Chapter 1: A Heinous Act
The lobby doors of Ponyville Hospital were forced open with tremendous force. The clerk at the front desk jumped out of her seat in surprise when it happened. She was occupied with usual desk work as it happened, so she failed to notice how exactly the doors opened, which was by magic. More specifically, a purple aura of magic.
The clerk stumbled back on her hooves as she heard a voice cry out "Help! Help!" The voice echoed with despair and overwhelming worry, tones that wouldn't surprise anypony to hear when having to rush into a hospital. When the clerk finally caught the voice's source in her vision, she was surprised to find that it was no ordinary pony who had burst into the lobby. There were two alicorns in presence of the facility, one of which the newest titular member of Equestrian royalty.
"Princess Twilight!" the clerk yelled in shock.
"Help me, please! My daughter has been attacked!"
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Noises faded in and out, coming in clear at some points when muffled most other times. The sounds depicted seemed to be the sounds of wheels turning as fast as allowed, as numerous voices spoke in swiftness and urgency.
Sight came and went, mainly because of struggle on the part of eyelids to stay open for so long. As with most of the body, pain coursed around the eyes which made it all the more difficult to keep open for so long.
There was movement, but by an unknown source. Where the body was in a place of stillness, it still felt as if it was racing down a path, but to where was a mystery. Then again, there was so much pain that the body could do nothing to alter the motions from happening.
"Her body is covered in bruises, most likely from hard forces of battery. Her breathing is irregular and bleeding is not slowing down yet."
"Any broken bones?"
"Will she be okay?! Please tell me she'll be okay!"
"Several, and her wings look torn along each base. The assault took so much for her to take."
"Get the filly to the ER. We need to operate immediately."
"NO! OH CELESTIA, NO!"
Nyx was being raced through the halls of the hospital as two nurses, a doctor and her mother raced alongside her. The poor filly fell victim to an act of cruel violence towards her, and was placed in a critical condition. All because she was who many ponies once feared her as, none of whom thought being pardoned or forgiveness was the rightful consequence of her past actions.
"Mm... Mom?..."
Nyx tried to speak, but was too weak to say a few words if not anything. Her mother was racing alongside her, refusing to leave the filly's side.
"It's ok, Nyx," Twilight told her, "I'm right here."
"Doctor," said one of the nurses, "we're approaching the OR."
"Right," replied Doctor Monitor. "Nurse Redheart, stay with the princess and escort her to somewhere private."
Twilight felt herself stopped by the nurse as she watches her daughter being rushed through the double doors into the operating room. As it happened, she tried to push herself passed the nurse as her hoof reached out towards Nyx and calling her name in distress.
"NYX!"
"Princess Twilight, please come with me," Redheart said as kindly as possible. "We have a room you can wait in that's close by, so you'll be the first to know about everything that happens. I do need to ask you a few questions about what happened to your daughter."
Having gone through such procedures at the hospital before, most times for Ponyville's resident daredevil/Wonderbolt Reserve, the purple alicorn tried to keep herself together. This proved difficult as she never dealt with anypony being as hurt as Nyx was, and that it happened to a member of her family made everything worse. She only nodded and walked alongside the nurse towards the lobby to get a medical folder and pen, and to quietly give instructions to the clerk. They then went back up the hall and walked into a room three doors down from the OR.
This room was reserved for only the highest in Equestrian society, most notably royalty. Being on the building's ground level, it was a surprise to Twilight that they walked into a spacious room filled with furniture to give it a living room feel, and a staircase. "This way please, Your Highness," Nurse Redheart said, leading the Princess of Friendship down the steps. They arrived in a more private room, only big enough to house a couple doctors and a full royal family compared to the room above.
"Please make yourself comfortable," the nurse said. Her hoof gestured towards one of the seats sitting on the other side of a beautifully designed desk as she took the seat on the doctor's side. Twilight took her seat and watched as the nurse opened the folder to reveal the contents inside being medical information about Nyx. The sight caused her eyebrow to arch in curiosity.
"You had Nyx's records on the front desk?" she asked. "I wouldn't think you'd keep records so... Open, like that."
"This isn't all of Nyx's documents. We keep a small portfolio of all members of the royal family available, locked away under the front desk for more immediate needs," Redheart explained. She then turned a couple pages of paper in the folder until her eyes stopped at a certain section. "It also directs us to your daughter's full medical history, or even yours or your royal peers."
