• Published 22nd Jun 2014
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Nightmare Moon's Tiny Adversary - CommanderX5



Twilight has been a tiny, hardworking student for many years, willingly deciding to stay two hooves tall after discovering a love for the adventures and challenges that came with it. How will the rest of the mane six and Nightmare Moon react to her?

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Nightmare - Mercy

Nightmare Moon's Tiny Adversary

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Chapter 2

Part 2

Nightmare Moon let out a deep sigh and looked at Twilight with pity. “So let us get this straight,” she started. “Thou art the only pony who knew of our return. Thou thinkest that we are an evil demon who possessed thy mentor’s sister, and that after our return from a thousand years of banishment, we wish for nothing more than to doom every single creature on this world?”

The tiny unicorn silently gave her a determined nod.

“And since thou didst study under our sister’s guidance...” Nightmare Moon’s voice shifted again, and her pupils took on their draconic slit shapes again, “you know better than anypony how powerful I really am?”

Twilight nodded again.

“Knowing all of this, you—tiny, little you—instead of hiding in the crowd or in some chink in the wall, instead of sneaking out from this hall and begging fate that I wouldn’t find you, decided to announce yourself to me and face me, knowing full well that it could mean your demise?”

“Yes, I did!” Twilight replied, puffing up her chest with pride as she continued to match stares with the draconic eyes of the alicorn.

“And why would you do such a thing? Surely you would fear me even as a normal sized pony. Wouldn’t being so small make me look like I was a beast from the deepest depths of Tartarus?” Nightmare Moon asked curiously as she gazed upon the tiny mare with a soft expression on her face.

“Of course I was scared. I have never been so scared in my entire life. I faced you knowing full well that I was going to die. I was even expecting to be tortured. As for why I did it, I see no reason to tell you, so just get on with it already,” Twilight said, crossing her forelegs.

Nightmare Moon shook her head, smiling faintly. “I... we guess that thou art correct. We should not have expected that all of the answers we desired be presented to us on a silver platter,” she said, looking up and around the empty Town Hall contemplatively.

She gave the tiny unicorn a proud smile. “Tis a very brave and noble act of thee.”

Twilight blinked, and then her mouth dropped open in shock and disbelief. “W-whaaaat?”

“We aren’t stupid, Twilight Sparkle,” Nightmare Moon said firmly, though there was no hostility in her voice. “Thou expected that we would disgrace ourselves with the cold blooded murder of everypony present, so thou hast willingly decided to sacrifice thyself in order to buy enough time to save them.”

Nightmare Moon’s voice once again turned cold and regal, though her proud smile remained as she look up wistfully. “A thousand years ago, I fought a great many solar guards. I know well that there exists a fine line between bravery and stupidity, between noble courage and insolence.”

Nightmare Moon approached the front of a fortress where her wounded sister had retreated. The moon shone proudly above her, sending its potent magic into the alicorn’s battered body and allowing her power to recover from the recent battle against a legion of Solar Guards.

Several Lunar Guards followed at her flanks. Each one of those ponies had fought alongside Luna for many years, protecting citizens from the many monsters that roamed during the night. Every single one of them had been blessed by Luna personally, and it manifested as more than a simple ward. Pegasus wings morphed into dark batlike ones. Their eyes became slit, granting them far more comfort in the darkness than their round-pupiled cousins, and their inner magic, strength, and endurance grew ever more powerful under the light of the moon.

Few ponies knew about the good these blessed ponies did, but those who did called them thestrals or moon-blessed. The grand majority, however, called them vamponies or demonspawn, driving them away on sight. With nopony to accept them, they remained fiercely loyal to their mistress, even as said mistress marched straight at a division of thirty earth ponies, thirty pegasi, and thirty unicorn Solar Guards, all ready for battle.

“So you finally arrived, demon, and I see you brought your wretched minions along with you. Good, you’ll save us the time we would have spent having to pick off the stragglers,” the unicorn lieutenant said, his sword pointed at Nightmare Moon as he stood boldly at the head of the forces guarding entrance to the fortress. “We have waited a long time for this day. I will avenge Captain Hammerhead with this very sword, and send you to Tartarus where you belong!”

Nightmare Moon breathed out a melancholy sigh as she wove together a summoning spell. Several of her faithful shadows formed around her, and they accordingly armed themselves with the swords carried on her back and on those of her thestrals, swords of defeated Solar Guards from the past battle. They filled into ranks with their comrades, arrayed against the foe before them.

