Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Eve was hard at work, making sure that the pollen was mixing in well with the dust. The pollen itself had an almost intoxicating smell to it, and was dirty shade of yellow. There seemed to be a nearly endless supply of the stuff from the gray flower it came from. Her brow began to perspire as she worked, total concentration was needed is she was to avoid any unfortunate mishaps. Should anything go wrong, the results could be disastrous. She pulled her mane back to keep it from distracting her or worse, getting into the mixture itself. She was so consumed by her work that she didn't even notice that somepony had been watching her from the window. It watched her as she poured and mixed, satisfied with what it had seen, the figure hurried away before Eve would ever have time to notice.
"Just one more touch and...there! Finished at last." she declared, wiping her brow in relief. Her head felt a little fuzzy and dizzy, but that was okay, the dust was complete, and ready to be used. Grabbing an empty vial, she poured the contents that were in the mixing bowl into it, her gray eyes squinted carefully at the mixture, making sure not to spill a single speck of it. Then she secured it tightly with a cork. Her hard work was complete.
"And now with this, I can finally be happy." she said to herself. "I won't have to worry about losing Fluttershy anymore." She tucked the dust away, along with her other tools, it was late and she needed her rest tomorrow. She closed her window shutters, and blew out the candle that she'd been working under. Letting out a yawn, she moved to her little bed and collapsed onto it and its plush sheets. Falling asleep almost instantly. She almost couldn't wait till the next day, she'd leave the kingdom forever. She didn't mind if nopony didn't miss her, none of that seemed to matter to her anymore.
Outside her house however, the pony had been watching immediately went from house to house, spreading the news of what she'd seen through the window. Most couldn't believe what she was telling them, but she assured them that she knew what she saw, and what she saw was Eve up to no good. All of them could see how serious she seemed to be, and with her, they decided to show Eve what happened to those who try to mess with the peace of their village. Once a plan was devised, they all agreed to meet up in the morning at Eve's house, and confront her on what she was doing. Once everything seemed to be settled, the Nightmares returned to their home to await for nightfall, as they slept through the day.
Princess Luna was beginning to worry when Queen Amalthea had called her to her royal chambers. Did she want to finally sit down and talk? Or was this about the fact that Fluttershy was possibly being kept in the Garden of Shadows. The queen was most displeased when she'd heard such news, not liking the idea of one of her loyal subjects once again disregarding her warnings and go into that dreadful place. Perhaps this was about how Luna had done something similar, and had also gone into the garden, the queen might've had a lecture all planned out and everything.
She arrived at the chamber door, and knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Called Queen Amalthea. Princess Luna used her magic to open the door for herself, and entered the large bedchamber. The queen was sitting at her dressing table, brushing out her golden mane in front of her mirror. Amalthea met Luna's eyes in the mirror and tilted her head to the large four-poster bed that was not far behind.
"You may sit on the edge of the bed if you wish." she said. Luna obliged and sat down upon the silken bed. Nopony spoke for a few moment, until Amalthea said, "I've heard that you've sent those other dreamers back to Equestria." Luna was momentarily confused, was this really what the queen wanted to talk about?
"Y-yes. I did." she answered.
"Why?" the queen asked simply.
"I felt that they would be more useful there than here."
"So you didn't want them to get in the way?" pressed Amalthea.
"What? No, it's just that, there's no telling what might happen considering that Moonlight Eve has gotten involved with the garden. Who knows what she might've picked up while there?" The queen went on with her questions.
"And why haven't you gone back with them? Shouldn't you be attending to your royal duties as Princess of the Night? Or is it because you feel some kind of obligation to keep an eye on those other two, Twilight and Discord?" Luna was becoming even more confused. What was Amalthea getting at? The queen waited for an answer.
"This has nothing to do with Twilight and Discord, I've come not only to see tat their friend is safely returned, but that I make amends for my past transgressions here." Luna paused for a moment, but saw that the queen wanted her to continue. "As for my duties, I informed my sister of the situation before I left, she's taking care of my role until I return. Though it's, needless to say that she already has much practice, filling in for me." Queen Amalthea set down her brush and turned to face Luna. Her face was serious and yet her golden eyes looked weary. But weary of what?
"So you are staying because you wish to redeem yourself to me?" she asked.
"Not just you, but to all the Nightmares. I want things to go back to how they were. When you and the Nightmares helped watch over and protected the dreamers." said Luna. "But most importantly, I want to ask an old friend for forgiveness, for my own selfish ambitions." The corners of Amalthea's mouth turned into a slight smile.
"That's all I needed to hear." Luna looked at her bewildered.
"What?"