"Oh... I see," Twilight replied.
Using her magic, the nurse opened one of the desk's drawers, and levitated another folder, this one much bigger in size, onto the desk top. After shutting the opened drawer, she opened the second folder to where the needed information was, put a notebook next to that and levitated a quill with her magic.
"Alright now," Redheart said, "we need to start talking about how Nyx ended up in her current state."
"Yes. Of course," agreed the alicorn, but her collective composure was weak, and not holding up well.
Showing sympathy, Redheart said "I know this is difficult for you, Princess Twilight, but I'll try to help make this easy for you." She lowered her quill to about a quarter inch from the paper and asked "Can you start by telling me if you know where it happened, and if you were there as well?"
Twilight nodded, tears building in her eyes, and began to explain what had happened. "I was there, yes, but not immediately near Nyx. It took place in front of the Castle of Nightmare. We were relaxing at the park after running some errands around town, and to enjoy some reading outside. One of my friends was calling out to me, and I saw her flying towards us with..."
Ponyville life was going good for many ponies that day. Business kept them just so busy that it wasn't overbearing, children were enjoying their day off of school, and those who didn't have to work enjoyed their day as they pleased. Every so often, a pony would notice two alicorns walking throughout the town, each wearing saddlebags filled with books and miscellaneous things, and give them a respectful bow as they pass on by. After all, Ponyville had become the kingdom of the Princess of Friendship and its Royal Court.
Princess Twilight Sparkle and her little filly Nyx were making their ways around town to take care of a few chores on their checklist. They had already stopped at Sugarcube Corner to pick up a fresh batch of cupcakes, and then Quills & Sofas to place an order for new quills, and some window browsing of in stock sofas. Then there was a stop at Carousel Boutique to drop off old gowns from the Grand Galloping Gala to be 'recycled' and share some cupcakes with Rarity and Sweetie Belle. It was no surprise to find Spike there as well, as he was gone since early morning, and answering to the fashion mare's every call of assistance.
As the mother and daughter would walk down street after street, they would pass fellow Ponyvillians. Whenever they would, most of the townspeople would kneel down to bow in respect to the passing alicorn princesses. A gesture she was still trying to get used to, Twilight just smiled in return, but awkwardly after seeing so much of it. She appreciates the respect ponies had for her, but their respect towards Nyx has never been the same.
Ponies would treat their bows as respect for both alicorns, showing that they are glad to see the filly as much as the mare. But there were several cases when ponies would stroll by the two without showing any gesture, at least of the more positive display. Some just ignored them while others stared crossly at one or the other, or both, and others would give a distasteful grunt or sound. Unfortunately it was easily identified to be all towards Nyx, as even though it has been a couple years, many ponies still find the filly's freedom and existence a disgusting sight to be reminded of.
As the two walked by some of the market stands, there was a stallion who eyed them from afar. His eyes narrowed with a glare as he fixated on the filly, while his mind thought of what he needed to be done and act on it. He was going to take care of Equestria's ongoing problem with Nightmare Moon once and for all.
With only a couple errands left to do with no rush needed, Twilight and Nyx walked over to the park. They found a nice tree with some flat ground underneath it and unloaded their saddlebags off their backs. The purple mare used her magic to pull a blanket out of her daughter's bag and spread it out on the grass, and then the two laid down on their stomachs.
"I think now's a good time to enjoy some reading," Twilight said. "We don't have to pick Spike up until after lunch, and we'll have that when Fluttershy is done helping her animals." She used her magic to remove her book, which was about Equestrian law and order, and open it in front of her.
Nyx read the title of her mother's book aloud; "'Laws & Declarations of Equestrian Government; Revision #26.' Why are you reading that, Mom?"
"Just some new knowledge for me to learn more about," Twilight explained. "As a princess, part of my responsibilities includes knowing what laws have been decreed since Equestria began, and any and all adaptations that were made since. This way, if something was to ever happen, I will have the knowledge to help resolve the situation."
"Sounds like a lot," Nyx said with hidden optimism. She let it show as she smiled with a hunger for knowledge and asked "Can I read with you and learn it, too?"
