The Deal
Patience: the word rolled around within the entity's mind like a dark velvety cloud rolling across the night’s sky. Patience had been the sole thing to keep it at bay as the dark form watched the land of Equestria age and grow. Free of its dominion; ignorant of a foe who was regaining its once great strength; confident that her second defeat had stopped her once and for all. Unaware of the dark flames of vengeance that would someday glass the entire land, and its people beneath a sunless sky.
Vengeance was another word that often populated the entity’s thoughts. Vengeance drove her on as she waited in the shadows. It was a sweet tasting wine that she longed to drown in while she cackled in glee at the conquest before her. Yes, it was this vengeance that kept her going, but patience that reined her in lest she act before the time was right.
Somewhere far below a single white figure made its way from the warm, sleepy town of Ponyville toward the dark forest that was Everfree. Though many dark clouds crept across the night’s sky the light of the moon shined bright enough to give one a glimpse at the white figure's cutie mark. Three light blue gems almost sparkled in the moonlight as alabaster unicorn began her first few cautious steps into the Everfree forest tree line.
Amid the dark clouds that hung above, a malicious grin began to spread across a shadowy face. The time for patience was over, and now sweet vengeance could have its turn.
Deep within the Everfree forest a wooden door carved into a large hollow tree opened allowing the light within to escape. From within the large tree turned home a single mature looking unicorn stepped out of the light and into the outside before turning her head around to look back inside. “Thank you again darling, I know having to meet me so dreadfully late can be quite the bother.”
Hearing the zebra within friendly wave away her concerns with a pleasant rhyme, the pony smiled warmly before she began to make her way back home.
The rays of moonlight were numerous enough to show that the unicorn’s fur was the color of marshmallows and that her mane was a near vibrant dark purple as well as curled elegantly. Beginning to trudge out of the clearing that her zebra friend's house was located in and onto the rough path that would lead her back to Ponyville, the mare couldn’t help but remember what had brought her out at this time of night in the first place.
“A gal has to do what she can to maintain her image.” As she spoke to herself, the mare couldn’t help but glare slightly at the bouncing tip of her own prized mane. During the day the unicorn had noticed that one of her beloved hairs had grayed. Not the grey that came with some sudden chaotic shift in harmony, but rather it was something much, much worse: the greying that came with age.
Taking heed to avoid a rather distasteful patch of moist dirt, the mare blushed as she vividly remembered the ‘episode’ that came as a result of her attempt to remove the single blemish in her perfect image. The moment that she magically plucked the weathered hair from her head, another two grew in it’s place causing the mare to gasp in horror as well as take an even closer look at the reflection in her bedroom mirror. It would appear that the grey hair had not invaded her features alone..it had brought back a few crows feet as well.
It was only a few seconds later that her husband raced into their room as his ears had picked up the screams of horror that she emitted the moment that she saw the dreaded signs of age that marked her elegant face. “Rarity are you okay?! What’s wrong?!”
Instead of answering the drake that was quick to try to console her, the mare threw herself into his scaled arms while she cried out dramatically at the cruelties that is the passing of time.
Finally understanding what had brought this all on, the dragon fought the urge to roll his eyes in good nature as he tried to calm his wife down. They had been happily married for a bit more than a decade, but recently his beloved had taken up a slight obsession with her appearance. Spike with all honestly couldn’t care less how his wife looked on the outside as he was still head over heels for the alabaster fashionista that had stolen his heart so many years ago, though sadly his wife sometimes needed convincing. After some gently hugging, a series of loving whispers, and a frisky promise to show just how much he still adored her flawless form later that night Rarity finally regained her composure.
With a few kisses given to her loving husband in thanks and a blushing giggle at the promises for a hot-blooded night later on the mare shooed the drake away so that she could properly prepare herself for the rest of the day. Once she could hear the dragon’s claws making their way back down her stairs and toward the kitchen, the now ‘composed’ unicorn allowed her face to resume a gloomy expression. She had hoped to have another day or two in her near flawless body before the effects of the cream would start to fade, and sadly enough she was plum out.
Levitating a piece of parchment nearby to float before her, as well as an inked pen to write with Rarity hastily scribbled a few words onto the glowing paper before she cast a spell upon it that she had learned from her dear friend princess Twilight Sparkle. With a small *poof* the message was sent and Rarity quickly made plans in her head to make a quick trip much later on.
“Not one of my classier moments now was it.” Sighing to herself Rarity continued on her way back home as she recalled the near dozen times that she visited Zecora to purchase a salve that the herbalist promised would shave off a few years for a little bit after applying. Of course Rarity had been quick to try the product and had been absolutely delighted to see her face regain some of its luster mere seconds after she rubbed the goop in.