“I have no quarrel with you,” Nightmare Moon boomed in her Royal Canterlot Voice as she strode forward alone, ahead of her troops. “Yield and your lives will be spared!” Several of the Solar Guards trembled in fear, but a sharp glare from their lieutenant got them back in line.

The lieutenant galloped forward at Nightmare Moon, his sword held firmly in his magic as he met the dark alicorn. His swing was quick, smooth, and practiced, but it was easily parried by the thin, dark blade of the alicorn. With a simple adjustment and a flick, the sword was sent flying from his grasp, and before the lieutenant could react, Nightmare Moon sent her blade’s sheathe smashing into her foe’s foreleg before finishing with a solid headbutt. The unicorn crumpled to the ground, though he desperately tried to get back up, his face contorted into a snarl.

“Thou art no match for us. Leave peacefully and thy life will be spared,” Nightmare Moon said, standing regally before the lieutenant, who simply lowered his head begrudgingly.

Noticing that her foe had accepted his defeat, Nightmare Moon walked past him towards the fortress. Just a moment later however, she could feel a sharp dagger hit her neck from behind, leaving a small flesh wound where it struck, though the blade itself broke upon contact with her alicorn flesh. Nightmare Moon turned her head to face the same lieutenant she had spared just a moment ago.

“Y-you monster. Why won't you just die?” the lieutenant said with hate in his voice, his leg shaking perceptively under him.

Nightmare Moon lit her horn, levitating up a part of the treacherous dagger before sending it speeding directly into the lieutenant’s neck, impacting with a meaty thunk. His body dropped dead a mere moment later.

“Thou hast abused our mercy and besmirched thy honor. Death is the only fate a fool like thee would deserve,” she said disdainfully before turning to the rest of the Solar Guard in front of her.

“Leave now, unless you insolent fools wish to learn the business of war as he did.”

“Fools charged at me, and they died for their hubris. Hot-blooded and prideful, they wished to slay a demon of the night for glory, not for the well being of their fellow ponies," Nightmare Moon said coldly, though her serious expression lightened when she once again turned to Twilight with a proud smile. "You, on the other hoof, faced the most powerful being in Equestria despite being smaller than a foal. You overcame a fear that would cripple others to save your fellow ponies, even to the point of charging into what you believed would be a slow and painful death."

Twilight stared up at Nightmare Moon in shock, almost feeling as if the dark alicorn was her mentor at this very moment.

A warm smile spread across Nightmare Moon's face while she continued to speak just as soft and gentle as if she were speaking to her own foal. "We commend thy bravery and self-sacrifice. The very idea that we would take a life from such a noble subject is insulting. Thou hast proven thyself worthy of greatness, perhaps as the head of an army or at our right hoof as an advisor, not death in these empty halls."

Twilight blinked a few times as she tried to comprehend what was being said to her. She stammered out a few unintelligible words, but a quick shake of her head cleared up the mess that in her mind. “You... you won’t kill me? Really?” she said hesitantly. “You’re not trying to give me false hopes only to squash them?”

Nightmare Moon responded with an accusatory glare, causing Twilight to flinch. "We once wielded the Element of Honesty. I am a great many things, but I am not a liar like my wretched sister. If I must face a foe or slay an enemy, I shall do it in open battle with no deception," Nightmare Moon said pridefully.

The little unicorn trembled for a moment from Nightmare Moon’s outburst, but once she recovered and released the breath she was holding, she lit up with a great big smile. “Thank you, thank you so much! I was so afraid that I would never be able to see my family and friends again! Thank you!” she exclaimed as she jumped on Nightmare Moon’s nose and hugged it tightly.

The fallen princess crossed her eyes, raising an eyebrow at the tiny unicorn embracing her affectionately. After a few seconds, she cleared her throat very loudly, and the unicorn jumped back to her hoof as if she had suddenly caught fire. Twilight gave the alicorn a sheepish grin, her cheeks blushing as she looked up in embarrassment. Nightmare Moon watched in amusement as the little mare quickly prostrated herself into a deep bow, trembling. “S-sorry... I... I forgot my place for a moment,” Twilight said.

The black alicorn chuckled. “For thy bravery, we are willing to forgive thee this time.”

Twilight’s brow furrowed together as she looked back up at Nightmare Moon, trying to make sense of her situation.