Twilight chuckled and teasingly replied "I don't know. I need to really focus on this..." She then noticed her daughter giving wide sad eyes and her front hooves together in pleading. It was a fun gimmick the filly would deploy, and the mare started to play games like this every so often. After another chuckle, she said "Alright, just let me see where I'm at first."
Nyx squeed a little and crouched down next to her mother excitedly as Twilight opened the book. She opened to a page she had bookmarked with a lavender ribbon, the same shade as her purple coat, and with her cutie mark sewn on one end, and Nyx's on the other. After a look at the next section of the book's subject, the mare expressed an uncomfortable look on her face. Her moment of staring broke as she began to hear Nyx read the opening sentences of the section.
"In the criminal justice system, pony violation and sexually-based offenses are considered incredibly hanis. In Equestria, the dedicated detectives that investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. This division of law enforcement was founded by Detective E..."
"That's enough Nyx." Twilight had to interrupt her little filly from reading any further. She had little recollection that this would be her next section to read, and given the nature of the crimes, wasn't comfortable with Nyx learning about these for another few years. "I don't want you to read anymore of this."
After giving a complaining sigh, Nyx asked "Why not?"
The purple mare tried to find the best words to explain, and settled for a simple truth. "Because there are some things about these laws that fillies shouldn't need to know about, not until they're old... I mean, mature enough to understand them."
"Are they bad laws?"
"Well, not bad as in they're bad laws to have. They're about very bad circumstances that can happen sometimes." To help give some clarity, she pointed her hoof to the name of a pony Nyx almost read aloud. "It was founded by this stallion, Detective Eli 'Stabler' Stable, the first pony who set the laws and organized order for these crimes. He worked cases about such horrible things that helped put away the worst of criminals."
"The worst of ponies? You mean like Nightmare Moon?" Nyx asked as her head bowed and ears lowered.
"Oh, no no no, Nyx, not ponies like you," the purple alicorn assured the filly. "These ponies weren't sorry and didn't want to be good no matter what. You're the kind of pony that apologizes and makes up for whatever mistakes you might make. Never think otherwise."
Feeling a little better, Nyx looked up at Twilight and gave her a small smile. "Okay, if you say so." She got up to move a couple feet away and laid down again, and then used her magic to levitate a old, worn book out of her bag. It was a book of spells her mother gave her to study that were within her abilities to relearn and practice, one that was once handed down from Princess Celestia to the alicorn's former protégé.
"It's a good thing I still brought this book. I can keep practicing to get better at using my magic. Sweetie Belle has been so impressed with what she and I have been doing during our time with you that she wants me to help her with her magic too. I want to study all I can to get better at my magic and help teach her, too."
A smile crossed Twilight's face after hearing Nyx say that, the filly's hunger for knowledge wanted to not only better herself, but to use it to help her friends as well. It filled the mare with pride to see just how much her daughter reflected her so much. "I'm so proud of you for that, Nyx, and I'm really happy that our Twilight Time has been helping you and your friends learn so much."
She then paused for a moment and thought about how the original trio of the Cutie Mark Crusaders caused a little trouble on their part with their classmates a little while before the Breezies ordeal, and couldn't help but chuckle again. "...Even for the better or worse of reasons." Both alicorns had another chuckle before gluing their eyes onto the printed text of their books, and began to study their contents.
As one page was read, the books turned to another, and then another, and so on, only pausing a couple times for each of them to reread certain contents. It was quiet and peaceful in the park with the beautiful weather on top of it, making their study time all the better and more enjoyable on top of learning new things. They were lost out of time into their books, failing to notice that nearly two hours passed by quicker than Applejack in an applebucking race, and that farmer could really move in such a challenge. Mother and daughter studying new things together, a truly wonderful bonding time between two of the most infamous Ponyvillians, for better or worse reasons.
Unfortunately, the worst of reasons had interrupted a well-enjoyed afternoon. Nyx had completed studying a new spell, second level transfiguration magic that, when properly applied, can allow her to change objects or beings that average the size of a typical child pony into almost anything. She shut her book and got her mother's attention to give it an attempt, and decided to transform her saddlebags into something else entirely. Twilight gave her full attention to this, but was interrupted by somepony from afar calling out her name.
"Twilight! Hey, Twilight!"