And now it seemed that the remedy to her problems was becoming less and less effective. A small shiver crept around Rarity’s body as she thought back to her husband back at home and a small fog began to slowly sweep through the forest floor.
“Oh Spike...you just don’t understand.” Even as she crept down the path at a hurried pace from a place that her husband wasn’t aware that she had been visiting for the path few months Rarity knew that her faithful drake loved her with all his heart. Since the day she truly looked at him and took a shot in the dark on allowing the younger dragon to take her out on a date, the unicorn’s heart swelled with a warmth that she had never felt before as it dawned on her just how much the two ‘clicked’. Sure, she had always had a soft spot for the small dragon that was always happy to help around her boutique but at that time she only saw a young admirer with a crush, but after that first date there was no denying that his love had been sincere.
Before long the two were officially dating much, and after a few years passed by the unicorn had nearly fainted in shock from an unexpected proposal in the form of ‘her’ Spikey-wikey dropping to one knee and offering her a band of platinum decorated in diamonds. When Rarity had regained the ability to speak coherently she was quick to accept his proposal. The years that followed had easily been the happiest in the mare’s life...until she realized that while she grew older her husband stayed the same.
Now in his late thirties Spike the dragon was no longer a baby, having grown taller than his wife, yet not losing any sheen to his scales. Rarity’s husband was a dragon through and through, and would hardly look any different even after a century's time. Something that had began to concern the maturing unicorn more and more.
“Running out of time, my little pony?”
Rarity froze in place as a sudden voice pierced the silence of the forest and the small fog that had covered the ground grew harder to see through. “..H-hello?”
“My..my...my.”
Rarity resisted the urge to shudder again as a sudden chill seemed to creep up her spine. The voice teasing in nature seemed to be coming from all directions as the unicorn’s blue eye darted back and forth.
“The years have not been kind Rarity.” The forest itself seemed to come to life as a sinister, yet familiar giggle filled the air. “My memory might not be the best, but I don’t recall there being so much grey in that vibrant mane of yours.”
Though admittedly unnerved and maybe even a bit spooked by the voice’s tone the element of generosity’s eye twitched in outrage as she found herself speaking before thinking. “Now hold it right there! It is one thing to scare the daylights out of a lady, but you DO...NOT...MOCK...THE HAIR!” If a target had been foolish enough to show itself at that moment there was no doubt in Rarity’s mind that she would introduce it to levels of uncouth pain that were only mentioned in the most brutal of legends.
“Oh so the old mare still has some life in her yet?” Gliding unseen by her prey the entity let loose another giggle as she saw the fire in Rarity’s eyes wane ever so slightly. “It’s a pity that the body isn’t as youthful as the soul.”
“W-who are you?!” Whipping her head around Rarity glimpsed a dark shadow creep out from beneath the many bushes, and from behind the countless trees that surrounded her. Feeling more and in over her head Rarity willed her horn to light up and hopefully pierce through the darkness that pressed in towards her. “And what do you want?”
“You know Rarity that really hurts. You should know me near better than anyone else.” Slitted eyes glinted in amusement as the fog began to swirl, and dance around the fashionista’s hooves. “Don’t you remember the time we spent together, getting to know one another?” Feeling the cold fog rise up to tickle her belly Rarity *eeped* loudly before in an attempt to run away the mare tripped over herself rolling to a stop against a very solid tree. “As for what I want...well funny thing is that it’s actually more about what YOU want.”
Shaking her head Rarity looked up to find herself eye to eye with the last face she had hoped to ever see again. Peering down like the cat that finally cornered her mouse was Nightmare in all her glory, the dark clouds that made up her form drifted lazily as the villainess cracked a small grin.
“Nightmare Moon!”
The amorphous pony shaped mist laughed. “In the flesh…so to speak.” Looking down at her near ethereal form Nightmare let out a small sigh as she lifted a dark hoof to her face. “I suppose that’s the one thing you might have over me...but then again I would positively die if I had that many wrinkles.” Fixing an enlarged grin toward her still captive audience Nightmare gave a wink of her left eye. “How do you manage?”
Once again, Rarity leaped from frightened to irate as the malevolent spirit made another shot at her aging. What kind of villain honestly got off at ridiculing a lady’s looks? “I manage just fine thank you! I also manage to touch things with my own hooves without phasing through them in case you were also curious.” Seeing the shifting dark clouds seem to blink at her in surprise brought back some of the unicorn’s moxy as she stood up to her full height. “Now if you’re quite done heckling a proper lady, I have things to do and things to actually touch.”