"Since you came back here, I've been thinking lately. While you have made your share of mistakes in the past, I too have made my own. That perhaps, we are both no exception when it comes to having faults, and that it's about time to forgive and forget." Luna couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Are, are you saying...?"
"I'm saying that, I am willing to forgive you, but I can't say the same for my Nightmares. I've grown tired of holding blame on you, and think that it's time to move on, to better things." Luna didn't know what else to say except, "Thank you."
"Don't thank me just yet, you still have a long way to go if you want to prove yourself." said Queen Amalthea.
"I figured as much." For the first time since her arrival, Luna exchanged a friendly smile with Amalthea, a smile that vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.
"With that out of the way, there's something else I called you here to talk about." The queen said, conveying the seriousness of it all within her voice and expression. "We must proceed with caution if we are to find the pegasus in the Garden of Shadows. While the Tenebris may be gone, their influence can still affect ponies who possess even a speck of darkness in them, and they cause that darkness to spread and the pony is corrupted." Luna could feel a touch of shame weighing on her shoulders.
"I know." she said.
"I don't know if those two, Twilight and Discord, have succeeded in getting close to Eve or not, but they must be careful. And, for all we know, Eve may already be under the garden's influence." Queen Amalthea got up and moved to the door, opening it for Luna.
"You may go. Warn them now, and tell them of what you know."
"And what about you? What will you do?" asked Luna. Amalthea looked almost as if she was smiling.
"There are some things I need to do, especially where Eve is concerned." Luna didn't ask the queen what she meant, but instead left the bedchamber to inform Twilight and Discord. There was no time to lose!
It was a pleasant afternoon, as Discord and Fluttershy were laughing, having a good time in each others company. They were having an outdoor picnic, and yet, Discord felt as though he wasn't just experiencing it, but also that he was watching it from afar. He couldn't even hear his own conversation, like all the sound had been taken, and all that was left was the scene before him. The warm feeling of friendship filled through, as it did every time he was with Fluttershy, except now it seemed...different somehow. Like the feeling was a bit stronger than friendship. He looked at the pegasus as she brushed a strand of her mane out of her face so she could get a better look at him. She gave him a kind tender smile that made something in his chest beat a little fast.
He wanted to close it up, and not let go of this feeling.Her lips moved, Discord tried to hear what it was she was saying, only to feel as though something were pulling at him. Like he was being lassoed away, the scene started to fade away, and Fluttershy was gone once more. Discord tried to fight against whatever invisible bonds were holding him. He was promptly dropped like a sack of potatoes. He rubbed his rear end and turned his head in either direction, looking for the pony responsible. Another pony appeared next to him, it was none other than Princess Twilight herself, like him no longer disguised as a Nightmare. She was shocked by suddenly appearing in this unfamiliar void, and even more shocked to see him there.
"Discord? What's going on here? Where are we?" she asked, wild for some answers. Discord merely folded his arms.
"Perhaps our dear princess has some answers." As if on cue, Princess Luna appeared in a column of white light. Her dark flowing mane twinkling in it.
"There better be a good excuse for this Luna," he said. "I was in the middle of a particularly good dream."
"I'll get to the point then." Luna said. "We've found out where Fluttershy might be." That got Discord's attention, as well as Twilight's.
"Really? Where?" asked Twilight.
"Not far from the kingdom, over the northern hill, somewhere in the Garden of Shadows." Twilight and Luna then began to have some discussion that Discord had tuned out of. At last, he now knew where Fluttershy was. He could find her now.
"....and so, it is best to take precaution when entering the garden." said Luna.
"We'll be sure to remember that, right Discord?" Discord looked up, pulled out of his thoughts. He waved his lion paw dismissively.
"Yes, yes, of course." he said in a droll tone, not really caring what the two alicorns had been talking about.
"It's time to send you back, the Nightmares will be waking soon." said Luna. She waved her horn and sent Twilight back to her own dream, but left Discord. "Except for you." she said to Discord alone. Discord frowned, rolling his eyes.
"What is it now?" he asked already bored with the conversation.
"I want speak with you, and see how you've been feeling the past few days." said Luna. Discord snickered.
"You, want to talk about my feelings? Oh, that's rich." Discord snapped his talon, he appeared lounging on a psychiatry couch, while Luna wore a pair of round black rimmed glasses and was holding a clip board.
"What's next? Talking about my trouble past? How I didn't get attention as a youth?" He asked dramatically, a paw to his forehead. "Oh, woe is me!" Luna took off the glasses and tossed them and the clipboard away.
"I'm serious Discord."
"You're always serious, in fact, there's hardly a time where you or the other princess don't address me with anything but serious. It's really quite boring you know."