Turning towards the direction of the calls, the two ponies found the most loyal pegasus in Equestria, Rainbow Dash, flying towards rhem and closing fast. The cyan mare landed right next to them with a thudding pounce of her hooves into the grass, her wings still extended out as if ready to take off again. After catching a quick breath to speak again, she told her friend "Twilight, come quick! Ponies are rioting at Night Stone Castle right now!"
"A riot?!" Twilight said.
"Yeah, and it's not exactly one you can ignore like others there have been. They're yelling awful things about you and Nyx, and you need to get over there to settle it! Now!" Rainbow added.
A stern stare crossed the princess's face, standing up and using her magic to put all of the things taken out of the saddlebags, and put them back in the correct bags. She extended her wings out, ready to take flight, and said "Let's go, Rainbow Dash." She saw her friend take off in a dash, as her name would describe, but before taking off herself, felt something jump onto her back. She turned her head and found Nyx standing there.
"Are you ready?" Twilight asked. Nyx gave her a nod with a determined look on her face. "Alright, Nyx, hang on!"
With a strong flap of her wings, the princess took off to follow Rainbow Dash. Flying as fast as her abilities would allow her, the two set off to investigate this riot and settle it immediately. In her newly established kingdom of friendship, Princess Twilight refused any sort of negative outbursts such as this, and planned to use the best of her authority to find a peaceful end to this new trouble.
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"No longer must Equestria have to allow the worst of criminals to roam free! Our princess are betraying us by jeopardizing our lives to the life of Nightmare Moon!"
In the front yards of the Night Stone Castle, a large group of ponies had gathered in a protest. For those who couldn't yell strong compared to others, they held up signs that showed their dislike of some particular ponies. The crowd was faced towards the castle, watching as one pony stood atop of an empty crate of soap. It was a stallion who was making multiple proclamations for a while now, which drew more and more ponies in from the nearby town, including an overhearing pegasus. Letting another cheer from his watchers die down, he continued to address his audience.
"Equestria does not deserve to endure the ongoing possibility that Nightmare Moon will plunge our world in eternal night again. Day after day, she roams our streets, plotting her next scheme in her mind to reestablish her Children of Nightmare. Our 'glorious' alicorn princesses allow this to continue, well I say to you this-
"No more!" The crowd cheered again in agreement. "No more endangering ponykind, and no more endangering Equestria! This castle behind stands as a visual example of allowing evil to rise again, and so I say to you, my fellow ponies, we start a new era of peace where an era of darkness was the capital! I say we demolish this castle to the ground and be rid of its sight, and then make our way to stop Nightmare Moon!..."
"Sorry, buddy! That's not gonna happen!"
The crowd turned around to see Rainbow flying in and landing on her hooves a few meters away. A less than pleasurable look was across her face as the mare said "If anything should stop it's that big mouth of yours from talking." She earned a mad glare from the entire group, including the stallion.
"And who are you to judge what I say? For all I know you're nothing mo..."
The stallion stopped talking as his sights caught the approach of the resident princess. Twilight landed next to Rainbow Dash, but gently as compared to the pegasus's stomping of a landing, as she had Nyx riding on her back. She closed her wings and allowed her daughter to jump off her back onto the ground next to her, and then setting her sights at the crowd before her.
"What is going on here? What is the meaning of this?" Twilight asked her questions in a tone that was firm, but soft, much like how her mentor would approach some circumstances.
The stallion stepped down from his soap box and began to walk through the crowd between him and the new arrivals. "Well if it isn't one of our betraying leaders, 'Princess' Twilight."
He emerged through the crowd and revealed himself to the alicorns; a strong-bodied unicorn with a dark tan coat and a silvery mane and tail, wearing a formal black vest and slim glasses on his eyes. On his flank was his cutie mark, which showed an open book with red pages and a thin, bright outling around it. His dark blue irises stared at the three newcomers in a pose that made him feel like a ruler at the highest podium. His face showed an especially disgusted frown as he saw the little black filly standing next to the alicorn princess.
"And there stands the greatest threat we ponies tremble in fear of. Hello, Nightmare Moon."
A cold shiver went along Nyx's back, and her ears lowered at the sound of her former self. But what got to her the most was how the pony said it to her, as if she was loathed more than any other thing possible, and it instilled a little fear in her.
"Hey! Her name is Nyx!" Rainbow shouted at him.
"Sorry, that name is for a filly, not a monster," the stallion coldly replied.