Shocked by the indignation of having a lesser being speak to her in such a manner nearly shocked Nightmare enough to allow the unicorn to fully pass her by...until she remembered something.
“Speaking of things to do as well as things to touch.” The pony shaped cloud seemed to collapse in on itself before it swirled past Rarity’s hooves, slithered up a tree in front of her, and came to rest on an overhanging branch. The clouds twisted and contorted until a pair of familiar slitted eyes looked down at Rarity as they sat on the face of a large feline sporting a wide grin. “It must be so tiring having to trot back and forth to that old hut just to slather a jar full of goop all over your face.”
The Cheshire grin seemed to grow even larger as Rarity stifled a small gasp. Before she could huff out any verbal form of defense, or even exhale the sharp intake of breath Rarity’s ears were filled with Nightmare’s words once again.
“The beautiful avatar of generosity participating in silly zebra cauldron stirring just to stave off the grim reaper for as long as she can. And here I was under the assumption that a true lady would age with grace and dignity.” The cat shaped cloud’s tail swished back and forth in anticipation as she watched the mare below crumple inwardly.
“I-i-it’s not what you think!” Suddenly feeling more like her soft-spoken pegasus friend than herself Rarity gave in to the urge to hide behind her curled mane in an attempt to hide not only from the monster above, but her venomous words as well.
“Oh dear it’s okay.” Shoulders tensing and posterior shaking in preparation for a pounce the shadowy cat gave an almost sympathetic look toward Rarity. “We’ve all been there you know. You’re not the young mare you used to be, the vibrant purple mane is greying, the bright blue eyes are beginning to dull…and he’s hardly changed at all.”
Rarity let out another gasp as suddenly before her eyes the cat pounced from it’s perch only to once again swirl and morph until the familiar outline of a young dragon landed in front of her. Though the image was only that of a swirling outline composed of dark clouds, the unicorn’s wide eyes filled in the blanks as she flashbacked to the handsome dragon that she had left alone in bed back home.
Even though twenty years had passed since his best friend had ascended to alicorn status, Spike the dragon had done little more than grow a few feet, continue his duties as Twilight’s assistant and finally after some time won the heart of the mare of his dreams. As a dragon, the ravages of age had an almost nonexistent effect on the now young adult drake something that at first made Rarity the envy of all single (and sometimes taken) mares alike as they watched the mature fashionista waited on claw and foot by the strapping young male. Now much to Rarity’s personal shame she couldn’t help but be filled with envy when she noticed the way his scales still glinted with youth while her mane began to fade in color.
“Not quite the sparkling beauty he first fell in love with now are we?” The dragon outline shifted and shivered until it curled into a floating ball, and then turned into a mirror image of Rarity’s face.
The image of her husband snoring in bed without a care in the world faded from Rarity’s mind as she focused back on the smug looking cloud still before her. As petty as her thoughts might have been, Rarity knew in her heart that she was and always would be the center of Spike’s affections. Stomping a hoof into the ground Rarity fought down the un-ladylike urge to growl as she stared Nightmare right in the eyes.
“My Spikey-wikey would love me no matter what!”
The cloud this time merely ‘tut tutted’ as it resumed the rough shape of a young dragon. “Yes, but for how long?” The clouds then began to split, and shiver until instead of just one dragon it was replaced by a small dragon and two ponies. “How long until his eyes catch sight of something shiny...something new...something young.” The outline of the dragon that had at first stood next to the first pony that looked somewhat hunched suddenly turned its head around at the same time that the second cloud pony pranced by. “I suppose if his love was strong enough all he’d have to do is wait...until eventually.” The hunched pony seemed to double over in a coughing fit while at the same time the second pony waved a hoof at the dragon between them. Seeing the first pony fall over as its coughing intensified the dragon merely shrugged its shoulders before chasing after the second pony. The whole scene was horrid enough to nearly bring a tear to Rarity’s eyes.
“H-h-he’d...n-never.”
“Oh he’d probably mourn you for a bit little pony, but what can you say? The heart does grow lonely and eventually someone will reach out to him.” The clouds once again swirled together as they took up a new shape, and the voice changed ever so slightly. “Perhaps someone new...or maybe someone who would understand his pain.” Now instead of a dragon or a large cat the clouds had taken the form of an pony again though not one that Rarity had expected.
Stepping back at the implication Rarity could scarcely gather her thoughts as the vivid outline of one princess Twilight Sparkle smiled back at her. “W-what...”
“Oh, Rarity...poor little Rarity. Like I said before, I’ve been inside your head, did you really think you’d be able to hide that teeny weeny little insecurity from me?” Nightmare let out a small chuckle as she looked over herself, all the while keeping the trembling unicorn on the edges of her vision. “It makes sense really. She knows him better than even you do, AND she’s an alicorn now. Once you’re all resting in peace it would be as easy as writing a friendship report for her to swoop in and take him all for herself again.”