Odd. Sometimes she says ‘I’ and ‘you’ and sometimes she says ‘we’ and ‘thou.’ One second, she sounds emotionless and cold, as if she wants to kill me, and in the next, she looks at me as if I were the most precious thing she has ever seen. Even her eyes transform randomly. It’s like talking to two different ponies in one body. Is her mind still intact after spending a thousand years on the moon?

Twilight mentally noted the softer features on the face of the black alicorn, not quite as terrifying as it had been a moment ago. Still, why is she being so calm and merciful? How did she get through a thousand years of solitude without a mental breakdown?

“Excuse me, err, Nightmare Moon,” she started slowly, looking closely for signs that her captor’s mood had changed. “Um, would it be out of place if I were to ask you a questi—”

“Twilight, hang in there!”

***

Her personal guard, Steel Blade, was streaking across the room with all the speed he could muster, but unlike last time when she had more time to aim her magic, this time Steel Blade was more than close enough to sweep her up in his hooves and angle around.

The tiny mare barely had time to register the two armored forelegs holding her tightly before she was carried speeding towards the open doors of the Town Hall. At least, until a sharp crack of thunder signalled the end of her brief ride, and her friend crashed heavily onto the marble floor, releasing her from his hooves as the two of them rolled across the floor uncontrollably.

Twilight managed to stop herself from sliding on the ground any further, and she shook her head to recover from her dizziness. Steel Blade’s movement was quickly arrested by a few tendrils of Nightmare Moon’s mane, which were now pulling him slowly through the air towards the alicorn.

Twilight began galloping towards the two immediately, though a few seconds later, she scolded herself for forgetting that she could teleport, and promptly disappeared in a flash of light.

She appeared atop Steel Blade’s head, who was now in front of Nightmare Moon, struggling fruitlessly to free himself from her magic. Before Twilight could say or do anything, Nightmare Moon’s mane enveloped her friend and she put him to sleep, ending his frantic writhing. Twilight looked urgently between Steel Blade below her and Nightmare Moon above her before once again, dipping into a low bow. “Wait! Don’t kill him!”

Twilight didn’t dare to look into Nightmare Moon’s face before she continued, speaking as quickly as she could. “Steel Blade is my guard! I’m sorry that he tried to do that! He just wanted to save me so please, forgive his foolishness and have mercy on him! He meant you no harm, I swear!”

A tendril of Nightmare Moon’s mane silenced Twilight before she could continue and then proceeded to tip her small head up gently. Nightmare Moon’s face had a smile on it, and her eyes were once again like the eyes of a normal pony.

“Thy guard’s commitment to thy safety is impressive. Thou needest not beg, for because he chose to save thee instead of attack us, we in turn shall choose not to harm him. He will wake up relaxed, for we have blessed him with pleasant dreams,” Nightmare Moon said gently.

“However,” she began again, her eyes once again reverting to slit pupils as she looked up into the empty Town Hall, “there’s somepony else in here whose intentions I do not know. Show yourself, before I drag you out myself!”

There was a sudden movement, and Twilight and Nightmare Moon both turned quickly to see Overwatch drop down lightly onto the balcony beside them, her ears pressed meekly to her head with a weak, penitent smile on her face. “Heh heh, it-it was the armor, wasn’t it?”

Nightmare Moon was far from amused. “State your purpose before I take pleasure in your helpless sounds of begging.”

Overwatch’s eyes darted to Twilight briefly, though it was clear from the tiny mare’s expression what she expected of her guard. “Oh, I’m just here for this idiot,” the guard mare said, pointing a hoof at the unconscious Steel Blade. “You two seem to be getting along well, and it would be out of line for me to interrupt your conversation.” Overwatch finished with another few hesitant chuckles, tapping her hooves together nervously.

Nightmare Moon’s brow furrowed together, and she looked up at the roof curiously before she turned to Twilight. “Thou hast the strangest guards we have ever met,” the alicorn simply stated, before turning back to Overwatch. “Very well. Thou may takest him from here, but do not expect us to continue to show thee kindness should either of you return.” With that, Nightmare Moon released Steel Blade from her mane, raising a foreleg for Twilight to jump onto before levitating the stallion over to the entrance of the Town Hall, where she laid him down gently.