Twilight glared at him angrily, wanting to pounce on him like Pinkie Pie on a cake, but she kept herself restrained physically. Watching how much temper she'd let out, she said "How dare you speak to us that way! Who are you, and why are you here?"
The stallion raised a hoof and adjusted his glasses for a better fit. "My name is Silver Lining. I am a pony who tries to look out for the better living of ponies across Equestria, no matter the situation," he said. "Today I've come to Ponyville for my most important mission to date, and that is the guilty criminal you and your fellow princesses allow to roam free!"
Silver Lining pointed his hoof at Nyx during his accusation. The crowd behind him cheered with their mutual distaste, making Twilight and Rainbow Dash all the angrier. "There is no criminal here. The ponies of Ponyville are all good, innocent, and well-respected citizens, who would never want to do wrong," the purple alicorn said.
"Says the mare who used her magic to cause Discord levels of chaos on multiple occasions, and the 'caretaker' of a pony who once enslaved all of Equestria," Silver Lining said insultingly. "You're willing to tell me - to tell everypony - that you're taking care of that threat, who has violently attacked and imprisoned ponies, including yourself, and call her a good pony?!"
"B-but... But I am a good pony," Nyx said in a quiet whimper, mostly to herself.
"That is enough!" Twilight said, stomping her front hooves hard against the ground.
"Yeah!" added Rainbow Dash! "You better leave them alone!"
"Oh yeah?" Silver challenged. "What are you going to do about it?"
"Keep on insulting my friends and find out!" Rainbow lashed back, standing in front of the two alicorns.
Silver Lining just turned his head away in disgust for a moment, and then turned his attention back to the crowd behind him. "Take a good look, my friends, for that there is a true example of a traitor!" He extended his hoof out and pointed straight at Rainbow Dash.
"A WHAT?!!" The mare exclaimed.
"She is willing to stand against her fellow ponies to serve the undeserving. The so-called Element of Loyalty faces the wrong direction as she has her back turned on you, on me, on all of us! Who's to say that the other Elements of Harmony stand alongside her and try to protect Nightmare Moon! Harmony is endangered by not only the princesses, but by those who represent it for everypony!
"The Elements of Harmony are all traitors!"
The crowd began to voice their own opinions until they all rambled in angry unison. Twilight couldn't belive what she was hearing the stallion lie to everyone about, insulting her best friends and her daughter and such ways. She began to hear the other ponies cry out terrible things about Nyx such as "She's a monster!" "We need to protect ourselves!" "Be gone, Nightmare Moon!"
Twilight's ear caught the sound of Nyx starting to whimper, and the filly ducked herself behind the purple mare and under her tail. It was certainly not the first time this had happened, but it was never easier for a child to have to endure so many times. Seeing her daughter hiding her cringing sadness put the Princess of Friendship into, against her title, a less than friendly mood. As her angered flared, so did Rainbow Dash's as the pegasus jumped herself right into the rude stallion's face.
"THAT'S IT!" She yelled. "I'LL MAKE YOU EAT THOSE WORDS WHEN I SHOVE MY HOOF STRAIGHT DOWN YOUR..."
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight yelled, and used her magic to pull her friend back to her. "Don't even think about retaliating to him. You'll just be giving him what he wants."
"Are you kidding me? With all those lies he's saying about us, and about Nyx? Somepony needs to shut him up!" Rainbow tried to argue, but the absolutely livid glare Twilight was giving back began to scare her, which she wouldn't ever willingly admit.
"Believe me, I hate this as much as you," the alicorn mare said angrily, trying her best to lighten her voice up, "but by reacting with anger only fuels his cause." She then turned her attention back to the group, and began to address them again.
"Everypony, if I may be allowed to speak, I need to remind you all that what you fear and believe is nothing but lies and misconceptions. I am aware..."
"Are you saying that the actions of Nightmare Moon were lies? Or that her punishment is misconceived?" Silver Lining interrupted in a very rude manner.
Twilight could feel her wings trying to flare out as if they were sharp razor blades, but she could feel Nyx hiding behind her still. For Nyx's best interests, and in some ways her own, she forced herself to resist any outbursting urge. She then asked her friend to stay close to her daughter and tried to step forward, but the filly tried to keep herself hidden under the heavily purple colored tail. It took a minute to convince Nyx to stay with Rainbow, but she did so, and Twilight retook her turn to speak.