“Twilight would never...”
“Maybe she wouldn’t, but you’ll be long gone either way...unless...”
Completely lost in Nightmare’s toxic words the teary-eyed unicorn wasted no time in frantically speaking out. “W-what? Unless what?!”
“Unless, we make you immortal.” The clouds expanded and contorted until they exploded in a small puff of blinding mist, only for a large portion to condense and rise until the familiar form of Nightmare stood staring Rarity right in the eyes.
“But..how?”
Nightmare’s eyes glinted in the moonlight as she raised one cloudy hoof to extend in toward the confused mare. “It's simple, we make a deal.”
“What kind of deal?”
“Don’t worry little poor Rarity, it won’t cost…much.” Nightmare’s eyes glinted and a grin grew across her face as watched the unicorn fight with herself inwardly.
“That barely answers my question and what would be the cost?” As desperate as she was to find an answer to her woes, Rarity wasn’t going to agree to anything without a straight answer.
“So testy..do all old mares get grumpy with age?” Chucking at Rarity as her blue eyes narrowed Nightmare withdrew her hoof lazily. “All the deal would involve is a...admittance of consent and all it would cost is a little personal space.”
Seeing the unicorn raise an eyebrow in confusion the cloud composed mare rolled her eyes in an exaggerated fashion. Sometimes you had to spell these things out for some of the lesser creatures.
“You have what I want and I definitely have what you want. As you know I lack a physical form...which is middling, you agree to merge with me and I can actually feel the grass beneath my hooves again as well as the wind in my mane.” An almost envious expression settled onto Nightmare’s dark face as she watched Rarity paw the dirt in curious response.
“And why would I ever agree to that!” Though her own personal generosity reached out the tiniest bit to the spirit when she heard Nightmare’s change in tone, Rarity certainly had not forgotten what had occurred when the entity had possessed her many years ago. “The last thing Equestria needs is you back in power.”
“Because by allowing me to take residence within your frail body, you’ll gain the youth and immortality that you so desperately crave.” Nightmare fought down the urge to snicker aloud as she watched the unicorn visibly flinch in response to her last words. How easily it was to lead puppets along to their doom when their own tunnel vision blinded them to the true danger. “And if you must know...I’m certainly not the superpower that I had once been. Thanks in part to you if I recall.”
Rarity nearly shivered again at the pure venom that dripped from Nightmares’ last words, but she would stand strong even if she was all by herself. “You simply must forgive a lady if she can’t bring herself to trust the words of a monster that kidnapped her and nearly eliminated her fellow elements of harmony.”
“Foolish insect!” The mare shaped cloud doubled in size towering over the unicorn even more so as her piercing eyes glared with a hot intensity. “If I was strong enough to merely overtake you I would do so without a thought...but I can’t.” The swirling clouds seemed to sag tiredly as Nightmare reverted to her original form, though now she laid on the ground before Rarity looking heavily drained. “When you last defeated me I was stripped of nearly all of my power, to this day I’ve been running on a near empty and well...I come to you because I have no other options.”
A minute of silence passed by Rarity as she cautiously regarded the evil that was brought to great low by her own hooves. “...Why me?”
“...Because you are the last creature I succeeded in merging with...now you are the only one that I might be able to continue my existence within...albeit a small one.” Looking up at the unicorn in front of her Nightmare’s body seemed to nearly destabilize for a moment. “I’m too weak to be a threat within you, yet if you allow me to take up residence we both would benefit. So little pony are you going to take me up on my offer? Or would you rather smugly let me fade while your mane grays, and grays until you eventually die?”
The white unicorn had all the reason to turn Nightmare down; she detested the monster before her for all the evil she had released in just her own body, but in Luna’s as well. Letting Nightmare fade away would be doing the whole land a great service, but as she turned her head to look away Rarity caught sight of the jars of cream that she still had sling over her body. She could only fight off her aging for so long...then she thought of her dragon would eventually be all alone. “My spikey-wikey.”
From she laid on the ground Nightmare watched Rarity nearly turn completely around, but then music to her ethereal ears came in the form of a defeated sigh.
“I’m only doing this for my dear sweet gentledrake, keep in mind that if I ever get the feeling that you are up to something I’ll have you stopped.” Trotting back to Nightmare Rarity out of instinct reached out her hoof to help the alicorn back to her...non-hooves. From her position Rarity couldn’t see the wide grin that slithered over Nightmare’s cloudy face as her body trembled in elation.
