked off. Twilight fell back onto the bed. Dash stayed where she was. What a mess, she thought. A complete fucking mess.
Rarity and Spike walked into the building, and down into the basement. There was nothing there—just brick walls and a rough concrete floor.
The unicorn glared intently at Cranky. “If this is your attempt at an ambush, it’s not a very good one.”
“Don’t be stupid. This isn’t an ambush,” Cranky said, feeling the wall. He pressed a brick, and the wall swung back a few inches. He pushed, and revealed a tunnel. “After you.”
“Um, no,” Spike said. “You first.”
“Fine.”
They walked in, lights strung at long intervals providing only just enough to see. Spike leaned in towards Rarity and whispered, “Um, not that I don’t trust you, but why do we think they won’t kill us?”
“They won’t,” she whispered back. “I imagine we have nothing to worry about. They should have somepony keeping tabs on Sparkle. They know we’re not interested in betraying them.”
Spike raised an eyebrow, but nodded.
They continued on for some distance. Rarity yelped, feeling water beneath her hooves. Cranky looked back, but didn’t say anything. Spike picked her up gently.
“A true gentledragon,” she cooed.
Cranky groaned.
They turned, and came to a staircase. “We’re here,” Cranky announced.
“Cool,” Spike said, looking upwards. “Go up.”
Cranky sighed, a bit too loudly, and led the way up the staircase. At reaching the top, he gave a low whistle. Rarity and Spike followed, and were greeted by a number of unsmiling faces behind gun barrels.
“This? This is an ambush. Our own little welcome mat.” The donkey cackled.
Rarity sighed. “That’s a simply awful metaphor.”
Spike raised a hand. “Um, hi. I love guns in my face as much as the next guy, but could we maybe...”
“Talk to somepony who has more sense than to threaten two extremely valuable assets?” Rarity finished, a grin flashing from her mouth.
“Two spies is more like it,” one of the sols said.
“Do you really think we’re that stupid?” Spike asked.
“I haven’t seen too much indication otherwise,” Cranky said. Rarity glared, and the dragon’s fists clenched.
“You really don’t want to push us,” Spike said.
“Sure, sure. Well, until you give us a reason to trust ya...” The guns pointed towards their frightened faces.
“Okay, stop.”
The sols lowered their weapons. Rarity peered towards the source of the voice. There was a mare standing at the doorway: tall, elegant, but tired-looking. She stood a little shakily, leaning on the doorframe for support, but there was a fire in her eyes.
“Cranky, they’re not spies,” she said. “Let them in. You can always kill them later.” At this last sentence, she chuckled just cheerfully enough to let the visitors know she was kidding.
Or, Rarity thought uncomfortably, maybe not.
“Come on in,” the pink mare said. Rarity gasped a little as she turned. It was dark, but it was hard to miss the presence of both a horn and a pair of wings folded at her side.
The electric lights in the room flicked on, and Rainbow Dash roused. “Sir,” a voice called out. Dash’s eyes opened blearily, and she raised her head. A twinge of pain in her neck reminded her why falling asleep in hospital chairs was a bad idea, and she was briefly irritated.
“What do you want?” she snapped, voice still slurred from sleep.
“Dash,” Lightning Dust said, “you have to get out of here. Sparkle has a visitor.”
“Lieutenant, what are—a visitor?”
“Yes! Now get your flank out of here before—”
The door opened, and Nightmare Moon stepped in, bowing her head to get through the door. She glared at the Night Guards with a disinterested malevolence, and spoke. “Leave us.”
They stood up, saluted, and hurried out of the door. Dash gave a final glance back, then shut the door quietly. Nightmare locked the door, and sat down on a chair, her bulk barely fitting. She reached out to touch Twilight, then pulled back.
“Twilight,” she started cautiously, “Can you hear me?”
There was a soft snap behind her, and she craned her neck around to look. “Discord,” she said coolly. He stood there, a nonchalant grin on his face, and mismatched arms crossed.
“Miss me?” he asked.
“Where did you come from?” she snapped.
“Going to and fro on the earth, things like that.” Discord waved off Nightmare’s baffled expression. “More recently, as I’m sure you’re aware of by now, I’m out of the... clink. And it looks like you have had a very interesting time in my absence, haven’t you? I just love the...” He gestured vaguely at her appearance. “New look. But where, pray tell, is darling Celly?”
Nightmare ground her teeth. “She is gone.”
Discord wound his way behind her, and leaned in towards her ear. “Figures,” he said, in a sibilant near-whisper.
She spun around and tried to land a smack on Discord’s face. He narrowly sidestepped it and withdrew. “Careful now. We wouldn’t want to wake up little... What’s her name?”
“Twilight Sparkle,” she said, stepping towards him.
Discord glanced at the window. “Ah. Interesting. It doesn’t quite fit your... diurnal changes, does it?”
Nightmare glared at him.
“Alright, alright. I won’t pry. But I do have this nasty habit of curiosity. What’s she to you?”
“That sounds unpleasantly like prying to me, Discord.”
Discord put his hands up in mock surrender. “Me? Never.”
Nightmare stamped her hoof. “Discord...” she menaced.
“Loony...” he said, mocking, pacing around her.
She reached out with her magic and flung the chair towards him, knocking him into the wall. He groaned softly, then snapped his fingers. The chair scurried away. “So, I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Right about what?” Nightmare hissed.
Discord’s head bobbed from side to side for a moment. “Oh, my apologies.” He bowed. “I got...” His head popped off, grinning wildly, and fell into his arms. “Ahead of myself.”
Nightmare Moon groaned. “Make your point and be gone, Discord.”