"I am not saying what you asked isn't true, but I will defend to the end that they are justifiable. Nyx was responsible for many terrible things inflicted on everypony, including myself, but what you fail to see blinds you from the truth. Nyx surrendered to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna after she informed me on how to free them from the sun and moon, respectively, and after a series of investigations and question, it was Luna who passed judgment on Nyx for everything that transpired during Nightmare Moon's reign. Since then, she was put into my care to live a full life that she was reborn with, but not as Nightmare Moon. As Nyx Sparkle,who I adopted as my own after getting to know the true filly who she tries to be every single day.
"What you fear of her, as I was trying to say, I am aware of why you would continue to have that fear. We all tend to fear the worst case scenario for many things, whether we try to fulfill a dream, or accomplish a task in a self-established time period, or any other reason one can imagine. But being here, what you gather for and preaching what you fear, is like you have no faith in those who wish to redeem themselves for their actions. Who are we to say that a pony who's willing to fix what they have damaged is permanently guilty for it? Princess Luna did not see that and allowed Nyx a second chance not out of fear, not for Nyx being Nightmare Moon for a time, but Nyx wanting to be Nyx and do the right thing.
"On behalf of your princesses, and the six who represent the Elements of Harmony, what you fear is a lie. Nightmare Moon is gone and will never return to threaten Equestria again. What you misconceive is a filly who only wants to be the best pony she wants to be; a great pony and a great friend to whoever would want her friendship. Her punishment was given to her with fairness and justification by those who only want what is best for everypony, not only a certain few. Anything you see of Nyx's, whether it is her former castle or just her living her life, is what it is now, and not what it was then.
"I ask of everypony here to try and understand this, and end this continuing hate. We can forgive events of Chaos, so why can't we move forward from Nightmares? As a Princess, and a mother, you have my word that my daughter is no more a threat to you than a gentle breeze a pegasus can fly with, or a blooming flower in a garden. Nyx is a pony that just wants to be good to you, so I ask you, you don't have to be directly involved, but at least allow her to continue to prove it to you as she has been for the last two years."
The protesters were silent as they let what Twilight said to them sink in. Behind the alicorn, Rainbow Dash was really impressed by how Twilight had handled things so surprisingly calm. Her friend didn't even entered a rage shift when looking that livid. Then again, having Princess Celestia as a mentor and two other peers guiding her has a helping hoof.
Nyx just stared up at her mother with an inspired gaze. Yes, it wasn't the first time Twilight had to come to her rescue, but every time was a moment she'd never forget, because of how much her mother showed devotion and care to preserve a peaceful life for them both, and everypony. At that moment, she just felt like the conflict was over, and that she had the greatest mom in Equestrian history. Then again, she always felt that Twilight was the most amazing pony ever, even going as far as thinking of her as, as some of the hippier ponies put it, 'Twilightlicious.'
Silver Lining pondered to himself for a couple minutes as he thought deep to himself. He broke the ongoing silence and said "I see... It all seems clear now..." Twilight, Rainbow and Nyx all began to smile, believing what the princess had said ended things.
"I see what's truly going on here now. I had my hunch it could be true but now it's clear as day..." Silver then pointed his hooves at the trio and made a new proclamation-
"The 'Princesses' and Elements of Harmony have been Blessed by Nightmare Moon! They're under her control as the new Children of Nightmare!"
"Oh my Celestia!"
"Could it be true? Are they Blessed?"
"No wonder they're protecting Nightmare Moon!"
The protesting ponies started to believe that Silver Lining's theory was correct. The Children of Nightmare did serve Nightmare Moon loyally after being Blessed by the evil mare's dark magic. Twilight, Rainboiw Dash and Nyx just stared at the group dumbfounded, their jaws hanging open in surprise at suck a thought of the Blessing controlling them. Twilight never felt that shocked, or enraged, by the thought since Shining Armor said the same thing about Nyx during the filly's first Hearth's Warming with her family.
"It is clear now more than ever that Equestria is in peril, my friends!" said the insulting, muscular unicorn stallion. "Our leaders and protectors are Blessed by the very dark magic that created the Children of Nightmare. Instead of banishment, they are enslaved to the evil force that is the so-called 'filly' you see there! Nopony is safe now!"