“Oh I’m sure you will….fool.” Before Rarity could pull back, Nightmare brought a whisping hoof to touch her own which upon making contact and causing an ice-cold feeling to crawl up the unicorn’s leg. From her position Nightmare laughed out loud as her body fidgeted before turning into a miniature twister that snaked up Rarity’s leg, and began to cover her.
Before her vision was completely blacked out by the smothering clouds, Rarity took one more glimpse at the moon shining brightly above. “What have I done?”
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Wait, so if you have Nightmare Rarity as one of the main characters in your story, you need a Nightmare Moon tag as well?
Very interesting… please continue!
Interesting fic curious where it goes.
Loved that part where Nightmare Moon turns into shadow puppets.
Can we some moar govnah?
You have my interest, can't wait to see where you go with this!
>then she her dragon
I have mixed feelings but something good may come of this.
A few missing words here and there, but a interesting concept and read so far.
A very promising concept.
I shall eagerly await more!
Making a deal with a Nightmare is never a good idea. I wonder how Spike will take this?
This story has really caught my eye, it is interesting to see how a older Rar would handle aging while watching her love remain the same if not get better over time. You are doing a great job of addressing something that many stories overlook and doing it in such a way that has me on the edge of my seat dying to know what happens next.
once again turn her into Nightmarity
When did she previously turn into "Nightmarity"?
4057392 Issues 5-8 of the official comics.
Intersting!
Thanks for all the kind words and if there were any major grammatical mistakes... nobody's perfect.
A violent murderous psychopath with dreams of global domination and generous kind loving middle-aged mare have to share a body and the dragon that has to come to terms with all this insanity. O_o|||
4057229
4057091
4057225
You'll like the journey.
4057392
Yeah, in the comic it happens.
img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130429130820/mlp/images/d/de/Nightmare_Rarity.jpg
4056512
Yep, because there isn't aren't any tags for for comic specific characters and because Nightmare Moon is a main character in the story.
4056962
First off as a huge fan of your work, I'm ultra happy that you even commented on this fic.
awesomegifs.com/wp-content/uploads/carl-sagan-youre-awesome.gif
Finally a Nightmare Rarity Fic! The very few fics that have pop up on the site are small in number and in content usually (one shots) so I'm really glad your doing this.
4059673
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I know right. To be fair none of the characters from the comics get any focus in fan fiction.
Rarity didn't even get assurances that she'd retain control of the body! What good would living forever as a passenger in NMM's new body do her?
Nitpicks!
within the entities mind
entity's (or, if more than one entity are sharing one mind, entities')
reined her in less she act before
lest
the white figures cutie mark
figure's
Beginning to trudge out of the clearing that her zebra friend's house was located and onto the rough path that would lead her back to Ponyville the mare couldn’t help but remember what had brought her out at this time of night in the first place.
I believe the first part of this sentence is incomplete. I would say "... located in" or something along those lines, such as "in which (the house) was located" or "where (the house) was located". Also, I would add a comma after Ponyville, but I don't really know if that is required—it's just something that might help organize the sentence a little more.
Not the grey that came ... the graying that came with age.
grey or gray, pick one
As desperate, as she was to find an answer to her woes Rarity wasn’t going to agree to anything without a straight answer.
If you want a comma, it should go after "woes", not "desperate".
4060518
Took some of that advice to heart, fixed the ones i could find.
I couldn't find the one about 'reined in' and 'figures'
4060632 The second and third paragraphs of the chapter. Also, most browsers let you do Ctrl+F and just start typing if you know the phrase it's in.
Love the title. "There's something about Mary," the play off of words
I saw this story in the "Most Popular" box and it gave me a great idea for a Supernatural/MLP crossover!
Mmmmm... not nearly enough NightMarity stuff on here.
Hope this keeps up.
Huh. Interesting. Lots of potential. I think I'd catually like to see the two of them come to terms...more or less. Definite evil vs definite good is overdone. I think I'd like to reda this story not entirely sure who to root for and by the time it's finished...pleased that they made the deal.
I haven't read the comics, but I've generally assumed that the Nightmare was intent on covering the land in darkness because of Luna. If merged with somepony else I'd think she'd pursue different goals. The optimistic part of me would like to see this end in a manner that is basically ok for everyone, even if the path to getting there is humorously twisted.
4066526
Um... wow you're actual not too far off. That's all I can say, without spoilers and angering my co-writer.
4059673 I'm also doing a Nightmare Rarity fic, but Rarity is only one of 4 main characters in my story.
Ooh, a Nightmarity fic! I love Nightmarity! And a Sparity shipping?
Awesome and I look forward to the next chapter!