Discord put his head back into place, and pointed a claw at her. “And that right there is what I’m talking about. You can’t do a thing to me, can you?”
Nightmare was silent.
“I didn’t think so. So, allow me to guess. You’re here instead of your dear sister because of some... shenanigans... with the Elements. Aren’t you?”
No reaction. Discord sighed. “Very well. If you’re not going to be considerate enough to play along... Where are the Elements, Luna?”
“Gone,” she hissed.
“Testy, testy,” Discord noted. “Gone like Celestia?”
“Yes.”
“Oh...” Discord stroked his beard thoughtfully. “You have been a busy mare since I saw you last.”
Silence.
“Oh, come now, little Luna, don’t be shy. You can tell good old Uncle Discord everything.”
“If you think I have anything to say to you, you are badly mistaken. I have neither the inclination nor—”
There was a flash of light, and Discord stood by Twilight’s bed, one claw caressing her throat. “It’s funny that you should mention inclination.”
“Leave her,” Nightmare growled, baring her teeth.
“Such ferocity over her? You haven’t changed as much as I thought, have you?” Discord said, continuing to stroke Twilight’s neck. “I have to say, I expected more from you, Luna. Maybe even a little spine.”
“I am not Luna! I am Nightmare Moon!” she shouted in the voice of royalty. Her hooves slammed to the floor, and magical energy crackled around them. There was the sharp scent of ozone as her horn glowed, and she stepped towards the bed.
Discord looked bored, and faintly disappointed. “I thought we’d been over this. There is nothing you can do to me without the Elements.”
Her horn sparked, and a bolt of energy arced its way to Discord. He winced as a tenth-bit sized area of his chest burned and blackened. Then, with a snap of his fingers, he was whole again. “Well, I know when I’m not wanted.” He bowed theatrically, and was gone.
Twilight Sparkle stirred.
So, Dash. How’s things?
What am I talking about? You’ve been with Sparkle for the last two nights. You could let somepony else take watch, you know. Come on, you can’t even function like this.
Hey. Talk to me. What’s with you and Sparkle?
Forget it. You’re acting weird, that’s all.
Stats
Page generated in 0.022 seconds
Total duration
607 users online
711,800 hits today, 1,822,946 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
3687922
And there's more where that came from. I'm going to try to step up the rate of putting out updates.
Yesh
Yay for discord :D. Hmm, makes me wonder if he's going to be friend, foe, or third party of the battle. I look forward to more.
-Reader Out-
3688211
If I know Discord, I'd guess he'd either terrorize some other country while these two tear each other apart, then swoop in so he can play the winner, or he'll watch everything go down so he can mess with everyone. No Elements means no threat after all.
I believe I detect a Joker (Batman) reference in Pinkie's tale ... nicely done.
The tittle reminds me of Star Trek.
3702121
You caught me.
Finally got around to reading this chapter. I am not disappointed.
Well SpaceCommie this is a truly fantastic story. I came into this one expecting a low grade story, but I got sucked into just how amazing it turned out to be.
With all that, I have found a few things that are a little unclear. We keep reading about these "camps" that ponies are sent to but it not clear on what these "camps" are really, or even why ponies are sent to them. So far it sounds like they are some kind of P.O.W. camp where ponies are forced to work.
A few things with twilight's back story also seem to be missing to us readers. Ponies and Twi herself keep saying she is from a "camp" but is this the same "camps" as above? It doesn't seem like it could be, these "camps" sound like terrible places to be in and impossible to get out of, so of did Twi seem to do it so easily, and why would she be in one in the first place?
The final thing is a simple question. Are Twilight and Shining armor still siblings in this universe or has that been changed?
Some of these things you might be planning to reveal later in, and if so then thats fine, but if you are not then it might be a good idea to try and answer them somewhere.
3719353
Just so I know what to change, why did you expect a low-grade story?
Most of the answers to your questions are at the very least implied in the story itself (throwaway lines aren't). But if you're still not sure, consult this blog post where I answered questions about Darkly's world.
3721412
Thanks for telling me about that blog SpaceCommie, it has definitely helped fill in some holes about Darkly's lore. I'm still curious about why Twilight's family was put in the camp in the first place, but I figure this will be explained later in. I would suggest putting a link to that blog somewhere in the description so others might find the answers if they have any questions like I did.
I was expecting a low-quality fic mostly because of a lack of originality and creativity in stories where Nightmare Moon beats celestia. You on the other hand have gone above that and created a unique story that I hope will not fall to the curse of cancellations most suffer from.
I like how Discord, the most chaotic character on the show, is the closest to his canon personality in your story. The others are all a lot different, besides the princesses. But Discord is just Discord!
3723329
Well, it makes sense. He's seen the least of the altered history. Still, he's going to respond to the changes Nightmare's made... less than well.
3722756
I might mention it obliquely, but since I don't know if I will: Twilight's parents were put in the camp for believing that the dawn was coming. Think the Soviet gulag, though, not a Nazi concentration camp.
3793148
If you posted it here, I read it thoroughly. Thanks!
I also responded here: 3335316
Twidash... great... just my luck.
Push on Pyro, just ignore it...
I can't decide whether I'd prefer if Dash had just made a reasonable attempt at killing Twilight Sparkle and left her to finish dying or if the scenario as is better. I do think the former would make an interesting twist, better still if Dash couldn't take that choice back for a while, thus necessitating hoping she doesn't actually die.
That said, I guess I'll just read on and see what happens next.
....
*reading intensifies*
Then the poor pony in surgery died because the royal bitch couldn't wait a couple of hours, the end.
3688211
I really hope he is a third party. Wars between three groups tend to be really hard to predict until the last moment while fight between two factions tend to be far easier to predict.