“Duly noted, Princess,” the guard mare said, before jumping smoothly over the ledge, hanging on briefly before dropping the rest of the way to ground level and trotting over to where Steel Blade lay.

“By the way, Twilight,” Overwatch said seriously, levitating Steel Blade to rest limply on her back, “I’m not sure if you got the message, but Steel Blade and I both want to see you alive after this.”

Twilight simply nodded, and with that, Overwatch turned to walk outside, calling out as she left, “I’m holding you to your word then, Miss!”

***

As the door closed behind her guard, Twilight felt Nightmare Moon’s knee push her into the air slightly to catch her attention, and she turned to look back up into the face of the alicorn. “Now,” Nightmare Moon began, “we believe that thou hast expressed a desire to ask us a question before we were so rudely interrupted.”

Twilight once again looked over at the door, feeling more than a bit grateful that her two oldest friends had gotten out alive as she tried to calm her hastily beating heart. Nightmare Moon gave her an encouraging smile, to which Twilight nodded and began speaking. “Y-yes, I did have a-a q-question, Nightmare Moon. I wish to ask—”

“Is that a proper way to address royalty? As a noble student and subject, thou shalt call us by our proper title,” Nightmare Moon said calmly.

“With all due respect,” Twilight said firmly, “I am a noble student and subject only to Princess Celestia. I am not your subject!” She finished with a stomp of her hoof, but she soon realized what she had just said and braced herself for a painful retaliation.

But instead of giving her a painful blow, Nightmare just sighed. “I guess I expected too much, but you will become our subject soon enough, I assure you of that,” she said calmly, much to Twilight’s surprise.

Twilight slowly relaxed her tense muscles. “Would you have hurt everypony in here if I didn’t interfere? I thought you were furious when no pony recognized you.”

Nightmare Moon shook her head. “We had no intention of hurting anypony. We just wanted to announce our glorious return, though to be honest, we would probably have hurt a few of our future subjects in our anger, something we would like to thank thee for stopping us from doing.”

“Y-you’re welcome, I guess. Still, it doesn’t explain why you don’t want to hurt anypony. Isn’t that what you tried to do a thousand years ago?”

“Our foolish subjects may not have shown us the proper respect and gratitude we deserved for the hard work we did to keep them safe, but we eventually discovered the truth behind that. It was all a result of our dear sister,” Nightmare Moon said coldly, gritting her teeth together, “and her deceitful manipulation. Our subjects were swayed to fear us while she received all of my praise. So, I have no dispute with any pony except Celestia.”

“Wait a moment, the book I read said that you, I mean—”

“Our former name was Luna,” Nightmare Moon interrupted.

“Yes, Luna. Didn’t she became jealous of her sister because ponies didn’t appreciate her nights? Wasn’t that the reason you managed to take over her body or whatever happened back then?” Twilight asked curiously, as her thirst for knowledge got the best of her.

Nightmare Moon’s demeanor took a perceptible dip as she lowered her head somberly. “Unappreciative ponies were just the tip of the iceberg. Dost thou wish to know the truth about how our subjects treated us? How they chose to thank us for all we did for them?”

“I would love too. Pleeeeeease?” Twilight said, barely containing herself from squealing as she tapped her hooves together impatiently, looking up at Nightmare Moon with a pleading pout and wide, round eyes.

The full moon above shone brightly on the fresh blanket of snow that covered the ground, an even coat save for where it was disturbed by the hoofprints of a night-blue alicorn and a group of her fearsome thestrals. The town they were approaching had reported a number of monster attacks, monsters that Luna and her forces had recently triumphed over and chased off before they could try again.

Their silvery armor now had a multitude of dents and scrapes on them, having seen and stopped countless attacks, and were now closer to scrap metal than to any form of protection. The ponies who wore them were in no better condition. Luna herself still dripped blood from many slash wounds over her body, including a few bite marks and puncture wounds from the manticores’ stingers. Despite the fact that her inherent alicorn magic was among the only things keeping her alive, she was as energetic as ever as she trotted confidently into the sleeping town.

“Fellow citizens of this glorious town, your pleas have been answered as we, Luna, the Princess of the Night, and our brave warriors have bested the monsters that have threatened your safety,” Luna called out victoriously. Already, lights were coming on as ponies lit their candles to greet them.

”Please come out and celebrate with us this glorious victory!” she continued, grinning broadly as a few ponies began to open their doors to look out at them.

And then the candles began going out.