Rainbow Dash then said "WHY YOU LITTLE..."
"ENOUGH!" Twilight exclaimed, becoming so infuriated that her wings opened up and her horn sparking magical energy. This caught everypony's attention easily. "Your Princesses are NOT Blessed by dark magic! That evil power was destroyed by Nyx herself, and it was her who freed all those who were Blessed. I will not have your accusations continue on, Silver Lining. I tried to be nice and calm, but now I am DONE with this! No more of your lies!"
"Lies? What you still call lies, I see as the truth," the stallion replied, and boldly stepped forward to face the purple alicorn. Their muzzles came just within a couple inches of each other. "And regardless of being Blessed or not, you are put in peril to be harmed again. Broken, beaten, and scarred like a criminal. You remember all too well about that happening to you, so why enable it to happen again? Come to your senses and see the truth like us, and abandon that freak of ponykind and sentence her to a permanent new home."
The purple mare growled furiously at the stallion, and her patience finally running out. Never would she abuse her royal title to make things her way, but for this case, she found an exception to banish that pony out of Ponyville forever, and shut him out much like how Trixie did to her a while back. Her eyes burned with rage, and her mane began to shift, but it didn't last for more than a moment. The voice of another pony spoke up and broke her out of her enraged trance. This voice was Nyx's.
"Stop it! Just stop it!" The filly yelled with much anger, and bravely stepped up to stand next to her mother. "I would never hurt my mom, or put anypony in danger! I made a lot of bad decisions, and I apologized for them, and the Princesses let me have another chance to be a better pony, which I always try to do! I'm not Nightmare Moon! I'm not plotting to take over Equestria, and my family, friends, and the Princesses are NOT Blessed!" She then let a lot of her upset emotions out in one more exclaim, right up at Silver Lining's face-
"I'M NOT EVIL! NOPONY THREATENS YOU! NOW LEAVE ME AND MY FAMILY ALONE!!!"
Everypony just stared down at the outbursting filly, some scared and others surprised, but Twilight, Rainbow and Silver were just speechless for the moment. The trio expected to hide behind whichever friend or family member was closest to try and hide from having attention on her. Instead, she let herself have a temper tantrum, and for the first time, right in the face of who was causing her problems, the fact that left the alicorn without words more than anypony. Silver Lining, however, found some words to motivate his movement further.
"How dare you, Nightmare Moon," he said as coldly as he could. "Enough of your lies and deceit! It is time you face the responsibility for your crimes, and get what you deserve!" The crowd behind him cheered in agreement as he did the unthinkable next; he raised a front leg, and threw his hoof down against Nyx, punching her right across the face onto the ground.
"Nyx!" Twilight started to panic, her anger started to blaze within her. Before she could do anything, the filly was caught in the aura of the stallion's magic.
"Now is our chance, my friends," Silver Lining told the group. "Take this villain and give her what she deserves!" Using his magic, he levitated her behind him and used his rear legs to buck her into the crowd.
Nyx cried in pain as she felt his hooves hit her spine, followed by her muzzle slamming against another stallion's chest. Before she could do anything, she felt hoof after hoof kicking, hitting, and pounding any available area they could aim for. She began to cry out with every strike of pain as pony after pony assaulted her. With what she could gather in a single breath, she cried out for help. "MOM! HELP ME!"
Both Twilight and Rainbow had finally snapped. The alicorn began to race around the stallion that caused this chaos, but he managed to keep her back by not reverse his bucking technique, using his front hooves to slam into her upper chest. It had enough force to knock the wind right out of Twilight, freezing her where she stood as she tried to catch her breath. Rainbow Dash's anger was only fueled even more by his actions, and she had her sights set to knock him out cold.
"That's it! I'm going to make you eat dirt until you choke!" As the cyan pegasus began her attack and tackled into Silver Lining, Twilight tried to speak to her in between her gasping for air.
"Don't... Rainbow... Nyx... Save her."
Rainbow knew that there was no time to argue over actions at this point, and kept herself to her Element of Harmony and listened to her friend's plea. She darted for the endangered filly, but ran into trouble herself just as she was in reach, for Silver used his magic to kick dust off the ground into the air. The dust got into her eyes, causing her vision to blur and make her crash into the group of ponies attacking Nyx. It wasn't exactly how he wanted the result to be, but he didn't complain with the new opportunity he had.