"I mean it Discord." Luna said. "The garden has a way of playing with a pony's emotions, trying to sway them to their influence. When you head in there, you need to not let your emotions get in the way. or let them cloud your judgement."
"And you're telling me this why?" he asked. "Really Luna, you should know by now that I can take care of myself."
"Yes, but with all this concerning Fluttershy, it might affect your judgement." Discord scowled, but said nothing. "I know you have strong feelings toward her, but the garden could use that to its advantage. You might act out, even more so than you usually do."
"So what, are you saying that I shouldn't care about what happens to her? That I shouldn't worry about her well being?"
"I'm saying, that you shouldn't be fooled while in the Garden of Shadows. Trust me when I say, it is a horrible, and if you'll pardon the phrase, nightmarish place." Finished with what she had to say, Luna waved her horn once more and sent Discord back.
Discord and Twilight were waken up, not because they'd been sent back by Princess Luna, but because there was some kind of ruckus going on outside. Twilight was the first to gallop out of the house to see what all the fuss was about. Nearly all the Nightmares were gathered around Eve and her house, yelling and arguing over something. Whatever it was, it only seemed to make them angrier. Twilight met Eve's eyes over the crowd, they didn't posses any sign of fear of timidness, but rather a twisted, almost crazed look.
"I could care less about this place, or what happens to all of you!" Eve spat. "It doesn't matter really, not anymore." She took out a round bottle from her pack. "Goodbye forever!"
"Eve! Wait!" But it was too late. Eve threw down the bottle, as it cracked open onto the ground, a billowing cloud of smoke rose up, covering her from sight. Twilight coughed on the smoke as she tried to reach where Eve had been. As the smoke cleared, Eve was gone without a trace. Everypony was dazed, murmurs rose from the crowd as to where Eve had gone, and what she'd just done. Twilight stood there, her temper starting to rise. Eve was the only pony who knew how to get through the Garden of Shadows, how to free Fluttershy from whatever prison she was kept in, and now she was gone.
"What happened?" she asked. She faced the crowd, anger plastered on her face. "What did you all do?!" Starla, who was at the head of the crowd, took a few steps forward.
"Us? We were only dealing a little justice to that Nightmare, showing her that she shouldn't get away with pranking us." The other Nightmares nodded in agreement.
"It wasn't her! She didn't do it!"
"Please, I saw for myself that she was mixing up all sort of strange potions or whatever. Using weird substances, she might've been planning to poison us, or worse!" said Starla.
"No, Eve would never-" Twilight couldn't finish though. She didn't really know Eve all that well. She tried opening up to her, but Eve would always turn away, not wanting her offer of friendship. Could she have been making a poison? Luna had said that the garden was capable of corruption, so who's to say she hadn't been thinking about it. Getting revenge on the Nightmares who mistreated her. Starla sneered and went on.
"Eve is guilty and you know it, so stop trying to fool yourself. Your own brother agrees with me." Twilight's eyes widened.
"My brother?"
"Yeah, he came to me to apologize for how you treated me, and said that I was right in suspecting that mare. That somepony needed to keep an eye on her in case she got into trouble." Twilight's face went slack, as she put two and two together. Discord arrived, taking in the large, and somewhat angry mob.
"What did I miss?" he asked. Twilight turned on him, her temper reaching its breaking point as she launched all her pent up rage toward him on him.
"You!" she said seething. "This is all your fault!" Discord wasn't sure by what she meant, but luckily she explained for him. Well, more like shouted it at him. "You did this, you got all these ponies to gang up on Eve and now she's gone!" Discord then saw what this was. His comeback against Eve had been put into action, he hadn't expected the Nightmare to turn up and leave, and he'd hoped to be there to see the look on her face as all the fellow villagers turned on her. Twilight was still ticked off.
"After all that's happened, you still result to such underhoofed tricks? I'd thought that with Fluttershy on the line, you'd be more serious, that you would put aside any petty hatred you have toward Eve. But I was wrong." Twilight stormed past him, and said as she passed by his ear, "I hope you're happy. I can only imagine how disappointed Fluttershy would be." 'I'm very disappointed in you...' Discord stood there, un-moving. The Nightmares weren't sure what was going on between the two, so they all thought it was best to leave. Had he really ruined things? No. He couldn't have. Everything he'd done was for Fluttershy, to not only get her back, but to get back at her captor for taking her in the first place. Then again...hadn't the same thing happened at the gala? He'd gotten so jealous that he was willing to get rid of the hippie pony by tossing her into another dimension, and ended up bringing Fluttershy's disappointment upon himself. He'd made many mistakes, and this was yet another one.
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Oooh! The end is so close I can hardly wait!
I'm glad to see that Luna and Amalthea are making up.
the nightmares have to say: Who's fluttershy?