"Hold back that disloyal mare! Make sure she aids nopony!" As a few ponies shifted their attention from Nyx to Rainbow Dash, Silver turned his sights back to Twilight, who was still trying to catch her breath. "As for you, 'Your Highness,' I will make sure that your controlled state of mind will not assist in Nightmare Moon's inevitable cease of living. You will be cured of your mental plague; I promise you that."
Silver's horn began to glow, casting a spell to keep Twilight inside a shield of his magic. It was only to be just long enough for his deed to be done; to end Equestria of the mare that threatened all ponies with eternal night. "Once she is done, ponies will rejoice and celebrate, knowing that her evil being no longer walks among us," he said, mainly to Twilight and himself. "I will be honored a hero, the hero that did what the Elements of Harmony won't. Today, I have lead ponykind to the death of Nightmare Moon!"
Twilight froze, but only for three seconds. The first second was the shock of hearing what Silver Lining had spat out of his mouth. The second one marked when she was able to breathe again. And the third second was when she drew in a good breath of air and began to cast a magic spell of her own.
"STOP!!!!!"
Her voiced bellowed with what could be mistaken for the Canterlot voice, powerfully enforcing and echoing as if it could reach the next town. At the same time, she casted her magic to cancel out the stallion's magic and freeze everypony in their place. Getting back on her hooves, she kept the spell going in order to walk around Silver, giving him a livid glare, and walk into the crowd of ponies. She made her way through to find Rainbow Dash being held down on the ground by two ponies, and worst of all, her daughter curled up into a ball on the ground. She was covered in many bruises and stains of blood, setting Twilight's panic levels to an even higher level.
"Nyx!" Twilight cried, tearing up in building panic as she raced up to her. To make everything worse, the filly's whimpering faded into silence as she began to fade in and out of unconsciousness. "No! NYX!" She immediately lowered her head to Nyx, seeing and hearing her still, but only barely, breathing. "Hold on, Nyx," she said, starting to cry. "I'll get you out of here."
Using levitation magic carefully, she lifted Nyx into the air, and then turned to face Rainbow Dash, freeing the mare from the holding spell. "Rainbow, I need to get Nyx to the hospital. Are you-"
"I'm fine," Rainbow replied, shaking her head to regain her focus. "You get Nyx away from here. I'll make sure these freaks stay put."
"They're in a holding spell," the alicorn said, "so they can't escape. Find the mayor and Spike, report what happened, and have the guards come here."
"I'm on it. Now go!"
With that, Rainbow took off into the sky and back towards town. Twilight turned back to her daughter, her horn beginning to glow brighter. "You'll be okay, Nyx," she said, hoping that the filly heard her words. With the power of the Princess's teleportation magic, they both disappeared, leaving Silver Lining and the entire crowd frozen in their place for their upcoming arrests.
"...and that's when Nyx and I got outside the hospital and came in the doors. I tried to focus on getting inside, but I couldn't concentrate to a specific spot and focus my magic on that."
Twilight concluded her explanation of what happened. There were several points towards the end where she had to stop and collect her emotions before starting to cry, and she had finally reached her limit. She needed to stop there, bow her head, and let out the sadness built up inside her through semi-controlled sobbing. Nurse Redheart continued to jot down some notes from what Twilight had said, and then looked over some of Nyx's medical records for a few seconds.
The nurse got out of her seat, and walked up to Twilight's side and put a hoof on the alicorn's shoulder. Since the events of the Everfree Invasion, she became one of the many ponies who saw through the Nightmare Moon form Nyx once had, and accepted Nyx as a good pony who answered for her actions to the other Princesses. Bias set aside, she felt sorry for the Sparkle family.
"We will do everything we can for your daughter, Your Highness," she said with kind softness. "I need to take this information upstairs and address this with the other doctors. Please remain here or in the lounge upstairs until we come for you, and we'll provide you anything you need."
The purple mare raised her head, looked at the nurse with a depressed expression and said "Just help Nyx. Please, help my Nyx."
"We will," Redheart said. "I will return as quickly as I can." With that, she walked back upstairs and through the lounge, the sound of a shutting door echoing down to the Princess, who remained in her place, and continued to cry.
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excuse me sir but that is treason
oh ponies are going to hang for this
I agree with Darklight. Please be ok Nyx.
nice story so far